(Chapter 7: Be grateful for her mercy)
Alcina sat on her chair within her chambers upstairs, staring out of the windows out into the village below her castle in which was situated on a decent sized hill. Puffing some smoke forth from her red lips after taking in a huff from her wand shaped cigar, she was still agitated at how Ryan tried to fight back against her earlier, but she was certain that he had learned his lesson dearly.
All the while she was angry at the man, she was still somewhat impressed. No man-thing from before ever fought back, they always folded under the pressure, and was an easy kill for them. The thought of this brought the slightest of grins to her face, suddenly her phone began to ring, and she turned towards the mirror to grab hold of it.
"Yes?" The countess asked, curious as to who was calling her.
"My fine daughter, Alcina. Any progress of your prisoner?" Mother Miranda was heard asking on the other line.
"Loads of it, Mother Miranda. He tried to attack me, and only the gods know what he would have done to my daughters as well..." The countess grumbled.
"Did you kill him?" Miranda questioned.
"No, his punches are nothing to me. Conventional weaponry cannot hurt me, it has been tried by all the religious fanatics trying to raid this castle before. So you can best bet that punches and meager chokes won't harm me," Lady Dimitrescu began, she had not only been punched, but she had also been shot at by guns of all kinds, even explosives by religious fanatics trying to kill her, going on their crusades to bring the "hammer of God" upon the castle, and all that inhabited it, and every single one of them had failed to take her life, as well as her daughters.
The countess examined her wide brimmed hat that sat on her table, seeing the wrinkles in it, and how it looked completely messed up after her skirmish with Ryan from earlier. She rolled her eyes as she would continue her sentence.
"However, he did mess up my hat...and he wrinkled up my dress." She growled as she looked down to examine her white dress, there were several wrinkles on it, particularly around the top of it where Ryan was mostly located.
"You should have had him killed, the fact that he even tried to kill you is alarming in it's own right. Those religious freaks are the reason why the lycans have strengthened their forces around the village to make sure no armed hostiles get in. Ryan can potentially pose a great threat to my cause, and to this entire region as a whole." Mother Miranda scolded her favored child.
Lady Dimitrescu didn't like Mother Miranda thinking that the ex-marine could pose a threat to them, if the Jesus freaks couldn't stop her, then a lone man certainly couldn't get the job done. This made her face to moderately pout up, her right hand curling into a fist, she took a deep breath, and calmed herself down.
"It is impressive that the man-thing has the guts to do outlandish manuevers that none of my former enemies have tried, but Mother Miranda, Ryan Miles doesn't stand a solid chance! My daughters are torturing him as we speak, he will not have the will to fight back, the foolish man will not have the strength to resolve. When he eventually surrenders, we shall drain him of his life, and eat his flesh, we shall produce the finest cups of his slaughtered blood." Alcina replied in protest, admitting that his tactics were unlike any other that her old foes have tried were all the most commendable, and brave, but he would not last.
"There is a reason he has survived against hordes of lycans, do not underestimate him..." Mother Miranda warned before hanging up, unbeknownst to Alcina who was quick to reply.
"That man is only prolonging the inevitable if he survives!" She thundered, the countess receiving no answer.
"Mother Miranda, he is delaying his demise, I can assure you that!"
"Mother Miranda?"
When the only thing she heard on the other line was dead silence, she slammed her phone back down on the table furiously. Her teeth gritted, her blood boiling. She was deeply angered that Mother Miranda didn't seem to have faith in her any more after years of entrusting House Dimitrescu. The tall woman was now hellbent on proving her superior wrong.
The sound of buzzing was heard behind her, and when she turned around, the countess noticed that Bela was standing there with a cheesy grin on her face, as if she was proud of something.
"Yes, my Bela?" She asked.
"We've done the deed, the man-thing is broken. What shall we do with him now?" The eldest daughter asked, curious as to what the ultimate fate of Ryan Miles would be. A grin came back to Alcina's lips.
