CanaDERP: Thanks much for the favorites and follows we've received so far! You guys are great! X3 We really hope you enjoy Chapter One! Please leave a review when you're done! :3
It is now seven years after the curse was put on Ludwig. It is the day that a young person from the village is chosen as a "sacrifice" for him, though little did they know that all he did with them was keep them in the mansion as servants. He had to preserve the fear that the townspeople felt for him, because he knew they would surely kill him if they didn't fear that he may kill them first.
Valdemar was lecturing Ludwig, who was in turn tuning out everything he said. His thoughts wandered to this and that, watching Valdemar's mouth as he talked and thinking that he looked sort of like his late father. When the older man stopped rambling and stared Ludwig in the eyes, he finally snapped out of his random thoughts.
"Ludvig, you only have zhree years until you're doomed to stay like zhis forever! If you don't even try to reform your attitude, you might as vell give up hope now! But I von't be giving up on you so easily, und you better start shaping up!" His glare was enough to make Ludwig shudder, and it took a lot to get even that much of a reaction out of him anymore.
"You're not even listening to me, are you?" Valdemar let out an exasperated sigh, and grabbed one of Ludwig's ears. "Listen, Ludvig, zhis insolent attitude of yours has to stop! I stayed vizh you zhese past seven years because I had hope for you to become human again! I have zhe feeling zhat you don't even care anymore!" His glare hardened.
Ludwig murmured, gazing out a window, seeing things that were not there, "Nein, I haven't given up… But I feel defeated…" He saw through the eyes of a nearby wolf, hunting an elk with his pack, and it got his adrenaline pumping.
Being so transformed, Ludwig had a few instincts that were not normal for humans, such as the desire to hunt, and to kill. Valdemar kept his killing to animals only, however, so no matter how much any of the servants angered him, he wouldn't allow his aggression to act for him in place of human reasoning.
Through the years, the members of the village council, who had been the ones to decide on the sacrificing, designated a place to drop off the sacrifices where they could not escape, but where the guards would not have to risk their lives going near the mansion. The spot was a small crowd of trees, where they put a cage, and left the key for the beast, just out of reach of any prisoner inside.
In order to keep up the charade, Roderich, who was the one to go and get the sacrifices every year, would leave a piece of blood stained cloth near the cage after he collected them. In order to protect Ludwig, they had to keep up his image as a terrifying, man-eating monster, no matter how far from the truth that was.
However, Ludwig's clothes were quite often stained with blood, as he cared very little for appearances anymore, and he did not frequently eat at the mansion. He habitually hunted with the wolves that wandered the woods near the mansion, and typically didn't change his clothes for days afterward, when one of his friends would force him to.
"And one more thing," Valdemar added as he was about to leave, "Please change your clothes and bathe today; preferably before our new arrival gets here." On that note, Valdemar left the Master's chambers, leaving Ludwig to mumble to himself about how he didn't think there was anything wrong with his clothes or his cleanliness. As he was thinking this, a bit of his human side activated: "You are filthy. If you were human, you would be disgusted with yourself right now. But you're not human… You're a MONSTER." He shook these thoughts away, and looked down at his clothes. "Definitely need a bath…" he murmured.
After getting all the blood and dirt out of his fur, Ludwig looked in his wardrobe. Elizabeta made clothes for him that fit his beastly body, but he hardly ever wore them. They were too nice for him; too nice for a monster. Even so, he put them on, and looked in the mirror, then away quickly.
"Ughh… Vhy did I even look?" shuddering, he scratched behind his left ear. With a bit of hesitation, he looked in the mirror again, to look at his own eyes. "Still blue…" At least that hadn't changed; his eyes were the only thing that reminded him that he was still human underneath, besides the random moments when his human conscience would kick in. It always seemed to kick in at the worst times, just to make him feel terrible.
Ludwig often found his human conscience to surface right after he beat Gilbert to a pulp, telling him that he was a monster. That's all his conscience ever seemed to tell him; what he already knew fully well. He pounded the wall with his fist. What would be different about this year? The village would send another young man as a sacrifice, and it wouldn't get him any closer to being his old self again.
Gilbert knocked on the door now, "Hey, Luddy, you alright? Did you trip over your own tail again? Kesesesese!" He opened the door. "GILBERT, GO AVAY, I DON'T VANT TO PUT UP VIZH YOU RIGHT NOW!" Ludwig yelled at him, but he didn't throw anything at him like he usually did. Gilbert advanced into his room. "Awh, don't be like zhat, Luddy! At least you don't smell bad today!" He barked out a laugh, and Ludwig took a swing at him, which he barely managed to dodge.
Slumping into a chair, Ludwig hid his face in his hands. "Bitte… Just… go avay." He mumbled through his palms. Gilbert stayed and watched Ludwig for a few minutes before breaking the silence, "Vhat has you so down today? It's not like zhis year is much different zhan every ozher year!"
