Eugene

Eugene wanted to raise the stake, to charge the man who had haunted his every movement for years now. But no matter how hard he tried, something was stopping him, he couldn't even raise his hand. A force was gripping his wrist, tightly enough he was sure it would leave a mark.

There was a gentle breeze next to his ear, before he heard Harvey whisper. "Stop it. We should be careful. Open your eyes. There's lives at risk here.". Even though he couldn't see Harvey right now, he could tell what he was hinting at.

The tunnel vision that had been clouding his mind since he entered the room vanished, and he finally took in the surrounding area. Vitus was at the centre of it all, because of course he was, but there were five other people surrounding him.

And in the corner of the room, were Anna's two friends. Bound up in silver chains to stop Mia from using her fae magic, and Noah from transforming into a werewolf. The silver seemed to be affecting Noah more than anything, gnarly raw red wounds appeared whether the chains touched. Silver was, naturally, a werewolf's biggest weakness.

They were being held at knife point by a female vampire, who looked as if she'd rather be anywhere else but here. Eugene could relate to the sentiment. He had to stick to the plan, and not be swayed so much by his emotions. Something he always struggled with, but Harvey was right. Lives were at risk. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

Noah looked up, face dripping with sweat as he glared at Eugene. He made to lunge forward but was quickly yanked back by the woman. "It's you." Noah hissed, "I knew you were involved in all this crap!". Eugene ignored him, it wasn't his problem that Noah couldn't see what was really happening here.

Vitus sighed, waving a hand to the woman who held them captive. "Do keep them quiet, would you? I have more important things to deal with right now.". The vampire nodded obediently, shoving the knife underneath Noah's chin. Vitus nodded, with a smile.

"Now, shall we move on with it? Go treat our guests." Vitus announced with a nod. In a blur of motion they were surrounded by a group of vampires that had melted from the shadows. Thankfully there were only three of them, one for each person.

Eugene quickly stepped back, narrowly avoiding being decapitated by the knife of the vampire who had decided to go for him. The vampire was only young, recently turned most likely. With a burning fury in his eyes, that only the lack of blood could give a vampire.

Eugene sympathised with him, for only a moment, before he reached out for the boys hand, snapping it backward and forcing him to drop the knife. Swiftly, he picked up the knife from the floor, and stabbed it into the boys neck, leaving him on the floor to struggle.

He turned to face Cassius, the man looked perfectly fine. Not a hair out of place, standing above the bodies of the other two vampires. God knows where Harvey went, he was a capable witch though. Whatever he had planned, Eugene was sure he would be fine.

Vitus made himself present again with a dramatic cough. "How dull, I thought that would have been a lot more fun," he said, with a dispassionate look towards the bodies of his underlings. He didn't care about any of them, they were nothing more than pawns on a chess table. Easy to use, easy to replace.

"You're disgusting!" Mia cried, paling at the sight of the dying vampires. "How can you do that to your own people?". Eugene sighed, if there was one thing he had learnt as Vitus' right hand man over the years, he hated back talk.

Vitus grunted, crossing his bulking arms. "Spare me your virtue signalling." He scolded. "You know nothing of our kind, fae. It's a cold world. And it's even colder when you've already died once-". Eugene couldn't help but roll his eyes, Vitus had the annoying habit of rambling. Once he got on a topic, he wouldn't stop.

"Please. Spare us the monologue." Eugene demanded, holding up his hand to stop the incoming rant. "What do you want, Vitus. We're here now. So tell us what you want,". A wicked grin spread across Vitus' face, causing the scar on his lip to crinkle and stretch.

"Oh my dear, dear Eugene. You were the very best of us. The perfect killer. So cold. So heartless. And, so very perfect." Vitus boasted. With each word, a part of Eugene died. He had been different back then, blind to the good in the world. Trapped underneath Vitus' thumb, a knight in amongst the pawns. Good for a while, but in the end, he would be sacrificed 'for a greater cause'.

He wasn't that man anymore. He had committed atrocious sins while under Vitus' control. Never again.

"I've changed." Eugene hissed, fingers itching to go back into his pocket and grab the stake. Vitus scoffed demeaningly.

"You of all should know, people never change," Vitus mocked, stepping closer to them. He nodded to the vampire besides Noah and Mia. She beamed in return and began to slowly dig the knife into Mia's wrist. She screamed in response, trying to drag herself away from it, uselessly.

Noah howled, rattling against the chain to try and get to her, ignoring the wounds that were beginning to bleed.

"Now are you going to listen to my demands? Or do you want these two lovely people to die?" Vitus asked, with a gesture towards Anna's two friends. Thankfully, the woman had stopped with the knife, and was simply standing behind the two. Eagerly waiting for the next command.

Eugene gritted his teeth with a nod, hand slinking back into his pocket to grasp the stake.

"I want you back!" Vitus enthused, getting even closer. "You and I, we were the perfect team. No one could stop us. I've got plans, Eugene. To usurp the human government. With your help, we won't have to hide anymore. We can be who we truly are!"

"Have you heard yourself speak?" Eugene questioned bluntly. "You sound stupid. How are you planning on doing this huh?"

"Oh do calm down," Vitus tutted, shaking his head. "I'm not stupid. You should know by now, Armaros is on my side. The cursed demon. He wants Annalise dead and gone. But if you join my side, i'm sure we can work something out,"

Mia looked up at the name, confusion written over her face, despite the pain she must've been in. "Annalise?" She murmured. Just as she uttered the words, Eugene heard a feminine voice by his ear.

"Mia, Noah?" Annalise muttered, stood still in shock as she took it all in. Eugene felt frustration build up in his chest. She wasn't supposed to be here! She was supposed to be safe, with Dawn. Away from all of this!

"Annalise!" He hissed, glaring at her. He didn't mean to sound so..angry for lack of a better word. But he was worried. "What are you doing here?". Mia shifted to look at Eugene, and he let out a heavy sigh. Of course. They didn't know Annalise was still technically alive, but not alive.

"Anna?" Mia uttered, slightly more confident this time. Vitus gave out a hearty chuckle.

"Speak of the devil and she may come!"