Part of the Family

Chapter 7

    "So, you really...like him?" Bela asks me as she helps me hang out my wet laundry in a room of the castle. She looks at the handcrafted drying racks oddly. "And, we have people to do this for us, you know," she says, holding up a blouse of mine, "Why do you do this?"
   "Because," I say, taking the blouse from her, "I'm not exactly fond of people waiting on me when I'm capable of doing it myself,"
  She scrunches her nose a little, but nods. "So, my first question," she says, nudging me a little.
  I sigh and smile a little, chuckling softly. "It doesn't matter," I say, hanging up a pair of pants, "it's not like I have a chance..."
  She laughs a little. "Valerie!" she says, pushing me a little again, "Don't say that! He'd be lucky, not to mention unworthy, to have someone like you! Hell, your wit would give him a run for his money!"
  "She's right, you know," someone behind us says.
  We both look at the door leading from the kitchen.
  Lady Dimitrescu stands in the doorway, and takes a draw from her cigarette holder, and exhales, letting out a cloud of smoke. She smiles softly at me. "Any man would be lucky to have you," she says, approaching us, "Never forget that," She looks at the laundry. "Valerie, darling, let the servants take care of that," she says, "you must have better ways to spend your time,"
  I shake my head a little. "It's fine, Lady Dimitrescu," I say, "I can't always live in a castle, so...I need to learn how to be self reliant, somehow,"
  "You could always live here, if you wanted," Bela says, grabbing my arm gently, "Couldn't she, Mother?"
  "But, of course, Bela," Lady Dimitrescu says, "if she so chooses, that is,"
  I nod a little. "I'm still thinking about it," I say, "Considering my options. It's wonderful, your castle, but..." I sigh, looking away, seeing the sun out one of the windows, "I don't feel like I belong in such...luxury,"
  "And...at the factory?" Lady Dimitrescu asks, a faint hint of disdain in her voice.
  I sigh. "It was nice," I say, "being there. He's quite interesting, his ideas and how motivated and determined he is, but..." I look down at the floor, "...I was hurt last time I allowed myself to...and...I don't know if I should..."
  There's a heavy pause.
  "Last time?" Lady Dimitrescu asks, "What do you mean? In...in Louisiana?"
  I nod. I wipe tears from my eyes. I take a deep breath, and continue hanging my laundry. "I'm going into the village after I finish..." I mutter, "...I just...need a walk..."
  "Alright," she says, "Come along, Bela. I have some...tasks for you,"
  "Yes, mother," Bela says, "Val, will you still share a story with me, Cassandra and Daniella tonight?"
  "Of course," I say, "I don't see why I shouldn't,"
  "I can't wait!" she says, turning away from me and dissipating into a cloud of flies.
  "Stories?" Lady Dimitrescu asks.
  "Yes," I say, "I...I use my projections to help them visualise the stories as I tell them. Gives me practice with speaking and projecting at the same time,"
  "Interesting..." she says, "well, I'll leave you be. Remember to bring a coat when you go to the village. Today is sunny, but windy, and the wind here is rather cold," She then walks away, ducking through the doorway of the room.
  I nod. I quickly finish hanging up my clothes, and then stretch a little. I sigh, and walk out of the room to my own room.
---
  "And, how have you been, my Dear?" the Duke asks, pouring my tea.
  I sigh. "I...I don't know," I say, accepting the cup.
"Could you...elaborate?" he asks, "What's making you feel unsure? If you're comfortable talking about it, that is. Wouldn't want to pry,"
    I nod a little, taking a small sip of the tea. "I just..." I say, then sigh, "I can't quite shake the feeling that...well, something bad is going on, and something worse is going to happen,"
  "Hmmm..." he says, "...well, it's to be expected. You're a stranger in a familiar place, wouldn't you say?"
  I think about this, gently sipping my tea. 'He's right,' I say, 'this does feel very much like Louisiana. A large, strong entity controlling others, working to make a family, or what it considers a family,' I sigh. "I just wish..." I mutter, then sigh.
  "You wish there was something you could do about it?" he asks, offering a biscuit.
  I nod, taking one. "I don't compare to Miranda," I say, "I was even weaker than Evie! A literal child! All I can do is control a cloud of plankton, basically. I'm...I'm nothing to her,"
  "On your own, maybe," he says, "which is why building allies could be your best strategy,"
  "Against what?" I ask, "I might just be being paranoid. I might be wrong,"
  "And, yet," he says, "You may be correct,"
  I sigh, when we hear howling in the distance. "What's that?" I ask.
  He sighs and looks up. "Lycans," he says, angrily, "Miranda needs to get those beasts under control...they were her test subjects, after all..."
  "Test subjects?" I ask, then I gasp. "The villagers," I say, scrambling to my feet and out of his wagon, "Thank you for the tea, Duke," I say.
