Maya could no longer judge Elena for missing school. Adjustment with time is expected, but for now, it was best she removed herself from the situation if it became too difficult to manage.

'This could become the new normal.'

As she walked through the academy hallways, Maya noticed Keith. He tried to pass her as quickly as possible.

"Don't worry, she's not with me," Maya remarked in passing. Since Keith still seemed like he was going to run past her, she added, "When are you going to stop avoiding her, Keith? She misses you so much."

Her words made him stop and face her. "Misses me? Do you hear yourself talking, Maya?"

"I know she hurt you, but she wasn't in the right state of mind. It was the moment she woke up, Keith. Elena was confused and lost. She would never do that otherwise."

"Maya, we are talking about a vampire," Keith urged, struggling to keep his voice low.

"How can you forget that she is your girlfriend, just like that?"

"She is no longer Elena I knew. Elena died, and this is just a creature that inhabits her body. Elena we know is DEAD."

"No, Keith. She is right there. But you refuse to accept that for some reason. She's sorry. She's trying. And she should say all this to you herself. Only if you let her."

"She's a fucking monster. Can't you see that?"

Maya almost broke into tears. "If she's a monster, you should admit that you had a fault in that."

"I beg your pardon."

"She died because of you, you idiot. It's almost like you killed her. Then, you wanted to abandon her. And she still loves you!"

"She fucking bit me! And what do you mean, I killed her? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Have you lost your mind, Maya?"

"It's because of you that she was alone out there! She waited for you. You should've been there to protect her!"

Keith blinked in shock. "She wasn't waiting for me. She told me she was already at the dance. I don't know why she was alone there. It was you who abandoned her."

"What do you mean? She was with me the whole time; she never told you that."

"She texted me. Here," he pulled out his phone. "I'll find it."

Keith showed Maya his phone screen, and there was a message stating that she was already at the dance, waiting for him. Maya stared at it in bewilderment. She remembered Elena had forgotten her phone on the bed that night, so there was no way she could text Keith after they left the room. Additionally, she couldn't remember Elena touching it while they were getting ready either.

"Why would she do that? What reason could she possibly have?"

"I don't know, Maya. I don't know what's going on in that girl's head."

"Maybe you could find out if you talked to her, for once," Maya turned on him again.

"No, Maya. I'm not going near her. And you shouldn't too. She is gone, and you're feeding a monster."

Maya was growing disillusioned with Keith. He seemed less dreamy by the day. Perhaps Elena had already known his true face, but somehow forgotten it through her growing obsession with him.

To get to the bottom of the mystery, she had to listen to the other side.

"I had a conversation with Keith today," Maya said after arriving at their room.

"How's he?" Elena was immediately interested.

"Still traumatized, I guess. But he showed me something interesting I can't make sense of. Why did you text him that you're already at the party?"

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Elena squinted at Maya. "I didn't."

"Don't lie. I saw the text."

"I haven't sent any text. I barely touched my phone. Are you sure he didn't fake it?"

"Why would he fake it?"

"Why would I text him that?"

"I don't know, Elena. I don't know why you do things."

Elena sighed and tossed her phone to Maya with the message inbox open. Maya scrolled through the conversation with Keith. Passing Elena's unanswered pleas for him to acknowledge her, she arrived at the date of the dance. There was nothing that reflected the message she saw on Keith's phone.

"I don't get it," Maya sat down, lost.

"I didn't text him that. I didn't delete it. Please believe me."

"I believe you. But I don't think he would make that up."

Elena was silent for a moment, then quietly admitted, "Me too."

Maya couldn't fathom what suspicions Elena was depicting in her mind, but she was sure of her sincerity. Something strange had happened.

"Do you think he'll ever take me back?" Elena's voice was barely audible.

"Of course. He just needs to calm down a bit," Maya smiled cheerfully, delivering a lie for the sake of her friend.

Elena nodded as if believing the sincerity of Maya's words.

"Wow," Leo commented. "Who are you and what'd you do with Maya?"

🜺🜺🜺🜺

Elena had to get her life back together, at least on the outside. Since the sun was no longer the issue, there was some hope.

If she put all her efforts into keeping it all together, she might just make it work. However, that meant she needed to establish absolute control over herself and keep her composure in every situation. One little outburst and this wagon would crash and burn straight into a ditch. She nearly did it today.

'Bury deep every hint of emotion that might try to surface.'

Elena never had too many strong emotions besides resentment. But after her death, they started bubbling up from some odd depths. Emotions she didn't recognize, emotions that made no sense, emotions she would drown in if she hadn't chosen Maya to be her anchor. It was how she would differentiate right from wrong. Only ask: 'What would Maya think of it?'

In light of all the efforts Maya was putting in for Elena, she couldn't admit to Maya that the 'alternative blood' concoction was doing her no good. Elena needed real blood, or something that would be effective against fantasizing about ripping other people's carotid arteries.

In the middle of the night, hidden under a hood and a black cloth covering her face, Elena broke into the butcher's shop. After rummaging through the back rooms and freezers with split carcasses of pigs hanging on hooks, she realized that the slaughterhouse was elsewhere.

This place only processed the meat—not what she needed. Expected, but she still had to start from somewhere. At least she could scour for some of that congealed blood Maya had brought her before.

While she dug through storage compartments, she heard the door lock clicking. Someone had just entered the shop. Elena ducked under the counter.

It was the butcher, whistling a cheerful tune while carrying boxes down to the basement. It must've been the late-night delivery that arrived from the Amellan transport terminal. Elena followed quietly through the shadows.

It was a typical cellar, straight down the short but steep flight of stairs right under the entrance. Elena stood in the doorframe, observing as he unsuspectingly organized the storage with his back turned toward her.

He was such an easy prey for her to feast on. Although he was sizable, if she jumped him from behind and clung to his neck, he wouldn't be able to shake her off. Taking a deep breath, she turned off the light switch beside her.

Sudden darkness startled the butcher, and he turned around toward the only source of faint light coming from the door, now obscured by a menacing silhouette.

"Who are you?" the butcher demanded.

Elena ignored the question. "You get to waste a lot of blood in your business… A lot of animal blood."

Her words sounded like those of an animal activist, but he sensed something more sinister about her. He knew enough to feel wary.

"What do you want?"

"Blood."

"There's some in the fridge upstairs. Take as much as you want and leave me. Please."

"I'm not interested in a one-time thing. I want liquid blood. Animal. Twice a week. Waiting for me at a convenient location," she pushed further.

"You must be mad if you think that there won't be an army of guards waiting for you instead," the butches showed some spine, unwilling to negotiate with a monster.

"Or…" she continued as if he never responded. "I could pay your lovely wife a visit."

Her words made him flinch. He had no choice but to take her seriously. Elena was playing on all the bits of information she picked up from Maya's blathering; he has access to a lot of blood, and he doesn't like to waste it, he thinks vampires could be reasoned with if traded for blood, and he has a wife he loves very much.

"No. Please. I'll do it. I'll do what you asked. I'll put a bottle of blood on a windowsill, just out back. Twice a week. Just, please, don't hurt my wife."

"She'll be fine if you keep your end of the deal," Elena smirked, a gesture he couldn't see, of course. "And you can't tell a soul about this. I'll know."

Elena flipped on the light switch, momentarily blinding the man, and using the opportunity to slip away into the night. This was who she truly was—a creature.

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