#w:wiitmtbhaa

[natusvincere]

What If I'm the Monster (That's Been Here All Along) || Jade and Vic

TIMING: A few months ago, at the start of the surge LOCATION: Deersprings, just outside of Vic's home PARTIES:@highoctanegem and @natusvincere SUMMARY: In the middle of the night, Jade happens upon a very suspicious looking Vic, doing some very suspicious looking things. Jade tries to stop her before it's too late and Vic does something she'll regret forever. CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

Jade made it back from the cemetery around 3 a.m, a little earlier than usual. Was it a particularly good shift? Um, she pleaded the fifth. (It was a stinker, who was she kidding? She’d never pleaded the fifth in her life.) But at least she didn’t have to ponder on the few spawns that turned to dust under her stake and whether they also had the potential for goodness in them, cause she was home to her beautiful bone partner and her adorable fur babies and she could continue to act like she wasn’t a flop and the family disappointment all wrapped up in a cute baby blue ribbon (her favorite color).  

She was locking her motorcycle when she heard the shuffling steps near her. Jade glanced up at that, creeping closer to her delivery box on the back of her bike, where all the weapons for the night were stashed away. Now, who would be out so late at night just walking about in… Oh, never mind. Her suspicions deflated before it could even inflate, even. She wasn’t surprised to see that familiar figure pacing in the distance, not really. Vic, obviously. Doing the rounds or whatever she called her excuse for snooping around other neighbors. Jade rolled her eyes with a little more warmth than she should’ve considering what she was and what Vic was. (Extra proof that she was flopping left and right). One thing was being civil, another completely different was… this, being pals. Buddies. But that’s exactly what they’ve been doing, right?  

It was Vic’s fault, actually. Cause she was surprisingly funny despite being power hungry in a way that made all Karen hunker down in fear. Jade thought it was hilarious, and so the knowledge that she kept interacting with a vampire continued to slip to the back of her mind each time the other nagged her about something in the town’s code of conduct. And then there was Rosie. (There was Rosie, and it turned everything into a big ball of crappy). “Are you out here judging lawns again? Did you bring out the measuring tape? Cause we mowed ours like…” okay, she didn’t remember the last time, but it still looked cute and “proper” so, “never mind, we’re Gucci here. Nothing to see, except for my peppers. They’re growing super cute after the first batch,” she thumbed her garden, a proud grin blooming on her face. 

But Vic’s movements were a little… less refined than normal. Sus. Like her posture didn’t rise a perfect 90 degrees from the ground, and her hair was a little messier. If her eyes weren’t fooling her, she would’ve said she had just been talking to the woman quickly crossing the street. Jade had a joke about the other spending the night elsewhere and this being her walk of shame, but she held back, her skin prickling suddenly in that telltale undead way. “Um, what’s… going on?” Jade tilted her head, palming down her jeans to take inventory of her blades. Just in case. Vic didn’t usually ‘bleep’ for her, so this was super weird. Well, except for the first time they met, but Vic had gotten really good at charging her bracelet or whatever she had to do with it to remain hidden. So… what was this about? The vibes were incredibly off.

—

Vic never got hungry.  It was something she prided herself on: always being stocked up with enough spare, ethically sourced blood to keep herself fed. Even before Rosie, she had spent years perfecting ways to keep herself satiated, never having to worry about the what-ifs her monstrosity forced onto her.  And now, with the addition of Rosie, it was utterly imperative that she kept these systems up, maybe even three times as much as she had before.  And so she was never hungry; always in control.

That must have been why the shift felt so sudden.  Had she been in her right mind, she might have questioned it- the way bloodlust jolted through her like a shock, rather than the slow, gentle but growing gnawing that it should have been.  She would have known to go home, to use the blood neatly packed in the fridge in the basement, and then figure out the cause of the hunger and plan and replan until it never happened again.   

But she wasn’t in her right mind, not with the bloodlust, and what should have been a journey home turned into a hunt before she even realized what was happening.  The darkest parts of herself were enjoying it: the way it felt to creep behind the woman in the shadows who suspected something was amiss but chalked it up to superstition.  The way it felt to know she was the one instilling fear, the power it gave her, the satisfaction that would finally come when she sank her teeth into her neck. 

