Chapter Text
Scott’s decision was purely logical. Of course it was. He was very tired after his who-knows-how long nap, and he deserved a break!
So, naturally, it was logical and safe to become a bat. It was also logical to stay that way. Of course, he’d have to turn back when he got too hungry, but that wasn’t exactly a hard thing to notice, and it was relatively easy to control.
Upon transforming though, he immediately was overcome with surprise, as he got to be the first witness to the pitiful state of what was once a great duchy, reduced to a meager town in ruins. See, this was exactly why people needed him! When he wasn’t around, look what happened.
No matter, he was a fluffy bat now, so if there were any villagers left, he could just slip them by as long as he liked.
He perched himself atop the remains of a house, doing what he loved most, listen into other people’s conversations and collect gossip.
Watching and waiting, he managed to gather a few things.
One. There were thirteen humans wandering about, none of them from here, though a few had family ties or in a lumberjack’s case, was born here until he was evacuated in his youth.
Two. There was a vampire hunter among the skeptics, and two who were intensely interested in monsters of other kinds. A werewolf hunter, it seemed.
Three. It was probably too late to appear suddenly and proclaim himself as a normal human, so cute bat it was.
With that information, and after learning all their names, his quest became clear. Scare them to death, maybe turn a few if they stuck out to him or if he got too hungry, and be pampered. Essentially, live life as he always had.
But how to do that?
Well, that was obvious. Even when as a feared vampire lord, Scott knew people were often taken to by cute animals. Even ugly animals, if they got attached enough. However, he didn’t quite understand the group’s personalities yet, so putting himself in the care of one human was almost certainly a bad idea.
In that case, his next move was clear. Literally attaching himself to one of them, and making a spectacle of it. The ginger girl’s hair looked fluffy enough, so he flew in, and nestled in.
“I-did something just land on my head?” Yes, yes he did.
Immediately, he was pleased by the reactions. The ginger in question, Cleo, he believed from his eavesdropping, wasn’t too panicked about it, showing she wasn’t one to freak out easily. As for the other townsfolk, there was a mix of reaction.
A red-haired girl, Shelby if not to be mistaken, cooed in adoration, good reaction. It was a similar case for the author, M, who Scott had never heard of, but granted, it would be an impossibility for him to know who that was.
A girl in a monocle, Drift, as well as a blue-eyed man in a dark coat, Pyro, both shared that reaction. Good, that was four people who recognized how cute he was.
Quite a few looked amused, if not outright laughing. The werewolf hunter was one of the laughers, Pearl, if he wasn’t mistaken, and she was followed by two others, those being a boy named Martyn, and a man in doctor’s robes, Legundo, Scott was sure. Though, his laughter was far more subdued.
As for amusement, it was held by Cleo herself, along with the pseudo-butler Abolish, the solider, Apo, the man with the strange accent, Renheart, and the lumberjack, Owen.
Unfortunately, not everyone was having such a good time.
“Bat! Bat! It’s a vampire!”
This vampire hunter would surely be a nuisance. Cleo scoffed, as Scott decided to endear himself further to the group, and hop on her shoulder. “It’s a bat, Avid, what are you on about?”
“A bat! Vampires turn into bats, it’s so clearly a vampire!”
Legundo shook his head. “I saw bats around the area coming here, and they’re probably native to this area. Wouldn’t be surprised, honestly.”
Abolish nodded. “They are, I was warned that some of the wildlife hadn’t seen humans in a while, though.”
Cleo looked down on Scott, still perched on her shoulder. “This one seems to like me fine.”
The doctor approached, holding out a finger, which Scott happily climbed atop.
“See, Avid? Harmless.”
Avid groaned. “What normal bat would just listen to humans that well, huh!? Clearly, it’s hyper-intelligent, meaning it’s a vampire!”
Well, Scott would never deny a compliment, so he loudly chirped, making Avid stumble. “See!? It’s responding to us! Normal bats don’t do that!”
Owen shrugged. “I’ve seen stranger pets. Maybe this one’s just up here for migration or something.”
Scott chirped again, flying off Legundo’s finger to land on the blade of Owen’s axe, strapped to his back. “It’s a cute little thing, I’ll admit.” The lumberjack said, before pulling out the axe and holding Scott out to the rest of the village.
It was then that Avid held a stake out.
“Woah, dude, don’t try to kill the bat!”
Martyn held out a hand in defense of Scott, which was appreciated, but it didn’t look like it’d really stop Avid. “Look, I’ll prove it! If it runs away, that means it’s a vampire!”
Pearl actually got in the way of Avid, thank god, and took the stake away from him. “It’s a little bat, of course it’d get scared if you came at it with a stake the same size as itself!”
Man, this was a great idea, Scott didn’t even have to do anything, and he was already turning the group against the vampire hunter.
Pearl approached Owen, dropping the stake, and much more gently, offered a finger for Scott to perch upon, which he took. “Aww, who could ever want to hurt such a cute little thing?”
To emphasize this point, Scott nuzzled her finger, which made the monster hunter grin. Were those fangs? Huh, interesting. Werewolf, maybe? He could detect a heartbeat, that’s for sure.
