Staring out at the moonlight, I became even more frightened. If Shadow or anyone actually, found out what I had become, I wasn't sure what would happen. They might believe that my soul would be demented and twisted now and kill me, or they might understand that I hadn't changed much despite the fangs and wings.
Nearly four days ago, I had been bitten by a vampire, for the first time. And the monster hadn't stopped with just one, no, he came back, and before I knew it, I had been bitten three times. Three times was the max amount, and it had turned me into a creature like himself. I never knew his name, because once I had become a vampire, he left me alone, as weak and defenseless as I was, he took off without a word and I hadn't seen him since. I only knew that he had been a true bat, not just a vampire.
Now, I still wasn't ready to take the chance of what my friends would do to me if they found out. I had been missing for a while, and soon they would come looking for me, I knew that, and it scared me more. The woods I was in were dark and secluded, but still I worried with the moon shining through the trees. After sitting there for a while, I stood. I'm not a wuss, if I'm going to be this way, then I have to make the best of it. I let the bat wings sprout out of my back, deciding to explore the forest that the strange vampire had drug me into.
Flying high above the trees, I flew silently. The vampire had taken me farther from civilization then I thought, with no sign of a building in sight. I landed in a tree, thinking for a moment. I wondered what my friends were doing, if they were thinking of me.
I had an uneventful day, sleeping in a cave I had found in some cliffs nearby. And when night came again, it scared me more than the one before. Last night, I had been able to control my hunger with not too much thought to it, but now, the pain stabbed at me too strongly to ignore. I could feel myself getting weaker, and knew that if I didn't feed this night, I wouldn't live. But I didn't want to, well, I did, but the thought of it made me sick with nausea. Drink another living creature's blood?! How could I?! Still, with my vampire instincts and hunger too strong to simply pretend they didn't exist, I flew out of the vast forest into the city. The lights didn't really bother me, I guess I was just allergic to sunlight.
A thought crossed my mind, and I nearly slapped myself for not thinking of it sooner. If I had no choice but to drink blood, absolutely none, than I could just go to some store and pick up an uncooked steak or something, they always still... I paused in my thoughts, beginning to tremble in the alleyway I was standing in.
I had heard something, no, someone. Glancing around nervously, I sniffed the air to see if I would recognize the scent. My eyes went wide, I did, and it was so familiar that I had ignored it before. It was Shadow. I had been around him so much before, so much that his smell just seemed natural to the air. He stepped out of the darkness where he had seen me land, where he had been watching me this entire time. I was frozen, paralyzed by fear so that I couldn't move, so I just stood there.
"Foxy?" he asked, his face filled with stern confusion. I felt myself loosen up at the sound of his voice, and began shuffling backwards to get away. "Hey! Wait a second...!" he began as he walked towards me. That did it. If he got a close enough look at my face, at my eyes and teeth, he would know what I was. I turned and moved to run, but he was faster, and grabbed my arm, stopping me. If I was at full strength, not being weak from lack of feeding, I could easily have tossed him off, but now he was stronger than I. Shadow pulled me around to face him, looking into my eyes.
"Where've you been the past four days?! What's wrong with you?!" It took him but a moment, but it was then he knew. His hand flew up to my face, and he forced his fingers into my mouth, probing until he found the pointed fangs that grew from my canine teeth. I knew he would either feel terribly sorry for me, or condemn me immediately, and I wasn't about to wait and find out which.
Unexpectedly, I stomped on his foot, and Shadow released me. I didn't waste time, and quickly flew to the sky, getting as far away as fast I could. I weaved in-between the buildings and city, until I felt sure I had lost him. Resting for only a couple minutes, I left for the forest once more.
I stumbled back into the cave I had spent the night before. Weaker than ever, I felt as if the hunger was taking over me. I didn't want to do anything desperate, let alone actually go hunting, but I was terrified to return to the city.
Now that Shadow knew what I was, he would tell anyone else that knew me, and they would no doubt comb the city for me. I laid down, exhausted. Maybe if I just laid here, I would die, then it would all be over. I didn't really want to die, but I didn't know what else to do, if I saw another living creature, I was afraid that I might lose it and try to attack them. What could I do? I kept repeating this in my head, until I felt all hope fading from me.
I could feel the tears falling from my face, and I didn't care, I could feel the weakness taking over me, my strength fading into nothingness. Still lying on the cold floor of the cave, I slipped into unconsciousness.
I awoke to the feeling of warmth, the feeling of a pulse against my face. I was so weak that I couldn't move, I didn't even know if I had the strength to speak. It was Shadow, he was holding me, hugging me to him, and, crying? Was he actually crying for me? Now I knew the answer to my question before, he cared, so much that he didn't hate me even after what I had become.
