Chapter Text
Sophie eyed the clock on the wall, there was only one more minute until closing and she was desperate to lock up the hat shop. Suddenly, the bell above the door rang out. Sophie cursed under her breath and then did her best to put on a customer service smile. She turned and looked at the woman who had entered. She wore a short black dress and fishnets over her thicc juicy thighs.
“Hello,” Sophie greeted her, “I’m sorry but I’m afraid we’re closed now, miss.”
“But you close at 9:00? It’s only 8:59.” The woman raised her slitted eyebrow.
Sophie tried to stay calm “I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to leave now.” The girl ignored her and glanced around the shop. “Everything here is so tacky. You don’t even have any Supreme,” She laughed.
“Ma’am this is a hat shop.”
The girl eyed her up and down, “I don’t like your attitude. I would like to speak to your manager.”
Sophie held her tongue and nodded and ran to the back to fetch her stepmother, Fanny. She told her about the woman waiting in the shop and Fanny told Sophie to just go to her room and she would close the shop herself.
Happy to be done for the day, even with the sour encounter she had just had, Sophie went up to her room and put on her favorite grey dress and threw her long red-gold hair into a messy braid.
“Come down here!” She heard her stepmother call an hour later. Sophie obediently ran back down the stairs to the shop and saw the rude woman from earlier was gone. Fanny continued once she arrived, “A customer told me that as the eldest of three sisters, you’re the least likely to succeed if you seek your fortune, so— I’ve sold you. Meet your new owner!”
“What?!” Sophie cried.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder “Hello, little mouse, I’m Howl Pendragon.”
Sophie looked up and her blue-green orbs met his. Before she even had time to think, she was taken by the hand and swept away, out of the house, out of the hat shop—away from everything she’s ever known.
Howl opened the door to a red Lambo parked outside the shop and, without thinking, she got in. Once inside, she could feel tears welling up in her eyes and it took all she had in her not to cry.
Howl got into the driver's seat and looked back at her through the rearview mirror, “don’t cry,” he told her, “you’re so sexy ahahah.”
His sentiments were not a comfort. In fact, they only made Sophie feel worse about her situation and her sorrow quickly turned to rage. “What the fuck does that even mean!” She exclaimed.
“Watch your language, cursing isn’t very becoming of a lady“ He pouted.
“Oooooh myyy goddddd….” Sophie was exasperated and at a loss for words. A moment of silence passed between the two as Howl pulled the car onto the road and they drove into the hills on the outskirts of town. “What are you going to do with me?” She finally asked.
“Well, my roommates keep complaining that I’m too “messy” or something like that, so I figured I’d get a maid.”
He just wants me to clean? Sophie thought, I can do that. Maybe this won’t be too bad.
“What were you doing before this?” He asked casually as if he hadn’t just committed a federal crime.
“I worked at my parent’s hat shop.” She told him.
“...and?”
“And what?” Sophie raised a brow, annoyed.
“What else did you do?” He urged her to continue, “like for fun, I mean.”
Sophie opened her mouth but closed it shortly after. She pondered the question and realized she couldn’t remember the last time she had done anything just for fun. “Nothing.” She finally replied.
“What do you mean nothing?!” Howl furrowed his brows, “don’t you have hobbies or something? Friends you’d hang out with? A boyfriend?”
“Nope.” She answered plainly.
“Huh...” Howl said, “well, that's lame.”
“Well, Mr. Judgmental, what do you do?”
“I’m an eboy.” He told her smugly.
“What the fuck is that?”
“You know, an eboy, ” he repeated himself, clarifying nothing.
“I obviously don’t know, bitch, just tell me.” She snapped.
Howl sighed, “I, like, make videos with my squad and post pics on social media and stuff like that.”
“Wait....” Sophie squinted her eyes, suspiciously, “you’re not one of those TikTok assholes are you…?”
Howl’s eyes lit up. “Yes! That's me!”
Sophie tried to remember what her youngest sister, Martha, had told her about them. Martha was a big fan of the guys on TikTok, she had even begged Fanny to let her go to one of their meet and greets in town, but her stepmother had rightfully refused. Sophie usually tuned her out when she spoke excitedly about them, but now she suddenly wished she had paid more attention.
“So you just post thirst traps and lip-syncing videos and that’s like… your job?”
He laughed, “yes, that’s one way of putting it.”
“Well, how would you put it?” Sophie crossed her arms.
“I’d say we’re creating art through our short films that show off both our talent and beauty.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes but thought it beneath her to reply. The car eventually slowed as they pulled into the driveway of a house hidden out in the hills, surrounded by undeveloped land. The house was not as impressively large as she remembered them advertising it as in Martha’s favorite videos, but it was large nonetheless. The outside, in general, was a mess… It was not necessarily filthy, but the patches of half-painted walls and abandoned projects that left bits of scrap metal and rotting wood littered in the unkempt yard let Sophie know Howl and his friends were not ones to finish what they started.
Maybe I do have my work cut out for me, she looked at the building with disgust. Without taking her eyes off the monstrosity she reached for the car handle, but found that Howl had already opened the door for her. She decisively ignored him and made a b-line towards the front door next to the drive.
