Chapter Text
Owen sits slumped in his chair at the table. He blinks but doesn't give into the urge to to bang his head on the table and take a nap. He isn't going to sleep agian. Last time he did that he slept for two hundred years and Owen can't do that right now. Plus the time before Louis was taken from him.
The conversation around him blurs into sounds he dosen't want to understand at the moment. He's warm. Very warm. He feels like he's sitting right next to a campfire. His mother loved sitting next to them with him. Before his disease took her and outcasted him.
"Owen. When did you sleep last?" Asks Scott. His voice cuts through the haze wrapped around his head. Owen looks up at him and thinks.
"After you woke up." Says Scott. Owen has to think a bit more about that one.
"Willingly." Adds on Scott. Owen shakes his head.
"Owen." Says Shelby in a scolding tone. Owen looks down at his lap with a frown.
"You are taking a nap." Says Scott. Owen glares at him but Scott just raises an eyebrow. Fine. Scott is strong has an entire coven to guard him. Owen sighs before he gets up and starts to walk towards the door.
"You can use my coffin." Says Scott. Not this again.
"Why does he get the coffin?" Asks Avid in a small voice to Shelby. Shelby smiles at him before she puts a finger to her lips.
"My grave is fine." Snaps Owen. He dosen't mean it. They all know it.
"You don't have a headstone! It's just hole in the dirt." States Scott. They've had this 'argument' so many times. It's enjoyable every time.
"I see why now." Avid whispers to Shelby. His hearing makes it a little hard to focus on conversations.
"It's my hole in the dirt." Says Owen. Pyro rolls his eyes. Owen is throwing dirt at him later.
"It's my land. Go in that coffin and rest!" Says Scott. Owen rolls his eyes again and shoves down any form of a smile on his face.
"Will you shut up about my grave if I do?" Asks Owen. He already knows the answer.
"Maybe." Says Scott. That's as good as he'll ever get. Owen nods his head and redirects himself towards the crypt. Scott is lucky Owen likes him.
Owen dosen't regret a lot of things. He regrets going down there. He regrets not seeing that glint in Apo's eyes or the way Cleo smiled. He regrets not staying up.
Not even an hour later Scott was killed.
It was a violent death. A very violent death from what Owen heard. Scott didn't make it easy. He never made anything easy so it's not a surprise. They had to chain him down with each of them holding him as Martyn drove the stake through his chest. He died with a scream that woke Owen up from his slumber. Owen had felt that chill deep in his bones. A screams that tore everything out of him all at once. It tore away his strength and emotion. It tore away everything that made him who he was. All that is left feels like a husk for those few minutes when he just sat there in agony.
The holy water did the rest while he was chained against the beacon. They had found him sleeping. They had moved him in his slumber to the castle beacon. The Doctor said it would be by choice. The Doctor like all of them is nothing but a liar. A cold heartless liar who won't just let him die.
The Doctor maybe out of pity or something else made a room just for him above his house in the attic. After Owen tried to strangle him in his sleep it has bars now, a locked door and a locked silver trap door courtesy of Martyn. Owen never sees Martyn but he can hear him. He can always hear him from outside the window. One day maybe Martun will get close and Owen can throw his food at him. The window is blocked by a fence post that was shoved into it. Somehow it works and didn't give way no matter how many times Owen slammed his shoulder into it. It works at letting the cursed sun see him. It would've been better if they had just tossed him in a cave and left him to rot.
Owen opens his eyes and glances around his cell. Owen slowly with his shaking hands grabs the blankets and gets then off of him. He dosen't want to be warm. He wants to freeze. The noise from outside gets louder.
He opens his eyes and looks around. His room is empty. The Doctor hasn't brought him something to throw yet. Maybe he's given up. His stomach rumbles. The hunger is nothing compared to the thirst he had before. He misses it. That thirst it kept him sane. It was a reminder of what he was. Of what Louis was. It's gone now. Owen looks towards the window agian. It's coming from outside.
Owen carefully begins to stand as he walks towards the window. Why are they all up? The sun isn't even in the sky yet. It's just now inching over the trees. He leans against it as he looks out. Drift and Avid are watching from their windows. Shelby is watching from her own. Cleo is down there with the humans along with Apo. Apo and Abolish both have on a large bags filled with whatever supplies they probably had. Apo dosen't have any silver on their backpack and the sword they holding is made of diamonds. Diamonds Scott undoubtedly gave them. Abolish has no problem with silver with his silver armor that catches the sun. Both of them are leaving together then. How touching. Owen rolls his eyes.
They're all smiling. Happy smiling humans as if they're isn't blood on their hands. As if they don't deserve to burn or maybe they deserve to drown. They helped killed the fire in his heart it would only be far if he downed out theirs as payback.
They look up at him. Apo does. No one else sees him. Owen dosen't smile or acknowledge them. He just watches. Apo dosen't glare at him. Instead they give a look of sympathy and pity. Disgusting. Owen turns away from the window.
He walks away from the cursed window and towards his so called bed. He lays down on it and looks at the wall. He reaches out and traces each line in the wood with his finger. His human finger. If Scott saw him now he- he would tease him relentlessly. Why did he have to die for their hearts to beat? What gave then the right to take him away? Owen growls as he feels water- not blood- fall down his face and on to his bed.
The trap door on the other side of the bars opens. So it begins. Owen wipes his eyes. He can't show weakness to his killer.
Everyday like today the Doctor brings food. Every day Owen finds a slightly different way to get it away. Today is no different and there won't ever be a difference until one of them is dead.
