As Eccarius approached his large not-so-humble abode he groaned in bitter frustration. The fact he was out during the day was enough of a struggle for him, let alone having to do what he had ordered of his faithful and dedicated followers to do himself instead. He was able to track Cassidy days ago when he first arrived back into New Orleans, but from the distance he stayed away from him, he was both surprised and disappointed that Lily was nowhere to be found.
Since the moment he'd first found her, he'd known how different she was. When he'd smelt the scent of another vampire on her, he was weary to do anything rash - worried for what kind of vampire would already have claimed his possession on this specimen that was Lily.
Eccarius believed that humans were merely just as what he had created Les Enfants Du Sang for - followers, servants - nothing but means to feed. The food chain, with a dark twist. Eccarius discovered long ago how different each feed on a human was, but the most powerful of his discoveries over the years was after he turned his first human.
The act of tasting another vampire's blood the first time was a simple accident, but what Eccarius had felt after that - the power, the strength, the abilities he never knew he possessed - it changed his entire existence forever. Unfortunately, each vampire would only suffice as a good amount of the amplified energy for a few weeks at most, making them just as disposable as an average human to him after so long.
The process of turning humans into vampires and draining them was getting old after many years. What Eccarius craved was infinite power - from something that would never deplete while providing the most potent source of the energy he desired. It was clear that Lily wasn't just human. She had unique properties about her - more complex than the average human - the scent wafting off of her was enough to make that clear. Eccarius was convinced she would be the one.
But when he'd first met Lily, her scent was laced with the smell of another vampire - and Eccarius was positive that he was the only one in New Orleans. He'd known none of the ones he'd created had gotten away, for he drained each and every one of them before burning them to ash. Afraid to start a war, Eccarius left Lily alone until he could meet the vampire he'd smelt on her the night he first found her. Though, when Eccarius met Cassidy it was clear the two of them were polar opposites, and when Eccarius discovered how basic Lily and Cassidy's relationship was, he realized that Cassidy was naive to the potential of what possessing Lily could hold. It was a waste - in Eccarius' eyes.
Eccarius knew that Cassidy was inferior compared to himself, but he was very unpredictable. Eccarius still knew very little of him and Lily, making it a hard operation to get his hands around her - and though a miserable and underwhelming drug addict, Cassidy still proved to be a strong force to be reckoned with.
With or without him around, however, it had been easy for Eccarius to get into Lily's head, manipulating her state of mind - proving that she was unsuspecting to her own potential and power. It made Eccarius' desire for her stronger, knowing just how easy it would be once he would have her alone. When they'd vanished a couple weeks ago, Eccarius had been very angry that he'd let the opportunity get away - unsure of just how many years he'd have to wait before discovering someone as unique as Lily had been.
But finally, he'd caught Cassidy's smell again. He knew Lily couldn't be far behind - this was his chance and he wouldn't let it get away again...
With a swift push, Eccarius opened the large door into the dark basement that was empty - where just three of his faithful followers waited intently. They perked up, seeing Lily lying unconscious in his arms, her limp body bouncing only slightly with every smooth stride Eccarius took.
"You fools." He spat, "I ask but of one thing from you. One thing." He barked, "And you instead make a larger mess than needed."
They all bowed in unison, their noses to the floor, "We're sorry, master." One of them whined, "We're sorry."
Eccarius turned his back to them, his mouth twisted as he struggled to maintain composure as he laid Lily down on a couch, leaning over her as she breathed shallowly. She would be out for a while longer.
Another one spoke from behind Eccarius, his voice laying flat to the floor he was leaned over to, "We thought the first one was her... beautiful girl, flowery name.."
The three of them flinched at once when there was a smash. Eccarius had thrown something across the large room, "Lily, not Tulip, you imbeciles!" He shouted. With a scoff, he began walking towards a shelf along the wall, taking off his cloak he'd had around him to shelter his skin from the sun, "How hard can it possibly be to simply remember a name." He hissed.
