Author's Note:
This is a direct sequel that takes place 2 years after the conclusion of my story 'An Act of Kindness'
It will probably be helpful to read it to understand what is happening here. A short summary for those who don't want to: 'An Act of Kindness' is an AU story where Bela was more empathetic to Ethan and helped him in his search for Rose, freeing her own family from Miranda in the process. It ended with Miranda dead and the four lords alive and left to their own devices. Ethan escaped the village with the help of Chris and lived with Mia and Rose under the protective custody of the B.S.A.A.
This story will take a bit darker tone and have more depictions of violence, as well as some actual romance. The main pairing will be Ethan and Bela, but there will also be some Chris/Cassandra romance in later chapters.
After the horrifying events that shook the ancient land of the Four Lords to the core, peace has finally fallen down upon it.
With Miranda dead and Heisenberg gone without so much as a parting word, it was the Duke who took charge of the forgotten valley. No longer bound by the deal he had with the Lady of Ravens, he was quick to bring in some of his most trusted outside contacts. The valley still had a great deal of forgotten riches lying around, ripe for the taking, after all.
Lady Alcina and her daughters all had felt that the valley they called home for so long had little left to offer them. The three girls especially craved freedom and warmth, after more than half a century of being stuck in their cold, dark castle. Unbound from the ancient pacts, the Dimitrescu family believed that a change in scenery was in order.
Ever the helpful and humble merchant, the Duke was only too eager to aid the departing Dimitrescu family in relocating - for a price, naturally.
Much like a dragon she sometimes fancied to be, Lady Alcina herself was figuratively sitting on a veritable pile of treasure. Apparently, hoarding wealth was a respected Dimitrescu tradition, dating long before even Alcina's time. With that, accumulated over the centuries wealth, as well as the Duke's truly prodigious connections, the family moved their residence to a different place, far away. All done with privacy and comfort that would be envied by anyone not familiar with the practices of the ultra-wealthy.
At an offer from the Duke, the family decided to settle in a remote, sparsely populated area of Ciego de Ávila province, all the way in distant Cuba.
Apparently, a man who knew a man, who knew a man, who knew Duke was a reclusive millionaire, who had constructed a peculiar manor house here, impressive in its own right. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on who you are, the man had perished from an onset of age-related illness, leaving the manor up for grabs, since he had no relatives or even a written will. The place would become a perfect new home for Lady Dimitrescu and her three beloved daughters.
It has been almost two years now since they have left the castle they have called their home for so long.
As another favor, the Duke provided the family with his own connections to the black market in the region, showing the Dimitrescu women that in this brave new world of theirs everything had a price. Fresh human corpses, dead from natural causes, could be delivered to them swiftly and inconspicuously. Same went for human blood, available in any amount. Any peculiar craving or material desire could be satisfied, if one had the means to afford it. A man, whose loyalty Duke guaranteed personally became the family's primary assistant in all local matters. His name was Darius and he had settled in a nearby town himself, though he always was just a call away.
Truth be told, the girls didn't actually need to consume human flesh and blood, specifically. Animal flesh worked just as well, if not in taste, then in nutrient value. But, naturally, it was hard letting go of the 70-year old habits. The family still regularly dined upon the human flesh and blood, eagerly provided by their new contacts, no question asked.
Cassandra would have none of it, however. The taste mattered less to her than an actual thrill of the hunt, the pounding of the heart of her prey. So the fiery brunette took up hunting herself. Surprising everyone, she befriended another recluse living nearby, a vicious gun-nut survivalist type who was always blabbering about the Majestic Twelve; quickly developing a frightening affinity with a hunting rifle from the man. Boars, birds, fish and sometimes even water buffaloes - none were safe from Cassandra and her new Ruger M77 rifle which she now cherished and even named - 'Anabelle'. Bela took some pride in that naming choice.
Of course, the brunette, occasionally loved to run her animal prey down with her old but trusty sickle; before engorging herself on the fresh, raw meat right at the spot of a kill. She never talked about hunting her previous favorite game - men, as the family agreed not to do anything that would draw undue attention to themselves, but Bela had a few worries on the matter. It was just a tad too suspicious that the rate of missing persons in the area went up by a remarkable margin, once they started calling it home.
