I started writing this without a real story in mind, so it's very much going to develop as I go. Ethan, in this story, failed to kill Bela and was then captured. Now his mission is to get his daughter and get out, but along the way, certain events will force him to change his path. I eventually will have Ethan become involved with one of the three sisters. Which, I am unsure of. I also plan on addressing the fact that Mia is actually still alive during the game. All the Lords, Miranda, and the Duke will be in this story, as well as some OC staff for the castle.
"Where are you going, little one"
Shit.
As Ethan turns around, he comes face to face with one of those freaky witch-bitches. With a gentle shove, she tosses him through the wooden barricade into the stone room.
Shit.
As she jumps on top of him and licks her black and bloody lips in hunger, he makes a split-second choice. In a last-ditch effort, he raises his pistol to unload lead into her face. Putting all his faith into the slim chance that maybe in close proximity those damned flies can't save her from a bullet. He catches a glimpse of a window behind her as well, maybe he could shoot that instead, and try to wrestle off of her and out the window. Either way, Ethan makes ready to fire.
Click…
Shit.
Click click click. A quick glance at the pistol shows the slide locked back, and the magazine is empty. Ethan, you stupid mother fucker! He mentally kicks himself for not counting bullets, as he always had until now.
"Aw, is the poor manthings gun empty? So sad, I'm so sure you would have gotten me this time." A dark, bloody smirk tells Ethan that no, he would've not gotten her this time if his gun was loaded. "Your blood smells delicious manthing, too bad mother wants you alive. Well, she didn't mention you being in perfect condition, however." With that, the sister snarls as she grabs his left wrist and clamps her teeth down on it, ripping through skin, meat, and arteries. Normally, this would prompt a scream of pain, shock, and fear.
However, Ethan is different. That ugly fucker earlier took a chunk out of his damn hand, and don't forget that man down in Louisiana took his fucking leg off at the shin with a goddamn shovel. So, when the blood-sucking bitch almost chunks out his wrist and drinks his blood, he only responds with a grunt and a right hook across her face. Well, an attempted right hook, as her body disintegrates into those nasty flies, leaving his wrist bitten and bleeding.
"Get the fuck off me you sick fuck!" Ethan spits his curse as he pushes himself back and up, flies still swarming a few feet in front of him.
"Oh, the man thing still has some fight in him? Good, good, fear makes that precious red blood all the better! I oh so wish we could continue this little cat and mouse game, manthing-"
"Get fucked! And my name is Ethan, not manthing! I'm not afraid of you either!" As Ethan stands he reaches for the spare magazines in his jacket… but finds nothing.
"Looking for these, manthing?" In the witch's hand, is all of his ammo.
Shit!
A chilling giggle escapes her as she swarms and reappears in front of Ethan, backhanding him. Stars dance in his vision as the lights seem to dim, only somewhat aware that he flew through the air and into an old wooden bookshelf, breaking it with his body.
"Good try manthing, I will give you that, but play-time is over." Stars continue to dot his vision, but he makes out the sister stalking toward him, "Goodnight, manthing!" a strong punch to Ethan's face knocks him out.
Fuck, my head! Feels like someone is dribbling a basketball on my brain. As Ethan comes back into consciousness, a few things make themselves apparent. The first was his poor, poor rattled skull. That witch-bitch could punch and probably left him concussed. The second was his broken nose. The way it felt, he was pretty sure it would be as flat as a pancake right now. The third was that his hands were bound and he was tied to a chair (a pretty comfy one, but still). The last thing he realizes is that he is not alone.
"What should we do with him, Mother? We can't hook him again, he somehow got down last time and would just do it again."
Before he even opens his eyes, he knew who spoke. The one that chased him and knocked his lights out. He made a mental note to repair her tenfold, if not just kill her. Another voice chimes in. "I say we flay its flesh off its bone, collect that beautiful blood, and make decorations from its bone!" 'Who is that twisted fuck?'
"No! I say we chain it up and oh so slowly bleed them dry, keep that pretty face of theirs around for a little while longer and enjoy them." Ethan can't decide what worries him more; how one person wants to kill him and mutilate his corpse, or another wants to bleed him to death slowly and 'enjoy' him, whatever that means.
"Those ideas are delightful, my sweet daughters," Great, the tall witch-bitch is here too! "However; Mother Miranda has given me orders to keep this manthing around a little while longer. It seems it's of some importance now. How a silly manthing can be important is beyond me. No, we need to keep it alive, at least for now. Bela, you are the oldest and need to start learning to make decisions; what do you suggest we do with the manthing?"
'This manthing shit is getting fucking annoying. And who the fuck is this Mother Miranda?'
"Well, Mother," so the thing that punched him was Bela. Stupid name, if you asked Ethan. "Since we need to keep it alive for now, and it appears they are a bit craftier than we suspected, I say we toss them in the dungeon. Chain it up in a cell. Keep the Moroaică out and roaming to… encourage them to stay in the cell."
"Good idea, Bela dear. However, I have a feeling that even that might not be enough. How about every few hours, one of you three checks up on the prisoner? Take a drink from him as well to keep him weak."
"Oh yes, mother! What a splendid idea! Manblood…" the psycho-est sister agrees and coo's at the prospect of blood. At this point, Ethan is wide awake but does not want to let them know that yet. Let them continue talking freely in front of him. "As punishment for their escape and destruction of some of our property, torture the manthing a bit, daughters. However, do not kill him. Am I clear?"
All three sisters answer at once, "Yes, mother!"
"Well, now that is all sorted, I have other matters to tend to. Oh, and Ethan? You can stop pretending to be asleep… I could hear your heartbeat quicken."
Double shit!
As he opens his eyes, he realizes he's back in the room he was hooked in, the fireplace still burning and making the room nice and toasty. All four 'women' are staring at him giving him a blood-thirsty smile. Especially the black-haired one, her grin extra twisted as she speaks, "Well now manthing, I believe its time we escorted you to your new chambers. What hosts would we be if we didn't?" she teases as she cuts the rope binding him to the chair. A sense of foreboding overcame Ethan as the other two sisters approached him, sickles in hand. Struggling to get standing and back away, he starts to panic "Wait no, no I can walk- Gah!" sickles in his calves, the duo begins to drag him with the third trailing behind, all smiles. "God damn it! Fuck you all! I'm going to get my daughter and then I'm going to kill you! You hear me!?"
