How to Redeem a Trashy Side Villain

Chapter 77: Human or Vampire?

[Diana's POV]

It felt like I was stuck in this giant pool of jelly, my limbs were unable to move, and my breath was slowly dissipating.

"Diana."

A calming voice was slowly calling out to me.

"Diana," it repeated.

It sounded muffled as if spoken through a wall or thick pillow.

"Diana. Are you okay?" it asked me.

The question sounded like it came from a place of good intentions but I felt offended by it. 'What do you mean am I okay? Of course, I'm okay.'

"Diana!" the voice screamed. It was still slow, like moving through honey, but picked up a little speed.

I felt a heavy weight placed on my shoulder. My vision was blurry but as my shoulder was shaken, my view began to clarify.

"Diana!"

"Hmm? What's up?" I asked as I turned to Peaches who looked worried, sweat dripping down her forehead.

"What's going on with you?" she asked.

Peaches looked like she had just witnessed a ghost.

"What are you talking about? Nothing. Nothing's going on with me," I said, shaking my head, and looking at her as if she was being delusional.

"...What? Are you taking the piss?" she asked.

"What's that? Taking the piss. I've never heard that saying before," I told her.

"Who cares about that? I just watched you unresponsive to my voice for over half a minute. Are you... are you on drugs by any chance?" she questioned me.

"No. Are you crazy? Why would I ever take drugs?" I asked her.

"I don't know but you look like you're on drugs. Your eyes are bloodshot red right now. Tell me the truth, Diana. I won't hate you for it. I just want to know for both our sakes."

My eyes. I looked in the mirror before me and saw they were different than normal.

"Peaches, trust me. You've known me forever now. I've never taken drugs and I never will. If I do, you'll be the first to know," I reassured her. "I'm just... I'm just tired from my family visiting yesterday."

"...Okay. If you say so."

Worry still lingered on her face but she tried her hardest to suppress.

'Sorry Peaches, but I can't tell you. I'd rather you remain oblivious to the truth forever.' That way, she'd be safer if the truth came out one day.

She'd be hurt that I lied to her, no doubt, but I'd rather her hate me than be taken by the government because she was an associate who knew my secret.

It was already bad enough that Bell and I had to keep this secret.

"Anyway," Peaches said, trying to change the subject because there was an uncomfortable tension between the two of us, "I still can't believe that brat was able to defeat a dark magic user."

She was speaking about Bell.

What a coincidence.

"He defeated a demon and now this? He's like a... like a hero, even though he's just our age," said Peaches who was shaking her head in disbelief.

"A hero," I muttered. That was, funnily enough, a great way to describe him

Everything he had done for me the past few months was indeed very heroic of him.

The two of us were alone at my house so when we turned on my computer, we didn't bother to lower the volume and watched everything loud enough for the people downstairs to hear if they were present.

My mind began to doze off again when we were watching a commentary video of this middle-aged man who was analyzing all the crimes the baron was doing and what changes he could've possibly made to his body.

It was interesting but I had got sucked into that pool of thick jelly again.

I didn't even hear what Peaches was saying to me even though she was sitting right next to me.

She called out my name a few times but after I didn't respond, she got angry and decided to leave the room.

'That's right. Please leave. Just... just give me a few hours and I'll be back to normal.'

I knew what was going on.

It had been two days since I drank Bell's blood. Two days was nothing. I thought I could've easily lasted a week before I began to lust for blood again.

But I don't know if it was the connection that was made between us or the fact that I may or may not be addicted to the taste and sensation of drinking blood but ever since I woke up this morning, I was finding it hard to focus.

I even dropped and shattered a plate which was something I've never done before when washing plates.

What I was experiencing at the moment was similar to bloodlust but not at the same time.

It's not that the vampiric blood in me was in a frenzy like before.

It was more like the human side of me that was addicted to blood was screaming to have its fix.

I knew it was human because I felt that if I just held it down for a while longer, it'd eventually go away and I'd be able to get rid of it by asking Bell to come over for an emergency.

'Sorry Bell, even though I promised that we could delay the appointments for five days,' I apologized in advance.

The thirst was getting stronger and stronger but as long as I was left alone, I could keep my body in one spot and protect everyone else from the other side of me that I didn't want them to see.

'Oh no.'

I began to hear footsteps slowly approaching my door.

It was moving almost in slow motion as if they were traveling at half a mile an hour.

'Stay away. Get away from here. Please!'

