Hiya friends! Soooo real quick, before we begin.I spent six and a half hours writing the outline for this story. I had so much fun coming up with an absolutely insane story and I hope you'll find as much joy out of this as I did outlining it. With that being said, here are some important notes for you.This is your content warning.If you don't like blood, descriptions of nudity or genitalia, vulgarity, questionable business practices, the patriarchy, the matriarchy, hemophilia or have hemophobia, an aversion to spooky stuff, have a severe hatred for Jacques Schnee, or anything remotely akin to literal skeletons in closets, you've been warned.Otherwise, please enjoy the *absolute* insanity that is The Mansion of Blood.
Erin Coldwell dragged the towel in her hand across the vanity mirror. When it finally came clean without leaving any streaks, she smiled in victory. No one would complain this time. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was around, and after noticing that she was completely alone in the bedroom, she opened the vanity drawer to poke around a bit.
The drawer was a well organized kaleidoscope of expensive makeup. Erin assumed it was worth more money than she had ever owned in her short eighteen years on Remnant.
That was good enough for her. She picked up an ovular container that caught her eye and examined it. She recognized the symbol on its lid, belonging to a brand that was only sold in high end shops on Atlas. Not that she ever had the chance to buy any. Mantle had a single high end jewelry and makeup shop, and Erin had quickly learned that klepting its merchandise multiple times was going to be a difficult challenge.
But this? This was taking candy from a spoiled brat that got whatever she wanted. It was just her skin tone, and she could desperately use some of it to cover some oncoming acne beginning to dot her cheeks. The Heiress definitely wouldn't miss it. She looked up into the mirror for a brief moment to make sure no one had snuck into the room with her.
Erin reached into the hem of her leggings and pulled out a baggie. She put the makeup inside it and poked around a bit more. She found a nude colored lipstick that she wanted, and put that in the baggie too. Taking one last look to make sure she was alone, Erin pushed the bag down into the front of her pants and carefully inserted the items.
Satisfied with her findings, Erin briefly touched up the drawer, dusted the rest of the vanity, and continued around the bedroom with her cleaning supplies.
The Heiress' bedroom was not only dark in color, but seemed to be bathed in a sort of malevolence Erin couldn't quite wrap her head around. The black and crimson coloring of the room made her feel a bit boxed in. It was, however, one of the easier rooms to steal from. The Heiress kept many valuables in her bedroom, most of which were not likely to be under lock and key, except for the weapon case on the nightstand next to her bed. What was inside Erin could only guess, but it must have been important because it bore the Schnee Family's signature snowflake.
When Erin arrived at the main dresser, a long and sturdy piece of furniture made from birchwood from Forever Fall, she couldn't help but find what lay within. This too had a mirror, which made Erin wonder how someone could stand to be looking at themselves constantly while in their own bedroom.
She sprayed the mirror and wiped it down, even though it was absolutely pristine, and dusted the top, the drawers, and the knobs. Satisfied that it was clean, Erin opened the top drawer which held a number of scarves, hats, and gloves. While a scarf did sound nice, it wasn't something she could easily hide. She would have to opt for something more personal, something she could conceal. That's when she noticed there were bows in the drawer as well.
Erin set her supplies on the top of the dresser and fished out one of the articles. She looked up at the top of her head, where two pointy ears were sticking out of her pixie styled strawberry blonde hair. She had only seen this done once or twice, but Erin used her hands to fluff her hair before tying the bow to cover her ears. She wiggled them under the cloth, seeing them dance back and forth, and let out a quiet laugh at how ridiculous she looked. Erin sighed and unwrapped the bow from her head, replacing the cloth into the drawer and closing it.
Erin finished up in the room, the only thing left being to take the trash out. She went over to the bin next to the Heiress' bed and carried it off between her forearm and hip. When she stepped out into the hallway to dump it in their team cart, two others were patiently waiting for her nearby.
"Took you long enough," said the redhead named Odessa, "we almost left without you."
"Yeah, what were you doing in there?" Asked the blonde named Alyx. Erin put on a deadpan expression and lazily tipped the trash can over the bag on the cart.
