Chapter Text
Owen didn't really listen much to the reason he was being dragged out into the woods, all he knew was these two men were the only townsfolk stupid enough to travel in such a small group, the rest of them only dared to leave the town with a party of at least five, since the beacons have started turning. It made it impossible for him to ever catch one of them alone in the forest. Especially since he'd started desecrating the beacons, these days he's lucky to see any less than the whole town travelling as a unit. Sans a handful of folk, that is — Scott and his accessory, Pyro, being two that tended to keep to themselves and each other, the Doctor being the other typical one. Often the town decides to leave him behind, perhaps to keep an eye on Scott, who is the single most suspicious person in town in the humans' eyes, all due to Avid's relentless accusations. Owen is honestly quite glad the boy is dead, even if he meant suspicion was entirely placed on the nobleman and not himself.
It's been about three months since Owen woke, and all of Oakhurst was trapped within these bounds created by the beacons, and he's yet to drink a single ounce of human blood. He's starved, to say the least. Scrounging up animals from the forest and from the pens set up by the townsfolk to keep him moving. He's so starved he looks like a human again, and while that's convenient for blending in, he's going to need to grow stronger if he intends to follow through with what he's wanted to do since he was roused from his slumber. It's quite simple, he kills all the humans and returns to his grave or dies trying, and the humans leave his home alone anyway.
Even at his weakest, he has no doubt in his ability to take down the two men that accompany him out into the dead forest. Scott, a nobleman, obviously has never done a thing for himself since the day he was born, everything handed right to him on a silver platter. Never had to experience struggle, and clearly has never had to worry about where his next meal would come from. Owen's never met his type in person, there was nobody in his Oakhurst of such status, but he hates him for his privileged upbringing while not only did he have to worry about working tirelessly for his coin, with his disease, he had to struggle to find somewhere willing to take coin that'd touched his hands. Pyro is scrawny, not malnourished like Owen, but still lacking both muscle and fat. He carried himself with the poor posture of someone more used to hunching over a desk, though there also seems to be a sort of intent behind it. An attempt to appear smaller than he is, if he stood up he might be the same height as Scott, if not a little taller. Owen wonders if that's the precise reason they do it, or if the habit is older than his entanglement with the noble.
He doesn't have a good gauge for how fast either could run if it came down to it. Only how well each of them could perform in a fight. He reckons if he attacked Scott first, Pyro would leap in to defend him. Something about the noble tells him he wouldn't do the same for his 'dear partner' he thinks Scott would rather run in attempt to save his own skin. So his choice to make is essentially fight or chase. Neither would be particularly difficult, so it's all up to which he'd rather do at this point in time.
The group find a beacon, a large obelisk in the centre of a lake, it's holy, so he imagines the humans will ignore it, but instead Scott insists they inspect it. Apparently he's yet to get a good look at one of them, something about being met with suspicious every time he step near the town one. He follows him across the water, which is shallow enough to wade through.
Scott climbs up to the beacon, while Pyro waits with Owen by the water's edge. He waits until the other man is at his furthest, then he takes his opportunity. Owen pounces, tackling Pyro to the ground with slightly more struggle than he was expecting and messily biting into their neck, the blood that fills his mouth isn't sweet or rich like human blood. It's bitter and stale and honestly disgusting, but Owen is starving and taste is not one of his problems at the current time.
However, one of his problems is the sharp claws that dig into his sides, strength he can't match pushing him off and away before he can gulp down another mouthful of blood. He doesn't have time to gather himself before Pyro is on his feet again. Hands raised defensively, fangs bared in warning, blood pouring from the front of their throat where Owen's fangs were torn out, the wound already beginning to heal. He notices their pale red eyes narrowed down at him. His eyes go to find Scott, if Pyro is off the table then maybe he can still get a meal out of this if he's quick.
He finds Scott still in his place, leaning casually on the beacon, crimson red power swirling around his hand where it makes contact with the holy structure, the other propping his head up as he looks down at Owen with an expression of annoyance. The world must be playing some sort of cruel trick on him, the only chance he's gotten to eat something substantial and both of them are vampires. He blames his inability to hear their heartbeats on his weakness making his hearing worse than it should be. He realises these two must've been bringing him out here to kill him, he must look even more human than he'd thought for the both of them to mistake him for one. The thought disgusts him.
As he stands, wearily, Scott speaks, voice laced with irritation and an undertone of anger he doesn't seem to be attempting to conceal "Who turned you?"
"Nobody here."
Scott makes a sound that could only be described as a growl. Muttering something to himself before addressing him again "Who have you turned then? There can't be that many still human if there were two of us to start with."
