ʟᴀᴅʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ʟʏᴄᴀɴs : ᴋᴀʀʟ ʜᴇɪꜱᴇɴʙᴇʀɢ

ᴀ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛ

Mother Miranda disappeared and all hell broke loose in the village. Alcina let her daughters have their way with the staff in the castle, Moreau preyed on the fishermen and miners, Karl led the lycans out onto the village, Donna lured in strays who tried to escape and Sophia was their eyes and ears. She stood with Heisenberg, perched at the top of a mountain searching for those who tried to hide. Besides communicating with the lycans, it was what she did best.

Karl has always been amazed at how well she remembered everything. Every villagers name and their children's names. Which house they lived in and which street it was on. He couldn't give two shits about any of them, so he didn't care to remember who they were. But not her, and he knows it's because, deep down, she did care. Which was her weakness.

Because of that, Sophia never got into the whole blood thirsty thing. That's what she used the lycans for. They did the dirty work for her, because it was the one thing she was too scared to do herself.

Once the sun had set and the moon was shining through the thick layer of clouds, there was a moment of rest for the village folk and for the lords. 

Sophia slumped down onto a nearby rock with a hefty exhale and ran her fingers through her hair, taking out her braid in the process. 

Meanwhile, Heisenberg blew a whistle to recall the lycans back to their caves. All it took was for one to hear it, then howl to alert the others. It was the only thing that could be heard for a few minutes, mixed with the trampling of their feet. 

Once it was quiet Karl turned around to face Sophia, finding her gracefully running her fingers through her white hair and staring up at the stars in the sky. She glowed in the moonlight, it was enough to take his breath away.

Sophia felt prying eyes and whipped her head in his direction, catching him in the act. She could feel her cheeks go warm, "What?"  

Her question rose a chuckle from the man, not the slightest bit embarrassed. He shook his head and shrugged one shoulder, "Nothing, I just have a bad habit of staring at things I find beautiful." 

She scoffed with the roll of her eyes before dropping her gaze to her lap, "Don't." 

Karl laughed out of confusion and took drawn out steps toward her, "Don't what?" 

Sophia quickly grew frustrated and shot up from her seated position turning her back to the man, "Say things like that." 

The man couldn't quite grasp why something like a compliment would send her make her react like this and neither did Sophia. 

Karl continued to make his way toward the woman, simultaneously talking to her, "Like what? Beautiful?" 

"Yes!" She answered furiously over her shoulder before wrapping her arms over her chest. 

He finally got into arms reach of her, but for the time being kept his arms at his side, "Why?" 

"The age old question..." Sophia thought, "Why?" And she didn't know. 

She's spent her entire mutant life despising this man. His attitude, his cool ass ability to control metal, his voice, his glasses, his hobo hat, that stupid hammer; all of it. It drives her nuts...but why? 

She circles around to see that he's taken off his sunglasses, showing off his eyes. They looked intensely into her red ones and a lump began to form in her throat, then flutters in her lower stomach appeared. "Stop it," she told herself and went to look away. Except that she didn't. She held his gaze, not having the strength to pull away. 

In her peripheral vision, she can see his callused hand reaching up to her cheek. Intentionally, she held her breath, waiting that the shock of electricity that was about to run through her, her heart rate gradually picking up its pace. 

He cupped her cheek and she melted. Her eyelids fell shut and she leaned into his touch,  savoring the comforting feeling that spread within her. A smile slowly began finding a way onto her lips and she remembered a time when she felt like this once. A time when she felt...

"No."

"No!" She screamed out loud, tearing his hand from her face and stumbled backward to get away from him. 

Worry washed over Karl as he watching tears start to form in her eyes. He reached out toward her, "Soph, what is it--"

She held her arms out in front of her preventing him from getting any closer, "No, no, please...just stay." 

The lycans can detect when Sophia is in distress and not even seconds later a group of them show up in the forest behind her, inching forward. She can hear their growls from the trees and she glances over her shoulder, "Hush now, boys." She quickly wipes her away before any tears fall, "I'm okay. He didn't hurt me...it was my fault." 

Karl feeling no better than he did a moment ago tries to understand what's wrong, "Sophia, please--"

She stops him before he can go any further, "I have to go." 

He drops his arms in utter defeat as she turns around and walks off into the trees. The lycans snap and snarl at him before following her into the darkness, leaving him alone and confused. 

The next day, Sophia did everything she could to avoid Heisenberg, she wouldn't risk a repeat of what happened. She couldn't let her guard down again. She didn't even want to stay in her own home and run the chance of him showing up. And there was only one place that she knew of that he would never even think about going. She ventured to Castle Dimitrescu. Supposedly, there was some staff hiding in secret areas of the castle and Sophia figured they could use her help.

"Alcina?" Sophia called out in the main hall and a few seconds later a swarm of bugs shaped into a person. Cassandra. 

"Hello, Cassandra," Sophia greeted sweetly. 

"Hello, Sophia. What brings you in?" 

Sophia nodded and smiled, "I heard you had a few pesky rats sneaking about." 

"Yes, quite a few. Unfortunately, My sisters and I can't sniff them out," Cassandra said behind apparent anger. 

"It's no trouble," Sophia assured, "It might take me a few minutes to go through the whole staff. Be patient with me." 

"Of course." 

It actually didn't take as long as Sophia hoped. She was able to tell Cassandra where the remaining staff was within the hour and her and her sisters were off to feast. Before they did, they gave Sophia permission to roam the castle if she'd like which she thanked them greatly for. Something to keep her mind busy.  

She had only come here a handful of times and she usually stayed in the main section. She found herself in the dining room, then the courtyard, and opera house. She was in the library when Alcina silently walked in, startling Sophia when her voice boomed in the room, "Making yourself at home?" 

Sophia snapped the book close and whipped around in a heartbeat, placing a hand on her chest, "Goodness me." 

The vampiric woman laughed, "My apologies, Sophia."

"None necessary," Sophia told her through a small laugh and slipped the book back into its spot on the shelf, "Alcina, this place is magnificent."

"Oh," the woman scoffed with the flick of her hand, "You're too kind, darling. Please, have a seat." She gestured to one of the open love seats and Sophia gladly sat down, as did Alcina. 

The tall woman crossed her legs over each other and lit a cigarette, "So, what brings you in to Castle Dimitrescu?" 

Sophia simply shrugged, "I heard about the servants who were hiding and I--"

The golden-eyed woman interrupted Sophia with the clicking of her tongue, "Now, now, Sophia...I've known you long enough to know when you are lying." Sophia had the urge to sink into her chair and cower away the conversation she knew was coming, "Now tell me what's really bothering you?"