Interrogation?
“Oh my god I may have majorly fucked up, guys, like seriously, this isn’t good and where the hell is Spring? I need to talk to him right now and oh my god what have I done?!”
“Calm down! Spring’s not home yet, we don’t know where he is-”
“The sun rises in twenty minutes, he should be home! Oh god, what if they found him too?”
“They? Who, Blu? What happened?”
“Those kids, Chii. I ran into one of them- he recognized me and I slipped up and called him by name. They know now, Chii! They know! We need to find Spring- Alfred! Al! Can you connect to Spring?”
“Let me check. I can’t promise you anything and it may take a bit.”
“Blu, calm down and tell us exactly what happened…”
Goldie stared at the rabbit sitting on the couch across from him. The rabbit- Spring- was fidgeting with his hands, his cloak pulled up to shade his face from view… but it didn’t do any good, considering Goldie already knew exactly who he was. That and it didn’t even cast a shadow dark enough to obscure his features.
At that moment, every light in Goldie’s apartment was on and there were no shadows anywhere near as dark as the ones in the old Lakeview mansion or even in the alleys outside. At least inside his apartment, one would hardly know that it was half past five in the morning. He felt exhausted but at the same time he didn’t want to let the rabbit go because… well, he now had more questions than answers, to be honest.
“So… let me get this straight…” he started, staring at the rabbit as he jumped in surprise. “You acknowledge that there’s something that keeps you young forever, that you were going to attack me until you realized who I am, you had no intention of killing me in the first place, you remember me from fourteen years ago, you’re not just my imagination, you’re still eighteen, and you won’t even tell me what the fuck is going on?”
“I-I can’t!” Spring told him frustratedly, not for the first time either. “It’s not my place to tell, okay?”
He had been repeating the same thing for an hour already. Goldie just stared across at him, his eyes flicking down to those too-sharp fangs that shouldn’t even exist. For some reason he could imagine those fangs plunging into his neck, just like a vampire, and the image sent a shiver up his spine. It wasn’t quite revulsion or fear but it definitely wasn’t a good feeling, that chill.
Like a vampire. That was the second time he had made that comparison. “Are you a vampire?” he finally voiced, catching the green-eyed gaze. Spring just stared at him, silent and surprised. He made no attempt to affirm or deny it and, at least in Goldie’s still-scrambled mind, that was enough to confirm his completely-unrealistic suspicions.
“V… Vampires aren’t real,” Spring finally said, though his voice lacked conviction. “You know,” he suddenly started, tearing his gaze away from Goldie’s, “For some reason I expected the five of you to live together.” It was a diversion. Goldie knew that.
“We plan to,” Goldie informed him, watching him with a frown. “Freddy’s finishing packing up all our crap at home and Chica and Foxy are packing their stuff up too.”
The green eyed rabbit seemed to be scanning around the apartment, a brow raising inquisitively. “You’re all going to live here?”
“Not everyone needs a huge-ass scary shadow-filled mansion to appease five people. There’s two bedrooms and two bathrooms, good enough for us,” he huffed, frowning at the rabbit.
Spring glanced over at him, a frown on his own face. “Two bedrooms among five?”
“Says the guy who shares one room with four other people,” Goldie deadpanned, staring unimpressed at him. The rabbit at least had the decency to look sheepish.
“Point... and, uh… the other one?”
“Other what?”
“Your fourth friend. You mentioned the other three…”
Goldie blinked, glancing at the clock on the wall. 5:42. “Bonnie lives here already, actually. He should be getting home in a few minutes.”
Spring’s eyes widened in shock. “What?! You didn’t mention that when you dragged me here!”
The golden bear gave the equally-golden rabbit a wry smirk. “You didn’t ask if I lived alone, so that’s your bad, not mine. Besides, you’re dead wrong if you think I wasn’t gonna tell them about you.” Of course he would have eventually told them. “Actually, I should probably warn Bonnie…”
As he said that, he pulled his phone out and lit the screen up. The voicemail icon glowed at the top of his screen and he raised a brow at it. “Huh?” Glancing up to make sure Spring didn’t make a run for the door, he pulled up his voicemail and lifted it to his ear.
“Goldie? I think I have a few apologies to make to you.”
