CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
WHAT'S REAL AND WHAT'S FAKE

"YEAH, everything is okay," Thea speaks to Emmett over the phone, her eyes laid on the trees behind her. It was now pouring rain in Chattanooga, Thea was on the front porch of the home Harper owned, her golden eyes watching the rain beating rhythmically against the roof.

"So is she like, a psychopath or what?" Emmett questions.

Thea looks behind her and inside the home, not seeing her in sight. "...She's normal—or...as normal as she can be. Hopefully, she comes around."

"Comes around for what?"

Thea shrugs, "I don't know...maybe she can come back with me. Join our family but she's very resistant."

"Oh..."

Thea scoffs at his tone, "What's wrong?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Thea?" Emmett spoke hesitantly.

Thea frowns, "Why wouldn't that be a good idea?"

There was a familiar hassling on the other end. A ruffling and a few sharp words from Rosalie as she took the phone from her mate. "Thea?"

"Rose?" Thea smiles ear to ear, "Hey."

"Make smart choices." Rosalie was quick to say, "Listen, I'm not saying it was a bad idea for you to go see your sister but maybe it's not the best idea for you to try and convince her to join us."

Thea stuffs a hand in her pocket, "She's my sister, Rose."

"Think about this from her point of view, Thea, and this is going to sound harsh but I rather you hear the truth," Rosalie explains, "She reconnects with her sister who killed their family and sent her away for it and now that same sister is trying to pull her into this brand new family that she knows nothing about."

Thea felt something inside of her twist, burning guilt filled her throat. She couldn't even respond.

"I know you love your sister but, Thea, you played a role in your family's downfall and now your attempts to pull her into a new family are probably leaving her with very complex emotions." Rosalie spoke softly, "But it's not like you have to lose contact with her. You can still talk and see each other anytime you want. She just might not be going down the same path as you and that's okay."

Thea's lips part to respond but footsteps stop her. "...I have to go, I'll talk to you guys later...love you." She hangs up the phone at the same time Harper steps out on the porch.

"Who was that?"

"My br—" Thea rephrased, "Some friends of mine."

Harper squints, "It was them wasn't it?"

"...Yeah." Thea barely spoke above a whisper.

Harper doesn't speak of it, handing Thea a blood bag. "I don't know when you last fed so..."

Thea looks down at the crimson liquid, "I don't drink human blood."

Harper frowns, "Then what do you drink?"

"Animal blood." Thea answers, "I'm sure it's not more satisfying than human blood but it gets the job done."

"Explains the eyes." Harper's red eyes stare into her gold ones. "Here, just try a little bit of it. Don't worry, it's not going to kill you. " She tries to hand it back to her, a grin on her lips.

Oh, but it might.

"No thanks." Thea softly pushes Harper's hand away.  "...how long have you been living here?"

Harper sips on the blood bag once she declines it. "A few months now. Even after all these years, I still love it here. Don't you?"

Thea went silent.

Harper sighs at her silence. "So this family of yours, how exactly does it work?"

"Well, there's Carlisle and Esme, they're pretty much the parents of all of us. They turned me, along with my adoptive brothers Edward and Emmett, and my adoptive sister, Rosalie." Thea explains, "Then there's Jasper...and Alice."

Harper didn't miss the different tone when Thea spoke of Alice. She decided not to ask. "And you see them as your family? Isn't it weird?"

Thea shrugs, "It was at first but I believe it was more because of myself, not them." She wore a soft smile. "So...any vampires you know? Besides me."

"Besides Victor..." Harper didn't take her eyes off the grass in front of her, "There's no one."

Thea's eyes soften on her sister. "...Harper, you don't have to be alone."

Harper raises her brows, "I'm not alone, I have you."

"You could have even more," Thea adds.

Harper sucks out the last few drops of blood from the bag, licking her lips once she's finished. "No thanks." She heads inside, leaving Thea to her thoughts.

✸

     Halloween.

