As soon as Ethan threw the next door open, the two were met with yet another dark hallway. It would have seemed just like any other in this desolate enclave, but the light from the lantern in Bela's hand changed that in an instant. To the right, written on the wall on a bronze placard, was a set of directions to various sections of the building.
In a sudden stroke of pure luck, there was one section that caught the eyes of both of them.
Armory.
Ethan breathed a sigh of relief as he stared at it. "Thank God," he said. "There actually is a fucking armory in this place."
"I'd say so," Bela hummed as she traced the arrow to the left of the word with her mind. "It says straight ahead, but it looks like we have to go left. I hope I'm reading this right."
He leaned closer to evaluate the directions. "I'd say you are. That arrow curves left for sure. Hopefully there is another set of directions to better guide us."
"I'll take a lucky break for what it is," she replied. "It'll save us a ton of time scouring the rest of this building and running into things that we don't need to kill."
"I agree," Ethan said as his eyes narrowed in on the pitch-black shadows ahead. "I'll take whatever luck we can get." He watched the fading yellow light touch the walls around them. "Shit, this hallway is pretty narrow. I don't think both of us can properly walk together. Get behind me, okay? Just hold the light over my shoulder."
Bela did not waste her time arguing. The walls were as tight as he said. With the gun in his hands, there was nothing useful from her being at the front. If something charged at them, he would have to be the one to put it down. Her sickle was useless if she got tackled to the floor and had the glass shatter. With a nod of her chin, she allowed him to take the lead.
Holding the light as instructed quickly became an issue with her shoulder weakening throughout the trip. Her muscles could only endure so much and the length of the hallway quickly proved to be greater than anticipated. The arduous task of holding up the lantern high required a short break along the way. Otherwise, the lantern would dwindle and Ethan's shoulder would cast a great shadow over the walls ahead, placing them in further darkness.
Bela silently debated the circumstances of her physical being. There was no doubt in her mind that she was as human as he was now. Whatever happened during their transport to this world had disabled her powers, but how? Kyia had explained the barriers between realms, if not briefly. There was said to be a great source of energy flowing about within them, which must have filtered her capabilities and rendered her mortal.
The more she thought about that, the more she questioned its authenticity. Vikcia had clawed her way into this world and in the process, brought all of her might along for the ride. The witch was free to unleash her infectious shadows across the land, unhindered in any sort of capacity. It did not make sense. Why was she able to retain such qualities, while others could not?
What was so different about her?
I got to get a grip on myself. My arm should not be like this. It's just a stupid lantern. Ugh, I hate feeling weak.
Before long, the darkness in front of them gave way to a white wall. It was a break in the hallway. The indication of the next turn that had to be made. Bela peeked over Ethan's shoulder, watching as his head turned around to the left and right. From what she could see, there was no placard to help guide them further, but that was not a problem.
"Should we trust our judgment on this one?" She calmly asked, hoping to encourage him along the way.
"That's all we got, right?"
She offered a low giggle to ease the mood. "Glad we can agree, for once."
Bela listened to the chuckle that rumbled from inside his throat. His eyes may not have been on her, but hers were on him. "Maybe I'll get used to it, someday," he said.
"Don't get too far ahead of yourself, now…"
Left it was.
The path ahead ended up being more of the same. Dark corridors. Narrow walls. Bela would occasionally raise her lantern to glance at the inscriptions written along the panels. Portraits of strange deities clung to nails embedded high above. The ceiling was so tall that her mother could have run laps down there without issue.
What a peculiar style of architecture this was. A police station…reminiscent of a church.
Bela's eyes scanned all around at whatever the light would show. "These 'Fabled Ones' that the people of this city wrote about…what do you believe?"
Ethan briefly tilted his head to her as he walked along. "You mean in terms of religion?"
"I guess," she said as she followed him. "More like: Do you believe that these people are wasting their time?"
He shrugged his shoulder as soon as the floor was his to respond. "I'm not one to tell someone whether or not their beliefs are real or fake. As far as religions in other universes go, my statement still stands, I suppose."
"Gods and demons," Bela remarked. "I've read enough history books to come to my own conclusions. But, part of me wonders if these people still believe in all this after Vikcia."
"I can promise you that if she came to my city, some people would have considered her the devil." Ethan kept his remarks brief but to the point.
