realm of monsters

zacharie hendricks austin valdez miguel alma

— i’m a vessel in this place only tryna find my place

“ohhh, wait like for that vampire soldiers thing or whatever?” evelyn asks, though it’s clear she already knows the answer. although, she doesn’t exactly get their purpose just yet, to be honest. but to be fair, this whole world gives her a serious migraine in general. “that seems like… super rough. like, what do you guys have to do?” she asks with an air of sincerity before cocking her head to the side, features wincing at the thought of any pain. “no, we haven’t. i would be evelyn.” she says with a smirk, extending a hand in his direction, limping her hand slightly as if it would earn the back of it a kiss.

in a way, evelyn felt relieved that austin was cut from a different cloth — is that even how the phrase goes? — and he was just beginning to understand the coven as she was. “so like… what’s your story, i guess? please don’t tell me you’re like four hundred, but my agedar has been like so off, so who knows.” she rambles slightly, looking a little less bored than she felt as she rested her cheek against her fist. 

                    “Yeah I want to be a Death Dealer,” he sighs again as his head rolls back against the couch for a second time. The ache in his shoulders was persistant now that he had officially stopped moving. “They’re tasked with protecting the coven and making sure that everyone is safe from rogue lycans and things like that. I’m still training, though I would love to be considered one of them.” He explained just gazing up at the high ceiling for a moment. He was trying his best not to sound like some kind of crazed fanboy, but he really did admire everything that the Death Dealers did for the coven.

ZAIDEN  HAD  HEARD  ALL  THE  TALES  of  desperation  &  starry-eyed  ambitions  to  be  the  biggest  and  strongest  death  dealer  of  the  bunch  far  too  many  times  before  ;  austin’s  assertion  hardly  registers  at  all  ,  a  bored-sounding  hum  all  the  elder  vampire  offers  in  response.  over  six  centuries  had  passed  since  zaiden  ,  himself  ,  had  been  reborn  as  one  of  the  impenetrable  undead.  shedding  a  life  of  pampered  mortalhood  had  been  an  ordeal  in  itself  ,  the  bruises  &  bloodied  knuckles  leaving  him  with  tears  in  his  eyes  after  his  first  handful  of  training  sessions.  his  sire  &  superior  at  the  time  had  always  been  nothing  short  of  brutal  with  him  –  and  though  the  thought  of  damien  is  enough  to  cause  a  dull  ache  to  twinge  somewhere  in  his  hollow  ribcage  after  all  the  years  ,  zaiden  squanders  it  beneath  a  figurative  boot.  no  use  in  weeping  for  the  dead  –  centuries  of  war  &  bloodshed  meant  casualties  were  unfortunately  inevitable.

he  casts  austin  an  unimpressed  sideways  glance  as  he  takes  the  sweat-drenched  towel  slung  loosely  over  the  bench  ,  inked  digits  twisting  within  the  worn  fabric  before  taking  his  time  to  gently  dab  at  slicked  black  locks.  ❝  you  and  every  other  recruit  that’s  ever  been  taken  in  by  the  death  dealers  ,  ❞  he  drawls  out  lazily  ,  a  scathing  edge  of  sarcasm  lingering  beneath  the  surface  of  his  tone.  a  quiet  scoff  is  tacked  on  at  the  end  of  his  words  ,  sharp  eyes  rolling  ever  so  slightly  as  he  turns  his  back  to  the  younger.  ❝  the  sooner  you  realize  you’re  not  special  by  any  means  ,  ❞  zaiden  starts  again  ,  deliberate  growl  taking  on  a  jagged  point  to  it  as  he  looks  at  him  once  more  ,  sapphire  hues  all  but  burning  deep  into  austin’s  dark  gaze  ,  ❝  the  better  off  you’ll  be.  you  train  when  i  say  you  train.  so  quit  pushing.  if  we  keep  moving  forward  with  the  state  you’re  in  right  now  ,  i’d  snap  your  neck  on  accident  without  much  effort.  count  your  blessings  ,  fledgling.  ❞