"Owen." Says the Doctor from outside the bars. The locked doors is the only reason why Owen hasn't killed him. He could find a knife from the kitchen or he could just find a big rock. A rock would do nicely but Owen isn't allowed outside anymore. Not when he tried to tear out his own neck with his hands the moment they forced him into the sun. They shouldn't have pushed and he wouldn't have shoved.
"Owen, I know you can hear me." Says the Doctor. Owen dosen't say a thing. Talking is something that would tell the Doctor he's alive enough to understand. The Doctor dosen't deserve that kindness. Owen just continues to lay on the too soft bed and stare at the ceiling. He should shred the thing soon. It would make the Doctor mad. Maybe he would be mad enough to leave him outside the walls.
"Owen, you can't just starve yourself." Says the Doctor as he leans on the bars. Owen can and will. Sausages attempt at force feeing him was enough proof of that. Next time Owen will do more than just bite.
"Could we make a deal?" Asks the Doctor. Owen doesn't do anything. He gives the Doctor nothing but the cold ruthlessness Scott was shown.
The cell door opens as the Doctor walks in. Owen does nothing. He can't strangle the Doctor in this state. He has no weapons. He's just there. If the Doctor tries to force feed him we'll Owen knows how to throw up. He hasn't in over two hundred years but he will find a way.
"Louis wouldn't want this." Says the Doctor. Using the ones he lost against him. Such a kind thing for a Doctor to do. Normally that burning hot rage would make him do something! It would make him scream or yell. It would make him hurt them like they hurt him but instead of rage there's nothing. Nothing but grief and agony.
Louis wouldn't want him to die here. Hell, Scott wouldn't want him to die here. But they're both dead and only Owen is left to pick up the peices. Only this time there's nothing for Owen to hornor them with. Scott's childer are human now. Owen is human now. Louis's gift has gone up in smoke. All that is left is Owen's sad short lowly life. He dosen't think either of them would want him to suffer for that long anyway. Maybe they'll give him an exception for not staying. The Doctor walks closer to him before he puts the bowl on the sad table next to Owen's bed. The table without any sharp edges that Owen can't break. It would've made a nice stake. Owen stares at the ceiling. It's nothing like the ceiling of the castle. He wants to see it agian. Even a glimpse of it would be enough.
"Please eat. Just a bite would be enough." Says the Doctor. Owen says nothing. He says nothing as the Doctor leaves his cell. The door locks behind him. The Doctor goes down the ladder and Owen can't hear him anymore. He looks at the bowl next to him. It's orange. The first day it was a light blue, the next it was a deep crimson that a few shades off blood, and yesterday it was yellow. Owen slowly moves his hand towards the bowl. He holds it with his shakey hands and rubs circles into the side of it. Then he slings it towards the wall and the bowl shatters into pieces. It makes a beautiful sound as it shatters. The Doctor never learns.
Owen gets up as fast he can and goes for the shards. He grabs the sharpest ones that aren't huge before he shoves them in his pocket. Someone is scrambling up the ladder. Owen gets back in bed before he gently places the peices between the wall and his two stacked mattress on the floor. They took the sheets away after the first night. At least the Doctor haven't noticed all the missing shards from the bowls. He has a nice collection now. One he can't use yet. The Doctor enters the room outside the bars. Owen says nothing.
"Another bowl? Really?" Asks the Doctor. Owen says nothing. He'll leave soon anyways.
"I'm running out of bowls Owen." Says the Doctor. It's his fault for continuing to use the clay ones. Why he won't just give Owen the wood ones Owen dosen't know but he's just going to keep doing this.
"Why won't you speak to me?" Asks the Doctor. Does he really have to ask that?
"Please just give me something to work with." Begs the Doctor. Owen has nothing left to give. Louis's death took his love, Scott's death took his hope and the Doctor took his trust.
"I'll be here when you want to talk." Says the Doctor. Owen will never want to talk to him. The bridge wasn't even burned. It was rapidly decaying until a title wave swept it all away in desperate bide to redeem himself. The Doctor goes out of the cell undoubtedly talking the left over shards with him. That's fine. Owen has what he needs.
"Cleo was right, wasn't she?" Asks the Doctor. Owen says nothing. He dosen't know what she would be right about.
"The Sire has to die but you also have to regect him. He has to die in your hearts." Says the Doctor. Owen no matter how badly he wants to stab the Doctor with the blue shard does nothing. Owen would always be incurable at least in the way the doctor wanted.
"Otherwise it'll leave you like this. Clinging on to something you lost. I'm sorry I didn't realize that." Says the Doctor before he finally leaves. The Doctor isn't wrong but he's not right either. Owen knows it's something else as well. There's a call in his blood. A call for the venom he died for. A call that is pulling them all apart from the inside to find something. Something that they took from them.
The Doctor is nothing but a hypocrite. He doesn't deserve eternity he clams. Only to turn around and get to decide who does. Not the ones who are gifted eternity. They don't get to choose. The Mortal who was offered it and turned up his nose because he doesn't deserve it gets to decide! He doesn't deserve it but what gave him the right to decide that they don't deserve it either. That they don't deserve the power granted to them. That he had the right to take it away!
The light from outside shines in his eyes. Owen takes a deep breath before he lets it out. He reaches up and gently pulls on his ears. He moves his tongue over his teeth while avoiding the spot his fangs would be in. Owen blinks. A human habit he's come back to. Right. He's gotta calm down. The Doctor will try to take advantage of any weakness he sees. Owen foces himself to stand up. Daily check ins. He walks over to the window before he leans onto it.
