Oh hi, welcome back. How are you guys holding up? Doing okay? Alright. Well, let's get into the next chapter. We left off with some juicy drama so let's see if we can keep that train going. I'm probably going to try and spearhead for a bit and get these out in quick succession cause it's just so much that I really want to write. If you read the ChrisxOC fic that I also write. I have not forgotten it I just really need to get this one caught up cause there is going to be some intersection between the two stories because I love torturing myself as a writer.
Song Suggestion: This Is Gospel by Panic at the Disco
Disclaimer: I own nothing. RE is owned by CapCom whom I'm not affiliated with. BTW this is gonna be a mix bag chapter. Some minor mentions of blood, some silly and cute stuff, and more stressful RE Worthy events. if you just want to skip the blood section I put that paragraph in full italics so you know to skip it.
It had been a week since Charlotte stormed off and left Heisenberg in the woods. She'd shut down her phone since then and kept it off and tucked away in her pinafore just in case but, mostly ignored it and to her relief, he didn't show up while she was in the village. Working in the castle was keeping her on her toes. another week and another maid went missing mysteriously. Some of the maids would claim they heard crying in the night from the basement but never found where it was coming from. While curious about the sounds she knew better than to go looking for trouble. Yet all the same it would often find her.
a soft gasp and shattering glass could be heard as a now terrified maid looked at the mess they made.
"You idiot" the chef hisses. "I spent 3 hours preparing those and days in advance preparing the candied peels. what are we going to serve now?"
Charlotte watched as the girl started to tremble as she realized how badly she messed up. Charlotte took a deep breath and released it as she relaxed. "What was it, that she dropped?"
"A frozen cocktail, those take forever to make." the chef says with a nervous laugh.
"How long do we have?" Charlotte asks and the server looks for the clock.
"ten minutes. The Ladies of the house are entertaining guests. Lady Benevento is paying a visit." The server says with a frown as he looked to the maid who had been carrying the tray to him. "this is why maids are not to work with the food."
"I'm sorry, I thought I was helping," the maid says as Charlotte walked back to the stock room to look around for supplies. there had to be something. what was she looking for. come on. she walks back out of the stock room.
"What are we serving?" Charlotte asks as she rummages through the shelves, taking a mental inventory of the ingredients she could see. lots of garlic. seasonings. Lots of Tomato since those were in season.
"a special steak for the ladies of the house and fish for the lady Benevento," the Chef says as he moves to rest his elbows on the counter and hold his face. they were all doomed...
Of course we're serving red and white meat at the same time. Bloody hell. She grumbles a bit as the tomatoes catch her attention once more and she grabs a can of tomato paste. "Is wine the only alcohol we have or do we have anything else?"
"be my guest to check," the chef says as he continues to panic with the others.
"Stop sulking we're not dead yet," Charlotte says as she walks off, "Someone, get me ice from the freezer box. chip off 6 large pieces. and get me 6 glasses."
"Why 6?" the maid asks confused.
"Do you wanna serve something to them without knowing what it tastes like?" Charlotte points out and they quickly shake their head no.
Client dinner meetings don't fail me now, Charlotte thought as she looked around the room to find that she was alone. She quickly took out her phone and powered it up to look for bloody mary recipes and how to turn tomato paste into tomato juice.
Saturday, July 25th, 5:53pm
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Charlotte sneered at that and swiped that out of the way to get to the internet and find what she was looking for.
"okay 4 to 1 ratio of water to paste. Tobasco. Worcestershire sauce, salt, Vodka." her eyes darted over the page while continuing to ignore the notification bar at the top that was consistently going off before she stows the phone away and grabbing a bottle of Vodka that was likely used for cooking. Charlotte then hurries back to the kitchen with that and the tomato paste. "How much more time do we have?"
"6 minutes," the server says as he checks the time again.
"Mix this with a 4 to 1 ratio of water to make juice," Charlotte says handing the can to the chef "Where are the glasses and Ice?" Charlotte asks as she puts the bottle of vodka down on the table. maybe if she adds a bit extra they'll be too drunk to be upset...
