Prologue Part 11
A bit later into the night, Thomas had returned from his outing. He was at the front door of the mansion where he was greeted by one of his servants, "Welcome back, Lord Dumont." Thomas gave her a nod and made his way into the house, the servant followed behind him. He walked until he reached Isabella's room where he was stopped by another servant, Charlotte, standing at the door. "Welcome back, my lord." She said with a bow.
"Thank you," he replied, "Is Isabella in the room?" Charlotte replied, "Yes, my lord." "Has she recovered from her…. Illness yet?" Charlotte turned her eyes to the ground. "...No, my Lord. She is still in distress over the ghost situation." "I see," Thomas said with a sigh. Then he continued, "Please inform her that in two nights time, I will be hosting a banquet as a send-off party for our upcoming journey to the Island of Baroka, and I would like it if she did not attend and instead stayed in her room like she is now."
"As you wish," Charlotte replied as he turned around and left. Now alone at the bedroom door, she went farther inside to inform Isabella. She was still on the sofa, staring at the ground with a cup of water by her side. "Excuse me, Lady Isabella, but Lord Dumont has just informed me that he wishes to hold a celebration for his upcoming journey to Baroka… and he would like you to abstain from attending."
Isabella asked, "When will the celebration take place?" "In two days." Charlotte answered. Isabella did not give a reply to her husband's request and went back to staring at nothing. The entire room was lit with candles and surrounded by a glass container so the smoke would not be visible. "I'm cold." Isabella said this time softly. Charlotte paused for a moment before asking, "Would you like a blanket, my Lady?" no reply.
Charlotte quietly sighed then went to fetch her a blanket. After wrapping the blanket around her body, she turned away but, "I'm tired" Isabella whispered again. Charlotte still did not answer, but she could feel some frustration bottling within her as she subconsciously stopped and clenched her jaw. She regained her composure and went back to leaning on the wall. She tried closing her eyes, hoping that she could somehow fall asleep while standing. It didn't work. Isabella fell to her side, now laying on her side on the sofa. Charlotte sighed again and walked over to her.
"Lady Isabella, you have to sit up straight." Isabella moaned. "I'm tired." Charlotte answered, "I am sure you are, but you have to sit up straight." "Can I not just lie down for a while?" Isabella pleaded. "No, because if you lie down you will fall asleep, and if you fall asleep who knows what will happen next. Now come on, sit up." Charlotte dragged her up until she sat upright, then went back to the door. Neither of them got a second of sleep and it remained that way for the next two days.
***
Two days later, it was time for Thomas' celebration. The house was well decorated and looked far more lavish than it usually did. All the guests were gathered around the lower half of the house and at the back garden. There were many tables filled with all kinds of delicacies from around the world. The guests were some of the most esteemed members of Callistean society who all wore stunning dresses and robes. Among the guests was Roselle, the Duchess of Marivale, the city with the second highest population apart from Solenne. She looked around for Isabella but couldn't find her anywhere. As she continued her search, she was approached by three other women who made up her and Isabella's complete group of friends. "Why, good evening, Duchess." One of them called out to her.
"Good evening, Viscountess Mary." She responded. Viscountess Mary looked around but saw no sign of, "where is Isabella?" Roselle shrugged, "I do not know." One of the three women, Chantel, asked her, "You know, you have been very secretive when it comes to Isabella recently. What is it that you are hiding from us?" The other two nodded. "I am not hiding anything from you. Bella has just been…. sick lately." The other women gave her looks of disbelief, "Oh, really? Then that is all the more reason for us to go and see her, no?" Roselle could not think of any more excuses, so she relented, "All right. I will let you see her." Mary asked, "Where is she?"
"I am looking for her right now," Roselle answered. Chantel added, "Really, but you two are always together, especially at events like these." Roselle added, "Well, Chantel, we may be as close as sisters, but that does not mean we have to know each other's every move." Roselle looked over their shoulders and saw, "Oh, Matteo! Come here!" Matteo noticed her and approached them.
"Hello, Auntie Roselle, Miss Mary, Auntie Chantel, and Miss Catherine." "Hello, Matteo." They all said in unison. Roselle continued, "Matteo, do you know where your mother is?" "She is in her bedroom." The boy answered. "Roselle added , "How is she feeling? Is she getting any better?" Matteo shook his head to both sides. "Well, alright then. Thank you."
Matteo left and the four women went towards the upstairs area.
Once they reached Isabella's bedroom, they found the door closed. They opened it and Sylvia let them in. "Isabella, what are you doing cooped up in here when your husband is hosting a celebration down-" Immediately, three of the four women gasped in shock and terror, one of them even screamed. Roselle kept her expression neutral. "Oh my goodness, Isabella!" Mary rushed to her side. "What in the heavens has happened to you?!"
