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It had been several days since Gem had last seen her brother. He’d given her her new sword about a week ago, and she’d seen him in passing maybe twice since then. She was busy, and she knew he was too, but that didn’t mean radio silence was the norm. They were twins and she could be certain to at least have a message to greet her at the end of a long day if nothing else, so several days without seeing or hearing from him… She was concerned to say the least. If she reached the end of her day and hadn’t heard anything from him then she’d take it upon herself to visit. He probably was just busy, but just in case it was more than that she felt compelled to go. If Xornoth had tried anything and she hadn’t been there to help…
She shook her head. It was lunchtime, she needed to hold out a few more hours.
So Gem busied herself with decorating, a task she knew she could throw herself into without fear of her mind wandering, and the time passed quickly. The sky was beginning to darken, her stomach was starting to rumble, and a chill was starting to work its way through her. It was evening, and her hand raced to the communicator hitched at her side.
Messages from Scott, a message from Pearl, nothing from fWhip.
Cold and hunger be damned, she needed to go to the Grimlands now.
It was times like this that Gem was thankful for her brother’s Kingdom being so close to her own. Fetching her elytra would take more time than just running as fast as she could, and she pushed herself to run even faster than that. The dark buildings began to appear on the horizon, silhouetted against the setting sun. She could see the usual smoke rising, but with the villagers still going about their business there was no telling if that was their doing or her brothers. She needed to find fWhip to confirm that he was okay, and until she lay eyes on him she wouldn’t stop assuming the worst.
So she began her search, running into every building and looking in every room. As desperate as she was she tried equally to be thorough, calling out fWhip’s name frequently in case he was nearby and could come to lessen her concerns.
But he didn’t come.
Entering the Forge, Gem was beginning to lose hope. It was a strange feeling, one she wasn’t quite sure how she was supposed to process, but her gut told her that her brother was gone. She fought against that feeling, trying to keep it at bay until she had at least searched everywhere for him, not yet wanting to face the prospect of her twin being lost.
“fWhip!” She called out desperately. “Are you in here?”
Her voice echoed as she walked through the building, aged copper and dripstone decorating the walls and basalt covering the floors. It was perfect, and her heart ached as her brother’s personality shone through in the details of redstone and lava.
As Gem approached the research station she saw it was littered with notes, a heavy book open a little closer to the end than the beginning. Maybe whatever was on the desk could tell her something about where fWhip was, maybe it would be a clue, maybe--
She heard a sniffle.
“Hello?” Gem called, turning around quickly enough that her skirt billowed out. As the fabric settled she stood in silence, waiting for several seconds for a reply before calling out again. “Is someone there? fWhip? It’s… It’s me!” Her voice wavered, unsure of itself, and she bit her lip briefly. “Gem, your sister, you remember me right?”
She heard footsteps scuffling in the rafters and her head jerked upward this time, neck craning to see what was happening above and try and catch a glimpse of whoever - or whatever - was up there. Without any verbal response she had to keep her hopes low and remind herself that there was every possibility an animal had just made its home in the roof. But the footsteps were far too heavy to be a bird, and another sniffle came that sounded so painfully Human that she wanted to believe it was him.
“fWhip, I’m not playing games, I’m worried. If it’s you please just say something, I’m scared!”
The footsteps stopped, paused for a moment, before starting again. Faster this time. Gem managed to follow them until she saw a blur of dark fabric and red hair. It had to be him, so why was he trying to avoid being seen? Why wasn’t he responding to her? She ran in the same direction he was going, scanning the room to find stairs that would allow her to reach him, but it turned out she didn’t need to do any such thing.
He dropped down to the ground in front of her, back turned, and kept running.
As much as the thought of losing her brother had hurt, the feeling of him deliberately running away from her was worse. Gem stopped moving, her hands coming up in front of her chest and her right hand grabbing her left wrist tightly. Had she done something? Said something? Had someone else?
“fWhip?” She said much more quietly, her voice filled with enough sadness that he was forced to stop too. “What’s going on?”
“Forget you saw me, Gem.” He said, and the moment he spoke Gem was more concerned than ever. Something was wrong with her brother and she reached out for him, but when her hand approached his shoulder he flinched just out of reach.
“fWhip--”
“Please, for your sake. I’m doing this to protect you.”
Protect her? Gem could take care of herself perfectly fine, she didn’t need protecting even if it was her brother doing so - and fWhip knew just as much. If he was telling himself that he was protecting her, however, then she was one again left worrying about what awful thing could have happened to put him in that situation.
“No, you’re not, you’re going to turn around and talk to me. It’s been days since I’ve heard from you, I need to know you’re okay!”
“I’m fine, please just go.” fWhip said, his words a little more urgent than the last time he spoke.
“I’m not leaving until I understand.” Gem stood her ground, but the moment her words had left her mouth her brother spun to face her. He tried to stand and make himself taller, his elytra wings expanded to make himself seem larger, and the suddenness of it all was enough for Gem to stumble back a step. This was her brother, he’d never hurt her, but the fear she felt as her twin stepped forward in that moment was real. Her heart beat faster, her feet caught on themselves, she wanted to run…
But he wanted her to run too. He wasn’t trying to hurt her, he was trying to scare her away so whatever was happening to him could happen without her intervention.
