It was a dark and stormy night. The lights in the mansion should have been turned off by now, but they weren't.

Master had just moved back into his ancestral home after spending fifty years away, or so I had heard the quartermaster inform the kitchen lady, wiggling his brows. The plump woman had gone missing a day after that. One by one, other staff had stopped turning up for work as well till only a handful of us were left on the grounds.

I had bumped into Master a few days after that while fetching the newspaper. I could tell that he was a kind man by the way he had smiled at me.

Alas, my luck had run our soon after. The Mistress had set her eyes on me and immediately prohibited me from entering the mansion. Lineus told me later that she had taken an instant dislike to me.

My Mistress was a wonder. Though we had come face to face only once, I could tell she was different. The dark goggles she wore perpetually seemed to fit her like a second skin. No one saw Master and his wife during the time sun was up.

I wondered why. However, I never questioned it.

My mates called our Mistress a trophy wife. I didn't understand why. She had no trophies on her, I swear!
As I watched the shadows move against the lights, I thought about how warm it would be next to the fireplace. I wondered if tonight, just like the last, Master and his trophy wife were chomping on meat, enjoying its succulent flavor as it rolled over their tongue before forging on towards its destination.

I wish I could be a trophy wife. Alas...
The door creaked and pulled me back to the present. I found Master standing at the threshold to our quarter. He looked misplaced in our tiny space, but he didn't seem to mind it at all. Without him beckoning me to approach, I walked towards him and kneeled.

"You look just like Loraina." He said, tracing my brow. Nothing had prepared me for his icy cold fingers. I flinched; he took his hand away and sighed. Walking to the window I had been at not long ago, he glanced at his mansion.

"It has been so long, but things here don't seem to have changed at all." He turned towards, me and smiling, he sat in the messy chair the quartermaster often used to bark orders at us.

Master scanned the space. His presence seemed to fill it to the brim. "Lyon, that's your name, isn't it?" He asked, and I nodded. It was a privilege to be acknowledged by him. I was pleased.

"Lyon, care to join me for a walk?" He inquired, reaching for me. I blinked, backing further inside our living area. Something must have amused him, for a moment later, he chuckled.

Thankfully, his hand dropped back to his side. He pulled out a small stick from his coat. A moment after, there was smoke coming from one of its ends. Master brought it to his lips, his cheeks sunk momentarily, and when he let go of the stick, there was smoke exiting his mouth.

I had never seen something so magical.
He crossed his legs, "Lyon, you won't tell the wife, will you?" He demanded, narrowing his eyes suspiciously before letting out another laugh.

Perhaps Master had gone mad, I told myself. I did not voice my thoughts. I merely shook my head and waited for him to stop laughing.

And stop he did, however, what he said next only served to cement the fact that, even though Master didn't look it, the fifty years he had spent away from his home had made him senile.

"By the way, I am sorry about Lineus. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Mehoko didn't..." Master offered sincerely, then let his words hang.

I was curious to know what Mistress had to do with my friend's sudden disappearance a couple of days ago, but once again, I kept my thoughts to myself. The quartermaster had taught us never to speak unless absolutely necessary. I guess I will never know what happened to him.

Master's eyes grew sad. He gestured me to come closer, and I did. We always did as asked. After all, we were loyal to the core.

Unexpectedly, he pulled me into his arms and buried his face in my neck.
It tickled, but I stayed as still as I could. Nonetheless, I could feel my heart race. I had felt like this once before when I had farted in front of Lineus.

The fact that water was scarce wasn't why I hadn't bathed in days. I hated to wash, but I would have if I knew that Master would be paying me a visit. The quartermaster had beat us often just to get us to have a bath. I was scared that my odor would repulse Master, and I would fall out of his favor.

Once again, I waited, expecting to be let go or to be reprimanded. But Master didn't. He stroked my head and whispered, "Can you keep a secret, Lyon?" and without waiting for my response, he added, his voice scared, his hands shaking, "I lurk in the shadows and appear only at night. They think I am a monster and lock themselves inside their homes." He leaned away and cupped my chin, "Lyon, they don't know that I am the one keeping them safe...safe from someone more sinister than they can ever imagine...someone who watches them while they sleep."

