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elfboyeros · 20 days ago

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The Witch's Library

🚨Stories in this series contain suggestive/triggering themes [Abuse, Stalking, etc.] where there are warnings on the post this is an extra warning if you wish not to engage with this series I completely understand.

Big Masterlist | Purus Sanguis Masterlist

“—So wait a second,” Odette huffs as she, Margo, Venus, Delphin, and Henriette sit at that kitchen table. “You’re telling us there is an evil old man that’s been trying to kidnap us since we were born?!”

“It seems like it,” Delphin mutters, “and none of us realized until about 8 months ago.”

“8 months would have been June,” Margo mumbles, “So Gustave has been putting in more effort since we turned 18.”

Odette clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, “Gustave, of course, he’s a fucking Frenchmen.”

“Birdie,” Belladonna sighed.

“What! Can I not be angry?” Odette huffs, “Some disgusting… pedophile has been obsessed with us since we were born!”

“I think the correct term would be ephebophile,” Margo mutters.

“HE’S A FUCKING FREAK!” Odette shouts before hearing the front door open and close.

Belladonna jumps up from her seat and makes her way to the front door, “Wilhelm,” she sighs, running to Wilhem and quickly checking him for injuries before hugging him.

“I’m alright, mein Schwan,” he sighs, with his arms tightly around her waist, “Did you think a man like Peregrine would be the end of me?”

“Of course not, but I can still worry,” she coos.

Margo pokes her head into the hallway, and Odette leans against the archway to the kitchen as Wilhelm places his coat on the rack near the door, “Are you okay, Daddy,” Margo asks.

“I’m alright, Perle.”

“Can I get my car keys back?” Odette asks.

“No,” Wilhelm states firmly.

“What the hell, dude?! I have done nothing wrong, and you are taking my keys away!” Odette complains.

“This isn’t a punishment, dude,” Wilhelm mocks, entering the kitchen, “This is for your safety if you aren’t going to tell anyone where you are going –even if you are an adult—I’m keeping all the car keeps away from you.”

“So, it is a punishment!” Odette scoffs with her arms crossed.

“Call it whatever you like, Odette; it’s not going to make me give you back your car keys,” Wilhelm taunts back, sitting down at the head of the table.

“Feels like home,” Venus mutters to Delphin, making him choke on his water.

Wilhelm rubs his temples before remarking, “Tomorrow, we are going to the Witch’s Library. Hopefully, they will have anything on Gustave to help us.”

“And if they don’t,” Delphin asks.

Wilhelm sighs, only letting his body relax when he feels Belladonna’s hands on his shoulders, “We’ll have to use all the knowledge we have to end his life,” Wilhelm answers, “Whether it will work or not.”

There is this heaviness that persists throughout dinner. No one wants to talk about what is most prevalent, and asking get-to-know questions of Henriette didn’t help alleviate that heaviness. Even after dinner, when everyone was winding down when everyone was heading to their rooms, the air was still thick.

“Huh?” Henriette croaked as she entered the spare bedroom in the Con Vester home, seeing Delphin removing his jacket and hanging off the bedpost. “Uh… Mrs. Con Vester,” the young woman utters before the vampiric woman starts up the stairs.

“Belladonna,” she replies in a singsongy voice, approaching the young werewolf, “What is the matter, sweetheart?”

“Do—do you have an extra room?” Henriette asks.

“Is there something wrong with this one?”

“No, no, beautiful room, a lovely room, just… Uh…I—”

Belladonna hummed and nodded, “Sweetheart, I’m sorry we don’t have any more spare rooms; you and Delphin have to share.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Con Vester. Goodnight,” Henriette sighs, a bit defeated.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” Belladonna retorts, walking back to the staircase, “And call me Belladonna, please!”

“She’s lying,” Delphin mutters once Henriette enters the guest bedroom once again, “Wilhelm filled his house with rooms upon rooms before he even knew he would spend his life with anyone.”

“Belladonna is sweet, I doubt—”

“Belladonna schemes,” Delphin scoffs, “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

Henriette furrowed her brow, “No, don’t do that,” she muttered, “The bed is big enough to share.”

