"Look at this! A friend gave it to me nearly a hundred years ago." Sabine showed Ekaterina the exquisitely designed necklace she'd retrieved from a box in an inconspicuous corner of her huge room.

Sabine's room was large enough to accommodate several people, and while the decorations weren't anything overly gaudy, Ekaterina could tell that the money that went into building Sabine's room was easily something the average human wouldn't make in several decades.

"Do you like jewelry?" Ekaterina found herself asking without meaning to. Her idea was simply to record Sabine's likes and dislikes if Ekaterina wanted to give her a gift.

"Well, it depends? Most jewelry is really just made of stones that humans assign a price to and materials that seem to display wealth." Sabine lifted the necklace, revealing a dazzling orb, stirring with magical energy that was incredibly different than the demons, or even Ekaterina's own magical energy.

"A witch, a relatively competent one, created this as a sort of charm. It supposedly protects the wearer." Sabine's green eyes sparkled as Ekaterina observed the necklace.

"As a genius in the magic department, do you think its purpose is protection?" Ekaterina wanted to roll her eyes at Sabine's question, but then she straightened slightly and stared at her.

"Are... are you unhappy I can use magic?" Ekaterina had personally been through experiences, where if she was too good, she'd be mocked or simply dismissed as nothing.

"Hmm? Well, while I may seem remarkably petty in some situations, Ekaterina, you can do anything and not need to worry about anyone's envy." Sabine's hands gently held Ekaterina's cheeks, forcing her to look into her serious green eyes.

"You're strong, and I'm happy. I have a sister who's able to open a Phantasm. How could I be unhappy about that?" Sabine's lips curled into a smile, and Ekaterina, despite her conflicted feelings, smiled back.

"Did it happen to you... I mean, before?" Sabine's question caught Ekaterina by surprise. She had never really thought back to her life before becoming independent, as it was something she normally avoided.

"I..." Ekaterina frowned, not sure what to say. On one hand, Sabine was trustworthy, and her sister, but on the other hand, Ekaterina, despite trusting her, didn't want to let her see the side of her she had buried after she became an adult. 

"Dad investigated you a little, but she didn't tell me anything about what she found... I can feel your pain, though. I'm sorry for making you recall something unpleasant." Sabine used her index fingers and tried to lift Ekaterina's cheeks into a smile.

"It's okay, I... I want to tell you. I trust you..." Ekaterina looked into Sabine's green eyes and smiled. Only the smile this time didn't quite reach her normally dazzling red eyes.

"Story time~" Eliana's voice full of anticipation sounded, but Ekaterina didn't respond, instead choosing to try and gather her thoughts into coherent words.

"My early childhood just sorts of blends together, and I don't remember much of it..." Ekaterina shook her head and took a deep breath more for the actions sake than the need for it, to calm herself slightly.

"I wasn't bad at school or anything, I lived with my mother sister's family since she passed away, and I just spent most of my years with them." Ekaterina didn't want to compete, and she never received the praise and love her cousin's got from her aunt.

When she turned fifteen, she was kicked out, and she spent half a year homeless before she was placed into the hands of the government.

She wasn't sure up to now why she'd been kicked away, but the reality wouldn't change, even if she had known. Ekaterina had known, and it wasn't hard for her to see. The truth was that she was simply a burden to them.

Her aunt didn't like her, nor did her cousins. Maybe her uncle was the person she admired most back then, until, at his wife's behest, Ekaterina was beaten by him.

The gloating smiles on her cousin's faces when Ekaterina was beaten, and the reasoning being Ekaterina was trying to outshine her actual children, it made Ekaterina retreat into herself.

Her cousins always found a reason to cause Ekaterina to receive a beating, and when Ekaterina was driven across state lines and abandoned on an empty back road, she was actually happy.

Her life was never hers to decide, and now, although she was now alone, with nothing, she could finally feel some semblance of freedom, where she wasn't beaten and scolded for being better at something than someone else.

