You, a supervillain, answer a knock at your door, only to find your superhero nemesis shivering, bleeding, scared, and slightly dazed (as if drugged). They appear to have been assaulted. The hero mumbles “…didn’t know where else to go…” before collapsing into your arms.
*~~~This is really long, I’m so sorry.~~~*
I catch her as she falls, and pick her up bridal style as if she weighs nothing. “Hey, Carri?” I yell, looking for my personal assistant.
“Yes, m'lady?” Carri appears from the parlor room, the room I use for my clients.
“Will you please reschedule the rest of tonight’s clients? Tell them I had a family emergency and must take care of it immediately.” I lock the front door and turn off my tattoo LED sign that hangs in the parlor window. It’s just a small shop, reference only.
“And what about the deposits?” Carri asks, already pulling out her phone to start calling clients.
“If they ask, see if they will compromise on half. If they don’t ask, don’t worry about it.” I start up the stairs to the bedrooms.
“And what if they don’t agree to half and want the full deposit back?” Carri asks, coming into vision at the bottom of the stairs.
“Ask if they still want to be tattooed by me. If they say yes, then it’s half a deposit. But their referral is void if they want a full deposit, and I will not tattoo them.” I stop at the first landing, “Once you’re done with that, please put some tea on.”
“Of course, m'lady.” Carri bowed slightly and walked away, immediately texting and calling the rest of my clients that I had.
I walk into one of the bedrooms on this floor, and gently lay the heroine on the bed. She’s so beautiful, and I truly wonder who would do such a thing to her. I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily a villain, though I do come from old money, that my ancestors had gotten it from more nefarious deeds. My family and hers have never gotten along, so I avoid her as much as possible. I walk over to the bathroom and pull out the wash basin that I keep in there, filling it about halfway with hot water and rubbing alcohol mixture. I take the wash basin to the bedroom then return to the hallway and pull out some washcloths out of the hall closet. Before returning to the room, I soak one in cold water, wring it out, and then place it on the heroine’s forehead. I pull over a stool and begin to gently wash her wounds.
While I’m doing this, Carri comes in with a teapot and 3 mugs and places them on the warmer on the dresser. “Everyone was very understanding. Out of 5 clients, only 2 asked for half of the deposit back. The others didn’t mention it.” After pouring me a cup and placing it on the bedside table, she asks, “Is there anything I could help with?”
“Would you go up to my room, and get a pair of sweats and a t-shirt for her? I am going to have to undress her to make sure I’ve cleaned everything.” I look over my shoulder.
“Will they fit her?”
“They might be a little on the bigger side, but otherwise, yes, they should. Will you also bring the ointment and bandages?” “Of course, m'lady.” And with that answer, Carri scurries off, and I can hear her lightly running up the stairs. I retrieved another towel, a full-size one this time. As I start to take her ruined clothes off, I clean her wounds as I go and cover her with the towel.
Just moments after I have finished cleaning her wounds, Carri returns with the clothes and bandages. “Here you go, m'lady.” She sets the clothes at the end of the bed and hands me the bandages. “Thank you. If you wouldn’t mind taking the other side and dressing those wounds, I’ll work on this side. Also, I want a small blood sample and tox screen ran. She looked drugged before she collapsed.”
“Of course, ma'am.” Carri takes half of the bandages and starts patching the heroine’s other side. Once we are done, she grabs a small blood sample.“Is there anything you need me to do after I get this running in the lab?” She asks holding the small vial. I shake my head, dismissing Carri. “No, you can go rest after getting that started. Thank you, Carri.”
“Are you sure, ma'am?”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.” Carri bows and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. I get up and turn the overhead light off, opting for the bed lamp. I pick up the chaise lounge chair from over by the window to move it by the bed and get comfortable. Throughout the night I check on her, making sure she stays comfortable. At some point I end up holding her hand, constantly pulling some of her pain so she can rest easy.
