The sound of the shadow woman's singing continued as Ethan and Bela sought cover inside the house. Crouched under the window, they could still hear her in the far distance. She did not sound like she was moving around much at all – at least toward them.

Bela sat with her back against the wall; Ethan right beside her with his shotgun in hand. For a moment, the two did not say anything to one another, save for the rhythm of their breathing. The hums and chants from the mysterious figure outside sent a chill up both their spines. Her inviting tone was like a siren at sea – signaling danger only to those who were smart enough to understand a threat.

The blonde couldn't shake her curiosity at what they were up against. Cautiously, she turned around and got to her knees before peeking out through the smallest crack that was available to look out of. She did not want to fully expose her face, nor was such action necessary. Ethan was quick to protest; jolting around as if she was about to do something insane.

"Relax," she whispered to him. "She won't see me."

"Fuck." Ethan rested his head on the panel behind him. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I."

"What is she doing?" He asked.

Bela paused as she fixated on the dark, cloudy shape of their unknown adversary. At this point, anything on the street was a danger to their safety. Nothing about this woman gave the impression that she was there to help.

With her amber eyes locked onto the entity, Bela watched as she drifted around the street in a fashion similar to how she and her siblings would move around when dispersing into their respective hordes. It seemed like she could briefly shift in any direction of her choice; advancing a couple of feet in a fraction of a second.

However, unlike Bela's flies, whatever manifested around her dark form did not seem to be any kind of insect. It resembled a plume of black smoke more than anything else.

"She's…just circling around," Bela replied. "I don't think she's looking for anything specifically."

The soft call of the figure's voice as she sang her melodies radiated around the air, yet, nothing had made its way to her. If it was them that decided to perform a duet on the streets of Serpenmoor, every bloodthirsty monster within a hundred miles would surely have arrived by now.

Why is nothing coming out? Where is everyone?

Bela backed away from the window before returning to her previous posture. As she sat down, she began to think about what Jerdan had said to them before she ended his life. Whatever this place was – this was not the way it always had been.

"Woman from the cosmos…" Bela mumbled to herself.

"What?" Ethan turned his head to her.

"Jerdan, the man I just killed, said that a woman came out from the cosmos. He said she 'brought decay.'"

"Do you think that's her?"

Bela tilted her head toward the edge of the window, tempted to peek one more time but she already knew what she had seen. She glanced down at the visible glinted metal of the M1897, remembering how it did little to nothing to her when she had her powers. It stood to reason that such a weapon would be useless against the shadow woman. "I think so. Whatever she is; we're not going to win in a fight against her. Not like this. We need to hide somewhere in here."

Ethan sighed, agreeing that until he had a better understanding of what that woman was, it would be foolish to attempt to engage her. From what he could see, the building that they were in offered more visibility compared to their previous place of refuge, but it still wasn't great. The room was nearly pitch-black and they'd have to be careful.

Most of all – they did not know if they were the only occupants.

If a fight were to break out, he worried that such a conflict would alert the woman outside. He could only imagine what would transpire if she were to find her way inside here with them. A creature of the dark would flourish in a world of shadows.

This place would be the perfect killing ground for her and they could not let that happen.

With her singing still in the background, the two silently and slowly got up from their position and began to make their way further into the building. Rounding the corner, Ethan was able to make out another set of stairs. As Bela prepared to ascend them, he stopped her with his arm.

"We need to clear the bottom floor first."

"What?" She sounded annoyed, yet again. "Why?"

"Because I don't want something down here to come sneaking around us when we go up," Ethan told her with a firm drive, hoping to instill some tactical sense into her pampered noggin. "If it means a fight then we're fucked anyway. But, I'd rather fight here than on a tight staircase."

"Fine, but let's make it quick."

It took several minutes, but Bela and Ethan were able to ensure that the lower level of the building was free of any threats. Along the way, they were able to identify the establishment as a sort of antique shop. The city carried a vintage look to itself already, so the items that they discovered were reminiscent of the early colonial ages of human history in their world.

It was mostly books, paintings, and small trinkets. Bela had hoped that some form of weapon were to be found amongst the pile of useless junk, but her luck would only reach so far. Her eyes caught a glimpse of one of the paintings that hung above her on the wall. The moonlight from outside was successful in highlighting its subject – a male child standing beside a hunting dog.

The backdrop was that of a lake, surrounded by trees and a vast countryside; nothing that seemed to exist in this urbanized hell.

Her eyes took notice of the almost neutral look on the child's face as if he had been zapped of all possible emotion. The dog stood tall, with long, brown fur and a pronounced snout, and beady black eyes. The vibrance of the painting was lacking, as the artist had rendered it in a dull, dreary fashion.

