#dimitrescu sisters x female character

[ranchracoon]

Blood and Shadows

Dimitrescu Sisters x Fem Character

requested by: Sereniiiiiii

Lila blows into her gloved hands to try and warm her nose as she squats down by a nearby tree with a view of the entire village. She removes one glove, carefully fishing out the note with written instructions and a drawn picture of the village before her. This isn't the first time she's been hired by a secretive person; she's learned the hard way that most of her 'secret' cliental are usually people of great power. Hence why they can afford the secrecy. This contract was unlike any she had been given before; the contract itself included a ticket to Romania, instructions for finding a mountain pass, and the drawing with a note stating she would be given further instructions. At first she didn't want to do it, but the pay was too good to turn down, and her own curiosity won over her logic. 

She shoves the note back into her pocket and reunites her glove and hand all while shifting on her feet slightly. It's going to be dark soon, she should make camp or find somewhere to shelter from the snow. As she stands a crow overhead startles her when it caws up above, and with in another letter slowly floats down toward her feet. She scoops it up and rips it open, looking around briefly to see if she could find anyone. How did they know she was here? Specifically in this location? She shakes her head and reads the note, there's one drawing of the castle, another of a dagger, and what looks to be a map of sorts to where the dagger is. On the back of the picture is some poorly written words that are hard to make out.

"Bring me the dagger."

How specific. 

Lila huffs and shoves the new orders with the old and hugs herself as she examines the castle from a distance. It's getting too late now, so she'll have to examine the castle in the morning when she can approach without being seen. She would prefer to do this quietly, but if she has a good enough layout of the castle, it should be plausible. As the sun lowers she hears the monsters of the woods stir, beasts that she's never seen before and can only be described as 'werewolves.' She did notice the closer she got the village, the less she encountered but she'll take no chances and decides to camp out up in the nearby tree. 

Her sleeping bag provides little relief from the cold, especially once night falls and she shivers violently. She has to find somewhere warmer otherwise she'll die of hypothermia before she even reaches the castle. She sleeps very little, waking every time she hears a growl or footprints in the snow below but she knows better than to engage. 

*          *          *

Lila spends all day searching the castle grounds, it took her half a day just to get to the castle undetected. Scaling a rock wall while cold, sore, and tired did not help any. Just as she was about to give up she finds a caved in hole in the ground leading downward. Better than nothing. She climbs down the rumble carefully, cursing every time a rockslides loose and knocks downward, loosening other rocks in its path. Once she's on solid ground she scurries away from the pile as fast as she can only to be met with complete darkness. Great. She kneels and scrounges through her bag until she finds some matches, striking one to light her path until she finds an old torch. Talk about medieval. The torch illuminates her path but now she regrets doing such as she finds herself in the middle of a torcher chamber. 

Rows upon rows of cell doors each with their own little horror; stretching machines, chains, iron chairs with spikes, everything one can imagine. All of them have distinct brown splattering, and some red meaning these were used recently. Fuck. What has she gotten herself into? She takes a few steps forward only to stop again when she hears metal scraping on the stone flooring. She lifts the torch up further before a skeletal figure appears with its sword raised. Lila yelps and dodges the attack, groaning softly. Now she really wishes she wasn't so cold and tired. Her reflexes aren't as fast, but she's faster than this creature at least. 

She hightails it in the opposite direction toward the rumble pile seeing a set of stairs faintly in the back. As she climbs the staircase, she pauses upon hearing a droning sound getting progressively louder. She quickly douses the torch and runs down taking a sharp turn into one of the cells where she tucks herself into one of the little crevices. As she sits there listening to the droning get closer, she sees one of those creatures lying face down in front of her. When the droning stops it's replaced by hurried footsteps and the sound of something hitting another followed by a thud and clanging. It must have been the creature from earlier, but now the other creature in front of her stirs awake. Growling and snarling as it slowly rises to its feet.

"Ugh just the moroaica acting up again" it's a female voice. 

The footsteps fade down the corridor then back toward the cell where Lila holds her breath as the footsteps stop. She stares at the creature, the moroaica? Now it's on its feet, staggering and snarling with a sword dragging behind it. 

"Wait a minute"

There's a long deep breath in. 

"Hmm smells like there might be a morsel down here that isn't supposed to be."

There's a few more steps toward her cell. Lila's eyes dart to the edge of the cell door and back to the creature as the woman approaches. The woman is just outside the cell door and Lila can see the edge of a curved weapon clang against the bars. The moroaica is now limping its way toward her direction, snarling louder and heaving the sword clearly too big for it to hold. 

"Bela!" A booming voice loud enough to be heard even through the concrete walls. 

"Argh! I never get to have any fun" the woman whines. 

Lila listens to the droning pick up again and just as the creature is about to slam its sword down she ducks and rolls out of the way. That woman could smell her, and hear her. She'll have to take other precautions if she wants to move about undetected. She tackles the creature from behind and easily disarms it, taking the sword and cutting the creature in half leaving it laying there lifelessly. Before her very eyes the creature dissolves into a pile of ash but the cloak it wore remains which was her main goal. She tosses the sword aside and removes her pack, then she strips her outer layer and stuffs it into the pack before stashing it. She decides to travel light with only her hunting knife, the map, and backup knife before adorning the creature's cloak to hide her scent.

She climbs the stairs and finds herself in a pantry leading to a kitchen where she quickly goes back around the corner to hide. There's people working in the kitchen meaning she's not going to get anywhere quickly. So she waits. 

*          *          *

After she deemed the staff went to bed for the night, Lila climbs out of her hiding place and continues to follow the instructions on the map. She cuts through the kitchen, the dining room, takes a right, and goes straight forward. She found the door where the dagger is supposed to be, but of course it's locked. This means she'll have to search for a key and most likely whomever that booming voice came from. Lila checks every door she can, only finding one that's unlocked and leading to a long hallway. As she walks down it, she hears that low droning again getting louder, and fast. She looks around quickly for anywhere to hide but it's useless, so she twists on her heels and runs back out the door into the main hallway. The droning turns out to be hundreds, if not thousands of insects all swarming into one black mass. She shivers and watches as the mass takes shape into a person. A woman to be specific. The woman wields a sickle in one hand, and judging from the blood stained on her face she is NOT friendly. 

"Well well well, looks like someone is out past curfew." The woman chuckles. 

The woman swarms her direction with her sickle raised, Lila dodges and rolls to the side, the sickle barely missing her. The woman swings her sickle again violently, this time narrowly avoiding Lila's head. The insects cloud her vision, many of them nip and bite her skin making her slap where she feels a sudden sting. 

"Ouch that hurts" the woman whines sarcastically. 

As Lila gets to her feet the woman grabs her and pins her up onto a nearby wall, getting a better look at who defied the rules.

"Wait-you're not a maid!"

While the woman looks at Lila, she takes the opportunity to take out her hunting knife and slam the butt into the oil lantern above her head. The woman releases her and shields her face from the fiery sparks, giving Lila the perfect opening of escape. She runs down the stairwell, through the double doors, and tries the door to the courtyard. Locked of course. Kitchen it is. Lila returns to the kitchen but is cut off once more by the woman. Lila shoves the table between them in her direction but the woman swarms to avoid it, chasing Lila now into the pantry way where she blocks the exit again. Lila strikes with her knife but the woman easily blocks it with her sickle, throwing Lila back. With her loss of footing, the woman advances and shoves her onto a nearby table in front of the windows.

"I like it when they fight back." The woman chuckles. 

Lila cannot help the rush of heat to her cheeks. Why is she getting flustered now? She shakes her head and she eyes the window. An escape? Lila holds her knife up to keep the woman's sickle at bay while her other hand pulls at the woman's hand around her throat. She has to think of something quick. She tries to kick with her legs but they just go right through the woman's form. The table shakes from the weight and gives her an idea. Lila jolts her body violently, sending the woman off balance and giving her enough time to reach up and unlatch the window. With one firm shove she gets the window open. Behind her the woman screams loudly but Lila doesn't look back as she tries to jump through the window, only to be forcibly yanked back and thrown across the room. Lila coughs and grunts as a searing pain runs up her back from slamming into the shelving, as she looks up she sees the woman in a solid form.

The woman yells and her eyes lock onto Lila, now filled with more murderous rage if possible. Lila pats the ground beside her, searching for her knife or anything at this point and only finding a can of food. The woman is weakened by the cold. Lila throws the can with all her might; the woman easily dodges which is exactly what Lila planned as the can crashes through another window. Now the woman screams again and this time she charges Lila, grabbing her by the neck and raising her sickle ready to strike. The woman is solid now, Lila rears up and kicks with both feet the woman in the chest, making her drop Lila. 

She goes for the sickle; her and the woman struggle back and forth until the woman lunges forward and bites Lila on the shoulder. Lila screams and elbows the woman, the two of them going back and forth in a dangerous tango, another hot searing pain rips through her back leg as she screams and falls to her knees. She looks over to see another woman, a carbon copy of the first only with blond hair instead of black. She too has a sickle now buried deeply into Lila's thigh. Lila whimpers and lays on the cold stone floor, watching the two women slowly circle her before she gives into the exhaustion and pain.

*          *          *

When Lila wakes the first thing she notices is the intense pain in her leg, she reaches down and grimaces when her fingers brush against the wound. However, she finds it bandaged which is a good sign. The second thing she notices is she's not in the torture chambers, rather she's in a large room with ornate decorations and intricate designs. The roaring fire heats her aching body but now she shifts uncomfortably from how sweaty she is. When she tries to stand she instantly falls due to the weakness in her leg, so she decides to scoot away from the fire to get some relief. The door across the room opens with a loud thud, Lila startles and looks over to see an extremely tall woman crouching through before standing to her full height. 

"Nice of you to finally join us."

Us?

Lila leans over to see three women following her, all of them dressed similarly and now she recognizes one of them as the dark haired woman she fought. That woman locks eyes with Lila and flashes her teeth in the form of a grimace. Obviously there's still some hard feelings. The tall woman walks around and sits in a chair built for her size, in her hand is Lila's pack which looks humorously small in her hand. She tosses the pack at Lila who catches it with a grunt then looks back up at the woman. 

"I'm rather impressed you managed to sneak in undetected, because of that I will give you two choices: answer my questions honestly and I'll consider letting you leave, or I'll have my daughters pry the answers out of you."

"I have nothing to hide" Lila answers honestly. All of this isn't worth all the money in the world. 

"What's your name?"

"Lila Stromerst."

"Good. Starting on the right foot already. Why are you here?"

"I was given orders to obtain a dagger located in this castle."

"By who?"

"I don't know. I have the orders with me. You can look for yourself, there's no name or anything associated with them."

"I know."

There's a pregnant pause. The three women in cloaks shift restlessly as the woman crosses her legs and looks Lila over. 

"So you take orders by the highest bidder, does that seem accurate?"

"I have to survive somehow."

"That's not what I asked."

"I suppose so, yes."

The woman tilts her head slightly, "so if I paid you to tell me everything you know about this castle and the dagger, would you?"

"If I'm to be honest it would be wasted money. It seems you've already gone through my belongings, so you have all the information I do. I don't know anything. I'm not paid to ask questions."

"Like a true mercenary. Then tell me, did your orders include harming myself and my daughters?"

"No. I wasn't instructed to kill anyone. I usually try to avoid conflict. What's the point of these questions? You already have everything" Lile motions with her head to her pack sitting by the woman's feet.

"Yes, I wanted to see if you would be honest or not. Your honesty might have saved you this time."

The woman stands and walks past the three women, "very well. Introduce yourselves girls and show her where the staff quarters are."

"Wait-you said I could leave!" Lila attempts to stand, failing once more.

"I said I would consider it. I considered, and decided that someone with your experience would be better suited under my watchful eye. Play nice daughters."

*          *          *

Months pass. At least, she thinks they have. Lila lost count after about 27 days, or maybe 28 days, she can't remember. The moment her leg healed she was put to work but not in the same capacity as the other workers. The girls, whom she learned to be Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela, watch her every moment of the day. Bela studies her like a lab rat; asking her questions about the outside world, her work, missions she's been on. Cassandra puts her to work on meaningless tasks: sharpen her weapons, clean them, organize her things, organize them again. Daniela lets her just exist, she's hard to follow most days because her mood changes so rapidly but Lila has learned she's very easy to sway one way or the other. They rotate who watches her and she's slowly learned what pisses them off, and how to suck up to them. Bela hates attitude, and if she suspects any kind of attitude then she makes Lila do exercises just like when Lila was in school. 

Daniela is emotionally motived. Her mood is dependent on how she's interacted with her sisters, or her current read. Usually when she's in a bad mood Lila can tell her the plot of a movie which captivates her attention instantly. She especially loves the romance movies that Lila can recite which is not many, most of them she makes up as she goes. Cassandra is fun to mess with. Lila knows exactly how to get under her skin. Lila and her often get into screaming matches about who actually won the fight which landed her in her current mess; a rematch. Cassandra swings her sickle, slashing the air to warm herself up while Lila opted for a small sword. She hasn't dueled since she did fencing in junior high, but she's scrappy and prefers to move quickly. Cassandra agreed to do the duel outside where she can't swarm to make it neutral ground. Bela is of course the judge, and Daniela is the lookout for their mother. 

Cassandra is the first to strike of course, she's impulsive but fast even while unable to swarm. She also has supernatural strength which Lila will have to use to her advantage. Lila dodges and swings her sword toward Cassandra's legs, but she dodges the attack then swings her own weapon. Lila blocks. The clash of metal on metal ignites a few sparks, Cassandra struck so hard it left a chip in Lila's sword. She has to disarm her somehow. Cassandra is pushing her further down, Lila braces on her back and kicks her legs up, pushing and throwing Cassandra over her. Cassandra lands with a hard thud on her back, but her and Lila spring to their feet simultaneously. Cassandra chases after Lila who runs for cover in the gazebo, using the large blocks of stone to hide behind. 

"Stop hiding coward! This is supposed to be a fight! Fight back!"

Lila steps out and sees Cassandra raise her sickle up above her head, she waits for her to swing it downward before dodging. The sickle lands firmly in the stone pillar, and even Cassandra is unable to pull it out. Lila brings her sword up and slices upward, Cassandra barely has time to react, the sword grazing her as she pulls back. Leaving her sickle stuck in the pillar. Cassandra can still fight. She goes for the tackle, taking Lila down and knocking the sword out of her hand making them on the same terms. Cassandra uses her claw like nails to scratch but Lila blocks with her arms before she bucks her hips and rolls them over. She slams her fist down, hitting Cassandra square in the face.

"Enough!"

Lady Dimitrescu, the very tall lady, approaches with hurried steps, grabbing Lila by the waist and tossing her aside. She coughs loudly as she lands hard on the concrete, Cassandra stands up and growls looking over her shoulder. 

"Daniela! You were supposed to signal us!"

"I know, I'm sorry! The fight was just too interesting not to watch."

"Honestly, wasn't sure if you two were gonna fight or fuck for a minute" quips Bela.

"She wishes" spits Lila.

"Don't think this is over" screams Cassandra.

"This is over! Cassandra my office now! Bela, take the pest down to the dungeon."

It's not the first time Lady Dimitrescu has sent her down to the cells, and certainly won't be the last either. However, Lila stashed her hunting knife, some flint, and a piece of soft wood from the last few times she got sent down there. So, at least now while she waits she has something to do. She works the wood in the dim firelight until she hears a humming drone from outside, she looks over to see Daniela opening the gate to the cell. In her arms is a first aid kit and some food, she kneels in front of Lila and smiles brightly. Lila smiles back and chuckles softly as Daniela examines her for any injuries, as she's done every time Lila has been sent down to the dungeon. 

"I'm fine Daniela. Cassandra didn't get me this time."

"Still, I gotta look. I also brought you some food. Who know how long mother will keep you down here this time. She's pretty angry with Cassandra."

"Well, mind keeping me company for now?"

"Anytime."

Daniela scoots next to her, using her radiant body heat to keep herself warm as she watches Lila carve the soft wood. Eventually Bela comes to release Lila, finding her and Daniela snuggled together for warmth in the cold, dark cell.

*          *          *

She hates to admit it, but she's grown kind of fond of Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela. Maybe it's Stockholm, but she finds she enjoys their company. Sometimes. Cassandra no longer tries to kill her or challenge her, but she does frequently use her as a sparing partner. Daniela loves hearing stories about Lila's adventures, and the many, many movies she knows by heart. Bela is the coldest. She's analytical, factual, and she still views Lila as what she is: a threat. Even Lady Dimitrescu warmed up faster than her oldest daughter. She doesn't yell at Lila as much which she considers a win, and she's starting calling her by her name rather than 'pest,' 'intruder,' or her favorite 'stupid thing.

 The staff give her a wide berth, many of them mumbling under their breath about how she can freely roam. If any of them even thought about talking back to the ladies, they would find themselves on the business end of a sickle. Lila on the other hand, has nothing to lose considering she's stuck here so she pokes and prods as much as she can. Bela is with her today, keeping a close eye and to make sure she doesn't cause anymore issues. She's a tough nut to crack, but Lila's determined to find her soft spot. 

"So...what do you like to do for fun?" Lila asks. 

"Shut up" Bela snaps. 

Lila scoffs and rolls her eyes. She's been here for how long and Bela still won't engage in conversation. Lila pauses upon seeing a passageway she hadn't seen before, she's pretty much scouted this entire castle by now but she's never been down here before. Lila tilts her head and starts walking before she's forcibly grabbed by the arm and tossed onto the ground. 

"Hey! What the hell was that for?" Lila snaps. 

Bela simply narrows her eyes down at her, indicating she won't give any information. Lila has all but forgotten about obtaining the dagger, but Bela is still suspicious. The second an opportunity opens Lila will dart, like a house cat wanting to be outside. Bela continues walking but pauses before looking down the hallway again, Lila climbs to her feet and listens as well. Bela takes her sickle out as a nearby window bursts open and a dark figure stomps on the ground. He pulls out a gun and aims but Bela is quicker even with the rushing cold air. She slices up, her blade going clean through his arm, he screams out as hot blood gushes from the wound. 

Numerous others break through the glass, Lila looks between the intruders and Bela then the broken glass. She could easily slip through and climb down via the rope they swung in on. Lila watches Bela move slower and slower as the cold freezes her body, if she doesn't act Bela will die. Lila groans loudly and grabs the fallen gun from the dismembered arm, she aims and shoots. She hates guns. She prefers quieter weapons and the recoil makes her miss the first shot but captures the attention of a few intruders. Lila shoots more, dodging one of them who swings at her. She manages to injure enough of them for Bela to finish the job, the last one shoots and grazes Bela, making a large hole appear in her side. Lila aims again and pulls the trigger to find the gun empty. 

Bela falls to her knees, unable to move much more as the intruder approaches. Lila throws the gun with all her might, hitting the assailant square in the head giving Bela enough time to swing and hit their leg. Lila runs up and straddles the intruder, slamming her hunting knife through the eye, the blood bursts and splatters across Lila's face. She pants heavily and slowly removes the hood from the intruder. She gasps and stares down at the familiar face, as she looks over the body she sees a note sticking out of the side pocket; addressed to her. 

Lila takes the note and reads it, 'join us and we'll let you go.' Lila knows this handwriting, it's the same writing as the orders she was given to first obtain the dagger. She crumples the note and stands on shaky legs before she's, once again, grabbed and pinned to a nearby wall. Bela holds her sickle up to Lila's throat, hard enough the sharp edge cuts the soft tissue lightly. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Bela growls. 

"A simple 'thank you' would suffice."

"Why did you help me? Why didn't you run? Did you have anything to do with this?"

"No! I swear. I-" Lila hesitates, her mind spinning a million miles a minute but Bela didn't like the hesitation. 

Bela drops Lila to the ground, growling lowly as she holds her side in pain. She looks toward the unhooded figure then back at Lila. 

"You know them" she states matter of factly. 

"I do."

"Who are they?"

"Family."

*          *          *

Lila twiddles her fingers as she sits in the office of Lady Dimitrescu, she looks downward at her missing pinkie finger as she sighs heavily. The doors open to reveal Lady Dimitrescu with her daughters in tow. Daniela, sweet, caring Daniela who Lila considers a close friend now comes swarming over to her. She cups her face and examines you to make sure she is okay before Cassandra starts bombarding Lila with questions about the fight. Bela is the last to enter, moving slowly but looking better than before as she takes a seat beside her mother, not looking in Lila's direction. 

"You have some explaining to do, and if I sense even a hint of lying" Lady Dimitrescu flexes her fingers as long sharp claws elongate, Lila flinches back having never seen those before.

Lila nods her head quickly in understanding. 

"Who are these intruders? Bela says you know them. Did you bring them here?"

"No I didn't. To be honest I didn't think they'd find me out here."

"Tell me everything. Now."

"I was orphaned from a young age. I got involved in the wrong crowd and found myself in some hefty debts that needed to be paid. I started taking odd jobs which landed me a slurry of enemies, and I ended up betrayed by those closest to me. Those I considered family. Now I'm being hunted by them because they think I'm the one in the wrong. I thought I lost them long ago but it seems they've found me. Again."

"I need to inform Mother Miranda of this. As for you, you will tell me everything you know about them when I return. Cassandra, search the castle for any others that might have gotten through and for any weak spots. Daniela I need you to interrogate the staff, one of them must know something."

Daniela gives Lila a quick kiss on the cheek before swarming off. Cassandra narrows her eyes at Lila before she too swarms away, leaving Lila and Bela alone. Bela shifts uncomfortably as she looks toward the fire then sighs. 

"You never answered my questions from before."

"Hm?"

"Why did you help me? You could have easily ran off, escaped, but you didn't."

Lila looks at her hand once more, "I guess I'm just tired of running. I'm supposed to be a prisoner here yet, I feel oddly welcomed. I consider Daniela a friend, Cassandra an equal, and you, well, I don't know you enough to label you as anything. I've grown fond of you three. I guess...I didn't want to make the same mistake twice."

"Did they do that?" She asks, motioning to Lila's hand.

"No. I did. I planted it after my last job that went wrong, hoping they would think I was injured or died. It bought me at least five years of solitude until now. I don't know how they found me."

"Can I ask what happened? Why are they hunting you?"

Tears start to form in Lila's eyes, "I had a little sister, not a biological one, but she was orphaned around the same time as me. I did these jobs, earned all this money to try and pay back my debts. Worked myself to death so she wouldn't ever have to experience what I did. Then this rich tycoon fucker found her and -" Lila sniffles and sobs quietly, "be said he would release her if I betrayed the mercenary group I called family. He promised."

Lila covers her eyes until she feels a presence next to her, when she looks up through blurry, tear stained eyes, she sees Bela sitting beside her. She has one arm around Lila's shoulders, pulling her closely to her uninjured side. Lila couldn't help but lean into her and sob into her shoulder as the fire crackled in the background.

*          *          *

Daniela discovered one of the maids was communicating with someone outside the castle, and somehow word of Lila got to outside sources. That maid was quickly dispatched of, and no word has been heard from this Mother Miranda that Lady Dimitrescu keeps talking about. Cassandra preps her weapons for when the rest of the mercenary group attacks, which according to the maid, will be in a few days. Lila and Bela spend time reenforcing the windows to make sure no one can break through them again. At night, Daniela sneaks into Lila's room claiming that her room is 'too cold' even with the fire and wants to use Lila's heat instead. Cassandra has also been hovering closely when Lila is working alone.

The day arrives when the attack is supposed to happen, Lila waits in the main hallway with all three Dimitrescus and Lady Dimitrescu in the room adjacent to them. There's only silence. Lila hates silence, it makes her nervous and fidgety. Just as expected the group bursts through the hallway door, half of them in the room with Lady Dimitrescu, and the other half with Lila and the girls. Cassandra cackles loudly as she swarms in for the attack, followed by Daniela and Bela. 

Lila opted for a short sword and crossbow, using the bow to knock guns out of hands but the bullets did nothing for the daughters. The fight was brutal. Blood stained the wooden flooring and it looked as though they were winning. Lady Dimitrescu could cut through three intruders at a time while her daughters took down one after another. In the time it would take Lila to take down one, they would take down 8 or 9 total. Lila disarmed one of the intruders, slamming their hand with their gun against the railing of the stairs. She pulls out her short sword and shoves it clean through the gut before kicking the body and pulling the sword out.

Cassandra nearby gives Lila a wink of approval before she too returns to slicing bodies in half. Lila looks over to see another figure headed straight for the double doors on the other side. Before she can react, they place a glowing orb on the doors and run back, she knows that blinking anywhere. 

"Bomb!" Lila screams.

Lila ducks for cover behind the stairs as the bomb goes off, sending shards of wood everywhere and the freezing air inside the room. The girls scream from the cold as the bullets cutting through their forms now take out sections of them. Lady Dimitrescu cuts her way to her daughters, shielding them from the icy blast as she continues to cut down those attacking. Lila steps out and watches as the smoke clears and the figure appears, holding the dagger she was originally supposed to obtain. The figure removes their mask, making Lila gasp and her eyes widen.

"Mick?!"

"Hello Lila. Long time no see."

"What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" He holds the dagger up, "you didn't think you were the only one after this did you? You being here is just icing on the cake. If I bring this, and your head, well, I'd be a god damn hero."

Lila sneers and charges Mick, he reacts faster, taking a gun from his hip and hitting Lila straight in the thigh. She screams and drops to her knees, gripping the bullet wound to try and stop the bleeding. Mick approaches her, his gun inches from her face with her staring up the barrel. 

"You know, you should have taken my deal."

Lila's eyes widen. Mick was the one who sent the note. The orders. How did he even know she was alive? How did he find her in the first place. Mick only smirks and cocks the gun. Lila closes her eyes, ready to accept her fate but it seems fate is not ready to accept her. She hears a wet schlop followed by a thud, and when she opens her eyes she sees a half frozen Cassandra standing there. A headless Mick lays on the ground beside her. 

"Consider us even" Cassandra snickers. 

*          *          *

Daniela kissed Lila first, and Lila kissed her back. While her bullet wound healed, she visited every day, bringing a new book to read with Lila. On this particular day she brought her favorite romance book, and she couldn't help it. Lila looked at her just the right way, her lips looked so plump and welcoming that she had to kiss her. To say she was ecstatic is an understatement, she practically tackled Lila when she kissed back. When she ran off to tell her sisters Cassandra snuck in to confess her feelings too but in her own Cassandra way. 

