"You simply must remind me what I was thinking when I agreed to let you stay here," the Countess drawled sarcastically as she watched Venus flit around her castle like a psychotic hummingbird. She'd spent nearly the entire visit so far complaining about anything and everything and it was finally getting on the Countess' last nerve.
"Oh, calm down, Corpse Face!" Venus waved off her vampiric hostess dismissively. "I'm just so bored!"
"I fail to see how that is my fault, or my problem," the Countess deadpanned.
"Well, for starters, you could own something a little more recent than, oh, I don't know… Last millennium?" Venus shot back, referring to all the old texts and treasures the Countess kept around the castle. As Venus said, it wasn't very entertaining for a modern audience. "It's so last season!"
"I would say that the Countess boasts una biblioteca enorme, but it figures that such sophistication is far beyond your level!" Venus and the Countess were interrupted by Carmelina. She was another guest of the Countess, but unlike Venus, she was a welcome one.
"Ha! Maybe you two losers don't mind being bored to death," Venus growled, then she paused to laugh at her own "witty" little joke, "But I would prefer something a little more… interesting! And lively…" Haha, another "clever" joke.
"Well, if you really must find something to do, you could always clean," Carmelina smirked. "Especially if you think this place is so filthy. Besides, I am sure that just trying to figure out how to work a broom will keep you occupied enough!"
"Oh hardy-har-har," Venus clapped sarcastically. "Looks like we got a real comedian here, folks!"
"It is only the truth," Carmelina shrugged. "I have seen that buco brutto you call a home. I am certain that you have never seen a broom in your life, let alone tried to use one!"
"Well no duh, stupid!" Venus snorted. "Do I look like the kind of creature who does menial labor?" Their squabbles continued until the Countess finally lost her patience and reprimanded them.
"That's enough!" she growled, rubbing her temples. Even though her voice was quiet, her tone was so commanding that it silenced the other two almost immediately. From the way she glared at them, though, it was clear she was infinitely more annoyed at Venus than Carmelina.
"Pfft, nepotism," Venus crossed arms, rolled her eyes, and muttered under her breath.
"Venus." The Countess finally addressed her troublesome guest directly. "It was only out of necessity that I allowed you to stay here for the night. Do not test my patience again and do not make me reconsider my generosity."
"Generosity?" Venus sneered, immediately testing the Countess' patience again. "You know full well that the only reason you let me stay is because you still owe me for that favor I did you last week! And you're too afraid to fight me!" She gave a haughty little laugh when the Countess did no more than frown. Although she loathed to admit it, Venus was right (for once).
The Countess was in need of fresh prey, but she'd been spotted around the village too recently. She sent Venus to collect intel in her stead. Who would make a suitable meal? No one was quite sure what Venus was, but among other things, she had the power to steal people's skin, and with it, their identity and appearance. That made her a huge asset to the Countess roughly seven days ago.
As for Venus' second point, while the Countess would not consider herself afraid to fight Venus, it was unnecessary. The Countess was not one for unnecessary bloodshed, it only wasted time, energy, and resources. Venus was a thorn in her side, yes, but that alone was not enough to warrant a war between them. The Countess had not survived so many centuries by challenging every slight she received.
Furthermore, Venus was stronger than she looked. Alongside the ability to steal skin and identity, Venus could secrete a toxin from her skin that paralyzed all who touched it. The first and last time she and the Countess ever battled was years ago, after Venus killed one of the Countess' little "pets" without realizing who they were. During that battle, the Countess got a taste of Venus' toxin, and a taste of defeat.
Venus was also a halfway decent fighter. The Countess had no idea where she learned to fight, but what she did know was that Venus was good at it. Perhaps it shouldn't have come as a shock. Some whispers said that Venus was even older than the Countess, despite her childish looks. If that was true, it wasn't so strange to think that Venus may have acquired some combat ability over the centuries. She certainly had the sadism.
Another thing the Countess learned about Venus over the years, drinking the blood of those who fell victim to her paralytic secretions made the Countess feel ill. It was not quite the same as actually getting sick, since she was undead and thusly unable to get sick the way she used to, but the feelings and symptoms mimicked that of poisoning.
In short, as much as the Countess may have disliked Venus, it was far wiser for them to be allies than enemies. That was why they were spending the night together at all. An unusually vicious snowstorm had rocked their forest and everyone needed some extra assistance.
"But, oh, the weather inside is frightful, too!" Venus joked darkly, voicing the sentiment she, Carmelina, and the Countess all shared. It was the only thing they could agree upon.
