Latest Posts by almsworth-worm - Page 9

vampire curled up at your front door whimpering like a kicked stray puppy begging to come inside where it’s warm and cozy because it’s so so cold

Woah mama do you love the aces and aros also?

Woah mama of course, they're awesome and more powerful than I am

honestly being around people who are not uncomfortable with you having feelings and desires makes the people who were uncomfortable so much worse in retrospect

the Ice War on Europa...

day one out the alembic already hustling. homunculus net worth = 1coin

It is the first bit of normalcy she has had since her boss vanished.

For three lovely days and nights, she was able to play the role of host, and Drakan the role of valued guest.

She gave him a room, she kept him well fed, and she was as polite as always. In return, he taught her the rules and laws of their clan. He told her how their particular variety of hospitality functioned.

After three days and three nights, he left.

He gave her a gift.

He gave her a knife.

It’s an old thing. It is so very sharp, and comes to a tidy point. The handle is worn and aged, yet the blade shines as though it has never been used.

She takes it in her hand, holds it.

Her cold skin matches the cold of the metal hilt.

She makes a few attempts at cutting and stabbing with it. Her movements are clumsy, lacking her usual grace. No amount of skill at needlework or using a broom has prepared her for this. Even if she were to find herself in a fight, she would much prefer to grow claws or twist and reshape the bodies of her opponents.

But she has been given a gift, and she intends to accept it in every way she can.

She needs to practice.

She goes to one of the spare rooms. She fixed this one herself. She made the bed. She fixed the walls. She crafted the decorations.

For now, none of this matters.

She takes all those raw materials, and shapes them into the thing she needs.

She builds muscles and a skeleton and vocal cords and eyes and teeth.

She takes a brain, but leaves it as empty as it was when she made it into that pretty thing over the fireplace, and puts it inside the body.

Soon, her preparation is done.

She lashes out with her new knife, embedding it in the dummy’s eye.

It jerks and twitches. It screams. It does not fall or move backwards.

She is satisfied.

She removes the blade, and fixes the dummy.

She lashes out again. She cuts its throat. The cerebrospinal fluid it is using as a surrogate for blood spills out.

She steps back, and fixes the dummy.

She moves around the dummy, and crouches swiftly, striking at its legs. She cuts the muscles that keep it standing, and it tumbles to the ground. It cries out again at this.

She steps back, and fixes the dummy.

She walks back around to its front. This time, she strikes lower. She draws her blade through the skin of its belly. Guts come tumbling out. Tears fill the eyes of the dummy.

She steps back, and fixes the dummy.

She plunges the blade into the flesh between its neck and shoulder.

She steps back, and fixes the dummy.

She strikes it under the arm, nearly tearing it off the joint with the force and precision of her blow.

She steps back, and fixes the dummy.

This goes on for a while.

By the end of her practice, she has become quite adept with a knife. Her movements are exact and calculated. She is graceful again.

She has grown rather fond of this knife.

She fixes her attention on the dummy. Tears stain its face. Viscera and cerebrospinal fluid tarnish the floor around it. It is covered in scars, borne from wounds that have been too rapidly healed.

Its eyes seem to plead with her. She ignores it, and returns all of the materials to their proper places.

She leaves the room with a soulless smile on her face. She wonders what it would be like to practice on something that could still act and think.

But first, she has made a mess, and it is her job as a maidservant to clean it up.

grab them by the hair

grabbing a fistful of their hair to hold them in place for the next punch or slap

grabbing their hair to force them to look at you

grabbing their hair to make them bow

grabbing their hair to slam their head back into the wall

grabbing their hair to smash their face on the floor

grabbing their hair to make them bare their throat to you

grabbing their hair to stop them moving away from the blade or syringe at their neck

grabbing their hair to dunk their head under water

grabbing their hair to rub their face in a mess

grabbing their hair to pull them across the room before throwing them down where they belong

grabbing their hair to hold them up when they’re about to slump over

grabbing their hair to drag them up to their knees from where they lay on the floor

placing your hand in their hair when they’re already kneeling just to remind them what you could do with it

stroking their hair as a half-hearted apology after pulling a little too much

comment more please :)

Spent way too long on this (lies I love worldbuilding).

Upon a lonely road was a messenger from The Court, sent to parlay with a number of Decay-aligned knightly orders. Their actions would be of great consequence in the days to follow. Hundreds or even thousands of lives were banking on their ability to reach the camp within the night. However, their horse had…

{This is rather dull, is it not? Whether or not they make it, there will be a great deal of slaughter. This doesn’t matter a bit. Without consequences and results, how are things meant to be fun?}

[I agree with your sentiment, but for different reasons. They merely serve others. They should try to do something for themselves. I of all people know that fate is far from certain, so why would they not choose to forge their own?]

{I believe this is our first time talking. It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m The Princess.}

[...]

{And your name is?}

[I am called The Sacrifice. It fits well enough.]

{...}

[We are opposing forces, are we not? I have taken humanity and made it all I am. I have no body or mind and yet I remain human.]

{And I have rejected humanity. However, we are rather similar. We both chose to reject the Laws of this place, and decided to make ones of our own.}

[We do indeed share that, Miss Princess.]

{So, why are we both here, and what are we to discuss?}

[I am not quite sure. When I stood in front of the Mainspring and burnt away, I chose to exist. I did not, though, choose where and when I exist.]

{Excuse me if it is rude to ask, but are you dead?}

[I exist. I chose to. Therefore I do.]

{I expected such a cryptic answer.}

[Oh, but it is the truth. So, why are you here?]

{I thought these events would be entertaining, and it turns out they have been, though not for the reasons I expected.}

[I hate to interrupt, but I can feel myself drifting away. Far too many things call to me, and I cannot hope to answer them all. I must depart.]

{Well, it’s been lovely to meet you. I’ll head off too. I no longer care for that messenger or their horse or their meeting. As far as I am concerned, that story ends here.}

They had lived their life rather interestingly. Other people took the Laws of this world for granted. Those people saw no interest in making a change, they simply existed, making no impact on the world around them. They hated that.

