March 25: Diary Entry

Mother Miranda arrived in the early morning hours of the following day. The night sky remaining unbroken by the morning light. She came to see my daughters and grant them the honors of baptizing them. Thankfully I had managed to slip them into nightgowns before she entered the room. She, too, had expressed nothing but exhilaration upon the success. Going to each bed and saying a few words before placing the sacred mark on their foreheads. It symbolized they were pure. Untouched. A tradition all the females of my family received until they came of age to be married and reproduce. Both Bela and Daniela had remained fast asleep, but Cassandra. Oh my darling Cassandra had awoken. She blinked up at Mother Miranda confused and then smiled. Reaching out to touch her. I intervened and took a seat on the bed beside Cassandra, keeping my arm firmly around her waist to prevent her from leaping at her.

'Hello, Cassandra.' Mother had said. "My name is Mother Miranda.'

Cassandra looked to me and then back at Mother Miranda, giggling.

'Can you say my name?'

Cassandra opened her mouth, the word 'Mother' easily rolling off her tongue, but not Miranda .I had explained the phenomena of them not able to speak too, it was Mother who described it as a 'Frankenstein effect'. Curious. Anyway, Cassandra was nothing short of persistent, like myself, and kept trying until she finally said, Miranda.

'Mother… Miranda. Mother.' Cassandra had patted my arm, resting her head against my shoulder and stared up at me with such deep love. So pure. So adoring. I was her world. Her one and only.

'You love your Mother, don't you, Cassandra?' Mother Miranda had said.

'Mother,' she repeated, releasing another one of her signature yawns.

It was then did I lay her down and tuck her in, rising off the bed and following Mother out before she paused, turning back to Cassandra and giving her a small wave.

Cassandra returned the gesture with that smile still plastered to her lips…

{…}

Three days' had gone by since her daughters' birth and Alcina's brood were already confidently walking around. Bela was the first to successfully get around, for Cassandra the task did not come so simply. Many times she would start walking about the room and randomly fall to the ground. Picking herself up and continuing to push herself in determination not to be shown up by Bela, who had tried to help her, but Cassandra would growl ferociously at her.

So, Bela turned her focus on Daniela, who was seated on her bed, dolefully. Bela affectionately nuzzled her face against Daniela's cheek to grab her attention, motioned for her to rise beside her.

Daniela's countenance turned around instantly. Bela had hold of her wrists and was guiding Daniela about the room. They still could barely speak, but Daniela clearly did not need words. Just a very good and kind teacher.

All the while Alcina sat near the fireplace for fear Cassandra would trip and fall into it. Clumsy girl. She had been watching her eldest and youngest closely. Pleased to see the bond was very strong.

'They remind me of Helena and Josie.'

Crash!

Alcina whipped her head to the left to see Cassandra had fallen, and in her mad haste to stop herself from hitting the ground, she had knocked down a vase and shattered it.

"Cassandra." She shook her head, irritably. She got out of her chair, plucking her up off the floor, set her down on her bed and forced her to watch Bela. She groaned in protest, however, the hard look Alcina shot at her made her stop, but that did not discontinue her from crossing her arms and pouting.

The practice took a good forty minutes, but soon both Cassandra and Daniela were soon shuffling about the room, too. Cassandra's giggles of delight filling the very room with Daniela close in tow. Cassandra then got very ambitious. She suddenly poked Daniela in the chest and started to run. At first Daniela did not understand what Cassandra was doing.

The dark haired daughter rolled her eyes, poked her again and started to run.

"Ch-a-s-e?" Daniela said the word slowly.

Cassandra nodded her head, smiling broadly.

Daniela smiled back and thus began their game of tag.

Bela taking a seat on her bed and watching them zip about, placed her attention on Alcina, who had risen from her seat and was headed towards the door. She jumped off the bed and followed behind her.

Cassandra coming to an abrupt halt upon the sudden change, growled angrily when Daniela slammed into her. The youngest quickly stepped back from her, frightened. Cassandra grinned smugly. Satisfied by the fear she had instilled in her sister, trotted after her mother at a slower pace. Daniela quickly passing her to catch up to them, Cassandra took her time to look around the hall. Exploring all that she could see with interest.

Never were they too far from her side. 'Like little ducklings.' As Alcina described them. The only one who didn't seem to mind straying a little was Cassandra. Alcina had to keep an extra eye on her middle child. One moment she would be by her side and the next she'd be gone.

"Cassandra!"

The child would return instantly with a look of innocence on her face; Alcina distrusted the look entirely.

Over the course of the week, Alcina had gotten to work bringing new maidens into the castle. She had a mighty task that would require many hands.

"I need curtains to cover every single window in the castle."

She had hired around thirty young women. All of whom traveled from every corner of Europe looking for a new life and opportunities, and what better place than to be hired in a castle.

Oh, how naïve they are…

It did not take too long for the three daughters to realize the delicious blood bags walking around. The work on putting curtains up to cover the windows was only half way done, and Alcina was noticing that the number of maidens was dwindling. She'd count 25. Then two hours later she'd count 20.

It did not take long for Alcina to solve the mystery. She could hear her girls' giggling in their room. Upon investigation the evidence was quite literally on their faces, and the bodies of the dead maidens scattered on the floor.

As much as it pleased Alcina to see her girls already adept at killing, she was displeased by their lack of control. They were all smiling proudly up at her. Thinking they were going to be praised, but it was clear by the stern countenance on their mother's face, they would not receive any such acclaim.

"Listen to me," Alcina said. "These maidens are here under my charge. They are not to be food unless /I/ specifically say. They are here to serve us, do you understand me?"

