The first thing Vriska did when she left the Institution was hunt Karkat down. He needed to know. Know what she was thinking, what was going on, and what was enevetable. The one thing she'd never been told was where he lived, nor did she have a means to contact him. She instead, followed her instincts, waiting until her skin crawled from the presence of another Vampire. It took her a couple hours of wandering, but when she finally found the house, she didn't bother knocking, just walked right in.
Everyone was asleep, which she'd figured they would be. By the time illuminated on the microwave, it was one in the morning. Vriska tip-toed around the house, peering into each room until she found Karkat. She stood by his bed a moment, before ripping the blanket off him so hard he fell to the floor. Karkat woke with a start.
"What the he-" He started, but Vriska quickly covered his mouth. He was yelling much too loud for her liking. He fought against her hand a while before giving up.
"We have a problem." Was all Vriska said before she was pulling him to his feet and leading him outside.
The moment they were in his yard, Karkat started up again. "What do you mean, 'a problem'?" Karkat asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously at Vriska. "Kanaya's gone, Vriska. She can't be a problem anymore."
"I'm not talking about her!" Vriska yelled. That was one thing she figured she was never going to get used to. Having people talk about Kanaya that way. That she was dead. Vriska let out a tired sigh. She still needed to think of something to tell her parents. "Its Feferi." Vriska patted down her pockets then groaned. No smokes.
"Smokings bad for you." Karkat joked as he walked to the back door, opened it and reached around the corner to dig in a coat pocket. When he came back, he tossed her a pack. She gave him a confused expression. "Hey, you're not the only one with bad habits. Just don't take them all, my dad will notice." Vriska rolled her eyes, but happily took one. It wasn't her brand, but it'd been so long since she'd had one she could care less. "What happened to Feferi?" The tone in his voice was like steel. He knew something bad had happened to her.
Vriska tossed the pack back to Karkat, inhaled a long drag, then started. "Remember when I bit Feferi to show her that I was really a Vampire?" Karkat nodded. "Well apparently I turned her into one. But that's insain! I couldn't have possibly done that. I'm not a Vampire."
"Wait, wait. You turned her?" Karkat looked bewildered. He was believing this just as much as Vriska was.
"That's what I thought. Gamzee said so." When Karkat gave her a confused expression, she elaborated. "He's the head doctor dude there, lets just go with that. Anyways, he said the only way to save her was the same way to save me; she has to kill the one who turned her. But she has to do it before I kill the one who turned me, or she'll go mad and turn into a Vampire, and be able to turn people herself." Vriska bit on her lip. She hated this. Voicing it made it that much more true.
"What happens if the person you were supposed to kill is dead, and you turned into a Vampire?" Karkat asked. The thought had never occured to Vriska. She'd been told any directly affected individuals would all be cured once the person had been killed. If that were true, the Vampire who had infected her would still be alive.
"Gamzee said-" Vriska started, shaking her head.
"Gamzee's apparently said a lot of things that have yet to make sense." Karkat countered. "He said if you killed the Vampire who infected you, anyone he infected would be cured. He also said you wouldn't be able to infect anyone, but apparently that was a lie. What if he's just talking non-sence and the truth is who ever kills him first is the one who is cured? Everyone else turns into a Vampire? What if we're able to infect people once we're 'saved'," Karkat air quoted saved to imply what they were now. "and we don't even realize it because he's never said anything? What if you don't have to die for her to be saved?"
"Karkat I-" Vriska was again interrupted.
"No Vriska. There's no proof to Gamzee's words. Have you actually seen this happen yourself? Have any of your partners been saved?" Karkat hit a nerve there.
Vriska played with the end of her smoke, flicking it while she stared at the ground. "All of my partners have died. I haven't seen anyone kill the person who infected them." Her voice was soft. In total she'd only had three partners, and one of them was still alive. "I've had you, Kanaya and another girl named Aradia. And now I'll have Feferi to worry about."
Karkat stayed quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry about your losses, but it proves a point. In all the years you've been like this, you've yet to see someone cured."
"Aradia was different. She died on me many times." Vriska said. Karkat gave her a confused look. "She was infected by a Pheonix. Don't ask me how, but every time she died, her body would burst into flames and she'd be reborn. You'd think she'd never be able to die right? Those infected by a Pheonix have a different curse. We learned this the hard way. We managed to find who had infected her. With Pheonix's, you can't use fire, otherwise they'll just be reborn. You have to use a mixture of water and silver. Water extinguishes them, and since they're immortal like a Vampire, silver hurts them." Vriska stopped, brows meshing. She took this moment to take another drag from her smoke. "The moment we hurt that Pheonix, Aradia was hurt too. The Pheonix burst into flames screaming...and so did she."
"Wait...she was killed from killing the thing that infected her?" Karkat turned pale. That thought had never occured to him. That in killing whom ever infected you, you could be killed as well. "What happens if its the same for us?!"
Vriska shook her head. "I doubt it is. They would've done something with us if it was. Anyone infected by a Pheonix is now taken in by the Institution and given a job. Having them work out here is pointless. Nothing will save them now. If someone infected by a Vampire had died the moment they killed their infector, we wouldn't be out here either." Vriska pointed out. "We'd most likely be killed on site."
"That's if someone's managed to kill their infector." Karkat said. "What if we're the first to find out? What if none of us are safe?"
"Then you'll go mad with the knowledge." Vriska's voice was hard. "Keep up this mindset, and you'll kill everyone in that house while they sleep. Karkat, our Humanity is an unstable thing. Just because we have these," Vriska pulled out her weapon, turning it on Karkat. "does not mean we are saved, and I'll take down anyone who proves to be a threat to our existance."
Karkat remained quiet, eyes wide as he looked from the blade of her scythe to Vriska. Eventually he swallowed hard and gave a small nod, afraid if he moved his head too much he'd cut himself. Vriska dispursed her weapon. "So we find out if Gamzee's right?" Karkat offered, rubbing at his throat.
"Sounds better than assuming the worst." Vriska took a final drag from her smoke before tossing it to the ground and stomping it out. "Here's what I figure; you take Feferi as a partner. I'll find a new one, inform them of what's going on. We can work together to find the person who attacked me, and kill them...if she goes mad, kill her."
"I can't let you do that." The words came so quickly, even Karkat looked a little confused by his own words. "Why can't we make a group of three? Vriska, I can't let you sacrifice yourself to see if this pans out the way he says it will."
"What other option do we have?" Vriska asked. "If I die from killing my infector, and she goes mad because I got mine before her, I'll need someone to take her out. Even if I survive..." Vriska clenched her hands at her side. Even if she survived, she knew she wouldn't be able to kill Feferi. Her partners were a different story. They were simply around for a means of survival. Feferi was someone she loved and cared about. She couldn't crush that with her own hands. Someone else would have to do it.
"And what about me?" Karkat asked.
"What about you? If killing my infector kills me, hide. The Institution will come looking for you because-"
"Vriska, I was never attacked."
Vriska stared wide eyed. That was right. He'd never remembered being attacked by anyone. Nothing had bitten him. It was at that moment that it sunk in for both of them. The time limit Feferi had before she turned into Karkat.
Vriska grabbed Karkat's arm, lifting it so that she could inspect the one she'd bumped into the first day they'd met. Sure enough, there were long scratches across his arm where her hand would've dragged over it.
Vriska had infected Karkat. She'd been leathal the entire time.