Bad Guys Always Give Me the Shivers

Irrevocable

Disclaimer: I'm not Darren Shan.

Author's Note: Originally this was way longer but I cut it down… expect the new chapter to come out earlier than usual! Enjoy and review lovelies :)

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Alex tensed. Her muscles tightened in her body, her poisoned blood pulsated under her skin, showing up in the tiny, dark veins that darted across the thin coating of membrane. Her breathing stopped, hitching in her dry throat. She was sure she wasn't the only one that had heard that noise since her friends were also apprehensive. They each were wielding a sharp blade, or a throwing star in Vancha's case.

What they had thought to be a vampanze making the noise was actually a rabbit. It hopped out into the open, its whiskers twitching with an unbeknownst amusement. Alex blinked once and then twice. Amazement flashed across her face like paints splashed against a bare canvas.

No one said a word for seconds, minutes, until the silence was finally broken.

"I've always wanted a bunny…" Alex murmured, tilting her head. She admired the rabbit's shiny coat, how it was colored a dusty shade of gray. A ghost of a smile picked at her lips when she remembered her sister bringing home a bunny just for the fun of it. She remembered how she cried and begged to keep it. She also remembered her mother letting it go. It was a shame to her.

Darren chuckled, a rough noise, becoming accompanied by Addison returning to sharpening his knife.

"What a cliché… damn rabbit, get the hell out of here!" Vancha scowled, walking over to the animal. He bent down and began to shoo it away with one of his throwing stars. The bunny seemed to know it was in danger as it darted away quickly.

Alex let out a relieved sigh. She was afraid that it would have been something undead instead of a living and breathing mammal. It surprised her since the sun was already going down, which only made doing the inevitable sting more in her lungs. If she was actually going to do what Addison had said she would have to remove her heart with a sharp blade, only leaving a dusty, cold pit where the organ should have been.

She would be heartless.

She would have no love in her soul. She would be nothing; a nobody. Alex didn't want to admit that that would be the blackest blasphemy she had ever heard of.

"Where did that damn rabbit go…?"

The person hadn't spoken from the group, but it was a voice that Alex knew all too well. She started to back away unconsciously, tripping over the tiny rocks and the planks of wood that covered the bridge. She could feel her perspiration crawl up her back, attacking her with an anxiety that even a psychiatrist wouldn't understand.

Time started to spin by her slowly, agonizingly like ice scraping against an open wound. It hurt like rejection, dishonesty… it was cold, bitter, and worthless.

Instantly, she bolted. Her eyes were closed tightly, afraid to see the real reality of the world. She could barely breathe, but when she bumped into something soft, she gasped. Her gaze fluttered upwards, noticing for the first time that Maria's skin was now even more violet now.

When her dark, stormy eyes met the flames of Maria's, she backed away.

Maria's lips were turned downwards in a distasteful scowl, per usual, but her eyes looked somewhat kind. It was as if she had forgotten about the past events; that she had learned to move on… Alex, on the other hand, looked furious and terrified. She tried to mask the latter but to no avail.

"Why," the vampanze grinned, "Hello there. What a co-in-ki-dink that I see you here."

Within seconds, before anyone could do or say anything, Maria was held backwards by a knife to her throat. She was fast, but not as fast as Addison. He looked angry as the dagger tickled the enemy's skin.

Alex stared confusedly at the duo.

"Get the hell off of me, you mongrel. I'm not going to hurt anyone." Maria yelled, struggling against the vampire's hold. Instead of doing the most desirable affect, Addison held onto her tighter. "I have a boyfriend, you know! He'll be mad if he smells your scent on me…"

"Addison," Alex sighed, crossing her arms against her chest. "Let her go."

"Like I give a damn, bitch…" he said under his breath, but still obliging.

Maria squirmed away from the blonde and went behind Alex. Both of the vampires looked wary, but Alex looked absolutely terrified when the vampanze placed her hands on her shoulders.

"Hello, darling." She purred, reminding the brunette of a joke that pained her. "Miss me?"

"No, get off of me."

"Oh, chilly, aren't we? Put up your walls again, I see… just like in the beginning when we left the mountain. Before all hell broke loose."

"I always have them up. You of all people should know that."

"Hmm… I have to disagree. You never had them up when we went to high school. You would cry in front of anyone if you got your feelings hurt." Maria reminded her, stepping on a branch. A crack resounded in the air.

Alex stiffened.

A second passed while Maria gauged her old friend's reaction until she continued on.

