Just a friendly capybara

He'd been out doing the rounds of the tombs, and had pocketed a few new books to look at later. The sun had just set, the air starting to turn chilly with the coming of night. Coming through the treeline, Abolish was able to see the group gathered around the gate.

Martyn, Legundo and Cleo were just inside the gates, standing tensely, but only Martyn had a weapon drawn. They were facing off with Pyro and Scott, who were a few meters back. Unfortunately for Abolish, they were also directly between him and the gates. He suppressed another sigh, and began to approach carefully.

"—was worth making the offer, at least," Scott said airily, and Abolish was glad he recognised the dismissal in the Elder's tone. He must have missed the worst of the argument, thankfully.

"No one here is interested, Scott," Legundo said firmly.

"Well," Scott said with a wave of his hand, "you all know where we are, should you change your minds. Come along, Pyro."

The fledgling slipped into place at Scott's side easily, though he cast a furtive look back at the townsfolk as he did so. Abolish slowed to a halt as Scott turned away from the town, facing him directly. A smile spread across Scott's lips as they made eye contact.

"Abolish," he said, like he was greeting an old friend. Abolish crossed his arms, and gave him a small nod. They hadn't crossed paths since Scott had pressed him against a tree and covered him in his scent.

Abolish made the mistake of glancing over Scott's shoulder, to meet Cleo's steely glare. They'd been quite vocal in their distrust of Goldsmith's intentions, and while Abolish certainly didn't disagree with their opinion, he was getting a little sick of being on the receiving end of their ire. He snapped his eyes back to Scott, who was approaching slowly, Pyro a half stride behind him.

"What are you doing here, Scott?" Abolish asked.

"Oh, I just thought I'd pop down and see if anyone was interested in discussing the benefits of vampirism," Scott said, coming to standstill just short of the reach of Abolish's sword. Not that it was drawn. "There's so much room up at the Castle, and we all know the simplest way for us all to get out of here is for you lot to embrace the gift and let us turn the Beacons, so I thought we could just have a friendly little conversation. Sadly, your friends were less than welcoming, so we'll be on our way."

They're not my friends, Abolish did not say. That was the least important part of Scott's little speech, and it wasn't worth the argument. Instead, he simply hummed thoughtfully. Whatever Scott's actual motivations, he did seem to be happy enough to walk away from the conversation without causing any issues, so Abolish wasn't going to intervene.

"Unless…" Scott stepped forward, grin turning sharp, "you would be interested?"

"You know that's not going to happen, Goldsmith," Abolish said flatly. Scott chuckled.

"Oh, you can't blame me for trying," he said. Abolish didn't bother responding. Scott was clearly determined to keep digging at him, regardless of whether he pushed back or not, so it was simply easier to give him nothing.

Scott took another step forward, deliberately moving into Abolish's space, and let out a soft purr. Abolish was prepared this time, and locked down his habit of tilting his chin up at the sound before he could so much as twitch. That didn't deter Scott, though, the Elder stepping closer still, purring louder with a determined grin. Abolish clenched his jaw, as he realised he wasn't getting out of this conversation without a formal farewell.

He had known that letting Scott scent him would have consequences. He had just thought that most of them would come up after he left Oakhurst, and would have to put up with Morcant fussing over him like he was a fledgling for a few weeks. But Scott had apparently decided it was not a one time thing. And so Abolish, arms still crossed over his chest so his hand was close to the silver dagger tucked into his sleeve, suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and slowly tilted his chin up to bare his throat for the Elder.

Scott moved with easy grace to close the distance and rub his cheek across the line of Abolish's jaw, the rumbling vibrations of his pleased purrs filling the air between them.

Abolish stood perfectly still. For Morcant, he would dutifully lean into the contact, pressing back against his cheek or one of his fancy silk handkerchiefs as he rubbed them over Abolish's face and neck. But this was Scott. Abolish didn't flinch away, did nothing to potentially risk triggering a hunting instinct, but simply endured it. He had noted the difference in the texture, the way Scott's skin was smooth and soft against his own, in a way Morcant's was not. On a purely sensory level, Scott's nuzzling was certainly not unpleasant, at least.

It was a quick moment of contact, a gentle nuzzling and a single stroke of a hand through Abolish's hair, before they separated again and Scott was walking away, a flick of his wrist in Pyro's direction to get the fledgling to follow him.

Abolish didn't miss the low growl Pyro let out as he stepped past him.