  "You're very welcome," he says, "and, Ms Valerie: be careful,"
  I nod, breaking into a run toward the center of town. I see figures bounding toward the village. I grit my teeth and grab a nearby axe just as one of the Lycans leaps at me. I swing at the Lycan, burying the axe in it's shoulder. At the same time, I release a projection, seeing from both my eyes and the projection's eyes. I turn it into a murder of ghostly crows and start dive-bombing the Lycans, confusing them.
  "It's the Ghost Walker!" someone yells.
  "She's fighting for us!" someone else yells.
  "We can help her!" a third person yells, "Quick, grab your guns!"
  I let out a yell as I pull the axe from one Lycan and swing it at another, hitting it with the back of the axe. I start to feel the effects of overusing my power, but I keep fighting. 'These people need me,' I think, 'Miranda doesn't love them like they think. They're being fooled, and they need to know,'
  Suddenly, a Lycan tackles me to the ground, crushing the breath out of my lungs. It snarls at me, it's stinking, hot breath washing over my face.
  A gunshot rings out and blasts the beast backwards, off of me.
  The Lycan lays motionless on the ground next to me.
  "Is that the last of them?" someone asks.
  "For now," someone else says.
  I start to feel unconsciousness creep up on me. I fight to keep my eyes open.
  "Is she alright?" someone asks.
  I form my projection into one large raven, and have it fly into my chest.
  "Someone check on the Ghost Walker," someone says, their voice fading away as I fall unconscious.
---
    I blink my eyes open, staring at the ceiling of my room in the castle.
    "...doing out there?" Lady Dimitrescu asks, whispering, "Did she think she could take on all of those Lycans all at once? I blame you for putting radical ideas like that in her head..."
    "Me?" Heisenburg says, also whispering, "Alcina, I'm not to blame for her wanting to protect the village! Honestly, we should be proud of her!"
    "For nearly getting herself killed?" Lady Dimitrescu hisses.
    I rub my eyes and start to slowly, stiffly sit up.
    They both go silent.
    "Val!" Heisenburg says, relieved. He comes over to my bed and kneels down next to it. "You're okay!" he says, "gah, why...why would you take a pack of Lycan's head on? Are you insane?"
    I shake my head. "Miranda...that's...that's how she gets people to experiment on...right?" I ask, looking up at Lady Dimitrescu, "She...she doesn't want to protect them...she doesn't love them...she doesn't even love us,"
    "What are you talking about?" Lady Dimitrescu asks, "Of course she loves us! We're family,"
    I shake my head. "You...we're all just...experiments," I say, "Even me. She's trying to see if an outsider can properly integrate into the community. If two bioweapons can exist in the same environment. We're all just...test subjects,"
    Heisenberg seems stunned at first, then stands up. "Fucking, finally!" he says, "Someone else, other than myself, sees her for what she really is!"
    "Silence, both of you!" Lady Dimitrescu says, venomously, "You have no idea what you're talking about!"
    "Alcina, I've seen it before," I say, turning to sit on the edge of the bed, "with Evie. She was so hellbent on finding the 'perfect family', she didn't care how many people she hurt, or how many actual families she tore apart. She only cares about herself. She needs to be stopped, or we're all going to pay, one way or another,"
    "I agree," Heisenberg says, "one hundred percent. I absolutely agree,"
    Lady Dimitrescu glares at him. She then sighs, looking at me. "I only agree because I trust you, Valerie," she says, "You've seen this before. Does...does it really end as bad as you say?"
    I nod. "Almost no one survives...I only did because I ran..." I say, looking down.
    "And...that's not really a choice here," Heisenburg says, "she's got this entire valley in the palm of her hand. There's nowhere to go,"
    "We need to defeat her somehow," I say.
    "None of us compare to the power of Mother Miranda," Lady Dimitrescu says, "We'll be killed before we even attempt anything,"
    "Individually, yes," I say, "but, together? Together, and that means all four of the Lords...we may have a chance,"
    She still looks unsure.
    "We just need to wait for an opportunity," Heisenburg says.
    "And to convince the other Lords," I say, "Donna and Angie will be easy to convince, but...I'm not so sure about Moreau. He's pretty loyal to her..."
    "Leave Moreau to me," Heisenburg says, "You talk to Donna,"
    "And Angie," I say.
    "Yeah, yeah," he says, waving a hand a little, "And the...the fucking doll..."
    I nod.
    "We'll have to make it quick," Lady Dimitrescu says, walking from the door, toward us, holding a freshly opened letter, "Mother Miranda is leaving the village for a short period,"
    Heisenburg and I look at each other, then look at her.
    "Does it say why?" I ask.
    "Not exactly," she says, "it just says...'I've finally found the perfect vessel. She will be brought home soon.'" She looks up at us, her face placid and unreadable.
    I look at Heisenberg.
    "That...doesn't sound good," he says.