Frostbite- Lady Dimitrescu x OC

Punishment/Marked

(A/N: This chapter contains some smut, and I am likely going to be embarrassed by my terrible writing of it, but I hope you enjoy it regardless)

I had no clue as to how long I was unconscious, but upon awakening once more, I found myself all alone, Alcina's side of the bed ice cold, telling me she had been gone for quite some time, and the silence echoing through the castle made me panic, my breathing instantly speeding up. Where was she? What had happened to Cassandra and her sisters? Had they abandoned me again? I curled up on the bed, pulling my knees up to my chest, and felt tears sting my eyes. Surely, after Alcina and I had discussed our feelings for one another, and even kissed, she would never abandon me again, but with Ethan Winters running about her castle, there was no reasonable explanation as to why she would have left me all alone, save for that. I shook my head, pushing back the panic and loneliness, and stood up, my injuries all fully healed, my strength recovered, and carefully began searching the castle, then froze, as I smelled the scent of blood, the spicy hint to it familiar, causing the color to drain from my face. My body reacted before my mind could comprehend what I was doing, and followed the scent to Alcina's bathroom, my heart nearly exploding from my chest, as I saw the bloody handprints on the door handles, and the pools of blood on the floor.

I mentally prepared myself for what I might find on the other side of those doors, and pushed them open, closing them silently behind me. I froze, as my eyes landed on Alcina's smooth, naked skin, finding her completely nude, sitting in red tinted water inside the bathtub, my face heating up to a fiery intensity. "I apologize, my love. I was worried about you, and smelled your blood, and-" My words trailed off, as I heard her broken sobs, my heart wrenching at the sound, and felt something inside of me nearly shatter at the sight of her back. I suppose I hadn't noticed at first due to finding her completely naked, but as my eyes landed on the deep, bloody lashes crisscrossing across her spine and shoulder blades over and over, too many to count, I realized where the blood must have come from. I felt hot tears slide down my face, and kneeled beside the tub, no longer caring about whether she was dressed or not, and slid my hand into the warm water, gently lacing my fingers with hers. "Who has done this horrid thing to you, Alcina? Was it the mortal? Whoever it was, I will tear their insides out slowly, and watch them choke to death on their own blood."

She shook her head, tears sliding down her face, her chest rising and falling rapidly with her sobs, and whispered, "You cannot kill who has done this, Alexandria.. She would easily take your life without so much as a single thought. I apologize for not being there when you awakened, but I had hoped to compose myself and tend to my wounds before you regained consciousness.. You were asleep for three days, and I was terrified that I would lose you, and then, Mother Miranda discovered that I had allowed you to live." My breath caught in my throat, my body filling with hot rage, as I realized that it was Miranda who had hurt the one I loved so cruelly, and all because of me. "She is just as vile and cruel as my own father. Beating their own child merely because they want to, using disobedience as an excuse to torment them.." She stayed silent, her body shaking from both sadness and pain, and I grabbed the bloodstained rag on the side of the tub, dipping it into the water, before gently dabbing at her wounds, flinching with every one I touched, a memory forcing itself to the surface of my mind.

"You ungrateful child! Your mother and I provide a warm home and a bed for you, and you cannot even bring home one small rabbit! What use is there for you, then?!" I felt the rawhide whip strike painfully across my bare back, and took deep breaths, counting to one hundred inside of my head, trying to keep myself sane through the agony I was enduring. Over and over the whip struck my flesh, clutched in my father's hand, and over and over again, I counted, until he was done, leaving me bloody and sore in the kitchen floor, making me wonder if I was as worthless as he said I was. I was shaken from my thoughts, as I faintly heard Alcina calling my name, her warm hand stroking my cheek, her golden eyes shining with tears, worry in them as she looked at my face. I smiled shakily, and told her, "I'm alright. I was just remembering something.."