Chapter Text
Scott hasn’t stopped thinking about what Shelby said. He’s pacing the ballroom now, long strides that match the pace at which his mind is wandering. Somehow, though, it always comes back to Avid.
Even if he isn’t ready to label what he…feels? God, that sounds so weird to say. Even if he isn’t ready to label what he feels as love, he can’t deny that Shelby was right about the avoidance thing. If anything, it was even more horrible to have to watch Avid stop trying to say hi to him altogether. It was made worse by the fact that it happened so quickly, like him disliking Avid was some sort of easy-to-accept fact. An event that Avid was just waiting for to happen.
No, Scott decides, it can’t go on like this. Whatever happens next has to include Avid.
The funny thing about death is that it happens so suddenly. So when Scott’s musing is abruptly cut off by a wave of nausea, he’s confused as to why. Confused as to what it means.
But then the pain hits. It’s like a venom injected to the heart, that spreads through his veins in an icy wave of agony. And even those words don’t come close to detailing the indescribable pain that hits Scott, and all the other vampires, at this moment. It leaves no room for misinterpretation. It’s the kind of pain that can only mean one thing.
Someone has died today.
Not died, Scott corrects himself. Vampires don’t just up and die.
Someone has been killed today.
Scott races down to the crypt, passing Cleo along the way. She’s a little more composed than him, for once, but the shock is still evident on her face.
He finds Drift and Shelby not too long after, clutching each other's hands, wide eyed.
Shelby starts to speak. “Who-?”
“Apo. It-it has to be, right? Avid, Owen, and Pyro were all together. You, Drift, and Cleo are all here. It has to be Apo?” Scott’s convincing Shelby of a truth that he himself doesn’t quite believe yet. “I’m going to the village to check.”
A flurry of wings surrounds him as he makes for the village, but he doesn’t get far. Along the way he spots Owen and Pyro. Without Avid.
He feels sick. Landing at their feet, still in bat form, he composes himself enough to ask. “Who died, do you know? Apo, right?”
Owen shakes his head. “No. It was Avid. We killed him ourselves.”
Scott’s vision goes blurry. His hearing is fuzzy, but he catches the tail end of what Pyro is saying.
“ …liability. You said it yourself, his impulsiveness was going to get him killed, if not also everyone else around him. It was for the good of the coven.”
Scott stops listening, instead flying away. Towards the direction of the crypt. Towards Avid’s body.
--
For once in his life, Scott Goldsmith feels…guilty. This wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t told Avid to turn the beacon with Owen and Pyro. If he hadn’t told them he was level one. Hell, if he hadn’t been avoiding Avid, maybe he could have stopped him from becoming level one in the first place. If he hadn’t been avoiding Avid…a lot of things could be different.
He breaks through the layers of cobblestone and the smell of blood fills his senses. And then he sees him. His little hunter, sunk against a corner, stake buried in his chest. Scott doesn’t cry -- hasn’t cried in centuries -- but it breaks him in other ways. He falls to his knees at Avid’s side, and picks up his hand, brushing his thumb over Avid’s knuckles.
What he finds, however, is not the lifeless cold of a dead body. It’s not even the unnatural icy chill of a vampire’s skin. No, it’s not cold at all.
Avid’s hand is so hot it almost makes Scott flinch away. As he gets closer, he can feel heat radiating from under the bandages on his neck. He hovers his hand over where he knows those long, black scars are, and as he touches the dressings with a featherlight touch, he’s seized with an immobilizing force. A voice echoes inside his head.
A vampire has died today, yes. But it takes more than a pitiful stake to kill a demon.
All at once, he regains control of himself, but he still kneels there in shock. Avid is alive.
--
Let me go, I think. The void laughs back at me.
Even in death, I cannot be at peace.
You forget, Avid, that you are not dead.
I may as well be. I’m trapped in this personal hell, this, this limbo between eternal life and eternal rest.
Scott hates me. Shelby has Drift. What else am I needed for in Oakhurst? Please. Just let me go.
The void laughs again and I feel so, so helpless.
--
Tears begin to stream slowly from under Avid’s closed eyes, making tracks in the dust on his cheeks.
Scott moves from his position on the ground to slowly glide his thumb over the salty teardrops, but to no avail -- it does nothing but smear them.
He lifts Avid’s limp body into a bridal carry, just like he did when he was first bringing him to the castle. But this time, he doesn’t head in that direction.
--
You want to be let go?
Fine. I’ll let you go.
Finally. I can rest in peace.
Hm. Not quite. You have too much…potential…for me to let you die.
The void’s laughs echo around me and slowly fade as I regain feeling of my senses.
I’m pulled into consciousness gradually at first, and then all at once. It takes me a moment to get used to the sensation of not floating in the abyss, and another moment to realize I’m still in the living world, so it’s only by the third moment that I recognize the face leaning over me.
“...Scott?” I mumble. Of course, it’d be him. He always seems to be by my side at moments like these. I don’t really understand why, but right now, I’m just happy it’s not Pyro or Owen.
“Avid.” Scott responds softly. “It’s okay. You’ll be safe here - it’s a cave, and the entrance is hidden by leaves. No one will find you unless you want them to.” He pauses. “Why were you crying?”
“What?” I ask. I’m already taken aback by the way he’s speaking to me, like I’m something precious, not just another person to charm with wit. It’s…well, it’s nice, but the logical part of me knows it won’t last.
“You were crying, earlier, in your…sleep. Did something happen?”
