Sorry about not posting last week, something popped up and prevented me from writing. This week of writing went really well though, I remained on schedule for the entire time and even wrote 4k words last night in an effort to FINALLY have time to proofread a chapter! Though, it was through a combination of coffee and liquor...
Rousing awake, Ethan felt slightly dizzy. Clutching his forehead and propping himself up, Ethan takes in his environment. He's lying in the infirmary, Adina is busy reviewing papers, and he felt like he had been hit by a bus. "Adina…" he hoarsely called to the woman. She perked right up and turned to him, surprise on her face.
"Oh wow, you're already awake! I was honestly expecting you to wake up tomorrow." Adina stood and collected some of her tools. Approaching him, she pulled over a chair and began checking over Ethan. Taking his temperature, checking his pulse and breathing, and checking his pupil dilation to a small flashlight. "What's the last thing you remember, Ethan?"
"Hmm… Daniela. She had taken me down to the dungeons to help her with something. Moroaicǎ! She had asked for help with some moroaicǎ that had gotten loose." His face soon then dropped into a scowl. "But… that was a lie. She really just wanted to watch me fight. I remember… I eventually lost my weapon. After that, it's like a blur. I remember moving but that is it."
Adina was jotting down some stuff in her notes as she listened. "Hmm, ok. How do you feel currently?"
"Mildy sick, almost like I have a cold. I feel sluggish, weak, and shaky, but it is noticeably clearing up. I already am feeling a bit better just after talking."
Adina stood and walked towards the door to leave the room. "Good, good. Let me go fetch a maid to inform Daniela that you are awake, she wanted to be the first to know."
'Daniela. Just what the hell was wrong with that woman? She threw me against countless moroaicǎ. Just what the hell happened anyway?'
Adina had quickly spoken to a maid passing by and returned to Ethan with a pitcher of water. "Here," she said as she set it down, "Drink as you please. You need to rehydrate."
"Thank you." came Ethan's hoarse reply. Pouring himself a glass of water, he quickly downed it and poured another, slowly drinking this one instead. "What happened to me down there, Adina? I don't even remember how I went down."
Adina sucked in a breath, "Well, I think it would be better if I let Daniela explain it, as she witnessed the entire ordeal."
"Good maybe can fill in some of the blanks. When do you think she will be here-?" Ethan was cut off by knocking on the door.
"Perfect timing it seems." Adina chuckled. "Come in."
When the door swung open, instead of Daniela walking through, it was the imposing figure of Lady Dimitrescu.
'Fuck. What happened!? Why is she here? Damn it, Daniela!'
"Good day, Mister Winters, Adina. Imagine my surprise when a maid ran into me with news about the man- Ethan waking up! Oh, I just had to come and visit." Lady Dimitrescu said with a forced smile. It made the hairs on the back of Ethan's neck stand up. Something was fishy about this. The Lady was obviously putting on a facade for some reason.
Ethan opened his mouth to respond, albeit hesitantly. "...uhh, good day to you, Lady Dimitrescu…?"
"Yes, good day to you as well, Lady Dimitrescu." Adina followed. The two humans shared an uneasy glance with each other, and her eyes told Ethan that this behavior was uncommon for the lady. That only further reinforced the idea that something fucky was going on here.
"You know, Mister Winters, I realized that I have not been a good host to you these past few days. You are staying in my castle and I have yet to even invite you to an evening with my family!" the Lady said as she took 1 large step further into the room. Adina then was roused from her stunned state and motioned toward a large, empty bed. "Oh, I am sorry my lady! Please, have a seat if you wish to."
The giantess raised a hand, "Oh no thank you, dear, I won't be staying long. I only wanted to check up on our guest and extend an invite to dinner tonight."
This is the moment when the door flew open again and Daniela came through, only to pause at the sight of her mother in the room. The look on her face says that this was entirely unexpected.
"Oh, Daniela! Good day, dear. I was just inviting our guest here to dine with us tonight." Lady Dimitrescu said. Daniela quickly looked at Ethan and, sure enough, he was awake and looked so much better. Except he was terrified now. The sweat on his face now wasn't from the blood anymore, that much was clear.
"He will… be dining with us? Tonight? At the table?"
"Why, where else would they eat? I've been a terrible host so far; been here for around a week and have yet to even dine with the ladies of the castle? How uncivilized. Unless, Ethan here refuses the invitation, which I highly recommend he does not."
Taking the hint, Ethan spoke. "Y-yes! Of course, why wouldn't I accept such an invitation?"
"Good! Daniela, help Ethan back to his room and prepare him for dinner. Good day to you both. I will see you at dinner." With that, Lady Dimitrescu passed through the door and out to the hall.
Both Daniela and Ethan looked at each other with panicked expressions. Daniela let out a sigh and spoke,
"Well, fuck…"
Ethan shook his head gently in an attempt to get his mind working right. "What the fuck just happened? Wait, back it up. Daniela. What the fuck happened in the basement."
Daniela froze at this question. She hadn't expected Ethan to forget the event. "Well, uhh…" Daniela ran her hands down her gown, smoothing it out while trying to make the situation less awkward. It did not work. "Well. When you killed one of the moroaicǎ, its blood spilled into your mouth and you began to choke on it. After a moment of struggling, it appeared that you swallowed some of it. The reaction was… immediate and unexpected."
Ethan quirked a brow at this. He did not remember ingesting any blood or even getting any in his mouth. "There was a reaction? What kind?"
"You had completely changed. You became extremely hostile. You threw insults at me, some of which even I was taken aback by. You also… bit into and ate some of the moroaicǎ-"
Adina spoke up with a grimace. "So that explains what the hell those chunks of grey meat were… that's fucking foul." Ethan blanched at the idea of eating on the moroaicǎ, but it wasn't the most disgusting thing he had been exposed to. It definitely made the leaderboard, but it didn't break any records.
"Anyway, after you woke up, you literally started tearing through the moroaicǎ. You were extremely strong and quick and threw the moroaicǎ around like they weighed nothing. I tried to calm you down, tried to get you to stop, but you… attacked me, instead."
This caused Ethan's eyes to widen in shock. He attacked Daniela? Letting out an uneasy chuckle, he asked "Is that why I was unconscious? You beat my ass into a coma?"
"No. You almost beat my ass into one, though."
