What the fuck was I going to do?

  How was I supposed to process any of what they'd told me? I couldn't believe the half of it. Victoria having some incredibly dangerous curse? Hopping from body to body forever? Infinite compulsion abilities? I'd barely come to terms with her not being dead.

  Worst of all, they'd given me an ultimatum. I had one week until they'd intervene. A week to do what? Kill her? But wouldn't killing her cause her to hop in the first place? It was so frustrating! I couldn't tell anyone, either. They'd made that abundantly clear. Just what I needed, yet another stack of invisible rocks on my shoulders.

  I stayed out far longer than I should have, wandering the dimly lit streets for hours with nothing but my phone and a dilemma that wouldn’t let me breathe.

  It was too much.

  As the house eventually came into view, I let my hood down, and shot a glare at the security cameras. Faulty little pieces of shit. They never picked up my face quite right. My friends showed up perfectly fine, Tori showed up at a strangely low frame rate, but I always made the systems glitch out. My features wouldn't register, my movements blurred like static, sometimes entire frames just vanished.

  All cameras had that effect, and so did some mirrors. Every photo taken of me after I turned 'came out bad' or I 'blinked at the wrong time'. That took a while to catch onto, honestly. The newest and greatest cameras picked me up at around the quality of an original iPod, so you can imagine how a phone just a few years old would made me look.

  Mirrors, on the other hand, weren't as bad. If they were your standard aluminium-backed glass, there'd be no distortion. But any other reflective surface (plastic, water, etc) showed me as warped and blurry as the cameras did.

  I couldn't help but wonder if that ability would come in handy one day, or if it would stay an inconvenience forever.

  God, just like all my stupid powers.

  The leaves rustled a little too loudly for my liking as I stalked up the trunk of the oak tree in the yard. At least the wind had picked up and drowned the noise out a bit. With a grunt of effort, I pushed up to stand on a branch and tiptoed towards the upper living room window. It slid open rather unwillingly, but it wasn't locked. I shoved the curtains away and climbed inside.

  The second floor of the house was somewhat abandoned, aside from Carly and London's bedrooms by the staircase. I never had any need for the excess space when I'd moved in, so I filled it with boxes and junk and let it rot. The girls had spruced it up a little, which was nice of them. Pushed the mess into a corner, strung up fairy lights, thrown in a beanbag or two. Never noticed until now.

  "Hey!"

  I yelped and nearly jumped off my feet at London's voice. I whipped my head around and gulped. There she stood, half asleep, in expensive silk pyjamas and her hair in a braid.

  "Morning." I mumbled.

  "Where the hell were you?" She crossed her arms. "You can't just sneak out."

  "I went for a walk." I shrugged. "Needed some time alone after everything that's happened."

  "You didn't think to tell anyone? Or message?" London shook her head. "Who's to say you didn't go out to murder?"

  "I didn't!" I shot back a little too loudly.

  "You went for a walk for five hours?" London deadpanned. "Zach."

  "Can you get off my ass?" I scoffed. "I'm dealing with a lot right now. Yeah, I went out. Congrats. I didn't do shit."

  She rolled her eyes.

  "You don't need to sneak out. It's your house. Just tell someone so that we know if you're out somewhere having a blackout episode."

  I sighed and nodded.

  "Right. I guess that's fair. I'm sorry."

  "You should be."

  My eyes snapped wide at that.

  "What?" She cringed. "You eat people when you go out alone!"

  That went okay. Right? She didn't figure it out. I didn't confess. Everything went fine. All I had to do now is continue keeping everything bottled up all alone... and somehow fix Victoria within the week.

  Oh god.

  Once London finished her rant and headed back to her bedroom, I ran down to mine. I had the guidebook now. I had to figure out what made Diego so interested in it for myself.

  The door creaked open slowly. I peeked my head through the gap to confirm that Tori was sleeping soundly. Sure enough, she was cradling an elephant plushie to her chest. Weirdo. I let the door shut behind me and sat down at the desk.

  Breathe.

  I reached a hand under my hoodie and pulled out the book from where it had been cutting into my ribs with every step. Dust flew off of the damn thing as I put it down, forcing me to cough. It was definitely real this time. Torn, dirty, scratched, fraying, stained. There was the signature little claw mark on the corner of the cover I'd completely forgotten about. Thank god it was home at long last.

  "Alright. What did you write in here, Zach?" I murmured under my breath, flipping the cover. "Page one: Vampire or Nah?"

  I scoffed. Great title. The doodles of the Cullens along the margin really sold it all.

