Chapter 4

Saturday, December 14th

7: 59 P. M.

Doc groggily opened his eyes. Before he even had a chance to look around, he knew he'd been moved. "Did Mystie come back for me?" he wondered, sitting up.

The sounds of breathing and heartbeat attracted his attention. He turned to see Marty, asleep in a chair beside him. Doc chuckled at how cute his best friend looked, head drooped in front of him. "Good old Marty. Now I remember, he found me this morning. I must be at the McFlys."

A look around confirmed that, as he was sitting in Marty's room. The colors seemed unusually vibrant. Marty's slow breathing mingled with dusk sounds filtering in from the window and voices from downstairs. The feel of the bedspread was especially welcome to Doc's fingers after the dirt of last night!

Curious about how he looked, Doc examined himself. His fingernails had been cut, most probably by Lorraine. He was dressed in his camouflage shoes, tan pants, his favorite 'trains' shirt, and for some inexplicable reason, his gold coat from the future. They smelled a little musty, but were otherwise okay. Happy to be back in familiar surroundings, Doc gently tapped Marty on the shoulder.

Marty stirred slightly. "Mom, leave me alone," he mumbled, attempting to turn over.

"It's not your mother, Marty."

Marty came awake in an instant. "Doc! You're awake!" he cried happily. He seemed to be glowing with happiness.

"At last, it seems," Doc greeted him. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"The whole day, although the doctor we got for you woke you up for about a minute. I guess I just dozed off. Sunset must've been a minute ago."

"Marty. Do you have any idea how happy I am to see you?" Doc pulled Marty into a hug, inhaling the sweet aroma of his skin. The fear he'd experienced last night seemed to be miles away. It felt so good to hold his best friend, just like old times.

Marty cuddled into Doc's chest. "I bet you're not as happy as I am to see you," he whispered, thinking that this was what he had missed the most. Doc's hugs always made him feel great.

For a moment, they remained like that, happy and safe. Then Doc felt a strange urge to kiss Marty's throat. "Huh? Why in the name of Sir Issac H. Newton am I having homosexual fantasies about my best friend? We're both in happy, heterosexual relationships. I'm engaged to be married, for Christ's sake!"

Then the urge clarified itself. He didn't want to kiss Marty's throat, he wanted to bite Marty's-

In shock, Doc shoved Marty back. "No....Oh, God, no....Not now....Not him...."

Marty frowned. Why was Doc trying to push him away? "Doc? Doc, what's the matter?"

"Stay away from me, Marty," Doc warned, feeling that sickening thirst growing in him. The pumping of Marty's heart seemed much louder than before, tantalizing him. He tried to ignore it.

"Stay away from you? Doc, I've had to stay away from you for 3 days! I want to be near you." He tried to hug Doc again.

"Stay back!" Doc yelped, scooting to the opposite side of the bed. "Don't come near me!"

Marty began to wonder if Doc was hallucinating. 'Doc, it's me. Marty. All I want is to give you a hug. I missed you a lot; Jennifer will tell you that. C'mon, Doc."

"Keep as far back as possible. If you come near me, I'll hurt you." Doc tried to make his statement sound like a threat, but it came out as a plea.

Now Marty was beginning to worry seriously. "Should I get a doctor? You're acting really strange." He recalled Dr. Robinson's suggestion to call her if Doc behaved too oddly.

"He wouldn't be much help." Despite himself, Doc was leaning towards Marty. The smell of his blood was a lure, promising fulfillment if he'd only extend his fangs and....

Doc shoved the thought away. "Marty, remove yourself from my personage immediately. Otherwise I could harm you without meaning to."

Marty got up, scared. "Do you want my parents?"

Doc shook his head rapidly. He'd probably just go for their throats. "No. I need to be-I need-Oh, God, Marty!" He broke down sobbing. "Why didn't I die in that grave?"

Sympathy for Doc's plight won out over his fear about Doc's mental health. Marty sat down next to Doc and put an arm around his waist. "Hey, I'm here if you want to talk."

Doc pulled Marty close again, resting his face against his hair. Marty was still a little concerned. He knew Doc could be somewhat abrupt in his emotions, but he had never demonstrated mood swings like he was now. But then, Doc had also never been buried alive before now. "Doc, is this about - you know, the grave thing? We didn't know you were alive, honest. . . ."

