She was keeping something from me. That was painstakingly apparent. From the constant lies to the complete nervous system shutdowns, I had more than enough right to be angry with her.

  Autumn had zero reason to keep anything from me, as far as I was concerned. I couldn't think of anything I was currently actively hiding from her, I always ended up confessing somehow. Did she not trust me enough anymore? Was she scared of upsetting me? Or was it something she herself couldn't gain the courage to accept on her own?

  Actually, there was one thing I hadn't fessed up to, and it was probably crunched up into a powder by now. I'd thought ahead and stuffed the leaves into a small plastic bag before slipping them into my pocket, else they would be a nightmare to take out. I'd never prepared silverleaf for use on a vampire before, and there were many different ways to do it, but I was honestly worried I'd hurt myself more than anyone else. If I didn't have access to gloves when needing to use it, oh boy my hands were going to sting.

  Since the numerous incidents at the shopping centre, neither of us had spoken much. Anything we did say ended in a brief argument followed by a routine "We don't have time for this" reply and a sigh. Even now, after leaving Paige at her house and swapping to my car instead, the heavy silence remained. I gripped the wheel a little tighter and gulped, trying to find just one thing I could talk about without causing a fight.

  "You shoplifted those sunnies, mate."

  The girl had been so engrossed in the trees out the car window that I didn't get a reply for several seconds. I merely watched her expression shift as she slowly processed. Finally she gasped and threw a hand over her mouth.

  "I did!" Autumn yanked the very clearly kids-sized sunglasses off of her head. "We went in there wearing sunnies so I just assumed they were mine, but... yeah. Mine weren't pink."

  "And now we're talking and you can't escape it."

  "NO!" She groaned dramatically and crossed her arms. "Ugh. You suck!"

  "I'm serious." My voice dropped a note. "We're talking."

  Autumn's shoulders tensed. She looked back out the window in hopes of hiding the fear on her face. She couldn't escape this time, unless she wanted to jump out at 100km/h.

  "All we ever do is talk." She muttered. "Can't we turn on the radio?"

  "Speaking of, what's going on with your own radio feed?" I asked firmly. "You haven't brought up Tori once since I came to your place last night. Usually you mention something every few hours."

  "Don't track me like that." She glared weakly. "She's fine. Why would I tell you what she's doing unless it mattered? She's just... at home. You've only been gone a day, it's not the end of the world."

  "Okay, so she's at home. Good. Is London home today or is it Carly's turn?"

  "..."

  "This is why we need to talk." I growled. "Why can't you tell me anything?"

  "There's nothing to tell!" Autumn sat straighter defensively. "You're always accusing me of something. Always mad at me. Can't you give me a break? We don't have time for–"

  "Yes we fucking do!" I yelled. "We're going down a twenty minute long road through the bush, Victoria, what the hell else can we do right now but talk to each other?"

  "... You don't need to yell."

  I rubbed a hand over my cheek and fought down the urge to let my claws extend from the rage. Not that they'd get much longer than they already were, since I hadn't snipped them back in days.

  "We'll be at my house in half an hour. Whatever you don't confess to now, I'll find when I walk in, won't I?" I whispered, trying desperately to control my volume. "And for the record, I get pissed because you were never like this before, alright? You never shut me out. I'm still struggling to accept how much you've changed."

  Autumn hung her head in shame instead of speaking. A piece of hair fell out from her ponytail, and as she brought her hand up to tuck it behind her ear, she felt her blood run cold.

  There was a golden strand among the usual chestnut ones.

  Autumn hurriedly flipped open her sun visor mirror for a better look. There were many. She untied her hair and slowly combed her fingers through it. Like any normal human woman growing up and finding her first grey hairs, Autumn began to panic at the sight of the sheer number of blonde streaks that had seemingly appeared overnight. She caught my attention straight away, but I focused on the road and decided to wait for her to ask about it instead.

  Autumn began ripping the blonde hairs out one by one, until she'd collected half a chunk worth in her trembling hand. She turned them over in the light, dreading the familiar golden glimmer.

  Just as she was about to speak, another glance at the mirror only showed her yet another blonde strand on her head. She let out a frustrated hiss and ripped it out as well.

  "Started this morning?" She asked with a huff.

  "Yup." I kept my eyes on the road.

  "You saw it when I woke up?"

  "Uh huh."

