The Curse

[GnomesAteMyCake]

His ears pricked, Callum listened to the whole of the hushed conversation (of course he'd heard Gavin's angry outburst; he doubted anyone in this downtrodden building missed it). His sky-blue eyes remained dazed and unfocused for a short moment, his mask slipping and revealing a face that was rapt with concentration before the disinterested look reappeared. Steeling himself with the knowledge that his plan couldn't possibley fail, Callum slipped back down the corridor and into Lance's vacated room.

Sitting himself cross-legged on the bed, egnoring the rumpled sheets and signs of activity, he pulled a silver flip-phone from his pocket, pushing the '1' key, which was Alec's private number. He waited a moment for the man to answer, thinking that he was probably still spending time with his human daughter. "Yes?" came the smooth voice, tinged with annoyance at being disturbed. Callum smiled coldly to himself, knowing that it was about to get worse.

"I'm ready. Let Melissa out of her cage."

"Melissa? Oh, you mean her."

"Yes. Release her and tell her to wait for my instruction. I have a job for her."

"I would appriciate it if you didn't make order's Callum. You seem to be forgetting that I am in charge, not you."

"I never forget that for a moment, sir," Callum retorted softly, the smallest edge of sarcasm that was near undetectable as he began to get irritated. "But I really do think you should do this."

"....She will be free by the time you get back."

"Then I shall return shortly." Without another word, Callum closed the phone, staring at the small screen for a moment before placing it back in his pocket and making himself comfortable, waiting for Lance to return. The wheels were turning now, and the wheel was beginning to pick up speed.

...However, Callum did not realise that he was transcended a steep slope, and that all of his careful planning would run away from him when it reached the cress and flew down the other side.

~~

Convinced that Gavin was as calm as he could be, seated at the dining table, his chair closer to Logan's than it needed to be (which made Lance wince inwardly), the young Lycan excused himself, his senses now extended far enough to notice the subtle scent that only he ever seemed to detect. Keeping his pace as unhurried as it could be, he marched to his room and opened the door quickly, snapping it shut behind him as a simpering smile appeared on his face as he beheld the blond.

"Callum," he breathed, rushing to the bed and collasping on his knees before it, gathering the boy in his arms and pulling him close, breathing in the scent of his golden hair deeply. "Thank you for yesterday, baby..."

"It's okay," Callum whispered, fisting his hands into the front of Lance's shirt, feeling the Lycan's heart hammer beneath his small fingertips. Lucky that he couldn't see the smirk on his face, Callum made his voice sound as young as it could be; "I didn't want to see you hurt, Lance."

"Oh, honey," Lance cooed, putting his hands on the vampires shoulders and pushing him back, taking in the sheepish smile on Callums face. "I would've been fine."

"I didn't want to risk it," Callum muttered, looking down before glancing up beneath his eyelashes, drawing Lance in easier than a spider did a fly; the green-eyed man was completely hypnotised. "You were lucky that you had Gavin to save you..."

"I know," Lance breathed, running a hand through Callum's flaxen hair over and over. "He's such a good man-"

"-But he doesn't love you like you do him," Callum interupted, noticing Lance flinch. Quickly, he reached out a pale hand and placed it on the redhead's cheek, stroking a few strands of his fiery hair to calm him. It worked like a treat; Lance visibley sagged beneath his fingers. "I hate seeing you in pain, Lance. I can't make you happy like he can, as much as I want to..."

"You can, baby, you do...."

"But I want to make sure that Gavin cares for you, and only you," Callum plowed on as if he didn't hear Lance. Pulling their heads together, he rested his forehead against the older man's, his cross-legged seating position almost in the Lycan's lap. Breathing out slowly, his breath fanning over Lance's face, he let his eyes flicker shut, knowing without looking that he had the teen's undivided attention. "Make him choose, Lance. Make him choose so that I know you're happy."

"Make him choose...?" Lance questioned, his own eyes closed as he put his arms around the boy, drawing him closer. Callum disliked the contact, but allowed it to continue; anything other than this and Lance wouldn't take the idea.

"Between you or Logan," Callum whispered, inaudiably groaning as Lance gasped and pulled away, his eyes widening at the suggestion.

"Make Gavin choose? Between me or Logan? No...No! I can't! I can't make him chose something like that!" Lance stammered, attempting to push Callum from his grip until the blond vampire slid his arms around his neck and pulled their bodies back together, making Lance gasp. "I...I can't....he'd never chose me..." he whispered, shoulders sagging in defeat.

