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Martyn coughed as he struggled to sit up. The air tasted of dust and dirt and his whole body ached. "Specs?"
The last thing he remembered was storming the castle with the rest of the militia. They'd taken the vampires by surprise at the beacon, the fight flowing over the wall to the mountain behind the castle. At one point, Martyn had cornered Shelby, and then... the ground had given out beneath his feet.
Blinking the dust from his eyes, Martyn took in his surroundings, the small area lit by the flickering light of his lantern where it laid at his side. There was a bit of space to move, a large boulder at his back rising up to block the worst of the rocks, but he could hear the ground still shifting above, settling in as more dust fell. In front of him, Shelby was half-buried in the rocks. She looked dead, pale and silent and covered in dust and dark blood. The sight had Martyn feeling queasy.
Vampires were evil. The suffocating darkness that emanated from the beacons they claimed was proof enough of that.
But Shelby had been such a bubbly girl, so eager to share her fantastical stories of creatures that didn't exist. Well, probably didn't exist. After the whole vampires reveal, Martyn was no longer entirely sure what to believe. She still seemed bubbly, from a distance. Smiling and clinging to Scott and Owen like they hadn't bled her dry. Sure, Scott talked all pretty about how Shelby was happy now, but Martyn could spot a bullshitter from a mile away. Like knows like, and all that rot.
Never once had Scott outright stated that Shelby had asked for the bite. Never once had he claimed this was her choice.
His words were definitely chosen to frame the picture of a young woman so eager to learn about myths and creatures of legend that she'd begged him to turn her, but stepping back, the rest of the picture out of sight was so much darker. Still, no matter how dark the original picture was, Shelby herself seemed to have fallen for the careful framing, picking her side and making her stand with the rest of the undead monsters.
"Wha-"
Martyn startled as he watched Shelby begin to stir. He grabbed the lantern, the warmth of its light comforting as he held it up, the chain slack as he tensed in preparation, the holy word at the tip of his tongue. If she came for him, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back. Still, Martyn couldn't help but hope it didn't come to that.
"S-Scott?"
Martyn laughed. "Not even close."
The sound of his voice had Shelby going still and then struggling to escape the rocks that had her trapped. Her movements shifted the rocks above them in a foreboding way.
"Stop that," he whispered harshly. "You're going to get us both buried.
Shelby stilled, lifting her head to stare at him. She cringed away with a whimper like a wounded kitten at the sight of the lantern in his hands.
"Please..." Shelby's voice trembled, soft and full of terror. "Please, not the fire. Not again."
She didn't look like a monster, her eyes wide and reflecting the flickering lantern light. She looked small and frightened, and even the red of her eyes wasn't enough to keep Martyn from feeling guilty. He tried to shove the feeling away - everything he'd done up to this point had been in self-defense. His survival pitted against the monsters'.
Still, he lowered the lantern, setting it on the ground between them. His hand still gripped the chain, prepared to pull it up if needed, but Shelby was hardly a threat like this. Trapped beneath the stone, so small and clearly having lost a lot of blood. There was no reason to torment her.
Slowly Shelby calmed, her eyes no longer quite so wild as she watched Martyn. Martyn just stared right back at her.
And then there was nothing for him to stare at. Shelby had vanished and the rocks overhead quickly spilled in to fill the gap. Something small smacked against Martyn's chest with a loud squeak and he looked down to find a tiny bat clinging to his shirt, trembling and squeaking.
"Oi!" Martyn snapped, flinching back against the wall of the small space, hands coming up to protect his neck. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm sorry," the little bat whimpered. "Please, please don't kill me. I couldn't stay like that."
Warily, not trusting the vampire to not go for his blood, Martyn eased his hands down, cupping them around the bat - Shelby - and lifting it closer to his eyes. She really was a tiny thing, her curly fur almost red beneath the sticky black of her vampiric blood. He could feel her little claws curling against his palm, the fragile length of her wings shifting and shaking beneath his touch.
"Please, Martyn. I never hurt you! I never hurt anyone. Please, please, don't hurt me."
Martyn scowled. "I'm not going to hurt you," he bit back, angry that she was able to make him feel guilty. "I'm not a monster like you."
"You killed me," Shelby snapped, bristling and glaring up at him. Her eyes seemed even larger like this. "You burnt me alive! Do you know how much that hurts? You set me on fire just for existing!"
"You were trying to turn the beacon," Martyn defended himself.
"So what?"
Martyn just blinked at her, taken aback.
"So, when you turn the beacon, it's evil. It's painful and dark."
"And when you turn the beacons, it's so bright it hurts! I'd call that evil."
