Chapter Text
The faint light of the lone, spluttering candle in Cleo's hand was the only thing illuminating the house as she crept down the stairs, avoiding all the spots where the wood was weak and creaked when it was stepped on. Pearl's woodwork was good, surprisingly good for a woman who was very open about being new to manual labour, in fact, she'd taken to it like a Border Collie to herding. It wasn't perfect, though. Cleo still had to be mindful where she stepped if she didn't want to wake her.
Not even the faint light of dawn wormed its way through the cracks in the curtains this early in the day. Pearl was still asleep in their shared bedroom, tossing and turning under her blankets so ferociously that Cleo was very glad that they didn't share a bed. A soft smile formed on the edges of their face as they thought of their housemate. Despite saying that it was something she loved to do, Pearl hadn't gotten to actually sleep in once since they'd all arrived in Oakhurst, something that Cleo wasn't completely blameless in. Actually, Pearl probably hadn't done it for even longer than that. Staying in bed was very hard to do on the road, and was much less comfortable than just getting up a lot of the time. The least that Cleo could do was give her what few extra minutes they could.
They slowly pulled open a drawer and grabbed a piece of paper from it. They placed it down on a small desk at the corner of the living room next to a small pot of ink with a time beaten pen standing in it and the yellowed cat skull that Pearl had taken from the catacombs beneath the castle ruins, who she had called Oscar. They gently stroked his- Pearl had insisted that he was a he- bony forehead. Cleo shivered as she took her seat, careful not to scrape it against the floorboards. She didn't mind having clean boots, of course, but she still thought that Pearl hadn't had her priorities straight when she'd finished that before patching up all the holes in the roof. They were going to make sure that she completed that job before the day was over.
They tapped the pen against the pot so it wouldn't drip splotches of ink all over the table before pressing it to the paper. 'To my dearest mother,' she wrote, the scratching of the pen whispering into the shadows. 'This town is still cursed. They're still here. Grandfather was right. I am safe, but I'm not sure how long that will last. All my love, Cleo.' She folded the page up and slipped it into an envelope.
The sick dread that everyone had felt in their stomach last night when one of the beacons had been desecrated lingered in her mind. When she'd first come to Oakhurst, she'd hoped to just find the vampire who lay there asleep, as her Grandfather had said they would be, and- well, after that it would depend. She was willing to drive a stake through their heart if it was necessary, but she really, really hoped it wouldn't come to that. She didn't want to have to find somewhere else. But all the catacombs and tombs had been empty, aside from Oscar and a few skeletons. So she'd probably already spoken to them. They'd almost certainly turned someone else already.
The chill crawling up her spine grew colder. What if most of town had already been converted? What if Pearl had? What if she was the only one who hadn't? She steeled her mouth into a thin line. That was unlikely, and paranoia helped no one. She wrote her mother's name on the back of the envelope, and slipped it into the pockets of her nightgown. They sighed as they glanced up at the stairs. If they told Pearl about what they knew, about why they were really here, she'd probably call them insane. No better than Avid.
She needed to have undeniable proof to show before she opened up to the others, if that ever became necessary. If things shook out the way that she wanted them to, she'd only really need to tell Pearl. She sighed and put her head in her hands. The only other person who had an inkling about what was really here with them was also paranoid to the brink of insanity alongside having some dangerous delusions about vampires. But she'd manage. She'd dealt with worse than this.
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Shelby hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night. She couldn't tell if it was from how her brain hadn't stopped moving all through the night or from her new condition, but whatever it had been had left her staring up at the blurry ceiling for hours, still in the wrinkled clothes she'd been wearing the day before. What had happened to her had been playing on her mind the whole time. It still was. Her throat was tight and as dry as sawdust. Pain pulsed out from her stomach to every muscle as steadily as the heartbeat she no longer had.
Being a vampire was so cold. No matter how tightly she wrapped her blankets around herself, no matter how many layers she threw on, no matter how many candles she lit, there was a deep chill in her bones that she couldn't squeeze out, and it wasn't just from the breeze let in by the half finished roof. What they wouldn't do to feel warm. What they wouldn't do to feed. No. That was a slippery slope that they wouldn't put a foot on. She'd promised herself that she'd only drink from animals.
She lurched up out of her bed, pawing around until she found her glasses on her bedside table and slid them up her nose. Shs frowned as her one room house came into focus. The bed on the opposite wall was, as she'd knew it would be deep down, empty. She hadn't heard Scott come in. He'd probably gone back to his castle, his real home. He didn't have to be here with her anymore.
She staggered out of her bed over to a mirror, staring at it as if her reflection would suddenly reappear on its glassy surface. The wall behind her was the only thing that stared back. They raised a hand to their scarlet hair, tangled and messy from lying down for so long. They clumsily raked a comb through it, probably not doing the best job, but at least it was something. It felt okay when she patted it down, but heaven knew if that was right or not. Should they be thinking things like that anymore? They weren't sure. The thought didn't burn her alive, though, so surely it was fine. Probably best not to say things like that around the other vampires, though.
They wormed their way into a new green jumper before affixing their darker green mini cape over one shoulder. She'd almost walked out in the now wrinkled and slightly bloody one that she'd been wearing yesterday. She was so hungry she could hardly think. At least sleep deprivation didn't seem to be a problem anymore, her eyes were as light as clouds when they should've been anvils after an all nighter like the one she'd just pulled. The sun hung low in the sky, painting the clouds pink and orange. She shut her eyes instinctively as the view met her gaze, before forcing one open. It wouldn't burn her. Scott had said so. The sunrise would've been beautiful if her skin wasn't crawling like a hundred ants were pricking her skin. She almost considered going out this early tomorrow to see it again, but quickly shot the thought down. They weren't out this early because they wanted to be. They stumbled out of their house, keeping a hand on the wooden wall for balance as they headed towards the forest.
