Chapter 7: Civilized Vamps Are Still Vamps
Dean: 17
Sam & Kate: 13
I was feeling really weak. I usually didn't feel amazing after donating blood, but it seemed a small price for a large sum of fifty dollars. I was using the money to buy clothes for school, but I was subtle about it. If Sammy or my dad asked, I always just told them that I was borrowing them from some friends at school. I didn't need them asking about where I was getting the money.
Fifty bucks in my pocket, I staggered back to our motel. Dad was probably out finding stuff out about a hunt, and Sam was probably studying in the library. Which was honestly perfect because my body was basically screaming for a nap.
I pushed open the motel room door and froze. I'd been wrong—I was definitely not going to be getting a nap in today.
"Katie!" Dean cheered as he grinned at me over a burger. He set down the burger and pushed himself off the bed. He came at me with open arms.
"Dean?" I asked in shock. With wide eyes, I held him in the hug. He'd been gone for months! Some boys' home correctional thing—
"Yeah, Dad finally sprung me out of the slammer." He said it like it didn't matter. "How've you been? Damn, you've grown, haven't you?"
I pulled away and looked up at him. "How long are you here for?"
"Forever." He rolled his eyes, but I could tell he was happy to see me. "Where's that nerd brother of ours?"
"The l-library," I said. "Is Dad here?"
Dean waved his hand. "Dad found out about some big hunt. He brought me back here to look after you nutjobs."
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "We're not ten, Dean. We don't need someone to look after us."
"You're thirteen," Dean said as he walked back to his burger. "And, yeah, you do."
I rolled my eyes again, and it made my vision become a little jumbled. I needed to sit down. I sat on the motel couch and felt my elbow bandage tug. Thank God I had worn long sleeves or Dean would have seen the obvious sign of donating blood.
After wolfing down his burger, Dean walked towards me and nudged my foot. "Come on, let's go see Sammy. I'm dyin' to see that kid."
Moving? Farther than to the bed? Standing made me want to keel over. "Uh, no thanks."
Dean scrunched up his eyebrows. "Why not?"
"I see my twin every freaking day, Dean." I fumbled for a lie. "You can; you can go be his sibling today."
He gave me a weird look. God, I was feeling not so good. It must've shown because then he asked, "You feeling OK?"
I nodded, even though the movement made the edges of my vision become unnaturally brighter. "Um, I think I just need to eat something."
"Well, I'll pick you up something to eat on our way to Sammy," Dean announced. "Let's move, kid." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I winced as the bruised, compressed cut on my elbow stretched.
"Dean, I really…" I tried to fight my way out of this, but vision got progressively whiter. God, I feel like I'm going to be sick.
"Katie?" Dean asked with worry.
I took a step back to head to the bathroom, but I guess I only made it that far before I collapsed.
"Katie?!" Dean shouted distantly. I could kind of see him hovering over me, but it was all so bright. "Hey, Katie! Can you hear me?"
I lazily blinked my eyes open, and my stomach lurched. "Get me the trashcan."
Dean hurried to bring it to me, and helped into a sitting position just in time for me vomit my half a peanut butter sandwich from lunch.
Adrenaline from vomiting made me more awake, and I blinked the rest of the white away. My back and face felt cold and hot and covered in sweat. And my mouth was full of a hideous taste. Ew, partially-digested peanut butter was disgusting.
Dean was still holding me up. "Do you need to throw up again?"
I shook my head.
Dean pushed the trashcan back and lifted me up into a bed.
"I'm OK now," I protested. "I think I just need to eat something." In fact, that doctor had told me that I needed to eat something before and after giving blood. But I also sucked at listening to what adults were telling me to do.
"Is this the flu?" Dean asked while he pushed back the hair that was sticking to my sweaty, gross forehead.
Well, I couldn't exactly tell him that I'd been selling my blood twice a week. He wouldn't like that. And I couldn't exactly tell him that I was selling it to some human-loving, vampire doctors. He would go ballistic.
"I, I think I just have low blood sugar," I said.
