Ethan followed the woman down the dark hallway, illuminated only by the lantern that she held in her hand. The faint glow of the flame was barely enough to keep the shadows away. It must have been low on oil, he thought. With his compassion for others still high, he reached for his flashlight.
"Here," he said as he withdrew the device and turned it on, bringing light to the narrow space they were in.
She halted as soon as she saw the bright glow, turning around to gaze at what possibly could have done such a thing. "Amazing! What is that?"
The woman was young, appearing as if she was around the same age as Bela. She wielded a very thin frame, though her cheeks remained soft. With her dark brown hair and green eyes, she was quite attractive, which stood out in this world of pure horror.
Wearing a white gown with a long skirt, floral stitching around the corseted waist, and a layered color along the mid-chest and shoulders – she was exactly what would have come to mind had someone mentioned "Victorian London" to him. It was only exacerbated by the loose bun that she kept her hair in, with curled locks dangling from the sides.
In all, she was the first slice of anything normal that he had seen in a while, and her presence was comforting to have.
"It's a flashlight," Ethan said as he played with the button, noticing her astonishment. The light clicked on and off, and he found some amusement in the way her eyes widened with each iteration.
Her slender hands reached over to inspect the device, but a distant sound from the outside caught her attention. "We need to move, now."
Without asking any questions, Ethan followed her further into the building, descending a set of stairs that led to the basement. The lowest room was blocked off by a door, which the woman quickly bypassed with the help of a key that she kept on her person. Undoing the iron lock, she carefully opened the door, ensuring that the gliding metal did not produce a resonating echo.
Ethan took the cue to go inside first, realizing that the room was already well-lit with another lantern. The woman closed the door behind him after she stepped in, sealing the entrance just as cautiously as she did when she entered.
Once he heard the sound of the lock re-engaging, Ethan craned his neck and addressed her, "I'm normally a lot more formal, but I just need to ask: what the hell is going on here?"
Taking a breath, the woman stood against the wall as she pocketed the key under the collar of her dress. She looked almost exhausted after the short trek downstairs, but that did not stop her from keeping her eyes set on the man ahead of her.
With a gulp, she steadied herself as she walked away from the door and closer to the center of the room. It was host to a bed, surrounded by packaged food and several books. Without asking, Ethan assumed that she was taking refuge here and hoping to wait this whole thing out.
That – or at least survive for as long as possible.
Trotting over to the bed, she ran her finger along the back of her ear as she pointed to a chair nearby. Ethan snagged the piece of furniture and dragged it over, taking a seat across from her. She took another long breath before looking him dead in the eyes.
"Madness," she said.
Ethan turned off his flashlight, unslinging his shotgun and setting it beside the chair while he wiped the remaining sweat off his forehead. "Yeah, you got that right," he remarked.
She studied his outfit with the utmost curiosity. Something about him wasn't sitting right with her, and she wasn't hesitant to make mention of it, "Where are you from?"
"California," he replied.
She raised a brow, "California?"
"It's a state in America," he said before remembering that this was not his world, to begin with. "I take it you have not heard of any of that before."
"No," she answered. "I can't say that I have."
"Where am I? Not just this city, but this world?" He heard how insane that sounded the moment it left his lips. There was no going back now. What was said was said, and the look that she gave him was indicative of how someone else would have reacted to hearing that.
"You do not know what planet you are on?" She tilted her head.
Ethan sighed, nodding his head. He would have kept this all to himself, but part of him figured that the idea of a man from another world wandering about paled in comparison to the various monsters and the demon lady frolicking about. Surely, he was the least of all their problems.
"It's a long story, but yes." He paused when he saw her still looking at him, perplexed as ever. "Look, I'm not a threat to anyone. I'm trying to get back to where I'm from. This looks like my world, but it's not."
She promptly stood up and speed-walked over to one of the books that she kept close by. She said not a single word as she brought it over to the bed, leaving the floor open for Ethan to worry about what was about to happen next. Fearing that she saw him as a threat, the man started to panic.
"I just woke up here out of nowhere! Please, I have a daughter! I need to get back so I can save her. My wife was murdered right in front of my eyes, and now, these deranged people have my little Rosemary and –"
"Tell me the name of your world," she spoke firmly; eyes glued to the pages of her book.
"Uhm…Earth," he said before mumbling to himself, "I can't believe this conversation is real."
She skimmed through the pages thoroughly. To both his relief and bewilderment, the woman did not seem to doubt his story. That made him wonder just what else was going on, on top of all the horrors that were prevalent in this place.
He shook his head at himself before he peeked at her, "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
"How many Moons…uhm, Sheer Orbs…does Earth have?" She asked, still not looking at him.
"What?"
She finally lifted her eyes, looking somewhat annoyed. "The big glowing things in the sky," she pointed her finger up as if he was a child. "Those things."
"Oh." He felt stupid. "One."
She continued to skim along.
He spoke meekly, losing faith that his next comment was even worth listening to, "We call it the Sun."
She gave him no answer. It was another minute of awkward silence between the two of them before she suddenly froze at one of the pages. Ethan lifted his head to get a peek at what she was reading but the text was small and he couldn't discern it from that distance. It was only after another short moment that she closed the book and ran both of her hands along the sides of her neck.
"It all makes sense now," she said. It was an ambiguous statement that demanded an explanation.
