Plague Doctor Hugo (complete)

    A dark cloud has been hanging over the Ruby Empire for a long time now. Not just because of the Gnolls or even the new Centaur warlord making his way across the land. There’s something else, something that has been making the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. 

    There’s something on the darkening horizon that I can’t put my finger on. I’ve always been able to sense things as they come. I was able to get the village to safety when Gnoll slavers tried to invade just a few years ago. I had also predicted a massive storm that took down our crops when I was a child. 

All my life I’ve been able to protect my village and family, but now, I feel like I am failing them. I cannot tell what this bad omen is. All I know is that it is looming. The dark shadow of it hangs over me, refusing to reveal its secrets. 

I’ve been able to make a living for myself using these gifts. A simple touch and I can see a brief flash of someone’s future or present. Sometimes a small warning or idea is all people need. It’s with this gift I am able to put money on the table and keep my family in good health.

A few months ago, someone new moved into the village. He claimed to be a doctor and set up shop. Although, because of his strange behavior and ways, no one was really busting down his doors. He constantly dressed all in black. He wore black robes and gloves, and a wide-brimmed hat. If that wasn’t strange enough, he wore a mask. Not just any mask either. It had a long, bird-like beak pointing out of it. And where the eyes were, were two dark glass orbs. 

Needless to say, kids were scared of him, and the adults were a little more than wary. He was often outside his office, sweeping, or hanging out herbs to dry. He kept the curtains drawn so if anyone tried to peer inside they wouldn’t see a thing. 

One day I was passing by the doctor’s place with my two little sisters. They hid behind me, clutching to my left arm which was farthest from the door. As we walk by, the doctor comes out, and my sisters squeak and duck their heads.

“Ah! Good morning!” He chimes. His voice is booming and pleasant. “I hope you are all feeling well and healthy today!”

Vera and Dela are squeezing my hand tight, trying to pull me along faster. Instead, I linger and look up at the Doctor. He’s taller than I thought. Usually, he’s stooped over when we pass by.

“Good morning,” I say to him.

“Mercy, no!” Vera hisses.

The doctor bows, removing his hat and swooping it out as he does. “It is a good morning now that you have blessed me with it.” He places his hat back upon his head. “Your little ones there seem eager to be away.”

I scoff as I look down at them. “My sisters don’t like you.”

“Mercy!” Dela screeches at me.

The doctor chuckles. “Most children don’t like doctors, it’s the curse of the profession I’m afraid.” He reaches into his robes and produces two foil-wrapped hard candies. “These candies came all the way from the Rakshasa Courts,” he says as he kneels down, going eye level with Vera and Dela.

The two girls ducked behind me, watching the doctor warily. The doctor places the candies on the beak of his mask. He bounces them up and down, never letting the candies fall. My sisters peek out in curiosity.

“Can you catch them?” The doctor asks.

Dela reaches out, but he swipes his beak upwards. She giggles, trying again and catching one of the candies. Seeing this, Vera steps out, trying her hand at catching the last candy. As she does, the doctor throws the candy up into the air and it lands on Vera’s head. 

The girls seem pleased and have forgotten their worries from before as they open up the candies to enjoy.

“I haven’t forgotten about you, lovely Mercy.” He places a candy on top of my head and chuckles. “Hugo,” he says with a charm to his voice.

“Oh, so you do have a name,” I say as I take the candy.

“I find that, when one has a name, people will trust them,” Hugo chuckles. “So I always try to have a name.”

I can’t help but smile at him. “Then why the mask?”

Hugo touches the beak. “What mask?”

I chuckle and nod at him. “I hope you continue to have a good day, Doctor Hugo.” I shoo my sisters along, continuing on our way home with the few supplies our mother sent us out for. 

That evening, just as I am about to fall asleep, I suddenly see something. There’s a blackness seeping in from the mountains. It cascades down like a waterfall but flows through like fog. Standing in its wake, I see Doctor Hugo. His back is turned towards me, but in the last second, before the blackness envelopes him, he turns back to look at me.

I quickly race from the house, throwing on a shawl as I run through night and back towards the square. I go to Doctor Hugo’s door, banging on it. 

He opens the door, still wearing all his black and the bird mask. “My goodness, lovely Mercy,” he sighs. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

I shake my head then nod, trying to catch my breath from running.

“My goodness, ah-” he leads me inside and sits me at his table. “Take a deep breath,” he coaxes. 

“Sorry,” I finally sputter. “It’s just- oh this is so hard to explain.”

Hugo tilts his head. “Is it your visions?” He asks me.

