~O~

Something Stupid

Hilda pursed her lips at the sounds of screams.

She rolled her eyes with a sigh, stared down at her watch. She gave it a few taps before waiting by the door. A thump, then a hiss before Cassandra poked her head out with a wide grin, face smeared with fresh red blood. Hilda regarded her with a knowing frown. She sighed, cast her stare to heaven before shaking her head.

"Pentru Dumnezeu..." she muttered.

"Sorry. She was a little stringy," Cassandra told her, with that constant grin.

"Ugh, I'll get the mop."

Cassandra laughed as she followed Hilda down the halls. The old woman wrinkled her brow when she noticed Sofia making her way into the library. Daniela was talking with her and Bela had eventually joined in. It seemed they were excited to know what had happened to her. Needless to say, Hilda was rather curious about Sofia's condition. She had seemed to recover well enough.

"...come on! Mother played with you and you're not dead!" Daniela insisted.

Bela frowned, a little. She didn't seem to like it.

"Little goat, come here," Hilda said, interrupting the discussion, "I need you to come into the village with me."

Sofia looked over at her, nodded once and followed the old woman down the halls. She looked at her, a question in her eyes. Hilda caught the look, sighed and shook her head.

"The Duke won't be returning for another week to the castle." Hilda explained, frowning up at her. "I need a few things for the kitchen. There's a cook who can provide me peppers and carrots. I was planning on a stew and I...forgot to add that to the Duke's list."

Sofia nodded her head. "Carrots missing."

"We must have rats." Hilda complained, with a note of disapproval. "Cassandra promised to kill all of them earlier. Maybe some got in from elsewhere."

"Maybe." Sofia agreed.

Hilda looked up at her, studying the bandaged throat with a curious note. She wanted to ask about it; her mind had been filled with questions. "Mistress tells me you offered yourself to her."

Sofia blinked, eyes widening before a warm blush touched her cheeks. She didn't answer at first as they gathered coats from the rack and made their way out into the blistering cold. The snow crunched beneath their feet, louder than usual in the air. Hilda let out a few grunts, rubbing her hands together for warmth before she looked up at Sofia.

"Why in God's name would you do a fool thing like that?" Hilda questioned, wrinkling her brow. "You know she would have killed you if she didn't have self-control."

"Yes."

Hilda stared at her quizzically, then sighed through her nose. She didn't enjoy the thought as Sofia was just far too naïve to really understand things as they were; she didn't want to see her replacement end up killed, if she was honest. "My Mistress likes her young, pretty things. But she often forgets how you grow old and break her heart all over again."

Sofia frowned thoughtfully. For the first time, she looked troubled.

"Don't look at me with such a dopey stare, little goat. It's how things are."

Once they arrived into town, they were immediately met with cautious looks from the villagers. No one spoke, but their eyes told them enough; Sofia knew what their presence meant there and how uncomfortable it had made them. She didn't leave the castle often when she did jobs for Hilda, but she knew what they felt about the Countess.

A few harsh whispers in their native tongues as Hilda walked up to a stand in the village square. A man wearing a fur coat and hat was sitting on an old chair, listening to his radio. His crates were filled with produce of every shape and size. He looked up at Hilda with a tense expression on his face when she offered him a bag of Lei.

"Your carrots and peppers. I need twenty each." she said.

He glanced beyond her to Sofia before nodding, his expression harsher than expected. He began to gather what she needed into a wheelbarrow without any argument.

A small bleating sound and Sofia blinked, looking down at a black, long-haired goat that had begun to chew on her coat. She smiled, letting out a small laugh before kneeling to pet it's wet nose. Hilda collected what she needed before turning to her. When she saw the other woman with the animal, she wrinkled her nose and chuckled, shaking her head.

"The goat with a goat." she sighed. "Ah, what a pair."

Sofia smiled, giggling once before patting the goat's head. "Goat. Like me." she said.

"That was the joke..."

Sofia took the handles of the wheelbarrow and began to push it while following Hilda. They stopped near a well and took a moment to collect themselves; it had been hard pushing the wheelbarrow through the thick, chunky snow. Sofia was watching the water below in the well, frowning and tilting her head.

"You never answered me, goat." Hilda told her. "Why did you want to give yourself to her?"

Sofia glanced down at her somewhat, lips parting with an uncertain expression. "To...make her happy." she said, her words stammering out of her; from nerves or from her stutter, it was hard to tell. "I wanted...to make her happy. W-With me."

