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Pyro stood over the body of the last human, panting and bloody. Pearl lay below his swaying figure, an axe lodged deep in her chest.
Her eyes were dim and unmoving, softer looking than in life now that her whole face had the colour and life drained from it. Hair framed her face in locks matted with blood, thanks to the gash on her forehead. Blood still dripped down her face, staining her skin with what Pyro had to do.
The vampire's eyes dragged further downwards, processing what had happened.
Her chest no longer rose and fell with each breath, but that didn't unnerve Pyro. No, he was used to a body being eerily still. This was different.
She wasn't still in the way a vampire could still their body, but still in the way a corpse is left to bleed out.
The axe had handprints along the handle; Pyro's own, marked in blood, and proof of his sins.
Was it worth it? Was the life of a (seemingly) innocent person worth being able to leave?
Leave.
He could finally leave.
The strength now coursing through his body was suddenly a lot more obvious. He flexed his claws, a thousand thoughts running through his head, yet at the same time, he felt so hollow.
This was a victory, so why wasn't he celebrating?
He should take the axe. He really should: it was a gift from his sire. But he didn't want to take it from Pearl.
Despite himself, his hands moved forward, and with some effort, he pulled the axe from where it was embedded. Then, he placed it next to her body, the blade by her head.
He crouched by the body, hand moving and gently closing her eyes. He owed her that much, at least.
Her hands were still gripping her sword, tightly, just like she had been before he delivered the final blow. He pried each finger from grasping the weapon, then laid it by the axe. Both weapons were blood-stained, and despite the glow of weakness emanating from the silver sword willing him to drop it, he held firm and placed it just as carefully as he did the axe.
Standing up, he looked over the body once again. It looked more peaceful now; less like she had died trying to desperately defend herself, and more like he had been purposefully laid there to rest; as if you could just about convince yourself she was asleep (if you ignored her head injury and the deep laceration on her chest, directly between her lungs).
Pyro's stomach churned and he ripped away his gaze, clutching his stomach. The delicious stench of blood and flesh filled his nostrils, but he turned away from the body and began walking away.
The fight had taken quite the toll on him, and even though the vampires had won and a new strength filled his veins, weakness overwhelmed it, too much blood lost in the fight.
He had had a wound on his torso, but as he pressed down on the flesh where it should be, all he felt was scarred tissue and skin. Thankfully, his vampiric healing hadn't yet left him, but the effort of closing up the damage had only made his hunger worse.
He needed to go back to the castle - regroup with the rest of the coven. From what he knows, only him, Scott, Shelby and Owen was left. That being said, he had an earlier wave of weakness that told him a vampire had chose death willingly, and questions of who it was nagged at his brain.
All he needed to do was find some animals, then he can bat back to the castle.
He stumbled some more steps, before spotting a sheep. He bared his fangs and flexed his claws, then launched forward with the last of his strength.
Claws lashed forward into the soft flesh and he made quick work of the animal. After successfully killing it, he sunk his fangs in and revelled in the taste of fresh blood. Of course, it was just animal blood, bland and tasteless, but god did it taste good when he was this weak.
His fangs dug deeper, desperately draining each drop of life force, as he got drunk on the feeling of power once again returning to him. Once satisfied, he tore into the flesh, swallowing down the meat, like some sort of rabid animal.
He sighed in relief as he took a step back, wiping blood from his chin and around his mouth.
Scott was bound to be on his arse about it later. He always was so insistent on eating manners. But that's fine. It wouldn't matter much longer anyway.
"Wait!" He had shouted before he could stop himself. He sat at the table in the dining room at the castle, posture straight and fingers fidgeting on his lap. Scott - his brand new sire - had just lectured and berated him on his table etiquette, and Pyro was very consciously trying to correct himself.
"What is it?"
"Dont- please don't leave."
Goldsmith raised an eyebrow. "You want me to stay sitting with you in a half-built dining room?"
Pyro hesitated. "No. Just-" it was stupid, really. But he had to be sure. He swallowed. "Your not going to- to leave me because I'm a bad fledgling?"
And Scott purred "of course not, childe." A beat, and then, "as long as you don't give me a reason to leave, I'll stay."
