Harriet pressed her ear to the door, struggling to listen through the thick, painted wood. The monster had quieted down, and she was sure she heard its footsteps retreating down the hall. She made a sigh of relief, pushing herself away from the door and turned toward the rest of the women, analyzing each of their faces.
If Princess Selma's story were true, then Harriet knew it was right to deduce that the creature had fled because there was at least one among them in this very room.
This could become a problem, she thought as her gaze swept across the room. I need to figure out who it is before we're all in peril.
"Harriet," Leah said, wincing as she struggled to stand.
"Lay back down, girl," Harriet scolded, rushing to her side.
Leah steadied herself, leaning against a table. "It's been some time since Selma took the others into that room. What could she possibly be teaching them? Surely at least one of them is decent with a needle!"
Harriet watched Leah speak, something in her gut turning as she watched the young girl. Her breathing became more frantic and tiny beads of sweat dripped from her forehead into her furrowed brow. But what bothered her was not as much the reaction. It was the tone in her voice.
Flat.
She couldn't decipher whether Leah was simply reacting to the pain from her wounds or whatever monstrosity was taking over the castle. What scared her most about this was how quickly it all happened.
When it started, Harriet and Leah were in the kitchens, readying lunch for the Princesses. All seemed well. The castle maids were bustling around like normal, preparing food for the royal guests. All seemed well in the other wings of the castle, when suddenly, a maid turned around, and bit another girl.
And suddenly, mayhem ensued.
The maid was normal one moment — smiling and going about her day — and a monster the next.
Harriet had seen the girl change with her own two eyes, as if she'd suddenly received a command to attack. Had she not, she might not have believed Selma as quickly as she did.
She spared a glance back at the door to the adjoined room and prayed she had bought Selma enough time to get the uninfected out. But she was beginning to feel a sort of panic. Her and Selma worked out a plan to get some of the girls out but they hadn't thought of what to do with those who were bitten. Some may be infected and some not. But since there was no way to tell, all who were bitten must pay the price. It felt cruel and unnatural to Harriet, but she knew she couldn't let them go free.
But as she looked across the room, she couldn't help but wonder what may befall those stuck in this space, including herself.
She turned back to Leah, forcing her best smile and said, "Worry not. I'm sure Selma is just making sure they know what they're doing."
"It hurts, Harriet," Leah replied, her tone urgent and pained. "I'm losing a lot of blood. Can you at least check on them?"
Harriet pursed her lips, biting back a lump in her throat. "Just wait a few more minutes. If they don't come out soon, I will go and check," Harriet helped Leah lay back down on the floor. "Just rest a while longer."
Leah nodded reluctantly and let her body slowly fall to the floor. She curled her knees to her chest, and pulled a dry bedsheet tightly around herself. Harriet noted the distant look in her eye as she gazed at the floor in front of her. Just the idea that any one of these girls could change at a moment's notice, like that first maid, terrified her.
I wonder if I'm strong enough to handle this, she thought, swallowing hard. And if Leah does turn…what does that mean for me? Would I stay or…
She bit the inside of her cheek. Harriet didn't want to think of it.
"What, are you trying to make amends before we die?" A maid scoffed.
Harriet turned fast, startled by the obvious scorn in her voice. Most of the maids in the room were huddled in small cliques of two or three, chatting among themselves, helping each other through a time as hard as this one. But one maid stood out among the rest of them.
Diana.
With her pretty, shiny brown hair, petite build and grey eyes, the maid stood out among the others. She was a maid of Forsyth and Harriet quickly learned she didn't get along well with the other maids. It was in the way they approached her and when they did, it was only if they absolutely needed to. Diana was young and pretty but quick-tempered, aggressive and stuck up, considering she was a maid.
Diana was the love-child of a low-ranking nobleman. She grew up in his house but was never given his family name. She was meant to be a lady-in-waiting to Princess Selma but was rejected. Selma rejected all of her ladies in waiting, of course. Selma was known for being an odd young lady and a difficult person to get along with. But the events that followed for Lady Diana due to the princesses rejection made her equal treatment of little consolation.
In Carbouran, even illegitimate children could be given a noble status of their own if they were accepted by royalty. Princess Cora had done so for Harriet, who was born as one of many illegitimate children to a specific noble of Garyn who had long since passed. Cora's generosity was what allowed Harriet to marry Commander Vincent. Harriet could have gained the title of Lady-In-Waiting long ago, and cast aside a life of washing her bedsheets and making her food but instead chose to stay by Princess Cora's side.
