Chapter Text
Scott seemed more concerned than suspicious, which was very good for Avids cover and not so great for Avids heart.
“Hi Scott.” Avid played up the injured act, thumb brushing against a cut. The shudder he gave was real-that hurt like hell, and he was already regretting stabbing so deep. He always could have just dipped his hands in the blood on the floor and only cut himself a little now that he thought about it, but you know what they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty. He would learn for next time. There probably would be a next time, Avid had decided. The universe and Scott never seemed to give him a break.
Scott immediately noticed what was wrong, giving a sympathetic wince as Avid flinched. Avid scrambled to explain why Scott’s kitchen looked like a murder scene before Scott asked him if he tried to cook again or something.
“I slipped. It dropped, I was just getting a glass of water. Sorry about the floor.”
The explanation was rushed, but hopefully Scott would contribute that to the pain rather than the possibility of a lie.
Scott stared at the blood on his hand. His pupils expanded slightly.
It suddenly occurred to Avid that spilling such a large amount of blood around a vampire probably wasn’t the brightest idea Avid had ever had, even if Scott had probably just ate. He didn’t move, calculating his chances as Scott bit his lip.
Honestly, at this point, Avid has been so hyped up on adrenaline for so long and has been through so much that he was considering just taking Scott in a one-on-one fight. He might actually win, too. Adrenaline was an amazing thing. Plus, he’s very good at dodging. Cleo threw a pickaxe at him once because he wouldn’t leave them alone, so he knew he could dodge large objects.
Scott showed no signs of moving, possibly struck dumb, and the floor really was quite uncomfortable, especially since he could still feel the blood seeping into his trousers. Scott seemed to buy his excuse and he clearly wasn’t going to do anything, so Avid felt like staying on the floor was no longer necessary to look like he was in the most pain possible.
“Here, wait.” With a good amount of effort, Avid pulled himself upright, wincing as all his cuts stretched. Somehow he managed to stand up, though he was slightly wobbly, and had opened a press and took out the fresh bandages he had hidden there. He had them all over the house, so that if he ever got hurt he could barricade himself in a room and try to fix himself up. It was amazing, the contingency plans you think of when your life is at stake. (Get it? No? Okay.)
Scott seemed to snap back to himself, eyes always following Avid wherever he moved. It felt like he was categorising all the little weaknesses in him, filling them away for later. He felt exposed.
“Give them here.” Avid raised his eyebrows, surprised. Scott looked unusually determined, not budging even in the face of Avids scorn. “If you do it, it’ll just hurt worse.”
Avid bristled. He wasn’t incapable. Nor completely, anyway. “I can handle worse.”
Scott managed to disarm him entirely with one sentence. “I would rather you didn’t.”
Avid swallowed. He pushed the tears back. ‘Too attached’. Of course. Of course Scott would do this to him. Did he even know he was doing it? He must have an inkling, right? How come Scott kept on saying the exact right thing?!
“Fine.” He handed the bandages over, pretending he wasn’t both annoyed and endeared with Scott’s offer. Did he even know how human anatomy worked? He must at least know that the red stuff stays on the inside, not the outside, right? Or it does if you want the person to live, anyway. He supposed if you wanted to kill someone, inside is not a great place for the red stuff to be, and Scott probably had a lot more experience in that regard.
“Thank you.”
Stupid Scott. Sounding so sincere.
Not having the energy to argue, Avid walked over to the couch without complaint, sinking into the seat. It had been a while since he had sat down and let himself truly relax. It was a nice change from the pain of the wooden chair he wrote stuff down on in his room. He could almost forget the blood loss.
Avid didn’t place his hands on his lap-he knew exactly what Scott would say, word for word, and he didn’t want to hear it-and watched as Scott rolled out the bandages and ripped it into chunks as he stood in the kitchen. He then moved out of Avids line of sight, but by the sound of running water Avid assumed he was wetting them in preparation. Surprisingly competent, for a non-human. Avid was impressed.
Scott walked back in, careful not to get any water on the carpet. Rather than sitting beside Avid, as he had expected, he knelt down, and with careful hands, began to clean away the blood.
Avid stared down, breathless. Scott looked so focused, so determined, even as he made Avids cuts sting even more with the soft touch of the cloth. Avid bit his lip, not letting out a single pained noise, which Scott evidently noticed since he glanced up and gave him a harsh look, telling him to stop doing that with just his eyes. Avid glared right back-if he hadn’t been early, Avid wouldn’t have gotten the incredibly stupid idea to stab himself in the hand, so really this is all Scotts problem.
Faulty logic, yes, but incredibly satisfying none the less.
Scott then moved from cleaning to bandaging, wrapping his hand in careful movements. Avid found himself watching how soft Scott was being, making sure not to injure him further or cause any pain. He didn’t have to do that. But he did. Avid wanted to kiss him again.
