Hey-O! Been a few weeks! Hope everyone had a good holidays as of this chapter being posted!
Jumping back into writing was a bit tricky at first, but I got into a good flow eventually! I'm also really happy with how the length turned out, but the only thing is I don't feel the fight scene is as good.
This is one of the last chapters in my first little story arcs so things will wind down and maybe a time skip. Don't worry, I wont be posting a sperate story, but you will notice a change of pace and time.
"OK, Ethan. Just go in, eat, get out." Ethan said to himself, trying to psych himself up. "Well, no better time than the present…" he said as he pushed the door open. As he looked, there were only two people in the dining room, awaiting the arrival of the others.
The most obvious was Alcina. Her imposing figure caught Ethan's attention first. Sitting up straight, prim and proper, reading a book, and legs crossed. She glanced up to see who had entered. "Ethan. Good evening."
Ethan glanced over to the second person, seeing it was Cassandra. She only gave him a scowl and a low growl but did not offer a verbal greeting. Ethan looked back to Alcina and nodded in greeting. "Good evening to you too, Alcina. Cassandra."
Cassandra only increased her growling.
"Bela and Daniela should be here momentarily," Alcina said idly.
Ethan just pulled up a chair in the same spot as this morning. "So…" Ethan began to fill the silence. "...how was your guy's day?"
Both Alcina and Cassandra looked at each other for a moment, then at Ethan a bit perplexed. "...it went well, I suppose." Alican replied, a bit confused. "While the idea of romance is a bit silly to me, I can't say it doesn't help with business…"
"Yeah… the wine. I almost forgot you actually sold that." Ethan said awkwardly.
"Yes, the wine." Cassandra snipped. "The wine that you and sister drank. The wine that also contains human blood." The smirk on her face told Ethan she was hoping that would make him become disgusted with himself.
Too bad for her.
"Yeah, I know. It's kind of hard not to notice, actually, what with the richer taste and texture…" Ethan answered back a bit smugly.
Alcina was curious about this, however. "You know it has blood in it, yet you still willingly drink it?"
Ethan shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I was told how you collect the blood and honestly, it's not the most unethical thing."
Alican looked at Ethan a bit stunned for a moment, before shrugging herself and returning to the book. Cassandra was more annoyed, though.
"What do you mean 'not the most unethical thing'? We harvest blood from maids to mix into wine!? How is that not unethical!" Cassandra argued.
"Well I mean it's not ethical. Just not that… unethical? It's not like you are chaining them up by their ankles and slitting their throats over a barrel to bleed them dry."
"Of course, we don't do that." Alcian agreed with Ethan. "Not anymore, at least…" she quietly added from behind her book. Ethan decided not to press the matter, however. He simply just started to drum his finger on the table in boredom as he waited for the other two to arrive so dinner could start.
He alternated between random patterns and rhythms. The drumming was the only noise filling the room and it was grating on Cassandra's nerves. She allowed the sound to continue for a moment in hopes that the manthing would stop of his own according, but each thumping of a finger on the hardwood table just reduced her willpower bit by bit.
Finally, her annoyance bubbled over to anger, and she couldn't contain it.
"Stop that damn drumming!"
Ethan's fingers froze as he looked over at her. Alcina glared at her daughter and cleared her throat. Cassandra took the hint.
"...stop the drumming, please." she forced out behind her snarling teeth.
Wide-eyed and a bit uncomfortable, Ethan slowly withdrew his hand from the table and Alcina returned to her book. Ethan looked around the room, looking for something else to occupy his attention while they waited. He studied the molding, the wallpaper, the floor, the molding again, and finally the staff waiting in the room. Luckily for him, Bela and Dani finally arrived.
"Sorry we are late, Mother." Dani said. "I neglected to inform my personal servants that dinner was to be served early and they did not have my clothes ready. Anyway, let's be seated."
Bela nodded and took her seat next to Mother and Ethan while Dani sat on the other side of Mother with Cassandra. This was when Alcina put her book down and nodded to one of the servants. All at once, the servants sprung into action. Carts were being pushed into the room with dishes of food on them. The main course for the night seemed fairly simple; a roast with potatoes and carrots, with peas on the side.
As the platters and bowls were placed on the table, it seemed the tension in the room diminished as everyone turned their attention to the food. It seemed, for the first time since his arrival, everyone was on the same page. A fresh bottle of wine was uncorked and everyone's glasses were being filled. "Do not worry Ethan, you have my word as a Dimitrescu that the wine does not contain any mold." Alcina reassured Ethan with a smirk. Ethan hesitantly gave the wine a little sip and waited a moment, only to feel no ill effects. Taking another drink, he is relieved to feel no immediate effects. Settings the glass down, he waits for the servants to finish so he can eat.
The servants all take steps back and without waiting, everyone digs in. Instead of dining in calm, collected manners, Dani and Cassandra are wolfing down every bit of food on their plate, while Bela is still trying to keep up some decorum. Alcina was multitasking; reading and eating at the same time. Ethan was also trying to treat the dinner with some respect still.
"So tell me, Ethan, what reason did you have for assisting my daughters in their little get-together?" Alcina asked. Ethan was looking for some hidden threat or message, but she just seemed genuinely curious
Ethan poked some roast, wording his response the best he could. "Well, Miss Alcina, Dani did offer me a small reward, but I also did it because… well, to be honest? I did it because I thought it might gain me some favor in the castle."
Alcina looked up at Ethan with a little bit of surprise which was then followed by a nod. "Well, that would indeed gain you favor."
"Was that also the point of you and Bela getting drunk and ruining our home?" Cassandra snipped before stuffing her face.
"No, actually. I just wanted a drink and Bel seemed to be in a sharing mood so-" Ethan stopped talking when he noticed the raised eyebrows of everyone else in the room. Their questioning looks were directed toward him. "...what?"
Cassandra gulped her food before speaking. "You said… Bel."
"Oh." Ethan squeaked out. Dani was doing her best not to snicker out loud, while Bela was just looking at him with a mix of amusement and annoyance. Even Alcina was looking at Ethan. "Sorry, slip of the tongue." He said, trying to save face. "Anyway, she seemed to be in a sharing mood so I decided to go along with it and get myself a drink along the way."
Dani and Alcina went back to eating while Bela rolled her eyes. Cassandra, however, did not believe this excuse but did not press the matter any further. She just narrowed her eyes and took a chunk out of the meat at the same time.
Ethan went back to his own food, quickly forgetting about the awkwardness. The roast was cooked to perfection. It fell apart every time he stuck a fork in it, and the potatoes and carrots were just as tender. There was a mix of other herbs and seasonings that he had no idea what they were, but they tasted great. The wine was… wine. Ethan was never one for wine, but this was decent to drink.
The sound of forks and knives scratching against plates was the only sound filling the room, and Ethan wasn't sure if this silence was comfortable or not. The others around him, however, seemed to be more than content with it.
Ethan looked at the book Alcina was reading, but the title was in some language he didn't understand. Most likely Romanian. The cover was olive drab and the title was in simple block letters, printed in black. She was completely engrossed in the book now, and Ethan was curious as to what could hold her attention so much. "Excuse me, Alcina, but what is it you are reading?"
Without missing a beat or lifting her eyes from the page, she responded evenly, "Nothing worth noting, honestly. I've read every book in this castle multiple times. This one here is near the bottom of the list of the enjoyable ones."
"Why don't you ask Duke about more books?"
"After a while, all books become the same. There's no originality. Every so often, however, some take me by surprise."
Ethan set his fork down for a moment and looked at the wall. This whole thing was feeling surreal; he was eating dinner with a single mother and her three daughters and talking about books, but the single mother was also like 9 feet tall and borderline immortal, while her daughters were 7-foot-tall sadistic vampires made of flies. The first day he was in the castle, the women were about to carve him up and drain him of blood, all with smiles. Now, about a week later- actually Ethan had no idea how long it's been- he was eating dinner with them and discussing literature.
It also made Ethan realize just how insane he has been. He trusted these people so easily and quickly. What was wrong with him? The only thing keeping him from dying was the permission of Alcina. With just a word, Cassandra would be across the table within a second to rip his throat out with her teeth.
