Chapter Text
Sometimes Ethan Winters wondered if he was actually the unluckiest person on this entire planet. He really had no idea just what he did wrong in his life to deserve being thrown from one living nightmare to the next.
As if the hell he went through three years ago in Louisiana wasn't already enough trauma that would surely last for a lifetime, now he found himself trapped in an isolated village that was seemingly stuck in the Middle Ages, where he had to deal with werewolf-like beings - or lycans - as they were called.
However, while he did have to go through a hell of a fight with these things already, it turned out these monsters weren't even his biggest problem, as he later found himself captured by some asshole who apparently had magnetic powers or something like that.
The guy bombarded him with scrap and dragged his uncounscious body to a meeting with some...strange looking people, and was later allowed to put on a show for them, after getting permission from someone they called 'Mother Miranda'.
The 'show' was, of course, not a pleasant experience, at least not for Ethan, as it involved being chased by a horde of lycans, and being greeted by a giant hammer to the face, before being subjected to a massive meatgrinder to turn him into 'fresh American ground beef'.
He honestly had no idea how he even survived the sick game of that metalbending bastard, and he also wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, should he meet him again. With the powers he possessed, he could easily just catch him again, and there was very little Ethan could do about it. Not only that, it also filled him with a sense of dread. Surely the other freaks in that meeting had similar stuff in store for him, and he was certain it wasn't the last he saw of any of them.
Still, he didn't want to waste any more time pondering about it. He already lost so much time with all the fucked up stuff that was happening in this village, so he had to finally get back on track. The desperate father just had to hope that luck was on his side for once, as unlikely as it sounded, so he went back on his way to his actual goal.
Ethan could only frown at the sight of his next destination - the giant castle, which was the first thing he saw when he arrived in this goddamn village. Under different circumstances he would have probably stared at the thing in awe, however, such thoughts were probably really uncalled for when the building was located in the middle of a monster-infested valley. Not to mention he had his doubts that the castle would be inhabited by normal people.
Time for the next freakshow, I guess...
As if some higher being in the universe heard his thoughts and tried to mock him even further, he suddenly spotted multiple scarecrows among the fields that looked more than just a little suspicious. The sight alone was enough to make his stomach churn in disgust.
What the fuck. Did they use dead bodies to build these?!
"Fucking hell. I don't even wanna know... Just keep moving, idiot." He mumbled to himself while continuing his way to the massive castle. Ethan tried his hardest to ignore the sight of these things, but for some reason he just couldn't take his eyes off them as he went along the road.
It was disgusting, it really was. What kind of fucked up mind would come up with something like that? He had no answer to this question, he only thought to himself that he probably shouldn't be surprised by anything at this point anymore. After all, this place had fucking werewolves riding on horses and shooting flaming arrows, and hammer-wielding giants leaping from roof to roof. If anything, he probably should expect to see more inhuman fuckery.
Trying to ignore his survival instincts, which were practically screaming at him to turn back, the blonde did his best to keep his guard up for all the bullshit that might await him in that castle, he just had to keep going - for his daughter's sake.
Ethan came to a small stop on the road as the castle was now in full view right in front of him.
Holy shit, that thing is massive. It's even bigger from up front... How the fuck am I supposed to find Rose if she's really here? Fuck me...I still have to try.
He was, of course, not sure if Rose was really kept in there. It was just a hunch, after all. Still, he had no idea where else to look first, so he felt like it was the best thing to do right now. It's not like he had any other choice either, as most of the areas in this village were all locked off for some reason.
Suddenly, he heard a loud creaking sound as a big carriage to his left, that he somehow missed up to this point, opened up and Ethan immediately went to grab his pistol. He could only stare with disbelief at the...thing that emerged from the vehicle, "Ahh, I've been waiting for you, Ethan Winters." Said the giant, obese man, who now sat on the backside of said carriage.
Wh-What is that thing? Is this guy human? No way...
Maybe Ethan should have just sent a bullet straight to his head, surely nothing good would happen from here on out. Still, that guy didn't leap on him on first sight and tried to kill him, like most other things around the area - not that he thought it was even possible, given the stature of the man, so he tried to play along for now. "How do you know my name?"
