Thank you to everyone who read and/or reviewed!
Elle: But I like being evil to characters. =D Thanks for reviewing!
Bernice gazed into the horizon of Santa Carla. Away from Downtown and towards the Boardwalk. The wind blew around her but there was no chill down her spine from the winter breeze. She looked down at her hands again, stained with dry blood. Just like her lips.
Tasting blood had eased everything. The pain had been too much from the start. The urge to kill strong… coaxing. Leon's blood had energised her. She felt strong… alive… ready to do anything. She could run and leap off building to building. She felt she was bursting with adrenaline and life.
But while she was happy she had drank, soothing the fire in her throat and letting the monster sleep, she was still scared of her change. She had completed the transformation, turning away from humanity to give in to the hunger and that was it now. She could never go back. Slowly, she was going to become more and more like the other vampires. Disconnected from humanity where she might not even care that she had friends and family. That she had drained the life from the boy she claimed was the only guy she had loved. The one she planned on marrying and lost her virginity to.
The others would see her as the enemy now. That was it. She wouldn't be Bernice to them anymore. She would be another vampire that they had to stake.
Wouldn't they?
"They would, doll," Logan said, joining her on the roof of the theatre.
While he smiled at her, she refused to return it. She scowled, turning on him and pointed a finger in his direction.
"This was forced on me," she snapped. "By you. I just killed my boyfriend! Now I'm supposed to be evil and suddenly turn on my friends and sister?"
"You don't just snap like that," Logan explained. "It's not about being evil. You just become different. That human life feels like a dream."
"You've made a big mistake," she said.
"No, I quite like you," he said, still smiling as he walked right up to her. His eyes cast up and down, impressed by her appearance. Despite her girlish look of dresses and flowing blonde hair, cascading down in gentle curls she looked all the fiercer just by the glow of her amber eyes as she allowed her anger to show and the blood stains on her lips.
"I'm very happy with how you've turned out," he said, muttering like an artist admiring his new piece of work. "You're a decent fighter. With some training, you'll be better. And don't try to lie…"
He leaned towards her ear. "You enjoyed that kill."
She tugged on a strand of her hair, picking at the ends with her fingers. She pressed her lips together, averting her eyes from Logan's fixed gaze. There had been something inside her. A sudden monster that had awakened at the smell of blood and it brought out a whole new side to her. One that she knew she only had because of the change but it was still a shock to feel how much she wanted the life running through Leon's veins. She had killed him, mercilessly and without much hesitation. That first step had been taken and the hunger was only going to return. She knew it. She could already feel that urge to take the blood of another human.
"The hunger will be easier to control now you're fully turned," Logan said. "And as an additional motivator, think about how shit it would be lying on a lab table and being cut up."
"I'm going to have, aren't I? I have no choice," she growled and shoved him away. "You know, those vampires were ruining our lives first. If Max hadn't wanted a wife and Marko wasn't looking to turn Bonnie they wouldn't have died. They fucked with the wrong people too, you know."
"I'm with you, doll. Max and his sons were idiots. But Max was my Uncle. My father's brother. Family is still everything at the end of the day. You look out for them," he said.
Look out for them, she repeated in her mind. Who was going to look out for her sister now that she had been forced to turn? Bridget had always declared her own independence. Convinced that she was able to look after herself. But she never seemed to realise just how much of a mouth she had on her and was constantly walking into trouble. Somebody needed to be there to clamp a hand around her mouth and tell her to shut up.
"I'm afraid your sister is going to see you as the enemy. They all are."
"Are you planning on having me killed? Do you want them to stake me?" Bernice asked, frowning at him as he leered closer. She inched away slightly, uncomfortable by the small gap between them now. Thankfully, he seemed to take the message that he was invading her personal space and leaned away from her. He sighed, shaking his head.
"If I wanted to bump off a pretty dame like you, I would have gone ahead and done it when you and lover boy had left the restaurant. I meant it when I said I've spared you and Alan from the real hunt. I get to put a stop to a bunch of hunters who bumped off my uncle but also score two very good fighters for my side." He smiled again. A grin creeping up on his face. He reached out, chucking her under the chin despite her head jerking away from his touch.
"I've given you a gift. You live forever now. No human rules. There's no going back so what are you going to do? Live in regret or embrace your new life? Forever is a long time to be miserable," he said.
When she dipped her head, frowning at his words he patted her gently on the shoulder. "You don't understand yet. There's still that attachment to those humans but it fades. Soon, your human life is a distant memory. A strange dream you can't recall properly."
"Is that your human life now?" she asked.
He straightened at her question. It had been a long time since he had even thought about his old human life. Or tried to. Memories, like he had said, were more like a fuzzy dream now. There were bits and pieces, in no chronological order, which flashed in his head. Faces that he tried to give a name to. Parts of one big jigsaw puzzle that he had almost lost all the pieces to. Some memories always stuck. His turning being one of them.
"Pretty much. Some things stick but others disappear. People you knew become strange faces. You think you recognise them but you can't quite get the connection."
"That's so sad," she whispered.
He shrugged. "Only if you still remember a lot. If you can't remember your relationship to that person, what do you have to be sad about?"
"Surely you remember something? Or were you one of those people who relished the change? Did you want to become a vampire?"
