Had a rough week at work, so the story got put on the back burner. The last two nights I wrote were late-nighters, and I had to finish this the day of.
Catching the hand on reflex, Ethan was disgusted even more. The hand looked like it was torn out from a meat grinder. It was still attached to the forearm. The elbow was just an empty socket, showing that it was ripped off the body. The skin of the forearm had been carefully cut in areas to allow it to hang loosely off the muscle.
"Jesus fuck! What the hell!"
Throwing the hand off of him, Ethan tries to calm himself down. Hearing the woman's screams, seeing what was left of her arm, and Cassandra's state of dress told him more than what he wanted to know; the woman was butchered. She was killed in the slowest but most painful way possible by Cassandra. The same person he had spent an hour earlier with, as well as another hour or so planned for later. It reminded him that Cassandra was a monster.
She was something disgusting and vile, something not of this world. Unnatural. She fed off of human flesh and blood. So did her sisters. So did her mother.
'I can't just sit here anymore, but escape is damn near impossible. I… I guess I will just have to bide my time. Gather some information. Maybe if I can somehow get something to pick my the lock on my cuffs and cell, I could sneak around upstairs. I know the way out of here in the dark now, but what can I use…'
Casting another glance at the poor maid's hand, Ethan gets an idea. An idea that he is none too pleased with.
"It's almost ironic… Well, I don't have many options down here."
Grabbing the limb again, he inspects it. The bones in the arm didn't feel broken. That was… good? Ethan thinks that's good. Setting the arm down and taking out his knife, Ethan gingerly cuts into it, almost like the dead woman would still feel it. Slicing through the cold flesh, he feels the tip of his knife touch bone. Stomach churning again, Ethan takes a breath. He needs to keep going. Running his knife up and down the length of the bones inside, he prys it open. Deciding to try and take the radius, he begins to wrench it free from its fibrous prison.
He's able to free it from the attached muscles, but it still is attached pretty well to the wrist. Deciding that he needs this bone now and he's probably running out of time, he stomps on the hand, shattering it, allowing the radius to finally come free. Disgusted with the further mangled arm, he picks it up and throws it out deep into the dark dungeon. Now armed with a bone, he has to break it. Looking at the bars in his cell, he decides to place it between two bars. With a strong push, he's able to use his body weight and leverage to snap the bone.
Looking at the two broken pieces, he goes back to his sitting spot and beings to use his knife to chip and carve out a few splinters of bone. Deciding best to leave his little project for later, he stashes the bone under the straw and sits and waits for Cassandra. His stomach churns at the thought of her.
'How can someone be so twisted and cruel? Did their mother teach them to be that way? If so, what happened to her? Were they ever even human? Maybe… maybe there's still a piece of their former selves locked away in their mind, like Jack. The question is; what infected them? There's no mold here, not that I saw. Maybe something else. I hope not. I don't wanna fuck around with any more new shit. Fuck, someone is coming.'
"Good day, Mister Winters. I have some good news for you."
It was the maid, the one the frequented him the most. In her hands were some clothes, neatly folded. They looked new.
Jokingly, Ethan asked, "Oh? What's that? I'm being let go?"
Snorting at the remark, the maid shakes her head. "No, I am afraid that is not it. Lady Dimitrescu amended her statement about you getting clothes; she also ordered me to have you bathe too. Normally, we would just give you a bucket of water and a piece of cloth. However, that may not be enough for you in your current state. Just this once, you are to bathe in the servant's quarters, under the guard of Daniela."
"What! Please, no! Anyone but her!" pleaded Ethan.
"I understand your apprehension, Mister Winters, Daniela is… forward, even with us servants, but no one else can. Lady Bela will be busy performing the final checks for the day, straightening out tomorrow's schedule, and the like. Lady Cassandra said that 'I do not wish to be near a naked manthing.' Daniela was the only one available."
"Fuck…" he remarked.
"My advice, Mister Winters? Don't look a gifted horse in the mouth. Take the bath, and get it over with as fast as you can. Anyway, moving on to more present matters. I bring you fresh clothes, Mister Winters-"
"Just call me Ethan. The 'Mister Winters' shit is getting annoying."
"Well, I can't call you that around the Ladies, but I can in private, Ethan. I brought your new clothes. The Duke already knew your sizes, part of his 'first class customer service policy." Handing him the stack of clothes through the bars, she lists off what's there. "Blue jeans, black t-shirt, underwear- don't ask me how he knew your size- socks, and a hoodie. You will be brought back to your cell before Daniela fetches you for your bath, so you can take them along with you when it's time. Now, I must be going Ethan. I will bring you down dinner later. Good day."
"Goodbye… wait what's your name?"
"My name is Magda. A few native English speakers I knew called me 'Mags', so call me whichever. Bye."
"Bye, Magda."
Looking at his new clothes, Ethan felt a little happy knowing he will finally be able to wear clothes that aren't stiff as boards from dried blood and sweat. The bath promised to him later also raised his spirits, even if Daniela was going to be watching over him. He hopes that he will have soap, too. Warm water would be a bonus, but beggars can't be choosers. Setting the clothes down, Ethan decided to just wait for Cassandra to get him. Hopefully, he can get this over with and not have to talk to her much.
It was only 20 minutes before she walked down to collect him.
"Stand up, manthing, it's time for practice. Come along now." Cassandra commanded.
Not giving a reply, he simply falls into step behind her. Luckily, it seems Cassandra herself isn't in a talkative mood. The only noise coming from the pair is their footsteps and Ethan's cuffs. Reaching her room, Cassandra frees Ethan and puts a wooden sword into his hands. Raising his brows, he gives her a silent question about it.
"I want to increase our speed tonight, and perform some light combat. It wouldn't do me well to slice you up when you've only just started learning about fighting. So we will be using wooden weapons for now. It was Bela's idea. She said that we were starting off too fast, that we were 'running before the manthing could walk.' I suppose that she did have a point."
