House of Desmodus

3. The Fool

The blonde's bedroom was tucked away in a more rundown part of the house, wallpaper had been ripped or singed off the walls and the smell of animal urine was overpowering. Her bedroom door had been fixed in a slapdash manner, many holes drilled in different places showing the many placements of the hinges over the years. At the bottom of the door, a foot by foot hole was cut out, the edges had been sanded down and a little curtain was behind the hole, it was the only thing that had a little care put into it. Heartache shoved her hands into the bustles of either side of her dress, rummaging around before pulling out the key.
"Aha... sorry. I have never had anyone else but the Master come into my room. I started locking it when I found Sorrow rooting around for my chemises. Lazy bitch did not want to clean hers..."
The blonde tutted before unlocking the door.
The smell of piss only increased and it made Aileen cover her nose with her sleeve. In the middle of the room was a round bed covered in deep crimson sheets, the canopy that draped from the ceiling around the bed was a lush red velvet which hadn't been dusted for half a century. Clothes scattered the floor and a gilded armoire sat on the left side of the room, the mirror smashed up and crudely taped together. The surface was littered with assortments of vials and cosmetics alongside an abundance of jewellery.
The rest of the furniture had been smashed up and the wardrobe's doors had been placed nearly next to its battered shell.
That's when Aileen saw her bag sitting on Heartaches bed.
"Hey! How did you get this!"
She shouted, running over her bag.
The blonde vampire stopped her before she got too close.
"I found a ghoul with it when I was searching for that 'tin of elbow grease.' I will get what you need from it, I do not want your poopoo clothes all over my nice sheets."
She pouted before pushing Aileen away.
Heartache walked up to the bed and undid the buckle of the bag. That's when Aileen saw the sheets move and a ginger head poked out. It let out a delighted scream and scrambled over to Heartache, yapping and the sound of a bell was tinkling away.
"My little Clochette! I did not know you were hiding there!"
She said delightedly, patting the head of the fox.
That explained the strong stench of urine and the large cat flap in the door. Heartache had a pet fox, and by the amount of droppings on the floor, Clochette wasn't the only one. The blonde vampire sat on the edge of the bed, the fox now on her lap and licking her face which made Heartache squeal in delight as she rubbed the sides of the fox. Then she began going through Aileen's bag, turning her nose up at her clothes and throwing them aside.
"What are these hideous rags you store in your sack? I have had servants with nicer clothes than you."
Heartache tutted before getting up off the bed and marching towards the broken wardrobe.
Aileen stood nervously in the middle of the room as the vampire rummaged around piles of fabric that were piled in the wardrobe, throwing aside garments to get deeper. Finally, the blonde appeared with an armful of dresses, the fox jumping off the bed to walk up to Heartache.
Holding up each dress, she threw them all down in disgust apart from one.
"Here! Put this on Renefield. I do not think my darlings have gotten that deep into the pile so it should not smell too bad."
She grinned as Aileen took the heavy garment from her hands.
It was black, long sleeved and had buttons down the front. Very dated, it probably hadn't seen the light of day for maybe a century and the amount of dust that came off from it would have sent an asthmatic into a fit.
Heartache rushed off to pull out a battered screen before pulling it out and gestured for Aileen to go behind it. Hesitantly, she followed instructions and threw her clothes over the top of the screen, getting changed into the dress. The bodice was pleated and the small covered buttons were fiddly to close, causing Aileen to curse every time her fingers slipped. Stepping out from the screen, Heartache let out a shrill scream of joy, running up to Aileen and grabbing her by the shoulders. The fox followed suit, sniffing at Aileen's feet.
"Ahh! It is like having a mini-me! Let me do your hair!"
Heartache said excitedly.
She pulled Aileen over to the vanity before Aileen could answer. Furrowing her brows, she looked around before flicking her wrist at the fireplace, the hearth now aglow with light from the flames that flickered into existence.
"There! Now I can see what I am doing! Oh yes, one more thing-"
Heartache marched over to where Aileen had put her clothes over the screen and pulled them off, putting it into the fire.
"No more smelly clothes! I saved you from washing!"
She said cheerfully as Aileen watched pitifully as her clothes slowly turned into cinders.
