Review responses:
Guest: I'm so glad you're enjoying it, although you might be about to experience a step backwards...
Okay, gonna say it now, I might have gone a little overboard with the ending. But it does serve a purpose and I just couldn't stop myself once I got going. Definitely a downer of a chapter though, as most of you can guess I imagine, I have changed some things up though and put a bit more emphasis on Damon and Rose, which I felt was needed for this story. So if you're having a bad day, maybe hold off on reading this chapter till tomorrow.
I'll also apologise for any spelling and grammar mistakes in advance. I know I always miss some, even when I go over my chapters, but this one was a lot more rushed to get through so that I could get it up in time. And I'm not just talking about the edit, but the writing of it as well so hopefully it runs smoothly, pacing wise. But if not please tell me and I'll try and amend it in future chapters. I just really didn't want to miss an upload and push this back because the Uni workload that has me screaming already!
But happy thoughts! And in two weeks I get to bring back... Oh, crap! You mean we have to deal with that bas–!
Chapter 24: Something Bad
All that was before Sarah, was an empty staircase leading down into the rest of the house. Rose was gone. As for when she'd left, Sarah had no idea. She hadn't heard anything to suggest she was leaving, but then again she hadn't heard her cough or splutter or make any form of noise since she stopped asking them to open the door. Glancing to the window, Sarah bit down on her lip. Time was running out, the sun already setting, far more faster than she'd realised. Normally at this time of year the sun would be shining for another hour or so, but the gloomy weather was already limiting the sunlight, and there was no signs of improvement on the horizon. Her only option now was to find Rose, hope she was sane enough to comply, and lock her up before they lost all the remaining daylight.
There was however, one variable that Sarah didn't know what to do with. She glanced over her shoulder, turning from the window and looking to Elena. She couldn't leave her up here, not with the setting sun. If Rose came up her and found Elena on her own, and descended into another episode, the weak sunlight shinning into the room wouldn't be enough to protect her. And the broken chair leg in Elena's hands was hardly going give her the upper hand. However, taking Elena with her might bring about another episode because of her mere appearance. Sarah had learnt long ago that Elena was not Katherine. Rose knew it too, had since the start, but her mind was warped now, and she knew that face as Katherine – longer than she knew it as Elena.
"You should go," Sarah said as she stared into Elena's eyes.
"No," Elena said, voice shaking before she continued. "I'm not leaving you, or Rose."
"You're not helping," Sarah pointed out, and she felt sorry for the hurt that flashed through Elena's eyes. It hadn't been meant as a personal attack. "I know you're trying to, and I appreciate it. But right now, all your face does is remind Rose of Katherine. It's making the hallucinations worse, giving them something real to push them along. You being here isn't helping."
"I can't just leave–" Elena tried to argue.
"Yes, you can," Sarah cut in. "Get in your car, and drive back home before…" Sarah stopped, as a cloud passed by, blocking out the sun as the light shining in vanished from the room, taking most of the shadows along with it. "Damn it," Sarah cursed beneath her breath, looking back down the stairs in case Rose had returned. She hadn't, and now she might have fled the house. The cloud would pass, but even then they had an hour or so of sunlight left, at least that's what Sarah figured.
"We're wasting time. We need to go downstairs and find Rose now before she leaves the house," Elena pointed out, stepping towards Sarah.
"Don't you think I know that," Sarah snapped, turning to face Elena who'd jumped at the sharpness of her friend's words. "Sorry," Sarah apologised, running a hand through her hair as she took in a breath. "It'd just be easier if I'd gotten you out earlier."
"Yeah, well, I'm still here," Elena bit back, making Sarah's eyes widen as she turned back to Elena. "And I'm not leaving until I know Rose is safe. She matters to Damon, and they both matter to you and Stefan. So she matters to me. I don't care if you're worried about me, I'm going to go and help her," Elena declared before marching past Sarah and down the stairs, all with the green eyed vampire's momentarily surprised gaze following her.
"Okay…" Sarah said, a little taken aback by Elena's sudden declaration. She recovered soon enough though, following the brunette down to the second floor. For the second time that day, Sarah and Elena searched the house from top to bottom, finding nothing. This time however, they did split up, partly because it meant they could cover more ground and because Elena kept trying to do it alone. If Sarah went left, she went right. If Sarah went into the bedroom, Elena would try another door down the hall. Eventually Sarah got the hint and left Elena to do her thing, since she was so determined to prove herself. She didn't even bother to listen in on her in case she got into trouble, focusing instead on any sound that might lead her to Rose. She heard a few things here and there, but by the time she'd arrived – if Rose ever had been there – she was gone.
She met back up with Elena in the front hallway, neither having seen Rose. It was then they saw the open door, and the black sky outside.
"Crap," Sarah groaned, looking out the doorway and peering around in case Rose was miraculously still in the front driveway. She wasn't.
"We could still catch up to her, she might not have gotten far," Elena suggested hopefully.
"Doubtful," Sarah muttered turning back around. "She could have left at any point between now and when we left Stefan's room. That gives her more than enough time to get into the centre of town or anywhere else in Mystic Falls."
"You don't know that," Elena pointed out optimistically.
"Yeah, but I'm realistic, Elena," Sarah pointed out with an irritated look. Not for Elena, but for the situation they'd gotten themselves into, and Elena understood that. "Now I've just gotta hope we can find her before she kills anyone, or worse."
Then, hearing footsteps behind her, Sarah turned, as Damon walked into the house, frown quickly forming when he found his sister and Elena waiting for him. A second later, he'd spotted the stake in Elena's hand, as well as the matching worried and concerned looks on the women's faces. "Everything all right?" Damon asked casually, suspicious blue eyes moving between his sister and his brother's girlfriend. When neither answered, he peered past them into the living room, finding it empty. His brow lowered further, as he did a quick scan of the hall, not finding who he was looking for.
"Where's Rose?" Damon asked, the concern, no matter how well he hid it, inside his voice.
"We don't know," Elena sighed out, lowering her head in shame as she brushed her hair aside.
"Seriously?" Damon asked rhetorically, hinting them both with an expression to back it up. An expression that then shifted in to a mixture of anger and fearful concern. "I mean I'm out the door, for what, two minutes, and you go and lose her? What could have possibly happened in the time I was gone?"
"She not herself Damon," Sarah began to explain. "The wolf bite, it's messing with her head."
"She kept thinking I was Katherine," Elena added.
"Well, we can't exactly blame her for that," Damon muttered.
