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flipflop_divaFor this prompt, we had to work with our partner's two previous entries. You don't have to read these first, but it will add to the story if you do. Both written by the lovely alycewilson
Entry 1
Entry 2
John looked at the ornate mirror in the dressing room as he expertly tied his long, red velvet cape around his neck, tucking the strings under the folds of his shirt collar. No one else was in here with him, which was good. He needed a few minutes to prepare himself for what was to come.
He had been trying to get a job at one of these haunted houses for years, but it was always the same thing: “You’re not scary looking enough.” “No one would believe you’re a vampire.” “You’re trying too hard.”
Sometimes, it was like these people had never watched a vampire movie. The whole point of being a vampire was to fool people into thinking you were just human.
But it was fine, because he had finally been given a job. And now he just had to do his best to impress his employers by scaring the customers so badly they would tell all their friends to come here.
He closed his eyes and tried to remember the rules he had been given. There were only six.
1. Never break character.
2. Don’t talk to the guests (unless you have a speaking role, which John did not).
3. Don’t eat or drink in costume.
4. Don’t show up late.
5. Never wear your costume out in public.
6. And finally, don’t bite the guests.
There had been in-depth conversations, complete with PowerPoint slides, for all of these points, especially the last one. A couple years ago, someone got too into their work and started biting guests. There had almost been lawsuits. It was all very bad, John had been told.
He glanced up at the clock. Five minutes before his first shift, but as per rule number four, he did not want to be late. He glanced over his outfit one last time, took a deep breath, and opened the door from the dressing room to the hallway that led to the showrooms.
Everything back here was dimly lit with fluorescent bulbs, but once he entered the show area, it would be complete darkness apart from some (fake) flickering candles.
He continued down the hallway until he reached the door marked with a gigantic seven. His door. He took one last breath and went over the rules — don’t break character, don’t talk to guests, don’t eat or drink, don’t be late, don’t wear your costume in public, don’t bite the guests — then opened the door and slipped inside.
--
John was having the time of his life. He had been on his first shift for nearly six hours, but it might as well have been six minutes, it had gone so fast. He was stationed in the room after Dracula (which, he had noticed earlier, had a lot of historical details wrong; perhaps one day he would inform his new bosses of this). His job was to walk close behind the guests, and when they turned to look at him, he would open his mouth so they could see his fangs, glistening with bright red (fake) blood.
It was absolutely glorious. All the screams and the shrieks. A few people even cried. And one lady came so close to passing out. He loved seeing the terror he could instill in all these people, knowing that he was the one making them quake in terror (well, him and some of the visual effects, but mostly him).
The only negative were his coworkers. Most of them just seemed grumpy and a bit on the cynical side. Okay, sure, sometimes people tried to punch or kick or claw at them, but that just meant you had to have good reflexes. Like John. He hadn’t been touched once.
They were going on hour seven, and John was already trying to figure out how he could be even scarier, when he heard a commotion coming from the Dracula room
There was the sound of something being struck and then, “Damn it! They don’t pay me enough for this!” John heard a female voice start apologizing and then there was the sound of a door opening and closing, and then it was quiet.
The other vampire in the room with John moved closer to the doorway that led from the Dracula room to theirs and frowned.
“I think Pete left!” he whispered. John could see his wide-eyed look in the flickering candles. Instantly, dread filled John’s body. Dracula left? What did that mean for their performance? What would happen to their haunted house?
He wanted to ask his room partner, but he didn’t want to break rule number one (“Don’t break character”). So instead he just stood there, listening. He could hear screams and moans and groans from the rooms after theirs but nothing before.
And then the door to the dressing room opened and in the shadowy light, John saw his boss.
“You!” he said, pointing at John. “Go be Dracula ‘til I can find a replacement!”
John stared at him and then pointed to himself. “Me?”
“Yes, you!” said his boss. “Who else would I be talking to? Can you do that?”
“Uhhh, yes,” John said.
