Karl weighed his options.

He could set the place on fire. But that would probably work against him. He needed it to be loud, dramatic, messy...but not that messy. It had to keep her here awhile, distracted. Chewing on his cigar, his thoughts drifted to the recent exchange with the outsider.

He was surprised the conversation with the girl went as well as it did. She didn't even try to shoot him! Not that it would have made any difference if she did...but using his power he established she only had 3 rounds left. The village wasn't swimming in ammunitions, save for what the Duke brought in. And now, she would smuggle the flask out for him and right to his factory. If she was killed and it was discovered; well, that wasn't his problem. Miranda would blame Alcina for her negligence and he would be net neutral. The chance to disrupt the timing of Miranda's plan was worth it.

She would be useful to him, so in turn he wouldn't turn her over to Miranda as a distraction or feed her to the Lycans. At least, he wouldn't yet. It was an even trade. Once she was at his factory; he would share the plan with her. Or at least parts of the plan. He had to admit, he liked the idea of an ally - but that's as far as he would explore his motivations. She was serving a purpose, he told himself; to help him wipe Miranda out. Whether it was by his hands or hers or his army or even her reinforcements, was left to be determined. And it certainly didn't hurt that she was easy on the eyes.

Turning back to the task at hand, he came to a decision. He hated doing it, but it was the quickest and cleanest. Pain in the ass...

He had to use his power at a distance. It would be an undertaking, but he could do it. He was close enough to his target, anyway. He threw his cigar into the bushes and closed his eyes, relaxing into the courtyard wall outside of the kitchen. Imaging the halls, the rooms, he conjured up the image of the solid metal at the top of the stairs near the kitchen keeping those creatures wandering the basement. The creatures Alcina herself had created, taking her cue from mother. Why she kept them, he had no idea. But soon they would be wandering around the castle halls. A fine mess indeed.

Feeling the familiar warmth blooming in his chest; Karl imagined the door, the hinges, the bars. He felt the pull of opposing forces. Intertwining it with his own, he tugged and pulled and twisted. A sense of release shot through him when he sensed it separate from the wall, sending it flying backwards into the fireplace and nearly through the crumbling brick.

Now it was time to get out of there. It would be easy to avoid running into the occupants of the estate. He had memorized their signature; by the jewelry and accessories they wore. By the weapons they carried. He stood to leave, but something was nagging at him.

He closed his eyes and relaxed his mind. Standing in the cold courtyard with his fingers and spine tingling, he pictured the main hall. He concentrated as he hit his target. The chandelier. Grabbing onto it, feeling the pull of the metal; he heaved it down, sending it screaming to the ground. The sound was explosive, and Karl felt the tremor through the wall with the impact.

Ok. Maybe it could be that messy.

"I've always wanted to do that."

From somewhere deeper in the rooms, he heard her scream with rage. He smiled.

xx

After tucking the flask in her bag, Celia set out to find the exit Karl had directed her to; mind racing. Should she trust him? He seemed genuine; and she didn't really have a plan other than getting Rose and getting out of there. Oh, and rescue Ethan. And she had to admit; she was a little intrigued with the man. Something about him seemed...wild. Something in the way he grabbed her, the tone and cadence of his voice, the way he smelled. His very presence sung chaotic. It made her curious. Excited. A part of her liked a little bit of chaos.

She had to assume Chris and the team were long gone, leaving her for dead in this place. Maybe Karl could help her contact them. Or maybe this was some weird trap to get her to go there so he could sacrifice her in Mother Miranda's name or something twisted like that. Was Rose even really in that flask? It all seemed so unbelievable. She knew she was being paranoid, but decided she would trust her gut and follow his lead for now. She was nothing if not decisive. She lived by the credo that any choice she made was the right one. In her world, any other line of thought was dangerous.

The silence was split by a sharp, loud voice.

"Where do you think you're going? After that little stunt with Daniela I'm surprised Mother let you keep your head."

Not another one of these chicks...

Between her the door less than fifteen feet away stood a woman dressed in black that looked an awful lot like Daniela. She was beautiful, in a dark and twisted way. Though covered by a cape, Celia could make out the blood stricken, dirty blonde hair that spilled over her shoulders. Fresh blood stood out over that which was old and dried and black against the woman's face and throat. She thought of the poor woman who was dragged from the dining room.

Celia did not feel intimidated. Instead, she eyed the woman, sizing her up. She was so close, she just had to make it to the door. She wanted to get her talking; distract her. She left a pitch in her voice and called out to her: "Which one are you?"

"My name?" The woman seemed genuinely surprised. "Curious little thing." She let out a giggle. "Bela. I guess it's not so odd for you to know it, perhaps you'll be screaming it later as I'm pulling out your intestines."

A curved, sickle-like blade shone at her side.

"Daniela may be weak and foolish for pretty little girls like you; but you won't get the same mercy from me."

Not waiting for the woman in black to make a move, Celia fired a shot, aiming between her eyes. In a flash, where there should have been a spray of blood was an explosive scatter of fat black flies that swarmed into the air and shot straight at Celia's exposed skin. The noise they made was deafening, and made her feel dizzy as they ripped into her flesh and drowned out the sound of a woman's laughter.

Just as quickly as they masked her vision, they were gone as Bela reconstituted herself, the throbbing black mass slowly reforming her neck and head. She charged forward, her blade out. Though she knew it wouldn't kill her, she thought to slow her down by firing a few more rounds at her. Two more escaped before she heard the "click" of an empty clip.

"I'll kill you!"

Momentarily frozen, Bela slammed into her, teeth gnashing at her throat and the sharp sickle slicing into Celias' left shoulder. Thankfully, the tip caught on her vest, stopping it from sinking into the side of her neck...but the damage was done. The gash in her upper arm seared as she tried to fend off Bela's attacks. Using the pain as an impetus, she shoved the gun into the oversized pocket of the jacket and used her forearm to pry the woman away from her throat.

Pulling out her knife and aiming as best she could given the angle, she jammed it into the wrist holding the sickle. Expecting to feel the yield of flesh and strike of bone; she wasn't surprised when she felt it swing unimpeded as the woman's entire arm exploded into a burst of flying insects. It may not have been the intended outcome – but it produced the intended result. The sickle fell to the ground with a clang.

Ducking into a squat, Celia kicked the sickle as hard as she could and listened to it slide across the marble floor.

Taking the opening, Celia braced her left arm against her body to protect her shoulder and with her free hand grabbed the woman's throat. She threw her leg behind Bela's lower body and slammed her backwards and down to the floor as violently she could – ignoring the searing pain spurred by the effort.

Bela's head hit the stone floor with a sickening crack and, with her attacker momentarily stunned, Celia vaulted over her and sprinted for the exit. The sound of buzzing reached her ears as stumbled out the back door and into the frigid air, deep red splotches of blood trailing in the snow.

[Authors Note: Thank you so much for reading so far! I hope you are enjoying the story! Thank you to those who have left reviews and comments. It really makes me so happy to read them. If you have any feedback, thoughts, etc. please feel free to leave it!

PS. If you're like me, you were dying to shoot down that chandelier when you saw it, too!]