The footsteps stopped in front of my door and although I couldn't move my head and my vision was starting to blur again, I could see the general outline of the door handle and it was starting to twist.

'Please stay away! Don't open it!'

"Diana, I left my phone in your room. I'm coming in whether or not you're high on whatever drugs you took."

'I didn't take any drugs!' I screamed inside my head, feeling anger and worry for her.

The door slowly opened, one millimeter at a time, and as soon as my eyes saw a finger full of blood on the other side of the handle, my head twisted.

My blurry vision turned completely dark and my mind shut down.

When I opened them back up, Peaches was on the ground, crying.

I've never seen her cry before.

Her hands were pinned down to the floor by me. I got off of her and saw my handprint on her wrists, having squeezed them so tightly.

"What did I do?" I muttered as a few splashes of blood dripped down my mouth.

My stomach was hurting. My mana which usually felt rejuvenated and enhanced after drinking blood was feeling out of sorts this time around as though someone had gone into the source and shaken it until it bubbled.

I looked at the mirror and not only was my eyes bloodshot but my pupils had literally turned red — although it was beginning to return to its natural color.

"Oh no, Peaches. What did I do?" I said, placing a hand over my mouth in disbelief.

I felt terrible.

I had just assaulted my best friend and drunk her blood.

At the same time, I felt like throwing up because of how disgusting her blood tasted in my mouth.

I felt guilty because my body wanted more blood but not from her as if it was calling her blood garbage.

She slowly sat up from the floor, looking at me with these concerned but terrified eyes. She pressed her hand on her neck to stop it from bleeding.

"Diana... tell me the truth," she said while crying. "Are you a vampire?"

At this point, there was no way out of this for me. I couldn't lie. I already harmed her enough.

"...Yes."

She knew at this point but hearing it from me caused her to close her eyes and look away in disappointment.

"...How?" she asked me. "I've known you for so many years. You've never acted like a vampire before. How and when did you become a vampire?"

I stepped closer because I wanted to tell her while looking at her face nearby like I usually would when sharing secrets with her.

But she used her other hand to push herself back a little bit.

"Don't," she shook her head. "Don't come any closer."

I was hurt. I can't lie. I was extremely hurt by this. Especially because the only other person who ever found out about my secret was Bell and his reaction was reassuring, understanding, and calming.

This reaction was the reaction I had always feared I was going to receive. It hurt even more coming from my best friend.

Trying my hardest not to show how bad she just made me feel with her actions, I stayed where I was and began to explain it.

"I've only been a vampire for a few months."

Peaches nodded her head as if she expected an answer like that.

"It was the day that the demon king announced his return to our academy. I went to the roof of the main building and... and a vampire happened to appear there. He said something about my body being perfect for something and then proceeded to turn me into... this," I said, pointing at my body with both hands.

"A vampire."

"Yes, a vampire."

"How have you been suppressing your need for blood for so long?" she asked, wiping her tears, starting to regain a little bit of her strength.

I guess the fact that we were able to discuss peacefully without my fangs shoved into her neck made her feel like I wasn't completely lost to my vampiric blood.

"I..."

I didn't know how to answer her question. If I told her that I was drinking Bell's blood every day, would she feel like she wasn't a trustworthy person? Would she question whether or not I trusted Bell more than her with my secret? Would she end our friendship right then and there?

I was scared.

"...I—"

Before I could answer, the two of us heard a knock on the door.

"Your parents?" asked Peaches who stood up, her hand still pressing down on the holes in her neck as she began to take some deep breaths to stop the tears from flowing down her face.

She was trying to seem normal so that others wouldn't suspect me.

I was grateful for that.

I wiped the blood off my face, looked at myself in the mirror to see if I was presentable, and decided that it was enough.

"Stay here for the moment," I told Peaches. I walked towards the door and when I crossed her, even though it was very subtle, my enhanced eyes were able to see her body shiver as I got close.

She was scared of me — or at least what I was capable of doing to her.

Feeling extremely terrible, I didn't even feel like opening the front door but I trod forward.

The door knocked again.

"I'm coming. Stop knocking," I said, assuming that it was one of my younger siblings who was pounding their fists on the door constantly.

When I opened it, it wasn't my younger sibling or even my parents.

It was Bell.

He looked out of breath as if he had just sprinted here.

"What... what are you doing here?" I asked.

"...Are you okay?" he asked, breathing heavily.