"Nobody." He glances back to Pyro, no longer ready to fight. It's obvious now, Scott turned Pyro, and potentially others. It makes sense why they have a tendency to stick to each other, briefly he wonders if Scott offered Pyro the gift of an eternity together, or if their involvement was a fabrication to begin with. He decides not to linger on the thought.
"You look starved enough that I believe you." Scott shoots a look at Pyro, who goes to join him at the beacon, Owen follows as well, solely so he's no longer being looked down upon by the other two.
"From the sounds of it you've been quite busy. Who've you turned?"
"Only two, Pyro's turned one," He starts, as if it isn't far over double the number Owen has "Pyro, obviously is one of those, the other is Shelby, and Pyro turned Avid."
His face scrunches up in anger. "Avid's a vampire?"
Scott hums, "He was quite a nuisance as a human, but vampirism has turned him into someone entirely new. He's quite amusing to have around, and a set of hands to help Pyro rebuild my castle!" He smiles "Now you can help too! Gathering resources ought to be familiar, if you'd rather not work beside Avid."
Owen grumbles "What makes you think I'll do any work for you? You bought me out here to drain me."
He scoffs "As though you weren't the one to try and eat my lover." Owen rolls his eyes, "Believe me, you'll appreciate this offer: you join my coven, help build my castle, help us leave Oakhurst, and we'll make sure you're well fed, and assist in any of your personal goals."
"I want to kill of them. All the humans. They've wronged me."
"Well then our goals align perfectly. We need them dead to leave." Scott's mouth splits into a smile, not like the polite close-lipped smiles he's used to seeing from the nobleman, but a wide, fangs-bared grin. He offers Owen a hand to shake. He knows the risks of deals too good to be true, a little manual labour is hardly a fair trade for the assistance Scott's offering. He's heard of deals with the devil, offers impossible to refuse, but he's got no soul worth keeping. Owen shakes his hand, conscious of his rough skin and aged bandages against Scott's perfectly smooth, clawed hand. Clearly they have the food to sustain a small coven, if both Scott and Pyro have gained enough power to grow claws, though maybe human blood is simply better than he remembers.
Soon enough the beacon glows a deep red. Pyro offers him a bottle of blood as they begin to walk, which he takes, quickly downing it's contents. It's animal, but it's blood all the same. He would've settled for Pyro's blood if they hadn't been that much stronger than him. Vampire or not, it's all blood. He's still starving. Apparently Pyro can tell, because he also offers cuts of raw meat, which Owen also takes.
Scott leads the group this time, and he soon realises he's not being led back to town. Instead the much less ruined castle, he turns back to Owen "Can you fly?" He asks, patronisingly.
"Of course I can." He snaps. He's a damned vampire, weak, but not useless.
Scott doesn't react to his harshness, morphing into a bat without another word, Pyro copies him and so does Owen after a moment. It's been a long time since he has changed forms like this, his body isn't used to to rearranging of bones and flesh, and the melting away into the many. Soon he has focus on just himself, the rest dispersing sporadically, released from his control.
The castle has the beginnings of a roof, walls around the main hall and a long table leading up to the beacon which sits raised on a podium. It's much more than the ruins he caught glimpses of when he first awoke. Clearly Scott has been putting his coven to work. Owen would have expected there to be a chair at the head of the table, he pictures Scott as the type to want to flaunt his power, though he sees nothing of the sort.
The first thing Scott shows him after sending Pyro away is the storage room, he claims it's not much. It's almost the size of Owen's house those couple hundred years ago.
"You're welcome to anything in here, for whatever you might need, weapons, armour, et cetera. Most of the materials we're lacking is stone, there's a mine down in the crypt I believe, though Pyro would likely be best to show you where that is." He leads Owen outside and shows him the very small farm, a coop of chickens and a pen with only a singular cow. At least from the smell of it, there are a decent amount of chickens. "You're welcome to the chickens as long as you can control yourself and leave enough alive, and while you're weak be sure to feed them. They don't trust me or Pyro."
"Did you feed them when they did?" He mutters.
"By the time I made the farm they already wouldn't eat from my hand, but I did bring them over. I don't do nothing around here, someone has to maintain my coven." Pyro, Avid and Shelby emerge from the square stairwell carved into the ground, the crypt Scott mentioned he assumes. "Shall we sit?" Scott gestures for him to follow and takes a seat at the large table. Owen sits opposite him, Avid takes the seat beside Scott, Shelby the one beside Avid, and Pyro sits beside Owen. For some reason.
Despite having sat down mere moments ago, Avid springs out of his seat, hands slamming down on the table. "I knew you were a vampire! You were suspect number one since the beginning and I was right!"
"I thought I was the top of your list?" Scott pouts.
"Yeah, I like to think it wasn't that obvious." Owen folds his arms.
