Rhia winced at the twinge of pain in her leg as she stepped into the shower. She frowned, looking down at the bite mark on the inside of her thigh as she slid her fingers over her bruised skin and trickle of dried blood.
That's never happened before.
A warm tingle washed over her and a smile curled over her lips at the memory of her decadent dream. Last night was the first time she didn't wake up in the middle of her demon's teasing and she wished she could've stayed in the comfort of his sinewy arms just a little longer.
Shaking her head as she grabbed the bottle of berry scented soap. Being in this damn house taking care of monsters had her conjuring up her own beast to fall in love with.
Six months ago, on the night of her twenty-ninth birthday she met her horned man in her dreams. She thought it was a nightmare, but it twisted into a steamy fever dream. He never told her who or what he was and she never bothered to ask until last night.
As she lathered up her body, Rhia's thoughts drifted to her demon again. What did he mean he'd find her when she was ready? Ready for what? Hell, she didn't think he was real, but the mark on her thigh would suggest otherwise.
What did it matter, anyway?
Rhia sighed, closing her eyes as she stood under the warm spray of water. Even if her demon was real, how could she be with a being like him? Not that she had a very lively social life outside of her caretaking duties. She didn't make many friends at university. She was too embarrassed that she didn't have a traditional family like the people in her cohort. She was an orphan raised in a boarding school paid for by her aunt who she 'met' in a coffin after she died.
She had one best friend who was a ghost and she inherited a family of monsters who lived in her aunt's towering Victorian home. She was no one and she was happy the way things were. It was better if her dream man stayed where he was. Locked up tight inside her mind.
"Come on. No depressing thoughts today," she murmured, turning off the shower and padding into her room. She dressed in her usual attire of black leggings paired with a long-sleeved black dress and her mother's golden tiger's eye charm hung from her neck. She pulled off her shower cap and brushed out her thick mane of curls before braiding it back from her face.
Slipping her feet into a pair of black cat slippers, she left her room into the darkened hallway. She stopped at a black painted door and stood on her tiptoes to peer through the gated window into the vampires' lair. Five coffins laid in darkness. The blackout curtains were closed tight and the soil from their homeland was spread neatly along the floor. Rhia nodded. Her assistant, Carter, did an excellent job. He always did.
She didn't understand why her aunt didn't leave him in charge when she died, but Carter helped her navigate her aunt Callie's detailed instructions to care for every monstrous being that resided in the home. Rhia always wondered how someone who knew every detail about the monsters she cared for could be taken by surprise and lose her life to one of them.
Sighing as she checked the locks on the chupacabra's den, she supposed it didn't matter how much you knew. Monsters were monsters and she'd do well not to let her guard down too much around the more dangerous ones.
Taking the creaking steps downstairs, Rhia stopped every so often to check on the nocturnal creatures while a delicious aroma of bacon and eggs wafted through the home. She smiled, walking into the kitchen to find Sully, the oldest resident werewolf, with his thick black dreadlocks tied up on top of his head, diligently cooking breakfast for the diurnal monsters.
"Good morning, Rhia!" Annie, the gnarly haired dreamwalker, grinned, sitting next to Mack and Jenny, two werewolves who lost their pack and found their way to the home a few years ago.
"Good morning," she said and placed a hand on Sully's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. I'm so sorry for what I did last night." He sighed, running a hand over his locks. "I'm not sure what came over me. I haven't raged like that in years."
"It's alright. No one was hurt and everyone has their moments. It's why I'm here to keep you all grounded," Rhia said, frowning. "Where's Xochi and Nina?"
"They're out in the garden with Belle," Annie said, stabbing a piece of toast with her knife-like fingers and taking a bite. "Carter said to tell you he'd be back to do the night shift again."
"That's good." Rhia shuffled over to the calendar next to the refrigerator. "Right. It's two weeks until Halloween. October is always a hectic month, so can we please try to be on our best behavior? We're down to twelve kills. Can we get that under ten this year?"
"Yes, but maybe if we do something fun for the festive season, it'll keep us from doing anything bad," Mack said, with a mouth full of bacon.
Rhia raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"A Halloween party!" Annie exclaimed with her onyx eyes beaming in excitement. "You know that's when the veil between the supernatural is at its weakest. Maybe we can invite some other wandering souls and ghouls to celebrate with us," she said, clapping her hands. "The vampires love a good party, too."
"Maybe." Rhia nodded. "But you can't lure any humans here. That's off limits."
"Oh, come on, just a few. You said you wanted us to keep our kill count under ten. Let us have a few humans to hunt," Jenny said, picking her sharp incisors with a toothpick. "Just the bad ones."
"She has a point. We can contain the amount of victims if we keep it to the party," Sully said as he plated up some bacon and eggs. "It's not a full moon that night. Jenny, Mack and I can be on guard with Carter to make sure it doesn't get out of hand."
"And me, Xander and the other vamps can wipe their memories!" Annie added with glee.
Rhia sighed. "Fine. Ten humans and that's it. I'll have Carter get in touch with his contact at the prison."
