The Second Bite

Now, if you were paying attention then you can probably guess that Roxie wasn't in fact dead. Being in the state I was how could I have known this though? I stood, pain and fear building to a crescendo that almost made me puke. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my muscles I began blindly forward. I wanted nothing more than to prove myself wrong, I wanted reality to wipe the gruesome, horrifying images from my mind. I wanted to know she was alive. Memory fades and mixes here... for I was lost in a daze and didn't pay attention to much. I just stumbled forward, dead and alive, waiting to be proven wrong.

My ears caught it first. The soft gentle thrumming that I had learned to cherish. In the same moment I recognized the scent that hung in the air and my feet began to move a little faster as it got stronger. Soon, I was at a full paced sprint, expertly dodging trivial obstacles as I ran. I was so caught up in my excitement that I never even caught the other scent that mingled with hers. The sickly sweet smell of something like perfumed soap. When I stopped, the first thing I saw was of course, Roxie.

She was lying on the ground, her long brown hair tangled and mixed with her own blood. With dark, gory, horrifying wound on her shoulder. She was as pale as the moon and unconscious. I looked up, realizing the second scent for the first time. And the first sound to come out of my mouth was a deep territorial growl.

As I've said before humans were merely playthings to Damon. So the delighted grin that spread across his face upon seeing me sent another growl to rip through the air.

"She yours?" He asked, a voice as smooth as a velvet scarf that was about to choke you. Mindlessly, all I could do was growl. He laughed, sending a surge to every nerve in my body to jump and rip him apart. "I didn't make her a bloody unconscious mess… did I?" He grinned like I had become the punch line of a hysterical joke. A small whimper escaped my lips as I let my eyes drop to her unconscious form.

"I found her lying here just recently. I was just going to kill her…" He looked down at her almost thoughtfully before continuing. "… but that… just doesn't seem satisfying enough now."

For a moment I thought he meant to kill both of us now. Heh, I wished him luck if that was his plan, but instead he slowly, very, very slowly, picked her up. Gently wrapping one thick muscled arm around her and gracefully picking up her hand. That was I all I needed to see before anger burned through my veins like lava.

"Get. Away. From. Her." I said, making a small attempt at control. Damon laughed at me. Yes, at me. I know that's supposed to be one of those things like a mind game where, 'I think he is but can't be sure…' Screw that, he was laughing at me, and fanning the angry flames in my veins more and more.

It only took me a second more to realize what should have been obvious from the beginning. I should've realized from the sickly sweet soap smell, Damon was a vampire. A fierce growl ripped through my chest as another wave of flaming fury ignited in my veins. That cocky smile on his face stretched to a grin, displaying two small pointed teeth on either side of his mouth.

He knew what he was doing, he, of course, was paying attention and probably caught my scent a mile or two off. Now he was only prodding me on, waiting for me to morph before making any kind of move. After what fun was a meal without a chase? God he made me sick. The worst part of it all though... I was completely and utterly helpless against him.

Some other small tidbits of information for those of you who know nothing about the supernatural kind. One: We feed on anger. Wolves are highly aggressive creatures, the anger is what drives us forward. Most times it is the soul reason for the transformation. By this point, anything unfortunate Two: Wolves and Vampires are sworn ancient enemies. I really don't think anyone remembers what started the conflict... Could be that we both just have dominant bloodlines, but until you can find enough of them that will make lasting peace, you'll deal with the senseless bloody fighting.

With this in mind you can already guess what his goal was. Simply put, to piss me off to the point of morphing, at which point he would use Rox as a human shield. If I had the sense to resist, he would use me to do whatever, if not...

Damon's arm tightened around her waist and the evil glint in his eyes glowed. I wanted to rip his throat out... I really did. I focused myself on staying calm. He laughed knowing I had just now made all the realizations he'd come up with long ago. More than that though... He had something else in mind as well. As those long disgusting ivory fingers slowly pulled her head back I realized what.

