Mixed Messages
Chapter 22
Hunger Games
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Amanda's head bobbed and her eyes fluttered. She rubbed her fingertips along the faded, green stubble on Antonia's worn velveteen arm chair, yawned, and said, "I need to get to bed."
Her stomach growled.
Antonia chuckled, and said, "You can't be hungry again?"
"Yes, I'm just so tired. I'll get something tomorrow."
Amanda paused, peering at innumerable jars and boxes full of herbs, spices, bugs, and various colored liquids neatly arranged on wooden shelves and table tops from one end of Antonia's quarters to the other. "What are all these."
"They're things I use to make various remedies." Antonia rattled off a dozen ingredients, and said, "That's the medicine I gave you so you would heal faster."
Amanda's stomach growled again.
Antonia chuckled, and said, "I just didn't realize how quickly a teenage Grimm recovers. It would have taken a normal person almost two months, and you healed in two days."
Amanda yawned.
"It's time for bed. Doctor's orders."
Amanda hugged her and ambled out of the room nestled in the top of the castle. She wandered down staircases and hallways. She weaved through a maze of scaffolding and workman's tools. A crisp breeze wafted past and a whiff caught her. She raised her nose, inhaled again, and quirked her eyebrow.
I've smelled something like this before, but not here, she thought, and pushed through a narrow door she had never noticed before. She followed the unfamiliar path up a tiny staircase weaving inside the brickwork, into a narrow aisle behind wooden beams and plaster lath, out another narrow doorway, and into a marble hallway.
Her stomach growled again and her mouth watered. Her nose drew her, step by step down the dim hallway.
Finally, she came to a heavy, carved door, cracked open just enough for her to slip through. She touched the knob, and thought, That's weird, it's locked.
She paused and stilled herself, allowing the sounds and smells to come to her. She took in the regular breathing of sleepers, heart beats, a faint scratching, a soft rustling, and the smell.
She woged, sprouting a coat of dark fur. Her body disappeared as she slid into the shadows. She crouched in the darkness, perked her ears, lifted her nose, and inhaled. That's weird, I smell the princess, and Lukas, and something else.. Something.. Feathery.
Her vision adjusted, and she surveyed the room. The princess and Lukas sleeping in the bed, and a black blob crouched on the ceiling. A faint metallic click echoed. The blob lengthened and a black cylinder appeared at the end of an arm. Amanda narrowed her eyes, extended her claws, and readied herself.
The merest glint reflected off it's yellow eyes. She pounced, flashing up a chair, bouncing off the top of a dresser, pushing off the wall, and hooked her claws into it's body.
An ear piercing screech cut the silence, followed by a hollow thump, the crackle of wood splintering, a single metallic jingle, loud flapping, and tearing.
A whirling black and gray blur careened off the ceiling in a shower of plaster, bounced off the corner of the bed, and slammed onto the floor.
Amanda slashed and clawed with all her might as talons and a razor sharp beak sliced at her. Her hands and feet were full of sharp things darting at her, so she sank her fangs into it's neck, twisted, and tore.
Warmth splashed on her face. Another screech and gurgling, but her mouth was full of rich, sweet, delicicacy. So hungry, she thought. She clawed feathers and leathery skin aside and tore out another bite, then another, as flavor explosion after delectable explosion washed over her palate.
A woman's scream pierced the ripping and tearing. Fiery eyes lit the room and a snarl as feet hit the floor.
She glanced up for a second, and saw a muscular feline figure with black and white striped, skin-hugging fur, long pajamas, and a blocky submachine gun. It stared for a minute, shuddered, and said, "Amanda? Is that you?"
She chewed, smacking her lips, swallowed, and said, "Yes. Lukas, it's so good! Would you like some?"
Lukas clicked the light on, and Amanda found herself straddling a man sprawled next to the foot of the princess's bed. She bit a chunk out of the man's shoulder and gulped another mouthful. She swallowed, and mumbled, "Mmmm, it's so good!"
The princess hid behind the bed, pistol in hand, while Lukas searched the room. He found the silenced pistol under the bed and a bullet hole in the headboard, barely a foot above the princess's pillow.
He asked, "Wesen?"
Her eyes twinkled and a crimson smile erupted out of the dark fur. She said, "He's some sort of bird wesen. It's delicious. I've never tasted anything like this. You should try some."