  "You didn't tell me because it's not surprising to you?"

  "Yeah."

  "You think it's just another sign of my new body turning into my old one?"

  "It's pretty obvious."

  She looked back to the hair between her fingers, feeling her gut swirl. The last time she'd seen her hair blonde had been as a child, having started dyeing it the second she graduated from primary school. In her own mind, if she was ever asked to name what colour her hair was, her instinct would be to say either blue, aqua, turquoise, or sometimes grey on the months she couldn't afford to touch it up and enjoyed hot showers too much. She would never in a million years think to say she was blonde, as if it were a lie. For a brief moment as she glanced at her reflection once more, it hit her that she'd taken so much of Autumn Laurence's appearance for granted. Not that she had much choice, but more so in the sense that she'd begun to forget it wasn't really hers.

  "Can we... buy hair dye later?"

  My eyes widened at the question.

  "Uh... If you think you have time to dye it, I guess so." I murmured. "Is that really a priority right now?"

  "I'm not dying with blonde streaks."

  "Okay." I nodded skeptically. "As long as you're sure."

  "Thanks..."

  "So... blue dye or brown dye?"

  For the first time in years, Hunter and Malachi hadn't walked to school together. Despite taking their own paths in hopes of avoiding one another, they were forced back into close proximity once the bell rang. Each tried to tell himself there was no bad blood between them, but every word spoken in that huge argument the night prior had clumped into a cloud and hung heavy over their shoulders like a child's depiction of grief. Because they were mourning. As for what, that was up for debate.

  Their friend's soul was in another person's body while her corpse needed constant babysitting, and the only person who saw that zombie as anything more than moving flesh had ran away from his own home because no one took his side. They'd come to an agreement that their friend needed to find peace, however horrible it sounded, and none of them could understand why he refused to believe the same.

  Their friend group that had stood strong for half a decade had shattered and splintered, and now Hunter and Malachi were nothing more than two shards trying to fit back together.

  And worse, they still had to show up to their classes, knowing that within school grounds were two murderous vampires planning on trying to kill their own vampire friends. So no, Hunter couldn't remember what the hell Le Chatelier's Principle was.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  He sighed and skipped the question, marking it with a little star before turning the page over. It didn't get any easier. Redox reaction balancing, titration curve sketching, and of course they threw Entropy in there too. On a normal day he'd zoom through something like this, but he just couldn't think.

  The sound of the door opening caught his attention. Desperate for a distraction, Hunter sat up and whipped his head around. Carly had walked in, quietly apologising to the teacher for being late. Hunter narrowed his eyes at her, then turned the other way to confirm London was sitting at her own desk, busy with her test.

  That was against the rules.

  "Oi." He nudged Malachi. "They're both here."

  Malachi followed his line of sight before shrugging and returning to his papers.

  "Who's watching Tori?" Hunter hissed under his breath.

  Kai froze.

  "... Why would they leave her home alone?"

  "That's what I'm asking." Hunter frowned. "Unless Zach came home?"

  Malachi shuddered at the thought of Tori unsupervised. Had she ever been? He shot a judging glare to the twins and took out his phone.

  "Phone away, Liem." The teacher called out. "This is a test."

  "Aiyaaa." Kai groaned. "The second this is over I'm going over there to scream at those girls."

  The air tasted wrong the moment I stepped foot on the driveway. There were no birds chirping in the trees. No dogs barking down the street. The park across the road was empty, not even the usual suspects of stay at home mums with strollers sat at the benches. Straining my hearing didn't give me much of a different answer, all I could pick up from inside the house was vague shuffling and Tori's uneven breathing. I turned back to the car and crossed my arms.

  Autumn winced under my gaze and looked down.

  "I'm gonna stay here." She spoke quietly. "I don't want to get stuck in that feedback loop thing again."

  "Fine. If you change your mind, hop into Tori instead."

  I unlocked the door and stepped inside.

  The smell of burnt flesh slapped me in the face straight away.

  Decay. Rotten blood. Raw meat. A few other things I struggled to identify. Feeling my heart begin to race, I forced down my fear and ran through the hallways. A few windows were uncovered, spilling daylight into the rooms. The kitchen was in shambles; torn open packets of meat scattered on the surfaces, miscellaneous juices and handprints on the bench. The fridge door was bent. In the living room, the couches were slashed. Blood drops stained the carpet in a trail that suddenly cut off into nothing. The tv screen had been smashed. Somehow my bedroom was completely untouched.

