Victorian Vampire Boyfriend |MxM|

Chapter 10

Elliot Darling killed Alaina's sister. Orsino gapes. He doesn't want to believe it, but her face is an open book. Grief and bitterness, crease her expression into a vengeful mask.

As Orsino opens his mouth to ask for more information, the door to their little room opens, and someone comes in, "Sorry, I'm late, something happened at the house--"

It takes a moment for Orsino to recognize her wearing the plain gray dress that she is, but a few seconds after their eyes meet, it dawns on him who this newcomer is. "You're one of the maids from Mr. Darling's house!"

"Oh! It's you. Mr. ... Ortiz?" She looks searchingly at him. "I thought you ran off. The whole staff is out looking for you and Mr. Darling." She looks to Alaina and Harley, "I had to duck out in the commotion. Hopefully, they won't miss me."

"I guess I did run off, but Alaina found me," Orsino replies, looking away. "But wait are you doing here? You're with them? I thought you and Ell- I mean Mr. Darling were... you know..." He doesn't know if he's trying to allude to their friendliness or what was probably him drinking her blood, but the memory of it crosses his mind nonetheless as he averts his gaze.

She pales and quickly shakes her head, "What, no, no, nothing like that. It's, I'm- "

Alaina pipes in, "Sorry to use such an inelegant word for it, but Marlene here is a bit of a spy of ours, so we may have a better idea of what goes on in the house. Darling requires his staff for more than just household service, they are his sustenance. Getting one of our own hired at the house was the easiest way to get in."

Harley's face twists into a grimace, "I'd never let a creature like that touch me, even for the cause." Orsino frowns at the ugly bitter spit of Harley's words that feels all too familiar. "But Marlene's sacrifice in spying for us is... admirable. We'll catch Darling yet."

"His kind of vampire is the most dangerous as they go unnoticed," explains Alaina,  "amassing a hoard of live food, that no one would question. And if some die in the process well staff pass away in service all the time, it's not so unusual that it would be remarked upon by authorities, especially when it's in the house of an upper-class individual, they don't dare question it."

Orsino's heart sinks, "Have people died at Darling's place?"

"Not since I've arrived," interjects the maid -- Marlene, her eyes darting between everyone in the group.

"But before, there have been deaths," Alaina says, looking blankly into her drink.

"Right, I'm sorry, you said your sister-"

"Not her alone, there was a cook who passed. She was elderly, so we couldn't confirm, but the circumstances were peculiar enough that we could bring the full bearing of our people to investigate. And here we are."

Orsino's shoulders hunch and his back aches. Things are beginning to feel a lot bigger than just him, and he had a long night. A long couple of days really, even before he ended up in the past he had been stressed about his senior year critiques, about his grades, about his part-time job. Now he had to deal with apparently a killer vampire, who he had thought was actually a pretty nice guy, a sweet guy (and also a hot guy, but he tries not to think about that last part).

"So, what's the plan?" He asks trying not to let his fatigue leak into his voice.

Harley eyes Orsino, sizing him up with a  piercing stare.  "So you are interested in helping us take down Darling then."

Orsino stares right back, blankly, "Uh, I meant for tonight. Like is there somewhere I can go? I'll fall asleep right here if I have to, but I'm pretty sure Georgie would just throw me out." Then after a pause, he adds turning to Alaina, "I'll also help if you need it. I owe you one since you pulled me out of the woods. I don't want to see anyone get hurt. I'm not like some kind of action hero, but I'll help where I can to stop Darling from hurting anyone else."

Mostly he just wishes he could talk to the man again, to ask some of the questions he hadn't when he had the chance. But now the friendly image of Darling is corrupted by the fear Orsino felt racing out of the house,  and he doesn't know how he would feel if he were face to face with Elliot again.

Alaina stands and places a calm hand on his shoulder, smiling, "Thank you, Orsino, any help is appreciated. And, fear not, we have rooms upstairs in the inn, I'll make sure Georgie sets one aside for you. You ought to get some rest. Tomorrow we may speak of more serious things again."

He couldn't agree more.

Orsino drains his glass, and when Georgie next enters Alaina asks her to lead him up to a room.

The wooden stairs creak under their feet. Orsino feels like he can barely get up them, he's so tired. When they get to the top, Georgie leads him to a little rustic room of wood panelling and peeling wallpaper. There's a double bed that's neatly made with cream sheets and  a quilt, a nightstand with a candle, and a chest at the foot of the bed.

It's not as nice as the guest room in the Darling house, but any room with a bed looks very inviting to Orsino at the moment.

He's about to thank Georgie when she says, "So you're with Mr. Harley and them?"

Too tired for conversation, Orsino shrugs. "I guess I am."

"They're good people, they've done me many a good turn. They fought off a demon that took the shape of my father, with their spells." She sniffs and the candle she carries in its holder, flickers. "I never thought I could trust any kind of witch. It's wrong and unnatural, I thought. But they do good work. The point I suppose I'm making is; no spellcasting in the inn or downstairs. That's my one rule."

Orsino's mind is reeling for what feels like the tenth time tonight. Spells? "Uh, sure. Okay. No spells. Can do."

"Good." She nods as if they've struck a deal. "Have a good night. If you wake up needing anything, there's always someone downstairs to help."

He wishes her goodnight in return and watches her close the door, before dropping himself on the bed, unblinking.

They fought off a demon that took the shape of my father with their spells. I never thought I could trust any kind of witch.

Spells and witches, that's what Georgie had said. She'd pretty much just told him Alaina and Harley and other people in their monster hunting group or whatever they were, could do magic. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing he'd learned in the past few days, but it's so much to take in.

He shimmies out of his binder, but is too afraid something else ridiculous will wake him in what remains of the night to take off any other clothes except his boots.

The last thing he wonders before he falls asleep is, If they have magic, could these people be the key to getting him back to his own time?