  "So basically, I'm a vampire I think. I know that's cool as fuck. No autographs, please. In this book, I'll tell you all about what it's like being a sexy undead bloodsucker–"

  I had to stop or I'd laugh. Jesus Christ. When had I written this, exactly? Maybe a few months in? Yeah, I'd definitely killed a few people by this point. Probably still before I grasped the gravity of it all, though.

  "If I ever find a werewolf or a mermaid I'll make sure to make a sequel, but for now this book is just about my kind. Vampires! Woohoo."

  Shaking my head, I turned the page. The drawings were now in colour.

  "Page two: Dying." I read. "So dying really sucks, and it's pretty painful too, but it's great afterwards. At least for me, it was. Apparently I was dead for like one minute so my body didn't do much. Thank god. Can you imagine if I'd died for like half an hour before turning and woken up in my own piss and vomit? Ew. Gross. No offence to any vampires out there if you're reading this and that happened to you."

  I paused. That got me thinking, actually. The way in which Tori's body had been rotting wasn't like human decay. She didn't do any of the stuff a human body would, really. Considering she was presumably dead for almost an hour that I knew of, almost no natural occurrences had taken place. Sure, I'd chalked up a lot of those inconsistencies to me having turned her, but what if it wasn't that?

  I had no idea how long she'd been dead before I found her corpse, I only guessed it was brief because she seemed freshly dead. Pale, eyes blank, drooling, still a little warm. But if a human is dead for even ten or fifteen minutes, they enter states that Victoria just... never did.

  "First hour. First hour."

  I racked my brain for memory of my old biology class, but could only remember the later stages. Leg beginning to bounce, I snatched my phone and searched it up instead.

  "Zero to five minutes: Heart and lungs stop, oxygen lowers, pallor mortis, muscles relax possibly including sphincters. Five to thirty: Livor mortis, cellular autolysis, eyes may cloud over. Thirty to sixty: Rigor mortis, algor mortis."

  A long and heavy silence followed.

  Only a few of those things happened to Tori's body.

  "When I found her, she'd had all of the 0-5 minute symptoms, but her muscles didn't relax fully. Her arms were limp, but just like she'd passed out." I bit my lip. "After I fed her my blood, she went through algor mortis, but not rigor nor livor. Not autolysis, either. What?"

  I shook my head.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Uh, her eyes turned white, her lips cracked kinda harshly, her skin faded greyish. Were those things vampire related, then? But..."

  What was I missing? Why hadn't she decayed like a normal human before I turned her?

  From the bed, Tori shifted and grumbled to herself. I looked over to make sure she was still asleep. She hugged her plushie tighter, biting down on its neck.

  I felt myself pale.

  "Was she already turned?"

  I turned back to the book, then to my phone.

  "She didn't decay like a human. She didn't turn like a human. I found her with severe injuries that had been completely healed before I'd gotten to her."

  Had she healed them herself?

  Was that my mistake?

  I grabbed my phone and called Autumn immediately. I was stressing out bad. Of course I was. This was insane. This could be it.

  "Zach?" Autumn yawned through the call. "Everything alright?"

  "When you transferred into Autumn's body, that was you using your curse." I blurted. "But humans don't have curses, only vampires do. That means you died already a vampire."

  I was met with pure silence from the other line for several minutes.

  Eventually, a loud 'huh?' came back.

  "Vic, I need you to listen to me carefully." I ran a hand through my hair, hyperventilating. "I was told not to tell you this but I'm risking everything to do it anyway. Vampires have curses depending on how they died. I died scared of the dark and desperately clinging to you being calm, so I came back with curses reflecting that. Alright?"

  "Uh... okay. That explains a lot. Who told you that? What's going on–"

  "Your curse – not Autumn's, yours, as in your soul's – is body hopping." I added. "That's what happened to you. You died, and your soul was transferred into the nearest suitable vampire host. I don't know why that's your curse, because I don't know how you died, but it must've been pretty emotional for you to develop that one."

  "Okay?! Good to know? Uh, wow. That answers so much. But I still don't understand."

  "Victoria!" I took a deep breath. "You had to have died as a vampire to body hop."

  The silence came again for a long beat.

  My leg continued to bounce.

  "So I was... human at the swimming carnival, and I was human when we were fooling around in the tent," Autumn's voice shook, "But at some point after yours and my memory cuts off, you turned me? I died after that?"

  I nodded, not that she could see it.

  "That's gotta be it. You didn't rot like a human. You didn't decay much at all. Almost all of Tori's zombie-like details came from her injuring herself after waking up. Biting at her mouth or clawing at her legs. I had to have turned you after we made out."

