There was nothing to do now but think, reflect on what had led up to this point. As far as he could tell, his experiment had not gone well. Not quite disastrous, but not as he’d hoped, either. Things would have been much simpler, he surmised, if things had just gone the way he’d wanted. Perhaps it had been a mistake to invite Vince to be his Sheriff – after all it was Vince that took his ghoul away, and that’s when problems started. Of course, there was Jasper as well – that damnable man in that vile suit…offering to make things better, and only making them worse, just like the damned jinn he claimed to be. Marcus felt he really should have known better, but was blinded by what he felt. He’d wanted his ghoul back.
Now he felt nothing for the ghoul he’d once loved – and it was a nothing that searched to be filled, and gnawed because it couldn’t be. He could blame that on Charles’ strange new counselor, whatever he was. Things really got worse from there..he was touchier, and more likely to be set off. His Beast had been too close to the surface. It was a wonder he hadn’t frenzied on Brandon when he came by to gloat that he’d bought out the city, and gained the controlling share in Marcus’ own interests. If only he’d had that satisfying snap of Brandon’s neck when he tried!
Damn them all for staking him and leaving him to rot – in his own basement, of all places! Mutinous bastards, every last one. If he ever got out, he decided, he was going to eat the ones that caused him the most problems – to his eyes, that would be Vince and Brandon. It would be satisfying to drain them dry. Perhaps better yet, just leave – it would likely be what they wanted. He still had enough outside influence that he could create no end of problems for them, from a few different angles. If his experiment was going to fail, he could help it come to its end.
There was Kass to contend with, too, he remembered. Kass, who hadn’t been around for centuries, yet had apparently been keeping tabs on him. Kass, who’d left him to his own devices shortly after embrace, giving him the necessities to survive. Kass too, should go – but he had no idea of the older man’s capabilities, so he would try and avoid him altogether if it could be helped.
On the other hand, he could just quietly comply, when or if they saw fit to release him. It wasn’t what he wanted to do, by any stretch of the imagination – but perhaps he should move on, and find a way to fill that void and sate the beast. No men this time. Locally, he hadn’t seen any women that sparked any kind of desire in him, save perhaps for Greg’s granddaughter, Trish. He didn’t know what it was about her, either. Just a something.
Inwardly, he sighed. There was nothing he could do until his release anyhow. Idly, he wondered if it was possible to go into voluntary torpor while involuntarily torpored. Go to sleep for a few hundred years and the problem might go away. But he’d want to choose his place of torpor, not be left to chance, as he had been. Deacon…where was Deacon in all of this? Ungrateful ghoul…he could at least remove the stake. Likely they were keeping people away from his house. Another inner sigh, and he decided not to reflect on what-ifs and might-have-beens, turning his thoughts instead to remembering the past.
It would suit to pass the time.