"The other maid is still getting the ice, we have some wine glasses in the cupboard," the server says as they go to check.
"Do we have anything more like a Highball glass?" Charlotte asks as she gets the Tobasco and Worcestershire sauce from the shelves along with some salt.
"maybe let me check," they say as they dig around.
5 minutes left.
"get moving we're racing the clock here," Charlotte snaps as she digs around the shelves for ingredients and they nod. "What kind of peels did you prepare?"
"Blood orange, the lady requested it specifically," the chef says as he works on the mixture.
"And you didn't mention that sooner?" Charlotte says irritated. okay. Bloody mary with a blood orange twist. all the blood. blood. shit that's right the wine here has blood in it. "Do we have any left?"
"I think there are a few in the pantry." the chef says "Here, the mixture is finished."
"I have the glasses," the server says. and places those on the counter Charlotte nods and starts pouring the tomato juice mixture and grabs a spoon to mix in the Tobasco and Worcestershire sauce. She puts the Glasses onto a new cleat tray placing 4 on one side of the spoon and a sharp knife in the middle and 2 glasses on the other side. with that set up she picks up the tray and carries it to the pantry where she picked up a blood orange cut it open and squeezed an equal amount of juice into each then picked up a lime, cut halfway into that, and put that onto the tray along with a few cuts of Celery. now for the not-so-fun part... She took a deep breath again and released it.
Charlotte cut a small section of the blood orange peel, maybe a 1-inch square, and placed that to the side before using the knife to cut into the lower right corner of her left hand and pressed on the cut to dripped maybe half an ounce of blood into each of the 4 glasses that were separated off. hopefully, that would be enough because any more than that would take too long and or make her faint so. she picked up the cut of blood orange slice and pressed that to the wound to try and force it to coagulate and stop flowing until she could tend to it properly later. It hurt like shit and definitely wasn't healthy but it's what she had to work with right now and the others didn't seem to know about the pale people eater factor of their employer.
1 and a half minutes left.
Charlotte walked back into the other room and worked on finishing the last of the drink running the lime around the edges of the glasses and putting some salt on the rime. she definitely did this out of order but she was kinda pressed for time and never really made these before so hey. at least they'd die trying. After adding an ounce of Vodka to each She used the spoon to stir the contents of the blood-free drinks first before stirring the Triple bloody marys. She added the Ice and candied peel garnish with the celery before taking a sip of the tester, blood-free drink. it was decent. definitely rushed but decent. she put that one down to the side before cleaning the tray. and handing it to the server.
"These four follow the ladies' dietary restrictions. This one is for Lady Benevento." Charlotte says as she leaves a cloth napkin on the tray to divide the glasses so the server remembers. "Tell them that it's a refreshing chilled mixture of local produce and exotic delicacy. That should sell it well enough."
"A refreshing chilled mixture of local produce and exotic delicacy" he repeats and nods. "okay." he nods and walks off to avoid being late.
the chef walks over to the test glass and sips at it before coughing a bit. "We're all doomed..." he says shaking his head and walking off to the storage room. The maid started to shake again because of the chef's negative assertion.
It took a good 10 minutes of waiting, Charlotte bandaged her hand properly in the meantime before cleaning the mess on the floor since the other maid was too distraught to do anything and the Chef was probably busy getting wasted. She wasn't sure what else to do and it was a better distraction than pacing around. by the end of the wait, the server returned with a pale expression.
"The Lady Dimitrescu wishes to speak with the kitchen staff," the server says causing the trio to go pale as well. that probably wasn't good...
"I don't want to disappear," the maid says while starting to breathe heavily.
"Will ya hush with yer nonsense. it's just an old wives tale," the now very drunk chef says with slurred words.
"Keeping them waiting will just make it worse," Charlotte says as she walks over to the server. "Come on."