Daniela adjusted the best out of all four of them to their new life. The perfect, all year-round warm climate and the unrestricted freedom of movement was all the girl ever wanted. She was almost never home now, whether lounging out in the sun; walking on the small, rocky beach near them; exploring the surrounding mangroves around; or even visiting a small town some distance away from them - the redhead was never at rest. She was also, to their mother's ire, the only one who actively sought out human contact. Anyone who gave her as little as a simple compliment immediately became her new friend. Surprising Bela, the normally academically-disinclined redhead picked up Spanish unbelievably fast, faster even than blonde herself.
Unfortunately, the violent episodes the youngest sister sometimes suffered through, still remained. Back in the castle, she would occasionally be gripped by the uncontrollable bursts of horrible violence, mutilating the help and anyone else close by. Only their mother could calm her down then. The frequency of such episodes mercifully decreased, month by month, but they would still, sometimes, without warning manifest in the normally sweet and lovely girl, turning her into a killing machine.
Just last month, a particularly violent episode gripped the redhead, just as she was walking outside the town with Elian, a handsome local young man that was completely enamored by her. Grasped by the sudden, violent delusions, Daniela mutilated the poor man with her bare hands, before devouring at least a quarter of his body mass at the very spot. Regaining her senses, she was horrified by her own actions. Calling Bela with her smartphone, the blonde flew to be at her side in moments.
Worried that the man's relatives would start inquiries, the girls phoned the Duke's contact. Darius, sounding absolutely unbothered at the description of violence, assured the girls that he would make it look like a violent animal attack, before telling them to vacate the scene and let him handle it.
Daniela had locked herself in her room for two days after the event, refusing to eat or drink. Bela guessed that the redhead fancied the young man she had so brutally slain herself. Slowly, but surely her chipper attitude returned, though it was clear that the incident had left its mark on her. She started avoiding the small town and the people living there. Moreover, she started practicing the meditating techniques offered by Bela.
Lady Alcina adjusted to her new life surprisingly well. Preferring to spend the evenings in calm, long walks and her days in her study, the large woman took up writing with a passion. Determined to write a book detailing but dramatizing her long and perilous life, Lady Dimitrescu had her work cut out for her. Bela was genuinely impressed at the passion her mother had shown for her new hobby, her attention to details and the quality of her written word.
Moreover, the woman was still in contact with the Duke, spending much of her free time in the long telephoned conversations with the merchant. Apparently, the Duke decided to pick the winemaking business where Alcina had left it, and the woman was all too happy to indulge him in her descriptions of her practices in it.
Finally, when the whole family was together, Alcina loved to just listen about how their own days went: from the chipper, excited redhead's stories about how she found a new favorite hiding spot, to the exhilarated brunette's grisly details about her latest successful hunt.
As for Bela herself, she was quite content in taking her new life in small, measured strides. Taking care of her younger siblings took more than a bit of her own time, and when by herself, the blonde woman, much like her mother, loved to just take long, solitary walks, enjoying every moment the warm sun shined down on her no-so-pale-anymore features. For her, this was as close to paradise as it could get, the soothing trade winds blowing against her long hair gently and the ever pleasant climate feeling heavenly after the long years in the cold, dark castle.
Her evenings were spent in her own study, 'surfing' the internet, as she learned it was called. She was ever eager to learn the ways of the world, but the sheer quantity of information available to her now was still staggering, even after two years. All the academic papers, research subjects, fiction books, movies and even games now offered to her was overwhelming for the blonde, yet she tried to take it all in stride. Her curiosity about the world that was denied to her for so long was truly insatiable.
The Dimitrescu family's new lives were full of joy and happiness. They craved for nothing and even on the few dark days they would always be able to find comfort in each other.
Still...nothing good lasts forever.
One evening, As Bela was on her way back to their house from her outing to the town, a bag of merchandise she purchased today hanging on her arm, a long, bright yellow sundress covering her slender frame with a hat much like the one so cherished by her mother, only smaller, of course, on top of her blonde head; she couldn't help but think about the movie she watched yesterday. 'The Big Lebowski' it was called, and boy, was it fun! It took her more time than the actual movie to surf through all the references she didn't understand, but her joy from the process was undeniable. As she approached their moderately-sized, quaintly decorated manor, she thought giddily about which movie she would watch today.
Something else from the Coen brothers, perhaps? They sure know their cinema…
Close to the entrance now, an ominous feeling suddenly settled inside Bela's stomach, as she saw the doors to their manor wide open, in stark defiance to mother's preferences. Her previous cheerful mood gone in an instant, the blonde walked inside carefully, her hands suddenly longing for the comforting weight of her own sickle.