Then, all of a sudden, she heard this agitating, grating voice.  Jade was easy to ignore, most of the time.  Especially now, when her senses were hyper focused on the prize a few yards down the road.  “Ubers aren’t allowed on this street, Sweetheart”, she mumbled, watching the girl anxiously look down at her phone.  What the girl didn’t know would end up killing her, but Vic didn’t mind.

Ugh, but again, there was Jade, jabbering on about grass and goings-on and what not.  She shot her a look, her eyes flashing angrily.  “Do you mind?  You’re going to give my location away, you cretin.”  She shoved past Jade with her shoulder, the thrill of the hunt overtaking any semblance of social self-preservation she might have had left. 

—

Okay. Alright. Okay! Vic didn’t pass the vibe check. Jade had (reluctantly) come to enjoy a little bit of harmless bickering between two pseudoenemies. It was fun, and exciting. Vic could always keep up with a verbal smackdown, and she knew deep down there was a little bit of mutual respect after escaping that clan’s headquarters unscathed. So this? Threw Jade for a loop. Vic wasn’t normally this aggro with her. Not even when she passionately chastised her for the length of their grass. And she was never this creepy, approaching anyone who was caught misbehaving. For seemingly no reason.   

Unless… 

Even before she could reach a conclusion, before she could confirm the tiny little hunch itching her brain, Vic’s bloodshot eyes locked with hers and yup. That would do it. Shoot. First Metzli, now Vic. Randomly acting all erratic. And out of the two, this was way worser (worser, yup). Like, Metzli knew about control, but Vic was an entirely different ball game. She had contingency plans B,C,D all the way to Z. (And then probably like, the Greek letters, too). She was prepared. She had to, for Rosie. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in Jade’s mind that there was nothing more important than Rosie’s safety.

Nope, this was bad. Vic simply would’ve never let anyone catch her slipping. Let alone Jade, that would’ve been like, a humiliation ritual for her. “Cretin?” She scoffed when she got shoulder-checked, but Vic was out of her mind if she thought that would dissuade her of all people. And, the situation was still under control, for the most part. No need to overreact and scare the poor passersby. All she had to do was to keep Vic from pouncing on the lady. And what was she, if not an expert at distraction?

“Hey, don’t make me tackle you to the ground, Vicky…” she spoke lowly, mindful to make this look casual. “How expensive is that coat? There’s no point in ruining it,” she figured, if Vic had been in her right mind, that would’ve made for a decent argument. Maybe somewhere inside that bloodthirsty beast, she could still appeal to her fashionable self. “Come on, let’s get you back inside, granny,” she motioned toward Vic’s fancy mansion, while her hand inched closer to her belt, toward her trusted dagger. 

—

Vic cracked her neck right, then left, shaking out her shoulders to relieve any tension there.  Hunting required tact, skill, and concentration, and all three of those were completely muddled when a Bloodworth was nearby.  More like Bloodworthless.  “I’d like to see you try”, she snarled, not bothering to look away from her prey.  The woman, for her part, was still desperately tapping at her phone, as if an uber chariot were about to whisk her away to safety.  She almost laughed.  But then Jade was running her mouth again.

“I have more money than god, Sweetheart.”  The nickname was sarcastic, and sickeningly sweet.  “I’ll just buy a new one after my meal.  Rosie and I can be matchies.”  Rosie. Hmm?  Something was gnawing in the back of her mind about Rosie.  Was Rosie hungry too?  No matter.  She turned back to her prize, waiting for the perfect opportunity to go racing toward it. 

She had a plan, now, one her sire taught her in the beginning of the end.  Her slow, quiet stalking would end soon.  It would be replaced with a run at her top speed.  This left two options.  One, her victim would be so shocked by the sight of a woman running toward her at an alarming speed in the middle of the night that she’d freeze, and Vic would overtake her with ease.  Two, and much more appealingly, the woman would try to run.  It wouldn’t last long, of course, but there was always fun in the chase.

“You’re going to want to look away now, bestie”, she said, pulling off her coat.  Absolutely not because Jade was right or anything, just because it would impede her speed.  “This isn’t going to be pretty.”

—

The neck cracking was a little too much, wasn’t it? Jade appreciated the dramatics, the flair of it all, obviously. She’d be on the edge of her seat if this were a movie villain ready to strike. Sadly, she had yet to transition into a fictional world, so this meant Vic’s actions would have actual consequences on the poor lady who chose this night to grab an Uber near an out of control vampiress. She scoffed at the use of her least favorite pet name, almost positive that Vic was doing that exactly to egg her on. “Well, then… get three! That way we can all be matchies,” not that she wanted to be matchies with Vic. But matching baby Rose did sound all kinds of cute. Like one big coat and one tiny coat? Adorbs. That little girl needed someone cool to actually influence her.  

