Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

During their entire trip back to Oakhurst, Owen could not stop watching Scott, who walked in front of him. There was just something so... Strange about him. Well, strange was a tame word considering their circumstances. Both of them were vampires, but Scott was just so... Different from him. Of course, he was older, ancient even, but that came off as him being incredibly distant. Detached from reality, as if he wasn't actually participating in the world around him. And the way he danced around each of Owen's questions... It made him less and less willing to ask him about anything more. But he had to, if he wanted to learn something about his own predicament. If Lewis was still around, he would probably be much more eager to explain all the ins and outs of vampirism to him. But he wasn't around. And now, the only source of knowledge for Owen was this old, detached, unsettling man who clearly liked toying with him.

The moment they approached the gates of Oakhurst, Scott stopped and gestured to Owen to do the same. He sniffled the air, as a scent he didn't expect reached him. A very, very faint scent of blood. Even he could barely feel it, with the amount of blood that was likely spilled. But it still caught his attention. Something wasn't right...

"What's wrong?" Owen asked.

"Something happened," Scott whispered. "Something... Bad."

"For us?"

"For them." The vampire stalled his answer, taking in the scent once more. He even stuck his tongue out in a not very seriously looking manner, as if to feel it better. "You go investigate what happened. I'll check on our... Friends."

"Why do I have to investigate?" Owen immediately protested.

"You attract less attention... Just a poor, sickly lumberjack, a societal outcast. Much less distracting than someone like me." Scott smirked, before pushing Owen in front of himself. "Besides, you wanted me to help, right? Well, I'm doing that."

"You're the worst..." Owen sighed, but finally entered the Oakhurst first.

A few of the settlers were sitting in front of one of the houses. It took the lumberjack a moment to make them out. There was Martyn, Cleo, Apo and Leg. And as he closed on, he noticed the last one wrapping a bandage around his forearm. Immediately, Owen felt his stomach turning with dread. He didn't know what happened yet, but Scott was right. Something did happen. Bad for them.

"What's going on here?" He asked, approaching the small gathering.

"You! Don't go near that house!" Martyn frantically rose from the ground and pointed at the edge of the town. Owen raised his eyebrows, noticing he was gesturing right at the building where Pyro and Avid were... The pieces of the puzzle were clicking into place, and he dreaded seeing the full picture.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"You told me to check on Avid, and I did..." Leg confessed, tightening his bandaid. "He does have a high fever, and I tried giving him medication... When all of a sudden, he woke up, leapt out of the bed and bit me." The surgeon raised his arm. A bit of blood already seeped through the clean gauze.

"Shit..." Owen hissed quietly, his pupils contracted. He turned to look the doctor in the face, to try and make out any signs of upcoming transformation. He didn't look much different than he usually did - not that Owen paid much attention before. He was maybe a little bit paler, but that could be blamed on the shock of what happened. "I'm sorry 'bout what happened, I-"

"You think he has rabies?" Apo suddenly suggested, drawing everyone's eyes to her. "I mean, the fever, biting..."

"I hope not, rabies' a bitch..." Cleo muttered, crossing their arms and shuddering. 

"It is a nasty disease..." Leg agreed, putting his hand on the covered wound. "I didn't see any signs of where he could get infected, but the symptoms seem about right..."

Immediately Apo, Cleo and Martyn moved back a little bit. Owen stayed in place. He was almost impressed with how calmly the surgeon talked about this possibly fatal disease, that now he also risked... Or at least he thought he did. 

"Ugh, don't even tell me this stuff..." Martyn retched. "What if we cut your arm off? Would that help?" This time, all of the stares travelled to him. "Hey! You wanted to cut off my foot! Apparently you're cool with amputations, when it's on someone else!"

"Ignore him," Cleo rolled their eyes. "He has something worse than rabies. The stupid nobleman disease."

"Hey! And you have the, the... Poor disease, ha!"

"Leg, I..." Owen weighed his words for a second. For some reason, he really, really wanted to tell the doctor that it wasn't actually rabies... But the truth was considerably much worse. And that would eventually rat out him, Avid, and Pyro as well, most likely. He had to keep a low profile, at least for now. "Can we do something for you, man?"

"I'll keep an eye out on the symptoms. But try staying away from Avid for now. If it's rabies, you won't be able to help us either way."

"Yeah, right..." Owen slowly nodded, before turning back in the direction of the aforementioned house. He wished the other bystanders could just go away, that he could ask Leg more details, figure out the situation... 