"Low blood sugar?" he repeated in disbelief.
I nodded. If I was going to get anything out of this whole lie, I might as well try to make sugar a necessary part of my diet.
Dean rubbed his face like he always did. "When—God. Is this a new thing?"
"Uh, I guess," I said. If he asked Dad or Sammy about it, they wouldn't know. So it had to be new.
"What do you… What do you need?" Dean asked me anxiously.
"Food," I said. "And probably some sugar."
Dean nodded and then paced. "Will you be OK if I run and get you something? Or should I have you come with me? God, I shouldn't have eaten that—"
"I'll wait here," I said. I was feeling more tired as the adrenaline wore off.
"I'll be right back," he vowed and looked at me seriously. "Don't move."
He brought me back a cheeseburger in no time, and I scarfed it down. I felt better after that and easily acted like myself. Sammy came home a couple of hours later, and he knew nothing about my low blood sugar when Dean asked. When Dad called in to say that he had actually already left for the two-week-long hunt, Dean went to ask him about my low blood sugar until I begged him not to. He reluctantly gave in, and I hugged him in thanks.
Dean picked me up from school the next day, and I happily got into the car. Usually, I had to walk back to the motel—which is why I was able to sneak off for an hour after school twice a week to get paid for my blood. But I couldn't give blood two days in a row—something about replenishing blood.
"Sammy's staying at the library," I announced and got buckled.
"How was school?" Dean asked as he pulled out of the school lot and onto the main road.
"Good." I smiled.
Dean raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Good? Not just fine? My word, do you actually like your school, Katie?"
I stuck my tongue out at him. "It's possible to like more crap than chicks and whiskey, Dean." I had made friends at this school, and they were popular. I was using my money to buy new clothes and cool stuff, so they liked me right away. I just kept their friendship with my winning personality—they weren't entirely superficial.
"How would I know what whiskey tastes like?" Dean asked nervously.
I rolled my eyes. "I've seen you drink it before. And I know you're seventeen, and the legal age is twenty-one. When I turn seventeen, I'm going to—"
"Anyways, why're you wearing long sleeves?" Dean tried to change the subject. "It's like a hundred degrees outside."
That took me by surprise. I blinked down at my olive green, long-sleeved shirt. Well, I was wearing it because my elbow had needle marks and bruises. But I wasn't gonna tell Dean that. "I thought it looked cute."
Dean looked over at me. "Cute?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. I don't think I've ever heard you use that word without sarcasm," Dean noted.
"Whatever." I shrugged him off when we pulled up to the motel. "Oh, and I don't need a ride home tomorrow."
"Why not?" Dean looked over the top of the car at me.
I shrugged. "I've got a big test on Friday. I'm gonna study in the library."
He gave me a disbelieving look. "You? Study?"
I gave him a sheepish grin and headed for our room.
"Hey, let's train for a bit," Dean announced when we walked in.
Crap. If I trained, I'd have to change out of this long-sleeved shirt because it was a billion degrees outside. And if Dean saw my elbows, he'd want to know what happened.
"No, thanks," I said and flopped onto the bed.
"What? Did you already do your training for today?" Dean crossed his arms and looked down at me.
"Yeah, it's called PE." I rolled over on the bed and grumbled, "You do yours; I'm tired."
Dean sighed and sat on the corner of the bed. "Did you feel faint or sick today?"
What? Oh, the low blood sugar thing from yesterday. Right. "No…"
"I was reading about low blood sugar in the library today," Dean admitted. "They said it's common for blah blah blah." He started spewing so many health facts that I had no idea what he was saying anymore. A whole lot of love and guilt grew in my chest because my school-hating brother had just volunteered his free day to read boring medical stuff about my nonexistent condition.
"Oh," I said when I realized he'd stopped talking. "That… makes sense."
"So, just let me know if you start feeling like that, alright?" His voice had a whole lot of gruff concern.
"Yeah, OK," I said as he stared at me with worry. Crap. There's no way I'm going to be able to pull off selling my blood when I have Dean smothering me with concern. Maybe I could just go tomorrow and have it be the last time.
