Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the space between his ears and mind, Abolish can hear the glass crack.

Little spiderweb splinters into countless pieces, ready to shatter at good aim. If he really listens, he can hear the glass crunch beneath his feet. Instead, he storms over leaves and pebble, aimlessly walking through the woods. Wherever he ends up doesn’t matter to Abolish, as long as it isn’t Oakhurst.

Forsaken. Disregarded. Anything he says apparently doesn’t matter to Oakhurst, he doesn’t know why he still bothers.

In cruel humor, Abolish stumbles over a rock.

The glass stresses. Fissures and fractures breaking outward, like starbursts of lightning. The universe has a sick sense of humor.

On impulse, Abolish picks the rock up and hurls it at the nearest tree. It didn't help much, but it was something he could tire himself out on.

“You're far from town.”

Abolish isn't going to let Owen rile him up. He came so far out to be alone.

“I guess I am. What do you want?” Abolish squints to properly see Owen in a tree. He thinks the vampire has to be a bat, because there's no obvious, person-sized shadow up there.

“This is quite close to the castle. I could ask you the same,” Owen replied.

“I'm not out here to attack you guys, so it's none of your business.” It took Abolish a lot not to roll his eyes.

The small shape of a bat swooped down, landing into the shape of a tan, moonlit vampire with skin-stretched wings. Owen stood up, about six feet in front of the human.

Abolish clenched his fists. Stressing, the glass was stressing under so much pressure. Abolish didn’t want himself to shatter tonight- Maybe in the future, but not now. Not here.

“It’s quite dangerous for a human like you,” Owen tilted his head. “Wolves are travelling East this time of year. You don’t want wolves to maul you, or a vampire for that matter.”

“I haven’t seen a single wolf since we got here.” Abolish replied, “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“You’ve seen vampires though, haven’t you? Wouldn’t want one to turn you.”

“I’m sure you’d love that,” Abolish muttered through gritted teeth.

“Of course, I could just kill you as well. I don’t need to turn you.” Owen shrugged, cheerful. “I could make it as slow as I wanted and hang your corpse in Oakhurst as a warning.”

Abolish, as tense as he felt, was also very, very fed up at that moment. Perhaps that’s why he, in a stroke of bad luck, had accidentally rewrote his fate via sarcasm.

“If you’re going to daydream about your fangs in my neck, you might as well just do it,” Abolish grunted.

Owen had paused, cocking an eyebrow. “Do you really mean that?”

He shrugged, a non-verbal answer.

Abolish doesn’t remember much after that. Owen might’ve knocked him out, because when he woke up, he was inside somewhere dark with a soreness in his neck and a surprisingly warm body against his.

⚬──────────✧──────────⚬  

“Has anybody seen Abolish? He's not in town.”

Drift looks up from her current task. She's hauling water to her old bathtub, because while the water can get warm it's not filling itself.

“Uhh. Not since last night,” she replies.

“Aye, methinks the same.” Renhart apologetically shrugged.

Legundo sighed, scratching the back of his head. “I was going to ask him about the cure, but I haven't seen him all morning. He has to have told somebody about where he's gone.”

“He's probably out mining. He'll be back by noon.” Cleo called across Oakhurst from her farm.

If Drift thought about it, she really hadn't seen Abolish since the night before. Which was out of character, because the man was always there, one way or another.

“I'm sure he'll pop up, Doc.” Drift said with a smile, “He’s probably just mining.”

“I checked the mine though. He's not down there.”

“Oh. Maybe he's in a mine in the woods?” Drift asked.

“He could be. I haven't seen him since last night. With the vampires all worked up..” The doctor sighed. “Maybe I'm being paranoid.”

“What's up?” Martyn poked his head around the beacontower.

“Legs is worried Abolish is missing,” Drift explained, setting down her buckets of water.

“Oh, I saw him last night. He was leaving the town- said he'd be back by midnight,” Martyn said. “Why, has nobody seen him all morning?”

“Nobody has. You are the last person to have seen Abolish, Martyn.” Legundo sighed.

“I can ask the others if they've seen him yet. I'll be right back.” Martyn turned, running around the tower to find other people in town.

“Have you checked his house? Maybe there's some clues in there.” Drift put a comforting hand on Legundo’s shoulder. He attempted to give her a reassuring smile.

“I did. His bed looked unslept in.”