All of a sudden, he felt horrible for leaving the two developing vampires alone. If he was there, he could've stopped this... And negate the possibility of their secret getting out. But alas, Avid seemingly doomed them all. He didn't feel bad for Leg, no, not at all. But the more their numbers would grow, the harder it would be to protect the ones he actually wanted to protect.

Scott observed the conversation from the window. He couldn't hear anything, but the second he saw the bandage on Leg's arm, it became clear to him. Someone had bitten him... It's a good thing developing vampires are not strong enough to turn someone just yet. Still, the audacity to go against his word, and try to turn someone... 

"Who did it?" He asked, standing over the two beds. His voice weighed heavily in the air, his red eyes lit up with fury. 

Pyro was sitting up on his bed, his body trembling as his transformation continued to rock his body. He couldn't keep eye contact with Scott, clearly shaken and terrified by the fury of a powerful, elder vampire. Avid was still laying down, wincing from pain and clutching his blanket tightly. His hair was sticky from sweat, the fever had not let him go just yet. But only then, Scott noticed something.

A small stain of blood on his chin.

He approached the young vampire and pulled his finger over his chin, to smear the blood off. The touch made Avid's eyes shoot up and look straight at Scott. There was panic and terror in his stare. As if the emotions that accompanied the moment when he was bitten had not let him go yet. Scott pulled his finger up to his lips, then licked the blood.

"Did you bite Leg?" He asked. His voice remained surprisingly calm, despite the blood red shine in his eyes. 

"He did," Pyro confirmed quietly. "Leg came to check up on us... And Avid bit him..."

"Let me ask again," Scott leaned over the bedridden vampire hunter. His tone changed; it was oozing hostility, as if a wrong answer could cost Avid his already fleeting life. "Did you bite Leg without my permission?"

"I..." Avid gasped, struggling to catch his breath. A stinging pain in his chest and in his stomach made it hard for him to focus. 

He did, he panicked and lunged at Leg... He didn't even know why he did it. The hunger was just so hard to quell... And it's not like he hurt him bad, right? It was just a small bite, he barely drank any blood... It was fine, right? Oh, the irony of his situation... At this point, Avid was praying he would just succumb to his fever. That at some point, he would close his eyes, and never open them again.

"Get up."

The vampire hunter didn't move. He could barely feel his legs, and if he tried to stand up, he'd probably collapse right away. And Scott did not look like he would help him get up. Why did he even want that, anyway...?

"Get. Up."

Scott's eyes lit up a dangerous, flashing red. In an instant, Avid's body obeyed. His muscles began moving, forcing him into a standing position. They contorted, convulsing in agonizing pain. His legs and arms felt as if they were on the brink of snapping. Pyro shivered and covered his eyes, but Avid's pained whining still reached him.

"Did you bite Leg without my permission?" Scott repeated the question once Avid stood in front of him.

"Y-y-yes..."

A sharp, throbbing pain shot through Avid's cheek. A powerful slap left deep, dark claw marks on his skin. He collapsed to the ground, clutching the sore spot, gasping for air and trying to drag himself away from the vampire. He had no weapons on him, he was defenseless, he had to run, to get help, to-

"Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you."

A strong kick was delivered to his chest. And then, to his stomach. The vampire hunter curled up, shielding his head. But the kicks continued. Each had the potential to break his bones, but just barely missed the mark. He wanted to cry, to scream for help, to beg for forgiveness. He didn't. He could barely breathe, let alone cry for mercy.

"How dare you go against me?!" Scott raised his voice. His eyes were still burning with the most primal fury, with desire for revenge in something that was not even about him. "I am your elder! You are to obey me! You're nothing without me! A pathetic worm, squirming in the ground, only driven by its hunger! How pathetic..."

Finally, the kicking stopped. But Scott wasn't done just yet. He grabbed Avid by the hair and pulled him up. Their faces were inches apart, Scott's bright eyes glued to his terrified, teary, purple eyes.

"I will say it once, and it better get through your thick skull." 

Avid wished he could look away. But he was unable to. Completely helpless. Small and meek, in the light of the powerful vampire that held him in his grasp. If he wanted to, he could crush him in his hand like the worm he was.

"You only feed when I tell you to. If you go against me again, I will pull your insides apart, and consume them before your eyes. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes..."

"Great." 

