Chapter Text
Ashley stared up at the stained ceiling of her room in her apartment, but not seeing it. Her mind was in the past, eyes glossed over and hands itching for a smoke. Thoughts running wild, running away from her. Memories skittered past her eyelids. She sighed, each moment bittersweet in her mind, but she yearned for that taste. Time slowly ticked by as her memories happened at the speed of light. She pursed her lips, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to get lost in the memories. She sighed again, relaxing and opening her eyes, for she knew that she’d have to come back to the present eventually, so why not then?
Bones aching, she slowly sat up. Bleary eyed and numb hands, and the feeling of something heavy against her chest. Ashley looked around her room. It was bare compared to the rest of the apartment, which looked much more lived-in. Most of her belongings had been put into cardboard boxes and she let out a long sigh when she focused on one box. It was the only one that wasn't labeled and she knew damn well what was in it. She wanted to reach out but she knew she'd never stop if she did.
After a minute, her roommate, Jora, threw open the door, causing it to hit the wall and walked into the room with no respect to human decency whatsoever. Ashley was startled, and opened her mouth to object, but Jora began talking over her.
“You love me, right? Right. Well. Okay so here's the thing, you remember all those movie nights with popcorn and Buffy and how I would always complain about the fight scenes and especially the death scenes? Well, there’s kind of a reason for that. Though, ok, I also got really upset about Tara’s death to the point where we have to skip that episode after Willow and Tara kiss for the last time, but anyway… Wait, I’m going about this all wrong. So um, I often go out to see people. They’re not really friends. Well… They’re not not friends, but I haven’t been having sex with all of them, which you’ve probably figured that out. I mean, I’ve had sex before and you know that, but I just wanted to finally tell you this because I don’t want to have this secret from you anymore since you’re so important to me and I also wanted to reassure you that there’s nobody above you in my life, but I really needed their blood because we vampires need blood to survive but you’re my best friend and now I’m kinda scared that you’re friend jealous of them now but there’s really no reason to be-”
“Jora, what the fuck?” Her eyes widened at this intrusion into her room.
“Shush for a second. Please don’t interrupt me. I’m trying to tell you something and I spent way too long rehearsing this for you to not follow the darned script because I worked so hard on it because I wanted you to like this and still like me. Anyways, it’s hard for me to come out and say this because I don’t want you to think of me differently because I’m still the same person, but then again I didn’t think differently of you when I found out that you smoked, even though it’s really bad for you and I don’t want you to get lung cancer because it’d make me sad if you died and left me alone here because I don’t think I’d be able to live with anyone but you, but then again if that happened after you hypothetically left because you don’t want anything to do with me anymore once you find out that I’m a vampire I wouldn’t know if you died but then again maybe I’d find your obituary or someone would find me as one of the contacts in your phone and then tell me that you were dead or sick in the hospital with cancer since you don’t really have anyone you text as much as me, and they’d just assume that we’re still close, but the real question is would you delete our conversations and block me after leaving me because you don’t want to live with a vampire, not that I’d necessarily blame you, but then again maybe I kind of should because you should judge people on their behavior and not stuff that has no evidence of it happening. But I don’t think I could ever be harsh on you because-”
“For fucks sake take a breath will ya, don't want you to die of asphyxiation, jesus ,” Ashley interjected, eyes wide with horror at the trainwreck that was Jora’s speech. They looked the worst she’d ever seen them if she was being honest, all out of breath, overly enthusiastic hand gestures, and wide eyes. They were acting differently due to their nervousness. “And, Jora… I know you’re queer. You’ve been making ace jokes ever since I met you. I mean, I never thought you were going to actually finally say it, but then again I never thought you'd get us thrown out of Comic Con.” (And really, what was Ashley thinking taking them to Comic-Con? The last thing she expected was for Jora to begin bawling at some poor cosplayer dressed as Kennedy when she’d kissed her own girlfriend, who’d been dressed as Willow. But Jora apparently couldn’t handle seeing anyone with Willow except Tara and maybe Oz on a good day, so they had gotten the two of them kicked out of Comic Con because their loud cries were scaring the children.) “But you don’t really need to come out to me. I already know and it doesn’t bother me at all. But if it really makes you feel better--”
“Oh my god, I’m not trying to come out to you as freaking asexual!” Jora protested, exasperated. “I did keep meaning to tell you that, but like… I kept forgetting, but anyway that’s not what I’m trying to say to you right now. I’m trying to tell you something that could potentially change or even ruin our entire relationship forever since I’m kind of a bloodsucking creature of the night though I don’t know how you’re going to feel about it, and I just felt like it was the right time to tell you that I’m a--Ashley you piece of snickerdoodle, pay attention!” Ashley had turned her head to look out the window while they were rambling, because she figured that this would take awhile. Shocked, she looked back at them, meeting their different colored eyes. “Thank you. Goodness… Anyway, I’m trying to tell you that I’m a vampire, so, it goes… Oh yeah… Ashley, I hope you understand and still love me after I tell you this… Ashley, I’m a vampire so… what do you think?” They looked hopeful but nervous.