"Kill him, and take him to the distillery." She commanded, Bela nodded her head, and vanished into the swarm of flies.
Meanwhile down in the dungeon, Ryan was laying on his stomach now after rolling over, which was a chore to do. He balled up his fists, trying to motivate himself to rise up to his feet once more. Everything on him hurt now, with a couple cracked ribs, his throat burning from vomiting. His lower stomach throbbing with intense pain from having deep cuts carved into it, his right arm in a world of agony after having a strip of flesh removed, and the left side of his chest feeling like it was on fire. Even breathing was a pain due to his cracked ribs. The only thing he could do now was pray to the good Lord above to help him.
"Father God, where are you in this dark and evil place? Where all the men live as slaves, where death and bloodshed reigns. I have suffered time, and time again, so far this has been my greatest testament that you've sent my way. Is it true that Malosi was telling me the truth? Am I to truly befriend these wicked women? I would love to receive a sign, because right now I have no reason to believe my old friend. Heavenly Father, give me the strength to last just a bit longer. Deliver me from this hellish chamber, in Jesus name, Amen."
Following his prayer, he took his cross necklace, and kissed it while a single tear streamed down his cheeks, washing some of the blood and vomit away from him. His aching hands curled into fists, and he slammed one down on the stone brick flooring of the torture chamber. His eyes widened when he heard a key rattling close to him, an eyebrow raised as he slammed his fist down again close to where he heard the sound coming from, the key rattled again.
Ryan reached for the key which he assumed was underneath the spiked chair that he had been sitting on. A smile came to his face as he examined it, Bela must have dropped the key to this chamber which automatically locks when the door was closed. He slowly looked over his shoulder to see the iron bars, he had to get up so he could escape this chamber or else hope was certainly lost to him.
He placed his hands on the ground, attempting to muscle himself up with his arms. As he got to one knee, a sharp pain clutched within his chest, forcing him to let out a yell in a surprising amount of pain as he collapsed back to the cold floor.
Ryan knew he had to fight with everything in him to stand up now, because the pain will be there to challenge his own grit. He inched his way around, there was no way he was going to touch that spiked chair to help himself get back up, he would much rather use the wall. Time was of the essence right now, as the daughters were already on their way down towards the dungeon.
With a scream of determination, and unspeakable amounts of pain he started to slowly rise to his feet. The amount of pain rushing in several parts of his body was surreal, he never thought he would be this physically destroyed in his life, and he didn't know how much more punishment his body could handle. He had been forced to endure military training, and he had been put into several instances where he was forced to go through intense pain, but the agony he was going through now was hundreds of times worse.
The ex-marine slowly limped over to the door only to realize that there was no keyhole within this chamber on the side of the door that he was facing. He growled in frustration, he was trapped, or so he thought. He remembered them beating him with heavy sledgehammers that had cracked some of his ribs, they had left them in the torture chamber with several other objects that they hadn't used just yet. The man had an idea pop into his head now as he took a glance down at the large hammer.
Ryan growled as he leaned down to pick up the hammer, it wasn't that heavy but he had to strain due to the amount of pain that was hitting his body hard. Every second he drew in breath, he had to fight back sharp pains within his chest due to his cracked ribs, and other gruesome injuries on that were littered all over his torso, and limbs. Gathering up all the strength he could muster, and with a scream, he swung the sledgehammer into the iron bars. They rattled vigorously, and with another scream, he swung it again, boom, the bars rattled some more, some dust emerging from the roof of the dungeon.
Finally, one last swing done the bars in, a chunk of them flying away from the cell! This would create a hole for Ryan to reach through with the key, and unlock the door from the other side. The ex-marine dropped the sledgehammer, and moved his way from the torture chamber. Searching his way through the dungeon, trying to find a way out.
The daughters arrived too late, and he wasn't found within the chamber, much to their surprise.