"Cleaning, clearly." She said to them, putting another small bag in the can.
"Well, hurry up! We only have a few minutes before inspection, then we can go back to the Dorm and relax before dinner."
"Yeah yeah, I'm going, jeez." Erin went back into the room and placed the can on the floor next to the Heiress' bed. She stole her eyes away from anything else that might tempt her, and went back into the hall to join her counterparts. The weapon case was still present in her mind. She'd find out what was in it someday, she told herself.
She nodded to the others and they dragged the cart down the long hallway towards the front entrance of Schnee Manor, where the rest of the cleaning crew would be, for their daily shakedown.
Even after three months employed at Schnee Manor, Erin could never quite get over just how filled the hallways were with pictures, tables, and antiques. It had to have taken years to develop a single hallway let alone the entire Manor with all this expensive junk. There wasn't much to take from the halls; any of the occupied rooms were capable of having something in them both worth something and small enough to smuggle out, but those were the furthest and fewest in the Mansion.
If any of the crew were scheduled to the main rooms, including The Heiress' bedroom, they were shaken down twice a day. Their belongings were meticulously checked by The Heiress and her little twat of a brother, Whitley. Anything with pockets was scoured for items that didn't belong to them.
Erin smiled to herself. Although it was slightly uncomfortable after a while, the cavity between her legs that she had used on occasion for this very thing was both secure and off limits for a shakedown. She wondered for a moment if she was the only one doing this. They were all women after all. Creepy Jacques Schnee never settled for anything less than lolitas in the shortest possible skirts.
Odessa and Alyx gently raised the cart and carried it down the winding stairs in the mansion foyer. Erin followed them closely, supporting the duo as they did so. The Heiress and Whitley were already waiting for them. Four others were standing in a line in the foyer, looking mighty tired and like they just wanted to get it over with and go back to the Dorm to get a few hours of shut eye before a lengthy evening.
The group unslung their aprons and presented their cleaning supplies. All shoes and gloves were removed for inspection. The Heiress and Whitley both started their search, and as always, Erin was the one left for last. As the duo made their way to her, mumbling to the girls in acceptance as they did so, Erin sighed.
Being the only Faunus on staff at the Manor had its clear downsides. As Odessa and Alyx were released, Erin realized that without them she'd have to clean the cart off all by herself. Again.
The Heiress held her hands behind her back and gently raised herself on the balls of her right foot, kind of like a ballerina, so she could slightly meet Erin's height. She was startling sharp in her regal features, sporting large crimson eyes that seemed to break through just about any superficial barrier. Her jaw length white hair somehow framed her thin face in such a way that made her both pleasant to look at and unnervingly supernatural simultaneously. The nasty scar running down across her left eye practically sewed her visage together.
"I assume my room is in tip-top shape?" The Heiress bent forward slightly and smiled incredulously.
"Surfaces dusted, mirrors streak-free, trash can emptied, bed made, curtains straightened."
The Heiress nodded and motioned to Whitley who relieved her of her cleaning supplies and apron. While he did so, The Heiress cleared her throat as she looked Erin in the eye.
There was that feeling again.
"Shake out your bra."
Erin reached up to her shirt and pinched the edges of her bra, pulling them slightly away from her skin and giving a good shake. When nothing came out, The Heiress nodded. Whitley placed the girl's cleaning supplies and her apron on the cart.
"All set, sister."
"Wonderful. You're free to go Ms. Coldwell." The Heiress sauntered past her, but Whitley stopped for a moment.
"Try not to be late for supper, won't you?" He winked at her.
Erin felt her face change, if only slightly. I could snap you in two, you little shit.
The pair exchanged stares, much like Erin had with The Heiress, but Whitley was much less intimidating. He was definitely her brother, with the same crimson eyes and white hair, only Whitley was unusually odd in some way.
"Whitley." The Heiress gave him a warning, to which he quickly obeyed.
"Coming, sister." He gave her one last look and darted up the stairs after his sister.