This world is so depressing.

As they began to ascend the stairs, Bela nearly slipped on one of the steps, catching Ethan's jacket right before she could fall. It nearly threw the man off balance, but he was able to stand, and therefore, so could she.

"Hey!" He spoke with a high whisper.

"Shut up," she rebuked his complaint. "It was an accident."

"Just be careful," he said back to her.

Her low voice went up a decibel, "I am!"

Ethan was ready to turn around to yell in her face about how immature she was at times, but he had to bite his pride and let hers float for now. There were greater matters at hand and they revolved around not being detected by the woman outside.

Her song died to a faint echo as they ascended the stairwell, signaling that she may have been moving away. As reassuring as it was – there was no time to celebrate.

They had to clear the second floor and make sure that there was nothing else lingering about. As soon as they made it to the top of the stairs, Ethan swung his shotgun around and scanned the area. Unlike the previous building that they had entered, the second floor was one, large room, which allowed for an easy clearing as long as there was nowhere else to hide.

Bela followed the man from behind, looking around to see anything that he couldn't.

This room is…mostly empty. Just some boxes and chairs. Huh…so many paintings on the walls. Was this area an art gallery?

There was only one window in the room and Ethan suddenly got the idea to move over to it. Without saying another word to Bela, he approached a thick canvas that was still on its stand and propped it against the glass. When it seemed that any view into the room was blocked by the board, he shined his light to get a better idea of what they had to work with.

The sudden burst of illumination took the blonde by surprise as she briefly shielded her face when the beam passed her. "Hey!"

"Do you see anything?"

"I can't see anything right now after you shined –"

"God damn it…" Ethan shook his head in frustration as he double-checked the area. "Nevermind."

"Ugh," Bela huffed as she tried to focus. "No. Nothing notable besides all these paintings."

"Yeah," Ethan began to elevate the sound of his voice as the confidence that they were safe began to rise as well. "Hey, help me out. Just hold this board here while I go grab something to keep it in place."

Bela did not respond with any words but she was willing to lend a hand. She approached Ethan and pressed her body against the canvas; keeping it in place and allowing him to make his way over to a large shelf that was nearby. As the man got to work on dragging the fixture over, she rested her head against the panel, falling into thought.

I just want this to end. I need to be home with my sisters and I'm forced to work alongside this pathetic man. How could this happen to me?

Ethan brought the shelf beside Bela, instructing her to maintain her hold while he pushed it into place. Once it was there, the canvas was locked in a firm grasp. Ethan took a breath with his hands squared on his hips. He could not resist the urge to entertain himself with a small dad joke.

"That's not going anywhere," he laughed.

The blonde merely raised an eyebrow at him. "Why is that funny?"

"Because that's what every dad usually says whenever they…well, you know…"

She held her annoyed expression.

Ethan coughed before trying to finish his explanation, "Fix something or…"

"What a stupid joke." She walked away to the opposite end of the room.

He mumbled under his breath to himself as he watched her leave, "Yeah, they're supposed to be."

Bela's amber glare transitioned to the various images on the walls. She had a soft spot for art and often enjoyed seeing the new paintings that made their way into their castle from time to time. Daniela was always more inclined to such things, as she often indulged in the artwork to the best of her abilities.

Cassandra, on the other hand, usually turned her head away.

With her arms crossed, the blonde slowly paced around; trying to see which painting she liked the most. This was a strange world, but it was not too different than their own. Save for the three suns and the sheer scope of this city – everything else about it seemed to mirror what was to be expected from Earth.

Hmm…the subject matter of these paintings is…peculiar. Huh…everyone is so static. They all look so sad. Even the animals.

As she glanced at each one around her, Bela could not locate any work of art that did not exude a sense of dread. The dreary colors of the paint distorted the subjects with a gloomy touch. Even one painting of a family having dinner at a table next to a fireplace was somehow ripped of most saturation. The fire was dim and the food was dull. There were no smiles to be seen, but they performed like a normal family nonetheless.

The next painting that caught her eye was that of a couple sitting out in a flower field. The background was that of a grass valley and the three suns atop the sky. The young pair wore traditional clothing reminiscent of the pilgrim era; the man sporting a white shirt, brown vest, and grey trousers, while the woman wore a blue dress. They sat down in the field sharing a meal of sorts, holding hands. In keeping with the theme of the rest of the artwork, the color scheme remained dull, despite the opportunity for vibrant textures.

Alongside that, the couple did not even glance at one another and retained an expressionless face – as if neither truly wanted to be there.

Enough of these…

She inspected the desk that stood nearby some standing boards that a canvas would have rested on. There were more papers and some books littered about, as well as an assortment of dried paint cups and containers.

