Bela would not say anything as she sat beside the window, staring out at the surrounding city. The sight of Vikcia had long passed. The shadow woman could have been anywhere by now. It did not matter. That was the last thing on her mind. The only thing she could do was replay Ethan's comments over and over again inside her head.

I don't know anything about love? I'm the worst kind of woman? Thanks, Ethan…

She sighed as she leaned forward, her hands gripping the edge of the table she sat on. The room was so dark that she could barely make out the shape of the man on the other side. He was looking at her. She was sure of that. He had been trying to make amends, but words would not undo the damage that had been done.

What he had said had inexplicably struck her deeper than she had expected. Bela tried to single it out to one simple reason, but her response seemed to have been connected to multiple viewpoints she had on it. There was no ultimate cause as to why his utterances had caused her such grief.

Even if there was, talking to him about it was impossible.

It had to be impossible – she believed.

The fact that she had allowed her composure to slip so easily was embarrassing. Her uncontrollable anger mirrored that of her sister, Cassandra. The brunette was known for her outbursts, and the triggers that set them off had multiplied over the years. The blonde always liked to imagine that she was above such things, but as soon as Ethan said what he said, that 'composure' all came crashing down.

She wanted to kill him. Make it all go away and move on like it never happened. But, she knew that wasn't an option. Hell, she was too upset to even stand up. The nights in this city could nearly last forever for all she knew. The suns wouldn't rise until Vikcia lost control. An indefinite amount of darkness.

None of that mattered. She felt like she could stay in the shadows for the rest of her life. She had so much on her mind and the company she kept at the moment was not the one she wanted to disclose it to.

Did she ever disclose anything to anybody throughout the years?

No. That wasn't what the level-headed daughter did.

Older sisters were not supposed to have problems.

Bela parted her lips as she slowly exhaled, tipping her head down to the black abyss that was the floor. Her feet disappeared within the void, but she could feel the hardwood under the tips of her shoes as her toes skimmed along the smooth surface. The room mirrored her mindset. It was all so ironic in her eyes.

I wish I could light a bunch of candles right now. That would make me feel better. I could read a textbook or work on something in the dungeons. But, no. I'm just stuck here…with him. I should have just kept my mouth shut. I was just making a little joke and…now look. Ugh…I can't do a single thing right anymore. Mother would shake her head if she saw me right now. I just…I'm not going to think about this right now.

Ethan could not take his eyes off of her as she sat there, visibly drowning in her own head. "Bela," he whispered. "Can we talk?"

She released a weak groan a few seconds after. It still had enough drive to let him know that she was not going to cooperate, but she fell short of giving it her all. The entire episode had taken a lot out of her, and it didn't help that the city's monsters had been given the opportunity to run free just moments later.

She almost wanted to laugh at how bad her luck was.

"You know what I really don't like about you?" She turned her eyes toward him, though her voice remained drained. Ethan stayed quiet as he awaited whatever she had to say, despite how bad it already sounded. "The one thing that truly gets under my skin? You never stop. You just keep poking your curious little nose into everything and everyone around you. I can't even sit without you talking. Just leave me alone. I am done talking to you. What is so hard to understand about that?"

With a sigh, Ethan cupped his hands between his knees as he leaned forward. He did not want to argue, but the drive to make things right inside of him forced the words out of his mouth. "I'm not okay with leaving you like this. We're a team, whether you like it or not."

She clenched her fists, but she did not scream. A low growl that quickly died off was all she could muster. It was like her words had gone entirely unheard. "Stop."

What doesn't he get? Is he really that stupid? If I got up and killed him, I'd at least have some peace and quiet, but adding that on top of earlier, he would die believing that I'm an uncontrollable mess. Damn it. Why do I care about that? I should just end his pathetic little existence right now, but…argh! I have to be better than that. I'm Bela Dimitrescu.

"Bela…" Ethan tried again. "We're not going to survive if –"

Her partially-lit silhouette immediately sat up. Her legs jolted back, one foot kicking the ground as her hands gripped the edge of the table she sat on and shook it. "What do you want from me? Even my stupid sisters are not this bad!"

