TITLE: Icarus Manor, chapter 5
AUTHOR: lillywhite1, but you can call me Casey.
SUMMARY: In a mysterious mansion in a secluded part of North America, a man 
discovers that he is far from alone in the world. Here at Icarus Manor several species of 
non-human description live together to survive in a world that does not know they exist. 
LAST CHAPTER: We learn Elijah’s secret. Sean brings his case to the master of the 
house. Dominic discovers something during a midnight walk. The master’s slave is 
displeased. THIS CHAPTER: Dominic and Sean make a midnight deal.

PAIRING: Eventual DM/BB
RATING: PG-13; still setting up the base for the affair.
FEEDBACK: is my neutella on a spoon that makes me go all gooey and melty and 
mmmmm...
A/N: Text in asterisks (*) represents italics. This is a book and a work in progress. Be 
gentle. Comments to cswann1@gmail.com.

Chapter 5

“...And it’s strange. I can’t stop thinking about it.” Dominic dug angrily into the dirt to 
emphasize his words. The little purple pixie he’d begun calling Lilac sat on his shoulder 
and sighed lightly. Dominic had been bending her ear all morning about Mr. Boyd. 	

“What do you think I should do?” 

Lilac lay sprawled on his shoulder and lazily kicked him in the face and said “Bleh.”

Dominic threw down his trowel and packed dirt in around the latest glowing plant. “Great 
lot of help you are.”

Lilac sat up and shrugged. “Feh.”

It was the sixth day that he had been working with the pixies and he had garnered a 
general understanding of how their minds worked. He liked them all, but little Lilac was 
the only one that wanted to really know him. The others were too busy putting rocks in 
his shoes. Then his hat. Then his shirt. Predicting a pattern, he kindly asked them to stay 
out of his pants. Lilac laughed at that. 

With the help of the pixies, or rather, just the short, fat pixies, he had managed to cut the 
time this job took in half. He was almost done planting around the entire perimeter of the 
manor. 	

*Thank goodness.* He thought to himself. *My knees were beginning to petrify.* 
Although, he was a bit sad that he wouldn’t have a job with the pixies anymore. Perhaps 
he’d have another job outside on the grounds.

“Hey, Dommie.”

Dominic jumped. He hadn’t heard Orlando approach.

“Jesus, Orlando. You scared me.” Then Dominic looked up into Orlando’s eyes and was 
immediately worried. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, NOTHING! Nothing at all. Why?” 

“Orli...you read like a book. I can smell your nervousness. What’s going on?”

Orlando fidgeted with his hands before releasing them like caged ferrets.

“Okay. Well, nothing’s really *going on,* as you put it, but...uhh...I’ve been sent to tell 
you to go to Mr. Boyd’s office.” It came out in a rush.

“That’s it? You had me so worked up. You wanker.” Dom got up and walked towards the 
entrance to the house. Orlando caught up to him.

“Just a little worried is all. I usually don’t get sent to summon anyone unless Sean’s not 
about.”

Dom snorted. “Well, I think that just means that Mr. Boyd has been tipped off to the 
effect that Sean and I don’t get along so well.”

“Yes. Yes. I suppose you’re right.”

~

Dominic’s feet brought him to Mr. Boyd’s office faster than he had expected. He was still 
chuckling to himself about Orlando’s jittery message. When Orlando got nervous to that 
extent, he smelled sharp and his heartbeat was the most awkward switching between fight 
and flight, the two extra chambers turning on and off. He had no cause to worry. Dominic 
liked Mr. Boyd. 

He swung open the doors and went to greet his boss with a charming smile, only he 
wasn’t there. Dominic took the risk of a painful trip down memory lane and breathed in 
deeply to catch his boss’ scent, it was faint as he only felt the softness of his mother’s 
hands when he scraped his knee at age eight and the glow of his sister’s grin when she 
was still a little girl, but something else covered over that scent quickly. It was an odor 
that was hard to describe. But it wasn’t good. It was like burnt hair, only not as sharp. It 
also was rather– 

And through the door to the right side of Mr. Boyd’s desk came the summoner himself. 

“Hello, Mr. Boyd. How are things?”

