It had only been a few weeks ago when Rebecca Cross met her end at the hands of McKinley. Unable to save her in time Joan and Lyssa mourned the loss of the young girl on the eve of her 17th birthday. In those weeks since her death, Lyssa has vanished and no one has seen her since. Joan tried to live a more normal life, giving up vampire-slaying for good and getting a part-time job at a local bowling alley.
After being asked by Rooney to investigate a new vampire being in the small town of Thorndale Joan Miller got the surprise of her life as the vampire known as the blue lady turned out to be none other than Rebecca Cross. Something wasn't quite right though as Rebecca did not recognize them and attacked them drinking their blood causing them to pass out.
Joan shot up with a gasp. Her eyes darting around the park in search of her lost best friend. But she found she was alone. Well, almost alone.
"Ugh..." Rooney groaned as she sat up.
Joan flinched and turned to her.
"It was her, she's alive!" Joan said.
"Being a vampire is not the same thing as being alive." Rooney pointed out.
Joan quickly got back to her feet and dusted herself off. Rooney sighed and stood up too, mimicking Joan's movements.
"She's alive, I can't believe it." Joan laughed in excitement.
"Slow your roll there, there have been some slight complications."
"What?" Joan looked at her in confusion.
"First, why didn't she recognize us, or at least you. Second, why the heck did it take her so long to come back? Third, that was not Rebecca."
"Yeah it was, you saw her!" Joan got defensive.
"What I saw was a vampire beast consumed by blood lust. Joan, that thing isn't Rebecca. She's a monster. I don't think the change took all the way."
"I can't believe you."
"Joan I am just trying to protect you."
"No! You bring me out here, you make me see this, and now you are telling me oh sorry Joan. But we are going to have to kill her all over again? No! She's still in there. She's still my friend."
"You are letting your emotions blind you. She's not your friend anymore. She's a monster!"
"Then why didn't she kill us!? Why hasn't she killed anyone yet? She's not a monster. She's still in there. Maybe she didn't recognize me because I am dressed like this. Or maybe she just didn't get a good look."
"Or maybe, she's not all there."
"Maybe you don't want her to be back!" Joan spat.
"What!? Joan calm down, I never said—"
"No, because if she's back that ruins your plan to get me to rejoin the slayers. Ruins all that you've worked for. Well, I'm not going to let you kill her."
"She's a monster! Get a fucking grip. Rebecca being a vampire is a bad thing, it always was. That's why you tried to stop her from being changed, or don't you remember? This has nothing to do with how I feel about you. This is about the safety of the town. If that thing was Rebecca this would be different, but from what I could see. Rebecca wasn't in there Joan. That was just a walking shell of her. Your friend is still gone."
"Shut up! Just shut up. She's not! And I'll prove it to you."
"Where are you going!?" Rooney called after Joan as Joan stomped over to the cemetery.
Rooney sighed and grabbed her stuff before quickly following after Joan.
Joan ran up to the funeral home and grabbed a couple of shovels laying off to the side. She tossed one to Rooney who fumbled it before getting a good grip. Joan then wordlessly walked to the gravestone that read, Rebecca Laura Cross. There were fresh pansies as well as a panda bear made in the style of a sock monkey.
Joan paused in her mission and dropped the shovel. She kneeled down at the grave and grabbed the familiar panda bear. She hadn't visited the grave in over a week, she tried to come once a week at least. But last time she was here, the panda was not.
"Joan, please. Maybe we saw what we wanted to see. We could be wrong about this." Rooney tried.
"Lyssa was here," Joan said.
"What?"
"Lyssa has been by in the past week."
"Well, that brings up another good point, if Lyssa was here, how come she didn't notice Rebecca? Have you stopped to think about, what if we are wrong? Joan if you dig up this grave and we are wrong, not only will we get into a lot of trouble, but you will have to look at your friend's decaying body. Is that really want you want to see right now?"
"I have to Roo, I need to see it for myself. Even if I am wrong." Joan hugged the panda close before setting it and the flowers to the side.
"Hey, look at me," Rooney grabbed Joan by the shoulder, forcing Joan to meet her eyes. "Are you going to be okay? Either way, if we find out she's alive then what? What if she's not who she once was? What if you can't bring her back to her senses? Or worse, what if you're wrong and that wasn't her. Are you going to be okay with that?"
"I don't know," Joan sniffled as her eyes watered and she struggled to remain composed.