Her eyes floated over to the cow pens as she did. The meat called to her. Their scent floated in the air like the aroma of fresh, hot pastries from a bakery in the morning. She could feel her fangs pushing through her gums as she approached them, as automatic and inevitable as saliva filling her mouth when she gazed down at a full plate at dinner. Their succulent, speckled black and white flanks filled her vision. A shadow in the back of her mind told her it wasn't so bad. She could just sink her teeth in. Satiate herself.
No.
She jerked herself away from the pens before she could take another treacherous step towards them and continued for the town gates. She couldn't just take everyone's livestock for herself, or worse, be caught feeding. She'd have to ignore the invisible knives stabbing into her stomach for a little longer.
"Heya, Shelby!" The familiar, chipper voice of Pearl called from a nearby rooftop before she could fully collect herself. Shelby looked up, squinting and holding back a hiss from the sun shining at Pearl's back directly into her eyes. Why did she have to be awake right now? "What'cha doing up this early?" Pearl smiled down at them as she paused hammering onto wooden boards to finish off the roof of her and her roommate's house. She was a tall, lean woman, at least a head taller than Shelby, and her confident, easygoing poise only made her seem taller. She was older than them, too, but they weren't sure by how much. Pearl only looked five years older than Shelby at the very most, but sometimes she spoke like she was older than that. The careful braids of her shiny brown hair, as well as the fine white button up shirt, black skirts and corset of the same colour that were all fit for a noblewoman Pearl wore were, as usual, at odds with the manual labour she was currently doing. Her boots were the only practical part of her outfit, already well worn and stained with dirt.
"Oh, you know, just getting some wood and stuff. I'm thinking of doing some rennovations myself," Shelby stuttered. She'd been a bit nervous around Pearl ever since she'd been able to guess exactly where they'd grown up just from a few simple directions and the mention of werewolves, and that uncanny feeling in the back of her head didn't mix well with her new longing to drain the woman dry. "Does Cleo mind you working on that so early?"
"She's the only reason I'm up right now, to be honest," Pearl sighed. "It's hard to get back to sleep once she gets up, so I might as well make myself useful. That and if we have to spend another night without a finished roof, she might just up and kill me,"
"I'm just lucky Scott doesn't really mind that sort of thing," Shelby glanced back to the unfinished roof of her own home. "Is she helping you out up there?" Shelby craned their neck to get a better look, partly out of curiosity and the rest out of hunger, but didn't see anyone else with her. Shelby couldn't quite decide if they were relieved about that. Pearl shook her head and gestured off vaguely behind the house where most of the town's crops were kept. "She's making sure we all don't starve," Pearl slipped a silver hammer into the brown work belt looped around her expensive skirts next to the gleaming, domed hilt of her rapier and clambered down from the roof on the windowsills with a grace and upper body strength that Shelby could never hope to match. Well, as a human, at least. She still wasn't sure if being a vampire would change that.
"Don't tell me you're gonna go out in the woods on your own," she said, landing just in front of Shelby. Now that she was closer, they could hear Pearl's heart thumping in her chest as if her blood itself was calling out to them. Her heartbeat was surprisingly relaxed, as if she'd just been sitting down instead of working. They still had to crane their neck up a little to meet her sparkling, sapphire blue eyes even now that she wasn't on the roof, forcing their gaze not to settle on the soft, tender, vulnerable flesh of her neck. They definitely didn't trace the path of the pale scar that curved up from the side of her collar with their eyes. "Y-you starting to believe in vampires, too?"
"Nah," Pearl waved her off. "I'm not talking Bigfoot or nothing, just be careful. There are dangerous things out in the woods,"
"Like werewolves?"
"And normal ones," Pearl said. Shelby sighed a little. She'd been surprised when Pearl had admitted to believing in werewolves, even if she didn't say why. Before she'd been turned, Pearl's refusal to accept any other belief in the supernatural had made her want to scream. Now it was probably saving her skin. "Any animal can be dangerous,"
"You don't need to worry about me, I'll be alright on my own,"
"You sure? 'Cause I really, really don't like the idea of you wandering off into the woods at the crack of dawn alone," Pearl still wore a smile on her face, but her eyes had gained a sudden, axe sharp focus to them. Her heartbeat had become a little quicker.
Shelby glanced over to the fences that marked one of the gates out of the town, as if hoping an excuse would just walk up to them. Conveniently, one did. "I was gonna ask Owen if he could help, actually!"She said, as loudly as she could. Owen, the town's lumberjack and one of the three other vampires, turned to her as he lugged a large, lumpy sack over his shoulder that Shelby hoped was only full of wood. The focused frown that settled on his face most of the time was firmly in its place, framed by long strands of the messy, brown hair that tumbled around his shoulders. Shelby had used to think that his glum expressions didn't really suit someone who was only as old as she was, even if his slightly sunken in cheeks made him look older, but him being over two hundred had explained them handily. "You need some help with that?" Pearl called over to him. "I'm alright," he said, approaching them both. "M told me you wanted more logs?"
"I might've overestimated how much I needed. Just put 'em in the spot, I'll grab the ones I need later if I do,"
"Sure," he adjusted the slightly torn-around-the-edges, brown, hooded cloak he always wore, his hands as always wrapped in bandages. Shelby wondered if his original bites still lay somewhere beneath them. The ones on their arms just below each shoulder hadn't started to fade after a day, even when all the slashes she'd gotten when she'd been turned had faded. "You said you wanted something from me?"
"Just wanted some more wood, some rennovations, working on the furniture, you know how it is, and Pearl seemed busy so I didn't wanna bother her,"
"Well, here you are," he nodded to the sack over his shoulder.
"I-um, if it's not too much to ask, can you teach me how to collect it myself?" Shelby tried not to let her desperation leak into her voice. "Just so I can help out a bit more around town, maybe take the load off you a bit?"
"Sure thing. I could use a snack before heading out again, though. Have you eaten yet today?" Owen's tone was light, but Shelby knew what he really meant. "No, I just got up. I could use some breakfast,"
"Follow me, then. Can I get you anything, Pearl?"
