Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Kip
The World’s Worst Friend Times Two
Charlie goes limp, falling forward onto me. Blood continuously drips from his wrist, staining our clothes. I feel the warm liquid dripping from my chin down my mouth.
“Fuck, Charlie. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” I scramble to unclip my seatbelt, and hoist Charlie into my arms. Biting my palm, I open his mouth and let my blood drip into it. “Charlie, you’ve gotta drink this, baby. You’ve gotta let me fix you.”
He doesn’t react, and doesn’t swallow, but I watch as the blood slides down his throat. My eyes flick back and forth between the gaping wounds on his wrist, to his face. Slowly, the punctures on his wrist close up, leaving only blood behind.
“Oh, thank fuck.” My eyes burn with unshed tears. “You’re going to be okay, I promise, Charlie.”
With his wound no longer bleeding, and his small body lifted into my arms, I leave the car under the cover of darkness and head towards his apartment building.
It’s a nicer building, with a receptionist security guard type of dude, who is luckily asleep.
I mean, not a great security measure, but tonight I’m thankful for it.
I run up the steps with Charlie’s body in my arms. I can feel his heart beating, his blood pumping, and his lungs breathing, but he’s still unconscious.
Digging through his pockets, I find his apartment key.
The door unlocks easily, but when I try to step inside it’s like a wall of glass is blocking me.
“Fuck. Why can’t I get in?” I try again, but still run into the invisible wall.
Wait…wasn’t there that one vampire movie where the vampire had to be invited into the house before she could enter?
Shit. This is not good timing for stupid vampire rules.
“Ok, new plan, Chuck. We’re gonna have to head to my place.”
Charlie is still out cold when I lay him down on the living room couch in my apartment.
He’s breathing steadily, and it’s deep. His heart beat is strong, and I can hear the blood whooshing through his veins.
From the outside, it looks like he’s just sleeping.
But the thing is, he’s not waking up. Maybe his body needs time to heal from when I…
fuck. I don’t even want to think about it.
There’s no way he isn’t going to be terrified of me now. I mean I fucking…shit.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Charlie. Please, be okay.” I’ve hoisted his head into my lap. My fingers stroke through his unbelievably soft, dark hair.
“That’s the kid you followed out of the bar the other night.” Tyson’s voice comes from behind my head, startling me.
“He’s not a kid. And his name is Charlie.” I bite back.
“Easy, Kipper.” Tyson holds his palms up. “What’s wrong with him?”
Ugh. This is why I didn’t want to come here. I don’t want to see Tyson, and I really don’t want to talk to him either. But…he might know something that can help Charlie. And I’m not stupid or stubborn enough to pass up the chance to get his help.
“I don’t forgive you. And I’m still very fucking mad. But, Charlie needs help, and this is all your fault, so you’re going to help him.”
“Woah, how is this my fault?” Tyson has the nerve to look shocked and offended.
I whip my head towards him, snarling and letting my fangs descend slightly as a warning. “You’re the reason I’m a fucking vampire, dude. If I wasn’t a vampire, I wouldn’t have fed from him.”
“Correction, you wouldn’t be a vampire if you didn’t die saving that stupid fucking cat.” Tyson snaps.
“Oh, fuck you, you asshole. Take some responsibility!”
“Only if you do, buddy.”
I’m about to explode on Tyson when I feel Charlie take a shuddering inhale, his body quaking.
My heart stops as I look down at him and see his eyes flutter open to meet mine.
“C-Charlie?” I rasp.
Charlie tries to respond, but only chokes and coughs.
“Do something useful and get him some water, Tyson.” I bark over my shoulder.
Tyson grumbles, but I hear him walk away to grab a glass.
“Hey, baby.” I murmur, keeping my gaze locked with Charlie’s. “I’m so glad you’re okay. You’re okay, right?”
“Here.” Tyson thrusts the water at me, spilling some over the sides.
“Watch it, fucker!” I hiss. Luckily the water only spilled on me, and didn’t splash Charlie. “Here, drink this.”
Lifting up Charlie’s head, I tilt the glass to his lips, letting him take small sips until half the glass is gone.
“Good, Charlie. That’s good.” I coo. He probably feels like I’m babying him, and I won’t deny that I am. But that shit was scary as fuck. I thought that I…ughhh.
Charlie’s eyes flick from mine to over my shoulder, his gaze hardening. “Are you Tyson?” His voice is still scratchy and dry. Deeper and raspier than usual.
I feel Tyson freeze behind me. “Yes.” He replies uneasily.
“You’re the world’s worst friend. You fucking suck.” Charlie sneers.
“Bold words for a walking fucking blood bag.” Tyson hisses back, stalking around the couch to stand in front of us.