"Joan, maybe... maybe it's best if we don't know. We can just pretend this whole thing never happened. I won't say anything about it, you won't say anything about it. We can just go on with our lives. Wouldn't that be for the best?"
"I have to know Rooney. I have to. I failed her once, I won't do it again."
"No one blames you for what happened."
"I blame me! It's my fault she's dead. I have to do this. Please... try and understand." Joan's tears finally spilled over.
Rooney opened her mouth to say something, but Joan pulled away and grabbed the shovel jamming it into the ground and flinging up the first pile of dirt. Rooney sighed and watched as Joan began to dig in silence, her tears streaming down her face.
"Joan..."
"If you aren't going to help me dig, then leave." Joan spat.
Rooney shook her head and backed away; she began to walk to her car when she paused by the gate to the cemetery. She closed her eyes and thought about leaving Joan alone, then she banged her head against the gate.
"Damn it," She muttered under her breath.
She sighed then pulled out her phone, calling Darci.
"Hello?" Darci answered, half asleep.
"Hey, sorry to wake you up. Um, we have a bit of a situation. And by we, I mean Joan and me."
"Yeah, what's up?" Darci sat up in bed.
"Can you meet us out at the cemetery, at Rebecca's grave. Like now? And can you bring back up, with shovels?"
"Shovels?"
"You'll see when you get here."
"Okay, let me get up. I'll be there as fast as I can." She said.
"Thanks, Darci," Rooney sighed before hanging up.
Then she turned on heel and marched back over to Joan. Joan eyed her as Rooney picked up the shovel and started digging. In silence, the two continued to dig.
Darci, Mike, Aron, and Jaden all showed up about fifteen minutes later. They had ridden together in Darci's car. Jaden rolled his wheelchair over to Joan. He then turned to all his friends and eyed them in worry.
It was no secret to anyone that Joan had taken Bex's death the hardest. They were all very worried about her, anytime they tried to bring it up Joan would always shut them down. Joan wasn't the same. She closed off completely and pretended that she could just live a normal life if she tried hard enough.
They all knew she wasn't okay by any stretch of the word.
"Um... Joan. Whatcha doing here?" Darci asked.
"What does it look like." Joan huffed as she continued to dig.
"Why are you digging up Bex's grave?" Jaden asked.
"Because she is still alive." Joan shoved her shovel deeper into the ground.
"Joan... She's dead." Mike said softly.
"No, she's not. She's a vampire and she just drank my blood. Now stop standing around and help me dig."
"What? A vampire?" Aron said confused.
"There's a new vampire in town. I asked Joan to help me investigate. I didn't think it was a real lead. Anyway, a girl that looked a lot like Rebecca attacked us and drank our blood. The problem is, if it was Rebecca, she didn't recognize us. Meaning she might just be a mindless bloodthirsty monster." Rooney explained.
The group was silent for a moment, not sure how to handle this news.
"So Bex is alive?" Darci said in confusion.
"Yes," Joan said, but at the same time Rooney said,
"No."
Joan stopped and turned to Rooney.
"Joan, she's not the Rebecca you remember. What you are looking for, what you want, doesn't exist anymore. You are setting yourself up to be hurt and disappointed. Rebecca may be a vampire, but she's not alive. Not really. Not the Rebecca you know."
"Go."
"Joan."
"Leave! If you aren't going to help then leave me alone!" Joan shouted at her.
"Joan, calm down. She's just being realistic." Aron said.
"No, if there is even a small chance that Rebecca is still alive then I'm going to take it. Regardless of whether or not she remembers me." Joan kept digging.
"This is stupid! You are going to get yourself killed!" Rooney shouted.
Joan dropped her shovel and pushed Rooney.
"Joan stop!" Darci said.
Rooney pushed Joan back.
"It's not stupid!" Joan tackled Rooney to the ground.
The girls rolled around in the dirt and tried to fight the other off.
"Stop it!" Mike went in to pull Joan off.
Joan punched Rooney in the face, busting her nose. Rooney kicked Joan hard in the gut to push her off.
"Stop!" Darci cried.
Rooney got up and backed up, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.
Mike held Joan back as she thrashed around in his arms.
"She's still alive! Let me go! Stop it!" Joan cried out.
"She's not alive!" Rooney shouted.
Just then a blur appeared in front of her, punching her hard sending her flying back into another gravestone.