"Hey!" Sarah snapped, whacking her brother on the arm as he glared at her. "This is serious. She was attacking us, chasing us around the house." Her voice then dropped, taking on a more sympathetic tone. "She loosing it Damon. I'm not sure how long she has left."
"She's not dying," Damon snapped suddenly, surprising Sarah with his sudden change in tune from earlier. "She just needs blood and rest."
"Damon she's coughed up ever drop of blood we've given her," Sarah pointed out, brushing aside her raven hair.
"It'll be the blood bags, she needs something fresh, from the vein," Damon argued.
"It's got nothing to do with the blood. Her mind and body and being messed with because of the wolf bite, and we both know how this is going to end."
"Know?" Damon spat out the word, squaring up to his sister as he glared down at her, icy blue eyes alight with a defiant flame. "We don't, 'Know,' anything."
"We know Scarlett's bite killed Logan Fell," Sarah pointed out, folding her arms.
"We know he died, and we know Scrappy bit him. That's not causality, that's a coincidence. And if there was a connection, he died over night, Rose has been bit for almost a day and is still walking," Damon countered, gesturing madly towards the open door behind him. He was stretching, Sarah could see it, Elena could too. Whatever had happened while he'd been out, it hadn't gone well. He'd come back with nothing and while before he'd been ready to declare Rose dead then and there, now he couldn't even accept the idea. He'd realised her cared. And now it might be too late.
"Okay, fine," Sarah said sternly. "We don't know everything about this werewolf bite." Damon looked like he was ready to jump in, but Sarah continued on before he could reveal in his minor pointless victory. He needed to hear this. "Maybe it takes different people longer to die than others, maybe it doesn't kill vampires. You're right, I'm not one-hundred precent sure. But what I do know, is that Rose's mind is shattering. She's hallucinating like crazy, and she can't tell up from down. Her bloodlust is out of control and nothing she drinks or eats can stay in her stomach for more than a few minutes. She's becoming more and more aggressive and violent with each passing hour, and now, she's out there, potentially killing God knows how many people."
Finally it sank in, as Damon's face lowered and the saddening realisation entered his heartbreaking blue eyes. Sarah felt for her brother. She did. She'd wanted him to find love again, to move on from Elena. He found it in Rose, even if it was still early days. But now he was losing it, losing her, and Damon had never been good at loosing people he didn't cut out of his life by choice.
"I'm sorry. I really am, Damon," Sarah said as she placed her hands on her brother's shoulders, meeting his eyes with her compassionate green. "But she hasn't got long left. And we need to find her before she does something that effects us all. She's older, and she's stronger and she needs to be stopped."
For a moment Damon just stared down into his sister's eyes, before then shoving her arms off. "First we find her. Then I'll decide what we're doing." Sarah was fine with that. Better he see it for himself, however painful it was. If she did something unthinkable without him seeing how bad she'd gotten, he'd never forgive her. He might even run off again, abandoning his family. Sarah didn't want that. So she let him lead the way, both she and Elena following him as they took his car back into town. They were brainstorming where to search when the Sheriff called. There'd been a vampire attack.
It was at the school, and Damon broke every speed limit and ran through every red light to make sure he got them there as quickly as possible. Sarah could see it in his eyes, the fear. He wanted to get to Rose first, to try and talk to her. He needed that. Part of Sarah wondered if they both did.
When they arrived, Damon went over to the Sheriff alone. Sarah remained with Elena by the car, and while she listened in on the Sheriff and Damon's discussion, Elena tried calling Stefan. She got his voice mail, and the Sheriff gave Damon the run down of the situation. Key bullet points; vampire attack, no idea who it was, no one else knows, police are dealing with whatever party's going on around the school by moving everyone inside, and the Sheriff is heading around the East side while Damon was to take the West. Also, the kill was fresh, meaning Rose might still be nearby, seeing as she'd have established this place as an easy hunting ground.
No matter how broken and lost her mind was, the primal part of her would recognise the need for food and remain until another predator arrived. Or at least Sarah hoped so. She wasn't lying when she'd admitted to Damon that she wasn't full sure about how the werewolf bite effected vampires. But right now, she had nothing better to trust than her gut, so her gut it was.
When Damon returned Elena finished up her message to Stefan and hung up, turning to Damon and Sarah afterwards. "You haven't heard from Stefan have you?" Elena asked Damon. "It's just we haven't heard from him all day," she explained with a wave of a finger between herself and Sarah. "Do you know what he's up to?"
"My baby brother is not exactly my priority right now," Damon mumbled, as he pulled the stake Elena had being holding earlier from his pocket. "Take this," Damon said as he discreetly handed Elena the stake, who then hid it beneath her jacket. His gaze then swung to Sarah, icy warning in his blue eyes. "Don't do anything unless I say so." Sarah nodded. No back talk, no snappy comments, no challenge. She didn't want to make this any harder for him than it already was. She'd made her peace back at the house, now she could only support him until they found Rose. Then they'd make a decision.
"Right, come on, let's go," Damon said placing a hand each on Elena and Sarah's back, before guiding them towards the quieter West side of the school, heading towards another parking lot.
Making their way across the concrete ground, Damon and Sarah scanned the environment, eyes and ears on high alert while Elena did her best to help, tightly holding her stake in hand. They were just reaching the other end when a scream tore out through the night. In the blink of an eye Damon was gone, rushing over to investigate. Sarah followed behind, taking Elena's wrist so she could keep up with them at their supernatural speed.
They arrived to find Rose by a car, a dead body smashed onto the broken windscreen, blood leaking from his neck, and Rose sinking her teeth into a young screaming woman. Sarah remained back with Elena, a car between them and Rose, while Damon circled around until he was behind Rose, shouting her name as he tried to get through to her. "Rose! Rose, stop!"
She turned, so fast that she snapped the girl's neck in the process, the blonde's body going limp before collapsing in a pile on the floor. However Sarah was more focused on the crazed and angry look Rose was giving her brother. She lunged, Damon caught her and they both fell to the ground, twisting and turning as they did.
Elena went to move in and help, but Sarah held her arm out to block her from going in further. Damon had to do this. He could do it. She believed that. But more so he needed to see first hand what Sarah had been telling him. How broken Rose was, how damaged she'd become as a result of the bite. If he needed her help she'd be there, but for now he needed to bear witness.
And he did, as he pinned Rose to the ground, shouting at her, calling out to her in hopes that he could bring her back to her senses. "Rose, Rose! It's me, it's Damon. It's Damon." As he shouted, Rose began to cease in her thrashing. Staring up into those loving and scared blue eyes until finally she stopped moving. The blood faded from her eyes, and a look of confusion passed over her.