Scott let go of him, making Avid fall to the ground once more. The haze that came over his mind vanished. His eyes were still glued to Scott, as if he was looking up at a god. Someone so much greater than he could ever hope to be. If only his body listened to him, he would probably fall to his knees, begging for forgiveness. But his legs felt numb, his chest was tight, his cheek burned with unbearable pain.

"And how are you, Pyro?" Scott turned to the other developing vampire. In the blink of an eye, all the anger and bitterness vanished from his face. His features softened once more, his red eyes no longer glowing with such raw strength. Still, after what he just witnessed, Pyro did not feel any sort of reassurance by his much calmer demeanor.

"I- I'm... I'm fine," He whispered. "Just... Tired."

"Well, transforming does take some time to finish... But by the end of this week, you both should be done!" The elder vampire sat down on a chest between the two beds. All of a sudden, his nonchalance returned. His voice was once again calm, maybe even a little peppy. Well, of course it was, since he was turned in a way that he didn't even look at Avid who tried to get back to his bed. "You're gonna love it! You just have to listen to me, mmm, okay? I know a bit more about this stuff than you two, like it or not. You'll be safe with me! As long as you don't cross me," He added, giving Avid a side eye. The vampire hunter shivered at the gesture. The trauma of what just happened, together with Scott's voice and glowing red eyes getting imprinted in his brain, made him cower with fear. "I'll teach you everything! How to act, how to suck blood, how to transform into a bat..."

"A bat?" Suddenly, Pyro's eyes lit up with excitement. "We can do that?"

"Sure thing! It's not easy, but it's pretty useful for moving around. You just have to be careful, not to-"

"Scott?" 

The doors swung open, Owen standing in the entrance. He looked genuinely concerned.

"I figured out what happened..."

"Oh, so did I," Scott shrugged it off. "Don't worry, I took care of everything."

"You... Did?"

Owen's eyes travelled to Avid, who only now managed to climb back to his bed. His cheek was badly cut, the wound darkening slightly around the edges. Fresh bruises covered his arms. He struggled to breathe, his eyes still glued to Scott, as if seeking his attention.

"What happened, Avid...?" He asked quietly.

"Oh, we just had a little chat! It's all good now, right?" Scott turned back to the vampire hunter. Just one dangerous flash of his eyes was enough for Avid to nod his head. "We just had to sort things out!"

"Did you beat him up...?"

"I just taught him some respect, is all!" Scott shrugged again and stuck out his tongue in a playful manner. "Someone had to, right?"

Owen flinched, terrified at the confession. But he stayed silent. He couldn't fight Scott on this. Not yet. He would never listen to him. He just had to hope he could help Avid when Scott would inevitably turn his back on them. He just gave Avid a sorrowful look, one that said 'I'm sorry for him'. As far as he could tell, he didn't notice that.

"Well, anyway..." Scott got up from the chest, then stretched his arms with a big yawn. "I really need a nap now... I forgot that executing authority over others took this much energy, you know?" He smirked, before heading towards the door. His shoulder bumped into Owen's. "You can let them rest... I'm sure they'll be nice from now on."

"I... I'd rather stay with them."

"Suit yourself..." The elder vampire snickered, before stepping outside of the house. Owen watched after him for a minute, before turning back to Avid.

"Hey, Avid? Are you alright?" He whispered.

For some reason, he couldn't help but feel guilty. If he didn't turn Avid, he wouldn't have to suffer right now... But then again, if he didn't, he'd never let them go. Owen couldn't exactly explain it, but the fact that his decision pulled this man into this new life made him feel responsible for his safety. Did Scott feel the same way about Pyro? Did Lewis feel the same way about him? He shook his head, not letting the memories seep in again. He was here now. And he had to make the best of what he had here. Or at least try.

"I'm... I'm fine." Avid eventually answered, his voice quiet, almost pained. He kept his eyes open - every time he closed them, two terrifying, red lights flashed in his mind. "Why do... Why do you care?"

"Because I..." Owen went silent for a minute, raising his eyes. They met with Pyro's, as if he was also waiting for it. The vampire grimaced for a second. "Because I just do."

Owen stayed there for a while, sitting at the edge of Avid's bed, making sure that he could finally calm down. Even if he couldn't stop Scott, he wished he would at least try... 

Once upon a time, someone reached out their hand to him. And now, it was his duty to reach out his own hand. Even if, deep down, he knew that both of these were, in fact, his own fault.