In the morning, Carri wakes me up with some coffee to relieve me of bedside duty so that I can go shower. While Carri can also help relieve pain, she hasn’t been alive for as long as myself, and therefore, can’t relieve pain steadily over a longer period, or in her sleep. As I am getting out of the shower and changed into sweats and a tank top, I hear a muffled sound and then Carri yells, “M'lady, the heroine is awake and asking for you.” I pull my hair up into a messy bun and make my way down the stairs to where the heroine has been asleep. As I step through the door of the bedroom, I’m greeted by someone slamming into me.
“Thank you so much. I… I didn’t know where else to go. And, while our fights could be rough, I have never felt the way I did when I showed up on your doorstep.” The heroine bawls into my shirt. It takes me a moment to react, and when I finally move, I wrap one arm around the heroine’s shoulders and I start detangling her hair with my other hand. “Carri, will you put some tea on and start breakfast? We’ll be down in just a few moments.”
“Of course, m'lady.” Carri bows and heads downstairs to start tea and breakfast.
“Who is that anyways?” The heroine asks, muffled by my shirt.
“My personal assistant and best friend,” I respond. “What’s your name?”
The heroine pulls away a little bit, tears still evident on her face, “Alice. My name is Alice.”
I smile, “That’s cute. How’d you know where I live?”
Alice pulls away from me even more, smiling, “My friend has been tattooed by you before, and I had been here with her. In one of our fights just before that appointment, your sleeve had ripped. I recognized the tattoo on your forearm when I came in with my friend.”
“Wait, that was almost 6 months ago since that sleeve ripped!”
Alice kind of grimaces, “I… I wanted to respect your boundaries after I figured it out. S-since I knew you had a different life outside of our fights, I wanted to respect that.”
I step closer to her, my voice coming out breathy, “Why me? Who hurt you last night that made you come to me?”
Alice hesitates. Just as she’s about to respond, Carri yells from the kitchen, “Breakfast is ready!” Alice dashes out the door and down the stairs before I can push her for a response. I follow her downstairs and to the dining room. If you asked me yesterday, I would’ve never expected to have the hero of Muri in my home.
After breakfast, I take Alice by the hand and lead her downstairs to the basement, “Wait, where are we going?” “I want to show you something,” I reply as we get to the bottom of the stairs. I flick on the light and then I pull Alice to one of the shelves and pick up a small box, like a jewelry box.
“What is this?” Alice asks. In response, I put the item I picked up in her hands, “Open it.” Alice hesitantly opens it. Inside is sitting a sapphire necklace, “Oh my god. Where did you find this?”
“You remember the ball that was held downtown?”
“I remember you crashing through the window, and I was the guest of honor.” Alice deadpans, rolling her eyes, fastening the sapphire around her neck.
“To be perfectly honest,” as soon as she has finished clasping the chain, I can smell her again, “I wasn’t actually crashing the ball. I had an invite. Unfortunately, some trouble showed up as I was getting there, and I got tossed through the window.” I lean against the shelves.
“You fell 2 stories from a skylight, and no one followed you in.”
“I know, but to be fair, the ceiling was ground level.” I hesitate for a minute, biting my lip, “If… if I told you I could show you my memories, would you believe me?”
Alice looks up at me, fiddling with her necklace, “What do you mean?”
“Can I?” I asked, reaching a hand to her face. After a minute’s hesitation, Alice steps forward, allowing my hand to touch her cheek. I stand up, take her face in both of my hands, and put my forehead to hers. We close our eyes, and I share my memories of every encounter we’ve had.
*The first couple were in school, and she accidentally bumped into me with her friends. She has a big grin, always nice. Wicked things being in the area, and me encountering them. A glimpse of them attacking me outside the underground ball. Me getting thrown through the skylight. Me landing in the middle of the floor, injuring people. The scent of something delicious that has been in every memory is suddenly gone in a commotion, a sapphire pendant suddenly hitting my shoes. Me recognizing the family symbol on the back and stuffing it in my pocket. Me putting it in an old jewelry case and putting it in the basement. All of our encounters, showing that I get attacked first before suddenly snippets of fighting Alice. The final one I show her, is her showing up on my doorstep. The feeling of worry as I clean and dress her wounds. Then it’s her putting on the necklace and the smell coming back.*
Aluce pulls away, “You… you were never looking for a fight.”