Ah. “I…didn’t want to come back.”
He furrows his brow in concern. “You…wanted to die?”
“No, not really…well….kind of. It was more that I didn’t see a point in me living? I mean, all my life I’d had some purpose. For a while, it was ridding the world of monsters. Then I became a monster, and I had to stay alive so I could apologize to Shelby. But now, she has Drift, which also coincidentally means she doesn’t need me as a roommate anymore and I just…I didn’t see a good reason for me not to die.”
Scott parts his lips. “Am I not a good reason?” His voice is so raw that it makes me blink at him in shock.
“I…well, of course you are, but you didn’t need me. You....you kind of hate me? You avoided me for weeks, and then talked to me only when I was at my weakest and when you had to in order to protect the coven.”
Scott winces. “I. Yes, I suppose I did do that. I’m…sorry. I don’t. Ugh.” He takes a deep breath, clearly not used to exposing his true thoughts like this. “I’m not very good with, um, emotions? And stuff? So it made more sense to avoid you, at least until I could figure it out. But by the time I’d had a talk with Shelby and she helped me get that sorted, you’d just been put down to level one and I had you go off with Owen and Pyro. And now…here we are.”
It’s like Avid’s been kickstarted. His breath catches. “Y-you mean you don’t…hate me?”
Scott shakes his head. “Quite the opposite, my dear.”
The pet name gives Avid some pause. “How do I know this is real? T-the flirting, and all that. You do that to everyone, I mean, Pyro at the very least- “
He stops when he sees Scott chuckling.
“Sorry. I don’t mean to laugh, it’s a valid question. And I…I admit, I don’t know how to prove it to you. I can reassure you whenever you need it, but I can’t promise to turn off the charm because that’s…who I am?”
“I definitely don’t need you to turn off the charm. It’s very hot.” I blurt out before thinking, and he gives me one of his classic smirks in response, causing my cheeks to flush. “Why, um. Why were you laughing?” I divert the conversation.
“Well, it’s just…it’s funny that you were lecturing me on being real. I mean you, Avid, of all people, are terribly difficult to get a read on. When I first met you, you always had some kind of emotional mask on. Even if I could tell you were terrified, you’d still put on a brave face. It was part of the reason I was drawn to you as a coven member, actually, because you were always trying so hard, and if you were to put that effort towards protecting your family, you would make for a very valuable asset.
“But if I’m being honest, I’m most attracted to you personally when you’re at your weakest physically. Not because I like seeing you suffer, the opposite, in fact -- it brings me great pain to see you like that. But because you’re willing to just be yourself. You allow yourself to be scared. And, in return, I can drop some of my charm and be…serious, for once, like now. It’s not very easy, but it’s…refreshing.” He finishes.
“These days I’m just scared at the fact that I’m not scared.” I admit suddenly. “Does that make sense? I mean, in the beginning, it was easier to act bold even if I wasn’t. But now, putting on a brave face would mean pretending to accept the fact that I’m bloodthirsty, and violent, and monstrous. And that’s all the things that scare me. I can’t accept it, I just CAN’T- ”
“Avid.” He cuts me off as I get riled up. “You are not a monster.”
“No, Scott, you don’t understand, something happened in there, when I was d-dead, I-I don’t think I’m human or a vampire anymore-”
“Listen to me,” he emphasizes, grabbing my hands. “You. Are not. A monster. You may be a demon at this point, or something else entirely, who knows, but you are not a monster. Whatever form you take, whatever internal bloodlust you may be driven towards, I know you will always strive to protect your friends. To do what you believe to be right. ‘You’ meaning your soul. Not whatever physical shell encompasses it. And I will be there, by your side, to help. I find myself…unable to be quite as ruthless as before. Perhaps you are able to teach an old vampire new tricks.” He gives a fanged grin.
I look at him agape. “A-are you sure?” I stammer. “You really don’t know what you might be getting into, hells, I don’t even know what I’m getting into- “
“Darling, I’m as sure as I ever could be. And besides, whatever this demon transformation thing has given you these dashingly handsome horns, so it can’t be all that bad.” He runs his fingers over short, black horns that I’ve only just noticed as well. They sit atop my white hair, framing my red eyes. Demon on top of vampire on top of…human? Can I even call my soul human anymore?
“Does it matter?” Scott asks. Ah. I said that last bit out loud. “Whatever you are is you. It’s all Avid. The one who pretends blood is fruit punch, the one who sings, and plays guitar, the one who steals my clothes because he thinks they’re more stylish -- don’t think I hadn’t noticed.”
I feel my eyes getting watery again. Gods, Elle would kill to see this moment. Avid, falling for a vampire. And of course it had to be Scott fucking Goldsmith.
I can’t help myself anymore and lean in for a kiss. He immediately kisses me back, my eyes fluttering shut. But unlike the first one we shared, this one isn’t filled with a ravenous desire, it isn’t underlaid with a need to get in as much as possible. It doesn’t feel like a last chance -- it feels like a beginning. A kiss that doesn’t need to be rushed. It’s slow, and more than a little sad, but it’s also a kiss full of hope. Full of assurance regarding many things, assurance that walks hand in hand with many questions that still have yet to be asked.
But best of all, it’s filled with love. The kind of love that doesn’t need to be said aloud, at least not yet. The kind of love that will carry us both through ups and downs. The kind of love that is pure enough to pierce through masks and facades.
The kind of love that will last an eternity.