Ezra looks up, eyes opening wide and mouth parting to speak. Nothing comes out.
"What?" he asks quietly, shock reading obvious on his face. "What do you mean?"
"The police are after you, son," Josh says, looking bigger now that Ezra's feeling small, "why would that be?"
Ezra looks over at Leon, a terrified moment passing between them. "Clover," Ezra speaks into the phone, trying to overcome his quick breathing, "it had to be Orgon, my name is listed number one on trafficking site and I have a lot of money on my name. With my lack of records in the city database it must have been easy to get me in-"
"Trafficking?" Leon's mother cuts him off, giving a confused look. "Like, human trafficking?"
"Think more supernatural creature trafficking," Ezra says, anxiety building up in his chest. He takes the phone from his ear, letting his arm fall as the two adults stare at him intensely. "Listen," he says holding up his hands, "I know it's completely out of a fiction movie, but you have to believe me."
"What?" Josh scoffs, flexing his fingers. "Are you a part of some trafficking gang?"
Ezra tilts his head, eyeing the ground. "I mean, yes?" he starts, holding up his hands as the parent's eyes widen, "but not in the way you think! Only a few days ago I joined a city proclaimed 'gang' after they broke me out of an underground ring I was forced to fight in for years. It's what they're dedicated to, and I have no family left or anywhere to go so I joined them.
"Have you ever heard of dog fights?" Ezra asks, bringing his eyes back up to the adults. Leon's mother looks confused and concerned, and his father looks troubled but anxious to protect his family from the wanted vampire gang member. The assumption is spot on.
"Is that what you used to do?" the mother asks, eyebrows furrowed down in fear.
"No!" Ezra exclaims, putting his hands on his head. "God, no! But you know what they're like? Now imagine that but with vampires, and werewolves, and witches. I used to be one of those fighters, working against my will for a conductor named Orgon File. The other fighters and I would be put in cages for weeks, starved for a month, then brought up into a fighting ring to kill other creatures that were put through the same things we were; pushed to the edge of desperation.
"If we didn't fight we'd be killed," Ezra continues, beginning to choke against the horrified looks on the adult's faces, "and we were always too weak after the fights to revolt. If we even looked the wrong way at a conductor we were beaten, and on special occasions the audience had the right to walk among the cages of broken down fighters and spit on us after paying our conductors to get inside."
Ezra glances over to Leon, seeing his distressed stare. Tears shine in his eyes, trailing down his face as he stands in stillness.
Ezra's lip quivers, fighting down any emotion so he can continue talking. "I hated it. I hated myself. Hated the conductors, hated the announcers, hated the other fighters," he says, voice shaking, "I hated the world. I hate even more to go back to the memories, and it hurts me to say it, but I was a champion. I was good at what I despised doing. I brought Orgon thousands of dollars in one month, on top of what his other fighters brought him.
"He wants me back. Traffickers and hunters are looking for me because he put out a reward for my return. I'm worth more underground, but right now my capture is worth fifty thousand dollars."
Ezra brings up his shaking hands, pulling off his glasses and wiping the tears off his cheeks. Why had he gotten so much weaker since being brought back to society? "Since I was a fighter, I don't have any public records. I'm not in the city's system, so I'm assuming Orgon put my picture in along with how I had gone missing. With his amount of power, it couldn't have been that hard to bribe a few people and come up with reports-"
"Ezra!" Josh shouts, startling him back into reality. He looks up, seeing that the father's face had melted into understanding. "Calm down, son, you're going to hyperventilate. Just relax for a moment- we'll talk."
"He's telling the truth," Leon finally speaks, turning to his computer screen. He reaches forward and clicks the monitor on, watching it blink for a moment before the black page with Ezra's picture and bio appears. He sighs. "I know you told me to stop doing this, but I had to see for myself. Look- this is an site used for finding and trafficking escaped supernatural fighters. This is his file."
Josh eyes his son for a moment, stepping forward and leaning down to see the screen. He looks at the picture, glancing at the vampire for a moment before looking back at the monitor. "One hundred and thirty six kills?" Josh asks, "were those the other creatures you were put against?"