"Hmm…" Bela angled her lantern to some more of the paintings on the walls. The deities pictured above looked so powerful. If gods like these truly existed, they could have decimated something like Vikcia with a flick of their armored fingers. "I suppose Vikcia is like what some religions would consider a 'demon,' but I wonder if they still believe in these gods after their city fell."
"That's assuming there is still anyone else left to believe," he remarked.
She gave another hum. This wasn't something worth debating, she thought. But, it was still worth a small amount of consideration. Beliefs could carry someone to the edge of the Earth. The only problem was – they weren't anywhere close to Earth.
Whatever worth beliefs held, it wasn't going to be the same here, would it?
The end of the hallway led them to another door. Ethan came to a sudden halt the moment they approached it. It was a large set of bronze barriers, split down the middle like any other. He could see the handles in front of him.
Locked.
"Damn it!" Ethan tried to pull on the doors to open them up, but they wouldn't budge. It didn't help that they were just as heavy as he was. How could someone be expected to open these on their own? Then again, if a room full of guns was in the equation, it shouldn't have been the easiest room to get into.
That could only mean that this place was untouched.
Bela had already picked up on what was happening, but she still felt inclined to ask, "Is it not opening?"
"It's not even budging." Ethan stopped to catch his breath as he stepped back. The light from the lantern glistened off the dull, yellow surface of the metal. This door looked more akin to a mythical statue, rather than a simple entry point. There were no visible locks in sight. Nothing that he could dismantle to open this barrier up.
Not even a single keyhole.
Ethan paused as soon as it all came to mind. The Baker residence. Castle Dimitrescu.
They all had puzzles that needed to be solved to progress. Why would this place be any different?
He turned to the blonde behind him, just as his eyes scrambled for the first clue as to what they should do. Bela could tell that he was looking for something, but she wasn't sure what it was. She craned her neck to hopefully pick up on whatever it was he was seeing, but the only thing there was the pictures on the wall.
Ethan could see how high they were; all perfectly straightened out. The pieces were starting to come together. Past the dark hood of the woman he was with, he could make out the angle of the painting right behind her. Her amber eyes met his, only to follow them to the image of the knight-like deity standing above a shining cloud of light.
"Ethan, what is it?"
"The painting is crooked."
"Yes?" Her eyes narrowed in on it, though she still did not understand what the significance behind it was. "And?"
"This has to be another puzzle." Ethan moved past her and set down his gun. His hands met the metallic borders of the painting, just as he began to twist and turn it until it came off the wall. Bela could only look on as he went about his tasks, but sure enough, once the picture came down, there was a small, circular dial on the wall that was revealed.
What the? How did he figure that out?
Ethan inspected the dial immediately, where he noticed that there were three, distinct small circles inside them. The edges of the dial were lined with geared teeth, indicating that this thing was meant to be turned. The three orbs inside formed the points of a triangle and from the looks of it, it had been turned ten degrees toward the left.
"It's a combination lock of sorts," he remarked. "These circles inside have images within them. One of them looks like this knight. I saw two other paintings around the same level as this one on the way here. Do you remember what they looked like?"
"If you think I'm going to remember any one of the dozens of –"
"How about this: Did the first one have a woman or a man on it?" Ethan peered closer at one of the carvings, which showcased a long-haired goddess of sorts, standing beside a tree of fruit.
"No," Bela replied. "I think it was a man. He was holding a spear, right?"
"Yes!" Ethan began to turn the dial accordingly. "Then this should be the way it goes." The gears moved, making a distinguishable click as it went along. Starting with the knight, the dial was shifted to the woman and the tree, before it was rotated back toward the man with the spear. As soon as it landed on him, the dial locked in place.
A metal bolt was then heard dislodging from inside the bronze door. Ethan nodded to himself as it happened, while Bela was at a total loss for words. She was only able to find them once the man approached the threshold and began to push it open, "How did you know to do that?"
"Every time I go through shit like this…" He groaned as he shoved the heavy barrier away. "I have to solve some stupid puzzle to get by. Find this key. Move this around to find the damn key. Solve this contraption, just to find a piece of a statue. It's always the same."
The door was set far enough for the both of them to get through. Ethan let go of it as soon as he felt it was steady, picking up his gun right after. "Your castle was no different," he mentioned.
"Hmm," she hummed with a slight smile. "Perhaps. You can ask my mother all about it. She's the one who likes puzzles."