The change from dusk to dawn is quiet, breakfast is short, and after a quick bye to Aphrodite, as she goes to run errands, everyone is in one of Wilhelm’s beloved classic cars. “Mr. Con Vester?” Henriette asks from the backseat, “Why would the witches have any information on vampires?”

“Well, Mrs. Le Doux,” Wilhelm began, “Witches have always had a talent for keeping information guarded. Their spells, the things they have seen, the things they have heard. Witch libraries are not only a collection of classic literature but also a sanctuary for information on the supernatural and the magical. Thanks to the witches that have convened here in Romania over the years, we have one of the largest witch libraries in the world.”

“I think there used to be one in New Orleans, didn’t there?” asks Belladonna.

Wilhelm thought for a moment, “Yes. However, in the 1930s, the library was destroyed by fire. I think they relocated, but I don’t remember where,” He answers before the car comes to a stop.

The building they parked in front of bears a strong resemblance to an old church. Gothic architecture and open doors; however, there is no religious imagery covering the large building. Multiple women could be seen standing in the entrance hall from the sidewalk, all dressed in shades of black, with most of them wearing dresses that had a distinctly gothic look.

One of the witches, peach skin with milk-white splotches and brown hair, turns away to look outside the main doors as if she could feel a shift in the wind, eyes widening before grabbing the shoulder of the dark-skinned blonde witch next to her.

“Marjorie! Marjorie!”

Marjorie narrowed her aqua-colored eyes at the woman beside her, “Eleanor, we are in the middle of a conversation!”

“This is better than our conversation, look!”

The other witches rolled their eyes at one another as Marjorie turned around to look outside, seeing The Con Vesters and The Le Douxs approaching the library. “Mrs. and Mr. Con Vester!” Eleanor remarks, waving her eyes, which are kind, one white and one green, like grass.

“What can we help you all with today?” Marjorie asks, with a smile, as the group gets close and the other witches disperse.

“The girls are searching for some vampiric information,” Wilhelm answers.

“You’re not coming in with us?” Ask Margo.

“I have a hunch I want to follow,” He replies, smiling at his daughter before turning to Belladonna, who was giving him a: where do you think you’re going stare. “If vampires are traveling here to get the girls, they would need some place to get blood, wouldn’t you agree?” He quietly remarks.

Belladonna nods, looking past him to glance at Delphin, who was hanging back with his sister and his wife, staring at the library and observing the architecture. “Take Delphin with you. Maybe you can learn about the relationship he has with Henriette.”

“So, you are already scheming,” Wilhelm chuckles, kissing her cheek as a goodbye.

She shrugs with a smirk, “It’s what I do best.”

Wilhelm turned to leave. “Delphin, come on,” he called before the young werewolf man looked at him in confusion. “I need extra strength where I'm going.”

Delphin shrugged Venus and Henriette before following Wilhelm to the car, “I see how it is,” an elderly woman’s voice remarked, making Wilhelm freeze and turn back around, seeing an elderly witch in a long black dress and a large magenta shawl emerge from behind Eleanor and Marjorie. Pale purple eyes narrowed at the old vampire man, a smirk across her lips while her short light pink hair reached her chin, “Wilhelm Con Vester, leaving once again before saying hello.”

“You know that is fair from the truth,” Wilhelm retorts.

“I’m still not hearing a hello.”

“Hello, Winifred,” he chuckles, “Now, may I leave?”

“Fine,” Winifred laughed, “We’ll take good care of your girls.”

“Thank you,” Wilhelm remarks, walking to his car, “I’ll be back soon.”

Exchanging verbal goodbyes, Wilhelm drove off with Delphin in tow while Winifred, Eleanor, and Marjorie gave all their attention to Belladonna, Henriette, Margo, Odette, and Venus. “It is rather odd that you have come to us for information on vampires,” Winifred remarks, guiding them through the halls of the library. “Wilhelm is one of the oldest vampires to exist.”

“And he’s actually liked,” Eleanor comments.

Belladonna let out a slight giggle before replying, “We are looking for information on a single vampire, Gustave Batezatu.”

“Mhm Batezatu,” Winifred hums, “Yet again, I am surprised. I would think Wilhelm would have met him in his many years of living.”

“He says he knows nothing about him,” Belladonna retorts, “Only of him.”

