Love or Die (Alternate Reality)

Numb

Travis' phone continued to ring off the hook while he sat in stunned silence on the floor. Mandee was walking around the room, rambling excitedly about her plans even though he wasn't listening. Travis' eyes were glued to Jenna's lifeless body on the floor next to him, his mind reeling from the fact that he'd done that to her. He remembered the blood flowing smoothly down his throat and a distant part of him wanted more. But the more human part of him, the part that refused to accept what Mandee had done to him, was disgusted by it.

            “Then we'll be the next power couple,” Mandee finished her monologue with a wide smile at Travis. “Way hotter than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. What do you think?” Travis stayed silent, oblivious to Mandee's words and still focused on Jenna's body. Mandee rolled her eyes and kicked Jenna's body to the side, making Travis jump up.

            “Don't do that!” he yelled in Mandee's face. “She doesn't deserve that.”

            “Oh, but she deserved to be drained by you?” Mandee asked, making Travis flinch back guiltily. “You can't have it both ways Travis. Either she doesn't deserve what she got or she does.”

            “She doesn't,” Travis said.

            “Then that means you're-”

            “Yes, I'm responsible too,” Travis admitted. “She didn't deserve what she got and she definitely doesn't deserve being kicked by you afterwards.”

            Mandee sighed, shaking her head at Travis. “Travy, here's the thing you have to understand,” she said. “You're a vampire now, you need blood to survive. The only way you can get the blood is by drinking people. It's called the circle of life.”

            “No,” Travis said. “The circle of life is being born, living, dying and being born again. This, what you did to me, is just...stuck. Never aging and never dying. Just existing to harm others.”

            “That's where you're wrong,” Mandee smiled. “We also exist to love each other.”

            “I don't love you!” Travis yelled in her face, making her glare angrily. “You made me a monster and I will never love you.”

            Mandee's hand lashed out to close around Travis' throat, pinning him to the wall. He tried unsuccessfully to pull her hand off of him as she stared angrily at him. “I made you a god,” Mandee said harshly. “Someone who will be idolized for eternity. And you will love me. It'll just take some time first.”

            “Guess you'll be waiting then,” Travis said stubbornly, making Mandee smile.

            “Less time than you think, gorgeous,” she replied. Again, Travis' phone rang and Mandee used her free hand to retrieve it from his pocket. Travis opened his mouth, silencing him as she answered. “Hello? No, you don't have the wrong number, this is Travis' phone. He stepped away for a minute, can I take a message? No problem, I will tell him as soon as he gets back. Buh- bye.” Mandee ended the call and returned the phone to Travis as she freed him, leaving him to glare at her. “That was V. He said that everyone was waiting for you to leave for the next venue and to come back asap.”

            “I'm not going back,” Travis said flatly.

            “Yes you are,” Mandee responded. “We both are. Didn't you listen to a single word of my plan?”

            “Not really,” Travis answered.

            Mandee sighed in irritation. “Well, the short version is, my plan revolves around your musical career,” she told him. “Which means you have to go back to the rest of the guys of NLT. I'll fill you in on the rest of my plan later. At the moment, you going back is our only priority.”