Vampire Perspective (8/17)
By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67
Warnings: Blood, murderous intentions, injury, depressing topics (I have no idea how to label this but everything is oof)
First Chapter || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virgil sat in his coffin, for once not getting up with the moon as he drummed his fingers rapidly on the inside wood, trying to calm himself down. He knew it was evening. He could sense it, like a dog senses a tsunami. But the feeling only filled him with dread, knowing how strong the aching in his stomach had grown.
That’s a good thing. Virgil reminded himself, but his anxiety only rose. He could do this. Could he do this? Maybe he could just stay in his coffin all night instead… no, Virgil had to do this, to prove to himself that the others had been wrong.
Virgil lifted the lid, not making a creak as he slunk out of his coffin like the shadows incarnate. Logan was passed out, likely from exhaustion. That’s your fault. Virgil reminded himself. It doesn’t matter now. His brain retorted.
Right, it didn’t. It didn’t matter at all. Because Virgil could smell that tantalizing scent that had begun to permeate his walls the past few days. It was just so hard to resist… why was he even resisting? This was perfect. Virgil was starving, and Logan wasn’t even awake so Virgil wouldn’t have to look him in the eye and feel that insufferable guilt.
Just do it, you little cry bat! Virgil clutched at his hair, clenching his fangs so hard they punctured a small hole in his lip. Do it, because otherwise you’re just gonna keep torturing him for your own sick pleasure and continue on a coward like the past few centuries meant you’ve learned nothing-
I can’t do it.
Virgil felt like screaming his head off and crying his eyes out all at once, storming out of the room as the smell began to make him feel sick. What was wrong with him? At least before he could blame it on being too young and squeamish, but he was a grown vamp for crying out loud! This was the circle of life! Borrowers don’t even live a hundred years, what’s a few less? Just it put it out of its misery-
Him. Put him out of his misery. His subconscious unhelpfully supplied. Why had Virgil bothered to learn Logan’s name? He was so stupid, and after he was such a jerk to Patton about the other one, too. But that was different. Patton could be stronger than Virgil. He had to, if he wanted to stand any chance of defending himself.
“Virgil?”
Virgil jolted, unnerved to see Patton sat at the dinner table. Speak of the devil.
“Are you okay?” Patton asked, and that question damn near broke Virgil down because when was he ever okay? Certainly not now.
“I-I…” Virgil cursed himself for stammering. “It’s nothing.”
“Virgil, don’t lie to me.” Patton said sternly. Well wasn’t that just the nail in the coffin, proving he really was nothing like his brothers. “Please, just tell me what’s wrong.”
“I can’t.” Virgil insisted, shaking his head. “If I told you what I’ve done you’d hate me more than you do.” Virgil wasn’t sure which aspect Patton would hate most, but there was certainly plenty to go around.
“Virgil, I do not hate you!” Patton immediately replied, and now look who was the liar. Patton had a million and one excellent reasons to hate Virgil, and frankly tonight was not the night to stay and listen to Patton’s sweet lies.
Instead Virgil took off into the night, ignoring Patton’s cries for him to come back. He didn’t know where he was going, only choosing a direction at random and running as fast as his legs could carry him. Yes, running, because he didn’t even have enough energy for his bat form. Pathetic.
Eventually Virgil began to run out of steam, the growling in his stomach returning with a vengeance. If he didn’t get some blood in him right this second he was going to end up tearing this entire little city apart. Thankfully, a willing- or rather unwilling- victim just rounded the corner, alone. Virgil glanced around only once to check the coast was clear before he pounced, dragging the man with him into a back alley.
“H-hey! What’s the big id-”
“Shut up.” Virgil growled, burying his fangs into the man’s neck. He groaned, sucking so sloppily he might’ve been a pup again. It spilled down his front, drenching his clothes as Virgil continued to lap up his fill. The man’s skin paled, his eyes drooping as the signs of blood loss were starting to kick in.
You’re going to kill him. Good.
But Virgil refrained from giving in completely to his dark instincts, as tempting as it was. He dropped the man’s body, watching it collapse with a thump onto the alley floor. Virgil growled, frustrated that he had to leave his snack unfinished. The other half of his mind was frustrated with him as well, scolding Virgil for acting like a child and making such a mess. Even if the man survived, what possible explanation could there be for all this blood?
