Darkness.
Darkness and warmth.
A black void echoing with ecstatic moans.
The touch of a hot, wet naked thigh under her fingers. Victoria's thigh.
Her caressing hand slowly, deliberately moving up the leg toward the warmest, dankest part of Victoria's body.
Her taste as she ate her ravenously, her moans going louder and her muscles tensing with sheer pleasure with each move her tongue.
Victoria was a million miles from here, completely, utterly enraptured in orgasmic delight. She lay there, helpless, offered, a toy under Max's fingers and tongue. And Max was more than eager to play with this toy.
Slowly her hands went up again, caressing her satin skin toward her breasts, her perfect breasts with their nipples hard and erect. Then her tongue followed and she sucked on these nipples with greed. They tasted sweet. She took a break and rose to admire her figure before diving right back into the feast, enjoying her flawless body, her eyes closed, her hot lips open just enough to let her exhale fast and deep, her disheveled blue hair, her…
Wait a sec.
Blue hair?
Since when has Victoria had blue hair?
No, it's not Victoria! It's…
A crash of thunder startled Max, followed by the most unpleasant sensation of cold liquid pouring on her bare skin, and suddenly the girl she had been making love to, whoever she was, was here no longer, and she knelt, alone, naked, in a cold red puddle, with more red, sticky rain falling on her head and shoulders.
Raining blood again?
She stood up, shivering, the harsh wind assaulting all her senses. There was so much blood but it did nothing to stimulate her appetite, for instinctively she knew it wasn't the sweet, warm blood she was supposed to feed on. It was a rain of spoiled, clotted blood that reeked of rotting carcass, summoned by the blackest of black magics, the cold hard rain of a storm from Hell.
A storm!
She looked up to behold a familiar scene: her, standing on top of the cliffs overlooking the bay, the lighthouse next to her as well as the grass and the trees all soaked with blood. And in the distance, in the middle of the bay, that eldritch red tornado moving slowly, relentlessly, toward the town, drawing everything off the ground and toward its monstrous maw.
"What is this?" the girl cried out in despair, the merciless onslaught bringing tears to her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Means you fucked up," a quiet, cold female voice resounded behind her. "Means we fucked up."
Max turned and froze, for in front of her now stood, stoic, the figure of her best friend.
"Chloe?"
"But then," Chloe added, "who could've seen that coming? We were just trying to make this town a better place. For you. For me… for her."
"Her?"
"Her," Chloe said, pointing toward Max. No, behind Max.
The girl turned around again, and this time gasped as a blood-soaked figure appeared right before her, their noses almost touching, its eyes glowing a toxic green staring straight at her, unblinking. Then the figure opened its mouth, and out came an inhuman, hissing serpentine voice, full of loathing and misery. And the words it pronounced burned Max like a branding iron, making her wail in abject terror.
"I will kill you all."
Max gasped and sat up straight, panting.
Calm down, calm down! It was a nightmare, just a stupid nightmare!
Fuck! She sighed deeply and let herself fall back on the pillow. Everything was okay, no storm, she was safe in her room and the soft morning light was penetrating through the blinds behind her, giving the room a quiet semi-darkness. No, wait, the blinds were not supposed to be behind her. And those posters next to the bed, these weren't hers. And she certainly didn't own such an expensive TV. It wasn't her room. Only now did she notice another presence in the bed, a warm human body.
Her eyes wide with sudden dread she looked to see Victoria's figure curled up, her bare back turned to her. Her skin was marked in several places with red spots like mosquito bites, laid out in pairs separated by about an inch.
Bite marks. I bit her several times. Shit, did I?
No, she didn't, a quick check of her heartbeat confirmed that. She was alive and well, soundly asleep. She looked… incredibly peaceful and contented. At first, Max struggled to remember, and for some reason nothing came to her except a number. Five. What was that supposed to mean? And dog, that splitting headache! Is that what a hangover feels like? Then, as she looked at her sleeping friend, Max felt her memories of the past night rush back and realization hit her like a freight train.