"Anyone who is anyone has heard of the likes of you. A hero searching for his daughter." The strange being replied with a, for some reason, jolly voice. Ethan could only raise an eyebrow after hearing that.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do these freaks all know who I am? Lucky me...
"Though I must say, that castle arouses suspicion." He continued, and the blonde had to fight back a chuckle right there.
"Yeah, and so do you." Came the simple answer from Ethan. Everything in this village aroused suspicion, and a giant emerging from a big carriage, who called him by his name, even though they have never met before, was no exception.
To his surprise, the giant man just laughed it off before responding, "I am but a humble merchant."
Seeing Ethan's genuine confusion practically written all over his face, the man cleared his throat before finally introducing himself, "Forgive my manners, call me the Duke."
Ethan didn't know what to do. He had so many questions and so little time, his daughter needed him right now for Christ's sake! Still, so far that guy didn't appear to be hostile towards him, and maybe he could even provide him with valuable information, so he tried to continue the conversation.
Might be better than to just blindly run into that castle and probably get myself killed...
"Duke, huh? Well, you already know my name for some reason, so we can skip that part." The Duke only nodded his head and smiled at him, and Ethan went on, "Do you know anything about my daughter? Have you seen her? Is she in that castle? Fuck, is she even alive?! Tell me!"
The merchant's expression never changed, not even for a single moment, as Ethan bombarded him with questions. After a while he started chuckling and gave him his answer, "Well, Mister Winters, I'm afraid at this point in time I cannot tell you anything about the whereabouts of little Rosemary."
"What?! Come on, you know something, don't you? Just spit it out already... Hell, at least tell me if she's alright or not." Ethan begged, but the obese man merely shook his head.
"I am very sorry to tell you that you have to find these answers yourself, my friend. If I were to tell you anything, it would surely ruin my business with the Lords and with Mother Miranda herself."
Lords?... And again that Miranda person... What's the big deal with her anyway?
Miranda. He heard that name far too often in the last couple of hours. The crazy old hag he encountered after the lycan massacre, and all of the people back in Luiza's house, they all spoke of her like she was some kind of higher being - a religious figure, their savior. Ethan could tell that she was none of that, though. Even his brief encounter with her in that church, or whatever the hell that place was, was enough for him to see that she was just as insane and inhuman as the rest of the monsters.
"Business with that bitch? Do you often provide murderous lunatics with your wares? Just curious, you know..." The mockery in Ethan's voice couldn't have been any more obvious. However, the rotound merchant didn't seem to be bothered by it, not in the slightest.
"Well, as long as there is coin to be made..." The Duke clapped his hands together and his smile only broadened.
Greedy bastard...
Obviously not happy with these kind of responses, the lone father could only grunt and clench his fists. The Duke, however, simply went on in his jolly voice after a while, "I may not be of help regarding the whereabouts of your daughter, but I can provide you with weapons, ammunition, and healing salves - anything you desire - all of that for a fair price, of course."
Yeah, right... Do I look like I have a lot of money with me right now? Fucking joker...
Ethan fought back the urge to snap at him, taking out his anger on the merchant would surely not be of much help to him either. Seeing no more reason to continue the conversation, he sighed and prepared to leave, "Thanks, I guess. But I'm just wasting my time here if you really don't have anything more to say."
Accepting that he would not get anything out of the man, Ethan made his way towards the castle gates, only to be stopped by the Duke calling for him, "One last thing, Mister Winters." Ethan turned around, hoping that he might hear something helpful, after all, "You might encounter...peculiar individuals during your journey here."
Really... No shit, man... You're one of them.
The blonde shoved his mocking thoughts away for now, "But always remember this. There's almost always more than meets the eye to everyone in our dear village. You may find valuable allies when you least expect it...if you play your cards right." The Duke finished with that same stupid smile on his face again.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. He didn't know what to think of this, he seriously doubted that there were any more sane people left in this godforsaken village. This whole place was just a battlefield filled with monsters, and the only help he could hope for so far, died already back in Luiza's house.
