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Chapter 1:

The thirst, the bloodlust, consumed me and I pulled in desperation at my shackle as my eyes darted back and forth seeking a neck, something to quench the growing thirst. A familiar voice came from the doorway interrupting my search. “Kayla, remember where your food is.” That voice must surely come with a neck. I turned and lunged in the direction of the sound my need desperate, only to be stopped by the chain.

The voice rang out again, louder and more insistent this time, “Kayla! Remember where your food is.” It slipped through the red haze that was my hunger and I realized two things: One was that I was Kayla, and the second was that I knew that voice. On the heels of those two realizations came a third: I did know where my food was, and I forced myself to focus past the need for blood and make my way to the fridge. Once there I opened the fridge with shaking hands and pulled out a bag of blood which I quickly sank my fangs into, draining it quickly of the ambrosia it contained. It was cold and as always it tasted like blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, not at all like the salty coppery taste I would have expected.

A second bag followed then a third and a fourth before I was finally sated. Finished my meal I looked up at my Maker, knowing what to expect. Genevieve looked down at me sternly, “You know I’m going to have to punish you again Kayla, but at least you’re starting to remember where your food is. Hopefully I won’t have to remind you much longer.” I looked down ashamed of myself for lunging at her again and my eyes quickly shot back up at her as I once again caught a glimpse of the body that was not my own. Confused? You’re not the only one. Maybe I should back up a bit and let you know how this all started.

It all began on the evening of December 18th 2011. Classes had let out for winter break, exams were finished, and I was looking forward to chilling out for a few weeks before returning to the grind of University life. I was a physics major at the University of Toronto, so I had a pretty heavy course load and the exams were pretty harsh. Most people were heading home to see their families for a bit but I decided to stay and take in some of the city’s flavour over the holidays since my family and I didn’t really get along.

So there I was, shooting pool in a pub near the campus, when I saw her for the first time. She was easily the most beautiful woman I had ever seen; tall at about five feet ten inches, long wavy auburn hair falling down to her waist, skin as pale as new snow, perhaps D-cup breasts, long legs and deep green eyes that I swear could mesmerize you if you looked too long. I took a sip of my beer as I watched her head toward my table and to my astonishment she asked to shoot a game with me. I nodded numbly and began to rack the balls up as she turned to choose a cue, showing that she also possessed a fantastic ass.

Speaking of asses, she kicked mine in our first game. Hey, she was really good, and I was distracted. But we got to know each other as we played. Genevieve just finished her degree in psychology at some college in a tiny town called Ravencrest and she was travelling a bit before settling down into her chosen profession. Her mother apparently made some good investments so she was pretty well off. It surprised me though that she had already graduated as she didn’t look old enough. I said as much and she giggled in response before saying, “I get that all the time, I’m older than I look.” I didn’t ask how old since it’s not really polite to ask a girl her age.

Another thing that surprised me was that she had been in a sorority. Don’t get me wrong, she was definitely hot enough to be a sorority girl but she didn’t really seem the type, she was more focussed and intelligent than I would have expected from a sorority girl. I told her a bit about myself as well as we played our second game, and actually came close to winning as I loosened up around her. My name was Keith Roseberry, I was 25 years old, I came from a small town called Sena Island, I was a virgo, etc.

During our conversation she kept giving me penetrating looks and then looking away like she was expecting something to happen that didn’t. This stopped after a while and she’d ask me questions about myself and it seemed like she was practicing psycho-analyzing me and the funny thing was I couldn’t lie to this girl, even if I wanted to. I’d start forming a lie in my mind but the truth would leave my lips before I even finished planning my answer, this was especially embarrassing when she asked deeply personal questions, or off the wall ones like if I’d ever thought about what it would be like to be a girl. The answer to that one was really embarrassing, but she was cool about it.

After that I expected her to lose interest in me but she didn’t in fact she seemed more interested and it confused me a bit, because honestly she was out of my league. Don’t get me wrong I was a pretty good looking guy, but I was a bit of a geek and she was a knockout who could have any guy in the room. Yet despite my thoughts that she would move on to one of the jocks who was eyeing her up she stayed with me and I discovered we had a lot of the same taste in movies and books. After our third game I went to go get us both another beer while she racked up for a fourth game.

With the pub getting busy there was a bit of a line up at the bar, so it was a bit of a wait for the beers, and as I returned to the table she seemed to be talking to someone on her cell phone. “I think this one really has potential Mother.” She turned around seeing me coming and smiled, “Gotta go Mother, I’ll call you in a few days.” She hung up her phone and gestured to the table, “Now that my mom is done talking my ear off and you’re back with the beer, are you ready to lose again?”

I laughed, handing her one of the beers, “I’ll beat you yet, that last game was pretty close.” And with that we were back to playing pool and chatting like old friends. I actually managed to beat her that game, though it was down to the wire with the eight ball being the only ball left on the table. We decided not to play another game after that so I was able to leave with my male ego intact. She had to leave as she was going to meet the sorority sister she was staying with so they could get a late dinner and make arrangements for another guest they were expecting.

We were getting our jackets on and preparing to head out into the snowy Toronto streets and say our goodbyes when one of the jocks at the corner table walked up to us, his eyes never leaving Genevieve. “Hey Gorgeous, why don’t you ditch the geek and spend some time with some real men,” he gestured at his friends in the corner. Genevieve never missed a beat as she looked him right in the eyes with that same measured look she was giving me earlier, a look which quickly turned malicious.

“Why don’t you apologize to us and then go back and tell your friends how you were shot down. But who knows, maybe my sister and I will come back here later for dinner.”

“Okay, I’m sorry.” His eyes were glazed as he spoke, and then without another word he returned to his table, where his friends soon began laughing. We left the pub as they began to rack up the balls at the table we had vacated. I looked at Genevieve curiously as we left and her predatory smile softened as she wrote down something on a napkin.

She seemed to read my mind as she caught me looking at her, nodding back toward the pub, “That? It was the power of suggestion; I do work with the human mind you know, maybe I’ll teach it to you some day.” She handed me the napkin and I saw that there was a phone number written there. “Call me tomorrow, we can get together and do something if you’re not busy.”

“My schedule is wide open,” I grinned at her and waved goodbye as she got into a cab. Like I was going to pass up a chance to see her again, she was gorgeous, we got along great, and for some strange reason she was interested in me. Maybe I should have taken that as a warning sign, gone on with my life and just left it at one fun night. Seriously though, would you if you were in my place? It was a decision I would come to regret, treasure and spend many confused nights thinking about in the days to come.

When I got back to my dorm Pete, my roommate, looked up from packing his things for his trip back to Thunder Bay in the morning. Seeing my smile and the napkin I placed on my desk he grinned at me. “Duuuuuuude! You met a girl didn’t you? Was she hot?” I spent the next 20 minutes telling him about my night and the very hot Genevieve. He slapped me on the back and got a couple cans of beer from under his bed. Alcohol wasn’t allowed in the dorms but somehow Pete always seemed to manage to smuggle some in. “Awesome dude, so you’re going to see her tomorrow? Good luck man, I’ll want all the juicy details when I get back.”

We sat back on our beds and watched a movie, ordering a pizza for dinner, as we chilled for the rest of the night. It was one of those lame vampire movies Hollywood has been pumping out lately, not as bad as Twilight, but not much better either. So we did the whole Mystery Science Theatre thing we usually did with crappy movies, having some fun with it before heading to bed for the night.

When I woke up it was late morning and Pete was already gone. I took my time getting out of bed, never having been much of a morning person, and looked around the dorm room for something to wear. I found much to my relief that I had a clean pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt in my dresser, but noted that I would have to do some laundry soon. I quickly dressed and snagging my wallet, keys, cell phone and the napkin from last night I donned a warm jacket and headed out to the main cafeteria for a late breakfast.

After a healthy portion of bacon, eggs and toast I headed outside armed with coffee to fend off the chill of the morning and to keep me at least somewhat awake. My destination was the Student Centre on the other side of the campus so I could check my email and see it the exam results were posted yet. As it turned out there was nothing interesting in my email except for yet another email from my mother asking me to come home for the holidays. I ignored it and surfed the internet for a bit before I went to check my test scores.

I did well on most of my exams, my lowest grade being a C in biology but I still passed the course with a decent grade so it wasn’t a big deal. Happy that I survived another semester I pulled out my phone and the napkin and gave the number a call. I half expected it to be a pizza parlor or something, you know the pretty sorority girl having fun with the clueless geek, but a familiar voice answered somewhat sleepily, “Hello?”

I paused a moment, taking a quick breath before answering. “Hi Genevieve, Its Keith from last night, you said you wanted to do something today?” I identified myself hoping she wouldn’t have forgotten me.

“Oh! Hi Keith,” her voice took on a cheerier tone as she spoke. “Sorry, I had a late night last night with my sorority sister, we went out for a bite and then we started getting things ready for a friend of ours who’s visiting. And I’m not usually a morning person even at the best of times.”

“I can understand that, I’m not much of a fan of mornings myself,” I chuckled. “You mentioned the thing about your friend visiting last night. If you were up that late getting things ready she must be a good friend. Is she coming soon then? Is it another of your sorority sisters?” I figured it must be some sort of reunion since Genevieve wasn’t staying in town long herself from what she had said the night before.

Genevieve giggled, “Oh yes she’s very special, and we’re expecting her any day now. You could say she’s like a sister, but no she wasn’t a member of our sorority.” She paused a moment before changing topics to the reason I called. “We’re pretty much ready for her now so I have most of the day free. I was thinking we could meet up to play pool again and then you could come over to my sorority sister’s place after. She’s having a bit of a party tonight and I want you to be my guest. I told Carly all about you last night and she wants to meet you.”

“I hope you only told her the good stuff,” I laughed in response.

“Well I don’t recall anything bad, so I guess you could say that,” she countered.

“Oh good, just so long as I don’t have to work too hard to make a good first impression,” I chuckled as I looked at my watch. “How about five o’clock at the same place as last night then?”

“That sounds great, it’ll let me get a few hours more sleep and run a few errands.”

“Great I’ll see you then, sleep well.” We both hung up and I went back to the cafeteria for some lunch while I thought about how things were looking up for me. An extremely hot girl was interested in me, her friend who was probably equally hot was eager to meet me and I was going to be attending a party held by these girls tonight. For once it was good to be me. I should have known it couldn’t last.

After lunch I spent the afternoon tidying up my dorm room, doing laundry and such to be ready for the possibility that I might be bringing Genevieve back there. It was a slight chance but it was there, and as the old saying goes, “Hope springs eternal.” Once I was done cleaning I jumped in the shower and followed it with a shave, putting on a bit of cologne and changing into some clean clothes. Once I deemed myself presentable I grabbed my jacket and headed back to the pub from the night before.

The pub was still pretty empty this early in the evening so I was able to get a couple beers and claim ‘our’ table. I was halfway through a practice game when Genevieve showed up. “Hey there gorgeous,” I smiled as I offered her one of the beers and started placing the balls back in the rack. “How many games do we have time for you to beat me in before the party?”

“Hi yourself handsome,” she smiled at me as she took the beer, taking a sip and going to the wall rack to get a cue. Turning back she looked pensive for a moment, “I’d say we have time for best out of three, I promised Carly we’d be there before the party starts really getting going.”

I nodded, “What’s the winner get?”

“Oh I’m sure we’ll think of something.” She giggled, winking at me.

“Do you want to break or shall I?” I smiled, shaking my head.

“You go ahead.” She grinned at me, “You could use the head start.”

She was right, the first game was a rout, I had only sunk 2 balls before she won by sinking the eight ball. Once again in my defense I was distracted. The second game I was a bit more focussed and managed to eke out a narrow win. I think she may have let me win that game though because the third game was yet another lopsided win in her favour. I raised my hands in defeat, “I yield, you have proven once again that you can kick my ass. The question is what did you win?”

“Let’s get to Carly’s house and you can find out.” She took me by the hand and I was a bit surprised by the coldness of her skin. I let her lead me to our jackets though and soon we were out the door and hailing a cab. The cab ride took about twenty minutes and we were dropped off in front of a nice looking house in one of the wealthier parts of the city. I wondered whether all the girls in Genevieve’s sorority were well off as she paid for the cab. I didn’t get much time to think about it though as I was led along the darkened walkway to the front door. Nor did I get a chance to think about the sudden apprehension I felt as I was pulled inside.

Genevieve called out to Carly but didn’t seem surprised when nobody answered, “I think she’s out gathering some of the guests for the party, she wants the guests all here when our friend shows up tonight to make sure she gets a warm welcome.”

“Oh so your friend is showing up tonight then?” I asked.

“Yeah, she should be here soon,” she turned to give me a smile, “Come upstairs and you can give me what I won before everyone else shows up.” She led me upstairs through the darkened house to one of the bedrooms. Once inside she shut the door behind us, kissing me firmly on the lips as she took off her jacket. I was lost in her kiss as she then reached up and began peeling off my jacket as well. Soon the rest of our clothes followed. She may have won at pool but I certainly didn’t feel like I was the loser as she claimed her prize. As it turned out the prize was the best out of three too and I was sure to bring my A game.

An hour later as we lay in bed together I heard noise from downstairs. “Sounds like people are arriving; maybe we should get dressed and join them.”

“No, they aren’t ready for us yet, not until the guest of honor gets here.” Genevieve replied, her fingernail moving in slow circles on my chest. “Speaking of special guests, I have a bit of a present for you, something I think you’re going to really like. Our sorority only offers this gift to very special people.”

“Really? What kind of present?” I raised an eyebrow, my curiosity piqued.

“I can give you immortality and the body you’ve always wished you could have.”

And there it is, I thought to myself, I knew this had to be too good to be true. She’s gorgeous, she likes me, of course she’d have to have a screw loose. I decided to humor her for the moment as I did like her and she showed no signs so far of being dangerously crazy. “So how do I get this body and immortality?”

She shook her head smiling at me, “You don’t believe me, I didn’t either when I was offered it. I’m not crazy though and I won’t hurt you. If you want this gift, even if you doubt that it’s possible, drink this. Drink all of it.” She handed me a goblet filled with a liquid of some sort, I could smell cinnamon and some vaguely familiar other scents. The funny thing was I really believed her when she said she wasn’t crazy and wouldn’t harm me. I looked into her eyes seeing the depth of feeling she had for me, the connection I knew we shared… and I drank. As I drank she chanted something quietly.

The mixture was thicker than I expected, gritty and tasted of cinnamon, sugar, and probably a dozen things I couldn’t be certain of but some of which seemed familiar and I was almost certain one of the ingredients was blood. I drank it all and as I put down the goblet she opened her mouth and I saw her fangs. Fangs which quickly sunk into my neck, That was the last thing I saw as my vision faded to black.

I awoke to voices, one I knew was Genevieve’s. The first words that were coherent to me were spoken by another female voice and I could only assume it was Carly. “…. but why is she a kid?”

“It changes nothing Carly, she’s still going to need to feed when she wakes up, we’ll deal with the other problems after that, are our guests ready?” Genevieve responded, and I wondered who this she was they were both discussing. Maybe it was the friend who was supposed to be coming.

“Of course Gen, the three of them are downstairs waiting for me to get prepared and bring down my sisters for some fun. They’re Mesmered into thinking they’re at the best party ever and about to get laid. We’ll all get a good meal out of….” I moaned at this point as I realized how very thirsty I was and Carly stopped speaking as I opened my eyes looking at her and Genevieve. My vision was still fuzzy and for some reason things seemed a bit bigger than they were before.

Genevieve looked into my eyes and spoke calmly, “Okay honey I know you’re really thirsty right now. We’re going to go downstairs so you can feed, do you think you can walk?” I nodded numbly in answer as I got shakily to my feet. My balance seemed completely off but I managed to stand. Carly put a robe on me and the two women supported me as we left the room and I thought I must really be out of it because Genevieve now seemed much taller.

The thirst was insistent though and demanded my attention so I pushed all other thoughts aside as we made our way downstairs. Three men sat in the darkened living room on the couch, I could see clear as day but somehow I knew it was dark to them. I was helped to the one on the left, a guy I vaguely recognized from school. He, like the others, was staring off into space and I straddled his lap, knowing that only his neck had what I was thirsty for. I opened my mouth, salivating some as my fangs emerged for the first time, and I bit his neck, drinking the glorious blood that it provided. I continued to drink and was feeling the thirst subside as I heard Genevieve say, “Kayla enough, you don’t want to kill him, lick the wound to close it.”

I did as I was instructed, licking the wound and swallowing the last of the blood it provided. Genevieve and Carly had already done the same to their victims and I looked at Genevieve curiously now that the thirst wasn’t gnawing away at me, “Who is Kayla?”

She smiled at me lovingly, “You are Kayla, my daughter.” I looked up at her for a second, confused, and then I glanced down at myself seeing 2 mounds of flesh beneath my robe that had never been there before. Once again my world faded to black.

I awoke with the thirst once again gnawing away at me. I sat up and a cold plastic pouch was pressed to my mouth, I sank my fangs into it and drank it all. The pouch was replaced with a second, a third, and then a fourth before I finally had my fill. Genevieve sat beside me in a bed in what appeared to be a basement. The walls and floor were concrete and there were no windows anywhere to be seen, the only furniture aside from the bed I sat in was a small refrigerator about five feet away.

Genevieve waited a moment to be sure I didn’t need another pouch before she spoke. “The thirst is very difficult to control at first, you’ll be needing blood a lot for the first little while and when you’re not feeding you’ll be sleeping as your body recovers from the changes you’ve gone through. It’s very important to make sure you aren’t able to hurt anyone during this time so we’ve had to shackle you to the floor, do you understand Kayla?”

I looked down at my ankle, an iron band securely encircled it and a chain attached led to an iron ring imbedded in the concrete floor. My eyes moved upward once more resting on her face and I nodded slowly. “I understand. I…I’m a vampire now aren’t I?” The sound of my voice surprised me, it was higher, softer and so very not like my own, enough so that I added, “…and a girl?”

She nodded, “Yes, I knew you were special when we first met, I really liked you and you seemed to be able to resist my Mesmer. I knew I had to have you as my first daughter so I talked to Mother and she and Carly helped me get ready to turn you. I am your Maker and you can call me Mistress or Mother. I know this is a lot to take in but I need to tell you while you’re awake and not needing to feed, do you understand this?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and answered quietly, “Yes Mother.”

“Good,” she replied, “You will have a lot to learn about your new self over the next few weeks. First though, and this is very important, I want you to realize that until you’re over the initial bloodlust you will wake very thirsty and unable to think of anything other than drinking blood. You need to remember where your food is when you wake.” She pointed to the fridge, “That is where your food is. Remember that. If you don’t I’ll have to punish you.”

I don’t know how long it was but I forgot and was punished many times. My punishment was simple; if I forgot where my food was she would wait, keeping me awake until I started to get thirsty again and then show me where my food was by removing a bag and drinking it herself as she sat out of my reach. And that brings us back to the here and now and me being punished… again. You’re all caught up, happy now? I’m glad somebody is.

I waited out my punishment, the thirst threatening to drive me mad as I watched Mother slowly drink from the bag. She swallowed once, twice, three times and then she did something that surprised me; she walked over and placed the bag to my mouth and let me drink my fill. As I drank she smiled fondly at me. “Your punishment was not as severe this time because you remembered where your food was my dear daughter.” She handed me a small box, “It’s Christmas Day Kayla and I’ve brought a gift for you.”

I did some mental calculating and realized I had been down here for roughly five or six days. It was funny, it seemed so much longer. I opened the box with shaking hands and looked at the contents. Inside was a slim choker of red satin ribbon trimmed with black lace and hanging from it was a single blood red stone, polished smooth in the shape of a teardrop. I stared at it for a moment before taking it out and securing it around my now slender neck. “Thank you Mother, it’s very pretty.” She kissed me on the forehead and had me lay back down and sleep took me once more.

I forgot where my food was twice more over the next few days but after that I found it much easier to think when waking and went straight to the fridge to drink my fill. Mother unchained me on the 29th saying that I seemed to be over the worst of it and needed to prepare to get food on my own. Therefore I needed to learn the ins and outs of being a vampire. Besides needing to drink blood to survive, I learned that we’re very fast and strong and we can Mesmer men to do our bidding, which comes in handy when you need a meal or need to make someone forget they were a meal. Apparently we can’t Mesmer women though.

As for the commonly held beliefs about vampires, here’s the rundown: We can go out in sunlight for an hour or so but we need to wear a good sunblock and try to avoid direct sunlight any longer or we’ll start feeling sick. We don’t much like silver but pretty much the only thing that can kill us are stakes and fire. Religion and holy relics, including holy water are as useless on us as regular water. We need to be careful about crying as we cry blood, this could be traumatic to people and get unwanted attention if done in public and even if done privately it tends to ruin perfectly good clothes. Finally, vampires in our ‘family’ don’t kill, as drained corpses tend to get attention we don’t want. One last cool thing Mother told me that most people don’t know about is that every vampire has a unique ability, Mother’s is that people around her speak only the truth, which will be useful when she starts working as a psychologist and is probably a hell of a lot of fun at parties.

Once Vampirism 101 was out of the way Mother decided it was best to get me ready to go out in public. She took me upstairs and steered me into the bathroom, having me remove my bloodstained robe and take a much needed shower. One plus about being a vampire is we don’t grow body hair so my shower was relatively quick once I got cleaned up. I stepped out of the shower feeling better than I had in my entire afterlife. It was nice to be clean, but I knew the feeling wouldn’t last as I had to face something I was dreading. Mother made me face it too, as soon as I was out of the bathroom she steered me into the guestroom to face the floor length mirror.

The girl looking back at me was stunningly beautiful, and make no mistake when I say girl I mean girl, not woman. From my face I couldn’t be much older than fifteen, possibly sixteen at the most, my formerly shoulder length brown hair now light blonde and reaching halfway down my back. The hair framed a gorgeous but undeniably young face with full pouty lips, a cute little nose and chin, high cheekbones, and slender arched eyebrows resting above big sapphire blue eyes with long full lashes. I used to be a big guy at six foot two and while I was lean rather than muscular my body now was tiny by comparison at five feet four inches and with a body that seemed at odds with my youthful face. It was the body of a girl blossoming early into full womanhood: slender with prominent breasts and wide hips, all the curves where they should be on a woman and long slender legs that would look great in heels. I cursed, “Awww fuck, I’m jailbait.”

Mother embraced me from behind, “I’m sorry Kayla you shouldn’t have looked this young, you should have been somewhere between 18 and your early 20s, that’s how it usually works. This has never happened before to my knowledge. I thought at first I made a mistake, since you’re my first child, but we went over the potion and the chant I used and they were perfect. I called Mother and she’s not even sure what’s wrong, it’s a wild guess but she thinks it’s either something to do with your nature or maybe whatever ability you have. Maybe it’s for the same reason that you could resist Mesmering.”

“We’re just going to have to deal with this as best we can,” came a voice from the doorway that I recognized as Carly’s. “Taking her to Ravencrest to see Mother probably wouldn’t tell us how she got this way and it’s not like she could stay at the sorority house looking like she is now. Besides, Wisteria would probably see her as some sort of threat and stake her before we could get her in the door.” I looked to the door to see another stunningly beautiful woman in her early twenties wearing cut-off denim shorts and a red baby tee looking at me sadly, “Hi Kayla, I’m Carly, in case you don’t remember me, you were pretty out of it with the bloodlust during our other encounters. I guess you could say I’m your aunt.”

I nodded slowly, taking in her deep brown eyes and short black spiky hair. She, like Mother and myself was incredibly gorgeous and like my own reflection and Mother she did absolutely nothing to get my blood boiling. I admired her looks but she just didn’t turn me on. ‘I guess it’s nice to finally meet you Carly.” I sighed heavily and turned my gaze back to my reflection, “So this is me now? Am I going to stay this way?”

Carly looked at me sadly once more, “Yeah, I’m sorry to break it to you, but it looks like you’ll be spending eternity as a teenager. The form we get from our change is permanent except for hair growth.”

“Why am I this way in the first place?” I stared at the girl in the mirror, seeing nothing of my old self there.

“I told you, we have no idea why you’re a teenager,” Mother answered patiently. “All we can do at this point is guess and try to help you adjust as best we can.”

“I know that Mother, I meant why am I a girl?”

Mother sat me down on the bed, taking a seat beside me. “When our family feeds we only feed on males, mostly because our Mesmer only works on males but also because females don’t taste as good to us. So when we turn somebody they usually start out as a male. To my knowledge we were all men once. We use a spell and the potion you drank to change our children into females when we turn them. Usually we try to only turn those who have wanted on some level to be female.” She looked me in the eyes, “Do you not like being a girl? I had thought from your answers the night we met that you had had some desire to be female, and I know that you couldn’t have lied to me, my ability prevents that.”

I sighed, considering that for a moment. Did I dislike being a girl? Would I rather still be male? “I could do without being a kid but being a girl isn’t really all that distasteful, it was more of a surprise than anything. I guess I never really considered my gender much, I was me and that’s all that mattered. This new ‘me’ will just take some getting used to until I discover who she is and become comfortable being that person. When you asked if I had ever thought about being a girl and if I had ever wanted to be one I did answer honestly when I said yes. I had wanted to be one on occasion hoping it would make my mom want me.” I looked down at myself, sniffling as tears came to my eyes, slow trickles of blood that ran down my cheeks.

Mother held me tight as I cried and I could feel Carly sitting on the bed to my other side. She pulled back my hair and softly caressed my cheek. I let myself give in to the tears, a lifetime’s worth of anguish bleeding from my eyes as the two vampires consoled me as my living mother never did. At last when I started to gain control of myself again Mother squeezed my hand reassuringly, “Why would you think that she didn’t want you?”

“Sh… she was always so distant to me. I always got the feeling she wanted a daughter rather than a son. One night, when I was eight years old, I overheard mom and dad talking while I was supposed to be asleep. Dad was trying to convince her to let me in on some ‘unseen secret’ as he called it. She said I was a boy and it wouldn’t be a good idea… and then she called me something that made me feel like I had failed her simply by being male, that I was useless, some sort of genetic misfire. She called me a ‘dud’. I was never sure what she meant, but to me the word from her lips felt like the worst thing in the world.”

The two vampires holding me froze and I heard them both say at the same time “Shit.”

 

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The two vampires holding me froze and I heard them both say at the same time “Shit.”

I looked up at Genevieve, my face and her blouse bloodied from my tears, “What’s wrong Mother? Did I do something wrong?” Let’s see, I’m sobbing like a little girl, I got myself all bloody after just finishing a shower, I ruined her blouse most likely… she was probably wishing she never turned me. I was probably a Dud to her too. I looked down at my lap and started crying again.

A cool hand cupped my chin, raising my face so I was looking directly into Genevieve’s eyes. There was worry there, just a little, but there was so much love. “Kayla dear, do you know what a Dud is? Did you know anything about the Unseen before you met me?” She wiped my eyes, getting her fingers bloodied as she looked at me expectantly, awaiting my answer.

“Not really, I only heard my mom say it that once when she thought I was asleep, but it sounded bad, like I was a big disappointment to her. My dad said something about an unseen secret but that could be anything.” I wondered what was wrong, still unsure if it was something I had done.

“You have done nothing wrong my dear; your living mother wronged you by not telling you all this before and now it could very well place the three of us in a lot of danger.” She sighed, shaking her head sadly, “Now it is up to me to tell you what she should have. Then I’ll have to call Carmilla and get her thoughts on all this.”

“Well I think this is going to be a long, Mother-daughter talk, what with the Unseen birds and the bees and such,” Carly interjected. “I think I should go get us some takeout, it’s going to be a long night. I better call and let the office know I won’t be in for a few days too.” She faked a cough and winked at me, obviously trying to cheer me up, “I feel like death.” She gave a little wave and left us alone as she went to go get us some dinner.

Genevieve cracked a smile at that, calming some. She squeezed my hand reassuringly and looked down at me; it was still weird having to look up to look her in the eyes. “There are other creatures, magical and supernatural out there besides vampires,” she began. “There are various types of Weres, Spirits, and all sorts of other creatures normal humans, or Norms as we call them, don’t know about. There are also Witches. Are you with me so far my dear?”

I chewed on my lower lip in thought for a moment before answering. “So you’re saying that a lot of the things we’re told are myths are actually out there and we just don’t know about them? I guess that makes sense, if there are Vampires it’s not a stretch to think other things might be out there too.”

She nodded, “Exactly, Norms don’t know about us and we often live right under their noses, which is why all these creatures, including us, are referred to as Unseen. Witches are human and can use magic, a gift passed down through entire families from mother to child and usually only girls are Witches. People born to a witch family who don’t inherit any magic, usually boys, are referred to as Duds.”

I’m pretty sure I was gaping at her at this point. “You’re saying my mom is a witch?” I probably would have felt the color leave my face if I weren’t dead.

“Yes and since your father apparently knows about the Unseen he’s probably her Warden.” The confusion must have been written all over my face for she quickly clarified, “Wardens are Norms or Duds who are trained in fighting to become the sworn guardian of a Witch. If that woman,” her words dripped with venom, “had enlightened you about your family background you could have been a Warden yourself and we wouldn’t be sitting here having this discussion.”

I couldn’t blame Genevieve for being angry with my mom, I was pretty pissed off myself, but something still bothered me. “If I didn’t do anything wrong, why did you react like you did when I said I was a Dud? How could it put us into danger?”

“We usually try to keep our fangs off Weres or people from witch families and we certainly don’t turn them. In Ravencrest we had an agreement not to touch the Weres and there are reasons most of us other than maybe Wisteria wouldn’t touch those with witch blood.” She shrugged sadly, “First Vampires and Witches aren’t exactly famous for getting along, and second, Witches command powerful magic so it’s not a good idea to piss one off. Lastly, since we’re not exactly getting those of witch blood to switch teams often, if at all, we can’t be certain how the change might affect them. There’s a chance that you having witch blood may have been what caused your age regression, though I can’t think of why it would have.”

“So then the problem isn’t me being a Dud, it’s my mom being a Witch?” Personally I thought that the worst she could do is turn us into bloodsucking toads if she ever found out, but really how would she find out? Genevieve and Carly seemed worried though and since they were more experienced with all this than I was I should probably trust their judgement.

Genevieve became very focused, “Kayla, we need to get rid of everything you brought into this house as Keith, especially anything personal. That woman could use those types of things to find you if she hasn’t already. Hopefully your change will confuse things a bit and make it hard to locate you. If she thinks you’re dead we’re screwed, if she finds out I’ve turned you we’re royally screwed.” She turned to look at me, “You said you’re not close to your parents, how often were you in contact with them?”

I shrugged, “Mom sent me emails often, but I was usually too busy to respond quickly.”

A sigh of relief slipped through her lips, “Good, we may have some time then. Did you phone home regularly?”

I rolled my eyes, “I was a guy at University the only times I called home with any certainty were when I needed money, birthdays, or Christmas…” My hand flew up to my neck, my fingertips brushing lightly the choker from Genevieve, my Christmas present. “Shit.”

)==()==(

Carly was back quickly with dinner and for the second time I drank blood not cold and bagged, but pumping warm into my mouth from the neck of a man. Once we were finished our meal Carly sent them along their merry way with Mesmered instructions to go home, sleep, forget everything that happened and have erotic dreams about their best friends. Once dinner had left and Carly made the obligatory joke about the convenience of take-out food that took itself out when finished, the three of us discussed our options given what we knew.

Option one was to run like hell now and not look back. Option two was to wait things out but be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Option three, Carly’s favorite, was to have “Keith” leave a cryptic email for his mom saying he’s fine and to include one of those E-cards with balloons and a teddy bear saying, “It’s a girl!.” And then we’d run like hell. Finally there was option four, which was to somehow try to find out what my parents were doing about my disappearance. Much to Carly’s disappointment we decided on a combination of option two and option four.

We began getting duffel bags ready; placing them by the door in case we needed to leave in a hurry. There wasn’t much that would fit me so we planned on doing some shopping for me the next day, an experience I wasn’t sure whether to look forward to or dread with the evil smile plastered upon Carly’s face when she mentioned it. Carly went out briefly to dispose of all of Keith’s things, discarding them in a dumpster in another part of town. As for keeping tabs on my mom, we decided it would be best to quietly approach my cousin Gwen or possibly her mother Helen, my mom’s older sister, since I had been somewhat close to them before leaving for University. Before I was turned I had still spoken to Gwen occasionally via Instant Message chats.

)==()==(

So after another shower and changing into a dress that was too big for me, as Genevieve was phoning her Carmilla to apprise her of our situation, I sat down in front of Carly’s computer booting it up and logging into the IM chat. Carly sat beside me and watched the computer and then the IM program boot up. It was late here, but just after midnight on the west coast so I was hoping she’d be the only one of my few contacts online. I was wrong. She wasn’t online but Pete was.

LovrboyPete: Hey dude you’re up late. I should be back on the 3rd.

“Damn,” I cursed aloud.

Keith_Roseberry: Hi Pete, I may not be here when you get back, some family stuff has come up and I may need to leave town.

LovrboyPete: Okay dude, so how’d things go with that Jennifer chick? You bang her yet? How was she?

Keith_Roseberry: It’s Genevieve, and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Carly snickered beside me. She was such a bad influence on me.

LovrboyPete: Awesome dude!

Keith_Roseberry: Yeah I really like her. When I’m with her I’m giddy as a schoolgirl.

Carly started giggling hysterically beside me. “I knew there was something I liked about you,” she managed to get out between giggling fits.

LovrboyPete: Cool dude, I’m happy for you. I’m gonna go crash I’ll see ya whenever you get back.

Keith_Roseberry: Yeah, I’ll see you later.

I felt bad for misleading him as I closed the IM, but the more people who thought Keith was still alive and himself at this point the better. Genevieve came in to join us giving us a strange look as Carly tried to stop giggling. Once she was calmed down she gave Genevieve a grin, “Oh you were right Gen, she is special.” Me, I just tried to look innocent as Genevieve looked from one of us to the other and shook her head, trying not to smile. Hey I’m a kid now; it’s my prerogative to try to look innocent when I’m up to mischief. We waited another 20 minutes and were about ready to give up for the night when Gwen logged in. I took a deep breath, steeling my nerves and started typing a message.

Keith_Roseberry: Hi cuz how are things in the most boring town on the continent?

Sena_Gwen: Keith!! We’ve been worried sick, are you okay? Your mom is going to be so happy, why haven’t you called?

Keith_Roseberry: Gwen, do not tell my mom you’ve talked to me yet. I need to ask you some questions.

Sena_Gwen: Sure but we’ve all been worried. Is something wrong? What kind of questions?

Keith_Roseberry: I’m fine. I have questions about our family. And the Unseen.

There was a long pause and I was afraid I had blown it. I bit my lip as I looked from the screen to Genevieve and Carly and then back to the screen. I did a quick web search as I waited nervously and Carly raised an eyebrow at me when I found what I was looking for. I had a feeling it might be needed. Finally she began typing again and I waited eagerly for the message to appear.

Sena_Gwen: Keith this is your aunt Helen. You know about the Unseen? How? I never approved of your mother’s decision to keep you in the dark about this. How much do you know?

Keith_Roseberry: I know about Vampires, Weres, and a few other things. I also know our family are Witches. How I know isn’t important, I should have been told by my family. I need to know if mom or anyone else has been using magic to try to find me.

Sena_Gwen: Yes we have. But all we could tell is that your belongings are still in Toronto. You have been hard to focus on Keith. Some of us were getting ready to go to Toronto to look, hoping we could find you if we were closer.

Keith_Roseberry: Maybe you can’t find me because you’re looking for Keith.

Sena_Gwen: ???

Keith_Roseberry: Before I tell you any more I want you and Gwen to promise me that nobody in our family will harm me or those I am with.

Sena_Gwen: Why would we harm you?

Keith_Roseberry: Just promise me.

I knew that if they gave their word they would keep it, my aunt and cousin had always been very good about keeping promises, and if she said they never approved of my mother keeping me in the dark about things it likely meant they were on my side. Still, I was about to do something that was probably very foolhardy if I misjudged them. There was another pause as I awaited her answer.

Sena_Gwen: Gwen and I both promise that we will not harm you or those with you and that we will do our best to prevent your mother or any other Witches here from harming you so long as you’re not a threat to us.

The last bit I wasn’t expecting at all. Apparently our family weren’t the only witches on the island and my aunt and cousin had some kind of pull with them if she was going to promise something like that. It was more than I had been hoping for. Thinking that we should be relatively safe now, I breathed sigh of relief, smiling at Carly and Genevieve.

Sena_Gwen: Now will you please tell us what’s going on?

I couldn’t help myself, grinning at Carly, I selected the image I had found earlier and hit send.

Sena_Gwen: Are you trying to tell us you have a child?

Keith_Roseberry: Something like that.

Sena_Gwen: You’re not making much sense Keith. What’s all of this have to do with you and the Unseen?

Keith_Roseberry: You’re right; I’ve been a bit cryptic until now. A picture is worth a thousand words Aunt Helen.

I motioned for Carly and Genevieve to back away from the range of webcams sight and clicked to request a video chat. Then I smiled real big, making sure to show just a bit of fang as the request was accepted and gave a small wave to the two shocked-looking familiar faces on the other end. “Hi Aunt Helen, hi Gwennie-bee,” I said using the nickname only I ever used for Gwen. “I guess you can call me Kayla now. As you can probably tell, my life has been pretty interesting the last few weeks.”

)==()==(

They had of course wanted to test me to make sure I was who I said I was. Would you have believed somebody who pulled that stunt on you? I didn’t think so. After playing 20 questions for a while they finally believed me and we began to talk about my current situation, namely why I was a kid. They wanted to examine me and since I wasn’t going to go back to Sena Island unless my life depended upon it and Aunt Helen said she couldn’t be away for a lengthy period of time at the moment, it was decided that Gwen would come and examine me. She would leave in the morning, getting a pilot friend of hers to take her to Vancouver where she would catch a plane to Toronto and arrive in the late evening. They both assured me that my mom wouldn’t think anything was up since Gwen had already volunteered to be the one to come to Toronto to search for me.

After that Genevieve and Carly were brought into the conversation. Genevieve and my aunt seemed to size one another up for a moment before my Maker spoke. “I’m Genevieve; I must apologize for turning one of your family. I only did so because I thought Keith was very special and I would have kept my fangs off him had I known he had witch blood. Kayla is my first child and very special to me and I swear that I have only had her best interests at heart.”

“I believe you Vampire, and I accept your apology. I am afraid my sister will be harder to convince of that though. Lena’s always been a bit selfish. I told her that her decision to keep Keith in the dark would come back to haunt her. She will likely refuse to see how any of this is her fault. If Keith had known what to look for this could have been prevented. I don’t trust your kind but I have promised that I would not let any harm come to you and for Kayla’s sake I will accept your word that you are not a threat to us.”

Genevieve smiled, nodding her head, “I assure you we are no threat, nor am I turning her into some ravenous killer, we don’t kill our meals and the only time we do kill is when our lives depend upon it.”

“That shows remarkable restraint.” I could see Aunt Helen mulling that over in her mind. “And what has my neph…. niece said about her situation?”

“Hey! I’m an adult!” I snapped crossing my arms and rolling my eyes and probably looking to all the world like a teenage girl pouting for not getting her way. “Err I was anyway, but I think I can speak for myself. I am just fine thank you very much, and the girl thing and the Vampire thing really aren’t bothering me as much as being stuck as a kid. I’m doing my best to adjust.”

Genevieve smiled at me, putting her hand on my shoulder and nodding to Helen. “She can’t lie with me here, so you have assurance from both she and I that she is doing well and adjusting. I am a psychologist and believe me when I say she wouldn’t lie to me. I would know if she wasn’t adjusting well and I will do my best to help her if and when she needs it. I can’t speak for all my kind but the three of us are a lot like you, we try to stay unnoticed and blend into society. Although some of us,” She looked at Carly and I suggestively, “have a strange sense of humor about it all.”

Carly grinned at Genevieve, “Bite me.”

