Chapter 3: The Twilight Girl
Joe Dark lied on his side with a smile on his face. His chest breathed in-and-out at a steady pace, while his body sunk an inch into the mattress. His cupped hands acting as a makeshift pillow.
No dreams. No nightmares. Just him and the quiet snores he released. This was a prime example of how a good rest does the body good.
And in the blink of an eye he was grabbed by the hip and yoinked right off the mattress like a sheet that needed cleaning.
He woke up only after hitting the cold floor, the jolt to his brain scrambling his limbs onto all fours. He did a few hard pants before registering his compromised position.
He then heard a rough guffaw from behind and turned his head aside with a glare to find Grimmley standing beside the bed flashing his silvery fanged smile.
Joe Dark was quick to rise and rub his scraped arm. His good mood, soured. His tone of voice, pissed.
"You better have a damn good reason for waking me up, mutt."
"All monsters are to attend every meal. No exception." Grimmley growled with the firm bite of a general.
"I am not one of you." Joe Dark insisted, which was reflected back into his face by Grimmley's curt laugh.
"Hehe, sure..." Grimmley clawed the air beside his face and stated, "You are our master's 'guest'. Count your blessings that you have his and the princess' favor, or I'd gladly turn you into his next meal."
Joe Dark's eyes turned a bright red and looked bloody as he narrowed his glare, "I could kill every one of you in the time it'd take for you to breathe your last breath."
Grimmley guffawed and folded his arms across his chest, "Nice fangs. We'll make a good monster out of you yet."
Joe Dark loosened up a little and sighed, "This must be a daily occurrence around here."
"Good," Grimmley muttered ominously through loose lips as he walked past Joe Dark, "You're adjusting quickly."
When the furry man vacated the room Joe Dark rubbed the back of his scalp. He felt like going back to bed, except...
It wasn't really necessary. He was only sore where he landed on the ground and in his head for obvious reasons. The rest of his body had the vigor and freshness of a young child.
He could roll his wrists with ease, stand up straight without feeling a crick in his neck, and his stomach...growled. He rubbed his belly and murmured, "Well what the hell..."
He'd have to be thankful to a mattress made by monsters? Sure. Why the hell not? He gave it a light bow and then exited the room to head for the dining hall.
The night rain had cleansed the air and gave it a crisp, fresh morning smell with the sun's help. He didn't look out too long however, cause it was incredibly bright.
Joe Dark had to remind himself multiple times that he was in a den of monsters as he noticed how calm and peaceful his walk was. The castle was still ugly as sin though. No amount of sunlight would fix that. But for now maybe, just maybe, he'd be willing to let that slide.
A short couple of minutes later Joe Dark arrived in the dining hall and appeared to be the last to get here. Some of the more impatient monsters, Dracula included, were already stuffing their faces full of the same slop from last night.
And the Lord of the Night couldn't have the decency to stop as he projected his voice across the room, "You're late, Joe Dark."
"Is that why you sicced your guard dog on me?" Joe Dark smiled at the foul growl Grimmley gave him as he rounded his side of the table.
"You could've mentioned this last night. You night crawlers are the last group I'd expect to enjoy breakfast."
"All meals hold equal value in my domain," Big words for a monster treating his plate like a trough, "You will learn to understand in time."
"Yeah yeah..." Joe Dark whispered and rolled his shoulders. As he passed by Alura she pulled away from her plate to say, "Good morning, Joe Dark."
"Mornin'." He said in a haste. He stopped at his plate and found that his meat had already been cooked.
"Huh..." He scooped some up and stuffed it in his mouth, "How about that."
It tasted roughly the same, maybe a little grittier. Taste's nothing to complain about, but...
"Can I at least have some eggs or toast with this?" The monsters had been accommodating to his demands so far so this would be no different.
"Hahaha!" Grimmley laughed, "You eat what you're served, whelp. Bake it, broil it, fine...But don't expect any sides or drinks.
"Though if its eggs you want, I have plenty right here!" Plagueis said, unveiling a row of vile, bubbling boils along each finger. Fly eggs. It nearly made Joe Dark throw up.
"Ghh! Take your piss larva and shove it!"
"Oh! Don't mind if I do!" And thus Plagueis consumed all those eggs in one slime-ridden bite.
Joe Dark's mouth shoved off to the side of his face in disgust and he put all eyes on his meal, though ate much slower now. This time around he managed to eat just a little bit more, and the remains went to Dracula.
