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It was ironic that Shelby brought up murder among the three vampires. Honestly, he hadn’t even thought about feeding from Shelby until she mentioned it, even with his hunger, though he couldn’t speak for Pyro’s and certainly Owen’s intentions.
Truly, if he was that hungry, he could run after Martyn, or Sausage, or Legs, if they hadn’t made it back to Oakhurst yet. But he had given Owen the next turn, or kill, whatever he preferred, though Scott would rather not deal with a dead body, and Owen hadn’t done anything during the outings earlier. It would make sense for Owen to take Shelby now, with everyone else finally gone, and the idea of that made Scott’s non-existent blood boil. That was his housemate, the person that trusted him with her place of residence, that never questioned his behaviour or the nights he spend outside instead of sleeping, that defended him without knowing that the others were right about his nature.
Owen, a child, was not going to take her.
As the conversation continued, Scott gently placed his hand against Shelby’s back and lightly pricked the base of her neck. Even the blood against his skin felt wonderful, already starting to remedy some of his hunger.
Shelby flinched at the incision and turned to face him. “What-“ Their voiced trailed off and her face shifted into realization. “It’s you.”
He wanted to respond with something, any joke or explanation for his actions but her expression froze him. It was a look of hurt, not of pain, or of fear as with Pyro, but as if this was a personally slight, a betrayal. It made him too slow to act as Shelby took off down the bank and it was Pyro, out of all of them, that ran after her.
That finally got Scott moving again, remembering that he’d promised Pyro part of his next hunt, to show them how it’s done, and that was the reminder that he couldn’t let Shelby go now and that he had to finish this.
It wasn’t hard to overtake Shelby and Pyro, years of experience lead to power regardless of how much blood he’d had recently, and pulled Shelby in towards him. Shelby struggled against him, trying to pull herself out of his grasp and jab him with her elbows. Scott didn’t want to greatly hurt them, not do something as frantic as with Pyro, which he regrets mildly, but it was growing difficult to hold onto them in a way that would allow for him to turn without risking killing. Scott held back a hiss from Pyro’s continued attacks and nearly pushed him away before remembering that he made a promise, and besides, it did make it slightly easier, not that he grew to needing it.
Shelby yelped as Scott wrapped an arm around her collarbone, holding tight. “Hey, we can still be friends though, I won’t say anything-”
But that’s not possible. Because it’s his nature, because he needs to keep her safe, because he’s hungry, because everyone he’s ever known were vampires and he doesn’t know any other way to keep people.
“I’m sorry dear”
So Scott bend down, pressed just strongly enough for Shelby to not be able to move, bit down into the back of her neck, and held until she went still.
(He doesn’t remember much of his own turning, if it hurt at all. All he remembers is bleeding himself out in preparation for the ritual, then finally waking up as a true member of his family.)
He opened his eyes, scanning over Shelby, heartbeat faded and growing paler, to Owen, standing a few paces away seeming mildly annoyed by the whole situation, to Pyro, hunched over, face and hand coated in blood.
Then, Pyro straightened up and met Scott’s gaze with a look of shock across their face. Then, Pyro looked at him with pale red eyes that can only come from a great boost in power. A boost much like one he got a few nights ago from Pyro himself.
The word was more animal and vicious than his noble image usually would have allowed, “You.”
And Shelby stayed still, for a moment too long and Scott freezes, because what if Pyro fucked it up and they only just got turned and they doesn’t know anything and he can’t figure out if he needs to help Shelby or rip into Pyro for what he’s done. It’s probably lucky that Shelby wakes up then, re-finding her breath and coughing, so Scott doesn’t have to choose.
“Woah.” Shelby’s voice took him back out of his thoughts. She felt steady enough, so Scott moved over to Pyro, still standing in shock, keeping an eye on Shelby in case anything went wrong.
Pyro dropped Scott’s gaze as he approached and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Shelby wasn’t looking at any of the them, or trying to run away anymore. She just stared down at herself, moving her hands as if they were some new part of her. “It’s all real…” she said softly, in awe.
Owen spoke up, “Well, I really can’t speak for werewolves and the like. But for vampires, yeah.” He paused for a moment before adding, “I can’t believe we’ve managed to keep turning the people that are fine with this though.”
Scott shot Owen a brief glare, and got a shrug and a small smirk in return.
“I mean, what are the actual rules,” Shelby continued, “There’s so many different stories and versions of the creature out there. Can I not go in the sun anymore? Or use silver? Do I need a coffin?”
Owen answered again, “It’s sort of a mix in my experience, but most of that won’t affect you until you get more powerful. They scale, in a way.”
“There are certainly rules though,” Scott added and turned to Pyro, “like not taking what’s someone else’s.” The young vampire flinched.