“Oh,” I gasp, catching my breath finally. “So you know about that?” I look at the glass eyes of his mask as he nods.

“You’re quite famous around here,” Hugo replies. “It’s kind of hard to not know about you here.”

“Well uhm,” I chuckle. “That saves some explaining.”

“What did you see?” His voice is low and quiet. “You came here, so I assumed you saw something about me. What was it?”

I look up to Hugo and take a quick breath. “There was this...inky black cloud coming from the mountains,” I start. “It came rolling in and spilled down the mountains like water. It spread out really fast, taking over a lot of land. I saw you standing before it. You were holding out a lantern to it. But it didn’t even slow down for a moment. It enveloped you, and you disappeared inside.”

Hugo is quiet, his head tilted to the side as he remains quiet. He then glances back towards me, and he sighs.

Standing up, he walks over to a wall covered by shelves that are loaded with bottles. He looks them over, sighing again before he looks at me.

“I’ve devoted my life to helping people. To curing things in this world best left unseen.” He shakes his head then looks up at the towering wall. “All these medicines and cures have been my life’s work. But this…” He places his head in his hands. “I have feared this for a long time now.”

I feel his dread and his worry because I have been feeling it for so long now. “There has been this nagging feeling inside me for ages now,” I tell him. “I can usually put a name to it, or I’ll know when or where. But this one...this one is different, and it scares me. I can’t define it. No matter how hard I search. I can’t figure it out.”

Hugo turns to me, his hands dropping back down to his sides.

“Whatever it is, I feel as if it is pointing me towards you,” I murmur.

Hugo sighs and sits back down across from me. “This isn’t something I want you to get swept up in, lovely Mercy.” He reaches out and takes my hands. “I appreciate your warning. But you are not tethered to me. You can run away from this.”

I furrow my brow. “What is there to run away from?” I ask. “I do not sense war or attack. I barely sense danger. All I feel-”

“You feel dread and doubt,” Hugo whispers. “And that is what it is. This isn’t an entity to define or place logic upon. It does not see gold. It doesn’t see young or old. It doesn’t know good from evil. All it does is take,” Hugo whispers urgently to me.

I squeeze his hands. “If this is something that scares you, then you’ll need my help,” I tell him. “I you want people to listen to you, you’ll need someone they trust.”

Hugo touches his mask. “I know what they say about me,” he murmurs. “But it is better this way if I keep my mask and my black on.” He then chuckles. “I wouldn’t want to scare them any more than I have to. Especially you, lovely Mercy.”

I smile softly at him. “I know you are kind and well-meaning. I wouldn’t be afraid.”

Hugo scoffs. “You say that now.” He then stands up. “Let me take you home, it’s the least I can do.”

I walk beside him. The air is chilled and quiet. Crickets hum all around us and then grow quiet as we pass.

“So, will you accept my help?” I ask him again.

“Will it stop you if I refused?” Hugo asks.

I chuckle and shake my head. “I suppose it wouldn’t.”

“Then I shall accept, if only you grant me your, well,” he laughs. “Your mercy.”

I smirk at him, reaching for the door before turning to look back at him. “If you take off your glove,” I whisper to him, “I can better see your future. Maybe it will help you.”

Hugo holds his hand to his chest. “There are things I do not want you to see,” he whispers. “Better yet, there are things I am not ready to know.” He then tosses another piece of candy at me. “I hope you sleep well, lovely Mercy.”

I nod to him and smile. “I hope you do too, Hugo.”

He turns, walking back into the night. As he leaves, the crickets start to sing again, growing louder as I walk inside.

When I wake up, I hear one of my brother’s coughing. Going downstairs, I see my eldest brother, Kurt, sitting at the table. He looks pale and exhausted. Our mother is hurriedly trying to make a tea for him, but her pallor doesn’t look much better. 

“Is everything alright?” I ask.

“Oh yes,” you mother sighs. “Just a cold!” She rolls her eyes as she pours tea for Kurt. “Seems like Kurt brought it home from those Merry boys.”

The hair on the nape of my neck prickles and the sensation travels up my scalp. “Let me go visit the doctor,” I say. “Maybe he’ll have something that can help.”

“That freak?” Kurt’s laugh turns into a cough. “I’d rather suck dad’s toe than trust him with something.”

“He’s a good man,” I scoff. “And he’s an actual doctor, unlike dad’s toe.” I grab my shawl and walk towards the door. “I’ll be back, and you will take whatever he gives me.”

I return to the village, and the air feels heavy. The world feels like it’s moving slow, almost stopping. As I approach Hugo’s shop, I am stunned to see people waiting outside. The door opens, and he steps out, handing a baby back to its mother. 

