The Afterlife | Resident Evil Village FanFiction

Chapter 14: Unsettled Mind

Chapter 14: Unsettled Mind

      In the split second the vampire lady, in her beast form, submerges down the current and has to see Tiana sinking like a rock scare all the life out of her. She tries her best, swimming and closing the gap between herself and the botanist. Unfortunately, her dragon-like anatomy with those extensive wings isn’t evolved for the underwater environment. It requires much effort as well as strength from Alcina to move around as she intends. This won’t do, the vampire lady quicks to realize that. Therefore, she emerges back to the surface, taking off into the sky where is the most advantageous to her and raking her brain for another way to save Tiana’s life.

            “Salvatore!” Alcina shouts her younger brother’s name out, flicking her orbs back and forth between him and the spot where Tiana’s drowning, “Help her!”

            “B-but—” the fish-like lord hesitates.

      Salvatore’s mind is occupying by a question, Isn’t she only a human? Why does his vampire sister care whether this mortal will make it or not? It’s understandable for him to think that way since he doesn’t witness by his eyes yet why this petite human is an extraordinary existence to his vampire sister. What Salvatore knows about the botanist thus far is that her name is Tiana. She’s Alcina’s newest plaything as well as Donna’s research partner. There are some good impressions of Tiana establish in Salvatore’s account too. Just early this evening, the fish-like lord gets a call from Donna which his younger sister can’t stop singing praise for this petite human. The lady in black also tells him that Tiana has offers to help Salvatore with his experiment. Saying that the botanist’s convinced her botany knowledge can be of good use on brewing a potion which, hopefully, could work as a countermeasure to Salvatore’s mutated cells.

      However. If talking only about what Salvatore knows, doesn’t explain why Tiana gets special treatment from Alcina. So, the fish-like lord can only continue pondering in curiosity. His head’s racing, seeking to comprehend everything that presently occurring. His line of thought goes—If Alcina worries this would draw unwanted attention from outside, that shouldn’t be the case. Because what is happening to Tiana right now can be regarded as an accident. The lords can easily solve any headache problem to come by making up evidence, moving the corpse, and creating a crime scene elsewhere outside their village. There’s a handful of similar cases in the past that requires the lords to do so. And with the Duke’s help, they succeed in deviate attention away from the village. Every time.

            “Just—Please, I’m begging you!” An entreaty comes from Alcina, loud and clear. Though Salvatore’s standing by the wooden pier quite a range away from his sister who is flying above, he can hear the desperation explicitly in Alcina’s tone, as well as it flashes visibly in her eyes.

             “Y-yes! I’m on it” replies, the fish-like lord. “Urghhh!”

      The cry of pain leaves Salvatore’s mouth as he changes to his mutated form way too sudden. A grotesque aquatic creature then dives down into the water with a massive wave and loud splashing noise as his enormous body comes in contact with the surface.

            ‘Come on, Sal—Don’t fail me now’ the tall lady cogitates, chewing onto her lower lip in anxiety.

      The torture feeling runs over Alcina once again as the only thing she can do now is waiting and hoping for the best. In the meantime, by the meadow next to Heisenberg’s factory, Karl is grouping his Lycans, aiming to make it easier for himself to send his pack off the scene at once. He doesn’t want to run around and address his pet one by one since it’d take too long and be way too bothersome for his preference. Then once all Lycans are clustered together in his sight, Karl sends his order out with a powerful roar.

            “Alright, folks! There’s no more prey around here anymore. So, be an obedient dog. Run along to the forest, or going down the village and feed yourself with some morons there, I don’t care—Be gone!” Still mounting on his mechanical equine, Karl flourishes his arm dramatically while issuing an order.

            “*Growl*”

      Some of the Lycans slip out an unpleasing snarl at Karl’s command which triggers something out of the Lycan lord. It makes Karl tilts his head to the side, calling his reliable hammer back in hand.

            “Are you mutt, perhaps, challenging my authority now?” Hoisting the mullet up his shoulder, Karl lowers his shades down slightly and breathes out with a vile grin, “Hm, just right when I’m starting to get bored”

            “Grrr” Once more, a provocation sound echoes from the pack as Lycans are barking, showing their canines out threateningly. Instead of getting work up from the sight, Karl ends up spreading a nasty grin on his face even wider.

