Chapter Text
The dark hands claw and pull on his skin. It oddly reminds him deeply of his illness back when he was human. Except, instead of cold nights, it’s scorching infernos. Blackness surrounds him in all directions; He is unable to escape as he plunges farther and farther into hell. Is he going to hell? That is what the vampire assumes as he is being dragged deeper into nothingness.
If only he could spend the rest of his days with Louis. That is all Owen wishes for after all. A land of peace including the one person to ever appreciate him for who he is. He had seen Louis, briefly in passing before he was forced away. Louis had come to see him off.
He truly is a good man.
Air burns his skin just as holy water. Is it even considered air? It’s awfully dense. It ignites a flame in his throat. Although vampires do not need to breathe, it can be quite painful to go through the motion of “holding your breath.” Darkness tugs in his peripheral, slowly descending into his vision like a disease. Strange how things can become even darker than before when there is no light.
Something must be off with his eyes. Vampiric sight would have lit this place up instantly. It isn’t like he cares. This is his own fault. Owen does not fight; He just wants to rest. His one and only watched him with such a pitiful expression. Why would he want to continue?
The universe sure likes to toy with him.
His eyes blink open. Why can’t he just rest? He feels weak, weaker than a disgusting human. It’s the same he felt when he first awoken in Oakhurst two hundred years after massacring the town. Never before has he suddenly felt so claustrophobic. Has the cure not worked after all? If that is the case, had he imagined everything with Louis? Where is Abolish?
Oh.
There’s dirt in every direction, was his body buried after he supposedly died? The darkness no longer holds down his arms; His clawless fingers dig its way up. Dirt crumbled onto his face as he gets closer and closer to the surface. The sun doesn’t burn his skin as it should. He must have dropped a few levels when he chose death.
It is either he lived somehow, or hell looks weirdly similar to Oakhurst. This is where he buried himself all those years ago. Ironic. He’s made up his mind: Even if this is the real Oakhurst, it is still hell.
Wandering aimlessly, Owen stumbles upon a familiar sight, does he feel a bit of déjà vu? Pearl and Pyro stare at him from across the tiny lake. Pyro is also dead, so this must be hell. He didn’t know Pearl was dead too, when did that happen? Who killed her is the better question.
Pyro looks human, or like a stage one vampire. Human radiates off the both of them. Disgusting. The man energetically waves before diving into the chilly water. The girl he is with follows soon after. Pyro’s head pokes out of the lake as he hoists himself up and turns to give Pearl a hand. The same outstretched hand is now expecting a shake from Owen. “Hello! I’m Pyro, and this is Pearl. We are attempting to make our way to Oakhurst!”
Is his life flashing before his eyes? If so, it skipped much more important chapters. “Owen.” He doesn’t take the hand. “If you want to find Oakhurst, walking in the opposite direction would be beneficial.”
“Are you from here?” Pearl cocks her head with the question.
“Something like that.”
Why are they acting as if they don’t know him? As if they don’t know all the atrocities he has committed. Pyro is much too happy and carefree from the last Owen remembers. “Could you perhaps show us the way?”
“Of course.”
Owen takes the lead in the stroll towards Oakhurst. It is harder to resist draining animals when he feels this weak, but he still doesn’t know what is happening.
“So, what do you want with Oakhurst?” Owen asks despite already knowing their answers.
Pearl and Pyro respond with the same exact words, or he assumes. Owen toned them out midway to town. Something has changed, from his memory, they investigated the lake tower. This time they didn’t. That’s marvellous though, the more the humans don’t question the strangeness of Oakhurst, the longer he has to figure out what is going on.
Last time he saw Oakhurst, the walls were rebuilt with a much steadier material. At least half of the houses were in ashes. The walls the humans fortified aren’t even built, neither are the horrendous houses.
He splits from the two followers and walks to the middle of the ruined town. The sight disturbs him. Somehow, he remains in control of his limbs, but logic says his next thoughts are impossible. No way he is back in time. He just wants rest. Maybe if he makes a scene Abolish will slay him once more. But would the outcome be the same? A pitiful glance and dark hands restraining any fight left in him?
Owen will decide later. As for now, he will play the same game as the first time, act as a human. He can barely tolerate normal humans; These ones are on a whole new level of annoying. Only fate knows how long his mask can last.
When he spots a certain blue-haired man, Owen decided to fade into the shadows to avoid talking to the elder vampire, but in the process, he bumps into the next worse person, Legs. His clean robes make Owen miss the blood he stained them with.
“I apologize.” Owen grumbles in his usual quiet tone.
“Are you alright? You are not injured?”
A feeling of distain grows within him, being away from town made him forget how peaceful it is without the constant check ins.
“You don’t believe in the supernatural, do you?” Apo asks. If it isn’t for the fact Owen knows them all, he would think it’s a ridiculous first impression.
Legundo turns towards the town beacon. “No, but the one throwing garlic at everyone is doing something in there that feels… wrong.”