"What does that mean?" Ethan leaned forward, hoping that she could provide him with some answers. "So, I'm not going crazy, am I? This isn't my world?"
"No," she said, sighing as she aimlessly glanced to the other side of the room. "This…isn't your realm, either."
"What?!" Ethan stood up, shocked to all hell at such a thing. "What do you mean 'this isn't my realm'?"
"Uhm…" She did not know where to begin, simply deciding to hand him that book that she had. "Don't throw it, please."
He took hold of it, bearing down at the page that she had been looking at.
"Theories surrounding other worlds have been substantiated by the claims that they are mostly identical to our own. After having made contact with a fragment of metal that appeared to be embedded in the walls of his house, Lakiel Nimson, a middle-aged lock maker, made claims that he had glimpsed the scenes of a world engulfed in a war that spanned across continents!
While the claims sounded fantastical and naturally false, Nimson's visions were highly detailed. He described 'ships that flew in the air' and 'devices that were capable of unimaginable destruction.' There were descriptions of various men dying as they leapt across trenches, cut down by automatic gunfire. Those that stayed were subject to the villainous effects of enemy clouds deployed within their confines. Nimson was uncertain what the clouds were composed of, but acute respiratory failure was often the end result.
Nimson claimed that after cutting his hand open on the sharp metal, he endured a prolonged vision, where men in the trenches made mention of the planet's name – Earth.
Fearing that his visions would be lost to time, Nimson sketched down the various scenes and rendered his best compositions of the technology depicted. Those sketches and further details were sealed in a chest, buried within the walls of his home, fated to remain there long after his passing.
When a living relative of his had decided to sell the residence after time, the place was cleaned out and set for renovations. The chest was discovered and the notes and sketches were revealed. At the time this book is written, progress on automatic firearms and machines being able to fly is nearing success, and the mechanics utilized are strikingly similar to Nimson's drawings.
Such would be a coincidence…if Nimson's drawings were not made two-hundred years prior.
Adding to the mystery, Nimson's notes also made claims about a city called 'London.' The mere mention of this alleged city would have gone unnoticed by most, but researchers interested in the possibility of other realms discovered mention of the same city two centuries later by a thief who had attempted to steal another strange piece of metal from Serpenmoor's Onolask Clock Tower.
One cannot know for certain whether these metallic objects are true links to worlds that exist outside of the fabric of our own realities or not, but the circumstances cannot be ignored. These shared experiences have to account for something.
Whatever kind of world 'Earth' is, however, sounds more dangerous than it is worth visiting."
Ethan could hardly believe what he was reading. There was no way that this could have been real, he thought. A book describing Earth and London as a theory? It didn't make sense at all. Despite the obvious signs that this was not the world he knew, his mind had yet to fully comprehend it.
"No!" He began to get loud, shaking the book in his hand. "There has to be some confusion! You're not going to tell me that I'm in…some other realm!"
With that – he threw the book onto the bed that she sat in. The look on her face displayed a flash of her irritation without a fragment of question.
"I told you not to throw it…" She spoke with disappointment.
"Sorry," he breathed. "I didn't mean to, I just –"
"Look," she stopped him; her arms raised to calm him down, "I know that was a lot to hear at once. I'm sorry. I've been studying this my entire life, even though it is all theory here."
She stopped to re-direct her comments, deciding that her past was not his main concern.
"I could tell by the way you're dressed, and by the way you speak, and…what you have in your possession – that you're not from around here." She got up from the bed, turning to straighten out her book before she made her way over to him. "And, if you do not know what exactly is going on, then that just proves it."
Ethan was slightly unnerved by the woman's proximity, though her presence was more comforting than threatening. It likely helped that the last lady who got close to him spewed dust and maggots from her mouth.
This woman was clean, and the scent of her was far more pleasant than the fumes of death that Vikcia exuded. Her gentle voice was soothing, even with the circumstances surrounding their acquaintance.
He didn't trust her, yet – but, she seemed less carnivorous than her or Bela and that was a plus.
"I don't have much of a damn clue besides the fucking lady running around," his voice was calmer but still elevated. He shook his head before double-checking that his shotgun was still nearby. "Her and those damn monsters too."
With a sigh, the woman lowered her head momentarily before she raised her eyes to the wall; lips rolled. "So," she said, "you've met Vikcia, I assume?"
Ethan lifted his head. "Do you know her?"
"Not personally, though, there isn't much to really know," she stated. "She'll tell you her name if you ask. Most of what else she says doesn't make much sense."
"Yeah," Ethan nodded, "that sounds right…"
"Granted; most people who have spoken to her don't often make it back – at least, as the way they were."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I guess she hasn't shown you that little dust trick she can do. Count yourself lucky," she said as she rested her hand on his left shoulder. "One good breath of that and you'll become one of those things."
His brows pinched as soon as he heard her say that. "But, I did breathe in that dust. A whole bunch of it. The psycho bitch was practically an inch away from me when she did it."
At that very second, the woman withdrew her hand in panic and backed away toward the corner of the room. There was fear etched along her face; eyes set dead on him. "You…what?! When?!"
Ethan could see how frightened she was and wanted to do everything that he could to quell her fears. However, he also feared what he didn't know, and the growing anxiety that he felt over her words was overwhelming. It didn't help that he spoke in a frantic tone, which did nothing to help settle her concerns either.