"I'll take some porkchops if you can spare 'em,"
"I'll get them cooking for you," he nodded, then turned to the tower in the centre of town.
"Stay safe, alright?" Pearl said.
"'Course I will,"
"Just stay alert, and always have a weapon on you. You never know what's in the woods with you,"
"Got it. Um, I should probably-"
"Yeah, yeah, you go get ready," Pearl waved her off. Shelby could've sworn that something like a frown had settled on her face, though, and her heartbeat still hadn't calmed. Shelby couldn't think about why, though. The promise of food was literally starting to replace every other one in her head.
They scrambled to follow after Owen. He dropped the sack near the base of the central tower alongside the other communal resources, careful not to get too close to the building. Shelby cringed back from it involuntarily as its marmalade orange glow trickled onto her skin. If the sun felt like angry bugs, that light might as well have boiling water. Owen sighed in relief as he took a step back, then went over to his and M's house, inviting Shelby inside.
Needing permission to enter a house wasn't that big a change for her, she was polite, but physically needing it could get a bit awkward. The house was much bigger and more well designed than Shelby's was, although that was probably because they'd had to make theirs almost completely by themself and they didn't have any real experience in construction. Stones lined the moss-covered roof, with a cobbled, grey chimney gleefully spitting out smoke from it. All of the rich, burgundy curtains that M had brought with him were shut tight, revealing nothing of the interior.
"You can come in whenever you like," "Thanks. Um, you too,"
"Of course," he said, fishing around in the cupboards, mumbling something Shelby couldn't quite make out under his breath before pulling out an armful of salt cured porkchops. "Do invitations work like that?"
"Yeah, I'd reccomend trying to get standing invitiations when you can, and if you own a place you can go in whenever. Plus communal buildings are fair game," He tossed one of the porkchops in the stone oven, placing some logs from a rack in the corner into it and lighting them with a casual flick of flint against steel. He handed all but one of the rest to Shelby like a stack of pancakes.
The smell of blood invaded her nose. Her fangs sprung out to the full length before she could even think to call them out. Owen clamped the last one in his jaws, tearing it apart as a small pool of old blood trickled out onto his lips. "M's not here right now," he said, his words garbled through the food. Shelby tried her best to ignore the sight of the raw, half chewed she could see through his lips as he spoke, and the small trickle of blood that began to slip out from his lips before he sucked it back in. "He likes to write near the lake at sunrise, apparently it helps him think, so he won't be back for a long while,"
"Okay," Shelby's reflexive curiosity on the writer's habits was almost instantly stifled by her hunger like a tidal wave swamping a beach. She hesitantly lifted the slabs of meat to her own face and chomped down.
It was delicious. She was only able to take a single restrained bite before completely losing herself. Any thoughts of manners or how this might look to someone watching fled from her brain as she pulled it apart with her teeth like a wild animal. The heat of life dripped down her throat, filling her cold, dead veins with the first warmth she'd felt in hours. Through the fog of their frenzy, they realised that they would've been no better than Owen if they tried to talk while eating. If anything, she would've been worse. Spraying blood and meat and saliva all over the room with each sound, interrupting herself mid word to descend on her meal. She probably would've licked up anything that had gotten splattered on the floor, desperate not to lose even a single drop.
It didn't take very long at all before her fangs closed on empty air. Disappointment stronger than anything she'd ever felt before filled her, still craving that beautiful taste even when her stomach was full. If that was what pig blood tasted like, how good would a human- no. Humans were off the table.
The image of Pearl lying on a table pierced their mind no matter how hard they tried to push it out. Her collar had been pulled back, leaving her neck completely exposed. Their brain subconsciously filled in the blanks of the rest of her scar, deciding that it curved like a crescent moon, ending at the nape of her neck. She imagined taking a drink, Pearl craning her neck with a gentle smile to let her know it was alright, allowing Shelby to more easily clasp her shoulder and cheek to keep their fangs more stable. Would her musculature effect how she tasted? Would her diet?
She returned to reality as fast and as hard as if she'd just been doused by a bucket of ice water. She felt a pit open up in her stomach as she realised that, even for a moment, she'd genuinely considered eating raw meat off the floor. Daydreamed about lapping up blood from the ground as if it was a spoon covered in chocolate, germs be damned. It should've still been gross, even if she couldn't get sick anymore. No matter how much they tried to convince themself to put real feeling behind it, it was already just an old reflex. It sounded so appetising.
She'd fantasised about drinking Pearl. Guilt stabbed into her stomach. Her breaths started to go shallow. But it had only been in her head. She hadn't done it. She was still in control. She panted slightly as she wiped her hand against her mouth. "Thanks," she mumbled.
"It's no problem. I can't exactly have you starving on us, now can I?"
"I guess not," she glanced down at the floorboards. She felt her fangs slink back up into her gums as if they were just as ashamed of themselves as the rest of her was. "Don't look so glum," Owen's unusually big, oak brown eyes softened. "I've always been a practical sort, I was just trying to lighten the mood,"
"Right, yeah, sorry,"
"There's no need to apologise. Besides, you have just roped yourself into collecting wood with me,"
"I mean, I was trying to use it as a cover to look for Scott- but I'll definitely help you,"
"Clever," his brown eyes lit up. "I was worried you wouldn't take to our gift well, but clearly I was mistaken,"
"Did- have you guys been talking about me?"
"Nothing you weren't there for, just some private worries I had. I'm glad to see that Scott had the right of you instead." Shelby felt her cheeks warm up from the praise. She was a little surprised that she could still do that as a vampire.
