Jules gave up trying to chase away the offending hand and allowed it to rest on his buttocks. He pretended not to feel it, as if the warmth on his skin was nothing more than an illusory sensation, focusing his attention on the oddly shocked vampire instead.
Something didn't add up.
A nagging feeling had been gnawing at his guts since earlier. Balthazar's reaction was a little too strange, a little too strong. Why was he even this infatuated with Bastien, to begin with…?
"Bastien," Jules lifted his eyes to meet the demon's, trying to ignore the insufferable smile. He had to ask, and hopefully, his hunch was wrong. "I'm asking just in case, but could this guy be one of your exes?"
"Well… More like a fling?"
"You were a real bastard before meeting your wife, weren't you?"
The incubus averted his eyes, offering that little 'oopsie' grimace kids often do when caught red-handed. He did say he lived up to his species' reputation before meeting Cloe, meaning he had quite the promiscuous life. There was even that archangel who cursed his descendants among his exes, so why not a vampire?
"It was not a fling!" Balthazar growled, and Jules almost felt a twinge of pity for the vampire. Sorry, pal, but it was.
No matter how obsessed Balthazar was about Bastien, the incubus clearly had no string of feeling left for him. If anything, he seemed to harbor a deep hatred. Nothing too surprising, considering the vampire went after his wife and also seemed to be a degenerate asshole.
Jules was starting to wonder if these supernatural beings had any inkling whatsoever about how to court someone properly. Trying to kill or curse your ex-partner's lover wasn't going to make them look at you favorably. Just saying.
"Didn't I make it clear back then that I was only interested in casual relationships?"
"But I'm different!"
"No, you're not."
It had the merit of being clear, although Jules doubted it would change anything. Balthazar was already obsessed with the incubus, and it wasn't a few mere words that were going to change his fanatical mind. Once delusion settled in, it was difficult to get rid of it.
"In any case," Bastien brushed the matter aside, quite heartlessly, "What's with this goddamn place? I know your pretentious ass has always loved to pretend to be scholarly, but you're definitely not knowledgeable enough to have created this array, much less encased a whole haunted house in it. Who's behind this shitshow, and how can we leave?"
The answer Bastien got was a maniacal cackle. It echoed across the room as tears of laughter glistered in Balthazar's crimson eyes.
"I don't know!"
"What?"
The incubus frowned. He glanced at Jules, who responded with a nod. The hunter opened his mouth, his cold voice carrying a hint of divine authority that brought Balthazar's head down to the floor, his forehead hitting the wooden plank with a loud thud. His body lay sprawled on the rug, even as it kept convulsing under his laughter.
"What kind of bulcrap are you trying to pass under our noses, now? You have to know something about this place. You can leave your territory and walk around the haunted house without problems. Weren't you strolling in the corridor just a moment ago? Don't play dumb. You're the first being we've met that can do that."
With his face pressed against the rug, Balthazar side-eyed Jules. A demented smile curled up his lips, and a sinister light dimmed his gaze.
"But I truly don't know; I just own those rights. They were given to me because I'm special."
Jules squinted. The vampire didn't seem to be lying. No, he was relishing in the moment, as if he genuinely believed he was special; the chosen one or something. He seemed to think that the being who owned the haunted house was favoring him. Perhaps it was.
However, that didn't help them.
All that told Jules was that the said being could grant some rights to others, without even having to meet them. Or was it? Balthazar could have met it, but it didn't need to reveal who it was or what it was to him. Then again, it could have presented itself as the owner of this place while concealing its true nature.
From what he had gathered, that thing seemed to be overly cunning.
"…Can you bring other people out of the haunted house with you?"
In the end, that was the most important question. First things first, Jules had to get his sister, her friends, Felix, and even the twins out of this damned place. He could think about what to do after they were escorted safely back to the real world.
"It's my turn to ask a question," Balthazar scoffed, a vicious light passing through his eyes as he glared at Jules. "What are you to him?!"
'Straight up on the matter,' Jules internally sighed. Lying wouldn't do. Vampires were perceptive, and although the hunter could lie and keep his heartbeat steady, he didn't want to take any risk, not with their ticket to the outside world in view.