"Keep that fire inside you going, manthing," the black-haired sister stated, leaning over to look directly into Ethan's eyes with a grin, "You'll need it to keep your mind from shattering while we play in the dungeon." Ethan can see the insanity and blood-lust swirling in her golden eyes. All Ethan could do right now was stare back at the sister, holding her gaze and being defiant. Seeing said defiance in Ethan, the psycho-bitchs' smile expands more. "Oh, you will be fun…" her sentence trails off into a giggle.
The trip down to the dungeon wasn't that bad honestly, as long as you didn't mind being dragged by the meat of your calves, head bumping a lip in the floor, and then tossed down some stairs, landing on the hard damp stone. Not bad at all. As they pulled Ethan around, with Cassandra leading the way with a dim torch, Ethan scans the cells they pass by. No one else was down here at the moment, that much he gathered, but the amount of fresh blood on the floor and torture devices tell him all he needs to know. Some of the devices were beyond barbaric. The creativity of the mind is a horrifying thing.
As the sisters 'escorted' him to his cell he began to think, 'The tall bitch said they can't kill me, at least not yet. So that's a plus, I guess. I need to find my way out of this damned place, get my daughter, and get the hell out!' Ethan isn't a planning man, he liked to fly by the seat of his pants, but even now he knew his situation is fucked and would require a more thought-out procedure. 'They took my guns and ammo, I can't just blast my way out like normal. They also said something about the 'Moroaică' being let loose down here as well, hopefully they won't be too much of a bother. The trinity of witch-bitches here don't seem to be too big of an issue. Just gotta find a way to counter those damn flies. Their mother, on the other hand, might prove to be a pain in the ass. A giant one, too'
Lost in his thought, he didn't notice being dragged into a mostly empty cell until the sisters gracefully wrenched their sickles out of his legs. "Welcome to your new home, manthing," the blonde, known as Bela, speaks up while giving him that horrid grin as she continues "now it's time for your punishment for being such an unruly guest."
'Ah yes, I still have this shit to deal with first. Fuck.' Ethan grimaces at her in reply, knowing words would be useless right now. Eyes cycling between the three sisters' faces, he watches their moves for any sort of chance.
Bela raises her head and looks to her sisters, "Cut him free and chain him to the wall, then we can get started."
The black-haired one beams at Bela "Oh yes! We can finally get a taste of that delicious manblood!"
Bela turns to give the sister a stern look, "Remember Cassandra," so her name is 'Cassandra'. Just as stupid as 'Bela'. "we can hurt him as much as we want, just no killing. Yet."
"Fuck you both!" Ethan decides to chime in; why? Because fuck you, that's why. "I won't let you kill me! I will get my daughter back!"
"Oh manthing, it's so sweet how devoted you are! Is there any room for another girl in your heart?" the redhead asks in a sickly sweet tone as she looks down at Ethan and bats her eyelashes. Ethan looks on in confusion for a moment before she continues "I suppose I will just have to rip it out and see for myself." Ah, there it is; the twisted, bloody death threat. Noticing Bela's stare at her, she then amends her statement "...once Mother Miranda decides you are no longer needed, that is." In a flash, the sweet loving look on her face is replaced with a twisted grin, matching her other sisters, and she suddenly swings her sickle between Ethan's hands, severing the bindings. His first instinct is to scramble up and bolt out the door, but the sudden creeeeek and clang of rusted metal tell Ethan just to keep his dumb-ass self on the floor.
Bela and the redhead grab each wrist and yank him up, shoulders screaming in pain as they try to keep his arms attached. At first, he tries to get his feet under him and get steady, but he's soon lifted off the ground and his wrists placed in cuffs. The old, rusty metal digs into his skin as he now dangles freely from the chains, back to the wall, and facing the twisted-trio. While he's easily at least a foot off the ground now, he's about eye level with the sisters. He didn't realize how tall they were till now. They were easily a foot taller, maybe even more.
The torch in Cassandra's hand illuminates the cell just enough to inspect it. The cell itself is small, with just enough room for the three sisters and the wall decoration known as Ethan to be evenly spaced apart. The ceiling is arched, giving a bit more vertical space to the room. The entirety of the dungeon seems to be made of natural stone bricks, cobbled together, with the floor made from much larger stone slabs. The bars and door on the cell seem sturdy and well-fixed into the stone. The spacing, however, is a bit wide. Someone skinny enough could slip through. Ethan, however, does not have the time to starve himself. The torch only illuminates just a few feet beyond the bars, and the rest of the dungeon disappears into the inky blackness.
Bela speaks up, "Well manthing, let's get started. Here, hold this for me." With that, she drives the sickle into Ethan's right bicep and tugs it through his arm, slicing through the meat. The shock of pain makes him grunt out and squeeze his eyes in pain. He then feels another sickle pierce his left forearm, passing between the two bones, thank god. Steeling himself, Ethan lets out a shaky breath and opens his eyes. He's greeted with the sight of the red-headed sister letting the trickle of blood from his left wrist drip onto her tongue like she's trying to catch snowflakes. The other sister, Bela, had latched onto the severed muscle and sucked the blood directly from the source. With the cut being as wide and deep as it was, he could easily see his bone through the muscle. The third, Cassandra, saunters right up to Ethan and places the tip of the sickle onto his forehead.
"Your blood smells delicious manthing, now let's see how you look covered in it." with that and a bloody glint in her eyes, she drags the tip across his forehead. He scrunches his eyes shut again as his face contorts in pain, but this time he remains silent. He will not give them the satisfaction of his screams. He instantly feels the blood pour down his face and onto his chest. Cuts to the face always bleed a ridiculous amount. Cassandra, spurred on by the bloody river, dives into his neck and bites him.