  "Oh my god." Autumn sobbed quietly. "I can't believe that. I can't see you ever doing that. You always shot me down when I asked you to consider it."

  "I know. Maybe that's why I didn't figure it out for so long." I sighed. "I don't remember ever thinking about turning you that night. But then again, I never thought I'd make out with you either, and I did."

  "Surely it was an accident?" She offered. "I just... I know you would never turn me willingly."

  "I could still be wrong." I reminded her. "But right now, I don't have a better theory. I think, if you did get turned that night, and somehow died later on before I found you, that would make the most sense."

  "I... need some time to... think about this."

  I nodded once again.

  "Take the time you need. It's a lot." I looked back over to Tori. "I'll be here if you wanna talk about it."

  "Thanks..."

  With that, I ended the call, and held my face in my hands.

  Jesus Christ.

  "Breakfast for you, breakfast for you," Carly beamed, "And breakfast for you."

  I looked down to the plate she'd shoved in my hands as I'd walked past. Raw mince of some sort with a fork? It wasn't anything I was familiar with.

  "Hey," I grabbed her arm, "The hell is this?"

  "You'll figure it out." Carly rolled her eyes.

  She hopped back to the table where she'd given London and Tori their respective plates. I locked eyes with London, who shrugged between mouthfuls of her toast.

  "What on earth..." I blinked slowly at the mince. "It's not cow, or pig, or sheep, or rabbit, or fox, or human."

  "You can do it!" Carly gave a thumbs–up dramatically. "I believe in you."

  I stared at her, dumbfounded.

  "What is it?! Deer? Crocodile?"

  "A certain delicacy, some may say." Carly hummed. "One I'm surprised you've never had before."

  "Just eat it." London chuckled.

  Grumbling in defeat, I took a seat beside her and poked the mince with the fork. Tori had the same meal, and seemed to really enjoy it with how fast she was wolfing it down.

  I sighed and took a bite.

  "Ew!" I immediately coughed. "What is this?"

  "Oh come on, you barely had any." London pushed the plate closer. "Have more."

  I pressed my lips together but tried another bite. I tasted even worse.

  "Seriously! What did you chop up?"

  "What? It's just kangaroo." Carly frowned. "You really don't like it? Tori loves it."

  "I'm not her." I mocked. "And no, I've never even had it before. My usual butcher shop doesn't sell kangaroo meat, and I've never hunted one in the wild. It tastes weird. Lean. Chewy."

  "Don't insult the chef!" Carly gasped theatrically.

  "You didn't cook anything, it's raw..."

  "I dished the plate. I am the chef."

  My phone rang from my pocket, which startled me a bit. I walked my plate over to the bench as I headed outside to answer the call. The sun made me wince slightly. Once the door was shut, I took out my phone.

  "Hey, Vic," I spoke, "Everything alright–"

  "Zach." My dad's voice replied.

  I froze.

  "Dad!" I cleared my throat. "Um, what's up? What time is it for you right now?"

  "Around seven at night. Not too bad. Were you expecting someone else?"

  "Yeah, I'm sorry." I sighed. "But it's nice to talk anyway. So, what's going on?"

  "Not much, y'know. Work is work. I called to ask about you."

  "Me? I'm fine." I swallowed. "Just been at home with Tori and the twins. Nothing's really happening."

  "How's she going with all that? Still... dead?"

  "Mmhm. I'm getting closer to finding a way to fix her, though."

  "Mm, just don't overwork yourself, filho."

  I smiled slightly at the term.

  "Michelle called me a while ago, said your principal offered her some book of yours. She said she didn't care for it. Do you know about that? Is that book any important?"

  "I've got the book now." I assured him. "And yeah, it's a little important. Don't worry about it."

  "That's a relief."

  In the corner of my eye, I spotted a familiar weed overtaking part of the garden. That was weird. Hunter had mowed the lawns a few weeks ago, why did he keep the bush? Continuing the conversation with my dad, I crouched down in front of the plant and inspected it closely. I found myself coughing the closer I got, but chalked it up to pollen.

  The bush was large but short, the stems standing scraggly and fuzzy. The leaves curled in on their sides like a tongue. The plant adorned blooming flowers of a vibrant purple hue, with long golden buds in the centres. On some of the flowers, large yellow berries stood from the buds.

  I reached out a hand and gently took hold of one. The berry suddenly dropped from the flower, releasing a mist of some sort of pollen. I quickly began to choke. My phone clattered to the concrete, my dad calling out to me.

  "Zach!" London raced outside, grabbing me under my arms and tugging me away. She pushed me on my side.

  "I'm fine!" I hissed.

  She recoiled slightly with a nod, and passed me my cracked phone.