Ethan nearly fell off his bed and even Adina began to sputter in shock. "We began to fight, and it was brutal. I've never been hit so hard in my life. I started off strong but… you eventually had me beaten down and on the floor. I think you would've killed me, honestly." Daniela didn't tell her mom that part. She knew if she did, Ethan would've been a red smear across the walls, moroaicǎ blood or not.
Ethan began to worry a bit. He had somehow gotten faster and stronger than Daniela. "Wait, what about your flies? They would've saved you, right?"
"That's another thing that has been bothering me; my flies stopped responding. At first, I thought it had to do with you giving me a concussion, but after talking with Bela, she agreed that idea doesn't make too much sense, so I am at a bit of a loss on that one. Long story short, though, they wouldn't work. I ended up being completely defenseless."
For a moment everyone in the room looked down at the floor in uncomfortable silence. It wasn't every day a Dimitrescu got beat and openly admitted how bad it was. Adina had seen Cassandra beat Daniela in fighting and Bela beat Cassandra in chess, each trying to downplay their losses.
"On a completely unrelated note, I've decided to go see my sister about how to fight."
This got a chuckle out of Ethan and Adina. The joke helped release some of the tension in the room, if only for a moment before Ethan opened his fat mouth.
"Why did your mother invite me to dinner tonight, Daniela?"
Daniela gave a deep sigh and thought for a moment before answering. "Honestly? No idea. Maybe she wants to ask you something about this whole shit show. When I was telling her what happened and how you changed, she got really weird and said she had to call Mother Miranda, saying something about a trigger for this reaction and how it didn't make sense."
"How doesn't it make sense? The moroaicǎ caused me to change, right?" Ethan asked, confused.
"Well, see that doesn't make sense. There is mold in their blood, yes, but not enough to warrant a change like you went through. I swear, ever since you showed up-"
"Fuck, mold!? Daniela, when I changed, did I physically change as well? Like how I looked?"
Suspicious, Daniela slowly nodded while looking at him, "Yeah, actually. Your skin went to a sickly grey color and your eyes as well. You looked sick, honestly." At this revelation, Ethan sat up as quickly as he could and cradled his head.
"Fuck fuck fuck! I think I might know what happened…"
Daniela leaped forward towards Ethan. "You do!? How!?"
"Well, long story short, some shit went down with a mold outbreak. I was caught in the middle of it and became infected with it. I thought that with certain treatments and drugs that the mold was damn near irradicated from my body, but maybe there was a small amount left…"
"If that is true…" Daniela started thinking, "Then the moroaicǎ blood makes sense. It mixed with the colony inside you still, or what's left of it, and it began to take over. However, maybe it wasn't enough? After you vomited up the blood, you started changing back and fell unconscious. I think your body ended up fighting the mold."
"Yeah, that would make sense. What you described happening to me happened to some folk that also got caught in that damned mold."
"I am sure mother will want you to tell her what you just told me, at dinner. Plus more, maybe. Dinner will be in just a few short hours, we need to get you ready for it. Think you can stand?"
Struggling to his feet, Ethan was a bit wobbly at first. He had to brace against the wall to steady himself, but once he got up and he got his blood flowing, he started feeling many times better. "Yeah, I think I'm good. Just need to get some air, I think."
"Well, you can get air as we walk. Come on, Ethan. Thank you for taking care of him, Adina."
"Yeah yeah yeah, I would say the pleasure was all mine, but there was no pleasure at all. It was like pulling teeth, honestly." The pseudo-doctor sat back at her desk and began going over her paperwork again as the duo left, albeit a bit slowly for Ethan to keep up.
"I will take you back to your room, you get into a bath immediately. I will send Magda on an emergency trip to The Duke to get you some proper dinner attire, she will then bring it to you and assist you in getting ready if need be."
"Me and you are going to talk about just what the hell made you think that dungeon shit was a good idea." Daniela didn't reply to this, as she knew she would actually have to explain herself to Ethan and her mother later.
"Yeah, I know. Let's get you back to your room. Here." Deciding to help the poor man, Daniela stepped to him and pulled his left arm across her shoulders, and wrapped her right arm around his chest in an effort to give him support to walk faster. Daniela was hunched over, looking like Lady Dimitrescu in a normal-sized room. The height difference made the assistance a bit uncomfortable and awkward feeling, but it did allow them to walk quicker without Ethan slowing them down too much.
"What the hell am I going to tell your mother, Daniela? I can't just say 'Oh yeah some shit happened some time ago, got some mold in me! Oh, can you pass the sauce, please?' Nah, that ain't gonna fly."
"I don't know, best to start working on that now, though. Just so you know Ethan, we have not had a guest to dinner from outside the village… ever. Things will most certainly not go well. Aside from other lords and Miranda herself rarely, we don't even invite anyone to dinners." Daniela shifted Ethan's weight as he continued. "It would be best if you kept your tongue-" Daneial stopped talking for a moment and blushed slightly, remembering Ethan's words from earlier.
"Best to do what, Daniela?" He asked, genuinely confused.
"Oh uh, best to watch what you say. Who knows what mother's goal is for tonight. It could just intimidate you, squeeze information out of you about your mold transformation, or try and sway you to join us, forever." Daniela felt Ethan stiffen. She was going to assure him that everything would be fine, but that was hardly true, so she decided that his reaction was the correct one.
"There's your room. Hurry in, I need to tend to my other duties, as well as get myself ready too. You can make it by yourself, right?" Ethan nodded and stepped towards the door as Daniela unlocked it for him. Letting go of the woman, Ethan carefully made his way inside. "Thank you, Daniela, I suppose I will be seeing you later tonight."
"Yes, you will be. You will also be seeing Cassandra and Bela again, so don't get too comfortable," she said in a sarcastic tone and with a smirk. "I will send a maid to escort you to the dining hall once it is time. Please, hurry and go bathe." With that, Daniela was a mass of flies halfway down the hall now.
Sighing, Ethan shut the door behind him and hurried to the bathroom as best he could. He began drawing a bath and looked around for a set of clothes to change into after. "Oh. That's right, Magda will apparently be bringing me some. Well, I suppose I can still wear normal boxers underneath it all."
Grabbing a single change of underwear, Ethan made his way back into the bathroom and began to peel his clothes off. They were caked in black blood and sweat. It was horrendous. He did his best to not think about how he drank that stuff either…
A proverbial lightbulb went off in Ethan's head. Grimacing as he looked down at the blood, he got an idea.
