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Bonnie's senses immediately exploded. Intensified. As if they hadn't been working properly until now but the howls of the boys and David's clapping pierced right through her ears. She cringed, opening her eyes and the dimness of the cave had disappeared. Marko still stood near her, now with a Cheshire cat smile on his face. Her head buzzed like she had drunk her weight in alcohol. The chill of the cave that had been sending goosebumps down her arms had disappeared. Or at least the cold was still there but it didn't cause a reaction in her body.
She settled the bottle down onto a table near her and wiped at her mouth.
"I feel dizzy," she said and gestured to the exit. "I need some air."
David waved a hand and nodded. She walked back out, part of her appreciating the sharpness of her eyesight as she headed up. There were footsteps behind her and she turned to see Star following her, a determined scowl on her face and Bonnie continued, sighing as she prepared herself from the lecture the girl was probably about to give her.
Her assumptions were right. As soon as she was standing outside, Star marched in front of her.
"Why did you do that?" she asked.
"Keep your voice down," Bonnie snapped. "I had to."
"No, you didn't."
"David wasn't going to give me more time."
"So you're giving up? Letting them turn you?"
"Hey, don't you dare lecture me. You chose this as well and I saw that grin on your face when we were riding over here so don't have a go at me. You wanted to be in this gang. I don't."
"Then why –?"
"Look, I have a plan. Well, kind of," Bonnie interrupted, keeping her voice low. If she could still hear the mumbling of the boys down in the cave then they must be able to hear her too. She leaned in close to Star. "This was the only thing I could think of that would get David off my back for a while. If I took this step then I'm not a loose end. I'm not taking that final step."
"Oh." Star pulled away, nodded. "Okay. I get it. You're trying to find a cure?"
"We'll talk when they're not around," Bonnie said, hearing loud footsteps coming up towards the entrance. "Act angry," she mouthed and suddenly changed her expression, eyes narrowed and hands on her hips. Star looked blank for a moment before she finally caught on and stormed off.
"I thought you were better than this," she snapped at Bonnie, storming past Marko who mockingly smiled at her. She grumbled under her breath and headed back inside.
"How're you feeling?" Marko asked.
"Awake," Bonnie said and slapped his shoulder when he laughed. "Don't laugh, it's hard to explain. I just feel awake. Like I'm aware of everything."
"You're only half," Marko reminded her. "Your senses feel stronger now but imagine what it'll be like when you've completely turned. I was on the verge on needed glasses when David brought me in. Huge relief."
They stood facing the sea, watching the waves crash against each other. It sounded like lions roaring to Bonnie, almost deafening, and she was too busy concentrating on these strange new sounds to notice Marko's arm around her shoulders. She tensed at first but quickly reminded herself of how she was supposed to be all secret agent at the moment and forced herself to relax into him.
Keep him interested, she reminded herself.
"Was David the only reason you turned?" he asked.
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I know you didn't want to be seen as a threat but was something else wrong?"
When she shook her head, he pressed on. "I was thinking about those hospital appointments you had on your calendar."
"You shouldn't have been looking at that," she snapped, tensing up again and he noticed the change in her stance; back to folding her arms tightly across her chest.
"I was just curious."
"It's something I'm uncomfortable talking about."
"To me? Or to anybody?"
"They're only appointments. Don't mean anything. Anyway, why does it matter? I'm not really human anymore. Whatever I had is cured." She sighed and her features softened. "Sorry, it's a touchy subject."
"Was it something bad?"
She slowly nodded. "It could have made things difficult later."
"How do you feel now?"
Earlier that day she had woken up to numbness in her hands. Pins and needles had tingled up and down her left arm. Her balance had been off, one of her most familiar symptoms, and that unwanted companion of fatigue had kept her from doing much apart from lying on the sofa most of the day and trying to watch numerous films. She had no energy to get up and do something.
But all that had gone. Her fatigue had been washed away by that blood in an instant, her body urging her to run around everywhere the way her old cat, Pip, used to do when she had a mad moment. She wanted to leap in the air, spin around, dance, anything that involved being active.
And her sight was incredible. Sharp, noticing the tiniest of details such as a minute smudge of paint on the fencing. Everything was brighter than it had been. The moon glowing, a dazzling shade of white.
"It feels like it's gone," she admitted and there was a part of her that was relieved. "In a way that's a bad thing because if I feel different, better even, then that means I must have had it in the first place. I was hoping I was fine."
"Like you said, it's gone now." He was smiling mischievously again. "It's fun from now on. No aging, no dying, and your own rules."
It was almost innocent how Marko talked about being a vampire. That it really was all about having fun and not being forced to live by any human rules. It was all so glamorized and simple, Bonnie had to wonder if he really didn't get how monstrous all of this was. He didn't understand that what he was doing when he got hungry was pretty barbaric and evil. Had he always seen it this way when he was only half and changing or was his view the result of being a vampire for too long? Could they really not see how wrong they were?
"Almost," Bonnie pointed out. "But at the moment I still have parents who expect me to be at home. Think I'll be okay to do that?"
"I'll give you a ride," he said, taking the hint and start leading the way up the stairs. "You won't be able to stay at home for long though. That hunger kicks in quick and you don't want to use your parents as your first kill. Trust me, you wouldn't be able to disappear quietly."