"I was always a fan of the thousand-piece picture puzzles, not the kind where you have to pluck the eye out of the ring and place it in the face of the creepy wooden door lady."
"Oh." She turned her head to him as she followed behind with the lantern. "You haven't seen anything yet."
Ethan picked up his gun and shouldered it. "I think I'm done with puzzles."
"Don't stop now," she teased. "You're too good at them."
"You look smart," he said with a grin. "Besides, as a blonde, you have a lot to prove."
She lifted her brow. "What does that mean?"
"You've never heard of –" He stopped speaking as soon as it dawned on him. "Never mind. It's just an old joke, saying that blondes are dumb."
She mumbled under her breath, yet, audible enough for him to hear, "What a stupid joke."
"Would have been funnier if you laughed."
"Am I laughing?" She shook her head.
Ethan trained his eyes on the sights of his weapon, sweeping it along the room in one, steady swoop. Nothing. "Nope."
"Then it's not funny." Bela peered around, shifting her arm accordingly as they advanced further into the room. It was just as dark as the previous ones before it, if not more so. The lantern did what it could to guide their way, but the armory was larger than anticipated, which choked the light as it stretched out further.
They could make out the vague shapes of tables and cages around them, most of which had been toppled and pulled open. It was still too early to tell, but a grim feeling was quickly washing over them. The closer they got to the center, the more grave it grew.
Indeed, their fears were warranted. The armory had seemingly been cleaned out.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Ethan anxiously looked around as he advanced deeper into the room. "Shine your light everywhere you can. There has to be something here."
Bela did just that, moving ahead so that she could encompass more of their surroundings into the radius of illumination. As the shadows were pulled back, the only thing left for them was empty racks and pilfered pouches.
Except for what resembled cleaning kits and components, there was nothing left to be found.
"Nothing," she broke the news to him.
"Fuck," Ethan muttered as he came to a stop. "This is not good."
"Guess when the world was ending, everyone had the same idea to take up arms."
Doing his best to pull himself out of the sea of disappointment that he was currently drowning in, Ethan lowered his gun and took a breath. "I guess my plan wasn't the most original one out there," he remarked.
"We'll keep looking," Bela stated as she set the lantern on the ground and inspected the shelves and cages near her feet. While more spacious than what they had seen before, the room was still cluttered to all hell. If it had been chaotic in here as she imagined, then that meant that the inhabitants were in a serious rush to get what they needed.
If so, then there must have at least been several guns that were left behind, she thought.
"Might as well," Ethan agreed as he placed his gun on the ground and began to get to work. For the next ten minutes, the two shuffled through the drawers and metal cabinets around them. There were still packages of ammunition spread about, which ignited a sense of hope.
Upon inspection, the cartridges did not match with the twin-barreled firearm in their possession. They were smaller, likely a pistol caliber. Ethan did not hesitate to pick the packages up, just in case they acquired a gun capable of accepting the rounds. Bela watched as he went about his tasks, turning an eye to him only when he wasn't looking her way.
You get so focused when things get serious. I can see the drive in your eyes. You want to get out of this place so badly. I know you do. Every one of those bullets is just another chance for you, isn't it? I've seen that expression on your face before. You had it on you when I saw you in the dungeon. I thought nothing of it at the time.
Ethan pocketed two more of the boxes, patting his coat to check if they were stored well.
If only I had put more mind to it sooner…
The search went on for a little bit longer, but it yielded no favorable results. They had come this far to not give up now. After all the fights inside here, there needed to be something to show for it. As they both continued to look around, the thought of how easy it was to enter this room came to mind.
Had they only taken this route sooner, they could have skipped the near-fatal encounters they faced in the other rooms. If any one of those had ended in death, then the truth of the matter was their sacrifice would have been pointless. For Bela, it caused more stress than she needed, making her wonder if the next close call was even worth it at all.
"Any luck?" Ethan glanced over at her hands as she dug through another one of the weapon cages.
Feeling around at the bottom, there was not a single firearm to be found. A spare bullet or two, but that was it. "Ugh!" She withdrew her hands in frustration. "Nothing. What was the point of all this?"
With a sigh of defeat, Ethan let out a small groan as he reeled back his hands as well. "We had to try. It was a chance, and that's all that matters."
Bela's voice grumbled out of her lips as she sat there, "How many bullets do you have?"
