(Chapter 12: Strange dream, quality time with the daughters, pt. 2)
(Ryan's dream)
It was as if he was a camera, having an aerial view over the land of the village. It was much more massive than the ex-marine initially believed. From what he saw of it, it was nothing more than old ruins that had been ransacked by lycans and every inhabitant butchered. Beyond a rusty gate sat an extension of the village which would continue out into a large field, a small church sat uptop a hill that loverlooked the village.
Unlike the other dreams he had where he had some control over it like a lucid dream, this one was vastly different. He had absolutely no control, the ex-marine was aware that he was dreaming, but he couldn't control anything. It was like he was watching a video.
Ryan's vision zoomed down towards the church and the double doors slowly opened with a creak, the entirety of the chapel was covered and smothered in black ashen material. The windows were clouded by black mist, key signs that the Man in Black was near.
"How many times must I try to help you?" The Man in Black asked, irritated that the ex-marine had consecutively thwarted his attempts to rescue him from what he believed was certain death in the village.
"I don't have a family anymore, my blood, my brothers in arms, everything I've ever known has been fucking destroyed. Now you wish to remove me from this village when I'm still here, alive?!" Ryan fired back in response, raising his voice aggressively.
"Temper, Ryan, temper..."
"Stop fucking with me!" Ryan barked in response.
"No, I'm going to follow you until you leave the village. If you keep staying with the lords, I'll have no choice but to destroy you and the entirety of the land. I shall make the lycan swarm look like sweet, angelic dreams." The Man in Black replied with a warning.
"You can't scare me, whoever you are. I've been put through enough hell in my life to such an extent that I cannot be emotionally scarred. You tried though..." Ryan replied with a stern tone of voice.
The soldier wasn't given a response from his apparent nemesis, so Ryan Miles decided to continue firing back at the Man in Black.
"You said that you knew me, who the hell are you?! I think it's about time you stopped hiding in the shadows, and actually show yourself for once!" Ryan screamed, following his demand, there was a whisper in the wind and the air felt heavy as a black cloud formed at the front of the chapel behind the podium.
The eyes of the ex-marine narrowed with pure disdain for whoever the Man in Black was, his eyes didn't leave the front of the room as a man emerged from the cloud! He wore all black, no shocker there. He appeared to be a lightskin African American man, 6'4 and 240 pounds. His arms were folded as he glared towards the soldier.
"Have you got what you wanted? Does this finally bring you any sort of closure?" The Man in Black asked hatefully.
"No, the voice I have been hearing doesn't sound anywhere close to yours. Who are you?" Ryan replied, the Man in Black rolled his eyes before giving the ex-marine a response, clearly agitated at how this man continued to question everything.
"My name is Bill Blake, I've been following you for quite some time. Miranda has taken quite the interest in you!" He replied with a grin. The Man in Black finally reveals his name.
"How long, motherfucker?! What the hell was so interesting about me when I was a little toddler?!" Ryan demanded to know some information from Bill Blake.
"Mother Miranda can see the past and the future, she foreseen the arrival of a former soldier coming into these lands. Your arrival was prophecized, Ryan. However, over the years. She could tell that your will wasn't as strong as it needed to be. The hypnosis of the man-eaters only works on the weak-minded or when the will has been weakened of the strong. It is because of this that she began to deem you as not the person she had seen in her visions." Bill Blake explained, the ex-marine stood up to his feet.
"So why the hell are you trying to help me?! You're friends with that bitch, Miranda, it seems. You're not making any sense!" Ryan barked.
"That's where I come into play, Ryan. I have been assigned by her to be a spy on your life, I lured you and your men to these mountains. Every waking moment following the disappearance of your parents has been ultimately orchestrated. I have guided your life from the very beginning." Bill Blake spoke with a smirk starting to spread across his lips.
"You are not the Lord my God! I will not heed to the voices and guidance of false idols!" Ryan screamed, now heading out into the aisle, his eyes glaring at the man standing behind the podium at the front of the chapel.