I chuckle, “Not from you anyway. But, our families have been fighting for generations. Specifically, yours hunting mine, because my ancestors did some rather nefarious things to get the money we now have.”
Alice pulls away, and I let her, “What do you mean, ‘hunting’? My family hunts deer, why would we hunt you?”
I laugh at that, “Yes, well… my family isn’t exactly… human, and your family doesn’t only hunt deer.”
Alice is quiet for a minute, “How… how old are you?”
“25,” I reply smoothly.
“How long have you been 25?” She’s fidgeting with her pendant again.
I sigh, “Awhile.”
“I.. I don’t believe you.”
“If we go to the library, I can proove it.”
Alice nods, I lead her back up onto the main floor, then into a room right off the kitchen. There are floor-to-ceiling bookshelves just stuffed with books, some even lying down on top. I go over to the desk that’s in front of the window, and I pull a small leather-bound bible out of the middle drawer. It’s in a language most wouldn’t understand. In the back pages, I pull an old, yellowed, slightly burned piece of paper, and hand it to Alice. She opens it and reads aloud, “Vivian Mortui,”
“Vivi, for short.”
She nods, “Birthdate: the 25th of December, 1925.” She pauses and I can see the calculations in her head, “That’s… That’s almost 100 yesrs ago!” She folds the paper again and hands it back to me, “How long have you lived here again?”
“About 8 years. Remember, I moved here when I was '18’ and transferred in during 2nd semester of senior year.” I reply as I put the book away.
“Why did you move here?” She leans on the desk as I move out from behind it.
“To be honest.. to get away from my family. They refuse to come back here, even though we’ve owned this house for years. They said there were too many nosy people.”
“How long have you owned this house?”
I hum as I pull another leather-bound book from a shelf, “Early 1800s? Shortly after was the Victorian era, and that’s what we’ve kept up with since then. Although, we have upgraded the appliances.” I flip through the book I’m holding until I find a page, “Here. The history of our family feud starts here.” I hand the book to her.
Alice takes the book and moves to the couch to start reading. Carri comes in with tea and and update about my clients; we had to reschedule more of my clients. I turn on some low music before picking up a book I’m working on and sit on the opposite lounger to read.
After a bit, Alice closes her book. “So, you moved here to get away from your family… In the memories, there was a sweet smell that you were attracted to. Did you come for that?”
“Ah, yes, and no. A long time ago, one of the artisans of your family made that pendant and enchanted it to attract creatures like me. While some of your family used it as a lure, others wore it for aesthetics. You, obviously, fall into the latter group. It was that day that you and your friends bumped into me, you were wearing that pendant that day.”
“My grandma gave it to me for my 18th birthday. Said it would protect me.” Alice fiddles with the chain. I bark out a laugh. “Yeah, no. The enchantment on that pendant enhances your own scent to attract things to you. The only way to make it stop is to stop wearing it for however long you have worn it for,” I grimace, “Or die.”
“Then, who attacked me in my home?” Alice looks up at me, and I’ve never seen her look so scared.
“I don’t know, but I plan to find out.” I stand up and walk towards the library door, “Carri, has the sample came back yet?” Carri comes over to the door, “Yes, m'lady. It should be done by now.”
“Perfect. While I go do some research on this, will you take Alice back to her place, see if she can scavenge any clothes or precious items. She will be moving in with us.” I pull my hair out of the bun, finger comb it, then pull it back up into a tighter bun.
“Wait, what do you mean? I’m going to live here? With you?” Alice looks confused but hopeful.
“Yes, we can help protect you here. Do you not want to live here?”
Alice’s cheeks flush, “No… no that’s not a problem.”
*~~~ This is where I’m gonna stop. There’s so much here, I do more later.~~~*