They looked at the beliefs of the people, and they saw so many holes and flaws and problems.

They did not endeavour to fix these things. They took advantage of them, and made a good living. They turned lead into gold, water into wine, death into life.

It was the last, they reflect, that caused this to occur.

Their body shifts and twist beneath them. They broke the Laws, and now they face the consequences. They remember how this is meant to go. They will die, or they will be found innocent and emptied out, left to wander the world as a hollow shell of themselves.

A single word rings out in their mind.

‘No.’

Things are wrong. Things are broken and denied and unfulfilled. They continue to twist and shift. It hurts now, the fire of agony racing through their mind. This is unnatural, and it should not be.

Yet, in defiance of the Laws, it is.

They are torn apart and put back together. Claws and chitin and shell and bone and meat are grown and crushed, their flesh buckling and shaping in the same way as clay is worked by a potter.

They lose their mind halfway through this. All that is left is bestial aggression and animal instincts and emotion. They are so full of sadness and anger and regret and they do not know why.

They know only one thing - they have been found guilty.

Voices permeate the trees around them. They think as best they can.

These people are not guilty and yet they are.

This is unfair. They grow angrier and angrier.

They decide.

Claws extended, flesh warping, eyes wide, and mouth agape, they lurch towards the voices.

She loved The Factory. It certainly helped that she knew little else. Every day, she rose and set about her work. She assembled weapons and machines and more. She did her part, taking care of the children being raised in their little outpost. She ate and drank and worked and did very nearly nothing else.

But in this case, ‘nothing else’ is far from inconsequential.

She told the children about the stories that had been passed down from her parents. She dreamt about those stories. These stories had endured from a time where, quite unthinkably to her, The Factory had not yet expanded to assimilate their home. They talked about dragons and fools and vagabonds and knights and - her favorite - princesses. They held messages of defiance, of truth, of nobility.

She took these stories, and held them close to get through the day.

As time went on, she grew tired. These stories seemed to become more and more distant. She made things for people to use to kill each other in faraway lands. There was no meaning to her existence, no message, nothing coming to save her.

She became dull.

{And there is nothing I detest more than dullness.}

But she was rewarded. It seems as though fate {Nobility.} had taken a shine to her.

An accident happened.

Something went horribly wrong. Maybe some munitions assembly went wrong. Maybe a load-bearing beam had been built cheaply or incorrectly. The method doesn’t matter, only the results.

For the first time in her life, she steps outside.

The stories come rushing back to her. She breathes fresh air and stares at a clear sky.

She sees trees, and plants, and animals. She is entranced, and she steps into the forest.

In the stories, how often does an errant heroine wander through the woods?

Well, not too often. Usually they are relegated to the role of witless maidens to be saved.

This story is different, for it has truth to it.

She wanders, and time loses all meaning.

Roots and leaves and branches all blur into one. She could have been in there for seconds or centuries.

She steps out of the forest.

In front of her is a castle, looking as though it had been carefully copied from the ones in her dreams. Spires and towers and moats and crenellations and yet more features fill her vision.

She steps into the castle. {And I am waiting for her.}

She greets the person within in the manner she remembers from the old tales.

{I look within her, and I see her as she ought to be. She is full of lovely tales, and I am in need of some entertainment. It seems our goals align, though she is unaware of what she actually wants. I suppose I must give it to her.}

The Princess on her throne smiles at her, and opens her mouth.

She offers her a place in her domain, where she will never have to worry about dullness and boredom. Where she would never need to abandon her stories.

She accepts, of course.

{So I took her and made her suited to her purpose. It has led to such fun results.}

And she lived happily ever after.

The End.

He left his village a long time ago.

He did it for simple reasons. He wished to serve his Lords. He wished to keep his village safe from all manner of threats that lurk in this world. He wished for a full stomach and a fuller purse.

They accepted him into their service, and decided to have him as a Man-At-Arms.

He thanked them for their understanding and care, when they have no such things.

They took his legs, and replaced them with segmented metal things, which would allow him to run and jump further and faster. They took his eyes, which insisted on blinking and flinching, and made it so that he would miss no shots through fault of his own. They took his arms, and gave him new ones, covered in blades and places to mount weapons and ammunition.

They sent him out among countless others.

…

It is much, much later.

He marches alongside his comrades. He marches alongside towering Implements, which fill him with a sense of dread and unease, despite the fact that they are on the same side. He marches towards his enemy.

Corrosion awaits.

The ground is stained a dirty orange. Leaves drop from the trees and hit the ground in a cacophony of falling rust. He sees things that were once people, now twisted into metal shapes. It smells of rot.

Alongside his comrades, he readies his weapons.

They burn it all down.

…

It is a bit later.

The area has been cleaned and secured. They continue marching.

The place into which they march is Corrosion no longer. This is the domain of Decay.

Half-dead and never-living things surround them and charge forwards.

Gunfire rakes through the air. Gouts of flame burst forth from some of the Implements. Others open fire with immense cannon. Some sweep through the enemy with oversized blades and crushing instruments. He joins his comrades. He fires upon the enemy.

The march continues.

Comrade and foe alike fall.

Implements stagger and are dragged down by the sheer weight of the enemy.

His ammunition runs dry. His comrades suffer the same fate.

The march continues.

Now they fight with blades alone. The march has slowed. Death is omnipresent, watching over both sides and exacting a heavy toll.

His comrades drop, one by one.

The march continues.

He marches alone.

The march continues.

He marches right out of the other end of the Decay.

…

‘... and for your services to The Court, you are to be rewarded with a place among our number, safe from the Corrosion and Decay that spoiled so many of your fine compatriots.’

He is knighted.

They take his lungs. They take his spine. They take his brain. They take his mind.

He thinks of his village, and how long it has been.

He does not understand.