"Do not let your faith get in the way, Miles. I know deep down within yourself, you know it to be true..."
This was the last straw for Ryan, when he looked to his right, there was a machine gun that he immediately picked up and opened fire upon Bill Blake while screaming at the top of his lungs, an enraged battle cry!
Bill Blake vanished into thin air, black ashes hovering in the air in the outline of his body as the bullets ripped into the dark mist that was initially behind him. When the bullets entered the fog, there wasn't a sound of them hitting the wall or crashing into the floor, it was like they just ceased to exist!
The ex-marine looked puzzled, wondering where the bullets he had just fired vanished off to when suddenly he felt a surge of incredible pain rush into his back that forced him to collapse on his stomach with a shout of agony!
Ryan groaned in pain as he rolled over to his back to see that the black mist had suddenly switched from being at the front of the room to now behind him, when he looked at the ground at the front of the fog, he noticed some bullets laying there. They had been re-directed right back at him after he fired them.
Paralyzed by pain, the former soldier couldn't move as he then was witness to Bill Blake emerging from the black cloud.
"G-get ou-out of my h-head..." Ryan pleaded while suffering through the pain, it was then that The Man in Black loomed over him with his hands on his hips.
"I will never leave your mind, I will exist in it for eternity." Bill Blake spoke, his voice suddenly matching the voices that was messing with Ryan's head, sounding nothing like his actual voice. There was something wrong, there must be some sort of trick going on!
The look of pain on Ryan's face switched to horror as he watched Bill Blake pull a grenade from out of one of the pockets on his black tactical vest.
"Ashes to ashes," Bill Blake began as he pulled the pin to the grenade, looking strangely calm as he would gently lay it down on Ryan's chest.
"Dust to dust..."
(End Dream)
The eyes of the former soldier shot open wide as he let out a grunt of fear, the first person that was at his side was none other than Bela Dimitrescu.
"Are you alright?" She asked, sounding concerned for her newfound friend.
"No, another damn dream about that guy..." Ryan groaned as he wiped away some sweat from his face.
"I wish that bully would leave you alone!" Daniela said loudly, feeling sorry for the former soldier.
"I wish he would too," Ryan replied as he looked around, he happened to be laying on a sofa with his head resting on Cassandra's legs who was looking down at him with a grin, Bela had come over to him to check on him, she must have been playing on the piano which was sitting in front of the couch.
There was also a stage where Daniela was sitting, reading a book that she had selected from the library.
"Where am I?" Ryan asked as he sat up, feeling Cassandra gently brush her hand through his spiked up hair.
"You, my friend, are in the opera hall. Wanna hear me play some music for you?" Bela asked sweetly, Ryan smiled at her kindness and accepted it with a nod of his head.
"Sure, go right ahead." Ryan replied as he went to wipe some sweat from his face after that horrific dream, only to realize that there was no more beard!
"What a minute..." The ex-marine said to himself, from the corner of his eye, he noticed that Cassandra's grin was only growing more and more.
"My beard, wha-what did you do to my beard?!" Ryan exclaimed with shock, the three daughters giggled loudly as Cassandra brushed some dark colored hair off of her sickle.
"I think you'd look a lot more handsome without it." The brunette teased him.
"Are you crazy? I've had that thing for ten years! Carefully trimming it when it got too long. Years of growing, wasted!" Ryan complained.
"Your affinity for it is apparent." Cassandra said with a playful tone of surprise in her voice before she started laughing.
"Hey, if you don't want Cass to hurt you no more, you may as well keep it off. She thinks you look good now!" Bela said loudly before giggling, Ryan sighed as he turned to face the brunette who was staring at him, her head leaning slightly forward, the Kubrick Stare. She would then taunt him seductively by raising up her left eyebrow twice in a row with quick succession.
"Fine, but it's just my beard. You aren't attracted to my muscles or literally anything else?" Ryan asked, sounding totally bewildered.
