Author's Note:
After finishing the last chapter - Alcina's - I've decided to reshuffle the story so the chapters would be in alphabetical order, so my last chapter is also the first one now; while Daniela's - which used to be the first - is now the last one. Sorry if there is any confusion for returning readers.
Daniela never felt better than on this sunny summer day.
Happiness was not a delusion any longer. There was no more need for deceit or pretenses or illusions. Daniela did not need to lie to herself anymore to be happy. She just was.
It was not easy to get to her current state of mind - to move on from the lingering horrors of the atrocities her family committed; the atrocities she committed herself.
The revelation that all the people she had consumed over the years were not, as a matter of fact - happy - hit hard, as was expected. Yet, it was not overwhelming, for somewhere deep inside she always knew that to be the case… but it is so easy to cling to desperate delusions when the alternative is so horrible.
Nevertheless, with the future seemingly so bright; with her loving sisters and mother supporting her with every fiber of their being, she persevered. Even when the darkness threatened to consume her whole, she - eventually - forced herself to move through it - for them. This was their second chance. A new beginning. And the youngest sibling was determined to make the best of it.
On this beautiful day, the redheaded Dimitrescu leisurely strolled through the majestical meadow, full of gorgeous Delonix regia, or the flamboyant trees as some knew them as. The breathtaking display of orange-red flowers; the gentle, soothing breeze, as well as the warm summer sun on the naked skin of her arms; the chirpy singing of birds - the sensory input was simply overwhelming in its grand performance on this wonderful day.
Daniela couldn't help herself as she lowered her eyelids and let out a loud girlish giggle, full of joy. This was the life that was denied to her for so long. Warmth. Freedom. Happiness. A distinct lack of tortured screams coming from the dungeons - they didn't even have the dungeons, anymore! A gentle hand, clutching her own…
"You have such a beautiful laugh, Dani… I could listen to it all day…"
Daniela graced the handsome man at her side with a wide and lovely smile, completely enamored by his kind brown eyes. The youth returned the favor by passionately gazing back into her own amber orbs, with so much affection that it made the redhead's black heart beat faster. A light pinkish hue colored her pale cheeks as she beheld her friend...and perhaps somebody more.
Elian Alvarez was a young man in his early twenties, barely into adulthood. The black-haired youth was the only son of a local florist and was often found behind the counter of his family's shop.
A month ago, when Daniela had lost herself among the noble aroma and vibrant colors of all the flowers the Alvarez family had to offer - the young man was there to help her compose the best bouquet possible, for her beloved mother's birthday. His friendly attitude, as well as warm disposition was a refreshing change from a normally lukewarm - sometimes even outright chilly - reception the sisters were accustomed to, whenever they visited the small town.
The Dimitrescu family had lived in Ciego de Ávila province for just over a year then, yet there were already plenty of rumours going about the reclusive women who took over the isolated manor. Few of them were flattering.
Some said that they were dangerous outlaws, hiding from their criminal past after robbing a bank or two it would take to purchase such a grand piece of property. Others claimed that they were cultists, here to enact the Devil's will. Few even proclaimed them a deranged family of cannibals, eager to dine upon the flesh of the good, hard-working and God-fearing folk.
Elian didn't care about the dark rumors as the indescribable, delicate beauty had walked into his store. All he saw was the delightfully pale skin and the glorious mane of red hair - both features so exotic for this part of the world; as well as captivating yellow orbs, full of passion and wonder.
Daniela, in turn, couldn't resist the young man's tanned skin and lean but strong frame. But most of all, she was enchanted by his soft, brown eyes, filled with nothing but kindness and affection for her - the simple things that she craved so… so much.
Their newfound friendship was something that both parties enjoyed immensely, as they kept meeting in that little flower shop again and again, only to run away into the meadows at the outskirts of the town, whenever they could safely do so.
Daniela kept their relationship secret from mother - for she knew Alcina would not approve. She decided to come clean one day, of course. Bela and Cassandra were informed, however. The brunette simply scoffed at her 'playing with food', while the elder sister was supportive, yet cautious.
On Elian's side, it was hard to keep his affection for Daniela secret, as she frequented their little shop so many times over the last month. Osanna Alvarez, a mother of four as well as a God-fearing woman had strictly forbidden any interactions beyond simple business transactions with the pale-skinned and yellow-eyed woman, for she was of Devil's womb - that was plain for the Alvarez matriarch to see.
Yet the young man did not heed his mother's warnings, for Daniela took over his dreams completely. Every opportunity he could take to spend even a minute in her delectable presence - he leaped upon with gusto.
Beyond their relatives the relationship proved more tricky than even the bug-girl herself expected.
The delicious scent of his healthy, youthful man-blood was intoxicating. At first, any extended contact with Elian proved to be almost unbearable to the youngest Dimitrescu, as the urge to taste his vital-fluid was overwhelming. It took every ounce of her willpower to not leave the man in pieces after their first lengthy walk in the meadows, hand-in-hand.