'What if… I saved some of this crap? I could, maybe, use it against these damn women in case of an emergency. Like if Cassandra decides to carve me up for beating Daniela.'
Ethan decided to rip a portion of his ruined pants off and folded it up. He hobbled back out and stashed it underneath his bed for safekeeping. Quickly hurrying back, Ethan finished taking his clothes off and slipped into the tub. He had at least a half hour to rest in the tub before he had to get moving again. Slipping down into the hot water, Ethan massaged his sore muscles. Whatever the transformation did to him exactly made him sore as hell.
After cycling the water a few times to clear up the inkiness of it as well as to heat the water back up, Ethan decided to fully drain the tub and get out. Feeling a bit looser and more relaxed, he tried to stretch the remaining soreness out of his muscles. Touching his toes, he felt his back pop and muscles tense up as the pain flared up, but it soon melted into a mild burn as he worked some knots loose as best he could. Stand up he gave a few twists from side to side and got dressed as best he could while he waited on Magda to arrive with his clothes for tonight. Looking into the mirror, Ethan grabbed a small pair of scissors he had from the grooming kit provided, he decided to square up some of his facial hair as well. His beard, while still thin and needed to come in more to even look good, it didn't look horrible. It gave him a sort of wilder look, almost like he had been traveling a harsh trail for a few weeks.
Which isn't too far from the truth, but that didn't matter. Ethan clipped off the renegade hairs that grew faster or in a wild direction. There wasn't much to actually cut, at least not yet, but if he was going to keep this beard, then it paid to start maintaining it early.
Hearing a knock at his door and then it opening, Ethan did his best to hurry out and meet the visitor, hoping it was Magda. To his relief, it was, and she had his stack of new clothes. She hurriedly set them down on his bed and turned to speak to the man. She, however, was stunned silent and her face went red. For a moment, Ethan was confused. Then it dawned on him; he sort of just ambushed this woman while mostly naked, save for his underwear.
"Oh uh, sorry. I'm just trying to hurry and-" However, he didn't get the chance to fully explain himself as Magda lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Ethan, and crushed him into a hug.
"Damn you! I was worried that you got hurt! First-person I start talking to in this hell hole of a castle and you go and try to get yourself killed!" Confused, Ethan pushed the woman back a bit and looked at her for a moment, and saw a tear trickle down her face.
Ethan was utterly confused. Magda had only known him for less than a week, and here she was crying over him being put in danger.
Magda saw the confusion on his face and stepped back, collecting herself and steeling her emotions. "Sorry for that outburst, Ethan. Here, put your pants on. You look goofy standing here half naked." Tossing the garment to Ethan, Magda began to sort and prep the clothing. "I'm going to be honest, Ethan; I never interact much with the other servants in this castle much. To me, we could all die tomorrow and I don't want to watch any more friends die, so I stopped making them. I was more than content to just work behind the scenes, hardly talk, hardly interact with the Ladies; keep my head down." Taking a breath, she continued. "I was given the duty of delivering you food. I will admit, it was quite a shock that we were feeding you. Typically, any male prisoners kept here are dead within three days."
Magda passed Ethan more clothes as she spoke, "At first, I thought they were just trying to make you last a bit longer. That was until I heard from the other maids what Lady Dimitrescu said about you, and how the girls were ordered not to kill you. I was very much interested in just what the hell made you so special. Then I learned of your daughter and most of the pieces fell into place.
I still didn't care about you. I wanted to get the hell away from you the first time we met. I knew you had too much attention focused on yourself." Magda narrowed her eyes at Ethan and spoke somewhat harshly, "And I was right to be nervous when I was dragged into the dungeon and was a breath away from being flayed."
Ethan avoided eye contact with the woman desperately. He had already felt guilty he got her dragged into that mess. "Anyway, we then started to converse, and shockingly I enjoyed our talks a bit. It has been a while since I've been on decent terms with someone, so your company became nice. I caught myself staying a few minutes longer than need be each time I brought you food. I enjoy your company, Ethan, as annoyed as I am to admit it."
"...is that how you tell someone you are their friend?" Ethan chuckled at his own joke, but Magda seemed to take expectation to that as she punched at Ethan's arm repeatedly with a scowl.
Magda's punches didn't hurt, but that didn't stop her from trying. Ethan could only laugh at the woman's attempt to assault him. "Oh here I was thinking you could be serious and I could vent to you, and you gotta be an ass!"
"Sorry, Magda." Ethan said, controlling his laughter, "You're right. If it makes you feel any better, I much prefer to converse with you than anyone else in this castle."
For a moment, Magda smiled at this, only for her face to fall into a scowl again. "Well, no shit! The only other people in this castle that you know are more likely to cut you than a pool filled with razors!"
"Hey, Daniela isn't that bad to talk to!"
"Maybe because she's not trying to fuck you!" Ethan went to retort the woman and tell him that Daniela has indeed filtered with him, but Magda cut him off. "Ok, she isn't trying to fuck you as much as she tries to fuck the staff."
"Fair point. Why does she flirt all the damn time, anyway?"
Magda contemplated this question for a moment. "Well honestly, there are a few different reasons. The major one is I think she just likes it. She likes that attention and interaction. I believe she's romantic at heart. Other than that, I think she is sort of disillusioned by the romance novels she reads."
"Disillusioned how?" asked Ethan.
"She actually does not have any experience with real romance. She may sleep with some of the staff, but those instances are not only few and far between but don't last long. Most of the time, it's a one-off thing. Most of the time those Daniela talk to are scared and intimidated by her. For all it's worth, Daniela actually refuses to bed someone who she thinks isn't completely for it. If there's a hint that the person is only doing it out of fear and a sense of servitude, she won't even try. Every so often though, Daniela does find herself lucky and finds a woman not only receptive to the flirting but also returns it."
Ethan was sort of shocked at this. While Daniela didn't seem like the person to force someone into her bed, the thought that she only lay with those who were also completely for it was very admirable, until another thought crossed his mind.
"Wait, if that's true, then why the hell does she keep flirting with people who obviously don't like it? Me, for example."