"You're a good fighter. I guess, and I enjoy sparing with you. I guess-what I mean is-I would like to keep sparing with you. As a partner."

"Um-"

But before Lila could respond to her, Cassandra swarmed off in a flurry of embarrassment only to be replaced by Bela. Bela sat on the bed with her, held hand and spoke softly. 

"Thank you for helping us. Again. Mother has called Mother Miranda and, should everything go well, I do hope you'll choose to stay. I've grown rather fond of your company."

Shit. 

Eventually Daniela returned with Cassandra in tow, Cassandra growling the entire time and Daniela on the verge of tears. Apparently all three of them did not communicate with each other beforehand. Lila slunk into her bed, wishing the mattress would open up and swallow her to avoid this. How can she choose? Daniela is so sweet and kind to her, but a bit sensitive and extreme when she doesn't get her way. Cassandra always gets what she wants, one way or another. Bela has given Lila the cold shoulder since day one, but ever since her admission she's been treating Lila differently. 

"You have to choose one" Cassandra threatened. 

"I can't! I love all three of you" Lila admits, covering her mouth when the words leave her. 

"You love us?" Daniela asks shyly. 

Cassandra's anger turns into a coy smirk, as she snickers, "wow you love us?" She teases. 

"Yes. I love you."

The three of them look at each other before sighing softly, "we love you too" Bela admits.

She shoves the note back into her pocket and reunites her glove and hand all while shifting on her feet slightly. It's going to be dark soon, she should make camp or find somewhere to shelter from the snow. As she stands a crow overhead startles her when it caws up above, and with in another letter slowly floats down toward her feet. She scoops it up and rips it open, looking around briefly to see if she could find anyone. How did they know she was here? Specifically in this location? She shakes her head and reads the note, there's one drawing of the castle, another of a dagger, and what looks to be a map of sorts to where the dagger is. On the back of the picture is some poorly written words that are hard to make out.

"Bring me the dagger."

How specific. 

Lila huffs and shoves the new orders with the old and hugs herself as she examines the castle from a distance. It's getting too late now, so she'll have to examine the castle in the morning when she can approach without being seen. She would prefer to do this quietly, but if she has a good enough layout of the castle, it should be plausible. As the sun lowers she hears the monsters of the woods stir, beasts that she's never seen before and can only be described as 'werewolves.' She did notice the closer she got the village, the less she encountered but she'll take no chances and decides to camp out up in the nearby tree. 

Her sleeping bag provides little relief from the cold, especially once night falls and she shivers violently. She has to find somewhere warmer otherwise she'll die of hypothermia before she even reaches the castle. She sleeps very little, waking every time she hears a growl or footprints in the snow below but she knows better than to engage. 

*          *          *

Lila spends all day searching the castle grounds, it took her half a day just to get to the castle undetected. Scaling a rock wall while cold, sore, and tired did not help any. Just as she was about to give up she finds a caved in hole in the ground leading downward. Better than nothing. She climbs down the rumble carefully, cursing every time a rockslides loose and knocks downward, loosening other rocks in its path. Once she's on solid ground she scurries away from the pile as fast as she can only to be met with complete darkness. Great. She kneels and scrounges through her bag until she finds some matches, striking one to light her path until she finds an old torch. Talk about medieval. The torch illuminates her path but now she regrets doing such as she finds herself in the middle of a torcher chamber. 

Rows upon rows of cell doors each with their own little horror; stretching machines, chains, iron chairs with spikes, everything one can imagine. All of them have distinct brown splattering, and some red meaning these were used recently. Fuck. What has she gotten herself into? She takes a few steps forward only to stop again when she hears metal scraping on the stone flooring. She lifts the torch up further before a skeletal figure appears with its sword raised. Lila yelps and dodges the attack, groaning softly. Now she really wishes she wasn't so cold and tired. Her reflexes aren't as fast, but she's faster than this creature at least. 

She hightails it in the opposite direction toward the rumble pile seeing a set of stairs faintly in the back. As she climbs the staircase, she pauses upon hearing a droning sound getting progressively louder. She quickly douses the torch and runs down taking a sharp turn into one of the cells where she tucks herself into one of the little crevices. As she sits there listening to the droning get closer, she sees one of those creatures lying face down in front of her. When the droning stops it's replaced by hurried footsteps and the sound of something hitting another followed by a thud and clanging. It must have been the creature from earlier, but now the other creature in front of her stirs awake. Growling and snarling as it slowly rises to its feet.

"Ugh just the moroaica acting up again" it's a female voice. 

The footsteps fade down the corridor then back toward the cell where Lila holds her breath as the footsteps stop. She stares at the creature, the moroaica? Now it's on its feet, staggering and snarling with a sword dragging behind it. 

"Wait a minute"

There's a long deep breath in. 

"Hmm smells like there might be a morsel down here that isn't supposed to be."

There's a few more steps toward her cell. Lila's eyes dart to the edge of the cell door and back to the creature as the woman approaches. The woman is just outside the cell door and Lila can see the edge of a curved weapon clang against the bars. The moroaica is now limping its way toward her direction, snarling louder and heaving the sword clearly too big for it to hold. 

"Bela!" A booming voice loud enough to be heard even through the concrete walls. 

"Argh! I never get to have any fun" the woman whines. 

Lila listens to the droning pick up again and just as the creature is about to slam its sword down she ducks and rolls out of the way. That woman could smell her, and hear her. She'll have to take other precautions if she wants to move about undetected. She tackles the creature from behind and easily disarms it, taking the sword and cutting the creature in half leaving it laying there lifelessly. Before her very eyes the creature dissolves into a pile of ash but the cloak it wore remains which was her main goal. She tosses the sword aside and removes her pack, then she strips her outer layer and stuffs it into the pack before stashing it. She decides to travel light with only her hunting knife, the map, and backup knife before adorning the creature's cloak to hide her scent.

She climbs the stairs and finds herself in a pantry leading to a kitchen where she quickly goes back around the corner to hide. There's people working in the kitchen meaning she's not going to get anywhere quickly. So she waits. 

*          *          *

After she deemed the staff went to bed for the night, Lila climbs out of her hiding place and continues to follow the instructions on the map. She cuts through the kitchen, the dining room, takes a right, and goes straight forward. She found the door where the dagger is supposed to be, but of course it's locked. This means she'll have to search for a key and most likely whomever that booming voice came from. Lila checks every door she can, only finding one that's unlocked and leading to a long hallway. As she walks down it, she hears that low droning again getting louder, and fast. She looks around quickly for anywhere to hide but it's useless, so she twists on her heels and runs back out the door into the main hallway. The droning turns out to be hundreds, if not thousands of insects all swarming into one black mass. She shivers and watches as the mass takes shape into a person. A woman to be specific. The woman wields a sickle in one hand, and judging from the blood stained on her face she is NOT friendly. 

"Well well well, looks like someone is out past curfew." The woman chuckles. 

The woman swarms her direction with her sickle raised, Lila dodges and rolls to the side, the sickle barely missing her. The woman swings her sickle again violently, this time narrowly avoiding Lila's head. The insects cloud her vision, many of them nip and bite her skin making her slap where she feels a sudden sting. 

"Ouch that hurts" the woman whines sarcastically. 

As Lila gets to her feet the woman grabs her and pins her up onto a nearby wall, getting a better look at who defied the rules.

"Wait-you're not a maid!"

While the woman looks at Lila, she takes the opportunity to take out her hunting knife and slam the butt into the oil lantern above her head. The woman releases her and shields her face from the fiery sparks, giving Lila the perfect opening of escape. She runs down the stairwell, through the double doors, and tries the door to the courtyard. Locked of course. Kitchen it is. Lila returns to the kitchen but is cut off once more by the woman. Lila shoves the table between them in her direction but the woman swarms to avoid it, chasing Lila now into the pantry way where she blocks the exit again. Lila strikes with her knife but the woman easily blocks it with her sickle, throwing Lila back. With her loss of footing, the woman advances and shoves her onto a nearby table in front of the windows.

"I like it when they fight back." The woman chuckles. 

Lila cannot help the rush of heat to her cheeks. Why is she getting flustered now? She shakes her head and she eyes the window. An escape? Lila holds her knife up to keep the woman's sickle at bay while her other hand pulls at the woman's hand around her throat. She has to think of something quick. She tries to kick with her legs but they just go right through the woman's form. The table shakes from the weight and gives her an idea. Lila jolts her body violently, sending the woman off balance and giving her enough time to reach up and unlatch the window. With one firm shove she gets the window open. Behind her the woman screams loudly but Lila doesn't look back as she tries to jump through the window, only to be forcibly yanked back and thrown across the room. Lila coughs and grunts as a searing pain runs up her back from slamming into the shelving, as she looks up she sees the woman in a solid form.

The woman yells and her eyes lock onto Lila, now filled with more murderous rage if possible. Lila pats the ground beside her, searching for her knife or anything at this point and only finding a can of food. The woman is weakened by the cold. Lila throws the can with all her might; the woman easily dodges which is exactly what Lila planned as the can crashes through another window. Now the woman screams again and this time she charges Lila, grabbing her by the neck and raising her sickle ready to strike. The woman is solid now, Lila rears up and kicks with both feet the woman in the chest, making her drop Lila. 

She goes for the sickle; her and the woman struggle back and forth until the woman lunges forward and bites Lila on the shoulder. Lila screams and elbows the woman, the two of them going back and forth in a dangerous tango, another hot searing pain rips through her back leg as she screams and falls to her knees. She looks over to see another woman, a carbon copy of the first only with blond hair instead of black. She too has a sickle now buried deeply into Lila's thigh. Lila whimpers and lays on the cold stone floor, watching the two women slowly circle her before she gives into the exhaustion and pain.

*          *          *

When Lila wakes the first thing she notices is the intense pain in her leg, she reaches down and grimaces when her fingers brush against the wound. However, she finds it bandaged which is a good sign. The second thing she notices is she's not in the torture chambers, rather she's in a large room with ornate decorations and intricate designs. The roaring fire heats her aching body but now she shifts uncomfortably from how sweaty she is. When she tries to stand she instantly falls due to the weakness in her leg, so she decides to scoot away from the fire to get some relief. The door across the room opens with a loud thud, Lila startles and looks over to see an extremely tall woman crouching through before standing to her full height. 

"Nice of you to finally join us."

Us?

Lila leans over to see three women following her, all of them dressed similarly and now she recognizes one of them as the dark haired woman she fought. That woman locks eyes with Lila and flashes her teeth in the form of a grimace. Obviously there's still some hard feelings. The tall woman walks around and sits in a chair built for her size, in her hand is Lila's pack which looks humorously small in her hand. She tosses the pack at Lila who catches it with a grunt then looks back up at the woman. 

"I'm rather impressed you managed to sneak in undetected, because of that I will give you two choices: answer my questions honestly and I'll consider letting you leave, or I'll have my daughters pry the answers out of you."

"I have nothing to hide" Lila answers honestly. All of this isn't worth all the money in the world. 

"What's your name?"

"Lila Stromerst."

"Good. Starting on the right foot already. Why are you here?"

"I was given orders to obtain a dagger located in this castle."

"By who?"

"I don't know. I have the orders with me. You can look for yourself, there's no name or anything associated with them."

"I know."

There's a pregnant pause. The three women in cloaks shift restlessly as the woman crosses her legs and looks Lila over. 

"So you take orders by the highest bidder, does that seem accurate?"

"I have to survive somehow."

"That's not what I asked."

"I suppose so, yes."

The woman tilts her head slightly, "so if I paid you to tell me everything you know about this castle and the dagger, would you?"

"If I'm to be honest it would be wasted money. It seems you've already gone through my belongings, so you have all the information I do. I don't know anything. I'm not paid to ask questions."

"Like a true mercenary. Then tell me, did your orders include harming myself and my daughters?"

"No. I wasn't instructed to kill anyone. I usually try to avoid conflict. What's the point of these questions? You already have everything" Lile motions with her head to her pack sitting by the woman's feet.

"Yes, I wanted to see if you would be honest or not. Your honesty might have saved you this time."

The woman stands and walks past the three women, "very well. Introduce yourselves girls and show her where the staff quarters are."

"Wait-you said I could leave!" Lila attempts to stand, failing once more.

"I said I would consider it. I considered, and decided that someone with your experience would be better suited under my watchful eye. Play nice daughters."

*          *          *

Months pass. At least, she thinks they have. Lila lost count after about 27 days, or maybe 28 days, she can't remember. The moment her leg healed she was put to work but not in the same capacity as the other workers. The girls, whom she learned to be Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela, watch her every moment of the day. Bela studies her like a lab rat; asking her questions about the outside world, her work, missions she's been on. Cassandra puts her to work on meaningless tasks: sharpen her weapons, clean them, organize her things, organize them again. Daniela lets her just exist, she's hard to follow most days because her mood changes so rapidly but Lila has learned she's very easy to sway one way or the other. They rotate who watches her and she's slowly learned what pisses them off, and how to suck up to them. Bela hates attitude, and if she suspects any kind of attitude then she makes Lila do exercises just like when Lila was in school. 

Daniela is emotionally motived. Her mood is dependent on how she's interacted with her sisters, or her current read. Usually when she's in a bad mood Lila can tell her the plot of a movie which captivates her attention instantly. She especially loves the romance movies that Lila can recite which is not many, most of them she makes up as she goes. Cassandra is fun to mess with. Lila knows exactly how to get under her skin. Lila and her often get into screaming matches about who actually won the fight which landed her in her current mess; a rematch. Cassandra swings her sickle, slashing the air to warm herself up while Lila opted for a small sword. She hasn't dueled since she did fencing in junior high, but she's scrappy and prefers to move quickly. Cassandra agreed to do the duel outside where she can't swarm to make it neutral ground. Bela is of course the judge, and Daniela is the lookout for their mother. 

Cassandra is the first to strike of course, she's impulsive but fast even while unable to swarm. She also has supernatural strength which Lila will have to use to her advantage. Lila dodges and swings her sword toward Cassandra's legs, but she dodges the attack then swings her own weapon. Lila blocks. The clash of metal on metal ignites a few sparks, Cassandra struck so hard it left a chip in Lila's sword. She has to disarm her somehow. Cassandra is pushing her further down, Lila braces on her back and kicks her legs up, pushing and throwing Cassandra over her. Cassandra lands with a hard thud on her back, but her and Lila spring to their feet simultaneously. Cassandra chases after Lila who runs for cover in the gazebo, using the large blocks of stone to hide behind. 

"Stop hiding coward! This is supposed to be a fight! Fight back!"

Lila steps out and sees Cassandra raise her sickle up above her head, she waits for her to swing it downward before dodging. The sickle lands firmly in the stone pillar, and even Cassandra is unable to pull it out. Lila brings her sword up and slices upward, Cassandra barely has time to react, the sword grazing her as she pulls back. Leaving her sickle stuck in the pillar. Cassandra can still fight. She goes for the tackle, taking Lila down and knocking the sword out of her hand making them on the same terms. Cassandra uses her claw like nails to scratch but Lila blocks with her arms before she bucks her hips and rolls them over. She slams her fist down, hitting Cassandra square in the face.

"Enough!"

Lady Dimitrescu, the very tall lady, approaches with hurried steps, grabbing Lila by the waist and tossing her aside. She coughs loudly as she lands hard on the concrete, Cassandra stands up and growls looking over her shoulder. 

"Daniela! You were supposed to signal us!"

"I know, I'm sorry! The fight was just too interesting not to watch."

"Honestly, wasn't sure if you two were gonna fight or fuck for a minute" quips Bela.

"She wishes" spits Lila.

"Don't think this is over" screams Cassandra.

"This is over! Cassandra my office now! Bela, take the pest down to the dungeon."

It's not the first time Lady Dimitrescu has sent her down to the cells, and certainly won't be the last either. However, Lila stashed her hunting knife, some flint, and a piece of soft wood from the last few times she got sent down there. So, at least now while she waits she has something to do. She works the wood in the dim firelight until she hears a humming drone from outside, she looks over to see Daniela opening the gate to the cell. In her arms is a first aid kit and some food, she kneels in front of Lila and smiles brightly. Lila smiles back and chuckles softly as Daniela examines her for any injuries, as she's done every time Lila has been sent down to the dungeon. 

"I'm fine Daniela. Cassandra didn't get me this time."

"Still, I gotta look. I also brought you some food. Who know how long mother will keep you down here this time. She's pretty angry with Cassandra."

"Well, mind keeping me company for now?"

"Anytime."

Daniela scoots next to you, using your radiant body heat to keep herself warm as she watches you carve the soft wood. Eventually Bela comes to release you, finding you and Daniela snuggled together for warmth in the cold, dark cell.

*          *          *

She hates to admit it, but she's grown kind of fond of Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela. Maybe it's Stockholm, but she finds she enjoys their company. Sometimes. Cassandra no longer tries to kill her or challenge her, but she does frequently use her as a sparing partner. Daniela loves hearing stories about Lila's adventures, and the many, many movies she knows by heart. Bela is the coldest. She's analytical, factual, and she still views Lila as what she is: a threat. Even Lady Dimitrescu warmed up faster than her oldest daughter. She doesn't yell at Lila as much which she considers a win, and she's starting calling her by her name rather than 'pest,' 'intruder,' or her favorite 'stupid thing.

 The staff give her a wide berth, many of them mumbling under their breath about how she can freely roam. If any of them even thought about talking back to the ladies, they would find themselves on the business end of a sickle. Lila on the other hand, has nothing to lose considering she's stuck here so she pokes and prods as much as she can. Bela is with you today, keeping a close eye on you and to make sure you don't cause anymore issues. She's a tough nut to crack, but you're determined to find her soft spot. 

"So...what do you like to do for fun?" Lila asks. 

"Shut up" Bela snaps. 

Lila scoffs and rolls her eyes. She's been here for how long and Bela still won't engage in conversation. Lila pauses upon seeing a passageway she hadn't seen before, she's pretty much scouted this entire castle by now but she's never been down here before. Lila tilts her head and starts walking before she's forcibly grabbed by the arm and tossed onto the ground. 

"Hey! What the hell was that for?" Lila snaps. 

Bela simply narrows her eyes down at her, indicating she won't give any information. Lila has all but forgotten about obtaining the dagger, but Bela is still suspicious. The second an opportunity opens Lila will dart, like a house cat wanting to be outside. Bela continues walking but pauses before looking down the hallway again, Lila climbs to her feet and listens as well. Bela takes her sickle out as a nearby window bursts open and a dark figure stomps on the ground. He pulls out a gun and aims but Bela is quicker even with the rushing cold air. She slices up, her blade going clean through his arm, he screams out as hot blood gushes from the wound. 

Numerous others break through the glass, Lila looks between the intruders and Bela then the broken glass. She could easily slip through and climb down via the rope they swung in on. Lila watches Bela move slower and slower as the cold freezes her body, if she doesn't act Bela will die. Lila groans loudly and grabs the fallen gun from the dismembered arm, she aims and shoots. She hates guns. She prefers quieter weapons and the recoil makes her miss the first shot but captures the attention of a few intruders. Lila shoots more, dodging one of them who swings at her. She manages to injure enough of them for Bela to finish the job, the last one shoots and grazes Bela, making a large hole appear in her side. Lila aims again and pulls the trigger to find the gun empty. 

Bela falls to her knees, unable to move much more as the intruder approaches. Lila throws the gun with all her might, hitting the assailant square in the head giving Bela enough time to swing and hit their leg. Lila runs up and straddles the intruder, slamming her hunting knife through the eye, the blood bursts and splatters across Lila's face. She pants heavily and slowly removes the hood from the intruder. She gasps and stares down at the familiar face, as she looks over the body she sees a note sticking out of the side pocket; addressed to her. 

Lila takes the note and reads it, 'join us and we'll let you go.' Lila knows this handwriting, it's the same writing as the orders she was given to first obtain the dagger. She crumples the note and stands on shaky legs before she's, once again, grabbed and pinned to a nearby wall. Bela holds her sickle up to Lila's throat, hard enough the sharp edge cuts the soft tissue lightly. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Bela growls. 

"A simple 'thank you' would suffice."

"Why did you help me? Why didn't you run? Did you have anything to do with this?"

"No! I swear. I-" Lila hesitates, her mind spinning a million miles a minute but Bela didn't like the hesitation. 

Bela drops Lila to the ground, growling lowly as she holds her side in pain. She looks toward the unhooded figure then back at Lila. 

"You know them" she states matter of factly. 

"I do."

"Who are they?"

"Family."

*          *          *

Lila twiddles her fingers as she sits in the office of Lady Dimitrescu, she looks downward at her missing pinkie finger as she sighs heavily. The doors open to reveal Lady Dimitrescu with her daughters in tow. Daniela, sweet, caring Daniela who you consider a close friend now comes swarming over to you. She cups your face and examines you to make sure you're okay before Cassandra starts bombarding you with questions about the fight. Bela is the last to enter, moving slowly but looking better than before as she takes a seat beside her mother, not looking in Lila's direction. 

"You have some explaining to do, and if I sense even a hint of lying" Lady Dimitrescu flexes her fingers as long sharp claws elongate, Lila flinches back having never seen those before.

Lila nods her head quickly in understanding. 

"Who are these intruders? Bela says you know them. Did you bring them here?"

"No I didn't. To be honest I didn't think they'd find me out here."

"Tell me everything. Now."

"I was orphaned from a young age. I got involved in the wrong crowd and found myself in some hefty debts that needed to be paid. I started taking odd jobs which landed me a slurry of enemies, and I ended up betrayed by those closest to me. Those I considered family. Now I'm being hunted by them because they think I'm the one in the wrong. I thought I lost them long ago but it seems they've found me. Again."

"I need to inform Mother Miranda of this. As for you, you will tell me everything you know about them when I return. Cassandra, search the castle for any others that might have gotten through and for any weak spots. Daniela I need you to interrogate the staff, one of them must know something."

Daniela gives Lila a quick kiss on the cheek before swarming off. Cassandra narrows her eyes at Lila before she too swarms away, leaving Lila and Bela alone. Bela shifts uncomfortably as she looks toward the fire then sighs. 

"You never answered my questions from before."

"Hm?"

"Why did you help me? You could have easily ran off, escaped, but you didn't."

Lila looks at her hand once more, "I guess I'm just tired of running. I'm supposed to be a prisoner here yet, I feel oddly welcomed. I consider Daniela a friend, Cassandra an equal, and you, well, I don't know you enough to label you as anything. I've grown fond of you three. I guess...I didn't want to make the same mistake twice."

"Did they do that?" She asks, motioning to Lila's hand.

"No. I did. I planted it after my last job that went wrong, hoping they would think I was injured or died. It bought me at least five years of solitude until now. I don't know how they found me."

"Can I ask what happened? Why are they hunting you?"

Tears start to form in Lila's eyes, "I had a little sister, not a biological one, but she was orphaned around the same time as me. I did these jobs, earned all this money to try and pay back my debts. Worked myself to death so she wouldn't ever have to experience what I did. Then this rich tycoon fucker found her and -" Lila sniffles and sobs quietly, "be said he would release her if I betrayed the mercenary group I called family. He promised."

Lila covers her eyes until she feels a presence next to her, when she looks up through blurry, tear stained eyes, she sees Bela sitting beside her. She has one arm around Lila's shoulders, pulling her closely to her uninjured side. Lila couldn't help but lean into her and sob into her shoulder as the fire crackled in the background.

*          *          *

Daniela discovered one of the maids was communicating with someone outside the castle, and somehow word of Lila got to outside sources. That maid was quickly dispatched of, and no word has been heard from this Mother Miranda that Lady Dimitrescu keeps talking about. Cassandra preps her weapons for when the rest of the mercenary group attacks, which according to the maid, will be in a few days. Lila and Bela spend time reenforcing the windows to make sure no one can break through them again. At night, Daniela sneaks into Lila's room claiming that her room is 'too cold' even with the fire and wants to use Lila's heat instead. Cassandra has also been hovering closely when Lila is working alone.

The day arrives when the attack is supposed to happen, Lila waits in the main hallway with all three Dimitrescus and Lady Dimitrescu in the room adjacent to them. There's only silence. Lila hates silence, it makes her nervous and fidgety. Just as expected the group bursts through the hallway door, half of them in the room with Lady Dimitrescu, and the other half with Lila and the girls. Cassandra cackles loudly as she swarms in for the attack, followed by Daniela and Bela. 

Lila opted for a short sword and crossbow, using the bow to knock guns out of hands but the bullets did nothing for the daughters. The fight was brutal. Blood stained the wooden flooring and it looked as though they were winning. Lady Dimitrescu could cut through three intruders at a time while her daughters took down one after another. In the time it would take Lila to take down one, they would take down 8 or 9 total. Lila disarmed one of the intruders, slamming their hand with their gun against the railing of the stairs. She pulls out her short sword and shoves it clean through the gut before kicking the body and pulling the sword out.

Cassandra nearby gives Lila a wink of approval before she too returns to slicing bodies in half. Lila looks over to see another figure headed straight for the double doors on the other side. Before she can react, they place a glowing orb on the doors and run back, she knows that blinking anywhere. 

"Bomb!" Lila screams.

Lila ducks for cover behind the stairs as the bomb goes off, sending shards of wood everywhere and the freezing air inside the room. The girls scream from the cold as the bullets cutting through their forms now take out sections of them. Lady Dimitrescu cuts her way to her daughters, shielding them from the icy blast as she continues to cut down those attacking. Lila steps out and watches as the smoke clears and the figure appears, holding the dagger she was originally supposed to obtain. The figure removes their mask, making Lila gasp and her eyes widen.

"Mick?!"

"Hello Lila. Long time no see."

"What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" He holds the dagger up, "you didn't think you were the only one after this did you? You being here is just icing on the cake. If I bring this, and your head, well, I'd be a god damn hero."

Lila sneers and charges Mick, he reacts faster, taking a gun from his hip and hitting Lila straight in the thigh. She screams and drops to her knees, gripping the bullet wound to try and stop the bleeding. Mick approaches her, his gun inches from her face with her staring up the barrel. 