We did drugs and drank. A lot.
Then we danced.
Then I bit her.
And then we… then we…
Then she didn't remember exactly how, but during the party they both had ended up outside the church, laying on the lawn next to the parking lot, too drunk and high to be bothered by the chill October air. She remembered she'd felt light-headed, in that state where one finds even the tiniest things to be absolutely hilarious. Victoria had put two cigarettes in her mouth, lighted them, and offered one to Max who'd accepted it and started to smoke as if she were a regular smoker.
"Daaaaaamn," Victoria had giggled, "this is, like, the best. Party. Ever. You were dancing so fucking wild, Max! And…"
She'd put two fingers on her neck to touch the spot where Max had bitten her, the marks now reduced to mere red spots. Max had been careful to lick the wound to let her saliva heal it quick, as she had been taught.
"You actually drank my blood! Now talk about getting in character!"
Max had winced with worry: "Too much in character?"
"A little too much, maybe. But you know what?" While speaking, Victoria had rolled over to her side so she'd be as close to the pirate girl as possible, and started slowly caressing her corset. "That was absolutely crazy, but also… intensely… arousing…" then she'd unfastened her corset and, still so slowly, slipped her hand into her chemise. The feeling of her hot hand on her breast had made Max flutter, she'd turned to face her, and they had kissed greedily.
"Now, sexy hipster," Victoria had said after their lips parted, "maybe we should take this party somewhere more… private? What do you say? Your room or mine?"
Holy shit, now I remember! Five! We did it… five times!
Then another sudden realization blew her mind:
My first time. My first time and I did it with Victoria Chase. With the Queen herself, of all people. With Smoking Hot Queen Victoria Chase. Five. Fucking. Times.
Though she was absolutely terrified, she also mentally high-fived herself. Now she needed to get out of here before Tori woke up. Things had moved way too fast for her, and she felt the desperate need for a nice long hot shower and some alone time to think it through. So she got up and, as quickly and silently as she could, put on her panties and chemise and gathered the rest of her stuff in a ball she carried under her arm and walked out.
The searing morning light, unfiltered by blinds in the hallway, stopped her dead in her track on the threshold and she shut her eyes in pain, dropped her stuff, and squatted to grope blindly for her bag. She dove her hand into it.
Please don't tell me I left them in the truck.
She sighed with relief when she felt them under her fingers. Her new best friends, her life-saving sunglasses! She put them on and opened her eyes again. Sensing another presence to her right, she turned to look and grew even colder than she already was.
Kate.
She was standing next to her own room, in her pajamas, her hair wrapped in a towel, her bathroom stuff in her hand. Apparently she'd just come back from the shower. And she'd caught Max sneaking out of Victoria's room, half-naked. Even someone as innocent as Kate would easily put two and two together.
And judging by her pale face and bulging eyes, and her mouth open to form an "O" at this sight, she did.
Max half-smiled, sheepishly, held out her hand in a friendly wave… and ran for the safety of her own room.
Fuck shit shit fuck fucking shit! She thought as she slammed her door shut in panic. How am I gonna explain that?
She stayed like that, frozen against her door, listening. She heard the shuffling of Kate's feet draw closer. She could make out signs of hesitation in her breath and her heartbeat: she was standing outside her door, wondering whether to knock or not. Eventually, she walked away, and Max sighed in relief when she heard her get back to her own room. That wasn't fair, she knew that. Kate was her best (living) friend and deserved an explanation, but Max couldn't really see how to explain to her what she had yet to explain to herself.
A quick heartbeat scan informed her that the coast was clear, so she grabbed some clean underwear and a t-shirt and her bathroom stuff and headed toward her well-deserved shower. Into the bathroom, she stopped at a sink to put some water on her face, then looked at herself in the mirror. Another shock.
Holy shit!
In utter disbelief, she reached out her hand to touch the surface of the mirror, to make sure what she was seeing was real. It was.
Holy mother of all SHITS!