From the looks of it; these had to have been left open for a considerable amount of time. Ethan's light was the only thing that kept the room visible, and its battery could only last for so long. Thankfully, Bela was quick to notice an oil lantern that sat atop the stacks of books. As soon as she picked it up, her eyes darted over to Ethan, who was busy inspecting other parts of the room.

"Hey," she called out to get his attention. "Do you have a match or something in that coat of yours?"

"Uhm…" The man went right away to shifting through his pockets. Sure enough – it was only a matter of seconds before a book of matches came out and was tossed in her direction. Bela failed to catch it as it flew through the air – the sound of the box skirting under the table immediately after.

"I didn't ask you to throw it at me!" She hissed.

He was nearly at his wits-end with her attitude. "You didn't ask me to hand it to you, either."

"Ugh!" She groaned as she pointed toward the table. "Just shine your stupid light this way while I look for them."

"Whatever," he replied as he turned the beam toward her. The glow cast away the shadows from underneath the table and allowed the matchbox to be seen beside the leg near the back left. The blonde set the lantern on the ground as she crouched down to retrieve it.

Her grunts and complaints did not go unheard as she made a small spectacle out of the fact that she had to do the extra work. Ethan tried to pay her no mind – regarding her as an immature child more than the responsible adult she thought she was.

As soon as the matchbox was snagged between her gloved fingers, Bela arose from her stance and took hold of the lantern. She went to work on checking the oil levels; finding them satisfactory for the time being. The wick was in decent-enough shape, though the end was too burnt to hold a steady ember. A quick chip at the edge of her sickle was sufficient in reshaping the tail into a workable component.

A flick of one of the matches birthed a small flame that began the lighting process. Soon, after everything was done, the lantern emitted a bright, deep orange glow that illuminated the other side of the room. With a triumphant look on her face that lasted for a moment before she realized he was still nearby; Bela turned her attention to Ethan with a wave of her hand.

"Turn that light off. I have this."

He paused at the sight of her common-sense approach that also seemed oddly considerate. He figured that since her safety and well-being were also on the line here; any resources wasted on either side would have affected her in the end.

Without any additional hesitation, Ethan flipped the switch to his flashlight – leaving the lantern as their only source of light for now.

With the lamp in her hand, Bela took the opportunity to comb through the papers on the desk with greater depth than she could have before. It was another array of handwritten notes, some of which seemed helpful.

"Hmm," she picked up one of the papers before tilting her head to Ethan. "Come here. Look at this."

The man approached the blonde with his eyes focused on the dried blood still around her mouth. He could not stop thinking of just what he had been tossed into this world with. She was a smart woman, but with such carnivorous qualities. As enticing as she would have been to most men, he could not shake the sense of evil that she exuded. Still, the biggest conflict that he had regarding her was just how helpful would she be until she wasn't anymore.

"What is it?" He asked as he stood at her side.

Bela shifted her eyes over to the other piece of paper that she had left on the table. "These look like personal entries, but they're dated not so far apart."

"Okay?"

His response pushed a sigh from her mouth as she rolled her eyes. She held the paper out closer to his face. "Look at this: do you see how worn this paper is?"

"Yeah." Ethan glanced at the tattered sheet.

Bela picked the other one up for comparison, demonstrating that the older one was much cleaner. Ethan still couldn't piece the parts together as he shrugged his shoulders. Frustration boiled up in her chest before she realized that she may not have explained it too well.

"Think about it, man-thing. Remember the cathedral? Remember how dusty it was?"

"It was pretty dusty," he said as he tried to follow along.

"The other building where we just were. It was all disheveled but not so dusty. Those people lived in there for possibly months while...all this was going on. Now, we're here and this room is not dusty, but the rest of the place is."

"You're still not making so much sense."

"Argh!" Her aggression broke free for a bit before she managed to reel it all back in. Her outburst was short of a scream, and inside, she hoped it was quiet enough to not alert anything outside.

Stupid move, Bela. Control yourself. You're better than that.

Ethan could not hold back some of his anger, though he went about it in a more restrained fashion. His posture tensed and his voice raised by a hair – signaling that he would not put up with her acting like that. "Look, let's just get to the point!"

"I'm saying that this piece of paper shouldn't look like this if it was just like all the others. The amount of dust in certain places doesn't add up. That cathedral looked like it had been abandoned for years, as so did the lower floor. If all those monsters are running around outside, no one is cleaning these places. So, my theory is that if this just happened to these people, then either this city was so dirty, to begin with – which it probably was – or, there might be some connection."

Bela inhaled a deep breath to compensate for all the wind that she had to expel while explaining it to Ethan. The man still looked like he didn't get it, or at the very least – he didn't agree with her.

