Chapter Text
Nonexistent heartbeat, mood swings, constant thirst, craving her best friend.
Just some of the symptoms she’s noticed since being attacked by a freak three nights ago.
Shauna was determined to go on as normal. Like all was fine. Tonight, she’d even agreed to go to a party. Her only condition was that she could get ready on her own. Now all she had to do was pick Jackie up. Hopefully, Jackie didn’t notice anything was off. She was the last person Shauna wanted to know.
Shauna adjusted her already-perfect rearview mirror, catching the dark circles under her eyes and the washed-out skin. She looked even worse than yesterday. Her thoughts broke as Jackie climbed into the passenger seat, grinning.
Shauna’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. Spit gathered in her mouth. Images flickered in her mind—licking Jackie, sucking on Jackie, devouring Jackie, fucking Jackie.
No one else was giving her as much trouble. Of course it’d be Jackie making her life more difficult.
“Y’know, usually you use the car to go places?” Jackie said, smirking.
The leather of the steering wheel crinkled under her fingertips. She heard a quiet cracking noise.
“Shipman?” Jackie murmured, her voice softening. “Do you not feel well? You look terrible.” She raised her palm to Shauna’s forehead. “Jesus, you’re freezing.”
Shauna’s shoulders relaxed. “No,” she muttered, “I’m fine. Just… lost in thought. Sorry, Jax.”
Jackie slid her hand to Shauna’s cheek, examining her face before letting it fall away. “If you’re sure.”
Shauna nodded, shifting the car out of park, not acknowledging Jackie’s lingering stare.
Five minutes down, way too many more to go.
The living room stank like sweat, cheap deodorant, and cheaper cologne. (And something delicious beneath it that made her salivate.) She could hear someone three houses over complaining about the party. Down the hall, someone slurped beer so loudly it sounded like a gunshot. But it was the blood pumping in partygoers’ veins that distracted her more than anything.
The sun gave her a horrific sunburn without long sleeves, some foods smelled so overpowering they made her nose burn, passing through doorways into homes made her want to vomit, and yet it was this craving that was hardest to deal with.
It was getting worse by the day. Yesterday, she thought she could ignore it, could eat normal food, but no amount helped, and now she kept imagining tearing through the house to get to those sounds. Those smells.
She’d suspected the solution, but admitting it felt like putting a match out on her tongue.
She sank deeper into the couch, stuffing her face into her cup of beer. Now it just smelled like the most amazing thing on earth and Bud Lite.
“Shipman?” Jackie murmured from the cushion next to her.
She’d been gentle since getting picked up, treating Shauna like fine china. So far, Shauna couldn’t decide if she wanted to snap at her to stop treating her like a baby or to lean in and let Jackie do whatever she wanted.
Not much different from usual, admittedly.
“Do you want to go home?” Jackie asked. “I’ll even drive this time.”
“You’re gonna leave a party early?” Shauna muttered. The more she focused on Jackie, the more everything else drained away. Now she only got the best of the best.
“There will always be more parties,” Jackie scoffed.
Shauna finally lifted her head, looking at her with wide eyes. “You’re serious?”
“Well, yeah,” Jackie said, the duh in her tone obvious. “If you really needed me, I think everyone here could live without me for the night.”
Shauna smiled, her cheeks flushing. “Oh.”
Jackie stared for a moment before swallowing. “So, uh, you up for it, or—”
“Hey, babe.” Jeff leaned over the back of the couch to kiss Jackie’s cheek, and Shauna turned away, rolling her eyes.
Now that Jeff was here, Jackie wouldn’t be paying her any mind.
Everything roared back at once, her senses getting blasted from all sides. Shauna winced.
“Hey, Jeff,” Jackie said distractedly. “Shauna? Ditch?”
Shauna shook her head, clamping her jaw shut. Why did the smell get worse when she got upset?
“…heard Jackie cried last time Jeff tried to bang her.”
Shauna whipped her head up, searching for the source of the voice.
“At least she sucks his dick,” another voice responded.
She zeroed in on the source—two guys from the baseball team on the other side of the living room. One was tall and blonde; the other average with a buzz cut.
“She any good?”
“Jeff says she is, but what the fuck does he know?” The blonde chortled.
“I’d push her to her knees either way.” Buzz cut smirked, rotating his hips, hand floating in the air.
She flew to her feet, her vision turning red, chest feeling like it was vibrating.
“Shauna,” Jackie said, squeezing her forearm.