“Gustave is a vampire from the 13th century,” Marjorie began to recite, “About 60 decades younger than Dracula, they were turned around the same time, some even say by the same person.”

“Remarked as mean and violent, many say if you are faced with his tall stature and large point teeth, you better have the running skills of a track Olympian,” Eleanor adds before hissing like a vampire with her hands up as if she were acting like a bear.

Winifred opens the large wooden doors to a library wing, bookshelves upon bookshelves even filling a lofted area, rows of large tables, “Our archives of vampirism and lycanthropy here. You girls are free to roam and view whatever you look,” the elder witch remarks before turning to Belladonna, “I can only assume you are searching for information on someone like Batezatu is because you all are in danger.”

Belladonna looked toward Margo and Odette as they ventured into the library with Henriette, Eleanor, Marjorie, and Venus, “Yes, ma’am.”

“We don’t have much on specific individuals when it comes to vampires. However, I do hope we can help,” Winifred replies, “Vampires on the bottom, Werewolves on the top in the loft.” She smiles at Belladonna, “I have to go babysit.”

“Have a nice day, Winnie,” Belladonna calls as Winifred walks away before entering the library nook with everyone else.

With the girls searching for answers in the Witch’s Library, Wilhelm and Delphin drove, “Where are we going?” Delphin asks.

“The blood bank; I have a feeling some of Gustave’s henchmen have gone through the doctor who owns the bank to get blood,” Wilhelm answers. “Find where they are. Find where Gustave is.”

Delphin hums, staring out the window, “How are you enjoying being married?” Wilhelm asks.

“It’s only been a few months,” Delphin sighed, “We haven’t had much time to be alone; we have only been in the swamp manor for like 2 months, and even then, I’m barely home.”

“Belladonna thinks you two haven’t been sleeping together,” Wilhelm comments.

Delphin opens his mouth as if to fight back. However, he sighs, “We haven’t been. Last night was the first time because Belladonna forced us to.”

Wilhelm hums, “Do you love her son?”

“I do,” Delphin admits rather quickly, “I wouldn’t have married her if I didn’t. I just—I—urgh—Having to take over Dad’s place has just fucked my shit up. I’ve known Henriette for years since we were kids, and now I feel like I don’t know her because I never get the chance to talk to her! I don’t know myself; I’m always tired and angry, I just want to spend time with my wife, having fucking dinner with her, and I never can because I’m never home! I haven’t even told her I love her, grah!”

Delphin sat in the passenger seat with his head between his knees, “I’m starting to think I scare her sometimes.”

“Oh please,” Wilhelm scoffs, “She may be an anxious young woman, but once she is aware and secure of her sourcing, her high intelligence shines.”

Delphin thinks back to before he left home. Even though she was anxious about trying to physically stop him from leaving, she was very assertive about accompanying him to Romania.

“You’re right,” Delphin sighs, “But why doesn’t she talk to me?”

“She understands the pressure and stress you are under; she is just trying to keep her distance,” Wilhelm explains, “Or only one could assume.”

“How is love so simple for you and Belladonna?”

Wilhelm let out a laugh. “I don’t rightfully know,” he admits, as his car comes to a stop, “even if I did know that the way individuals love one another is different. You know how to treat a woman in kind, and that’s all you must do.”

“It can’t be that simple,” Delphin remarks as Wilhem gets out of the car.

“It is the simplest part of the concept of love,” the elderly vampire comments, “Come on, son.”

Both men enter the small blood bank in the middle of Romania. The young receptionist is instantly nervous upon seeing two large men enter the business. “Is he in?” Wilhelm asks the woman, pointing his cane toward the closed office door.

The woman let out a squeaky hum while nodding before Wilhelm barged into the small office where an older man in a lab coat sat at a large desk, “Mr. Con Vester, what I surprise—Oh no, he can’t be in here.”

“Adam, I don’t have time for your bigotry!” Wilhelm remarked, “I need to see a list of the vampires that have visited you in the last 8 months.”

“Wilhelm, I can’t just give that information, no matter how powerful you are,” Adam replies, giving a hash side eye to Delphin.

“Look, man, this is important; we need those lists,” Delphin adds with his arms crossed.