Abolish surely came home. Drift hadn't thought any vampires were aggressive enough to attack and leave dead any random humans in the middle of the woods.

“I'm sure it's fine. He's fine,” Drift said again, moreso to herself.

“Nobody's seen Abolish today. Not since last night. I don't think he came back,” Martyn called, returning back to the two.

That’s worrying. Drift knows how fit Abolish is to survive on his own, but most of the vampires are as pale as ghosts. As far as she knows, that means they’re really strong. And don’t vampires like going around in packs? Abolish versus a pack of white vampires doesn’t seem like a positive outcome for the human.

“Let’s call a meeting. We should discuss this as a group,” Drift nudged the doctor towards the beacontower. Martyn volunteered to gather everyone inside.

A meeting hadn’t made much progress on his whereabouts. Ren had said he’d seen Abolish leave in the night, but the man had said he’d be back within an hour or two.

“So Abolish had been missing all night and a good chunk of the morning, and nobody noticed?” Legundo asked, incredulous. “How does an entire village of not even ten people not notice that?!”

“It’s not like he’s a large presence!” M argued. “He’s so quiet and broody, it’s like you’d never see him coming!”

“I would never consider Abolish as broody, but alright.” Pearl chuckled under her breath.

“So we send out some search parties. I’m sure it’s not that much to worry about; Abolish is responsible.” Cleo held out her hands in a hapless gesture.

“I get that, Cleo, but at the same time, he’s been missing for hours on end!” Legs exclaimed. “The fact nobody noticed is what’s the problem.”

“Well then, let’s organize ourselves to search for the lad.” Ren shuffled out the beacontower door, voice fading off, followed by many. “I am sure he be out there, don’t’cha know..”

Avid, who was uncharacteristically silent the entire time, darted through the other door. Drift caught him outside before he got too far.

“Drift, let me go! I could ask Shelby about it!” He whispered urgently.

“You can’t go off on your own!” Drift replied, quiet and worried. “If Abolish was ambushed by the vampires, going alone could make you a target too!”

“Then you can come with me!” Avid’s other hand went to Drift’s wrist. “Drift, Shelby isn’t dangerous. She’d tell us the truth, and we’d get an answer on Abolish.”

Drift’s shoulders sagged. She sighed. “Fine, but let’s be quick about this.”

The other perked, dragging the girl out as they bolted for the mansion.

Chapter Text

Abolish didn’t want to move.

He felt like he had a headache, despite no pain in his head. His entire body felt extremely heavy, and whatever was really warm next to him was lulling him back to sleep. However, Abolish could sense that wherever he was was not his house, and he wasn’t going to risk death over sleeping a few more minutes.

Upon cracking his eyes open- Well, it hadn’t changed when he last peeked them open. It was still dark; wherever he was had a high, arched ceiling. He shuffled, letting a velvet pillow fall off him as he sat up.

The room wasn’t large, and most of it was taken up by a heaping mass of blankets and pillows, which Abolish was currently sitting in. There were no windows, and no light poked from under the door across the room.

What startled him most was the Shelby that had snuggled up against him. While the vampire being a cuddler didn’t surprise him, Abolish wasn’t a physically affectionate person. He politely peeled the wing draped across him like a blanket and returned it to its owner. The action must’ve roused Shelby, because she blearily cracked her eyes open and stretched.

“Good morning,” She yawned. The wing that Abolish had taken off of himself flopped back into his lap, opened to its very apex in an impressive wingspan.

“. . . Hi.” Abolish didn’t bother moving her wing again. Shelby sat up next to Abolish, scooting away to give him a polite amount of personal space.

“I’m sure you’re very confused right now. I was put here to give you a rundown once you wake up,” Shelby said. She nonchalantly passed Abolish a bottle of red liquid, which he didn’t need to ask to know it was blood.

“Owen really turned me,” he mumbled.

“He did!” The vampire popped open her own bottle. The smell of blood hit Abolish’s nose briefly, but disappeared as the blood was drunk. “Owen said you told him to, though. Nobody really believed that, though. You seemed so happy in Oakhurst, I didn’t think you’d want to join us.”

“I- I didn’t tell him.” Abolish frowned. “I guess I dared him, but not really order him to.”

“Oh. Well, welcome to the family, either way!” Shelby patted him on the back using her wing.

“Yay,” Abolish muttered.