"I don't think dust caused this," he said in a demeaning tone as if her theory was stupid.

She pressed her lips, unwilling to deal with her any further. "Whatever. I'm trying to help. I'm trying to come up with some answers. Do you have any?"

"No, I –"

"Then just go away…" She waved him off.

"You know what…" Ethan slung his shotgun over his shoulder and turned away to re-check the blockade he had set on the door. The sound of his words only grew more annoyed as he struggled to abstain from the screaming that he longed to toss her way. "Go do your thing, detective. I have better things to worry about than your bitchy personality."

She shot a burning glare his way that he would not see. The fold of her eyebrows against the top of her nose bridge would have sent fear into anyone in her path back home. She wanted to lash out at the man and tear him to shreds, but by now, she had nearly come to terms with the truth that she wasn't her true self in this world. The absence of her powers had left a wake that was to be filled with compounded hatred for problems that she could not kill.

"Worthless bastard," she muttered as she turned her own back to him and went about looking at the papers. For the first dozen seconds, she could hardly focus due to her irritation. She hated being insulted with a burning passion, especially by a weak man. Taking a breath to steady her nerves, Bela put her thoughts of killing Ethan aside and began to read what she had in front of her.

"There have been talks about the woman who appeared out of thin air for the last few weeks. At first, I believed the stories were false, but it seems the talks are true. I have yet to have seen her, but she would be the most fascinating discovery of all of our time!

The rest of the people believe she is a relic of the ancient times. A byproduct of the 'fabled ones.'

Such non-sense.

Gods do not walk among us."

Bela sorted through some more of the papers, skimming through to see anything that may relate to the woman outside some more.

"The hounds have been barking incessantly for the last couple of hours. The sky is dark but the hour is early. Don't know why the Sheer Orbs have befallen so suddenly. I am not one to believe in these religious ideologies, but such a theory comes to mind whenever an unexplainable event occurs. I don't know why I've been taking the time to write my thoughts down. I can only assume that after years of painting, my mind needs a new medium to channel its burdens.

I am going to go outside for a little while and see what the commotion is all about. As I am writing this now, the barking of the dogs is only growing louder."

The blonde couldn't help but look around the room as soon as she read that page. The collection of paintings made a lot of sense now, though she began to ponder what the disposition of their creator may have been. Unless it was another Jerdan; he or she may as well have been long gone.

She took a seat on the chair to get comfortable before she picked up the next note to read.

"I am thankful that I decided to take a pen and paper with me as I went outside. Above the clock tower is this strange, dark cloud nearly pitch-black in color! Everyone is taking to the roads to gaze at this incredible sight! They are kneeling, praying. I was a doubtful man, but I must now question my previous ways.

There is a slight thunder in the air. The cloud is seeping into the clock tower, but its form is not diminishing. How odd."

Bela turned to the next page.

The latest one – withered and decayed.

"Madness is everywhere! All the power to the city has died, with that dreadful clock tower as the only exception. I swear, it is staring at all of us. Something evil has taken up residence within its confines. It's been hours since the cloud arrived and I can hear screaming from outside my window.

These people – fellow friends and neighbors – they're changing.

This shouldn't be possible! People are becoming these horrific things. Others have gone insane and are killing anything within reach. The Onolask Cathedral has been boarded up. Some sought refuge in there, but the shadows were fast. Maritha, the priest's daughter, turned into this beast with an elongated neck before our very eyes. She took her father by the throat and dragged him inside. There was panic as those inside tried to vacate, but she continued to injure more. I know there were others still trapped inside with her when the doors finally closed. The constables won't admit it, but they left survivors behind to rot.

I can only be thankful that I made it back to my workshop. I'm watching the darkness unfold from all around me. These shadows are sweeping the city.

Maybe I have been infected by the madness as well. I can't get this woman's singing out of my head. It sounds so close…

Oh, fabled ones. Carriage riders of the stars. Please forgive me."

With a small breath, Bela sat the last note down on the table and began to run her hands through her hair. None of the information that was given was reassuring. If anything – it only broadened her concerns about the threats they were facing. She wanted to discuss her findings with Ethan, but she was far too aggravated with him to do so.

She groaned a short huff before turning her attention back to the table. The assortment of books nearby had to have been more than just simple paperweights. She thought back to the scripture found inside the cathedral, wondering if the language in all the texts was different than that spoken by the denizens of this hell.

It couldn't have been, she thought. The handwritten notes surely would have provided sufficient evidence of the contrary.

She grabbed a book off the pile and opened it to a random page. To her relief, the words were written in perfect English. Using her thumb, she scrolled through the pages, hoping to either find some more useful information or to alleviate her boredom and stress.