Mr. Boyd smiled genuinely. “Fine, Dominic. Things are fine. I saw that your job with the 
plants around the boarder is nearly done. I have a new assignment for you.”

“If it’s anything like the last one, I don’t know if I’m going to like this.” Dom said 
cheekily. 

“Well, I’ll say this: It’s not *exactly* like the last one.” Mr. Boyd walked from behind 
his desk and slowly made his way toward Dominic. Dominic swallowed thickly. Mr. 
Boyd continued. “I need you to reorganize my library.”

Dominic looked at the six tall bookcases lining the walls. “It’ll be quite the job, but I 
guess that’s what you assign poor new blokes like me.” As Mr. Boyd brushed past him, 
he took in a deep breath again. He got flashes of the scents linked with the happiest times 
of his life again, but they were all new memories. Why did this happen? Who smells like 
a state of mind?

 Mr. Boyd cleared his throat to obtain Dominic’s attention. Dominic turned around to see 
Mr. Boyd standing by a door just to the right of the entrance. Dominic followed through.

It was a library. Dusty and moldy. It was an allergy-sufferer’s worst nightmare. But 
behind the dust there were books. Rows and rows and rows of books. They went on 
forever. Stacks of them were on the floor. Many were just manuscripts that were shoved 
into the shelves cover less. Pages fell out of the ancient books. They would have 
disintegrated as soon as he touched them. Some of them might have been hundreds of 
years old.

“It’s my private collection. I haven’t been in here for a very long time now. It has 
rather—”

“Gone to seed.” Dominic interrupted. 

“It used to be quite beautiful.” Mr. Boyd’s tone slipped into sadness again, as it was so 
prone to.

Dominic looked at his boss and smiled reassuringly. “Let’s see if we can make it that 
beautiful again.”

Mr. Boyd whispered something then turned back to face him. “Thank you, Dominic. You 
have a great appreciation for beauty. I figured you would be the best for the job.”

“My *positive* attributes have landed me this horror? That’s something new. Usually 
people are too preoccupied with punishing me for my *bad* character traits.” That earned 
Dominic a chuckle from Mr. Boyd. 

At that second, there was a low shuffling noise from deep inside the room. Dominic 
turned and began to back out of the door.

“Don’t worry, Dominic. I’ve got three guys here to help you, since you’re so fond of 
helpers on the job. They’re perfectly harmless.”

Dominic watched carefully as it came around the edge of the far bookcase. It was covered 
in dust all over and only a few feet tall. It resembled a court jester that had been smashed 
down too far. It had a big knotted nose and considerable frown. It dragged its feet along 
the floor as if it didn’t have the energy to actually lift them. The curled shoes probably 
didn’t help it move, but the thing looked listless. Its arms were longer than its body and 
they just brushed the floor.

It was grotesque, but appeared to be relatively harmless. Mr. Boyd said nothing as it was 
joined by two others and all three stood staring at the two paranthropes. 

“They are called foggles. They live with the books. They are twice as strong as a human 
and are deft climbers. They can help you sort and move the books that are beyond repair. 
And don’t talk down to them. They are very sensitive about their size.”

Dominic would sooner have talked down to an orangutan.  

“They understand all of what you’re saying, but they don’t answer with much. Their 
names are Forn, Lorn, and Korn.”

At the mention of their names, the three foggles grunted. One of them cracked its 
knuckles, then set them back down on the floor.

“Tomorrow you need to separate first the good from the garbage, then by language. Trash 
includes any unidentifiable language including pictograph. Now, come back outside with 
me.”

Mr. Boyd turned and mumbled something. Dominic looked back to see the foggles 
shuffling back behind the bookcases.

“See you fellas tomorrow.” Dominic said to the closing library door and was surprised to 
see one of the foggles raise his monstrously long arm up over his hunched back and give 
Dominic a “thumbs-up” sign. “They have excellent hearing.”

“Yes. They can be your best friend or the bane of your job if they want to. They’re kind 
of like gremlins in that way.”

“And they just stay in there? Locked up?” Dominic was appalled. 

“Yes, they don’t have to eat anything, really. Believe me, I tried to get them to eat, but 
nothing would ever please them. They take the water they want right out of the air.” Mr. 
Boyd shrugged.