“About what?” Ashley asked, casually shrugging.
“Oh my gosh darned goodness!” They said, exasperated. “Ashley, weren’t you paying attention?”
“I was.” She replied simply. “It’s a cute joke. Or word vomit. Or both?” Jora scowled, crossing their arms like a small child.
“But I am a vampire.”
“Yeah, you've said that like six times already. Are you okay, Jo? Did you drink Red Bull again? Coffee wouldn’t make it this bad… Would it?”
“It’s not that, I… I was just nervous.” Jora pouted. They crossed their arms over their chest, frown etched in their features. Ashley briefly entertained the thought of taking a snap of them using the dog filter and putting it on her story.
“Wait, you're serious? Jora… What?” Ashley was confused, what the hell was her roommate on and should she be offended that they didn't share? But then again, did they even do drugs? Probably not… Jora would have a heart attack even just hearing the word ‘Marijuana’. Besides, they shared as much as possible with her… even with their less-than desirable food-type concoctions.
“Oh my darling goodness!” Jora sighed in frustration. “Ashley! I went to all this trouble to write out seven drafts of a script for this, and then I rehearsed it ten times in the mirror, which by the way is really darn hard to do when you’re a vampire, and then you won’t even take me seriously? Oh my ding dang goodness, Ash! I just didn’t want to have any secrets from you any more even though I was scared of how you’d react.” They looked genuinely hurt. Ashley felt a bit bad, but she honestly wasn’t sure what to do.
“I have to… gimme a sec,” Ashley took in a deep breath, feels around behind her for her bed before plopping down on it. “You're serious?” All she got in response was a nod, Jora looking at her like a deer in headlights. “Jo, I don’t know whether I should believe you or not. You could just be playing a prank on me… don’t think I haven’t forgotten the sugar-salt thing or that one New Year's incident two years ago.”
“Lee-lee, I’m actually serious. Like, more serious than I've ever been about anything,” Jora practically whined. Ashley raised an eyebrow at that but Jora cut off her train of thought, “That doesn't include Willara.”
“I’d actually be extremely concerned if you were more serious about something than Willara. But I’m not exactly unconcerned about you right now.” Ashley warned. “Jo-Jo, I’m gonna need some proof.”
It took a while for Ashley to believe Jora but once they managed to convince her (through Jora announcing that they had blood in their little refrigerator, and then Ashley actually tasting it to check and promptly spitting it out because they weren’t lying) it was kind of hard to deny it. Her roommate was a vampire. Jora, her Jo-Jo, her best friend of four years whom she'd spent crying over sappy romcoms with and the one who’d comforted her when she was crying about all of the heartbreaks in her life. The same Jora who went off to work that evening, once the sun had set (Ashley should have noticed that Jora never went out in direct sunlight.) to work the same shitty job, but now Ashley finally understood why they put up with those jobs; they had to. Their life depended on them never coming in direct contact with the sunlight. Her eyes were now opened wide. They’d rarely eat or drink in her presence. They never let her into the bathroom with them, and they never used public restrooms when they went out together. And if they went out before sunset, they’d always bundle up, covering as much of their skin as possible. She’d just assumed that they really liked their privacy.
