“I never forget a victim”
Harmony rose from her bed with a groan. She let the music from her radio play while getting for her day at the office, hoping it would pep her up. It doesn’t. Standing in front of her too small closet, the vampire whines in the back of her throat while trying to decide between the pink blouse or the silver knit to go with her new blazer.
“Come on Harmony! You can totally do this!” She chooses the pink blouse, it’s shade is perfect for her paler skin. This new job hasn’t been easy; learning to be secretary hadn’t been what she’d expected at all. Three months in and Harmony still hadn’t received a permanent assignment despite passing all her tests. Every day for the past two weeks, she joins the lower ranks of the mailroom instead of sitting behind a desk.
Still, it’s a good paying job and the lunchroom has necrotempered glass windows. She smiles a little as she grabs her unicorn thermos from the fridge. Seeing the sun five days a week makes it all worth it.
It doesn’t take long to get to Wolfram and Hart, having to be there before the sunrise cuts down on traffic at least. She greets her co-workers cheerfully, ready to tackle another day. It’s hard to ignore how they barely look at her. It’s alright, they’ll come around to realizing how awesome she is eventually. When she stops to punch in though, her card is missing. “What?” Harmony mumbles quietly in panic and searches through all the other cards.
“Kendal!” Harvey, her manager, calls from his office loudly.
Walking from the cards board to Harvey’s office feels a lot like being called down to the principal’s office. At least the man isn’t a little troll like Snider but everyone looks at Harmony like she’s walking to her doom anyway. A few of the other girls even aim little smirks her way. She stops before the doorway to ready herself, when she walks into the man’s office it’s with her head held high and a confident smile. “Good morning Mr. Harvey!”
The tall man stays sitting at his desk, only giving her the barest of acknowledgments while he digs through the mountains of papers scattered across his desk. “You’ve been reassigned.” He grunts once he’s found what he was looking for and hands the sheet over to the vampire with a hurried motion.
Harmony grabs the paper eagerly and tries not to squeal in excitement. Finally, she’ll be able to work one of the main floors.
Stepping off the elevator onto the 13th floor carefully with her arms full, Harmony can’t help grinning. She didn’t get just any assignment, the 13th floor is home to some of the biggest lawyers at the firm. Given that it’s the Demon Contracts division, it’s also the busiest floor at the L.A. branch.
Harmony makes her way right to the main desk, heels clicking on the marble flooring. The woman behind the desk looks up from her screen with the phone still pressed to her ear and holds up a single well manicured finger before the vampire can speak.
It takes another full two minutes before the lead secretary hangs up with a frustrated huff. She gets up and stares critically at Harmony. “You the new girl?” Her tone is clipped, mouth slightly pursed in thought.
“Yup, that’s me! Harmony Kendal, at your service.” She greets cheerfully.
“I’m Darlene. Mr. Kruss’ secretary.” She walks around her desk carefully, her tight pinstripe pencil skirt making her hips sway like a pendulum. “I’ll give you the tour before taking you to your new desk.”
“Thanks!” Harmony shifts her box a bit before reaching for her thermos. “You wouldn’t mind taking me to the lunch room first?” She waves the container around as an explanation.
“Oh right,” Darlene’s tone shifts to something more snobbish for a moment. “You’re a vampire.” The woman changes course abruptly. “Your new boss has been notified about that so you won't be expected to run outside errands.” There’s an awkward pause and she comes to a sudden stop. “Look, I’m gonna be honest with you. You’re the fourth girl to try this position, this week… they all quit.”
Harmony tilts her head to the side, it takes her a moment to catch on. “Oh, so what is it? Is he a big jerk or something?”
Darlene snorts loudly then keeps walking. “Your boss is a she. And she’s one of our best, made junior partner last year. But-” She hesitates, looking around carefully.
“Oh you can totally trust me.” Harmony leans in with a hushed voice. “There’s no one around to hear us,” She winks and giggles. “I’d know.”
“Miss Addams is a tough boss, she’s fair and all but she’s just got this way of talking…” The girl shakes herself. “She’s creepy, and that’s from someone who’s worked with demons all her life. We had one girl actually throw herself out of the window last year…”
“And that’s the tour and here’s your new desk.” Darlene announces with a fair bit of cheer before walking to the closed door of Harmony’s new boss.
The vampire studies the plaque on the door after setting her box down. She snorts a little at the number for the corner office, 666. “That’s a little too on the nose isn’t it?”
Darlene turns to her with a raised eyebrow and a very serious expression. “It wasn’t like that before, changed on its own after Miss Addams made partner.” She knocks quietly on the door before stepping back.
The door opens, creaking oddly. “Hello Miss Fore. Does Mr. Kruss require my assistance?”
Harmony feels an odd feeling in her stomach, something about that voice seems familiar. When Miss Addams finally steps out into the hall, the vampire is sure if her heart had still been beating she would have dropped dead that instant. Her hands begin to shake, those braids, the facial expression completely devoid of life… It’s a face she’s spent years in therapy trying to forget.
“Oh no, nothing like that Miss Addams.” Darlene shakes her head then steps back to extend a hand towards Harmony. “Your new secretary is here, this is Harmony Kendal.” The woman smiles tightly, not so subtly inclining her head to signal the vampire to move or speak.
Harmony is rooted to her spot however and blinks stupidly for a moment. She waits for the inevitable fear to overtake her, she hasn’t had a panic attack since she first moved to Sunnydale and had been struggling with her new name and identity. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t have a soul now but her memories of her time at Camp Chippewa don’t seem so terrifying anymore, in fact, she’s finding some a bit funny as she thinks more on it.
Wednesday Addams stands before her, grown yet still the same. Even her outfit, if more modern is still essentially the same.
You can do this! She tells herself firmly as she walks behind the desk and inclines her head with a small forced smile. “Hi! I look forward to working with you Miss. Addams.” She tries to hide her nervous gulp when all she receives is a critical stare from those deep onyx eyes.
Miss Addams turns to Darlene, “You may go Miss Fore.”
The lead secretary takes her leave looking happy to do so. She whispers a quiet good luck as she walks past Harmony.
As soon as Darlene disappears around the corner, Harmony hears her new boss’ (and childhood boogeyman) monotone voice from right behind her. “Did you change your name after you became a vampire?”
The question startles Harmony so much she flounders for a moment, her fingers twisting themselves together nervously. “I don’t know what you mean.” She shakes her head and keeps her gaze on her box of stuff. It’s harder than she’d expected to keep from putting on her game face.
“Your name is Amanda Buckman. At least it was 15 years ago.” The shorter woman’s steps had been unnoticeable, almost like she’d teleported right next to Harmony.
“Don’t call me that!” This time, her face changes as she turns, her words gaining a growl at the end.
Wednesday simply tilts her head to the side, unaffected by the vampire. “I never forgot a victim’s name.” She says matter of factly and pauses, her gaze focused on Harmony’s yellow eyes. “Death suits you Harmony,” there’s a small tug at the corner of her lips for an instant before she turns back towards her office. “I’m expecting a call from mother this afternoon, make sure you hang up at least three times before you let her through.”
The door closes shut slowly with another eerie creak. Harmony blinks a few times, looking in confusion before letting herself flop back into her chair. She let’s go of the air she doesn’t really need. That had been… Strange, she thinks while swiveling back and forth in her chair. “Uh?” The vampire thinks back on the last comment, had that been a compliment?” She smiles and ducks her head, it’s been a long time since anyone complimented her.
Harmony spends the rest of day setting up her desk and getting to know Ms. Addams’ schedule. If she does it with a little bounce in her step, well, she’s not gonna think too hard about it.