1I've been re-watching Castlevania on Netflix and this has been living in my head rent free for the last week.
Time for it to pay the rent. Not literally of course, haha.
Chapter 1
"There. All better now, right Sasha?" A bright and reassuring voice filled the room. Had Sasha been anything other than a doll, then perhaps she would appreciate how the little girl looked after and cared for her. Appreciate the gentleness that went into each stroke of the brush.
The little girl sat on the floor, happy that she had finally gotten all of the dirt out of her doll's hair. She had to admire the blonde hair that covered the doll's head. It was so bright and a part of her wished that her hair was the same. Instead of the nice honey blonde she wished she had, God had seen fit to bless her with hair the color of mud. It was so plain. All the prettiest girls in stories had hair like the sun, or hair that was as black as night. She was neither the sun nor the night. She was a mud puddle.
"Oh, but you two were matching."
The little girl looked up and scowled at the older boy who had entered without her knowing. She stood and turned her back to him, placing Sasha on the table where the doll had a chair of her own. "It wasn't very nice." She mumbled, smoothing out the dress of the doll.
The boy rolled his eyes, interlocking his fingers behind his head, "Come on, Penny. It's what ya get for bringing a doll out to train." If she had left the thing where it belonged then he wouldn't have thrown it into the dirt to begin with.
She huffed and crossed her arms. A nearly evil glint in her eye, "I should just tell mom on you."
"Hey, hey, hey," the boy rushed forward and gripped her shoulder, making her turn to see the uneasiness in his equally blue eyes. He forced a smile, "Don't do that, that's not very nice, baby sister."
The pout on her lips only grew with her temper, "I'm not a baby, Trevor!"
He held up his hand to pinch her cheek, "Maybe you're right. A chipmunk then."
A solid thud could be heard and Trevor held his arm as it throbbed. She might be four years younger than him, but for a five year old she could pack a punch! She ran past him and he shouted after her, "Hey, where are you going?"
"To tell mom what a dingus you are!"
He gagged, "Penny, wait!"
Just as her small hand was about to grasp the door handle, the door was wrenched open. There was a split second where Penny was ecstatic to see the woman in the doorway, but that feeling quickly vanished. The woman entered and shut the door behind her in less than a second, breathing heavily as she moved a chair to wedge the door shut. Penny's large blue eyes blinked in confusion, "Mom?"
Trevor halted at the sight of his mother. Something wasn't right. Her breathing was labored, the gown she wore was tattered in several places and her hair that was usually tied up elegantly was loose. Strands or dark brown hair fell around her face, some sticking to the skin from the sweat. What shocked him the most was the bloody dagger in her hand, and the splattered blood upon her dress. Her and father were in a meeting, what was going on? Who would attack their home so brazenly?
Their mother turned and swiftly picked up her daughter before rushing to her son. Her eyes were hard, focused, determined. "Children, quickly!"
Just when Trevor was about to speak, a faint shout could be heard in the distance. Followed by a scream. This wasn't a scream of someone who was startled or in pain. It was a scream that shook the person listening to the very core. While Trevor knew the owner of that scream was most certainly dead, he could see the growing terror in his sister's eyes as she clung to their mother's dress.
"Trevor!"
He jumped, fixing his eyes upon his mother. Her expression was grave and he knew instantly that something was terribly wrong.
"Your father and I have tried to shield you both from the happenings of late. I have come to regret that decision." She told them honestly. Her arms tightened around her daughter who had begun to tremble.
The sound of screams and the clang of metal on metal could be heard. Penny couldn't take her eyes from the door, "Mom, where's dad?" Her voice shook. Her knuckles turned white from the grip she held on her mother's dress.
The woman sighed, "He's gone, love." The gasp from her son was not lost on her. Had she the time, she would have tried to help her children grieve. Though, she had a sinking feeling they would soon be mourning her as well. She rested a slender hand upon Trevor's shoulder, "Listen to me, carefully. You must hide, do not make a sound until the coast is clear. When you get the opportunity, run. Run as far and as fast as you can."
