A meal. That was it.
Stella noticed Sharp open his mouth and the last thing that she noticed was his fangs come out, as she closed her eyes and tilted her head to one side, giving Sharp the access he would need to feed properly, and getting ready for the five minutes of agony she would go through while he did.
But it never came. Neither did the feeling of the fangs sinking into her skin, nor did the agony. All that came was the weight of Sharp as he somehow fell on top of her. Stella opened her eyes, surprised. She looked at Sharp, unconscious on top of her, his face right beside her's, and wondered what had happened.
Stella was still wondering what was happening as someone pulled Sharp away from her and helped her up. Once she was on her legs, she saw that it was Penelope who had helped her. She was now propping an unconscious Sharp against the wall. Everyone else in the attic was still too shocked to do anything.
June still stood with a horrified expression beside the entrance of the attic, Simon sat some distance away from her, looking like nothing that had happened had registered in his mind, and Allen still on the floor where Stella had been seconds ago, seeming very scared for his life.
"Why didn't you do anything?" Penelope's words brought Stella back to reality, and she closed her mouth which had been hanging open, realizing that she had been looking as shocked as the rest of them. "What?" she asked, unable to say anything else.
Penelope rolled her eyes. "You could easily have defended yourself. I'm pretty sure you noticed when his mind stopped functioning. Why didn't you stop him?" she asked, explaining her question as the others also started coming back to life.
Stella blinked, deep in thought. All she could say was, "Oh . . . . ." as these very valid questions began to pop up in her mind too. Of course she hadn't known the exact point at which Sharp's mind had stopped functioning, she was too much used to pulling herself out of other people's mind, especially his. But she should have done something when she knew that Sharp was gone beyond reason and all he was noticing was the scent of her blood.
The weirdest part was, defending herself had never occurred to her. She had tried all she could with the Zukao brothers, and had actually managed quite well with her human abilities. But with Sharp, she hadn't ever thought of saving herself or escaping from him. Even when she wanted to move away, it had always been to run towards her independence, and never away from Sharp.
Stella stored all this in the back of her mind and labelled it with a little, 'Open when alone.' as she replied to Penelope. "I don't . . . really know why . . . I didn't. I. . . . I guess I was . . . . just . . too shocked." she said with a shrug.
It was embarrassing clear, even to Stella herself, that she had thought of the answer as she was speaking it. But Penelope let it slide. She had other, more important things to deal with after all.
Now that everyone was thinking once again, Allen was back to his overprotective self.