Looking at her, Ethan could only hear the woman's screams. Seeing Cassandra's teeth reminded him that she was just eating a god-damned finger earlier. Horrified, all Ethan could do was nod idly as he heard Cassandra speak.
"Ok, manthing. Get ready, get into your guard. Switch your feet, left forward. Knees bent good, sword held correctly. Good. For now, we will do this all in steps. For example; you will strike, I will attempt to defend. After I have defended, we will freeze. That way we can think about our next move. I will then attack, you defend, freeze. You go first, manthing."
Deciding to go with the only attack he really knew, he stepped forward with his right foot and brought the wooden sword towards Cassandra's neck. Unsurprisingly, she hooked the sword and redirected his momentum over her head, causing Ethan's swing to end up to the left of Cassandra. "Freeze." Listening to her command, Ethan stood still with his arms extended. Cassandra's arm was also extended from having pushed his sword out of the way.
"What I just did was called dumping. You catch your opponent's weapon with yours and redirect their attack, dumping their energy and momentum off to the side. Now, wait and then react to my movements."
Watching Cassandra, Ethan tries to think of what she could do from her position. Neither of them was off balance, so that was good. However, Ethan was fully extended and didn't know how to defend from here.
Then she moved. Albeit at a somewhat slower pace, Ethan still had to think quickly to respond. She moved to strike his exposed chest. Unable to return to a guard and meet her strike, he did the next thing he could think of. Stepping back with his right and turning his left side to the attack while also bringing the sword back, turning it straight down and over his shoulder, he caught the sickle. Taking Cassandra's advice, he swings the sword over his head, the hook on the sickle forcing her to follow.
"Good, manthing. You redirected me. On top of that, you put me in a bad position. I am bent over my feet and my arm is completely stretched out. Since you are still new to this, I will offer you some advice. The back edge of double-edged swords is called the 'false edge'. It is used to allow better attacks on a backswing, or you can spin your sword to switch to a better, sharper edge in combat. Here, since your forward edge is engaged with my sickle, you can't use it to strike me. You, however, are in a perfect position to strike. All you have to do is simply swing the sword up and strike me with the false edge."
Ethan decides to take her advice. Knowing she will just avoid the strike, he isn't too concerned about actually hitting her.
No need to say that Ethan is shocked when the strike does hit. The false edge of the wooden sword hits her right on her throat. He had tried to lean back to avoid the hit, but she was bent too far forward to move in time. If this was a real fight, however, she would have used her speed or flies to avoid the hit.
Confused, Ethan asked, "You just let me hit you, didn't you?"
"Yes, manthing, I did." Relaxing from her stance, she continued, "However, if I had been a normal human and this fight was at full speed with real weapons, you would have killed me. Most people like to think that a sword fight is a long drawn-out process in which two people have a grand fight. In reality, a real sword fight is decided in only a few seconds and a few moves. All it takes is a small opening. Some of my earliest memories were watching a few manthings fence. They would use sharp swords. It only took around 10 seconds for an opponent to catch a blade to the face. Strangely, they seemed to be proud of the scars they would incur. Personally, I would ashamed of myself, but different cultures."
"Wait what?" Asked a perplexed Ethan, "You mean they would want to get hit in the face? Why?"
"I asked one. They said something about 'dueling scars'. Said it was a right of passage, a badge of honor. I don't see how losing would be a badge of honor. If it were a real fight, a fight to the death, that slash would be on their throats or halfway through their head."
"Anyway, so I struck you. What next?"
"We reset and then continue."
As they clash with their wooden weapons, the sound of the poor maid is still echoing in Ethan's. There isn't much that she could've done to warrant such a death. The only crimes Ethan could think of were acts of pure evil; like raping or murdering. The maid most definitely did none of those things, however. Then again, Cassandra did cut a maid down just for greeting her wrong.
'Only one way to find out for sure, Ethan…'
He decided to just ask her directly. "What did she do?"
"Excuse me, manthing?" came her confused reply.
"The maid you slaughtered. What did she do?"
"Oh, her. She ran into me when I was walking the halls."
"And?" Responded Ethan, trying to get more of the story.
"And what? She ran into me, so I disposed of her."
Dumbfounded for a moment, Ethan looked at her in disbelief until he processed what she just said. "Wait! You're telling me that you hacked that poor woman to pieces because she accidentally ran into you?" Stopping the fight, Ethan could only look at Cassandra in shock. That maid was cut apart, eaten, and drained of blood just because she accidentally ran into Cassandra.
"Oh indeed, and then some! I wanted to hunt her down through the halls but mother would have been upset at the blood stains on the carpet again. So instead I opted to butcher her and drain her blood. Maidens blood, to be exact! Need to keep the wine stocked up."
"Excuse me but what the fuck!? Why would you kill her for that? Why-"
Cutting him off, she warned him "It would do you well to hold that tongue, manthing, lest I get angry with you…" Crossing her arms and narrowing her gaze at Ethan, her voice had a threat behind it. Ethan, however, did not heed her advice.
"I don't give a fuck! You're a goddamn psycho! A bloodthirsty psycho! Only a monster would do-"
In a flash, Cassandra's hand flew to his throat, cutting off his words and his air. She hoisted him off the ground and threw him across the room. Rolling, Ethan slammed against the stone wall.
"Listen and listen well, manthing! I will not be insulted by the likes of you! What we do in this castle is our business! Just be happy that you weren't in her place you first got here! I do not wish to hear your voice for the rest of the day, manthing! If I do, I am going to cut your tongue out! Do you understand me!?"
Nodding, Ethan tries to stand, but a swift kick from Cassandra into his ribcage drops him again. That one might've cracked a rib. After getting back to his feet, Cassandra walks over to him with the cuffs, "You have ruined the fight, manthing. You are going back to your cell early." Pushing Ethan out of the room and into the hall. "Someone take the manthing back to the dungeon!" Slamming the door, Cassandra remained in her room. Looking around, he doesn't see or hear anyone coming. Deciding to sit down on a nearby seat, he waits for a maid or someone not as angry with him to walk past.