It was silent for a few moments, Eccarius rifled through some shelving, gathering various things as he spoke with his back still to his minions, "Be gone. All of you." He ordered. The three of them scurried out as if they had tails to tuck between their legs, each of them muttering apologies under their breath as they kept their eye contact away from Eccarius while they left the basement.
He turned, his arms full of a variety of things as he faced towards where Lily laid unconscious. Taking a deep breath, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips, "Alone at last."
When Lily finally gained consciousness she took a sharp breath in. Greeted by darkness once again, she was certain everything she'd imagined over the last day was a dream. Judging by how different it was whether her eyes were open or closed, she was convinced she was back in the pit in Angelville.
Each second, things got a little more clear in her head. If she was in the pit, she wouldn't be as comfortable. She wasn't lying on cold, damp concrete - it was cushioned... certainly not the pit. Still lying down, she moved her head, her eyes trying their best to adjust in the dark.
With a grunt, she adjusted herself slightly. Finally, her eyes caught something - there were candles, giving only a flicker of light where they were scattered across the room. It was a larger space, she discovered. The smell - it was familiar to her... and suddenly, she felt like she recognized where she was. She knew she'd been here before, but she wasn't able to put her finger on where exactly it was yet. After some more time, her eyes were able to capture faint shapes.
Taking another deep breath in, it instantly hit her.
Metallic and sour.
The realization came to her the same time as his voice spoke out to her, "Ahhh," Eccarius' velvety voice sang, "At last. You're awake." With her eyes trying to find where his voice came from, Lily raised a hand to her face, her head throbbing a good amount, "Eccarius." She groaned, realizing she was in the basement she'd visited once - though it had been full of people the last time she was here, full of much more life and light - well, candle light. Right now it was quiet and hardly lit with any candles.
Her mind started racing, the last thing she remembered was unlocking Tulip's car as she hardly had begun rifling through it...
"You are looking..." Eccarius stopped on his words, his mouth crooked as he examined her, "Just awful, really." He stated honestly. Finally, Lily was able to see the outline of Eccarius. He sat in a large wooden chair, shaped almost like a throne with a back that was much taller than himself as he sat in it, not too far from where she laid.
Suddenly, Tulip's disappearance was explained perfectly. With a deep breath, Lily adjusted herself more upright slightly, "Where is she?" Lily asked, "Where's Tulip?" She specified. Eccarius ignored her question entirely, and in the shadows that Lily watched as carefully as possible, she could see him raise a glass to his lips as he hummed, sipping from his cup as he slowly lowered it back down at the large arm rest at his side, "A little bird told me your vampire boyfriend is more of a druggie than he is a supportive partner, it seems."
"You want Cassidy?" Lily asked. With a choppy exhale, Lily shook her head, "Well, you're using the wrong kind of bait, Eccarius. He doesn't give a fuck about either of us - me or Tulip." Lily knew that wasn't true, but she went with it anyway, "If you had a mountain of drugs, maybe he'd be on his feet long enough to sniff them out, but even then, I doubt it. He's a fucking mess. Go see for yourself."
"Oh I have." Eccarius hissed. Lily felt herself freeze for a moment, not liking the tone of Eccarius' voice when he'd just said that. There was a creak as Eccarius leaned forward in his seat, a faint flicker of candle light capturing his face so Lily could finally catch a glimpse of him. His eyes were wide and he looked entirely pleased with himself, "I've been watching him very closely." He rasped quietly, "And you're right. He doesn't care. Which makes this entire process all the more enjoyable. Without any threat I had to previously consider."
Lily felt her head pound a little harder, closing her eyes as she massaged at them. Her heart picked up a pace, realizing the hole she'd just dug herself into by shit talking Cassidy, "You don't want Cassidy." She stated out loud.
"No." Eccarius sang, a smile across his lips, "I don't want Cassidy." There was another creaking sound as Eccarius sat upright in his throne-like chair once again. Moving her hands from her eyes, Lily looked up, her head still slumped over, "Then what do you want from me and Tulip?" She asked flatly.