The others eventually join her and follow the server to the lounge where 3 giggling girls in black huddled together on a couch, clearly happy about something. Donna and Angie sat on the chair to their left as lady Dimitrescu sat with her back facing the group.
"Who is responsible for these?" She asks while holding out a half-empty cup that was missing its garnish.
The terrified cook and maid took a step back leaving Charlotte on her own. Charlotte looked back at the two shocked and annoyed. Really? really. they're throwing her under the bus after she tried saving their skin. for Fu-
"They're delicious I'll be requesting these more freque-" She paused as she got up to look at the group and found Charlotte at the front, taking credit for the drink. Her smile turned to a frown. damn it all, this was her chance and she missed it. "I'll be requesting these more frequently. I expect continued perfection."
Well, that was almost worse somehow.
"Thank you my lady," Charlotte says with a curtsy.
"Well, we helped," The chef says and the maid nods.
"Yeah, we helped," The maid affirmed.
"Did they?" Lady Dimitrescu asks curiously.
Charlotte paused to think over how to reply but nods. "They did, though in their modesty they stepped back," Charlotte says while mentally biting her tongue. it was 2 to 1. if she said they didn't she'd be outnumbered. Fine. see if she tells them the recipe after that stunt.
"Hmm," she hums quietly while making a slight face and returns to her seat. "I suppose that means I'll be able to request these whenever any of you 3 are on duty and expect the same quality. What good fortune. You're dismissed. Back to work." She'd figure out who was lying.
"Yes Lady Dimitrescu," the 3 say in unison as they go to the kitchen with the server to continue working.
As service wound down for the night and they were about ready to head back and get some sleep, the maid eventually approaches charlotte. "So um... how exactly did you make those drinks?"
"Oh? I thought you helped?" Charlotte asks with mock surprise.
"Well. I mean." the maid stuttered as her expression switched between anger and terror which causes the chef to laugh since he thought he knew the recipe from tasting the blood-free one.
"Nex time don't throw me under the carriage. Have a good night," she says and goes on her way to the shared chamber. once safely in her bed she finally allowed herself to break as quiet muffled tears flowed freely onto her pillow from the stress of the situation she was just in.
'*'*'*'*'
four days had passed since then. Lady Dimitrescu sat in her music room with her daughters as the sound of the phone ringing filled the air. She took a deep breath as she felt her eye twitch from irritation. "I'm going to KILL that man child," she hissed under her breath. This had been going on for two days now that he would call non-stop for at least an hour. take 5 or 10 minutes for a break then call again for an hour and repeat for roughly 5 or 6 hours. before stopping.
The insistent ringing got so bad that even the maids had started putting cotton in their ears in the hope to drown out the noise even slightly.
each time she answered it was usually the same very short conversation.
"Let me talk to charlotte." "Go to hell." click. Riiing!
It was a battle of attrition at its finest. As it entered its 4th hour of the second day Lady Dimitrescu stomped over to the landline in the music room and picks up the line.
"WHAT?!" She shouts at the phone.
"Let me talk to charlotte," Heisenberg says in a bored tone as he expected another short call.
"FINE! Fine. you win. I'll send her over," Lady dimitrescu relents "You are such a child."
"I'm just doing what Mother dearest told me to do," Heisenberg says with a triumphant smile as he managed to twist Miranda's instructions enough to get what he wanted.
the answer causes Lady Dimitrescu's expression to contort in rage before she slams the phone back on the receiver and gave a frustrated shout. "Someone bring me Charlotte. Now!"
The maids jolt and quickly leave the room to do what they're told. it takes a good 15 minutes but eventually, they return with Charlotte.
"You called for me my lady?" Charlotte says with the usual curtsy.
"You'll be given leave for 2 hours." She says with a frown as she massaged her temple. Charlotte seemed surprised by this. "Lord Heisenberg is summoning you. You'll have one hour to travel and one hour to stay. I expect that you will be back on time and working."
Her surprise changed to anger and horror. That little Shit. "Yes ma'am. I'll try and be back early if possible."
