October 10, 2019

After seeing nothing but darkness for some time, Dot suddenly found herself in actual surroundings, albeit a black void. She looked around repeatedly until a tint of blue reached the corner of her eye. To her right, the black void led into what looked like her and her siblings' bedroom. Mentally shrugging, she walked towards it. As she did, she noticed that the bedroom was slightly distorted.

Then she saw a silhouette of what was unmistakably that of her oldest brother. She began to smile, but something didn't feel right to her. He was just standing there with his hands behind his back and he had his back turned, facing the window and basking in the moonlight.

She called out to him, "Yakko?" No response. "Are you.. okay?"

She noticed one of his ears twitched, as if acknowledging her. He turned his head for her to see his fangs extended and his eyes glowing that haunting red.

"No, Dot. Not really."

His appearance had already frightened her, but the quiet tone of his voice almost made her heart skip a beat.

"I'm rather hungry.. and your blood seems to be the only thing around here that I can get."

Oh no..

She was reliving that night.

Ugh, she should've realized it sooner! The dark lighting, Yakko's hunger—they were even in the exact same spot! No wonder she had that bit of deja vu a moment ago.

But she had already been through this situation before! She knew what to do, so she should be fine. Although, Dot currently had her breath hitched; she could already feel her tail fluffing up in fear. She had to swallow it down though, for Yakko's sake. "Well.. if you need to feed, I'm right here."

He raised an eyebrow. "How do I know you won't run away?"

...Huh?

That threw her off immensely. "Run away"? Why would she do that? "I won't.." she said in a slightly confused tone.

He narrowed his eyebrows into a leer. "Oh, really?" he challenged.

"Yeah.. why would I?"

He fully turned around and began slowly walking up to his sister. "I know you're scared of me."

Dot's blood ran cold. She flinched at the accusation and started backing away; he had her right on the money. She would take it with her to the grave if she could but she was scared of her vampiric brother, much to her neverending guilt. But the fear was only there when his predatory habits came up.

Like now..

She really didn't like where this was going. "But I will give you my blood if you need it. Seriously!"

"You're backing away right now," he countered pointedly.

She stopped briefly, tensed up and pointed accusingly at him, arching her back slightly. "Because you started walking up to me!" She needed some bit of bravado against her brother.

"I have to if I wanna feed on you, don't I? But you're not letting me do that."

'Of course not, you're bein' crazy!' she screamed to herself. He just wasn't acting like himself. When he spoke, it was soft and low but not comforting in the slightest. Between this and the snarling, she didn't know which terrified her more.

Not to mention the hungry look he was giving her.. it was nowhere near as desperate as that night.

Much worse.. it reminded her of Dracula's…

"Why won't you let me feed, Dot?"

"B-Because you're acting weird! This isn't like you!"

"But I'm a vampire now. I'm bound to turn out like this eventually."

Her eyes shrank as she shook her head. No. No way. No way that was true. He wouldn't let that happen. Never!

His gaze on her had hardened once more. "If you can't accept me, then it seems like you leave me no choice."

With that, he raised his hands slightly and unsheathed his claws.

Her eyes widened.

'Run.'

On her last step, Dot quickly turned around, looking towards the black void. It might have led to nowhere, but her flight response did not care; she sprinted as much as her body could allow. She just had to get away from the beast that was impersonating her beloved brother.

She dared to turn her head just enough for the corner of her eye to catch his disappearing image. Her heart began to flutter with relief, but the moment she looked forward, she was met with fur as she became confined in a grasp. She looked up and quietly gasped when she saw the red of Yakko's glowing eyes and the white of his face. He grinned, almost maniacally.

"Going somewhere, sis?" His eyes traveled down to her neck and he licked his lips in anticipation. He then turned her around, still keeping her in his hold. She winced at his grip; some of his claws were beginning to graze her skin.

He sensed her unease and sneered at her. "Don't make me use these, Dottie," he warned, drumming some of his fingers on her shoulders. "I don't wanna hurt you more than I'm already going to."

Finally, she found her voice again. "Yakko, please," she breathed out. She was too terrified to say anything about the nickname. "You could just ask me—"

"Shut it," he snapped. "I need to eat and I don't want any interruptions…" he then purred. He proceeded to bury his muzzle in her neck before giving her vein a drawn out lick.

Dot wriggled in his grasp as much as possible. If anyone was going to feed on her, she wanted (loosely speaking if she was honest) it to be her brother, not this monster!

But try as she might, she wasn't going anywhere. She screamed for Wakko, Scratchy, Nurse, anyone!

Without warning, a harsh growl reached her ears as his fangs struck her neck.