  Where the hell was Tori? Where the hell were Carly and London?

  I ran out to the backyard fearing the worst, and to my relief didn't find the pile of ash I'd been expecting. That only left one place.

  Switching my focus to sound, I bolted up the staircase. I could hear her crying, faintly whimpering, but I thought she was only capable of those emotions with her soul occupying her body. Something was seriously off.

  The blood trails continued through the open area and under the door to London's bedroom. I halted outside for a minute just to catch my breath.

  "Tori?" I whispered.

  Her breath hitched, and she hissed in frustration before muffling herself. I wiped my own teary eyes and opened the door.

  Everything was destroyed. Every poster torn, every blanket ripped. But nothing was in shambles more than Tori herself.

  "Fuck!" I cried, falling to my knees across from her. "What..? I... I don't...?"

  She was feeding on herself. Her fangs were lodged in her own wrist – fangs I had no idea she'd grown. The flesh of her arms was mangled, revealing muscle in some places and bone in others, as if she'd been attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Even the areas where her skin was in one piece were scorched from sunlight and flaking off. Her mouth itself had chunks torn off, teeth and gums on permanent display. Her left hand was missing its ring finger. Her legs were coated in scratches like a swarm of mosquitoes had set up nest beneath her epidermis. Matching tears lined her throat. If not for her lack of ability to bleed, she would've died ten times over. Instead her body had accepted the damage and carried on.

  I couldn't breathe.

  She wouldn't even look at me. I wasn't sure if she knew I was there. Her eyes were shut tightly as she desperately drank what little blood she had left.

  "STOP IT!" I screamed. "ENOUGH!"

  I grabbed her withered arms and shook her. She growled and bit down harder.

  "CARLY! LONDON!" I cried out, wrapping my arms around her. "AUTUMN!"

  No one came. No one was there.

  I'd only been gone one day.

  "Please-please-please. You gotta listen to me." I grabbed Tori's head and tried to pry it away from her arm. "You're killing yourself. PLEASE."

  Finally she let go. I immediately took her wrist and held it away from her, holding her close against my chest. She sobbed violently. With the holes in her lungs, the strain on her vocal chords, and the cuts in her neck, her cries were so distorted and broken that they sounded identical to the night she'd first woken up.

  "I'm here. You're not alone. I'm here."

  While she was distracted, I took a gamble. I smeared my thumb over her chin to collect a few drops of blood, then licked them off. Nothing could've prepared me for the taste of the rot. I swallowed my pride and distributed my bloody saliva back onto my thumb, then rubbed it into her wound.

  She shrieked.

  "It's okay! It's okay!" I held her as tightly as I could. "Let me help you."

  Tori slumped against me, exhausted. I watched as my saliva tried to close the bite mark, but gave up after scabbing. At least that was confirmation that my healing barely works on vampires, I guess.

  "They left you alone." My eyes sharpened. "They left you here on your fucking own."

  I brushed her hair out of her face.

  "Hungry, bored, confused, isolated."

  I was inches away from vomiting.

  "Autumn, I know you can hear me through her. It's not hard to imagine what I wanna ask you." I whispered. "You've got thirty seconds to decide on your answers else I slit your throat myself."

  With Tori quiet again, now finding the comfort she was searching for, she let her eyes shut once more. Her sobs weakened into sniffles and hiccups. I felt myself hollow out.

  I'd reached the tipping point of rage, of betrayal, of hatred long ago. There was nothing left but a calm fury. A silent crackle of a blaze. I couldn't feel anything at all.

  I reached into my pocket and unzipped the plastic bag. With my free hand I covered my nose, and with my other I held the bag up to Tori's. She began to cough and wheeze, gripping my shirt tighter. I couldn't watch. Her chest heaved as she fought the fumes with what little strength she had left, before finally dropping unconscious.

  I held my breath and zipped the bag back up, shoving it back in my jeans. I choked out the second I opened my mouth too early. I shook it off and scooped Tori up in my arms, trying to ignore the raw, stinging sensation on my hands from the residue that had been on the bag.

  "You're safe now." I spoke to the air, carrying the corpse out of the room. "I'll never let anyone hurt you again."