After two meals and a good night's rest it seemed as good a time as any to head out. Of course things couldn't be that simple.
"Joe Dark..." Dracula bellowed behind his back.
"Haaaaa...What?" Joe Dark said as he lazily looked over his shoulder.
"Today, you will escort Alura on her walk through the village." He said without pause.
"Him?!" Grimmley tried to express outrage but was frozen midway by Dracula's gaze.
"For once I agree with razor beard," Joe Dark tucked his hands in his pockets and faced the Lord of the Night, "I'm no one's errand boy. Get one of your mooks to fulfill your request."
"I do not make requests." Dracula's word dripped out an arctic chill that dropped Joe Dark's body temperature to sub-zero levels.
He stuttered, and could see his own breath as thick as fresh morning fog. He tensed his fists and remarked, "F-Fine! I GUESS I can escort that mannequin for a bit."
The temperature returned to normal at the pace of Dracula's nostrils inhaling. He smiled and whispered, "That's good."
"Don't have too much fun at my expense..." Joe Dark grumbled and turned to Alura. She wiped the meat juice from her face to her gloves and stared blinking at him.
"I need to get my parasol, Joe Dark, can you meet me at the gate?"
"Oh no take your time, I'm in no rush." He snipped with a roll of the eyes.
When she gave a worrying nod he quickly growled back, "D-Don't take that seriously! Grab it fast and lets get the hell out of here!"
She stared for a prolonged period, nodded again, then finally departed. Joe Dark sighed all the way to the staircase. For better or for worse, Joe Dark chose to wait for her at the front gates.
The bridge was up when he got there and no amount of his usual yelling got the gargoyles attention. Sure he could've flown over it but he just didn't feel like it. So he took residence up against the wall and closed his eyes for some goddamn peace and quiet.
He got through three minutes before facing the castle and grumbling, "What's taking her so damn long?" And why did he even care?
He lurched his head back to look up at the sky, "I should just leave."
His body flinched and he suddenly turned to face the corner of the castle grounds. His eyes locked on the deep dark shadows and he summoned his dagger directly after flicking his wrist.
A speedy flash of white emerged from the shadows and pulled a fanged knife that caught the dagger under hook right as they landed. It was Grimmley, wearing his usual beastly grin.
"Too slow, whelp." In another second the feral man appeared directly in front of Joe Dark and had his own dagger shoved against his neck. Joe Dark pulled his head back a bit, and eyed the man with little concern.
Grimmley's grin stretched. Joe Dark returned his weapon to the darkness and said dismissively "What do you want now?" with the lump on his neck grazing the edge of the blade.
Grimmley slid the knife cleanly into his vest and remarked, "I thought you'd appreciate a warning about your given task."
"Hmph, your handler wasn't very clear was he now?" Joe Dark said with his eyes closed.
"Master can have a bit of a one-track mind when it comes to certain...tastes," Grimmley said, nervously eyeing the interior of the castle and dulling his voice down to the quietest whisper, "But that's where I come in. To keep newcomers like you in line."
Joe Dark's eyes rolled in the darkness and he pulled a bit off the wall to pretend like he gave at least one percent of a shit, "Fine. What."
"The Princess will be taking a walk for a few hours. You are to stay within five feet of her at all times. She is not to touch anything but her parasol. And you are not to touch anyone but those who may attempt to bring her harm."
"So I'm a bodyguard. No big deal." Joe Dark said with a shrug.
"Confident are we? You better be, because we'll be watching," Grimmley snarled his fangs into a smile, "So don't think you can contaminate her with your humans fluids."
Joe Dark slanted his eyes and slowly asked, "What are you implying?"
"You're human. Its in your nature to breed." Grimmley said without a hint of shame.
Joe Dark's body pulsed with darkness and he growled very, very quietly, "You're disgusting."
"Just remember...Every shadow holds eyes." Grimmley backed away slowly, then vaulted straight up onto the walls. By the time Joe Dark tried to follow, he had already vanished.
"...Who the HELL does he think he's talking to?" He murmured, ignoring the slight shiver up his spine.
"I'm ready, Joe Dark."
"GHHH...!" Joe Dark bit the tip of his tongue turning around. Alura was standing there, parasol in hand, more quiet than a mouse.