Ethan tapped his hands against the pouches of his bandolier. "Maybe thirty rounds or so in total for the long gun." His fingers dug into his coat pocket. "Two more magazines for my pistol."
"You didn't leave that with Kyia?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we needed all the firepower that we could get. If I had that pistol with me when that dog was attacking us, I might have spared you getting bit by…whatever the fuck was coming out of it."
Bela rolled her lips as she looked down at her lap, somewhat humbled by his concern for her. "I wasn't going to sit by and let you deal with it yourself. What kind of team would that make us?"
He looked over at her with a sense of surprise in his expression. "Oh, well, thanks." It was like he hadn't expected such a thing to come from her. After the last argument they had, things just seemed to simmer down as they came to a silent agreement.
The more squabbles they had, the more it felt as if they were born enemies. On the contrary, Bela had proven herself to be willing to overlook such things after a while. She could hold a grudge, that was certain, but that did not exclude her from rationality.
In fact, she even seemed quite inclined to side with him when she could. Her recent friendliness had not gone unnoticed, though it came at the end of a long stick. She could swiftly revert to her cold demeanor at any point, but all of that was still a regression from the heartless woman who had entered this universe alongside him.
She spoke with a sense of hope that they could get along and Ethan found it nothing short of strange. Yet, despite his hesitation to blindly jump in, he welcomed such a change. It made him reconsider how right about her he was.
Like she had said herself – she wasn't his monster.
Her eyes still wouldn't rise. "I guess we'll just have to make do with what we have," she ended with a sigh. "I was just really hoping that we would find something here."
"Well, we have ammo." Ethan shook his coat, which rattled the boxes of bullets inside. "We just need to find a gun and then –"
A gurgling, male voice spoke out from the corner of the room, "Theft is a crime."
It had originated from a section that had been outside the limits of the lantern, shrouded in shadows. The very nature of that amplified the tension even further, as there was no telling just what had spoken to them.
Bela and Ethan both jumped to their feet, the latter shouldering his gun in preparation for the next fight. The room fell silent, save for the rapid breathing that personified the nervousness inside them. Ethan couldn't see a thing past his gun's sights, while the blonde was left with only her sickle to keep her safe.
She stumbled over the clutter as she reached down to pick the lantern up, but Ethan's hand blocked her from doing so. As soon as she glanced up at him, he was already withdrawing his pistol from his coat.
"Here, you take this," he said. "Leave the lantern. They can come to us."
"Uhm, sure." She cautiously took hold of the pistol in her dominant hand, leaving the sickle as a second option. Her familiarity with firearms was just a hair above Kyia's, but Bela had the advantage of having encountered them often. The brunette acted like had never seen them in her life until she moved to this city.
Gripping the gun as tightly as she could, her hand was shaky as she put it forward, aiming it toward the darkness.
With the voice still silent, Ethan took charge and called out to it, "Show yourself! We don't want to fight! But, we will if we must!"
The silence continued for a dozen more seconds, coupled with the shuffling of footsteps. Whoever was there was certainly on the move, but the pace was exceedingly slow. It sounded like there was no attempt at evasion. Soon, a low grumbling could be heard out from the abyss, "Theft is punishable. High crime. Three fingers."
The shuffling resumed again. They had to be going around in a circle.
Ethan kept his gun tight in his shoulder. "If you're not infected, come out!"
The shuffling stopped. "Crime," the voice gurgled again, "will not welcome you into the afterlife."
Bela turned to him as soon as it was over. "He sounds just like one of them."
Three gunshots cut through the air in an instant. For a fraction of a second, Bela thought that either Ethan had fired his weapon, or she had inadvertently pulled the trigger herself. It was only when she saw the man by her side jolt back and heard the sound of projectiles whizzing past her that she realized they were being fired upon.
In the scramble to duck down, she hadn't turned her eyes toward the area where the gunfire had come from. They were surrounded by darkness, which obscured their view of their attacker. Ethan, however, had managed to catch a glimpse of muzzle flash in the far recesses of the room. That was his clue to where the individual was – and his area to fire back at.
Shouldering his gun and swinging it that way, the man discharged the shotgun barrel of his firearm, which sent a fistful of pellets in that direction. The spread was only going to be so minimal at this distance, but it would be his first line of defense. If he could bring them out from where they were hiding and into the light, then his rifle barrel would end the threat for good.