            “Well, well. This’s even better” the lord of machine remarks, positioning himself into a fighting stance, “I guess it’s time for me to remind you how annihilate I’m capable of—Let’s the game begin!”

      Gruff, maniacal laughter fills the air as proof of Karl’s awakened madness. The sound of metal parts dismantling and assembling back together resonate loudly from the lea in front of Heisenberg’s factory as the lord turns himself into his mutated form to discipline his pack. Karl swings his saw-equipped arm in a half-circular motion, cutting many Lycans in halves just in the matter of a few seconds. The yelping and barking sound, the humming noise of the chainsaw come first. Following by the sickening smell of rotten gore of those Lycans’ a few seconds later.

            “You must be pretty tough, huh!? Challenging an Alpha like myself” Another Lycan’s smashed underneath those wheels of the lord’s mutated body before he’d carry on his talk, “You dare to object me, then fight like you mean it!”

      The Lycan lord cries out in the utmost excitement and laughs, continue slaughtering his pets away. As for Alcina, she still hovering in the air, flicking her orbs all over the reservoir for any sign of movement. Anything—Anything at all!

            “Sister, over there!” Donna, speaking through one of her dolls, gains the vampire lady’s attention by pointing out one specific spot on the water.

      The mentioned spot is flooding with bubbles, the water mass is breaking apart and revealing Salvatore emerges from the deep! The fish-like lord makes an unbelievable jump with his beast state, sending himself soaring up in the sky and lands on the roof of the reservoir control room. Upon landing with an exploding-like blow, he calls out for the vampire lady at the same time.

            “Sister!” Salvatore sputters, “S-she, she—”

      Salvatore opens the mouth of his beast physique wide, maintaining his upper human body visibly with Tiana in his arms. Lying thoroughly soaked, head flaps back in shocking angle with no chest movement to be seen or living rhythm to be heard is Tiana—The botanist is already stopped breathing!

            “No!” Alcina rushes to her brother as quick as a flash. She wishes her ears would playing tricks on her when she doesn’t hear Tiana’s beating heart, but it’s not.

      Salvatore lays the botanist down carefully before both himself and his sister would change back to their human appearance. Using his knowledge back in the day serving in the Romanian navy, Salvatore performs CPR on Tiana while instructing Alcina of what to do and what to expect at the same time. He asks Alcina to stabilize the botanist’s neck while he does only chest compressions first, at the rate of 100-120 per minute. Though the vampire lady afraid Salvatore may unintendedly break Tiana’s ribs, watching him pushing that fast, she has to keep it inside. Even performing CPR can resulted in broken ribs or bones sometimes, it’s worth taking risks. After all, the only outcome of no CPR is death itself.

            “*Huff* *Huff* God. She’s still not breathing—Can you help me open her airway?” Asks, Salvatore.

      Alcina does so without waiting for her brother to finish his sentence. The tall lady tilts Tiana’s head back, lifting the chin and pinching the nose closed before pumps oxygen inside the botanist’s lungs. The two siblings are doing their best, trying to bring Tiana back to life—Alcina gives the botanist 2 breaths, follows by 30 chest compressions from Salvatore. The cycle continues along with the fighting and yelping sounds from Karl’s side, until.

            “*Cough* *Cough* —*Gasp*” Wide awake, the botanist sucks in a struggling breath on her own.

            “Tia!” the vampire lady calls Tiana out in delight, planning to scoop the petite human into her arms. But Salvatore stops her.

            “No, wait! Don’t hold her up yet and flip her on her left side first, Alcina. We need to make sure there’ll be no water left in her respiratory system”

      Prioritize Tiana’s safety as the most important, Alcina does as the fish-like lord’s advice without protest. It takes a while, but later Tiana’s breathing rate goes back to normal. The botanist’s mouth moves as if she’s about to say something, but she losses her consciousness before able to do so. It freaks the vampire lady out, undoubtedly. However, with some explanations from Salvatore and reassurances from Donna, Alcina settles down at last. Just in time with Karl finishes giving a lesson to his pack of Lycans too. The lords then haste back toward the castle Dimitrescu to properly nurse Tiana as she’s not out of the wood yet.