That and his daughter was also missing, not even in the castle apparently. A part of him wanted to flip the table and yell about how everything going on was completely insane and how he hates them, but he also realized that would be a very bad idea. He came to the conclusion that while this was all strange and very, very weird, this was most likely the best thing to happen to him, given the circumstances. Sighing, he picked his fork back up and went back to eating.
The rest of dinner went without issue and soon enough, dessert was being offered. Some pastry that Ethan didn't like the smell of. Alcina and Bela declined but Dani was excited about it. It was almost amusing how much of a child she was at times. Cassandra declined as well but decided to take a quick drink from a servant. She didn't make a big show of it this time, much to Ethan's relief. Once Dani finished the treat, the servants began clearing the table.
"Well, I suppose that concludes dinner." Alcina said as she rose from her seat. "Girls, I hope you have a good night with each other. I will see you in the morning. Good night."
"Good night, mother." All three daughters said in unison.
Bela waited for her mother to leave the room before standing up herself. "Alright. Dani, you've set up the room, correct?"
"I did! I had some bedding put down for us so we should be more than comfortable. You know how to operate the… stuff, right?" Dani asked her sister.
Bela pushed her seat in and spoke. "Yes, it was simpler than I thought it would be. I believe I will be able to handle it just fine."
"Good. I don't want them spoiling our time together." Cassandra spat with venom.
Instead of fighting with their sister, Dani and Bela sighed and rolled their eyes while walking out of the room.
"Good night, Ethan." Bela called as she walked out with Dani following closely behind. Cassandra stood up slowly while staring at Ethan.
"I don't what your planning, manthing, but I am watching you…" she said as she slunk out of the room.
Ethan was a bit confused about her comment. He wasn't planning anything. The only real plan he had was just not to die. Outside of that, he was just flying by the seat of his pants. Shaking his head, he stood and walked from the room and into the hall. Not exactly sure where to go, he started walking towards Duke's shop.
Walking in, he took a deep breath in and smelled the scents of meats, herbs, and incense. While Duke did have strange and valuable objects, at the end of the day his bottom line consisted mainly of trade with the local villages. Simple foods like cured meat were a staple around here, and Duke made sure that he was the one to supply the demand.
"Ah Ethan, what a welcome surprise!" The Duke exclaimed before his brows furrowed. "Though I am confused; aren't you supposed to be helping with the Dimitrescu daughters' little shindig?"
"Cassandra was a little put off by the idea of me being around, so I just taught Bela how to operate the projection equipment," Ethan explained as he sat down.
"That does sound like her. Bah, never mind her!" Duke said as he reclined a bit. "…hey, I have an idea! It's safe to assume that I will not be conducting any more business tonight, so what say we have a little bit of guy time ourselves?"
"Guy-time? You got a TV in here too that can pick up American football?" Ethan joked. Duke chuckled a bit in response but shook his head no. Etha smiled, "Yeah, sure, why the hell not." Reaching into a small wooden box, Duke produced a fresh cigar for Ethan and tossed it to him along with a cedar match. As Ethan lit the cigar up, Duke pulled out two beers. Grabbing one bottle, Ethan popped the top and took a swig. The beer was strange, being local and all, but it was a flavor he could get used to. "So, Duke, how has your day been?"
"It went quite well truth be told! I made a few small sales to the staff here at the castle, mostly pertaining to cleaning supplies and other miscellaneous items of no importance. Other than that, it has been fairly quiet, not that I am complaining."
Taking another drink from the beer, Ethan nodded for a moment before speaking. "That's good. Sometimes an uneventful day is a good day. I don't think I've really had one since coming here. Maybe tonight will be the night I will finally be able to get a full 8 hours."
"I wouldn't see why not. Alcina has already retired for the night, the Dimitrescu daughters are occupied, and you don't have any other tasks left do you?" Ethan shook his head no. "Then the way I see it, Mister Winters, you have plenty of time to sit back and relax tonight. Take a breather."
"That sounds like an amazing idea Duke. I think I will do just that. Wouldn't happen to have a deck of cards, would you?"
"Ethan. I'm a traveling merchant whose main clientele are rural villagers and an extremely rich noble family. Of course, I have cards!" Duke laughed. He produced two more beers and a deck of cards, handing Ethan one of the bottles. "Here, for when your current drink runs dry."
Ethan took the bottle and scooted his chair up closer. "Know how to play poker?"
"Mhm. Whenever I am in town, I frequent taverns at the end of the day. I learned how to play the game quickly, and how to win even quicker. Many peasants tried to swindle me out of my coin, but I am not an easy score. While I do say having a bit of skin in the game makes it interesting, I believe you shouldn't play for money with friends."
"That makes sense, yeah. I don't have much more Lei to gamble anyway. Got anything we can use as chips?" Ethan asked as he took the deck and shuffled it.
"I have a collection of bottle caps, that should suffice. I keep them to sell to local metalsmiths. Aluminum is easy to melt and work with." Duke said as he retrieved a small box of various metal bottle caps. Ethan looked into the box with a questioning look but shrugged it off.
Ethan drained his bottle before grabbing a fist full of caps, "I've played with weirder, this should work just fine."
Duke followed suit and they counted out the same number of cap-chips. "So Ethan, where did you learn to play this game?"
"College buddies. I told them I never played and they were having none of it. They sat me down with a bottle of Vodka. We played it a little backwards; whoever won the round didn't take a shot. Of course, I was the first one to puke their guts out under the table. Let's play!"
"Excellent, my boy!" Duke said as he began to deal the cards. Looking at his hand, Ethan pouted and took a swig of his brew. 2 of clubs and 3 of hearts. One of the worst hands in poker. "I take it the cards aren't to your liking, Ethan?" Duke chuckled. Ethan only narrowed his eyes a bit, his ego getting the best of him.
"Nope, just nervous I might've used up all my luck is all." he bluffed. Duke smirked as he pushed in a few 'coins' to start the betting. "And so it begins."
It wasn't much of a start. Ethan lost all his caps to Duke within a minute. It was one of the shortest games of poker he ever played. "How the hell…?" Ethan asked in shock as he popped the top off another beer and took a drink of it.
"I admit I cheated a little bit." Duke confessed. This made Ethan stop his pout. He was almost upset, but realized it would be childish to throw a fit over a game where he didn't lose anything, and Duke admitted to it as well. "Sorry, my boy." Duke laughed nervously, "I couldn't help but show off a bit. You don't play high-stakes poker in rural taverns and not learn to cheat. Especially when you're the one to shuffle and deal."
"How did you cheat? I watched you deal the cards!" Ethan asked with some amusement and awe.
The large man sucked in a breath and looked at the cards. "It's a bit complicated to explain, took me a few years to get it down myself, but I simply put all the good cards at the bottom and dealt from the bottom whenever I needed to."
"Dealt from the bottom…?" Ethan had never heard of that before. How did one 'deal from the bottom'?
"Yes. You pick the deck up and make it as if you are going to pull a card off the top, but you actually use your ring and middle finger to simply slide the bottom card out. Doing it slowly will obviously get you caught, and in these parts perhaps killed. You have to be quick!" In one fluid but fast motion, Duke pulled a card from the deck. While Ethan even knew what to watch for, he still couldn't tell where he pulled the card from.
"Wow, that's pretty neat honestly. That how you keep from losing too much money?" Ethan asked with a smirk.
Duke matched Ethan's smirk with his own, "Sometimes, perhaps, but it's always better to beat an opponent with pure skill." Duke leaned in closer, "Another round? I promise I won't cheat this time, heh." he said with a soft chuckle trailing after.
"Of course! Keep the cards and the beer coming, my good man!" Ethan proclaimed as he shook an empty beer bottle. Duke rolled his eyes and grabbed another bottle for the both of them.
The second round lasted a lot longer but still resulted in Duke's victory. They traded stories, and fish tales, and gossiped about the Dimitrescu women as they played through each hand. When either player ran out of beer, Duke was there with a fresh one. Cigar smoke faintly hung in the air and laughter even more so. In all, Ethan was having an amazing time.
