(A/n: Please enjoy)
Chapter 15: Forced to accept
"Sooo, what did you wanna talk to us about?" Kenny asks awkwardly as him and Kyle approach the foot of the vacant bed.
Tweek doesn't provide him an immediate answer as he pulls the covers off his legs. He swings his legs over the edge of the bed, the coldness from the tiles seeping into the fabric of his socks. He regards Kenny and Kyle with an unreadable expression on his pale face.
"What I said about Kyle being the one who sucked my blood and did this," he says pointing at himself. "Was a lie."
Kenny blinks in a confused manner whereas Kyle tenses. "What do you mean?" Kenny asks.
"It was his alter-ego named Luke who did this to me." Tweek scowls at Kyle, although he isn't angry at him specifically. There is a minute long silence between the three, the rain performing a gentle tune in the background.
"Alter-ego?" Kenny repeats, cynical. He's never seen nor heard about Kyle's supposed alter-ego before, but the name does sound very familiar. He looks to the teen beside him, seeing his best friend staring ahead with horrified eyes. "Kyle, is what Tweek said true?"
"Of course it is," Tweek butts in, a bit annoyed at Kenny's lack of trust in him. "Why the hell would I lie about that?"
Kenny shoots Tweek a slightly skeptical glare. "Because you lied a few minutes ago," he states a matter-of-factly.
Tweek frowns. "I only lied because I didn't think anyone aside from me and you would know about Luke."
"He does know him..." Kyle says sullenly, his hands clenched into fists.
Kenny nods his head. "Yeah, he's Kyle's twin brother, but he died when they were kids."
Tweek appears shocked by this information. "His twin?" But, Luke told him he was Kyle's alter-ego. Did he lie about that...? "Well, it doesn't explain how your eyes and voice changed." He tries not to envision that moment when Luke hovered over him, a sinister smile plastered on his face.
Kenny gets a troubled look on his face, but before he can say anything, a soft chuckle penetrates the ephemeral semi-silence. "I'm honestly surprised, Tweeky~" Tweek narrows his eyes while Kenny widens his at the redhead. Right now, the teen's eyes are a blood red, and his voice just now did sound indeed different. "Despite the shape you were in last night, you still knew I was the one who turned you."
"Why'd you do it?" Tweek demands.
Luke gives him a small smile. "Sorry, can't tell ya." His jesting tone overlapped the sincerity in his reply, which infuriates Tweek.
"I-is that really you, Luke?"
The red-eyed vampire looks to the dumbfounded Kenny with a shrug. "More or less. You can basically call me Kyle's alter-ego since I was confident enough to reveal our little secret."
Kenny's astonished features morph into a pained frown. This isn't the first time Kyle has kept things from him. He would sometimes acquire this conflicted look on his face, as if he was debating within himself about something. Those were the only times Kenny could read him, however he never pressured Kyle to pour his heart out to him, thinking he would do that whenever he was ready thus Kenny remained patient.
"Aww, don't look so down," Luke says, it is uncertain if he's actually trying to lift Kenny's spirits or not. "How can anyone say that their deceased sibling resides inside of them out loud?" Luke's expression becomes blank. "It's understandable that he couldn't tell you about us, he feared you would cut off all ties with him and think he was some loon."
Kenny grimaces, now he understands why Kyle couldn't open up to him all these years. "He's my best friend, nothing'll ever change that."
"Good cuz I'd hate to kill you." Luke's threat sounded insincere, but his eyes portrayed that he would seriously kill Kenny if he ever hurt Kyle.
Kenny doesn't know what to make of his contradicting physiognomy, so he decides to go back to the previous topic. "How come you can't tell Tweek why you turned him? You owe him an explanation."
Luke looks at the aforementioned blonde, the teen appearing lost in thought, his eyes glistening. "I just can't."
"You nearly killed him," Kenny points out frustratingly. "He deserves some sort of explanation from you, as well as an apology."
"...You're right, but..." Luke pauses for a second. "I need to apologize to you first."
Kenny furrows his eyebrows, his irritation put on hold. "Why?"
Luke turns his head to look at him again, a lax grin spreading across his lips as he reiterates the words he said to the blonde two nights ago, "Kenny, take your group to Craig and his boyfriends' room." He mimicked the tone of Kyle's voice flawlessly.
