#vintneress

[undeadunalive]

@vintneress​ l ✚

“I sense a thirst for knowledge. A need to understand. Perhaps, not so unlike my own, at one stage or another. Yet... here you stand, something of a mystery to me. Did you find your answers? Did you uncover what you were looking for? And at what cost, I wonder?”

[cericata]

☙   ——  @vintneress​     

       Stress was starting to eat the eldest Dimitrescu sibling alive, her nervous habits were becoming so blatant that even the various maids dared to inquire about her health. That in turn made her snappy and irritable, the audacity of a human questioning her behavior was down right pitiable. Was she really losing herself that much? 

          Every day it grew a little worse, her truest instincts clawed at her mind. Begging and yearning to be let out -- it felt as if they were coiling tighter and tighter like a music box unable to let out a sound. The eldest was trying too hard to impress her Mother, to be just like her Mother. To the point her standards were outgrowing reality, and so with every self inflicted failure her mood continued to sour. Sleep deprivation became commonplace, and yet she still ran the castle like clockwork. Even if it was tearing her apart at the seams, she refused to disappoint the one she held so dear.

         When her sister’s worries and concerns became so vocal, an intervention was unavoidable. Her behavior was spiraling and despite her knowing it; she felt as if the situation was already too far out of her control. Bela desperately wanted to kill the beast inside her, those hideous impulses were holding her back from her ideal perfection. -- The blonde was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, and when she finally erupted her fangs snapped down on the hand of her beloved Mother. A leopard never changes its spots, and with hers on full display she lashed out with all the ferocity of that beast she had been caging. Fangs much too sharp and long tried feverishly to rip at grey skin, kitten claws digging into the fabric of Alcina’s clothes as a nasty growl mixed with the buzzing of an angry hornet’s nest bubbled up from the depths of her throat. 

           It was feral and unhinged, something so uncharacteristic for the eldest daughter who prided herself on her manners and maturity. Yellow eyes sharpened to look up at gold and then the mistake was realized, tears began to fall before she even released her jaw. The look she gave was desperate and apologetic, in those moments she could have been compared to a toddler with the way she began to crumble and tremble. -- What had she done? 

           The words caught in her throat as she tried desperately to speak, to apologize at once. Her pupils grew large and full of pure fear, “Mother.” Her voice came out strained and shaky, her gaze never leaving the Matriarch's own. “I-I don’t know what came over me. I just snapped, I just…”, her voice trailed off as she finally tore her eyes away to look at her own hands, “lost control. I’m so sorry. What I did is unforgivable. I...I can’t believe I failed you.”

[velvetipped-a]

identity,     @vintneress     ;       liked for a starter.

                    -    “ your demands are growing tiresome,  alcina.  “  hasn’t she given the other enough?  if immortality wasn’t enough,  what was?  “ you’ve had a better deal than the rest of the lords,  you’ve been given so many grand things. “  she should have expected that a woman like alcina dimitrescu would never be satisfied.  “ just remember that i can take this life away from you as quickly as i gave it.  don’t test me. “ 

[cericata]

☙   ——  Goodnight Moon Meme  /   @vintneress​​

❛ don’t hold back. you can tell me anything. ❜

            Avoiding Mother was particularly challenging when she knew every step of your well treaded schedule, and oh how Bela hated changing things that were part of her schedule. It broke every part of the Dimitrescu daughter to do it, but in this case it simply couldn’t be avoided. Perhaps the Lady of the house wouldn’t even notice the change -- faux optimism, more of a plea than a realistic concept. That didn’t stop the eldest child from attempting the impossible though.

         It started small, simply stepping behind corners or ducking under furniture to avoid the matriarch’s gaze. Giving up the coveted seat beside her Mother at the dinner table and making excuses about why she couldn’t attend the late night invitations for a drink. These little things began to add up and Bela knew this avoidance couldn’t last forever. Her Mother was the ideal in every way, a firm hand when needed and a delicate touch when it was called for. As of now it seemed Alcina was giving the eldest child the space she so desired, but with behavior so odd and uncharacteristic; if the ‘phase’ didn’t end soon she knew her caregiver’s patience on the subject would run out. -- So prolonging that outcome became the name of the game.

           Every time her Mother tried to speak with her, Bela suddenly became suspiciously busy. Anxiety set in as she felt the millions of beating hearts within herself, her mind became her own worst enemy as she feared what Mother would say if she knew the truth of her feelings. Would she find her to be a failure like the rest of the lot down in the basement? She was too afraid to find out, too afraid to disappoint the center of her world. So she hid and behaved more like a timid mouse than the proud woman Alcina had raised her to be. It was pathetic and embarrassing, but she hadn’t any clue what else to do. The chores in the castle had begun slipping, quality control was dragged down along with Bela’s ever fluctuating emotions. 

                Finally enough was enough when dinner was served half an hour late.

          Something was wrong, something was clearly very wrong with the eldest child of house Dimitrescu. Normally Bela was much too proud to let something like this happen, and so the dinner was awkward and silent. Yellow eyes avoided the powerful gaze of gold, she didn’t deserve to look at her Mother after such a disgusting failure. Bela’s confidence hit an all time low, and she slipped off to her room when she couldn’t control the sad chirp that escaped her throat. -- Making Mother angry was awful, but disappointing her? It might as well have been being thrown out into the dead of winter.

          Part of her wanted to cry, another scratch and roar. There was conflict swirling around, and so she settled on nothing. She wanted to feel absolutely nothing, so she changed her clothes into something more comfortable for the evening and messily tied back her long blonde hair with shaking claws and even shakier breath. Her room normally was the one place she truly felt safe,  Mother rarely, if ever,  disturbed her in the privacy of her own space. Unless it was so serious it could not wait until morning -- surely this would wait until morning. Just one more night, she just needed one more night to figure out an excuse, a solution, something! Anything! 