He raised a brow at the short, vague message, though he never took his eyes off of Spring. The rabbit was biting his lower lip nervously and Goldie had a feeling he could hear the message even from there. Wonder if he happens to know what the hell it means. He closed out of his voicemail and went to hit his contacts, but as he did he heard the lock in the door click, and then a purple rabbit was stepping through into the living room.
“Goldie, why in the world do you have all of the lights on?” Bonnie demanded as he closed the door, turning around to face Goldie. “The electricity bill will…” his voice trailed off as his gaze landed on the wide-eyed golden rabbit sitting on their couch, hood doing nothing to hide his identity. “Uh…?”
“Um…..” Spring trailed nervously, shifting his gaze around him. “H… Hi?"
“Alfred! The sun’s about to rise in a few minutes! Five minutes to be precise! Where is Spring?!”
“I found him! Be quiet, Blu, let me concentrate! He’s… in a bright room. The curtains are drawn, that’s good, but all of the lights are on… there’s… a gold bear and a purple rabbit… Oh my...”
“It’s them, isn’t it?”
“What are we gonna do?”
“We have to save him!”
“There’s no way we can get into the room. There are no shadows nearly dark enough to travel through and I don’t know where the room is in the city. We have no time.”
“But if Spring doesn’t tell them what he is they could kill him, Al!”
“Then we have to trust that Spring will make the best decision! Be quiet, they’re speaking and I can only read their lips. I’ll tell you what they’re saying.”
A strange expression crossed the golden rabbit’s face suddenly, but it was gone before Bonnie could even so much as blink. It was like… the rabbit knew something… and Bonnie had a feeling it wasn’t about him.
“Uh… Bonnie, is it?” Spring tried nervously, his smile as fake as his ignorance.
“Cut the shit,” Bonnie commanded flatly, watching as the other flinched. “Goldie. Explain.”
“Uh, well,” Goldie started, keeping his eyes on the fanged rabbit, “I think he was about to attack me?”
“Attack you?!” Bonnie’s eyes widened and he looked at the cringing rabbit. Wasn’t expecting that!
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Spring laughed hollowly, lifting his hands in some form of defense or surrender- Bonnie wasn’t quite sure which. “I-it wasn’t like I was going to kill him…” It was a lame defense and all three of them knew it. Bonnie scowled.
“Calm down, Bonnie, turns out this ol’ bear’s still stronger than a weird not-aging rabbit,” Goldie declared, staring at Spring with a raised brow. “Oh yeah, and Bon?”
“Yeah, Gold?”
“I fucking told you so!”
“Told you so? Told him what?”
“Oh… uh… apparently they thought we weren’t real? I mean, when I ran into Bonnie earlier the first thing he asked was if I was real, so… uh, I dunno, maybe…”
Bonnie wore a sheepish grin as he turned to his best friend. “Sorry, Gold, I just… I did send you a voicemail saying I needed to apologize. I just didn’t expect to come home to a stranger in the apartment.” He paused and looked back at the golden rabbit, frowning. “Well… kinda-stranger…”
“Speaking of,” Goldie started as he stood up from his seat. “What was that even about?”
“Oh, you know… just… walking home, thinking things over, running into Blu, finding out my life has pretty much been a lie,” the purple rabbit explained casually, dropping his bag onto the floor finally. “Y’know, the normal stuff.”
“Wait- when did you run into Blu?” Something in the golden rabbit’s voice changed as he jerked to attention. Bonnie, startled by the sudden change in demeanor, frowned and crossed his arms.
“I don’t know, just after five?” he estimated. “He ran into a dark alley the moment he realized who I was.”
Oddly enough that seemed to actually calm the rabbit and he closed his eye, letting out a sigh. Something was… strange about it. For a relaxing motion, it seemed very… concentrated. Bonnie suddenly had a feeling the rabbit wasn’t actually relaxing. But what could he be doing…?
“Oh no, Spring’s made a connection. Aaaand he’s lecturing me, wonderful.”
“You did kind of mess up really badly, Blu.”
“Shut up, Mangle, how was I supposed to know he’d be there?! I was just walking home! Walking home!”
“Shush, Blu, he’s trying to establish connections with us too. He needs to open his eyes again, I don’t know what’s going on- ah, there he is…”
“Spring, if you have to, tell them the truth. You can not let them open those curtains, the sun’s risen. If they even approach that curtain, just tell them- the truth isn’t worth your life!”
