Chapter 3: Of Arguments and Pasts - [1st - 14th April, 2013]
Summary:
In which the Pack meets the villian and not everyone thinks he's cute.
Chapter Text
Chapter 3 - Of Arguments and pasts; [1st - 14th April 2012]
The grey clouds above and the wet, slippery pavement below was evidence of a rainy day. The bleak, gray-hued sky -or at least what it looked like- hung above him as though to make mockery of him.
Men and women alike strode along the sidewalk with their umbrellas in hand to hinder the falling rain and all he had was his old, upbeat and rickety Dodge Charger which had been his father's first car and apparently, all he was entitled to.
He pulled into the alley to park his car behind the building complex and opened his umbrella to shield himself from the
downpour, walking past a Café's front entrance and unlocking the side door. He went up a flight of stairs and to his
left, he came upon another door at the end of the hallway. He looked down at a slip of paper in his hand and up again at the door. "Room 87," He muttered solemnly, a part of him still finding it hard to believe that this was going to be his home for the next... Well, forever.
The key opened the door -a part of him had expected it not to because well why the hell not? Everything else was shite so far anyway- and he peered inside. It was small, about the size of a regular bedroom, and was just big enough to fit a bed and a desk with little room for anything else.
There were several windows overlooking the streets below. It would take some time to get used to, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, all things considered. Tony, his best friend and partner in crime had given him the key to the apartment and said that it belonged to his dead uncle but no one ever used it so there was that and he had had reservations.
Essentially, he would love to blame his parents for the shit he got himself into and yes, admittedly, having a relationship with their answering machines and lawyers did push him close to insanity and the stupid idea that if he did something drastic, then they would take time off their busy schedules and come home even for a day.
They hadn't. No, of course not. They had just sent the lawyer to tell him that his funds were cut off and he was not getting financial support of any kind. Apparently, dealing drugs at age 17 can earn you a few things. Like broken bones, a gun to your head, bloodied lips and yes, the rocker! Being disowned by your parents. His life really was perfect.
Actually, the view was really nice. He thought to himself when he pulled from his self pitying mental haze and realized he had somehow made his way to the window and was staring at the view before him.
Later that night, he laid awake to the sound of the pouring rain, which made him feel at peace -strangely-. The sound the rain emitted made it seem as though there were no tomorrow and time was standing still just for him as all he did in that moment was to stare out the window at the bright, luminescent moon, cradled between the numerous stars dotted across the vast grey sky as far as the eye could see, and wished that the night would never end.
But it did.
He woke up to the chirping of birds and the streets already bustling with early morning commuters. It was a sunday
and the rain continued to fall. It took a lot more courage to finally make his way out of his room and into the café below for a warm breakfast meal.
The rains had come down on and off over the next few days and really, he had no complaints whatsoever about that. It's not like he had any friends in the new neighborhood and he enjoyed to a great extent, the fact that he was hidden away from the men he owed money to.
He still wasn't sure if he would ever pay them the money he owed them but he was sure he needed a job so he had spent the next few months searching for a job and he got a job, working at the small market right down the street, selling navel oranges and other assorted fruits.
The job helped him understand work ethics, discipline and hard labor in a way years of schooling never did and it was also a great character builder and kept him from vandalizing as a means of occupying his time like he did back in high school. The move from Sunderland, a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, to Washington DC. was a huge one and he started to realize the minute changes that were happening inside and quite honestly, he liked it.
Friday nights were his exception to the rule days. He needed an outlet. No he wasn't sure what exactly he had been letting out as his job barely had any added stress.
It was on one of those times that me met Godric. He was hot. That was a summary because the young man had been all sorts of beautiful and sinful in the way that had you undressing him mentally and laughing out loud at everything he said while your body rubbed against his as though yearning for a touch only he can give and yes. He had. Oh dear he had but sadly, the night had ended and not wanting to come off as desperate, he just said a simple goodbye and went on his way, arms tucked in his pockets as he staggered down the wet streets to his place.
He wasn't much of a boastful person but he did have his charms and occassionally, he indulged in his vanities. He was tall of about 6"1, large blue eyes, dirty blond hair that curled at the top and straightened at the back which he mostly kept at 2 inches and trimmed neat, and a relatively fit body for a guy his age and perhaps Godric had realized that because later that night, while he laid wide awake and uneasy about sleep in his room alone, the rain outside pounding harder than a hammer on the streets outside and soon, as usual, his mouth became dry and he slowly got out of his bed to get a drink from the bathroom faucet.
He turned the nozzle, but nothing came out of the faucet. With a huge sigh, he made his way to the small table-top fridge he had bought a few days prior. He did not feel like drinking chilled water, mostly because the weather was too cold and he was feeling quite cold already without the added props but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a knock at the door.