Shauna jerked, turning her head to look at her.
“You’re making a really weird noise,” Jackie whispered, furrowing her brow.
Shauna paused, collecting herself, realizing that the people around them were staring, and that the vibrations weren’t imaginary—a loud rumbling noise was tearing out of her throat.
She forced herself to stop—but almost started again when she noticed the two guys were gone. She tugged her arm out of Jackie’s grip, walking toward where she last saw them, then raised her head, sniffing the air for that sweet, savory smell.
“Shauna!” Jackie snapped, hurrying over to yank her back by the arm again. She looked around at the people watching and cleared her throat. “C’mon,” she said, much quieter.
Jackie dragged Shauna away from Buzz Cut’s scent, and Shauna growled even lower in her chest, barely resisting the urge to cause a scene.
The bathroom door slammed closed behind them. Jackie was so frazzled that she ran her fingers through her hair, making it wild. “Okay, enough,” she snapped. “What is going on with you?”
Shauna stared, her eyes lingering on her disheveled honey-blond hair, unable to stop glancing between it and the blood pooling under Jackie’s flushed cheeks.
“…did you see that Shauna girl freaking out…” she heard from downstairs.
“…poor Jackie. What a weirdo…”
Shauna clenched her jaw, wanting to tear them apart.
“Y-you’re making that noise again,” Jackie squeaked, leaning away.
Shauna needed to calm the fuck down, but everything was agitating her now. The whispers, how everyone smelled, the way Jackie looked terrified.
Shauna focused on the pulse racing in her neck, driving Jackie back until she stumbled into the bathroom wall with a gasp.
“Sh-Shauna?” Jackie whimpered, trembling.
The whites of Jackie’s eyes were showing; her lips kept shaking. She curled in on herself, trying to make herself look smaller. Shauna slowly raised her hand, fingers ghosting across Jackie’s thin neck. She lingered, staring, feeling, wanting. Jackie shuddered, and Shauna lifted her hand to Jackie’s hair. Her fingers sank into the familiar softness, combing it back into place.
Maybe it was the repetitive motions, or the ability to complete a minor task, or the fact she was touching Jackie—whichever it was—the buzzing stopped, the noise quieted.
Jackie slowly straightened.
“Sorry,” Shauna said. “I wasn’t trying to scare you.”
“What was that?” Jackie asked, her voice quivering.
“What was what?” Shauna asked.
Jackie’s eyes narrowed into that annoying judgmental stare she loved doing.
Shauna sighed, resting her wrist on Jackie’s shoulder. She kept playing with Jackie’s hair, hoping to distract them both.
Jackie glanced at Shauna’s arm, then away. “T-the uh, noise and l-look on your face.”
“I’m not sure. I can’t see my face.” Shauna shrugged, avoiding her eyes.
Jackie scoffed, back to normal. “Don’t treat me like an idiot, Shipman.”
“I’m not,” Shauna said, twirling a lock of Jackie’s silky hair around her finger, letting it fall free, then restarting.
“Why are you doing that?” Jackie snapped.
“It’s making me feel better,” Shauna said. She stilled, realizing she’d admitted that aloud. The stress really was getting to her.
Jackie’s lips parted, then she swallowed hard. “You can keep doing it then.”
Shauna was going to keep doing it so she didn’t start ripping off limbs either way, but it was always nice to get permission.
Suddenly, Jackie’s expression shifted, eyes narrowing, lips pursing—her captain face. “If we leave now, we can get back before X-Files starts.”
Rolling her eyes, Shauna tugged on Jackie’s hair. Jackie jerked, squealing.
Shauna froze. Something about the noise got to her. It sounded like… prey. She wanted to chase Jackie. Hunt Jackie. But that’d mean letting her go. Shauna refused.
Instead, Shauna inched even closer, noticing Jackie’s blood pulsing in her neck. “I’m not going home,” she murmured, mesmerized. She was fine. She just needed… something…
“Shipman?” Jackie whispered, pressing further back into the wall.
Shauna felt something pop in her mouth. She parted her lips, but that might’ve been a bad idea—now she could taste Jackie on the air. She was citrusy, like oranges. A sweet taste that hid sourness at the end.
It was too much.
She leaned in, widened her jaw, and sank her teeth into Jackie’s throat.
A loud, startled moan rang out. Shauna couldn’t tell who it came from—her, Jackie, both. It wasn’t important. Only the ambrosia filling her mouth mattered.