"Oh, that's not flirting, at least not for Daniela. She will keep doing that to people just to make them squirm. You know when Daniela is flirting when she and a maid are in a dark corner whispering to each other, and the maid's face is as red as a tomato."
Ethan came to an interesting visual in his mind; the sight of Magda and Daniela huddled near each other, with Daniela whispering into her ear as Magda stood stock still with a massive blush. "Has Daniela, well, you know… talked to you?"
Magda nervously chuckled and looked to Ethan for a moment before returning to the tasks at hand. "Well, she has said a few things to me, but I made sure it was obvious that I was not interested in her… advances."
"Not into women?"
She began to sputter at this comment. Ethan's bluntness was unexpected. Turning to face him, she saw the smirk on his face. The question was obviously a tease. Deciding to tease back, Magda replied with a smirk. "No. I actually fancy the female body just as much as you do, Ethan. No, Daniela just isn't my type."
It seems her reply did not deter Ethan, though. With a smirk evident in his voice, he asked "Oh? What is your type, then?"
"Big titties and a fat ass. Thick thighs too, wanna wear them like earmuffs while I go down on them."
This got Ethan. He quickly turned to Magda with wide eyes and a bewildered expression. He was not expecting Magda to reply, let alone in such a manner.
Magda couldn't hold it anymore and began to laugh. "Oh my, you should've seen your face! That was good. Oh wow, that was perfect." Wiping a tear away from her eye, Magda controlled her laughter and brought it down to a light giggle.
"Oh har har har. Very funny."
Finalizing the last of Ethan's outfit for tonight, Magda smiled. "Honestly, though? I am not entirely… put off by the idea of being with a woman, I suppose. I do prefer men, but… yeah. I won't lie either and say I have not at least tried things with other maids. It does get lonely here, sometimes…"
"...that's hot," Ethan replied with an evil smirk. Magda smacked him on the head for that one.
"But no, Daniela honestly isn't my type. Not that she isn't objectively beautiful, it's just… I don't know. I don't really get excited by the idea of sleeping with her. I'm not repulsed by it, either. I just feel…"
"You just feel like 'eh' about it."
"Exactly. It's just eh."
"...if you did have to spend the night with one of the Dimitrescu's, though, who would it be?"
"...Cassandra."
Ethan whipped his head towards her, completely shocked. "What the hell!? Why her!?"
Magda was feeling a bit bashful and even ashamed of that. "I don't know… I just like the air of dominance around her, and her strong will."
"Jesus and I thought I was the fucked up one." Magda smacked him again.
"I could reverse the question for you! Who would you sleep with?"
Without skipping a beat, Ethan decided to fuck with Magda. "Lady Dimitrescu."
"WHAT!?"
Now it was Ethan's turn to laugh. He felt the thumping on his chest from Magda's smacks, hearing her mutter curses while she launched her assault on him. "Answer me seriously, damn you! I told you who I would prefer!"
All of a sudden, Ethan's face fell. His face, while relaxed, held a small amount of sorrow. He stopped moving for a moment, before speaking hauntingly even. "I would prefer my wife, Magda. I would prefer my wife…"
"...shit. I'm… sorry, Ethan."
"...Magda."
"Yes, Ethan?"
"Does it make me a bad person- a bad husband, that I keep forgetting she's dead? I keep... forgetting that I watched her die… it doesn't make sense."
Magda grabbed Ethan's shoulder and turned him to face her. "Ethan, so much stuff has been going on this week, you've been through so much just today, and it's not even over. Of course you keep forgetting, you hardly even have time to stop and think. You've yet to even properly process it. You've been too busy surviving, trying to save yourself and your daughter. I don't think that makes you a bad person. A bad person wouldn't forget, a bad person just wouldn't care, and you obviously do."
If Ethan was being honest, he didn't hear any of that. Not really. He just idly nodded his head, acting as if he understood her. All he could think about at this moment was Mia, and he only felt how much he missed her. In the past week, there were moments when he was walking or sitting in his room, only to feel like ice-cold water was poured onto him when he would realize that his love was dead. It was a strange feeling, going from thinking about something else to being jerked back to that night and realizing what it meant. Sometimes it just felt like a dream; far away, fuzzy, and unreal. Other times, he would relive the entire night again. It was torture.
"Ethan, I know you don't want to hear this, but you need to focus. You will be having dinner with Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters, something no outsider has ever done. You need to be ready for anything. The servants will take care of everything, all you need to do is just sit there and for god's sake behave!" Ethan nodded, fighting back the tears of sorrow. He needed to get through this. He can grieve later.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I need to get my head in the game. Hell, I don't even know if Cassandra or Bela know about tonight. Fuck, that's going to be rough."
"Ethan, I know you don't have any experience with nobility and dining, but try and do your best to act proper. Address all the Dimitrescu women as Ladies and act grateful for everything. Everyone knows you will be lying but that part doesn't matter. Treat them with the utmost respect and be polite. That's all you should need to do. Don't worry about any dining etiquette too much, Cassandra eats like a starved wolf and Daniela has the table manners of a child. Don't tell them I said that, or else they will kill me. That's not a joke, either. Now, let me check over you."
Stepping back, Magda inspects Ethan's attire for tonight. It was obvious The Duke went with something more modern and casual, most likely to make Ethan comfortable while also being classy. His pants were dark charcoal grey slacks with a simple black leather belt while his shirt was an ever darker grey button-up dress shirt, nice and smooth too. Ethan tucked the shirt in nicely and had it buttoned up, excluding the last button around the neck. Deciding he would look better with another button undone, she reached up. Her hunch was right, as the opening exposed more of his upper chest, making him look a bit more dashing. Over the shirt, he wore a jet-black sports coat, which she also decided should remain unbuttoned. His shoes were basic, black dress shoes.
Magda then inspected his hair. While it was a bit unkempt, it was wavy and gave Ethan a natural rogueish look, which complimented his beard too. "Hmm, coats good, pants good, shoes, shirt, everything looks fine but… it almost looks like you are missing something, but what?"
In an instant, Ethan reached over to his desk and pulled out a watch, and slipped it onto his wrist. Magda clapped her hands at this and exclaimed, "Perfect! That's exactly what you needed!"
Magda rushed over and smoothed out some wrinkles on his shirt and coat and dusted away a few stray hairs. She made the mistake of looking up at Ethan though and began to blush a bit. "You look handsome, Ethan. I am sure you will momentarily stun at least Daniela."
