Many people became vampires by choice, either by asking a vampire to turn them or having one offer to turn them. But for Whitney, she was cursed. She didn't want to be a vampire. She didn't want this life. The uncontrollable thirst she felt was already taking quite the toll on her, and unsure of what kind of control she'd have, she didn't know if she'd even be able to resist drinking blood belonging to her friends.
Whitney wanted desperately to tell someone what had happened, but she was afraid to. What if she told someone and then felt the desire to drink their blood? Or what if she told someone and they abandoned her, fearing for their lives (not that she'd blame them)? It was a lose-lose situation for her.
Riley had been calling her to check up on her, but now that her vampiric metamorphosis was complete, what would she say? She'd told Riley that Jordan was a vampire, but had forgotten to tell him about when Jordan had bit her. She could see the scar on her neck as she looked into the mirror.
It was as she was examining the scar that she heard the door to the apartment open. Darcy was obviously home from work.
"Whitney?" she called, her voice full of concern. She'd hated to leave her friend when she'd been feeling so bad, but she had to go to work. There was no way around it.
With a sigh of resignation and defeat, Whitney stepped out of the bathroom. She might as well face the music now.
Darcy took one look at her and jumped about five feet into the air.
"Whit...what...your face..."
"Darcy," Whitney said, hearing her voice for the first time since her transformation. Surprisingly, it hadn't been altered that much, similar to that of Jordan's. "I know what was wrong with me."
"You're a..."
"Yeah, I guess I forgot to mention that I got bit by a vampire three nights ago."
Darcy started backing away.
"I won't hurt you," Whitney said, surprised that she felt no desire to drink her roommate's blood. She felt a strong thirst, but it was as though she had control. She thought vampires, at least when first transformed, were blood-thirsty monsters who couldn't control themselves. But she was wrong. She had full control. Her throat burned with dryness but she wasn't going to hurt Darcy.
"Why d-didn't you tell me?" Darcy asked, not calming down.
"I...I felt really bad, I guess from the poison or whatever that got into me, so I wasn't myself. But I don't really feel that different, just more...thirsty."
Darcy's eyes bugged out. Her expression could only be called one of utter terror.
"I can control myself," Whitney said in what she hoped was a calm voice. "I won't hurt you."
Just then, Whitney's cell phone rang. Trying not to sound annoyed, she looked down at it and saw that it was Simon. She answered it with a nervous, "Hello?"
"Cross, you have some explaining to do."
"Um...what?" Did he know? How could he possibly know?
"What do you mean, what? About what's in this morning's paper! Some anonymous source went to the press with pictures of you in Riley's apartment, running around in your underwear. I thought I was clear on our contract."
Whitney's eyes filled with tears. Oh he knew, all right. Just not about what she thought.
"I..." she began.
"You know what," Simon cut her off, "I thought you were different. I've had several clients from here in Bridgeport that violated their contracts by jumping into bed with someone else who had me as their agent. But you, you're from Riverview. I thought people were different there. I guess they're just as bad."
Whitney's eyes flared in anger. She'd had more than she could take.
"You know what," she said, "you don't know anything about me or Riverview, and you have no right to tell me who I can and can't date. You have no idea what I've been through, and what I'm going through now. I don't need this."
"Well, you violated your contract, so I don't need you."
"If that's how you feel, then you can take your contract and stick up your ass."
Whitney hung up her phone, fuming. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so angry. Or so powerful. She felt like her heart was racing 1,000 miles a minute, and that she could do anything.
Suddenly remembering Darcy, Whitney turned around and saw that she was still scared. But she had every right to be, and Whitney knew that.
"Darcy..."
"I've never seen you so mad," Darcy said. Whitney had never seen her friend so scared, but she kept that to herself.
"I want to tell you the truth," she said instead.
"What are you talking about?"
"You need to know what happened. Everything."
"What do you mean?"
"Sit down, and I'll tell you. I swear I won't hurt you."
Darcy, feeling obliged to obey someone that could easily kill her (Whitney found that her mind-reading ability was kicking in), sat down in the chair. Whitney sat on the couch, the end farthest away from her to put her more at ease.
And then she told the whole story. Everything that had happened three nights ago when Jordan had barged into Riley's apartment, taken advantage of her, and bitten her. She'd felt sick the past three days because of the venom in her system that was taking over her body.
Darcy had a look of shock on her face when Whitney concluded her story. She couldn't believe what she'd heard. But she did know one thing - something had to be done.
"You should call the police," she said at last.
"He'll kill me and Riley if I do that. Plus, I don't exactly have any evidence of what he did."
"You're a vampire. I'd say that's evidence."