It seemed Lily striked some sort of nerve, "It's not Tulip." Eccarius spat bitterly, raising his cup to his mouth again as he took a big gulp of what Lily could only assume to be the one thing she ever saw Eccarius drinking - blood, "That was a mistake." He hissed, "It's like the saying, if you want something done right - do it yourself. Hmph." He scoffed.
Lily tilted her head, not sure what he meant, "Alright..." She dragged, "Then what do you want from me, Eccarius?" Lily asked. The sound of Eccarius gulping filled the large empty room, his glass moving from his mouth back to the armrest again as he exhaled as if he'd just quenched a deep, twisted kind of thirst, "It's not what I want from you, Lily." He paused, and Lily found herself moving her head slightly wondering if he was ever going to continue. "Rather what I can give to you. To us." He finally said.
With her brow crinkling, Lily looked towards where Eccarius sat. The unusual way he spoke was cryptic enough already, asking him direct questions and getting vague answers back just made things all the more confusing.
Eccarius smiled, "We've got a lot to get ready for. Time is of the essence, and I simply can't wait any longer." He declared in a sing-songy manner. With another groan, Lily shook her head, ensuring her tone had a bit of a bite to it, "I don't know what it is you're going on about, Eccarius, but I'm not doing anything for you until I know Tulip is safe." Once again, Eccarius ignored her, so she spoke again, demanding an answer, "If you don't want anything from her, then just let Tulip go." She ordered.
Eccarius turned his head, "And risk any other potential threats to arise from her freedom?" He shook his head and let out a feeble laugh, "I don't think so."
"So she's alive?" Lily asked, "She's here?"
"Perhaps, if things go smoothly, we'll set her free after.." Eccarius sighed.
Lily's patience was wearing thin, "After what?" She raised her voice slightly to show just how impatient she was getting.
"Don't act up on me, now." Eccarius sang.
Lily scoffed, unable to remain calm, "I don't have time for your theatrics, you prick." She spat, speaking at a much faster paced speed, laced with the sign of short temper, "Since we last saw each other I had a serious fuckery of a family reunion. And not a family reunion where your grandmother knits you a sweater and bakes your favorite pecan pie, either." Lily huffed, "A family reunion where my wicked grandmother fucking cursed me." She dragged, "If I'm not back where I said I would be, she can kill me with a simple twist of a dirty napkin."
A bit more than intrigued, Eccarius listened intently, sitting still in his chair as Lily rolled her eyes, her face unimpressed, "So I'll give you a straight answer unlike the ones you're givin' me right now, dickhead. I'll be dead soon. I'm useless to you."
Eccarius believed her. He didn't have a doubt in her words, "This curse..." He started, "Tell me about it." With a grunt of frustration, Lily swung her head and shifted her weight, struggling to remain as calm as possible, "Jesus fucking Christ." She swore.
"Tell me." Eccarius demanded from his chair.
Lily raised her hand with her scar on the palm, "A bloody kind of curse." With another scoff of annoyance, she dropped her hand, "I don't know, Eccarius, all I know is she has full control over me. Any minute now, she'll kill me." Lily knew she had several hours left before her Angelville curfew, but Eccarius didn't have to know that. Maybe this curse would work in her favor, if Eccarius believed Lily would be dead soon, anyways.
Eccarius was more than curious, "Bloody?" He repeated her descriptive word, his eyes still locked onto her scar on her palm she'd shown. With a deep sigh, Lily ran her hand through her hair, "Yep." Her lips popped and her patience wore thin towards the last of what she had of it.
"Well, that's utterly perfect news." Eccarius sang, his mouth in a wide grin, "If the curse is tied to your blood, then when you are changed a-new, it will get reverse of this awful imprecation that has but tied you down." He said, "It seems I am saving you in more ways than initially intended."
Eccarius' words rang in Lily's head as she struggled to translate his confusing way of talking.
"Changed... a-new?" Lily repeated slowly, her eyes squinting slightly, "What did you-"
"Lily, don't you see?" Eccarius interrupted her, standing up for the first time off of the large throne-like chair as he stepped slowly towards her. His cape around his shoulders followed each smooth stride he took her way, balancing the cup in his one hand.