"Minutes ago!" He told her as his eyes shifted all around his body, watching with an eagle's precision for any signs of transformation. "She…actually…even earlier! She did it twice, so about ten or so minutes ago!"
"What?" She relaxed a bit, more so because the burning question that occupied her mind took priority. "Transformation occurs instantaneously. How is it that you have not changed?"
Ethan got up from his seat, causing her to back away a slight bit more, even though there was nowhere else to go. He stammered for a second before he decided it would be best to clear his mind and start from scratch. "I got hit with the dust and she just looked at me in a strange way. It was like she didn't know what was happening. She tried it again and gave me the same exact look. After that, I ran off and she must have gone after Bela."
"Who is Bela?" The woman asked.
"She's from my world too. She's…" Ethan stopped as soon as the words 'violent, blood-drinking witch made up of insects' came to mind.
"…blonde, with a tattoo on her head. I don't know where she went."
The woman across from him gave him an odd look but she seemed to be taking it all into consideration. She inhaled a long breath and glanced at him sharply, before slowly returning her eyes back to the book on her bed.
"Well," she spoke, "Bela may be dead. I wouldn't go looking for her if I were you."
Ethan dipped his head. Even though Bela was a monster in their world, he was slightly disheartened to know that another person in his company had likely died. He did not care for her personally, but, knowing that his odds of getting back home were now even slimmer did nothing to settle his nerves.
As far as he was concerned – she could have helped him.
It was the same as the villagers who he had met just prior to entering Castle Dimitrescu. The only difference was that they were all good people – Elena, in particular.
He still couldn't get that poor girl off his mind. Watching her perish in those flames in the pursuit of her father continued to rip his soul apart. The way she reached out for his hand, only for the floorboards to come loose. He nearly had her. It was a tsunami of 'what ifs' afterward. All he could think about besides his daughter was what he could have done to keep those villagers alive.
They were only trying to survive and, in the end, they succumbed to the madness Mother Miranda put them through. Whatever sins they may have committed in the past meant nothing compared to the kind of death that they received. While Bela may have been villainous in her own ways, even she did not seem to deserve whatever fate that lied just outside these walls.
"I hope she makes it out there," Ethan mentioned as he peered at the door nearby. He felt ashamed that he was somewhere safe and the blonde was left to fend for herself against everything this world had to throw at her. "She can't be too far. Could we check to see if –"
"No." She ground any hope of that to a swift halt. Standing firm, she waved her hand across her body to non-verbally shut down any further insistence. "I'm not going to risk my safety any more than I have to. I already made a foolish mistake by venturing outside once I heard you, but I did, and I am lucky that it hasn't cost me my life. If Vikcia found out we were hiding here, she'd kill us both. I have been gracious enough to help you, please…do not waste it."
She sounded so frustrated at the drop of a hat. Ethan did not want to argue with her, believing that fighting did nothing but leave them open to only more mistakes. This lady may just be his greatest ally in this world, and he wasn't going to chance her wanting to kick him out.
He needed everything that he could – for Rose's sake.
"Okay," his voice softened up, recalling the deaths of the villagers once again. "I…I don't want you to get hurt. Thank you for saving me, seriously. I promise I am not going to do anything that would jeopardize what you have here."
"Good." She closed her eyes, feeling the release of some weight off her thin shoulders. He could see that this was not easy for her, either. She looked like she wanted to help, but the consequences of saving everyone were just far too great.
"I'm Ethan, by the way. Ethan Winters."
"Kyia," she opened her eyes, giving him a small smile. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Winters."
Ethan sat back down on the chair. "Please, I need to know what happened here."
Kyia pressed her lips, taking a breath as she gathered up her book and rested it on her lap. Sitting on her bed, the two were only feet apart, allowing a sense of friendly air to be had. Getting as much information from her as possible was the first step to establishing a plan.
"Serpenmoor was not always like this, as I'm sure you could tell."
"I figured the bloodthirsty creatures weren't your everyday sight before she arrived," Ethan's sarcastic sense of humor got the better of him, but it did not succeed in hitting its mark. Kyris did not find his joke at all amusing; lowering her brow at him as soon as he said it. "I'm sorry," he initiated some damage control. "I should've kept my mouth shut."
With a slight groan, she nodded. "You're not wrong…"
"Please, continue."
"Vikcia, that monstrous creature, she didn't just change the people; she changed the city."
"What?" Ethan did not know what she meant.
"The clock tower, for instance; did you happen to see the spikes along its ridges?"
"Yes."
"Those weren't there before. The spires upon these buildings became elongated when her presence overtook them. The skies were never this gloomy. When she arrived here, her darkness literally altered the architecture of this entire place," Kyia profoundly stated. It was a huge claim, and even Ethan found parts of it hard to consume.
"You mean to tell me that bitch can…change buildings?"
Kyia's eyes narrowed at him. "You don't know what she is…do you?"
"Besides disgusting, no," Ethan replied.
"She's from another realm – a horrible one," she said, growing disgusted the more she thought about it. "From what I've read, her world is nothing but decay. She is no p – uhm, human. She may look like one, but she isn't. She is whatever the inhabitants of that world are and that I cannot explain."