He had to grit his teeth as he thought about Elena's death. Sure, he didn't really know her - at all - but seeing her die like this still hurt, and he was certain he could've saved her if he just tried harder, it didn't have to be like this. But again, he couldn't do shit to save people in need. Just like...just like how he failed to protect his wife when Chris Redfield and his goons started to raid his house...
If only he would get a second chance for this moment. He would gladly jump into the crossfire for her this time, just like he should have done in the first place. But no, he hid like a coward, watching in horror as more and more bullets went through her lithe frame. He all but waited for his supposed 'friend' to show up, only to see him put a definite end to her. Ethan felt like an absolute failure, a husband's most important duty is to protect his family, right? Well, what a husband he was - he failed on that in every way possible. Not only could he not protect Mia, he also could not stop them from taking their daughter with them.
Ethan's breathing became shallow, and the lump that was forming in his throat only grew bigger each time he replayed that horrible scene in his mind. It fucking hurt to think about Mia. It all happened so fast after he got knocked out - the car crash, the lycan attack, the tragedy at Luiza's house, the fucked up game of that metal asshole, and now whatever awaits him in that castle. He never even got the chance to properly mourn her death...again.
I don't have time for this right now... Rose needs me.
Taking in multiple deep breaths and doing his best to keep his emotions in check, he glanced at the Duke one last time, "Yeah, I'm not really sure if this will be helpful, but I'll keep it in mind, thanks."
The merchant merely nodded his head before bidding him farewell, "Please, be cautious, Mister Winters. I am fairly sure we will cross paths again."
And with that, Ethan resumed his way to his destination and pushed the castle gates open - revealing the foyer with its small set of stairs, leading further into the room. Taking another deep breath, he took his first careful steps inside the castle, always trying his best to be prepared for any nasty surprise that might come his way.
Feeling like the room would be free of any sort of danger, he took a moment to look around a little. He was actually astounded by how pretty it all looked. He was never one to really care about all that fancy stuff, but he couldn't deny that it looked absolutely gorgeous with all the expensive looking furniture and the various giant vases that decorated the room. Under different circumstances he would have, without a doubt, enjoyed this visit.
"Well, so far this definitely beats being stuck in the Baker House, that's for sure."
He tried to ignore the voices in his head telling him he would sooner or later eat his own words, as he inspected more of the room. A very old looking painting, depicting three young women, caught most of his interest.
Three Daughters - Bela, Cassandra and Daniela
Probably very inappropriate thoughts, given the all around situation he found himself in, ran through his head as he stared at the painting - longer than he actually should have, "Wow... They look beautiful." Ethan couldn't help but voice out his thoughts. Though, almost immediately after, he facepalmed.
Focus, you stupid fuck! There's a reason you're here, remember?
The part of his brain that was not completely stupid was right, he had work to do in here. No more distractions. Shaking off all unimportant thoughts, Ethan took a firm hold of his LEMI pistol and made his way to the next door, to his left, leading into a hallway.
It was quiet, almost too quiet he thought. He did his best to ignore the shivers running down his spine as he continued his way further into the building. At this point Ethan was a hardened survivor, thanks to the many horrifying encounters in the Baker House and in the village itself, but that didn't mean he was immune to all the horrors that might still lie in wait for him.
He knew that anything could happen at any time. Hell, he even almost expected to see Jack Baker break through one of the walls any moment now to greet him with his twisted grin and his fucking shovel. The thought alone made his stomach churn - for no reason at that. No, that particular hell was already behind him. Jack would only live on in his nightmares.
"Keep going," He mumbled to himself, "Doesn't matter what happens to me here, just look for Rose." He was right about that, securing Rose was the most important thing. What happened to him didn't matter, Ethan would get through this, just like he always did. At least that's what he wanted to believe for now...
Reaching the end of the hallway, he was greeted by the sight of yet another door, which he cautiously opened. What awaited him there was a giant hall with many tall pillars and multiple statues to the sides. To his right was a big staircase leading to a set of large double wooden doors. The thing that caught his attention, though, was to his left. Another large, this time metallic-looking, door with an inscription written on it, so he tried to get a closer look at it.