"Well- maybe suspect number two... or three- but I was still right!"
"You never voiced these accusations," Scott starts "I don't think you knew."
"I told Pyro!" Pyro confirms with a small nod.
"Regardless," Scott sighs "Owen has joined our little coven, he'll be helping with the building."
"Resource gathering." Owen corrects "I'd rather not work with him." He gestures to Avid.
"Probably for the better, though you two should learn to coexist at the very least. Last thing we want is infighting."
"He's the one that came after me at the meeting! He got me kicked out of town!"
"I was right wasn't I? You ran straight to Scott to get him to turn you. Literally became the very monster you were ranting about."
"Hey! Pyro turned me, actually! Pyro, tell him!" Avid whines
Before Pyro can echo the words nobody was doubting, Scott speaks. "You were quite eager though, he's not wrong."
"I thought you were on my side!" He pouts, like a child.
"I think you'll find I'm always on the winning side — or in this case, the correct side."
Shelby pipes up for the first time since they sat down "You've both upset each other, why don't you both apologise?"
"I literally didn't do anything to him! He hates me for no reason!" Avid squeaks.
"Because you're a hypocrite. You stand for everything I despise about humanity. Preaching about how terrible vampires are since the moment I met you only to join them when things get a little difficult for you."
"I was wrong about vampires, I'll admit that! It's not like I had much of a choice to get turned! They practically ambushed me!"
"I strongly remember you kissing me." Scott pipes up "And other various signs of your enjoyment." He smirks.
Owen's face scrunches up in disgust. "What??" Scott opens his mouth to talk "I do not want details. I sincerely do not care about whatever you lot have going on."
"I was only going to say his turning was received with a lot of enthusiasm." Scott continues "Though, that is enough of this petty dispute. Avid is Pyro's and until they get bored of him, he's staying. You two will have to ignore each other of your own accord." Scott doesn't have a seat at the head of the table, but he does stand from his chair as he continues to speak. "I have decided to properly move out of town."
"What!?" Shelby asks "We're not going to be roommates anymore?" She frowns.
"This castle is just as much your home as it is mine, all of you are welcome to consider this your own house and require no invitation when it is fully constructed." Not that half the vampires here would need an invitation considering they built the damn place. "This also means that you'll have more of your own freedom, Pyro. Since I won't need you keeping an eye on Avid so much."
"What is he a child? Does he need constant supervision?" Owen remarks snidely.
"Essentially, yes-"
"Hey!" Avid calls out, though his protest is entirely ignored by Scott.
"-I don't want humans discovering he's alive, so he's confined to the castle. Someone must stay with him at all times to ensure he's not alone and doesn't wander off."
So Scott doesn't trust him. He's smarter than Owen had originally thought, in that case.
"Won't town be suspicious if you, of all people, suddenly disappear almost entirely?" Pyro asks.
Scott shrugs "People are suspicious. Tensions are growing, albeit slowly. With the constant beacon back and forth they know there's something to be weary of and plenty of people have bought up my name in their hushed discussions. I figure it's best to leave silently of my own accord than be publicly confronted on my already frequent disappearances."
The table seem to agree, "You think the humans are getting close to figuring you out?" Owen asks.
"I reckon so, I've been doing my fair share of eavesdropping, there are certainly some who take Avid's disappearance as proof he was correct. People are afraid of the monsters lurking in the woods, and their fear is infecting each other."
"So it's going to come to fighting soon?"
"Ideally, not quite. I know you have your personal motives, Owen — and I maintain my promise to assist you on that — but for a short while I would like the chance to reason with them. If I can convince more of them to join us, we'll have a much greater chance of getting out alive. A window of opportunity for me to gauge whether this collection of people is going to turn straight to pitchforks and stakes."
Owen frowns, "I won't engage in any niceties with humans." they've wronged him too much for that.
"Then all I ask is you heed my request to not engage at all when I attempt to negotiate."
"Fine."
"If we are in agreement, and no one has anything else..." Scott leaves space for someone to pitch in, when everyone remains silent he continues, "then we are done here. Pyro, would you show Owen the mine?" He adds.
"Yes, Sire." Pyro stands with a small nod.
Owen practically does a double take in utter disbelief. "What did you just say?"
Pyro looks between Owen and Scott "Uh- Sire? Why, what's wrong with that?"
"Sire?" He glances to Scott with a look of disgust obvious on his face "That's entirely outdated."
"It's like a show of- of respect, no?" Pyro mutters.
"Exactly! I'll be clear, I didn't ask them to call me that, but I'm not one to complain when someone shows me respect."
"It's completely outdated vampire terminology!" Owen protests
"Well it doesn't necessarily have to be vampire terminology, I am a nobleman after all."
