Judgement & Justice (Invite Only {Back Story})1927

[Isaac Hart]

((Reason For Eternity starts before this thread and will probably end after it. I'll make sure to put an indicator of where this goes in that thread.))

Isaac knew these roads he walked now. They were the roads of his boyhood, as familiar to him as the back of his hand. He was looking for a particular one, however. It was late, the middle of the night, and the main light came from a full moon overhead. The road would soon have a man walking down it that Isaac wanted to see, a person he more than felt was responsible for the monster Isaac was now.

If he hadn't told me I was worthless I wouldn't have jumped. I would probably have not even been anywhere near Krysta. I wouldn't be a... a... He couldn't say it though. He'd never wanted to believe that vampires were more than a myth, but when you were a living, breathing vampire - at least in a sense living and breathing - it was hard to deny that vampires existed.

His feel hit the path he wanted, and his dark red eyes scanned the horizon for the man, his father. It was time to show his father what his life of drunken stupors had produced, a son who was a bloodthirsty and immortal killer. Aren't you so proud of me, Daddy?

[Alice]

It was a good thing that Reuben knew the road he was walking by heart, otherwise he'd never make the walk home every night. It was no secret from his droopy stance and his wavering path that he was more than a little drunk. Then again that was kind of the idle state for Reuben. The same thing, every minute of every day. A shot here, a beer there, only sobering up to make the money he'd spend the next night. Reuben knew it. his family knew it. Hell, everybody in the town knew it. Still, he would never admit he had a drinking problem, because he didn't. The only problem he had was those ungrateful children of his. Didn't he give them everything? But it was never enough of them.

Through his blurry vision, it took much longer than it should have for him to realize that there was someone else in the road in front of him. Immediately, he stopped, draining the last drop from the bottle in his hand. How many had this made? Pfft. Like it even matters. I feel fine. Wiping his face, Reuben leaned forward a bit trying to make out the face of the other man. He squinted for a second, even taking another step forward. That did it. Instantly, he recognized the man.

"Speak of the devil," he muttered under his breath when he recognized Isaac. He had already been on his way home to teach that boy a lesson. Mister High-And-Mighty, Mister I'm-too-good-for this town. As much as he tried to teach that boy a lesson, he still hadn't learned. No matter. Reuben planned to keep trying to beat some sense into that by for the rest of his long and drunken life. Sooner or later he'd learn. Oh yes, he would learn to respect his father. To shut the hell up and do what he was told. And especially not to leave the house when he was told not to. He was clearly having a problem with that one.

"What the hell do you think you're doing out here, you ungrateful bastard?" Reuben yelled, throwing the beer bottle at Isaac as hard as he could.

[Isaac Hart]

The bottle that flew at Isaac hit him in the chest. It should have hurt, but it also shouldn't have shattered like it would have if it had hit the pavement. Isaac glanced at the spot, but in the same way someone would look at a mosquito that had landed on their arm. It was more of an Oh, that's annoying than an Ow, that hurts look. Then his gaze went back to Reuben.

"Hello, Father," he said, his voice was oddly seductive in a way his human voice hadn't been. It was cold, and yet at the same time beautiful. He continued to speak now, his eyes shadowed and not yet revealing their new color. "How did I know you'd consider me ungrateful? What have I ever been ungrateful for? A house? Food and clothes? Those are all things you barely managed to provide us, and even then I'd have traded them all for a father who actually loved me and showed me some compassion."

He started to pace now, slowly circling Reuben with fluid, ethereal movements. "Instead I had you, a man who was constantly drunk and in that state would tear down what shreds of self worth I may have had." He paused in his walk, but didn't turn to face Reuben yet. "If I'm ungrateful for wanting a father who didn't make me feel like I could vanish off the face of the earth and no one would care, then I'm guilty as charged. But credit must go where credit is due, so kudos to you for your handiwork." He was honestly trying to make Reuben mad. It would be so much more fun that way.

