TW: Attempted Sexual Assault
The girl hid behind an iron column, that reached into the sky. One of thousands a forest of metal trees. A woman's screams drowned out the whirring of machines. Two grey beasts had tied the woman to a column and filleted her alive. Her breasts, her thighs, and her hips were placed on a metal grate and taken to a nearby fire. A hand came from the darkness and grabbed her too.
Yelena woke up to Heisenberg standing in the doorway. She sat up and rubbed her temples, just wanting a decent cup of coffee.
"What?" she asked, a lump of phlegm in her throat.
"I have a special job for you, but you need to run an errand first." He disappeared into the darkness leaving Yelena alone. She strapped her arm down, braided her hair over her shoulder, and pulled her coat over her shoulders. It was unusually cold in the factory that morning, her footsteps echoed loudly in her ears.
Heisenberg's office was only slightly warmer than her room had been. He stood over her desk with his back to her. She probed him with her magnetic field to announce herself.
His combined with hers and he pulled her closer.
He looked at her and placed an envelope in her hand. It was addressed to Donna Beneviento in his scratchy handwriting. A carpenter's mask was also placed in her hand. "I need you to deliver this, and also you'll need to stick around there for measurements to be taken." He continued at her confusion. "We're going to start collecting the dead. Miranda has discussed it with me, and she has commanded that you be the one to act as a" he cut off looking for the word, waving his hands around, "Ferryman. You'll need a uniform that doesn't look like you spend all your time crawling around pistons and mine shafts.
"That sounds ridiculous," Yelena said and lifted the mask. "What's this for?"
"I told you about Donna's plants. The pollen is what causes you to hallucinate. I don't want you breathing it in." He walked around, plopped into his desk chair, and put his feet up. "I'm going to stay here, in this room. If you see me there, no you didn't. Also, take the long way"
"Stupid" Yelena muttered and started for the door.
-/-
As Yelena crossed the bridge she came to the ruins she had crossed to reach the old fort and stopped to look at it. Four monolithic statues of Kings sat around a small stone seal. There was a large staircase to the Northeast cut into the stone. An old woman with a staff was hobbling down them.
She called out as Yelena approached. "Will you help me? My legs are tired." She helped her down the last few steps, and the woman grabbed her iron arm and seemed to produce a flower from nowhere and shoved it in Yelena's face. It was a white lily-shaped flower with small yellow buds.
Yelena jumped back, and the old woman caught the sudden weight shift with her staff cackling like a Baba Yaga. She quickly put the mask on and glared at the hag from above it. "What's the matter, dear?"
"I have allergies," Yelena said and looked at her flatly.
The old woman fell into a fit of laughter and began to hobble off. "Shame, shame," she said and tossed the flower on the ground behind her.
"Fuck" Yelena cursed under her breath. She debated on going back to the Factory, but it was the first time she'd been on her own since coming here almost a month ago. She pulled out the map and saw that the staircase was a shortcut to the Beneviento Manor. "The 'long' way," Yelena repeated Heisenberg's advice. "If that was one of Donna's Flowers, I'm fucked and I don't have time to take the 'long' way." The old woman had one, so she hoped it was just a sick coincidence.
She folded the map and started up the stairs, taking two at a time in an awkward run. By the time she reached the top, her breath was coming in gasps and she'd slowed to a quick jog up them. The path led to her left and down towards the river, a thick forest was on both sides. Directly across from the path was a garden, with an old shed. The flowers here were dried and brown. Further down the path, Yelena came to another garden with a grave in the center. The white and yellow flowers were growing here. She pursed her lips and continued.
There was a lift just beyond the grave that climbed the cliffside in an agonizingly slow ride. When it finally stopped, Yelena jogged down the path and saw the manor. It was perched on the cliff side with a thunderous waterfall behind it. The mists mixed with sunlight illuminated the house in a warm glow. She walked through the gate and up to the door and knocked. It swung open on silent hinges.