He could feel the eyes of the townsfolk on him. They would have seen the entire exchange. Abolish drew a slow breath in through his nose. He wouldn't be able to pick up on the layered intricacies of the coven scent, not without vampiric senses, but there was definitely a lingering, metallic edge to the air around him, that reminded him of sitting in the armoury, sharpening his blades.

(The Thornvale scent was earthier and reminded Abolish of days spent training in the forests near the manor).

He took a second to prepare himself, and then walked the rest of the distance towards town.

"You want to explain what the hell that was about?" Martyn snapped as Abolish walked through the gates.

"Not particularly," Abolish answered, honestly.

"Abolish," Legundo said firmly, as Abolish tried to walk past them, "we thought he was attacking you, what—?"

Legs' question was cut off by a snort of laughter from Cleo. Abolish clenched his jaw. Legs looked across to them, brow furrowed with concern and confusion. She gave him a dismissive wave.

"Don't mind me," they said. "Though I am looking forward to hearing your explanation, Abolish."

"We don't have time for this," Abolish said, reaching into his bag. "Here, Doc."

He pulled out the book he'd found labelled I/III and passed it over. Legundo's eyes went wide, and he took it reverently. The conversation quickly flipped to discussion of the Cure.

Cleo's eyes never left Abolish's face. He knew he wasn't getting away without giving some kind of explanation, no matter how well planned his distractions were. He held back a sigh. Cleo he was mostly happy to talk to at least. Legs too, probably. That was about as far as his amity extended.

Not trust.

He doesn't do trust.

(And yet he'd trusted Scott to not bury his fangs into his neck and—)

He couldn't do trust.

****

He threw himself backwards and the back of his head slammed into solid stone. The crack of the impact was thunderously loud, but the pain was nothing compared to what was already burning through him. There was another sound in the darkness, that grew louder the more Legundo struggled. He could process what it was, couldn't think past the burning pain and the thumping sound in his ears like the marching of boots towards oblivion. But the sound was constant and close, and though he couldn't understand what it was, he could feel it. A vibration in the air, dancing across his skin and echoing in the cavity of his chest. He shuddered as some distant part of his mind told him that sound meant safety. He blinked, and realised the darkness he was in was not all consuming, like he thought it was. He could see, in a grey, hazy kind of way.

All sense of safety fled from his mind as he made out the shape of a face smiling up at him. He was in painful proximity with Scott Goldsmith.

He threw himself backwards again, trying to roll out of Scott's space, but something sharp dug into his back and pulled him closer.

"Easy, Doctor," Scott whispered, the vibrating noise — purring, Legundo realised — increased in intensity.

"—Soldier—"

Legundo shook as another voice echoed through his mind. The movement tugged at where Scott's claws were buried deep in the flesh of his back.

"Let me go," Legundo growled. Scott chuckled, a soft, almost tender sound. That distant part of his mind that wanted him to curl towards the sound of Scott's purrs reacted with a strange warm sensation. Repulsion stabbed through him, sharper than Scott's claws, brighter than the pain that Legundo finally recognised as hunger. He growled again, this time without words, an animal sound of pure fury.

Scott snarled back — louder, sharper — and everything in Legundo froze.

"Stop fighting," Scott huffed. "I am trying to help you."

"I don't need your help," Legundo snapped back, but Scott just laughed again.

"Well don't you sound like your dear Sire now," he said sweetly.

It hit Legundo again.

The pain. The hunger. The fear as claws flashed in crimson moonlight. The searing burn of his flesh ripped open. The sound of his voice as he begged— screamed. You promised.

The betrayal.

The fury.

Owen had done what he swore he wouldn't do.

And somehow, it had lead to Legundo being trapped in a small dark space with Scott fucking Goldsmith.

But with the anger came clarity.

A path.

He was trapped with Scott. But that meant Scott was trapped with him.

His own body moved with a speed he didn't recognise, and his arms that had been hanging limply at his side surged up, fingers curled into claws aimed at Scott's eyes.

With Owen's gift, Legundo was fast.

Scott was still faster.

With another animalistic snarl, Scott twisted and — despite the cramped space Legundo was beginning to suspect was a coffin — flipped them both over by driving his shoulder and knee into Legundo. There was a burst of pain as Legs' back slammed against cold stone. Scott's claws wrapped around his wrists and tugged, pinning Legs' arms between them. He thrashed against the Elder's hold, but it was unyielding.

