Yeah, it's only been a day, he "died" yesterday.

… He remembers Sadde's number, right? He'd expect to. It's not that difficult to remember cell numbers. Unless Sadde has an obscure cell number.

Yep, he does. Given the time, Sadde is probably making their way to school.

… It would be bad of Theo to call Sadde, because that would result in them possibly missing school or alternatively seriously worrying about Theo or for their health.

It could also cause Sadde to want to come over and then result in Theo being a horrible murderer and continuing his killing spree.

But it's not like Theo really– has anything else to do, anything safe that might possibly slow the spiral of 'Theo is dead' and 'sell his house' and destruction of his life, not that he can really do much with his current position, not that he necessarily should because he killed five people and that's horrible, not that he necessarily shouldn't because he's a vampire and could be useful for things, and really he's having difficulty deciding anything and Sadde seems like they might at least possibly have some idea of what to do or at least offer some input that might possibly get Theo out of this spiral of confusion and self-doubt and (entirely justified?) self-loathing and such.

So he calls Sadde. From his landline, because he currently lacks a cell.

"Ms. Owens?" he guesses when he picks up.

… Slightly long pause.

"...Ms. Owens? Are you okay?" What a stupid question, of course she's not, um... "Can I help?"

Theo finally decides to start breathing, after having held his breath for however long. "Not Ms. Owens," he says.

"Okay, who is it instead, and if this is a prank it's not a very funny one."

"Not a prank," he says, then continues in a bit of a rush: "There's something I kinda need to tell someone and it's really difficult and I think you might hate me for it but– I'm Theo."

"...okay, care to prove this assertion?"

"It wouldn't be safe for you to see me if that's what you're asking but– I can recap something we did together without other people there? … I made you pasta with bacon the first time you came over?"

"Okay, that's still not proof but it's better than nothing, why would it not be safe for me to see you."

"… Vampirism."

Does that cover it? That probably covers it.

"You do know that makes me less likely to believe you, right?"

"You do realize I literally died yesterday, right?"

"Yes, so guess which hypothesis becomes more likely instead?"

"That I'm some random psycho who broke into Theo's home and decided to call you on his phone as a prank? Yeah, I know. Meanwhile, while you're – justly – doubting what I say, I've just read your letter – which doesn't really remove the 'random psycho who broke into Theo's home' thing but reduces the 'random person just randomly calling you as a prank' thing, and I've got to say it's nice that you were mourning me because at least someone was except you probably shouldn't be because: first of all, still kinda alive, second of all, am talking to you literally right now, and third of all, am a vampire and probably not deserving."

"I'm not the only one, you got a memorial and stuff. I just, it didn't feel right to leave anything meaningful there and not—why am I even telling you this. Why am I not hanging up."

"… Memorial? Okay, anyway, suppose for a second that I'm not lying and am in fact a vampire, I would really appreciate having someone believe me and talk to me, but then also suppose I am in fact lying and am not a vampire… I would, what, laugh because this is a prank? That's probably about it? Meanwhile, if I am actually a vampire – which I totally am by the way, not that that helps – then I'm sitting at home being very confused about the fact that vampirism actually exists and also really having no clue what the hell to do about it."

"Except your kind of vampirism conveniently makes you not want me to go to your place, 'for my own safety,' and also it's really really unlikely. But okay, let's play along, what do you want me to do?"

"I think most kinds of vampirism conveniently make you not want to go to my place, at least the ones in fiction! On account of the whole human-drinking aspect! But yes, let's play along, I don't know because I am very confused and mainly want to bounce ideas off someone in this hypothetical so I can do it better and hopefully not murder truckloads of people. Because right now I am worried that that's a possibility! And am also, in case you hadn't noticed, me!"

"Okay, yes, you are in fact acting consistently with someone who would know Theo Owens enough to know that he fed me pasta and bacon the first time we went out running. But anyway, I'm sorry for snarking at you—if you are in fact Theo and not some creepy stalkery prankster, which is becoming less likely the more we talk."

"Is this because of how I'm speaking or because I continue to say that I am a vampire or what because I would really like to skip the whole 'doubt that he's got a horrific problem that he needs to fix' stage and get to the 'actually fix it' stage – like, for starters, I woke up in a morgue," he says. "Naked and high as fuck. At least, I assume it was high, because then I went around trying to lick the walls. And – right, you probably have school soon, so I don't know if you consider this likely enough to possibly try to continue helping me or if I should try sitting in my room and blocking out the outside world for like eight hours until you're done."

Smell!

Knock on Theo's door!

...and now that he's paying attention he might notice he could hear Sadde's voice from outside in addition to from his phone, how interesting!

"Let's test this, then."