The other smiled reassuringly. “It’s not that bad- We’re all super nice! I mean, Owen is kind of broody, but I’m sure you’ll be welcomed just fine.”

The vampire- right, he’s a vampire- nodded. “So, a rundown. Can I just.. Ask anything?”

Shelby shrugged. Good enough.

“Where are we?” Abolish asked.

“The mansion. Owen dragged you back a few days ago-”

“Wh- Days??”

“Becoming a vampire is a process!” Shelby continued her previous statement, “You’re in the mansion. This is the nest.”

“Right, okay. Why do you have a nest?”

“Where else would we sleep?”

“I dunno. We kind of assumed you didn’t sleep.” Abolish hunched his shoulders, watching the blood in the bottle swirl around.

“Huh. I guess that makes sense.” Shelby glanced at his bottle. “Are you not going to drink that?”

Abolish shook his head. “Not hungry,” he mumbled.

“Oh, you will be soon. Here-” Shelby reached over, using her sharper-than-normal nails to pop the cork off the bottle. The smell of blood was much stronger under Abolish’s nose, and something in his throat died and dried up.

In seconds flat, Abolish downed the bottle of blood.

“Holy- You’re quicker than Pyro at that!” Exclaimed Shelby. “You two should have a chugging competition.”

Abolish shrugged, wiping his mouth. He had never felt that thirsty in his life. And never had it come out of nowhere like that, either. Did vampires feel that all the time? How did nobody ever pick up on when they fed in the beginning?

His attention was jerked to his hands. He didn’t have claws like Shelby did, but his nails were definitely thicker than before, and sharper.

“Your claws are retractable too, to a point.” Shelby said, “They can get longer, but not much. You’d have to go level 3 to get the real long ones. Like mine,” she demonstrated cheerfully.

“Oh.” None of this was new to Abolish- He had kept tabs on the vampires every encounter he had had with them. That did not mean he knew how their little inhuman traits worked, is what he was quickly learning.

“Do you want a tour of the mansion? I’m kind of your guide for now, since I’m physically the weakest for manual labor.” Shelby stepped out of the nest, extending a hand for Abolish to take. He followed suit.

“Uh, sure,” He mumbled.

Abolish wanted to get a hold of his abilities before straying off on his own. That meant staying in the mansion for at least a week, and staying with the vampires to an extent. So he might as well know his way around.

With that, he shoved his hands in his pockets and followed his new housemate.

Abolish quickly felt out of place in the mansion.

By no means is the fledgling ignored, but despite having not even half the numbers of Oakhurst, Abolish feels like he can’t run into one vampire without seeing the rest a heartbeat away. [The only exception being Owen, who seems to like solitude more than socializing.] Most of their time is spent houseflipping, trying to turn Scott’s decrepit mansion into something livable for all four of them. Abolish helps wherever he feels he can, of course, whether it's gathering stone for the walls, wood for the roof or floors, even sorting through objects so old Abolish thought they would crumble when he held them. The entire living situation is domestic beyond belief- They all exist heartbeats away from each other, eating as a coven, and Abolish learned on the very first morning that they all slept as a pile.

“You don’t need to join us,” Owen had said to Abolish that night. “I understand you’re still caught up with all your human bits. You can probably turn into a bat and sleep from the roof, if that fits your fancy.”

It was exactly what Abolish had done, and he found he slept easy but had felt lonely the entire night.

Socializing was a large part of mansion life. Weird, instinctive, blood-drinking mansion life. Abolish feels like he sticks out like a sore thumb if he’s not being useful. However, none of his efforts ever go unnoticed.

The first time Abolish had been verbally thanked for his help was with Shelby in the crypts. She apparently had been deemed with good enough fashion sense to bin anything below Scott’s standards, so while the other three vampires spent their efforts on the roofing, Shelby busied herself in the crypts. Abolish had found himself flitting between the tasks.

“Sorting through all this used to take so much longer,” Shelby said with a grin. “I’m really glad you’re helping me.”

“No problem.” Abolish tossed a moth-eaten undercoat into the discard pile.

“I mean it. Having another set of hands to help has taken a bunch of everyone else’s plates. Everyone really appreciates you, Abolish.” The vampire had continued, neatly folding a skirt and putting it into a keep pile.

Then, the vampire had just nodded and continued the work at hand. But thinking back, Abolish doesn’t remember anyone outwardly saying how useful he’s been.