"Would you calm down?" Scott huffed, having the audacity to sound bored. "You're only going to hurt yourself more like that."

"I'm going to kill you," Legundo hissed. Scott hummed dismissively.

"I'm sure," he muttered, grinning down at Legundo in a disgustingly bemused way. Legs tugged once more against his grip and, when that failed, surged up to attach to rip Scott's face open with his teeth. His fangs. Fangs that Owen had given him, despite him begging him not to—

Scott twisted easily out of the way. The smug bastard was still smiling. Legs could see the cool white of his fangs between his parted lips. They were longer than Owen's, and ended in a fine, needle like point. Scott smiled wider, as if to show them off more. Legundo made to surge up again, but Scott's smile turned sharp, and he made a noise low in his throat. Every muscle in Legundo's body locked up with primal fear.

"You poor thing," Scott said softly, and despite every new instinct in Legundo's mind screaming danger, be afraid, submit, he snarled furiously instead.

"Your poor, starved body is trying very hard to heal," Scott continued, tone disgustingly conversational, despite the context. "I did have Owen feed you, of course, when he showed up at the doors of my Castle with you in his arms. He's only a fledgling himself, you know, really. He had no idea what to do with you. Best that your first meal be your Sire's blood, really solidifies that bond. But he truly did a number on you, didn't he?"

"I'll kill you," Legundo hissed again, but the quite rhythm of Scott's voice — and that damned purring that he had started up again — was starting to drain the anger from his body, leaving molten pain and exhaustion in it's wake. "I'll kill you and then I'll kill him."

"I wouldn't recommend it," Scott said. He shifted his weight and lowered himself closer to Legundo, pinning Legs' arms between them. Their chests were almost flush, and Legs could feel the vibrations of Scott's purrs in his bones. "It's rather awful for a fledgling to lose their sire, especially so soon after turning. You've always claimed you want to be useful, Doctor, so believe me when I say you will not be able to be useful if you are driven mad with the grief of a broken Sire-bond."

"Why do you care?" Legs snarled, making another feeble attempt at freeing his arms.

"Because Owen is part of my coven," Scott said. "As much as he likes to play at independence, it is the safety of my walls he returns to, it is my orders he follows, and it is by my grace that he is free to roam and do silly things like pursue his strange obsession with you. He may not admit it, but Owen is mine. And because of that, what's his is also mine. Therefore you, darling Doctor, are also mine."

Fury and revulsion burned through Legundo, but the heat of hunger chased after them and left his body trembling with weakness. He wanted to snap, to fight and rip and tear, like Owen had done to him, but it was like the rumbling purrs from Scott's chest were some kind of sedative, sinking into his bones and muscles and leaving his limbs too heavy with weariness to move.

"That is why I care, Legundo," Scott continued, seemingly oblivious to the way Legundo was trembling with hatred. "And that is why I am here, and have been here for the last day and a half while you slept."

"What?" Legundo whispered hoarsely.

"By rights it should have been Owen, yes," Scott said, like that was the thing Legundo was confused about. "But I knew that a fledgling turned so violently would need a much more experienced hand ready when you woke up. You two would have simply killed each other, I'm sure, and I'll not be losing any of my coven to such a foolish little grudge."

"He killed me," Legundo hissed, and the anger was growing stronger again. "He turned me, when he— he promised. I trusted him, I—"

"I don't care," Scott sighed. "Are you hungry?"

"What?" Legundo snapped. Scott rolled his eyes at him, and began to move, wrapping the long fingers of one hand around both of Legs' wrists. He then brought his newly freed hand up into the space between them. For a moment, Legs thought he was going to reach out, to stroke Legs' cheek or scratch his face open. He froze in anticipation of either. Instead, Scott brought his wrist up to his own mouth, and delicately, without breaking eye contact with Legundo, bit down.

The scent hit Legundo like an artillery shell.

As a surgeon, he had grown used to the scent of blood. This was different. Richer, more powerful. filling the cramped air of the coffin with something metallic and electric like a coming storm. If the hunger had been burning through Legundo before, once that scent touched his nostrils, it became an inferno.

Scott brought his wrist away from his mouth. Legundo's night vision did not allow him to see colour, but the blood that coated Scott's mouth and wrist was still obviously much darker than any humans, even sapped of any discernible hue. Every one of Legundo's senses was locked onto that liquid. He could feel himself trembling, could hear a faint whine being drawn out of his throat, but he could not process anything but the blood that looked almost black against the pale expanse of Scott's skin.

