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The air in the house had felt heavier than usual, thick with the weight of impending doom. This was it. Donna knew it too. The man, the one who had already torn through Castle Dimitrescu without hesitation, was coming. You knew what that meant. The fight was over.
You had tried to be hopeful all day, but you knew this wouldn't end well. Mother Miranda was scared. The all great and powerful leader of the village, terrified . You came to terms with how this was going to end. That… man… would make his way to the home you shared with your wife and her creations, and he would do whatever he had to do to get what he came for. You couldn't really blame him either, if the roles were reversed you'd do the same.
After Miranda called with the news he had diminished the entirety of Castle Dimitrescu, you knew it was over. If he could kill Alcina, even in her final form, he would absolutely end you. Not without a fight though, definitely not. If you were to die, you were to die with honor. Donna had come up with a plan to create illusions to kill him. You had so much faith in your wife, but you had a feeling it wouldn't work. Ethan wasn't human. He wouldn't die as easily as all the previous intruders had. You would never voice this to Donna. The woman was already so insecure in her abilities and you wouldn't dare say anything to make her feel more so. While she was busy planning what illusions to do and where, you were plotting something else. Maybe, just maybe, Ethan would negotiate. He had a wife, a family, he’d understand where you were coming from, right? Right?
Donna thought it was an awful idea, so you told her you wouldn't do it, knowing you were going to go behind her back and try it anyway. She ended up being right, as always.
He didn’t. He didn't listen to what you had to say for one second. You stood at the entrance of the house, against Donna's knowledge as she had already hid herself in the lower level of the house. Your arm was outstretched, holding the flask containing Rosemary Winters’ legs. Before you could speak, boom. All you felt as you fell to your knees was warmth. It was so warm. Warm everywhere. Spreading down your chest, soaking your shirt. The shirt Donna made for you three months ago.
Something came over you. Something primal, something feral. Ignoring the pain you felt, you threw the flask in your arms across the room and launched yourself at an approaching Ethan Winters. He hadn't expected you to do that, obvious from the way he fell to the floor on the porch.
You started digging. Digging into his skin. Tearing at whatever you could. His face, his chest, then his eyes. He was screaming and fighting back in whatever way he could. Keeping your weight on top of him, you reached for his gun.
Pressing it into his chest and pulling back the hammer, you shot.
Once
Twice
And however many more shots it took until he finally shut up. You’d stopped counting after two, as it went on entirely too long. By the end of the whole ordeal, you couldn't breathe. You’d stumbled back off of Ethan's body and finally accessed your own wounds.
Shit.
A bullet hole. In your lung.
Huh, that explains not being able to breathe then.
At that moment, you finally registered the screaming. The hands all over you. The hands that angled your face up to see you. You fell onto your back, never breaking eye contact with Donna.
How did I get so lucky? What good deeds did I do in a past life to deserve her?
Even while in hysterics, begging you to stay alive, she looked so beautiful. The emotion on her face could only be described as pure anguish. You were dying, you knew this. You couldn't hear anything. Which really sucks, because you'd love for the last thing you heard to be her voice. That's neither here nor there unfortunately, but she's alive. Your sacrifice wasn’t for nothing, as she would live.
At that moment, your ears decided to start working again.
“Why, why would you do this?! You-you can't leave me, please, please!” Donna could barely get her words out through her tears.
You wanted to say something. To tell her you love her, anything. You opened your mouth but instead of words coming out you just ended up gurgling blood.
You closed your eyes and thought of your first date. How shy she was, how nervous you were. It was a simple date, just a long walk through the woods on her property. You guys laughed about it later on in your relationship, about how freezing it was and how you should've just stayed in and watched a movie to avoid the dripping noses and shivering. No matter how cold it was, it was perfect to you and you wouldn't change a thing.
It wasn't until you guys had been dating for three months until she finally revealed her face. That's a day you wouldn't forget. Sure the mutation on her face was a little surprising, but it wasn't at all the first thing you noticed about her. Her eyes, god , her eyes .
Deep, steady, and safe. They felt like home.
You knew then that she would be your wife one day.
The day you actually decided to make that happen was filled with nerves and awkwardness. You brought her to the top of the waterfall claiming you wanted to see the view. You didn’t account for how fucking windy it would be up there. You knelt down and stuttered your way through your speech that you had to yell at her because of how loud the wind was. Both of your guys’ hair was going in every direction. She said yes of course, but you felt awful you couldn't have picked a better place. When she talks about your proposal these days, she talks about how incredible it was.
You guys had talked about adopting kids. You agreed that two would be a good number, a boy and a girl. Donna already had the names picked out. Claudia, after her deceased sister, and Alessandro, after her grandfather. You loved both of the names, you just wish you would've been able to meet them.
Some nights you would lay awake and watch her sleep. Not in a creepy way or anything, just admiring her. The way her chest rose and fell softly. The way her eyebrows would slightly scrunch up occasionally.
You opened your eyes.
Those same eyebrows were scrunched again. Tears clung to her eyelashes and then slid down to splash onto your face. You've never seen her make this expression before, you hate that you've caused her this pain.
You tried to speak again, but unfortunately failed to. More gurgling blood. Your wife's face somehow became even more horrified.
You opted to smile at her one last time instead of speaking, reaching your hand up to rest on her cheek. All of your senses faded almost at once, your hand falling as she shook your shoulders, screaming.