The second was when Scott and Owen were finishing the layout plan for the ballroom roof, huddled together shoulder-to-shoulder and wing-to-wing. Abolish hadn’t added much, but neither had snapped at him for existing nearby, so he stayed put.

While Abolish would not prioritize a grand space for parties to be built in the middle of a war, he wasn’t in charge. He had a feeling that, like Oakhurst, the vampires wouldn’t listen to him anyway.

From the blueprint Scott was sketching out, the shape of the roof appeared to have that tall, macabre shape the courtyard did. The roof would most likely be the same wood of the hall, with stone trimmings. Abolish wondered if Scott had ever taken an architecture class as a human because of the detail on the sketch. In Owen and Scott’s conversation, the two were focused on gathering materials and whether or not they could stain glass dark enough to block the sun.

“It can’t be that hard,” Scott muttered.

“We’ll figure it out. I’m sure there’s an old book on staining glass somewhere,” said Owen.

“I wouldn’t have a book on that.” The elder gave Owen a look, who glanced away with his ears tilted downwards.

“Eh- sure. I’ll go start getting wood for the roof.” The brunet turned towards the exit, wings already opening in readiness to take off.

“I can get the stone,” Abolish said. Scott had already had his mouth open, ready to say something, but he only gave Abolish a slightly surprised look. Nonetheless, he patted the younger’s shoulder.

“Thanks. Put it in the chests when you have a few stacks.” And the elder spun into his bat form and took off.

Abolish watched him leave. Any of the coven’s bat forms made him extremely uncomfortable to be around, thanks to the massive size of them all, but after some time of them all poofing in front of him, he was gradually getting used to it.

With a stretch and a sigh, Abolish left as well to fulfill his task.

Abolish noticed that as soon as everyone else got used to him being there, the coven seemed to always have an eye on him. If he mentioned he was hungry, someone dumped eighteen pork chops on him. Abolish didn’t know “how to bat”, so Shelby taught him on a cliffside with water beneath. He had no idea if it was vampire or coven related how every vampire seemed to breathe down his neck. It was the farthest cry from Oakhurst, where he was constantly ignored.

Not to mention how much food he got compared to the other vampires, which he estimated was twice as much. Wasn’t Scott the one giving everyone their portions of meat? Why would he give Abolish more than he could stomach? It felt wasteful.

Two weeks. Abolish counted fourteen days of staying in the mansion, which was progressing swimmingly. The people of Oakhurst were nowhere to be seen, even though Abolish hadn't left the grounds once. He’s starting to get the hang of mansion life, even enjoying some parts of it. He still isn’t comfortable with sleeping as a bat, but he’s chosen a room for himself and has quickly made it his own.

He supposes that means he’s staying for longer than he first wanted to. Abolish had wanted to go somewhere, anywhere other than the mansion when he first came to Oakhurst. None of the vampires have grown on him, per say, but they’re a disorderly organized bunch that so far, seems to rival Oakhurst despite being four strong.

Abolish can also tell that he needs to really pick a side soon.

Scott is reasonable at best- Unless you give him a good reason to hate you [which Abolish hasn’t], Scott seemed willing to tolerate you. However, the younger vampire’s lack of true loyalty to the coven hadn’t put him high in the elder’s favor. Owen had made that clear too, when they were finishing the ballroom roof.

“You’d better pick a side soon.” Owen had glanced his way, grim. “There’s conflict brewing, and when a fight breaks, I want to see you make the right decision.”

Abolish had mumbled an agreement, not paying the vampire much mind, but he’d thought it over plenty.

He didn’t want to go back to Oakhurst. He didn’t mind the vampires, but he was still on the fence about staying with them entirely. However, Abolish had a feeling that if he didn’t choose the vampire’s coven, he’d be hunted down for sport. And with three of the four vampires being bloodthirsty psychos, he doubts whatever way he gets staked won’t be quick.

The image of a sad, kicked-puppy Shelby worms its way into his head as well. Abolish doesn’t think he’s particularly bonded with anyone, but Shelby clearly considers all the vampires her family. If he up and left, she might be crushed. Especially with all the “bonding time” of sorting clothes. While the thought of the young vampire giving him puppy eyes to make him stay makes him laugh, it’s a small hurtle Abolish would have to jump over to leave the mansion.

