Valyrie: A Resident Evil: VILLAGE OC Fanfiction

Exposed

"I can't believe you would do something so STUPID"!!
"Have you lost your mind"??
"The lady will hear of this"!
Tabitha chews me out the whole way down the elevator keeping a tight pinch on my ear and yanking my head around as I fight her grip and yelp in painful protest. Eventually the elevator stops and the door screeches open, allowing Tabitha to storm out first, dragging me along and making stumble as she hurriedly stomps into the hall. I try to catch myself, but I end up spinning and falling right on my behind. She looks back at me angrily and hisses, "Fighting is only going to make things worse on yourself"! Her grip never loosens and she continues to jerk and drag me into the hall. "AhHAA, OOWWOW!!!!", I cry wrestling on the ground and trying to pull her fingers off of my ear. She pulls me along the floor and starts to climb the stairs with me still resisting.Though Tabitha is strong, she finds it extremely difficult to try to pull me up the stairs by my ear as I writhe on the ground. She grabs my free hand still fighting with her painful pinch to get a better grip on me. JUST LET ME GO! In a moment of frustration, I lose control of my strength and jerk Tabitha towards me, making her lose her balance and fall. She finally lets go of me in shock and I scramble out of the way just in time for her to crash into the ground instead of me. The sound of her shoes scraping against the shiny floor and the THUMP of her fall echo loudly through the hall of four. It is quickly followed by the sound of heavy footsteps hurriedly approaching. Rubbing my ear, I quickly start to get up and back away as Tabitha growls with rage and pushes herself off the ground. She glares at me furiously and howls, "YOU-"!
"WHAT is going on here!?!", a voice booms over Tabitha's. We both startle and turn our attention to the top of the stairs where Lady Dimitrescu is standing and looking down at us rather annoyed. Tabitha stands up quickly and brushes herself off. "Ah, m'lady, we were just coming to see you", Tabitha chirps with a slight curtsy. Lady Dimitrescu gracefully walks down the stairs and stops right in front of us, her face making an angry expression. "Well, I'm here, so tell me, what's the matter".
"Valyrie left the castle grounds", Tabitha replies with a vicious tone. Lady Dimitrescu turns her attention to me and I see a spark of flame behind her eyes, signaling her fury. Feeling strongly intimidated, I swallow hard and hold my strawberry filled vest tighter in my grip. Lady Dimitrescu asks in a low growl, "Is this true"?
"I was only gone for about five minutes, and I just-", I answer quickly.
"FIFTEEN MINUTES and forty-three seconds", Tabitha interrupts. Shocked at her audacity, I turn to face her. Did she seriously time me?? "What kind of PSYCHOPATH keeps EXACT TIME of how long someone is GONE FOR!?!?!", I shout. Tabitha steps up to me aggressively and barks back, "You should have known BETTER than to TRY to pull a STUNT LIKE THAT"!
"OH DO YOU think I was ACTUALLY trying to LEAVE,"???
"I DON'T THINK, I KNOW"!
"ARE YOU-"
"ENOUGH!!!!", Lady Dimitrescu screams, shutting Tabitha and me up. I flinch hearing her voice boom through the hall and avoid looking into her firey stare. She turns towards Tabitha first with and growls with ice in voice, "There are other things you should be doing that are more important than bickering, so go; I'll take care of this". Tabitha nods, answers, "Yes m'lady", and quickly goes up the stairs. I stare at the ground in shame feeling the growing tension from her anger. Lady Dimitrescu waits until we can no longer hear Tabitha's footsteps before speaking again. She leans down slightly making me cower for fear of what she might do. "I'm only going to ask you once, and I expect your answer to be a completely reasonable excuse: why pray tell, did you leave the grounds knowing that I told you never to do so without my knowledge and permission?", she bites trying to hold back her rage. My throat feels bone dry with terror and I swallow hard again before starting to answer. "I just"- Lady Dimitrescu grabs my face and pulls my head upwards, forcing me to look into her burning eyes. "You look at me when I'm speaking to you!", she snarls. Don't scream, just apologize and continue. "I'm sorry!", I yelp quickly. Her eyes quickly scan me and I feel her grip on my face tighten as she gets more and more upset with me. "Where's your vest?", she snaps, clearly stifling her rage. Without verbal answering I lift my strawberry filled vest up, displaying it to her. She looks at it in confused anger and upon seeing its contents, her eyes widen in surprise and she chuckles in disbelief. "Strawberries...you left the grounds to go pick STRAWBERRIES?", she scoffs, sounding more amused than upset. I nod quickly and reply, "Yes m'lady..I just wanted some food". The anger returns to her eyes as she looks back at me. Her eyes travel down my body to the lumps and clusters bulging through my shirt. Curious and still upset, she jerks it sharply, tearing it open and causing more strawberries to spill out onto the floor. I gasp in anxious shock, but stop myself short for fear of angering Lady Dimitrescu further. She reaches down and gingerly grabs a stray berry, snuggled against my breast in the cup of my bra. I get goosebumps and force myself not to shiver feeling her cool, leather fingertips against my skin. "This is quite an excessive amount..you act as if I don't feed you", she sneers coldly, turning the berry in her fingers. Shit..I have to tell her..I had tried not to make it a big issue and refused to let her know that immediately after dinner every night, every bit of blood and meat I ingested would be forcefully vomited back up into the bushes in the courtyard. I feared it would offend her to refuse meals, so I risked getting sick and sneaking old apples out of the kitchen just so that I wouldn't starve. Now that I've done this, I have no choice but to confess. I take a deep breath and shakily stammer, "I..I can't eat meat..or blood, I don't know why but...it makes me really sick". I see her angered expression soften only the slightest bit as she continues to remain upset with my actions and behavior. Her eyes burn into mine and it's getting harder to keep eye contact. She growls quietly, "Why didn't you tell me"?