But, he supposes, he does not have to. He is one of The Court now, and the actions of mere humans are far below him. He does not care any more.

His new brain and heart tick away steadily, and he rises.

some of you act worried that I may betray the lesbian community but this is wrong. i do not so much betray as much as it is that my trajectory is different from that of my companions. and so I either leave or hurt them. but the lesbians and I are like two parallel lines, understanding each other perfectly and so there willbe no tension between us

OH BOY GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS?!

The Prince of this city was always a bit eccentric, she thinks. Maybe they live in the past because it comforts them, she considers as she sips on her drink. Maybe, she realises, it doesn’t matter.

The past can be oh so much fun, and what are Kindred if not stuck in the past? The outfits are fun. The food is fun. And most of all, the roles and dynamics are fun.

Oh, she could talk for hours about the roles and dynamics.

Sometimes the Prince listens.

They sit on their throne - ostentatious perhaps, but it lends them a certain air she can’t quite describe - in their lovely outfit. Something halfway between a dress and suit, the skirt billowing out around their legs and the base of the throne and the collar of their shirt closing around their neck, she thinks they look rather refined.

Naturally, her eyes are drawn to the crown that rests atop their head, finely crafted from precious metals and ornamented with countless jewels. It was made according to their exacting specifications, and their watchful eye held court over every aspect of its making.

She thinks of the ball only a door away. She thinks of all the people dancing and whirling and mixing in all their finery. She thinks of the servants and maids - Kindred, Ghoul, and mortal alike - who drift between the revellers, attending to their needs.

She knows her history, having been undead for a rather large part of it. This is no medieval court, laughing on and celebrating as the peasants starve. This is no later gathering of the same sort of group, designed to show off the riches of empires and the riches of those present.

This is something more. Something so much better.

Her Prince built this. It is because of them that all the people within can forget their troubles for a night. It is because of them that so many people meet under the same roof and have some actual fun together. It is their work, and all those who have helped to build it have been rewarded.

It is because of this that she offers herself as a subject under their rule. She trusts them, completely and utterly. They rule over her body and mind as surely as they rule over this room, this building, this city.

The snap of their fingers breaks her out of this train of thought. It reminds her of the role she has to play, one she dearly loves.

She approaches the throne silently and stands in front of the Prince, waiting for them to take charge and play their role.

Their hand moves towards her with a relaxed grace. It rests in front of her. She kneels, and kisses their hand, as proper court etiquette dictates.

They gesture for her to rise. They place a hand on her hip. They pull her closer.

Her knees buckle as she is brought onto the throne. The pressure bringing her forwards stops.

She sits astride their legs, their hand still on her hip. Their other hand deftly undoes the buttons and fastenings on her dress, and pulls it off of her. Slowly, dragging the process out so as being better able to appreciate the final result, they remove all manner of other layers.

By the end of this, petticoat and corset and yet more are strewn about the base of the throne. They look at her, drinking her in with their eyes. Their head moves in, and their lips meet hers.

She moans softly, almost inaudibly. She returns the favour. One should be grateful for a Prince’s attention, after all.

Her hands are on their shirt. Buttons come undone. She lacks their practised hand, but where she fumbles they remove their hand from her hip and use it to guide hers.

She holds onto them, in much the same way a drifting sailor would hold onto a floating piece of timber.

They remove their hands from her.

‘Such a loyal subject.’

Their hands return, dragging up the sides of her legs, fingers trailing and making her shake in anticipation.

They remove their hands from her.

‘Aren’t you just perfect, princess.’

Their hands return. They move to the space in between her legs.

In the court, one should be quiet and refined. Only speaking when spoken to. Avoiding making any unwelcome or unpleasant noises. All movement should be controlled and measured.

She does quite the opposite of this. She quivers. Her body writhes and she lets out countless noises.

Then they pause, and she goes still.

‘Aren’t you being such a doll for me.’

Her Prince continues.

Her chest rises and falls faster and faster. She moves into their movements. She responds in kind, rewarding their work.

She collapses. Her strings are cut. Every muscle in her body tenses and goes limp. She falls backwards, and her cries of pleasure ring out.

The Prince catches her.

They press her close to them.

They thank her.

She rests her head on their chest. She brings her legs up and curls up on their lap. Their hand rests on her head.

They both stay like this for quite a while.

They’ve been walking around for a while now. Not really sure where they’re going, not really sure why. Their legs start to ache, and they can walk no longer.

They come to the front of an old building, well-maintained yet clearly showing its age. They ignore the gardens, and do not dare to cross the fence. The cold and rain bite into their face.

They need to stop. They need to rest. They go towards the doorway, and sit on one of the steps there, protected from the elements.

They sit there for a while. It is so late at night, and they are so tired.

They sit and stare into the night.

They do this for a while.

The door behind them opens, and they wake from their reverie. They quickly lift themselves off of the step, and turn to face whoever is in the doorway.

How can they describe the sight that awaits them?

A beautiful looking young lady stands there, wearing an elaborate dress they swear they’ve seen in a museum somewhere. Her skin is pale, looking almost dead. Her hands are clasped together in front of her, and they do not move. Her eyes appear as though they do not need to blink, and she stares at them and through them. She does not appear to be breathing.

The most horrible detail of her appearance, though, is her smile.

It appears kind, caring, almost loving. But it is clear as day that it is only an appearance. There is no feeling behind it. It is a smile born of manners and propriety and nothing else. They imagine it is the kind of smile serial killers give their victims before they plunge a knife into their chest.

This is not to mention what lies beyond the threshold of the building. The hall is warmly lit, yet is cold and uninviting nevertheless. The aroma of flowers fills the air, and it reminds them of the bouquets people leave at funerals or on graves. They can see some of the flowers themselves. They are so beautiful, yet so horrid at the same time.

She has some of them in her hair.

They wonder if she is a ghost of some kind. If she is one of the Fair Folk, here to torment and torture them. If she is human at all, or ever was.

