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Vil made his way down main street. It had been a long day, and he was utterly exhausted. The magicam monsters had been running them ragged. Halloween had always been Vil’s favorite holiday. He’d had fond memories of it growing up with his father. He didn’t always get to spend a lot of time with the man, but Halloween had always been special. It was why he was so happy to be in charge of NRC’s event. He wanted to make it special for everyone else too. But it just seemed to be spiraling into a disaster.
He didn’t know what to do, he’d lost control. Vil felt personally responsible for what had happened. He knew his own celebrity had drawn some of the visitors. The actor had thought it harmless at first, a good way to make people happy and brighten up his own pr. Vil would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought the countless pictures of him cozying up to children wouldn’t help his image and his campaign to land a role as something other than a villain.
The blonde’s thoughts were interrupted though as he saw another figure in his path, currently staring up at the moon. Vil had thought everyone would be in bed by now, he’d only gone out to examine the grounds, trying to come up with something he could do to solve their current problem. As he got a little closer he realized it was Cater, standing there in his gravekeeper costume, with his back to Vil. Normally the ginger got on every nerve he had, he was lazy, shallow, and magicam obsessed. But during the entirety of Halloween he’d been a calming voice of reason, and really the only one that had anything close to answers. Maybe it was a sign, that Vil had run across him when he was out searching for a way to deal with their predicament.
His mind made up, he decided to swallow his pride, and ask for his opinion. But as he got closer, Cater didn’t move, standing almost unnaturally still. “Cater?” he finally asked. “I hadn’t expected anyone else to be up at this hour.”
The ginger still didn’t move, and Vil was confused, had he…fallen asleep standing up? He reached a hand out to the other but right before the hand fell on Cater’s shoulder the other finally spoke. “I hadn’t expected anyone up either. It’s rather late.” there was something different to his voice. It didn’t care the same cheerful, exuberant tone Vil was used to hearing from the ginger. It sounded more mature, almost tired and the actor took it as a sign of just how much everything was getting to his fellow committee member.
Vil moved to stand next to Cater and followed his line of vision. The moon really was lovely, it was a few nights away from full. It felt peaceful at the moment, as if all of their worries were a lifetime away, and he supposed he could see why the ginger seem enraptured by the sight. “I was out trying to solve our current magicam monster problem. But I fear I’m at just as much of a loss as everyone else. You’re right, it's only gotten worse with each passing day. At this rate, I fear what will happen on Halloween proper.”
Cater just let out a bit of a chuckle, there was a bit of a haunting twist to it and it sent a bit of a shiver down the blonde’s spine. “I’m not used to you thinking I’m right so much. But I have an idea. If you’re willing to hear it.”
“At this point I’d-” he turned to look at the other and stopped frozen in place. Vil may have been dressed as a vampire…but Cater.
His skin, in the moonlight, looked almost white, as it shimmered, made up of smooth flawless porcelain. Red eyes met Vil’s lavender, normal round irises replaced with almost cat like slits. But the most shocking detail was the long sharp fangs, much more prominent than the fake prosthetic he currently wore. “Boo.” the ginger grinned.
Vil let out a shriek, before stumbling backward falling on his ass, staring up at his schoolmate. This…this wasn’t possible, was it? Some sick joke the other had been playing. But there was something…off with Cater. The way he stood perfectly still, he radiated an unnatural feeling, that couldn’t just come from stage makeup, something Vil knew all too well. “How.”
“I got careless.”Cater sighed crossing his arms sounding a bit exasperated. “I figured the only one that would be up at this hour would be Lilia, I love Halloween and couldn’t resist taking a walk tonight when the air was so cool and crisp and the moon was so gorgeous. It's been awhile since I was able to do much of anything in my true form.”
“This is ridiculous you can’t…you can’t really be…” Vil brought a hand up to his face, he was terrified and confused as he tried to rationalize what he was seeing.
“A vampire?” the ginger laughed a bit. “I know you know you the word. You’re currently dressed in a hilarious attempt to replicate one. I will say, we’d never wear something that busy, it looks like someone’s grandmother’s couch.”
Vil was absolutely terrified, and Cater was making jokes and insulting his costume. At this point, the blonde was certain this is how he died. There was no one out here. No one had come running when he’d screamed. The ginger walked forward, as the actor tried to scoot backward, flinching when the other’s arm shot out. He waited for it to connect, surprised when it didn’t he opened up his eyes, to see Cater holding his hand up to help him up. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
The blonde hesitantly took the offered hand as his heart raced, only to have himself hauled up almost like he was a rag doll, and crashed into the ginger’s chest. “Oh! Sorry, I forget sometimes when I’m not using my glamour. Are alright?”
“How are you a vampire.” Vil stared at him, he was still terrified he wouldn’t be leaving this encounter unscathed. But even with fear coursing through him, he could recognize Cater in this form was eerily beautiful. The veil that covered his face just added to well..everything.
Once again the ginger let out a laugh. “I don’t think you want the actual details,” he smirked at the obviously spellbound man, who hadn’t yet moved away from his position against the other’s chest. “The truth is the carriage came for me like every other NRC student. I’m a vampire not an alien. Is it really that hard to believe when we have mermaids and fae princes?“
“Yeah but they’re not hiding what they are.” Vil finally took a step back. He felt horribly self conscious in front of Cater at this moment.
