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Apo’s thumb traces over the ridges of the carrot weighing her hand down.
Truffle is staring at the root vegetable. Not at Apo. The pig isn’t following right away, staying within the fences, not like she normally would. No, even Truffle knows that something’s wrong with Apo. Something is deeply, horribly wrong.
But nothing can be wrong, because Apo isn’t alone. Apo has to act normal. Apo has to be normal. Now.
As much as Apo tries, it’s so hard to focus on Legundo’s voice as he travels inside Apo’s house. Not Apo and Pyro’s house. Not with the bite mark on Apo’s skin still itching. Legundo is saying something about securing Truffle, but interrupts himself with a surprised “Um…”
Apo turns to Legs. The doctor is crouching over the left pigpen, hands holding the side of the pit.
Outside, Cleo says something about securing animals, but Apo can only focus on the tension in Legs’s frame. How he observes the loss of the pigs with such obvious worry.
Apo did that. Apo ate their pigs. And it hadn’t been enough. Their stomach is still gnawing, screaming, they’ve never been this hungry before. They nearly ate Truffle. Legs had been afraid for Truffle, and if he knew that Apo was the one to start slaughtering animals, he’d-
Move. Apo reaches the pit and crouches beside Doc. There’s only enough room to do so on his left side. “What?”
There’s fresh meat in the pit. Apo can smell it. So hungry.
Warm. Something is warm. So close. Flesh shifts, so near, so warm, Apo is freezing, she needs something in her teeth and it’s right there saliva pools in her mouth and she only has to push her jaw forward a few inches and something breaks under her teeth and for a second she’s warm-
A gasp. Pressure on her forehead, pushed off, crimson droplets not enough linger on her cheek and tongue and wide, guilty green eyes meet hers.
Apo flicks her gaze from Legs’s eyes to something red on the doctor’s arm. At once, she jerks away, putting both hands to her mouth and staring into the pit. Oh god. Oh god. That can’t have just happened.
“-more animals,” Cleo is saying somewhere behind Apo. Can’t breathe. Can’t run. Can’t move. “…Did something happen?”
Legs is pressed close to Apo. Don’t look. Don’t watch.
“I reopened a cut. It’s nothing.” Legs’s voice is unbearably even. “Cleo, would you want to get started on securing more animals?”
“What about the pigs? Is the pig okay?” Cleo asks. She noticed the meat in the pit. Oh god.
With a grunt, Legs gets to his feet. Two sets of footsteps move away from the pit and towards the door. “I’ll help Apo with Truffle. I think the town needs you right now. You’ve more than proven yourself as someone they can look up to.”
Cleo sighs. “Honestly, I don’t know why they decided to elect me mayor. Fine, I’ll go see about those animals. Just don’t go out by yourself.”
“No one goes alone,” Legs confirms. “Stay safe.”
“You too,” comes the reply.
The door shuts, and Apo is trapped.
Apo rushes to their feet, spinning around to face Legs. They press their back into the wall, eyes darting around, but they built this house, they know there’s no way out.
“I need to leave,” Apo warbles. “I- I need- I need to leave.”
“Apo,” Legundo says in a measured voice. These walls are thin. “It’s fine. Listen. I can help you. With Truffle. I can help you.”
As an extension of the statement, Legs takes a firm step forward and presents his wrist. The one with a fresh, sloppy bite dribbling blood onto the muddy floor.
Apo leans further into the wall, shaking her head. She gags at the sight of the oozing red liquid. “No. Eugh. No!”
“Just do it. Now,” Legs urges quietly. He inches closer, taking that disgusting, enticing blood with him. A little louder, he adds, “We need to take care of this.”
Nowhere to go. Hungry. So hungry. Apo squeezes her eyes shut and turns her chin up and away. “I can’t. I can’t.”
“You can. It’s okay.” He’s closer. Too close. Warmth, warmth, it’s so close, she needs it-
Apo wrenches her head forward and sinks her fangs into Legs’s wrist.
The opening is made, and Apo swallows the brimming crimson. Eugh. The satisfaction in her no longer empty stomach is the only thing preventing Apo from pulling her mouth away. It tastes awful. She- Will she really have to drink this stuff for the rest of time? Oh Jesus.
