The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 226: Possessed Monica

Chapter 226: Possessed Monica

"That’s odd, she looked fine when she left my place yesterday." Madeline said to Osvaldo who’s expression softened into worry.

"Actually, It started last night, she wasn’t feeling very well and retired early to bed. I thought she was having her usual mood swings, but this morning, the servants informed Napoleon and I that Monica had refused to see anyone. We were both busy at that time and said we’d check on her later in the day."

"Is this behavior something you’re quite familiar with? Has she refused to see anyone when sick before?" Cassian inquired thoughtfully, sounding more interrogative as Monica had never shown such signs before, and Osvaldo used a minute to think about it before shaking his head, his carved brows furrowing at the thought.

"No, she hasn’t. This is the first time, I’m sure."

"You’re a hundred percent sure?"

"Yes."

"Then suspending her checkup was a bad idea. Where’s her room?" He asked, and Madeline was very much in one with Cassian’s conclusion.

"I’ll lead you to it."

Stepping out of the room they were in, Osvaldo led them through the carpeted hallway. They quickly took the stairs, going up together to the third floor. Turns out, most maidens occupied the highest corridor because mostly women and younger ladies filled the place.

In a situation like this, Cassian and Osvaldo worried less about stepping into a corridor filled with women.

A group of lady servants still stood at Monica’s doorstep, their faces contorted with worry as they still tried to gently persuade her into opening the door.

"Lady Monica, you have to eat something." One of her maidens pleaded.

"Lady Monica, Lord Osvaldo is here to see you." Another maiden informed, her worries dissipating a little bit at the sight of Osvaldo.

"How is she?" Osvaldo asked the servants who immediately lowered their heads at his aristocratic presence, and one of the maids shook her head sadly.

"No response from Lady Monica, yet, she hasn’t stepped out of her room."

Hearing this, Osvaldo’s attention was on the door, and the maidens cleared the path for him as he headed for her door, and he knocked thrice.

"Monica." He called her name, wanting to announce his presence, but he got no response from her.

"Monica, open the door or I open it myself. You know I’ll do exactly what I want if you don’t listen to me." He reminded her in his usual tone, sounding less cautious so he wouldn’t make her feel intimidated.

When he still got no response, he looked at Madeline and Cassian. "I don’t think she’s willing to listen." His worry deepened, "somethings not right either, she’s in there, but the aura...it feels dark."

"Can you open the door?" Cassian asked, and Osvaldo nodded.

"Yes, but..."

"Open it."

"I can’t do.."

"In Carmarthen, when someone refuses to open the damn door during emergency situations, we break it open. It’s either that, or we go with your ways, and you open it calmly." Cassian gives him the best options to choose before he loses his patience and breaks the door open.

Knowing he made absolute sense, Osvaldo nodded and held the door knob. His hazel eyes lit up slowly, with glowing shimmering lights, and then all of a sudden, Madeline and Cassian could hear a click! Sound from the inside.

Osvaldo pushed the door open, Madeline and Cassian stepped in with him, and he closed the door after that, signaling to the maids to not let anyone come in if that person isn’t Napoleon.

With a quick nod of their head, he shut the door, locking it from the inside.

In the room, Monica was sitting on her king-sized bed. She had pulled her knees up to her chest, and she was resting her head on them, hugging herself.

Light sobs could be heard coming from her, but before Madeline could hurry to her side to figure out what the problem was, Cassian and Osvaldo suddenly held her back, gently pushing her behind them in an attempt to stop her from going anywhere near Monica.

Puzzled by their protective actions, she looked at their faces and noticed they both carried the same look of alarm in their eyes. Right now, all Madeline could see and was concerned about was the sobbing Monica, but the two of them, they seem to be seeing more than just that.

"A facade." Cassian hissed in annoyance. "Couldn’t come up with a better trap than this?"

"Can you hold her down for me?" Asked Osvaldo in a soft whisper as he glanced at Cassian. "Can you keep her still without hurting her?"

