Belos's plan makes no damn sense. He wanted to wipe all life from the isles. He wanted everyone gone. So his genius plan?
Force people to get tattoos that could be easily faked by illusionists... Or by getting just a regular ass tattoo. Then like... Just trust that everyone had one??
When season 2 was still coming out I really expected the draining spell to power something else. Like... Steal everyone's magic to draw the moon in and literally shatter the planet or something.
But no. He sucks some ppl dry then leaves before it's even done. The STAGGERING arrogance. No wonder he lost.
When I go to Tafe on Wednesdays I always get kinda annoyed because there's one of those anti-nuclear signs on a building that I see everytime, nuclear is mostly safe and carbon neutral energy, the three major incidents people talk about are outliers yet they convinced so many people to despise a source of near limitless clean energy.
-Chernobyl was human error, plain and simple.
-Fukushima was a 32 year old reactor that only went down after two 'acts of God' and only killed 2000 people after the fact due to radiation exposure.
Muir startled awake from dreams of cold concrete and hungry animals the size of a bus as the door to the small interrogation room cracked open. He blinked, yawning on air that didn't taste like his own exhaustion, panic, and pain. He lifted his head, staring down for a moment at the pages and pages of scribbled notes marked with things like 'stab wound up through chin and into mouth through tongue' and 'some form of humiliation. Uncertain what was done or said.'
He shoved the notes away as Officer Blaire stepped in, a coffee in one hand and a paper plate with two small breakfast sandwiches in the other. "Hey, sorry. Were you sleeping?"
"Yeah," Muir sighed, clearing his throat when he heard how gravelly he sounded. His throat hurt from screaming earlier. The interrogation rooms actually turned out to be soundproof, it seemed, as he couldn't remember anyone coming to check on him. "Are those for me?"
"Yup, yeah," Blaire said, stepping forward and setting them on the table, respectfully keeping his eyes off of the papers. "You've been in here a while, so I figured you needed someone to come check in on you."
Muir nodded, rubbing his eyes before reaching for the sandwiches. "Thanks, Blaire. I really appreciate it."
"Anytime," Blaire said warmly. "Would you like me to stay for a bit or leave you be? I'm technically off my shift, but I don't feel right leaving you here... I was thinking I could offer you a place to stay at my apartment if.... you know."
Muir paused halfway through his second bite. Back before he was a vampire, an offer like that would have been normal. Humans were very empathetic to other humans, but most seemed to believe vampires could handle anything, just because they could heal from anything and live for longer than any human could manage if nothing came along to stop them. He had very much noticed the difference in the way his coworkers treated him when he was a human, and when he became a vampire. The worst changes were the more shy coworkers, whom he had spent months developing relationships with, doing anything they could to avoid being in a room alone with him.
Blaire wasn't like that, though. He was human, sure, and he even came from a European lineage, giving him a natural instinct to hate and kill vampires, and here he was. Offering one a place to stay because he knew how much this situation had hurt Muir. Muir wouldn't be surprised if Blaire offered to go alone with Muir to storm the gang's hide out just to get Joseph back.
"I.... I might take you up on that, Blaire. Thank you."
"Orville," Blaire said with a shrug. "You can call me Orville."
Muir nodded. "I can do that.... do the tech guys still have my phone?"
"Yeah. They said they might keep it for a while. They got a couple more messages and-"
"Messages?"
"Yeah. I'm not sure what was in them, but Susan Lay, the new girl remember? She came out looking white as a ghost and rushed for the bathroom. I made sure she was alright, but she didn't tell me much. I would guess pictures, though."
Muir closed his eyes. He could imagine what those pictures were. Pictures of horrible, gaping wounds in Joseph's stomach, and Muir ran his thumb over his upper lip, shuddering at the pain he remembered there when Joseph's fangs were broken, possibly even pulled out. He never wanted to feel pain like that again.
"Yeah, probably," he mumbled.
He looked down over his notes and said, "I should probably compile this into a report...."
"That's fine. I'll sit with you, and when you're done I can drive you over to my place so you don't have to stress. I talked to the Chief and she said it would be alright if you left your car here."