Legs’s hand is strong on Apo’s shoulder, holding them up. He’s mumbling assurances that sound… both similar and different to how Pyro was talking to them yesterday. Apo can’t really figure out the intricacies of that right now.
After a good few swallows, Doc still hasn’t stopped Apo. But she pulls her head back after licking the wound. She can’t fathom why she did that until she sees the bleeding come to a stop.
Apo covers her mouth so Doc doesn’t have to watch her lick her lips. Through her palms, Apo mumbles, “Why did you do that?”
“I’m here to help people,” Legs says simply. “Do no harm.”
“Right.” Apo drops their hands. Everything feels a little clearer now that their stomach isn’t clawing at them, even if there’s still an absence. “I- Jesus, Doc, I- I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”
“You’re fine,” Legundo assures. “I’m not judging anyone. But I should probably clean this up.”
“Let me help. It- It would be hard to wrap up your own arm,” Apo says quickly. Part of her wants to stay away from him forever, but the louder part demands that she do something. Anything.
“I guess that would be quicker,” Legs concedes. “Then we can secure Truffle. Maybe speak more in confidence?”
Oh god. Apo doesn’t really want to do that, but she sort of owes Doc anything right now, doesn’t she? He gave up his blood for her no questions asked. What’s more, he covered for her. He could’ve told Cleo when didn’t know that Cleo already knew. Brought the rest of town in through these thin walls. Apo was at his mercy, and Legs had shown it. And Apo’s still reeling from all this, anyway. Having someone to bounce off of would be… something.
So fine. They can talk about it. A little.
Legs retrieves his supplies, and he disinfects the site of the wound. It’s good that he does, so Apo doesn’t have to look at the leftover blood. Once that’s done, Apo wraps the bite under Legs’s instruction, despite the slight tremble in their fingers. During this, Legs restores some low-effort chitchat with the right amount of tension and levity for a town that was just thrust into a nightmare scenario. God, he’s good at this.
It’s a blessing and a curse that everyone knows about vampires. Because at least the townsfolk know the danger and are preparing for it. But now there’s no safety from the vampires. They have no reason to stay hidden and quiet. They’ll be out for blood.
Apo’s fangs ache. She could be out for blood.
No. Don’t think like that. She may have taken from Legs, but nothing happened. She didn’t turn him. She didn’t kill him.
But god, oh god, she could’ve. If she can’t control herself, how can she ever see Cherri again? How can she put Cherri into danger like that?
Everyone is in danger. Fernsfield has been picking away Apo’s skin for the last couple of days, but now it’s torn her open. Apo has to protect these stupid townsfolk, including the stupid one that just gave up his blood to an undead weirdo like that. What the hell. Apo thought Legs was smart.
The speedy treatment is soon successful. Apo doesn’t have to look at the wound anymore.
“Are you- Are you good?” Apo asks.
Legs dips his head. “I’m alright. You’re fine, Apo. I mean it. And anyway, we shouldn’t linger.”
“Fine.” Apo steps towards the pigpen and grimaces. “You might have to lead Truffle. I don’t know if she’ll follow me anymore. She can tell I’m…” Apo shouldn’t finish that sentence.
With a hum, Legs hovers beside Apo and passes them a carrot. Oh, they must have dropped it trying to feed on Legs earlier.
After a moment, Truffle sniffs and steps closer to Apo.
“Truffle will still follow you,” Doc confirms. “Come on. We better get moving.”
Apo stares at Truffle, something untwisting and retwisting in her gut. “Yeah.”
Getting out of town is, blessedly, not an issue. Legs waits until they’re at the treeline before he dares to talk.
“I’m guessing that this is a recent change?” Legundo asks.
“Um. Yeah.” Apo won’t look at him. “Last night.”
“…Oh!”
Apo huffs, making sure Truffle is keeping up. They have to walk a little slower anyway, since Doc is obviously drained. But they try to not acknowledge that. “Yeah. So. Hasn’t been a good day.”
“Understandable,” Legs bolsters with weight to the word.
