caughtinanetwork | [Video/Action] First Tower Murder

[Every single night, Johnny would patrol the bubble and, specifically, check on his friends to make sure they were all safe. Sometimes he wouldn't go by the people he knew could take care of themselves if he were pressed for time, but there was one house he always checked on.

Last night, when Jacob's Cabin was dark, he didn't think much of it. There was nothing that seemed amiss and the man often wandered around, it seemed, so Johnny didn't even think twice about it.

It was the scent of blood that drew Johnny from his walk to his tavern. It was faint, at first, but as he walked it grew stronger...and more familiar. By the time he got to the opening of the alleyway, the vampire was a blur on the street. However, he stopped cold when he got to the body. His knees gave out beside the man and trembling hands reached out to touch the wounds, not caring about the blood that would get on him.

How? How had this happened? When? Who? Last night when Johnny thought everything was right with the world and didn't question Jacob's absence? There was nothing. The blood was stale, that gentle heart long since stilled, and the only scent in the alleyway was bleach...even that scent he'd come to love and associate with his father-figure had left the cold body.

Cold flooded him even as hot tears prickled his eyes and ran down his cheeks. The vampire took the man into his arms, not noticing the black-bordered card that slipped from the folds of the sheet Jacob's mutilated corpse was wrapped in.

Quietly, he reached for his SFC and turned it on, not bothering to hide his tears even as he let the venom and steel coat his voice.

When the video turned on, Johnny's murderous glare and Jacob's peaceful face could be seen. Just at the edge, the jagged and bloodied flesh of a slit throat was the only indication the peace was not caused by sleep.]

To those it may concern:

The man known as Jacob is dead.

[...]

To whoever did this....?

Step forward now and I'll attempt to not rip your throat out with my teeth before you've had a chance to explain why you would end this man's life.

And then, afterwards, I will make it quick.

[His golden eyes flash dangerously.]

If you don't step forward within the hour, I will find you, and the one thing I can promise is that your death will be agonizing and slow.

[More tears escape his eyes as his rage begins to give way to grief and he cuts off the video.

The make-shift wall he'd built from rage and pain broke and grief flooded him, causing him to soak the once warm and supportive shoulder he would lean against. Brokenly, the vampire sobbed and cried out, the pain in his heart too much.

He knew, he knew this wasn't permanent. Jacob would be back....but that didn't matter. It didn't change the fact Johnny had failed the one person who mattered more than anything ever. He had failed his one Saving Grace.]

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[Exceedingly worried, Sola fumbles for his SFC and attempts to call Johnny instead.]

Johnny where are you?! Are you okay?

[He wouldn't have answered, except it's Sola. The fountain can be seen and heard behind him.]

Sola....I'm in the plaza.

I'll be right there!

[That's all for the video as it lurches sickeningly, showing Sola's at a run once again to meet Johnny. Once he's made it to him though, Sola has to stop for a long moment and catch his breath, leaning down to pant towards the ground with his hands on his knees.]

I came- [Pant.] as soon as I could. [Pant.]

[Johnny glanced over at Sola before returning his eyes to his hands. The blood was long wiped away and gone...but he could still remember what it felt like and smelled like.

It had been stale and old...long since dead. And the memory just drove home that he had failed the one man he had to protect the most.

He glanced back over to Sola, his brain trying to come up with something to say...but the memory of their fight rose back up and killed any words that were in his throat. It seemed like forever ago now, but the pain was still there and fresh, now mixed with the agony of this morning's discovery. Even more so with Sola than any of the others who had contacted him...he didn't know what he was supposed to say.]

[The fight is the last thing on Sola's mind. There's not room for that sort of confusion right now, no, the only thing that matters is that Johnny's in distress.

He doesn't hesitate in wrapping his arms around his matesprit, not in the needing, thankful way he usually does but in a quiet, loving, comforting embrace. He's here. He can't fix it, but he's here to offer what support he can.

Because that's what you do when someone you love is hurting.

He's quiet as he stays here, arms in a tight embrace and a few tears present at the corners of his eyes for Jacob. He didn't deserve to die. Nor did Johnny deserve to hurt.]

[The gesture doesn't necessarily surprise him --it is Sola, after all-- but it sends a jolt through him and he can feel his eyes dampen again as he wraps his arms around the smaller frame in return.

A shudder quakes through him and his grip tightens a little as the tears start falling again. Despite everyone's insistence, he can't shake the feelings of guilt and failure and....he just didn't know what to do.

H-hey...

[The replica's arms tighten around Johnny's broad shoulders, ears drooping back in sympathetic sadness. It's not as if he'd never comforted Johnny before, far from it, but he's never seen his matesprit cry, never seen him so destitute and aggrieved. Even the incident in the lab didn't come close.]

It's... it's okay, he'll come back. A-and we can find out who did this and make them pay, okay? Please don't cry...

[He brought one of his hands up to his face to wipe at the tears, wishing he could do what Sola asked and not cry. He doesn't want to cry anymore, he hasn't cried this much in....forever; he can't even remember it.

When he finally speaks, his voice is low and a little strained.]

I'm sorry....I know. It's just...I said...I said I'd protect him, and I didn't.

[He failed to protect the one person who needed it most, how could he be trusted to protect anyone else? He wanted to protect Sola too....but would there be a day when he failed there too?

How could he act the knight when he couldn't protect his 'kingdom?' or the people in it who mattered most?]

[Leaning in, Sola kisses Johnny's forehead gently just as the vampire's done to him so many times before.]

He'll come back, Johnny. If I came back then so will he and he'll tell you who did it so you can make sure no one gets hurt again.

[He's aware he's repeating himself, but he doesn't know what else to say. He knows the feeling of wanting to protect someone but... you can't be everywhere all the time. He'd learned that lesson hard, first when Signless had died in his swimming accident and again when he'd been in a coma while Johnny fought to protect the entire bubble from Yami. What had helped? What had he wanted to hear?]

...It's not your fault.

[....it felt like his fault. But he also knew Sola, Rinoa and everyone else was right.

His only option was to be patient and wait.

At least there was something to wait for. If this were back home...he wouldn't be able to wait for anything.]

...thank you.

[He holds Sola as closely as possible, not really caring that he felt a bit like a clingy child.

[Video/Action] First Tower Murder

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