He didn’t think he cared that much about them.

Abolish doesn’t think any of the vampires truly care that much about any of each other.

Owen is only focused on vengeance- that much is clear. He’s staying with the coven because they’re useful, because they can get him closer to his dream of seeing Oakhurst burn. But Abolish has seen his smile reach his eyes, seen him laugh, even make a joke once.

Pyro didn’t have much of a home life, according to Shelby. He was the first to be turned, and the first former human to be ousted from Oakhurst, technically. That man can’t be older than 23, and has rarely felt like he belonged. Abolish doesn’t blame the fledgling for wanting to burn down Oakhurst- besides his coven, it's one of the only sources of warmth he’ll ever get.

Scott was unfeeling and stone cold. He’s the leader, the apex of the apex predators, the sire with a capital ‘S’. Abolish thinks half the emotions he displays are theatrics and dramatics. But the other half are usually this lack of wholesome mix of possessive, protective, and caring. When Pyro couldn’t raise a fledgling, Scott stepped in. When the vampires needed a clear path, Scott moved the obstacles.

And Shelby. Sweet, compassionate, nerdy Shelby. If Scott wasn’t the glue to the coven, she may be a close second. Everyone seemed to have a spark of fondness for her, even Owen. How that girl managed to get the closest human thing to monsters to like her is beyond Abolish.

All of these people are outcasts, is what Abolish has noted. They have no family to turn to, no friends to talk to, and no home, either- Scott’s mansion is the closest they all have to a home, and they five had to build it together, as a team. That thought is oddly poetic.

Nobody here has grown on Abolish. But he finds something comforting in being alongside people- vampires- that know what loneliness feels like, breathing down your neck.

Was wondering where he stood really a question?

Chapter Text

Three weeks have passed since Abolish left Oakhurst.

Daycycles feel different when Abolish is nocturnal- While he still likes to watch the sun set before joining the other vampires, something about being up during the night feels much more freeing.

Never once has Abolish left the work-in-progress mansion since he was dragged there. He hasn’t had a reason to. Calling the river-ringed island ‘home’ feels easier to think by the day, and Abolish has no intention to go to Oakhurst. Instead, he busies himself with gathering stone and making a roof.

With five vampires working tirelessly to finish their home, great development has been made. The walls were finished, the windows had been dyed to block out the sun [apparently there was a book on glass staining lying around], and set the moment they were done. Abolish has never been one for goth, spooky aesthetics, but he likes how the mansion is being made.

Nobody simply redoes anyone’s work. In most cases, it's Scott and his high standards that have been soiled, not Abolish’s. Whatever poor vampire didn’t follow expectations would get an earful. Whoever misaligned the ballroom windows was lucky, Owen just shook it away and assured the coven he’d fix it.

Apo had been turned a few days ago. She hadn’t joined them, not yet anyway, but Abolish didn’t see her use here. She was loyal to Oakhurst- That was very clear to him. It would take an uproar from the humans for her to consider the mansion as a safe retreat.

[Even so, Scott and Owen both despised her. Abolish could see her staked and burned if she tried joining them.]

⚬──────────✧──────────⚬  

After nearly a month, Oakhurst finally rears its ugly head. Everyone in the town was gathered on the bridge, staring across like burning the mansion down would save them. 

And they stayed gathered for quite some time- Owen had spotted them, and Shelby thought she’d seen them as well nearly two hours before. Whatever the town wanted, they didn’t want to barge in for it.

“Haven’t even done anything this time,” Pyro muttered under his breath from beside Abolish. The vampire glanced back at the bridge. Even if the vampires did nothing, he was pretty sure Oakhurst would still take that as a threat.

“They’re not going to disperse until we make them. Might as well go now,” Owen said. He promptly poofed into a bat and glided towards the bridge. Four others followed, but didn’t turn human again, Abolish noticed. In case they needed a quick escape.

“Halt!” Ren cried out. “Thou shalt come no closer. We seek no harm!”

“This is our bridge,” Scott replied. “I don’t think you can order us on our land.”

“We came to talk.” Legundo said, “We don’t want a fight, just answers.”

Abolish watched Scott and Owen exchange a dubious look.

“Drop your weapons and we might talk,” Scott said smoothly.

A handful of the humans stiffened. Despite wanting to be ‘peaceful’, they seemed very ready for a fight.