“Great,” his boss said. “Just remember the six rules. You’ll be fine.”
His boss disappeared back to where he came from, and John, almost as if in a daze, moved through the door to the Dracula room. Now he was Dracula, the most powerful and beloved vampire of all time. He was suddenly full of nerves, his body shaking with his own terror. Could he really do this?
He closed his eyes. Just remember the six rules, he thought. Don’t break character, don’t talk to guests except to say his Dracula line, don’t eat or drink human foods, don’t be late, don’t wear his costume in public, don’t …
John frowned. What was rule six again? And why were there so many rules? Five would have been a much better number.
Through the wall on the opposite side of the room, he heard someone start screaming. That meant he was up next.
“Oh, Dracula!” he whispered. It was his time to shine.
He rushed to the corner to get ready.
The door burst open and a young girl came racing in, as fast as her legs would take her, face contorted in fear. She tripped over herself and then stopped by Dracula’s coffin, almost as if transfixed. On cue, the lid began to creak open.
John stepped out of his corner and moved toward the girl.
“I vant to suck your blood!” he whispered into her ear, then reached up a hand to move her hair off her neck.
The girl screamed as John stared at her white creamy flesh, there for the taking.
He leaned forward, feeling as powerful as Dracula must have, and sank his fangs into the girl’s neck and began to suck.
The girl screamed and screamed and screamed, and John delighted in the sound as he slurped and licked and sucked. It was only when the girl had stopped screaming, falling lifeless at his feet, that John suddenly remembered rule number six.
Don’t bite the guests.
“Oh damn,” he whispered, looking down at the girl on the ground.
There was no saving this one. He was going to have to find a new job.
Again.
Fiction.
This was written for the new season of![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
therealljidol, Wheel of Chaos! If you liked my entry, please consider voting for me or any of the other amazing contestants. You can find all the entries here. Look for the voting post on Thursday night!
alycewilsonEntry 1
Entry 2
John looked at the ornate mirror in the dressing room as he expertly tied his long, red velvet cape around his neck, tucking the strings under the folds of his shirt collar. No one else was in here with him, which was good. He needed a few minutes to prepare himself for what was to come.
He had been trying to get a job at one of these haunted houses for years, but it was always the same thing: “You’re not scary looking enough.” “No one would believe you’re a vampire.” “You’re trying too hard.”
Sometimes, it was like these people had never watched a vampire movie. The whole point of being a vampire was to fool people into thinking you were just human.
But it was fine, because he had finally been given a job. And now he just had to do his best to impress his employers by scaring the customers so badly they would tell all their friends to come here.
He closed his eyes and tried to remember the rules he had been given. There were only six.
1. Never break character.
2. Don’t talk to the guests (unless you have a speaking role, which John did not).
3. Don’t eat or drink in costume.
4. Don’t show up late.
5. Never wear your costume out in public.
6. And finally, don’t bite the guests.
There had been in-depth conversations, complete with PowerPoint slides, for all of these points, especially the last one. A couple years ago, someone got too into their work and started biting guests. There had almost been lawsuits. It was all very bad, John had been told.
He glanced up at the clock. Five minutes before his first shift, but as per rule number four, he did not want to be late. He glanced over his outfit one last time, took a deep breath, and opened the door from the dressing room to the hallway that led to the showrooms.
Everything back here was dimly lit with fluorescent bulbs, but once he entered the show area, it would be complete darkness apart from some (fake) flickering candles.
He continued down the hallway until he reached the door marked with a gigantic seven. His door. He took one last breath and went over the rules — don’t break character, don’t talk to guests, don’t eat or drink, don’t be late, don’t wear your costume in public, don’t bite the guests — then opened the door and slipped inside.
--
John was having the time of his life. He had been on his first shift for nearly six hours, but it might as well have been six minutes, it had gone so fast. He was stationed in the room after Dracula (which, he had noticed earlier, had a lot of historical details wrong; perhaps one day he would inform his new bosses of this). His job was to walk close behind the guests, and when they turned to look at him, he would open his mouth so they could see his fangs, glistening with bright red (fake) blood.
