OH??? PLEASE ELABORATE???? I NEED THIS. I NEED MORE AVID TRAUMA. PLEASE, CHEF?
Tad gruesome so it's under the cut and everyone's warned ok!!!
All the books write about how romantic getting turned into a vampire is, and Avids not gonna pretend he didn't somewhat fall for that propaganda. He wasn't imagining some sort of romantic turning under the stars (at least, not about this vampire), but he thought, maybe, that it would be kind of nice. His curse slowly bleeding away with his life force, surrounded by people that seem to care about him.
It isn't until he's waking up face down in the dirt that he realises how foolish he was.
He'd come to terms with the fact that vampires aren't the inherently evil, mindless creatures he thought they were, and they weren't what infected him and Elle. According to the Sire's extensive library some sort of demon was probably to blame for that. Vampires were just people that had a different diet: a gross one, but one that didn't require you to kill innocents! And most importantly, vampirism could cure any illness, including demonic infection.
Honestly, it kinda seemed a bit too good to be true, which is usually a sign that he'd heed, but he doesn't really have another option. An eternal life with people that understand him, are nice to him, are extremely handsome holy shit, and he doesn't have to deal with black outs and going on random murderous rampages? Sign him up.
So, after a while of the Sire's wining and dining (and beating Pyro 17-6 in their many chess matches, HAH), Avid tells the Sire he'll accept. The three of them are taking a nice walk through the gardens, and it's a beautiful night to die all things considered.
They stop suddenly, and while he can't read Pyros expression (relief, delight, fear fear fear), he doesn't think he's ever seen the Sire look so.... hungry. It's surprisingly easy to forget this noble is older than the land they're standing on, but not right now. Not when he's watching Avid unwrap his bandages with rapt attention. Pyro tries to croak out an "Are you sure?" but he's very quickly hushed, a raised hand reminding them of their place.
The Sire clamps one hand on Avids shoulder, and uses the other to gently turn Avids head to get a better look at the demonic wound. It's fairly big and oozing (not quite blood, but something like it), and he tuts. How big it is, how unsightly, he says, and Avid feels like he's being admonished, like he's a child being caught sneaking into the woods again. But suddenly the touch is gone, and the Sire is grinning, because there's nothing to worry about. There's quite an easy solution.
The next few seconds are a blur of sensations. Teeth in his neck, tight like a vice, and white hot fire flooding his veins. And then the Sire is gone (but not the pain, never the pain), and the main thing he feels is cold, like he's taken his scarf off in the middle of winter. Pyro looks stricken, and he reaches up to his neck to see why it feels so so cold despite the fire in his blood.
The problem he finds, when he pulls his hands away, coated in blood, is that he doesn't really have a neck anymore. And he wonders why he's not screaming at this fact, and realises it's because his whole throat, the whole area of his wound and far far more, has been ripped out. His last thought before his knees give out and he drops into the dirt is that he thought he'd have less blood in him.
He comes to, dirt in his mouth and up his nose. He feels for his throat, whole again miraculously, but it feels like it's covered in deep jagged scar tissue. He imagines even if he could see himself in the mirror there would be no sign of the demonic scar, only the one left by the Sire. His Sire.
His ears are ringing, his throat is still throbbing, and he's hungry, but he can vaguely make out the conversation going on around him. Pyro's hauling him out of the bed of lilies, brushing dirt and petals off of him, and Avid can hear words like "cruel" and "necessary" and "scared". He doesn't really want to face this, wants to wallow in the dirt a bit longer, and he makes his body go limp so Pyro drops him.
He's probably crushed all of these flowers by now, but the cold earth is surprisingly refreshing on his face. He just needs a minute to process what happened. He was alive 2 minutes ago, dying but alive, and he just needs a moment to think.
He feels hands on his chin, rougher than they were 2 minutes ago when inspecting his wound. His face is yanked up and there's his Sire, face blank apart from vague disgust.
"Get up."
The command rings through him, pushing him from laying, to kneeling, to standing, and suddenly he's stood upright swaying slightly in the breeze. The Sire's already striding towards the mansion's main entrance, not bothering to look back and see if Avid and Pyro will follow. He knows they will. And they do.
(ty @luckbucket for workshopping this with me:3)