The next day, I went to the discrete medical building after school. I was hooked up to a needle and was pumping the blood out of my arm and into a container. The vampire doctor checked over the lines and nodded to himself.
"How're you doing today?" he asked me.
I nodded. "Fine. But, I think this is going to have to be my last day."
His eyes widened in surprise. "Why is that?"
"My brother wouldn't approve of this," I admitted with a grimace. "And he just got back in town for good, so…"
The doctor pursed his lips and nodded. He adjusted the container and then turned to me with a smile. "Let me know if you start feeling sick, Katelyn."
I nodded and kept pumping my hand.
After thirty minutes, the doctor came back and switched out the blood-filled container with a new one.
"I'm doing another?"
The doctor nodded and marked the bottle. "You can definitely handle it. We'll give you an extra-strong blood-replenisher once you've finished." Usually, they handed me one of those before I left here. But I guessed that because it was my last time and all, I could give a little more.
Twenty minutes later, I was feeling really sick and faint. "Doctor, I don't feel very good…" I turned to look at him, and my vision flooded with white.
He came over and picked up another full bottle of blood. He plucked it off the tube and reattached the tube to a new, empty bottle.
Oh crap.
The doctor smiled at me. "That's to be expected, dear. Don't worry; it's perfectly fine to fall asleep right about now. Just give in." He walked away.
Oh damn. If I lived through this, Dean was going to kill me. Dad was going to slaughter me. I was so stupid. Why did I ever do this?
I tried to raise my free arm to pull out the needle, but I couldn't make my muscles work right; my hand just kept flopping and fumbling.
Death was coming for me, and tears were streaming down my cheeks. In a quiet prayer, I started repeating my family members' names for help.
I was losing consciousness now, and I didn't know what to do. I couldn't escape, but I didn't want to give into death. With a last prayer to whoever was listening, I begged for help.
I distantly heard some fighting. Some metal on metal. Some yelling and some hissing. In the end, I heard my name.
"Katie?! KATIE! Oh, God! KATE!"
I think I felt something move at my elbow, but everything was pretty numb at that point.
"Hey, just hold on, alright? I'm gonna get you out of here. You're going to be OK, I promise. Katie? Katie!"
Something was pinching my hand, and something was tickling my nose. I pulled up my hand to swat at the thing on my face, and I felt a tube there.
What's going on?
"Morning."
I blinked my eyes open to see Dean standing at the foot of my bed with his arms crossed. He might've looked calm, but I knew he had anger brewing underneath it all.
I swallowed my dry throat and croaked, "Hi…"
He didn't say anything, just brought me over a small cup of water. I carefully took a sip.
I looked around the room and didn't see my father or Sammy. "Where's… uh… everyone else?" I stared at my cup. God, I did not want to face Dad's wrath after he found out what I was doing right under his nose.
"I sent Sam home to get some sleep last night," Dean replied emotionlessly. "He has school today. Where you should be instead of this godforsaken—" He stopped his sentence with an annoyed sigh.
I bit my lip and kept my eyes down. "How'd you find me?" And how much do you know?
"Well, I was worried about my little sister's low blood sugar," he said scathingly. "So I decided to stop by the school library to check on Sam and bring you a granola bar. Imagine my surprise when I show up and can't find a Kate Winchester to save my goddamn life."
He glared at me, but I kept quiet and waited until he continued. "So, I asked some of your bitchy little friends where the hell you had gone, and they pointed in the direction that you sometimes walked home. I busted into every freaking building until I found you in a fucking vampire den!"
I flinched at the end, but I really didn't know what to say. "Dean, I—"
"Before you try to weasel your way out of this one," he cut me off, "I know. The doctors found all the damn needle marks and bruises on your elbows, Katelyn. How long had you been letting those bastards leach off of you, huh? And why the hell did you?! And why the hell didn't you tell Dad?! Or me?!"