He scratched the back of his head now. There was a rare sight of seeing Logan frown, eyebrows furrowing to reveal his perplexity. Despite his young age, he was confident and cocky. Forever sporting a grin on his face. But now he looked like the young, fresh faced teenager that he probably was before he turned. An unsure and confused boy.
"No, I didn't."
"So you were forced? And now you've forced me and you're coaxing Alan into turning. That's being a hypocrite."
"What would you like me to say, baby?" he asked. "I like what I am now. This wasn't my choice but the first kill was. I'm faster and stronger than I ever was. I get to live forever. You'd have to be a pretty damn good hunter to stake me because I've got sixty years of experience. I'm not some new vampire who doesn't know how to control their body and instincts."
There was a sneer on his face as he spoke. Those youthful features twisting and distorting into a sickening leer. His teeth had lengthened, eyes glows yellow. A reminder that underneath that teenage appearance he was a demon. Much older than her.
"Trust me. You'll be happy if you accept all this. Let me know when you want to learn more about being a vampire."
Bernice watched him walk away. Her eyes travelled down to her hands once more. Her fingernails were longer, the white tips already showing over the nail polish she had put on fresh yesterday. Blood had worked its way under her nails. Streaks down her fingers and splodges on her palms. It should have been a horrific sight to her but she couldn't help focus on the buzz the blood gave her.
Bonnie and Bridget would have been the first people she would run to if she had a problem. And this was one of her biggest dilemmas yet. She couldn't believe she had been weak enough to give into the hunger. That she had allowed herself to be turned and drink blood, especially from Leon who had committed herself to. Did that make her a monster now? That she gave in and drained the boy she claimed to love?
Bonnie and Bridget wouldn't understand. Not even Bonnie who had been a half vampire once. She had managed to pull herself away from her first kill. Bernice had shut down at the slightest fresh drop. Mainly because she wanted to embrace that hunger. She wanted to give into that urge. And now she was something different. Something that had torn her away from her friends and family for good. Reluctantly she knew Logan was right. She would be an enemy.
"What are you going to do to everyone else?" she asked.
"I just need to scare them away. Show them that little kids shouldn't go around playing vampire hunters. With you and Alan, that's enough suffering. Knowing that they lost two of their own to vampires is enough for me."
"So you're keeping them alive?"
"Not of all of them," Charlotte said, interrupting their conversation. She landed smoothly on the roof, head high as she walked towards them. Blood dripped from her chin, fresh from her recent kill. She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulders, grinning at the sight of Bernice. Her smile widened, teeth still lengthened into fangs, and she looked towards Logan.
"You've promised me Bridget," she said. "I get to tear into that back stabbing bitch's throat and drain her dry. Serves her right from stealing Alan away from me."
Bernice felt her fists clenched. "Alan was never yours, you obsessive freak."
Logan snickered at Bernice's words, raising his hands when Charlotte hissed, glaring between the both of them. "Now, now, girls. We're a pack and we play nicely with each other."
"Alan will change his mind about me when he turns. Maybe the both of us can get rid of your mouthy little sister," Charlotte said, laughing in delight at her own words.
A snarl rumbled in Bernice's throat. A guttural, animalistic roar and she moved her body at a speed no human would have managed. Her hand wrapped around Charlotte's throat.
"You are not touching my sister," she hissed.
Charlotte gripped tightly at Bernice's fingers, prying them off her neck and she pushed the new vampire away. Her face was contorted now. Blood stained fangs bared with her eyes wide and glowing. Bernice sneered in disgust at the girl who had once been her sister's timid best friend. She had been one of the sweetest girls Bernice had known. A complete contrast to Bridget's arrogant and sharp tongued persona. She had been sweet looking too. A curtain of incredibly fair hair, shades lighter than Bernice's own, with wide set eyes. Large and doll-like. Her lips had always been full, almost pouting constantly.
Now she was a monstrous sight. Blood stained and sneering. Seeking to hook up with a guy who had never been interested in her. Her jealousy as a human had warped her mind, twisting it and transforming into a creature that was psychotic and hateful.
"She's not your sister anymore. You're one of us now. A vampire. You need to remember that if you want to stay alive around here. Any sign of you betraying us and you're being left out for the sun."
She moved to the ledge of the roof, glancing behind her shoulder once with a scowl before leaping off and soaring straight down to the ground. Bernice felt her body shaking. Wanting to chase after that girl, find a sharp object and stake her right through the heart.
"I can't let my sister die," she told Logan.
"I know," he said. "You're still changing."
"You need to stop Charlotte!"
"Why? I can allow one small death. And if it has to be anyone from your former gang, I'd go with your sister. You're too attached still. It'll be best for you and your adjustments if she's out of the way." He shrugged one last time before lifting himself up in the air and swooping to the streets below. Bernice was left along on the roof, gripping tightly at her own arms as they folded across her chest. If her heart could beat it would have been pounding against her chest.
She was a vampire. That part she needed to accept at some point. Logan had made a point that stuck in her head. Was she going to embrace or spend eternity miserable? There was always another option, one where she stopped herself before she became too lost but she had been a fighter for months now. She wasn't going to let herself die. Her need to survive was stronger than anything else at the moment.
But it didn't mean she had to step back completely when it came to her sister.