Scott tilted his head. “Does it hurt?”
Yes. It did. But Avid didn’t say that. Instead, he turned scarlet.
Scott was still kneeling, looking up at Avid like he was a painting and Scott was admiring the finery. Avid moved to speak, to joke, to brush it off, but couldn’t seem to open his mouth. No, actually, he could open his mouth, but now it was hanging open. His heart was going a million miles a minute, and Scott was being so kind. And Avid had just tried to poison him again. This time, he didn’t even need to hold tears back. He was all dried out.
Scott seemed to realise at least part of the train of thought and smiled, a smug little thing. He was still holding Avids hands, holding them delicately and brushing his hands over his knuckles. Avid couldn’t move away, even if he wanted to.
Yup. He seemed to be saying. I kissed you. And I’m beautiful. There’s nothing you can do about it.
And then, because Avid couldn’t possibly get any more flustered, Scott lowered his head and pressed a soft kiss to the cuts.
Avid sucked in a breath, only remembering to exhale once his lungs started burning. Scott gave another devilish smile and sat back, watching Avid come apart at the seams.
“See!” Scott was still grinning. “Much better!”
Avids jaw dropped. He couldn’t speak. Scott’s grin softened.
Avid would never believe it, but there was love in Scott’s eyes. A bit of hunger, yes, but mostly love. A soft, all encompassing-thing.
“Will you go on a walk with me? To go explore a crypt or something? Just the two of us?”
And with that question, Avid came back down to earth and remembered why Scott was doing all this.
Scott sounded eager, too eager. Avid knew what this was. He had laid traps like this before after all-kin recognised kin. Scott was asking Avid to walk into death with open arms.
It was almost sweet, how eager he seemed. Did he really want to kill Avid so much?
He was a little flattered, really. Even if he didn’t know how to respond.
What does he say? How does he prepare? He needs to get that potion bottle too, but he can get that with the excuse of needing to change a shirt. Well, he does need to change his shirt, but he can multitask.
And oh, the phrasing. Well played Scott. ‘Just the two of us.’ Perfect. 10/10. No notes. Avid was in bits, even knowing the ruse.
Shelby. He wanted to see Shelby. This was getting too overwhelming and he had failed at both of his objectives and she was probably going to kill him for A) experimenting on himself and B) stabbing himself, but they knew everything. And Avid needed someone he didn’t need to pretend around, even if the only pretending he did around Scott was hiding his tears.
“Please?”
Avid folded immediately.
“Alright.” He agreed, and it definitely did something to him when Scott lit up at the response. “I want to visit Shelby first. I promised her I would check in.”
“Can I come too?” Scotts voice still had that sweet, eager tone, the kind that could convince Avid to give him anything. “I won’t interrupt anything, but I do want to make sure she’s doing well.”
Scott didn’t know about Avid and Shelbys agreement, right? No, impossible. If he had, he would have murdered Avid by now. Besides, Scott wanted to turn Shelby, apparently. Maybe he was checking she was still fit for that? Who knows. For all his research, Avid actually wasn’t sure what motivated a vampire to turn someone.
Avid shrugged. “Sure, I don’t see why not. Give me a sec, I’m going to go get ready.”
Avid went upstairs, pausing to make sure he wasn’t being followed before going into his room, taking off his shirt and throwing it into the cauldron. He put on a new one, loose for easy mobility and with a couple of hidden pockets, before putting on his armour too. He then wedged up the floorboard and took up the poison bottle and the folded piece of paper that contained his Will, slipping it in a pocket before his gaze caught on something he had put at the back of his little hidey-hole.
Avid stared at the stake he killed Elle with.
It was sanded down to hide the bloodstain, but he could still see the red coating it, along with his hands. It wasn’t an image he would forget anytime soon. Her voice echoed in his ears, incomprehensible. Maybe she was laughing at him. That would make sense.
Should he take it?
If there was a chance Avid would die doing this, he wanted it with him. It was a morbid urge, to bring something symbolizing him losing his humanity and moral righteousness for good, but would it not be fitting? Kill Scott with the same stake used to kill her, so he could burn both at once afterwards and be free? Or maybe he could cling to it like some morbid teddy bear a child is overly attached to, his last remaining bit of them both? Then they can both haunt him and curse his name. He wished Elle would haunt him. Then he would know she was still here.
Avid felt like he was in a trance as he reached out and picked it up, staring at it. It seemed so simple, for what it represented. He wanted to throw it across the room. He wanted to never let go.
Avid walked downstairs, holding the stake, and went off with Scott to go visit Shelby.
~~~
Thankfully, Scott didn’t argue when he and Shelby went inside to get some privacy, staying in the hallway with Drift. Avid was slightly nervous that Drift would let something slip that didn’t quite align with the version of events he had told Scott, but he was mostly just happy that he and Shelby could talk freely.