After realizing this, Ashley felt even worse about leaving. She was supposed to depart from Boulder, Colorado to travel around the country. She’d been in the same place for four years. She’d earned enough to not have a job for a little while. She wasn’t sure how she’d spent over four and a half years in one place. Then again, Jora had made quite the impression so she wasn't all that surprised. Before she’d gotten to Boulder, she’d just skipped around. Until she ran into an old friend from high school who was actually worth her time, who’d introduced her to Jora.
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Even though her friend was trying to be nice, Ashley didn’t truly want to be introduced to any new people. She had already gotten her boots wet in a puddle and broken her umbrella and honestly, she just wanted a warm cup of coffee to make up for her rain-soaked clothes. And to top it all off, the second she stepped out of line after ordering, some dumbass just had to run into her, effectively spilling all of their iced tea on her.
“What the FUCK!” But she could barely hear herself over the feel of ice cubes running down her shirt and if she didn't think she was cold before, she definitely was now.
“Omigosh I’m so sorry!” The dumbass who’d spilled the iced tea all over Ashley exclaimed. “I’m SO SO sorry! I didn’t mean to, I swear. Oh fiddlesticks! I'm just such a clutz sometimes and I was just SO EXCITED that I lost my coordination.”
“You were… you were excited about fucking iced tea?” Ashley asked, disgusted. “In this fucking storm? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I was, but also my friend Matt was going to introduce me to someone he knew in high school. I like making new friends. But again, I’m SO sorry. Let me pay for your drink, and I can give you my umbrella.” Ashley glared at this babbling person.
“Oh god…” Matt sighed as he approached the two of them. Ashley looked up, daring him to say that THIS was the person that he wanted her to meet. “Ashley… I’m sorry. I know you’re not going to be happy about this… but this is Jora. They’re the person I wanted you to meet.”
“Oh dearie me, you’re Ashley?” The person stood up straight, wide-eyed. They had two different colored eyes, framed by a pair of rectangular glasses. The right one was green, and the left was brown. They weren’t really white-looking, but then again, Ashley was white-looking, so she assumed that Jora was probably a person of color too. They had curly black shoulder length hair which looked like a giant wild mess. They were kind of thick, and especially with the large white sweater they were wearing, a collar poking through the neck line, they looked like a toasted marshmallow. Ashley would have found it endearing if it weren’t for their predicament.
“I know just what will make this better!” Their eyes lit up as they said it but before Ashley had time to question it, they were already gone, skipping away towards the line of people waiting to order. She was kind of dumbfounded at this weirdo.
“I'm so sorry, Ash,” Matt rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. He pulled her aside towards a table, reaching into his coat pocket to pull out a polka dotted handkerchief and held it out to her.
“That’s not going to do very much to help.” Ashley deadpanned. But all Matt did was shush her as he began to dab at her shirt.
They could see Jora approaching again and Matt, being slightly taller, inched down a bit to whisper, “Be nice; they're um… young at heart? I don’t really know how else to describe them.”
“Ash! Can I call you Ash? Or is Lee-lee better suited?” Jora was frustratingly perky. They held something in their hands, but Ashley just stared at them.
“Ashley, my name, is just fine.” She said coolly. She had this dark look to her that usually worked with intimidating others but Jora didn't seem fazed in the slightest.