"Oh no, he's escaped! He could be anywhere now!" Daniela cried out, fearing where the man could be at the moment.
"That little bastard...how could he have gotten out?!" Cassandra growled loudly, Bela felt around in her pockets to discover that the key had been knocked out of it. Her eyes went wide for a moment, but the eldest daughter remained calm.
"We have to inform mother." Bela said as she turned around to head back up to Lady Dimitrescu's chambers, her two sisters following after her, gliding through the corridors as quickly as they could.
Meanwhile, the ex-marine made his way up some stairs. Coming into a small storage area, a wall had appeared to be broken down, with wooden boards covering up the hole that would lead to an extension of the kitchen, where cupboards, cabinets, and drawers were located as he could see through the boards. He pried each one off before passing through, the kitchen contained things that he wished he would have never seen...
Human body parts hanging above a table, such as arms, legs, hands, and feet. Animal hides, and human hides stretched out by small pins over a fireplace. A bucket of blood sitting on a stool next to the table with what seemed to be a wine bottle sitting within it.
"Alcoholic beverages? I need to find where they keep that shit, I could use one right about now." He said to himself with a deep breath as he held his nostrils, the awful stench was quick to fill his nose, and the odor was so powerful that it made him lightheaded, enough to throw up.
He quickly left the kitchen, and headed into the dining room to get that horrible odor out of his nose. Placing his hands on his hips as he leaned down, shaking his head after what he just witnessed.
"This place is a nuthouse, a total nuthouse." Ryan said to himself quietly before looking out into the Main Hall, trying to think of a place to escape to. He suddenly saw a mass of flies surge up the stairs, causing him to take cover behind the wall, not wanting to be detected by those daughters who seemed to materialize from the fly swarm. When the ex-marine heard the buzzing fade away, he would make his move again, heading up the stairs in hopes of reaching the top of the castle where he figured that those women wouldn't suspect him to be, he tried to move with haste as he didn't want to stall for time, knowing it was of the essence.
Meanwhile, in Lady Dimitrescu's chambers, she was back to staring out over the balcony through the window at the outside wilderness. At this point she had calmed down from her encounter with Ryan Miles around an entire hour earlier. The cloudy sky had parted, revealing a bright, beaming sun down upon the land. Had it been the Spring time, she would let her daughters out to have their fun in the wilderness, but it was still cold outside, and she couldn't afford her beloved children to be touched by the icy air.
A buzzing was heard, and the countess stood up with her hands on her hips, expecting to see her daughters giggling coldly as they dragged in a helpless Ryan Miles. That turned out to not be the case as they shown up empty handed.
"Mother, he has escaped." Bela announced with a hint of regret in her voice, Alcina looked dumbfounded at this revelation.
"Unfortunate..." She mumbled under her breath as she looked at the ground, disappointed.
"We don't know how he got free, the cell door was locked!" Daniela shouted in anger, disappointed in herself that she didn't deal more catastrophic damage to the toned body of the ex-marine before his torture session was over.
The tall woman turned around, and slammed her fist down on her desk. The loud banging noise bouncing off the walls of the room, causing her daughters to jolt back out of intimidation. They didn't dare disobey their mother, and they followed her orders without question, she was the only person they feared to see get angry.
"Are you kidding!" Alcina screamed aggressively following her outburst, taking her rage out on the table once again. The three daughters feared they would be punished severely for this, but to their luck, she had other intentions in mind.
"Find that man-thing, and bring him to me! Scatter around the castle, look everywhere for him! Cassandra, check the first floor and basement, Daniela check the second floor, Bela, you can check the third floor. He must not be allowed to roam around this castle freely!" She boomed.
"Of course, mother!" The daughters spoke loudly in unison before fading away into three separate fly colonies, beginning the hunt for the defiant soldier.