Of course, Shelby, ever observant, had immediately noticed his hands. The moment she had closed the door behind her and locked it-a lock, on a living room door? Paranoia really does do a number on people-she was turning around and giving him a look that reminded him of Scott when he had caught him with the blood bottle.
“Avid.” They said, voice getting sterner. “Why are your hands bandaged?”
Avid put one-heavily bandaged, which probably wasn’t helping his case-hand up, trying to save the situation. “Before you say anything,” he started, Shelby letting out a groan as she realised he had done something stupid again, “I want you to know that everything is going quite well and I think I did a pretty good job, especially considering the circumstances.”
“Did Scott find out?”
“No.” Avid shook his head. “But he isn’t dead either, which…”
“Which your fine with, because you’re in love with him.”
Avid scowled. Shelby looked unaffected by it. “Yeah. Let’s say that. We’re going on a trip to a crypt, actually. Just the two of us. I think he’s going to try to kill me.”
“Great. Good for you, very romantic. Glad we’re caught up. Now why are your hands bandaged?”
“Romantic, really? He’s going to try to kill me!”
“You have a very limited scope of what can be considered romantic. Why are your hands bandaged.”
“I don’t think murder is very romantic. I think it’s traumatising. I say this as both a murderer and the murder-victim-to-be.”
“Avid. Tell me about your hands or I’ll shout out to Scott that you are desperately suicidal and in love with him.”
Avid gave her a betrayed look. “I am not!”
“You are too, we are working on that once your plan has come to fruition. Hands. Now.”
They clearly weren’t about to let this go, so Avid tried to say it as delicately as possible. Which was a challenge, considering how much he had been injured in the past couple of hours, and really now that he tried to justify it he could see exactly how fucked up it was.
“Okay. So first off, apparently I have a healing ability. Remember that poison I told you about? Well, I didn’t put enough in to kill Scott or something, but it definitely works!! But it is kind of corrosive, so a drop fell on my hand and stung. Now it should have been raised and red-but it wasn’t!”
Shelby interrupted him, slightly sceptical. “But that was only one time? You don’t know if it was a once-off thing.”
Avid bit his lip.
“Avid.”
“You know,” Avid chuckled nervously, “Science and discovery should have no boundaries.”
“You tested it, didn’t you.”
“Possibly. That isn’t the reason my hands are bandaged though.”
Shelby threw her hands up in the air. “Okay.” She conceded. “So you experimented on yourself. Fine. Let me guess,” they sounded sarcastic. “You tested the literal poison on yourself too? Why not, right!?”
The silence spoke volumes.
“Avid!!” Shelby was borderline yelling now. Avid motioned for them to tone it down in case Scott or Drift hears, and they reluctantly did. “Are you kidding me??”
“I discovered I’m partially immune! So it’s okay!”
A groan. Shelby looked like they were going through the five stages of grief. “So how did you injure your hands?”
Finally, they were getting to the point.
“Well. I wanted to have a backup plan, in case something went wrong, you know? So I told you about Scotts blood bottle stash. So I brewed more of the potion, crept downstairs and poisoned nine out of the ten bottles.”
“Nine out of ten?” Shelby asked. “What happened to the tenth?”
Avid winced at the memory. “I dropped it.” He confessed. “I got spooked, and suddenly there was a lot of blood on the floor and Scott was coming inside. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide it, and I also knew that I had fast healing, so….”
“So?”
“So I kind of stabbed myself in the hands to cover up why there was blood on the floor and said I dropped a glass? Except I hit multiple arteries and while that made sure it didn’t heal up too quickly it probably didn’t help Scott’s opinion of me. Which is a weird thing to be worrying about, considering one of us is about to die, but the mind works in mysterious ways, so….”
“You did what?!” Shelby demanded, throwing their hands up. “Avid!!”
Avid dragged a bandaged hand down his face. Shelby looked ready and willing to commit a homicide. “I know, I know. But I panicked!” he insisted, shrugging. “But anyway, its fine. Plus… well, me and Scott…”
Shelby interrupted him. “Are going a romantic, moonlit trip?”
Avid rolled his eyes. “I’m not dumb enough to agree to a moonlight walk to a crypt, I’m not that stupid. It’s during the day. Vampires are stronger at night, plus the woods are dark. I’ll be safe, you know that, but… well. Who knows when the vampire will decide to strike?”
“How come you’re going, then? If you think it’s too risky?”
Avid looked to the side, but he couldn’t help the small smile when he thought of it. Could it be considered a date? Maybe, right? His first date with Scott. He liked the sound of that. And it would be the last date too, but really, who was counting? “You know why.”
Shelby hummed, looking behind her for Drift before turning back to him once she was satisfied that nobody was around. “Maybe I don’t.”
“You do.”
“…I don’t think it’ll go wrong.”