It slid inside, viscous and warm, hitting her tongue and—
Relief, decadence, ownership, Jackie.
The blood poured in, filling her mouth, then finally it spilled, dripping into her sore throat, instantly soothing it, and tamping down the starvation.
The body in her arms—Jackie, this was Jackie—leaned her head further to the side, putting more of her long neck on display. Shauna made a pleased noise and rubbed her back with slow, soothing strokes.
Through it all she sucked and sucked and sucked.
She wasn’t sure how long it took before she came back to herself. But when another painful, desperate moan bounced off the walls, she finally realized the sound came from Jackie. Then Jackie squeezed Shauna tighter, her moans endless, her body trying to squirm closer.
“Shauna?” Jackie whimpered, voice catching.
Shauna groaned. She bit down harder, clutched Jackie closer, drank faster. Then she made that noise again. The growl. It rolled out of her lips like a red carpet welcoming Jackie’s redder blood.
Jackie wiggled more, tugging on her flannel, and Shauna slid her hand down to Jackie’s ass, hoping to push her forward.
A loud BANG slammed against the bathroom door. Shauna ripped herself backward, wide eyes locking on the wood. Images of Jeff tearing Jackie away flashed through her mind. She pulled her lips back from her teeth, growling louder, ready to eviscerate anyone who got between them.
Whimpering echoed in the bathroom, and she whipped her head back to Jackie. She was clutching her neck, tears dripping down her cheeks. Another sharp cry rang out, and Shauna lunged forward. She wrapped Jackie in her arms, shushing her, relief washing through when Jackie instantly clung back.
“Oh!” a drunk guy chuckled on the other side of the door. “My bad, dude. I’ll find another.”
Shauna snarled, arms loosening to go fucking kill him for interrupting, but Jackie held her tighter.
“Shauna, it really hurts,” Jackie whined. “It didn’t hurt when you were doing it. Why does it hurt?”
It didn’t hurt when…
She darted her head down, mouth going back over the wound, teeth hidden.
Jackie cried out, then instantly slumped. Shauna pressed her against the wall, making small, encouraging sounds as she fed—sucking lightly, keeping her tongue slow and steady. Jackie’s fists tightened in the back of her flannel with every murmur. Finally, Shauna closed her eyes, feeling comfortable for the first time in three days.
Was Shauna going to live the next couple of weeks with her lips over Jackie’s neck until it healed?
…at least Jackie would always be close. Unable to escape.
Her thoughts cut off as she noticed the blood flow slow, then stop entirely. She furrowed her brow and considered tearing Jackie open again—but stopped herself, knowing instinctively any more would be too much. Instead, she licked away the last of the blood, and her eyes widened at feeling soft, smooth skin.
No marks?
But then she paused, realizing it didn’t matter that she hadn’t stamped herself on Jackie’s skin. She still had part of Jackie inside. It was hers, hers, hers. No one else’s. Not even Jackie anymore. Only Shauna’s. And even if she could, she wouldn’t give it back.
“What was that?” Jackie whispered, slumping into her, sounding exhausted.
Shauna pulled back, examining her. Eyes half-lidded, lips parted, body waving back and forth like a white flag trying to surrender.
She glanced at Jackie’s neck—clean of everything but Shauna’s spit.
Cradling her cheek, Shauna whispered, “You drank too much and got sick. I came in here to do best-friend duty and hold back your hair.”
Jackie’s eyes looked blearier than ever. “Oh… okay,” she said, leaning into her palm. “Thanks, Shipman.”
Shauna smiled, draping Jackie’s arm over her shoulder and helping her out of the bathroom. She didn’t look for Jeff to tell him they were leaving; she just carried Jackie to her car and carefully put her inside. Then she crouched in the open passenger doorway, tucking Jackie’s hair behind her ear—more soft affection for Jackie than ever blooming in her chest.
Jackie didn’t need to know what Shauna had become. Didn’t need to know how fucked up her urges were getting. Especially since Shauna knew she wouldn’t ever be able to wash the taste of her away. Even now, she wanted more. She wanted to drown in it.
But that’d mean losing Jackie.
Shauna glanced back at the house, studying the various moving bodies in the windows. Not half as good as Jackie, but necessary.
She’d drive Jackie home, tuck her in, and come back. Afterward, she’d hopefully be full so they could cuddle.
Only Jackie made her this feral—but somewhere around the second or third pull of her blood, Shauna realized she could never part from her now.
Jackie was hers, after all.
She even had a piece of her inside to prove it.