Resident Evil VIII: Donna Beneviento

Dolls and Pawns

The cellar was much like Alexander had thought it would look like. Quite dark and the little light came from flickering light bulbs from the ceiling. He did not ask questions though and simply followed her. Donna lead him into a dark room, the light flickered on, revealing a huge library. Alex had to sneeze, because it was clear that many of the things haden't been touched, or cleaned in a long while. An old projector was placed near a desk, pointing towards a white canvas that was covered part of a bookshelf. An old projector was pointed to it.

"Are you watching old movies?"

"Hm? Oh no that.... was my fathers. he loved to watch old westerns and detective stories."

"Do you too?"

She looked sad. Very sad actually. "No... I haven't touched it since his...."

Alexander spoke up quickly. "Maybe... I can watch them with you."

Donna was silence for a moment and Alex feared he might have messed up but then she agreed. "I... I'd like that. But!... not now. Maybe one day." 

This earned a smile from Alexander. "So... where do we get to work?" Donna did not answer and simply pointed to a box and then indicating at him to follow her. He did and followed her a long hallway. The colors on both the walls and the painting used to be lush and vibrant but nowadays there had started to loose their color. A thick layer of dust lay upon the picture frames that it almost looked like a normal grey-white color. The wooden floor on the other hand was free of any dust, it even looked like it was freshly varnished.

Donnas workshop was quite big and unlike the rest of the cellar in pristine condition, although the tables were full of dolls, colors and tools in an unorderly manner. Yet Donna moved around as if all these items were at the right place. She told him to put the box down and open it while she herself prepared everything.

The box was full of porcelain items, mostly dolls and tableware, and all of it looked very old. "Are you going to reconstruct the dolls?" he asked.

Donna had laid Angie to the side. In her workshop she felt more like herself and did not feel the need to speak through Angie. Down here she felt... comfortable. Even though Alexander was with her. No one had seen her workshop in person aside from Mother Miranda.

Well... at least no one who lived long enough to tell. "So how can I help?"

Donna pointed to a door. "The oven is there. Melt the pods and other parts. And help me separate the dolls, I will see if I can rebuild any of them."

"Yes, Comrade." he said in his mother language, which seemed to have gone unnoticed by Donna. She seemed to be in a whole other world, as she prepared for her work. She seemed... different.

The hot porcelain was then poured into certain shapes. For torso, head, arms and legs. Once all of this was done, Alex had to take a break. It was getting way to hot anyway. Returning to the workshop with the new shapes, he saw Donna already working on another doll. She already had made half a dozen and by the looks of it was far from over. Smiling, he leaned in closer. "How do you do that?"

She stopped, turning around and trying to hide the context of the table. "Stay... stay back." she said. It sounded more like a plea then any order or threat she ever directed towards him.

He backed up. "Okay... don't want me to interrupt you?"

She shock her head. "My technique... it's a family secret. No one can know."

"Oh, I'm sorry I did not know. Does... anybody else know?"

"Only mother Miranda.... I showed her. She is also the only one who... who has seen my face."