"It's all right, Marty, about that," Doc sighed,, wiping his eyes with a free hand. Being near his best friend was helping a lot. He patted Marty's back. Relaxing a little, Marty allowed himself to smile. Maybe Doc just need a little time to adjust back to life and reality.

Doc smiled too. From his position, he could see very clearly under the skin Marty's carotid artery. He could actually feel the pulse of Marty's blood in his skin, so close he could almost taste it. All he had to do was tilt Marty's head back a touch farther, put his mouth on the blood vessel, and-

Marty abruptly found himself on the floor. Doc had shoved him away violently and had retreated to a corner, as if trying to hide. It sounded like he was fighting tears still. "Marty, you have to go. Right now."

Marty knew that tone. He'd heard it when Doc was really ticked off, and it was not to be questioned. He fled the room, leaving Doc to his own inner struggles.

Jennifer was waiting for him in the living room. "Hi, tiger," she greeted him cheerfully. "The rest of your family is trying to decide where Doc'll live until this mess with his house blows over. Has he woken up?"

"Yeah, but he's acting really freaky," Marty told her, concern written all over his features. "He keeps shoving me away from him and saying that he might hurt me. Jesus Christ, I liked it better when my biggest problem was my band. Now I've got a best friend who just returned from the dead and apparently has mental problems."

"Hey, we weathered time-travel, right? We'll survive this too." Jennifer kissed him. "And we can always call Dr. Robinson back."

"Time-travel is nothing compared to what Doc's acting like. He keeps saying he'll hurt me if I go near him. I don't get it-you'd think he'd be happy to see me. Do you think he blames me for burying him?"

Jennifer frowned, as confused as her boyfriend. Before she could reply, though, the doorbell rang. Mysteria stood on the front step, looking nervous. "I found out from the cemetery watchman he's here. Where is he?"

"In my room, acting weird. Do you think you can help, Mystie?"

"Hopefully." She headed straight for Marty's room, followed closely by the two teens. Doc had closed the door tight. Mysteria knocked. "Emmett? It's Mysteria. Can I come in?"

"No," Doc sobbed, still holed up in his corner. He had heard her come in and wished she hadn't. The last thing he needed was another vampire to urge him on. "Go away."

"Emmett, I want to help you."

"You want to encourage me to satiate my wicked thirst. Go away."

"Hell with this," Marty snapped, advancing to the fore. "Something's wrong with my best friend, and I'm gonna find out what it is." He slammed open the door and marched in. "Doc, what's wrong?" he demanded.

Doc felt he had only one choice left-scare Marty away. He spun around, extending his fangs and changing his eyes.

Marty became paralyzed with shock. For a moment, he wondered if it was truly Doc before him. His intense warm brown eyes had abruptly lightened to a brown sugar color, and glowed with inner fire. Inch-long fangs shot out from the gums. An inhuman hiss issued from his throat. Marty managed a step back, eyes wide, breath coming in quick bursts. Behind him, Jennifer stifled a shriek.

Mysteria, however, just looked annoyed. "That wasn't nice, Emmett."

Doc withdrew his fangs and let his eyes darken. "I haven't got time to be nice," he whimpered, the tears flowing freely again. "God damn it, you said every other night!"

"I also said you had to feed the first 2 nights in a row of your existence," she said, stepping past the still-paralyzed Marty.

"Yeah, but look who I want to feed from!" Doc pointed directly at the teen, which seemed to break his trance. He and Jennifer huddled in the doorway.

"It's a natural urge, Emmett. You can't fight it."

"I can try."

"It'll drive you crazy. It's better to give in."

"Drive me crazy? I already am crazy if I want to satiate my thirst with Marty!"

"Can we be part of the conversation?" Jennifer summoned up the courage to ask. "'Cause one of us seems to be the topic."

Mysteria looked uncertainly at them. "I don't know if you'll be able to accept and understand the information."

"I dated my mother. I can handle anything," Marty told her, still shaky. "Doc, did you have an accident with one of your experiments or something?"

"I wish I had," Doc muttered, not looking him in the face.

"The fact is," Mysteria said, sliding her arm around Doc's waist, "Emmett and I are vampires. And Emmett is having trouble with the fact that he wants to drink Marty's blood."

The teen couple stared at them. "My God, you are kidding," Jennifer said, glaring at them. "That is a really sick joke, Mysteria."

Marty, however, was thinking about Doc's odd behavior and fang-flashing. It all made sense in a nightmarish way. "Doc?" he asked, his voice begging him to refute the theory.