Vic was done chatting, though. (So no matchies?) Instead, she removed her coat and prepared to pounce. Jade let out an annoyed huff, cause Vic should’ve known better than to make it that much easier for Jade to tackle her. Like, she of all people should’ve known. Didn’t she see how good of a tackler she was when they stormed the warehouse? It was her signature move! She could’ve made it in the NFL. (You know, if she weren’t a woman, or three apples tall, or busy trying to save the world.) (But other than that? The world would’ve been her oyster.) 

And she was off. Moving with the intention of a predator, not a dainty suburban momma. She wasn’t surprised, by any means. She’d actually seen Vic transforming into an action hero (or villain?) before. That time she took down a buncha vampires on her own still lived rent-free in her head. (It was a really nice memory to have in the back of her head for when she was tempted to push Vic’s buttons a little harder than normal.) But right, there was a human in danger, and Jade still knew what she should do. She speedwalked first, almost like she was simply trying to catch up to her “friend”, but when it became impossible to disguise Vic’s action as anything but an attack, she sprinted toward her.    

She tackled her from behind, and their toppling to the ground didn’t sound pretty at all. Her knees got the brunt of it, not that she had much time to feel the pain, cause Vic wriggled underneath, ready to make her escape, barely thinking of anything but the sweet, sweet blood she wanted to drink. Speaking of! Amid the struggle, Jade got to look up and confirmed that the human, had in fact fled the scene after seeing the commotion. Good! Jade could see her scurrying in the distance. Until an elbow hit her face, that is. Right! Cause… Vic wasn’t deterred. And the prospect of chasing her prey was probably even more exciting for her.  

Jade knew she wouldn’t have much time to overpower Vic. Again, she remembered vividly how the other dealt with those vampires in the warehouse. Nope, she was not some frail Karen then, and she wouldn’t be now either if she was being controlled by some even more supernatural urge (s…urge) (wait, did she do something there?). She flipped Vic, trying to restrain her hands from aiming at her face again. Her legs pinned the woman to the ground, but it was hard to reduce Vic’s movements. She really was hungry, wasn’t she? “Rosie,” Jade gasped, right as a hand landed on her belly. Luckily Vic didn’t have that much range of motion to actually punch her there. “Rosie,” she repeated, hand reaching for her belt and plucking a… stake (cause…force of habit). She was conscious enough of her movement by the time she saw the wooden material. She would’ve preferred a knife. 

She knew not to plunge it right away. Instead, she pressed the pointy end to Vic’s chin. “Rosie,” she hoped this wasn’t like Bloody Mary, and saying three times ended up summoning the kid. Jade squeezed her legs tighter, her free hand still trying to swat away Vic’s attempts at… probably gouging her eyes or something. “Hey… hey. If she looked out her window, it would be her mom and auntie Jade just… frolicking in the front yard,” even if technically they were far away from any garden. But like, kids still counted tussling as playtime, right? “But if I let you go, if I… it’ll be her mommy covered in the blood of an innocent woman,” she pressed her stake deeper, not yet drawing blood. “This isn’t you,” and Jade actually burst into a cackle as the words left her lips. “I’m actually… not sure I’ve ever gotten to say that before,” she huffed, trying to blow a few loose strands of hair off her face. (Actually, a lot of their current position felt like fan service, also. But well, she was here to serve.) “You are the we have food at home type, what is this?” Jade knew what this was, though, she knew it was less about bloodthirst and more about the thrill of the hunt. Whatever those surges were, they were reducing supernatural folks to their most primal state. 

—

Speed was integral to her mission, but so was stealth.  Being sneaky wouldn’t get her anywhere if the target was able to slip away.  But still, alerting the woman to Vic’s presence would have the same damning effect.  This game of back and forth wasn’t new to Vic, and despite the centuries it’d been since she’d hunted down some lunch, getting back into it felt much like riding a bicycle.  It fit her, this quick, quiet pace, even as much as she tried to deny it all those years ago.  She could almost hear her sire’s antagonizing words in her ear.  For a moment, she stumbled.  It was something she would have been able to come back from, usually, but before she could right herself, she was being toppled to the ground.  

