"I see." 1942. That hadn't been an easy time for him. Freshly nomadic, no path, no compass, no guiding star, nothing but a certainty that doing something to people that made them that afraid, just to survive, wasn't worth doing, and a complete helpless blank as to what to do about it.
"I was not an…overly cautious man at that time. I'd just left my coven behind, and Maria." And there's a new timbre in his voice, thoughtful and a little nostalgic, and the smallest quirk of a smile. "The one who turned me. We were…together…a long time. Nearly eighty years. Leaving her behind was almost the hardest thing I've done."
Almost. His eyes move from her face to her throat and back. It should be too fast to see, but somehow he has a feeling she'll spot it. Best not to dwell on that.
"You're right. It's the former. I haven't changed since the day I was turned. Neither has anyone else in my family." And now he does look away for the first time since he'd sat down, turning his head to stare past the flames. "They got out. I know they did. Alice told me what I'd need to do to make sure. Stay behind, fight but don't bite, don't run. She said we'd see each other again."
For a moment, his stare turns desolate, but only for that moment. Then he straightens again, resolute, and continues, with a decided flatness to his voice now. "So I did that. Nearly lost my rational mind when they hit me from behind with a bucket or two of blood. Pig's, luckily for them. If they'd actually used human blood...anyway. I got unfocused, slipped up enough they managed to get close with cattle prods. Two of those to the ribs will distract just about anyone. They got cuffs on me that I couldn't even budge. Not sure even Emmett could've gotten out of those. Maybe not even a newborn. Couldn't tranq me, so it was just the prods until I was down."
It's almost comforting, reporting what had happened to him, even to someone partly responsible for it. "I won't be returning to them," he says as his head snaps back around to look at her again. "But they got out ahead of your organization, and that's partly due to your warning, and I do thank you for that. They're good people." And maybe there's a little emphasis on the they in that statement, a little separation from including himself in that category.
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"I was not an…overly cautious man at that time. I'd just left my coven behind, and Maria." And there's a new timbre in his voice, thoughtful and a little nostalgic, and the smallest quirk of a smile. "The one who turned me. We were…together…a long time. Nearly eighty years. Leaving her behind was almost the hardest thing I've done."
Almost. His eyes move from her face to her throat and back. It should be too fast to see, but somehow he has a feeling she'll spot it. Best not to dwell on that.
"You're right. It's the former. I haven't changed since the day I was turned. Neither has anyone else in my family." And now he does look away for the first time since he'd sat down, turning his head to stare past the flames. "They got out. I know they did. Alice told me what I'd need to do to make sure. Stay behind, fight but don't bite, don't run. She said we'd see each other again."
For a moment, his stare turns desolate, but only for that moment. Then he straightens again, resolute, and continues, with a decided flatness to his voice now. "So I did that. Nearly lost my rational mind when they hit me from behind with a bucket or two of blood. Pig's, luckily for them. If they'd actually used human blood...anyway. I got unfocused, slipped up enough they managed to get close with cattle prods. Two of those to the ribs will distract just about anyone. They got cuffs on me that I couldn't even budge. Not sure even Emmett could've gotten out of those. Maybe not even a newborn. Couldn't tranq me, so it was just the prods until I was down."
It's almost comforting, reporting what had happened to him, even to someone partly responsible for it. "I won't be returning to them," he says as his head snaps back around to look at her again. "But they got out ahead of your organization, and that's partly due to your warning, and I do thank you for that. They're good people." And maybe there's a little emphasis on the they in that statement, a little separation from including himself in that category.