The Angel and The Crow~Mother Miranda x OC

Nightmares/True Face

"Mama, help me!" I could hear Evan screaming for me over the roar of the flames that engulfed our home, the terror crystal clear in his voice. I staggered to my feet, my hand pressed against the bloody wound on my chest, my feet scraping against the rocks below them as I raced towards the flames, knowing I had to reach him before it was too late. My skin seared with agony as I raced inside, though I was able to endure the pain better than humans would, and raced upstairs, plunging deeper into the raging inferno, searching for my son.

As I reached his room, the walls and ceiling caved in around me, threatening me with the fear of death, but I pushed the terror down, only concerned with saving Evan, and slammed my shoulder into his door, breaking it open, and scooped him into my arms as I saw him cowering in a corner. I felt his face bury itself in my chest, hot tears stinging my flesh, and wrapped my arms around him tightly, racing back out of the room. More of our home collapsed around us, and I struggled, suffering severe burns on various areas of my body, pushing my way through the scalding rubble, desperate to make it outside.

As I began making my way down the stairs, my eyes went wide, feeling them give way beneath my feet, and before I could quite understand what was happening, everything went white hot and bright, my body falling through the wreckage of our home, being battered and broken in multiple ways, and I felt a shriek of terror leave my lungs as I felt Evan ripped from my arms by the force of the fall, my body searing with pain, and then, I felt something ice cold beneath me, cooling the ache in my body, before darkness closed in around me.

When I awoke again, I found myself lying about fifty feet from my smoldering home in the snow, all that was remaining of it nothing but ashes and charred wood, the bloody trail leading from me to the remains telling me I had unconsciously crawled away as I slept. The pain in my body was already dimming, my inhuman body healing itself as quickly as it could, and I forced my battered self to crawl back to my home, thinking that if I was alive, Evan must be safe, too. I soon found out that I was very wrong, as I reached the remains of the house, only to find a burnt skeleton wearing my son's clothing buried beneath a wooden beam that had fallen. Agony shot through my heart, and I let out a heart wrenching shriek of pain and grief for my poor little child..

          I shot up, sweating and breathing hard, wincing as my head slammed into something solid and cold, then realized from the dim light illuminating the small space that I was in some sort of cage. I seemed to be locked away in a laboratory of some kind, detailed sketches of various creatures hanging upon the walls, candles illuminating the room itself, and jars of unknown things were scattered about on shelves and tables. From the looks of the items, I did not want to discover what was held inside of those jars, some of them writhing and moving as if alive, the word "Cadou" written in neat handwriting on the labels. A familiar voice spoke from somewhere in the room, "I see you are awake finally. I thought you would sleep all day, and that wouldn't do at all. Not when I have so many tests to run.."

        I felt fury boil inside of my blood, remembering the cruel words Miranda had spoken to me before I had been taken to wherever that strange place was. "Oh, how I would hate to disappoint you. You can't have one of your precious subjects do anything to annoy you, now can you? Your high and mighty ego is far too fragile for that." With that, she almost instantly appeared in front of my cage, her eyes glaring at me with hatred through the bars, and I felt shock jolt through me, as I saw her true face. No longer was she wearing that mask, but her face was exposed, revealing a sharp jawline, high cheekbones, ivory skin, slicked back blonde hair, full lips, and a perfect nose, and she wore a black turtleneck beneath a lab coat, creating an image of an ethereal like being, instead of the vicious woman I knew her to be.

       "You have a sharp tongue on you. Be careful with your words, or I may cut that tongue out and feed it to you myself! I will not tolerate your attitude, and I will start breaking you of it very soon." She seemed taken aback as she noticed me staring at her in shock, and I could swear a blush ghosted across her cheeks, her eyes darting away from me, almost as if she were embarrassed. "What are you gawking at?! Have you never seen another woman before? Or are you just prone to being rude with both your mouth and your eyes?" Before I could stop myself, I whispered, "None as beautiful as you", and instantly regretted my words, as she wrenched open the cage door, and dragged me out, her fingernails almost as sharp as her metal claws had been, and I soon was strapped down to a cold metal table, the leather straps binding me tied so tightly that it was difficult to breathe.

          I was a bit frightened, unsure of what she was about to do, and then, I felt something sharp slice into my chest, hot wetness instantly gushing across my skin, but I gritted my teeth, and glared at Miranda, knowing she would revel in my pain. "I am truly glad that I have brought you here. You are an intriguing specimen, indeed. You heal quickly, and yet, you have scars that do not disappear, from what I can tell were once severe burns. How did you come to have them?" At that, my whole body tensed up, and I muttered, "That is one story I refuse to tell, no matter how you torture me, Miranda." Instantly, a stinging slap burned my face, as she hit me, clearly infuriated by my referring to her by her first name. "You will show me some respect, child, or you will die quickly, no matter how interesting you are!"

         With that, I fell silent, not from fear, but because I knew the more I behaved, the more quickly she could be done with her tests, and I could try to find a way to escape her. She finished relatively quickly, and then, to my disappointment and fear, flung me back into the cage. "I will come for you at supper time, beast. Until then, you shall stay in your prison, and you shall stay silent, or I will cut off one of your arms and feed it to the Lycans." The honesty in her voice told me she was deadly serious, and I felt true fear snake through me for the first time after meeting her. Who truly was this woman? Why was she so intrigued by me? Did she mean to turn me into some feral animal like the Lycans? Had she created all the beasts I had encountered about the village? I knew I liked would not get those answers easily, but if she was going to allow me to dine with her, perhaps she would tell me, as long as I behaved and played along..

       I curled up inside of my cage, shivering from how cold it was inside of there, though I soon found myself thinking of how warm Miranda's touch had been as she ran her tests, and how gentle she acted when I behaved instead of resisting or talking back. Maybe she wasn't as cold as I thought, or perhaps, she just was a bit complicated.. But why did it even matter to me? She was torturing me and holding me captive, so why did I suddenly feel the need to get to know her more? Perhaps it was the picture I saw on one of the tables, of Miranda holding a child that was clearly her own.. I too, had had a child once, so it only seemed natural that I should want to talk to someone who also shared that with me. Or maybe I was just truly lonely, as I had been for so long, and even a cruel woman like Miranda seemed like good company to have..