“Ok. I’m still super sorry that I spilled my drink on you, so HERE!” Jora held a giant muffin in front of Ashley’s face. She could feel the heat radiating off of it, and there was a whipped cream smiley face on top of it. “Also, here’s some hot chocolate! I promise not to spill this one,” an awkward laugh then. A Venti sized cup of hot chocolate was also pushed toward Ashley’s chest. She found the paper sleeve and took hold of it, dumbfounded. She looked at the cup, seeing ‘Lee-Lee’ and a heart scribbled onto the side. She honestly didn’t know what to do besides accept these, her mind going blank for a second in both confusion and also… mild adoration?
“Thanks… I guess.” Ashley muttered, honestly not knowing what to do. She honestly hated blueberry muffins, and wasn’t much of a fan of hot chocolate, but she honestly didn’t have the heart to reject any of this.
“No problem!” Jora smiled brightly. “So anyway, Matt told me a little about you, but I want to know more! I think we’re going to be really good friends.”
Ashley ended up eating the entire muffin.
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Ashley recalled how she’d pretended to not like Jora at first. She wasn’t sure how she’d managed it, since they were so… well… them. A literal puppy deserving of all the good in this world. Eventually she couldn’t hide the fact that Jora won her heart anymore, and the two of them became better friends than even Jora had predicted. They were her best friend, and was always there for her with chocolate chip muffins and coffee. The time that had mattered the most was Ashley’s first breakdown in front of them.
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It had only been a little while since Ashley had moved in with Jora. She’d been in Boulder for eight months now, and known Jora for seven. She had considered moving away, but once Jora offered to let her move in with them, she couldn’t refuse.
Currently, she was making some Ramen on the stove. Jora had bought convenience food for her, but they weren’t fully aware that Ashley preferred CupNoodles. She went into the bathroom for a minute, while her noodles were cooking. She took a deep breath, bracing herself against the sink. She had to get Him out of her mind. This wasn’t good for her. It was ok when Jora was there, but they were in their room probably sleeping or something. She began to take deep breaths. She needed to figure out who she was on her own. Wasn’t that why she packed her car and drifted almost aimlessly? She was happier here without Him, right? She could grow and become someone new and discover…
Ashley had to stop kidding herself. She let out a sigh. She opened the door to the bathroom. Her head snapped up, eyes widening in horror. She could smell something burning.
“Shit!” She hissed, sprinting into the kitchen to get the pot off of the stove. “FUCK!” All of the water had evaporated, and it had left the noodles burning. Once Ashley turned off the burner, she collapsed to her knees and began sobbing. She and Him used to make Ramen and then he’d feed her in front of the TV. She hadn’t loved anyone as much as she’d loved him. But she left. She hadn’t been able to do, well, them anymore. She needed out, and just up and left one day. But it had cut into her. She missed Him. They were always together when He was her boyfriend. Their feelings were so strong, but He wasn’t right for her at the time…
“Ash? Are you ok?” Jora hurried out of their room in a ridiculous pajama onesie that Ashley would have made fun of at literally any other time, and then rushed to her side. “Lee-Lee, what’s wrong?!” They pulled her into a hug, and let her cry on them, tucking herself into them.
She didn't even know how long she had stayed like that but something told Ashley that it could have been hours and Jora wouldn't have minded. They were her best friend after all.
Jora was the first to interrupt the silence that had taken up residence around them, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I don’t even know where to begin, Jo-Jo.” Ashley admitted, bringing her sleeve up to wipe at her eyes. She grimaced when she noticed her mascara was running.
“Take your time,” and Ashley knew exactly what Jora was saying without having to say it. I'm here. “And if you want… I can make those little mini chocolate chip muffins you love.”
Ashley peeked up from her hiding spot where she had her face buried in their sweater’s collar, a shy look to their face, “With whipped cream?” She asked almost timidly.
“I'll even draw those smiley faces you love so much.” Jora promised. That was the moment that Ashley realized she loved Jora.
“You're my sib from another crib, you know that, right? I'll seriously fight someone for you.” Ashley could barely bring herself to look into their soft, oddly colored eyes. They were smiling, like they knew exactly what this moment meant to her. To them.