Muir chuckled lowly under his breath. Orville sounded pleased with the idea, but he probably overlooked the fact that the Chief would consider Muir a bit of a flight risk. She might even have put the idea in Orville's pretty head to keep an eye on Muir and made it seem like Orville's idea. Still, that didn't mean there was any less chivalry in the offer. No matter where the idea originated, Orville really meant all of the support and kindness he showed. He always did.
"Thanks. That's probably for the best," he sighed. "I just need to get some papers. I don't want to keep you too late so I'll try and make the report short. What time is it?"
"Now? It's about 9 in the evening I think. How long do your reports usually- Are you alright?"
Muir grabbed his hair with a groan, pulling on his curls as he said, "I'm so stupid! Joseph was supposed to pick Esial up from work, and since the tech guys have my phone he hasn't been able to reach me. Can I borrow your phone?"
"Sure," Orville said, offering his phone.
Muir took it and punched in Esial's number. It rang out, but that wasn't too uncommon. He often left his phone behind at home when he went to work because he still wasn't used to keeping it on him. He hardly ever had to use it anyway since Joseph and Muir were usually very punctual. He tried the Dalton Rehab Center next and they answered as quickly as ever.
"Hello, Dalton Rehabilitation Center, this is Paliop speaking."
"Oh, hey, Paliop, this is Muir. Password 8330. I didn't know you worked evenings now."
"Oh yeah, I switched it up recently. It's been easier on my girlfriend, you know, and I can attend more of the coven meetings."
"Oh, cool. I wish I had more time to talk, but I wanted to know if Esial made it back."
There was some typing as Paliop said, "Well, I didn't see him come in earlier aaaaaaand..... nope, he hasn't checked back in. No movement at his door either since he left this morning."
"Crap. He must still be at work. I'd better go get him. Thanks Paliop."
"No problem. And... I heard about Joseph being missing. You think it'll be alright?"
As Muir clenched his teeth he heard a soft squeak at the back of his mouth. He slowly relaxed his jaw and said, "It will if I have anything to say about it."
"Absolutely. Hey, let me know if you need any help."
"I will."
After the goodbyes, Muir hung up and passed the phone back to Orville. He decided not to call the zoo since it was late enough that their phones were shut off. "Hey, thanks. I need to go get Esial from work. I might take my papers to work on at home. I don't want to keep you."
"How about I go with you?" Orville suggested. "If they got Joseph, it might be dangerous for you to be out on your own."
Muir sighed and nodded. Besides. He probably did need a guard in case anything happened to Joseph while he was out. He felt his bond mate's pain almost as strongly as though it were happening to him, and it wouldn't be safe for him to just collapse while he was out getting Esial. "Probably a good idea. My car or your car?"
"We can take mine. We can stop by your place on the way back and then go straight to mine if you like," Orville said as Muir shoved the rest of his breakfast sandwich in his mouth, leaving the other behind, but taking the coffee with him.
The two walked out through the main office and Muir avoided the stares he was getting. He knew he looked a mess, but it was nothing compared to how he felt. The stares of horror and sympathy he got from the other pair bonded vampires in the office made him want to sink into the floor and never return.
Orville and Muir made it to the elevator just as Granger did, and she gave them both a hard look.
"Where are you two going?"
"I have to pick up Esial from work since....."
Granger's expression relaxed and she nodded. "Then you won't mind me going with you."
"I don't need a babysitter," Muir grumbled.
"Besides," Orville said helpfully, "We were planning to just go straight to my place afterwards so he can get some rest."
Granger hummed. "Then I'll go in my car. I can take my break after."
Muir just shrugged as the elevator opened and let them out into the underground parking lot. Muir got into Orville's car and Orville hopped in, turning it on and pausing to look through a collection of CD's he had carefully stacked in the center console. "Here, you can choose what to play. Just be careful with them, alright?"
"Yeah," Muir said, reaching over to look through them vaguely. His mind was on other things besides disks full of Linkin Park and Bare Naked Ladies. He chose one at random and popped it in, watching out the window as Neil Diamond began playing through the speakers.
Orville was quiet beside humming along with the songs until they hit the main roads, Granger right behind them. "Esial works at the zoo, right?"
Muir simply nodded, reaching for the bond with Joseph again. Joseph was still sleeping, but Muir could get the sense of fear, pain, and hunger.