"That's because you're a monster," Martyn scoffed. "It only hurts because you're evil."
Shelby fell silent, blinking up at him for a long moment. "Is Cleo evil?"
"Wha-"
"Is. Cleo. Evil?" Shelby repeated, slow and firm.
"Of course not-" Martyn realized what Shelby was getting at too late. "What do you know about Cleo?"
"I saw her talking to you as a bat. You didn't try to kill her. Is she evil, just because she was turned?"
Martyn bristled at the implication. "Cleo didn't hide what happened to her," he defended himself, but he knew it wasn't enough.
"Cleo trusted you. How do you think I felt?" Shelby's voice trembled. "The person I trusted most... he turned on me. He would have killed me if Pyro hadn't lost control. He said it was a gift, that you all would kill me for good if you found out... and he was right." One tiny paw rubbed at her muzzle as she whimpered sadly. "The first thing you did was set me on fire."
"Is that why you stayed with Scott and Owen?" Martyn's voice was soft, his hands opening up. Hadn't he just been contemplating Scott's penchant for twisting the truth around to his liking. Was it any wonder that Shelby, who proudly wore her heart on her sleeve, even in the face of mockery and derision, had fallen for his pretty words?
"I'm not stupid," Shelby whispered. "But... I was scared and alone and they promised to be my family. They promised to keep me safe. They're not all bad, you know. They just- they don't know what it's like to be human and scared."
And for a moment, Martyn considered for the first time what he might have done if Scott had gotten to him. If he, coward that he was, would have felt safe telling Ren or even Cleo the truth about what had been done to him. Survival above all else, even the people he'd grown to care about. Especially the people he'd grown to care about if the threat to his survival was their potential rejection.
The rocks above them began to shift and creak, the single large boulder protecting their little shelter shifting ominously. Without a second thought, Martyn curled himself protectively over Shelby. When the worst of it seemed to be over, the loud noises settling once more, Martyn eased himself back up
"Can you fly?" he asked Shelby. If they didn't get out of here soon, they would both be dead, and Martyn had already used up all his luck for near-death experiences.
"No." Slowly, hesitantly, Shelby shook her head, lifting one of her wings to show that it had been badly cut.
"What if I let you have some blood?" Martyn began rolling up his sleeve. It was a gamble, and one he wouldn't even have considered if it were any of the other castle vampires in here with him, but if Shelby was able to heal, she might be able to help get them both out alive.
"I don't drink human-"
"We need to get out of here, Shelby," Martyn reminded her. "Will the blood help?"
She nodded silently.
"Then take it. Just enough to heal." Martyn held out his arm, wrist fully exposed. "If you turn me, I'll stake you."
Shelby didn't change back. Instead she wrapped her small claws around his hand. Martyn held back the urge to fling her away, unused to being touched at all, but much less by her gentle bat paws. Then tiny teeth pierced the tender skin of Martyn's inner wrist like needles. She took much less than Martyn had expected, licking away the droplets of blood that welled up as she pulled away. "Your blood tastes weird," she complained.
"Hey!"
"Scott said human blood was delicious, but yours..." her little muzzle wrinkled up in distaste. "It tastes off."
Martyn forced down the urge to argue. He wasn't about to complain if vampires didn't want his blood, no matter how offended he was. "Did it help?"
She nodded, holding her wings out so Martyn could see the torn membrane already knitting back together.
"Great! Now you just-" The stones shifted again, spilling in beneath the makeshift roof that was keeping them from being buried.
Martyn pulled Shelby close, her fur sticky beneath his grasp, shifting as far back as he could manage. Then he heard the voices.
"Mr. Woodhurst!"
"Shelby?"
Not even the sound of Pyro's voice could ruin the sudden warmth Martyn felt at hearing Ren calling out for him. He'd never had someone he could rely on before.
"Specs! We're here!" Martyn called back. "Be careful!"
Shelby had started trembling again at the sound of Ren's voice.
"I won't let him hurt you," Martyn found himself promising, his fingers gently scratching beneath her ears. "You're safe until we're both out of here. After that..." he shrugged. Martyn wasn't about to make any promises, not when the two groups had fundamentally opposing needs that would put them at odds. But if he aimed his attacks at Scott or Owen, no one would care.
Shelby nodded, nuzzling into his touch so easily and looking up at him with hopeful eyes.
"Don't look at me like that," Martyn scolded. "I'm not gonna be all buddy-buddy with you bloodsuckers."
Shelby just laughed, nipping playfully at the tip of one finger.
It really was too bad she was on Scott's side despite everything he'd done.