Unfortunately, it appears no one heard Cassandra. Deciding to just risk it, Ethan walks back on his own. He knows the path, having taken it just a few hours ago. He just hopped one of the other sisters or the lady of the castle didn't appear. He didn't want to explain that no, he didn't escape then only to explain why Cassandra is furious at the manthing now.
Escape. It made Ethan freeze for a moment. Here he was, in the middle of the castle, unattended and everyone else unaware. He could run around, maybe find something to break those damned cuffs, find his daughter and get the hell out.
"No… I can't. I don't have my guns. They would just chase me down and lock me up. Again." Continuing to walk, Ethan passed by a few maids that didn't even glance at him. That was good, at least they didn't care if he was escorted or not. They most likely do not question what happens anymore, out of fear of death. While he didn't like his situation in the castle, he had to admit that he was most likely in a better spot than the maids. The maids could be killed for any small mistake. Ethan had just yelled at and insulted Cassandra and she only threatened to cut his tongue off. Then again, none of these girls had Miranda's attention like Ethan did apparently.
'What the hell does Miranda want with me? So many god damn questions that no one can answer! Fuck! This is getting infuriating.'
Descending into the dungeon and making his way through the dark, Ethan reaches his cell that's barely lit by the lantern. He is happy to see his cell door open. If it wasn't, he had no idea how the hell he was to get out.
'I wonder if there's a key nearby. Maybe on a hook or something? If I can get one and stash it…"
Taking the lantern off its hook, he begins to scour the area. The only area that seems to have things of value is a little room that shoots off the main hall. It appears to have been a sort of examination room. On one table sat a stack of old papers, most of which can no longer be read. A series of drawings of a skull from different views. Old jars, vials, and metal experimentation tools. Nothing of interest. Deciding not to push his luck any further today, Ethan walks back to his cell, leaving the lantern on its hook. Shutting the door, it automatically locks and he is secured. No one would ever know that for a few brief moments, Ethan was free. Sorta.
Fetching his knife and bone splinters, he starts crafting the lock picks. While Ethan did take a crash course on picking locks with Chris, he had no real experience with it, or with making the tools. He just tried to make what he vaguely remembered Christ handed to him. Ethan was able to get around 7 picks before he heard footsteps. Stashing his tools, he sat back and relaxed on his straw pile.
"Oh, Mister W- Ethan. I did not expect to see you until dinner. I have just come by to refill the lantern with oil and to put fresh straw down for you."
Stepping out from the dark was Magda. In one of her hands was an old metal container, akin to something of a teapot. The spout was longer and had a plug at the end. Her other hand held a small bundle of fresh straw.
"Well, I assume that you can handle the straw," passing the bedding material through the bars, Ethan takes it and begins to lay it down, building on top of the older pile. "Tell me, Ethan, why are you still down here? Shouldn't have Cassandra come and gotten you already?"
"Oh, well uh, she did. Me and her got into a little… disagreement, however-"
"Why would you do something so foolish! You're lucky to even be alive Ethan! If any of us staff were to talk back, we would become a red smear on the floor!" Magda admonished.
"It may have been not my best idea, I will admit, but she killed that woman." He admitted, embarrassed he put himself in danger.
"Ah, yes, Ana. Poor girl." Looking at the floor, she shook her head. "She was new, didn't know where she was going and was late for her next job. The last I saw her, she was rushing to get to it." Taking a breath, she continued, "Apparently, she ran into Lady Cassandra. One of the worst to run into. Lady Bela would've just beat her, and Lady Daniela most likely would have just yelled. That or made what Cassandra did look like child's play. Hell, even Lady Dimitrescu most likely would've given her a lesser punishment seeing as she was new and was just trying to get to her next duty. I know it may sound a bit mean, Ethan, but do not worry about us. Most of the staff have gotten into a rhythm, we know how to avoid angering the Ladies and to keep our blood on the inside. We do our best to teach the newer ones but still, these things do happen…"
Finished with the oil lamp, Magda begins to leave. However, she stops and looks back at Ethan.
"It used to be worse. A lot worse. Lady Daniela used to just slaughter us at a glance. Going from one mood to another in a second. Sometimes she would act like your best friend, only to then hang your guts from a chandelier and dance in the blood raining from your body as if it was raining. For no reason at all, too." Lost on the road of memory lane for a moment, she snaps out of it and continues. "Even Lady Dimitrescu couldn't control her and was barely able to contain her."
"What changed her? She seems more… sane, now. At least a little."
Laughing at the question, she smiled. "Now that is a funny story. She tried to electrocute a maid once but fried herself by accident. Knocked her into a coma for a week. Between you and me, I have never seen Lady Dimitrescu so worked up before." Chuckling, she continued, "For all the monstrous things they do and the fact they are not quite human, the Lady does love her daughters. When Lady Daniela woke up finally, she had mellowed out. She's still prone to bouts of extreme rage and violence, and will quickly turn you into a gruesome display of twisted art, but those outbursts are rare these days."
"Oh. That's… not concerning. Not at all."
"Just don't give her a reason to hurt you, Ethan. I must be going now, Daniela should be down in about 45 minutes. Good luck!"
With that, Magda was gone, leaving Ethan alone till Daniela came and got him. Looking over at his new clothes, he notices something sticking out of the pocket of his jeans. Leaning over to grab it, he sees it's a small folded piece of paper. Opening it, there is a short letter written in simple yet perfect cursive;
Dear Mr. Winters,
I would suggest you bide your time.
-Till next time, The Duke
Looking at the note, Ethan is confused. "'Bide my time'? What the hell does that mean…?" Looking at it again, there is a small scribble at the bottom too.
