Thank you for reading! In this chapter Dorothy will discover the culprit to who placed the lipstick into her dress pocket and why.
Dorothy lay in the bed with tears trickling down her face from the pain. Anya had wrapped bandages around her arms and given her some medicine, but it was not enough. She could only helplessly stare up at the ceiling, praying to God to make this all go away. Just to allow her a few hours of sleep to be taken away from the agony.
She got her wish and was given a few hours of sleep, awoken by the sensation of someone in the room with her.
Dorothy did not care. If it was one of the daughters, or even Lady Dimitrescu herself, she welcomed death with open arms.
But no death blow came.
She opened her eyes to find Lady Dimitrescu seated beside her bed in a chair. She was no longer wearing her dinner dress, but donned in a nightgown and a silk, red robe.
"You must hate me," she whispered.
"What did you do to Harriett and Allison?"
"Still thinking of them, well, I will tell you it is noble, but also foolish. You see they did not think twice about you, my dear. It is what I have been telling you. They are all selfish."
"I-I would have spoken to them myself to get the truth," Dorothy said.
"And what good would that have done?" Lady Dimitrescu countered. "More lies. More interrogating. More pain." She nodded to her bandaged arms. "My point leaving its mark in more than one way, but I am not so cruel and will help you ease the pain." Lady Dimitrescu rose up and took a seat on the bed. "I am going to remove your bandages. Please hold still." She went to take hold of Dorothy's arm, only for her to recoil.
"I will not take your charity."
"You will do as I say," she snapped, reaching over once more and catching hold of her wrist.
Dorothy winced in pain.
"I told you to hold still damn it!" she said. "I am not trying to further injure you."
"And I told you I did not want your help!"
"Beatrice!" Lady Dimitrescu closed her mouth at the slip.
Dorothy, too, fell silent and then slowly offered out her arms to Lady Dimitrescu without further argument.
"This may sting," Lady Dimitrescu said, pulling out a bottle from her robe pocket and popping open the top. "Our local herbalist concocted this a few months ago. I have had no use for it, well, not until now that is. It is said to alleviate burns, poison and other skin inflammations." Using a cloth she poured some of the liquid onto it and began to dab at Dorothy's arm.
Dorothy drew back against the pillow, seeing stars for a brief moment before it slowly subsided. Lady Dimitrescu continued to gently lather her arms with the ointment.
"How is that?"
"Better," Dorothy said. "… Thank you."
Lady Dimitrescu put the top back on the bottle and set it on the bedside table.
"I will leave the bandages off to allow the wounds to breath," she said, observing blood residue on the bandages. "And will make sure you get new ones."
Dorothy closed her eyes, not wanting to look at her arms for how mutilated they were. Even Lady Dimitrescu was avoiding her arms.
Lady Dimitrescu remained seated on the bed until Dorothy's breaths became slower. Sleep finally overcoming her.
'How much you look like your mother, my dear,' she thought to herself, reaching down and gently caressing her cheek. 'To hold her again. To kiss her again...' She could not resist the precious temptation before her and placed a kiss to her lips.
Unbeknownst to her Bela had been watching her from the doorway. Her teeth bared in growing anger at the sight. Her mother nuzzling her nose against Dorothy's with clear love and want of her.
Quietly she backed away from the door and vanished back to her room to find both Cassandra and Daniela within.
She bared her teeth at Cassandra, who was laying in her bed with her dirty heels still on, and then Daniela who was seated at her vanity.
"Ahh, the queen returns," Cassandra said lazily.
"What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Waiting for you to join us for a little chat, right Daniela?" Cassandra said.
Daniela was humming to herself as she read her romance novel.
She sat up and looked at her little sister with some annoyance.
"Bookworm!" Cassandra grabbed hold of a pillow and threw it at her.
"Cassandra!" Daniela snarled, turning fully around. "What was that for?"
"Bela is here. Now we can talk about the elephant in the room."
Daniela grabbed hold of the pillow, considering a way to smother Cassandra with it.
"What are you speaking about?" Bela asked.
"I have been thinking about Mother lately and her new obsession. This made me also think about this night and the three wretches. Normally Mother would have sent all three of them down, but not this particular blood bag, which makes me ask, why?"
"I have not noticed," Daniela said.
"That is because your head is full of air!" Cassandra snapped.
"Tis not!" Daniela fired back, hurtling the pillow at Cassandra.
