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The ominous red glow of the moon seemed to make Pyro’s eyes glisten an even more menacing red in the night. The blood moon hung high in the night sky above the forest, a light breeze weaving through the trees and wrapping around them both. Apo stood there, keeping her distance from the vampire standing above her. He had no desire to harm her—she had no desire to even look at him.
“Apo—”
“No,” she sharply cut him off. “Stop talking. I don’t wanna hear it. I’m not switching sides to be another monster like you.”
The words stung him, just as her cold glare did as it pierced through the pitiful and apologetic gaze in his eyes. “I’m not a monster.”
She held her gaze. “Right.”
After a moment of silence, she began turning around back towards Oakhurst.
“Wait! Before you go—”
As Pyro called out, she planned only to continue walking. She didn’t want to look at him, didn’t want to hear another word from his mouth—
“Is Truffle okay?”
That stopped her.
“You don’t get to ask about Truffle,” she growled, whipping her body back around to face him, even stepping closer. “You don’t get to think about Truffle, you don’t get to know about Truffle, you don’t ever get to see Truffle again.”
Pyro’s brow knitted further as she stopped only a few feet away from him. “As long as Truffle wasn’t in the woods, everything’s fine—as long as she’s safe, it’s okay, that’s all I care about.”
Apo narrowed her eyes. “Why do you care about Truffle?”
“Because…we found her in the woods! We found her together, and she was sweet and kind—”
“You didn’t seem to care much when I got turned.”
Pyro stiffened. “I did care. I stalled you, I gave you time—”
“You ‘gave me time’.”
“I did! You could have brought someone else—”
“That’s the last thing I’d want to do!”
“—you know, the turnings don’t have to always be violent and bloody!”
“Sure they don’t.”
“They don’t! All anyone has to do is just line up, accept it peacefully—”
“And was yours violent and bloody?”
Pyro clamped his mouth shut, his shoulders dropping after a moment as he cast his gaze to the ground. “I…I resisted. I ran from them, in shallow water, and I fell—and they waited until I couldn’t breathe to sink their fangs into me. At least…that’s what they tell me. It’s a blur to me now.”
Apo stared at him. She knew that vampires were monsters. He was a monster. Yet…something in her reminded her that he was once her friend. He was a kind man, with gentle eyes and a warm laugh. Even now, he stood in front of her, tame, remorseful—his eyes gleamed with a certain sort of sadness as his head was lowered, and she’d never seen a more sorry man in her life. She felt betrayed by him, yet right now, that was fading away, fighting with his humanity in her subconscious.
“Well,” she began carefully. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“And I to you.” He took a deep breath, meeting her eyes again. “But Scott…he’s inevitable.”
“Nothing is inevitable,” she argued. “We might have chosen our own fates—at least I did—but that doesn’t mean we have to choose others’.”
“I know, I…I’ve been working, very quietly,” he fought off the hesitation creeping up on him, glancing around nervously. “I’ve been collaborating with the doctor. He speaks of a potential cure.”
“So the doctor knows about you too.”
“Yes. But you can’t tell anyone, I can’t have the others find out, I…” he looked around him again, paranoid, then looked back at her, a pleading look in his eyes. “They’ll end my eternal life short if they find out, I can’t let them find out.”
Apo gave him a sympathetic look. “I won’t tell anyone. And...I hope I get that cure too.”
“Right,” Pyro offered her a small smile. “Well…I’ll see you when I see you. Take care”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
Pyro turned around, and she did a second later. But, as the two walked away from one another, something tugged at Apo, and she paused.
“Wait!”
The vampire looked over his shoulder at her, and she ran back to where she initially stood.
“Truffle’s okay,” she told him.
Pyro’s eyes widened for a second, then softened as he smiled. “Okay, good—that’s good. Thank you.”
She smiled back at him, then turned back around and headed towards Oakhurst.