"We'll need to work on establishing a more reliable food source than what we can sneak from town," Owen said, picking up a pair of silver axes from a rack on the wall, muttering "One, two," as he did. He passed the first to Shelby and kept the second for himself on his back, next to the one he was already carrying. She felt her veins buzzing beneath her skin at how close the metal was to her body, but it didn't actually hurt. "M doesn't suspect anything for now, but if I keep making this much meat disappear on the regular, he'll start to think something's up. We may need to use the ruins for storage,"
"Right," Shelby couldn't help but feel her unbeating heart fall at the mention of his new home. "I didn't think we could touch these,"
"Only when we've fed as much as you and I have, I wouldn't hand it to Scott or Pyro. We can't craft with it, though. Our hands cramp really badly if we try, trust me. I'm just lucky that M and Apo don't mind making my tools for me,"
"I'll get in touch with them if I need anything, then,"
"Or Avid, if you want to risk it. I bet he's good with silver,"
"I think I might just avoid him for a bit,"
"That's probably wise," he took out a small wooden box, removed the final porkchop from the roaring oven once it had done cooking, and slapped it inside. "Could you give this to Pearl for me? I'll be waiting for you by the treeline,"
"Sure thing,"
"Great," he picked up a new, empty sack and set out for the gates, Shelby at his heels once again. She ended up tossing it up to Pearl, who had already clambered back up to her perch on the roof and didn't seem eager to come all the way back down for it.
Shelby could feel her eyes on their back as they scurried over to the forest. Owen nodded to her once she got close, then set off deeper in. She pursed her lips, questions leaping up behind her mouth, begging to be let out. She glanced around. The sounds of the forest, birds chirping and cracking twigs were dimmer now, cut off by the noise of hurried flapping as the two of them pushed into the forest like a knife slipping between a pair of ribs. Great. Now the animals hated her. She was pretty sure that there weren't any more humans around, either.
Apparently vampires were supposed to have better senses than humans, but that definitely wasn't the case for her yet. What kind of vampire still needed glasses? Wasn't it supposed to fix all of that? She shook her head as if it would make the bitter thoughts fall out from her ears. There were more pressing questions to ask.
"What's your deal?" Her eyes settled on anywhere but the back of Owen's head. He hummed. "About what?"
"The whole, you know, vampires and turning people into vampires thing. Why'd you turn me? Why did you do it like that? I wouldn't have said anything if you guys just needed a little blood,"
"I didn't turn you,"
"But you helped,"
"Fair point," he shrugged. His voice went low. "I was wronged. The old humans of Oakhurst did something awful to me, now I'm just returning the favour,"
"But can't we be better?" Owen marched down the faded path to the castle as silently as a stone. "I mean, if humans get things wrong then shouldn't we get them right? I mean, these people aren't even the ones who hurt you, there's gotta be more options than just killing them all,"
"If there are, I haven't found them,"
"Maybe you didn't look in the right places?"
"Maybe," he muttered. "Just be careful where you put that hope. If Avid finds out-"
"I know. He'll stake me if no one's around to stop him,"
"And we don't who would. If anyone even would," he took out one of the axes on his back. "We're not people to people like him, Shelby, and we need to keep ourselves safe." A frown settled on her face. Owen held the axe in both hands as if he was trying to figure out how much it weighed. "Did you actually want me to teach you how to chop trees, by the way?"
"Can we talk to Scott first?"
"Sure," he set it to rest over his shoulder, the metal gleaming in the small beams of sunlight that cut through the foliage. She had a lot to think about.
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Scott had never been one for manual labour. Things like that had always been the job of servants, even before he'd been turned. As he stared at the ruins that had once been his castle, he begrudgingly accepted the fact that he no longer had any. The humans didn't know what he was, and if they did, he was pretty sure they'd try to kill him. He was not at all in the mood to quash an uprising so soon after he'd woken up, if he even could when he was this weak and the humans had whatever these new holy powers were on their side. So they were a no go to employ, at least for now.
The other vampires weren't a much better option. Owen wasn't one of his, and was as close to Scott's equal as was possible, so there was an unfortunate lack of leverage there. He also had his own goals, which Scott was pretty sure didn't involve helping with construction. Pyro was eager to please, and could probably help to gather materials, but that was about where his usefulness ended. Even though he did rather like Shelby, and trusted that she'd be more than willing to help, he didn't quite trust her architectural skills after what she'd made of their house in the village. Meaning that the role of restoring the half standing stonework and charred black wood that had once been his castle back to its former glory fell squarely on his shoulders. Brilliant. He'd often heard his workmen say that if you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself. Scott had always been more in the mind of if you wanted something done right, you should hire a professional to do it for you, but he supposed that they had been professionals. If only there were any willing, of coercible for that matter, professionals around now.
He sighed as he scratched words into signs with the talons that had begun to sprout from his fingertips again, warnings like 'DANGER, KEEP OUT!', 'COLLAPSED BRIDGE', and 'NO ENTRY.' If he had to do so much work himself, then he could at least do it uninterrupted. As long as the townsfolk were all literate. His claw screeched to a stop in the dark wood halfway through the G in 'DANGER'. Hopefully literacy rates had gotten better in the last six hundred years. They'd been rather low in villages this far out in the countryside the last time he'd been awake, and some of the townsfolk didn't exactly seem to come from the most educated backgrounds.
He glanced up at the beacon up on a wooden platform at the back of the remains of the castle. Its holy orange glow seeped into the air like a bloodstain onto a white silk shirt. But he couldn't wash it out until he got the humans off his back. If only he could start on the roof before the walls to keep the sun away, or carry a parasol while building. He groaned. All of his parasols were so moth eaten they were barely still frames anymore.
His vampiric hearing prickled, a feeling he'd missed almost as much as the permanent fangs that now permanently stuck out from his upper jaw after he'd woken up so weak and famished. A pair of familiar voices and rhythmic footsteps thumped against the stone of the crumbling bridge. A hint of tension melted out from his shoulders, an easy smile settling on his face as he sauntered to where the grand doors used to be. Even if he hadn't recognised their voices, the silence coming from their chests meant that they could only be two of very few people. "Hi! Please, come in," he bowed theatrically, keeping his eyes on the pair of visitors. Owen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, but Shelby giggled. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He smiled down at the shorter vampire as he straightened up. Well, that wasn't saying much, considering he was the tallest of all four of them even without the red heeled riding shoes he'd been buried in, but still.
