//------------------------------// // Out of the Bag // Story: My Roommate Is Onto Me // by AGhost //------------------------------// Octy breathed heavily in and out of the paper bag I’d found for her, her shoulders hunching back and forth with each breath. "Octy, you're gonna pass out if you keep hyperventilating like that." "Who's hyperventilating? I'm not hyperventilating, are you suggesting that I am? Because I'm not! I'm not!" Oh, no. You're tooootally calm. "I don't see what's the big deal. Your mom just wants to take you to dinner—" "But it's not only Mother, Vinyl!” she shrieked back, dropping the bag slightly. "It's her, and Father, and they want you there as well!" Me, too? Awesome! Free meal! "Aw sa-weet! Where are we going? Do they have hay fries there?" She slammed her head down on the table. “Ow.” "How did she know we moved in together?" I asked picking up the letter and studying it. Suddenly, Octy grabbed my face in her hooves and pulled me towards her. "Mother knows everything,” she whispered harshly. Her eye twitched slightly. Okaaaaay, somepony needs to calm down. "Don't you worry your pretty little head," I said patting the top of her mane and smiling at her. "Your Auntie Vinyl Scratch's got it all taken care of!" My stomach growled. Woah, with all the exciting tree-carrying related action I did today, I must’ve forgotten to eat. I noticed that there were already some celery sticks out on a plate on the counter, so I opened the cupboard and levitated out a jar of peanut butter. No problem. We’ll meet her parents at this dinner thing, I’ll “wow” them with my awesomeness, and we’ll get out of there lickety-split. Taking a knife out and spreading the peanut butter on one of the celery pieces, I levitated it up and began to chow down. I glanced over at Octy and saw she was looking at me. "You want some?" I offered grinning. She stared back at me, looking pretty of out of it. I swallowed and frowned. "Octy? You look kinda stressed." "A little,” she sighed, nodding in agreement. “Just trying to think about how I'm going to get my mum to like you is all." "Quit your worrying. She'll love me! I'm the life of a party!" I bragged putting a hoof to my chest and puffing it out. She smiled. "That's what I'm afraid of.” I was about to pick up another piece of celery when she continued. "Vinyl?" "Yeah?" "The other day, when you said you had to run an errand…" She said slowly. Crap. "Yeah. So what?" Relax, it might be nothing. "You lied to me, didn't you?" Silence. What the hell was I supposed to say? "Octy—" "I know where you went." "I can explain." "Can you?" She turned to face me. "Please do. Do explain, Vinyl." Lie. "I was visiting... a friend." "Liar," she snapped at me. "The Canterlot Hematology branch! What were you doing there?" What?! How could she know… I furrowed my brow. "You've been spying on me." Octy just continued to stare at me, her expression demanding answers. She wasn’t messing around. "Fine. I'll tell you." Lie better. "I was getting the results for a blood test. That's all." "Why? Are you ill?" I sighed and bit my lip, trying to figure out where I was going with this. "I'm an albino." "You're a what?" "An albino," I mumbled looking at the floor. "I can't go out in the sun cause my eyes are sensitive and my coat sunburns easily." Good. That’s believable. "And what about garlic?" she asked a little quieter. I looked back up at her to see her reach inside one of the kitchen drawers. Crap, she knows she knows she- Calm down. Keep your cool and lie your way out of this and she’ll never ask about any of it again. "What?" "Garlic. You wouldn't eat any of my pasta." "Octy, I just really hate garlic! Is that so hard to believe?" I defensively sputtered back at her, feeling a bead of sweat roll down my forehead. My disguise was slipping. "What's with the third degree anyways?" "Vinyl, you don't look so good." She reached a hoof towards me, wet with… something. It smelled terrible, whatever it was. I stumbled backwards a little, fearing what it could be. "Are you sick?" "N-No!" She pressed it against my head and I felt it slowly burning the fur underneath. The sensation gave me a feeling of déjà vu. Garlic! It has to be garlic! What happens if I get too much on me? Hopefully my fur doesn’t catch fire or something cause that’ll be hard to explain… I tried to hold back, but I couldn’t help wincing from