"Look, I'd like to talk to you in private, without all of your goonies watching." She motioned towards Addison--who was standing protectively away from Alex-- Darren, and Vancha.

"Over my dead body—"

"You already are dead, honey." She spat back, sweetness and venom interlacing.

"Touché…" Addison muttered, backing away towards his two friends. "You still can't talk to her though—"

"Shouldn't that be my choice?" Alex interrupted, whispering so quietly that everyone had to second guess that's what she said. She was staring down at her sweaty hands, confusion and anger mixed over her skin. She looked like a pale, frazzled mess.

Addison didn't reply. Instead he just waved his hand in the air like it didn't matter and continued to back away.

Maria placed her hand on Alex's shoulder and smiled, "That's my girl. Now, why don't we go over there?"

The brunette vampire shrugged her off, stiffening once again at her icy touch. "I never said I would."

"Oh, okay then little—"

"I will though." A secretive smile was shared between the old friends. Alex had her hands tightened behind her back, gripping onto her dagger. She still didn't trust Maria, but maybe that would change…

In a split second she decided it would, and for the better.

The knife clattered towards the grassy floor. And it only made one sound.

The resonance of sweet, changing, deviant life.

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"How are you?"

"Good… good.

An awkward sense covered the air. Alex felt like she was suffocating for endless upon endless minutes. Maria must have felt the same way too because she fiddled nervously with the hem of her shirt.

"How are… your friends?" Alex asked. She was about to say his name but thought better of it. As corny as it sounded, she felt like even speaking his name ripped a tiny piece of her heart.

A split second passed until Maria realized who she meant.

"Oh… oh. Tiffany's fine. Still a bitch though… pity her for her bad home-life. Just like Steve's. That's how they bonded, you know. She started—"

"Ok, I got it."

Tiffany wasn't exactly the person she was talking about, but Alex didn't mind. She didn't really even know the girl but felt oddly jealous. She had bonded with Steve. Interesting.

She immediately told herself to stop being so possessive.

But, Alex usually didn't listen to herself. Common sense told her not to.

"Look, I came here for a reason," Maria began, leaning back against a rock. The moss crawled up it like a crab going along the beach, fast and full of life. It twirled together with the vampanze's red, curly hair.

"And that reason is…?"

"I just wanted to… apologize. What I did was wrong, I know. I've matured since you've last seen me at the Cirque. And now I'm with Gannen." she paused, blushing slightly. Alex's dark eyes widened.

"He makes me a better person, as cheesy as that is. It's true though. Steve never made me feel that way, no offence."

"None taken." the vampire murmured, waiting for her to continue.

"Back then I was just a mess. I was jealous and mad and just plain frustrated with you. You were always the nice one. You were always the pretty one. It was always you, you, and more you!" her voice rose into another octave as she stood up.

Maria closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. She twisted her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth, calming herself back down. Within seconds she was back to sitting down on the rock, although her hands were curled into tiny balls of fury.

"Sorry… it's just that some things still make me mad—"

"Maria," Alex interrupted, pulling out the weeds from the earth. "You've got it all wrong. I think it was the other way around…"

"Nah, I'm right. You remember Seth Beauregard?"

"Yup." the vampire giggled. A memory of a tiny, short, brunette fellow flashed through her mind. She remembered Maria used to have a crush on him.

"He liked you not me. You."

"So? It doesn't matter. You were always prettier than me. You were voted in the court for Homecoming, remember?"

"Yes…" Maria said, smiling slightly. It was her day in the spotlight. Her one chance to gain complete and irrevocable attention. She earned that. "You were smarter than me though."

"Just because I had my sister to help me… you know she was a straight-A student."

The vampanze didn't reply but went back to pulling the moss off of the rock. A smile tickled her skin. She was happy. She had gotten all she wanted. She had a boyfriend, she had her friend, but she didn't have a family.

Maria didn't care though.

"Are we okay now?" she asked, peeking up at the brunette under a cloud of fiery hair.

It took Alex a whole five minutes to answer, but when she did, it made Maria a happy girl.

"Yes. We've gone through so much… we love each other…"

They smiled at each other, honestly and full of respect. They were about to go back to Darren and everyone else until they each heard someone yell out a series of curse words.

"What did you do to her, you bastard?"

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Extra A/N: The reason why I re-posted this was because I accidentally left a few tidbits of the next chapter in here... which had major spoilers in it... gosh, I can be such an idiot sometimes! Ignore them if you saw them cause I'm probably just going to redo it anyways... sorry bout that to anyone who read em'!