Just short before reaching it, however, he started to hear a loud buzzing noise, and suddenly he spotted several large blowflies crawling all over said door. Ethan could only take a step back at the sight, as it brought back most unpleasant memories of Marguerite's disgusting swarm of bugs.
Triggering his PTSD regarding oversized insects turned out to not be his biggest problem, however. "What do we have here?" He heard a playful female voice asking, which was soon followed by loud giggling.
"Shit..." Ethan turned around, only to find multiple swarms of large flies, which, to his horror, manifested into three dark figures.
Now I've seen everything...
The lone father suddenly found himself surrounded by three ominous looking, deathly pale, young women - all of them dark dressed and wearing hoods. Weird looking flower tattoos adorned their foreheads, which only further complimented their creepy attire. They all looked almost identical - really the only difference he could see in them for now was their hair color and their different colored gemmed necklaces. That, and the amount of blood that was splattered on each of their faces...
To his right was a redheaded girl with a giddy, almost excited, expression. It seemed like she was trying her best to not jump up and down in excitement. She exchanged looks with the other women for a moment before turning her attention back to him and giggling like an amused little girl.
To his left was a blonde with a curious look on her face. She briefly looked all over his frame before locking eyes with him. Ethan had a hard time dealing with the lump that was forming in his throat, it almost felt like she was trying to stare right into his soul. A small smirk was beginning to form on her face.
What scared him the most, however, was right in front of him - the brunette with that psychotic grin on her face. Ethan didn't miss the fact that her fingers were twitching erratically, and it wouldn't surprise him if she would try to pounce on him any moment now. He could practically feel the malice that radiated from that woman.
Fuck me... And here I thought I had seen death incarnate already when I met Jack Baker...
He probably should have just started to fill them with lead, or try to make a run for it, though he found himself paralyzed by their menacing, piercing amber eyes gazing at him. It was almost as if he was cornered by a wild animal, and the best thing to do in such a situation would be to keep a cool head, trying to look imposing, and to not make any sudden movements. Ethan knew that this likely wouldn't apply here, but still, he couldn't help but draw this weird comparison.
Perhaps he should just talk this through? It seemed unlikely this would work, but what harm could it do to try? Shit would probably hit the fan regardless of what he did next, so he might as well try that first.
"H-Hey, I'm just looking for my daughter, I don't want-" As expected, luck was not on his side, and before he could even finish his sentence, the blonde was already on him and roughly pushed him to the ground. He felt the air leave his lungs, and he couldn't help but let out an agonized scream as a striking pain ran through his left leg shortly after.
The psycho witch had put a goddamn sickle through his leg and leaned over him with a hungry smile on her face, "Mhm, man-blood..." The blonde witch sighed before starting to drag him by his impaled leg through one of the doors with ridiculous speed.
"Jesus fucking Christ!" Ethan didn't know what was happening anymore, all he could hear was the mad cackling of the three witches. The feeling of being dragged by a sickle that was buried deep in his leg was excruciating, and his vision went spinning as he hit his head on the floor and on various other things multiple times due to the swift movement. He almost wished he would hit it hard enough on something to just pass out already.
After what felt like an eternity of pain to him, they finally came to a stop and he felt the sickle leave his mutilated leg. Panting heavily, he now found himself in what appeared to be a big bedroom. Not that he could get a good look around the room right now, his head was still spinning and the little ringing that was starting in his ears was also not of help.
"Mother, I bring you fresh prey." The blonde bug-woman started, and Ethan tried his hardest to regain his bearings to see who she's talking to.
"You are so kind to me, daughters."
Shortly after hearing that voice, his earlier thoughts about wishing to pass out immediately returned.
"Oh shit..." He could only mutter. He knew exactly who that voice belonged to. It was the big bitch he saw in the meeting with the other freaks. Not that he had seen much from her the last time, but he did not forget what she said - that his suffering was assured. He also did not forget about the...concerning implications the metal fucker made about her when they argued, which didn't really help to cease the rapid pounding of his heart against his ribcage.