Spring’s ears twitched and he opened his eyes again, a frown playing at his lips as he looked up at the duo. It occurred to Bonnie how strange this angle was, looking down at a face he could only ever remember, no matter how fuzzily, looking up at.
“Look,” he started, “I answered your questions, can’t I go?”
“What- no, Spring! The sun is up, and unless you plan on flicking the closet light off and teleporting home and giving them even more questions, that is a really bad idea!”
“Calm down, Blu, they live in an apartment complex. Outside is a hallway and there were no windows at the end of the hall. The stairwell is dark enough.”
“You didn’t answer my questions, you just gave me more,” Goldie stated flatly, crossing his arms. “And you weren’t being honest with me anyway.”
“What did you ask him?” Bonnie asked curiously, raising a brow at his friend.
“Just what the hell is going on,” Goldie told him with a shrug, his eyes staying on Spring. “And I may or may not have accused him of being a vampire.”
“A vampire,” Bonnie repeated slowly. When Goldie nodded, he snorted and looked away, trying to hide his grin and ignore Goldie’s affronted expression. “Goldie, vampires don’t exist.”
“You thought the same about them,” Goldie shot back, nodding slightly towards Spring. The golden rabbit in question looked rather… conflicted about something.
Bonnie frowned and looked at his friend. “People existing and creatures existing are two completely different things, Goldie. Besides, if he was a vampire he’d have totally kicked your ass.”
Goldie scowled at him. “Well then, how about we test it, huh?” he suggested as he turned his gaze back to Spring.
The rabbit on the couch fidgeted, suddenly clutching his cloak tighter around himself. “Test… what?”
“Vampires don’t like the sun, do they?” Goldie mused aloud, watching Spring’s eyes widen. He began walking over to the curtain, aware of the two rabbits’ eyes on his back. “Dunno why, it’s so nice.”
“W-wait, don’t do that!” Spring yelped, leaping up off of the couch and backing away. The action startled Bonnie, but it also confused him. “This is ridiculous, kid, vampires don’t exist!”
Goldie chose to ignore the rabbit calling him kid for the moment and grabbed the curtain, looking back at Spring. “Then tell the truth.”
“Spring! Just tell them!”
“Oh my goodness, no! Spring, you have to tell them! If they open that curtain-”
“Spring!”
When the golden rabbit didn’t answer, Goldie went to pull the curtain open. A strangled yelp got his attention, though, and he looked back at the rabbits.
From what he could understand, Spring had made a run for it and Bonnie had grabbed him, twisting his arm behind his back and holding him in place. The rabbit’s hood fell down in the short fight, and now Goldie had a clear look at his expression.
He looked terrified.
“All you have to do is tell the truth,” Goldie repeated. He really wanted the rabbit to tell the truth. He didn’t want to actually harm the rabbit, physically or psychologically.
“I am!” Spring tried desperately, struggling against his captor. He was very strong, Bonnie discovered, but the rabbit clearly hadn’t attuned his strength; he was using it in all the wrong ways. He was more likely to hurt himself than he was to get away. “You’re the one who won’t accept that it’s the truth!”
“You’re struggling an awful lot for someone telling the truth,” Bonnie pointed out, raising a brow over his head towards Goldie. He did not want to consider Goldie’s theory as having any merit, but even he was starting to rethink it. He chose to blame it on the lack of sleep. “Gonna open the curtains, Gold?”
“Spring, it doesn’t matter- just tell them, we can deal with the Academy later! Your life depends on this!”
“The Law-”
“Fuck the Law, Spring! This is your life! Please, you know we still need you!”
“Spring!”
The rabbit suddenly closed his eyes tightly, looking as though he were about to collapse at any moment. Goldie glanced at his hand on the curtain and then back towards the rabbit, ears lowering slightly at just how frightened the rabbit was. I did that. I feel like an asshole now... He let his hand fall away from the curtain. I can’t do that. “Hey, y-”
“Yes!” the rabbit interrupted, trying to pull himself away from the larger rabbit’s grip. “Yes, I’m a vampire, okay?! Happy now?! Just don’t open those curtains! M-my f-f-family n-needs me…!” His voice wavered and Goldie realized the vampire was fighting tears; he was terrified, not so much for himself but for his family. Because… if he was a vampire, then they would be, too… wouldn’t they?