Owen scoffs "It's archaic, regardless."
Scott hums, dismissively, Owen leaves the room with a roll of his eyes at which point Pyro follows him out.
Once they get into the crypt he lets them lead the way, staying quiet until they're a little further in. "So what's the deal with Avid and your 'Sire' then? Was that whole relationship you and Scott had that he kept going on about just a lie?"
He notices the way Pyro's step falters slightly. "No, me and Scott are.. partners. We have been since he turned me."
"Really? Well him and Avid seemed real cozy with each other up there." More like Avid seems to be pining after Scott, but that doesn't help what he's attempting to do nearly as much.
"It's complicated, but we have an agreement. We're both free to do whatever we like with Avid. I don't mind if they're close."
"You don't think he just got bored of you?" Owen jabs, pressing, attempting to get a gauge on Pyro's attitude towards the arrangement.
"That's not a concern of mine, no." He states plainly. Clearly Pyro is far more comfortable in his relationship than Owen anticipated, they get to a small hole in the wall, and a crude staircase leading down. "This is the mine, it goes down to deepslate, it's not lit up so there might be some creatures that aren't as friendly towards you as I down there."
"Noted." Owen nods, also noting the subtle mention of their difference in power.
"How did you get turned? If it was nobody here?" They ask.
Owen's face screws up, "I was sick. Someone... very important to me knew vampirism would cure me." He leaves it at that, "How did your turning go?" He think the question is only fair.
Pyro shrugs, "Scott explained to me what he was, said he wanted to be honest with me and offered the gift to me. He told me I'd have to keep it from the others, but I wasn't particularly close with anyone other than him. It wasn't a hard choice." That cuts Owen deeper than he would've liked.
"And you're just fine with him running off with someone else? It doesn't even bother you a little bit?" Maybe he's projecting a little bit, but Pyro doesn't know that, so it's fine.
"I know Scott. Avid is fun to him, but he's only alive because I wanted to spare him."
Owen scoffs "This coven is a mess."
"It's not that bad." They shrug, and turn to lead him back to the surface.
"Why would you want to spare Avid, of all people?"
Pyro falters again, for just a moment "I mean- He's... sweet?" They sound amusingly unsure, "He's my fledgling.. It's- I'm quite fond of him for that. He's attractive, I think. I enjoy his company, I don't really get a lot of that these days."
"Shelby not company enough? Not a fan of her?"
"She's.. great. We have some... history, I guess? Her turning was my fault, and she's still a little pissed at me for that. Which is fair, I get it. I would be too."
"Oh, so she doesn't like being a vampire?"
"She does! She just didn't like being lied to and tricked to get there." Owen hums "She's also quite adverse to hurting people, so please try not to scare her out of the coven."
"Right." He agrees halfheartedly.
They make it back to the staircase, the conversation slipping as they return to the main hall. As they turn the corner they find Avid perched in Scott's lap, Owen turns in surprise to Pyro, who seems completely unfazed by the scene.
"Is this just normal around here?" He remarks, drawing Scott's attention over to him.
"Quite." Scott smiles at him over Avid's shoulder. "You'll get used to it, I'm sure."
"I'd rather not get used to watching you eat each other's faces in common areas. Get a room." He retorts, frankly disgusted.
"What's the problem! Jealous, Owen?" He smirks, clearly unserious.
"I'd rather stake myself, actually." For Owen, not a very high bar, but it gets his point across. "Don't be so grotesque around me. Keep it to yourselves." With that he heads for the door, waiting, so courteously, until he's outside to let his form dissolve into a cloud of bats. The rest of them disperse, the illusions soon melting back into the shadows.
Being in a coven is good, this is a good development, he decides. Even if they are so vulgar. He's been starving for far too long and Scott has agreed to eventually assist him. This is good, even if some of them seem far too close with each other for his comfort. Not to even start on Avid — Avid doesn't deserve comfort like that. He deserves to be outcast for his choices, discarded by both sides and made to feel alone in a town full of people he's wronged. Owen hates Avid, he hates everything he stands for and he hates how quickly he threw all of that away. He hates his grating, high pitched voice, and his incessant giggling. He hates that he has to share any space at all with him, and he hates that he's always going to be at the castle.
Being in a coven is good, though. No one can make him be kind to Avid. Scott can't make him do anything he doesn't want to. Having allies is good, smart. This collection of people isn't as helpless as the Oakhurst he slaughtered all two hundred years ago, but that doesn't mean he couldn't manage if he wanted. If he caught them off guard, if he were stronger.
He flies far from town, not quite into the dead woods, in hope to hunt for some extra food and clear his mind with felling some trees. He hopes, if he's far enough, the forests won't be too barren.