"You little—" Cassandra stood up on the bed ready to pounce on Daniela.
"This is getting us nowhere!" Bela snarled. "Now sit down and stop bickering."
"She started it," Daniela mumbled.
"I heard that!"
"Stop yelling," Bela said, rubbing her temples. "You are giving me a headache."
"Sorry Grandma," Cassandra sniggered.
Bela shot her a warning look.
"Cassandra thinks Mother has gone soft," Daniela went on.
"What was that?" Bela asked.
"You little rat," Cassandra hissed at her.
"Mother has gone soft due to the new girl," Daniela said. "Something within her has changed."
Bela stood in silence as she thought back to what she had just seen. Her mother's lips against the blood bag's.
Cassandra started to smirk at the sight of her sister's rage brewing. Her lips peeling back into a snarl. Her fists clenching and unclenching.
"Poor Bela," Cassandra said. "No longer Mother's one and only."
Bela was on Cassandra in a flash, pinning her down against the bed with her teeth bared, which made Cassandra laugh.
"You cannot deny what you too see with your own eyes," Cassandra replied smoothly, not in the least bit fazed by Bela's outburst and attack. "Our old mother would have tortured those girls for the information until one or all of them confessed just to make the pain stop. Instead she simply allowed them to walk out. Of course we were permitted to torture Alice, but Mother is no doubt allowing her to breath at this very moment. I feel it is time you take charge of things until Mother is well."
"What does that mean?"
"Are you not the lady of the house when Mama is either out or incapable of performing her duties?"
"Yes…" she growled.
"Do you not think Mother is currently in her right mind to make these decisions? Specifically with this ongoing case of her missing lipstick. I say you summon those two blood bags and get this settled before they start to spread the news."
Bela quirked a brow at her.
"Explain yourself."
"They will begin by whispering to the others how merciful Mother is becoming. They will begin to slip into a mediocre life here. Unafraid due to the lack of consequences dispensed on them. They must continue to be shown fear. Strict and stern is the motto."
Bela got off Cassandra as soon as she was done speaking. She could not believe it, but she was considering her words. She, too, had much fear something was happening with their mother. The change in her subtle, but growing more and more noticeable as the weeks went by. Yet was this the right thing to do? Was it the right time to step in and take over for her mother?
Cassandra sat up in the bed with a haughty smirk stretched widely across her face.
Daniela watched them intently.
Bela crossed her arms and tapped her digits rhythmically against her arm in thought. She did not want to say anything outwardly to give Cassandra the impression she had won.
'I must see Mother and make the decision myself. Depending on how she seems tonight, I will make my choice to dissect those vermin and get to the bottom of things,' she thought to herself, turning and facing Cassandra once more. "I will return soon. You will remain here until you are summoned."
Cassandra gave her a mock bow.
"Yes, Bela," Daniela mumbled.
Bela exited the room and closed the door behind herself.
"Mother…" She decided to walk to the parlor room rather than fly there. It gave her time to think more on her mother's 'condition'. "Ever since Alice arrived Mother has changed. She is the cancer that is poisoning Mother's body and must be removed quickly…"
{…}
Lady Dimitrescu woke to a little stream of light entering through the room from the window. She had not slept well, nor had Dorothy for that matter. The child woke up every two hours groaning in pain. She had given her another lather of the remedy on her arms to appease her ache. Despite that Dorothy was still in great pain.
Lady Dimitrescu carefully reached over and inspected her arms closer. She had large blisters that now had a little liquid oozing out of ones that popped. She would need to call upon Anya to find new bandages and cloth to clean the wound again.
She made the decision to find Anya now. No doubt the woman was already out and about preparing the schedule. She made sure to lock the door behind herself before she walked down the hall. Deciding to check Anya's quarters first to see if she was still within.
Not to her surprise she found Anya within a few minutes later already donned in her work attire. She was seated behind her small desk and stood up upon her mistress appearance.
"Good morning, my lady," she said, bowing.
"Good morning, Anya, I require new bandages for Dorothy's wounds."
"Yes, my lady," Anya said, handing over to her the schedule for the day along with the meeting book. "Shall I get Allison to do it?"
"No," Lady Dimitrescu said roughly. "I wish for you to do it."
Anya gave her a nod of understanding, watching her as she read through the schedule.
