Needy clamped her eyes shut as pain tore through her stomach. She felt as though her organs were melting inside of her. No matter how bad it hurt she couldn't give in to the hunger. Even if it meant losing Jennifer. There were some lines she could not cross. She could not take a life, not even her own, but she could let nature take its course. Once she became weak enough her demon infested body would begin to die. In a matter of days she would simply waste away.
"Hey Needy." Chastity had a bad habit of turning up when she wasn't wanted.
"Hey." The blonde had expected her to run straight to the cops or be found in bits after a visit from Jennifer, not take a seat next to her at lunch. "Look, about last night. I won't tell anyone about you and Jen, if you don't tell anyone about me." It seemed Chastity's human brain had filtered out parts of the night. A common coping mechanism with trauma victims.
"I won't." Needy sighed, too exhausted to attempt a conversation. "I'm sorry. Really."
"You love her don't you?" Chastity sighed, her soft features falling as she realised she was being rejected again.
Needy nodded, barely moving her head. "Sometimes when you love someone, you have to make tough decisions." Chastity gave her a quizzical look but the blonde gave her no explanation as she slowly rose to her feet and made her way out of the cafeteria. With her head down low she walked right in to a wall, knocking her off her feet. Her head was spinning as she tried to get back to her feet. "Where's your head at monostat?" Jennifer's slender fingers wrapped around the blonde's wrists, gently easing her back up to her feet. "What's wrong baby?" Her eyes were warm and full of concern, enveloping Needy in a blanket of comfort.
Needy was taken aback by how calm and composed the dark haired beauty was as she stood in the doorway, her strong arms the only thing keeping Needy on her own two feet. The blonde had expected bloodshed. Or at the very least a seriously high dose of bitchy Jennifer, but her biff seemed pretty well balanced.
"Just tired." Needy mumbled, like the night before hadn't happened. "I'm going to crash in the library for a bit- Jen?" The other girl was staring intently at Needy's lips. She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm really not in the mood-"
"Your lip is cut." Jennifer's voice trembled as she spoke and her hand reached out to touch the dry blood on the blonde's lip.
"Yeah, I know." Needy tried to brush her off. She needed to get to the library and continue her research in to the occult.
"You're not healing." Jennifer's voice was small and meek.
"No. I'm not." Needy replied back sharply."I'm not feeding Jen. Not now. Not ever. There has to be another way-"
"Fuck another way!" Jennifer growled, her temper breaking again. "Why can't you just accept what you are now? What we are!" Needy groaned as Jennifer slammed her against the nearest locker, her face only inches away as she added, "I will make you feed! I'll get Low Shoulder, I'll rip Nikolai's mother-fucking heart out and I will feed it to you!" Her voice was neither loud nor menacing. She spoke like she was stating a simple fact; not declaring her murderous intentions.
Needy understood her logic. If she were to kill anyone in the world it would certainly have to be the leader of a certain indie band. Low shoulder had done more than just kill Jennifer Check, they had sacrificed her to the devil. Pimped out her body to the murderous demon that lay buried not too deep beneath the dark haired girl's blemish free skin.
"No." Needy closed her eyes as she spoke the single word, expecting Jennifer's anger to send her toppling over the edge. After a few moments of quiet she bravely opened one eye and found Jennifer staring at her in awe and wonder. Her mouth hung open and her brow was knitted as though in deep contemplation. "W-what?" Needy stumbled over her words, more fearful of a contemplative Jennifer than an angry demon.
"You're like the greatest person I know." Jennifer's words left Needy with her own mouth hanging open. "Nikolai and Low Shoulder fucked both our lives and you..." She sighed as though unsure of what to say next. Running a hand through her loose dark curls she finally found the words she was looking for.
"I wish I was half the person you are Needy."
Under normal circumstances the blonde would have taken the comment as scathing sarcasm; but times were far from normal in Devil's Kettle. It was probably one of the sincerest things Jennifer Check had ever said in her life and Needy loved her all the more for it. She wrapped her arms around the taller girl, not caring who might see them as they stood in the open hallway. As it happened Chip had stumbled on to the scene. Upon seeing the state of his ex-girlfriend he ducked behind a row of lockers, instead of letting his mouth go as he had intended, and listened to the two girls talking.
"I love you." The exhausted blonde sighed in to Jennifer's shoulder as she buried her face in the crook of the other girl's neck.
"Is it bad that I wish you were a bad person?" Jennifer sighed, finally opening up to the other girl instead of shouting at her. "I wish you'd feed...then we'd both be fucking invincible babe! The world would be our Muscle!"
"Oyster." Needy corrected, small chuckles shaking her body as she laughed in to the other girl's shoulder and was rewarded with a sharp 'whatever'.
"I don't want the world Jen. Everything I need is right here in Devil's Kettle."
Jennifer smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. As alive as her body felt on the outside she felt like she too was dying on the inside. She knew how unbalanced she had become because of the demonic presence inside of her. She felt like Needy was the only thing keeping her sane. Without the little blonde kicking her ass in line, who knew what she might do? She squeezed Needy tighter than she had intended, but couldn't let go. She needed the other girl as much as her lungs needed oxygen. Well maybe they didn't need it quite so much post-demonic possession, but the sentiment was there.
She sighed, letting the air out of her lungs before finally swallowing her pride. She had tried to do things her way and it was only killing her biff. Maybe it was time to do things Needy's way. "Isn't there someway we could get rid of the demon inside of you?"
Needy pulled back slightly, seemingly unnerved. Her voice was low and shaky as she replied. "Yes."
"Well come on Einstein, what are we waiting for?" She tried to take Needy's hand, beaming at the prospect of saving her girl. Needy pulled away once more, unable to look Jennifer in the eye.
"It would mean killing the demon inside of you."
Jennifer lost her smile and let her hand drop idly to her side. Frowning she found she was only capable of one response. "Fuck."
Halfway down the hall, from his hiding place behind the lockers Chip repeated her statement. Clenching his fists and swallowing the bile in his throat he realised what he had to do to save his girl. Chip was going to have to kill Jennifer Check. It was the only way. Even Needy had said so.
A/N: Many many apologies about how long this chapter has taken. I took on a second job...then got offered to go back to the temporary job I was working over Christmas. Then my fiancee was sick and we work together so I've been pretty much working four jobs lately. I'm really close to the end though, which is psyching me up as I wrote the last chapter as a little ficlet, and it inspired me to go further back and tell a longer story. So hopefully it should only be a few days before I update again. Thanks for sticking with this guys and for taking the time to review.