“What I would like to know is how my nephew became your daughter. I’ve seen enough Vampires in my day to know that a gender change isn’t standard issue when they are turned.” Helen spoke up, stressing the final word.

“I cannot tell you how she became female, that is a secret we share only with Vampires in our family and very few of those even. I myself was sworn to secrecy. I assure you though I did it in her best interests.”

“How was it in his best interests to turn him into a fifteen year old girl?” Helen snapped.

Genevieve responded calmly, “The age regression was unexpected,” she admitted. “She should have been somewhere between 18 and 25.”

“That’s understandable, but why female in the first place?” Helen pressed.

I was growing tired of my aunt pressing the issue so I decided to end it now. “Because I wanted it,” I said, interrupting the two. Yes on some level I had wanted it, ever since I heard that conversation between my parents. “Mom never wanted a son and we both know it Aunt Helen, and I was miserable growing up being unwanted because of my gender. I guess I thought if I could be female it would make everything better. She may have been the one to make me feel like I was nothing because of my gender, but you could have done something about it. Instead you just let it happen!” I was screaming now, bloody tears running down my cheeks and everyone went silent.

)==()==(

After my emotional explosion a somewhat shaky truce was made and assurances were given that neither party was going to knife the other in the back and we all said our good nights. Gwen had to be up in the morning for her flight; Aunt Helen had matters requiring her attention including what to do about my mom; and we had a lot of shopping to do the next day to see if I could handle being in public yet.

I wish I could say I had pleasant dreams that night but sadly Vampires don’t dream. I will say that I slept well though, waking around noon at the cool touch of Genevieve’s hand caressing my cheek. “Wake up Kayla it’s time to get ready to go.” I may have thought I was adjusting pretty well to the being a girl thing but apparently I had a lot to learn about my new role. Getting ready to go out was no longer just rolling out of bed and throwing on whatever clothes smelled clean. Girls are a lot more focused on personal hygiene on a daily basis rather than just when they want to impress someone.

First I showered, making sure to get clean everywhere, though I was still a bit awkward with certain new parts of my anatomy. Once out of the shower I had to take a lot longer than normal toweling my hair dry as there was a lot more of it and it seemed thicker. After brushing my teeth and checking my appearance for any imperfections, not that there were any, I thought it would be a simple matter to get dressed and head out the door. I was so wrong. Girls don’t just throw on whatever they find that’s clean, it’s all got to complement their looks and be properly coordinated.

I was lucky that so far I had very little to choose from, being so much smaller than Genevieve and Carly. We found a pair of panties and a sports bra that fit alright and then after some searching found a pair of Carly’s skin tight jeans that fit decently once the pant legs were rolled up a bit. Shirts were easier to find, but then we had to find the right shirt to go with the jeans. We settled on a slightly loose black baby tee of Carly’s that said “Boy Magnet” on the chest. She thought it was terribly funny. I was told we would work on make-up later, since none of us really needed it to look good, but it would be important for me to know for when I needed to be able to blend in.

We threw what money I had in a clutch purse and I stepped into a pair of loose sandals. I was heading to the door when Genevieve said, “Aren’t you forgetting something young lady?” I turned around slightly confused and Genevieive tossed a bottle at me. I reacted much quicker than I thought possible, my hand moving in the blink of an eye, and snagging the bottle out of the air. It was quickly identified as sunblock and I stared at it a moment before the realization hit me.

“Oh.” I said sheepishly as I started applying it to all the parts of my body that would be exposed. Genevieve and Carly were doing the same and once Genevieve was finished she came to make sure I did a thorough job. I know she was worried about me, but the act made me feel even more like a little kid. Once I passed inspection we all put the sunblock in our purses and headed out the door.

I was fine on the cab ride to the mall, after all it was just us and the cabbie, but once we got into the mall itself I felt suddenly overwhelmed. It was Friday afternoon and the mall was crowded, mostly with teenagers still on winter break and trying to enjoy it while they could. At first it was the stares that bothered me, boys and even some girls looking unabashedly at the trio of beauties in their midst. They weren’t just staring at Genevieve and Carly. They were staring at me.

I felt a rush of anxiety hit me as I had no clue how to deal with the kind of attention I was receiving. Anxiety turned to thirst and I licked my lips at all the people surrounding me, blood pulsing through their necks, just waiting for me to have a drink, like so many walking juice boxes. I felt Genevieve’s hand tighten around my wrist, “Kalya.” I blinked, my eyes now focused on her as she spoke, “I know it’s hard dear, if you need a break let me know, I have something in my purse if you should need it.”

I nodded, licking my dry lips once more. “I think that would be a good idea, there are so many people here and the way they’re looking at me… I’m not used to it.”

“You’ll get used to it in time, just as you’ll get used to the thirst. Now that you’ve gotten it under control for the most part you should only really need to feed once a day or so.” She smiled fondly at me and led me to a ladies room near the food court and handed me a stainless steel water bottle from her purse. It was still a bit cool from the fridge and I took it thankfully and slipped into the ladies room and then into one of the empty stalls. The awkwardness of my first time in a ladies room was thankfully lost on me as at the moment my thirst had my almost complete attention.

I unscrewed the top from the water bottle and took a few sips, practically sighing in relief as the cold blood made its way down my throat. I was so tempted to give in to the thirst and drink the whole bottle but I was trying to learn to control the thirst and I thought it wise to save some for later in case it was needed again. For now my thirst was slaked and that was enough. Re-capping the bottle, I licked my lips of any remaining blood and stood, making sure to flush for the sake of appearances as I exited the stall. I headed to the sink, splashed a bit of water on my face and washed my hands. Then after making like I was checking my make-up in case anyone happened to be looking my way I stepped away from the sink and exited the ladies room.

)==()==(

After that first little problem the rest of the shopping expedition went fairly well as I started to feel more comfortable knowing I had some measure of control over the thirst. Well fairly well so far as my thirst and discomfort were concerned anyway. I felt a completely different type of discomfort as we got me measured, 32C from what I was told, and shopped for undergarments for me. Genevieve and Carly were having way too much fun with this. There was nothing plain at all in the mountain of undergarments we purchased for me, everything was lacy, silky and ranged from cute to damn sexy. My breasts did feel somewhat better properly supported though.

)==()==(

I stood in a store called After Midnight with Carly, staring at the dress she was holding up as she smiled that evil grin of hers. “You can’t be serious.”

Carly shoved the black, white and lace garment at me still grinning “Try it on. The style is called Gothic Lolita and I think it’s perfect for you given your current situation.” I had of course heard of that style before and sadly Carly was right. Gorgeous as she and Genevieve were they didn’t appear the right age to really pull it off. I on the other hand could. I went into the change room and after taking a while to figure out the bloomers and petticoat meant to go underneath the dress I put the dress over top and added the knee high boots and white gloves Carly handed me over the door. I stepped out of the tiny room and Carly grinned at me, tying a ribbon in my hair as the finishing touch.

“You know,” I said conversationally, “you really are a bad influence on me. Most people would avoid dressing teenagers in anything with the word Lolita associated with it.” I looked at my reflection and admitted to myself that it did look pretty good on me and it was a lot more modest than the name impies. My choker from Genevieve looked good with it too.

Carly merely grinned at me again, “You know you love it, and it looks really good on you. Granted, it’s not every day wear, just for special occasions.” She hailed a sales girl, “We’ll take it all and she’ll wear it out.” I just sighed and tried not to smile at her enthusiasm as she paid for my admittedly cool outfit.

We bought 2 more outfits in the Gothic Lolita style and some jeans and baby-tees for casual wear, but most of my everyday wardrobe seemed to range between goth and cyberpunk. I just let Carly enjoy the experience, while I enjoyed played Barbie doll and Genevieve watched us and occasionally added her own two cents. Without a threat of Witch retaliation looming over our heads we were all able to relax and just enjoy ourselves. I have to admit, it was the most fun I had had in a long time.

They even took me to the salon where Carly introduced me as her favorite niece, claiming I was coming out of a tomboy phase and wanted my ears pierced and my hair dyed a nice dark purple. I knew she was trying to help me adjust, and she had been goading me all day, keeping the upper hand and trying to see how far I would go with all of it. This time I decided to up the ante and show her that I was adjusting just fine thank you. I giggled (yes actually giggled) as I beamed up at her, playing the adoring niece ready to embrace her femininity, Oooh Aunt Carly! You think I could get my belly button pierced too?!”

Carly looked at me in surprise and a bit of confusion, trying to read my face while Genevieve hid her smile behind her hand. Once she had managed to get control of herself she gave Carly a look that said, “I told you so” and asked me, “Are you sure that’s what you want Kayla?”

“Yes, I’m sure, I’ve seen it on other girls before and I was kind of wondering how it would look on me. I thought if I was going to change my look I might as well go all the way.”

)==()==(

As we left the mall, me with my long hair now purple and my new piercings in place Carly, who ended up carrying all the bags due to some bet she made with Genevieve, mumbled, “Remind me never to play poker with you Kayla.”

I giggled at her again, it seemed to be becoming a habit, “You should have seen the look on your face Carly, I had trouble keeping a straight face, I thought I would die laughing.”

“I think I’ve created a monster,” she said, shaking her head and trying not to grin as she placed the bags in the trunk of the cab.

)==()==(

We sat waiting in a pizza parlour on Young Street. We had agreed to meet Gwen here rather than at Carly’s house so we could all feel comfortable on neutral ground and they could all get to know each other a bit as she ‘examined’ me. Gwen was 28 years old and looked a lot like I did before my change. She had long brown hair and brown eyes and she was pretty I guess, though she couldn’t hold a candle to any of us. I recognized her as soon as she walked in, after all it had only been a few years since I had left home.

We waved her over and she sat across from me just staring for several long seconds before shaking it off. “Wow, is that really you K?”

I shrugged, giving her a long look of my own, “Yeah, it’s me Gwennie-bee. You’re looking good, you haven’t changed a bit. Life in boring-ville must agree with you.” It was an old argument between us, I’d knock our hometown and she would say it wasn’t as boring as it seems.

Right on cue she responded, “It’s not as boring as it seems.” I actually believed her this time. She was staring at me again, but caught herself, “Sorry K but it’s like ummm, wow. You look so much better in that than the dresses I used to put you in when we were kids. I thought I’d been imagining things when I saw you last night but you really are a teenaged girl. I like the hair by the way.” She paused a moment, “So are you all really ummm…?”

“Are we really what Gwen?” I spoke quietly as I watched her face for her reactions, “Women? Incredibly beautiful? Vampires? Yes to all three. Let’s not spend all night dancing around topics, it’s been a long day and I’m dead tired.”

Gwen groaned at my joke. “That’s awful K, Really though I’ve never met any Vampires and I’m dying to know more about them.” She gave me a nervous smile.

“Just try not to ask for personal experience, it would be a grave mistake.”

She nodded solemnly, “Yes but it would be an experience to die for.” We just stared at one another for a few seconds and then broke into giggling fits as all the tension dissolved.

“I like her, can we keep her?” Carly spoke up, winking at Genevieve.

Genevieve face palmed theatrically, “You would, I can’t believe there are three of you.”

With the mood somewhat lighter a small pizza and a round of beer was ordered. We all chatted and Gwen really seemed to hit it off with Genevieve and Carly, she was genuinely interested and asked several questions, but respected it when they couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. Gwen ate and at one point tried to examine me by holding my hand under the table while the rest of us drank beer. Her examination was inconclusive though as there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with me, even after she examined Carly and Genevieve for a comparison. Knowing there wasn’t much we could really do after that we continued talking, having fun and often injecting morbid humor, much to Genevieve’s chagrin.

Genevieve, Carly and I each left briefly on our own to feed and when my turn came I managed to Mesmer for the first time, taking the teenaged boy with me into an alley and drinking enough to sate my thirst before licking his wound closed and sending him on his way. I was so happy with my control that I failed to see the man in the black SUV watching me from the alley on the other side of the street as I slipped cautiously out of the alley and re-entered the pizza parlor.

)==()==(

With all of us having eaten and the beers finished the four of us all climbed into a cab, laughing merrily and relaxed in one another’s company, to head back to Carly’s house. It turned out we were too relaxed. If we hadn’t let our guard down, if I had been more careful, if we had noticed we were being followed there could have still been four of us.

 

---

 
Gwen had originally been ready to stay in a hotel for a week while she “searched” for Keith. From the way she got along so well with Carly and Genevieve though, Carly insisted she stay with us to save the cost. Carly even gave up her bed and slept on the couch downstairs. It was that which saved us, well some of us.

Despite my long day and being snuggled up next to Genevieve I had trouble sleeping. I woke just after 4:00 am to a banging sound and I sat up in bed even as Genevieve did the same. I could hear a pounding of feet up the steps. Carly threw open our door, “Wake up girls! We got company!” Genevieve was to her feet instantly and I quickly followed suit. “Kayla go wake Gwen, tell her there’s Hunters at our front door and the door won’t hold long.” Carly began stripping off the clothes she had been sleeping in.

Genevieve raised her eyebrows, “Is it really bad enough you need to use that?”

“If there were only half a dozen or so I wouldn’t bother but there’s close to twenty out there from what I could tell so we need an edge.” I heard Carly respond as I dashed out of the room and down the hall to where Carly usually slept. I flung the door open and was across the room and shaking Gwen awake before I even realized I was doing it as I wondered what kind of idiots attack Vampires in the dead of night.

“Gwen, wake up.” I shook her a bit roughly in my near panic, not really sure what was going on, but if Carly was scared, that made me scared. She hadn’t even made any morbid jokes. Gwen woke, jumping back a bit at seeing me. I didn’t realize why at first until I felt a drop fall upon my arm. I hadn’t even noticed I’d been crying until then. A face covered in bloody tears right in front of you when first waking would make anyone jump. “Gwen, Carly says there’s Hunters at the door and…” That’s when we first heard the gunshots. Soon after there was a loud cracking sound as the front door gave way.

Feet pounded up the stairs and I realized that the Hunters would likely get to us first. I had barely finished that thought when two of them appeared at the doorway pointing guns inside. I froze not knowing what to do just staring as they pointed their guns at Gwen and I then something caught my attention behind them in the hallway. Two hands seemed to emerge from the wall, followed by arms and then the rest of a very naked Carly. She grabbed both men by the back of their skulls, smacking their heads into the doorframe with a sickening wet crunching sound. She then raised her finger to her mouth motioning for us to be quiet as she leaned back against the wall blending back in to it.

I shook my head to clear it, not quite sure what just happened, while Gwen moved forward picking up a gun from one of the corpses in the doorway. She moved so she was against the wall just to the side of the door and motioned for me to take the other side. There were more footsteps on the stairs, it sounded like four or five of them this time, they were probably coming up to check on their friends. From her position at the side of the door Gwen could see them coming and she fired a few shots at them before diving back into the room.

There was a thump by the stairs and I assumed Gwen managed to hit one of them. Their return fire was too late and they continued making their way to the room, “Give it up freaks you’re outnumbered.” A voice said from the other side of the wall. “You’re not going to get out of here alive.”

Gwen pointed her gun at the doorway, “Why don’t you come in here and say that.” Maybe Sena Island wasn’t as boring as I always thought, Gwen seemed to be taking to this as if she were used to it. She owned a bookstore, how the hell did she know how to use a gun? The men responded by firing through the walls in the direction of her voice. They missed her, while I was not so lucky. Unfortunately for me I was leaning against the wall and took a hit to the shoulder and my side. I screamed out it pain as the bullets tore through me falling to the floor, and that is when all hell broke loose.

There were screams and a crash as two men in black were propelled through the wall, Carly’s hands on their throats, and she crushed their windpipes before they even hit the floor, screaming in rage. Through the hole in the wall I could see Genevieve in the hallway dispatching the other two shooters; she snapped the neck of one and broke both of the other’s arms, tossing him on the floor beside me, saying simply, “Feed.” He screamed in terror as I crawled over to him and sank my fangs into his neck and I could hear more of them coming up the stairs. The pain subsided as I drank my fill, and I licked the wound to close it before breaking his neck. This wasn’t the time to be worrying about not leaving corpses behind and we all knew it, but still, drained bodies would get attention even in a massacre like this.

Carly and Genevieve were on the men in the stairwell like a whirlwind of death. I had known that with them being vampires they were probably very capable killers but until now I had refused to equate that with these two women who cared so much about me. Gwen and I joined them quickly knowing the odds were against them. They had taken down three but five still remained and who knew how many more downstairs. Gwen’s hand glowed with a pale light and one of the men froze in place. Only his eyes were moving, darting around wildly until I broke his neck and he fell to the floor lifeless.

We were down to three of them on the stairs and I could see two on the main floor watching the fight on the stairwell and pointing something upward, probably more guns. I leaped over the banister and was on top of one of them in seconds tearing out his throat as I barreled into him. His weapon, a crossbow loaded with a sharpened piece of wood, dropped as he hit the floor even as his companion fired his own.

Carly, who was finishing off one of the last two men on the stairs, didn’t even have the chance to scream before it pierced her heart and she turned to dust. I did scream, in fury, as I leapt upon Carly’s murderer. He too screamed for the short period of time he continued to live. I sat upon what was left of his corpse, bloody tears running down my cheeks until Genevieve and Gwen pulled me away, still sobbing.

One of the men had escaped, taking off in one of the four black SUVs they had come in. The rest were all dead, we had killed them all, but that didn’t matter to me. Carly was gone. Genevieve held me for a short time as we both cried from our loss. “She’s gone Mother,” I sniffled, burying myself in her arms.

After a moment she spoke, “They will be back in greater numbers, if the police don’t get here first, we need to leave. Carly wouldn’t want her death to be in vain.” I nodded sadly and we went to quickly get cleaned and dressed. It didn’t take us long to get ready, Gwen still had her clothes in her suitcase, Genevieve had not yet unpacked her duffel bag prepared the night before and my new clothes, still in shopping bags for the most part ,were easily packed in another duffel as were the few bags of blood we had remaining.

We put our bags in one of the SUVs, the driver wouldn’t be needing it anymore and had considerately left the keys in the ignition when they stormed the house. Gwen took to the driver’s seat silently and as Genevieve and I buckled ourselves into our seats she took off driving leaving us to our grief. The sun was starting to rise as we pulled into the underground parking lot of one of Toronto’s more reputable hotels. We paid for a double room, being sure to use cash, and took our bags upstairs to our room, making sure to close the curtains tight.

I didn’t remember having fallen asleep but I woke around noon. Genevieve and Gwen were sitting on the other bed discussing our next step. “We can’t stay here, not with what happened at Carly’s house. The police are bound to be looking for anyone who may be involved Gwen, and while I doubt any of the neighbors saw you well enough last night to get a good description there’s always a chance someone may have seen the two of us well enough to get a description of us.” Genevieve sighed, “The Hunters would expect us to stay here or in another big city where we can get lost in the crowd.”

“What about that Ravencrest place you and Carly mentioned?” I ventured. “Didn’t you say there was a lot of Unseen there?”

“I can’t take you there, Wisteria would likely see us both as a threat, and it could cause a war. We’re going to have to go somewhere else, somewhere we can lay low for a while, someplace boring and secluded where we can just blend in.”

“I know just the place,” Gwen said, giving me a nervous smile.

“Oh hell no, not a chance,” I responded vehemently.

“You did say it’s the most boring place on the continent.”

“I also said I won’t ever go back there unless my life depended on it.” I crossed my arms defiantly.

Genevieve looked at me sternly, “At the moment it just might. We need to move quickly and this really is the only option we have right now.”

My defiance withered under her glare. She was my Maker and more of a mother to me than that woman on the island ever was. I loved and respected her and I knew that she did have my best interests at heart. I could not refuse her in this and I knew it, so I did the only thing I could do, I pouted. “Yes Mom,” I said, my tone dripping with teenage angst.

Genevieve shook her head, “You’ll have to call me Genevieve or Gen when we’re in public. I’ll be your older cousin. You never knew your father and you were sent into my care after your mother recently died in a tragic accident.” We were both feeling enough grief at the moment from Carly’s death to make that completely believable. “You may call me what you wish in private, but this will be our cover for the Norms and we can’t afford to mess up.”

“Is there anything else I should know?” I asked, knowing she was right and that we needed an airtight cover story.

“Your name is Kayla Marie Dunn, you’re sixteen, and we’re moving to this town of yours because I wanted to be closer to my good friend Gwen and I felt that if I were going to be raising an impressionable teen a small town would be the best place to do it. You like the colors red and purple, your birthday is December 19th, and you enjoy reading.” She turned to Gwen, “And what do you plan to say to anyone worried about Keith when you come back early from your search?”

Gwen shrugged, “While you two were asleep I went to the police and filed a missing persons report. I told them we hadn’t heard from him since before Christmas and he always calls on Christmas day. I went to his dorm but there was no sign of him. They’ve labeled him missing but they don’t have much hope of finding him alive at this point. They’re also stretched a bit thin what with that horrible mass murder last night. They think it was gang related it seems. The police said there’s nothing I can do here and they will phone me if they learn anything.” She seemed to concentrate on something for a moment before continuing, “And anyone coming here looking for Keith would have a hard time locating him, even by magical means. So I’ll just tell them all the truth. It’s not like anyone but my mom and I have heard from Keith.”

The memory of sitting at the computer with Carly burned into my mind, the memory of her laughter threatening to bring tears as it hit me once again that she was gone, stolen from me just when we had made a connection. I shoved the memory aside as I realized that we had a problem. “Oh shit, Pete.”

After my revelation about my little talk with Pete we decided it would be best to see if he could be convinced to remain quiet about our conversation should the police decide to talk to him about Keith’s disappearance. It would be too dangerous to wait around until he got back to Mesmer him and going out of our way to Thunder Bay on a wild goose chase could be just as dangerous as we wanted to keep our appearances in public airports to a minimum until we were on the other side of the country.

With that in mind, since Gwen and I were least likely to be recognized, the two of us went to a nearby electronics store bearing one of Genevieve’s credit cards to purchase a laptop. I felt a pang of loss when Gwen said I was her favorite niece and we were looking to buy me a good laptop for school. I thought sadly of Carly and almost didn’t hear the salesman as he asked if I just wanted it for school or whether I liked gaming as well. I shook off my dour mood and plastered a fake smile on my face, “Oh yeah I’m totally into Resident Evil and stuff!” With that said we found a pretty sweet laptop and what accessories would be needed, and the price wasn’t even that bad, though I may have Mesmered him just a little to get a small discount.

Once more into the breach, I thought to myself as I waited for Pete to come online. I had little hope of contacting him today with it being New Year’s Eve and all, but he probably wouldn’t start partying until evening and he might just go online to do some gaming before that. I signed in as invisible so I would appear offline to my contacts, to avoid any further mishaps, and as I waited I busied myself with purchasing the plane tickets for our trip to the west coast. I managed to book us all seats on a 9:30pm flight that would arrive in Vancouver just after 11:30pm. With luck we would be ringing in the New Year in relative safety.

It was almost 3:30pm when Pete came online and I took a deep breath as I tried to figure out the best way to approach this and started typing a message to him.

Keith_Roseberry: Hi Pete, you got a few minutes to talk before you go out partying.

LovrboyPete: Sure dude, what you need?

Keith_Roseberry: Have you told anyone that you talked to me the other night?

LovrboyPete: No, why would I? We talk all the time dude, it’s nothing special

Keith_Roseberry: Good I need you to keep it that way. Oh and when you get back to the dorm you might want to hide your stash of booze and weed a bit better.

LovrboyPete: What’s going on dude? You in some kind of trouble?

Keith_Roseberry: Something like that. My family and the police think I’m missing and possibly dead and believe me it’s better that way. If the police or anyone else comes asking questions about me I need you to tell them you haven’t seen or heard from me since the night before you left. Can you do that for me?

LovrboyPete: Dude, we’ve been best buds for three years, you know I got your back. If you’re in trouble I’ll help any way I can.

Keith_Roseberry: Great man, thanks. Just when you get back make a show of being worried about me. Maybe go to the police yourself after a day or two if they don’t contact you first, and tell them you’re worried because it looks like I haven’t been home in a while and it’s not like me to leave without somehow telling my best friend I’m going to be gone. And don’t mention to anyone that you’ve heard from me.

LovrboyPete: Anything else I can do dude?

Keith_Roseberry: I doubt it would happen, but If anyone else asks around about me besides the police leave a message at my cousin’s bookstore in my hometown for my cousin Gwen or Kayla, they’ll make sure I get the message.

LovrboyPete: I’ll do it but you owe me big time bro. Whenever you’re out of whatever trouble you’re in promise me you’ll tell me the whole story.

Keith_Roseberry: Cross my heart and hope to die.

LovrboyPete: Dude, don’t say things like that, you’re scaring me.

Keith_Roseberry: Sorry man, bad joke, don’t worry I’ll be fine. I gotta go.

LovrboyPete: Take care of yourself dude.

Keith_Roseberry: Will do.

With that I signed out of the Instant Message program and turned to Gwen and Genevieve, giving them a thumbs-up. The two looked somewhat relieved and now that that was out of the way we focused on our plan. We expected Hunters to be watching the airports. It was explained to me that Hunters were members of an organization called the Order of the Sacred Heart. They were bad news for any Unseen. To make us less noticeable it was decided that I would stay away from my normal goth-inspired fashions. Luckily it was winter in Toronto and it gave us an excuse to bundle up and hide a lot of our features.

I ended up with black denim jeans and a long tan parka that managed to hide my figure pretty well, my long purple hair was mostly hidden in the parka with the rest being covered by a bright pink toque, while pink mittens completed the outfit. Genevieve would wear something similar but the parka was black and the toque and gloves were a festive red. Gwen changed her outfit to something a tourist might wear; a fur trimmed jacket and gloves and brought out her camera to complete the look.

With our outfits chosen we spent the rest of the early evening waiting to go to the airport and while I drank the rest of our bagged blood from the hotel room’s mini fridge Gwen and Genevieve got room service. Once the young, and now slightly drained looking, bellboy was Mesmered into forgetting he was Genevieve’s dinner, we gave him a huge tip for being a trooper and providing such great service when he obviously wasn’t feeling well. After informing him that we would be leaving the room shortly to head home to Ottawa, we dismissed him. I think he was a bit sweet on me so I even gave him a slight peck on the cheek as a goodbye.

We arrived at the airport by taxi, having left the SUV in the hotel’s underground parking. As we gathered our bags and my laptop case from the trunk we noticed that the airport wasn’t terribly busy, but we had expected that with it being New Year’s Eve. Still, we saw them before they saw us. The Hunters were dressed conspicuously in black and standing close to the main entrance, pretending to be talking as they watched the people enter the airport. Did these people know the meaning of the words low profile? We looked around and spied a grey-haired airport security officer leaving from the exit. I smiled at Genevieve and Gwen, “I got this.”

For once my youth was an advantage. I ran up to the security officer, placing a terrified look on my young face. Genevieve and Gwen walked briskly behind me as if trying to keep up while not giving in to a child’s fears, “Excuse me Sir?” I asked, making sure to ‘breathe’ heavily, add a waver to my voice and give a fearful glance back at the entrance.

He looked down at me and smiled, “How can I help you Miss?” His look turned concerned as he caught the look on my face. I didn’t even have to Mesmer him.

“Ummmm… you see Sir,” I nibbled on my lower lip a bit, making sure to throw another terrified young girl look in the direction of the entrance. “There’s two scary looking guys in black at the entrance and I’m a bit scared to go in. There’s these lumps in their jackets and I think they could be guns. Could they be terrorists?” I was lucky all this was technically the truth since I still didn’t know the range on Genevieve’s ability, though I assumed she had to be somewhat close.

Genevieve ‘caught up’ with me, and smiled at the elderly guard, “You’ll have to excuse my cousin, she watches too much Television I think. She’s a bit nervous about her first time flying and those two men seem to have frightened her a bit.”

He looked kindly at me before turning to my ‘cousin’. “I understand Miss, I have a granddaughter about her age. Why don’t I take you in through the security entrance and I’ll send a team to make sure those two men aren’t up to any trouble, you can’t be too careful these days.” He smiled at me, trying to be reassuring, “Would that make you feel a bit safer?”

I made a show of breathing a sigh of relief, not that I could actually breathe, and let a brief look of relief pass over my face before putting on another nervous smile. “Thank you so much Sir that makes me feel a lot safer.”

He introduced himself as Roy and took us to a more secluded entrance along the side, bringing us into the airport security office. Once there he passed on to the dispatcher that there were two suspicious men wearing black at the main entrance that could be armed and that I was a bit scared. After I gave a description of the two men in question he nodded to Sally the dispatcher. “Can you send a team to go check those men out? I’m going to take these young ladies through the baggage check and make sure they get to their departure gate safely.” He gave me another of those reassuring, grandfatherly smiles.

I gave him a genuine smile in return; this was easier than I thought. The hardest part was not smiling and looking properly scared when we heard someone over Roy’s radio say that the men at the gate were armed and being taken into custody to await pick-up by the police. Roy winked at me, smiling once more, “Good eye, you’d make a good security officer.”

I looked down at my feet mock-shyly, “Oh no, I don't think I could ever do what you do.” We made our way through airport security and soon all our bags checked out as safe and were sent along the conveyor belt to join other luggage bound for Vancouver. We were able to keep our purses and my laptop with us as carry-on. We kept our eyes out for any more suspicious men, but thankfully didn’t encounter any, and Roy left us at our departure gate after polite farewells were made.

As we waited for our boarding call I made a show of buying a diet coke to drink while Gwen and Genevieve fished out their cell phones to make a few calls. Genevieve had to call her Mother, Carmilla, to inform her of Carly’s death. Gwen on the other hand needed to phone her pilot Rick Poole, who had been a mutual friend of ours growing up, to arrange for a meet-up and her mom to tell her of our situation. I on the other hand was trying my best to act like a bored teenage girl while keeping an eye out for any trouble.

Twenty minutes later our boarding call came and Genevieve made sure we were the last ones to board. The guy at the boarding gate took our tickets and asked for our ID. I was almost ready to panic when I felt Genevieve’s cool hand on my shoulder. She and Gwen showed their ID while I was lucky that since it was a domestic flight and I was technically a child I didn’t have to show ID so long as I was accompanied by an adult. Genevieve showed him a blank piece of paper and Mesmered him into believing it was a legal document showing her as my legal guardian so that there were no issues. We then boarded and were welcomed aboard by the friendly flight attendants of Air Canada and escorted to our seats.

How does one describe being stuck in a plane for five hours as a Vampire? Think of an alcoholic working at a bar or maybe a starving person surrounded by food and forbidden to touch anything. It could have been worse though, I had the window seat and with it being New Year’s Eve the plane wasn’t terribly crowded. Still, I was glad I had learned some measure of control before this.

To keep my mind off all the food around me I opened my laptop and started to play solitaire. That got boring after the first hour so I packed the laptop away and taking a deep breath I really didn’t need to take I decided to make conversation. “So Gwennie-bee, how have things been since I left? I never really asked you during any of our past conversations.”

She seemed to consider a bit before looking over at me, “The town is pretty much as boring as when you left, I’ll tell you more about that when we have a little more privacy though.” She gestured widely at the seats around us. “As for the family, mom is as stern as always but there’s good reason for that. Your mom hasn’t changed either, she still thinks she knows better than anyone else and she makes sure they know it. Your dad misses you K, he’s never agreed with your mom’s decision and he thinks that it drove a wedge between you. He had plans for you, but your mom and now your current situation have made those plans impossible. I think if you ever get the chance you really need to talk to him.”

I shrugged noncommittally, “I’ll think about it.” I looked at her and asked what was on my mind, “And what about you Gwen? How are you?” She had taken the whole Hunter thing well enough but she was the only one in my family I’d ever really had any sort of connection with and I was a bit worried about her. She’d been quiet, holding something back and it had been getting worse ever since we left for the airport. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t something serious. “What’s up in Gwen’s world?”

“Well, the bookstore is doing fairly well, I’m actually thinking of hiring some extra help soon.” She looked away into the aisle, “Other than that there’s only one thing and I really shouldn’t bother you with it.”

“You know you can’t lie while Genevieve is here so you’re trying to avoid the topic.” I responded quietly as I crossed my arms looking at her crossly, “Something is bothering you, now tell me what it is.”

She sighed, looking at me a bit sadly and she spoke quietly. “K, before I left for Toronto Rick asked me to marry him.” She reached into her purse, pulling out an impressive engagement ring and slipped it on her finger, “He said if I found Keith I was supposed to ask him to be his best man.”

“Well that obviously isn’t happening now,” I said gesturing at my body after a cautious look around, “Afterall, ‘Keith’ is missing and most likely dead. Congratulations though, he’s a good guy and I’m happy for you both.”

Gwen nodded, and gently took my hand in hers, “Well I was thinking there might be a way you could be involved, but I’ve been a bit reluctant to ask.”

I glowered at her, “I am not being the flower girl for anyone’s wedding, so you can just get that thought right out of your head. I’d sooner be dead.” Genevieve, who was obviously not as asleep as she was pretending to be chortled at that. At least she had the decency to look embarrassed, though Vampires can’t really blush.

Gwen did blush slightly as she said, “Actually I was hoping you’d be my maid of honor.” Seeing the look on my face she quickly raised her hands to hold off my answer, “Just wait a minute K, hear me out.” I closed my mouth halting my answer and motioned for her to go on. “Think about it K, I’ve never really had a lot of girlfriends at least not my age. I was a tomboy until I was sixteen and mostly hung out with you and Rick. The only female relative I have other than my mom is?”

“My mom of course, duh we both know that.” I rolled my eyes as I leaned back in my seat.

She nodded, a smile forming on her lips. “Given that and your mom’s general attitude, who do you think she’s going to believe is a shoe-in to be my maid of honor?”

“Herself of course,” I snorted in a very unladylike manner.

She grinned broadly at Genevieve and I, “So how do you think she’s going to take it when you get the job instead and your lovely ‘cousin’ is my bridesmaid?”

My eyes lit up as I matched her grin with a feral one of my own, “I’m in.” So for the next hour or more the three of us talked wedding plans and Gwen relaxed considerably. I relaxed as well. I still wasn’t too keen on going home, but at least I had Gwen and Genevieve to help make it bearable.

I woke to the announcement that we would soon be landing at Vancouver International Airport and I sat up in my chair and made sure my safety belt was properly fastened, safety first and all that. Soon I felt a gentle bumping as the landing gear hit the runway and we were making our way toward the departure gate. Once the plane stopped we waited until most of the other passengers had disembarked before gathering our things and exiting the plane.

Rick was waiting for us as we left the departure gate. He hadn’t changed much since I’d left; he still had black shoulder-length hair, blue eyes, and I thought he must still work out fairly regularly because he was pretty muscular. I was glad Gwen had him since I knew he was a good guy and he was pretty cute too. Dammit I just thought he was cute. Rick came up to meet us, wrapping Gwen in a big hug, “I’m glad you’re back safe. I should have gone with you.” He turned to give us the once over, “These are the friends you mentioned then?”

Gwen smiled as he let go of her and gave him a kiss, “Yeah this is Genevieve and Kayla.” Feeling a bit hurt that he didn’t recognize me, even though I had been trying to prepare myself for that, I took his offered hand to shake once he had let go of Genevieve’s. He was being polite but it was obvious he didn’t know what to make of us. It was like he was trying to decide whether he was attracted to us or scared to death. I wondered exactly how much Gwen had told him.

Rick nodded in the direction of the baggage claim, “Well let’s get you lovely ladies to the baggage claim and see if we can retrieve your bags sometime this year.” Checking the time, I realized that it was 12 minutes to midnight. The year would soon be over and a new year would begin and with the all the new changes it was like I would be starting my life over when that clock hit twelve. I only hoped this life was better than the last and wished that Carly could have been here with us to see it all begin. The sadness and uncertainty must have been visible on my face because Genevieve reached down to take my hand, squeezing it gently in her own as we made our way to our new lives.

We did get our luggage before the year ended, but just barely, and soon we were on board Rick’s seaplane and on our way to Sena Island. We had missed the one ferry that goes there once a week and the only other ways there were by flying or boat. Gwen spent most of the half hour trip there telling us what we could expect at the island. She figured at some point the Coven and the Unseen Council would want to speak with us and then we would have to figure out what to do with our lives there.

At one point I interrupted her, asking quietly, “Should we be talking about this with him here?” I nodded my head pointedly at Rick, who turned back and gave me a wink.

Gwen shook her head smiling, “Don’t worry about Rick. He’s a Dud, and my Warden.”

“Is anyone I know normal?” I muttered to myself, as Genevieve put her arm around me, giving me a comforting squeeze. I smiled up at her and tried to shrug it all off as I remembered a question I had been meaning to ask since Gwen mentioned the engagement, something I had only recently realized was odd about our family. “Gwen, are you going to change your name to Poole when you get married?”

She thought about that a moment, “Probably not. It’s kind of a family tradition that women carry on the Roseberry name when they marry. It’s like that in most Witch families here actually. Rick’s little sister Natalie will carry on the Poole name.”

I thought it strange that I didn’t remember Rick having a sister. I was so distracted by that that I slipped up, using Keith’s nickname for him as I asked, “So Risk, how long before we land?” I quickly shut my mouth as he turned, giving me an intense look. He stared for an uncomfortably long moment before turning his attention back to flying.

“We should be landing in a few minutes,” was all he said, though I noticed him turn give both Genevieve and I several more long glances before we finally landed on the water and made our way to the docks. I was home and I wasn’t quite sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Here's chapter 4 for Bloodlines, there's a lot of information about Sena Island in this chapter but I've tried to balance it well with the story telling.
Thanks as usual to EoF for creating such a wonderful universe for us to play in and thanks to EoF, Maggie Finson and Donjo for their input.

Gwen got off the plane first and Genevieve and I quickly followed suit after grabbing our bags, anxious to stretch our legs a bit. As I hopped onto the dock I heard Gwen curse. I looked to see what caused the reaction when I saw it. A hooded figure in black stood waiting for us, I couldn’t tell if they were male or female, I couldn’t see their face; it was they were like a part of the darkness around us. This person was downright creepy, and keep in mind that’s coming from a Vampire. Odd, I thought to myself, I know Sena Island has never been a place to encourage tourism but I’ve never known us to actively roll out the Unwelcome Wagon.

The shadowy figure looked the three of us over in turn and before turning around and walking away spoke four words. “You have been summoned.”

We all watched the figure turn and walk off in varying degrees of shock and confusion. Genevieve was the first to react, picking up her duffel bag and moving to follow, muttering, “They don’t waste much time here do they?”

Gwen sighed, shaking her head sadly, “Welcome to Sena Island.” She too moved to follow, leaving her bags with Rick, “Let’s go get this over with; it looks like it’s going to be a long night.”

“Just fucking great,” I muttered as I hefted my duffel bag and joined both my ‘cousins’ following the creepy shadow figure and turning to Gwen I asked, “So what’s with the overly creepy summons? Is this the Witch idea of a practical joke?”

“I’m not laughing are you? This is serious K.”

“Hmmm, yes it is. By the looks of our welcoming committee, this is dead serious.” Both my companions cracked a smile at that so I continued, “I’m no expert on this but I figure if we go in there looking guilty or like they’re going to be able to push us around things likely won’t go well for us. We need to go into this with confidence not like we’re walking to our deaths. Carly wouldn’t have let them push her around and I won’t either.”

Genevieve smiled down at me, ruffling my hair “You’re right we’ll go in there with our heads held high and see what they want. Hopefully we can prove we can be useful to this town of yours.” By this time our ‘guide’ had arrived at a black limo and motioned for us to get inside. The windows were tinted so that nobody could see inside and once we were seated and the door was closed behind us I could see that we couldn’t see out either. I guessed that our mysterious hosts didn’t want us seeing where we were going.

We drove for quite some time, taking many twists and turns that I was pretty sure were intended to make us lose our sense of direction before finally coming to a stop. A moment later the door opened and we stepped out into what appeared to be the mouth of a long man-made tunnel. Our guide turned without a word and taking a lit torch from a sconce in the wall began walking down the tunnel. As we moved to follow I muttered to my companions, “Who uses torches these days? There’s this little thing called electricity.”