"You didn't come back to town last night," Owen crossed his arms. "Avid was insufferable,"
"So business as usual, then?"
"More than usual,"
"He's just worried," Shelby began to wander through the ruins. "Sure, that I'll rip his throat out," Scott scoffed.
"I mean, he's kinda not wrong,"
"But not for the right reasons," he lazily turned to keep her in his sight as she pored over the ruins, his black cloak billowing behind him as he did. "I wouldn't mind it as much if I'd actually made a mistake, but this is just prejudice,"
"I don't know what else you expected from them," Owen spat.
"So, this is where you're living now?" Shelby asked, her voice smaller than it usually was. Hearing it made a frown pull at the edges of his face, even if it couldn't fully wipe off his smile. "I'm tired of hiding from town, to be honest. Besides, this never stopped being my home, even if it is in a bit of a state right now,"
"Right,"
"You wouldn't know what happened to it, would you, Owen?"
"In my defence, I thought the rumours of the castle's former occupant sleeping beneath it were just rumours," he shrugged beneath his cloak. "By my time it was pretty much just a meeting hall."
"You did this?" Scott grinned at Owen, baring his long, thin fangs. "I was just trying to flush them out, I didn't expect the fire to destroy a building made of this much stone," the younger vampire sighed. "Again, I didn't think you existed at the time,"
"And the bridge?"
"That was just time, no wood to burn there,"
"Alright," Scott shrugged. "You were having a bit of a moment, so I suppose I can't hold it against you,"
"Yeah, it sure seems like it'll be a lot of work to put all this back," Shelby said.
"It will be, but it'll be worth it," he sighed. "I'm sure you'll enjoy a house with multiple rooms once it's done."
She whipped around to face him, a glowing grin on her face. "We can still be roommates?"
"Of course," his smile became more genuine than it had been in a long time. More, not fully. "You should probably stay in town while you can, but if you ever want to, my door's always open for you. Once I put one up, anyway,"
"Thank you. To be honest, I was kinda starting to get worried that you only thought of me as food,"
"No, no, I wanted to turn you. Some of them aren't good for much else, sure, and the idea of living with a few of them for eternity makes me want to throw up, but not you,"
"Like Avid?"
"I mean, I wasn't gonna name names. But yeah, Avid." They chuckled together as Owen surveyed the ruins.
"Speaking of suspicion, I'm not sure how long we can stay hidden with so many vampires and humans living off the same livestock," Owen said. "I was thinking it might be good to keep some out here,"
"I've got one chicken at the moment," Scott nodded over towards the lone, white bird clucking over in a small pen in a corner of the ruins. "They're the only things willing to breed around us once we get stronger, which will be useful once I've got two,"
"Owen and I could help out with that," Shelby said. "We could bring in some things that are a bit more substantial,"
"That would be good. I doubt the humans will just give up their livestock, though,"
"We could try luring things in from the woods," Owen said. "I believe I've seen some animals still around there,"
"I suppose," Scott held back a groan. That sounded suspiciously like more peasant's work that he'd have to be the one to do.
"So, the plan for now's just getting this place back up?" Owen asked.
"That and making it seem less inviting. Signs, barricades, destroying the bridge a little, just things like that so we don't get as many intruders poking around,"
"That sounds great!" Shelby clapped their hands together. "I can work on it if you'd like, I'm really good at decoration,"
"If it won't draw too much suspicion for you both," he shrugged. Construction aside, the decor of the house she'd made wasn't actually anything to complain about. "I reckon Shelby bought us an hour or two before people start asking questions, and no one comes by this place," Owen nodded. "I can work on the barricades and the bridge first if you want to make a start on the main building,"
"I'll take whatever extra hands I can get at this point,"
"That's the spirit," Owen clapped him on the back with a sharp smile, fishing a stone pickaxe out of a box before heading back over to the bridge.
Scott and Shelby went over to a corner closer to the beacon that was filled with chests and boxes. He started to gather up the signs he'd been working on that he'd left scattered around. "One, two, three-"
"Do you think we should turn this?" She asked from behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know she meant the beacon. "Four- not yet. I tried yesterday, and a bunch of people came running before I could. Hence the signs,"
"They didn't see you, did they?"
"I hope not. Five," Scott passed them to her. "I didn't get a very good look at them, most I could say is that there was three of them, so I hope they didn't see me too clearly either."
"Still not ideal, though," she muttered as she took them. "There's no need to worry about me, this isn't my first time dealing with humans who can't keep their noses in their own business. Besides, I think I'm done trying to blend in with them. It did not suit me at all, and they're starting to catch on,"
"Yeah, that must've gotten pretty tiring near the end," she nodded, then stared down at the ruined floorboards. "I just don't want them to kick you out, even if you're not gonna be living in town anymore,"
"I'll be alright," he said. "Turning the beacon's isn't a bad idea, by the way. I'd say we should probably make them lose two this week,"
"Okay, I can help with that," Shelby nodded. They shifted their weight as they still didn't look up to meet Scott's eyes. "You know, you could've just told me you were a vampire, right? I promise I wouldn't have told anyone."
Scott sighed, slowly placing a hand on her shoulder. She leaned into his touch slightly. He forced his face into a slight frown. "I know, it's just- this is a new experience for me. I've been asleep for like six hundred years, and before that I was just in charge of, well, basically this whole area. I'm used to people just fearing me and giving me things: animals, sacrifices, manual labour, the works. It was just so much easier that way," he gestured vaguely in the direction of Oakhurst. "Then the first people I see on waking up are that lot, none of whom seem normal- I mean, you were running in talking about Bigfoot, another one was going on about vampires-"
"He's real," Shelby crossed her arms.
"I- sure, I'm sure he is," Scott raised his hands in mock surrender. "And now you have a better chance of finding him,"
"I guess you're right. I am kinda looking forward to the whole bat thing,"
"I would one hundred percent recommend it. Just be careful about where you do it, because you also summon a whole cloud of bats around yourself. It's the kind of thing even humans will clock onto."