"I…" He could not find the words to convince her otherwise. It might as well have been a lost cause for now. She was upset and talking was only going to make her more agitated. He sighed as he fell short of his attempt to remedy the tension between them. Why did he even care, he thought? She was not his friend.

Ethan could only link it to his past streak of mistakes. Having lost Mia only a day ago did not take away the memories of her – including the negative ones. Even in this time of great challenge, perhaps his greatest challenge, he still fell back into his old ways. He felt selfish, as his effort to make himself feel better about what he did was only hurting the woman across from him.

She wasn't his wife. She wasn't anything to him besides an enemy turned uneasy ally in a hellish world. What was the point of trying to patch things up? As long as they didn't die, that was all that mattered.

Bela watched as his will to fix things died down. She curled her lip as she glared at him, though in the darkness, he could not see it. She said nothing as she turned her head back to the window. A sharp breath passed through her nostrils and she closed her eyes. Her hand quickly raised to caress the locks of blonde hair that draped down her right side. Its swift motion slowed to a steady draw as her fingers traveled down the final strands before her palm went back to the edge of the table.

Another low breath before her breathing paused momentarily. She still would not open up her eyes. The shadows were a gift right now. She was thankful that he couldn't see her.

Why did you have to say that? You have no clue how that made me feel…

With her eyes still closed, she parted her lips with her tongue. A tiny vacuum of air pulled into her mouth, raising her chest as she rolled the corners of her mouth. Everything about her situation was beginning to get to her. She had never been this stressed before. It was all uncharted territory for the eldest daughter. She relied on her routines to keep her on track. There always needed to be a plan that she could adhere to.

She'd get frustrated from time to time back in her castle. There were days when she wanted to strangle her siblings because of the messes they would leave. Days when she would have loved to kick off her heels and relax with a glass of wine in her hand and the lit candles high above her. To be able to clear her mind of all her duties was a fantasy on certain days, as she found herself so swamped with every task that she had placed upon her shoulders. The reward of her mother's praise kept her going. She had to be the most successful daughter. She needed to prove her worth to everyone.

Being the oldest carried so much honor, but even more responsibility. It was like she was born with the mindset needed to fill that role. She could not fall short of Alcina's expectations.

On those rare occasions when her actions got her reprimanded, her mental well-being felt ready to collapse. The image of being a failure was crippling. She could hardly bear to hear criticism – or a full-on scolding, even less.

Cassandra may have been able to deal with it better, but in Bela's eyes; that was because the brunette often earned their mother's ire. She didn't care at all. That messy woman left trash and disarray in her wake. All she thought about was when their next meal was, or how much wine was up for grabs. She let her anger get the best of her without a second thought. She was lost in the moment, growing bored at the drop of a hat. Hardly the staple of nobility in the blonde's eyes.

Daniela was even worse in some regards. The woman's lack of touch with reality was troubling. She carried her own anger problems, but they were not as well-directed as Cassandra's were. She lived in a false reality, and any deviation from it was heart-wrenching for her. She had her days when she was better, but those were as unpredictable as the redhead herself. Still, there was goodwill to be found in the youngest of the three. She was loving toward her sisters, and she kept to herself most times otherwise.

If she wasn't such a follower of Cassandra's antics and the most undependable of them all, she would have rivaled the eldest.

Still – the blonde could not forget what had happened between her sisters just a few days ago. It continued to weigh on her mind in between the madness of Serpenmoor. That fight in the library that one evening was troubling. How could Cassandra have done that, she wondered? What could have provoked the brunette to lay her hands on her own sibling?

Bela remembered seeing Daniela walking into dinner with her head down, defeated as ever. The way Cassandra smiled at her misery and played it off as if it was nothing. The blonde did not know what happened at the time, but her intuition was strong. She remembered them arguing in the Main Hall just hours before. Cassandra was screaming, but what else was new? It was just another fight, right?