      Upon arriving at Alcina’s place, Donna and Salvatore ask their sister to wait outside with the girls and Karl while they’ll take care of Tiana. It’s reasonable as the two have a deeper level of understanding and knowledge in medical more than everyone in the village combine. Besides, Alcina isn’t entirely in her right mind either and the two want their sister to rest for now. Still, the vampire lady can’t help but worry. She’s restless. Alcina has been pacing around from the foyer to the staircases and through the terrace of the main hall. Her daughters try to calm her down, but to no avail.

            “Will you quit walking around?” About 20 minutes later or so, Karl tosses that out as he can’t take it anymore. He kneads both sides of his temple, sending an eye back and forth between his nieces who huddle together nearby and Alcina, adding, “It’s getting on everyone’s nerves”

      Alcina’s about to bicker something back to her youngest brother who is lodging himself on the couch next to the fireplace. But when she sees her daughters’ moods are affected by her unsettling mind as Karl claims, the vampire lady decides to hold her tongue and goes to sit with the girls. The 3 daughters make room for their mother on the same couch as they’re sitting. Then hugging Alcina and nestle themselves against the vampire lady as soon as she sits down. Alcina let the touch from her daughters sink in, soothing herself down for a chance. After a while, Bela, who is leaning onto Alcina’s left side, starts drooping slightly. And on the other side of the mistress, Cassandra squeezes herself together with Daniela on the limited space of the couch. Alcina places her arm on both of them who already snoring softly and patting the blonde’s head, lulling her to sleep at the same time.

            “Remind me again why you’re sticking around?” Once the girls doze off and Alcina, herself, feels enough at ease, she addresses Karl.

            “Hah? Ready to chase me out already?” Flips his head to the side, Karl looks in Alcina’s direction. When he sees his nieces are sleeping soundly, he lowers his voice down and continues, “It’s nothing much. I just want to rest after beating the hell out of my pack. And lucky me, this couch of yours happen to meet my standard. Soft and comfy. So, I decide to crush your place for the time being”

      The youngest lord scoffs at the teasing he recites to his sister. Alcina, meanwhile, pinches the bridge of her nose, forcing herself to calm down as she doesn’t want to wake the girls up. ‘Can’t he be mature for once?’, the mistress queries. Karl looks at Alcina’s reaction in silence, pondering what had happened thus far—Oddly enough. His vampire sister’s willing to go such a length to save one human. Alcina summons all the lords and pulls all the strings she has just to search for the botanist. She also firmly presses that no matter what, no harm shall come to Tiana.

      At first, Karl doesn’t want to be a part of this. He plans to not cooperate at all, however, Alcina already expects that much. Therefore, the vampire lady attaches an endless list of favors and debts Karl owes her over years of neglecting his duty as a lord with the one Alcina sends to Karl’s place. So, the youngest lord can do nothing much if his eldest sister goes for that.

            “Interesting” Catching on something, the lord of machine tests his theory out.

            “What?”

            “You, of course” Karl changes his posture from lying down to sitting up. He turns to face Alcina, resting his elbows on his knee, “I wasn’t paying much attention in the last meeting, but I guess she’s the one? Your newest plaything and all”

            “Get to the point, Heisenberg. And just so you know—Don’t you even think about touching what’s mine” Alcina responds with a low growl.

            “Now, I’m even more curious! I’ll make sure to have a little chat with that human—”

            “That human has a name and it’s Tiana” the vampire lady’s orbs shine with a hint of anger. Her possessive nature makes Alcina putting her guard up as precautious to whatever Karl’s planning.

      ‘Hm. What kind of human that girl is to make this blood-sucking sister of mine behave this way?’, Karl thinks with a pleasing grin. Seeing his vampire sister changes from an aimless walking corpse to a purposeful fella before his eyes only make Tiana more intriguing to Karl.

            “What that little miss is to you, truthfully?” Leaning back onto the backrest, Karl crosses his arms and tosses in his quiz.

            “Tsk” Alcina rolls her eyes at the word Karl uses to call Tiana. But it’s better than a word human, she guesses. Then she replies, “That’s none of your business”

            “Aww, I’m hurt—Aren’t we a family, sister?” the lord of machine pretends to clutch onto his chest as if Alcina’s word truly pains him.

            “Heisenberg”

      The name comes out threateningly as Alcina gets fury for real. However, before the two can take their quibble further, Angie floats from Tiana’s room and calls out to everyone in the foyer to her attention.