The foyer was covered in dark wood paneling and an old red carpet. "Hello?" she called out, "Lady Beneviento?" Yelena wasn't sure if she should use honorifics, but it was too late now. The sound of small footsteps came from the stairs. The doll, Angie came running down them and up to Yelena.
"You're fast," it squealed. Yelena looked up and saw Donna in a long black veil standing silently nearby.
She fished into her cost pocket and held the letter out to her. "I was told to deliver this to you," The doll jumped up snatched the letter from her hand, and ran to Donna.
Donna slowly took it and opened it to read. Angie returned to Yelena and started looking at her. Pulling on her coat and poking at her arm. She tried her best to ignore the thing.
They led her upstairs into a loving room filled with more dolls. She pushed down her revulsion and let Angie and Donna stripe her down to her underwear. They spent alone time measuring her and writing it down. "We'll be right back!" Angie said and ran off with Yelena's clothing, Donna following after. Yelena sat on the couch and held her head in her hands with her eyes squeezed shut.
When she opened them again, she was lying down and the sun had disappeared. It was night, someone had lit the lights around the manor. A wave of panic washed over Yelena, "Lady Beneviento!" share called. "Angie?" she stood up and frantically searched the house. Most of the doors were locked, and the open doors held no one. Downstairs, she came to an old lift that must have gone to the basement.
"The fuck are you doing?" a voice froze her in place. She turned to see a man in old-fashioned surgical scrubs. "How are you out of your room?" he said in Russian but with a Ukrainian accent. The man pulled out a metal rod with two small prongs on the end. She furiously hit the call button to the lift, but it never came.
She threw her weight against the man, and they tumbled to the ground. They wrestled for a moment before she got free. She ran for the foyer, but the door outside was gone. Down the hall, the doctor began to shift until he was a large white worm, with dripping fangs and small black eyes. Fear set in as she searched for a way out. Upstairs the windows were gone and the lights flickered. The entire room began to flicker with the lights, from the elegant home to a decrepit asylum. The couches turned into gurneys and the lamps into large surgical lights.
The worm-like doctor appeared at the top of the stairs, with a scalpel in hand. Yelena raised her fists but paused when she saw her iron arm was made of flesh. It was stiff, but it moved like it was hers. She looked at the rest of her body, it was that of a young teenager again. A puffy red scar across the left side of her chest and another across her belly. Two large gray brutes lifted her and slammed her onto the gurney. Through tears, she could see the doctor get closer. She screamed and in an instant, it was all gone.
Yelena was on the couch again, but it was still dark out. Heisenberg stood at the top of the stairs. Yelena rose to her feet, but he rushed over and grabbed her throat, he tore the mask off her and pressed his lips against hers. He pushed her down onto the couch and started to tear at her underwear.
"Stop it!" she cried out. He smelt like rotten meat and ashes and only laughed. His hands were cold and rough as they moved over her legs, trying to pry them apart. Yelena tried to push against him with her field, but there was nothing there. The small pulsing that was always present when they were near was gone.
"Heisenberg!" a calm and quiet voice rang out. On the other side of the room stood Mother Miranda. He got off of her and Miranda almost glided over and wrapped her arms around Yelena, as though to comfort her.
"Fucking bitch!" he yelled out. "She's mine."
If you see me up there, no you didn't.
"This isn't real," Yelena said with a shakey voice. She looked up into Miranda's ice eyes. Her face was soft and inviting, but her eyes held nothing in them. Was she real? Yelena reached up and touched Miranda's cheek. "M-mother?" she asked softly. "I need help. I must have breathed in the pollen from Donna's Flowers. Help me!" she pleaded with the illusion.
"Are you certain?" Miranda asked gently. Yelena nodded. "Then sleep, child."
She touched Yelena's forehead, and Yelena woke up falling off the couch and smacking her head on the wooden floor.
Angie stood over her and Donna held her clothes folded neatly. Yelena hurriedly got dressed and asked if she was still needed. Donna shook her head.
Yelena took off out of the house and ran as fast as she could back to the factory.