Ethan had to pinch the bridge of his nose. This all sounded so preposterous, but after what he had witnessed, it all added up. Still, he needed clarification.
"A world of decay? What does that mean?"
"It is nothing but shadows and dead bodies," Kyia explained to him. "I'm talking corpses piled as high as mountains. All her kind does is crawl around on top of it and each other, eating the dead and mindlessly finding conflict." She ended it right there. "Does that answer your question?"
"A little too much…" Ethan mentioned.
"I know, it's not pleasant. There isn't much these books say about her realm, but that is what we're seeing out there. She arrived one day from the sky, and her darkness overtook the entire city, engulfing everyone in its path. Some turned into monsters, others turned into mindless slaves. There was so much death in the beginning, but after a while, it all trickled down to what we have now. It's been a few months, and survivors who managed to hide out in their homes are having to come out and find more resources. She scours the streets at night looking for them, unless one of the creatures kills them first."
"What does she do during the day?" Ethan asked.
"She hides."
"Why?" Something about the way she answered his question sounded promising.
"Her world is absent of light," Kyia's voice edged toward a slightly gleeful tone. "Evidently, she doesn't enjoy the daytime here. She knows when the Sheer Orbs are going to re-emerge, so she flies off back to that clock tower until nightfall comes back."
Ethan practically lit up at the mention of what may have been a dire weakness that he could exploit. A chuckle broke free from his mouth, right before he grabbed the barrel of his M1897. "So, sunlight will take this bitch out? Great!"
Kyia hummed a giggle. "I guess me saying that she could distort the shapes of buildings didn't give you the clue."
With that said; his ambitions began to crumble apart. Ethan knew the sound of bad news whenever it was going to roll out. To him, there was no use in playing hopeful that defeating Vikcia was going to be a one-step process.
With a low inhale, she explained the science of the creature a little further, "She can distort the skies. That's why the Sheer Orbs go down unnaturally quickly. There is no telling just when nightfall will come back. Yes, she can't stop them from re-emerging, but it doesn't take forever for her to bring them back down. Her powers are great, and she will use them whichever way she wants to."
He sighed, taking the butt of the shotgun and tapping it against the hardwood floor. The horrific images that the paintings displayed back inside the last shelter he and Bela sought came to mind immediately after.
"When Bela and I were inside a building not too far away from here – face to face with her – all the works of art basically…came to life. We saw one of them turn into pure violence, and it sounded like the rest did so as well." He let go of the shotgun; using that hand to grip the hair on the side of his head. This all sounded too crazy, but it was real. "Do you think she could do that?"
"I believe it," Kyia affirmed as she twiddled her thumbs. "I'd put nothing past her. Her sense of humor is…troubling."
"So," Ethan tried to sort out all of the facts to help him come up with a plan, "this lady can control the sky and all forms of reality. She's afraid of daylight, and she likes sick jokes, apparently. Alright…I guess."
"It's distortion. She can pervert reality, but her results are not simple hallucinations. If you're thinking about going into that clock tower and killing her yourself, you might want to wait on that."
"Why? It's the only building with power at night."
"It is, and I don't know why," Kyia rubbed her forehead, evidently a little more stressed than she initially let on. "I don't think confining yourself to what could turn into a potentially dark space with her is going to do you any favors, Mr. Winters. If you want to get back to your realm, fighting her head-on isn't going to be your best bet."
Ethan took a moment to think about everything that was going on. He had just met Kyia, and now they were talking about how to defeat Vikcia. The woman seemed to know enough about the topic of other realms to offer up some useful information, but he still didn't understand it. It felt more like he was getting walked into signing on a shady car deal than a grand scheme to bypass the fabric of reality and enter a different universe.
Yeah, he thought, this all sounded way over his head.
"Wait." He brought up his hand to call a time-out. "Just…wait. I need to know more about what is going on. I never told you how I got here. Don't you think that matters?"
Kyia shrugged her shoulder and gestured toward the door with her head. "It depends. I watched her come from the sky in a sea of shadows. Did that happen to you?"
"No. We were overtaken by this bright flash." Ethan inspected his hands, still questioning the science of just a thing. "We became particles of light, re-forming until we were complete. Does that make any sense? Is that in your book?"
Kyia didn't even skim through the pages. Instead, she shook her head without hesitation. "No, it's not. I've read this book over and over ever since she arrived here. It only tells me so much, but the theory of other universes was regarded as fanatical in this city beforehand. It went against the church, and in this city…you don't do that."
"Crazy religious cults," Ethan groaned as he tilted his head back. "That always goes so well."
"I promise you: none of those beasts out there care about religion of any sort. They just want to eat."
"So, you're one of those 'fanatics,' then?" Ethan tried to lighten the mood with a smile. Kyia abandoned her serious demeanor and returned the expression to him. She even threw in a short chuckle. She seemed to have taken great pride in her hobbies, and the indication that he approved carried a positive effect.
"You can say that."
Ethan went back to the topic of his arrival, wanting to know if it did hold any significance or not. "With what I just told you about how I got here, does that give you any ideas? Maybe, I'm thinking, there may be a different way to get me home."
Kyia decided to crack open her book, casually flipping through pages as if his comment brought something back to mind. "Hmm, were you stabbed with a strange piece of metal beforehand?"