He sniffed the air, checked the room, and called the Verrat. He picked up a few black and gray feathers and smelled them. He closed his eyes and then laid one in his mouth, focused, and then laughed out loud. He said, "Uhranuti? I don't think they know we are Wesen."
He dipped his hand in the sticky pool beside it's head and then wiped red streaks across her face. "Your first kill!"
She chuckled, and said, "I killed my first Wesen over a year ago."
He smiled a toothy grin, lifted the body with one hand, and said, "This is the first one you've eaten, though, isn't it. Come on, let's take him to the kitchen and properly celebrate!"
Six stout men laughed, sang, and danced around the steel table, chewing chunks ripped off of the body and drinking glasses of wine. Amanda rode on Lukas's thick shoulders, biting mouthfuls out of a dripping heart, while he chewed a chunk out of of the shoulder in his left hand.
The princess made her way downstairs. She stood in the entrance of the kitchen, glanced at the carcass on the table, eight bloody faces, and said, "Did you find anyone else?"
"No, but I have men looking."
She whispered in his ear, "I trust you took a picture of his face to make inquiry?"
"Yes, your highness."
"Excellent! Lukas, is Uhranuti considered white meat or red?"
Lukas laughed out loud and passed her a blood stained wine bottle.
She raised her glass and chanted, "Laeti vescimur nos subacturis!"
A loud shout rang out, repeating her.
"We feast on those who would subjugate us!"
An hour later, everyone was gone, save Lukas and Amanda.
Antonia snuck in, nose raised and eyes dilated. Lukas bristled and scowled while Amanda took her hand. She said, "Antonia, do you like Wesen?"
Lukas disappeared. Antonia sighed, and said "Of course, child."
She closed her eyes as the rich, coppery scent wafted into her nostrils. "What have you found?"
"Uhranuti. I think he was trying to kill the princess."
Antonia found a coffee cup, dipped it into the man's chest cavity, and sipped, savoring the flavor. She slowly exhaled, and let out a low, "Mmmm!"
A few minutes later, Antonia refilled her cup, wrapped her hands around it, and smiled.
Amanda's stomach growled again.
Antonia snickered and said, "You can't possibly be hungry, can you?"
"I've been eating all night."
"Did you get hurt?"
Amanda shrugged.
"Turn around. Let me see."
Amanda turned around, and Antonia gasped. "Child!"
"What?"
Antonia dipped another cup out of the man's chest, gulped it down, and refilled. Her cheeks turned rosy and light red streaks highlighted her dark hair. Her features smoothed and her eyes became clear and dewey as the witch became younger and younger until her middle age appearance transformed into that of a twenty-five year old. She sipped another refill from her cup, started slurring her words, and her English took on a very strong Eastern-European accent. She poked at Amanda's back, and said, "Come on, let me see."
Amanda sliced off one calf, gulped a bite down, and lifted her shirt.
"This is remarkable. I've never seen anything like this. I must have made the healing potion far too strong for you." Antonia rubbed her eyes and stared, mouth agape, as the six inch slashes in Amanda's back sealed and disappeared without her help. She looked Amanda over and found bloody gashes ripped through her clothing, and dried blood on her arms, legs, chest, and face, but the single remaining wound knitted before her eyes. She poked at the place a gash had been, only a minute ago, and Amanda giggled while she swallowed a bicep in three bites.
Antonia had just finished storing the remaining blood in jars when a stout man with round cheeks and a shiny head stomped in and scowled. He instantly started yelling, "What have you done! My kitchen!"
He grabbed a cleaver, and snorted, "Cannibals! My kitchen!"
He twisted his head and transformed, revealing flabby jowls, pointy ears, flat snout and porcine features of a Bauerschwein. He charged at them, and Amanda transformed herself, revealing her dark mane and feline features.
"I won't have a Lowen wreck my...Oh my God! What are you! A Grimm? No!"
The cleaver clattered to the floor and he jerked back, stumbling into the counter in back of him. He knocked a sheet pan loose, stepped on it, and crashed to the floor. He clambered backwards, under a counter, and hid, while the entire counter trembled, clattering a row of pots and pans hanging on a rack above.
Amanda transformed back into her human form, and five minutes later, the sour faced female cook stomped through the door. She gasped and started yelling at Amanda, "You! What have you done to my kitchen! And your friend! I don't care if you are the princess's sister! No one does... This... To my kitchen!"