She opens her mouth, and the sound that emanates is so sickly sweet as to be smothering.

‘Are you quite alright?’

The words themselves should be comforting. They should fill them with warmth and reassurance.

But the tone…

There is nothing behind it. It is the tone one hears from a clock chiming the hour, or a music box repeating a song. Words that should calm and help instead fix them to the steps.

They stare at her in terror, even though they cannot put a finger on what is amiss.

Maybe it’s that everything is amiss.

She steps forwards, and it is this that breaks them. Her movements are so measured, so perfect. She does not shake or twitch. It is as though something has placed a hand on her and moved her.

The smell of her flowers fills their nose as they inhale. Maybe it is their imagination, but there is an undertone of flesh and meat and blood.

Her shoe hits the step.

They turn and run into the night. At least whatever monsters await them in the shadows do not pretend to be something else. They do not wear a dress that is centuries out of fashion. They do not act with such inhuman grace. They do not gut and flay kindness and dress their words up in its skin.

Those monsters would tear them apart, and at this moment they would find it a mercy compared to whatever fate she would promise them.

As they sprint away as fast as their legs can carry them, they wonder if she is following them. They wonder if she will catch up with them. They wonder if she will ask them what exactly caused them to leave so suddenly, utterly oblivious to her own wrongness.

The thought terrifies them.

She twitches in her sleep. Light burrows between her eyelids as she clenches her eyes closed. It feels far too early for her to be waking up, so she decides to attempt to get back to sleep.

Something clamps down over her mouth and closes behind her head.

Her eyes fly open as she reels from the unfamiliar sensations. She starts and puts all of her strength into lifting herself off of her bed.

She feels a blade at her throat.

If she were wide awake, it would be a minor inconvenience. She could push past it, injury be damned. She could tear into the person in front of her, and reduce them to a pile of bloody scraps on the floor.

As things stand, her mind is still slowly waking. Her most basic instincts take over, and she pushes forwards, aiming to clamp their throat between her jaws and drink her fill from it.

Her muzzle bounces off of their throat.

As she scrabbles in shock and attempts to get her bearings, their blade finds a home in her side. Their booted foot follows, sending her weakened body spinning out across the floor.

As she attempts to recover, they fasten some items over her forearms. In her bloodlusted haze, she barely notices.

She swings out, and her fists, newly covered in layers of material and padding, collide impotently with their legs.

They reach down, and grab her wrists. They fasten her arms together behind her back. They place something around her neck.

‘Click.’

A tugging sensation lifts her off of the floor, and she is forced to kneel. A hand grabs her under her chin, and she is forced to look into their eyes.

Their eyes are quite beautiful.

‘Others in my line of work would call me an idiot for this. They’d say you’re too dangerous to be left alive. But I know something they don’t.’

She cocks her head, listening intently. She feels a thirst rising within her. She exerted herself rather too much in her attempts to fight them.

‘Creatures like you - Kindred - aren’t as powerful as most think. You’re desperate, pathetic, hopeless.’

The truth in these words hits her harder than their blade and boot did.

‘You can feel the hunger, can’t you? You’d do anything for just a drop of blood, wouldn’t you?’

She can’t muster up any words, but need and desperation overtake her, and she nods.

They laugh, short and sharp.

‘Oh come on now, you have to use your words. That’s how this works. Now dog, speak.’

She says yes. She says she’d do anything. She lists situations and scenarios of all the things she would do. Words of promise and want, near incoherent, spill out of her mouth.

They laugh again.

They smile down at her.

‘You can be so useful to me, pet. Think of the things you can tell me. Think of the things you can do for me.’

They release her chin, but keep one hand on her leash. They move across to her bed. They take a pillow from it, and place it on the floor in front of her.

‘Go on, prove how desperate you are. How utterly broken you are.’

She doesn’t need to be told twice. She crawls over to the pillow. She grips it between her legs. Her hips roll and move backwards and forwards. Her mind goes empty - well, emptier than before.

For an uncertain amount of time she is lost in bliss and want and need. She hardly realises when they reach their free arm down to her side. She hardly realises when they wrap their fingers around the handle of their blade, still stuck in her side.

She definitely realises when they pull it out of her. Blood and viscera spill out over the floor. Pain and pleasure mix in her mind. She buckles and nearly collapses. The collar around her neck, held up by their hand on her leash, is the only thing keeping her upright.

Her hips keep moving.

They take their blade in their free hand, and use their sleeve to wipe it clean. They place it on their palm. They pull the blade, and it catches on their skin.

Red blossoms in their hand.

They push that hand forwards, holding her muzzle with it. They tilt her head backwards. Blood falls through the gaps in the muzzle.

She falls apart when the first drops hit her lips. She screams and moans and cries and begs. She writhes and moves and spasms. The ecstasy of base pleasure mingles with the ecstasy of the blood and the release of her hunger. She is undone.

When she comes to her senses a few minutes later, they are still there. Their hand moves gently through her hair. Their eyes are on hers. They are holding her in their arms. They are smiling at her.

She did so well, she is told. She was perfect, she is told.

They tug on her leash, and the pressure around her neck leads her back to her bed. They lie down beside her. They take her in their arms again.

She falls into a deep sleep, much calmer than before.

She wonders how she ended up like this.

There’s not exactly much else to do. Her limbs are cold and unmoving. Her eyes are held open, not by artifice or panic but by the very nature of the state she finds herself in. She tries to muster up some of her strange power, and finds that no matter how much her mind struggles, she can do nothing but wait.

So she waits.

She counts. She counts the marks and stains on the ceiling above her. She counts the number of days she’s spent trapped in this half-life. She counts every mote of dust that settles on her eyeballs.

She wishes she could blink or cry or do something - anything - to dispel the feeling of the dust in her eyes.

More than any of that, she starts to feel hungry. It starts at the tips of her toes and works its way up, consuming her until all she desires is the warm feeling of blood slipping out between her fangs and pouring down her throat.

