Six feet under

Throughout the years Lawrence had considered all the way he could potentially die and mentally listed them in an order of preference. At the top, was being decapitated. It was quick and painless. At the bottom was being bit by a werewolf. He had watched a few vampires die from wolf bites, and it was never pretty. Losing your mind whilst you slowly die. He would rather have ended his own life than wait for the hallucinations and voices. That is what terrified him the most, and he knew even if he flipped the humanity switch it wouldn't change the outcome. It would just take away the fear of dying.

He was one step away from doing that when his mind came up with a solution. Teddy. He was certain he had heard that siphoners can draw the venom out, but he had never seen it happen, but then again siphoners were rare. It could have been a myth, but at that moment Lawrence was desperate.

Since that night, where he helped Teddy to kill various members of his coven the pair grew close. The vampire was hesitant to trust a warlock, but Teddy proved he was one of the good guys, so eventually Lawrence let him into his life, and Teddy did the same for him. The pair had grown closer ever since, and if there was anyone who was going to help Lawrence right now it was his best friend Teddy, and even if his idea to siphoner the venom out did work at least he would with his best friend with him when he took his last breath, and hopefully it would make the whole dying process less scary if he wasn't doing it alone.

If only Teddy's grandmother would let him in the apartment. He didn't care that she was a sweet innocent old lady, she was stopping him from potentially being saved. As he sat lay on the floor, slightly propped up against the wall, he started to think of ways to kill the woman. If she was dead, he wouldn't need an invitation to enter the apartment, but then Teddy would never help him if Lawrence butchered his grandmother. Or, he could just crawl back home and die on the floor of his apartment. Either way, it wasn't looking good for the vampire.

Lawrence turned slightly as he heard another door open, and he squinted slightly as someone was heading towards him. Was that Teddy? His vision was a little blurry, but it looked like him. He recognized the bouncing curls. He pushed himself up slightly as Teddy approached him.

“Can you move? Here, let me get you up,” Lawrence accepted Teddy's offer and drove himself to his feet with the help of his friend. He took a deep breath as the veins beneath his eyes faded away. "I need your help... wait a minute" Lawrence's frowned a little, looking at Teddy, but it wasn't Teddy anymore. It was his father. He pushed the siphoner away, albeit it was a weak push. "Why the fuck are you helping me?!" Lawrence exclaimed, almost yelling at Teddy, as the veins crept back under his eyes again, "This is your fault. You and mom! You fucking did this to me... This is your fault" He held out his bitten arm, glancing down at it for a second. For a moment, he thought it had healed. He blinked hard. The bite was still there. He lowered his arm and looked back up. His father was gone, and Teddy was stood in front of him. The veins disappearing quickly.

"Oh shit... oh shit" Lawrence was panicking now, as he ran his fingers through his hair, "It's happening. The hallucinations have started... fuck... I'm so sorry" He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He spun around and sped off into Teddy's apartment in a blur. "Julian's not here is he?" He called out once inside. The kid didn't need to see this. He was in Teddy's kitchen, rummaging through the drawers. "Here we go!" He pulled a large sharp knife out the drawer, beads of sweat collecting on his forehead, "I need to carve this bite out, it's gonna make me crazy... like actually crazy" He placed his arm on Teddy's counter top, placing the knife at the top of the cut. This was going to test his pain threshold. "Can you grab me some towels?" It was clear Lawrence wasn't thinking straight, but he was getting increasingly paranoid. He thought if he could cut the bite out, the hallucinations would stop.

TEDDY AARONSON

From the moment he realized it wasn't his father he had just turned on, but Teddy, Lawrence felt immediate guilt. Dread washed over him, worrying his friend wasn't safe with him in his current state of mind. He would never forgive himself for hurting his best friend, and never wanted to do anything to break the trust he had built with Teddy.

As he stood in Teddy's kitchen he had almost forgotten why he had come there in the first place, he was so concerned with the hallucinations and insanity creeping upon him. Either way, it was clear his friend wasn't going to help carve the bite out of his arm, which almost annoyed Lawrence. Teddy held Lawrence's arm out, stopping him from using the knife. He frowned slightly, "I'm not chopping my arm off. I'm cutting the bite out, and I'll heal" He thought like it was obvious, but it wasn't. Lawrence just looked like a mad man with a knife. He sighed as he gave into Teddy's actions, allowing him to push the knife away. He had no energy to fight back at this point.

Realizing he was holding a knife, with an unstable mind, he quickly threw the knife down on the countertop.

