Chapter Twenty-One #2
Casimir rushes forward and turns fast. The vampire tries to outsmart him, but it’s like Casimir reads his moves, and he’s immediately backed into a position where Casimir wants him.
He drives the long sword down, slamming it through the man’s wrist, pinning him against the wall.
The shorter sword comes down, aimed straight for the man’s heart as I question how Yorick listens to this man if he’s not as strong as him. Yorick sure gave him a tougher fight.
“Stop,” the man says, and Casimir’s hand freezes.
Why would he hesitate when he was so close to stopping this man? Did he forget how many this man has killed? Or… ordered others to kill?
“I want to see you bleed,” he says, and I watch in shock as Casimir draws the blade across his own arm, blood instantly running onto the floor as I realize that something is very wrong. Why the hell would Casimir hurt himself?
I turn back to look for Ezio, hoping he’s coming, but he’s standing there, fixated on the man as well. It’s like they’re both hypnotized by him. Casimir’s expressionless look has shifted to one that appears almost relaxed, at ease as he slices himself open.
The man grabs Casimir’s hand and guides it down so the tip of Casimir’s short sword is pointed at Casimir’s stomach.
“You’ve made a mistake you can’t return from,” the vampire says with a chuckle as he pushes Casimir’s hand so the sword is digging into Casimir’s flesh.
I need to do something… but I don’t know what the fuck he’s doing to Casimir. He’s… controlling them. It’s similar to Casimir’s ability to persuade, but his allure is nothing like this. This is on a whole different level, and what could I possibly do to stop it?
I’m scared. My limbs feel like they’re weighted down, and my paws seem to be attached to the floor beneath my feet. How the fuck could I even help them? If Ezio and Casimir can’t do anything, what could a wolf—and not even a real werewolf at that—do to stop them?
My tail is tucked, and I realize I’m crouching down as I think about them pinning me to the ground, tearing me open, fangs ripping into my throat. I’ve made a mistake coming here, but I can’t turn away.
The short sword is tearing into Casimir’s stomach, blood spilling out as I’m frozen here, absolutely useless. What did I even come for?
Wait… maybe I can speak to him? I forgot about the ability to reach his mind.
“ C-Casimir ?” I ask, but I’m reminded that he can’t speak back. Does it mean he can’t hear me? “ Casimir, you have to fight him. Please. Fight him. Please? ”
There’s nothing at all that tells me that Casimir’s heard me, no twitch, no hesitation. He just keeps pushing the blade into his own stomach.
The blood dripping off the short sword is becoming a pool at Casimir’s feet.
“ Casimir, please .”
I hesitantly step forward, but the vampire either doesn’t hear me or doesn’t care about me. My guess is he doesn’t care because I’m not a threat to him at all. But I can’t just stand here and watch him kill Casimir.
Do I try to sneak forward or do I charge him? Honestly… he’ll hear me either way.
“ Casimir, please. I’m going to… distract him and run. So please just run .”
I rush forward, fighting against limbs that are weighing me down and my heart that’s racing out of my chest. The vampire doesn’t turn toward me, but for some reason, that makes me more anxious, like he’s so confident that he doesn’t even have to bother looking at me.
When I reach him, I spring off my feet and leap up.
He growls out and turns fast, hand connecting with my side as his fingers dig into me and he flings me, throwing me so hard that I hit the lockers and feel them cave beneath my weight. Pain spikes into my back as I hit the ground on my paws.
“Wait your turn,” he growls as he tries to turn back to Casimir, but the moment I hit the ground, I spring forward, doing everything in my power to try to protect Casimir as he’s protected me so many times.
The vampire twists in an attempt to get out of my path, but I manage to catch his shirt with my fangs.
It’s not much, but it manages to pull him off balance enough that he staggers back.
I release my fangs as fast as I can, knowing that he could kill me in a heartbeat.
He roars out in anger as he removes his attention from Casimir and places it on me.
Quickly, I scamper backward, but I’m not going to be able to outrun this man.
Just as he reaches for me, Casimir lunges forward and slams the sword into the vampire’s chest.
The vampire growls out as his hand misses me. He reaches for the sword that Casimir tears out of him.
As the vampire stumbles back to deal with the wound, Casimir grabs me, and I’m torn out of the hallway and through a door.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” the vampire roars, but as Casimir busts the window, I notice we’re not being followed. Is he afraid Casimir might have the upper hand? Or can he not control him again so soon after he lost control?
