6| After Dark

(Extra long chapter because I'll be gone for Christmas! Sorry if it's messy :<<)


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Risotto couldn't quite say how he felt about the little game he'd played, though he could admit it made him feel, even if just by the slightest bit, more relaxed under the roof of the manor. Maybe that's what (Y/n) wanted, for him to become more comfortable with his surroundings to make for an easier kill.


Or, maybe not. Melone doesn't seem to think so.


"Honestly, to think he left you in here all by yourself, that tool.." He hissed beneath his breath, slowly leading Risotto out of the maze of books. 


He'd been found by the naga not too long after (Y/n) left, who smiled at him crookedly, and offered to show him the exit. Risotto would've favored to find his way out on his own, but after what Melone told him, he feared he would've been in there forever hadn't it been for his help.


"There's a pair of ghosts that haunt the place," He recalls him saying. "Sorbet and Gelato. They'll rearrange the pattern of the shelves from time to time just to mess with people, so without me, you'll just be stuck in an everchanging maze."


Half of Risotto wanted to believe that maybe Melone had some ulterior motive, that he may have just lied to get Risotto to follow him to some lair where he'd be eaten, though the other half of him was too tired to care.


Throughout his little chase, which collectively lasted four hours despite it only feeling like thirty minutes, he hadn't once become fatigued--  only at the end of his fun did his body begin to wear down. Maybe his endurance came from all the running he normally does chasing after vampires, he couldn't be sure. 


What he did know, however, is that it was nearly time to sleep; At least for him. Legs became as heavy as lead and eyelids stuck together like honey as his body began to pull itself towards the floor, begging for a moments relaxation. A dead channels static began to hum inside his feet as he stumbled, struggling to keep up with the quick serpent in front of him, who hadn't noticed him lagging behind.


Sure his body was close to giving up, Risotto was surprised to find that the exit he was looking for was just within reach, perhaps only a few meters away, giving his legs the motivation needed to push onward just enough to get out of the study.


"Now that you're out, go ahead and go where you please. I'll still be in here if you need anything, human." Melone grinned from between the library doors, his uneven dimples creating a little pit on each side of his face.


"Are you going to be in there for a while?" 


"A long while, yes, so if you happen to find yourself bored, go up to the rooftop. You're bound to find something interesting if you look around."


Risotto fell against the wall as Melone slipped back into the darkness of the study, his body sliding down the detestable wallpaper and dropping to the floor as his knees finally buckled beneath him.


He sat there for a while, a very long while, in fact, searching desperately for the motivation to rise to his feet once again to find something to occupy himself with before his lord becomes bored once more and looks to him for entertainment. 


After nearly ten minutes of sitting there, limp as any ragged fabric doll, Risotto pushed himself to stand again, nearly falling back down as a sting of pain shot through his calf. The roof, Melone talked about, where was its entrance? He'd briefly mentioned that there was a ladder down the hall that led to it, though now he must ask, which hall? The one to his left, or, his right?


He decided to take a chance, deciding which way to go on a whim, and walked (more so limped) to his right, following down the corridor till its end, where a door was placed on either side of him. One of the pair was surrounded by a puzzling mosaic of paintings and wall decor, and the other was, rather boringly, stuck to a plain wall.


Wild sounds, feverish and untamed, came from behind the door encompassed by those paintings many, things and such colliding into each other, the frames to jumping from the wall with each thunderous crash. At one point, glass shattered from inside, and all fell silent... That was, until the thrashing began again, this time accompanied by shrieked curses. If there was one thing Risotto knew about that room in particular, it was that he would never want to see what was on the other side. 


That left the room opposite of it as the remaining possibility. It was quiet, almost eerily silent, and rightfully curious, Risotto pressed his ear to the door, for such a contrast of neighboring rooms seemed impossible. Was there truly nothing on the other side as the outside made him believe?


He listened intently, trying to hear anything over the chaos in the room behind him, barely managing to catch something. There was a breathing, of sorts; Heavy and languid, drawling out into quiet, whistled snores. It sounded almost as though some sort of mangy dog was napping inside there, and rather conveniently, Risotto remembered the blue wolf he saw outside. 


That door would be left untouched as well, and so would the other one, as he quietly stepped away from the pair and fled back to the hall he'd passed on before, the left one. That one was much longer than the previous, and his muscles began to tense again from the exertion of his trek, even if at the end of the hallway he spotted what he may have been looking for.


Almost as though he was some sort of injured fool, which he may very well have been, he hobbled toward the dark oak door at the end of the stretched hall, ignoring the other few he'd passed on the way. There'd always be time to check those later if this one didn't quite work.


There was something that drew him to it in particular, a strange call like that of a sirens, luring him in just for a peek, because why not? 


It was one of the taller doors, the ones that dwarfed him in size, and made him feel half as tall as he actually were. It was a soft, yet smooth dark wood with delicate and detailed work put into its design, gold traced in plantlike designs along the front of its body, breaking into thorns near the top. 


There was a bust hung just above the chamber door, staring down at him as though it had a life of its own, eyeing him with a carefulness that seemed to warn him to not even consider touching the handle. Still, his hand seemed to unconsciously reach for the knob, fingers brushing along its body before he snapped from his daze in a realization. 


This must've been (Y/n)s room. If not, then that of someone equally important. 


Embarrassed and Ashamed at what he'd almost done, Risotto took a step back and thought himself over, starting to consider that maybe a trip to the roof would be something he could save for tomorrow, seeing as how he was so tired  he almost walked into his lords room like he owned the place.