With his heart racing he muttered to himself, "This girl I swear..."
She tilted her head momentarily and then looked up at the gate. All it took was a whisper of "Open" for the bridge to drop. She then made her way across and Joe Dark followed close behind, rubbing the back of his head. Instead of going straight to the place Joe Dark started off, Alura veered to the right.
"Uhhh, where are we going?"
"There's another village this way that father wants me to look at." She slowly replied.
"Hmph, guess the world would feel pretty small if there was only one village..." Joe Dark had to admit, he was a little curious about something, "So you take these kinds of walks every day, mannequin?"
"Every day for the last year we've been on this planet."
That wasn't the answer he was expecting, "You're...not native to this world?"
He could see her head shake slightly. "Huh," He muttered with a pinch of curiosity in his voice, "Could've fooled me."
"Joe Dark," Alura suddenly turned around to face him and leaned her parasol back, "When do I get to ask you questions?"
For her, that was rather shrewd. It must've been cause he was in a good mood, otherwise his reply of "Fine, go right ahead mannequin" would've stayed locked up in the back of his mind where it rightfully belonged.
"I see..." She closed her eyes and had to think for a bit, all the while continuing to walk backwards, "I told you my name. Its Alura. Not 'mannequin'. Why do you call me that?"
"For a sheltered girl she gets right to the point..." And so Joe Dark felt he could do the same, "A mannequin is a type of doll people use to display clothes or other less..."
He diverted his eyes and muttered to himself with red in his cheeks, "Pleasant things..."
He quickly looked back at Alura just in time for her head to tilt, "A-And their most noticeable features are their pale white skin and lack of emotions."
"Well my skin is pale..." Alura said, "But I do have emotions, Joe Dark."
"Oh yeah? Give me a smile, right now."
Alura pressed her lips together and wiggled them into a tiny smile. Joe Dark's heart skipped a beat, like a tiny arrow had gotten through his cold exterior.
"Gck...!" He exclaimed while clutching his chest and his eyes widening in panic.
The woefully ignorant Alura settled her expression and remarked, "Was that good, Joe Dark?"
"Y-Yes..." He stuttered, and then composed himself, "You can smile. Big deal. Did you feel anything doing it?"
Alura's face froze up and she didn't notice the back of her stilettos colliding with a rock in the road. She began to fall back and Joe Dark rushed over to catch her on the backside with one hand.
Her eyes hadn't widened a millimeter as he stared into them. He gently put her down, punted the rock many yards away, and muttered to himself, "Guess that answers that question..."
Alura tilted her head slightly and remarked, "Thank you, Joe Dark. I don't normally miss that rock..."
"Pfft, whatever." Joe Dark tucked his hands into his pockets and looked away from her up at the sky. But when she started moving out the corner of his eye he quickly bit his lower lip and caught up.
Alura dropped any further questions and the rest of the trip went smoothly and quietly, just the way he liked it.
When they got to the village he was surprised by how big it is. It was more like a modern day city on Earth. This may very well be this planet's capital. And the people were bouncing around in cheer and dance. Elves pooled their magic into filling the sky with bright, dizzying fireworks. Some simple wooden stalls lined the streets in service of all whom had gathered.
"Oh I get it," Joe Dark snarked Alura's way, "You wanted to come out and party."
She was silent in all but her movement through the streets. Maybe she didn't hear him. The crowd was being a little loud and obnoxious.
"What are these fools so happy about anyways?" He said, sickened by the intoxication brought only their hyperactive happiness.
"For one week every year the people gather in Edelgyre's capital and give tribute to the source of all magic in exchange for a good harvest." Alura dryly exposited.
"Those aren't considered GOOD?!" He spat, pointing at the engorged apples, "Shit no wonder they're happy. They're drunk off all the vitamins!"
After a brief cough he shifted topics back to, "So why're we here if we're not celebrating with them?"
"I'm just checking on them, like father asked." It was an answer. A vague one, but an answer nonetheless.
But as long as he was here, there wasn't any harm in sampling the food. What the hell knew when he'd get another chance at fruits or veggies.
He tucked a hand behind his back and looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then he slipped his fingers into a dark portal with the intent to "borrow" their produce...
"Hello there young man!" A jolly call gave him his third shock of the day. He faced a portly man in blue suspenders and red plaid shirt, with cheeks as pink and warm as peaches.