"Damon," she whispered up, and Sarah felt her heart crack a little. To hear a friend sound so desperate, so in need of her brother…and so frightened.
"It's okay," Damon said soothingly, as he stroked her bloodied hair. "I'm here."
She tried to sit up, but Damon kept her down, trying to shield her from the reality for just a little longer. Sarah remained where she was, wishing both of them could escape the reality that was coming, but that wasn't how life worked sadly. "What happened, how did I…?" Rose trailed off, spotting the dead girl by the car. The one that she'd killed.
"Did I do this?" Rose began to weep, mumbling out apologises for what she'd done even though she'd had no control over herself. She knew that though, and it scared her. Scared them all, in truth. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anyone."
"I know," Damon said, taking her face in his hands and trying to get her to focus on him, to block out everything else and just see him. It was hard for Sarah to watch, to see her brother and friend fighting the inevitable. Rose trying to claw herself away from death and her breaking sanity. Damon trying to internally decide whether to open up and be hurt, or to close himself off and leave Rose alone and heart broken. Despite the cold heartless exterior her tried to put up. Sarah knew which would prevail. But that didn't make watching two people she cared about getting hurt so badly any less painful.
Sarah was then broken from her thoughts when Rose looked over to her and Elena, tears flowing from her eyes in a rushing stream. Her body trembling from a mixture of sadness, fear, and the werewolf infected bite running through her veins. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she cried out, and Sarah honestly didn't know how to respond. She didn't blame Rose for any of it though.
"Come on, let's get you home," Damon said, going to lift Rose up in his arms before she shoved him away.
"No, I don't have a home, I haven't had a home in so long!" Rose cried out, tears bursting through as she cried so hard. It was killing her, but even worse, it was breaking her apart, making her experience nothing but pain. Her mind was broken, as was her body. As was everything. All she wanted was for it to end but she didn't have the strength to do it herself. She need someone else to do it for her. And he knew that now.
"Oh make it stop, please make it stop! I hate it, make it stop!" Rose continued to cry until finally Sarah saw Damon nodding. She doubted he was even aware of it himself. So lost in the suffering of someone he cared about, and so angry with himself for not knowing how to fix it.
He picked her up. Taking Rose in his strong arms while she cuddled into him, crying into him as she held on to the last thing she loved. Sarah didn't say a word as Damon passed her, and neither did Elena. They both respectfully lowered their gazes as Damon passed, not wanting to up set him by looking for any sign of his true feelings. They both already knew anyway. And as they went to follow, Sarah spotted a few extra tears on the ground.
It was easy enough to get back to Damon's car. By this point the police had gotten everybody into the school or away from the parking lot. The Sheriff was still on the other side of the building, hunting for vampires, giving them an empty and peaceful space as they loaded Rose into the back of Damon's car.
Once she was in, Damon threw Sarah the keys, muttering something about her driving before then climbing in next to Rose. Sarah climbed into the driver's seat, and Elena hesitated for a moment – watching Damon as he held Rose against him in the backseat – before then climbing inside too.
The drive home was silent, save Rose's whimpering and occasional screams. She didn't get violent. It was just as if she was having a series of nightmares, over and over. Haunting and terrifying memories resurfacing and playing out as if they were happening all again. At least that's what Sarah thought, judging by some of the things Rose was saying. Damon paid no mind to any of it. Just held her tightly, eyes fixed straight ahead, giving nothing away. His hands did though. And through the rearview mirror, Sarah could see just how tightly he was holding onto Rose.
When they got home, Damon took Rose back up to his room, telling Elena to go home as he made his way inside. Other than that he didn't say anything. Not even when he walked in and realised Rose had already been sleeping in his bedroom prior to all this. He just lay her down, helped Sarah change the sheets around her, then stood over her. Waiting for her to awaken once more.
Sarah was stood a little further back, watching the couple. Arms folded, trying her hardest not to think about how this was all going to go. Rose was getting worse, anyone could see that. The sad thing was, as she got worse, so did Damon. His true feelings coming out more and more, as he realised how little time he had left. It wasn't fair. The more he showed those feelings, the more he was hurting. He wanted to show Rose he did care, but doing that was hurting him, because he knew it wasn't going any further than tonight.
"Hi there," Damon said softly as Rose's eyelids fluttered open.
"I'm sorry," she murmured out, too tired to put any real emotion into her voice. She was sweating again, Sarah spotted that, and still so pale despite the blood she'd taken in. How much longer was this gong to go on? She wondered. Like Damon had said, Logan Fell had died within a few hours, but Rose had been going on twenty-four hours now. How much longer did she have to endure this suffering before it finally ended and she found peace. Looking at Damon now, Sarah hoped it wouldn't be too much longer, for either of their sakes.
"You went on a murderous rampage. It happens," Damon said with a shrug, stroking Rose's hair as he leaned in to be closer to her. She tried to smile, to show she cared as little as him, but she did care. Even through the fog that was her mind, she knew deep down she cared, like she always had.
"I'm sorry, Elena. I don't like taking human life, I never have," Rose suddenly said, though Sarah knew why. Because Elena had just entered the room. Despite Damon's order to leave, she'd remained. Sarah had heard her entering the house and coming up the stairs but didn't say anything. There was little point. She'd go when she felt like it, no matter what anyone told her. Because she cared too.
Sarah did turn though, along with Damon who's angry blue eyes landed on Elena. "You shouldn't be here," Damon stated, practically willing Elena to leave with his gaze alone. He knew about the hallucinations, how Rose had seen Elena as Katherine. He'd pointed out himself earlier that it was an easy mistake to make, and just like Sarah, he figured Elena being around Rose wasn't helping. That was why he'd so bluntly told her to leave when they first got home. And why he was so annoyed that she hadn't left when he'd told her to.
Elena didn't leave though, despite Damon's glare. She'd seen it but she was more focused on Rose, who was looking right at her. Looking into her very soul as if connecting with it on a stranger personal level. "It's the worst part about it," Rose continued, confessing to Elena. "The hunt, the need to kill, the thirst, the pleasure it brings you afterwards. I wasn't meant to be evil… It hurts."
"So stop talking about it," Damon cut in, condescension in his voice. Sarah would have hit him had it not been so obvious he was trying to mask his own hurt feelings. Trying to push down his our pain by not talking about it. But not everyone treated emotions in the same way Damon did, a fact that very much annoyed him from time to time.
He stalked off towards his sister, as if about to leave, allowing Elena to pass and approach Rose's bedside while she continued to speak to her. "Damon's a lot like me. He wants to care but when he does he runs away from it," Rose explained, knowingly. Funny how death seemed to give a certain clairvoyance to someones words. As if they must know it all because their time has come.
