fangednconfused (fangednconfused) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2021-03-06 18:58:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | derek mitchell, ronnie milam |
What's in the Box?
Who: Ronnie/Derek
What: Interaction
Where: Searchlight, Ronnie and Mikey's
When: Present
Ratings/Warnings: Mention of Blood, Implied Violence
Derek broke the speed limit going back to Searchlight, pushing the old little Aveo as far as it could go. He navigated his way to Ronnie and Mikey’s trailer, parking a little sloppily and not caring at all. The vampire got out of the car and made sure no one was lurking about before knocking on the door. He really hoped the blood on the box wasn’t human. He still couldn’t believe his instinct had been correct and he had let Christopher walk away.
He wouldn’t make that same mistake twice.
Ronnie nearly ran to the door.
Never in his life had he ever been sent a box with a bloody tee shirt. Presents before. Never this. Thankfully Mikey wasn’t here, otherwise the whole community of weres might be on edge. But before he reached the door Ronnie paused. It was abrupt. He nearly slammed into the door. That you? he texted to Derek, hating himself.
His phone chimed and he looked down at the screen, seeing the text from Ronnie. He replied quickly. It’s me.
Ok. he texted back.
He swallowed and opened the door. With relief he threw himself at Derek, hugging his friend. He was pale, bags under his eyes. He got out of bed to open the door. Lately he’d been feeling so sick, lethargic. He didn’t know why.
Derek returned the hug before ushering him back inside and locking the door behind them. He looked at Ronnie, the state of him. He looked terrible. That jived with Ro’s theory that Christopher might be an etheric. “Where’s the box?” Though the question wasn’t really necessary. The vampire could smell it. He walked over to where it was, following the scent, and crouched down.
“This is animal blood,” he told Ronnie, looking up at him. “The same kind I drink.”
“Over...there.” He didn’t doubt his friend's senses. He turned to watch his friend. For once he smiled. And then he felt relief. Animal blood.
“Animal blood,” he breathed with relief. At least now he didn’t feel as guilty for someone passing. He sat down on the couch.
“Ro texted me,” Derek told Ronnie, sitting next to his friend on the couch. He didn’t want to alarm him any further, but they needed to figure out a plan of attack. “She thinks this guy might be an etheric, like her. But it seems like he feeds on...well, scaring the shit out you.” The vampire pulled out his phone and opened the picture of Christopher taken surreptitiously. He held up the screen so the chef could see.
“Have you ever seen this guy before?”
He looked shaken by the revelation. “Like being afraid?” It explained a lot. There was a rock though one of the windows thrown during the day to startle him.
Ronnie squinted. “I saw him at the market. You know, the general store. A while back. He was looking for a recipe. You know?”
Derek stared at Ronnie for a moment, internally tempering his words. “Did you give him any information about yourself?” he asked calmly. He wasn’t angry at his friend. He was angry at this guy for targeting his sometimes naive, personable and open friend. What he couldn’t understand was why Christopher kept targeting Ronnie. Was he an easy repeat meal? A buffet of fear? He would have to ask Ro about that. He knew next to nothing about etherics, just that they were another type of vampire.
But that also meant that Derek could kill him. He wasn’t human.
“I mean...yeah?” He felt sheepish. Damn it. Why was he so stupid? “But not like where I live and stuff.” He never gave out his address. He wouldn’t risk Mikey or what they had.
“I don’t know what to do. I can’t do this anymore.” He was tired. Exhausted. He felt sick all the time. Laying in bed instead of cooking.
“It’s going to be okay,” he assured Ronnie, a determined set to his expression. “Because I’m going to solve this problem for you.” Derek stood up from the couch, his gaze landing on the box. It wasn’t fear that he felt when he looked at it, but anger. The animal blood felt like a personal touch, which meant that Christopher had been watching him, too. And maybe even a taunt. If he knew that Derek was a vampire and chose not to feed on humans, he might think of him as harmless. That was not the case.
“I’m going to kill him.”
He didn’t want Derek to get hurt but he trusted him. He would’ve trusted Derek with his life. “Oh there was a card,” Ronnie added. He fished it out of a goopy pocket, handing it over. It was a small ecru cardstock that read “Nice shoes.”
Ronnie then shuddered. The idea of killing someone weighed on him. But Derek was a good vampire.
Derek looked at the card, another wave of anger washing over him. He knew exactly who the vampire was when he came up to the stand. Fuck, he should have grabbed Christopher there when he had a chance. That small possibility of being wrong is what stopped him. Killing an innocent person wasn’t an option. That hunter Lee had been different, he had been trying to kill Derek and threatened the people he cared about. “That’s what he said earlier to me. Nice shoes.” He put the card in his own pocket.
