work of art

Melchior

A/N You should know that Melchior says "Diabolical" almost in the way someone would say "lovely" or "awesome", sarcastically                                                                

                                                                                  present

I am so fucking sick of paperwork.

You would think that after 203 years of immortal life, I would have found some other twat to take care of the boring shit nobody wants to do. Yet here I am, sitting at a wooden table putting my signature on every fucking piece of paper known to mankind.

Diabolical.

I have been leader of Australia's vampires for about 60 years now, yet these idiots never seem to become any less of a headache to deal with.

"Sir, Brendon and Jake are having a scrap in the dining hall again."

Speak of the devil. "Send 'em in," I said with an obvious amount of annoyance in my tone.     "Yes, Sir."                                                                                                                                                                          "And Sam? Fucking knock next time, or I'll make sure you don't have hands to begin with." Sam looked like he'd seen a fucking ghost. I almost felt bad for the poor bugger, but Everyone around here knows that If you respect me, I'll respect you. "O-of course, Sorry" Poor thing actually stuttered. "That's alright mate just don't let it happen again". Sam closed my door softly and I knew that I'd have max 6 minutes of peace as I waited for him to walk down to the dining hall, grab the boys, and walk all the way back up here with them.

The way the system works here, Is that all freshly turned vampires are to be 'registered' in a way. If an unregistered newborn is running around, it has to be either questioned or killed. All of the registered newborn forms eventually end up on my desk. Hence all the fucking paperwork.

I live in the compound. I created this place when a good friend of mine stepped down from the leader position and gave it to me. It is where any vampire can come when they need a place to stay or live. Food is provided along with hot water, training facilities, a few pools and temperature-controlled rooms. It gets too bloody hot here in summer to not have the A/C on every once in a while. Especially when All I can wear is a suit or turtle neck.

five minutes later I heard a resounding knock on my door. "Come in", I said loud enough for it to be heard through the thick wooden door. "Brendon and Jake are here sir" Sam said.

"Alrighty boys, take a seat," I said glaring at the twats. "What's going on with you two? I feel like every week you's are being sent up here for something new. What is it this time?" I've been looking after Brendon and Jake for the last 11 years. They're some of the oldest members of the compound, and arguably my two closest mates. Which is why it bugs me so much that I need to pull them in here on a formal basis so often and growl them for being such dickheads.

"Jake took the last cup of chips and I wasn't gonna be caught dead standing around like a fuckwit waiting for more" Brendon stated with a look of determination on his face. "Are you fucking serious right now! I told you that we could share and grab another cup after and go halves in it! we'd still get a full cup each, wanker!" Jake declared looking like a toddler having a fit with his arms crossed and everything.

"Are you done?" I asked almost rhetorically looking between the two. Jake and Brendon were cousins. Both adorning naturally tan skin and blue-green eyes with cropped brown curly hair. They were turned at the same time being 20 and 21 respectively, and kicked out at the same time due to their turning. The world knows about vampires, and while many envy us, others can't stand the thought of us. That's how the boys ended up at the compound, their family was the latter. I think they look at me as a sort of substitute father figure.

"right. enough out of both of you. Can you just fucking get over it? Whatever it is you're fighting over, sort it out, because I've had enough of  dealing with it." I shouted. The boys shared a look, and I realised that I said a lot more than I usually do. Clearly, it was exactly what they needed to know that I was actually fed up this time though, because Jake spoke up next.

"Sorry Mel, we'll sort it" He said looking disappointed in himself. I just nodded in response, deciding I'd spoken enough for the day. These kids are my only soft-spot in the compound, and they know it. No one else would dare to behave the way they do around here, and I needed them to pull their heads in.

With a sigh, I leaned back in my chair, the creaking wood providing a sort of comfort in its familiarity. The boys shuffled out of the room, their guilty expressions trailing behind them. They were good kids, just occasionally caught up in their own petty squabbles. But in a place like this, even the smallest conflict could disrupt the delicate balance we'd worked hard to establish.Once they left, I turned my attention back to the pile of paperwork strewn across the desk. A mixture of registration forms, incident reports, and supply requisitions stared back at me. I pinched the bridge of my nose, attempting to stave off the growing headache.As much as I despised these bureaucratic tasks, they were a necessary evil. The compound couldn't function without structure, without rules. And as its leader, it fell upon me to maintain that structure, no matter how mundane or tedious it might be.