Owen looks out the window towards Cleo and Pearl's house. Shelby lives there. She got her own room at least he thinks she did. They won't let them talk. It's Apo's fault of course. They made the mistake of being happy to go home around Pyro. They were bragging from what he could tell. Pyro tried to strangle them. All the while screaming that if he had the chance he would still drain their blood and drink it in Scott's honor. Owen quietly cheered him on through the window and when Pyro was being dragged off towards a cell Owen smiled at him. Pyro smiled back with a mouth that lacked fangs but eyes that still searched through the village for something.
They wouldn't let anyone see each other after that. Though there is one thing they let them each have. A window. Avid and Drift are lucky enough to get two windows. Shelby got four. He can't see Pyro but Avid can. Cleo is in her own house and isn't talking to the rest of them. A traitor like Apo but at least she's still here. She helped to hold him down at they shoved the buring water down his throat.
After a while, Owen doesn't keep track of time anymore, Shelby comes to the window. She's still pale and her yellow eyes have all but lost their shine. Death will leave you like that. She blindly reaches out and touches the wooden fence posts on her windows. She slowly waves at him. He weakly waves back. He doesn't know if she can really see him but he knows she's looking.
In front of Shelby's prison is Avid and Drift's. They let them stay in their old house. Of course they did. The towns people who don't have an ex-vampire living with them trade nights that they stay over. They can't have any peace or privacy. Not without suspicion.
Avid weakly waves from the window. His eyes are sunken in and every night Owen can hear his screams. Scott plagues his dreams like he does everyone else's but Avid was there. Avid came back with the worst burns from that water and still bound in chains. He came back from the lake with a muzzle and blood on his mouth. Screaming with a ferocity in his eyes that Owen can only see in the reflection in the water on the blood moons. His eyes now search the walls for something late into the night. He won't find it. Not here. He dosen't know why or how he knows that but he just does. It's not here.
Drift waves from behind him. She's doing better than the rest from what he's heard from the Doctor but that fear she had got worse. Anyone could see that. He never sees her face and only her hands are ever in the light. That terror she complained of only got stronger after her Sire's death. She hides in the shadows as if she's looking for something or someone in them.
They all stand there watching the world go back. They don't get to go outside today apparently. It's not like they tell them when they're going out. None of them eat by the windows. They barely blink. They breath because they're forced too. Shelby turns towards someone behind her for a moment before she turns back. He knows Pyro is here to even if he can't see him. Owen knows Pyro is there with them this time. Not one of them are leaving again.
Scott became a big part of their lives. He became a crutch to rely on. A peice of stability in the chaos. A means to an end became a friend. Among a sea of traitors Scott never lied to him. Scott agreed to help burn them. Scott have him a family as broken and unwilling as it was he shared it with Owen. Owen should have done more to keep it from fracturing.
Slowly but unrelenting time passes. The sun travels its cursed way through the sky. The clouds pass by and Owen dosen't move. He stands there leaning on the window. If he wasn't he would have fallen to the ground by now. Owen dosen't think he has the energy to back up if he did. Someone is humming near him. He moves his head side to side with the beat his failure of a heart can't copy.
"I have dinner." Says the Doctor. He ignores him as he stares out the window as the sun sets. He used to look forward to the sunsets. It's meanless now.
"Owen. Please. Just a bite. That's all I ask. Just one." Says the Doctor. The door dosen't unlock this time. Instead something is put on the ground and the Doctor leaves. Owen turns around. It's a gray and light brown bowl on a purple plate. Is the Doctor colored blind or just stupid? Owen walks up to them. He gently takes the soup cup off the plate. Avid didn't gain his trust but Scott liked him. He breaks the plate as quietly as he can. He pockets some of the shards then turns on the bowl. Owen chucks the soup at the locked door before he breaks the bowl slowly. He once agian pockets the peices before he walks over to the bed. He hides them next to his mattress like he did the others. Though Owen keeps one. A blue sharp one. His traces his fingers around the curved edges that sharpen into a point. It would be easy.
The Doctor will come up soon enough. He always does. Owen stares at the ceiling and let's out a sign. He dosen't even want to count anymore. They take and take just to leave nothing left. Killing him slowly with demand. Isn't it only fair he does the same?
"This life you have is hollow." Says a voice from outside of the window. Owen dosen't move. Someone is here? Someone besides the Doctor is talking to him. Owen looks at the window and then at the ladder. The Doctor is still downstairs. Owen shakily stands up and walks over to it. He leans his head against the wooden fence in the middle of it and just waits. For some reason the night dosen't feel as cold. He actually feels warm and.. Owen dosen't need to get his hopes up again.
"They took your fire with a wave of loss and left you with nothing but a hollow chest and ashes coated in water." Says the voice. Owen searches the darkness for them. He gently keeps a hold of the blue shard. They sadly aren't wrong.
"No peace will met you at the end like this." Says the same voice. He knows that voice but he can't place it. It sounds like him but he dosen't talk like that. Maybe Owen's finally gone mad.
"No one understands your struggles except for me." Calls the voice from outside. He can't see them. He can only see the darkness surrounding him. His eyes can't cut through the shadows as they no longer belong to him. They are no longer kin.
"Who?" Whispers Owen.
"Your friend." Says the voice. For some reason he can smell the water. It's not as strong as it used to be but he knows the smell of the lake. He knows the quiet chirping from it or the soft splashes from fish he can no longer see. Owen can't see them but for the first time Owen isn't alone in this room.
"What do you want?" Asks Owen quietly. He would do it. He would do anything. He's so warm.