The vampiress sneers a bit at that before waving her off. "It's 2:42 pm go and be back by 4:42"
"Yes ma'am," Charlotte replies and heads out of the castle through the servant's entrance and down into the village. across the stone bridge and to the metal gate that blocked her path. She fidgets with the compass around her neck and carefully stows it away under the neckline of her blouse. once she was sure that was out of the way she speaks up.
"You requested my presence?" Charlotte says to announce she arrived. it takes a minute but the gate opens with no response. Once the gate was out of the way she makes her way up the hill and finds that he was waiting for her at the door of the factory. She stops a good 10 feet away from him. "What is it? I have to be back in an hour."
He grumbled under his breath upon hearing the time constraint. "Of course the Bitch would give you a deadline," he says while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Follow me," he says and motions for her to enter the factory. the two enter and she finds that the table he usually had his notes and laptop on was cleared and instead there was a chessboard with a chair on either side of the table. " Take a seat," he says gesturing to one of the chairs as he moves to sit as well.
Charlotte rolled her eyes a bit and found that the board was set up to match where they left off with their last game before she shut off her phone. She remains silent and takes a seat like she was told to.
"Look. We need to talk ... and you're not answering your phone." Heisenberg states and takes out a Cigar before gesturing to the board. "your move."
Charlotte gives a tired sigh in response while trying to think of how to reply. she was still pissed with him. but she wasn't really in a position to argue with him anymore. her trump cards were gone. "... As you wish, Lord Heisenberg," she replies with spite in her tone. she was here and she'd do what she was told but she didn't have to be happy about it. She looked over the board and moved a piece.
He knew she meant that as an insult, that the only reason she was agreeing was because of who he was. "For fuck sa-" he cut himself short. and took a deep breath and focused on staring at the board. "I'm sorry. Okay? I screwed up big time. That was not my intention... Didn't think it would get you in trouble," it took him a second but he eventually moved one of his pieces.
her mind was screaming for her to argue with him, to shout at him, kick him and run for it. Anything to vent her frustration, but she stayed in place. " I think I remember this cranky old man telling me once 'That's the million-dollar problem now isn't it, You didn't think.' It might not have been your intentions but it happened." She says in return and moves a piece while staring him down to say 'your move' for their conversation.
Was she really using his own words against him, god damn clever bitch. He grumbled at that and stays quiet for a bit as he thinks. "And I am entirely to blame for it, I know." he quietly admits. "I've lost count of how many times I beat myself over it since then." He further admits before taking a puff from his cigar to try and give himself more time to think. "You say it happened, yes. It fucking did. But so did those other weird-ass, awkward, annoying, ridiculous..." he lists off while thinking of the adventures they shared and paused to swallows the lump in his throat, "fucking amazing things you and I did." Sneaking around on scrap runs, all-nighters in the truck to gather different pieces for the army, learning about technology, movies, staying out in the rain, dinner, dancing in a parking lot, and making stupid jokes about godamn toasters. "I didn't stick my neck out for you because it was my fault, I did it because I wanted to. We made a deal, and I told you I'm a man of my word, I'm not going back on my promise." He glanced back at the board and just moved a piece for the sake of moving one. "We're getting out of here. Both of us... Problem is, it's not going to work if things stay like this...between us."
"Okay... then I think I at least deserve to know why to did what you did and what happened..." She replies. She was now more willing to not only speak but more importantly, listen. "I know you weren't completely on board with the idea of sneaking people out... but it was my plan. and it was working." Charlotte says with a sadden expression before moving to take the piece Heisenberg just placed.
he bites into his cigar slightly as he winced upon hearing the request for an answer. "It's got nothing to do with that plan of yours. So long as it didn't affect my army it's no sweat off my back," He looks over the board a bit more seriously before making a move. "I was... in a bad mood and the fish pimple"
"Moreau" Charlotte corrects annoyed. " His name is Moreau."