Trevor was whirling. He couldn't keep up with this sudden turn of events. "What are you talking about? If we're under attack then we have to fight back!"
She shook her head, "Nothing can defeat blind hatred fueled by ignorance." The Church had been on edge for years now. But, they never thought they would do something like this. They had invited them into their home on goodwill, only to be surrounded and slaughtered. She had been lucky to make it out, but not before seeing her husband and others of their family taken by surprise.
She gripped Trevor's shirt and pulled him over to the wall, lifting a tapestry and seeming to peel back a board in the wall. The wall opened, revealing a small space. Too small for an adult, but just enough for two children. She ushered him inside, "In you go."
He stumbled, "Wait! You can't be serious!" He tried to push past her. This wasn't something he could take lightly. This was his home! His family! He could fight to defend them!
A solid slap rang in their ears.
Trevor stood in shock, unsure if he could really feel the stinging in his cheek. Tears gathered in his eyes from the pain but he refused to let them fall.
A gentle hand rested on his cheek then. He looked up into his mothers eyes, wet with unshed tears. "Trevor, my sweet boy. You must watch over your sister." Before he could protest she pulled him into a tight embrace, one he was too shocked to return. "They will take anything of value, and then burn this place. You must leave before that happens." She pulled him away from her and ushered him into the wall. She had wasted enough time already.
When Penny felt her mother begin to pry her small hands away from her, the tears finally fell and her grip tightened desperately. The reality of the situation had yet to fully sink in, but she understood enough. She cried, unwilling to leave her mother's warm embrace.
Tears fell as she handed her daughter off to her son. She had to ignore the pain of her heart at the sight of her little girl begging her to come with them. To hide. To not leave. But, she could not.
Trevor grit his teeth and held his sister close to his chest. He could not let the tears fall. He refused.
With one last look at them, their mother smiled. "Never forget that you're a son and daughter of The House of Belmont. Look after one another, Trevor, Penelope."
And she was gone.
Trevor wasn't sure how long they remained in that small closet, hidden behind the tapestry in the dark. How long had he been covering Penny's mouth to suppress her cries? How long had she been shaking? How long had it been since they heard their mother's final screams?
How long had he been crying?
~0~
"Do you need to drink at every little bar we come across?" Came an unimpressed and breathy voice.
Trevor only half smirked and lifted his pint, "How else am I going to stay hydrated?"
Penny watched as he drank through the first half of the beer easily. He had a horrible habit of drinking through their money whenever they came into any. She couldn't exactly blame him. The appeal of alcohol was certainly tempting, but she preferred to keep her wits about her. Someone had to try and keep her dear old brother out of trouble. Try to, anyway.
His cheeks were already flushed red and she sighed, running a hand through her dark hair to slick it back before several strands fell back into her face. "Perhaps you could find a nice chamberpot full of piss. Honestly, I'm surprised you can tell the difference."
Already drunk past the point of caring, Trevor mumbled into his drink, "Maybe if she were pretty."
Penny only narrowed her eyes, unsure if that had been a drunken rambling or his attempt at a crude joke. "I think you would have to pay to drink a pretty girl's piss. Are you so desperate for action that you would pay for piss instead of beer?"
There was a pause. Trevor's eyes unfocused from the alcohol and she was uncertain if he had even registered what she had said. He decided to shrug, "If she were pretty."
She shook her head, leaning back and crossing her arms, "You're disgusting."
The siblings fell into silence across from one another. Trevor lost in his drink, having ordered two more pints to drown his sorrows. Penny waited patiently for him to finish with his ritualistic drinking by listening to the other patrons of the tavern. The more she listened, the more sickened she became. She didn't enjoy listening to a fat old herder talk about a man fucking his goats.
Finally, the story seemed to come to an end and the barman called out, "Anyone else while I'm pouring?"
Trevor responded in kind, requesting another pint.