Speaking of his sire, what would happen now? He hated him, but couldn't bear to be away from at the same time. He loved him, but he also hated him. What was he supposed to do with that?
Before, it was easy: stay on Scott's good side, because your stuck with him for an undefined amount of time, and he could easily rip you to shreds if he wanted.
But now...
The lack of food had forced Scott down to about the same power level as Pyro - still stronger in experience, but on level ground in terms of actual power. Also, he wasn't stuck here anymore. The lack of humans was proof of that.
So what would happen?
Before he could dwell on it much longer, he came up to the bridge to the castle, and began to cross. He stood just outside the door, and could hear chatter from inside, but only two voices, from what he could tell. It sounded like Scott and Shelby.
He took a deep breath, then opened the heavy door and walked in.
It was easy to track the voices down to the dining room, and he walked in. Scott and Shelby were sat at their usual seats, and the obviously more upbeat of the two seemed to perk up as Pyro walked in, though she made no move to greet him, despite the way Pyro could see his fledgling shift, like she had something to say.
Both of them went quiet as he walked to his seat and slumped down. "I killed Pearl" he muttered, breaking the silence.
A wicked grin spread over Scott's face. "So that was you, huh? I never thought you would do something actually useful."
"Useless!" The harsh words rang through the empty beach. Shelby and Owen had long since left, and Pyro cowered on the floor. "Insolent, idiotic, arrogant childe"
He reached down and Pyro shrunk away, but Scott roughly grabbed his collar, hauling him up to eye level. "Sire, please" the fledgling choked out, trembling.
"If you ever steal my meal again, I will not hesitate to kill you. Understand me, child?" He spat.
Pyro nodded frantically. "Yes, sire. Of course- I'm sorry" and he was sorry. The act of killing and turning Shelby had been driven by hunger and instincts he couldn't control while so young.
Scott dropped him, and Pyro scrambled to his feet.
He began walking away.
But before Pyro could stop himself, "stay! Please stay- dont- don't leave me alone" he called after him.
The elder vampire turned, then after a beat, spoke. "Fine. Come, childe. I'll deal with you at the castle"
Shelby glanced at Pyro, then at Scott. "So what does this mean? Can we leave now?" She asked, staring at Scott with expectant eyes, shimmering with excitement.
Scott paused for a moments hesitation, then nodded curtly. "Yes. I believe so"
A smile appeared on Shebly's face as she let out a sigh of relief. "Finally." Then the smile faded slightly. "So, is this goodbye?" She asked, a little quieter.
The room fell into silence.
Was it goodbye? Or were they forever tied to eachother? Would they stay? Or would the three of them be granted emrcy, and never see eachother again?
Did Pyro want to ever see them again? What about Shelby, Scott? Did they want to see any of them - and of this; Oakhurst - ever again?
Shelby and Scott had always been close. Pyro was more than aware of the soft spot he held for Shelby and had once also held for Avid. Before Pyro had killed him.
"I drove the stake in" Pyro admitted confidently. He wasn't afraid to tell them what he had done.
A number of reactions followed; a few gasps, the sound of Cleo laughing almost hysterically, but most of all, the one he was really watching was Scott's reaction.
He had, deep down, done this for him afterall.
Which is why he was so shocked when Scott seemed so indifferent (at least on the outside) and Shelby was the one to react so upset.
"What?" She asked, voice quivering. For a moment she just stood there, hands curled into fists by her side and vaguely trembling as she looked down.
Then that moment passed, and the shock and disbelief quickly turned into grief and anger.
"Pyro, what the fuck?" She muttered, stepping closer to him and pushing him away slightly. "Why would you do that?"
Pyro was caught of guard for a moment, then collected himself. "He was a liability. A loose cannon. He should never have been made a vampire." He told her firmly, though he felt a small piece inside of him as shelby, his fledgling; someone he regarded almost as a sibling, seemed to grow even more disgusted at his words. At him.
"What gives you the right to decide that? To take something like that?"
Now, Pyro can't act like he hadn't at least half been expecting this: Avid had been her fledgling after all, but he wasn't expecting... this. Were they really that close?