"Damn! Lost again…" Ethan sighed as he drew from his cigar.
"Maybe next time you should refrain from going all in?" Duke advised.
Ethan laughed and shook his head. "Where's the fun in that? It's always better when you haphazardly put everything on the line."
"You may have a point when it comes to our little game here, Ethan, but when you play for something more, something with high stakes, you should always tread carefully." Duke said, a bit more somberly than expected. Ethan understood though; Duke wasn't speaking specifically about the game.
"I wonder how the girls are enjoying the movie? Wonder what they picked to watch first…"
Cassandra's face was bright with amusement as she watched Leatherface plunge his chainsaw into a man's chest. "Yes! Kill them all!"
Dani was also giggling and giving little excited claps, while Bela gave scoffed and rolled her eyes with a smile. "You two are ridiculous. A chainsaw would be so impractical. Just look at the amount of blood that is being wasted."
"Sometimes it's not about the blood, Bela, it's about a message! That message is; don't fuck with a cousin-fucking family with chainsaws!" Cassandra crassly yelled.
Dani leaned in closer to Bela and whispered, "Do you think they really did this? Like, really killed that guy with a chainsaw?"
Bela pinched the bridge of her nose. Sometimes Dani could be a bit of an airhead. "No, Dani. Of course they didn't. It's just an act. Like a play."
"But… it looks so real!" She countered. "How could they make it look that real?"
"I don't know, Dani, but I doubt they would really have someone kill another person with a chainsaw just for a film."
"Ohhh. You have a point."
"I wonder, Duke, what specifically made you think to add Frozen into their movie line-up," Ethan asked as he inspected his cards.
"A movie about sisters who no longer understand each other and have been emotionally separated? I'd say there wasn't a movie out there that the girls could relate to more." Duke explained while he tossed a few caps into the pot.
"...what about Nosferatu?" Ethan asked a bit hesitantly.
This made Duke sort of snort/laugh, ash falling from his cigar and smoke coming out his nose. "Ethan my body, have you ever seen that movie?"
He shifted a bit in his seat uncomfortably, "No… but I know it's about a vampire and it's pretty old."
"While that's technically true, Ethan, the movie ends with said vampire dying and his castle crumbling to the ground."
Ethan's eyes widened a bit as he looked at his cards. "Yeah… maybe not that movie." Both men chuckled as they wagered their chips and inspected the other to see any bluff.
While poker was a good game to play with beer and cigars, only two players made it a fairly short game and a bit boring, honestly. "So, Ethan, have you been practicing any more of that sword fighting Cassandra dragged you into?"
"No, not really. I've read a few more manuscripts, but with the past few days I've been busy, and I doubt Cassandra will be wanting to spar again for a while."
"Hm, you do have a point." Duke took one last drag of his cigar before snuffing it out. "Still, I'd recommend sticking with it, it could help pass the time."
"I had similar thoughts as well. I still have my wooden sword in my room luckily. Maybe I should do some exercises and practice a few moves."
"Sounds like a perfect idea. Ease back into it. Anyway, I am growing sick of these cards." Drinking the last drop of his beer, Duke rummaged under his desk only to come up empty. "Hm. It seems that the beer has run dry! Shame… I don't stock it up like my other goods, as they are mainly for my own pleasure… Oh! I do have this…"
Duke turned around as best as he could and produced a small wooden keg. He gently moved it and placed it on the table. "While I am a merchant, I do have hobbies. One of which is attempting to brew my drink…" At this, Ethan eyed the keg with suspicion. He knew how beer and wine and the like were made; basically, let grain or fruit rot in some water.
"Don't worry. I only used the top ingredients and disinfectants. I do not attempt things half-assed. It is ready if my math is correct. Let's drink it together!"
Still a bit hesitant but also emboldened by the previous booze, Ethan leaned a bit closer to the keg and asked, "What is it?"
"Mead! Also known as honey wine! It's a fairly simple recipe. Mixed two gallons of distilled water and a few pounds of honey in a different vessel along with 3 apples, sliced, and some yeast. Left to ferment for a little over two weeks. After, I carefully transferred the liquid to this keg to allow the flavor to mature a bit and blend better, as well as to separate the sediment and apple slices. It'll be a bit cloudy from the honey and yeast, but rest assured it's safe to drink."
"I don't know Duke. I never really trusted homebrew before…"
"That is understandable, Ethan. After all, if you mess up the fermentation process, it can be quite dangerous to drink. However, as I said, I don't do things half-assed. Everything was disinfected before the addition of yeast; barrels, kegs, spoons, even the apples!"
"I think I will pass, for now…" Ethan replied. Duke just shrugged and withdrew a wooden mug from under the desk. He pushed the tap on the keg to allow the liquid to pour into the cup. The smell hit Ethan immediately.
It smelt sweet, and exactly like honey, with a hint of fruity apple-ness under it. The brew, while a bit cloudy, was a beautiful gold. Duke scoffed a bit and handed the cup to Ethan. He took it without question and sniffed it. The smell was much stronger and he could actually smell the apple better and the alcohol as well. To be able to smell it this much, the brew must've been quite strong. "What's the alcohol content…?"
Duke looked at the keg and scrunched his eyebrows a bit. "Hard to say, honestly. I wasn't going for yield, just for taste honestly. I can't really test it either as the amount of honey I added well exceeded what the yeast can ferment in this volume of liquid. The most likely maximum the yeast could reach in this would be roughly 12% alcohol by volume, about the same as wines. I suspect it's lower than that right now because the yeast is still active, so maybe around 10%?"
Even 10% alcohol wasn't anything to scoff at. Beer was only roughly 5-8% after all, and the way this stuff smelled, drinking it would be easier than any beer he had. Taking a tentative sip, the liquid spread across Ethan's tongue in an instant. It did taste like honey! It had a crispness of an apple as well that was quickly followed by the distinct and bitter taste of alcohol, but it didn't run his taste buds over as a hard liquor would. It simply told him that it was there but quickly vanished.
In short, this drink was dangerous.
Taking an actual drink this time, Ethan felt the escaping carbonation tingle across his tongue as well, adding a bit more to the drink. "Damn, I will admit that's good."
Duke had also sampled his product and nodded in agreement. "Indeed it is! I recommend not spilling a drop of this however, it is very sweet and most likely will turn into a sticky mess if spilled."
"I couldn't even imagine the mess on the carpet!" Ethan laughed, sipping the mug again. The two reclined a bit as they sipped the sweet booze.
"So Ethan, onto my serious matters; how you planned your next moves here in the castle?"
Ethan widened his eyes. He had not even thought about his current situation and how to escape it. "No. No, actually not at all! I was so busy I didn't even think…"
"That's good, my boy. From the whispers I hear from the halls, you have begun to grow on Daniela and Bela. That will be important for you in the coming days and maybe weeks. You know, the former US president Abraham Lincoln had said something that is perfectly applicable to your current situation… 'Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe'" Ethan just looked at Duke a bit perplexed. Maybe the alcohol was clouding his mind a bit too much to understand the quote, so Duke just said it. "The more time you spend prepping the easier obtaining your goal becomes."
"Oh! Yeah… that makes sense."
"Ethan. You are sharpening your axe right now. The more you sharpen it, the easier it will be to fell this tree…" Ethan understood the metaphor this time. He nodded his head and took another swig, lost in thought.
"This movie is so stupid. Ice magic? A talking… what did they call it? Snowman!? And look at her! She's falling all over the guy she just met when she's dying!" Cassandra whined. However, her other sisters had the complete opposite opinion.
"I think this movie is beautiful…" Daniela said whimsically, her eyes glued to the projected movie of Frozen against the wall. They were watching as Hans carried Anna to a couch as she began to die from her affliction.
"...only an act of true love can save me…" Anna said as she looked at Hans.
"A true love's kiss…" Hans said in realization.
Cassandra blew a raspberry at the exchange while Daniela's eyes grew wide with excitement. Bela was enjoying her silly sisters' happiness over the scene. Daniela watched with bated breath and wonder as the two began to close the gap and seal a kiss.
To Daniela's dismay, Han's stopped.
"Oh, Anna… if only there was someone out there who loved you."