"…His food source?'"
Jules tilted his head, appearing unsure.
By his side, Bastien choked on air. He threw an exasperated look at the hunter, fully aware that the man was returning his word from earlier. He did call him his food source, after all, and Jules was petty.
"Well," the incubus sighed, shaking his head, "I consider you to be a little more than a food source, if you haven't noticed yet."
"But you do see me as a food source, too."
"Sorry, that was my bad."
Bastien readily apologized, although all he got in response was a snort. It seemed like he'd need to make amends, somehow.
Again, a hysterical laugh resonated.
"A food source? A food source!" Balthazar seemed to be losing it. "He doesn't treat his food source like that! Don't lie to me!"
These words earned Balthazar a frown from Jules and a 'I'm innocent, I don't know anything' kind of look from Bastien.
"…You don't know?!"
"Isn't it our turn to ask questions?" Jules shut the vampire up. It wasn't that he didn't know; it was just not the right time to think about such matters. Or more like, he didn't want to think about what it implied and what he'd need to deal with later on. "Can you or can you not take people outside with you?"
There was a second of silence before Balthazar ultimately grunted through gritted teeth, "Yes, I can."
***
They reached the end of an intersection, and Jules lowered his eyes to the vampire he'd been dragging by the collar. Behind him, he could see his sister, with a twin in her arms, her friends, and Felix, with the other twin in his arms, walking in tow. At the end of the queue was Bastien, tasked with protecting the rear if something were to surge out of the blue to attack them. Meanwhile, the hunter was taking care of the front, guiding the group according to Balthazar's directives.
Evidently, Jules didn't trust the vampire all that much, even if they had come to an agreement. They wouldn't kill him, however tempting that was, if he showed them the way out—ultimately, Balthazar valued his life more than his infatuation with Bastien.
They had yet to come across anything, even as they flew down yet another set of stairs. Silence reigned. It was nerve-racking when compared to how noisy it had been these past few days.
Jules almost missed the wailing and howling. Silence was always more terrifying.
Another turn, then yet another, and finally, they reached a massive double-door entrance. Carvings of deities adorned the wood, as if guarding it, while round hanging doorknobs fell in the middle, with metallic decorative chimera heads acting as their anchoring points. Charming.
"I have to be the one to open it."
Balthazar's voice had grown dull.
Jules couldn't discern any emotions in it. Still, he didn't have much of a choice, so he bent over to pull the vampire up. His limp body wasn't of much use, and Jules had to hold him up like a doll, leaning Balthazar's body against his. He kept him up with one arm passed around his chest, and the other took his hand to place it on the koorknod and pull on the door.
Soon enough, the other side of the door was revealed. It was the courtyard, the exit of the haunted house.
Was it an illusion?
Jules suspiciously eyed the vampire.
No reaction whatsoever.
With precaution, he bent over to pass his head outside, feeling the disturbance in the surrounding atmosphere as a part of his body entered the real world again.
The fresh autumn air assaulted his nose.
Laughter and chatter traveled to his ears.
The hunter sharpened his senses, but everything told him that, indeed, this was the outside world he knew so well. A sigh of relief escaped him.
A discreet smile tugged at his lips as he turned back to nod at his protégés. He kept a foot outside, just to make sure there wouldn't be a change in the dimensional door that he wouldn't notice—better be safe than sorry. He was still holding onto Balthazar when he gestured for his sister to pass through the door.
Annabelle didn't need to be told twice. She led her friends outside, and Felix closely followed behind, sticking to them like their shadow. No one showed any sign of excitement until their feet touched grass, and reality started to sink in.
They were outside.
They were out of this fucking hell.
A smile of pure exhilaration appeared on Annabelle's face as she veered around to call her brother, but that smile was swiftly wiped out by an expression of horror.
The massive doors were closing. In between, Annabelle saw her brother's confused face as he fell backward and Bastien's widened eyes as he threw himself down to catch him.
Balthazar's hysterical laugh drilled her eardrums. Then, she heard a deafening thud.
Her brother and Bastien didn't make it out.