"Aww, Cassandra, now why did you go and cut its pretty face?" the redhead asks, now dribblings of blood running down her face and neck.
Cassandra pulls away and shouts at her sister, "Shut it, Daniela! I will cut whatever I please!"
Finally putting a (stupid) name to the third sister, Ethan can curse them each properly now.
"How about you go fuck yourself, Cassandra. You too Dan-"
Cassandra screams as she rears her hand back and slaps Ethan across the jaw
"How dare you use my name, you filthy manthing!"
The slap had broke a tooth loose and sent it tumbling out of his head with a river of blood behind it. The slap stuns him for a moment, stars dancing in his vision, and his body going lax in the restraints.
A moment passes as Ethan stares at the ground, head and body hanging limply as his brain struggles to reel from the absolute pain. After a moment of inactivity, the sisters become nervous.
Daniela huffs and looks at her sister "...great job, Cassandra, you killed the manthing! Mother will be disappointed in us!" Daniela whines from his side.
Bela, full of anger and annoyance responds, "Mother? What about Miranda!? She wanted the manthing alive! How are we going to explain to either of them that they died in the first hour we had it? Not only we will be held responsible, but so will our Mother! More so than us!"
"What was I supposed to do when this manthing used my name, sister!" Cassandra stomps her foot on the ground, akin to a child arguing back.
As the sisters bicker, Ethan blinks away the stars as he struggles to raise his head. The sisters, as it appears, are too engrossed in their argument that they fail to notice him come out of his stupor. With the empty tooth socket now pouring blood into his mouth, he got an idea. A dumb idea. Scratch that, a very dumb idea. Double scratch, an extremely dumb idea that was sure to result in his slow death.
Mouth full of blood, he spits and sprays the sisters in a mist of that oh-so-precious mainblood they have been raving about.
As the rivulets of blood splatter across the faces of each sister, they all give a little jump in surprise. Ethan can't help to find this somewhat amusing. The absolute dumb-founded looks on their now wide-eyed faces make Ethan openly smile, he just can't help it. He was pretty sure one of them made a little 'eep' sound too, but that was stretching it. As they slowly turn towards Ethan, he can see the surprised expression on their faces. At this point, he can't help but openly chuckle. To see these three high-and-mighty cannibalistic bitches startled and shocked at Ethans' actions was comical. For a moment, he sees the shocked look in Bela's eyes give way to something he can't quite place. It looked like a mix between confusion and apprehension, and maybe a bit of curiosity sprinkled in as well. Maybe it was due to the sheer audacity to spit on the sisters.
However, this didn't last long. As soon as the sight Ethan alive registered in their minds, one of them lept forward.
Bela?
No, she was trying to reaffirm that the manthing was indeed still alive and her sisters and mother wouldn't have Miranda's ire.
Cassandra?
Not her either, strangely. She was shocked and a bit impressed at the balls of this manthing to spit on her.
No, it was Daniela. Something in her eyes deeply unsettled Ethan as she jumped in front of him, slightly hovering off the ground as her lower body had morphed into flies. She took a double fist full of Ethan's jacket and pulled him up within an inch of her face. Expecting his throat to be bitten out, or his nose to be torn off, he steeled himself and prepared for pain.
"You damn manthing! The sheer audacity you have! I could just-!"
"Kill me?" Ethan cut Daniela off before she could finish, "Your sister already said you can't kill me, and as long as I'm alive, I won't stop till I get my daughter back!"
Daniela's eyes widen in unbridled rage, the audacity of this manthing to still challenge her in his state was nothing short of infuriating. She released her grip on his jacket and grabbed each side of his face with her hands, fingers digging into his skin painfully as she maintained a firm hold on his head. Bela's eyebrows raise in curiosity, as bursts of extreme rage from Daniela are quite rare and hold different results each time. Cassandra, however, is extremely excited, as she knows that when Daniela blows up, it usually ends in a gory mess.
"Wrong, manthing! I could just… kiss you!"
Without letting Ethan process the words, Daniela closes the gap and mashes her lips to his.
'What the hell!?'
With nowhere to go, the only thing Ethan can do is wrestle his head side to side while flailing his legs about to try to break free of this freak. Her hold on Ethan's head, however, prevents this. As Daniela sloppily sucks and licks the blood off Ethan's lips, the other two sisters' faces drop into annoyance over their sisters' antics. Bela speaks, "Ok Daniela, that's enough, stop molesting the manthing."
This, however, does not cause Daniela to stop. In fact, it makes her form a mischievous smile against Ethan's lips. His eyes bug out of his head and he increases his fruitless efforts of writhing as Daniela forces her putrid tongue into his mouth. He wants to puke.
"Geher off me!" came Ethan's muffled pleas for the sister's help, hoping they would at least agree that this is just ridiculous and should stop.
Cassandra, ever the gentle sister, grabs Daniela by the hair and pulls her off Ethan.
Daniela releases her hold on Ethan in an attempt to pry her sister's hand off her red hair, "Owowow! Let go of my hair, Cassandra! That hurts!"
Cassandra, trying to ignore her sisters' wails, just stares at Ethan.
"You, manthing, have spirit. We will make sure to break that very soon. However, we must go and talk with our sister about kissing filthy manthings… again." With that, Cassandra drags Daniela by her hair through the bars and into the blackness. Bela, collecting Daniela's forgotten sickle from his wrist with all the grace of a freight train, turns to leave as well. Only to stop and look over her shoulder. "Oh, Ethan? Don't ever spit on us again." With that cool, calm, and collected voice came a furious backhand across his face. "I will be back later to personally make sure that you understand your place in this castle, manthing." With that, she delivered a swift punch to his gut too, then turned back around and phased into her bug-form, flying away.
'What a great idea that was Ethan, spit on them Ethan, what's the worst that could happen, Ethan… I think I'd rather be stabbed again than kissed by that witch. She tasted like death.'
As Ethan watches the forgotten torch slowly burn away on the floor, the light slowly dimming, he realizes that he won't be getting out tonight. With the promise of Bela's return later as well, he might as get as much rest as he can now. The bleed from his arms and face seem to have stopped now, thankfully.