Avid looked up hopefully. “No?”
Shelby shook her head. “No.” They smiled. “I think you’re gonna come back here red-faced and tell me everything.”
Avid laughed. He had put his stake to the side, and he felt strangely naked without it in his hand. “Alright, you’ll get the rundown.” If the plan doesn’t work.
Shelby pumped the air. “Yes!! And obviously be on guard for attack. It’ll be fine though. But still.”
Shelby seemed to suddenly be lost in a memory, eyes glazing over as they sat down beside Avid. Avid felt horrible, because he knew exactly what event she was thinking about and he knew exactly who’s fault it was that she experienced it.
The problem with Shelby, Avid mused, is that she cares far too much for him.
She would blow up if they knew about what Avid was planning. Better to keep them out of the loop. The Will says that if he doesn’t come back and either of the vampires are still alive, to either get the hell out of Oakhurst-if that was even possible-or to kill them. It also contained a lengthy apology, an explanation, and a second note telling Shelby how much their presence had meant to him, these last few days.
“I’ll come back.” Really, he was hoping he wouldn’t. Then the plan would come to fruition. But he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to come back anyway, in a strange, happy parallel universe.
Shelby seemed slightly cheered by it. You would think he had gotten the hang of lying to his loved ones by now, but he hadn’t. He still felt like a pile of dogshit.
“I know.” Shelby tried to distract them both, but now they had gone down a path they didn’t particularly want to think about. Pyros screams echoed in Avids ears. It was the only way he could remember their voice.
Avid gave up trying to argue. “This isn’t what this is about, anyway. This is about the other thing. That’s sorta connected to this thing.”
Scott. The crypt. The murder attempt.
Shelby raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it?”
Wasn’t it?
Avid blushed. Shelby seemed pleased with her teasing attempts so far.
It wasn’t connected, right? Avid wasn’t so far gone that he won’t able to kill Scott. He can’t be, especially since Scott will have to fight him and bite him for the poison to go into his body. When that happens, Avid was sure he would become aware of the danger again and fight back properly. It wasn’t like Scott would bother to kill him carefully or gently, with the grace he had been treating Avid with the whole time.
“Don’t worry, I get it! Lots of people want to make out in a crypt, I don’t blame you.”
Avid choked, caught off guard. “Shelby!!”
She smiled sweetly. “I’ll go get you some tea and garlic. You’ll need it.”
Shelby left the room. It suddenly seemed too silent.
Avid took out his Will, before placing it on top of the mantelpiece on top of the fireplace. Hopefully, Shelby wouldn’t see it before it was too late. He would hate for her to have the burden of carrying home a dead body again, though at least he would be able to give her an explanation this time.
When Shelby came back, she sat down two cups that very clearly had garlic mixed into them. “So, you’re going to try and kill him again?”
Avid nodded. “Yeah. I don’t want to, but yeah.”
Shelby sighed. “Nobody ever really wants to, I think. There’s always another reason, whether that be survival, or thrill, or simply gain of some kind. But you’re one of the good ones, Avid. Please remember that.”
The mood had soured. “I’ll try. But even if he does die,” Avid pointed out the flaw in Shelbys fantasy. “there’s still my illness to think about.”
Shelby waved him off. “You’re smart.” They pointed out. “If you can make a poison, you can make a cure. Plus, you’ll be able to focus all your energy on that instead of vampires, and we can let you eat the cows if needed. It’ll be fine. You can move in with me and Drift.”
That sounded nice. Unattainably nice. “I wish I could be as optimistic as you.” Avid confessed. Shelby laughed like he had said something funny.
“Oh, I’m not.” She said cheerily. “But I would much rather think of the good things than the bad.” She took a sip of her tea. “Then the world kind of wins, doesn’t it? Focus on the good, because you’ll end up thinking about the bad either way.”
Avid inclined his head and downed all the tea in one go. Shelby smiled.
“You should write a book.”
“You should eat the remaining garlic.”
Avid took her advice and picked up the vegetable, chewing down on it before he swallowed.
“Do you want to know what’s funny?” He asked. Shelbys eyes sparkled.
“What?”
Avid smiled. It would be the last unburdened smile he would make in a while.
“I don’t even like garlic.”
Sheblys laugh could be heard echoing from down the corridor.
~~~
Avid knew exactly which crypt they were going to, and he made sure Scott didn’t get them lost.
This wasn’t without lack of trying on Scott’s part. He kept on suggesting to go the wrong way or to take a detour or multiple other things that would have them going in circles. Avid just pulled him along, laughing whenever Scott made a mistake. Maybe he was trying to get them lost until nightfall so he would be stronger, or maybe it was just an aesthetic thing, but either way Avid was not letting this confrontation happen at night. Scott could sway him on many things, but this wasn’t one of them.
