Crown by the Throne

Alastair was exhausted. He’d once again tried to go off of blood, as the mere thought of partaking in what was necessary for his survival made him sick to his stomach. Part of him hoped his psyche could just take it and that he’d eventually fade to nothing. Unfortunately, during his blackouts after starving himself, he might have had the tendency to rent some poor unsuspecting human.

And it had to have been the fifth time this had happened. His parents were scolding him for all the fines (they were, after all, helping support his living) – and they demanded he go to the king to figure himself out. He was the strongest vampire after all.

But here he was, and as he opened the door and entered the office, he found himself awkwardly standing as far away from the King as he possibly could. There was definitely a level of fear towards other vampires that still lingered.

“…I did it again.”

“Did what again?” 

Seth’s patience had been running really thin lately so this cryptic statement didn’t do much to ease the vampire’s general state of irritation. 

“Speak clearly. I ain’t got all day to try and decypher whatever it is that you’ve done? So, by all means, spare me the mystery and just get on with it.”

Dark eyes fell over the bunch of papers again. Fuckitty fuck. He really didn’t feel like dealing with shit like that --- oh fucking well. 

Sitting around in his office, Seth kept staring at the bunch of papers laying around over his desk -- what a fucking mess!  He couldn’t be bothered to go through them and, in all honesty, he should have hired someone to take care of that rubbish for him. There were better things for him to tend to -- like Babylon, or the slaves, or finding a walking punching bag that he could let out his pent-up frustrations on. But, no, he had to stay in his office and pretend to care about all of this shit and all of the crap people thought was reasonable to send his way. 

Good fucking thing, the knock on his door seemed to pull the King right out of his trance, eyes snapping in the direction the sound came from. 

“Come in.” 

“Oh is that what you like about me? My money?” Skye teased with a playful eye roll at him. The girl was aware he was right - he normally was - but still some of them could still die and there would be plenty more where they came from… That was the funny thing about humans, they keep making more of them. 

“I know I know, but a girl can dream.” With a soft dramatic sigh she pouted and looked over the scene again. Never being one that had any romantics in her life when she was a human, the girl tended to take to a bit darker things in life. Who needed flowers when blood and chaos was more fun? “So what else do you have planned for the night’s festivities?”

“No, that’s just what I like most about you.’ the taunting was quickly reciprocated, Seth chuckling quietly all the while. “Nuh-uh-uh.” the vampire shook his head at the pretty lady, a smirk spreading further across his lips. “You’ll just have to wait and see for yourself, Skye. Just like the rest of them.” 

Head nodded in the direction of the slaves and other masters and mistresses. “Telling you would just rip the fun right out of it.” At least, for him it would. “Who do you take me for?” feigned offense was laced within his words, playful, much like their casual banter. 

Welshly Arms - Legendary  ||   Yea we're gonna be legends,  Gonna teach 'em all a lesson, Got this feeling in our souls we carry,  That it's about to be legendary

ZAYDE WOLF - BORN READY  ||  I don’t believe in the devil, cause I done raise this hell. I’ve been the last one standing, when all the giants fell. 

Stephen - Crossfire  ||   Heaven, if you sent us down, So we can build a playground, For the sinners to play as saints, You'd be so proud of what we've made

Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the king  ||  Hail to the King, Hail to the one, Kneel to the crown

Once Monsters - My Name Is..  ||  I’m gonna sit back and watch my flag ascend, I won't talk myself up, I don't need to pretend 

The door opened and Melanie could feel her stomach tighten in knots. She had to be a fucking idiot to think that she’d be able to hide from him. A vampire of all creatures. It wasn’t like he was a dumbass human who wouldn’t have been able to tell she was there. But she could hear him moving around the room and…. nothing.

Oh god, was he really that stupid? Melanie couldn’t believe her luck as the minutes passed by and he didn’t seem to realize that she was there. If only she realized the truth of the matter.

And maybe she would have if she hadn’t been so panicked in that moment about what would happen if he did catch her in his office. Now if he could just get the fuck out, she could get the brooch, and check that off her box. Melanie was desperate for this night to be over as quick as possible.

Oh, Seth definitely had her by the ego -- wolves were such easily manipulated creatures. A liability, if you were to ask him -- the weaker link. The tune her heart was beating too was now entirely different which pleased the King greatly - all of it was working out just fine. 

