A chipped porcelain doll stared blankly across the room.
It's painted smile was a mockery of the Gloomy Goblin's current state. Glarg sat amidst a bizarre collection of human trinkets: a dented tea kettle, a stack of dusty vinyl records, a single roller skate. His hovel with the mundane world offered little comfort.
The lingering scent of stale pepperoni permeates the living room.
He had lost his temper. He had shown his true form. And now he was waiting. He knew they would come for him.
The arbiters of the Night Court.
He picked at a dried flake of cheese on his arm, it was a pathetic attempt to regain some semblance of control in a world that was spiraling rapidly out of it.
Suddenly, the chipped porcelain's smile seemed to widen mockingly at him.
The world around him twists into a blur. The scent of stale pepperoni faded, replaced by a coppery tang that stung his small nostrils.
His vision swam, the cluttered comfort of his hovel dissolved into utter blackness.
His consciousness flickered, then vanished like a snuffed out candle.
Eventually, he awoke to cold stone pressing against his cheek. Disorientation clawed at him, it was like a thick fog in his mind.
The Gloomy Goblin blinked a few times, his eyes struggled to focus in the dim light.
The air was entirely different, with mildew and something else he couldn't name. Something metallic, like dried blood.
He tried to move—to sit up, but his limbs felt leaden and unresponsive. Panic began to bubble in his chest.
He was no longer in his home.
His gaze slowly traveled upwards. Towering over him on either side, were figures that blotted out the meager light.
They were enormous hulking humanoids, their forms are vaguely man shaped but distorted and exaggerated.
Their skin was a sickly grayish-white. And stretched taut over bulging muscles that seemed to ripple like steel cords. Their heads were smooth and devoid of eyes, noses, and mouths.
They were just blank, unsettling spheres that reflected the dim light like polished bone.
Around their thick necks—embedded deeply into their flesh were heavy, blood encrusted collars.
The crimson stains were fresh, still glistening wetly. The collars were connected by thick chains that trailed across the floor, disappearing into the darkness.
The chains rattled softly as the figures walked.
Glarg realized with a jolt of pure terror, that these chains were bound to him.
Thin and almost invisible filaments like spider silk are wrapped around his wrists and ankles, binding him to his silent monstrous guards.
They were both still moving, with a synchronized gait, the faceless giants dragged the Gloom Goblin between them.
Glarg stumbled forward, his legs scraped against the rough stone floor. He tried to speak—to ask where they were taking him, but his voice was caught in his throat.
'Where are they exactly taking me?'
The hall stretched before them, like an endless corridor of darkness. The only illusion came from flickering torches spaced far apart that casted dancing shadows, which twisted the already monstrous forms of his captors into even more terrifying shapes.
The air grew even colder. He could feel the gaze of several eyes on him.
He was being led to judgement.
The corridor opened abruptly into a vast circular chamber.
The shift from claustrophobic darkness to cavernous space was disorienting.
Glarg blinked, his eyes were straining to adjust once again. Torches flared around the perimeter, revealing carvings depicting scenes of hunts, feasts..and sacrifices.
He shuddered.
The air in the chamber was thick with the same metallic scent. It now mingled with the cloying sweetness of something floral..and something else, something subtly unsettling, like the scent of ozone before a lightning strike.
The faceless giants hauled him forward, their chains rattled again across the stone floor.
'Ugh! Cursed brutes!'
In the center of the chamber, a raised dais dominated the slace. And upon it, figures are gathered.
Vampires.
Not the romantized figures of myths and stories. They were beings of unsettling beauty and also harrowing monstrosities.
A statuesque vampire with skin like alabaster and eyes like molten gold was leaning against a carved pillar, with a languid grace in her posture.
Beside her is a hulking brute with skin like cracked granite and a face that resembled a snarling wolf shifted impatiently.
His glowing red eyes are fixed on the Gloom Goblin.
Another smaller and wiry Vampire flitted nervously around the periphery, his features were bird-like. He occasionally paused, sniffing the air with a delicate twitch of his pointy nose.
"Fresh blood.." he hissed with a dry rustle:
"And something else..something unclean."
"Patience, Corvus," the golden eyed vampire said.
"All will be revealed in due time." She turned her serene gaze towards the wolfish vampire.
"Isn't that right, Lupus?"
Lupus grunted. His eyes were always fixed on the pathetic Gloom Goblin. He cracked his knuckles, it sounded like dry twigs were snapping.
"Let's just get this over with, Seraphina. I have...appointments."
A tall elegant woman with long, flowing black hair and violet eyes stepped forward. She held herself with an air of obvious authority, her gaze sweeped over the assembled vampires.
"Indeed. We are all busy, bring the creature forth." She gestured toward Glarg.
"Let us hear its transgression."
A familiar, white haired young woman watched.
Renja stood silently beside the black haired woman, her pale face was expressionless. Her gaze was fixed on some distant point of the chamber walls. She seemed utterly detached from the proceedings.
The giants dragged Glarg closer to the dais, forcing him down onto his knees.
He trembled, his gaze was darting between the terrifying figures that surrounded him.
"I..I didn't mean to!" He stammered.
"It was an accident! He..the human..he provoked me! He offered me pizza, then took it back! It was a Supreme! An extra large! With pepperoni!"
At the mention of pizza and delivery guy, Renja's head tilted almost imperceptibly. Her pale eyes which had been distant and unfocused, locked onto Glarg.
'Jett?' she thought.
A long silence fell over the slumber. Seraphina's golden eyes widened slightly. Her languid grace was shattered.
Lupus who had been ready to unleash his fury—blinked instead, his snarling features vanished into an expression of bewildered confusion.
Even Corvus who usually revered in the misery of others seemed momentarily taken aback.
"Pizza?" Seraphina finally asked.
Her voice was filled with incredulity. "Did this..creature just say pizza?"
Lupus snorted, a puff of hot hair escaped his nostrils:
"And a delivery guy," he added, amusement was creeping into his voice:
"Seriously? That's what caused this..incident?"
Corvus recovered from his shock. He bursts into a fit of laughter:
"A Supreme! An extra large! With pepperoni!" his voice echoed through the chamber:
"By the crown, this is priceless!"
The tall, black haired woman whose composure had remained unshaken until now, raised an eyebrow.
"Explain yourself, Glarg," she commanded:
"Clearly, there is more to this story than a..culinary dispute."
Glarg straightened slightly, but his knees still trembled:
"It's true!" he insisted. "I ordered a pizza. A supreme! And this human..this delivery guy..he brought it to me. But then..he mocked me! He offered it to me, then took it back! He wouldn't even accept my slugs as payment!"
A ripple of murmurs spread through the assembled vampires.
Seraphina stifled a giggle behind her manicured hand.
Lupus shook his head and sighed.
Corvus continued to laugh with amusement, clutching his sides as if in pain.
Renja remained silent. Her pale eyes were still fixed on Glarg, they narrowed slightly.
"This..delivery guy," she said, her voice was soft.
"Describe him."