Best Laid Plans

1888: Creatures of The Moon

It had been less than a week since the Mansion had burnt down, leaving nothing his home as nothing but ash and rubble. Dio sat in the common room of one of the many inns in town, tucked away in the back corner, mostly out of sight of the other patrons. The last thing he needed was to be recognised and word to reach Erina that he’d survived. Thankfully, Speedwagon had chosen an inn on the opposite side of the small town to the Pendleton’s Hospital, so it wasn’t like there had been any chance meetings in the marketplace. 

Not that Dio could even visit the marketplace. 

He knew—even without Speedwagon’s surprisingly large amount of knowledge about vampirism—that leaving the inn was a bad idea. Who knew who in town could be working for Erina—even at age twelve she’d had an impressive network of informants in the town. That alone was enough to discourage him, as well as the fact he would die the second the direct sunlight touched his pale skin.

Dio sighed, sinking further into the darkness of the corner as the door to the inn opened, the room brightening. Speedwagon walked in, a troubled expression on his scarred face. He barely glanced around the room, making his way towards Dio, who sighed again. That expression meant no good—Speedwagon had likely run into trouble while investigating JoJo’s condition at the hospital. Speedwagon pulled out a chair to sit down and Dio winced at the loud scraping noise it made. No one else in the room seemed bothered by it though, so he put heightened hearing on his mental list of vampiric powers. The list was getting quite long—and he’d only had the powers for a few days. Each night—when he left the inn and roamed the town and its surroundings—he made new discoveries. 

He could only assume Erina was doing the same.

“How did the visit go?” Dio asked, even though he already knew the answer.

“I couldn’t get anywhere near him!” Speedwagon exclaimed, placing his bowler hat on the table and running his fingers through his hair. “That Erina, she’s keeping a very close eye on him. I wouldn’t be surprised if the only time she left him alone is when she goes to feed!”

Dio nodded. His own thirst had become insatiable the night of the fire and it had taken every fibre of his being to not suck the life force out of the nearest human—who had happened to be Speedwagon at the time. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to resist when two people passed by him while he’d been waiting for Speedwagon in a side alley. He hadn’t known them. But that didn’t stop the guilt that came from killing innocents. 

Dio doubted that Erina had any such qualms about killing for power.

Thankfully, that—rather unfortunate—feed had helped him mostly recover from his injuries and he hadn’t needed to feed since. Dio suspected he could go hundreds of years between feeds if he didn’t get injured. Which was quite a relief. He wasn’t sure if he could live with himself if he had to go and eat a random person every night. He’d probably step out into the sunlight of his own accord the minute Erina was dead.

“I haven’t seen her out at night, so she probably fed once and hasn’t left JoJo’s side since,” Dio tapped his fingers against the table. “She probably wants to make sure no one is taking care of JoJo except her. She can’t risk him hearing the true story.”

“Eh, you’re probably right there Mr—uh Dio.”

Dio felt a small smile touch the corner of his lips. Speedwagon had been very insistent about calling him ‘Mr Brando’ until Dio had explained that hearing that name made his skin crawl and his mind whirl. 

Speedwagon had understood. 

“Everyone’s got a past they’re tryin’ to escape in my experience,” he’d said. Dio had thanked him, but sometimes the kind-hearted thug slipped up. But, Dio gave credit where credit was due—Speedwagon was trying his hardest. And that was something Dio could respect.

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It was a beautiful night, Erina thought as she stood on the top of the small town’s church. The sky was clear and the moon was full, bathing the entire town in a silvery light. She stretched her arms upwards, basking in its light, just as she had once done with afternoon sunlight. It didn’t matter to her that the sun was out of reach now, the moon’s light and energy was far greater than the sun’s had ever been.

If humans are creatures of the sun, it only makes sense that vampires are creatures of the moon. Erina mulled this thought over, keeping a careful eye on the window that lead to Jonathan’s room. This was her first excursion since he had been placed in her care, and it wouldn’t do for her to wander too far from him. After all, who knew what could happen? And there had already been too many changes to her carefully laid plans. She would not allow another disturbance.

Her ears pricked up, catching a noise that stood out in the quiet night. She turned, searching for its origin, but it was too late, whatever had made the noise was gone. She dismissed it, writing it off as an animal or a drunk in an alleyway. 

But, even as she returned to keep an eye on Jonathan, she couldn’t help but feel like she had missed something significant.

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Speedwagon imagined it must be very hard for two vampires wandering the roofs of such a small town at night to not run into each other. So, he hoped that Dio wouldn’t accidentally run into Erina. He wouldn’t be able to help if they met while he was sleeping!

The true story had shocked him at first, but not as much as he knew it should have. Speedwagon had travelled the world and seen many strange things, so vampires in the English countryside was not as improbable as it may first appear.

He’d wanted to tell Jonathan the truth—he didn’t want to leave his friend in the dark. But, Dio had insisted. He claimed it would break Jonathan’s heart to know that the woman he had loved for so many years was actually a bloodthirsty vampire after his family fortune.

“I can bear JoJo’s hate,” he’d told Speedwagon, his face a mask but his eyes incredibly sad. “But I couldn’t bear seeing him as heartbroken as he would be if he knew the truth.”

Speedwagon supposed that was fair. He could tell Dio would do anything for his family, even if that meant he would never see his brother ever again.

It was sad, Speedwagon thought, but he’d do his best to help Dio take down Erina. Together they’d avenge Lord Joestar, and Jonathan would never have to know what truly happened to his father.

He sighed, settling into the inn’s bed. Dio had already left for the night, so Speedwagon had left the window open for him to enter when he returned. Soon, he drifted off to sleep.

When he awoke the next morning, light streamed through the room—the window still open—and Dio was nowhere in sight.