First thing to rememberâgo slow. I cannot fucking stress this enough, because I swear to whatever dead gods rot in the sky, nobody seems to do this right. Itâs not supposed to fucking hurt that much and a lot of people who really, really need this have been scared off by horror stories of folks writhing on the floor bleeding from just about everywhere and if you screw this up then eternity is going to be a long fucking time for her to have to live with the memory of the pain.
she trusts you. Thatâs why you know sheâs doing this at all. Thatâs why she told you, why she asked you for help. Youâre the only one so far who doesnât think of this as any kind of death, and sheâd trust you with her fucking life because of it. Donât screw this up.
getting ahold of it at all is a special kind of hell. Be thankful that was already over and done with by the time you stumbled into her life. Not a lot of legal ways to find enough to turn someoneâand even less ethical ones. Donât ask where she got the vial. Itâs probably nothing too bad, but youâd be surprised how much someone can hate themself even for getting it in any of the better ways. Thatâs not your jobânot your fucking business. She trusts youâyou said youâre trustworthyâbut sometimes itâs better not to make too many promises, especially if nobodyâs kept them for her before.
setup should take at least twice as long as the process itselfâmake sure youâre scheduleâs clear, that you wonât run out of hot waterâplenty of clean towels and washcloths, plenty that you donât mind never being clean again after this. Check your knifeâis it clean? Is it sharp? Double check, then double check your spares. Nine times out of twenty, you wonât need it at allâbut if you forget something you need, or use a washcloth thatâs too rough, or moon forbid rush any step of the processâwell, you only get one shot at this. Donât mess it up. Food is a must haveânothing solid. She sure as hell wonât be able to chew anything properly past 20 minutes, but you donât just lose that much blood without needing enough calories to feed an army afterânot to mention, she hasnât eaten anything in days leading up to this.
There are guidesâthere are checklists, there are step-by-step instructional PDFsâno food from three days prior up until two hours in, make sure the bath isnât too hot but still keeps the air plenty humid so the skin detaches easierâwashcloths. Painkillers. Disinfectant. The knife, just out of sight, just in case you need it. All the info in the world.
but none of it tells you just how fucking scared she is.
do you have any idea? Any fucking clue how much she was told that this is going to kill her? Turn her into a monster, a demon, all the things that everyone she ever thought cared about her said sheâd be better off dead than becoming?
the guides donât tell you this, but whatever you do⊠just please. Please donât try to be fucking professional about this. Donât try to stay emotionless, expressionless, strictly transactionalâ
be there for her. Please. She really, really needs it right now.
speak softly as you help her out of her oversized, baggy shirtâhold her steady as you lower her, slowly as possible, into the water. Give her a second in between each stepâsheâll have all the time in the world after this. Take that extra moment. make sure sheâs settled in before you start, and make damn sure youâre telling her how great sheâs doing every step of the way.
The blood itself is intoxicating in all senses of the wordâthat feeling, that raw euphoria the second it hits your tongue, sinking into your brain until that craving, that overwhelming desire for that thick, metallic taste to fill your mouth is all that you can feel, all that you can taste. She should really pace herself, though. One-third of the dose to startâanother once the changes start. The rest the second her skin starts to peel. Itâs a little paralyticânot to mention the fact that anything can be hard to swallow when your body feels like itâs turning inside out. Depending on how concentrated it is, you might have to tilt her head back and massage her throat a little to get the last of it down. Remember, just a little at a time at firstâyou donât want her to chug it all at once and start thrashing around. Expect her legs to shake a little after the first few sips though.
Squeeze her hand for this next partâand pray to the moon you gave her enough painkillers because while nine times out of ten any side effects youâve heard about are fearmongering bullshit, the âbleeding from just about everywhereâ part? That oneâs real.
The first stage of the shift goes about how youâve heardâa violent purge of what scraps of humanity are still present in one for whom there is no cage more painful than that. Than âhumanity.â A sort of visceral catharsisâall the masks, all the lies, spiraling down the drain as you empty half the bathtub to refill with clean water.
lean her forward to help her cough it up. The blood will give her more than enough energy to the point where she doesnât technically need to breathe, even at this pointâbut her brain still tells her that she needs to, and she might panic if youâre not careful. You should be careful not to panic eitherâsheâs lost so much blood just a few seconds in as to turn the water itself a warm, opaque crimson, but this is all to be expected. Sheâs going to be okay, donât worry.
sheâs going to be better than okay.