Within the third floor, not too far away from Lady Dimitrescu's chambers, Ryan entered a room known as the "Wine Room." The front of the door having the name of it engraved on the wood with a colorful pattern of purple grapes on it as well as a wine glass, and a wine bottle, although there wouldn't be any Budweiser, Jack Daniels, or Miller Lite in this room, he felt that any alcoholic beverage would do him just fine in a time of crisis like this.
In the center of the room sat a table three tables surrounding it, the table was shaped like a circle. Sitting on the table was a basket of grapes and other fruits that you could ferment into various alcoholic beverages, next to the basket was two wine bottles, as well as a wine bottle opener. Both appeared to be full, on the wall was wine bottles being held by small shelves, as well as a barrel in the corner of the room with wine bottles on top of it, every bottle seemed to be full which brought the ex-marine great relief.
Ryan grabbed the wine bottle opener from the table, and pulled out a chair for him to sit down on, and finally take a much needed rest without being hypnotized, and without the stress of being killed by the daughters. He looked down at the bloody mess that was his body, and couldn't believe that he was still standing. Perhaps God was on his side, he knew he would have to wash off the wounds, or at least cover them up before they could get infected.
The ex-marine decided that he would head back downstairs into Lady Dimitrescu's bedchambers so he could grab what was left of his tank top, and wrap it around the wounds on his body as much as he possibly could. For now though, it was time to drink. He removed the wrapping around the top of the bottle, cramming it into the pockets within his jeans before going to work with the bottle opener, driving the screw into the cork, and starting to turn it.
The soldier licked his chops in anticipation of getting the red liquid down his throat, it had been a while since he had the taste of red wine, and he made sure to savor every drop of it when he drank from a glass for he believed it to be his last with each deadly mission he and his old pals went on. Before each mission or battle they would head into, they would have a "last dinner" so to speak. Last dinners would be grand banquets at Barlow's mansion, complete with all the meat you could devour, and all the alcoholic beverages you could consume, obviously, Ryan's favorite of the wines was red wine, but he preferred canned beverages such as beer.
This day alone felt like a last dinner with everything he could get his hands on to eat, his sickening injuries made him think that each cut that was placed on his battered body only got him closer to death's door, the bold but broken man thought that having a wine at this point was more than deserved.
With a soft lift, the cork was removed from the wine, and an overwhelming sweet aroma blasted into his nostrils. It was amazing to smell, he couldn't help but close his eyes, and take in all of the fantastic scent he could with a satisfied groan.
"It's been a decade." Ryan said to himself with a grin as he proceeded to pour the drink into the wine glass that was sitting on the table after placing down the bottle opener, the mere sound of the alcoholic beverage pouring into the glass made his mouth water, his taste buds were ready for the glorious wine.
After pouring a decent bit of wine into the glass, the ex-marine placed down the bottle, and circled his hand as he held the glass, swirling the wine around as he took in a deep breath to prepare for what would soon go running into his mouth, and down his throat.
"Bottoms up." He said to himself, not noticing the buzz of flies within the room with him as he gulped down the wine within the glass. His taste buds were struck with an intense, sweet, fruity taste that was so strong that it made him shake his head moments after it had started to travel down his throat, having a chill run down his spine.
"Holy shit..." He said to himself, his eyes shifting towards the entire bottle, his smile began to widen further now as he started to pour some more of it into the glass. As he done so, he noticed a certain iron like aftertaste to the beverage he had just consumed, but it wasn't too overwhelming for him, but it was distinct, and certainly noticeable.
Within seconds, he had downed another glass of wine. He stopped for a moment as he was overloaded with a sense of calmness, if this chair that he was sitting in could recline, he felt like he could shoot the breeze all day with anyone in the room with him. One is supposed to sip wine instead of gulping it down, but for Ryan, he wasted no time, he didn't savor the drops of the dark red fluids, he went after it!