'P.S. Eat me'
Hesitantly, Ethan put the paper into his mouth. As soon as the paper touches his tongue, it starts to dissolve into a slightly sweet flavorless goop. Shrugging, he puts the note in his mouth and it quickly dissolves like cotton candy. The ink must have been edible too, as there was a mild artificial grape flavor now, too. Swallowing the letter and removing all evidence of The Duke's cryptic advice, Ethan now sits back and tries to relax. However, one thing rattled around in his head still.
He knew that 'biding your time' meant waiting, but did The Duke really expect Ethan just to sit around and wait for… something to happen? What, did The Duke have a plan to get him out? He didn't trust the fat… man? Thing? …Manthing?
'Heh, seems to fit him pretty well, honestly.'
Maybe if he could get to The Duke himself, the fat merchant would give him more advice. Possibly some that could actually help, too.
"Manthing~!"
Shaking himself awake, Ethan looks around. There, standing on the outside of the bars was Daniela. She had a gleeful look on her face and held her hands behind her back. She had opened the cell door already, too
"Come on sleepyhead! You have a bath to take. Don't forget your new clothes, either." Daniela sweetly called.
'Damn, must've fallen asleep. Well, let's get this shit over with…'
Standing up with his clothes in hand, he began to begrudgingly march behind Daniela on the way to the servant's bath.
"I made sure to let all the other maids know that the bathroom has been reserved for a private occasion. No one should interrupt us." She said with a purr and a glance towards Ethan.
He did not like the way Daniela finished that sentence, but the allure of a bath triumphed over his fears. Descending best not to tempt the vampire, he marched on without reply. Taking a different turn after stepping out of the dungeon, Ethan is now in a part of the castle he has yet to see. The castle is like a maze, all the walls and floors are extremely similar, he doesn't know how anyone can navigate it by themselves.
Daniela takes a sharp turn and opens a nondescript door. Walking through, Ethan guesses this wing of the castle is for the staff, because the decorative carpet is gone, exposing the polished marble floor instead. The tapestry and ornate trim is also gone, the walls are a dull grey color, and the lighting through the hall is sparse.
Walking through the hall, there's a door about every 14. Most are shut but the rare few offer a glimpse inside; a few simple beds, dressers, and a table in the middle. Dorms. These are the staff dorms. Every so often Ethan would see a maid in her room too, simply laying on their back, looking at the ceiling.
"Are the staff dorms always this quiet?" came Ethan's casual question.
"I'm not sure. We don't come in here often anymore. We used to regularly come in to take maids to eat or turn into wine, but due to the dwindling population in the villages, we had to slow down some years back."
Nervous, he decided to learn more about this 'wine' he heard mentioned a few times. "About that wine, how are people involved with making wine?"
"Oh, we use their blood as an additive in the wine! It's so delicious and rich, especially if the blood is high quality." Daniela stated casually.
Stumbling at the revelation, Ethan's stomach churns at the thought of human blood being added to wine. The idea of it was barbaric and disgusting.
"W-wait, you put blood in your wine? Human blood?"
"Oh yes! It's actually the family's main source of income. It's a highly sought-after wine, only known in certain circles of the world."
"How… how much blood is used? In the wine, I mean?"
"Oh, it varied throughout the years. At one point over half the bottle was blood. Now, however, it's about a quarter of a cup."
"How do you get the blood?"
"Most of the blood supply comes from the maids, they are required to give some every so often. Just enough to make them worth keeping alive. Turns out, you can get more blood from someone if you take a little over time instead of bleeding them dry. Who would've guessed? Now instead of around 10 bottles per body, we can get… well, way more than 10 now. Albeit, it is a bit slower now. Oh, look, there are the bathrooms!"
Looking up ahead, Ethan does see a different door. Pushing it open, Daniela walked in and looked around the room. It was sparse, with no decorations, no ornate floor or trim on the walls. Across the room, Ethan sees the bathing area. There were a few bathtubs that had to be filled by hand lining the wall, but in the middle was a larger inground communal bathing area. Assuming the small individual ones were for really washing oneself off but the middle was more for relaxing or a quick rinse, Ethan walked over to them.
"Oh come now manthing, use the big one! You are the only one using this area and the maids need to drain this water anyway! Plus, this water is warm~"
"I uh… sure I guess." Reluctantly agreeing, he stepped towards the area.
With a trill of excitement in her voice, Daniela spoke again "I will go fetch us some soaps!"
"Wait us-!?" she was gone before Ethan could even question her. Deciding to hurry, Ethan undressed and slipped into the water. Immediately his muscles began to relax and the tightness in his back he didn't even know about had begun to loosen. The water isn't hot but after being stuck in the dank old basement after running around in the snow for hours, it feels magical. Closing his eyes, and lays his head back and almost falls asleep before he hears Daniela come back.
"I brought you some body soap and shampoo, manthing. They are scented like flowers and fruit, so you are going to have to make do with smelling oh-so-pretty, manthing!" Setting the items down behind Ethan's head, he grabs the bar of soap and begins to scrub at his arms, face, and chest. The water around him turns a light, murky red as the blood and grim is washed off. His skin feels new and alive as they are now being cleaned. It's crazy how much you miss the little things when fighting for your life against monsters.
All of a sudden, Ethan's blood runs cold. Not turning to look, Ethan hopes he isn't hearing something right. That something is the sound of rustling clothes. Clothes that sound like they are being dropped. The sound of bare feet padding across the floor fill the quiet (too quiet) room. Starting to panic, Ethan shoots a quick glance at Daniela. Trying to keep his gaze low, he sees her lower legs are now bare. Quickly turning to look the other direction, Daniela laughs at him.
"Aw, is the manthing nervous? Don't worry manthing, I bite gently~" Hearing her seductive call, Ethen tensed up.
As she slipped into the water and wadding towards him, he begins to panic. He can't get up and run away, that would only entice her. He could just drown himself, that was a valid idea. Ah, but his daughter needed him alive. Maybe he could drown Daniela?
