RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE - The House of Dimitrescu

Chapter 26 - Making His Choice

The wind that whistled through the broken boards of the woodsman's cabin were underlaid with the screams of the bleeding prisoners Cassandra had shown to him. Though it had been nearly three days since he saw the horrific scene, their cries echoed inside Y/N's head like the voice of insanity, and their wide, white eyes hung hauntingly in the shadowy corners of the darkened room. 

Gritting his teeth, Y/N lifted one of the last boards needed for the repairs onto his shoulder, and carried it over to the cabin, pushing it firmly into place before pulling the nails from the pouch at his belt and beginning to bolt it down. He couldn't un-see it, he didn't want to un-see it. 

Regardless of how horrified he was by the prisoners and their fate, Cassandra had been right. Those men were the spine of the House of Dimitrescu, and the thing that the girls' lives had revolved around for the near entirety of their existence. If he was to keep seeing them... if he was to make peace with their crimes and continue to treat them as...

Y/N sighed, lowering the hammer in his hand and glancing grimly back towards the dark towers of the castle in the distance. He'd had three days to think it over, but there were questions he needed answered. Questions that would shape his choice, questions that he could not move forward without. 

If he left it any longer, he would go insane...

... he needed to see them...

Cassandra may have said her piece, and the honesty and sincerity she had shown Y/N had played a large part in the internal argument inside his mind. For her to want the best for him... to want him to make his choice with all the information laid before him... to strip away the lies and secrets of her house to give him a true account of herself, her sisters and their lives... all at risk to herself? Daniela may have been the dreamer, but perhaps Cassandra...

Y/N shook himself, then angrily lobbed the hammer and the nail-pouch back inside, cursing the damned situation he found himself in once again. It was either life by solitude in the outside world, life here by complicity to murder, death by defiance against the Countess or her mistress, or death by the world itself should he not choose at all.

Sighing, Y/N took a deep breath, and once again, he felt the stormy waters of his thoughts settle into a glassy sheen, clarity returning as the path forward became clearer. One step at a time, Y/N... one step at a time...

With a heavy heart, Y/N stepped inside, picked up his chain-whip and his keys, and clipping them to his belt, he began to make his way down the snowy hillside towards the castle. 

---

The library was deserted when he arrived there. Carefully, Y/N took his seat at the corner of the dais, facing across the room towards the door as he leant up against one of the thin wooden pillars. He had flagged down a maid on the way up here, asking her to notify the sisters that he was waiting for them, and before long, Cassandra's face peered around the door in the corner. 

Cautiously, she entered the library, leaving the door open behind her as she carefully made her way forwards. She looked uneasy, her eyes fixed on Y/N's neutral expression, and she stopped still after reaching the other side of the dais, watching him carefully. 

'Um... hello.' She greeted him uneasily. 'Have you...' she took a deep breath, then sighed, forcing herself to be calm. 'I hope you've been well. It's felt... strange... not having you here.'

Pain and remorse tugged at Y/N's heart as he watched her, but he dared not reply just yet. He was still attempting to control the tormented emotions burning in his chest. He had missed her too... missed his steadfast companion. He had missed them all...