the pain. "Your temperature seems normal," she said, still pressing against my head. "So what you're telling me is that all of this secrecy is just to hide the fact… that you have a skin condition?" She practically growled the last part of her sentence. I was starting to get a little freaked now. I hadn't prepared for this. I hadn't taken any precautions. What was I supposed to do now? Keep lying. "… I guess." "You should have just told me." She believed me? Awesome, good, this is good. I frowned at her, keeping up my charade. "Sorry. Didn't know it meant so much to you." Come on. Come oooooon… Let it go, Octy… Then she snorted. And started to laugh. I looked at her blankly. This… wasn’t what I was expecting. "What?" She laughed and laughed, rubbing her eye with a hoof. Finally the laughter slowed to the point where she could get a sentence out. "Can you imagine, all this time, I thought you were a vampire?" My jaw dropped. I'd been right. She had been onto me! Laugh, Vinyl, laugh with her. You’re home free. Just laugh. You find it funny! It’s a ridiculous idea! You! A Vampire! I started to laugh along with her, hoping I didn’t sound too guilty. "That's, heh, that's really funny, Octy. I told you you were way into those vampire novels." Great. Now get out of there. I started to turn around to leave, but Octy narrowed her eyes. "So if you're not a vampire, then I have to ask…" She bucked the fridge door open. Two blood bags fell onto the floor. "What are these for?!" You could hear a pin drop. I stared at them. My thoughts traveled at a million miles a second. Wait, I only put one bag in there how are there two what do I say holy crap I’m so screwed what do I how do I- I remembered the holiday coming up that would be a perfect excuse for this. Realizing that I’d been holding my breath, I sucked in air and formulated my next sentence. "Octy, it's just pomegranate juice." Her eyes bulged. "You've got to be joking." I laughed and picked the blood bags up. "Nightmare Night? It's this week. Remember? I thought you'd like it." "Oh, well that explains it then." Get outta there. "Now will you let this all go?" I asked, putting them back in the fridge. Alright, I’ll come back later and take them out. Right now, I just- "Wait.” I froze and swore in my head as I slowly turned my head back to her. "How about you and me share one, right now?" No… no no no NO NO NO! "Uh, y' know Octy, it wouldn't make very much sense—" "C'mon, let's just have a sip." "Err, I'm not really that thirsty anymore..." "Vinyl, open it." It wasn't a question. I swallowed hard. There was no way to get out of this. I walked back over to the fridge, took out one of the bags, and poked it with a straw. Taking a sip, I tried to grin as I felt sweat drip down the back of my neck. "Mmm," I murmured around the straw as I gulped the thick liquid. "Tastes delicious." "Really? Let me try." She reached for the bag, but I pulled it away from her. "No!” Easy, Vinyl. “I mean, no, Octy, this actually tastes really awful. You wouldn't like it—" She grabbed it from me "Octy, no, don't!" I watched in horror as she put her mouth to the straw and took a sip. After a few seconds, her eyes widened and she spit it out, tossing the bag onto the floor and screaming. She went to the kitchen sink and coughed up the rest into it, choking and gagging from the taste. The smell filled my nostrils, the blood already in my mouth only fanning the flame. I could hear the beast inside screaming at me. Blood. You need blood. Kill her! No! Stay away from her! Get out of the room! I turned away from her and put my hooves on my head, trying to calm the voices. Kill her! Drink from her! Get out of there! Shut up, shut up! I clenched my eyes shut. My head hurt. I was so thirsty. Drenched in sweat. Confused as hell. I didn’t know what to do. What could I do? Kill! Run! Drink! Get out! Stop it! I could feel myself changing. I was losing control. I had to stay calm or I would lose myself completely. I tried to count to ten, as I did in situations like these. One… two… Kill! Run! Th-three… four… fi- KILL! RUN! KILL! RUN! SHUT UUUUUP! I screamed. _________________________________________________________________________ Stuff was so much simpler half a year ago. I opened the door to the club’s office to let myself out. “Thanks again,” I said, stuffing the envelope into my saddlebag. “You know you don’t have