           There was a light knock, a courtesy she felt as if she didn’t deserve. Back pressed against the corner of her wall as she slid down, her legs felt as if they would shatter any moment. She felt smaller than a human as she watched the woman duck through her doorway and look around before finally setting eyes on her. Bela’s pupils were large and dark saucers catching the slight reflection from a nearby flame; the sound that escaped her chest was like that of a wounded animal, she was terrified. This was surely her demise, she had failed house Dimitrescu. Eyes screwed shut as she buried her face into her hands trembling, tears began to well ip and the buzzing was more akin to a cicada screech now. 

❛ don’t hold back. you can tell me anything. ❜

            What? Flies began slipping from the eldest child’s solid form as she looked up at her Mother. The tears slipped down her cheeks, marking them with black makeup as they went. Words didn’t come out but a confused chirp did. Wasn’t she angry? Didn’t she want to scold her? Punish her? Perhaps Daniela wasn’t the only one with a powerful imagination as Bela fabricated a completely unrealistic scenario. Sometimes the line between love and worship became so blurred that she forgot her Mother was not some untouchable figure but instead a source of warmth and comfort that she was permitted to seek solace within. 

            “Mother…please accept my apology for my behavior as of late.”, her voice shook as she grabbed the stray flies forcing them back into her chest, “I feel unwell.” The desire to force a smile and say she was kidding was almost overwhelming, but they had come this far. No more avoiding the truth, she was literally backed into a corner. “Mentally. I feel as though I am not living up to the standards set before me. I feel as though every day that passes I do not grow enough, I am always out of reach of something greater. I am always out of YOUR reach.”

           Bela allowed herself to readjust, turning her gaze to the ground. Her expression painted a picture of worry and pain, it was accompanied by the sounds of gentle clicking that echoed through the room. “I want nothing more than to be just like you, but I am afraid I am not fit to bear your title. What if I never reach that status or level? What will become of me if I fail? Will I end up…”, her voice cracked, “like your other failures? How do I prevent that from happening? It’s all so much pressure and forgive me for speaking so freely but you did say not to hold back. I am terrified that your love for me will fade, and that is something I can not even begin to imagine living without.” Tears fell freely now, “How can I be a better daughter? How can I make sure you never want to replace me when I can never seem to pass that final barrier and reach true grandeur.”

               “I’m so sorry Mother, please do not cast me away. I can do better.”

[prjectalice]

           @vintneress​ 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝙳 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙰 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙴𝚁.

            ALICE  HAS  HAD  HER  FAIR  SHARE  of  monsters  attacking  her.  more  so  monsters  that  could  chomp  her  whole  with  one  bite.  but  the  particular  aura  in  the  castle  leaves  her  unsettled  yet  not.  though  in  this  particular  case,  she’s  standing  in  front  of  the  head  of  this  establishment  and  she’s  intimidated.  which  is  not  a  common  case.  ❝  i  don’t  mean  to  intrude,  but  i  believe  you’ve  have  someone  i  need  to  s  p  e  a  k  to.  ❞

[caliphor]

☙   ——   prompted   /   @vintneress​ .

❛ i’d like to dry you off and bundle you up. ❜

      alcina dimitrescu,  lady of the house  &   iron - fisted ruler of the castle.   how that name spilled out like a melody within her mind,  past her lips,  &  through practiced cursive.   she was beautiful in every essence,  every meaning of the word.  how lucky daniela was to be created as one of her gracious daughters.   to be loved so earnestly by the first lord herself!  in fact,  she would attribute her to the sun   -   warm   &   comforting  &  heavenly.  the brightest star in the sky that brought her life  &   all that came with it,  when she left there was nothing the youngest could do but to await for her return.  this woman could do no wrong in her eyes.

        her kindly mother came to her in the afternoon hours,  stumbling upon the girl as she was working to care for the plants scattered throughout the castle.  it was a task daniela had recently taken up to occupy her time during the winter months after having found a book on botany hidden in her beloved library.  she was so absorbed in watering a rather large plant that when her name was called,  the whole container slipped from her hands in sheer surprise.  attempts to catch it before the rest spilled were futile as it only made the water splash further out.  

        her dress,  the floor,  &   whatever other furniture was near became victim to the flood.  how embarrassing it was to do this in front of her!  daniela turned quickly to face the matron,  her head tilted downwards in shame of what alcina had witnessed.  yet despite her fears,  no scolding ever came.  in fact,  she swore that her mother’s face even softened at the scene before her.  the woman drew nearer,  nearer until daniela had to crane her neck upwards to see eye to eye.  when her mother towered over her like this,  she wondered if this was what it was like to be a child at her parents’ side.  an interesting thought for another time.

      …   was that a laugh?  daniela’s eyes widened at the realization.  it was so unlike her own cacophonous laughter.  rare like the jewel upon her choker,  deep  &  fleeting but so rewarding all the same.   the lady dimitrescu placed a hand upon her head,  so gently for a woman of her great stature.  she could not help but smile from ear to ear in response.

        “   i’d like to dry you off   &   bundle you up.   “   alcina said,  hand traveling down from the crown of her head to her shoulder as the two began to walk away from the mess.  a maid was sure to come across it soon enough.

      “   it would be an honor from you,  mother!   “   daniela responded in earnest.  stray insects excitedly danced around the two.  how wonderful it was to receive her attention in full!   being one of three daughters meant that she had to share,   &   the youngest was notorious for not wanting to do just that.   still,  she   (   ordinarily   )   behaved.   moments like these with just the two of them made her as though all of that sharing was well worth it.   “   did you see?   the plants are coming in so beautifully!   perhaps we should tend to that old flower garden again when the weather warms up.   “