You could just finish him off.
Virgil couldn’t. Again with the not being able to do simple vampyric tasks! This was the #1 instinct of all vampires. The wound was still fresh, a small puddle of blood having formed before Virgil’s saliva took root and began to close it up. Great, now Virgil couldn’t even hunt properly. He stormed back home, slamming the front door in his rage.
“VIRGIL!” A shocked Patton exclaimed, but Virgil didn’t even spare him a look. “What-what happened-?”
“Don’t want to talk about it.” Virgil growled, stomping up the stairs with a huff. Frankly, he just wanted to fall back into his coffin and sleep for a hundred years, but fate would not be so kind, considering there was still the issue of his little prisoner when Virgil returned to his bedroom.
Logan had woken up to an empty room. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked over towards the coffin. Open and empty, just like the rest of the room. Where had Virgil gone? Wasn’t Virgil supposed to be...wasn’t Logan supposed to be eaten today? It didn’t make any sense.
He stood up and went over towards the door, trying it despite knowing it wouldn’t work. Great...half of him had been hoping Virgil would just get it over with already. After all, prolonging it was just causing him to worry about it more. Though, Virgil had been acting strangely the night before...could that have been it?
Logan sighed, as he slumped against the opposite wall and waited for Virgil to come back. Thankfully, Logan didn’t have to wait too long as the door burst open about several minutes later. However, the sight before him made Logan’s blood run cold.
Virgil was there, covered almost head to toe in blood. He was panting but not from exhaustion, no, from the very clear anger on his face. Logan got to his feet, trying to back himself into the wall, putting as much distance as he could from the vampire. His eyes were wide as he couldn’t look away, even as the stench reached him. What...What had happened.
“...you’re awake.” Virgil commented bitterly, sulking over to his dresser.
Logan swallowed at the tone of Virgil’s voice, looking at the vampire warily. “W-Why…” He cleared his throat. “Where...What happened?” Logan decided on.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Patton.” Virgil answered, pulling out some clean clothes. “Don’t want to talk about it.”
Logan knew he should have just dropped his but his curiosity kept him going. “Did...did you go out to hunt? Why? I-I thought…” Today was the day Virgil was supposed to eat him, right? So why did the vampire go and get himself full?
“I forgot.” Virgil slammed his drawer with more intensity than was strictly necessary. “I’m going to take a shower.” He announced loudly, leaving the room again before Logan could ask any pestering questions.
Logan frowned. Virgil forgot? That didn’t make any sense though. His cage was in the line of sight of the coffin, if anything. But Virgil had been talking about eating Logan non stop these past few days. There was simply no way Virgil could have forgotten.
So...why then? If Virgil was lying, then why had he gone out to eat instead of eaten Logan as planned?
Virgil took longer in the shower than he normally would, wishing the hot water would just wash away all of his emotions and leave him numb like a proper vampire. Eventually though he turned off the miracle that was indoor plumbing, throwing on his clean clothes. The dirty ones he tossed in a hamper, not caring how they began to crinkle with the dry crusted blood. Virgil returned to the bedroom, clean but not fully calmed like he had dared to hope.
Logan flinched back as Virgil returned, though he was happy to see all the blood was gone. He took in a deep breath, stepping closer. “You didn’t forget, did you?” Logan said and in the back of his mind he knew he was probably going to regret it.
“I said I forgot, didn’t I?” Virgil insisted, not looking him in the eye as Virgil busied himself with rearranging the shelf on the other side of the room. “And I also said to drop it.”
“It’s highly unlikely that you would simply ‘forget’ to eat me. Even if you had somehow forgotten I was here, you should have seen me the second you left your coffin.” Logan kept pushing. “And judging by all the...in the state you came home in, I assume you were hungry enough to have finished me already. So I don’t understand why you ... didn’t.”
“Do you want me to eat you?” Virgil asked incredulously, whirling around on his heel. “Because that certainly seems to be where you’re heading, and if you think I’m some weak-willed vamp I’ll have you know I’m still starving and certainly have room for a mouthy little twit.”