"Now, let's take a look at him." The giant matriarch said before she got out of her big armchair, and Ethan couldn't help but widen his eyes in horror at her ridiculous height. He has never seen a bigger woman than her in his entire life.
Her amber eyes lit up, and her expression was full of surprise after she saw the face of her 'fresh prey', "Well, well. Ethan Winters. You escaped my little brother's idiot games, did you?" She approached him in slow, graceful steps.
Brother? Really? Just why am I such a magnet for fucked up families?
He maybe should have different concerns right now, but it was true, wasn't it? The unfortunate father really had a tendency to get into messes with the, probably, most fucked up families this world had to offer.
"Let's see how special you are." She said before throwing her hands up in a commanding manner. Not wasting a second, the redhead and the blonde were on him and pulled him to his feet. One of them grabbed his left arm and held him steady, while the other pulled out a knife to cut right through his already mangled, three fingered hand.
Ethan could only wince and grit his teeth, he really had no idea why it was always his hand that was suffering the most, this shit was getting old real fast. Before he could further protest, however, the countess took hold of his bleeding hand and started to suck his blood out.
While he was certain that some people would surely get a kick out of something weird like that, he felt absolutely disgusted by that hideous act. All about this was just vile, the slurping sounds, the feeling of her wet, slippery tongue running all over his wound, leaving him with sick tingles that went through all of his body, and the occasional giggling from her daughters, who were probably waiting for their turn. Needless to say, he felt dirty, and that was already an understatement.
Fortunately for him, he didn't have to endure it for too long - after a few moments of tasting his blood, the face of the matriarch turned into a displeased grimace, and she let go of his hand, "Hm. Starting to go a little stale." She stated before the redhead handed her a napkin, which she used to clean her mouth before carelessly letting it fall to the ground.
While he was glad that the blood drinking stopped, he couldn't help but wonder if it was a good or a bad thing that his blood was apparently not of good enough quality for that bitch.
"Can we then keep him for a while if you're not interested in him, mother?" The brunette suddenly asked, "I would love to have some real fun with the man-thing before we devour his flesh!" She grinned at him before giggling in sadistic mirth.
The desperate father felt his blood chill in his veins, he was not keen on seeing the definition of 'real fun' from that psycho witch. He didn't know what exactly it was, but the way she was staring at him, with those creepy golden eyes and that crazed grin on her face was just unnerving, to say the least. It really felt like she had an aura of dread surrounding her.
She wanted to instill fear in him, that much was obvious, but he was never one to cower that easily, he would not give her the satisfaction. That was also one of the things that asshole, Chris, always told him. Never give in, never show fear, no matter how dire the situation. If only he would have remembered that lesson when Chris decided to ruin his life...
Ethan grit his teeth and locked eyes with her, but before he could even try to snap at her, the redhead already beat him to it, "No, Cassandra, you always do this! Every time we get a visitor from the outside you have to ruin it for us with your silly torture sessions!" She whined, and glared at her sister with her hands balled into fists.
Huh. Didn't expect that. Maybe one of them is actually not batshit insane.
"You know there are other ways to have fun with him, right?" The witch turned to face him again and shot him a suggestive wink, at which he could only gulp and widen his eyes.
Scratch that... Would've been too good to be true anyway...
The brunette, who was apparently called Cassandra, only groaned, "Ugh, stop being annoying, Daniela. I'm not ruining anything here, what else should we do with him anyway? You want him to read you some of your stupid books or what?"
"THEY ARE NOT STUPID!" Daniela, the redhead, shrieked while furiously stomping on the ground, and Ethan could see a lot of flies angrily buzzing all around her. Apparently this was a very sensitive topic. "Maybe you should finally read some of them yourself, perhaps then you would see that there's more to life than just inflicting pain!" She went on, and her sadistic sister merely rolled her eyes.
I hope they continue this for a bit longer... Better than having them go nuts on me.
It wasn't long before the blonde witch cleared her throat and decided to add her own two cents as well, "I'm the one who captured him. Shouldn't it be me who gets to decide what we do with him then?" The other two glanced at her with annoyed looks on their faces.