The girls' shoulders were now slumped, heads hanging low with shame as they nodded in understanding.

"The work they are doing now is very important. It is going to keep you safe. The cold outside will weaken you substantially. If you were to linger outside for too long it will even kill you."

The three all glanced over to the window in fear, the curtain there already drawn.

"You must also learn how to control your blood lusts. You cannot attack every servant you see. If you do not follow my rules, I will enforce a punishment."

"Yes, Mother," they said in unison.

"You will still stay in here. I will return in a few minutes…"

Once their mother had gone, Bela and Daniela started to pick through a bookshelf. Choosing books with different pictures of nature, animals or on different architectural structures from all over the world. Meanwhile, Cassandra roamed about in boredom. Trying to get the others to play tag by stealing their books, but they just ignored her.

Cassandra growled in annoyance, falling stomach first on her bed to think about what she could do to pass the time. She looked up suddenly at the sight of movement. Sliding right off the bed and crawling closer to where she discovered it was a mouse. The little thing stood for a moment, sniffed at her and then launched into its little mouse hole in the wall.

Cassandra perched like a cat, waited and waited for it to reappear. After fifteen minutes the mouse appeared again, timidly looking about before it scurried across the floor. Cassandra released a cry of triumph, causing both Bela and Daniela to look up and watch their mad sister pounce on the creature, and then hold it up in the air by its tail.

Bela and Daniela shooting a look at one another, turned back just in time to watch Cassandra pop the mouse into her mouth and eat it. The two wrinkled their nose, disgusted.

Shrugging her shoulders at them, Cassandra remained ever vigilant for more mice. Catching four more and offering them to her sisters, who scurried as far away from Cassandra as they could.

Laughing at them, Cassandra decided she would keep them for their mother. Surely she would accept them and praise her hard work. Keeping her eyes glued to the door, she sprang to her feet as soon as their mother entered fifteen minutes later.

"What is it, Cassandra?" Alcina said.

Cassandra held out the dead mice to her mother, smugly.

"You caught those all by yourself, did you?" Alcina said, not in the least bit shocked this is what Cassandra would find to pass the time, or perhaps this was her way of apologizing for killing those maidens. In her mind this is how she is trying to reconcile. "Cass—" Alcina stopped speaking upon Cassandra beginning to eat one of them. "No!" Impulsively Alcina smacked the other mice out of her hand. The dead things falling to the floor, including Cassandra.

She sat on her bottom staring from the mice and then back up to her mother, her chin quivering and then came the tears. Sobbing loudly for she could not understand why her mother had done that. Why could she not please her mother? Why had she hit her?

Alcina realizing what she had just done was about to reach for Cassandra, but the child bolted straight out the door.

"Cassandra!"

"Mother?" Bela said, both sisters watching on with deep worry.

"Do not fret, my darlings" Alcina consoled them. "You stay here and continue to look at your books. I will return with Cassandra." Back out the door she went, making sure to close and lock it, she began her search.

The search for Cassandra had not lasted long. Able to sense her daughter's sorrow, she was led into the dining room and underneath the table sat Cassandra. Her knees tucked right underneath her chin. She did not move, nor made a sound upon her mother entering inside. She simply buried her face against her knees and continued to pout.

"Cassandra, come out from under there. You and I must have a little chat," Alcina said, pulling the tablecloth away to get just a glimpse of her legs. "My intention was not to hurt you. I am sorry. Now, I will ask you to come out once more."

Cassandra released a heavy sigh, slowly crawling out and standing at the opposite side of the table. Her eyes puffy and red from her crying, she kept her gaze to the floor as Alcina approached her.

"Look at me," Alcina said, leaning forward so Cassandra could look straight into her face. "My little huntress. You who enjoys the thrill of the chase, the precise moment of the killing blow. You may hunt all the mice you wish, but /no/ devouring them."

Cassandra nodded, rubbing at her eyes to stop the tears.

"There's a good girl. Come along now. Back to the nursery we go."

Cassandra walked right beside her mother, her sadness fading as she started to look around the Main Hall with much interest, especially the chandelier.

"Come along, darling," Alcina said with a smirk, leading the way up the stairs passing by a few maidens who were dusting and cleaning. They stopped and bowed their heads to Alcina.

"Mother?" Cassandra tugged at her dress, licking her lips at the maidens.

"No," Alcina said. "Not yet anyway."

Cassandra groaned, curling her fingers around Alcina's digits as they neared the nursery. Once inside, Cassandra released her hold on her mother and went over to her sisters to see what they were looking at in the book. The three packed like sardines on Bela's bed and flipping through the pages. Quite the picture it would have made.

"Mother?" Daniela had hold of the book and was pointing to a picture.

"That is a lion," Alcina said, walking over to the bookshelf and poking through some of the books to read to them. They would need to start learning how to speak, write and read. And there was no better time than now.

"L…io…n. Lion!" Daniela said in a sing-song voice. "Lion! Lion!"

"Leon?" Bela tried.

"Lon?" Cassandra said, glaring nastily at Daniela who had begun to titter at them.

"L.i.o.n," Alcina said. "Bela try again."

"L.i.o.n. Lion!" She laughed happily.

"Cassandra," Alcina said.

"Lion."

"Wonderful," she took hold of her chair and scooted it closer to the girls' beds. "Put away your books, my daughters, and take a seat on your beds. I have picked out a story to read to you."

Cassandra and Daniela did as they were told, taking a seat on their beds just as their mother directed them to and waited in wide eyed anticipation.

"Now," Alcina took a seat, flipping open the book to the first chapter. "The story I have decided to read is called, Alice in Wonderland."