Anger flowed through me so strong that I couldn't contain it. No way, not now, not ever, there was no way his greedy fangs would get anywhere near her neck. Then I realized what was happening, I was morphing, giving him what he wanted. "NO!" I trapped my eyes shut and stopped, hopefully, still human. Judging by his glare I assumed so.

"Aren't you angry dog boy? Don't you want her? Come get her." He teased me. I refused with a little difficultly. "Can't you hear that?" Damon's tone suggested he were talking to a child. He was toying with me again, or at least I thought, but as I listened closer I heard what he meant. The soft rhythmic thump of Roxie's heart was beginning to fade, she was dying. Surprisingly enough this didn't please Damon. That toying heartless smile fell for a second, only a second.

"Give her to me! NOW!" I snarled at him. He looked down at her, with her head resting on his shoulder, a small triumphant smile spread across his face.

"You dosed her with too much venom pup. Her poor human body can't take all of it... What a shame."

Immediately I saw where he was taking this. She very well could live if some of the venom could be taken out. Hmm, but that would require someone who.. *gasp* sucked blood? I hate him. I felt so helpless... He won, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. He, no matter how much I still cringe to say, was her only hope. I turned away, unable to witness the gruesome sight that was about to unfold in front of me. "Just do it."

It felt like hours, and it was annoying to have trust him not to kill her. My more-than-sensitive ears heard the delicate sucking sound as he pulled out just enough venom. He gasped and moaned and I knew he was tasting the same sweet power that I had just the night before. That overwhelming power. His gasps took on despair as he realized he couldn't stop. Vividly I remembered that want to stop but that need to keep drinking. A groan and a loud thud told me he was finished.

My eyes immediately set on Damon and a small hit of triumph radiated through me. He was sprawled on his back, his lips a bright crimson color, looking dazed before falling into unconsciousness completely. She was out too. Within half a second I was at her side. She still had a pulse. Good. Maybe the bloodsucker was good for something after all.

Right here I should stop, becoming sick with myself for not reporting the entire story. Right then, was the mistake the worst mistake any being could make. Letting him touch her, sink his greedy fangs into her, was the worst possible thing I could have done.

Right then, two things happened. One: she lost that last ounce of humility she had. Two: a never ending nightmare had begun.

Now I'm sure some of you will say "It wasn't a mistake, she was dying after all." She wasn't, if she could handle what was to come, she easily could've handled what I did. I didn't even think that if she wasn't able to handle me… How could she ever handle both of us?

Roxie was now unique. Yes of course she was before. Now she was unique even in the realm of freaks. She was a hybrid. Hybrids, simply put, are half wolf, half vampire, all demon. She'd be twice as strong as Damon and I combined, twice as smart, twice as fast. She'd have every single characteristic of both the wolf and the vampire. Now why was this a problem? She was too young. The scramble between us, and the bite from Damon was thrown on to her at only 13.

This uniqueness, her 'hybrid theory' as she would later call it, was the very thing that killed her. It was all my fault.
I didn't know any of this then; I wouldn't for a few months to come. Right then I was near tears that she was simply alive. Turning back and throwing a scowl at Damon I delicately picked her up. She was just as covered in her own blood as I was, and it made me sick to think that it was even remotely my fault. I took her home, well my home at least. Yes I live in a house, how much of a dog do you think I am? I just didn't have parents…

Laying her down on my bed, I knelt beside her, taking her slim pale hand in mine. The amount of blood she was soaked in disgusted me, and set to cleaning her up as much as possible. When she did wake I was gently scrubbing at the wounds on her shoulder and neck.

"Andy…" Her voice was weak, painfully weak. I stopped scrubbing to smile at her, as she slowly opened her eyes. In shock the warm cloth dropped from my hand, and I felt a wave of nausea wash over me. Blue, her dazzling blue eyes, shimmering sapphires, glowed a different color. Her endless ocean eyes burned a fiery crimson red. It was then I realized what I really did to her. For a few moments I stood in sickened shock staring into her bloody eyes. As if the horrid ruby glow in her eyes wasn't enough, she smiled at me. Like a newborn child, completely clueless to what was happening around her.