He closed his eyes, trying to accept those feelings and fight down the urge to go after Joseph. He had to take care of Esial first, and then himself. He couldn't help Joseph if he was dead on his feet.
"So, for the bed situation," Orville started, bringing a welcome distraction to Muir's mind. "I have my bed and a pull out coach, but I also have some mats and sleeping bags if you prefer that."
"The pullout couch is fine, I think," Muir said. "Do you have enough blankets or should I bring my own?"
"You might wanna bring a blanket or two. I never have anyone over so I really only have enough for me most of the time, but it's been getting warmer at night so you probably don't need too many."
Muir nodded. "That works for me."
Orville filled the rest of the trip to the zoo with talk about what Muir might need and what Orville had at his place, as well as discussions as to what they should have for breakfast and if Muir would need help getting some blood.
When they reached the zoo, Muir hopped out of the car just as one of the workers was getting to his vehicle. He looked over, intrigued and asked, "Anything I can do to help you, officers?"
"Oh, no, it's all good," Muir said as Granger got out of her car. "I'm just here to pick up Esial. I'm Muir."
"Ah, good to know. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he wasn't here today," the man said with a shrug. "I'm Matthew. I usually work with him in the crocodile enclosure but I had to do it all on my own today. No call no show, from what I understand."
"Muir," Granger said in a strange tone of voice as he stood on unsteady feet, processing that.
He didn't remember exactly what happened next, just that his voice box hurt, that his teeth groaned under serious pressure, and he was unable to breathe.
When he came to, Granger was on the phone, two more police cars had arrived, and he was sobbing into Orville's chest. He could faintly hear Matthew talking with the officers, giving an official statement about what he had told Muir.
They were gone. Both Joseph and Esial were gone, and while Muir had been so worried about Joseph, Esial had gone unnoticed all day. Was he with the same gang? Surely if he was, they would have taken pictures of him sent those as well to taunt and poke at Muir. But Esial was old, and his ashes would make a particularly potent drug. Maybe he was just shipped off to who knew where to make product for these disgusting operations. Cut and drugged and burned and clipped and scraped all day. And no one even knew he was missing.
Rage washed over Muir for a brief second and he reached through the bond, gripping Orville's arms in a grasp that would leave bruises for weeks. His anger woke Joseph, who swirled with confusion and fear.
Why didn't you tell me!? Why didn't you tell me he was taken with you!?
While Joseph wouldn't be able to understand Muir's exact words, he seemed to realize what Muir was angry about and the bond was flooded with apology and fear for Esial.
All of Muir's rage blew out like a candle, and he was left weak and trembling. He pushed forward his own apology for his anger. This wasn't Joseph's fault. Muir knew how much Joseph had been hurt and scared all day. He'd felt it in his own flesh and fangs. There was no room to try and get that message across through it all.
Joseph accepted it with understanding so sweet and genuine it made Muir almost sick. He didn't deserve to be forgiven that easily. Not when he had allowed Joseph to be taken again! This time by a gang that would torture him rather than a serial killer that would kill him. He didn't deserve forgiveness after he had forgotten about Esial all day. His mind raced, trying to figure out how they would even begin searching for the ancient vampire. If the gangs got their hands on him, they would make absolute certain that the only people that knew about him were the people making ash from him, or the collectors they might sell him to.
"Hey," Orville cooed, his deep voice rumbling in the broad chest Muir clung to like his life depended on it. "How about we go, huh? You don't look too good."
Muir couldn't muster up a response, and allowed Orville to gently lead him to the car. He half heatedly tried to buckle himself in as Orville started the car, and burst into fresh tears when Neil Diamond's 'Shilo' came on as the disk in the player began spinning again.
Orville politely turned the music off and drove in silence as they went directly to Orville's apartment. Muir watched the world pass the window, the lights blurring in front of teary eyes. One day of grief and guilt, he finally decided. One day. That was all he got. After that, all of focus would need to be on getting them both back. No matter what laws he had to break, or who he had to kill to make it happen, if his coworkers couldn't make it happen fast enough.
Part 10
From Dust to Ashes Taglist: @whumpsday @honeycollectswhump @writereleaserepeat @tragedyinblue @hyrules-sleepiest-knight