Joe Dark narrowed his eyes at him and couldn't shake a feeling of deja vu, "Have...have we met before?"
"Hmm, can't-a say I have," The man's sudden Italian-like accent only deepened the feeling Joe Dark had to an uncomfortable degree, "But it'd be against my upbringing to ignore a famished soul."
He reached into his straw basket and pulled out one of his plump, juicy apples, "Here, on the house."
Joe Dark slowly took the apple and lowered it by his waist as the man pulled out another, "And one for your lady friend. Enjoy the Harmony Harvest!"
Joe Dark had a "deer in the headlights" look as he grabbed the other apple and then looked to the right. Alura was about to slip away into the crowd.
"Damn it all...!" He rushed off, not before turning back and throwing out a whisper of "Thanks" to the man.
Fortunately he caught up in the nick of time and tapped her on the back with his knuckles, "Yo what's the big idea?"
She paused and turned around, glancing wistfully at the apple he held out for her, "You don't ignore someone when they're being generous."
Alura stared at the apple for a few seconds before all of a sudden swatting it out of his hand, where it was caught up in the feet of the crowd and rendered inedible. Joe Dark glared at Alura and found his heart racing madly, and the rush of blood blinded him as he momentarily raised his hand.
She stared up and had no reaction. Joe Dark curled his fist, tucked it deep into his pocket, and closed his eyes.
"Those apples are poisonous Joe Dark." Alura murmured.
"Poisonous? Give me a break!" Joe Dark exclaimed and then bravely chomped down on his apple. He stood there and chewed long and hard on it, and took a very deep swallow.
"See?!" He remarked.
"Can you even be poisoned, Joe Dark?" Alura gave a surprisingly sharp comment.
Joe Dark's eyes sunk in disinterest before he bit back with an even sharper remark, "Can YOU? You're the daughter of the Lord of the Night!"
"...I won't take the risk. Humans can't be trusted." She quickly remarked.
"But I'm the exception." Joe Dark didn't feel comfortable about that in the slightest.
"Yes. You're different. You're...inter-"
"Stop. Stop that shit now!" Joe Dark exclaimed and swung his hand out at the crowd, and Alura visibly flinched, "You don't feel anything. You can't explain WHY I'm interesting!"
He bit his teeth and huffed and puffed until he was start to feel out of breath. And after all that the mannequin told him, "You're quick to anger, Joe Dark."
"I...!" Joe Dark gripped the side of his throbbing forehead and shook it. He grumbled aloud, "Just...its none of your goddamn business ok?"
He turned a little away from her so she wouldn't hear him say, "I don't know why I'm entertaining this babysitting job."
"Haaaaa..." He turned back at her and told her a little more calmly, "Whatever rotten ideas your father has planted in your head about humanity-"
"Humans killed my mother," Alura said with her eyes shut, and Joe Dark turned deathly silent, "They are a cowardly, murderous, judgmental lot, and I will never forgive them."
There was a dim sense of rage in Alura's tone of voice but it made her feelings her own. Joe Dark tried to take one step closer when suddenly his surroundings looked a lot different.
He was inside of a house of an even older build than the ones in this area. The atmosphere was wavy and grainy but what he stood on felt real. He pushed his foot a little forward and a rug on the ground moved in response. He looked ahead at Alura and saw a faint gleam in her eyes.
"My mother was a bar maid of an old world that was high on religion. She had lured my father in with her natural beauty...Is what father told me." Alura turned her head slightly to the left and Joe Dark followed. There, in a slightly busted rocking chair, was a woman with her face completely erased off and replaced with a miniature swirl. She cradled a small, quiet baby in a blanket and fed it with her own teet.
"My father was absent for the first years of my life. Mother raised me on her own, but had to keep me a secret from the villagers." As Alura spoke the faceless woman's position constantly shifted around this abode, while the baby grew into a young violet haired child wearing a patchwork dress.
Joe Dark took a couple steps away from the present Alura to touch the past one's hair. There was no reaction from them, even though he felt the silky strands of hair between his fingers. Time sped forward many weeks and months at a time, showing the faceless woman with her hands grasped in prayer, alone in her abode.
"But she couldn't stop the rumors from spreading of her blood being tainted with impurity. Humanity judged her as a witch..." The house was set ablaze and the embers brushed up against Joe Dark, pushing him back. The faceless woman melted down to a pool of blood, which her ravaged corpse then rose out of. There was so much detail in it, from the way the neck was twisted ninety degrees to the right, and the jaw had been pulled clean off.