"You know, you should have taken my deal."

Lila's eyes widen. Mick was the one who sent the note. The orders. How did he even know she was alive? How did he find her in the first place. Mick only smirks and cocks the gun. Lila closes her eyes, ready to accept her fate but it seems fate is not ready to accept her. She hears a wet schlop followed by a thud, and when she opens her eyes she sees a half frozen Cassandra standing there. A headless Mick lays on the ground beside her. 

"Consider us even" Cassandra snickers. 

*          *          *

Daniela kissed Lila first, and Lila kissed her back. While her bullet wound healed, she visited every day, bringing a new book to read with Lila. On this particular day she brought her favorite romance book, and she couldn't help it. Lila looked at her just the right way, her lips looked so plump and welcoming that she had to kiss her. To say she was ecstatic is an understatement, she practically tackled Lila when she kissed back. When she ran off to tell her sisters Cassandra snuck in to confess her feelings too but in her own Cassandra way. 

"You're a good fighter. I guess, and I enjoy sparing with you. I guess-what I mean is-I would like to keep sparing with you. As a partner."

"Um-"

But before Lila could respond to her, Cassandra swarmed off in a flurry of embarrassment only to be replaced by Bela. Bela sat on the bed with her, held hand and spoke softly. 

"Thank you for helping us. Again. Mother has called Mother Miranda and, should everything go well, I do hope you'll choose to stay. I've grown rather fond of your company."

Shit. 

Eventually Daniela returned with Cassandra in tow, Cassandra growling the entire time and Daniela on the verge of tears. Apparently all three of them did not communicate with each other beforehand. Lila slunk into her bed, wishing the mattress would open up and swallow her to avoid this. How can she choose? Daniela is so sweet and kind to her, but a bit sensitive and extreme when she doesn't get her way. Cassandra always gets what she wants, one way or another. Bela has given Lila the cold shoulder since day one, but ever since her admission she's been treating Lila differently. 

"You have to choose one" Cassandra threatened. 

"I can't! I love all three of you" Lila admits, covering her mouth when the words leave her. 

"You love us?" Daniela asks shyly. 

Cassandra's anger turns into a coy smirk, as she snickers, "wow you love us?" She teases. 

"Yes. I love you."

The three of them look at each other before sighing softly, "we love you too" Bela admits.

[fr3sh-tragedies]

Shielded

[Resident Evil: Village] Dimitrescu Sisters x Fem! Reader | Bela Dimitrescu x Female Reader, Cassandra Dimitrescu x Female Reader, Daniela Dimitrescu x Female Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Proofread: Yes

Content Warnings: A short fight, near-death experiences, blunt death of a major character (from the series), blood

[A/N]: This is part one of my short stories for the Dimi sisters. I'll have one for each sister individually once I can set up an outline.

Here are the continuations:

Bela Cassandra Daniela

Enjoy!

Alcina Dimitrescu’s daughters were known by those in the Village to be rather sadistic. They enjoyed torturing their victims for days, often verging on weeks, because they found the terror on their faces amusing. They never seemed to struggle in a fight, no matter how much bigger their opponent was. Even individually they were too powerful. That is–so long as they aren’t weakened first. The one downside to the experiments they had been under, performed by Mother Miranda herself, was that they couldn’t withstand any temperature “below 50 degrees Fahrenheit,” according to the Empress herself. It prevented them from being able to shift into a swarm of flies, meaning it was much harder to retreat to safety.

Ethan Winters had figured this out rather quickly. He found a small book with descriptions and photos of the experiments as they were taking place. Because of how quickly he was dashing throughout the castle in search of his daughter, Rose, all three of the Dimitrescu sisters decided it would be best to corner him so he wouldn’t be able to run anymore.

In a spare room upstairs, they managed to surround him, taunting him relentlessly as he shot at them in vain. They laughed, shoving him to the ground. The eldest daughter, Bela, stood over him, raising her sickle high above her with the intent to drive it directly into his throat with an overly-brutal force. He continued to shoot at her. She cackled darkly. “Silly man-thing. It seems you just don’t learn things quick enough. Your bullets cannot harm anyone in here.” Her sisters laughed at him with her, but before she could jab his jugular the way she had been desperate to for hours now, her attention was immediately drawn to the sound of glass shattering behind her. She whipped around to find the nearest window blown open. She gasped, turning back to Ethan and watching as smoke trailed out from the barrel of his handgun. A loud growl erupted from her throat. “You stupid man! Do you have any idea as to what you’ve just done?”

Cassandra and Daniela both ducked behind objects in the room for cover from the harsh wind now pouring into the room. Bela slashed at Ethan’s face, but she only managed to gash his arms as he blocked. He quickly kicked her hard in the leg, scrambling back onto his feet as she collapsed to the ground. She could already feel her body crystalizing, causing her movements to slow drastically. Ethan shot at her repeatedly to force her to stay in the wind. Cassandra then lunged forward from his right and swung her blade at him–though he quickly dodged and threw her down towards Bela. She cried out in pain as the icy gust began freezing her body thoroughly as well.

“You damned bastard!” Daniela shouted. She ran towards Ethan recklessly, and he countered her attack by using the grip of his gun to strike her sickle away from himself, grabbing her by the arm and twirling her around far enough to hurl her in the same spot of her older sisters. Bela managed to catch her weakly, though there was still a thud that was loud enough to cover the sound of the door opening behind Ethan.

“Enough of these games! Where’s Rose?” He aimed his pistol towards the trembling trio now practically frozen on the ground. Bela instinctively pulled her sisters into her chest, trying desperately to shield them from everything around them. “Answer me! Where the hell is my daughter?” Bela huffed as she shivered, glaring up at him through her eyelashes. Her gaze flickered behind him, a look of terror growing across her features. A loud cry rang out as a woman jumped onto Ethan and tackled him to the ground. All three of the girls recognized her–the maid they had grown so fond of. Daniela tried to crawl forward, but her eldest sister held her back. “[Y/N], no! You’ll get yourself killed!”

“How dare you lay your filthy hands on them?” She wrestled against him to keep him pinned, grasping at his gun. He writhed beneath her and finally managed to shove her off of him. Before he had the chance to aim at her, however, she was already back up and running towards him. She kicked his hand as hard as she could, sending the gun flying towards the wall. Ethan glared up at her, and they both scrambled towards it. Just before he could grab hold of the barrel, a hand stomped down onto his wrist, causing him to let out a cry of pain.

[Y/N] was quick to pick up the pistol and aim it towards Ethan’s head, not hesitating as she pulled the trigger and sent a bullet through the back of his skull.

Moments passed as she panted heavily for breath, studying Ethan’s limp body in search of any signs of life. At length, her gaze shot over to the three women on the floor a few feet away. She discarded the gun, not caring where it ended up, and ran towards them to help them stand. “Come on, let’s get you three somewhere warmer.” She managed to lead them into the hallway, supporting Bela–who was struggling to prop her younger siblings up against her shoulders. “[Y/N],” she voiced softly. “There should be a fireplace two rooms down. I’m not sure if there’s any driftwood though.”

[Y/N] nodded and steadied them before walking them into the room. She sat them down a few feet in front of the hearth, glanced around the room in a panicked manner, and growled when she didn’t spot any wood. She ran to the next room, returning shortly to bundle all three of the women up with multiple blankets she had found. Not too long after, there were pillows that supported their weight as they relaxed into the small amount of warmth. “I’ll be right back,” [Y/N] assured, kneeling in front of them. “W-Where are you going?” “I need to go get the driftwood from downstairs. I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

They didn’t have any time to respond, only being able to watch as she ran past them and left the room. It felt like hours had passed before she finally made it back. She tossed the wood into the fireplace and lit a match, flicking it into the pile and watching as a small flame slowly came to life. “Okay, hopefully the fire will grow in a moment. Is there anything else I can do to help you three heal?”

All three of them shared a look and a few reluctant nods. Cassandra turned to [Y/N]. “I-It won’t help us warm up, but…drinking someone’s blood would help us regain a bit of our strength.” [Y/N] stood there for a moment, surprised. She nodded and looked around. “You could use my sickle, but it’s in the other room,” Bela offered. The maid nodded and dashed out of the room once more. She returned briefly with the blonde’s weapon.

Sitting in front of the trio, [Y/N] brought the sharpest edge of the blade to her palm. She sucked in a sharp breath before digging it into her skin and dragging out a jagged line of blood. The scent of blood heightened all three Dimitrescu sisters’ senses. Their pupils expanded and they forced themselves to sit up. They took turns drinking small amounts, going from youngest to oldest. Daniela went first, then Cassandra. When it was Bela’s turn, there was hardly any blood left, visibly upsetting her.

[Y/N] sighed softly. “Don’t worry. I can always lose a bit more,” she whispered. She sliced another line on the same palm with a small hiss of pain and lifted it towards the blonde’s lips. Bela latched on immediately, grabbing ahold of the girl’s hand and pulling it closer. Moments later, when she was finished drinking, she sighed and leaned back into the pillows to rest. “Thank you,” she mumbled. “Of course.” [Y/N] stood, shakily placed the sickle on a table nearby, and went to the cabinet adjacent to the door, thankful to find a small roll of bandages. She treated her fresh, self-inflicted wounds quickly before walking to sit beside the fireplace so she could keep an eye on the three.

She sighed heavily, the adrenaline from the fight finally wearing off and causing great fatigue throughout her body. She closed her eyes. They snapped open, however, when she heard the girls whining and shuffling under the blankets. “What’s wrong?” Cassandra groaned. “It’s so cold,” she replied. [Y/N] turned to examine the size of the fire, finding that it was still rather small. “I’m not sure what I can do to help you warm up faster. I’ve grabbed almost every blanket I could find.” Daniela tried to sit up, but could only manage to partially prop herself up with her elbow. “We could really use your body heat. Why don’t you let us huddle against you?” Bela and Cassandra nodded in agreement, letting out small “yeah’s.”

Flustered, [Y/N] cleared her throat. “I’m not sure,” she voiced, “I think you three might need to warm up by the fire instead. It’ll provide more warmth than I ever could.” Bela shook her head and motioned for her to join them. “We’ll take any source of heat we can get. We’re so cold, [Y/N]. Please just let us do this.” [Y/N] sighed. She stood and weakly sauntered over to the pile of pillows and blankets, sheepishly crawling under the multiple layers and planting herself in between Bela and Cassandra. With a groan, Daniela forced herself to shift over far enough to lie on top of the [h/c] girl while her older sisters each leaned against her opposite shoulders.

Collectively, all three sisters sighed in relief at the sudden comfort the softness and warmth brought them. They pulled the blankets tighter around themselves and nuzzled as far into [Y/N]’s body as they could. “Thank you for…you know. Saving us,” Bela murmured. Her sisters hummed in agreement, both too exhausted to be vocal about their gratitude.

“Of course,” [Y/N] reassured softly. “You three mean the world to me. I could never just stand to the side and let something bad happen to any of you.” They all shared a smile. “And, of course, if I hadn’t stepped in, your mother would’ve had my head,” she added in a joking manner. “We wouldn’t have let that happen to you,” Daniela whispered almost inaudibly, chuckling. “But you wouldn’t have been here to protect me.” “Ah, we would’ve found a way. Believe us.”

They laughed softly, enjoying the silence that fell upon the room afterwards.

“What’re we going to do with the body?” [Y/N] asked. “Eat him,” Daniela said as though it were obvious. “You want to eat the body of a man who nearly ruined everything?” “Oh, definitely,” Cassandra muttered, smirking when [Y/N] giggled.

Loud, hurried footsteps reverberated down the hall, growing louder within mere seconds. The door of the room flew open, striking the cabinet beside it with a loud crack, and a familiar voice called out. “Girls?” Alcina asked anxiously. She quickly walked to stand in front of the group, sighing when she saw everyone breathing. She knelt down and placed a hand on Bela’s shoulder. “Oh, my poor dears, are you alright? One of the maids informed me of what happened.” The blonde’s eyes fluttered open and flickered over to her mother. “We’re alright, mother. He’s dead.” “Yeah,” Daniela added, prompting her mother to turn her attention to her. “[Y/N] protected us and brought us in here so we could warm up.”

Alcina’s head tilted. “Warm up?” A look of pure fury crossed her features. “You mean to tell me that repulsive, pathetic excuse of a man forced you into the cold? Oh, [Y/N], you should’ve let me handle things. I would have sliced him to ribbons the way he deserved.” “I apologize, my Lady, I just wanted to ensure he didn’t hurt them again. There was a bit of a struggle, so I sort of…ended things as quickly as I could.” The matriarch of the castle sighed and smiled. “It’s alright, my dear. You kept my daughters safe. I’ll forever be grateful for that.” They shared a look of understanding before Alcina stood. “Now, where did the poor man-thing meet his well-deserved demise?” “Two rooms over.”

“Perfect. Dinner will be very satisfying.” With that, she left the room and headed to the place of the attack. The sound of the door opening followed by something heavy being dragged all the way downstairs informed the women that their mother had the other maids prepping for dinner.

[Y/N] closed her eyes, letting herself relax and focus on her senses. She opened her eyes to look down and study the fatigued, lounged body language and expressions of the girls. She could smell the ash of the burning driftwood and feel the heat it provided. Beneath all of the covers, she could feel where each hand rested against her skin, each shaky breath taken by the girls who clung to her for warmth. Daniela had both arms tucked underneath [Y/N]’s body to ground herself steady as she rested on top of her torso, Cassandra’s were wrapped weakly around her shoulders, and Bela had one buried underneath her and the other resting on her chest.

[Y/N] could hear everyone’s breathing and the crackle of the fire. For a group that had just been attacked mere moments ago, all four women seemed to be at ease. In an attempt to further soothe them, [Y/N] brought her hands up to rub Bela and Cassandra’s lower arms. Their slightly tensed muscles softened in relief. She hugged them closely.

“I promise you–all three of you–that as long as I’m here, I will never let anything bad happen to you.”

There was no response, but she knew that they had heard her. She sighed. Her head fell back to lean against the pillows. The plush surface provided a softness that helped her body still, her eyelids drooping from fatigue. A soft rustling and the feeling of a weight being lifted from her chest, however, prompted her to look down. She found the youngest of the daughters gazing up at her. “Is something wrong?” She whispered softly at Daniela, who shook her head.

“No, not at all. I just wanted to ask you something,” she responded just as quietly. “Hm?” “Could we possibly come to you more often? I hadn’t realized just how much warmth you can provide. It’s really cozy.” [Y/N] was far too exhausted to blush or be modest. Instead, she simply smiled with a barely-noticeable nod. “Of course.” Daniela smiled back at her and returned to resting her head against the girl’s chest. Her mind settled once she could hear [Y/N]’s heartbeat.

Flames crackling and soft snores took the place of the silence in the room. [Y/N] swore in her heart she would never let them get hurt again, no matter what it took. She squeezed the women closer to herself and shut her eyes, whispering a soft reassurance more to herself than the others as she finally let herself drift into a much-needed slumber. “Everything will be okay.”

[muffinsin]

My profile picture has been created by the talented @zeleneagle , it can also be found on their page. I recommend checking out their #myart tag

𝙰𝚗 𝙾𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚐

An overview of this blog

The inbox is open, but there are no posts being published currently due to being on vacation🤿🙌 happy summer :)

Current requests in inbox: 8

I’ll do my best to keep this updated;

Open

Open, but rather full

Closed

This is a NSFW blog for the most part, so I ask minors not to interact. Even some fluff posts could have mention of NSFW content in them!

Find the Masterlists, my list of kinks, and the anon-lists with the link below (Masterlists)!

Masterlists

𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚠:

Below

Fandoms and characters I write for

Requesting: rules and limitations

Other

(If interested in my person, here’s an about me post!)

𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚜&𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜

Fandoms & Characters

Resident evil village

🔎 Bela Dimitrescu

🔎 Cassandra Dimitrescu

🔎 Daniela Dimitrescu

➖ Also: Donna Beneviento. Occasionally I will answer Donna requests :)

➖ There are very few works dedicated to Alcina Dimitrescu found in my Masterlists. Despite this, I do not take requests for her at this time

Far cry 5

Faith Seed

-> Only female Deputies/Readers paired with Faith. I write for no other fc character

𝚁𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝚁𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜

Requesting: Rules and limitations

𝚁𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚜

- Only characters listed above

- Respect Limits & Rules of this blog

- Be patient, writing can take time

- Gender neutral or female reader only

- Harassment will not be tolerated. Whether this is pointed towards me or any anons

- Requests should be sent in per the Ask Button, it makes it easier for me to remember them

- I do take ship requests including the characters I write for, even if the second person isn’t one I typically write for. Such as; a dimitrescu sister x Ashley Graham/other Character

- DMs are open for all

- When referencing another post, please add a link or at the very least information on where to find it (What Masterlist, which section. Eg: Masterlist 1, Bela, title of the link)

- Here everyone is accepted, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, religion, orientation, etc!

Other rules:

- no (random-) self promotion!🙌

Here is a list of kinks I will write and not write! This can also be found at the Masterlists-Link

𝚁𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜

- There’s a post dedicated to the kinks specifically, check it out here

- incest

- sexual age regression/age play

- underage characters. Everyone I write for is 18+ and all is consensual. I do not promote anything without consent in a positive light

𝙾𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛

Other

- Banners and pictures used are not created by me unless stated otherwise :)

- Again: profile picture it not made by me (Credit is at the of this post)

[that-fandom-godess]

I will write for just about any scenario that is within my comfort limits.

*I will only write for female and gender neutral characters

Romantic Relationships

Erik Destler - Phantom of the Opera

Peter Pan - Once Upon A Time

Jefferson - Once Upon A Time

Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier) - Marvel

Loki (Jotun form) - Marvel

Peter/Pietro Maximoff - Marvel

Peter Parker - Marvel

Tate Langdon - American Horror Story

Kyle Spencer (FrankenKyle) - American Horror Story

Jimmy Darling - American Horror Story

James Patrick march - American Horror Story

Michael Langdon - American Horror Story

Xavier Plympton - American Horror Story

Valiant Thor - American Horror Story

Thomas Browne - American Horror Stories

Stan Vogel - American Horror Stories

Racetrack Higgins - Newsies

Cabin Boy - Pirates of the Caribbean

Sam Golbach

Colby Brock

Jack Kline (God) - Supernatural

Mattheo Riddle - Harry Potter

Draco Malfoy - Harry Potter

Marcus Lopez - Deadly Class

Any Dimitrescu Sister - Resident Evil

Donna Beneviento - Resident Evil

Luis Sera - Resident Evil

Harry Hook - Descendents

Carlos De Vil - Descendants

Jay Farr - Descendents

Morgie Le Fay - Descendants

Wyatt Lykensen - Zombies

Chris Sturniolo

Matt Sturniolo

DannyPhantom.exe

Nell Jackson - Renegade Nell

Telemachus - EPIC/The Odyssey

Platonic/Parental Relationships

Tony Stark - Marvel

Steve Rogers - Marvel

Steven Grant/ Marc Spector/ Jake Lockly - Marvel

Agatha Harkness - Marvel

Matt Murdock - Marvel

Frank Castle - Marvel

Wade Wilson - Marvel

Chris Redfield - Resident Evil

Luis Sera - Resident Evil

Karl Hiesnburg - Resident Evil

Mother Miranda - Resident Evil

Crowley - Supernatural

John Winchester - Supernatural

Dean & Sam Winchester - Supernatural

Rowena Macleod - Supernatural

Crowley - Supernatural

Killian Jones - Once Upon A Time

Charles Xavier - X-Men

Erik Lehnsherr - X-Men

Jack Sparrow - Pirates of the Caribbean

Nick Sturniolo

Penelope - EPIC/The Odyssey

Odysseus - EPIC/The Odyssey

[2gayforwomen]

Hey I looking for a Lady Dimitrescu fic I can’t remember what it is called but it was Lady Dimitrescu x witch reader I think. The witch character was female and she lived in a cottage and the Dimitrescu sisters were caught in a storm when they came across the cottage and the witch reader let them in and took care of them.

Hope someone knows the name

Thanks

[kiatheinsomniac]

REQUESTS OPEN!

Characters I will write for:

ASSASSINS’ CREED:

Pretty much anyone tbh

RESIDENT EVIL:

Alcina Dimitrescu, any of the Dimitrescu sisters, Karl Heisenberg, Mother Miranda, Donna Beneviento, Claire Redfield, Leon Kennedy, Carlos Oliveria, Jill Valentine

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE:

Howl Pendragon

CASTLEVANIA:

Adrian ‘Alucard’ Tepes

Carmilla

THE HOBBIT:

King Thranduil

Kíli

STARDEW VALLEY:

Sebastian

Elliott

I will write:

I’m happy to write NSFW or SFW but I’m only comfortable writing a female reader (OR gender neutral reader if it’s SFW) so F!Reader x M!Character / F!Reader x F!Character

I will NOT write:

Any sexually taboo themes (though dubcon is fine in some circumstances) or pregnancy (it just gives me the ick sorry). 

[iceprincessviviane]

Wind of change

Paring: Lord Karl Heisenberg x Maid!Female!Reader (implied romance).

Type: Common days with twist, plus mix of fluff and angst with tiny bit of romance. It's Karl Heisenberg centric, but more of the characters are there too.

Parts: Next chapter. (Possible)

Warnings: Swearing, injury, yelling, threats, blood, death, derealization, fear, sugestive content, calling names, Resident Evil Village stuff, silly jokes created by me.

Summary: Time has passed by and Y/N has found, that she is in Castle Dimitrescu for quite a while, longer than she would expected in begining. What else can happen in her life as she is already in unusual place and position?

Author's note: It's my very first fic about Resident Evil: Village so any feedback is appreciated and welcomed. Please let me know if you enjoyed it 💙. English isn't my first language so sorry for mistakes.

Cold was radiating from big window in castle Dimitrescu, as Y/N was cleaning the area near it in one of the chambers. When she got up from her knees, facing the glass, she could tell that winter has being for sure. Large pieces of snow were falling from the sky and wind was pretty strong. She blinked couple of times, time has passed so fast suddenly. Around was pretty quiet, but chamber was big, at least for her. It was one for the guests, in level lower than Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters apartmnets. Y/N fixed delicate material on her wrists, where old wounds were recovering, she had to be careful with them, when she was cleaning. They didn't sting and were pretty good treated, so maybe they will disappear till next session of blood giving. After taking rubber and clearing the table, she went out of the chamber into big hall, when saloon was with table and couches. There alsow were staircase leading up, to the Ladies quarters. She looked around if something need her treatment, but room seemed pretty good. Suddenly Daniela appeard behind maid quiet as always, she smiled a little.

"Y/N!"

She almost jumped hearing that loud calling, but then sighed with relief and bowed slighty.

"Is there anything you need Daniela?" She asked with soft tone.

"My mother wants to see you." Daughter of Lady Dimitrescu grinned and spinned around.

Y/N nodded and made her way into Lady's chambers, Daniela were following her and rambling about current day and things. Triplets always where talktive and Y/N was good listener, maybe that's why she became their favourite maid, also Lady Dimitrescu was plesant about her take caring of things and fond of blood taste. Usually girls were ending dead and made into bottle of wine, but she seemed to be very lucky.

Daniela without hesitation enetered her mother's private chamber, when Y/N went in as second and bowed to her owner. Tall woman was sitting in front of the mirror and doing make up. Big dress laid on bed, probably Lady was about to clothe herself.

"Oh, there you are sweetheart. Is tomorrow your day out right?" She asked, then look at maid.

"Yes my Lady, it will be the last time this month and I am planning to visit village." Y/N spoke truthfully.

"Of course dear, but except day routine I would like you to ask Duke how is my special order. There were some silken for dresses and my favourite red lipstick." Lady Dimitrescu said and stood up.

"Mother are you going to have new dresses?!" Daniela exclaimed with full enthusiasm.

"Not only me, but you and your sisters too. I would like you to gather here in the evening, that we all can talk about it, even choose if Duke have done the order."

"I will take care of that my Lady." Y/N nodded to Dimitrescu.

"Please don't overwork yourself and watch out wounds. Add some more ointment if that's necessary."

Maid bowed slight again and left the room, Daniela stayed with her mother, so Y/N hurried to do usual stuff, then take care of Lady's special request. First she fixed bandages again, skin under was red and some scabs were still there. She sighed slighty and rushed to make all her duties done, but couldn't help to think how fast time has passed. It was almost year, when Y/N was in castle, actually she was trying to not coming back to these memories, but today when work was a little boring, she allowed herself...

}*{

It was supposed to be just a trip, but everything went worse than ever, but none could predict what will be behind the village. For group of young adults, was exciting to roam through the forest and in the end finding village with very old castle at the hills. How stupid they were...

There were six of them, four men colleagues and one girl friend from her studies. It was trip during winter holiday break, so they all were happy and really want to visit all the places in the village. Soon everything started to spiral out of control. First was strange behaviour of locals and uncommon symbols around, then night has fallen and scary noises could be heard around.

Next day they discovered that house in neighborhood was completly destroyed. When decison on leaving the village was made, screams shot through the air and locals rushed to their houses. Then out of nowhere grotesque creatured appeard, their little group started to scream and run in random directions, but monsters were everywhere. Y/N ran deeper into village, then hiding behind one of the buildings and searching for any weapon or options. Sudden pain at the back of head, probably from hit, caused her to fell on knees and lost consciousness.

Her eyelids were so heavy, when she was hearing conversation and some loud, strange noises. Y/N opened eyes with struggling, after some time vision stopped being blurr, first she noticed scary doll looking at her.

"Last one has awaken!" Toy exclaimed and clapped at hands.

It has pretty, but dirty white dress and ran deeper into room, when was standing, very tall woman in another dress and man with big hammer in jacket and hat. Doll sat on another woman's lap, her face was covered by black veil. Some strange creature was hiding before bench in right corner and in the middle standing someone covered in feathers. Y/N looked in shock around, her friends were there too and like she, tied up and didn't dare to say a word. She noticed that one of boys was missing.

"They are young and their bodies and blood is fresh, give them to me Mother and I will take care of them and watch, that nothing will be wasted." Tall woman said loudly looking at feathered person.