Scott was smiling at him, blood on his lips and teeth.

His torn open wrist hovered in the space between them.

Legundo was starving.

He knew what hunger could do to a person. He had been a monster long before Owen's claws had dug into him.

Blood dripped from the wound, Scott's wrist angled perfectly so it fell directly onto where Legundo's mouth was open, panting from pain and hunger.

All it took was a drop.

Legundo's fangs were in Scott's wrist before he even processed the taste.

The purring grew louder once more, echoed weakly in Legundo's own chest, thrumming in time with each swallow of the liquid that tasted like nothing he had ever tasted before.

"There you go," the Elder's voice said softly. "You will come to understand, Legundo, just like your Sire did. I do not care if you are pleased with this arrangement or not. You need only comply. You can hate me all you wish. You can hate Owen all you wish. But until this matter with the beacons is resolved, there will be no in-fighting. I need all the strength I can get on my side in this. As long as the barrier holds, we must be a united front."

Legundo could feel his flesh beginning to knit back together, the sharp pain of the wounds fading with every gulp of the sickeningly rich blood. Scott's voice was just as soothing as his purrs, and Legundo wanted to sink into the sound. He was furious. He bit down harder, not quite sharp enough fangs tearing through the firm surface of Scott's skin. The Elder hissed, and wrenched his wrist from Legundo's jaw, swiping his claws across his face with the same motion. The wound healed instantly, but the pain lingered sharply.

"The second the barrier drops," Legundo hissed through heaving breaths, "I'm going to kill you."

Scott leaned close, smiling, his own blood still painted across his lips.

"I look forward to seeing you try."

****

It would be easier if Owen was pulling his weight, but at least he was self-sufficient, and not an active drain on resources. It just meant it was up to Scott to do all the hunting for the fledglings. Which was fine, he was more than capable. But he had gotten used to a certain kind of luxury, with a coven that looked after itself and a town that offered respectful sacrifices. It had been some time since Scott was a sole provider.

Nighttime cloaked him comfortably, as he moved into the forest, flitting into bat form to swoop over the ravine. He didn't plan on venturing far, just deep enough to snatch a few unsuspecting animals, fill the collection of bottles he had brought with him, and return before the fledglings even knew he was gone. But as he landed in the bough of one of the ancient pines and retook his vampiric form to scent the air for prey, he caught the whiff of something else in the woods. Something human.

There was a human near his Castle. That simply wouldn't do.

He wrapped the shadows around himself easily, disappearing from sight, and begun to move towards the offensive scent.

He was beginning to wonder if it was time to make a proper example of one of the humans, if they were going to keep coming so close to his home with nothing to offer in return. He had put up signs and tried to be civil about it, but if they were going to keep ignoring the polite warnings, perhaps it was time for some good old fashioned heads on pikes, or corpses dumped at the gates of town with threatening messages carved into them. A little gauche, for Scott's taste, but needs must.

His plans shifted a little less murderous, though, when he saw exactly which human was lingering near his home and his fledglings.

Abolish emerged from a small rocky outcropping — too small to even call a cave — with a bag hoisted over his shoulder that Scott could tell was full of freshly mined silver.

Scott had been watching the hunter carefully over the last few weeks. There was something fascinating about him, how unaffected he was by it all. Calm and focused, he slipped under the notice of the panicked humans. But Scott had noticed. He had also noticed, after the first few weeks in Oakhurst, that Abolish's scent had changed.

What had once been a clean and neutral odour (deliberately neutral, by Scott's guess), had shifted to something earthier, and more naturally human. But what had caught Scott's attention was the scent that lingered around Abolish's throat. He had only noticed it the rare chances he got to get close to the hunter, so faint he needed to lean in and breathe deep to scent it. But, after their last encounter in the woods, Scott was certain he had not been imagining it. Abolish had a coven scent.

His initial instinct was that Abolish must be an escaped thrall, like the farmer was, but he had none of the haggard desperation to suggest it. An attack dog, then, perhaps? He had known some covens to keep skilled humans close at hand for easy feeding and to be disposable weapons. Scott thought it was far too much work, especially when you could just turn the skilled ones to keep forever, but to each their own.

"Can I help you, Scott?" Abolish asked over his shoulder, continuing down the path towards town. Scott had to admit he was impressed. That was twice now Abolish had been able to sense his presence, even through invisibility. He slipped out of the shadows in easy step next to the hunter.

