In the bathroom Miranda doesn't hesitate to use her tendrils to hoist Natalya up and pin her against the wall.

From behind the priestess Donna squirms. She remembers too well how she wrapped her hands around Natalya's throat. Now she's even more uncomfortable seeing Miranda's eldritch arm wrapped around it twice keeping her head pinned.

"Have you been experiencing any pins and needles? Numbness? Do the limbs feel excessively cold?"

"A little cold, but not since Donna knit the socks."

"No numbness?"

"No."

Natalya knows now that this woman, if she can be called that, is the center of this shit show. She began this twisted tale and is responsible for everything in the village. Mother Miranda is the horror everyone talked about in hushed whispers back when she was at the base.

Fighting this woman is as good as asking for death. Natalya has decided she's come this far so she's not about to throw it away. Supposedly Miranda was a doctor at one point. So, she'll treat this like a doctor's visit. A doctor's visit dipped in an eldritch horror movie.

Donna squirms watching Miranda poke and prod Natalya's healing wounds. They're yellowish in color and obviously quite uncomfortable.

"Well, you've been giving her the pills religiously otherwise these would be infected. Keep it up. This is a dietary supplement to make sure she doesn't become anemic and keep her strength up. Once a day with breakfast."

Taking the bottle Donna nods.

"For now stick to walking. No running and try not to go up and down the stairs too much," Miranda sets Natalya on the sink and looks directly at Donna, "No strenuous activity whatsoever. Next time I do the sutures I don't care if she's conscious or not."

When the door shuts behind her and the sound of the elevator fades away Natalya sighs, "Well, I guess that means we're going to have to cancel our aerobics routine."

Of course Donna, having been locked in for so long, has no idea what aerobics is or what it means. It sounds most like aeronautics, which only makes the subject even more confusing. Before she has a chance to ask Angie comes flying in.

"Get up ugly! Now that you're on your feet you can work!"

"Angie!" Donna snatches the doll, "No work. Her stitches need to heal."

Somehow Natalya gets the impression that Angie isn't listening at all. She often wonders how the doll works. The other dolls seem entirely reliant on Donna, but Angie seems to share a part of her mind.

"Then what are we supposed to do with her? She's no fun!"

Donna sets Angie on the dresser and leaves, returning with the harness and Natalya's legs. Between them they have the legs on in record time and all that's left is the crutch.

Back downstairs Natalya winces. She sighs, "I could cook."

Angie looks at Donna. Donna is still struggling not to see her dream every time she closes her eyes. Looking at Natalya in her tank top and shorts it feels like she's exposing far too much skin.

"Cook breakfast."

"Okay."

In the kitchen Natalya sets the crutch aside and instead leans on the counter for support. Going through the cupboards she finds all manner of concerning things. Expired food. Dead rats. Lots of spiders, and a toad preserved in a jar with a label.

There are several specimens in the kitchen which Natalya cleans and sets aside. The water from the sink faucet is concerningly murky granted it solves the mystery of why Donna's soup has some grit to it.

When all is said and done Natalya finds two cans of suitable food, eight specimen creatures in odd jars, and a box with an odor so unspeakable she doesn't dare open it.

Donna comes in with Angie.

"Where's the food?" Angie asks.

Natalya points to the cans, "There. I'll heat it up in a second, I'm giving my legs a break. I have a question, it doesn't need an answer," She hesitantly motions to the box, "What is in that?"

A finger. To be precise the finger of Ethan Winters. Mother Miranda had asked Donna to store it for her. But she's not about to tell Natalya that. So instead she takes the box and goes to hide it deep in the bowels of the house without so much as a mutter.

"That's what I thought. Okay, corn it is."

With some fire in the stove Natalya then has to endeavor to find a pot she can clean to put the food into. By the time Donna comes back she hasn't found one.

Standing beside the sink Donna watches Natalya shove the pot into the corner to scrub. The look she gives her new housemate can be felt even through the veil.

"I'm getting there."

"Your arm, soon," Donna murmurs, rolling up her sleeves and taking over the scrubbing. Under her hands the grime comes right off.

It hadn't occurred to Natalya before but with so little electricity and no electric tools Donna does everything by hand. Drilling the wood, putting in the screws, and all the sewing and other things she does for her dolls and other fixtures. All hand tooled. Donna's hands must be enormously strong. Probably stronger than Natalya's own, even with her military training.

With the pot clean and a touch of oil, which had been on a low shelf Natalya couldn't reach, the corn cooks up nicely. Simple as it is, anything is better than the unrecognizable sludge Donna usually concocts.

Donna knows now that, unfortunately, she'll need to ask Alcina for help. She'll send one of the maids into town or to the Duke for groceries. Part of the reason she leaves the back door to the kitchen open is to hunt, in her own way. Granted she's accidentally given herself food poisoning more times than she cares to remember.

Going to the phone Donna takes a deep breath and dials. After several rings the tall woman answers.

"Hello?"

"Hello," Donna murmurs, "I need food."

"So soon? Donna, dear, you really need to take care of your rodent infestation," Alcina says. She may say dear but she says it with all possible poison in her voice.

Donna's lips curl silently and she rolls her eyes which hurts slightly. She clutches the phone so hard the metal groans, "I'll be waiting." Then she hangs up hastily.

Back in the kitchen Donna leads Natalya to the work room where she sits down. With her arm folded she leans her chin on it. Donna blushes under her veil thinking how cute Natalya looks. Like a watchdog sweet only for her master, everyone else only sees her bared teeth.

Like when she barked at Karl, but that may have just been common sense.

In the afternoon the elevator arrives and a groan echoes, "Donna?"

"Who's that?" Natalya asks.

Donna panics, "Lab room, now." She drags the chair with Natalya on it into her at home office and shuts the light off. With a finger to her lips she shuts and locks it.

"Who invited you in?" Angie snaps.

"Where is Donna?"

Donna enters silently and takes Angie in her hands. Alcina can only rise to her full height in the foyer. Sometimes Donna thinks it's the only reason the countess hasn't taken over the Beneviento residence.

"I brought the food you requested. Duke sends his regards, and his best broth," Alcina passes the basket over. She looks grand as always in her long jacket with the fur lining. Looking around the countess sniffs, "Where is she?"

"There's no one else here," Angie barks, "Get out."

"Heisenberg said you had a plaything with no legs. Of course my interest was piqued knowing it was a woman."

The smile on Alcina's face has always made Donna feel useless, but now it's worse. She hates the expression. She hates the woman. She has her daughters and her castle and her social skills. She is everything Donna should have been. She is everything mother Miranda took away from Donna.

Donna's hands ball into fists, "Get out."

"Oh come now Donna, be reasonable. I just want a taste."

"Get out!"

Hearing Donna shout anda pot shatter shortly after and Angie shouting even louder, Natalya can't sit idle. She was a soldier but her soul is a guardian. She physically can't sit still if she thinks someone is in danger.

Eventually between Donna and Angie shrieking together Alcina is overwhelmed and driven from the mansion. Donna barely hears the door explode open over the pounding in her ears and whispers in her mind.

"Donna!"

Natalya is on the floor holding her side. Her hand is bloody and her face is screwed up in pain. When she sees Donna, though, her last concern is her own health, "Are you okay?"