Doc sighed. "She's right. I'm perfectly aware it's insane, but she's right. That's why I've been rejecting your company. I want to feed off you."

Jennifer attempted to be completely disgusted, but Doc's display kept springing to her mind, confirming the truth of their statements. "Jesus," she finally said, sitting on the bed. "Myst, did you-?"

"Not me," Mysteria promised. "I did feed from Emmett once, but feeding from someone isn't what changes him."

This was news to Doc. "You fed from me once? When?"

"That night we stayed at your house to watch Godzilla. You didn't fall asleep during the commercial; I hypnotized you. Emmett, feeding isn't some horrible, messy thing. If you do it right, it's quite pleasant for both vampire and donor. I wish I'd had the foresight to bring some blood though. Tomorrow I'll give you a supply."

"What about tonight?"

Suddenly, Marty stepped forward. "Go ahead," he said, baring his neck.

Doc stared at him. "You're offering?"

"We're best friends. Why not? Jennifer, wouldn't you stick your neck out for Mystie?"

"Maybe not my neck, but I'd donate," Jennifer admitted.

"Why, thank you, Jennifer," Mysteria said, with a pointed look at Doc.

Doc looked at her, then back at Marty. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, Doc."

Doc caved. "All right. I'll try to be gentle." He examined the side of Marty's neck. His superior sense of smell led him right to one of his carotid arteries. He could sense the blood was pulsing a bit faster than normal, and this reassured him Marty wasn't totally insane. He tried to get into position, but it was tough due to the difference in height. "I suppose I'll have to pick you up. I can't get my fangs into the proper position on your throat."

"Sure you'll be able to lift me?" Marty teased, smiling despite his fear.

"I could bench-press you," Doc traded back, also smiling despite his fear. "I could only do it once, but I could do it." He placed one hand behind Marty's knees, the other behind his shoulders, and lifted.

"Great Scott!" he yelped as Marty's feet left the floor almost too easily. "Marty, have you lost weight?"

"Apparently!" Marty clung to Doc's neck, amazed at how effortlessly he'd been lifted. Doc shifted his weight so he lay comfortably across his arms. His eyes lightened back to the brown sugar color as his thirst inflamed him. He bared his fangs, then sank them into Marty's throat. Marty winced, hoping he'd made the right choice.

A warm fulfillment came over Doc as he started drinking. It felt perfectly right, what he was doing. He felt so calm, so relaxed.... He wanted Marty to feel the same way. His hand creeped up Marty's shoulders to his neck. His fingers massaged the base of the skull as he sucked up the fresh hot blood.

Marty sighed. His initial fear of being used as a vampire blood bank had vanished as soon as Doc had started sucking. He didn't know why being drained of blood was causing him to relax, but that massage was definitely helping. He let himself go limp.

Jennifer looked nervously from Marty to Mysteria. "Is he okay?" she demanded.

Mysteria was smiling proudly. "He's fine, Jennifer. Emmett's doing it just right."

After 10 minutes, Doc was satisfied. He retracted his teeth and immediately checked on Marty. Marty smiled back at him, slightly woozy. "How do you feel?"

"Okay. It wasn't bad at all, Doc. It felt pretty good, actually." He felt his neck to make sure it wasn't bleeding.

"Really?" Doc became intrigued. "Maybe vampire saliva contains a relaxant. That would make sense, due to the type of prey they hunt. It would be necessary to keep them from struggling. What other powers are contained within the vampire body?" Doc's disgust at being a vampire was rapidly being replaced with the familiar thrill of discovery. "Increased muscular power is obviously one, as well as hyperactive senses. Mysteria mentioned flight and wings-Great Scott, wings! Whatever causes vampirism must alter DNA, reactivating dormant growth genes. Most probably some form of virus, which would concur with the flu-like sickness I experienced. If I could only use the equipment I saw in that RevitaClinic! I'm sure they have it in medical labs. It wouldn't be too hard to sneak into one. I wonder what type of virus it could be? And why it affects the genes the way it does? And why am I still holding you?"

Doc looked down at Marty, whom he had carried while speculating about his condition. He was grinning broadly, along with a rather lost Jennifer and a relieved Mysteria.

"It's good to have you back, Doc," Marty said, confident he could accept the changes in his best friend.

Doc smiled back, knowing he could accept those changes too. "It's good to be back."