Changeling Childe

"I warn you now, Pete, this is going to hurt. A lot," Tanith said heavily as she tied a tourniquet around Pete's arm and slid an IV into his veins. Émile, Brendon, and the other boys had already set up a heart monitor stolen from the local hospital. Pete's finger was encased in the plastic sheath that would monitor his white blood cell count. He wasn't wearing a shirt, only the little electrodes to monitor his heart and pulse.

"I don't care," Pete said resolutely. "If it means being human again, I'll do anything."

"Then I recommend you lie down," Tanith advised. "This isn't going to feel good. Could someone get me a large bucket?"

"What for?" asked Pete while Joe went to get one.

"Regurgitation," replied Tanith curtly. "This serum is going to break down your vampiric cells and separate them from the human blood you had remaining in your veins when you died. That broken-down blood is going to be flushed from your system through the nearest possible orifice." Pete grimaced. "That's why I mixed ipecac with the serum: it'll direct the majority of the blood through your digestive system. It's not going to be pleasant, but it won't last too long. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," said Pete nervously. Tanith nodded and put the vial of her serum into the IV in Pete's arm.

"Godspeed, Pete," she said softly. Pete shuddered as the serum entered his veins and began to convulse, crying out in pain. His cries peaked into screams of agony. Tanith took his hand and held it tightly. "Pete, we're here. We're all here for you, all of us. We won't leave you alone in this. Don't be afraid." Pete groaned in pain, but he looked into Tanith's eyes and she saw that he understood. He already knew. She grabbed the bucket and held it to his mouth just before he started vomiting blood with a terrible choking violence.

"Here," said Patrick, taking the bucket. "You sit with him."

"Yeah, girls are better at the whole 'whisper comfortingly in the ear' thing," agreed Brendon. Tanith nodded and sat next to Pete, holding him up gently, smoothing his sweaty hair back out of his eyes, making soothing little sounds of encouragement.

"It's almost over…hang in there, Pete, it's almost over," she said softly. Pete gagged and retched loudly, but no more blood came up. Tanith rose and quickly attached the first blood pack to his IV. "Someone please get him some water and bring me a couple towels, some warm water, and a blanket." Joe and Andy started off to do as she said, but Brendon stopped them.

"No, I'll do it," he said. "You stay with Pete. He needs you now." Pete moaned unhappily, his head now in Tanith's lap. Brendon left to get what Tanith asked for.

"That's the worst of it," Tanith said. "You'll start to feel better soon, Pete. Try to sleep." Pete looked up at Tanith blearily, still trying to catch his breath. She smiled encouragingly. "Just try to sleep. You'll feel better soon."

"His temperature is way too low," Andy said nervously.

"He's lost about eighty-five percent of his blood; it's going to be low," replied Tanith. "That's what the transfusions are for. When his temperature reaches about ninety-six, he's got enough blood in his system." Brendon returned with the water and towels Tanith had asked for. She took the glass of cold water and held it to Pete's mouth to help him drink. He did, looking up at her gratefully. Tanith smiled gently and set the glass down when Pete's head fell back into her lap. He was shivering, covered with sweat but still too cold. Dipping a towel in the warm water Brendon had brought, Tanith gently sponged the sweat off Pete's face and chest, dried him off, and covered him with the blanket. Pete's shaking subsided a little, and he leaned his head against Tanith's stomach wearily. Tanith looked up at Brendon, hoping he would understand, and saw from his expression that he did. He wasn't jealous of this closeness. Tanith smiled and turned her attention back to Pete.

"I feel like hell," he groaned.

"I know," Tanith said sympathetically. "It'll pass in a while." She looked around at Pete's friends and smiled. "You're so lucky, Pete, to have so many people who love you here, people who'll stay with you through this." Pete looked up at her curiously. Brendon glanced at Pete, giving a small shrug. Brendon had been all Tanith had had when she was cured. Pete had not only Patrick, Andy, and Joe, but Tanith and her friends Émile, Minuet, and Brendon. He was lucky, he realized. He wasn't so alone. He smiled up at Tanith and she smiled back, understanding.

"If we had known you then, we would have been there," he said softly, his voice hoarse. Tanith's smiled widened.

"Thank you, Pete," she said. Glancing up at the monitors, she said, "Try to close your eyes and relax. It'll be over before you know it, and you'll be human again. When you wake up, you'll be human again." Pete smiled tiredly and closed his eyes. Tanith smoothed his hair again, pushing it out of his face. Gazing down on him affectionately, she began to sing softly, a soothing Gaelic melody unfamiliar to Pete's friends. Pete fell deeply asleep as Tanith sang; the others sat and listened to her.

"Tanith was always a good singer," Émile whispered. "The vampire blood further enhanced her voice to an unearthly level of beauty. She could make a stone cry."

"Even William could never resist her voice," agreed Brendon, his voice low. Tanith kept singing, looking up to check Pete's monitors and the blood pack still draining into his arm. It was nearly empty, so she retrieved another from the cooler nearby and prepared to connect it to the IV. When the first pack was empty she discarded it and connected the new pack. Pete's temperature had already risen several degrees, but he still shivered a little under the blanket. At Tanith's whispered request, Patrick fetched another and laid it over Pete. He stilled after a moment. Tanith stroked his head like he was a little child, massaging between his shoulder blades with her free hand.

"She's like a mother, isn't she," Joe whispered. "She's so loving."