'Ok Ethan, time to make a to-do list.
First; get out of these fucking chains
Second; get out of this damn cell.
Third; get out of the dungeon and secure my weapons.
Fourth; Kill all those bitches and burn this place down.
Wait no, skipped a step.
Fourth; Get Rose back!
Fifth; Then kill the bitches, burn the place down.
But first, rest…
Not needing much more encouragement, coupled with blood loss and exhaustion, Ethan's eyes became heavy, hoping that the 'Bela' sister forgets about him and does not come back down. Fatigue finally claims Ethan, he drifts off and begins to dream.
First, he dreams of the Baker House again. Being force-fed someone's entrails and having a knife shoved in his mouth. Then the Bakers House morphs into his house, and the previous night plays in his head. Sitting there stunned as a bullet strikes Mia in the shoulder, that eerie cold silence before the storm of lead. Then watching Christ brutally murder Mia. 'I'm going to kill that fucking bastard!' Ethan thought as he stared up at Chris, then to see him take his baby Rose too, sent him over the edge. He wanted nothing more than to destroy Chris at that moment.
His dream shifts again, this time Christ, with Rose in his hands, is standing at the entrance to the castle, with Mia's bleeding corpse behind him. The three sisters circle Ethan like hungry sharks on the hunt. Up the stairs, looking over the banister of the second floor onto the scene, a horrifying smile upon her lips. "What's wrong, manthing?" she calls, while her daughters whisper 'manthing' and 'manblood' as their circle around him, their smiles matching their mother. The tall one continues, "Oh, your wife died? How sad. After all that trouble you went through to save her, all those people that died, all the pain and suffering you endured, just to see her put down like the filthy dog she was, all the while the one who did it still has your child. Such a failure, even for a manthing."
"Shut the fuck up with that manthing shit!" Ethan screams out, "I'm gonna kill your giant ass, and you three Twilight rejects!"
Maniacal laughter fills the hall. Everyone is staring at Ethan and laughing at him, even Mia's corpse. "Now that is most humorous manthing! The belief that you can do something to stop us is cute, but playtime is over." Face becoming serious, the tall one looks at you with mild amusement. With a flick of the wrist as if she was sending you away, she speaks "Time to eat, daughters. Have your fill." The three sisters stop in their spots and each withdraws their sickle. At once, they leap at Ethan. Rearing back to deliver mighty slashes, and opening wide to bite off chunks of his flesh, all he can do is raise his arms in defense. However, an icy rush washes over him before their teeth and blades can meet his flesh and bone.
Literally. As Ethan awakes in a panic, wide awake, he looks around. 'Damn, she's back!' There, now soaked and freezing cold, Ethan sees the Bela sister holding a bucket.
"Finally, you're awake. Good dream?" came the sarcastic question of the blond. A look of smugness in her eye. "You kept saying 'Mia, Mia, Mia' in your sleep. A ladyfriend back home, I take it?"
Ethan hotly barks a response, rising to meet her taunt, "It's none of your fucking business, bitch! Keep her name out of your disgusting mouth!"
Eyes alight in curiosity, the blond continues, walking towards Ethan "Ohhh seems I struck a nerve! How fun! You know, while physical torture is the most fun, it's much more rewarding to torture someone's mind. To learn what drives them and who, only to convince them that they are worthless bags of blood and bone. Worth nothing more than the piss that runs down their leg." Sort of shocked at the vulgarness of the sister, Ethan replies "Just try me, bitch. I've had a lot worse than you or those other freaks you call sisters." a smug smile graces his lips as he sees his words anger Bela, just a little.
Smashing her fist into the well next to Ethan's head, she leans in and narrows her eyes, "You will fear me, my sisters, and above all else, you will fear our mother!"
"Is that before or after you go outside and see the sun for the first time, pasty?"
"Uhg! You damned manthing!" a swift punch to the gut sends Ethan into a coughing fit, gasping for the air that left his lungs. "Listen well, manthing!" Bela grasps Ethan by the jaw, "You will fear me, you will fear my sisters, and above all else, you will fear our mother! Until Mother Miranda lets you die, every day will be agony for you. You will be tortured, beaten, drank from, and humiliated. So sleep well, manthing! You will need your strength." After a moment of hatred-filled silence, a smirk crosses Bela's face as she gets a marvelous idea. A snorting-like sound comes from the sister, and Ethan knows what to expect, but is powerless to stop it.
"A little payback is in order, I believe…"
Spitting a glob of salvia and mucus onto Ethan's face, Bela cackles. Unable to move his head, he just has to let the insult literally drip down his face. 'Not the grossest thing to ever happen to me, to be honest…'
Releasing him, Bela takes a step back from Ethan. "I'm afraid, manthing, I have business to attend to in a moment, so I will only be able to leave you with this parting gift until I see you next time tomorrow." with that, she punches Ethan square in the nose again, crunching it and bursting blood vessels.
"Fuck! You!" Ethan nasally hisses as he writhes in pain, blood pouring out of his nose and onto the floor. Cackling, Bela brings her fist back again.
A throbbing headache makes itself apparent as Ethan wakes up, again. 'She knocked me out… again! God damn her! I suppose I'm in no position to ask for some Advil…' Eyes flickering open, all he sees is darkness, the torch had long since burnt all its fuel. Waking up, chained up to a wall is very disorientating. He couldn't tell if he was 1 foot or 10 feet off the ground, or just chained up in the void all together. He had no idea how long he was out for either, the torch could have easily lasted only a few minutes after being forced into unconsciousness by Bela. He couldn't tell how much blood he even lost, but the severity of his headache points to a lot.
The dungeon is strangely silent as well, with no dripping of groundwater into the caverns, no insects singing their calls, no rats, nothing. So when the sound of a door opening and the sounds of a swarm of flies comes closer, he knows exactly what's going on.
"Ohhh maaaanthing~~~" came a sickly-sweet call. In his post-punch stupor, he can't place the voice and face.