Within her pearl white smile was the very last thing I had ever wanted to see. Two of her teeth were pointed to a fine tip that stabbed right through me. I stepped back in shock, as if reaching the climax of a nightmare. She sat up to look at me. Her large red eyes looking over me curiously.

"What's wrong Anders?" Her voice had the ring of a church bell on Christmas morning to it. It sounded so wrong. Yes it was my nickname, but I was so used to the soft sound of wind when I heard it. Not the ringing sound of bells. This was all so wrong. I knew she was still Roxie, MY Roxie. But she seemed so different now... So alien. "Xander what's wrong?" Her bell voice took on worry as she studied my face. All I could do was stare, dumbstruck at the result of what I had really done to her. She stood and walked over to me with such grace, such poise, such beautiful balance I was for a moment breathless.

She took my hands and I felt only a sliver of reassurance at the warm temperature of her skin. Looking into her sparkling crimson eyes though, this was only a slight comfort.

"What... Happened..." I breathed, not even making it a question. More like a statement I didn't want to hear a reply to.

"Andy? Aaandy?" She called to me as if I were in a trance. My eyes trapped shut and I tried telling myself I was just caught in a horrific nightmare. When I opened them again she had tucked her hair behind her ears. My mouth dropped slightly in... Confusion? I suppose that would be right. Confusion, surprise, joy, and more confusion all seemed to hit me in the same instant. Protruding from her head where her normal, human ears used to be, were two fluffy pointed, wolf's ears.

I just stared uncomprehendingly. Part of me, wanted to start laughing and go 'what' but most of me was too confused and just stood there with a look on my face that screamed "HUH?!?!". It was then really that I figured out what had happened. That she was now the ultimate mix of two species. Alright, to be perfectly honest all that didn't actually register until later; at the moment I was a little preoccupied that my best friend had dog ears and fangs.

"Rox.... You might wanna turn abound." I pointed to the mirror behind her. She looked confused for half a second before spinning around to see herself. In disbelief she walked forward. Fear washed across her face as her hands reached to almost touch her eyes then stopped as one finger traced the sharp point of her teeth. Meekly, her hands dropped and she stood there for a second taking in her new appearance before screaming. My instincts took over and I crossed the space between us in half a second holding her as she panicked.

"What happened?" She sobbed frantically. "My eyes.. My ears... I'm a freak!" She sobbed harder, I held her closer unable to say anything. Of course the only thing that would have mattered to say right then would be 'I'm sorry'. My voice wouldn't make enough sound to speak the words though. My hand automatically stroked her hair down her back.

"Shhh...." I whispered by her ear. I hadn't realized that she had collapsed, or that we were sitting on the floor. I knew only that I had just ruined the most perfect thing possible because of my own selfishness. With every tear that fell from her face that pain which originated in her fanged smile, stung and burned all the more. Silent tears began to fall down my own cheeks after a moment as well.

Finally, she stopped, and demanded to know what happened. With downcast eyes, and a guilty heart I told her the whole story. To my luck or horror…Whichever you choose to call it, she remembered the part about my bite. I had to stop in mid-sentence here for the overwhelming guilt took over and to my utter shame, tears gushed from my eyes. She urged me to continue anyway. Which I did without falteration.

I told her about the vampire in the woods and explained to her, what has happened and what she has become. Numerous times I would stop to beg forgiveness but in her eyes, I had only given her what she desired. It seemed to her that if the cost was having fluffy dog ears then it was a price she was willing to pay. What really seemed to baffle her were her teeth and eyes.

"So what…. Am I like, half of both now?" She asked studying herself in the mirror. I made to answer her by another voice beat me to it.

"Unless one can become more dominant." A velvet voice wafted through the room. That same silken scarf that seemed so innocent until it locked around your neck immobilizing your lungs. Instinctively, a growl ripped out of my throat, surprising Roxie and forcing her to turn. Seeing her in full view Damon didn't move.