Dot awoke with a strangled gasp, heart racing. Through her frenzied eyes, she recognized that she was in her normal bedroom, gripping the sheets in her bunk. She quickly put her hand on every spot of her neck and was relieved to find no bites. She breathed heavily and slowly in order for her heart rate back under control.

That was definitely the worst nightmare she'd had in years. But what was that about?

Before she could ponder on it, her immediate older brother popped his head upside down to her left. "Hey, Dot," he called. Upon seeing her startled reaction, his face shifted concernedly. "You okay?"

She only frowned and stared off elsewhere. Wakko properly climbed down and sat in front of her. "Bad dream, huh?" She gave him a tiny nod. "What was it about?"

Dot continued to stare off for a few moments before her slumping ears perked up in alertness. "Is Yakko up?"

He briefly tilted his head in confusion before he swiftly climbed up the ladder and came back down to her bunk, shaking his head. She took a deep sigh of relief and gestured her brother to make himself more comfortable.

She told him everything. She spared no details with the interaction between her and "Yakko"; they were enough to run a few shivers down Wakko's spine.

By the end, Wakko had become nearly as distraught as his sister, but he needed to hide it for her sake. They shared a moment of silence, trying to collect their thoughts.

"...This is the first one, right?" the middle child asked. "You haven't had any nightmares about him being a vampire before?"

She nodded, much to her confusion. It had been nearly a month since Yakko got turned and nearly three weeks since the incident, so why was she having nightmares now? She had long accepted the circumstances.

Right?

"..re you scared of him?"

Dot looked back up, Wakko's small Scouse voice bringing her out of her thoughts. "Huh?"

"Are you scared of him?" he repeated. "I know I'm not."

A flare of frustration rose up as she gripped her sheets again and glared at him. "Of course you aren't, Wakko, you're not the one with the appetizing blood!" she hissed. Upon seeing her brother's taken aback reaction, she felt another pang of guilt. "Sorry," she quietly apologized.

"It's okay," he mediated. "But him bein' a vampire doesn' mean anythin'. He's still Yakko."

"I know he is," she asserted, more for her own sake than Wakko's. "And I know he wouldn't act like that."

"...So?"

She glowered at him again. "So what?"

"So why're you still worrying?"

"Because what if he loses control?!" she yelled, a bit louder than the last. Immediately, she covered her mouth and stood still, Wakko doing the same. They turned their eyes upward and twitched their ears for any signs of their older brother waking up. They heard a tiny moan and his mattress shuffled a bit, but miraculously, it was nothing more.

"Come on, Wakko," Dot began, back to a whisper. "You're telling me that you've never got worried when Yakko goes all vampire mode? Not even once?"

He opened his mouth for a rebuttal, but found himself losing steam as his eyes traveled sadly to the blanket. He couldn't say anything against that. Of course he was worried.

"Obviously he's trying to fight that dumb bloodlust of his, but what if it's too much for him? I don't want to be scared of my own brother, but.. maybe I am…?" She practically shrank in her covers. It pained her to admit it, but the possibility of the total loss of control was still there. Even Yakko had considered it.

Wakko realized this and couldn't help but worry about that too. He wasn't even entirely concerned for himself; his little sister was in more danger.

Well, he wasn't going to let that possibility stop him. He too had the utmost faith in his big brother and that wasn't going to change. Besides, he'd be damned if he'd let anything happen to Dot.

Looking over her, he noticed her eyes were still full of distress and her fur had fluffed up a bit. "Do you want me to tell Yakko?" he softly offered.

She pondered on it for a brief moment before she shook her head and narrowed her eyes in resolve. "No. I'll tell him." She was the one with the most worry (understandably, other than Yakko); he deserved to hear it from her.

He nodded. She then saw him shuffle his body as if preparing to leave and held out her hand with a quick "Wait!" "Can you be there with me, though?" she asked, voice now small.

Wakko let a very small smile crawl on his lips. "Of course, baby sister," he agreed, opening his arms for her. However, she gestured him to come to her position instead. He obliged, settling himself in Dot's covers before opening his arms again. She accepted the offer this time and climbed into his lap, her head resting against him. She became soothed by the rhythm of Wakko's chest while he massaged her shoulders and arms every now and again.

They would stay like that for the rest of the night.

Fun fact: I did not intend for this to be a double chapter upload; I actually started this just on the first day of the year. I absolutely did NOT expect to finish it so soon lol. Nevertheless, both were nice to write. ^^

I have ideas for other one-shots that might end up being shorter than my usual ones, but we'll see how that turns out!

Until next time! ;)