Of course she'd been told that would happen, but she now realized that knowing something in theory does little to shelter you from the blow of actually seeing it for real. She had no reflection at all in the mirror. Not her face, not her clothes, and not even her bathroom kit she held in her other arm. It was like she wasn't even there. She remained there, studying this anomaly for a short time, then the idea that another girl might come in at any moment and witness this freaked her out and she decided to go take her shower.
The hot water pouring on her head felt good. The pangs of hangover started receding, and as her body relaxed, she started organizing her thoughts more clearly.
So this is, Max Caulfield, the mousey socially anxious little hipster, is now officially a goddamn Creature of the Night. I guess my selfie days are over.
Still, life is kinda strange, isn't it?
Just two months ago, I'd just arrived at Blackwell, I was alone and terrified. I should've called Chloe then, but my anxiety was so high already, I couldn't take the risk of having her reject me or guilt-trip me for ghosting her like the terrible friend I am. I remember the first time I met my dorm neighbors, Kate's beaming smile that made me feel so welcome, so happy she was to have a friendly neighbor she could hang out with. And Victoria's sub-zero glare that froze me on the spot, how she instantly judged my hoodie and my camera.
Fast forward one month, and I'm still anxious and barely surviving in Blackwell. At least I have friends now, exactly two, Kate and Warren, but having to share bathroom space with so many girls in underwear every morning makes me sexually confused and Victoria and her minions are now dedicated to making my life a living nightmare. And I still haven't called Chloe, so I probably deserve this bullying for being such a terrible, terrible person.
Fast forward another month, Chloe is dead, Kate has been bullied to the verge of suicide, I was brought on the verge of suicide myself because of my guilt. Then Victoria apologized for being such a monster, suddenly everyone became nice to us, I became a vampire, I got drunk and high at a party and am about to resurrect Chloe and make up for those five lost years! And Victoria's now my…
Girlfriend?
Is she? Or was it just… I mean, we were pretty high…
Don't pretend you didn't like it, you've had the hots for her since you first saw her!
And indeed, this slightest remembrance of their night together was enough to send tingles of pleasure down her loins. And also in her mouth. Yes, tingles of arousal on her palate, wasn't it weird? Oh wait... She checked her teeth with the tip of her tongue to confirm her suspicions. Her fangs had come out.
Really? I have teeth erections now? Better learn to control that or I'll end up in embarrassing situations...
Is that how boys feel with their...
Ewww, don't wanna think about that!
Okay, so I'm a hopeless lesbian who's finally accepting myself. But what about her? What if she doesn't feel the same way?
Until you find out, just play it cool. It happened. Alright. Doesn't mean there has to be something else. You can be just friends who got drunk that one night and decided to experiment?
Yeah, maybe… you're right, Inner Max. Just play it cool. I'm cool. I'm a cold-blooded predator, I'm a fucking reptile.
That's the spirit.
She dried herself, put on her clothes and got out, feeling somewhat relieved she'd made up her mind. Yeah, life had been hectic for her these past few weeks, but there was no need to rush or complicate things any further. Just go with the flow. And keep your eyes on your primary objective.
Chloe.
In the hallway, she walked by Dana's room and the cheerleader startled her when she opened her door and flashed her a beaming smile.
"Max! I was hoping it was you! Do you have a minute?"
"Sure," the girl said as she entered and Dana closed the door. "How are you?"
"Not too bad," the cheerleader answered as she sat down on the couch and motioned her to sit next to her. Max noticed how Dana had shivered when she'd entered. Another side effect of her new condition she had to get used to. "Didn't sleep a lot but I didn't drink last night, so no hangover for me! I'm glad we could do this show, the girls have really been working hard on it, would've broken their hearts not to do it. Been a bit selfish of me to take it hostage to get Logan kicked out, but you… SuperMax saved the day!"
Max rolled her eyes. "Don't mention it, it was my pleasure, really."
"So how did it go for you on your first party ever? Not too bad this morning?"
"Surprisingly, not too much, just a little headache that's already fading."