A special and fun night for anyone. People can dress up as anyone they please, and kids get to eat as much candy as they please even if they do gain a few cavities. That's what Halloween was to humans at least.

Vampires, on the other hand, is a completely different story.

Harper loved Halloween. It was the only time she didn't have to hide from the world, the only time people didn't look at her as if she was insane.

Thea hated Halloween. She didn't understand why people would want to dress up as monsters and give themselves toothaches. Maybe it was some human desire that her vampire brain couldn't comprehend, or maybe she was simply just being Thea.

But tonight was different. Thea still hated Halloween, yes, but her sister didn't and Thea was doing her best to bond with her sister in the best way she could. It's already been nearly a week since they'd been together and this was the first thing they could do.

"Seriously? A vampire?" Harper frowns when she sees Thea's costume.

Thea looks down at her costume, looking back up at her little sister. "You're the bride of Frankenstein."

"Yeah." Harper grins, "A classic that everyone loves."

"Are we going to this haunted house or what?" Thea waves off Harper with a grin of her own.

When they do finally get to the haunted house being held in town, Thea has to admit, it was a beauty to see. Different masks and horror were everywhere she looked, adults gave out candy while kids ran around because of their sugar rush.

Fog covered the grounds as they walked closer to the worn-down haunted house. The windows were busted, the wood was old and chipping and the floors crept with each step they took.

"I don't understand why you would want to come to a haunted house, these things aren't even scary," Thea claims as she kept her head held high, not cowering by the weak jump scares by some of the actors.

Harper put on a smirk, her red eyes seeming to glow in the home. "Just a little secret between me and you, I don't come here because I get scared." They got to the dark side of the home, the lights flickered off.

"Then why do you do it." Thea's voice was barely audible in the dark.

"Because I can do this." The lights begin to flicker. One of the actors jumped from their spots and Harper snatched them up, her teeth sinking into their necks and a scream erupting from the woman's mouth as blood dripped to the floor. The lady's limp body falls.

"Harper!" Thea yells, "Jesus, Harper, she's dead!" Thea snatches her roughly by the arm and drags her out as quickly as she can.

When they're finally out of the home and far away, Thea turns to her, "What the hell was that?!"

"That was a haunted house." Harper licks the last few drops of blood from her mouth.

"You just killed that lady." Thea was nearly at a loss for words. Her eyebrows were raised and her mouth was parted into a small 'o'.

Harper squints at her sister, "Seriously? That freaks you out?"

"I'm not scared, you just can't kill people in such a stupid and obvious way." Thea scolds.

"But it wasn't obvious." Harper scoffs, "Do you know how many people will walk past her dead body and simply believe it's a part of the act? That's the fun of it all, they don't know what's real and what's fake. So if anything, it was pretty damn smart."

Thea huffs, pinching her nose. Harper crosses her arms, "You're judging me?"

"I'm not—" Thea takes a second to think, "I'm not judging you. I just don't want you to kill people. You have blood bags, Harper, you don't have to heart people."

Harper shakes her head, "Blood bags can only do so much and I can only take so much. Plus, there's nothing like blood straight from the source."

Thea sighs, "Harper."

"What?" Harper asks, "You said you wanted to bond with me? Bond with me. Try it, Thea. You'll understand."

"No." Thea was quick to say. Thea had morals. She promised herself she would never spill the blood of another human ever again and she's made sure to stick by that. "I don't want to kill people."

"Oh, so when it's a random person you don't want to kill them but when it's your own family, suddenly it's okay?" Harper scoffs, "You're such a hypocrite."

Thea's fists tighten, "No, you don't get to do that."

"Excuse me?" Harper hisses.

"You don't get to manipulate me anymore! It's not 1939; I know who I am and I know my principles!" Thea snaps, standing up for herself, "I am clear about my morals, I don't kill humans!" Thea rants before storming away from Harper in frustration.

     ragerwrites,           I love seeing Thea standing up for her morals! Yes girl, show them who you are! 👏🏾

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