Until The World Ends

Then Change It

Milton stared at his own face in the mirror for a while. A part of him wanted to see the change, but another part was terrified to actually look what he had become in the eye. Maybe the only shred of sanity he still had left was hanging by the tiny thread called denial. He was a vampire. How could anyone accept that fact and not completely lose their mind?

Still, there was the morbid curiosity and the almost masochistic urge to torture himself further with his reality, since it wasn't as if he could truly distract himself from any of it. He couldn't silence all of the not-so-helpful thoughts about this situation that raced through his head.

So, he braced himself for it. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, the human reflex further warping his mind's ability to process the fact that he was dead.

He leaned in closer to the mirror in front of him as he attempted to trigger the change in his face. It felt unnatural to try to force it as such initially.

He swallowed thickly, growing nervous as he realized that he probably knew exactly how to trigger it. He balled his hands into tiny fists by his sides before relaxing his fingers and repeating the motion several times.

He then allowed himself to think about the absolute last thing he should think about. Effortlessly, his eyes turned red with hungry black veins emerging underneath them and his fangs elongated. It happened so naturally, in fact, it startled him, and he jumped back slightly as his stomach twisted from the realization of what the mere thought of blood did to him.

Then he thought of Kaleb. He didn't want to, but he couldn't help it. The way Kaleb looked at him after he completed the transition was haunting. Kaleb, a vampire himself, -- the literal fucking monster that did this to him — looked scared.

His deep breaths grew slightly more shallow, and his coherent train of thought quickly became replaced by the repeated phrases, "I'm a monster. I'm dead. I'm a monster. I'm dead." As this went on, he found himself also distantly wondering when the walls got so close and the air got so thick.

An abrupt knock at his door quickly brought him back into his body, and he found himself briefly relieved by the interruption.

"Kaleb, now's really not -" Milton began.

"It's Lizzie," Lizzie's voice interrupted.

Milton paused for a second, surprised. He cleared his throat.

"Uh, now's still not -"

"I have something for you," Lizzie said.

Milton fell silent, contemplating if it was even safe for him to be around anyone else. He was still hungry, and if he couldn't even control himself enough to resist the blood bag Kaleb offered, how would he react to a living, breathing, human being?

Another knock.

"Hello? If you don't wanna burn next time you step outside, you should really let me in," she said.

With that, Milton sighed and slowly made his way to the door before opening it, his hands shaking as he did so.

Lizzie stepped inside before raising up her hand and opening her palm to reveal a gaudy silver ring with a large blue stone. Milton took a step back as soon as she entered, maintaining a little bit of distance between the two.

"I know it's tacky, but it has to be lapis lazuli for the spell to work," she explained.

Milton only gave a puzzled look in response.

"It's a daylight ring," Lizzie continued. "As long as you wear it, you can safely walk in the sun."

With a lot of hesitation and trembling fingers, Milton accepted the ring, taking it from her hand quickly before stepping back again.