Ezra stops moving, looking at the man. "One hundred and thirty six?" he asks quietly, disbelief showing in his watering eyes, "that many?"
"How long did you do these, 'dog fights'?" Josh asks, using the arrow key to scroll down the different categories under Ezra's name. He never would have guessed there was so much to know about him.
"I don't know," Ezra stutters, "I think a little over five years- but I never had any sense of time while I was there."
"Wait." Leon leans against his desk next to his father, scrolling back up to something the other had passed by. "Ezra- did you ever travel to fight?"
He hesitates, drawing back memories of dark and cold cages and boxes. "We did, but never out of the city. Anyone that wanted to go against me came here."
"It says your next fight is the annual Hidden Powers ring," Leon says, reading the text, "isn't that a huge fighting arena?"
Ezra steps forward, ignoring Josh's look as he puts his hand on Leon's shoulder and leans over. "It says active," Ezra says, furrowing his eyebrows down, "I'm still signed up for it. Why would I not be taken off?"
"Well, wouldn't that hurt that guy's reputation?" Leon's mother asks, looking over Josh's shoulder the same way Ezra is to Leon, "if that's a big fight- it'd be a lot of money. He's probably waiting until last minute to pull your name."
"That might be why they turned to the police to find you," Leon says, pointing at the next line. "Look, the date of the fight is the next full moon. They don't have that long to find you."
"That's really brave," Ezra says quietly, "he has a lot of confidence to keep my name on there without having me ready to fight... He must have a lead, or know something I don't that's keeping him so sure of himself."
"It does say your status is spotted," Leon says, "but I don't see why they wouldn't seize you as soon as they had the chance; they'd be missing a huge opportunity. And with so little time left-"
The group jumps as something begins to ring downstairs, the shrill high pitched noise making Ezra cringe. "What is that?" Ezra hisses, feeling worry pang in his chest as Josh turns and hastily exits the room.
"That's the security alarm," Leon say quietly, paranoia reading clear in his voice. Leon's mother runs after her husband, Ezra tensing up as Leon grabs his arm and pulls him back before he can follow the adults.
"That was the backdoor alarm," Leon says in a quiet voice, gripping tight to Ezra's arm, "just quiet; wait."
Ezra stands stiff, practically hearing Leon's pounding heart. His hand feels hot against his cool skin, sweat loose on his palm as he stands frozen. Quiet fills the house, silent except for the occasional footstep or breathing. He doesn't realize he's holding his breath until his lungs begin to burn.
A loud bang rings from downstairs, making Leon jump and take a quick breath. "Hide," he hisses, dragging Ezra to the corner of his room. He pulls open the closet door, dropping and hiding below the hanging clothes. Ezra yanks his arm free, looking down at the human.
"Ezra!" Leon pleads, kneeling and holding out his hand, "please! My family has been over what we'd do if there was ever an emergency- that was my signal to hide. Something is down there that my father thinks I need to hide from. Please stay with me."
Ezra looks down, arm blocking his chest as he refuses to move. Is this what the conductors saw when they stood over broken fighters, grinning as they shake and bleed? How did they find joy by the fear in their eyes?
"P-Please," Leon begs, arm drooping slightly, "if it's someone here for you- going downstairs would make it even worse. They'd just be able to call in that we're hiding you and send more people. M-My parents would want you to stay with me. They don't care if you were a fighter, you're still a kid."
Ezra hesitates, seeing tears rolling down Leon's face. No one has ever called him that before.
Ezra reaches forward, grabbing Leon's hand and ducking into the closet. He turns after kneeling, grabbing the door and pulling it closed. It goes dark in an instant, Leon's quick breathing hitting his hypersensitive ears. The dark always seems to trick his senses into heightening, sometimes enough to give him a migraine. Now he only sees slivers of light through the small crack between the two doors, so still and quiet he can hear Leon's pulse, as well as a single pair of footsteps downstairs.