Likely, that is what Lady Diana had hoped for.
Knowing Princess Selma a bit better now, Harriet was sure the young Princess would have awarded the girl a house name without much trouble, had she known. But Lady Diana, not knowing the princess, could not have simply approached her in such a way. More likely than not, when the princess rejected her, Lady Diana accepted a maid position in the castle in the hopes that she would get close to the princess and over time, became more and more bitter. Diana had a scowl on her face much of the time and kept to herself so even camaraderie among the other maids was too big a hurdle for her. Still, the girl refused to go crawling back home. And because of that decision, she found herself in this mess.
Harriet watched as another one of the maids approached her. The other maid, Jessica, was one of the only maids that confronted Diana regularly, poking fun at her when the chance arose.
"Well what other time would I do so?" Jessica asked, a slight smile on her face like stone.
Harriet watched them from across the room, taking in details like there was no tomorrow. Because, she knew, there truly might not be. Diana scooted away, rejecting Jessica's presence like she was a poison. But this time, it wasn't simply scorn that she reacted with. It was fear. Harriet wanted to separate them, but she needed to do so without alarming any infected in the room. If the infection was smart, then she had to gamble that it may be cunning as well. She needed it to be reasonable which meant she couldn't take sides. The only way to rule out the infected from those simply bitten, was to draw it out by outsmarting it.
Right now, Harriet was convinced that Jessica was infected. It was the way her eyes grew wider with excitement as she approached Diana. But she couldn't call her out on it now for she knew there was likely more than one in the room. Harriet noticed her hands trembling ever so slightly. She curled her rugged palms into fists, steadying herself. She swallowed her fear and took a deep inhale.
"Diana," Harriet called. "You were almost a Lady-In-Waiting to Princess Selma, correct?"
Diana's head turned sharply toward Harriet, her eyes filled with both shame and relief.
"Yes, ma'am," she replied.
"And how long did you serve her majesty?"
Diana's gaze lowered, her voice wavering, "A week, my Lady."
As the girls answered, Harriet took that moment to glance over her wounds. Diana had several scratches, bruises and a single bite mark on her forearm. But because it was her arm, she had the opportunity to snatch it away at the last minute. What could have been a full bite wound was instead a superficial mark with skin peeled and light bleeding.
Harriet spared a glance at Jessica, whose outfit was torn by the shoulder, as she received a deep bite. Then, she turned her attention back to Diana.
"You're hardly wounded," Harriet said. "Why didn't you go with the others to receive instruction on how to properly clean and sew wounds?"
Diana grimaced, unable to meet Harriet's eyes. She thought for a long moment, choosing her words carefully before replying, "I thought the other girls wouldn't want to receive treatment from me."
Harriet sighed and approached the girls. She felt the heavy gaze of the creature that infected Jessica boring into her very soul, like a predator that had its prey snatched from its clutches. Still, Harriet refused to be intimidated by it. She stood in front of Diana, and held out her hand.
"Come, child," she said, forcing a relaxed smile. "Let's get you educated."
Diana peered up at Harriet, her gaze innocent and hopeful. She placed her palm in Harriet's and allowed her to lift her to her feet.
But Harriet had underestimated how the creatures would react.
Suddenly, Harriet could feel more than one set of piercing eyes, like they were laying a curse upon her. The room became heavy with malice and Harriet thought she could hear an unsettling, low rattling hiss, like a snake. She met Jessica's gaze, only for a moment, and regretted it instantly. Her heart seized, and adrenaline coursed through her body at the sound of the creature, begging Harriet to run.
But Harriet knew she could still get herself out of this.
She just had to play dumb.
Harriet kept her eyes focused on Jessica, and fixed her neutral expression to one of sincerity.
"Don't worry, darling," she said, her voice low and calm, "we will get you fixed up in no time. How about you be the first to let Diana stitch you up?"
Harriet could see the monster more clearly inside her now. Not like she could physically see inside the girl, but she could see past Jessica's features to the monster that controlled her now. It didn't know how to force micro-expressions that humans were so attuned with that noticing them became like second nature. The difference was so obvious to Harriet now, that she didn't know how she hadn't noticed it before.
