Chapter Text
After that one afternoon, Owen did not go out to cut more trees again.
He spent a few days in his hut, with the time dripping down between his fingers without him even noticing. The only time he ventured out was when he needed to go hunt something to eat. And that did not happen often - the garlic completely messed up his sense of hunger, making him not feel it most of the time. Once it hit, it hit hard - and the revenant had to go out to quell it as quickly as possible. Whenever he wasn't hunting, he just stayed inside, not really sure where all of his time went. This state of strange, unearned bliss clung to him, clouding his thoughts, making him forget who he was, what he was doing, why he was staying here and what waited for him outside of this forest. A vague sense of belonging to this town, that now seemed too far away to go there, called out to him somewhere in the back of his mind. Most of the time, however, he was too out of it to actually notice.
One morning, Owen was napping in his bed, too tired by everything to actually get up. His head was too far from this world, from Oakhurst, to notice anything out of the ordinary - such as someone watching him from the window. He had another dream, one that put him in a state of confusion and one he couldn't recall just moments after waking up. He was already used to that. Day to day, everything was making less and less sense. And maybe it was something for the better.
And then, the dream shifted.
Suddenly, the strange colors, unfamiliar noises and a feeling of being lost in his own mind ceased. Suddenly, Owen was sitting in almost complete darkness. He flinched, a sudden wave of cold air hitting him. Right next to him, there was a large, burning campfire - but the flames seemed to provide no warmth. And on the opposite side of the flames, someone was sitting. Their face was veiled in shadow, but Owen could barely make out their silhouette. They were slightly shorter than him, unhealthily slim. Dark, brown eyes, full of anger and disdain were shining in the darkness. Long, hooked claws were digging into the ground, as if they were looking for something to grab and hold onto. Owen tilted his head to the side a little. This person seemed... Familiar. Too familiar. Wasn't Owen like this, once upon a time...?
"You still have him by your side, don't you...?" The stranger suddenly asked. Despite saying no names, Owen immediately recognized who he was talking about.
"I do," he responded, then added with an awkward smile. "Although, heh... I can't lie, with how overbearing he can be, I was getting a little... Tired of him..."
"Overbearing? Tired of him?! What are you talking about?!" The stranger hissed, their eyes flashing a dangerous red. "How dare you speak like that about him! He's a perfect man, a saint that took us in, expecting nothing in return!"
"You sound like you don't know some things about him..." Owen snickered.
"Yeah! I couldn't! I lost him just before we could have our eternity together!"
The revenant's smile faded. What did the stranger mean saying that he lost him? How was that even possible? Louis would never leave, would he...?
"Everything was supposed to be perfect... We were supposed to be perfect... He turned me, left me to transform, and then... When I woke up, he was gone. The townsfolk took him... They burned him at stake... Just because he was different... Because he was like me..." The stranger curled up, pulling their knees close to their chest. "It wouldn't have happened, if he didn't turn me..."
"He... He didn't stay with you...?" Owen whispered. So Louis staying with him while he was turning into a vampire... That saved his life, for whatever reason. But the stranger wasn't so lucky. No wonder he looked so sick and worn down. He was also promised an eternity together, and he only got half what he was promised. "Then... What did you do...?"
"What I had to."
Suddenly, flames picked up behind the stranger, reaching high into the air. Screams filled the space. Owen could see the silhouettes of people running, then falling to the ground as some force unseen slaughtered them in cold blood. In the back of the scene, an even higher pillar of flames was raised. A body was seen within it. Despite only seeing the dark, charred silhouette, Owen immediately recognized it.
The sight was etched into his brain forever, to not let him forget.
"Cherish him." the stranger commented. The flames lit him up from behind, making his face even harder to see in the darkness. A stray ember flew off from the fire, landing on their shoulder. Immediately, the abandoned vampire went up into flames, then vanished alongside the burning vision.
Then, Owen woke up.
The revenant immediately got up in cold sweat, but the sudden movement resulted in him falling on the ground with a thud. Owen groaned in pain, just laying there for a minute, unable to move.
"Crap..." he grumbled. "How can I be in such bad shape...? This is embarrassing..."
Out of habit, Owen reached out his hand, in search of another dose of garlic. That nightmare was way too much for him - he needed to forget it, the sooner, the better. It didn't seem to vanish from his mind, like most of his dreams did. Especially the image of Louis being burned at stake, and this alter version of himself going up in flames as well. Is this what would've happened to him, if Louis didn't stay with him? He would've been taken by the town, burned at the pyre, killed... And then Owen would take revenge on everyone. He didn't even need this version of himself to explain it. He could already feel it. And he couldn't blame him.
Cherish him. The last words of the apparition echoed in Owen's head. Surely, he was referring to Louis... Was it his messed up head, sending a message straight from his subconscious, to put himself together and return to his beloved man? No, he couldn't, not like this, not when he looked and felt like such embarrassment...
Owen's head suddenly perked up. Ever since he woke up, there's been another feeling that poked him in the back of his head, and he couldn't shake it off. Now, when he somewhat regained his clarity of mind, he recognized it.
Someone was watching him.
After looking around for a moment, Owen noticed someone's red, shining eye poking out from behind his window. It didn't move, even when he made eye contact. Instead, it squinted a little, as if its owner smiled. That was enough for the revenant to recognize the visitor, and let out a low, rumbling growl.
"Get out."
"You could use some more manners, you know?" The vampire responded, leaning over the window and looking straight inside. "I put so much time and energy into raising you the proper way, and this is how you talk back to me?"
"I said out, Scott." Owen got up from the floor. He was sincerely hoping that his grandsire didn't notice just how jittery and weak he appeared.
"I miss when you'd call me sire..." Scott Goldsmith sighed. "Can I come in?"