In this case however, they did hold truth to them. Sarah could see it in her brothers eyes. He was stood in front of her, not looking at her however. Staring at the door, as if contemplating running away. He was tempted, Sarah knew it. Tempted to run away, turn that emotional switch right down and push away all those nasty feelings. But that would make Rose right, and Damon hated it when other people were right about him. Which left him with only one other option. Stay. No matter how painful. And Sarah was proud of him for doing just that.
"I'm sorry for what I've done today," Rose said to them all.
"We know," Elena said in a sooth understanding voice.
"And you need to fight," Rose added, voice suddenly scared, frightened. Because she too was fighting a loosing battle. "I know that you're scared but you have to do it anyway." Suddenly she started coughing again. Damon swung around, and Sarah got ready to move, but both saw Elena already comforting her. It was a short series, ending as suddenly as they began, with Rose cuddling into Elena's hand, smiling every so slightly. Like a tired child who was sinking into their bed after a long exciting day.
Her eyes then opened up, looking directly into Elena's soft nurturing brown ones, making her feel so peaceful for a moment. "Why are you so nice to me?" Rose asked.
Elena smiled down at her. "Guess it's something to do with being human," Elena shrugged, not quite sure she understood it herself. Her need to care, to help, to protect.
"You can never forget it, what it's like to be human. It haunts me. It's the only thing that's kept me going," Rose explained, her smiling growing in bravery as she continued to look into Elena's calming eyes. Even if the human doppelgänger was feeling anything but. "It doesn't hurt as much anymore," Rose said, taking in the blissful moment of peace.
Before the pain suddenly returned. This time burning from within her stomach. Her arms began to wrap around her chest, groans echoing from within. The blood, the fresh blood she'd taken when she'd lost control, the blood of those people she'd killed. It was thrashing around inside her now, trying to get out. Her body fighting to reject it but having nowhere to send it now that it'd been absorbed. Now it only helped push the infection throughout her body. Spreading the pain as she began to scream once more.
"What'd we do?" Elena asked desperately, looking back to the brother and sister.
"Go," was Damon's one and only answer, motioning with his thumb for Elena to get out. She moved aside, allowing Damon to move into her spot at Rose's side, but she remained in the room. Damon didn't stay there for long though, as he quickly moved onto the bed, pulling Rose onto his lap as she continued to roll about and cry out in pain. He was doing what he could to comfort her, but Sarah could see, Rose wasn't the only one who couldn't take much more of this.
She moved over too, taking Rose's hand and holding it as she whispered soothing words of comfort to her, doing what she could to mentally null the pain with her vampire powers. "Guys…" came Elena's voice, breaking Sarah and Damon's concentration. She was just trying to help, they both knew it, but she'd done all she could, and if she hadn't been before, she was certainly becoming a hindrance now.
"Just go," Damon snapped, another glare being sent Elena's way. "We've got this."
"He's right, just go home, Elena," Sarah added, with a more sympathetic and understanding look to her friend. But she still used the same amount of firmness that Damon had, letting her know that she'd either leave willingly, or by force in the next few seconds. She hesitated, like Sarah knew she would, but in the end Elena did leave, and this time Sarah heard her car leave too.
Before that though, once she'd left the room, Sarah turned to Damon, shouting over the screaming Rose. "Damon, you need to go into her head."
"I know, I know," Damon snapped back, before taking Rose's head in both hands, closing his eyes and focusing. It was the best way to get her through this. To put her to sleep and push aside the pain until she thought that was just part of the dream. Blurring the lines between reality and dream. It was all about making her peaceful now. Trying to make these last few moments count.
It took a few attempts but eventually Damon managed to put her to sleep with the aid of Sarah. But having two minds inside her head, not including her own, had knocked Rose out completely. They'd meant to only momentarily put her to sleep until the pain passed, but even when it did she remained in a deep sleep. Sarah suggested waking her up or even going into her head but Damon shut down those ideas, deciding that Rose needed her rest. He also needed a rest, as Sarah knew, and time to think as well. Time to breath and come to terms. She made sure to give him that time, claiming she was stepping out for some air when she left. She only went out into the hallway, closing the door behind her before then sitting down against the wall between her and Damon's room.
From there she listened, like the nosey little sister she was. Though she saw it more as the caring sister. Maybe Damon did too. He never came out and shouted at her for snooping around. Or maybe he was just scared to go through this completely alone. Maybe having one of his siblings nearby made him stronger, reminding him that he was the oldest and there for the most responsible. He'd let his siblings down many times. He'd let himself down too, but he couldn't do both at once, not when Rose needed him. So he found the strength some how, and continued on while Sarah waited beyond his bedroom door.
"Who'd have thought you'd be a nice guy?" came Rose's weak voice from Damon's bed.
"I'm not nice," Damon whispered back. "I'm mean, and I like it."
"You lie," Rose said knowingly, though her voice made it hard to tell if she really knew, or was just guessing.
Damon softly shushed her before then saying, "Just sleep…just sleep." Then silence.
Eventually Sarah figured Damon had once again put Rose to sleep, this time entering her mind alone. Good. As much as she wanted to be there for her brother, she didn't want to hear this goodbye. Nor did she want to say one herself. She liked Rose, she called her a friend, but they'd never been the closest by any means. Saying goodbye just felt…odd. At least with Damon it made sense. He was the only one that really still matter to Rose.
Even so, Sarah couldn't help but think of Lexi now. Yet another friend lost after being dragged into her horrible life. Another friend she hadn't said goodbye to. Even after all this time, it still hurt, knowing she'd never see her again, never laugh with her again, never scheme with her again. Her best friend…gone. Would it feel the same once Rose was gone? Sarah wondered for a second, as she listened to Damon and Rose's steady breathing, while the two dreamed.
Then a quickening heart, the beat picking up. Not Rose's though, Damon's. A sniff followed suit, the smell of salty tears just touching the still air. It was time.
Sarah closed her eyes, letting her ears guide her into the room, allowing her to see without actually being in there. Damon lying on the bed, the mattress quietly groaning beneath him. Rose leaning back against him, Damon's muscles tensing under her weight as his shirt stretch and pulled to accommodate for the pressure. Her older brother sniffling and choking as he fought to hold in those tears. The stake in both hands, held above Rose's heart, trembling and readjusting their grip, over and over. His own heart picked up in speed, readying for the kill he didn't want to make when suddenly…
The stake came down. It punctured Rose's heart. Damon's heart skipping a beat, slowing as the reality set in. The tears rolled down his face, slow and steady like his heart. His chin, resting atop a dead woman's head. Silence.
