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These beacons were a strange thing. They hadn't been there when Abolish had left Oakhurst, but their presence unsettled him. He had found four so far: those at the town and castle, one in a crypt buried in a hillside near town. And this one, on a pond's island, a black tower built around it. He had never seen a practical application of magic so potent and so malleable. Just a few minutes surrounded by humans and the town beacon had turned from neutral grey to warm orange, it's magic no doubt feeling wonderful to the humans that converted it.
This one's power was starting to make him feel sick. He held a hand on it's glass surface, watching the orange glow swirl and fade around his hand. Nothing he had tried could break the glass and it very much felt like the magic had permeated the casing; destroying these unfortunately wasn't an option, at least not in the long run. He did want to see if their activation was a one-time deal or if it could be reversed.
The silence of the night also allowed him to ponder on what to do next. He was stuck here. They all were, until further notice, and it could quickly become a bloodbath if he wasn't careful about it. Twelve humans for two vampires was easy work, but the moment they understood what was happening and banded up, when the wild animals would long have run dry, that would make things a lot harder. He didn't just want to kill them and waste their blood.
He just wished it wasn't _Scott_ he was trapped with. Six hundred would have done nothing to change the man, and Abolish knew he wouldn't be as careful with his hunger as Abolish would be. It beat being stuck with a vampire he knew nothing about, but it still wasn't a great situation.
Speaking of Scott, Abolish heard his and two other people's voices drifting through the woods. Reluctantly, because the its glow had almost been extinguished, he took his hand off the beacon and stepped down to greet the party. Out from the trees emerged Scott, his blue hair still glaringly out of place, accompanied by Pyro, the scholar who'd complimented Abolish's clothes earlier, and Owen, who Abolish hadn't gotten a good look at yet, but seemed solitary enough to not worry about.
"Ah, hi Abolish," Scott greeted when he caught sight of the other. "Pyro said he'd seen this beacon on the way over, we thought we'd check it out."
Pyro gave a small wave and a short "Hi," but didn't add much. Owen was scribbling something on a piece of paper, presumably a map he was making.
Abolish nodded and started back up to the beacon. There were two humans and two vampires; easy enough meal. Scott had gone out with the two of them too, he'd be the one framed — rightfully accused — for their disappearance. Only problem was Scott liked fledgelings, and Abolish certainly wasn't acting like one right now.
"What are you doing here?" Pyro asked, after it became clear Abolish wasn't going to reciprocate Scott's greeting.
"I was just looking for more beacons," Abolish replied. "I found one in a crypt by the hillside that looked like it had been dug just for it. And this one," he added, gesturing behind him, "which clearly had that structure built to contain it."
"They're weird, aren't they," Owen added. While Pyro and Scott were wading through the murky waters to get to the island, Owen stayed firmly on the other side of the water. Seeing that his companions were set on going to the beacon, he sighed and stuffed the paper back in his pocket. "Well, I've got better things to do than hunt around for magic, or whatever. I'll see you in the morning."
One human for two vampires, then. He didn't feel like jumping either one of the humans; Owen was sickly, but there was a jumpiness to him, and Abolish didn't want to chance wither one of them getting away and running back to town. He watched Owen walk back into the woods as Pyro and Scott approached him, wringing out the bottom of their coats as best they could.
"Urgh, I hate getting wet," Scott complained.
Pyro completely ignored the comment, much to Abolish's content. "Owen's a weird one, isn't he?"
"He's just solitary." And distrustful, too. Even after claiming he didn't believe a word of what Avid claimed, he still gave Scott a wide birth and a careful look. "Some people are like that."
The three of them went back to the beacon, it's warm glow no doubt feeling wonderful for Pyro, who's humanity was sheltered by it. Abolish's mind was running. He wanted the food, he was so hungry, but doubted that Scott would let him have any drop of blood. He would claim his age as a factor for respect or find a way to get Pyro alone again just to keep him to himself. Unfortunate. Maybe he could go after Owen and find him before he made his way back to town.
"Hey Pyro, could you give us a minute?" Scott called out. He was already half-way up to the beacon, so Abolish followed him quickly.
"Yeah, sure," Pyro replied, sticking his hands in his pockets. He made his way closer to the edge of the water again, walking slowly, killing time.
Abolish turned to Scott, unamused. "So where were you going with that?"
Scott shrugged, laying a hand on the beacon. "I thought Owen might be a vampire too, given the way that he is."
"Right."