“I don’t have to give out individual medical documentation to random civilians,” Adam says, narrowing his eyes at Delphin.

“This a blood bank; no one has come here for medical care,” Delphin huffs.

“You're not a lawyer anymore, Wilhelm. You haven’t been for a while, and even if you were, I am under no obligation to do anything you ask me to,” Adam comments smugly, “and I won’t.”

Wilhelm sighs, looking at the long side table under the large window in the office, where the surface is covered in pictures of Adam’s family and other decorative trinkets. “You’re right,” he mutters before taking his cane and swinging it across the desk as if it were a baseball bat.

“JESUS CHRIST!”

“I’ve about had it, ya' know. I’ve killed more people in the past 3 days than I have in the last 18 years, and I don’t mind adding you to that list, Adam,” Wilhelm admits before smashing his cane atop a picture frame on Adam’s desk. “Now you either give me the names of the vampires that have been here in the last 8 months, or I’ll break more than just your shit.”

“Alright, alright!” Adam shrieked, jumping up and running to his filing cabinet.

Whilst Delphin watched Wilhelm control a man by the sheer idea of fear, Belladonna, Margo Odette, Henriette, and Venus combed through books with Eleanor and Marjorie’s assistance.

The teens and the witches remained at the table they had settled on while Henriette ventured into the loft to research her heritage for a brief break from the gruesome readings on vampiric history.

“I see you have found something to read,” Belladonna remarks as she approaches the top of the loft.

Henriette hums, “I’m surprised there's so much on my family,” she remarks.

“I have found that werewolves are more open to sharing their history and legacy with the world than vampires,” Belladonna comments, settling next to Henriette.

“Would you ever share stories of your life with the world?”

“Wilhelm might,” Belladonna answers, “Are you enjoying married life with Delphin.”

“It’s… it’s different,” Henriette mutters.

“Different good or bad?”

Henriette thinks for a moment, “He’s under a lot of pressure… we haven’t had a lot of time to dedicate to our relationship.”

Belladonna hums, “I am afraid of doing anything that might make things difficult for him,” Henriette admits, “So I’ve kept my distance. He loves me, but I know I can easily get in his way.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Belladonna coos, “Everything will work itself out.”

“I hope it’s soon,” Henriette sighs.

Belladonna opened her mouth to offer words of encouragement; however, Odette yelling, “Momma, come look!” grabbed her attention.

Once Belladonna and Henriette had made it to the area, the girls were sitting, Margo had an old thick book in front of her, “Insatiable Hunger is a rare vampiric ability that acts more like a curse; vampires affected by insatiable hunger are never be satiated by anything but pure vampiric blood,” Margo read out loud.

“There have been countless rumors that Gustave has made deals with vampires that have had pure vampiric children to have them when they are of age so he can have their blood,” Marjorie informs.

“Wilhelm does have a reputation for hating vampiric society. Maybe Gustave knew that he could only get the girls force,” Eleanor adds.

“It is very plausible,” Wilhelm huffs, entering the room with Delphin not that far behind him, “More than plausible, actually, it is more than rumor; I believe it is confirmed.”

“Were you successful?” Asks Belladonna.

“Very,” he sighs, “I’ll deal with them tomorrow. We know where his pawns are; we know why he wants the girls. Let’s go home and reassess."

“Excellent idea,” Belladonna replies before everyone begins to file out.

Delphin grabs Henriette’s hand, leaving them alone. “Henriette,” he says her name quietly, making it carry a soft tone. “You know I love you, right?”

Her cheeks heat up, hearing him admit his feelings even though she’s been aware of them for years; nevertheless, she nods, “Of course,” she mutters.

“And you know I’m not just saying that,” he continues, “I really love you, doll, like really love you. I know I haven’t been present, but I really need you to know that I love you.”

“Delphin, I know,” Henriette reassures, “I love you too.”

There’s a little ping in his chest that makes his whole body heat up as he just stares at her in kind, “DELPHIN, HURRY YOUR ASS UP,” Venus yelled from down the hall.

“Venus! You’re in a library, keep your voice down!”

“Make out with your wife at another time, you're in a library,” Venus retorts before racing down the hallway toward the exit with her brother chasing down.