"I didn't know about it until I had eaten here, and I thought it would offend you if I refused", I answer pitifully.
"I'm more offended that you've been starving yourself and felt the need to leave the grounds in order to feed yourself properly", Lady Dimitrescu snarls. Her eyes dart rapidly to my vest and the floor and with a confused expression, she asks, "Where did you even find this many"?
"There's a huge patch that's growing near a cave by a windmill", I answer pointing in the direction that I assume the windmill can be seen from the castle. She cringes, and slightly shivers in disgust when I mention the windmill and it puzzles me. What's so bad about a windmill? Lady Dimitrescu's fury melts away and she loosens her grip around my face. "All for some bloody strawberries", she sighs quietly. I look back down, still feeling ashamed and softly answer, "Yes m'lady". She sighs deeply, still sounding frustrated and looks at the berry she picked off of me, gently rotating it in her fingers. I wait patiently looking at her, knowing well that she has more to say to me. She looks back at me, the spark of flame returning to her eyes. "I'm letting you off with a warning: Do NOT leave the grounds without my knowledge again or I promise", she scolds, putting the strawberry in her palm and crushing it in her fist, its juices spilling out between her fingers and dripping onto the floor, "I will make you pay for it in more than blood". I nod quickly and we both hear soft footsteps coming down the stairs. We both turn to see a maiden walking towards us. "Ah, Gertrude", Lady Dimitrescu beams, "Be a dear, and take all of these down to the kitchen". She takes my vest from me and hands it over to Gertrude while also gesturing towards all of the berries on the floor. Gertrude looks at them in surprise and confusion, yet she quickly answers, "Yes m'lady", while taking my strawberry filled vest. As Gertrude gathers the berries, Lady Dimitrescu dimisses me coldly with, "Now go...and fix your shirt". I look back down at my torn open shirt, nod feeling my face get hot, and hold it closed as I hurriedly walk away. I quickly enter a room nearby and close the door behind me, feeling embarrassed that Gertrude had seen me exposed. It's not that bad, you have a bra on, all she saw was the top of your chest and belly. Still, it bothers me that she had seen what should have been covered, especially since Tabitha had stared at me this morning while I was dressing and refused to stop even when I had expressed I was uncomfortable. Stop thinking about it so much and just fix your shirt so you won't feel so exposed any more. I shake my head clear of thoughts and reach behind me to unbutton my shirt and take it off. Just as I'm pulling it off my arms, a jolly voice marvels, "My my, you have wings now"! I panic and jump back trembling into a far corner, holding my shirt tightly up against me and looking towards the voice. The Duke is seated in the center of the back wall of this small room, his presence taking up a large amount of the space. My face burns hot and I feel like screaming. How did he get in here?? How did I not notice him before??? Noticing my dilemma how upset I am by his sudden presence, he quickly covers his eyes and turns his head away. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!!", I shout, my voice breaking from how upset I am. He quickly answers me with, "This is my emporium room at the castle..are you in need of something particular"? I continue to back away from him despite there not being any more corner to back into and clutch my shirt to my body. "DON'T LOOK AT ME!", I yelp still feeling threatened. The Duke doesn't move an inch and simply replies, "I'm not Miss Valyrie, and I will not look at you until you are decent, you have my word". I'm cautious to believe him, but I don't really have a choice since I don't want to risk leaving and being seen by others, especially Cecily or Tabitha. I take a deep, shaky breath, trying to force myself to calm, look at the large tear in my shirt, and realize I need to stitch this in order to fix it properly. The only problem is that I don't have a needle or white thread on me. Maybe the Duke has some? Hesistating for a long moment, I finally worl up the courage to ask, "Do you have white thread and needle I could use"? Refraining from looking at me, he answers, "Of course", rummages around in a drawer beside him and hands me a sewing needle with white thread. I thank him, quickly thread the needle, and begin stitching. I look up from time to time anxiously, making sure the Duke keeps his word and does not look at me. He keeps his hand over his eyes and his head turned to the side, not daring to move it and respecting my much needed privacy. It takes a while, but I eventually finish and dress myself back properly. "Thank you, I'm dressed now", I say as I take another deep breath to relax myself and hand the thread and needle back to the Duke. He carefully uncovers his eyes and turns to look at me. "Good deal", he charms, "however did you get that nasty rip in your shirt"?
"The lady gave it to me because I had strawberries stuffed down my shirt and it looked suspicious", I answer. The Duke nods and smirks, taking a puff of his cigar. "Are you feeling alright, or..at least a little better now?", he asks with concern in his voice. I ponder how to answer him and eventually sigh, "Not completely, but I am a little bit better". He nods again and gently says in a somber tone, "Miss Valyrie, I hope that you understand I would never cause you any harm and I'm dreadfully sorry that I scared or upset you". I feel a pang in my heart and I'm not sure what causes it, but I suddenly feel the urge to cry. God, I wish more people were as kind as the Duke, the world would be much better place. I take a moment to collect my words and emotions before reassuring, "It's...It's ok..I forgive you...thank you for the apology".
"Is there anything else I can do for you?", the Duke asks carefully. I shake my head and answer, "No...not right now anyways, but thank you again", as I start to leave. Just as I'm out the door, the Duke calls out, "Miss Valyrie"? I stop and slowly look back towards him. He smiles wide and charms, "Those wings suit you very well". I smile wide back, relishing in his respectable compliment, thank him once again, and close the door behind me as I step out into the hall.