Lawrence moved away from Teddy, sighing again as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Shit, sorry" He muttered, "Right, you're Teddy, you're my best friend, you're not my father, my father is hopefully dead, and I don't want to kill you" He was mainly reciting that to himself, to remind himself where he was and what was real.

"So" Lawrence began, as he leaned against the countertop, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, "Last night I was driving home and my car broke down, so I got out to see what the problem was... not that I would have a clue I know nothing about cars, but anyway a werewolf came from nowhere and bit me" He held up his arm, "Exhibit A" He put his arm back down, "I came home, panicked, drank a lot of whiskey, got wrecked, fell asleep, woke up then realized you can help me because you're a siphoner" He paused, his blue eyes falling on his friend, his voice regaining a level of seriousness, "And if it doesn't work, well, I would rather spend my final moments with you than anyone else" His heart sunk a little as it dawned on him that his plan may not even work, and he would certainly die in a few hours. He was terrified of dying. Of no longer existing and the world just continuing on without him.

"I don't wanna die Teddy" He said softly, his voice almost breaking. He had joked about it in the past, but this was real now. When faced with death previously Lawrence almost didn't care if he lived or died, but he felt like his life was worth something now and things were looking up for him. He was finally becoming a better version of himself, "There's so much shit I still haven't done... I've never even been on a plane!" He took a deep breath, keeping his emotions together, "I'm going to hell... and I'm not saying I don't deserve it, but fuck" In hindsight, he should have been a better person for the past century, but he couldn't change his past. It was as if his whole life was flashing before his eyes, and he was consumed with guilt and regret.

Lawrence was hoping Teddy had done something like this before, or at least his Coven had told him about what he could do with his abilities, so he could assure Lawrence everything was going to be okay.


TEDDY AARONSON - EMOSH BROS

Lawrence's blue eyes fell on Teddy as he made his sarcastic comment, but he smiled weakly. He was just mentally reminding himself he was okay, and there was no need to rip his best friend apart. There was a sense of hunger in his stomach, but the fear of dying was suppressing it slowly. "If I do anything rash, just stab me and take me out," Hoping he wouldn't reach that point, but he wanted Teddy to know it was okay if he did use the knife, or any weapon, against him.

Luckily he was starting to calm down, though, as he explained what happened to Teddy, observing his friend's expression. The siphoner looked a little confusing by his suggestion. Perhaps he was clutching at straws, but that's all he had left at this point. Teddy was his last hope.

"Hey, you're not going to die, okay?"

Teddy couldn't promise that, but it was comforting to hear the words. Lawrence nodded slowly but not fully agreeing.

Lawrence glanced down at the bite as his friend asked if it would work. Now he realized carving the bite out was a ridiculous idea. The veins around the wound had started to blacken as the venom spread through his body. He expected it to hurt as the toxin coursed through his veins, but he couldn't feel it. "No, but it makes sense, right? Please tell me I'm not just talking nonsense? Their venom is magic" He exhaled slowly, and wiped another few beads of sweat from his forehead. He was started to sweat even more now, "I've never seen it happen though because you siphoners are so rare" He looked at Teddy, "Good job, I'm best friends with one eh" He grinned. Lawrence was so grateful for his friendship with Teddy, and couldn't imagine his life without him now.

A smile crept across Lawrence's face at Teddy's kind words. It meant a lot to him that his friend thought he was a good man, as there were days he got dragged down by his past decisions. Overthinking and regretting things. "Thank you," He responded hoarsely. Now wasn't the time to get emotional over words being shared, though. He was deteriorating, which was quickly confirmed when he looked down his hand to see he was starting to desiccate from his fingertips gradually. A sigh escaped him, and the vampire closed his eyes. His subconsciousness began to drift, his body gave out hitting Teddy's tiled floor with a thub.

Lawrence's mind wandered off to his childhood. He was happily playing in the lake as a child, not from his family home with his sister and their friends. The air was humid, the sun was blistering and the water was warm. It was his perfect summer's day. Lawrence felt safe as he paddled away in the water, laughing with the others. This would be his heaven if he could create it.

"Lawrence" There was a whisper from someone. The voice came from someone out of the water, deep in the woods. There was a bright light shining through the thick of the trees, almost blinding Lawrence as he looked at it. He slowly swam towards the brightness, until he could feel the ground beneath his feet. He gingerly rose from the water, but his sister grabbed him by the wrist yanking him back. Lawrence looked back at his sibling.

"Not yet, just stay with us a little longer yeah?" She smiled, before swimming off back towards their friends. The group beckoned him. Lawrence glanced back towards where the voice had come from. Towards the light.

The voice was death calling Lawrence to follow. If these were his final moments, it was peaceful.