'The Abbess has a fresh shipment coming in… Rednic will deliver them.' She read the text to herself, her eyes roved down the page until she landed on. 'Mother Miranda. She will be here around ten…' her mind went straight to Dorothy. 'She will have to stay in that room until Mother leaves. It should not be a problem.' She looked back to Anya and handed her the book. "Thank you. Send Allison up to prepare me a bath."
"Yes, my lady," Anya said, taking her schedule and walking towards the servants' quarters.
Lady Dimitrescu walked in the opposite direction distracted by her impending meeting with Mother Miranda.
'She will not have her! She is mine to dispose of. Mine to do as I wish.' Lady Dimitrescu continued her course to her private chamber in need of a bath and fresh attire.
On the opposite side of the castle, Dorothy was now wide awake and groaning in pain. More blisters had popped due to her foolishly turning in the wrong direction.
Slowly she pushed herself to rise off the bed in order to reach for the remedy Lady Dimitrescu had left on the little table. She managed to snatch it and began to apply it to her left arm first when the door handle jiggled.
She froze in wonder as to who was on the other side.
"Alice?"
"Harriett?" she whispered.
"The door is locked."
"What are you doing?"
"I have brought you some medicine."
Dorothy did not move off the bed. Her instincts telling her there was something wrong. Of course the lack of trust she now had for Harriett did not help.
"I have what I need. You best get away before Lady Dimitrescu punishes you for being here."
Harriett did not answer.
Dorothy kept staring at the door with a frown. Had she gone?
Bang! Bang!
Dorothy jumped upon what sounded like Harriett slamming her body into the door.
"Open the door!"
BOOM! BOOM!
Dorothy could do nothing but stare at the door. Thankfully it was strong wood and did not crack nor snap under such beating.
"LET ME IN!"
Dorothy finally got off the bed and scurried over to the closet. She had no other options and she was terrified. If Harriett managed to break in… Dorothy did not want to think of what would come next. She eyed around the large closet and found little options for a weapon. The only thing she was able to find was a high heel shoe. If worse came to worse, she would stab her with it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dorothy backed all the way into a corner and remained there. She had no idea how long Harriett was at the door, but at least the pain in her arms was eased temporarily.
It was then did the banging cease.
Had she gone this time?
Dorothy dared not move from where she was hiding. Her entire body was tense. Her ears strained to hear any noise.
Click.
Click-clack. Click-clack.
Dorothy's heart jumped straight into her throat.
"Oh Alice. Oh sweet Alice. Are you really hiding from your dear old friend?"
Dorothy squeezed the heel tighter as Harriett's steps drew nearer.
"If only you had not resurfaced from the dungeons below. If only those creatures, or Miss Cassandra had nabbed you, but you are resourceful. Quick. You left me to constantly think about the next strategy…"
Dorothy licked her dry lips, her mind putting the missing puzzle pieces together.
"Surely I thought placing the lipstick in your pocket and directly onto your lips would do the trick, but no. Somehow you managed to survive that encounter with only burns… Lady Dimitrescu must truly have her heart set on you, but why? That is what I could not understand. Why you? What makes you so much more special than me? Just when Wendy had been removed, what a lucky break that was, then Robin was disposed of and all I had left was Allison, but then you came along and mucked up everything!"
Dorothy could hear Harriett speaking in front of the closet door and making a strange 'scratching' sound, like she had a sharp weapon in hand.
"Now I must dispose of you myself and then off to Allison," she giggled wildly. "I know you are in there. No need to hide from me any longer, though I am sure you are trying to figure out how I opened the door? I dared not do it with a hairpin. I was afraid it would break inside the lock, so I had to use something rather crude. A screwdriver to be exact. You cannot imagine my surprise to find how easily I was able to unlock that old door with it. I worried you would return and find me there, but fortunately you did not."
The closet door creaked open and in Harriett stepped.
"Is it too much to want to be seen and appreciated?" Harriett whispered, fixing her gaze straight at Dorothy. "To work so hard and receive nothing… yet you." She pointed the sharp knife at Dorothy. "You do the bare minimum and get all the attention. So pretty you are. With your blue eyes and blonde hair. Of course you would catch Lady Dimitrescu's eye, but I am going to fix that. I will cut out your eyes and slash at your face to make you so hideous, so deranged she will leave you out to the Lycans."