'Please don't let it be that creepy bitch that kissed me. Daniela, that was her name! Please, please, please don't let it be Daniela. I don't know what she would do alone…'
The swarm of flies stops in front of him, but with no light source, he can't tell who it is.
"Hello, manthing? Did you miss me?"
Ethan panicked, 'FUCK! It is her!'
A quiet chuckle came, "Oh, your heart is racing, you must've." The sound of some rummaging came from Daniela's direction, and the sound of a match being struct illuminated Daniela as she lit a small lantern in her hand. As the flame in the lantern grew, he saw more of the details on her face; the dried blood, the insane look in her eyes, and her yellow hair. Wait. Yellow? Daniela had red, didn't she? Then he realizes that no, this isn't Daniela, it's Bela.
As Ethan relaxes, he mutters "Thank god." which causes Bela to look up at Ethan with a jest on her lips, "Oh, you did miss me?", lantern now in her hands, held out between them.
"No, I'm just happy it wasn't your frisky sister down here."
Ethan didn't think it was possible, but Bela let out a laugh. A genuine laugh, that any other woman would've produced. It was normal. Too normal, which made it more frighting. "Oh, yes, Daniela. I forgot about your heated kiss with my sister." Looking out into the blackness, she continues after a huff, "Yes, she is indeed strange with how she teases. It looked like you enjoyed it though-"
"Bullshit."
Bela continued, "-, I wonder what your ladyfriend Mia would think of that?"
This silenced Ethan.
Mia. His wife.
His child's mother and his love.
She was gone. All he had left of her was now painful memories and Rose, who was taken and now has no idea where she is. Looking up at Bela, he sees her smirking, and an uncontrollable rage bubbles over.
"Listen here, you vampiric witch." Fists balling in anger as he rises to meet her, "My daughter is the last thing I have of Mia. She is all I have left. I will break free. I will scour this castle, killing whatever comes my way. You, your sisters, and your mother are all on my shit list. I will not stand idly by while she's missing. I will burn this fucking castle down to the foundation with you in it! I'll kill you all! Here me, bitch!? I will kill you all!" Starting quiet, Ethan's speech quickly rose to a heated yell as he leveled his hate-filled eyes at Bela. Still shaking from rage, he and Bela enter a sort of battle of wills with their eyes. Staring deep into each other, making sure not to advert their gaze and show submission to the other.
Until one finally does. It's a subtle flick down then back up, but it's all the other needs. They had cracked; a hairline crack, yes, but it was a crack nonetheless. The victor of this battle of wills smirks as they know what just happened. A small shift of power went, and they spoke.
"Gotcha, psycho-bitch."
"Gah! YOU INSUFFERABLE MANTHING!" With a shriek, Bela flew to Ethans' right hand, and squeezed it like a vice, breaking his hand.
A short scream tore through Ethan, but he quickly schooled himself and just laughed. He knew he rattled her just a little bit, and that was a step in the right direction to get the fuck out of this damned castle, get his daughter, and flee.
"Live it up, manthing," Bela quite literally spat out, "your hell just started! Don't get comfortable. You have not won anything-"
Ethan interrupted, "Yet. I have not won anything yet. But I will, I will make damn sure of it."
With a huff, Bela turned and stormed off. No chuckling this time. Smirking, still ignoring his poor hand, watched as Bela ran off, leaving the burning lantern behind. Not looking a gifted horse in the mouth, and now wide awake, Ethan looks around for something to exploit and possibly break free. However, the room is as bare as possible, and the chains feel sturdy when he tugged on them. Inside his hand, however, he felt the bone grinding. He would never admit it, but it was actually pretty god damn excruciating. The bone fragments slipped and ground past each other as the metal cuff around his wrist pressed on his busted hand. Grimacing, he got an idea. When you break your hand badly, it's pretty much like jelly.
Sighing, he knows a way out of the cuffs now.
Taking a deep breath, he pulls. His hand begins to contort and squish in on itself. Trying to silence his screams, he feels the bones press against each other and rip the muscle. He avoids looking because he doesn't need to see his hand to know that it just looks like ground beef in a package now. With a final pull, his hand releases. Now swinging from his left wrist, biting into his flesh more, he reaches up to his still trapped hand. Only to see his free hand misshapen. He wants to vomit, but doubts anything would come up.
Looking back up, seeing blood slowly leaking out from behind the cuff, he slams his meat club hand against his thumb, dislocating it. The blood-slicked wrist now allows him to slide right out of the cuff and, with as much grace as a brick, falls onto the floor. Landing on his side, the wind is knocked out of him as he slowly rolls on his back, trying to relocate his thoughts.
'Well. That sucked. But I'm down… with two useless hands. Great idea Ethan, fuck!'
Mentally kicking himself for not thinking, ahead, he starts to look around. He's too big to fit through the cell bars, he doesn't have anything to pick the lock with either. Cradling both hands, he stands to look around more thoroughly. Hoping for a piece of metal, or a bone even. Coming up short, he starts to panic. He might have just wasted an opportunity.
Stopping, he feels something in his jacket. Curious, he reaches in…
…and finds a bottle of disinfectant and his knife!
'Yes! They didn't shake me down! They only took what they saw! Fuckin' amateurs!'
Using his somewhat usable hand, he grips the bottle as best as he can and carefully pours it over his hands. His left thumb sets back easily enough, but his right was just as painful as having it broken.
Ethan was not a fool, he knew his healing ability was unnatural, and the disinfectant had little to do with it, but he didn't care as long as he was himself and it kept working.
Tucking the bottle back, he walks carefully to the cell door. One of Chris's words of advice came into his head then.
"Ethan, when trying to get through a door, always just try to open it first. Sometimes a door is unlocked but people will try to bust through it anyway, amusing it is locked. Just something to keep in mind."
Figuring he has nothing to lose, Ethan gives the door a simple pus-
'Oh my god, it's fucking unlocked! I'm going to use up all my luck at this rate, fucking hell. These people really are god damn amateurs.'