“And what if you end up attacking us?” Martyn spat, pointing his sword at whoever he had probably thought was Scott. “You lot-”

“If you’re really here for peace,” Scott sneered, “You’d be eager to put down your weapons.”

“We could always leave, anyway. We don’t need to be here,” pointed out Owen.

With a few nudges from other villagers, Oakhurst sheathed its weapons.

“That wasn’t so hard,” Scott cooed condescendingly. “Ask away, then.”

Nobody spoke for a few seconds. Like the town had expected anyone but themselves to speak up. [A few heads had turned to the doctor. However, most stayed firmly fixed on the bats.]

“Which- Which one of you is Abolish?” Legundo asked. The head of Bat-Shelby turned slightly to glance at him. He wasn’t worried about Oakhurst using that to see which bat was Abolish- Owen, Scott, Pyro, and himself were all on the right side of her.

“Who’s asking?” Pyro piped up, breaking the several-moments silence.

“We wish to speak to thee in private,” Ren replied.

“Um, no.” Bat-Scott tossed his head, as if he had hair to toss in this form. “If you want to speak to him, you’re talking to all of us.”

“How is that fair? We’re here on peaceful terms. We’re not going to kidnap him or anything!” Legundo demanded. “Abolish should be the one to decide that, anyway.”

He didn’t need a death glare from Owen or a pointed glance from Scott to make the ‘right answer’.

“You can say it here, Legs.” The brunette vampire’s beady little eyes sparkled.

Looking at him now, Legundo looked tired. Like Oakhurst had picked apart what common sense he had and shoved the frayed bits back into his head. It didn’t make Abolish pity him, but he wondered what had gone on in Oakhurst to make the doctor seem done with the other humans.

“Ugh, look- We’re all really sorry, and we want you to come back.” Avid yelled from across the short gap, “Come home! Please?”

He felt his ears pin back, even in bat form. “Thanks, but no,” He replied.

In that moment, the bat form finally gave in. Five vampires stood in the light of dawn, just starting to sizzle. Scott would want to wrap this encounter up.

“I don’t know what they told you when they drained you dry, but it’s all wrong. They’re the bad guys. It’s really obvious!” Martyn shouted, hand on his sword.

Scott opened his mouth to remark something, but Abolish beat him to it.

“If I was here unwillingly, wouldn’t I have ran the first chance I’d gotten?” Abolish pointed out.

“So they held you prisoner,” The blond countered.

“And I’m standing in the middle of an open bridge, unchained and imprisoned?”

Martyn’s mouth flapped for a second as he tried to think of an explanation.

“Mind control!” Avid blurted.

“Thralls don’t work on other vampires,” Cleo chimed in.

“But that outrules all of our theories.” Legundo said, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“One of our own has fallen to the darkness,” Renhardt exclaimed. “He is a senseless being.”

Abolish placed a hand to his chest, “You wound me.”

[Someone snickered, but stifled it very quickly.]

“Watching your mouths run faster than your heads is very entertaining, but can we wrap this up?” Scott asks, feigning boredom despite having an amused glint in his eyes. “Sunlight does horrors to my skin.”

The doctor turned back to Abolish, slightly desperate. “Can you please just tell us what’s going on?”

“We just want to make things right again! Oakhurst needs you!” Avid whined.

“Really? I was under no impression you thought that,” Abolish scoffed.

“Oh my God,” Cleo muttered. “Moody fledglings.” The woman gave the vampire an unimpressed look. “So you left willingly? Is that why you’re acting like this?”

The redhead had done the mental gymnastics far quicker than the others, it seemed. Abolish wondered if this disbelief was anything comparable to their panic when he was a no-show for weeks on end.

“Willingly??! WILLINGLY?”

“More or less,” Owen mumbled under his breath. 

“Hold on, hold on!” Legundo called out. “You were loyal to Oakhurst- Anyone could agree with that.” The doctor put a hand to his head, thoughtful. “Why would you want to leave?”

“Maybe for the same reasons that it took you a month to recollect him,” Scott suggested, earning glares from multiple humans.

“I would’ve come personally if it wasn’t for the Militia!” Legundo argued.

“Because the vampires are dangerous, bloodthirsty monsters! What if they kidnapped you while you were out and alone?” Sausage exclaimed.

“I’m not afraid of them! They wouldn’t attack me without reason.” The doctor said firmly, “They’re people. They have thoughts and feelings and reasons behind their actions.”