“The Coven tends to follow traditions,” Gwen responded with a shrug.

Genevieve nodded, “That and I would imagine they’re trying to scare us and put us off balance. They started the psychological warfare as soon as we landed to try and keep an advantage.”

“Whatever floats their boat,” I said crossing my arms defiantly. “Let them think they have their advantage if it makes them happy. I’m sure we have enough surprises of our own to keep them off balance if we need to play their game.” I smiled just a little as I thought what would happen if one of our hosts tried lying with Genevieve in the room.

We arrived at a pair of large wooden doors with cast-iron handles and hinges that looked to have seen a lot of years. I expected a loud squeaking when the black entity opened one of the doors but there wasn’t a sound, making me think that this place must be well cared for. With our creepy companion holding the door for us ever so politely, the three of us stepped through into a large circular chamber. The chamber contained several benches, one of which was occupied by a lone woman, which we passed on our way to the open area in the center of the room which faced a large dais in the back. On that dais were five imposing figures with their features hidden by deep hoods and long black robes, much like our creepy friend now waiting outside. Each figure was seated in a large chair, with the center one being slightly higher than the others.

The center figure spoke up, “Do you know why you have been summoned?”

“Well I don’t see a basket of fruit, so I’m going to assume it’s not to welcome us to the neighborhood.” I answered tartly.

Genevieve gave me a stern look, “Hush. Don’t antagonize the Witches.” She then turned to the five figures, “You most likely want to assess whether or not we are a threat to you. I assure you we are not.”

“You’ll understand if I don’t just take you at your word.” The figure just to the right of the spokesperson scoffed and turned to Gwen, “Miss Roseberry, what are your opinions of these… Vampires.” I could tell even with the voice being muffled that the last was spoken coldly. I clenched my fists as I tried to remain quiet.

Gwen cleared her throat and took a deep breath before answering. “They have shown remarkable restraint given their nature. They don’t kill when they feed, they make sure the victim forgets, they protected me during our fight with the Hunters, and they try to blend in and not draw attention to themselves.”

“How then did you come to be attacked by as many as twenty Hunters if they are so careful not to draw attention to themselves?” asked another.

Gwen looked at me guiltily, “I believe Kayla may have attracted their attention. While she has gotten control of her hunger, she is still a fairly new Vampire and is still getting used to her abilities.”

I scuffed my feet on the floor nervously as another, the one on the far right snorted at that, “Why then should we welcome these strangers to our home? One is a child obviously not in full control of herself yet and the other has shown no reservations about turning a child.”

Gwen looked apologetically at me, knowing she could only speak the truth, “Because Kayla isn’t a stranger, and she was born here. She wasn’t that age when Genevieve turned her either, there were unforeseen complications and she regressed in age.”

“I don’t recall anyone by that name on the Island. How is it that you were sent to Toronto to find your missing cousin and return with two Vampires and a bullshit story?”

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat, knowing what was coming even before the words left Gwen’s mouth, “I was sent to find my cousin Keith and I found him, he contacted me before I even left. Kayla is… was Keith.” You could have heard a pin drop for the brief instant before the room exploded into chaos.

After several minutes of everyone trying to be heard over everyone else order was called and the person to the far right of the spokesperson asked, “What proof do you have to back this claim?”

I clenched my hands tightly; having had more than enough of people talking about me like I wasn’t there. “Well I am standing right here, you could always ask me. I don’t bite… much.” I gave the five shadowy figures a long look, crossing my arms.

The figure on the far right snorted and I could almost feel them rolling their eyes, “And what guarantee do we have that you would tell us the truth, girl?”

I was about to retort when I felt Genevieve’s hand squeezing my shoulder reassuringly as she spoke up, “You could always test her if you don’t believe her, and ask things only Keith would know. I guarantee you though that while I am here she cannot tell a lie.”

“And why should we believe you Vampire? You’re going to cover for your own if it gets you what you want.”

Genevieve merely smiled, remaining perfectly calm. “Oh I could quite easily be lying, but nobody else around me can. I have an ability that makes it impossible. And as much as I would sometimes like to, it’s an ability I can’t turn off.” There was another brief uproar at that before Genevieve continued. “If you don’t believe me, why not ask Gwen here? Or get someone you trust to test it.”

The spokesperson spoke up now. “Very well, let’s have our Inquisitor test this Vampire’s claim. She motioned to the benches behind us and the woman who had been seated there stepped toward us and the dais. She looked to be in her early thirties, with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, cold blue eyes and a very serious look on her face. The woman said nothing at first, merely nodding to the five seated figures before turning to look intently at Genevieve.

Genevieve smiled at that, a predator’s smile as she stepped closer and looked at the Inquisitor just as intently, “Now remember I want you to try to lie to me. So my first question is what is your name?”

The Inquisitor seemed to think a moment before saying, “Katherine Taylor.” Her eyes narrowed at her answer and she brought her fingers quickly to her lips.

Genevieve moved on to the next question, “Why are you here?”

“I am the Inquisitor for the Coven.” Again her eyes narrowed and she seemed ready to bore a hole through my Maker’s skull with her look.

Genevieve seemed unaffected by the look through, remaining perfectly calm as she kept her eyes on the other woman, “What color is blood?”

The Inquisitor looked at Genevieve furrowing her brow in determination, “Blood is red.” She was beginning to look very frustrated at this.

Genevieve shrugged looking at the Coven members, “It doesn’t need to be me asking the questions either, Go ahead and ask something.”

The spokesperson nodded before asking, “What is your middle name?”

“Eunice,” She answered, and seemed to blush a bit at that one.

The five Coven members whispered amongst themselves for a moment before the spokesperson spoke up again, “That is a handy ability you have Vampire.”

Genevieve nodded, still remaining perfectly calm. “Yes it will come in handy when I start my work as a Psychologist.”

“We would like to question the girl before we make a decision regarding the two of you.”

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms, and had to refrain from stomping my foot in anger, “The girl has a name you know, and I’m standing right here.”

“The spokesperson nodded, “What is your name then girl?”

“Kayla Marie Dunn,” I answered truthfully, like I had any choice. Then I quickly added, “But that is the name my Maker gave me. My human name was Keith Aaron Roseberry.”

There was some muttering amongst them at this before the questioning continued, “Are you the same Keith Roseberry who grew up here on Sena Island?”

“Yes.” I answered.

“What were you parents’ names?”

“Carl Kairns and Lena Roseberry,” I nearly spat out the last.

“Please tell us everything that led up to your disappearance and what has happened since until you arrived here. At that I began to relate everything that happened leading up to us arriving on the island. I had to pause once to collect myself when I came to Carly’s death and began to cry. Genevieve and Gwen held me, comforting me as I wept until I managed to collect myself and finish the story. As I finished I took a deep breath, watching the five whisper amongst themselves until the spokesperson spoke once more, “We have made our decision.”

I laid in my bed in one of the guestrooms at Aunt Helen’s house. The house was huge and has been in the family since the founding of the town. I used to play with Rick and Gwen in the house when we were kids and it was a great place for hide and seek. I felt like hiding now, but not from my childhood playmates. Now I wished to hide from my situation. I was home and there were so many conflicting feelings about that, so many things I didn’t know about before, and so many things that I would have to face that I would rather not.

The Coven had decided they would petition the Unseen Council to allow us to stay, under certain conditions. There was supposed to be a meeting of the Council tonight and as soon as we were done with the Coven we were once again driven blindly around town until we came to the house where we would be guests for the time being and encouraged to rest. I had slept very briefly but I found that I was too nervous to stay that way for long.

Eventually I decided to shower, taking my time and letting the hot water wash away the grime and soothe both my body and my mind as I got lost in the ritual of getting clean. Once I had patted myself dry I took my time carefully drying my hair as I chose what to wear. I chose a simple pleated red plaid skirt with a black lace crinoline underneath, a black and blood red corset, torn fishnet stockings, fingerless black lace gloves, black knee-high leather boots with buckles all up the sides and of course my choker. My hair I decided to let hang free and a little wild looking.

One would think I should have chosen something a little more low-key for tonight’s meeting but I decided I’d rather be myself then go out of my way to please others. If the Unseen Council couldn’t respect me wanting to be myself when I met them then I really didn’t give a shit what they thought of me. With this in mind I blew a kiss at the blue-eyed beauty in the mirror and left my room to see who was around.

Genevieve was still asleep but I found Gwen and Aunt Helen in the kitchen having lunch. They looked up as I walked into the kitchen, both giving a tired wave and a good morning, though Aunt Helen seemed to take a long appraising look at my attire before she finally spoke, “How would you feel about going on a tour of the town today before the meeting? I’ve arranged for a few kids your age to show you around.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “Well first I already know the town having grew up here, second there are no ‘kids’ my age seeing as I’m 25, and lastly I’m not some child you can dupe so tell me what the hell you’re up to.”

Aunt Helen sighed, “Someone let it slip to Lena that Gwen came back last night and she and Carl are going to be coming over to see if she found Keith. I thought you might want to put off seeing them for a bit.”

Gwen nodded, her eyes not leaving me, “Also you look like you’re new here, and nobody is going to know you’re Keith. There’s only roughly three thousand people living here and most know each other or have at least seen one another in passing. A new face is going to attract attention, especially with your looks and the way you dress. People will expect a new girl to be getting a tour of the town from people her age, so if you’re going to blend in here you’re going to have to do it sooner or later.”

I frowned at this information, “So you’ve hired some babysitters to haul me off so I don’t blow up and cause a scene, and you figured you might as well kill two birds with one stone.”

Aunt Helen frowned, “No Kayla, if you want to stay and talk to your parents it’s fine, they’ll be here for New Year’s dinner before we have to go to the Unseen Council meeting anyway, I just thought you’d prefer to have some time to prepare yourself. Also these kids are other Unseen and one in particular you have something in common with. I thought you might want to try to make some friends and get to know a bit about Sena Island from the Unseen perspective. It might help you adapt to your situation better.”

Sadly I could actually see the logic in this plan so I shrugged and gave in. “Fine, I’ll make nice with the kiddies and make like a good tourist. So who’s picking me up and when does this disaster start?”

Aunt Helen gave me an encouraging smile, “They should be here soon, I asked Natalie Poole to show you around and she asked if she could bring friends and make it a group outing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she brings Sarah Taylor and the McGreggor boy, those three seem inseparable.”

I went back to my room to get a jacket, mostly for show, since it was the beginning of January and to put on some sunscreen. Once finished I put the sunscreen and some other necessities in a black leather purse and returned downstairs. When I returned to the foyer there were three teenagers standing there dressed for cool weather. The tall slim girl bore a strong resemblance to Rick, having long black hair, a pretty face and dark blue eyes. I assumed of course that this was Natalie. The brown haired girl beside her wasn’t quite as pretty but she had the most intense green eyes and she seemed about my height. Finally there was the boy. He was absolutely huge, at least six feet two inches and built like a linebacker with light brown hair and dark brown eyes.

They all looked me over even as I did the same with them. The girls made their assessment quickly and greeted me with a smile while the boy, if you could call someone that big a boy, couldn’t seem to take his eyes off me. I thought his jaw was going to hit the floor. As I approached he seemed to sniff the air, wrinkling his nose slightly before staring again, though not as intently. I reached the trio and forced a smile, “Hi I’m Kayla, thanks for offering to show me around. Just so you know I can’t spend a lot of time in direct sunlight, maybe an hour at most.”

The tall girl nodded seeming a bit nervous and self-conscious as she spoke. “I’m Natalie and this is Sarah and Jason. We were just thinking of showing you a few of the important things and let folks see you a bit and then we were thinking about going to Gino’s, it’s open even with the holiday today and we can get a booth in the back where it’s dark.”

I nodded and actually smiled at that. Gino’s serves the best pizza ever and they have great hot wings too. It was one of the few things I had actually missed about Sena Island when I left. “Sounds good, can we get going then?” I took a cautious look around as if expecting my former mom to jump out of a closet, “I’d really rather get out of here before the other guests show up.”

I followed the three teenagers out to a large white half ton truck with an extended cab, which I was told that Jason had managed to borrow from his dad. We all climbed in, Sarah and I taking the back while Jason drove and Natalie rode shotgun. As soon as we were all settled in and on our way I thought that I might as well lay all the cards out and spoke what was on my mind, “So Natalie, I don’t remember Risk having a younger sister, but I do remember that his brother Nathan would have been about your age.” There were three sharp intakes of breath before Natalie turned around and looked at me slightly confused. “W-what?”

I raised my hands in the classic ‘I’m harmless’ manner. “Don’t worry I’m not here to cause trouble, in fact I’d like to avoid it. Do you know why Gwen was in Toronto?”

Sarah answered since Natalie still looked like her eyes were about to pop out of her head. “She was looking for her missing cousin and Rick’s friend Keith. Most of the Witches on the island, including my mom, have been looking and turning up nothing. My mom is starting to worry he might be dead. “

“Well she found me,” I shrugged, giving an awkward half bow.

The two girls looked confused a moment and suddenly Natalie gasped, staring at me, “You’re Keith!?!”

Jason slammed on the breaks and turned to stare at me, “You were a guy?! Damn, first Nate and then you, no offense to any of you but I’m really glad I’m not from a Witch family right now.” He looked Sarah over and grinned at her, “You sure you were born a girl?” Sarah responded by punching him in the shoulder as he turned and started driving again. While we drove I told the three of them how I ended up in my current situation, and this time I managed not to cry, just barely, as I related what happened to Carly. Natalie then told me her story about a long lost family heirloom that changed her from Sarah’s future Warden to a fellow Witch. We all promised to keep these stories between the four of us as we arrived at the edge of the woods outside town which covered most of the islands 120 square kilometers.

We all left the vehicle and Jason gestured to the forest, “Growing up here you probably heard the stories of people getting lost in the woods and never coming back right?” I nodded and he continued on, “Well most of those stories are true. If people get lost we’ll launch search parties and try tracking them but not even Unseen will search the Valley, people who go into the Valley usually don’t come out again.”

Sarah nodded solemnly, “Yeah search parties won’t go that far, the people of the Whitefeather tribe think the Valley is some sort of holy ground and the Unseen here don’t like to enter the Valley without permission from the Sacred.”

“The Sacred?” I asked, not quite sure I wanted to know.

Natalie gave me a weak smile, “That’s what we of Witch blood call them; some people call them the Fae or other things. Believe me they exist and there’s good and bad ones.” Her eyes looked distant for a moment as she shivered. I had a feeling it wasn’t from the cold.

“Okay so don’t enter the Valley, got it.” I said, looking out into the woods. “Anything else I should know while we’re here?”

Sarah pointed up in the air above the forest, “Well there were several reasons our town founders chose this island to settle on. One of them is up there.”

“Fresh air?” I ventured.

Sarah laughed at that. “No, up there is a Crossroads. Five ley lines intersect there making this island a bit of a hotspot for magical energy. That’s why your ancestor Sorcha Roseberry and Aaki Whitefeather, the Nui-chal-tulth Shaman at the time chose the island. From there John Whitlock chose the site of the town for the hunting and fishing available.

“I thought the town was founded because the Nui-chal-tulth and the Irish settlers were tired of British colonial rule?” I asked.

Natalie shrugged, “That story works well for the Norms and it’s mostly true except that the Irish and the natives weren’t the only ones included, Weres, Witch families and some other Unseen were a big part of it as well. In fact all four of us are from some of the major families which founded the town.”

I mulled that over for a moment, “Okay so I get the three of us are from Witch families but what about you Jason? You said you weren’t.”

Jason grinned broadly, “I’m a Were, a moose to be exact.”

With his size I could certainly believe it but it struck me as a bit silly, “A were-moose? Seriously?” I asked, pretty sure he must be pulling my leg.

He merely nodded. “If you want I’ll show you one day when we’re not pressed for time.”

We all took that as our cue to return to the car and Jason drove again until we reached the ocean. We were in a large bay with a sandy beach and an expanse of large rocks at one end where a large group of seals appeared to be sunning themselves. Once again we left the truck and moved close enough to watch the seals from a distance. Natalie pointed and said, “This is Sorcha Bay, do you see all those seals?” As if I could miss them.

The name was not lost on me given my recent history lesson and I nodded as I answered, “Yeah, I see them.”

“I bet almost half of them are Selkies. A large portion of the Irish settlers who came here were Selkies. We have a Nereid family or two here as well. The island is almost the perfect location for them. A lot of us Unseen here on the island know each other and can be ourselves when we’re with other Unseen. Just remember not to mention anything about Unseen matters around the Norms.”

“Ummm what are Selkies and Nereids?” I was beginning to feel pretty stupid and mentally cursed my birth mother for hiding all this from me.

Jason shrugged, “Nereids are a bit hard to explain but Selkies are a lot like Weres. They’re people who change into seals like my family changes into moose.”

It continued like that for the next half hour, them taking me to important spots and telling me about them and answering my questions. Places I grew up with like Whitlock Beach and Aaki Square were given new meaning with my history lessons. Eventually we ended up in town at Aaki Square where a lot of the town’s shops were located. We didn’t have very many big name corporate stores or restaurants in town as almost everything was locally owned. My cousin’s store ‘The Book Mark’ as well as Gino’s were both located in the square.

We sat at one of the booths in the back where it was fairly dark. It wasn’t very busy due to the holiday and there wasn’t anyone but us at the back so we had a bit of privacy. When we had entered Gino’s I got a lot of curious looks but everyone seemed content to leave me alone seeing as I was with some of the local kids. The four of us talked as we ate and I found myself growing to like them all. “I remember Gino’s pizza tasting so great.” I placed my barely eaten slice of meat-lovers back on my plate, a bit disappointed, and took a sip of my coke with a sigh. “It’s a pity I can’t eat much, and that I can’t taste it. Usually this pizza would be to die for.” I made a weak attempt at a joke and a smile.

The three of them smiled at my joke and Jason took a quick look around before saying, “I was wondering about that, you seemed to be eating well enough.”

I shrugged, responding quietly, “I can eat really small amounts, it helps me appear human but I can’t eat very much and it doesn’t really do me any good. I need blood to survive.” They all looked a bit uncomfortable at that so I was quick to assure them, “Don’t worry I can control myself and I only feed on guys. Plus I think feeding on another Unseen might be some kind of taboo, though I’m pretty new at all this.” They relaxed at this, all except Sarah who suddenly started frowning. It was a moment before I realized she wasn’t frowning at me but rather something behind me toward the entrance. “What’s wrong Sarah?”

The other two looked in the direction of the door, Jason having to turn to do so, and they too frowned as Sarah responded, “It’s Eric Peters. That arrogant jerk has been after me ever since ‘Nathan’ left the island. He’s a Norm and he figures with Nathan gone he can move in on me.”

Natalie practically growled, moving her hand to hold Sarah’s. “Yeah the asshole didn’t wait very long. And then when I started back at school as Natalie he tried hitting on me too. He thinks he’s God’s gift to women.” She gave an exasperated sigh, “Damn he’s coming this way.”

A muscular guy with sandy blond hair approached our table, his attention on Natalie and Sarah. He wasn’t as built as Jason but he seemed to make up for it with attitude and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. “Hello ladies,” I didn’t need to see his face to know he likely had a smarmy grin on it. “How about I join you? I know you’ve both probably been missing me with school out for the holidays.”

Jason started cracking his knuckles, “Listen Eric, they’ve both asked you repeatedly to leave them alone, besides the table is full. Take off so we can finish our meal in peace.” The look on his face made it quite clear what he intended to do should he choose not to.

Eric turned, seeming to see Jason for the first time, “I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to…” And that was when he saw me. His eyes did a quick appraisal and he obviously liked what he saw. I groaned in preparation for the inevitable. “Hey there gorgeous, I haven’t seen you around here before.” He tried his smarmy grin on me and I briefly wondered what kind of idiot this guy was before I decided I already knew the answer.

“No you haven’t,” I said simply.

“Ouch, that hurt, don’t be so cold baby.”

I narrowed my eyes at that, wanting to do a number of unpleasant things to him at that moment even as my hunger insinuated he might make a nice snack. It was far too public in the middle of a restaurant though, even if it wasn’t that busy, and I was trying to keep a low profile. I looked quickly around to make sure we weren’t being overheard and then I looked deep into his eyes and felt the flick of the mental switch as I got him under my control. “You’ve interrupted our meal and your advances aren’t welcome, you’re very rude. I think you should apologize.”

“I’m sorry, I was very rude,” he answered.

“I think you should go eat and forget you talked with us. You saw us in passing but you never spoke to us. You won’t even think about having seen us until we are gone.” He didn’t say another word; he just left and made his way to one of the bar stools at the counter to place an order like everything was normal. My three companions just stared at me for a moment as I smiled at them, “Well I’m finished, I’ll eat something a little more filling later.”

Sarah suddenly burst out laughing and the others weren’t far behind as she grinned at me, “I have got to learn to do that.”

It was dark and almost dinner time when they dropped me back off at Roseberry Manor. The three left with a promise to call the next day and I actually found myself looking forward to it. They were good kids and I felt that if I were going to be stuck as a teenager then it wouldn’t be quite so bad with friends like them. I took off my jacket and hung it and my purse in the closet before making my way toward the formal dining room, where I was told we’d be having dinner tonight, not that I would be eating yet.

I stepped into the dining room to see Genevieve and my former mother staring daggers at one another, while my father, Gwen and Aunt Helen watched the two of them like a lit dynamite stick. All eyes turned to me as I stopped in the doorway and I silently cursed. Genevieve smiled warmly at me, “Welcome back Kayla, did you enjoy your time out?”

I nodded, answering cautiously, “Yeah I did. It was fun and very educational.” I looked at my former mother at this and she shrunk back a bit. That told me all I needed to know. She’d been told. “Maybe I might have stuck around if I’d known before that Sena Island isn’t as boring as it seems.” I left unsaid that doing so would have prevented this. My aunt’s maid, Julie, entered the room and began setting the table for dinner at that point and we all went quiet. Once everything was set and dinner was on the table Julie was dismissed and told that we weren’t to be interrupted.

After a few minutes of eating, my human mother broke the silence. “Keith, I’m…”

I cut her off, “There’s no Keith here, Keith is dead.” Both my birth parents winced at that. I felt a bit bad about dad being hurt by this but he wasn’t free from blame either.

She tried again, “Kayla… I love you; I hid our heritage from you to protect you. I wanted you safe from all the dangers of being Unseen.”

“Protect me?!” I yelled, before making a show of laughing at that. “Look how well that turned out! You didn’t want to protect me, you wanted to protect yourself! You just couldn’t stand the thought of having a son instead of the daughter you really wanted! Well congratulations it’s a girl!” I clenched my fists at my sides, glowering at her, “Do you know what it was like growing up knowing that I was a disappointment to you because I was male?! I hated myself! I hate you!” She paled at that and seemed on the verge of tears, but I didn’t care, I needed to get this out after all these years.

“I…. I was…. wrong.” I stared at her as she said that, the words I never thought I’d hear from my mother’s lips. Tears were running down her face as she continued. “I kept emailing you; I wanted you to come home for Christmas. We were going to tell you then.”

My father nodded, “I managed to convince her we were only hurting you, I wanted to have you become a Warden like me.”

“Too fucking late! The damage is already done and has been for a long time!” Bloody tears streamed down my face as I clenched my fists and closed my eyes against the anguish that had been building since I was 8 years old. I felt two sets of arms around me and I looked up expecting to see Genevieve and Gwen, but saw instead my parents. I just closed my eyes and kept crying.

“I know I haven’t been the best mother and I did want a daughter but I never loved you any less, I just was never very good at showing it. I didn’t know how to relate to a son. I… we want to make it up to you.”

At this time Genevieve interrupted. “You may want to make it up to her but you need to realize that Kayla is her own person now and she is going to have issues trusting you. Also there is her adjustment to her life as a Vampire and her family background. You need to rebuild your relationship with her and her trust.” I felt them release me at that and saw them both nod as she continued, “As for you Kayla, I think you need to give them a chance, let them help you where they can. I’m not saying move in with them or even try to jump into a relationship, in fact I think you need to ease into this. This is a unique situation that we all need to adjust to and I feel that having sessions where we can all have talks to get to know one another would be a great benefit.”

My parents agreed to this and Genevieve looked at me, trying to reassure me. I knew she cared, she wanted what was best for me, and she would never let me get hurt. I even knew deep down that my parents cared. So I took a deep breath that I didn’t need to take and said, “I guess so.” I knew there was a long road ahead for us all.

When Keith Roseberry meets Genevieve his life and his world are changed forever and home will never be the same.     Bloodlines Chapter 5 By Amethyst

Thanks again to EoF for creating such a great universe for us to play in and to EoF, Maggie, and Donjo as always for looking over my work and giving their input.

While my aunt, cousin and parents finished their dinner and talked to Genevieve I left the dining room to clean up and collect myself emotionally. As I looked myself over in one of the bathrooms I was relieved to find that while my face and hands were bloody, my clothes came out of my emotional outburst relatively unscathed. My black lace gloves were fairly bloodied, but I had several spare pairs and would merely wear another pair and see if the bloodied pair could be salvaged after a good washing. I cleaned myself up and, placing the gloves in the sink, I carefully hand washed them before the blood could set in and completely ruin them.

Once I was cleaned and once again looking presentable I carefully wrung out the gloves and headed back to my current bedroom, leaving them to fully dry atop the dresser as I found a new pair and put them on. Then I brushed out my wild looking purple hair and pulled it back out of my eyes, placing a pair of small hair clips adorned with chrome skulls to hold it out of the way and have it fall around my face, framing it nicely. I found I liked the look I had going right now and though I liked my sapphire eyes I sort of wished that they were a more unique color something that would stand out more and fit better with the whole Goth look.

As I was thinking this and wishing that my eyes were a cool color, like maybe red or something, it happened. My eyes changed, the color flowing through the color spectrum from sapphire blue, through darker blues, violets, and then to a sinister looking red. It happened so fast I nearly jumped away from the mirror. “Cool! That was exactly the shade of red I was thinking of!” I am ashamed to admit that I may have squealed in glee once I realized what happened. I wondered if I could do it again, and I immediately thought of the intense green of Sarah’s eyes. Once again my irises shifted through the color spectrum this time going from red to the same bright green of Sarah’s eyes.

I don’t know how long I stayed in front of the mirror like a kid playing with a new toy, shifting my eyes from one color to another, but before I knew it there was a knock at the door. Genevieve’s voice came through the door sounding concerned, “Kayla are you alright?”

“Ummm yeah, come in.” I answered, still slightly distracted and now feeling bad for worrying her. She must have thought I was still upset, and I felt kind of silly for losing myself in something as silly as changing my eye color when I had been so upset earlier. As the door opened and Genevieve stepped in I looked at her with now amber eyes, “Sorry for worrying you. Why didn’t you tell me we could do something like this, it could have been handy for disguising ourselves.”

“Something like what?” she asked, seeming confused for a moment. Then she looked into my eyes curiously. “Are you wearing contacts?”

I shook my head, “No, of course not, when did I have time to get contacts? I’ve just been playing with changing my eye color.” I thought of a nice violet color as a demonstration and Genevieve raised an eyebrow, and moved back just a tiny bit as if startled and trying not to show it. “How long have you been able to do that?”

“I just found out I could do it while I was looking in the mirror after I came up here. So why didn’t you tell me Vampires could pull this little trick?”

“We can’t, at least not any I’ve run across.” She chuckled, “I think you discovered your ability Kayla. Every Vampire has one and they’re all unique. You know how mine is making people tell the truth, yours must be conscious control over your eye color.”

“What?” I looked at her dumbfounded for a moment. “You mean you get to have people never lie around you, Carly could blend into walls, and all I get is to change my eye color at will?” Suddenly it didn’t seem near as cool anymore. “That’s no fair! This has to be the lamest Vampire power ever.” I pouted, crossing my arms, “Oh well, at least I don’t fucking sparkle.”

Genevieve chuckled at that, and then seemed to remember why she came upstairs. “Oh, we need to get going for the Unseen Council meeting.” She smiled at me, trying to hold back a giggle as she added, “So please choose an eye color that goes with your outfit so we can go.”

The Unseen Council meetings were held in a conference room in the Whitlock Mansion. That house was massive and in fact the only house in Sena Island that was bigger than Roseberry Manor. Apparently John Whitlock, one of the town founders, had originally built the home as a place for Unseen to gather and discuss important issues. These meetings were just informal at first, but soon it was decided that organization of the island’s Unseen would be for the best and the Unseen Council was formed.

We had arrived early with Aunt Helen and were escorted to the conference room. The room was large with walls made from redwood and a dark blue carpet and was dominated by a large conference table surrounded by high backed black leather office chairs. There was also a group of padded benches for guests of the Council. We were seated at one of the benches while Aunt Helen made her way to her seat as the representative for the Coven and the island’s Witch population.

I had been told that each group of Unseen on the island was represented by one of their number. There was Aunt Helen who represented the Witches, James Whitlock who was the head of the council and represented the Were-foxes, Tanner McGreggor who spoke for the Were-moose population, Sandra Brand who sat for the Were-lynxes, Lessa Freemont who represented the Nereids, and William O’Brian who sat for the Selkies. There was also Thomas Whitefeather, the current Nui-chal-tulth Shaman who represented not only the interests of the Whitefeather tribe but of the Norms in general.

Soon the other Council members began to arrive and the meeting was underway. They discussed and made decisions on various issues that the island’s Unseen had been facing and occasionally we would get a curious look. I was pretty curious myself after hearing about problems with Brownies in the woods (The only kind I knew of were the edible ones) and a sea serpent that had recently been plaguing the island’s Nereids and the Selkie population. Finally James Whitlock asked if there was any new business to be discussed and Aunt Helen took the floor.

“You all have likely noticed our two guests in the gallery,” she began. “Genevieve and Kayla Dunn are Vampires who have requested sanctuary here.”

James Whitlock, a slender man with brown hair, slowly making its way to silver, frowned at that. “You know that we welcome other Unseen here Helen, but Vampires? I have no desire for our town to become a feeding ground for Vampires, it’s a danger to the whole community.”

Aunt Helen smirked at him, “James one of these Vampires grew up here, also the Coven has already checked their story and we do not think they will be a danger. These two are not like most Vampires, they try their best to blend in with the Norms. They don’t kill when they feed, they make their victims forget everything and only do kill in self-defense. Not only do they show a lot of restraint but they also protected my daughter in a Hunter attack. “

Tanner McGreggor, who was even bigger than Jason, with short cropped brown hair and a well-trimmed beard, spoke up at this point. “I can vouch for their restraint. My son and his friends spent the day with the younger one and Jason had nothing but good things to say about her. In fact there was a situation with one of the Norms which my son was tempted to use violence until she intervened and diffused the situation. She also managed to do this while bringing no attention to herself or the others.”

Aunt Helen smiled at the huge man before turning back to the head of the Council. “The Coven would like to petition the Council to allow them to stay here and have a seat on the Council under certain conditions.”

James seemed to be mulling over the information and the request, “What are these conditions Helen?”

Aunt Helen cleared her throat, “First, they must try to blend in with the Norms and not bring attention to themselves or other Unseen. Secondly, they must not feed on any Unseen unless it is voluntary. Third, they must not turn anyone unless the Council approves it, this will help limit their numbers while allowing for extreme circumstances. Fourth, no killing while feeding and no killing period unless in self-defense or in defense of the town itself from outside threats such as Hunters. Lastly we would request that Genevieve be given what help she needs to open up a practice here in Sena Island.”

James nodded, “All are good conditions, but what of the last one? What type of practice exactly?”

Aunt Helen looked to Genevieve, who nodded, before continuing. “Genevieve has a degree in Psychology, and a gift for getting the truth out of people, and since we have no psychologists on the island the Coven feels that she could be very useful here. In light of recent events here on the island, a psychologist that people can talk about Unseen matters with would be a great benefit. The Selkies and Nereids alone could use one with the recent incidents with that Sea Serpent.” The Nereid and Selkie representatives, a slender raven-haired beauty and a muscular blond with a reddish blond beard respectively, both nodded solemnly at this.

“Do these Vampires agree to follow these conditions and can we take them at their word is the real question.” Thomas Whitefeather asked, looking at us suspiciously.

Genevieve nodded at this before speaking, “We agree to these conditions and to enforce these conditions with any future Vampires on the island. Any Vampires who do not abide by these rules will be seen as a threat to the Island and will be neutralized by whatever means the Council deems fit. The two of us would just like blend in and not draw too much attention to ourselves. “

I nodded in agreement, “I also promise that we will not break these conditions.”

After that it was put to a vote. Thomas Whitefeather and James Whitlock were both uncertain and abstained from voting while the rest voted in favor of us being allowed to stay under the set conditions. With that completed and no other business to be discussed the meeting was adjourned and we were able to leave. Aunt Helen stayed to talk with some of the other council members while Genevieve and I left in search of something to eat.

While Genevieve was off feeding and doing who knows what else with her chosen meal, I wandered around town looking for a meal of my own. There wasn’t much of anyone around and the first candidate I did see I was pretty sure was an Unseen of some sort, he was just too good-looking to be a Norm. I had almost given up on finding a meal when I saw him leaving a convenience store, how very convenient. He was big enough to make a good meal and best of all I knew for sure he was a Norm.

I walked up to him, smiling and adding a little extra wiggle to my hips, “Hello there Eric.”

“Hey there,” he said giving that stupid grin of his. “I don’t think we’ve met, I’m sure I’d remember talking to someone as gorgeous as you.” He paused, for a moment as if trying to place me, “Wait I think I saw you leaving Gino’s earlier today.”

I smiled at him, “Yeah I was there with some new friends, I’m new in town and they were giving me a tour of the town. They pointed you out to me. I saw you leaving the store so I thought I’d say hi since you’re here and you look so handsome and strong. A weak girl like me shouldn’t be out on my own at night.” I mentally gagged, while I gave what I thought was a poor performance.

“Well you have good taste. I’ve never been into Goth girls before but you’re really hot.” Apparently a good acting job wasn’t necessary since he couldn’t see past his own ego.

“I’m new here, is there anywhere quiet we could go to get to know one another a bit better?” I asked, giving him the opening he was looking for. He led me down to the beach and a secluded spot beneath the dock. I took a good look around and made sure we weren’t being watched by anyone. There was no one in sight. I smiled to myself, “Oh this is just perfect.”

The idiot grinned at me, “I thought you’d like it.” Then he grabbed me and kissed me hard, trying to get his tongue inside my mouth. I mentally gagged again as I let him kiss me. Finally I pulled away, as he started trying to feel me up.

“Nuh-uh, not on the first date,” I said locking eyes with him and getting him under the power of my Mesmer. “Just stay still like a good boy.” Then I sank my fangs into his neck and started to drink. I drank as much as I needed to satisfy my hunger while being very careful not to drain him dry. Once finished I slowly licked the wound to close it and get any remaining blood. Then, licking my lips in satisfaction I grinned at the idiot and said, “You will go straight home. You will not remember seeing me tonight or anything that has happened here. You went home as soon as you left the store. Now go.” Eric went along his merry way to follow my instructions and I breathed in the sea air, smiling as I made my way home.

I awoke the next morning feeling very well rested, and after taking a relaxing shower, I dressed in a similar style as the day before, but rather than wearing a corset I wore a black t-shirt with a skull emblazoned on the front. After I was suitably dressed I made sure to change my eye color to a very flattering dark blue that bordered on violet. Once changed, I made my way downstairs to see who was up and about. Genevieve sat at the breakfast table with Gwen, Aunt Helen and to my surprise Rick. I sat down to join them and I could feel Rick’s eyes on me as I made myself comfortable, trying to act normal. Genevieve, Gwen and a very tired-looking Aunt Helen were discussing house-hunting now that we had been allowed to stay on the island.

“You’re more than welcome to stay here as long as you need to,” Aunt Helen said. “We have plenty of space.”

Genevieve smiled, “Thank you Helen, but we’ll need to have a place of our own so we can blend in with the Norms, and I want a place where I’ll be able to see my clients rather than having a separate office. Besides this is a lovely house but a little too much sunlight gets in for my comfort.”

Gwen nodded, “That’s true I’m glad we had thick curtains in the rooms we gave you and Kayla. Rick and I will go house hunting with you today if you’d like, I know of a few places that are up for sale, I can maybe help you find some heavy dark curtains to keep out the sun as well. I’ll make some calls and see if we can space out looking at places today so you don’t have to spend too much time in the sunlight in one go. Hopefully we can find something and get you both settled in before Kayla starts school next week. We’ll need to work on getting all the proper legal documentation for her as well.”

“Whoa, wait, what is this about Kayla starting school next week?” I asked frowning.

Genevieve sighed and put her hand on mine across the table. “Well school is back in session next week and since we’re supposed to be blending in and not standing out, you’ll need to start going to school. It’s all part of not drawing attention to ourselves. People expect a girl who looks your age to be going to high school.”

I cursed, “Dammit, I hated high school enough the first time.”

“Look at it this way K, you’ve gone through it before so you know quite a bit and shouldn’t have to study too hard.” Gwen offered.

“Also Vampires have very good memories, so you should remember what’s taught well enough that you can get good grades without very much effort,” Genevieve added.

“Hooray for me.” I muttered, and then I grinned as a thought came to me. “Wait! I can’t go to school, that’ll require a lot of outside time, and even the time spent in school won’t be very comfortable. All the classrooms at the school have a lot of windows which let in sunlight. What am I going to do? Tell the teachers I’m allergic to the Sun?” I grinned at them all smugly.

Aunt Helen reached across the table handing me a small box, “No Kayla, you’re going to wear this. The Coven and the Council members I spoke with took your situation into account and decided you would need to be able to spend significant time in direct sunlight. I spent a good deal of time and magic last night to create something that will protect you from sunlight. With this you can spend as much time outside as any other teenager with no ill effects.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or pissed off at this turn of events as I opened the box to reveal a gold chain with a pendant in the shape of a crescent moon. I just stared at it a moment, “This is supposed to protect me from the Sun?”

Aunt Helen nodded, “As long as you wear it you’ll be safe from sunlight, I also made sure that only you can take it off while you’re wearing it to prevent any accidental removal. If you take it off, you’ll be vulnerable to the Sun until you put it back on, so you should get into the habit of wearing it all the time.”

“Thanks Aunt Helen, I guess this will make things easier.” I might not like the idea of going back to school, but she obviously put out a big effort to make this and was tired this morning as a result. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful so I picked the pendant up and slipped the chain over my head. I felt a slight tingling as it settled around my neck. I looked over to Gwen and Genevieve, “So what am I going to be doing while you all go look at houses?”

Rick looked me over, “Natalie, Sarah and Jason wanted to show you a few things in the woods, and it might be a good time to test that new trinket of yours. Nat said for you to call her when you’re ready,” he handed me a piece of paper with a phone number on it.

I nodded, “Okay Risk that sounds good. It’s weird though to be home and hanging out with your little sister and her friends rather than you and Gwennie. They all seem nice, though I’m trying to get used to Natalie. Last I saw her she was twelve years old and male.”

Rick gave a weak chuckle at that. ”Like you’re one to talk K, you weren’t exactly a girl yourself last time you were here. If it weren’t for certain things you said and having had something similar happen to Natalie, I wouldn’t have believed Gwen when she told me who you were.” He shook his head sadly, “Damn, I can’t my head around that you’re actually Keith. It looks like I’ll have to go with my third choice for my best man.”

Gwen had told Rick about my change in gender status the night before while we were all at the Unseen council meeting. I wasn’t sure whether I should feel relieved or awkward that Rick knew who I was. “Hey, third choice? Does that mean I was second choice Risk?”

He grinned at me, and I was pretty sure it was forced. “Well actually it was a toss-up for my first choice; it was going to be you or Nathan.”

I stared at him a moment before I started giggling. “You better make sure your third choice likes wearing dresses.”

He tried frowning at me while the women laughed but he couldn’t hold it as he cracked a smile. “That is not funny K. I really wanted you two involved in the wedding.”

“Sure it is, it’s hilarious.” I said. “Besides, I am going to be involved, Gwen asked me to be the Maid of Honor and Genevieve will be a bridesmaid, there’s no reason Natalie can’t be a bridesmaid as well if she and Gwen were both okay with it.”

