Luka's POV

Current Time

The morning sun beams down on my skin. I feel its warm rays against my cheek. My eyes flicker open, and I groan. As soon as I regain consciousness, pain shoots down my spine and I collapse. My neck is so incredibly bruised and sore that I can't even turn my head. My skull is screaming with pains and aches. My hands brush away pieces of trash as I struggle to sit up. My mouth tastes like vomit and blood. Beads of sweat drip down from my forehead and burn my eyes as I try to shield the sunlight from making my pounding headache any worse. My jacket smells rotten like the dumpster I passed out on, and the sun's heat makes me peel it off my sweaty skin. Man, what happened last night?

Sass jerks off my chest and hugs my dirty cheek. "Luka! Luka you're alive! I thought... I thought I lost another miraculous holder!"

Even though I probably broke a rib after what happened last night, I laugh through the pain and hug the tiny green kwamii back. I felt his tiny tears run down my face. "I'm here buddy, I'm here."

He pulls away and starts explaining to me what happened. "The thing that attacked you was an akuma!"

My eyes open wide. "A vampire sent by hawkmoth? But why didn't Ladybug, Chat Noir and I know about him?"

Sass flies closer to me. "I don't know, maybe he wants to stay a vampire. The akuma probably is making him act the way he is. He's living his life on the down-low, hiding in the shadows and biting innocent victims."

"Innocent victims like me."

Sass nods, and hugs me again.

I prop myself against a gritty brick wall in the alleyway, and try and grasp what's happening. A vampire living on the down-low, not attacking victims in pubic. How many more of him are there? Is he the only one? Suddenly my eyes shoot wide open and I gasp.

"S-Sass," I stutter. "He almost killed me. He bit me and forced me to drink his blood. Am I..."

I gulp as my heart rate increases. I grasp chunks of my hair and look down into my lap, petrified with what I was about to say.

"Am I a vampire?"

Sass stopped talking.

"What if I died last night, but the vampire blood revived me? W-What if his blood swimming in my system changed me into a vampire?!"

Sass looks away in fear, but then quickly looks back at me. "Well, you're in the sunlight right now and not burning, like all that vampire stuff on TV. You're also not akumatized. You're in the right mindset. All the vampires you and Ladybug fight are all akumatized. The akuma messes with their mind making them evil, and they want to attack people. They have no emotion, yet you're showing emotion right now."

I glanced up at Sass.

"Look kid, There's no possible way you could be a vampire and not be akumatized. That's just not how it works. Hawkmoth sends an akuma and attacks the victim, turning them into a vampire. Then you and your friends go and cure them. I just don't think it's possible that you could be a vampire, and not be evil."

I nod. "You're right. I'm always glad you're here for me Sass. Let's get home and get cleaned up before school starts."

"Are you kidding me?!" He laughs. "You just got jumped and want to go to school?! What a nerd!"

"I'm not a nerd," I argue. "I'm only going for Marinette."

At School

I arrive at school with my hair still damp from my shower. The cool air conditioning chilled my skin as I walked in my classroom. Compared to an hour ago, I feel completely clean and refreshed. My hair and skin are still slightly wet, but nothing noticeable. The fragrance of clean cotton is still on my clothes after I washed them. I run my clean hand through my hair and walk to my desk. The only discomfort I have is how hungry I am. I toss my bag to the ground and I collapse into my seat. I dig my headphones out of my bag and slide them over my ears, and while listening to the latest Jagged Stone album, I write a new melody for my guitar.

"Hey Luka, how'd you sleep?"

I gasp and yank the headphones off my ears. "Hey Mari! How are you?"

She giggles. "Great, but in all honesty I'm exhausted from last night. I only got two hours of sleep!"

"Two hours? Pathetic!"

"Adrien!" Mari says as she looks behind me.

Adrien tosses his things next to mine and sits next to me. "Get this, Plagg snored the whole night. I couldn't manage to sleep for even an hour!"

Mari and I laugh. We all talk about our nights, but I keep mine a secret. I don't want them to worry. Knowing Mari, she would freak out making sure I was okay, and Adrien would never let me walk home by myself again. I don't want to cause them too much trouble.

Soon Alya, Marinette's friend, joins us and we quickly switch the topic from our secret lives to something else. The sun gently glistens through the window on the wall as the teacher walks in. She talks about how the school is doing a blood drive, and any donations would be appreciated. After that, the class moves on to Algebra. Mari and Alya quickly turn around and focus, and Adrien and I grab our textbooks. My stomach rumbles, but I ignore it. The birds chirp from the outside on the green oak trees. The soft golden glow of the sun rests on my skin as I begin my work for the day.

After awhile, the bell rings through the halls and signals us that lunch has started. I quickly sling my backpack over my shoulder and walk with the group down the hall to the busy lunchroom.

"I'm starving!" I whine. "I can't wait to eat!"

Mari skips behind me and grabs my shoulders, and pulls me back. "It's hotdogs today, you're favorite!"

I smirk and shake my head. "It's crazy how you remember everything about not only me, but the whole group."

Marinette sarcastically gasps and turns to face me as we continue walking towards the lunch room.

"Of course, you guys are my friends! Why wouldn't I care for y'all?" She giggles. "Let's walk faster so we won't be last in line. Come on!"

She grabs Alya and Adrien's hands and speed-walks down the hall, with her hostages stumbling behind her.