"Tanith's heart is full of love," replied Brendon quietly. "She's willing to give it to anyone who needs it."

"You all do realize that I can hear you, yes?" asked Tanith, glancing up with a smile. The boys shrugged sheepishly, and Tanith laughed softly. "It's all right; I don't mind as long as it's all good stuff." The group talked together very quietly for a while as Pete slept. They all began to doze off one by one until only Tanith and Patrick were still awake, keeping a weather eye on Pete's progress.

"There are scars on your neck," Tanith said after a while. "You've been bitten before."

"Hazards of the job," Patrick replied with a smile. Tanith chuckled, nodding in agreement. "You can't live in this city as long as we have without being bitten at least once. And you're right: you don't understand what it's like until it happens to you. And I know what you meant when you said it was addicting." Tanith nodded again sagely.

"It's even better when it's from someone who you think loves you," she said quietly. "I truly thought that William loved me. I wanted him to love me; I loved him. But at least I found Brendon. William could never have been what Brendon is to me." She smiled at Brendon's sleeping form curled up peacefully on the floor. "I know for certain that Brendon loves me, and I love him more than I ever did William. He's so much better for me."

Patrick nodded understandingly. "You can't go through life without getting your heart ripped out and handed to you at least once. It's unfortunate, but it's true."

Tanith made a sound of agreement in the back of her throat. She started to respond, but Pete shifted in her lap, drawing both her and Patrick's attention to him.

"No," Pete moaned unhappily, twisting in the throes of haunted dreams. "No, please…let me go, please…I don't want to…I don't…please…"

"It's OK, Petey," Tanith said gently. "You don't have to. No one will make you. It's OK. You're safe now. You're with your friends. We won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."

"Please don't let him…" croaked Pete, his eyes still shut tight.

"We won't," Tanith assured him soothingly. "He doesn't know where you are. He can't find you here. He can't hurt you." Pete calmed and quieted, lying still in Tanith's lap.

"Is he all right?" asked Patrick worriedly.

"Just a nightmare," Tanith replied. "It's a side effect. He was dreaming about the night that William sired him."

"How do you know?" asked Patrick in surprise.

"I could hear his dreams," answered Tanith matter-of-factly. She checked the monitors and gently pulled Pete's lips back to look at his teeth. They were blunt human teeth now, not monstrous fangs. Tanith smiled in satisfaction and let go, stroking Pete's cheek. "I meant what I said earlier. About how Pete's lucky to have friends like you. Émile and Minuet have always been my closest friends, but I didn't see them very often growing up. I never had many close friends since I was home-schooled. But I had my parents, and they were all I needed. God, I loved them so much…" Her voice trailed off as she gazed into the distance. Patrick remained respectfully silent. He knew what it was like to lose family members. His own family had run out of the city as soon as they could, leaving him behind. Pete's had abandoned him after William got to him. The only family the boys had left was each other. The difference was, though, that their families were still alive and well somewhere. Tanith's was gone forever.

"Tell me about them," offered Patrick, hoping it would help.

Tanith smiled at him. "I look a lot like my mom. Her chosen name was Tanith, which is why I chose it too. Her hair was wavy, and she wore it much shorter than I do, but I still get my hair from her. She had fair skin, freckles across her nose and high cheekbones, eyes as blue as the heart of a flame, and long, quick fingers. My dad, Erik, was very tall, which is where I get it from, tall and powerful as a redwood. I have his grey eyes and full mouth. His hair was black and long, for a guy. He wore it in a ponytail. He usually had a goatee too. He was very muscular and immensely strong. We worked out together a lot, and he helped train me. He was amazing with a sword – his was a katana. Mom was better with guns." She smiled into the distance. "I doubt they'd be entirely pleased at what I've become, but I still think they'd be proud of me."

"I'm sure," agreed Patrick. "Look at what you've done. You've created a serum that can make vampires human again, and you've helped save an entire city from vampire control. What's not to be proud of?"

Tanith laughed softly. "Thanks, 'Trick." Fingering her precious necklace, Tanith leaned her head back against the couch and fell asleep. Patrick followed suit, stretching out on the softest bit of floor he could find.

Pete's movements woke Tanith several hours later. Everyone else had already awakened and were having breakfast, but they came running when they heard Pete's groggy voice.

"Ehwunna seemuhself," he mumbled, blinking blearily.

"Say what?" asked Andy.

"I want to see myself," Pete repeated.

"Oh! Hold on a sec," said Patrick, leaving the room for a moment and returning with a small hand mirror. Pete took it, took a deep breath, and looked into the glass. He saw his own face for the first time in months. There was the old mischief, the impulsiveness, the familiar dark eyes and untamable brown hair. Slowly he smiled and his reflection smiled back, revealing his blunt, rounded teeth. Gone was the inhuman sheen to his skin, the bloodlust in his eyes, the fangs meant to tear open an unwitting victim's throat. It was only Pete there in the glass. Just Pete, normal, human Pete Wentz. For no reason at all, and yet for every reason, Pete started to laugh. He laughed and laughed, happier than he had been in so long. He grinned around at his friends and they all cheered for him as he stood up slowly, getting used to the feeling of his own body. He felt clumsy and awkward, but it was the best feeling in the world to him. Tanith smiled as she helped steady him, standing with him. Pete turned his grin to her and it mellowed into a happy smile. She gazed into his very human eyes, and realized that they were both thinking the same thing: there was one final test of his humanity.

"I want to see the sun."