Pushing the door the rest of the way, Ethan walks out. Darkness surrounds him, the only saving grace he can see is the dinky little oil lamp. Figuring he doesn't have much of an option, he takes the lamp. Shining it around, he sees two ways to go; left or right. He has no idea from which direction the sisters come and go, and he didn't pay much attention while they dragged him. Shrugging, he goes left. Holding the lantern out in front and knife in hand, he walks cautiously but briskly. The sound of his steps faintly echoed around the walls, Ethan keeps listening for anything that would indicate someone else was down here with him.
As he walks, his foot catches a small rock and sends it down a side hallway a bit, clicking against the ground as it rolls. Not paying attention to it, he continues until he hears something; a moan. Quiet, breathless. Whoever it is, they sound exhausted. Debating with himself about trying to save this person in his mind, Ethan thought about the risks vs rewards. 'They could slow me down and just make things worse for the both of us. Or they might know a faster way out of this hell hole, and maybe even know where Rose is. I should at least check them, see if they can even move.' Ethan decided and began to head down the corridor. Faintly hearing ragged breathing, he began to whisper.
"Is anyone down here? Hello? I'm not one of those women, I won't hurt you. Hello?" Hearing shuffling slowly come towards him, suspicion begins to bubble. 'They sound so exhausted and yet they can move around? It doesn't sound like they're locked up either…?' Pressing forward, Ethan raises his knife just in case. The shuffling and labored breathing grow louder, and Ethan is sure they are moving toward him. Stopping, Ethan remembers something that he overheard Bela say earlier, "Keep the Moroaică out and roaming…". Whatever the Moroaică, is, he thinks he's about to meet them.
He's correct. He now hears something metal being dragged as well as more labored breathing and grunts, from multiple sources.
"Fuck.", Ethan puts eloquently. Turning to bolt, he comes face to face with a Moroaică. Grey and covered in bloody abrasions, the Moroaică opens its mouth to bite Ethan, baring its nasty gnarled teeth. Instincts taking effect, Ethan kicks the creature back and plunges his knife into its neck. At this moment, another one of Chirs's lessons crops back up.
"Ethan, when stabbing someone or something in the throat, don't drag the blade through trying to cut the throat. Punch the knife in deeper, try to push it out the other side of the neck."
Taking his advice, Ethan continues to push, and sure enough, the knife easily slices through the rest of the neck, halfway cutting the head off. With only the back of the neck to keep the creatures head on its shoulders, it falls back and slowly bleeds out. Its blood is extremely dark, almost black, and as thick as sludge. Ethan isn't even sure it's blood at all. Inspecting his new-found enemies, he sees the dead creature dressed in rags; nothing more than a bag over its torso and ripped cloth draped over its head, with a rope to act as a belt. As he looks closer for one last moment, he notices the creature was at one point a woman, most likely even human. What her fate was that brought her, he doesn't wish to find out.
As Ethan attempts to backtrack, he hears more of the creatures begin to surround him from the dark. He can't tell how many, but no less than three. There's at least one more blocking his way back now, as well. He hooks the lantern to an empty hook on the wall, and brings his knife up, prepared to fight.
The first one steps into the light, brandishing a sickle. It clumsily rears up to swing, giving Ethan time to run at them and shove it over. A swift stomp cracks its skull, and another flattens it. Turning his head, he catches the second Moroaică mid-swing with a sword, just barely ducking to avoid it. Running to it, he grabs the creature's elbow that holds the sword, preventing it from striking again, and repeatedly plunges the knife into its chest. After about 10 stabs, the thing finally goes down, after its chest had been turned to a black sludge mess. Glancing at the sword, Ethan rationalizes that he would stand a better chance with it given its longer reach and heavier attack. As he tucks his knife away, he hears more things coming. Grabbing the heavy sword, he makes ready. With the only experience he has being medieval movies he had seen, he hoped the incoming Moroaică were worse sword-fighters than him.
Looking around in the dim light, waiting for the next monster, he hears them coming closer and closer. 'Calm down Ethan,' he tells himself, 'I already killed two, there can't possibly be too many to deal with. Kill these few and book it!'
The next creature stepped into the light, with another trailing by it as well. This one has a sickle as well, but the one behind it is unarmed. Taking a mighty swing, Ethan cleaves the sickle-wielding Moroaică from shoulder to mid-chest, almost cutting the thing in half. Instantly killed, the creature drops, and Ethan withdrawals the blade. A simple thrust and the tip of the sword is planted into the brain of the second. Two dead in seconds, Ethan begins to like his odds.
Hearing a raspy roar behind him, Ethan turns to see another with a fucking battle-ax! Jumping out of the way, the heavy ax sails right over him and into the stone, kicking sparks. Slashing at the creature's legs, fells it like a tree. Standing up to finish the creature off, Ethan sees two more Moroaică approach behind him and another in front. There's a lot more than he thought. Swinging, he slices the head off the Moroaică in front and turns to guard himself against the other two. Charging, Ethan drives the sword into the duo, spearing them both on the sword... However, this does not kill them. A bit disturbed at this, Ethan withdraws the sword and stabs them again and again, this time killing both Moroaică at once.
Listening, Ethan can hear whatever Moroaică are left a bit more distant. Maybe he can keep hacking and slashing at them, and find his way out, but he does not know how many are left, and what else may lurk in the dark. However, that's not the most worrying thing.
'If any of those fucking sisters come down here, I'm fucked!' Picking up the lantern, Ethan now forgoes stealth in exchange for speed, rushing down any hallway and taking any turn he can. Slashing or stabbing at any random Moroaică that he comes across, he panics. 'It's a goddamn maze down here! I can't find shit! I have to keep going!'
Fed by fear and desperation, Ethan pushes through whatever pain and soreness he had and continues his search.
'Dead end.
Dead end.
Another dead end.
Dead en- wait, I've been here already! Damn, I'm going in circles!'
Getting more and more worried, Ethan continues until he hears something that makes his blood run cold;
"MANTHING! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
Came the vengeful scream, bouncing off the walls of the cavern from the dark.
'FUCK! Think, think, think!'