It was absolutely glorious. All the screams and the shrieks. A few people even cried. And one lady came so close to passing out. He loved seeing the terror he could instill in all these people, knowing that he was the one making them quake in terror (well, him and some of the visual effects, but mostly him).
The only negative were his coworkers. Most of them just seemed grumpy and a bit on the cynical side. Okay, sure, sometimes people tried to punch or kick or claw at them, but that just meant you had to have good reflexes. Like John. He hadn’t been touched once.
They were going on hour seven, and John was already trying to figure out how he could be even scarier, when he heard a commotion coming from the Dracula room
There was the sound of something being struck and then, “Damn it! They don’t pay me enough for this!” John heard a female voice start apologizing and then there was the sound of a door opening and closing, and then it was quiet.
The other vampire in the room with John moved closer to the doorway that led from the Dracula room to theirs and frowned.
“I think Pete left!” he whispered. John could see his wide-eyed look in the flickering candles. Instantly, dread filled John’s body. Dracula left? What did that mean for their performance? What would happen to their haunted house?
He wanted to ask his room partner, but he didn’t want to break rule number one (“Don’t break character”). So instead he just stood there, listening. He could hear screams and moans and groans from the rooms after theirs but nothing before.
And then the door to the dressing room opened and in the shadowy light, John saw his boss.
“You!” he said, pointing at John. “Go be Dracula ‘til I can find a replacement!”
John stared at him and then pointed to himself. “Me?”
“Yes, you!” said his boss. “Who else would I be talking to? Can you do that?”
“Uhhh, yes,” John said.
“Great,” his boss said. “Just remember the six rules. You’ll be fine.”
His boss disappeared back to where he came from, and John, almost as if in a daze, moved through the door to the Dracula room. Now he was Dracula, the most powerful and beloved vampire of all time. He was suddenly full of nerves, his body shaking with his own terror. Could he really do this?
He closed his eyes. Just remember the six rules, he thought. Don’t break character, don’t talk to guests except to say his Dracula line, don’t eat or drink human foods, don’t be late, don’t wear his costume in public, don’t …
John frowned. What was rule six again? And why were there so many rules? Five would have been a much better number.
Through the wall on the opposite side of the room, he heard someone start screaming. That meant he was up next.
“Oh, Dracula!” he whispered. It was his time to shine.
He rushed to the corner to get ready.
The door burst open and a young girl came racing in, as fast as her legs would take her, face contorted in fear. She tripped over herself and then stopped by Dracula’s coffin, almost as if transfixed. On cue, the lid began to creak open.
John stepped out of his corner and moved toward the girl.
“I vant to suck your blood!” he whispered into her ear, then reached up a hand to move her hair off her neck.
The girl screamed as John stared at her white creamy flesh, there for the taking.
He leaned forward, feeling as powerful as Dracula must have, and sank his fangs into the girl’s neck and began to suck.
The girl screamed and screamed and screamed, and John delighted in the sound as he slurped and licked and sucked. It was only when the girl had stopped screaming, falling lifeless at his feet, that John suddenly remembered rule number six.
Don’t bite the guests.
“Oh damn,” he whispered, looking down at the girl on the ground.
There was no saving this one. He was going to have to find a new job.
Again.
Fiction.
This was written for the new season of
therealljidol, Wheel of Chaos! If you liked my entry, please consider voting for me or any of the other amazing contestants. You can find all the entries here. Look for the voting post on Thursday night!
no subject
Date: 2025-11-13 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-14 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-15 12:21 am (UTC)I knew the existence of Rule #6 could not be good...
There's nothing like the feedback combo of “You’re not scary looking enough.” and “You’re trying too hard.” I swear, so much of feedback seems to go that way!
I love the irony of him not being "good enough" to get a job as what he actually is. :D
no subject
Date: 2025-11-16 12:51 am (UTC)Very well-done entry!