"He would. I've seen the way he looks at you, when I've watched you all," Callum lied easily, dipping a hand beneath Lance's shirt, letting his fingers wander over his heated skin. "Just try, Lance-"

"I can't Callum, I really ca-"

Becoming more and more annoyed that Lance was resisting more than he thought he would, Callum ducked forward and placed his lips to the Lycan's, silencing his words. Lance took a breath of surprise before kissing him back, his arms going back around the boy. Keeping the kiss chaste (Disgusting, disgusting, how dare he, contact, filth...), Callum pulled back, cupping the Lycan's face between his two hands.

"Do it for me?" he questioned innocently, looking at Lance with wide blue eyes before unfolding himself from Lance's grip and straightening his crumpled clothes. "I just want you to be happy." Heading for the door, he was held back by a larger hand closing around his own.

"Don't go, Callum, don't keep going...why don't you tell me where you go...?"

"I can't stay, and I can't tell you," he whispered, injecting sorrow into the response before tugging himself gently from the Lycan's grip and opening the door and slipping into the corridor, shutting the door softly behind him.

As soon as he was alone, he rubbed his lips with the back of his hand, trying to get the taste of Lance (and to a lesser extent, Gavin) from his lips, feeling repulsed at the violation to his person, even though he was the one to eniciate the contact. It was all for the plan, he thought firmly to himself, all the fake emotions he'd just shown to the Lycan carefully hidden behind his cold mask of indifference before he headed for his usual window, pushing it up and slipping into the early morning, pulling up the hood of his jacket before jumping to the street below.

He had a date with a certain 'Manic' vampire....

[GnomesAteMyCake]

Alice stood silently through the male vampire's outburst, her face paler than it usually was as she all but cowered at Logan's side. Shock hit her powerfully, wave after paralysing wave. It was impossible enough to think that Logan could...shapeshift into a wolf, but vampires? Some things should stay in fairy stories where they belong.

She was dimly aware of Logan sharply telling the dark-haired man off and him holding his hand out with a grumbling introduction, and her taking it, too struck-dumb by everything to consider refusing. The female, Lillian, gently took her by the amr and lowered her into one of the battered seats that circled the large table, sliding a cup of steaming tea to her before smiling gently. Alice attempted to smile back, but her muscles didn't seem to want to respond.

Looking up at the sound of a new voice, she saw a ginger teenage boy looking down at her, a warm smile on his face and his long-fingered hand held out to her. 'Lance,' his name was. Giving her own in response, Alice looked him over; his messy, slightly long hair, unshaven cheeks and boyish grin made him seem childish and grown up at the same time. She settled on discribing him as cute, but before she could ask him more about himself, he'd excused himself from the room and all but darted out, the sharp snap of a door reaching her ears as Logan lowered himself beside her. His hand reached out and patted her thight soothingly, though he removed it at the heated glare she shot him.

"Right..." she croaked, clearing her throat slightly and taking a hasty sip of the tea, "You brought me here; who are you all, what are you doing and how soon can I leave and never worry about you all again?" Drumming her fingers on the table, she started at Logan intently, feeling the daggers being shoved into her by Gavin even though he wasn't in her line of sight. It seemed he hated her on sight...well, she could cope with that. After losing her only family and being dragged from the home she loved and being thrust into a world of make-believe, she could take anything.

[Rose]

Lillian frowned a bit. Not at the girl’s harsh words, but at the sorrow she could sense beneath them. She knew nothing of Alice, but she could read people like books. And she knew that no one came to Logan’s group on good terms. Listening quietly, Lily set out a plate of toast with a meager amount of jam and smaller plates with eggs and bacon. She slipped into a chair beside Alice, folding her hands in her lap.

“We are all friends here,” Lily answered in her soothing, gentle voice, seeing Logan’s pained expression and rescuing him from any sort of response that might distress the young woman further. “We are all outcasts, saved by Logan.”

The vampire looked over Alice, sipping her tea as the girl did, smiling in a way that made her fangs look like they would in a kitten’s mouth. She gestured to her neck, tilting it so Alice could see. There, just at her jugular, were two long scars like she’d been clawed at. They were the brands of her maker, the ghosts of her attack.

“Some of us, he found dying. He nursed us back to health, and with nowhere else to go, we were offered shelter here. Others-” Lillian looked to the other vampire, and Gavin quickly looked away, knowing what she would say. “….Others, Logan found lost and afraid, going down a dark path when they thought all hope of a normal life was lost.”

Lillian smiled, despite the haunting memories of her words, flashes of rape and murder, secret wars and many tears. Her loyalty to Logan was clear in everything she said, in the very way she looked at him. He might have left one family, but it seemed Logan had started another. Like Peter Pan and his Lost Boys, the lycan guided the lost and asked for nothing in return, unless they wished to fight by his side. And most did.

“There’s more,” Logan cut in with his deep voice, finally addressing Alice, as well as the issue Lily so elegantly avoided speaking of. “I do take in lost vampires and lycans. I help them take control of their powers, keep them from hurting others or themselves. It’s a painful process, going through the Change, and our Diseases claim many lives. But that is only part of what my life is now.”

Logan reached out and put a hand on Gavin’s shoulder proudly, showing their closeness in the action and his expression. The vampire lifted his head, straightening up a bit at finally being addressed in the light he wanted to. Logan looked to him, then to Alice, nodding. Gavin beamed, taking more from the words than he should have.

“There are a few people here who throw themselves into danger to keep the mundane- er, normal people safe,” Logan went on. “When a vampire or lycan steals, rapes, or murders, there is no police force to stop them, no Law of our kind that holds them back. That is where people like my group and I come in. We are a secret army fighting a war to keep you safe, Alice. You and all the other people who live normal lives, not knowing what lives in the dark. But the army against us is just a strong, and gaining more and more momentum. We are constantly hunted down. That’s why I left. I couldn’t bring a war to you, Alice.”

Logan stood, his plate half full, nearly untouched. Gavin’s face fall again at the mention of leaving Alice. When he first heard the stories, Gavin thought that old mundane life was behind Logan for good. But here it was, eating breakfast with them and scowling all the while at his leader. Gavin liked this girl less and less.

“You can leave as soon as things settle down,” Logan muttered. “For now, you can stay in my room or Lillian’s until we can find a bed for you. Feel free to wander this floor and the one above it- this place in your home now.”

With that, Logan stood and walked outside, a tired expression on his face that Gavin knew all too well. Usually the expression was reserved for hard times, when supplies were low or someone died, or when Logan thought no one was looking. But the man looked absolutely battered now, and for all the world to see. Gavin stood as well, barely masking his glare as he picked up the dishes.

“You know, if you don’t want to stay here, you could always just leave. What could Logan really do to stop you?” The vampire called out over his shoulder as he started washing the discarded plates for Lily, a sign that he needed a distraction.

[Rose]

The smell of blood hit Alec like a brick as he yanked open the iron door. The metal was a foot thick, enough to seal off the room from the outside world, walling in shrieks and sobbing and cursing. Or at least, that was what he usually heard. But the punishment had been successful, it seemed, and the faint, unintelligible murmuring that greeted him said that Manic had been broken.

Alec reached out an elegant hand and flicked on the light. The figure huddled within the cell hissed at the sudden illumination, her eyes adjusted to the dark she’d been left in overnight. Alec grimaced, more in disgust than regret, though he never liked hurting a woman. Manic had shoved herself into the corner, her bloody arm raised above her head to shield her face from the light. Held up to the light, Alec could clearly see the strips of ragged flesh that hung from the limb where the vampire had desperately tried to sate her thirst on herself. The bag in front of him was thin, the blood black and dried. He could see the marks on the floor where Manic had tried to claw at it through the bars. Alec scoffed at how easily she had lost herself in her desire. This was why feeding endlessly on humans was dangerous and irresponsible. At least it kept her easier to manipulate.

“Do you remember how to speak to me?” Alec asked, his voice bringing Manic’s eyes to him, pulling her half way out of her crazed state, though the look in her eyes said she had lost a part of herself. He walked over to the metal box, pulling out another bag of cold blood. Without bothering to warm it up, he tossed the bag through the bars and watched Manic dive for it, tearing into like a starving wolf on a rabbit, though with even less grace. Alec grabbed another bag and tossed it in as well. The third he held hostage, waving it around as he stepped up to the bars.

“Callum would like to speak with you. He seems to have a plan. I trust that you won’t fail me again,” Alec began, just as Kaleb came through the door. He looked to Manic, biting his lip at her sorry state. He held the keys to the cell, and with a nod from Alec he rushed over and unlocked the door, throwing it open. Alec threw the final bag past the wolf so he wouldn’t get torn apart by the hungry vampire.

“And for God’s sake, clean yourself up. I don’t want you scaring anyone off.” Then Alec was gone, eager to return to his daughter.

Kaleb stood by the door of the cell, hesitant to go to Manic’s side. He rubbed his big hands together, stepping from foot to foot.

“We can go tear us up some humans, baby. Alec don’t gotta know. Whatever we gotta do to make ya feel better.”

[GnomesAteMyCake]

"Don't you think I'd leave if I could?" Alice snapped at Gavin, pushing herself from the table, her hands on it as she stared at the vampire. "How far d'you think I'd get before he found me and dragged me back? I'll wait out my sentance here, then believe me I'm gone."

Stalking away from the table, Alice bolted from the room, not aiming to run away but just to be alone. However, in a place she didn't know surrounded by people she didn't care about, solitude would be hard to come by. Pounding up the run-down stairs, Alice kept going past the fourth floor, spiralling up to the sixth, sitting down on the top step, panting. Hugging her knees, Alice wondered what she was going to do. Logan didn't say how long he planned to keep her prisoner like this...but then was it better to be here, surrounded by strangers than to be surrounded by no-one, alone and scared?

Shaking her head, Alice narrowed her eyes. Of course it wasn't! She was better off at home alone than here, having to try and deal with all this craziness. Logan might have thought that he was helping her, but she didn't see how he was helping at all; no-one had ever come looking for Luke, and she doubted it would happen now that he was gone. She would've been fine alone.

Certainly better if Logan hadn't barrelled back into her life.

[GnomesAteMyCake]

"N-No...." Manic muttered, sucking frozen blood from her fingertips, her eyes still glazed as she stared past the large man, her fangs scoring lines across her hands, digging into her own flesh once more. "I can't.....fail again. I ha-have to be g-g-g-good," she muttered, the final word catching in her throat as she continued to stare blindly ahead.

Gulping loudly, she allowed Kaleb to haul her to her feet, her right arm tattered and ripped from her own frenzied feeding. Looking at it as if it belonged to someone else, she allowed the werewolf to pull her from the Basements and towards her room, so that she could wash and dress the wounded arm before Callum came to her with whatever he had planned.

~~

Two hours later, Manic was sat quietly in her room, regaining energy from her ordeal, Kaleb crouched at her side with a roll of bandage, wrapping the white fabric around her arm. The flesh would knit itself back together in no time thanks to her accelerated healing abilities, but there would be heavy scarring which would serve as a reminder to her every time she looked down. That was more than likely the message Alec was aiming to send.

Without knocking, Callum entered the room, his wide and unexpressful eyes focused on the woman before him with a look that bordered on distasteful, dispite Callum's talent at keeping all emotions from his ageless face.

"Callum," Manic muttered, bowing her head slightly to the youngling. Before that night, Manic would have said that the only vampire she was scared of was Callum (Alec had changed that) simply because he'd been around so long and showed no signs of ever going away. That, and the cold look in his eyes chilled her to the very core.

"Melissa," he responded in kind, crossing the room and seating himself in the plush chair across from her, having to add a little bounce to his step to push himself into the seat. "I have a job for you."

"Yes?" she questioned, one eye on the boy and the other on the far corner. Despite appearing quite sane throughout her conversation with Callum, anyone who looked at her close enough could see that there was a twitch in her eye and the way that her hands continued to clench and relax that showed that there was a screw that had come loose that probably couldn't be put back.

"Yes. There has been an arrival with Logan's men. I will give you no more information than that, but events have been put into motion that will lead to your instruction. I need you to convince Gavin to return to you. Now-" he said, cutting off her reply, "-I will give you the address of Logan's base, but you are not to harm another person there. To do so would be to disobey Alec, and he will not be lax with his punishment. Can you do this?"

"Yes sir, I can do it," she muttered again, a fingernail finding its way into her mouth as she chewed it. "I won't fail Alec again, I'll be good..."

"Then I expect to hear some results soon," Callum finished, standing smoothly from his seat and crossing the room and disappearing into the building. Manic sat still for a few moments, neither thinking or showing any response to her surroundings.

"I have a job, Kaleb. You must hurry," she said monotoneously, allowing the werewolf to continue the wrapping of her arm, her mind as blank as a sheet of paper and her eyes as dead as a grave.

[Rose]

Gavin’s day had started calm and loving. Quiet. Gentle. That serenity he needed, it had been there. The only true peace he’d known in a long time was in that morning. And now his blood boiled and his head swam with hurt and confusion. Some selfish bitch who didn’t understand the darkness of the world and what Logan did had suddenly come into their life, kicking and screaming and being a mundane.

Gavin couldn’t believe he had ever been like her, a human. Normal. Mundanes were just so ignorant, like cattle being herded around. They lived their short, stupid lives completely ok with not knowing the world around them. They were complacent creatures who cared about money, business, popularity- petty things. They didn’t know the value of life because most had never seen it taken away. They’d never seen true horror, or suffered profound lost. When the tv broke, they thought life was over. Humans. Mundanes. Cattle. He couldn’t remember why they were saving them. Really, he just wanted the war to be over. He’d work for that, at least.

Gavin was staring blindly down at the dishes. He’d forgotten what he was doing, so lost in his rage. Lily touched his shoulder gently and he jumped, hissing and raising a hand to slap away the contact. Instantly he drew away, ashamed at the startled look on the gentle woman’s face. Apologizing profusely, Gavin marched out of the room, slamming the door. He needed that peace again, that glimmer of happiness. He went to the only place he could think of.

“Lance?” Gavin nearly threw open the door to the younger man’s room and closed it just as quickly. His face was twisted with anger, pain, and uncertainty. He went to the startled lycan’s side and took him by the arms, burying his face in his neck and breathing him in. Gavin’s whole body was tense and his grip was a little too tight.

“Dammit. I gotta get away from all that shit,” he muttered into Lance’s skin. His heart was thundering but his shoulders relaxed in the company of the lycan. “Sometimes I think you are the only sane one here….Uhg. Fuck Logan. Bringing a human here….He’s lost it.”

[GnomesAteMyCake]

Lance was surprised by Gavin actively seeking him out; he was even more startled when the vampire collasped next to him and buried his face into his neck, which made the Lycan flinch before relaxing once more, his own hands coming up to rub soothing circles on the man's back.

"This is rare," he joked softly, carding a hand softly through the vampire's hair, his heart beating in time with the others as he closed his eyes and allowed his other senses to be overwhelmed by Gavin; the smell of his hair, the feeling of his breath warm against his neck, the low timbre of his voice making his nerves thrum.

"Shut it, dog," Gavin muttered back, the feeling of his lips moving against Lance's neck making the boy shiver. Regardless, the vamp didn't pull away and allowed the ginger to keep with his gentle petting and stroking of his hair and back. They sat in silence for a while, Gavin's death grip loosening as he placed his hands on Lance's hips, thumbs rubbing through his shirt.

Sighing, Lance rested his cheek against the top of his head, his mind drawn to Callum's previous words....could he ask Gavin to choose? It seemed wrong to ask him when he was so pissed at their leader already, but there would never be a more perfect opertunity to voice his thoughts. Maybe...just maybe....

"Don't you wish it could always be like this? No fighting, no fear....just this," Lance whispered softly, his hand at the nape of Gavin's neck, playing with the strands of black hair in a way that made the vampire sleepy. Another underhanded trick the Lycan was using.

"Mmmm," Gavin moaned back quietly, his arms circling Lance's waist as he tugged the smaller boy closer, his cross-legged sitting arrangement almost being pulled into the vampire's lap, much like he had done with Callum not that long ago.

It wasn't helping.

"Y-you know, we could have that, i-if you wanted it, that is," Lance stammered, his heart hammering harder as Gavin placed a lazy kiss against his neck, his tongue darting out to taste his skin.

"...What? You're not talking sense, babe..." he muttered, his hands slipping beneath Lance's waistline. Shuddering and torn on whether to say his peace or allow Gavin what he wanted, the Lycan steeled himself and pulled on the vampire's wrists, for once denying the man.

"What I'm saying....is we could leave. You and me. No more fighting, no more pain. I...I could've lost you yesterday, Gav. You know how terrified I was? What was worse-" he pressed their foreheads together, closing his eyes and breathing in Gavin's exhalelation, "- is that I wouldn't have been able to hold you if...well. I can't go through that again. I... Gavin, I...."

His voice faultering with his courage, Lance ran his hands down Gavin's arms, gripping his hands gently. "Don't make me, Gav. Please. Just come with me, away from here..."

[Rose]

Gavin pulled back a bit, staring at lance in shock, nearly horror. His eyebrows pulled together, confused, and after a long period of heavy silence he started shaking his head slowly.

"Lance....you can't be serious..." His hands slipped from the lycan's. "Are you really asking me....to leave all of this?"

"Y-yes... but Gav-"

"What the fuck are you thinking, Lance?!" The kid's words seemed to finally get to him and Gavin jerked away, standing and staring down at Lance like he was an impostor, something gross and foreign where there used to be something comfortable and known.

"Leave? So we can be what, happy? Would running away really make anything better?" Gavin went on, his fangs showing when he spoke. He looked livid, as if the suggestion had been a personal attack against him and not a subtle proclamation of love.

"Fuck Lance, tell me you aren't such a coward...." He threw up his hands in disbelief, pacing around the room. "Leave.... Leave to escaping the fighting and pain, the death and sorrow. Fucking shit, Lance...how could you think that way?"

Gavin stayed on the opposite side of the room as if lance was diseased suddenly, like he had caught a plague that made him want to settle down and that Gavin might catch it if he even breathed the same air. The vampire ran a hand through his long hair, slightly gripping the locks in frustration.

"Lance....have you forgotten why you're here? We have a job to do, dammit. If we ran, yeah, we might be safe. We might never see anything bad ever again. But could you seriously live happily knowing what you had left behind, knowing that people are dying everywhere because you were such a damn coward that you refused to fight for them? If I left, who would fight by Logan's side? Those women we found today...who would make sure they were avenged?"

Gavin waved a hand, suddenly dismissive. He stared at Lance through his hair, a calculating look in his eyes mixed with disappointment and disbelief. He stared at Lance like he didn't know him anymore and was trying to figure him out.

"How long have you been thinking of running? Was it one little injury that put your tail between your legs?"

[GnomesAteMyCake]

"All it took was for me to almost loose you!" Lance shouted back passionately, rising to his feet, his eyes shining as his hands balled at his sides. Why couldn't Gavin see?! Charging across the room, he grabbed the vampire's arms and pushed him against the door, their faces inches apart.

"You say that it was no big deal, that you could handle it? Well guess what Gavin; You're not fucking immortal! You can die! Do you honestly think I could live without you?!" Panting heavily, Lance kept his hold on the vampire, pushing him hard enough against the door to keep him in place, though if Gavin wanted to leave, he could easily overpower the young Lycan.

"You think I don't think about those women? You don't think it'll haunt me? It's all too easy to picture Lily as one of them, pinned down like that..." his voice cracking, Lance lowered his eyes from Gavin's, not wanting to give Gavin the satisfaction of his so-called cowardice. "I want things to change; I'd die for Logan, if he asked me too so he could Cure us all. But I will not-" he poked Gavin in the chest, the blazing look in his forest eyes returning, "-allow you to do the same. You're too precious to loose, Gavin," Lance said softly, his eyes reflecting his belief in his own words.

Yes, Lance would give himself to the cause, but hell would freeze over before he allowed Gavin to do the same.

[Rose]

Gavin's arm moved faster than the eye could detect, snatching Lance's poking finger from his chest and locking in a vice grip. The vampire's eyes had changed, gone distant as he was pushed. He raised the lycan's trapped hand between them for them both to see and nodded down at it.

"I could crush you if I wanted, Lance." Gavin's voice was even deeper than before, laced with a primal aggression, something close to a growl. "If I attacked you, you would what, stare at me in fear? Hesitate? I saw you fight today. We're not all cut out for it. You are not cut out for it. But I'm the one who should stay behind? Because I'm....precious to you."

Gavin leaned in closer to Lance as if his words weren't getting across efficiently enough. His lips curled up over his fangs, and the look on his face was not his own. Gavin wasn't himself at all, it seemed. Something in him had snapped, gone back to his old nature, and it had taken so little to make it happen.

"You think you could take my place by Logan's side? You'd die, Lance. You'd die and get Logan killed, too." Gavin finally released Lance's hand, pushing him away by it. He stayed rooted to his spot, body stooped slightly as he stared at Lance and through him.

"Don't talk like you love me, Lance." His voice was cold now, and finally a layer of sadness had been exposed. But there was still a darkness about him, the nature of the Shadow in him, and it was frightening to see in a man who was usually so carefree, so cheerful. "You don't love me. You don't even know me. You don't know what I've done."

Gavin ran a hand through his hair, hiding his face with his arm. He shivered at something, maybe a memory.

"You think what you saw yesterday was frightening? Those women, do you think they are the worst that happens? My own hands have done worse, Lance. And my fangs have tasted sweeter, younger. I have killed innocent people. Men a women. A child, I remember, though I don't remember much more....Kidnapping. Torture. Pain you can't imagine, I have inflicted on humans who called me demon. And I am, Lance. I am a monster. My only hope for redemption is to cure everyone, or die doing something good."

Gavin looked up at Lance, the darkness returned, the hate in his eyes.

"The horror you saw today....could you love someone who caused it? Could you love someone who had done worse and loved every moment of it?"

[GnomesAteMyCake]

Lance's eyes flitted between his captured wrist and Gavin's face, a edge of steel in his own eyes as he stood as tall as he was able, still having to look up into the vampire's eyes.

"Then do it," he hissed, eyebrows furrowed and lips pressed into a hard line as he felt the pressure on his wrist increase before falling away completely.

"You think you could take my place by Logan's side? You'd die, Lance. You'd die and get Logan killed, too," Gavin spat as he pushed the teen away, stalking past him and putting distance between them. Lance watched him, rubbing his wrist as he eyes blazed.

"You think I want your place? You think I want to become you? You know me better than that; you said it yourself, fighting isn't for me. I will end up fucking everything up, but just because I can't do it doesn't mean you have to!"

"Oh, so someone else should die instead of me, just because you love me?" Gavin sneered, the look so degrading and disgusted that Lance felt any spark of resiliance in him flicker out. Gavin was regarding him as if he were a child.

"I can't win with you, Gavin. Just forget it," Lance whispered, his head hanging whilst his hands remained balled by his sides. He heard Gavin approach, and the vampire gripped his chin and made him raise his face, his forest eyes glistening with tears meeting the dead, storm-like eyes of his lover.

"The horror you saw today....could you love someone who caused it? Could you love someone who had done worse and loved every moment of it?" his voice was flat, his eyes burning with hate and nothing else, and every second Lance's heart fractured more because he couldn't stand seeing the man he loved so much look at him as if he were nothing.

"I'll always love you," Lance whispered, his words small and weak as tears overfilled his eyes. "You don't understand how much power you have over me; all I want is to make you happy, no matter what. But-"

Taking Gavin's hand from his face, Lance clung to it briefly as he breathed in, shuddering as tears dripped from his chin. "-I can't make you happy, can I? You're everything to me...and I'm nothing to you." Lance let go of Gavin's hand, letting it fall to the vampire's side as he placed his hands on his shoulders and pushed himself up on his tiptoes to kiss the man's cheek while he was momentarily stunned. A tear transferred from his cheek to Gavin's as Lance inhaled his scent, a comforting smell that always calmed him.

"I didn't want it to be like this," he whispered into the vampire's ear. He smiled weakly. "I love you."

Releasing Gavin completely, Lance backed out of the room, his hand clamped over his mouth as he stared ahead, tears still falling. The wolfling had never felt so weak and lost, but he was certain.

He couldn't protect his pack.

He and Gavin had nothing.

He had to leave.

[Rose]

Gavin’s rage had been a boiling mass, its own entity that clawed and screamed within him, guiding his brain. It had been a fire, burning up all the bridges he had built. But Lance, oh Lance. The only calm Gavin had ever known, the only constant, sure thing in his life had suddenly shaken him. His words were cool water, and Gavin was left doused. He panted, his mind a flurry of new thoughts.

Love?

But no, he couldn’t. Lance was innocent. He couldn’t love a monster. Or he shouldn’t…Gavin was a plague to him, he thought. He’d caused the kid so much pain just by being around him. His hands balled into tight fists and he squeezed his eyes shut. Everything was falling apart. Everything was crashing down around him in just a few hours. Logan didn’t notice him anymore. Lance had asked him the impossible. He confessed everything, he walked away, and Gavin was going to let him.

His fire doused, he felt like the crumbling skeleton of a burned-out building, falling apart beneath its own weight. Choking back anger and fear and confusion, Gavin slammed open the door, but he didn’t follow Lance. He marched the other way, going up a few floors. Maybe if he walked up to the roof he could clear his head…

But no. There she was, two floors up, sitting in the middle of the stairs. There she was, in his way.

Alice.

She had caused all of this. That ungrateful little mundane…Gavin’s figure seemed to meld in with the shadows as he stepped up the stairs, stopping a few feet before Alice. She had her head in her hands, silent as Gavin’s footsteps. But he could hear her heart, pounding with what must have been anger. He could relate.

“…Its not safe for a little girl to go off alone.” His voice was all that announced his approach. He loomed above Alice, his head tilted to the side slightly as he gazed down at her. His eyes weren’t a storm as they looked her up and down. They were just dead, flat. His lips were parted slightly, and in the dim light from the city his fangs showed. He could have laughed at how helpless she was, how stupid. But there was no laughter left in him. He raised an eyebrow, leaning a hand against the wall.

“You could get hurt.”


Lily heard the yelling, or at least Gavin’s side of it. His tone made her shiver, flashes of unpleasant memories behind her eyes. She reminded herself that Gavin was a good person, a dear friend, and that he wouldn’t hurt any of them, not now. But she stepped outside to check, peaking up a floor just in time to see Lance come storming down the stairs, trying to head out of the building. She stepped in his way, taking him by the shoulders. Her soft, beautiful voice dripped with worry as she stroked back his hair and wiped away a tear.

“Oh, Lance honey….shh, it’s alright. Whatever Gavin said, he didn’t mean it. Please, come in and I’ll make us some coffee or something, alright? We can talk…”

[GnomesAteMyCake]

Alice didn't hear the approaching sound of footsteps until the owner of them addressed her, making her jump, her head coming up off her knees, eyes wide. She felt the bottom go out of her stomach when she saw the face of the vampire who'd been so hostile towards her before; Gavin.

And he looked pissed.

“…Its not safe for a little girl to go off alone,” he drawled at her, a dangerous smirk on his face as he stood two steps below her, still giving him a height advantage over her crumpled form. Her honey-eyes hardening to age-old amber, Alice slowly pushed herself up, her long hair dangling over her shoulders. She didn't know what the hell had pissed this guy off so much, other than her presence, but she wasn't about to take any shit from him. Not when everything in her life felt like it was collaspsing around her.

“You could get hurt,” he muttered in a dead voice, his hand pressed to the wall and cutting off her retreat, unless she wished to go higher.

"Oh? And who's going to hurt me? You?" she sneered, attempting to push past the vampire, but he remained unmoved. "Don't you think you're boss would be pissed at you, considering I'm sooooo special?" Trying once more to move past the vampire, Alice let out a grunt of frustration as she pushed him in the chest, her anger getting the better of her. "Would you move?!"

~~

"Do you see him, Manic?"

"Yes...he's confronting someone...a woman..."