Bela couldn't provide herself with a clear answer. As she sat on that table mellowing in the darkness, all she could do was consider her shortcomings. She couldn't control her anger. Hiding the resulting feelings also proved impossible. She had failed. It only made her wonder how many other times had she failed and not known about it. When she stood over the balcony, calling out to Cassandra as the woman berated their youngest sister over a broken hunting trophy, she had put no mind to how on edge the brunette was.

The signs were always there, but she never took it upon herself to address them earlier.

Was there something she could have done to have prevented what would come after? She felt like there was, but she couldn't figure it out. She had to have failed her sisters, and that fateful evening was the cost of her actions.

How many more failures are on my way?

Ethan's problems became his own focus as the minutes ticked into hours. As he sat on the floor against the wall, his mind drifted away from Bela and toward the traumatic events that brought him to that snow-covered village in the first place.

Mia and Rose.

The chaos of that night was fresh. The aroma of burnt gunpowder that filled the air of his living room could still be smelt in the deepest recesses of his nostrils. The scent of iron, brought forth by his wife's spilled blood as Chris peppered her body with bullets was even harder to forget. Why did he have to shoot her so many times? What was the point of all that?

He rested his head on both his hands as his raised knees helped prop his arms up. The amputation of his pinky and ring finger on the left hand still ached with a sharp pain. He found himself falling apart – mentally and physically.

He knew that he would never have his wife back. She was dead. But, Rose was still out there, somewhere. It agonized him to no end to think that he had been ripped so far away from her. Tossed in an entirely separate universe for seemingly no reason at all. Why, he thought? Why did life wish to punish him so greatly? What did he ever do to deserve this?

Things had never been the same since Mia first went missing a few years ago. He didn't blame her for what happened. It was out of her control, he believed. Eveline – that child – corrupted everything around her. Ethan wondered what their lives would have been like had Mia never fallen into her grasp.

He would have never come face to face with the infected Baker family, forced to endure a lifetime's worth of horrors in the span of a single night. He would never have met Chris Redfield; a man he trusted up until the day that bastard unleashed a barrage of lead into his home. Rose would have never been stolen from him. He would have never found himself in that village of corpses and wolfmen.

He would have never gone into that horrid castle.

He would have never had to meet the blonde woman on the other side of the room.

All he wished for was to have his daughter back. There was still time to repair the damage that had been done. Mia was gone, but he could still be a father to his only child. He could carry on his wife's legacy with the life he could provide for her. He wanted it so badly, and the reality of where he was now nearly pushed him to tears.

There was only so much a man could take – no matter how strong he was.

Ethan couldn't pinpoint how long this night would go on. He was too cautious to fall asleep, lest Vikcia or one of her drones came crawling into this dark room to slaughter them. Part of him also worried about what Bela would do if given the chance. The woman was a volatile lady whom he still did not understand. She was a killer, through and through, who made it well-known that she wanted him dead.

He wanted to trust her, but she was so stuck in her ways. Whatever hope there had been between the two of them seemed lost after he insulted her. He still felt foolish for having done that, regardless of whether or not she had earned it. Sinking down to anywhere near her level was abhorrent. It was not in his nature.

His eyes peeked at her once more, though it was hard to tell what she was doing. Her shoulder rested against the wall, while her hooded face appeared to be angled toward the window. Maybe she was still looking outside. Maybe she was asleep. He did not want to find out the hard way.

Ethan caressed his mangled hand, still feeling some dampness on the bandages around the wounds. He reached down to inspect his forearm that had been bitten by that long-necked woman inside the cathedral. Her teeth had done a good job of piercing his skin, though he was lucky she had not managed to sink them any deeper. There was still blood coming out of some openings, despite how well Kyia bandaged them up.

His thumb touched upon the covering of the deepest wound. He wondered why it still had not healed by now.

Shaking off his worries, Ethan rested his head back as he wiped his face with his dirtied palm. Kyia, he thought, that helpful, yet strange woman. What was she all about? Her mannerisms were odd, but the kindness inside her could not go unforeseen. Her green eyes shined in contrast to her very light skin, hued by only the faintest shades of pink in certain areas. She was on his mind a little more than he expected.