Once back at the Con Vester home, upon exiting the vehicle, Aphrodite comes out of the house standing on the porch, looking uncharacteristically anxious, “Aphrodite, what's wrong?” asks Belladonna.

“There is a man in the backyard,” she says.

“A man?” Wilhelm questions, following her into the house.

“He’s very tall, with really dark red hair, dressed in black, pale, very clearly a vampire,” Aphrodite informs as she follows him to the sunroom with everyone else not too far behind, “I have no clue how he got in or even to the backyard, I just got home!”

Wilhelm’s eyes widen just by seeing the back of the man’s head, “Aphrodite, get your shotgun and find a clean shot, now!”

“Wilhelm?” Belladonna asks, “What are you doing?”

“Daddy?” Odette questions.

“What’s going on, Wilhelm?” Delphin asks.

He doesn’t answer any of them rather, he exits the sunroom and descends to the back pouch to face the man in his backyard.

“Who is that?” Venus asks, looking to her brother and Belladonna for any sort of answer.

“That’s Gustave,” Margo croaks.

Standing a menacing 6’9, he faces Wilhelm with blood-red eyes covered by retro shades, a dark overcoat open to display his black button-up shirt and wine-red pants, his pale lips with the faded stain of blood for color hold a wicked smirk as he stares down at Wilhelm, looking passed him to look into the house and laying his eyes on the very scared twins Margo and Odette.

“Hello, Mr. Con Vester,” He laughs.

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elfboyeros · 26 days ago

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Purus Sanguis | Putridum Fidei

Death & Rebirth

🚨Stories in this series contain suggestive/triggering themes [Abuse, Death, etc.] where there are warnings on the post, this is an extra warning if you wish not to engage with this series, I completely understand.

I have too many voices...

Big Masterlist | Purus Sanguis Masterlist

In the supposed practice of communicating with and reanimating the deceased at a funeral, practitioners see the memorial as inconvenient as it is more difficult to try to commune with the dead, given the number of people present and the fact that it is cowardly to steal a corpse. Given this fact, often, you will find a necromancer or two in the graveyard or cemeteries, digging up bodies after dusk rather than at funerals.

Especially funerals where a catholic priest has decided to turn the whole thing into a sermon and not a remembrance of life, and it is making Adeline nauseous. Not only because she dislikes her uncle, the priest preaching, or the fact that she is a witch, but also because this is not what her father wanted for his funeral.

She knows he wanted people to gather and celebrate his life, play good music, converse, and dance with another rather than have people smile that he lived rather than cry that he was gone. Her father also wanted to be cremated, save for having him buried alone since his late wife was cremated, but obviously, it didn’t work out like that. Frozen out by her uncle, Adeline had no say in her father’s funeral services because she was “too young,” a complete oversight given that she had been by her father’s side almost every single day for the past six months before passing in his sleep.

“Cremate me so you can hold me close, like your mom,” he told her.

Yet her uncle is reciting scripture, almost breaking a pulpit that isn’t his, continuously stating: “Mario was a good man.”

No, he was great. Genuine, funny, caring, a great father! When they had to move to Romania from Oregon, Mario did everything he could to distract Adeline from the death of her mother. When they had to move in with Ion and his wife, Capri, when he got sick, he did everything to make sure that Ion was at least decent to her.

She was his only child, and even with cancer, he was going to make sure she smiled!

“My brother committed many sins, but… but he was a good man,” Ion remarks before continuing to drone on.

Adeline clicks her tongue against the back of her teeth while sitting in the back pews of the funeral home before standing and leaving the chapel.

The sins of loving a witch and having a heretic daughter are what Ion is talking about. It is annoying! It's not a remembrance of her father; it’s a summons specifically for her, specifically against her.

At least the funeral house is nice. Warm and almost comforting, dark wood paneling and a vintage design peppering the cream wallpaper. Photos of landscapes and different beautiful scenery intermixed with snapshots of various individuals.

A large black and white portrait of two women, with poliosis, one standing, and one sitting, with a baby girl no older than a toddler, also with poliosis, on one of the walls surrounded by several pictures.

“Lovely, huh?”

