Revamped

eighteen

Handing the man his credit card, Josh waited tiredly as he swiped it and printed out his receipt, letting him sign it before taking the card back and picking up his small grocery bag.

He walked out of the little gas station, wondering at the heavy feeling in his chest and chalking it up to the guilt from earlier. But he was still kind of lost as to where that guilt was coming from.

Sighing, he unlocked his car door with the button on the keyfob, opening it and slipping inside, shivering a little and closing the door a little harder than necessary. He'd already stayed here longer than he should have, and he tossed the bag in the passenger seat with a shake of his head.

"Why do you even eat that junk?"

She glanced at him from the passenger seat, half of a piece of licorice in her mouth. Her eyes had hollows that never seemed to go away nowadays, and she'd lost some weight since he'd met her in this same parking lot a few weeks ago. And her eyes were different.

"Oh, well," she looked at the package of candy, quirking her mouth. "I used to get these all the time when I was a kid, when my dad would get to be too much and mom took us kids for a ride." She sighed, looking lost in thought as she set it down in her lap again. "It's not really the same anymore."

Not knowing what to say, Josh concentrated on pulling out of the gas station lot, wondering. Then, hesitantly, "Could I try one?"

She smiled, and it was good to see. She never did that anymore.

Her bruises never faded anymore either, and neither did the bite marks that scattered on her neck or wrists, even her thighs.

But whenever he mentioned them, not wanting to add another to her vast collection, she only shook her head, eyes wild and unfocused as she arched into him. "Please," she'd say, and the desperation in her voice always made him frown. "It's fine. Don't worry about them, I just heal slow. Bite me Josh."

Yet he still hesitated. The look in her eyes...

"Josh! I need this, do it now!"

And if he still didn't, she'd change, getting sultry and kissing at him in ways he'd never been able to resist. Not with her. She would flash him her smile, and he'd be too caught up to notice that it never reached her eyes. Not anymore.

So he bit.

He jumped a little when his phone started ringing, and frowned as he fumbled to get it from his console where he'd stashed it earlier, not wanting an interruption. Then he glanced at the time and sighed.

It was late evening, and he'd been gone for a few hours already, which only added to his guilt. Tyler was probably just as confused as earlier, or maybe he'd even gone to sleep by now. Perhaps he wasn't even concerned by Josh's departure.

He slid his thumb across the screen, putting it to his ear to mumble a greeting.

And immediately flinched at the shout that rang through the speaker, pulling it away to blink at in shock as Theo continued ranting.

"Josh, where the hell have you been?! I've been trying to reach you for the last two hours!"

Frowning, he put the phone on speaker and set it in the cradle meant for it, pulling onto the street. "Sorry, I had to get out of the house for a bit, I was-"