Gwen put her arms around Rick and kissed him, “I think that’s a great idea K, If Natalie is willing I’d love to have her as a bridesmaid too.”

“I’ll ask her about it while we’re out today then,” I said. “I’m going to go call her now.” Then I grinned at Rick, “Just in case though, you might want to get your other choices fitted for bridesmaids’ dresses as well.” And then I left the room, leaving Rick’s good-natured cursing and the laughter of the women behind.

We mostly just made small talk on the ride out to the woods, though I did tell them about and even demonstrated my new-found ability. We had just arrived at the edge of the woods when I finally got the nerve to ask Natalie, “Natalie would you be interested in being a part of Rick and Gwen’s wedding?” I blurted it out a bit nervous that she might react the way I had at first.

“Well Rick said before that he was thinking about having me be his best man but that there was another choice. I don’t really know how else I could be involved now,” was her response.

I giggled at that, “Yeah I was the other choice. But Gwen asked me if I’d be her Maid of Honor instead given my current situation. We were kind of wondering if you’d want to be one of her bridesmaids. It would mean a lot to Risk having us both involved somehow, and it would mean a lot to Gwen too.”

Sarah grinned and put her hand on Natalie’s shoulder, “You should do it Nat, it could be fun and then Kayla won’t have to suffer all alone.”

Natalie looked uncomfortable with the idea but with Sarah’s encouragement she soon caved in, “I guess so, it’s not really my kind of thing, but if it’ll make Rick happy I suppose I can handle one day in an ugly dress.” Sarah and I both gave her a big hug which made her blush a bit.

I decided to be merciful and take the attention away from Natalie and grinned instead at Jason, “Risk’s 0 for 2 with his best man choices. You should volunteer for the job Jason; I bet you’d make a cute girl.”

“Oh very funny Kayla, I’m very happy as a guy thanks.” He rolled his eyes and then gave me a long look before frowning at me, “And would you stop changing your eye color like that, it’s a bit creepy when you do it while I’m watching.”

I gave him a gentle punch to the shoulder, “Well if you’d stop looking at me like that you wouldn’t have to watch it. You poor boy, you just can’t take your eyes off me. Now speaking of changing wasn’t there something you were going to show me?”

The four of us walked through the woods, Jason in the form of a large brown moose with a large set of antlers I was tempted to hang my jacket on. I hadn’t actually believed the whole Were thing until I saw it with my own eyes. It was certainly much cooler than my eye color trick. I consoled myself with the fact I had some other pretty cool abilities as part of being a Vampire, such as increased strength and speed and of course the ability to Mesmer. I was beginning to see that every type of Unseen had its own strengths and weaknesses.

The girls were telling me about various things we found as we walked while Jason kept alert for danger. Our first stop was a small cabin by a stream. The cabin was well stocked with provisions and Sarah said that the Unseen Council kept it stocked for those lost or wounded in the woods and as a base of operations for search parties. There was plenty of dry goods and medical supplies as well as some survival gear for emergencies.

We sat in the Cabin to take a break seeing as we had been walking for a few hours to get there, us girls talking while Jason changed back to his human form and into his clothes outside. The cabin was rustic with some wooden chairs, a bed, and a couch, and seemed very cozy. I had gotten past my nerves about being out in the sunlight for so long seeing as I hadn’t burst into flames or even really felt uncomfortable for our whole walk. I thought to myself that this whole Unseen thing might not be so bad after all. As Jason came into the cabin he passed around some cans of soda from his backpack which I had carried here and left outside for him. He smiled sadly as he looked around, “It’s been awhile since we’ve been out this far Nat, I’ve missed it.”

Natalie nodded and let out a sigh before turning to me to explain, “We used to come out here all the time. We’d check the supplies for the Council and do some training out here, sometimes we’d stay a few days at a time.”

“I guess your family must have put a stop to it when you got girlified huh?” I responded.

She nodded, “Yeah, when I was a guy and training to be a Warden, it was encouraged for me to come out here with Jason to train. Afterwards…” she trailed off.

“What were they worried about you being out here all alone with a boy? I guess I could see that since you two kind of gave off a vibe like you were a couple when we first met. I think you’re more close friends though.”

Natalie made a disgusted look as Sarah giggled. “Ewwwww gross! No, my parents decided since I’m no longer training to be a Warden and I’m heir to the family’s magic I should be kept safe while I learn magic until I have a Warden of my own.”

Jason put one of his massive hands on her shoulder, “Yeah we’re just buds, nothing more. I think your parents may let up so long as we go in groups, you and Sarah may not have Wardens yet but I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”

“I nodded, “You can count me in too. I haven’t known you all long but you’re good people. I won’t let anything happen to you while I’m around. We’ll keep you safe.” I bit my lip, keeping myself from crying, “I… I wasn’t able to do anything to save Carly. But I promise I won’t let anything like that happen to a friend again if I can do anything about it.” I took a sip of my soda as I tried to compose myself.

I suddenly found myself on the receiving end of a hug from Sarah and Natalie as Sarah spoke, “We’ll all look out for each other, that’s what good friends do.” She grinned at us all, “Now let’s not get all mopey, we still have to show Kayla the Valley and it’s a hard walk.”

I looked at her confused. “I thought you all told me not to enter the Valley.”

Natalie nodded, taking a sip of her soda, “You don’t want to enter without permission from the Sacred or you might never come back. We’re not going into the Valley though; we’re just going to show you where it is so you know when you’ve gone too far.”

The walk to the Valley was more of a climb. After we had left the cabin the terrain started to go steadily uphill. After a few kilometers it was almost a sixty degree slope and heavily forested and we had to start being careful with our footing. “How could someone not realize they’re heading to the Valley with a climb like this?” I finally asked.

Jason grinned as he made his way up beside me, “I know right. You’d think people would realize that if you want to get back to town you need to go downhill.”

Sarah nodded as I helped her up over a large rock, “Usually it’s local Norms or people not from the island who get lost. The local Norms think the disappearances are just to scare people and do it to prove how tough they are, and the people not from the island get lost and think civilization is just over the next rise.”

“It’s one of the many reasons we don’t encourage tourism.” Natalie added.

“I always wondered why we don’t promote the island to tourists; it could bring a lot of revenue into town.” I looked around, taking in the scenery, “A lot of people would love the island for vacations.”

Natalie frowned, “The Valley is one of the major reasons but there are others as well. One is that tourists bring litter and we would rather the island stay as untouched by man as possible outside of town. Another reason is that sleepy little towns with not a lot of visitors seem boring and the last thing people expect would be anything unusual so we Unseen can hide in plain sight. The less attention we bring to the island the less we have to hide.”

I nodded, “That’s true, I grew up here and I thought the town was the most boring place on earth. I was a bit shocked by all this Unseen stuff happening right under my nose all those years.”

Jason got a serious look on his face, “There’s one more obvious reason. Tourism for a place like Sena Island brings game hunters. Can you imagine what would happen if one of those hunters shot the wrong fox, lynx or moose? Or what would happen if they saw one of the Unseen in the woods or while fishing? That could cause all sorts of trouble.”

I thought about all this for a moment before answering, “I guess knowing what I know now I have to admit that it’s better to be a sleepy little town. The less people who come here, the less people we need to worry about finding out about us.”

We stood overlooking the Valley. It was some of the most beautiful forest I had ever seen, and just looking at it gave me a sense of peace. I wondered how much more beautiful it would look with leaves on all the trees, though there was plenty of pine, redwood and spruce to add splashes of green. The downward slope was gentler than the one we had just climbed and I’m sure would be tempting to someone tired and lost. Hell I was tempted myself but I took the warning about the Valley seriously.

Natalie gestured broadly toward the Valley, “The Valley is pretty big, it covers near one third of the Island and the Crossroads is right above it. We think it’s possible that could be part of the reason that most people who go in don’t come out.”

Sarah nodded, “It could be anything though, it could just be the size of the Valley, it could be something to do with the way being too close to the Crossroads screws with electronics, or it could have something to do with the Sacred.”

Jason looked up at the sky, “We should get going, it looks and smells like it’s going to rain, we might even get snow. Besides it gets dark early right now and we’re supposed to be back in town before then. Dad needs the truck back by then.”

Natalie frowned, “Yeah we should get going home then. One of us really needs to get our own vehicle.” With that we began the descent and left the Valley behind us.

It started pouring soon after we started on our way down. It was a freezing rain and I was glad we had all bundled up for today’s outing. The cold didn’t bother me so much as the thought of being in soaking wet clothes. We made our way cautiously down the slope, not talking much and paying careful attention to where we placed our feet as the rain came down progressively harder. We were about three quarters of the way down when Sarah slipped on a rock. Her ankle made a horrid popping sound and she yelped in pain as she lost her balance and fell down the slope.

Suddenly being careful was the last of my worries and I made my way down the hill as fast as I could by sliding down after her. Natalie and Jason followed suit and were right on my heels. We got to the bottom of the slope to find Sarah lying next to a tree, unconscious. A quick check showed she had a pulse, but her ankle was not at a good angle and she was bleeding freely from a head wound. Her hood was covered in blood and it taunted my hunger. I pushed thoughts of food aside as I took a look at the wound. She was losing blood fast,” Someone needs to get help and medical supplies. ”

Jason took off like a shot, headed toward the cabin most likely and the supplies stored there. Natalie pulled out her cell phone and dialed the emergency number while I tried very hard not to panic as I tore off a section off my shirt and tried to staunch the bleeding. She’d lost so much blood already and who knows what kind of damage the impact may have done. My mind raced through my options. I couldn’t turn her even if I did have any idea how, I was forbidden from doing that, moving her could make her worse, and staunching the wound didn’t seem to be doing much except making me hungry.

I pushed aside my growing hunger again and could vaguely hear Natalie cursing her lack of a signal. She sounded as panicked as I felt. As she knelt down beside me I kept trying to think of something I could do, anything, and I kept coming up with nothing. I had this burning need to do something. I’d promised to keep her safe and it looked like I was going to fail just as I had with Carly. I felt like I was going to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come instead I was overcome with a strange warmth in my chest. The warmth slowly spread to my whole body and my hands, which were still holding the scrap of my shirt tightly against Sarah’s head, felt like they were on fire.

I opened my eyes to see that my hands weren’t really on fire, but they were glowing a bright white. Then I noticed that Sarah was glowing too, though not as brightly as my hands. I couldn’t take my eyes away and somewhere in the back of my mind I heard Natalie curse again. All I could focus on at that moment though was the light and the warmth which seemed to be flowing from my chest down my arms and from my hands into Sarah. I didn’t even notice how very tired I suddenly felt, not until the light went out and everything went black.

Thanks again to EoF for creating such a great universe for us to play in and to EoF, Maggie, and Donjo as always for looking over my work and giving their input. Also a new picture for Kayla this time. :)

I awoke in my room at Roseberry Manor. I was confused as to how I had gotten there as sleep had not quite relinquished its hold on me. Then the events leading up to my blackout all came rushing back to me. "Sarah!” I shot up quickly into a sitting position, quickly enough to make myself a bit dizzy. I felt so weak and my hunger gnawed at me, insisting I feed soon. There was movement in the darkened room at my sudden waking as Genevieve moved from the chair she had been sitting in to my bedside.

“Are you alright Kayla? You’ve been unconscious for several hours.” My Maker asked, her expression filled with concern.

“What happened? Is Sarah alright?” I pushed my hunger aside with great difficulty to express my own concerns. “I am very thirsty Mother.” I admitted once my concerns had been aired.

“Sarah is fine,” she answered, “You saved her life. She’s sleeping in the next room, but seems otherwise fine. Natalie and Jason are staying here tonight; they were worried about you both. As for what happened, we believe you used some sort of magic to heal Sarah’s injuries and it took a lot out of you both.”

“What…” I began to ask before she quickly cut me off.

“No more questions, we’ll talk about it later, right now you need to feed.” She helped me to my feet and we made our way out of the room and downstairs to the foyer. I heard talking in the sitting room, but we instead went straight outside where a car with tinted windows was waiting for us. Genevieve ushered me into the back and as soon as I was seated she took the driver’s seat and started to drive into town.

Once we were in town Genevieve stopped outside ‘The Lighthouse’, one of the island’s two pubs. While we waited for someone to leave she explained that this pub was free game for us since only Norms went there. The other pub, ‘On the Rocks’, was where all the Unseen went to drink and so was off limits. After a few minutes a man who looked like he’d had a few too many stepped outside. Genevieve was quick to Mesmer him and escort him into the back seat with me. I drank as much as I dared from him before we sent him on his way but I found I still needed more.

Since my thirst wasn’t near as demanding as earlier Genevieve went inside to get a meal of her own while I waited in the car for someone else to leave the pub. I didn’t have to wait long before a tall man with dark hair, sunken eyes and a staggering step emerged. He was surly and very drunk but I didn’t much care as I stepped out of the car, took a cautious look around, and then Mesmered him. Soon he was with me in the back seat and I was able to drink my fill before sending him on his way with no memory of the encounter. It was another twenty minutes before Genevieve emerged with her intended meal, and I took to the front seat while she ate.

When we arrived back at Roseberry Manor we headed directly into the sitting room. All eyes turned toward us as we entered the room. Jason looked relieved to see me as did Rick, Gwen, Aunt Helen and my parents. I noticed Natalie was absent but there were four others out of the other six in the room that I recognized. Rick and Natalie’s parents were there, as was Jason’s father Tanner and a woman I assumed to be his wife the way she was holding his hand. Finally there was a man I didn’t know and the Coven’s inquisitor, Katherine Taylor.

The Inquisitor didn’t look at all like she did in the Coven meeting and I almost didn’t recognize her. Her hair was down and her eyes were red and blotchy. She didn’t seem near as cold now; in fact she looked very worried, as did the tall dark-haired man with Sarah’s intense green eyes beside her. Aunt Helen was talking to them softly, “See Katherine, Kayla is awake now. Whatever magic she used drained her but it was probably even more taxing on Sarah since she was injured. Even normal healing takes a toll on the body, especially with how much blood she lost.” She squeezed the Inquisitor’s hand, “I think Sarah will wake up soon. Natalie is keeping an eye on her and she’ll let us know when she wakes up.”

Genevieve took a seat on one of the couches and I went to stand behind her. Jason came over looking a bit worried, “You doing alright? When I got back you and Sarah were both out cold and Nat was in shock.”

I nodded, “I’m fine Jason, whatever happened just drained me. I just really needed to feed when I woke up.” I quickly looked to Aunt Helen, “I think it might be a good idea to have something ready for Sarah to eat, she’s probably going to be hungry if she wakes up feeling anything like I did.”

She smiled at me, “Good thinking Kayla. We had thought you might need to feed when you woke. That’s why Genevieve was watching you instead of someone else. We’ve had some sandwiches saved for Sarah for when she wakes up.”

I looked around at all the people and sighed. I hate waiting and this was like a hospital waiting room. Everybody was so damn quiet. “I think maybe we should take it up in case she wakes up soon. It would probably help Natalie to see that I’m up and around.” I paused, trying to give the Inquisitor a reassuring smile, “I think Sarah might want her parents there when she wakes up anyway.”

The two gave me a grateful look before turning to Aunt Helen who nodded, “Would you mind showing them the way Kayla? Jason, could you go get the platter from the kitchen and go with them?” Jason didn’t need to be asked twice and dashed off to the kitchen, returning a moment later with a large ceramic platter of various sandwiches covered with plastic wrap. With Jason on my heels I led the Taylors upstairs and to the bedroom beside my own. It wasn’t hard to figure out which one since Genevieve’s was on the other side.

I knocked lightly before opening the door. Sarah was lying in bed while Natalie was sitting in a chair next to her. She looked to the door when we entered and gave me a relieved smile as I opened the door fully to let Sarah’s parents and Jason in. “How is she? And how are you holding up?” I asked.

“She’s still asleep, but she’s a lot better than she was before. What did you do? I thought you were a Dud.” She tugged nervously at the right sleeve of her sweater getting out of the chair to let Mrs. Taylor have it as Jason put the tray on the bedside table.

I sighed, shaking my head in confusion, “I have absolutely no idea. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. Genevieve said that I used some sort of magic. If it helped Sarah I don’t really care what it was.” Natalie nodded and there was an awkward silence in the room for a time, with nobody knowing quite what to say.

Sometime later the silence was broken by a soft sigh followed by the whispered rustling of the sheets as Sarah returned to consciousness. We all seemed to notice at the same time and as Sarah’s parents stood up at her bedside Natalie, Jason and I rushed to the foot of the bed to make certain we hadn’t imagined the sounds. Sarah looked around confused at all the concerned faces for a moment before finally speaking somewhat hoarsely. “What happened? Where am I?”

The Inquisitor, Katherine, took her hand looking as though she were ready to cry again. Seeing that his wife was having trouble getting the words out Sarah’s father spoke, “You’re at Roseberry Manor, you had a bit of a fall. You were brought here because you and Kayla were both unconscious and they weren’t sure what to do about her.”

Sarah looked around seeing us at the foot of the bed, “Are you okay Kayla? Did you fall too?”

I waved off her concerns, “Hey, don’t worry about me, you were the one that was hurt. I’ve fed and now I’m just fine.” Natalie frowned at me, looking like she was going to say something but I cut her off, “Can we talk about this later Natalie? There’s some water there if you need a drink Sarah, there’s sandwiches too. We thought you might be hungry.”

Sarah sat up in bed and after a good drink of water began to gratefully eat the sandwiches as her parents told her how glad they were she was okay and informed her of everyone waiting downstairs for her to wake up. After she had eaten her fill her father, Oliver Dennis, a doctor at the Sena Island clinic, looked her over to make sure she was really alright. Her mother spoke as he checked her over, “Your Grandmother couldn’t be reached as she was elsewhere on the Island or she would be here too. We were all so worried about you.”

Dr. Dennis smiled as she checked out alright, “You seem to be fine now honey, though you may be a bit tired for a while. We’re going to let you stay here tonight so you can get enough rest and talk to your friends. Kayla, how are you feeling?”

I pounded a fist on my chest, “I’m feeling fine since I fed Sir, though I did have to drink a bit more than I usually do.”

He nodded, “I’ll take your word for it, I’m afraid I don’t have much experience treating Vampires.” He chuckled at that before looking at me very seriously, “From what I’ve been told you saved Sarah’s life.” He looked briefly to his wife who nodded, “We are in your debt, if you ever need anything let us know.”

Mrs. Taylor nodded, “Thank you Kayla. We’ll go down and tell the others that Sarah is awake and seems to be fine so you can all talk. Just try to make sure you get enough rest Sarah.”

Once they left and closed the door Sarah looked to each of us who were now sitting on the bed with her. “Okay does someone want to tell me what exactly happened?”

“You slipped and fell down and hit your head,” I answered. “I tried to take care of the wound while Natalie tried to call for help and Jason ran to get help and medical supplies.”

Natalie gave me a withering glare. “What she isn’t telling you Sarah, is that you lost a lot of blood and she passed out after using some kind of healing magic to save your life. You had what looked like a broken ankle and a nasty gash on the back of your head and now there’s nothing but a small scar.”

“You used magic?” Sarah asked confused, “I thought you were a Dud.”

“I seem to be full of surprises, what’s the big deal anyway? It’s not like the two of you can’t use magic.” I snapped.

Jason put his hands out, “Okay ladies time out, let’s calm down here. Kayla saved Sarah’s life and I’m very grateful for that.”

Natalie took a deep breath, “Kayla look, I can never thank you enough for what you did and I’m sure Sarah feels the same.” Sarah nodded vigorously at this as Natalie continued, “I’m not trying to give you a hard time here but whatever you used was well beyond the abilities of a Novice Witch, I certainly couldn’t have done it or I would have. But I think you need to be warned.”

I narrowed my eyes at that, “Warned about what?”

“Several things,” she answered. “First, using that type of power attracts attention. There are other types of Unseen out there besides the ones in town and you might as well have set off fireworks to let them know where you are. This could put you in danger. Secondly, whatever you did looked like it was all power and no control so others could see you as a danger.”

Jason nodded grimly, “I overheard some talk while you were both still asleep. The Coven is going to want to test you and have you trained by one of your family members if it turns out you’re a Witch. I know how you feel about your mother and odds are she’d be the one to train you.”

“Damn,” I cursed, “Even when I’m dead my life sucks.” Then I sat silently clenching my fists.

Sarah reached out and took one of my hands after the silence had lasted a few minutes, “Kayla, are you okay?”

“Well let’s see, a few weeks ago I was a normal college guy who didn’t even know the Unseen existed. Since then I was turned into a Vampire, I found out I’ll be spending eternity shopping in the Junior Miss section, I’ve been attacked, I had someone close to me killed, I had to come back here, I had probably the worst welcome the town could roll out, I found out my parents have lied to me my whole life, you nearly died on us after I promised to keep you safe, and I apparently have some kind of magic that could possibly put me in danger from people and things I don’t even know. Does that sound like I’m okay?!” I growled, causing Sarah to pull back. “Damn, I’m sorry Sarah,” I quickly apologized.

Jason put a hand on my shoulder as Sarah and Natalie both took my hands this time. He looked right into my eyes when he said, “Well when it’s put like that your life really does suck, but you forgot one thing.”

I rolled my eyes, “What’s that? The happy magic bonding time I’ll be soon enjoying with my lying mother?”

He grinned at me, “Nope, you made three awesome friends who are going to stick by you no matter what.”

I’m ashamed to say things got a bit mushy at that point, but soon I managed to relax again as we talked about everything and anything until Sarah started to tire again and we all said our goodnights and retired to our rooms.

I hadn’t gone to sleep when we split up. Instead I changed into a black night gown and made my way quietly downstairs. As I had expected nearly everyone was gone or in bed for the night save for Aunt Helen and Genevieve. They were both sitting facing the door as they talked, it would seem I was expected. They both stopped talking as I appeared in the sitting room’s doorway and motioned for me to join them. “I had thought you’d come down here sooner or later,” Genevieve spoke, “How are you doing Kayla?”

I shrugged as I took a seat in one of the armchairs. “I would have come down sooner but I was worried about Sarah and all the people down here were making me nervous,” especially my parents I thought to myself. “I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed actually. So much has been happening in such a short time.”

Genevieve nodded, concern in her eyes, “I thought as much. We’ll set aside some time so we can talk about everything that’s been happening. You need to have a release for all this and having regular talks should help with that. You have a lot to adapt to and we’d be fools if we thought it would be easy for you.”

I braced myself for the questions I was about to ask and the answers I feared, “So what exactly did I do and what’s going to happen to me now?”

Aunt Helen gave me a reassuring smile, “Relax Kayla we’re not going to stake you for saving Sarah’s life. I have a few theories about what you did, but we’ll need to test you to be sure. Regardless you will need to learn control. The Coven would like you to train with one of our family until we can be sure whether you’re a Witch. It will mostly be meditation and control exercises until we’re sure what you’re capable of.”

I nodded, swallowing a lump in my throat, “Does it have to be my mother? I don’t think I’m ready to spend that much quality time with her yet.”

“We would prefer it if your mother trains you for the testing period, but if after a few days you discover that the two of you can’t work together and get along then Gwen or I would be willing to take over,” she responded. “I know that you and your mother still have a lot of issues to work out and I think this might help you both.”

Genevieve seemed to agree as she spoke up, “I think you should give her a chance Kayla, you can always change your mind later, and you might want to spend some time with your father too. The next few weeks are going to be busy for you so we’ll have our talks regularly to see how it’s going. You should spend some time with your new friends as well before school starts, to relax.” She paused and crossed the room to wrap me in a hug, “I know this has been a hard time for you Kayla, but I’m certain you can get through it.”

I sighed, one of those human habits I was glad I never lost, “I’ll give it two days, if we’re at each other’s throats before then I’ll ask Gwen to take over.”

The next morning I was awoken by giggling, I sat up to see Sarah and Natalie sitting on my bed but it wasn’t them giggling. Just great, I thought, now I’m having delusions too. Sarah was dressed in a white blouse and tan colored capris while much to my surprise Natalie was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The jeans were no surprise, but I was used to her wearing long sleeved sweaters when we weren’t outside. Sarah smiled and said, “Good morning.”

I stretched and smiled back, “Good morning, how are you feeling this morning Sarah?”

She grinned at me, “All I needed was a good rest it seems, I feel great now. Thanks again for what you did.”

Natalie nibbled on her lower lip a bit and took a deep breath before cutting in, “Kalya, I owe you an apology.”

I blinked sleepily, a bit confused, “What for Nat?”

She looked down at the bed while Sarah squeezed her left hand. “I… wasn’t sure if we could trust you at first. Don’t get me wrong, I like you and I think we can be great friends but I’ve been through a lot the last few months and I have trouble trusting new people. Last night I realized that you’ve been through as much as I have and in a lot less time. I feel bad that I couldn’t trust you with the whole story, even after you told us everything about what you’ve been through. After what you did for Sarah I think you deserve to know.”

I tried to give her a reassuring smile without showing my fangs, “I probably wouldn’t trust me at first either if I just met me. I mean first I’m a Vampire and second, well you’ve seen how I dress.” I paused looking her over. She had a tendency to hide her right arm with sweaters and such and even now she was shielding it from my view with her body. I wondered what could possibly make her so self-conscious, was she horribly scarred or something? “What do you mean the whole story?” I asked.

“Well,” she began, “I only told you that I found a family heirloom and it changed me into who I am now. I left out a lot of details about how I found it and what exactly it is.” She raised her right hand and I was stunned to see that she not only wasn’t horribly scarred but appeared to be wearing a very elegant looking bronze chainmail wrist guard or something. “This is Titania’s Glove, it’s what changed me and I can’t take it off, it’s stuck to me until I die. It’s been in our family since we settled on the island and it had gone missing over sixty years ago. I had a little bit of help finding it.”

At this I heard more giggling and looked above me to see two twelve inch tall teenage girls with wings. One had bright yellow hair ironically shaped in a pixie cut and the other long pale blue hair. I just stared in shock at them, “Are those what I think they are?”

Natalie nodded, “Yup they’re pixies. Kayla meet Dandelion and Verbina, we call them Dani and Vina for short. They’re kind of my guardians and Dani was the one who first led me to the Glove.”

“Hi! I’m Dani!” said the one with the yellow pixie cut.

The blue haired one gave a friendly smile but didn’t seem quite as hyper as Dani, and she seemed to be assessing me even as I was doing the same with her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Kayla.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” I replied before turning back to Natalie. “These are your guardians?”

She nodded, “Yeah, you see when I warned you last night about sudden displays of uncontrolled magic attracting unwanted attention; well I know that from experience. Queen Titania decided that if I was going to live long enough to be useful I should have some protection.”

“Okay well now you have two pixies, another witch, a Were-moose and whatever the hell I am for protection.” I looked at the pixies wondering what type of protection they could offer and why Natalie needed protection. Also the Queen Titania bit piqued my interest but I wasn’t about to push my luck. She’d tell me more when she was ready. “I’m curious though, why didn’t I see them before? I’d think they would attract attention.”

She looked guilty at that, “I asked them to keep their distance while we got to know you, you’ll probably see them hanging around now that we know you can be trusted. Most people can’t see them though, so don’t get in conversations with them in public places unless you want the Norms and even some of the other Unseen to think you have a screw loose.”

Sarah nodded, “And fair warning, Dani can be a bit… flighty. She may forget at times that we can’t talk so just try to gently remind her when you can get away with it.”

Dandelion looked confused at that, “Of course I’m flighty that’s why I have wings.”

I groaned at that, suddenly grateful that Dani wasn’t the only one protecting Natalie. After that we talked for a bit longer before the girls left to join Jason who had his dad’s truck and would be giving them rides home. All three of us had magic lessons with our respective mothers today and while Sarah and Natalie were used to it, I wasn’t sure what to expect or how I would handle that much alone time with my birth mother. With a sigh I headed for the shower to prepare myself for a long day.

I had decided to wear the jeans and baby tee that I had first borrowed from Carly the day we had gone shopping that day since I wasn’t sure what exactly I would be doing. It was the same kind of thing Carly used to wear when relaxing. I needed the confidence, and wearing something that used to be hers I could almost feel like Carly would be right there with me. I had expected my mother to pick me up in the late afternoon since Genevieve was making an offer on a house and Gwen was at the bookstore all day. Just after lunch though, Julie came to inform me that I had a visitor. When I reached the foyer I was slightly shocked when I found my father waiting somewhat nervously.

“Hi Kayla,” he began after clearing his throat, “I thought that since you’d be coming over later anyway I might see if you wanted to talk a bit beforehand. I took the afternoon off from the shop so we could catch up before your mother dominates your evening. We haven’t had much time to talk since you got here.” Dad owned the local auto shop, ‘Cairns Auto’ and he used to do things like this when I was a kid, taking time off so we could do some male bonding. It reminded me that my dad was never really the one I blamed for my situation. He’d always been a good father and tried to be there for me. He was against mom hiding everything from me and from what he said he even wanted me to become a Warden like him.

I nodded, ”Yeah, I guess we have a lot to talk about.” Then I grabbed my purse and jacket and we headed out to his beat up old jeep. First we went to Sally’s where he bought me a milkshake. It was one of the old style drive-in restaurants where you order through a speaker and the girls come and bring your order on roller-skates, though these days they used roller blades. As we sat there he told me about how things on the Island had been since I left and apologized for not being able to get my mother to change her mind earlier. I told him how University had been and how I was actually enjoying my life as a Vampire and a girl, other than being stuck as a kid.

Afterwards he took me to the house; it hadn’t really changed much except that the dark green paint looked a bit newer. Instead of taking me into the house though he took me to the garage just like when I was a kid. Usually on our bonding afternoons after going for a burger and milkshake at Sally’s we’d go to the garage. We’d spent so many hours in there working on the car. You see, my dad had a thing for classic muscle cars and when I was ten he’d bought an old 1965 Ford Mustang convertible. It was in rough shape and we’d put a lot of effort into trying to restore it. Any time dad found a part for the car we’d have one of those afternoons. By the time I had left it had been mostly restored.

We stepped into the garage and as he turned on the lights I was in for a surprise. He had replaced the old rag top with a new one that was in pristine condition, had re-upholstered the seats with black leather, and had re-painted the body cherry red. He’d always wanted it gunmetal blue, but I had always insisted a Mustang should be cherry red. I just stared at it for a long moment, remembering all the afternoons we’d put into working on it. “No way! You finished it?!”

He shook his head, “Nope it needs two things to make it ready to drive.” He motioned for me to get into a pair of overalls, like I did when we’d come here when I was young, as he went over to his work bench and took out a small box. Once I was in the overalls and zipped up he handed me the box. “I didn’t have the heart to put that on without you here.” I opened up the box to reveal a chrome mustang logo, and the sight brought tears to my eyes. I put my arms around him and hugged him for the first time in years. He didn’t seem to mind that I got his shirt and my overalls a bit bloody.

Once I was done crying, we carefully placed the mustang in its rightful place on the grill. I smiled up at him, “Thanks dad, I’m sorry about being so distant, it’s just you know how mom and I never really got along. Now that I’m back maybe we can do this more often. You said it needed two things to make it ready to drive, so I assume there’s one more. I think I’d like to do this again.”

He shook his head, “There’s no more work to be done on this car, but I’ve been eyeing a 69 Charger that we could work on. The only thing the Mustang needs to drive now is this.” With that he tossed me a set of keys. “She’s all yours once you get your driver’s license.”

I blinked at him and shook my head, not quite comprehending what he just said. “But this was your baby.”

“Nope,” he said as he smiled at me, “You’re my baby, that’s just a car we worked on together. You deserve it as much as I do. Now get out of those overalls while I change my shirt and we’ll take it for a test drive before your mother gets home from the office.”

“Kayla, remember to let it flow, don’t let it control you. You need to control it,” my mother said as she tried to explain to me how to control magic without actually using it. Right now she had me doing meditation and focussing exercises and picturing the magic like some sort of liquid in my mind. “Think of your power as powerful river. You don’t need that much water to water crops or for drinking and in fact too much could be harmful. So what do you do? You set up a dam. Hold it all back and when you need some turn on the faucet, and if you only need a little to do what you want, only turn it to a trickle. If you need more turn the faucet a little more.”

I sighed, “Why do I need to learn this type of control? You said I didn’t have to worry about burning through my life since I’m already dead.”

She thought for a moment before answering, “You don’t have life to burn through no, but magic of any sort still takes energy. If you just keep letting your magic consume you when you use it you’re going to use up a lot of energy you don’t need to. Think about when you healed Sarah, because you used so much power you were both exhausted afterward. And you needed to feed more to feel full didn’t you?”

“Yeah that’s true,” I grudgingly admitted.

“If you had just used a little power and focussed it on what needed to be done instead of letting it have its way, you wouldn’t have used up near as much energy. You were a physics major, think of it in terms of that. Each action has an equal and opposite reaction. Only this is in terms of magic use and energy.”

We had been at it for hours and my mother did seem to know what she was talking about and she seemed to really enjoy teaching me and answering my questions. She was actually a lot more patient than I gave her credit for, maybe I’d just never seen her in her element before. It was going to be a while before we ever had any sort of healthy mother and child relationship but this could be a start. Today we were just going over theory and how to properly use magic. Tomorrow we’d start the testing and if it turned out I was a Witch she would give me a spell book and start my training. For now she was trying to cram as much knowledge about magic theory into my head as she possibly could and I was suddenly grateful for my Vampire memory.

Most of the rest of my week was busy. Mornings consisted with one on one talks with Genevieve to make sure I was coping alright, then there was moving into the house she had bought, but that was mostly buying furniture and having it delivered. Since we’d both only come here with a large duffel bag and my laptop we needed to buy more clothes before I started school as well. Sarah was only too happy to help me with that, though out of the four clothing stores she took me to only a small store called ‘Oh My Goth’ had the type of clothes I preferred. They didn’t get much business and I think I made the owners day with all I bought there.

Afternoons were spent with my mother trying to use magic and then my father would teach me self-defense in case I ever needed it. I was quick to pick up what my dad was teaching but the attempts at magic were a dismal failure. We tried lighting candles, moving objects, even spells to constrict people or make them sleep. Nothing worked. The only luck I had was on Thursday when my dad cut his hand while preparing dinner; I was able to heal the cut without using enough power to make me pass out, though it did make me a little hungrier. Everything else though was a bust.

Friday I received news from Gwen that the Coven had gotten my legal documents arranged. We got a notice that I would soon be receiving copies of my new birth certificate, social insurance card, and medical card. There was also a legal document naming my ‘cousin’ Genevieve Dunn as my legal guardian. With those papers in hand I was able to test for my driver’s license and drive to my new home that evening in my new Mustang.

I was pretty happy as drove along the dirt road to the large white house that would be my new home. The house had four bedrooms and one bath on the top floor, the main floor had a bath, a living room, kitchen, dining room and a den that Genevieve planned to use for seeing patients. There was also a large unfinished basement and a large acreage of forest at the back. The best part though was that it was just on the edge of town and down the road from Jason, Sarah, and Natalie.

When I pulled into the driveway I was surprised to see Gwen’s car there, though it was a pleasant surprise. I stepped through the door to find both Gwen and Aunt Helen talking with Genevieve in the living room. Rather I heard Aunt Helen first before seeing her as I opened the door, “…Lena is certain. Between this and the Poole’s heirloom turning up again I have a feeling something big is going to happen on the island soon, I’ll inform the Coven that we need to prepare.” I closed the door and they all looked toward me all smiles. “Come have a seat Kayla,” Aunt Helen invited, “We were just talking about you.”

“Oh really,” I arched an eyebrow, “Nothing bad I hope.”

She shook her head, “No, we were just telling Genevieve that the testing has proven you are not a Witch. You have no magical aptitude.”

I looked at her confused, “I know I wasn’t having much success but no magical aptitude at all?”

“Well perhaps I shouldn’t have said no magical aptitude,” she chuckled, “It’s more like your aptitude is all focussed in one direction. Witches harness magic to do a variety of things and you can’t seem to do that. Our family has a long line of Witches Kayla, but once in a while our bloodline produces something else instead and we get a girl who when she should be coming into her powers as a Witch can’t use magic in that way. Instead those girls come into a different ability when they turn sixteen.”

“So I’m one of these girls then?” I asked.

Gwen nodded, “It appears so. These girls happen rarely in our family and while they can’t use magic like we Witches can they are absolutely amazing at channeling magic for healing. That’s why you were able to save Sarah. You’re a Healer Kayla.”

I just shook my head, wondering if I heard her right, “I’m a what?”

Genevieve gave me one of her reassuring smiles while Aunt Helen answered, “You’re a Healer Kayla, the first one in our family for over four generations. Healers are very rare, there’s never very many in the world at one time. I’ve heard rumors of one somewhere in Tibet but I couldn’t tell you if any others are out there right now.”

Talk about pressure, “So I guess this means I won’t have to learn magic then.”

Gwen shook her head, “No you’ll be on your own pretty much, nobody else can teach you how to use your ability. The exercises Aunt Lena taught you to focus your power should help but there’s not much else we can do other than to help you learn focus and control.”

Genevieve looked thoughtful for a moment, “I might suggest reading medical texts and learning more about biology and anatomy, it might help you to Heal people better if you know what the problem is in the first place. “

Gwen nodded, “I’ll see what I can dig up at the store, I should have some good books on it there.” After that we spent a few more minutes talking about my new ‘gift’ until Gwen and Aunt Helen left for home and Genevieve and I went to search for some dinner.

Hi folks sorry about this chapter taking a bit long, but a shoulder injury kept me from being productive. I have since caught up and will also be posting Natalie's story, Trial and Heiress. I'm hoping to keep a chapter of Bloodlines every two weeks and two chapters of Trial an Heiress every week until it catches up with Kayla's story and then I'll be running both alongside one another.

Thanks as always to EoF for giving us such a great Universe to play in and to EoF, Maggie F, and Donjo for their input.

I laid in the bed in my new bedroom bored out of my tree. It was late Saturday morning and there wasn’t much to do so I looked around my room for some sort of inspiration. Other than my bed there wasn’t much in the room yet. The bed was queen sized and solid oak and had a matching dresser which stored most of my clothes. The rest of my clothes, including my Gothic Lolita dresses, were carefully hung in the closet. In addition there was a matching vanity with a large mirror that could double as a desk if needed, with a comfortable chair, and a bedside table with a lamp. Other than that all I had was my laptop. There were no posters or personal items, nothing to make the room looked like a teenaged girl lived here. That would have to change.

I reached over to the bedside table and picked up my new smartphone, apparently that is a must-have for every teenage girl. I quickly looked through my rather limited contact list and selected Natalie’s number. After three rings I heard Natalie answer, “Hello?”

“Hi Nat,” I responded, “Its Kayla. I was wondering what you, Sarah and Jason were up to today?”

“Nothing much, we were about to call you and see if you wanted to come over and do something here since Jason couldn’t get the truck today,” she explained. “Did you have something in mind?”

I smiled to myself, “I was thinking I need to do some shopping to make my room more personal and maybe get a few other things too. You think you all might want to come? I can handle the transportation.”

“Just a sec, I’ll ask.” I heard her muffled conversation with Sarah and Jason for a moment before she spoke again, “Sure we’re all game, Sarah is eager to do some shopping and Jason and I don’t mind tagging along while you both do your thing.”

“Awesome! Give me ten minutes and I’ll be over.” I hung up and got off the bed to quickly check myself in the mirror. My purple hair was mostly down but with ponytails on the sides held in place by black hair ties adorned with skulls, my eyes were a nice dark violet to match and I was even wearing a little make-up; black lipstick and a few shades of eye shadow to give me a smoky eyes look. For clothes I wore a purple and black corset, black leggings, and my favorite black leather boots with the steel buckles all up the sides. I quickly added a black jacket and deciding I was presentable I put my phone in my purse, and grabbed my keys before heading downstairs.