“Make sure to give that to her with every feeding,” he assures the panicked looking mother. “It’ll help the coughing I promise.” Hugo turns and when he sees me his hands go to his side. “What’s wrong?” He asks.

“My brother-” I start nervously. 

He sighs and motions to the people waiting. “I’m afraid you’ll have to wait.” He takes in the next patient.

The woman ahead of me is shivering, and she has a blanket wrapped around as well as a wool cap on her head. She looks pale, almost gray. When she breathes it sounds like a stone rattling around in a bucket. When she coughs, it sounds like the sky opening and letting loose storm.

I hold myself, feeling scared and nervous. I watch as Hugo takes in patients, seeing to them as quickly as he can. When he gets to me, he places a burlap bag into my hand. “Take this,” he says, “and place it into a boiling cauldron. Leave it there all day, keep water in the cauldron, so the steam seeps through the entire house.” He then hands me a bottle. “Give everyone in your home three drops of this with every meal.”

I squeeze his hand. “Hugo, what’s wrong?”

He grunts and shakes his head. “It will be ok. I promise.” He moves me aside. “Hurry, get home and stay there.”

I watch as he takes an old woman inside. I race home, doing exactly as he told me to do. Kurt and my mother both have started to looking like the shivering woman. My sisters seem fine, but as the day wears on, they start to complain that they ache and are tired. 

Come the next day, I am feeling the ache as well. I keep the cauldron boiling, so the steam floats through the house. I keep feeding everyone the medicine, but my body feels as if it is betraying me. I am in pain, and I am growing weaker and weaker by the second. I am cold even as I put wood on the fire. When I breathe, it feels as if there are bees in my lungs and I cannot catch a deep enough breath.

This isn’t an entity to define or place logic upon. It does not see gold. It doesn’t see young or old. It doesn’t know good from evil. All it does is take. Hugo’s words ring in my head. 

Of course, I could not define it. There was nothing there to defend against. It was sickness approaching, and nothing in the world can stop it. 

“It’s alright,” a voice whispers. “The fever is broken.”

I whimper, trying to breathe but it’s hard. It feels like needles every time. I look up, seeing the glow of a candle and then the beak of Hugo’s mask.

“Hu-” I wince and he places his finger over my lips.

“Hush now, don’t talk,” he coaxes. “I’m so glad I found you.” He strokes my hair from my face. “It’s alright now.” He lifts me up enough and makes me drink. “I was afraid I’d lost you.”

I shiver and cling to his wrist.

“Your family is fine. They got the medicine,” he whispers. “Why didn’t you take it?”

I had wanted my family to have enough, so I didn’t take any.

“Foolish girl,” he whispers. “I almost lost you.”

Over the next few days, Hugo tends to me, keeping me comfortable as I start to get better. I’m weak and healing, and often I’m asleep. Eventually, I’m able to sit up and eat solid food. With Hugo’s help, I’m able to walk around. But even still, I’m weak and need assistance,

One morning, as Hugo takes me on a walk, I lean into his side. “Thank you,” I murmur. 

“Don’t,” he whispers. “I don’t deserve it.” He sighs. “Mercy,” he murmurs, “I must confess something to you.”

We go back to his place, and we sit down. He removes his gloves, revealing inky skin, dark blue-ish black. The fingers are strange and knobby, tipped with strange thick nails. He removes his hat and hood, showing off a long, thin neck. He then takes off the mask. He has four dark gold eyes, two large ones on top with two smaller ones below them. His nose is long and hooked, and from the looks of it, he has no mouth.

“Don’t look,” he whispers, “if you don’t want to.” His mouth opens where his chin is, going along his jawline and towards his ears. 

“Oh,” I whisper, sitting there shocked. I look up at him and stretch my hand out. I touch his cheek, and I see a flash of something.

“Mercy,” he takes my hand and holds it. “It’s my fault you got sick,” he whispers. “The darkness in your vision was me.”

I shake my head. “No,” I murmur. “It’s not you, it’s chasing you.”

He sighs and dips his head down. “I am a changeling,” he confesses. “And it is my fae nature that follows me.” He whispers. Tears fall from the small eyes, and I wipe them away. “All I do is cause sickness and death, but all I want is to-” he breaks down into tears.

“And it hurt you,” he cries. “It almost took you away from me.”

“You saved me,” I whisper to him. I make him look up at me, and I smile. “You did exactly what you wanted. You healed me.”

Hugo touches my face with both hands. His fingers tremble as he touches my lips and runs his fingers through my hair. “My lovely Mercy,” he whispers. “I would never have forgiven myself if I had let someone like you slip away.”