"Harriett," Dorothy's voice shook. "You must not do this. If Lady Dimitrescu finds out you have done this, she will kill you. There will be no more chances for you."
"She has always given me chances as she will after you are gone," she said, smiling crookedly. Her eyes rolling around in her head. "Now hold still."
Dorothy raised her arms to shield herself, feeling the blade slice through her arm and causing a stream of puss and blood to fly straight at Harriett's face.
She laughed as she scrambled to wipe the mess off her face before she attempted to assault Dorothy again.
"Stop!" Dorothy yelled, once again using her arms to shield herself and then aim the heel at Harriett's face. She did not make contact, but it did cause Harriett to stagger a little, which gave Dorothy the opportunity to sprint out of the closet.
"You are not going anywhere!" Harriett shrieked, chasing right after her.
Dorothy cried out in terror, managing to jump aside before Harriett slammed the blade down on her shoulder.
"What has happened to you?" Dorothy said.
Harriett giggled.
"Nothing. This has always been me," she said.
"No," Dorothy said, observing the side of Harriett's head was shaved and there she had deep stitches imbedded there. "Did Miss Cassandra do that to you?"
Harriett answered by shrieking out like a banshee and launched straight at Dorothy. The two crashing to the floor with Harriett on top of Dorothy and the knife drawing closer and closer to her face.
"H-Harriett," Dorothy gasped, losing strength as she tried to push her hands away, but Harriett was proving to be a rock. Unmovable.
"Help me," Dorothy whispered. "Someone please help me…"
Just as she whispered these words, a loud thumping could be heard from the hallway, then came the sound of what Dorothy thought were dozens of swords unsheathing.
Blood sprayed across the floor, walls and on Dorothy. She closed her eyes and gasped for air as the flow spilled heavily onto her.
Thump.
Harriett's body collapsed beside her.
"Dorothy…, are you all right?"
Dorothy stared up in shock to see Lady Dimitrescu standing before her. Her hair was soaking wet, her face no longer pale, but had some color to it.
"I—yes."
Lady Dimitrescu reached out her naked hand for Dorothy to take.
"Come with me."
Dorothy did not say anything, but simply obeyed her command. She did not look back at Harriett's body and followed Lady Dimitrescu down the hall and to her private chambers to her bathroom. The room was stifling hot due to the steaming water in the tub.
"Let me see your arm."
Dorothy raised her arm as high as the pain would allow. Lady Dimitrescu examining the laceration she had received and then did the unexpected by lapping up the blood and puss.
She was cleaning the wound.
"Not too deep," she mused, examining her arm afterwards before turning her attention to a fresh faced maid standing by the door. "Remove her clothes and then wrap her arm in the bandage there," Lady Dimitrescu ordered.
The young woman got straight to work removing her attire and leaving Dorothy completely naked before Lady Dimitrescu.
"What is this?" Dorothy asked, covering her breasts as best she could with her left arm.
"A bath," Lady Dimitrescu said, picking up her cigarette and lighting it. "Get in."
Dorothy looked to the tub and back at Lady Dimitrescu.
"My arms. It will be too painful."
"It will be even more painful if you disobey me one more time."
Dorothy did not argue further and stepped up on the mini ladder to climb into the tub. Immediately the water hitting her arms made her clench her teeth in pain. There would be no possible way she could clean the mess off herself.
And she found she needn't worry about that.
Lady Dimitrescu unexpectedly climbed in on the other side, motioning for the maid to clean off Dorothy's face and hair first before attending to herself.
"My lady?"
"What is it?" she said, blowing a thick stream of smoke out of her nose.
"What happened to her? Why did she do that?"
"Harriett has lost her mind," Lady Dimitrescu said. "I suppose the pressure just became too much for her. It is not uncommon."
Dorothy kept her mouth closed for the moment as the maid washed the blood away. All the while Lady Dimitrescu stared straight at her, inhaling her cigarette and then blowing the smoke at her.
Once the maid had finished with her face, she started to scrub her scalp with shampoo. For a brief moment it made Dorothy remember home and how much she missed it.
"What is going on in that head of yours? I hope it is not about how you could have saved Harriett."
"For once I was not thinking of her," Dorothy said, she would not tell her the truth. "I was thinking of how cruel and monstrous you are."
"A break through at last…" she exhaled more smoke through her nostrils. "Though I wish you would tell me the truth rather than keep your words within. Quite sneaky you are."