Now, if you're a good little reader and have been picturing this in your mind since the start, then I'd advise remembering the image you should have now. Damon always bore the same cocky 'I'm just playing a game with you' expression. The picture painted on his face puts a grin on my face still today. Damon's eyes went slightly wide, his jaw dropped just the tiniest fraction of an inch, it looked numerous times as though he was about to speak but uttered no sound. The complete dumbstruck expression on his face lasted only a second, but among other things, is still crystalline clear in my mind.

"What do you want?" I snapped at him. To my pleasure he was too amazed to reply. In a second he completely washed away. He bowed to her deeply, his face falling into the proper grace I imagine he used long ago when courting a lady.

"Damon Young, I am honored to make you acquaintance my lady." There was a frosty politeness to his voice like he wasn't really all there, and I couldn't help but wonder what he was aiming for. As he stood I saw a glimmer in his eyes that didn't match the menacing, life threatening glimmer they had before. Looking over to Roxie, the frosty look covered her eyes as well for a moment as she responded.

"Roxanne Blazely." She replied to him in the same iced over tone while nodding her head slightly. I stared at her incredulously. What was she doing? He held out his hand and she stepped forward to take it. No way, I was not just going to stand by while he pretty much brainwashed her, or whatever he was doing. Without hesitation I stepped between them, immediately breaking whatever trance had previously hung over them.

Rox shook her head as if waking from a daze, which was to say the least, unsurprising. Damon's face was over swept with an emotion of disgust. That however was very surprising. If that had been his doing why did he look so disgusted about it? Realization dawned over both of us in the same instant, leaving Roxie in the dark trying to decipher our amazed expressions.

Since you, the reader, are in fact most likely human, I will say this as gently as possible. You become attached easily. When one of us feeds off a human, you become bonded to us for a time. Usually not a long time, usually not that strongly. I will tell you, feeding and physically changing one of you are two 100% different things. Now some simple math, if simply feeding off a human creates a short weak bond. What do you think changing a human does? Very good.

She was bonded, very strongly might I add. And not just to one of us. She was connected at the soul to both of us. I'll admit when I first bit her yes I did think about this. (Considering the relationship we already had the idea seemed innocent enough.) I never even considered though, the risk that might arise from him latching his greedy little fangs on her. She looked between us, her crimson eyes just begging for an answer. A greedy, disgusting smile spread across Damon's lips. "Allow me to explain." He said in a bad impression of the icy polite tone he had minutes before. He turned and faced her now, looking almost agreeable.

"We own you now." It was reflex. I swear it was. I barely realized that my hand had reached up and rapped him in the head before he was glaring at me. "What?" He demanded angry. "It's true. She'll do anything for either of us now." An evil sneer hid behind that velvet voice of his and I wasn't having it.

"You know damn well that there's more to it than that." I looked at Roxie, who seemed scared, confused, lost, and somehow behaved all in the same instant. "Rox unfortunately, he, in a way, is telling the truth. You are bound to us... but it works in the other direction too. We're just as bound to you... as you are to us." At these words two questions were answered in the same moment. It wasn't an outright reply, more of a subtle reaction. The disgusted way Damon's face scrunched up as I said this told me loud and clear that he felt the unbreakable bond to Roxanne, and that he obviously hated being connected so strongly in any way to someone even remotely human.

She, however, was quiet for a long while. After all that has happened within the last hour alone I can't say I blame her. She was probably about to explode from an overload, or breakdown from being too 'abnormal'... But she didn't do anything. Didn't move, didn't speak, for a moment I thought she wasn't breathing as well. Her stillness enhanced the silence that hung on the room. At first it just hung loosely like a big collection of quietness, but as the silence stretched on, it became tighter and heavier. A deafening silence. There was a relief through the room as she finally moved, looking between the two of us again. Her expression was completely unreadable.

"Well… This is definitely new and unexpected." Her eyes were focused on the floor now; they closed a second as she took a deep breath in then looked back up at me. I recognized that look. It was one of a determination that said 'okay this sucks… but lets make the best of it.' One thing you have to love about Roxie, it is incredibly hard to put a downer on her mood. She grinned at me, actually it was probably us, but that worthless bloodsucker wasn't at all in attention, so she was grinning at me.