Bex found Lyssa laying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“You okay?” Bex crawled into bed next to her.

“It’s been so long since I’ve felt warm, or full, or tasted anything. Today is the best gift I could have ever received. Thank you, Rebecca, for experiencing it with me,” Lyssa pulled Bex into her arms.

“I’m glad I could,” Bex nuzzled into Lyssa’s chest.

“Now I know what it feels like to be drunk,” Lyssa slurred.

Bex giggled.

Lyssa held her tighter and sniffled.

“Lyssa?”

“Don’t… don’t ever leave me again,” Lyssa whimpered.

“What do you mean?”

“Stay, Elizabeth, stay.”

Bex turned to look Lyssa in the eyes, her brows scrunched together in confusion.

“How drunk are you exactly?” Bex asked.

Lyssa kissed her softly on the lips before nuzzling close to Bex, remaining silent until she fell asleep. Bex felt a deep dread. Still, she held Lyssa in her arms and thought about what Lyssa had said until she fell asleep.

Her sleep was restless and, in her dream, when she leaned in to kiss Lyssa, Lyssa called her Elizabeth. She had only been asleep a couple of hours before she woke up. She laid in bed and watched the sunset. Lyssa was still asleep so Bex just cuddled up next to her.

She recoiled back when she felt how cold the vampire was. She put her ear on Lyssa’s back and listened, she didn’t hear anything.

“Lyssa!” Bex shook her.

Lyssa opened her eyes.

“Oh, you scared me. I thought you were dead,” Bex sighed in relief.

Lyssa sat up and looked down at her body. She once again felt cold. Felt nothing but the desire for blood and endless numbness. She sighed in disappointment.

“I am dead Rebecca,” Lyssa whispered the admission.

Bex frowned at her and placed her hand on top of Lyssa’s to comfort her.

“I suppose it was too good to last. It was nice though, to be a human again. Even if just for a day.”

“What do you think caused it? Maybe we can do it again,” Bex said to cheer her up.

“Perhaps… Yes, let us look into it.”

They headed down to the basement where Lyssa kept all of her relevant vampire historical text. Many books were already pulled aside about blood bonds and human vampire interaction.

“You scan these, and I shall look into those,” Lyssa indicated to a pile of books that she wanted Bex to look into.

So, they sat in silence and flipped through pages.

Bex’s took in all she could about Blood bonds. One particular thing stuck out to her. According to the text,

A vampire’s saliva secretes endorphins during blood-drinking which stimulates the part of your brain that causes pleasure. Often the pleasure is so intense that it can trigger orgasmic reactions. This is the most intimate and deepest form of pleasure that a vampire and a human can experience together.

“No wonder,” Bex muttered to herself.

She switched books and tried to focus harder, looking into how vampires experience the blood bond. She found more interesting info. According to this book, Vampire saliva also secretes identifying markers into the human host. These markers cause the human to produce a smell that wards off other vampires and warns them that the human is already taken. The smell is intoxicating to the vampire who marks them.

Bex made a face and glanced over to Lyssa who was deep in reading. Then she casually brought her arms to her face and smelt herself. She didn’t smell anything. She sighed and looked back at the book. The thought of being foul-smelling made her uncomfortable.

She read on.

A vampire who attempts to make a blood bond with a human who already has an existing bond should be wary. The conflicting markers in the human's blood often cause the human to get very ill and, in most cases, brings early death. Bex shuddered at the thought of it.

“Here!” Lyssa declared.

“You found something?” Bex set her book down.

“Look,” Lyssa was by her side in a flash.

“Some vampires possess or develop a rare ability known as energy feeding. While drinking human blood the vampire may not be drinking to fill the need for hunger but rather would be drinking to experience old human desires. In rare cases, the vampire can do what is called energy feeding. The vampire isn’t filling up on blood, but rather, drinking and filling up on the human’s natural life energy. Once the vampire has had their fill in very rare cases the vampire's body will start to behave and function as if they were human again. The effects are only temporary and can be harmful as it leaves the vampire open to attack,” Lyssa finished.

Bex yanked the book from her and read on.

“Energy Feeding is very strenuous on the human. If done in a quick session could even cause permanent and harmful damage such as paralysis, respiratory damage, and brittle bones! In some cases, death has occurred! Lyssa!” Bex looked at her.

“In my defense, I had no idea I was even doing it. Plus, you wanted it,” Lyssa said.

“I didn’t know it was killing me!”

“Well neither did I, now we know and can be more careful.”

Bex slammed the book shut and ran her hand down her face.

“Can you just take me home?” Bex grumbled.

Lyssa frowned.

“Please Lyssa I’m exhausted, and I am probably going to be grounded until I’m 30.”

“Very well, I shall take you home.”

Bex cringed when she could feel Lyssa’s heartache.

Lyssa scooped Bex up in her arms and ran her home as usual.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Lyssa asked.

Bex gave a tight nod and tensed up when Lyssa leaned in and kissed her. Lyssa pulled back with a confused expression having felt Bex’s apprehension. Without a word, Bex kissed her on the cheek and ran inside her house. Lyssa frowned but turned and left.

“There you are!” Bex's mom fumed.

“Look mom I’m sorry. I know what I did was wrong.”

“We were worried sick we thought you ran away with that Lyssa girl,” Her dad said.

“I didn’t run away with anyone.”

“You are forbidden from seeing her again do you hear me! She is a bad influence on you.”

“Okay,” Bex nodded.

“Okay?” Her dad said confused.

“I uh… think I’m going to break up with her,” Bex avoided their gaze.

“Break up?” Abby butted in from the living room.

“Things are moving really fast between us, and I just-- I don’t think I am ready for that stuff yet. I think I am going to tell her tomorrow that I want to be just friends,” Bex kicked at the ground.

Her parents shared a worried look.

“Are you sure?” Her mom asked suddenly worried for her daughter, it was not like Bex to give in so easily on things like this.

Bex nodded.

“She didn’t hurt you or anything did she?” Her dad asked.

“No dad, she didn’t. This is just something I decided on my own. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m exhausted,” She ran upstairs.

In her room, Bex sighed and collapsed on her bed. She reached for her phone to tell Joan she was okay and home but then she found it missing. She sat up and tried to remember where she had it last. She sighed when she realized it was probably still in Lyssa’s room.

With a final sigh, she closed her eyes and fell back on her bed, letting sleep take her.