The masculine voice is like honey; however, it is not trustworthy. Turning around to find the origin of the voice, she sees a tall boy around her age, dressed in a suit, a brooch of a Safflower pinned onto his jacket. He looks similar to the woman in the portrait, with black hair and a white forelock; however, he is very pale, with dark red eyes gazing at her, full of a beautiful curiosity.

“It is,” Adeline mutters.

“I can’t tell you how many times I just sit out here and stare at it,” He remarks, standing next to her.

“You work here?” She questions, looking over at him.

“More or less,” he shrugs, “It's like interning, but when your parents own the place, there is this really thin line between working and enjoying the vibes.”

Adeline tried to look at him without seeming disgusted; however, her expressions failed her, making his cheeks burn once he met her emerald gaze, “Not to say that being at a funeral is good vibes… But I mean, some people have had some really rad vibes at some funerals I’ve been to—I’m sorry!”

He was rambling, and his outburst of an apology made her giggle, “I’m sure you are here a lot,” she comments, “and to you, it’s comforting.”

“You have no idea,” he sighs, “I’m sorry about Mario.”

“Is it bad that I’m tired of hearing sorry?” Adeline wondered out loud.

“I shouldn’t really be the authority on how people should mourn,” The boy replies, “Son of funeral homeowners and a young vampire, I haven’t been around long enough to really mourn anyone… Who was he to you?”

“My dad.”

The boy instantly sucks in air through his teeth before he furrows his brow, “Then should you be seeing in the first rather than alone in the back?” he quickly asks.

“My uncle and I don’t get along,” Adeline admits.

“Ah… well I hope—I’m… I'm gonna be honest, I don’t know what to really say other than I’m sorry for your loss,” he replies.

Adeline sighs, “Thanks.”

“Is there a reason you and your uncle don’t get along?” The boy inquires.

“Too long to list. The big one right now is that he didn’t cremate my dad, even though that’s what he wanted.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“I tried; he doesn’t like listening to any woman.”

The boy lets out a laugh, “Sorry, sorry,” he chuckles slightly as Adeline grimaces at him, “He just sounds like the complete opposite of my dad… maybe that’s why he doesn’t like him.”

Adeline rolls her eyes, “My dad wanted me to have a piece of him like I do with my mom,” she touches the small cylinder urn hanging around her neck, “And now he’ll just be buried in the church graveyard.”

“No, he won’t,” the boy comments, “It’s a clause in all contracts signed with the funeral home, and unless requested otherwise, that the deceased will be laid to rest at the city cemetery. My dad even said that it was weird that Ion didn’t request to have him buried on church grounds. My mom made a comment that Ion probably didn’t read the contract and just signed.”

“Is there anything about cremation?” Adeline asks.

“Not for your case, I don’t think; I’m sorry.”

“Well, it was worth asking,” she sighs, “At least he’s not going to be buried at the church. Little wins, rights.”

The boy grimaces as Adeline turns away from the portrait, the fabric of her veil brushing against the back of his hand. “Thanks for talking to me…” she says, causing him to turn around as she stands close to the chapel doors.

“Rudolph,” the boy comments with a smile.

“Adeline,” she responds, flashing him a sad, small smile before walking back into the chapel as the service concludes.

Rudolph takes a seat on one of the plush chairs in the lobby area, knuckles resting against his lips in a fist and his legs crossed, staring at the painting of his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother while he thinks as everyone in the funeral chapel shuffles out.

“Rudolph?!” He jumps at the sound of his father’s voice, “Sorry, son, I don’t mean to frighten you.”

“The funeral is over, little prince,” Wilhelm comments as Rudolph looks around.

Rudolph jumped up and followed his father into his office. “Are we going to the burial?” he asked.

“No, I had quite enough of Mr. Culture’s berating. I would rather be at home with your mother than stand out in the rain while that man gives another sermon as they put that man on the ground,” Wilhelm lamented, putting on his coat.

“Did you know that he had a daughter?” Rudolph asks.

“I believe so, yes.”

“Did you know she had no say in her father’s funeral?” Rudolph asks him to follow him out of the funeral home.

“I believe Ion said she was rather young—”

“Dad, she’s my age!” Rudolph remarks loudly before getting into the passenger seat of the car, “She said Mario wanted to be cremated, and he’s getting buried as we speak.”