Isabella's skin was a lot thinner and more pale. Her hair was a mess, her eyes bloodshot red, and she still had those bandages wrapped around her face. Roselle saw this as the perfect opportunity to say, "Well, you wanted to know what happened to her…. There you go." "Isabella!" "Isabella!" The three women screamed at her, but no reply came from her. Only her mumbling and covering her ears.
"Wait, let me see your face." Chantel began unwrapping the bandages from Isabella's face and once she saw what lay underneath those bandages, she and the other two let out a terrified shriek. "I fear I may need to throw up." Roselle sighed in annoyance and said, "Come on ladies, we are missing out on all the food. Let's get going, shall we?"
Mary and the others stopped her, "But we cannot just leave her in this state!" "I agree, maybe we can take her with us." Roselle crossed her arms, "Are you mad?! Look at her! This woman has lost her sanity and I refuse to be seen with her!" Chantel countered, "Okay, now you're just exaggerating. Surely if we just add some makeup to her face she will look more presentable, come on." Roselle turned around and stormed out the room, "Fine, but I refuse to be seen with that madwoman! If she returns to her senses then you can call me."
"All right, Isabella… Let's make you beautiful again!" The three of them began dressing Isabella into more suitable clothing for the occasion. She did not object. She just kept quiet and kept her gaze on the ground like she had for the past two days. When they finished, they pulled her up and dragged her downstairs. Sylvia tried to intervene but she had no power compared to the other three women. Isabella was looking much better than before, her hair was fixed, she wore a stunning and exotic white black dress with black gloves. They tried their best with the makeup but it was not enough to help with her mess of a face.
They got downstairs into the living room at the center of the party, where Thomas was having a lively conversation with some of the other noble families and a few of his military peers. His eyes flashed to the side and barely managed to notice Isabella with her friends. His face tensed, "Excuse me gentlemen, I'll be right back."
He followed Isabella's group from behind them and after a while, he caught up to them. They went outside the house to the back garden and took some food to eat. Once Thomas caught them he said in a surprised tone trying his best to keep his composure, "Isabella, what are you doing here? Surely I remember telling you to stay in bed tonight." She looked at him but did not answer. Instead, Monica did, "Well, we decided that it would be too much of a shame for her to miss a party taking place in her own home, so we brought her with us."
Thomas chuckled awkwardly, "Oh, you shouldn't have. I promised Isabella that I would leave some food for her once everything was done." Chantel added, "Oh, nonsense! This is your last week in town before your travel to Baroka, your wife needs to be there for support, no? Well, anyway, we are about to head to the chapel farther back, and I'm sure as host there are still many people you have to attend to, so we'll take our leave." The women left and Thomas held his head in his hands and sighed in frustration.
In the chapel, there were mostly women with a few men as well as some violinists for entertainment. They got there and almost immediately, all eyes were on the Duchess of Solenne and the horrifying state of her face. "Well…. Hello, Duchess Dumont. You look…. Lovely as usual tonight." A young gentleman extended his hand but was met with no response at all, not even a look in the eyes. Mary cut in, "You must excuse her, she is rather unwell." "Oh, I see," The gentleman replied. "Well, I hope you have a speedy recovery."
The women sat down on one of the chairs. Then Isabella mumbled under her breath, "I'm cold." "I cannot hear what you are saying Isabella. Please look at me" Mary pleaded with sincerity. She cupped Isabella's face and lifted her face so she would look at her. A tear fell down one of her red eyes and she began trembling lightly. "I'm…. cold." Mary was taken aback, but in the end she just responded, "Okay, then let's go inside to get you something warmer to wear."
They walked back inside the house and made their way past the living room towards the stairs. But, as they walked, from the living room to the stairway, their noses were assaulted by the strong smell of cigars. "Ugh, Why do those men have to smoke those disgusting things?!" Chantel decided to go and look for the source of the smell and the others followed her. The smell led them to Thomas' office room.
Chantel entered the room first and the other three entered after. There they found a room full of men, most of whom were smoking. Chantel scolded them harshly after coughing for a while, "Are you all insane! You are contaminating the entire house with your smoking pipes!" They all ignored her and some of them placed their attention on Isabella, whose head hung low almost as if she were bowing, and whose hands were clutching her dress very tightly, with her eyes closed shut. "Duchess Dumont, I heard that you were ill, surprising to see you here." One of them said.