he  turns  sharply  on  his  heel  ,  starting  to  move  towards  the  flight  of  stairs  leading  up  from  the  training  room  ;  he  doesn’t  waste  his  time  glancing  over  his  shoulder  ,  knowing  that  austin  would  follow  closely  behind  if  he  knew  what  was  good  for  him.  ❝  your  form  has  improved  ,  but  you  spend  too  much  time  mentally  calculating  how  to  keep  it  perfect  and  it  puts  you  on  delay  in  your  reactions.  you  don’t  think  fast  enough  when  it  comes  to  offensive  and  it  shows.  ❞  zaiden’s  tone  is  flat  &  blunt  as  he  rattles  off  the  mental  notes  he  had  been  keeping  track  of  during  their  session.  ❝  you’re  too  focused  on  the  minutiae  that  you’re  making  yourself  look  like  a  knock-kneed  giraffe  when  it’s  time  to  actually  fight.  for  every  step  forward  ,  you  take  two  steps  back.  ❞  the  last  comment  is  muttered  under  his  breath  ,  only  partially  loud  enough  for  the  younger  to  catch  it.  ❝  it’s  not  enough  to  say  you  want  to  be  a  death  dealer.  you  need  to  have  the  raw  potential  for  it.  ❞  perhaps  it  is  harsh  –  but  the  click  of  zaiden’s  fangs  and  the  subtle  smirk  dancing  across  pierced  lips  makes  it  far  too  obvious  that  the  elder  hardly  cares  if  he’s  trampling  upon  austin’s  feelings.

                    Austin wasn’t surprised by Zade’s less than enthusiastic response. He knew that Zade had probably heard everything he’d said from all of the recruits that he’d trained before and Austin wasn’t delusional enough to believe that he was different than the vampires before him. Holding the death dealer's bright blue gaze with his own, Austin pulled himself back up onto his feet focusing now on not letting himself falter as a wave of exhaustion swept over him. He didn’t doubt that Zade knew what he was talking about, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to admit how beat down he was at the moment or how much he hated the way Zade called him a fledgling. He still had a lot to learn and he didn’t want to waste any time doing it.

                   He didn’t respond as Zade turned sharply and walked out of the training room, moving as quickly as he could to follow along. The smile that spread across his lips disappeared as quickly as it had arrived as Zade’s compliment gave way to a criticism of his abilities. “You don’t think I have raw potential?” Austin’s tone wasn’t accusatory, in fact it was very much opposite that. The young vampire frowned as he fell into the step with the older death dealer. Honestly he was curious about Zade’s answer as neither he nor Sinclair had mentioned it before now. Maybe he didn’t have that innate sense of fire that Zade clearly had, but he hoped he was right in believing that it wouldn’t be something that stood in his way.

𝐜𝐚𝐥 & 𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 || @fangedfm​

guns were, in Hae-Seong’s stern opinion far too impersonal as a weapon. they lacked the intimacy that steel of past years could give. the tridents, swords, and spears of which he was first trained with were all too primitive in design despite their nourishment to every fiber of his soul. while a single press against a metal trigger could release a fatal shot, it by far wasn’t Calcite’s favorite means to ending lycanthropic terrorism in Aleksander’s streets. but it was quick, and the proper way to cleanse the city of their vermin problem. and despite having been assigned to Lilit, he’d find himself relieving stress and perfecting his shots in the shooting range of the coven manor’s lower levels.

this time, however, he wasn’t the one with the gun in his hand. instead there was a shiny crisp green apple of which he would softly chew against shot after shot of the trainee. eyes would marvel at the near perfect shots and wince at the ones that were nearly there. but the efforts were celebrated once the clip was empty.