Wilhelm sighs, “We need to—”

“We don’t need to do anything, Rudolph,” Wilhelm interrupted as he drove, “I’m not robbing a grave just so you can please a girl you like.”

“This isn’t about my feelings toward Adeline,” Rudolph argues.

“Is it not?”

“I don’t even know her! Th—this—this is about being a good person! Ion is clearly an asshole—”

“Rudolph!”

“What is it because I called him an asshole?! Momma called him worse!” Rudolph scoffs, sinking into the passenger seat, “If momma told you that her mom or her babushka wanted to be cremated, but they were being buried instead…”

Wilhelm sighed, tapping a finger against the stirring wheel, “You’re thinking about it now!”

“I don’t like it when you use your mother against me.”

Rudolph snickered, “It’s very commendable what you want to do, son, and if I were in your shoes, I would want to do the same, but it’s just not feasible,” Wilhelm admits.

“Dad, both of her parents are dead,” Rudolph mentions, “She has her mother’s ashes in a necklace; I think she just wants them together.”

Wilhelm sighs, “I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you.”

The house is warm once they enter it, smelling of a nice Christmas potpourri with hints of evergreen, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and cranberries. Soft conversations, acting like a siren song, call both men into the kitchen, where Belladonna and Aphrodite are putting away groceries, and Noveletta, Odette’s stepdaughter, is sitting at the kitchen table.

“Welcome home,” Aphrodite remarks with a smile.

Wilhelm toddles over to Belladonna while Rudolph begins to help Aphrodite and Belladonna put up all the groceries. “It’s quiet,” the eldest vampire mentions, wrapping his arms around his wife’s waist.

“Odette took Violetta with her to pick Hendrick up from the airport,” Belladonna informed.

“I was really hoping to see him when I got home from my classes,” Noveletta mumbles with a pout as she does her homework, blowing her blonde hair out of her face. “Or at least go to the airport with Mum.”

Wilhelm lets out a small chuckle before attempting to kiss Belladonna’s cheek, “What?” he asks as she dodges his lips. “Where are my Christmas decorations?”

“… In the… attic.”

“I asked you to get them down Sunday,” Belladonna comments.

“Swan, I’m sorry—”

“Sorry, isn’t my Christmas decorations.”

“Belladonna,” Wilhelm groans quietly, “Let me kiss you.”

“Get my Christmas decorations, and then you kiss me all you want,” she whispers.

Rudolph chuckled at his father’s actions before Belladonna poked his cheek with the end of one of her fingernails, “What’s wrong, duckie.”

“It’s nothing, momma,” Rudolph sighs, swatting her hand away, “The funeral just took a lot out of me.”

Belladonna hums at him with narrow eyes, “Really, momma, I’m fine!”

“Lying to me isn’t wise, duckie.”

“I’m not lying!” Rudolph exclaims, “It was just upsetting. Okay, really, I’m fine.”

“I dunno,” Odette remarks, entering the kitchen, brown hair, magenta-eyed toddler in her arms, “It sounds like he’s lying.”

Rudolph sighed, rolling his eyes, “I’ll be in my room,” he scoffs, waving at Violetta before heading to his room.

Happy musing and joyous conversations fade as the young Con Vester boy heads upstairs, collapsing on his bed. He’ll tell his mother, eventually, maybe when his father says no to graverobbing. His mother’s input would undoubtedly help in getting Adeline her father’s ashes. Although maybe Wilhelm was right… Adeline is cute…

As the evening drew on and the skies drew darker, Wilhelm kissed Belladonna’s temple as she lay in the comfort of their bed, “I’ll be back soon,” he remarked softly.

“Where?” She asks.

“To go rob a grave with our son.”

“Mhm,” she hums, “how exciting. Why does he want to rob a grave? Mortuary practice?”

“No,” Wilhelm mutters, “He wants to cremate the remains of Mario Culture. Apparently, he wanted to be cremated. However, his brother didn’t allow that and then got mad at me for not reading the contract that he signed at the end of the service.”

��I told you Ion was going to be trouble,” Belladonna mumbles, “Keep our boy safe. Okay?”

“Of course,” he replies, kissing her one last time, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she makes herself comfortable on his side of the bed before remarking, “Tell Rudolph I’m proud of him.”

“I will, Swan.”