"Ezra? Ezra! Answer me!"
Ezra looks down, not realizing he's still clutching Leon's phone in his hand. Clover's panicked voice shouts on the other side, making him hold the phone to his ear. "What?" he hisses, keeping his voice quiet and trying to listen to both the speaker and any shuffling. Only one pair of feet walk the house.
"Oh thank the gods." Clover breathes, voice shaking. "Ezra, listen to me. You have to protect that family; I know you're with them right now. I just think your phone died but when we couldn't get a hold of you and got the report of you on TV, we got worried and sent out Rin, Amelia, and Gabe. They captured Rin after a big blow out in the middle of the city, and I'm thinking they're using her to get to you. She's an illusionist- they can force her to disguise them and mess with you or the others. Don't let them fool you. Keep them safe."
The phone cuts.
"Ezra," Leon stutters quietly through his tears, shaking his arm, "someone's coming up the stairs. I-It's not my parents- they're supposed to call for me if everything's okay. Someone's coming for us-"
Ezra raises his hand to cover Leon's mouth, muting his panicked babbling. His heart rattles louder, eyes wide and unseeing in the dark. Ezra leans forward, letting his hand slide down into the younger's. His muscles shake with how tense they had gotten.
"...Promise me, that whatever you see me do tonight," Ezra whispers, feeling Leon's hot breath against his face, "you won't think of me as a monster afterwards."
Ezra freeze as Leon pushes forward and wraps his arm around his neck; the bedroom door creaks open; a silent promise. He pulls back slowly, as if taking his next breath will alert the intruder to where they are.
Ezra's chest tightens, each step the person sets down resonating in his ears. They pass the closet, maybe checking under the bed, or between the dressers. Whatever they're doing, they're taking their time.
Ezra shifts as quietly as he can, smelling Rin's magic become stale in the air. It's being used to cloak whoever had gotten into the house, making them look like a different person, or not a person at all. Whatever Ezra is crouched and ready to pounce on, he doesn't know. The pressing of old memories stuff his throat, making his mouth dry. With the closer the intruder gets, the more Leon tightens into the corner, and the more Ezra's lips curl up in unseen warning. He fights down the urge to let a growl rattle in his chest, knowing that's probably what the hunter wants.
He can't give him a chance to think.
The sound of boots on carpet stop in front of the closet door, pausing and making the silence ring in Ezra's ears. If it gets any quieter, his head might explode.
A shrill scream rings out as the door swings open, the man knocked down by the blur that shoots from the closet. In less than a second they're on the floor, Ezra's shoulders held back harshly by the person below him. Whoever they are, they're ready for this.
"You monster!" the man bellows, choking as Ezra's hand grips his throat. He keeps choking out words regardless. "This is why we weren't worried about finding you- you weak bastard! The only thing you should worry about-"
Ezra's tightening fist silences the man, making him gag and then laugh. A sudden sharp burn makes Ezra scream, kicking back and falling from on top of the hunter and onto the floor. Liquid drips down his back, searing his skin and making his muscles twitch. Holy water- one of many weapons the man has strapped to the thick belt around his waist.
Ezra drops onto all fours, guarding the open closet with his body. Leon pushes into the corner with wide eyes, tears running down his face as he covers his mouth with both hands. He's petrified, shaking easily visible from across the room.
"Good pet," the man complaimets, drawing out a sharpened silver crucifix from its guard as he speaks to Leon. "Quite a good listener. Bet you don't know it does a few tricks, do you?"
Ezra hisses loudly, opening his jaw wide and baring the six fangs that line his teeth. The man laughs.
"Wanna see one?" he asks, making Ezra tense up as he grins wide and raises his open hand. "Watch. Dance."
Ezra jumps as liquid sprays from the pump strapped to the hunter's wrist, soaking into the carpet below him. He lands, lightly, suddenly yelping and jumping up again as holy water soaks in his socks and into the soles of his feet. He disappears into a blur, appearing on the bed just in time to jump again as water soaks into the sheets.This hunter is fast.