It didn’t take Vic long to figure out what happened, and even as they were tumbling down, she fought desperately to be freed of Jade’s grip. Most of the time, she was trying to forget Jade existed (at least, that’s what she told her), but forgetting her now was a serious miscalculation.  She’d admonish herself later.  For now, she needed to get out from under her, before her prize got away.  And her prize was definitely trying to get away.  She looked over with a grunt, realized Jade was doing the same, and reared back to elbow her in the face.  She’d have to thank Jade when she got free, because chasing the meal would make the outcome even more sweet.  She’d been waiting for this.

Ugh, Baby Bloodworth was strong.  She went to hit her again- maybe if Jade were knocked out she’d leave her alone for once.  She went for it once, and then twice, but Jade was dodging shots left and right, and it wasn’t long before her hands were incapacitated.  Then, she tried kicking, but there was only so much strength she could muster beneath her captor.  Jade would tire out eventually, she was sure, but Vic could smell her meal fading away, escaping further and further by the second, and she actually heard herself growl as she struggled to get free.

Maybe she would have gotten away.  Maybe she might have even done something awful to Jade, if it weren’t for the one word her captor uttered that gave her pause.  ‘Rosie’.  It was like a shock went through her body.  She barely registered the stake to her chin, only the thought of Rosie sleeping soundly in her new big-girl bed.  She blinked, and then what felt for the first time that night, she made eye contact with Jade.  Was this what it felt like when people talked about ‘sobering up’?  And Jade was asking her questions, and nothing made any sense, and she felt a lump form in her throat.  What the fuck was she doing?

Everything that she’d been feeling- all those awful, monstrous feelings that had been surging through her, they were why she’d turned against vampires in the first place.  She hadn’t felt them since she’d first been turned, and even then, the blood never seemed nearly as satisfying as it felt just moments ago.  She shook her head and swallowed.  “Something’s wrong”, she croaked, her eyes finding the stake now.  “This isn’t… I wasn’t…   I just ate, after she went to bed”.  She looked toward Rosie’s window, her nightlight glowing softly above a perfectly manicured lawn.  “I was just taking the trash out when I saw her, I…”  Her eyes found Jade’s again, horror laced with confusion dancing through them.  “Jade, if you hadn’t stopped me, I might have…”  She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence… she could barely bear the thought of it.

—

The third time was the charm. It was as if Jade had actually threatened to plunge the stake into her chest, judging by the striking difference on Vic’s face, now that her murderous daze was on the outs. The vampiric red in her eyes took on the darker shade of Vic’s regular eye color, and her expression became much easier to read: Shame, where pride had shone plenty of times before. This wasn’t exactly the type of humbling that Jade found entertaining. She removed her stake from Vic’s chin, preventing her from scratching herself when she shook her head in disbelief at her actions. And then came a rush of apologies, which Jade wanted none of. She understood too well, it had been ingrained in her even before she could do complicated math, that once a vampire lost control to their hunger, there wasn’t much that could be done to bring them back. 

“I know,” she appeased softly, words that sounded a lot more like, I believe you. Cause she did, didn’t she? Cause Jade knew the Spark Notes version of Vic’s story. Cause she’d betrayed her kind for decades, cause she despised what she’d become with a degree of self-hatred Jade could now sympathize with, cause she’d fought a swarm of vampires alongside her just for a chance to get back to her baby. Cause in her own, annoying way, she tried to make sure the neighborhood was a safer place for her Rosie to grow up in. Nuh uh, no way, Vic wouldn’t jeopardize any of her progress for one (nice as that lovely lady might have been) common meal. “Your bracelet is pinging again,” she warned her, cause… that was something she did now. Look after vampires. Cause there was an adorable baby not too far from where they were, who depended on this one vampire staying in one piece. And something about mothers or daughters, right? (She really wanted to call Ruby right about now, reasons unknown). 