"What!?" Daniela yelled. Bela and Cassandra both quirked a brow at this statement from the presumed love of Anna's life.
As Hans withdrew from the embrace and began to explain his plans, Daniela began to tear up. "No no no no no nonononono!" she begged as she watched the cartoon man put the fire out and tell Anna he was going to kill her sister and let her die in the room as he usurped their throne. As the scene continued, Cassandra only watched in growing anger as that manthing lied to the other noblemen and convinced them to kill the other sister. His acting, his manipulation, his plan to kill the sisters and take what he wants-!
Oh…
For the first time in a very, very long time, Cassandra's blood ran cold…
'Ethan…'
That was the only thought running through her head…
"This movie is too touchy-feely for me, I'm going to go find a maid to drink." Cassandra said as stood up from the blankets and pillows and walked out of the room, leaving no room for questions.
"...aren't all the maids in bed at this time?"
"They are, Dani, they are. Poor girls, Cassandra is going to torment them. Well, if she's leaving, you know what that means, dear sister?" Bela asked with a smirk.
Dani returned the look and dipped her hand into the bag of candy that Cassandra had been hoarding. "I do indeed." She began to cackle childishly as she took a large handful of candy with Bela following her lead.
"So… Duke, I need to ask you a question." Ethan stated as he sipped from his mug. The mead was very sweet. Almost too sweet. It was hard to take large drinks without the sweetness coming on too much, but Ethan decided that was a good thing as it forced one to pace themselves on it.
"Hm? A question? What is it that you need? I'm sure I have whatever it is you need back here somewhere, if not I could get it within a day." The round giant explained as he sucked another cigar.
"No, nothing like that. I was just wondering why Daniela and Bela all sort of… did a 180. At first, they were insane. Blood-thirsty. Now, they seem mostly normal. Pleasant at times, in fact. Daniela was the one that scared me the most at first, with her comments, but then it became Bela with her cold and calculating demeanor. Cassandra… well, I've run into her type before. She's scary, but nothing too special. What made Daniela and Bela both not want to bleed me dry, gut me, and chew on my bones?"
Duke let out a sigh and readjust in the chair. The large man leaned forward a bit and raised himself off the chair to adjust, something Ethan was shocked to see…
"Well if I am being honest, I am not completely sure. I've found it interesting as well, but there is little I could do to actually investigate it. What I could do resulted in… more questions, honestly. To keep things short and simple, Ethan, I believe all the girls may have two separate personalities. One personality is sick. Deprived. Bloodthirsty and unrelenting. The other… is something more genuine. Personal. Original. Not necessarily good, mind you, but not corrupted.
The line between the two is most prominent in Daniela. There's been a few times I've seen Lady Daniela treat a maid that she was fancying in the gentlest ways. Calm, quiet, careful. The moment a drop of blood hit the open air, however, she would stop at nothing to peel the skin from anyone's flesh. Like a shark smelling blood."
"Wow… what about Bela?" Ethan asked curiously. "She seems the most 'normal' out of the three, but even then sometimes she makes me nervous."
"Bela took the role of the eldest sister of the three and both her personalities reflect that. She listens to Lady Dimitrescu, performs her duties without fail- until you arrived-, and acts as a role model for the other two. On one side of her, she is like the big sister who holds her chin up and reprimands her younger siblings when they mess up. The other side is like a pack leader in a group of wolves."
"Group of wolves all right…" Ethan commented under his breath and took a drink. His cup was almost empty so he filled it back up from the keg. "What about Cassandra? The line between her personalities is blurry."
"Indeed. I have two theories on this. The first is that it's just who Cassandra is. At her core, she could just be a brutal woman. The other theory is that maybe Cassandra has never fully transitioned out of her more bloody personality. Maybe she is caught in the in-between…"
"Wow… never thought about something like that. I think the first bit you said is more likely but… if the second is true…"
"Those are big 'if's Ethan, and that's if my theory about the personalities is true to begin with. I could be completely wrong here, and the Dimitrescu daughters are just the way they are." Duke said with a gentle chuckle.
Ethan spoke into his cup before taking a drink. "What did you find?"
"What did I find? I'm afraid you'll have to add some context here, Ethan. What did I find when…?"
"You said what you found only gave to more questions." Ethan replied.
Duke sighed and leaned into his chair further and looked out into space. "Some papers concerning the Dimitrescu daughters, back when they were still just experiments of Mother Miranda. Most of it was either completely worthless to me or the paper consumed by time. However, I did find a sentence or two that raised my interest. The first was saying how the Cadou allowed Mother Miranda a form of influence over those directly implanted with it, such as the Lords. It was never expressed how much influence there was, but judging from the fact that the other Lords can disagree with Mother Miranda and even go against her orders at times, it isn't that powerful.
The girls, unlike the Lords, are formed of flies created by the Cadou. They themselves do not have a Cadou, but maybe the flies that construct their bodies have a connection to the mold that bore them. Perhaps this connection is weaker than those with Cadou but strong enough to still influence them, subtly. It could explain the shifts in personalities at times…"
"Damn… that's kind of heavy." whispered Ethan. He looked into the wooden cup in his hand, and the golden liquid no longer seemed appetizing. "Well, Duke, I think it's time I head back to my room. I am getting tired." Ethan sat up in his chair and began to walk out."
"Good night, Ethan. Take care. Come again soon!" Duke waved.
Ethan threw a friendly wave back at him, "I will, for sure."
"Where the hell is she… it's not like her to take this long just to get a drink. We haven't even heard a scream yet!" Dani whined as they were looking for a movie to watch next.
Bela narrowed her eyes at the thought of Cassandra. "I know… I am beginning to grow annoyed with her as of late."
"Don't blame Cass too much, Bela. We've never had a manthing roam the halls like Ethan has." Dani reasoned. She looked to Bela to further send home her point, "To make matters worse, she can't touch him. It's like dangling meat in front of… well, Cass."
"You are correct, but I wish she would at least listen to Mother."
A moment passed between the two as they filtered through the movie selection until Bela huffed and stood up. "I am going to find her."
Dani stood up as well, "I will come too! I need to stretch out my legs."
As Ethan walked down the darkened hall, he looked at the walls. The castle looked very different at night when only a few candles lit the way. It was a bit spooky. Ethan got more or less used to mold monsters and the like, but a haunted castle with ghosts? Nope. Ethan was content with giant, bloodthirsty, vampiric women.
He heard something behind him and he quickly turned around, only to see nothing. He scanned the hall, looking for anything abnormal. He did his best to peer into the shadows between candles and wait for anything to come out of them. Turning back around, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and whipped his head towards it, only to see nothing…
"Nope. Nope! I'm good. Thank you but I'm getting the fuck back to my room." Ethan spoke rather loudly as he began to speed walk back to his quarters. As he rounded a corner, there was a shadowy figure standing in the unlit space between two candle holders on the walls.
"Fuck!" Ethan swore as he grabbed at his heart. Bending over and placing a hand on his knee, he began to breathe heavily, trying to calm his body down. "Damn it! You damn near gave me a heart attack! Is that you Dani? Or is it Bela? Were you following me back there, too? I kind of hope you were, because if not…" Ethan trailed off while looking over his shoulder a bit concerned. He walked towards the figure, eager to get away from a possible specter.
"I thought you and your sisters were watching movies? What happened? Did the projector stop working?" Ethan asked. He stopped, however, when the figure made no move and no sound. Gulping, he spoke a bit nervously, "...you are a Dimitrescu daughter, right?"
"Indeed."
"Oh shit." Ethan said in a whisper.
Out of the shadow walked Cassandra. He took a step back a bit, trying to keep the distance. "What is it you want… I know your mother said that you can't drink from me anymore, if you are that desperate to defy her orders, I will willingly give you some…" Ethan offered, hoping that would placate her. "I just ask you don't leave me useless tomorrow…"
"Hm. Enticing, but no." Cassandra responded calmly, which made Ethan worry.
"Then… what is it you need?"
In an even and calm voice that Ethan would've never guessed came from her, Cassandra said "I need you to follow. There is something important you need to see. It involves Magda." She turned around and began to walk off.