"It's not Daniela I'm worried about."
Magda laughed, "Well yes, she is the least dangerous of them all right now. Try not to get too much blood in these clothes, it would be a shame to see them ruined." She gave a gentle smile, and Ethan returned it.
Magda quickly raised up on her toes and gave Ethan a quick peck on the cheek.
One that made him visibly uncomfortable, and one that Magda quickly regretted. She backed peddled, ran straight into a chair, and began fumbling over herself, her words, and the chair.
"Oh shit! What the fuck did I-! I'm so sorry- I don't-!" Magda was extremely embarrassed and hated herself. She had just kissed a man whom she only met a week ago and who had just lost his wife in a murder, and whose daughter was kidnapped by the women she worked for, somewhere hidden within the castle! "Fuck Ethan! I'm so fucking stupid!"
"Magda, it's ok. It was just a mistake, that's all…"
"A very bad mistake, Ethan! I don't know what came over me, I just-!"
"Magda, I am the first man you've been around in some time, and you told me earlier that you prefer men over women. I'd honestly be shocked if weren't a little overwhelmed by my presence."
"...oh. I just… wish I could've just told you like the grown adult I am, and not some teenage girl."
"...I uhh, already noticed. Before, I mean. You are bad at hiding it. I saw your blushes and glances at me." Magda looked mortified by this revelation. "In your defense, I didn't notice right away, and as I said, your reaction to my presence is understandable."
Magda hung her head and sighed in exasperation. She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well… at least you know, and we are confronting this issue like adults. God help me if Daniela, knew-"
"-She does know."
"Motherfucker."
A knocking on the door break made them both jump.
"Mister Winters, dinner is about to be served. I am here to escort you to the dining room." A woman's voice spoke from the other side. Ethan breathed a sigh of relief and spoke to Magda quietly, "We can save this awkward shit for later, I have a dinner to attend to. Pray for me, please."
Chuckling a bit, Magda raised both her hands into a mock prayer. "Will do, Ethan. Try and have an uneventful night, please."
"Oh, I highly doubt that's possible. Try not to miss me." Ethan tossed a wink at Magda, which made her furiously blush.
"You've been spending too much time around Daniela. Get the hell out of here."
Ethan walked over to the door with a chuckle and opened it, it having been unlocked since Daniela opened it for him earlier. Walking out, he was greeted by a short maid that he had seen around every so often. She gave him a quick once over and had the faintest blush on her cheeks, too.
'Shit… I am attracting too much attention from these damn women.'
Ethan gave this woman credit though, as aside from a blush, her face did not break from her strict expression. "Please follow me, sir. The Ladies are waiting for you." Ethan nodded and quickly fell in step behind the woman. She seemed a bit older than some other maids and carried herself with more professionalism as she walked the halls with practiced authority.
'She must be in charge of some maids. Most likely one of the longer-serving servants of the castle.'
"How long have you been working in the castle, miss?" Ethan asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Years. 20, if my memory serves me correctly."
"You've been here for 20 years!?"
"Yes. I began working here at the age of 16. My family had died in a house fire. Arguably, I didn't lose much. My father was an abusive drunk and my mother wasn't much better. When they weren't beating each other, they beat me. Fire changed that, though. Killed them both. They had been too drunk to be woken up, I couldn't rouse them. Though admittedly, I didn't try very hard…"
Ethan just looked at the woman with a shocked expression. Her eyes told him that she honestly did not care about it. Her eyes actually conveyed a sense of mild annoyance, almost as if she had to repeat herself 5 times already.
"No one could afford to take me in, even if they wanted to, so I did the next best thing; I applied to work here. I had no domestic skills at all, which shocked Lady Dimitrescu. Normally, girls at least learn something from their mothers or other women in the village. Then I told her about my family. She only scoffed, said something about my parents being worthless, and I agreed. The end, happily ever after, they all ate cake, blah blah blah."
"As strange as it may sound, it sounds like it was a good thing your parents died."
The older woman quirked a brow at this. The typical response was more along the lines of 'Oh I'm sorry, it still must be hard losing your parents.' Without being prompted, Ethan continued. "It sounds like your parents were worthless. Just because they were your blood doesn't mean they were your family. Family is whoever you want them to be." Looking over, Ethan returned the woman's stare. For a moment, she was a bit stunned, but quickly gave a small smile and nodded.
The two walked in easy silence, their heels clicking softly against the floor as they took turns. With each passing second, Ethan began to grow more and more nervous. The dining was getting closer and closer. He didn't have to see it to know. He must've been radiating his anxiety because the woman next to him decided to try and ease his nerves, "Don't worry, I believe you will be fine. Just don't give the ladies a reason to act hostile to you."
"Well, that'll be hard with Cassandra considering she blames me for Bela, and she has yet to learn that Daniela and I got into a fight earlier, and I won."
"You should be a little worried then, but fear not; Lady Dimitrescu is unlikely to let her daughter go after you. Anyway, here we are. Good luck, Ethan. Enter once you are ready, but don't wait too long." Giving each other a curt nod, they went about their separate ways.
Standing in front of the doors to the dining hall, Ethan looked over himself, smoothing out any wrinkle, brushing away any stray spec of dust, and making sure everything was squared up. Sucking in a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down. He was afraid of what lay behind the door, but he knew he couldn't openly show his fear, or else the sharks in the room ahead of him with notice it and eat him alive.
'What's that dad used to say? 'Get me another beer'? Not that. Ah yeah, 'Fake it till you make it.'
Puffing his chest out and squaring his shoulders, Ethan filled himself with false pride and threw the doors open, and strutted into the room.
All eyes turned to him and the activity in the room diminished to take in their new guest.
Bela and Lady Dimitrescu were mid-laugh until their eyes fell onto him, their smiles slowly relaxed into neutral looks. Daniela was chasing Cassandra around the table, trying desperately to get her book back that Cassandra seemed to snatch from the woman. When they noticed who walked in, they stopped running and just looked at him.
Ethan deflated a little bit at the childishness of the girls. He had been expecting a formal situation when he walked in, but no. For a moment everyone just stared at him, each with different amounts of interest. Bela just quirked a brow at his arrival, while Cassandra was becoming enraged.
Cassandra took a step towards Ethan and reached inside her gown, "What are you doing here manthing!?"