He had pressed my face to his neck, and I could feel his vein pulsing with each of his heartbeats. My body trembled, the vampire instincts stirring within me. No! I couldn't bite him! But the hunger was great, so powerful, and I could feel my mouth watering. I moaned, and he pulled me away from his neck to look at my face. Unable to even sit-up, he still held me in his arms, and I could see that he really had been crying.
"Foxy?" he whispered. I closed my eyes as he caressed my face with his hand, if I was going to die, at least I wouldn't be alone. "Are you dying?" I heard him ask. I was still too weak to answer, so I forced myself a weak smile. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you! Why were you frightened of me?" I opened my mouth to try to answer, but all I could muster was a small whimper. "You're so weak... I don't think you'll survive a trip to the city... You just wouldn't make it..." he muttered. The black hedgehog, he was trying to find a way to save me, before it was too late. He didn't care that I wasn't even a normal fox anymore, he wanted me to live.
He closed his eyes, thinking hard as he continued to stroke my face. He had been a nice friend, I thought, so loyal, but I knew he was right. I didn't have much time left, I was fading fast.
His eyes opened suddenly, and I could see that he had thought of a solution in them. He lifted me gently, moving over so he was sitting and leaning against the cave wall. Then, he carefully pressed my face against his neck again. What? What was he doing?! "Bite me." He said, his voice barely a whisper. What?! No! I... I couldn't...! I didn't want... "Do it. Just once. Then later you'll have the strength to get to the city." My instincts surged again, and I fought them, I won't. I won't bite him. I won't do it... Shadow positioned my mouth against his throat, relaxing his body in preparation. I couldn't... I just couldn't... I wanted to cry...
"Foxy, I don't want you to die. Please just do it. It won't hurt me, well, it might a little. But do it, you have to. There is no other way! Bite me!" he said again, with more force. I knew he was right, I knew it. There was no other way. Closing my eyes, I finally gave up trying to stop the powerful urges and let it take over. The vampire mind gave me a surge of strength at the feeling of his heartbeat, and I wrapped my arms around him. I felt his heart rate quicken in fear, but he didn't push me away.
Allowing the instincts to guide me, I sunk my fangs into his throat, and I felt his body flinch under me. I tasted his blood, it was strong and roused my vampire senses even more. I could feel his chest heaving as he gasped in pain, but I didn't care. It was as if nothing mattered anymore, except for feeding off of him. He wasn't resisting, he was a willing victim, and even with the pain, he was not making any move to fight.
After what seemed like hours, I stopped. My vampire mind had taken over me during most of that time, and I barely remembered anything, except for the taste of blood and his heartbeat. I had the strength to move now, and I stumbled off of him, shocked at his appearance and what I had done. He was unconscious, and his normally white chest fur was matted and stained red with his own blood. His breathing was slow and raspy, and I immediately knew that I had gone too far, had taken too much blood from him.
I stood up and backed away, horrified. I wanted to run away, to flee from this scene of terror, but I couldn't. I had to stay, I couldn't just abandon Shadow, not when he was so weak. Wait, maybe I needed to leave, if only for a few moments, to get help. Tails, if there was anyone that would understand, it would be him.
It was dark out, and the stars shown brightly in the sky. I knew where Tails lived, where his shop was, and it didn't take me long at all to get there because I could fly. I looked in his bedroom window, he had left it open, and saw him curled up in his bed fast asleep. Landing on his windowsill, I was quieter than a mouse.
"Tails! Tails, wake up!" I hissed, fully aware that Sonic was most likely in the next room sleeping. I didn't trust the blue hedgehog, not at all. He was too quick to judge, even if he was supposedly a hero. The fox's eyes opened, and he looked at me, his eyes growing wide with fear. This I hadn't expected, but I suddenly realized how frightening I must have looked, perched on his window with the moon illuminating my silhouette, and my eyes glowing red. He opened his mouth to scream, and I jumped in, putting my hand over his mouth.
"Shhhhhh!! I'm not gonna bite you or nothing, I swear! Shadow needs help, please hurry!!" I whispered quickly. He nodded and I let go of him. He put his socks, shoes and gloves on, then turned to leave the room through the door.
"There's not enough time for the Tornado, I'll take you. And don't even think about getting Sonic, I don't trust him!!" I said, grabbing his hand and flying out the window. He could fly as well, and followed me closely, as suspicious as he was.
We landed in front of the cave, and I could tell he didn't want to go in. But he took out a flashlight anyway and stepped towards it. He stopped and waited for me, and I backed away.
"I...I can't... Stand it..." I whispered, frightened at what condition Shadow might be in now. He turned and walked into the cave, and I immediately flew in the other direction. I knew that Tails would take care of Shadow, but I felt too ashamed of myself to face him. I needed to find a cure for myself, soon.