The old, tattered binding was no mere novel, but something more up her alley: scientific knowledge.

Or, rather – theory.

This is weird…what am I reading?

The book spoke more of questions and possibilities, relying on individual claims and opinions, in contrast to known facts. The book seemed to be more of a hobbyist's digest than anything else.

"Several scholars and visionists throughout recent years have claimed to have found indication that other worlds exist. Not in the stars – but beyond the fabric of our reality. Around the year 15,0091 of the Tenth rotation, Algernald Douglas proposed a challenge to the religious order of the time. At a council of peak bishops, he questioned whether deities worshipped by followers had control of all aspects of reality. It is famously written that the council affirmed such ideas, to which Douglas asked whether or not they could create other realities in conjunction with the one we live in.

The council affirmed his question, referring to the Sacrament of Kiol the Severed; where it is said that 'time is unbound when the wrath of the sky undoes all it has made, only to be made again.' This led Douglas to question whether something bound meant 'bound to another,' to which the council yet again affirmed.

Douglas finally asked whether or not those above us had created other realities, citing the end of Kiol's passage where he stated that 'no man would ever reach those above, no matter how high he could climb the sky. A star would be closer than any of his creators.'

The council reportedly hesitated before agreeing to the possibility of such realities.

Douglas sealed his fate when he said that such realities may be different and that the ones above may not be viewed as the same as well – or even exist.

He was immediately executed."

The readings invoked a short chuckle out of Bela, as she often marveled at the repetition of human history throughout the textbooks she read at home. It was amusing to see that such mindsets had not been restricted to her world, though the rest of the text was interesting.

She narrowed her eyes as she read on, the concept of worlds existing in universes separate from her own was something she had never looked up – nor thought about. Such concepts would have been something regarded as mere fantasy.

Something Daniela likely would have clung to, instead.

As the minutes ticked by, she dove through the page, reading more accounts about how some people claimed to have had visions of these other realities. Most were all up to speculation, but two paragraphs, in particular, caught her attention.

"Hamrald stated he underwent an assortment of dreams one night, where he claimed to have witnessed a small, peaceful world locked within an earlier time. Reminiscent of the far ages, the people lived in small settlements, nestled in tiny little communities. He spoke of a large conflict that had plagued the world, reducing it to its current state.

Hamrald claimed to have had the dreams after being pricked by a small piece of metal that had appeared on his land one morning. His story was an odd one, not only because of the sudden appearance of a metal fragment but because a metal of that quality was not a known possibility until a thousand years later.

It, along with other artifacts, is held inside the Onolask Clock Tower of Serpenmoor – a testament to man's achievement.

Hamrald's claims of another world were only made more interesting by his claims of women who could wield blue fire."

The blonde hummed as she sat back in her chair.

Huh, that was surprisingly insightful. The clock tower has to still hold those things. On that note, Daniela would have loved to read this. It sounds like all her books. Cassandra would have laughed at the thought of such a world.

She read the last passage on the page – this one hitting closer to home.

"Serpenmoor, while deep in religious ways, has also been a key factor in the theory of separate realms. While the Onolask Clock Tower is visited by many, several individuals had taken it upon themselves to try to steal its artifacts. The aforementioned piece of metal displayed inside has proved to be sharper than expected for the thieves, resulting in lacerations during the process.

While in confinement, one thief reported a dream of a world just like Serpenmoor, but with only one Sheer Orb. Its buildings were similar in shape and the way its denizens dressed was on par with the people of today. Murmurings of the passerby's around him spoke of a 'London,' which the city is theorized to be named.

Such a dream would have been overlooked had the thief not mentioned another vision of the same world that Hamrald had seen ages before, citing the existence of women of blue flame. Knowledge of Hamrald's visions was known only to the church at the time, and a peak bishop just happened to have been inside the constable's station at the time of the thief's claims.

Had the bishop not been there, such discovery would have been lost to the hands of the law."

She turned her eyes away from the book to glance at Ethan, who had now taken to sitting beside the canvas propped up against the window. The man looked tired, but not enough so that he would be free from his mess of thoughts. He did not notice her as she looked at him, having diverted his stare to the worn soles of his shoes.

Bela could only guess what he must have been thinking about. It was likely his daughter; the one thing he had come all this way for – only to be thrown into what could very well be some other universe.

The blonde held no regard for him, nor his child – whom he had yet to discover was deceased. If they were still inside her castle; he'd be chained to the wall while she waved the flask that contained Rosemary's head in front of him.

