You Can't Save Me

FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

THE ACT HAS COME TO AN END

Lizzie had been a vampire for a month at this point. She was really thriving; she had grasped her unique abilities, was doing even better in her classes (due to her ability to fast read), and had more time to practice and learn new spells. After countless efforts, she had perfected the art of compulsion, learned to fine-tune her ears, and was now able to control her vamp speed. The sheriff found numerous more dead as a result of her initial fruitless attempts, but as she got the hang of it, she was able to feed from multiple people each night. Her mother had referred to this method as "catch and release." Nevertheless, Lizzie had done a good job of adjusting to her new life and often wondered why she hadn't done so sooner. Oh, right, she reflected. My parents believed they could get around the more than a thousand-year-old Gemini Coven traditions.

Tonight she found herself in Hope's room. When the girls would get together to study, they would usually finish up watching a movie or getting drunk on wine they found in her dad's office. Josie either hung out with MG or was away tutoring other students, so it was mainly just the two of them hanging out by themselves. Lizzie was firstly anxious about being too near to Hope, but over time she had perfected her act and was certain that it would fool everyone for however long she needed it to.

After Hope had pushed Lizzie into admitting that she was a fan, they were curled up in bed and watching the first Lord of the Rings movie. Lizzie had seen this movie many times, so she was prepared for any scenario. Several times during the course of the evening, she felt Hope's eyes on her; Lizzie had recently made the connection that Hope liked her. Ah, she had told herself, love is blind.

Lizzie decided to look over at Hope, making eye contact with her. "What is it?", she asked.

Blushing, Hope. "Nothing." She turned her head back to the screen. Lizzie tried to imagine how simple it would be to lean over and give Hope what she has desperately wanted for who knows how long; how the meeting of their lips would be enough for Lizzie to have the almighty tribrid wrapped around her finger, and how Hope could turn into Lizzie's little plaything, having someone with whom to discuss her most intimate desires. But Lizzie refrained from acting in that way because, regardless of whether she was emotionless or not, she had morals. She didn't want to sabotage something positive for herself if she ever made the decision to turn her humanity back on.

Meanwhile, Hope's heart was beating fast, embarrassed that she had been caught staring. She was desperately failing Lizzie; her feelings had grown more intense over the previous month. She knew she needed to confess to Lizzie soon, before she lost her mind, but she felt like something was holding her back. There was something different about Lizzie, that much she could tell. The blonde was calmer, less dramatic, and a little more frail than Hope would like. That was why she had invited Lizzie to come over tonight; she wanted to make sure Lizzie was okay, that there wasn't something going on that Hope didn't know about. Hope's room was their safe space, and if Lizzie was going to tell her anything, it would be right there. When the movie ended, she shut her laptop, set it on the nightstand, and turned to face Lizzie.

"Lizzie, can I talk to you about something?"

Lizzie wasn't expecting it. She didn't anticipate a serious conversation to begin with, so this conversation might be about anything. She decided to stay calm for the time being."Of course. Is there something wrong?"

"Well, I should ask you the same thing. I'm kind of worried. You've been a little...different lately and I was wondering if there was something going on?"

Lizzie fought the urge to run. Of all the things, it had to be about her. She half expected a declaration of love, literally anything but this. She had no choice but to go with the flow.