Sofia sat awkwardly in the passenger seat of Jackie’s cousin’s car. Something was definitely up with Jackie. But she didn't have the faintest clue how to approach such a conversation. So instead they sat in silence, Jackie occasionally adjusting the radio.

Rouge National Park closed at 9 PM, and the drive up there was nearly an hour. They had been forced to find the sweet spot between getting there early enough and Sofia being slow-roasted on the drive over.

Still, it was good to be out of the house. Sofia had felt like a rat trapped in a cage. She needed to move, to test what she was capable of like this. To get adjusted to the new her. Maybe she had plans a little more grand than the evening walk she had proposed.

“You’re not taking me out into the woods to kill and drain my body, just to confirm?” Jackie asked as she turned off the highway. While she said it jokingly Sofia didn't miss the hint of concern in the question.

“No, I wouldn't do that,” Sofia replied without looking over. It was the truth, her morals might have been a little flexible but betrayal wasn't a line she would ever cross unless absolutely necessary.

She could feel Jackie looking at her. Empathy was not Sofia’s strong point, but while she was fairly certain she was the kind of person who could do what needed to be done she also did not revel in the suffering of others. Excluding schadenfreude, and karma, and… revenge. Also maybe if the other person was enjoying it. Sofia’s world had never been particularly black and white.

“Do you want to? Drink my blood I mean,” Jackie asked, it was clear in her voice she wasn't even sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Sofia could lie. But she prided herself on honesty, and she didn't want to hide things from the only friend she really had right now.

“I’m just wondering, blood-drinking kinda goes hand in hand with vampires and… you have those fangs,” Jackie continued, she was only working herself up more and more the longer Sofia didn't answer.

Sofia glanced in her window’s reflection. She could see Jackie’s faint frown through where she should have been. Her best option was to just try and explain.

“You know what smelling your favourite food makes you feel like? Not the actual smell but the feeling it invokes?” Sofia clarified.

“Sure,” Jackie replied, she didn't sound particularly sure.

“It’s like dying crossed the wires. Blood smells and tastes like blood, but… that's now a good thing. Like all my preferences got swapped with that of a carnivore. I tried orange juice, but I couldn't stand the sweet and sour. But the salt and iron of blood, it's somehow perfect.”

“So you do crave blood,” Jackie summarized.

“I get hungry, the same way you do.

“For human blood though.”

Sofia shrugged. “I ate a full thing of bacon last night.”

“For fucks sake, Sofia, answer the question,” Jackie groaned.

Sofia sighed. “The first thing I felt was that I couldn't breathe. I-I could feel him inside me, the coroner. My whole torso was cut open, flesh pulled back, and ribs sawed away. I couldn’t breathe because he had cut out my lungs. When I…. when I sat up my intestines just slid out of me. I was this… hollow hungry thing.”

Sofia took a breath to compose herself. “I could barely stand. I was nothing but a dissected corpse. I drank his blood. Maybe… a quarter cup, and I just… became whole. Took his vitality and made it my own. I can’t even begin to describe it.”

Jackie was glancing at her, torn between the story and the road.

“I’m still… frail,” Sofia offered. “I can’t even keep up with the damage the sun does like living cells can. When I opened the door and you punched me, you shattered my jaw. I’m a starving newborn drinking watered-down formula, Jackie.”

Jackie didn't have a response.

“I’ve thought about drinking your blood, it’s hard not to when I can hear your heartbeat. But… I’m still an animal. Some foods are better than others, sure, but I’ll eat what's available even if it's gross grocery store bacon.”

Jackie snorted which brought a small smile to Sofia’s face. A sigh she was getting somewhere.

“I don’t think I’m a vampire, I think people looked at whatever I am and came up with the story of a vampire. I’m still… myself even if dead, please don’t forget that,” Sofia added hesitantly.

Jackie nodded slowly. “Ok… ok. I’m sorry, I’m just… I think I'm freaking out about all this a little.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Fair,” Sofia laughed.

“You really think humans based their ideas of vampires off of um… you?” Jackie asked.

“How else would it work?” Sofia shrugged. “I mean drunk sailors saw manatees and came up with mermaids, maybe vampires just happened to be kinda real.”

“You think mermaids are real?”

“Oh God, I can't go down this rabbit hole again,” Sofia groaned, resting her face on the window that held no reflection as Jackie chuckled.

----------------------------------------

Sophia stripped off her hoodie when they parked, the sun had set low enough that she felt comfortable without so much protection. She kept the glasses though, she still didn't know how to explain her eyes to Jackie and wasn't sure she even wanted to. It was the most… unpleasant part of her new condition and she couldn't really control it.

Presumably, her kind was older than sunglasses, how did they manage then? Maybe they just didn't bother mingling with humans.

Jackie yawned as she closed the car door. The park closed soon. Sofia wished they had more time. The park smelled so much better than the city. It was dark and fresh and quiet.

“So why exactly did you insist on coming out here?” Jackie asked.

Sofia might have been somewhat frail but she was still strong enough to do the one thing she had come out here to do. “To run!” she yelled, taking off down the path as fast as her legs could carry her.

“Shit, Sofi… fuck,” she faintly heard behind her.

Sofia couldn't help but laugh as she kicked up dirt, she almost felt like she was flying. She didn't bother following the path, barreling through the bush. Branches cut at her as she ran but she paid it no mind. She needed this, to just be free for a little bit, to actually let loose. Jackie had been right, she just had not been prescribed the right medicine.

She tripped and went sprawling but that barely slowed her down as she sprang right back up, bones knitting back together, her body struggling to keep up with the damage.