Owen's roaring laughter resounded around the ruins as suddenly and as loud as a canon shot.
"That was you? At the house judging competition?"
"Yes, it was," Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. "No one saw you, did they?" Shelby asked, her voice frayed with worry like an old carpet. "Nope, but I'm pretty sure I've used up all my luck for the next century,"
"How does that even happen?" Owen managed out between howls. "I don't know! I'm normally above that sort of thing, but I must've gotten rusty while I was asleep,"
"You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"I'm pretty sure you gave Avid a heart attack," Shelby muttered.
"At least something good came of it then," he grumbled. "Don't you have a job to be doing?"
"Oh, yes, I'm so sorry, my lord," Owen choked on suppressed giggles. "Just try not to dematerialise when I look away,"
"People have no respect for their elders these days," he shook his head. "As I was saying, I had to be cautious about who I told and how, plus, I figured you wouldn't mind being a vampire,"
"I guess I don't," a smile settled on their face, but it wasn't as bright as their normal ones were. Scott felt a slight twinge in his cold, unbeating heart when he looked at it. "I knew I was doing something stupid when I went out there with you guys, but I had to take risks if I wanted to prove that it was all real,"
"Exactly,"
"And now I know,"
"I wouldn't get too worked up about it," Owen called, a bit further across the bridge. "It's pretty hard to teach an old vampire new tricks, and turning people was a pretty big sign of trust back in his day,"
"Really?" She looked back up at him, her smile back to its usual energy. Good, now he didn't have to feel weird when he looked at her. "I'd say it still is. Like I said, I turned you because I didn't want to lose your company when you died. And I wouldn't share my food with just anyone, either,"
"Thanks! Um, you don't mean the people in town when you say that, do you?"
"I also mean their animals,"
"Scott!"
"It's the truth! Animal blood only gets you so far, you know. It's like salad, it does the trick but sometimes you just really want some wagyu steak,"
"I like salad,"
"Every day, for the rest of your eternal life? I couldn't stomach it," He shrugged.
"I just don't want to hurt anyone,"
"I suppose that's fair. What if they let you drink from them?"
"Maybe. I'm not sure," Shelby's face was starting to turn downcast again. Scott gave an exaggerated sigh as he indicated to the signs in her arms.
"The townsfolk can all read, can't they?"
"Of course they can!" The beginnings of sadness on her face were quickly replaced by indignation. "Um, well, except for Ren, actually,"
"He did say something about that,"
"Most of them didn't exactly come from humble beginnings," Owen said, tapping the stones of the bridge with his pickaxe, testing for weaknesses. "I'd assume the rest of them can,"
"Even Cleo?" The question slipped out of his mouth by reflex. "Scott!" Shelby gasped.
"It's a valid concern!" he threw his hands up in the air. "Farmers generally couldn't six hundred years ago, I'm being very open minded right now,"
"She sends her mum letters every week!"
"Really?" Scott tilted his head a little. "How do they get out of the whole barrier thing?"
"Carrier birds, I think," Owen called over to them as he made his way down the bridge, methodically tapping what seemed like every other stone. Shelby sighed as they adjusted their glasses. "Well, I'll get started on making this place spookier out there, then I'll help you out with the rest of all this,"
"That sounds great,"
"Can I use things from the crypt to do it? I had this idea with putting the skulls from down there on, like, spikes or something. Is that the vibe we're looking for?"
"Oh, that sounds perfect," he nodded.
He looked back to the ruins, wracking his brain for what his home used to look like. For the unlife of him, he couldn't remember nearly as much as he'd expected. He sighed as Shelby began to go. "You're sure she doesn't have Pearl write them for her or something?"
"No! Their handwriting's actually really nice,"
"If you say so," Scott shrugged. He brought his hand to his chin as he surveyed the ruins. "Now, let's get to work," he said, groaning out the last word as if it meant 'eating garlic' or 'listening to Avid'.
--------------------------------------------
Cleo cleaned the desaturated, blue zombie blood off of their two pronged military fork with a rag as they watched Legs work to remove an arrow that was stuck in Pearl's arm, a splotch of red staining the white of her sleeve. She was sat on a fat log like it was a stool, the doctor on one knee next to her. He was a tall man with buzzed, dark hair that Cleo couldn't quite be sure if it was brown or black. The rolled up sleeves of the white robe he always wore clung closely to his tree trunk thick arms. The long scar that stretched along his face, dangerously close to the eye beneath his copper monocle, suggested that he'd put them to good use at some point. "This'd be a lot easier for both of us if you stayed still," he muttered, his deep voice as soft as a feather, like usual. "It hurts," she hissed.
"I know, I know. How's the house going?"
"Good, I guess. I finished up the roof- did you really think that was gonna distract me from the arrow you're pulling out of my arm?"
"Well, not if you don't let it,"
"I'm not a child," she scoffed. "I didn't think they could even go out at this time of day!"
"They were definitely more aggressive than normal," Cleo scowled at the treeline, where the undead had lumbered out of and attempted to break through the gates. A familiar figure approached them, letting himself back into town as he slung a large, two handed axe over his back.
Ren had long, brown hair that stretched just below his shoulders and a small moustache, both speckled with grey streaks. The rest of his robust frame betrayed no other signs of ageing. His short sleeved, plain, white shirt and the brown, leather suspenders that held them up were slightly frayed and beaten with age, covered with traces of sawdust under his silver armour, newly joined by splashes of the same blue blood that now covered all of their weapons. Even the doctor's sword had some on it, apparently the Hippocratic oath allowed for self defence, even if he never let himself strike a killing blow. Cleo was not looking forward to getting it out of their dress.