“Bloodsucking reasons,” Abolish heard Martyn mutter.

“Can we get a reason behind Abolish turning willingly, of all things?” Avid pointed at him.

Twelve pairs of eyes turned to Abolish. Expectant, unbelieving, maybe curious. Wanting an answer to why their best fighter against the dark had abandoned them altogether. Wanting him back, now that they know how useful Abolish truly is.

He wants to yell. Abolish wants to scream until his voice gives out. He wants to laugh at their stupidity and give them no answer. Surely someone had suggested the truth once. Were they so far on their high horse they couldn’t see the rotten ground they stood on? 

Was Oakhurst blind? Senseless? Plain stupid?

How could they not know?

Abolish had only wanted to pay homage to his parents. He came here for that one little reason. Oakhurst dragged him into staying, dragged him into a war, and dragged his hard work through mud. Abolish was a second thought to everyone in that damn town. Renhardt moved out of the town and got more visitors than he ever did. If he hadn’t found a home with this coven, he would have stayed at the furthest edge of the woods and kept to himself.

But no. He fought their battles, defended Oakhurst from targets the town made, and now the people need to pay the price.

They cried vampire. They wanted an enemy, and now they’re whining because the vampires are giving them one. The entire month it took for the town to march down to the bridge was spent by the vampires making a damn home.

If they wanted to take the coven from Abolish, they would need to rip it from his clawed, dead hands and stake him.

“No.” Abolish glared back, “I think it's obvious why I left.”

He’s not going back. Not when Abolish has found people that appreciate him here. Not when he’s found a home, not ever.

Leg’s face crumbles. He appreciates the genuine guilt he has, Abolish deliciously revels in his pure despair. He drinks in the moment, folding his hands behind his back.

“I think you all should leave, now,” Owen said. “You’ve overstayed your welcome.”

Oakhurst trudges back over the hill, back to the town. None of the vampires could bat, so Scott had turned on his heel and started to swan back to the mansion. The rest of the coven followed, Abolish trailing behind and Shelby sidling up next to him while they were walking.

“Are you okay?” She murmured.

The two stopped over the second gap in the bridge. The vampire crossed first, helping the younger cross after.

“I feel fine.”

“You looked really upset for a moment there.” Shelby said, “I just wanted to check. You’re- Y’know, You’re my family. To me, at least.”

He stared at her, caught between surprise and feeling a little touched.

“I’m really happy you’re staying. For a moment, I thought you’d actually go back,” She admitted.

“Why would I do that?” Abolish stopped outside the door.

“I- I don’t know! I panicked?” Shelby said, and gave him a sheepish look. “You were so loyal when you were human. I thought you’d run away the second you knew how to be a vampire.”

Abolish too.

“I didn’t, I guess,” he said. “I like it here. I like the mansion. I don’t know what I’m gonna do after the barrier falls, but I don’t think I’m leaving the coven for Oakhurst anytime soon.”

Shelby was silent for a moment, rocking on her heels. He was going to step into the mansion, but the vampire shocked Abolish with a hug.

“God, I’m sorry, that was-” She pulled off, guiltily. “I shouldn’t have overstepped.”

“No, uh,” Abolish cleared his throat. “You’re fine.” He awkwardly patted her shoulder.

If the vampire still had blood in her body, Shelby might’ve been as red as a drop of blood on white fabric. She ducked into the mansion, disappearing into the shadows. Her footsteps echoed into the ballroom quickly.

Abolish followed, shutting the door behind him.

He meant it. Every word. Abolish was staying with his coven, at least until the barrier fell. Oakhurst can try to take them from his lifeless hands. He loves mansion life.

He loves his family.

In the future, their numbers will grow and allegiances will be questioned. Abolish will coldly allow Apo back to the coven, and make no move to welcome her. When they host a meeting between all the vampires bound by the beacons, Abolish stays quiet. He supports the coven, even as Apo retreats back to Oakhurst and the traitors in their midst kill Avid. The final numbers will drop to a pitiful eight. When his family sets out for a new life, Abolish does not follow. He makes two graves for Alaric and Reiah Veylocke. Then, he walks a dirt road to wherever the Fates deliver him.

But that’s far, far in the future. For now, Abolish goes into the storage room and takes a stack of deepslate.

After all, he still has a home to finish.