Thoroughly disgusted by the boy, Erin dragged the cart near the door and donned her coat. She made the somewhat lengthy trip to the dumpsters near the road and back to the Dorm building on-grounds.
The so-called dorm building was a two story brick structure with a chimney and an extension on its side. Several windows lined the walls which Erin actually quite liked because of the amount of natural light they brought in. Sad to say it felt a bit cramped given the limited space on both floors, and Erin was definitely not one for cuddling.
Erin opened the main door and dragged the cart inside. Once everything was in the closet where it should be, Erin walked past nine other beds in the hall to fall into her own at the end. For a moment she didnt bother to do anything. It was nice enough to simply close her eyes and relax, or at least as much as she could with the multiple voices and TV blaring on the opposite wall.
"Hey, give me the remote, stop hogging the TV!"
"Fuck off, it's my turn to pick."
Erin raised her head off her pillow and retrieved it to shield her ears from the upcoming sissy fight.
"We've already watched Love More Than Likely this week, nobody wants to watch crappy romcoms over and over, Elisif!"
"Of all people, Victoria, you could use the romance tips. Or do you just want all your relationships to end in ass eating and abject horror?"
A loud growl coming from the direction of the altercation suddenly threw the room into conflict. Erin simply buried her head further into her pillow.
"You take that back right now!" Victoria screeched.
"Make me!"
"Bitch, I'm gonna murder y-"
"What on Remnant is going on down here?"
Everyone quieted instantly. The elder voice filled the room with authority like a resounding horn. Erin looked up from her pillow, only to find the girls staring back at one Laurel Cain, Head Maid of Schnee Manor. The older woman trusted her way to the center of the room and began asking several questions.
A girl with short blonde hair similar to Erin's, whose back was turned towards her, was animatedly describing how she hadn't gotten to choose something to watch in over a week. Seeing as how the remote went clockwise around the room each day, it should have been easy enough to get her chance. It did however sometimes get screwed to hell when Erin refused to touch the remote whatsoever, every single time, and if someone refused it went to a random person courtesy of Erin's choice. Sometimes it was fun to pick Elisif over and over for this very reason.
Oh well. She could enjoy the bitches tear one another to shreds. So long as it didnt involve her, Erin could care less.
As Laurel attempted to diffuse the situation, Erin went to the bathroom to retrieve her small prizes. And she had to use the bathroom, too. Even she thought it was silly that she would just sit on a toilet for five minutes only to waste water.
Finding an empty stall, Erin sat down and spread her legs, fishing the baggie out from inside her, and let the dams of her bladder loose as she checked the makeup for any defects. Still dry and still usable. Perfect.
She finished using the bathroom and stood at the sink with her newfound products, dumping the baggie and washing her hands. She didnt have to use the coverup just yet, but the lipstick she could try. Once she applied it, she took in the look of her matte nude lips and how it matched her green eyes and vanilla skin just right.
Oh yeah. She was looking great.
Erin scooped her newfound products in hand and casually walked back to her bunk while the debate between the women continued. Thankfully, and maybe unfortunately this time of year, her bunk was the last one near the corner, which was the coldest and most solitary bed in the hall. The girls were still occupied by Laurel, so now was a good time to stash things away.
Erin reached under her bed, moved a couple of books out of the way, and fished out a locked shoebox. She swiftly input the combination while it was still on the floor and swung open the top, looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody was snooping on her.
She gently set the makeup inside the box next to an opal necklace, some snowflake earrings, and a few other odds and ends she had grabbed in the previous weeks. She never stole Lien, that would be quite suspicious, but she did steal the next best thing. Anything she could sell for massive profit was hers for the taking. She considered having one of the tiny bottles of alcohol taken from the cellar as a little victory, but there were too many of her counterparts in the hall. She would have to wait until lights out.
Then the TV suddenly shut off. Erin closed and locked her stash and slid it back underneath her bunk.
"Hey, no fair Laurel!" One of the girls complained.
The older woman was standing between the two rows of beds, looking quite pleased with herself. She pointed at them with the remote still in hand like she was scolding children.
Which, if Erin thought of it, probably wasn't far from the truth right now.