"I can try."

"I know what to do, just hold her down for me when I give the signal." Osvaldo requested before looking at Madeline. "You need to wait outside."

"W...why? What’s going on?" Madeline asked the both of them, not liking the fact that she was the only one clueless here.

"Whoever is sitting there isn’t Monica." Cassian whispered, making the colors on Madeline’s face pale dramatically at the information.

"What do you--"

"Wait outside, Maddie, now!"

At that particular time, Monica raised her head in a snap, as though she figured her trick had been spotted. To Madeline’s horror, Monica’s usual gray eyes were now sickly black, threads of black veins crawled straight to her cheeks, leaving Madeline morbid at the spot.

"I’ve been waiting for you."

"Maddie, wait outside!"

"No, she doesn’t!" Monica spoke in an inhumane voice as she charged out of the bed, heading towards Madeline, but Cassian moved as well, grabbing onto Monica’s leg and causing her to trip, face first to the ground.

"And where do you think you’re going?"

"Get back here!" Monica raged as she tried to free herself from Cassian’s grip, meanwhile, Osvaldo led Madeline outside, closing the door.

"Let go of me, you mortal!!" Monica’s venomous dark eyes squinted into a shock when she met Cassian’s red beaming eyes that intimidated her.

"Say that again?"

"You..." The Fiend that had possessed Monica seemed to be quite familiar with Cassian. "You killed many of my kind! Master is not happy with you!!"

"I’m my own master." Cassian pinned her to the ground, making the Fiend gaze right into his eyes. "Stay, or you’re going to end up as your kind."

The Fiend paused for a minute, then let out a cynical inhumane laugh. "Like you could hurt your wife’s family." It dared.

"Wife’s family, not wife." Cassian corrected with a sneer, "you’re a stupid Fiend that can’t fight without a vessel, and you made the wrong decision going after this one, cause you’re not here getting it."

"Ah.... Seems to me you’re a threat to their kind." Osvaldo finally joined the conversation, taking out what looked like white powder from Monica’s drawer.

"We’ve had our times, but hurry up." Cassian answered.

Rubbing the whitish substance between his fingers, Osvaldo knelt down to where Cassian had pinned Monica to the ground. Going on his knees before her head, Osvaldo used the whitish substance to draw some kind of round symbol with an oval shape in the middle.

As he did so, he chanted silent spells, one that elicited a shrill painful cry from both Monica and the Fiend. She thrashed hard, trying to free herself, but Cassian was incredibly strong that it was difficult to get away.

"Stop! It’s burning me!" Monica cried out pleadingly, unable to handle the pain.

Osvaldo continued till the symbol he drew at the top of her head began to glow, and the painful cry increased. Tears rolled from the corner of her eyes, but Osvaldo and Cassian turned a blind eye to it as he still pinned her down.

Not long after, the threads of veins began to recede from her face, arms and legs. It was a painful process, sharing her body with an evil Fiend was not a plaything, and Monica cried out in despair till Osvaldo finally stopped.

Cassian’s hold on her loosened slowly when he saw she was back to normal. Her stormy gray eyes looked at Cassian who was hovering above her, her face red from the pain she just experienced.

Pulling away from her, Osvaldo helped Monica to sit up. He hugged the crying Monica in his arms, knowing the amount of pain he just made her pass through.

"I’m sorry." He apologized before pulling away to smoothen her tousled hair.

Sadly, the situation was that critical, and if had shown her any pity, he would be endangering her life instead of saving it. This was something Cassian understood, which was why he still held Monica down despite sensing her pain.

"Are you alright?" Osvaldo asked Monica in a soft voice, and she looked at him with teary eyes.

"I thought I was going to die." Her sobs didn’t stop, neither did her tears, and Osvaldo had to embrace her again in order to stop her from crying.

"Shhhh... you’re safe." He consoled her.

"It’s a good thing Madeline isn’t here to see this." Cassian couldn’t be anymore thankful for that.