Carmelina was another victim to the snowstorm. She came to visit the Countess for Christmas and was snowed in before she could leave again. She may not have been capable of dying from the cold any longer, but it wasn't easy traveling through a world so weather-beaten that it was impossible to see more than a few inches ahead at a time.
"Believe me, being forced to spenda cold, miserable night like this isn't any more enjoyable for me than it is for you, idiota!" Carmelina hissed, baring her fangs. The Countess only rolled her eyes. They could never go long without bickering, could they? Perhaps the snowstorm would be preferable to the endless arguments and insults. The Countess' eyes flickered over to the castle door…
Knock! Knock, knock, knock! Knockknockknock!
Even through the howling wind, the sound of someone pounding on the door was audible inside the castle.
"Oh, great! Now what?" Venus complained. "I mean, were you expecting Christmas dinner? Did you order takeout?!"
At the same time, Carmelina cursed in every language she knew, which was a lot after spending so many centuries alive (or rather, undead).
"Are you expecting anyone else?!" she demanded of the Countess, accent even thicker in her indignation.
The Countess did not respond to anything. Instead, she only sighed tiredly before getting up slowly. She was not expecting visitors, contrary to what Venus and Carmelina seemed to think. The Countess was just as annoyed as they were, but she figured that it would be quicker and easier to get things over with than to try to ignore the knocking and hope it would eventually stop. The face that met the Countess' when she opened the door made her recoil in shock and suspicion.
"Witch!" She flashed her fangs threateningly. The Witch in question only gave the Countess a weary smile.
"I am sure you do not need me to tell you why we are here?" she joked dryly.
"We?" the Countess echoed. At the same time, the Witch stepped to the side. Standing behind her was a large pack of shivering wolves…
The Countess only stood back as a tide of snow-covered wolves shoved their way inside her castle, led by the Witch. Her tired expression, though, said more than words ever could. She was also far from the only one displeased with the new rooming situation.
"Non puoi dire sul serio!" Carmelina wailed as the wolves made their way through the castle's entrance hall.
"For once, I agree," Venus said, lip curling in disgust as she tried to doge the sea of freezing, smelly pelts as they tracked snow across the floor.
All around, the wolves looked equally wary. It was clear they weren't any happier being around two vampires and a… well, whatever Venus was, than the vampires and Venus were being around the wolves. Some of them even bared their fangs the same way the Countess had done earlier. Others crept along with their tails between their legs and their ears laid back flat against their heads.
Only the Alpha morphed into her human form, so she could speak with her hostess and temporary new roommates.
"What are you doing here? You do not live here!" she growled at Venus and Carmelina as she rose up out of her wolf body.
"They're doing the same thing you are, wolf," the Countess hissed. The wolf-girl's guarded snarl faded.
"Ah, right, yes. Shelter! From the storm! That is… an understandable thing," she nodded slowly, thoughtfully, tapping her chin. A second later, she gave them all a sheepish, apologetic smile.
At the same time, the Witch closed the castle doors behind them. The Alpha was the last one in. As the doors swung shut, though, one last gust of icy wind slipped inside. Because the Alpha was now in her soft-body form, the cold was especially painful for her. She shivered violently and wrapped her arms around her naked frame as best she could.
"Airheaded mongrel," Venus muttered, casting a disdainful glare from a very safe distance deeper inside the main hall. Carmelina looked just as repulsed as Venus, also standing deeper inside the main hall, but as far away from Venus as possible.
"Thank you, Countess," the Witch murmured as she moved back into the castle and away from the door.
"Hmph," the Countess replied, but for the first time since the Witch knocked on her door, her expression softened, even if only a little. She was pleased that the Witch, at least, had some sense of propriety. They were not close, but of everyone else in the castle, minus Carmelina, there was no one else the Countess would've rather been trapped with.
"But how and why did you come all the way out here?" the vampire asked the other woman. Her castle was deep in the Blackwood Forest. The Witch's cottage, meanwhile, was closer to the village.
"My own home could not withstand the gale," the Witch finally explained, a pained looking crossing her face. "I had no choice but to flee." The house was not destroyed, but it was so full of snow that it was impossible to live in. The windows and door had all given out. "Even with all my magic, it was not enough to hold back the storm forever, the best we could do was run while we were still able."
The Witch sighed. She could only imagine how nightmarish the cleanup and repairs would be…
"Oof, talk about a winter wonderland!" Venus snickered.