“Bravo. Yes, bravo, indeed. Excellent work.” he hoped he hadn’t startled the other and would even carelessly toss that half eaten apple in a waste-bin nearby before speaking. a round of applause would lighten even brighter features as he smiled towards him. “How long is it you’ve been practicing? Nevertheless, near perfection is in your future. You have been molded very well.”

..

                    Shooting a gun hadn’t ever been his favorite method of fighting. They were unnecessarily loud and unless you had good aim most likely you weren’t going to hit your target. But that may have stemmed from the fact that Austin had never really had a good eye for these sorts of things. His aim left a lot to be desired and though he could say that his skills had become a lot better since starting to train with Zade, Austin knew that he still had a lot to learn.

                   After his last round of ammunition Austin lowered his weapon laying it against the table in front of him. His gaze may have been focused on the target at the other end of the room, but he knew that he wasn’t alone anymore. He had sensed the other vampire as soon as they entered the room. Being more aware of his surroundings had been one of the first things that Zade had made sure Austin worked on. If you weren't aware of what was going on around you, you weren't going to survive. It was as simple as that.

NEITHER OF THEM , himself or zaiden , had been too surprised when they were informed that they were now in charge of training a newcomer , barely not a fledgeling , austin valdez. typically , sinclair wasn’t the one to jump at an order , or to take it too seriously — but this was something different. he was rather young , to be given such a task , to be placed in an almost equal position to zaiden ; it left him feeling the need to prove himself capable… worthy of it. & then he’d met austin , entirely sealing the deal to be a good boy for aleksander just in this one regard with his drive , even if it lay on top of a softer disposition.

lips pursed around his ever - present cigarette , playing with the smoke for a beat , enjoying the toxic sizzle against his tongue as eyebrows raised , sea green hues bright while that head tilted. after only a moment of hesitation , clair offered , ❝ improvement isn’t easily gauged in the beginning. the fact that you haven’t tapped out entirely speaks volumes. ❞ he paused , plucking the stick from his lips to ash it in the tray on the table before them , a light grin settling over his lips. ❝ it’s like that. he’s going to strip you down to your bones , because only then can we mold you into what we need for you to be. ❞ his grin grew just a fraction - the memories of the many , many ways one zaiden adrian hendricks had smeared his blood on the floor , over a century ago , flashing in the back of his mind. ❝ i’ll give you some advice — just be sure to listen. it doesn’t matter what he says , or what you want or don’t want to do. he says jump , you jump. he says stop , you stop. it’s methodical & harsh , but it works. ❞ hands rose , lanky fingers swopping over his own form , himself being the perfect example of the sentiment. 

only then does he reach for his glass , nodding his thanks to austin as he brought it to his lips. he took a few heavy swallows , licking his mouth clean as he leaned back , other hand lifting to place his cigarette back in it’s dutiful place between his lips. ❝ has he flown across the room & hooked his legs around your neck yet ? the scary part of that is , he does all of the acrobatics while maintaining his top speed. you don’t even know what’s happened until after you’ve hit the floor. ❞

                    “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” he mused as he took a sip from his glass, “what did Zade train you too?” Austin shot a smirk at Sinclair before fishing out his own cigarette. He was joking of course not realizing that he was completely right in his assumptions. It was nice having someone to smoke with again, not that he couldn’t smoke alone but there was something about having someone to smoke with, it was really just the companionship that Austin missed about leaving his friends behind.

                   And of course Austin knew that Sinclair and Zade weren’t his friends in the sense of the word. They were here to train him and he couldn’t let get too attached this early on. Plus everything that Sinclair was saying was correct and it made complete sense. He needed to unlearn all of the bad habits that he’d picked up at home so they could train him to the standard that Aleksander expected.

evelyn is convinced that the middle of the week is her own personal hell. because what the fuck is anyone supposed to do then? and quite honestly, she is absolutely not looking forward to centuries worth of wednesdays. over a month ago, she probably would spend most of the week crafting new mixes, setting up new gigs and feeding her dependencies, but since then — that routine has been completely obliterated. and so all she has seemed to do is sleep in later and later into the night and occasionally transitioning from her room to somewhere else in the mansion. the least she could do is give herself the gift of a change of scenery.