[Alice]

As he watched the bottle shatter on his son's chest, Reuben couldn't believe his eyes. Immediately, he reached up to wipe them, sure that it was a simple hallucination. Not from the drinking, of course. Just from his lack of sleep. He worked such long, grueling hours after all. But there lay the bottle in pieces at Isaac's feet. Isaac was a strong boy, but that was unbelievable. Reuben knew something was wrong, but there was too much liquor in his system for him to care. Trying to present an illusion of strength, he straightened up and tightened his jaw just in time to hear Isaac's voice float over.

There was something different about the sound of his voice. He sounded colder... and something else. Reuben couldn't put his finger on it... but it was definitely different. He gave a dismissive Hmph in return though. 'Father'? What a pretentious... He didn't even finish the thought before he was interrupted. Reuben listened in disbelief as Isaac dared to criticize him. Compassion? Love? Reuben scoffed at the idea. He had gotten no compassion, no love from his own father. So what? It had made him a stronger man. What right did his son have to complain after everything he'd done for him.

"Now listen here, you waste of space," Reuben said, his voice almost an angry growl. I provided for this family as best as I could. I broke my back to put food on that table. And this is the thanks I get in return?" His blood was boiling under his skin. If it had been any colder out, he might have been literally steaming. Although he did kind of wish Isaac would quit moving. The circling was making him even dizzier. What did he think he was doing, anyway? "You want love and compassion, you worthless little shit? Go to your mother. All that woman ever did was make you weak. I tried to make you strong. Tried to teach you how to me a man. But all you've been is a failure." Reuben practically spit the last word at Isaac, hoping to finally make a point.

[Isaac Hart]

The sound that escaped Isaac's throat next was something of a growl. He could stand there easily and listen to Reuben berating him, because it meant nothing anymore. Isaac couldn't remove his worthless carcass from the world, no matter what Reuben told him to do or made him feel like doing. The man had taken it a step too far with the comment about Isaac's mom. "My mother is practically a saint. She puts up with you drinking away all our money and barely keeping us in that shack you call a house. I'm surprised she does, because that's real love she's showing. I'm not sure you deserve it."

He was still not facing Reuben, his head to the side becuase he was standing just right that if he faced Reuben his eyes would show. He kept talking now, only a smile seemed to stir on his face. "As far as you making me a man, making me stronger, I could show you what came of that. I have to wonder though, is the end result really what you were going for?"

Isaac turned now, slowly. The moon revealed his utterly pale features. He was still recognizable and yet an impossibly beautiful version of the man he'd been before Krysta had turned him. It wasn't too long before the moonlight fell on one of his eyes, revealing an iris that was a deep scarlet color. It was amazing how a casual grin turned somehow cruel in that face when you could see all of it. His father was drunk, but wouldn't be too drunk to realize that his son had become something of nightmares and legends. "Funny how things tend to come back to bite us, though that usually isn't in a literal sense."

[Alice]

Reuben's nose turned up in disgust when he heard the growl from Isaac's throat. "You're mother," he stated, trying to interject, but Isaac didn't stop talking. Reuben could here the anger in his voice. It wasn't until Isaac's question that Reuben wanted to speak again. He was so confused. What end result? Show me what? His mouth opened up to speak, but all his questions were answered before they even came out. Isaac's skin was pale in the moonlight. Not a washed out pale one would expect from the moon. An unnatural paleness that, when mixed with the deep scarlet of his eyes, sent a shiver up Reuben's spine.

And that expression. On any other face, in any other context, it might have been a smile. But right now, it was the most terrifying thing Reuben had ever seen. The sight of Isaac's face could haunt him for a thousand nightmares, and never become less terrifying. Something about Isaac's last sentence caused a skip in the beating of Reuben's heart as he stood, nearly paralyzed in fear. Soon, Reuben took a clumsy step backwards. It made him uneasy, standing so close to that monster. Somewhere between the fear and the beer, he was unable to steady himself as he stumbled and hit the ground. "Your eyes..." he muttered, almost inaudibly. "What are you?"