The use of Magda's name immediately changed Ethan's attitude. "What is it? What's wrong? Is she ok?"
She didn't bother turning around as she walked, nor did she wait for Ethan. "The quicker we get to her the better. Come on."
Without any more questions, Ethan fell into step behind her.
As they walked, Ethan's nerves only grew. He had no idea what was wrong but it involved Magda and whatever it was, it was serious enough for Cassandra to fetch him.
"Where are we going…?" Ethan asked a bit worried.
"Just to one of these rooms up ahead. Magda is in there. She needs your help." Cassandra replied, a bit robotically.
As they walked, they kept straight through an intersection and headed toward a pair of larger wooden doors. Ethan recognized it as the place where he and Cassandra had the fight at the start of all this.
Ethan noticed a chair in the middle of the room with someone in it…
"Magda? What's wrong? Why are you sitting in a chair…"
It was too late when Ethan realized she was tied up and gagged.
Hearing the door slam shut behind him, Ethan spun around to see Cassandra lock the door.
"Cassandra!? What the hell is going on! Why did you lock the door!" Ethan demanded. He was angry that she tied his friend down to a chair. Confused and angry.
"You thought you were so smart…" Cassandra taunted as she slowly turned around. Flames of rage and hatred danced in her eyes, and Ethan was scared her gaze would burn him where he stood. "You thought that you'd be able to sway us all. To make us trust you and believe you."
Cassandra sucked in a breath through her smile, "Oh, but I knew. I knew something smelt like shit and it was you! You fooled my sister, and maybe even Mother to a certain degree, but not me… I know what you're planning."
For a moment, Ethan froze. She was onto him.
He shook his head, though. His plan was just to get the Dimitrescu family to like him and see where it all took him. There honestly wasn't much to be surprised about… "What the hell are you talking about, Cassandra? I am just trying to survive here."
"I'm talking about your plan to gain everyone's trust just so you can kill us and take your daughter back! Do not play dumb with me! You admitted to just trying to gain favor with us earlier." she hissed and took a step towards Ethan, pointing an accusatory finger at him that was shaking with rage.
Ethan had to admit that she wasn't too far off the mark. He hadn't thought about killing the Dimitrescu family, but he wasn't exactly averse to it if push came to shove. He wouldn't want to kill Bela or Dani. Lady Dimitrescu herself was a toss-up. Cassandra on the other hand, Ethan wouldn't mind murdering. The only reason he wouldn't've was for Dani and Belas' sake.
"Cassandra, I have no intention of killing your family or you If I am trying anything, is just to make survival easier on myself." Ethan reasoned. Not exactly a lie…
"Bullshit!" she yelled. The muffled yells and pleas of Magda went unnoticed by both parties. "Us dead has been your objective since you got here! You learned your child was here and just wanted us dead! Well, manthing, I will not be allowing you to leave this room alive…"
'Shit…'
Cassandra smirked when she smelt the fear poured from Ethan. "I am going to show my daft sisters and fool mother that you are nothing but blood. A simple manthing created for our pleasure and food." She withdrew her sickle from behind her gown and lowered her head, looking at Ethan threw her brows. "I am going to love spilling your guts onto the floor while your friend watches. Then I will spill hers…"
Ethan was already thinking of a way out when Cassandra started talking. He thought about snatching up Magda and jumping out the window, but with Alcina's promise about Rose being here tomorrow, he couldn't. He couldn't just leave. He was certain he couldn't even make it to a window in time, either. He thought about trying to flee to Alcina herself but that would mean getting around Cassandra, which wasn't an easy feat, and unlocking the door. No weapons, no tools. Hell, he didn't even have his watch on him.
'I'm fucked… I'm sorry Rose. I'm sorry Mia. I'm sorry Magda.'
Ethan was cornered like a rat.
"However… to show mother and my sister's that you truly are nothing but a manthing… I have to show them you are just some… imposter. They speak of your power, the power you poses from the mold. How it makes you just as strong as us and how we should be worried. Horse shit, I say! I will show them… but what's the point of slaughtering you where you stand when you are defenseless." Her smirk widened as she reached behind her gown again with her other, empty hand.
Much to Ethan's shock, she withdrew a sword. Tossing it toward Ethan, it clattered and landed at his feet.
"Pick it up." she commanded.
Without hesitation, he did. It may not be his pistol or shotgun, but it was a weapon nonetheless.
Ethan looked at her with anger and determination.
'If I'm going to die here… might as well make it as hard as possible for her to kill me…'
"Make ready?" Ethan asked with spiteful sarcasm.
"Indeed."
Settling into his stance, he watched as Cassandra settled into hers. They both eyed each other for a moment. Ethan was hesitant to make the first move. He wasn't nearly skilled enough to strike first.
Cassandra was.
So she did.
Rushing towards him boosted by the flies, she slashed at his throat. He quickly maneuvered to block, but the strength of the attack just pushed its way through toward his chest instead. Carving a shallow channel across the meat of his chest, blood poured forth as he stumbled back. Hissing in pain, he quickly reassumed his stance in case she chained another attack.
She didn't press the advantage, however. She snickered while she licked her sickle clean.
'...fuck it, I'm not leaving this room alive anyway!'
Charging with a yell, he assaulted Cassandra's position with rage. The ferocity took her surprise but didn't stall her defense. She quickly caught his swipe with the crook of her weapon and threw it to the side.
Taking her advice from before, Ethan kicked forward into her sternum.
While the kick met her stomach, she didn't even move.
She wasn't allowing him to hurt her. She gripped his ankle and threw him across the room.
Quickly raising up, he backed peddled as he registered Cassandra speeding towards him. The only way she could've closed the gap faster was if she transformed. Something in his mind told him what to do, however.
When she made to swing the point of her sickle into his side, he closed the gap more. He got within her arch of attack. Her forearm hit him instead, but the impact still felt like a punch.
Ignoring the pain, he struck at her face with the cross guard of the sword. The metal struck her in the face, but his strike was met with retaliation on her part. She instantly connect a left hook into his face, sending a tooth flying in one direction and him in the other.
Climbing up, Ethan spit out a bit of blood and looked at Cassandra. She was holding her forehead where the crossguard stuck. It was oozing black blood from the flies.
He did some damage.
He didn't know what made him do so.
He didn't know if it was mead he had drunk earlier.
Or if it was his ego swelling at the sight of the bleeding monster.
Or if it was him accepting his death.
But instead of getting back into his stance.
He just began to stalk towards Cassandra with his head dipped low, staring at her through his brows, with blood leaking from his smile.
She must've forgotten for a moment that he was just a manthing, because, with each step Ethan took forward, she took back. Seeing this only emboldened Ethan, his pace increased with each step until it was a sprint back toward her. Swinging for the fences, Ethan's blade connected with her sickle, and a few sparks flew.
Not letting her regain any sort of foothold in position, he kicked at her knee to break it. Backstepping to avoid it only left Ethan another opening. He stabbed toward her and it made contact. The tip only punctured her ribcage roughly two inches, but it made her hiss.
Without warning, Ethan caught her foot in her stomach, and instead of him just standing up straight and tanking it as Cassandra did, he flew. He instantly knew something ruptured. Landing on his back, yards away, he struggled to get up. He felt a few ribs had cracked too. He was fighting from passing out. His sword was no longer in his hands, either.
"This is the day you die, Ethan."
Cassandra smirked, but Ethan just matched it.
He ran towards Cassandra with empty hands.
Her confusion left her open for a moment and he seized it. A right hook came across her jaw. It didn't stumble her as much as he hoped and he was sure he broke a knuckle against her face, but he sent another from his left hand this time. Without letting a moment go between the left hook, he jabbed at her nose and broke it.
"Fuck!"
That staggered her. Clutching her nose, she quickly backhanded Ethan and he ended up on the floor before he realized what happened.
"Quite the fucking boxer, huh?" Cassandra asked, her voice more nasally than before.
"I boxed in college a bit…" Ethan grunted as he rose again.
While she was busy with her nose, Ethan ran at her once more and swung.
