(Some things just had to be done)
Abraham buried his face in the newspaper, pretending not to notice the quiet entrance of his vampire. Watching the beast over the top of the newspaper, he grinned to himself at the moment that Alucard noticed the odd box on the chest. There was nothing terribly unusual about the box, a simple cheap wooden crate, not even a foot long on any side.
But it was different.
Out-of-place in the tidy, elegant study.
Unexpected.
And therefore, it must be inspected.
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Alucard had been awake for nearly an hour, and was wandering the house, relaxing, and just idly strolling down the halls. As usual, he found his steps taking him to his master's office. Entering, he realized that, again as usual, Abraham was reading the newspaper, finding reports and records of interest in his research. The familiar room and its array of books was-
Wait.
A box?
What in the world was it doing here? It clearly wasn't part of the decor, not with its shabby, splintered slat sides. Perhaps Abraham had ordered something?
Curious, Alucard lifted the lid to peer inside.
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The spring-loaded toy jester sprang out of the box towards the shocked vampire, bells rattling loudly. Startled and briefly terrified, the vampire leaped backwards, only to catch a leg on the edge of a chair and fall over backwards with a shriek. Eyes huge, he scrambled backwards away from the attacking monster-in-the-box for a brief second.
Realization hit.
Eyes narrowed, he glared at his master.
Abraham studiously ignored him, casually turning to the next page in the newspaper. The huge grin splitting his face, however, gave him away.
After the vampire left, Abraham rang for the maid to clean up the splinters and scraps that were all that remained of his "Jack-in-the-Box."