She leaned back, sitting on the pavement while she gave Vic room to gather herself. She’d only gloat about besting her in combat when she confirmed that killer instinct was snuffed out for realsies. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen someone losing it either,” she huffed, stashing her skate back into a knife sheath. It made her own conflict a lot more layered, all the more tricky, didn’t it? Cause if she was abiding by the just harm what’s dangerous motto that was so far the consensus among those who didn’t want Jade to go full-on gay villain, then she had to consider whether or not those dangerous vampires were now victims of this strange surge. (Victims) (Thinking too much about the wording of things was gonna give her a headache). She watched Vic’s face go on a journey from confusion to disgust and finally settle in horror. Oh, okay. Yup, she got exactly what this could’ve meant for her. “Well, good thing I stopped you then, there’s no point in thinking about the what ifs, is there?” That was so rich of her considering how her daily mental monologue went these days, but Vic didn’t have to know she was a big ol’ hypocrite. She just had to look confident while saying it, and she’d buy it. 

“It’s done, over. You really should do something about your bracelet, though,” cause not every slayer Vic might encounter was a girlfailure tackling every moral dilemma there was to tackle. Some might actually be pretty decent at their jobs. Which wouldn’t be good for anybody involved. “I don’t think I feel comfortable leaving you yet,” Her mind briefly drifted to Metzli (ugh), and their encounter in the alley. It would’ve been wiser to stay there and make sure another surge didn’t get to them, but… her urge to bolt had been stronger that night. Here though, when her house wasn’t far, when Rosie was at the forefront of her mind, the way Vic would’ve wanted it, Jade figured she could do the whole… aftercare thing. (Probably also not call it that, but). “And like I was saying, you’re not the first vampire who snaps like this.” She hadn’t seen Metzli per se, but this painted a really good picture anyway. “Something’s going on… with the magic or something’s coming out from underneath, maybe fumes… who knows,” she shrugged, looking at Vic. “Maybe you might wanna use those HOA powers to get to the bottom of this.” 

—

Back when she was first turned, Vic would spend hours of destruction after her sire had goaded her into feeding.  It would cycle like this often- Vic with the monster instincts overtaking her and turning her into a murderer, the guilt and rage that came after manifesting in her destroying their home, or a local market, or anything she could get her hands on.  More guilt, more goading, more feeding.  And so on.  And she hated herself for all of it.  Now, as she sat under Jade, she couldn’t believe how quickly all of those feelings came back- how much her guilt over what she had almost done wanted to turn into rage and destruction.  How she had to fight, even now, to stop herself from ripping down the stop sign that sat ominously above them.  If only she’d seen that earlier.

But Jade said she knew, and was looking at her with eyes that help empathy instead of mocking, and Vic wanted to crumble away and cry.  She looked down at her bracelet at the mention of it, because of course it was, and sucked her teeth, her head falling back with annoyance.  “Is that how you found me, then?  Because you could sense me?” 

For some reason, the thought of that brought a whole wave of embarrassment over Vic.  She let herself adjust a little as Jade moved to the side.  She looked at her with confusion, waiting for clarification on what she meant.  Other people were freaking out too?  She looked around the street they were on, suddenly realizing how busy her last few nights had been.  “I’ve had to clean up way more supernatural bullshit this week than I think I ever have.  You don’t think… could it all be related?”

She sat up more, dusting her legs off and considering the possibility.  If something was affecting the supernatural beings in town and making them act erratically, that was certainly dangerous.  “You haven’t had any discussions about this in your Slayer newsletter or anything?  Or perhaps Bloodworths R Us?”  It wasn’t the time to be making jokes, but being so vulnerable with Jade for so long felt foreign and uncomfortable.  She had to change the tone.  But what if Jade hadn’t been there?  What if the loss of control had come up when she was inside, with Rosie, instead of outside with a stranger?  She swallowed, unsure, at Jade’s supposed optimism.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, and as much as her embarrassment wanted Jade to go away, she knew she was probably right.  It was a bad idea for her to be alone right now.  She shook her head, standing up and offering Jade a hand to do the same.  “Well, regardless, we can’t sit out here on the grass together like a goddamn Hayley Kiyoko music video”, she said, citing her recent youtube fixation.  She wondered, briefly, how many vampires Jade was hanging out with.  “Your other friend… were they fine after their first snap?  If not, perhaps you should come in for some tea, just in case.  I’m sure your boney girlfriend would understand.”

There it was again, this idea that something might be going on with the supernatural.  She sucked in a breath, wondering what the consequences of that might be, or how she could solve it if it was clearly affecting her as well.  For the first time, she wished her home owner’s association actually had an association other than her.  “I’m going to need you to tell me if you see something like this happen again.  If it’s all connected, we need to know if there’s a trigger.”

