The Hunger

Summary: One month after the Jesse 'incident' and things are returning to normal. Except, Ethan doesn't feel too normal and that bite mark on his arm is taking it's time to heal.

Spoilers: Up to and including 1X13 (Re-Vamped)

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, only the madness in my words.

A/N: Became addicted to this show last week sometime when I first saw the movie. The muse is very happy about this and so demanded some writing time... and this is what came of it. It's my first time in this fandom, so I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

"Dude!" Ethan whined, "Don't poke it!"

He pulled his arm back, away from his friend, his strangled words falling on deaf ears as Benny went in for another prod of the bite mark.

"Benny!" he tried once more, tone harsher but still strained.

Benny's hand immediately halted, hovering halfway between Ethan's wrist and his open locker door. "Okay, okay," he relented, drawing back. "But, shouldn't it have healed by now?"

It had been a month. A month since the dance, since Jesse had returned and Ethan had been bitten. A month since Sarah had saved him from becoming a fledgling and in turn, turned herself into a full vampire. And whilst, as they stood at Benny's locker waiting for the first bell of the day, everything appeared to have returned to some level of normality, under the surface Ethan knew trouble was lurking.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Ethan took a breath and considered the mark once more. It had healed somewhat since that night and Ethan was by no means a fast healer, but it bothered him that it hadn't healed more.

Benny pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at the mark, as if in deep and careful thought. But the moment lasted merely seconds and his features fell lax once more. "Bah," he uttered, with a dismissive shrug and wave of his hand. "I'm sure it's normal."

"Normal?" Ethan asked, that strangled tension remaining in his voice, causing it to rise an octave as he fought to keep the level low enough so passersby wouldn't hear their conversation. "What part of this is normal?"

"You heard what Grandma said – Sarah got the venom out. You're a regular human being... or at least somewhat regular if you don't count the visions and needing a babysitter thing."

"I don't need a babysitter! It's for Jane..."

But Benny wasn't listening, he was rummaging inside his locker. "I bet vampire bites just take longer to heal than, you know, regular bites. Like when Frodo was stabbed with the Morgul-blade."

"And how is that supposed to comfort me? When Frodo got that wound, he was never healed. He suffered with it right through to the end."

"Ok-ay, so it was an extreme example."

"You think?"

"And besides," Benny continued, pulling out a book from his locker and shoving it into his bag, "it's not like you're turning or anything. If you were gonna turn into a creature of the undead, you would have done it by now."

Ethan huffed out but nodded, his mind mulling it over as he cast his gaze down the hall. The sight of Sarah pulled him away from his musings and he fumbled with the sleeve of his hoodie, pulling it down to cover the bite mark. "Sarah!" he called out, lips quirked upward in an awkward and somewhat guilty smile, eyes widening at the sight of the babysitter.

Sarah drew closer, suspicion settling in her eyes. "Please tell me you two haven't been up to anything..."

"No," Ethan answered, and even he could tell that the response had been a little too quick. He shared a glance with Benny, swallowing the lump in his throat, before looking back to Sarah. "Nothing at all... no magic, no potions... why would you think we'd been up to anything?"

Her eyes narrowed, the doubt in them clearly visible.

"Err, how are you?" he continued on before she could ask any further questions.

The suspicion still remained in her eyes but it lessened and she shrugged. "Oh, you know – scorching hot sun and no cloud cover. Just perfect weather for a vampire." With a raised eyebrow, she looked Ethan up and down. "Which makes me wonder..."

His face fell, confused, and his right hand moved up to the strap of his backpack, fingers wrapping around it to tug it further onto his shoulder. "What?"

"A hoodie? Again? What part of 'scorching hot sun' are you not feeling? It's gotta be at least twenty degrees outside."

He searched his mind for a lie, tongue grasping the first that came to mind, but as soon as the words began to slip from his lips, he regretted choosing it. "It's my mom... she worries I'm not keeping warm enough."