"I see." Hilda chuckled and it was sad. It was not the answer she'd wanted, but one she'd unfortunately expected.

Sofia looked down at the well again, wrinkling her brow. "What's that?" she asked.

"Hm?" Hilda glanced down the well with her.

They spotted a case, marked with the familiar red and gold of House Dimitrescu. She blinked in shock now, startled to see it. Pale white bones had also been scattered down the well, as if someone had been stupid enough to -

Sofia was already climbing down the well to retrieve it and Hilda stared at her incredulously. "Hei! What in the name of God are you doing?" she snapped.

"Maybe it - it's hers." Sofia suggested. "Necklace?"

Hilda sighed with irritation, bidding her away with one hand. "Fine, you fetch it, then. If you want to crawl around in a disgusting well, you go right ahead."

Sofia descended further into the well, finding the ladder ended just far enough for her to jump into the water. She was greeted by smells of damp stone, moss and wood; her shoes were soaked down to her skin. She retrieved the little case, struggling to open it. Hilda watched her from the top of the well with a cautious frown.

"Is it hers?" she asked.

Sofia finally managed to open the case and she found a necklace inside of it, adorned with lovely red gems. Hilda smiled when she saw it in her hand.

"My necklace!" she gasped. "The one I'd gifted Mistress when she was little. Of course."

Sofia smiled with delight and pocketed the necklace into her coat. She reached for the ladder, but her happiness was short-lived when she found it difficult to grab onto it. Hilda's expression was grave now and she watched her struggle for a moment. Then, she sighed long and loud.

"Ugh, wait there. I'll fetch another ladder." she said, with a pat at the edge of the well.

She muttered a few annoyed words in her native tongue before walking away. Sofia was left to stand there in the water, holding herself to warm against the chill. She was watching the tunnel that led further into the shadows, wondering for a second where it could have led. She didn't notice something moving in the water behind her before rising.

A Lycan in tattered clothes, baring his teeth with a soft snarl. Sofia turned slowly when she heard it, eyes widening.

Hilda heard the snarl from not too far away. She dropped the ladder she'd found, hurried toward the well and her eye widened in horror when she noticed that Sofia was gone. Her shout echoed throughout the village.

"SOFIA!"

O

Hilda stood there calmly as Alcina threw her chair across the room with a fierce snarl. She barely flinched when it shattered to splinters and moved to pick up the pieces. A simple chair made from simple materials; far from grand and worth very little, really.

"Well, I can see you're handling this well..." she said, quietly.

Alcina turned to her, eyes wide and nearly yellow. Her voice growled out of her like a terrifying animal. "When I find that fool Heisenberg, I will make him rue the day he was ever born!"

"That would be quite counterproductive," Hilda replied, with a grimace on her face, "And then, you'd have Mother Miranda to explain yourself to. As much as I am loathe to admit it."

"What were they doing in the village? It is his JOB to keep them in line!" Alcina demanded, taking a seat in front of her vanity, reaching for the phone. "Mother Miranda will hear about this!"

Hilda put a hand over hers and Alcina snarled at the contact. "Mistress, I think you should take a moment to calm yourself." she advised, studying her, perplexed by her behavior. "I'm...sad to see this happen to her, but...you can move on. You've done so before."

Alcina gave her a sharp, pointed look.

"Do you think I hadn't noticed the little attachment to her?" Hilda questioned, with a sympathetic smile. "It's easy for you and it's happened so often. I don't know if it's her humanity you're drawn to or her innocence. But it always ends poorly. I've seen you hurt more times than I can count."

Alcina gave a shaken smile in response, as if she was caught doing something she wasn't supposed to - an old look from when she was a child. She shook her head, reached for the phone again before stopping herself. It was foolish. It was so, unbelievably foolish of her.

Stop it.

Stop it right now.

Don't grasp onto your humanity. It's long gone.

She sighed long and loud before she covered her face with one hand. Hilda patted her shoulder with a comforting smile. The older woman eventually started to depart, but Alcina's flat voice stopped her at the door.

"Hilda."

Hilda turned, looked at her Mistress' back. "Yes?"

"Bring me a bottle."

"Of course, Mistress."

Hilda opened the doors and nearly collided with the three Dimitrescu daughters. She blinked, eye widening in surprise before frowning at them.

"Off with you!" she hissed, with a few waves of her hands. "Mistress is distraught and I must fetch her wine. What are you doing lurking by her door that way?"