"Venus!" the Countess chided her other guest, shooting her a disapproving glare.
"What? It was a joke!" Venus defended herself, but the Countess kept frowning. Venus' smirk turned into a pout. "Oh, come on, Blood-Breath! Jeez! Get a sense of humor! Can't a supernatural entity beyond mortal comprehension make a joke every once in a while, or is that "unhip" now?"
"Jokes are meant to be funny, though, are they not?" the Countess asked innocently, the smallest of smirks flickering across her face. While Venus seethed, crossing her arms, it was Carmelina's turn to laugh.
"It appears that the Countess has a sense of humor after all!" she taunted Venus. "And to no one's surprise, it is far superior to yours!"
"Thank you, my dear," the Countess bowed her head appreciatively, still smirking.
"Oh, whatever," Venus growled, rolling her eyes and turning away. The vampires continued to laugh together at her expense.
After long enough, though, the conversation returned to the snowstorm. With the cottage no longer a tenable option, the Witch packed what little she had left and made her way to the vampire's castle. To the many and diverse inhabitants of the forest, of them who knew the Countess, they were fairly sure she was one of the only creatures in the entire forest who had a manmade home, aside from the Witch, of course.
The Witch had just enough magic to reach the vampire's castle without worry of freezing to death or getting lost. The castle, she knew, was far better suited to surviving the storm than her cottage was. The castle was large and strong, made entirely of stone, just as much a fortress as it was a home. The weather had no power under the Countess' roof, but even better than the thick walls were the abundant fireplaces.
Once everyone was safely inside, the Countess led them all to one of the many living rooms that littered the castle. Once there, the Witch had the honor of lighting the fire, using a spell to enchant the hearth such that the warmth of the flames reached every corner of the room equally. No one had to fight for a spot close to the fire.
"Mmmmm! This is soooo nice," the Alpha looked much happier now that she was curled up by the fire, surrounded by the warm, furry bodies of the rest of her pack. She was still naked, since she was still in soft-body form, but she was so covered up by the other wolves that it was as if she was swaddled in a large fur blanket.
"Hmm, certainly a useful spell for appeasing a large crowd," Carmelina eyed the Witch closely as she stepped away from the hearth.
"Ah, it was just a little parlor trick I learned so that I could move around my cottage freely without feeling tempted to spend the entire day by the fireside," she said, smirking slightly as a few final wisps of smoke emanated from her fingertips.
"I can see the appeal," the Countess agreed. "But what I want to know is how the wolves entered the picture."
"They came to me for the reason I came to you," the Witch replied. "They hoped that I had a spell that would help them keep the effects of the storm at bay. Alas, I was just as powerless to protect my home as I was to protect theirs." As she said earlier, flight was their only option in the end. She gave a quiet, mournful sigh. "I must confess, I feel as though I have let them down."
"They shall find rest and warmth here," the Countess promised. "At least until the storm ends and it is safe to travel again."
"Thank you again, so very much," the Witch bowed to the Countess. "I will never forget your kindness."
"Nor I yours," the Countess replied, gracing the Witch with a small smile. She and the Witch were not friends, per se, as noted earlier, but the Witch had done favors for the Countess in the past. Perhaps the biggest of all was the cloaking spell made specifically for the Countess' castle.
The Countess didn't know the particulars of the spell. She just knew that it made her castle hard to find, large though it was. Venus was a prime example. She didn't visit the Countess often, but she'd still been to the castle several times before. Despite this, because of the obfuscating nature of the cloaking spell, she still couldn't always find her way to the castle easily. The Countess assumed that because the Witch was the one who made the spell, she knew how to see through it, despite the enchantment. That still didn't explain how she managed to make it all the way over through such a violent and brutal blizzard, though, and with all the wolves, no less.
"Oh! She created a spell that made this giant, golden-red, whirlpool-thing appear right in the middle of the air!" the Alpha exclaimed, suddenly jumping into the conversation and continuing the story for the Witch. "Even though she said she didn't have any protection spells, she did have a tall- tails- talisman! And after spinning it around in her hands, a… portal opened up right in front of us! It looked like the surface of a lake, except it was upright, and spinning, and it shined red and gold rather than blue or gray or any other color of water."
The wolf-girl's eyes grew distant with memory. "She took us back to where the rest of the pack was waiting. We rounded everyone up and she used the talisman again and we were able to make our way here! Walking through that portal felt like walking through a narrow forest path, except everything all around us was spinning! But… it didn't affect any of us. It looked strange, but we were able to make it through untouched." The Alpha seemed puzzled by this part of the experience. She tilted her head, eyes wandering as she pondered the portal.