At Bela's welcome and wise advice, the redhead started carrying a thermos with fresh human blood, which the family bought from Darius - the Duke's contact, who obtained the precious liquid through legal means. Taking her fill right before their little meetings, Daniela could not be happier - for she was finally free to fully enjoy his enchanting company without her wicked cravings getting in the way!
In the next weeks, her life couldn't possibly be more fulfilling, as she learned more about Elian. How he volunteered to help the victims of the recent bioterror attack in the neighboring city. How he had three delightful little sisters, who were quite mischief-makers in their own right. How he studied hard to one day achieve his own dream - to become an architect of some renown.
Daniela herself was understandably more tight-lipped about her past, but not her aspirations for the future. Her big dream was to see the world - all of it! To simply travel around the globe, experiencing everything it had to offer. To taste all the different foods. To interact with all the unique cultures. To witness every majestic monument of humanity. The redhead's amber orbs lit up in wonder every time she spoke about it, making Elian himself unable to grin in mirth at the most beautiful sight his eyes ever saw.
Last week, they kissed for the first time. It was deep and passionate, and Daniela could not have enough of it. Today, they planned to take their relationship to the next stage.
The youngest daughter smiled with nothing but affection in her molten-gold irises as her soon-to-be lover spread a large blanket underneath a majestic flamboyant tree. Placing their picnic supplies next to it, the couple settled down as they snuggled close to each other, simply enjoying the proximity of their respective warm bodies.
Daniela felt as if she died and went to Heaven, as a series of feather-light kisses graced her sensitive neck. The redhead moaned in pleasure, even as her right leg - in a motion to take a more comfortable position, inadvertently knocked her mostly empty and open thermos down. The pecks at her neck stopped, making the woman frown.
Elian's sharp senses immediately picked upon the spilled dark-red liquid, as well as the suddenly strong scent of iron in the air. His voice reflected his surprise, as he asked in a cautious tone.
"Daniela… what is that you have in your thermos?"
The redhead dreaded this moment, yet she knew it would come up, eventually. With a heavy sigh, the youngest Dimitrescu sibling bit on her lower lip, as the anxious thoughts raced through her mind.
Bela told me to immediately go back home and talk to her if he ever started suspecting… He likes me so much… Perhaps he will understand if I simply tell him the truth… He is such a kind young man… surely he will understand… Bela is just a little worrywart. He HAS to understand.
"Elian… There is something I've been meaning to tell you. I...uhm...this is hard to say…Ugh...I... Ah, fuck it. I am not exactly human."
The youth glanced at her with worry, as well as some fear in his kind brown eyes, but did not break their embrace. "What does that mean, Daniela? You look human to me…"
Daniela mentally counted to ten, as she closed her eyes. He had to accept her, didn't he?
Here we go… better to just make it quick. We will get over this little revelation and be happy together… forever. He loves me. I love him. Nothing else matters. He can't deny me.
At the end of her countdown, the redhead broke the physical contact, before standing up and moving some distance away from Elian. "I'll just show you. Don't panic now!"
In a heartbeat, where there was a woman in a lovely white summer dress, a ravenous, buzzing swarm of dark insects fluttered freely. The beautiful dress was still held afloat by the large bugs - which themselves still arrayed in a clear and unmistakable silhouette of a woman they replaced.
For a moment, the buzzing of insects was the only sound around the majestic flamboyant tree.
Then, came the piercing scream of fear, as the youth was simply overwhelmed by the indescribable revelation.
Daniela did not waste a moment in coalescing back together, but the damage was already done, as Elian watched her not with kindness and affection, but only with unbridled terror in his wide brown orbs.
"Wwwwwhat are you!?"
The bug-girl, seeing his distress at the sight of her true form, took small steps to approach the man, pleading in a soft voice, all the while.
"It's me! Daniela! I am still the same girl you've spent the last month together! And how wonderful it all was! Remember our first kiss - so full of passion?"
"Oh God!" Elian made an effort to spit out his saliva, as if to get her essence out of his mouth. Upon realizing that she was still approaching him, the man started edging backwards himself.
"Sttttay bbbback!"
Bela's words of wisdom, that if this situation ever happened - Daniela should immediately return home - were lost amid the overwhelming desire to be accepted for what she was. Rationally, the redhead herself realized that everything was already over between them. That she should've just cut her losses and run back to her sisters and mothers - the only ones who truly loved her.
Emotionally, she could not run away from this chance to be accepted by an outsider. To form a new, meaningful bond. She simply could not do that. So Daniela moved forward towards the man who had stolen her heart, with firm, unyielding steps.