"You're the one practically at my doorstep," he said. Abolish shrugged.

"I figured y'all wouldn't be wanting this silver anyway," he said, giving a vague gesture to his bag. Scott hummed, and leaned in. The coven scent was almost entirely faded, but Scott had a sharp nose, and his instincts were clearly telling him that the hunter carried the scent of another Elder vampire, one that Scott didn't recognise. He shifted his steps to move into Abolish's path and forced them both to a halt. The hunter twitched an eyebrow at him, but that was the extent of the reaction.

"Who exactly are you, Abolish? I admit, I cannot figure you out," he said, taking another step into Abolish's space. As always, not even Abolish's heart rate gave a reaction. Scott let a low, almost inaudible growl rumble through his chest. The sort of sound he used to chastise the fledglings, or bring Owen to heel. Abolish simply tilted his chin to maintain eye contact. Definitely not a thrall then, any drop of vampiric blood in his would have caused at least some kind of submissive response.

"I told you, Scott," Abolish said, sounding downright bored. "I have a job to do. I just want to do it, and go home."

"And what job is that, exactly?" Scott asked. He took another step forward, slow and deliberate, just to see what Abolish would do. Abolish shifted his weight, taking a half step back, but not in a way that felt like yielding ground. It almost felt like a dance, Scott leading, pressing Abolish backwards as he followed easily, never breaking eye contact.

"It's irrelevant to you," Abolish said.

"And yet it has you poking around my home, while my fledglings are resting," Scott said, letting the threat hang clearly in the slither of air between them.

"Like I said," Abolish replied, "I was just getting the silver. You weren't using it anyway."

"I should kill you just for the fact you're traipsing another coven's scent through my territory." Scott let his growl build and flair into his words, stepping forward again.

Finally, there was a reaction from Abolish. That last step had pushed him back enough that Scott had him all but pressed against the trunk of a tree. He was not pinned, but he would have to be very quick and clever to be able to get away if Scott decided he wanted him to be. But it was not the scent of fear that rose from Abolish in that moment. Instead, he let out what was distinctly a huff of frustration.

"I was hoping that would have worn off by now," he muttered.

"It mostly has," Scott admitted. "The fledglings wouldn't notice it, I doubt Owen would either. But this is my territory. It's bad enough there's humans here, with their heartbeats and sweat-stink, I don't need someone else's pet getting their scent everywhere too."

He let disdain drip off his words. This close, he could see subtle shifts in Abolish's expression, the way his brow furrowed slightly and the edges of his lips tipped down in what could almost be a frown. Scott wasn't sure what reaction he expected. Humans usually got oh so offended when he spoke of them like that, but Abolish seemed mostly unbothered, if a little confused.

"I'm not trying to mess with your territory," Abolish said, and Scott was surprised by the honesty of the statement. "Like I said, I thought the scent would have worn off by now."

"The coven scent of an elder takes a long time to wear off," Scott said. "I'm assuming you were using something to cover it up initially. I should have scented it the moment I saw you."

"Yeah, but I ran out. So you'll just have to put up with it, I guess," Abolish replied with a calm shrug, like they were discussing the weather. Scott kind of wanted to bite him just to see if he would even react to that. Instead, another idea formed in his mind.

"I have a better idea," he said. "Something that won't matter to you, but will make me much more willing to turn a blind eye to you roaming about my territory."

"And what's that?" Abolish asked, but the slight narrowing of his eyes suggested he at least had some clue what Scott was suggesting. Scott smiled sweetly, and let a gentle purr build in his chest. It was such a soft sound, he doubted Abolish's human ears would be able to actually hear it, but they were close enough he would be able to feel the vibration of it.

There, Scott thought, as he saw Abolish twitch, just slightly. It was the subtlest tilt of his chin, a cut off motion as Abolish locked down whatever habit he had been trained into. Scott wondered how long it had taken the Elder who's scent he carried to train the young man to bare his throat at the sound of a purr without the help of vampiric instincts.

"You want your scent on me," Abolish said flatly, in a way that suggested there was a clench to his jaw as he spoke. Scott purred a little louder.

"Your silly human nose can't even smell it, and your Elder will happily cover it back up if somehow make it out of here," he said, grinning. He watched Abolish scan his face carefully, obviously looking for some kind of threat or trick. Scott waited, still purring softly, as the hunter finally came to a decision.

