Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Nova?” Her eyes weren’t opening. Victor shook her gently. “Come on Golden Girl open your eyes.” He stroked the side of her face before dropping his fingers to her neck to try and find her pulse. It was faint, but it was there. “Cmon Goldie. Wake up.”

Vera slowly stepped foward. “Victor let’s just-“

“Stand back.” Victor stood up slowly, eyes hardening as he turned to face the female vampire. “This is your fault Vera! All she wanted to do was be friends with us! All she wanted was to save our people.” 

“I was just trying to-“

“Enough Vera. I’m still your leader. I’m still in charge here. Instead of coming to me or trying to have a conversation you attacked her.” He gave her a once over, anger daring to bubble to the surface. “I can’t forgive you for that.”

Vera stumbled backward, stunned. 

“Thanks for looking out Victor but Nova’s a daywalker so I’ll just take her back to the cabin and I’m sure she’ll wake up in no time.” Ray started to walk toward Nova but Victor stood his ground.

“Stand back Ray.” He bared his fangs. “If you touch her-“

Ray scoffed. “What? What are you going to do Fangs? You wouldn’t hurt a fly. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how weak you are. And don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’re trying to lure Nova away from her people. You’re nothing but pure, weak, darkness.” Ray took another step forward.

Victor hissed, standing over Nova. “Get back Ray.” He drew from his darkstone, summoning the wind.

“Ray it’s not worth it.” A daywalker ran forward and yanked him back, and the daywalkers retreated back toward their cabin.

Vera, still stunned speechless, just ran off, not daring to look back.

Victor dropped back down to Nova, carefully gathering her in his arms. “Zed! Addison! Help!”

Wherever they had been, the four counselors emerged and surveyed the scene. Benches were scorched from Nova’s attempts to protect herself, the contents of the firepit were scattered around from Vera’s ruthless attacks. And Nova. Victor didn’t know what finally caused her to drop, but the power of Vera’s final blast knocked her down, and she landed head first on the dirt. She wasn’t bleeding beyond scrapes but she still hadn’t opened her eyes and her breathing was slowed.

Zed and Willa immediately asked who did it, but Victor couldn’t speak. Eliza and Addison ushered him into the first aid cabin, where they had him lay Nova on one of the empty beds.

“What happened?” Addison asked while Eliza was already scanning Nova with one of her computer things.

“I don’t know. Vargas and I were in the bunks when we heard a commotion. Vera and Nova. Vera was yelling something about betrayal and never trusting a daywalker, Nova was just trying to defend herself-“ Victor’s anger had melted into confusion and all he could think about is if Nova was going to survive. He turned to Eliza, trying to keep his voice steady. “Is she going to be okay?”

Eliza looked up from the computer long enough to nod. “We just have to keep her stable. It’s probably just a concussion, she’ll hopefully wake up in a few hours. I don’t really know how daywalker bodies work, but based off of regular human vitals she’s okay Victor.”

Addison put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You should go get some sleep. We can watch her.”

Victor shook his head, not tearing his eyes away from the daywalker. “I’m staying.”

Eliza and Addison shared a look. “We have to check on the other campers, and we should probably help Zed and Willa clean up.” Eliza said, standing up.

Addison nodded in agreement. “Come get us if she gets worse, or if you decide to go back to the bunks after all.”

Once they left, Victor collapsed into the chair next to Nova’s bed. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been there, or when he had drifted off to sleep, but he felt movement beside him.

“Victor?” 

The voice was soft, almost scared. But familar.

He jolted awake, and locked eyes with Nova. He could have cried in relief. “Nova.” He reached out for her hand, but she jerked away.

“What happened?” She put a hand to her head.

He jumped up. “Let me get you some water.” He ran around the cabin for a minute, trying to find water but when he returned to the bed Nova wouldn’t take the cup.

“Victor. What happened?” Her eyes were pleading with him.

He sighed and set the cup down. “I, I don’t really know. All I know was that Vera attacked you, but I don’t know why. You hit your head pretty bad, you’ve been out for…” He reached above her to peak out of the shut blinds of the window above the bed. It was pitch black outside, except for a few torches. “At least a few hours. I think I brought you in here when it was just barely light.” He reached out again. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Goldie, Nova, what happened?”

“I’m so sorry Victor.” She looked on the verge of tears. “She must have heard me and Ray talking. My dad-my dad wanted me to take all the bloodfruit, even if that meant killing all of you.” She shook her head, blinking at the ceiling to keep from crying. “I wasn’t going to I swear, but Ray. Ray would have burned down the whole camp that second if I told him to so we could get all the bloodfruit. You must be so angry at me.”

He looked at her for a moment, before moving to sit on the edge of her bed. He carefully grabbed her face with both hands, making sure she was looking at him. “I know you Nova. You wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, or my people. Even when Vera was attacking you everything you did was to counter or defend yourself. You didn’t once strike back. I know your dad taught you to lead a certain way, but you are your own person.” He pressed their foreheads together, wiping away any stray tears from her face with his thumbs. “You do things with your whole heart. We’re going to find a way out of this.”

She took a deep breath. “Will you stay with me for a little? My head hurts and, I don’t want to face the daywalkers or vampires right now.” She shifts and pats the empty space on the bed beside her.

He nods, and lays down over the blankets she’s bundled in, making sure her head is safe before letting her curl up in his arms. She’s asleep quickly, and he tells himself he needs to stay awake in case she needs anything, but he’s exhausted and eventually falls asleep as well. When he wakes up, the sun is bright in the sky, but Nova is still fast asleep and he doesn’t dare move her, so he just closes his eyes and pulls her closer.

Zed and Addison come to check on them in the morning and Nova is still asleep, Victor’s arm protectively around Nova, her head tucked against his chest.

Addison coos. “Zed!” She whispers. “I know that the circumstances are really bad and everything, but get a picture before we have to wake them up!”

Nova flinches in her sleep, but Victor just pulls her closer, and the two of them settle again. He opens his eyes to give them a warning look. “She’s had a rough night, do not take a picture!” He hisses, glancing back at Nova to make sure she’s still comfortable.

That doesn’t stop Zed and Addison from stifling a laugh, and Zed from pulling out what looks like an ancient zombie camera and clicking the shutter button. “We really need to talk about yesterday, but we don’t want to get biten so just wake her up in a few minutes and meet us outside.” Zed flashes the young vampire a wink before quickly leaving with Addison.

Victor looks down at Nova, his golden girl, tucked safely in his arms. Even if they have to face the day in a few minutes, right now he could just pretend everything was okay. Before he wakes her, he tries to memorize her face, her hair, the glow of her skin as the sun hits it. He tries to soak in her warmth, the way he feels like floating while she’s in his arms, and the way she looked at him before they fell asleep. That one look that said he was the only person she needed to comfort her. He thinks about the past few days, seeing her for the first time, meeting her, exploring the idea of being with her. He knows it’ll have to end in a moment when she opens her eyes, but for this one moment in time there is really no place in the world he would want to be.