'...her flies might not be able to get away quick enough, that could work… damn, no I can't, the other sisters might use my skin as a new rug if I did that.'
"I am curious, manthing. Your daughter; where is her mother? Surely she would've come along in your mission to rescue her. Is she even with you anymore? A mother rarely abandons her child but-"
Snapping to Daniela, Ethan yells "She's dead!"
"How did she-"
Cutting her off, he answers her question. "Shot. Multiple times. In front of me. She was my wife, too..."
"Oh. My condolences, manthing."
"Pft, like you care."
This got the bar of soap thrown back at him, cracking him right in the forehead. Looking back at Daniela, her face wore a scowl. She didn't take too kindly to that last jab.
"Watch your tone with me, manthing. I was trying to be nice."
"Why? What could possibly make you want to be nice to me."
Not caring she was naked, Daniela quickly stood up. She had a furious look about her. Ethan quickly turned his head to avoid looking at her naked form.
"Because losing someone isn't something that only you humans can understand! You don't know what we've- What I've-..." huffing and climbing out of the water, she continues more composed this time, "Just... Hurry up. Manthing. I want to get back to the library before dark."
Leaving Ethan alone in the water, he quickly washed the remaining dirt and blood. After washing his hair three times and finally getting all the blood out, he decided he was clean. Looking around for towels, he sees a stack of white ones on a nearby table. Rushing over, he tries to take one before Daniela comes back. Bad idea, however, because as he quickly walks towards the table he slips and falls onto his face.
"Ow fuck! God damn it!" Running his tongue over his teeth, he is happy to find that he didn't lose another tooth, but he did split his lip pretty well. Sucking on it to avoid bleeding down his face, he grabs a towel and begins to try himself. Dressing, he heard Daniela walk back. As she walked in, she made a face and sniffed the air.
"I smell… manblood, manthing~" flashing him a smile, she takes a step towards him.
"No, no you don't. It must be the water."
"Oh no no no, manthing~. This smells… fresh!"
Instead of standing his ground against the woman, he makes the worst decision he could at this time.
He tried to run
"Oh no you don't!"
Key word being tried. He didn't get far before Daniela grabbed him by his arm and lifted him up to her.
"Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I honestly prefer the hard way, gets the blood pumping and increases the blood pressure, making it nice and easy to drink."
Huffing, Ethan knows that 'neither' is an invalid choice. Simply sighing, he tilts his head to the side and gives Daniela access.
"Aw, thank you manthing!" she coos at the sign of submission, "As a reward, I won't cause you too much pain."
Sure enough, when she bit into Ethan's neck, it felt more like a pinch instead of being stabbed.
Starting to feel woozy, Ethan hopes she finishes up soon, he doesn't want to pass out. It's always the worst waking up after being forced into unconsciousness, it was like a hangover from hell. He also realized that being bit, he was going to bleed down his chest and onto his new pants, effectively ruining them and making his bath a waste of time. Maybe he could just use a towel to stanch the bleeding.
He then felt a tickle on his neck. Then it dawned on him…
Absolutely confused, Ethan couldn't contain his question.
"Are you… are you licking my neck?"
Without unlatching, Daniela just mutters an 'mhm'. Confused as to what the hell was going on, he then starts to feel the wound begin to get hot. Not unbearably hot, more like the sun was shining on it in the middle of summer hot. After being set down, Ethan touches his neck only to feel that there's no blood. The wound seems to have closed up a bit, or at least the bleeding has been stopped.
"Wait what? How did…?" came Ethan's dumbfounded question.
"Something weird with our saliva. It has mild healing properties, it can stop bleeding on small cuts and such. Now come on manthing, get dressed so I can get you back to your cell."
Walking in the dungeon, Daniela for some reason passes the cell. Ethan, rightly confused, calls to her, "Uh, we just passed my cell? Where are you going?"
"Come along manthing, there's something I wanna see."
Following her, Ethan can't help be wonder what Daniela was interested in seeing down here. The Moroaicǎ were driven away by Daniela's pheromones, the ones that he killed had been somewhere else in the dungeon, and there wasn't anything else down here.
Gasping while looking into a cell, she spoke "Oh wow! Sister did a great job with her!"
'Oh shit.'
The only other thing down here was the maid that had been killed by Cassandra.
"Look, manthing, doesn't Cassandra do great work?"
Shaking his head, he refuses to look at the corpse. If the hand was anything to go on, the body was going to be gruesome. However, Daniela didn't take no for an answer. Grabbing him by his hair and slamming his face against the bars, she forces him to look.
"Look, manthing! It's beautiful! It's like art!"
Horrified, Ethan can't look away even if he was able to. The poor woman's body was worse than he expected.
Her face was sunken in. Jawbones had been broken and caved in. Her jaw had also been broken, seeing as how it hung unnaturally. Her eyes had indeed been removed. Where they were was a mystery that Ethan didn't want to be solved. Her face also had slashes across it, and her nose was missing. It looked like it was bitten off.
Her body was naked, the only thing covering it were deep cuts where you could see bone. In some areas were stab wounds too. Both her arms had been torn off at the elbow, her legs were broken and looked more like misshapen sausages, and her gut had been sliced up, spilling her entrails onto the floor. The floor was absolutely covered in blood, some of which was still pooled beneath her. She was strung up by hooks that went through her shoulders, one of which was halfway ripping up through her.
"Isn't it just delicious looking? I only wish she didn't waste her blood. All that deliciousness went to waste. Ah well, plenty more where that came from. Back to your cell, manthing. Perhaps I will watch Cassandra and you practice tomorrow morning. That would be fun to watch for sure!"
Giving him a push into his cell, she closed the door and was gone.
Sitting on his straw bed, Ethan decided to widdle the bone again until dinner arrived. He had a small number of picks created now, he could at least get through the door now he was certain. The only question was where the hell would he go when he got out. He would have to scour the castle, looking for his daughter. He could very well end up fucking everything up and walking into Lady Dimitrescu's bedroom. Now
'Where the hell would I go? What would I do? I can't just run around the castle blindly. Shit, what if I run into that Dimitrescu woman? Or her daughters. It could be all bad. Maybe… maybe I could wait till very late at night. Most of the castle would be asleep. Cassandra had a bed in her room, maybe they need sleep as well.'