Sofia jumped, sending herself through the air with unexpected force before she slammed chest first into the large branch of a tree. Her ribs cracked, and her chest popped but Sofia grasped the branch unperturbed, pulling herself up.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The only thing that would have made this better was to feel the ache of exertion, the sweat on her brow, the desperation for air. She was the closest to being alive she had been in days but she was still very dead.

The air whistled around her. Sofia could sense so much more than a human could. She was on top of the world. She could hear Jackie in the distance, vaguely trudging in her direction along the path.

Sophia jumped off the branch. The breaking of her ankles sent her crumbling to the ground. Her graceful landing was entirely ruined. She couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her. Thankfully her glasses were unmarred.

The pain was so close to being felt. There was a wrong looseness to her feet, she couldn't move them, and her chest was also somewhat caved in. She wasn't healing particularly fast. She let her head fall back into the leaves. If she never moved again would her body wither and rot?

It all weighed on her chest, or maybe it was just the broken ribs. She wanted to cry, to somehow let it all out and break down. But the dead couldn't do that.

“Jesus,” Jackie gasped, running over and looking down at Sophie.

Sophie giggled. “I let loose.”

“You look bad, like really bad,” Jackie winced.

“Rude,” Sofia huffed.

Jackie crouched beside her and took in her injury. “You’re not healing,” she said with worry.

“It doesn't matter,” Sofia rolled her eyes while sitting up.

Jackie gave her a pained expression. “You look… gaunt.”

Sofia held up a hand. Her skin seemed wax thin, fragile, like a mummy. Her skin was sunken and clung to her bones. Weird.

“Sofi, like you literally look severely malnourished,” Jackie continued, only becoming more worried.

Sofia sighed, this might be on her for not eating anything. She tried to climb to her feet but she couldn't stand on broken ankles, she fell to the ground. Well, shit.

She might not get tired but her body certainly required fuel. A slight oversight on her part. Still, it was hard to take seriously when she felt no different. She was hungry but that wasn't remotely new.

“Help me up would you?” Sofia huffed.

“You fucking idiot,” Jackie grumbled, hoisting Sofia up with surprising ease. Carrying her bridal style back towards the bath. “When I told you to let loose I didn’t mean seriously harming yourself.”

“I’m fine, just need some bacon,” Sofia shrugged. Despite appearances, she really did feel as she always did even if she looked bad.

“While I appreciated your little speech in the car you clearly do need to drink blood. How did you even do this to yourself?”

“Maybe I got a little carried away,” Sofia admitted. “I just… I can’t feel anything like this.”

“What does that mean?” Jackie grunted, adjusting her grip.

“I don’t get tired, I don’t feel pain, I can’t cry, the only thing I ever physically feel is hunger,” Sofia explained. She felt emotional but her body did not respond.

“Then fucking eat something, Sofi, you’re starving yourself,” Jackie snapped.

“You thought I was taking you into the woods to kill you. You’re already scared of me, I’m not gonna make it worse,” Sofia retorted in annoyance.

“Of course, I’m fucking scared, you’re a real goddamn vampire. Vampires eat people, I’m people!” Jackie growled, picking up her pace towards the car.

Sofia was jostled unpleasantly. “So it’s just a loose loser situation then?”

“Sofi, you’re my friend, I care about you and you also scare me, both can be true,” Jackie retorted.

Sofia could feel Jackie’s pulse-pounding from anger and exertion. Annoyance flickered through her. “I just want things to be normal.”

“Things are never going to be normal, you can’t just starve yourself and pretend like they are,” Jackie scoffed.

Sofia sunk her teeth into Jackie’s arm. Fuck this, fuck her.

Jackie yelled in pain and dropped Sofia.

Sofia rose to her feet, her ankles cracking back into place as she licked her lips. Jackie looked genuinely horrified as blood trailed down her arm despite the pressure she was putting on it. “Y-You bit me,” she trembled. Sofia could practically smell her terror, actually… she could. Jackie smelled… different.

She watched blood drip from Jackie’s elbow onto the dirt. It felt like a shame to waste it, how easy it would be to lunge forward and lick it up. But that would only make things worse.

It would be even easier to take her sunglasses off. Jackie wouldn’t even really know. But that wasn’t the kind of person she wanted to be.

“Y-You're just gonna waste it?” Jackie taunted, holding up her arm. How she could be cocky while trembling from fear Sofia had no idea. Sofia primarily just felt confused. But she was angry and hungry and easily taunted.

Sofia lunged, spinning Jackie to press her against a tree as she firmly took her arm. Jackie struggled in her grasp. Even weakened as she was Sophie easily overpowered her.

She wiped the blood from Jackie’s arm and licked it off her hand. It was so warm and metallic, so full of life. She bit back a moan that felt entirely inappropriate.

Neither Sofia nor Jackie moved for what felt like an eternity. The two of them simply face off face to face.

“Coward,” Jackie hissed. Her pupils were dilated, her heart pounded only making her bleed more, her breath quick and panicked.

Sofia barred her teeth. Her anger was drowned out by the fact Jackie was only goading her further. She had no idea what was going on and quite frankly wanted nothing to do with it.

She released Jackie and stepped away. Jackie’s arm was bleeding badly, sinking her fangs into Jackie’s neck would surely be fatal.

Jackie let out a shaky sigh of relief. “O-Ok, I trust you.”

“What?” Sofia blinked, caught off guard.

“Seriously though, drink some of this before it goes to waste. There’s a first aid kit in the car,” Jackie added, she was still trembling.

What the fuck had just happened?