Bela, meanwhile, collected herself as quickly as she could and let off two shots in front of her. Ethan could see her stance from his peripherals. The pistol clapped back in her hand like a mad bull, despite its smaller caliber. Those two bullets had to have gone anywhere but at the target and it was after she fired a third one of her own that he advised her to conserve their ammunition.
"Don't run dry," he said. "We don't know how much he has on him."
Her breathing was shaky, but she tried to not fall into a panic. "Okay," she responded as she got back into position. Her eyes shifted toward the lantern that sat on the ground between them. With as dark as this room was, the two of them were sitting ducks. The shooter could simply hide in the shadows and keep their sights on them. It was a terrible disadvantage that was certain to get them killed if they didn't –
Another gunshot rang out, which prompted the blonde to act. She fired another shot back before falling onto her side and grabbing the top of the lantern. Her hand swam down the side until it found itself on the turn-switch, which she then rotated at that very second.
Once she did, the room was plunged into complete darkness.
"What the hell?" Ethan began to freak out as soon as the light beside him died out, but Bela was fast on her communication.
"He's just going to keep shooting us," she said. "If he wants to fight in the dark, then so will we."
"Alright." He sounded just as nervous as he was heard crouching down where they were. Chris's training had instilled in him the knowledge to always make yourself a smaller target. Standing up in a gunfight did nothing but offer the enemy more areas where their bullets could land. Reaching down into his pouch, Ethan felt around for the next set of cartridges that he could grab.
Two more shotshells and a rifle round were pulled out from the leather housing, Ethan broke the action of the firearm open and scraped out the spent shell with his thumbnail before he tossed a fresh one in. The other two would be useful for reloading in a quick pinch, but the diminished capacity of his weapon left little room for missed shots. If he couldn't get the job done soon, then he could be in serious trouble.
Bela kept her gun pointed forward while she listened for the next sound that the gunman would make. Past the locking of Ethan's weapon, she could make out the additional shuffling that was going out at least twenty or thirty feet away from them. She withheld her breath so that she could turn down the noise, sharpening her ears for anything that they may pick up.
More shuffling and then a metal clang. It had to have been a collision with something; likely a fallen cage. This person didn't know where they were going. Maybe they didn't care at all.
A few more seconds and then they spoke again, "Enforce the rules. Salvation awaits." He was muttering to himself, clearly far from his right mind. This had to be another one of the infected. Bela shuddered to think that they were capable of using firearms, but with the way that Vikcia's maggots must have been chewing at his brain, she figured that any action on their part was nowhere near as skilled as her or Ethan's.
Still, that didn't make the situation any less dangerous. If anything, it only made it worse.
Her ears relayed a painted visual image to her brain, which in turn directed it to her eyes. While she couldn't see the person at all, their voice acted as well as the light. In a second, her brain signaled down to her arms for her to aim the gun again and fire. She already had an idea where they were and she didn't know if she was going to get another chance without risking getting shot herself.
Her fingers pressed against the trigger and the gun went off.
There was no visual to be seen, but the moment that bullet was blasted out of the barrel, Bela could hear the stumbling that followed. She had to have scored a hit.
Yes!
From the darkness in front of her, another shot came out. She had no time to move as the projectile passed near her face. It was so fast that she could not react until her mind registered the action. Her ears rang with the whirling sound of hot lead in the air. The force of the energy that surrounded it was enough to rattle her skin.
It had come so close. She may have been literally an inch away from being killed.
Too close! Too close!
Bela began to panic, shaking as she collapsed to the ground in a frozen state. It wasn't until she had a second to think that she realized just how many precious seconds had been spent down there. She had no bearings and needed to get back into the fight. Ethan needed her.
She went to bring up the LEMI and fire back – only to discover that she had dropped her pistol.
Where is it?!
"Damn it!" She yelled as her arms swooshed back and forth, allowing her hands to scour the floor for the gun.
Ethan was not too far away and the noise that he heard nearby took his focus away from the threat. "Bela, are you alright?!"
"I'm – I'm fine!" She stumbled on her words, too flustered to think clearly. It all came down to barebones instinct. Basic response for common phrases. She sounded anything else but fine, but this was not the place to debate. "I can't find it!"
"What are –" Ethan's attention was still on her when he heard the advancing footsteps from in front of him. Just like Bela, he fell on instinct as well. His gun reared forward as his torso rotated. The stock against his cheek was second nature at this point. His fingers knew which trigger to pull and the grip on the forend kept the gun in place.