"Good… good…"
There was an awkward silence as Dana played with her hands, unsure of what to say next. Finally, with an impish smirk, she asked the question that had was on her mind:
"So… you and Victoria, eh?"
Max nearly jumped out of her skin at these words: "What the fuck! How do you know?"
"Seriously, Max? Those walls are thin, you know, and… well, Victoria's kind of a screamer."
"So… you mean the whole dorm heard us?"
"Uh… yeah, probably…"
Please let the ground split open and swallow me whole. Like, right now.
"I noticed you were becoming real good friends lately, but this! Wow, now that was unexpected!" Dana continued, still smiling goofily and not seeming to notice Max's mortification. "And I don't know what you did, but she-"
"Dana, please! Can we… not talk about it right now?"
"Oh. Why, sure, but just so you know, I don't mind it, I'm happy for the two of you. I think you have a good influence on her, maybe being with you will make her a better person."
"Yeah, that's the thing, we were… pretty drunk last night, so I don't know if there's really gonna be a 'being with you', you know? I just don't want to get carried away. Especially since she'll probably get very pissed off when she finds out the whole dorm heard us…"
And what about you, Max? Are you ready to face every other student here, knowing that they know?
Why, I'll survive that, I'm a predator, remember?
There was another awkward pause, then Dana spoke again, this time looking down and mumbling hesitantly:
"You… probably want to know what Logan did to me to make me so mad?"
"It's really none of my business, I mean, don't feel like you have to tell me…"
…what I already know.
"I'm pregnant, Max."
"Oh."
Oh? Are you cereal, Max? Is that the best you can do to feign surprise? And the Oscar for Best Actress 2013 goes to…
Luckily, Dana didn't seem to notice and went on:
"Yeah, so far only Juliet knows. And of course, Logan is the father."
"But… how did this happen, I mean…"
Dana chuckled sadly: "What, you've never had this conversation about the birds and the bees?"
Max rolled her eyes. "Of course I know how it works, I meant, didn't you guys use… like, protection?"
"Have you heard of a thing called stealthing?"
"Stealthing? No, sorry, I'm not too experienced with sex…"
"Not with straight sex, you mean."
"Dana!" Max scolded, which made the cheerleader chortle again.
"Sorry," she said, "I'm just… it's difficult for me, at the moment, and cracking jokes helps… so, yeah, stealthing is a super awesome… 'technique', let's say, in which a boy wears a condom and slips it off right before penetrating, without telling his girl, of course."
"What?" Max shouted, at once stupefied and disgusted. "But that's… barbaric! And he did that to you?"
Dana nodded, dejected. "Yeah… so imagine my surprise when I started having morning nauseas… he admitted to it, and you know what that asshole said? He said it was for me, not wearing a condom improves his performance, and he thought I was on the pill so it was no big deal to him! Can you believe that? I mean, he's not even good in bed, ten seconds and he's done!"
"Ewww… thanks, Dana, I really needed a mental image of Logan in bed."
"You're welcome," she replied with a smirk. "Anyway… I asked him what to do about the baby, and asshole dumped me, said he couldn't be a father, what would his family say, and there was the football, he had to train hard to make it pro one day, blah blah blah… so he offered me some money, to pay for… you know… and then he left me."
Then she broke down in tears, her shell of good humor totally broken:
"He didn't even ask me if I wanted to keep the baby!"
"Oh, dog…" Max said as she pulled her friend in a hug which made Dana shudder again. "Dana, I'm so, so sorry… is that why you went to church?"
Dana nodded: "I wanted to spill it out to someone… and have some guidance, even if I'm not really a believer… I don't know what to do, I'm only eighteen, how can I be a single mom? Even if my parents help me, we'll never have enough money to raise a baby! And I just started dating Trevor, I like him, but if I keep the baby, sooner or later, I'll have to tell him… but, on the other hand, I don't think I'll be able to live with that if I choose to…"
"Dana," Max said as she gently wrapped her hands around her friend's cheeks and pulled her up to meet her eyes. "Don't beat yourself up over this so much. I have no idea how you must feel, really, but just remember whatever choice you make, it's gonna be the right choice because it's your choice. Okay? Remember you have been betrayed by a douchebag and you shouldn't pay for it, so if you feel like you have no other choice, do it. But… if you want to keep the baby, like if you really want to, then keep it. Don't worry about the money and all that, because things are gonna get better in the long run. I know they will, they always do."