Even still, as he turned around, one of the doors he'd passed before opened, and he drew stiff. It creaked as it unlocked itself, leaving him to wait in anticipation as he wondered who'd come out from the other side of it. A few agonizing minutes would pass, and no one would come through the doorway, but there was no possible way it could've opened by itself, right?


It could've been those ghosts, the ones Melone mentioned, or it could've been the wind. Though last he checked, the wind didn't know how to turn a doorknob.


As it often did, his curiosity took hold of him like a dog on a leash, and led him to investigate; slyly peering around the door, of which was unsurprisingly also tall, he found nothing, save for a ladder coated in slivers of sun from a hatch far out of sight. Ah, so there was the path to the roof.


Well, there was only minutes of daytime left anyhow, it'd be nice to watch the sunset before succumbing to a much needed slumber.


As clumsily as one could possibly be, Risotto clambered up the ladder, which seemed to stretch for miles, his fingers or feet taking turns slipping on the aged metal, its grip worn by the touch of a thousand hands.


Barely, he'd managed to make it to the roof, just in time to watch the sun dip into the horizon and cast its golden shadow over all that still remained in its path. It was a beautiful sight, as beautiful as it could get with all the dead trees and rotting greens in the way. 


Clouds flooded over the sky as blue melted into an inky black quickly, stars beginning to glisten between the white puffs, glittering. He'd see a familiar sight every time he'd lay upon his own roof, back at the house twenty sizes too small.


"It's pretty, isn't it?" A voice behind him mumbled, catching him by surprise. "I'd say I'm lucky to get to see it every time I wake, but I'd be lying. I see the damn sun too much for my own liking."


Startled, Risotto scrambled to push himself as far away as he could from whoever was behind him, twisting his body around to face the stranger that had frightened him so.


There, like in all other places of the manor, was a monster-- more so creature, in some way. Its body was hard with stone, smoothed along every crevice except for the chest and abdomen, wings sprouting from its back with each one the size of the bed he slept in. Claws as fine as knives clicked against each other on large, veiny hands, and thick muscled legs flexed as it crouched against the tiles. 


Eyes as red as the blood that pumped through his body stared into him amusedly, reminiscent of (Y/n)s, though not nearly as terrifying or bewitching. Horns sprouted from its forehead in a twisted growth, curling and curving against the air like wicked ivy, its grooves chipped and cracked. Lengthy hair collected in clumps tied itself into messy knots, held in place by strange bands looped around each collection of locks.


"Why are you up here? You're not like the others; if you fall from here, you'll surely die." The voice matched that one from the woods the night he was taken, the person that was partnered with Melone in their hunt.


"I was just, just trying to catch some time to myself. I apologize for disturbing you, really-"


"Forget it. I like visitors, no one bothers to visit except for Melone, and he can get boring fast."


Risotto kept quiet.


"...Not saying I don't enjoy his company. I just wish I could hear about something other than the lifecycle of birds, or how bones decay in different seasons." The gargoyle, as Risotto assumed that's what it was, added. "Ah- I haven't introduced myself, have I? My name's Illuso. Am I to assume you're the human everyone's going on about? Risotto, wasn't it?"


"I would guess so. I don't think I've seen any other humans here, except for that one man with the blonde hair."


"Well, don't seek familiarity in him, Risotto, for as human as he seems, he's far from it. He'd cut you into pieces, given the chance." Illuso snorted.


"Now, that explains some things... And what do you mean by no one visits you? aren't you able to do as you please during the day?"


"Just as any vampire or troll would hate the sunlight, so do I, for an entirely different reason than theirs. I cannot move under the eyes of the sun, so instead, I sit up here during the day to watch the passing seasons and things of that nature."


"Does it put you to sleep?"


"No. I get stuck in a trance-- rather, paralyzed. I can still hear things, and see, and think, but movement is beyond my limit. Like said, Melone keeps me company every now and again, reading me this book and that while going on and on about whatever it is he's hyper-fixated on."


Risotto, somewhat calmer, pushed himself to sit upright on the slanted roof, fixing himself to balance on the apex of the joining tiles. "Then, suppose you wouldn't mind me coming up here every now and then?"


"You barely know me, little one, aren't you scared of what I might do?"


"Not as much as you'd think. I trust that you say you can't move during daytime, so I'll come talk to you when I can."


"I'm not quite sure that his lord would like that, though I thank you for such a lovely idea."


Risotto gritted his teeth, almost hard enough for Illuso to hear, though not quite. "Well, I quite frankly don't give a damn what it is he'd favor, because he's kidnapped me, and therefor doesn't get an ounce of respect out of me just yet."


Illuso seemed taken aback, yet grinned at his words, stretching his wings out as he laughed so that they shook with each cut breath. "Oh, you're funny! If you're that hellbent on pissing him off, then go on ahead! It'll prove entertaining enough to watch you get hunted like a rabbit!"


Risotto took that as a 'yes' in reference to whether he'd be able to visit the gargoyle or not, and let his comment slide. The two of them talked for a bit, chatting animatedly when a sudden knocking caught their attention.


The blonde man Illuso had talked about earlier popped his head through the hatch in the roof, gesturing for Risotto to come with him. Only briefly did he remember that he'd told Illuso of his sore muscles and possibly injured leg, though he didn't think that he'd get any help for it. He was merely complaining, after all.


"His lord wants me to fix your leg. Please come with me." As he spoke, the man revealed slightly crooked teeth behind his chapped lips, a gap formed between the top two up front that gave him the slightest of a slur in his words. 


Illuso waved him off, a sign for him to be on his way, as well as a silent thank you for his time. Though as he left, the monster subtly narrowed his eyes at him, in the same gentle warning of the bust above (Y/n)s room one floor down.


As human as he seemed, Risotto reminded himself, the man he followed was anything but that. 

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