No one at the manor knew much about Black Hat. And honestly, like Flug always told Demencia, some questions were better off to be unanswered.
There was one golden rule for the crew: never ask about Black Hat to anyone, not even to Black Hat himself.
So no one really knew where he came from, why he was where he was and why he founded Black Hat Inc., or even what he was.
But one day Demencia found herself wondering just that. What is Black Hat?
They (herself and Flug (and probably 5.0.5 if he could talk)) always assumed he was a demon and left it at that. But what kind of demon? Not that Demencia knew a lot about supernatural beings or demons in the first place. After all, Black Hat was the only one she had encountered yet (well, assuming Flug was indeed human since she never saw his face). But what type of creature wasn't truly important nor what messed with her, no. Whatever kind of demon or whatever it was that Black Hat turned out to be, what really got Demencia thinking was if he had a heart.
A beating heart, like a human's.
And an emotional heart from that beating heart.
She had heard stories of heartless demons incapable of loving, and while Black Heart seemed dismissive of her most times, he didn't seem completely incapable of love. Sure, he always complained how he despised love, especially in humans, but he never actually showed signs of having no regards for his companions at the manor. He was difficult to read and he easily got mad, but it didn't seem like he actually despised every living thing. Still, Demencia had to make sure. If he had indeed a heart, she decided, that would be her sign that she could keep trying to get his affection.
With that set on her mind, she made up a plan.
She'd do it on that same night.
She'd wait until everyone was asleep, sneak into his room, feel him for heartbeats (or lack of them) and run without anyone noticing. Simple, right?
Well, she tought, if Black Hat found out about this he'd probably burn her on the spot. But the chances of that happening were not that high as she was sure she was a master at sneaking up on people. Plus, if Black Hat didn't kill her the curiosity would.
With that set, at exactly 3 AM she quietly sneaked out of her room. She knew Flug and 5.0.5 went to sleep early because they woke up before sunrise. She made her way to their rooms to make sure she was correct, and she was. Flug was sleeping at his desk soundly and 5.0.5 was sleeping at the feet of Flug's bed instead of sleeping in his own room, which was empty.
Demencia quietly stepped inside just to cover both of them with some fluffy blankets. She lifted Flug's face to put a pillow underneath him, and for a moment she thought about removing his bag to see his real face. But something made her feel bad about it so she decided to leave him alone after carefully tucking his bagged head in the pillow.
After she made sure they were comfy enough not to wake up, she closed the room's door and moved to Black Hat's room.
His door, unlike Flug's door, was closed.
Nervously, she started to open it trying not to make a sound.
It was so quiet she could actually hear her own heart beating fast and ringing in her ears.
After what seemed to be an eternity passed, the door was fully open.
Somehow Black Hat's room was even darker than any other room in the manor. She used her cellphone's light to guide her as she made her way through a rather long room filled with strange paintings on the walls. That's when she realized she had never ever been this far into Black Hat's room. Sometimes she'd feel like the paintings were watching her, and she'd flick her phone's light at them. Most had characters who looked like Black Hat at first glance: tall, with dark skin and noseless. But upon further inspection she'd see they weren't him. Some had hair under their hats, some were female, some seemed another age and they all had different eye colors and different facial features despite their similarities to Black Hat. Could they be ancestors? Or his family perhaps?
Demencia wanted to inspect them more but a sudden noise made her jump.
She turned to see that at the end of the corridor was a large bed with red sheets, and someone was sleeping on it.
It was also the same figure who made the sound, but they appeared to be unmoving.
She got closer, quietly and slowly, and she saw that Black Hat seemed to be fast asleep.
She noticed his red pajamas and held a giggle. They had little top hats drawn on them that seemed utterly ridiculous. She also noticed that he still had a hat on that seemed to cling to his head like magic, never falling off regardless of his position. On his left eye his trait monocle was nowhere to be seen, and Demencia noticed he had only a scar where an eye used to stand. It made her wonder how he'd lost it.
There were many things she was noticing at that moment, and many questions arose in her mind. However, there was only one that had brought her there.
So nervously, she turned the light of her phone off and leaned in closer.
She was closer than she had ever been to him.
And then, her ear lightly touched a bit of his skin in his chest. She tried to ignore the voices in her head screaming at how she was touching Black Hat and instead focused to listen;
ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump
Uh, so he had a heart after all!
She was enjoying the sound when she noticed it got a tiny bit faster...and when she looked up, she saw a terryfing red glow from his eye in the dark.
Suddenly, the lights were on, and she saw his terrifying face.
"What. do. you. think. you. are. you. doing."
His voice was deep, and dragged, and it made Demencia's heart sink.
She tried not to panic and just laugh it off, but her usually confident laughs came out as squirmish screeches of terror.
"H-hey boss! I was trying to find out if you-"
"Get. out."
Black Hat didn't need to shout it twice. Demencia fled the room as fast as she could, so fast that she didn't know she could even reach that speed.
Back in the safety of her room in less than minutes, she hopped in her bed like a scared little kid hiding under the covers with all the lights on.
That was the moment Demencia knew she was screwed, because Black Hat would never, ever, EVER let that one pass like this.
She tried to calm down and sleep, knowing hell on earth was to ensue in the morning.
After a while of calm, she finally turned the lights off and closed her eyes. She was very tired after all, and it didn't take long until she started drifting away. She was almost falling asleep when she heard something, like a weird hissing noise. She was too scared to open her eyes but the sound kept getting slightly louder.
In fear, she slowly opened her eyes, but in the dark she couldn't see anything. That was, until she felt a cold hand touch her shoulder. Demencia turned to the intruder.
"BOO"
Black Hat, who was right next to her in bed, had shouted in his creepiest and most hellish voice, with sharp teeth greeting her in a grim grin and his visible eye rolling under his sockets.
That's when hell ensued.
Demencia screamed, and jumped a few feet in the air like a spooked cat.
Black Hat laughed.
Demencia fell back in the bed before anyone could notice, already passing out.
Flug and 5.0.5 woke up suddenly with the noise and rushed to Demencia's room in panic.
Once the pair got there, the scientist and the bear stared in horror at the scene: Demencia was passed out and laying in bed next to her was a laughing Black Hat.
"Oh, Flug, I think I overdid it a bit this time... I'm a bit thirsty from screaming, so go fetch me a glass of water, will you?"
There was no need for Black Hat to repeat it, the scientist and the bear ran to the kitchen to escape whatever wacky stuff was happening in Demencia's room.
They just did NOT want to know. Or stay long enough to see what happened and be dragged into it.
As Flug always said, some questions were better left unanswered.
Still next to Demencia, Black Hat adjusted the passed out woman in her bed, gently tucking her in.
For her to pass out he must have truly overdone it, since Demencia wasn't usually easily scared by him.
"Sorry about that, dear" he whispered before he kissed her forehead "next time I'll just make you clean the manor for a month."
After that, he went after Flug and the darned glass of water.
He had decided as he left her room that he'd let Demencia wake up by herself when she felt like it. He'd let her believe it had merely been a nightmare. He also decided he'd only deal with her later in the morning, as for now it would simply be too cruel to wake the woman up with the sole purpose to scold her.
That was the least he could do after what he did to her, he decided. After all, it wasn't like he was completely heartless.