The vampire walked back over to her and ran her fingers through her hair, scowling.
"Your hair is so limp. Very stringy... maybe it will not go up in a hair pin."
Heartache said to herself before shrugging.
Picking up the hairbrush from the vanity, she roughly ran it through Aileens hair, causing her to let out yelps as she gripped onto the chair.
"If you stopped moving it would not hurt."
The blonde mumbled before scraping back Aileens hair, twisting it around her finger. Heartache pulled out a hairpin from her own hair, causing a few locks of thick golden flax to cascade down her back. She then roughly jammed the pin into the twist, ensuring it was snugly fitted against the head. Heartache rummaged around the clutter before grabbing a tin, opening up to reveal wax. Turning Aileen around to face her, the blonde pulled two strands from the front of Aileens updo. She coated her fingers in the wax and curled the two strands around her fingers, gently coating it in the wax. The vampire then began opening draws to reveal makeup.
"Um Heartache- I am going to stop you here. I will assume you haven't replenished your makeup since Queen Victoria sat on the throne and I don't think my skin can take heavy metals and lead."
Aileen said, causing the vampire to slam the draw shut, her mood now soured dramatically.
"But- I do have some makeup in my bag if you want to use mine. It should be in a smaller pink bag..."
She followed up quietly, much to the delight of the blonde.
Running to her bag, Heartache began throwing more of Aileen's stuff outside the bag, peering into all of her personal belongings. Finally she reached the pink bag and skipped back over to Aileen. Heartaches fingers played with the zip, barely able to contain her excitement as she tore the zip open. Poking around the bag, the sound of pencils and container clacking filled the room before Heartache pulled out a palette. Staring at it in confusion, she wiggled her nails under the palettes lid with both hands, prying it open. At first her eyes flickered at the range of shades and glitters at her disposal, however a more terrifying encounter appeared as the vampire screamed, dropping the pallet on the floor. If it was possible, Heartache had lost any remaining colour from her glowy self and pointed at the pallet that laid on the floor stuttering. Aileen frowned and slowly picked it up and turned it over, much to her relief Heartache hadn't smashed the eyeshadows.
"What's wrong Heartache? It's just an eyeshadow pallet. Nothing is here to hurt you."
Aileen reassured and Heartache hastily snatched it from her hands, staring at it intensely.
Her eyes locked onto the mirror as she ran her hand over her face, tracing the outline of her cheek in shock.
"What is this trickery... how I have longed for the day I could see myself again. Be still my beating heart, how I have missed myself. Although I do seem a little... warped."
She said in awe, tapping the metallic plastic, causing her reflection to distort and her to jump.
"What do you mean Heartache? It's just a mirror. You can see yourself in it. That's the whole point."
Aileen jokingly said, causing Heartache to snap away from the mirror and shook her head.
The blonde grabbed a shard from the vanity's mirror, peeling off the duct tape. Standing next to Aileen, Heartache held up the jagged piece and Aileen could only see herself. It was as if the scary blonde vampire wasn't even standing next to her. Aileen grabbed the pallet and held it up next to the mirror shard and there she was again. Her round face was kissed by golden ringlets that cascade down her back, messily pinned up in places and her bottom lip wobbling. The vampire dropped the shard before grabbing the eyeshadow pallet once more, staring agawp. Her eyes once more went back to the glitters, staring at them with a small smile before sticking her fingers in it, rubbing the eyeshadow between her fingers as she examined it.
Rubbing off the glittery residue from her fingers onto her velvet dress, she went back to poking around the bag before pulling out a lipstick. Unsheathing it, she began to generously apply it to Aileens cheeks, blending it out with her fingers. Grabbing the human by the cheeks, she applied the lipstick to the lips, dabbing the corners once more with her fingers. With the leftover residue, she applied it to Aileens lids, stabbing her a few times with her nails. Aileen went to go grab the pallet to see what she looked like but Heartache slapped her hands away. The blonde pulled out a powder puff, admiring its fluffiness before finding the pot of powder that had leaked in Aileens bag. Excessively applying powder to the puff, she began to attack Aileens face with it, sending Aileen to bouts of sneezing fits. The powder fell everywhere and Heartache blew the excess powder off, the smell of her breath made Aileen wrinkle her nose. Her breath was cold and was metallic, coppery almost.