They reach a good spot in the woods. With a few words exchanged, Legs helps Apo seek out a safe spot for Truffle to hide in. Under some moss, they find a small cave. They get to setting up some fences for the pig.
They’re as isolated as they can get. It’s during this step that Doc starts speaking again. “You… I’m very sorry that you’re going through this. I can only guess that this wouldn’t be easy.”
“I hate it,” Apo mumbles, tapping a fencepost into the ground. “I hate blood. This is so disgusting. And I hurt you. I couldn’t even control myself for a day. I can’t go home like this!”
“You can,” Legs argues. “You’re hungry. I’ve seen what hunger can do to a person. You’re not a monster, Apo.”
Something gross aches in Apo’s stomach. “How do you know that? You- You found out about vampires a few hours ago. I only found out a few hours before that. We don’t know anything!”
“I know, I know,” Doc admits, a pang of frustration in his voice. “I- Believe me, I know. But we won’t learn anything by shrinking away from this. We need information. But anything can be cured, Apo. I think I can fix this.”
“How?” Apo asks incredulously. “You don’t know that there’s a cure.”
Doc sighs. “It’ll take time. Effort. Trust, even. Do you think you could trust me, Apo?”
Apo spares Doc a glance. “I trust you.”
At the words, Legs gives a tired smile. “Alright. Then we’re on our way.”
Huffing, Apo focuses on herding Truffle into the makeshift pen. “I don’t know, Doc. I want to think I won’t be like this forever, but I’m not gonna get my hopes up.” After a beat, she adds, “But I’ll help if you need anything, I guess.”
Relief. “Good. Thank you.”
Soon, the pen is done. All that’s left to do is say goodbye. Hesitantly, Apo kneels and rubs Truffle’s head. The pig looks wary, but she still leans into Apo’s hand.
“Bye, Truffle,” Apo says quietly. “I’ll bring you more carrots later.”
Doc crouches beside Apo and pets Truffle. “Truffle will be okay,” he promises.
They sit for a moment. But things could be happening back in town, so they need to go. Truffle will be fine.
Apo makes sure Doc gets to his feet okay. The guy is out of breath. “Doc, seriously are you okay? You can’t be doing okay.”
Legs brushes Apo off, face sweating. “Of course I’m not okay. But I’m doing what I can.”
Oh. Yeah. “…I understand,” Apo mutters.
Then, Legs shakes his head. “But I’m doing better than I was, if it’s any consolation.”
Apo scrunches their face. “Why?”
Doc gives a pained smile. “Let’s just say you gave me a boost.”
With that nonsense statement, Doc makes his merry way out of the hole.
Quickly, Apo covers the hole with moss and grabs Doc’s arm before he can scamper off alone or something. “What do you mean by that?” she asks.
Shaking his head, Legundo starts the two of them walking back to town. “You confirmed what I already suspected. That we can fix this.”
Apo frowns tightly. “I bit you.”
Legs waves a hand. “You were turned hours ago. I can’t hold that against you. You’re still yourself, Apo. Truffle still follows you, Pyro spared Truffle when he came home-”
“Oh. No, Doc, I did that. I killed my pigs,” Apo corrects.
It hardly slows the guy down. “Oh, then… you spared Truffle. And Pyro and Owen let me go when they could’ve killed me or turned me.”
Apo wrinkles their nose. “Ew, not Owen. Owen’s the reason I’m like this.”
Legs turns to Apo with surprise. “Owen..?”
“I mean, he didn’t turn me,” Apo clarifies. “But he offered me to Pyro and Scott. He said explicitly that they were going to kill me if I didn’t get someone turned. That’s the only reason I’m like this.”
Sadness swirls in Legs’s expression. “Oh. Well… I’m sorry. But… you’re still yourself. It’s not your fault that this hunger has been thrust upon you. And it’s up to us to fix this.”
“Yeah, and make sure I’m not biting anymore townsfolk,” Apo says bitterly, dropping her gaze.
“You’re fine,” Legs repeats. “…Maybe you can tell me what happened before we get back to town. Get some more information? As a start?”
Well, someone should know. And if it’s gonna be anyone, at least it’s someone who actually wants to do something about all this. Even if Apo has her doubts.
“Sure.”