Chapter 40: The House on the Hill
I know it's been a while but I'm back as school now so postings will change now for the better now that I have some structure. I'm going to be going into one-shots for the next few chapters. You all have been giving me some wonderful ideas and while I won't be doing all of them I will be going into the ones I found the most intriguing as well as some of my own. So please enjoy!
Leon Bloom parked his car just outside the old, ivy wreathed gate.
The old chateau stood upon the hill surrounded by a brick and iron wall. The real estate agent had informed him that the manor had been around since the 1830s. Since then the home has had a variety of owners; each ever more sinister than the last. From malicious nobles to brutal colonial elites to even a deranged SS officer during the occupation of France. The chateau has had a dark past, which made the place surprisingly cheap to buy. 100,000 Euros was the price given to Leon to which he graciously accepted.
He walked up to the gate and opened it; giving himself a mental reminder to find a landscaper to clean up the vines. He walked up the gravel pathway, taking a notice to the trees and grass of the lawn. A little run down but a mow and a trim later they would return to their once great beauty.
He approached the entrance and gazed up at the face of the building with excitement. The paint was peeling and faded, the windows dirty and worn. But underneath all that grime and age was a wonderful home for himself. He quickly grabbed the key from his pocket and unlocked the door. Swinging it open he found that the front room and central hallway were quite dusty and dirty. But something on the ceiling immediately caught his attention.
A black iron chandelier hung from the rafters of the room. It seemed quite out of place given how it seemed untouched by the ravages of time. Perfectly shiny and clean compared to the rest of the home. Leon didn't remember the agent mentioning a new chandelier so he made another mental note to ask about it. Regardless he went out to his car to begin bringing his belongings into the room.
As he was working he noticed something quite strange. The door to the library was seemingly locked, despite the door not technically having a lock it wouldn't budge despite all his efforts. He soon stopped in this endeavor when he began to hear strange noises coming from within the room. Sufficiently spooked he decided to skip over the library and continue elsewhere.
Hours later Leon laid down upon the master bed in preparation to go to bed. He spent most of the day cleaning up the interior of the house. However he still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about that chandelier and the library. He closed his eyes and tried to drift off to the land of sleep and dreams.
Leon awoke to someone tearing the blankets and sheets off of him and then proceeded by to tackle him! Leon struggles and jerked around, trying to escape the grasp of whoever was holding him. But the task seemed impossible as the unknown individual had an extremely powerful grip upon him!
"Finally! I have you all to myself. By Lilith I was so lonely." a voice, a female voice, cried out in ecstasy as Leon finally was able to see just who was attacking him.
A woman with faintly glowing blue skin was hugging him tightly as she floated off the ground. Leon looked down to see blue flames billowing out from under her iron black dress. But even below that caused curiosity and alarm in Leon. The chandelier that hung in the front room seemed to be attached to her about halfway down her dress!
"Let me go! Who are you?!" Leon demanded, to which the woman smirked before replying.
"Who am I? Why, I'm your future wife!" the woman bellowed as she began to tear off her dress and his pajamas! But before she could actually try to begin her sexual conquest someone else grabbed her from behind and threw her off the bed.
"Hey what gives!" she cried out in displeasure as she floated up from the floor, blue flames enveloping her hands as she stared at her new adversary. Before her and Leon floated another woman, however she had a more normal appearance compared to the chandelier lady. However "normal" was still quite a strong word considering the newcomer was floating as well and had sea green skin.
She wore a mask akin to ones you would see at a Mardi Gras festival. A form fitting dress that showed off her curves extensively, her hair styled into a bob cut. She grasped in her hands a fancy cane, something an aristocrat would wield.
"You take your hands off him you harlot, he's mine!" the new woman cried out with a tone that stressed nobility. The chandelier lady was about to charge the newcomer when Leon finally found his voice.
"What in God's name is going on here!" he shouted while jumping out of his bed. The sudden outburst caused the women to jump in surprise and turn towards the nearly naked man standing before them. The first to step out of their stupor was the newcomer, who floated over to him and gently placed her gloved hand on his face. Leon shivered, her hand was freezing! It was like she was dead!
"Not to worry dear. I will soon rid us of this will-o-the-wisp and then we can finally get to know each other my sweet."
That caused a spike of anger within the man. They were fighting each other and attempting to rape him and didn't even know who he was. Just who were these nymphomaniacs!
He knew by this point that they had to be mamono, the news had been talking about them and he had even met a few over this past year. Yet he hadn't seen anything like these two.
