Esther made it back to Annie’s house a few hours later. She stumbled through the kitchen door, clutching her stomach.
"Annie!"
Her first instinct was to yell for the girl, though she knew there wasn't really much she could do for her.
Blood had soaked her shirt by now, lukewarm and thick, and was dripping on the linoleum floor. She grasped the counter to steady herself as she tried to make her way to the bathroom.
She heard AnnMarie walking down the hall, and the kitchen light clicked on, the sudden light irritating her eyes.
"Esther?" AnnMarie blinked sleepily, her eyes growing wide as she took Esther's blood soaked appearance in. "Esther! Oh my God!"
The young woman ran forward and grabbed her arm, helping her stand up straighter.
"Oh my God, you're bleeding!" She gasped. "Esther, what do I do? Should I call an ambulance?"
"Don't be silly." Esther grunted. "They can't do anything for me. I just need some time to heal. Can you help me get to the bathroom?"
AnnMarie nodded fervently and lent her a shoulder.
Esther clutched the bullet wound tightly as they slowly made their way to the bathroom, trying to stop the bleeding as much as possible. She didn't want to make a mess.
"I'm sorry. I'm getting blood on your floor." Esther said.
"It's fine." Annmarie said. Her brow was drawn into a hard line, and her eyes were glassy.
When they made it to the bathroom, Esther broke away from AnnMarie and hauled herself into the bathtub. She peeled off her ruined shirt, and laid it across the edge of the tub.
She turned the water on, and poured it over her stomach, watching as it turned pink and swirled down the drain.
"What happened to you?" AnnMarie asked.
"I gave a hunter the shock of his life." Esther said through clenched teeth. "And he returned the favor by promptly shooting me in the stomach."
"What do I need to do?" AnnMarie asked. Her voice sounded strained.
"Do you have anything I can bandage it with? I don't want to lose any more blood. The more I lose the longer it'll take me to heal."
Annmarie nodded and stumbled over to her medicine cabinet, where she pulled out a first aid kit. She returned to Esther with a washcloth and some gauze tape.
AnnMarie pressed the washcloth over her stomach and started to wrap the gauze tape around her.
"You're going to get my blood on you." Esther said, grabbing her wrist to stop her. "Don't you think it's disgusting?"
AnnMarie pulled away and continued her task.
"It's fine." She said very quietly.
Esther swallowed and glanced away.
When she was done AnnaMarie ran her hands under the water to clean them. She sat in silence for a moment, her eyes on the floor, distant, like her mind was elsewhere.
"You're not going to die, are you?" She asked.
"I'm already dead." Esther said.
AnnMarie gripped the side of the tub, her knuckles turning white.
"So you're trying to tell me you can't die? That nothing can make you go to sleep forever? Destroy you? That you're invincible?" She spat out the words with a surprising harshness that Esther found to be unlike her.
Esther opened her mouth, which was very dry.
"Annie…" she tried to think of something to calm her. "Annie, this can't...kill… me. And that's all that matters right now."
AnnMarie said nothing, her eyes still avoiding her, so she decided to continue reassuring her.
"It'll take me a few days to heal." she said, resting her hand on her bandaged stomach. "I'll need to sleep for a while."
AnnMarie reached over and grabbed her hand, clutching it tightly as her shoulders began to shake.
"Annie…"
"I'm sorry." Annie choked out. "I'm sorry Esther."
"Annie, I'll be fine. Really." Esther said.
"This is my fault." She said.
Estgr frowned.
"What? How could this possibly be your fault?"
"It— it must—" AnnMarie paused to take in a shaky breath. "It must be the curse. It's my fault this happened."
"Annie, no. It's not your fault." Esther said, squeezed her hand back. "Look at me."
AnnMarie rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes and looked up at her.
"It was just me not being careful enough, okay? It's not your fault. I promise I'll recover from this. All things considered, I'm not even injured that badly."
She said it as sincerely as possible, but there was no change in AnnMarie.
"No, I have to do something to make up for this." AnnMarie said.
"Annie. You didn't do anything." Esthr said again, though her declaration fell on deaf ears.