TEDDY AARONSON

Lawrence's blue eyes narrowed as his friend frowned at his suggestion to take him out. He knew if it needed though Teddy would do the necessary to keep himself safe. He had Julian to look after. A silver blade wasn't going to keep Lawrence down permanently, though, but maybe just enough time for the venom to finish its job. As he kept his eyes narrowed, he realized he was now squinting at Teddy as he was going out of focus slightly.

When Teddy agreed to Lawrence's plan, he exhaled slowly. He was glad to hear he wasn't just talking drivel due to the venom affecting his sanity. By this point, he wasn't even bothered if his friend stuck the life out of him. They had no other choice.

"Fucking wolves," He muttered to himself quietly. Shame he couldn't track the animal down to rip their head off or even inject them with wolfsbane, see if they like the poison infecting their body. Needlessly to say, he was furious about being bit, partly at himself. If he lived to see another full moon, he was undoubtedly going to lock himself inside until it passed.

Lawrence felt like he was in the lake with his friends and sisters for hours, but realistically it was less than 5 minutes. The warmth of the lake was replaced by a cold hard feeling against the back of his body. He wasn't swimming; he was lying on Teddy's floor. He had never been hit by a train, but he imagined this is how it would feel. He felt drained, physically and mentally exhausted.

"Lawrence?" - "How do you feel?"

His blue eyes flickered open slowly as the world came back into focus. "Jesus Murphy," He said weakly as he shuffled himself into a sitting position. Lawrence quickly looked down at his arm, realizing the burning sensation was gone. He rubbed it furiously, convinced he was seeing things again, but no, the bite was gone. Teddy had done it; he had saved his life, "You did!" He exclaimed with joy as he pulled his best friend in for a tight hug, holding back the tears of happiness. "I thought I was a goner then" He let go of Teddy, wearing a massive grin on his face which soon faded as the guilt started to surface, "Oh shit, I'm so sorry about your neighbour, and I'm sorry I pushed you" He sighed. He knew Teddy wouldn't harbour any hard feelings against him for his manic behaviour, but still, he felt bad for his actions.

If the past few hours had taught Lawrence, he needed to try and do more with his life. His mind floated to the young vampire he had met at the school, Jade. He had been toying with the idea of texting her for weeks now, but every time he went to compose a message, he backed out. He was scared of the rejection and afraid of allowing someone else to see his vulnerabilities, but after what had just happened, he thought maybe he should take the plunge and text her.

"You got any rum?" Lawrence asked Teddy, with a smirk, "I need a drink after all that" Realistically, he needed blood, and human blood, not animal, but he knew that wasn't an option. On just animal blood, he was going to feel dreadful for a day or two at least. It would be a while before he was back up to full strength. It was times like this he hated the strict rules imposed by the school. Human blood was essential for a vampire to survive.


TEDDY AARONSON

It was heart warming to see how grateful Teddy was to still have Lawrence alive and breathing. It had been so long since the vampire had someone in his life who genuinely cared that deeply for him. The relief on his best friend's face was enough to cause his eyes to prickly with tears. "Shit, look at us being emotional," He laughed, taking a deep breath.

Near-death experience or not, Lawrence would never forgive himself for hurting someone in a moment of frenzy, especially not Teddy. He was relieved to find something buried inside, something that kept him tethered to his humanity and stopped him from tearing people apart, even in his weak moments.

The vampire pushed himself up off the floor, laughing as Teddy agreed he could do with a drink as well. "Wow, Theodore Aaronson having a drink before the sun goes down… I must have given you a scare," He jested. Over the years, he had only seen Teddy drunk a few times; he always appeared to be monitored how much he was drinking and cautious not to go too over the top. Lawrence, however, knocked them back like there was no tomorrow, but his tolerance was on a whole different level to his friend and most of the time, he drank to suppress the hunger.

Watching as Teddy poured the dark liquid in the plastic cups, Lawrence grinned, "I would never tell" He took the plastic cup, knocked it against Teddy's and swilled back the rum. His expression changed a little, but nothing compared to Teddy's, "You need to up your drinking game buddy" He understood why Teddy wasn't much of a drinker. He had a toddler to look after on his own.

