Work Text:
“Now that you’re with us, I want to show you something.” Shelby whispered.
She and Avid crept through the castle together, hand in hand.
“Is it something that’s going to get us in trouble or something?” Avid asked.
“No, no. It’s nothing like that.”
“Why are we hiding then?”
“It’s just a little secret for me. And I’m sharing it with you.” They threw a conspiratorial grin over their shoulder.
Avid squeezed her hand a little tighter, trusting her not to guide him wrong. Shelby led the way around to the back of the castle, and down into the cave that lay so close to the walls. At a dead end she paused.
“We’ll have to transform into bats here.”
“Okay? But why? There isn’t anywhere to go from here but back where we came.”
Shelby’s eyes squinted when she smiled and she glanced pointedly up at the ceiling. Avid looked up and groaned when he saw a small hole that looked like it would just about fit a bat through.
“Shelby, tell me we’re not going in there.”
“It’s cozy, I’m sure you’ll like it.” Somehow they had slipped into bat form and were already crawling through the hole.
Avid watched her disappear into the hole. He didn’t like how dark it looked in there, but ah, well. Who cared, it’s not like anything could hurt him anymore. With a shrug Avid transformed and followed her up.
It was a bit more spacious than he was expecting. The little hole was decorated with little scraps of cloth artfully displayed in rainbow order. In the corner sat a bottle of blood, that Avid assumed was a snack in case she got hungry. In the opposite corner was a little bit of paper and the smallest feather and inkwell he had ever seen. It was honestly adorable.
“Wow.” He murmured, “What’s all this?”
“It’s my little hidey-hole. Isn’t it cute? You’re allowed in here anytime you want, just don’t tell the others.”
“Aww, you trust me with your secret place?”
“Of course! You’re my fledgling.” Shelby flopped down on the cloth.
Avid followed. There was room just enough for the two of them pressed together. Shelby threw one wing over him and pulled him closer.
“This is nice. It feels… calm. For the first time since I came to Oakhurst, it feels like.”
Shelby sighed, “I love it here. Anytime I feel overwhelmed I come hide here until I feel like all of the big scary stuff outside isn’t so scary anymore.”
Avid snuggled closer. It was awkward trying to figure out where to place his wings so that they weren’t in the way. Shelby seemed so confident in the way she moved her body. He wished he could feel that same confidence. Sure, he had overcome his fear and disgust with turning into a bat, but it hadn’t changed how strange it felt. The fur felt itchy in a way he wasn’t used to. When the wings weren’t being used to fly, they felt out of place.
“How do you do it?” He asked.
“Do what?” Shelby asked, puzzled.
“Be yourself. Even as a bat. You still seem like you.”
“Are you not yourself right now?”
Avid shrugged. He never really felt like himself, really. The day he had been scratched and started turning into a terrifying monster was when he stopped feeling like he knew who he was or what he was doing. All he could hope for was a cure. Which had come in the form of being turned into a vampire, but it was still so new. He wasn’t used to not feeling pain all the time.
“I don’t know. I wish I did.”
Shelby leaned forward and touched her nose briefly to his forehead. “I don’t know if I feel like me either, to be honest. I just am. I can’t help it.”
He blinked up at her. Maybe when everything in Oakhurst was over, he could learn to be more himself with Shelby, and find out what it meant for the man named Avid to be a vampire.