"No…" Ethan instinctively patted his body for any signs of an unseen stab wound. "I don't recall getting stabbed…with anything out of the ordinary. I mean, Bela and her sisters got me a few good times, but –"
"Wait!" Kyia's eyes snapped away from the book and went right back to him. "She stabbed you?!"
"I mean…" Ethan realized this was going to be exceptionally difficult to explain.
"Who did you come into this world with?"
The sound of Vikcia's humming had died out a short while ago, but that did nothing to ease Bela's nerves. The shadow woman was as quiet as a spider when it came to navigating around this place. There was no telling when she would pop up.
With her sickle in one hand and her newly-acquired rifle in the other, she had spent the last fifteen or so minutes taking cover behind various objects, bounding from spot to spot as she sought to put distance between her and that nightmarish woman.
Despite the need to escape, she did not want to stray too far from wherever Ethan could have possibly gone to. She recognized that taking on this city alone was a death sentence, and if the man was even still alive, he must have found something preferable.
Still, she needed a good backup plan just in case the annoying man-thing had met an early demise.
I'm going to need to find shelter somewhere. Argh! Every place seems to be crawling with something. All these buildings look so dark. I can't see past the windows. Anything could be watching me right now…
Creeping from alleyway to alleyway, Bela slowly moved along the tight, narrow corners, occasionally poking her head out to check if the streets were safe to run across before taking action. The cool wind that blew along her body kept her mind focused. She had never been in an environment such as this before, recalling all the limitations of her past world.
She knew that she could very well die out here if she wasn't careful. But, in contrast to her powers, her determination to see her tasks to an end did not vanish upon arrival. She was still the same Bela that was the backbone of House Dimitrescu, and she knew how to strategize.
There was no room for failure.
You can do this, Bela. Keep your head up. If mother was watching you right now, she'd be counting on you. Make her proud.
She removed the hood that covered her head, expanding her view and allowing better auditory potential. While the sight of her half-shaven scalp and the large, crater-like scar on her temple disgusted her, there was no room for appearances when survival was the goal.
She and her sisters had spent years being told that it was not to be shown, and that mentality had caused some issues for them in their personal activities. Cassandra had grumbled about missing her chance at a deer or two because she wasn't allowed to withdraw her hood during a hunt. Daniela would occasionally fuss about the fabric getting in the way during her book reading, but even in the confines of the library, it was still forbidden to remove them.
It was only during periods of sleep or bathing that the ladies were permitted to allow their hoods to come down. Personally, as much as she enjoyed a nice, warm blood bath, Bela truly enjoyed the freedom it offered.
It got her thinking about how strict her standards were. If she was so accustomed to abiding by them to the point where she was putting herself at a disadvantage; were any of the rules in the past worth sticking to?
You're getting distracted. Don't worry about any of that. Worry about it when you get home. You can see better, that's all that counts. Think about mother later.
Covered by the darkness, Bela listened for any activity that would indicate the presence of another creature lurking about. Between what she had witnessed in the cathedral and on the streets, it seemed as though the residents of this city were not limited to one simple form. Unlike the Lycans that populated the outskirts of her village, the horrors of this land came in many shapes.
The streets were quiet – save for the wind. The whistling tune of the breeze continued without interruption, though Bela was weary of whether or not it was natural or the work of the devil woman herself. Nothing was to be trusted at this point. As far as she knew, any sound could indicate danger.
Yet, the silence was just as troubling too. Cassandra was a great hunter, but even the blonde understood the rules of the wild enough to know how death conducted business.
If it was too quiet, it meant an apex predator was nearby – and she was being watched.
That thought made the idea of the wind just a little more soothing. As long as she could not be seen, the gusts should mask the noise she made. If nothing was already aware of her presence, then she would be in the clear, for now. It was a game of chess and she had to play her moves carefully.
One wrong gamble and it was game over.
With some of the moonlight peeking through the tops of the tall buildings, Bela took the moment to inspect the rifle in her hands. It was a strange-looking weapon, even though she did not know much about guns. It was similar to a bolt-action rifle that Cassandra had kept around the castle after killing its owner years ago. Unlike the military-style form of the weapon that lived in her home, this one adopted a more gothic appearance with a spiral-shaped barrel and demon-horn-style iron sights.
Right now, Bela wished her sister had done more with the rifle they had, as it would have helped give her some more familiarity with a gun like this. The brunette never had use for the firearm; resigning it as a mere trophy than anything else.
There was a short-lived period when her sister was excited to have it, and she gleefully paraded it around the castle in front of her and Daniela. Not skilled in the usage or respect of guns, Cassandra had pulled the trigger, causing a round to discharge into the Main Hall's ceiling.
Needless to say, their mother was less than pleased.
Remembering what she had witnessed that day, Bela took notice of the curved, silver bolt on the weapon, identifying it as the primary way the gun would re-chamber the next cartridge. She rotated it upwards, pulling it back and ejecting the live round that was still in its place. The rifle did not utilize an external magazine like the one Cassandra obtained, so it made sense the shells were loaded internally.
She worked the action again, chambering and ejecting the second round inside. Once the cartridge spun out, she realized that those two were all she had.
Great. Only two bullets. Unless I can find more ammunition, this is not going to be my first resort…
Bela picked up the two shells and carefully placed them inside the magazine, hearing distinctive clicks as she did so. Working the bolt again, she sent the first round back into the chamber before transferring the rifle to her left hand and keeping her sickle in her right.