Elian, in abject terror, and upon seeing her coming within arm's length, lurched backwards. The youth stumbled upon his own picnic basket, falling down on his rear. "Dddddon't come any ccccloser!" The woman ignored his stuttered words. She would not be denied.
Terrified out of his mind, the young man grabbed the first object his shaking digits could get a hold off - a small rock - before hurling it right at Daniela's forehead.
The dull, relatively low-velocity stone was not enough to trigger the witch's instinctual swarm form, therefore it struck her temple painfully, drawing some blood and an angry hiss.
Upon feeling the pain and seeing her own dark blood trickle around her eyelids, the woman could not suppress a low growl of rage. Her other self awoke instantly. It begged to be let loose. To utterly obliterate this pitiful mortal wretch who had dared to wound her. To consume him whole.
NO! I DON'T WANT TO HURT HIM! GO AWAY! DON'T COME OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!
Daniela, forcing the beast down - for now - edged ever closer to his downed form, even as she tried to mumble another feeble reassurance. Tears were glinting in her eyes now.
"Don't do that, Elian… I am still Daniela… we can still be happy - together…"
The man tried to crawl away further still, never letting her out of his sight, even as his hands grabbed a stick that was lying nearby. Seeing her black ichor only made him fear Daniela more. "Mama was right… you're the Devil's Bride! Leave me alone, Satan! Just go away! GO AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK!
But Daniela was set on her course. She could not be denied.
If only I can touch him again, he will see that I am still the same I was! We were so happy together… He can't do this to me… He HAS to accept me!
As she approached his downed form, the youth leaped to his feet, suddenly resolute. Quickly kissing his small silver cross, the man stared her down fiercely, even though his eyes betrayed the depth of his fear.
"Blessed be the LORD, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. Watch me, Lord, as I strike down your foe!"
As Daniela, with tears glinting in her eyes, reached her dainty arm towards him, his stick poked the girl painfully in her abdomen, before striking her across the face - splitting her pale lip.
At the taste of her own mold-rich blood, the inner beast growled in rage. It would not be contained any longer. STAY BACK! JUST STAY THE FUCK BACK! NONONONONONONONONONONOOOOOOOO!
Suddenly, all Daniela saw was red. Her vicious yellow slits no longer perceived Elian, the kind man that had brought her so much joy in the last month. Instead, they saw a walking meatbag that dared to poke her with a dirty stick. A threat. Food.
The inner beast did not care for his love or acceptance. All it wanted to do was to tear that meatbag apart and to feast upon his still beating heart. And so it did just that. It would not be denied.
The deafening sound of buzzing was heard once more, as some parts of her flesh dissolved into the ravenous insects, which swarmed all over the duo, creating a skittering veil of darkness over them.
In a single motion, his feeble stick was broken in twain; his mumbled prayers going unheard. An animalistic hissing and growling preceded her sharp fangs finding their way into his jugular, even as her inhumanly powerful hands held him tight - not allowing escape. The vampire drank greedily upon her prey's rich vital fluid.
As Elian struggles slackened, the feral woman finally let the boy go, only to start digging with her fingers - finding their way deep inside his chest cavity, fishing for her prize. Tearing through the flesh, breaking the rib - it took only several moments for her brutal claws to harvest the precious, still-beating organ. A second later and Daniela's razor sharp teeth tore into it with savage glee, before her suddenly famished mouth consumed it whole. It was not enough. She wanted more. It craved more.
Despite the lethal injury, the man was still conscious, however, as it would take his not-yet blood deprived brain more than a minute to finally shut down for good. The sting of a hundred flies on his skin was unbearably painful, yet it paled in comparison to the agony of having his guts pulled out of his stomach, as the girl he thought he loved devoured him alive.
His final thoughts were of home - his three little sisters, as well as his devout and firm, yet loving mother. The youth's closing eyelids were wet with tears - both from pain and regret.
I am sorry mom… I should've listened to you...
Daniela woke up, feeling large raindrops dripping down on her closed eyelids. Gently opening her eyes, she could see the grey, stormy clouds taking the entirety of the sky. A large storm was likely only minutes away. She already felt wet, which was strange, considering that only a couple of raindrops were falling down, at the moment.
Ugh… my head hurts so bad… Did I fall asleep outside again..? Silly me… Hope I am not too far from the house at least, I'd hate to get soaked...
She was soaked, alright, as she found out after glancing around herself. Her once-pristine white sundress was now colored deep crimson. Suddenly, a stench of unbearable decay struck hard against her nostrils, making the woman gag and jump to her feet. The sight that greeted her was the stuff of nightmares - her nightmares, that would not relent for a long time.
Her Elian's kind brown eyes were staring back at her, frozen in terror and grief. Dead. Her own head felt so wet because she rested it inside the gnawed and half-devoured bloody mess that used to be his abdomen. Some of his intestines were still loosely tied around her neck.