“Don’t play with forces ye don’t know, don’tcha know?” Ren leads as they all approach the small space surrounding the beacon. His accent is as atrocious as it has always been.
No beacons have been consecrated — nor desecrated. There is not one time besides the beginning that he can recall the town beacon being neutral or the deep red colour that soothes the vampires. At this point, Owen has almost confirmed he is back in time, a second chance if you will. Had Louis given it to him? Not one of the humans nor Scott will be suspicious if he agrees with Ren on the matter. “Yes, we should not touch this, it could be devastatingly dangerous.”
“Come on! Just huddle in close!” Avid — the second must irritating human — doesn’t stop kneeling.
“I’m not participating in this.” Apo says bluntly. Not that it matters, the consecration must be nearing finish by now. It’s confirmed when it glows a bright yellowy orange. The pit holy beacons give vampires begins in his stomach, no doubt it will only grow. Everyone shifts uncomfortably, but Owen knows the humans feel better, safer.
“Doesn’t that feel delightful!” Avid lets out a heavy breath.
“You have to admit; It is a cool little thing here.” Drift pushes off her knees to stand straight again. Of course, no one denies or acknowledges the feeling it gives them.
“There are a lot of people in here, in this town.” Owen states to no one in particular, the only thing on his mind is why is he here, and should he play human for as long as possible?
“There are, and none of us are from here.” Doc comes up behind him with Abolish a few feet away.
If Owen could get headaches, he would have a migraine. Why must he have conversations twice? “I thought Oakhurst was abandoned.”
“It’s because of the curse, don’tcha know?” Why must humans try to sneak up on him!? It doesn’t work due to his flawless hearing abilities, but it is quite annoying when everyone enters a conversation from behind.
“More supernatural nonsense?” Owen’s arms cross over one another.
“It’s true!” Sausage beams from beside Ren.
“It says every two hundred years there is a plague that emerges and wipes out the town, leaving zero survivors for new generations, don’tcha know.” Ren explains.
Owen wishes to rip each one of their throats out with his bare — clawless — fingers. Louis wouldn’t want that. Louis would want him to join him in heaven, not be dragged to hell. Luckily the conversation is over as everyone gathers around the beacon. He hears whispers he doesn’t bother giving a second thought too. Time passes as he doesn’t listen to a word spoken too him. It is all introductions he doesn’t need to remember since he knows them all despite his best wishes.
He finds himself chopping down trees like he used to as a lumberjack. His peace is disrupted as Avid and Drift climb their way out of a cave. “WHY ARE YOU STANDING THERE ALL QUIET!?” Ah yes. Avid’s wonderful screaming. Music to his undead ears.
“I am chopping trees for the town.” Owen nonchalantly digs his axe into the stump of the tree in front of him. A few hits and he is calling out. “Timber!”
He can hear Avid rambling in Drift’s ear. Already he is filling the girls head with un-logical vampire symptoms. Do not get Owen wrong, he is a vampire, but Avid doesn’t need to be spewing his theories in her ears.
“Would either of you care to give me a hand with this?”
Drift grabs the tip of the tree and lifts with her legs. She has always been one of the smarter characters in this god forsaken town. Avid, with his arms crossed, gets into a whispering fight with himself as he and Drift carry the tree. In about two more feet of distance between them Avid decides to jog to catch up. With Owen carrying the stump, and the two humans at the front helping him navigate, he doesn’t need to fake a struggle. They drop the log down on a stack of other logs.
“I deeply appreciate your help. It is much harder on my own.” He lies through his fangs.
“We are happy to help!” She elbows Avid in the side. “Right, Avid?”
“Yes, yes! Of course! What were we talking about?” The last part is only whispered in the assumption Owen cannot here it, but he can.
“So, what were you lot doing exploring a dark cave by yourselves?” Owen smacks his gloved hands together to get dust off them.
Avid flinches. “Mining silver! And we weren’t alone, we had each other!”
“If you say so.” He peers down at the starting pile of chopped wood. “Plenty more to go. Would you mind joining me?” Owen looks at the humans who helped him.
“The moon will be rising soon, I saw we call it a night.” Drift makes the good call as Avid looks to be internally fighting himself over something. He likely wants to pick a fight with him. “Does either of you have a sleeping bag I could borrow?” She looks between the two men, and they blink back at her.
Owen swings his axe on the branches of the tree he cut moments before. “Why don’t we start a fire? Tomorrow will be for beds and housing?”
“Awesome!” Drift picks up the remaining branches to help Owen hall them over to an old fire place. Avid silently walks behind them. His eyes never leave Owen’s figure.
They drop the sticks. Owen picks up two decent sized stones and bashes them off one another. Sparks fly through the air. Hitting the pile of chopped wood, flames ignite. Ashes float in the sky as the night passes by. What a waste in his mind. The red moon freaks everyone out, but they calm down soon enough. Well, besides Avid. Midway through the night, people came in shouting about the undead, zombies and skeletons. A group of them sits near the fire most of the night.