She remembers the person who got her into this state. The way they approached her, all full of confidence and importance. She remembers the way they took a wooden stake from behind their back and plunged it into her chest. She remembers the way they took her body and dragged it back to their haven. She remembers them placing her on this table, open eyes towards the roof, limbs strewn out around her.

She wonders what they would taste like.

…

After who knows how long, she hears the door to the room swing open and collide with the wall.

If she could move, she would turn to face whoever or whatever just walked in. But she cannot.

They speak softly.

They talk of how they first saw her. They talk of how beautiful she is. They talk of how useful she would be.

To her, it is hollow and full of lies. She wishes to eviscerate them. To rip them in twain and drink their blood.

Nevertheless, they approach her. She hears the noise of their shoes against the concrete floor. She hears the creaking of the table on which she rests. She feels them move to straddle her.

She feels them move their fingers to cleanly wipe away the layer of dust that has accumulated on her frozen eyes. She feels their thumb caress her lips, her cheek, her eye.

‘I wouldn’t want you to miss out on seeing this, would I?’

They lean forwards, and their beautiful face appears in her vision.

It is a welcome sight.

She doesn’t mind this, she remembers now. They’ve done this before, she remembers now, and it is always oh so very fun. She allows the feeling of the life she once had to suffuse her. It is all she can do.

She notices their hands on her dress. She notices as they move the straps of her dress off of her shoulders. She notices as they reach around to undo the straps of her bra and pull it off of her. She notices as one of their hands cups one of her breasts. As their hand traces over one of her nipples. As they squeeze and pinch and stroke and so much more.

She is distracted. The face in front of her is so very lovely, and it pierces her mind as surely as the stake through her chest pierces her body.

Then, their face disappears from view.

For a short moment, she is disappointed.

Then she feels them lift up her skirt. Their hands are on her thighs, and they move slowly, torturously upwards.

She feels their lips on her. She feels their tongue on her. She ought to be writhing and bucking and making all manner of noises at the sensations they elicit.

She is still.

The sensations build. Time loses all meaning. Her mind is muddled and incoherent. She is filled with so much emotion and joy and pleasure.

She is still.

This could go on for minutes, or hours, or maybe even days. The sensations rise and rise and rise and do not stop. It is as though every one of her nerves is set ablaze.

She is still.

Something inside of her breaks and shatters. The sensations peak. Her mind cries out in ecstasy, then goes as still as her body. She feels nothing but an overwhelming and pervasive bliss.

Her captor’s face appears again. They praise her and tell her she did such a good job and made them so very proud. They thank her for letting them have this mutual indulgence. They remind her of how much more exciting it is made by what comes next.

They look deep into her glassy eyes, and tell her to listen, and she does so quite happily.

‘Forget this.’

And she descends into an entirely different sort of haze.

…

Soon, the haze wears off.

She is hungry again. This time is worse than before. She wants blood. She wants nothing more. She would tear this world asunder for a single drop of it.

A voice interrupts her crazed reverie. Her captor speaks.

‘If you’d just be a dear and promise not to hurt me, you can drink as much as you need.’

If her head could snap around to face them, it would. She cannot respond, but she promises in the depths of her heart and the depths of her mind that she will not hurt them. They have blood, and she desires it oh so much.

The stake is pulled out of her heart, leaving her chest with a wet pop.

She sits up and stares at her captor, cocking her head slightly as she watches them retreat across the room and sit on a worktop.

She watches them roll up their sleeve. They hold their wrist outwards towards her, and gesture for her to come.

She lunges across the room towards them, taking their wrist between her jaws. With their free hand, they push her down to the ground, until she is kneeling at their feet like a loyal hound.

If she had any higher reasoning at this moment, she would notice that the blood tasted strangely familiar.

She feels the hunger dissipate from her mind, and feelings of loyalty and infatuation rush in to fill the void.

She wants to please them. She wants to do the right thing for them, She wants them to be happy with her. She craves their adoration and attention.

They smile down at her as they extract their wrist from her mouth. They stand, and she remains kneeling. They walk out a bit, her head following their every movement.

They click their fingers.

‘Heel.’

She follows them out of the room.

It all starts rather abruptly.

She’s going about her day - well, her night - doing all of her usual jobs. She’s found and served a meal for her boss. She’s told the others she works with the tasks they have to do, then she’s gone to do her fair share of those tasks.

As things stand, she’s in the hallway, about an hour before sunrise, checking over all the decorations and improvements and fixes she’s made to the house.

In her time here, she’s turned a building on the edge of collapse into one that is not only structurally sound, but one that is beautiful and that she can be proud of.

Not to mention, her methods mean that all the waste from her and her boss’ meals gets put to use. She’s tidy and efficient like that, never wasting something that can be put to use.

She spent decades working on this place. She painted and repainted the door. She fixed the knocker on the front of it. She found and installed the locks that keep it closed. She has lavished that same amount of love and attention and care on every little detail of the place.

This is why it’s so upsetting when the door caves in.

A sharp tearing of metal rings out as the door flies off its hinges and backwards into the hallway.

She’s angry, but she isn’t stupid. She’s also quite quick, dashing upstairs before she can be seen.

Four people stride into the house, looking rather pleased with the damage they’ve caused.

What other details of these people matter? Neither their appearance nor their clothes nor their gear change a single thing about their fate.

The door she’s cared for for decades lies splintered and broken across a floor she’s cared for for decades, in a room she’s maintained and cared for for decades, in a building she’s cared for for decades.

She made that floor herself, taking out rotten planks of wood and replacing them with her usual materials. She made those flowers lining the hall. She made those books on the shelves. She made these walls.

The floor under the hunters erupts, sharp slivers of bone and teeth appearing from it as though out of thin air.

One hunter is caught in their leg. They stumble. They fall.

The floor yawns open to let them fall through. They’re in the void between the floor and the foundations now. She can deal with them later.

One hunter stands, leaning against the wall, recovering from their sudden exertion.

This one is fast.