to thank me every single time for your paycheck, Vinyl,” the graying stallion behind the desk said, puffing on his cigar. “I know, but it’s nice. I like being nice. You want me to be ‘not nice?’” I asked grinning at him. He shook his head. “Nooo thanks. I’ve seen you ‘not nice,’ and it nearly put those two muggers in the hospital,” he said putting up his hooves defensively. “Honestly, Vinyl, they were unarmed, too. You didn’t have to destroy half of my bar stools just to detain them. Don’t even understand how a little thing like you is so damn strong...” “Hey, I was being responsible! There were other ponies in the club and I didn’t want any of them getting hurt,” I pouted as I turned the doorknob and began to walk out. I stuck my head back in. “And I’ve been working out, thanks for noticing! Mares dig a chick that can help them move. Aaand to help em’ ‘move.’” I brought an arm into view and flexed for emphasis. “Yeah, yeah, just do it on your own time,” he laughed shaking his head. I shut the door behind me and made my way through the dance floor to the exit, as I usually did. The club was bangin’ tonight and tons of sweaty, mostly intoxicated mares and colts danced the night away to the beats the current DJ was spinning. I looked across the floor at the bar mare, whose name I couldn’t remember. I’d asked what her name was dozens of times, but forgot it. Every. Damn. Time. I couldn’t keep asking her, so I just never addressed her by it. I just called her Bar Mare, at least in my head. She had bright red fur and an orange mane, her cutie mark showing a martini shaker, a rocks glass, and shot glass. Definitely one of the more intricate cutie marks I'd seen. It was a drink name. I know it was a drink name. Appletini? Chocolatini? Cosmopolitan? Bloody Mary? Naw, I think I’d remember if her name was Bloody Mary. Those things rock. Bar Mare was washing some glasses nervously, not daring to look up at the few customers that sat in front of her. That’s when I first noticed the grey Earth pony sitting at the bar. Her jet black mane was perfectly smoothed down, a pink scarf neatly folded on the bar next to her empty glass. She wore a little pink bowtie around her neck. This mare seemed so out of place sitting in the dark club, like a daisy growing in a garbage can. She stared solemnly down into her glass, looking totally exhausted as three tough looking stallions talked to her. Well, not “to” her. More “at” her as she didn’t turn around to address them. It didn’t look good, that’s for sure. One of the advantages to the whole vampire thing was my awesome hearing. Even though there was an enchantment around the bar area so sound was harder to move through, (much more convenient for ordering drinks and stuff when music wasn't blaring in your ears,) I’d be able to hear anything I wanted. My ears twitched as I picked up on their conversation from across the room. “Please… juss leamme alun,” the mare slurred. The one with blue fur laughed heartily. “What was that? I think you’ve had a little too much to drink, girlie.” “You’re quite far from Canterlot, little filly,” I heard one of them say as I came closer. “Pretty thing like you could meet a lot of bad ponies out here.” “Yeah,” the one with brown fur commented, petting her mane downward. “There are some real bad ponies out-“ The grey mare swatted his hoof off of her. “Pleaz,” she begged, “I don-“ “Hey, don’t touch me, you little-!” he yelled, giving her a shove. It knocked her stool off balance and she fell to the ground, the stool clanking beside her. I clenched my jaw and broke into a stride. The three idiots formed a circle around her. The one that had shoved her spoke down to her as she tried to get back on her hooves. “Now why don’t you be a good girl, huh?” He extended a hoof towards her. He didn’t reach her. I grabbed his hoof and held it in place. “Come on, man,” I said shaking my head. “You really think this is how you get a mare to like you? What are we? Five year olds on a playground or something?” The big idiot laughed at me. “You best stay out of this, Spikey,” he said getting close to my face. His breath reeked of cider and cigarette smoke. “This isn’t any business of yooooooOOOW OW OOOOOW!” I’d twisted his hoof around and pressed it hard against his back, pushing him onto the floor. His face pressed into the hardwood floor as I pinned him there. I grinned down at him. “Oh, it’s my business alright,” I chuckled. “You made it ‘my business’ when you decided to pick on a defenseless mare.” My face suddenly darkened as I pulled him up and slammed his face back down into the floor. “Thugs like you make me sick. Alcohol is no excuse to let all your stupid come out to play.” His two buddies just stood there in shock, staring with wide eyes. “Goddesses damn you, you- AHHH!