Irredeemably Me

"I believe you to be much more than that."

Morning was soon approaching and Lauren still hadn't returned. Camila didn't want to feel worried about the green-eyed girl, she didn't want to be concerned for her well-being...and yet there she was, nibbling at her fingernails with nerves as she looked to the clock. Lauren had merely minutes before the sun would begin to rise and once it broke through the night sky, the vampire would fall prey to its deathly rays.

And Camila didn't want that. She didn't want Lauren to die. Not when she had been given a glimpse of the person the vampire could be. Not when they'd, if only for a moment, clicked.

Camila stood from the bed for maybe the eighth time that morning, pulling the curtains away to glance outside, hoping to see a pale form approach the motel room but she was, again, disappointed. The sky beyond the trees slowly beginning to light.

And where Lauren was missing, Lucy had also yet to show up. So her life was in as much peril as Lauren's.

Camila recalled that merely a week ago, the two creatures had been nothing but a nightmare to her, and now here she was, awaiting their arrival. Anticipating seeing them again because they were all she had now. Two creatures that had now both killed her. Two creatures that had fed from her until she had nothing left to give her.

Two creatures that now seemed to be her eternal companions.

She was torn away from her pondering as the door burst open to reveal a grimacing Lauren, her skin glowing red as the sun danced across it and Camila was quick to dart forward, slamming the door closed as the vampire collapsed to the floor, curling herself into a ball as the searing pain ate at her skin without any notion of stopping.

Camila dropped to her knees and examined Lauren's wounds, noting the fact that the vampire was not healing from them. Her skin still raw from the burns, a violent red that was not lessening.

"Fuck, Lauren, what do I do?" She went to touch the vampire but thought better of it, knowing that any contact might prove more harmful than good.

It only took her another moment to think of something and she knew that it might just be the craziest idea that she had ever thought of up to that point but she also knew that it could very well be the only thing she could do to help Lauren.

She rushed to the room's small adjoining bathroom and turned on the shower, watching as the spray of water drenched the tub before retreating back to the room and, without thinking of the consequences of her actions, she tucked her hands under Lauren's arms and began dragging the vampire towards the bathroom. Lauren's pained groans filling the once quiet motel room right up until Camila got her to the shower.

"You need to get in, Lauren, okay? It'll help." The vampire surprised her by nodding, pushing herself up from the floor and practically falling into the bathtub, allowing the icy droplets of water to pelt down at her searing skin.

And only then did the vampire release her cry of pain, muffled by the spray of water and Camila...felt sympathy for her. Camila watched as Lauren squirmed in pain and she wished she could do something to alleviate the vampire's pain. Despite everything in her telling her not to feel anything for the green-eyed girl, Camila was consumed with a want to help. She was consumed with a need to make the creature's pain leave her.

"Hey," She cupped Lauren's cheek, turning the vampire's face to look into her eyes. "You're gonna be okay, Lauren, okay? You'll be okay."

And Camila willed all of her belief in that very statement onto Lauren, she willed the vampire to belief her, she pushed all her faith in that statement onto the green-eyed girl. Until Lauren's squirming stopped and her eyes held Camila's.