"Oh, you don't understand me. Man-thing... that beard of yours got in the way of your beautiful neck..." She explained with her grin shifting into her psychotic smile.
"I have a beautiful neck?" Ryan asked while chuckling, Cassandra leaned in close to him and forced him to look up with her hand as she closely examined the carotid artery that was bulging from the side of his neck.
The brunette began to salivate as she let out a moan of pleasure, licking her black painted lips. Her nostrils flared as if she was trying to take in the scent of his blood through his flesh, another groan of pleasure came from the middle child.
"All the cups of blood we could produce, it would be one hell of a time..." She said sensually as she began to lick her tongue up his neck, causing Ryan's groin to twitch with arousal...
"Knock it off, Cass. Save your lust for another night..." Bela sighed with annoyance.
Ryan sighed with relief as the brunette pulled away and he would turn his attention back to Bela who was now staring at the ex-marine.
"So then, man-thing. What would you like for me to play?" Bela asked sweetly, an inviting smile displayed on her face.
"Uhhh...Mozart? Beethoven. Anything classical that you can play on the piano." Ryan replied while shrugging his shoulders.
"What genre of music do you like, man-thing?" Daniela asked curiously as she took a seat next to Ryan, draping her arm over his shoulder as she smiled at him.
"Well, I like a mixture of stuff really. I mainly like various metal bands such as Disturbed, System of a Down, Slipknot, Five Finger Death Punch, Metallica, Pantera. The list goes on, I can name bands for hours in that regard." Ryan replied to Daniela as Bela began to play some notes on the massive instrument, a smirk etched itself on her face when he heard the ex-marine say that System of a Down was one of his favorite bands, giving her an idea.
What the blonde seemed to be playing was the Moonlight Sonata, a nice and calming melody that relaxed everyone in the room.
"Hell yeah! Same music taste!" Cassandra exclaimed with her tongue waggling from her mouth, the brunette's facial expression switching to a playful mean face.
"You three like metal?!" Ryan asked loudly in surprise.
"Of course we do! I like softer music though, ones with less screaming and more singing." Daniela replied cheerfully.
"A music taste I can respect, ever heard of Cold Driven?" Ryan asked, Daniela's eyes shot up wide with her mouth going agape.
"You like them too?!" The redhead screamed excitedly.
"Yes!" Ryan replied happily before the two hugged each other tightly.
"Damn...I think I love you..." Daniela cooed in his ear seductively as she tightened her arms around his body while rocking hers from side to side gently.
Daniela then broke her hug with Ryan and continued to sit next to him with her arm over his shoulder.
"If you told us all of this when you first got here, you wouldn't have suffered...poor sweet boy." Daniela cooed, starting to regret having tortured him with her sisters during his first night at the castle in the dungeon.
"No hard feelings, right?" Cassandra asked, for the first time that he had seen it, the brunette appeared to have a rather gentle demeanor about her.
"As long as you can promise me that you won't ever hurt me again." Ryan replied after letting out a sigh, looking towards the ground.
Daniela and Cassandra both looked towards each other, making an agreement that they wouldn't lay a finger on Ryan in a harmful way unless it is to play with him or mess around with him.
"You can trust us." Cassandra cooed as she brushed her black glove through his hair, Daniela gently patted him on the back with one of the sweetest smiles that Ryan had ever seen in his entire life. His heart felt warm, his heart felt relieved, his heart felt...loving.
The three sitting on the sofa went silent right when the Moonlight Sonata suddenly changed to something faster paced, when Ryan paid closer attention to the melody, he noticed that it sounded strikingly similar to "Chop Suey!" by System of a Down, not only was Ryan blown away by this, but it was the fact that Bela was playing the melody with such ease and without much effort that took him by surprise! The blonde must be really talented!
"Is tha-" Ryan went to speak, Daniela and Cassandra both nodded their heads to confirm what the ex-marine was thinking.
Meanwhile, in Lady D's chambers, the phone started to ring once again with the countess standing nearby.
