The Master

The Master is a main character in *Down Among the Sticks and Bones*. He is a vampire who lives in a castle on The Moors, who feeds on the people in his surrounding village. Jill stayed with him during her time in the Moors, hoping to become a vampire and to one day rule the Moors in his place.

## Appearance

The Master is very tall and handsome, with incredibly pale skin, black hair, and orange eyes the color of jack-o-lanterns. He also has a very, very red mouth, with the same color in the lining of his cloak. He wears a suit as black as his hair.

## History

### Every Heart a Doorway

The Master is not seen, but is mentioned by Jack and Jill. While Jill talks about how she was Her Master and she lived to serve him, and how much he loved her, Jack talks about how jealous he was of anyone who'd tried to befriend Jill, and had only spared Jack in case something happened to Jill so that she could be spare parts.

After Jill's death, Jack explains that they can now return to the Moors to resurrect her, as the Master wouldn't want her now that she was undead and couldn't become a vampire.

### Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Jack and Jill first see the Master when they arrive in his village. Jill apologizes for intruding, as they had thought they were in their house, to which he asks if their house normally contains an entire world. Jack explains that there was a door that read "Be Sure." He asks if the girls were sure, and they reply that they weren't; he then thanks them for not lying to him, and takes them with him to get food.

They go through the village, and once they reach the Master's house, he informs them that the law states they are to be given hospitality for three days, after which they had to abide by the land's laws. They enter the house, and he impresses Jack by telling her that he owns the village. When they reach the Dining Room, he tells Mary to get the children whatever it is they eat, and asks her to send Ivan for Dr. Bleak, as he hadn't forgotten their arrangement. He has the girls sit on opposite sides of the table, wanting to enjoy having a matched set for three days. Mary then brings the food, having been conjured by a kitchen-witch, and his food is remarkably similar to Jill's. Jack asks for the Master's name, and he says that only those who earned the right to know his name knew it. Dr. Bleak then arrives, sees that Jill is eating the same thing as the Master, and asks if he'd already made his choice, which the Master denies, though he asks Dr. Bleak to let him keep them both as a matched set. Jack replies that they're going to leave once they find their door, to which Dr. Bleak informs her that their door could be gone for a long while. The Master explains that earlier, him and Bleak had fought over a Fire-Haired Boy, and since he won, he'd told Bleak that he could have the next foundling, but they were very fortunate to have two. The Master has Bleak sit and eat with them, before toasting the future.

The next day, the Master and Bleak dine on opposite sides of the table, awaiting the children. Jack comes down first, and the Master believes she has chosen him; however, she chooses Dr. Bleak. The Master boredly asks what would stop him from killing her, and Bleak reminds him that she could be of use should something happen to Jill. The Master tells Jack that she's always welcome back, but Jack would rather not return. After Bleak and Jack leave, Jill comes down, and tells the Master that she'd chosen first, and Jack had just come down first to show off. He reminds her that he hates lying, and she tells him that she never lies. He tells her that she will be expected to obey him and meet his standards, in exchange for being pampered. Mary reminds him that she would be able to leave him if her door comes, and does not seem scared of him. He informs Jill that he is bound to allow her to return to her world should her door comes, but he hopes that she would choose to stay should that time come.

The years pass, and the Master does not attempt to feed on Jill's blood until after her first period has passed. He spends all night explaining the process to her, to make sure she understands and is comfortable. He informs her that she is meat to him, but he will love her forever, and when she is an adult, he will turn her into a Vampire like him. Jill then allows him to feed on her. He feeds on her once every two weeks, and spends three days away from her after each feeding.

Five years after her arrival on the Moors, the Master sends Jill red roses, and plans to have a party for her that night, and plans to turn her into a vampire at the end of the season. However, when Jill murders Alexis, the Master disowns her and abandons her to an angry mob.

## Relationships

### Jill Wolcott

Jill says that the Master was good to her, and he gave her things and told her she was beautiful and taught her beautiful things.

### Jack Wolcott

Jack feels like the Master was somebody who wanted his guests to be decorative, and is afraid of his wrath. She does not trust him, unlike her sister.

### Mary

When Mary first came to the Moors, she apparently was chosen to stay with the Master. She had recognized him as a predator, but was comfortable in his care as she knew what he was. She had been unsurprised when he revealed himself as a monster, and chose to not be his daughter. He kept her as a servant to warn other foundlings of what happens when people disobey him.

## References

1. ↑ Down Among the Sticks and Bones, page 66: He was a tall man, taller than their father, who had always been the tallest point in their world. He was a handsome man, like something out of a movie (although Jacqueline wasn't sure she'd ever seen a movie star so pale, or so seemingly sculpted out of some cold white substance). His hair was very black, and his eyes were orange, like jack-o'-lanterns. Most surprising of all was his red, red mouth, which looked like it had been painted, like he was wearing lipstick. The lining of his cloak was the same red color as his mouth, and his suit was as black as his hair, and he held himself so perfectly still that he didn't seem human.
2. ↑ Every Heart a Doorway, page 67: "He was good to me. Gave me treats and trinkets and told me I was beautiful, even when I wasn't feeling well. *Jack* spent all her time locked away with her precious doctor, learning things that weren't ladylike or appropriate in the least, but I stayed in the high towers with the Master, and he taught me so many beautiful things. So many beautiful, wonderful things."
3. ↑ Down Among the Sticks and Bones, page 95: How the children who tumbled through the occasional doors between the Moors and elsewhere couldn't see that he was a predator, she didn't understand. Mary had known him for a predator the second she'd seen him. It had been a familiar danger: the family she'd been fleeing from had been equally predatory, even if their predations had been of a more mundane nature. She had been comfortable in his care because she had known him, and when he had revealed himself fully to her, it ahd come as no surprise. That was rare. Most of the children she walked through these halls were terribly, terribly surprised when their time came, no matter how often they'd been warned. There would never be warning enough.
4. ↑ Down Among the Sticks and Bones, page 88: Mary nodded. "I was. But I never wanted to be his child, and when he asked me to let him be my father, I said no. So he kept me as a reminder to other foundlings that there are more places in a noble household than the ones set at the head of the table."