Chapter Text
A figure treks through the forest. Alone. Tired, worn, face set. On a mission.
For whatever reason, people were converging on Oakhurst. Her vampire master, an ancient one with many thralls and servants, had sent her here to intercept. Oakhurst was known to have two vampires in it’s history, and they would wake up once humans entered the area.
They would need food, allies. Beth knew what she was doing. She hoped. Humans could be...flighty. Vampires scared them. Quite rightly, until they accepted their place.
Beth adjusted her pack, and kept going. She should lure a wild sheep or cow with her. It would cement her place as the ‘livestock herder’, and gain their trust.
And then, she would seek out the vampires here. They would be weak, hard to spot, at the moment. She must play the naive prey, for now, until they revealed themselves.
The new villagers were gathered around in small groups, among the ruins of Oakhurst. They were introducing themselves, before more appeared and the introductions started again. It was an eclectic mix, to be sure, some were going to be a problem, some probably were more useful. A farmer, a doctor, and a lumberjack would be good out here, and Beth inserted herself as another down-to-earth, useful to the village person. The author, the detective, the butler, well, they’d be useful should this ruined village build into something. The military woman and the two monster hunters… well, one she was ready to discount, the other, he could be a problem if the others took him seriously.
The rich ones might not be useful, but more importantly, were first candidates for vampires. It was too soon to jump to conclusions, but there were a few it could be. She didn’t expect the vampires to announce themselves just yet.
There were sixteen people here, in all. A small number, but enough. If two were here already, then fourteen was a good number to feed off of.
She joined the ones fetching supplies and looking for animals, listening, watching. Her plan, for the moment, was to fade into the background and wait.
They took her in readily. They took her quiet nature to be ‘more comfortable with animals’, something she played into, so being alone wasn’t unusual. There was some big excitement over a beacon, which she tried to ignore. She had been warned about those, and while she may have to be involved to maintain cover, it was still early days. It was hard to ignore when it was consecrated though, as their effects invigorated her. She was only human, it was natural.
She had to ignore it.
Beth tended to the cattle, and assessed the future cattle, trying to see who was the most likely to be an easy target, and who was most likely to be a vampire. So far, not the easiest to tell. There were too many of them.
Some were nice, some were more standoffish. Most had paired up to live in and do-up the ruined houses around here, and Beth found herself lacking. Too busy watching.
She could live alone, it might be for the best, just pick a plot and work on it. Although, she would prefer not to...
The offer came in the form of a slightly nervous young woman, with long bushy grey hair with a white streak, and big doe eyes. She wore a dark skirt and pale, peasant shirt, with a brown corset. Simple.
Beth couldn’t remember who she was or what she did. She’d been on a few excursions with her in the group. She was also quite quiet, but she doubted it was for the same reason.
“You can stay with me.” she said, wobbly smile on her face. “I, I don’t have a roommate, yet.”
“Fine with me.”
The roommate introduced herself, but frankly, the name went in one ear and out the other. It might stick, eventually.
The first night was interesting. The moon rose blood red.
It did make some people panic, which was reasonable, she wasn’t expecting it either. It wasn’t a true blood moon, which was even stranger. The moon was just, red out here.
Things were being built, things were working. Beth just had to be patient. The vampires would need to feed soon. With this much food around, it would be difficult to resist.
Beth let herself be alone with villagers. Waiting, watching. In pairs, threes, waiting. Names went in and out, although some might be sticking. Trying to watch who was close to the beacons, who went in the tombs.
Beth had to maintain her ‘livestock’ herder persona, so whenever they came across animals, she took the excuse to go back to town.
To wander off alone.
Finally, in the woods, the red moon overhead, it happened.
It had been an accident to come across him, the blue haired rich one in the old fashioned clothing. He was looking for someone, Beth didn’t really know names, so couldn’t help.
What happened next had been deliberate, as he killed a chicken for it’s meat and grumbled to himself about being hungry. A light discussion about cattle, the sort of conversation a rich man might not deign to have. Were there double meanings, or was she just hoping for them?
An arm was grabbed, fangs stabbing in with little care.
And Beth relaxed.
“There you are, my lord.”
The vampire was confused. He looked up, releasing the bite and letting blood drip. His whole body had been tense, ready to chase her down if necessary. Instead, he stared, letting go as Beth went to one knee before him
“I am in your service, my lord.”
The vampire let out a chuckle.
“Well well well, this is a surprise. Are you being honest with me?”