He could also detect Avid raising the stake, and before anyone else knew it, “Wha-hey! Don’t kill the little baby, she did nothing wrong!” Scott flew up into the air, gleeful at the drama swiftly approaching, and landed on Avid’s hand, biting down and sucking as much blood out of him as possible in the few seconds of chaos, before flying onto the building again.
“It bit me! It bit me!” Avid clutched his hand, eyes frantic. Scott didn’t know why he was panicking. He wouldn’t turn into a vampire or anything, that would be far too insufferable. All Scott had needed was to pick on Avid a bit more, and to refill his hunger.
Legundo clicked his tongue. “Of course it bit you, Avid, you were trying to kill her. You didn’t even lose that much blood, you’ll be fine. Here, I have bandages.” Glad to see the ‘her’ moniker for Scott’s bat form was sticking though, Pearl did him a great favor though. Getting pronouns was a great sign of being adopted, probably.
In fact, why not up the ante?
Scott flew back down, and perched on Avid’s shoulder, before nuzzling his neck.
“Awww, she forgives you!” Shelby cooed, as Avid stiffed. “H-hey there…uh…bat…please don’t suck my blood!” To mock him, Scott tilted his head. Legundo smiled at Scott. “I will say, she is a very tame animal, so Owen’s theory of her being someone’s pet isn’t unlikely. Her docile nature also implies she’s probably free from rabies or anything of the like.”
Shelby gasped. “Can we keep her?”
Renheart nodded. “Ay, it’ll be good for morale, don’tcha know?” Martyn cheered. “Yeah, what’s her name?”
That seemed to push the conversation along, as Scott held in a laugh at how heavy Avid’s breathing was getting, in so close of proximity to his greatest fear. No one would ever believe them, would they? He had about an hour or two left before he had to eat again, since his bat form was really more cost-effective, if less elegant.
Eventually, the crowd came to two names. Bella, based on one of M’s books, or Louise, a suggestion from Owen. They had held a vote, and it had unfortunately landed on a tie, because Avid had refused to vote.
Equally unfortunately, Scott was partial to both names, and nobody asked for his input, so it was left to a hyphen. Bella-Louise, was the bat’s new name, not that Scott particularly minded. It was a cute name, and either way, it’d just further endear him to the group.
Eventually though, night fell, and Scott felt his power surge. He excused himself by flying off, and he could audibly hear the kind doctor explaining it as it being night, therefore as a nocturnal predator, ‘she’ needed to hunt.
Thankfully, there were plenty of cows, horses, sheep, pigs, and the like, all for the picking. Now, with a full stomach, he returned, flying in through a random window into an equally random house. Scott had to say, he was rather impressed that they managed to build up so fast.
All the more reason to take up residence there. He’d slept in his bat forms more times than he could count, even before he reached his peak, so this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
He fluttered to the windowsill of Cleo and Pearl’s house, to which Pearl took immediate notice.
“Awah, you came back! Good girl, wanna come in?” Why, don’t mind if he does. Flying in, he found Cleo setting up a bed, and rested into her hair. “You really like it up there, huh?”
It was rather soft. Surprising, Scott didn’t think farmers had good hair routines. Pearl grinned wolfishly at the pair. “What an adorable little critter you are!”
Pearl and Cleo ended up sleeping in the same bed, Scott keeping somewhat careful watch of them, leaving once or thrice to feed, always coming back before they noticed.
When morning came though, so did a new sense of oddness, as Scott immediately noticed something was awry. Namely, that Pyro was very clearly a vampire now. He had moved his collar to hide the bite sure, but as Scott landed on his shoulder and nuzzled his neck, he could feel blood. Smell it.
Well, that was something. If he had to take a guess, it was Owen. The two seemed to go off hunting a lot after the morning, and his eyes seemed to glow a faint red. How devilish.
“Why are Owen’s eyes red!?”
Owen blinked, at Avid’s accusation. Scott was perched on Martyn’s cane, the entire town gathered around to examine the lumberjack, with the scholar not far from him. Classic fledgeling behavior.
Scott didn’t particularly care what happened to either of them, neither were very prevalent to his lifestyle after all, though, perhaps anyone believing Avid was a bad idea.
“Weren’t they always red?” Pyro offered, as if to confirm Scott’s suspicion. The group began to voice their agreement, forcing Scott to hold in a laugh.
Avid sputtered, as a lack of attention span proved him wrong. Of course, Scott knew better, but bats didn’t typically speak up about eye colors. Renheart patted the nervous wreck on the back. “Aye laddy, ye may just be thinkin’ of the red sky, don’tcha know? In comparison, they’d probably look more pink.”
That seemed to be a reasonable explanation for everyone but Avid. Scott nodded along, making Martyn laugh. “Hah! Even Bella-Louise thinks you’re crazy!”
Avid flushed. “W-well, she’s a vampire too!” Owen shook his head. “Or, hear me out, vampires don’t exist.” Avid pointed a dramatic finger towards him. “I’ll prove it! Eat this garlic!"
