Dimitrescu's Daughter (Completed)

Chapter Eleven: The Maw

Instead of going immediately mother waits for a storm. It takes a few nights. While she's gone Bela and Daniela come and get me. They find Cassandra and I in the library instead.

"What are you doing?" Daniela snatches the page. Cassandra goes chasing after her as they dissipate, cackling and grumbling.

"Give it back!"

"Hehehehehehe!" Daniela giggles, "You can't catch me~!"

Bela looks over my shoulder, "Are you still trying to bring us back?"

"You're weak, and you're both still very susceptible to the cold. I'd like to build a snowman with all of you, not just Dani," I murmur, glancing up.

The paper drifts down and lands on my head, slipping off onto the table where Cassandra slams her hand down. She growls, "Leave it."

"I'm boooooored!"

Suddenly Bela's red eyes glimmer. She grins, "You remember what we used to do when mother wasn't home?"

It's the first time I've seen Cassandra smile. Really smile in a normal, happy way like a human being might. She chuckles, "We haven't done that in forever."

"Come on," Bela pulls me by my arm, "This'll be fun. Daniela! We're going to mother's room!"

"Yes!" Daniela says in a lullaby tone as her swarm zooms past us.

When we get to mother's room they slip inside and open the door for me. Inside smells heavily of her perfume tinged with cigarette smoke. With all the lights on we close the door most of the way and begin by going to the enormous wardrobe.

"This looks new."

"Mother smashed the other one to pieces, threw it into the floor here, and sent that awful manthing through here," Daniela points to fresh patches of carpet on the floor.

"The manthing?"

"What we call men."

At the wardrobe Cassandra and I sit on the bench while Daniela chases Bela with lipstick around the room. I haven't seen myself in a long time. My hair has grown halfway down my back and my eyes have turned an eerie orange color. The teeth in my chest poke through the shirt in some places perpetually now and the oozing is normal.

"It's okay, you never get used to it," Cassandra sighs, "We had a maid who I courted. She used to make me wash my face. I haven't seen her. I just hope we don't find her blood in the basement."

I look at her, "Hey, that never occurred to me. I imagine no one is good enough for you in your mother's eyes."

"Don't worry, the rules apply to you too now."

"Come on!" Daniela pulls us both up, "We're going to put you in one of mother's dresses!"

"And the hat. You can't forget the hat," Bela chuckles.

For hours we laugh and giggle. Upon seeing me standing triumphantly with my arms out barely big enough to fit in the neckline of her enormous white dress with her hat drooped over my entire head and lipstick stabbed on my neck in four spots.

"Wait wait wait," I laugh breathlessly, falling off of mother's chaise lounge, "I have to get something, you'll love this. I found it in a drawer and you'll- You've got to see this."

Going outside I wander through the halls drunk on the lack of oxygen from laughing and joy. Even before things changed I can't remember the last time before that I had this much fun.

I'm passing through the lower part of the house by the kitchen when I hear a noise. It's very faint but metallic. If I was in any normal state of mind it should be concerning. But now I think nothing of it, continuing towards my room.

A sharp pain slashes across my back. I spin around. Shock sometimes saves living beings from death. It delays pain for a few moments, sometimes minutes in extreme cases, as a defense mechanism to try and let the victim escape whatever danger they're in. So when this shock wears off, I know that the pain will be intense.

"I'm sorry," There's a wild look in the eyes of the young maid. Her hair is a mess about her face and her hands are covered in sores and lesions, all infected. In her hand is a knife.

"I'm sorry! They'll kill me anyway. I won't let you suffer as well!"

"Wait-what- No!"

Hands grab me from behind and a kitchen towel is wrapped around my throat. It's not just her, all the maids are suffering from this sort of mad look. The infections are from where they've scratched through their own skin either with their nails or their teeth.

All concern for their well being goes out the window. I lunge forward, dragging three of them after me. The knife licks my neck when I jerk back and she tries next to stab at me. This results in falling into me.

A fatal mistake.

Teeth and jagged bone growths now line the gaping wound in my chest. As soon as something connects they gnash and interlock, tearing out goodly a chest sized portion of whatever got too close. In this case, the maid's head and neck.

Apparently this cures the other of their insanity seeing their friend's body fall to the floor. As soon as the towel is loose enough I scream, "Bela! Daniela! Cassandra!"

I know my cries are heard because I can feel the hearts inside them getting closer, hurtling as fast as they can.

"You monster!"

It's amazing how fast rage overtakes fear. The knife slashes across my cheek and ear this time. I spin and stumble back, landing safely in Bela's arms.

"Don't hurt her!"

Daniela is first to draw blood and once it's spilled she and Cassandra are a whirlwind, not stopping until the last vestige of the dying maids has stopped twitching. I take a deep breath and the teeth release, the maid's head adding to the gorey mess spanning the entire hallway.

"That's wicked!" Daniela trills, "Here, try again!" She takes a dead maid's arm but even from deep in the castle we hear it. The telltale sign that mother is home, and she brought aunt Donna.

We all share harried, terrified expressions before Cassandra eventually shrugs.

"What's the worst she can do? We came as soon as we could and it's not that bad," Cassandra remarks, noting the friction burns on my neck and the two cuts she can see.

Bela looks at my back, "But it's much worse here," She murmurs, "And the smell is," Her voice trails off.

"Thank god, I thought it was just me," Daniela sighs, "But it does smell, good."

"I don't care if I have to freeze you solid, we are not feeding on our sister," Cassandra snaps harshly. Like she sometimes does, Daniela answers her distaste by baring her teeth like a dog.

"Where are you?" Mother calls, her voice tinged with concern.

"Here mother!"

Mother arrives before aunt Donna who mercifully must have left Angie somewhere else. I hate that stupid doll.