—

“Actually, nope. Well, okay… sure, technically, your bracelet was the first warning. But it’s done that before and I haven’t followed you to see what you were up to, cause I could see you were still… you,” Jade gestured dramatically at Vic. Whatever that meant. “But now your whole body language was off. And not off like that time when you got mad cause our grass was point three inches too long, which is basically nothing, come on now. I mean… You were moving strange, like…” a predator she would’ve said. But she figured if anyone would get context clues, it would be one Victoria Larsson. She followed her line of sight, staring at the bracelet with a pensive look. Whatever power it had, the environment was affecting it. Or hijacking the reception. 

It turned out Vic had also become aware that something was definitely off with the town itself (even more off than usual), and Jade was gonna have to prod a little more to figure out exactly what Vic had seen or helped with. The same way she’d been asking Owen, or Eve, or even Metzli. This was totally gonna be a group project, as much as it sucked for some people. But she held off a beat cause Vic was trying to pull a classic Bloodworth move by lightening the mood with humor. And, okay, weird. A little Freaky Friday, but also, she got it. Vic had been caught red-handed doing something she shouldn’t have. Shame was eating away at her. Jade had been there before, when she promised not to touch the snacks until the movie was on, but she always caved. (All those freaking intro credits were way too long, okay?) (Oh, cause… nothing else had brought her shame this month, obviously.) (Yup).

But right, Vic made a quip, which Jade did find a little funny. “No way, the Slayer newsletter is mostly about different shades of black popping at any given time, cause you know how some love their goth aesthetic. I believe it’s obsidian this week for your information, by the way. Or the coolest stakes of the week, or even sometimes, some salacious stories about forbidden love,” she explained with a straight face. And Bloodworths R Us? Well, let’s just say that was a little harder to joke about. Especially considering the situation she’d found herself in, helping both human and undead. Prioritizing the undead in question, even. Nope, the sibs probably wouldn’t dig that too much. She wasn’t sure she even dug that, to a point. (A point that used to be the size of a planet but now felt like a little drop of obsidian black ink). Funny how that worked, actually (not funny, haha, mind you, but someone somewhere would find the humor in her conundrums), the way she’d been taught sympathy for those like Vic, who were saddled with a burden, a curse, a sentence. Those beliefs, those feelings ingrained in her mind and heart by the same people who would now look at her funny for acting on those feelings in a different way. For giving it a little twist. But actually, how much of that sympathy had been manufactured artificially, from fake materials, slathered like sauce all over the cause to try and conceal the real taste of duty. (And okay, she was hungry)(The food analogies had started).

Luckily, she didn’t have to think too long about the turntables, cause Vic had offered a hand to stand up, and Jade took it, ready to snap out of her daze. Her eyes lit up in a way that could’ve powered the entire street when she heard Vic’s reference. “WAIT! Did you actually go over the list I sent you?” she gasped, in a way that she knew would elicit an eyeroll from the other woman. But her excitement was too much to contain. She didn’t expect Vic to actually do anything about the list of queer artists and media she’d DMd her in an attempt push her into the 21st-century gay scene. (Cause the whole sad Victorian gay had its appeal (hello portrait of a lady on fire?) but it couldn't be the end all be all for Vic). And sure, she had wished for Vic to go the Chapell Roan way, but maybe she was too titillating for her yet. Baby steps. A win was a win. And those didn’t come around often for Jade these days. 

She pondered Vic’s offer of tea (tempting, cause she was hungry), but she actually didn’t know how Metzli had fared after she patched them up. “I’m not sure about following snaps.” They hadn’t mentioned any other surge right after, that was pretty much all she had. And it could always be the case that Metzli had hidden it, cause well, past beef. She turned to Vic with a devious smile. “But that’s really sweet of you to invite me to tea… at 3am. I’ll take it, you better have snacks though,” she shrugged, looking back at her motorcycle to make sure she’d left it parked correctly, then turned her attention to Vic. She burst into laughter at the bastardization of the term bone partner. “My bone partner won’t mind. But I’m texting her anyway. She’s probably asleep, but I miss her,” They hadn’t kissed in like… some hours. No one had ever suffered more than her in history, actually.

And so she tagged along behind Vic first, then in step with her toward her big fancy mansion. The knowledge that she continued to fraternize with undead weighed heavy on her shoulders, but a little lighter on her chest.