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As Ashley walked around her room, she considered her plans to up and leave without any previous explanation. Jora hadn’t noticed that she had put almost everything into boxes. They were the only thing making this hard. Because of them, and this new information, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go now. What if that hurt Jora? But then again… They’d have to understand that it wasn’t personal… Ashley just needed to continue her self discovery mission. The thing that she never really felt like she’d finished. Perhaps a break and a new friend had helped her a lot, but now it was time to figure out who she really was… Without Jora, and without Him. She had to be alone in this.
She glanced down at the tattoo where her shoulder met her collarbone that they’d convinced her to get with them. It was a bit of a cheesy best friend thing to do, but Jora had been too scared to get it alone, and after a lot of begging, convinced Ashley. Somehow, they didn’t feel the pain that came with getting a tattoo because they simply jabbered on and on about how exciting this was, and how excited they were. She could barely hide her smile as she watched them.
The tattoo was pretty simple: a heart around a J and an A layered on top of each other. In the bottom of the heart was a gothic Ankh thing that Ashley didn’t understand why Jora insisted that it had to be there since it was so uncharacteristic of them, but she liked the design. Jora got it on the inside of their forearm, which should have honestly been a lot more painful than Ashley getting it on her shoulder. But somehow they didn’t feel the pain. Now, Ashley realized that it was because they were a vampire.
She pursed her lips, and began to do what she’d intended to do once Jora left for work: pack up her car and leave. She didn’t have more belongings than she really needed, and wore practically the same clothes every day anyway, so there weren’t a whole lot of boxes. But she put the backseats of her Rover SUV down anyway because she planned on living and sleeping in her car for a while until she decided otherwise. Once her room was bare except for her bed, Ashley stared at the piece of furniture. It was old and worn from years of use. Her friend in New York had given it to her before her last road trip so that she could have a decent place to sleep. Last time, she’d just used a sleeping bag for it. This time, though, she didn’t want to be reminded of the place she was in when she slept on it.
Ashley stood in the doorway of Jora’s room. They used to not keep their door open but she supposed that they felt comfortable having it open now that they had no more huge secrets. Not that she hadn’t been in there before, but they had generally kept the door closed when they were gone.
She sat down on the perfectly made bed in Jora’s room. The floral comforter had no wrinkles or creases. She wondered when the last time Jora had actually used the bed was. The two of them used to lay around on the bed, hanging out. And when they’d watch Buffy, Jora and Ashley would share the comforter as a blanket.
Without thinking about it too much, Ashley quickly stood up, ripping the comforter off the mattress and balling it up, tucking it underneath her arm. She could feel it searing into her skin, an incessant reminder of what she was doing. Who she was leaving behind. Determination flashed into her eyes as she stripped the rest of the covers off of the mattress. She began to maneuver the mattress out of the room. It was a million times better than her own, and besides; it was Jora’s, not like they needed it anyway. Did vampires even sleep?
The mattress was heavy as it dragged against the wooden floor of their kitchen and then scuffed against the carpet of their living room but somehow, Ashley had managed to get it out their front door, even with the comforter bunched up under her arm. The car was parked right outside their complex so all Ashley had to do now was get the mattress through the hall and down the elevator.
She leaned casually against it as the elevator made its trip down, counting the seconds as every ‘ding’ grew louder. A pause, and then the doors slid open, some lady came striding in and she gave Ashley a funny look. Leaning a shoulder against the mattress, she gave the lady a small sarcastic wave, a bored look crossing her face and the lady scoffed, looked away as she pressed one of the buttons on the panel there. Ashley rolled her eyes and when it was her turn to get off, she made sure to ‘accidentally’ knock her over with the corner of the mattress, giving the lady a small shrug as she walked away, Jora’s mattress and all.
Ashley did not have a very fun time getting the mattress into the car, but she managed to do it on her own. She took the comforter into her hands and began to carefully fold it like Jora preferred, then placed it on top of the mattress. She shut the door, then leaned against it, sighing. She was really about to do this.