Another thing Avid was doing was trying to attract Owen so he could get both Owen and Scott in one go. He did this by speaking loudly, shouting out, throwing his hands up and laughing wildly at anything and everything. It did well to hide and push back his fear too-if he didn’t think about it, then it wasn’t happening. Simple as that.
Owen didn’t come to attack them on the way to the crypt, which meant he couldn’t try to get them to take each other out, but he was fairly sure Owen must have heard the commotion and would probably check out the area by nightfall, so really he felt fairly secure in the chances of meeting Owen sometime tonight.
Once they got to the crypt, the sun was still fairly high in the sky. Avid was pretty happy with that, until he felt his neck itching and his stomach cramping.
A wave of fear washed over him. He hadn’t really transformed in a while, and it was coming back to bite him now. He was going to turn soon, become a bloodthirsty and violent monster, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Avid knew what that meant. The plan could fail, he could die, he might kill someone else, and it would all come crashing down in flames. And he was getting worse, too. What if this time…
Count to ten. Calm yourself down.
One. Two. Three. Four…… f-five-
Avid sucked in a breath.
Please please please please please not now. Not here. I can go feral after, Shelby knows what to do if that happens. I left the will on her desk.
There were two monsters beside that crypt. Avid clutched his stake. The same one he used to kill Elle.
It’s fine. It’s not like I value my life all that much.
“Avid?”
Avid spun around, forgetting that Scott was there for a moment. The vampire gave him a gentle smile and Avid gave one in return, pretending that his heart wasn’t pounding out of his chest. “Yeah?”
Scott gestured to the water at the bottom, giving a mock bow. “Would you like to go first?”
Avid couldn’t help but feel fond, even if he could feel a cold panic peeking through the gaps of his façade. “Ever the gentleman, Scott.” He stepped forward, giving a cheery wave, the very picture of being unbothered. “See you at the bottom?”
Avid jumped down.
He didn’t hesitate, or feel any kind of fear, because really, what could be worse than dying by Scotts hand? If he hit his head, Scott would drink from him anyway, and who knows, maybe the monster inside him would hurt Scott too.
For a moment he was weightless, before he hit the water with a splash, coming up for air and laughing. He climbed out, watching Scott do the same, before splashing him in a guise of playfulness and backing away.
Avid tried to breathe.
He needed to remember the plan. He needed to keep a clear head and keep on acting. Scott gave him a strange look, but he ignored it. He was just… scared of the crypt. That was all.
“Welcome to the crypt,” Scott gave a little bow. “Isn’t it marvellous?”
Seriously? He wasn’t just going to lunge at him and call it a day? Scott was being cruel. He probably wanted to draw this out, play with his food. A lion and a mouse.
Avid gave his best deadpan answer. “Oh it’s- great. Yeah. Very…. Uh. Crypt-y.”
Scott laughed. “I don’t actually live here Avid, don’t worry.”
Avid gave him a look. I know what you are. He tried to say. Go on. Do it. Attack me.
He really should have drank the poison actually, before he started mentally goading Scott. He would do that now.
“Maybe you did, though. Who knows?”
Scott laughed uncomfortably, unused to being questioned so blatantly. He narrowed his eyes. “If you say so.”
Avid turned around.
He was reminded of the first night they met, when he had been terrified to turn his back on Scott. Now, he was less scared, but more was at stake.
He managed to get to the chest without turning around once or feeling claws rake down his back. Making sure Scott didn’t see, he opened the chest and took out the poison bottle from his pocket, checking the label that said ‘fire resistance’ in Avids messy scrawl.
He turned around, shrugged, and downed the poison in one go.
Listen, say what you will Shelby, but it was a really good thing that Avid had already tested the poison on himself and so knew what to expect, because otherwise he probably would have given the game away from his expression alone.
The poison burned like fire-fitting, for what Avid pretended it was-and sank into his stomach slowly. Avid could feel himself getting worse as he began to sweat, feeling something clawing at his insides.
Could the fact that he was being poisoned summon the monster? Would Scott even get to bite him before he transformed? And if he did… should be leave now?
Avid steeled himself. No. He couldn’t leave now, Scott might just chase after him and that definitely wouldn’t help. He would see this through, for better or worse.
“Dang.” Scott said from behind him, sounding impressed. Avid assumed he would be a little weirded out, but he seemed to take it in his stride. “What even is that?”
“Oh,” Avid said, checking the label theatrically. “Uhh… fire resistance.”
Scott relaxed, happy with the lie that it was nothing that would stop him from drinking. “Wait,” he asked, “why did you drink it?”
Avid tried to look nonchalant. He failed spectacularly. “Why not?” he asked. “It’s not like Owens going to set me on fire or something, he’ll probably just slash me with his claws.”
Scott seemed annoyed that Avid thought Owen would take his meal. “No. He won’t.”