As I passed by the living room I called out to Genevieve to let her know where I was going and then I was out the door. The weather that greeted me was cold and wet, and sadly not all that uncommon on the island. I was mildly disappointed by the rain as I had been hoping to drive with the top down. With a sigh and a shrug I got into the Mustang and started it before taking off to the Poole house. Well within the ten minutes I pulled in front of the house and honked the horn, climbing out of the car to lean against the door while I waited.

Jason was the first out the door and after catching sight of me leaning against the Mustang he stopped short in the doorway. This of course prompted complaints from Sarah and Natalie who were stuck behind his large frame. After a moment he seemed to snap out of it and slowly made his way to the car, giving it a good once over with his eyes. “Is that a…”

I grinned at him, “A 1965 Ford Mustang convertible with a 289C V8 engine, fully restored. Try not to get too much mud in it will you?” Jason took a slow walk around the car, drinking it in with his eyes. It was funny; I never pegged him for a classic muscle car fan. Natalie looked suitably impressed as well, while Sarah didn’t seem to care so long as it got us from point A to point B. She dragged Natalie into the back seat with her after they made an effort to get most the mud off their shoes. Jason followed suit, climbing into the front passenger seat while I got behind the wheel.

Once we were all inside the dry car with the heat turned up to a comfortable level, I put the Mustang in gear and started toward town. Jason couldn’t keep quiet any longer, finally asking, “Where in the world did you get one of these?” His fingers ran along the dash as if testing the reality of it.

“It’s mine,” I answered as we turned onto the road into town, “Dad and I spent a lot of time when I was growing up restoring this baby, and he gave it to me. Dad always had a thing for classic muscle cars and I grew up learning from him so I kinda caught the bug. Are you into the classics too?”

Jason nodded, “Hell yeah! I love classic cars, I didn’t picture you as the type to get all dirty and greasy working on them though.”

I giggled a bit at that, “I thought the same thing about you, but I did used to be a guy remember?”

I could hear Sarah giggle behind me, “It’s easy to forget that sometimes Kay, you’re so girly sometimes. Not like some guys-turned-girls we know.”

“Hey, if I’ve got to be a girl I’ll do it on my own terms.” Natalie muttered, “Nothing wrong with being a tomboy.”

At this point we were entering town so I asked, “Where to first Sarah? I want to make my room look like a teenage girl with a bit of history lives there, and maybe get some casual clothes we didn’t get at Oh My Goth.”

“Okay, let’s go to Denman’s first,” Sarah answered. Denman’s was the locally owned department store; it had pretty much everything from power tools to lingerie and everything in between. I nodded and took the next turn in that direction. Soon we pulled up in front of a worn old building that was bigger than most the other buildings in town. We piled out of the car and dashed inside and then we got to the serious business of shopping.

We spent at least two hours in Denman’s, but we got almost everything I felt was needed and then some. I got several pairs of Jeans, most of them in black and some spaghetti strap tops, baby tee’s, sneakers, and some warm clothes for wet and rainy days. After we got the casual wear covered we got some sleep wear while Jason and Natalie made themselves scarce. After that we reunited to get some little things to decorate my room: picture frames (which we planned to put photos in later), some fantasy novels I liked the look of, some video games, some extra bedding, camping gear, and a few stuffed animals.

The stuffed animals were Sarah’s idea as she felt every girl needs at least one. I liked the skelanimals, stuffed animals made to look like skeletons and yet still managed to be adorable, so I bought two of those, a cat and a penguin. Jason also bought a stuffed moose which he gave me and I could have sworn he was blushing. Once finished our shopping we stuffed it all in my trunk and headed to Sally’s so everyone could get some lunch.

At some point during lunch Dandelion and Verbina showed up and talk drifted to the possibility of going to the cabin later that afternoon to maybe spend the night and have some fun before school started on Monday. We were in the midst of making plans and figuring out how to convince the parents when my phone rang. I checked the call display as I hit the button to accept the call, “Hi Gwennie-bee.”

“Hi K, do you think you can swing by The Book Mark today?” She asked. “I have some books I think you’ll find useful for Healing and I have a favor I wanted to ask.”

“Sure Gwen, we’re at Sally’s right now so we can be there in about fifteen minutes.”

“Great!” she replied enthusiastically, “I’ll see you soon then.”

I disconnected the call and put my phone back in my purse, “Do you all mind if we go see Gwen at the bookstore before we head out? I’ll need to eat something before we go anywhere anyway and Gwen has some books that she thinks will help me with my ‘gift’.”

“Sure thing, it’s your car we’re in, I don’t mind if…” Jason began.

“Oooohhhh! A gift?! Is it wrapped in pretty paper?” Dandelion interrupted, her attention now focused on me rather than sharing my milkshake with Verbina.

It was then that I realized that I had yet to tell my friends about what I had learned the night before, and I smacked my head, “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you all!”

“Tell us what?” Natalie asked over a mouthful of burger.

“It turns out I’m not a Witch.” I shrugged, “I can’t use magic worth shit.”

“But…” Sarah began.

I shook my head, “I’m something different, I can’t use magic. Aunt Helen and Gwen said I’m a Healer.” Five pairs of eyes suddenly looked at me very intently as I said the H word. “Umm yeah, apparently there’s not many of us but my family sometimes has girls who become Healers instead of Witches when we turn sixteen. Genevieve thinks my power may have been latent when I was Keith and getting turned triggered it and may have caused my age regression.” I started to get uncomfortable at the intense looks, “What?”

Natalie sighed, “Queen Titania is going to want to know about this. Vina can you go tell her and meet us at the cabin later? I think we found our excuse for going.” The blue haired pixie nodded and flew out the window toward the forest without a word.

I turned in my seat and looked at the three now somber faces, ignoring Dani for the moment who seemed uncharacteristically subdued, “Does someone want to clue me in?”

Natalie looked at me sadly, “Queen Titania told me that I was led to the Glove because at some point soon it would be needed but she couldn’t guess as to when. It could be me or it could be one of my children that need to use it. The Sacred don’t really have the same sense of urgency about time that we do.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“She also mentioned Healers to me,” she answered. “She said they’re harbingers of a sort and she believes that they are born when they are most needed. She said if a Healer is born on the Island then there is a good chance something big is going to happen here in their lifetime and they will be needed.”

Sarah took Natalie’s hand in her own as she spoke up, “That means whatever Queen Titania is so worried about will likely happen in our lifetime, possibly soon.”

“So what’s that mean for us then?” I asked, not quite sure I wanted to know.

“It means we need to be ready.” Natalie said, squeezing Sarah’s hand tight. “So we all need to work our asses off to make sure we’re the best we can be at what we do and be prepared for anything. “

Jason nodded, “I think we’ll need to warn the Coven and the Council.”

“And tell them what?” Natalie snapped. “That I have a bad feeling that something is going to the Island? We don’t exactly know what is going to happen or when.”

“The Coven already knows something is coming, probably the Council too,” I said. “I heard Gwen, Genevieve and Aunt Helen talking. Aunt Helen said she finds it unnerving that both the Glove and a Healer re-appeared so close together and she was going to inform the Coven. And with both her and Genevieve on the Council now, it’s a good bet they’ll know soon too.”

Jason shrugged, “Not much else we can do then until we know just what it is we need to prepare for except to work together, try to learn what we can and keep our eyes open.”

It was a quiet drive to The Book Mark after that, not even Dani saying much. Soon though, we were all walking into the store and up to the counter where Gwen sat leafing through a book and minding the pretty much empty store. She looked up from her reading at us, “Hi gang, thanks for coming by.” She looked up at the pixie and smiled, “Hi Dani, I was wondering when I might be seeing you again, is Vina not with you all today?” She offered a plate of cookies to us all.

“She went to go tell Her Majesty about the Healer.” The yellow-haired pixie replied, her attention now on the cookies.

Gwen raised an eyebrow at that but nothing more and she gestured to a two foot tall stack of books on Biology, Anatomy and even Medicine and First Aid. “These are what I found that might be useful for you K. They’re all yours.”

I regarded the tall stack of books with interest. “A little light reading huh?” I joked before taking the books and passing them to Jason with a grin.

Gwen chuckled as Jason wordlessly took the stack, “It’ll keep you from getting bored K.”

I nodded, “Or having time for much of anything else. You mentioned a favor when we talked earlier?”

She gave me that pleading look from when we were kids, the one that always ended up with me conned into something I’d later regret. “Well K, the store is doing some good business now, contrary to current evidence, and I’m having trouble running the place by myself. So I thought to myself that I should hire a girl to help out after school and maybe on the occasional weekend…”

“How come I get the feeling I’m not going to like where this is going?” I asked as my friends tried not to laugh.

“…So I tried to think of any young girls I knew who might need a job,” she continued. “You know to help pay for gas and insurance for their new car and spending money for shopping and the like. And it wouldn’t hurt if she were pretty…”

I groaned, “And naturally you thought of me.”

“…so naturally I thought of you,” she grinned at me evilly, continuing as if I hadn’t said anything. “You’d be doing me a huge favor K, and you’d be making some spending money too.”

I sighed as I considered it, though I knew I’d probably end up doing it anyway. The truth was that with all the shopping for new girl stuff and the car to keep fueled and insured I was coming close to the end of my meager savings. And since I didn’t want to be completely dependent on Genevieve I would need to find a job sooner or later. At least here I could get some reading in when it gets slow and it would help out Gwen. “Fine Gwennie-bee, I’ll do it.”

Her grin broadened, “I knew you’d say yes! Thanks K, you start Monday.”

Jason chuckled at that, “She’s got you wrapped around her finger Kayla.”

Sarah responded without missing a beat, “Says the guy carrying Kayla’s books.”

I dropped everyone off at home and then headed home myself to put away my books and everything from my shopping excursion. Once everything was packed away but the camping gear and a change of clothes I went back downstairs to find Genevieve organizing the den. The den, like the rest of the house was coming along nicely with thick dark curtains to keep out the sunlight, a large desk with a computer for her records, enough comfortable seating for four people and some well positioned lamps to give proper lighting. I took a seat in one of the chairs as she finished hanging her framed credentials on the wall behind her desk.

“What’s up Kayla dear?” She asked as she turned around and took one of the other seats. “Did you need to talk about something?”

I shrugged, “I just wanted to let you know Gwen asked me to work at the bookstore so I’ll be doing that after school some days.” She nodded, not seeming all that surprised as I continued, “And I wanted to see if it’s okay if I go with Jason and the girls to the cabin overnight. They have something to do out there and they thought it might be fun to have a night out there together before school starts.”

My Maker looked pensive for a moment before nodding, “As long as their parents are alright with it I don’t see the harm. You’d be in a group and you might be needed if anyone gets hurt. ” She paused to reach out and take my hand, “Just make sure you feed before you go and be careful out there.”

I nodded, smiling to try to reassure her, “We’ll be careful. We don’t plan on going any further than the cabin and Natalie and Jason know the area very well.”

An hour later I was freshly fed and dressed for camping. I wore a pair of black jeans tucked into my hiking boots, a thick sweater, warm jacket and gloves with my camping gear in a large backpack slung over my shoulder. I got to Natalie’s house to find that she and the others were waiting and dressed similarly. Natalie was also carrying a shotgun. I gave her a curious look at that and she shrugged, “We’re going to be out there at night and you never know what we might run into. I don’t like to rely on magic too much since we’re only Novices. I sent Dani ahead to check for anything dangerous though.”

I nodded, “I’m a bit surprised your parents were all okay with this.”

Sarah smiled, “Mine didn’t like the idea but I convinced them that you and Jason would be there to protect us. Nat’s mom approved it once she knew that we were going to talk to the Sacred about you.”

“Wait, that’s why we’re heading out there? To meet these Sacred?” I asked, now a bit nervous.

Natalie nodded as she shouldered her pack, “That’s the idea, they may send someone to talk with you or they might just send a message with Vina, you never know. Queen Titania is usually kept too busy with her own matters to see us mere mortals personally unless it’s important, but at least the possibility gives us an excuse to head to the cabin.” With that she started walking, leading us through her backyard to the woods and the cabin.

The walk through the woods was quick as we attempted to get there before the light faded. We didn’t run into anything except a few small animals and dusk was just settling as the cabin came into view. After Dandelion approached and told us everything was clear we all entered the cabin, placed our packs by the door and got out of our wet outer clothes. Natalie set about starting a fire in the fireplace while Jason and Sarah got out the cooking gear and started preparing to make dinner. I felt a bit unsure of myself with all of them immediately starting a task. Even Dani was doing something as she helped Natalie by bringing her some dried leaves and twigs from a box reserved for kindling. “So, is there anything I can be doing to help?” I asked.

Natalie looked up from her fire-making, “You’ve got pretty good night vision right?”

I shrugged, “Well duh, I am a creature of the night. Pretty much all my senses are heightened. So yeah I see really well in the dark.”

She nodded, “Great, can you keep an eye outside in case we get any company?”

“Sure, I’ll keep my eyes peeled.” With that I headed to the window, taking a seat in one of the chairs, to look out at the woods for any movement. Soon the fire was going and there was a pot of stew heating in the flames but as of yet there was no movement outside. I kept a careful watch though for any kind of movement as I wasn’t quite sure what I should be watching for.

Dinner was almost ready when I saw a bit of movement out in the darkened woods. I thought I may have been imagining it at first but there was something definitely out there and it was coming closer. One flicker of movement became a pair, then a half dozen, then enough that I was having trouble keeping track of them all. There were many smaller forms and two larger ones making their way toward the cabin. “Ummm guys, I think that company may be arriving.”

The smaller forms were of course Pixies, led by Verbina, about two dozen of them from the looks of things. “Damn that’s a lot of Pixies,” I muttered to myself. The larger forms looked human at first glance though it was hard to tell as they were both wearing hooded cloaks to protect them from the rain. I stood and made my way to the door as Natalie and the others did the same. Natalie was the first to the door and quickly opened it, motioning for our mysterious guests to come inside, “Please come in and get out of the rain.”

The smaller of the two larger figures shook off her hood revealing a very beautiful face with long blonde hair, slender arched eyebrows, deep green eyes and slightly long pointed ears. Underneath her dark green cloak she was wearing bronze ring mail and had a long slim sword strapped to her hip. “Thank you, I am Lisianne, this is my husband Paul…” Paul shook off his hood to reveal a human man in perhaps his mid-thirties with graying brown hair. He also revealed that he was carrying a child and Lisianne added, “And this is our daughter Marie.”

I think that Natalie made introductions at that point but it was all a bit of a blur as Marie had captured my attention. Not because her name was the same as my middle name, not because she was apparently only half human and not even because she was an adorable baby. She was very sick; I could feel it like some sort of black aura of utter wrongness calling out for me to make it right. She was maybe a year old at most with her mother’s features and it struck me as wrong that one so young and beautiful should be so stricken. Worse, something felt wrong about the illness itself, like liquid death was running through her veins. Suddenly it came to me, and I spoke aloud in shock. “She’s been poisoned.”

All eyes were suddenly on me, various degrees of shock and outrage showing on the assembled faces and even the squadron of Pixies were fit to be tied. Lisianne gave me a searching look, “Are you certain about this?”

I nodded, “I may be new to this whole Healer thing but whatever has her sick does not feel right. I think if it were an illness it would feel more natural to me and closer to an injury, but this just feels wrong. It doesn’t feel like it’s throughout her body or in any specific area, but more like it’s running through her bloodstream and tainting everything in its path. How long has she been sick? Any symptoms?” I motioned at the cabin’s lone bed, “Please lay her down on the bed.”

Paul placed her on the bed as he answered, “She started getting a high fever about three days ago and she’s got a bad cough. Can you heal her?”

I sighed, wringing my hands nervously, “I can try. But I’ve only known I’m a Healer for a week and I’m still new at this. At least I have a good idea what the problem is and that should make things easier. I’m going to need some blood afterwards though.”

Paul looked at me confused, “Blood? For what, a transfusion?”

I shook my head, “No, I don’t think I’ll need to be poking her with needles and such. You see I’m a Vampire and my Healing ability takes a lot of energy since I’m still learning. So unless you all want a hungry Vampire in your midst I’ll need to feed once I’m finished.”

He paled at that but quickly nodded, “If you can heal our daughter my life and blood are yours.”

“I’ll gladly take your blood Paul but your life is yours to keep. I don’t kill my meals.” I tried to smile reassuringly at the pair, “And I would heal your daughter regardless.” I took a moment to try and examine Marie and get a better feel for the poison and what it was doing to her. The others watched quietly from around and above the bed as I gently laid my hands on her. I almost recoiled from that touch as I got a good feel of the poison. The mere thought of this being done to a child made me sick.

I closed my eyes as I rested my hands once more on her little chest. I was angry and sickened at this and I could feel my power wanting to explode outward to do something about it, but I knew that would only make this harder. I needed to focus. I took a deep breath and focussed as my mother taught me, picturing my power as a huge body of water at the back of my mind. I quickly erected a dam to hold it all back. Next I pictured a faucet on it and turned it just a little bit so that my power was trickling out slowly.

I fed that power into the girl’s small frame, picturing it flowing into her heart and flowing out from there to burn through the black ichor I could sense making its way through her bloodstream. It wasn’t enough so I turned the faucet and added more power, sending small waves of it through her body. I could feel the poison relenting and kept slowly feeding my power through her until every last drop of it was consumed.

I opened my eyes slowly as I turned off the power and I could see a white light already starting to fade from my hands and the infant’s body. I was very hungry, but not ravenous, and I had managed to stay conscious. With that and the fact that Marie seemed to feel healthy to me now I was thinking of this as a success. I smiled tiredly, “She’ll be fine now I think, she just needs to rest and she’ll be hungry when she wakes up.” I turned away from the baby to find every eye in the room focussed on me. I was a bit unnerved by it and pointed to the window, “Look! A distraction!”

Sadly only Dandelion and a few other Pixies fell for it, with Dani looking about frantically, “Ooooh! Where?!”

I sighed, “Soooo, could we all do something besides staring at the hungry Vampire? Explanations would be a good start. An even better start would be a bite to eat.” I looked at Paul hoping he’d catch the hint.

I was able to drink my fill from Paul without coming anywhere near draining him, though I had to get him to take off his broadsword and chainmail shirt first since the latter covered his neck. I also had to take him outside as I was a bit self-conscious about feeding in front of others, especially my friends. I really didn’t want them seeing that side of me. Once I was pleasantly full we rejoined the others inside the cabin and the explanations began.

Lisianne explained to us that she is one of the Aos Sidhe. She and Paul had met several years ago when he wandered into the Valley. He had been half starved and exhausted when she came across him. She took him home and cared for him and the pair had grown attached to one another. They weren’t officially married as many of more hardline members of the nobility seemed to have trouble with the idea of an Aos Sidhe and human pairing, even if the Aos Sidhe in question was a commoner.

An actual child being produced from that union caused a bit of upheaval but they and Marie were at the very least tolerated. Queen Titania had taken an interest in the child so even most of the hardliners were keeping their opinions to themselves. The Winter Court had gotten wind of the situation and was of two minds about Marie. One side felt she was some sort of danger to them while the other side thought of her as a valuable pawn. Lisianne was convinced that it was a member of the Winter Court behind her daughter’s poisoning. When Titania had learned of the presence of a Healer on the island she arranged for Lisianne and Paul to bring Marie, both to test me and to attempt to save the baby, and had sent the Pixies as a guard.

Jason frowned as Lisianne finished explaining things, “But why would anyone see a baby as a danger? I could see maybe wanting to use her as leverage against your Queen, but why view Marie herself as a danger?”

Dani, who was currently sitting on Natalie’s shoulder, responded absently. “Oh, they probably think she’s the Eochair-.” This caused her to be on the receiving end of a number of glares from her fellow Pixies.

“The Eochair-?” I asked, suddenly curious.

“Somewhere in the Sacred Grove there’s supposed to be a vault, hidden and protected by Her Majesty’s magic,” Lisianne replied. “The rumor is that only Her Majesty or the Eochair- can get into the vault and there are powerful magical artifacts inside. Nobody has any idea who or what the Eochair- is though so often people think when Her Majesty takes an interest in a person or thing that it must be the Eochair-.”

Sarah looked at the baby on the bed, “So because she’s something of a rarity and Queen Titania’s shown an interest in her people think she may be this Eochair-?”

Paul shrugged, “I doubt she is, it could be just about anything she’s shown an interest in. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a person. Because of the possible existence of the Eochair- though people are always going to assume a connection whenever she takes an interest in a person or object.”

Natalie muttered, raising her hand, “Like a certain Glove?”

Lisianne nodded solemnly, before looking at me, “Or even a Healer.”

Natalie scowled, “Well they’ve come after me before it wouldn’t surprise me if they come after you too Kay. Even if you’re not this Eochair- they’re looking for you’ve got to admit that your healing ability would make you a pretty tempting target for them.”

“Just great,” I growled, needless to say I wasn’t too thrilled about being somebody’s prize.

Jason looked around, “We might want to stay in town for a while. As nice as it is to be out here, right now the town is probably a lot safer for both of you.”

“You’re probably right Jason,” Natalie replied, “Though we’ll have to be careful even in town I think. At least I have Vina and Dani. I can send one of them for help if I get into any trouble.

At this point there was a Pixie huddle with much whispering and shortly we were being introduced to all of them seemingly at once. There were only two who really stood out in my memory. One was a violet-haired Pixie named Azrhea who was the Keeper of Names, whatever that meant. The other was a wispy green-haired Pixie named Thymhelia, their Clan Leader. Finally the last introduction was made as a Pixie with red hair was pushed forward by the Clan Leader. When I say red I don’t mean ginger, I mean fire engine red, curly, and long enough that I was wondering how she flew without her wings getting tangled.

Thymhelia pushed her toward me and she seemed very shy and a bit frightened, “This is Silphia, she is still young but she is our fastest flyer. She will serve as your guardian Healer Kayla.”

I groaned inwardly at the thought of my own personal Pixie protector, as I thought I could handle myself fairly well if I needed it and resented the thought that I may need protection. I was tempted to refuse outright but since the tiny girl seemed as nervous about this as I was I shrugged and gave her my best I’m-really-not-going-to-eat-you smile. “Nice to meet you Silphia, I don’t know if I’ll need much protection but I’m sure you’ll be a big help if I do.”

“N-n-nice to meet you Healer Kayla. I will do my best,” came her stammered reply.

“Just call me Kayla please. Or you can call me Kay, most my friends do,” I offered another attempt at a smile.

With my new guardian assigned and the Pixies setting up a watch around the cabin I stepped outside for some fresh air while Natalie, Sarah and Jason doled out some vegetable stew for themselves and for our guests.

Sometime later my pondering was interrupted by the cabin door opening and closing. “I’d like to thank you Kayla, I owe you a debt for healing my daughter,“ was spoken softly by the Aos Sidhe as she moved to stand beside me.

I shrugged and turned to give her a tired smile, “I would have done it regardless, you don’t owe me anything. If you or she ever need healing again you’re welcome to find me, I’m happy to help.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that, but I do owe you a debt.” She paused, her expression darkening. “My people take debts very seriously.”

I nodded, my own face grim. “I suppose you owe a debt to whoever poisoned Marie as well. If you ever find out who the monster was who did it let me know. I’ll be more than happy to help you collect.”

“I appreciate your offers Kayla and I will consider them. But if I may offer you some advice?”

I considered for a moment before nodding once again, “Sure, I’m all ears… ummm, no offense.”

She managed a melodious giggle at that, “None taken.” She paused and spoke once again seriously, “Your Vampire nature may make you an efficient killer, but anyone can take life. You though have the power to give it. That power may be needed soon by those you care about. Don’t be afraid to choose your battles to preserve that power. Don’t jump into fights you don’t need to, and if you need to run or call for help do it. Me and mine will come if you call.” With that the Aos Sidhe gently squeezed my shoulder and went inside.

I spent the next few minutes thinking about that as I stared up at the nearly full moon. Who was I really? Was I a killer or Healer? Did I even care which of my natures won out? I thought about Carly and Genevieve. I had seen them both as very efficient killers, but only when it was needed. Any other time they tried to live their lives to the fullest and cared about others. Genevieve had even chosen a profession that allowed her to help others to heal. That is who I want to be, giving when I can and only taking when necessary, living any other way would make Carly’s death meaningless.

The door opened once again and I was joined by Sarah, Natalie and Jason. Natalie slapped me on the back, “So how does it feel to have your very own Pixie babysitter?”

I groaned as I looked past them to the cabin door where Silphia was inside most likely sharing a meal with her clan mates. “Ask me once I get to know her a bit. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this to Genevieve. It’s kind of hard to keep secrets from someone you can’t lie to.”

Natalie shrugged, “I don’t see the harm in telling her if the topic comes up. I mean Gwen, my mom, Sarah’s mom and your Aunt Helen all know about my little friends. Just be careful not to mention any of the Sacred except to Genevieve or those already in the know. The Sacred are not known of even among most of the Unseen and we don’t want to out them unless it’s their choice.”

“I guess you’re right. I’ll tell her if I have to, but nobody else who doesn’t know already.” I took a quick look around, “So what do you all think of this Eochair- business?”

Sarah was the first to answer. “I don’t think you, Marie, or Nat are it. Queen Titania is smart and powerful and she would have to realize that anyone or anything she takes an interest in could be suspected by people. For all we know you all may be red herrings and she’s setting up protection for you because she knows somebody will take the bait.”

Jason nodded, “I have to agree with Sarah on that, though you both still need to be careful. Someone will eventually take the bait plus there’s the fact that you already have something about you that makes you attractive.” He blushed at that and quickly added, “As some sort of tool or bargaining chip.”

Despite the darkness we all noticed his blush, though Natalie was the first to comment on it as she chuckled, “C’mon Sarah let’s go inside. We should probably leave these two alone.”

Sarah grinned and took Natalie’s offered hand, following her inside and calling out over her shoulder, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

I was suddenly glad Vampires can’t blush. Jason seemed to be blushing enough for both of us anyway. “Well that was awkward,” I ventured as I looked up at the moon.

“Yeah, just a bit,” he replied, standing beside me. “So that was pretty cool seeing you heal Marie. You were amazing.”

I turned to look up at him, wondering how I didn’t notice he was that close. I had to look up to speak to him, but then as he stared down to look at me I couldn’t speak. We just stood there for long seconds as we stared at one another uncertain what to say, and then our lips met.

Thanks as always to EoF for giving us such a great Universe to play in and to EoF, Maggie F, and Donjo for their input. Also thanks to my readers for reading my work and patiently waiting for new chapters as my life gets sorted out.

I turned to look up at him, wondering how I didn’t notice he was that close. I had to look up to speak to him, but then as he stared down to look at me I couldn’t speak. We just stood there for long seconds as we stared at one another uncertain what to say, and then our lips met.

I leaned into the kiss, allowing Jason to pull me into his arms. He kissed me firmly, deeply, just on the borderline of being possessive, but it wasn't. I kissed him back just as firmly wrapping my arms around him and giving as good as I got. It felt good to be held and, if not loved yet, at the very least wanted, desired. I could the proof of his desire growing against my belly and it summoned a warmth between my own legs. I wanted, no I needed him and I knew he felt the same. I could feel it in his lips, hear it in the rapid beating of his heart, smell it on him like the hot blood coursing through his veins. Yes,the hot blood in his neck which was oh so very close.

I broke the kiss, pushing away from Jason and gasping for air I didn't need. “I'm sorry Jason... I... can't...” I half ran inside the cabin shutting the door behind me, working to squash the hunger as I all but tore through my backpack searching for what I needed. My hand met the rough surface of the small insulated beverage cooler I had packed. I withdrew it and opened it to reveal a stainless steel water bottle amongst the half melted ice, which I quickly opened. It wouldn't have been enough after I had healed Marie but I was hoping it would help now.

I slowly swallowed the ambrosia it contained, feeling it work it's way down my throat, soothing it like liquid velvet and slaking my thirst. When I had calmed down enough to lick my lips clean and take in the room around me I was acutely aware of every eye in the room being focused on me. “You okay Kayla?” Sarah asked, her voice touched with concern.

“Fine, peachy, nothing wrong here,” I blurted out. I was a bit ashamed that they had seen me drinking blood even if it was from a water bottle that didn't show the actual contents. “I just thought I would have a quick drink before I check on Marie. You know, to make sure I got all the poison, can't be too careful.” I tried to casually make my way to the bed to check on the baby as if nothing was wrong.

“Are you sure?” Natalie asked. It sounded like she wanted to say more but she didn't.

“Yeah I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?” I didn't give anyone a chance to answer though as I sat on the edge of the bed and busied myself scanning Marie. After a few minutes of losing myself in making sure she was alright I looked up and managed a weak smile, “Seems like I got it all. I didn't detect anything this time.”

Lisianne smiled at me but I could see the questions in her eyes as she said, “Thank you Kayla, are you sure you're all right?”

“I'm just tired,” I said, telling a half truth, “Healing takes a lot out of me. I think I'm gonna try to get some sleep.” I returned to my pack to get my sleeping bag and set about getting settled in for some rest. Without another word to anyone I closed my eyes. I heard Jason come in after a while but he said nothing and everyone soon followed my lead and went to bed. It was a long time before I fell asleep.

)==()==(

It was still dark outside when I awoke to the sound of a baby crying. As consciousness slowly reclaimed me and the events of the previous night came back to me I crawled out of my sleeping bag to find Lisianne sitting on the bed feeding Marie. Paul was still asleep beside her and most of what room was left on the bed was occupied by a tangled mass of sleeping Pixies. A quick look around the room as I got to my feet showed Natalie and Sarah curled up together asleep on the couch and Jason still dozing in his own sleeping bag by the fireplace.

“Morning,” I grumbled as I stood and stretched.

The Aos Sidhe looked up from her baby to smile at me, “Good morning Kayla. It would seem you were right about Marie waking up hungry. And how are you this morning? Did you rest well?”

“I slept like the dead,” I joked with a weak smile as I tried to shake off my shame and awkwardness over the events of the previous night.

Her smile grew slightly at that even as she asked, “Do you often make light of your situation when you're distressed?”

I shrugged, “A good friend taught me that, dead or alive, as long as we're here we might as well enjoy our time on this earth. Sure I may be stuck as a teenage girl for all of eternity but if I can't get a little mileage out of the death and kid jokes then I'd just be depressing to myself and everyone around me. I might as well get what laughs I can out of this. If I can't I'm not really living, I'm just existing, My friend died and I couldn't save her, but she did save me. I owe it to her to get the most out of my life.”

She nodded, taking a moment to shift Marie from one breast to the other before saying, “It's not my place to ask you what upset you so much last night, but your friends are concerned.. Especially Jason, I think he fears he did something to frighten you.”

“He didn't,” I answered with a sigh. “He kissed me and I liked it. I just didn't like my reaction to it. I was ready to feed on him. I... don't want him or my other friends to see that side of me. The blood-thirsty predator part, I mean.”

The Aos Sidhe patted a spot beside her on the bed that was clear of Pixies. I took the invitation and sat down as she spoke. “Your dual nature must be hard on you. Yes you are a predator and probably a very dangerous one if you did not take care to rein in that side of you, but your nature as a Healer will help temper that. Do not think of yourself as a predator but rather as a protector. You can protect your friends, family and everyone in your town, both your natures make that possible so long as you live.”

“I guess so,” I said as I looked over toward my still slumbering friends. “But my healing nature only seems to be present when I see someone sick or injured.”

“Is it?” Lisianne asked, and suddenly she placed Marie in my arms. I quickly shifted my position so as not to drop the infant girl and unthinkingly started to gently rock her from side to side. She smiled, “Your healing powers may only manifest when they are needed, but your powers are not the only thing that makes up that side of your nature. So far you have shown yourself to value the lives of others and to want to protect and preserve those lives. When you took Marie just now you immediately moved her to the safest position and started to rock her in an attempt to comfort her. Maternal instinct plays a large part in your nature as a Healer.”

“Maternal instinct? Me?” I laughed. “I think you've got the wrong Healer. Didn't I offer last night to help you hunt down and violently kill whoever poisoned Marie? Doesn't sound very maternal to me.”

“There is not much in this world more deadly than a mother who feels her child is in danger,” said the Aos Sidhe grimly. “There is nothing more maternal than wanting to protect or avenge those you care for.”

I looked at the baby in my arms and thought again of what I would do to whomever had tried to kill her. It wasn't a pretty picture. “I guess you're right.” I smiled at the cooing infant and tickled her toes causing her to giggle. My movement must have woken Paul as I heard him stir behind me.

Lisianne must have heard him too as she turned around and kissed him, “Good morning my love.”

He smiled sleepily before kissing her, his eyes briefly looking over to Marie and I after breaking the kiss, “Good morning Lisi, and you too Kayla.” He gave his wife a searching look, “I see you two have been talking, and Marie seems to have taken well to Kayla. Have you asked her yet?” he asked.

“Asked me what?” I wondered aloud as I continued to tickle Marie.

“I'll take that as a no,” Paul said with a nervous chuckle.

The blonde elfin woman shook her head, “Not yet Paul, I was just about to ask her.”

“Ask me what?” I repeated, now a bit nervous.

“In light of recent events,” Lisanne began, “We are worried about Marie's continued safety. We will protect her as best we can and Queen Titania's protection keeps her safe from those in the Summer Court.” She looked lovingly at the infant in my arms before continuing, “But if something should happen to Paul and I, we fear she would not be well protected from the Winter Court, Except for Her Majesty and those close to her, Marie is barely tolerated by the Summer Court.”

I stared at the pair, a bit confused. “You want me to be your bodyguard or something? I don't think I have time for that, I've got school and work and I have to learn to control my powers.”

Paul shook his head, “Not exactly, you see my family are long dead and Lisianne's parents are of the same opinion about Marie as the rest of the Summer Court. Queen Titania has taken an interest in Marie but Court matters keep her very busy. So we...” he looked to his wife for support.

The Aos Sidhe nodded as she turned to look back at me. “We already owe you a debt Kayla, but we were hoping you might consider becoming Marie's... what did you call it again my love?”

“Godmother,” Paul said. “We want someone to care for and protect her if something should happen to us.”

If it was physically possible for my jaw to have hit the floor I think it would have. “I don't think I'm the best person for that. For all we know I probably have the Winter Court after me and I'm not sure I can even protect myself at the moment, let alone a baby.”

Lisianne gave a weak chuckle, “We don't plan on dying any time soon, this is only in case the worst does happen. It is very likely this isn't the last attempt that will be made on Marie's life and it is very possible that attempts will be made to kill us as well as her. Hopefully we'll see her become a healthy happy adult and all we'll ever need you for is to babysit on occasion. We would both feel better though if we had someone to protect and nurture her in our absence.”

I sighed and took a long look at Marie who was starting to fall asleep in my arms. I had no problem with protecting her and I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her. But these people barely know me, I thought, they don't know what a monster I could be. Maybe they do though, and what better than a monster to keep someone safe? Could I really raise a child if it came to that? What kind of life would she have with me? “Why me?” I asked.

Paul looked at me sadly, “For several reasons. For one, who better to keep her healthy than a Healer? Secondly, you are protective of others and you have the strength, speed and abilities of a Vampire, if it came down to a fight with a non human you could do a better job of protecting her than I or any other human could. Lastly, you more than any of us can understand what it is to be of two worlds and not be fully part of either. Marie will need someone who understands that, someone she can talk to, whether we live to see her through to adulthood or not.”

I looked from Marie to her parents and back again to the slumbering infant. “I'll do it, but you two better do your damnedest to stay alive.”

)==()==(

It was some time later that Natalie and the others awoke. Since I was already awake I watched Marie while her parents set upon making breakfast for everyone from what I found in our camping supplies. I would have made breakfast myself but the only method of cooking we had available was over the fire and I was a bit leery about getting to close to one of the few things in the world that could actually kill me. The others awoke and ate their breakfasts while talking back and forth, even the Pixies dug into the meal with gusto.

While everyone else ate I sat quietly holding Marie and thinking about the Eochair, the baby I held in my arms, my new Pixie bodyguard and the kiss. The last may have seemed to be the least important of the three, but it was the one which most occupied my thoughts. Why did I react the way I did? Sure Jason is attractive, but do I like him that way? Could a relationship between a Were and a Vampire even work? It seemed that all I had in my life lately was questions and not enough answers.

)==()==(

We parted company late in the morning, not long before lunchtime. Lisianne, Paul and Marie left for the Valley under the protection of the swarm of Pixies, while Natalie, Sarah, Jason and I headed back to town. Dandelion, Verbina and Silphia kept a close eye out for trouble as we made our way through the woods. None of us spoke much and found myself trying to keep my distance from Jason without looking like I was doing it. It made for a long and awkward walk. Finally we all arrived at Natalie's house and I turned down an offer to stay and hang out, choosing instead to head home with the promise to pick them all up for school in the morning.

Silphia might not have been to eager to become my guardian but she took the job very seriously. She kept a careful eye out as we made the short walk to my house and gave the back of the house a very thorough inspection as I took my time fishing out my keys and letting myself in. I found myself hoping Genevieve wasn't home but also hoping she was. I had a lot I wanted to talk to her about, but how much should I tell her and how she would react?

It turned out she was home. As I let myself in and made my way through the kitchen I heard her talking in the living room. Making a shushing motion to my Pixie companion I made my way into the living room hoping to make the stairs before my Maker could stop me. No, I was not trying to sneak past her. With our heightened senses that is a near impossible prospect and Genevieve likely knew I was home from the moment I unlocked the door, if not before. I was not surprised to hear her call out, “Kayla, you're home? Please come and join us.”

“Okay Genevieve, I'm coming,” I responded as I made my way toward her. 'We' turned out to be Genevieve, Dr. Dennis and Sandra Brand from the unseen council, with the latter two seated on our couch while Genevieve sat across from them in one of the armchairs. I put on a smile and greeted the pair with a nervous, “Hello.”

“Dr Dennis and Dr. Brand have a proposal to make regarding your Healing ability.” Genevieve began, gesturing for me to sit in the free armchair. “They were wanting to speak with me first as your legal guardian but since you're back early you might as well join us.”

I took the seat as I looked over our guests, “What type of proposal?”

Dr. Brand smiled at me, “We were wondering if you might agree to a working relationship with Dr. Dennis and myself. Basically this would consist of us calling you in when we have a medical emergency that we can't handle. We would also give you hands on experience with some minor wounds and ailments, first aid training and as much medical training as you like. Think of it as an internship.”

I considered the offer for a moment before frowning, “I'd like to but I'm already really busy with school and now working at the bookstore. Besides won't my skills be a bit hard to hide if the Norms see them? Also there's the matter of me needing blood whenever I heal someone.”

Dr Dennis nodded, “Genevieve tells us school won't be a problem for you with your memory. But what we're proposing is to be training you during school time. We've discussed it with Principal Lawson and she will see to it that you can spend the last hour of your school day at the clinic with us if you agree. You would have been scheduled to take science then, so she would put it as credits for science class on your transcript and records. It will be viewed as an advanced science class and we'll have a story ready for other students in case they ask about it.”

“As for the norms,” Dr. Brand put in, “Don't worry, we'll make sure nobody sees you who shouldn't. We'll keep you with mostly Unseen patients and if there is a Norm in need of your skills, we'll see that they are sedated. Also, we only intend to call you outside of our internship time when the patients need is dire or there is some sort of large scale medical emergency.”

I looked at the pair, wondering just how well they had thought this out. “What about blood?”

Dr. Brand patted a cooler which was sitting beside the couch. “We've got some blood here for you in this cooler for you to keep here and to carry some on you for emergency needs outside your regular nightly feedings. We'll also keep some at the clinic and in the school nurses office. When you run out of your emergency supply here at home let us know.”

“You seem to have this all planned out.” I replied as I looked from one doctor to the other. I thought about how I would likely be needed on the island soon, and it would be better if I were prepared. With a sigh I asked, “So what do I tell the other students when I skip science class at the end of the day?”

Genevieve chuckled, “With your Vampire memory you'll easily be able to get straight A grades. So the good doctors here decided you should be a child prodigy. You're gifted at science and want to pursue a career in medicine so, to keep you from being bored in a regular science class, this internship was decided on.”