"There! I have finished!"
She said excitedly, finally giving her the mirror.
Aileen stared at her reflection, unsure what to say.
"Uh... thank you? I look like an eighteenth century prostitute."
She said, closing the pallet slowly.
"Why thank you! That is my favourite look!"
Heartache cooed before pinching Aileens cheek.
She rubbed the spot where the vampire had pinched with a frown, getting up off of the chair and walking towards the fire. Aileen warmed her hands and turned back to look at the blonde who was now using the same hairbrush that she had used on her on the fox.
"So... Heartache? Is that a family name?"
Aileen joked to which Heartache rolled her eyes.
"My, my you are so nosy Renfield. Although you do have some nice things. Bit tarty though"
She said as she applied a deep red lipstick, admiring her reflection in the makeup pallet like a proud cockatoo, blowing kisses to herself.
"I mean it can't be a coincidence that you're all called something sad. Like... Sorrow, Heartache and Melancholy. Is there a reason why or-"
The vampire snapped the pallet shut and scoffed.
"If you're going to talk about us, Renfield, at least get the order correct. It's Melancholy, Sorrow and then me. Do not ever separate them. And I am always last. Save the best to last."
She gave Aileen a wink before walking up to her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
"Our names were gifted to us by the Master. When he welcomed us into his world we were reborn. There is always a massive ball and then he gives us our names. Melancholy and Sorrow is the Master's first wives. They are equal in every way, inseparable in human life and even more inseparable in immortality. My ball's theme was 'The Masque of the Red Death!' It was so dramatic and we had a huge orchestra. Melancholy and Sorrow's ball theme was 'Rebirth' and they had lots of flowers apparently. B-o-r-i-n-g."
She sang before poking Aileen's cheek with her pointy nail.
"But just like you, Renfield. We had a name before. But unlike you we were grateful. I suit Heartache, hm? I do break many men's hearts. Even my first husband died of a mysterious illness... spooky."
Heartache tickled Aileen, causing her to uncomfortably squirm away from her.
"You're still dodging my question. And I'm never accepting Renfield. That's my dad's name and I am not my dad."
Aileen said defiantly, glaring at the blonde.
"Okay. But how do I know you are not a fae in disguise, you are too desperate for my real name. And if I tell you, you have to tidy up after any messes I make."
She said, narrowing her eyes.
Aileen tutted and threw her hands up in surrender.
"Okay you got me!"
"Really!"
"No Heartache. That was a joke. I don't even know what that is. And fine but it doesn't include past messes. I will only tidy messes made from this point forward."
Aileen said stubbornly.
"Pfft- fine. You are too stupid to be a fae anyways. Also I'll think you will find that my messes will all interconnect, eventually."
Aileen held her hand out for a shake but Heartache pulled out a small pocket knife from her dress and cut off a lock of Aileens hair.
"Hey! What the hell!"
Aileen yelled, fiddling with the strand she cut a chunk out of.
Heartache then cut a lock of her own hair off and shoved it into Aileen's hand.
"Handshakes can be forgotten. I like physical souvenirs."
The vampire grinned.
She tucked the locket of Aileens hair into her dress pockets, making Aileen wonder what else was in these pockets hidden in the side bustles of the dress.
"I want to show Melancholy and Sorrow what I have done!"
Heartache said happily, slipping her arm into Aileens.
"Come on Renfield! Oh! I wonder what else I could dress you up in!"
The blonde amused herself with the endless possibilities.
Heartache began to march towards the door, but Aileen refused to, yanking her arm free.
"You still need to keep your end of the deal, Heartache."
She sternly said, glaring at the vampire.
"Ugh- fine. But no last names, I do not want you to be snooping around!" The blonde snapped. "Well my name is-"
That's when she drew a blank. Furrowing her brows she contemplated for a moment before tutting.
"We'll come back to that... but Melancholy's human name was Lenore, Sorrows wa- Oh! I remembered what mine was! Mine was Ophelia! And Sorrow's was Euphemia. I still prefer Heartache."
Heartache said.
Then she grabbed hold of Aileens hand and grinned.