"Oh, great... Give him to Bela, so she can talk him to death. Now that sounds like real torture if you ask me." Cassandra threw in, only to get a huff out of her blonde counterpart.
"Hmph, at least I'm not the one responsible for most of the messes in this household..."
Ethan would be lying if he said he wouldn't get at least some kind of amusement out of this, as weird as it sounded. Even if he still had no idea how to get out of this situation, seeing them go against each other was definitely better than getting more sickles through his limbs, so he hoped they would keep arguing for a while.
As if reading his mind, however, the lady of the house herself apparently had enough of the bickering, "Now, now, daughters. First, I must inform Mother Miranda." Ethan didn't miss the exasperated look on the face of the brunette after hearing that name, "His fate will be decided after we heard her judgement." The countess finished with a smirk on her face.
He was not looking forward to hear that judgement himself, he needed to get out of here before that happened. But what was he supposed to do? Running seemed pointless right now when he was surrounded by four monstrous vampires, they would surely just catch him again.
It seemed like he didn't have to dwell on it for long, however. "But for now..." The vampiric woman took a few steps closer to him, and Ethan could, again, only widen his eyes as she was towering over him in such close proximity, "Put him up."
What? Put me up? What is that supposed to mean?
"Yes, mother." Just like before, the same two sisters were on him in no time. They took hold of his arms with one hand and reached slightly behind him with the other. Looking over his shoulder to see what they were doing, Ethan felt his blood chill as he spotted two hooks hanging from the ceiling in long chains. He could have sworn he heard a meek 'Sorry' mumbled from his left.
No way... You're kidding me!
"H-Hey, wait..." He didn't get to finish before they hooked both of his hands, and Ethan couldn't contain the pained scream that came with it. As if that terrible pain wasn't enough, after a few seconds he slowly felt himself losing ground.
He could only glare daggers at the cause of this; that fucking Cassandra bitch was pushing a big lever that was apparently pulling him towards the ceiling.
"Agh! L-Let me down!" Ethan desperately screamed at them, and the giant lady gave him a toothy smile.
"Oh, careful what you wish for, Ethan Winters." The vampire said before making her way towards the big door. She ducked her head in order to fit through and disappeared without another word.
"W-Wait! Wh-What are you doing?!" He muttered with panic in his voice before taking one last look at the daughters. Daniela looked up at him with a sad smile on her face, while the blonde, Bela, merely observed him for a while with that same curious expression from earlier, before they both swiftly followed their mother out of the room.
Cassandra, however, took her sweet time and made her way to the blood-soaked napkin her mother dropped to the ground earlier. She slowly picked it up and sniffed on it, which elicited a sick humming sound out of her, before playfully whirling it around in her hand - all the while giggling in her sadistic manner.
Yeah, fuck you too, you crazy bitch!
"What delightful screams you are able to produce... That really is just music to my ears, and I'm so eager to hear more of that sweet voice of yours!" She bit her lower lip before letting out a sound akin to a small moan, and Ethan had no more doubts that this one had completely lost her mind. How anyone could get off to the pained screams of others was just beyond him.
"I can only hope Miranda will not claim you for herself, man-thing. I am starving for some entertainment, and it would be such a shame if we didn't get to know each other some more!"
Her malice-filled words were enough to make his stomach churn in a sick way. Maybe it was even better for him if he was sent to Miranda? He really did not want to spend any time with that sadistic psycho. Something told him that he would end up losing more than 'just' some more fingers, should she get her hands on him - not that worrying about this was his biggest problem right now, though.
The sadist ran her eyes all over his beaten and bruised form a few more times before she laughed and followed her siblings - leaving Ethan alone in his sorry state.
"S-Shit! How the fuck can I get off these things?!" The pain in his voice was clear as day, as he spat the words out while looking around the room as best as he could. His situation seemed hopeless, though. There was just nothing within reach of him to help him out here.
The feeling of having his whole bodyweight carried by his mutilated hands was agonizing, and he was certain it would do him no good in the long run if he kept this up for much longer - so he decided to go with the only possible solution he could come up with...