Rudolph had watched many cremations; however, something about Mario felt different. Not good, not bad, just different. A disappointment consumes him almost, and it’s not a disappointment with his father or with the people around him; they only know what they are told. No, it is a disappointment in himself; he got this man ready for his funeral just mere hours ago, and here he is burning his corpse! Watching the fire rage thanks to the little window in the furnace, he’s not only disappointed with himself but also angry, angry at Ion, and he’s never even met him.

Mario Culture

“All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.” - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.

Scripted on a slab of stone, hopefully, Adeline had some say in the tombstone. It would be unbelievably cruel if she didn’t.

“Rudolph?” Adeline gasps in her soft yet almost flat and dead voice.

“Hey,” He remarks; seeing her being consumed by an oversized sweater, he can’t help but smile.

“Stalking me now?” she asks with eyebrows raised.

“No… Well, kinda, but not for any weird reason!” he answers, “I only assumed that you would be here; I had no idea that you would come.”

“If you want to talk to me some more, I’d rather not,” she comments.

“I only came to give you something,” he says, pulling the urn necklace with her father’s ashes in it, “I tried to pick one out that looked like the one you have, but I don’t have an eidetic memory like my aunt Henriette.”

Adeline stares at him with wide eyes, “When did you…”

“Last night,” Rudolph answers, walking around her to clasp the necklace around her neck.

“Why?”

Rudolph shrugs, “Because I’m too much like my dad, or that’s what he said when we drove home last night,” he replies, “I don’t know if it was because I had a hand in preparing your father’s body for the funeral or the lessons taught to me since I was a kid, but I didn’t like the idea of him being buried when that’s not what he wanted.”

Adeline only stared up at him, not saying a word, “If it were my parents, I would want their remains to be together too,” He adds.

“That's sweet,” she notes, “What do you want in return?”

“I don’t need anything.”

“Seriously?”

He nods, “What about money?” she asks

Rudolph laughs, “I didn’t do this for money! I don’t need it.”

“You-you want me to go on a date with you?!” Adeline asked in an angry tone, clearly not satisfied with his answers.

He continues to laugh, “Don’t laugh at me!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Rudolph heaves, holding his stomach.

“Come on, someone like you doesn’t do this just because!”

“Someone like me?” he hums with a smirk, with rosy cheeks, “I will admit a date with you would be nice,” He winks, “But no, I didn’t do this so we could go out. I don’t need anything from you.”

“You keep saying need,” Adeline huffs, crossing her arms, “There has to be something you want.”

Rudolph thinks for a moment before his smirk grows, “Your phone number.”

“My number?”

“Yeah, you asked me what I wanted, and that’s what I want: your number.”

Adeline sighed, pulling out her phone, “You could have just started with that.”

He puts her number on her phone before slipping it back into his coat pocket. “One last thing,” he states.

“Yeah?”

“Did you get a say in his headstone?”

She looks at the stone in the ground and then back at him, “I did,” she answers before he mumbles a small well. “Is there anything in the ground?”

“Just the casket,” Rudolph answers, “Your uncle got the cheap shit.”

“Figures.”

“We have the rest of your dad’s ashes, clothes, and the other belongings he was buried with back at the funeral home whenever you wanna get them,” Rudolph mentions.

“It would be best to keep them there… if you don’t mind,” Adeline mutters.

“I’ll hold on to them, I promise,” he reassures.

“Thanks for all of it,” she replies.

He winks, “No problem.”

He heads for the exit, pulls out his phone, types a quick message, and turns to look back at the young girl he was just talking to, “ADELINE,” he calls, getting her attention before holding up his phone and pointing to it, “CHECK YOUR PHONE.”

She looks at him confused before looking at her phone: I want you to call me if you need anything, doesn’t matter what – Rudolph, the red-eyed vampire 🧛🦇

“ALL VAMPIRE’S EYES ARE RED!” Adeline shouts.

“NO, THEY AREN’T MY SISTER, AND NIECES ARE MAGANTA!” He barks back before waving, “I MEANT WHAT I SAID; IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT; I’LL SEE YOU LATER, YEAH?”

“Yeah,” Adeline exhales with a little laugh and smile while waving to Rudolph as he leaves.

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