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Drift opens the door after knocking several times. She'd usually be a bit more respectful of boundaries, but this week's events have her on edge, and she's a little scared that she might open the door to find another dead friend.
"Shelby?"
But she's there. Alive. Well, as alive as they can be. She's clearly been crying for a while, lying motionless in her bed aside from the staggered sobs. Their frizzy hair cascades across the pillows, and the sheets are drawn to cover her face.
Drift forces down some tears of her own. Now is not the time.
She warily walks up to the bed. She's not sure if Shelby is ignoring her or just unaware of her surroundings.
"Shelby, can you hear me?"
Slowly, she places a hand on top of the sheets. She backs off when she feels a flinch.
Shelby lowers the blankets from her face, eyebrows furrowed until she sees that it's only Drift. Then they put a smile on their tear streaked face.
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
Their forced cheer is like a stake to the heart. Drift frowns.
"It's okay, Shelby. You don't have to smile right now."
They hold out for about five seconds more before dropping the act. Their ruby eyes seem to grow a shade darker, and the smile crumbles away like dust in the wind.
Shelby makes room on the bed for Drift to sit, and once she's settled they put their head on her lap. Though they've never been this close before, it feels natural. Like a song and dance rehearsed several times over.
"Shelby, I..."
What is there to say? Nothing will fix what's been done. Nothing will soothe the aches, mend the wounds. Nothing will bring him back.
She starts running her fingers through Shelby's hair. They lean into the touch as the tears continue to make a permanent home on her face. As devastating as today was, this... it feels peaceful right now. A break from feeling like death is coming for her at any second. She closes her eyes and breathes. It makes her feel better despite not really needing air in her lungs anymore.
In the midst of her reprieve, it occurs to her that this could be the very last time she gets a moment like this with Shelby. It could be the last time she gets to rest at all. This moment she's living through right now will never happen again.
Despite her best efforts, Drift starts crying too.
Come back. Come back to me.
Shelby takes one of her hands and laces their fingers together.
"I know," she says, the first time she's spoken since Drift found her here. "I know."
"Stay with me. Don't leave me too," she cries. "Please. Please."
"I won't," Shelby says, and they both know she can't possibly promise that. But they don't say another word as they cry together.
They're there for a long time. Without the sun peeking through a window, Drift can't say what time it is. She recalls the way she used to wake up with the sun in her eyes and an excited voice echoing all the way to her room. Now, she doesn't even need to sleep- couldn't if she tried. Sleep used to be vital for keeping him calm. He was always so afraid.
Liability.
Anger festers in the pit of her chest. It's vile and thick and she hates it but at the same time she can't forget or forgive, never, never, never-
Her stomach rumbles. She's sure if her body could still circulate blood like normal it would flood to her cheeks.
"Here," Shelby says, offering her wrist to her.
"Are you sure? You're still stuck at stage one-"
"It's okay. Resting is making it better."
Drift hesitates only a moment more before taking the offered wrist. At first it's like normal, and it occurs to her that Sausage was right, it does kind of taste like blueberries, and only then does she remember that taking someone's blood always comes with memories.
It's too late to pull away by the time she realizes though, and she's cursing herself as-
As Pyro comes out of bat form, Shelby is filled with relief. One of her coven is okay! When his eyes fall on her he smiles as he always does, but something about this time feels wrong-
As her dear friend speaks, tears stream down his cheeks, and he's terrible at hiding them. Shelby reaches out, longing to hold his hand like before, worried for him, whatever happened to him is her fault-
As Shelby turns to look at him, he picks at the skin around his nails. The ruby red eyes that have been manic since he went up to level two... they're sad now. Almost anxious. Almost the way they looked before-
As Shelby sets eyes upon the newcomer, she can tell they're like each other. Though this guys seems more paranoid than curious. She thinks they might make good friends anyways. They reach a hand out and say hello-
It all sets in, heavy on her shoulders. She tries not to give away the things she just saw and lets go of Shelby's wrist.
"...When we're ready to go, we should stock up on some more food for you. We've gotta be really careful for now, right?"
"Right. And after we burn everything to the ground, we'll need food for the journey out of here."
"Yeah. I think... let's rest a little bit longer before we go, okay?"
"Okay."
He... Avid was so terrified of everything. Honestly, Drift is too. As a human, there was the threat of being drained of her blood, and as a vampire, there's the threat of someone staking her through the heart. And now that threat isn't even limited to humans.
She gets it now. She's so, so scared, just like Avid was. She doesn't want this to be her last time holding Shelby's hand. She doesn't want this to be her last day walking the Earth.
But if it is the last time, if it is her last day, she doesn't want to spend it miserable and afraid.
So Drift clings to her friend's hand even tighter. And she breathes in the stale air like she's standing in the warm sunlight rather than a dank crypt. And she closes her eyes, and she dreams of tomorrow.