"HE happened to be the nearest punching bag," he says as he crosses his arm and looks away.
"God, you really have no remorse. His memories were erased because of you." Charlotte says as her irritation returned. "And that doesn't even make sense. if you didn't care about the plan then why tell anyone about it?" she asks confused as she still didn't understand how or why it even came up. at this point, the game of chess was not important to her.
he really didn't want to talk about this part... "Didn't tell anyone shit sweetheart. You wouldn't be alive if I di-"
bunch of Bullshit. Charlotte moves to stand and puts her hands on the table " I ALMOST DIED," She corrects angrily, as she leans forward a bit causing the compass to fall out of place and dangle from her neck. in her anger, she didn't notice but a certain metal lord definitely did. "This whole situation happened because you told Moreau I was meeting Alex in the wood. I wouldn't say that counts as not telling anyone." she points out before fixing her posture to stand and look down at him "And I wouldn't exactly call this being alive." she says gesturing to herself. "That castle. is. TERRIFYING," She admits with a genuine tone of fear. "I've only been there a month and people have already disappeared over the stupidest things. Heaven forbid. The other day a maid knocked over some drinks, pretty sure she's gone now." she says as she noticed the maid from before had not been at rollcall that morning.
She... still had that thing? Heisenberg thought to himself as he stared at the compass while listening to charlotte speak. he gritted his teeth as he heard her fear. it had taken too long for him to notice... she looked tired. "I salvaged most of that situation with the meeting," He says though he didn't seems particularly convinced. like she said this was barely any better than being dead. "...I just need more time, the army is coming alone but it's difficult to work on without scrap runs."
He's still avoiding the question... "And I still do appreciate what you did. It bought me more time but," she gives a quiet sigh as she looks at the board.
It was pretty obvious at this point she wasn't going to get an answer... if they were going to 'move on' like he wanted she needed to understand and all she really had so far was 'I was mad and happen to shout at Moreau cause he was the closest person and I don't feel sorry about it, and I won't acknowledge what my actions caused'. that first bit really got her, he actually convinced her that maybe he really was sorry...
"Look if you don't actually want to talk... I should go. I don't want to be late..." she says as she picks up a piece and moves it. "Check."
He stares at the board for a moment saying nothing.
Right... of course he wanted her to just forgive him and not give anything in return. Not even a simple answer... With that, she turns to leave."Good by-"
"It's because I was fucking jealous okay?" He shouts more then says as he quickly moves to stand up. he could feel himself breathing quicker as panic set in. "Each time you'd go and see that dumb" he cut himself short as he noticed a hard stare from Charlotte. "...go and see Alex," he says with spite. "I was left watching, wondering if this was the time where you'd screw me over and ditch me here. Run-off back to America with your little partner in crime instead and forget about me." He says as he puts out the last of his Cigar on the chessboard. "I have had, No One, who understands. for centuries. I've made more progress in one year than I have in a hundred." the math was slightly off but to hell with that, he was trying to make a point. "So then I saw that stupid" he stopped again "Moreau, in a field with a handful of flowers being. him. A pathetic, hopeless, lovestruck, freak that didn't stand a chance. It felt like I was looking in a mirror and I hated it, I genuinely don't remember what all I said it just. came out."
"That." She holds the side of her head as she received her answer and the puzzle fell into place. Each time she'd see him. how many times was he watching? and... lovestruck? Did he even realize he said that?
You think I'm just like Moreau... Don't you?
"Why didn't you just talk to me?" She asks concerned. This could have been avoided if they communicated even slightly. "Or let me handle talking to him? That's a sensitive topic and you're about as subtle as a hurricane."
"Like you said... it's a sensitive topic. And like I said, I was in a bad mood." he grumbles as he moves to sit on the edge of the table.
She rubs at the back of her neck. Which brought his attention back to the compass. I was going to turn him down.. because the choice I wasn't sure about was you. He was about to speak again but Charlotte beat him to it.