"Yeah but they could easily say I asked for him to turn me into one."
"How do you know that?"
"There's a famous detective that lives in Riverview. I kind of follow up on her. I know some things about how criminals behave based on her cases."
"Uh huh. Well, listen, no offense, but I'm really creeped out here. I know you say you won't hurt me, but..."
"I won't. But I can't just leave. I have nowhere else to go."
Darcy bit her lip, and Whitney read her mind. She was thinking there must be somewhere else for her to go, at least until she could get the cure and get back to normal.
Wait...cure?
"There's a cure for this?" Whitney asked.
"How did you know that?"
"Um...vampires can sort of...read minds."
Darcy's face went pale and Whitney realized she was right. She had to get out of here. She didn't want to frighten her friend, nor did she want to hurt her. But now that Simon had let her go, what could she do? Where could she go? That left only one option.
"I'll call Riley," she said, "and see if I can move in with him."
Relief washed over Darcy's face. "I love you girl, you know that, it's just..."
"Don't worry about it. But I do need to know about this cure."
"I dated a guy that worked at the science facility. He said they've got a cure for vampirism. But it's like 3,000 simos."
Now it was Whitney's turn to bug her eyes out in shock. 3,000 simoleans? Even with her stardom she couldn't pay for that.
"But it turns vampires back into humans?"
"Yeah, and he's seen it used a lot of times. It works."
"I need to get that. But I have to get money."
"I wish I could help you out there, but money's tight right now."
Whitney leaned back, defeated. If she couldn't afford the cure, she was stuck like this. And that was the last thing she wanted.
********************
Riley was glad to hear that Whitney was feeling better, but he also suffered quite the shock when he saw Whitney again. In his mind, he was sickened at what Jordan had done to her. But at the same time, he was glad that she wasn't hurt. At least, not any worse. And Darcy had promised to keep the secret.
She'd called him the previous day and explained that things between her and Darcy had hit a snag and she needed a new place to stay. He'd happily agreed to let her stay with him. The next day, when she was moving into his place, he said, "Sorry about that article in the paper and what happened with Simon. I guess I should have seen it coming. Jordan doesn't just threaten things, he makes them happen."
"He must have been the anonymous source then."
"Most likely."
"I should have seen it coming too," Whitney said. "I should have seen it all coming."
"Hey, it's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. It was all him."
"Still..."
Riley grabbed Whitney's cold hands in his. "I don't care that you look different now. You're still my girl, and you're still gorgeous. And I still love you."
Whitney smiled despite herself, hoping her pointy teeth didn't freak Riley out like they had Darcy.
"Are you sure this is okay?" she asked, looking around the familiar place. She hadn't been back here in four days, and the familiar surroundings made her feel slightly ill due to the last occurrence.
"This is perfectly fine. I'm glad you wanted to move in with me. I've actually been wanting to ask you to move in with me for a long time, but with that contract, it would be too risky."
"Yeah, well now I'm out of a contract, and out of an agent."
"I'm sure you'll find another one. Simon's an idiot to have let you go. From what Darcy said, you chewed him out good."
"I told him to stick his contract up his ass."
Riley laughed. "That's my girl! Never heard you swear before, but I must say, I like it. Makes you even more bad ass."
Whitney could tell that Riley was flirting with her. Normal women, after going through what she had, would be appalled by men making advances toward them. But her transformation seemed to have taken another toll on her body, for she found herself kissing him with great desire, and he wasn't fighting back. She could tell in his mind that he didn't consider her any different apart from her outward appearance. Inside, she was the same girl he loved.
But a little more wild.
And much less tame.
And with a new thirst to quench.
"Are you sure this is okay?" she asked, looking around the familiar place. She hadn't been back here in four days, and the familiar surroundings made her feel slightly ill due to the last occurrence.
"This is perfectly fine. I'm glad you wanted to move in with me. I've actually been wanting to ask you to move in with me for a long time, but with that contract, it would be too risky."
"Yeah, well now I'm out of a contract, and out of an agent."
"I'm sure you'll find another one. Simon's an idiot to have let you go. From what Darcy said, you chewed him out good."
"I told him to stick his contract up his ass."
Riley laughed. "That's my girl! Never heard you swear before, but I must say, I like it. Makes you even more bad ass."
Whitney could tell that Riley was flirting with her. Normal women, after going through what she had, would be appalled by men making advances toward them. But her transformation seemed to have taken another toll on her body, for she found herself kissing him with great desire, and he wasn't fighting back. She could tell in his mind that he didn't consider her any different apart from her outward appearance. Inside, she was the same girl he loved.
But a little more wild.
And much less tame.
And with a new thirst to quench.
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