Dorothy stared straight at Lady Dimitrescu in wonder if she was about to go in the direction she was thinking.
The left side of Lady Dimitrescu's lips raised into a smile.
"Oh yes. I know all about your little adventures in the bowels of my home. The first where Harriett tried to get you killed just below my private chambers, and the second attempt where you so foolishly descended into my daughters' playground."
It was then did Dorothy look away from her. Still seeing those dead and dying girls chained and helpless.
"Cassandra could have killed you," Lady Dimitrescu went on. "If it had not been for my slight diversion. I had told her to drain some of the blood bags to get her away from you. How foul you smelt after coming back up. Where exactly had you hidden?"
"How could you do this? How can you be the woman I read about in my mother's journals? The woman my mother loved and had chosen to..." She was about to mention the letter, but clamped her lips shut just in time.
Lady Dimitrescu drew in another lungful and blew it at her again.
"Chosen to what?"
Dorothy cursed inwardly at her slip up, and now she had Lady Dimitrescu's full attention.
"It is nothing. Just something she told me a long time ago…"
"I wish to know this secret."
"Dig deep into your memories and you will find the answer," Dorothy said, surprised when Lady Dimitrescu started to titter.
"You are plucky. You who so boldly insults me by calling me cruel and a monster. I should take your heart for that."
"You already have when you killed my mother."
The atmosphere in the room shifted when Lady Dimitrescu's tittering stopped. She leaned forward and caused Dorothy to shift back, which was nowhere due to her back already against the tub.
"Perhaps you should place your gaze down at the water and take a good look at yourself. Reflect on why you were brought here in the first place. For if you had taken care of her like a good daughter should have, she would still be alive and you would not be here." Slowly she leaned back against the tub, her cigarette once more in her mouth as she smoked deeply.
"Then I suppose we both carry her blood on our hands," Dorothy whispered.
"I suppose so, my lamb. You and I are not so different."
"I am nothing like you," Dorothy said. "I do not relish in killing my fellow humans."
Lady Dimitrescu laughed at her words.
"What fun. What fun, indeed! Tell me, do you question the wolf who kills a deer?"
"That is not the same."
"It is the same," Lady Dimitrescu whispered. "Oh it is just the same. I kill, because I must. I am just like the wolf. You, too, Dorothy are like the wolf. You do not question the butcher who produces the meat for you to consume. It is all part of a cycle."
"These are human beings!"
"And they are my deer," Lady Dimitrescu said, her yellow eyes gleaming with a light-heartedness as she said it.
"Am I your deer?"
"I have not decided yet."
"You are most indecisive of me. For someone who claims to be a wolf, you have a heart of love for those who are most precious to you."
"As do wolves," Lady Dimitrescu replied. "A wolf family, just like my own, is a unit. A team. We love one another. We protect one another. We die for one another. Can your mortal mind comprehend that? For you are unlike these other mortal sheep."
Dorothy looked to the young woman who had just finished with her hair and moved over to wash Lady Dimitrescu.
"Am I to be a wolf?"
"You already are."
{…}
After an hour had passed by, Dorothy walked with Lady Dimitrescu to a fresh guest room. From there she lay down in the bed, wincing as her arm with the laceration began to throb and burn.
"Anya will be up shortly to tend to your arms," Lady Dimitrescu said.
Dorothy turned her attention once more on Lady Dimitrescu to see her staring at her with adoration.
"My lady…"
Lady Dimitrescu held up a hand for silence.
Dorothy lowered her eyes down to the blankets, unable to believe she was feeling something stir within her. A strange flutter in her belly to know Lady Dimitrescu had come to rescue her and not just one time either. She did not know if she liked this sudden feeling. It was warm and tingling, but also revolting.
"Ah, Anya," Lady Dimitrescu said. "Dorothy is in need of your care. Be sure to make her feel as comfortable as possible."
"Yes, my lady," Anya said, bowing.
"Be sure to lock the door after you are done."
"Lock the door?" Dorothy spoke up. "Why?"
"It is not for the reason you think," Lady Dimitrescu said.
"So I am not your prisoner, then?" Dorothy said.
Lady Dimitrescu smiled at her.
"No, my dear, you are mine in another way. A treasure far more precious than all the rest."
Dorothy felt her cheeks redden at her remark. Their gazes locked together for a moment until Lady Dimitrescu severed the contact and turned away.