"Seriously?" Penny questioned, unimpressed. That would be his seventh drink, and he had only paid for the first.
Trevor lifted his now empty pint and pointed at it with a drunken smirk, "Hydrating."
Before she could get another word in, the door burst open. "Ale! For Christ's sake!" The smaller and thinner man ran up to the bar where the fat hearder greeted him, but was ignored. Penny and Trevor shared a curious glance. What had this man so unsettled?
After a greedy drink, Piter finally shared what had him to rattled, "The horde's been seen, sweeping west!"
"Shit! You think they'll reach us?" The tall but not so bright one among them questioned. The tension in the room had risen, as did Penny's curiosity. They had heard a rumor in the last town they passed a week ago that a great horde had befallen Targoviste, but they didn't know whether to believe it. Now it seemed that the rumor was true.
"I think they might pass us by. I don't know. I hope! I'm told they're closing on Gresit."
The hearder snickered, "Serves 'em right. Stuck up bastards."
The barman seemed to feel similarly to Penny as he tried to calm his patron, "Ah, come on."
"No. No, it all comes down to the families and the houses, doesn't it?" Penny couldn't stomach listening to the fat bastard after that, and neither could Trevor. It seemed that every peasant had an opinion about the Great Houses. None of them were favorable. It's one reason they couldn't stay in a single place for too long. Constantly traveling with no real destination. They had both forgotten long ago what their goal was by traveling.
"And they're not even the worst. The Belmonts?"
The siblings shared a glance.
"We should have killed all the Belmonts."
"Shit." Trevor moved to cover his face while Penny lifted the hood of her cloak slowly. She agreed with him. This was not ideal.
"It's all about these old families, like the Belmonts who control all the power and go to war with each other. And who's caught in the middle?"
"We are."
"We are! Because we don't matter. Do you know why? Where did you come from?"
"Your aunt according to you."
"You came from shit. I came from shit. We all came from shit! We just work for a living every day of our lives. We just keep those bastards in food and wool. Slaves, that's what we are."
Penny could feel her hands tighten on her arms. These people had no idea what they had been through. Sure, they may carry that name, but all of the luxuries they associated with it were a thing of the past. A warm bed, a hot meal, even a roof over their head. Those were luxuries they received sparingly. She watched Trevor stand and approach the bar, complaining about sobering up. It was then that she knew their words had gotten to him just as much. He wasn't drunk enough to listen to some whiny bastard shit all over their family name.
"That's a Belmont Crest."
Her head shot to the side to see the herder up close and personal with Trevor. So, this man knew what their family crest looked like. He was more educated than she expected him to be. Seems this night wasn't going to be as quiet as they had hoped.
She knew it to be true when the man shoved Trevor when he tried to leave, "You're a Belmont! This is all your fault."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Her brother's response came as she stood. Ignorance had gotten them out of a few situations, but she could tell that wasn't going to work this time.
"Everyone knows the Belmonts dealt with black magic. The Belmonts dealt with monsters."
"The Belmonts fought monsters, son… so I'm told. This is just an old shirt."
"The Belmonts were excommunicated by the church. Banished. Disowned. Their lands were taken because they were evil. And now Dracula's hordes are abroad in the land. And who's fault is that?"
"Well, it ain't mine."
"The Belmonts traded in black magic, and now black magic is all over Wallachia. I think you know exactly who's fault that is."
Trevor finally raised his hands, thoroughly done with this encounter. "I'm leaving, alright? I'm leaving now."
Before he could leave, the herder grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around. "So you can lead your monster friends back here?"
Suddenly a soft hand rested on their shoulders. Trevor and the herder both turned to see Penny smiling at them. "Now, don't you think that this has gone on long enough?"
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
Her smile widened, "You didn't answer my question."
The short fat man looked over the young woman with a harsh gaze. Sure, she was pretty but what woman thought it was her place to get in the middle of a man's conversation? He sneered, but that quickly turned to a snarl when he spotted the same family crest on her belt buckle. She was dressed like a man under that cloak and had tried to hide it by sliding it far to the side.