Another 3 piece combo came towards Cassandra, but she was able to dodge, duck, and weave these attacks and slashed at his chest again, but the overdrive of adrenaline in his body allowed him barely avoid it, the blade just nicking his chest. Stepping onto the handle of his sword, Ethan quickly picked it back up and defended another attack from Cassandra, this one was a straight stab forward with her sickle, hoping to catch him with the sharpened spine of the farming tool.
He sidestepped the attack and pushed it away with his sword. Quickly, he grabbed her wrist with his left hand and pulled her towards him, driving his sword forward through her heart. Cassandra must've been too confident in her abilities and that confidence leaked into her flies because they did not dissolve to dodge the attack.
Whether it was from the pain or the fact he actually stabbed her through, she stood there with a silent shocked expression, staring at the sword in her chest.
He pushed the sword some more and tripped her at the same time, causing Cassandra to fall onto her back as best as the sword through her would allow.
Stepping back to look at his victim, Ethan smirked. While he knew this wouldn't kill her, it was maybe enough to slow her down for him to save Magda and flee. He rushed over to his friend and ungagged her. He jumped to untie her as fast as possible. He didn't register the words she was speaking in his rush until it was too late.
"ETHAN LOOK OUT!"
The point of a sword was jutting out of the center of his chest. He grabbed at it in stunned panic. Turning around he saw Cassandra smiling at him with his blood splattered across her face. Looking back down he watched as blood poured past the blade and down his chest, soaking his shirt and pants and dripping to the floor.
Cassandra casually walked behind him and gripped the handle. Placing a foot against his lower back, she pushed him off the sword, which had been keeping a majority of blood in.
Blood that was now spilling out.
Ethan couldn't think. The pain and blood loss was immediately affecting him, but he knew that his heart had been hit. The torrent of blood washing onto the floor made it clear. He was dead already, his body just didn't know. His mold wasn't fast enough to heal this.
Collapsing to the floor, he lay on his side looking at a screaming Magda and a laughing Cassandra. Their voices muffled and his vision began to dim slowly.
He was barely able to register a banging on the door. People were yelling on the other side. Focusing on it, he was able to discern the sound of Dani and Bela. He smiled. They must've realized what was happening and were trying to break in to stop it.
Sadly, they were too late.
"Cassandra open this damn fucking door! We smell his blood! What the fuck are you doing!" Bela yelled from the other side.
The combined efforts of a worried Dani and Bela were enough to finally break the lock. When the doors swung open, they were shocked. Ethan was staring at them from the floor surrounded by a lake of his own blood, which was still pouring from his heart wound. His eyes were hazy and beginning to lose their light. He tried to get up but was only able to raise onto his elbow.
"I… I can't… get up. Could you… help me?…" Ethan's sad pleas came out in an exhausted voice.
Dani went to rush to his aid, but Cassandra swarmed and stood between them with her sickle raised and ready to decapitate Ethan. "Is.. is ok Dani… is ok." Ethan whimpered as he fell off his elbow and into the pool.
"Is ok. 'm so tired..." Ethan mumbled.
"Ethan you stay awake! Don't fall asleep!" Bela yelled.
"Ethan! ETHAN!" Magda cried out as well.
"Cassandra! What the hell are you doing!" Dani yelled at her sister.
"I am proving to you all that Ethan is nothing but a weak manthing! Not even worth being scrapped off the bottom of our shoes! Worthless-!" Cassandra yelled as she kicked him.
"Piece of-!" Kick
"SHIT!" Kick- crack.
That last one broke something, but the only reaction Ethan had was a sigh.
"Hehe… but I am going to truly show you all…" Cassandra lowered her head and began to whisper to Ethan.
"You are dying. Magda will soon follow, and so will your daughter… your slut of a cunt wife will have died because you are worthless." Ethan turned his heady shakily, face pale and sickly, and glared at her.
Cassandra reached deep into the void of her gown… and withdrew a glass bottle.
"Ethan. This bottle contains mold concentrated from moroaicǎ. You know what it can do…" Cassandra trailed off as she backed a few steps away and placed the bottle down.
"Cassandra! What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing!?" Bela demanded. She was furious but dared not to move. While she was the smartest and most cunning out of her sisters, Cassandra was the fastest…
"Proving something. Now shut up!" Cassandra hissed. Turning back around she saw Ethan staring at the bottle…
He began to claw his way to it… stumbling and barely moving an inch.
"Cassandra… what is in that bottle…?" Dani asked, fighting back tears.
A wicked smile ripped across Cassandra's features. "Oh, I am sure you can guess, sisters."
Ethan made one last effort to reach the bottle but closed no distance, holding out a shaky hand. The only thing keeping him awake at this point was the mold, and even that was starting to die.
His face was partially submerged in an expanding pool of his blood. If he was a normal human, he was sure he would've already been dead. His vision was only a small, black tunnel focused on the bottle. The cackle of Cassandra and wails of Dani were fading out…
"Ethan…" Magda's voice flittered into his mind.
"You have to keep going. For Mia.
For Rose."
Rising once more, blood dripping from his face, he put everything he had into his fingers and dragged himself closer, losing a fingernail in the process trying to get a grip on the floor.
The blood helped him to slide, and he was thankful for that.
The laugh of Cassandra stopped.
Everyone watched as a mostly dead Ethan huffed and puffed and bled his way to the bottle.
He was a breath away from the bottle.
Until Cassandra stomped onto his hand, pinning it to the floor.
"You'd think I'd just let you get the only thing that could save you!?" She yelled. She felt his hand squirm beneath her heel. Annoyed and fed up, she increased the pressure until she felt the bones give way and turn to powder. Instead of cries of pain that she expected, she felt Ethan's teeth sink into her ankle and to the bone, ripping a chunk of Cassandra-fly-meat out. While the flies swarmed in his mouth and cut their way out through his face back to Cassandra, she hopped back a step and clutched the wound, furious. He didn't pay her any attention however, he grabbed the bottle ripped the cork off and began to drink its contents.
It was thick. Putrid. He almost puked into the bottle. It was almost as if he was trying to swallow tar, but he forced it down.
The reaction was immediate.
The reaction was noticeable.
The reaction was horrifying.
An evil cackling filled the room. Everyone was confused at first as the voice seemed to be everywhere and nowhere, inside their own heads and outside this realm of possibility. The only indication that it was Ethan was the fact it was a male's laugh.
Cassandra was a bit stunned.
Bela was both relieved and nervous.
Dani terrified.
They watched as Ethan began to rise.
Before, he could barely raise up onto a hand.
Now he was pushing himself all the floor as if he was made of helium.
His eyes were grey. No spec of color left in them. Dani knew that look…
Picking up his sword he walked towards Cassandra.
"Make. Ready."
Before she had a chance, a sword was cleaved into her chest.
"You. Die. Here." He grabbed her throat and threw her across the room. Cassandra skipped across the tiled floor like a stone over water, right into a wall, and then through it. Both Dani and Bela ran over to try and restrain the thing that was Ethan, only for him to deliver an elbow into each of them, sending them bouncing back across the floor as well.
As Cassandra dug herself out of the wall, she looked at Ethan. The veins in his neck and face were bulging and blackened, dark sludge running through them. His skin was the color of a deadman's and his eyes that of the sky over the village; dark, gloomy, grey.
The wound in his chest was still wide open and even exposed his heart. Horrifyingly… it wasn't beating. There was no blood left to pump. The black blood was seeping out of his heart wound.
Looking back, she saw her sisters laying prone on the ground, groaning in pain. Withdrawing a second sickle had stashed away for when one wasn't enough, she stood upright and readied herself. Her flies did their best to close the wound in her chest. This manthing wasn't going to survive tonight. No matter what.
It seemed that Cassandra's rage, however, wasn't as strong as the empowered-Ethan's, because before she knew it, he had covered a large distance and was on her and striking at her. She was able to just barely block the attack and a shock wave was sent down her wrist. Glancing at their weapons, she saw that both their blades had dug halfway into each other. The steel had given way to their strength. The ringing of their clash was still echoing…
Ethan sent a fist into her gut, lifting her off her feet and into the wall behind her. Luckily, she didn't crash through it this time. Grabbing his wrist in reflex, she twisted as hard as possible and broke it. He released his grip and stepped back, clutching the now splintered bone. Shards were poking against the skin and Cassandra smiled. He was still weak. The blood had yet to fully take hold.