And Alura stood over the body, both in the past and in the present, the red flames burning away quietly in their blank eyes.
"And slaughtered her for a guiltless crime..." She said in a cold voice.
Joe Dark barely pulled away in time as Dracula appeared over the past Alura and put his devilish hand on her shoulder, and the present Alura remarked, "Father appeared and told me what had happened. He told me to blame humanity. Hate them with all my heart. Only then could my mother be avenged. Ever since I've been under his wing."
In the blink of an eye this realistic vision of the past was gone and the two were still standing in the crowd of celebrating people.
Joe Dark trembled. It felt real,all of it. The warmth of the humble home. The silky threads of Alura's hair. The crisp flames. The stench of death. He looked at the girl not for answers, but to see the twitch of a frown on her face.
She closed her eyes and the gleam from before vanished. She hid a lot of sorrow behind that dollish face of hers. But the real tragedy, if the glimpse of the past was to be believed, was how the girl saw her mother. A faceless figment warped of all recognizable features. That unnerved him, a lot.
"How..." Joe Dark bit his lip and gasped a dry breath, "How old are you?"
"I am 16 years old," Alura's harmless response was a prelude to a more distressing reveal, "But father stopped me from aging 1000 years ago."
"O-One thousand and...sixteen?!" He had been completely deceived by how petite the girl looked. Ignoring the extra millennium the two were the same age. And when she saw her mother die? God, she couldn't have been any older than five.
That lonesome thought was quickly swept away in a vortex of mixed emotions. This frail girl held back a terrible grudge against all of humanity and has done so for a thousand years or more years. And the worst part was that Joe Dark couldn't combat the reason behind it. The worst of humanity's arrogance had been inflicted upon her at that impressionable age, and left to fester like a plague.
And when these thoughts left him defenseless, even the mannequin could easily take him by surprise, "Joe Dark. I think I can explain why I find you interesting now..."
"W-What?" He barely got out.
She looked deep up into his eyes and remarked, "You have the same eyes as I do..."
Joe Dark's heart felt cold and his skin went numb. A piercing cold worthy of such a piercing remark that saw right through him. Alura closed her eyes and twirled in place, continuing her walk with only a brief glance back to say, "We've wasted a lot of time, Joe Dark. Lets keep moving now."
She kept moving through the crowd but Joe Dark stayed behind, his eyes trembling and his feet feeling as brittle as bark. He reared his head back at the sky, closed his eyes, and squeezed his apple to mush in seconds.
"I-I can't stay in this hellhole any longer! There has to be a better place somewhere, ANYWHERE out there!" Space is endless, and thus the possibilities of other planets like being out there was the same.
...But Joe Dark was no stranger to space travel, having already spent one year of his life traveling the dark, lifeless depths alone. And if he left this world he'd risk the chance of running into them again.
Continue the cycle of loneliness. Or stay here, and become part of a monster family. The decision was so tough with neither sounding good. It broke Joe Dark's mind in half and turned him into something of an automated zombie. He wouldn't remember much of what happened over the next few hours, except that he continued to keep an eye on Alura as she made her rounds throughout the capital.
And before he knew it he was on his way back to the castle. Grimmley was waiting for them as they crossed the gate and remarked, "Not bad, whelp."
Joe Dark kept walking with a saggy head and weighted feet. Once they were in the castle Alura folded her parasol up and whispered to him, "Thank you for walking with me today, Joe Dark."
That seemed to snap him back to reality momentarily enough to mutter "...I guess" and then wander off to his room. He lied down there until he was called for dinner, and walked all the way back down.
When he got there he looked at his plate of cooked meat, scooped up one measly bite, and had it up to his mouth. But then the meat just slid off his hand onto the floor, and he muttered wistfully to himself, 的'm not hungry.
He left the banquet hall and Dracula gleefully chomped down his full plate in a single bite, leaving not a single scrap untouched.
Alura eyed Joe Dark off until her father's widowed claw latched onto her shoulder, and he leaned down dangerously close to her face.
"Well Alura...?" He whispered with sweeping lick of the lips, "I think its been long enough. Have you determined who will partake in tonight's hunt?"
Obediently, she nodded her head and began to open her mouth...
Next Time: A Voice in the Night