Sarah gave him a few minutes alone, before then opening her eyes and standing up. Slowly she reached for the doorknob, turning it and pushing open the door just enough to look in, to see if Damon wanted her there or not.
He hadn't moved, still laid on top of the bed, holding the stake that had penetrated the dead Rose, whose body had already finished desiccating. Skin no longer pale, but a lifeless stone like grey, with veins having stopped, thickening and rising up all over her body. Sarah did her best to look past her dead friend, and to her brother. The one that needed her. He was still crying. Not verbally, but the tears were rolling down his checks in single file lines, while a lump in his throat moved up and down uneasily.
"Damon…" Sarah whispered, opening the door some more as she carefully placed one foot into the room. It took a moment for Damon to register his sister's voice, turning his head as those open and sad eyes connected with her own. She saw the emotion in them then, saw everything he'd been pushing away. Before he had a chance to do anything, she ran to him, arms flying around his neck as she pulled him into a hug. Careful not to accidentally hit or damage Rose's delicate body.
"I'm sorry," Sarah said softly to her brother, her own tears coming out now. She heard Damon sniff once more, her own sadness triggering his. One of his hands left the stake, instead now grabbing onto Sarah's arm in comfort. Sarah wasn't sure how long it was they spent there. At a guess it was an hour or two. Stefan never came home, neither did Scarlett. It was just her and her brother in that big old house. Holding one another while they weeped for their departed friend. For Damon though, it had obviously been more than that.
Eventually though, they had to move. Or rather Damon insisted they had to. He had to show the Sheriff Rose's body. Convince her the vampire threat had been dealt with once again. Sarah objected. She'd already lost Lexi to the Sheriff, who'd disposed of her body, robbing them of the chance to give her a proper burial. Damon calmed her though, reassuring her that he wouldn't let the Sheriff take her, that he'd dispose of the body.
After that Sarah helped Damon move Rose to the car and then Damon drove off to meet the Sheriff. He left Sarah to clean up, mostly so she'd have something to do if she wanted to, rather than sit and mourn. She chose to do it, tiding Damon's room and cleaning up whatever messes Rose had left throughout the house. She was halfway through tiding Damon's bedroom, the last of the messes Rose had left behind, when he returned.
He took her out back, having already dug a hole in the ground apparently. Rose was already there, lying down next to the pile of dirt, from which two shovels stuck out. They stood there for a moment, thinking of things to say before Sarah asked if Damon had anything he wanted to say. He muttered something but that was all, once again trying to push those inconvenient emotions down. Sarah tried to get him to open back up again, but he claimed to have done enough crying for one night, before then kicking Rose into the ground.
Sarah hit him after that, both falling to the ground as they fought like children, rolling about in the dirt. Eventually they broke apart, once Sarah released this was Damon's copping mechanism, and no matter how much she hated it, he needed it right now. So they took a break from their fighting, which in truth had helped unleash some of her own bottled up emotions, and went back to the grave.
Since Damon wasn't willing to do so, Sarah said some words. Just reminiscing over what she and Rose had done during some of the times they'd met, how they'd met, how they'd run into each other again when she kidnapped Elena. At that point Damon ended the eulogy off, apparently it was too close to his own story relating to Rose. Sarah didn't argue with him, just grabbed a shovel when he did and started to burry the body.
Afterwards, they did the only thing that they could. They went home. Only to walk in the door and find Elena waiting for them in the living room. As they walked in, Elena stood. "You were supposed to leave," Damon growled. Elena ignored it, picking up a scotch she'd poured and holding it out to him.
"I did, but then I came back to make sure that you were okay. Both of you," Elena said as she looked over to Sarah. She smiled softly in appreciation, but her look told Elena that everything was not all right.
Taking the drink from Elena, Damon did his best to sound nice, even though he clearly wanted her gone. "I appreciate the gesture," he said before looking down into his glass. "I'm just glad it's over."
While he downed the contents of his glass, Elena said, "You know I don't believe that."
Damon rolled his eyes, setting down his empty glass before gesturing to the door. "Go home, Elena. Get some rest. It's a whole new day tomorrow," Damon said tiredly. It wasn't just that he was tired though, he was trying really hard not to get angry with Elena and the only way to do that was to focus on his own exhaustion. But Sarah could see his patience was wearing thin while she made herself a drink from the small bar by the couch.
"Damon, I'm your friend," Elena began.
"I'm well aware of that," Damon growled, a warning. Sarah didn't bother to intervene though. She could see were this was going and she wasn't going to sway the minds of either party involved. So instead, she drank, and watched.
"And a friend usually knows when their friend is hurting," Elena added.
"What do you want to hear?" Damon snapped, anger flaring, but even then Elena refused to jump, standing her ground and wanting to be there for him. "That I cared about Rose? That I'm upset? Well I didn't and I'm not." A snort from Sarah had her brother wheeling around to face her. "And you just keep you damn mouth shut!" Sarah didn't flinch. Just matched Damon's glare with her own before taking a sip of her drink.
"Stop it, Damon. We're just trying to help you," Elena said calmly, bring the blue eyed vampire's attention back to her. "Don't push us away, don't try and turn it off. Not when you're so close," she pleaded. "Just let yourself feel something, for once–"
"I feel, Elena, okay," Damon cut in, glaring at her as he stepped towards her. "And it sucks! And what sucks even more is that it was supposed to be me!" he shouted, pounding on his own chest in anger. "Jules was coming after me," he admitted, his voice shaking ever so slightly at the end. Sadness momentarily over powering anger.
"You feel guilty," Elena said slowly, as she and Sarah released just how bad this whole thing was for Damon. It wasn't just he was sad for losing Rose, but he was angry, angry with himself because he saw it as his own fault.
"Well that would be human of me, wouldn't it, Elena?" Damon snarled, closing in own her. "But I'm not human. And you want to talk about giving up? That's all you've done is give up!"
"That's enough, Damon!" Sarah shouted over her brother's voice.
"I thought I told you to shut it!" Damon snapped, turning on his sister once again.
"She's just trying to help you!" Sarah pointed out, putting down her near empty glass as she rounded the couch and approached her brother, squaring up to him.
"Well I don't want her help, or yours! All I want is for you two, to leave me alone, and go home!" Damon shouted, arm flying out towards the front door as he pointed at it in fury. Then silence fell, Elena staring at the two glaring siblings, while Damon and Sarah stared into each others eyes, waiting to see who would break first. In the end, it was Damon. Too tired to continue the fight as his arm dropped to his side.
