MONSIEUR NOIR

Danny trudged through the undergrowth with his head down. The cold winter air nipped at his face and fingers mercilessly. He gave a sideways look at his father a few feet away. The hulking giant of a man carried a pile of wood on his back and while he lumbered along the forest path, the chilly air didn't seem to bother him. In fact, he hadn't stopped his chatter.

"-and that Danny is why you should always carry metal with you!" Jack beamed. "Gotta keep those pesky faeries away!"

"Sure, dad." the raven haired boy intones. "Dad, how much longer do we have to stay out here?"

"We gotta get wood Danny-boy! Gotta have something to keep us warm for the winter!"

"Is that the only reason?" Danny inquires. Jack paused in his walking and looked at Danny sheepishly.

"Well, I also wanna check on a few of my traps. Who knows, maybe some fae or gnome or some creature got caught in it!" Jack said excitedly.

"Gnomes?"

"I'll have you know that gnomes are pesky mischievous little buggers and are very hard to catch. Their the reason why your boots go missing and your socks go missing. But only the left ones," Jack said knowingly.

Danny turned his head away to hide his eye roll. He and his sister, Jazz, had accepted long ago their parents obsession with the supernatural and myths. His parents had always wandered the woods looking for and setting up traps in hopes to capture any mythical creatures. He and Jazz were fine with it as long their parents exercised safety. He just wished he hadn't been dragged along on one of those expeditions. Especially not in this godforsaken weather.

Danny glanced at the dark clouds that had begun to shield the sky. The cold wind was beginning to seep into his skin and the woods were looking more and more malicious with each passing minute.

Danny wrapped his arms around his small frame. No, he didn't like this.

"Hey, Dad? Maybe we should head home now. It's getting kind of dark and-" his voice died in this mouth when he turned and couldn't find Jack. Danny turned in place frantically searching for any sign of his father's mammoth size and loud voice. "Dad?"

Silence.

Not good. He was alone in the woods, it was getting dark and he didn't know where he was. Not good. Danny darted his eyes around frantically and flinched when he head a twig snap behind him.

He spun around violently but only an owl on a broken branch. The owl gave a pompous hoot and flew off. Danny scowled, "Stupid bird..."

He couldn't stay here, out in the open. He needed to move. Swallowing and hearing his throat click, Danny walked ahead into the woods. He hoped his situation would get better soon.


His situation was not, in fact, getting any better. Thank you. Danny groaned for the umpteenth time while he stumbled across the leaf covered floor. It didn't help that the trees became denser and more dead looking. He'd never been to this part of the woods. He was even more lost than before.

'Local boy found dead in woods' that would make the headlines Danny thought sourly. His feet was sore and the cold had reached his bones and he was not happy. Just my luck

Then he heard it. It was soft but most definitely there. Singing. No words, just melodies.

A man came across this old tower on day

It was straight like from a book he once read.

Danny followed the song until he found a clearing. There, in the middle of it was a tower. The stone was aged and worn. Moss grew and vines crept up its singing was coming from the tower. The only opening Danny saw was a window at the top of the tower. And he also saw the cascade of black hair that tumbled out the window and swayed in the wind. It hung out the tower window and stopped short of one foot above the ground. It wouldn't have been odd if the tower hadn't been at least 30 feet high in the first place.

Holy- THAT is a lot of hair. Danny thought nervously. Who ever is up there must be the one singing. But why does it sound so sad?

He lifted his head up and saw this young lady

And here's what the lady said,

Trying to quell his nervousness, Danny cupped his hands around his mouth, "E-Excuse me! Ma'am?" the singing stopped. "Excuse me miss, I'm a lost traveler! Could you tell me where I am?"

A head poked out of the window. "I'm not a woman" a most definitely male voice replied.

"Ah..." Danny faltered. "S-Sorry! I... I didn't..." He had red eyes. The man in the tower had solid red eyes and his skin was blue. And he looked annoyed.