To a bystander or onlooker, the reaction was a little exaggerated but it was a perfectly normal one considering he didn't have a single friend in town but reluctantly, he made his way to the door, pulling it open just as slowly as his jaw droped open.
The last thing he remembered when he finally came to some oh three million years later, was Godric's angelic face, the flashing in his eyes that he had thought were from the reflection of the fluorescents in the hall, and his gorgeous smile and sinful body.
Of course he realized soon enough that he hadn't been off for a century and yes, his body felt changed. Up until that moment, he had been a virgin but he was pretty sure he wasn't anymore but he had no memory of what had actually happened. The silly teenager part of his brain was ecstatic that he had finally got with someone. Someone who looked like god and the devil wrapped in a manly body.
But that was when he saw the note. It had read simply; I'm sorry about last night. It should not have happened. I lost control sometime after the third round and I just wish you luck. You're going to need it.
And boy had he. It took a total of ten murders and intense cravings to finally escape Washington. He was seventeen and on the run. Away from the cops and wanted for the murder of ten innocent people -and counting.
It has been a whole year since then. Of course he had more knowledge about himself. What he was, what he ate, how he survived and just basically everything except how to stop craving blood.
So the body piled up after him. He zoomed through a state and left a trail of bodies behind, elusive and revelling in his immortality while a dorminant part of him felt guilt even as he drained those people senseless then healed their wounds with his blood.
He didn't know why. California was supposed to be a short trip. Raid a few hospitals, find a few bad people and drain to minimize the amount of guilt but something kept drawing him to Beacon Hills and the night he found himself there, 379 nights after he was turned, he understood why.
Now, standing at the door of Lydia's lakehouse, the only survivor of his draining sessions, he was terrified for the first time in a whole year. Terrified of what he would see, of what laid ahead... Funny, he never thought about the future.
Lydia had paused at the doorway, her hand on the knob when she realized the boy behind him was zoned out. She could have gone ahead of him to secure him safety but she didn't quite trust that any of the others weren't waiting out there and ready to pounce on the unsuspecting boy. Taking a deep breath and letting it out after what felt like three centuries later, she reached behind her and pulled Walter by the hand, smiling in a way she hoped was reassuring and the boy just nodded in a way that could only be interpretted as "what's the worst that could happen?"
She pushed the door of the house open and stepped in, pulling Walter up behind her. When she looked up, it was to find the whole pack standing, some in a pose that said they were aloof but that was obviously just a façade to fool the poor boy. Isaac was the only one sitting, his ankle placed on the knee of his other leg and Lydia's heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest as though she had done something unthinkable -which technically, she had, but who's checking?-
Swallowing loudly, she moved Walter from behind her so they were standing shoulder to shoulder. Well, shoulder to arm because that guy was tall. "Hey guys... This is Walter." She managed after a while when no one said anything. Not even Stiles.
Isaac remained in his seat, frozen in place just like the rest of the pack. There was that dilemma of whether Lydia conned the guy there so they can beat the shit out of him or whether she brought him there really, to introduce them. One way to find out.
With a small smile playing across his lips, he jumped up from his seat in one sudden movement and strode lazily across the room to the pair, not needing to see the looks on the faces of the others to know their horror. When he got close enough, he stretched out his arm.
"Took you two long enough to get here. I'm Isaac."
Taken aback -hell, at this point, everyone in the room was taken aback- Walter reached out to take Isaac's offered hand, his smile freezing in the next instant when he felt a very firm fist connecting smack in the middle of his face. "Okay... I saw that one coming." He muttered, blinking the room back into focus.
"Oh? Did you see this-" The next one connected with the vampire's jaw. "- one coming?" Isaac asked with a freakishly friendly smirk as he flexed his knuckles. Punching the guy was just like punching through the walls of a millitary fort used for slave trade. Not that he would know but this hurt like hell.
"I'm guessing the first one was because of what I did to Scott and the second was for Lydia." Walter managed, rubbing his jaw.
Before Isaac could take another swing at the boy, Lydia pulled him back with surprising strength and stepped between them.
{ookay I got my answer.} Isaac thought, not sure he wanted to be part of the drama that was about to unfold.
"Are you insane?!" That was Parrish from the back of the room and suddenly, there was too much talking and too much noise and Isaac looked only to the person he cared for most. Scott wasn't speaking. He didn't look as mad as Parrish or as shocked and outraged as the rest but he wasn't speaking. He wasn't moving either and that alone was cause for worry.
Later, perhaps, he would ask how in the world the guy seemed to be familiar with the whole pack but in that moment, getting to Scott and wrapping his arms around him was the top of his scale of preference.