He slapped her hand off of him and pointed a sausage finger in her face, "We got two Belmonts in 'ere! And one of 'em's a woman no less!"
Trevor sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering a curse at the rapidly worsening situation. Her smile vanished and her arms fell to her sides, allowing the cloak to once again cover her. She was far too ticked to be patient. She knew this man's type, they didn't deserve patience. "What do you wanna do about that, fatass?"
The older Belmont sighed, "Jesus fucking Christ."
The herder growled and lunged forward, "You little Bitch!"
In one swift and fluid motion Penny gripped his wrist in one hand and sidestepped. With his weight he couldn't change direction fast enough, or prepare for the sickening crack that reverberated through the tavern when she punched the back of his elbow, forcing it to bend unnaturally. He fell to the floor screaming and writhing in agony while Penny could only look down at the man with disdain.
"Get that bitch so I can kill her myself!"
Penny turned in time to dodge several punches aimed at her. Bobbing and weaving were easy for her, unlike her brother she was completely sober and fully capable of taking on a few ruffians. What was entertaining was when Trevor joined in on the fighting as well. He was sloppy, the farmers able to land a hit or two on him at a few points during the brawl.
Her foot landed solidly between the legs of the barman and she stepped back when he fell forward. A little too overconfident, she didn't notice the tallest of them come up behind her and grab her wrists. Penny grimaced when her hands were wrenched behind her back and it didn't take long for her to realize that her brother had been caught in a similar situation.
History really did have a way of repeating itself. His alcohol and her overconfidence, a recipe for disaster if there ever was one.
The herder stood, his arm hanging limp at his side as he snarled at the woman his cousin held still. His working hand gripped her chin harshly, "Tell me why I shouldn't just fuck the shit out of you and then kill the lot of ya?"
She grinned, "Are you sure you still have a penis under that flab to fuck with?" The punch snapped her head to the side and she didn't hear what the man said next.
Trevor sobered up considerably at that moment. His head snapped back, connecting with the skull of the man holding him and setting him free. Before his fighting had been unfocused and lazy, barely trying to participate. Now the hits were harder, sharper even.
Penny was suddenly let free and she stumbled forward, shaking her head to ground herself. She was going to have a headache for a while. A fist tried to land another blow and she realized it was the blonde man that had brought the news of the horde, Piter. She sidestepped, allowing him to fling himself past her. In a swift motion she spun and kicked him in the back, sending his head colliding with the corner of a table.
The Tavern was now still, filled with low groans of pain. The two Belmond siblings stood over their work, knowing it was time for them to leave. Trevor rested a hand on her shoulder and studied her face. "You alright?"
Penny rubbed the back of her hand across her busted lip, "Yeah, it's nothing." She sighed, "Time to go."
Trevor nodded and turned to head toward the door, "Way ahead of you."
She stood motionless for a moment, listening to his muttering of needing to piss and find a good tree. Brown eyes hovered from face to face on the floor before settling on Piter. His blond hair did nothing to hide the blood that was slowly seeping from his wounds.
The sight sent an unpleasant chill down her spine as she turned to leave. She stepped into the cool night air, memories trying their best to surface.
A woman, brutally murdered. A table, broken and collapsed. And a doll with beautiful blonde hair soaked in that same woman's blood.
Penny shook her head and looked up to the moon as it peaked out from the clouds. What the hell were they doing with their lives? Times like this, she didn't question why Trevor drank.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am new to the Castlevania fandom and have absolutely no idea what kind of stories are usually written. I've also never played the games, only watched the show. So, apologies. As such, this is my first fic for Castlevania. This is just an Idea I've had floating in my head and it's been like an annoying itch I can't get rid of. I feel better now though.
I have other stories I am trying to work on, so if you like this beginning and want to see more drop a review. I have plenty of ideas for this one but I have no idea how it's going to be received.
Thank you for reading!
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Posted - 11/21/2021