Empath Onboard

Save Me - I Can't Save Myself This Time

"I am concerned about the state we will find your empath in. I've seen some of his suffering and... it will be hard for him to survive without the embrace of a vampire. Without weekly or perhaps even daily, bloodletting his body will give out. It's a horrible way to die, drowning in his own blood if his heart doesn't rupture from the pressure first." Kavalry said, the jovial cheerfulness the madness often instilled in her was absent, replaced by grim and sorrowful seriousness.

"What are you saying? That rescuing him will be a lost cause? That we should give up?" Izzy asked, finding familiarity in the old indignant rage that burst out of him.

"Now, but I am prepared to offer a solution so that he won't die tragically. He's powerful, that much I know, and it would be a shame to lose such a beautiful and powerful member of our human subspecies." Kavalry replied, not looking at Izzy despite the small man turned to glare as is she was the enemy.

"And what, pray tell, is this supposed solution?" Izzy asked, teeth gritted with frustration and distrust.

"Well there are two options technically. Though, one of them I feel will be denied wholeheartedly. First off, you could bring that Markus fellow back into his life..."

"Hell fucking no, Vampire! We are not bringing that man back! Not when he already almost killed him!"

"Exactly. The other, more favorable choice would be, one of you three make the transition into a vampire. The vampire would need to feed on someone and the empath will already have far more blood in him that his body can handle. It solves Ivan's problem and, someday, the rest of you could make the transition and be together forever instead of another decade or two." Kavalry replied, as if it were just so simple.

"I'll do it!" Izzy said without hesitation, eyes desperate.

"No. You need to discuss this with the other two. I agree you are likely the best choice because of the bond between you and the empath, but you need to discuss it with them first. Decide as a group and I will start the transition after he is rescued." Kavalry said before leaving Izzy alone on the porch once more.

*****

Later that night

Izzy

"Hey, can we talk?" Izzy said as he, Ed, and Stede were settling in to try and get some rest before tomorrow's rescue mission.

"Of, course, Iz. We talk it through, remember." Ed said softly, the rage had burned out and worry had taken its place.

"Kavalry came to me this morning and warned me that she had seen the state Ivan is in. He won't be able to live long without a vampire in his life. His body will overproduce blood and it puts pressure on his veins and heart. She said we could... either bring Markus back or... she could turn one of us into a vampire so we can help to drain away the extra blood. She told me we needed to decide together who should make the change...but that I would be the better choice because of our bond. So I'm... bringing it to you. Which...which one of us should become the monster to feed off our empath to keep him alive?" Izzy said, struggling with the words.

"Oh no... he's..." Stede stuttered, tears welling in his eyes at the news of Ivan's prophesied state.

"A vampire is the only choice? He can't like... cut himself or get hurt on purpose to make it normal or use leeches or something?" Ed asked, but heard how horrible it was when it came out.

"Ed! No! We can't expect him to just...have to maim himself to control it. It's our fault for failing him and we're the ones who need to fix it. Izzy... are you willing to make the change? Do you not want to or did Kavalry just want you to be certain we were okay with it first?" Stede asked gently, reaching out to take Izzy's hands in his own.