Phantom of House Beneviento (Donna X Fem Reader)

Chapter 7: Lord Moreau II

The day you had been dreading arrived, unfortunately you didn't die or get horrifically maimed in some freak accident so you had to go. The final buttons on your (suit/dress) were buttoned, your hair was styled the way you liked, and you had to borrow make-up from Angie to cover the dark circles under your eyes. You hadn't been sleeping well, or eating, and you kept making mistakes while cooking or cleaning to the point that Angie had to monitor you like when you first arrived. The anxiety ate away at you piece by piece like you were a carcass at the bottom of the ocean being slowly eaten away by crustaceans. Now you were a walking skeleton but looked like a ghost; the blackness of your outfit didn't help either.

Angie hollered, you sighed heavily and looked toward the desk with the sprawled strips of fabric. You had tried to make...something during your sleepless nights; followed the instructions in the book but it came out looking like a tattered dog toy. In frustration you pushed the fabric off the desk into the bin before walking out the door into the hallway. You descended the stairs and looked over at Angie, she wore a black dress with a transparent shawl over her shoulders and head, she had pulled the shawl to cover her face but it remained visible enough for you to see the disdain on her face. For once in her life probably, she decided not to say anything about your appearance and merely hummed under her breath.

You opened the door for her and hesitated, only for a moment, to see if maybe the lord would appear and follow you. They didn't. Angie and you walked the path as usual, both of you paused in front of Claudia's grave to put a fresh candle down and light it. The longer you stayed, the more comfortable it felt to be around the grave, you paused every time you passed by. It felt wrong, insulting almost if you didn't. The fog added a haunting feeling to the surrounding foliage, if you weren't already looking like a ghost, you half expected one to walk alongside you.

The village was a sea of black and grays, you and Angie divided through the crowd down to the docks where a stage stood alongside the Cliffside. Alcina sat on it with her daughters, next to her was Mother Miranda, and an empty seat. On the other side of the stage was a man in a black leather hunter hat with greasy salt and pepper hair, and a five o'clock shadow for a beard. That must be Heisenberg. You hadn't met him yet but he looked disheveled and homeless from the disarray of his...suit, if you could even call it that. It looked like something you would have made only with more stains. His most prominent feature is the rounded sunglasses he sported despite there being little sunshine.

Next to him was Salvatore in a black suit with a flashy yellow tie. You scrunch your face. To avoid his gaze, you looked toward the dockside and saw a wrapped body in a small wooden boat, it didn't take a genius to gather that it was his father. The microphone's feedback echoed through the spread out speakers, you flinched from the high pitch but it drew your attention to Mother Miranda who cleared her throat.

"Thank you everyone for joining us on this mournful morning to see off our beloved Lord Howard Moreau. If we could all bow our heads for a moment of silence."

Everyone around you bowed their heads, the only sounds were the wind through the caverns, distant birds, and the water brushing against the docks and shore. Mother Miranda sighed, she stood with her hands folded in front of her.

"Now, his son Salvatore will do the honors of casting his father out into the bay, as was his final request."

Salvatore stood with a smug grin, it gave you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, something didn't smell right and it wasn't the fish. Shouldn't he be sad his father died? Then again, you weren't exactly sad when your parents died, but you also weren't happy. Salvatore went down to the boat and bowed his head, you couldn't hear what he said but after he lifted his head he knelt, and pushed the boat out into the bay. The crowd, along with you, watched as the boat floated out of view into the ghostly thick fog rolling over the calm water. A shiver ran up your spine, unsure if it was from the cold or not, but you hugged yourself anyways. Salvatore walked back up to the stage slowly, as if basking in the attention. He approached Mother Miranda who handed him a rolled document then dipped her fingers into a black liquid. She rubbed the liquid over his forehead while her lips muttered words that couldn't be heard. He bowed to her then waved Mother Miranda aside and took the microphone in his grimy hand. The black smear prominent on his forehead.