His eyes began to go from the glass to the bottle back and forth, not sure if he wanted to pour himself another glass or just straight up begin to suckle it down through the bottle itself as a whole. He tried to tell himself within his head that drinking it down quickly would more than likely lead to him getting drunk, it was his gut that told him that, but his mind was in the lead.
It was bottom's up once again as he wrapped his lips around the top of the bottle, and leaned back, gulping the red wine down his throat. Enjoying every bit of that sweet flavoring as it poured all over his tongue before rushing down his throat like a waterfall, his eyes rolling back in his head for he received loads of satisfaction from downing this wine, he placed the bottle down to take a breather, it was half full.
Now typically when one drinks wine, the drunk they receive is rather calm, and it makes you feel like chatting, but due to downing almost an entire bottle within seconds...Ryan's vision started to go all over the place slowly at first, but it picked up speed over time.
"Damn..." A voice said in awe from behind him, he slowly turned his head to see a wavy figure of Bela standing in the doorway, but he felt too relaxed to even fight back.
"Yeah, it's been a while since I had a damn good drink like this." Ryan said slowly, causing Bela to chuckle.
"Do you know what is in that wine, little one?" The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow along with a smirk.
"No, what's in it? What's the secret sauce?"
"Blood, fresh slaughtered blood." Bela said nefariously.
Ryan was shocked by this, but his expression said otherwise, his eyes were only slightly widened. The aftertaste of iron was the blood contained within the wine, so the ex-marine had downed a shit load of blood without even knowing it.
"You crazy bitch, you're gonna give me aids!" Ryan said loudly, but not aggressively at all, for he was drunk out of his mind. The way the soldier tried to make his voice thunderous made Bela laugh hysterically.
"You crack me up, man-thing, but unfortunately for you, mother would like to see you..." She said devilishly.
"Over my dead body." Ryan grumbled as he stood up, and the world spun around him, his body swayed as he walked, and he stumbled around as he tried to make his way towards Bela, but was heading away from her instead of coming towards her, and there were several of Bela standing next to each other.
"Damn bitch, can you clone yourself now?" Ryan asked as he sluggishly threw a punch forward, a wild haymaker that missed his target by a mile. The momentum of his punch dragged him forward, and he accidentally knocked himself out when his head struck the wall hard with a thud!
"You poor thing, it looks like we really drove you mad in the chamber." Bela said to the knocked out soldier as she grabbed him by the arms, and started to drag him towards her mother's chambers.
Lady Dimitrescu sat cross legged in her chair within the room, facing the door in wait for the arrival of at least one of her daughters with Ryan Miles in their clutches. She was still a bit irritated that he had somehow escaped his torture chamber, but now killing him wasn't on her mind, she wanted to have a conversation with him. When a knocking came at the door, a smirk creeped on her ruby lips.
"Come in." The countess spoke, and the door slowly opened, Bela was revealed to be dragging the unconscious Ryan Miles into the room. The tall woman's smile would spread further, her mouth slightly opening up.
"Ahh, excellent. Well done, my Bela." Lady Dimitrescu complimented her oldest daughter as she rose to her feet while clapping her hands together, Bela released Ryan's arms, and nudged him over to his back, revealing to her mother that he was knocked out.
"You've killed him?" The vampiric mistress asked the blonde with a proud expression, Bela shook her head.
"No, he knocked himself out. He drank half a bottle of your wine in the wine room, he loved every bit of it." She chuckled, this caused Alcina to rear her head back, letting out a loud thunderous laugh.
"Oh really?! He would make an astounding member of our family then." The countess said following her laughter.
"Indeed, he tried to attack me but ended up knocking himself out instead." Bela replied as she gazed down upon Ryan's body, so did Lady Dimitrescu, who viewed all of the injuries that her daughters had inflicted on him within the dungeon.
"Impressive work, Bela. That'll teach him to never mess with this castle again, if he tries anything else foolish, you have my permission to end his life." The countess told her oldest daughter.
"Understood, mother."
