RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE - The House of Dimitrescu

Chapter 21 - Here, We Are Enough

Y/N paid no mind to the distant roar of Lady Dimitrescu's car as he made his way through the south wing of the castle. Knowing that it would be a few more days before he would be forced to face her did relieve some of the tension coiled inside his stormy thoughts, but as of that moment, his thoughts were focused on other things.

He expected that Bela would have returned to her bedroom following Lady Dimitrescu's scolding, and sure enough, when he reached the long corridor where the three sisters' rooms were located, the door to the eldest sister's room was closed tightly shut.

Quietly, Y/N tiptoed towards the door, keeping an ear out for the telltale buzz of either Cassandra or Daniela's approach, and listened carefully at the door. From inside, there came a soft, low buzzing noise, and underneath it, quiet, choked sobs of anguish.

Y/N felt his chest tighten as he listened, and after a moment's hesitation, he knocked quietly on the door. On the other side, the sobs continued, and after a few moments wait, Y/N knocked again. Still no answer.

'Bela, it's me.' Y/N called quietly through the door. 'Are you alright?'

Inwardly he winced, but what else could he say? On the other side of the door, the sobs continued, but they seemed to grow a little quieter.

'May I come in?' Y/N asked the door, and when he received only more muffled sniffs and sobs, he carefully laid his hand on the doorknob, turned it, and peered cautiously into the room, keeping an eye out for any flying sickles that might be thrown at him.

Bela's powder-blue room seemed very cold and dark in comparison to the others. It was filled with the same sweltering heat, sure, but the soft yellow light from the lamps on the walls and the small chandelier on the ceiling cast long shadows across the carpeted floor, and the icy colour of the walls did little to lighten the mood of the room.

A four-poster bed covered with golden sheets was pushed into the corner of the room to the left of the doorway, and upon it, Bela was curled tightly into herself as she sobbed quietly into the sheets. A small number of her flies circled mournfully above her, and in between their soft buzzing, Y/N heard Bela's sobs repeated through the air, as if the entire swarm was crying with her.

The shirt that Y/N had wrapped around Bela had been ripped off, exposing the long rips in the back and sides of her dress, and through them, her smooth shoulders and back. Glancing around, Y/N saw the shirt lying crumpled beneath the dark window opposite the bed, covered with a small number of black flies, who seemed nearly motionless as their mistress wept a few feet away.

Gingerly, Y/N stepped into the room, avoiding the few flies scattered here and there across the carpet like teardrops as he did so, and as he closed the door behind him, he noted with a surge of irritation that the door's lock had been filed away. By order of the countess, no doubt. Overruling her children's right to privacy to make way for her own wishes.

'Bela?' Y/N asked softly, stepping slowly around the bed towards her. Bela made no reply, and with a sigh, Y/N glanced around for something with which to busy himself. Quietly, he moved to the fireplace and re-lit it with the flints from the wood basket. Once the flames were waving steadily at him, Y/N straightened, and moved back towards the bed.

He carefully took the blanket from the foot of the bed, then gently pulled it up around Bela's curled form. As the blanket was laid over her, Y/N saw Bela's heaving shoulders still slightly, and though her long hair was covering her face, he knew that her eyes were open.

Lastly, he crossed to the window, closing the heavy curtains against the darkness outside, and gingerly bent down to pick up his shirt. The black flies crawling slowly around on its surface took little to no notice of him as he carefully lifted the shirt with both hands, carried it back to the bed, and gently tipped the flies back onto Bela with the rest of them.