Thinking about all his interactions with the girls, they seem to have heightened senses, at least smelling and hearing. If they were vampires, could they also echo-locate? Ethan knew that while it helped bats catch prey, a still object could stealthily evade it. His heartbeat, however, Ethan knew they could hear. It would lure the sister to him, no doubt, but he could at least lower it and make it softer. Make it harder to pinpoint. The smell was already covered; the Moroaică Ethan killed spilled their black blood all over the ground and himself, hiding his scent a little.
Slowly backing himself into the wall, he stands stock still, trying to calm himself.
"I can smell you manthing! You can't hide forever!"
'Fuck, she's getting closer. Maybe… maybe if she can't see, then neither can those flies and if they can't see, how will they protect her?' Feeling the sword's grip in his hand, he tightens around it and raises it, ready to strike whenever he thinks the sister is near.
A faint glow begins to illuminate to the right of Ethan, showing he's at an intersection between two hallways, him hiding next to the corner of the hall the sister is walking up. Realization dawns on him, 'Fuck, they brought a lantern. Makes sense now that I think about it, but still! Fuck.'
As the lantern begins to creep into view, Ethan acts; swings the sword onto the hand that's holding it, knowing the flies would swarm.
Swarm they did, causing the sister to drop the lantern and snuff the flame out.
"Oh the manthing got himself a weapon, did he? How neat, I got one here as well. Now, where are you…"
Now that the voice is closer, Ethan notices that it was not Bela. That left Daniela and Cassandra; neither of which he knew much about other than Daniela was a creepy flirt and Cassandra was psychotic. Both had blood-lust, however.
Fighting completely blind in the dark was something Ethan knew was a very bad idea, but he didn't have much of a choice.
Trying to remain completely silent and holding his breath, Ethan listened for his opponent to make a sound. Anything, from the scuff of a shoe to the rustle of cloth, he just needed something. Finally, after about to turn blue, he hears it. It's just a slow, subtle exhale. He can't judge the distance, so he prays and swings. He knows he misses when the sword sails cleanly through the air without resistance, producing only a quiet 'woosh'.
"Close manthing, but not close enough!" hearing the strain in her voice Ethan back-peddles away from the source, just in time to hear a woosh and ding as a sickle meets the stone. A few sparks from the steel show Ethan right where they are, and thrusts the sword at them. He feels it sink in and grins as the sister releases a grunt of pain, "Uhg! Damn manthing, that was a lucky hit! To hell with this darkness!" Feeling something grab the blade and push it away, Ethan steps back again.
However, the darkness only lasts for so long, because the sister must've located the broken lantern and struck her sickle across the stone the oil had leaked onto, kicking sparks and igniting a small flame. Now their little battle area was blanketed in dim, orange light and a cascading shadow showed the smile on the face of the sister. Said sister's hair was also revealed; black. He was fighting Cassandra. 'Fuck, this might've been the worst possible sister to fight…'
"Oh, a sword huh? You have taste, manthing, I will give you that; but you hold it like a child!" Swinging at him, Ethan moves to narrowly dodge the strike. Tripping over one of the Moroaică corpses he cut down moments ago. Ethan scrambles up, holding out the sword, and takes a step back, waiting for her to strike.
"Oh, it seems you put that sword to use manthing. Interesting. It seems you were able to kill a few Moroaică. Impressive, for a lowly manthing. I have a fun little idea, manthing. How about we play a little game-"
"Fuck your game, and fuck you!"
Smirking, Cassandra continued, "-It has been a while since I found myself against someone with a blade. You appear to have some natural talent, too. Let's have ourselves a little duel, shall we? To make it fair, I will also restrain myself to about the strength and speed to that of a filthy human. No flies as well. You will fight me with everything you got, manthing, and we will see how well you handle that sword, or if I should cut your hands off for insulting the weapon. However, do not be disillusioned, manthing. A strike from you will not kill me."
Thinking for a moment, Ethan sees an opportunity. "Wait! You said this would be a little game, well, isn't there usually something for someone who wins? A prize of sorts."
Giving a huff and a roll of the eyes, Cassandra responds "Manthing, I just said you won't be able to kill me, which means you will lose either way."
"I know but wait! Let's say, I somehow beat you in skill. That would mean that while you still take me back, I won the game."
"Hm, I suppose that is one way to view this… alright manthing, you have a deal! If I win, I can… Ah! I got it! If I win, you will allow me to drink from you whenever I wish, without hassle!"
Paling, Ethan really didn't want to be drained of blood and kept in a state of limbo. Feeling worried, he counters "How do I know you wouldn't just drink me half to death if I won either way? Or, hell, what's stopping you from doing it at all?"
"You're right, I can just do whatever I want with you, as long as you don't die. Hm, how about this, manthing; I promise on the Dimitrescu name that I will not drink from you, if you somehow win… for now, anyway." Smirking, she passes the preverbal ball to Ethan.
Ethan really didn't want to lose any more blood, but he did not have anything else to negotiate with. "Ok, if you win you get easy blood, but I don't want to constantly pass out from blood loss. Keep the drinking to a moderate level?" Muling it over for a moment, Cassandra nods her head in agreement.
Looking Ethan up and down, Cassandra continues, "Ok manthing. If you somehow win, you get…?" Ethan didn't know what he could ask for. He couldn't ask for his freedom or his daughter, he knew it wouldn't be that simple. How about information? He couldn't ask for his daughter, but he could at least ask for information about her, right?
"I want some information about my dau-"
"Out of the question!" That seemed to infuriate her, so Ethan decided on something less significant.
"I don't want to be chained to the wall anymore in my cell."
Narrowing her eyes, Cassandra didn't seem to take well to the proposed deal.
"Come on, there isn't much I can ask for! At least give me that!"
"Hmm," Cassandra pondered, "How about; you are unchained from the wall but you wear cuffs, binding your wrists." The look in her eyes says this is non-negotiable. Nodding, Ethan agrees to the deal.
"I have a perfect spot to fight, manthing! Follow me! You can leave that old relic behind, I have better armaments in my quarters."
