Paradigm Shift [On-going]

Push the limit

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Dean

I hadn't been able to get Roman's diagnosis off my mind since I found out his cancer was back and he'd been keeping me up to date over text, but so far none of the treatments he'd recieved were working. I couldn't even imagine losing him, and I'd spent the last few months on autopilot. So much so that I'd lost all track of time. That's why I was shocked when Seth returned like nothing had happened.

His eyes were the first thing i noticed. They were so dark now that they almost looked black. To the human eye he'd look the same, but I noticed the subtle signs of his vampirism in the smoothness of his skin and the many tones of his hair. He'd wasted no time in telling me what had happened to him and just like I had expected, he was still drinking human blood. Frederick had encouraged him to try animal blood, but Seth wasn't interested. Seth's favourite subject had always been himself and he was only too happy to reveal that he'd been having visions and that Frederick thinks it could be his power. His visions sometimes repeated themselves with different endings and changed depending on the choices people made. I wasn't particularly interested in anything he had to say until he mentioned having visions about a brunette woman. He saw her talking and hanging out with us, but he didn't know who she was. I instantly thought about the mystery woman backstage that I have such a strong reaction too and I wondered if she was the same woman Seth had been seeing in his visions.

It took Seth a whole week to ask about Roman and when I told him about Roman's leukemia I could feel his sadness but he refused to look me in the eye, which was suspicious considering eye contact was the only way I could read his thoughts. He was definitely up to something, but that was nothing new for Seth. Late one night, Seth casually mentioned that he'd told someone about us being vampires and after I calmed down, I asked him who it was. Stephanie McMahon was the last person I expected him to name, but apparently she'd been in touch with him regarding his injury and he'd told her everything. He didn't seem in the slightest bit concerned by the consequences of his actions and as always he'd only considered himself. He'd insisted that he'd seen visions of the future and that Stephanie was a helpful ally for the three [Roman, Seth and myself] of us. Seth's arrogance and self-assured attitude was grating on me and I missed Roman. He was calm, sensible and the complete opposite of Seth. He balanced us out and stopped us from attacking each other.

His health had been a constant worry in the back of my mind. Of course, Seth had been unconcerned about Roman's condition and had insisted he would be fine, but it did little to put my mind at ease. Seth had admitted that his visions weren't always accurate, so I wasn't about to rely on his 'power' to determine Romans fate. We'd been travelling together ever since Seth returned, mainly out of convenience, but he was testing my last nerve. Everyone had been calling his recovery 'a miracle' and the official story that WWE (Stephanie) had come up with was that Seth had undergone stem cell therapy and the 'miracle cure' had left him in better shape than he'd ever been. The lie left an unpleasant taste in my mouth, even though I knew it was necessary to keep our secret.

As the month drew to an end, Seth and I performed in Florida (Roman's hometown) and after the show finished, Seth disappeared. I thought little of it at the time. In fact, I was pleased to be rid of him for a while, but as I was making my way towards my car, I received a text from Roman telling me that Seth had arrived at his house. He asked me if it was safe to let him in, and I advised him not to. I drove to his house as quickly as I could, but when I pulled into the driveway, Seth car wasn't there. I got out of my car and approached the front door. I was about to knock but noticed it was ajar so I pushed it open and searched each room until I found Roman. He was slouched on a couch chair and looked like he was asleep. I could hear his heartbeat and I examined him with my newly improved eyesight. He was thinner, paler, and his skin was covered with tiny red spots. His scent was different, too. I'd noticed it the last time I had seen him, but I hadn't given it a second thought until now. The change of scent had been his cancer. It had an unpleasant bitter undertone to it and it was present still but it was now accompanied by another scent, this one was sharp and heavy. A huge wave of pain emitted from Roman and I was about to reach towards him when I noticed his wrist. It was marred with the distinct shape of a vampire bite. I turned around as I heard someone behind me. Seth was stood there with a satisfied grin on his face.

"What the hell have you done?" I asked him, I knew already but I wanted to hear him say it.

"You might have been content to sit around and let him die but I wasn't" Seth answered

Roman groaned as another wave of pain surrounded me. I pounced, knocking Seth off his feet. We kicked, clawed, spat, and punched each other until he forced me into a submission hold. Being a younger vampire than me, he was stronger than I was and eventually I stopped fighting him and he released me from the hold.

"Did you feed from him?" I asked as i noticed Seth's fangs were showing

"He tasted great" Seth answered

"You selfish son of a bitch. Did it even occur to you to ask him if wanted to be a vampire?"

Seth shrugged. "We both know he would've said no"

"And that would've been his choice!" I argued "you can't go around playing god with people's life's!"

I stood up and once again made a phone call to Frederick. He was calm in every situation and was a lot more patient with Seth than I was. Once Frederick arrived, I left Seth to explain what had happened. I needed to get out of Roman's house before i lost it completely and ended up killing Seth.