"There's been enough doom, gloom and personal growth for one night," Damon muttered, before then turning back to look at Elena, motioning for her to leave once more.
This time though, she conceded. "Okay, I'll go," Elena said with a nod, picking up her bag before lingering. "If you change your mind–"
"I won't," Damon cut in, avoid her eyes.
Elena waited a minute, holding her gaze on Damon before then continuing. "Call me. If you need to." She didn't say anything else. Just walked past Damon, offering Sarah a sorry smile which she nodded in thanks too, before watching Elena walk out the front door and drive on home.
"You know, you can be a real ass sometimes," Sarah said to the back of her brother.
"Yeah, well…" Damon said, taking in a breath as he ran his arm against his face. It was then Sarah realised he was once again fighting off tears. "You're just as bad as me," he pointed out, turning as he offered her a smug grin. But it fell short when pulled down by those sad, sad eyes.
He then walked past her, patting her on the shoulder as he made his way towards the front door. "What are you doing?" Sarah asked, turning to watch her brother as he opened up the front door. Linger as he looked back to answer his sister's question.
"Something bad. I think you'd agree I'm owed one," Damon said, before stepping out into the night, and pulling the door shut behind him.
He was right, Sarah did agree with that. And knowing Damon, it was going to be something really bad. She just hoped he could live with whatever he was doing, and that it wouldn't come back to bite him on the ass if anyone else found out. He'd been making such good progress with the life they all had here in Mystic Falls, hopefully he wouldn't throw that all away because of one bad day.
That said though, with her brother gone, and her need to watch over him passing with their distance, Sarah too began to feel disappear. It wasn't going well. Not when she looked at what she'd lost recently. Rose…Ronnie…Lexi…and soon to be Elena too. Being a vampire didn't mean watching everyone around you die, but in that moment, it felt like it did for Sarah. Normally she would have gone and talked to Lexi during a down moment like this. But she was gone. There were her brothers too, but Damon was even more unstable than her right now, and Stefan had been gone the whole day. There were her other friends, but they were all so young in comparison. True they'd lost people, even their own lives in some cases, but it wasn't the same. They wouldn't be able to relate to what Sarah was feeling right now.
Taking a breath, she came to a decision. It was just something she had to do. Like Damon. She needed it to cope, to move forward. And no one would ever have to know…
Despite her mind being made up, it took her some time to actually move form her spot in the living room. Part of her kept expecting something to happen, to stop her from going through with it. But nothing did. No Stefan barging in to put a stop to her, no Elena with some new urgent crisis or even Scarlett just coming home and asking her what was up. There was just her, alone in the house, and that had been enough to push her out.
She got changed first, into something fresh and comfy. When she was done she had donned a short black dress, with extremely short black shorts underneath – so short they couldn't even be seen beneath the hem of the dress, which stopped way before the halfway mark on her legs. Over that she had her cleaned leather jacket, that blended in as much as she did with the night itself. And to top it off she wore long black boots that came up to her knees with long sharp heels that held her up as she looked herself over in the mirror.
Oh, yes. This was perfect.
With her attire dealt with, Sarah made her way out to the garage. Not bothering with the helmet, she climbed straight onto her prestige dark blue motorcycle and reeved the engine into life. With a grin, she kicked up the kickstand, tearing off out of the garage, taking a sharp turn that left behind a thick black skid mark along the drive, and then raced off towards the road. It may have been late, and the drive would be a few hours, but she knew that when she got there, someone would still be up.
The ride flew by, much like Sarah's flowing raven hair as she raced on through the night. The darkness of everything, bar her bike, making her seem like a shadow as she drove by in a blur along the dark roads. When she arrived, she found a parking spot in a deserted parking lot. They were into the small hours now, so it wasn't entirely surprising. After making sure her bike was secure and safe, she took stock of her surroundings.
Whitmore. A small college town not more than an hour or two's drive from Mystic Falls. Sarah had been saving this for a rainy day, and now it was here. An ideal place for her to come and kick back for a night. What vampire didn't love a college town. Young hot guys, intelligent people, parties ever single night, alcohol and as much blood as you and your compelled blood bag could take.
Sarah was glad she'd saved this. There had been many times over the last few months that she'd wanted to come up to Whitmore and blow of some steam. But tonight, she really needed it, and being here for the first time, it was like flicking off her humanity. Everything else just fell away, and she could give into those primal urges.
With a smile, she took off like a predator on the hunt, racing along in a blur until she found what she was looking for. A house party. Of course, there was one little problem. She needed to be invited in first. But this wasn't Sarah's first college town house party.
"Hey, cutie!" Sarah squealed in a very girlish way as she stepped up to one of the many partiers outside the house. Thick luscious brown hair, prince charming like smile and adorable little doe like eyes. There was worse ways to start the night.
He turned, barely having a chance to look her over as she slung her arms around his neck, turning with him as she smiled up at him. "You wouldn't happen to know who's hosting this little party, would you?" Sarah asked in her best sweet and innocent voice, batting her eyelids for good effect.
"Eh…yeah. Yeah, I know one of the girls," the guy bumbled out, momentarily caught off guard while his friends offered one of two expressions. Either admiring grins or dropped jaws of shock. All hinted with annoyance that it wasn't them Sarah had choose to wrap her arms around. But they needn't worry, she'd get to them all eventually.
"Great," Sarah said, making sure she had the man in her grasp's full attention, before she started the compulsion. "Now I want you to go inside and get this girl for me. Meet me at the front door." As she spoke, her eyes dilated along with his, her words becoming commands as he stared helplessly into her beautiful green eyes.
"I'm going to go inside and get her for you," the man droned out obediently.
"Thank you," Sarah said, letting him slid from her grasp as he stepped away, heading inside.
With a smirk on her lips, Sarah turned to face the man's friends, finding five of them all staring back at her as she placed her hands on her hips. Five was a big number to start with. Better work my way up first, Sarah decided as she fixed each of them with a flirtatious look, catching all their attentions at once.
"Let's see…" Sarah said, tapping her lower lip as her eyes flicked from man to man in thought. "I'll start with…you!" Sarah declared, honing in on one boy with yellow highlights in his jet black hair. Before any one of them could ask what exactly she'd picked him for, Sarah grabbed hold of highlights' t-shirt and pulled him over, taking his lips in an intense kiss. His buddies around them started to cheer, catching the attention of some other partiers around them. Some more people cheered, but quickly lost interest, unlike highlights' friends.
