Sweetly Insane

Chapter 14: Rabid Rabbit

"Repeat what I just told you." Miranda ordered as she fixed the collar of Alexa's jacket. Alexa closed her eyes and concentrated hard, running her tongue over the split wound on her lower lip.

"I will remain standing next to you. I will not look at the other lords directly in the eyes. I will not..." she trailed off, the last of her lover/captor's commands had slipped her mind completely. She closed her eyes in anticipation of the punishment that was about to come, causing the tears to roll down her cheeks. She waited, and waited, but the room was silent and the punishment never came. Instead she felt Miranda's thumbs wipe her tears away. Still, out of fear, she refused to open her eyes.

** Why are you so fucking pathetic?! You could snap her neck so fucking easily!**

** I concur...**

"If we weren't late because of your idiocy, I would have punished you for your blatant insolence. Alas, that will have to wait until tonight. The last command is not to speak to the others or even answer them if they ask something. Am I making myself clear?" Miranda's voice was soft and gentle, something Alexa was not used to at all. She decided to open her eyes slowly.

"Yes, Mother Miranda. As you wish."

"Good. Let us get going. We're late to the meeting with the other lords."

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Thirty minutes had passed since they left Miranda's Manor when Alexa decided to break the silence. The two voices in her head was driving her insane.

"Mother Miranda, may I ask a question?" She gingerly asked in a soft voice. She nervously adjusted her clothes, grimacing at the oversized clothes she was forced to wear. Miranda sighed audibly before briefly glancing at Alexa.

"If you must. I was expecting you to ask questions sooner or later."

"Who lives in the big castle, up north?" Alexa carefully watched her expression, afraid of asking the wrong thing. A scowl, a jealous one, spread across Miranda's face before she looked out the carriage window again. She seemed to ponder the question, making Alexa think she was hiding something. More importantly, Alexa was worried Miranda had somehow become aware of her visits to the castle at night. But most importantly- she needed to learn the Lady's name.

"The lady Dimitrescu and her daughter lives there. Had been living there for the past 100 years. They were experiments to me, just as you. But unlike you, they failed."

Alexa was relieved, it looked like Miranda was still unaware of her late night adventures. Even though she didn't know her name, Alexa felt like she knew the countess, having spent night after night talking to her. She even spent a few nights roughly wrestling with the daughter, mostly running away from her after painting on everything. And yet, not knowing the name of the Romanian countess bothered her to the point of sleepless nights. She wanted to learn her name.

"What is her-"

"No more questions. Today, Alexa, your life will change dramatically. You're my best subject yet." Miranda interrupted her. She sighed, the unknown future she faced was making her extremely nervous. Yes, Miranda had told her about the experiments and the tests, but she never told her why she was doing this. Alexa endured countless, seemingly endless nights being tortured until she could mutate voluntarily. She can't remember much of her life before Miranda introduced her to the Cadou, just recalling the  heartache of losing a loved one.

☆♡☆

"My Lady? It's 7am." A soft voice woke Alcina, making Cassandra growl in annoyance.

"If you value you life at all, maiden, you'd leave."