Mary from next to her noticed her taking rapid, gasp-like breaths and asked, "Isabella, are you okay?" Isabella nodded. "Look at me, Isabella." She tried reaching for her face but she tensed. "Come on, Isabella, look at me." Isabella refused to comply so Mary pinched her leg and she yelled, "Ow!" her eyes also shot open from the sudden and unexpected pain. It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust to her surroundings as she managed to get a good look at all the men in the room…. And their cigars.
Her eyes widened at the sight of all that smoke. She looked all around her and couldn't help but notice even the faintest bit of smoke. Her heart rate skyrocketed and her body began to tremble violently. Then she looked to her side and noticed an elderly man exhale a large amount of smoke. The smoke flew in her direction and hit her in the face. She sank to her knees and once again let out a howling scream that reverberated across the entire house.
Everybody was in a panic as the music stopped and the conversations were brought to a halt. Everybody in and around the house all gathered towards the source of the sound. Thomas ran towards the office from the living room, and so did Roselle from the library, and Matteo from the back garden.
Roselle got there first. She found the entire room covered in smoke and Isabella scrambling all over the floor while screaming and crying. She knocked her head against one of the tables and had alcohol spilled all over her body. She stopped scrambling but stayed a mess on the floor. Roselle could only sigh with her hand on her forehead before she squeezed in through the growing crowd of spectators. "Isabella, stop it!" She bent down to the ground and tried to tend to her friend but she was met with a hard kick to the jaw from Isabella after barely touching her hand.
Thomas finally managed to reach his office. He squeezed through the now even bigger crowd and when he saw what his wife was doing, he completely lost it. "Isabella!" His voice made the entire area fall dead silent. Isabella was the only one making a noise. Thomas went closer, grabbed her hand and tried to pull her up, but was met by a series of wild smacks all over his body by Isabella. "Help me! Help me!" she cried, but nobody did. (Slap!) Thomas gave her a hard slap that echoed across half the house. Isabella fell back onto the floor and everybody watching let out gasps.
"What are you doing, Isabella?!" Isabella kept on trembling and she finally met her husband's eyes. "I-its the ghost…. It's here, It's everywhere" she whimpered. "Help me!" Thomas scowled and kicked her in the shin. "Have I not told you to stop all this ghost nonsense! You are making a mockery of yoursel-" "Stop it!" A loud, childlike scream sounded from behind him. A few seconds later, Matteo entered the stage and stood right between his mother and his father. "Stop it! Leave mama alone!" Thomas balled his hand into a fist. "Matteo, move." He said, his voice so threatening it sent a chill up Matteo's spine. But still, he stood his ground.
"No! Why are you hurting mama?! She is asking for your help! She is not lying! The ghost is real! I saw it as well-" (Slap!) Before anybody in the house could process it, echoes of a loud snap reverberated across the house and Matteo was sent crashing to the floor. "Shut up! All I've heard from you two recently is ghost this, ghost that! Are you trying to make a mockery out of me?!" He turned to Isabella who finally noticed Matteo. She crawled towards him.
"I have had it up to here with the both of you! It wasn't enough for you to be born with all your deficiencies! It wasn't enough for you to scam me with promises of sons and daughters knowing full well you were lying to me! It wasn't enough for you when you found this street rat and tried to pass him off as my son! But now… now you're driving yourself and your rat insane, deluding yourselves into thinking that you're being haunted by some ghost? Now you want to come during one of the most important times in my life and ruin that too?!"
He couldn't speak any longer and let the rest of his body do the talking. He gave her repeated kicks to her body, hitting wherever his foot could find its target. Isabella screamed in agony, and everybody was left speechless. Thomas kicked her a few more times before Matteo once again got in the way and took a hard kick to the stomach in the process. Thomas stopped for a moment and gave Matteo another death stare. "You…"
Matteo stood on his knees, tears and determination all over his face. "Stop… it! She's not lying! The ghost is real, I saw it! It looked exactly like all the smoke in this room! If you don't believe her then that's fine! But stop hitting her…. And don't you dare call her crazy again!" Thomas stood frozen for a moment, then let out a loud and uncontrollable laugh. "You insolent rat. You know, the amount of loyalty you show this woman truly is remarkable. You go around entertaining her delusions, worship the ground she walks on and you cling to her like your life depends on it. You even go as far as to call her your mother-"
"She is my mother!" Matteo snapped. Thomas smirked while Isabella just stared at him. "No she is not," Thomas began, "She is just a useless and pathetic woman, and you are the worthless rat she's using to try and give herself some sense of importance. You think you're special because she feeds you? You think you're special because she coddles you? You think you're special because she gave you a name? You think you're special because she calls you her son?
