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Before he told the truth, Sunny was asked a massive favor: to have Aubrey tag along while he moved. The truth had only steeled her resolve to comfort Sunny throughout his grief. There was no future in her household, anyway. She snuck into the trunk while no one was looking, but it was only a matter of time until Sunny’s mother found out. Fortunately, she was a generous soul, allowing her to stay as long as she did chores and got good grades.
A few weeks after, in the dead of night, Aubrey awoke to the sound of clanking bottles downstairs. Sunny had told her about his nightmares, how they would sometimes make him sleepwalk or wake up early. She approached the dim light of the opened refrigerator. Soft gnawing sounds hit her ears, as if something wet was being chewed. Aubrey has had midnight snacks before, but it sounded like Sunny was eating more than that.
The sight in front of the open appliance was like one from a B-grade horror movie. The pale teenager looked towards Aubrey with widened eyes, his mouth bloody from a half-eaten raw steak in his hands.
“Sunny, what are you-“ Aubrey started to ask.
“KWEEEEEE!!!” The boy squealed at an unnaturally high frequency, before he suddenly shrunk into a tiny black shape. The steak slapped onto the kitchen tile, while Aubrey heard the flutter of tiny leather wings in the surrounding darkness.
“What the fuck?!” the remaining teenager exclaimed. “Sunny?!”
Her eyes followed the shape onto the top of the fridge. Aubrey pushed a stool to get a closer look. Sunny had turned into what looked like a tiny melanistic mammal, with a leaf-shaped nose and pointed membranous ears. Two beady black eyes looked towards Aubrey in shock.
“Sunny…” the pink-haired girl whispered. “Come here.”
Inch by inch, Sunny crawled on what looked like strong thumbs. The closer he got to her, the more Aubrey could see hints of patagium stretched between his arms and legs. That, combined with the sound of flapping and his earlier eating habits, allowed the teenager to draw the conclusion. She held out a hand, onto which the tiny bat clambered.
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” she said, stern but with a hint of caution. The bat attempted to hide his face under his thumbs. Aubrey had to admit, that was adorable.
“A dhampir?” the pinkette asked.
“My father was a full vampire, while my mother is half,” Sunny said, back in his human form. They were both sitting on his bed. “I’m only a quarter-human.”
Looking back at his previous behavior over the past years, both before and after the accident, Aubrey realized how much Sunny’s habits lined up with his species. He shied away from skin-to-skin contact when he was outside, not to mention his extremely pale complexion. He likely didn’t talk much to hide his teeth.
“So if you’re mostly vampire, how have you been able to go outside without burning to a crisp?” Aubrey asked.
“Lots of sunscreen.” Sunny answered. “I can’t die from sunlight, but my skin would still suffer extreme burning.”
The pink-haired teenager looked back at when his sister let Hero lie on her stomach. They were at the beach then, where sunscreen was just a natural occurrence. Sunny’s family had cleverly pulled the rug over her eyes for so long. She briefly wondered if Hero knew what Mari was. Did she turn Hero? If so, would he have lived forever with her? Aubrey also thought back to that accident. The shards of wood from his violin must’ve pierced her heart back then…
But she didn’t want to focus on that right now.
“What about your eye?”
“Basil didn’t know it, but his shears had a silver alloy.” He brought his hand over his scarred eyelid. “Plus, my human blood prevents me from healing major organs.”
“And what does this mean for your lifespan?” If Aubrey wanted to make her move, she dreaded having Sunny go through the same pain as Hero.
“I’m estimated to live about 5,000 years,” Sunny said. “Not forever, but my aging will still slow down once I’ve reached 18. Why do you ask?”
Aubrey steeled herself. This was the perfect moment. Even though it was a situation she never expected, she still made her decision.
“Because I want you to bite me.”
He blinked. “I-I’m sorry?”
“You heard me. If I’m gonna live here, I don’t wanna die before you.”
“B-but…why would you want to-”
“Because I like you, idiot!”
Sunny went red. Aubrey enveloped him in the tightest hug she could, immediately following up with a tiny, “I-I really, really like…you…”
The dhampir heard the teenager’s heartrate increase, indicating her sincerity. Or was that his own?
“I-I…I like you too…” Sunny whispered. “I’ve liked you for a long time, actually…”
“Please, Sunny,” Aubrey now pleaded. “Even though you’re not a full vampire, I want to be with you forever.”
The dhampir’s mouth watered at the thought of the blood pumping through the other teenager. He tugged down the stretchy collar of her pajama shirt, eyeing the creamy, unblemished skin.
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” he warned for the final time.
Aubrey hesitated for a few seconds, before giving her answer in the form of her lips meeting his. It was slightly awkward and rushed, but Sunny still reveled in the softness of his best friend’s lips.
The pinkette released from their first kiss. “Yes, I’m sure.”
Hungry eyes returned to the swath of exposed skin. Sunny carefully positioned his lips at the base of the neck - this was his first time turning someone, but his vampiric instincts guided him. His warm breath brought shivers down Aubrey’s spine. He latched his lips onto her soft skin, lightly nibbling for a blood vessel closest to the surface. Sunny wanted to make this as painless as possible, and by the sound of her high pulse and labored breathing, his new partner was enjoying it.
Once he found a suitable spot, he cleaned it with a series of licks, each of which made Aubrey inhale quickly. Then came the actual bite. He first inserted his upper incisors, not his canines like in the media. These front teeth were unnaturally sharp - so sharp Aubrey couldn’t even feel it. They allowed a local anesthetic and a bloodthinner to flow from his saliva to her skin, numbing away any intense pain and preventing her blood from clotting.
Then came the canines - both sets of them, on the lower jaw as well as the upper. Since they weren’t as sharp as the incisors, they would’ve hurt like hell without the numbing. Still, they felt like getting shot with four syringes at once. Aubrey tightened her grip on Sunny’s shirt, enduring the feeling. Once they reached her blood, they injected the virus that would turn her.
Sunny soon released his teeth and began to suck from the five holes he created. As Aubrey felt herself turning, she rubbed the dhampir’s hair lovingly. She didn’t regret agreeing to become a monster to be with her crush for 5,000 years. Not one bit.