"Now I can finally show off my work!"
Running out of the room behind the vampire, she struggled to keep up and avoid the many pedestals with marble busks on them in the hallways. Heartache's manic dash was crashed short, she collided head on with a blonde male, causing Aileen to headbutt Heartache in the back of the head. A pained yowl left the vampire's lips, causing her to whip around to face Aileen and shove her over.
"Watch where you are going, you gigantic oaf! Jesus Christ Renfield, is your head made from a boulder?"
Heartache yelled, rubbing the back of her head with a scowl.
The man that they had ran into hurriedly ran past them, his eyes never leaving the dirtied carpet. Aileen watched him slink into a room and slowly got back on her feet when Heartache had seemed to have calmed down, her violent rage was being used to break a painting which sent clouds of dust into the air. As sad as it was to see an antique destroyed, Aileen was just happy that she wasn't being used as the stress toy.
"Do you know that man?"
Aileen asked inquisitively, jogging alongside the blonde.
"No, I assumed you dragged him along with the rest of your crap."
Heartache spat, however her soured mood quickly changed.
The blonde froze, causing Aileen to bump into her again. Her face dropped, head jerking in different directions to locate a sound.
"Are you okay?"
"Shh-"
Heartache hushed.
"We need to go. Now."
The blonde snapped.
Before Aileen could protest, Heartache had already scooped her up bridal style with ease, sprinting around sharp turns and down the main stairs. She paused at the top, staring at the scene that was displayed a few feet from the bottom of the stairs. A large man had Sorrow by the hair, his fists gripping chunks of braids and lifted her, making her claw at his leather gloved hands. Dante and Melancholy stood on the opposite side of the room. Surprisingly, Dante seemed calm. But it may have been that he seemed calm in comparison to Melancholy, who's whole body was shaking. However much to Aileens surprise, no one was doing anything. Just watching in horror. Sorrow's panicked cries for help increased when he threw her down on the floor, his hands fiddling for a leather sheath at his waist.
"Dante, do something!"
Melancholy screamed, but he remained unmoved.
Heartache put Aileen down as the blonde rushed to Dante's side, gripping onto Melancholy's arm.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
Aileen shouted down the stairs.
It was meant to be directed at the vampires who were watching this man beat up Sorrow. His thick booted foot kicked into her side, her whimpering at every impact. But it made the large unknown male turn around and stop his attack
"Stay out of it. It's better this way."
He gruffly said, turning back to face Sorrow.
Sorrow was curled up on the floor, her arms wrapped around her stomach as tears streamed down her face. She was staring hopelessly at Aileen. Her whole face twisted in pain as he kicked her again. Sorrow wasn't even making an effort to protect herself. No one was protecting her. Not Dante, not Melancholy and not Heartache. The vampire watched the scene with interest, his wives behind him watching in stunned silence. Aileen felt a cold sweat come over her body, the palms going clammy and her stomach churned as she found herself walking down the stairs.
A loud crack filled the room as the Sorrows assailant kicked Sorrow in the face, a fang was snapped out of her mouth and skimmed across the floor hitting Aileens foot when she reached the bottom of the stairs. Blood gushed from the injured vampire's mouth, her hands clamping over her face as she screamed. This made the man laugh as he finally successfully undid the clasp of the sheath, grabbing the hilt of the blade that was concealed inside.
"Oi- dickhead! I said get off of her!"
Aileen yelled, running at him.
There was no thought behind it. A hot searing rage powered her, her fists clenched before she jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Aileen squeezed tightly, making the man drop the dagger. He swung around, trying to get her off his back. The intruder began slamming his back into the column lined wall, winding Aileen several times but she persisted and never loosened her grip. Ripping the hat off of the man's head, she began clawing at his scalp. That's when he managed to throw her off, sending her tumbling across the floor. He ran over to her, Aileen stuck her leg out and tripped him over, the small female quickly scrambled on top of him and balled her hands into fists. She made the mistake of tucking her thumb into the close fist, a loud pop rang through the room as she dislocated her thumb by punching his face. Aileen let out a cry as he rolled over and punched her in the nose twice. Blood poured from her nose as she scratched at his face, tugging his hair and she squirmed out from underneath him, landing an unfair kick to the crotch that made him throw up. Before she could successfully run away, he grabbed her arm and yanked it. Falling to the floor, she pushed him over to remain on top. Droplets of blood fell onto his face as Aileen tried to disarm him, reaching for his blade. But the assailant was stronger. Grabbing onto her wrist, he twisted causing the bone to shatter. Screaming and howling Aileen, rolled off in pain whimpering quietly as she watched the tall figure walk towards Sorrow, knife in hand.