"No!"
"Fine, fine..."
The vampire moved away from the window. A moment later, the door swung open, but he didn't come inside. Instead, he stood right in front of them, with his arms crossed and watching Owen closely.
"You look like a mess..." he chuckled.
"And it's your fault."
"I didn't do anything that you didn't let me."
"How can I know what I allowed you to do? I don't even remember anything from that party! I just remember waking up, hurting and feeling like crap!" Owen growled, sitting on his bed as far away from the door as he could. If his grandsire was standing by the door, he'd have a hard time leaving. What if he attempted that, and Scott caught him, pinned him down and hurt him? In his current state, he was in no place to overpower him.
"You were amazing... All of my friends said that. And they're hard to impress..." Scott smirked, looking nonchalantly at his claws.
"Why did you even come here...?"
"To give you another chance. You were quite pathetic, returning to your boyfriend and breaking down in tears in front of him... But I'm merciful, and I can take you back in. If you ask nicely..."
"Are you kidding?! You ruined everything!" Owen raised his voice, already fed up with Scott's nonchalance. "Because of you, I'm feeling worse than ever! I had to leave, so that I wouldn't accidentally hurt Louis!"
"A revenant who can't control himself, fork found in kitchen..." Scott snickered. "I offered to teach you. And all I got in return was a displeasant pup who treats me as some common bat. Even Louis wasn't this bad..."
"Stop this! Don't talk about him! He hates you too! I bet all of your fledglings do! We're all embarrassed of being related to you!"
"Whoa, feisty..." Scott snickered. "You'd make for a good guard dog... What a shame that Louis doesn't keep you on a tighter leash..."
"Leave. I don't want to talk to you," Owen growled. "I promised Louis to never talk to you again."
"Not the first promise to him you'd break, is it...?"
Owen turned around on his bed, pulling his knees to his chest and curling up as much as possible. Maybe if he ignored his grandsire for long enough, he would eventually get bored and leave... After all, if he was such a renowned vampire, he had better things to do than tormenting a fledgling, would he?
Apparently, he didn't. Scott just stood there, nailing his claws and humming under his breath, patiently waiting for Owen to speak again. For him, it was a waiting game. He didn't mind waiting a few hours, maybe even a few days. At his age, time kinda stopped mattering. Especially since he just spent the last four hundred years asleep. He could spend a similar amount of time haunting his unruly fledglings. After all, he didn't plan on dying anytime soon. He got all the time in the world.
"Aren't you afraid that Louis will get bored of you?" Scott eventually asked. "I've seen him with someone in town... Some old guy in white robes, no idea who he is..."
"That's Legs. I know of him. I'm fine with him."
"And Louis replaced you with a mere human? Damn, that's pathetic on both fronts..."
"Shut up! If that makes him happy, I'm fine with that!" Owen finally turned around. His fingers were fidgeting, as he grew restless with how close the vampire was to him. Not to mention, his hunger returned, and was getting really bad. But if Scott noticed it, he'd make even more fun of him...
Scott sighed.
"This is what you get for being nice to people... If I had known that down the line, half a millenium later, this'd happen, I would've just eaten Louis when I found him..."
"Shut up!"
Owen suddenly lunged out of the bed and threw himself right at Scott. The vampire smirked, then took a step away to easily dodge the hit. Owen fell on the ground, but quickly regained his balance and attacked once more. However, in his poor mental and physical state, even his top speed was no match for an ancient vampire like Scott. He just smoothly avoided any hits, grinning and giggling the whole time.
"I thought revenants were better fighters... Someone's grown a little soft, huh?" Scott smirked. "I've never seen someone get actually worse at fighting after becoming a vampire... Louis turned you into such a spoiled brat..." The vampire suddenly caught his wrist and twisted in uncomfortably, causing Owen to tumble to the ground. "You truly are a lost cause..." He growled, stomping on Owen's foot with his heel. The revenant let out a howl of pain. "Maybe it would've been easier to put you out of your misery... After all, your boyfriend already replaced you... And you don't have anyone besides him, do you...?"
Owen frantically looked around, searching for something that could allow him to defend himself. His claws alone wouldn't do the job - with how much he's been picking at them lately, they got short and blunt. He needed something sharp and stronger...
And then, he found it. His axe, which somehow he left just under his window. He didn't even recall what he was doing with it, for it to end up there... But that didn't matter. Once he felt Scott lessen his grip on him, he suddenly lunged forward and grabbed the weapon. The vampire, still distracted, did not jump away in time. He only noticed that something was wrong when the sharp, iron blade plunged deep into his neck.
Scott stumbled back with a gasp, almost falling to the ground. His head tilted to the side more than it would normally be possible - the force of the strike was hard enough to cut through half of his neck. The vampire grabbed his head with one hand, keeping it in place, while gripping the handle of the axe with the other. He ripped it out with a loud, squelching sound. He tossed the weapon aside and placed his head back in place, his supernatural healing putting the connective tissue back together.
"Not bad! If that was silver, you would've gotten me..." Scott snickered, but then his smile faded for the first time since he came. "I was willing to give you one last chance. But now, you've truly made an enemy, Owen. I hope a peasant like you can count, because your days are numbered."
"Leave."
The vampire glanced back at him one last time, with disgust and hatred in his eyes. Then, he transformed into a bat and flew away into the sky. All that was left of him was a small puddle of rotting blood, marking the grass.
Owen grabbed his axe, but let it fall to the ground immediately. That one fight took everything out of him. Slowly, he stumbled back into his house. He no longer even felt the hunger at this point. Instead, he just fell on the bed, ignoring how loudly it creaked under him. He curled up, still shaking after the encounter. It took him surprisingly long, considering everything that transpired, to fall asleep.