"Didn't expect you to be here, though," he added, almost like an afterthought. "Wish Owen had stayed a little longer."
"So do I," Abolish replied with a sigh. He laid his hand on the beacon as well, watching the orange wisps turn grey again as they agglomerated around his hand. "I'm not letting you take all of it."
"Why not?" Scott fired back, like a petulant child. "I'm the oldest, I lay claim."
Down below, Pyro had come back a bit closer, looking up at the two of them. "What's going on up there?"
"Nothing," Abolish answered, quickly turning back to Scott. "Only if we take into account the six hundred years you spent doing nothing but sleeping." He would fight if he needed to. Scott wasn't about to take this from him.
Scott rolled his eyes. "Fine then. How about we share?"
Like Abolish would ever trust him to hold his word. "You go first. I'll be watching."
Pyro was at the base of the tower now, looking between the two vampires with piercing blue eyes that were soon to be dull and glassy. "What's up? Watching what, the beacon?"
"Watching you, silly," Scott remarked, his voice dripping honey and venom both. "And me, technically."
Vampirism stood on a very strange line when it came to power. They couldn't access most things that would classically be qualified at magic, but some things slipped through the cracks. The unnatural strength, for once, their ability to turn invisible and into a bat as well. And the tiniest form of hypnosis, not always used, but very useful in situations just like this one.
Scott approached an uncertain Pyro, frozen in place by fear or something more, bringing him close, biting though the thin skin of their neck before they could react. It took them a few sluggish seconds to come back to their senses, but the damage was already done.
Jumping down from the tower to come closer to them, Abolish watched Scott feed, waiting for him to hold his part of the deal.
It quickly became clear to him that that wasn't going to happen. Scott was hungry, and a vampire's anger was far less worrying to him than going a day without being the most powerful person around. Abolish came closer, almost looming over Scott's shoulder, watching Pyro's desperate attempts at evading the vampires grasp, but there was no reaction from Scott there either.
The was a particular was to grab the head that forced the jaw to loosen, which Abolish had come to learn was a very useful thing when dealing with creatures such as vampires. In a flash Scott was off of Pyro, stumbling backwards with the force of the pull, and Pyro was gaining his footing, immediately turning around to get away, screaming "Vampires!" like anyone was there to hear him.
Abolish heard Scott draw his sword, saw Pyro run down to the shore and drew his own sword, putting himself in between the two of them as he took off after Pyro as well. The sword slashed his back as his own missed Pyro by an inch. Abolish followed Pyro down to the riverbed and into the water as they splashed around wildly, lost in their panic. He wasn't used to fighting with swords anymore; the distance they required to operate didn't sit right with him and he didn't want Pyro to lose any more blood than strictly necessary.
Scott hadn't even breached the water, Abolish could tell. It was easy enough then to get a hold of Pyro and drag them out of the water. Easier even to sink his fangs into his neck, right over Scott's prior bite, to better hide the fact that there'd be two wounds.
Fresh blood flooded Abolish's mouth, a delicacy he hadn't been able to afford in far too long. He drank, careful still to not let a single drop go to waste, until the vein ran dry, and then some more. He did, admittedly, take a lot more than he'd allowed Scott. But Scott hadn't fought for it either.
Abolish stood up from crouching over Pyro's body and was met with an annoyed glare from Scott, which he ignored in favour of washing the blood off his face and hands in the lake. They had come to an arrangement and Scott broke it the second he could. He had no reason to be as upset as he looked, or to complain about any of what happened.
"You didn't even turn him," Scott started, disgust dripping from his voice.
Was that really the concern? Sure, having to explain why Pyro was missing would be a headache for Scott, but it was nothing a liar couldn't handle. Besides, given Pyro's reaction, he wouldn't have made for a very good fledgeling, at least not in the time frame they were working with here.
"Of course I didn't," Abolish replied, coming back up the shore. "What, do you think it's a good idea to turn everyone you drink from?"
He gave the body a kick. Rigour mortis hadn't set in, leaving the body soft under his boot. Weird. It definitely should have by now.
"Everyone's going to ask where he's been. We're trapped here; you won't be able to hide that for long." The way Scott said that almost made him sound like he cared.
Abolish knew better than to trust that. "And between you and me, who's lie do you think they're going to believe?"
Scott rolled his eyes. "If that's what you want to think," he added. He was still standing on the beacon's island, refusing to get his clothes wet — or at least, wetter than they already were — as if he hadn't crossed the water to get there in the first place.