He was feeling a lot of things. He was feeling too many things. On one hand was the worry and deep love he felt for Lydia and on the other was the fact that she had lied to him and was now taking the side of the guy who had wanted to kill her! Jordan was outraged.
He had laid off the desire to maim the guy during the weeks that followed her waking up but for her to actually...
"I know what you're thinking. I've been thinking it too." Lydia says after a while when the overlapping voices subdued.
"Oh you have? Because it doesn't seem like it." Parrish was having none of this. He felt like his head was splitting open right down his forehead.
"Walter is a good person who just made a mistake." She argued.
"How many of these mistakes has he made already and how many more do you think he's going to make? I, for one, can take care of myself but I'm not about to lose the important people in my life just because of your chickstincts!" Peter managed to say that as calmly as he could, reaching for a still Stiles and pulling him along as he made his way out of the back door, Derek giving her a small smile before he followed after them.
Lydia was crestfallen but she still didn't let go of the vampire's hand. She looked around the room to find Scott. He was the only one she trusted to calm the rest of the pack down and she felt deflated when she realized he was absent. Along with Isaac.
"I think it's better if I go." Walter muttered from beside her and with a sigh, she nodded, shaking her head at the rest of the people in the room before dragging the boy back out with her.
"I'm sorry about this. For what it's worth, I did tell you it was a terrible idea." Walter managed with a smile. Honestly, he had expected a far worse reation than he had gotten.
"Oh no, mister. You're not going out of town. I'm not ready to give up on you yet."
"See that's the thing. You don't even know me."
"I know enough. A person's past doesn't determine whether or not there is some goodness left in them. Peter should know that better than anyone." Lydia muttered the last part.
"Be honest, you agree with what he said. I've killed people, Lydia. Hundreds, I'm sure. I stopped counting a while back but I don't have any control whatsoever and I can't be trusted with anything. You can't trust me. My nature doesn't allow that."
"I already told you I'm not giving up on you and i'm gonna help. Just promise me you won't leave town. Not yet anyway."
"I can't do that." Walter muttered in a way that made Lydia's brows furrow consciously.
"When did you last feed?"
"Uhh... A week ago...? Now you understand why I need to get out of town?"
"So that what, you can gulp down some innocent girl's blood and kill her? This is more reason for you to stay. Meet me later tonight at the animal clinic, alright? I'm going to shower and get there soon."
"Human blood-"
"Is nicer, I know. But in this town, animal blood is all you're going to get. And maybe bloodbags so you better start getting used to that."
Walter chuckled, shaking his head. "A female friend. I never thought me the type to have one of those."
"First, we're not handbags and yes, I'm offended."
"-Sorry."
"-Shush! Second, this coming from a guy who had *one* drug dealing buddy all his life... Is not flattering at all. Go on. I'll meet you in an hour."
"You're gonna be okay?"
"Oh please don't be ridiculous. I have a pack. Worry about yourself." She chuckled, waving when the teen vampire zoomed off. She looked back at the door then moved to her car. She could face off the rest but she had no strength to fight with Jordan at the moment so choosing what others might call the cowardly way, she got into her car and drove back to town.
Scott and Isaac sat silently on the deck, each pretending not to have eavesdropped on the conversation that had happened.
"You do know that-" Isaac started to saw after a while.
"I know. The bigger picture." Scott sighed, rubbing his palms over his face. "Have I told you how much I hate being the reasonable one sometimes?"
"Mm.. I don't think so. I would have remembered." Isaac replied dryly.
"She's gonna keep seeing him, you know that. Everyone who heard that knows that. Peter is also right. What if Stiles gets hurt? And Mason? Or the rest of us. He's dangerous. For everyone. Whether it's here in Beacon Hills or out there."
"mhm."
"But I won't sleep if I see on the news that someone has been murdered. We would all be at fault and maybe then, he won't be ready and open to the idea of help."
"That's right." Isaac agreed.
"So maybe we'll keep the humans away from him."
"Yeah for how long?"
"For as long as it takes. We teach him to have some control because Lydia can't do that on her own."
"Besides I'll love a chance to punch him a few times." Derek chipped in from the shadows, never quite showing himself. He had stayed behind while Peter took Stiles home to the loft.
Scott shook his head in the general direction of the man.
"I would definitely love that too." Cora added, joining them.
"Oh hell yeah!" Liam chipped in.
"Guys..." Scott tried to sound somber but he liked the idea too much. He was starting to get the beginning of a memory of the alpha twins beating him shitless to teach him control. Oh that ought to have been fun.
"I'm guessing by the evil grin on your face that that plan has your seal of approval?" Malia asked.
"Oh hell yeah!" Scott esclaimed, jumping up to stretch his muscles out. "Looks like we have a vet to s- where's Parrish?"