"Oh yea sure, you and your daughters will chase them and they end up being bottles." Man in hat rolled his eyes. "If yu give them to me, I will put a show, that everyone can enjoy."

"And waste of course their potential!"

"Seeing this coming from bloodsucker is really not suprising, shut up!" He growled and they both stood up.

Tall woman towered above him, but he gripped strong his hammer, tension could be feel in the air. Suddenly feathers spread, revealing woman in priest's robes.

"Quiet!" She shouted looking at them. "I have made my decision, there is enough for you both. Alcina, women are yours, Heisenberg, men belong to you."

"Thank you Mother Miranda." They both bowed a little.

Soon besties gathered around, when Y/N and her girl friend were pushed closer to tall woman, man named Heisenberg pleased for everyone's attention, then started to count. Boys had to run... girls ended in Lady's Dimitrescu castle, but Y/N's friend fast went missing...

}*{

After checking everything, maid entered the room, where usually Duke was, this time was the same, he was sitting under the wall.

"Greetings Y/N, do you need anthing?" He welcomed her with warm smile.

"I am here for my Lady's special request." She said smiling back to merchant.

"Ah yes! Lady's silks and lipstick are there." He turned back to took material bales and small box carefuly.

"That's a lot..." Y/N furrowed, while looking at four big bales. "I will ask someone for help."

"I guess these are too heavy for you and you shouldn't overwork yourself." Duke said while looking at her.

"Actually I have tomorrow free day." Y/N couldn't resist to be excited about it.

"Oh that's lovely, any plans?"

"I will go to village for sure. I want to visit Luiza and Elena."

"Be careful, now it's pretty cold here and usual stuff." Duke warned her with serious tone.

"I will take coat, which Lady gave me as gift. I will for sure keep warm."

"Good, don't forget to see my new purchases later, especially after returning from village."

"I won't, I promise." Y/N smiled and went to search any help with heavy material bales. Luckily another maids help her and they together carried them to Lady's private chambers. It was almost evening, but she didn't complain. When, they placed them, Lady Dimitrescu entered inside.

"Great timing, we can immediately discuss dresses and their styles."

Soon Bela, Daniela and Cassandra showed up. Triplets were really excited about their new clothes. Lady ordered her favourite white silk and something darker for girls. Y/N put box with lipstick on vanity table. She was taking active part on trying on materials and helping girls. Lady Dimitrescu valued herself maid's precision and ability to listen. Not each maid was that obedient and resourceful. Y/N has never bothered Lady about any small cases or problems, trying always to first find solution. Probably relation between her and triplets and Alcina was based now not on fear, but on respect. Of course maid was still scared about things, that were happening in villiage or castle, but her tone or posture wasn't trembling already, when she was talking with her employer or triplets. More, when girls were using their abilities to show something, Y/N were calm or even curious.

"Mother, what do you think? We should first commisson tailor to make navy or burgundy dresses?" Cassandra asked with little frown.

"It's yours decision, if some of you want first navy or burgundy it's all right." Lady smiled, she has already chosen style for her dress.

"Y/N what do you think?" Bela asked looking at maid.

"In my personal opinion, you all will look breathtaking in burgundy colour, it will match you lips." She said quietly, but clearly.

"I agree, though we drink a lot of blood." Daniela said looking at material.

"So I guess, burgundy is first." Lady smiled at her daughters.

Triplets nodded and their mother told rest of the maids instructions, since Y/N will be tomorrow out. When they were ending try-ons, she shited again materials on her wirsts and Alcina eyes caught it. Another feature, that Lady valued in Y/N was her blood. Sweet like honey, almost immediately was in Lady and girls liking. She had 0 Rh+ type, very rare one and delicious at the same time. Dimitrescu just couldn't let that be in one bottle, they had to have it more, so decision about make her maid was made, Y/N was doing so good. She was giving her blood once in month, to not wreck her health, but usually during and after drinking session she was really weak and numb.

}*{

Next day Y/N allowed herself to sleep tiny bit more, before waking up. Everyone likes to have some more time in bed, even good maids. She slowly started day routine and ate breakfast in her small room in ground floor in castle. There was no need to hurry, she liked to take her time in days off, just to make them different than work ones. Y/N told head maid, that she is going to the village, someone at least needed to know when she left and where did she go. Today again was cold, so maid took coat, which was gift from Lady Dimitrescu. It was good quality, warm material with fur around the neck. Gloved and scarf were needed too.

It was around 10 a.m when Y/N left castle with medium bag over the shoulder. Heading to village was plesant, she passed the gardener with nice 'good morning' and didn't bother more, just stick to the path. Soon she was in village and her first thing were to go to Luiza's house. Luiza was standing outside and taking care of yard in front of, gate was open.

"Oh Y/N! It's nice to see you again, day off?" She asked stopping her cleaning.

"Yes, today is the day." Y/N smiled brightly.

"How are you doing? Is everything fine?"

Word 'fine' attaching to castle Dimitrescu was far from fitting. Of course some of villagers know what was happening inside, but not all the secrets.

"I'm good, it's colder this time of the year, but I can bear that and in castle is quite warm so I am content."

"Your duties aren't too hard to handle?"

"Sometimes I am tired, but work isn't that bad, now it's just colder."

"Oh yes, we can definitely feel that." Luiza said with nod.

Living in village wasn't easy. First monsters and dealing with Lords and Mother Miranda, second the location and fact that none never left... and now winter. Y/N stepped closer and handed woman purse.

"Here... I know you all struggling more than me..."

Luiza looked inside, there were coins, then she looked back at maid. "I can't take this..."

"Lady Dimitrescu pays me some and I don't know what I can do with money. I have things, that I need to. Just please take them... you can even share with someone, who need them more." Y/N said with honest tone. "You will need coal or wood, something warm... sometimes Duke has high prices..."

Luiza hugged her tightly. Maid allowed herself to lean into that touch. For a moment everything disappear. Lady and her daughters were one thing, normal human touch was another. She missed it dearly and could say that one dsy among villagers wasn't enough for her to be content.

"I don't know how to thank you." Luiza whispered quietly.

"You don't need to. Just stay alive." Y/N whispered back.

Woman nodded and slowly released her. Now maid was smiling and patted her shoulder gently.

"I will be heading further."

"Of course, visit Elena, she will be happy to see you."

Y/N nodded and left the yard, moving deeper into village. Air was cold, but wind gently. Noises from afar reached her ears and maid allowed herself to relax. Here was no more Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters, just normal people, which aren't going to hurt or kill her. Stress and fear accompanied her all the time in the castle, maybe she wasn't that tense, because she earned there her position, but who knows what can happen in future? It was very unsure and Y/N was always trying to be prepare for unexpected. People were minding their business, passing by and being busy. She looked around the market sinking into simple life anf smiling gently.

"Y/N!" Elena's voice called her.

She approached her and hug tightly, maid hugged her back.

"Day off?"

Y/N nodded with smile. Girl from village immediately took her hand and they started to slowly go through the market. Someone smiled to them and greeted them.

"I need to buy some things. Wanna wait for me or go with me?" She asked politely.

"I will go, maybe I will buy something too."

Elena bought some groceries and another warm blanket.

"Luckily my dad was able to purchase coal and a lot of wood. Now we just need common things. You should come and stay for tea." She said and looked at maid.

"That would be a pleasure. We can maybe invite someone too?"

"Sure, I was thinking of Luiza, she is recently working hard on animals, they need to remain warm during the winter, so she and her husband are upgrading cages and place, where the animals are."

"That's good idea let's ask her."

They turned back, to head to Luiza's house, when the air crossed deafening, unworldly roar, for a moment villagers froze in time, but then they scattered trying to collect their things and run as fast as they could. Lycans were coming. Elena and maid turned pale, then started to run.

"To my house!" Girl screamed through the chaos.

Soon the screams of dying or injured people reached their earys following by beasts noises and breathing. Large one landed on market and destroyed all stalls around, causing Y/N to released her friend's hand.

"Run Elena, don't look at me! Your father is waiting!"

Girl send her sad smile and ran towards another street. Y/N wanted to reach the castle way, but on market happend true chaos, some Lycans passed her on horses, chasing rest of villagers. She tripped and fall on the ground, turning immediately. Some of the monsteres were already feasting on corpses. On of them spotted her looking dead into her eyes. Maid backened as fast as she could, but soon her back hit the wall behind her. Lycan left his capture and jumped on, two meters in front of her, then quickly approached.

Y/N turned face to avoid looking at this ungodly creature, but swearing to herself, that she won't close eyes in the time of her death. Terrible smell of beast reached her nose, when it's face stopped few centimeters before her face, sniffing air around. She didn't dare to move. Suddenly everything went quiet, even noises of tearing flesh. Lycan scattered away with quiet squeak, his fellas were acting like concerned.

Maid looked straight to see what is going on. On market appeard new figure. Long, stained coat, hat on a head, cigarette in hand and big hammer resting on a shoulder. Lord Karl Heisenberg himself... Y/N would always recognize him, even if she saw him about four times in her life. Actually sometimes Lady Dimitrescu was rambling about her brother's stupidity and acting, so it was hard to forget about him. Besides that he looked quite significant comparing to villagers and creatures living there. Lord dropped finished cigarette, moving his eyesight at her.

"Well well, what do we have here?" He came closer and crouched at her level.

Again Y/N didn't dare to move, holding her breath, when he took off black glasses and studied her face carefuly. Man frowned a little and grabbed her chin, then lifted it slighty to have a better look. She didn't resist due to situation. Lycans were still behind him and for now she was alive thanks to strange luck or some miracle. Smell of tobacco smoke and industrial oil hit her nose. She swallowed slowly avoiding his eyesight.

"How funny, you are running into me again." He said and grinned, taking back his hand.

Maid remained silent again, not knowing at all what he was talking about. She slowly and quietly exhaled.

"You are Lady supersize bitch favourite huh?

Now she frowned, again were taking aback by his question. Lady Dimitrescu invited her brother few time into her castle to have together dinner and neutral chat. Mother Miranda required, that her children could work together and Lady was very dedicated to her. Lord Heisenberg showed up three times, it was always such an event in castle. 'Siblings' were arguing and insulting each other during the time, when they had to wait for food, but later they ended up discussing experiments and village things, which were neutral topics. Y/N that times was usually helping at the table or taking triplets attention, which also attended to the dinner. Now she was surprised, that he actually recognized her.

Lord stood up looking at her, it seemed that he was thinking about something. Suddenly he smirked and she couldn't help, but thinking of the worst right now.

"I can see why she is liking you so much. No screaming, no kicking, look how a obedient girl you are. What a shame, that she was able to get you."

Maid didn't know how to respond at all to that. This whole situation was ridiculous. Lady Dimitrescu explained to her few times, that she is lucky, that she got her, not Karl Heisenberg. Besides that Y/N saw what game he prepared for her friends during whole capture thing or meeting like Lady called it. Maid stood slowly, to not trigger this man by any chance. He was quite impulsive, she could noticed early.

"What are you even doing here huh?" He asked and she strightened her back.

"I have day off, I wanted to visited village, chat with some friends and just took fresh air..." she said quietly.

"What a bad luck!" He snorted.

Lycans noises got louder, causing Y/N to hug herself and looking away immediately, still he could order them to tear her apart and feast on her flesh or set up game for her. She hoped that at least rest of the villager made it, especially Elena, her family and Luiza.

"Please, I have to go back to the castle." She said with trembling voice.

"About that... wouldn't it be pity, if Lady supersized bitch's favourite maid, toy didn't come back right?" Lord wondered with wide grin on his face.

"W-what?" Y/N whispered in confusion.

Before she could react he grabbed her elbow and pulled closer and then went into unknown direction. Now it was enough, maid gathered all her strength to stopped her and it worked. Lord frowned and turned back.

"Are you being difficult?" He hissed right in front her.

Karl Heisenberg was taller than her more than head and bigger, almost build as bulk. He had wide shoulders, she swallowed hard.

"I am not going anywhere." Y/N said in small tone, remembering what happend to her friends and villagers.

"Listen if I wanted to kill you, I would do this earlier this moment. Where is fun in this for fucking sake? Lady supersized bitch will be so concerned of her's pet well being. Her annoyance will cause me so much laugh don't worry."

Maid didn't even move an inch yanking her elbow away and stepping away three steps. Some Lycans roared dangerously, but she couldn't care less. She shook her head.

"Fine." Lord sighed and rolled his eyes.

Almost immediately small chain wrapped around her left wirst. Karl Heisenber was holding end of it. He grinned when maid's eyes became wider and was looking at him.

"Let's go!" He made few steps back, still facing her, till chain strained.

"No, no, no..."

"Sweetheart I am much stronger than you, you really don't want to figure it out. If we want to be in factory before afternoon, we will have to hurry up." Lord said and turned back, pulled her with him.

Y/N had no choice, but follow him slowly, she didn't dare to come closer, also Lycans was accompanying them in their own pace and way. Karl took out another cigarette and lighted it up.

}*{

After almost two hours they reached factory, Lycans scattered around, some of them were carring corpses. Y/N was looking on the ground pretty lot during walk. She has known village outskirts, but never have been that close to Lord's lands. Maid was pretty frozen hugging herself, to protect her body from cold. Sun was starting to set, probably night will be much colder than now. They entered inside, she looked around, everywhere mechanical parts or things, a lot of mess and smell of industrial oil hit her nose.

Lord took a chair and put it in front of him. Glancing at her. "Sit."

She looked at chair than him, some noises reaching to them from depths of factory.

"I..."

When he started to talk, Y/N immediately hurried up and sat on chair avoiding his gaze. He smiled widely satisfied.

"Rule number one: you are not going deep into factory only rooms, that I will allow you. Rule number two: you are not going outisde. Rule number three: you are listening to me no matter what. Rule number four: you are not living here for free and you are maid, so you are going to cook for us." He poked her cheek gently two times, then moved to table with some papers.

"I-I am more cleaner than a cook actually." Y/N said in small tone and shaking voice.

"I don't fucking need anyone to go through my things also, it's always mess here, so it will be really useless to clean here." Karl Heisenberg said bitterly. "Also if you will break rules from one to three you can get yourself killed from my experiments or Lycans."

Maid swallowed hard and again looked around carefuly. She saw exit leading to hall, light was dim, but it was warmer inside than outside.

"When can I go back to castle?" She whispered.

"It depends on your Mistress likings on you. But I will have to think, what I want in exchange for your pretty face. You might get used to being here and don't be fucking whiny, I hate it."

"What about this?" She rose her wirst with chain around.

"Yeah we don't need that, but if you are going to run, I won't be responsible for my actions."

After his words, chain dropped on floor with ringing noise. Y/N stood up carefuly, while Lord was observing her and playing with some kind of knife.

"So rooms are further this hall on left, so is kitchen. Have fun." He spread his arms in playful style and left her, going in opposite direction.

She had no choice, so approached space which he directed. Soon whole factory filled machinery noises. There were few rooms, which one closed, she guess that had to be Lord's one. In the end was mentioned kitchen and thanks God it seemed like each room has seperate bathroom, not best one, but she couldn't complain. That wasn't Dimitrescu castle after all. Inside were simple bed, wardrobe, table with two chairs, armchair and bookshelf. Everything covered with dust and there was only one small window. She had nothing with her, so just take off coat, scarf and gloves. Here was warmer than outside, but still cold air was coming out of nowhere. After inspecting room, Y/N went to the kitchen.

Gas stove, table this time with four chairs, shelves, old fridge with freezer, sink and that was all. Also some cueltry in questionable state, mugs, plates and canned food. There was only canned food, not counting two pieces of bread and some very old vegetables. Maid stomach made itself known, so she didn't has any options, only to make few sandwiches and vegetable soup to spend what was left. Cooking pots were left forgotten in one of cupboards, but first everything needed cleaning. Dust and mess were almost everywhere.

After cleaning, Y/N was able to make simple soup with one piece of seemed like chicken, but it had to be enough. She wondered how they could obtain more food especially fresh one. For sure Duke had to visit factory, so maybe he could has something? Or bring? Anyway she needed more things, to stay here if Lord said the truth...

After more than an hour, heavy steps could be heard in hall and soon Lord stepped into kitchen with curiosity. Y/N was standing in front of the cooking pot, checking if it's finally done.

"What is this?"

"Vegetables soup."

"Smells good."

She hard moving chair and noises of taking off coat, while was pouring soup into bowls. Maid put one in front of the Lord and sat with the second in oppsite side.

"I will need something fresh next time to cook my Lord..." Y/N said quietly looking into bowl.

"Do I look like fucking gardener to you?" He asked sarcastically.

"If Duke is visiting... maybe he can help with it."

"So you will ask him tomorrow morning." Karl shrugged.

"But I don't have any Lei..."

"What did I say about being whiny?!" Lord rose his voice harshly causing her to shiver a little.

After finishing his bowl, he stood up and left maid without a word. Y/N sighed and started to clean after eating. Then she went to room to prepare sleeping maybe and get shower. Unfortunately water was cold, but she could ber it. There were some very old and dirty clothes, bed also wasn't smelling good, but there was no other choice. Maid stayed only in underwear, turned the lights off, slipped under the covers and put her head on pillow. Soon factory noises pushed her into sleep arms.

[mackeydoodledoo]

The Demon Amongst Vampires

Pairing: Bela Dimitrescu x Demon (Fem!)Reader

Summary: Getting caught on the grounds of Castle Dimitrescu is one problem. Being a Demon hybrid is another. Getting caught WHILST being in your demon form is a whole issue. As you’re held captive in the castle, a Dimitrescu daughter has been enchanted by you.

Warnings: Blood, Slight G0R3 (Body dismemberment, but, not over-the-top gore), slightly nsfw

A/N: I didn’t understand the hype for Resident Evil 8 and now I understand why. Here is my contribution to you fellow simps. Also, since R is a demon, I’ve referenced some demon-anime characters. Bonus points if you get those references! R is My Character: Hydrangea Dragonfold! But her name is not mentioned in this story.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

As you make your kill, you hear a faint buzzing sound. However, you think nothing of it, you've heard far worse. You recall back before you ran away from your home; the screams of your now dead family. You faintly remember somebody infusing their blood with yours. You don't remember who exactly but now you're a Demon. You don't remember how you got there but you just are. You can't exactly go back to being the person you used to be. 

"Who's out here?!" A demanding voice calls out 

You try your best to hide yourself however, you immediately knock over something with your elbow. 

"Well well, what have we here?" She asks you, immediately teleporting herself over to you 

She uses the end of her sickle to bash on the side of your head. Everything goes black. 

"Mother, look what I found roaming our grounds," a muffled yet familiar voice says 

As you gain your consciousness you look up just as some footsteps turn to face you. You were in awe, you didn't think you'd be in the presence of such a tall woman. 

"What have we here?" The tall woman asks 

Your mind was everywhere, you didn't exactly hear her question. You were still questioning how you got in the castle. 

"Answer mothers' question peasant!" A female voice yells, punching your jaw 

You cough out blood, your jaw seemingly broken. 

“Daniela don’t touch what isn’t yours!” a voice yells

“She wasn’t paying attention!” Another voice screams back

“Now now daughters, let’s all calm down now,” The tall woman says

Once you looked back up at the tall woman, you 'un-broke' your jaw, hearing it crack back into place. 

"No one special that's for sure," you groan 

"Well, anyone who can snap their jaw back into place without writhing in pain must be," the tall woman says, "So, let's see how special you really are." 

Two of the three hooded women begin walking toward you. You however, hold up your hand. 

"I'll do it myself," you sigh 

You hold up your pinky and its nail begins sharpening and turning black. You hold it against your wrist and slash it with no form of wincing in pain. Blood slowly seeps out from your cut as you hold it up to the tall woman. She takes your wrist and begins sucking on your wrist that you had cut. Not even a second in, she throws your wrist back down and gags in disgust. 

"That is VILE!" She screams 

You kind of felt bad for offering such bad blood. But you had no other choice really. 

"Then let's devour this woman's flesh quickly mother," the woman with strawberry-blonde hair suggests 

"But I'm the one who brought her here," the woman with blond hair says, “I should get the first bite!”

"My sincerest apologies," you sigh, letting your cut heal itself, "Being a demon sure has its bad blood taste.. Apparently.." 

"And what of this?" The tall woman gestures to your backpack 

"Nothing special," you say once more, "Just shoes..... A handful of them.... My feet you see.. Let's just say I wear them out a lot faster. Speaking of shoes.... Can I get some out I don't want to leave... A nasty stain on your lovely floors." 

The tall woman snaps her fingers and the blonde woman reaches into your backpack. She pulls out two black sandals. The other two women snicker. 

"Nice to have 'em cheap really," you add as you watch the blonde woman put them on your feet 

"Take this.. Demon, Bela," the tall woman says, "You're in charge of it." 

"I have a name and pronouns you know," you nearly spat, slightly angered

The blond woman flies to you and holds your chin, making you look up at her. 

"You sure have some nerve to be talking to mother like that," she smirks at you 

"Being a demon sure has its perks," you smirk back, "Well, you're in charge Ms. Lady." 

She drags you up from the ground to make you stand up. She grabs you by the arm and begins dragging you out of the tall lady's chamber. 

"So.... What's your plan with me?" You ask, monotonus 

"I'll make you my plaything," she smiles maliciously, "After I'm finished with you, I will eat your flesh." 

You just listen to her ramble on about how she'll kill you, unphased. However she stops when she doesn't hear a reply out of your mouth. 

"How are you not afraid?" She asks 

"I have nowhere else to be, no other family to go home to," you start, “So, what does a demon like myself have left to lose? Besides, you’d be doing me a favor hot stuff.” 

You saw her cheek flush a faint pink color when you realized you called her cute. 

"Also, I wouldn't want you eating demon flesh," you sigh, "You've seen how your.... Mother reacted to my blood. Can't really imagine what my flesh will taste like...." 

"Then why don't I find out?" She asks, menacingly 

You look at her confused however wince in pain when she takes a bite out of your arm. You watch her eat the part of your flesh and blood. However, mid-eating the flesh she tore off you, she stops and opens her eyes. 

"You're.... Divine," she moans, finishing her snack 

You look at her in slight awe, the moonlight complimenting her pale skin. Her eyes dilated from the apparent divine taste of you.

"One, a little warning next time you decide to snack on me,” You groan, watching the indent on your arm heal, “Two, I can regenerate my skin cells a lot faster than the average. But it'll regenerate slower if you continuously eat from the same spot. I can also snap my bones back into place. Hence me being able to snap my jaw back into place when your sister punched the hell out of me." 

The both of you stare at each other before she breaks the eye contact and dragging you to her chambers. 

"You okay with a demon in your room?" You ask, "Aren't you afraid of a sleep paralysis demon?" 

You asked it as a joke, however, Bela turns to you, confused. 

"What's that?" She asks 

"You've-you've never heard of a sleep paralysis demon?" You ask 

She shakes her head. 

"Well," you smirk, "You just might see one." 

Bela giggles, "well aren't you a sharp tongued little demon." 

"I'm not little," you growl 

"Aww the little demon is so cute when she's mad," Bela continues teasing you 

Having enough your instincts take over, a ring of bright blue fire takes over your body, two flame like horns protrude from your head, your pupils turning into vein like slits, your canines sharpening to a point, as do your nails and finally, your tail bone becomes an actual tail. Your nail dug into the other woman's wrists as she gazes up at your new appearance. 

"My my little demon aren't you all riled up," she says seductively 

You say nothing but look at her unamused. However, your grip on her doesn't loosen, trying to intimidate her with your supposedly terrifying secret. However, she moves her leg over you so that she’s straddling you. The grip you had on her subsides and she gives your wrists the same treatment. She leans down close so that one side of her hair drapes over you like a curtain and her lips within touching distance. 

"If you think you can come in here unannounced and nearly top me, you're in for a world of hell," she whispers 

"Well I was brought here against my will," you joke, "But, I don't think that's a bad thing at all." 

You smirk at her. You look at her lips then back up at her eyes. Feeling bold mysteriously, you raise your head up to meet her lips. You pull away the second you snap yourself back to reality. 

"Why did you pull away little demon?" She asks 

At that point you couldn't be mad at her for calling you by your now pet name. You couldn't find the proper answer. 

"I don't know," you half-assed it 

She lifts your arm and licks the blood that remains on your wrists, moaning in pleasure from how your blood tasted. 

"If you ever cross me like that ever again, I'll make sure you're going to pay for it," she whispers 

"Any way you want princess," you smirk

It was a restless night for you, you continuously fought with your demon self from transforming. You managed to persuade the other woman to have you sleep on the floor, out of fear of setting anything on fire. You couldn't stop growling. The tossing and turning wasn't helping either. 

"What's wrong micul meu demon?" The other woman asks, groaning 

"N-nothing I'm fine," you answer all groggy like, "Did-did I wake y-you?" 

"No," she says, "I'll help you. Come into bed demon mic." 

"I'm fine," you growl, almost letting your demon come out 

You feel a swarm of insects roaming around your body until you felt plopped down onto a bed. The other woman snakes her arms around your midsection and you suddenly felt your demon... Rest. That's never happened before.. 

"Better?" She asks 

"Yeah," you confess, settling yourself in, "Thanks..." 

You could feel her breath going right down your neck. You were both nervous and aroused. You turn your body so that you’re facing the other woman.

“Are you aright?” She asks

You nod, letting the feeling of the embrace and you take the opportunity to finally enjoy a nights sleep.

“Good night, micul meu demon,” Bela whispers into your ear

Of all things you’ve experienced in one day, a compassionate vampire lady wasn’t an expectation.

The next several months go by and you're beginning to open up with Bela and everyone else. Everyone has grown fond of you and you teach them about the different kinds of powers you have. You'd often have sparring sessions with Bela in order for her to brush up her skills. Majority of the time its been her catching you. For her “personal reward” she’d take a bite out of your flesh, blood, whatever she wanted to do with you. But today's sparring session, not this time you think to yourself as you navigate through the castle. 

"Nowhere to run demon mea," Bela teases as you navigate through the dungeons 

"Yeah?" You taunt back, "There'll be nowhere to hide once I get you!" 

From the shadows you could hear a swarm of flies form around you. You could feel Bela's presence, she hasn't even touched you and you immediately pin her to the wall, one hand holding her wrists above her head, the other almost clawing her face. 