  I coughed a few more times as I held it to my ear again and sat upright.

  "Are you okay?" My dad panicked. "What happened?"

  "I'm good, I'm just..." My eyes fluttered shut.

  London grabbed the phone and sat down beside me, preparing to catch me.

  "He'll be alright, Mr Manchester." London told him. "He just inhaled silverleaf pollen."

  With that, my world went black.

  The smell of sprinkles drew me awake. As my eyes softly opened, I was met with a sky of swirling purples and pinks, dancing behind the clouds and sparkling in the sunlight. The blue grass around me reached out for me like adoring fans up at a stage.

  I smiled. It was always peaceful here. Cozy, inviting, free.

  My usual sidekick, a flying and talking vacuum cleaner, zoomed through the air. I hopped up to my feet and ran after it, laughing all the while.

  The lands stretched far and wide, the plains roaming and colourful, filled with trees of candy and ponds of soda. Deer made of pretzels joined me in my race.

  "Come back!" I called to the vacuum, shaking my head. "Come on."

  My foot caught on a tree root, and I found myself falling.

  Really falling.

  The colour washed away along with the light. The warmth escaped me. Soaring down the rabbit hole, only darkness came to my comfort. I shivered and hugged myself, accepting my fate and awaiting the impact.

  I thudded harshly onto a sleeping bag.

  "Ow!" I sat right up, rubbing my head. "That hurt."

  "What hurt?" Victoria's voice came from my side.

  I glanced over to her and froze, breath caught. There she was, the original Victoria Evans, sipping a beer and staring at me in confusion. Her eyes were dark blue, not white. Her hair was long and freshly dyed, not short and a pale mint. No injuries. No scarring. Healthy, alive, happy.

  This wasn't the candy land I was supposed to be in.

  This was a tent.

  "How did I get here?" I looked around in a panic. "Where's the vacuum cleaner guy?"

  "Vacuum cleaner guy?" She snorted. "What kind of fever dream were you having?"

  "I'm not supposed to be here."

  I climbed out of the tent with a drive I immediately lost the second I was met with the dark, open forest. The cold wind hit my lungs and I blinked wide.

  Not this night.

  "What is up with you?" Victoria followed me out. "Do you need blood?"

  "Huh?"

  Victoria rolled up her sleeve and held out her exposed wrist. My hunger hit me full-swing and I turned away sharply with a growl. She tilted her head.

  "Zach. You're being weird."

  "Where's the candy land?!" I yelled out to the sky, pacing around the dead campfire. "I'm supposed to be in the candy land!"

  "What?" Victoria crossed her arms. "Are you having an episode or something?"

  "You're not real." I hissed, pointing a finger her way. "You're not fucking real."

  She raised her hands in surrender and gulped.

  "Okay. Calm down." She mumbled. "Don't do something stupid."

  "This isn't real!" I barked. "This isn't even a memory! I want to be in the candy land, not my subconscious!"

  Victoria shook her head, utterly concerned. I grunted through gritted fangs.

  "THIS ISN'T REAL!" I yelled again. "Wake me up!"

  "What?!"

  "How do I wake up?" I rubbed my eyes, exhausted. "How can I make this end?"

  "Please, Zach. You're scaring me!"

  I turned to her, shutting my mouth. She jumped. I slowly approached, backing her up against the tent. Her breath began to rapidly accelerate.

  "What are you doing?"

  I narrowed my eyes at her and placed my hands on either side of her head.

  "I'm waking up."

  CRACK

  I gasped awake, clawing at the carpet beside me as I sat up.

  Carly and London backed away at once. Tori flinched. I took heavy breaths, taking in the scene and assuring myself it was reality.

  "That's never happened before." Carly murmured, disturbed. "How did he wake up on his own?"

  "Spite." I grunted, resting my head in my hands.

  I needed to clear what just happened from my memory. I did not appreciate being played with by my subconscious like that. Silverleaf dreams invoked the dormant parts of the mind, and I'd always tried to train them into being the part of me that secretly likes things I'm embarrassed by, like glitter and unicorns. I must've been too emotionally overwhelmed to hold up that delusion.

  Damn.

  "Are you good?" London held my shoulder firmly. "Do you need anything?"

  "Just blood." I shrugged, wiping my eyes as I stood up and headed to the kitchen. "When you can."

  London nodded but frowned. She turned to her sister. Carly offered a confused smile in return. Breaking the effects of silverleaf was no small feat. They both knew that. It was unsettling at the least. It threw a curveball at many of the rules they'd established about the plant and how it worked. Questions came to mind.

  But one thing was for certain, I fucking hated silverleaf.