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“Shelby! Shelby!” Avid yells out in the forest line by the lake where they said they'd meet. Or, where he told her he'd be in hopes she'd show up.
All he hears is silence, the leaves in the trees whispering nothings to each other as they bump.
“Shelby?” Avid calls with waning hope.
He walks a little further into the forest, seeing a flash or white whip past him. “Woah, okay, what was that!? Shelby!” He calls out again.
“Avid?” He hears from behind him. He whips his head towards the sound, trying to see Shelby peaking out from a pale oak tree.
“Shelby!” He smiles at them, taking in her new look once again. The white hair and lack of glass may be something he'll never get used to. “I was starting to think you weren't going to come!–”
“I wasn't.” She says, her voice sharp but wobbly. “They don't want me talking to you. I… Avid. I shouldn't be talking to you.”
She steps out from behind the tree, but paces back as Avid tries to come closer.
“What? Why! Shelby, I know I-!” He takes a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. “I know I was talking crazy early, I just … I'm just trying to figure things out.”
“Me too Avid!” She yells.
“I know! I know! And I want to help–”
“No Avid” Shelby says, taking a step towards him. “You don't know. I am hungry and confused and I'm trying my best to be good, but it's hard when all you do is come here and temp me!” She put her hand against his chest, pushing him back from her.
“I…” Avid puts his hand over hers in his chest, his fingers curling around it. “You're right. I don't know. All I know is that you're trying and you haven't hurt anyone, and… I miss you Shelby. The whole town does.”
“You were the best of us” He whispers under his breath.
“Avid! Are you not listening to me!?” She pulls her hand away, leaving his fingers weakly curling around nothing.
“I'm hungry, Avid” The words come out rugged and violent, almost animalistic. “I can't come back.” She turns away from him.
“Yes you can!” He runs around her, grabbing her shoulders. “We can give you all the animal blood you need and… we can be normal again” He gives an unsure smile that drops off his face when he doesn't see Shelby reciprocate.
“It's not the same Avid. I'm still hungry, it doesn't matter how many cows or pigs or sheep I feed off of. I'm getting stronger, and I need more.” She grips his right wrist as the other falls from her shoulder.
“I can't go back. It's not safe. I'm not safe.”
He stares at her blankly, trying to take in what she just dropped on him. He takes a deep breath, trying to focus on her tight grip on his wrist to steady himself.
“Okay” He says calmly. “I can help.”
“You can– Avid! Do you even know what you're talking about? There is no help. This is my life now!” She glares into his eyes and he tries to see past the red.
He wraps his other hand around where her hand is gripping him. Her hand falls lip and what's left are indents of claws and a red hand print.
His hands come up to his collar as he begins unbuttoning his shirt.
“Avid, what are you doing?” She asks, her voice tinged with fear.
“Do you trust me?” He asks, letting the last buttons go. The shirt wraps loosely around him, clinging to his elbows.
“Yes, I trust you, but… You don't want this. I don't want this!” They glanced around nervously, her hands shaking at her side with need.
His hands reach up at the bandage tied neat and tight around his neck. “I know. You're not going to turn me, Shelby. You're not even going to bite me.” He takes a deep breath, slowly unraveling the bandages. “Do you trust me?” He asks, looking at her as she fidgets.
“Yes,” Shelby whispers, almost scared to break her silence. As if the action of opening her mouth alone was enough to lose control.
“Then feed off me”
The bandages fall to the ground around him, in what seems like a perfect halo. Along with the bandages falls Avid, down on his knees facing away from them.
It feels like the trees opened up, leaving a glistening spotlight on Avid as the sun bounced off of him, leaving him in a light that seemed holy. Untouchable.
She watches as blood drops down his back from a wound on his neck, flowing like a river of holy nectar.
She feels her mouth, her mind, her body, fill with need.
His muscles move with every deep breath he takes and the light reflects off the blood at all different angles.
It just looks so good.
She takes a labored step forward, falling to her knees behind him. She steadies her hand on his shoulder, looking at the blood one more time before connecting her lips with his wound.
Avid whimpers at the touch, shivering even in the warm light.
It's good.
It's so good.
It makes her understand everything they've been speaking about. What they've been doing.
She laps at the wound with fervor, letting the blood, Avid’s blood, coat her lips. Her hands grip him tighter, pulling him in closer to her chest.
She hears his breath hitch as she sucks harder, pulling him in closer, anything to get more. Anything to not be hungry anymore.
“Shelby…” He whispers her name like it's a holy word. She is anything but.
She wraps her hand around his throat, forcing his head back into her shoulder. He relaxed into it.
“Shelby…” his voice shakes as she sucks at his wound harder. She doesn't want to hear what he has to say, not after he made them do what she swore she wouldn't.
“You don't need… to feel guilty.” He breaths out, his voice a bit deeper, fuller in a way. “It doesn't stop bleeding anyway. Why… why just bleed into a bunch of bandages when that blood could be feeding you. You're a good person, Shelby”
She's not. She's not even a person. Maybe she was, not when she was human, but before she drank from him. She's not anymore.
She tears herself away from him, leaving him curled up and panting. She lickes her wet lips only to taste more of his blood.
“Shelby…”
“Why do you sound different?” She asks. It's not what she should be asking. It's not ‘why did you let me do that?’ ‘why did you make me do that?’ but it's the first thing that came to mind.
“I… My voice?” He asks. She nods, trying to look at him rather than his neck, where the blood still leaks in loose currents.
“I guess it's because I can breathe like this. Sometimes…” His voice died out. “Sometimes I forget what it's like to have air in my lungs like a normal person would. I… Well” He lets out a weak, humorless chuckle. “I usually try not to bleed everywhere, and those bandages wrapped so tight around my neck kinda makes me sound more mousey than I usually do.”
She nods “You should wrap that back up.” She points out. He nods “Yeah, you're probably right about that.”
He grabs the bandages, but still for a second. “Are you sure you don't need any more? Shelby, I really don't mind. You're my friend” He looks into her eyes. Her red eyes that swirl disgustingly with the color of blood.
“I'm full.” She lies.
She stays silent as he wraps up his wound, buttons back up his shirt, puts himself back together again.
They can't stop themself from asking “Avid? Is this the only reason you came here?”
“What?” He asks, getting up off the forest floor, dusting specks of grey moss off his knees.
“I said, is this the only reason you came here? To feed me?” Shelby repeats, her voice devoid of emotion.
“No,” Avid shakes his head, offering his hand to pull her up. She reluctantly takes it. “I told you, I missed you. We all do.”
“Then why–” Her voice raises before he cuts her off.
“I couldn't let you starve, Shelby. I already failed you. I let you die, be turned. The least I can do is not let you starve.”