"I got you little princess," you smirk, "I win." 

You lean in to kiss her fiercely. She returns the kiss as well. You let go of her wrists and coil your arms around her waist, she digs her fingers into your hair as you begin digging your lips into the crook of her neck. You didn't realize how hard you were sucking her skin until you tasted blood. You hear a moan escape out of her mouth as you suckle on her neck. 

"I don't know about me," you say, seductively, "But you are divine." 

Your hand unconsciously explores Bela's slim figure. Your hand travels further and further down before you reached a slit in her dress. Before you could even give her the pleasure you've been dying to give her, she lets out a strangled sigh and slaps your hand away. 

"Ow! Damn Bela," you growl, slightly upset, "What was that for?" 

"You haven't earned that perk yet micul meu demon," she teases, "Maybe tonight my love, during the full moon." 

Out of pure arousal, your demon form pops out, your tail wagging. You try to put them away but to no avail. 

"Micul meu demon," she whispers into your ear 

Blue flames ignite. You force yourself to stop them and control your heartbeat and breathing. 

"She's all riled up," Bela continues teasing 

"You're lucky I have no willpower to destroy you," you growl 

"Maybe you will tonight," she teases again 

You watch her disappear into bugs and fly off.. 

"Bela's really taking a liking to you," Cassandra appears, making you jump, "Oh I made the little demon scared." 

"Don't call me little demon Cass," You sigh, "Only Bela can call me that. By the way, shouldn't you be torturing some new plaything right now?" 

"I'm waiting for mother to bring in a new one," she says 

"Well have fun with that," you sigh, chuckling slightly 

Cassandra flies off to who knows where. Daniela is doing god-knows-what. Lady Dimitrescu is in a meeting with the other three houses, leaving you in your thoughts and awaiting Bela to return. 

An hour goes by and you haven't seen any trace of Bela.. You become slightly upset.. However, you just decide to go back into Bela's chambers until Lady Dimitrescu calls you for dinner or Bela calls for you. However, as you're ascending the staircase, you could hear Bela's voice. You open a window slightly to see her getting knocked to the ground by a mysterious figure you weren't familiar with. 

"Bela!" You call out 

You propel yourself from the open window and concentrate your fire power into your legs to reach Bela faster. 

"STOP!" You scream 

You forward flip and use one foot and attempt to heel the enemy trespasser from injuring Bela further. You missed however, the trespasser launches himself backward as you do the same, guarding Bela. Your demon taking control of you, you growl and snarl. 

"Who. Are. You?" Your demon voice and normal voice ask, combined, "What gives you the right to touch what isn't yours?!" 

"Oh, my mistake," he only says, "You weren’t around so I didn’t think. And a human plaything claiming that she owns a vampire? Don’t joke with me now kid." 

You snarl at the nickname as you were so used to Bela calling you 'My little Demon'. You've warmed up to the nickname and only Bela could call you that. 

"I wouldn’t be joking if I didn’t just launch myself from a castle window.” You say

The both of you charge at each other and engage in a fight. You try to yell back toward Bea to get Alcina or even Cassandra. But, each time you were able to turn around, you couldn’t tell her to get out of harms way. Letting your anger get the best of you, you gain the upper hand however, letting one opening in, the enemy elbows you in the stomach and throws you towards Bela's direction. 

"Micul meu demon! Are you okay?!" She asks, towering over you, trying to check you out for any severe injuries 

You nod, not able to form words from the wind being knocked out of your body. The both of you hear footsteps crunching the snow. Bela becomes her usual terrifying self from when the two of you first met and throws her body over yours, guarding it. 

“You keep away from her!" She growls 

"And what will you do?" He asks, laughing, "Protect this... Human? HAH! Don't make me laugh! This human isn’t special!" 

He kicks Bela in the chin and knocks her away from you. Something in you snapped, what the trespasser did to Bela alone made your blood boil. 

"As for you weak 'human plaything' I'll help myself to dinner and-" 

Before he could step onto your stomach, you catch his boot with your hand, digging your now black nails and singed arms into its soles. He looks down at you, noticing a bright glow emitting from below him. You were engulfed in blue flames. Your nails and arms singed up to your elbows. The pupils in your eyes had turned into slits and your upper and lower canines sharpened to a point. A tail and two flame like horns appear from your forehead. 

"Don't you EVER touch what's mine!" You snarl, your demon voice merging with yours, nearly overlapping your regular voice 

You launch him of the ground and elbow his stomach the same way he did to you, only, you elbow a lot hard and into the ground. He coughs out blood as he kicks you out of the way. This unphased you as you no longer feel the pain that had been inflicted on you earlier. 

"Damn kid," he coughs, "What's up with you?!" 

You only scream at him and charge toward him, footprints being singed onto the ground, melting the snow. Using whatever strength he had left, he slices your arm off, along with a leg, catching you off guard. This gives him the opportunity to launch you back away from him You snap out of your demon frenzy, but still remain in your form to protect Bela. 

"決起術 (けっきじゅつ)," you and your demon growl, your newly regenerated hand out toward the enemy vampire. The dismembered leg had also grown back. [Translation: "Blood Demon Art"] 

"H-how?! I cut off your limbs.... How are they now grown back?!" He asks demandingly, looking frantically for whatever you were reaching out for 

"熱血 (ばっけつ)!!!" You scream, closing your hand, a blue flame exiting from the two ends of your closed fist [Translation: "Exploding Blood!!"] 

From across the field, the vampire bursts into a blue flame. Hearing him scream, he begins writhing in pain. 

"Who are YOU?!?!" He screams 

"An offspring of The Devil," you announce, your human voice comes through, "I protect what's mine!" 

"Please just make it stop!!" He yells, "I won't come back and touch her again I promise!!" 

"And you never will," You only reply before making the flame ignite further 

You watch him burn to a crisp. Watching him become nothing more than ash. You turn to Bela to check on her. When you realized she wasn't moving, you skid across the snowy ground you try to get Bela to wake up. 

"Hey hey, come on princess," you say, "Don't you DARE leave me now. Come on speak to me!" 

You were practically yelling at that point. You hear other footsteps coming out to your direction and you look up; Alcina comes running out to your direction. 

"What on earth happened?!" Alcina asks, "What did you do?!" 

"An enemy vampire trespassed through your grounds, Alcina" you explain, "I didn't notice him until I heard Bela crying out for help." 

"Where is this trespasser?!" She asks 

"I burned him to a crisp," you answer 

She looks up at you, in disbelief. However, when you look at her, there was no joke in your voice or expression. 

"My daughter wake up," she tries calling out to her daughter 

As you watch Alcina try to wake her daughter, it hit you. You know what she needs. 

"B-blood, that's it right? You need blood!" You ask Bela, trying to get her to speak 

Without thinking, you strip off your leather jacket in an effort to Keep her warm. Not caring about your own body heat, you use your claws to make a scar onto your forearm. You take Bela into your un-bloodied arm as you hold out your bloodied one out above her mouth, squeezing the life out of your arm to have your blood drip. You gently open her mouth just as a blood drop falls into her mouth. 

"Come on, come on," you panic 

You watch as she begins to writhe and then watching her mouth latch onto your arm, drinking your blood. It was painful, feeling her fangs sink into your flesh, however, for her, you'd endure it. You place your palm under her head to keep her head steady. You couldn't help but smile slight as you continue to watch her suckling on your arm like a little baby. Bela finally gains consciousness and stops feeding on you. Praying she didn't drink too much. 

"Micul meu demon" she smiles, her fingers gently dancing across your features 

Tears rolled down your eyes as you kiss her unconsciously, regardless if there was now blood on your own mouth. 

"How did you-" Alcina asks 

"She... Apparently likes the way my blood and flesh tastes," you say, "One of the reasons why your daughter decided to keep me." 

You pick Bela up and walk back into the castle with Alcina and her two other daughters waiting for you three in the foyer. 

For the first time that night, you could finally sleep peacefully. The both of you were entangled in each others' embrace, wasting the remaining night away. You never expected that you’d be the demon amongst the vampires. It was never a thought to you that of all living creatures, you, a demon of all things, had caught the eyes of a vampire. Maybe being a demon is a blessing... 

[ranchracoon]

Update!

"Make Me Yours" Chapter 9 Posted

"Body, Flesh, and Bones" Chapters 3, and Chapter 4 Posted

"To Be The One" Chapter 4 Posted

Warm (Dimitrescu Sisters x Fem Reader)

[coughsyrep]

Dying (For You to Love Me)

Daniela Dimitrescu x Original Female Character

Summary: "...she feels her throat tickle. She absentmindedly coughs, expecting that to be the end of that, but the feeling persists, and she coughs harder. Suddenly she sits up, feeling like she was choking. She thumped a fist on her chest several times before she feels something flit past her lips. She takes a deep breath, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes before looking down. A large, light pink petal sat on the floor in front of her."

Found the concept of Hanahaki Disease from divinegrey's work on Tumblr called Red Salvia, which you can check out here:

𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚟𝚒𝚊 / 𝚟𝚒 𝚡 𝚏!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

7917 Words

Link to Ao3 if you prefer that format:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36130324

If you'd prefer to read it here:

The first time she coughed up a petal, she was alone in the library. Duke had given her a new selection of books only several hours earlier, and Daniela couldn’t have been more thrilled. She had grabbed the large stack, her sisters shouting at her that they needed to pay before she could leave with them, but she was too absorbed in her thoughts, her hopes that these stories would take her far from the castle, far from the pain of the cold Romanian weather, far from the maidens who always swore they loved her only to try to run. Someday she’d be the protagonist in one of these stories, she swore it.

She half skipped, half flew through the halls, maids dodging into empty rooms as she giggled excitedly. It was a rare day where she paid them no mind, sickle still strapped to her side before she came to a halt when she sensed one in particular. She clutched the books to her chest, listening to the woman’s footsteps. As they went farther down the hall, she dared to peek out around the corner. The woman had a graceful yet powerful stride, one befitting of someone with such beauty. She watched until she turned the corner, and let out a breath. That nameless woman had to be the one. Whether she be the knight or princess, Daniela was unsure, but their love would rival every tale Daniela’s ever had her hands on.

Her books! Daniela looks down, stroking them lovingly before rushing for the library. She immediately jumps onto her favorite armchair, the force of which scooting it closer to the fireplace that was always lit, and opened the first, getting lost in the words within moments.

Just before she was called for dinner, and now over halfway through the book, she feels her throat tickle. She absentmindedly coughs, expecting that to be the end of that, but the feeling persists, and she coughs harder. Suddenly she sits up, feeling like she was choking. She thumped a fist on her chest several times before she feels something flit past her lips. She takes a deep breath, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes before looking down. A large, light pink petal sat on the floor in front of her. She leans over, brows furrowed as she gently picks it up, turning it in hand. The slight dampness of it let her know that she had indeed coughed it up, but how? She was sure that she hasn’t tried to eat a flower since she was only several years into her transformation…

“Lady Daniela?” Daniela turns quickly at the sound of a maid’s voice, raising an eyebrow at the way she flinched from the sudden movement. “Lady… Lady Dimitrescu has requested… that y-you come to dinner. My lady.” She curtsies and leaves quickly, and Daniela rolls her eyes. Why are all the maids so cowardly? They just aren’t as much fun as the braver ones when they realize they’ve lost one of her games. She stands, closing her book and carefully setting it on a table next to her, looking down again at the petal. She hums before placing it in her bra, trying to decide what to do with it.

She makes her way to the dining room, this time letting her sickle swing in her hand. She glances at the doors of the rooms where she knows maids are hiding, smirking when she hears their heartrates speed up at the sound of her flies buzzing erratically. When she reaches the dining room doors, she sheaths her sickle before slamming the open.

“Good evening, family!” Her sisters turn towards her, distracted from whatever argument they were in the middle of, and her mother looks up at her, an eyebrow raised.

“We are honored to finally have you here, darling,” Alcina says, and Cassandra snickers. “Do you, by chance, have an explanation for your tardiness?”

“I… erm…” Daniela clears her throat, looking down at her heels, “…I got a little caught up in my newest novel.” Alcina sighs, waving at Daniela’s seat which she quickly takes.

“Perhaps we should get you one of those clocks for your wrist,” she says, her sisters holding back laughter, “so this event won’t happen again. Yes?”

“I’m sorry, Mother,” Daniela says quietly, refusing to look at the smug faces of her sisters. “Well, now that everyone’s here…” Alcina picks up a small hand bell, the quiet chime followed by the kitchen doors opening. Food is placed in front of them, and Daniela immediately grabs at hers, shoving it into her mouth. She pays no attention to the maid pouring her wine, but freezes when she realizes that her true love was standing against the wall, prepared to clean after the family. She straightens, grabbing her utensils, and forces herself to eat slower.

“Look who’s being all prim and proper,” Cassandra snorts, and Daniela looks up to see her family looking at her with varied expressions. Cassandra’s being amusement, Bela’s confusion, and Alcina’s something akin to proud.

“Perhaps she’s learning,” Bela says, and Daniela looks down.

“More likely that she’s caught another crush,” Cassandra says, and Bela puts a hand over her mouth to hide a smirk.

“Girls,” Alcina says, and both of the older sisters look away, eating their meals in silence again. Daniela’s eyes flick once again to the woman before her throat tickles again. Her appetite already gone from the jeering of her sisters, she stands.

“Not hungry,” she says, doing her best to hold her breath while she flies away, only stopping when she gets to an empty room as far from her family as possible. She coughs violently, eyes watering again as another petal falls to the floor. It’s the same type, although a different size and slightly different shape. She shakes her head, putting it next to the first before going to her room. As she changes, she places the petals on her desk before laying down, body more exhausted than usual. She can see the light from the sun beginning to come through the cracks in her curtains, and she lets her eyes flutter shut.

Unsure of how long it’s been, she nearly jolts out of her bed when she hears a knock. She calls for them to come in, and Bela slips in, a tray of meat in one of her hands.

“Hey,” Bela says quietly, walking to her bed and holding the tray out. “You didn’t eat much, so I figured you might want a snack.”

“Thanks, Bells,” Daniela perks up, giving her sister a smile before taking a piece of flesh, tearing into it. Bela sits down on the corner of the bed, watching her carefully.

“You know,” she starts, and Daniela looks up, “you can talk to me about anything. Right?” Daniela nods, smile faltering at the thought of her strange cough. “What are you thinking, Dani?” Her eyes flick to her desk before she places the tray to the side, walking over to the desk and picking them up.

“Do you know what type of flowers these are?” She asks, and Bela stands, taking one of them.

“They’re not ones that we grow here,” Bela says, looking up with sudden accusation in her eyes. “Did you take these from Donna?”

“No!” Daniela says, shaking her head harshly. “I kind of… coughed them up?” Bela closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Dani, that may be one of the most ridiculous lies I’ve heard you tell.”

“It’s not a lie!” She says defensively. “I actually did!”

“Listen, I know you don’t want to get in trouble, but we talked about telling the truth.”

“It’s the truth!” Daniela feels her eyes begin to burn when Bela shakes her head. “I swear!” Bela throws the petals towards the desk, although they end up falling to the floor. Daniela immediately kneels to pick them up, holding them tightly to her chest.

“Goodnight, Daniela.” Bela begins to walk out of the room, but Daniela grabs tightly onto her arm.

“Please! I’m telling the truth!” A moment passes before Bela pulls her arm away, closing the door and muffling Daniela’s sobs.

-

-

Daniela wakes three times in the middle of the night, twice to have coughing fits until a petal falls from her lips. She grabs them the second they do, holding them protectively to her chest. The third was several hours before she’d normally wake up with the feeling of the original petals crumbling in her tight grip. She sits up, carefully opening her fist to see they had become brittle. She sighs, standing and walking towards her door, pausing to listen for anyone awake near her. When she heard no one, she walked towards her mother’s room, wincing at any sunlight that hit her skin. She heard the quiet rustling of paper as she got closer, and opened the door to her room slowly.

Her mother’s face changes from anger to warmth when she sees her daughter, waving her forward.

“It’s quite early for you, dear. Is everything alright?” Daniela shifts on her feet, and Alcina looks at her with concern. “What troubles you?”

“…You know of different types of sicknesses, right?” Alcina nods, an eyebrow raised. “Have you heard of one where people cough flowers?”

“It sounds like you’ve had an interesting dream,” she says, smirking slightly.

“But what if it’s real?” Daniela asks, voice becoming shriller. “Isn’t it a possibility?” Alcina sighs, turning fully to Daniela.

“Daniela, I fear that you may be… imagining things again.” Daniela grits her teeth, looking away. “If you’d like to ease your mind, there is a section in the library with medical texts dating centuries back. However, I’ve read through many, and have never heard of an ailment such as that.” Daniela perks up, remembering the section she’s never had much interest in.

“That’d be perfect!” She hastily exits the room, not noticing when her mother calls for her. In less than a minute she’s standing in front of the texts, pulling the first one and rushing to her chair, knocking the new books off of the table. She flips through every page, scanning each page for any references to flowers. It had to be somewhere, it had to be!

Three and a half journals later, she’s summoned for breakfast. She races for the hall, sitting impatiently as she waits for the food to be called out.

“Someone must be famished,” Cassandra says, and Daniela slaps at the finger that prods her cheek. “Guess running out on dinner wasn’t the smartest move, no?”

“Shut up, Cassandra,” she growls, and Cassandra whistles.

“Somebody’s grumpy. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed too, huh?” Daniela stands, snarling at her sister who just seems to be amused.

“Enough,” Alcina says calmly, and Cassandra smirks at her as she goes to her seat. “Daniela, please sit.” She does with a huff, glaring at the staff who began serving the meal. They keep a wide breadth as they place her food in front of her, and she nearly inhales the food, her only thought on returning to the library.

“Forgot your table manners over night?” Daniela ignores Cassandra, as well as her mother’s scrutinizing eye. She finishes in record time, pushing the plate away from her.

“May I be excused? Thank you.” She rushes out of the room, ignoring her mother’s call for a second time as she flies to the library, immediately focusing back on where she left off.

She spent hours in her corner, throwing textbooks and journals to the floor as she continues to look for her ailment. She’d occasionally be wracked with another coughing fit, and she’d store each petal in her bra before turning back to her research. Over a dozen texts later, she groans, leaning back in the chair and rubbing her eyes. She was known for losing track of time while reading, but never this much.

“Lady Daniela?” A voice calls, and she snarls as she looks over her shoulder. She immediately straightens when she sees her true love standing with a feather duster, flinching away.

“I’m sorry, darling,” she says, standing, “I didn’t realize it was you.” The woman looks at her, a flash of confusion before she lowered her eyes.

“It’s… fine?” She takes a deep breath before looking back up, Daniela entranced with her eye color. “I wanted to ask if it’d be okay for me to clean this section?”

“Hmm?” Daniela looks around, realizing the mess she’s made. “Oh, I suppose. Leave anything on the table alone though.”

“Of course, my lady,” she says, curtsying. Daniela turns back to the book she had just gotten off of the shelf, but found herself distracted by the maid. Her heart seemed to calm after their initial conversation, and she now seemed focused on her task, holding every book gently in a way that only those who cared for reading would.

“What do you like to read?” She asked suddenly, the maid jumping slightly at the interruption of the silence.

“Oh… I suppose anything involving science fiction?” Daniela hums, fingers idly playing with the corner of the textbook. “Do you enjoy learning about medicine?”

“No, why would you think that?” The woman lifts the textbook she held, the cover having ‘Internal Medicine’ in large text. “Oh, right.”

“Is there something in particular you’re trying to learn about?” Daniela opens her mouth, ready to spill whatever was happening to her, before remembering her sister and mother’s reaction.

“Nope!” She says, putting on a large smile. “Just… reading to learn!” The maid nods, although Daniela can see that she isn’t fully convinced. She grits her teeth, about to call her out, when the woman looks up.

“Well, let me know if you need any help.” Daniela swallows hard, looking away. She couldn’t force her love to look for an illness that she carries, couldn’t let her know that she was sick. She would worry, it would be awful for her as a partner to put that on her! The fact that she would even think of such a thing, it just… it just…

Daniela didn’t even feel any signs before she started coughing. She doubled over, gripping the table, tears blinding her. The sound of the woman calling for her reminds her that she wasn’t alone, and she immediately swarmed away, hiding in a room. The moment she slammed the door shut, a petal fluttered out, yet she continued coughing. She fell to her hands and knees, nails digging into the rug she landed on until a second petal fell. She gasped for air, grimacing when she felt something poking the inside of her left lung. She leans back, tracing over the dress above it, looking down at the two petals.

“Shit.”

-

-

Two weeks pass, and everyday Daniela spent all of her free time in the library. She still tended to and punished maids when Cassandra was unavailable, as well as did her best to help Bela with invoices (although each time she would be kicked out after numerous mistakes,) but her usual flurry of thoughts now only focused on finding what was wrong with her. Her mother and Bela asked if they could ask with her research, but she turned them down with a distracted wave while her nose was buried in a text. Her true love had a shift change, despite her tantrums. Her mother had said something about how they needed more help in the kitchen, and now they rarely saw each other. It soured her mood greatly, and maids interacted with her even less.

And the petals. Mother Miranda, the petals. She’d begun to cough up dozens at a time, her ability to breathe cut off during each of these attacks. And the random poking in her left lung had grown worse, a strange weight now growing on the inside of it. Her breathing became more labored, despite her doing less activities, but she hid it from her family. If they didn’t want to believe her, so be it. She’d figure it out herself.

But each time she looked at the jar she had taken from the kitchen, now overflowing with petals, the less hopeful she felt. Where were they coming from? Why was this happening? What was wrong with her? What was wrong with her? What was wrong, what was wrong, what was wrong?!

“Daniela?” She snaps her head up at the sound of her mother’s voice, smiling sheepishly at her. “You heard what I said?”

“Of course!”

“Then may you please repeat it back to me?”

“Oh, erm, of course…” Cassandra snickered, and Daniela looked over in time to see Bela’s small smile before she caught her eye, face becoming stoic again.

“Darling, what is the matter?” She looks back at her mother, who looks at her with deep concern. “Something’s been troubling you for several weeks. You’ve been so incredibly distracted, dear.”

“Just a little spacey,” Daniela says, trying to sound nonchalant. It was her usual excuse, even when she wasn’t sick. Her mother sighs, seeming to believe her, and reaches out, patting her head. Daniela sighs, leaning into her mother’s touch. Her hand reaches down, lifting Daniela’s chin.

“We’ll be having a lord’s meeting, and you three will attend. After, Donna and Angie shall be staying a few hours to do hem work on some of the older maid outfits.” Daniela nods, trying to show that she gave her mother her full attention. Alcina thumb strokes her jawline, and Daniela starts to purr before immediately stopping, trying not to wince from the pain in her lung. “I expect you three to be on your best behavior.”

“Yes, Mother,” they say simultaneously.

“Good. Daniela, stay. You two may go.” Bela and Cassandra swarm out of the room, and Daniela watches the door long after it’s closed. “Daniela, if something is troubling you, you need to tell us. We will help, in any and every way that we can.” Daniela looks to Alcina, trying to give an aloof smile.

“I’ll tell you if I need help,” she says, and her mother sighs after staring at her, trying to silently convince her to speak.

“Very well,” she says, “you may go.” Daniela immediately rushes for the library, but halts the second she sees her love. She turns back to her human form immediately, walking towards her.

“Darling!” She calls out, and the woman turns, startled. “It’s been so long since we’ve last seen each other!”

“Lady Daniela,” she says with a small smile, giving an awkward curtsy while balancing a wooden box in her arms. “I apologize, kitchen duty is quite strenuous.” Daniela walks up to her, taking the box.

“Allow me to help walk this to the kitchen?” The woman looks like she’s about to argue before sighing, looking down.

“I truly appreciate your help, Lady Daniela.” Daniela gives her a large smile, shifting the box to her hip.

“Anything for you, beloved.” The woman nods before beginning to walk, Daniela easily matching her pace.

“How is the research?” She asks, and Daniela glances at her, confused. Did she know? Did she make it obvious? Oh no, what if she made her worry?

“What do you mean?” She watches her, scared for her answer.

“On the medical texts? You said that you were reading them to learn?” Daniela’s shoulders relax, and she nods.

“Of course, yes, it’s going well,” she says quickly, “a lot to read, all sorts of texts of everything pertaining to the body in that section. Bones, muscles, different organs and systems and all sorts of other things.”

“All sorts of other things?” She says, amused, and Daniela grits her teeth.

“There’s a lot of things in there, okay? I can’t learn everything about everything in a couple of weeks.” She notices the maid flinches at her tone, and she looks away.

“I apologize for overstepping, my lady.” She says, becoming passive. Daniela opens her mouth to apologize before hearing one of her sisters. She pushes the crate back into the woman’s hands, feeling guilty when she sees that her knees buckle, then stands stoically, glaring at the woman.

“Ensure you get this to the kitchen on time next, pet,” she says loudly, ensuring that whichever sister was coming would hear her. The woman looks at her, both confusion and fear on her face. Daniela’s façade breaks for a moment as she mouths ‘sorry’ then swarms into another hallway, ensuring she flies through her sister’s swarm.

“What the hell, Dani!” Cassandra shouts, both of them hitting the floor. “Get your head out of your ass!”

“It was an accident!” She immediately retorts. “Maybe you should watch where you’re going!”

“You were the one that rushed the corner!”

“You could’ve dodged! Aren’t you supposed to be the perceptive one?” Cassandra snarls and lunges, slamming Daniela into a vase. Before she has a chance to get up, she gets thrown into an opposite wall, and Cassandra lands on top of her.

“What? Not gonna fight back?” Daniela huffs, trying to catch her breath as she tries to push her sister off. She barely hears Bela above them, and as she pulls Cassandra away, Cassandra kicks at Daniela, foot landing on the left side of her ribs.

A scream silences the two eldest sisters, both frozen at the pain Daniela is suddenly in. She clasps at her side, wheezing as she rolls over, trembling from the pain. Bela lets go of Cassandra, but neither move an inch, instead watching the youngest crying from pain as if she had exposed to the cold.

