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Asher was stomping down the slick steps of Vincent’s cabin when he heard it. He was shocked he could hear anything over the rain, honestly. The storm seemed to only grow stronger as every day passed, thunderclouds thickening every minute.
But under the sound of rain and thunder, Asher heard it. His shifter instincts tingled as he turned on his heel, eyeing the empty entryway cautiously.
A door had opened.
Not one that Asher could see, his view of the cabin limited being outside of it. He was sure he had heard it, though.
He took one step towards the house, then another, craning his neck to see further in. Asher debated shifting on the spot, unsure of what he was going to find inside. He couldn’t sense any magical signatures with Vincent’s gone now, but he knew what he heard.
Asher gingerly walked back up the steps of the porch, careful to remain out of sight of the doorframe. He didn’t want anyone to see him approach. Peering around the door ever so slightly, he looked inside.
What he saw was not what he was expecting.
Someone was hovering beside Vincent’s body.
Kneeling beside the vampire’s mutilated corpse was a human- a frail human, by the look of their shaking limbs. One hand was covering their mouth in horror while the other ghosted around the marred flesh where Vincent’s shoulder used to be. Tears were forming in their eyes as a choked sob filled the empty space.
What were they doing here?
Asher watched them for a moment before he noticed the scars that littered their body. Bite marks, scratches, up their arms, around their neck. Some looked old, faded into their skin, but others appeared to be fresh, as if they had been bitten just moments before Asher arrived at the cabin. There was even a faint line of dried blood on the collar of their shirt.
His gut sank as he realized what they were.
Live-in blood.
He shifted forward a bit more, and their gaze shot up at the movement and sound.
This, Asher realized, was a bad move.
The human’s eyes raked over him once, taking in the blood on Asher from when he ambushed Vincent. Their eyes widened, hand around their mouth muffling a terrified gasp as they stared at each other.
They were trying to run away from him before he even had the chance to raise his hand in peace.
Trying was the best way to describe what was happening. The human was weak, that Asher could see from the way they stumbled to their feet but could barely hold themselves upright. They caught themselves on the wall, legs wobbling, as Asher came up from behind to try and keep them from falling. The human flinched when he touched their arm, something akin to a yelp coming from them as they desperately tried to get away from him.
“I’m not- Hey, stop-!” Asher tried to say, hands coming up to their arms. “I’m not going to hurt you- just hold still!”
This only seemed to motivate them to get away more. They struggled against him, back against the wall, eyes screwed shut. Their hands flew out, blindly batting against his chest.
“Jesus- stop!” Asher snapped, grip moving to their forearms to keep them from hitting him.
Without thinking, Asher shook them and pressed the human against the wall. He just needed them to calm down so he could talk to them. They were lighter than he thought they’d be, and they hit the wooden wall harder than Asher had intended. He cringed when they cried out in pain, legs kicking out as they lost their balance.
When Asher looked at their face again, he realized they were crying. They were trembling so hard in his grasp.
Because of him.
Asher dropped his hands, releasing the human from his hold. They retracted away from him immediately, but then Asher watched as their legs gave out from under them and they slid down the wall to the floor. The human pulled their knees to their chest, hiding their head under their arms and shaking with quiet tears.
He stood there for a moment, unsure of what do to. Asher wasn’t good at comforting people like this. He didn’t know how to help them calm down.
Stepping away from them, Asher crouched down to their level. Maybe distance would help.
“Hey,” he started and cringed at the way they flinched when he spoke. Gentler, softer, Asher coached himself. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
They looked up at him from under their arms, eyes red and afraid. Asher could still see a subtle tremble in their hands.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
Their eyes widened a bit more as they shrunk into themselves. Asher’s brows knitted in confusion. Did they not know their own name?
“My name is Asher,” he tried again. “Can you tell me your name?”
This time, their head rose slightly, and their arms fell away from their cowering position above their head. They shook their head side to side, trying to tell him no, they couldn’t.
Asher huffed in irritation. “You can’t tell me your name?”
They stared at him, silently.
“Can you tell me where you’re from?”
Silence. Maybe personal information was a no-go.
“Why you’re here?”
Silence. Why weren’t they answering? Were they mute or something?
“How you knew Vincent?”
Asher regretted asking the question because the human’s eyes began to well with tears once again.
“Fuck,” he said, not knowing how to handle them again. Or at all. “Don’t- uh, don’t cry. It’s okay.”
Their eyes flicked from him to the dead body behind him and Asher bit the inside of his cheek. This wasn’t helping his case.