He fired the shotgun barrel once, lighting up the immediate area for a millisecond.
Just enough flash to display the figure in the blue uniform coated in maggots as it stumbled toward him.
The twin-barreled gun angled toward the left, centering on where the figure had been. A swift pull of the second trigger unleashed a powerful cartridge its way. The recoil jolted him back, but it was nothing compared to what happened to the intended target.
The flash from this discharge allowed Ethan to glimpse the bloody explosion of maggots as the round connected with the gunman's upper chest. The bullet walloped his insides as it entered and tumbled, obliterating everything in its path. The last thing visible was a turn of his body, but the sudden thud that hit after the darkness reconvened painted the rest of the picture.
It was a clean kill.
Muscle memory kicked in for Ethan. An empty gun needed to be refilled. He threw the action open once more, yanked the two shell casings out, and threw them away. The brass and plastic hulls bounced along the ground, echoing their melody around the room as he inserted the spare shotgun round that he had obtained. The gun was closed up and shouldered, ready to dispense another burst if need be.
That was when Bela found the pistol on the ground, unaware of everything that had just transpired. Two more bullets were fired into the wall, but the flash from them confirmed what Ethan had already believed. The corpse of their attacker was spotted dead on the floor just seven feet away. The blonde's aim was too far off. Neither shot would have done anything to the infected man.
The only thing they did accomplish was the adrenaline rush that was kickstarted in Ethan.
"Jesus!" His mind scrambled to decide on if there was another threat, or if she was just scared.
"Where is he?" Bela yelled from by his side, still on her stomach. That question decided it for him.
"It's okay," he told her. "I got him. Just relax." His hand drifted down, searching for the lantern. When his foot bumped into the metallic body of the object, he knew he had found it. "I'm going to turn the lantern back on."
"Okay…" Her voice was still troubled. This short but fierce fight had certainly ruffled her to a far end. As soon as the flame inside the glass was reborn, Ethan laid eyes on a woman who looked anything but stable.
The glow of the light also tore the one who shot at them out from the shadows. From what Ethan could see, it appeared as though this person must have been one of the station's constables. The blue uniform was evidence enough, but the presence of a badge along the left side of his chest solidified that perception. His face was slathered in blood, but the numerous open sores along it still housed hordes of maggots.
The constable's mouth appeared to have been partially devoured, likely by the scores of larvae that populated it. Flakes of dried, flayed skin curled around the least populated areas. It was a disturbing scene, but a hard look at the horrifying truth of what Vikcia brought into this world.
"Another one of the masses," Ethan lamented. That was when he noticed a strange sort of revolver in the dead man's possession. That was the gun he had been shooting at them with. It was likely expended of all its ammunition by now, but it was still a gun, nonetheless.
He pried it out from the corpse's grasp. "At least we got what we came for."
From where she was, Bela glanced over at the pistol he held. Her eyes would only set upon it for a brief moment before they shut. She clicked her tongue as she exhaled, still shaking from the latest fight that almost ended in an early grave. "No. This wasn't worth dying for."
Ethan let the gun tilt around in his hand as he sat there. There was no way that he could disagree with her. All this for one little gun wasn't worth it at all. "I know."
Her second exhale ended with a short scoff. "Nothing is worth anything here."
"I mean…" He didn't know what to say. Bela sounded like she was at her wit's end, even though she wasn't screaming her head off. The woman was trying to keep herself as composed as possible, but she could only do it so well. Ethan knew he would have to try his best for her.
She needed him.
The blonde rolled onto her side as she prepared to sit up. She was taking her time. Slow movements, almost sluggish, detailed how worn out she was. Ethan watched as she raised her knees and sat forward, running her hands past the ends of her hair again.
She looked just like Mia whenever she found herself on the edge of a total breakdown. It wasn't the most unique of actions, but no monster would have acted this way. She really was as human as she professed herself to be.
And to be human meant to have moments where the feeling of defeat was so strong. The desire to just give up and succumb to the negativity in one's mind. Her hood obscured most of her face, as it often did, but the frown on her jaw gave the rest away immediately. It coupled with a shallow breath, followed but the faintest of whimpers.