"What do you want?" Wow. He had fangs too. "No one comes to my tower."

"I- Uh... I... I'm lost."

"Clearly," the man intones dryly.

"Uh..." Danny cleared his throat. "C-Could you tell me which way Amity Town is?"

The man lifted up a pale blue arm and pointed to his right. "It's that ways West of here. Past the grove and stream."

"Oh. Uh, thank you?" the singing had started back. Danny lingered a bit, than made to walk towards where the man had pointed. But he stopped when he realized how dark it was. Danny looked back towards the tower and back to the woods. Stay at the tower and possibly get killed by a demon looking man with too long hair, or travel through the woods in the dark, alone. Danny gave a resigned sigh and turned on his heel.

"Excuse me! Sir?" the singing ended again as a pale blue face peered over the window. The man's brows furrowed.

"Have you not left yet?" the man asked curiously.

"It's kind of getting dark. I don't want to go into the woods when it's dark. And... you said nobody comes here. So... Two birds, one stone?" The man hummed softly but said nothing.

"My name is Danny."

"Names have power, boy. Haven't you heard?" Danny almost smacked his forehead. Of course. First rule his parents drilled into him. Names give you power over others. Never give your name to a stranger or fae. And he had given it to a man with blue skin and red eyes. Idiot.

"Calm down," the man quips bemusedly. "I'm not a fae if that is what you're worrying bout."

Danny relaxed a bit. "But I never said I was harmless" the man gave a fanged grin.

And good feelings gone. "A-Any way to persuade you to ah... spare... me?"

The man slumped over the window and closed his eyes. "Talk." Danny hesitated and opened his mouth to ask- "Talk. Tell me about yourself. What is it like, your home. Your little town. The world... outside these woods," The man opened his eyes and said quietly, "I have no visitors. It is... quiet and still. I have not heard of the outside world for a long time now."

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir,

Et comme vous pouvez le voir

Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis

Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit"

So Danny talked. He told the man with he long black hair his love for the stars. Of his sister and her books, his parents and their obsession of the supernatural, his two friends (tough he didn't give their names) and his town. All the while, the blue man listened quietly with rapt attention. Danny hadn't realized how long he talked. But when he stopped, the stars were in the night sky and the woods surrounding the tower were pitch black. Danny blinked when he too realized that he had been playing with the ends of the blue man's hair while he talked.

"Sorry" Danny pulled hid fingers back. But the blue man simply hummed.

"DANNY!"

Danny whirled around when he heard his name being shouted. "D-DAD?!"

Jack stumbled into the clearing. The pile of wood on his back was gone and he held a torch in his hand. "Danny!" Jack looked behind him and called out, "I found him! I found Danny!" Jack grabbed him and pulled him into a crushing hug. Danny laughed relieved.

"Dad! You found me, finally!"

"Danny, we were so worried about you! The whole town's looking for you!"

Danny furrowed his brows in confusion. Really? He wasn't gone that long. It was around dusk when he got lost he gone that long?"Dad, it was just a few hours. I'm fine"

Jack looked at Danny like he had grew a second head."Danny, you've been missing foe three days." Danny felt himself freeze. No way. That wasn't possible. He became acutely aware of how hungry he felt, how his throat felt dry and raw and how tired he felt. "Oh..." He whispered hoarsely.

Jack looked past Danny's shoulder and widened his eyes. He pushed Danny behind him. "Danny! Get back!" Jack brandished his torch at the tower. Danny had almost forgotten about the tower. The blue man flinched when he saw the flames.

The man was so scared he could only run away
He ran to the town and then said
"I just saw a lady with the longest dark hair
And I think she's a living dead!"

"Dad! Wait, stop!" Danny yelled.

"So you're the fiend that trapped my son here! Well, you'll get what's coming for you demon!" Jack bellowed. He turned towards the woods where the emerged from. "Everyone, quick! Demon! Demon!"