Don't you see?! She's not doing this because she loves you, she's doing this because she's desperate! Because she has nothing else left! If she could have children of her own, you would still be naked in my bushes, or even worse! She's been manipulating you since you were born! She's just using you to fill a hole in herself! To make herself feel better! She couldn't care less about you! And yet here you are, hurting yourself for such a terrible human being. I see she's groomed you well, you're just as pathetic as she is."
Matteo lost it. He lunged at Thomas and threw every part of his body at him, desperately trying to fight him off. But Thomas just shoved him off and gave him another kick to the stomach, and Matteo fell once more. But Thomas did not stop, he kicked the boy again and again, over and over. The entire place fell silent, nobody dared to move, I don't even think they could breathe. All they did was watch on at the unfolding events. "Stop!" Thomas stopped and looked to his side.
"What is it, Isabella?" He said coldly. Isabella rushed to her son's side. "Stop what you're doing, please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm such a pathetic woman! I'm sorry I ruined your life! Just please…. Stop. I promise I won't talk about the ghost again! I promise! Please…. Don't hurt my baby" Thomas snickered, "Why should I stop? All of this is your fault you know. The only reason this is all happening is because of you. The only reason I hit him is because he was busy defending you."
Isabella faced the ground, "I know" "Oh, you know?" Thomas continued, "You know that you've been nothing but a burden on this boy ever since you found him? You know that your husband's life is ruined because of you? You know that your brother died because you could not shut up about being hungry?"
Isabella just gave a quiet nod. "Good." Thomas said as he turned around and walked away from her. "The party is over, ladies and gentlemen. I now request that you all go home." And they all did almost immediately. Less than five minutes after that, the only people in the house were the Dumont family and all their servants.
Isabella turned her attention to Matteo and helped him recover from his pain. After that, the servants came in, cleaning up as their final duties before they went to bed. Charlotte helped Isabella get to her room and Sylvia came to check on Matteo. The entire house was dead silent for the rest of the night, nobody dared to say a single word.
***
Some time later, Isabella sat in her bedroom. The lights were lit but Charlotte had just stepped outside to use the restroom, leaving her alone with nothing but her own thoughts to keep her company. She thought about many things during that moment. She replayed the entire night in her head.
Charlotte came back inside. Isabella looked at her and asked, "Would you please get me some of the leftover food. Please bring me some utensils as well. Preferably a sharp knife" "Yes, Lady Isabella."
Charlotte left the room once again to go and get the food. Once left alone again, Isabella looked at the rose that sat next to her bed. She thought of Matteo's words,
You're not a bad mom, silly. You're just scared. But please remember, you have me. Whenever you're scared or sad, just come to me and I'll give you another flower, okay?
Tears welled up in her eyes and she let them out. Before Charlotte came back, she had only one thought in her mind. I'm sorry, Matteo
***
The next morning came along and Matteo got up. It was a quiet morning, and it felt strangely cold in the house. He said his morning prayer then left his room to go and see his mother. I wonder if mama's okay after what happened last night? Maybe I should get her another flower.
As he planned all this in his head, he finally reached his mother's room. He opened the door and saw her laying on the bed. She's still sleeping, he thought in his head. He decided to walk quietly to the bed and climb in next to her. When he did, however, he felt something poking at his leg. Ow!
He tried reaching for the thing that poked him and when he got it, he pulled it out from under the blankets and found a sharp knife with red liquid on it. Huh? What's this? His heartbeat quickened with each passing second. He looked towards his mother and saw her and her blankets covered in red liquid. "Mama?" He called out to her, but no reply came.
He started panting. "Mama!" He tried shaking her awake. It didn't work. And when he pulled back his hands, he found that they were covered in a reddish black liquid. He removed all the blankets quickly and found a huge red stain on her throat, along with a deep looking cut. Matteo's thoughts began spinning. "Mama!" "Mama!" "Mama!" He kept screaming and shoving her.
Charlotte, Sylvia, and a few other servants came rushing in and when they saw the sight, they all immediately knew what had happened. They all stopped, completely frozen with terrified looks on their faces. "Mama!" Matteo continued to shout louder and louder each time. Tears flew down his face. He slapped her face with all his might…. But nothing. Not even the smallest flinch. He tried to pry her eyes open, but they looked so empty, and they stared at nothing. Matteo slowly lost his strength as he kept on screaming, "Mama! Mama! Mama! Wake up! Mama!" He began sobbing.
Sylvia rushed towards him and tried pulling him off of her, but Matteo held on for dear life. "No! Mama! Mama!" In the end, he wasn't strong enough for Sylvia. She successfully managed to pull him away then she slowly dragged him out the room against his will. Matteo tried to fight but there was nothing he could do but accept what he already knew in his heart and brain. "Mama!!!!!!"