Ludwig's head snapped up to glare at his friend. "Zhat's zhe point! It von't be any different! I von't break zhe curse, und I vill be stuck like zhis for zhe rest of my life… You all might as vell just leave und let me die alone…"
For a moment, Gilbert couldn't bring himself to breathe. Was Ludwig really giving up? "Hey now, don't talk like zhat! I von't let you give up until you really ARE doomed!" He stood beside his friend, patting his back reassuringly, not that it helped. His gesture was in vain, especially after that tactless comment. Grinning again, he added, "You still have zhree years! Zhat's a pretty long time! You need to make zhe most of it und really try! I zhink vhat you need to vork on most is taking a bath more often…"
Ludwig didn't stir; he sat resolute in his chair, staring at the floor between his fingers. Finally, he sighed, "Just go already…" and slumped further into his seat. "Alright, but zhe villagers vill be choosing a 'sacrifice' soon now." He turned to leave, paused to look at his friend from over his shoulder, then continued out the door.
He sighed, and stood up, "Maybe it vould be better if zhey vould just come as a mob und kill me… Get it over vizh…" Ludwig glimpsed out the window. He saw Roderich leaving, and he wouldn't have much time before the new arrival was brought in to him. He drew the curtains now, and blew out all the candles, leaving him in complete darkness.
Felicia was an auburn-haired young woman of 21, who lived with her twin sister Lovina and their father Julius. Their family had not lived in the village long, only about three years, and this was the third time that Felicia and Lovina would have to enter their names in the drawing for a sacrifice. Since a girl had never been chosen as the sacrifice, she was doubtful that one would be chosen this year either.
Lovina, the older of the twins, was angry as usual. "Why do we all have to go to this stupid thing?! If they choose me, I'll kill them! I'm not going to be food for anything!" She reluctantly finished brushing her hair and went to see if her sister was ready. "Feli, you better be ready by now because I'm not waiting for you any longer!" Pushing open the door to her sister's room, Lovi saw that Feli wasn't even in there. "Crap, so I'm the one that's running late…"
Feli was waiting in the main hall of the house, and hugged her sister around her shoulders. "LOVI!"
"Get off of me, damnit!" Lovina pushed her sister away. "Let's just get this over with, huh?" She forced her way out the door and Felicia followed after her cheerfully, humming to herself. The two of them had put their names in the drawing the day before, just as all the other villagers between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one had, and today was the day someone's name would be taken from the box, and that person would be sacrificed.
Though she knew full well that this business was not a pleasant one, Feli thought that if it saved everybody else in the village for a year, then sacrificing somebody was worth it. She didn't exactly approve of it, but her innocent mind knew no other way to resolve the problem the villagers faced. She also knew that any idea she could come up with would just end up being laughed at.
The only person she knew wouldn't laugh at her was Francis. She didn't really like him, but he had asked her to marry him several times. He had even gone as far as to ask her father to make her marry him. Of course, he had said no, and that Feli would have to want to marry him first, but that still didn't shake him off. At least he never made fun of her ideas; she'd tried to come up with a better way to get rid of the beast and keep everybody safe, and the only one who didn't laugh at her was Francis.
Lovi had a similar situation going on with one of Francis's friends, Antonio. Antonio sold fruit—or at least, that's what he said they were, but nobody else actually believed that tomatoes were a fruit except him—and he was absolutely obsessed with Lovina. He wasn't as bad as Francis at least, since he had never asked to marry her; he just fawned over her excessively. Felicia watched them curiously, but never quite understood why her sister always punched Antonio in the stomach whenever he said hi to her…
"Why, bonjour, mon am!," A voice called out to Feli from behind. She turned around to see Francis standing behind her, smiling. Her naturally cheerful disposition forced her to smile back at him, no matter how much she wished he would just leave her alone. "B-buongiorno, Francis!" He had on the seductive grin he wore when he wanted something. "So, have you thought about my offer?" He put an arm about her waist, and she pulled away, taking hold of her sister's arm.
Immediately, Lovina took the hint and promptly took a swing at Francis's pretty-boy face. "Get away from my sister, you bastard! She's told you no already, why can't you get the message?!" Though her swing missed, he definitely got the message… for now. He would be back—he always did, though he had given up for the time being.
Everybody was gathered in the village center, and the village council was on the scaffold to draw the name of the year's sacrifice. When the headman felt that everybody was in attendance who was necessary, he began his This-is-Why-One-of-You-Young-People-Must-Die speech, which he hadn't changed at all in the last six years, so nobody paid attention to it anymore.
The village was apprehensive, but everybody stood on their toes as the headman pulled the name from the drawing box. The guards were surrounding the group, in case the chosen sacrifice tried to get away. A slip of paper was pulled out of the small, dented tin box, and the name was read aloud as the crowd waited with bated breath.