"Now now, Cassandra," Lady Dimitrescu intervened, "I invited him here as our guest."
Cassandra slowly turned her head towards her mother with wide eyes. "Why, may I ask, did you do that, mother?" She asked in a sort of hiss.
Lady Dimitrescu did not like being questioned by her own daughter in that tone, that much was obvious by the creeping rage on the woman's face. As the Lady stood up, she squared her shoulders and puffed her chest a bit to convey her superiority and power. Narrowing her eyes, she bore a hole into her daughter. "Do not question me, girl." The statement carried an unspoken threat, directed not only at Cassandra but at everyone else in the room. In short, it had a simple message; Obey her orders.
Cassandra looked to the floor, showing her submission, "...of course, mother."
"Good. Now apologize to Mister Winters here for your behavior." Cassandra whipped her head back up and looked utterly shocked. Even Bela's eyes widened, not expecting their mother to have ordered Cassandra to apologize to the manthing. Everyone stilled for a moment, as the tension in the room grew. At first, Cassandra tried to stare her mother down in a vain attempt to show her defiance and sway her mother to rescind her order. Daniela kept looking back and forth between her sister and mother, intent on watching the display. Bela, while also watching the two stare each other down, slowly reached for her glass of wine and drank from it. Ethan found Bela's action to be a sign that this wasn't completely out of the norm. Only the quiet sound of Bela's slurping filled the room. She seemed to be drinking slowly, and loudly, on purpose. For what reason, Ethan was unsure, but the noise was slowly making Cassandra's eyes twitch.
Finally, she exclaimed, "Fine!" and turned towards Ethan. "Mister Winters…" Cassandra dipped her head a bit to look at the floor, "I apologize for my behavior a moment ago." Looking back at her mother for a moment, she spoke again. "It won't happen again."
The only thing Ethan could say in response to this was, "...it's cool."
Daniela took the moment to snatch her book out from Cassandra's hands and quickly went back to her seat, and Bela sat her glass back down. Lady Dimitrescu turned to face Ethan and replaced her grimace with a professional smile. "I am thrilled that you are able to join dinner with us tonight, Mister Winters. I must say, that outfit is rather dashing. It seems The Duke has a good eye for fashion."
"Hm, perhaps mother," Bela added, "but I am a bit disappointed that The Duke chose that style. If I knew he would be attending, I would've hopped to see him in something befitting the aesthetic of the castle."
Lady Dimitrescu turned towards Bela, rolling her eyes but not angry with her. "Oh hush now, Bela. It's acceptable, especially since Mister Winters here is not from this side of the world." That ending comment made the three daughters look at him curiously. While they knew he wasn't Romanian, they just figured he was from their area in Europe.
Daniela spoke up, "Wait, mother, Ethan here is not from Easter Europe?"
"Correction, Daniela; he's not from Europe at all. He is from North America." The Lady informed her daughters. "The United States to be more precise."
"Oh? An American? How interesting. Tell us, what are you doing here?" Bela asked.
"Oh well, uh-"
"Hold that thought, Mister Winters." The Lady interrupted. "I believe this discussion would best be held over dinner." Raising her hand and flicking her wrist, the servants wordlessly sprang into action.
Ethan really didn't have any clue as to what was going on, all he could tell was that some servants were setting plates while others were pushing food carts in. The aroma that filled the room was amazing. The smells of meats, herbs, vegetables, butter, and other things Ethan couldn't place.
"Please, Mister Winters, sit down before one of the staff runs you over." Lady Dimitrescu motioned towards an empty seat at the table. Nodding, Ethan walked over to the seat and sat down. The moment a plate was sat in front of him, a portion of food was deposited onto it.
'I don't know what half this shit is, but fuck it smells great!'
Ethan had enough sense about him to watch the other dinner attendees and mimic them. Daniela was almost leaning over the table with unbridled glee, and Cassandra was smiling like a maniac, snapping her teeth at a poor maid. Ethan decided to mimic the other attendees; back straight, hands on lap, and letting the servants work.
Lady Dimitrescu looked towards Ethan with a creepy smile, "So tell us, Mister Winters-"
Ethan took a gamble and interrupted the Lady. "Call me Ethan, please." He really didn't have a reason to make such a request other than the name sounding strange. He could tell his request sort of irked the Lady, but she didn't seem to lash out, luckily.
"If you insist; So tell us, Ethan, just how did you make it to our little corner of the world in Romania?"
"Simple, honestly; me and my wife moved here. We… needed a change." Ethan replied, trying to hide as many details as possible.
"A change from what, I wonder…?" The Lady probed. Ethan had a suspicion she had some information.
"Bad memories and the consequences of events were the cause of said memories. It's not really the best dinner story, I am sorry to say."
Lady Dimitrescu smirked, "Oh, I think it just might be exactly what we would like to hear."
'Fuck, she knows a lot more than I thought.'
Sighing, Ethan spoke. "Excuse my crass language, Lady Dimitrescu, but should we cut the bullshit?" The daughter's eyes went wide and shot to their mother. Their first thought was she was going to slice him into sections. However, to their shock, she let out a laugh.
"Indeed, that is a good idea. So tell me, manthing, what happened in Louisiana?" Lady Dimitrescu asked, dropping her polite tone.
"Long story short; a major mold outbreak. A secret organization was transporting a mold-based biological weapon. My wife was a part of it. It crashed from a hurricane, leached into the surrounding area, and infected the land. The official story I was told was that she was missing. Eventually, I got something that said otherwise, went where this 'something' said I could find my wife, and a whole bunch of shit went down. Barely made it out alive, let alone with my wife."
Cassandra gave a sarcastic clap as she mocked him, "Wow, amazing story manthing. I was completely enraptured by it."
Lady Dimitrescu ignored her daughter, "Tell me, was a large amount of mold and a local family involved?"
Ethan stood up in a panic, causing his chair to tip over and fall. "How the hell do you know about that!?"
Lady Dimitrescu didn't respond to his hostile tone, instead, she evenly replied while she began to eat. "Oh, what's the expression again? 'A little birdie told me'? I believe that is it. Please sit back down, manthing."
Deciding it be best, Ethan followed her advice. Grabbing his chair and righting it, he sat down again and decided to try and eat while they spoke. "Why exactly do you wish to know about Lousiana, Lady Dimitrescu?"