Putting the idea on hold for now, Ethan tries to finish a few more picks. Never know who might pop up down here, and he needs to keep his new hobby a secret in case someone decides to rat on him. Changing gears, he starts to read the remaining manuscripts that were given to him earlier. These talk about an introduction to thrusting with the sword and how to chain them with light slashes, or how to properly advance on your opponent when stabbing. Deciding that he has nothing better to do, Ethan stands up and tries the moves. Even without anything in his hands, he can still get the footwork down and get a sense of how it will work.
"Having fun playing pretend in there, Ethan?" Magda teases him as she walks into sight.
Jumping a bit and grasping at his heart, Ethan breathes a deep sigh of relief seeing who it was that startled him "Jesus fuck! You scared the shit out of me… What are you doing down here?"
Raising her hands, she shows Ethan the tray in her hands, "Dinner is served, Ethan. It is a sort of beef and vegetable soup. I think you will like it."
Smiling, Ethan gives her a nod as he takes the tray through the slot. "Thank you, Magda. What time do you all go to bed?"
Quirking a brow, Magda is confused at such a weird question but answers it anyway. "Well, most of the servants must be in their rooms by 8:30 PM, except for a few special maids who take care of some things at night, such as washing dishes, making sure candles are out, making sure the Ladies are set for tomorrow. Quiet time is 9:30 and all maids who work the next day are expected to be asleep by 10 PM, but that's more of a recommendation rather than a rule. If some maids are not working the next day, they are allowed to remain awake as long as they wish, as long as they don't disturb those who do work and do not make loud noise after quiet time. The morning crew is expected to wake up around 5:30 AM to get the castle ready for the day, make breakfast, and tend to the Ladies."
Nodding his head as he followed along, Ethan absorbed this information like a sponge. "Hm, interesting. I never knew how castle servants lived. What about the Ladies? Do they… do they even need sleep?"
"Oh yes," Magda replied, "They do. While it is strange that they do, I have seen Lady Dimitrescu stay up through the whole night, only to be a zombie the next morning." Chuckling at her own quip, she continued, "The Ladies are interesting in terms of their biology. While they need blood to survive, they also need normal food, water, and rest. I have no idea why, but they do. Well, I must be going." Giving him a polite wave, she leaves.
Sitting down and sipping the soup Ethan thinks back to what Magda said. 'Maids are expected to be asleep by 10. I would assume that the big bitch herself would be asleep around that time too. Maybe 11? If so, maybe I can freely explore this place and find Rose, and formulate a plan. Hell, I could even break free tonight. The only issue is; I have no idea how late it is. Shit. Well, Ethan, never been much of a planner before, let's just wing it and see what happens.'
Finishing his soup and pushing the tray out, he starts carving the last of the bone splinters into usable picks. Looking at them, he remembers that at the start of the day, this was a woman who was just trying to survive in this fucked up castle, and now her body was mutilated in another room while Ethan carved the bone from her arm to break out.
It really was morbid and left a bad taste in his mouth, but he needed to press all the advantages he could get. If he didn't, he might never see his daughter again. While he thinks he would be unable to break free tonight, he can at least search the castle for some information, maybe something to point him towards where they are keeping her. It would also be nice to just roam about the castle and feel free for a little bit. He would have to play tonight very carefully, make little to no noise, keep his heartbeat low and soft, don't knock anything over, and always be careful opening doors.
Sitting back, he waits for his time to act.
Shaking awake, Ethan looks around. "Shit… I fell asleep. Fuck. I hope I didn't sleep through my opportunity! Fuck fuck fuck!" Deciding to risk it, Ethan starts to pick the lock on his cuffs. It's tricky, given the angle his hands are at and the angle of the keyhole. The design of the cuffs is old and not secure though, so it turns out that it's just a simple lever inside that releases them. Hands now free, he goes to the door. Sticking the pick in, he gets to work. While the locks on these doors are old and simple as well, they are more complicated than the cuffs. Feeling around Ethan realizes that… he has no idea what he's doing.
'Fuck, the locks Chris talked about were modern! These are old as fuck! Well, I guess I won't hurt to try…'
Continuing, Ethan does feel some sort of spring-loaded mechanisms and presses them in. Some pop right back out but eventually, after applying some pressure to other areas, he can keep them in place. Finally, after just a few minutes, Ethan heard a 'click', and the lock turns. Pushing it open, he walks out. Deciding to not wait and attract the Moroaicǎ to his position, he quietly makes his way out of the dungeon.
As he takes the final step, he looks around the hall. It is dim, and most of the candles were still unlit. That meant that morning has yet to arrive and the staff was still asleep. For now. Looking around, Ethan smiles. There, against the wall, was a giant grandfather clock whose face read '1:03 AM'.
'Perfect! Everyone is for sure asleep. As long as I keep it quiet, I can make my way around and shouldn't run into anyone!'
Deciding to take a gamble, he turns down a hall he had yet to travel. It didn't look like anything special, but still most likely worth exploring at least for a bit. Finding his way into an open area with stairs leading up to the second floor, Ethan looks around for a new route to take.
That is until he notices gentle candlelight pouring out of an open door. Worried that someone might be up and patrolling the castle, he quickly hinds behind the banisters. Listening for a moment, Ethan doesn't hear any steps and only hears the rustling of papers.
Curious, he carefully slinks over to the doorway and tries to peek inside. As his head slowly rounds the corner, he sees who it is.
'What the fuck is he doing in here!?'
Deciding to risk it, he walks right into the room.
"Ah, Mister Ethen Winters, what a surprise it is to see you!"