There was a pause, and then, "Felicia Vargas," he called, glancing up at the crowd. Wait, that couldn't be right. He hadn't just said Feli's name, had he? A girl had never been chosen, and it certainly wouldn't be her to be the first one! Felicia panicked, and looked at her sister and father, who were also in a panic. Her sister protested, and Francis looked like he was about to volunteer to take her place, but then slunk back into the crowd. Guards took hold of Feli's arms, and being so shocked, Felicia did nothing to resist.
"YOU CAN'T TAKE MY SISTER, YOU BASTARDS!" Lovina was kicking, biting, punching, screaming; it wasn't long before more guards interfered, holding her back, while she watched her sister being taken away. Felicia saw her father crying as they dragged her away from the crowd, tying her hands behind her back, and then escorting her from the village.
It wasn't until Feli was locked in the cage, just within sight of the mansion, that she realized what was going to happen to her. "…I'm going to die…." Tears poured from her eyes, but the guards simply walked away, refusing to even bid her a final farewell.
Felicia was left alone in the cage, her arms still bound behind her. She panicked inwardly, and wondered how much longer she had left to live. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye to her family…
It wasn't long before a man in a blue overcoat approached the cage. He looked shocked when he saw her, as did she, when she saw him. Was this the terrifying monster she'd been sacrificed to? This didn't make any sense!
When he spoke, she noticed that he had an accent.
"You're… not vhat I expected. You're… a girl!" The way he said it made it seem like he had never seen a girl before, as though they were only a myth.
"Umm… What's going on? What are you doing here?" she asked him. She had expecting a monster, and he certainly wasn't one.
He fumbled with the key then, opening the door with a creak. "Hm? Oh, I'm here to take you into zhe mansion. I assure you, zhe Master von't eat you." He smiled, and opened the cage for her, helping her out, but not untying her hands.
"Vell, I guess it doesn't matter if you're a girl, hm? It von't make a huge difference… I suppose… Hmmm…." He became lost in his thoughts rather quickly, but Felicia followed him anyway.
"Um, so vhat is your name, anyway?" Felicia didn't think he was telling the truth; why would the village need to send a sacrifice if the person they sent wasn't going to be killed?
It took him a moment to realize that she was talking to him. "Vhat? Oh, it's Roderich." And just like that, he was lost in his thoughts again.
The walk from the edge of the forest to the mansion was a short one, and Felicia found herself becoming more and more nervous with every step. Was he telling the truth? Was the monster that he worked for really not going to eat her?
It wasn't long before Roderich was going through the gate in front of the large building, with Feli following close behind. She knew she didn't want to enter those doors, but it wasn't as though she had much of a choice in the matter. Her hands were still bound together tightly, and she couldn't escape if she tried.
Upon entering, Felicia noticed the mansion was uncomfortably quiet, and dark. Most of the curtains were drawn, and there were very few candles lit. Roderich led Felicia up the main stairs and to the right. At the end of the hall was a large door, obviously the master bedroom; the chambers where the infamous beast would undoubtedly be holed up.
"Vait here a moment vhile I get Valdemar. It's probably a bit unsafe to let you in zhere vizh him if Valdemar's not in zhere; he keeps zhe Master calm."
He was about to turn away and leave, but a low voice came from within the chambers, "Nein, ve'll get zhis over vith now…" Roderich obliged, and opened the doors. Felicia felt a rush of cold air, and entered the completely dark room.
Angry German: I wrote this completely by myself, yet again, and CanaDERP sat back while I sent her paragraph after paragraph, and she squealed like a little girl.
CanaDERP: I HAVE A COMPLETELY LEGITIMATE RESON WHY I DIDN'T DO WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO! D8 I was…well, er, I…Writer's Block? *grins sheepishly* Though I did edit it a bit…. And yes, I squealed like a little girl on multiple occasions…*sigh* I'm such a fangirl. XD
Angry German: See? I write these just to get a reaction from her. "THE FEELS" she says.
CanaDERP: I blame Tumblr. X3 *turns to reader* Anyway, I'm sure you all know what will happen next. FELI WILL BE DEVOURED BY LUDWIG AND THUS WILL END THIS BEAUTIFUL, TRAGIC TALE. Am I right?
Angry German: You're a moron. I don't write tragedies. We do not fly a black flag over this theater.
CanaDERP: *laughs* You're absolutely right. 8D We attempt to avoid tragedies as often as possible…but that doesn't mean there won't be any tragedies or depressing spots in this! Oh, no! *evil glint* …Anyway, we better wrap this up soon. Any parting words, AG?
Angry German: *turns into France, blows a kiss at the readers* Keep reading, my lovelies.