His words made no sense. It was true that he hardly left the mansion when the sun was up, but why would people be afraid of him for doing that?

His cold fingers on my brow once again startled me and made him chuckle. His eyes were crinkled; the sadness from earlier was now gone. When he spoke, he sounded young, "I will see you soon, my dear." He promised, almost squeezing the life out of me. Then,  placing his lips on my forehead for a moment, he stood up.

I could tell that he was readying himself to leave. I couldn't hold my words any longer, "Stay." I muttered, gathering my courage, hoping he would hear me over the thunderstorm that raged outside my quaint corner of Master's property. His retreating footsteps halted for a moment...it was a moment full of expectations.

Alas...

The next day he returned but left without any words. He seemed resigned. His fingertips felt colder.
The day after that, it rained. The holes in my roof had gotten worse. The quartermaster had forgotten to mend it. So when Master came to visit that night, I was soaked through the bone.

A look of worry crossed his features. He directed a stern look at the quartermaster he gestured me to follow him.

I stopped at the threshold of the mansion. Mistress had forbidden me to enter it, but Master didn't notice my hesitation. He carried me inside despite my protests and put me by the fireplace. He draped a blanket over my shoulders, and airing the fire, he disappeared from my line of sight.
When he returned, he was holding the most succulent-looking piece of meat I had ever laid my eyes on.

My stomach grumbled. 

Master placed the meat in front of me, and I muttered a small, 'thank you.' He smiled, "Eat. Finish it before she returns." He suggested fondly.

I was just beginning to feel like a spoilt trophy wife myself, a humongous snake slithered across the floor. It was nothing like anything I had seen before. Its skin glistened, but I couldn't tell the color.

At once, Master shielded me from its view, "You are back early!" He exclaimed. It was strange seeing him so scared as he glanced over his shoulder. I followed his eyes to the exit, but before I could make a move, the snake morphed into my Mistress. Her bare hands were around my neck in an instant.

"Bitch, didn't I tell you to stir clear of my home?" She demanded. My throat closed up. I nodded frantically, hoping that she would let go.
Alas, she didn't.

Even as I gasped for breath, I couldn't help but notice her eyes: vertically oval-shaped. They were absolutely mesmerizing. Over my short span of life, I had seen many beautiful women, but none could compare to the one who stood right in front of me.

"Why isn't she scared?" My Mistress asked. I could feel her frustration but couldn't understand why she expected me to be scared.

"Let her go, please. I beg you." Master pleaded. There were tears in his eyes.

"Hudband, she reeks of you." My Mistress stated; she wrinkled her nose. "Why do you seek her out when you have me?"

"It's ...it's not what you think." Master stammered. His eyes darted between the two of us. "She is the only family I have left in this world. Please. Spare her. She is not right in the head."

Master's words once again didn't make sense, but I didn't care. I had more pressing matters to attend to. I knew I had no right to speak till directly spoken to, but the pain in my throat and neck was becoming unbearable. I open my mouth, but only puffs of air leave it. It reminds me of the puff pastry the quartermaster had served us a couple of days ago. He had even been generous enough to give me more than my share.

"I gave you eternal life in exchange for your promise to feed me. Husband, dare to feed this bitch, yet you have forgotten to bring me my meal."

"Just...let her go, and I will get it this instant."

A bout of caught left me at that precise moment; Mistress threw me on the floor. I looked at Master, seeking permission, but his eyes were glued on my Mistress. I crawled towards the meat Master had brought for me and hold it up to her. "A snack, Mistress." I offered the delicacy to her, hoping to get Master out of trouble, and for a moment, I seemed to have succeeded when I saw her chuckle.

The sound of her laugh filled me with unexpected joy, and I reciprocated the gesture.

Alas, that was the last thing I saw the trophy wife do before she kneeled next to me, opened her mouth, and dug into my neck.

Unlike Master, she was warm. The pain lasted only for a moment. I was not hungry anymore, nor was I cold.
I wanted to tell Master that his trophy wife had made me happy. I reckon he had probably misunderstood mistresse's actions...her kindness. As my eyelids grew heavy, the last time I saw him, he was on his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks, all the while telling me how sorry he was.