  Autumn was prepared for screaming, for another endless fight, maybe even a physical one. She leaned back against the bricks and crossed her arms, staring intensely at a redback spider as it wandered by on the pavement. She sloshed around venom in her mouth, then spat at the arachnid.It immediately shrivelled up from the purple liquid, making a squealing noise as it boiled alive. Autumn narrowed her eyes, reaching a hand up to faintly brush the healing bite mark on her shoulder under her sleeve.

  The one thing she was not prepared for was the sight of her other body being carried out of the house under a blanket and shoved in the backseat of the car.

  "What the hell!" She scoffed, marching over. "You used silverleaf on her?"

  "Don't talk to me." I muttered.

  "You're gonna kidnap her now? Where are you planning on taking her, Zach? You can't just drive around with a corpse!"

  "I don't wanna hear another bloody word from your lying little mouth unless it's a goddamn explanation." I stalked her back until she hit the bricks again, fangs gridlocked. "No apologies, no coverups, no excuses, no bullshit. Why didn't you do something?"

  Autumn hyperventilated, hands clutching her chest. Tears threatened to form in her sapphire eyes.

  "I was scared that if I told you–"

  "I said why didn't you do something." I tilted my head. "You knew she was left alone and instead of snapping into her to do something about it, instead of stopping her from hurting herself, instead of stopping her from starving to the point of biting herself, you stayed with me. You went to drink blood from a coffee cup at a cafe. You danced around a shopping centre intoxicated. You had the perfect opportunity to let me know what was going on even if you didn't have the guts to do anything about it when we were at the beach waiting to be picked up. And still you did nothing."

  Her lip quivered. Her chest heaved. She cried broken, desperate sobs.

  "You're right. You're totally right. I should've... at least said something."

  "How did you stay the whole time?" My gaze sharpened. "Just the other day a loose stitch was enough pain to pull you back into Tori. How, through all the trauma both physically and psychologically that she went through today, didn't you go back?"

  "I..."

  I raised a brow.

  "I don't know."

  I sighed.

  "I'm not lying, Zach!" She grabbed my arm. "I don't know how. I was just so desperate to ignore it, to ignore her, and I fought so hard to stay here with you, but I don't know how I overrode the system."

  I gently shook her hand off of me and walked back to the car to adjust Tori's position.

  "Please don't ignore me." Autumn sobbed. "Please. I didn't want to let her do all of that, but I thought the others would come home and fix it before we'd get here, and–"

  I silenced her with a finger while I reached for my buzzing phone. Malachi was calling. Great.

  While I picked up the call, Autumn's shoulders slumped with despair.

  "What?" I muttered.

  "Are you at your house right now?" Malachi worried.

  "Just got here. I'm taking Tori."

  "Is she okay? Carly and London both showed up to school. Hunter and I tried to confront them but they kept making excuses and giving different lies about it. I'm really concerned Tori's done something."

  "Understatement of the year." I grumbled. "She destroyed the house and tried to kill herself. Eat herself, specifically."

  "Oh... my god."

  "Where are the twins now?" With Tori secured and covered from the sun, I jumped into the drivers seat. "Where's Hunter?"

  "The girls just left, it's three o'clock. Hunter's staying until four for footy practice even though he can't play thanks to his ankle. Is Autumn with you?"

  "Not willingly." I glared at the girl as she reluctantly hopped into the passenger seat. "And not that you care."

  "I do care." I could hear him frown through the phone. "Look, I'm really sorry for everything I said the other night. Truly. We should've thought through our options properly instead of writing her off for death like that. That wasn't fair to her, or to anyone."

  "Mmhm."

  "Where are you taking the two? Mr Vance and Miss Harvey were both absent today, they might be coming for you."

  "We saw Apple at the pier earlier." I confirmed as I drove off. "Impossible to tell what they're planning."

  "Just... get somewhere safe. Please?" Malachi sighed. "Message me when you've found a place to stay. I can't handle the thought of something happening."

  "I'll do that."

  "If I don't hear from you by sunset I'm calling the cops."

  "I'm... already a missing person?" I half smiled.

  "Well I'll tell them I saw our principals taking you." He huffed stubbornly. "Then the police can go after them."

  "Alright, alright." I shook my head. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

  "Just be safe."

  "You said that."

  "I mean it!"

  "Fine. We'll get somewhere safe."