“Completely. I have been sent. You will be ravenous, I can aid you.”
“What, exactly, are you offering?”
“My services. An eye among the humans. I keep them fed, and I keep you fed. I am a livestock herder, after all.”
The vampire finally understood the joke, and laughed. “Very well… Still, why shouldn’t I turn you now?”
“I am far more use to you human, my lord.”
“‘My lord’, hmm,” the vampire’s ego had been stoked. “I like that. It’s been so long… Very well. I could use a loyal follower. Stand up. We can’t be too suspicious out here. Still, good to know...”
“Of course, my lord.”
EPISODE 2
Beth finding herself in the company of the other vampire was not planned. It was pure luck she found the lumberjack draining an animal in the woods.
This was the other one. The younger of the two, as she had found out from the first one. Who had been running around with a skull on his head, because that was less obvious than the now pale red eyes he had. He’d been showing it off during the house judging competition that one of the monster hunters had insisted upon.
A waste of time, honestly.
That said, she had now found the two she had been sent to find, which was excellent. However, to make matters complicated, the two were not sire and fledgling.
Two, unrelated vampires, in the same territory. With one already having made a new fledgling. It was a recipe for disaster.
The lumberjack watched for a moment, and narrowed his eyes. “Oh. It’s you.”
“...You already knew?”
“Scott mentioned it… I’m curious,” he tilted his head. “There’s two of us here. Well, three, now. Who do you intend to serve?”
A difficult question. The answer was ‘the head vampire’, and in truth, the other one had been here longer, and had a fledgling. This one was not going to take that answer well.
“...I am certain I can serve all of you.”
The vampire smirked. “Well, that was a non-answer.”
“I am experienced, I can serve three vampires.”
“Experienced?” the vampire raised an eyebrow. “Who have you served before?”
“...A lord, in the city.”
“There are vampires in the city?”
“Vampire. Singular.”
“And you served him?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Humans were approaching Oakhurst, where two vampires are known to sleep. It seemed prudent to… check in.”
“So you’re spying for him?”
“Not at all. Any thralls that might have been here are long gone, it was thought that sending a willing soul would be beneficial… and I confess, so that you remain in this area and do not spread into his territory.”
As it turned out, they couldn’t leave anyway. So, that was not necessary. Oh well.
“I knew it,” the vampire grinned. “Still, you are here to serve us?”
“Indeed. I only hold passing allegiance to my old master now.”
“Huh. Fair enough,” the vampire fiddled with his clothes for a moment. They was old fashioned as well, why hadn’t she thought to look for that? “It was a bit too convenient, after all.”
“Convenient?”
“Someone knowledgable and calm around vampires, when we just woke up,” the vampire narrowed his eyes. “Why are you still human?”
“Because I am more useful that way.”
“That is what your old master probably told you. So I’ll ask you, do you want to be turned?”
Beth blinked. “I… I am uncertain. I will be more use-”
“More use to us human, you said. Think about it. Because while you stay human, I’m not certain that I can trust you.”
“You are entitled to your opinion.”
“Hmpf…. Serve the others if you want. I’m fine without you.”
With that, he turned into a bat, and vanished.
Worrying. Still, if he would not accept her help, then she could focus on the elder vampire and his fledgling. The younger would need her soon enough. The cows will panic in his presence if he became much stronger.
There was another fledgling. This was not ideal.
The elder vampire had turned the first the other night, and he took to it rather well, showed the proper reverence to the one who turned him.
The second, was a mess.
Beth had been present at the lake for the second one. A large group of them had gone fishing, but they’d managed to split from them. The three vampires had lured an amenable target, and after some panic, and an attempt to flee, the fledgling turned her.
That was the first time Beth had seen the elder angry. He had turned on the fledgling, and the lumberjack, Owen, had to cool him off before he hurt the fledgling too much.
The new fledgling (Beth was going to have to start remembering names, although was now confident with Owen and Scott), was peppering Beth with questions. Was she a vampire? Why was she here? Was she working for them? Why? How long has she known vampires existed?
It was exhausting.
“Does your roommate know?”
That one made Beth freeze. Roommate. The jumpy, squirrelly thing who decided that Beth was trustworthy enough to live with. Who ran screaming when bats had appeared out of nowhere during the house judging competition that Beth had only partially paid attention to.
She was a flight risk as it was. Maybe if she calmed down, she would make a good meal. If not, well, the cattle needed to breed and remain populous.