Bonnie abruptly let go and the rabbit- vampire?- stumbled and fell to the floor, unable to catch himself in time. That or he simply didn’t care enough to.
The purple rabbit and the golden bear silently stared at each other over the frightened rabbit on the floor, who instead seemed to be cowering rather than standing up. It wasn’t like he had anywhere to go; his life was literally in their hands at that moment.
Vampires. They were vampires. All that time.
“... We spent the night in a vampire’s house?”
“Oh, great, that’s what they’re concerned about?”
“Spring, it’ll be okay… they’re not moving towards you… just open your eyes so I can see them. You need to look up.”
“C’mon, you’re made of tougher stuff than this. You know you can overpower them if you need to, goldy-bun…”
The rabbit on the floor shifted suddenly, catching the two friends’ attention. They watched, warily, as he pushed himself up off of the floor, up onto his knees, and opened his eyes. Those green eyes glanced up warily, watching Goldie. Bonnie was still behind him and it clearly made the rabbit nervous.
It occurred to Goldie that he had a vampire in his apartment. Oh, sure, he had suspected it, but to know it? Why isn’t he attacking us? If he’s a vampire, shouldn’t he be able to do a lot of crazy shit? Or maybe he just… doesn’t want to hurt us?
A snarl crossed his memories. In the alleyway just earlier that morning, the rabbit had actually looked dangerous. Now? He just looked like a frightened… child, really. He was watching Goldie through his eyelashes, his ears hanging limply behind him. He looked tense, like he would run away or fight at the first indication that either Animal was going to attack him… but Goldie had a feeling the rabbit wouldn’t win that fight.
It was several silent moments before Goldie suddenly said, “That is so fuckin’ cool.”
“What?!”
“Eh?!” Spring looked straight at him, brow furrowing in confusion. “Wha-?”
Then Bonnie started laughing, causing the golden rabbit to whip around to look at him. He overbalanced, however, and found himself sprawled on the floor, staring wide-eyed at the laughing purple rabbit standing hardly a yard away, towering above him. It must have been strange for him, knowing this was once a tiny rabbit kit that he had met… not too long ago, really.
Goldie grinned and approached the confused, scared rabbit, and he leaned over to look down at him. “See, Spring? Was that really so hard?”
Spring blinked owlishly up at them and then, slowly, his expression morphed into a scowl, gaze flicking to the side. “Both of you are assholes,” he declared, though his voice sounded more relieved than angry.
He must have realized we’re not about to kill him or something.
“Nah, Goldie’s the asshole,” Bonnie replied, waving his hand dismissively. “I’ll be hearing about this forever. I still don’t think vampires are real but… it makes sense, I guess. Whatever. I’m too tired for this shit, I’ll decide when I wake up what I think of it all.”
“How do you think I feel?” Goldie grimaced, glancing at Bonnie. “But… seriously, you’re a vampire and you were going to bite me?”
Bonnie’s ears suddenly perked up and he frowned. “Yeah, wouldn’t that, y’know, tu-”
“N-no!” Spring quickly interrupted, scrambling up to his feet before Goldie even registered he was sitting again. “No no no, you got that wrong- I don’t know where you heard that biting- it doesn’t matter if we bite you, the problem’s when you bite us and- and- ... you’re looking at me like I’m crazy…” he trailed off, looking between the confused friends.
“How is it a problem if, uh, one of us bites you?” Goldie questioned, feeling somehow very awkward as he asked this. "I mean, isn't that kind'a the whole... vampire deal thing- you bite the not-vampire and turn them?"
“N-no! It’s- uh… it’s… not a Bite that… Turns you,” Spring fumbled, backing up so he could watch both of them and unwittingly putting his back against a wall. “It’s- it’s a Vampire’s blood that turns you. Um- it- if you… you know… drink our blood- even a drop- you either… Turn or die… depending on… circumstances.”
Goldie and Bonnie exchanged quizzical looks. The golden rabbit wasn’t doing a very good job at explaining, but Goldie could remember that moment a blue rabbit accidentally cut himself and suddenly four adults were between them and him, keeping them away from the bleeding rabbit. The bleeding vampire.
“So… basically, even if you had succeeded in attacking me, or realized too late who I was, I wouldn’t have been in any danger?” Goldie asked slowly, looking back at Spring.