"Alright," Charlotte replies and nods. "I don't know what more I can give you though, I'm pretty useless at this point."
"I have a plan to get you back on the board. Just hold on a bit longer..." he says before digging through his coat pocket and handing her a small disk with a computer chip in it. "Managed to get that sensor idea workin. Keep this on you at all times okay?"
"Okay," Charlotte agrees with a nod and walks close enough to take the chip and stow it away in her pinafore pocket. "Do you have the time?"
He looks around and eventually finds a clock. "3:19 PM"
"I have 23 minutes... let's get to work," she says with an attempt at a smile.
"Let's get your phone charged and running again. you're going to need it," he says with a smirk as he motions for her to follow him.
Charlotte left promptly on time and hurried back to the castle. upon making it into the doorway she found a place to hide and sent Heisenberg a text.
[Charlotte] I'm in.
With that she put the phone away and went to start up her regular chores. Not even a minute later. Lady Dimitrescu's landline started ringing. Again. Charlotte chuckled at this and continued on. One hour turned in to two, which turned into five. then finally by the 7th hour Lady Dimitrescu stormed through the castle to her waiting room to pick up the phone.
"What do you want you horrid little man thing." Lady dimitrescu asks with fiery rage.
"When can I see Charlotte again." Heisenberg asks with a familiar bored tone.
"it's almost midnight you insufferable child." She hissed.
"Yep. and if you want your beauty sleep we're making a deal." Heisenberg says as he leans back in his chair. "I can do this all night."
"I will rip her heart out and eat it in front of you," she threatens now in an open rage.
"Kinky but mother dearest certainly wouldn't approve since she told you to leave her alive unless she messes up." Heisenberg points out "and I'm just doing what I was told and asking permission."
her eye twitched as she heard his response. "What will make it so you never call me again?"
"Well you need to do better about sharing the toy." he says as he realized he was winning. " I want to see her. and I'll call each day until you answer and let me."
"FINE." She agrees annoyed. it wasn't worth it anymore if he was going to do this. she had to keep her phone open and available in case Miranda called. this was ridiculous. "She'll be sent to the factory from 6 pm to 10 pm but I expect her to be back at 10 sharp. I won't have a maid out past that hour."
"Deal," Heisenberg agrees. "Aren't you just the sweetest older sister."
She slams the phone down and storms off.
'*'*'*'*'
A little over a week had passed since then. So far it seemed like Heisenberg's plan was working. vaguely. Thanks to his little stun with the phone He was able to give charlotte 4 hours of peace each day where she could work on their project. However, with the shortened hours, Lady Dimitrescu insisted that Charlotte would only be given one meal a day. Which wasn't as bad as it sounded. After explaining the punishment to Heisenberg he'd usually provide her with a plate of food. it usually wasn't much more than beef gravy over rice or chicken gravy over noodles but it was food.
Charlotte chuckled to herself as she walked down the dirt road of the village back towards the castle for the night. she had hoped at some point to get some paver stones and start setting a more solid road but that didn't seem like it was going to happen.
"Miss Wiltse. Good evening," says duke with a smile. "it's been some time." he says with a slight smile.
"It has been." she agrees with a slight nod "The castle gives me little time to do much else besides work."
"It's a shame."
"Have a good night." charlotte says before moving to walk on.
"Miss Wiltse, a question before you go." The duke says with a slight waving motion for her to come back.
She obliges. "I'm afraid I don't have much time... what is it?"
"You've done well to survive this long. it's a full year now as of today," He says with a smile. "However... I wonder if you've put much thought into what to do if this plan of yours fails."
"It won't." She replies with a frown.
"Of course, of course. Just speaking Hypothetically," the duke says with an amused smile. "Should such a scenario become possible. I have information that may be of use. a contact on the outside with the means to help secure things in your favor within the village."
Charlotte frowned slightly. "and how much is this information going to cost?"