"I would have come sooner, but my mind didn't exactly put two and two together until this morning when my father was fucking staring at me from the kitchen" He exhaled slowly, "Anyway, there won't be a next time. I am not stepping foot outside my apartment on a full moon ever again" Next month he was bolting his door tightly shut and locking all his windows. He wasn't taking any chances with those wolves again. He placed the plastic cup down as he reached for the bottle of rum. Lawrence filled his cup up, before tilting the bottle slightly towards the siphoner, silently offering to pour him a second drink though he was expecting his friend to decline politely. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I would never leave you behind," He insisted, his voice regaining a level of sobriety. He was so glad he stepped in that night in the woods and helped Teddy with his coven. Now he had a friend for life. Someone who was always there for him, and always saw the good in him, even if he didn't at times.

"Funnily enough, I was going to text you today anyway" Wolf bite aside. He did intend to get in touch with Teddy, "So… I met a girl the other week, and I want to ask her out for a drink, but I don't know how to start the conversation," He admitted with a bashful laugh. The last time he went on a date was before cell phones existed, and you just asked someone out for a drink. Nowadays, there were texts and messages to be sent, and he would have to sit around waiting for a reply. "So far, all I have is 'Hi, it's Lawrence'" He sighed softly. The vampire had been out of the 'dating game' for far too long. He was rusty.

It felt odd asking Teddy for dating advice, as he had never heard his friend talk about any woman, apart from mentioning his late wife every now and then. Lawrence never prodded the situation, though, understanding Teddy was still grieving his loss.


TEDDY AARONSON

Thank God Lawrence didn't have to worry about drinking his liver away, often forgetting mortals have to be concerned about things like that. Disease, and illnesses. It was one of the few benefits of being a vampire, knowing he wouldn't develop something sinister as he grew older. Forever stuck in the body of his 19 year old self, with not a single age line on face despite being over 100.

Just needed to watch out for those wolves.

Lawrence broke into a warm grin at Teddy's suggestion, "I'm on board with that," He beamed. It was hard for the vampire sometimes, having no living family members around. There was no one there for him to fall back on, or pick him up when he was in a dark place, but since meeting Teddy, all that had changed. He considered the siphoner family. It worked both ways as well; Lawrence was always there for Teddy no matter what. He could approach the vampire to say he'd kill someone and Lawrence would help him hide the body.

Meeting Teddy had brought a sense of warmth to his otherwise abrasive personality. As a human, Lawrence was in touch with his emotions, often feeling them too deeply, but he spent decades pushing them down since turning. Terrified to endure that overwhelming sense of emotions he had to dealt with in the first few years, telling himself if he just disregarded his feelings, they would go away. Refusing to let himself dwell. But with Teddy, he could be himself, allowing down that guard that had been up for so long. It was comforting to let someone in finally.

"Good. Julian wouldn't be able to handle it,"

Of course, he would never leave Julian behind either, assuring the young warlock he would be around forever, literally, even promising Julian he would take him for his first legal drink when he was 21. Somewhere more sophisticated than the Underground Club, though. In the meantime, he taught Julian mischievous spells on the sly that sometimes backfired when the warlock used them on Lawrence.

Lawrence knocked back the liquor, a smile edging across his face as Teddy retched a little. "How am I best friends with someone who can't knock back a shot without gagging?" He teased as he poured himself a second drink. If he were human, he would no doubt be gagging too. He decided to nurse his second drink, taking a sip this time.

"You're asking me?"

Granted, Teddy wasn't going on a different date every other week, but he had been married? He had progressed further than Lawrence had done with relationships. His parents had arranged his engagement; he had a minimal say in the situation. Nonetheless, the vampire looked up to the siphoner.

Lawrence was thinking more along the lines of a drink in a bar, but either worked. Anything that didn't involve food, as it would be wasted on both vampires. Shooting liquor like a drunkard, though? He would probably save that for the second date. Even though he was rusty, he was familiar with the first date etiquette. He needed to overcome the first hurdle before he worried about the actual date. Jade needed to say yes, and if she didn't. Well, he would never show his face in school again.

The vampire moved the plastic cup to his lips for a second sip.

Settle down?

Lawrence paused; the cup was tickling his lips. He drew his arm back down again, blue eyes lifting to meet his friend. "It's just a date, not a wedding rehearsal," He replied, "The thought of settling down is... terrifying" He understood where Teddy was coming from though, he too had lived through eras where you only spoke with a girl if you were intending on proposing to her, but things had changed now. Society had changed, and he was rolling with it. Nowadays, it was normal to go on a few dates and never see each other again.

Would he ever settle though? Perhaps for a few decades, but possibly not forever with just one person. There were no milestones for him. No marriage, no family. One day Lawrence would ache for that, craving a normal relationship.

"Anyway, what're you doing today? Fancy binging some shit daytime TV?" The vampire asked, as he collected his plastic cup and headed for the living room to make himself at home.

TEDDY AARONSON