Scott sounded very sure of himself there. Avid’s mouth twitched.
He gave him a knowing look. Scott really wasn’t great at hiding things, was he? “Hm.”
Scott gave him a look back. “Hm,” he mocked. Avid cracked a smile, waiting for him to lunge.
“The potion is odd,” Scott pointed out, stepping closer. “I didn’t know that potions could spawn in crypt.”
Avid shrugged, fighting himself to stay still. “Me neither.”
Scott hummed, stepping forward again, before putting a hand to Avids forehead.
Avid froze. He looked up, feeling the lukewarm hand settle, as his heart jumped.
Why did he still have to like him? Did his body hate him or something?
…Well, it kind of did now that he thought about it, but this was above his bodies paygrade. It could focus on eating people and Avid could focus on feelings.
“Well,” Scott smiled, showing off a bit of his fangs. “You’re not burning up, so it probably isn’t poison.”
Avid was this close to either crying or laughing or blowing the whole thing. Of all the things Scott could have said, really? He got it right on the nose? “No?” He said, looking up at him and trying to sound amused. He failed.
Scott narrowed his eyes, suspicious. Avids heart jumped in his throat as he pretended he could still feel the tips of his fingers.
You need to bite me! Avid wanted to scream. If you take another couple of minutes, I won’t be able to hide the fact I’ve been poisoned and then the whole thing will be ruined!
“..No.” Scott sounded questioning. “Could it be poison? Did you just drink poison??”
Oh Scott. Avid laughed. Sweet, innocent Scott. “No, no! No poison in here.” Avid tried to tamper down the giggle that threatened to spill out of him. Not the time.
Scott hugged him.
Once again Avid was left frozen, caught off guard, before he practically melted into Scotts arms.
That was strange. It was unexpected, and Avid was caught off guard by it, especially how easily Scott had managed to bring him closer and tuck him close. He thought this would be more… violent.
This isn’t how he expected it to go at all. He assumed that they would come down to the crypt, Scott would either push him down or keep up the pretences until they were both in the crypt. Avid was lucky that he managed to drink the poison in time, although he didn’t feel very lucky. Stomach cramps were horrible.
But he expected to be attacked by now. Did Scott actually think it was poison? Why was he hugging him? Why was he still treating him so gently, like he would break at the slightest touch? Avid loved it-he wanted to soak it up for all eternity-and he also hated it, because it was getting in the way of the plan.
Why was Scott being soft?
Why was he still looking at Avid like that? Like he loved him?
Oh fuck. He was going to cry again.
“Avid?” Scott asked, and why wasn't he attacking him? “Are you okay?”
Scott. You are not helping. Why don’t you attack Avid, as a treat. Stop this nonsense.
Avid shifted so his nose was pressed into Scott’s shoulder, breathing in and out slowly. He wanted to close his eyes and just spill everything, but he refrained, pushing it back and letting Scott do whatever he wanted.
Which was just… holding him, apparently.
Avid loved him. He loved him so much in this moment, so much it hurt. It broke him up inside, tore his heart out, and he loved so fiercely that he just had to ask.
“Scott? Do you care about me, really?”
Scott seemed surprised.
The worst part was that Scott didn’t just lie and say ‘Of course!’ like he should have. He thought about it. He paused and considered, staring deep into Avids eyes. Avid prayed he couldn’t see the unshed tears, but he probably could. Scott was just kind enough not to mention them.
“I think I do.” He murmured, pressing them closer. “Of course I do. I-I care about you more than you know.”
Avid hummed to cover up how much he wanted to scream.
Scott was gentle, in preparing to bite him. Everything about Scott was gentle, and Avid tried so hard to remember the note but it just seemed to float out of reach as he let himself get manoeuvred. He gripped the stake tighter, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to use it, if push came to shove.
Scott let them sway, the motion strangely soothing. It was clearly designed that way, to catch him off guard. Scott tilted his neck in the guise of adjusting him so he could relax more, and why couldn’t he just drop the pretenses now? Did he really have to continue the ruse, right up until this very moment?
Why was he being so cruel?
Avid couldn’t control how his body shook. This was it, wasn’t it? Everything was just downhill from here.
Right before Scott bit down, Avid couldn’t resist getting the last word in. It might be the last words Scott ever heard.
“….I doubt that.”
Scott bit down.
Avid didn’t struggle.
He would not struggle, he would not give Scott the satisfaction. Instead, he stood straight as a solider in a war he couldn’t hope to win, eyes straight ahead, fists clenched. But he couldn’t really do that for long, because through it all, god fucking dammit, Scott was gentle.