Licking his lips, a smug smile extending over his features, he twisted the doorknob and made his way out of the office. 

he was pretty sure he was dying. why did he ever stick his hand in that jar? why did he think it would ever be a good idea? he was starting to think the punishment would have been the better option than dealing with this sadistic list of things they all had to do. grayson was terrified of snakes in the first place, but to actually get bit by one he couldn’t see? that scared him more. he knew it was a snake. the marks on his hand were clearly made with fangs and it wasn’t a damn spider. it felt like days had passed, but grayson knew it had only been hours. everything felt off. his legs hurt, his breathing was becoming heavy, and his eyes were starting to blur. whatever had bitten him was causing some problems and he didn’t know who the hell he was supposed to go to to get help. these people clearly knew there was a possibility that someone was going to get hurt. it seemed like they just didn’t care. 

he had stumbled up to the highest peak, more than willing to jump off. he had done his two tasks, yes, but doing a third felt like it would allow him to prove something. unfortunately, his body had other ideas. panic had set in the moment he realized how fucking high this place was and with the venom slowly starting to fuck with everything else, his sense of balance had disappeared and by the time he realized he was falling, he hadn’t been able to reach out in time to grab something to help him keep his footing.

landing on his back in the water hurt even more than he imagined it would have. it also felt like multiple bones had shattered, but he wasn’t entirely sure if that was stemming from the snake bite or not. he just knew he couldn’t breathe. every time he tried to open his mouth to yell, he continued to swallow more water. it was scary looking up at the surface as you continued to sink even deeper, exhausting setting in. he was going to die here and for the first time in a while, he wasn’t entirely sure death was what he wanted. @nxfarious​

That splash had been nothing but fucking monumental. It had literally sounded as if a falling star just crashed into the waves, very violently too -- but Seth knew better. Or at least, he thought to know better what with the fucking slaves he had running around doing all sorts of stupid shit. Oddly enough, he had never thought about Grayson getting involved in perhaps a little bit more than the human could actually handle -- maybe Seth didn’t care that much yet. 

However, he didn’t want the guy to die. That meant he couldn’t toy around with what would perhaps be deemed his favorite human, anymore. So, go figure, the vampire decided to save the kid. You know, out of the goodness of his heart. I mean, fishing Gray out of the water wasn’t requiring too much effort anyways -- but there was something that was off, something else that wasn’t necessarily the very extensive fall he’d just taken. 

Seth’s eyes narrowed, there were probably quite a few injuries and despite the slaps to his face, the human wasn’t finding his way back to consciousness. Sleeves rolled up, sharp fangs darted out to tear through the skin of one bared wrist, Gray’s mouth being forced open as the vampire squirted some of his blood right down into it. That much would help. 

“Now why couldn’t you be one of the smarter ones, eh?” rhetorical question. “I had hopes for you, Grayson.. I don’t take disappointment well.” 

“Too much?” The girl asked with a gasp as she looked over at him like he had told her that her dress was ugly. The audacity of it all. “If anything I think you gave them too many chances to survive all this,” she said with a wave of her hand as she looked at everything around them. It really was a pretty little scene of chaos. “Remind me why we have to let them live?” Pausing as if she was thinking about his words, as if there was actually a chance that it wasn’t up to her little ol’ standards. Finally when she did speak she nodded her head and said, “I believe it is. Don’t tell me you did this all for me.” Of course she was teasing him but if he had, well she wouldn’t be opposed to the idea.

“Because killing entertainment would leave us with no entertainment. And I quite like all of your money, too.”  a wink had been sent off her way, something wildly comical about the way she just wanted to see some more shit hit the fan. It was a shared sentiment, honestly. But then again, this wasn’t nearly over yet. 

“Now, now. Do not get presumptuous, Skye. We both know that all I ever do I do for my own self -- no offense. Though, having your confirmation on the matter does flatter my ego.” 

Melanie had looked through a number of drawers and underneath objects in the office. At this point, she was fully convinced that he was one of those dramatic idiots who had some secret hidden compartment or some shit. She was going to have to go through the drawers again.

As she opened one again to try to see if there was a secret she missed, she heard the footsteps coming down the hall. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What could she do? Where could she hide? Melanie looked around before she looked down at the desk and groaned. No choice.

Quickly she ducked down in the empty space under the desk and pulled the chair into place so it would seem like no one had touched anything. She wouldn’t be able to hide her scent but maybe he would think it was a lingering scent instead. Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on slowing her breathing down as much as she could, hoping it would hide the sound of her heartbeat. Maybe.

Fuck, no she was going to get caught.

In all seriousness, people needed to step up their fucking games -- Seth was over two thousand fucking years old. He could hear Melanie’s heart beating -- not to mention the fucking dog smell. The least the werewolf could have done was to try and jump out of one of the windows. What were two floors going to do to her anyways?