It would have been a cruel torment, but Bela's mind had migrated from cruelty as her priorities shifted greatly. Even making mention that the child he sought was dead would have thrown the man into a frenzy. She feared what would happen if he became too overwhelmed with the cold truth.

The man would be useless – even dangerous.

She elected to keep the fate of the child to herself. If Ethan had managed to survive everything he had faced thus far due to his drive to rescue the girl, then he might just find the same luck here. If that determination kept him alive – it would protect her as well.

She couldn't face Serpenmoor alone.

With the dull glow of the lantern elevating and dimming as the flame burned the oil, Bela took what she could from the moment's respite that she was offered. There was so much to process in what she had seen and learned in the last few hours. Life as she knew it had been thrown into the sky and ripped apart by the various Samca that dominated it.

She was aware that she had to hit the reset button when it came to her strategy in this place. There was no room for error in a world where she did not know the rules. If she was just as vulnerable as any other human – she'd have to think like one.

It was so easy to forget what could kill her when she was so used to laughing at it throughout all her years. She remembered one defiant servant decades ago who had summoned the courage to fight back; grabbing a candle holder and swinging it at her head. The brass bludgeon did nothing to the blonde as she allowed her flies to disperse and render the swing useless.

While Cassandra usually enjoyed torturing the women to death, she herself took extra satisfaction in the long, drawn-out activities that the maid was subsequently put through. She thought of the woman as a feeble weakling at the time, but now, she realized that such a hit would have had more dire consequences had she been the way she was now.

If a 'feeble weakling' could hurt her at this point, then any of the beasts outside would eviscerate the daughter in a heartbeat.

Such a truth could not be ignored.

Adopting the idea that it would be best to remain a cohesive unit, Bela put aside her anger for the moment to try and see where the two of them stood. While she detested his existence, she needed to be sure whether or not his mind was on track. The man looked like he was on the brink of a total breakdown at some points. She had to get his daughter out of his thoughts – even though that was a tall order.

"Hey," she called out, prompting Ethan to open his eyes, "you should come read these."

"What?" He squinted his brows at her.

"These notes, I think they may give us some more information. I guess a lot of these people like to write things down. I don't know."

He slowly propped himself up from the ground, using the butt of his shotgun as support. The man must have been utterly exhausted from his entire journey. She couldn't blame him for his tired muscles. For a second, she almost felt guilty for asking him to get up. As Ethan trotted over to her, his eyes dove to the scrapes of paper that she had laid out on the table. He randomly picked one of them up and began to read it.

As she watched him, Bela straightened her hood and ran her hand through her hair once more. "I don't know which one you have, but the notes and this book over here mention the clock tower we were talking about. I guess it is our best shot."

He lowered the paper while casting a steady glare her way. It was strange to see her so cooperative after another fresh argument. The constant game of hot and cold was a vampire to the energy he tried to conserve. It would have been preferable to stay on one side of the field. Either they would work together just fine, or be constant enemies.

Navigating her personality was like dancing in a minefield with one's eyes closed. The only rationale he could find comfort in was that no matter what – she was dangerous ground.

"Yeah, I just read that on this one. This 'dark cloud' must be the source of all this shit. It kind of makes me not want to go to that clock tower at this rate," he said.

Realizing how close he was to her, Bela pulled back and leaned over in her chair. She glanced momentarily at the window, which was still boarded up well. While keeping her eyes on the fixture, she addressed his concerns in a calm voice, "So, what would you propose?"

With a sigh upon hearing how softened up she had made herself, Ethan let go of his negative thoughts for the moment. "We wait for daylight first, and then see what we can do. I'd much rather stack the cards in our favor as much as we can."

"Hmm," she nodded, "I think that works."

"What does that book talk about?" He set the paper down and gestured to the old piece of literature. Bela turned her head to the book as she picked it up and handed it to the man.

"Other worlds; the existence of them, anyway. It's all speculation, but, there was one note somewhere in there that I think –"

A shrill cry from downstairs broke their conversation and sent their heads spinning toward the top of the stairwell. The cry was high-pitched and awakened their sense of urgency with incredible speed. Bela's eyes narrowed toward the direction of the sound before the eruption of a loud bark widened them with a parting of her lips.

Ethan readied his shotgun and pointed it at the opening of the room, which unfortunately had not been fitted with a door. It was a fatal flaw that they had to contend with, as venturing outside to search for another place to hide would have put them in the sights of the mysterious woman that patrolled the streets.

As the man kept aim in case of the arrival of some horrific beast, Bela suddenly rose from her chair and retrieved her sickle from the side of the table. Crouching down beside Ethan, she whispered a word of warning into his ear, "That sounded like a child."