However, her smile faded as the shards of bone began cracking back into place and fusing back together. In just a short second, Ethan's forearm was back to normal. He looked pissed now.
Balling his hand, he attempted to send it through Cassandra's head, literally. Her flies kicked in and dissolved her.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!"
Ethan reached into the cloud of flies and grasped at what looked like nothing.
Until Cassandra's throat forcibly materialized in his hand, and her body soon followed.
'N-NO! It's not possible-!' she thought, but yet it was happening.
She was being forced to materialize. Whatever Ethan did, however, he didn't, he was forcing her flies to recondense and reform her body.
Ethan was somehow bending her to his will.
She had completely reformed now, with Ethan's crushing grip around her throat.
"You fuckin' thought you'd be able to buzz your ass away? Fat chance, motherfucker!" His force increased and she was unable to breathe at all. He forced her to her knees.
"You gonna die here, you know that right?" Molded Ethan said with a smile, black ooze bubbling from the back of his throat and pouring between his teeth. "Ima spread them flies of yours across this fuckin' floor here, and make momma-whore lick it clean," Ethan added another hand around her neck. She was afraid that her spine was about to crumble in his grip.
Dani and Bela picked themselves up finally and raced over. They tied to pry his hands off Cassandra, but to no avail.
"Ohhhh~ don't think I've forgotten about you two either!" Ethan laughed, his voice changing. He looked towards Dani and smiled insanely. "I quite enjoyed the last time I took a piece of you. I think I might take some more!" Without letting go of Cassandra, Ethan lunged toward Dani's face with a chomp. Afraid, she let go and fell backward before his teeth connect.
"Aww where you goin' babydoll? I thought you liked it rough!" he taunted before turning towards Bela.
"Oh looky here! The eldest cunt!" Without warning, he kicked her in the shin and broke the bone in half. "Oooo that didn't sound good!"
Bela screamed as she went down, clutching her leg. The pain clouded her mind and her flies for a moment, but they eventually healed the injury. Bela had regained her courage and tried to wrestle Ethan, but a simple backhand from him sent her to the floor, out cold.
Standing back up, instead of trying to wrangle Ethan's hands off an almost-dead Cassandra, she grabbed her sickle. She pulled it back, ready to put it through Ethan's head, but hesitated for a moment, before swinging…
…the sickle cleaved cleanly through his wrists. His now severed hands fell off Cassandra and she fell back, coughing and trying to get away. Ethan looked at his stumped wrists with annoyance.
Looking back towards Bela, he began to speak. "Tsk tsk tsk, now why you go and do something so stupid for?"
To her horror, Ethan's hands began to regrow from pitch-black mold. Without warning, a fist was sent her way. Her flies reacted on instinct. For a moment, Bela was worried that she would be forced to materialize just as Cassandra had.
"Damn!" Ethan yelled as he swiped into a mass of flies.
His annoyance told Bela that, for some reason, he couldn't force her. She was the only one that could beat him now, as Dani was knocked out and Cassandra's abilities were compromised.
Without waiting, she swiped at him again with her sickle which dug deeply into his chest. Shocked at her own action, she let go and stepped back for a moment.
Ethan only laughed. "Ha. That tickles." He grabbed the handle of the sickle and dragged it deeper through his chest, ripping it open and exposing his insides to her.
Surprisingly, some red human blood trickled out. It wasn't much but it was clear that the mold had begun to heal him. The massive opening began to steam and seal back up, closing off his inside. "Aww, seems like this sickle here didn't do jack diddly shit… Whatcha got now, bitch?"
It seems like a fist to the face shut him up.
Stumbling back a bit and shaking his head. "Woof! Damn woman, you have a hell of a punch!" Picking her sickle back up as well as Cassandra's, she charged. Ethan however, caught both her wrists in his vise grip. "Awww, good try." He said in a childish tone. He sent his forehead straight into her face, faster than her flies could react, but didn't let go. He only sent it again and again.
After the 5th hit, he let go of Bela who stumbled back. Finally, her flies came back to their senses and flew her away. Refocusing on Ethan, she got into a fighting stance, ready to take the twisted man.
Looking down at the still knocked-out Dani, Ethan smirked. Bending over, he plunged his hand into her side and into her torso. This seemed to wake the poor woman up if her scream was anything to go by. With his other hand, he held her down as he looked as if he was searching for something…
He found it. A sharp crap and rip sounded through the room as they broke off and pulled two ribs out of Dani's side. He held the two bones in each hand like a dagger, while Bela tried her best not to hyperventilate at seeing Ethan mutilate Dani's skeleton.
"I'm gonna stick these in your fucking eyes." Ethan laughed and pointed a rib toward her.
She rushed him at the same time he rushed her. Each one of their hands moved to attack while the other went to block. They had locked into a sort of stalemate, bone against steel. Luckily for Bela, though, Ethan didn't notice Cassandra approaching with the sword and cleaving it downward through Ethan's head, splitting it into two. His arms went limp as he fell over, dead.
Bela was huffing and puffing. She didn't want to admit it, but she wouldn't have been able to push his stabs back much longer. Cassandra was clutching her throat while Dani was writhing on the floor, clutching the gaping hole that Ethan had punched into her.
Magda had long since passed out from when Cassandra broke Ethan's arm. The display was too much for the woman.
"It's… it's over. He's dead…" Cassandra said as she looked down at the body. Bela didn't know how to feel.
Surely if Cassandra didn't kill him, he would've killed her. Then again, if it wasn't for Cassandra, he wouldn't need to die…
"Why… Cassandra. Why did you do this…" Bela asked breathlessly.
Cassandra stared at the body on the floor, unblinking. "I wanted to show you all what he truly was. That he would gladly try and murder us… I am going to take Dani to Adina." she said as she walked over to her sister. Her wound wasn't healing, for some reason, but maybe Adina had some strong painkillers that could at least help Dani sleep…
"Son of a bitch that hurt!"
Everyone stood still.
Slowly turning, Bela and Cassandra both looked toward Ethan, who was slowly standing back up.
"That one made me black out for a bit! Ha!" He looked forward, almost going crosseyed as he looked at the edge of the blade buried between his eyebrows. Placing a hand on each end, he lifted the weapon up and out of his brain and skull. Bela watched as his head fused back together.
Ethan laughed and pointed toward Cassandra. "Not gonna lie, I thought you had me there!"
Then he went dead silent and visibly furious.
"Ya didn't."
Taking the sword that almost killed him, Ethan cut Cassandra in across her midsection. Her flies still weren't reacting, so instead of buzzing away, the sword cut through and severed her top half from the bottom across her belly. As her brain was no longer able to send commands toward her legs via her spine, she fell to her knees. The impact jostled her top half lose and she fell off her bottom and her black guts spilled across the floor. Of course, this wouldn't kill her, but it did freak her out seeing it and she began to scream.
Cassandra reached for her legs and guts, trying to get them to reattach. Bela could only gag and keep from vomiting.
Dani had a hole punched in her side and two ribs ripped out, Cassandra had been cut in half, and Bela had almost been overpowered and stabbed with her sister's bone. They were going to die in this room.
The screaming from Cassandra must've annoyed Ethan, though.
"Oh for fuck's sake SHUT UP, YOU'RE FINE!"
Cassandra, while still terrified, stopped screaming. She noticed that nothing was happening and realized she wasn't dying. At least not yet. She couldn't bleed out, after all. The only thing this injury would do to her made her starve to death in a few days.
Ethan pointed his reclaimed sword toward Bela. "I wonder if it'll kill you if I cut your head off and used your smashed brains as jelly on my toast." He reared back the sword for another attack.
Then Ethan fell onto his face, unconscious.
Utterly confused, Bela looked to Cassandra and Dani, who were just as confused (and still in pain).
In an instant, Cassandra and Dani both dissolved into flies and reformed a moment later, healed and in one piece.