She knew the blade like it was a part of her. As such, she trusted it more than she trusted this odd gun.
The best outcome is no fights. Just be ready if you have to.
With another peek down the street, the coast seemed clear and it was time to run. Bela popped up out of the shadows and hustled across the cobblestone road as quickly as she could, eyeing a series of empty horse carriages on the way there. The multitude of abandoned transport wagons told the story of a cluster of people that were likely caught in the initial onslaught of Vikcia's wrath.
It then made sense to wonder just where exactly everyone who may have been inside those carriages went. If they weren't dead, then where were they?
It was a thought that she'd rather not weigh on for too long. As soon as she saw the traffic, Bela considered the chance that there was a large group of vicious townsfolk nearby and the idea of that was troubling. Had she noticed it sooner, then she may have looked for a different place to go, but now, it was too late.
She was already committed to the path that she was on, and turning back meant staying in the same area for too long. She had to keep moving.
Damn it! I have to be more perceptive. That was too much for me to miss!
Bela crouched as she re-entered the shadows of the next alleyway, keeping her ears peeled for the sound of anything that might be tracking her. Her heartbeat was already loud enough for her to hear, and she slowly took a breath to try and simmer it down. Getting scared would be the first step to the end, but she could not deny the dread that she felt.
Vikcia had managed to tap into a part of her that she never knew existed before. Maybe it was the lack of her own powers that caused her intense eagerness to retreat from the maggot-breathing woman. Or, perhaps, it was her common sense that told her something was as dangerous as an open window was back in her castle.
It could have been all that – but, there was that one part of the blonde that felt true fear, and she did not know why.
Glancing up at the dark sky, bordered by the spiked roofs of the many buildings around her, Bela found herself lost in the moment. Breathing in the cool air, she felt how real this all was. The weapons in her hands – they felt real too. She blinked again and again. Her lips opened and she slowly exhaled as the hordes of clouds shifted across the sky above.
It almost feels like you're out there. Cassandra. Daniela. I'm going to make it home. I promise. I just wish I could run back there and into your arms. There is so much that we need to repair between one another. I was just with you and now, you're all gone. I know everything is still out there. You. Our mother. Our castle. It all feels so close…yet, so far away.
Her back sat against the brick wall of the building next to her. She needed to take a short break to collect herself. Running mindlessly around the city was the best way to get lost.
She crouched down into a squat before her legs swayed and she rested on her rear. The rifle laid across her lap, while the sickle did not leave her grasp. With another low breath, Bela hung her head as the adrenaline from all her previous encounters began to wear off. She was exhausted at this point. Her legs were strained; muscles tight from exertion. She could feel the sweat on her back and between her breasts. The chill of the air soothed her neck, while the droplets around her forehead faded away from her skin.
So much action in so little time. There was no way I'll make it out of this city alive at the rate I'm going. Sooner or later, it's going –
Out of the corner of Bela's left eye, she saw a dark silhouette rising from the corner. Before she could even turn around, the gurgling of another being was heard on the opposite end – right across from her. The alleyway was way too dark to see properly, but from what she was given, neither of them appeared to be small.
"Damn…" She gritted her teeth as she slowly rose back onto her feet. She had no source of light, and firing the rifle blindly not only risked the usefulness of the scarce ammunition but also alerting every other creature within a half-mile radius. She needed to think fast, and as the silhouette of the first threat continued to reveal itself, she decided that taking this battle into the street would not end well.
She'd have to fight in the dark.
Shambling toward her, the dark shape crossed the narrow path of moonlight that cut down the alleyway. Bela was just barely able to glimpse the man's face as he drew closer.
Great, more maggots…
A large mass of the white larvae infested his mouth, overflowing to the point where there was hardly an avenue to breathe. Neither his eyes were spared from the infestation, as the worms had packed into the lower portion of the sockets, swelling the bottom of his eyelids, which resulted in large clusters draping out around his ocular orbs. His face was a withered mess; indicating he was elderly and his long life had reached its final chapter in the form of Vikcia's madness.
Bela raised her sickle out to her side, waiting until he was just close enough before she swung it toward his throat. The curved blade entered the side of his neck, carving through his jugular the moment she pulled it down. It was a common move that she employed throughout her days – one that guaranteed a quick death when needed.
The man's groans turned into a bubbling rasp as blood poured down his grey long-sleeve shirt, coating his frail body in a red flood. With more fight than anyone his age would have had, he stumbled onto a knee, picking himself back up while he clutched his wound. Maggots spilled from his mouth as spurts of blood heaved them forward. Bela took another step back, putting distance between the two of them as she waited for him to die.
But, he wasn't going to go down easily.
She raised her sickle back in the air – just as another body came barreling toward her.
Damn it!
There was no time to process what exactly she was looking at. The only thing she could do was swing her weapon again and hope that it either killed or incapacitated her target. With a forceful throw, she punched the curved tip into the stomach of the human-shaped figure that approached her. Before she could pull back and retrieve her blade, the figure's body rotated; prying the weapon from her grasp.
It was a costly move for the blonde, but she was still armed.