“What is going on in here?” Alcina shouts, suddenly appearing behind the three. She gasps when she sees Daniela, and rushes forward. “Darling, what…”

“Just leave me alone!” She cries out, swarming to her room. She lands on the floor of her bathroom, gasping as she pulls herself up using the sink, and strips the top of her dress off. She looks at her ribs, pressing a hand to where Cassandra had landed her kick, and shuddered when she felt movement. It felt like her lung was being pushed from the inside out, wriggling as if there were vines. She starts coughing again, landing on her knees as she fought for air, petals coming out at a furious pace. Eventually she can finally breathe, and she looks down at the pile, furrowing her eyebrows at a small clump of them. She lifts them, turning them before gasping, dropping it to the floor.

It had a stem.

-

-

Daniela barely paid attention at the lords’ meeting. Avoiding her family beforehand had been exhausting enough, and the stem was an advancement that she hadn’t seen coming. So instead, she stares at the floor, the voices sounding muffled as she wondered what she would do. She could feel her sisters and her mother glance at her often, but refused to look at them, embarrassed that they had seen her like that and scared of the thought of telling them what was happening. What if they though she only wanted attention? Wasn’t she enough of a nuisance?

She curtsies a second after she notices her sisters doing so, and the lords stand. Bela couldn’t even take a step before Daniela swarmed away, landing in the library and pulling as many books as she could. She flipped through them, tired eyes making the words fuzzy before she groans, throwing all of the books off and standing, gripping the table tightly as she forced herself not to cry.

“Lady Daniela?”

“Darling?” She doesn’t even need to turn around to know who was behind her. Instead she straightens as the woman steps around the table, avoiding the books scattered on the floor.

“Is… everything okay?” Daniela huffs out a laugh, sitting back down. The woman nods before walking to a chair across from her, sitting as well. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“Do you…” Daniela sighs, leaning forwards. She knew her mother would yell at her for not sitting like a lady, but at that moment she didn’t care. “Have you ever had a secret, that you wanted to tell, but just… couldn’t?” The woman tilts her head, and Daniela puts her elbows on her knees, hands now holding her head. “If you were to tell, it’d either make others worry like crazy or…” the looks on her sister’s and mother’s face when she had brought up her ailment made her grimace, “…or they’ll think I’m being delusional.” She chuckles humorlessly, shaking her head.

“Is this related to your studying?” She asks, and Daniela looks up. She bites her bottom lip as she nods, looking at the books on the floor.

“I’ll clean this up,” Daniela says, nodding at the disorder, “I don’t want you to deal with my mess.” The woman stands, but instead of leaving like Daniela expected, she walks over and picks up one of the books. Daniela looks up at her, furrowing her brows, but she only smiles.

“I’d like to argue that you’ve made worse messes,” she jokes, and Daniela gives a small smirk, “and it seems you’ve got other things on your mind. Go rest, Lady Daniela.”

“Just Daniela,” she says, and the woman nods.

“Go rest, Daniela.” She nods and stands, giving her love a small smile before walking out. Just before she’s out the threshold, her throat tickles, and she swarms away, as far from her as she can before she starts coughing. She’s gotten used to the routine of falling to all fours, coughing even though she can’t breathe, waiting until everything’s out before she swallows as much air as she can. She sighs when she finished, leaning back and closing her eyes. Every time this happened, she swears air had never felt so good, despite never getting the feeling of a full breath anymore. She opens her eyes, shrieking when she sees Angie standing in front of her, head cocked.

“Angie,” she says carefully, eyes flicking between her and the flowers, “you didn’t see any of that, right?”

“Oh, I saw all of it!” She screeches, walking to the stack of petals, lifting one and inspecting it carefully.

“Angie, please don’t tell anyone, promise you won’t tell anyone, please!” Angie tilts her head to the other side, fingers still holding onto one of them.

“Okay, I promise,” she said, and Daniela breathes a sigh of relief, “but Donna doesn’t.” Daniela’s head whips up, searching the room until she sees Donna’s silhouette in a corner.

“Donna, please,” she nearly whispers as Donna walks forwards, “I can deal with this, I promise! I’ve been reading so many medical texts, and it’s not so bad, it doesn’t happen too often, please don’t…” Daniela doesn’t realize that she’d started crying until Donna kneels by her, brushing her tears away. She shivers at the touch, leaning into her palm once it’s offered.

“How long?” She asks quietly, and Daniela sighs.

“Over two weeks?” She guesses, and Donna hums, taking the petal from Angie.

“Do you understand why?” Daniela takes a shaky breath before shaking her head, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’ve been looking everywhere,” she whispers, squeezing her eyes shut to keep more tears from falling, “I can’t find anything. And it’s so preposterous, no one believed me.” Donna’s hand falls to her shoulder, and Daniela looks up at where she thinks Donna’s eyes are.

“They’ll believe us.”

-

-

When Donna told Alcina that she needed to call an immediate family meeting, everyone was in Alcina’s room within a minute. Alcina sat in her usual chair, her two eldest to her side. They all stared at Donna and Daniela intently, Angie sitting quietly in Donna’s arms.

“Well? Everyone is here, what is the emergency?” Daniela’s eyes flick to Donna, who tilted her head. Daniela opened and closed her mouth several times before balling up her fists, hanging her head. Angie hops out of Donna’s arms, and Donna places a hand on Daniela’s shoulder while Angie waddles to Alcina. She holds out a single petal, which Alcina takes, furrowing her eyes at it.

“Is this some sort of new experiment?” Alcina asks, looking up at Donna. “I can spare you some bodies from the dungeon, but I don’t see why…”

“No.” Alcina immediately becomes quiet, waiting for an explanation. “That is what Daniela has been coughing up for, apparently, the last two weeks.”

“What?” Alcina scoffs, looking at her daughter. “Why in the world-“

“I don’t know,” Daniela says in a defeated tone. “I’ve been trying and trying to figure out why, but I can’t.”

“Is this why you’ve spent so much time in the medical section?” Daniela nods, shoulders hunched. “And this is why you asked, hypothetically, if it could happen?” Again, Daniela nods. Alcina’s gaze switches to Donna. “Well, as… concerning as coughing up a petal is, I don’t see why it would be such a big deal is.”

“Oh,” Angie cackles, “it was far more than one! Kid was hacking up a lung for a while trying to get them all out!” Alcina grits her teeth at Angie’s voice, attention back on Donna.

“How many?” Donna pulls a pillowcase that she had taken from a guestroom, the bag half full. She pours it out, and some pieces flutter while others with stems fall straight to the floor.

“Holy shit,” Cassandra mutters, and for once her mother doesn’t chastise her for her language. The three stare at the pile until Daniela sniffles, and Bela steps forward.

“Dani,” she whispers, rushing forwards when Daniela starts crying, wrapping her in a hug. “Dani, I’m so sorry.” Daniela grasps her tightly, sobbing as she tucks her head into the crook of Bela’s neck. Bela looks over to Donna, unsure of what to do. Her mother and other sister do the same, the pained cries tearing them apart.

“What’s happening to my daughter?” Alcina asks, vulnerability evident on her face. Angie hops away from Alcina and back to Donna, who scoops her up.

“It’s called Hanahaki Disease,” Angie says, her grating voice less irritating to all of the Dimitrescu family while she explains. “It’s so rare that it’s said to be fake, but some of Donna’s research led her to finding texts on it. It starts with coughing up petals, but they’ll eventually become full flowers and, if it progresses, vines that have probably already begun to grow will completely fill her lungs. If she were human, thorns would pierce through her insides, and she would die. However…” Angie pauses, tilting her head. “Do your daughters need to breathe?”

“Not necessarily,” Alcina says, fingers tapping on her arm rest, “although they wouldn’t be able to regenerate after some time.”

“In that case, it’s very possible that she could die after she can no longer regenerate.”

“Then how do we cure her?!” Everyone except for Donna jumps, and Daniela buries herself deeper into Bela’s neck. Her older sister hushes her gently, looking between her mother and Donna. Cassandra slips her way to the door, sickle ready in her hand in case anyone dares to interrupt.

“There are two ways for her to be cured,” Donna says, and everyone’s attention is on her. “The first is the removal of the vine. However, it may not be safe, as the technique isn’t perfected and it’s impossible to tell if the results would differ because of the Cadou.”

“And the second?” Donna head turns to Daniela, whose eyes are peeking out at her behind her sister’s hair.

“Whoever you are in love with,” she nods to Daniela, “must love you back.” There’s a moment of silence before Alcina sputters.

“That’s absolutely ridiculous! That sounds like nothing more than a fairytale!”

“I agree,” Donna says, head turning back to Alcina, “yet her symptoms are quite real.” As if to prove a point, Daniela pushes Bela off of her before dropping, once again choking on the petals and stems. All of the other Dimitrescu women stand, wanting to but unsure of how to help, while Donna puts Angie down and calmly walking to Daniela’s side, whispering soothing words once she’s kneeled by her. Cassandra is the next to go to her, surprising everyone including herself, and she crouches, pulling Daniela’s hair back. Bela follows, and goes next to Donna, rubbing Daniela’s back, and finally Alcina, who kneels by her head, taking Daniela’s hand when she reaches for her.

After a particularly large stem, Daniela sucks in air, as do all of the other women out of relief. Daniela lets herself fall into Cassandra’s lap, who immediately holds her protectively, hand brushing gently on the shaved side of her head. She looks up at her mother, who looks pensive. “What do we do?” Alcina looks down at her youngest, considering the two options that Angie said they had before sighing, shaking her head.

“We get the one she loves… to love her back.”

-

-

All five women made their way to the dining hall, with only the head maid allowed to enter. Daniela leaned back in her seat, still struggling to breathe after the most recent attack. Her sisters sit on either side of her, protective energy coming in waves off of them. Alcina sat in her usual chair, and Donna and Angie across from the girls.

“Daniela,” Alcina says for a third time, only to be met with more squirming. “We must know who this person is in order to help you.”

“What if it’s a man thing?” Daniela asks, and Alcina grinds her teeth.

“If it is a ma…” she breathes in deeply, closing her eyes before she spoke again, “…even if it is, we’ll do what it takes to cure you.”

“Is it?” Cassandra asks, and Daniela chuckles.

“No, was just curious.” Bela visibly restrained herself from chastising Daniela, making Cassandra snort.

“Enough,” Alcina says, and the three straighten. “Daniela, let us help you.” Daniela breathes in as much as she can, looking at her hands as she shrugs.

“I don’t know her name.” The women look at each other incredulously, and Bela rubs her temples.

“You fell in love with someone, and you don’t even know their name?”

“Have you never heard of love at first sight?” Daniela says dreamily, and smile creeping on her face. “It was so magical, the moment I saw her.”

“So this is literally out of a fairytale,” Cassandra murmured, wincing when Bela reached over to slap the back of her head. “You mean to tell me I’m wrong?”

“Would you be able to point her out if you were to see her?” Alcina asks, ignoring the antics of the other two. Daniela nods, smile becoming wider. “Very well, we shall have a line-up of the maids.”

“What? No!” Daniela shakes her head as furiously as she can, wincing at the dizziness she felt when she stopped. “That wouldn’t be romantic at all! This has to be perfect!”

“Can’t you sweep her off her feet after you get her to love you?” Daniela glares at Cassandra, who holds up her hands. “I’m just saying, we don’t know what the time frame for this is. You need to, what is it that they say? ‘Woo’ her or some shit?”

“Cassandra,” Alcina says in a warning tone, and Cassandra turns to her, an exasperated look on her face.

“Tell me you’re not thinking the same thing! I mean, most humans probably don’t think that coughing up flowers is the most romantic thing in the world, whether they be roses or whatever the hell she’s hacking up!”

“What are they?” Daniela asks, suddenly looking at Bela. They share a glance before Bela sighs, smiling sadly at her.

“They’re all from a peony,” Bela says quietly, and Daniela relaxes into her chair.

“Peony,” she whispers to herself, beginning to daydream. Alcina sighs, swirling a glass of wine in her hand.

“Daniela, would you be willing to lay down in your room? You seem a bit… exhausted.” Daniela turns to her mother, nodding before standing, walking slowly out of the room. Once they’re sure that she won’t be able to hear them, the atmosphere becomes much more serious.

“Are there any maids that you two can think of who may be the one?” Bela and Cassandra glance at each other before Cassandra nods slowly.

“There’s one girl that I saw Daniela carrying a box for to the kitchen. When I went to mess with… I mean, talk with them, she pretended to be scolding her then ran into me on purpose.”

“There was a maid who I’ve seen talking to her in the library a couple of times,” Bela says thoughtfully, biting her lip. “I think she’s the newest to the kitchen staff?”

“That’s the one I’m talking about!” Cassandra says excitedly, looking to their mother. “It must be her! So we just have to force her to love Dani, and she’ll be cured!”

“You can’t just force someone to love another,” Bela says, and Cassandra raises an eyebrow.

“Tell that to my sickle.”

“That’s not how love works, bug brain!” Angie shouts, and the three turn to her. “If it’s not true, then it won’t work!”

“We’ll have to keep them in close proximity and hope the feelings are reciprocated then.” Alcina nods to herself, looking back at her daughters. “This woman shall be Daniela’s new chambermaid. And until we cure her, I’d like one of you two to accompany her unless she is with the maid.” The two immediately nod, and Alcina turns to Donna. “Is there anything that you could do?” Donna looks at her for a moment before her veil blows out slightly.

“The best I could do is something for the pain, possibly a sedative.” Alcina nods, taking a long sip from her glass before setting it down.

“Very well. Bela, if you could watch over her first. Cassandra, see to it that the maid’s position is transferred. And Donna, I shall contact you about your remedies.” The two daughters immediately swarm to their duties as the other two stand, Donna collecting Angie in her arms. “And Donna?” The dollmaker turns to Alcina, who bows her head to her.

“Thank you. For your assistance in this matter. And…” she pauses, biting her lip, “…and for showing me my faults as a mother. I shall do better.” The hand on her arm surprises her, and she furrows her brows.

“You’re a good mother, Alcina,” she says quietly, and Alcina gives her a sad smile as she pulls back, bowing slightly at the tall woman. “Good night.”

“Good night, Donna.” She grimaces at the screech of protest coming from the gremlin in her arms. “Good night, Angie.”

“G’night, skyscraper!” She cackles at her own joke, and Alcina scoffs, walking to check on her daughters.

-

-

It took another three weeks before Daniela first pulled an entire flower from her throat, two more before each breath she took was little more than a wheeze. Her family seemed to constantly hover over her, the only break she had from them was when her love came. She had learned her name, but it slipped her mind in between the constant ‘treatments’ Donna sent and the understandable but increasingly annoying worry from her family. So she instead called her Floare, finding the dark irony of it funny.

A knock at her door pulls her from a nap, and Daniela smiles as she sees her enter the room.

“Good afternoon, Daniela,” she says, carrying a book in front of her.

“Did you bring it?” Daniela asks, voice hoarse, and Floare nods.

“It was exactly where you said it’d be,” she says, placing it in Daniela’s eager hands.

“I swear, you’re the only reason I’m still sane right now,” she says, holding the book to her chest. Floare smiles, sitting on the edge of her bed. “My family is… I don’t know. I never knew it was possible to care too much for someone, but now I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

“My little sister was the same,” she says, chuckling. “She wanted so badly to help our family, going as far as to try to steal so that all of us could eat dinner at night.”

“Why weren’t you able to?” Floare shrugs, looking down at her hands.

“We didn’t have the money. Our father’s carpentry business went under, and no matter how many odd jobs we took, my father and I were forced to take turns when it came to eating dinner.” She looks back, a sad smile on her face. “We always made sure she ate though.”

“Where is she now?” She asked, not noticing that the book had slipped onto her lap.

“Since I’ve come to work here, we’ve saved enough to send her to a private school, in the city.” Floare’s smile becomes genuine. Daniela smiles as well, simply watching her as she becomes lost in her thoughts. There’s a warmth to her that Daniela had never experienced with another maid, and in the time that she had been her chambermaid, she felt an odd sensation unsimilar to those she loved only momentarily. It was so much deeper, and she wondered if that’s why this ailment afflicted her. Over time, she learned things about Floare that she once thought mundane but now treasured.

Her favorite color is green.

She prefers coffee over tea.

She loves the smell of cinnamon, but can’t stand the taste.

She’s scared of thunderstorms.

And the first mundane thing she learned, that she held close to her heart, is that her favorite stories are anything involving science fiction.

She didn’t realize that she was drifting off until the weight of the book was lifted from her thighs and her comforter was pulled higher over her. She murmurs, not completely sure what she said herself, but hears a chuckle.

“Good night, Daniela,” Floare says, her hand brushing away a stray hair on her forehead before she walks to the other side of the room, beginning her duties. Daniela’s head lulls, trying to look over at her, but her eyelids refuse to open, and she instead lets her exhaustion consume her.

-

-

A week passes before it becomes obvious that Daniela’s regenerative abilities have deteriorated. Now when she coughed up stems, they came with thorns, and it took what felt like ages for the bleeding to stop. The sensation of her own dried blood on her tongue made her cringe, and her chest had visibly expanded, ribs straining against her skin. The walk to the dining room left her breathless, and she’s passed out several times while trying to hack up flowers. Her family decided for her that she wouldn’t leave her room, and even when the chambermaid came in, one of her sisters was there.

She no longer had the energy to care. Every breath hurt, the weight in her chest becoming unbearable, the feeling of thorns shredding her from the inside out making her wish that someone would open a window and end her quickly.

A few days after they discovered that she was becoming more and more mortal, the sound of the front doors slamming open rouses her from her sleep. She sees Bela’s head whip to the door, gritting her teeth before making her way to it.

“Stay here,” she says with authority before swarming towards the sound of thundering footsteps, men shouting and gunshots firing. Daniela forces herself onto her elbows, listening to the sounds of fighting below her, her thoughts go to her family first, and how they’ll be fine, how they’ll protect the castle, how those attacking will be dealt with. Then she hears a scream, and although she can’t tell if it’s her…

What if it’s her…

Daniela forces herself to her feet, wincing at the scraping within her lungs. She breathing is staggered as she makes her way down the hall, memory leading her to the servants’ quarters. How ironic, she thought, that she so often dragged maids from there to sentence them to a painful death, only to now be going to try to protect one who caused her illness.

She slows at the sound of two feet running towards her, one much heavier and farther away than the other, and she ducks around a corner. She looks to the dead end behind her, and bites her lips, wondering if she’d be able to swarm away if necessary. But her thoughts stop when she sees her, her love, her Floare, turn the corner and meet the wall. The heavier footsteps skid to a halt, and Floare’s eyes meet hers before she makes a split-second decision.

“Daniela!” Floare screams behind her as she moves with agility she didn’t know she still had, the bullet aimed at Floare’s head instead hitting Daniela’s chest. She gasps at the sensation, wondering if this was how humans felt when they were shot, before falling.

Instead of her own body falling to the ground, the man’s hits it heavily, and Daniela feels arms wrapped around her.

“Daniela, what have you done?” Floare cries out, holding her close. “What have you done?!” Daniela stares at her, Floare’s tears dripping onto her cheeks. She reaches up, cupping her cheek.

“You’re so beautiful, draga mea,” she says weakly, and Floare sobs, pulling her closer. Daniela huffs, letting the touch comfort her. “I’m so lucky to have met you.” She sighs, curling into her as much as she could. “You taught me how to love.” Floare looks down at her, one hand reaching to brush through Daniela’s hair. “Not like in the stories. There is no story like ours.” Floare lets out a laugh, shaking her head.

“Ever the romantic,” Floare says with a hiccup. Daniela chuckles before coughing, a single petal shooting out of her mouth and landing in Floare’s hair.

“Floare,” she murmured, closing her eyes, breathing slowing with every second that passed. Floare holds her tighter, burying her head in her neck.

“No, you can’t go,” she sobbed, eyes closing tightly, “don’t leave! Daniela!” A hand lands on Floare’s shoulder, but she quickly shakes it off, screaming Daniela’s name over and over. Cassandra looks down on her, no longer holding back her tears as she watched the scene in front of her. Alcina and Bela stand on the ground floor with bodies littering the floor around them, listening to the cries, not moving out of disbelief.

“Please,” she said weakly, throat raw. “I… I love you, please.”

Floare gasps when she feels shifting in Daniela’s chest, and both her and Cassandra watch in awe as her chest deflates and she takes a deep breath, eyes flying open. Their eyes immediately lock, and Daniela gives a bright smile, grasping at Floare’s wrist. Her grip grows stronger as the bullet dislodges itself, the hole and unhealed cuts in her throat and mouth stitching together.

“You love me,” she whispered, and Floare laughs, leaning down and kissing her forehead. They didn’t notice when Cassandra left to tell the other members of her family that had happened, or when bodies were being dragged to either the kitchen or dungeon, depending on if they had a heartbeat. They instead hold onto each other, as if afraid that the other will slip away from them.

“Thank you,” Daniela whispers, and Floare pulls her closer, burying herself into Daniela’s neck. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Thank you for not giving up,” she responds, and for the first time since long before the first petal, Daniela feels like she can finally breathe.

[fr3sh-tragedies]

Pay Attention

[Resident Evil: Village] Daniela Dimitrescu x Female Reader

Word Count: 7.05k

Proofread: Yes

Content Warnings: Mentions of Daniela feeling like a burden, general angst-to-fluff, crying, soft pining, worries of delusions, and skipping a meal.

[A/N]: I was wanting to post this a week apart from Cassandra’s, but the WiFi went out and took a few days to fix, so I wasn’t able to work on her part. On top of that, I'm not entirely sure how to write for her character since I only recently started to come up with stories for her.

I had much more planned for this one, but I wanted to keep the word count in between what I had written for Bela and Cassandra, so I shortened a few things.

Also, this will be the last story for the Dimitrescu sisters for a while. Please check my bio for an explanation on that. I'll likely be writing for Amity Blight and Boscha from The Owl House next! Check the poll at the end of this story.

Enjoy!

 “Love can exert the same strain on the body as experienced intense fear. In a person in love, the same physiological reactions are observed: dilated pupils, sweaty palms, an increase in heart rate.” Pure intrigue and fascination sparked its way through Daniela’s body, her molten golden eyes skimming over the lines on the page that seemed to pull her in further with each passing word. A few weeks prior, when she had made her usual trip to the Village to visit the Duke and see what stories he had to offer, he had mentioned a book about facts relating to the human body’s anatomy and physiology–a book of “fun facts,” as he called it. Daniela had taken interest in this immediately and ordered it. During the time that she waited, she pondered about what kind of facts it could contain: whether or not it would mention how the body works when a human is in love.

Although she wasn’t entirely aware of it, there was a part of her mind that always brought her attention back to a certain maid that worked for her family. Anytime she thought of how the body might react to being in love with someone, her mind wandered to [Y/N] [L/N]. She would think of how soft her stare always seemed to be, how relaxed she appeared in the youngest Dimitrescu daughter’s presence. It made her feel as though she trusted her the way she was yearning for.

Subconsciously, she would begin to daydream. At first, it only started at night when she was getting ready to fall asleep after a long day. Over a–rather short–amount of time, however, she found herself staring into the distance at random times, completely in a blissful daze. The smitten woman would think constantly of [Y/N]’s steady gaze, and almost immediately fight to suppress a squeal once remembering how flustered she had gotten each time the two of them made eye contact.

After calming down, she’d dream of [Y/N]’s soft locks of hair that always seemed to frame her face so perfectly, cupping the outlining structure of her cheeks and jaw that she wished she could caress with her own hands. How she envied the way any other maid, or even one of her sisters, would so easily rip her attention away from her. She wished she could find a way to keep [Y/N]’s attention on her, find a way to make her pay attention, in other words.

To ease her growing frustrations, she’d turn her attention to [Y/N]’s lips. Although the young woman hadn’t worked for her family for very long–likely only two years–it didn’t take Daniela long to begin falling for her. Often, she would feel her eyes fluttering shut as she tried to vividly picture herself gaining the privilege to kiss her. She wondered how soft her lips would feel against her own. How warm they would be. Would they welcome her with the same spark of enthusiasm? Or would they freeze against her own before roughly removing themselves from one another?

She was often made fun of for being delusional when it came to romance, always falling back to rely on the romance novels she could be found burying her nose into on multiple occasions every single day. As much as she hoped her love would be reciprocated, she could feel the doubts and insecurities creeping in, wishing she didn’t have to consider the fact that her sisters may be right: she may be delusional about this romance.

Maybe she was making this out to be something so much more in her head.

Blending together and jumbling up her mind only made her daydreaming grow more frequent and harder to tear away from. She found herself retreating to her fantasies out of fear of it being the only way she would be able to hear [Y/N] tell her she feels the same way.

Her sisters would snap her out of it and, of course, tease her for it. It would always leave her flustered as she tried to act as though she wasn’t just fantasizing about her favorite maid, which she had personally requested serve the family for each meal.

She’d hastily make her way through her meal, ignoring the taunting of her older siblings, before excusing herself to fly back up to her room for some kind of privacy. She knew Bela and Cassandra would expect to find her in the library first–if they were to search for her–so she would hide away in her bedroom and distract herself with the stack of books she had stashed away in her wardrobe for such an occasion. Time and time again, she’d think about the book she ordered, increasingly growing fearful that it would only worsen her possibly deluded dreams.

After a while of waiting anxiously to learn more about the human body that always captivated her in more ways than one, the book finally arrived at the Duke’s cart. She paid him as promised and quickly fled back to the castle to read in the comfort of her favorite space, the library, leaving her sisters to continue their shopping on their own.

Thankfully, she had managed to keep her inattentiveness to a minimum. Because of this, she felt it was okay to go back to her sanctum to read, rather than secluding herself in her bedroom.

Brushing past the maids that worked deftly throughout the front parlor and all the way out to the opposite sides of the sturdy structure, Daniela finally made it to the library, where she shut the doors behind her and huddled up on the sofa closest to the center, allowing the large skylight above to provide light for her to read under.

She had curled up against the armrest, tucking one of the throw pillows against her chest and propping her legs up to press it further against her torso. Quickly, she flipped the front cover open and thumbed eagerly at the pages as she began to read the introduction–which opened by explaining how different events trigger different emotions and hormones throughout the brain and body. It was hard for her to suppress a yawn. The way the paragraphs were phrased, including the diction used, seemed more like something her eldest sister Bela would be interested in.