“I’m sorry-“
Owen came over and put his hand on Scott’s arm, “Leave him be, he just got excited and wrapped up in it.”
Scott’s been excited and young before too, but he still never took something that hasn’t his and certainly not from the person that turned him.
His response to add just that was stopped by a splitting pain in his head, ringing in his ears, and a tingling burn across his his body, not to dissimilar to the feeling of being near silver. He felt weak and wrong, worse than being hungry before, and as if he could die again, at risk in a way can’t remember every feeling. Even the younger vampires winched whatever had happened and Shelby had covering their ears.
Owen broke the silence, “Oh shit.”
“What was that?” Shelby asked.
“That,” Owen answered, “was all the Beacons being activated.”
“Oh is that what those do,” Scott said faintly, trying to shake the tingling feeling off.
“Well, duh, of course.”
“I’m sorry, we didn’t have those back in my time.” Scott straightened himself up and dusted his jacket off. “Well in that case, there is one of those in my castle, I’ll go stop it.”
“You have a castle?” Shelby cut in.
Owen spoke at the same time “Yes, please, go do that.”
Scott nodded at Owen and started up the hill towards Oakhurst and the rest of the ruins. He turned back partway up the tree line and got caught by Shelby’s gaze towards him. She looked almost betrayed, more so than during any of the fight and turning and whatever parting message he’d planned disappeared. He pivoted to Pyro, who was helping Shelby and felt another flash of fury at them interposing again before it dulled back down.
“Get her back safe,” is what he finally said, directed at Pyro, and tried to find the near shadow to disappear into.
“He has a castle.”
Logical, Shelby knew that she should be much more upset at any of the other things that just happened. At the fact that all the spooky stories from her childhood were being proven true. At the fact that her housemate and close friend was a creature from said stories. At the fact that said friend had just tried turned her into a vampire only for a different vampire to do it instead. She should probably be mad at most of those events.
And yet, the biggest betrayal from Scott this evening is that he has his own house, a castle, somewhere in the distance that’s he’s going to stay in instead of their house. He helped build it, fix her horrible roofline and all of that was while having his own place and secret life without telling her anything.
“If it makes you feel better, the place is entirely in ruins. It’s not much of a place to live,” Owen commented, picking the discarded fishing rods back up. “And for what it’s worth, I was supposed to get the next person. Scott overstepped as well.”
Neither her or Pyro responded to that. Shelby wasn’t even sure if that made them feel better. He still lied to them and then ran off into the forest.
“We should probably head back to Oakhurst though, people might get suspicious if we’re still out when Scott takes back the Beacon.”
“Won’t people be suspicious when Scott doesn’t come back with us?” The jokes she and Scott made about being blamed for each other’s disappearance came back into her mind, though not as happy as they would have a few minutes ago.
Owen looked between herself, torn cloak and bloody from the attacks, and Pyro, bloody for the opposite reason and having not really said anything since her turning aside from apologies.
“Let me handle that,” he finally said and started walking away into the forest.
Pyro lightly put his hand on her arm and nodded towards the direction Owen was heading in. “We should follow him. He’s use to dealing with this.”
Owen paused a few paces up the beach, then turned around. “Do you want any bandages? I keep a few on me. Not that you’re bleeding anymore,” a discomforting reminder of her new abilities, “but it might help hide some of it.”
Shelby quickened her pace to catch up to Owen and accepted his outstretched bandages. She couldn’t really feel the wounds anymore, but tried to place them as best she could around her neck and wrapped a few around what blood she could see on her arm. Owen helped her adjust and secure the ones on her neck and back. They started back to Oakhurst after Pyro rejoined them, finishing wiping blood off of themself and their clothes.
She started messing with the torn ends of her cloak at some on point on the walk. It was almost unconscious to keep her thought in order in the near silence of the night. It couldn’t get her any more warm. It was more of an accessory than heat source in the first place, and she didn’t feel the cool air or dampness in her boots as much as before. Maybe it was a vampire thing, or maybe it was just the last bits of shock leaving her body. But it felt comforting, they had brought it with them since moving out from their family’s home and all the way to Oakhurst. It was like a part of home that they didn’t think they could go back to.
She barely noticed when Pyro nudged her. He had taken his coat off, maybe temperature was a vampire thing, and held it out to her.
“Here.”
“Oh! I’m fine really,” Shelby gave a small laugh, “This is not a super practical cloak.” Shelby let it fall to her side again.
“Are you sure?”
She really wasn’t cold. But something in the back of her head felt like it could help, like a blanket to protect from monsters and no, the irony was not lost on her. She hesitated, then grabbed their jacket and threw it over her shoulders. She gave Pyro a soft smile. He returned it and seemed to relax a bit.