"Because I am interested in what happened to you, exactly. I called Mother Miranda after I learned about your episode down in the dungeon-
"Episode?" Cassandra asked but was ignored
"-and after some time, she made mention that your transformation might have something to do with Lousiana. So tell me, what happened?"
"Eveline was the bioweapon. She, or it, was self-aware and took the form of a little girl. I have no idea as to what the hell her purpose was, honestly. All I know is she wanted a family, infected the immediate area with her mold, and caused hell on everyone involved."
"Interesting. Tell me, what happened to you and your wife? What were the after-effects in your life?"
"Aside from some serious mental trauma? We became infected with the mold. While the people who rescued me never directly told me, that's why I assume I heal so fast, and that's why I had that 'episode' in the basement."
"Hm, fascinating."
Cassandra slammed her hands on the table, furious. "What the hell happened in the dungeon!?"
Rolling her eyes, Daniela decided to include her sister. "The manthing changed, became stronger than me, and beat me like a dog on the street."
Bela had to scramble across the table to stop Cassandra, sending plates smashing onto the floor. "Cass! Stop! I know you want to hurt him, I don't blame you! It wasn't his fault, though!"
The two women wrestled on the table, half flies, half… whatever they were. "I'm going to fucking kill him! Let me go, Bela!"
"GIRLS! STOP!" Lady Dimitrescu shouted.
At this order, Cassandra reluctantly relaxed and slid off the table and into her own seat, brushing off bits of food that had stuck to her in the struggle. Bela followed suit.
"Cassandra, you know as well as I do that mold changes the state of the mind. The manthings action were not of his own accord while in the dungeon." Cassandra, while absolutely pissed at this revelation, did acknowledge that the mold was a powerful entity, capable of unimaginable results.
Cassandra looked over to her sister, "You say the mold made them stronger, Daniela? They were able to beat you in a full-on fight? As in, he was stronger than you?"
"Yes, Cass, they overpowered me and even injured me."
"...I bet it was a sight to behold."
"I assume it was as well," Lady Dimitrescu said, while looking to Ethan. He was washing a bite of food down with some wine at this point. When he seen the Lady look to him, she smirked, "That's why I had the staff pour some moroaicǎ blood into your glass."
It was too late. Ethan had already swallowed. The reactions around the table were instant;
Bela focused her attention on Ethan, curious as to what was going to transpire.
Daniela had the most interesting reaction, according to Ethan. She scrambled back, falling over herself in fear.
Cassandra, seeing the fear in Daniela's eyes, prepared for a fight and pulled her sickle out.
Lady Dimitrescu just sat further back into her chair and sipped some wine.
Ethan, however, dropped his glass to the floor, causing it to shatter. The staff glanced at each other. Normally they would jump to clean the shards and spilled wine, but Lady Dimitrescu's statement worried them. If Ethan beat Daniela half to death, then what the hell was going to happen to them? They stayed right in their place.
Ethan stood again, this time in sheer panic. He could already feel his body changing. He tried to turn and run, but all he did was fall to his knees. His heart began to pound and his head was throbbing. Worst of all?
He felt himself slipping. He felt the hatred, rage, and hostility cloud his mind. He felt the mold take hold of his being.
He felt the power increase in his muscles. He felt himself breathe deeper, see sharper, and it even felt as if he was staring down at the world, he felt so tall. He wasn't actually, just felt like it.
It felt like he was injected with drugs. His mind wasn't completely gone, for now at least. It just felt like he was drunk. He felt tough, fast, strong, and badass.
As Cassandra watched Ethan stand back up, she felt her flies buzz nervously. Something about this wasn't right. Bela was more interested in the scientific notion of the manthing consuming blood of moroaicǎ, and Daniela was actually terrified. She scuffed at this. A Dimitrescu terrified? It was an embarrassment. Daniela was always the most emotional Dimitrescu. Cassandra would show them all this manthing wasn't anything to worry about.
As he stood up, she saw him take a deep breath in and turn his head.
As Ethan turned his head, it was like was looking at the Dimitrescu family for the first time. Instead of fearing them, he felt they were his equals, maybe except for Lady Dimitrescu herself. She still held an air of danger about her, albeit diminished now. The servants seemed like nothing more than pissants, not even working looking at when you killed them.
Giving a wicked grin to the women, he felt their metaphorical hackles rise. He knew their perception of him just changed, and that there was now an air of danger around him; one in which he reveled in. If just a little moroaicǎ did this to him, no wonder he ate more of them in the dungeon!
Daniela was starting to become nervous. The look that Ethan had in his eyes was the same that he had in the dungeon. The color in his skin was already fading, as well as his eyes. He was already holding himself more confidently. Paired with his black clothing, he honestly looked like a Dimitrescu and it made her scared.
Ethan made a quick step back toward the table, and everyone reacted. Daniela took a step back, while Cassandra took a step forward. Bela leaned in closer as if to get a better look, and Lady Dimitrescu took a sip of her wine, interested in observing the outcome of this experiment. His grin deepened and became even more unsettling to the staff. They were now sweating and trying to look for the closest exit in case things went south.
Bela was enraptured by this display. She had never seen a human convey such power or authority, or even make one of her sisters nervous. Yet, here he stood. Daniela was scared while Cassandra was nervous, even if she didn't admit it. Ethan seemed to be enjoying the reactions in the room. Even she could feel the tension rising.
Deciding to try and push the envelope, in the blink of an eye, Ethan was in front of a maid that was standing off to the side. Before she knew it, she was lifted off her feet by her throat and Ethan was boring his eyes into hers. Unable to breathe, she began to flail. The maid kicked and grunted and slammed her fist onto his arm, but he didn't release her. He just stared into her eyes as her lids slowly drooped slower with each second, content with watching her slip into unconsciousness. When she finally slipped under, he drove his teeth into her neck and drank her blood. He knew there was no physical gain to drinking the woman's blood, it was more of a psychological thing towards the other women in the room. At this display, the staff booked it and left.