A long, thin, and sharpened bone - maybe a femur, she thinks - slides swiftly out of the wall and impales them through their heart. Their life drains from them as they struggle powerlessly to lift themselves off the spike that rests in their torso.

One hunter is brave. They climb the stairs, taking the steps two or three at a time, intending doubtlessly to kill her.

Claws grow from the fingers of her right hand. She dashes forwards with a swift, controlled movement.

Their face a bloody, pulped ruin, she discards their corpse over the banister.

She has made rather a mess of herself. It is not proper for her to have so much blood in her hair, or on her hands, or on her dress. It will take hours of scrubbing for her to clean herself and her clothes.

The last one stands, frozen still, eyes fixed on hers. They can do nothing but uselessly open and close their mouth as she descends, and rests her hands on their arms.

Their eyes beg for mercy.

Their form distends and stretches. Muscles and bones snap and reform. She needs more material for this, so she fetches the corpses of their comrades. The three are joined and remade.

At the end of this, she has something to replace the door they so rudely destroyed.

The first hunter to fall is kept a while longer. She has exerted herself oh so much, and is rather in need of a drink before she goes to clean herself and lay herself to bed.

you can’t jokingly post about kinky shit on tumblr because you say smth like “haha wouldn’t it be hot if you…tried to launch internet explorer…but it wouldn’t load :D”

and then you’ll get one thousand robot girls in the notes going “mmngngnnghhhngn”

Her boss had another guest round. The sort that appreciates her special cooking. The sort that was polite enough to thank her for her impeccable manners.

She wonders when these manners started.

Was she simply a child who looked for praise at every opportunity, and found politeness to be the best way of getting it? When she grew older, was it the way she acted when she distracted herself from everything going on? When she grew yet older, was it the best way to respond to the hatred and contempt of some horrible people while mitigating the risk of harm to herself? Was it a habit she learnt when she started working as a maidservant? Did she become polite as a result of exposure to her new family’s habits? Was she never polite at all?

She turns to the mirror she’s polishing.

She looks into her own eyes.

She makes herself forget this moment.

She’s further along with her work than she thought she would be. Time really does fly sometimes.

She finishes polishing the mirror, and moves to her next job. She is to take the bins out.

It’s beneath her, really, but some of the regular staff are ill, so she steps in.

She takes them out past the gates to the property, the rain barely bothering her.

She remembers the phone Elizabeth gave her, the one with her number already typed in under the contact name ‘Elizabeth :)’. She remembers checking it over to make sure it was free of tampering and tracking based on what she had learnt from the few other Kindred she had had conversations with. She remembers sharing recipes and advice about work and fashion tips and compliments. She remembers Elizabeth promising to take her clubbing. She remembers the excuses she made - ‘too much work’ or ‘I’m ill’ and so on. She remembers her sympathy and her care and her… love, not in the way all the stories she read as a little girl described it, but rather shown through the kind of affection she learnt about in the 80s, all there in the palm of her hand.

She remembers the day the order came from on high. Something about unacceptable security risks and compromised channels and unsafe technology. She remembers crushing the phone in her fist, watching the fragments of metal and glass and plastic dig into her dead skin and fall across the cold floor. She remembers the lies she told about getting into an altercation the next time Elizabeth came round.

She looks for a puddle nearby, one close to the lights on the outside of the building.

She stares into her own eyes, and makes herself forget this moment.

What on earth is she doing over here? She has bins to take out. So she does this.

When she enters inside, she goes to talk to her boss. She seems to be losing time at random, and this may make her less suitable for her role. As she explains, he looks on impassively, and tells her to get back to work. She’s only been here thirty-one years, and while he trusts her opinion on professional matters, he is unwilling to deal with this when she is so new.

She catches and prepares his meal, presenting it to him in accordance with proper protocol.

She deals with the aftermath, twisting the corpse into all kinds of flowers. She takes joy in this. She remembers doing this countless times over the past decades. So many moments, preserved perfectly in her unliving brain. She has honed a skill, and is proud of this.

Her flowers are so pretty.

She finishes her jobs for the day.

She retires to her room, and sits on the chair in front of her dresser, staring into the mirror at her own face.

Today has been a bad day. She’s had days like this from time to time, maybe once a decade.

She remembers the first time this happened, half a year into her work here, feeling alone and abandoned and scared. She can’t remember any of the other times, but she remembers her way of dealing with this, of getting back to her usual self so that she can work and keep up her manners.

She tries to remember it all. She lets the emotion overtake her. She loves her job and she loves her role and she loves her building and she loves her sire and she loves her skills and she loves her flowers and she doesn’t mind being a vampire and she feels something hard to describe for Elizabeth. She takes these, and sets them to one side in her own mind.

She remembers the rest. She feels lonely and scared and hateful and vindictive and spiteful and wounded and hurt and injured and tired and so many more things.

She gets the impression that this time it’ll stick.

She makes contact with her own eyes.

She makes herself forget this moment.

She is sat staring into her mirror. She knows what this means.

She makes herself forget this moment.

She makes herself forget this moment.

She makes herself forget this moment.

She makes herself forget this moment.

…

Her boss is having a guest round this evening. The sort that’ll appreciate her special cooking.

She goes downstairs to meet her boss. He looks like he has realised something profound.

His mouth says nothing beyond what is usual.

His face and eyes and movements say only these words: ‘Ophelia, I’m sorry.’

She doesn’t know what he would be apologising for.

It’ll soon be thirty-two years of this work.

She turns away, and politely starts her day’s tasks, quite content with her life.

She invited him in, of course. He asked for her help, and this is one indulgence her boss allows her. Where people are nice and polite - all too rarely she must admit - she can help them if he deems her methods fit. Sometimes they dine at the small table in the kitchen with her. Usually, they are unsettled enough by both the house and her way of acting that they make excuses, and borrow a room for a few nights while she helps in whatever way she can.

It rewards good manners, and the supply of unmissed blood and bodies it gives her boss is a bonus.