"How about twenty? Then it can be a game of who gets out alive," Annie said with her eyes sparkling with mischief. "And it'll look better when half the little morsels make it back to jail."
Sully tapped a finger to his chin. "Another valid point."
Rhia pursed her lips. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this." She shook her head. "But okay. None of you will leave the grounds and no one will unlock any rooms or corridors. You can hunt and spook them as you wish, but all of them will leave here alive. Is that clear?"
"Aw, come on, Rhia! Let us have a few kills." Annie pouted, crossing her arms in a huff.
"Nope. You agree to my terms or there won't be a party," she said as a loud thump from the basement shook the floor and her heart clenched in panic.
"Yeah, alright. That's fair," Sully said, nodding to the basement door. "But you better handle the big one. It's getting restless again."
"What's going on?" Xochi said, running inside with her big hazel eyes wide and her tattered wedding dress swishing around her legs while Nina and Belle swirled in a wispy mist behind her. "We felt that outside."
"Nothing to worry about. I'll handle it," Rhia said, grabbing her aunt's leather-bound instruction manual sitting on the counter.
"You want us to go with you?" Annie said, standing from the table with Mack and Jenny clenching their fists.
"Yeah, if you don't mind. The basement still freaks me out."
"Is that thing waking up again?" Xochi said, clutching Sully's arm.
"It shouldn't be. Don't worry. I'm just going to reinforce the locks. It was on my list of things to do, anyway," Rhia said, tucking the manual under her arm. "Sully, why don't you fill Xochi and Nina in on the party?"
"Oo a party?" Belle said, swirling around Sully and Xochi. "Am I invited too? Can I bring my houseguest?"
"Of course you're invited and yes, you can bring your guest. I'm allowing twenty humans to attend the party."
Belle slid a wispy white hand to her chin. "I'm not sure he's a human."
Rhia raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she said as another loud thump shook the house. "Explain it to me later. I need to deal with that," she said, grabbing her rifle from the hook on the wall before she unlocked the string of locks on the basement door.
She pressed the light switch, illuminating the darkened corridor and a swell of angry hisses bellowed out from below. "I know. I'm sorry. It's only for a few minutes," she called to the ghouls tucked away in their various cages.
"The big one is making so much noise," a slithering black wisp said from the back of its cage. "We value the silence down here, Rhia."
"I know. I'm going to fix that," she said, walking through the hall of cages to the far end of the basement. "Stay behind me and don't listen to anything it says."
"We know," Annie murmured as they approached the thick steel cage at the end of the room.
"What do you fear, little Rhia?" A soft voice whispered from the cage as she approached with her aunt's book clasped in her hands.
"Not you," she said, leaning her rifle against the wall.
"You must fear something..." the being cackled as the lights flickered and sent the basement into darkness.
Rhia sighed as Annie handed her a flashlight. "I'm not afraid of anything," she said, searching for a specific passage in the book. "I live with monsters."
"Callie didn't fear me, but I killed her anyway," it whispered. "Come closer and I'll show you how I did it."
"Nope. You're going back to sleep," she said, clearing her throat. "Tenebris dormit. Lux autem aggravat." A soft breeze swept through the basement and the being hissed as Rhia finished the script in the book. "In pace non erit excitare. Sic erit."
The being let out an angry screech and a loud thud shook the floor as the lights flickered back to life. "That should do it," Rhia said, closing the book and taking a step toward the cage to check the locks.
"Wait. We'll check it for you. I don't trust that thing," Jenny said, pulling her back as Mack and Annie followed Jenny to the cage to tug on the chains and bolts locking the sleeping being inside.
"I get why the rest of us are stuck on this plane, but that thing should be locked in the depths of hell," Annie said, shaking her head. "It shouldn't be here."
Rhia shrugged. "Maybe hell can't contain it either."
"Should be Satan's job to watch that thing," a ghoul hissed. "Not you and not our late Callie."
"Well, if I ever meet Satan, I'll certainly have a word with him about it." Rhia chuckled. "Enjoy your silence, ghoulies."
"Thank you, little one."
"Come on, let's get back to breakfast. Our food's going to get cold," Rhia said as Jenny picked up a slip of paper on the floor and handed it to her. "What's this?" she said, unfolding the note and reading the scribbled writing.
You will fear me like all the ones before you, Rhiamon Wildes.
"A love letter from that thing?" Annie grumbled, snatching the note from Rhia's hands and shredding it. "You won't have the same fate as Callie. We know what we're up against if that fucking ghoul wakes up."
"I know, and I'm not afraid. My aunt left me with everything I need and I've got you guys too," she said, slipping her arm through Annie's as they walked back up the creaking stairs to the kitchen. She turned off the light to the basement and a frigid chill raced up her spine.
Fear me.
Rhia shuddered as she closed the door. She hated going down there. The ghouls were right. Why wasn't that creepy ass thing burning in hell?
A/N: 😬 Not sure what the hell that thing is in the basement, but I'd love to see more of Rhia's dream man...demon?...being? 🤷🏾♀️ 😈