"Fine," he said, and Scott's grin widened. "But if I feel fangs, I will stab you."

"Don't threaten me with a good time," Scott drawled, and Abolish rolled his eyes. Scott waited one more beat, building the sound rumbling through his chest to it's full volume. Slowly, with the same care he seemed to approach every task, Abolish tilted his chin up and to the side, exposing the soft skin of his throat.

Scott could dive in, drive his fangs into the vein and drain the hunter faster than he could react. He might get a stab in, might even do enough damage to actually hurt Scott, but there was no real threat to his life. Not like there was to Abolish's. And yet, there he was, backed up to a tree and giving Scott full access to his neck.

Scott had heard Owen talk of a moment of trust, between him and the doctor. Perhaps this was something similar.

Scott leaned in, and pressed his cheek against the warm skin of Abolish's throat. He nuzzled in, stepping even closer to press his chest firmly against Abolish's, so he could feel every rumble of every purr that rolled through him. The forced proximity had Abolish resting a hand on Scott's hip, simply because there was nowhere else for it. Scott rubbed his cheek along the line of Abolish's neck and up over his chin, feeling the faint scratch of freshly shaven hair. This close, the unfamiliar coven scent was painfully obvious, and Scott's purr shuddered to a growl as he let himself melt into his instincts, desperate to cover it up with his own scent. His hand came up to press his wrist to the other side of Abolish's throat, coating him at every point where the intruder's scent lingered. The hand on Scott's hip flexed, ever so slightly. Out of concern or warning, Scott wasn't sure. He didn't care either way, he wasn't stopping until he was certain Abolish was drenched in his scent, and his alone.

The heat of Abolish's living flesh added another layer to Scott's scent, an undercurrent of something almost herbal beneath the sweet metallic tones of the Goldsmith coven scent. He ghosted his lips across the line of Abolish's jaw, letting his breath dance over his skin. No was no trace left of the unfamiliar coven scent as Scott breathed in deep through his nose. An edge of tension in his chest began to ease. A threat removed. Slowly, with one last nuzzle against Abolish's cheek, he leaned back.

Abolish's expression was a blank mask. But even someone with such brilliant self-control clearly had limits. It was subtle, but Scott could hear how Abolish's heart rate had stepped up, ever so slightly. Still no scent of fear to him, but for the first time, Scott could see Abolish was not entirely unaffected. He grinned down at him.

"There," he whispered, "much better."

"Are you done?" Abolish asked. Whatever emotion that had pushed into his heartbeat was not audible in his voice, as he maintained eye contact with Scott.

"Yes, yes," Scott said with an airy laugh, finally stepping back to allow Abolish to move away from him. "On your way then, Abolish. I look forward to our next meeting."

Abolish gave him a flat look, re-shouldered his bag that had been discarded on the floor, and walked away without another word. Scott watched him leave, comforted by the way his coven scent lingered in his shadow.

****

Let me repeat that: she burns alive. 

The video editing emphasizes this as a big deal.  Shelby’s narration in the aftermath concludes that “if i asked for a chance to talk, they would have just killed me without a second thought.” From Shelby’s perspective, they did just kill her without a second thought. It is the climax of their episode 3, and one of the first things Shelby mentions in episode 4. It is a major turning point for the character, with good reason.

As far as Shelby is concerned, the vampire vs human conflict began with her experiencing a horrific death for the grand crime of crouching next to a beacon. 

From this point forward, non threatening interactions with humans vanish almost entirely. 

The only conversation Shelby has with a human is episode 4 is her face to face with Avid, which has high points and low points. The low points include Avid telling her about staking his partner because she attacked him.

Shelby, does, however, visit the town later, where she finds Avid burning her house down.

And then Legundo reads the cure book in front of the house’s ashes. 

Legundo also scolds Avid for burning down the house, but Shelby misses that part. In fact, Shelby missed all of the pro Shelby comments made in the town around that time. 

According to the post series creator’s commentary, (which i can’t link because twitch deletes old vods so it probably no longer exists aajfas;llllldg) this isn’t even a matter of clever editing- Shubble was legitimately out of range for all of the parts of the story where people agreed that they wanted to help Shelby. 

In episode 5, she is approached by a group of Drift, Cleo, and Pearl. Shelby is surrounded, and asks them to put their swords away. Pearl takes a minute to do so, and when she does she switches to a bottle of holy water. Shelby backs away and Pearl moves forward. 