"It won't take long." Says the voice. It never does. Turning that is. It's always fast. Owen leans further against the bars to get closer to the voice. They didn't answer him though. What do they want? Is this him?
"What?" Asks Owen.
"Dive." Says the voice and the warmth goes away with the voice. Dive? Dive into the water? Owen shivers as the wind blows past the house. Owen is alone again and the only lead he has is the lake.
"Come to me where the water breaks." Says the voice as the warmth continues to slips away. He's so cold. It's not the chill of death but something different. Somehow it's worse than the chill of death.
"Wait." Calls out Owen. The fleeting warmth pauses. It says for a moment longer to listen.
"Shelby. Pyro. Avid. Drift." Says Owen. The warmth gets stronger. They're getting closer.
"I will visit them when the time is right." Says the voice that carries a strange but familiar melody under the words. It goes cold again. They're gone.
He can sleep agian. Maybe the Doctor will be dead when he wakes up. He stumbles away from the window and collapses onto the double stacked mattresses on the floor. The warm blankets are going to stay on the ground once agian. But this time and only this time Owen hopes he wakes up in the morning if only so he can see if he's really still out there.
"Cleo?" Calls out Legs. Cleo stops farming and looks up at him. Her eyes stare dead into his. They've always done that though. She's not like the others. The cure worked on her.
"Doc." Says Cleo.
"I need to talk to you in a quieter place." Says Legs. Cleo looks around them. Sure everyone is sleeping this early in the morning but he can't risk one of his patients hearing him.
"Sure." Says Cleo as he stands up and wipes the dirt off before looking at him. He turns around and walks. He walks past his house where he knows Owen is just staring blankly at a wall while humming. The humming is new but staring at the window like a statue isn't. That's how he found Owen after they cured him. Staring blankly ahead while he was chained to a beacon. He's been doing it more and he dosen't eveb seem to notice.
He walks past Abolish's house where Pyro is. Abolish already left with Apo earlier. He made the graves for his parents and paid them his respects like he wanted. Legs is going to miss him. Hopefully, he'll remember to write. M already agreed to help watch Pyro now that Abolish is gone. Though to be honest it'll fall onto Legs to check on Pyro. Legs goes outside of the walls of town and they stop just next to the entrance to town.
"You haven't somehow gotten turned, right?" Asks Cleo. Legs shakes his head.
"Nothing like that. It's about Owen. He's dying Cleo." Says Legs. Cleo raises an eyebrow. Scott used to do that so often. Legs stops his fingers from digging into his palms. This is all his fault.
"Starving yourself will do that." Says Cleo. Legs signs.
"I don't think it's that. Something is wrong. I'll be talking to him and then he'll just stop. It's like his mind is shutting down. One moment he's watching me and the next he acts like I'm not even in the room with him." Says Legs as he leans against the wall.
"So he's ignoring you?" Asks Cleo.
"I think it's something more than that. You were right about the cure. We had to make sure the sire was dead to them not just physically dead." Says Legs as he slowly slides down the wall and sits on the ground.
"So what're you going to do about it?" Asks Cleo loudly.
"I don't know! I've been trying to give him medicine with holy water in it but he won't eat. It's somehow worse when I give him something with garlic. It's like he knows what I put in there even though I hide it!" Says Legs loudly.
"You could try force feeding him again." Suggests Cleo. Legs shakes his head. It's bad enough that Owen had to be cured he can't do that again to him. The first time he was panicking. Owen hadn't eaten for two days and Owen had just fallen over infront of window while gripping his chest as if something was eating him from the inside! Legs had panicked. He begged M to just shove the food down his throat so he wouldn't die. Owen wouldn't let him. It's like he went feral.
He screamed, he bit, and he scratched. He tried to rip out M's eye! He ripped a chunk of his own hair out when he was stopped but he didn't even seem to notice as he just went back to attacking. The little soup they did get him to eat before they gave up was thrown up right infront of the newly installed iron door. Owen had watched him with cold uncaring eyes as he cleaned it up. Owen does that a lot now. Leg's is going to get mold with how many times he cleans Owen's floors.
"I would rather not repeat that." Says Legs.
"I get that. I tried getting Shelby to drink some water and she just looked at me. Her face Doc. That heartbroken look in her eyes. She then grabbed a knife and just ran her finger along the blade while looking at me as if I was food. I would have expected that from Pyro or Owen just not her. They've changed Doc and I don't think it's going to get better." Says Cleo as they looks towards the woods. Legs nods his head.
"We can only keep trying." Says Legs as he looks up at the sky. It's not red anymore. Their problems were supposed to be behind them. A pig oinks nearby them. Legs looks over at it. It looks like Truffle did.
"Have you heard anything about Pyro?" Asks Legs after a moment.
"Other than how he tried to kill Apo, no." Says Cleo. Legs nods his head.
"He's been trying to eat everything. He's been chewing on the bars and on the window frame. He's damaging his teeth. He just keeps saying that the hunger got worse." Says Legs.
"Huh. Do you think each of them kept something from when they were infected?" Asks Cleo. Legs pauses before he nods. Drift's sudden hatred of the sun and her insistence that it burns when the light touches her. With all her scratching he's going to need to put bandages on her arms soon. Avid's new violet rages might be from infection or from grief. Counting almost everything in his house definitely isn't from grief though. Not with Scott's hatred of math. Shelby... What could Shelby have gotten?
"It would make sense. Have you noticed anything about Shelby?" Asks Legs.