The skinny brunette was interesting to talk to. She was very reserved in the way she would approach things; hesitantly pausing before something potentially personal came up. Her eyes never left him except whenever they'd gravitate toward her book or something immediate. They carried a peculiar glare behind them as if they held so much back. The purple bags that surrounded them spoke of a tired soul who had seen more than she admitted to. The way she'd cover most of her face but keep those eyes on him was…interesting.

Kyia had a fierce attitude when tested, but given how she backed down at Bela, Ethan believed she may have felt comfortable enough around him. She could get her emotions out without the fear of him hurting her. There was nothing personal in such an act, as he had to admit that the way she scolded him was entertaining. It reminded him of how Mia would do the same thing whenever he intentionally tried to piss her off.

Even if she was angry or annoyed, he couldn't help but laugh as she went on – which only made her angrier.

Kyia was not all irritability. She held a strong, almost childlike curiosity about his world. The way her thin lips would part whenever he'd explain things she had never imagined, like movies, was noticeable. She seemed to liken herself to a very serious individual, but the few jokes he had told to her elicited a light laugh.

That laugh itself was pretty unforgettable. In fact, he found it cute.

Ethan sighed as he bowed his head. What was he thinking? He had just lost Mia and to see any other woman in her place was disgusting. The only rationality was that Kyia was a brunette, just like his deceased spouse. They didn't look much alike, but he had to have sought comfort in her qualities and kindness. That had to be the answer, he assumed.

The man did not want to put much more mind to it. This wasn't the time for such ambitions. He felt so stupid for even considering such a thing. Reality kicked in as he thought more about how much weight his life's problems would place on any woman who dared choose him. It was already too much for Mia, but she managed to make do. For someone like Kyia, who already seemed to be fragile, it would not be fair at all.

Ethan recognized his weakness at that moment. His raw nature calling. He wanted to have someone to hold close and support, who would also do the same thing for him. It contrasted with his greater will. His knowledge of his vows to the woman he held just a day prior. It was the raw nature that was birthed from a constant onslaught of obstacles that chipped away at his strength.

Just like anyone else – he wanted help when he was weak.

"I'm going to save you, Rose," he silently muttered to himself as she shook his head. Mia could not be replaced, but neither could Rose. He had to get his mind on the task at hand. That baby was what mattered the most to him. His problems could wait for when she was safe.

Bela's eyes popped open. The room was still dark. She was not certain how long she had been asleep. It could have been hours. It could have been minutes. There was no way to tell for sure. She was not well-rested. Far from it.

Her neck was sore from her posture. Her head was heavy with exhaustion. As her mind came to, she checked for Ethan's presence in the corner. He was still there, hardly moving around much. Another second or two was spared just to make sure he wasn't dead, not that she cared about him. If he was dead, that meant that something had to have gotten inside.

Better him than her, she thought.

She shuffled around as she tried to get more comfortable, but the table was not going to allow such things. The room was mostly empty, save for what seemed to be some boxes that had been left around. Bela hopped off the table and took her first steps toward the other side of the room, opposite Ethan.

She could feel his eyes on her as she moved about, but neither of the two said anything to one another. The only sound the blonde gave was her breathing as she settled down into the corner, using a small box as a makeshift pillow to rest her head. She yearned for the soft, comfortable pillows of her bed. Even to disperse into a cloud of flies would have provided a great sense of relief.

She was so tired. She just wanted to sleep some more.

That was when she realized that her gun had been left on top of the table, which meant she would have to get back up to retrieve it. She groaned as she stared at the shape of the firearm as part of it peeked over the edge. A click from her tongue broke before she pushed herself up and waltzed over to the stand to snatch up the weapon. Ethan had to be watching her for sure. She fantasized about shooting him but she lacked the will to do so. Even pulling the trigger cost too much energy.

The eldest daughter simply wanted to rest. If she could get one thing she desired for now – it would be sleep.