And if she stopped and looked at him - if she properly looked at her brother - she could see exactly what that was. His eyes were no longer blue, but red. It wasn’t that they were bloodshot, it was that the irises themselves had changed colour. His skin had always been fair, but it seemed almost translucent now.
When his stomach rumbled, he stamped his foot.
“Now!” He shouted, trying to leave her with no choice.
She spotted the sharp fangs in his mouth immediately.
More than ever, Gem couldn’t run. Something had done this to her brother and if his behaviour was anything to go by, he hadn’t told anyone. If he’d been dealing with this alone she feared for what that could mean for him, and if the sound of his hunger was anything to go by she assumed that since the change had taken place he hadn’t been able to eat.
“fWhip, what happened?” She asked calmly, her words quiet and her tone gentle. “Tell me, I want to help.”
“Gem…”
“Don’t push me away, I’m not leaving you alone like this.” She told him, her hands coming to rest against his shoulders. He was trembling beneath her touch and she wondered just how badly this was affecting him. She needed to be able to help.
It seemed that it was enough for him to relent, his body leaning forward and head sagging to his forehead rested against her shoulder. Gem wrapped her arms around her brother, trying to provide him what little comfort he could, as he began to regale what had happened.
“I was mining for more redstone in a cave, a bat bit me. I thought nothing of it, I didn’t think it would… I didn’t even believe in vampires and now look at me!” He laughed a little, though Gem could hear the pain he was trying to mask. “I started… I got hungry a few days ago. I’ve been trying to avoid people since then, I don’t want to do anything I’ll regret. It’s why you need to leave.”
Gem shifted. She knew what a vampire was, she knew what being hungry meant, but this was her brother. How was she supposed to abandon her brother when he was going through this?
“I was trying to find a way to reverse it, but I can’t. I don’t want to be stuck like this but I’ve got no idea how to fix it, now I’m exhausted and starving and… And you need to go.” His hands came to push Gem away from him but true to his word, his touch barely moved her. She wondered just how exhausted and just how hungry he was to be so weak, and it broke her heart. She wanted to help - she needed to help - and there was only one way she could do that.
“Drink from me.” She told him, and fWhip looked up immediately with terrified eyes. He shook his head, but she laughed and smiled - nodding in return. “Yes, I’m offering myself. You’re my brother, I trust you, you could never hurt me. Come on, it’ll be easy. We can go somewhere secluded if you want to be certain that no one will see and my cape will hide the bite marks.” She said, her hands coming to unpin the cape from around her neck. While she did she watched as fWhip’s gaze turned from fear to hunger, and his tongue poked out from between his lips to lick them. He was salivating, she could tell how desperately he needed this.
“It’s okay, I promise.” Gem assured one last time. “Now, do we need to go anywhere or--”
Her sentence was cut off as she felt her brother’s head moving to the crook of her neck, his chin resting atop her collarbone and his mouth opening hesitantly. She tried her best to remain still, fearful that any kind of movement might stop him from doing what he needed to do, and she closed her eyes in anticipation of fangs piercing her skin. The sensation wasn’t as bad as she feared it would be in the end, two tiny pin pricks that stung for a moment and were then numbed. She wondered to herself, as she felt fWhip drink, if it was a trait of vampires. Maybe their saliva had some kind of numbing agent, maybe it was supposed to keep its source of food content with being used in such a way. Even if it hurt, Gem knew she’d offer herself up time and time again, but it helped.
As her head began to feel light and she started to lean a little more on her brother, Gem felt fWhip’s fangs pull out of her neck and felt him back away. He didn’t step back for long, though, closing the gap quickly when Gem’s knees buckled. She felt herself being caught in his arms and distantly heard her name being called.
It took three shouts before she could focus enough to reply, and when she managed to look at her brother she saw panic written all over his face.
“S’alright.” She said, leaning herself against him as he lowered them both to the ground. “You were starvin’. Don’t… Don’t go so long without it next time.” Her words were slurred and she felt tired. It didn’t help that fWhip was holding her so close and protectively, and that his coat was such a comfortable pillow. She hadn’t realised how much he’d drunk from her, and in the back of her mind she wondered if that too was another side effect of his vampirism. “Jus’ gonna have a little nap.”
“I’m so sorry Gem.” fWhip said, and she felt her cape being pulled over her body like a blanket. “I promise, I’ll fix this, it won’t happen again.” He told her, and as she snuggled closer to him she hummed.
“I’s okay, jus’ do small drinks ‘n lots of ‘em. You’re my brother, ‘m not gonna let you deal with this ‘lone.”
Maybe she should have been a little more concerned for herself, but Gem couldn’t find the energy to in that moment. She was perfectly happy to curl up at the side of her twin and sleep to regain her strength. They’d figure out how to fix this together but for now she was just glad to know he was safe. She’d do whatever it took to keep it that way, even if it came at the cost of herself.