"B-but… h-how is it gonna be get better?"
Max smirked mysteriously: "Don't worry, I'm gonna make damn sure of that."
Logan Robertson, you're on my hit-list.
Dana chuckled, though less sadly this time. There was even a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I don't know how you're gonna do that, I don't even know what you're gonna do, but thank you Max, you sure know how to comfort a lady! I'm joking but, really, it means a lot to me. Giving me hope, just to know that people care."
Max nodded: "Of course I care."
She was interrupted by her phone ringing. Incoming message. She took it off and saw, with stupor, that she had a shitload of missed calls and another shitload of text messages, all from David:
David Madsen: Max, are you there?
David Madsen: where are you?
David Madsen: I knocked on your door an hour ago but you weren't in, where are you, Max? Answer me.
David Madsen: it's urgent.
These messages had all been received while she was in the shower. All those missed calls she'd received while she was still asleep. He must have knocked on her door before she woke up, and since she was in Tori's room… the last text message she'd received just now was:
David Madsen: For God's sake, Max, your truck is parked in the middle of campus, next to the fountain! Come move it quick before Wells makes me call the pound!
Oh shit, I've been DUI last night. Bad Max, bad!
"Fuck!" she shouted. "Sorry Dana, need to go real quick!"
And on these words she ran off to her room to get dressed. In a hurry, she grabbed a pair of jeans, and a hoodie, and… wait, no. No hoodie. It suddenly came to her that if she was now a vampire, she might as well look the part. She'd wear her leather jacket from now on. To go with it she chose dark jeans, a black t-shirt with a grey butterfly motif, and black boots instead of her old sneakers. Chloe's bullet necklace completed the look perfectly.
Ready to hit the mosh, shaka brah!
She looked at herself in the mirror to see if it…
Oh, right. Forgot already. Let's just say it fits, then!
Fully dressed, she grabbed her bag and ran out of the dorm, almost running into Samuel who was busy sweeping the entrance stairs.
"Oops, sorry Samuel!" she said as she dodged him at the last second.
"Maxine!" he called her as she was already on the path.
She stopped, sighed, and turned around. Samuel the groundskeeper was weird, but that was what Max liked about him. The other girls called him a creep, the boys called him a retard, none of which was fair. Samuel was special, but he was really sweet and harmless, and sometimes she liked to sit with him and listen to him talk about whatever his friends the squirrels were babbling about. Sometimes, but not this morning when she had a goddamn truck to move!
"Sorry, Samuel," she said, "don't have time to talk right now, maybe later?"
She had already turned her back to him when he said: "The squirrels talked to Samuel this morning. They say a storm is coming."
Max froze, and again turned to face him: "A storm? What do you know about that?"
The squirrels said that this morning, just when I dreamed of a storm? Can't be just a coincidence, can it?
Max, it's Samuel we're talking about, here. Guy who keeps rambling about his weird spirit animal mumbo jumbo? Are you really gonna take him seriously?
"The squirrels said a big storm is coming for us," Samuel continued while sweeping the stone stairs, unfazed. "They also gave me a message for this one."
Max knew Samuel's peculiar manner of speaking enough to know that "this one" meant her: "A message for me?"
"Yes."
"Okay… so what is it?"
"The sleeper must not awaken."
"Uh, okay… and?"
"That's it."
"Oh. Well, thank them for me, message received. Gotta go, bye Samuel!"
She gave him a friendly wave and ran off.
The fuck was that about? The sleeper… what does he know? Nah, he can't know. His rambling is just vague enough so you can interpret it any way you like, that's all.
Yeah, right. That's all.