Sarah's eyes narrowed once more. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah. I'm great... why wouldn't I be?"

"Are you sure? 'Cause you're acting weirder than normal... and for you, that's a pretty hard thing to do."

Benny swung his arm around Ethan's shoulder and grinned at Sarah. "He's just worried that he's tur-"

"-Two days late for my chemistry homework," Ethan cut in over him, elbowing his friend in the ribs as inconspicuously as possible.

"You, the science nerd, late with homework?" Sarah let go of a light scoff and cast a quick glance down the hallway.

Ethan used the opportunity to send a warning glare to Benny in hopes that he would catch the 'Sarah cannot know about this' message written in his eyes. In return, Benny withdrew his arm from Ethan's shoulder to rub gently at his now bruised ribs, a small pout forming on his lips.

"I got caught up playing video games," Ethan continued when Sarah's attention returned to the pair of them. "Zombie Ninja 5, right, Benny?"

"Riiight," Benny drawled out. "Zombie Ninja 5, very addictive. Like, ubder addictive. I forgot to shower for a week when I got the first one. 'Course I was ten..."

Sarah's eyes snapped to Benny, face contorting in mild disgust. "Ewww – I really did not need to know that."

"I can see why you would think that way."

If it had been any other girl standing in front of them, Ethan would have wished for the ground to open up and swallow him whole. But it wasn't, it was Sarah. And Sarah knew them in all their nerd glory. Still, he did wonder sometimes if Benny was just deliberately trying to kill him through embarrassment.

The bell rang out and Sarah adjusted the books in her arms.

"Gotta run," she sighed out, a sullen and slightly dismal look tugging at her features. "Got Mr. Michaels first period. We're reading Latin poetry."

With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared down the hall. Ethan could only stare after her, his own face taking on a forlorn expression.

"Bye," he attempted to call out, but his voice was lost amongst the crowd of students and his next word died on a whisper beneath his breath, "Sarah."

Beside him, Benny closed his locker with a clash and pulled at his schoolbag. "Still crushing on Sarah?" he questioned.

Ethan didn't answer, already making his way toward the first class of the day. Benny followed, falling in step beside him.

"Seriously, E? You've got to tell her. What the worst that could happen?"

"She could laugh."

"Pessimistic but possible..."

Ethan shook his head and continued on. "She could freak out and start avoiding me."

"Oh, I don't know... I think the laughter is more likely."

"Gee, thanks. I thought you were supposed to be encouraging me."

"Oh come on, E. How are you supposed to ever get a date with a hot high school babe if you're all hung up on Sarah?"

Reaching the door to their class, Ethan came to a stop and looked to Benny, eyebrows raised. "I think that's the least of my worries, don't you?"

Benny rolled his eyes and let out a guttural sigh. "You're not still on about that are you? Dude, I swear on my honour as a Spellmaster, you are not turning into a vampire."

"I'm not talking about that! I'm talking about Sarah. She's a..." He stalled, glancing quickly around before lowering his voice to a hush. "She's a vampire."

The words 'And it's my fault.' went unsaid but still they circled round his mind, his gut clenching at the thought.

"Then look on the bright side – if you are changing, you'll make the perfect couple."

Ethan let go of a lengthy breath and closed his eyes. "So not helping," he muttered, opening the door to the classroom and heading inside.

For the most part, classes went by quickly and the school day drew to a close. When the last bell rang, Ethan gathered up his things from the desk and shoved them into his bag.

"So we have Return of the Mutant Alien Space Dogs or Zombie Massacre 3," Benny spoke up from beside him, throwing his bag onto his shoulder and positioning it at his side.

"Huh?" was all Ethan managed in reply.

"Movie night, dude. We've been planning this all week, remember?"

"Yeah, 'course – how could I forget?"

Benny's lips thinned and he stopped in his tracks to consider Ethan. "You did, didn't you?"

When Ethan didn't reply, he continued on.

"How could you forget movie night, E?"