"Now, I'll keep him alive for now. He could potentially be of some use, find him a shirt to cover up his wounds. I would not have him succumb to infections."
"Yes, mother." Bela obeyed her mother without question, and faded into a colony of buzzing flies that shifted through the cracks under the door.
(An hour later)
Ryan groaned as he slowly woke back up, finding himself resting on a table. His body felt nice and warm, the room he was in was astoundingly cozy. He looked around, finding himself in a room that he hadn't explored yet. One end of the room sat a phone on a stool, as well as some lipstick and a wand. Next to the stool sat a massive mirror, the wall to his right was nothing but a bunch of windows. The wall to his left sat a large dresser with a coat hanger sitting next to it, where a black wide brimmed hat sat at the top, and a gigantic black dress hung.
"I plan on having him become another member of House Dimitrescu, according to one of my daughters, he seemed to be blown away by my wine. If his tongue can handle the amount of blood within it, I think he'll make a perfect fit..." A woman's voice was heard not too far away from him, and when he rolled over, it was revealed that Lady Dimitrescu was sitting in a chair with the phone in her hand, he didn't notice her at first glance because he was looking all around the room.
"I understand, Mother Miranda..." She grumbled before hanging the phone up with a sigh trailing her exasperated voice.
"What is this 'cause' she never bothers to speak to me about? Have my contributions not been enough to satisfy her?" She asked herself as she turned around to see that Ryan Miles was awake.
"Ahh, so you're finally up. I thought you had passed on in your sleep..." She cooed to him with a smirk as she approached him, Ryan was jolted wide awake as the towering woman slowly advanced towards him, that grin told him that evil intentions were behind it, so he quickly got off of the table, and started to back away towards the door only to find that it had been locked from the inside out somehow, or that someone on the other side was holding it shut so he couldn't get out.
"Shit." He cursed through his teeth, a sinister giggle was heard from Lady Dimitrescu from behind him before she spoke.
"Relax, Ryan. I mean you no harm...yet." She told him, trying to reassure that she wasn't going to hurt him, but if he tried anything, there would be hell to pay.
"Then why is the door locked or stuck shut? Are you going to torture me as well?" Ryan growled as he turned around, his heart pounding within his chest, his body having nervous sweats starting to emerge from the pores of his skin.
"Look at yourself before I reply," The countess began, prompting Ryan to look down to notice that his body wasn't bare anymore. He now had an old, raggedy looking brown shirt over it, when he lifted it up to see what was under it, he noticed that his white tank top had been wrapped around his lower stomach tightly to cover up the wounds that Daniela had inflicted, strangely enough, it wasn't soaked in blood or caked in dried up blood. When he examined his right arm, he noticed that a large bandage had been placed on the laceration that the red head had also inflicted on his arm.
"Hold on, you don't mind if I take the shirt off do you?" Ryan asked, Lady Dimitrescu nodded her head.
When the ex-marine stripped himself of his newly acquired brown shirt, he noticed that the large flesh wound on his chest had been patched up by a large piece of cloth that had been torn from another shirt, having been taped over the wound.
"As you can see, I'm kind enough to clean you up. Had I wanted to kill you, I would have taken your life without hesitating when Bela brought you to me. She was even kind enough to lick up all the blood that covered you..." The countess said softly, the thought of Bela licking up the blood that was all over him sickened Ryan, but made him blush heavily.
"Why?" Ryan asked as he looked up at the head of House Dimitrescu." Why have you spared me when...after I attacked you?" He heard Lady Dimitrescu exhale sharply through her nose as if she had been on the brink of laughter before kneeling down next to him, gently stroking the back of her gloved hand against his cheek before putting it on his shoulder firmly.
"You impress me, that's why. You're a dog, Ryan. A dog who defies death, you've been surely brought to the brink of it. You have no fear, all of the other man-things that we've butchered before you, cracked under the pressure of having their life ripped from their grasp." She explained, taking a glance at the cross necklace around his neck that hadn't been removed ever since he stepped foot in the village, it had been knocked around, but it never flew off of his neck, for he didn't allow it so.