It honestly made Pyro even more satisfied with his death.
If anyone asked him, he killed Avid because he was untrustworthy, he was weak, and he was not, in any way, on their side. Though, if anyone asked him on a deeper level, he knew it was because his sire had gotten close with Avid. Because Avid was stealing Scott away. Because he wasn't sure if Scott would want to stay with him anymore if Avid was better than him.
But now? Now it was partly because Avid had also been stealing Shelby. Taking his found family. Taking everything that he thought was just for him to enjoy, for him to spend time with.
Avid really did deserve it.
"That depends" Scott was the first to break the silence, ever the leadership type. Always cocky and confident. Could Pyro ever be like that? "Do you want it to be goodbye?"
More silence followed. Always Silence. Then, Shelby tentatively answered. "I don't know" she admitted. "I like you Scott. I think deep down your a good person." She glanced at her own Sire now. "And I want to believe you are too. But now I'm not sure. All you've done is prove me otherwise"
Scott seemed almost amused at the beginning of a final (?) conversation forming, and clicked his tongue. "She's right, childe. Murdering Avid was not your best move."
It was a few hours later now. The others had gone to do various other things. Pyro and Scott were alone in the ballroom.
The younger of the two cleared his throat. "Do you resent what I did?" He asked, voice coming out louder than intended in the slightly echoey room.
Scott hadn't said anything on the matter all day. If anything he had been avoiding the subject; and Pyro in the process too.
Scott glanced at him. "For killing Avid?" He hummed for a few moments, contemplating his next words carefully. "I can appreciate you doing what you think is right" he took a few steps closer, crimson eyes gleaming threateningly, "but if you ever do something like this again before consulting me first I won't hesitate to rip out your trachea."
The elder vampire straightened up and walked towards the exit as Pyro didn't move, honestly at a loss for words.
He hadn't expected praise or anything, (well maybe a bit), but he didn't expect such a... lash out.
"Dont touch what's mine again, Pyro" he muttered.
Before he could leave - and before he could stop himself - Pyro called out from where he still stood. "Are you going to stay?"
A question Scott was so used to now. He knew exactly what it meant. His fledgling had always needed that kind of reassurance.
A couple beats of silence, then, "that depends. Are you going to take responsibility? Are you going to be honest with yourself?"
Pyro shot him a glare. Scott looked almost surprised, but his usual unreadable smirk tugged at his lips and masked whatever he thought about the expression.
Taking in a deep breath first, Pyro began to speak. "I'm not going to sit here and act like I regret killing Avid, because I don't."
Shelby's response was quick, like she was expecting that answer, or at least something similar. "Then I also can't pretend like I want to see you again." She turned away from him and sat facing the table again, facing Scott.
A small piece of Pyro's cold, undead heart broke at that, but he didn't make it known.
He swallowed. "Good."
Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Good?" She repeated. She glanced at Pyro curiously, then looked away again, like just looking at him was too much for her.
Scott also seemed vaguely caught of guard by this, so Pyro expanded.
He nodded faintly. "This isn't an.. easy decision. But it's also not a hard one at all. I want nothing to do with this place. I want nothing to do with you" he gestured vaguely at Shelby. "And I sure as hell want nothing to do with you." He looked directly at Scott now.
Neither of them reacted at first, then Scott burst out laughing. Pyro narrowed his eyes at him.
"Wow!" Scott said through almost amused laughter then it stopped abruptly, his voice wavering between hysteric and threatening, "Oh my god, Pyro! You have a lot of fucking bravery to waltz in here and claim all of that after everything that has happened"
Pyro froze, but he didn't yet back down. Instead, he swallowed his nervousness and kept firm eye contact with the elder vampire. "Like what? Enlighten me, Scott." Pyro saw Scott quirk his eyebrow ever so slightly; he had grown far too used to his fledgling referring to him as 'Sire' rather than his name.
Scott scoffed. "Do I need to? Need I remind you of all those times, where you would say," Scott put on a fake, higher sort of voice now, "oh Sire. Please don't leave. I need you to stay" he mocked.
Pyro rolled his eyes at the terrible impression. Was that supposed to be him? "I do need you to stay. Stay the fuck away from me"