Seemingly countless words filled each pale, thin page, all of which added up to share different messages and facts about the physiological side of emotions. When the Duke had been talking of the book a few weeks prior, he made it seem far more interesting than what she was reading at the beginning. She had pictured interesting facts put together with very few words, short sections of small lists decorating the page with each bulleted point. She did enjoy lengthy novels using flowery language, which often used far more detail than this book had so far, but those had a story building up throughout each turn of a page.

The way the facts were laid out before her made her feel like she was being lectured by Bela.

The paragraphs seemed to stretch on and on. Her eyelids drooped upon feeling heavy, her boredom growing more and more evident across her features.

She sighed, swiftly flipping through the pages using the pad of her thumb, desperately searching for where the more interesting part of the book was. Finally, with a small cheer of triumph, she discovered what she was seeking out for. She smiled gleefully and nuzzled up against the sofa and the pillow. Her body sunk down into the cushions as she finally took interest in the words that rested underneath a large, bold title that read “Facts of the Brain.”

It had started off sharing facts about the brain connected to the nervous, digestive, and integumentary systems, though what truly caught her interest was when it started speaking of how love and romance affected the body. Finally, she found the part of the book she had been fantasizing about for weeks. Each fact drew her deeper and deeper into the pages, her senses tuning out the rest of the world. Her smile cracked wider and wider across her face, and just like she had done before she had even gotten her hands on the book, she pictured the effects taking place in her and [Y/N]’s bodies while dreaming of one day learning that her love was mutual.

Laughter is associated with the positive sides of love that partners share.

The initial stress of a relationship can cause physical symptoms similar to a heart attack, known as Broken Heart syndrome.

Different stages of love exist, with different reactions at the start of a relationship that are different from the ones that they feel when it is a long-term romantic attachment.

Being in love alters our personality and perception of things. We can become more open to things that our lover is into, or we may even become more optimistic about things.

Love leads to the deactivation of the amygdala in the brain, which regulates fear. Thus, you are less scared of outcomes and consequences when in love. You experience a fearlessness and bravery that you wouldn’t usually feel.

Gleefully, Daniela squealed in excitement over all of the new information greeting her. She continued reading, wondering if [Y/N] had ever felt any of these things while around her. She had certainly felt the intensity of her feelings anytime she so much as thought of the girl. Had [Y/N] felt the same?

The urge to share these interesting facts with her family grew stronger in her body. Maybe if she brought it up with her sisters and told them of how she wanted to use the information to finally confess to [Y/N], they would encourage her and help her do so.

Quickly, she stood from her spot on the small sofa. She spun on her heel and practically skipped towards the doors, softly closing the book and tucking it under her arm after folding the corner of the last page she had read. She flung the doors open in front of her, then tugged them shut before letting the lower half of her body swarm back into the flies that made up her being, allowing her to float above the ground and travel quickly down the hall. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to find Bela or Cassandra first. She had heard them come back home a while before, though she wasn’t aware of where they were.

Bela was likely in her study going over the paperwork her mother had given to her, and Cassandra was without a doubt in the armory crafting her newest weapon with the metals she had purchased from the Duke back in the Village. It would be far easier to visit Cassandra first, seen as how she was the closest.

Daniela made her way through the doorway that led to the hallway connecting the main hall’s stairway to the Wine Room. She slid past the balcony, brushing past the maids that seemed to cower back a bit at her presence. She then hooked a right at the end of the walkway, then a left, and went through a few more doors before finally reaching the armory. Just as she had assumed, Cassandra was in there, working away at designing a new dagger she would be able to add to her personal collection. She sat atop the crates stacked against the main pillar in the center of the room. A pen in hand, she sketched out her idea onto a sheet of paper that sat propped up in her lap. She used a thin sheet of wood as a surface to draw on.

She seemed not to have noticed her younger sister walk into the room, and Daniela smiled to herself. She lurked forward silently and hid behind the crates, peering out over the top. With a silent chuckle, she moved to float just behind her sister, sucking in a small breath and readying herself to yell in an attempt to startle her sister.

“Don’t even think about it, Dani,” Cassandra warned without glancing in her direction, continuing to focus on her newest blueprint in front of her instead. Daniela let out the breath she had been holding through a loud sigh, pouting as she crossed her arms and flew to stand in front of her sister. “You’re no fun,” she murmured. “I am so. I’m just working on something. Plus, I don’t think you realize that I was able to hear the door open and close when you came in.”

“It could’ve been Bela or a maid that came in! Why would you assume it was me?”

“Well, Bela wouldn’t have tried to creep up on me, she would’ve waited at the doorway and said my name or cleared her throat to catch my attention. And the maids know they aren’t allowed in here, especially if I’m already here, unless I ask them to polish the armor. I knew it was you. And either way, I could smell you coming from down the hall.”

“H-Huh?”

“Your perfume, Daniela. It’s so strong all the time. Makes me wanna pinch my nose shut every time so I don’t have to smell it. God, are you trying to cover up the smell of all the blood and death on you? Because if you are, it’s not working.”

Daniela could feel her face burning, the blush that had already begun to form on her cheeks out of embarrassment now creeping up onto the tips of her ears. She felt her shoulders tensing up, the grip on both her book and her arm tightening to a painful degree. “Th-That’s not true! I’m not trying to hide anything with my perfume!” She scowled and stared at Cassandra for a moment, although her gaze was not met. Her sister continued to stare down at her sketches, though there was a cocky grin plastered on her face. Daniela scoffed and shook her head.

“That doesn’t matter,” she started again, tugging the book out from under her arm as she once again looked up at her sister. “I wanted to show you this book! It’s full of all kinds of facts about the human body and mind, and I finally got to the part about how love affects the body, and I wanted to–” “I’m not interested, Daniela. I’m busy. And besides, you’re the only one who cares about all of this romance stuff this much. The rest of us are perfectly fine with keeping it to ourselves.”

Daniela frowned, her enthusiasm beginning to crumble in a very visible way. She thought for a moment about what she could say to capture her sister’s attention. “W-Well, I know you don’t really care for my interest in romance novels, b-but I think you’d like the rest of the book! It’s–”

“Daniela, I’m not interested. I don’t care what the rest of the book is about, I don’t want to hear it. If you’re only going to pester me with this when you know I’m busy, then just leave.”

Daniela’s frown only deepened, her gaze dropping down to the floor. “I-I’m…not meaning to bother you, Cass. I’m sorry. I just wanted to share it with someone, and you were the closest one to me, so…” She turned her attention to the book still waiting to be opened again in her trembling hands. She absolutely hated the feeling of being a burden to anyone. Before she could get too deep into her head, however, she began heading towards the door again. Perhaps Bela would be more accepting of her excitement.

She retraced the trail she had taken to find the armory, though she flew downstairs into the main parlor instead. Her arms tugged the book closer to her chest as she soared all the way to Bela’s personal study. There, she made sure to knock before entering.

“Who is it?” Bela asked softly from the other side of the door. “It’s just me,” Daniela replied. Bela sighed. “Come in.” After the confirmation that she could come in, Daniela opened the door and headed inside before closing it behind her. She spun around and walked over to Bela’s desk, where her eldest sister was working away, already buried in paperwork again. “What do you need, Dani? Is something wrong?” Bela briefly glanced up at her before shuffling a few papers, letting out a small sigh when she found the paper she was seemingly looking for.

The youngest daughter stood next to the desk and stared at Bela patiently. “N-No, nothing is wrong. I just…wanted to know if I could share something with you.” The blonde grumbled something under her breath and pinched the bridge of her nose as she leaned back against her chair. “As long as it’s made brief, yes.” Daniela’s frown returned. “Oh, well…” She tapped the front cover of her book, catching Bela’s attention. “Not exactly something brief, but I thought you might like to hear about it. You know…just in case you decide you want something to read later on down the line.”

Bela sighed again, running both of her hands down her face. “Dani, you know I would usually have no issue with you talking to me about your stories, but,” she was cut off as Daniela leaned forward and interrupted her. “But it’s not a story this time! It’s a whole book filled with fun facts about the human body! I think you’ll really like it.”

“Look, that sounds interesting, I suppose. But I’m really busy, and I need to get all of this finished before the end of the week. Which is in three days, mind you, in case you weren’t already aware.” Bela slid forward again and picked up a smaller stack of documents tucked away in files. She thumbed through them, checking the labels for what she was searching for. “If you really must share it with someone, go find Cassandra instead.”

“I already did though. She said I was just irritating her and that I needed to leave while she works on her new weapon. I figured maybe you’d be more interested in it.” Daniela grimaced at a thought that made itself known in the front of her mind. “I’m not…bothering you, am I?” Bela looked up at her finally. “Listen, you know I don’t enjoy being blunt with you, but quite frankly, yes, you’re bothering me. These papers are very important, Dani. I have to focus on them right now.”

Again, Daniela’s confidence began to crumble. Even more so when her sister once again turned back to her work as if it were far more important than her. “Oh, I-I’m…I’m sorry.” She began to back away, unable to tear her eyes away from her feet as they led her backwards. “I didn’t mean to,” she whispered, her voice cracking.

She twirled back to face the door, slipping through it and leaving abruptly. She could feel her insecurities eating away at her self esteem. Tears began to form and prick the corners of her eyes. She let out a small sniffle and began to head out towards the courtyard. “Perhaps mother will listen to me.”

She traveled all the way through the large, open space, grateful that the weather permitted her to do so peacefully. She made it to the structure connected to the space just across the dining room, floating up the stairs, through the doorway, and then turning to go up yet another set of stairs. She then took a few more turns before finally making it to her mother’s chambers. She pressed her ear to the door, smiling weakly when she heard her mother moving around on the other side.

Swiftly, Daniela knocked on the door. “Yes?” Her mother questioned, her tone professional in case it was a maid. “It’s just me, mother. May I come in?” “Of course, dear. Just try to keep your voice down.” Daniela was confused by the last part of her mother’s statement, but she still turned the door’s handle and pushed it forward, allowing her to step inside. She smiled, though it quickly dropped once she saw that Alcina was on the phone, likely with Mother Miranda again.

“O-Oh, I’m sorry, mother. Is this a bad time?” Alcina glanced over at her softly for a moment, though quickly sighed and furrowed her brow. “No, Daniela, it’s not–ah, yes, Mother Miranda. I’m aware. I can assure you that everything will go accordingly.” Daniela made no move to step further, already sensing that she was becoming a burden to yet another one of her loved ones. “I’ll leave you be. I-I’ll see you during dinner,” she mumbled just loud enough for her mother to hear.

She turned and left the room just as Alcina looked back over at her again. “Daniela, wait.” Another sigh. “Mother Miranda, I understand. Yes, I know how important this is to you.”

The entire time she had tried to share her interest in this new book she found, Daniela had been fighting back tears. With each way of saying that she was only being a nuisance, her confidence faltered before shattering into pieces. Now, after bottling it up for so long in hopes of being able to change her attitude, she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. They streamed down her face as she rushed back up to her room, locking her door and crawling up against the pillows on her bed.

Until she managed to think things through and calm down, Daniela intended to hide away in the comfort of her bedroom. She wiped at her face, scolding herself for being so emotional for such a ridiculous reason. Her family was simply busy doing their own things–they didn’t owe her the time of day.

But she wanted so badly to share something she was so passionate about with someone. Her excitement had blinded her to the fact that she truly was burdening the others as they tried to work. They were all doing important things, and she was curled up on her bed, sobbing because she wasn’t able to keep the attention on her?

How pathetic.

How selfish.

She sucked in a shaky breath, trying desperately to bring her crying to a halt. It failed, however, as another sob wracked through her body. She whimpered, feeling as though she truly was weak since she wasn’t even able to keep a straight face. She shifted and turned on the bed, burying her face in her pillow as she tossed the book onto the floor. Maybe the plush surface beneath her would muffle the sounds of her vulnerability.

“Lady Daniela? Will you be joining your family for dinner anytime soon? They’ve asked me to see if you’ll come down.” “No, I’m not going to eat dinner tonight. I-I, um…Just really want to finish my book. Tell them I’ll find something to eat later, will you?” “Of course.”

It had been a few hours since Daniela’s meltdown. She had finally managed to stop crying within the first hour of hiding away, though she still felt too depressed to leave her room. Dinner had been ready for over half an hour at that point, yet she was the only one not to have joined her family downstairs to eat. It surprised her mother, as she was usually the first one seated, always eager to see what the kitchen staff had prepared for their meal that night. She had sent a maid up to her youngest daughter’s room four times, asking them to encourage her to come down and join them, even though Bela and Cassandra were already finished eating.

The two waited patiently at the table per their mother’s request, although they also wanted to use the time spent at dinner to apologize to Daniela for the way they treated her. They both felt guilty for it and spoke to each other about how they could make it up to her. When she didn’t join them at the table, however, they could feel their regret growing stronger. They often poked fun at her for different things, but Daniela knew it was all in good fun. She knew they didn’t really mean anything by it.

They were sisters, after all, and they even mocked each other at different points. Most of the time she would laugh at their jokes aimed in her direction. They must’ve really hurt her for her not to at least come downstairs long enough to eat dinner with them.

After waiting another half hour, they decided that it was best to give her a bit of space before they tried to properly apologize for what they had done. They left the dining room. Alcina, however, continued to wait there for her youngest to show up. She never did, and after yet another hour, Alcina headed upstairs to her own room to retire for the night. She knew her daughter likely needed time to herself, especially after Bela and Cassandra explained what had happened. In the morning, she’d make sure to check in on her daughter personally and apologize to her herself.

All the while, Daniela remained in bed, staring blankly at the wall the side of her bed was pressed up against. Her eyes were dull, straining as she fought to stay awake. She wasn’t sure why she wasn’t letting herself fall asleep. She knew she’d feel better if she got a bit of rest, but for some reason she just wouldn’t let her eyes stay closed.

Her mind was swarming with all kinds of negative thoughts, none of which managed to do anything but dampen her mood even further. She must’ve lied there for hours in absolute silence. Everyone else, including the maids, had already gone to bed, which is why it was such a surprise when a knock sounded from her door. She nearly jumped out of her own skin. A loud yelp slipped past her lips as she jolted upright and felt her head whip towards the direction of the door.

Who could that possibly be? Surely her sisters weren’t up at this hour. It was long past midnight, and although she knew the two of them were more insomniatic than she was, she could tell from the way that silence followed the knock that it wasn’t them. Still, her heart hammered in her chest as she tried to decipher the scent.

“Wh-Who is it?” She asked shakily.

“It’s me, Daniela,” [Y/N] responded from the other side of the door. “Is it alright if I come in?” Daniela’s heart began to race even faster, though it was for a different reason now. Why was [Y/N] the only one who came to check in on her herself? Perhaps she cared more for Daniela than her own family did. She hesitated, her mind telling her she’ll only be a burden to the woman she loved so dearly. Ignoring those cruel thoughts, she wiped her face and straightened out her dress. “Yes, come on in,” she finally said at length.

Slowly, the door creaked open to reveal [Y/N], who peered in through the dim lighting the candles from the hallway managed to provide. “What’s up?” Daniela asked softly, watching as the young woman closed her bedroom door and walked over to her bed. She sat on the edge of it and gazed over at her. Even with how dark her room was, Daniela was able to see the concerned look on [Y/N]’s face. “I heard about what happened today. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Daniela smiled weakly, her heart pounding against her ribs once more. She glanced down at her lap, tugging her gloves off and tossing them to the side to pick at her nails. Her palms flipped downwards to desperately try to wipe the sweat onto the fabric of her dress. “I-I’m fine,” she mumbled in reply, her voice almost inaudible. [Y/N] shifted on the bed, the mattress suddenly sinking down next to Daniela as she sat beside her. “C’mon, you and I both know that’s not true. I can see it on your face. And in your body language. You’re upset. You don’t have to hide it. You don’t have to tell me about anything, but I can promise you I won’t judge you for whatever it is you’re upset about.”

Now, as her lip began to quiver for the first time in hours, Daniela managed to peer over at her from the corner of her eye. She tried to maintain her composure, though it was quick to falter as [Y/N] held out her arms and gazed at her with those damned eyes. “C’mere.”

Without meaning to, Daniela whimpered and practically seemed to lunge forward as she dove into [Y/N]’s embrace, letting her face bury itself into the smaller woman’s shoulder as she let out a small sob. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was about this girl that made her feel so safe, other than her love for her. Something about the way [Y/N]’s eyes always seemed to show a sign of trust and never held any judgment made Daniela feel as though she could confide in her about anything.

[Y/N] was quick to rock her back and forth, her fingers gently stroking the unshaven side of the redhead’s messy hair and scratching soothingly at her scalp. “Everything is going to be okay, Dani. And they didn’t tell me to say anything, but your sisters and mother are very sorry for whatever it was that they did to you. Believe me. I was able to see it on their faces during dinner.” Daniela sniffled softly and tilted her head to peer up at [Y/N].

“You were there during dinner?” [Y/N] nodded down at her with a soft grin. “Yes. I was also…” She seemed to hesitate, worried about something. Daniela straightened up at this to look her in the eye. “What is it?” “Ah, I just–I was also there in the room with Bela earlier when you tried to show her your book. I heard what happened.” A soft shade of crimson dusted Daniela’s cheeks as she turned her head away in embarrassment. “Oh, I didn’t even realize. I-I’m sorry you had to see me act that way.” “What way?” “Like a spoiled brat. I-I sounded like I just wanted attention, didn’t I?”

Gently, [Y/N]’s hand came to rest on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. “No, not at all. I can understand being upset about not being able to share something you’re passionate about, and I could clearly tell you were passionate about the book you were carrying.”

Daniela looked back up at her again, slightly surprised. “You don’t think I was being pathetic?” “No, not at all! I’d probably react the same way, honestly.”

Daniela smiled and hummed after a moment. She crossed her legs and returned to where she had originally been sitting on her bed, staring down at her lap. “Th-Thank you for not judging me,” she murmured quietly at length. “It really does mean a lot.” Her head lifted so she could once again look [Y/N] in the eyes, her smile never faltering, and instead growing. “Anytime, Dani,” came the smaller woman’s reply. They gazed at each other for a while, not realizing it.

Suddenly, a look of pure confusion riddled Daniela’s face. “Wait, if you were in the room with Bela when I came in earlier, then how did you not know what I was upset about? And…why did it seem like you didn’t know about any of it until my family “told you?””

Again, a look of anxiousness crossed [Y/N]’s features. She averted her gaze and began to fidget with her fingers. “A-Ah, well, I just didn’t want you to know I had listened to what happened. I thought you might be mad at me for it.” Daniela stared at her, bewildered, but quickly smiled and chuckled. “I could never be mad at you. Especially not over something like that.” She took [Y/N]’s hand into her own and gently caressed the back of it with her thumb.

Daniela sighed in relief. The noises pounding in her mind began to soften, finally feeling at ease for the first time in hours.

“Oh!”

She jumped at that, her heart stuttering in surprise as she quickly turned her attention back to [Y/N], who looked excited now.

“Speaking of that book, I was actually going to ask if you could show me some of the facts you were trying to talk about!” An unusually wide smile cracked across Daniela’s lips, almost to a painful degree. “You’d really be interested in that? And you’d pay attention?” [Y/N] nodded with a look of pure intrigue. “Yeah, of course! I managed to spot the cover of the book while you were in the room. It’s about the human body, right?”

Daniela nodded, quickly flying over to where she had tossed the book to pick it up before returning to the bed. “Yep! The first half is really really boring, but the rest of it is really cool! I love the part about how love and romance affects the body so far.” [Y/N] giggled at her and reached over to the nightstand to light a candle. “I figured as much. That’s very in-character for you,” she replied softly, making Daniela blush.

“Is that a bad thing?” She questioned sheepishly. “No, of course not. It’s actually one of the things I love most about you.” Daniela’s face burned even brighter, and she secretly scolded herself, trying to force the blush to die down before the candle lit up the small space next to them.

“Oh, Daniela. Did that new book you were talking about finally make it in?” Bela asked from the sofa in the front parlor, Cassandra’s head perking up at this. The youngest of the three beamed brightly over at them and chuckled. “Yeah, it did.” Her two older sisters smiled back at her. “Would you want us to read it with you?”

Daniela eyed them for a moment, though her expression quickly changed before they could notice. “Oh, no, it’s fine. I was actually planning on reading it with [Y/N] first! She’s in the library right now: I told her to wait there for me while I grabbed the book from the Duke’s shop.” She hummed and swarmed up, flying all the way across the property to the library, where she found [Y/N] waiting for her on her favorite sofa.

Similar to the way she had been doing almost all day everyday, Daniela smiled wide, squealing from excitement and catching [Y/N]’s attention, who turned to her and grinned in return, waving at her. “Dani, hey! Did you get the book?”

With an enthusiastic nod, Daniela soared over to the sofa and plopped herself down next to [Y/N], leaning against the armrest. “Sure did! Volume two of fun facts over the human body.” She pulled the book from underneath her arm and swayed it back and forth with a teasing smirk. She then set it up against her lap and flipped open the front cover. Bringing her closed hand up to cover her mouth, she cleared her throat, then began to read the story aloud.

As she spoke, she got lost in the words. She hardly noticed as [Y/N] shifted on the cushion in front of her. She was made aware of her movement, however, once the smaller woman leaned against her shoulder to read the words on the pages as well.

Her voice shook and cracked in surprise, her confidence in the words she spoke beginning to waver as she stared down at [Y/N]. “U-Um, are you alright?” She looked up at Daniela in confusion. “Yeah, of course,” was her soft reply. “Just wanted to get cozy, y’know?” Uncharacteristically, Daniela grew sheepish. She was often the one who made a bold move to fluster others–she wasn’t used to someone else doing it to her, let alone the woman she loved.

“Y-Yeah,” was all she could mutter, forcing herself to tear her gaze away and focus back on the words decorating the pages. She continued to read it aloud, though she wasn’t able to comprehend anything she read. This continued for a long while, and finally she was able to get back into a more confident headspace. Her attention to the facts returned.

A gentle yawn sounded from Daniela’s shoulder, prompting her to look down at the source. [Y/N] rubbed her eyes before letting them flutter shut. She sighed as she nuzzled back up further into Daniela’s shoulder. Her nose gently bumped against her neck. The redhead shuttered, causing her breath to halt for a moment. How long had they been reading together? Surely it couldn’t have been that long.

She turned her head to glance up at the skylight, finding that the sky above was growing darker, almost pitch black. “Oh, I hadn’t even realized we’d been here all day. Sorry about that, [Y/N]. Should I carry you back to your room?” [Y/N] shook her head after a moment, seemingly already halfway asleep. “No, I’m fine. This is really comfortable. You can keep reading if you’d like.” Daniela smiled softly down at her and nodded. She shifted her arm to tuck it underneath [Y/N]’s torso and pull her closer, using her free hand to flip the pages of the book as she read silently to herself.

Another hour must’ve passed before Daniela finally finished the book. “Man, it’s much faster to read something in my head than out loud,” she whispered to herself, closing the cover and gently placing the book on the ground next to the sofa. She yawned and sighed, glancing back over at [Y/N]. Her eyes were shut, her breathing and heartbeat slow and steady. Daniela grinned and absentmindedly pressed a gentle kiss to the top of the woman’s head. She couldn’t see it, but her pupils were blown from the love and admiration traveling throughout her body.

“I’m glad you’re asleep,” she started. “I-I promise I’ll tell you this to your face when you’re actually…y’know, conscious–when I can find the courage–but…I love you, [Y/N]. You’ve cheered me up countless times, especially these past few weeks. You’ve always made me laugh and made sure I knew that you were actually paying attention to me. You make sure I know you’re actually interested in what I have to say, and that really does mean the world to me.

“I hope I can help you feel the same way. There are so many things I never want you to have to experience, but feeling useless, or ignored, or…like you’re a burden is definitely one of the major ones. If you ever feel like you have no one else to go to, I just want you to know that I’m here.”

She giggled to herself, running a hand through her hair and then down her face. “I want to keep telling you about how much I love you and why I do, but I feel like I should save all of it for when you’re actually awake to hear all of it. I want you to know just how much you mean to me. Though, that’ll be hard to explain since you mean the world–no, more than the world to me.”

Finally, she let herself relax, leaning back against the armrest and closing her eyes with a heavy sigh. She couldn’t wipe the smile from her face if she tried. Again, just like she had done multiple times over the past few weeks, Daniela jumped. [Y/N] seemed to be unnaturally good at catching her off guard. She wasn’t sure if she was proud of that or not.

“Aww, Dani, that’s so sweet,” she mumbled. Daniela’s eyes shot down to her still resting against her shoulder, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead. “H-How much of that did you hear?”

“All of it.”

Daniela whined in embarrassment. She used her free hand to hide her reddened face, mumbling things under her breath. [Y/N] giggled at her reaction, one arm moving to wrap around the redhead’s torso and pull her closer. Her face nuzzled against Daniela’s collarbone as she smiled and sighed. “But…I love you too. I want you to know that.”

For what must’ve been the fifth time that evening alone, Daniela’s head whipped back around to let her stare at [Y/N]. “You do…?” She whispered, her voice once again cracking as tears unwillingly began to prick her eyes.

“Of course I do. How could I not?” [Y/N] said it like it was the most obvious thing on earth. She really found it odd that Daniela was surprised about her feelings being mutual?

Daniela’s lip quivered. Slowly, she shifted onto her side to fully face [Y/N], who finally opened her eyes to gaze up at her. The smile that caressed her lips so beautifully only made Daniela’s heart flutter. “Could…you say that again?” [Y/N] smiled.

“Yes. I’ll say it to you as many times as you’d like. I love you, Dani.”

She leaned up and began to pepper the woman’s face and head with kisses, whispering a faint “I love you” with each one.

Daniela finally let out a small laugh mixed with a sob. She leaned forward and pulled [Y/N] closer. [Y/N] smiled down at her, shifting up a bit further to comfortably pull the weeping girl into her chest. Her fingers raked through the red locks that rested against the armrest, lulling Daniela further into a sense of security and bliss. “I’ll always be here for you, okay? Anything you need, I’m here: I’ll be here to listen, pay attention, make you laugh, and love you. Just like you said to me, if you ever feel like no one else is there, just know I’ll be waiting for you with open arms.”

