Although Valentina and Christabel weren't afraid of any possible schemes or tricks against them, when the Starikov family left the mansion, two black SUVs drove behind them.

The sun had already fallen to across the horizon and vanished, so the vampires were able to move freely despite the lack of a demon shrouding the skies with their Phantasm.

Valentina drove their car, a sleek and refined vehicle Ekatrrina didn't  think she could guess the price tag to, with Christabel in the passenger and Sabine and Ekaterina sitting in the back seat.

Christabel picked Ekaterina's outfit, a black dress, and black leggings, and a pair of earrings and a cuff bracelet inlaid with sparkling diamonds that danced in the light due to Ekaterina's indecision about what to wear after she began to think too much about what she'd wear. 

Sabine chose simple jeans and a plain shirt a size too big, the shirt hanging more from her shoulders than actually fitting her, with a tank top beneath.

Ekaterina wasn't sure what she expected, but Christabel's choice of clothing accentuated her beauty, allowing the dark clothing to contrast her pale skin.

Valentina had returned to her adult form, wearing a suit similar to the one Ekaterina had seen on her the first time they'd met, and Christabel chose to wear a red dress.

Ekaterina had the option to go out as an adult, but she settled for somewhere in the sixteen to seventeen age range, while Sabine was noticeably younger.

As for her reasoning, Ekaterina felt, if something did happen, she'd have more leeway if she appeared younger, and even though Christabel and Valentina were adults, they were somewhere in the twenty to twenty five year range.

"Are you nervous?" Christabel's soft voice drew Ekaterina from her thoughts, and while Ekaterina wanted to shake her head and put on a brave front, she found herself nodding hesitantly.

"I know... you're all here, but what if I do something?" A vampire's nature was to prey on others, and while Ekaterina hadn't seen the gruesome and gory nature due to her young age, she didn't want to harm a random person who's only mistake was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"You won't do anything." Valentina reassured Ekaterina, while Sabine reached over and held her hand, squeezing it softly in a sort of promise, and facing their reassurance, Ekaterina found herself at a cross roads.

If she chose to worry about what might happen, she'd end up spending more time preoccupied and stressing herself out, or she could trust her new family to help her contain herself should she snap.

"No matter what, tonight will be a night marking the first time you've interacted with people, Kat. Everyone will do our absolute best to help you enjoy yourself." Christabel looked through the mirror at Ekaterina, the lights of passing cars illuminating her face ever so often.

"If you try to eat someone who doesn't deserve it, I'll lock your muscles in place if you want~" Eliana's playful voice came from deep within, and while Ekaterina inwardly wondered what Eliana thought was deserving of being drained, she didn't ask.

"Thank you..." Ekaterina felt that the two words weren't enough to express her gratitude, but there was nothing else she could say, so she decided to find each of them a gift.

The three car convoy pulled into a large parking lot of a mall, and Ekaterina felt a bit pleased that the main languages of the five continents were the same, just with an accent.

Ekaterina took a deep breath, the scent of food and new scents she couldn't quite place due to her human senses not being so accurate, filled her with a sense of anticipation.

...

In the convoy made up of three cars, one of the two SUVs pulled in front of the sleek white exotic car and came to a stop, and three men in suits got out and approached the sports car and stood in front of car.

Although the parking lot wasn't the busiest part of the mall, with the constant coming and going of people, the scene where bodyguards were required drew quite a fee bystanders eyes.

Humans were curious creatures, and some people couldn't help but speculate about the white exotic car's occupant, while others simply went about their day unbothered.

"I bet a hundred dollars it's a bald old man getting out of that car with a beer belly." A man laughed to his friends, his watch flashing in the light, the glinting of diamonds and his smile full of pride as he secretly flaunted his status as a wealthy person.

Sitting in an outlier restaurant, he was never afraid of not having people to flaunt around, as his relatively expensive car and clothing made it clear of his elevated status.

"Even if it is a bald old man, he sure has money to waste, that car is worth at least twenty million, and he has two other cars with bodyguards accompanying him." Another person interjected with a whistle, looking at the car with a bit of envy.

"If he's a handsome guy, you might be able to ride the rails and snatch a mistress position, Adley." One of the two wealthy guys teased one of the better-looking girls who rolled her eyes in mock anger.

"I'm not someone who'll go to someone just because they're rich. I don't want to be anyone's mistress." Adley said so, but her eyes were still looking at the sleek white car.

"And what if it's a woman, Kylen? Will you go talk to them?" Adley didn't forget to toss the question back to Kylen, who she had initially tried to pursue before giving up due to their contrasting likes.

"Kylen has never been afraid of anything. If it's a woman, he'll go talk to her, right?" Kylen's face twitched, and he struggled to maintain his smile looking at the b*stards smiling face.

"Dilan, what if she's fifty something years old? Do you want me to go talk to a fifty something year old woman?" Kylen's eyes narrowed as he began to think about how to screw Dilan over in the future.