"I wandered the streets for months, and eventually the someone filed a report, and the police picked me up. I spent the last three years of my childhood in an orphanage." Ekaterina's expression softened, recalling the place she'd learned to express herself.

Many years of repressing herself couldn't be undone in an instant, but in the orphanage, they were all unwanted to some extent, and the dean was a kind woman who Ekaterina couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude towards.

"Ms. Gracey would tell me all the things I could do when I grew up and would always encourage me." Ekaterina missed Sabine's dangerous green eyes, but Sabine quickly calmed herself down.

"I'm fine, it's already happened... If I lived a normal life, I probably wouldn't have walked outside that night and saved you, so I'm happy." Ekaterina's smile was one Sabine couldn't help but clench her fists to.

Sabine had grown up under the loving care of a family, while Ekaterina truly had no experience to compare, and even her tone when describing was at most bitter, but not angry.

"What happened to you wasn't your fault. Some people seem to exist just to bring pain to other people." Sabine wasn't sure how to comfort Ekaterina, and Ekaterina's first thought was to comfort Sabine.

"What about you?" Ekaterina disliked the feeling of opening up, but Sabine had promised to stay with her, no matter what, so Ekaterina trusted that Sabine wouldn't look down on her like others had hearing her story.

"Me? I was human for fifteen years, and mom brought me home after finding me wandering outside. They taught me about the world and only turned me into a vampire when I fully understood what being human meant." Sabine could clearly recall her mother and father's loving eyes even three hundred years later.

"What does being human mean?" Ekaterina sat on the soft bed, with more firmness than she'd expected, and Sabine couldn't help but smile at her curious expression in her red eyes.

"Being human means you'll finish life one day. Ekaterina, you do realize, you're lifespan is infinite, and with Selene and the other demons, the chances of you dying are incredibly low?" Sabine approached Ekaterina and lifted Ekaterina's hand and placed it in her own.

"Vampires aren't human. We're both mentally and physically different. Humans aren't designed to live forever, but vampires are." Sabine stared into Ekaterina's eyes with something Ekaterina couldn't quite place.

"Humans will someday grow tired or weary of life, but a vampire, with our emotions and feelings, each experience is as new and novel to us as it was the first time we experienced it." Sabine couldn't help but lose herself in Ekaterina's clear red eyes.

Ekaterina looked into Sabine's green eyes, and she felt a bit nervous, not the same feeling that brought dread, but a more subtle and shy one, where something felt as if something were flapping around in her stomach.

"I'm sorry, I spaced out." Sabine smiled wryly, but Ekaterina, who was close at hand, could see both the disappointment and the acceptance in Sabine as she pulled away, and Ekaterina moved before she could process her action.

The world seemed to become still, and even Eliana had to rub her eyes a few times in disbelief. Her perception of the environment in reality didn't depend on her sight, but the scene was too shocking.

The soft feeling pressing against her lips, along with the taste of wine, peppermint, and cotton candy, left Sabine breathless, and in a moment of absolute shock, Ekaterina quickly retreated with a hesitant expression.

"Sorry! I... I just..." Ekaterina felt a sense of panic rising, one she couldn't quite describe. She had kissed Sabine, and she had no clue what Sabine thought of her. Was she simply someone close to Sabine and had overstepped?

Ekaterina's rapid breathing pulled Sabine back to the present, and the darting red eyes that actively avoided her made Sabine's lips curl up slightly.

"You should know, I love the way you taste." This time, the reversal made Ekaterina look at Sabine in shock as the latter licked her lips, but Sabine's speed rendered her a blur to Ekaterina, and then Sabine's lips pressed against her own again, gently and lovingly.

For a moment, Ekaterina wanted to push her away, to say it was an accident, afraid to indulge in Sabine's love, but then she relaxed, the scent of pine, butterscotch, and vanilla mixed together into something Ekaterina realized she adored.

