Part IV
With their hearts brimming with excitement, Edgar and Isabella returned to the mansion after years of adventure. The looming silhouette of Edgar's ancestral home greeted them, but something was amiss.
"Edgar," Isabella whispered, her voice filled with concern, "are you certain about this?"
Edgar gazed into Isabella's eyes, his love for her giving him the resolve he needed. "I have to see my mother," he replied. "I need to explain, to make her understand. She's the only family I have left."
As they entered the dimly lit dining room, Edgar's jaw dropped in disbelief. The once-faded portraits had been replaced with his father's faded anatomy charts, and the ornate dining table had been pushed aside to make way for an assortment of weights and exercise equipment.
"Mother!" Edgar called out in bewilderment, rushing through the mansion, Isabella following close behind.
What had once been a place of faded grandeur had been turned into a gymnasium. Dumbbells of various sizes littered the rooms, exercise mats were sprawled across the floors, and the air was thick with the scent of sweat and exertion.
In the kitchen, they found even more surprises. Enormous quantities of food had been consumed, as if the mansion had hosted a feast of epic proportions. The remnants of meat and bread were scattered across the countertops, and the pantry shelves were nearly bare.
Edgar's heart pounded as he called for his mother again, but there was no reply, only an eerie silence that seemed to engulf the mansion.
In his father's old study, they made a chilling discovery. The many jars of preserved organs had been shattered, glass shards and dried stains of unknown substances covered the floor. But the organs themselves were nowhere to be found.
Isabella clutched his arm, her eyes filled with concern. "What has happened here, Edgar? Where is your mother?"
Edgar's mind raced with confusion and worry. It was as though the mansion had been invaded by unknown forces during their absence. He knew he needed to find his mother and make sense of it all.
Part V
With trepidation, Edgar and Isabella explored the labyrinthine corridors of the mansion, their footsteps echoing through the dimly lit halls. As they reached the door to Eleanor's sanctuary, they hesitated for a moment.
Edgar pushed the door open slowly, revealing only the silhouette of his mother. She stood before them, obscured by the faint light from the corridor, her form shrouded in darkness.
Eleanor's voice was but a whisper. ""Good evening,my dear."
As she stepped into the light her full form was revealed, a monstrous spectacle of muscular power. A black leather corset struggled to contain the gnarly, bulging muscles of her well-endowed body. The corset's laces, pulled tight, seemed to groan in protest, unable to fully restrain the grotesque contours of her chiseled abdomen, emphasizing her newfound strength.
Her arms, once delicate, were now grotesquely sinewy and powerful, the leather straps of the corset stretched to their limits over her brawny shoulders. Her chest and back were a tangled mass of veiny, taut muscles, straining against the confining leather, giving her an air of dominion that sent shivers down Edgar's spine.
But despite this transformation, she was beautiful. Long silver hair cascading down her wide back like a waterfall of moonlight. Her face, though lined with age, held a haunting beauty that defied description.
As she approached them, her bare legs came into view, and they were nothing short of horrifying. The leather corset ended just above her hips, revealing legs that seemed more suited for a titan than a woman. Her thighs were monstrous columns of bulging sinew, like tree trunks with veins snaking across the surface. Her calves were gnarled masses of muscle, each movement she made a testament to her monstrous strength.
"Mother?" Edgar stammered, his voice quivering as he beheld the grotesque spectacle before him.
"Dear Edgar," she purred, her voice low and sultry, "I see you've returned."
Isabella stepped forward, introducing herself with a polite curtsey. "I'm Isabella, a friend of your son's."
"Ah, Isabella, you're the one who's stolen my dear son's heart." Her gaze shifted to Isabella's toned physique, and a dark, possessive look crossed her face. "Such magnificent muscles you have, my dear. Quite the Amazon."
Edgar's heart pounded as he struggled to comprehend the changes in his mother. "Mother, what has happened to you?"
Eleanor's gaze turned back to Edgar, and a bitter anger simmered beneath her words. "You left me alone in this house for far too long, Edgar. The emptiness, the silence, it was torture. All because you wanted to fornicate with this... Harlot." Eleanor moved closer to them, her monstrous presence dominating the room. "So I did what I had to do. While you were out gallivanting with your newfound 'love', I was here in this house." She gestured to the weightlifting equipment around the room, the walls adorned with charts and diagrams. "I studied your father's old notes, the secrets he'd unearthed. And I labored tirelessly, from morning to midnight, growing my flesh."
Edgar watched in disbelief as his mother flexed her powerful muscles. It was as if she had become a living monument to her own obsession.
"And the longing in my heart turned into a ravenous hunger. I ate everything in this house and these moors. Every scrap of sustenance I could find."
Eleanor's face contorted into a terrifying grin as she hissed, "Edgar, I ate everything!"
"Mother," Edgar gasped, A thought had crossed his mind. Almost too terrible for words. "What were in those jars?" He whispered. "The jars in father's study."
Eleanor's eyes locked onto Edgar's, her gaze unwavering. "Edgar, my dear, you already know, deep inside you," she replied, her voice devoid of emotion.
Edgar's mind raced as he tried to process her words, a sinking feeling of dread gnawing at him. "No, Mother, you must tell me. I don't understand."
"Annabelle, William, Charlotte, and Samuel. My poor babies."
Edgar's heart sank as he realized the horrifying truth.
"We couldn't bear to let them go completely. Your father preserved parts of them, their organs, and buried the rest in the cemetery."
"Mother," he stammered, his voice trembling.
She nodded slowly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Yes, my dear Edgar. Now they'll forever be a part of me."
Isabella gasped in horror, her face drained of color.
A sickening wave of revulsion washed over Edgar, and he staggered back, unable to comprehend the depths of his mother's madness. The room seemed to close in around him as the weight of the truth bore down upon him.