There’s a third kind of person, she thinks. Someone who can put up a facade well enough to appear polite, but not enough self control to keep acting in the proper manner.

This man, for she will not grant him the perceived innocence the word ‘boy’ would bring, talks to her. He tells her he needs their help to eradicate evil from this world. Surely the owner of such a large building could spare some funds to ensure that the deviants and monsters and unnatural abominations are kept far from polite society. Surely he, her boss, - for no woman could have a role in the ownership of this beautiful structure - is a man of god, and wishes to uphold his holy words. He recites some scripture, bits she recognises from her time as a mortal in the 80s.

For the first time in a while, she thinks back to those years. She remembers some of the boys and girls and in-betweens and boths and neithers and more she used to know and hang around with when off work. She remembers some of the posters and slogans and verses that said the same things as this man. She remembers seeing it on TV, hearing it yelled at her on the street, reading it on the front page of the papers.

There were people who taught her about herself, who made her realise the things she felt and the things she most definitely didn’t feel, then held her as she cried and made her see that none of this made her any less human, any less worthy of being alive.

She remembers how some of these people cracked under the near-constant pressure. Some of them moved across the country. Some of them found twisted ideals to believe in. A couple paid lump sums to a programme that promised to make them normal, to make them normal and banal and regular at the same time and as soon as possible.

She never saw any of those people again.

Now, stuck in this room with a man full of nothing but hate and false pretenses and bad manners, she feels lonely. If there is a god, he abandoned her at birth and at her rebirth in a basement in Bath. There are indeed monsters and abominations in this world and she is one of them, but this is not because of who she is, it is because of what she is - Kindred. She will never again have that community or that love.

Now she feels angry.

She asks if he will join her in her room. She knows how he will see this, and she knows he will take the bait, and she knows she can make a mess there with no repercussions.

She could never make him hurt enough. How much hurt was doled out on the people she loved by ignorant fools like him? How much hurt was doled out not just to them but to people like them and like her?

He has been a bad guest.

He has been so much else, but this is the very last straw.

The screams last for hours.

The pain lasts for days.

The stains last for weeks.

When she meets her boss downstairs the next evening, he seems proud of her.

She so resents when they have to get help in. She so resents having to stay up so early. She so resents having to deal with someone who must be coddled and kept at arm’s length so they don’t run screaming to the police or worse.

All things considered, Ophelia Cooper is in a foul mood.

But this was her idea, after all. She is a caretaker, and if this will help to keep her boss and the house safe, she’ll suffer with a smile on her face, no matter how forced.

Her guest has arrived outside. There’s a van full of tools and mess and clutter sitting on the doorstep of a place she’s laboured to keep clean for years.

They knock at the door - using the ornate door knocker and not crudely knocking on the door itself. The intercom activates, and before she can get a bad-tempered word out, they speak - they ask if they can come in. Not only this, but they ask ‘please’, and when Ophelia gives them their instructions, she says a short ‘thank you’. And they close the door behind themselves, keeping the dreaded sun out.

Her bad mood having suddenly evaporated, she descends to meet her guest.

Her guest stands in the hallway, not unsettled in the slightest by the flowers or books or furniture or ornaments that adorn the interior. She is oh so beautiful and oh so polite, and Ophelia feels something stir within her. It is not the artless whispers of romance that she gave up long ago, or the brutal covetousness she often feels - this is something else, something strange and rare and new and odd. She is utterly entranced by this woman, and hangs on her every word.

‘Where’d you need the hob installing?’

Back to work then. An electric hob is so much safer than a gas one, reducing the risk of random fires and avoids provoking The Beast since no flame is present. It took her a while to persuade her boss that this was a useful measure.

The two head into the kitchen, and names are exchanged, as is polite and proper.

‘Ophelia Cooper, it’s a pleasure to meet you.’

‘Elizabeth Smith, lovely to make your acquaintance’

There is something she felt once, back when her sire tore out her throat and turned her. It was an odd feeling, a certain emptiness in the stomach, and an uncertainty about whether or not to run screaming, no matter how rude it would be.

As she watches Elizabeth set about her work, proceeding tidily and methodically and leaving no mess and making polite conversation and always saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and using proper manner and etiquette, she feels it again.

When the work is finished, she knows what she should do. She should Dominate her, clouding her memory of these events and making her forget this house and these people forever, or drag her to her boss for him to do the same.

She is at war with her own mind here. She wishes to see them again. She wishes to know her better. She was so polite and well-mannered, in a way that reminded her of Maria, wherever she is now.

She comes to a conclusion that appeases her need to do her job, her need to be polite, and her need to preserve this lovely thing in front of her.

After leading Elizabeth into the hall and allowing her to leave, she goes to meet her boss.

Sure, he’ll be annoyed if she wakes him at this time of day, but he’ll trust her ideas, and maybe the sleepiness will make him acquiesce sooner.

They really should replace that gas oven, it presents such a risk. Oh, and the boiler, that’s also gas, and it’s not as though Kindred need the warmth. Oh, also work on the roof should be done to stop the sun getting in. And security systems could keep him safer.

And before he knows it, Elizabeth Smith may be as much a part of his household and maintenance team as Ophelia is.

And then Ophelia never has to stop looking at her. Never has to stop basking in her politeness and manners.

She could maybe introduce her to her sire’s boss, that ‘Dragon’. After all, how many havens could be refitted to reduce the risk of fire and sun and humans.

And if the Dragon finds her polite enough and good enough at her job, she could have Elizabeth Smith for eternity.

She presses a cup full of tea into the hands of the woman - no, the girl, she’s far younger than she is - who sits across from her. She expresses the appropriate amount of worry and concern.

‘What on earth were you doing in the garden at such a time of night?’

‘Is there anything particularly bad that led to this? I might be able to help.’

‘No, no. I insist that you remain here. It’s just good manners.’

‘Well, nothing’s more important to me than being polite and courteous.’