            “Mommy asked me to get you all”

      Wordlessly, the two lords nod in acknowledgment to the porcelain doll’s word. Alcina tabs her 3 daughters awake gently and briefs them of why she wakes them up. Then ladies of house Dimitrescu climb up the staircases, brush past the terrace toward the east wing of the castle with Karl in tow. The tall lady stops in front of the door in hesitant, asking herself, ‘Do I have the right to be here?’ She can’t blame herself enough for being the reason Tiana goes out of the castle ground in the first place. Alcina is haunting herself with everlasting better possible scenarios than the current one that goes—If she’d reach out for Tiana quicker, the botanist wouldn’t have to leave the estate. If she’d call out for Tiana not to go, maybe the botanist will stay. If she’d go after Tiana as soon as she leaves the office, the botanist wouldn’t have to face any ill-fate as is.

            “Mother” Bela sets her assuring palm to her mother’s side, giving the tall lady a small encouraging smile. Alcina inhales deeply, thankful to the blonde. She turns to her brother to give him a piece of her mind before all of them will go inside Tiana’s room.

            “I warn you. Don’t you dare try anything with Tiana—If you do, I’ll make sure to do everything in my power to the point you wish you no longer existed”

            “Oh. Come on. I only want to get a glimpse of that, *Snicker*, Tiana’s personality of why she’s special” despite using a teasing tone with his claim, Karl means every word.

            “…” Alcina raises her eyebrow skeptically while weighing if she should take her brother’s word or not. Finally, she sighs then says, “Fine. But you can talk with her only if she wants to. Do I make myself clear?”

            “Yeah. Yeah—Now let’s get inside already”

      As everyone gathers through the door, the 1st thing they hear is difficult breathing, coming from the botanist. Alcina halts on her track with distress creeping on her. Salvatore approaches his elder sister to discuss the botanist’s condition. About what it’s called, what to expect, what’s the risk, and anything Alcina may want to know. At the same time, Donna discards Tiana’s wet clothes into a bucket, gesturing for Mila to take care of it, and dismisses the maid out of the room. For the girls, they join their aunt by Tiana’s bed, asking her how severe the botanist’s wounds are since they’re caused by the Lycan. As for Karl, he swings by the furthest corner of the room, taking the whole picture and inclining himself against the wall there.

            “Why’s she in this state?” Alcina asks the fish-like lord, glancing over Tiana worryingly.

            “She’s near-drowning, sister. This’s one of the possible complications that can occur to the near-drowning called acute respiratory distress syndrome. It’s miraculous enough that we’re able to revive her despite drowning that long—Realistically, we should be grateful that she can breathe on her own at this point” Salvatore replies.

            “W-what do you imply?” colors leave the vampire lady’s visage at the sound of that.

            “I…*Sigh* Even after discussing with Donna, I can’t say for sure. As I said, that state she’s in right now is only one of the possible complications. We may or may not expect other symptoms in the future, such as pneumonia, brain damage, fluid imbalance, or a permanent vegetative st—” Salvatore holds his tongue once he sees what expression his sister has.

      Alcina’s truly terrified by it and she tries asking her siblings what can be done to prevent the worst. Which Donna and Salvatore sway their head. The two aren’t licensed doctors. They know themselves well enough that what they diagnose Tiana thus far is only commonly known facts. There’s also another thing Tiana has to be wary of. It’s an infection of those wounds, caused by the Lycan.

            “*Huff* *Huff* Don’t anyone know *Huff* patient should get much rest as possible?” A weak voice resonates from the bed, startles everyone at the scene.

      Tiana struggles to breathe, however, she doesn’t want to pass an opportunity to tease everyone. She develops a bit of a childish and jokester personality after spending time with the girls in their elements for a month. Alcina rushes to the bedside, sitting down to get a closer look at the botanist.

            “Hey, you’re awake” the mistress whispers out softly, hesitantly placing her palm on Tiana’s cheek.

            “*Huff* Yes, my lady. *Huff* *Huff* I am” Leaning onto the touch, Tiana wears a tired grin on her face.

            “I’m starting to get it why this one’s special” Karl sneers at the botanist’s unusual behavior.