I stared at her, my mouth agape. “Child prodigy? Oh that's not going to make me stand out at all,” I grumbled sarcastically. “I thought I was supposed to try to blend in.”

“You are. This may make you stand out a bit, but this story won't scream out that you're not normal either,” Dr. Dennis cut in. “In fact, people will likely attribute any other odd behaviour or habits to your unusually high intellect. Geniuses often behave oddly. So hopefully we'll be deflecting any people who find you a bit too unusual away from thinking 'she's a Vampire' and thinking instead that you're just gifted and quirky.”

)==()==(

I reluctantly agreed to the plan, though I wondered just how my life had gotten so far outside my control since I'd become a Vampire. The good doctors left with promises to see me the next afternoon and once they were gone I turned to head upstairs. I was stopped by Genevieve's hand on my shoulder. I turned and she pointed to her office, “Lets have a talk Kayla, you look like you need one.”

We both sat down in the comfortable chairs her office boasted and for a moment neither of us said a word. Then Genevieve looked me in the eye and asked, “So did anything happen while you were out in the woods?”

“What didn't happen while I was out in the woods,” I grumbled. “I healed a half human, half Aos Sidhe baby from a poison, I may have become that baby's godmother, I found out that being a Healer may make me the target of the same 'people' who have been after Natalie for months, I was assigned a Pixie as my bodyguard, and Jason kissed me!” I said it all in a rush and as I got to the last part I even sounded panicked to myself.

Genevieve nodded, “It sounds like you had an eventful night Kayla. You're clearly upset and feeling a bit overwhelmed. What is it that's bothering you the most?”

I looked at the floor, slightly embarrassed. “The kiss. I can deal with being a target, I mean I can defend myself fairly well and Dad has offered to teach me all he knows about fighting so between that and my Vampire abilities I'm not really worried about that. I was more than happy to save the baby, in fact I wanted to find and rip the head off of whoever poisoned her. I can even deal with having a Pixie hanging around me all the time, I mean Natalie has two of them.”

“So what is it that bothered you about the kiss?” my Maker asked. “Are you not attracted to Jason?”

I shook my head, “No! I am attracted to him. I really enjoyed it and I was getting really turned on but...”

“But what?” Genevieve prodded when I didn't finish.

“But I was ready to feed on him.” I responded, ashamed of myself. “And I know I shouldn't have been, I had just drank my fill after healing Marie.”

Genevieve took my hand in both of hers. “Kayla, you've been doing very well with dealing with your thirst. Let me ask you this, did you feed on him?”

“No,” I replied, my head still hung low, “But I only barely stopped myself and got my emergency bottle.”

“You stopped yourself Kayla, there is no need to be ashamed. Many new Vampires wouldn't have in that situation. Strong sexual desire can cause Vampires to feel another desire, a desire to feed. The two are linked and often we use sex to get our meals, you haven't so you were unprepared for this.”

I frowned at that, “You mean any time I get turned on I'm gonna want to feed?”

She nodded, “Now that you're aware of it though you should be able to control it better. “Just be aware of your limits and don't push them, and if you do have sex make sure you have blood on hand or that our partner is agreeable to a long love bite.” She chuckled and gave me a wink.

“But I don't want my friends or anyone I'm close to seeing that side of me, the killer part.”

“Kayla,” Genevieve's voice was suddenly stern. “Have you ever killed one of your meals, outside of the time the Hunters attacked?”

“No,” I answered grudgingly.

She squeezed my hand. “You only kill when lives are in danger, and in that sort of situation nobody is going to blame you. You are not some bloodthirsty killer, you are in control of yourself. You need to feed to live don't be ashamed of that. Your friends accepted you knowing you are a Vampire you don't need to hide yourself from them. If Jason is taking a romantic interest in you then this is something that will come up at some point. Make sure he knows about this part of you, because he deserves to know so that he can decide for himself whether or not to pursue a relationship with you knowing everything. By pulling away and trying to hide an important part of yourself you're making that decision for him and that's not fair to either of you.”

I hugged Genevieve tightly, “Thanks Mother, I'll talk to him tomorrow when I get a chance.”

Genevieve smiled, hugging me back, “You're welcome dear one, now I want you to tell me everything that happened while you were in the woods and I want to meet this Pixie of yours.”

)==()==(

After revealing everything that occurred to my Maker and getting a short lecture on Vampire sex education, I spent the afternoon in my room reading the books that Gwen had found for me. I managed to get through a quarter of them that afternoon and I was amazed at just how well I was remembering everything I was reading. Not long before four o'clock I called it quits as I finished the book on biology I had been reading. I looked over at Silphia who was sitting on my pillow and decided we should probably try to break the ice between us. “I know guarding some Vampire probably isn't what you want to be doing.”

The Pixie blushed, her cheeks almost turning the color of her hair. “It is an honor to be guardian to the Healer. I don't know why they chose me though. I am not a great warrior like Verbina, and I'm not gifted in magic... I am not even certain how to be your guardian.”

I tried to give the Pixie a friendly smile. It seemed she had self confidence issues. “Well let's try to figure that out then. I hear you're a fast flier and that you Pixies can stay invisible to even most of the Unseen if you want.”

The red headed Pixie nodded, “Yes, that's right.”

“Okay then,” I said as I thought it over, “Here's how we will work this then: I can handle most threats if I know about them so what I want you to do is stay hidden and keep an eye out for danger. If you see danger or anything suspicious tell me and I will take it from there. If either one of us thinks it's too much for me to handle then you fly as fast as you can to go get help. Does that sound good to you Silphia?”

“I think I can do that Kayla,” she replied.

With that decided the two of us left for my parents house for a combat lesson from my father. The combat lesson covered hand to hand, some martial arts basics and using weapons like staffs and swords and Dad seemed happy with how well I was taking to it. After that he showed be the 69 Charger he had bought for us to work on. The car needed a lot of work and the parts might be hard to find but I was looking forward to working on it. Finally, my mom asked me how the Healing was coming along and offered a few more pointers on how to make controlling it easier.

Silphia remained unseen for the whole visit and once it was over we hit the road so I could feed before
returning home for some more reading before bed. Having an invisible friend to keep an eye out for me while I fed in the alley outside the Lighthouse eased my nerves a lot. Silphia didn't even comment on my feeding, she just accepted it as a part of my life. It's not like I was violently killing people. I just feed and send them on their way with a happy memory. Maybe I really shouldn't be so self conscious about it around my friends after all.

)==()==(

I was quiet when I picked the others up for school at Natalie's place. I wanted to say something about the kiss but I wasn't sure how to bring it up. I started to say something once but I didn't get the words out before Sarah complimented me on my outfit. I was in full Goth mode, wearing my favorite boots, a short plaid pleated skirt with black lace, torn black leggings, a blood red and black corset, elbow length fingerless black lace gloves, and I had changed my eye color to blood red.

“Ummm Kay?” Sarah asked as we piled out of the car in the school parking lot. “How are you going to explain that eye color?”

I fished a contact lens case from my purse and grinned, “I bought contacts of course, and I have them in so many colors.”

Natalie shook her head, chuckling as I shouldered my backpack. “Come on guys, let's show Kayla to the office so she can get her schedule.”

We made our way to the office amongst the stares and hushed voices of other students, most of them asking one another who the hell I was. Some had seen me around town over the holidays but most had not. As we entered the office, with our Pixie patrol invisible and at a discreet distance, the secretary looked up and upon seeing me nearly fell out of her chair. “Hi,” I said with a friendly smile, “I'm Kayla Dunn, I'm supposed to be picking up my schedule and stuff.” I pulled out my new identification papers and the falsified transcripts from my former school. “I think I have everything you need here.”

The secretary looked over the paperwork and smiled, “Oh! You're the prodigy! Mrs. Lawson mentioned you'd be registering today. Welcome to Sena Island, I hope you'll enjoy it here. I'm afraid we're not quite as exciting as Toronto.” She said the last as she once again looked over my outfit. Then she set herself to getting my paperwork filed and providing me with a schedule and locker assignment. “The Principal has arranged for you to spend your last class of the day at the Sena Island Clinic. Do you know where that is or would you like another student to accompany you today?”

I shrugged as I got into character, “Oh the clinic was one of the first places I went to see when I got here. I'm looking forward to studying there and I hope it will look good when I apply for medical school in the future.”

Natalie and Jason were looking at me strangely during this exchange and I guessed they weren't in on this part of the plan. Sarah winked at me as we walked down the hall with my new paperwork in hand and gave the pair a look of confusion. “Oh silly me. I didn't tell you both when I introduced you to her that Kayla is going to be studying at the clinic with my Dad. The doctors are all excited to be teaching such a smart girl with an interest in medicine, it's all Dad talks about.”

I made a show of shushing Sarah as we passed through a crowd of students, “Sarah! I told you I just want to be a normal student here. I got way more attention than I was comfortable with at my last school.”

“But Kayla,” Sarah mock-whined, “It's so cool that I'm friends with a child prodigy. And despite your strange fashion sense you're probably one of the prettiest girls in school. Who wouldn't want to brag about a friend with beauty and brains.”

We approached my locker and I quickly unlocked it and placed my school stuff inside, taking out only what I needed for the first class on my schedule. Meanwhile the crowd had dispersed and word about the strange new girl genius was being spread. Sarah grinned, “Mission accomplished.”

I just shook my head, whispering, “You're evil Sarah. I take it your Dad told you to spread the word about me.”

She nodded, whispering back, “Yup and I'm so glad you dressed up all Goth today. The red eyes are particularly great for when Becky Lawson starts her part of the plan later today.”

“Am I missing something?” I asked, a bit confused.

Natalie and Jason apparently hadn't missed whatever it was as they both broke out laughing. “Oh that's so perfect!” Natalie grinned as she tried to keep her voice down. “We'll let you know later Kay, for now we'll let it be a surprise.”

)==()==(

My morning classes were boring. I dutifully took down notes like a good genius while my classmates stared at me. Most of what we covered in those classes I already remembered clearly from my previous stint in high school. At least I had Silphia for company. She sat on my shoulder showing a far greater interest in what was being taught than I did. The math teacher Mr. Phelps caught me not paying attention at one point and asked me to solve an equation on the board but after several years of university level math and science courses the 'difficult' equation took very little effort to solve.

My last class before lunch turned out to be P.E. At least I enjoyed that class. We played volleyball and I did well despite holding myself back a lot to make myself appear human. After the showers while I was changing a few of the girls noticed the piercing in my navel and asked how I convinced my parents to let me get it. I told them my parents died in a car accident and I lived with my cousin who is pretty cool about stuff like that. The subject was quickly changed as some of the girls tried to convince me to try out for the volleyball team.

I was glad when the bell signalled lunchtime and made my way quickly to my locker. Two of the girls on the volleyball team, Tara Hill and Janice Meyers walked with me, trying to convince me to try out as we walked. I told them I had a lot going on but that I would think about it and the pair seemed happy with that as we parted ways. The rest of the gang was waiting for me as I got to my locker and put my gym bag away and pulled out my bottle of blood in case I needed it. Sarah grinned at me and pulled out a stainless steel water bottle identical to my own gesturing for me to put mine in my purse and take hers. I shrugged and did so, closing my locker as the four of us headed to the cafeteria.

There was whispering and pointing as a walked down the hall and I heard people talking about how hot I was, how I lived with my cousin, how I'd shown up Mr. Phelps in math class, and how I was some sort of super genius. It seemed like the people were taking it all at face value. We made our way through the lunch line and I took the smallest portions I could. As the others ate I ate what small amount I could, but mostly just moved stuff around on my plate, putting some to the side for the Pixies to eat.

Just as I was about to quietly broach the subject of our aborted kiss to Jason I became aware of a presence at our table. I looked up to see a tall girl with short black hair dressed in skinny jeans and a pink sweater. I could hear Jason and Sarah chortling quietly as Natalie smiled at the girl and asked, “What's up Becky?”

'Becky' pointed right at me and half yelled, loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear, “That new girl is a Vampire!”

The cafeteria went from hushed silence to maniacal laughter. Natalie too was laughing as she said, “It's daytime Becky.”

“But it's cloudy and rainy today, there's no sun!” The other girl exclaimed triumphantly. “Just look at her, she probably came here in a hearse and what's with those red eyes!”

Jason chimed in, “Becky, she drove us to school in her convertible, what kind of Vampire has a convertible?”

I suddenly realized what was going on and pulled the empty contacts case from my purse. “See, contact lenses. My eyes are really blue. I get bored with them so since I need to wear contacts or glasses anyway I just got contacts in a whole bunch of different colors.”

Becky put on a determined look and snatched the stainless steel water bottle sitting in front of me. “I'll bet that you're using this bottle to hide the blood you need to drink.” She quickly opened the bottle and poured some of the reddish liquid within into an empty cup. “See!”

Sarah rolled her eyes and said, “Does somebody want to drink some of this 'blood' and tell Becky what it really is?”

Tara Hill, who was sitting at the next table, stood up and came over to take the cup. She took a sip and smiled, rolling her eyes at Becky. “Becky this is tomato juice. Try it yourself.”

Becky took a cautious sip, “Ugh, I hate tomato juice.” She frowned at all of us and walked off in a huff as the cafeteria erupted into more laughter.

Thanks as always to EoF for giving us such a great Universe to play in and to EoF, Maggie F, and Donjo for their input. Also thanks to my readers for reading my work and patiently waiting for new chapters as my life gets sorted out.

The cafeteria had calmed down somewhat after Becky stormed off and had returned to the buzzing of many different conversations. I took a deep breath and looked toward Jason. “Jason could we talk privately for a few minutes?”

He shrugged, “Sure, I guess. I know a spot outside where we can talk.” He grabbed his things and I followed suit, putting the bottle of tomato juice in my backpack so I wouldn't confuse it with the bottle of blood in my purse. As I was doing that Silphia fluttered up to keep watch while we walked. As I shouldered my backpack he led me out of the cafeteria and into the hallway beyond. From there we headed out the nearest exit to a small stand of trees at the edge of the school grounds. Once we were inside and both leaning against trees he said, “Sorry we didn't warn you about Becky. She's got a bit of a reputation here for telling wild tales. Nobody ever believes her though, she's told so many.”

I nodded, “She's Unseen too then? Or is she really that stupid?”

He chuckled at that, “No, far from it, Becky is really smart and she's a Witch. She plays it up for the Norms, telling all these crazy lies so that nobody believes her when she tells them the truth. It's worked well so far when we've needed damage control. She's really great once you get to know her outside school. You'll meet her and the others in our group of Unseen the next time we have an Unseen only party. Chloe has been trying to convince us all to have one again soon. We don't all get together often outside school and at school we all have to put up acts for the Norms and stick to our own small groups of friends.”

”I see,” I replied. “I really didn't come out here to talk to you about Becky or Unseen school matters though. I wanted to...”

I was interrupted by Silphia, “Someone is coming this way. It's a human girl. Maybe you should be quiet until I'm sure she's gone or she makes herself known.”

I closed my eyes and listened. I could hear her coming this way, her footsteps, her breathing, even her heartbeat as she entered the stand of trees and then she stepped on a twig, snapping it. “What do you want?” I asked, “I know you're out there. This is supposed to be a private conversation.” I heard her sharp intake of breath and the quickening of her heart as she stopped moving. “You might was well show yourself, I heard that twig snap.”

A girl, probably about fourteen years old, with long black hair and hazel eyes wearing a charcoal grey sweater and a knee length black skirt stepped out from behind a tree. “Becky was right, you really are a Vampire, how else could you have heard me sneak up on you?” There was something in her eyes, a determination that made me slightly uncomfortable.

I shook my head and made a show of rolling my eyes. “You stepped on a twig dimwit. That and I'm paranoid, most geniuses are. Besides, I'm outside during the day.”

She thought about that, seeming to want to find something about me that didn't add up. “Maybe you're wearing a daylight ring like in Twilight. Or you're the child of a Vampire and a human.” There was a strange need in her eyes as she grasped at straws.

“Look, see, no rings, no fucking sparkles either,” I said holding out both my hands. “Only lace and black nail polish.” I decided to get into the medical genius role I'd been assigned. “Speaking from a purely medical standpoint Vampires couldn't exist, especially that Twilight garbage. Daylight rings are garbage because there's no such thing as magic, it just can't be proven scientifically. Vampires are garbage because, well there's dozens of medical reasons they just couldn't exist and don't try to say magic because I already stated it doesn't exist. Vampires having children is garbage too. First of all, medically, a dead body couldn't possibly have the means of maintaining a working reproductive system. Secondly, even if such were the case, the sperm or ovum produced by such a being would be dead and thus not viable. And thirdly if Vampires did exist the only reason Edward, or any other Vampire, would have for getting it up in the first place would be rigor mortis.”

“But the way you dress...” she began.

I rolled my eyes again, “The style is called Goth, look it up. Anyone could dress this way if they wanted. I bought most of my clothes at Oh My Goth, on 3rd Avenue.”

“But...” she started again.

I interrupted her again. “Look, I'm not a Vampire, they don't exist, they're a great fantasy but that's all they are. Science just doesn't support their existence. If you believe what that Becky girl says then you're just as crazy as she is.”

“But why'd you come all the way out here?” she asked looking a bit uncertain.

I pointed at Jason, “I was following him, because I asked him for a bit of privacy. Privacy we're not getting.”

“You probably wanted privacy so you could drink his blood,” the girl replied stubbornly.

I groaned, shaking my head, “No, I wanted privacy so we could make out. Thanks a lot for spoiling the mood.” The girl blushed at that as Jason looked at me shocked. “Get this straight, there are no Vampires. The only thing different about me is my brain. Trying to prove to everyone at school that I'm something that doesn't exist is only going to make you an object of ridicule like that Becky girl.”

“Fine then,” she said, though there was still that determined look in her eyes. “Be like that, but I'll be watching you.”

“Whatever, it's your time to waste.” Something felt off about this girl but I just couldn't figure out what it was. I tried to put it out of my mind as she walked off. Once Silphia was sure she was gone and we had privacy again I turned to Jason, “I'm sorry about the other night, it wasn't anything you did Jason. I enjoyed kissing you but there was something that I didn't know about how my kind react to sexual feelings. I wasn't expecting it and it kinda freaked me out.”

Jason looked down at me, “I don't blame you Kay, you're dealing with a lot right now. I figured you probably had a reason for what happened. Nat told me about the water bottle. Did kissing me make you... you know, hungry?”

I nodded, still slightly ashamed, “Yeah, in more ways than one. Genevieve explained to me that sex and the need to feed are linked. I should be able to handle it better now, I'll need to be more careful the more intimate we get though.”

He shook his head, smiling, “We don't have to get intimate, I'd understand if you didn't want to.”

I put my finger to his lips, “I do want to. I like you Jason, I just need you to know what happens when and if we do go further then kissing. I'd need blood on hand or I'd risk feeding on you while caught up in the moment.”

Jason put his hands on my shoulders and looked down into my eyes. “I know. You're not allowed to feed on other Unseen without permission. Well if we ever get intimate enough that you need to feed then you have my permission. I trust you Kay. We haven't known each other long and I know I'm probably an idiot for feeling this way so soon but you are amazing. I'm not talking about the cool Vampire powers or the Healer thing, but you. You're beautiful, smart, loyal, caring, you love classic cars, and you don't even mind getting greasy while working on them. The more I get to know you, the more I want to get to know about you.”

“Jason,” I tried looking away from those deep brown eyes and I just couldn't. “I'm not all wonderful. I worry about you seeing the other side of me, the killer. How would you see me then? I savagely killed those Hunters in Toronto.”

He leaned over, shaking his head.“I don't think you'd ever kill unless it was absolutely necessary. Have you killed anyone besides those Hunters?” I shook my head and he caressed my cheek. “I've killed too you know, sometimes as Unseen we have to, that doesn't mean we enjoy it or that we don't regret the need for it after. We all have things we don't like about ourselves, but it's part of who you are and I want to get to know you, both the good and the bad.” He paused to smile at me. “Now if I kiss you are you gonna run away again?”

I pulled him down toward me and kissed him hard on the lips, wrapping my arms around him. I let the kiss linger for several minutes as he put his arms around me in return. I could feel the hunger but it was not nearly as insistent as I kept my passion in check and just enjoyed being kissed. Our lips parted and I smiled up at him, “I'm still here.” His answer was to kiss me again. Lunch ended all too soon.

My afternoon history class was boring and I was glad when the time finally came for me to head to the clinic. I packed my backpack with my homework for the day while other students were rushing between their classes Silphia was keeping her eyes out for the girl from lunch or anyone else who might be taking too keen an interest in me. I wasn't too worried about the girl since she wasn't in my grade and I have a car, both of which would make it hard for her to keep an eye on me.

I left the school and got into my car wishing I'd been able to talk to Natalie and Sarah a bit more at lunch before becoming preoccupied. I shrugged it off and promised myself I'd talk to them both later. Then I put my Mustang in gear and took the short drive to the clinic.

Sena Island Clinic hadn't changed much since I had left. It was a modern complex and more of a small hospital than a clinic. At the main entrance there was a receptionist's desk and signs. To, the left were the various doctors offices, where they see patients on a day to day basis, to the right was the pharmacy, and behind the desk where elevators which led downstairs to the labs and upstairs to the second and third floors where patients rooms were. The clinic didn't have a large capacity for patients, only about sixty people at maximum capacity but generally it served the town well since we were so far away from the bigger cities. The clinic was always staffed though and had an emergency room entrance beside the pharmacy. The Island also boasted one ambulance and one medivac helicopter, which Natalie's brother Rick piloted when it was needed.

I stepped inside and approached the receptionist who looked at me like I had two heads. “Hello, welcome to Sena Island Clinic, how may I help you?” I tried not to groan as I recognized her as Lisa Edwards, a girl I had gone to high school with the first time. She always had been a bit of a snob. I had gone out with her a few times until I figured out she was boring as hell and was only dating me because I was a Roseberry.

I smiled as I replied, “You can tell Dr. Brand and Dr. Dennis that I'm here. I'm Kayla, I'm supposed to be starting an internship here today.”

She stared at me for a long moment. “You're the new intern they've been raving about all day? You're just a kid.” Her eyes looked me over once again obviously not liking what they saw. “If this is some kind of joke...”

I interrupted her and crossed my arms across my chest, “Well pardon me for being a genius. Look ,I don't have all day, I have a part time job to get to after this too.”

She pressed a button on her phone, looking annoyed, and began speaking into the receiver. “Dr. Dennis, there's some kid in a Halloween costume here claiming to be the new intern.” She paused to listen to the doctor on the other end. “Of course sir, sorry sir, I'll send her right in.” She turned to me, “Just go to the right to Dr. Dennis' office. He and Dr. Brand want to talk with you for a few minutes before giving you the tour.”

“Thank you very much,” I replied, still smiling as I made my way to the doctors offices. Dr. Brand and Dr. Dennis were both waiting for me in the communal waiting area. “Good afternoon Doctors,” I spoke once I was within hearing distance.

“Good afternoon Kayla,” Dr. Brand replied as she motioned for me to follow her and Dr. Dennis. We made our way into a small meeting room just off the main waiting room. Once inside they took a seat and I followed suit as Dr. Brand smiled at me, “So how was your first day back at school?”

I shrugged, “It had it's ups and downs, but people seem to be taking my cover story at face value. Classes are boring and I kinda wish I could get out of more than just science, but I'll manage.”

Sarah's father nodded, “We had discussed that. We would really like more than just an hour with you each day, and we know you already have a part time job. Do you think you would be able to test out of your other afternoon class?”

I thought that over for a moment, “I probably could. I'd just need to read through both the textbooks for it. History is basically straight out of the books. Can't you do whatever you did to get me out of science?”

Dr. Brand shook her head, “Science was easy to get you out of since Greg Moore, the science teacher is a Selkie. He didn't need much convincing to 'test you out' of the course once we let him know why we wanted you out of class. Your other teachers are Norms though so you'll have to do it by the book with them.”

I groaned at that but I figured a few days hard reading could get me out of a semesters worth of a boring class and learning what I really needed to. “I think between the text books and everything I remember now from my first time in high school I could probably ace the exams for it. As fast as I can read I could be ready in a couple days if I spent my evenings studying. I could make like I'm bored in that class. It wouldn't be too far from the truth and it would be more believable that I ask to take the equivalency exam to spend more time here. I might be able to pull off the testing by Friday.”

Dr. Dennis nodded at that, “We'll make do until then. Today we'll just give you a tour of the clinic and introduce you to everyone. You'll be working mostly with Sandra and me. Most of the rest of the staff here are Norms, so you'll have to learn and pick up the medical lingo quick, They won't expect you to know much off the start but they will expect you to learn fast and be eager to learn.”

Dr. Brand gave me a reassuring smile, “One of us will be with you almost all the time you're here. Officially you're our intern so people won't be surprised that you stick mostly with us. That way if your unique talents are needed we can arrange for some privacy. Hopefully spending enough time with us you'll pick things up quickly.”

I think I can manage alright.” I replied after considering what they had said, “I have some books on biology and anatomy but I don't think they're much more than first or second year college material, and I already learned most of it at university. Is there anywhere I can get something more advanced? Or more focused on medicine?”

“I still have my text books from med school,” Dr. Dennis offered, “Why don't you come over for dinner tonight after work and you and Sarah can visit while I find them for you?”

I nodded agreement, “That sounds good, not that I can really eat much. Spending some more time with Sarah before hitting the books would be nice though.”

“Great,” he replied with a smile, “I'll let Katherine know you'll be coming then. Now I've got a few patients waiting so I'll let Sandra give you the tour and help you get your bearings.”

With that Dr. Brand showed me around the Doctors offices and around the patient floors and operating and exam rooms introducing me to the nurses, orderlies, and other doctors. The doctors at the clinic rotated days at the clinic. One day they'd spend the morning in the doctors offices and the evening in the emergency room and upper floors doing rounds and the next day they would do the opposite. They also rotated who was on call for nights in case of emergencies, not that there were many medical emergencies at night with such a small population on the island. Mostly Dr. Lincoln and the night shift nurses handled the minor things and checked in on patients at night.

After she was done introducing me to all the staff on duty Dr. Brand took me to meet the staff of the pharmacy and then the labs. She also showed me all the different types of medical equipment in the labs and told me what they did. It was very educational and I was glad for my Vampire memory with all the people I was being introduced to in their professional aspect. Soon though we were finished and Dr. Brand let me go for the night.

Work at the bookstore was boring. It was quiet and we weren't getting a lot of customers in, but Gwen told me that Mondays generally were pretty quiet. I wasn't going to complain though since it gave me plenty of quiet time to study. Gwen came out from the back where she was placing a book order to check on me, placing a box of books on the counter. “How's it going out here K?”

“It's dead,” I answered with a smile, “Ever since I got here from the clinic it's been quiet as a tomb.”

She chuckled at that, “You think you can take a break from your studying to go shelve these for me? They go in the spirituality section. I need to go finish that order.” She took two other books and placed them on the counter, “And put these under the counter, they're on reserve for Jenny Whitlock.”

I nodded, “Sure thing Gwennie-Bee. I wanted to stretch my legs a bit anyway.” I took the two books and put an elastic around them, then stuck on a post it note with Jenny Whitlock's name written on it as she headed back into the rear of the store. I then knelt down to file the books by the reserved name with all the other reserved purchases.

While I was down there a nervous and somewhat familiar voice asked, “Excuse me, do you have any books on Vampires?”

Without thinking I answered, “We should, are you looking for mythology or fiction?” Then I stood up and saw the strange girl from lunch. She didn't answer as her eyes went wide in shock. “Not you again.” I muttered.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” She asked, her heart beating rapidly as she tried to control her breathing and speech.

“Duh,” I replied gesturing to the counter I stood behind, “I work here.”

“But everyone was saying you work at the clinic,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

“No, I'm doing an internship at the clinic,” I said with a shrug. “I work here. I need to make money for med school somehow, but the internship will look good on my application so I'm doing both. Now about those books you were looking for, fiction or mythology?”

I could hear her swallowing, heart quickening again as she spoke. “I think I've read most of the fiction. Mythology might be more useful anyway.”

I picked up the box, making sure to make it look like it was heavy to me. “I've got to put these away in the spirituality section, it's right by mythology so just follow me.” I led her through the store to the sections in question and started to shelve the books in the box alphabetically while she browsed through the books on mythology. Once I was done putting the books away I took the box into the back and went to find the girl again, making sure that my boots made my steps audible. “You finding what you need?”

“I... uh... think I'll take these two,” she answered holding out copies of Creatures of the Night and Vampire Myths and Legends.

I nodded, “Sure come on up to the front and I'll ring you up.” I headed back to the counter and scanned the two books, “Your total is forty three dollars and fifty cents.” I let out a sigh, I can never seem to break that habit even though I don't breathe anymore. “Look kid, I don't know what you're looking for in these books but it's a lot of money to prove I'm something I'm not, if that's why you're buying these. I'm telling you again before you make this purchase, I'm not a Vampire. I'm just Kayla, a kid with too big a brain and strange fashion sense. Save yourself some money and some disappointment.”

She shook her head and paid for the books, “Thanks Kayla, I'm Megan. And you are a Vampire, you've got to be.” There was determination in both her eyes and her voice and something else I couldn't place. I just shook my head and gave Megan her change. Her arm spasmed as I handed her the change, causing it to fall all over the counter and floor. She seemed to be having trouble picking it up so I did it for her. This time she managed to get it all in her purse fine, and while she was doing that I put her books in a bag.

“Thanks,” she said as she took the bag. There was something up with this girl and I couldn't figure out what it was. My healing senses were itching but I couldn't tell what was wrong. Not that I could have done anything about it, she was a Norm and we were technically in a public place. The girl was strange but at least she wasn't charging me with a wooden stake. I wondered sadly how long that would last as she walked out the door with her bag in hand.

After my two hour shift at the Book Mark ended I headed over to the Lighthouse for dinner before I had to go over to the Dennis'. Silphia had made certain that nobody was following me and that the coast was clear when I Mesmered my intended meal and slipped into the alley to feed. The hot blood flowing down my throat was heavenly after the day I had had but I was careful not to drink too much. I took just enough to satisfy my hunger and then licked the wound closed, sent my victim home with memories of making out with a hot woman he couldn't remember clearly, and climbed back into the Mustang to head to Sarah's place.

I knocked on the door and it wasn't long before Sarah's mother answered. “Oh, hello Kayla,” she said giving me a welcoming smile. It was so different seeing her like this than as the hard-nosed Inquisitor I had first met. “Oliver said you'd be coming over for dinner. Sarah's over at Natalie's, she was supposed to invite Natalie to join us and be right back but I swear that girl loses all track of time when she's over there. Would you mind going over and telling them dinner is ready? They're not answering their phones and I'm getting a little worried.”

I nodded and gave her a reassuring smile, “Sure Mrs. Taylor, I'll go find them and bring them back here. I have my phone in case there's any emergency.”

“Thanks Kayla,” she said as she opened the door again to go back inside. “Dinner should be on the table soon.”

I took off toward Natalie's house through the woods that ran along the back of both properties, I gloried in a few minutes of being able to use my Vampire speed away from prying eyes. It felt good to be able to let go and stop pretending to be human for a while. I could run as fast as I liked, moving through the woods with the speed and silence of a predator and let my senses tell me about the world around me. I could see squirrels running up the trees and rabbits in the brush. I could hear the movement of the forests denizens around me, I could even smell them.

As I got closer to Natalie's house I let up on the speed but my senses were still going at full tilt. I closed my eyes just taking it all in before I had to go retrieve my friends. As I stepped out of the woods I could hear heavy breathing and smelled something very familiar, the scent of arousal. I opened my eyes and there, not even fifteen feet away from me on one of the benches in Natalie’s back yard were Sarah and Natalie.

Natalie was in a half reclining position on the bench and Sarah was sprawled over her kissing her passionately. My first thought was that that position couldn't possibly be comfortable for Nat and my second was, Oh my God! They've finally decided to stop pretending they're just friends! I felt bad for walking in on them and seeing this before they were ready to tell anyone, but I couldn't unsee it now. I shrugged it off and moved quietly toward them. It wasn't like they had eyes for anything but each other at the moment so they didn't even notice me until I whispered, “And I thought Jason and I were bad at lunch today.”

Both girls practically fell out of the bench as they tried to get up and collect themselves. Sarah was blushing fiercely, “Ummm, hi Kay, it's not what you think.”

“Let me guess,” I said smiling, “Natalie broke a filling and you were checking it for her... with your tongue. Please, it's been obvious you two are still into each other since I met you. You're almost always together, you're always holding hands and you keep stealing glances at one another when you think nobody is looking. I'm just glad you're finally doing something about it, I could practically taste the sexual tension around you two.”

“Did you have to sneak up on us like that though?” Natalie grumbled as her and Sarah's heart rates started to slow.

I shrugged, “Actually I came to tell you dinner is ready. I didn't notice you until I came out of the trees and then you were right in front of me, after that I couldn't resist. Where are your Pixies anyway?”

Natalie blushed this time, “I sent them into the house so Sarah and I could talk privately.”

I giggled and shook my head, “Well if you'd had them patrolling, maybe your 'talk' wouldn't have been interrupted so abruptly.” Silphia began to giggle too atop my shoulder. “Anyway let's get back to Sarah's, you both probably worked up an appetite.”

“Kay,” Natalie ventured as we began to walk to Sarah's, “Could you not tell anybody what you saw. We'd like to be sure that this is what we really want before we tell anyone.”

I stopped and wrapped them both in a brief hug.“It's not my place to tell. I won't tell a soul, not even Jason. And I'll try to avoid telling Genevieve too if I can manage it. This is between the two of you, you'll decide when you're ready to go public, and no matter what you both decide I'll support you.”

“Thanks Kay,” Sarah said as they both returned the hug. “I guess we'd better hurry back.”

“Yeah, we should,” I replied as I started walking again, “And Nat should probably wipe the lipstick off her face, it's not her color at all.”

)==()==(

Dinner with the Taylors was interesting and Natalie and I were both treated like members of the family. We all talked about how our days went, though there were some important details we left out. Sarah's mom was a good cook, or at least I got that impression from the way everyone else was enjoying their meals, and sitting at the dinner table I was treated to a new view of her. Before I had only seen her in her capacity as the Coven's Inquisitor or when she was worried sick about Sarah after the accident. Now though I saw that she was really a genuinely caring person with a sometimes acidic sense of humor. She didn't talk about her work, and I wouldn't have expected her to, but what she did talk about was entertaining.

After dinner Nat and Sarah grilled me about my alone time with Jason. I admitted to spending a good portion of that time kissing and told them about the strange girl who had interrupted us before we had gotten started. We agreed she probably wasn't too big a threat but that having Silphia keep an eye out for her and watching her when she was watching me would be a good idea. I also admitted to them why Jason's first kiss had freaked me out so bad. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you both sooner, I just really didn't feel comfortable with you seeing me feeding, I was ashamed of what you might think of me.”

“We're your friends Kay,” Sarah said as she wrapped me in a hug. “We knew you were a Vampire from the start so we knew what to expect. We all expect to someday see you feeding in an emergency, or killing when we're fighting for our lives. It's not going to change a thing, you'll always be you.”

“What if I lose control?” I asked. That was really my biggest fear, losing control, losing myself, losing my friends.

Natalie gave a very unladylike snort at that. “Kay, you're too paranoid about losing control to ever lose control and if we ever think you're close we'll be there to bring you back from the edge.”

At that point things got little sappy but soon Dr. Dennis came out of his den to let us know he had found the books. He had even marked them according to what year level they were. It took several trips to get them out of the den and to my car, not because I couldn't handle the weight, but because I was afraid of the stacks toppling if I carried too many at once. Once they were all safely in my trunk I thanked Sarah's parents for having me over and said goodnight to Sarah and Natalie before hopping in my Mustang for the short drive home.

Genevieve was out when I got home so I figured she was probably getting something, or rather someone, for dinner. As soon as I got the books up to my room I started on my homework and then started to read through my history books. History is just as boring the second time but I found I remembered what I learned before pretty well and the course hadn't changed too much since the first time I had taken it.

Around nine o'clock Genevieve came home and we talked about my day. I told her everything that had happened with the exception of catching Sarah and Natalie going at it hot and heavy. She agreed that it would be best for Silphia to keep an invisible eye on my new 'friend'. Her day had been good, she had three new patients in today referred by the clinic and it looked like there would be more soon. She couldn't give me any details due to the whole confidentiality thing but I had a feeling most of them were Unseen.

The next morning was basically a repeat of the previous one except that I had dressed differently. I had gone full blown Gothic Lolita with the demure black dress with white lace, bloomers, petticoat, white silk stockings, black ankle boots, white silk gloves, my choker, and red ribbons holding my hair up in twin pony tails. For my eyes I had decided on a pale violet. I think people were talking about me even more than on my first day and at lunch I had three guys ask to 'give me a tour of the town'. Eric was the last of the three and I shook my head and snuggled up to Jason, “Sorry, I'm already taken.”

Eric grumbled, “Your loss, freak,” as he left the table.

I had to stop Jason from going after him right then and there, “Ignore him Jason, he's an ass. And it's his loss actually, but your gain.” We got back to our meals after that with the Pixies keeping an eye out for more trouble. Megan was watching from across the cafeteria but that was all she was doing so the rest of lunch passed relatively uneventfully.

History class was mind numbingly boring. I remembered it all from the first time around and from my reading the night before. I was doodling in my book to pass the time when Mrs. Jameson snapped me out of my daze. “Miss Dunn, is this class boring you? Perhaps if we focused on Victorian England rather than Canadian history I might be able to hold your attention, judging by your clothing.”

I looked up at her and smiled, “I am a bit bored, actually I was hoping to talk to you about that.” I held back the wisecracks since I would need to have her on my side if I hoped to get out of the course. Do you think I could have a moment of your time?”

Mrs. Jameson looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding, “Everyone read page thirty seven in your textbooks.” Then she led me out into the hallway. “What can I do for you Miss Dunn? I noticed on your transcripts that you're a straight A student but you don't seem to be focusing in class.”

I made a show of sighing, “Well Mrs. Jameson, it's not your teaching, I just know most of this already. It's just not challenging enough. I already tested out of science and I was wondering if I could take an equivalency exam for history too. I'd be better off spending my whole afternoons doing my internship at the clinic and learning something I can sink my teeth into than sitting in a class where I already know most, if not all, the material. I'm wasting your time and mine by being here.”

She nodded as she looked me over, “I had heard about your internship and with your grades I'm not surprised you already know what I'm teaching. I'll talk to Mrs. Lawson about having you take the equivalency exam. How soon would you want to take it?”

I gave her a genuine smile, “Thanks Mrs. Jameson, do you think Friday would be too soon to set it up?”

The history teacher considered my request for a moment before nodding. “Provided Mrs. Lawson approves it, I could arrange it for Friday. I'll talk to her after school about it and I'll let you know tomorrow before class. ” She gave me a smile and gestured to the classroom, “Now let's get back to class and please try to give your full attention regardless of whether you know the material.” I nodded and we returned to class where I spent the entirety of the class listening and writing down notes like a good little genius.

Thanks as always to EoF for giving us such a great Universe to play in and to EoF, Maggie F, and Donjo for their input. Also thanks to my readers for reading my work and patiently waiting for new chapters.

After History class I gathered my things and gave Jason a quick kiss goodbye in the hall before I headed off for the clinic. Jason seemed pretty happy with it and promised to swing by the bookstore later if he could manage it. I got to the Clinic and went straight for Dr. Brand’s office since I would be mostly working with her. Today was her day to do rounds of the patient floor so I went with her to check on the patients who were in for minor surgeries, recovering from surgeries, or ill and needed looking after. It was hard keeping my Healing ability under wraps all day as I needed to be doing something but it was a good practice in restraint and most these people were Norms who could be helped with everyday medicine.

I did learn a lot about various illnesses caring for them as well as about different surgeries and post-surgery care and I did my best to absorb all that I could. While I was learning I discovered that what I was learning was interesting and I could actually begin to see myself one day doing it as a profession. Silphia seemed bored though since she couldn’t really follow a lot of what was being said or done. She busied herself by keeping a close eye out for any trouble and for people who might be taking too great an interest in the strange new intern.

