Thank you all for reading!
Chapter 2:
The next morning Dorothy awoke to the smell of bacon, eggs and coffee. She did not realize how hungry she had been and now her stomach was rumbling. She sat up in the bed, taking hold of the journal and slipping it back into her bag.
With more light in the room, Dorothy could see pictures settled on the cabinet. She walked over and took a look to see it was of a young woman with brown hair and blue eyes. There was no doubt this was the couple's daughter; she looked just like Malkin.
A knock sounded at the door, she walked over and opened it to find it was Gabrielle.
"Good morning," she said.
"Good morning," Dorothy said.
"Breakfast is ready if you are hungry for it."
"I feel I owe you both payment," Dorothy said as she followed her to the kitchen.
Gabrielle said nothing.
"Good morning, Miss Dorothy," Malkin said, already seated at the table with a mug of steaming coffee in front of him.
"Good morning," Dorothy said.
"Please take a seat," he said.
Dorothy did so starting to sense a change in both of them, like they were going to ask her something, but did not have the courage to do so.
Malkin took a sip of his coffee and then spoke:
"I know we spoke a little last night, but there is something I would like to ask of you. Now normally I do not pry; however, in this village strangers are not embraced with open arms. They are not trusted and things do not go well for them."
Dorothy frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"Many foreigners do not last long here," he continued. "There have been recent occurrences where people have entered the village and are never seen again. I am not trying to frighten you, in fact, I debated with Gabrielle last night on the matter of telling you."
Dorothy waited quietly for him to continue as he took another sip of his coffee and set it back down.
"I would like to know why you are here in this village," he said bluntly.
Dorothy stared straight at Malkin, briefly catching her own father's image on Malkin's stern; yet caring countenance.
"I came here in search of my mother. She was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's and decided to come back home to Romania. My mother's memories are growing more and more limited, which is why she gave me a journal and photographs, it was also to help her remember. It wasn't until a few weeks ago did she start wandering around. I made sure if I was unavailable someone was posted to her. We then had to start locking the doors, windows and her own room at night, for she would wander about." Dorothy swallowed as sadness started to consume her. "It was last weekend did she somehow escape her room and left the house. We have been searching and searching, but have had no luck finding her."
Gabrielle and Malkin went pale at her words. Gabrielle focusing on serving them the food on their plates, Dorothy looked over at Malkin who picked up his knife and fork.
"And you believe she may be here?"
"I learned of this village from some of the yokels. They gave me some information, but no one dared to take me here. It was not until I returned to town a few days' later did I meet a merchant who brought me here."
"And what is your plan?" Gabrielle asked. "It will be difficult to search for anyone with the fresh snow descending down on us."
"That is a problem I did not anticipate I am afraid," Dorothy said. "I am at a loss what to do."
All three fell silent for a moment as they ate their food. Dorothy's thoughts now on her next course of action.
"Mm," Malkin made a little grunting sound before he spoke up. "I think Elijah may be able to help you."
"Who is he?"
"He was the village elder and now goes about helping anyone who needs him. I will call upon him once the weather clears. Then you can ask for his assistance."
"Thank you," Dorothy said gratefully. "But how will I repay you for this kindness?"
"You can start by helping me shovel," Gabrielle said with a little smile. "We will need to reach the chicken coop."
Dorothy smiled, though in the back of her mind grew the anxiety. What if her mother was not here? What if this was all a lost cause? She shook her head. No. She could not think that way. She would not!
{…}
Lady Dimitrescu woke with a splitting headache. At some point during the night she had eventually gotten into bed; sadly she could not recall precisely when that had happened.
A shift in the bed made her look to her right where she found Daniela sound asleep.
'Ah yes,' Lady Dimitrescu thought. 'Daniela joined me last night.' As quietly as she could, she got off the bed. It shifted some, but not enough to wake Daniela. She walked out of the room in desperate need of some blood tea to combat her migraine. She could already smell breakfast wafting in from the kitchen. Maidens running here and there to continue on with their early morning duties.
"Anya," Lady Dimitrescu spied the Grand Chambermaid climbing down the staircase.
"Lady Dimitrescu," she bowed to her. "I have prepared you a bath and left Wendy in the room to assist you."
"I would be lost without you, Anya," Lady Dimitrescu said with a smile, caressing her cheek as she walked by.
The older woman attempted to hide her smile, but her body betrayed her as her cheeks flushed red upon contact.
"Oh, and please send up a cup of strong blood tea. My head is aching."
"Yes, my lady. I will send Harriett up with it once it is finished along with the mail."
Lady Dimitrescu continued down the hall and snuck through the Library. Daniela's domain. She started to wonder where Cassandra was next. No doubt plotting how to torment the maidens today. She had an insatiable appetite for such things. One that Lady Dimitrescu daresay rivaled her own.
Once she reached her private chamber, she entered the bathroom where the tub was steaming. On top of the dresser were the soaps and shampoo Wendy had picked out; the young woman waiting within and bowing her head.
Lady Dimitrescu gave her a smile as she slid off her robe and nightgown. Wendy waited for her mistress to enter the tub before getting started on washing her skin.
She closed her eyes, attempting to ignore the pounding behind her eyes.
"Good morning, Mother."
"Good morning, Bela."
"How are we feeling this morning?"
Lady Dimitrescu opened one bloodshot eye.
Bela said nothing.
"Oh, I require you to do something for me, darling. I need you to find the roster and tell me who was to keep the fire going in my chambers last night. The ingrate let the fire die and I nearly froze to death."
