Her Maiden

Chapter Twenty-one: Claws

The next few moments happen all at once and yet appear before you in slow motion, as you watch yourself sink the sickle into the belly of the restrained man - your would-be killer, now your victim. You barely hear the excited buzzing and cackling of the daughters behind you as you lean in, using your body weight to push the blade deep into him before withdrawing it, only to strike again and again and again, feeling streaks of hot blood spurting across your skin as you do so. It feels like a strange baptism of sorts.

You realise he's stopped screaming. His eyes have shut and there's no longer a sense of resistance as you plunge the blade down. You withdraw it and stumble backwards, dropping the sickle to the floor with a loud clatter.

You gaze at the slumped form of your attacker. His head hangs limp, and his body no longer heaves with ragged breaths. You study the damage you had just inflicted on his stomach. A sickle was much longer than a knife - and hooked. To your disgust, you notice you seemed to have pulled out entrails during your frenzy, which spill out from the deep gashes you had inflicted so mercilessly.

You had just killed someone.

All of a sudden, the reality of that sentiment overwhelms you and you worry you might be sick. You feel your knees go weak and your body tremble. Just as you think your legs are going to give out from beneath you, you feel arms around yours, supporting you, holding you up.

Alcina's daughters. They surrounded you, with approving clicks and hisses as they too surveyed the damage you'd done.

"Not bad, bloodbag," Cassandra smirks, eyes twinkling as she takes in the morbid sight.

You stand numbly, staring ahead too, though you don't really feel you're looking at him. You feel shell shocked, your mind disassociated from the reality of the situation now.

You feel Daniela stroking your hair absentmindedly, as you all stand for a moment, the daughters seemingly standing by you in your trance in a strange kind of solidarity.

Then you hear that familiar clipped sound of heels on stone drawing near. The kind that had very long pauses between them. You blink, the sound seemingly snapping you out of your catatonic state.

"Pet?"

You turn around, aided by Daniela and Cassandra, to gaze up at your mistress, who's face seems etched with concern as she takes in the scene in front of her.

"Daughters, what is the meaning of this?" she asks, her voice low, tone pointed.

Bela steps forward.

"She told us she wanted closure, mother," Bela begins, "so we obliged. You did say the man thing was ours to do with as we pleased. We thought this would be a useful exercise for her."

Alcina steps forward, dipping low to enter the cell. The daughters shift out of the way, bringing you with them as their mother brings herself before the body of the man, still strung up, but entirely still now. You watch as her eyes lock on the mess you had made of his stomach, which still dripped blood, creating an echoing tapping sound which filled the cell.

"You did this, pet?" she asks.

You feel your stomach flip as she turns to look at you. Her expression is unreadable, but her eyes are alight with colour, streaming into you from behind her dark lashes.

You don't dare break from her gaze and dutifully nod. Apart from anything else, the blood spattered down your front was a bit of a giveaway. Her eyes seem to soften somewhat as she looks down upon you. You can only imagine how strange you must look like to her. Her fragile little pet, now with blood on her hands after brutally murdering someone.