Chapter Text
Prologue
You placed your hands upon the cold, marble-like circular crest on the rocky gates. With a grunt, you turned it towards your left side until you felt a click to match the rest of the demon like a puzzle. Then you moved to the other one and turned the crest to your right to match the angel-like maiden.
A few pebbles and sand have fallen off the gates as it slowly opened with a groan, inviting you in, “well… This is it. I can't turn back now,” you said out loud to yourself as you took a deep breath and made your way in, following the path as you heard the gates behind you closed shut and heard the crests rotating back to the original crooked placements.
Beautiful Monster
Chapter One: Beginning
By: AlienSnowflake
You've always known if anyone stepped foot inside Castle Dimitrescu, they never returned. You've always heard shouts and screams from the distance whenever you walk past the locked entrance.
But you were always curious what it would be like... living there? It has been years since your father left home. He always took weeks or months to get back, but this time... his letters had stopped coming in. You were the only child, so growing up you've always had both of your parents there to count on especially with your Mother.
Mother.
She has been ill for a couple of weeks now and her condition was getting worse. Please help us, Mother Miranda . You desperately need help to cure your sick Mother. You wonder if going to work at Castle Dimitrescu would help. Maybe get some money to atleast get some herbs, but it would be tough since no-one has ever left that Castle.
You made your way around the village. The ground was covered with thick, white snow and hard to walk on, but the paths were recently shoveled. You were purchasing items to cook for later. You didn't have enough lei to buy what you wanted, but as long as there is food on the table everyday, you'll manage.
As soon as you arrived home, you heard your Mother coughing in the distance. You placed the pile of plastic bags onto the kitchen table and made your way to the living room where your Mother was. You hear her coughing more when she called your name as you approached her with her hands over her face to cover her uncontrollable coughs. "Mother, it's already noon. Should I make you some hot tea and pumpkin soup?" you asked.
She gave a small nod and smiled at your presence. She struggled to sit up from the couch, the blanket rolling down. "Y– Yes, that would be good."
With a grunt, you helped her sit up and folded her blankets neatly on top of her lap. "Right, stay here." You made your way towards the kitchen again and placed the ingredients you needed to cook on the kitchen table and placed the rest in the pantry.
You lived in a small house. The kitchen, dining and living room were all combined. The bedroom was small and only had one bed, which was your father’s. It hasn’t been used for a while now since he left and your Mother refused to sleep on it alone, so she picked the couch and you prefer the floor anyway, so you slept next to the couch at night.
You grabbed a few things from the kitchen drawers and poured tap water onto the small pot, placing it into the gas stove and turned the gas on for it to boil. Then you began cutting the vegetables on the chopping board. You waited for a while until the water was boiling to chuck the vegetables in before placing the lid to let it shimmer. Next, you grabbed the kettle. You added water in it to boil as well right next to the pot.
With a sigh, you went to the living room again as you saw your Mother looking out the window and staring in the distance. “Will your father ever return? It’s been a while and I’m getting worried.”
“Not sure… I’m starting to lose hope…” you mumbled, sitting next to your Mother.
“Hey, don’t give up. Pretty sure he’s still out there.”
You gave a stiff nod.
Later that night, when it was bedtime, you helped your Mother take a quick shower before bed and tucked her in then afterwards had a coughing fit. “Try and rest, Mother. You’ll be okay,” you said. You tidied the couch whilst she showered and replaced the dirty linen.
She smiled at you, settling on the couch once again as you placed a cold, wet cloth over her forehead to help the heat coming from her to cool off.
“Well goodnight,” you said, as you tucked yourself under your own blankets, beside the couch your Mother occupied. You looked at the last lit candle in the room that was on the small table beside the couch. You thought of putting it out, but you let sleep consume you instead.
A loud and dry coughing woke you up in the middle of the night. You sat up, rubbing your eyes roughly to wake yourself up. “Mother?!” you exclaimed, swiftly removing your blankets off and scrambled up to look at your Mother.
She was having another deep coughing fit with the face towel on her forehead slipping off on her lap, but this time she could barely breathe. She was gasping for air and clutching her chest hard with her hand as beads of sweat began to form around her forehead, making her bangs stick onto her skin. She said your name softly and whispered, “I... I feel so… dizzy…”
“Mother, hold on! I’ll get you some hot tea! I just need to boil the water and–”
Your Mother called out your name again with a cough, “no, stay… here…”
You held her trembling hands tightly, trying to warm them up. “But, you’re cold! You need to warm up! Here, take my blanket! I– I don’t need it!” You swiftly grabbed your blanket off the floor and placed it over your Mother, up to her chest.
She shook her head and looked up at you. She smiled and let go of your hands to reach around her wrist to unhook a bracelet that she always wore since you were a child. She said your name again, giving you her bracelet and holding your hands tightly around her cold hands. “Your Grandmother gave this to me before I met your Father... It’s yours now.”
Wait, hold on– what – “M– Mother! Wait a second! What do you mean–?!”
“Please, take care of it... and take care of yourself…”
“M– Mother! Save your strength! I– I’ll go to Castle D– Dimitrescu and get a job there... to help you!” Tears began to pool around your eyes as you stammered your words out.
The candle’s flame beside the couch flickered a little as it was about to run out of wax. Your Mother gave a shaky smile as her tears fell across her cheek. Her face grew paler as she held your hands tighter, “I love you.. please remember that…” She said your name one more time as her grip around your hands loosened as the same time the candle burned itself out.
“Mother!”
No answer.
“Mom! Momma! ”
Still no answer.
