Charlie wasn't sure how long he laid there before he finally managed to regain his composure.

He was dead. Well, more like undead, but the point still stood.

And even so, he knew he couldn't just give up. Not now. A screech echoed in his mind, that was probably Bill.

Charlie slowly got up. He was still shaky, but there was also still time to fix this. Why was he so lucid? What are those small red drops on the floor?

He wiped his eyes for a moment. There was blood on his hands.

He was crying blood.

Well, this was just great.

Like how Mick ended up cold and Bill ended up feral, he was crying blood.

There was no way in hell he was going back to Keith's room looking like this. Given that he wasn't sure how long he'd been here, he fervently tried to wash the blood from his face and hands. Wait, how come no one came in yet?

Charlie really hoped it was just because it was late in the day and not because Bill had gone on a rampage throughout the hospital.

Eventually, Charlie did hear the door open. As he whipped around, he saw Mick standing there again.

"So your thing is tears of blood? Dark but you've actually impressed me."

Charlie blinked. "W-What?!"

"Come on, I had to forcefully get you to drink human blood. If you had the animal blood, you would have ended up like Bill."

"How do you know that's the reason he went mad and not vampirism fucking with his head? Besides, Bill's still feral, so clearly my blood didn't help."

"Please, it depends on the first drink. You should know that."

Charlie scowled at Mick.

"That explains why you are such a jerk then."

Mick rolled his eyes.

"My little pet does prove effective though"

"'Your little pet?!' Have you gone mad?!"

"On the contrary, my dear Charlie. I'm just as great as I was before. You are one of us now my dear." Mick said, petting Charlie on the head.

"Please, you aren't like this at all." He begged as Mick gave him another blood vial.

Charlie grimaced as he drank it again.

"You wouldn't treat Bill like this at all."

Mick shrugged. "He's an animal by now so he deserves it."

Charlie was appalled. "An animal?! Mick, he's our friend."

Mick caressed Charlie's face, letting a bloody tear fall onto his claws. Mick then licked the blood, gagging a moment after.

"Salty."

"Well what did you expect, you jackass?!"

Mick shrugged. "For it to taste like the good stuff, I guess? Now, since my pet is still feral, I command you to turn, my Butler, Little Mick."

"What?! No! I'm not doing that!"

"You have to or I'll place you in the sun."

Charlie whimpered at the thought. Instinctively, he knew how much it would hurt.

"Mick? Tell me that you are just pretending, please this is you on stage, not the real you."

"Does it look like I'm pretending?! You really are my enforcer."

Charlie could feel his heart drop into his stomach. His ears drooped slightly as the full weight of the situation really started to sink in.

"Oh yeah, make sure to kill that drug mule too. His blood is like drinking sewage water. We don't want him messing up my plan."

Charlie felt like throwing up. He didn't want to do this.

"Or should I force you to do my bidding."

He knew if that happened, there was no way they'd be able to kill Dracula.

"No! No! ...I'll do it."

Mick smiled. "I knew you'd see reason eventually. ...You have until tomorrow night. If not, might as well make a widow."

Charlie's blood ran cold. Up until now, he worried about how to explain this to Shirley if she discovered he was a vampire. But if he didn't obey, she would be alone and so would their daughter.

"I'll do it."

"If you need me, I'll be in the vents, goodbye."

Mick turned to leave, turning into that same dark fog that killed Charlie. It then slipped into the vents, leaving Charlie alone.

Charlie looked in the mirror, his reflection was hazy but he could still see that he was changed.

Unlike Mick, he had pointy bat ears and smaller fangs. His skin was pale and his eyes were actually normal, only having a slight cloudy black to them.

Charlie knew vampires could shapeshift, but maybe... maybe he could make himself look human? He really didn't want to worry Keith any further and that he was forced to work for Mick.

Once again, the screech echoed his mind for a moment before it finally said something.

"Thirsty, thirsty, thirsty, thirsty."

That was Bill again. His voice was pained and he was crying.

"I will save you..." Charlie promised. For now, there were bigger fish to fry.

—-

It was only ten minutes until Keith got concerned for Charlie. He asked Brian, "Hey, is Charlie around? I know vampires are supposed to have better senses than humans."

"I can sense him but..."

"I'm sorry"

Keith looked at the door.

Charlie was deathly pale, shaken from whatever caused him to excuse himself in the first place.

"Charlie? What happened, have you seen a ghost?"

" I encountered Mick and Bill, I managed to get out in time, they...I couldn't see their reflections. Mick is an absolute bastard and Bill nearly got me."

Keith felt his blood grow cold. Of all places, the vampires had followed them here?!

Brian, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow. He knew on sight and scent that Charlie was a vampire too, and with how their luck was holding, he couldn't be sure whether Charlie was lying to protect Keith's feelings or to lure him in for the kill, foul taste of Keith's blood be damned.

Before Brian could say anything, however, Keith got up, wincing as fire spread throughout his injured leg, saying, "We need to get out of here. Now. It's too dangerous to stay here another minute."

"And how's that going to work with your leg?!" Brian asked. Seriously, he couldn't believe the audacity of either at this point!

"I'll manage. If I can survive strychnine poisoning, I can survive this."

The tiny bat let out an instinctual chirp before speaking again.

"The reflection tells us how much time is left. The fuzzier it is, the less time we've got."

Keith nodded. "So what's the starting point look like?"

"It is just very fuzzy, day two you can only see the outline and three, it's gone."

"Got it."

Charlie was just praying there wouldn't be any mirrors on their escape route.

Wait.

They don't have much time left for Mick

Fucking hell.

Putting an arm on Charlie's shoulders, Keith said, "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"Mick has one day left."

"Jeez, Brian! We know!"

Cupping Keith's cheek, Charlie said, "It'll be okay, Keith. Let's just get out of here and we'll go from there."

"Your hand is cold..."

"...I know."

Charlie took his hand off of Keith's cheek, he then raised it up.

"I'm sorry. I really am."

"...Bill got you, didn't he?"

Charlie nodded, doing his best to hold back tears.

He quickly slashed at Keith, digging into his face, Little Mick opened the door, the smokes in his bag as well as a lighter. Rushing into the fray, he yelled, "Charlie, get off him!"

"I don't want to leave my wife alone..." Charlie said before he backed off, Little Mick had the lighter up.

"Who told you that? Mick himself? He's trying to control you." Little mick said, bringing the lighter closer.

Brian also backed further into his blanket at the sight.

Charlie nodded. "I can't risk it though..."

"What else did he tell you?" Keith asked.

" Don't you dare tell them or I'll starve you " Mick echoed in Charlie's mind.

Charlie tried to say something, he then opened the window, becoming a bat.

"Please, meet me where we can talk without being seen on camera, bring everyone who knows." Charlie said in Brian's mind.

Brian nodded.

Keith on the other hand hugged little Mick. Despite how much he tried to keep it all in, he finally began to cry. Trying to reassure Keith, the young man said, "Try and pull yourself together, okay? We'll get Charlie back. I promise."

"God, I couldn't even protect him! What if I fail?"

"Hey... I haven't been in this group for long, and uhhh...I...I hope we get out of this alive."

"Me too, Little Mick. ...Me too."

"Right, I hate to break this up, but let's get outside, and I'll lead the way from there," Brian interrupted.

"Is the bat talking?" Little Mick asked.

"Yeah, that's Brian. It's a very long story."

Little Mick nodded. The three then made their way out of the hospital, hoping not to have any run-ins with unfriendly faces.