Work Text:
The silver door burned, but Avid supposed he already knew that. The garlic that he’d eaten earlier that day made his stomach churn with sickness, occasional bile rising to his throat before being swallowed back down. Avid was lucky that he was out of the sun, momentarily feeling proud of himself for considering building a roof over the cell.
Avid was conflicted, he didn’t want to be a monster, his blurry memories of what happened when his illness got worse was enough to tell him it was way worse than half the vampires he knew. On the other hand? He was a vampire. He had been so quick to judge vampires, head filled with paranoia and anxiety, he had accused everyone, causing mass hysteria now that they knew vampires were real.
There were noises outside the building. The townsfolk had looked for him earlier in the morning, chalking his absence up to processing the added amount of Vampires in the village. Sadly (or luckily, Avid couldn’t tell anymore), they never checked the cell that he made. Strangely enough, the sounds were coming into the building, stopping just outside the door to the cell.
“God…” Avid heard a voice whisper, he must look really pathetic then. “I found him.” The mystery person whispered, a few other footsteps following to enter the building. He heard a few more whispers, some worried, but others sounded much more apathetic. It was fair, he probably would’ve driven the town to madness with his ramblings, they had every right to be apathetic.
The silver door clicked open, someone walking in and kneeling down in front of him. Avid kept his eyes closed, they weren’t being rough with him, gently guiding him to sit up. A bottle was pressed to his lips and the moment the contents entered his mouth it all clicked into place. Blood, there was blood in his mouth. Apathetic voices? Scott and Owen. Worried? Shelby. The person who found him? Pyro.
In a moment Pyro was across the cell, Avid backed into the other corner, eyes wide and breathing heavily. Avid didn't pay attention to the gasps and growls outside of his cell, too focused on Pyro sitting up. Avid was doomed, trapped in a cell with four strong Vampires boxing him in. Avid’s breathing was picking up, adrenaline being replaced by fear.
Avid could already feel teeth in his neck, claws against his skin. The blood soaked his body, ruining his clothes, could he even die as a Vampire? Scott could definitely kill him, and maybe Owen. Hell, Shelby and Pyro could also kill him, he wasn’t even nearly as strong as them and he didn’t even know what abilities he could use.
There was a hand on his cheek, it was rough, but it didn’t hurt. Avid clung onto the person desperately, all concepts of his surroundings had vanished in his panicked mind. Rationally, Avid would understand that this was probably Pyro, but right now he just needed to be held. He just needed something to stop the feelings of claws and blood against his skin.
The world went dark soon after his tears stopped. His brain slipped into a peaceful state of calm and emptiness. In the back of his mind he could register the others talking, but for the first time since Elle attacked him, he felt safe. Tomorrow he’d probably realize how stupid he was when they killed him, but for now he could pretend that their care was genuine.
— — —
“He shouldn’t be this weak”
“I know.”
“Do you think it was garlic? He’s been eating a lot of garlic.”
“Maybe…”
“What’re we going to do with him?”
“He needs to stay with us.”
“But-”
“No. If he’s going to survive he needs to be forced to, lord knows he’ll willingly starve without us.”
“Fine, but he’s sleeping somewhere else, I don’t trust him.”