Danny heard voices as lights emerged from the woods carried by men and women. They saw and heard Jacks frantic yelling and rushed over. Danny saw his mother and Jazz running towards him. They tackled him into a hug. "DANNY!" they looked so relieved.

"My baby. My poor baby. Danny you're ok," Maddie has tears in her eyes.

"I-I'm fine Mom, Jazz."

"What's not ok is that demon up there!" Jack yelled.

"Jack, what-"

"Maddie, look up there! In the tower!" Maddie raised her eyes and gasped. She saw him. Eyes like blood, skin of a drowned corpse and the hair. All of it. She shakily looked at her husband, "What?..."

"Maddie, that demon. That Thing," Jack gritted his teeth. He pointed to the blue man and said louder "That thing is the one that kept Danny here. If we don't stop it. It might target other children!" The townspeople gasped and their voice grew. Was it true. Yes! There it is! Look at its ghastly face and horrid fangs! It's a monster!

The people, so scared, took their guns and their swords
They ran to the tower and then
They saw the pale lady and felt a great fear
When they heard how she said it again

Danny was beginning to feel the inklings of panic and dread. Monster? But, he never... Danny looked up and saw the blue man half hiding behind the window sides. His long hair obscured half his face. But Danny saw his red eyes wide in horror.

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir
Et comme vous pouvez le voir
Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis
Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit"

The townspeople were shouting and yelling and waving their torches threateningly.

"My God, those eyes!"

"The Devil is among us!"

"It'll take our children!"

"KILL IT!"

"BURN IT ALIVE!"

The people, they knew what this all was about
She was clearly a demon from hell
They decided to set her long hair on fire
In the end it would burn her as well

"DAD NO! STOP!" Danny screamed. "What are you doing!"

"Danny, that thing is a menace! We have to destroy it before it causes more harm!"

"But- !"

"DESTROY IT! DEATH TO THE DEMON!"

Danny looked around desperately and looked up the tower. Fear and terror was gone from the blue man's eyes. All that was left was resignation. He seemed to have accepted his fate. Danny felt determination. Not on his watch. He broke from his parents grip and bolted to the side of the tower. Danny never was one of the more stronger boys in the town. He didn't even know how to climb a tree. Well, no time like the present.

Danny scaled up the side of the tower. He ignored his family's cries and the burning sensation in his arms and just kept going. One at a time. Breathe in, breathe out. Belatedly he realized someone had apparently torched the hair. And that it was steadily burning towards the top. MOVE IT FENTON

He doubled his efforts until, he felt his foot slip.

"DANIEL!"

Danny would have taken a 30 foot fall to his death were it not for the pale blue hand that shot out and caught his arm. The blue man hauled him inside of the tower away from his supposed doom. Danny panted on his hands and knees.

But the lady was no demon she was a lonely soul
Just like in that book they once read
Still waiting for her prince while her hair was on fire
The one last time she said

"You... HAH- saved me -HA- thank... you."

"No worries"

"Your hair!" Danny lurched to the window. The flames were getting dangerously close. About three fourths of the once long hair was gone. "We need to cut it!" Danny scrambled around the mostly bare room. Looking for a pair of scissors, a knife, anything-

"There!" the blue man pointed towards a dust covered vanity table off to the side. The was a dagger on it. It gleamed from what little light that came into the dark room and looked like the only well taken care of thing there. The flames were at the window now. Danny grabbed the blade and sheared off the hair at the blue man's shoulders. The rest of it was tossed out the window to be eaten by the fire.

Danny slumped back. It was over. He looked over to the blue man. Only... he wasn't blue anymore. The sickly blue faded and was replace by normal skin, though pale from lack of sun. The black in his hair drained and became silvery white strands. Danny looked up and found himself gazing back into dark blue eyes, that held unshed tears. The man smiled revealing straight white teeth and pulled Danny into a hug. Danny being too stunned to speak, hugged back. The man gave a breathless laugh and pulled back.

"My name is Vlad, dear boy."

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir
Et comme vous pouvez le voir
Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis
Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit"