Payback (Daci)

[Vivian Nazarova]

“No, because you’ll just take me avay anyvay!” Vivian protested, actually looking up this time to glare at him. Again, she couldn’t maintain it and turned back to look at the snow. That was easier. Her face twisted into one of mental anguish. She had to tell him eventually, he was going to find out. He technically was the closest thing she had to a father right now because he was the only one that had even the slightest right to try and boss her around. It didn’t mean she had to appreciate it, or listen for that matter. Dacian was going to have to start acting like a carer before he got proper respect.

“Fine. I like him. Ve might be...” Vivian broke off. She didn’t actually have a clear idea what Scotty wanted but it had all been going so right lately. She still hadn’t told Scotty about what she’d become, of course, no, she was far too scared for that yet. But she would like to, soon. “He vos the von that tried to save me vhen it... vhen all zhat happened to me. He vent and got help,” Vivian explained with a mope, recalling Dacian might at least remember him from the night she was attacked. It was a slim shot, but still. “He’s nice. You’d like him if you don’t kill him first.”

[Dacian]

It didn’t look like he was making much progress. His lips tightened in a firm line, steeling his resolve to prove her right and drag her away regardless. She might hate him now but she’d get over it in a few years. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have eternity to make it up to her. She’d forgive him eventually. What was that adage? Easier to seek forgiveness than ask permission. Certainly true in Dacian’s view of the world.

He didn’t think he was going to get an answer until she finally replied. Scotty? He cast his mind back to the night Vivian was killed. There had been a boy, but his features were undefined in Dacian’s memory. He hadn’t been important, but he had remembered that the same boy looking miserable at he Hog’s head had been the same one to try and save her before he ran to get help. He’d tried to bandage the wounds. He nodded once to himself, understanding now.

“It’s doubtful that I’d like him, but at least he tried. I can see why you trust him, but you’re young – you don’t understand these things yet. You might be grateful to him, you might feel you owe him something but this is not the place for you to be. How much does he know? How long until you drop your guard and hurt him? It happens, Vivian. If you get too close to someone, they’re put in danger from you and any other vampire who wants leverage on you.” He should be taking his own advice, but Dacian was a maze of double standards.

“If it makes this easier, I can let you say goodbye but that is it, Vivian. No childish crush is going to stop me from taking you away from this place. If anything, he’s another reason to leave. He will cloud your judgement and you could put yourself in danger by trying to protect him.” He may as well have been talking about himself and Cassie. The problem was, he knew he was making every possible mistake but he just couldn’t stop himself.

[Vivian Nazarova]

Dacian was seriously starting to get cruel with the emotional blackmail. Everything seemed to be reverting back to ‘leave now or everyone you love dies’. How right was he? Or was he just saying it? She didn’t want to kill anyone but she didn’t want to leave either. How long did Dacian want to go for as well? Nothing with him was ever short and Vivian was becoming more and more aware her time with Ed and Scotty would only be fleeting on the grand scale of her now rather extraordinary lifespan.

“So vhat vos all zhat vith Cassie zhen?” Vivian challenged, staring up at him with what was actually surprise and a bit of disgust at how quick he wanted to evacuate. He’d basically stolen her off Edward, even moved in with her for a little bit, and now what? He was willing to throw it all away? Vivian’s head slowly clicked into gear. Did they fight? It certainly would explain why he wanted to head for the hills but that was no reason for him to try and uproot her as well. Selfish bastard. “Is zhat vhy you vant to leave?” she asked, frowning at him like it was an interrogation. “Vhatever happened, vork it out because I don’t vant to go just because you had a fight vith your girlfriend!”

[Dacian]

Dacian snarled, reminding himself that this was Vivian and not someone who he could freely vent his frustrations at. Nonetheless, he couldn’t control himself that well. “Cassie is none of your business. This has nothing to do with her, do you hear? We’re leaving because of you, and my mistakes of letting you start his process somewhere familiar and letting it go on this long.” His expression made it quite obvious that the conversation had become too personal. Cassie was a sore subject, rubbed raw by all their peaks and troughs and he wondered if Vivian knew that. No, she was not as manipulative as him. Not yet at any rate.

He took a deep breath, trying to hide the wince as his skin stretched over the increased volume of his chest. “I’m sorry, alright? What happened with Cassie is different to this. You’ll understand when you’re older but right now, you might think this Scotty is important to you but you can easily live without him. He’s better off forgetting you and leading his own life. The longer you prolong it, the harder it gets to make the separation.” He was trying to be sincere, but it wasn’t going well. Who was he kidding? He was six hundred years her elder and he still had trouble trying to keep away from Cassie. By now he should be able to have some self control when it came to women.

[Vivian Nazarova]

It was only now after she’d actually been looking at him long enough that she realised something was off. Dacian’s skin looked thin, shiny and sort of stretched. Vivian frowned again, but this time not because of what he'd said. Had he been cursed? That was certainly a logical conclusion to reach - God knows he pissed off too many people - and it would explain why he’d left for a bit, but she couldn't think of any curses that left ones skin looking that way. Or had he done it to himself, somehow? Or just had a really bad allergic reaction to some sort of skincare product.

Dacian using skincare?

Nah. Cassie probably hexed him in whatever fight they’d had. Vivian found herself hoping it had stung then instantly regretting it. That hadn't been nice.

“Vhat happened to your skin?” She finally asked, still looking more displeased than concerned. Dacian had officially done too much to aggravate her to earn him any sympathy points today. It was a vain attempt to change the subject because she really couldn’t take more arguing or she was going to start brawling again. Her mind was made up. She was staying. Dacian had said she could have time to make goodbyes so they could argue again when he tried to cart her off once more. She was too tired after today to keep quarrelling.

[Silas Rosier]

Poor Ed was probably feeling rather neglected. Between such fun as blackmailing ex ministry officials, a steady diet of sex from Jacaranda Mulciber, organising the death of his enemies via shady alliances, and kidnapping young blonde waitresses, Silas hadn’t exactly had much time to visit dear old Edward that week. Oh, it was good to be evil.

As he was wont to do, on nothing more than a whim, Silas had grabbed his coat and vanished from work without a trace. It would seem almost criminal to get everything underway without at least checking on his favourite bartender first.

The cold burned his face as Silas apparated silently at the end of the street. Jesus, what temperature was it? He was going to have to be careful jumping between the heated warmth of the club to a British winter or he was going to catch pneumonia. Thrusting his hands deep in his pockets, Silas cut into one of the back-alleys that lead behind the pub in order to take a shortcut. The less time spent outside the better.

The last thing he was expecting to see was two people hanging around in the back of the building outside the door to where the booze was stored. The girl got only a glance for her insane choice of winter garments – t-shirt and jeans? Was she mental? – before the man made him stop in his tracks. Although Silas was approaching from behind he’d recognise that coat and hair anywhere. Dacian.

Without even thinking he pulled out his wand and aimed it square between the vampires shoulder blades. The girl reacted quickly as she spotted him, her widening as she struggled to stand up and almost slipped on the ice that had built up on the stairs.

“Incarcerous!”

[Dacian]

Damn, he was hoping she wouldn’t notice if she hadn’t already. “It’s nothing.” He defended instantly. Too quickly. The older vampire grunted. His first reaction was to hide the truth from her, keep her ignorant from it. He shouldn’t be. She should know the consequences of the danger they put themselves in for people they cared about. Admitting defeat was difficult, and the man was torn. His head lolled back and with a more anguished groan he brought it back to settle his eyes steadfastly on hers. “I was burned very severely. That’s why I haven’t been to see you in a week. I’ve been healing so you didn’t have to see it.”

He sighed, resigning himself to the full hypocritical revelation. “I was with Cassie when a man I don’t like very much,” Understatement of the century, but child-friendly, “Found us. I tried to protect Cassie, but he cast a spell.” He grumbled, gaze breaking Vivian’s to stare resolutely at the wall over her shoulder. “Lumos solem. Not quite as potent as the real thing but had I not fled, I would not have survived.” He rested a hand on her knee, trying his best to look sincere when he was inwardly fighting not to balk and skip out on the rest of it. “I had to leave Cassie on her own, Vivian. There was no way I could have stayed. Anything could have happened to her and I wouldn’t have been able to help her. Luckily nothing did happen, but things don’t always turn out so fine.

“That’s why holding onto relationships is as dangerous for us as it is for them. Especially when wizards are involved.” He rolled up his left sleeve, exposing the charred shape of the crucifix Edward had burned into him. “When people know what we are, it’s even harder to defend ourselves. This was what happened the night Edward threw me out. It made me sick for days, it took more than a week to even be able to use my arm properly again. That may not seem like a long time but any injury that takes that long to heal, someone will take advantage of it. People will get hurt in the process and you won’t be able to help them.” His eyes were on hers again now, flicking between pupils to see how much she really understood.

Her gaze wasn’t meeting his. Instead she was looking over his shoulder at something. Dacian realised he’d made the fatal mistake of not paying attention to their surroundings. Vivian was already scrambling to go when Dacian caught the man’s scent. “Get inside, get—!” Ropes curled around him, trapping his arms to his sides and snaking their way around his throat. His words cut off as he couldn’t make the sounds in his throat with no air. It wouldn’t kill him, of course, but he was trapped. Trapped by the worst possible person.

The door opened and slammed shut as Vivian got inside and Dacian realised it was the pump room. One door in and out. She couldn’t escape out of any other way. If Silas got in there, she was done for. Hopefully having Dacian as a captured audience would distract him for a while but how long before the wizard turned him to dust and went after Vivian. Dacian squirmed in the rope’s hold but it only made them squeeze tighter. He choked as it forced the rest of the air out of his lungs. Anger started to rise and he clenched his jaw and made some more futile attempts to escape. He’d wanted to prove a point about life’s dangers but really, this was ridiculous.