The start of this conversation very much has shades of an interrogation: “why do you look so different? Did you eat truffle?” 

Shelby tells them about being burnt alive, and the response she gets from Cleo is “but you got better”. Which sucks, and serves as an ironic mirror for the way that Scott and Owen are dismissive about the trauma involved with turning people. Both factions are expecting Shelby to just walk off the wrongs done to them, but the Oakhurst faction is openly threatening future harm to Shelby.  

Of the three of them, Drift is the most supportive. The conversation improves from there, and some nice things are said, but Shelby was still threatened. It was still the preamble to the nice and productive part of the talks. 

Then she has the meeting with Avid where he asks to be turned, which goes fairly well but ends with Avid being decidedly non human. Also Owen replaced one of Avid’s messages to Shelby with a death threat, so Shelby was still threatened over it. 

Episode 6 has the Oakhurst invasion where all of the vampires visit Oakhurst and Pearl gets chased around. Shelby doesn’t really talk to anyone here, but she sure does get to hear Pearl make a generalized threat. Because Shelby can never catch a break.

We also see another instance of Shelby assuming that the townies are after her: her narration says “i thought Pearl was chasing me”

Then there’s a conversation with Sausage. Sausage pulls out a stake because of course he does. 

Then Drift pulls Shelby aside, and they have a lovely chat where there are no threats of bodily harm. However, Drift is a vampire, so it doesn’t count. Rip. 

When Avid starts talking about the cure, Shelby’s immediate assumption is that if Avid asks to be cured, the humans will stake her without a second thought. She also is the one to suggest sabotaging the cure for the sake of protecting herself and the other vampires. 

Episode 7 sees Shelby dealing with humans twice, and both of them are decidedly hostile interactions

The first bit of human contact comes when the vampires burn down the walls of Oakhurst. This is, naturally, open combat. Shelby makes a point of targeting Martyn.

Her second human interaction in episode 7 is running into Abolish, who promptly introduces her to the Veylocke murder box. In other words, Shelby is stunned, rendered immobile and helpless, and executed in cold blood. It is not an easy death.

Abolish even acknowledges that she didn’t do anything, and then kills her anyway. 

episode 8 is the finale, where she fights some humans, hides from humans, eventually has a truce with humans for the first time ever, and then wanders off into the sunset with Drift and Scott.

That’s basically all of Shelby’s major human interactions post episode 3. There is never an instance where speaking to a human is not linked with being threatened by a human after that point. 

For the most part, this is entirely the result of the people of Oakhurst’s own priorities and character choices, but there is one vampire that tries to make sure that Shelby can’t talk to the humans. Someone that tries to isolate her, someone that uses threats, someone that is willing to lie to keep Shelby in the castle and away from town. 

That person is Owen. 

Owen interferes with Shelby speaking to townsfolk three times, to mixed results: he joins the conversation with Apo and successfully diverts them from trying to convince Shelby she’s wanted in town; he replaces Avid’s letter with a threatening message, but Avid manages to set up a meeting with Shelby and clear the air with her anyway; and he appears in the Pearl-Drift-Cleo meeting with Shelby in episode 5, which arguably improves the situation because he took the conversation in a useful direction and Shelby had already felt threatened anyway.

…actually, all three of these things happen in episode 5. Owen has a very brief window of being invested in the coven in this particular way. He does some pretty nasty lying in that window, though. 

While this could be an interesting plot thread, Owen’s contributions are something of a cigarette in a burning warehouse. Shelby got killed twice as collateral damage, and both deaths were exceptionally traumatic. No amount of intercession on Owen’s part is going to speak louder than the wrongs done to Shelby by the humans themselves. No amount of lying on Oakhurst’s behalf is more damning then Oakhurst’s own failure to address the damage they’ve done in any way. He’s burying a relationship so far underground it is already in hell. 

Even seemingly minor things like Pearl’s tendency to casually arm herself do more to damage Oakhurst’s reputation then Owen is really capable of- there is a direct line of cause and effect between Pearl saying she has a stake and Shelby assuming that Pearl is chasing her down. Shelby is rightfully skeptical of the claims Owen makes about other people, but when someone else is making those kinds of statements, she tends to believe them. 

And then there’s Shelby’s backstory. 

Shelby’s backstory, where she is isolated from her entire community growing up. Where people she considered friends and neighbors didn’t care about her in turn. Where nobody had even done something as basic as telling her that she’s fun to be around. 