"Yes, Mother," Bela said, trying hard not to roll her eyes at her mother and vanished.
"Thank you, my beloved," Lady Dimitrescu said, closing her eye and relaxing more as Wendy continued to wash her. "And Wendy…"
"Yes, my lady?"
"You have forty minutes. If I am late to breakfast, you will be punished."
Wendy bowed her head in understanding.
Lady Dimitrescu relaxed back in comfort as Wendy scrubbed over her skin. The child not in the least bit bashful as she scrubbed across her collarbone and down over her breasts. A gentle purr escaped her upon Wendy's skillful handiwork. She had learned quickly over the years and found herself nearing the top of the maid hierarchy.
"My legs, darling," Lady Dimitrescu directed her, lifting up her right leg and then left once Wendy had sufficiently scrubbed it clean.
Wendy then moved next to shampooing her mane. She had picked out a bottle that would make Lady Dimitrescu's black hair shine and curl.
A knock then came from the doorway ten minutes later. She opened her eyes to find it was Harriett standing on the lip of the doorway with a tray in hand.
Harriett bowed her head, a single brown curl coming loose and falling down the front of her face.
"Pour the tea for me, my dear," Lady Dimitrescu said softly.
"Yes, my lady," Harriett said, setting it down on a round table and pouring her a cup. "Your mail is here as well."
"I will drink my tea first," Lady Dimitrescu said.
Harriett nodded, dressing her tea and then handing it to her.
Lady Dimitrescu took it and inhaled the aroma. She smiled in satisfaction and then took a sip.
"Perfect, thank you Harriett." Each sip she took of her tea was wiping away her headache. How much she needed this. After finishing her first cup, she motioned for Harriett to bring her the mail. She picked through the stack unimpressed until she got to the last one. "Well this is certainly interesting…" she mused, her lips curling up into a smile.
{…}
"Mother!"
Lady Dimitrescu entered the Dining Hall to find Bela and Daniela seated at the table. She was not surprised to find them already there and waiting.
"Well this is a shame, isn't it? Our Cassandra is late again."
"I told her to be up in the next ten minutes, but she refused to listen to me."
"And where is she now?"
"I'm sure she is still in the dungeon torturing her next victim."
Lady Dimitrescu took a seat at the head of the table, snapping her fingers at the two maids to begin serving them. She did not say anything more about Cassandra. Clearly the two were waiting with baited breath upon hearing the punishment their sister would receive. Instead she changed the topic to what the girls' day would entail.
"Bela, I wish for you to go below and begin filtering through the old blood. The girls must be discarded and new ones need to be strung up to be bled."
"Yes, Mother," Bela said, waving away the maid once her plate was sufficiently filled.
"What about me, Mother?" Daniela inquired.
"You have a few options, dearest. You may help Bela with the task below, or you can continue milling through your books in the library."
Lady Dimitrescu knew the answer already before Daniela said, 'library'. The child loved her books, and the only thing she loved more was going below with her. Never would Daniela go below alone for fear of Cassandra. There were times she would go with Bela, but Bela alone did not hold as much power over Cassandra as herself. Which was the reason why Daniela would go only if she was to go below.
"I also have news of the wench who failed to meet your standards. It was Janet, I have taken the liberty of bringing her down to the dungeon to be properly disposed of." Bela said.
"Excellent," Lady Dimitrescu threw her a quick wink.
"Oh… I thought we were going to eat her," Daniela pouted.
The door suddenly creaked open to reveal Cassandra. She was wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. A poor attempt to clear away the evidence of what she had been doing below.
"Ahh, Cassandra, I am pleased to see you at last."
"Forgive me, Mother," she said, gliding over to her seat to the left of Bela, who was seated in the middle chair. "I lost track of time below."
"Is that so?"
"Yes," Cassandra said, taking her napkin and setting it down on her lap.
"What precisely were you doing down there, my darling?"
"Sorting the blood bags," she said.
Bela made a low growl, hating how easily the lies flowed out of Cassandra. Obviously she had been doing something else than simply sorting, in fact, Cassandra never busied herself with such a chore.
"None of them needed to be sorted. The only ones who need to be filtered are the ones Bela will be working on after breakfast."
"The ones who have been strung up and need to be taken down?" Cassandra replied. "If so, I have already discarded them and replaced them with the fresher girls from cells A through C."
Lady Dimitrescu's jaw dropped slightly, lowering her fork from her lips and studying her middle child closely.
"You did that?"
Cassandra smiled at her, picking up her own fork and knife to cut a piece of blood red meat.
"We will see about that," Bela spoke up.
"By all means, Queen B," Cassandra sniggered at her. "I think you will find all is in order, which means you can spend the rest of your day fixing your hair."
Bela's grip on her own knife tightened at her comment.
"/I/ will go down later and inspect your work," Lady Dimitrescu cut in. "Bela, I have another task for you in the special chamber. I have a most prestigious guest within who needs your 'moderate' touch."
"Yes, Mother," she said, smiling.
Cassandra quirked a brow. Curious and annoyed at who this special guest could be.
Lady Dimitrescu looked away from her middle and eldest to her youngest. She was always quiet when they came together. Cassandra never shy when it came to verbally terrorizing her, which would then force Bela to show her fangs and fight back on Daniela's behalf.
'Daniela…' she thought, her child then looking up at her. Those pretty eyes met her own, and there a little smile appeared on her lips. Lady Dimitrescu winked at her, which made that precious smile widen. 'Keep that smile just for me…'