I looked around the room like it could give me the right response for this mess. "I… I thought it was safe. They offered me money, and I didn't think it would be that big of a deal—"
"So you prostituted your blood for vampires?" I glanced up to see Dean glaring at me like the idiot I was. "What the hell were you thinking, Kate?!"
"I, I wasn't," I admitted. It was all so stupid now. Why did I let myself do that? Were temporary friends and cool clothes worth almost dying?
Dean scoffed. "Yeah, well, you'll have plenty of time to think about this crap when you're working your ass off in chores."
Yeah, that was fair. "How long?"
Dean narrowed his eyes down at me. "Months, Katie."
I grimaced. I really messed up. "I'm sorry, Dean. I won't do anything like this ever again."
He barked a short laugh. "If you even think of doing something this stupid again, Katelyn, I will bust your ass so hard that you will think of these chores as fond memories."
I looked down meekly.
Dean let out a breath through his nose and rubbed his face. "Come on. We're gonna bust you out of this place before someone starts fishing around for insurance."
I nodded and obediently followed his lead at getting out of the drips and wires. He turned around while I changed into my street clothes, and then I followed him out to the car.
As I buckled myself into the passenger's seat, I asked The Question: "What did Dad say?" I cringed as I waited for the answer.
To my surprise, Dean gruffly said, "He doesn't know."
I blinked and looked at my older brother like the miracle he was. "You didn't tell him?"
Dean gave me a hard side-eye. "Do I need to?"
I frantically shook my head and looked back at the road. "Thank you."
"Yeah, don't go thanking me yet; you're still gonna be working your ass off. I just don't think Dad's anger is gonna be any help to my frustration or your guilt."
I nodded. God, bless Dean for being merciful in my hour of need.
Dean pulled into the school parking lot and got Sam out of school early.
"Dean, I have a math test next period," Sam complained as he hopped in the back.
"Yeah, well, you two are switching schools, so I don't think it's really going to matter," Dean said as he drove us back to the motel.
I frowned as I realized I wouldn't be able to say goodbye to all of the friends I had made here. They might have been a little superficial, but they were still my friends.
"Dean, why can't I—?!" Dean shut off Sammy's protest with a glare to the backseat.
Sam turned his own glare on me. "Kate, why were you so stupid? You honestly thought dealing with vampires was gonna work out well?"
"Stuff it," I grumbled. I knew it was dumb; I didn't need it shoved in my face, too.
"Now, I have to switch schools." Sam looked out the window with a scowl. "You're selfish. Not just because of the school thing, but because you thought that I didn't deserve to know what you were doing. If you really wanted money, I could've helped you catfish. But you didn't think I cared enough about you to know. And, you know what—"
"Sammy, that's enough," Dean said with that parental tone of his.
With a grumble, Sam shut up. We were all quiet until we pulled up to the motel.
"Sam, go pack your stuff," Dean said. "We'll be up in a sec." Oh no.
With a slam to the car door, Sam obeyed. I was left alone with my only parental figure. My only parental figure that was still very, very angry at me. I braced myself.
"Katie, are you OK?"
I looked up in surprise. Dean was having one of those rare times that his eyes were totally open and caring. I honestly didn't know what to think or say; I thought he still hated me. "Um… yeah…"
"I know that vampire douche might've freaked you out for the next little while," Dean said kindly. "I just… You're not alone, OK?"
I nodded mutely. What was I supposed to say to that?
"And… if you ever need anything, you come to me, alright? Money, advice, burying a damn body—whatever the hell it is, I'll always take care of you. I promise." He looked at me to make sure I got the message.
I nodded again, and he nodded too. "Good. Now let's go deal with moody Samantha, and then you can spend the car ride thinking about some lie we can tell Dad about why you guys needed to change schools. And make it good; don't spew any of that not-belonging crap. Dad'll never buy it." I nodded and followed Dean's lead to get out of the car.
As we walked up to the motel room, Dean put his arm on my shoulder and steered me inside.
To any followers of the Everybody's Changing & Atonement series- I made good first chapter and plot-line progress on the third installment today, and I am PUMPED to start writing. :)