“Um… not of Turning. I mean, y-you might have had nightmares for a while… but Bites aren’t… contagious… or, uh, lethal… except for, you know… when a Vampire is new or… or doesn’t, you know, know how... or…” he trailed off again, realizing he was making no sense. “Can I please just go home now? My family’s waiting for me. Th-they’re worried.”
Bonnie tilted his head slightly and looked at Goldie. Goldie gave him a small grin and Bonnie shrugged back. “Only if you make a promise,” Goldie started, turning back to the rabbit.
Spring frowned and tugged his hood back up, as if to hide his tear-matted fur. When did he start crying? How did I not notice that? “A promise?” the rabbit questioned warily, eying them.
“Yes, a promise,” Goldie nodded in affirmation. “And then I’ll turn out the lights so you can do that… shadow… thing.”
“But you have to keep your promise,” Bonnie added with a sigh; he apparently realized just how easy it would be for the rabbit to agree and then never actually do it.
Spring watched them for several silent seconds, lips pursed, and finally asked, “What kind of promise?”
“You and your friends visit us tomorrow,” Goldie stated simply, crossing his arms. “And tell us exactly what’s going on. And all about… this vampire stuff.”
The rabbit looked uneasy. “That’s...against Vampiric Law,” he started, then he winced as they raised their brows at him.
“Vampiric Law? So there’s an entire legal system?” Bonnie questioned, glancing at Goldie.
“Of course,” Spring muttered, holding onto his arms. “You don’t honestly think there isn’t a system to keep the more… unruly in line, do you?”
“We know nothing,” Goldie pointed out flatly. “Which is why you and your friends will come here tomorrow night to explain. And, you know, re-meet my family, catch up on old times, and get them to see that I’m not. Fucking. Crazy.” He added a glare towards Bonnie at this last part.
“Let it go,” Bonnie grumbled, glancing away in embarrassment. “I said sorry.”
“Sorry does not cover nearly a decade of being called crazy, sorry.”
“It’s only been, like, seven or eight years since we started that, come on.”
“I said nearly.”
“Um,” Spring interrupted, hesitating as their attention snapped back to him. “I can’t make promises on my friends’ behalfs, but… I guess… I at least could come,” he conceded, nervously fidgeting his hands.
“Promise?” Goldie questioned, eying the golden rabbit.
“I promise,” the rabbit mumbled, shifting in his spot.
“Pinky-promise?”
The rabbit blinked and stared at him for several silent seconds. Finally, he asked, “Uh… what?”
“They not have pinky-promises in your time?” Bonnie asked casually, raising a brow.
“I… suppose not. What is it supposed to do?” The rabbit sounded legitimately curious, but Goldie didn’t have time to be diverted. He wanted to get some sleep.
“Doesn’t matter,” Goldie dismissed, waving his hand in the air. “What about crossing your heart?”
“Uh…”
“Okay then, guess not… just shake hands?” Bonnie snorted and earned a glare from both golden-furred creatures. “Shut up, Bonnie.”
“I’m sorry but it’s so obvious now.”
“You’re not sorry at all, are you?”
“Nope.”
Goldie sighed and turned back to Spring, who was watching them with a rather intense gaze. It was, perhaps, the first time he truly looked at Goldie since realizing it was him in the alley. He looked confused, curious, intrigued, and somewhat amused at their interaction.
He stuck his hand out towards the rabbit, a grin on his muzzle. “C’mon, I’m not turning out the lights until you seal the deal with a handshake, rabbit.”
The golden rabbit tilted his head slightly at him, and Goldie could have sworn there was the hint of a smile on his face. He wondered if Spring had realized finally that they meant him no harm, or maybe he had realized that though everything had changed in those fourteen years, they were still those children he had met back then.
Granted, they were all grown up and he was sure they were now older than the rabbit, ignoring the numerous years that Spring had undoubtedly been alive, but it was them.
Finally, the rabbit gave a small nod and reached out to take the bear’s larger hand, giving it a slight shake. Goldie grinned at him and Spring couldn’t help but smile back, the terror he had felt just a few minutes earlier completely faded. Spring had only one request to make.
“Just please don’t trap me here again.”
“Oh Spring… what have we gotten ourselves into?”
“The Academy will undoubtedly find out if we interact with them for too long…”
“So, this is all shades of bad then?”
“Maybe not. We’ll see.”