"She won't touch silver but when she does it doesn't burn her so not that. I'm honestly not sure, Doc." Says Cleo. It might be that then. It's all in their heads. Physically they are human but mentally they're still vampires. Griving vampires.
"It might be something suddle then. She could have kept her hearing or sight. You should be careful." Says Legs.
"Course, Doc." Says Cleo with an eye roll. There's one last thing he wants to ask about.
"Has Shelby started humming?" Asks Legs. Cleo looks at him. Really looks at him and Legs almost wants to look away from her gaze. Yet he dosen't. He sits there while she tracks his every move. She opens her mouth to say something.
"There you two are! Been looking everywhere for you." Says out Martyn from the gate. He's just leaving over it past the wall.
"Hello Martyn." Says Legs as he stands up. Cleo waves.
"Hurry up, M is trying to sing!" Says Martyn before he leans back into town. Legs gently rubs the back of his neck. Not this again.
"Come on, Doc. We can't hide out here forever." Says Cleo as she walks past him into town. Legs follows after her as the sun shines down from above.
Owen wakes up with a stabbing pains in his stomach and an unfamiliar cold that sinks into his bones. He feels colder today. The sun is shinning outside the window and straight into his eyes. He hates being human. He sits up with a soft grown and glances next to him. Another bowl. This one is a light orange. A shade that isn't his. He'll break it but this time he dosen't want the shards.
A horrible wailing sound that is hopefully coming from a dying skunk is coming from the window. Owen groans as stands up and walks over to it. He peaks out of the window and there's M. His ex-roomate. M or Sausage is singing. It's awful! It's not right. The tune is all wrong!
Why does he care?
Owen grinds his teeth. He puts his hands over his ears as he glares down at M. He turns away from the window and looks at the door bowl. The bowl that is a shade of orange that isn't his. He walks over to it and grabs the cursed thing. He turns back and quickly walks to the window just to see M being tackled to the ground by Pearl. The singing stops. It's gone. Owen looks back down at the bowl. He probably couldn't hit him from here anyways.
Owen turns back around and walks over to the bars. He dumps the food on the ground before he squeezes the bowl through the gap between them. Then he throws it.
It dosen't shatter from the force like the others did. It crips and cracks. The Doctor will not be able to fit it but he might cut his hands on the shards of it when he comes up. Maybe he'll get an infection.
Owen lets out a small laugh as he collapses onto the floor. Thankfully he dosen't fall into the soup on the ground. He lays there and slowly wraps his arms around his chest. His heart beats underneath his fingers tips to a melody that isn't right. It makes Owen want to claw the thing out of his chest and until it gets the song right. Owen blinks. Maybe the Doctor will come up and find him dead. How pitiful. Would he cry? Break down? Would he scream just like Owen did on the beacon or like Owen did in front of the pyre? Does Owen even care?
He wants to find that voice again then he dosen't really care. Sure, he'll break the others out but he's not sure what to do after that. Maybe just dig his own grave, again. Shelby might drag him out to see the world or maybe they'll go hunting for another vampire to turn them back. Owen flinches at the though. The blood in his veins shakes at it. No. No, he would rather not betray the legacy no matter how fractured left to him.
"Owen?" Calls out the doctor. Owen opens his eyes. When did he close them?
"Owen, please." Says the Doctor. Owen looks over and outside the bars. There's the Doctor. His palms has shards of that bowl in them. To bad his neck dosen't.
"You have to eat." Says the Doctor. Owen dosen't have to. This is all he has left. All of it. They took everything else and kept them away. This is all he has. He will not eat not unless they let him go.
"Please. I can't fail again." Says the Doctor. That sounds like a him problem. He should've thought of that before he started on this cure. Owen will not help him feel justified in his part with Scott's death. He will not be like Apo. He will not stand on the line like Cleo. He will choke the life out of the Doctor like Pyro tried to with Apo but Owen won't even use his hands. He will make the guilt of what was done burn in their lungs like the smoke Louis was forced to breathe like Shelby does. He will not violently lash out like Avid or cower like Drift but he will show them what they've taken in a different way. He will starve if only to use his hunger against them again.
"Owen. Anything. I'll let you see them. You guys can all meet outside just eat. Please, just eat." Pleads the Doctor. The Doctor is a fool. Owen says nothing. He wants him to beg.
"You know, Pyro is eating? Pyro dosen't seem to be able to stop himself. I can tell you more if you eat." Says the Doctor. So Pyro kept the hunger. Interesting. Owen keeps some kind of pull to go to the lake and Pyro gets the hunger. What did the others keep? Shelby dosen't have red eyes and as far as he knows the others have their old eyes back. Did anyone keep their fangs?
"Owen, please. I don't want to force this on you again." Begs the Doctor. Better. Owen looks at him and raises an eyebrow like Scott did. If the Doctor tries that again the Owen will make sure he takes at least one person down with him.
"Owen." Says the Doctor with relief. A reaction is what he wanted and he got it.
"Just a few spoons full of soup. That's all I ask." Says the Doctor. He'll ask for more. It's a horrible habit of the Doctor's to ask for more and more.
"Lake." Says Owen.
"What?" Asks the Doctor. Owen grinds his teeth.
"Lake." Says Owen louder.
"You want to go to the lake?" Asks the Doctor. Owen nods his head.
"We can do that. You have to eat first." Says the Doctor. Owen nods his head. The Doctor gets up and leaves the room. He'll come back. He always does.
The Doctor comes back with a black bowl of soup. Why does he have so many colors? Why not make a matching set? Owen slowly stands up before the Doctor can even start trying to get in to help him. He sits on his double mattresses and waits. Not a moment later the Doctor is by his side with the bowl.