"I didn't forget," Ethan argued but the look on his friend's face told him it was pointless denying it. "Okay," he relented, "so I did but... I've just had a few things on my mind."

They continued on, heading down the hallway and toward Ethan's locker as they talked.

"I told you already," Benny droned, "you're-"

"No," Ethan interrupted. "Not that. It's just... Sarah."

Coming to a stop outside the locker, Benny's face lit up and he clicked his fingers, spinning on the spot to face Ethan. "Oh-ho! You've finally decided to tell her. Man, this is perfect – invite her to movie night. You can share a tub of popcorn."

Letting go of a frustrated sigh, Ethan shook his head and pulled his locker door open. He was saved from having to reply by Sarah who chose that moment to pass by.

"Who's sharing popcorn?" she questioned, stopping just short of the pair.

"No one," Ethan grumbled, tossing a glare Benny's way briefly before turning to look at Sarah, and a bored Erica who stood just beside her.

"So, Sarah," Benny pushed on, undeterred by the glare. "Return of the Mutant Alien Space Dogs or Zombie Massacre 3?"

Sarah quirked her lip up, her eyebrows mimicking the motion. "What?"

"Movie night at the multiplex."

"The movies?" Erica questioned, looking to Benny and Ethan for the first time since arriving. "With you dorks? No thanks."

"It's three for two," Ethan tried, voice rising with the plea. He offered a hopeful smile and locked eyes with Sarah as she chewed at her lip.

Her own smile was apologetic and she cast a glance beside her to Erica. "I can't," she answered, looking back to him. "I've got... stuff... to do."

"Stuff, right... yes. Of course. Stuff." He nodded and tried his hardest not to look too disappointed, though he wasn't sure how well it was working for him.

"But I'm babysitting tomorrow, so..."

"So you can watch your boring geekazoid movies then," Erica supplied with a roll of her eyes and dismissive flick of her head.

Again, Sarah smiled, apologetic. "See you tomorrow," she offered, her words left behind on the air whilst Erica grabbed her arm and led her away.

"Yeah, see you," he called, gaze following her down the hallway until he lost sight of the pair of them behind the crowd of jocks that muscled their way through the halls.

"Ha-arsh, man. That was some serious bailing..." Benny rested his elbow on Ethan's shoulder and clucked his tongue, his own eyes also trained on the end of the hall.

Ethan ignored him, shrugging free of the arm and returning to his locker. After several long seconds of shifting things about inside, he paused and looked to Benny. "Has Sarah seemed... different to you?"

Benny raised an eyebrow, a look of condescension falling onto his features. "E, has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?"

"Yes, actually," Ethan answered on a mutter before brushing off the thought and refocusing his mind. "But I'm serious. Ever since then..."

His eyes fell to his arm and the sleeve that only just covered the bite mark. His mind swirled and he thought over the last month. Sarah had still been Sarah, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she was becoming increasingly distant.

"What do you expect?" Benny asked. "She's been turned into a full vampire. She's gonna live forever. It's a lot to deal with. I mean, it's like learning that your father is the leader of the evil Imperial Army and wants to control the entire galaxy."

"I'd have thought it would be more like crash-landing on a strange planet, only to discover it's actually Earth in the future and everyone you ever loved is now dead."

Benny pursed his lips in thought then nodded. "You make a good point."

Ethan remained silent, finishing up inside his locker as the word 'stuff' circled his mind and he wondered just what it entailed. Though he doubted he truly wanted to know. If Erica was involved, it wouldn't be the regular 'stuff' that other high-school girls got up to – which was exactly why Ethan was worried about Sarah.

"So I'm thinking we go with the space dogs," Benny said, carrying on the conversation from before as if it had never stopped. "After the Lotta Latte thing, I'm not sure I could sit through another zombie movie so soon."

Letting go of a lengthy breath, Ethan closed his locker door and clapped Benny on the back. "Space dogs it is then."

Thank you for reading - more to come soon.