Scott wasn't attacking, and the way he stood on the island made it clear that for all his venom, there was very little bite to him yet. Besides, the blood had given Abolish his claws back and Scott was stuck fighting with a sword. He wasn't a problem right now; Abolish turned back to Pyro's corpse, wondering where exactly to put it. He didn't have the time or desire to dig a grave, but leaving the body here like this, even if he took the meat off it, was far too risky. Anyone who found it would see the wound, would know that it wasn't just a case of roaming wolves or angry boars.
Besides, the body still hadn't stiffened and lacked the stench of death that always came after the tension released. Abolish prodded it with his boot once more, to no avail. It was as if Pyro had only gone unconscious, ready to be woken up at any time; only he lacked breath and a pulse. Abolish leaned over the body, curious. He'd never seen anything like this happen, a body that refused to die properly. He tilted the head, looking for the wound he left, trying to see if it might've been the problem.
Abolish could hear Scott, now that Abolish paid him no mind, wading through the water and disappear into the forest. Good riddance, at least for now.
The tear was healing.
Maybe some of his blood had gotten mixed into it? Scott could've accidentally bit his own tongue when Abolish pulled him off. He watched as the flesh knitted itself back together, the wound already mostly scarred over. He looked as tendrils of flesh latched together, the lattice slowly filling over, until there was nothing left of the bite other than a fully healed scar. Laying a hand over it, he felt the skin begin to grow warm again, coming back from the lukewarm of death to the normal heat of life. Abolish felt the pulse come back before he saw Pyro open his eyes and immediately start crawling away as best they could, terrified.
What?
He stood up, offering a hand to a very confused Pyro, who was still trying to get as far away as they could without thinking to get up on their feet. They froze, looked at the open hand like it was a snake ready to strike, then back at Abolish.
"Get away from me!" he yelled, instead of doing the much more rational thing of just getting on his feet again. His back soon hit a rock, stopping him from crawling back any further.
Abolish obliged, taking a step back, raising both his hands to show he didn't mean harm. Pyro's heart was still beating, pounding away inside his chest loud enough for Abolish to hear; he was still human, or at least close enough to it, and Abolish couldn't feel the link vampires were said to establish with their thrall. If Scott had, he'd have surely stayed to make sure the bond was made strong and proper. So what the hell had just happened to Pyro? "Sorry for that."
That made Pyro freeze, at least, the calmness of the words stunning them into stillness. "Sorry for what?" he replied, scrambling to push himself up. "You tried to — you killed me!"
"And Scott would've turned you," Abolish added, like the concession made things any easier to bear. "Besides, you aren't dead now, are you?"
He extended his hand out again. Pyro eyed it for a moment, still distrustful, but in the end decided to take it, getting up on his feet, immediately stepping away but not running. "What do you mean, Scott would've turned me?" Thankfully, curiosity had gotten the better of him.
For the guy who was screaming vampire just a few minutes before, was really blind to what was happening. Abolish didn't resist the urge to roll his eyes. "Turn you into a vampire, obviously."
"Right." Pyro swallowed thickly, standing curled onto themselves like they wanted to disappear into the darkness. "So what now?"
"Now you're still human," Abolish sighed. "Because for some reason, Oakhurst refused to let you die. You'll make sure to clean and cover up that scar on your neck, and we'll go back to town like nothing ever happened. You lost Scott in the forest and found me instead.”
Pyro nodded stiffly.
The two of them left soon enough, after Pyro took the time to make himself a bit more presentable and less like he'd just been attacked in the middle of the woods. The walk back to town was silent, Pyro too scared to talk and Abolish lost in his thoughts.
Pyro wasn't a thrall, so humans just couldn't die. They couldn't stay dead, at least, and the knowledge of that made Abolish reconsider all the plans he'd started to build for this place. It complicated things beyond comprehension if the people he killed just refused to rot. He'd barely avoided a catastrophe with Pyro already and there again, he wasn't sure how long the scholar's resolve would last before he found the guts join Avid in his hunt, knowing he couldn't be killed for good. Abolish couldn't just feed on the town until no one was left anymore; there would need to be strategy, even more than he had expected. He would need to stay in the shadows longer than he would've liked, to figure out who was most dangerous to him, take them out first, as many times as it took for them to stay dead.
His number one priority had changed: he needed to know how many times it took to actually kill someone, and he couldn't get caught in the process.
He knew exactly who to test this new knowledge on.