"2,000 lei" the duke replied. Roughly 500 USD. The figure was much more than she expected. it was only 500 lei a name before. his price quadrupled. She had the money. she still had about 2,500 lei saved up from her trips into town. she'd hoped to save that for lunches on days she was particularly hungry and supplies like a skirt in case something happened to hers while working on the construction.
"I'll think on it." She replies "Can I quote you on that price later?"
"I am a man of my word Miss Wiltse," he says amused. "Now then. I wouldn't want you to be late."
Charlotte nods and heads on her way back to the castle.
'*'*'*'*'
another few days passed since her run-in with Duke. Charlotte was busy dusting around the castle and frowned as the conversation hung around in the back of her mind.
I wonder if you've put much thought into what to do if this plan of yours fails.
It won't fail. it CAN'T fail. She thought as she focused on cleaning an armoire that was sitting in the hallway. what a weird place for one of these... all the same she worked until a loud booming explosion was heard.
"What the hell?" Charlotte says quietly as she looked around for the source of the sound. her mind tried to think of explanations. Did he start the attack now? it wasn't due to start until spring... as she cleaned a few other loud noises could be heard only for it to just. stop.
a sense of dread build up in her chest and the hair on her neck started to stand on end as she heard the phone ring.
"I swear if this isn't mother Miranda I will THROW SOMETHING," Charlotte hears lady Dimitrescu proclaim as she goes into her waiting room to answer the call. Just as she feared, the lady walked out of the room a few minutes later and shouted. "Charlotte! Where is that girl," she grumbles.
Charlotte hesitates but walks out to the banister. "I'm here my lady."
"Good. Come. Mother Miranda has summoned us." Lady Dimitrescu says and starts walking "You'll exit through the servents door and proceed to the stronghold from there." she adds to make it clear that they were not equals.
"Yes Lady Dimitrescu," Charlotte says with a nod and hurries down the stairs to exit through the servant's door.
Nothing could have prepared her for what she found as she walked into the stronghold. Lady Dimitrescu, Lady Benevento, Lord Moreau, Lord Heisenberg, and Mother Miranda, staring down 4 kneeling figures that were chained down to the floor. Three officers and one familiar face. Alex.
"Charlotte, take your place by Lady Dimitrescu." Miranda instructs.
"... yes mother," Charlotte replies quietly and does so while every so often sparing a glance over to the beaten and bound ally.
"As you may have heard earlier with the several grenades. we suffered an attack against the village," Miranda says in an annoyed tone. "There were 10 of them before but these were the ones that remain intact." Miranda further explains. "9 outsiders lead here by one of our own. I would have satisfaction. now my children. Who will take the mantle?"
Charlotte could hear her heart pounding in her ears as her breathing quickened. no. nonono. come on think! save him! she could feel the pinch of the metal chain reminding her not to do anything stupid.
"Ohohoh! I want new toys! they look fun," angie says as she jumps down to go check out the 4 men. "ooohh ahahhahaa" she cackles as she danced around.
"I have not been provided proper sustenance in quite some time mother. Give the mortals to me so I may feed my children," Lady Dimitrescu petitions. "the traitor's suffering will be assured."
She was going to eat him?! "Give them to me!" charlotte counters speaking quickly as Lady Dimitrescu stares her down with anger. How DARE this welp challenge her request. she had all eyes on her and little time to think. "Give them to me... I haven't been able to go into town for supplies since June. which means no samples. this would give us four new genetic samples for the village." Charlotte points out.
Miranda doesn't respond. instead, she looks to the other two.
"There are already 3 petitions. I'll leave this one to the ladies." Heisenberg replies "All I ask is that I'm considered favorably for the next batch."
"your request is noted," Miranda replies before looking to Moreau waiting a moment then moving on.
"Upon hearing your requests. Solid points have been provided for consideration..." Miranda admits. "Charlotte you will be given two of the survivors to take to the village."
Oh thank heavens, she thought and spared another glance at Alex who was looking at her with a beat-up smile.
"Lady Dimitrescu, you'll be granted the traitor and one other survivor for your pantry. since you only get one of the three, you'll be granted first choice."