Not into the idea of his approaching, Lily adjusted herself to have quicker access to jump on her feet, but as she moved forward slightly in the spot she sat in, she felt a tug on her arm. Her eyes looked down to her forearm. It was still so dark, she couldn't make out what was on it at first. Slowly, she turned her arm to hit any faint bit of candle light it could. At the same time, she used her other hand to grab it. It was tape. Something was taped on her arm.
In the back of her mind, she heard Eccarius' steps drawing closer towards her, but her mind was too preoccupied by trying to process the new discovery of what was attached to her. Her eyes dragged slowly from the tape on her arm, noticing a thin strip in the air, taking far too long to realize it was a tube. Until Lily touched it, she wasn't sure. Slowly, her eyes moved, following the tube connected as it disappeared into the dark corner where no candle light hit. Her hand trembled slightly, and she felt her head begin to spin as she grabbed the tube, tugging at it once as a thin, metallic stand fell from the dark corner onto Lily's side.
Lily's eyes followed the stand as it fell, the rest of her body not moving as she saw the blood bag that was connected to her fall off the stand and hit the ground with a distinct and shallow flop to the ground, still attached by the needle and tube stuck into her arm.
With her eyes glued to the bag of her own blood on the ground, she felt her head spinning more and more out of control. It was hard to resist the urge to pass out, but she managed. Suddenly, she was even more disgusted by the blood presumably in Eccarius' cup.
Finally, she was able to grab a grip mentally. In a quick motion she used her other hand to rip out the needle in her arm, throwing it to the ground by the bag of her blood, a cold chill going through her entire body. While she stared at the bag, tube and needle now laying on the ground, she noticed that Eccarius' steps had stopped and his shoes were now in her sight. Reluctantly, she dragged her eyes upwards to him - very carefully.
He'd stopped just before her and she stared up at him. There was a smile across his lips, a look of distinct satisfaction and pride, "I'm doing for you what your pathetic excuse of a life partner Cassidy could not bring himself to do." His tone was soft, velvety and sweet, but Lily's stomach was turning more with each word. A sour taste in her mouth made her lips twist with bitter hatred. The candle light flickers and caught the wild look in his eyes as Lily narrowed hers up at him. Turning her head slightly one way, she ensured her voice was as serious as she could make it, "That is not happening." Lily stated.
He was silent, and so was she. The look on his face was pure content, his chest was puffed out with satisfaction of success - as if he'd already won. Lily could see every inch of his ego bursting out the seams of his awful, cliche apparel. She shifted her glance just slightly to Eccarius' golden goblet in his hand - an ornate and antique-like glass that he drank blood out of - her blood, she assumed. She shifted her eyes back up to his. It stayed quiet and still for too long, when suddenly, Lily knew it was time for her to fight. Before she could stand up on her feet, she felt the tension. First it was distance ringing in her ears, slowly growing louder. Then as it got at its peak of volume, it was like a physical pain in her head. The awful, pressure building up as Eccarius' eyes burned into hers.
"Relax." He ordered.
She'd felt this before. The times she'd been around him. She'd lost track of time, she'd talked more than what she wanted to, she felt nervous for no good reason...
There had been a reason, all along. She just hadn't noticed it. But now, she was much more aware. She knew when someone or something was trying to get into her. If the Hell experience of Angelville taught her one thing - it was that.
She knew if she gave in that the ringing would stop, the pain would stop - but then he'd be in. Just as he had before, and just as her grandmother had the once when she first got into Angelville. But she proved she was able to resist her grandmother. She could resist Eccarius, too.
Immediately, Eccarius felt her resistance, something that was new to him. After the couple of times he'd met Lily she had been an easy target to manipulate with this amplified vampire powers. This was the first time he'd experienced anything of a struggle. Normally, it was an open door to her mind, but that door had seemed to shut since their last encounter.
