Chapter Text
When Vax had been trapped in Lady and Lord Briarwoods' room he did expect to come out of there alive for a moment. Sylas had taken a bite out of his neck and was blocking the only door in the room, so Vax did the only thing he could think of and jumped out the window "JENGA!".
Everything after that was blur, he was focused on helping Percy and the others defeat the vampire and witch that he hadn't really thought about the bite on his neck, that isn't to say he wasn't careful on keeping it covered. It is only after Delilah and Sylas are defeated does he allow himself to really think about how he is feeling.
So now he sits in his room in Greyskull Keep and takes a moment, he is sat on the edge of his bed with his hands in his hair as he lets out a sigh. It is only here that he is hit with such hunger it could of made him fall to his knees had he been standing. Vax quietly groans as he shakes his head, he is unsure of what he needs but everything in him is telling him to eat.
But not food.
It's weird but he understands that food will do nothing, if not make it worse. So he closes his eyes and tries to focus on what he needs. His mouth feels like it's on fire and his eyes are itching but he pays them no mind. He can't do much of anything when he feels as though he is about to bite into his wrist and eat it.
Wait.
Vax looks down at the veins on his wrist and stares, his eyes grow wide as he realises what he needs and before he can stop himself he bites into his wrist and starts to drink his own blood. It tastes, surprisingly, like cranberry juice to him. So he keeps drinking until the hunger fades to a small ebb in the back of his mind.
He looks up to the mirror on the other side of the small room and sees two fangs from his mouth covered in blood, a drip falls onto his lap and blends into his dark coloured trousers. His eyes look the same until the light reflects off them that he notices the difference. They shine red.
Over the next few days he avoids the others as much as possible, afraid that he will see them and use them a juice box. He soon finds out that his own blood cannot satisfy him no more and soon he is left feeling exhausted. The days continued as pure torment as the hunger returned far worse than before, it is no longer something he can ignore but it is something that grows stronger and stronger each day he is left without blood. A gnawing hunger that grows so bad he drinks from himself in hope that it will do something.
Instead he is left feeling even worse than he did before.
None of the others noticed until Vax refused to come out of his room for days, Vex was the first to mention. "I know my brother is stubborn but even this is something else. He hasn't even touched the food I've left at his door." She says as she points to the untouched bread at Vax's door. The others shrug and say to give him a few more days until they break down the door.
Little did they know Vax could hear them clearly and was very unsure if he would survive the night at the way the hunger was eating him whole.
Keyleth stands at his door that night with hope that she can get through to him. "Vax please. Open the door, I know you don't wanna come out but at least let me in. Whatever is going on, let me help you." She begs and almost cries with joy when she hears him get up and unlock the door.
She opens the door to find Vax sitting on his bed with his head facing the ground. Keyleth immediately crouches in front of him and takes his hands into hers. "What's going on? You look so...unwell." She settles on. Vax looks to be as pale as a clear moon in the sky, the bags under his eyes are so noticeable that Keyleth almost sobs at the sight. What's worse is that Vax has not even bothered to keep his hair neat, something he took pride in doing ever since she met him.
"Kiki...I can't...I can't control it." Vax rasps quietly as he gains the courage to look her in the eyes. "Control what?" But Keyleth's voice trails off as she finally notices the two bite marks on Vax's neck, than the many bites on his wrists. The blood that had dried on his clothes, the bloodshot eyes that hinted red and the fangs that shone bright in his mouth.
It is here she realises Vax is a vampire.
Vax expects her to run and leave him to starve in his room, but instead she holds out her wrist and judges his chin with it. "I'm not letting you starve." She states and her eyes shine with such confidence it leaves Vax feeling slightly scared. How did a monster like him deserve someone like Keyleth? Vax opens his mouth to be object but hunger overwhelms him, it clawing every fibre in his body and suddenly he looses control.
He bites into her wrist without a second thought and began drinking as fast as he could, the hunger instead telling him that this could be his last meal.
Moments later he snaps back to reality and feels Keyleths free hand playing with his hair, trying to untangle the mess it has become. He unlatches and blood drips from his mouth, he looks up to Keyleth "I..I'm sorry I don't know what came over me-" he is shushed by shaking her head. "Vax it's okay. I trust you to be careful." She smiles gently as she takes his head and presses their foreheads together.
"I'm by your side through everything."
Oh and how he wished her words were true.