The girl glances at her, perturbed by her words. Nevertheless, she accepts the comfort they offer.

It changes nothing. If she wanted help, she should have done it properly, knocked at the door and asked politely. Maybe then Ophelia would have done something more. She could have given her some money, or a room for a few nights, or snuck out and killed her terrible partner or whoever, or solved any and all of her problems.

She doesn’t know or particularly care. If the girl wanted her to pay attention, she should have asked nicely.

As things stand, regardless of the cup of tea she sips from, or the borrowed coat she has draped across her shoulders to keep out the cold, or the reassuring words Ophelia smothers her in, she has been rude.

She is a trespasser, and none of the kindnesses of guesthood apply to her.

Ophelia asks her to stand and follow her. Leads her to one of the many guest rooms. This one is centrally located and well-appointed. Despite the regular use the room finds itself in, it is clean and spotless. No stains or marks on any of the carpet or bedding or upholstery.

The girl thanks her. She is praised for her humanity, for her kindness, for her politeness.

She is self-aware enough to know she only has one of those qualities.

She closes the door as she leaves. She turns and checks it. She shuts and closes and secures every one of the deadbolts and locks and mechanisms that will keep the trespasser confined.

She walks briskly to her boss and informs him of their new guest for the night.

The next evening, there are new flowers in the vases that line the hallway.

The next evening, there are new flowers in Ophelia’s hair.

The next evening, that guest room is empty once more.

Her boss sits at the table, staring across at another man. Well, she notes dryly in her head, not a man. Never a man, at least not again. He’s pale, same as her and her boss. 

To some, he would look almost like a corpse.

To a small, unlucky few, they would recognise him as one.

She busies herself with tasks, pouring drinks, keeping candles lit, and delegating to the other servants. She checks the oven, ensuring the temperature within is just right. Too low, and the meal would be cold and unpleasant. Too high, and it would be charred to death and boiled and ruined.

It wouldn’t do for her to ruin a meal. It would be so improper to serve anything less than perfection, so she’s become adept at cooking. She knows the tastes and preferences of her boss perhaps better than her own. She knows how to pick the right supplier for her meals. She knows how to prepare and present them with an absolute minimum of mess and panic.

In the kitchen, a timer rings, snapping her out of her routine.

The meal ought to be perfectly warm by now.

She takes them out of the oven, checks them over with a keen eye. All parts unnecessary for consumption have been skilfully removed by her hand, and it’s in the perfect state to be served up.

She moves the meal on top of a trolley, such that it can be more easily served. Even her new lifestyle hasn’t made her strong enough to carry the whole thing on a plate, and it’s not as if it can exactly walk anymore.

She rolls the trolley into the room, and slides the metal tray onto the table. She stands in the corner, behind her boss, and looks on politely.

They start on their meal.

As they lean forwards to drain the meal, it reacts. She wasn’t careless enough to kill it, after all. That would ruin the blood. Sealed lips quiver. Hollow eye sockets twitch, trying to focus eyes that no longer exist. Muscles, devoid of limbs to attach to, tense and lock up. Its breaths become short and shaky. 

It attempts to scream.

So rude.

It should remember it has no vocal cords.

After a while, it stills. The meal is over now.

She removes and disposes of the leftovers before returning to her room.

I look at the woman in front of me.

She is dressed smartly, dress and coat and boots and hat conspiring to protect her from the howling winds as she stands in the doorway.

She looks at me, the pity in her eyes obviously disguising some kind of malice.

That’s the way things are, after all.

She invites me in, all politeness and platitudes and pleasing words. She bids me to sit by the fire, warm myself. She brings blankets to help with this. She offers me food, I refuse. She offers me a drink, I refuse. She asks me my name, I pretend not to hear.

She takes no note of my sword, seeing it as no threat to herself.

I do not speak. I do not move.

I wait.

She talks a lot. She tells me about the things she’s made for a meal, one she’d happily share with me. She tells me about the plants in the forest, and the ones that I might find useful. She tells me how beautiful I am, and how happy she would be to have me.

I feel tempted to give in, and stay here for the rest of my life.

She smiles softly at me, as if she knows this.

Her fingers trace up the flesh of my arm, suddenly revealed from under layers of blankets.

She tells me she could help me. She tells me I wouldn’t have to worry any more. She tells me I would be hers, perfect and eternal.

My arm goes cold, as though it were turning to ice. My joints feel stiff. A sudden stillness begins to overtake me.

This is a game to her, surely, and it seems she is winning.

She tells me I will have purpose, and the spell breaks.

I move my hand. I clench my fist around something.

My arm swings forwards.

She looks down.

Blood blooms from her torso, centred around the ugly iron implement that protrudes from her body.

Her eyes flick upwards, and I look away.

She goes still in my arms, much as I had gone still at the touch of hers.

I have won.

I cannot leave quickly enough.

Her house burns, all her food and plants and promises going up in flame.

Her offers nag at the back of my mind. She offered purpose, perfection, happiness, and most of all, stillness.

I have won this game.

So why do I so dearly wish that I had lost?

been building a collection of posts from like minded individuals

googling shit like "why do i feel bad after hanging out with my friends" and all of the answers are either "you need better friends" (i don't; my friends are wonderful) or "your social battery is drained, you need to rest and regain your energy levels" (i don't; i've got tons of energy, it's just manifesting as over-the-top neurotic mania). why is this even happening. it's like some stupid toll i have to pay as a punishment for enjoying myself too much

did you know you can actually just cock your head to the side and put your canine teeth on either side of her windpipe and not bite down but just hold gentle pressure while you're doing whatever you're doing to remind her that we are animals and with less force than it takes you to bite into a good apple you could tear out her pretty throat? you can do this any time and it's free and easy

She wraps the leash around her hand and pulls me up to her.

"you know, it's really amazing how easy it is to mistake you for a human. From a distance, I mean. Once you're up close *she pulls me closer* the illusion is shattered, and it's obvious what you really are."