Fuck it, there's just no other way...
Taking in multiple deep breaths, he prepared for the excruciating torment that was about to come. He bit down hard on his lip and mentally counted to three before starting to yank his right hand right through the hook.
The pain was even worse than he imagined it would be, he could barely feel his own hand anymore as it was losing blood in huge streams, dripping to the floor beneath him.
Again, he felt like he would pass out any moment now, his ears started to ring alarmingly loud and his vision went blurry from the tears building up in his eyes.
"N-No...not yet..."
Panting heavily, he tried his best to gather up the last reserves of strength he had left in his body, and raised his right hand to his left arm and started pulling - once again yanking his hand right through the hook - and sending him crashing down to the bloodied floor with a loud thud.
Ethan already went through a lot of incidents in the past where he thought he would be better off if he would have died, and this one right here was no exception. His damned resilience was sometimes both a blessing and a curse at the same time.
The blonde thought that he never felt worse in his entire life, even though, in reality, he knew that this was far from true. After all, he had already lost his entire hand to a chainsaw and got his leg chopped off by a shovel back in Louisiana, and both of these events probably took the cake over this experience. Still, it was definitely high up there, he could barely even keep himself on his knees, the blood loss was just too severe.
No one should ever have to suffer through something like this, and the fact that he already did go through similar stuff multiple times was just ridiculous in its own right.
Looking down upon his mangled hands and all the blood on the floor - his blood - was just too much for him and he threw up right on the spot.
At least he could take pride in defiling their fancy home a little bit, not that it counted for much, but he would take any small victory at this point. "H-Have fun cleaning that up, you c-crazy witches..." Ethan hissed out before shakingly trying to stand up, only to fall backwards, landing on his ass.
"Damn it..." There was just no way he could continue in his condition, he had to find some way to prevent himself from losing any more blood.
Looking around a little, he could hardly believe his eyes when he spotted a first aid bottle on a small table to the side. It honestly felt completely out of place in this room, but as they say, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. If the gods finally decided to have at least a small amount of mercy on him, then the lone father was definitely not going to complain about it, so he slowly made his way towards the table - by crawling across the floor.
Grunting, he finally managed to reach it and used it to help himself get to his feet. Still shaking heavily, he poured the contents of the bottle over his hands, starting with his left, then his right. He used the rest of the healing liquid to aid his injured leg as well.
Ethan could only wince and hiss at the burning sensation that he felt as the medicine did its job. He would never really get used to this, it hurt - a lot - but at least it always helped to fix his injuries very quickly. After just a few moments he already felt his flesh mend, and his wounds started to close slowly but surely.
He was, of course, quite aware of the fact that this was not how it's supposed to work. Kill the pain a little? Yes, maybe. Close his wounds in a very short time? No, that was definitely not normal.
Maybe I fit into this freakshow just fine...
Ethan hated to admit it to himself, but he could hardly consider himself an ordinary human being at this point anymore. After all, who could just pour some medicine over his amputated leg and just watch the two parts meld back together within seconds?
He didn't really have much time to ponder about it back in the day because Jack was just always on his heels, but it certainly never left his mind. It was ridiculous, actually laughable, whenever he thought back to this. However, it really did make him wonder if he would someday also succumb to madness and end up as one of these monsters he so despised.
No... It will not come to this, I will never be like them.
Whatever this 'mold' really was that he caught back in the Baker House, it granted him enhanced regeneration, that much was obvious. And even though he didn't fancy the fact that his body started to behave in a weird way ever since, he couldn't deny that it has been of help many times already. Still, he could only hope Rose would grow up without any of that stuff in her own body; that was always his and Mia's biggest worry.
"Rose!" Thinking about his daughter reminded him of the sole reason why he was in this hellhole in the first place, "Just wait a little longer, Rose... I will find you."
Determined to find his lost child, and fighting through the aching of his still somewhat sore limbs, he made his way towards the exit of the room - all the while praying that he would avoid running into the vampiric lady and her crazed daughters for a while...