"It was fun!… I think. I remember feeling as if we were running faster than normal, even though it was hard to tell, since everything was just a red and gold blur. It was almost like being caught in a swirl of autumn leaves, or swimming with a current downstream. I… am… not sure if I liked it, or not… Hmm…" The Alpha finally trailed off. She was easily the chattiest of the bunch, as well as the most childish and wide-eyed.
"A teleportation spell?" the Countess asked as the Alpha finished talking. She gave the Witch a very interested look.
"You needn't worry," the Witch replied, understanding the implied question behind what the Countess actually asked. "The talisman was a gift from someone I helped in years passed. There is a limitation on how many times I can use it, and there aren't many left." It was a vague answer, but the Countess decided to trust her. In the same way the Witch understood what the Countess was implying, the reverse was also true.
This teleportation spell was not a lasting part of the Witch's arsenal, meaning that the Countess did not need to worry about her abusing it, or using it for selfish or shady works. Likewise, the longer she needed to keep the portals open, the farther she needed to travel, or the more people or items she needed to carry through also affected how many more portals she could create.
"And I can already guarantee that I will need at least one more when the wolves finally return home," she said. It was enough to convince the Countess to put it out of her mind. It would be a long time before the world was warm enough that the inhabitants of the forest could afford to be one another's rivals again. For now, every mind was focused only on surviving the winter.
The Witch and wolves no longer needed to worry, though, thanks to the Countess. She was not used to having so many other living beings in her home, and she didn't entirely like it, but she was a vampire of her word. She promised that they could stay until it was safe to leave again, she wasn't going to go back on that promise.
In time, the tension began to fade. Although everyone was still a little on edge, such a diverse array of creatures packed into one room, but the warmth of the fire melted some of the mistrust and the dirty looks were no longer as frequent or intense as before. Conversations rose and fell as the night carried on, and eventually, one by one, everyone started to fall asleep.
The Alpha finally returned to her wolf form, the Witch lay on the largest couch in the room, several blankets wrapped around her, and even Venus found a comfortable spot to curl up in. Contrary to expectation, it was not a spot in a far corner away from everyone else. Instead, she was fairly close to the wolf pack. It surprised Carmelina and the Countess, because it was entirely voluntary, and they were both certain that it was the first time they'd ever seen Venus looking content.
The vampires themselves took up residence at the back of the room. Even though the Witch's spell diffused the heat of the fire equally around the room, it was still instinctual for the living creatures to huddle near the hearth. Carmelina and the Countess, meanwhile, chose the back of the room because it was emptier, meaning they could speak without fear of waking someone up.
"What a heartwarming sight," the Countess' lips twisted as she surveyed the scene before her, everyone sleeping peacefully together. The Vampires, the Witch, and the Werewolves (and whatever the Hell Venus was), what a ragtag little band of misfits and miscreants they made.
"Sì," Carmelina agreed with a soft giggle. "Ordinarily, I would say that it is a little much for my taste, but, when I am with you, I find it molto bella!" she declared, wrapping an arm around her beloved companion.
"Carmelina, you are incorrigible," the Countess grumbled, but she no longer made any effort to hide her true emotions. Instead, she gave Carmelina a very affectionate smile before wrapping her own arm right back around the other vampire and resting her cheek on Carmelina's head.
"Do not pretend that you do not love it, Contessa," Carmelina purred, resting her head on the Countess' shoulder and smiling mischievously.
"That I do, Carmelina, that I do," the Countess admitted, and they shared one last laugh before settling back into silence.
Before long, the only sounds left were the gentle breathing of their (living) guests, the crackling of the fire, and the distant howl of the winter wind outside. The weather inside wasn't so frightful anymore.
AN: Dangerous ASMR, as her name suggests, is a YouTube/ ASMRtist. She does fantasy roleplays, SFW and NSFW.
This particular fic was inspired by an original saga of hers that combines three of her series into one canon (Yandere Werewolf, Yandere Witch, "Seduced by a Vampire" series).
I was super into her stuff from roughly Fall 2019-Fall 2021 and I'm finally going to post some of the fics I wrote for her works. This one was originally written in Winter 2019.
Italian translations:
Una biblioteca enorme: A massive library
Buco brutto: Ugly hole
Idiota: Idiot
Non puoi dire sul serio!: You can't be serious!
Sì: Yes
Molto bella: Very beautiful
Contessa: Countess