Tears soaked through [Y/N]’s shirt, though she didn’t mind. She could feel Daniela smiling broadly against her clothed skin, and that made everything feel like it was worth it.

[auryborealis]

template by @karlheisenbergswife

[ character images from X and X ]

Heisenberg (Crush > Romance): Definitely began with distrust on his end and he may have been a bit put off by her cheeriness in the beginning and considered her to be naïve but he couldn’t help but be intrigued by her (especially because how the hell could anybody in her situation be this peppy and not in a sadistic way). The progression of their relationship to intimacy and romance was a slow-burn. They however had a heartbreaking conflict when it came to using Rosemary against Miranda but they ultimately still care for each other. The shipper in me wants to go on the canon-divergent route where they both survive and be happy.

Dimitrescu (Respect > Neutral): A bit complicated. Faye aspired to be as powerful as her and somewhat yearned for her to be a mother figure but Dimitrescu may not hold as much affection for her as she does for her daughters, only referring her as “The Watchdog” in the beginning. This might have changed over the years and how Dimitrescu would feel when Faye ends up betraying Miranda depends on if Faye is able to prevent Ethan from killing the daughters/if Faye is able to turn Alcina against Miranda/etc.

Beneviento (Friends > Family-like): Donna is Faye’s closest female friend and if not visiting Heisenberg or patrolling the woods, Faye will often visit her to have tea, play with the dolls, or sew. If Heisenberg wasn’t around, Faye would have fallen for her. I think among the lords, Faye would definitely want Donna to get out alive.

Moreau (Rivals > Neutral): I imagine Moreau was not really pleased when he learned that Faye could easily tame the varcolaci and he may have even envied her thinking that she was Miranda’s new favorite child. I think he and Faye gradually became amicable but she may have difficulty convincing him to turn against Miranda. Overall, she pities him but also doesn’t visit him much because it’s wet and muggy everywhere and at one point, she accidentally replicated his acid vomit and it was not a pleasant experience.

Bela, Cassandra & Daniela (Fear > Family-like): Specifically, fear mixed with attraction (cause c’mon). Faye started off intimidated by their bloodlust but eventually got used to it. The sisters gave her more attention than their mother did and taught her how to fight with the sickle (Faye eventually learned how to dual wield them in case she was alone and without her rifle. and if she were borrowing Heisenberg’s magnetism ability, she’d turn into a human beyblade :D). 

Ethan (Allies): They first meet in Castle Dimitrescu where he mistakes her for a prisoner. She assists him in escaping the castle and proceeds to rescue Rose but their alliance is shaken when he finds out about her relationship with the lords and her abilities. They do have each other’s backs until the end. If following the canon, she would be immensely saddened by his death. If diverging from the canon, they would become friends.

Angie (Fear > Friends): Of course it began with fear, look at her. But as Faye grew closer to Donna, she also got used to Angie and her antics.

Miranda (Respect > Hate): Faye’s initial respect and obedience towards Miranda came from gratitude since it was Miranda who saved her life but this began to wane after learning Heisenberg’s plan to destroy her. She finally decided to betray her after learning Miranda’s true intentions for the lords and herself, especially when it involved a kidnapping and dismembering of a baby.

The Duke (Acquaintances): On friendly terms but not close enough to be regarded as friends. He provided her with her sniper rifle and taught her how to cook.

Chris (Neutral): It was Faye who [somehow] got in contact with Chris and informed him of Miranda’s plan. Started off with immense distrust on both ends given her former affiliation and capabilities but she provides secure locations for his team to set up camps in preparation for their attack. If Faye survives in the end, Chris may offer her to join his squad. 

Mia (Never met): But I imagine if Faye survives in the end, she and Mia could become friends, even help raising Rose.

[another-fantasy-world]

“Sometimes, In Order To Win, You’ve Got To Risk Everything”

Hi there! Ya’ll can call me ‘Floryn’. Flor for short. I’m a young, impulsive yet inspired amateur writer who mostly gets her ideas from her hour long shower. I’ve been writing fics and ideas for as long as I can remember, 

First things first, this is a side blog, I can’t reply to comments on this account.

I’m bi. Usually go by she/her but I’m also comfortable with they/them. Since it’s quarantine season, I had a shit ton of series and movies + anime I’ve watched and it’s fueling me to write cringey ass fan-fiction. 

I only write female characters x fem/gn! reader and maybe some wlw ships. 

Please indicate what you'd like to request; fic, drabble, or headcanons.

So without further-ado, Here are the fandoms that I’m currently into and it willing to write for:

SERIES AND MOVIES

Criminal Minds

Wynonna Earp

Twilight 

Supergirl

ATLA

Teen Wolf

Marvel MCU

DC

Riverdale

CAOS

Fear Street

Oceans 8

Fate: The Winx Saga

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Carmen Sandiego

Trese

ANIME

Demon Slayer

Kakegurui

Haikyuu

Jujutsu Kaisen

MUSICALS

Heathers

Mean Girls

Six

PIXELBERRY’S CHOICES

Bloodbound

Nightbound

The Elementalists

The Nanny Affair

The Heist: Monaco

The Royal Masquerade

The Haunting At Braidwood Manor

Hero

Perfect Match

Queen B

THE ARCANA

Nadia Satrinava

Portia Devorak

YOUTUBERS/STREAMERS

Valkyrae

Pokimane

RE: VILLAGE

Lady Dimitrescu

Dimitrescu Sisters

Bela Dimitrescu

Cassandra Dimitrescu

Daniela Dimitrescu

Lady Beneviento

Mother Miranda

MISC

Lorraine Warren

Alma Peregrine

Maleficent

Mary Poppins

MASTERLIST

Check my masterlist for characters that I write for! You may request if you want to( a little warning tho, I am a slow writer so my apologies), be it through anon messages or bold asks. I’ll love you all the same. <3

RULES

Please indicate what you'd like to request; fic, drabble, or headcanons.

No smut. I’m not comfortable writing it, and frankly, I’m not good at it either

Be polite and don’t be an asshole, this is a safe place for people who just need their fanfiction fix

I have the right to deny requests when I don’t want to write them, Sorry.

Keep in mind that I am still studying, therefore that will take up majority of my time, I’ll have to ask you to please be patient with me, know that I will write on my free time and my free time alone. 

I won’t write about issues like pedophilia and incest and other stuff related or similar to those. 

I don’t write for male!readers I don’t know how to be a man, I’m so sorry-

Another thing, if you want to be added to the taglist, please tell me what character/ fandom you want me to add you in. (All fics, Criminal Minds fics, Wanda Maximoff x Reader fics etc.) and shoot me an ask, or a dm <3

[ranchracoon]

"Make Me Yours" Ch. 8 The Daughters

Chapter 7

"We need to escape."

"No, we finally found our mate and you want to bail?"

"Did you forget everything you saw? She tortures people! Drinks their blood. We need to escape and help these children escape too."

"Then our mate will starve!"

"She's not our mate! This is clearly a mistake. Why would the Goddess give me someone who eats human?"

"How is her consumption any different from you eating pork? Do pigs not have emotions? Feelings? Thought?"

"Pigs don't talk."

"Neither can I, except to you."

"Yet I wouldn't eat a wolf! There must be another way."

"You would if your sole survival depended on it."

"It doesn't matter anyways! She doesn't want us! There's something wrong with this place, that's why you can't come out. This is just a mistake."

"She's our mate and you know it. I won't be able to come out until she accepts or rejects us. You know that."

"We're escaping. Or we just have to survive long enough for Ben and the others to find us. I'm sure they've noticed by now that we're not answering the phone."

"If you leave, you'll never be able to shift again."

Carmen sighs and holds her head, pressing the pad of her hands into her eyes until they hurt and she sees bright streaming beams. That must be a risk she's willing to take. But how? So far the only exit she can find is that hole in the basement, but without some sort of rope or ladder there's no way to climb out. Not to mention Bela is the only one with a key, other than the lady presumably. The doors leading outside are all locked except the carriage gate which is locked by an iron gate every evening. She vaguely remembers what the outside of the castle looked like when she snuck in, but it's fuzzy. She can't remember exactly where everything is, she wasn't paying that close of attention. Even if she manages to get everyone outside the gate, she has no idea where to go from there. Even the windows are locked and barred so there's no escape plan coming from there either.

 Carmen lays in the dark quarters, listening to the uneven breathing of those around her, and the occasional snort. She doesn't move until she hears Lilliana wake up then promptly follows her for the morning routine. It's kind of like how her family would prepare breakfast, everyone takes turns cooking, cleaning, bringing in fresh food and they all eat together. Maybe Carmen can convince them to let her cook with some actual spices, then again, based on how bland the food is, they might have heart attacks from flavor overload.  

The staff look at her like she has three heads, they don't speak to her at all unless absolutely necessary for their job. Somehow she has to convince Daniela and these children to believe her intentions and that she's a good person. Then again, is she really a good person if all she's doing is manipulating Daniela for her own gain? Would her family be welcoming to an outsider without knowing their intention? Carmen eats in silence without looking at anyone. This morning is different, there's an uneasy shift in the air, she furrows her brow and sits up a little straighter while eating. A sudden chill sends her senses into overdrive as she becomes acutely aware of her surroundings. They mention that name again: Mother Miranda, but Carmen is too overstimulated by the constant input of sensory overload that she can't concentrate on what they're saying. All she can think of is something is wrong, even her wolf has her hackles engaged. 

Lilliana steps in and pulls Carmen aside to the dining room to await for the ladies of the castle. She says nothing, and when others arrive they don't look at her and intentionally give her a wide berth. Daniela is the first to arrive this time, then Bela, then Cassandra before finally the lady herself. Carmen so stupidly wants to make herself appear suitable for her, but for some reason, all she can do is slump her shoulders and stare off into space. The lady enters and Carmen hardly spares her a look, she didn't even last a day before her spirit was broken. How pathetic. The lady sits and eats in silence with her daughters, when she finishes she sets down her glass and clears her throat. 

"Still no word from Mother Miranda, and I need extra help today. Bela, you and the pest will be assisting me today. We had our first snow of the season, meaning the deep freeze will be upon us and we need to prepare. Cassandra, you'll be in charge of the staff today. Have them work in the vineyards. You know what to do. Daniela I need you ensure the security of our castle."

"Yes mother" they answer in unison. 

Carmen perks up a little, she'll be working with her mate today! She beams with excitement and nearly thrashes her way through when the lady calls her to follow. She does, almost annoyingly so, breathing in her scent with makes Carmen a little nauseous. It's a mixture of fancy perfume and cigarettes, but she doesn't care, this is her mate's scent! She hardly takes stock on where they are going until they stop walking, arriving at a large decorated room with a desk in the center, a coffee table in front of the desk with two large sofas on each side of the table. Rows of binders and books line the walls except one which holds a large, white, finely decorated fireplace and a roaring fire inside. Carmen is sat in one of the love seats before a giant stack of papers is plopped in front of her, she looks up to see her mate starring down at her. She subconsciously wags her tail, she's finally getting attention from her mate! Something she's been dying for. 

"Organize these into the appropriate binders by alphabetical order. Can you handle that?"

"Yes ma'am" Carmen answers. 

The lady goes to her desk where she begins writing and doing her tasks while Bela also begins organizing some papers and writing things. Well, this is better than doing nothing. Carmen takes the first sheet of paper then goes to the rows of binders on the shelves, seeing them all meticulously organized and easy to find where the report goes. Carmen follows her orders until her mind begins to wander, she looks over at the lady working away, the way her brow furrows in frustration. The lady pinches the bridge of her nose and stands abruptly, dismissing herself from the office. Bela stares at Carmen until she returns to work, huffing under her breath. Bela is caught off guard by the sound of shattering glass and a inhumanly loud scream. Carmen whips her head around toward the double doors but Bela is faster, she turns to face Carmen with her sickle at the ready. 

"Stay" Bela orders. 

Carmen huffs in response. 

Since both of them are gone she decides to sit back down on the couch, shuffling the papers around to distract herself until the double doors slam open. Carmen jumps to her feet to see Daniela standing there smirking, she turns into a large swarm of insects that surround themselves around Carmen. Carmen wiggles and swipes away at the insects instinctually only to have Daniela half form and tell her to knock it off. When Carmen gives in, Daniela swoops her up and carts her out of the office and through a series of corridors. They wind up in what looks like a library with a large glass dome for a roof. Carmen lands on her feet shakily before she looks over to Daniela who smiles brightly. 

"¡Nunca vuelvas a hacer eso (Don't ever do that again)!" Carmen snaps. 

"Ooohh what did you just say? What was that?" Daniela chirps. 

"It's Spanish. My native tongue."

"Can you teach me?"

"Now?"

"Well no,  we don't have long before Bela finds us but maybe eventually? If you end up staying here. I can talk so much shit about Bela without her even knowing!"

Carmen chuckles, "well I can teach you a few words."

"Like what?"

"Umm....puta means bitch."

"Puta" Daniela giggles, "that's too obvious though. She'll know I'm calling her a name, I need something like a greeting or farewell."

"You could say, gracias pendejo."

"What does that mean?"

"Thanks motherfucker."

"Gracias pendejo."

"See? You're a natural already" Carmen compliments.

Daniela chuckles and clasps her hands together, "tell me more! What's it like outside the village? You said you come from an island, where? What's it like? I wish I could see!"

"You've never left this village?" Carmen asks. 

"Never left the castle" Daniela pauses, a shift in her body language alerts Carmen. 

Carmen shifts from one foot to the other, taking a mental note. They can't leave the castle, but why? Because of their mother? Or something else? There's got to be more to it.

"So, you dragged me here because you want to know more about the outside world?"

Daniela beams, "Bela won't tell me anything, and I read about all these places in the books here, but you've actually experienced things. Mostly I want to know, why would someone like you, wind up here? This is certainly a long way from an island paradise."

Carmen chuckles sadly, "well uh, it's kind of a long story. I don't know if we have time for it."

"Give me the short version?"

Carmen looks around, she did say she wanted to get closer to Daniela and now she's served up on a silver platter. Carmen briefly talks about her home, relating to how Daniela always has dinner with her family. She talks briefly about her culture and their belief in the Goddess, she mentions the moon pool that the Goddess used to reside in on the island and that is where one can find their true destiny; whether they were seeking a mate, or a direction for their life, the moon pool would answer their prayers. It's tradition that on a wolf's 18th birthday they go to the moon pool to reveal their path.

"You're a wolf?! Can I see?!"

Carmen's face instantly burns, "well that's the problem. I can't shift."

"Why?" Daniela asks suspiciously. 

"I think it has something to do with my ma-your mother not accepting me. At least, that's my working theory. It's been said before that when a wolf is rejected by their mate they lose their connection."

"My mother is your mate?!" She squeals.

"I'm not sure but everything is pointing to her. My wolf goes crazy, I want so badly to impress her and present myself as a worthy mate but she won't give me the time of day. I can't say for certain because everything feels fuzzy, like someone pulled a curtain over me. I haven't been able to connect with my wolf or my Goddess since I arrived here. Like you, I'm completely cut off. There's something wrong with this village."

"Most likely Mother Miranda's doing."

Daniela and Carmen look over to one of the bookshelves to see Cassandra step into the light. She swirls her sickle around then locks eyes with Carmen.

"How long have you been there?" Daniela asks.

"Long enough. She's the priestess of the village. She controls everything and everyone around here and we all say and do whatever she wants. Including Mother."

"What are you even doing here? I thought you didn't care." Daniela interrogates. 

"Because I don't, but I heard Bela cursing and looking for you so, she knows you took her toy."

"I'm not a toy" Carmen snaps. 

"Oh please, you couldn't shut up the other night about how someone like her managed to hunt a jaguar. Whatever a jaguar is."

As if summoned, the doors leading into the library slam open with Bela appearing from a cloud. She's snarling and approaches Daniela with wide steps, pointing her sickle in Daniela's direction. 

"Mother is furious! Go clean up that mess now, and I'm telling her about this!" She yells. 

"Come on Bela! Just let us have a little fun."

"This isn't supposed to be fun, she is a prisoner! You know this." 

"Oh knock it off Bela" Cassandra chimes in, "you're just as curious as we are! I read your diary, you're already taking notes on her like she's going to be our next experiment. You know as well as I do that Mother Miranda doesn't care about outsiders. Most likely she'll want us to kill her."

"Such a shame you wouldn't be able to study me" Carmen says coyly. 

Bela shoots her eyes to Carmen and is on her in a flash, she grabs Carmen by the throat and slams her down onto the ground with her hovering above. Her sickle is dangerously close to Carmen's throat, pressing in just enough for her to feel the prickle of it's blade but not enough to cut the skin yet. Bela is snarling past the point of anger, she's downright livid as her golden eyes narrow upon looking down at her. 

"What was that?" Bela growls. 

"If Cass-Lady Cassandra is right-"

"Ugh" Cassandra scoffs. 

"Then I'm probably going to be dead by the end of week. Why not learn what I know? I can tell you about my island, our culture, even my family. Consider it a final wish or something" Carmen says quickly. 

Bela pauses, the pressure on her sickle slacks as she leans upward a little to think about Carmen's words. She supposes there's no harm in studying her like a rat locked in a cage. She can't shift so she's hardly a threat. For now. 

"Don't you want to know more about our future step mother?" Daniela teases.

"She is not our future step mother!" Bela and Cassandra snap.

Chapter 9

[ranchracoon]

"Make Me Yours" Ch. 6 The Involuntary Servitude

Chapter 5

The blond, Bela, dragged Carmen down through corridor after corridor until they arrived in a long hallway not nearly as beautifully designed as the rest of the castle. The walls and floor were made of stone, with rusty doors leading to who knows where. Bela hands her a musty stack of clothes and ordered her to wash up and join the others. Carmen flinched and hissed as the ice-cold water hit her skin, she shivered violently and made this the shortest shower of her life. As she dresses in the plain black dress, she groans under her breath and decides to stash her old clothes rather than throw them away. This has to be a joke. Any minute her true mate will reveal herself, there's no way that woman is her mate. If she is, did she truly not feel anything? This was a mistake. She wants to go home and forget any of this happened. She has to get out of here. She remembers one of the daughters mentioning a third, Daniela? Maybe she is the key. 

Carmen found herself amongst the others who were kidnapped into servitude, all of them gave her a wide berth and hardly spoke to her. They all reeked of fear, and she can't blame them, for she too felt the embrace of fear and uncertainty. She found the head maiden, a girl no older than 16 by the name of Lilliana. Carmen wanted to scoff at the notion of following the orders of a literal child, a human one at that, but then she remembers her goal: escape. This would be so much easier if she hadn't forgotten her cell phone. The child leads her to the main dining hall adjacent to where she was first caught, there she finds three others scrubbing the table, including the girl from before. 

Carmen growls, she wants to wring her neck for giving her away! As Carmen approaches, she pauses, yet another child, looking closer this one can't be older than 14 and that's being generous. She huffs, this child sniffles and bows her head begging for an apology while the others stare. Carmen relaxes and gently touches the girl's shoulder, but she flinches away and sucks in a sharp breath. She can't hurt her, nor can she truly be mad, but something stirs within her; she not only needs to escape but she needs to protect these children. Carmen looks around at the others who quickly look away, the head maiden sighs softly when Carmen rejoins her. They go into the kitchen where more children are working, Carmen realizes she's the oldest one there. 

"Why is everyone so young?" Carmen blurts out. 

There's a pause in the kitchen, everyone looks at each other and silently speak to one another; who is going to tell her. 

"The Lady requires virgins for her wine." The head maiden finally speaks. 

"Wine?" Carmen asks. 

"Her blood wine. Her and her daughters live off consuming blood and human remains." Says one bitterly. 

"So...you're all-" Carmen starts. 

Cattle. That's what they are. They're all cattle waiting for the day that they'll be sent through the slaughterhouse. New objective: escape and help these children escape. Suddenly there's a rush of cold air that surrounds her, she hugs herself and looks around but sees no windows or anything to cause such a breeze. She feels uneasy, like someone or something is watching her. A bell rings from overhead, Carmen flinches and covers her sensitive ears from the loud intrusion, the maids from the dining room suddenly appear behind her. Carmen moves out of the way and watches these poor souls move in rehearsed fashion. 

"It's dinner time. You'll be joining me." She states matter of fact. 

Carmen hates how her inner wolf wags her tail; she'll get to see her mate again. NO. There's no way that monster is her mate! She must know something, because Carmen knows it's none of the daughters and it can't be any of these children. She has two feelings: fear of being skinned alive, and excitement because she's so close to her mate. Her idiotic wolf brain is only focused on the later and not on the fact that she needs to get out of here and find her true mate. If only she could reach out somehow. 

Carmen follows the head maiden and stands by her, it's weird being the tallest one for once for she practically towers over the other staff. That's quickly dwindled when the daughters arrive; Bela is first, then the brunette, and then a redhead who must be Daniela. They sit next to each other on the opposite side of a large chair which can only be for one person who makes her presence known. Carmen can't help but straighten her back a little more, present herself a little, and curse her stupid, horny, wolf for making her this way. The lady crouches through the doorway and stand upright, completely ignoring Carmen and the other staff as she takes her seat. A little deflating but no matter, Carmen has to impress her mate! No, she has to escape. 

"Good evening daughters." The lady states. 

"Good evening mother." The daughters respond in unison. 

"Bela, report."

Bela, starts off with her day. Carmen gathers she must be in charge or the oldest judging from her duties: she took inventory of stock, which included staff, ordered for the private wine tasting room to be restocked, etc. The more Bela speaks the more Carmen feels queasy, that is until Bela mentions her. 

"We had an intruder and no one told me? Where is she?!" The redhead interrupts. 

Carmen stiffens and suddenly looks up and finds the redhead staring directly at her. Carmen gulps and feels sweat begin to form in her lower back. 

"Wow. She's pretty. Can she be mine?" The redhead asks. 

"No." The lady responds quickly, "she is an outsider. Mother Miranda will decide what to do with her. Until then, she'll be working under myself or Bela." The lady looks over at Carmen, who can't help but straighten up again and internally grin, "we wouldn't want her wandering off."

"Aw. Bela always gets the new playthings." Whines the redhead. 

"That's because you kill them too quickly." The brunette comments. 

"I do not!"

"Enough!" orders the lady, "Cassandra report your day."

Ah, so the brunette is Cassandra and the redhead is Daniela. Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela. Carmen's wolf is leaping for joy at the thought of being closer to her mate, but Carmen's mind is wandering on how she's going to get to Daniela. Bela strikes her as the type to never deviate from what her mother says, so she'll have to be sneaky and crafty. Just like hunting. As Carmen listens to Cassandra report, suddenly she perks up when the daughter mentions hunting. Okay, so her and Cassandra have something in common. Perhaps she can work her way in that way? Cassandra seems like the hardest to get through but if she finds common ground, Cassandra might be her key to getting to Daniela. Already the wheels are turning. 

Daniela finishes with reporting, she spends most of her time near the library wherever that is.  Carmen will have to learn the layout of this castle quickly if she's going to escape. Finally, it's the lady's turn to speak and Carmen hangs on every word despite it all being mundane. The lady never looks in her direction while speaking until the very end when they make eye contact and Carmen beams with joy. The lady sneers. 

"Come here."

Carmen obeys, she curses herself by how easily she approaches the woman who threatens her very existence. 

"Carmen was it?"

"Yes." Carmen responds. 

"Yes...what?" The lady growls. 

Carmen raises an eyebrow, "yes...ma'am?"

"Acceptable but you will refer to myself or my daughters as my lady, ma'am, or with a proper title. Understood?"

"Yes...my lady." Carmen grumbles. 

"And none of that." The lady spits, "can you read? Write? Obviously, you can talk."

"Can you shake? Lie down? Sit? Play dead?" Cassandra snickers but quickly quiets down when her mother glares at her.

"Yes, I can read, write, type, hunt" Carmen emphasizes the last word, capturing Cassandra's attention. 

"You will only answer my question directly. Now, I have no use for you in my wine, so I'll have to find something else for you to do until I hear from Mother Miranda." 

Carmen blushes, her entire body heats up, can she smell that she's not a virgin? Or maybe it's her age? Either way it's embarrassing. The lady dismisses her, and Carmen returns to her post, she sighs heavily as she relaxes but her wolf is going fucking nuts inside her. She wants to burst out and claim her mate, but this woman isn't going to accept her, but she hasn't rejected her either. After dinner Carmen helps clear the table and joins the staff in the kitchen for dinner, the serving is measly compared to what she's used to. It's bland and honestly, she's pretty sure it's not even food but she eats it anyhow to sate her growling stomach. She follows the staff to the staff quarters where she finds an empty bed to claim as her own, but despite the exhaustion haunting her body, sleep does not find her easily. 

Chapter 7

[ranchracoon]

Fan-Fics & One-shot master post

RanchRacoon - Wattpad

RanchRacoon | Archive of Our Own

One-Shots

Mother Miranda

Donna Beneviento/Angie

Bela Dimitrescu

Cassandra Dimitrescu

Daniela Dimitrescu

Alcina Dimitrescu

Other

Fan Fics

Devour (Dimitrescu Sisters x Fem Reader)

Phantom of House Beneviento (Donna Beneviento x Fem Reader)

Make Me Yours (Mother Miranda x Alcina Dimitrescu x Female Original Character)

Body, Flesh, and Bones (Alcina Dimitrescu x Female OC)

To Be The One (Mother Miranda x Fem Shifter MC)

Request Rules

1.) Must be over 18.

2.) Please be specific in your request.

Do you want smut, fluff, angst, etc?

Resident lover or Resident Evil?

Do you want it x reader?

What genders do you want all characters (female, intersex, non-binary, etc)?

3.) I only write female, non-binary, or gender neutral reader/MC

4.) I will never, ever write: underage (unless 100% platonic), regression/age play, rape, beastiality (does not include monsters), fisting, necrophelia, oculolinctus,  piquerism, direct incest (sister x sister, Alcina x daughter, etc), feet,  Acrotomophilia (amputation fetish/kink), vore, surgical/medical, hooks, lactation, spit, or urine/scat. Everything else is pretty much on the table.