"I don't care, they're not important. Keep an eye on him, Manic, and tell me what's happening. Lance should have done as I persuaded him too, Gavin should be at breaking point...he will be all yours soon."

"....perfect."

~~

Lance raised his watering eyes to Lily's own, her hand brushing a tear from his flushed cheeks as she led him towards the kitchen area, which was thankfully around the corner from where the group usually gathered and was currently unoccupied.

"N-No, he did," Lance stammered, taking deep breathes to steady himself, embarrassed enough that he was crying and desperately trying to stop. He fixed his eyes on one of the hanging doors from a cupboard, his mouth a stubborn line while Lily managed to fill two cups of coffee with one hand and stroked one of his own with the other.

"Come sit," she said softly, leading the boy into one of the seats and taking the one closest to him, taking both of his hands in her own and looking at his face. "Tell me what he said to you."

"H-How do you know a-about Gav and me?" Lance muttered, his red hair hanging in his eyes and acting as a barrier so his emotions couldn't be read. Lily smiled softly, turning his face up so she could meet his eyes.

"I'd have to be blind to miss how much you care about eachother."

"He doesn't care about me. All he cares about is Logan, and killing, and my feelings don't matter at all. I was so scared I'd lost him yesterday, and he didn't even care!" Lance pouted, his tears now stopped.

"Oh sweetheart, you know what Gavin's been through; he's no good at expressing himself, you know that." Taking a sip of her coffee, Lily smiled encouragingly at the young boy and tapped his nose. "How about you go find him and explain everything? Who knows; I'm positive he needs you right now."

"Hm. I bet he's still fuming. I might leave him to cool down a little first...I don't envy who comes across him in this state..."

[Rose]

Gavin’s face twisted with anger faster than the human mind could comprehend. Alice was against the wall in a breath, Gavin’s hands gripping her wrists tightly as he pressed her back. He hissed loudly as the girl gasped on impact, his fangs showing long and full as his lips curled back menacingly. The vampire’s breath was ragged in his throat, hot over hers. His voice was a deadly whisper in the darkness, enveloping her.

“You don’t even know what Logan protects you from. You don’t even understand.” Gavin could almost taste her blood as Alice’s heart beat madly, frantic. Blood didn’t taste as good when adrenaline pumped through the body, but there was something about the hunt that made it all worth it. The half-crazed vampire ran his fangs over the Alice’s neck and she shuddered, struggling to be free, but his grip was a vice holding her in place.

“This world is fucked,” Gavin continued in his harsh voice, his lips moving against her neck as he spoke. “Everything, everyone will hurt you. So maybe you should be a little more grateful for what you have…before it’s too late.”

There was a roar, but it didn’t come from Gavin’s throat. Heavy footsteps came from behind him and the vampire was ripped away with a yelp. Strong hands gripped him tight and threw him down the stairs. Gavin tumbled down, cracking his head and clawing to stop himself until he landed with a thud where the stairs ended briefly.

“Logan…..I wasn’t….” Gavin groaned, trying to speak as he pushed himself up, but Logan was already by his side and wasn’t about to listen to excuses. He lifted Gavin by the back of the shirt, only to slam him to the wall. The vampire roared, twisting around and catching a fist before it hit him. The two grappled, Logan roaring in frustration and Gavin desperately dodging, unwilling to hit the man. And that was his disadvantage.

Logan landed a fist in Gavin’s stomach and he doubled over with a gasp as the air was knocked from his lungs. The lycan grabbed his fallen head and brought his knee up, cracking Gavin in the temple. The vampire fell to his hands, looking up at Logan.

“L-Logan…” Gavin pleaded, looking up as blood went down the side of his head and mouth, but he was finally silenced. Not by more force, not by blood.

“Get out,” Logan said, voice dripping with ice, and Gavin stared up at him in horror. The vampire shook his head slowly, but Logan pointed down the stairs. “LEAVE.”

As Gavin picked himself up shakily, Logan turned his back on his old friend and went to the woman’s side to see if she was alright. Gavin was broken, but he was seeing if the human girl was upset. The vampire held his ribs and hurried down the stairs, gasping and choking from the blow to his stomach.

Lily and Lance had stopped their conversation at the sound of tumbling around upstairs, and as they poked their heads out the door to check on the commotion they were met with the sight of Gavin limping down the stairs, face twisted with more emotional pain than physical.

Gavin stopped for a moment, looking up. Some surprise showed in his eyes at the sight of Lance, and there was a flicker of joy in him that the boy hadn’t run away. But it was short lived and he tore his eyes away, hurrying down the rest of the stairs and out the door. The vampire didn’t have any idea where he was going, no semblance of direction, but he was marching down the sidewalk and into alleyways. Anything to be as far from this place as he could get. And god help any human that got in his way.