“Back the fuck off!” I roar. “Unless you’re going to help, get the fuck out of here, Tyson.”
Tyson huffs, but softens his gaze slightly when he looks at me. “Fine.”
“Fine.” I growl.
“Well, what the fuck happened?” Tyson sighs, exasperatedly, before plopping down onto the two-seat couch across from us.
I look down at Charlie, my fingers stroking his hair gently.
“Charlie let me feed from him. It went fine. He said it didn’t hurt much, and I was able to pull back at stop before taking too much.
But then…I don’t know. We were parking outside his apartment, and it was like time skipped.
One second I was putting the car in park, and the next I was waking up with Charlie slumped over me, and his wrist in my mouth while I drained him.
I almost…he almost…” I hiccup, a small cry of anguish escaping my lips.
“So, you blacked out, and when you came to you were feeding on him? And this happened after you fed for the first time?” Tyson confirms.
I nod, eyes locked on my fingers in Charlie’s hair. I can’t look him in the eye right now.
“It was my fault.” Charlie says quietly. “Kip was passed out, and I thought he was dead. I was scared. So I did the only thing I could think of…I…bit myself until I bled so I could feed him. That’s why he attacked me. He didn’t know what he was doing. Kip, you didn’t know.”
“Well, of course you attacked him, Kip.” Tyson butts in. “You’re a baby vamp and your instincts kicked in when you smelled his blood. You were in the process of changing into a full vamp when he woke you up, and your mind wasn’t present, just your instincts.”
“It doesn’t matter whether I was knew what I was doing or not!” I exclaim. “I could’ve killed you, Charlie. My instincts or whatever, told me to fucking kill you. And I had no control over it. This isn’t okay. It’s fucking wrong. I’m a fucking monster!”
“I mean, you’re a vampire now, Kip.” Tyson says softly.
“You’re bound to give into your base vamp instincts now and again, until you learn how to control them.
It’s inevitable. And, not to say I told you so, but…
” His voices grows in anger and volume. “I fucking told you so, dude! Instead of letting me be there and help you, you ran off on your own, and now this happened.”
“Not fucking helpful, Tyson.” Charlie snarls from my lap. His palm reaches up to rest against my cheek, urging me to look down at him. “It’s okay, Kip. I’m not mad, or scared, anymore. And I’m fine. It was a mistake, but I know you didn’t mean it.”
“Yeah, as long as nobody bleeds around you randomly, you’ll be fine!” Tyson chirps.
“You said Tyson was the world’s worst friend…but Charlie, I am. What I did to you was way worse than what he did to me. Sure, Tys ended up turning me into a vampire, but at least I’m still alive. I about killed you, Charlie. The only thing that brought me back was you begging me to stop.”
“Actually, you’re not really alive…you’re actually undead.” Tyson chimes in.
“Tyson, seriously, fuck off.” My voice is filled with disdain, something I never thought I would be aiming at my best friend. Well, I guess he’s my former best friend now.
“No, Kip. You aren’t.” Charlie tries to reason. “Tyson is the world’s worst friend because he knowingly fed off you without your consent, and because of that you became a vampire. You would never hurt me on purpose, you had no control over it.”
How is Charlie being so reasonable about this? It makes no sense.
“Oh right, everything’s my fault? Let’s everyone blame Tyson. Fuck you both.” Tyson stands up, storming off towards his bedroom with thudding footsteps. When he slams his bedroom door, the entire apartment rattles.
“Good riddance.” Charlie raises his middle finger over his head, pointing it towards the hallway.
If I was in a better mood, I’d laugh at Charlie’s brashness. I like seeing his grumpy side come out when it’s not directed at me. But, at the moment, I feel like shit. I’m a shitty friend, a shitty vampire, and generally just very shitty.
“You’re sure you’re okay now, Charlie?”
Charlie sits up in my lap, resting his back along the armrest. “Yep. See, I’m fine? Your blood healed me right up.”
“I was so scared when I came to and saw us covered in your blood. I don’t think I can ever unsee your pale, lifeless body.”
“I know. I was scared too, but more for you and how you would react when you realized what you were doing. You weren’t there, Kip. It was like there was no light behind your eyes. They were vacant. That’s how I know that it wasn’t your choice to hurt me.”
“But I did anyway.” I whisper, realizing what this means.
Charlie doesn’t understand what it was like for me. He hardly knows me. But I don’t hurt people, ever. That’s not who Kip is. Or, I guess, who Kip the human was. I don’t know this version of me, Kip the vampire. And I don’t trust myself.
I’m grateful for everything Charlie did for me the past day, but it has to end. I won’t hurt him again.