NO! Charlotte's panic matched Alex's. she would have moved if it weren't for the chain practically choking her and keeping her from protesting further.
"Thank you Mother Miranda," Lady Dimitrescu replies before glaring down at Charlotte. "Well, child."
"... Thank you Mother Miranda," Charlotte says after the chain relaxed.
" I have only one other matter to resolve," Miranda says as she walks forward to stand in front of Alex. "I will change my choice, and place you back in the village on one condition," Miranda says in a cool even tone. "Give me the name of anyone you were working with. any one name. and you will be spared." she offers.
Alex spits at her face in response. "You killed my daughter you bitch."
She moves to wipe the blood-filled spit off her cheek. "That will conclude our meeting," she says a flicks her hand to try and clean it off before walking away. Lady Demitrescu smiled as she got up and walked over and easily plucked the chains to cut them taking Alex's and the largest of the officers and gives them a swift yank.
"On your feet or you'll be dragged like dogs," she says and pulls the two along effortlessly. "Heisenberg, the child is your responsibility, for now, see to it she is in the castle by 10, "Lady Dimitrescu says while leaving. Despite his earlier bravery, Alex still fought against being dragged away by dragging his feet and pulling back. it's ultimately fruitless.
"I'll have the other two ready for placement by the morning," Donna says quietly as Angie dances around the remaining two like a herding dog to keep them in place.
"Ruff Ruff! dogs you're both dogs~" Angie sings as she mimicked Lady Dimitrescu's earlier insult.
Charlotte watched the doorway where Alex once was. and quietly nods before leaving feeling empty.
Heisenberg frowns as he walks alongside her. her face was completely vacant. It wasn't until they got back into the factory that it changed. She started to shake and her breathing became heavy before letting out an angered wail as she allowed herself to break. The sudden high pitch cry caused him to jolt but it was just what he needed to notice that she was about to collapse and catch her and much more gently sit down with her as she clung to him.
"I've got you," He says quietly while holding her and shushing her as she openly sobbed over someone else. "We're going to get that fucking bitch okay? both of them."
"S-she's going to e-eat him," Charlotte says through sobs. "It's All my f-Fault," she says as a hiccup caused her stutter. She never should have gotten him involved she should have just had him leave and go from there. work alone and not get anyone else involved. it was all her fault. More people are stuck here now than she was able to get out...
She failed.
I keep ending on these really sad notes and it hurts my soul cause I don't want to do that but I really need to move to the next chapter or this will get out of hand XD there is one more Sad ending chapter in the works then we're back to happy cute fluffy stuff I promise. hang in there we're getting into the RE 8 stuff soon so it's gonna be a doozy.
again a huge thank you to Dark Moons Daughter for helping me out with the Heisenberg apology scene I was absolutely at a loss for that. you should check out her story as well ^v^
Review Responses:
Black Moons Daughter - The feels ovq Speaking of feels thanks again for the help with this chap cause the feels would not be the same without ya. Alcina is definitely a super size ahem. so is Miranda lol
Charadrius - Tis always darkest before the dawn. we're almost through the tune ^v^ it shall make victory that much sweeter.
nadillaandlaprasthefireandice - Yuuup he Fooked up hard lol Moreau deserves all the hugs. and ye Miranda is a bitch that was doubled down on in this chapter lol
Emf5176 - amg thank you for that amazing compliment I'm glad the chapter was good enough to warrant reading it twice ^v^
DamnationOfTheDead - Yes and again i affirm there is a happy ending it have it mapped it ties up lots of lose ends it's going to be beautiful I'm actually going to try and go for a double post to try and get to RE8 events in the next day or two.
ScaryBerry - Moreau is a known and certified mama's boy vnv Karl done goofed but luckily he's kinda fixed it. even though it took a bit of teeth pulling lol. the section with erasing Moreau's memories was definitely the hardest thing I've written and I just killed Alex. which was also really difficult.