Lady Dimitrescu found Ethan attacking a maid unexpected. She figured he would target her or one of her daughters, yet here he was sucking a maid dry. She could hear the girl's heartbeat drop in strength as her blood pressure dropped, but Ethan unlatched before it stopped and dropped the now passed-out maid. She wasn't phased by the display, having witnessed much worse, but her daughters? They were very much on edge. Even Bela was a tad uncomfortable. The worst was Daniela. Her eyes were that of prey, and Lady Dimitrescu couldn't stand for that. "Ok manthing, settle down-"
Ethan turned his gaze to face the Dimitrescu mother and snarled. "I told you to call me Ethan."
Lady Dimitrescu was a bit shocked at the audacity of the manthing, but she decided to humor him. "Ah, you are right Ethan, I apologize. You should settle down."
"And you should mind your own business."
The temperature in the room dropped well below freezing. The daughters thought they were about to solidify. Lady Dimitrescu narrowed her eyes at Ethan, now very much insulted. "I don't think I appreciate that tone, Ethan."
"Boohoo, who cares. I'm hungry. Let me eat in peace." Ethan taunted as he sat back down to eat.
Cassandra felt as if she was watching two wild bears meet. The tension was thick and the confidence Ethan began to emit was unsettling. He was either stupid to openly challenge her mother, or strong enough to back up his barking. If the latter was true, she did not want to be in this room if it came to blows.
Come to blows it did. In one large step, Lady Dimitrescu was on Ethan and held him by the throat, similar to the way he had the maid a moment again. "You filthy manthing! How dare you speak to me lik-!"
Lady Dimitrescu never got to finish, as a right cross punch connected to her jaw from Ethan. Her head snapped to the side with surprising speed. She was completely taken by surprise and dropped Ethan. Unluckily for her, he landed square on his feet and went for her legs. Grabbing her and lifting her into the air, he felled her like a tree.
Lady Dimitrescu slammed back first into the dining table, cracking the wooden piece of furniture in half, and collapsing onto the floor. The daughters quickly backed away from the mess, Daniela running the furthest. Lady Dimitrescu rose from the snapped table with a growl and bared her teeth at Ethan while extending her claws. Ethan prepared to meet any attacks, lowered himself into a crouch, and raised his fist.
"I will show you to attack a Dimitrescu!" the Lady swiped with a claw, but he rolled to the left and avoided the slash. Getting back to his feet in a fluid motion, Ethan quickly closed the distance and threw a quick punch to the Lady's side, into her soft flank below the ribs. He smirked as he heard the air leave her lungs and took the opening of her recoiling in pain and sent another fist into her gut.
Lady Dimitrescu, wanting to get the manthing away, gave a swift backhand that sent Ethan flying into a wall. The drywall caved in and the studs cracked as Ethan crashed into the wall, and then fell down. She didn't let him have a moment to recollect himself as she sent her claws into and through his midsection.
The only thing Ethan could do was a howl in agony. He knew this wouldn't kill him, at least not now. His mold was in overdrive with the blood-spiked wine in his system. Ethan grabbed at the woman's wrist in an attempt to force her to withdraw her claws. Scoffing at this, The Lady spoke "You think just because you're hopped on some mold you think you have the power to fight me!? You are nothing but a filthy manthing that couldn't protect his own daughter!"
Ethan took exception to that comment.
He grabbed her wrist even tighter. She would never admit it, even if it was the only thing to save her and her daughters, but she was worried Ethan was going to snap her arm at that moment.
In an extremely shaky battle of physical power, Ethan tried to push the hand away while the Lady tried to keep him from controlling her. For the umpteenth time that night, they were all shocked. Lady Dimitrescu's hand slowly, shakily, and unsteadily began to withdraw. Ethan had begun to overpower her. Looking up from her wrist, she noticed why.
The mold was taking over more than she expected. His veins and arteries were bulged and black, his eyes were grey and his skin lost its color and looked sickly. Daniela noticed this too and got as far away as possible. Bela was unconsciously taking small steps back. A creature that could overpower her mother, even just in this form, could easily crush her. Cassandra was torn between helping her mother or keeping herself safe and staying out of this scuffle.
Ethan, deciding that Lady Dimitrescu was withdrawing her claws too slowly for his liking, grabbed at her wrist with his other hand as well and let loose a battle cry.
"GGGRRAHHHHHH!"
A sharp crack filled the air as Ethan, much to Lady Dimitrescu's dismay, actually did snap her wrist.
In momentary pain, she stumbled back, retracting her claws and cradling her wrist.
It was at this moment that the daughters moved;
Daniela ran into the kitchen in a panicked-induce instinct to hide.
Bela stood up from her seat and followed Daniela.
Cassandra flew to her mother's aid. As she reformed in front of Ethan, she sunk her sickle into his shoulder and dragged it down, exposing muscle and bone.
She was dismayed to only see a fist sailing towards her face and connect. She felt her nose collapse under the impact, the speed of which was too fast for her flies. After stumbling back, she watched in horror as Ethan threw her sickle to the side and his wounds seared closed in an instant.
Cassandra had no idea what the hell they were going to do.
Lady Dimitrescu however, knew exactly what to do. She was going to match Ethan. Calling forth more of her power, her own veins bulged and her skin looked as if it started to shatter. She didn't want to fully change, she doubted she even needed to push this far. Her wrist now healed, and she grabbed at Ethan's throat. His eyes growing wide told her that he in fact could not match her power anymore. Twisting her torso, she launched him across the room and into the wall on the opposite side. He almost crashed all the way through it. Trying his best to climb out of the hole, Ethan was wrenched out by this leg by the Lady. In an instant, he was sent sailing again, this time towards the ceiling. He felt the floor above them buckle and crack, gravity then took back over and sent him crashing to the floor.
He felt a few of his bones were cracked and was coughing up some blood. Lady Dimitrescu stood over him with a smirk. "Well well, that was a very interesting turn of events! I must say, Ethan Winters, you are more than I expected." She leaned down and gave him a twisted but genuine smile, "You asked me to call you Ethan, and I suppose you earned the right for me to acknowledge you as such. So I will return the favor. You may call me…
Alcina"
A swift kick to the side of the head was lights out for Ethan.
There is a possibility that I won't have any work the week following this chapter, if that is the case then I will write a special chapter, possibly trying for 15k+ words; or I may decide to spend that extra time re-reading all the chapters and make corrections. Also, with this chapter, with how I know how the whole thing plays out, it feels like the chapter should've been longer, almost as if I didn't write enough, but the word count is above 10k. Strange.
Anyway, thanks for reading!