"Kylen, didn't you say no woman could resist you? Even if she was a hundred years old, your charm would shine through." Dilan's ability to talk nonsense with a righteous voice and an earnest face made Adley look at him in amazement.

"Holy sh*t, those bodyguards are armed!" Four men in suits got out of the second SUV, with military grade weapons strapped to them.

"Is it legal for bodyguards to walk around with those kinds of weapons? They look like a small army!" Dilan whistled in doubt, but as for who would approach and ask, Dilan knew it wouldn't be him.

"They're getting out... Look, it's a wo-" Adley felt choked as a blond woman with exaggeratedly beautiful features got out of the car, wearing a neat black suit and thin black gloves.

She walked around the exotic car and opened the passenger door, and held out a hand. If anyone had any doubts about the driver's appearance or any fantasies that although the driver was rich, they weren't all that blessed with beauty, it ended then.

A woman with darker skin got out, her graceful movements as smooth and flowing as water, and her brown eyes and brown hair seemed to scream impossibly gorgeous.

Adley felt shocked, her jealousy not even registering due to the sheer upper limit of their appearances. Both of them were seemingly in their twenties, beautiful, and driving a car most people couldn't afford in their entire lives.

The back doors opened, and two more people got out, one with darker skin and black hair, her green eyes bright and despite her seemingly casual clothes, no one would be foolish enough to even attempt to look down on her due to them.

The last person was a girl with black hair, red eyes, wearing a black dress that contrasted her pale skin tone, and a cuff bracelet that shone in the parking lot lighting.

Four people, with such good looks, it felt as if whatever was responsible for appearances simply gathered all the good things in the world on the four people.

"Kylen, they're all super hot, so why don't you go talk to one of them?" Dilan asked Kylen a question that made the latter want to punch him in the face.

"At this point, the people with the best chances of talking to them are girls. Do you see their bodyguards? Most of them are women, and there aren't any men with them." Kylen didn't feel any sort of envy, maybe just a bit of loss since the four were so out of his league. It was pointless to even try.

"They're really entering the mall with those weapons..." One of the girls whose head had been buried in her food spoke, licking the sauce from her lips with wide eyes.

"So long as you have enough money, you can do anything, as long as it isn't breaking the law and everyone finds out." Kylen and Dilan knew the practical face of the world as their families dealt with more money than the average people.

Since the entrance was near the outlier dining place of their restaurant, the group got to see firsthand how stunning the four were now that they were closer.

For some people, people armed with military grade weapons in a civilian environment would seem excessive or even frightening, but somehow looking at the four, the security guards for the mall simply verified their firearm licenses and allowed them through in record timing.

...

Ekaterina wasn't as nervous as she thought she would be, as even telling herself, 'one foot in front of the next, don't trip', despite having impeccable control of her balance, became redundant.

The air was filled with various emotions, far weaker than what Valentina, Christabel, or Sabine would emanate, but still strong enough to be noticeable but somehow, all the humans shock was weaker than the dull ache in her throat.

"They're jealous!" Sabine sneered at the gawking humans secretly but focused on Ekaterina. All in all, Ekaterina didn't seem to be struggling, even with the scent of the humans mixed in the air.

"I'm fine, I drank three cups before we left. You tried to make me drink four, and I almost threw up." Despite Ekaterina's mildly greviance filled tone, her expression made Valentina smile faintly.

"Myriad Plaza has plenty of stores. It's the biggest shopping venue on the Iistrovian Continent. We'll be going to talk to an old friend in a while, is there anything you want to go shopping for in the meantime?" Christabel offered to Ekaterina, who thought about finding them gifts, and nodded.

"I want to buy you three gifts, even though it's not really a secret anymore." Ekaterina's mumbling voice made the other three vampires smile, finding her sheepish voice adorable.

"Just buy us whatever you think we'd like. No matter what you buy, I'll gladly accept it." Sabine shook Ekaterina's arm and placed her cheek on Ekaterina's arm.

"Look, they're staring at you. Maybe they have a crush on you, Kat." Sabine's playful voice caused Ekaterina to roll her eyes, but she didn't take offense in the slightest.

A group of young adults were sitting near the entrance they entered, some obviously in designer clothing, and others in regular clothing, with the better dressed people closer inside to the center.

Ekaterina could hear their breathing, the individual thudding of their heart, and recalled the taste of blood without warning, but a surge of stiffness wracked her body suddenly.

"Be careful~" Eliana warned Ekaterina, who had unknowingly fallen into a light haze and imagining drinking directly from the humans, and felt a bit sick.

"Thank you... Eliana." Ekaterina managed to pull herself back together and continued walking, this time keeping her mouth and nose as free of the scent of blood as best as she could.

A vampire was a humanoid creature with a beautiful countenance, as well as the only predators humans from the past and into the present couldn't solve alone.

The feed, the kill, a vampire could do both, and only after learning to restrain herself could she resist the more primal and angry sense of a vampire she had with ease.

"I can do this." Her black boots with fluff at the top collided the ground in short but elegant and graceful steps, following behind the other three quietly.