She returned to the apartment to leave Jora a note. Ashley couldn’t just leave without a single word; she couldn’t do that to them.
Sitting down, she hunched over the notepad, writing out jumbled up words that only end up getting scratched off as she begins a new sentence. Groaning in frustration, Ashley ripped the paper off the notepad and balled it up, tossing it before beginning on a new sheet. It went like that for a few minutes until Ashley decided that this wasn't working. She got up, chair screeching against the wooden floor and pulled her phone out, dialing the number without thinking about it. Ashley paced around the room, growing more nervous by the second and she let out a relieved sigh when they don't pick up. It goes to voicemail and Ashley takes in a breath, head tipped back and eyes closed.
“Hey, bud. Listen-” she swallows, “I, I'm leaving, okay? It doesn’t have anything to do with you being a vampire. It really doesn’t. This is about me, and just- just promise me one thing, yeah? Don't go looking for me. I'm fine. I'll be fine. Take care of yourself, Jo… Jo-Jo. I lov-” the voicemail gets cut off. Tears stung Ashley’s eyes.
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Jora ran home as soon as they heard the voicemail Ashley had left them, not believing a single word. This couldn't be happening… Could it?
When they get to the apartment, the keys shake in their hand and it takes two tries to finally fit it into the slot.
It was eerily quiet and Jora wasn't sure if they could handle it.
They stopped in their tracks when they got to the living room. Right there, on the coffee table, was a hot chocolate and a muffin with a whipped cream heart on top. Next to it were Ashley's keys and that's when Jora knew that this was for real. They sat down, staring at the muffin for a few seconds before they notice the crumpled up piece of paper. They unravel it to reveal a note, half written in incomplete sentences and scribbles. They hold it to their chest and even though Jora wanted to cry, they understood.
“Take care of yourself, Lee-Lee.” And they meant it.
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“Ashley, what the heck!” Because they sure as hell weren't expecting their mattress to be missing. “Stupid humans,” they huff out, rolling their eyes, but there was a smile on their face. But you probably need it more than I do, huh, Ash?
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On the road, Ashley was lonely, no doubt about it. Sometimes the isolation ate her up so much that she went to a bar to find someone who was willing to give her the physical contact she needed to keep her going. Sometimes she could find someone who was worth her time, others, she just fucked and told them to fuck off.
This particular time was one of the latter. She’d been wearing a revealing top when some guy who smelled like Axe and false confidence approached her. They exchanged a little bit of conversation when Ashley just asked him if he wanted to come back to her car and have sex.
No words were exchanged, not on Ashley's part at least, and when the guy started talking, Ashley would shut him up with her mouth. She wasn't there to socialize; to make friends. She was there to feel something, have a good time, and then leave.
She threw her head back, let out a breathless sigh when she felt lips against the column of her throat and it almost felt good… until he opened his stupid mouth again.
Shut up, shut up, shut up. He’s rambling about something Ashley can't be bothered to keep up with but she just screws her eyes shut tightly, focuses on the feeling of skin against her and a heavy warmth in her palm.
“Your mark… can't believe I get to do this...” are some of the words she could make out but then she heard “vampire,” and Ashley's eyes shot open. She was about to pull away, push him off but then she felt teeth sinking into her, right in her neck and her moan turned into a scream. Ashley grabbed ahold of his hair and pulled, puts enough space between them so she could clock him right in the jaw.
“What the fuck?!” He sputtered, looking confused and angry all at once.
“Get out! Get the fuck out!” She crawled past him, pushed open the door to her car before shoving at him, pointy fingers digging into his chest and then he fell out, face first into the pavement of the parking lot. His arms and legs flailed but Ashley didn’t give him a chance before she slammed the door shut again, throwing his clothes at him through the window and jumping into the front seat to start up the car with the sheet wrapped around her body. She felt something like fire beginning to go through her blood and found the nearest Walmart parking lot. She moved herself to the makeshift bed again, once the car was parked and the engine was off. She needed to let this pain pass. She pulled the comforter (which she cast to the side whenever she had sex) over her body, and covered herself with it. She passed out when the pain got intense.