Lady Dimitrescu happened to be smoking her freakishly long cigar to help ease her mind away from everything that was going down recently. She had finally started to think something was up with Mother Miranda in this situation involving the mysterious Man in Black, as well as all of the assassins.
She was a bit hesitant to pick up the phone, but since she still seen Miranda as her superior, she answered it in the end.
"My fair Alcina Dimitrescu, how is the situation with the assassins going?" Mother Miranda asked from the other line.
"All is going well, so far, we haven't had any attacks. Ryan still seems to be bent on figuring out the origin of those attacks and he keeps complaining about a certain Man in Black." The countess replied.
"If I may tell you this: I have growing suspicions of Ryan Miles, he seems to be growing with power. He no longer fears you or your daughters. He could put our mission to risk." Miranda warned, Lady Dimitrescu rolled her eyes.
"He hasn't tried to hurt me and seems to be highly comfortable where he is at the moment, the man-thing doesn't seem to be malicious. If anything, Ryan Miles seems to protect us when we are in need." The countess replied calmly.
"When you are in need?" Mother Miranda asked, sounding confused." I don't think you'll ever be in need Countess Dimitrescu, your size and strength combined with your durability should prove you to be too much for any attackers to handle. You shouldn't need any assistance from a stupid man..."
"I understand, Mother Miranda. However, he seems to be the only one that is getting closer to solving this curious case of a Man in Black. From the information we've gathered, it seems that Ryan knows more about him than we know of." Lady Dimitrescu replied, following her response was an awkward pause.
"Countess Dimitrescu, you'll obey me without question just as you've done all of these years...put an end to Ryan Miles. He poses a great threat to our cause, we shall all suffer if he is to live." Mother Miranda scolded the tall woman, giving her a warning towards her as well. If Ryan was going to live, they would all perish.
"Give him a chance, Mother Miranda. Just as I have." The countess suggested only to receive silence followed by a few droning buzzes, indicating that Mother Miranda had listened to what she had to say, but hung up on her instead of giving her a response.
Deeply angered by this rude behavior from her superior, Lady Dimitrescu placed down the phone forcefully. Nothing made sense anymore, Ryan Miles seemed to be doing just fine and he clearly didn't pose a threat to any of the lords of the village, why should Mother Miranda be worrying about a mere mortal with zero powers?!
Her confusion fueled her anger as she growled furiously, her hands latching on to the sides of the massive table before she suddenly burst up from her seat, hurling the entire piece of furniture across the room, which would shatter in half with a loud bang on the floor! Lady Dimitrescu growled with rage, her gloved hands tightly clenched from rage, her blood boiling from how she felt.
"What the hell is she thinking?!" The vampiric woman boomed, huffing and puffing with nothing but wrath.
"I swear, something is starting to get in her head and she won't fucking tell us..." She continued as she left the room, heading down the hall towards the Opera Hall.
The daughters had informed their mother of Ryan being put to sleep for the moment, telling her that the Man in Black had been stuck in his head ever since the meeting earlier that morning. It had been the countess' suggestion that they played him some tunes on the piano for him to try and get him to calm down.
With the door closed behind her, it was only a matter of minutes before strange activity started to occur within the chambers of Lady Dimitrescu...
A certain black mist suddenly materialized on the ceiling and it would slowly lower towards the floor to hover above the ground, the black cloud shifting towards the downed furniture that had been ruthlessly smashed into the flooring, putting a dent in it even from the sheer force of the throw!
The phone was heard buzzing nonstop, it had been broken, but suddenly it stopped for a moment before buzzing again, only this time...differently.
There seemed to be a certain rhythm to the buzzing, it would stop and go again for a few seconds before stopping again. It was morse code for something, and the Man in Black could certainly understand morse code, as it had been taught to him by none other than Mother Miranda herself...
. .Done. is what the morse code message said.
"Your will, my hands, Mother Miranda..." The Man in Black said from within the dark cloud before it de-materialized from the room...