"I can't see any more of the living dead out there at the moment, we should be safe for the time being," his voice, one that could be politely called unique and mutable, filled the air. It didn't quite seem to fit his face, but then again, Cleo couldn't think of one that it would. "I do believe it's something about these new, dark beacons that's empowering them to walk so boldly in the sun, don'tcha know,"
"It's certainly a possibility, but we can't say that for certain," Legs nodded, even as his narrowed eyes never left Pearl's arm. "No, but it's not a bad working theory," Cleo said. "Are you feeling better after yesterday, Ren? You did kinda try to rile everyone up into some kind of monster hunt,"
"I'm doing okay, some time in the quiet away from town made me feel much better,"
"You probably just woke up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday," Pearl said.
"It was the wrong side of the bed indeed, though when the sun went down, I felt that selfsame terror all over again."
Pearl jerked her head towards the doctor. "Do you get nightmares? Maybe you should speak to Legs,"
"Could you please keep still for a second?"
"Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea,"
"I'm more of the body, not the mind, I'm afraid,"
"He could drug you to sleep," Cleo said, mostly as a joke. "I could, actually, if you wanted. A deep and dreamless slumber,"
"Thank you, Doctor, but I've no issue with that, don'tcha know," Ren pulled some garlic out from a leather bag. "I was just coming into town to make sure everyone had some garlic before we were interrupted, I've been growing rather a lot recently and I just wanted to make sure that everyone had enough to protect themselves from might be out there."
Cleo frowned as he pushed a few cloves into her hands. "I'll use them for cooking, sure," they said. Even though Ren wasn't wrong, he wasn't right because he knew what was actually out there, he was right because he was scared. Feeding into that wasn't the right move. "Pretty sure you're still on the- ow- wrong side of the bed," Pearl flinched as Legs wiggled the arrow a little further out of her arm.
"What happened over here?" They heard Owen ask as he approached, a hand floating down to one of the two woodcutting axes on his back. "Just some undead, we dealt with them," Cleo said.
"At this time of day?"
"Apparently. The sun didn't seem to bother them as much as normal,"
"Well, that's certainly not ideal," the lumberjack slipped his bandaged hands into his pockets as he approached them. "Did you and Shelby get back okay?" Pearl winced.
"Perfectly. We didnt come across any of them, to be honest. Maybe they're just on that side of the forest for the moment," he said. "Have you guys had a look around town lately?"
"Don't tell me I missed something again,"
"I'm afraid so. Avid and Drift have started building some kind of vampire testing centre over that way," he nodded in the direction that he'd come from. "To be honest, they're starting to make me a little concerned,"
"I'm sorry?" Cleo crossed her arms. Exasperation flared through her stomach, but she couldn't help but keep her eyes on Owen's face. His face didn't give much away, but something about it set off a small alarm bell in her mind. "They're creating a what?" Something that was almost a laugh tore itself from Legs' mouth, Pearl sucking in a quick breath from the loud sound so close to her ear.
"I'm not completely sure, but I believe it involves taking them into some kind of accommodation and making sure that they're still human," he pursed his lips. "I didn't really know what to do about it, but I figured that you two-" he gestured to Cleo and Legs- "Would have a better idea than I did,"
"We cannot be having that," Cleo glowered. "Absolutely not," Legs' free hand balled into a fist as he got to his feet. "Hey- I get this is, like, a problem and all, but there's still an arrow in my arm!" Pearl squaked.
"You mean this?" Legs spun a bloody arrow between his fingers. Pearl's face twisted in confusion as she put a hand to where the arrow had once been. "You know first aid, don't you?"
"When did you do that?"
"When we were talking. You were distracted,"
"Oh, shut up," Pearl grabbed the gauze and bandages that Legs had been about to wrap around her arm, and rolled up her sleeve.
"And yeah, I'd be dead five times over if I didn't,"
"Great. I'll leave you to it, then," Legs squared his broad shoulders as he marched in the direction that Owen had pointed, who himself went after him. "Come on, I've gotta hear this," Pearl grinned, hastily wrapping it around the still slightly bleeding wound. "Shouldn't you, like, clean that first?"
"Oh, I'll be fine, it'll just be for a few minutes. It was just a graze, anyway,"
"Pearl, it was literally stuck in your arm,"
"I've had worse,"
"How much worse could you possibly have had, Miss Pearl?"
"Don't you worry about it," she hopped off behind Legs. Cleo sighed as they went to trudge after her. "You coming?"
"I'm alright. To be completely honest, I don't entirely disagree with young Avid and young Drift's idea, though perhaps a little with the execution, don'tcha know,"
"Neither do I, but I'm not going to let him drag people into whatever this is,"
"Fair enough. I'd stay for the fireworks, but I've got work to be getting on with in me lodge,"
"I'll leave you to it, then," Cleo said before hurrying after the others.
She found Legs staring incredulously at the sign outside a roofless, wooden building that Avid and Drift were in the middle of raising up from the ruins of a ruin from the old town, too absorbed in their work to notice the gathering outside. Cleo wasn't entirely sure what it was supposed to be, but she was sure that if the self proclaimed vampire hunter was involved, then it would be ineffective at best and an active problem at worst. Pearl was leaning against the wooden walls of town that it was set up against, while Owen was clambering on the walls of the building to perch himself on the roofless wall. "Am I a joke to you?" Legs stomped inside, bearing down on Avid.
Avid was small and scrawny, something only made clearer when he was next to the doctor, which painted a slightly concerning picture alongside his pale skin and the seemingly permanent dark circles under his eyes. His neck was constantly wrapped in bandages, presumably to make it a less appealing target for vampires, and Cleo had never seen him without patches of silver armour over his white shirt and padded, green waistcoat. More wooden stakes than Cleo cared to count were attached to him at various places, ranging from cross shaped ones the size of daggers to spikes of wood as long as Cleo's forearm. The smell of garlic always seemed to cling to his breath, something that made her glad that Legs was the one getting in his face.