Even as Avid felt cold fangs pierce through skin and hands hold him tighter so he couldn’t move, Scott never outright hurt him. Apart from the whole ‘biting’ thing, but so did dogs and he never hated them so that could be forgiven. He didn’t tear his throat out either, not like Avid expected. Instead he drank from Avid like one would take a sip from a drink. Not yanking the blood from his veins, but letting it pool slowly, dripping out into his mouth. It didn’t even hurt that much. It was more of a strange buzz and two pinpricks of pain. Scott must have some kind of venom that was numbing him.
Scott took a gulp, and Avid could imagine how the poison would start to take root. If he kept on drinking, Scott would die.
The breaking point came when Scott brought a hand up to comb through his hair, offhandedly comforting him as Scott made a confused noise, almost childlike in its surprise. He was probably feeling the effects of the poison. Avid felt himself sob.
He wasn’t going to attack him, was he? Scott was going to kill him, but he was going to be soft while doing it.
I cannot kill you. Avid decided. And I cannot let you die either.
Avid had gotten a lot stronger, the last few days. So it did not tax him much to push Scott away, no matter how much he missed his touch, into the darkness of the crypt. They hadn’t lit a light source, so Avid’s eyes couldn’t see everything, but he was able to see Scott’s red glowing eyes, granted to him by the new blood in his system, and the darker red dripping down Scott’s chin as he fell to his knees.
Yes, Scotts fangs scraped against his skin and made an already open wound spill out more blood onto his shirt, but Scott was relatively neat with his eating, all things considered. Avid had been covered in a lot more blood than this. It was relatively mild, actually.
He quickly produced two blocks of silver and placed them between him and Scott so the vampire couldn’t lunge at him. Not that Avid thought he would. He had been kind to him. Too kind. The monster should not be treated soft smiles.
He didn’t know if he meant him or Scott.
Avids breathing was laboured, trying to keep the claws in his belly under control. He stared at Scott, feeling far away, and Scott stared back, looking painfully present. Ying and Yang, light and dark. Avid bit his lip.
He watched carefully in the half-darkness. Scott didn’t hide his emotions-maybe he never had, and wasn’t that a terrifying thought?-and Avid got the excruciating experience of seeing Scott’s thought process play out on his face.
First was shock, at how fast things had happened. Avid couldn’t blame him for that. It had been a blur for him too, adrenaline and urgency pushing them both to react before their brains had fully caught up.
After that, Avid saw the confusion. For what, Avid wasn’t sure, but maybe Scott expected him to cry or ask Scott why he would lie. Maybe he was looking for the revelation he had no doubt been waiting for, even though Avid had known the whole time. He found nothing. Avid wished he could feel satisfied.
Then, last but certainly not least, came the betrayal.
Avid watched it happen, as the realisation dawned on him that Avid knew, perhaps he had always known, and for some reason Scott looked like his entire life had shattered into pieces as he stared-no, glared up at Avid as Scotts mouth dropped open. Blood was dripping down onto the floor from Scotts fangs, and it was the only sound in the darkness.
This is harder for me than it is for you. Avid tried to reason, but it fell flat. He did not think ‘How dare Scott look like this was hurting him, when I know it isn’t’. He did not think Scott was a very good actor or he was smarter than he let on. Because Avid could tell that it wasn’t true.
Why did this have to hurt them both so much? Was it Avids fault? If he never drank the poison-which he could still feel by the way, ow, he felt so sorry for everyone who had to deal with period cramps or stomach aches on the regular-would he had been able to be held, a little longer? One last time? He was dead anyway, why not do it in a way that would make Scott happy?
He knew why. Because somehow, despite never having interacted fully with half the towns residents, Avid had found himself responsible for them all. And responsibility meant sacrifices. Responsibility meant death. Responsibility meant the acceptance of the fact that Avid would likely never leave Oakhurst, through either Owens, Scott, or the monster inside him means. He would never get to bury Elle. The town, and the crypt, made him feel claustrophobic.
He knew, with certainty now, that Scott would close his eyes. Because Scott was kind. A humane vampire. He compared it to a kind farmer, raising animals for food. The farmer would be nice to the animals before they killed them, wouldn’t they? That was what Scott was doing to him. Making sure Avid had a good couple of weeks before he died. And those weeks had been better than good-they had been amazing. He wanted to live them on loop, over and over again, forever.
“What?”Scott sounded so lost.
Avid couldn’t hide how he was crying now, almost doubling over and curling in on himself as he took deep, shuddering breaths and tried to calm itself. It didn’t work-whenever he thought he would stop crying, he would catch sight of Scott’s face and it would start all over again.
Scott was bent over too, and Avid flinched as he lurched to the side and threw up, blood tinged with a strange, inky blackness coming up from his throat. It must have been the poison, or maybe the monster, showing how Avids blood would always be tainted.
Avid spoke, even though his throat felt scratchy and raw, because if he didn’t the silence would stretch on forever and Avid might genuinely scream.
“I’m not an idiot, Scott.”
