It had been a strangely sizzling summer and an extremely frigid fall. Ethel had taken one of the fire pokers and broken a large pane from the window, just enough for her to fit through it. The window whipped around her along with the snow, as she stood on the edge of the stone foundation of the house, a ten-foot drop below her onto the stone pavers. The outside of the house was iced already, and she slowly shuffled her feet to the side, hands pressed against the walls as she made her way around the house. The drop increased due to the house being built on a hill, and anxiety churned in her stomach as she continued at a slow pace. Her face stung from the chilly wind, her fingers feeling numb as she grabbed onto one of the metal drains attached to the side of the house. She had to get to Carmelita faster than this. She had to.
"Ah, you decided to show up. Thank you for at least seeing me without an appointment. I would have been very disappointed if you had said no," Matthias stood with a smirk on his face, a revolver in his hand. "I'm surprised you healed so well. I would have expected to hear of your funeral with where I hit you. Although this time my aim will be better."
"You're not walking off my grounds with your life, I can promise you that." Carmelita hissed, grasping her rifle tightly in her hands.
"That is quite a lovely rifle. M1893, I presume? Although I don't quite remember if they still make cartridges for those."
"I guess you're about to find out." She positioned her rifle, finger already on the trigger.
"Hm. I would love to talk for quite a bit longer. How is that curse of yours going?" Carmelita froze at the question, and Matthias knew he had caught her. "You know, I know how to break it. You wrote it in that letter to your dear poor girlfriend. She did not even notice that I had opened and restamped it. Seems as though she didn't care enough to read it."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Or maybe she just doesn't care about you. Ever thought of that?" Carmelita went still at his question. "She's never said I love you, didn't even try to check on you on the train."
"You're a liar."
"Am I? I remember her there. She did not even look at you when you were about to die. She was only focused on herself, defending herself from me. Not helping you. If she truly cared she would have done that."
"She does care about me!"
"Hm, or she cares for your money. That family name of yours, she's seen your wealth," he motioned to the house and the grounds around her. "She doesn't care about you Carmelita. She wanted you to die. She knows her name is in the will already, otherwise she would have tried to save you on the train. Save you from the curse." He took a step forward.
"But she did not, and she hasn't. You're already running out of time, and she hasn't even solved a simple little riddle of yours that requires a simple phrase that if she did care about you, she would have said a long time ago." Carmelita lowered her gun slightly a mix of emotions on her face. Was he right? No, he could not be. But what if he was? This is Matthias! He is a liar!
"And somehow after everything you have put her through and done to her, she's still pure. She does not deserve someone, something like you. You are tainted with that darkness, the same darkness as your parents. I have seen it in you before. I remember when Emeline passed. When you saw her bloodied body on the floor, the tiles soaking in the red of her. You liked what you saw."
"How dare you."
"You enjoyed seeing her bleed to death on the floor of your house. I was doing you a favor by getting rid of her so that you would not get rid of her yourself. Admit it, no one can ever, will ever, love a person like you. Carmelita Elikia Lorraine! forever alone and unloved. Born unloved, died unloved. It is quite sad actually. I'll make sure to have it engraved on your tombstone." Matthias had been taking a step towards her with each sentence, and he tore the rife from her hands and threw it off to the side, before grabbing her by her throat and pinning her to the ground. She tried to reach for the dagger in her dress, but one of her arms was pinned under in back, and the other under Matthias's shoe. She felt him press harshly against her throat with his hands, her airflow being cut off. She struggled and gasped for air, trying to get some sort of traction against the frozen ground with her shoes so that she could find a way to throw him off, but with no luck.
"And you know the worst part? You're never going to know what I do to that little dove you call a girlfriend. I am going to enjoy her as much as I want after I kill you, and you will not be able to do anything about it. You won't be able to protect her or put up a fence around her and keep her from me." Carmelita gasped for air, trying to push his foot off her arm, but felt a crack as her bone formed a fracture, but she could not scream out in pain.
"You're weak, you know that? You used to be so strong, now look at you."
Ethel grabbed onto a drainpipe, flinching at the cold as she attempted to climb down it. It was old and rickety, and about halfway down, she felt it begin to bend. She was still high off the ground, and as the pipe fell, she let go, landing on her back on the hard pavers. She coughed and gasped for air, sitting up slowly as she recovered. She was cold and stood up slowly as she shivered with her arms wrapped around herself. She willed herself to run, dashing through the snow the best she could. It was not frozen over the top yet, so she could still walk through it with some resistance and was sure she had frostbite on her ankles and feet. She felt extremely off, almost dizzy and she kept running, turning the corner to the front of the house. There was Carmelita, struggling under Matthias's grasp, her back against the ground as he strangled her in the snow. She ran as fast as she could, stopping in her tracks when Matthias noticed her.
"Why hello there dear! Seems you came to join us," he took his hands off Carmelita's throat, and she gasped and coughed for air, as Matthias pointed a revolver at her head. "You should recognize this. Unfortunately, my little stunt did not go as planned, so instead, I'm here to finish it off." Ethel took a step forward, and he cocked the gun, giving her a smirk.