As soon as he heard that, he withdrew his left hand from the pump and wiped his brow to steady his focus. "Damn it, it does…" Ethan couldn't bear to imagine the aftermath of a child being ravaged by anything that plagued this world. The thought of his own daughter's imminent danger was enough to send him into madness.

Seeing the corpse of another poor, young soul would have been unforgettable.

All was quiet following the bark, which brought forth a dreadful uneasiness as whatever was down there must have been adept at not making a single sound. It was only after two minutes of waiting and worrying before Bela suddenly came upon an eerie reminder.

"Wait…" She raised her eyebrow. "Was that…no…"

"What?" Ethan asked. "What the fuck are you saying?"

"We need to go down there and check that out."

Ethan shook his head; dismissive of whatever relevance that held. "We need to stay up here."

"I just…look, come with me, okay?" She insisted.

"I am not moving," he argued. "If you want to get killed, be my guest. I am staying here."

With a grimace on her face, Bela closed in on his ear. Ethan tilted his head slightly away from the heated glare that she sent him. He could feel her amber eyes burning through his, her warm breath on his skin. "Then stay here. I'm taking the lantern with me," she said as she took hold of the light and began to step away.

"Wait!" Ethan reached for her, taking hold of her slender forearm as she was in the process of standing up. Her head angrily turned at him – her glare more intense than it was before.

"Do not touch me…"

Ethan released his grip as he got up as well. "Sorry, look, if you're going to take that with you, then fine, I'll go. But, at the first sign of trouble, we run back up here, deal?"

"Deal." Bela held the lantern out in front of her while Ethan took the lead; raising his shotgun ahead as he prepared to go back down the steps and investigate whatever it was that made that sound.

The father could not get the idea out of his head that there may have been a child in distress, or more likely, near death. He wanted to kick himself in the ass for not deciding to venture down there sooner. What if that kid was his daughter, he thought? He would have wanted someone to try to help her.

As they descended the stairs as quietly as possible, Bela began to dim the lantern as they got closer to the bottom in preparation for the windows that were present down below. If the shadow woman was still outside, they couldn't risk her spotting them. Ethan's eyes tried to take as much as the dim room around them would allow, searching frantically for any beasts or blood.

Nothing.

To his puzzlement, Bela suddenly stopped at the base of the stairs with an audible gasp. In a panic, Ethan threw the stock up to his cheek, ready to send a twelve-gauge shell's contents out at a second's notice. As soon as he saw that there was nothing ahead, he realized that his companion had not been alerted to anything that was standing in the middle of the room.

Instead – it was what she saw on the wall.

Ethan turned his attention to the painting that her eyes were affixed on. To his horror, he discovered that the image had been drastically altered. "What the hell…"

No longer standing side by side, the boy and dog depicted in the artwork had morphed into a scene of pure carnage. The front of the hound's golden fur was stained with a deep red as he stood over the child's mangled corpse. The boy's bloody body had been ripped to shreds by the vicious animal, whose once-closed mouth had opened wide to display a set of sharp teeth; tinted with crimson and flossed with shredded garments.

The child's face – what remained of it – was barely recognizable under the vast heap of flesh that the painting tossed over it. The grassy field that they stood in was watered with his life fluids, turning the idea of a hunt into something gone terribly wrong.

Bela took a step back from the painting, her fears validated by the image in front of them. There was a panic in her voice that he had never heard before as if she was truly scared of what was to come. "What is happening?"

"I don't know," Ethan's tone mirrored the nervousness of her own. "This is –"

A barrage of chaos from the upstairs room halted the rest of his words as multiple screams and cries played out from above. The two of them nearly stumbled over each other as the sheer amount of noise proved to be something completely unforeseeable.

It was like an entire crowd of people were inside that room. Fighting one another. Dying.

The clatter of silverware and plates reminded Bela of the family dinner painting that she had observed. She recalled the details of what she had seen during their brief stay up there, imagining the scenes that had to have been playing out. The sounds of gurgling bubbled amongst the flipping of tables.

She knew a slit throat when she heard one.

The screams of a woman erupted from the opposite side – likely being murdered by the man she had gone outside with. One by one, the voices and scenes of the paintings upstairs came alive as madness took over each and every one of them.

All Bela and Ethan could do were listen from down below while the horrors played out. The sound of a dog's bark came out once more – this time, right by their ears. The two of them jumped away from the painting beside them, where all that they could see was the sight of the dog's opened jaws nearly overtaking the entire image.

I need to get out of here!

Bela's breathing picked up in speed as she found herself in a scenario that she could have never prepared for. The return of the shadowy woman's melodic singing sent her into fight or flight mode; drawing her sickle out to the side while Ethan was left to aim his shotgun in all different directions.