He held out a raw piece of garlic. Scott had the best idea he'd had in a while.
Flying forward, he scooped up the garlic in his claws and flew to Legundo, taking a nibble of the top. It tasted bad, sure, but he’d eaten entire banquets of garlic to make a point before. Really, the smell of it was the real deterrent.
Legundo raised an eyebrow with a chuckle. “Well, Avid, does that prove Bella-Loise isn’t a vampire?” Avid paused. “I! Uh…y-yeah! It does, actually! But…can I have some to prove Owen’s a vampire?”
Cleo sighed. “Don’t make us eat raw garlic because you’re going mad, Avid.”
Drift ushered Avid away after that, giving him a lesson on respecting others that Scott had a ball listening to. But more than that, it gave Scott some ideas. Some ideas for a devious scheme.
First, sadly, he had to attend a little hunting meeting, as the group wanted to check out one of the many beacons littering around the group. In the meantime, Scott started desecrating some of the beacons unaccounted for, and flying back before anyone got suspicious.
He always brought back a rat or something to make it look like he was just hunting. Pearl apparently found it very adorable.
Eventually though, he realized another excuse to wait out time until the night, after all, surely a nocturnal hunter would sleep during the day, right? So, he just rested in random trees, mostly in the village because beds were comfy, and while he didn’t need to sleep at all, it was still nice to rest his wings.
On occasion, he even flew back to the castle to transform back, and lie in his tomb. So long as he returned eventually, everyone chalked it up to him being a bat.
And then, night came once more. The blood moon rose, and while everyone ignored Avid screaming about vampires once again, Scott took notice of Pyro and Owen taking Shelby off for a fishing excursion. Curious.
Now, clearly, they were about to turn her. She was the only one without a roommate, so nobody would be looking for her until she’d be ready to be found, ie, as a vampire. However, Avid interjected, and insisted he came along.
Neither seemed particularly stubborn about stopping him, so that let Scott in on more information. Either they were going to turn him, or let him live.
Not only was he dangerous to everyone around him, and annoying, but he had also proven himself to be completely incompetent, so if they turned Shelby, and let him live, there truly was nothing he could do.
If they turned him, then the only vampire hunter would be on their side. A gambit, assuming he wouldn’t be too pissy about it, but one Scott suspected would likely pay off.
Buuut, who said Scott couldn’t take advantage of the situation either?
Flying onto Drift’s windowsill, the roommate of the currently missing, dead, or turned Avid, Scott made himself known with a squeak.
“Hm? Oh! Bella-Louise, I haven’t seen you in a bit!’ Another squeak. “O-oh, do you wanna…come in? Sure! You’re a really polite bat, you know?” Scott squeaked again, before diving under her covers. She followed, scratching his chest fur.
“Aw, you’re so fluffy! How can anyone say no to you?” They can’t, that’s how.
As it got later though, Drift fell tired, and joined the malicious mammal in bed, to which Scott perched himself atop her head. “Heh, sorry if I’m not as comfortable as Cleo or Pearl, by the way, though you’re so polite, I don’t think you’d tell me if I was uncomfortable to sleep on. I wish people were like you. Well, the people back home, anyway, n-not that I’m saying your owner’s mean or anything, I’m sure he taught you well, but-”
Drift stopped her stream of awkward compliments by laughing. “I’m glad you’re here, you know. It makes me feel better, just having a little, animal companion, I guess? Is that weird?” Scott nestled into her hair more. “Heh, you’re right. I should really stop overthinking stuff. I might end up like Avid.”
After another hour of rambling, Drift dozed off, and Scott gave a fanged grin. Avid wasn’t in sight, and Scott was hungry. He started slow, fluttering off Drift’s head, and bearing his fangs. Sinking them into her, she stirred a bit, but didn’t wake. Sucking more and more blood, she began to pale, but still didn’t wake up.
After thirty minutes, with blood leaking on the bed, she had been turned. Scott felt that connection grow a little stronger. And the best part, was that Drift wouldn’t know it at all. She’d feel hungry for meat, but that truly would be the only initial symptom. Perhaps the sun might scorn her, but it was never really out in the first place, what with all the clouds.
Scott returned to his place on her head. He was the crown, and she was the new noble of these creatures of the night. Even if she didn’t quite know that yet.
Drift was right, it seemed.
Scott too wished people were more like him. And with this clever little method, Scott felt his power grow even more. He was likely a level two vampire at this point, with how much hunting he’d been doing, almost a level three. And when that time came, the greatest part of all would be how nobody would ever know it.
The taste of garlic was long gone from his teeth, instead coated with blood. The night was young, and two, no, perhaps three, new vampires were now roaming. And the humans had no idea.
Sure, logically speaking, he had the power to reveal himself, and reign over the humans and vampires alike. Surely, if he waited any longer, he’d fail to gain respect from either.
Logically, this was the time to end this facade.
But on the other hand, who cared for logic when they had everyone pampering and complimenting them? Who would take fear over a different kind of worship? Who would give up this decadent life to live in a ruined castle with Avid?
Certainly not him.