June of Doom 2026 | 14. "You'll have to do better than that." (servant â darkness â trembling)
CW: All the fun staff: bites, blood-drinking, vampires!
Servant loved them⌠and hated them.
Especially now, with the villa looming above him, shrouded in night. No lamps around, no light coming from inside. Just complete, all-consuming darkness.
Was this really the place where he was supposed to start working?
He approached the front door.
He didn't like it. Not one bit. Who expected their employees to work after sunset? But damn, he needed the money.
The road to the villa was narrow, meandering under tall trees, completely cut-off from the rest of the neighborhood.
He swore. If this is how Iâm gonna die-
The door opened, but there was no one.
Servant tried to look inside and see other workers, the employer⌠anyone, really. But the door looked as though it led straight into a black holeâa dark, frightening void.
He took a deep breath. Only because you pay well⌠âIâm coming in!â
He stepped inside, his pupils widening as they searched desperately for even the faintest trace of light⌠when he heard the door close behind him.
The hairs at the nape of his neck prickled, and a chill ran down his spine, as if something had actually touched him.
But the money. You need them. You do it for them.
His eyes finally adjusted to the dark, and he gradually made out the outlines of cabinets and sofas in the waiting room.
And then he saw the⌠thing.
First, he mistook it for a coatrack, but slowly, he recognized the silhouette of a human. Just⌠standing there. In complete darkness.
He couldnât move. He stared at it, his mind too shaken to actually do something, his heart rabid, pounding like a mad man.
Then two eyes glinted in the darkness.
Before Servant could do anythingâcry out, run, or even throw up his handsâthe thing was on him. It slammed him against one of the cabinets, its face so close he could feel its breath on his neck. He caught a glimpse of sharp, pointed teeth.
The monster seized his wrists in one hand, the other closed around his jaw, tilting his head back. Servant could feel the rapid pounding of his carotid arteries, and the thing could feel it too.
It leaned in, its nose lightly brushing against his skin⌠then a hot, wet tongue traced the frantic pulse beating in his throat.
He tried to wrench himself free, but the thing held him still, laughing. âYouâll have to do better than that.â Itâs voice was velvet. Smooth, rich, and entirely at odds with the monster standing before him.
Then, the unmistakable sharpness of two beastly fangs. They pressed into his skin with a sharp, burning sting, and Servant tried to pull free again.
The thing smiled against his throat⌠and it drank.
Servant could feel the pull, the pressure of its lips at the wounds, his own body betraying himâpumping blood straight into the monsterâs mouth.
His knees turned to jelly.
He had never been good with blood, honestly. He'd fainted from something as minor as a blood drawâfor fuck's sakeâif the creature hadn't been holding him up, he was certain he would have lost consciousness already.
A low, ecstatic sound escaped the monsterâs lips, and its eyes fluttered shut. For a moment, it seemed lost in the sensation. Then, as abruptly as it had attacked, it pulled away and dropped Servant to the ground.
âYouâll be my favorite,â it whispered before disappearing back into the darkness.
Servant remained on the floor, trembling and bewildered. Scared half to death. He hugged his knees to his chest and stared with wide eyes toward the place where the creature had vanished.
His body and mind felt frozen, incapable of movement.
Until another sound snapped him out of it: a soft tapping, the scrape of something moving inside the cabinet he had been pinned against.
A wave of horror swept through him.
The cabinet door creaked open.
A girl crawled out on all fours, petite and not nearly as scared as she should have been. She rose to her feet, brushed off her servant's clothes, and smoothed a wrinkle from her sleeve. Then she turned to him with an outstretched hand.
âWell?â she said. âAre you coming?â
âThe house wonât run itself.â
âWhatâŚ?â he managed. Blinked. âWhat?â
The girl rolled her eyes, grabbed him under the arms and hauled him to his feet.
âI think I have⌠almost died.â
âOh please,â she scoffed, lighting an electrical lantern. âDonât be a baby. Everyone gets bitten on their first day.â
âYouâll get better at hiding as times goes on.â
âWhat? But⌠Iââ the words died on his lips. He looked around. âWe need to get out.â
Was she really that simple? Hadn't she seen that thing sink its teeth into his neck? How close it had come to ripping him apart?
Servant wanted to shake some sense into her. âWhat if it comes after us again?â
âMaster never feeds more than once a night.â
âItâs a little game. We hide. He hunts. And if he finds us, he gets to drink.â She turned to him, smiling. She definitely had a screw loose. âBut donât worry. Master is very reasonable. He never takes too much.â
She couldnât be serious.
Maybe that thing had hit her in the head and she-
âBesides, have you seen the health insurance benefits?â
And the generous vacation, all in black and white in his contract.
âItâs kind of fun, actually,â the girl continued, as she led him deeper into the villa. âAnd look⌠youâre not even bleeding anymore.â
He touched the spot where his⌠employer had bitten him.
Sure enough, he found no trace of the wound. No moisture, no scabbing. His skin was still sensitive to the touch, but even that lingering ache was quickly disappearing.
They arrived at a room with a sign on the door: Household Manager.
Here, the girl finally turned on the lights, though they remained dim.
âMaster is a bit... photophobic,â she explained, setting the lantern on the table.
And there, Servant saw the contract.
And the sweet, sweet number at the bottom of the page.