Nearing five in the morning, Owen begins to build what last time was his and Sausages house. He almost has walls up when Sausage joins him. He isn’t the best builder, that is obvious to Owen. A child has better skills. If the situation were the same as last time, he would have only supplied wood to Sausage, but now that he helped rebuild a castle for for goodness sake, he feels his level of skill is higher than the human’s.
“What’s going on here?” Owen knows the answer already, but he finds joy in tormenting the boy placing signs by people’s doors. Avid jumps and begins to sprint away stammering about just placing signs around.
As dawn approaches, Avid goes around yelling about a house judging contest. They all have a day to build and decorate their temporary homes.
“What if a vampire comes along and sets it ablaze?” Owen asks with false worry to Avid and Drift as he looks over their house. Not much is done, but the walls are built and there is a roof to cover their heads.
Drift gets a bit too close for his comfort. “Can they do that?”
“All it takes is a flint and steal, and up it goes.”
“Why would a vampire do that when they have teeth? They bite people, not set stuff on fire.”
“Vampires are very ingenious creatures.”
“So you do believe in them?” Avid grabs Drifts shoulder with eyes that seem to sparkle when someone so much as might believe the creatures he rambles about. His eyes lock with Owen’s for the first time of them being there.
“You seem to know a lot about vampires.” Drift steps back, shrugging Avid’s hand off her shoulder. Her gaze looks Owen up and down as if examining for anything suspicious.
“I’m pulling your leg.” Owen smiles, resting a hand atop Avid’s head. He ruffles the already tangled hair before walking away. It’s odd how much joy he feels from making the proclaimed hunter flip.
The last time around, Pyro and him drove a stake deep into his heart. If he wishes to speak with Louis again, it may be in his best interest to not repeat those actions of hatred.
He returns from an outing to find food. Sausage had most of the house built at this time. Joining the two standing of the roof, Avid starts to declare that Scott is no doubt a vampire.
“Oh, for goodness sakes, not this again.” Owen sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Why? What makes you think he’s a vampire?” Sausage indulges him.
Owen hears footsteps approach them. He remembers this conversation. At least it seems no one suspects him yet. “Hello, everybody.” He calls down to them.
“We heard you talking about vampires!” Pearl shouts back up to the three on the roof.
“IT’S SCOTT! IT’S SCOTT! I THINK IT’S SCOTT!” Avid freaks. Even rudely cutting Owen off in the process.
“Yeah, Scott’s a vampire.” Sausage and Owen say in unison. Sausage continues speaking though. “He’s going to suck your blood!”
“No, no, no! Look at the signs! The signs are all around us!!!”
Owen crosses his arm. “Yeah literally, because you placed them everywhere.”
Pearl puts a hand to her chin and confides in the four, Owen, Sausage, Avid, and Drift, about a red beacon. Scott must have started desecrating them. Owen hasn’t noticed feeling different.
The conversation goes on longer than he would prefer. They get back on topic of Scott, just before he walks up and Avid goes crazy saying how he killed Shelby. He isn’t necessarily wrong, but that has not happened yet. Shelby — of course — ends up walking over to the group. Avid embraces her for a reason unknown to the girl at the time.
Him, Scott, Shelby, and Pyro begin to speak about the books together. “I think I am going to go out and search for more books, would any of you like to tag along?” Scott asks.
Pyro immediately agrees to tag along, but unlike last time, Owen declines. “I need to check on if Sausage is done interior decorating.”
He doesn’t feel the slightest bad about Pyro’s fate. Being a vampire is lovely. He should be grateful. Owen is deciding to take the long way, keeping his identity a secret from even the elder.
“Can I come see your house?” Shelby enthusiastically asks as she walks a few feet behind Owen. They haven’t talked much yet, so he can feel her nerves radiating off her.
“Of course you can.” Owen pushes the door open to their home and invites her in. He is fond of Shelby. Maybe he can keep her on his side.
She is in awe at the inside alone. Everything is decorated quite nicely. There are even two beds placed apart in the corner. “Where did you get such comfortable sheets!?” She lays on the bed like a starfish.
“I crafted it from wool from sheep in the forest.” Owen admits he is proud of his work. Even if he doesn’t need a bed, a comfortable surface to sit on is always a plus in his book. Anything is better than the dirt they stand on. “I made an extra pair if you would like.” He opens a cabinet and pulls out a white blanket and sheets. Owen pauses at the sight of Shelby, who looks like she will explode of gratefulness.
“I appreciate it!” She smiles widely and snatches the sheets from his hands. She bolts from the household, no doubt to lay the sheets out and take a long nap. The dark circles under her eyes tell him that much. The door swings shut.
Owen turns to dig out some raw meat, but is interrupted by the familiar odd feeling. Scott must have turned Pyro. He works rather quickly. It might become an issue for Owen if they become level three soon. All that matters at the moment is that even though there are three vampires in Oakhurst, they believe there are only two.