“ I twisted his arm upwards. “You son of a-“ He screamed as I punched him in the back of the head with my other hoof. “You know, I’m no brain surgeon or anything, but it might not be the best idea to insult the mare pinning you to the frickin’ floor,” I said raising an eyebrow. “But what do I know? Please, continue if you must. Tonight’s my night off and I’ve got nowhere to be.” “Help me, you IDIOTS!” he wailed at the two stallions who had remained frozen in place during all of this. “H-hey, yeah,” the one with the black fur and white mane said nodding. “We… we’re still bigger than her!” And heeeeeere we go. Black Fur stepped in front of me and tried to throw a punch at my face, but I craned my neck out of the way, grabbed his hoof with both of mine as it whizzed past my head, and flipped him over my shoulder. He fell on his back with a crash as the third stallion, (I named him Blue Unicorn,) levitated a bar stool to slam into me. I dodged it, grabbed it in my own magic, and threw it right back at him, smacking him in the face and causing him to hit his head on the bar before slumping to the ground. The brown stallion was trying to crawl his way to the door, but even walking at my slowest pace, I was way faster than him. I walked over, picked him up by the back of his neck, and held him in front of the grey mare. “Now, I think you have an apology to make,” I said holding him with one hoof as his legs dangled on the ground underneath him. “Like hell!” he laughed. I shook him back and forth like a rag doll and then brought him to my eye level, my face deadly serious. “Look, there are two ways this is gonna go,” I said, my horn glowing as I let go of him. He fell to the floor and then flew back up in front of me as I held him with magic. “One…” I punched him in the nose, talking a little louder so I could be heard over his wails. “… you’re gonna apologize to this young mare for being a total asshole and I’ll let you crawl out of here with none of your limbs broken. Or two…” I punched him again. “… I keep punching until the bar closes in… uhhh…” I yelled to Bar Mare, who was ducked down behind the bar. “Hey, how long until the bar closes?” “About four hours,” she said peaking her head above it for a brief second before ducking back down again. “Thanks!” I yelled back to her, then looked back at the dude I was levitating. “… four hours. I’ll keep punching until the bar closes in four hours. So... what’s it gonna be, buddy?” I dropped him from my magical grip and caught him by the back of his neck with the same hoof that held him before. “I-I-I’m sorry! I’m SORRY!” he stuttered as I held him in front of the grey mare. “Are you really, really sorry?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Y-YEAH! O-oh yeah, I’m really, REALLY sorry!” he yelled desperately. “Cool,” I said tossing him towards the door. “Now you three better beat it before I change my mind.” The three thugs stumbled, crawled, and limped out the door as fast as they could, the door shutting behind them. I heard one of them mutter “What a freak!” under their breath as they scurried out. I looked back at the crowd on the dance floor. Everypony was still dancing. Nopony was even looking at us. Geez. Must be some great cider they’re serving tonight if none of them even noticed us. Thank the Goddesses for noise-cancelling spells. I glanced down at the grey mare on the ground, who looked like she might burst into tears at any moment. I leaned down, extending a hoof to her. “Are you okay, miss?” I asked, smiling. She stared up at me with those wide eyes, then rubbed them with a hoof. “… I… why, y-yes… I’b alright, thankoo,” she slurred accepting my hoof. She tried to pull herself up, but toppled over. I snaked my hooves under her arms and held her to me, catching her before she fell. “Woah there, I gotcha,” I said. Our chests pressed together as I lifted her up and helped her sit on another stool. “Now, what’s your name? You got anypony I can call to come