“How did they end up in there?”

“They came with some of the books I bought. Followed me right out of the shop. Didn’t 
notice till a bit later that they were tied to the book. They protect it. But if it’s gone the 
way of many of my old purchases, they may be hanging around of their own free will.”

“I don’t imagine they’d be too good at defending themselves in the wild, either. I rather 
like them, though.”

“You won’t tomorrow, if things go badly.” Mr. Boyd perched on the edge of his desk and 
Dominic sat in a chair. For once, Mr. Boyd was taller than him, but he had always felt 
Mr. Boyd was taller. It was just his presence. 

*Which is beginning to warm up, as a matter of fact.* Dominic thought to himself.

Dominic was on his way back to work when Mr. Boyd told him to take lunch early today. 
It was almost that time anyway.

Dominic was retrieving cold cuts from the kitchen refrigerator a few moments later. The 
mustard eluded him, though. A twitch of his nostrils later revealed someone else was in 
the room. 

“Hello, Sean.” He let the fridge door slam as he carried his condiments to the counter. 

Sean looked up, the whole of his round face trying to conceal his anger. “Dominic.” His 
brown eyes flashed.

Dominic deftly spread mayonnaise on his wheat roll. There was a long, somewhat angry 
pause, and then, for some reason, Dominic thought it would be a good idea to try 
conversation.

“So, what does one do for fun around here, besides write up petitions to the Counsel of 
the Loupgaroux?” 

Sean’s head snapped around and he glared at Dominic who was gleefully applying a 
generous amount of roast beef to his wheat roll. *That felt good.*

“When we’re not asking bating questions, we big boys like to play cards. But litter runts 
like you don’t get invited.”

Dominic humphed. “Is that where you plan new ways to meddle in other people’s 
business as well?” Dominic chomped down on his sandwich to emphasize his challenge. 
“I suppose it was you that assigned me that lovely little task of putting a garden around 
the entire rim of the estate. Quite funny, that.”

Sean smiled shallowly, “I was being nice when I did that.”

“Oh, *you* were being nice? That makes sense considering how nice we all are when 
someone has our arms twisted behind our backs. But I guess that’s why you’re here, isn’t 
it? You *like* having someone dominate you.” 

Sean was grinding his teeth. This could be seen as gentle ribbing to anyone else, but 
certain key words made this dialogue increasingly insulting. The normal werewolf hates 
being dominated almost as much as he hates someone alluding to his lowered status. 
Avoiding domination and getting others under your clawed thumb consumed the lives of 
uncivilized werewolves.  It was a running theme in the species’ existence.

“If you bark any louder, I’d be inclined to think your bite isn’t worth a damn.”

“Care to find out, Seanie?” Dominic growled. His muscles strained like revved engines. 
But Sean didn’t take the bait.

“As much as I’m dying to take you down a peg or two and put you back in your squalid 
little place, I’m not going to lose my position here over your scrawny hide. If you want to 
settle this in a civilized manner that can be arranged.”

“How about a night of cards.” It was not a question that Dominic was asking. “I win, I 
get to join your ‘big boy’ table and you take your paws off my business. I lose and you 
can taunt me all you desire without complaint.”

“Deal. The room is on the bottom floor of the west wing. Just keep walking away from 
the main house. You will find us. We’ll be the only room with a light on. Tonight. 
Midnight.” Sean’s smile concealed something from Dominic. He had the feeling he’d 
gotten himself into a tad bit more than he could handle.

~

Later that night Dominic guided himself through the dark hallways of Icarus Manor deep 
into the heart of the west wing. He had never been in this part of the house before, but 
right now Dominic’s confidence was overflowing. 

He was feeling lucky. Poker was not really a talent of his, but his confidence had the 
stamina to outlast anyone else. Needless to say he bluffed his heart out when playing the 
game, but it worked. Games of luck were a weakness of his.

As Dominic reached the bottom of the stairs he saw nothing that he really hadn’t seen 
before. The bottom floor resembled the hallway of doors where Elijah, Orlando, and he 
resided. Perhaps it was just other servants’ quarters. 

