That Which Lies in the Dark

6

Remus jumped as the motel door was suddenly opened, revealing Roman standing there numb and void, covered in blood, and his heart broke. He watched his brother strip off his clothes, and head to the washroom, without even a word. Then again that's usually how it was with him. Remus sighed as he grabbed this small silver bag from their things before setting it on the table for Roman to find when he was finished.

He grabbed Roman's sword and an old rag that he had been needing to throw out, before just sitting down and wiping as much of the blood off of it as he could. He knew Roman would take care of it, just as he always did, but Remus also knew Roman needed a break.

The bathroom door opened again quite sometime after, and Roman froze up seeing the silver bag on the table. Remus just chuckled from where he was sitting as he just continued to clean as much as he could.

"I figured you would want it." Roman's eyes still held no life at all, making Remus hesitate a bit with a worried look. "Brother?"

"Thank you, Remus, but I'm afraid I have much to do." Remus's eyes fell as Roman completely ignored his bag and instead pulled out some paper they had in Roman's hunter things. Remus watched as Roman sat down to write, no doubt to send word to the capital that the vampires had been exterminated and were no longer a threat. In which case, they will be set aside coins for their hunt that they can get at any guild house they run to.

"Roman, why don't we just go?" Roman paused, a frown on his lips, as Remus wrapped his arms around his brother from behind. Some people always thought it odd how close the two were. And yes, they did often get some horrid remarks about it as well but it wasn't something the two could help. They were twins. But more so that then... they'd always been inseparable. The closer the two were to each other the safer the two felt. The more complete... whole. Their mother always told them that they were born of the same soul. That when the moon promised her a child, she took the soul which was too large to house in a single body and split it in two, so that she would never be without company. It was the one thing Remus held on to with her talks about the Moon. He and his brother were connected through their souls and he was sure of it.

It only made seeing his brother this way all the more painful.

"We should go. Leave town. The deeds been already done. Surely there is no more reason to stay?" Roman sighed as he gently set his quill down before turning enough in his chair for Remus to walk in front of him. "You don't need to push yourself so much."

"If I don't send word to the capital now then chances are someone else might try to take responsibility for the hunt. We're already low on coins."

"Roman, you need a break-..."

"No, I don't." Roman growled only making Remus falter in pain over his brother's disregard for himself. "This... This is what I do." Remus pushed himself away, clearly frustrated and upset, as Roman just turned back to his letter.

"Did you even test them?" Roman's hand twitched as Remus's voice came out in a hiss. "Roman... Did you test them?"

"I didn't have to." Remus's eyes flared as Roman continued to write, not even bothering to look back at his brother as he knew exactly the look Remus was giving him. "The second I arrived I felt them. And before you start ranting... They attacked me first."

"Of course they did! You're a hunter!"

"YES, I AM!" Roman snapped making Remus step back seeing the pure anger in Roman's eyes. "I AM a hunter. Which means my ONLY job is to find the monsters and kill them, and yet you ridicule me for my actions as if I have a choice." Roman's eyes flared like a fire as Remus's turned their empty white. "I do what I do for us to survive. I do what I do to make sure more people don't have to suffer like we did."

"Roman-..."

"You didn't see her Remus." Remus's eyes flashed brightly as Roman's voice trembled. "I wouldn't let you. You didn't see what those beasts did to her. So don't tell me that I shouldn't kill them. Don't tell me that I'm in the wrong. ALL monsters deserve to die."

"What about me?" Remus whispered making Roman's whole body jerk. "What if I was one of those... monsters?"

"I'm not doing this again."

"Roman-..." Roman completely tuned him out, focusing solely on his letter as Remus sat down on the bed with a broken look. "Have you said your prayers?" Not a single reaction and Remus knew he wasn't going to get Roman to talk to him again that night. "I see. Well... Good night, Brother."

Roman frowned as he glanced behind him once the letter was finished, only to see Remus sleeping again on the bed. He never understood how his brother could fall asleep so easily or even manage to sleep throughout the night. Roman sighed as he folded his letter and sealed it closed. He started to get up, wanting to send it out as soon as possible, but his eyes latched onto his silver bag and finally, some sort of light started to return to Roman's eyes.

He set the letter off to the side before grabbing his back and moving over to the window sill. He grabbed a candle and his flint, lighting the wick so that the small flame burned happily in his hands.

It was only then that he finally let himself look up at the moon.

When the sun rose, Roman still just remained there in the window sill, his face dull yet that was typical for him now. He had lost that childish glow that night and never managed to gain any of it back. Not like his brother, who woke up with a shout just to annoy him, before racing around the room like a tornado to grab all his things. It wasn't until Remus's eyes caught sight of the sealed letter still on the desk and how the silver bag was now gone, that Remus slowed down.

"We're going to make our way towards Farven. Apparently, there is word of possible demons in town." The second Roman said demons, Remus's eyes shot wide in a panic. "I know we do our best to leave them for others but... we really need the money. We'll stop and find a courier on our way, have the letter sent express so that hopefully we can avoid any trouble on that front."

"Roman-..."

"I know." Roman growled as he just grabbed his bag before turning to Remus with a serious look. "We don't have a choice, Remus."

"I'm helping you with this one." Remus called curtly and Roman, despite how much he hated it, knew there was no changing his brother's mind. "You can't go after a demon on your own. Even if you are strong enough to kill without help."

"Just... you know the rules." Roman's eyes set with a deep-rooted fear, as Remus nodded understandingly. "Absolutely no magic."