Like I said, I'm doing some one-shots on the side. No idea where this concept came from. Also, sorry for the poor ending. Endings are my weakness :/
Figured I'd do something more family-oriented than incestuous, but for my Lewd House readers, feel free to read into it however you want :P
In retrospect, being a vampire was not as cracked up as she thought it would be. To borrow one of Luan's poorly-written jokes, it sucked.
Get it?
In all seriousness, her gothic literature and vampire romance shows had prepared her for a completely different lifestyle than the one she was currently forced to live. So far, the only thing that had happened that was true about her vampire fantasy was the attractiveness of vampires. The boy she let infect her had certainly been gorgeous, but she was dismayed to learn that changes in appearance were the result of powerful psychic attacks, not a natural increase in beauty. There was a coven, like in her books, but it was a creepy gathering of blood fetishists and cannibals rather than an aristocratic court.
No, Lucy Loud was not having a fun time with her knew "powers". All that had really improved was her intellect, which was already quite advanced for her young age. True, her senses, reflexes, and strength had all increased a thousand-fold, but what good were those if she never really used them? Reading Lovecraft in absolute darkness – thanks to her night vision – had been cool, for sure, but that got old really fast. Lynn never got the upper-hand against her anymore, either; Lucy was too fast, too agile, and too strong to ever lose to her older sister again.
None of these improvements made up for what she lost, though. Lucy only thought she felt empty before, nihilistically questioning the point of life. Now there was a gnawing need for life and fulfillment, as well as the sinking sensation she could never have it. Then there was her aversion to sunlight. Lucy had never really liked bright light, and sunlight least of all, but now it literally burned her upon exposure. She, fortunately, did not turn to ash, like some movies led her to believe, but she sure felt like it. Worse still, even inside she felt considerably weak during the daytime. School was virtually unbearable.
And then there was the hunger, the thirst. She couldn't control it, couldn't control herself. In class, she found herself losing focus on what was being taught, her advanced hearing picking up the rhythmic heartbeats of her classmates, her keen vision seeing the veins on her peers gently throbbing. Lucy felt her hands shake whenever she was near a living being. She had tried feeding on rodents, tried to substitute human blood with that of animals, but nothing worked. Worse still, she was becoming increasingly desperate, viewing her family as little a food source.
She knew she would die without blood. The thought of death had never frightened her as a mortal, but now it was terrifying. If vampires existed, if she was feeling the emptiness of existence without a soul… then what would happen to her if she died? Without a soul, would she cease to exist? How long she had wished for just that, and yet when faced with it, it terrified her.
Despite all that, she couldn't bring herself to feed off of her family or friends, not even on strangers. She was going to become weaker and weaker, falling deeper in desperation and pain until she finally died. The thought of it all made her want to cry.
She didn't notice the tears in her eyes until they were spilling onto the cool metal of the air duct she was hiding in. Part of her wanted to dry her eyes and toughen up, but she couldn't hold them in. Her silent weeping turned into sobbing that racked her body with juddering shakes. She didn't notice her name being called until a hand rested on her shoulder.
"What?" Lucy jumped as if slapped, turning to face her brother, "Lincoln?"
"Lucy, what on Earth is wrong?" the 11-year-old asked, face lined with worry, "I could hear you all the way to my room!"
"S-sorry," Lucy turned away as much to dry her eyes as to quit looking at Lincoln's pulsing veins, "You wouldn't understand. You should leave."
"No," Lincoln furrowed his brow, "You've been acting distant, like… more so than usual. I should have said something earlier – it's obvious something is hurting you."
Lucy sighed.
"Lucy, please," Lincoln wrapped his arms around his younger sister, "if something is bothering you, don't shut me out. I'm your older brother; seeing you in pain… it hurts me, Lucy. Please, tell me what's wrong."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Lucy grimaced.
"Try me," Lincoln grinned.
"I… I've become a vampire," Lucy said, feeling like an idiot for saying it aloud.
"Lucy, I'm being serious," Lincoln said, "I can't help you if you dodge the question with stories."
"It's not a story," Lucy sighed again, "I told you, you wouldn't believe me."
Lincoln looked unconvinced, but he had the tact not to voice his skepticism.
"Well, didn't you always want to be a vampire?" he asked, "I mean, this should be like a dream come true for you."
"I thought it would be, but…" the goth curled up tighter, "it's a nightmare."
"Don't you have cool powers?" Lincoln smirked, still playing along.
"I have advanced reflexes and senses," Lucy shrugged, "along with immortality and super strength, but… I've lost so much more, Lincoln. You don't understand."
"I don't know if I can help you, Lucy," Lincoln sighed before holding his hand out to her, "but I'd sure like to try."
Lucy stared at the offered hand.
"I…" she began, "I do need your help. I need to feed."
"Feed?" Lincoln's hand recoiled a bit, but he stayed strong. Surely Lucy wasn't serious?
"I've been a vampire for nearly a week now, but I haven't fed on anyone," she explained, "I know I have to, but I can't bring myself to hurt anyone. If someone were willing to let me feed off them, I might be able to survive."