Antonia stepped forward and pushed a finger onto the woman's chest. "And you will hold your tongue, and learn your place!"
The woman slapped her hand, "I won't be told what to do in my kitchen! Now get cleaning!"
Antonia twisted her head, revealing the Shtriga's brown corpse, matted gray hair, and a mouth full of spiny fangs.
The woman lunged away, but Antonia grasped the air and yanked. The woman slid backwards across the floor, twisted, and found herself face to with the dusty witch carcass. Antonia cupped spidery fingers on her cheek, and the woman stiffened like a stone. The woman gurgled and squeaked through frozen jaws and her eyes twitched as Antonia dragged a black fingernail across her face.
A red line dibbled, following her fingertip, and Antonia licked it with her dried tongue. She smacked brown, ragged lips and whispered, "delicious," in the woman's ear, "But I've already had my fill. I'm in a good mood, so I'll ask you clean up, if it's not too much trouble."
A garbled squeak filtered out of the woman's paralyzed jaws and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"And you too, come on out from under there, cook. You may as well help."
The whole countertop rattled and shook.
"Do I need to retrieve you? This will go better if you come out on your own, before the Grimm discovers her taste for bauerschwein." She clasped her fist in the air and gave a little jerk. The countertop shook and rattled, and one of the man's feet slid out.
"No, no! Please." Fat fingertips grasped the countertop from beneath, then the man's head. He crept out, peered at the woman, frozen in front of the witch corpse, and made the symbol of a cross across his chest.
"Cook, Can I leave this in your capable hands? The princess's sister and I have had a very long night. The princess had an... Unwanted visitor."
"Wh.. What about her?"
Antonia flashed her spiny fangs and ran her bony finger inside the gash on the woman's face, sealing it back up. She licked her finger and cupped the woman's cheek. She brushed the exposed bones of her fingertips under the woman's ear and down the side of her neck.
Antonia pressed her thumb and second finger together in front of the woman's eyes and snapped. The hollow click echoed through the kitchen, and the woman gasped, collapsing. White faced and trembling, she scrabbled across the floor, and huddled behind the man's legs, as terror wracked her.
Amanda sliced another chunk off, swallowed it, rubbed her swollen belly, and burped.
"Child! You can't still be hungry?"
"No, it's just so good. I have to stop."
Antonia transformed back to her much younger human form, and said, "Amanda, we've had a long night. Let's get cleaned up and get some sleep."
Amanda smiled, nodded, and they walked out the door.
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Amanda followed the noise down the stairs, and spied the commotion in the foyer. The princess had the entire Castle staff lined up. A silenced pistol dangled from her index finger as she marched back and forth.
One of the men yelled out "It had to be the witch! Everyone knows you can't trust a witch!"
Half the staff nodded and grumbled.
Antonia scowled as four more yelled out "It had to be the witch!" including the two cooks, "She must have opened the window."
Amanda crept behind the plant as more and more people complained and blamed Antonia.
She snuck out of the shadows behind Lukas, tapped his arm, and whispered, "I was with Antonia in her room last night before I found the man."
Lukas nodded and whispered in the princess's ear.
A ghost of a smirk crept perked one corner of her lips. She called out, "Someone surely witnessed this, then? Antonia allowing our visitor in last night?"
They shifted side to side.
"Well? No one? After impugning the character of my personal assistant and no one will come forward?"
She paused and singled out one man. "How about you? You raised the accusation. Surely you know something?"
The man stiffened, adjusted his collar, and gulped as Antonia scowled at him.
The princess smirked and said, "Surely, you know the price of bearing false witness? Lukas, find out what he knows."
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Later that evening, Amanda sat with Antonia in the witch's quarters. She ran her fingers along Antonia's worn velveteen chair, watching silver trails form on the green armrest. She asked, "Why was everyone trying to blame you?"
"Child, everyone hates witches. It doesn't matter how many times we help them, how many times we fix difficult problems, they always hate us."
Amanda heaved a heavy sigh and stared at the floor.
"You seem to know about that as well."
"It's the same when they find out I'm a Grimm. No one in the castle will talk to me. they all run away."
Antonia sighed, tousled her hair, and patted her back.
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2.5k 2/24/21 r1