The tune of the foreboding hums enveloped them from every angle as if it was originating from multiple places at once. It grew so loud and so high that for a moment – it was all that they could hear.

"Argh!" Ethan groaned as he clasped his ears. Bela followed suit, covering her own as the discomfort reached unbearable levels. There was no room to plan. No room to think. She had to escape.

As soon as she made a break for the door – the entrance became clouded with a dark mist. The singing abruptly died to a slow simmer as the giggling of a sinister being trickled along with the chants. The blonde was finally able to regain her bearing, but by this time, it was too late.

Ethan beckoned her to retreat, "Get back!"

Bela – gasping for air – stepped backward as she returned to his side. The shadows began to pool in through the bottom of the door, reforming in front of it as the silhouette of a woman began to take shape. Ethan pointed his shotgun at it and fired off a single round, deafening the room with a loud blast.

The throw of 00 Buckshot did nothing to stem the tide of the ensuing darkness. In hindsight, it was a foolish move that the man instantly regretted. Racking the pump to chamber the next round, Ethan could only stand there and anticipate just what would follow. It left Bela with an emptiness of confidence, as she knew that she would not fare well with the measly blade in her hands. All she could think about was how disadvantaged she was in a fight that she may have won in some other world.

The shape suddenly began to sharpen as the distinct form of a cloaked woman with pale skin arose from the mist. The coverings obscured most of her body – save for her face and the middle of her breasts. The tattered cloak devolved into smokey shadows that emanated from its bottom and sides, while the hood concealed most of her head. From what could be seen of her face; only the nose and mouth were visible. The top remained enshrouded in shadows.

Yet, the white irises of her eyes pierced the darkness and glared at the two with a gleeful delight.

Ethan kept his gun directed at her face – but she was unphased. His shaky voice called out to her, "You're the one responsible for this, aren't you?"

Her black lips broke out into a wide smile, her pearly-white teeth gleaming at the man. She lowered her jaw, revealing a black tongue that caressed her lips. While she appeared human enough – Ethan didn't find comfort in her mannerisms.

She seemed just as much of a predator as Bela was when he was in that castle – if not more so.

Her giggling died to a slow, raspy draw as she narrowed her eyes at the two people in front of her. Ethan once again re-iterated his question, hoping to find some kind of a response from the entity.

"What did you do to this city? To these people?"

She pulled in an unusually long breath; lifting her chin while still keeping her eyes on them. Her mouth opened up before closing again in a chattering fashion with no sounds. Her arms extended out to her sides before she slowly brought them back against her body – allowing Bela and Ethan to glimpse at her blackened fingers. The woman lowered her head back to them, breaking out into a smile a second time.

"Answer me!" Ethan demanded.

Her voice replied in a gravelly manner that was a mixture of more rasps with a feminine touch. She spoke slowly and methodically as if she was still toying with them, "I'm setting them free…"

As soon as she cut her breath on that final syllable, she opened her mouth yet again – setting forth a clump of maggots that dumped out from her throat.

NOTES:

Welcome back! Hope this chapter was worth the wait!

So, things aren't looking too good for our (not yet a couple) couple, again. They have only been in this new world for so long before encountering the worst possible thing. So, yeah, this mysterious woman is going to be the big bad of the story, and trust me, there is plenty more of her to witness. I promise, she only gets scarier.

Threw a little more lore into this one, and readers of Fragmented Flies will have spotted several easter eggs in this one.

On that note: I do want to address something that was addressed in the latest chapter release for that story. The two do share a canon universe, mostly in terms of Bela's home realm where the events inside Castle Dimitrescu are the exact same up until Ethan's arrival. For example, Luana and Sorina do appear in Flies, but only in a small amount.

In Fragmented Flies, Bela and Daniela had already been killed by Ethan by the time the brunette encounters him, to which she instead is pushed through the opening in her wall and into the outside world. There, she meets her end and winds up in a different realm as well. In her home realm, the rest of the game's events continue as canon all the way to the end (Ethan dies, the village is blown up, etc.)

This story sees Bela and Ethan vanishing together during their fight, so that's where everything branches off and an entirely new fate awaits the Dimitrescu family – and everyone else.

While I invite you all to check out Fragmented Flies, you do not need to read it as these two are standalones with one canon timeline.

Where is this story going to go from here? I have a lot planned and I'm confident you'll all enjoy the ride! Expect the next chapter in about two weeks…maybe sooner.

Leave a comment to let me know what you think and leave a kudos if you want to as well. You all have been so awesome ever since this story started and I want to do everything to satisfy that craving for horror and romance with these two great characters. I wish you all the best in the times ahead and am looking forward to releasing the next chapter as soon as I can. Stay safe!