The three followed her down the halls as she made her way to the Wine Room.

"Mother is upset about the maid?" Cassandra asked, with a confused frown. "Why? She was just one maid. We have dozens more."

Hilda was disinterested in the conversation. She wandered into the wine room and didn't pay attention to Daniela's teasing to her sister. Bela was bored with the discussion, but certainly wanted to understand her mother's thought behind it.

"Well, this isn't the first time the Lady of the House has become ensnared by one so human," Hilda said, quietly. "She longs for what she lost. I suppose that emotion runs deeper than most. I've always been loyal to my Mistress, but I know there's nothing I can do to stop her from her own appetites."

The three looked at each other briefly before watching Hilda scan the rows of wine along the walls.

"I don't get it," Bela said, with a frown. "It's just a human."

"Yes, 'just a human'," Hilda continued, with a disappointed note, "One who could actually work the hardest and one slated to be my replacement when I die. These other girls are lost in their own lives. They live in fear constantly and when they fear messing up, so they do..."

She shook her head with irritation, taking a bottle and studying it before venturing out of the room. The three still followed behind her as she walked, face betraying nothing of sadness for Sofia's departure and nothing of her possible death.

"Little flies, you know very little of your mother," Hilda told them, gently. "Perhaps you need only ask her. And stop rattling my head with your questions."

Her tone was rough, betraying only a hint of her sadness. She didn't want to deny that there was a precious charm to the other woman that she would surely miss. But she knew what happened when a Lycan found a human. They were dead before dawn.

"See to your mother." Hilda suggested. "She will need your comfort."

"Of course." Bela agreed.

They flew ahead of her to comfort their mother. That was her saving grace, really; the daughters who had come into this world to fill a void within her.

It was better that way than growing attached to a lover. Hilda knew it was cruel, but it kept her mistress from breaking her heart.

O

Sofia's eyes opened and she struggled to return to herself.

She saw the faint light of a torch nearby, smelled wet fur and blood. She blinked weakly, looking up at a stone ceiling with poor light coming through the cracks. Light from the moon, no doubt. She must have been here for a while.

Turning, she was surprised to find a young boy kneeling there; he had bright blue eyes, messy black hair and dirty overalls without a shirt. His feet ended in sharp claws and he had little rows of broken teeth. He almost looked like one caught in the middle of the change between human and Lycan.

"Hello." he said.

Sofia stared at him, curious by his presence. "Hello."

"I'm Radu. Who are you?" he asked.

"S-Sofia..." she said, quietly. "Where...am I?"

Radu looked her up and down. "You're not scratched up. That's good. You won't turn like me. That happens sometimes with the little scratches."

"Where...a-am I?" Sofia repeated, with much effort.

"Oh! Sorry. I can't hear very good." Radu explained. "Your in the Stronghold. I was brought here a week ago and they put something in my back. Now I look like this. They might do the same to you. Don't know. Not many girls come here."

Sofia shuddered, hissing sharply as she struggled to sit up. She looked around, found that they were sitting on a stone floor of a wide cave lit poorly by torches. Her eyes fell to Radu, studying his condition; the little claws on his bare feet, the poor state of his clothes.

"H-Home." she said. "I-I must g-go home."

"Oh. You don't talk too good, do you?" Radu looked sympathetic.

"No..."

"That's okay." Radu said, with a small smile. "I don't talk very good either. My head is messy so it's hard remembering stuff sometimes."

Sofia smiled weakly in response.

"Are you hungry? I have some deer saved up." Radu offered her, reaching behind him for a piece of old paper.

Sofia looked down at the offering; it was bloody and raw and the boy had clearly picked through it a few times. She smiled politely, but shook her head. He shrugged and began to chew a little at it.

Sofia looked around now, shivering and holding herself.

"I must...go home." she said, between trembles.

"I'll show you the way out." Radu assured her, standing and offering his hand. "But we have to be quiet or the big one finds us. You don't want him to find you."

"Big one?" Sofia looked confused.

"Yeah. He's like me, but his head is messy too." Radu explained, when Sofia rose. "He tried to help me and keep me for himself because my papa died. He wanted to be my new papa. But I got messed up, too. So he's mad all the time. He uses a HUGE hammer. I can't say the word they call him. It's hard."

Sofia nodded hesitantly, took the child's hand and they began their walk.

O

Note - Also, I forgot; I was inspired by Stefanie Joosten's voice for Quiet in MGS for Sofia.