      The Lycan lord amazes seeing no distress or fear flash on Tiana’s face. Nothing like those dull villagers the lords govern over. Tiana feebly lifts her head to see who’s speaking. Her vision is still somehow unclear which she guesses it’s from her almost drowning. As a result, Tiana can only distinctuish the source of the voice as a middle-aged man. She turns to her side, sending a questioning eye to ask Alcina who’s that. The vampire lady doesn’t look at her though. Currently, Alcina’s gaze locks on her youngest brother who looms closer to the bed while takes off his hat and bows dramatically.

            “Allow me to introduce myself. Karl Heisenberg at your service. You’re feeling better already, I hope?”

            “I *Huff* feel like someone’s stomping on my chest—*Huff* *Huff* But otherwise, I’m good”

      Even Donna, Salvatore, and the girls can’t help but snicker seeing Tiana in this high spirit. As for Alcina, she’s surprised that Karl actually kept his word of not trying anything except talk. And real polite talk for a chance at that. Her ladyship’s tense muscles relax down a bit when Tiana reaches for the hand on her cheek and squeezes it. The botanist tries to sit upon the bed as she wants to talk to everyone and express her thanks to them for coming to her rescue. But since her strength is almost none, the vampire lady takes the initiative to help with that.

            “Thank you, my lady” Tiana’s racing breath slow down enough for her to stop panting, fortunately. She then addresses everyone, “Thank you kindly, my lords and ladies—I wouldn’t make it without any of you”

            “Hmm. I didn’t commit good deeds, aiming for any kind of compensation. But I like when people appreciate my effort” Karl smirks, giving Tiana a wink.

      Tiana titters to that. The lord of machine does so, meaning to make fun of Alcina who doesn’t thank any of her siblings for helping out yet. Alcina rolls her eyes with a low growl. She runs a hand over her face, crossing one arm, and finally says.

            “Thank you. All of you, for saving her”

            “Boom! That’s more like it!” Karl bursts out into the utmost delight laugher at the view of his vampire sister thanks him for once. “Hah. If this’s how my sister’s going to behave, having around you, I’ll say we’re going to be best friend in no time, miss Engelbrecht”

            “I’m…honored?” Tiana doesn’t sure if she should take that as a compliment as she hears Alcina snarls in her throat at Karl’s comment. Flicks her eyes between Alcina and Karl, Tiana’s starting to wonder, ‘What kind of sibling relationship is going on between this two?’

            “It’s good to see you’re feeling better, Tiana,” Says, Donna.

            “Thank you” the botanist bows her head down gratefully. Then when her optics fall upon the fish-like lord, Tiana recalls him as her savior who diving down to the bottom of the reservoir and brings her back to the surface. Therefore, she talks to him with a grin, “I assume you must be lord Moreau—Thank you, my lord. For diving down to save me”

            “O-oh!” Salvatore doesn’t expect this. He thinks Tiana would afraid of him as soon as she sees his inhumane look, but he’s met with a word of gratitude instead. His face softens before he replies, “Don’t mention it”

            “*Sniff* *Sniff* Tianaaa” the daughters of house Dimitrescu break out into a sob in unison before each would grip onto part of the botanist’s body. Crying uncontrollably.

      The picture of the three daughters crying like a little girl rouse a chuckle out of the lords. Some times later, Salvatore, Donna, and Karl excuse themselves back to their territory, so house Dimitrescu can rest after all the chaotic events occur. Alcina also excuses herself out for a moment to send the girls back to their quarter before she’d come back to be by Tiana’s side once more. She isn’t sure if it’s the right time, but she and Tiana need to talk eventually. Thus, why not now? Sitting down on the padded seat beside the bed, Alcina starts the conversation.

            “Tiana. Do you feel good enough for a late-night talk?”

            “Yes. Yes, I think I am”

            “I, um, …I’m sorry” Alcina runs a hand over her face, cursing herself for being a coward who shuts herself from a new chance in life and pushes Tiana to this point. “For lashed out on you and be the cause that you were hurt like this”

            “My lady” the botanist extends her hand out to Alcina’s which is resting on her lap.

            “Everything about me you said when we fight previously…you were right. And if it wasn’t too much of me to ask, can we start again?” Alcina lowers her hand down, gazing intensely into the botanist’s eyes, “Please grant me another chance with you and I promise I’ll do everything, tell you everything this time”

      --------------------

      To Be Continued >>