The basement door swung open, revealing Silas's frowning figure. He was still wearing only his underwear, no longer caring about his missing dress now that he didn't have to worry about Wallace doing anything to him. He could simply buy a new one when he got home but was he still annoyed that he was walking around practically naked?

Yes, yes he was.

To the point he made sure to stomp and kick his target's body one more time before coming up the stairs.

Anyway, Silas closed the basement door behind him, time to tie things up.

It was only a minor inconvenience-having to search the house for any possible witnesses or family members or friends, ect. Fortunately it was night time so any other residents of the home should be sleeping peacefully in their beds right now. Which meant the only thing Silas had to do was make sure they remained sleeping until the twins arrived to clean up the body in the basement.

Silas glanced around, finding himself standing in a kitchen. The tile floor was cool underneath his bare feet as he stepped further into the space, observing the cleanliness of the room. There were no dishes in the sink, the countertops were spotless and the floor was squeaky clean. The only thing that stood out was a pair of scissors lying on the counter. Silas frowned as he stopped in front of it, staring down at the clumps of what looked like cotton stuck on the blades.

How strange, Silas thought while stepping away from the scissors but he merely shrugged it off-his attention moved on to the exit of the kitchen. There was a doorframe leading to a dark hallway to what Silas assumed was either the living room or dining room or possibly both.

Leaving the pair of scissors behind in the kitchen, the vampire entered the hallway, looking both ways. There was a door on one side of the hallway and the other side was another doorframe leading into a space that was dimly lit.

Silas was too far away to see what was further ahead but first he went to the door. Upon opening it, he found a decent sized bedroom with a double bed, a desk complete with a PC, two bookshelves filled with books/other various clutter items and other normal bed room furniture alongside a door leading to a possible connected bedroom. The most important part was that it was empty so Silas closed the door. If the vampire had to guess, the room most likely belonged to his target. Which if that was the case, he needed to find the bedroom where his roommate was staying.

The black haired vampire was relaxed as he walked through the hall, his biggest threat and concern eliminated so why would he need his guard up? Yet he found himself going still as he got close to the door frame, his noise picking up a strong metallic scent.

The familiar rusty scent of dried and fresh blood mingling together in the air.

Silas narrowed his eyes, his hands clenching into fists beside him, his target's voice echoing through his head.

"That is your last warning, boy. Next time, I won't ask."

I can't believe this guy was torturing multiple victims at the same time in two different places, Silas scoffed to himself-lifting his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

That was the only reasonable conclusion he could come up with to explain the situation he found himself in. Of course that monster wasn't speaking to his roommate earlier, he was talking to another victim-well more like threatening another victim.

"Even dead that pathetic human brings more trouble my way." Silas snarled as he began walking towards the source of the scent, trying his best not to stomp his feet against the floor of the hallway.

Dealing with other victims was always a pain, especially if they were alive. It was better if they were dead, that way the twins could clean them up too and Sister Celia could try identifying them later. But if they were alive, Silas not only would have to put them to sleep, but he would have to request for the twins to erase or alter their memories before placing an anonymous call to the proper authorities to come fetch them.

So much work when the vampire just wanted to go home already. Even worse is that he would have to do everything by himself-not counting the twins. Even then Silas would have to supervise them to make sure they didn't goof off or get distracted from their duties.

This is all that stupid human's fault-

Silas went still, his thoughts going blank as he registered the scene before him, as he stood in the doorframe of the next room.

The cotton guts of a ripped up teddy bear plush littered the floor right in front of a body with an outstretched arm as if the person was reaching out as the plush was destroyed right in front of them. The figure on the floor had long black hair covering their face, sticking to the hard ground beneath them thanks to the blood smeared underneath both their arms. Their body was just like Silas's-bare except for the underwear around their small and short frame, partially hidden by their hair. And their exposed skin was littered in various bruises and occasionally hard indents of teeth marks-made by human teeth not vampire fangs. But unlike Silas, they were not tied up in rope like he was-

Instead there was a silver cuff around their ankle, digging into their light brown skin, connected to a chain nailed into the wall.

What made all of this worse was the dog food and water bowl situated near the chain. Those two items made it clear that this was not one of his target's victims he brought home to kill.

This was someone he treated like an animal, like a pet, as if he owned them.

Silas cursed loudly, wishing he could go back down to the basement and bashed his target's head in. And the only reason why he didn't was because the person on the floor was breathing. It was very light but Silas's ears could pick up the soft inhale and exhale from the otherwise motionless body.

Clenching his teeth inside his mouth(narrowly avoiding piercing the inside of his mouth with his fangs again) Silas swiftly went over to the person-ignoring the crime scene of the stuffed animal. He didn't quite care for the context of whatever happened before Wallace came back down into the basement as much as he did trying to ensure the victim stayed alive until help could arrive.

At least I don't have to worry about them bleeding out since they were a vampire but-

A vampire could easily slip into a coma if their bodies sustained too many injuries or a major injury for them to self heal on the spot.

Silas had learned the hard way a long time ago.

"Hey, wake up." The vampire got down on his knees beside the body, firmly but gently shaking them. "Open your eyes if you want to live."

Silas frowned when he didn't get a response, reaching out to move the victim onto their back and off their stomach when he noticed one of their hands was balled into a fist-like they were holding onto something. The vampire leaned over to pry their hand open, revealing a ring and a box cutter covered in drying blood.

That explains the bleeding, Silas thought, glancing at the bloody marks on the floor underneath the victim's arms. He briefly wondered why they cut themselves instead of attacking Wallace-their captor but shook his head. That information wasn't important right now and would only really be useful to the authorities, not the vampire. Same with the ring, that was none of Silas's business.

Ignoring the strong scent of blood tickling his nose, Silas decided the best course of action was to check for any more signs of injuries before calling up the twins for extra assistance. It was clear not only were they used as Wallace's pet but also the human's personal punching bag if those bruises and bite marks weren't evidence enough.

Silas did not want to imagine how long they had endured this treatment from Wallace or else it would piss him off even more.

Of course why should he be surprised that Wallace of all people decided to keep one of his prey as a pet for his sick amusement? It was already bad enough he got off and profited off the pain of his vampire victims but keeping one as his personal pet too?

Disgusting.

Filthy.

Human.

Taking a steadying breath to calm down the urge to kill or destroy something, Silas brushed back the victim's hair but his breath caught in his throat at their exposed face. Thick eyelashes adorned their closed eyes that didn't even twitch when Silas's finger brushed through their hair. The victim had to at least be in their mid to late teens, their face retaining their youthfulness despite the slightly sunken cheeks. Yet what really caught the vampire's attention was their parted lips, exposing their teeth.

Silas found himself staring down at them, his red eye wide in disbelief as his pale face somehow became even paler.

There was no way-

this victim was a-

"Human?"