Then Sarah ended the kiss, pulling away as highlights looked dreamily up into Sarah's eyes. It was like the guy was asking to be compelled, and who was Sarah not to grant his request. "Faint," Sarah whispered, and the boy did just that, collapsing onto the ground as Sarah put on a fake gasp and his friends came in closer to make fun of him. "Is he all right? I didn't mean to startle him or anything," Sarah said in an apologetic tone.
"He's fine," one of his friends said, as he and another one lifted him up to his feet.
"Just clearly been a while since he got any," the other teased before the group laughed. Sarah joined in, adding relief into her laugh.
"I'm just glad you two strong guys are gonna take him home," Sarah said, catching them both quickly in a compulsion. And just like that, the two were walking off, carrying highlights in between them. Thinning the herd was always one of the most exhilarating parts of the hunt, at least in Sarah's opinion. It was like going to a butcher and picking out which cow you were going to kill and take home for dinner. There came a certain type of rush from picking who was going to die for your pleasure.
"I guess you're stuck with us then," one of the remaining two said sheepishly, one hand in his slacks while the other scratched the back of his head. He didn't look like the type to be nervous, and he definitely shouldn't be with that muscular body. But then again, his skinny little friend seemed to have all the confidence in the world as he slid up to Sarah's side, arm going around her.
"Don't worry though, we'll keep you safe," he said, lips brushing Sarah's ear.
"Ever consider that you're the one in need of protecting from me?" Sarah asked, turning to the skinny one with a flirtatious look in her eye.
"I'm pretty sure I can handle you," the skinny one said with a look up and down.
Sarah forced a smile, having found her appetiser for that night. The thinner weaker ones were always a good way to start a night full of drinking. A warm up for her body and all its vampire features before she got to the main event. Like stretching before going for a run. Or a meal in this case. "We'll see," Sarah said, before then looking over to the shier one and taking control. "Stand right there. Don't scream and don't be frightened. Only move and speak in order to get someone to leave us alone."
After that she turned her eyes on the skinny one, making him freeze up as her green eyes invaded his mind. "As for you. You are to be silent from here on in, understand?" He nodded, and Sarah smiled. "Good." Her vampire features then rose out of her, like a bird taking flight and she dove into the skinny one's neck with her fangs.
Feeling the crimson delight flowing into her, she realised just how much she needed this. Blood bags were good for so long, but sooner or later, you needed the real thing. She'd been taking blood bags for too long, playing along to everyone else's tune. She couldn't drink because of Stefan's fear of blood. She couldn't drink because Caroline was still learning to control herself. She couldn't drink because Elena didn't like it. She couldn't drink because it might encourage Damon to do something worse. Well now Damon was out there, doing something worse, and by doing this, Sarah was making sure no one would stay mad at him for long if they found out. She was the one in the middle of her brothers, the good one, and the evil one. They'd all been playing the good guys as of late, and while that was good, Sarah missed being bad every once and in while. But now that Damon had tipped over to the dark side, she had to too, so that it wouldn't seem as bad in comparison. She was only balancing the scales.
She finished her appetiser all too soon, and without any bother. Once done, she shoved the drained human over to his friend and cleaned herself off. "Take him home and look after him until the morning. Neither of you will remember this once you leave," Sarah compelled, and like that another two were gone, leaving her alone. But she could spot the first member of that gang, stood on the steps to the house with a girl who was impatiently tapping her feet, waiting to return to the party.
Sarah took her time heading up the steps to join the couple, where the overly tanned blonde glared at her when she realised Sarah was the one who'd summoned her. "And who the hell are you?!" shrieked the overly tanned blonde.
"I'm no one," Sarah introduced herself, letting her eyes work their magic. "But that's not going to stop you from inviting me inside now is it?"
"Please, come in," the overly tanned blonde girl said happily, all annoyance gone.
"Thank you," Sarah said in a mockingly desperate girl voice. She stepped past the two and into the large house, only to then stop and turn back around, motioning the two closer. "Actually, I've got another little job for the two of you," Sarah said, devilish grin sliding into place as the two looked helplessly into her eyes. She then dished out her new orders, and then let the two roam free around the house, while she made her way into the main room where everyone was dancing. A perfect place to find some fresh food and new assistants in her little scheme.
So Sarah joined in the party, compelling her way through every other boy and girl while feeding off of the others in subtle ways. She never took to much though. No, she was still building up to the big event. In between she got some flirting boys to grab her some drinks. They brought back shots, which was even better. She threw them all back, winning every drinking game she was challenged too before then starting a little drinking game of her own. Arm wrestling. If the guys lost, she drank their blood. If she lost, she'd make out with them. She won mostly…but maybe she intentionally lost a few. What could she say, there were definitely some attractive guys at this party.
Then after an hour of partying it was time for the main event. The screamer, as Sarah liked to call it. It was something she and Damon had invented during one of their bad streaks, and it was a favourite move to do when together. Well tonight they were suffering together, and that was good enough for Sarah.
She picked out a few targets and had them join her on the dance floor. Two boys, three girls. The first she pulled towards her was a platinum blonde with bright pink extensions. Very attractive for a young woman, but that wasn't why Sarah had picked her out. No, she'd picked her out because of all the good things she'd been hearing about her, how she did so many charity runs, how she was always there for anyone, even strangers, how she was the most selfless person anyone had ever met. Well now she was going to help Sarah fill her tummy. There were too many good people in this world anyway. What the world needed was more flexible people, like herself.
"Listen closely," Sarah ordered, once again compelling the platinum blonde girl as her other targets danced around them. "I want you to be afraid. To be terrified of me. I want you to realise what is about to happen, and know that you're about to die. But you won't call out for help. You'll just scream." Then watching as the compulsion took effect, Sarah smiled, watching as the girl tried to get away from her, only for Sarah to pull her back with her superior strength. The girl screamed, and it might have caught someone's attention, had not several other dozen people around the house started screaming in excitement along with her.
The scream. Take a dozen or so people, compel them to scream along whenever they hear someone else scream, and bang. You've got yourself a public place were you can safely let your prey scream their guts out while you feed on them. And sometimes, all that screaming really does add an extra spice to ones blood.
Sarah fangs then descended onto the girl's neck, taking in her screams and blood all in one glorious rush.
Delicious.
She took her time in the feed, savouring it before the girl went limp. She then compelled a passerby to store her away in a bedroom and to guard the door unless someone else came by with a dead body. Any trouble, and he should kill someone by bitting into them before running away. Drastic? Sure, but better him than her, Sarah thought. Tonight was her bad night.
She didn't take as much time or care with the others, going through the remaining four much faster than she had with the first. The first was usually the best, as she and Damon had come to realise. After that, the taste beings to lose its uniqueness. Still, it was nice to try it again, and after so long. Now it was time to ramp things down and settling in for the night. That meant sending people on their way so Sarah could get acquainted with her temporary house mates.