"Hey, hey man," Drift raised her hands in front of herself in a vain attempt to calm Legs down. She was a similar size to Avid, maybe even a little smaller, the brown trench coat that usually hid that fact slightly had been folded up and left on a plank of wood, the sleeves of her white shirt rolled up. She almost would've looked like an actual builder, if not for her monocle, black waistcoat, and the red bow tie at her collar. "Everything I've done, everything I've sacrificed to become one who gives care, and you, in a day, decide that you're qualified to perform medical examinations?"
"No, not-"
"Do you know everything I went through to get to where I am?" His large hand grabbed Avid's shoulder.
"I mean, you cut a hole in a bedsheet-" Avid let out a small yelp as the doctor's grip tightened. "Hey, stop that! Did Owen tell you something?"
"I only told them what you told me," Owen said. Drift gasped and whirled around, her now wide eyes leaping around until they found him up on the wall. Cleo's eyes narrowed as Drift's shoulders tensed up. "What're you doing up there?" It was subtle, but her voice shook slightly as she spoke. "You don't have a chair," Owen kicked his legs a little as he gazed down at them all.
"What mockery of modern medicine are you doing here?" Legs growled, not taking his hand off Avid's shoulder. Judging from the slightly pained expression on the man's face, Legs wasn't softening his grip, either. "This isn't medicine!"
"Clearly,"
"We're not bothering anybody, this is just an opt in thing to keep people safe,"
"Then why is it called a clinic on the sign?"
"That's just a working title, we can change it," Drift said.
"We just don't want you two to go too far," Cleo said, stepping onto the dirt floor of the building. "More information isn't a bad thing, but this just seems like fear,"
"Are you saying you weren't scared at all yesterday?"
"No," Cleo pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm just not letting it control me. Are you?"
"Of course not," Avid didn't quite meet her eyes. "You know, Doc, your place still isn't open. Maybe you should finish that first before coming after ours." Cleo braced herself as she saw Legs' free hand ball into a fist. They could feel the waves of rage radiating off him like light from a torch. He let out a low, wordless grumble as his hand slipped off Avid's shoulder. "Do no harm," he mumbled, mostly to himself.
"Are we good now?" Acid put a hand to his bandaged neck. "Do not, for a single moment, take my lack of violence as acceptance in what you are doing,"
"Listen, if we're going to stand up to the creatures of the night, we need to be unified," some of its usual strength returned returned to Avid's voice as he rubbed the shoulder Legs had grabbed him by. "And you think that the best way to unify us is to pervert everything I've learned?"
"It's a centre for awareness, it's not a clinic-"
"You literally called it one!"
"We're not trying to step on your toes here," Drift put herself between Legs and Avid. "We're just teaching about vampires, what they are, what to watch out for, maybe some fight school, stuff like that,"
"You both are acting like fools, and you are going to lead everyone down the wrong path,"
"I'm not leading anybody, people can choose to listen if they want. If you want to open a clinic, then I actually encourage that. I could use a checkup, to be honest,"
"There's quite a few things you could use right now,"
"Well, thanks for your concerns, but if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my centre," Avid pushed past him to continue building. Drift smiled apologetically to him as she followed.
"I need a moment," Legs stormed out of the half finished building. "Where are you going?" Cleo asked.
"Just to take a walk. I shouldn't be too long,"
"You sure you wanna go out there alone?" Pearl said. "I'll stay close to town,"
"Alright, you enjoy yourself out there,"
"Can I say something first?" Owen hopped off the roof. Legs sighed and turned around. "If it's quick,"
"I just noticed that some people," he gave Avid and Drift a pointed look. The detective shuffled awkwardly under his gaze. Cleo couldn't help but wonder if she was ashamed or if it was something else. "Have been getting a bit worked up about what happened last night, and I thought that we should all talk about it as a town, decide our next steps and hopefully help us all to get some fear out of our systems. That and it's about time I came clean about the history of this town, how it ended up like this,"
"You know how this happened?" Cleo gestured towards the wood walls surrounding the town, to the still burnt black ruins of where buildings had once been. "I didn't see it, but I have a very good guess,"
"What do you think it was?" Pearl asked.
"The church. I'd prefer to give details to everyone all at once, but they'd taken to using fire when I left. It's not exactly a baseless assumption,"
"I see," Cleo nodded.
"I'm going to spread the word, does meeting at the tower at nightfall sound alright with everyone?"
"I guess we can cut our mining trip short," Pearl sighed with a sad look to Cleo. "Yeah, I don't see a problem with that," Drift called from inside. Owen nodded and turned on his heel, his brown cloak fluttering behind him. Legs went the opposite way to one of the gates out of town.
"Pearl," Cleo muttered as she began to walk back to their house. She skipped up to her side, whispering back. "What is it?"
"I think it might be a good idea to keep an eye on Owen,"
"Why?"
"Something about him's just been rubbing me the wrong way recently,"
"Okay. Like he's just been going around and observing everybody, that kinda vibe?"
"And he's been stirring trouble while also telling us not to overreact about all this vampire stuff," Cleo tried to say 'vampire' as airily as possible as if she didn't have a small stake similar to the one Avid wore on his chest hidden in her corset.
"I mean, he's got a point. You get too deep in that kinda stuff and you're gonna get lost,"
"He does, it just doesn't quite add up,"
"I'll definitely keep that in mind," Pearl slipped her hands into the pockets of her skirts. "I want to believe you, you're probably the sanest person here, but I'm gonna need to look into it myself first,"
"I wouldn't have told you if you didn't," Cleo felt a soft smile form on her face. "All I'm saying is that there's something going on, and people trying to tell me that nothing's happening make me suspicious,"
"Definitely. I'll tell you if I hear anything,"
"Thanks. I'm gonna go and see if I can stop the others from freaking out,"
"Good luck,"
"I'll need it." They sighed. They weren't sure that Owen was a vampire, let alone the one they had come here to find, but whatever he was doing seemed strange. No matter what happened, no matter how frustrating some of them could be sometimes, Cleo refused to let a vampire sink their fangs into them. She just hoped that she hadn't failed too many of them already.