The Doctor gets a small but reasonable scoop of soup with a silver spoon and holds it out to Owen. This is going to be disgusting. Owen opens his mouth reluctantly the the Doctor puts the spoon gently in his mouth.
The soup tastes like ashe on his tongue despite it being made of mostly water. Owen shoves down the urge to spit it out. Its warm. Was the Doctor just keeping it warm incase Owen gave in? He wants to get to the lake he'll have to do this. Just one more to go. Owen swollows the soup and ignores the happy smile on the Doctor's face. It almost makes him want to puke again. Sadly, he would have to eat more soup if he did.
Owen opens his mouth again and another spoon full in dumped into his mouth. So far it's just been broth which isn't completely vile. Owen swollows the soup. The Doctor gets another spoon full. He said a few. Owen will give him one more just so he can make sure their little deal is fulfilled. It has nothing to do with how the soup finally makes the stabbing pains of hunger dissipate.
He swollows the third without dying on the floor. He Doctor begins to hum a song. It makes Owen want to kick him off the bed and stab him. He dosen't know why that song makes him sk angry but he hates it. His hair isn't like it was before but it still strangles any other dulled emotion he had.The Doctor gets another spoon full but Owen bumps into him and the bowl shatters on the ground. The humming stops. Owen smirks.
"Really?" Asks the Doctor. Owen shrugs. The Doctor signs before he stands up and looks outside. What does he look for out there? Can Owen drown it?
"We'll have to wait until the morning to go." Says the Doctor. Owen shoves his fingers into the back of his throat as he begins to cough. The Doctor rushes to his side but Owen is a bit busy trying to puke it out.
"Fine! Fine, we'll go tonight." Says the Doctor. Owen nods his head as he takes his fingers out of his mouth. He swallows down the bile of soup in his throat. The Doctor dosen't even smile. Good. He dosen't deserve to smile just like he doesn't deserve the gift.
Owen wins.
"Just let me go get some people." Says the Doctor. Owen nods his head. The Doctor leaves agian and the door is locked behind him. Owen waits before he turns towards the wall. He gently reaches for them. Shard after shard he takes of the uneaten bowls and puts them in his jacket pocket. The one close and above his beating heart. He would rather have them close if he dosen't come back. Owen leaves exactly one of each color out of his pocket. The biggest ones he has. Ones that can be seen by sharp watching eyes. He holds them in his hand as he slowly stands up. He stumbles over to the window and pushes them onto the edge of the window. They're outside. All together. Shining under the moonlight and guarded from the sun by the roofs shackles until they can see them. If anyone put in the work they might be able to make something complete out of them.
"Owen." Calls the Doctor. Owen turns around to look at him. The Doctor stands in the doorway of the door that is always locked. The Doctor can't see the shards. He can't. They're Owen's last message to them. He can't see it yet.
"I'll have to carry you down." Says the Doctor. He dosen't care. He just has to get there. Owen stumbles over to him and the Doctor reaches out to help him. Owen stares at him until he brings his arms down. For the first time in five days Owen steps outside of the cell.
Owen almosts reaches up to touch the shards in his pockets but he resists that call. The Doctor might take them away. He will take them away if he sees them. He's nothing but a liar.
The Doctor carries him down the ladder. Normally he wouldn't be embarrassed or annoyed but he can't bother with that. Instead he looks around.
The Doctor's house is oddly messy. Papers and books cover the floor. Two bowls are left out on the counter. A white one next to a green one which is probably meant for him. He dosen't need any green shards and he dosen't want any white ones.
The Doctor leads him to the door and the outside. He hasn't been out here in so long. Owen looks up to his window. The shards are still there. All together now. He looks at Shelby's window. She's there. Watching. He looks up at Avid and Drift. Avid is there and he knows Drift is watching from the shadows that now reject them.
The beacon is still in the center of town. The game is over. The threat is gone. They're all neutral until it starts again. If he got close would it turn holy or would it be corrupted by his blood?
"Owen." Says Cleo. Oh. She's here. Owen looks at her for a moment before he looks up at the stars. Scott used to stare at them for a while. Sometimes Owen would join him if the others were to loud but he didn't want to be alone.
"He won't talk Cleo." Says the Doctor.
"Must've realized he had nothing good to say." Mumbles Martyn. He's not strong and people would stop him. Owen can be patient. He can wait to watch them bleed.
"Not now, lad. The devil had a hold on him longer than we've been a twinkle in our parents eyes. Leave him be." Says Ren. A bit ago Owen thought he would've enjoyed Ren's company. Now he wants to ride himself of it. Permanently.
"Is Pearl coming, Cleo?" Asks the Doctor. Owen dosen't care. Pearl is a good fighter. Scott would've liked to turn her. Cleo would've liked that too.
"She's packing up, Doc. She leaves out in the morning remember? And then I'm out a week later." Asks Cleo.
"Right. Right. How could I forget?" Asks the Doctor. Memory lose isn't a good sign doc.
"A lot has'a happened, Doctor." Says Ren. Poor Doctor. He cured people who didn't want to be cured and now those people hate him. Boo. Hoo.
"So where are we going Doc?" Asks Cleo. Owen tunes them out and slowly sits on the ground. He looks at the rocks on the ground. He picks up a small one and shoves it in his pocket. Not the one with his shards. He won't put anything in that one. He picks up more pebbles and then some more and distributes them into his pockets. Then he looks up at Shelby's window. She's looking at him. Can she even see him from there? She broke her glasses, after all.