"Argh!" She groaned as she backed away to her left, watching as the being tumbled against the wall that she had just been standing nearby. The illuminated ray of moonlight that traveled across the alley opened as the cloud above did the same. It was a momentary show of mercy from the possessed skies – just enough to give her some more insight while the fight lasted.
The rays caught the form of the second person who had just charged at her. The grey gown worn by them almost blended in with the shadows perfectly. It was no wonder why they would have stayed hidden for so long. The bare legs underneath and the glint of the red, heeled slippers presented the image of a young lady.
That was all Bela had to go on, as the head was more akin to a dead spider.
The backside of the woman's cranium was encompassed by an array of arachnid-like legs that curled and twitched without any discernable reason. The bulbous center of the mass created an excessive weight – evidenced by the persistent tilt in her neck in whichever direction her head leaned.
There were no maggots to be seen on her face, as brief as it was visible, but, that did not make it any less terrifying. Her eyes – or what was left of them – were pushed to the sides by what appeared to be fangs that protruded from her eye sockets. Her nose had fused shut, leaving her mouth as the sole source of air.
And what a mouth she had.
Bela grimaced as she gazed at the lady's split mandible. Instead of transforming into any usable form of chelicerae like a real spider would have, her jaw looked like it had simply broken apart in multiple places to resemble such features. Shattered bone and displaced teeth lined the outer edges of her lower face, while dried blood stuck to her skin and clothes.
From out the corner of her displaced eyes drained a trail of blood. Bela did not know the full extent of how much trauma the lady's body had gone through during the course of her transformation. The only thing that she did know was that this woman looked and acted like she was still in pain.
However – that didn't mean she wasn't trying to kill her.
The arachnid lady continued to clutch her stomach while she leaned against the wall. It was too risky to try and grab the sickle while she could still attack. Bela maintained her distance; just as the elderly man began to stand. He could barely see, it seemed. Taking hold of the rifle's grip in her right hand, Bela directed the muzzle at him, but she did not shoulder the firearm.
I could shoot them both. They'd be dead, I hope. Ugh, no! That'd make too much noise. She'll know I'm here!
Bela carefully moved back some more, watching as the moonlight closed and the shapes of the man and lady turned dark – just as their heads followed her.
There's only one way I'm going to do this then…
The maggot man took one step, and she immediately countered it with a butt-stroke to the face. While it was too dim to see, she could feel the splash of larvae against her as he tumbled back. His garbled breathing shifted into a pained grunt before a thud signaled his arrival back onto the stone ground.
Wasting no time, Bela descended upon him; using the butt of the rifle again as she sought to cave in his skull. The first few strikes missed, hitting the ground as she searched for her target.
One hit here. One hit there.
After a couple more – the metal plate at the end met its mark.
The familiar crack of a person's skull sounded as the container of brain matter became compromised. Gritting her teeth with a sharp push of her jaw, the eldest daughter of House Dimitrescu embraced her family's penchant for violence. It was a fierce display of savagery; one that she lost herself in.
Hit after hit caused the once solid shape she aimed for to become softer and more liquified. Soon enough, there were no more groans or any sounds for that matter to be found from the infected man. He had to be as good as dead, she thought. Bringing her rifle back to her body, the last of the moonlight allowed her to peek at the massive coating of blood that adorned the wooden stock.
Dead. One dead.
As soon as her eyes processed the splash of success on her weapon, Bela took sudden notice of the arachnid lady lurching toward her. Despite her initial appearance, the woman was faster than expected. In a blink, she connected with Bela, gripping the ends of the rifle in an attempt to shake the gun from her prey's grasp.
Groaning through her teeth, Bela pushed back, "Away from me!"
The woman offered no response as expected; save for a slurping as she fought for air that would taste like iron amid all the blood she had expelled during her worst of days. There was strength to be found in the lady's body, alerting Bela that this was not the time to cast judgment. She knew how quickly this could go wrong, and she needed to think fast.
Pushing back as hard as she could, the blonde heaved forward, nearly tripping her adversary against the corpse of the man. However, as soon as Bela started to regain the upper hand, the woman tilted her head down, aligning the top of her spider-like growths with the daughter's face.
No!
The legs closed in; seeking to entrap Bela's face within them. Thankfully, she was fast in her reaction, though, it was only by the saving grace of the faint moonlight that she had even noticed the attack at all. This fight was going to be uncertain if she did not do something drastic. All the creature needed to do was deal one good hit and she could overtake her.
Argh! She has to die! Okay, think! She's strong. Too strong. Wait…I got it!
Bela backed away, forcing the strength of her enemy to be used against her. The lady stumbled forward, taking the rifle with her as she began to fall. Bela relinquished the weapon as soon as she opted to clear a path for her to drop. Being unarmed was unacceptable, but once she felt the handle of her sickle brush against her side, she knew what to do.
Crashing onto the ground, the lady shuffled around as the weight of her head made it difficult to turn. Seizing the opportunity once more, Bela listened for the sounds of her movement to visualize where she was. Her hand reached out; feeling along the sides of the creature's body for the sickle. It did not take long to find, and as soon as she had a good grip, Bela torqued it until it ripped from the woman's intestines.
Got it!
The blonde ran her hand up the lady's back, feeling for the first thing on her head that she could grab onto. There was hardly any hair to be found, and as soon as one of the stiff legs at the top poked her knuckles, she went for it.