"Get some rest and quit melting your brains with that damn television. Your scrolls are already torture enough on your eyes. And you," she pointed at the waifish girl that was Elisif, "stop terrorizing your roommates with objectively bad romance movies." Laurel went back up the stairs, ending the conflict.
For a moment Elisif, a petite brown eyed girl with pigtails and bangs, curled up in her bed and fell over with a thud. Erin could see a slight hint of tears in her eyes, a far cry from the defensive and vulgar teenager she was only moments ago.
The tall one who had been complaining, which was Victoria with the short blonde hair, was sitting on the edge of her bunk grumbling to herself with her arms crossed. A numerous amount of vulgarities materialized under her breath, aimed at nearly everyone involved, and Erin wasn't sure she would have heard any of it were she not a faunus.
Erin flopped back onto her pillow and closed her eyes. With the TV off it was more likely she would finally get a good nap in until later that evening.
Until, of course, a body flopped onto the bed beside her own.
"Sooooooo," the interloper began. Erin waved her away.
"Leave me alone, Maggie. I'm not in the mood."
She could practically hear the pout from Maggie in her response. "Don't you wanna hear what I have to say?"
"You do a lot of that" Erin replied, slightly muffled, "but if you insist." The faunus rose herself off her chest and leaned over to face her.
Maggie lit up in excitement. The brunette rapidly clapped her hands, and suddenly a devious smile spread across her face. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"The Heiress' little twat of a brother is a pervert, you know."
"Shocking." Erin deadpanned.
"No no, like, extremely. I mean full on watching staff when they bend over and sneaking a peak under the hood." She looked over her shoulder at the rest of the girls in the room. Turning back to Erin she continued, dropping her voice even further. "I think I saw him snap a photo on his scroll of Victoria's undercarriage when she was scrubbing the dining room floor the other day."
That earned a genuine laugh from Erin. "Undercarriage." She repeated mockingly. "You never cease to make me laugh Mags." Erin readjusted herself and dragged a book from her nightstand. She opened it to her bookmark and attempted to ignore the other girl completely.
"Wait, I'm not finished!" Maggie protested, pushing the book closed in Erin's hands, which earned a hostile look in response.
"I don't want anything to do with Whitley." She swung the book away. "Let 'im perv on Victoria. She's probably trying to get him hot and bothered anyway. I swear her uniform skirt is way shorter than all of ours for that very reason."
Maggie suddenly held her hands out in explanation, slightly overshadowing a startled Erin.
"You see but that's just the thing. If we can find proof and tell Jacques, maybe we can get him and Victoria in trouble."
Erin scoffed. "Mags, we're not in middle school. This is just a job that happens to have a creepy individual, let alone the entire family, euck." She shook in her bed.
Maggie froze in thought and dropped her hands at her sides. "You might have a point."
Erin pointed at her. "You of all people should know not to mess with rich folk, they're like cockroaches. Plus we signed a contract. Pretty sure not a single one of those clauses allows us to mess with the patriarchy that is the Schnee family."
"Wait, you actually read the whole thing?"
"Did you not?"
Maggie scratched the back of her head. "Uh- uhm, well, n-no."
"Idiot." Erin said.
Maggie reverted into a protest. "I'm pretty sure klepting anything of value and stuffing it in your pussy isn't either."
Erin's eyes went wide and she held a finger to her mouth. "Shhh! Don't say it so loud."
"Or what?"
Feeling the challenge burning behind her eyes, Erin gently closed her book and set it on the nightstand. She let out a huff and looked away in any direction but Maggie's.
"You're right, it isn't, but I'm not sorry.You want to start making his life a living hell?"
"Duh, since the day we got here. I kinda wanna fuck around with Weiss, too." She smiled. Erin looked back at her, seeing a newly formed and oddly predatory look on Maggie's child-like features.
"I don't like that look you get when you start coming up with ridiculous plans." Erin said.
"Come on, Erin, you know you want to~" she sang.
"And you just have to involve me, why?"