The state of his mutilated body made the Dimitrescu sibling vomit - his own regurgitated flesh. That thought and that sight was enough to reduce the redhead to a sobbing mess, as she knelt before the corpse of her would-be lover.
"No...No…! Elian… What have I done!?"
The girl's tears flowed freely as her small palms clutched his cold dead one - stiff in its rigor mortis. The memories of this horrible event rushed back into her.
It happened again… and Elian is dead… by my own hands.
Daniela's violent sobs racked her body as the sudden downpour from the sky engulfed her delicate frame. Thunder and lightning resonated across the land, and the once-beautiful red-orange trees all around reminded the girl only of her bloodsoaked past now.
I am such a fool for thinking I could ever escape myself… no matter how far away we fly from our castle… I will cause nothing but death and misery for anyone who will get close to me.
"I am so sorry, Elian…"
Regret and remorse over her deeds washed over her mind just like the blood and rainfall washed over her body.
He was just scared… if only I backed away… gave him time to think… maybe he would've come around, eventually… but I pushed him anyway, putting my own selfish desire to be accepted ahead of his own comfort…
"Nothing but a monster, after all, no matter how much I try to run away from it… selfish… stupid… murderous... MONSTER!"
Daniela's piercing shriek resonated across the meadow, going far into the distance. Not even the thundering rainfall could muffle its intensity.
Daniela never felt worse than on this dark, stormy day.
The darker still thoughts assaulted her mind, even as her drenched clothes snuggled close to her form.
Why do I even keep going…? If I ever only hurt everyone… Wouldn't this world be a better place without a monster like myself in it? Should I just… end it all?
The girl, drenched in blood and water, seriously contemplated that darkest thought.
How can I even do that? I can't hang myself… my body will just shift instinctually… Shooting myself won't work either… Drowning, perhaps? Or fire? Fire should work…
Before she could carry out her grim plan, however, her mind drifted back towards her family. The three people in this world who had accepted her. Her beloved mother and two sisters, who loved her unconditionally. The bile rose up her throat as the redhead vividly imagined how devastated they would be, if she actually...killed herself. She could not do that to them.
Daniela would keep going, for Alcina. For Bela. For Cassandra.
Her small, bloodsoaked fists clenched in resolution. Her miserable life will not cost anyone their own again.
I am done with my foolish delusions. I will never get close to any outsider again. I will never hurt anyone again.
The brief summer downpour ended as suddenly as it started.
Giving one last kiss to the dead man's pale and stiff lips, Daniela stood up. Grabbing her smartphone from her drenched backpack, the redhead called her elder sister. If only she had listened to her...
The funeral for Elian went without much fanfare. The priest, the remaining Alvarez family and a number of close family friends and fellow biohazard volunteers were present, around 40 or 50 people, in total. Most of them were weeping freely, as the kind young man won many hearts in the short time he was present on this sinful Earth.
The fiercest of Elian's sisters, a mere fifteen year old girl named Guillerma swore revenge on the beast that mutilated her beloved elder brother so badly that they were forced to hold a closed-casket funeral. Her mother, wiping tears of her own with a handkerchief, scolded the young woman for her brash words and told her that everything was God's will - even this calamity.
Daniela, in a funeral dress of her own, with a veil covering her features, scoffed at hearing that. There were no Gods in this cruel world of theirs. Only monsters. Bela, at her side today, placed a gentle gloved hand on her shoulder. A comforting gesture that would normally see the redhead smile in mirth did not help Daniela to stifle her tears this time.
Darius did a good job - masking this incident as an animal attack. No police were investigating it as anything beyond that. Daniela's hands were washed free of her crime. But her soul was not. She would never show her face around the flower shop again, but she was keeping one eye on the remaining Alvarez family. She owed them at least that much.
A month later, when the youngest Alvarez daughter Isabel got into a crippling accident that required an expensive surgery - for which the family simply lacked the funds - the shocked matriarch discovered the precise sum the doctors demanded wired into their account, from an anonymous source. Osanna, being a pious woman, eventually accepted it as a gift from God, and young Isabel regained her ability to walk within months. The three Alvarez girls prayed for and praised their unseen guardian angel, not realizing that it was the same person who took their dear brother from them.
Daniela herself had avoided further human bonding, after that horrible day. For the next months, the once chirpy girl became withdrawn - limiting most of her free time to her own room, or the uninhabited areas around their manor. If she ever appeared in that fateful small town, she concluded her business swiftly and without any unnecessary words. She never flirted with anyone again. To anyone attempting to flirt with the ethereal redheaded beauty themselves, she politely expressed her lack of interest and moved on.
Eventually, she regained her lively attitude, but she never forgot Elian and his family. She was determined not to repeat her mistakes again, and to do that - she closed off her heart to anyone not already in it.
Of course, the calamitous events that would soon befall her own family will see a great many things changed… including herself.