He felt like one though, even as he wanted to outline how exactly he had caught Scott in the webs of his own lies with a twisted sort of pride.
“I am no fool. I-I can be reckless, sure, but I’m no moron. I’m not optimistic, either. I plan for the worst.”
Avid squeezed the stake so hard splinters embedded themselves in his palms. Avids eye twitched. “This, was the worst. I-It wasn’t supposed to go like this.”
His speech felt broken up, disjointed. He knew he probably wasn’t making the most sense but now wasn’t the time to get out a whiteboard and explain how every single action they both took doomed them. For the first time, Avid found himself truly at a loss for words.
“I don’t know what to say.” He confessed.
Scott was still silent. It grated on Avid more than he cared to admit. He watched Scott carefully after that confession, waiting for him to do something. It didn’t matter what really, as long as Scott showed any sign that he had heard his confession, or tried to attack him, or gave Avid a sign of what he had to do next. Instead, he got nothing.
It was unfair of Avid to ask this of Scott, to show at least a little reaction after everything, but he found him silently wishing it anyway.
Avids hands shook something awful as he tried to steady himself, to no avail.
“I used to be an alchemist.” Avid explained. Say something. He begged with his eyes. Yell at me or scream at me or attack me and tear my throat out. “I know how vampires work. I’m sorry.”
“Well. You know what Shelby said.” Why couldn’t his hands stop shaking? “It takes a monster to kill a monster.”
His voice broke. “But I don’t think I can kill you. Even knowing it was all a lie.”
He was confessing, and Scott was his unholy priest. For a moment, Avid wanted to tell him about Pyro. He yearned to spill it all, to break down and apologise, but he still had the poison in him and he had to go kill Owen.
Scott would kill him and half the townsfolk, but he would spare the other half. He didn’t know what Owen wanted, but according to other people he had grown more aggressive so Avid didn’t want to take the chance.
“You’re no monster, Avid.”
Avid stiffened, then another tear dripped down his face, and then he felt something in him break that would probably never be fully repaired again. He didn’t know how much he needed to hear those words until Scott was saying them.
And it was a last-ditch effort to save his own skin, Avid knew that, but he couldn’t stop crying anyway.
“I hate you.” Avid whispered, then took a deep breath of air. He needed it, too. The walls were closing in, he felt sweaty, his skin too tight.
“I hate you so much. I hate how good of an actor you are. I hate how good you are at manipulation. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.” His voice broke. He would have preferred it if Scott cut him open.
“Shelby said it would be fine. She’s going to be so disappointed. I-oh.” As if the moment couldn’t get any worse, Avid then remembered his Will Shelby had almost certainly found by now. “I really hope she didn’t find the note I left her..” She probably did. Death-By-Shelby was getting likelier and likelier as time went on.
Scott looked like he was having a lot of very concerning-yet fairly obvious, come on now, a floorboard, really?-revelations today as his eyes went even larger at the sound of Shelby’s name. It would have been almost comical how shocked he looked, had the situation not been so tense. Avid would pay good money to know what he was thinking right now. Probably something about how shit his hair looked or something. Or maybe he was silently mourning the dust that got on his cloak.
Scott’s eyes flicked side-to-side, calculating. Avid could see him connecting the dots together, possibly tying up some unanswered questions Scott had surrounding Avid in general.
Suddenly, Avid was hit with a spike of pain as he doubled over. He let out a pained groan.
Things nearly went black but Avid managed to yank back control, gasping as he was suddenly unable to see clearly. The crypt blurred and then came into focus again, Scott’s hand half way up before he brought it down again once he saw Avid was fine. Fine as he could be, anyway.
He needed to leave. Now. He had drawn this out long enough.
“Oh, and Scott?” Avid needed him to know how obvious he had been. Scott needed to know how close he came to death and he needed to know that mercy was the only reason he was still here, because maybe that lesson would make him gentler, not only towards Avid, but towards everyone. He needed to know, and he would remember Avid, and Avid couldn’t really live with that legacy, not really, but he wasn’t going to live anyway so who cared?
“There were no cornflowers in that stew."
He had to go. He had to run away and get as far from Oakhurst as possible before he transformed. If he woke up and Scott had claw marks in him just like Pyro…
Avid stepped back and turned around. For the first time, he had no fear of claws on his back. He stepped into the bubble elevator.
Up, up, into the light that felt like it was laughing at him, as he kept on looking down, straining his eyes to see one last glimpse of Scott-bloody and torn, yeas, but it was still Scott- before finally, he disappeared from sight.
~~~
Avid stumbled through the trees, a ringing sound in his ear as what felt like fire raced through his veins.
Not only was he transforming again, and he hoped he would be able to take out the antidote but he needed to stop running first and he didn’t feel like he could do that, but he was also hearing things. For some reason, when he left the crypt, he could hear crying.
….And Scott wouldn’t cry for him, right?