Logan shut his mouth, backing away and looking down. “...I am just trying to understand why you did what you did.” Logan said after a moment. “That does not mean I wish to be eaten.” Though, again, half of him was wishing Virgil would just get it over with already. Now he was being tortured to wait even longer for his demise.
Virgil gave a long sigh. Yeah, it was fair, of course Logan and Patton would have questions, and Virgil was just being the jerk who refused to talk about any of that. Instead he took the route of hurting others to protect himself. Sounds like a vamp, alright.
Before Virgil could even think what to say, a knock came at the door.
“Virgil?” Patton called, his tone tense. “We need to talk.”
“No we don’t.” Virgil replied immediately.
Logan immediately tensed at the sound of another voice. He could only assume that was Patton, the vampire Virgil had turned...and the one who had eaten Roman. He backed away a few steps, finding himself more wary of the other vampire, knowing he had already done the job.
“Stop bottling this up, it’s not healthy!” Virgil could feel Patton’s dad glare from here. “You’re talking this out right this instant. Why are you so worked up? Why’d you get so messy?”
“I told you, I don’t want to talk about it!” Virgil hissed.
“Virgil, stop it, you can’t avoid me forever.” Patton insisted, and the bedroom doorknob began to twist.
Logan’s eyes widened and he want to the very back of the cage. While Logan was interested to know how to vampires fought one another, he very much did not want to witness it. And he especially did not want the other vampire to turn to him and finish the job instead of Virgil.
Virgil’s eyes widened. “Don’t come in here!” Virgil rushed forwards, planting himself in front of the door. Patton didn’t know about Logan, and frankly Virgil never wanted him to find out.
Patton shoved against the door, but of course Virgil was stronger. “Virgil, let me in!”
“No, I’m…. naked.” Virgil winced at that excuse. After all, several centuries of being roommates meant Patton had certainly seen him naked before.
“Virgil, you are acting like a child.” Patton growled. Growled, oh geez that wasn’t good.
“You’re not any better.” Virgil retorted, noticing his friend’s mood. “When did you last eat?”
“You interrupted me this evening!” Patton protested, sounding far past annoyed and bordering on enraged.
Logan was not enjoying this one bit, putting his hands to his ears to try and block out the loud yelling.
“Then go. Eat.” Virgil instructed, his tone low and gravelly.
“Stop trying to dodge the issue.” Patton argued.
“I’m not opening this door until you feed yourself.” Virgil felt Patton pounding against the door, his attempt futile.
“Well I’m not leaving until you stop lying to yourself.” Patton retorted.
“You’re going to be there for eternity then.” Virgil joked darkly.
“You are impossible!” Patton stomped his foot.
“GO!” Virgil yelled. “Get out of here!”
Patton gave an angry, inhuman screech, accompanied by the sound of him barreling down the stairs and out the front door that Virgil would be surprised to find still on its hinges.
Logan was glad his ears were already covered, as the last scream surely would have ruptured his ear drums. As he heard the other leave, he slowly lowered his hands. “...I am unsure why anyone would say he wasn’t a real vampire.” Logan commented. He was certainly scary, like one.
Virgil paused, the fire in his chest coming down to a dull roar as he processed what Logan said. He turned to the borrower. “What, Patton? He’s just hungry. And an idiot.”
“...Still. He was on par with your level of terrifying...maybe even more so.” Logan admitted to the vamp, looking down.
Virgil leaned back against the door, crossing his arms. “Patton comes here to lecture me about bottling things up, and you think that’s more terrifying than me kidnapping you and constantly threatening to eat you?”
“...He ate my best friend.” Logan said quietly, not meeting Virgil’s eyes. “That...That might have something to do with it.”
“What?” Virgil’s brow furrowed, only for his eyes to go slowly wide in realization. The other borrower… Logan doesn’t know. Should Virgil tell him? Was it better or worse to know, especially if with Patton’s outbursts recently that borrower was sure to be a goner anyways?
“Despite the fact you terrify me and are planning to eat me, the fact that Patton has already done it...and to Roman, no less...I find myself even more afraid of him. No matter how illogical.” And it was. His stupid emotions were getting in the way but he didn’t care. Roman surely deserved his tears of mourning.