The ginger shrugged. “And they get harassed every day, by your best friend. Yeah, what do you think he’d do if he knew what I was? You yourself called us the King of Monsters. Nah that's not my thing. I’d rather just chill. Besides as your own reaction dictates people are terrified of Vampires. I’d never make friends with anyone. They’d all think I’d drink their blood or something like that. Which by the way is gross.”
“You don’t drink blood.” Vil was trying to steady his heartbeat before he thought he’d have a heart attack.
Cater shook his head. “No.” he smiled. “Well we can, but I’d prefer not to. We feed on the energy associated with the color red. It's why I’m usually the first to volunteer to paint the roses. It's my favorite hue”
“You act like that's something I actually knew about you.” the actor brought a hand to his forehead.
“Nah,” the ginger let out another light chuckle as he pointed a finger in the air. “I’m pretty sure you don’t know anything about me.”
Vil stood there for a moment, as things started clicking into place in his mind. He’d always known Cater was hiding something. That the persona he put forth was fake. No one else seemed to care, but it had always rubbed him the wrong way, and he’d attempted to distance himself from the other. But…if this was the secret he was keeping. “I still can’t believe you kept this a secret.”
“It's not really hard to fool mortals.” Cater smirked, as he took another step forward and gazed into Vil’s eyes. “Even if you told someone else, no one would believe you. Except maybe Rook. Just give them a little bit, and they’ll fill in the blanks themselves. Cater Diamond’s just a shallow Magicam Influencer right?” he smirked.
“You actually wanted me to believe that.” Vil’s eyes went wide.
“When you’re best friends with Rook Hunt?’ Of Course.” Cater scoffed. “Speaking of which don’t you dare tell him. I don’t want to end up on his radar, after all the effort I’ve put into staying off of it.” the words came out a bit menacing, and the blonde knew he’d never utter a word of this to the hunter.
“And now?” the blonde whispered.
The ginger crossed his arms. “Now you know what I am. I’m not…happy about it. But if you can keep it to yourself then I’ll deal with it. It's my fault anyway for growing complacent.”
“I won't tell anyone.” Vil knew it was true whether out of fear or something else he didn’t know. But he was fascinated by the idea of finding out more, he’d always been captivated by the idea of Vampires, in fact, it was one of the few villain roles left someone could offer him and he wouldn’t refuse. And now he found himself in the presence of a rather..beautiful and real example of one.
A slender finger reached up and closed his mouth, he hadn’t even realized it was still open. Vil Schoenheit was currently playing a dangerous game, but he wasn’t sure he would mind if he lost. It was crazy before this encounter he’d never dreamed of standing staring at Cater in the moonlight contemplating how beautiful he was. But he realized that the other’s crush on him was likely as fake as everything else to do with his mortal persona. He took a moment to gather his wits. Before a smile twisted itself back on his face. “So do you have a castle or a shadowy Victorian mansion? Or is all that fake too?”
Cater let out a laugh he was clearly highly entertained by this whole exchange. “Well given my father’s property, both actually. But that's…not exactly normal. Vampires really are just like…everyone else in a sense. We just live a really long time, so acquiring things like a castle, or money, or whatever else comes easier. I’m still young for my kind though, hence being here in high school. Most tend to keep to themselves, but since I have access to magic, I can blend in under normal circumstances.”
Vil was slightly surprised at how easily he was getting answers from the other when he’d normally held all of his cards close to his chest. Maybe he thought there wasn’t a point now that the truth was out? Whatever it was the blonde liked this surge of honesty. Lavender eyes searched the vampire’s face, finding no sign of the mask the other normally wore. “I suppose tomorrow you’ll pretend none of this happened. And go back to pretending to flirt with me, expecting me to act like I never found any of this out.”
The ginger slipped up close to the blonde. “I never said I was pretending to flirt,” he whispered in the other’s ear. He pulled back a bit, with a bit of a mischievous glint in his eye. “I’d appreciate your discretion. But we don’t have to pretend like nothing happened. In fact, I’d much prefer if something we could talk about developed.”
The Actor’s breath hitched. As he reached out and placed a hand on the other’s chest to steady himself. He could feel the other’s taunt muscles through the material of his costume, but the lack of heartbeat was noticeable. “What development.”
Cater, just tilted the other’s chin up. “I’m not blind, you’ve always looked at me before like I belonged in a garbage can, but right now you look like you want to eat me for dinner. Why don’t we take this someplace private, and I can give you some tips for your little performance? And discuss my idea to deal with our troublesome guests. And maybe a bit more.”
Vil wanted to smack him for being presumptuous but he wasn’t wrong. Knowledge seemed to be everything. His mouth was a bit dry but he nodded in agreement anyway. “Alright.”
He was surprised as the other smirked before lifting him up like he weighed less than a feather. “I know the perfect place, hang on.”
The blonde’s heart raced as he wrapped his arms around the other’s neck. All thoughts of protest rushed from his mind, as his blood pounded through his veins. Cater was incredibly fast, and though he had no idea where the other was actually taking him, a thought crossed his mind that if he ended this night as a vampire’s consort it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen to him.