Ethan could be heard as he sat himself up. The shadows in the room had begun to clear up a little as the moon outside found space between the dense clouds. It allowed her to glimpse him a little bit more and confirmed her suspicions that his eyes were still on her. She closed her eyes and raised her top lip as she shook her head. She gave another grunt before she turned onto her side, hoping that he finally got the message.

"We're going to get out of this," Ethan spoke again. It only made her tighten her curled body even more. He sounded calm, almost hopeful. It was so strange. She still would not reply, but his next comment stole her attention. "We both have families waiting for us."

He…wait…what?

"Why do you keep talking?" Her voice grumbled.

He shrugged his shoulder, though he knew she wouldn't see it. Her direction was turned toward the wall beside her. He couldn't see her face at all. "I've been thinking of my daughter. I assume you've been thinking about your sisters."

She shifted her body around some more, as if turning her back to him as much as possible would somehow dispel his voice from her ears.

Ethan ignored her obvious attempts to shut him away. This was just as much about relieving his fears as it was hers. The several hours that they had spent inside this room in silence caused the man to recycle his concerns over and over again. He needed someone to talk to – even if it was her.

"I don't know if you're a mother," he said, "but, I know you have one. Let's forget about everything between us for a second and think about what it is we're fighting for."

I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him.

Bela softly slammed the side of her fist against the floor. She needed to physically vent her frustrations, but she did not want to do anything to alert the monsters down below. "Do not bring my family into this. Do not talk about them at all…"

"You know how much a parent cares about their child."

"I don't know where your daughter is," Bela replied without much fire left in her voice. "Now, stop talking to me, please. Just let me go to sleep."

Ethan chuckled as he rolled his head. "I'm not trying to fight with you, Bela." He used her name, hoping to bring out the human inside the creature. "I'm just asking for your help."

She went back to being quiet.

Ethan lowered his head. He could feel his anger mounting as he was denied any information on Rose. The blonde had to have known something, yet, she wasn't saying a damn word. He wanted to storm over there and shake her until she talked, but the woman had demonstrated how she reacted to his wrath. It would do nothing to help.

Still, he had to get something out to her. "I'm a father, Bela. My daughter is in great danger, and I'm sitting here freaking out about it. You know that and yet, you…you can just go to sleep? Is that really it?"

He heard her chuckle. It was a small breath from her mouth; barely amused. Bela turned around and sat up, supported by both palms facing outward behind her back. Ethan could only see the top of her hood, though her blonde hair dangled from the right side. A slow, low groan escaped her.

She tried to figure out what to tell him. Which avenue to take. Would she play the part of the apathetic killer? Or, would she lower those walls just enough in the light of how upset he had seen her?

She chose neither.

"This conversation will not get you any closer to your daughter," she told him as she lifted her head. He could make out the shape of her nose, coupled with her dark lips that neither smiled nor frowned. "If you want to get home, it seems the way there is in that clock tower. That's what we assume, anyway…"

Bela leaned forward as she adopted the same position as he did. Her gown obscured her legs, which raised as her knees bent toward her chest. Her right arm wrapped around them, while her left hand glided around the seams of her hood. She looked so tired. "No matter what I tell you, you will not be any closer to her until you get back to our world. I won't be any closer to my family until I get there as well. So, if you can't sleep because someone next to you is upset, then stay awake. I do not care. I need to sleep because it'll serve me better when I work toward getting back."

She dropped her hand and stared at him. "You don't see me bringing up my family when you're trying to sleep, so don't start acting like I am so terrible. I'm showing you kindness by not talking. If you're so sorry about what you said, then do the same for me." The blonde huffed a small breath. "I'm not in the mood."

It was more than he had expected from her. As much as he hated to agree with her: she made sense. They were not going to get any closer to home if all they did was talk about their problems. In fact, the way she spoke did shed some light on the way she was feeling. Bela seemed to be very intelligent, not just for a creature – but as a person.

She signaled to him that she was hurting in her own ways, and she understood pain enough to not want to discuss it. Ethan now saw how his questions did nothing but cause her more distress. The best avenue to doing better with her would be to not try to at all. She was not happy about their fight earlier, and it appeared that she wasn't just angry at him, but at herself as well.