get you?” “Umm… I… neh, neh…” she said rubbing the side of her head. “Soooo that’s a no?” “… Skarnf…” “Sorry, wah?” I asked raising an eyebrow. “Meh skarnf… issit okay?” This is gonna be a long night. _________________________________________________________________________ "Vinyl Scratch… I love you." What… That was... Where’d Octy's voice come from? Everything was hazy. Dark and hazy. I didn’t know where I was or what was going on. Just then, I started to see a little light forming in my vision. I was beginning to see more and more as the world came back to me. I was seeing colors and shapes and… I was kissing Octy. I was… kissing Octy. What the hell kind of lottery did I win? My heart struggled to keep up with my body as our lips pressed together. Her eyes were shut as she leaned up to kiss me, quite passionately I might add. Finally the kiss broke and I stared down at her, my mouth agape, trying to piece together what had happened. I was on top of her, pinning her to a bed. My shades weren’t on my face anymore. My left eye felt sore and my head was pounding like crazy. "O-Octy?" "Oh Vinyl," she said woozily. "You're back to normal..." Back to normal? What does she- Her hoof had a gash on it. There were bite marks on her neck. I tasted blood in my mouth and gasped in horror. Her blood. "Octy!" "Oh yes, I think I might have been bitten by this beautiful mare," she explained deliriously. "Would you mind grabbing some bandages?" "Hold on! I'll save you!" "Oh yesh, jus' some antiseptic. I'd hate for it to get...infected...I think I'm gonna pass out now, if you'll excuse me..." I galloped over to the medicine cabinet, opened it, grabbed everything I’d need, and rushed back to her. Dampening a cloth with hydrogen peroxide, I pressed it to her neck. Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit. That’s all I could say over and over in my head. I couldn’t stop to think of creative curses; I had to make sure Octy was okay. “Octy? Octy, can you hear me?" No response. "Octavia! Octavia, please!” Still nothing. I took the roll of bandages and gently wrapped it around her neck, covering the newly disinfected wound. I took the rag and repeated the process on her hoof, cursing myself. I was Clean Up Crew for The Inner Circle, but I never dreamed I’d have to be Clean Up Crew for myself. I felt like total crap. Worse than total crap. Picking her up in my arms, I brought her further up on the bed and set her down so she could rest her head on the pillow. I picked up the damp washcloth I’d taken from the bathroom and placed it on her forehead, beginning to feel the tears run down my cheeks. How could I let this happen? I'm so weak... You’re so weak, Vinyl! I looked around the room to see what other damage had been done. A vanity mirror lay on the ground near the door, smashed to pieces. I owed her a new one. Her door had been completely ripped off its hinges and now laid on the ground in front of the frame. I’d get her a new door, too. Her closet door looked pretty banged up, the handle sort of dangling from it. Not to mention the blood stains we’d have to get out of her comforter. Hell, I guess I just owed her a new room. Looking back over at Octy, I ran a hoof down her cheek. With her eyes shut and her face relaxed, she was starting to look like her old self again. She looked so peaceful. Well, she would've looked peaceful if not for the bandages wrapped around her neck and hoof. They kept reminding me of how she looked a few minutes ago, so I couldn't focus on how she looked now. I didn’t deserve to be near her. I got off the bed and sat in the corner of the room, tucking my knees into my chest. She could’ve died. I could’ve killed her. I was going to kill her… I couldn’t remember anything. It was like I’d blacked out after Octy had spit out the blood into the sink. Couldn’t remember anything after that. I wondered how long it’d been since then, but I couldn’t go find a clock then. I couldn’t do much of anything except sit in that corner and bawl my eyes out. How could I face her again? How could I speak to her after what I’d done? What would she do when she woke up? Would she gather an angry mob to beat down my door? “What’ve I done? … What’ve I dooo-huh-huuuuuuun?” I sobbed into my arm, feeling the fur getting wetter by the second. I’d have to move away. Far away. I couldn’t let The Inner Circle know that she knew. Would she keep my secret? If I promised to leave and never bother her again? I got an empty feeling inside me thinking of living life without Octy. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. Guess you should’ve thought of that before you tried to murder her. I felt sick and miserable and worried and ashamed all at once. I’d never felt so terrible before. One instance came close to feeling this shitty, but it couldn’t even compare to what I was feeling at that moment. I wished I’d never met her. I wished that I wasn’t in the club that night. That somepony else had saved her instead of me. That I would just continue to think that all Canterlot ponies are snooty and rude. That way, I never would’ve hurt her. That way… I wouldn’t have to feel what life is like without her. "Vinyl?... Vinyl, are you alright?" Her voice was no more than a whisper. I slowly turned to face her. Octy was still lying down on the bed. She looked back at me with an exhausted, but curious look on her face. My eyes wandered to her neck bandage. Am I alright? Am I alright!? "No! I'm not alright, Octy! I just bit my best friend!" There was silence for a few seconds while I let out a few more sobs into my arm. "Am I vampire now?" she asked cautiously. I sniffed and shook my head. "No…” B-but… but now… now… “But now my best friend hates me!" "Vinyl, I don't hate you!" she said, sitting up. "I just lost control!" I continued, sniffing. "I tasted the blood and I thought of you, and how… how delicious you tasted and I was so thirsty!" More sobbing. "You know Vinyl, I would have let you bite me sooner if you really needed a drink," she quietly joked, grinning at me. Though she was trying to lighten the mood, I couldn’t let myself off the hook that easily. "I just snapped you know?" "I understand." "I mean, your best friend's trying to kill you—" "Hey, I wasn't trying to kill you per se..." "I'm a monste-he-he-herrr!" I sobbed, burying my face into my arm yet again. "No! No Vinyl Scratch, don't say that!" she snapped. I heard the bed creak softly as she stood up. I’m a monster trying to fit in with normal ponies. What am I even doing? I glanced up to see her lying next to me on the floor. I flinched and scooted my back as far into the corner as I could. Then she slapped me. In the face. Octy slapped me in the face. Wow, 6 months. That’s gotta be some sort of new record. Only takes most mares one or two months to slap me. I looked at her, my mouth slightly agape, totally stunned. "Ow, Octy, that kinda hu—" She slapped me again. "I think you've made your point," I sniffed, rubbing my cheek. One more slap. I gritted my teeth and touched my stinging face. Should’ve seen that coming… "Repeat after me, Vinyl Scratch. You are not a monster." "I'm…” I shuddered, trying to get the sentence out, "… not a monster." "Good." She smiled at me. That beautiful, wonderful smile. The smile I’d almost taken out of existence forever. My eyes welled up with tears again. "I'm just an awful best frie-he-he-heeend!" I buried my face back into my hooves. I expected her to agree. For her to say “Yes, Vinyl, you are an awful friend and you should vacate the premises immediately before I call the authorities.” She should hate me. She should never want to speak to me again. I slowly lifted my head to look at her; Octy’s face was sympathetic, her eyes gentle. "Come here,” she said softly as she wrapped her hooves around me and pulled me into her embrace. She kissed my cheek and stroked my mane, soothing me with soft shushes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I sobbed over and over, resting my head against her shoulder. "I'm sorry..." She squeezed me. We were so close. It was so warm. And I was so tired. I felt myself starting to drift off to sleep, my eyelids drooping. "...'m sorry," I mumbled one last time. "I know,” I heard her say before I nodded off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author's Note: Hey, dudes, hope you're having an awesome night/morning/whatever :) Just wanted to say sorry if the flashback formatting confused you at all. I wanted to have it all be in italics, but with the amount of dialogue being said and how some things had to be italicized and blah blah, I figured I'd just keep it like the way it appears. Easier on the eyes this way, too. Not a fan of reading tons of italicized stuff. Anyways, that's all I have to say. Peace.