"Now hold on!" He shouted again as the pair of mamono tackled each other. This caused them to once again cease their hostility and look up at him.
"I don't remember asking either of you to come upon me and force me into this situation. Lets not forget that rape and breaking and entering are illegal here in France. I will not hesitate to call the authorities if you both don't explain yourselves!"
This caused both to stop and look at each other. The blue one, the will-o-the-wisp, "stood" up and turned to him.
"Breaking in? I've always lived here as that chandelier. Well 'always' isn't quite accurate but I remember waking up here a few weeks ago. I decided that the front room could be my home." By this point the green one had also begun to speak.
"I remember appearing in the house's library several days ago. I became interested in the books and have been reading them since. At least until you showed up."
Leon stared at the pair incedulously as he sat back down on the bed. He sat there for a moment, attempting to clear his head before turning up to face the girls.
"Let's start over, I'm Leon Bloom. What are your names, and I guess species as well."
Green cleared her throat but the will-o-the-wisp jumped at the chance first.
"Well hello sweetie my name is Jeanne! I'm a will-o-the-wisp, a spirit mamono if you will." She curtsied all lady-like as green finally stepped forward; a look of irritation on her beautiful face.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Louise of the Kingdom of the Undying. I am a phantom, another spirit mamono. The difference between a phantom and a will-o-the-wisp is that phantoms are noble, pure of heart and the utmost polite. Will-o-the-wisps are none of those."
"Hey!" Jeanne cried out as she tried to punch Louise, only for the phantom to dodge and wack her counterpart on the head with her cane. Just as the two are about to come to blows Leon raised his voice again.
"STOP IT!" He cried out, stepping in to physically separate the two. Well he tried to, before being thrown forcefully at the bed. The pair seemed to not be restraining themselves or their superior strength. But this action did have the intended effect Leon wanted. When they launched the poor man at the bed both shrieked with fright before rushing over to him. They cried and wailed for forgiveness as they hoisted him onto the bed and began to give him lots of "booboo" kisses.
The next morning Leon awoke from unconsciousness in his bed. Only for him to realize that he wasn't alone under the covers. On either side of him were the girls, Louise on his left and Jeanne on his right. Unfortunately Jeanne's chandelier hogged most of the blankets and sheets. The other unfortunate thing was that neither were asleep but instead were staring right at him.
"Gah!" Leon sputtered as he jumped up from the bed and over Louise, said phantom attempted a half-hearted grab at his leg. She missed.
"What happened!?" Leon said as he tried in vain to find his clothes. Another side effect from "sleeping" with these two apparently.
"Well after we bonked your head we decided to let you rest. With us of course and everyone knows you sleep better naked." Jeanne said excitedly as Louise huffed and gave Jeanne a glare.
"We decided to settle our rivalry seeing as we both hurt you. We came to a compromise, we decided to share you."
Leon gave the girls a glare as he reached into his drawers and pulled out some clothes. As he pulled up his underwear the girls gave him a pout but did nothing. Once he finished dressing he sighed and turned towards the pair.
"Listen, whatever you think we are, we aren't. I hardly know you and you did hurt me last night."
Both girls began to whimper as they quickly jumped out of the bed. In Louise's case she quite literally passed through the blankets and sheets. They then rushed forward and fell to their knees, and chandelier.
"Darling please, we're sorry. We didn't mean to cause you such distress, it's just that we haven't seen a man in months. We instantly became smitten with you the minute you entered the house. Please forgive Jeanne for her barbaric behavior as well, she honestly loves you just as much as I do."
Leon stared at the two once more before shaking his head. I'm going to regret this aren't I? He thought as he opened his mouth.
"Listen, I'm not going to call the police, nor am I going to try and kick you two out of here. However if I'm going to agree to anything with you we need you both registered."
Both spirits squealed, neither knew what this "registering" meant but what they did know was that Leon wasn't going to try and throw them out. That was good enough for them!
"I'm not finished yet," he stated "we aren't going to have sex, nor am I you 'husband'. You haven't earned either of those rights, so don't even think about trying to get into bed with me. Not until you've earned my trust and respect."
He continued. "And if you're going to live here with me you have to help out around here. This place is in an unfortunate state of disrepair. So you're going to help me, starting with the library that you seem to love Louise."
With that Leon trudged downstairs, leaving the two ghost mamono to look towards each other. They were immensely disappointed that they couldn't have sex with Leon. However he implied that if they behaved he was willing to do it with them! And become their husband!
They smiled as they floated after their love.