After my shift at the clinic I headed over to Ground Zero to pick up some coffees for myself and Gwen before heading to the Book Mark. Ground Zero was new since I had left town and Nat and the others had said good things about it. Apparently it was owned by a Selkie named Meara O’Connor, who came to the island from Dublin Ireland. As we got out of the Mustang I gently reminded Silphia to remain invisible as we were trying to keep the Pixies a secret from even most of the other Unseen. I wasn’t too worried though as none of the other Selkies or even the Unseen students in general at school had seemed to notice Silphia yet, though word had apparently gotten around about me in the Unseen circles.

School was only just now getting out and it was the middle of the work day so the coffee shop was pretty quiet when we entered. In fact the only customer I could see was leaving as I was entering. I stepped up to the counter to look at their selection and as I did so I became aware of the young woman on the other side of the counter watching me. She had long red hair and bright green eyes that seemed to take my appearance in slowly before her gaze turned to Silphia and back to me again. Silphia seemed as surprised as I did when she said with a wink of one of her green eyes, “Welcome t’ Ground Zero. What kin I be getting’ ye both?”

Silphia gasped and began to say, “Coimi…” before the redhead raised a finger to her lips in a hushing motion, though she didn’t seem terribly upset about what Silphia had been about to say.

“I’m Meara, and ye must be the Vampire half the Unseen on the island are all abuzz about. Welcome to Sena Island,” she said, “Or should I be sayin’ welcome home lass?”

I narrowed my eyes at the woman, “How do you know so much about me?”

“I run a coffee shop lass,” she replied. “Plenty o’ folks in here talk when there isn’a any Norms about to hear ‘em. Plenty t’ be hearin’ an’ seein’. That an’ we run in some o’ the same circle’s ye and I. Both perform our services when needed. Some o’ us are after healin’ wee ones an’ the like, an’ some o’ us keep an eye an’ ear where they be needed.”

So this woman had some kind of relationship with the Sacred? “You’re not just a Selkie, are you?” I asked.

“Nae I’m not. Ye of all folks should ken tha’ not everythin’ is as it appears even with the Unseen,” she answered. “An’ certain bloodlines bear both gifts an’ responsibilities.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked. “You pretty much just said your job is to be the hidden eyes and ears for our mutual friends.”

“Aye, tha’ be one o’ me jobs,” she admitted. “I was brought ‘ere t’ watch an’ listen an’ keep an’ eye on certain folks who our friends be wantin’ kept safe. If ye be findin’ yerself in need o’ help me door is always open t’ ye. Mostly I’m tellin’ ye this as me other job is passin’ messages when needed. Lisianne sends ‘er regards an’ this.” She passed me an envelope. “Now I think I’ve taken up enough o’ yer time. What can I be gettin’ fer ye?”

I looked at the envelope she handed me as I answered somewhat distracted, “Thanks, I’ll come find you if I ever need your help. Could I get two large Mocha Lattes?”

She went about preparing the drinks and then handed them to me in a drink tray. “These be on the house lass. Oh an’ one thing. I’d be appreciatin’ it if ye dinnae tell yer friends about this. If they need to be knowin’ they’ll be told.”

I nodded as I took the tray, “Thanks and I promise I won’t let them in on your secret. I’ll see you around.”

“Aye lass, ye will,” I heard her say as I left the coffee shop with drinks and envelope in hand.

I was still a bit shell-shocked by the way Meara had blindsided me when I arrived at The Book Mark. I had tried to get more information about the Selkie from Silphia but she couldn’t tell me much of anything. I handed Gwen her drink and took my place behind the counter with my backpack. “Oooh lattes!” Gwen said with a grin as she took hers. “Thanks K, are you going to be okay out here while I go sort out the order that came in today?”

I nodded as I sipped at my own drink, “Yeah I’ll be fine. I’ll just catch up on my studying and stuff.” With that Gwen headed into the back and I looked at the envelope in my hand for a long moment before opening it. Inside was a gold ring in an elaborate Celtic knot pattern and a note. I put the ring on the counter for the moment and unfolded the note to read it.

Kayla,

I can never possibly hope to repay you for saving Marie from the vile poison which threatened her life. As you have agreed to be her Godmother as well, I feel that you should be recognized as such. The ring I have included with this note is one of a pair called deirfiáºr rings. These rings mark the wearers as sisters under Aos Sidhe laws. As I will be wearing the other it will mark you as my sister and the one who would raise Marie and inherit my property and take care of any post death responsibilities should Paul and I meet an untimely demise.

I know that wearing this is a responsibility but it also entitles you to the same rights that I have under Aos Sidhe law. The rings also enable the wearers to find one another when needed. Please understand that once both rings are worn by the bearers that they cannot be removed. I will understand if you should choose not to wear this ring but I hope that you will take this in the manner it is offered, with the deepest of respect and sincerity.

Marie has been doing well since you healed her and is getting stronger every day and I hope that things will calm down enough soon that we can arrange a short visit. I will send any further messages through either Meara or the Pixies. Meara can be trusted implicitly. Should you need information or assistance in any way she will be a great help to you but please keep her connection to the Summer Court to yourself.

Sincerely,

Lisianne

I looked at the letter for several minutes after I finished reading it and then took a long look at the ring, turning it over and over in my hand. Finally I folded up the note and put it in the envelope and the envelope in my backpack. Then I looked at the ring again. I had agreed to be Marie’s Godmother so if this was the way that happened then I might as well put it on. I resolved though to talk to Meara or Silphia later about what exactly these rights I would have under Aos Sidhe law would be; it could be useful knowing my rights in the future. Taking a deep breath I took off my gloves and put the ring on my index finger, feeling a tingling as it tightened and settled into place.

I was studying my history textbook when I heard the front door open. Looking up I saw Megan coming in and had to stifle a groan. She approached the counter and smiled at me, “Hi Kayla.”

“Hi Megan,” I replied, “What’s up? Looking for more Vampire books?”

She shook her head, “No I just thought I’d pop in and say hi. Oh and I got this really nice pendant from my mom, what do you think?” She reached into the neck of her jacket and pulled out a gold crucifix on a slim gold chain around her neck to show me.

“I think this is a Vampire test,” I answered with a sigh before taking the cross in my bare hand and making a show of carefully examining it. “Nice craftsmanship.”

Megan seemed disappointed that I didn’t freak out when looking at it and more so when I actually held and carefully examined it. “Dammit, I thought that would work for sure.”

“Maybe it would have if I actually were a Vampire,” I retorted.

She frowned at that but had that determined look in her eyes again, “You have to be a Vampire and I’m going to prove it. I guess I’m gonna go home now, I’ll see you later Kayla.” She waved as she left the store looking like someone had kicked her puppy.

Not long after Megan had left Jason came in with Sarah. “Hey Kay,” Sarah said with a smile as they came to the counter.

“Hi Kayl…”Jason managed to get out before I pulled him toward me and gave him a long, deep and very personal greeting which left him grinning from ear to ear.

“Hi to you too Sarah, what brings you both here, certainly you’re not that bored,” I said with a wink once I had regained my composure from the kiss.

“We thought we’d take turns visiting you and Nat since you both have your after school jobs and we don’t. We just left Nature’s Blessings and Nat wanted me to ask you something as well.”

“Ask away,” I replied with a smile, “It’s not like I’m doing anything but studying right now.”

Sarah looked at my history book with distaste before saying, “Nat wanted to know if you and I wanted to check out a beginner’s martial arts class on Friday evening after you’re both off work. Our friend Moriko and her mother started up a dojo in town and are looking for students, and Moriko figured that you and I could probably both do well to learn to defend ourselves. They’re willing to give us the first lesson free and a discounted rate if we decide to take regular lessons.”

I considered that for a moment before nodding. “I don’t see why not, it’ll be nice to do something to break up all the school work, work here, work at the clinic, and studying. It could be useful and give you and me something regular to do together. I’ll pick you up at your place after work on Friday.” I turned to Jason, “Do you think you and Nat will be coming along for a good laugh?”

Jason grinned at me but shook his head. “I don’t think it’s something Nat or I will be into. We might just use that as our regular night to do something as buds and let you and Sarah have some girl time. I think you might like Moriko, Kay.”

“Oh?” I asked. “Why do you think that?”

“You both have a lot in common,” he said, still grinning. “You’re both Unseen , majorly hot, and when it comes to unwanted advances from guys you both have the cold shoulder down to an art. Moriko can be a real bitch if guys don’t take no for an answer. She seems pretty nice otherwise though.”

“Oh really?” I teased, “Is she as hot as me or Genevieve?”

Jason chuckled at that as he shook his head, “Nobody in town is as hot as you or Genevieve but Moriko comes closer than anyone else. Eric is terrified of her though.”

“I have to meet her now,” I said with a grin of my own. “We can compare notes.”

Sarah pulled out a business card and handed it to me, “The address and phone number of the dojo are on here. The class is at seven o’clock and we may have to ring the doorbell since they may not have the doors unlocked yet.”

I looked at the card. It had a cartoon cat in a martial arts outfit on it. “Cool Cat Combat? That’s an interesting name for a dojo. Oh hey! This is on Third Avenue, just down from Oh My Goth!”

“Cool, at least it shouldn’t be hard to find.” Suddenly Sarah squealed and I looked up to see her staring at my right hand. “Oooooh, what a pretty ring! Is that new Kay?”

I nodded and displayed my hand for her to look closer. “It was a gift from Lisianne, she sent it through a mutual acquaintance.”

“Nice! Did she say how the baby is doing?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah she said Marie is doing well and getting stronger every day.” We talked for a little while longer before Jason and Sarah headed home and I returned to studying and helping the odd customer that came in. I was glad when it was finally time to close and I could get a bite to eat and head home.

The next few days followed a familiar pattern. I would get up in the morning, go pick up the others at Nat’s place, go to school and spend my mornings being the dutiful genius, talk with Tara and Janice during gym then have lunch with Jason, Sarah and Nat. After lunch I would try to cram as much history into my brain as possible before heading to the clinic to work with Dr. Brand who happened to be Moriko’s aunt. Then I would go for a coffee and talk to Meara for a few minutes before heading to The Book Mark where I would cram more history into my head between helping customers, shelving new books, and a daily visit from Megan who had a new Vampire test for me every day.

First Megan had brought in a mirror to see if I had a reflection and then garlic. I noticed that she was trying to keep her little tests limited to things that wouldn’t kill a Vampire and that she would wait until there were no customers around. She didn’t want to kill me or expose me; she just wanted me to be a Vampire for some reason. She wasn’t hostile at all; in fact she sort of treated me like a big sister or friend when she wasn’t pulling her little tests. I got the feeling that Megan didn’t have many friends.

I didn’t have much time to spend with my friends those few days since as soon as I was done at The Book Mark I would go to the Lighthouse for dinner and then head home to study more history. I only really saw them at lunch and Jason would pop in for a visit at the bookstore if his mom didn’t need his help at the bakery. Jason did ask me out on a date for Saturday night though and told me he’d tell me more later in the week. Finally Friday rolled around and after a nice lunch hour talking with my friends about various things such as the lesson at the dojo later that night I headed to my history class with Mrs. Jameson.

Once class was underway Mrs. Jameson escorted me to a desk she had set aside for me to take my test at, handed me the test booklet and two pencils and told me to begin. The test was easy. Everything it covered I had read and it all came back to me so easily thanks to my Vampire memory. I was half tempted to get a few questions wrong on purpose but decided against it. I finished the test with fifteen minutes to spare and motioned to Mrs. Jameson that I was done. She gave the class a reading assignment and began to go over my answers, nodding and making hmmm noises as she worked.

Ten minutes later she looked up at me in disbelief, “This is a perfect score Kayla. You weren’t kidding when you said you knew the material.” She shook her head as if to clear it and handed me the test score and signed a sheet giving that to me as well. “Take these to the office and give them to Mrs. Lawson. I hope you enjoy your afternoons at the clinic, but it will be a shame to lose such a bright student.” With that I was dismissed and gathered my things to head to the office. Soon Mrs. Lawson had put in my records that I had earned my credits for history with an A+ and I was on my way to the clinic.

Dr. Dennis and Dr. Brand were elated that I had managed to test out of History and decided that today rather than doing rounds of the upper floors I would sit in with Dr. Brand as she saw her patients. Whenever we entered an examination room with a patient she would introduce me and ask if it was alright if I sat in. It was a bit of a relief to be seeing patients rather than doing rounds of the upper floors. I had been getting the strangest feeling that I was being watched by patients I knew to be sedated when we did rounds the day before. Most of the patients today were just general check-ups and I could feel nothing wrong with them, though one had the flu. She would be fine in a few days and there was no need to do much but advise her to get bed rest and plenty of fluids. It was about ten minutes before my shift was to end when we went out to check the next appointment with Dr. Brand’s receptionist Annie.

“Megan Gibson is next Dr. Brand,” Annie said, “She’s in examining room number two.”

“Thank you Annie,” we turned and headed to room two and knocked on the door before entering. Dr. Brand looked up from her clipboard and smiled while I stared at Megan sitting on the examining table in a hospital gown and she stared back at me. “Hi Megan,” she said, “This is Kayla, she’s an intern studying medicine with us here at the clinic, do you mind if she joins us?”

Megan nodded slowly as we continued to stare at each other. I thought that this could be potentially awkward as Megan said, “We’ve met Dr. Brand and I don’t mind if she sits in.”

Dr. Brand just nodded and gave me a brief sidelong look, “How have you been feeling Megan?”

Megan looked down at her feet, “I’m having trouble with my left arm now as well. It’s the same problem with my right, twitching, cramps and stiffness. I mostly wear clothes without buttons or zippers now because anything else is too hard to get on in the mornings.”

Dr. Brand sighed, “Well, we knew it was going to spread eventually.” She turned to me to explain, “Megan suffers from limb onset ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.” I nodded and she turned back to Megan, “Let’s have Kayla check your vitals since you two already know one another.” Dr. Brand had me check Megan’s blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. Once I was finished doing those she asked, “Megan, can you please lie down on the examining table and close your eyes while I probe your muscles a bit? I would like to get a feel for them when you’re relaxed.”

Megan quickly complied, laying back and closing her eyes. Dr. Brand nodded to me and while she began to probe Megan’s muscles I closed my eyes and performed a probing of my own. I could feel that the muscles in her arms were atrophied and weak but I couldn’t seem to find a cause for it. It was like her body didn’t think that there was anything wrong with it even though there obviously was. I frowned and opened my eyes, shaking my head at Dr. Brand who quickly finished her probing.

“Alright Megan you can get up and get dressed now and I will come back in in a few minutes.” Dr. Brand offered as she led me to the door. “Kayla’s time is up for today though and she has another job to get to.”

“I’ll see you later Megan,” I said as we stepped out the door and shut it behind us. As soon as we stepped into Dr. Brand’s off ice I asked, “What’s wrong with her? I know her arm muscles are atrophied, but I would think exercise would help with that. I couldn’t find anything else, it’s like her body doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with it besides the atrophied muscles.”

“It’s genetic,” was her reply. “The atrophy is caused by the degeneration of the upper and lower motor neurons. The signals sent to the muscles degrade and, unable to function without the proper signals, the muscles weaken and atrophy. In Megan’s case the signals to the right arm started to degrade first and now it’s the left arm as well. As it continues to progress she will gradually lose the ability to initiate and control all voluntary movement in her legs and throughout the rest of her body as well. Eventually she won’t be able to care for herself at all and she’ll have difficulty speaking, swallowing, chewing, and even breathing. She’ll have to be assisted in every aspect of her life and even then her life expectancy is not much longer than her early twenties.”

I pictured Megan trapped in a wheelchair, unable to do much of anything and living off machines and I felt suddenly sick. “I don’t think I can do anything… I don’t know enough about the intricacies of how the brain works and her body itself doesn’t think there’s anything wrong except for the muscle atrophy. I could probably fix that but with no proper signals to the limbs I don’t think it would do any good, they still won’t work properly and that will just make them atrophy again. I can only seem to heal something if it’s something that feels wrong to the body I’m healing, but this is genetic, it’s part of her.” I could feel tears coming to my eyes.

Dr. Brand patted my hand and offered me a tissue. “Welcome to medicine Kayla, you just learned the hardest lesson there is to learn. We can’t save everybody, no matter how good we are.” She headed back into the room to talk to Megan again and I tried to calm myself down before I left the clinic. I got in the Mustang and sat there crying and shaking for a while as Silphia tried to comfort me before I finally wiped my tears again and started the car. This had been a crushing blow. After Carly I had promised myself that I would never let a friend die on my watch again. My healing ability made me even more determined to not let anyone I cared about die, but now there was nothing I could do but watch this girl live a mockery of life as she slowly worked her way toward a death before her time.

I made my way to The Book Mark without stopping by Ground Zero. I wasn’t much in the mood for coffee and a chat. When I got to the bookstore I quietly went about my work and started on my homework as I tried to get the thought of Megan out of my mind. It was no wonder the girl wanted me to be a Vampire so badly. If I were in her situation I’d probably cling desperately to anything I thought might be an escape as well.

It was almost closing time and Megan hadn’t shown up yet to give me one of her tests, maybe she was a bit embarrassed about me having helped examine her earlier. She hadn’t seemed to have a problem with me being there and being involved in the appointment though. I had just finished tidying up the store to be ready for closing when the door opened and Megan walked in. “You’re late,” I told her as I looked up from the medical textbook I was starting to read.

“Am I really that predictable?” she asked as she walked up to the counter with a drink tray.

“Yeah you are,” I said and tried to smile. “So what’s the test today? Holy water?” I asked as I inclined my head toward the drink tray.

Megan giggled at that, “No, but I may have to think about that one soon. I thought I’d come and bring a peace offering. I hope you like the hot cocoa from Ground Zero. This isn’t to apologize for thinking you’re a Vampire. I still think you are, I hope you are.”

I took a sniff of the offered cocoa and found that it smelled right so I took a drink. I couldn’t taste anything of course but I nodded, “Thanks, Meara really knows her way around a hot drink. I can understand why you’d want to believe I’m a Vampire. You’re looking for some kind of hope aren’t you? I think I would too in your situation.”

She nodded, “It could just be wishful thinking on my part but I need to believe there’s something to hope for. ALS doesn’t have a cure and its terminal with an ever decreasing quality of life until the end finally comes. I… I don’t want to go like that.”

I could see her fighting tears and had to resist the urge to hug her. “Yeah, Dr. Brand told me and I’ve been reading up on it,” I said as I gestured to the book in front of me. “What makes you thing I’m a Vampire anyway? Surely you don’t believe Becky? I’ve been told she’s always telling wild tales.”

She shrugged, “I figure everyone is probably right at least once in their lives. Besides you’re really pale, you’re into the whole Goth thing, and nobody should be as gorgeous as you are.” She took a sip of her own cocoa as she finished speaking.

I laughed at that, “Thanks for the compliment but really it’s all coincidental. I like the Goth look but I mostly wear it in honor of a close friend. She was the one who convinced me to try the look and she loved it on me. She died before I moved here, I watched her die. There was nothing I could do to save her so I decided when I came here that I would direct my genius toward learning medicine so I never had to go through that again.” I sighed as I took another sip of my drink. It was close enough to the truth to be believable with my cover story.

My sadness over Carly must have been written all over my face because she said, “I’m sorry. I guess learning about my ALS must bring back some bad memories for you.”

I nodded. “Yeah I still miss her, Carly was a lot of fun.” I looked up at the clock and saw that it was six o’clock. “I need to close the store, thanks for the drink Megan.” I paused before adding, “If you want to wait a few minutes I can give you a ride home.”

She shook her head, “It’s okay, I live in the apartment complex around the corner. I’ll see you around Kayla, and one day I’ll prove you’re a Vampire.” The last was added with a weak smile as she waved and headed out the door.

After Gwen and I had closed up shop I drove around town aimlessly for a few minutes before heading toward the Lighthouse for my evening meal. He reeked of alcohol and fish but at least his blood was good. Once I was finished eating I popped in to tell Genevieve I was going to the dojo for my lesson and grab some workout clothes to change into when I got there. Then I was back in my Mustang and headed over to Sarah’s place to pick her up. We arrived at the Dojo at ten minutes before seven and rang the bell. The outside of the dojo was an older brick affair with large windows that looked to be covered in rice paper on the inside. There was a sign above the entrance that matched the logo on the business card I’d been given.

Finally the door was opened by a tall, slightly pale, and extremely good looking Japanese girl. “Hey Sarah, and you must be Kayla,” she said as she offered her hand to shake. “It’s nice to meet you I’m Moriko. Please come in.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” I offered as I shook her hand. She led us inside, locking the door behind us before explaining, “This isn’t going to be a beginner’s class for the general public, my haha has something else in mind. Please take off your shoes.” We both did as she asked and placed them in the shoe racks provided before following her out of the entry and into a large room with hardwood floors and practice mats in a large square in the center. The length of one wall was covered completely in mirrors while another had racks of wooden practices swords and other weapons. The back wall had doors which apparently led to an office and change rooms.

In the center of the room was a woman who could only be Moriko’s mother. She looked a lot like Moriko, just as beautiful but a bit older and not as tall or pale. I figured that with her being Dr. Brand’s niece, Moriko’s paleness must come from being only half Japanese. She bowed to us as we approached, “Konbanwa, I am Moriko’s mother, please call me Emi. The other new students are already changing. As my daughter probably told you this is not going to be a normal beginner’s class. We hold those on Wednesdays. This is a beginner’s class specifically for Unseen. All Unseen will likely have to defend themselves at some point in their lives and I will be covering both regular martial arts techniques and how to use your own Unseen gifts in fights against human Hunters or other Unseen.”

I looked at her in surprise, “An Unseen only class?”

Emi smiled and nodded, “Hai, I felt that you would all learn better if you could relax and be yourselves and it will help you learn to use what you have. Also here the Selkies and other Unseen with a lot of strength can let loose without worrying too much about hurting their opponents.”

I nodded to that, “Well if anyone does get hurt, I’m a Healer.”

Emi’s eyebrows rose in surprise, “That could be very useful here. Why don’t those of you who will be taking the lessons go and change? Moriko will give you uniforms to wear.”

Sarah and I followed Moriko into the office where she found us uniforms that she was pretty sure would fit us. The uniforms looked to be a traditional white judo gi. Then she led us to the girl’s change room to change into them. There were already six girls inside changing, five I didn’t recognize but the sixth one was Becky, the girl who claimed I was a Vampire in front of the whole school. “Hey girls,” Becky said with a smile as she fastened the cloth belt on her uniform.

“Becky!” Sarah squealed. “You’re going to be taking classes too?”

She nodded, “Yup. When Moriko told me that this was a class for Unseen only and that the doors would be locked to the public I decided I’d join in. I really should learn how to defend myself and this way I have a way to hang out with some of my real friends more often. It’s nice to finally meet you when I’m not putting on the school crazy act Kayla.”

I giggled at that as I started to undress. “You had me kinda worried for a second there on Monday Becky. It’s nice to meet you too.”

I had just finished undressing and was about to put on my sports bra when a native looking girl said, “Damn girl! Do you have any flaws on that body? You’re even worse than Moriko. How are the rest of us girls supposed to compete with that?”

I quickly got into my uniform as I replied, “If it’s any consolation I’m only interested in one guy at the moment.”

The other girl giggled at that, “Yeah it’s all over school how Jason managed to hook up with the ‘hot Goth chick’.” She used finger quotes as she spoke the last part. “I’m Jackie Whitefeather.”

“It’s good to meet you Jackie, I’m Kayla Dunn.” I finished getting my uniform on and firmly tied the belt. I looked over to see that Sarah was finished as well and we all headed back out to the dojo where Moriko’s mother sat in lotus position in the center of the practice mats. Two teenage guys sat in front of her trying to copy the position. At her insistence we girls joined the boys in front of her while Moriko sat beside her. It took a while for us all to get settled but Moriko and her mother waited patiently.

Finally we were all settled and Emi spoke, “Before we start I want to get to know you all a bit so I can figure out how to tailor your individual lessons to you and to help me choose suitable practice partners. So I would like it if you all share your names, what kind of Unseen you are, and what you feel your strengths and weaknesses are in combat.”

Becky was the first to speak up, “I’m Becky Lawson and I’m a Witch. I don’t have much experience fighting and may be out of my league if I have to fight anything but a normal human but I’m pretty smart and I’m eager to learn.

Jackie was next up, “I’m Jackie Whitefeather and I’m a Selkie. We’re pretty strong and fast on land but I’m not exactly graceful.”

The girl beside her with long brown hair chuckled at her comment, “Yeah Jackie, you are a bit of a klutz. I’m Jenny Whitlock and I’m a Fox. I’m pretty quick and I can think on my feet but I’m really not too sure how good I’ll be at fighting.

The boy with reddish brown hair grinned as he spoke up, “Oh you’re a fox alright Jenny. I’m Shaun O’Brien and like my cousin Jackie I’m a Selkie. I guess I’m pretty strong and fast but I tend to panic a bit under pressure.”

“I’m Max Whitlock and like my sister I’m a Fox,” said the other boy. “I’m not used to thinking in terms of fighting so I’m not really sure what my strengths or weaknesses are other than my quickness.” I wasn’t surprised he was Jenny’s brother; they looked a lot a alike.

A girl with medium length strawberry blonde hair spoke next. “I’m Chloe Freemont and I’m a Nereid. I’m pretty graceful, and a bit faster than a Norm but I’m most at home in the water. My mom says I have an impulse control problem and don’t think things through before I act. And I don’t know if it would be much good with this training but I have a Siren’s song I can use on people to entrance them or call specific people to me.”

The girl beside her with ash blonde hair nodded, “I’m Erin Brand and I’m a Lynx. I’m too impulsive as well and I guess my strengths would be my speed and agility.”

The next girl to speak was a tall girl with dark brown hair, “I’m Daphne Potts and I’m a Moose. I’m pretty strong but not very fast except in running and I’m a bit clumsy.”

Sarah spoke up beside me, “I’m Sarah Taylor and I’m a Witch. I think my weakness is that I depend on my magic too much and I’m still only learning. I can’t really think of any strengths I would bring to a fight.”

I took my turn, “I’m Kayla Dunn and I’m a Vampire. I can Mesmer men into doing my bidding. I’m also strong, fast, and a natural killing machine. My problem is that I’m a natural killing machine, and if it came down to a serious fight I’m not sure how well I can hold back from killing.”

Emi and her daughter nodded once I had finished and then Moriko spoke. “I’m Moriko as you all know. My dad is a Lynx and my mom is a type of Yo-kai called Bakeneko. Bakeneko’s are women who can turn into cats. I take after both of them. Now that Okasan has a general idea of who and what you all are let’s start off with ten minutes of meditation to focus your minds. Focus and self-discipline are the most important things you need in any fight.”

Thanks as always to EoF for giving us such a great Universe to play in and to EoF, Maggie F, and Donjo for their input. Also thanks to my readers for reading my work and patiently waiting for new chapters.

Once we were finished our meditation Moriko and her mother began teaching us some basic kicks, punches and blocks. For the first hour that was all we did, continuous repetition of those basic moves. After that we were paired off so that one of us could be the attacker with the punches and kicks we had learned, while the other countered with the blocks. It might have been repetitive but I thought it was a good idea for those of us with no experience.

I was paired off against Jackie. That girl can pack a punch but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. Selkies might be freaky strong and fast but Vampires are no slouches in those departments either. It was nice to be practicing against someone who I didn’t have to worry about hurting too bad. When my dad was teaching me things I was always worried that I might break him in half or something. Jackie seemed like a pretty good match for me and we both enjoyed letting loose a bit.

Sarah was paired against Becky and they were both trying their best to make the most of this lesson as they doggedly went at one another. Between bouts though they chatted like old friends and I got the feeling that they had been good friends before and missed spending time together. We had finished our last bout and were taking a break to give Jackie a breather until Sarah was finished when she asked me, “What’s up with you? You’re strong and fast but we’ve been going at it hard and you’re not even breathing heavy.”

I shrugged and let out a sigh. “I’m not breathing at all actually since technically I’m not alive. I don’t breathe, I don’t have a pulse, I don’t eat much but blood, and I don’t age.”

“But you just sighed, doesn’t that require breathing?” she countered.

“It’s a human habit I never really lost but I’m still new to this. It does help me appear human though. I can eat really small amounts too but it doesn’t do anything for me and I can’t taste anything. The only thing that has a taste for me is blood.” I gestured toward my water bottle.

“Ewww....” she said with a shudder before asking, “What does it taste like? All salty and coppery?”

I shook my head with a smile, “You’ll think it’s silly.”

“I won’t,” she promised, “Come on, tell me.”

“When I was alive my favourite food was blueberry pancakes with maple syrup,” I told her. “That’s what it tastes like to me. I figure it’s probably some kind of mental thing. If you’re going to be forced on a diet of blood for centuries it’s a lot easier to accept if it tastes like something you like.”

“I guess that makes a weird sort of sense. You really don’t age at all and you’ll live forever? A lot of people would pay good money for that kind of longevity.” She said as she seemed to think about it.

“They can fucking have it.” I spat out before quickly apologizing. “Sorry. I’m still new to this but I’ve had every waking moment to think about the fact that I’m going to look like this fifteen or sixteen year old girl forever. Eternal youth ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. All my friends and loved ones will age and die and I’ll still look exactly like this. I’ll live centuries but not once will I ever be seen as an adult.”

“You regret not being able to become an adult before you were turned then?” she asked.

I groaned at that, “Jackie, take a guess at how old I was when I was turned.”

“I dunno,” she said as she thought it over, “Fifteen, maybe sixteen at the most.”

“I was twenty five,” I said looking down at myself. “Now if I try to get into a bar they won’t just card me they’ll fucking laugh in my face.”

The native girl looked at me sadly, “I’m sorry.”

I looked away. “Don’t be, it’s not your fault. It’s just another of those delightful little ironies that make my death complete.”

“But you do have strength, speed and beauty. That’s got to make things a bit easier than if you were just a normal person who needed to drink blood, and didn’t you say something about being able to hypnotize guys?” she asked.

I shrugged, “Yeah all of that helps keep me fed and makes the guys forget I fed on them. It’s also fun with jerks like that Eric guy at school. Don’t get me wrong, being a Vampire isn’t all bad, it’s mostly just the age regression that bothers me. There is some cool stuff about it too.”

Becky and Sarah had come over at that point after finishing their final sparring match of the night. Sarah grinned and said, “Show us the eye trick Kay, that’s pretty cool.”

“Eye trick?” Becky asked.

I nodded and managed a smile. “Apparently all Vampires, in addition to our other traits, have a unique special ability. Mine is really lame compared to what I’ve seen others do though. Just watch my eyes.” I concentrated on making my eyes a pale blue and left them that way for a few seconds before turning them purple and then red.

Becky just stared while Jackie looked startled at first. “That is so weird and yet cool,” Jackie said.

“At least that and the pale skin and such help me to rock the whole Goth look. And thanks to my Vampire memory I was able to test out of History today. So I guess there are up sides to this,” I admitted.

Becky chuckled when I mentioned History. “My mom was pretty amazed that you got a perfect score for the equivalency test. I’m pretty smart but even I wouldn’t be able to manage that.”

I shrugged it off, “History is all in the text books and I’ve been through high school History once already plus I read the book cover to cover. And I remember everything that I read. It’s actually a good thing they came up with this whole genius thing for me because I’m beginning to think I’d have to make a conscious effort not to get perfect grades. So your mom is the principal?” I asked realizing they had the same last name.

Becky nodded, “Yeah she is. That memory sounds like a pretty good deal though. I heard you tested out so you could work more at the Clinic. Is it true you’re a Healer? Word has been going around through Witch circles that the Coven thought you might be a Witch but it didn’t turn out that way. Now that you’re working there it’s been hard to keep the rumors among the Unseen from getting out of hand.”

“I guess word travels fast,” I replied. “Well, so long as the Norms don’t find out it’s not a big deal to me. Yeah I’m a Healer, I guess it runs in my family, and we think it may have something to do with why I regressed in age when I was turned.”

Becky seemed to realize just how uncomfortable I was with my age and quickly changed the topic, “Are you all going to Kara Graves’ new dance club tomorrow night?”

Sarah nodded, “Yeah I’m going to go with Nat. I suggested to her we could dress up and make a night of it but with her who knows. I don’t know if she’ll be able to find anything dressy to wear. There’s not too much girls formal wear here on the island that includes slacks. I think she and her Mom might be trying to find something tonight. She was being evasive but she said that they were going to be busy all evening tonight.”

Jackie’s mouth twitched at that and she chuckled, “I just tried to picture Nat clothes shopping and I think my brain broke. I might end up going with Erin, Jenny, and Moriko. We’re not sure yet.”

I thought about going clubbing and wondered what the club was going to be like. “Jason asked me out on a date tomorrow but I don’t know what he has planned yet. I might ask him to come over early and tinker with the Mustang. I want to tune up the engine a bit and I think I should change the oil.”

“That sounds so romantic,” Becky deadpanned. Then she smiled, “But Jason might like that, he started up a thread on classic cars on our ‘Unseen Teen’ private message board, and he was really going on about your car.”

“He does love the ‘stang,” I agreed. “I might let him drive it tomorrow too. You have a message board just for the town’s Unseen teens?”

She nodded. “Yep, I started it after the whole business on Halloween to give us all a way to keep in contact privately and just talk about Unseen matters and everyday stuff without the norms catching on we’re all closer than we appear in school. We also have a group contact list there for emergencies. I’ll give you my IM address when we leave and I can set you up with an account for it. I personally approve all accounts for safety reasons.”

I blinked in shock, “You’re pretty organized about the Unseen stuff.”

She shrugged and nodded grimly. “Nat told us after the Halloween party that the Queen of the Sacred here seems to think something big is coming soon, and I figured we all need to be prepared as a group in case the shit hits the fan. I was also the one who thought of the misdirection through the truth ploy and it usually works out well now that I’ve built up a reputation. When Moriko suggested a defense class for us all, where we can learn to not only defend ourselves but to work as a team I thought it was a great idea.”

Sarah nodded, “Becky has always been our sort of unofficial leader taking the jobs nobody else wants to do and planning things.”

The other Witch waved that off, “I help us organize but I’m no leader, at least not for the type of situations we’re worried about. That’s more Nat’s kind of thing. I’ll keep us organized but I think she’s our combat leader. Though Moriko would be a good backup for her.”

“I think it’s pretty great that you all keep in contact and stick together like that,” I said with a nod of approval. “You can count on me to do my part too. Maybe having a Vampire Healer around will be useful for you all.” I reached up to wipe aside a stray lock of hair and Becky looked at my hand in interest seeming to focus on the ring.

“That’s a nice ring you have. I’m surprised you didn’t take it off for practice,” she said.

I sighed at that wondering how much I should tell them. Lisianne had only asked me to keep Meara’s connection to the Sacred a secret and Sarah knew most of it already. Finally I said, “I can’t take it off. I was told if I put it on that it stays there until I die.”

Even Sarah’s eyes widened at that declaration. Then she muttered, “What is it with the Sacred giving people jewelry they can’t take off?”

“You got that from the Sacred?” Becky asked.

I nodded. “Did Sarah, Nat, or Jason tell you what happened at the cabin last weekend?” the pair of girls shook their heads and I continued. “I Healed the infant daughter of one of the Aos Sidhe from poisoning.”

“That’s sick!” Jackie blurted out. “Who would poison a baby?!”

I shook my head, “I don’t know, but if I find out it will be them that dies. Anyway this ring is a gift, and kind of a responsibility as well, from the baby’s mother.”

“Responsibility?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, “It’s one of a matched set and she wears the other. The gift part is that it marks me as her sister under their laws so I get all the rights that she has. The responsibility is that as her sister if anything happens to her and her husband then all her property and responsibilities go to me, including raising her daughter.”

Becky seemed to consider my explanation for a moment before grinning. “You have an even better in with the Sacred than Nat and that could be useful at some point.”

“Excuse me?” I asked a bit confused.

“As I understand it, the Glove is just a promise of mutual cooperation between Nat’s family and Queen Titania’s. She is their ally,” she summed up. “That ring though marks you as an Aos Sidhe in a legal sense. I don’t know their laws or anything but it could be useful to have someone with a legal standing with them in case we get more trouble. You may want to find out what exactly your rights are with them. It might be a good idea to find out their laws too so you don’t accidentally break any of them. If this Sacred woman gave you the ring then she shouldn’t be surprised if you ask her for more information about their laws and your rights under them. In fact it’s probably one of your rights to ask.”

I mulled that over in my mind before nodding. “You’re right. I had thought of learning about my rights, but the laws will be good to know as well. I’ll have to ask her about that or send her a message. My Pixie guardian may be able to give me some of that information too.”

At that point Moriko’s Mom gathered us all together to thank us for coming and said that they would be holding this class every Friday and that included in the course fees would be access to the dojo at any time it was open and there wasn’t a class in session. She reminded us though that there may be Norms around at those times too so we’d have to be careful not to do anything to attract attention to ourselves. The rate was far more reasonable than I expected and we all decided that we would stick with it. Then we all headed back to the change rooms to shower and get ready to go home.

Once we were showered and changed Becky gave me her IM contact info so we could get in touch about the message board and I promised that once my account was set up I would add all my contact information to the contact list. Jackie gave me her IM info as well and then Sarah and I left the dojo and headed home. As we drove Sarah and I chatted about the class and talked about our dates the next day. Sarah seemed both excited and nervous and I really hoped that things would go well for the two of them.

I dropped off Sarah and was home a few minutes later. I walked in through the front door and found Genevieve waiting in the living room. “How did the class go?” she asked.

“It was fun, and a bit therapeutic to let loose on someone I couldn’t hurt accidentally. I needed that,” I admitted.

“Has something been bothering you Kayla?” she asked in reply to my last comment.

I mentally cursed the fact that I couldn’t lie to her. “Yeah there’s this girl at school who thinks I’m a Vampire.”

She frowned as she asked, “Are you worried she has proof? Or is it something else?”

I shook my head. “No it’s not that. It’s mostly wishful thinking on her part. She wants me to be a Vampire. She’s looking for hope of some kind. It’s really sad. And the thing is she’s not trying to out me or anything, in fact she’s trying hard to prove it while nobody else is around. She’s actually a nice kid.”

“She wants you to be a Vampire but she doesn’t want to prove it to anyone but herself?” Her frown deepened. “Does she want to be turned or something do you think? Some kind of twilight fan-girl or something?”

“I think she wants to be turned but not for some stupid thing like thinking being a Vampire is all romance and sparkles,” I said with a sigh. “I saw her at the clinic today. She has a severe medical condition and I figure she’s hoping that if I turn her she’ll be able to live a somewhat normal life.”

“Can you Heal her?” she asked.

I shook my head, “I scanned her but it’s genetic. Her body doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with it and I don’t have the knowledge to do anything that complex to a brain that doesn’t think it has a problem. She’s going to gradually lose all conscious control of her body until it kills her. She won’t live past her twenties, if that long, and a good portion of that time will likely be in a wheelchair and dependent on machines. But I don’t think I could bear to turn her.”

She nodded in agreement but asked, “Why is that?”

“Look at me,” I half growled as I gestured at my body. “I’m going to be stuck looking like a fifteen year old girl for eternity and nobody will ever treat me as an adult again. She’s fourteen, maybe fifteen and she hasn’t even had the chance to be a grown up yet. At least I had that. I can’t condemn her to my own fate even if we were allowed, it would be too painful and wrong of me. But it’s probably just as painful and wrong to watch her slowly lose what life she does have knowing I could give her what she’s hoping for.”

“I figured you would say that,” she replied. “If she keeps prying she likely will find you out. We are going to have to tell the Council if this keeps up. Perhaps once she’s an adult we can turn her if it’s still what she wants. But we cannot risk her finding out about the Unseen until then.”

“I know,” I admitted. “I’ll let you know if it gets any worse with her. I think I’m going to call Jason before I head to bed, we have a date tomorrow.”