Finding the overly tanned blonde from before, Sarah compelled her to bring her the remaining people who lived in the house. One by one she brought them over, and Sarah compelled them to start sending people home. Within ten minutes, she had them all compelled and another twenty minutes after that the house was clear of everyone who didn't reside in it, minus Sarah.
With the house cleared, Sarah had the residents join her in the living room, where she made herself comfy on the one clean couch in the room. "Line up," Sarah ordered, waving a hand at her compelled subjects. They did as told, forming a single line, all stood shoulder to shoulder as they stared at Sarah in confusion, unable to understand why they were doing what the raven haired, green eyed woman told them.
She smiled at them all, taking in the twelve or so bodies before them. That's all they were to her tonight. Bodies. Like Rose's, the friend she'd just buried. Sarah refused to let reality come crawling back in, pushing it aside and choosing to live in her cosy little dream instead. It was just one night, what harm could she do?
"So, any question?" Sarah asked with a flare of friendly welcoming, like one of those annoying camp councillors during first day introductions. When none spoke up, all sharing uneasy and worried looks, Sarah continued with, "Come on. Speak up. Or raise your hand, if that makes it feel more natural. That's what you guys do, right, when you're getting a lecture? You lift you hand up if you have a question." Sarah lifted her own arm up, as if to demonstrate, wiggling her fingers before letting her arm drop back down.
Finally, one of the braver boys lifted his arm halfway up. "There we go," Sarah said in delight, her eyes going to the brave soul. "That wasn't so hard was it? Now, what's your question?"
"What's happening to us?" the boy asked, voice shaking.
"Oh, that's a lengthy question," Sarah sighed, as if it would take up too much of her precious time to answer it. "I've got a better question for you to ask. Why am I doing this to you?" Sarah suggested, staring at the brave boy who seemed to be awaiting an answer to a question he was yet to ask. "Well, go on then. Ask me," Sarah ordered, compulsion forcing the brave one to ask her the very question she'd proposed.
"Why are you doing this to us?" he asked, voice even more shaky and terrified now. He wasn't alone. A few of his fellow roommates had also had a health increase in fear, while the rest were still trying to work out what was going on. Confusion and curiosity overpowering their natural thought process, which was to be frightened. Very, very frightened.
"Good question," Sarah congratulated, like an patronising lecturer would. "Let me give you the short version," Sarah began, pushing herself up and off the couch before then proceeding to march up and down the line of compelled students as she explained. "You see, recently I've been on a bit of a good guy strike. My whole family has been. You know, helping people, doing right by the community…not killing anyone–"
"Are you, like, part of the mafia, or something?" one high pitched short brunette cut in.
"No talking until I'm finished," Sarah snapped, making sure her instructions were followed with the aid of her compulsion.
"As I was saying, recently me and my eldest brother have being following our other brother's goody two-shoes routine. Not drinking from people, not killing anyone, drinking from blood bags and so on." It was at this point, those that weren't already freaked out by what was going on, joined their house mates in a unified look of terror. Sarah continued on though, paying them little interest as she spoke. "It's not bad, but I do miss the taste of fresh blood. Mind you," a chuckle. "After tonight I'll probably be good to drink blood bags for the rest of the year.
"But why now? Well, I just lost a friend." Sarah came to a stop, looking ahead at nothing as she spoke. "An old friend of mine. She and my older brother were really hitting it off…until tonight…when she died." A pause, then Sarah continued speaking while remaining where she was. Still staring out into space.
"Before that though, another friend signed her own death sentence, hoping to save everyone she cares about, including me and my family. And I'm supposed to keep it a secret, no one other than the two of us knows. And it's scary, how easy it is to let her go through with it…I'm not even sure why I'm letting her do it, but I can't bring myself to get in her way.
"Then there's my boyfriend, or rather, my ex, lying, puppet to my archenemy, boyfriend." Another pause, as Sarah looked over to the boy she'd come to a stop next too. This one only slightly shorter than her, with long blonde hair and a tattoo on his exposed shoulder. One of a shooting star, for whatever reason. "Another long story. Let's just say I loved him and it didn't end well… He's dead now."
She started walking again, though slower now. "Before all that though, there was my best friend. She came to town, visiting for my brother's birthday and then…she died. I lost her and I'm never going to see her again," Sarah said, voice going hallow as she once again stopped – something else tickling in the back of her mind. A thought she didn't want to think about.
Then with a flick of the head, whipping the hair from her face, Sarah's eyes suddenly filled with a new life. "As you can tell, I've lost a lot of people," Sarah declared as she started to pace back and forth before her captive audience once more. "And last time I lost someone – that someone being my aforementioned best friend – I did something good. I gave a lost girl a home and took her in. I'm looking after her and making sure she finds her way in this crazy messed up world of ours. But that was last time. This is now," Sarah said, turning around as she reached the end of the line.
"And like I said, me and my eldest brother have been following my good brother's example. It's a change for my older brother. He's normally the bad one. Still thinks he is in some ways. That leaves me in the middle. The one that has to balance them out," Sarah explained. "And right now, my evil brother is out there doing something bad. Something the good one won't like if he finds out. So now I have to do something bad too. That way, whatever he does doesn't seem as bad in comparison."
She then came to a stop. Right in the middle of the ling, before turning to face the terrified eyes looking back at her. A few seconds passed, then the brave boy from before lifted his trembling hand once more. Sarah nodded, indicating he could speak, his voice coming out so shaky it was like someone had stuck a vibrator to his voice box. "So…what…what are you-you going to do…to us?"
"Another good question," Sarah said, smiling. "Unfortunately I don't think you're going to like the answer."
"You don't have to do this," the overly tanned blonde cried out desperately. "You–You said you were a good person. Good people don't do…do whatever it's you're going to–"
"Ssshhh," Sarah said, stepping forward as he finger went to the overly tanned girl's lips, silencing her. "You've got it all wrong sweetheart. I never said I was a good person. What I am, is a vampire. A vampire who's angry, sad, and most importantly, still hungry."
"Please…" the overly tanned girl whispered.
"Sorry, but I need this. And if a few of you have to die in the process, then that's fine with me," Sarah said coldly, giving the girl a good look into her compassionless green eyes, before she then penetrated her neck with her elongated fangs. Blood once again rushed in, and Sarah could feel all of her problems just washing away, as that blood slid down her throat. So sensational, so blissful, so nurturing, so forgiving, so easy to indulge. So easy to forget.