The Duke's warms but suspicious voice gently fills the room. A confused and angry Ethan points a finger at him and says "Duke, what the hell are you doing in here? Do you work for these people!? What the hell did you mean by biding my time, too!"
Trying to calm Ethan down, The Duke motions for him to keep his voice down, "Easy, Ethan, you don't want to get caught, do you?" Taking a drag from his cigar, he explains himself. "No, I do not work for Lady Dimitrescu or her daughters. Where there's coin to be made…" His tone changed to some confusion, "I will admit, though, I am honestly surprised to see you, Ethan. I didn't expect to see you so soon, especially not at this hour. Ah, I get it, you are avoiding the inhabitants of the castle while they slumber. Smart thinking, Ethan. I do have some bad news, however, I can't really sell you anything to help you escape. I can sell you some small comfort items, perhaps? Maybe a blanket to lay on your straw bed?"
Leaning toward Ethan, The Duke now sports a mischievous smile. "Or… maybe some information? I have a few pieces of newly acquired information that may provide some help in your endeavors, Mister Winters."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Hm, I suppose I could give you this one for free, as a sign of trust. Listen well, Mister Winters, as I will not write this down or repeat myself;
Whatever it is the Lord's and Mother Miranda want with your daughter has hit a roadblock. What that is, I do not know. All that I know for sure is that you have more time now. I would suggest using this extra time to your benefit."
Rubbing the back of his neck, Ethan thinks about the info. "It's not much, Duke, but it is better than nothing, and it is good news. Thank you."
"Of course, Ethan. Now that's out of the way… care to make a purchase?" Rubbing his hands together, The Duke is excited to make some coin.
"Luckily they never thought to take my Lei; you wouldn't happen to have a cheap watch, would you? It would be nice to know the time throughout the day."
"Ahh, I have just the thing." Reaching behind him, The Duke produces a small wooden box. Opening it is a selection of different colored wristwatches. "They are all the same price, my friend. Pick whichever you want. Anything else?"
Grabbing a silver wristwatch and placing it on the table, Ethan scans The Duke's visible inventory. The Duke said he can't sell him anything to help him escape, only things to make his stay a little more bearable. Taking The Duke's advice, he does take a thick blanket from a nearby stack.
"Will that be all, Mister Winters?"
"Uh yeah, I think so. Wouldn't happen to be able to at least sell me some legitimate lock picks, would you?" Ethan asked curiously.
Shaking his head and sighing, The Duke responds, "I'm afraid not. I keep receipts of all sales I make. If the Ladies here find you are missing or have broken out of your cell at least, they would demand to see my transactional history. I'm taking a risk selling you anything at all, even."
"Ah. Well, thank you anyway. How much for these?" Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the Lei he had hidden away.
Taking out his log book, The Duke looks up his listed prices for the blanket and watch, "For the watch, 50 Lei for the watch, and 15 for the blanket. Grand total of 65 Lei."
Counting out the requested amount and laying it into The Duke's hand, Ethan then collects his items and starts to walk. He is however stopped by The Duke.
"Ethan, come by to see me again tomorrow night. Around this time should do. I will have a surprise for you. Also, a little piece of advice? Go back to bed. Don't rush things here."
Nodding, Ethan walks off into the dim castle and back to the dungeon. Quickly making his way back to his cell, he shuts the door and struggles to put his cuffs back on. After some finagling, he is able to get them closed. Deciding to hurry and get some rest, Ethen lays the blanket across the straw and lies down. While still not the best, the extra cushioning from the thick blanket makes a world of difference, as well as no straw poking through his shirt anymore.
Newfound comfort quickly claims him and drags him off into sleep.
Waking up in a cold sweat and a strangled gasp, Ethan can't remember what the hell he was dreaming about. Judging by the panic coursing through his veins and his heart trying to leap out of his chest, he didn't want to try to remember either. Reaching under the straw, he pulls out the wristwatch to check the time.
'5:52 AM. Too damn early to wake up when I have nothing to do…'
Laying back down, he throws his arm over his eyes in an attempt to block out the flickering light of the lantern. Sleep eludes him, however. Tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, only to find one tiny thing that bugs him about his position. Shifting, rolling, moving his arms, legs, and head, he fails to get comfortable. Sighing, he just sits up and checks his watch again.
5:53 AM.
"Are you fucking serious!? How! Ugh!" Flopping onto his back, Ethan resigns himself to looking at the ceiling, counting bricks. Last time he got 136. After getting to 85, he hears a distant door open and feet clicking on the ground as they approach. Sitting up against the wall, he waits for his visitor to be seen.
It's Magda with a tray of food, much to Ethan's delight. Greeting him with a nod, she speaks. "Good morning, Ethan. I hope you slept well."
"I slept fine, thank you. You?"
Pushing the tray through the slot, she also picked up the one from dinner last night. "Ah, I slept well, thank you for asking! Lady Cassandra had ordered me to feed you a bit earlier today as she now adjusted her schedule to allow for a full practice in the mornings now. You have maybe 20 minutes to eat and get ready. Goodbye, Ethan."
"Goodbye, Magda." Waving at the maid, he turned to his food. Eggs, sliced ham, and water. Wasn't much but it was good. 'At least it isn't slop.' Ethan thought. Finishing the food quickly and doing stretches, he decides to review the last of the manuscripts before Cassandra came to get him. The idea of surprising her with a few new tricks he read makes him smirk.
Speaking of the vampire/witch, she arrives in a buzz. Literally. Forming out of a haze of flies, she steps forward and looks at Ethan. "Get up." came her command, "We have practice to get to. It'll be long today, too."
Getting to his feet, Ethan walks to the door without hassle. Opening it for him, Ethan walks out and follows Cassandra. Throughout the entire walk to her room, he remains silent. He can feel the resentment radiating off of her and didn't want to push her buttons right now. Walking into her room, she turns around and unlocks his cuffs, and grabs her wooden practice sickle. Following suit with his wooden sword, he follows her to their little area.