He had not fared too well in psychology during his college years. Hell, the idea of even advancing in those classes was a nightmare all on its own. The introductory class was more than enough for him. But, one thing he had taken from it was the way some people reflected their emotions into their words. When Bela got angry at him, she was very quick to dash out insults.

However, when she seemed angry at other times, she would just complain about him, but she'd leave the insults out of it. She'd grow quiet. Whatever she had to say in anger had to have been spoken inside her mind to the only other person in the room beside him – her.

"Get some sleep, Bela," his voice addressed her calmly.

She paused for a couple of seconds, likely processing his response. Did she expect that he would listen to her? "Don't wake me up." She returned to her previous position on the ground as she adjusted the box that her head rested on.

As the seconds turned into a minute, Ethan watched as she rotated around. It could not have been comfortable for her at all. That woman must have been so used to a large, soft bed, he thought. She likely had never slept on the ground in her life. His goodwill kicked back in, though he debated doing anything that would antagonize her.

It was a debate that only lasted until he saw how much she kept adjusting herself. One more good act, he figured.

Ethan removed his beige coat and tossed it over beside her. "Here, have this." The weight of the items inside caused it to make a loud thud as it landed on the ground.

The blonde jolted before she lifted her head, grunting in frustration before she noticed what had been given to her.

Ugh…is that…his stupid coat? Why did…does he not understand what "don't wake me up" means?

Bela reached over and gripped the stray coat that had found itself near the wall and pulled it toward her body. It dragged along the ground with a heavy mass, much so that she had to use additional strength to haul it. "How much stuff is in here?"

"Uhm, sorry," Ethan said. "I pack whatever I can get my hands on."

She clicked her tongue with a short groan, though that did not stop her from accepting the gesture. Bela tucked the thick coat under her head, which proved to be preferable than any cardboard box. "If you ever found a suitcase, I'm sure your dumb man-brain would try to stuff it in here too."

Ethan laughed a little. "Yeah, I honestly probably would."

She did not reply at all. Not a single grunt or any sound would indicate how she felt right now. The only thing on Bela's mind was sleep. However, as soon as she heard his response to her remark, the blonde could not help but crack a small smile as she laid her head down. She wanted to stop it from growing on her face, but something about it was funny.

Yeah…you would.

Castle Dimitrescu – February 9th, 2021

"Cassandra!" Alcina shouted as she entered the Main Hall in a fury. "Come here…now!" Within seconds, a horde of flies appeared in front of her, forming into the brunette as she stood awaiting her mother's next word. "Where is Bela?"

She paused as she expected Alcina to address her on Ethan's whereabouts. The middle child had remained in the area ever since she first encountered the man running about. Bela had decided to scour the dungeon after she was told that he had fallen through a hole in that boarded-up section of the wall. Cassandra had expected that Ethan was going to evade her sibling and make his way back up top once he discovered the Moroaice down below.

She was so confident, but time had proven otherwise. It had been almost an hour and still no sign of either of them. How? The scent of Ethan's blood was unmistakable. If he had been gone for so long down there, Bela would have been guaranteed to pick up his trail.

"She went to the dungeons, mother," Cassandra explained. "She wanted to bring Ethan Winters back to you."

Alcina only grew more furious as she listened to her explanation. Her brows pinched, which ignited fear in Cassandra's heart. "How did he make it to the dungeons, Cassandra?"

"I was about to catch him but –"

"You were playing games with him, weren't you?!" Alcina shouted at the top of her lungs, reducing the brunette to silence as she bowed her head. "Enough games! I want that man's head! Now, go!"

"Of course, mother!" Cassandra reared her eyes up at her before she dispersed into a cloud of insects in search of her assigned prey. The flies quickly took off, leaving the room and the matriarch, who also turned around to begin her own search of the two.

As she flew around the castle, Cassandra could only think of her last interaction with her older sister. It had been a nasty argument. The blonde had chided her over her ways, stating that Ethan's escape from the room was a substantial risk. The brunette had played it off, but words quickly turned to anger as the two went back and forth. It spun to physical aggression as shoving commenced before she told Bela that she wished she did not come back up from the dungeon.