Everyone got deathly quiet.
Mike's jaw dropped in shock as Rebecca Cross appeared in front of him.
Joan's eyes got wide.
"Rebecca..." Joan said.
Bex looked at Mike with blazing red eyes, a look of fury on her face, fresh blood dripping down her chin and onto her dress. His heart raced in fear and adrenaline. He quickly dropped Joan and backed away.
Joan got up and went to her.
"Joan no!" Rooney warned.
Bex grabbed Joan by the throat and lifted her in the air. Joan grasped at Bex's hands and kicked her feet around helplessly.
"What are you doing to my grave?" Bex spat at her.
"Bex, it's me..." Joan choked out.
"She doesn't remember us..." Darci backed up.
"Bex..." Joan's face was turning blue.
Bex closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The scent of Joan's blood filling her nose. The sound of Joan's beating heart like music to her ears. Rooney got to her feet and ran in to save Joan, but to her surprise, Bex slowly set Joan back down. Joan gasped for air and coughed.
"Don't!" Joan held out her hand to Rooney to stop her from attacking.
"It's me Bex, Joan..." Joan walked closer to Bex.
Bex reached out her hand and touched Joan's cheek. Joan smiled and laughed lightly.
"I think she knows me," Joan said.
Bex wiped Joan tears and moved in even closer, her chest pressed against Joan's.
"Be careful Joan," Jaden warned.
"Bex, it's me. Do you know who I am?" Joan asked.
Rooney cautiously approached them from behind.
"Joan?" Bex narrowed her eyes.
Joan nodded.
"We were friends, remember?" Joan pushed.
Bex shook her head no.
"That's okay, I want to help you. I will help you remember."
"Help me?"
Joan nodded.
Joan's heart raced of Bex got even closer, her bloody lips only an inch away from Joan's lips. Bex wasn't breathing, and her skin was ice cold, but she could feel Joan warm puffs of breath on her skin. She could hear Joan's blood pumping through her veins. Smell the sweet scent of blood as it called to her.
"Help me," Bex said again, this time in a whispered plea.
Rooney watched as Bex opened her mouth wider, her fangs glinting in the moonlight. Whereas Joan as leaning in for a kiss, Bex was leaning in for blood.
"Get away from her!" Rooney grabbed a silver knife out of her boot and stabbed it into Bex's back.
Bex cried out in pain and fell to her knees.
"What did you do!?" Joan looked at Rooney.
Bex hissed at her before running off into the night.
"Rooney!? What the fuck!?" Joan pushed her.
"She was about to attack you again."
"No, she wasn't!"
"Yes, she was! I saw her. If she drank your blood again, you would die. It would your funeral we would be at next."
"No! Look at what you did. She's gone now! She's hurt. Look what you did."
"Joan."
"Get away from me!" Joan pushed Rooney away.
"I was just trying to help!"
"Fuck you!"
"Joan calm down." Mike tried.
"She's alive..." Darci said in shock.
"Oh boy, just when I thought it was over." Aron sighed.
"She'll come back," Jaden said.
Joan turned to him, trying her best not to burst into a fit of tears.
"W-what?" Joan said.
"She'll come back. She has to, right? So, we wait." Jaden said.
"What exactly is the plan here? Wait and then what? Get mauled to death, no thanks." Aron said.
"Exactly. She's dangerous. She's not Rebecca, not the one you know." Rooney said.
"I don't care! We are going to help her." Joan snapped at her.
"How?" Darci asked.
"We make her remember. She remembered me; I know she did. I could see it in her eyes. If we dig up her coffin, I put a picture of us together in there. If I can show it to her, maybe she'll remember."
"Joan what you want is impossible! Snap out of it!"
"Leave, I don't want you here."
"Fine! I will, but you better hurry up and dig because when I come back, I won't be unarmed or alone." Rooney turned and stomped away.
Joan watched her go.
There was a moment of silence before Joan wiped her eyes and quickly went back to digging. Mike sighed before grabbing a shovel and digging too. Darci looked at Jaden then Aron. Before Darci and Aron moved to help. Jaden rolled his wheelchair over to a pile of dirt, he got a shovel and began to move it out of the way, making a pathway for them to get the coffin out.
"What do we do after we get the coffin out?" Mike asked.
"We wait. We are going to stake-out this place until she comes back. She'll come back. She has to."
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