But there were differences, as well. The doors seemed to be a bit taller and heavily 
reinforced. They looked as though nothing could break them down. Bars of steel raked 
over the square window in the door crooked and bent. As he walked further down the hall 
he could feel eyes on him. Things peered at him from their doors. Dominic wondered if 
the inhabitants were in their rooms against their will or if they could possibly open those 
heavy doors. He did not want to meet these large residents.

The smell of the corridor was altogether different as well. His dorm smelled a little 
musty, but dry for the most part, and clean. The stones always shone with a newly 
polished fervor. They were clouded and unkempt down here. Walls the walls crawled 
with small lichens. The floors were sandy. The hallway was dank and smelled like a 
horse barn, only worse. At least horses were vegetarians. 

*These animals are bigger than horses, and probably could eat horses.* Dominic thought.

Occasionally there were noises, too. Noises like nothing Dominic had ever heard before. 
Sometimes they were grunts like mammoth-sized pigs. Other sounds were harder to 
describe; something like a cross between a large lizard and a train speeding past a station. 
There were bird noises as well, but mixed with the purr of a lion. 

For a brief moment he thought that this might all be an elaborate scheme made by Sean to 
scare Dominic, but then he felt the vibrations coming off one of the things behind the 
doors. It shook a hairy and scaly mane in its cell, then turned rapidly in a circle and 
settled back down. It must have been twenty-five feet long at least. Its large tail made a 
soft swoosh through the air.

Dominic was considering going back and letting Sean have his fun. At least he would be 
alive to be taunted. He wasn’t stupid, but then he saw the proverbial light at the end of the 
tunnel. There was a door cracked not twenty feet away and there was a light on. Dominic 
headed for the door. With his hand on the knob and his confidence delicately reassembled 
from the corridor floor, he pulled the portal open.

Inside were two creatures. They were both very large.

The first was eight feet tall and black as a rook. He shifted in his seat and his skin rippled 
faintly with a green tone. He was covered in shining scales.  He had a human face apart 
from the small bony ridges on his cheekbones and the five horns growing out of his high 
forehead. His lips were large and held authority. His entire body was thick with massive 
muscle. His arms especially shocked Dominic and he followed them down to large, 
taloned hands.

The other was about the same height and covered in a coarse red hair. Two large canines 
jutted upwards out of his lower jaw and gave him a humongous under-bite. The two 
beady red eyes set in his gorilla-shaped head stared forward onto his cards gripped in 
huge, padded hands.

“You gonna sit down, Moon-man?” The one with horns and the black-green complexion 
stared at him with paranthropic eyes. Dominic swallowed thickly and walked slowly into 
the room, taking a chair.

“Gusto and I are just playing a warm-up game.” The same one that spoke before nearly 
made the table shudder his voice was so deep. He smiled and revealed what looked like 
four rows of sharp white teeth. Dominic imagined a shark could not have terrified him 
more. “Isn’t that right, Gusto?”

“Yeah.” The one that was Gusto spoke with anything but gusto. His voice was very 
monosyllabic – for what he could tell from the one syllable he had uttered – and 
exceptionally raspy. “Your turn, Cronus.”

Gusto would have been hard to understand had he not been speaking so slowly. Cronus 
laid down three cards and picked up three from the deck. Dominic was surprised that 
Cronus’ massive hands could perform such a dainty task. The cards were unharmed.

“Alright, my man, what have you got?” Cronus looked at Gusto who scratched his 
droopy ear with his padded finger. 

“I’ve got a pair. What about you?”

Cronus laid down his cards. “Three sevens. Looks like I’ve won. Too bad we didn’t bet 
anything.”

“Doesn’t matter. I only have the money I borrowed from you.” Gusto pointed out. He 
shifted and there was a metallic rustling of chains. 

These two giants had something about them that Dominic found odd. They seemed 
unhappy. Dominic couldn’t imagine someone being unhappy here. He noticed that there 
were scattered patches of the hair on Gusto’s arms and face that were going grey amongst 
the red. His head hung low. Cronus was better at faking it. The only tell-tale sign of 
seeming sadness on Cronus was that one of the horns on his head was split at the top. It 
moved with Cronus’ expression and looked like it was falling out.