Kenny has a delayed reaction. It's only until he processes what Luke said - rather what he thought Kyle had said to him that night that rage overtakes him. With both hands, he grabs Luke by the collar of his shirt and slams him against the wall. The force is strong enough to leave a medium-sized crack in it, the redhead isn't fazed at all as he gazes into Kenny's anger-filled eyes. The sound of the impact startles Tweek out of his rumination, cognizant of the blur clouding his vision. With a sniffle, he uses an arm to wipe away the tears from both his eyes and cheeks. His life won't ever be the same from now on, it already changed when he got that letter and came to this academy, but now...he'll never be able to go home and see his parents again.
But then again, he doubts that would've been possible to begin with.
"Why the fuck did you do that?!" Tweek snaps his attention towards the rage-induced voice, seeing Kenny holding Luke against the wall.
Luke's lips form into a line. "That's something I also can't tell you. Just know that I'm sorry."
"Your apology doesn't mean shit to me," Kenny hisses, yearning to punch his expressionless mug.
Tweek nervously gets out of bed, and approaches them. "K-Kenny, calm down."
"How the hell can I calm down after he just admitted to endangering you and the others?" Kenny retorts, hardening his glare at Luke. "If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have gotten your blood sucked by Craig." But he still feels partially responsible for letting that happen in the first place.
Tweek stops in his tracks. So, Luke was the one who told Kenny to have them visit those vampires in that room...not Kyle. Suddenly, footsteps enter Tweek's eardrums. He flinches at how...clearly he can hear them, it feels as if he's walking alongside that individual in the hallway.
Those footsteps stop, then three knocks sound at the door before it pushes open. "Sorry to come in without permission." The male halts in the doorway, his apricot-colored eyes glancing back and forth between the three vampires. Gregory does a double take on the wild-haired teen, shock and disbelief emerging on his face. Tweek briskly looks away. Gregory steps further into the room, closing the door behind him. "T-Tweek? You're..." He questions then trails off, opting not to state the obvious.
Prior to coming here, Gregory was cleaning up the mess in the storage house area, which is why he's wet and dirty. This is the second outfit he's worn that's been ruined, he hates sullying his expensive clothes. Cartman helped him of course since he was originally the one who left part of the wall in shambles, Mr. Akuma supervised them. Cartman wasn't allowed to take the easy way out, he was stuck hand picking the bricks and gluing them back in place just like Gregory. Him and the brunette are suspended the whole week as punishment for damaging academy property, Mr. Akuma wasn't pleased with such leniency and wasn't afraid to voice it aloud to the Principal. However, nothing he said could change Principal Brimestone's decision, and in the end, he was forced to drop the matter. Before their suspension began, Gregory and Cartman had to fix the wall first. They're just about done, they started on it this morning.
Gregory turns his attention to Kenny and Luke, questioning them about Tweek's transformation. Their voices gradually become distant in Tweek's ears, muffled even. An odd yet enticing tang overwhelms his sense of smell, and he becomes transfixed on it. Before he knows it, he feels saliva building up inside his mouth. Swallowing deeply, he tightens his jaw.
But then he sees it - the source of the mouth-watering aroma.
A bead of blood drops to the floor from Gregory's closed hand. Slowly, more blood slips from in between his middle and ring finger.
Tweek gulps as he watches the tiny red droplets create little splatters on the pure white tiles near Gregory's foot, imagining what it would taste like on his tongue. Tweek instantly shakes his head at the disturbing thought, clenching his eyes shut and holding his breath so he doesn't succumb to the urge.
But his resistance is futile. A fresh turned vampire cannot resist the scent of blood.
Numbly realizing this, Tweek opens his eyes, their color identical to the very fluid that's tempting him for a taste. He advances toward Gregory, moving as if he's sneaking up on him. Gregory is about to tend to his injured hand, opening one of the doors to the cabinets. He must've moved when Tweek closed his eyes momentarily.
After taking another unhurried step, an arm stretches out in front of him, forcing him still.
"Snap out of it, Tweek," Kenny advises, his tone of voice serious yet calm. Luke is straightening out his shirt. When Kenny feels a soft nudge against his arm, he steps in front of Tweek, frowning at the dullness in his scarlet eyes. Luke notices Gregory ambling towards the doorway, then squats down, wiping away the blood and rainwater stains from off the floor. Luke can't help but think that he's an interesting human, usually humans would freak out in this kind of situation, but this guy remained perfectly unbothered and only interrogated them about Tweek, then went to do what he initially came here to do.