"Becaaaaaause you've got mad skills and you're the only faunus here. You're already good at taking what isn't yours and hiding it in places no one can find. You're practically a ninja, striking from the shadows. H'yah, h'uah, hah!" Maggie threw her hands around like she was battling a ghost.
"Ah yes, because when I finally get caught stuffing makeup in my ham wallet I'll throw down a smoke bomb like a dweeb and say 'ninja vanish'."
Maggie gasped. "You know how to make smoke bombs?"
Erin looked back at her, mouth hanging open. "Wha- no, it was a joke."
Maggie sat back down. "Oh. Be kinda cool if you could though."
"Even if I wanted to, I'm not a licensed Huntress."
"Rules never stopped you before. What's stopping you from building such an arsenal of trinkets?"
Erin scoffed and crossed her arms. "Atlas Prison, that's what is different, it's nothing like Mantle where I could get away with stealing from the same shops several times a week and only get a slap on the wrist. They have real consequences here. I can't just leave ninjutsu around the Manor."
"Mantle didn't need jails or security when you had your Mom."
Erin raised an eyebrow, prompting Maggie to continue.
"Remember when she found your bloody rags stuffed down the drain after that scuffle with the Happy Huntresses, and you told her a bunch of vampires tried to suck your blood? How many bottles of drain-o did you say it took?"
"Three, and that was a string of bad luck and you know it. Knowing our luck this family is a bunch of blood sucking canabilist vampires. Whitley probably wants to eat Victoria ass first on a silver platter for all we know. Might be why he's so fixated."
"Eww, Erin!" Maggie covered her ears and slammed her eyes shut. "Why would you put that image in my head?!"
Erin smiled. "Payback, you little shit."
Maggie groaned and rubbed at her eyes. "I think I need to bleach my brain."
Erin grabbed her book again. "There's a new bottle in the closet. Might not want to use all of it though, I have a feeling we'll need it sooner or later."
"...why?" Maggie looked at her innocently.
"A hunch." Erin turned her page, trying not to crack a smile.
"Don't bullshit me like that! What if they actually are vampires? What do we do if one of us gets eaten?" She slapped her palms against her temples. "Or worse."
"What could be worse than being devoured by a family of hungry vampires on a fancy table?"
"The very fact that they'll literally cook us like nondescript holiday turkeys?"
Erin let out a laugh, a thought crossing her mind that she couldn't help but terrorize Maggie with. "At least they'll honor you by stuffing an apple in your mouth and filling your butt with mistrali seasoning, then baking you in a brick oven until your skin is nice and crispy like a Valeian deep dish pizza."
Maggie's innocent eyes continued to widen. "Erin, stop, that's disgusting, I don't like it!"
"I'm sure Whitley has a recipe written up just for Victoria. He probably calls it "V for Vore.'"
"Oh my gods you're right, they might have one for me too. What am I gonna do? I can't go out like that, they'll gut me on a meat hook like some unlucky swine, o-or dice me into chunks for a soup! I'd be a literal Magpie!"
Erin groaned. "Yes little birdie, this is why you're stuck here with me. You're so gullible it's making my brain cells commit suicide one by one just listening to you."
"I'm not stuck, nor am I gullible. Stop treating me like a child. I. Drink. Milk."
Erin looked up at her and held her gaze until Maggie spoke again. Looking visibly upset and stressed out by the thought of being made into a meal, Maggie pouted and attempted to divert her attention only to see Erin still staring at her from the corner of her eye.
"I hope they eat you first, assface." She said.
Erin smiled and pretended to focus on her book again. Just as she had predicted, Maggie got bored without anyone entertaining her. The girl took one look at Erin and just had to open her mouth one more time.
"What's a ham wallet?"
We are starting off strong today folks! I hope to get far enough into this close to Halloween so buckle up! This is going to be one crazy ride.If you haven't figured it out already (and I genuinely feel bad if thats the case) there's a reason why this is rated M. I know it'll likely miss some targets with some and might hit dead on with others, but this is an AU after all.Erin and the crew are not explicitly based off anyone or any group, they're just OCs. With that being said, I'm off to work on the next chapter!Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay in the light!