Your arms felt numb and prickly upon the couch as you finally realized what just happened. It felt like a boulder just landed on top of your head as you just laid there, taking everything in. You held your legs tightly as you let your body slumped over the floor. Your cries slowly turned into soft sobs. Your body began to shake uncontrollably from the sudden chill as you silently cried and cried like it felt hours had gone by.
You wanted warmth, but the blanket felt too far away from you. You didn't want to get up and grab it off the couch because you feel like your body just gained over ten thousand pounds. So you stared out the window and the only light you could see now was the half moon. You let your body wear itself out by crying and crying until you passed out on the cold, wooden floor.
Without a blanket. Without warmth.
You were awoken by the sound of a passing tractor noise. Your body felt stiff from the cold. You didn’t even know what time it was. Slowly you sat up and felt your stomach growling deeply. You were hungry. You lazily stood up and looked behind you. “Good morning, Mother.”
Of course, there was no way she could reply to you anymore.
You sighed, covering the rest of her head with her blankets then grabbed the one you usually use and folded it to use later, then made your way towards the kitchen. You opened all the drawers and pantries there and sighed deeply, staring at the food that were placed there. There wasn’t much, mainly vegetables and canned food. Your body was hungry but you weren’t in the mood to eat or make food at all. Your anxiety from earlier boiled inside you hotter than the kettle and filled up your stomach like you were full, so you sat yourself back on the floor and wrapped the blanket around you instead.
Seconds turned to minutes…
You sigh.
Minutes turned to hours.
You watched as the sun disappeared into the horizon and everything turned dark again. Your stomach continues to growl, but you ignored it. I will… eat somethin’ tomorrow. Right now I don’t want to…
A few days have passed and you finally decided to get out of the house to get some fresh air since all you ever did was slouch around and cry. You looked around and sighed deeply upon seeing little kids running all over the place with their parents following right behind them. A twinge of heavy jealousy struck you in the chest as you try to ignore it.
You were just there to buy one thing from the market for lunch and– … You looked up ahead. Passed the Shield Maiden statue, it was the Castle Dimitrescu's solid, rock gates. The maiden and demon crests were there but they were both slightly rotated wrongly as you looked closer. They didn’t look right. A few passersby looked at you curiously like you were about to do something.
What if you rotated them to the right positions? What will happen then? You placed your hand on one of them. You felt like they could be rotated somehow.
Then from the corner of your eye, someone… or something was watching you from a distance. You weren't sure what it was since they were behind a bush. Only glowing eyes were seen.
“Hey, ma’am. It’s not safe to be around those gates!” a man called out from behind you.
“Huh?!” you snapped back to reality then realized whatever behind the bush was gone. “… Oh, I– I was just admiring these gates. I don’t have plans to go to the Castle or anything!” You replied, anxiously, only realizing this was the first time you have spoken to anyone alive in days.
He grunted, walking away. “Better watch yer back.”
You followed him too, looking back for a bit to look at the Castle one last time before going in your own direction straight after.
Once you returned home, it was late in the afternoon. You sniffed in the air, knowingly something started to smell. You only noticed it since you went out to get fresh air. You knew that one day you had to do it. You needed to bury… her . You sigh deeply as you started to make your lunch or atleast something to do for now.
That evening, you couldn’t stop thinking about the Castle gates. What would happen if you manage to rotate them? Will they open or just explode into your face? No matter what the answer was, you still need to… get rid of the smell tomorrow morning and what were those glowing eyes? Looks like you just imagined them anyway…
It was early morning hours when you woke up that the sun hasn’t risen yet. Not many people were out, so you took your Mother’s body out of the house and into the backyard. You took a small shovel out and began to dig the earth. After a while, you stare at the body that was covered with a lot of blankets then slowly dragged it towards the dug hole. You looked down and took a deep breath, trying not to cry, “thank you, Mother… for everything,” you said, looking down then going silent for a moment. What were you supposed to say? You’ve never been to a funeral before, so you didn’t know what you should actually say here. Without thinking it over, you began to cover the hole with the dirt you shoveled out earlier.
You were covered in sweat by the time you were finished. You had some leftover food whilst your mind was arguing. Should I go to the Castle or not? Mother didn’t actually say whether or not you should go.
But what else were you supposed to do? You have no friends and no other family or relatives in this village. Will father ever come back home? You stood up as soon as you finished your food then washed the dishes straight away. You looked out the window and unconsciously tidied the house up.
But… What else can you lose? You're all alone and no-one is here to bother you.
Before you realized, the house was clean. Even the couch was tidy too. You sat on it, rubbing your temples and started to argue with yourself.
A week. If your father doesn't return within a week, you will leave.
…
A week has passed and nothing new has happened. Everyday you visited your Mother’s grave and talked to her about what you’ve done during the day… Which wasn't much. A week ago you told yourself if father hasn't come back to you yet, you would go to the Castle. So that evening you gulped heavily, packing things that you would need like extra clothes. You looked over to the table that was right next to the couch where your Mother used to sleep on. There sat the bracelet she gave to you. You haven’t worn it since she left, but it was all you have of her. You picked it up and examined it. It was just a simple looking bracelet, nothing too special. It had a grey bangle with green leaves and small sunflowers all around it. You slipped it on and admired it, placing it over your chest.
“This is for the best. I have no future here if I stay here by myself,” you said out loud and looked out the window. It was pitch black since it was close to midnight, then you laid down on the floor with your favourite blanket… probably your last time laying there.
A small draft of cold air woke you up. It was twilight. A small shiver and you grabbed the blanket to cover your head more. But wait a second– Today's the day…
You slowly sat up and grabbed anything you could and tidied up more. With one last look, you took a deep breath and locked the door behind you.
To be continued...