“What are you going to tell Mikey?” he asked curiously.
Fuck fuck fuck. “The truth.” He wouldn’t lie to his partner - Mikey had been through enough. He didn’t care about anyone else. What anyone else thought of them didn’t matter. His close friends, that tiny inner circle. Meant more. He was visibly shaken to his core. “Please be safe.” Ronnie knew Derek would be fine, but he couldn’t help but worry.
All of his dreams had been smashed. Taken away. He’d been dealing with this for months - he physically and mentally couldn’t take anymore. Slaying sounded intrusively like relief.
“Of course I’ll be careful,” Derek promised. “Is this not the face of caution?” He looked at Ronnie with a silly grin , hoping to get his friend’s thoughts to a happier place. Or at least a neutral one. Ro had said that could help and if they were in fact dealing with an etheric, then she would know.
Ronnie laughed. He made a face of his own, tongue sticking out and his eyes crossed. “Totally safe. One hundred percent.” Derek was a vampire, Ronnie trusted him explicitly. He touched his friends arm, “we gotta get this guy.”
“I will.” That was another promise that Derek could most certainly keep. He would keep an eye on Ronnie’s place, and Christopher was bound to pop up sooner or later. “He lied and said your name was Reginald. What a tool bag.”
“Reginald?” Ronnie snorted. That was so formal. “Maybe he was the one who put the letter in my pocket.” He didn’t know it but he’d seen Christopher somewhere. “Don’t you think it’s funny that we have the same name? His name is Christopher, that’s my middle name. Weird, huh?”
Derek paused, something dawning on him slowly. “Oh, shit. Do you think he just changed his name to that after getting you in his crosshairs? Like the way Ro keeps changing her name, except more...sinister?” The vampire really didn’t like this guy.
The revelation of the plausibility that his stalker changed his name upon making the association with him was frightening. “I dunno man, but that’s creepy as hell.” Ronnie blinked. It made sense for Ro to change her name - she was a long lived individual. But to do such a thing on a whim seemed odd and wrong.
He realized he was doing the exact opposite of getting Ronnie’s mind off of the stalker. Derek stood from the couch and walked over to the offending box. “I’ll take care of this for you,” the vampire assured his friend. “I know how to get rid of things.”
Ronnie nodded. He trusted Derek with a lot of stuff - getting rid of things seemed to be a skill in his friends' already interesting array of things he could do. He wasn’t sorry to see the thing go. “Cool shirt though.”
He hoped he could get rid of the blood smell before Mikey got home. A candle or two would hide the scent.
“Sprinkle baking soda on the carpet, let it sit for about an hour and vacuum it up,” Derek advised, as if reading Ronnie’s mind. The odor of blood was strong but it wasn’t as strong as the human variety. “And open all the windows. It should help.” He picked up the box gingerly and regarded his friend with a wan smile.
“You helped me every time I needed it, even when I was just a stranger. I’m going to do the same for you.”
When it came to blood, Derek knew what to do. Ronnie nodded. Someone else may have balked at such a task or made up a few excuses. “Okay, cool. I can do that.” He hoped Christopher didn’t see the open windows as an invitation. Fortunately the stalker hadn’t been in the house - at least not that Ron had interacted with personally. There was no doubt Christopher had been in the trailer at some point, though.
“That’s what people do, man,” Ronnie laughed. Helping a stranger was in his blood, he couldn’t help it.
“I’m gonna run home and put together a stakeout outfit,” Derek replied. “You know, all black clothing, sunglasses, a beanie. Maybe some face paint. Christopher is bound to lurk around here sooner than later, and that’s how I plan to catch him.” The vampire had thought it all through on his ride back to Searchlight.
Ronnie nodded. It was easy to picture the garb - nearly a burglar outfit if he imagined it correctly. “Okay dude. I’ll text you if anything goes sideways before you get back.” The idea that a resolution to the problem was on the horizon made Ronnie feel ten times better.
Derek looked down at the box, the sight of the shirt oddly motivating. “I’ll let you know when it’s done,” he assured Ronnie. “In the meantime, stay safe, man. And holler if you need me. I’ll be nearby.” With that, he exited the trailer.
“I’ll try, man,” he murmured. Staying safe was what he was trying to do in every circumstance, the world just didn’t always agree with him. “Thanks. I’m so ready for this to be over. It’s wrecked my life.” That was an exaggeration, he knew he was being dramatic, but it felt like the odds weren’t working for him. It’d been months since he felt safe even going out onto the porch.