The trip faded back to silence and stayed that way aside from brief directions from Owen to navigate the woods. Neither of the other two seems eager to start up a conversation and to be honesty, Shelby didn’t know any good conversation starters for after getting turned into a supernatural creature. Her usual cryptid facts and legends didn’t seem fit for present company.
She felt when the Beacon when down right before they got to Oakhurst, like a small pressure lifting off of her chest. She saw Owen visibly relax as well, tension dropping in his shoulders. It probably shouldn’t have made her feel better to see vampire at ease. She still didn’t understand exactly what the Beacon’s were doing, but it felt awful when it first happened and she was happy to have it gone. But it did, nonetheless, and it helped with the building anxiety about getting back to Oakhurst.
The sun was starting to coming up by the time they made it there. There was already an energy around everyone else. Evidently, Scott’s desecration of the Beacon registered to the rest of the townsfolk as well.
Drift was the first to see her, standing near the centre of town with Avid, Cloe, and some others.
“Shelby! Where have you been?” Drift’s eyes fell to the Shelby’s neck, “Are you okay? What happened?”
Shelby glanced at Owen, who had gone off to talk to some of the others in the area, presumably his form of handling. They turned to face Drift and put a smile on their face.
“I’m fine, don’t worry. There was a small accident by the lake, but I’m fine. I promise.”
“Who were you with again? Owen, Pyro, and?” Drift looked at to Owen and Pyro’s coat while mentioning their names and the final pause didn’t feel like Drift was asking because she forgot the answer. Shelby didn’t like being on this end of her investigative skills. Lying might not help them here.
“And Scott.”
Drift barely let the words leave their mouth before following up, “And where is he?”
He was out destroying all the relics everyone else in town was panicking about it. And he was staying the night, or morning at this rate, in his castle and not in town with her. Shelby also didn’t like being reminded of that.
She took a breath in and told the closest version of the truth she could. “He decided to leave. You know he didn’t really like it here, I guess he just gave up on it.”
Drift’s face shifted from inquisitive to concern. “I’m so sorry Shelby.” She hesitated and added, “Do you want to stay with Avid and I? So you’re not alone? I mean, spooky things have been happening.”
Spooky things indeed, herself included now. The gesture was sweet and at any other time Shelby might have taken it up. She didn’t want to stay with any regular human now in case they found out, and she definitely didn’t want that person to be Avid.
“I’m good, but thank you. I think I’m going to go home now anyways to rest. It’s been a hectic night.” She tried to give Drift a joking smile to lighten the mood, but it didn’t seem to work with the expression still on Drifts face.
“Alright then. I’m here if you need anything, okay?”
Shelby nodded before making her way over to her house.
She ran back into Pyro on the way there. They had split away from her and Owen while entering and was now slinking around, she assumed to hide the colour change in their eyes. He made his way over to her as soon as her saw her and started walking by her side.
“You don’t have to take me all the way home, you know.”
Pyro gave a small shrug. “The Beacons have put everyone on edge. They know someone desecrated the castle and they’re looking for them.”
“I’m sure Owen and Scott have it handled, they must be used to this sort of stuff by now.” She certainly didn’t know what do to about it.
Pyro stopped as they reached her front door, wincing then pulling away.
“Oh! I’m sorry, Avid put a block of silver underneath it…” her voice died off as she made the realization. “I’m going to have to get rid of all the silver aren’t I.”
Pyro paused for a second in thought, “It doesn’t start affecting you right away, you should be alright. You just need to be careful about how much blood you drink.” They dropped her gaze as they said that last section.
“There’s a back door if you want to come in, Scott made it.” Scott made it, because there was a block of silver under her main door to protect against creatures like him. How did she not see it earlier?
“That’s fine, I think I’ll turn in myself.” Pyro started to turn away from her.
Shelby quickly pulled his jacket off her and shoved it towards him.
“Oh, you can keep it, if you need-“
“I’ll fix my cloak soon, I promise.” She pushed it to him again.
Pyro grabbed their coat back. They hovered for a few moments outside Shelby’s house, before walking back to their own.
Shelby sighed as she pulled her cloak off and dropped it over the stove, careful around the bandages. That was not at all how she had expected last night to go. This was not how she expected her trip to Oakhurst to go. She finally had proof that magic and monsters and everything was real. She was prepared to have any person she met along the way be that proof. She just didn’t think she’d ever be that proof.
They looked over at the double bed taking up the corner of the room. Even though Scott never really sleep in it, it still felt more empty than any other night, knowing where he was hiding out.
She lay back on her half of the bed and shut her eyes. The sun coming in through would normally make it hard to rest but the stress of the night finally brought her into sleep, uneasy as it was.