It was words of rage that were not intended to mix with reality. She would never have thought Ethan Winters to be capable of harming Bela in any form. However, as the minutes of her searching stretched onward, there was a creeping feeling of dread that began to form in the brunette's mind.

She knew he had survived many horrible things outside this castle's walls. Even managing to escape one of Heisenberg's games was a feat all on its own. That vulgar lord may have been repulsive, but he was ingenious in his cruelty. How a simple-looking man like Ethan could have walked away unscathed was baffling the more she thought about it.

Even more so – he had sustained two simultaneous impalements to the sides of his legs when they first encountered him. He had hooks driven through his hands. Any other man would have been a weakened mess after such wounds, unable to walk. But not him. He was still seen running around the castle and operating as if it never happened.

It only made her wonder what else he was capable of.

Daniela was still locked away in the library on Alcina's orders. The redhead was not in the best frame of mind to go roaming the castle during a time like this. While it was initially due to her likelihood of killing the man whom Alcina wanted alive, it now became a liability as he had shown some sort of prowess in evading the daughters.

With the fragile mindset of the youngest likely to expose her to the chance of being harmed, Alcina did not want to risk anything. What did their mother know, Cassandra wondered? If Ethan Winters was not as dangerous as she originally stated, then why were such precautions being taken?

Why was Bela not answering any of her calls?

It was all too scary for her to think about. She had to continue searching. The dungeons must have held the answers she sought. Maybe there was a reason why the blonde had fallen silent. There were no windows down below. No way that man could have possibly –

She turned the corner of the hallway that led to the kitchen. The brunette could already feel the breath of the cold wind before she heard the sound of its whistling. Her heart sank immediately.

"Mother! Mother!"

Hunched over, Alcina combed around the empty room adjacent to the kitchen. The shot-open window alarmed her immensely, as she had long feared any of her daughters being exposed to the frigid cold of winter. The scene told the story of a short fight.

There were shell casings from the bullets Ethan had fired. Holes in the wall spoke of how erratic some of the shots were before they became more precise. There was a little bit of blood to be seen, though it did not appear that any severe wounds had been dealt to him.

When she peered out of the window for signs that he may have made a run for it, there was nothing. No footprints in the snow. In fact, the large shards of glass that still clung to the window frame would have made such an escape impossible without injury. Still no blood. Nothing.

Where did he go?

"Bela!" Alcina screamed out of the window but to no avail.

She became frantic, eyeing the room around for any indication of her daughter's fate. There were multiple deceased flies that littered the ground. The blonde had to have been exposed to the cold. This is where that puny little man discovered her daughter's weaknesses. But, where was the body? Where was any indication that the eldest had perished?

"Bela! Answer me!"

Silence.

In an instant, the tall lady flew into a fury. She reached over to the wooden shelf on the opposite side of the wall and grabbed it with both hands, swinging it into the table beside the windows. The boards shattered as they collided, with some pieces spewing outside of the castle and into the snowy ground. She let out a ferocious groan as her eyes darted all around the room. She wanted answers but there were none to be had.

Where was Bela? Where was Ethan?

"Mother Miranda…" Alcina said as she spoke on the phone in her chambers. She reached over to pick up her lipstick but found herself too nerve-wracked to even apply it. "I regret to inform you that Ethan Winters has escaped that fool, Heisenberg." She sat the lipstick down and closed her eyes momentarily.

The prophet's voice on the other end was not without concern…and precision. She did not sound completely worried, but this was with no doubt something of interest to her. "And exactly how do you know this?"

"Because he is in my castle, and I cannot find one of my daughters! When I find him…"

"Dimitrescu…" Miranda's voice turned firm as she ordered her to stand down. "He is not to be killed. Do you understand? Just find him."

"Yes, Mother Miranda." Her mind sparked with a contradiction of how suddenly worthwhile this man's life was now. Just earlier, she had expected Miranda to congratulate her on his capture, and relinquish Heisenberg of all consideration following his failure. If the man was as good as dead before – then why not now?