On another side of the world, in his modest-sized apartments on the outskirts of London, a blonde man was sitting in an armchair by himself, sullenly reading the latest news on his smartphone.
B.S.S.A. Western European Division director Frank Dowell to be awarded the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Today was an anniversary for him and his family. Yet unlike most people, who would celebrate the dates of births or marriages, the Smith family celebrated the anniversary of their escape from an isolated Romanian village. Two years ago, reunited, they left the cursed valley.
Almost two years of bliss, of true family life and contentment with his beautiful, caring wife and the precious, growing young daughter. Now officially known as John Smith - most unoriginal, he thought himself; but that's the point of a new identity, he supposed after, the man stood up from the chair to approach a window. It was raining hard, the sky was dark grey as far as the eye could see. Typical weather for the place.
He was now working as a systems engineer for a moderately-sized London-based, international company. Mia was working in the nearby school as a biology teacher. Going back to doing something normal after all the decidedly un-normal bullshit he went though was not a simple process. Yet the counseling sessions and his loving wife helped him immensely. The blonde would now only occasionally shoot up from his bed in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, searching everywhere for cackling Jack with a spade or giggling Cassandra with a knife. Mia… or Jane, as she was now known, would swiftly come to his side with a comforting and understanding hug, soothing him quietly with her gentle voice.
"Everything is fine, Ethan. Nobody is after us anymore."
The man whispered to himself, repeating the soothing words so often spoken by the love of his life, even as he stared into the rain. He didn't believe these words. Not anymore.
They used to be so happy, and the future never seemed brighter. Him, Mia and Rose, all living together, not counting the occasional bickering, in almost perfect harmony. Safe here, with their new identities and the protection of the B.S.S.A.
Everything changed two weeks ago. They were out walking in the park, on a sunny weekend morning - just a happy married couple with their young daughter, enjoying their free day.
A brunette man in an exercise outfit and a pair of sunglasses had briskly run past them, while giving Mia a wave of his hand and a smirk. The woman stopped dead in her tracks, while staring at the shrinking form of a stranger with a horrified expression on her face. Ethan tried asking who was that or what was wrong, but all he got in return was vigorous shaking of her hand and empty reassurances.
Mia was not the same anymore after that. She would jump at every shadow, drill her gaze into every passing stranger, never pick up a ringing phone again. The loud clapping of thunder would keep her awake all night, staring blankly into the room's ceiling. All the while telling Ethan that everything is fine. Nothing he could do would offer any comfort to her, and he hated himself for just watching her healthy features slowly turn gaunt, the bags under her eyes darker and darker, after every sleepless night.
Suddenly gripped by the violent rage, the blonde man threw his still clenched device against the opposite wall so hard that it broke on impact.
"Nothing is fine…"
Author's Note:
This will be a pretty big adventure-like story, with plenty of hurt, comfort and romance along the way, with lots of graphic depictions of violence and even some smut (in later chapters). Character development, as well as growing relationships will also be a big focus of this story. There will be some characters and character archetypes from F.E.A.R. game series in the later chapters, but not enough for me to justify placing the story into crossover category.
Furthermore, I want to add right at the start - The Dimitrescu girls in this story do not have EXACTLY the same body-type as in game. They are all pretty slender and in their robed dresses they look very similar, but there will be some differences.
Bela is 5.11 ft and has the most 'feminine' body out of the three sisters, if you can forgive me for that term.
Cassandra is a 6.1 and has an athletic, lean build, though not without feminine curves of her own. Most find her physically intimidating at the first glance, even if they can appreciate her natural beauty.
Daniela is a bit shorter at 5.10 - still pretty tall. Her curves are also slightly less pronounced than Bela's or Cassandra's. Moreover, she is physically the weakest of the three sisters, though that really changes when her other personality comes to the surface, but we will get to that later.
Finally, there is a 4-chapter side-story I wrote called 'Haunted by the Past' which takes place during the two years the Dimitrescu Family spent in Cuba and acts to better outline Alcina's, Bela's, Cassandra's and Daniela's characters. Alcina's chapter, in particular, using flashbacks, will serve as a backstory to the whole Dimitrescu family as we know it and will tell about how Alcina came to be in Miranda's employ.