"You're also a man of faith, perhaps your faith and trust in your God has been what is keeping you alive, keeping you going, and giving you the strength to fight for your life when you know in your heart that you are outmatched severely." She continued, making Ryan somewhat uncomfortable as she gently brushed her gloved hand across his necklace.
"God has followed me, and has been with me in every aspect of my life. This was gifted to me by my father, he was a pastor at the local church back home in America, so in a way, not only is the Lord with me, but so is my father in blood." Ryan spoke, a vague smile briefly on his lips before fading away into a blank stare, implying that he was still nervous to be inches away from this towering woman.
"He didn't follow the ones that tried to kill me in the past, they called me a devil, and tried to end my life. They were just as big about religion as you are, and they were each sliced to ribbons." Alcina chuckled, a smirk still on her face.
"That's not the way to spread Christianity, you're supposed to love your enemies." Ryan said with a blush on his face, a nervous sweat rolling down the side of it.
"Strange, you also tried to attack me." Lady Dimitrescu replied with a raise of her brow.
"I'm all up for forgiveness, but it can be hard when you taunt my faith, and when my life is on the line, I'm not afraid to fight back because I don't want to die and fail my goals in life." Ryan sighed, looking to the ground. Lady Dimitrescu gently grabbed his beard, and lifted his head up so he could look her in her golden eyes.
"So you were afraid...attacking me is a death wish, stupid man-thing..." She growled playfully, making the ex-marine tremble.
"I-I understand." He stuttered.
"Besides, what goals are so important to you that you would make the foolish mistake of throwing your life away?" This question hit Ryan hard, forcing him to gulp before answering her.
"When I got back home from this vile place, I wanted to start a family. All I've ever wanted to do before being brought into this hard lifestyle is to become a father, but now, it is evident that it cannot happen. The reason for this is because I've lost everything, and I just want my family to be proud." Ryan said, his voice breaking towards the end of his sentence as his eyes grew misty, becoming outlined with red on the edges as if he was about to burst into tears, his eyes tilted downwards, his lips trembling.
Lady Dimitrescu understood where he was coming from, because she had lost everything too. Having lost her entire family, and being forced to live a lonely life until Mother Miranda blessed her with her daughters. She could strongly relate to him so much so that seeing him start to break down, and barely control his emotions broke her heart, and she didn't want to admit it either.
"Leave me." She said as she stood up from her crouched stance.
"Honestly, I don't want to. I feel saf-" Ryan was sharply cut off when he was snagged by the throat, and pinned against the wall with brute force, the strength contained within Lady Dimitrescu's hand forcing the tears out of his eyes, a look of anger, yet sorrow in the eyes of the countess as she raised up her left right hand, extending those long, metallic claws from her gloves.
"Do as I tell you, I shall not ask you again, be grateful for my mercy..." She growled before dropping him to the ground, the ex-marine coughing as he scrambled towards the door which was opened by Bela on the other side, Ryan didn't even notice her as he walked down the hall, heading back to the wine room.
"I need a drink." He said softly as a couple tears ran down his cheeks.
"Mother, are you alright?" Bela asked, the blonde didn't receive a response.
"M-Mother?"
"Bela, I would much rather be left alone right now." She grumbled, Bela sighed, nodding her head before closing the door back.
"I need my cigar." Lady Dimitrescu said to herself as she forcefully shoved the table back underneath the mirror, and grabbed hold of her long cigarette.
The countess believed that showing compassion, and heart for others is a sign of weakness. Seeing Ryan breaking down almost brought some emotions out of her, that to which she didn't want the ex-marine to notice. She enjoyed having him fear her power over him, and the mistress of House Dimitrescu didn't want to show any sign of potential weakness to a man she believed to be weak.