He shifted to the side, trying to cover the sight of Vincent with his own body. Out of sight, out of mind, right? That could work.
“Look, uh,” Asher started again, watching them carefully. They watched him just as cautiously back. “Can you tell me anything at all?”
They shook their head again. No.
“Can you speak?”
No.
They pointed to Vincent behind him. So they haven’t forgotten about him, Asher thought, great. Then they shook their head again.
Asher stared at them for a moment, trying to puzzle together what they were trying to say. Vincent, and no. No speaking. Vincent. No speaking.
“You can’t talk because of him?”
They nodded. Yes.
“Did he hurt you?” Asher asked.
No.
Asher eyed the bites on their arms and neck. He was sure there were more hidden under their clothes. He had seen it loads of times with… with…
Nevermind.
“What about the bites? He bit you, and hurt you, right?” Asher asked instead.
The human ducked their head down, obscuring their expression slightly, but Asher could see how their lips curled into a small smile. He saw the heat on their cheeks as they hid their face.
Oh.
Oh.
That is so fucked up, Asher thought.
The human was weak and fragile. A strong wind could have taken them out without an issue. Vincent had been feeding on them, a lot, by the looks of it, for God knows how long. And yet here they were, blushing at the mention of what the leech had done to them.
As if their toxic bullshit with a vamp were fond memories to look back on.
“He hurt you,” Asher stated, ignoring the way they shook their head again. “He did. This is wrong. This… this is fucked.”
Their eyes watered again. Asher couldn’t help but pity them.
“I can- uh,” Asher started, then fell short. What would the pack think about what he was about to do?
It didn’t matter. He was the alpha. They followed him and his decisions. This person needed help.
“You’re hurt. And weak,” he said bluntly. “Let me help you.”
They shook their head adamantly.
Asher sighed. “You’ll die out here alone. He can’t help you anymore. He’s… he’s gone, okay?”
Their head shook again. In denial, perhaps? Asher couldn’t tell.
“Look for yourself, then.”
Asher stood and moved out of the way to show Vincent’s body again. He watched as they eyed Vincent, eyes wide and afraid. They looked at Asher, then back at Vincent, and then shocked Asher when they began to shuffle toward the corpse.
He watched silently as their hands hovered over his body, close but never touching. Shaking uncontrollably.
Then, their hand came to wrap around Vincent’s- which was still intact, surprisingly- and lifted it up to their face. Or, at least Asher thought. He expected them to press their cheek into Vincent’s cold palm, as a character would in a movie, but instead, they curled the vampire’s hand around the side of their neck and cried.
They sobbed, ugly and loud, and Asher wondered how on Earth Vincent managed to get someone to care this much for him. The man was a monster and yet, this human was mourning him like one would a cherished lover.
They sat like that for a moment, until the human seemed to exhaust themselves with the effort it took to cry. Asher drew close to them again and crouched down, where he quickly met their eyes.
“He’s gone,” he repeated, reaching out and taking the limp limb from their grasp. They didn’t fight him when he deposited it back onto the bloody floor. His hand extended to them. “Let me help you.”
The human eyed his hand, wary. Tear tracks and splotches littered their face.
With trembling fingers, they took his hand.
Asher sighed in relief. He shouldn’t care about people like this. Caring like this got people in trouble- got people killed. He should have left them for dead the moment they tried to run away from him.
But that wasn’t how shifters worked. That- that wasn’t how David had worked. David had taken in everyone- even Tank, or Stealth, who carried baggage and problems that got them into sticky situations. He protected and he helped, even when he shouldn’t have.
Asher took a breath. He’d want you to help, still, he chided, and he quickly hauled the human to their feet.
Helping is what got David killed.
They stumbled as they stood, their free hand coming up instinctually to balance themselves on Asher’s chest. The human looked down at Vincent again, then up at Asher, eyes sleepy.
Maybe more than sleepy, because next thing Asher knew, said eyes were rolling back and the human was collapsing into him.
He caught them easily, pulling them up into their arms and he maneuvered his way to the door once again. Well, so much for having only one person to care for, he thought sarcastically, Marie is going to love me for this one.
As Asher crossed the threshold, back out onto the rainy porch, he paused, sensing a presence. He looked down at the human in his arms. That can’t be right.
Is that even possible?
How had he not sensed it earlier?
It wasn’t there earlier.
Asher was dumbfounded. But it was there. Deep down, buried in this human was a tiny, flickering light of a magical aura.
He stared at them in the pouring rain with disbelief.
What the fuck?