I don’t have time to mention it as Casimir pulls me through the window and out into the night.
“ E-Ezio ,” I say, not wanting to leave him behind after he came to help.
“He’s following,” Casimir says as we reach the cars.
“What the fuck was that? What the fuck was that?” Ezio asks, sounding shaken.
“Get in the car and go to my house,” Casimir orders as he quickly gets into his own car, still clinging on to me.
Ezio doesn’t hesitate; he burns off a layer of my tires as he speeds away and Casimir immediately follows. I lean into him, heart racing out of my chest as he tosses the swords into the back.
“You’re fine,” he says, voice calm. How the hell can he be calm after that? How can he expect me to calm down when anxiety is eating through me?
I lie down on his lap, refusing to shift back. I feel like while I’m in this form, I can pretend to be one with his lap and not have to face reality.
“What the hell were you doing there?” Casimir growls.
I keep my face buried against his lap, refusing to admit that I made the horrible decision that I could help him. Did I really think I could protect him against a vampire like that?
His fingers sink into my fur. “How long were you there?”
“ I don’t know .” The middle console is digging into my side, but it’s worth it for his touch.
“How long, Julian?” he nearly shouts, and I don’t know why this is upsetting him more than anything.
“ I saw you fighting Yorick .”
Casimir’s fingers tighten. “Why did you come?” His tone is sharp, and I can tell he’s irritated at me.
I wanted to take comfort in his lap, but now I feel like he’s pissed at me for being there.
Which… maybe I don’t blame him for, because how much help would I have been against one of the vampires if the man hadn’t been so distracted by trying to kill Casimir?
“ I came so you didn’t have to fight alone .”
“I was fine alone!” he snaps.
I feel a bit defensive, and I don’t know if it’s because I feel guilty that I’d just stood there while he got so severely hurt or what.
“ Clearly, you weren’t! What the fuck is wrong with you?
Is this because of what I said last night?
I feel like you’ve been off since then. It was just because I was terrified I could have killed those teenagers.
Casimir, you killing those horrible people is really fucking different than me killing some teenagers walking home!
Are you upset I saw the bodies of the people you killed? I’m pretty sure they deserved to die! ”
“Fuck,” he whispers.
“ Stop being a dick and comfort me .”
Casimir hesitates before smoothing my fur back and I swear I feel a little tremor to his hand as he asks, “Are you okay?”
“ What the fuck was he ?”
“He was just… a vampire…”
“ How did he stop you ?”
He’s silent for a moment. “I don’t know.
It was like his words took complete control over me.
The moment he spoke them, I couldn’t do anything against him.
” He slides his fingers deeper into my fur.
“Thank you. If… if you hadn’t come, he’d have killed me.
I’m really sorry I got angry earlier. Are you okay? He threw you really hard.”
“ Uh… yeah… I’m fine. Nothing broken. ” My body fucking hurts, but hey, I’m alive, Casimir’s alive, Ezio’s alive… I think that’s good enough. “ What’s going to keep him from walking into your house and ordering you to do something? ”
Casimir’s quiet as he drives. “I don’t know.”
“ So the guy who jumped off the roof and the one who blew himself up… he probably told them to do that, right ?”
He hesitates before sighing. “That… does seem likely.”
“ Fuck ,” I whisper as Casimir’s fingers dig into my fur. I just assume he’s fixated on his anger over the man and not paying attention until his fingers keep digging.
“ Casimir ?”
He doesn’t even acknowledge me as I tense up. Is whatever that vampire did to him still affecting him? Can he affect Casimir from here?
I jerk back to get away from his grip, but he holds me tightly so I can’t escape. “ Casimir !”
“Fuck,” he hisses as he jerks his hand back and pulls the car over on the side of the road. “I’m sorry!”
“ Casimir, what are you doing? ”
“Sorry, I’m fucking starving from the blood loss, and it’s messing with my head.
I need to get out… I need to feed,” he says as he pushes through the door.
He slams the door shut before I can get out and with my paws, I can’t open it quickly.
I shift and push it open, but he gives me a sharp look. “Stay in the car.”
“Don’t you fucking leave me,” I say as I race after him. I am one hundred percent aware that I’m chasing him completely naked through a field since my clothes are currently in the car Ezio is driving.
He holds his hand over his face. “Stop following me! I’m really fucking hungry. I could lose control.”
“Casimir, fuck… Don’t just leave me in the car! What if he’s following us, and you’re not here?”