All three sisters looked down at Ethan as he began to twitch violently on the floor.
Bela leaned down and tried to get a better look at Ethan. "What the-"
Only for him to vomit onto her feet.
"-FUCK!"
It might've been the stress, or Ethan puking black goo onto Bela's feet, but Dani and Cassandra both let out loud belly laughs.
The rest of Ethan's major wounds began to fizzle and steam as they healed and color slowly crept back across his skin and the black sludge in his veins retreated.
"He's… changing back." Dani said relieved.
The trio watched as Ethan twitched and shake as the black ooze leaked from his nose and mouth. It seemed that his native mold colony finally rejected the foreign bodies and expelled them.
Bela looked over towards Magda, glad she was still unconscious. She was relieved that she didn't have to see Ethan at his worst.
Looking at Cassandra, Bela noticed that she looked changed. She wasn't looking at Ethan with hate, but she wasn't looking at him with any emotion at all.
Dani was visibly torn. She liked Ethan. He was her friend. She knew that what he did under the mold wasn't his fault, but she still felt how his hand squirmed its way around her chest cavity and around her ribcage, looking for the perfect ribs to break out of her body.
Bela was feeling torn as well. A part of her wanted to kill Ethan now. She understood what Cassandra was talking about. Ethan was about to kill all three sisters without breaking a sweat with only a bottle of concentrated moldy blood running through his system…
Shaking her head, she decided to put that on the back burner. She reached down and picked the feverish man up. "I need to take him to Adina."
"Tell her that he was exposed to a large amount of moldy blood. She will know what to do…" Dani said.
Bela nodded and quickly walked out of the room.
Dani looked at Cassandra, and Cassandra looked back…
Smack!
The palm of Dani almost twisted Cassandra's head completely around.
"What the fuck is wrong with you…" Dani asked seriously. Her tone was one to rival Bela's.
Stunned that Dani, the family sweetheart, and 'gentlest' sister struck her, Cassandra didn't know what to say.
"No wonder why Mother thinks you are a disappointment to the Dimitrescu name…" Dani said, evenly and coldly.
Without waiting for her reply, Dani walked to Magda and broke the rope, and picked her up to carry the woman out.
Cassandra watched her for a moment before she spoke.
"Mother thinks of me as a disappointment…?"
Dani stopped.
Readjusting Magda in her arms, Dani looked over her shoulder but down towards the floor.
"Yes, Cassandra. You can't control yourself. You go against her wishes and her orders. Mother may love you as much as any of us, Cassandra, but she hates you the most…"
Without anything more, Dani left. Cassandra felt numb. Thousands of thoughts raced through her mind but she couldn't pinpoint a single one. Her mind was rushing a mile a minute yet she couldn't even process a single thought into words. Unsure of what to do, she began rubbing the palms of her hands along her legs, a tick she had from when she was 'younger'. Back and forth, back and forth…
She did her best to fight back the tears, but when her lungs asked for a small breath of air, it came in as a shaky rush followed by a whimper that knocked a droplet of water loose from her eye. She tried to swallow the feeling and bottle it, but this bite was too big and no vessel could hold it.
Thanks to Dani's flies and enhanced senses, she could hear the whimpers and whines of Cassandra in the room as she quickly walked away. She could hear the woman choke up and struggle against her sadness, but Dani thought she deserved it. Dani knew she didn't have much room to talk about disobeying orders from Mother, but in her defense, she was completely lost, mentally, at the time. She was more of a broken animal than an actual person.
Cassandra, though?
She was just spiteful. Egotistical. Boarish.
No excuse.
A part of her wanted to rush back in and say sorry, tell Cassandra that Mother never said those things and she didn't mean it…
…but that would be a lie.
Mother did think of Cassandra as the worst example of a Dimitrescu to date. Mother loved Cassandra dearly, as much as either of the others, and would do anything for her, but as a Dimitrescu she was disappointed. The only two things Cassandra had going for her were the fact she honored her own word and that she respected the hunt. Outside of that, Cassandra was the worst Dimitrescu since… him.
Dani almost broke when she heard the muffled wails of her sister when Cassandra thought she was alone.
Sometimes you needed to be there for those you love and support them, but sometimes you needed to let them be hurt. To make them realize they messed something up badly, ruined something that couldn't ever be fixed. Sometimes you just had to let a person break and let them live with the guilt.
As Bela walked into the infirmary with Ethan in her arms, she yelled for Adina. The nurse/doctor poked her head around a curtain to see what was going on.
"Oh fuck me!" she yelled. "Him!? What the hell did he do this time!"
Bela was annoyed but decided to let it slide. Adina had the right to be annoyed when someone made multiple visits in the same week. "It wasn't his fault this time… someone pretty much forced him to drink concentrated moldy blood. Dani said you would understand."
Adina sighed and waved her hand. "Yeah, I do. Lay him on any open bed and I will get to him. Weirdly, it's not that urgent that I get to him… His body does most of the work, puking a lot of it out. I just come in with a tube and-"
"I… don't wish to know, thank you." Bela stopped Adina. She set him down gently and looked down at him.
"You sure you don't want to lay down on the bed next to him, Lady Bela? No disrespect but… you look like shit." Adina said from behind the curtain.
"No, I will be fine, thank you. I just need to return to my room is all."
Bela looked at Ethan's face one last time before towards the door. She felt the muscles in her body and how fatigued they were. Her flies were exhausted, even just battling for a short time. She hated to admit it, but she was out of shape.
They all were. The only time they had someone to properly fight against was when Heisenberg would pop up when the castle was being retrofitted. They liked him well enough and would play fight when they were 'younger', but Mother ordered that he was not to be around the castle unless he was needed.
She hated him.
Not like 'hate him' hate him. She just grew annoyed and tired of him. She was sure Mother wouldn't kill the man… hurt him, badly? Very much so. Kill him? Most definitely not… more than likely no… maybe… possibly… yeah, she possibly wouldn't kill him.
Maybe.
That was a big maybe.
She might kill him.
She would most certainly murder him if Mother Miranda didn't order her not to.
And that sometimes wasn't enough.
Bela shook her head.
Correction; Mother will 100% murder Heisnburg if he shows up for no reason, and Mother Miranda may not be able to stop her from doing so…
Lost in her silly train of thought, she didn't notice that had sat down on the bed beside Ethan and idly rub her leg where Ethan had broken it. While it was healed, the memory of the pain and feeling still radiated through it. It felt as if Ethan had put his foot through her shin.
She suspects he could've, too.
Looking back at Ethan, it was strange seeing the man who almost killed her laid out on a bed, sweating and pitiful. The worst part?
She couldn't be mad at him if she forced herself.
She knew this was Cassandra's fault. She pushed Ethan to the brink and then some. Gave him the choice of death or mold. If she was in his position, she would've done the same thing.
Looking towards where Adina was working, she made sure the woman was busy behind a curtain. Quickly but quietly, she leaned down to whisper into Ethan's ear.
"Sleep well. You deserve it."
Someone must've been playing a cruel prank on her, however.
As she turned and began to walk out, a wave of exhaustion hit her. More than she had ever felt. Her flies couldn't buzz anymore. She dropped to her knees in the doorway and her eyelids drooped. She decided that, given the circumstances, it wouldn't be too improper of her to take a quick nap right there on the floor…
That's how Adina found Bela after hearing her thud to the floor in front of the door; succumbed to exhaustion. Scoffing at the woman, Adina used all the strength she had to hoist the massive woman up and onto a bed.
She looked fine, more or less, and just needed some rest. Adina returned to tend to the woman with a missing tongue…
The movement of her form by Adina did nothing to rouse her. Exhaustion took root in her body and she slept gently…
Ethan, however, was sweating, fidgeting, and whimpering.
Dreaming.
Well now that I am back into the swing of things, there should be new chapters coming out roughly on schedule. I am also glad to say this chapter put the story past the 120k barrier. Not exactly 125k but hey. I don't think I wrote the fight scene as well as I could have, but I think it's fine enough.
This obviously marks a turning point in the story. After chapter or two, there MIGHT be a time skip. I will make it obvious if that happens, so don't worry. These next bits have me excited...