Harriet flashed one last smile at the creature, triumph warming her chest, and escorted Diana to the adjoining room.
She closed the door behind her with a soft thud and quickly let out a sigh of relief.
"Where is everyone?" Diana asked immediately.
But Harriet didn't pay her any mind. She hadn't realized the terror that engulfed her body until the moment there was a wall between her and those monsters. Tears escaped her eyes as she let out deep, strangled breaths, trying to control her breathing.
Diana turned, noticing Harriet's reaction. "Ms., are you alright?"
Harriet met the girl's eyes.
Grey and full of obvious concern.
Human.
"I don't know," Harriet shook her head. "I'm worried, Diana."
She pushed herself off the door, keeping her footsteps light and her voice low. "I take it you're aware that there was something very wrong with Jessica."
Diana's eyes widened, "you knew?"
"Of course I knew," Harriet snapped. "You can tell in their expressions. They're flat and lifeless." Diana grimaced but didn't respond. Harriet continued, "there is much to explain, but little time. I need to get the others who aren't infected in this room so that if all hell breaks loose, at least you have a head start. I couldn't tell before, but now I believe I can."
"You're willing to go back out with those…things?" Diana asked, her voice shaky.
"I have to save them," Harriet replied, a somber tone in her voice. "Leah came with me from the Empire. I've known the girl since she was five and helping her mother clean bedsheets in rooms just like this one. I was there for her when her mother passed. I was there for her when she bled for the first time. I was there for her the first time a boy broke her heart," Harriet blinked rapidly, choking back tears, "But I couldn't save her today. The least I can do is be here with her through this and create enough time for the Princesses. If Princess Selma believes they can save her, then I must do my part as well."
Harriet didn't spare a single glance back at Diana. She opened the door and–
-her heart dropped.
Jessica stood in front of the door, her expression flat as she gazed into Harriet.
Harriet swallowed hard, but kept her breathing level as she gazed down at the small maid.
"May I help you?" Harriet asked, her eyes unwavering on Jessica.
"I was feeling better," Jessica said, her tone cheerful, but her face unnervingly expressionless. "I would like to learn as well."
Harriet's heart worked against her, adrenaline plumbing through her body. Jessica was far too close for comfort and something inside Harriet told her that even a single touch could set this creature off. She needed an excuse to get her away from this room. She glanced down at Jessica's mauled shoulder. Without pressure, the area continued to bleed, crimson soaking into the fabric.
"I don't see how you could feel better with a wound like that," Harriet said, her tone more defensive than she meant it to be. She met Jessica's flat, green eyes. "You should lay back down and wait for them to be done. They are maids, not doctors. They need to focus."
The maid didn't respond. She just stood in front of Harriet, unmoving.
Unwavering.
She kept her eyes plastered to Jessica, but her attention moved to the rest of the room. The girls were silent, like a forest at night when the insects cower in the presence of a predator. Harriet could only hear the sound of her own frantic breathing through her nose. She wanted to hide it but she couldn't with this monster so close to her.
"They?" Jessica asked, tilting her head slightly. "Not 'us'?"
Harriet's heart tightened and her eyes widened. It was just a slight slip up, hardly recognizable. But of course, the monster suspected her. Harriet's eyes widened with fear and that was enough for the infected.
In a moment, Jessica lunged at Harriet.
And without thinking, faster than Harriet had moved in years — slammed her fist into the girl's face, and sucker punched her into the ground. Jessica was knocked unconscious, falling to the floor like a doll. Her breathing was heavy as she stared at the young maid sprawled out limp on the floor. Harriet was a larger woman in stature and the years of working as a maid had made her both physically fit and stronger than she expected.
She lifted her gaze to the others in the room. Every single one — infected. Their flat, unfocused gazes told her enough. Perhaps the creatures hadn't had enough hold on them yet but didn't move. They just stared back at Harriet like possessed puppets.
Then, something struck the door, loud and aggressive.
Harriet jumped, watching as each of the girls turned their heads as well.
She was expecting another strike or to hear the piercing screech of the monster but neither came.
Suddenly, the door was practically blown off its hinges, clattering to the floor with a loud thud. The girls each hissed in terror, clambering over each other, away from whatever stood on the other side of the door. And just as the door came down, Harriet's sight was engulfed in a familiar shade of ruby red.