Snagging two of the limbs, Bela yanked her skull backward, noting just how heavy it truly was; at least five times that of a normal head. Nevertheless, it would not stop her.
She needed to kill this thing.
Taking no time to think any further, Bela channeled her innermost bloodlust, repeating the brutal actions that she and her sisters had practiced for decades. The woman's head may have been massive, but her neck was not.
Hacking at the area like a madwoman, Bela cleaved skin from muscle, and then muscle from bone. Spurts of blood-soaked her arm, but that was only a sign of accomplishment. While the desire to drink the crimson liquid was absent, she rejoiced in the slaughter, finding her capacity for violence as the only thing that would keep her alive.
These people were all monsters now – but she herself had always been.
Huffing a restraint grunt, Bela slammed the sickle against the side of the lady's neck some more, before using the edge of the blade to saw through her vertebrae. It didn't take long to break through the bone, as the sharp metal easily ran in between the spinal columns.
Once it had passed through, the rest of the cutting was a cakewalk. Bela sliced through the remaining skin, now in possession of a malformed head as her grand prize. Lifting the hefty skull up in the air, her curiosity got the better of her as she angled it toward the moonlight. The woman's face was motionless; her jaw hanging wide open as no further brain activity was there to control it.
She poked one of the eyeballs to double-check the head for any signs of stimulation.
Nothing.
Content that the encounter was finished, she dropped the decapitated remains onto the ground – only for the sound of tapping to echo as it took off into the darkness.
What the –
There were no more words left to be said. As disturbed as she was, Bela did not waste time lamenting her opinion of what just happened. She groaned as she turned toward the headless body, slamming her sickle straight into its back and ripping the blade out as soon as she twisted it around.
She needed to make sure the rest of her was dead.
Breathing heavily, she knelt down to retrieve the rifle from the corpse's hands. The gown of her fallen enemy was used to wipe off most of the blood from the firearm and herself. As soon as a satisfactory amount of it was soaked up, she rose.
The moonlight began to trickle back in as the clouds shifted again, allowing her to glimpse the aftermath of the chaotic scuffle. The bodies were nothing more but a reminder of the blonde's will to stay alive. While she was wise to remember who the apex predator of this city was, there was hope in her mind that the next battle would end just the same.
As she returned to holding each weapon in a separate hand, Bela's breaths were visible from the rims of her dark crimson lips. The night was getting colder, but in this world, the cold was no longer her enemy. The temperature could not be killed, but these things could.
And kill them she would.
Standing victorious over the dead, Bela suddenly sensed the creeping presence of something else. She glanced down the alleyway to where the street was. At the entrance of the path was a slender male figure, who simply leaned his shoulder against the wall. It was too difficult to make out his features, but unlike Vikcia, he was not encased in shadows. Oddly, the figure appeared to be more of a spectator rather than someone interested in fighting her.
Yet, that did not make him any less threatening.
There was no inclination to run up to him and beg for help. Bela trusted her instinct, and something about this figure did not resonate well with her. She understood predatory tendencies.
He was analyzing her.
She glared back at him, waiting to see if he was going to try anything. The man simply tilted his head slightly before turning around with his left leg. A casual walk down the sidewalk and out of her field of view was the only thing she was given in response.
That – and an eerie whistling tune that faded out as he moved further down the block.
Good...walk away.
Still gritting her teeth, Bela kept her posture. She did not know who or what that man was, nor did she want to. The only thing that she cared about was making it through this damned city.
It was at that moment that she considered what Ethan had pitted himself against when he entered their village. The man had faced hordes of Lycans and other dangers before he managed to make it inside Castle Dimitrescu. Even then, he had somehow persevered and came to blows with the eldest daughter of Alcina.
As naïve and stupid as she thought he was, there was no denying that the man was a fighter. She had to credit him for that and knowing why he had entered the castle in the first place was a testament to how much love could carry someone.
For her; she was doing this for her family.
Nothing in this world was going to stop her from reuniting with her mother and sisters. Bela Dimitrescu had spent her life committing herself to the tasks that she was given. Even more so; she held her own goals to the highest of standards. There was no room for failure in her book.
The only thing she held above that was the love she had for those women, and she knew that love would carry her through this impending hell.
One way or another, she was going to find a way out of here. Anything that stood in her way would incur the greatest of debt, and at her sickle…it would be paid.
NOTES:
Another chapter in and the stakes are only getting higher!
Ethan's doing well, for now. It looks like he's got another ally up his sleeve in this mad world. Kyia is an interesting woman, and her relationship with our (not yet a couple) couple will be one to remember. For Ethan, this is a time to rest. Bela, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.
There are still so many creatures out there and with Vikcia hiding in the shadows, she's fighting for her life. While she and Ethan will soon reunite, don't think these encounters won't have an effect on her. This story of redemption and purpose will see Bela put through the wringer in many ways. She is going to discover herself and Ethan will be instrumental in the process.
Until then, it is battle after battle – physically and mentally.
Expect to see the next chapter in around two weeks or so. Follow this story on Archive of Our Own to see the latest art created for this chapter!
Thanks again for the massive amount of support and interest that this story had seen! You're all so awesome to have and I love writing these stories for you! Let me know what you think, hope to see; anything! Wishing you all a great week and stay safe out there! See you around! 😊