Bela shook her head as she mumbled to herself, "I almost got shot in the face…for that damn pistol you're holding." Her breathing grew shallower as soon as she finished speaking. When Ethan got closer, her amber eyes glared up at him. They were already glistening in the light.
She sounded downright distraught, "If I was lying dead on the ground, would you just pocket that gun and go back to where we were?"
Ethan's face softened as he got down onto a knee and reached out for her. She let his hand rest on the back of her shoulder, though the blonde remained uneasy as ever. "Bela…no. I don't know what I would be doing if you died here."
She leaned back; a small gesture for him to take his hand away. A loud intake of air filled her lungs as she turned her head to the side and ran her hand through the hair inside her hood again. She couldn't settle her mind on whether or not she wanted to look at him. It wasn't his fault and she knew that.
All Bela could think about was how she was the one who suggested that they embark on this trip. She could have stayed in the room with Kyia. They all could have, but they would only be delaying the inevitable. Ethan clearly wanted to progress through this city, as he was not too keen on just sitting around and letting time pass by.
In her heart, Bela knew getting up and fighting the fight was their only option. She agreed with him on that and with that agreement, they did just so. However, her common sense was not what had driven the call to push forward. No.
It was Kyia.
I have no place here. This is just so miserable. I'm miserable. I just wanted to get away from her for a little while, but this is the cost. I can't take it anymore. I just want to go home.
"Are you alright?" Ethan asked.
"Do I look alright to you?" She opted to be honest. Hiding behind the façade of an angry, heartless woman wasn't going to save her here. Bela gave up on trying to put up the act. It wasn't like when they first got here, where the only thing she could do to keep herself sane was to maintain the image of a merciless daughter of House Dimitrescu.
That performance demanded she show no emotions that could perceived as weak. Cassandra was just the same. The brunette kept her emotions at bay whenever it came to the staff and any other victims. But when doors were closed, there were always cracks in the mold. Bela could hear it in the way she spoke, even though the middle child tried her best to put up her walls toward her siblings as well.
It didn't help whenever her older sibling tried to coax some humanity out of her. There were scars imprinted along their sisterhood that needed to be healed, and Bela wanted to mend them. However, that same façade destroyed any chance of that, time and time again. Countless arguments went nowhere. Screaming and yelling, followed by nothing but tense silence that was louder than the shouting itself.
With all that in mind – Bela knew that her own scars wouldn't heal unless she talked to someone.
That person could only be him.
"No," Ethan replied as he kept a somber glare on her. "You don't look okay at all."
Bela listened as he spoke. Her eyes flashed at him and darted away in the same motion. The corners of her mouth raised in an involuntary pull. She wasn't sure what words she would say first – assuming she would even talk at all.
The blonde had found herself in a very vulnerable position. Letting her walls fall in front of Ethan like that made it impossible to put them back up. The pretending was all over and there was no going back.
The only choice that remained was just how much would she tell him.
She started with a sarcastic laugh that was weak in heart. He wasn't her enemy, so her anger wouldn't be directed at him, specifically. "Why should I be? I'm in this world. Nothing is good for me here. I'm just waiting to die. If it isn't now, it'll be next time, and if not, maybe sometime after that."
"We have to fight this," he said to her in a voice so determined. It was like he was trying to pull Mia back from her post-partum sorrows all over again. The birth of Rose had brought on a cascade of feelings, both good and bad. In the wake of the nightmare in Louisiana, the idea of a stable family life had been a fever dream. The constant what-ifs and hassles of third-party involvement tore the fabric away from any form of normalcy.
There were days when she could hardly hold it together. On other days – she just lost it entirely.
Ethan tried to comfort Bela as best he could, "This isn't easy, but we'll make it through this if we give it everything we have."
Her hands raised in front of her chest, shuddering as her instability rose. "How do you know that?" She spoke sharply. "Every single monster we fight comes this close to killing us." She separated her forefinger and thumb by only a fraction of an inch. "At some point, either you or I are going to get injured greatly or just die outright. And then…then what? Huh? It's all over!"
"You can't keep thinking like that," he said. "I know this seems so hopeless but –"
Her hands and arms quaked more as she heard that. "It is hopeless! I'm fighting for nothing!"
"Hey…" He got closer to her, ignoring the boundaries set by a previous rivalry. "Just breathe, okay? Relax. It's only us in here. Nothing else. You're safe."
