Living With Dimitrescu

6) A Time to Remember

Have you been reading the side stories yet? Ill leave you with something to think about. Ever wondered what makes a minute, a minute? The flow of time can last for as long as the user allows it to but what about memories? Do memories have a flow of time or do they all feel recent?

You woke up to the feeling of something tickling your face and light buzzing in your ear. After shaking your head and sitting up to look around, you couldn't see anyone in the room. Your clothes were laid out by your bedside with a note folded on top of them. "Did someone just come in to write me a letter?" You reached over to pick up the paper, looking at the fine cursive writing. "Oh, its a list of chores it looks like.." You got out of bed, undressing yourself, and got ready for your busy work day around the castle. Today you had to clean the opera room. You opened the bedroom door to step out and noticed there wasn't a sound coming from the entire building. It was quiet.

You walked down the stairs of the main hall. The echo's of your footsteps always alerted one of the daughters but to your surprise, no one came. Feeling hungry, you walked into the kitchen and there was no breakfast prepared. Not a dish nor crumb was there for you to eat which made you wander further. You felt the cold air of the open windows and closed them, then you lit the fireplace to keep the place warm while you looked around for something to eat. Your foot knocked a can onto the floor and it rolled into the nearest door beyond the kitchen, then rolled down a flight of stairs and you followed it. There was a long flight of steps leading to an underground room. The ambience felt dark and heavy.

There was a sour smell rising up from the draft of wind as you walked further into the black pit. When you reached the last step, you heard a splash. It was too dark to see well but you assumed you were stepping in puddles of mud. Each time you heard a chain rattle in the distance, you stopped to slow your breath and listen. It was so hard to see that you couldn't make out anything aside from caged bars around the room. "W..what is this place?.." As you grab the nearest cell door, your fingers slide over something sticky and warm. You rubbed your fingers together to assume it was oil or grease but it didn't feel close enough to that.

A hand grabbed yours through the cage, and a creature hissed at you. Its eyes were dark and lifeless, teeth were sharp, and its nails were long. You tried pulling away but its grip was too strong. You felt the creature pulling you closer to the door. "ugh! get off me!" you shout. You managed to pull your arm away, making you fall back into a pile of wooden barrels. An arm was sticking outside of one of the barrels, leaking strong smelling fluids onto the ground. "I..is this.. blood?" You felt a body crawl on top of you before you could get up, insects buzzed around you. "Wrong little one.. that's my mother's wine.. and you're spilling it." Bela licked your cheek, using her sickle to rip through your shirt and pulled you up, holding her blade to your neck. "I thought I told you to stay out of the kitchen.." You winced and tried to face away from the blade pointed at you. "I..I thought everyone left and I got hungry.. then I saw this room down here and I followed it" you muttered.

Bela look displeased at your answer and hissed at you angrily "I will not have MY maiden going through the kitchen and making their own meals! I just wont have it." You felt her breathing heavier as she got worked up. Her yellow eyes glared at you as if she was wanting you to tell her something she's been waiting to hear. "I'm sorry miss Bela, it wont happen again.. " She relaxed her arms and let you go after that, sitting on your legs still and you both looked at each other. "Aren't you going to let me go now?" Bela shook her head and looked at you quietly. "Not without a punishment.." she whispered. You heard footsteps coming down the stairs and it was Cassandra holding a candle. "Taking care of your Maiden alrighty? Daniela was right.. you really cant keep one for more than a week" she giggled to herself. This made you feel very unsettled and you look away from both of them. "Excuse me!? I wasn't going to harm my maiden! I was just thinking of a punishment for not waiting at the breakfast table for me!"