Justine looked away. "Look, I've actually been thinking… if we had a solid escape plan, we could make this work. It isn't like I have anyone but you three, Ernest is weird and William is… very much a boy. I don't think that I want to stick around much longer after the vampire blessing is placed upon you three. You'll probably kill me out of hunger soon enough, it's a surprise I've lived this long what with your parents." she sighed, and looked to the ceiling. "I don't know what to do."
"If we ran, they would find us and they would kill us." she replied, shaking her head faintly and taking a deep breath. "It would be a long, slow, deeply painful death. If we were not yet vampires, they would drain us all slowly. If we were…" she shook her head again. "Starve us, perhaps."
Justine shrugged. "I don't know. There's room here for fear, but not for cowardice. If we just-" she paused. Victor snored. Justine sat down on the edge of her bed, head in her hands. "I don't want to hurt you, any of you, but if we could just try and find out a way out of this… don't you want a better life?" she asked, suddenly standing and taking Elizabeth's hands in hers.
Elizabeth sighed softly, looking down at their intertwined hands. "This would need a lot of careful planning. We cannot just…leave." her gaze moved to Henry. "And what about you?" she asked him, knowing he had heard the conversation. "Would you come, or would you stay behind?"
Henry looked up at them, clearing his throat softly. "Uh…I don't know."
Justine scowled. "You'd have to come with, they'd pin it on you and kill us all." her ears flicked, tail now swishing in irritation. "Both of your families know that you're friends with us. Your younger brother, and Victor's, won't get hurt because of us." she said. "God! I just want us to be safe together!"
Henry scowled right back. "My parents have already lost two children, Justine." he retorted. "Unlike you, I will not flee them so fast." he crossed his arms, standing up and looking down at the two others.
Elizabeth sighed faintly.
Justine howled in frustration. "You were all taken from your families! This isn't real, Henry. You're my friend…" she let go of Liz's hands, "and I don't want you to destroy yourself for us." she turned, and faced Victor whose eyes were open wide and staring. "How much of this did you hear, Victor?" she said, tone suddenly turning much softer, almost scared. "Enough. It's fair, I would think, to say you were talking behind my back." he said, sleep still hanging onto his voice.
Henry's gaze moved to Victor as soon as he realized the other young man was awake, taking a deep breath. "Sorry, Vic." he said softly, unsure quite what he was apologizing for, but feeling like he should nontheless.
Victor shrugged, laid back. “Justine is right, you know. The sooner we get out of here, the faster we end up not vampires and cured of all the misfortune we’ve had to face. If anything, I’m leaving first chance I get.” he grumbled the last part. “You’re the only people I’ve ever loved or cared for, you three are. And I want better lives for all of you.” he said, voice incredibly gentle in a way it usually wasn’t.
(Sorry for the wait!)
"Leaving isn't going to magically fix everything." Elizabeth pointed out. "Much as we'd all like to, it won't fix everything, and we could be followed."
Victor shook his head. "I never said it was, but what choice do we have? And so what if we're followed?! Better die a human than live a monster." he pointed out. This suicidal mentality was common for Victor, however, it was especially present here.
"I would rather live as a human." she replied, shaking her head a little bit. "We aren't rushing in to anything Victor, and especially not this! I will not have you get us all killed in a half-assed, barely planned runaway scheme."
“Right, well, if you’re so smart then make a plan! It’s not like I have anything better to do than listen to you yammer on!” he growled to Liz. “Honestly, you’re such a fucking ass.”
Liz rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut the fuck up. It's a stupid idea to go running blindly into the woods without even having some kind of plan. Don't make me into the bad guy for pointing it out to you." she snapped back, crossing her arms and glaring at her brother.
Victor sighed. "Fine. Sorry." he looked to Henry. "But you agree, we need to get out of here." he murmured, looking up at the man with a strange hope and adoration in his eyes. "Please, back me up. We can't let them kill us…"
(eyyy I missed you! idk if you're back back or not but either way)
Henry smiled faintly at Victor. "And we won't, Vic." he said softly. "I promise. We're going to get out of here." he replied, taking a deep breath and reaching out to gently reassure Victor.