"Do you remember the ceremony?" Miranda reminded her of what had been described as their 'only hope.'

Alcina quickly agreed, though internally, she found the ritual to be worthless in a time like this. What did Ethan have to do with it? "Yes, I understand the importance of the ceremony. I won't let you down."

The call abruptly ended, and the matriarch hung up the phone and stared into the mirror. She could already see the signs of worry along her brow. To hell with the ceremony, she thought. The only thing that she could think about was Bela. It would have been easier if there was at least some confirmation that the blonde had been killed, even though she would have preferred otherwise.

Was there anything else that Ethan could have done with her?

She stood up from her mirrored desk and contemplated tossing it as well, but the day had already seen enough broken furniture. It would do nothing to solve her problem. Cassandra was already on the hunt, combing through every nook and cranny that the castle had to offer. She was ordered to report any other broken windows or unlocked doors that she could find.

That man had to have been hiding somewhere, but the chances of him having made it outside the castle were growing by the minute. It did not make any sense. He had entered it in search of his daughter, but the Hall of Four's statues still did not hold any masks. It was the only way to make it to the Tower of Worship, where the castle's most significant items were to be held.

Did he even know a part of his child was held inside? He couldn't have, Alcina thought.

Perhaps, he left empty-handed and went somewhere else. But, that did not explain Bela. Where could she have gone?

The only thing Alcina could do at the moment was to return to her own search. Ethan Winters would have to show up at some point. That man could not have gone far. However, there was a part of her that dreaded what would happen if she could not locate him.

He was not to be killed, but what happened if he did escape? What would Miranda say? Would the ceremony be ruined? It sounded like it.

Even though she was as stressed as ever, Alcina still found herself stable-minded as long as there was a chance that Bela could still be alive. If her daughter had indeed been killed, that man's head would have been proudly worn at the end of her longest nail. It allowed her to retain some clarity, preventing her from completely disobeying Miranda's orders.

And with that clarity came its own form of concern.

If he could not be found, then the blame would be on Castle Dimitrescu – as would be Miranda's wrath.

It was a fear that she'd rather not think about. This ceremony was the opportunity that the prophet had spent years waiting for. As soon as her daughter was resurrected, they would all be saved and delivered into greatness.

What would happen if all of that fell to pieces?

NOTES:

Another chapter down! Looks like Ethan and Bela are starting to talk just a little bit more. Expect to see her come around a little in some ways. Even though he really upset her, his kind gestures are not going unnoticed. The night is still young (or is it?) and there is plenty of time to chit-chat. No horror in this chapter, but that doesn't mean that Vikcia still isn't looking for the two people who were immune to her dust.

Back in the world of RE, it doesn't look like life is too happy in Castle Dimitrescu. Now, I originally wanted things to be more chaotic as Alcina realized Bela and Ethan were missing, but I figured that the way Alcina reacted in the game following Bela's death would always be way more extreme than how she would if there was a chance her daughter is still alive.

Now, the real difference is going to come when the hours stretch on and neither is to be found. That's where things are going to get…very different.

What to expect in the next update? More Ethan/Bela, more lore, and some more Serpenmoor frights. Not every creepy thing in this world is from Vikcia…

Expect the next chapter in two weeks!

And happy 2nd anniversary to Resident Evil Village! Wanted to drop this chapter on this day for that very reason. I still remember having the day off and playing it first thing in the morning after so many months of waiting. Sometimes I wish I could forget everything I knew and start it all over again. Time goes by so fast, but it's always best to enjoy the moment.

Thank you all once again for supporting this story, and this series, so much! This is going to be a very big story, and I promise that the relationship between Bela and Ethan will be worth the progress. It is no secret that she is a woman who wants to be loved. Thanks for trusting me enough to make it this far. I can't wait to release even more of these chapters and bridge these two closer together. You all have been so awesome and I couldn't have done this without your commitment! Hope you all stay safe and I'll see you again soon! 😊