I frown trying to piece the flashes of memory all together. “My friends?”
“They’re fine,” Hendricks answers, but when I look at him, I notice his arm is in a sling and he’s wearing a bandage over his shoulder.
“What happened to you?” I go to stand but my legs buckle.
“Not just yet. You need your strength. You’ve been out for three days.”
“Three days?”
“But there’s something else.”
“What else?”
“That woman, Melinda, she cast a curse and locked the three of us up. Your friends stumbled upon us and let us out. But by the time we got to you, you were almost dead, Lydia,” Jack says in a tone that’s gentle like he’s about to deliver bad news.
“But I’m alive.”
“Sort of,” he answers.
“What does that mean? Sort of?”
Maverick steps forward then looking haunted and utterly broken. “I had to turn you into one of us. Into a vampire,” he says.
“A vampire?” I ask. Then I slowly run my tongue over my teeth again. Those two sharp teeth catch on it and I still. I’m a fucking vampire?
“I didn’t have a choice. You would have died,” Maverick says.
“Do my friends know?” I ask.
“They do. After I saved you, the entire camp was set free from Melinda’s grasp. Your friends saw what happened to you. They wanted to call an ambulance, and I had to explain that you were fine. Just resting.”
I blink slowly.
“I’m so thirsty,” I say.
Hendricks looks at Maverick and then grabs a cup of red liquid, coming over to hand it to me. When I bring it up to my mouth, I feel my new fangs lengthen and the scent hits my nose. That’s not red liquid. It’s blood.
“Drink it. You need your strength,” Maverick insists.
I make a face but that thirst claws at my throat. When the blood hits my tongue I find myself chugging down the entire contents wanting more.
“Pace yourself. You’re just getting used to your new form.”
“Oh, fuck,” I say realizing that I can no longer go out in the sun. And I probably can’t go back to my life.
Everything has changed in such a short time.
“I know this is a lot to process, but if you want us to, we can be with you every step of the way. We know what it’s like to lose your humanity and shift into something different,” Jack says. He’s still holding onto my hand, and it’s comforting.
These three monsters might be the best surprise of my life. While a part of me is sad about the things I’m leaving behind, there’s another part that’s excited about what my future can look like now. Since I met them, I’ve felt accepted and seen in ways I never thought possible. And while I was human, I couldn’t see much of a future with them, now that’s all changed. I was one of them now. A monster. A creature of the night.
“Whose bed is this?” I ask.
“Mine,” Jack says. “You can use it for as long as you like. Or if you want your own, we can make that happen.”
“I think I might like the idea of sharing one. This one doesn’t look like it’ll fit all four of us.”
I see each of their faces light up with what I’m saying. What I’m offering.