Give her the next dose once she stops coughing and starts whimperingâit means the teeth have started growing in, and it hurts like hell. The blood itself should take the edge off a little, but please donât expect it to be sufficient on its ownâInjectable numbing agents are the best, but tricky to get ahold of. Those who can afford it tend to get the canines pulled in advance, so the new teeth can emerge easier but hell will freeze over before a single insurance company covers anything associated with thisâand seeing as sheâs doing this in the bathtub in her apartment with only her roommate there to help if something goes wrong, itâs safe to say she canât afford to pay out of pocket.
All in all, full growth and emergence of the new canines can take anywhere from thirty minutes to upwards of an afternoon.
give her something to chew on while you start cleaning up the bloodâhalf to help the current teeth loosen, half for the pain. Some food too but again, nothing solid that might suddenly bend a tooth at a weird angle, And whatever you do donât let go of her hand.
the molting process should begin around the four-hour mark.
itâs a strange feelingâtwisting, growing, new structure stretching at thick, dead skin, New layers forming beneathâand on top of that, it itches like you wouldnât believe. It doesnât always hurt much, in comparison to the other stagesâit just feels really, really weird. Quite enjoyable to some, actually, and if the noises sheâs trying and failing not to make are any indication then sheâs very much enjoying it too. the dead shell will start loosening after a bitâcolor draining as the last of the blood vessels of the epidermis empty, small tears appearing along the greatest points of stress. Donât pull on it yetâyou could really fuck things up if you do that too early. Give it some time, and only use the knife if it doesnât split after three or so hours.
it should start up near the spine, in most casesâmore rarely along the joints, with a pretty good chance of splitting along the side of her chest depending on how much rapid growth thereâs been. Empty and refill the bathtub one more timeâmake sure the waterâs as warm as it needs to beâdo one final check of your emergency supplies, and tell her again how great sheâs doing. Go slow, go carefullyâand once youâre absolutely sure that youâre both ready, you can begin.
gently, start to pull it awayâjust a little at first, donât expect it to all tear away at onceâjust lift it a little from her body, pouring a bit of water over her to help it unstick before sliding a finger or two between the layers of dead and alive skin.
ask anyone with half an ounce of knowledge and theyâll all tell you the same thingâthere is nothing more sensitive than a vampireâs skin right after molting.
sheâll be exhaustedâsheâs just been through quite a lot, after allâso please, donât put her through the ordeal of being forced to try and stay quiet. Sheâs going to squirm just a little bit, thatâs inevitableâbut if you tried at all to stop her from straining her lovely new voice by making enough noise to wake up the neighbors all the way down the hall as you run your hand along the freshly grown skin of her back, she might thrash around enough to really tear something important and who knows what the smell of fresh blood would do to her now, even her own. Let her be loudâsheâs earned it. Besides, her new voice is simply intoxicating. Start higher upâher back, her shoulders, her face, unsticking the dead layer before peeling it away bit by bit with the other hand. Breathing might not be necessary for her anymore, but itâs still comfortingâSomething to center herself once you move lower and the sensation becomes mind-obliteratingly euphoric. Lean her against your side as you do, so that if she does pass out from it you can support her.
Gently, lower her back down into the water as you remove the last of itâtossing it away to the corner of the room, nothing more than a useless, painful shell that sheâd be delighted to be rid of if she was capable of complex thought at the moment. Chances are, sheâll fall asleep right after.
Itâs astonishing, almostâjust how beautiful sheâll have become. Still exhausted, still bloodyâstill hurt in ways you canât even imagineâbut finally, itâs her. Every layer, every aspect, every cell, and holy fuck is it beautiful.
sheâll need some time to get used to the new bodyâbe sure to offer to help her test it out once she wakes up. sheâll be hungry, after allâand youâve got plenty of blood to spare.