Eccarius was surprised when Lily stood up on her feet, able to resist Eccarius' attempts to put her into a relaxed mental state as he had before.
Eccarius spoke between his teeth, his eyes narrowing as he glared at her, "Don't misbehave, Lily. I really want this to be as pleasant of a transition as possible." He hissed.
Lily felt her brows narrow as her blood boiled to the peaking point. She was going to kick his ass. When Lily swung for a punch, Eccarius had seemed to vanish completely, causing her to lose balance when her swing didn't land on anything. She turned, not seeing him anywhere in the dark basement. From behind her, she hadn't noticed he'd appeared again, seemingly from thin air, his voice catching her completely off guard.
"I didn't want to do this." He hissed while Lily turned around to face him again, "But you leave me no choice." He could see the fury in Lily's face as she went for another punch, Eccarius easily avoiding every attempt Lily took to land anything onto him.
Eccarius may not have been able to overtake her mentally, but the physical power was still on his side. Not long after a few swings at him, he grabbed Lily's fist, stopping her in place as he quickly shoved her to the concrete ground. Things were happening too quickly for Lily to properly process - Eccarius' reaction rate was far superior to Lily's. With the wind knocked out of her, she laid on the ground, groaning as she struggled to get up as fast as possible.
In the blink of an eye, she felt a shove. Suddenly, she was in the large wooden, throne-like chair that Eccarius had sat in just before. As she fought to stand back up, she noticed that there were already restraints tied around her wrists and ankles, all done in lightning speed as Eccarius moved faster than Lily's eyes could see, even if it wasn't as dark as it was.
She let out a frustrated cry, her teeth bared as she shook against the restraints. Lily stopped shortly after, her head hanging in bitter defeat as she felt her mouth twist, her stomach turning as she began to feel nauseous, "Eccarius," She moaned, "There's billions of people in this world... why would you go out of your way to force me? Especially when there's an entire cult of brainwashed zombies who'd more than likely do it willingly?" Lily had seen a glimpse into Eccarius' life - a large following of people, dressed tackily, want-to-be vampire attendees who dressed as cliche as imaginable.
Eccarius smiled, entertained by her naiveness, his golden goblet of blood still in his hand as he seemed unphased by Lily's feeble attempts to fight against him, "You're nothing like them, Lily." Once again, he raised the goblet to his mouth, taking a sip of her blood he'd syphoned out of her with an exhale of pleasure, "Not even you realize that." He added.
With a choppy exhale, Lily yanked on her wrists that were tied to the arms of the chair - unable to hardly move them, let alone devise a plan out of the situation. She was beginning to feel more helpless by the second. "Mmm." Eccarius moaned, finishing off the remainder of blood in his cup, "There's something so different drinking directly from the source." He sang, bending over to grab the blood bag that had fallen to the ground, "But I'm afraid even after the many years of experience, I struggle to restrain myself from going too far." He ripped the top of the blood bag open with his mouth, pouring what was inside of it into his goblet as a top up.
Lily felt her stomach turn into a tighter knot, the disturbance inside of her showing on the outside as she struggled to resist from vomiting. The candle light flickered barely enough for Lily to keep an eye on Eccarius as he stepped towards her again, the blood bag was emptied but he'd taken it upon himself to open it up entirely and lick it clean - to be sure nothing went to waste. With a moan of satisfaction, Eccarius exhaled. With every sound he made, Lily felt herself grow both sicker and more scared.
"It will surely be my hardest endeavor not to drain you completely when I transform you into a superior version." Eccarius declared proudly.
Using every ounce of courage left in her, Lily looked up to Eccarius, "Get the fuck away from me." She warned.
Her resistance only encouraged Eccarius. Maybe it was the constant abundance of people begging him to do it that he'd grown sick of that routine. Something about this new idea he'd come up with to use Lily as a means of power was both intriguing and exciting to him. Not to mention the satisfaction of knowing he'd pried her from the hands of another vamp. Leaning over, Eccarius reached his hand towards Lily's throat.