Ekaterina pulled Sabine on to her, enjoying the feeling of being pressed beneath her, her heart which had always calmly beat, regardless of what had happened since her transformation, began to pick up it's pace.

Her hands ran along Sabine's smooth and flawless back, indulging in the warmth of her body, and Sabine, realizing Ekaterina simply wanted to hold her, calmed herself down and embraced her, burying her face into Ekaterina's neck.

"I... Can I bite you?" Ekaterina, who had closed her eyes, enjoying Sabine's closeness, opened them and then nodded. Ekaterina had bitten Sabine before, and Ekaterina had enjoyed Sabine's blood, and so she tilted her head wordlessly to the side.

Sabine's face moved away from Ekaterina's neck, and Ekaterina felt countless thoughts racing through her mind. What if Sabine didn't like the taste of her blood? 

When Sabine's fangs touched Ekaterina's neck, she shivered. A part of her, the part that was predatory and dangerous, hated the feeling. The thought of fangs so close to her neck made her tense.

But then, Sabine kissed her neck gently and ran her tongue along Ekaterina's skin. Although Sabine could see Ekaterina's beauty, her flawlessness still made Sabine marvel.

When her fangs pierced into the fair skin, Sabine didn't go too deeply. Ekaterina was a young vampire, and unlike Sabine, if she lost too much blood, Ekaterina could enter a mindless state if she lost control.

Running her tongue along Ekaterina's neck, the trickle of blood that touched her tongue made Sabine gasp, her breath tickling Ekaterina, and she embraced Sabine with more strength.

Her blood was sweet, and a sense of drunkness brought by Ekaterina's distinctly wine flavored scent almost made Sabine hum in delight, but she resisted the urge to bite deeper, instead licking the blood that escaped Ekaterina's neck.

"I-it doesn't hurt?" Ekaterina's eyes opened, and she couldn't help but reach for the area, and her fingers touched Sabine's side.

"Naturally, our saliva is an anesthetic. It also increases the human healing factor a little." Sabine propped herself up, looking down at the slender girl whom she'd been looking at for the past few days.

"Ekaterina, when I said I'd stay by your side for a thousand lifetimes, I didn't envision this." Sabine chuckled and brought a lock of Ekaterina's dark hair to her nose.

"But... I can't help but adore you. You're both kind and timid, but you always try to appear brave." Sabine kissed Ekaterina's forehead and then pressed her cheek against her own.

"You're so cute, Kat!" Sabine laughed and leaned, pulling Ekaterina up and over, allowing herself to be pressed beneath, revealing her neck with a playful smile.

"Since I had a taste, do you want to try me?" Sabine's overly seductive appearance made Ekaterina giggle, and Sabine couldn't withhold her laughter either, but while she laughed, she reached up and hugged Ekaterina.

"I was afraid... That you'd look at someone else, and I'd watch you grow distant..." Sabine's face fell after she spoke, and Ekaterina felt a sense of mirth and couldn't resist smiling.

"I was also jealous, I wanted you all to myself, but I didn't know why then. I just did." Ekaterina looked into the emerald green eyes of the girl beneath her and spoke seriously.

"I don't know why, I've never been in a relationship, but something about you just makes me happy." Ekaterina whispered, lowering her head to Sabine's neck and began running her tongue along Sabine's soft skin.

Ekaterina's fangs pierced Sabine's skin with little effort, and when her blood touched Ekaterina's tongue, Ekaterina shivered while stifling a moan, the taste of Sabine's blood in this moment was too amazing.

"I don't know what love is, but I want to be with you forever." Ekaterina's whispered words made Sabine raise her head, licking the dark red blood from her lips with a smile, her green eyes gazing into her crimson ones.

"That might be what love is, Kat." Sabine's sentence ended when Sabine pressed her now wet lips against Ekaterina's, carrying both their flavors mixing into a heavenly taste.