He was tempted to sigh and tell her to get the fuck out of his office before he literally proceeded to string her up by her ears -- but then again, that wouldn’t have been much fun in the long run. Not to him, at least. Quite obviously, she was searching for something and whatever it was, Seth sure hoped that she would find it. 

At least, that way, he actually had a reason to properly go off on her. 

Moving around to grab the things he’d come for, the vampire pretended to be completely oblivious to her presence -- sure enough she’d get a big head about it, too. For the moment. 

“Was this your idea?” The female asked as she watched the slaves run around putting themselves into danger of some mysterious little prize. Her painted red lips tugged up into a smile at the sigh, quite enjoying herself even giggling when she saw one dip their hand into a vat of acid from her little spot. Whoever’s idea this was, was a fucking genius and Skye wanted to thank them personally for the entertainment. She was starting to get bored recently now that her best friend had fond a new toy to play with, leaving her alone to cause her own chaos. Boring. “This seems like your kind of idea of fun,” she said glancing over at Seth with her doe eyes.  @nxfarious​

The left corner of the male’s mouth twisted upwards in a tiny smirk, shoulders shrugging nonchalantly as he kept on staring into the far distance. “What gave it away?” he chuckled “Was it the homicidal twist to it all? Was that too much?” 

Of course it hadn’t been too much -- in all fairness, Seth believed it wasn’t nearly enough. Some of these slaves could take so much more, deserved so much more than just a temporary scare or injury. They were all fucking heathens. 

“Is the show up to your standard, Skye?” 

task #2 || seth & sam

Politeness apparently wasn’t going to be enough for this particular bloodsucker. What had seemed to work on a few of the other masters, managed to fall flat in the situation. Now well aware all his advances would be shut down, he’d have to change tactics. But one thing was for certain. Sam would not be doing any begging tonight. Not after all the shit he’d been through. The once playful smirk on the hunter’s face quickly became a sneer of annoyance, though he tried his best to hide it. It wasn’t worth losing his cool now was it?

The answer, while longwinded was exactly what he’d hoped not to hear. Silence would have been a better answer than the shit that came spewing out of his mouth. The night had been a long one and the hunter admittedly wanted to stop this whole charade. He was getting nowhere with this. He was done with this. Screw the ring. “Fantastic.” Rolling his eyes, Jack stood up from his seat at the table. “It’s hard to believe you’ve been alive for so long.” He sighed. “You’re so fucking boring.” Seriously, he could list four or five Disney movie characters that made a better villain. 

“Sit yourself down, human.” there was nothing polite about the way in which these words had left the vampire’s lips. Paired up with the look he was currently giving Sam -- shit was about to go down, quite unfortunately too, if the slave didn’t choose his upcoming actions carefully. Seth wasn’t one to take any form of disrespect -- the tone, the eyeroll, the very words that were uttered -- this human was young and dumb enough to bite off a very poisonous piece of cake that he had no chance chewing up. But, Seth was willing to make him choke on it, anyways. 

“Make no mistake, I’ll rip that tongue out the back of your throat and frame it up on the walls in your cell as a fucking reminder.” 

Hand reached out to wrap around the human’s throat “ I’m not shy of laying a weak bitch to rest.  You want to be that bitch? No ? Shut that irritating little mouth of yours and learn your place.”

task #2 || seth & sam

“Right.” A tired huff of air that could almost be mistaken for a laugh passed his lips. Given how difficult conversation the was proving to be, maybe he should have had another drink. Or two. This was going to be even more difficult than he had thought. Though he’d made it this far already, Sam was tempted to abandon the task. Sam’s eyes darkened for a moment as something akin to mischievousness warped his lips into a coy smile. “And would it be rude to ask for yours?” Though of course he wasn’t referring to his bar order.

“It’s rarely ever satisfied.” One of his many flaws. But, he’d only been here a few days and there was plenty to be curious about. The hunter ran a hand through his hair as he turned his full attention back to the master. “Though, I have to say I’m actually more curious about why you’re not out at the carnival.” He had a feeling he knew, but he didn’t want to even entertain the fact he was right. This particular master probably hadn’t become king by being predictable after all. “I can’t blame you for not wanting to participate though. It’s much nicer in here.”

“That depends on how nicely you ask. I take begging quite well, especially if you’re on your knees --- better yet, make it all fours and I might be persuaded.” A fucking douchebag he was, Seth knew it. He took pride in it, even. Apparently, it was meant to be part of his charm -- his allure, whatever the fuck he liked to tell himself. It wasn’t even like anyone was stupid enough to contradict him -- well, maybe Raenella was, but then he had always believed she’d been particularly daft from the get-go.