"Owen." Says the Doctor loudly. Owen looks up at him.
"Let's go." Says the Doctor as he holds out his hand. Owen stands up without the Doctors offered help. It's not help. It never was.
The walk is longer than he remembers. It hurts more too. Every step he's reminded lf the boring human hunger but more importantly his weakness because of it. The lake is just up ahead. Owen can't see it in the dark but he knows the sounds. He knows the smell of water. He's almost there.
Someone down there is calling him. They're singing. It's a call for him. No one else says a word. They don't hear it. It's his alone to hear. The call isn't meant for them. His blood practically drags him forward and Owen has no problem following It's call.
At last the trees part and the moon light reveals the lake. That annoying tower is still standing in the middle. With the way the full moon lies behind it, it almost looks like one of those lighthouses he saw in the paintings. It seems darker than ever tonight. The water even looks deeper. So much deeper. If Owen jumped in he might not ever find the bottom of it or his way out. A shame that it's why he's here in the first place. To dive. To see what that call wanted him to see.
"Where to Owen?" Asks the Doctor. Owen walks past him and down to the lake. He gently puts his foot onto the sand. It sinks gently under his weight. It hasn't done that in a while. He puts the other on the sand and starts walking towards the water.
He stops just at the edge of where the water rolls up onto the sand. He can see tiny fish swimming under the waves. Small snails scurrying along to do whatever snails do. The singing is louder now. It sounds nice. Really nice.
"It's to cold to get into the water." Says the Doctor. Owen rolls his eyes. Why does the Doctor think he'll care? He just needs then to look away. Maybe if he just stabds here long enough they'll get distracted. An arrow shoots into the sand next to him. Oh. That works.
"Raiders!" Screams the Doctor. Owen turns to look. Those are raiders. Why do they always come here? Oakhurst has been dead for a long time. Maybe they can hear the song too? The Doctor pulls out his sword as he stands with his back to Owen. Do not harm means so much to him.
Owen looks back down at the water's edge. Why did he choose to come here? Why here? He could've gone to the castle. Maybe take a dive off the bridge that Scott loved throwing people off. He almost smiles. Scotts retelling of tossing Martyn off the bridge had made him cackle before. But now it just brings a dull sense of amusement with grief mixed in. He looks up at the red sky above- it's not red anymore. The threat is gone. Oakhurst is safe.
"I can take the pain away." Calls out a voice. Owen looks at the water just in time to see something blue duck below the lake without a sound. Owen looks around. They aren't watching.
The raiders are weaker than vampires. He won't have long before the fight is over. Owen turns his back to them and slowly takes his shoes off. They would help him float. So would the air in his lungs yet Owen still needs it to see what they want him to see. Something floats up to the top of the water. Some black fabric of sorts from what he can see. He has to get closer not just to whatever that is but to the call.
His feet meet the cold air and then the freezing water. Owen fights down a shudder. He is not weak. He is not like them. He dosen't feel the cold. It was colder in his cell! This is nothing! He can barely feel it. It's nothing but an annoyance. What is really annoying is that he has to breathe.
"I can take the air from you." Says the voice who was singing. Owen can do that too. They aren't special. Another step into the water.
"You have become hallow." States the voice. He did. He hates it. He keeps walking as the Doctor and the others fight behind him. Maybe they'll die. It would make everything easier if they did.
"I'll take away the pain." Offers the voice. It's louder now. Much louder. Owen dosen't look back. The water is just above his knee. The black fabric thing is right there. Owen reaches out and grabs it. He holds it up and looks at it. It's- it's Apo's. The black jacket thing they always worse over their clothes. The spot where the rose was it gone. It looks like it was neatly cut out. Owen holds it to his chest for a second. Then he looks back towards the foold fighting on the beach. His grip tightens on the fabric before he tosses it as far as he can. They betrayed them. Vampire or not they helped killed him.
"It won't take long." Says the voice. Turning never takes long. Not in the face of eternity. He continues to walk. The water already reaches his hips but he still has a whole lake to cross. He'll be covered by the water soon. A part of him shudders at the though of crossing the water. Even if this water isn't moving it's still an unsettling thing. It's just a feeling that something bad will happen is he does.
"You won't have to be alone with me." Says the voice softly. As much as he hates to admit it he never was really alone with Scott. Sure, he would go off for some time alone but he always had people to come back to. Owen keeps walking. The fight behind him is coming to an end. He reaches out with his foot and stops. A ridge or a drop is just ahead. The water is already over his shoulders. It's cold. It's familiar. Owen has knows the coldness of death for so so long. It feels like he's almost home. He stops walking for a second. He could drown here. The others would be sad and the town won't let them outside after this. Is the risk that it's him worth that?
"Owen!" Screams the Doctor. His choice has been made. Owen closes his eyes.
Owen takes another step forward with one last gasp of air before he lets the water pull him below the ridge. He wants to reach back up for the stars above but Owen forces his hand down before it can try. He opens his eyes and blinks. It's murky. It's hard to see. It's not the shallow lake it was before. He looks down into the darkness below. Red eyes pierce the darkness and stare up at him.
He starts to swim towards them as best he can. He never learned how to swim in deeper waters. Just in shallow lakes and small rivers. Nothing like it is now. The red eyes dissappear! Owen begins to swim deeper and deeper as his lungs burn and beg for air. Just like the Doctor he will make then weap.