[Isaac Hart]

Reuben stumbled backward and fell. Now Isaac had the upper hand, not that he really hadn't before. As a vampire he was stronger and faster than Reuben, so there had never been any contest in this confrontation. Still, it was nice to see his father scared and to be towering over the man, to feel like he was finally showing Reuben just how he'd felt as a child. This alone could almost be considered revenge... but not quite.

"What am I?" There was an almost sickly sweet innocence to Isaac's voice as he spoke those words. "Technically I should be a myth, a legend. I myself never believed in the existence of monsters like myself." He was drawing this out, mostly because he was enjoying it. Still, he had to actually answer the question. "It is hard to deny the existence of vampires when you are one yourself though."

In a fluid movement he dropped to a crouch and grabbed onto the front of Rueben's shirt so that the man couldn't look away. "So tell me now, Father. Tell me again how worthless I am. Tell me how weak I am." His face was sort of contorted into a snarl, his eyes glaring at Rueben. "Your words were what made me try to kill myself, to rid the world of my burden. Instead I was saved by a vampire." The word saved was spat out with an acid tone, because he didn't feel saved. He felt condemned.

"I'm an immortal killer, and you have yourself to thank for that." He spoke those words with a flourish of one pale arm, as if he were presenting the winner of an award. "So tell me, are you happy now? Or am I still a failure? I'm just dying to know."

[Alice]

Reuben's voicebox stopped working as Isaac answered his question. His brain refused to believe the words he was hearing. Vampires didn't exist. His son... his son was not a vampire. Still, Reuben was scared. He tried to crawl backwards, but, before he could move even an inch, Isaac had him by the front of the shirt. His face was curled into a snarl that frightened Reuben more than the words themself. Instintively, he flinched as Isaac spat the word saved. This experience was sobering him up quicker than any rehab center ever could. He was just sober enough now to feel a squeeze on his heart. His son... his son had attempted to commit suicide... because of him.

"I'm... I'm so sorry," he pleaded, clenching his eyes shut to avoid Isaac's gaze. It amazed him that he could be both terrified and hearbroken at the same time. Part of him still didn't want to believe that this was happening. But it was. He could feel the rockiness of the road under his hands and the cool breeze of night around him. "I didn't mean... Isaac, I didn't mean to..." Reuben couldn't even get a sentence out. Still, he fought to avoid those eyes. All there was left to do now, after all, was beg for his life. He had been such a proud man his entire life. But this begging... this pleading for his life, came almost easily. "I'll... I'll stop drinking. I'll change... I'll be a better father. A better man... just please, don't... Don't hurt me." Reuben didn't know what else there was to say.

[Isaac Hart]

Reuben was afraid, begging for his life even, and yet Isaac knew that if he'd ever confronted the man as a human this wouldn't have happened. All the words his father spoke now, they meant nothing to Isaac. It was too little too late, and chances were they were just the words of a desperate man. Changes were they were nothing more than lies.

"You won't change," Isaac said, calling the man's bluff. "You're desperate. For the first time you're powerless against me, and you'll say anything to get out of facing what I've become. But all your words are just that, words, and you'll go home and this won't change anything." For the sakes of his siblings, Isaac wished it were true. It was too late for him, but they still needed a father. But this wasn't the kind of father they needed, and Isaac knew everyone in town loved his mother. They'd be sympathetic. Reuben was out of time and had been since the moment Isaac had been turned and had let his anger get the better of him.

"You can apologize and beg all you want, but it's too late for any of that to change things. You need to pay for your mistakes now." With that Isaac pulled the struggling man to him and bit his neck.

Some time later he walked away from the corpse, leaving it laying on the road. Isaac felt a little buzzed, maybe even tipsy, probably from the alcohol that had been in Rueben's system. He felt good though. Justice had been payed tonight for everything that man had put him through.