She smiled at me. “I’m glad things are going well between you two. Please don’t make any plans for Sunday afternoon though, I want you at home. There’s someone that I think it’s about time you meet.”

She had me really curious with that comment but I just shrugged it off and nodded. “I’ll make sure to keep my afternoon clear then.”

I woke up early to get ready since I had asked Jason to come over at ten o’clock. I had decided to wear a black baby doll shirt that showed off both my trim tummy and a good amount of cleavage and said in dark red lettering ‘Go to Hell: Getting there is half the fun.’ I also wore a black Gothic Lolita miniskirt, fishnet stockings, some black arm warmers with lace trim and red ribbon lacing, and a new pair of combat boots with steel toes. For accessories I was wearing my choker, my moon pendant of course, a nice pair of ankh earrings, and a pair of skull barrettes to hold my hair in two side ponytails. I added some black eyeliner, dark eye shadow, black lipstick and black nail polish. I don’t really need to wear make-up but I was going for a full on Goth look. I decided that I would try a nice intense amber color for my eyes.

Jason arrived right on time and I grabbed my purse and headed down to meet him at the door with Silphia right behind me. He had dressed casually like I had asked the night before, just in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. “Hey there handsome,” I said and gave him a quick kiss. “So before we go do whatever you planned I had an idea for something we could do first.”

He smiled and kissed me back, “Sure, what do you have in mind?”

“It’s a surprise,” I said as I unlocked the car door and hopped in.

He was very surprised when we pulled up in front of Kairns Auto. I honked the horn and a moment later my dad came out and waved for me to pull in as the garage door to the fourth repair bay opened. Once I had pulled in we got out of the car and Jason gave me a confused look, “Okay I give up, what gives?”

“This is my dad’s shop,” I explained. “He said we could use it today and we’ve got something here you might be interested in.” I turned to my approaching father and smiled, “Hi Dad, thanks for this. This is my… ummm… boyfriend Jason. At least I think he’s my boyfriend if he wants the position, I’m still kinda new at this. Jason this is my dad Carl Kairns.”

The two smiled a bit nervously and shook hands. I think this was a bit new and awkward for my dad and Jason was thrown off a bit by my introduction. My dad was trying though. “Hi Jason it’s good to meet you. Kayla tells me you like to work on cars”

Jason nodded eagerly, “Yes sir. I was thinking about going into mechanics when I get out of school.”

My dad looked thoughtful as he grabbed us each a set of coveralls and tossed them to us. “Kayla told me this was a date but I hope you don’t mind me being around. When you’re done in here come see me in bay one.”

I was already putting on my coveralls and adjusting my skirt underneath. Once I was zipped up I got two pairs of work gloves and handed one to Jason after he had gotten into his coveralls. “I know this is probably weird for a date but I was thinking of tuning up the engine in the Mustang and changing the oil.” Silphia watched us in interest and after a good look at what we were wearing a pair of tiny coveralls appeared on her as well. Awww that is sooo cute, I thought.

His eyes lit up as he answered, “That is weird for a girl. I think I’m in love.” He grinned at me and I popped the hood so we could get started. Sadly the engine was in really good condition and didn’t need much tuning and the oil change didn’t take long but Jason seemed to be in heaven. I was enjoying myself too; it had been a while since I had gotten under the hood. Silphia watched everything we did and seemed to enjoy it as well. Once we were finished we headed over to see my dad in bay one.

There was a large car there covered in a tarp and I smiled as I asked my dad, “Is this it?”

Dad looked up from his desk where he was looking over the appointment book. “Yup, that’s it. Pull off the tarp.” Jason and I started doing just that and revealed a 69 Dodge Charger with worn paint. It looked to be in pretty rough shape. “I got the body for practically nothing but it’s in bad shape. I had to use the tow truck to get it here. I did however manage to get my hands on a 425 horsepower V8 engine for it from the wrecking yard. All we need to do is put it in and tune it up. Almost everything under the hood needs replacing though. The only thing in good condition is the seats.”

“Won’t parts for it be an issue?” I asked.

“Not as much as you’d think,” he replied. “I was talking to a contact of mine that owns a wrecking yard in Vancouver. They were working on a movie there and the built eight Chargers for it and all but two took a lot of damage in the filming. I could get all the parts I need from him to get this one running smooth again. Then all we would need is to bang out the dents in the body and give it a good paint job.”

Jason’s eyes widened at that, “How much would the parts cost?”

“They’re just sitting there right now but they’d have to be sent over on the ferry. He said I can get two of the cars which together should have everything we need for three grand,” he explained. “Since I got the body for almost nothing and the engine from the junkyard I would be willing to sell it all to an interested party for three thousand five hundred, especially if they’re willing to put in the work on it. Kayla and I mostly do this as a hobby and half the fun for me is finding parts. Getting them all in one place takes out half the fun for me,” he laughed.

“Damn.” Jason muttered looking disappointed, “I have almost three thousand in my new car fund. Not enough though.”

My dad shrugged, “I’m looking for extra help around here on weekends if you’re really interested in becoming a mechanic. Keith… err Kayla used to do it before heading off to University but she’s busy at the Clinic and helping at her cousin’s bookstore so I was about to start looking for someone else. I could deduct the remainder of the money for the car parts from your pay and it will give you a start on learning the ropes. If you work out well and are interested we could start an apprenticeship once you graduate high school. I get help and you get a car its win/win.”

“Are you serious?!” Jason asked excitedly.

“I am,” he replied. “Kayla tells me you and your friends are good kids and I really could use an extra pair of hands around here on the weekends, and maybe after school once in a while. Besides you’re Tanner’s son right?”

He nodded, “Yessir I am.”

My dad laughed, “Tell him I say hi. I used to date your aunt Denise before Lena and I got together and she got together with John and had Derrick and Daphne.” That was just weird to hear. Things like this made me remember just how small a town Sena Island is.

After Jason and my father worked out the terms of his employment and the details on getting the parts for the car, my dad went to call his contact in Vancouver while Jason and I looked over the Charger and discussed what all needed to be done. Dad had a few appointments for oil changes and tune ups so Jason and I were mostly left alone to tinker with what we could and to inspect the engine. Silphia seemed fascinated by it all so while we inspected I pointed out parts to her, named them and told her what they did. Finally though it was lunchtime and even though I wasn’t hungry I figured Jason would be. “I’ll help you and my dad with the car when I can,” I said, “But I’m pretty busy with everything else right now so it would only be on weekends.”

“It’ll be fun working on it with you. I’ve never seen a girl who knows her way around a car so well and enjoys working on them,” he said with a grin.

I took off my gloves and coveralls and quickly adjusted my skirt. “I grew up working on the Mustang with my dad and helping around here.” I glanced at Silphia and smiled, “It’s too bad Silphia isn’t human sized or I’m sure we’d have another pair of hands to help out. Although, maybe she can help with those hard to reach spaces.”

Jason chuckled and Silphia beamed. “I’m sure we can find some way for her to help,” he said. “Who’d have thought a Pixie would be so interested in car repair.”

“I know, I’m getting to like having her around more every day,” I said.

Silphia smiled and blushed. “Thank you Kayla, I am enjoying getting to know you better too. I was nervous at first, but I am happy I was assigned as your Guardian.”

I grinned, “I’d hug you but I’m afraid I would crush you. Let’s go get some lunch and we can do whatever Jason has planned.” I tossed my keys to Jason, “You get to drive.”

Jason seemed to be on cloud nine driving my car and he was really excited about my dad offering him a job and getting the parts we would need to restore the Charger. It was really nice seeing him so excited. We went to Sally’s for lunch and I had a soda while Jason ate his lunch and shared a bit of his salad with Silphia. Afterwards we went for a long walk on the beach and Silphia tried to keep watch from a distance to give us some privacy. We talked for hours about cars, Unseen stuff, and about how things were going at the Clinic. I didn’t mention Megan though since it really wasn’t my place to tell anyone. I had only told Genevieve what I had because I couldn’t lie to her.

Time flew by and dinner time came around a lot faster than I had expected. While Jason ate on the beach I slipped off quickly to grab a bite of my own. I had seen the guy around school and when he saw me alone walking toward the dock he came and asked me if I’d mind going on a date with him. I guess he was too nervous to ask at school. I led him under the dock and drank my fill before Mesmering him to make him believe he had just been making out with a really peppy blonde girl that he just couldn’t remember clearly and sent him home happy.

“How was your dinner?” Jason asked with a smirk as I returned.

“Cute, but not as cute as you,” I replied. It had gotten dark by this point and I asked, “So what’s the plan now?”

“I was planning to go to the new dance club at eight o’clock but it’s still too early. What would you like to do now?” He asked.

“We could go to my place and watch a movie until the club opens,” I offered.

Genevieve wasn’t at home when we got to my place but I seemed to recall that she was doing something with Gwen and Rick tonight. We went to my room to look through the few movies I had bought but we didn’t end up watching anything. Jason was just there sitting on my bed so I leaned over and kissed him. The kiss quickly became more intense as he started kissing back and I could feel my hunger and my desire building. Soon both our clothes were strewn about the room and I was straddling him and staring down into his eyes. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” I said.

“I was about to say the same thing to you,” he replied, his hand caressing my cheek. “We can take it slow.”

“No… I want this. It’s just, this is my first time as a Vampire and as a girl and I’m worried,” I admitted.

“We can wait until you’re more comfortable with it or until we can get some protection,” he offered to give me an out if I wanted it.

I shook my head and actually laughed. “I’m a Vampire silly I don’t need to worry about STDs or pregnancy. I like you and I want to do this, oh damn do I want to do this right now, but I’m worried that I might feed on you in the heat of the moment.”

“You just ate so even if you did you probably wouldn’t drink too much of my blood and I’m a big guy. I told you before that you have my permission, so if it happens it happens. Just try to be gentle.” He tried giving me a reassuring grin and I answered by kissing him again as we both gave in to our desires.

I did end up drinking a little of his blood when my first female orgasm hit me like a freight train. I didn’t drink much though and I was quick to lick the wound to close it after. We laid there for a while and I felt much more satisfied and fulfilled than I ever had when I had had sex as Keith. He held me in his arms and we kissed and cuddled until I looked at my alarm and realized it was twenty minutes to eight. “I guess we should get going,” I stated. He nodded but we were both slow to get up. I don’t think either of us really wanted to leave but Sarah and Natalie were expecting to see us there.

We got dressed and I quickly fixed my makeup before we headed back downstairs and outside to my car. I let him drive again and soon we were pulling up in front of “Rave-olution”. I thought that next time we came here I might have to wear one of my cyberpunk outfits. We locked my car up and headed toward the line-up that was forming outside the door. That’s when I heard Eric’s voice say “I told you she’s a dyke.”

I frowned at that and pulled Jason toward the sound of the voice. I had a bad feeling I knew just who that was directed to. And I was right as I heard Natalie’s voice respond, “You really need to come up with new material Eric. A girl doesn’t need to be a lesbian to find you repulsive. Besides, even if I weren’t here with my date, you’re not in my league anyway.” I had to stifle a giggle at that, way to go Nat.

The guy who was with Eric rather pathetically replied, “You’re the one who’s not in our league. We were being nice offering you a chance to go out with one of us. I don’t see any guys with you, are you with your girlfriend?” He and Eric and some other guys started laughing.

Then everyone stopped in shock when Sarah said quite clearly, “Yes she is.” And then she planted a huge kiss on a girl I hardly recognized as Natalie, looking hot in a red dress. I grinned and almost cheered right there on the spot.

Natalie had this silly grin on her face as she said, “Yeah, what she said. So now that you know there’s two more girls you stand no chance with, though I think that’s probably every girl on the island anyway, take a hike.”

Jason had heard enough and he pulled me along with him as he approached Eric and his crony from behind. Not that I needed much convincing. “I’d take her advice if I were you,” he said.

Or what?” Eric said glaring at us. He seemed pretty confident with his buddy to back him up. “You and the dark queen of the nerds are gonna start something.” Oh it was on. I was tempted to Mesmer him then and there but I decided to see how it played out.

Jason just nodded silently and I looked to him before an idea popped into my head and I smiled. He thought I was the dark queen of the nerds; well I would give him just that. “Well I hate to use my medical knowledge for harm, but did you know that if you kick a guy in the balls hard enough you can render him impotent for life?” I let that sink in for a moment while I turned and grinned at Natalie. “You’re looking great Nat, you like my new combat boots? They’re steel-toed.” I moved my leg ever so slightly toward Eric and he looked from Jason to me and then to the idiot beside him and then they took off.

Some girl I didn’t know started laughing hysterically and said, “Oh I like her!” Once she had calmed down she asked, “Is that true?”

I shrugged and grinned at her “The hell if I know, I was just making that shit up, but it would hurt like hell. Did you see the way it made them run?”

The laughing girl was named Bailey and she was with Daphne from my martial arts class and another girl named Karen. I got the feeling that they were all Unseen. Soon we were in the club with our hands stamped. It irked me a bit that I was marked as a minor but I let it slide and just tried to enjoy myself. I caught myself looking at Natalie a few times. I just could not believe the change in her. It wasn’t just the clothes, it was like something had changed inside too and she was more comfortable with herself. She politely turned down almost as many dance offers as I did and she and Sarah seemed even closer than usual. It was nice to see.

It was also nice to be able to just let myself go wild on the dance floor. Jason did his best to keep up but he had to rest a few times so I just danced with Nat, Sarah, and the other girls while he did. It was good to have a night where I could relax and not have to worry about working or studying. Overall the whole last couple of days had been good for me. I was still torn about Megan’s predicament but today had helped to keep my mind off it. The night did have to eventually come to an end though and we all said our goodbyes. I dropped Jason off at his house and kissed him goodnight for a long time before heading home.

Thanks as always to EoF for giving us such a great Universe to play in and to EoF, Maggie F, and Donjo for their input. Also thanks to my readers for reading my work and patiently waiting for new chapters. Also a big thanks to Maggie for helping me get into the mind of Carmilla.

There are times I wish that I could still dream. That night, as I lay in bed after the night at the club was one of those times. So many good things had happened that day; my date with Jason, seeing Natalie accepting being a girl, her and Sarah finally admitting their feelings to themselves and everyone else, but most of all that time spent with Jason in my room and being held in his arms as we lay entwined naked after we had made love. How I wished I could carry that moment with me into sleep and I smiled as I drifted off, trying to hold that moment as long as I could.

No dreams came but I did smile as I came back to wakefulness and thought about the day before. I spent the morning lazing about in my room talking with Silphia about the previous day and learning what she could tell me about Aos Sidhe laws. Their laws seemed to be mostly feudal system in nature and my status would allow me to petition the Queen or an Arbitrator for to redress any wrongs done to me by others in the Summer or Winter Courts. Near noon I received a call from Natalie and seeing her number on my display I quickly picked up and heard her say, “Hi Kay.”

“Hey Nat, congrats on last night,” I replied. “It’s good to see you and Sarah admitting to how you feel about one another. You looked great in that dress by the way; I knew there was a girl inside you somewhere. So was last night a one-time thing or are grey hoodies a thing of the past?”

I heard a sigh on the other end, “That’s what I was calling to talk to you about actually. I woke up this morning and realized that I spent the night in a sexy dress, admitting I was a girl and the world didn’t end this morning.”

I grinned and quickly responded, “Very true Nat, the sun did rise this morning. See, being seen as a girl isn’t so bad and doesn’t change who you are inside as you demonstrated very well last night.”

She groaned and I imagined that she had been hearing that a lot since getting out of bed. “Okay I admit it, you were all right, I can be a girl and still be me. Which brings me to my problem…”

I laughed and interrupted her, “Let me guess, you just realized that your wardrobe is barren except for last night’s exceptional outfit, some jeans, and grey hoodies?”

“Ummm yeah,” was her response. “Not totally barren, I have a few blouses and a skirt my mom bought the night we bought the dress. Anyway Sarah and Bailey want to take me shopping for new clothes today. Since I never spent much of the money I was given for new clothes when I first changed, they’re talking about a whole new wardrobe. I need someone sane to come with us and keep them from going too far.”

I broke down in a fit of giggles for several minutes before managing to finally get control of myself. “Let me get this straight? I’m your go-to girl for sanity and not going too far fashion-wise? You poor girl.”

“Okay Gothzilla, I will admit that was not well thought out,” Nat retorted dryly. “But I was still hoping you’d come hang out with us, we’ve hardly seen each other except for school recently. Sarah also wanted to hang out with her best gal pal and Bailey was looking forward to getting to know you better.”

I looked at the clock and sighed. “I’d really love to Nat and if it were any other day I would come along and drag you into Oh My Goth for a makeover. Unfortunately today isn’t a good day for me, Genevieve has me booked for this afternoon to meet someone ‘really important’ and I still have medical textbooks to go through.”

“Damn,” Natalie replied, “We were all looking forward to having you come. Maybe we can plan something for next weekend?”

“Sure Nat, we can all do something then,” I agreed.

“So who’s this important person Genevieve wants you to meet? Some kind of Unseen?” she asked.

I shrugged and muttered, “I have no idea, she won’t tell me yet. I think it may be an Unseen but it could be some kind of doctor to help with my Healing training or something. Genevieve knows a lot of odd people.”

“Yeah she lives with one of the oddest people I know,” my friend joked.

“Very funny coming from the girl who went from emo to the hottest girl in the club last night in one day,“ I retorted. “Not to mention that sense of humor of yours, which I would assume has something to do with Eric’s declaration last night that there is no gene pool.”

“I am a perfectly normal formerly male girl,“ Natalie answered with all seriousness, though I could practically hear her smirking. “I blame both those incidents on Bailey. She was the one who introduced me to Eric and Mike as my cousin Jean when they didn’t recognize me, and she helped choose the outfit. Besides, you know you were the hottest girl there last night, you’re just being modest.”

I looked at the clock again and wished I had some idea when this afternoon I was supposed to meet this person and where. “Okay I admit it, I was the hottest girl there last night but you were a close second. I should let you go though and figure out what to wear to meet a person who I know absolutely nothing about.”

“Oh please, you’ll just wear the kind of stuff you usually do Kay. I’ll call you later and let you know how it goes. Have fun meeting the mystery person,” she said.

“Talk to you later Nat, you girls have fun,” I replied as I disconnected the call.

After talking to Nat I decided to get dressed in my usual Goth wear and started up my laptop to create an IM account for my new identity. Then I added Sarah’s, Jackie’s, and Becky’s IM info to my contacts list to wait their approval. Becky happened to be on at the time and immediately approved my friends request and we talked for a few minutes about what I had learned about Aos Sidhe laws while she set me up with an account for the Unseen Teen message board.

Around two o’clock we had to cut our conversation short as Genevieve called me downstairs and Silphia and I headed down to see if the person I would be meeting had arrived. I hadn’t heard a knock so I wasn’t terribly surprised when my maker had me come join her in her office. She had pulled up an extra chair behind her desk beside her own and motioned for me to join her as she explained, “Due to special circumstances we couldn’t arrange a face to face meeting. It would have required travel and likely would have been dangerous for both of us.”

I nodded as I gave Silphia a quiet command to stay out of sight as I made my way behind the desk to sit in the extra chair. If this was an Unseen I was meeting then I wasn’t sure how they would react to the sight of the Pixie should they be able to see her. “So am I meeting this person online then? I’m dying to find out what this is all about,” I said with a grin as I took my seat.

Genevieve rolled her eyes, “As you can hear Mother, she inherited Carly’s sense of humor.” Then once I was seated beside her she made the introductions. “Kayla, this is Carmilla, my maker and this is Kayla my little problem child.”

It was said as a joke and with an affectionate smile so I didn’t take any offense to it as I looked at the woman on the computer screen and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Carmilla looked me over with a gaze that seemed to assess both my appearance and my potential. “I must admit to some curiosity about the person who had my Genevieve so enraptured that she just had to turn you. I was saddened to hear of Carly’s death, but such are the consequences for our kind when we do not practice discretion.” I had never thought that I would ever meet a woman that could beat Genevieve in the looks department, but Carmilla did. If I was still attracted to women I doubt I’d be able to take my eyes off of her as she gave off a sort of femme fatale vibe. Her dark red hair and piercing green eyes alone would be enough to hold any man’s attention, and she had a strange accent that made me wonder if she was originally from France, Belgium or some other European nation.

Her eyes focused solely on me as she said the last and I sank back into my chair even as I nodded sadly. “That was a hard lesson to learn, and I am deeply sorry that it cost Carly her life. I didn’t know her long but she was a very special woman.”

“Keep that lesson in mind Kayla, especially when feeding,” the elder Vampire advised. “I am glad that you and Genevieve have managed to get yourself out of that situation and somewhere relatively safe.”

“I was wondering though, why didn’t Genevieve just bring me to that Ravencrest place?” I asked. “I mean she mentioned someone named Wisteria but she never really went into detail.”

“It was wise of Genevieve not to bring you here,” Carmilla replied. “Genevieve must live her own life now. Here in Ravencrest we maintain a delicate balance between my daughters and Wisteria’s. If you and Genevieve had come here Wisteria would have seen you as a threat and it could have broken that balance. I have no wish to break the balance here; we are not ready for a war with Wisteria.”

I wondered if it was just my imagination or if there was a silent ‘yet’ tagged on to the end of that sentence. “Okay, I think I get that, but why even get in contact with us if you are worried about that balance?”

“I just wanted to be sure that my daughter and her daughter are safe for the moment. What are your plans now Genevieve?” she directed her own question to my maker once she had answered mine.

“We plan to stay here for the time being,” Genevieve replied. “We have a pretty good thing going here. We have made alliances with the island’s other Unseen and I have a place on the Unseen Council. The rules we have been asked to abide by are not unlike our agreements in Ravencrest and the people here need a good psychologist for Unseen matters.”

“Do you have anything to add to that Kayla? The woman on the screen asked.

“I wasn’t sure about this at first,” I admitted. “But we are in a good place here. I’m even learning medicine from other Unseen so that I can better control my Healing ability, so I think its best we stay where we are for now.”

If Carmilla was surprised to learn of my Healing ability it certainly didn’t show on her face. I would have hated to play poker against that woman. She betrayed absolutely no emotion at all from that revelation. “Healing ability?” she said, “I would like to know more about this.”

I considered how much I should tell her before responding, “Yes ma’am, I discovered it when my friend Sarah got injured. It saved her life. At first the Witch community thought I might be a Witch like my human mother but it turns out that our family has a long line of Healers as well and I’m one of those. I can’t use magic but I’m awesome at Healing injuries and poisons and stuff like that.”

“Have you discovered any limitations to this ability?” she asked with a lift of one elegant eyebrow.

I quickly shook my head as I thought about that. “Not that I know of. There are a few conditions I am having issues trying to Heal but Dr. Brand thinks that it could just be because I need to know more about how the body works before I can Heal things with causes that aren’t immediately obvious to me. Sarah had a broken ankle and severe head wound and Marie was poisoned. Both those cases were pretty obvious to my Healing senses.”

“It is fortunate for you both that you are so far away from Ravencrest. Wisteria may still see you as a threat if she ever hears about your ties to one of my daughters and your abilities, but out there you are out of her direct reach. And who is Marie?” Carmilla asked. “Is she another of your friends?”

I mentally cursed my slip of the tongue. I knew I couldn’t outright lie while sitting next to Genevieve but so far I had avoided telling her about my new connection to the Sacred. “She is the infant daughter of one of the Sacred and my Goddaughter.”

“Goddaughter? Genevieve turned to stare at me. “I thought you said that was only a possibility, why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“I… uh… didn’t think it was important,” I replied as I sank back into my chair again. “I mean you already knew about the Sacred taking an interest in me with them sending a Pixie to be my Guardian, and you knew it was a possibility. I just figured that Marie’s mother giving me a magic ring to mark me as her sister under their laws wasn’t a big deal given what you already knew was possible. And Nat told me that having connections to the Sacred isn’t exactly something you like to advertise, even to other Unseen.”

“Kayla, these are the types of things I need to know as your legal guardian. I can’t protect you if I don’t know what’s going on with you.” She sighed and shook her head. “I think you should probably get back to studying while I give Carmilla more details about our situation here.”

“It was nice speaking with you Kayla, perhaps we will do so again another time,” Carmilla said with a smile.

“Umm… sure, it was nice meeting you Carmilla,” I replied uncertainly as I stood up and left the room.

As I headed back upstairs with Silphia once again riding on my shoulder, I heard Genevieve say, “Was I ever that much of a handful?” I sighed and continued on to my room to think about the meeting I had just had, and the woman known as Carmilla.

Becky was still online when I returned upstairs and I decided that rather than going right back to studying I would talk with her for a bit longer. Instead of getting back on the IM program though I decided to look at the contact list on the message board and give her a call. “Hey Becky, It’s Kayla, I thought it might be nice to talk normally rather than through our IMs.”

“Hi Kay,” she responded cheerfully. “I guess you’re all done with the mysterious meeting then?”

I sighed as I thought once again of the woman I had just met. “Yeah, Genevieve wanted me to meet my grandmaker.”

“Grandmaker?” she asked uncertainly.

“Yeah, Genevieve was the one who turned me and this Carmilla woman turned her,” I explained. “We talked in a video chat and damn is that woman hard to read. I’m not really sure if I should be terrified of her or glad I’m on the other side of the continent and not her enemy. I slipped up and mentioned not only my Healing ability but also my Goddaughter and my ties to the Sacred. She seemed interested in the Healing thing but it was hard to tell just how much.”

There was a thoughtful humming sound before Becky asked, “How in the world do you let something like that slip in a conversation with a stranger?”

“I was nervous,” I pointed out, “And she seemed concerned about us. I tried to avoid certain topics but they are interconnected and once asked I couldn’t lie with Genevieve there.”

“”Yeah my mom mentioned that ability of hers,” the Novice Witch replied. “The Coven was pretty excited over it actually, they can think of all sorts off uses for it. I imagine it’s not quite as exciting when the person with that ability is your guardian.”

“You can say that again,” I agreed. “She was pretty upset that I kept the ring thing from her I think, but how the hell does someone start that conversation? ‘Hi Gen, oh by the way I’m now magically bonded to a Sacred that you know nothing about, heir to whatever she owns, and bound to raise her half Sacred child if anything ever happens to her.’ Our lives were crazy enough as it was. I think what worries me most is that I’m worried that revealing these things to a Vampire I have very little knowledge about will come back to bite me in the ass later.”

“Can you do anything about it now?” Becky pressed.

“Probably not,” I admitted with a sigh.

“Then try not to worry about it for now,” she advised. “If something happens we’ll deal with it when it happens.”

“We?” I wondered aloud.

“You’re one of us now Kayla and on Sena Island we Unseen teens stick together.” Then with a sad sigh she added, “When we can be seen doing it anyway.”

“It sounds like you have something bothering you too,” I replied. “If you want to talk about it, I have really good hearing.”

There was a long pause on the other end before she finally spoke again. “I know that this whole misdirection through truth thing was my idea but I’m not sure if it’s really working anymore. I had a girl come up to me and ask how I figured out that you were a Vampire.”

I groaned at that. “I would imagine that was Megan and don’t worry it’s nothing you did wrong, she just really wants me to be a Vampire.”

“Well that’s a relief, but this whole thing has gotten me thinking recently. For the past three years I’ve been a social pariah in school. None of the Norms will dare be seen with ‘Crazy Becky’ unless it’s to bully me, and I can’t spend any time at all with my Unseen friends. Friday night was nice and I enjoyed hanging around with some of my friends. I even thought of going to that new club on Saturday night but what would be the use if I can’t be seen with any of you. I’m doing this to protect us all but I feel so alone sometimes.” I could hear sniffling on the other end as she admitted this.

“I thought you said that we stick together and protect one another,” I told her seriously, “Maybe we should start doing a little more of that. You don’t have to be alone to make the whole misdirection through truth thing work. We’re in high school, and there are a lot of people who don’t fit into the usual cliques. Misfits may all be different, but people sort of expect the misfits to hang out together because nobody else will have them. You could always just be the quirky friend who tells tall tales. Then we have Sarah who just doesn’t seem to care about social status, Jason the gentle giant, Natalie the hot tomboy lesbian, and of course I’m the eccentric Goth genius. None of us really fits in at school. Hell, your misdirection ploy will work better if you’re heard telling friends your ‘crazy stories’ and having us laugh good naturally about them.”

“I guess you could be right about that,” she said with another sniffle. “But how are we going to make people believe that you all suddenly want to be friends with me after the rumors I’ve started about you?”

“Leave that to me; just go wait for me at Gino’s, I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”

“But it’s Sunday afternoon,” she argued, “Gino’s will be packed.” I could tell that she was nervous. At school at least there were rules to follow so she never got more than the occasional ribbing there, especially since her mom was the principal. But out of school there was nothing stopping her peers from being jerks. Of course she could have used magic to protect herself but from what I’d seen and heard Becky didn’t appear the type to use her abilities irresponsibly and took keeping the Unseen a secret very seriously.

“Trust me Becky, I’ll handle it,” I assured her. “Just wait at the counter and have a slice of pizza like you were out window shopping or something. I’m going to call Jason and we should be going to Gino’s soon for a date I think.”

“Well isn’t that a coincidence,” she replied sounding uncertain. But she also sounded a little more positive than she had been a few minutes earlier.

We disconnected the call and I phoned Jason’s cellphone. He picked up on the second ring and sounded happy to hear from me as he answered, “Hi Kay, I really enjoyed our date yesterday. What’s up? I thought you had a meeting today or something.”

“I had a great time too,” I said with a grin as I thought about the day before. “The meeting is over and I’m still trying to figure out what to make of the woman. That’s not important right now though. Are you free for a fake date?”

“I’m free,” he replied with a chuckle, “But I was hoping that after yesterday I’d have earned another real date.”

“You’ll get one, just not right now. Right now I need you to pretend to take me to Gino’s for a date. You get to show off your new girlfriend and we get to help Becky too.”

“I’m all for showing you off, but what does this have to do with Becky?” he asked.

I started getting my boots on as I explained. “I just got off the phone with her and this not having any friends thing is really getting to her. She shouldn’t have to suffer for us all like that. I managed to convince her she can still make it work if she hangs out with a bunch of other social misfits.”

“And what better social misfit than you,” Jason joked as he caught on.

“Well us anyway; the two of us, Nat, and Sarah are a pretty weird group,” I agreed. “I told Becky to go wait for us at Gino’s and make it look like she was window shopping or something.”

I could have heard a pin drop when Jason realized what that meant. Finally he replied, “But it’s Sunday afternoon, Gino’s will be packed with teens. That’s like sending a lamb into a pack of wolves.”

“Which is exactly why we’re going to be there to rescue her,” I pointed out as I started lacing my boots. “I would have asked Nat and Sarah to help but they’re out with Bailey making sure that Nat has something other than jeans and grey hoodies to wear to school tomorrow.”

“I’ll be ready to go by the time you get here,” Jason assured me as I finished tying my boots and stood up.

“Good, I’m heading out the door now.” I shouldered my purse and made my way downstairs where I told Genevieve that I was off to help out a friend and get something to eat before heading outside and climbing into the Mustang.

Gino’s really was packed when Jason and I walked in and I had Silphia remain out of sight just in case. There was a large crowd gathered around the counter and right at the center of it was Becky dressed in her usual jeans and sweater combination and looking very nervous. I didn’t know many of the teens there very well yet but I did immediately recognize Eric and his friend Mike, as well as Paula Leeds. The latter was someone that Tara and Janice from my gym class had pointed out to me and warned me about. She wasn’t as pretty as Moriko, Natalie, or myself but she was very good looking by Norm standards and considered herself to be the top of Sena High’s social pecking order. She also liked to make sure that everyone else knew it.

It was Paula that was currently the loudest of those harassing Becky, “I thought I told you to tell us a story Becky, we all want a good laugh.” Some of the other girls with her giggled at that and Paula, encouraged by her friends actually shoved Becky, “Come on Becky, give us a laugh.”

I practically snarled and could feel my fangs start to emerge as I saw the blonde bitch shove my fellow Unseen. Jason had to put a restraining hand on my shoulder as he whispered, “Easy, you don’t need to use violence. Beat her at her own game.”

I took a calming breath and stepped forward. “If you want a laugh Paula, go find a mirror. What is this some sort of witch hunt? You’re all so fucking brave ganging up on one girl.”

“Stay out of this freak, it doesn’t involve you.” Eric warned me.

“I think I’ll decide what involves me and what doesn’t,” I said as I glowered at the jock. “And when I see fifteen people picking on one girl then I decide that it involves me.”

“And whatever involves my girlfriend involves me,” Jason said from behind my shoulder.

Paula sneered at me, “You’re sticking up for this nerd? After the rumors she was starting about you? You could be as pretty and popular as me if you tried and dressed better. You’re still new here so I’ll give you some advice. You really should be thinking about who you want to be seen with and trust me Batty Becky isn’t someone you want to be seen with.”

“I may be new here but I don’t think having a good imagination is a crime and you have a pretty distorted scale where looks are concerned since we both know I’m twice as hot as you’ll ever be,” I said, giving her a taste of her own medicine. “I think I’d rather be seen with her than you since I think she’ll probably be just as good looking as you with the right style, and she seems a whole lot better looking on the inside.”

“How dare you compare me to her!” she shrieked as she stepped forward to slap me.

I caught her wrist easily and let go of it as I replied, “No, I don’t think Becky would take too kindly to being compared to a bitch like you.”

“She’s right Paula, leave Becky alone,” said a familiar voice from behind me. A moment later I saw Megan shuffling past me and through the crowd and placing herself between Becky and her tormentors. I had to hand it to her; the girl had guts, facing a bunch of older kids with her condition. “Becky’s never hurt anybody and it’s not like anyone actually believes her stories.”

“So the school freaks all decide to stick together,” Paula sneered at Megan. “You wouldn’t be so brave if your daddy wasn’t the sheriff Twitchy.” That surprised me. Sena Island is too small and out of the way for a regular RCMP detachment so we have a sheriff, but I hadn’t known that he was Megan’s father.

“But she is my daughter,” said another voice from the doorway. “Now you all better be getting back to whatever it is you’re supposed to be doing before I decide to bring some of you in for disturbing the peace.” The speaker was of course Sheriff Damon Gibson, I had met him briefly during my time as Keith but since I wasn’t much of a lawbreaker before leaving for Toronto it had only been in passing.. He was a tall and muscular blond man in probably his mid-thirties and at the moment he was wearing jeans and a brown leather jacket. There was a woman with him too, slender with brown hair and dark brown eyes who smelled very similar to Jason.

The crowd quickly dispersed and once everything was quiet again the Sheriff said, “It’s nice to see you kids sticking up for your own. Are you okay Miss Lawson?”

Becky nodded and smiled, “Yessir, it’s nothing I’m not used to.”

“Folks shouldn’t be used to being bullied Miss Lawson. We were about to have a nice family dinner together, why don’t you three join us. Megan seems quite taken with you Miss Dunn and I’m beginning to see why. Would you mind if I have a quick word with you alone while your friends help Megan and Sandy find a table for us?” he asked.

Oh this can’t be good, I thought to myself as I plastered a smile on my face and replied, “Sure Sheriff Gibson.” Then I turned to Becky and Jason and gave them a brief nod, “You guys go on ahead.” Then I let Megan’s dad lead me outside to his patrol car where we got inside and he smiled at me. “Well if it isn’t one of our new town Vampires. I heard you got in a bit of trouble back east with some old friends of mine.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, blinking in surprise.

“The Order of the Sacred Heart must have wanted you or someone you were with dead real bad to send that many Hunters after you. In my younger, dumber, days I was one of them,” he explained. “Then I started realizing that most Unseen are just like the rest of us, they want to live normal lives. Have you ever heard of a little town called Snow Creek?”

I shook my head wondering just where this was going. “No,” I responded as I decided to take the initiative in this conversation. “Is that where you met your wife? It seems odd for a former Hunter to be married to a Were, she smells sort of like a Moose.”

“She’s a Deer actually,” he said with a shrug. ”And you probably never will hear of Snow Creek except in old news reports, but yes that’s where we met. I was with a group of fifteen Hunters assigned to investigate the village for Unseen just over thirteen years ago. It was a small commune, up in northern British Columbia, barely more than two hundred people, a lot of young families who wanted to get away from city life, and at least half of them were Unseen. It was mostly lesser Weres but there were some Witches and other Unseen as well. They were just good people enjoying life and living off the land. Not a one of them were the monsters that I had been led to believe, the real monsters were the people I came there with. When the killing started my team didn’t care which of them were Unseen and which were human, they were even killing the children.”

“So what happened?” I asked, wondering what the point of this story was.

“My eyes were opened and I tried to help as many of the people escape as I could. With Sandy’s help I managed to gather up about three dozen people, mostly children, and we fled for the woods. On our way out of town I heard a baby crying and I found her hidden away in some bushes. With so many young families there were several baby girls in town so we weren’t sure whose she was, but she was alone so I brought her with us. Once we had helped the others reach safety Sandy and I headed south with the baby and heard about Sena island from a Selkie. We came here, got married, and have been raising Megan as our own ever since.”

“And you’re keeping her in the dark about the Unseen? No offense but my birth parents did the same with me and it didn’t turn out so great.” I had to force myself not to clench my fists.

“We just wanted her to live a normal life until she discovers her own heritage, if she has one. It’s entirely possible that she is a Norm. Then the doctors discovered she has ALS. I heard that you’re a Healer, can you do anything for her?”

“I need to learn more about how the human brain and nervous system works,” I replied with a sigh. “I’m studying that as much as I can because I like Megan and she really doesn’t deserve to suffer like she is. Even if I can cure her it’s going to take some time because at the moment I just don’t know enough.”

“I appreciate that, and how you’ve been looking out for her and trying to gently push her away from the Vampire obsession. I may not be her biological father but I have raised Megan since she was a baby and she’s my girl.” He really did love her and that and his worry for her was written all over his face. “I need to tell you though that if you go bad, if you harm Megan or anyone else on this island without a damn good reason, I will stake you myself. Are we clear?”

And there it was. I couldn’t blame him for it, I could even understand why. I might be a Healer but I also had the potential to become something terrible if I gave in too much to my baser instincts and desires. “Crystal clear sir, I don’t want to hurt anyone, I just want to get a handle on this whole Unseen thing and live my life.”

“I’m glad we understand one another, you seem like a good kid so as long as you stay out of trouble we should get along just fine.” He gave me a friendly slap on the back and smile and we both headed back into Gino’s. I think that we were both relieved to have that conversation over with.

Jason, Becky, and I stayed with the Gibson family for a bit just making small talk as everyone but me ate. We excused ourselves early though and I gave Becky a ride home while Jason sat in the back seat. To my surprise, as we stopped outside the Lawson house Becky leaned over and hugged me. “Thanks Kayla, I don’t know how much longer I could have played the social pariah role, it’ll be good to have friends I can be seen with again. The witch hunt comment was especially good by the way.” The last was said with a grin.

I returned the grin with one of my own, “Well I thought that turnabout is fair play. See you at school tomorrow Becky.”

The next few weeks were quiet and surprisingly normal as Valentine’s Day approached. Becky was still telling tall tales but at least now she didn’t have to do it alone and people tended believe what she said even less when those of us that Becky was with found it terribly funny. Natalie was a bit worried that someone seemed to be watching her but we were making sure that someone was always around to keep an eye on her and she was getting a lot of attention now that the grey hoodies were a thing of the past. She and Sarah still only had eyes for one another though, and personally I thought they were cute together. Bailey even started hanging around with our little troupe a bit more and I found that I liked her wicked sense of humor a lot.

As for me I settled into a pattern of school in the mornings, then to the clinic and the Book Mark. After work I would grab dinner and study or spend time with Jason, or one of my new friends including sometimes visiting Megan, though the latter was often to quietly scan her and see if I had learned anything new that might help me to treat her. On weekends I would split my time between studying medicine and dates with Jason. We had even managed to bang out all the dents in the Charger and he was planning on painting it a nice black once we got it fully restored. All good things must come to an end though and our quiet time soon would as well as Valentine’s Day came up fast and with it events that would throw us into chaos once again.