[Vivian Nazarova]

Vivian had actually been more than a little shocked at Dacian’s confession. It was only now that it really hit home exactly how much she was being kept in the dark about. Attacked? By whom? And why? Over Cassie? She visibly cringed at the burn mark of the crucifix. Oh, that looked ghastly. Ed? Edward had done that? She knew he had been defensive over Cassie, but she didn’t even need to look very hard at the wound to guess how much that would have hurt. It looked like a brand of hot iron had been pressed into his arm.

The message was just starting to sink in, but then Vivian spotted something. A man had approached and stopped, staring, the look on his face one of sudden unbridled loathing and his hand darted into his pocket. That could only mean one thing.

A sense of panic rose up and Vivian struggled to her feet and almost stumbled. Dacian saw, then was yelling at her. She didn’t think, just obeyed. She felt something break in the door as she forced it open – the lock most likely – but in her shock she didn’t notice. As the spell from the stranger stuck Dacian, Vivian slammed the door shut and pelted past the kegs to the other side of the room.

Gah, no door!

No one was coming in. There were noises from outside. The room was pitch black, but she could still see. Vivian pressed herself into a corner, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground, hugging her knees. She was crying now; her mind reeling with all the ugly possibilities.

What world had she been accidentally thrown into?

[Silas Rosier]

||OoC|| Oi, Tiggs, there's a Vivpost on the other page. Don't miss it.||

Aaaand, victory. Well, that had been easy.

The grin on Silas’s face as he stuck his hands behind his back and strolled over towards Dacian was somewhat maniacal. If Dacian wasn’t already convinced that Silas was completely insane, what he did next would. Perhaps it was due to too much alcohol before stepping out, the fact there wasn’t one witness around to prevent imminent revenge, Christmas cheer, or even a mixture of all three, but Silas found himself lapsing into song as he approached his neatly trussed up victim.

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light,
From now on,
Our troubles will be out of sight,”

And, right on the last word, he delivered a solid kick to the side of Dacian’s head.

Troubles out of sight indeed. Dacian wouldn’t live to see Christmas. The perfect end to the year. Silas gave a shallow, eerie laugh as he circled Dacian slowly, weighing up a few of his options. He could easily end it now – Dacian wasn’t exactly going anywhere after all – but that would spoil half the fun. The trap was laid and set, and he was curious to see how it would pan out.

He wasn’t going to sink to Dacian’s level and gloat about his current predicament. He was sure Dacian was perfectly aware of how much trouble he was in. The control was glorious though. A life at his fingertips, and all that. That feeling of power was all he had lived for a few years back, and now here it was again. His eyes passed over Dacian's newly-healed skin to the stranglehold the ropes had over his throat. Heh. Ouch. Silas deliberately took his time, allowing the vampire to mull things over in his little head.

“Don’t worry,” he said at last, the laughter creeping back into his voice. He stopped, and waved his wand lightly to let the ropes around the vampires neck and chest loosen enough for him to form strangled words. “You won’t die here tonight. Not yet anyway.”

[Dacian]

The ropes forced his legs together and losing balance, Dacian was made to fall to his knees. He squirmed and thrashed as well as he could but the ropes wouldn’t budge. He’d been fairly convinced Silas was a few sandwiches short of a picnic but the singing? That proved it. Great. Not only had he made the worst sort of enemy, he’d chosen a psychotic one. Or perhaps he was demon-possessed, that would explain a lot. More likely, the alcohol he could smell wreaking off of him was something to do with it. Attacking him near a public place? Even Dacian had more sense than that.

He bared his teeth as Silas approached, his glare murderous. He saw the kick coming, but there was nothing he could do to avoid it. The hit had him falling, landing on his shoulder on the icy ground. His eyes fluttered closed briefly, the only sign he was letting Silas had that it had caused him pain. The side of his head throbbed, and the stars still hadn’t faded when Silas started circling like a vulture. Dacian rolled onto his back, perhaps not the safest of places to be but he couldn’t exactly escape. At least from here he could follow Silas with his eyes, never letting the wizard leave his sight.

Frustrating didn’t begin to explain how Dacian felt. He was a predator, no man should be able to best him but this was Silas’ third victory over him and if their track record was anything to go by, he didn’t have very good odds to survive the night. Naturally, Dacian was becoming ever angrier at his predicament but more than that, he was worried for Vivian. If he didn’t keep Silas busy, he was going to round right onto her.

Silas needed to gloat. If it were him, Dacian would never loosen the ropes. If it were him, Silas would be dead already. “You’re dead.” He spat, his voice too quiet to draw attention. Silas had got something right at least. Dacian tried drawing a deeper breath for more volume but the most he could get was for a strained wheeze. “I’ll never die, Silas. You’ll never beat me. I’ll always come back for you. You can’t kill me.” Dacian seemed pleased at that, baring his fangs in a dangerous smile. He could die, but Silas didn’t have to know that. So far he’d survived. “I’ll tear you limb from limb, I’ll rip your lungs out!” He thrashed again, bucking against the ropes. “Come a little closer Silas. Are you scared of me? I’m all tied up. I can’t possibly hurt you.” He almost crooned, desperate for a shot at him.