Chapter Text
There were voices coming through the wood
Abolish almost hadn’t noticed them at first, too busy cleaning up the chicken he had just gutted, carefully letting the blood flow cleanly into the prepared glass vial.
Despite his simple blood, over the centuries, he had developed sharp hearing. Sharp enough to hear people. Someone calling out, almost desperately, as if he was chased. People dismaying at the confusing paths in the woods. People admiring the sights.
The butler was… very tempted to ignore it all. Continue with his duty.
But it was.. distracting. And.. if left to wander unchecked, they could potentially pose a threat.
He waited till he had finished draining the feathery creature, and tossed the drained corpse into his bag, and delicately placed the vial next to it. Every drop of the crimson liquid was precious after all.
Then, he slung the sack over his shoulder, grumbling to himself as he went to investigate.
It wasn’t the right season for bandits. They tended to show up as the snow was melting. Not as it was starting to fall.
But he could not fathom why anyone would willingly come here, to this land. There was only one good part of it after all.
He could never imagine leaving. But for a reason that was his alone
No one else’s.
Perhaps they were merely passing by.. perhaps he had nothing to worry about.
Is what he thought.
As he approached the ruined buildings, that thought died in its tracks, a shiver went down his spine, as warmth spread across the land.
He snarled.
The beacons. Someone activated the beacons.
How dare they?
How DARE they inconvenience things even more for his lord. After how long he’s already waited…
He had tried in vain to destroy those things, starting with the one that had been left in his lord’s home. During the one month he traveled to try and find a cure.. what a fool he had been.
He hadn’t left his lord’s side since.
He stood in the entrance of what was once called Oakhurst, staring as people poured in, talking enthusiastically to each other.
People. In Oakhurst?
The two pieces refused to fit together in the butler’s mind. They simply didn’t click together.
When was the last time he had actually seen another person? The bandits hardly counted, as they were either killed right away, or ran off before he caught a glimpse of them.
Had it been since he was cast into the slumber?
.. .. No, no wait, there was that .. bloody lumberjack a couple hundred years ago.. they had briefly spoken.
He was quickly spotted by a nervous man with purple eyes, and a stake strapped to his chest. Abolish did not attempt to hide his glare at the ugly weapon.
“Oh! Hello! Hello! Are you from- do you live here?” The man called out. Ah, it was his voice that sounded terrified earlier.
Abolish blinked, and looked around. There were many other gathered people, all dressed differently, all clearly from varied places
Did they believe someone could survive in the ruins of this place?
Apparently he wasn’t the only one confused
A person with wild orange hair sighed
“Do you honestly think anyone is living here?” They gestured around.
Abolish shook his head “I do not.. live here.”
That was true. He lived by his lord’s side. Which was not here.
And… he had not been truly living in a long time.
“No i don’t think anyone has lived here in quite a long time” another man stepped forward. He was wearing a medical robe, and had a scar over his face. “This place is, well, a dump.” The doctor chuckled a bit.
Abolish nodded. A dump was an apt way to describe Oakhurst these days. And days past as well.
“N-no this isn’t a dump. Well it sorta is, but come on! This CONSECRATED GROUND!” The man with the stake yelled. “THE SUPERNATURAL LIVES HERE!”
“Like Bigfoot!” A woman with glasses and deep red hair cried out, bouncing excitedly on her heels. “YES! yes the supernatural is here!”
“N-no not bigfoot, i mean. Yes. I’ll pretend we’re. On the same page, because the supernatural is here! I’m Avid, by the way, i’m a vampire hunter” the self proclaimed vampire hunter puffed his chest out.
Abolish kept his expression neutral, as the doctor laughed.
The blank expression was effortless at this point.
“A .. a vampire hunter? That is..”
“It’s certainly a.. unique profession! Very creative! I, myself am a writer!”
He hadn’t seen so many humans in years. He slowly tuned the chatting out, as everyone went around, introducing themselves.
He took in the names when they were said, but didn’t even attempt to take in anything more. It was useless
So many people ..
It was rather…
…
Irritating, actually.
He had never been good with words.. his lord didn’t require him to speak much.
With his lord, he didn’t need to interact with people.
There was no reason to learn too much about these fools. …
They were nothing more than blood bags. At the very least they could serve that use.
He snapped back to attention when he realized people were staring at him
“Hellooo?” One of the women had walked up to him. He’s pretty sure he heard her name was …Drift?
What an odd name.. maybe that’s just the current style for naming children these days.
She was waving a hand in front of his face. He weighed the pros and cons of ripping it off right now.
After a short deliberation he determined keeping these people around a while and staying on their good side would provide more use.…
Unfortunately, that meant he’d have to talk to them.
“Hello” he responded. She startled a bit, and stepped back
“Oh! Hey, sorry, you uh, seemed a bit out of it.”
“Yes, i wasn’t listening to you.”
Her mouth opened and then closed.
“Well that was, direct.” One of the others spoke. The one with wild orange hair, Cleo.
Abolish shrugged.
“We asked your name.” They clarify. “And why you came here.”
“And why are you dressed like a butler” the blond fake noble, Martyn, said, snickering a bit, eyeing him
“I am a butler. And my name is Abolish.”
He let the silence sit for a while.
He didn’t offer up any more information. They had hardly earned anything from him.
Someone cleared their throat.
“Well. Nice to meet you.”
“Mm.”
It wasn’t. But they’d be useful.
His lord had always preferred human blood.