When she woke up, it was nighttime. She found her clothes and donned them. She felt… different. Stronger… Thirsty. So, so thirsty. But water didn’t satisfy her.
Oh no… She realized. “I’m a fucking vampire.” She muttered in disbelief. She briefly wanted to call Jora to ask them about what to do now, but she wasn’t sure if she could. Her breathing increased, even though she didn’t seem to need it.
Why her? Why did this have to happen? This was a self discovery mission, not a self transformation mission. Her normal life was gone. Now she had to change everything. She couldn’t eat Italian food… She couldn’t visit her religious parents anymore, which she didn’t want to do anyway, but this made it even worse. She was twenty-six and a vampire now. It was so unfair. It wasn’t her choice.
She had to take her anger out on someone or something… And also feed. She really needed blood. Her mind focused on the fuckboy that had turned her, and her rage spiked. Could she feed off of other vampires? Only one way to find out.
Bringing her wrist up to her mouth, she gave a tentative lick, feeling like a complete idiot. She took a deep breath, fuck it , and bit down. “Ow, bitch! Motherfucker!” She yelled.
She cradled her wrist, grimacing at the blood that began to spill over, running down the length of her forearm. She licked at her lip where she can taste a bit of the warm crimson and finds that it tastes good, surprisingly. But she knew that this wouldn’t be enough. She couldn’t survive off of her own blood.
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Ashley felt infinitely different as a vampire. She was more physically capable than she had ever been, which was useful when she was hunting down her meals. At first, she just went for fuckboy vampires, but eventually got roped into helping out humans when they were being attacked by other humans.
One night, there was a woman being assaulted by her boyfriend in a park. Ashley heard the screams before she was fully awake.
Her eyes snapped open, bleary and blinking at the darkness. She figured it was just a dream but then she heard it again, a blood-curdling scream breaking the silence. She was up in an instant, throwing the blankets off and twisting the car's door handle, effectively kicking it open when it wouldn't budge. Ashley got to her feet, ignored the feeling of cold cement against bare feet as she took off, running in the direction of the screams.
It couldn't have been later than two, three in the morning? She was glad for her night vision, being able to see in the dark didn't really fascinate her but now she was grateful that she wouldn't accidentally run into a tree or something. She stopped dead in her tracks when she got to this small clearing, it was hidden from view and private but it was currently occupied by a couple. The guy was holding onto a girl's wrists, pushing her against him when she obviously wanted nothing to do with him.
Ashley grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and jerked him away from the girl. She whipped him around so that he was in front of her. She pulled her fist back and falcon punched him right in the face, knocking him on his ass.
“You bitch! What the fuck? Who are you?” He stammered, trying to move away from her. His nose was bleeding, and probably shattered.
She paused briefly. She wasn’t so sure that the name ‘Ashley’ fit her anymore. It was too soft. She was a vampire now. The only person who should ever see her as soft was Jora. But they weren’t there. She was a new person now. And maybe a new name was needed for a new person. The old her still existed, but she felt… redone.
“Halsey.”
Her face was blank, emotionless, as she grabbed his shoulders and bit his neck, draining the blood and life out of him. Human blood was by far the sweetest and richest thing she had ever tasted. It made her hands go numb and her lips tingle, her mind running wild and suddenly she couldn't breathe. She could feel the man clawing at her, fighting against her and begging to be let go but that just made her want more. She gripped onto his shirt tighter, balling the fabric up until her knuckles turned white. The girl didn’t even make a peep as she watched her boyfriend die. Halsey stood up when she was finished, licking the excess blood off of her lips. “Go home.” She told the girl coldly. “You didn’t see anything.” She turned on her heel and went back into her car. That was the first time she used her new name, and the first time she’d had human blood, and she continued to do both.