The man cackles as Ezra is forced to dart around the room, unable to get close enough to do any damage. Even as he appears hanging from the ceiling fan, he falls after his arms and hands are sprayed.
Ezra lands hard on his back, feeling his skin burn until he jumps up and turns. The hunter's face flashes in his eye before he catches the front of his shirt in a burst of speed, a loud bang rattling the house as Ezra knocks the man into the wall.
The hunter grunts, silver cross knocked from his hand as Ezra draws back his fist and connects it with his jaw. The hunter's head snaps to the side, drops of blood splitting open his lip and dripping down his chin.
Ezra shakes against the burning of water dripping down his fingers as the man grips his wrist, button pressed and releasing the rest of his small tank of holy water. The corners of Ezra's vision shine red, reflecting every hot spot on the hunter's body as pain rattles his own.
He darts forward and clamps his hand hard around the hunter's throat, pinning his head against the wall and making the window next to them rattle. The struggling man reaches up, attempting to grab at Ezra's face despite his uncomfortable position. He suddenly screams and pulls back as the vampire bites hard onto his hand, spraying crimson from the freshly pierced wound.
"Monster!" the man bellows, silenced by a bang as Ezra pulls him forward and slams his head against the wall. His eye roll back briefly, blood dripping from his mouth and nose as Ezra hisses again. The taste of blood on his tongue makes his stomach clench, the man's crimson grin urging him to draw him forward and slam him back again. His skull cracks into the drywall, leaving a bloody print from his short hair.
"You are nothing but a blood lusting creature." He spits, making the vampire furrow his eyebrows and pull back his face. He slams the other forward, releasing a shrill inhuman scream into the man's face. The hunter flinches hard, turning his head to the side to avoid the vampire's deadly eyes.
"Why do you fight wars you know you never win?" he pushes, grinning madly. "You will die, your friends will die, that hiding coward will die. If not naturally then by your hands-"
Ezra slams his head back again, giving him no time to get into his monologue. His head lolls, but he lets out a tired cackle. His head connects to the wall again, and again, and again.
Ezra draws the man forward, gripping his throat to keep them face to face. It falls silent.
"It will not be our lives that end tonight."
The man gasps as the carved silver crucifix lodges into his forehead, sharpened bottom point digging in far enough to widen his eyes and stop the struggling of his muscles. His head tilts back and his body sags against the wall, breathing stopping under Ezra's hand as hi, hot spots begin to cool. The magic that Ezra had identified when the intruder first entered begins to slip, watching his skin shimmer as the illusion melts away.
Ezra stiffens as the illusion molds into Rin's dying face, bloody lips parted with blank eyes staring at the ceiling. Muffled screams of the fighting arena flood his ears, seeing flashes of fallen fighters under his dirty hands as he kneels. His breathing halts, unable to move as that illusion fades as well, leaving the man to change into someone Ezra doesn't know.
He lets out a shaky breath, eyes holding wide from what he had seen. His hand falls from the man's throat, watching in silent astonishment as a single trail of crimson falls down the man's forehead.
"...I'll call S1," Ezra says quietly, hearing Josh stumble back into the doorway. He looks down at the floor as holy water soaks his bare feet, eyes trailing up to the man Ezra kneels in front of. "They'll take care of the body. They'll sort it out."
The smell of Rin's magic on Josh makes Ezra's head begin to ache, mouth watering on the lingering taste of blood in his mouth. Body shaking with a leftover buzz, he pushes off of his knees and to his feet. "Don't linger on the dead," he commands quietly, seeing the father's terrified face.
Ezra pulls open the half closed closet door, seeing Leon still curled up under the hanging clothes. Upon seeing the vampire he jumps up, hesitating as he notices the burns littering his arms, and how red and blistered his hand had gotten from both the leaking holy water and silver cross.
"Oh- god," he stutters quietly, taking a gentle hold of Ezra's hand so he can look at his beading palm, "this is bad, y-you know you're going to have to-"
"Feed." Ezra cuts him off with a trembling sigh. "Yeah, I know."