Trying his best to catch up, Ethan speaks "I can't see where I'm going." Hearing a huff and a quiet mutter, Ethan feels a grip on his wrist and is pulled by Cassandra, leading him through the dark. After a few minutes, Ethan's feet find a step and he falls, hearing a chuckle, Cassandra speaks "Oops, sorry manthing, I forgot to mention stairs were coming up." She did not forget, nor was she sorry.
Walking up the steps and into a hallway, Ethan looked around at the dim, but warmly lit corridor. A beautiful red carpet lined the floor, with intricate trim and decor adorning the hall.
"This way!" all but dragging Ethan behind.
Stopping by a door, Cassandra knocked on it.
"Yes, who is it?" came a voice from the other side. Behind the door, was a sister. This must be one of their bedrooms or at least an area where they could be found it.
"It's Cassandra. The manthing and I have agreed to a duel, meet us in the ballroom in a few minutes." Without waiting for a reply, Cassandra sped off to her next destination with Ethan in tow.
They were standing outside the entryway of what appeared to be a library. Cassandra unceremoniously called into the room with less tact than the last, "Daniela, me and the manthing are fighting in the ballroom! Be there!"
Ethan was getting a bit annoyed being pulled around. He can easily walk on his own, but for some reason, Cassandra had a vice grip on him. Maybe she didn't want him flaking on their duel, which Ethan began to regret more and more with each passing second.
Walking towards one final door, Cassandra opens it right away and drags Ethaninside. Seeing a workbench covered in knives, sickles, whetstones, and pipebombs? He assumes this was an armory until he spots an ornate bed and fireplace.
'This must be her room then. Why the hell does she have fucking pipebombs?'
"Pick your weapon, manthing." Cassandra gestures to a rack of weapons; swords, spears, daggers, and poles that have what looked like ax heads on them, among other tools. Deciding to keep using a sword, Ethan walks towards their section. Some are long but thin. Others are short and heavy. Some only have one edge, others two. A few swords that are leaning against the wall are massive; maybe 7 or 8 feet in length with a massive handle. Taking a few moments, Ethan inspects each, weighing them and deciding their pros and cons. Coming to a medium-length sword, he grasps it. The sword's blade is about 3 feet long but only a few inches wide at the base. It's double-edged and has a decent, leather-wrapped grip. It wasn't too heavy but still felt solid enough to deliver a mighty blow. Looking over at Cassandra, Ethan can tell she already had her weapon picked; her sickle. Big shocker.
"Ok, I'm ready." Ethan states and Cassandra grabs his wrist again and guides him through the halls. As they walk, Ethan sees someone new. It appears to be a maid. When they take notice of Cassandra, they step aside to allow both Ethan and Cassandra to pass. As they near the maid, Ethan sees her grab her dress, cross her legs, and do some weird sort of squat-like bow towards Cassandra. Feeling his pace slow, Cassandra looks to see where Ethan's attention had gone and sees him looking at the maid with a confused look.
"Uncilivilzsed manthing; its called a 'curtsy'. It's how common women greet noblewomen." Pausing to inspect the maids' bow, she continues. "She, however, is a bad example for it." Cassandra slashes her sickle towards the maid, ripping a brutal gash across her chest. A scream of pain, and she drops to the ground, holding her wound while it gushes blood. Cassandra doesn't even look back as she presses on. Ethan, too stunned to even try to help the poor woman, tries to keep pace. Gears begin to turn in his head, and Ethan starts to speak, "Wait. Why… why did you cut her? What did she do?"
Without looking back, Cassandra responds, "Because she didn't greet me correctly. Stupid maid needed to learn."
"How is she supposed to learn if you didn't correct her! What if she dies!?"
"She was already taught, manthing. Also, who cares if she dies? Fresh meat for dinner, then. Now, stop talking!" Too horrified to counter her argument, he followed the sister the rest of the way until they reached what appeared to be some grand hall, the other two women already standing there.
"What's this about the manthing and you having a duel, Cassandra? Didn't mother say not to kill the manthing?" Bela asked.
"Oh relax, Bela! I promise to play fair, and not hurt the manthing. Hell, I even agreed to fight without our powers!"
Looking at her sister, she sighs, tired of their antics. "Fine, Cassandra. Just make sure not to get too much blood on the floor. Mother hates dancing on a sticky floor. Also, I will be the judge of this duel, too."
"What! No! I-!"
Bela cuts Cassandra off. "No! If you had it your way, the manthing would be leaving here in bottles of wine!"
'Bottles of… wine?'
"Besides, I know how tricky you are; you would try some underhand tactics to beat the manthing. At least I have some sense of honor in this family. No, I will make sure you fight fair and play nice with the manthing. I will also decide the winning conditions!"
"No sister, this is my duel! I will decide how it will be won!"
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Bela retorts "Cassandra, while I do hate the manthing, the Dimitrescu family has an image to keep. What will the other lords say if a Dimitrescu sister had to cheat to beat a manthing? What about Mother Miranda? You already know what she thinks of us..." Crossing her arms and pouting, Cassandra rolls her eyes and mutters a 'fine'.
"Ok. Here are the winning conditions;
Cassandra. Since you agreed to fight as if you were a human, you lose if the manthing delivers a strike that would normally kill or significantly wound a mortal.
Manthing. Since you are only… well, a manthing, you are still at a large disadvantage even if my sister here decided to tone down her strength. As such, your losing conditions are more extreme; you lose if you are knocked out or until you submit, or until Cassandra snaps and tries to kill you.
Ok. Do we all understand the conditions? Yes? Good. Now face each other and get into your guard."
Ethan and Cassandra face each other, Bela takes a few steps back and holds her hand out in front of her, between Ethan and Cassandra.
"Both combatants ready?"
A nod from Cassandra is given.
A hesitant nod from Ethan is given.
"Ok then… let the duel between Cassandra Dimitrescu and the manthing prisoner… COMMENCE!" Bela signals with her hand and pulls it back from between the two.
Cassandra lunges towards Ethan, sickle in hand.
I plan on trying to write a new chapter every week, around 10k words each. Any feedback is welcomed, point out any writing errors or plot holes, please!