"P—please! Drink my blood!" AnnMarie said. "That'll help you, right?"
It would.
Esther took in a sharp breath.
"I… iI don't think I should do that." Esther said.
"Please, Esther!" She said.
"Right now? Annie—" she shook her head. "Annie, I'll hurt you! You're being ridiculous!"
AnnMarie ignored her, and leaned farther over the edge of the tub. She took a fistful of Esther’s hair, and pulled her face into the curve of her neck.
Esther let out a small whimper, and pulled slightly away.
She could get out of her grasp. She could get out of her grasp easily. She knew that.
And yet she didn't.
The smell kept her there, seeming to come in stronger with each breath she took, lingering on her tongue, holding her closer.
She started breathing heavier, almost something like a pant, and grabbed her shoulders tightly.
"Stop fighting it." AnnMarie mumbled into her shoulder.
And at that point, she couldn't any longer.
It had been a while since she had fed in such an involuntary, entirely instinctual way.
It was like she didn't even know how it happened. Her mouth was just suddenly biting into AnnMarie’s neck.
There was a part of her that had thought not to bite too hard. To be careful. But she wasn't aware enough of her actions at that point to know exactly how hard it had been.
The only thing she was aware of was the feeling of hot liquid, pouring into her mouth, down her throat. Her skin tingled with delight, her mouth no longer felt dry, and the painful throbbing in her stomach subsided the smallest bit.
A strong cocktail of emotions flooded through her, hitting her so fast she hardly had time to process each one.
Fear, guilt, the sort of aching sadness that feels like it's sucking your ribs inwards. Like you're collapsing in on yourself.
Longing and desperation. God, the desperation. The sickening feeling of hoping in a hopeless situation. The utter futility of holding on too tightly to something. To someone.
There was something sweet there, too. it was hard to pinpoint exactly what it was. It felt a bit like a fluttery feeling in the chest.
"... Esther…"
She suddenly became aware of what she was doing once more, and the sound of AnnMarie's muffled whimper seemed to ring out in her ears, despite the quietness of it.
Esther let out a gasp, blood sputtering from her mouth, wastefully dripping into the bathwater. She pulled away, and AnnMarie stumbled backwards, onto the floor.
She clutched her neck tightly, but blood seeped from between her fingers, and down her neck. Her breathing was fast, shallow, and her eyes clenched tightly shut.
"Annie!" Esther cried out.
She pulled herself out of the tub, ignoring the aching pain that shot through her stomach.
AnnMarie didn't respond at first, only continued to breathe faster and make small squealing noises.
"I—I'm okay." She said through tightly clenched teeth. "I—it just hurts… it hurts bad."
Esther pulled her upright, and forcefully pried her hands away. AnnMarie tried to get away from her as she licked the excess blood from her skin, but Esther held tight.
When she was done, she ran her hand over the mouth and stared angrily down at the girl.
"Annie, how could you do that?" She snapped. "That was incredibly stupid. I could have—"
She abruptly cut herself off, realizing her first instinct was to blame someone else for something that was technically her fault, but couldn't seem to find it in herself to apologize.
AnnMarie started to cry again.
"I'm sorry." She choked out. "I just don't want to lose you. I don't want to be alone again."
Esther, not sure of what else to do, held her and let her cry.
After a few minutes, she calmed down enough to form coherent words, and Esther managed to convince her to go to bed.
"But don't you need to rest too?" AnnMarie asked, grabbing at her hand with need. "That's what you told me."
Esther pulled her hand away gently.
"I will when I can."
That was true. She was far too energized, flooded with emotions, to sleep at the moment.
Instead she went at on the front porch, and sat out in the darkness. A bit of light was starting to crest in a fine sliver above the treeline. She leaned her head back, and sighed.
She took out her phone, and called Adam, who, unsurprisingly, answered after the first ring.
"Are you going to yell at me again?" Was how he answered.
"No." She said quietly. "I just wanted to talk." She took a pause, and a breath, before continuing. "I'm just scared right now."
There a period of silence, of only the soft crackle of the phone line.
"Of what?" He asked.
"I don't know." She said. "Myself, I guess."