"Lucy, I can't believe you're seriously asking to suck my blood," Lincoln snorted.
"I knew you didn't believe me," Lucy snapped, "forget it! Just get out of here before I do something I'll regret."
Lincoln frowned. After a moment, he held his wrist out to her. Lucy looked back at her brother with widened eyes, though Lincoln couldn't see them beneath her bangs.
"Lincoln…" Lucy asked, stunned, "you… you believe me?"
"Not really, no," Lincoln chuckled, "but I believe that you believe you need blood to survive. If that's what you think you need, then I'll help."
"Lincoln, this isn't going to be a onetime thing, you know," Lucy's fingers shook as they wrapped around Lincoln's arm, "I-I need to feed."
"If that's what you need to help you," Lincoln laughed nervously.
"You're terrified of the sight of your own blood, Lincoln," Lucy pushed his arm away from her, "I can't do this to you."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Lincoln exhaled quickly, "Um, I mean… Look, Lucy, if you really think you're a vampire and really think you need to drink blood, then as your older brother I'll… let you, um, feed."
Saying it aloud, it did sound ridiculous.
"Ok," Lucy gulped, "I can't promise it won't hurt. I've never tried this before except on rats."
"Wait, rats?" Lincoln asked too late.
There was a strange pinch as Lucy bit into his exposed wrist, and then numbness. Lincoln opened his eyes, not realizing he'd shut them. His sisters had bitten him before, either intentionally or on accident in various fights through the years, and not once had a bite from a human ever been so… painless. He did feel a little fainter, though, and he could hear Lucy gulping liquid. Soon he became lightheaded, his vision fading in and out.
"L-Lucy…" he mumbled, drunkenly, "Stop!"
"Oh, Lincoln!" Lucy gasped, removing her mouth from his wrist, "I'm so sorry! I-I just lost control!"
"It's fine," Lincoln felt his head spinning. He looked at his wrist, eyes widening at the two pinprick marks forming little droplets of blood. That wasn't what a human bitemark looked like. The realization made him want faint.
"Lincoln!" Lucy shook her brother, panic creeping into her voice, "Lincoln!"
"Wha-?" Lincoln woke up, still in the air ducts, "Lucy?"
Suddenly, he jumped away from her, eyes widening in fear.
"You're a vampire!" he exclaimed.
"Duh," Lucy sighed, "I already told you that."
"Right…" Lincoln laughed, mirthlessly, "Well, I wasn't going to just believe that. It's crazy!"
"I can't say I blame you," Lucy said, "I have a hard time believing it."
"How did this happen?" Lincoln asked, "You can only turn into a vampire if another vampire bites you, right?"
"I found an internet chat group for vampires," Lucy shrugged, "I didn't put much stock into it – after all, it doesn't sound real – but I figured I'd meet up with one of them who lived nearby and was my age."
"That sounds like a cradle-robber trap if I've ever heard one…" Lincoln muttered.
"He was a vampire and I asked him to turn me into one," Lucy explained, "It was my dream come true, just as you said, but… Things haven't worked out like I thought they would."
"What do you mean?" Lincoln asked, his dizziness finally abating.
"It physically hurts to go outside during daytime, and even inside I feel awful," Lucy began, "I'm always hungry and thirsty, but no food or drink makes me feel any better – only human blood. I can't focus on anything but people's heartbeats, and it's driving me insane. I don't want to hurt people, Lincoln."
"You won't have to, Lucy," Lincoln wrapped his arms around her, "As long as I'm your brother, you can feed off of me."
"Lincoln, I couldn't!" Lucy said, "You're terrified of blood loss, and this one feeding made you dizzy. I could kill you."
"You said you've gone nearly a week without feeding, right?" Lincoln asked, "Well, could you hold off for… eight weeks?"
"Why eight weeks?" Lucy asked.
"I learned in class that that's how long it takes the human body to recover from blood loss." Lincoln explained.
"I don't know, Lincoln…" Lucy sighed, "that's a long time. I felt awful after a week without blood. I don't know if I could survive eight weeks. But… I know you won't survive long unless I give you time to recover, so I'll do my best."
"If worse comes to worst, you can feed off of me sooner and we can think up another plan." Lincoln said, "Trust me."
Lucy hugged Lincoln, suddenly, trying and failing to hold back tears.
"I can't thank you enough, Lincoln!" she sobbed.
"Hey now, let's not get mushy," Lincoln chuckled, nervously, "I'm only doing what any brother would do."
"No, Lincoln. You're doing way more than what a brother would do." Lucy smiled for the first time in a long time, "Thank you."
"You don't need to thank me, Lucy," Lincoln returned the smile, "I'd do anything to save your life. No matter the cost."
"I love you," Lucy said, drying her eyes again.
"Hey now, what'd I say about mushy?" Lincoln grinned, "C'mon, let's get you back to your room."
And with that, the children left the safety of the air vent to face the world.