It was disgusting how he smiled as he said that.
"Had some experience there?" Bonnie asked.
"Not me."
Bonnie had asked Marko to pull up at the top of her street, not wanting the sound of his motorbike to capture the attention of Edgar and Alan. They wandered down the quiet street slowly. Now and again Bonnie could make out the distant sound of somebody clattering in their kitchen or the muffled sound of late night television on. Leaves rustled loudly from the wind.
"Who did you kill first?" Bonnie asked. It was a conversation she had a feeling she would regret having, part of her not really wanting to know how much of a monster Marko was. Even as a half vampire she might not be able to stomach all the horrible things he had done in his life. But maybe it would help her. Help that human part remember what being a vampire was really all about and keep her from giving in to the hunger that was to come. His life could be a deterrent.
"He was my best friend. A group of us ran away together after dropping out of high school but he was the only one I confided in when David initiated me. He tried to help me find a cure at first but after I'd been half for a while and starving, I couldn't help it. I needed to feed and he was there."
"Did you care?"
"No."
"He was your best friend."
"I was hungry. My emotions were suddenly shut off so I just killed him and turned completely. Once you kill you've opened a door and you keep doing it every time you need blood you're further away from humanity each time." He glanced at her, seeing a wide eye expression on Bonnie's face.
"It might seem shocking to you now but that disappears. It's inevitable," he explained. "Each day, even when you're half you'll lose your humanity more and more. Your hardest choice was taking that drink."
"You think it'll be that easy for me?"
"When you're that hungry it's easy for anyone." He nudged her with his elbow. "I'll be there for your first kill."
She snorted. "You're a supportive boyfriend."
"Boyfriend, huh?" he grinned and she couldn't help a smile back. She had said that to him when they had first got together, having not been sure whether they were really going to start something or if it was nothing serious; a brief fling before they both lost interest. But he had suggested it and she'd almost gone leaping of his motorcycle to do a ridiculous dance of victory. She had been secretly hoping he would make it a little more serious. Nothing like declaring undying love or deciding that this would be the guy she wanted to marry. Just saying they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend had enough at the time.
"Maybe," she said. "It feels complicated."
His fingers started to brush against hers, faintly linking them. It was a relief when they got to her house and she quickly snatched her hand back, running it through her hair and standing awkwardly near her gate.
"So, I'm home," she said, opening the gate up and cringing at its loud creaking. She hoped it was her good hearing that was making it sound noisy otherwise she was in danger of catching the attention of her parents or Edgar and Alan. She stared at both houses, waiting for a light to switch on; a sign that someone had been woken up. But they both continued to be in darkness, no sound from either of them. It must have been her hearing being sensitive.
She was turning around, back to face Marko and was surprised at how close his face was. She was standing there almost paralysed as he took the advantage to kiss her and she automatically moved her lips against his. For a brief second it was all so normal and the way it used to be, even if that time had been quite short before she found out everything. They were just two teenagers going out and everything was that simple. Kissing him felt like such a human thing to do and she even lifted her hands to reach for him. But when they snaked around his neck and sense came rushing back to her, she paused.
What the freaking fuck are you doing?
"I better get inside," she whispered, pulling away. She managed a light laugh and gestured to her house. "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess?"
He nodded. "Usual place at the Boardwalk?"
Bonnie kept her smile and flashed him thumbs up. "Cool," she said and disappeared over to her window around the side of the house. She stole one last glimpse at Marko who was looking into the distance, frowning until he nodded to nothing in particular and walked away.
She sighed as she slipped her fingers in through the small gap in the window she left and pushed it up. It flew up in one smooth move and she involuntarily gasped: a mixture of surprise and amusement. This was usually the part she felt incredibly pathetic with, always struggling to push it up, constantly having to stop and start as she tried to get a big enough to gap to climb in through. The window was always fighting against her.
She bit her lip, now looking at the window ledge. Thinking of typical routines, she would also be falling into her room, too short to properly climb in and instead having to do a lot of jumping and shuffling with her legs kicking in the air because she always ended up balancing awkwardly, unable to swing her legs over the ledge. She had come to accept that she was forever going to fall head first into her room each time she sneaked in, without any grace.
But maybe…
She raised her hands, gripping onto the window frame. Bending her legs and putting some weight in her arms, she lifted herself up easily off the ground and swung them over. She was inside in one, cat-like move.
"Shit!" She laughed and closed the window. She definitely couldn't deny it. That had been incredible.
She went over to her mirror, expecting to see her reflection gone like Marko's had but it wasn't exactly what she thought. She was still there but very transparent, more like a ghost. She peered closer, noticing the slight paleness to her skin as the only visible change to her. She stretched out her own arms, observing them. The tan she had been developing since the weather started getting much warmer had faded. She wasn't as pale as the boys but she certainly wasn't as sun-kissed as she had been earlier.
Bonnie also pulled her lip up with her finger, examining her teeth but they had remained the same. No sign of pointy teeth or even an improvement. Her two front teeth still had that little gap she loathed.
She still looked like herself and a satisfied smile appeared on her face. Good. She was happy to look normal. It only helped with being determined to revert back to being fully human.
Now to start on the plan: find a way to get rid of those vampires and become human again.
Thank you for reading and leave a comment, if you wish. :) Next update will be on Saturday.