collapsed on the couch and looking at her split ends with a single airpod tucked into her ear, it was very clear she was bored. was it boredom of her status at the mansion? boredom from the stagnation in her dj career? or just general dreariness? you kind of never know with evelyn. “oh my god, what happened to you.” she responds, the sentiment coming across much less of a question and more so an observation, as her eyebrows drew together and her eyes scanned the other’s beaten form. “that looks like… really bad.” and although at the back of her head, she knows lucia probably mentioned something about healing super fast or something like that, but y’know… still. she’s never been that hurt in her life. like, ever. even when she drunkenly fell off that one guy’s back after piggybacking. “does it feel like, weird and stuff?” because she has to ask, face wincing up slightly as she does.

..

                    “Training.” Austin grumbled with a painful sounding groan as he shifted trying to stretch his back out. “I think Zaiden had them put the cement in just to make it hurt more when he throws you to the ground.” He added, more to himself than anything as he glanced over at the vampire sitting next to him. He’d seen her around, once or twice but he couldn’t remember her name now that he was sitting right next to her. His mother would be ashamed at how anti-social he’d been since coming to New York, but in his defense Zade and Clair were very demanding teachers. Training didn’t leave a tremendous amount of time for socializing. But he wasn’t complaining, this is what he came to New York for, the soreness and bruises were proof that he was working hard.

“I would fuck søren, marry julia, and kiss christopher. If you think I’d choose to kill one of my own you can fuck off.” | @immortalfm @chrislechevalier @sandstonefm

“I’m sorry what? I’m not flirting with Julia, I merely offered her the same thing I would offer to every lycan in this pack.” | @immortalfm

“Easy, I’d fuck Zade and Clair, together of course, and kiss Lena.” | @immortalfm @cursedfm @rosewilts

“I like that they both work really well together. Zade knows your limits better than you do, and Clair’s style is softer but just as taxing. They work together so well, you can’t say one is better than the other.” | @immortalfm @cursedfm

02: Who did you last say “I love you” to?

“I don’t believe I’ve said I love you to anyone specifically lately.”

12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours?

“Of course, I’ve been alive for over six hundred years there have been a number of nights where I haven’t slept.”

52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason?

"I suppose so, things always seem to work out for the best no matter how terrible it seems in the moment.”

12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours?

“Yeah it wasn’t the best couple of nights I’ve ever had but it was fun spending all that time with some friends.”

56: How many people have you fist fought?

“Oh far too many to count at this point. I was a bit of a loose cannon as a kid. Suppose I still am when I think about it.”

62: What makes you happy?

“My family, my friends. I’m not all that complex really. I enjoy spending time with people that I care for.”

70: Is there anyone you would die for?

“My family and my coven. Without question.”

ZAC

36: Do you give out second chances too easily?

”Yes I know that I do.” his voice is heavy and tired as he runs a hand through his hair. “It depends on the person really.”

37: Is it easier to forgive or forget?

“I wouldn’t really consider either of them easy to do at all. Compared to one another I suppose it might be easier to forget.”

AUSTIN

36: Do you give out second chances too easily?

“No? I don’t believe I do. You’d only receive a second chance from me if you really deserved it.”

37: Is it easier to forgive or forget?

“I don’t know honestly.”

“I am not single, but just why do you think it’s your business to ask? My personal life isn’t something that everyone is entitled to the details of.”

"I appreciate your concern, but I can assure you that I am doing just fine.” His smile though doesn’t quite reach his eyes, the normally vibrant blue clouded over with the tension that he carries in his shoulders. 

“10 out of 10. It’s amazing really.” His smile is genuine, laughing loudly after a moment. “Seriously with every training session I have I know I’m getting better and learning more. What isn’t to love about that?” | @immortalfm