I lean in, placing a kiss to his strange mouth. I kiss the soft line along his jaw and Hugo whimpers. 

“Don’t force yourself,” he chokes.

“I want to,” I whisper. “More than anything.” I kiss him again, and I place his hands on my waist. He lifts his chin up, making it easier for me to kiss.

“Why?” Hugo gasps.

I brush the dark hair away from his neck. “Because I love you.”

He grabs me and wraps me up tight in his arms. He burrows his face into my neck, hiding it away. I hold him tight, kissing the top of his head as he trembles.

“I prayed someone would say those words to me,” Hugo whispers. “I never imagined it’d be someone like you.”

“Who is someone like me?” I whisper. I tilt his head back up and gaze into his eyes. “What makes me so special?”

“I can’t put it into words,” he whispers. “I just know…” his voice cracks. “I just know I loved you too. From the moment I met you.”

I kiss Hugo deeply, trailing my kiss down his long neck. My hand opens up his robe more, and I touch his bare skin. I press my fingertips down his center towards his stomach.

“Wait,” he moans, “you’re still weak.”

I look up at him, panting with excitement and need. “Please?” I whisper.

He picks me up, carrying me over to the bed. His robes open up, covering us as he kisses me. I touch his bare body, lingering on his stomach when I feel his breath shudder. I unbutton my nightgown, exposing myself to him.

Hugo’s breath hitches and he stills above me. “Lovely Mercy,” his long fingers stroke down my center. I’m flat chested and thin as a bone. All my life I’ve been teased about it and have felt self-conscious for my lack of curves. But under Hugo’s gaze, I feel desire and want. 

I pull him back down, kissing him as his body presses to mine. I feel his heat against me, rubbing against my thigh and belly.

“I’m sorry,” he rasps. He swallows and tries to catch his breath. “I’m sorry I’m-” he turns his head away. “I can’t help it that-”

I touch him, gliding my fingers along the strange shaft. It’s glossy and thick. It feels like a stack of spheres going from small to big all the way down. The tip is flared, and heart-shaped and oozing something slick. 

Hugo gasps and his back arches. A low, strange grunt issues from his throat the more I touch. His jaws open, showing off the gold interior of his mouth.

“I want you,” I whisper to him, spreading my thighs. “Hugo,” I mewl his name.

He shudders and sits up. He puts his hand under the small of my back and his tip presses to my slit. He ruts and bucks, clumsily trying to make his way inside. He takes hold of himself, guiding his cock into place and he slowly comes inside. 

I gasp and cup my hand over my mouth. I can feel him deep inside me. The strange shape rubs all the right spots and stretches me, easing me onto the thick base. I grip onto his arms and moan for him, letting him know I’m not uncomfortable. 

“You...you’re tight,” his voice cracks. He moves his hips slowly, his eyes focused on my slit and thighs. He touches my belly, which each thrust it bulges. He trembles for a bit before gaining confidence. The more he moves, the better it feels. As he starts to go faster, I get a lightness in my head.

I mewl and moan, stretching out as I start to feel the heat pool in my belly. 

“You feel amazing,” Hugo groans. “You keep squeezing me.”

I look up at him, and my toes start to curl. “I want you,” I stretch my hands out, beckoning him. “I need you.”

He falls into my touch, and we kiss. His hips keep moving, and I gasp. I moan into his mouth as the heat spread through my body. It makes me jolt and arch of the bed, pressing into his chest.

He suddenly whimpers, his hips stilling as he releases inside me. I feel his seed, thick and warm as it dribbles from me.

I feel dizzy and faint. Hugo moans quietly into my ear, slowly pulling himself out of me. His hand cups my mound, and he licks my neck and cheek.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers again. “I didn’t mean to...I should have-”

I press my hand over his mouth. “It’s what I wanted,” I mewl. “I wanted to feel all of you.” I give him a sweet smirk. “Didn’t it feel good?”

He nods, looking beyond shocked. “But...what if...I mean, what if you get-”

I chuckle and pull him down on top of me. “I’m not worried,” I whisper. “Touching you, I see things that I am ready for.”

Hugo gasps. “You...what do you see?”

I smile up at him. “I see us,” I whisper to him. “Together.”

He smiles. “I could have told you that.” He pulls me into his arms, laying, so my back is against his chest. “What else?”

I kiss his fingertips and relax into the bed. “There’s so much,” I murmur. “I don’t know where to begin.” I glance over my shoulder and smile at him. “It won’t be now,” I tell him. “But someday your seed will bear fruit.”

His eyes widen. “Really?”

“Really,” I purr.