Adrien laughs. "Hey hey hey! I have a model shoot today, careful Marinette!"

"Well, as Luka's friend, you need to hurry up!"

"Well," he says, chuckling. "As my friend, you need to be more careful!"

Alya snickers under her breath. "Y'all are something else."

I just laugh. We run through the hallway, bumping into people and knocking papers out of hands. Adrien and Alya just laugh, but Marinette is determined. We pass the nurses office where the blood drive is taking place. Eventually we reach the cafeteria and drop our bags on the table without ever stoping, making a straight bee-line to the lunch line. I'm absolutly hungry. I'm just drooling for food.

I enter the serving room and peer through the clear glass separating me from the food, and my stomach drops. Why doesn't it look appetizing today?

The lunch lady just grunts. "What do you want?"

"O-oh, the h-hotdog!" I frantically stutter. "Chili on that, please!"

The lunch lady straps on clear gloves and grabs the tongs. She clicks them once, then grabs the hotdog from the boiling water and slides it into the bun. She then grabs a spoon, plops a giant glob of chili on top of it, and grabs the tray and hands it to me. I look at my meal for the day and sigh. I'm so hungry, so why don't I want to eat this? I grab it anyways, and walk to the payment counter. I grab water from the fridge, and pull out a five dollar bill. I get my change back and head to my seat.

Alya, Mari and Adrien welcome me as I sit down at the lunch table. I just nod, distracted by how starving I am. They quickly get back to the conversation they were having beforehand. I place my stuff down, and quickly grab the hotdog and open my mouth to eat. Just as I'm about to take a bite, I freeze. This smells absolutely disgusting. I lower the hotdog, baffled at how my favorite meal now is completely un-appetizing to me.

"Luka?" Adrien asks, interrupting my thoughts. "You okay dude?"

I nervously laugh and rub the back of my head. "Yeah, I'm cool!"

"You sure? I mean - this is your favorite meal! You look... I don't know... nervous, I guess."

"No dude, I swear!" I laugh awkwardly. "See?"

I am starving after all. Even though this doesn't look great, I would kill for some food right now. I take a big bite out of the fresh hotdog. I feel the warm butter-covered bun press against the roof of my mouth. I smile, and Adrien smiles back. He turns and continues talking to Alya. I look back at the gloomy, now-bitten hotdog.

Ew.

My head starts to sweat, and my head gets dizzy. I stand up, and my head starts to ache painfully. I feel the hotdog forcing its way up. Adrien, Alya, and Marinette stop their conversation and look at me worriedly.

"I think-" I say, forcing the words out, "- I'm going to puke."

Marinette gasps and jumps out of her chair. "You know what this means! You're pregnant!"

I ignore her and dash away to the nearest bathroom.

Marinette's face turns white, and she collapses in her seat in complete disbelief. "Shit. He was serious. Oh my god, I'm a terrible person. Adrien, can you go check on him in the boys bathroom for me?"

Adrien gets up and nods, then chases after me. I feel so nauseous that I ignore him too.

I sprint by the nurses office and stop in the middle of the empty hallway. I can hear the nurse prepping a patient to give blood. I quickly peer through the glass window into the office, and I freeze. I hyper focus on the needle piercing the skin. It slowly slides into the vein in the donor's arm. The blood oozes through the plastic tube, climbing its way through. The dark red liquid quickly reminds me of how hungry I am.

I turn away fast. No way. My eyes grow wide and I slide against the wall with my hand covering my mouth. I feel my shaking hot breath against the palm of my hand rapidly increasing. My head starts to spin again, so I force myself to stand up and drag my feet to the bathroom. I trudge with all of my might while trying to ignore the dark thoughts in my head.

I am not a vampire.

I bust into the men's bathroom. I stumble into a wall, but shake my head and quickly regain my balance. I frantically sprint to a mirror and glance at my reflection. My eyes dart to straight to my face. My skin is pale. I turn on the faucet and throw water on my face and scrub viciously, hoping this was all just a dream. When I glance up again, I almost pass out. My skin isn't just pale, it's almost white.

I am not a vampire.

I drop to the cold tile floor and grab clumps of my dark hair with my eyes as wide as saucers. I slowly reach towards my mouth. I tug on my cheek with one hand, and reach for my teeth with the other. I touch each tooth carefully, feeling every groove and point, until I reach my canines. But they aren't canines. All that's left are sharp jagged teeth that could pierce steel. My hand freezes, then slowly pulls away in disbelief. I collapse on the floor and cover my face as tears stream down.

I am not a -

"LUKA!" Adrien screams. "Oh my god! Are you okay?"

He frantically runs to me and pulls one arm over his shoulder. I close my eyes and rest my head on his neck. I hear his pulse as clear a train in my ear. I can feel his blood rushing through his veins. He's so warm... and I'm so... so... hungry...

"Luka, answer me! Are you okay? Are you going to pass out?"

I slowly reach with one hand on his neck. His touch is so warm, and I'm so, so cold. I can feel his hot breath on me. My world stops spinning. My headache is gone. I don't feel scared anymore. In fact, I don't feel anything.

Adrien frantically shakes me, desperately trying to get a reaction out of me. "LUKA, ANSWER ME! I'm taking you to the nurse, hold on! You need food or you'll pass out!"

My eyes slowly open. "No, Adrien. My food is right here."

I quickly grab his neck and yank it toward me. My mouth shoots open and I stab my teeth into his skin.

I am a vampire.