Don't Look at the Moon (Complete!)

Twelve

Virgil had, albeit reluctantly, gotten out of bed around midnight- which he supposed was now the vampire equivalent to sleeping until noon- to follow Roman to the dining hall. He found himself more sensitive to the smells of the castle- before, he smelled only the stone. But now, he could smell so much more- the wet, musty scent of moss growing on the walls; a faded, leaflike smell coming from the wood that made up the tables of the dining hall; but the worst scent came from the the food itself- there was too much of it all: too many smells coming from one place- he stopped at the entrance of the hall.

"Virgil!" Roman's voice snapped Virgil out of his thoughts. "You need to focus on one thing, or else you'll get overwhelmed. I find it easiest to focus on other vampires."

Virgil nodded, closing his eyes and inhaling. Beneath the layers of unpleasant smells, Virgil found Roman's- he smelled like metal and flowers, the metal probably coming from the sword Roman always had swathed at his hip, and the flowers perhaps left over from their walk in the garden. But knowing Roman, he probably took long and dramatic walks for fun.

"Better?" Roman asked after a minute of silence passed between the two.

"Better," Virgil nodded. "But I'm hungry. Really, really hungry."

"Makes sense. Let's go eat then, shall we?" Roman offered his arm to Virgil and escorted him through the entryway as if they were dancing partners. Roman, as always, sat at the head of the table, with his brother, Remus, on the left. Virgil went to sit toward where he was last time, but Roman motioned for Virgil to sit on his right.

Next to him, again, was Patton, who looked much sadder than the last time they sat next to each other.

Virgil didn't know what to say to him- Patton barely seemed to notice that Virgil was there. Patton just stared down at his lap, picking at the loose threads of his gray cardigan. Virgil put his hand on Patton's.

"L- oh, hi Virgil!" Patton smiled, but it wasn't real.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Virgil asked.

"No, it's fine. I'm fine," Patton started, although it sounded as if he was trying to convince himself more than Virgil.

"Patton... I'm sorry. I should have done more to help-"

"Stop it!" Patton cried in a whisper, only barely audible to Virgil. "I don't want to talk about him. I can't..."

Virgil solemnly nodded and turned his head away from Patton. Despite what everyone told him, Virgil couldn't help but blame himself. Patton and Logan had seemed so in love, like they couldn't be apart. But now, because Virgil had done nothing when he had a chance to help, Patton was suffering this loss of someone he loved that Virgil could have prevented. He knew what it felt like to lose someone close to him- the numbness that came first, with the denial that they were truly gone. Then it was the pain for knowing that you would never see them again, never hear them laugh or feel their touch. And the worst part was that nothing could be done about it. No amount of crying could bring them back.

When Virgil was younger, his father had gotten sick and died from the disease. Virgli had blamed himself then, for not working harder for medicine, for not helping his father get better, for not persuading the doctor to help.

Even when the food came, Virgil couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to Logan. He might have been overthinking it, or some people might have told him that he was dwelling too much on the past, but he couldn't shake the feeling that everything was his fault.

Trying to stop thinking about Patton and Logan, Virgil attempted to focus on his heightened senses. He could taste the iron in the food, the same coppery tang as the blood he only vaguely remembered drinking.

Normally, if he had tasted the copper in the food, he would have been disgusted. But now, with his fangs, he found he couldn't get enough of it. Ignoring anyone who might have been watching him, Virgil continued to eat, oblivious of the conversations happening around him. Before he knew it, he had cleared his plate, only focusing back at the coven when Roman nudged him and whispered, "There's dessert if you want it."

Virgil perked up. Even though he had eaten what seemed like a huge meal, he was still starving.

Roman opened his mouth to say something, but Virgil waved him off. "I know, I know. It's going to be like this for a while until I get used to it."

"Exactly," Roman replied, passing Virgil a slice of cake, which he greedily accepted.