Empath Onboard

Save Me - I Can't Save Myself This Time

"I think she wanted to make sure we were all okay with the choice." Izzy said, his heart aching as he looked at Stede's hands holding his own. This tragedy had brought them closer together, making him Stede instead of just Bonnet.

"Hey, but why shouldn't I do it, or both of us, all of us?" Ed asked, frowning deeply.

"I get the feeling that she can only change one of us at a time and she said that we could all change someday." Izzy said, looking at Ed with tired eyes.

"Then Izzy will be first and you can be next Ed... I'm not sure if... I'd want that. But maybe I'll change my mind. Markus kinda put me off of the whole vampirism thing." Stede admitted, looking guilty for feeling that way.

"Oh, Stede... it's alright. We have plenty of time to figure it out." Izzy said, squeezing his fingers gently.

"Yeah... if I didn't think it could be pretty fucking cool to become a vampire, I would be turned off by the idea too. But we can help Ivan and that's what matters." Ed agreed, wrapping the two in a big hug, "Izzy, you take the change first."

"I will. Kavalry said she would change the one we chose after the rescue. We will save him. She would have told us if we weren't going to be able to rescue him." Izzy said, confident now that it was a certainty.

"We will. Let's get some rest so we're at our best for him." Stede said, managing a still worried smile as he led both men to the oversized bed the Guardians have given them for their stay.

Ivan

Ivan wasn't sure how long it had been since Lukai had left him with the corpse, but the stench of rot was becoming unbearable. The dead boy's eyes were sunken in, his mouth slack, his tongue blackened. Ivan had started looking anywhere but at the corpse of the man he'd killed. Ivan shifted in discomfort. His whole body ached but his wounds had long since healed. The door opened and Ivan turned toward it, smiling emptily despite having to look at the corpse to look toward the door.

"Look at you, Ivan, smiling for me all nicely." Lukai said, expression smug as he came in and started untying the ropes.

"What are we doing? Thought ropes were for my own good..." Ivan whimpered. He'd only tried to escape his binds once over the last two days and after a little punishment he learned his lesson.

"You're going to meet a potential master today and we need to clean you up and get you dressed for his arrival. He wants to taste you first, make sure you're what he's looking for. But we both know you are, right, pet?" Lukai said, getting the ropes around his wrists untied before moving on to remove the ones on his ankles, "Be good for me, pet. You'll be getting a proper bath, the water has already been warmed. While you're washing, I'll have the cook make you whatever you want to eat. What would you like to have for dinner, pet?"

"Could I have some chicken with those yummy potatoes you gave me yesterday? Are you going to... give me cuts again, s-sir?" Ivan asked, sweet and polite as he was helped to his feet and walked away from the smelly corpse and dirty floor.

"No, pet. Your master will be taking the allotted amount of blood today instead. No cuts." Lukai promised as if Ivan still resisted them.

"Oh, please? Just one, sir!" Ivan begged, leaning into the man and giving pleading eyes. Lukai's smug grin returned as he wrapped an arm around the filthy empath.

"Alright, pet, but just one." Lukai said, walking him over to the table, "Pick which one you want me to use on you." He purred in the empath's ear. Ivan's thoughts were a hazy mess, his memories of the time before coming here were hazy. He remembered other men that loved him, but he couldn't seem to grasp who they were anymore.