 Of course Shelby thinks that Oakhurst is willing to write her off at the drop of a hat. That’s what her hometown did. 

In conclusion

1: the town is not blameless in the Oakhurst vs Castle conflict. They have done real harm to the Coven, and most of it has fallen on their friendliest and least aggressive member.

2: Shelby is indeed afraid and isolated, but the bulk of that fear and isolation is generated and maintained by the people of Oakhurst themselves. The one time Scott had an opportunity to sabotage one of Shelby’s outside relationships, he chooses not to.

3: Scott is Shelby’s first friend, ever, and the feeling is mutual. This is a key component of why Shelby is Like That. 

4: The answer to most gripes regarding vsmp’s story arc and ending is Shelby. Why did Scott live and Pyro die? Shelby. Why did Scott suddenly pivot to pacifism? Shelby. Why can’t the humans just wipe out the coven and call it a day? Shelby. Why was the coven a legitimate social structure in the first place? That’s also Shelby. It’s Shelby all the way down.

In Shelby’s story, Scott is the prize she wins for her kindness and Pyro becomes the avatar of all of the senseless violence she has suffered. 

Shelby’s character arc is one of being the collateral damage of other people’s agendas so frequently that she becomes convinced that she must use violence herself. This culminates in her killing the most direct and personal threat to her physical safety, which is Pyro. Shelby’s other character arc is about seeking peace and companionship despite the bloodshed around her. This culminates in her turning her closest companion from the path of violence, and that companion happens to be Scott. Scott and Pyro’s conclusions are mirrored halves of Shelby’s finale, and reflect Shelby’s greatest triumph and lowest low.

There are a few possibilities, but I want to suggest: He wanted to keep Owen from other vampires for as long as possible.

Now, why would he want that, when vampires are social creatures?

I can see a few reasons. Maybe sires are territorial over new fledglings. Maybe he was unusually territorial.

But.

Modern vampire society is unbalanced and controlling in a way that favors vampires heavily. Humans are treated as nothing more than livestock -- Cleo themself said (in their lore stream) that even their mother's attitude towards humans was 'We have goats at home.'

Louis, meanwhile, tended his town carefully. You could see this as a vampire who preferred to be left alone to manage his...ah. Human ranch. But he didn't even raise a hand to hurt any of his people as they led him to the pyre. He saw Owen's pain and tried to use vampirism to mend it.

I think Louis had some very strong disagreements with the way vampire society treated humans.

And I think Louis knew how prone Owen would be to anti-human extremism. Looking at Owen, it would have been easy to see how easily he could be swayed into thinking of humans as less-than. He'd spent his whole life tormented by them, and then the first vampire he'd ever known had come from nowhere like an angel of mercy with an offer of salvation. Between that and a lifetime without access to the social connections to learn the nuance of social situations...

Cults recruit the desperate and isolated for a reason.

From there, we can go in two directions.

The first is pretty intuitive and familiar: Louis as a cult leader trying to turn Owen into a devoted member of his inner circle. I'm not really going to explore this here, just bringing it up to acknowledge it since it is a very easy read of what I've laid out here.

What I find interesting is the second read:

Louis as a genuinely well-intentioned man who wanted to give Owen a chance at not falling in with the cults and other high-control groups so common among vampires.

With this, we get an interesting double-edged reason for the isolation: keeping Owen sheltered from other points of view is exactly what a cult leader would do. Would he have eventually told Owen the truth? Presumably! He might be able to hide the rest of vampire society from Owen for a few years, but certainly not centuries. It's a question of practicality. But that gives him plenty of time to convince Owen of his own feelings on the matter.

And yes, this is falling into cult territory again. Because that's the thing, isn't it? If you're raised in an environment like that, as Louis most certainly was, then the tools that environment gives you are the ones you have. They're the ones you default to if you're not mindful.

So: Ex-cult/coven member Louis, trying to spare Owen from the vampire cults he knows are out there (that he has personally experienced, perhaps), but using the tools his life has given him to do so: the same isolation and warnings about outsiders that cults will use to cut new members from a chance at escape.

He'll lie to Owen, and tell himself it's temporary: just until Owen finds his feet and stops being so starved for attention that he'll follow the first charismatic vampire to tell him he can be powerful. He'll keep Owen to himself until Owen is healed, until Owen can distance himself a little from the deep and ragged wounds of his human life.

Just until then.