Owen stares down into the darkness. It's- the water- it's endless. It's a large void darker and deeper than anything he's ever seen. It feels as if he's looking death in the eyes again. Owen reaches out to it as he's ways done once it made itself known. A hand with claws comes out from the darkness below and takes his. He's here. It pulls him down and he fights to keep his mouth shut. He has to have some oxygen for this.
He blinks as his weak eyes get used to the dark. He can see some fish nearby and the bottom of the lake. It's covered in sad and oddly fish bones as well as the empty shells of turtles. He was desperate. Owen is pulled into someone's chest. Oh. He looks up and sees Scott. Scott! How!? Scott's alive! He's alive. His red eyes look down at Owen with such concern and worry Owen for a moment thinks he got replaced by something else. Scott's blue hair is floating above him in the water as if it belongs down here. A red flower has been added to the buttons of his cape. It looks familiar. Thinking of his cape Owen glances behind Scott and his cape flows like a fishes fin in the water. It's really Scott. He's alive! Owen smiles at him and an air bubble rushes past his lips. He can't help it. He should've smiled back then in the dining hall but he didn't. Did Scott ever know Owen cared about him?
Scott looks confused for a moment at the air bubble. He then drags his fingers gently against Owen's neck and Owen knows exactly what he'll find. That disgusting pulse that marks him as human. Scott snarls under the water. Not a single drop of air leaves him. Owen's a bit jealous. Scott then turns Owen's head to the side to see something. Scott moves the hair that was partly covering his ears. Oh, right.
Owen closes his eyes for just a second. His vision is literally swimming. His lungs burn. His bones feel heavy. His stomach is rioting. He's dying. At least he's not dying alone.
Suddenly, Owen is pulled tighter into Scott's chest. He opens his eyes again. He's been closing them a lot. The fingers on his neck travel up his jaw and up to his eyes. Owen looks at Scott. Scott is so confused but that confusion does little to cover up the rage. Maybe Scott got Owen's rage when he died. Maybe Owen got his indifference. Owen glances at Scott's heart where he supposed got staked. There's no damage to his clothes. Oh! He almost forgot.
He has something for Scott. Owen slowly reaches into the pocket over his heart and feels the edges of each shard. The one he picks to no one's surprise is curved to a sharp point. A very sharp point. Owen sharpened it with his own teeth. Deceiving yet deadly. Owen gently pulls it out while the rest stay inside. It's not their time yet. He holds it out to Scott. Scott slowly takes it and runs his finger along the sides. Dried soup still lays on the inside but Scott doesn't seem to care. Scott holds Owen close in one hand and the shard in the other. Owen slowly brings out an orange shard. It's jagged and chipped but it's still orange despite the way it's faded. His hands are shaking as he holds onto it. Scott gently takes Owen's shard as well and Owen lets him. It's not like he can hold it for long.
Scott holds them close and Owen's head is swimming. It hurts. He opens his mouth just a bit and the airs comes out. He won't need it for long no matter what Scott chooses. Scott oddly shuts his mouth and glares down at him. Scott then rolls his eyes before he gently taps Owen's neck with his shard. He wants- he wants to turn him. Owen nods his head.
Scott opens his mouth before he bites down onto Owen's neck. It dosen't hurt as much as it did the first time. His mind is screaming at him to pull away- to get away from the monster but- but the blood- his blood makes him lean into the the bite. Scott's claws dig into his back as he eats. They hold him close and catch on his skin as if he were a fish caught on a hook. The blood from his back or maybe it's from his neck flies above him and mixes with the water. Despite the blue the red shines against the water as it was meant to. The blood in his veins makes his brain shut up and his lungs burn as the last of his air leaves him. The blood is leaving him and something else is taking its place. Something familiar yet different. Something that makes his head sing a song. A melody he can't quite grasp, yet it makes the pain disappear. Louis always loved music. Does Scott as well?
Scott lets go after a moment. Not of Owen but of his neck. Owen blinks. Water is in his lungs. He can feel it. The world around him is still dark and cold but here he's found a source of warmth. Scott smiles down at him as he begins to move. Scott is walking. Where are they going? Owen leans his head against Scott's arm. The Doctor can't get him here. Not this time.
Scott continues to walk as the world spins all around them. Owen closes his eyes as he leans against him. Then someone starts humming. Owen can't tell if it's him or Scott but either way it makes his head spin all over again.
"Rest." Says Scott in tune with the song that echos through the water around them. Owen looks around one last time. All sorts of animal bones litter the ground. A set of familiar set of armor is mostly buried in the sand with a large tear cut into the back. Two silver cross earrings sticking out from the sand. A stone sword lies behind it. Despite it all Owen isn't afraid. For the first time since he was chained to the beacon he feels safe. Owen closes his eyes and falls asleep to the melody.
Back at town panicking towns people rushed back in the walls to grab lanterns and as many hands as they could to help search. Pyro watches it all from his window. He saw them leave and now he watches as they come back. His stomach growls with a hunger that was stronger than a vampire's. He rolls his eyes at them. Fools. They really though they'd be able to keep an eye on Owen of all people.
Owen will come back for them. He's too stubborn to die or let them rot here. From there they can try to find a way to get revenge on the town. After they get their gift back of course. Maybe they could keep Cleo alive for information on where any other vampires are and see if their's a way to bring back Sire. Pyro turns away from his window and looks at the wall with a bored look.
Then he stops. He turns back to the window as fast as he can and shoves his body against it. The hunger in his stomach goes away as a warm smell begins to fill the air. It smells amazing. Pyro moves back to the window and waits. The people outside don't seem to smell it. Pyro does though and it's coming from the lake.