When Eccarius laid his hand on her, she knew it was an opportunity. She'd done it before, not many times, but she knew she was capable of more than she understood. If she could make him sleep like she had with TC and Cassidy, it may be her last and only chance to get out of this mess. Once she felt his cold against her skin, she didn't spare another second.
It felt like Lily was running a thousand miles an hour when she ran into a thick door, bursting through it as it ripped off it's hinges, falling down with a deafening boom as she rushed into Eccarius' mind.
It was a quick flash - she saw Eccarius' followers - Les Enfants Du Sang as he titled them - watching as he changed one follower into a vampire. The crowd around him cheered, falling to his feet with eager hope that one day that person he'd just sunk his teeth into would too be them. But once the audience was gone, Eccarius would drain the vampire he'd just created, letting his cult believe they'd gone onwards to other things.
He was a mass murderer, changing humans to vampires only to drain them once they've been changed. He gained more power. He had unique properties and abilities that Lily wasn't even aware was possible.
Desperately, Lily wanted to know what Eccarius had done with Tulip, trying to direct herself in the chaos of Eccarius' mind until she was able to see. Eventually, she found it. She could feel Eccarius resisting her, trying to push her back out the door she'd busted down to get inside his mind, but she stayed strong enough to venture deeper into him. She saw. Eccarius had Tulip in the house - upstairs in a study room, under a carpet there was an entrance to where he'd placed Tulip.
The resistance was getting stronger, but so was Lily as she began searching for anything else. Suddenly, she was able to see herself - trapped in Eccarius' basement. Held captive like a slave to him. This moment was happening now, except Lily could see a different perspective, from Eccarius' mind. Eccarius was getting stronger with each drop of Lily's blood that Eccarius was consuming. Lily could see that now. Once she was changed into a vampire, Eccarius assumed her blood would only get stronger. If an average human would provide ample power when changed to a vampire, Eccarius could only imagine what Lily's would be like. He wasn't going to kill her, he was going to keep her captive for an eternity as a power source. And once he was full of power from her, there was no saving her...
She made eye contact with Eccarius, "Sleep." She said. But nothing happened. "Sleep!" She tried again, desperate for her attempts to work, "SLEEP!" She yelled.
It proved to not work, and soon after, Lily lost control.
In a powerful shift, Lily was pulled out of Eccarius' mind. What she'd seen at the end, had it been Eccarius' intentions or had it been a vision of the possible future? She wasn't sure, but either or, it wasn't good. What Lily and Cassidy had initially thought of Eccarius was entirely wrong. He was much more dangerous than he made himself out to be. Luckily, Eccarius was as alarmed as Lily was in the moment.
Eccarius staggered back, his cup of Lily's blood dropping to the floor with a loud clang sound as it bounced off the ground, spilling all of the blood that was being held inside of it.
His red eyes were wide and his face wasn't hiding the amount of shock he felt. "How-" He stuttered, "How did you-"
"You're wrong about me." Lily growled defensively, "I do realize that I'm nothing like them. Don't make me prove that point even further, cause I can blow your head off in an instant with one proper move." She bluffed. With her eyes glued onto him, she made sure not to blink, waiting to see if he dared try anything else. If he believed her bluff or whether he'd call bullshit on her last defense.
With her heart racing, Lily watched as Eccarius stood more upright on his feet, his face moving from the shocked state to one that was more hardened and full of threat. Before Lily could process it, he was gone. A brief moment after, Lily gasped, suddenly worried when she felt a sharp sting in her neck - but it was too subtle to be Eccarius' teeth. He was behind her, his mouth against her ear as he hissed quietly, "But you are still human, subjecting you to average weaknesses such as basic anesthetic. I proved that fact earlier." He growled, referring to what he'd done to knock her out when he'd first collected her not long before.
Lily felt her mind and body slow drastically, her mouth hanging open as the syringe stuck inside her emptied quickly into her neck. "You... sonnnova... bitch..." She dragged. As she slowly slipped into a sleep, she wondered just how many times a person could be put unconscious before one day they wouldn't wake up again.