"You try to save her, she dies. It is a lose-lose situation for you both really, it is going to end the same either way. I'm not an ethical person, but I should let you two say your goodbyes." They stood in silence for a few moments, as Carmelita turned her head to Ethel and gave her a sad smile. This was it. This was the end. Ethel's eyes welled up in tears and they streamed down her face, her long hair whipping around her in the wind and snow.
"I'm so sorry Carmelita," She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve, choking back a sob.
"I'm so sorry that I never told you the words you wanted to hear. I love you." Carmelita's eyes went wide, the white in her hair turning back to black in an instant, as a smile appeared on her face.
"No!" Matthias's eyes burned with anger as he aimed the revolver at Ethel, pressing his finger on the trigger. His feet were knocked from under him as Carmelita forced him off, and the bullet only ended up grazing Ethel's cheek. It stung immensely as she held her cheek with her hand, watching Carmelita as she forced the gun from Matthias's hand. She swung at him, smearing his nose across his face as he fell into the snow, tripping on his own feet from the blow. She kicked him in the ribs with a sickening crack, and he let out a scream of pain as he coughed the blood from his lungs, staining the snow crimson. Before he could even put his arms up, she had bashed his face in with the sole of her boots, and he looked up at her dazed as his blood ran into his eyes.
"I was right," he spoke in a hoarse voice as he let out a dry laugh. "You do enjoy people suffering." She pointed the revolver at his head, furrowing her brows.
"Go to hell."
A shot rang out and echoed through the air, and Ethel could not help but flinch at the sound of it. It was like the world was spinning around her and she soon heard Carmelita rushing towards her. She looked up to see Matthias's head, blown apart. It felt like the world was crumbling around her as Carmelita quickly embraced her burying Ethel's face into her shoulder to try and shield her from the sight, but it was already too late. There was blood everywhere, and blood, and blood, and blood. She began to give out as she gaged on the bile forming in her mouth, the image circling in her head as Carmelita held her up. It felt like when she would play those games as a child when they spin you around for minutes at a time, and she quickly doubled over and emptied the contents of her stomach into the snow. Carmelita held her hair back as she did, shielding her from the sight of Matthias still, then picking her up and carrying her inside as she quickly collapsed.
She quickly made her way to the library, laying Ethel down on one of the sofas, grabbing some pillows, and propping her feet and legs up. She quickly started the fire, pulling a blanket carefully onto Ethel as she stared off, her mind disconnected from her body mentally. She held her hand gently, running her thumb against her cold fingers.
"I love you too," She gave a sad smile, before planting a gentle kiss on her head. "I'll be back, all right? I have to go help Elise darling." She got up to leave but was stopped as Ethel gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Carmelita gave her a small smile, planting a kiss on the back of her hand before walking out, closing the door behind her.
"Elise." She sat up quickly at Carmelita's voice, the smoke of her cigarette dancing around from the broken window. She stood up, expecting Carmelita to be angry with her, but instead, she seemed to be doing better than before. The white in her hair was gone, and she finally looked like her age again.
"Have someone clean up the mess outside and get rid of the stained snow, make sure there isn't a trace of what happened today. Tear up the pavers if you have to." She turned to leave, placing her hand on the door.
"How's Ethel doing?" She paused, furrowing her brows with her back turned to her.
"she's in shock. I cannot even get her to respond to me except for squeezing my hand. Aside from that, she is completely nonverbal. I need to patch up the cut on her face before it scars." She mumbled the last part, but Elise still caught it.
"I'll have someone clean the yard. I will write a letter to one of the repairmen in the town to have them fix the window. For now, I'll keep the curtains closed and a towel on the floor so that the snow doesn't ruin the tiles."
"Elise."
"Yes?"
"Thank you." She turned and left, and Elise could not help but smile as she snuffed out the cigarette, before drawing the curtains closed, darkening the once lively room.
Ethel did not speak for weeks, spending most of her time in the bedroom or library. Carmelita always followed her around, talking to her even when she got no response. She would not let anyone touch her except for Carmelita, who would stroke her hair as she laid with her head on her lap in the library, the fire going as Carmelita read her a book each night. The graze from the bullet left a faint scar on her face, but it did not bother either of them, despite its cruel reminder of what had happened.
"What do you want to do today?" Carmelita looked over at Ethel who had her head resting on her shoulder, looking down at the book in Carmelita's hands. There was a blanket draped over both of their laps, and the fire crackled and occasionally popped in the quiet room. She did not expect a response from Ethel, and planted a gentle kiss on her temple, looking back down at her book.
"I want to go to the park." Carmelita looked over at Ethel, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Anything else?"
"I want to get coffee and go to the park." Ethel looked at her, a faint smile appearing on her lips. Her first smile in weeks. Carmelita had to keep her eyes from welling up with tears as she responded.
"Okay, I'll go get the car ready." She got up to walk out, stopping in the doorway at Ethel's voice.
"Carmelita?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
"I love you too." They smiled at each other before Carmelita walked from the room, a warm feeling in her heart as she pulled her coat from the closet, before walking outside into the winter air.