“You wanna deal?” Cronus placed one hand on top of deck and slid it across the table to 
Dominic. He picked up the over-sized deck and clumsily shuffled.

“Sure. What are we playing?” Dominic tried to hide his nervousness, but Cronus smiled 
like a wolf sensing fear in a rabbit.

“Five card draw sound good?” Gusto asked. Dominic nodded.

“That sounds fine.” He smiled and dealt. His unwavering confidence sprouted wings and 
got the hell out of there, leaving Dominic stranded.

“So, Moon-man, who are you?” Cronus asked, picking up his five cards. 

“I’m Dominic Monaghan. I’m from Manchester.” Dominic really had no idea what to 
say. He was sitting next to a dinosaur and a huge orangutan, what kind of light chat 
would they be into? *Well, I killed a buffalo the other day, and I was just PLAYING with 
it.*

“Where’s that?” Gusto focused his beady red eyes on Dominic, but managed to look 
rather innocent.

“England.” Dominic threw down two of his best cards and picked up two awful ones. He 
figured it may be better to lose for a little while.

“You’re pretty far from home, Dominic.” Cronus’ voice vibrated heavily in Dominic’s 
ears. It threw him off. Cronus dealt himself one card.

“Yeah, don’t I know it.” Dominic sighed.

“I don’t even remember what home smells like anymore.” Gusto’s words were touched 
with agony. Gusto discarded and drew two cards.

“If you don’t mind me asking, fellas. What are you two doing here if you miss home?”

The two looked at each other before Cronus answered, “It’s a long story. I’ve got two 
pair.”

Dominic blinked in confusion. *Oh, the game. Right.* He threw down his messy handful 
of nothing. “I’ve got an ace.”

“Straight.” Gusto was happy with that one. But again, they realized they hadn’t bet any 
money.

“Um, guys,” Dominic began to ask what had been on his mind since he walked in the 
door. “Where’s Sean?”

“Sean’s not coming.” Cronus gave Dominic that shark-toothed smile again, and then 
Dominic bolted for the door. The next thing he knew, he was falling to the grimy and 
disgusting floor. Gusto had snatched hold of his leg and was dragging him back to the 
table.

“Oh, Sean doesn’t need to be here for this. He put this matter in our hands now.” Cronus’ 
words were sadistic and excited. Dominic just kept thinking about those four rows of 
teeth. Gusto threw Dominic in to the corner. He hit his head on the stone wall and his 
vision blurred.

He was paralyzed. Caught between a gorilla and a Tyrannosaurus-Rex there was no way 
out. 

“Sorry, Dominic, but this isn’t about you and us. It’s about you and Sean, and he told us 
what to do.”

The words were fuzzy, but the message was clear. The pain in his head was ignored over 
the loud sirens going off that he was in serious danger. Fear took over his body and his 
heart pounded faster than a drum-roll at this own execution. He was so petrified that he 
couldn’t transform into his full wolf form. He urged himself to change, but he only got 
this eyes and ears to shift before another blow to his head ended his efforts. He never did 
do well under pressure. That was what cost him his family.

Cronus kicked him hard in the ribs and the wind was knocked out of him. Choking and 
gasping he was thrown through the table and against the stone wall again and again. 
Meaty arms drove fists down on him and into him. He coughed blood. It shone like 
murder on the stone floor. His head throbbed. He couldn’t hear anything over the rushing 
of fear in his ears. He was so out of it that he couldn’t tell if he had broken anything or 
not. Time drifted away. It could have been hours or minutes since they began beating 
him.

On his stomach, he was mesmerized by the bloody floor. His sticky hands were still. The 
blood in his eyes created a ruby glow, although he was sure that this was not what was 
meant by “looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.” Or was it? Perhaps dying 
was the only happy end to so much pain.

Then somewhere in his head came the realization, “I’m going to die.” The pain was too 
intense for him to wrap his brain around, and he smiled as he looked forward to its eternal 
end. His breath came in short, painful gasps as if they were further blows. If there were 
more blows to his body, he couldn’t feel them now. He was cold and felt strangely 
detached from his aching body. There was a brilliant flash of light, and he was gone.
~
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