"He left a while back. Pissed didn't quite cut it but I don't blame him. This is stupid and well, it's Lydia... Choosing to be with tho same guy who almost killed her just a month ago." Liam chipped in, the others nodding solemnly.
"I do hope he understands our decision."
"Yeah I hope Peter does. Chances are, I'm going to get the silent treatment for a long time." Derek sighed.
"No one needs to know that." Malia muttered, Isaac's head snapping sharply towards her.
"Speak for yourself. Or don't speak at all."
Scott cleared his throat noisily.
"Alright fine. Let's find Deaton."
Two weeks. That was how long it has been since the pack had told Walter he was going to be trained for a while to test if he was a lost case or if he was salvageable.
That was how long it had been since Jordan last spoke to Lydia. She was devastated but everytime she tried speaking to him, "something" came up. It was work, or something else and yes she knew what he was doing and she didn't quite like it. No. Not in the slightest and feeling torn was not pleasing at all.
She wanted to do the typical girl thing and be mad too but somehow, she knew that would only make matters worse and in spite of her literally continuously throwing herself at him, she knew -or at least her instincts did- that whatever was going on with her boyfriend, had a lot more to do with other stuff and not just what had happened with the pack and her introducing the vampire to them.
That was a valid reason, and although a part of her wanted Jordan to speak to her, another part of her thought that the next time he did, it would be to end things with her and she dreaded it.
Although it never came up, they never proclaimed their love for each other. No. It was the silent kind of loving and the occassional "I love you but sometimes you can be..." phrase.
It was almost a year since they had officially gotten together and was officially her longest relationship. It most definitely was not something she was okay with losing.
The anxiety was killing her.
Jordan had no idea why it hit him the way it did and for a while, he stayed up long hours trying to figure out just why, for some reason, that little incident affected him more than it should.
He wasn't even angry at the vampire anymore. Hell, he was in support of Scott's idea to help the kid but for some reason, he could not bring himself to stop being angry at Lydia. It went beyond her lying to him and after a week, when he had gotten nowhere with his theories, he decided on one final and equally drastic measure to find out just why.
Hypnosis.
For Isaac, the absense of Stiles is their normal circle for most of the time except during school hours meant that he was bored most of the time. With no one to pick on and Scott being busy devising strategies with Derek, he was left with reading. Around him, everything else seemed to be falling apart.
As substitute, he found his torture pet in the vampire, who seems to be well prepared for anything considering he never cracked no matter how much pressure the true alpha and former alpha put on him.
"Hey Walter, don't you just wanna split a vein open and..."
"Isaac!" Derek bellowed from across the room, Isaac only shrugging. His posture showed nothing of remorse.
"I'm just exposing him to the real world. You can't call it training if you're keeping him sheltered from the real world. He needs to be tempted. Come on, tell me about feeding. How does it feel?" He directed at the boy.
"It feels like eating pizza after a very long day of craving it." Walter replied, shrugging when he slumped into the couch beside Isaac.
"So pizza was your favorite?"
"Yeah and adderall. At some point I took warfarin, methotrexate, cortisone, trypthophan and prozac. I kinda lost count over the years and I was on them at different times and no, my doctor didn't prescribe them. I got them from dealers and after a while, I started dealing myself."
Okay, that got Scott's attention. His brows were furrowed as he turned to Derek, the other guy looking on passively.
"From the look on your face, I'm guessing those drugs aren't good?" Derek muttered, arms crossed across his broad chest, both standing a safe distance from where Isaac sat with Walter. Not that it made much of a difference. Both Isaac and Walter could hear them.
"Not good?" The alpha hissed. "Overtaking... Not overdosing. Overtaking these drugs could kill you. At least I know no one in their right mind would take cortisone continuously for two weeks."
"No wonder you look like shit." Isaac cut in quickly. Of course he had heard Scott's words and he would bet anything that Walter had too.
"Most people think i'm hot." The vampire replied easily, falling back in the couch and almost purring lazily when he curled onto his side.
"Most people are stupid." The blonde wolf muttered, hating the fond tone that crept into his words.
"And for what it's worth, I *do* miss feeding. There's something satisfying about draining a pulse while you feel someone's pulse weaken through your palms. And when it slows, there's the battle where your human side wants to keep the person alive, screams how wrong this is but your new self craves it till it overpowers you. I suppose I do understand older vamps now. After a while of arguing with yourself -and losing- you just stop altogether." The other teen whispered, a dreamy feel to his words.
"Walter-"
"I know. I won't feed on humans. Not anymore. It won't be called a sacrifice if it doesn't hurt like crap and besides, I made a committment to Lydia and I intend to follow through with it."