She swallowed her next breath with a low wail, but she retained her tears. "We're not safe here. We're not safe anywhere."
"I've felt the same way before," Ethan stated as he looked at her. The two were shoulder to shoulder, with the lantern right in front of them. He kept his ears peeled for the sound of the next threat, but in his heart, he believed that they were truly the only ones in this room left alive. It was a gamble. One that he never thought he'd make, but she needed to be consoled right now.
Another battle would just be too much.
"You don't know how I feel," Bela rebuked his attempts at reaching her. She didn't want to push him away entirely, but she wanted him to prove his point. Shallow words would not hold under her heavy heart. The intent wasn't the end of a conversation, but the beginning of one.
Ethan rolled his lips as he sighed down his chest. Just like before, he was seated with his knees spread apart and his elbows tucked alongside them. He wasn't going to be standing up just quite yet. "I have felt like you. Shit, when I first saw Chris standing over my wife as he shot her, I felt more hopeless than ever. It's all I can think about, besides my daughter. I've been hopeless ever since that night. I may laugh with you, but I'm screaming to myself. The idea that you have the entire world against you will break you down."
Without speaking a word, she turned her head to him, allowing her left eye to fixate on his solemn expression. Her brows were soft and fragile, yet intrigued.
Tell me more…please…
As if her mind could be read, Ethan did just that, "If you think I haven't wanted to just throw my gun against the ground and call it quits, you're wrong. This is going to be my biggest fight ever, but I have to get back and save my daughter. That's what's keeping me going, even between universes."
Her eyes – already on him – did a double-take.
Your heart is so strong.
Bela's lips twitched as they broke apart, "Your daughter would have no better father."
She watched his cheeks and brows pinch together. He was still fighting himself, just like he had said. "Thank you."
At that very moment, she placed her right hand against his knee. It was the most unexpected move on both their parts, but the blonde let impulse take the wheel for right now. She let out a slow breath as she looked down, leaving him to gaze at her gloved fingers along his joint.
"I am sorry for the way I was to you when we first met," she confessed. "I would not have shown you the mercy that you have shown me. It is not fair. But, please, do not think of me as a soulless witch. You're the only person in this world who is kind to me. I realize now that I was hurting someone who feels the same way that I do right now, but your kindness is substantial. Thank you."
And against her expectations – he placed his hand on top of hers. She glanced at it in a blink but froze as soon as she did.
"Like I told you: I'm not just going to walk back to that room if you die," he said. "I've seen too many good people die."
"With all that I've done, how can you think of me as someone good?" Bela questioned his morals. "In our world, I was Vikcia."
His eyes rolled down to their joined hands. Beneath the leather that surrounded her skin, he could feel the slender fingers encased within it. His grip tightened; an act which she consciously reciprocated. "And when we return to our world, will you still be Vikcia?"
She could not answer that question right away. In her heart, she did not want to kill him. There would be no betrayal. No turn-around of loyalty as soon as things were set right. After all that he had done, she could not find it in herself to end his life.
But with the life she had left behind, there would always be the question of if she would kill again. It was a thought that had fleeted through her mind occasionally, mostly when there was time to breathe. She could not find complete regret in what she perceived as necessary to continue living. She and her sisters needed the blood to survive, but the unjust torture and abuse of those poor women could not be excused under that need.
Luana and Sorina were prime examples of that. They suffered because of Bela's will.
Their deaths could not be reversed.
Would there be more?
"I don't want to be."
That was all she could say.
NOTES:
Another step in the right direction, but always another step deeper into madness.
I'll keep this part short, as we see Bela is not handling things too well. She knows this can't go on forever. Eventually, someone is going to get hurt. Progress comes at a cost, but we're about to reach something big soon. If you think this story is moving slowly, just you wait…
Also, on the subject of other stories, I just wanted to give you all an update on the Leon/Ashley story. I resumed working on it after a short hiatus due to wanting to finish Flies, but strides are being made. I'm hoping to release it sometime in the next few months, if not sooner. So far, I'm very thrilled with what has been written.
It, along with the other spin-offs I have planned, will be connected to the Fragmented series in canon, but are their own little works. Expect a little nod here or there. Besides that, I can't wait to reveal this new fic for you all to enjoy!
Hope you all enjoy the weekend ahead! Stay safe and happy, and thank you for everything that you have done for this story! I'll see you all again at the same time next week with the next chapter! 😊