With one last act of desperation, Aileen scrambled to her feet feeling very disoriented. Usually the room didn't spin this much and she was certain that she shouldn't be seeing quadruple vision right now. Her heart was beating in fear as he squatted next to Sorrow. Letting out a primal scream, Aileen ran towards him removing the hair pin that held her updo together. Knocking him over, the man let out a frustrated sigh, however his face turned from annoyed to sheer fear as Aileen wrapped her hand around his throat to steady his head and without hesitation, the hair pin was rammed into his eyes. Spouts of blood spurted out as he wriggled pathetically, but Aileen did not stop with the hair pin, wiggling it deeper and deeper with every swing. It wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder that she noticed the intruder was no longer moving. Looking up, she noticed that it was Dante that had touched her, his gloved hand slowly removing the hair pin from her grasp.
Melancholy ran towards Sorrow, scooping the injured vampire into her arms and hugged her tightly, petting her hair gently and cooing softly to her. Large tears fell from her face, hitting Sorrow who reached up and wiped away a stay tear that hung from the end of her nose.
"I am okay Melancholy, nothing too serious."
Sorrow croaked, smiling weakly.
This caused Melancholy's bottom lip to wobble and stare at Dante with pure hatred and anger.
"You. Why did you not do anything? Why would you not let me or Heartache do anything!?"
She screamed at Dante, holding Sorrow closer.
"My love is all battered and bruised like a banana in a sack of rocks!"
Melancholy yelled.
Dante shrugged and stared at the dead body that was on the floor. Aileen was still sitting on top of him, her nose swollen and face covered with blood from the fight. She remained sat there in terrified paralysis, realising what she had done. Her shoulder shook as she crawled off of the body and began heavily crying. The deep gulps of air made her feel dirty, smearing the blood over her clothes as she tried to clean her hands and face. Aileen laid down on the floor and curled up into a small ball, face buried in her knees sobbing heavily. Heartache seemed very out of character, her usual love for blood and violent rage had gone as she worriedly hovered around Melancholy and Sorrow, ignoring the body. There wasn't even a quip about Aileen that she could muster as she stared at Dante in disgust.
"Well. I needed to know if Renfield could take care of things, clearly they can. My experiment was successful. And maybe you will think twice about betraying me again Melancholy. I saw your sigil. I could hear you slaughtering those animals so I could slowly feed off the drippings over the years. You knew where I was buried. You even tried to warn Renfield away. You did not want anyone to find me. But you wanted me alive, you did not want me to die. Was it amusing that I was buried six feet under, unable to escape whilst you could just continue on as if I never happened. I exist Melancholy. I am here. Do not piss me off again. I will not be so nice next time. I know if Sorrow was to ever go missing, you would slowly go mad and bury yourself in your experiments."
Dante warned.
"I am sorry, Master."
The tall vampire said sarcastically, picking up Sorrow and disappeared deep into the mansion.
Heartache stood awkwardly, staring at Aileen who was still curled up in a ball and Dante who was scowling off into the distance.
"Are you going to shout at me too, hm Heartache?"
Dante asked, staring at the blonde.
She nervously wrung her hands and looked down at her feet.
"I do not like it when you get in my head like that Master... That was a bit mean on Renfield... and Sorrow did not even do anything wrong. I should have helped. Why did you not let me help?"
She asked, walking up to him and pouting.
He cupped her cheek with one hand and gently tucked the curls that framed her face with the other. Placing a tender kiss on her head, Dante stared down at her.
"My darling, you know better that Melancholy only cares about Sorrow. She would not listen otherwise. Renfield on the other hand-"
He looked down at Aileen and kicked the bottom of her boot with his shoe. She unfurled and sat up snivelling.
