Chapter Text
“But from my perspective, you do have all the makings of a monster in you.”
Of course they would believe Owen. It’s not like he hasn’t been mysterious and shady from the very beginning. That story was a load of garbage, and they all knew it. Yet instead of sticking up for him, they all decide to say nothing. No, worse than nothing, they called him crazy, delusional. Fine.
They could all get eaten by vampires for all he cared.
Still, it was lonely out here… He missed Ren, he missed Shelby, he missed Drift… Who cares? More tombs—and tomes—for him! Ren had the right idea all along, moving out of town. Who cares what any of them think!
Now if only this mountain weren’t so steep. He was beginning to run out of breath, and he didn’t particularly feel like passing out in the middle of the woods. It was fun, though, as he grinned to himself, I’m like a real tomb raider! As he huffed and puffed, managing to pull himself over the hill, he saw the tomb he was looking for, and also a figure in the distance.
“Oh! Hello?” It wouldn’t hurt to say hi, even if he wasn’t coming back to-
“I am ready to fly, yeah.” That was Pyro—and Scott. What were they doing…? They couldn’t be…
Avid’s eyes widened as Scott’s form began to shift as he leapt from the cliff, the tall, blue-haired noble becoming a flurry of bats. A gasp escaped his mouth before he could even think, which is when he locked eyes with the remaining figure, Pyro whipping around at Avid’s disturbance.
“Ugh, are you serious?” The bat began to speak, confusion hitting Avid’s brain as he processed a talking bat. “Guess we’ll just have to take care of him. Pyro, make sure he can’t tell anyone what he saw here. I’m not wasting my limited flight on him, of all people.” And with a dismissive turn, the bat flew away.
“Yes, of course Sire,” Pyro said, and before Avid could even register what was happening, Pyro burst forward, jumping further than humanly possible, suddenly mere feet away from Avid.
Avid fumbled, struggling to pull his stake from the holster on his chest as he backed away, trapped between Pyro in front and the drop into the crypt behind.
“Pyro, please, you don’t have to do this! I… I’ll shut up, I’ll stay away from town, please, don’t kill me!” Avid’s breath began to pick up as he spoke, his final words spilling out in rapid succession as he tripped over his own feet, falling to the ground and continuing to try and scramble away.
With a sudden flash, Pyro lunged. His fingers like iron clamped around Avid’s neck. His stake slipped from his hand, clattering to the ground too far to reach. Pyro began to lift him into the air, Avid’s legs dangled helplessly as he gasped for air.
“I’m sorry, Avid, but Sire wants you taken care of, and I can’t let him down,”
Pyro began to squeeze, the hunter struggling in his grasp, tears falling from his eyes. In a final burst of courage, Avid managed to pull a silver ingot from his pocket, and with one swift motion, slammed it into Pyro’s face. The fledgeling vampire reeled back, dropping the hunter in shock.
Avid turned. He had to run. Had to put some distance between himself and the creature of the night, but as he scrambled, a sudden pain ripped across his back, involuntarily screaming out in pain.
He glanced back to see Pyro’s claws raised, a smirk on his face as he made for a second swipe. Bleeding and gasping, Avid stumbled forward. The claws had torn deep — every movement sent fresh agony through him. He caught himself right on the precipice of the fall into the crypt. Cornered with nowhere to run, he could do nothing as another slash raked into him, tearing the bandages on his neck, the pain of his older wound joining in the chorus of his fresh ones. Avid howled in pain, and then felt a shove into his back. He went tumbling forward, momentum carrying him forward as he tumbled down, his final thought being a prayer that the water would break his fall as he slammed into the wall with a sickening crunch.
Pulling himself together, Pyro dusted himself off, peering over the edge at the broken form of the vampire hunter.
“I’m sorry it had to end like this, Avid,” With a flourish, Pyro dissolved into a swarm of bats, taking off after Scott, hoping his sire would not be too angry at how long he took.
“We just need to be careful, cuz we don’t know who is out and about right now,” Martyn said, climbing the hill with some effort. He glanced back at Cleo and Legs behind him, hoping for the reassurance they were still there, before continuing his trek. “I’m hopeful to find Avid, at the very least. He just left us at the castle earlier, guy has a death wish, I swear. Even if he is right about vampires.”
“Let’s please not start on this again,” Legs sighed, following after the self-proclaimed noble.
“Oh come on, you’re still denying it?” Legs rolled his eyes at the comment, deciding instead to focus on just putting one foot in front of the other as the tomb came into view.
“Don’t tell me you’re not at least a little bit suspicious, Doc.” Cleo added, “We know something is going on, and with the Beacons, are vampires really so far fetched at this point?”
After a moment of hesitation, Legs finally answered.
“Honestly? At this point, I just want to learn what we can from these tombs, find Avid, and get back to Oakhurst.” He said, as he crested the top of the hill where Martyn was already standing, seemingly waiting for the go ahead to just jump in to the tomb, “We do not need today to get anymore complicated.”
“Fair enough, Doc,” And with that, Martyn jumped, making a splash in the water below, before suddenly letting out a yell.
“Martyn?” Legs shouted, “Martyn, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Doc,” Martyn collected his breath, taking in the broken form that lay before him, blood soaking into the pool of water, head laying limply, slow, shallow breaths the only indication that life was still present. “But… Well, I found Avid…”