"What are we going to today?" Ethan asked.
"Today, we are going to spar a little bit. Slowed down still, but this time we will not pause and not take turns. When someone lands a strike, reset. Understand, manthing?" Came Cassandra's neutral reply. Her voice didn't carry any of the anger her eyes did.
"Understood. Make ready?"
"Indeed, manthing."
Without a warning, she punched him in the face. Stumbling back and onto his ass, he clutched his jaw. "What the hell was that for? Why did you punch me?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about, manthing. Stand up." Deciding it would be best to just follow her orders today, he stood up and made ready. Hoping she wouldn't deck him again, he waited for her command to start. Smirking, she got into her stance as well and spoke.
"Let's begin."
She came at him with a strong overhead slash down towards his head. Side-stepping, he moved to strike her undefended neck. Bringing the sickle up quickly, she caught Ethan's attack and ran her shoulder into him, sending him to the floor again.
"A lesson you need to always remember, manthing, is that in these fights, it's not just your weapon you fight with. It's your whole body. Punch, kick, grab, throw. Now, get back up."
Scrambling back to his feet, he decided to try the new stabs. The first one Cassandra easily deflected, but then another came, and then another. Then finally he slashed at her instead. This knocked her off her rhythm for a moment, before she blocked his attack. Taking her advice, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. Going back to his wrestling days, Ethan bumped his hip into her as he bent over and pulled her wrist over his shoulder. Using his leverage and strength, he flipped the witch onto her back.
A look of shock came over her as she realized the manthing just outmaneuvered her. A simple tap from the sword onto her forehead gave Ethan the victory for this bout. Backing up to allow Cassandra to stand, she shot up with a snarl.
"Damn you manthing, I will get you back for that." Looking down at her sickle, she then smiled. "I'm at a disadvantage with this weapon. After all, it is just a farming tool. However, you don't have any experience fighting against someone else with a sword."
Tossing the wooden sickle onto a nearby table, Cassandra grabbed a similar practice sword to Ethans. Now in a modified guard, she waited for Ethan to strike. Deciding he hasn't got anything to lose, he charges her. Trying a new slash he learned, he brought the sword to the left and struck towards her right.
She blocked the strike with ease, however. Unable to react in time, Cassandra was able to whack Ethan in the nose with the glorified stick.
Holding his nose, Ethan grunted in pain. "God damn it! Fuck."
"Use your swords handguard to block. It's not there just for show." came Cassandra's condescending tone. Getting back into their stance. Ethan decided to try and wait for Cassandra to strike instead. After a moment of feints and smirks, she finally attacked. It was the simple attack he first learned; she swung the sword towards his left, so he brought his sword over to stop it and counter-attack. However, just before their swords met, Cassandra rotated her wrist, now causing the 'blade' to come at his right. Unable to move in time, he had to take it.
"Ow, fuck. That stings."
"Stop whining, manthing! It's how you learn."
"How am I supposed to defend that?"
"Well, either be faster or try to take the hit with a part of your body that you don't mind is struck." Confused, Ethan just stares at her. Rolling her eyes, she continues. "That attack isn't that powerful, you are meant to strike your opponent in the face or neck with it. If they are wearing armor, it's next to useless. So, either roll your shoulder up or defend your head, or simply take the hit."
Getting into their stances again, they go at each other. Cassandra is able to soundly beat Ethan while giving some pointers every now and again. A rare few times, Ethan can finally land a hit in on her. At one point, they had tied up with their cross guards. Cassandra then spun her wrist in a circle and was able to throw Ethan's sword from his hand across the room. Shocked at the move, Cassandra then whacked him in the head with the sword again.
"Why do you keep hitting me!"
"Because, manthing, you must learn! How else will you be a good opponent for him to fight against? Now stop whining like a child. Now, manthing get back into your-"
Knock knock knock
Three rapid knocks sounded from Cassandra's door. Giving an annoyed huff, she trudges over to the door and opens it.
"What is it- Oh, hello Bela!" Cassandra's tone shifted immediately when she saw her sister standing there. "What is it that you need, sister?"
"Sorry to drop by during your… practice with the manthing, but mother needs you for a moment. She said that it's urgent but shouldn't take long, only a few minutes."
"Oh. Ok. Could you do me a favor, sister?" Cassandra wondered.
Curious about the favor, she agrees, "I'm currently free, yes. What is it that you need?"
"Could you watch the manthing for me? If it really will only be a few minutes, I don't want the hassle of sending him back down to the dungeons, only to bring him back up."
Smiling at her sister, the blond Dimitrescu daughter replied. "Of course, I can Cass."
"Thank you, sister! I will be back soon. Manthing, don't be a nuisance to my sister." With that, Cassandra was out the door, towards her mother.
"Well, manthing. It has been a few days since I last saw you. Tell me, how have you been liking your stay in the dungeon?"
"Oh just lovely," Narrowing his eyes, he continues "Amazing bed, great meal service, warm candlelight, it's perfect."
"Oh, that's great to hear! We wouldn't want your stay to be sub-par, not at all!" Bela responded to his sarcasm with some of her own. "Tell me, how has practice been with Cassandra? Have you learned anything?"
"Why? Trying to find out for yourself?"
Grabbing the wooden sword Cassandra had left by the door, she examined it. "Oh, I don't think you'd want to try that, manthing. While I don't share my sister's hobby, she did teach me some things." Leveling the wooden sword at him, she gets into a stance, similar to Cassandra's.
"Well," Ethan replied, "I beat your sister a few times, maybe I can beat you just as easily."
"I doubt that. What are you waiting for, manthing? Strike."
Giving a cocky smirk, he replied, "Oh, no, ladies first. I insist!"
"If you insist, manthing."
In a blink of an eye, Bela was charging at Ethan.
Things are starting to fall into place for this story. I've set things up that will come into play a little later as well. The next few chapters will most likely contain some short time skips, just so I can easily progress things along. Thank you for reading!