It’s rarely ever satisfied -- well, Sam sounded like a fucking brat. Excellent. “I’m sure you are, but then again, I’m not particularly inclined to report my whereabouts or the reasoning behind them to anybody. Try not to take it personal.” a smug grin spreading across the King’s lips. “How considerate of you, I’ll make sure to note it down. It lessens my worries tremendously.” 

Stupid. This was a stupid idea the moment she decided to do it but apparently she’d been in the business of making stupid decisions. Part of it she blamed from not being in the right state of mind. All his fault. When she’d decided to do it she’d reasoned that he would be far too busy with everything else to pay any attention. There were other people who would be going after him, she was sure. And why would he even hang out at his office during the festivities?

No, she’s almost sure that he’d be out enjoying himself and laughing like a maniacal idiot.

That thought alone makes her want to do it.

It took some work to figure out what to do. She had to find Seth’s office first and there was a lot more breaking and entering than she’d originally planned but she’d eventually made it. Thank fucking god for survival instincts. Melanie pushed the door open after she’d listened for any noise and as soon as she slipped inside, she shut the door. Quick. She immediately started to look around, trying to find what hiding place that dumb king would have thought of to put a stupid brooch. @nxfarious​

Babylon wasn’t particularly crowded during the day -- it was more so a place people sought to drown their demons in, at night -- and, thus, it was never too much fun hanging around when there was barely anyone around but the quite obsessive regulars.

Thankfully, or rather not, there was still shit he needed to pick up from the office. That and well, a bottle of expensive liquor he kept for himself in one of the crystal cabinets he had stored there. Plan was to get his shit and find something to do -- someone to torture, someone to laugh at -- which, shouldn’t prove much of a challenge.. after all the slaves were having the chains loosened up a little bit. Seemed fun enough. 

Footsteps resonated down the hall as Seth approached the door, shoes clicking against the marble tiles. 

task #2 || seth & sam

“No, sir,” Sam inspected the vampire master carefully from the other side of the table his eyes scanning down the top half of his frame. Was he playing with fire? Possibly. Had it been the first time tonight he’d done so? Nope. “I prefer bourbon.” Though he desperately wanted to drink, now was hardly the time. The odds were already against him without the added variable of alcohol. Letting his gaze fall away from the king, Sam allowed himself to look around the interior of the club. Though maybe not his style of place, he understood why some might find it rather appealing. 

Unsure whether the man’s laugh was a good sign or not, he casually turned his attention back to him. Vampires could be so fucking impossible to read. It was part of the reason he was better at hunting wolves. Damn near all of them were easy to provoke and even easier to predict. But the undead, they were tricky. “That’s one way of putting it.” Sam leaned back in his chair. “Though I don’t know if I could ever match my friend’s enthusiasm. He heard you were hiring and wanted to come see for himself.” Briefly he turned his attention to Peter dancing in front a few other patrons. “Guess I was curious too.”

“You don’t seem in a position to be pointing out preferences.” Oh, how Seth loved to remind the slaves of the very fortunate fate they had been so brutally thrown in to. That, and the fact that he didn’t give two shits about it, either. Eyes focused on the slave, the vampire was having quite the time watching the other look around -- he seemed so painfully out of place it was borderline comical. 

task #2 || seth & sam

Being allowed closer, Sam eyed the ring on the man’s hand along with the glass of liquor he held. Despite his close physical proximity to it, the hunter knew he still had a ways to go before he was anywhere near retrieving it. The hunter guessed he should have been more afraid. Given the vampire’s supposed age, it made him quite formidable. Chances are he was risking his life trying to take this piece of jewelry. Had it been any other night, Sam might have actually cared. But right now he was feeling rather reckless. A slight, sly smile tugged at Sam’s lips. Yes, the tattoo guy. At least their meeting had been memorable. Glancing down at the ink on his arm, he recounted their previous conversation briefly. 

“Sweet of you to remember.” The damn tattoo was the least of his concerns now. Sam gently, almost innocently stole the glass from the creature and shot back whatever alcohol was left in it. The liquor was a pleasant shock to his weary system. Before returning it to him, Sam picked up the bottle that was on the table and poured him another drink and sat down across from him. After all, he didn’t want to be rude did he? “Took your advice y’know.” 

There was something highly entertaining about the ballsy way in which this particular slave had snatched that drink right up away from Seth -- which, honestly, wasn’t the wisest thing to do. The King took no shit -- he liked to punish them for fun, now imagine how much worse it could get if he actually had a reason. Nonetheless, at this moment in time, the action had been more so amusing than anything else.