“What does this Roman look like, anyhow?” Virgil shifted, wanting to confirm this was even the right borrower they were talking about.
“Does it even matter anymore?” Logan said but sighed, thinking back to his friend. “He’s...a little taller than I am. Brown hair and he always wore a prince outfit. At the very least, he was wearing it when he was taken. He found it off a doll a few years back and modified it to fit him.” Logan remembered the memory well. Logan had lectured him on borrowing something so needless and dumb but the outfit had made Roman happy.
Virgil snorted. “It was a doll outfit?”
Logan sighed. “Yes. It was a doll outfit. The previous tenants had a child and she had a ton of dolls. Normally we don’t borrow those, since they are much too uncomfortable and usually bigger. But Roman had been insistent and had made it his little project of sorts. He had cut it down, added padding and whatnot and honestly he...he did quite a good job on it.” He still never saw the point but he didn’t complain much after the initial borrowing of the outfit since Roman had been enjoying himself and it gave him something to do.
“Did you ever do anything like that?” Virgil asked.
“No, I only ever borrowed what I needed.” Logan said but then paused, looking down. “However...I was known to...borrow knowledge, in a sense. I tried to get my hands on books when I could and I...may have tried to access a human’s phone once or twice, which did put me at risk…” Honestly, he wasn’t much better than Roman.
“Oh.” Suddenly all the logical questions in the face of mortal danger made sense. “So you’re a massive nerd.”
Logan groaned. “Roman used to call me that all the time.” He huffed but deep down he would...miss Roman calling him that. It was his favorite nickname to call Logan, after all. “But...yes, I suppose I am.”
Virgil gave a groan, knowing it was time to confess. After all, it would at least stop this delusional idea of Logan’s that Virgil was a better person than Patton.
Logan looked up at Virgil with a raised brow. “What?”
“Roman.” Virgil just had to spit it out. “He’s not dead.”
Logan paused. There was no way he head Virgil correctly. “I’m...sorry?”
“He’s not dead yet.” Virgil ran a hand down his face. “So just… stop moping about, and know that if I had my way he would be.”
Logan felt his mouth go dry at the new information. “He’s...alive? I-I don’t understand…” Logan met Virgil’s eyes despite himself. “How do I know you are even telling the truth?”
“You don’t, but I’d bet you’d feel a lot better if I was.” Virgil shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know, considering he’s just as doomed as you anyways.”
Logan winced, that was true but he still felt better knowing Roman was not yet dead. “May I…” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “May I see him?”
“No.” Virgil answered immediately, knowing that would be next.
Logan winced and despite knowing he shouldn’t push it, he continued. “Please, I just...I just want to say goodbye, one more time. Now that I know he isn’t dead, there’s still time.”
“No.” Virgil repeated, his chest tightening. “That’s only going to make everything worse.”
“It’s already the worst it can be.” Logan argued. “The two of us are sitting ducks, simply waiting for you two to eat us. We are dying no matter what and there is nothing we can do. The least you could do is allow me one last chance to tell my best friend goodbye.” A few tears escaped Logan’s eyes but he quickly wiped them away, resolute in holding Virgil’s gaze.
“I owe you nothing.” Virgil murmured, tearing his gaze away.
Logan grit his teeth, keeping his tears at bay. “...Does he even know I am here?”
“Doubt it.” Virgil shrugged. “Patton doesn’t even know you’re here.”
Logan blinked. “He...doesn’t? Why not?”
“Well I didn’t exactly intend on keeping you.” Virgil thought back to that first discovery. “You just took forever to come out and I got hungry first, so I’d already eaten.”
“I...see.” Logan had figured that much out. “So...there really is no way to convince you to let me see Roman again?” Logan said sadly, looking down.
“Nope, I’m a true monster like that.” Virgil knew that title was true in multiple ways. But he wasn’t going to go about upsetting Patton with this mess. “Knowledge isn’t always fun, is it?”
Logan didn’t answer, turning away from Virgil. He had already known that knowledge was not always a good thing, this being at the top of the list. Half of him wished Virgil had never told him Roman was alive. It was easier, thinking of him as gone already. Now...now he would never be sure when Roman’s final moments are.