After disposing the piece of gauze he used as a cloth into the trash can, Gregory leaves without another word. It's only until the door shuts that Kenny realizes his departure, however him being gone doesn't abate Tweek's thirst for blood, meaning its fragrance lingers in the air. Kenny once again tries to talk Tweek into coming back to his senses, but fails. Balling a hand into a fist and shaking it hesitantly, Kenny makes an apologetic face as he raises a hand and smacks Tweek across the cheek. Luke winces at the harsh sound.
As the pattering of the light rainfall permeates the silence within the infirmary, Tweek remains facing off to the side, a bright red bruise on his cheek. His shocked eyes visibly shift back to their authentic blue-green color, then he blinks. Registering the pain in his face, Tweek puts a cold palm over his cheek, aligning his head to look forward. He sees Kenny lowering his arm, appearing conscience-stricken for slapping him.
"Sorry, but I had no choice since words weren't getting through to you."
Tweek just gapes at him for some additional seconds, his eyes reducing back to normal size. He's glad that Kenny managed to simmer down, was scary seeing him so furious. "I-it's okay, but...what happened?" The only thing he can recall is inhaling something delicious then blacking out after spotting where it exuded from. Tweek then notices the door closed past Kenny's figure, Gregory nowhere to be seen. "And where's Gregory?" He asks fearfully. "I-I didn't...hurt him, did I?"
Kenny opens his mouth to answer, but Luke beats him to it. "You were about to, but Kenny stopped you before you could even get near the guy." Although he's greatly relieved, Tweek frowns at the floor as he removes his hand from his cheek. He wouldn't have had to go through that if he was still human. "Whether you like it or not, you're one of us now and you must drink blood," Luke admonishes with the cross of his arms.
Kenny stuffs his hands into his pants pockets. "Yeah, and since you've recently been turned, the craving for it starts off pretty strong once you catch a whiff of it. If you try to resist the temptation, and keep it up for five days, then..." Tweek raises his head when he pauses, looking grim at his next set of words. "You'll fall into bloodlust, a phase you went through just a minute ago. You'll be blinded with only the impulse to drink any human or animal dry. But even then your thirst won't be satisfied, you'll continue to be that way until the day you're killed."
Comprehending what he'd just been told, Tweek feels horrified and disgusted. The fact that he has to consume human blood for the rest of his life sickens him, how will he be able to do that when he was once a human himself? He glares daggers at Luke, the cause of him being the way he is. Luke seems unperturbed by his icy gaze, giving him a small smile. "Hate me all you want, but what's done is done. You should be thanking me, at least you're not dying anymore, and your life can continue on forever."
Of course an insensitive vampire would think immortality is a blessing to have. "I'll never thank you for turning me into a monster," Tweek seethes, his eyes welling up with angry tears. He quickly wipes them away.
"You'll think differently after some time," Luke says, maintaining his smile though his eyes seemingly soften in a contrite manner. "Anyway, I gotta switch back. I'll see you again, Tweeky." Unfolding his arms, he closes his eyes. After a fleeting few seconds, his eyelids split apart some to reveal lime-green irises.
Tweek glowers sadly at the floor, his pasty blonde fringes of hair drooping over his eyes. His hands form into tightly clenched fists. With a frown, Kenny looks over at Kyle. He's undergoing many emotions that render him unable to look at anyone but the floor beneath him.
A very tense silence befalls them while the drizzle preserves its steady flow.
About an hour or so later, Tweek, Kyle, and Kenny are no longer in the infirmary. The room is empty until the door opens, walking in is Dr. Kero, a cup of coffee in hand. He closes the door as he glances around, his eyes landing on the prominent crack in the wall. Speechless, his grip on the cup starts to loosen. Quickly composing himself, he hurries over to his computer desk and places the cup down on the little space it has. He faces the damaged wall again, eyes narrowing when a likely culprit comes to mind.
The now irritated old man leaves his office in search of a janitor who can repair his wall.
(A/n: Yep Luke is indeed an asshole. I hope you enjoyed and the next chap. will be up soon)