"-Renfield you really out did yourself. I am impressed."
He said.
Dante held his hand out for Aileen, who first wiped her snotty nose on the cuff of her dress before accepting his hand, pulling herself up and wincing. Heartache began sniffing deeply before grabbing hold of Aileens face. Her long bony finger prodded at Aileens broken nose, inspecting it before Dante intervened.
"Renfield you might want to fix yourself before Heartache has a taste of you. You know where the room is. And next time- try and not make such a mess. You have really given yourself a hell of a lot to clean up."
He sighed.
Aileen watched as Heartache nibbled the end of her finger which she had touched her broken nose with, her amber eyes glowing to a dull red seeming to enjoy what she had just tasted.
Shuddering Aileen quickly ran up the stairs, entering the room that she had been taken to fix her knee. Glancing one last time around the corner, Dante was embracing Heartache tightly, his chin resting on the top of her head as he rocked her slowly. It was weird to see that side of him, maybe he was different to his wives. Although what she had just seen showed that he didn't really think much of other people. Pushing the door, Aileen was greeted by the sight of Melancholy applying a generous amount of mud to any cuts that Sorrow had sustained during her attack. Seeing that Dante hadn't bothered clearing up the items from before, Aileen walked over to the table and opened up the case. She paused for a moment at the thought of injecting that stuff into her nose to heal it and shook her head. But the other option was to walk around with a busted face and a messed up hand.
She sheepishly smiled at the two vampires and took a scoop of mud and a vial, shuffling over to the other side of the room. Facing towards the bookshelf away from them, Aileen filled up the needle and took a shaky breath in before pushing her nose back into place, crying out in pain. Then through the searing heat she injected the needle into the bridge of her nose, cursing and smeared the mud over the area. The nose pain had dampened the pain in her hand, making the process of fixing that a lot easier. Setting her wrist, Aileen looked up to see Melancholy standing in front of her with bandages in her hand.
"Here. Let me do this."
The tall vampire said softly.
Her large hands cupped her injured wrist and Melancholy wrapped it with such care, Aileen was amazed that this giant of a lady was capable of such delicacy. Tightening the wraps, Melancholy tucked the end of the bandage into itself and ran her other hand over the top.
"Thank you Renfield- For doing that for Sorrow."
She let go of Aileen's hand and took a step back before casting a worried glance over to Sorrow.
"How is Sorrow by the way?"
Aileen asked to which Sorrow pricked her head upon hearing her name. She walked over to them before grinning at Aileen and pulled her into a tight embrace, placing a sloppy kiss on her forehead.
"Oh thank you Renfield! I am okay, Melancholy is over reacting. This will heal in like half an hour! My fang though... that will take a day. But that is fine!"
The short vampire beamed, looking up at Aileen.
Aileen let out a sigh of relief and then a loud rumble came from her stomach. The adrenaline has subsided and Aileen now could feel how hungry she was. Sorrow's eyes lit up at the sound of the grumble, letting out a delighted squeal.
"I forgot humans did that! Finally! Someone that can eat my dishes!"
She said excitedly,
"You... cook?" Aileen said hesitantly. "Don't vampires... you know. Drink blood?"
Sorrow scoffed at her.
"Of course! But throughout my human life I loved to cook, I still do! It makes me feel human. Even though I cannot taste it and will be violently ill if I eat it, it smells so good!! Come on, I will show you where the magic happens."
Sorrow said excitedly, tenderly grabbing Melancholy's hand and kissing it once more.
"Shall we escort Renfield my love?"
She asked gently, staring up at her towering wife who shook her head.
"I am afraid I shall sit here my darling. I still need a moment to process what happened. I do not know how you have already forgotten what just happened."
The blue female said in exasperation.
Melancholy walked over to the sofa and dramatically threw her long frame over, the sofa creaking at the weight. The hem of her dress raised above her knees as she curled her legs up to fit full on the seat, revealing that from the knee down she had prosthetics. Ornate paintings of flowers in a blue willow style covered it, the artificial leg had a milky white porcelain look to it, yet supported the woman's statuesque figure.
Aileen's eyes widened in curiosity, to which Melancholy quickly covered her legs with a scowl before Sorrow ushered her out of the room.