“What? No "thank you"?” He teased.
“Fuck you.” Sophie waited impatiently by the door. Any trace of sadness at her situation had worn off and she was filled with nothing but resentment. She wasn’t usually so aggressive towards people she had just met, but she was angry and Howl was just so… bulliable.
He shrugged off her hostility and closed the car door. He strode over and let Sophie inside. Sophie was only slightly relieved by what she saw. The place was a pig’s sty— a classic bachelor pad—but overall, it was a stark contrast to the deceiving construction of the outside. The entire space had a warm honey-colored hardwood and the living room was cozy, with a small couch and coffee table that faced a blazing fireplace. The back of the couch divided the room and created a small dining area composed of a simple wooden table that, much to Sophie’s dismay, was entirely covered in clutter. Behind the dining and living room was an open kitchen, whose surfaces were also covered, and whose sink was stuffed with moldy neglected dishes.
Sitting by the fireplace was a boy with bright curly orange hair that put Sophie’s to shame, green eyes, and a much too large flame patterned button-up tucked into tight ripped black jeans. He was busily typing away on his phone and didn’t bother to look up when Howl and Sophie entered. Howl cleared his throat to get the boy’s attention.
He merely glanced over in their direction before looking back at his phone. “Who’s the chick?”
“Calcifer!” Howl scoffed, “I’m surprised by you, don’t call her “chick,” we drink respect women juice in this house!”
“I’m Sophie.” She told the boy, completely having tuned out Howl by now.
“Nice to meet you,” another boy was making his way down the stairs across the room. Sophie noticed he looked a bit younger than Howl, probably about Martha’s age. His brown hair hung loosely over his forehead and he wore a purple shirt over a black and white striped turtleneck and jeans. He came over to them and offered her a sweet smile and handshake. “I’m Micheal, but you can call me Mike.” He winked and Sophie recoiled instantly and retracted her hand. “That’s Calcifer,” he pointed to the first boy she had seen.
“So,” Calcifer finally put down his phone and joined them by the entrance, “I take it you’re not a fan?”
“Not particularly.” She told him with a scowl.
“Valid” Micheal shrugged.
“So what are you doing here?” The vibrant ginger asked.
“I’ve bought her to be our maid.” Howl smiled proudly like a child telling his mother he had finished his chores.
“Lord knows you need one,” Calcifer mumbled and walked away, apparently disinterested with the answer.
“Oh, that explains it!” Micheal hit his hand against his palm “I was wondering why you went into town without your guitar! I was beginning to think you might’ve fallen in love!”
“Ha!” Calcifer laughed from across the room, “as if that would ever happen!”
Howl frowned and stuck his tongue out in his direction. “The problem isn’t that I’ve never been in love, it's that I fall in love too often.” He said, matter-of-factly.
Micheal laughed and went back up the stairs, “yeah, love that's what it is.”
Howl scoffed at the boy, Sophie was confused but decided she didn’t care enough to ask about it. The blond boy turned his attention back to Sophie, “let me show you to your room,” he smiled warmly. Howl led her across the living room to the staircase where Micheal had just disappeared and pulled back a faded violet curtain to reveal a small room carved into the side. Inside was just enough room for a twin bed and a small nightstand adorned with a fresh flower sitting in a chipped vase. “Jesus Christ” She whispered under her breath.
“So,” Howl beamed, “do you like it?”
“Well..” Sophie breathed out and did her best to smile, she decided she had been rude enough as is, “… it sure is a room with a bed.”
“Great!” He took that as approval. “Ok so basically, you can clean anywhere in the house except my bedroom and bathroom.”
“Okay...”
“Also please try to leave the spiders alone.”
“What spiders….” Sophie looked around nervously.
“Oh they're nothing dangerous, they just hang out in corners and build webs that catch flies and such— just let them be.”
“Alright... It's your house...” Seemingly satisfied with her reply, Howl nodded and walked up the stairs, and a moment later, she heard the shutting of a door above her. Sophie let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and sat down on the small mattress. She looked up and realized Calcifer was watching her from across the room. “Yes?” She raised a brow at him.
“How’d you end up here?” He asked, “like what happened to you that you were so desperate you went with Howl? Did he tell you he loves you or something?”
“What? No?” She furrowed her brows in confusion and disgust. “Also, its none of your business why I’m here,” she told him. “Besides, it’s not like I’m here by choice.”
“But now you’re stuck here, right?”
“I guess so..”
“Looks like we’re in the same boat.” Calcifer said.
Sophie sat up, intrigued “what do you mean?”
“That's none of your business, now is it?” He smiled.
She frowned and laid back in her bed.
“But maybe we can help each other…” He walked over and knelt down next to Sophie. “Look, I can’t talk about it, but I have a sort of contract with Howl, I can’t tell you what the conditions are, but if you happen to figure them out on your own… you could help break it.”
“And what's in it for me?” She asked, still laying back.
“In return, I’ll find a way to get you out of this and you can go back to whatever you were doing before.”
Sophie thought about it for a moment, It's not like I have much to go home to, but I sure as shit don't want to stay here. “Alright.” She propped herself up on her elbows, “you got yourself a deal.”