Nine long years had come and gone, it seemed Astrid now could breath for once. It was a hot summer day in the year 2026 , perfect day for being lazy around the pool as she watched her sons splash in the pool in their back yard. Alex and Elliot were their names , although their facial features were almost identical to their father's she hated to admit but, they also had her curly brown ringlets for hair and her dark brown eyes. They were perfect to her in every which way despite their father being the son of the devil. Astrid nine years ago had to make a tough decision as to whether she remained immortal or accept the cure to the curse of the vampire. Astrid till to this day didn't know if she made the right decision , but declined the cure along with the help of the Vatican. So many changes had to take place such as her name which she went by Holly Vasile. She finally took over her dead master's name and also bestowed her son's with the same last name. Not only changing her name she had to relocate to a small town on the border of Ohio and West Virginia. A quiet town hit hard by the depression , but a place where Dracula and his followers wouldn't think twice to find her. Last Astrid had checked he has risen to power in the government in Romania and was also head of the Ventrue. It was a scary time of always being on the edge and awaiting for that call or not knock on the door that he was coming for her.

" Marco!" shouted Alex with his eyes closed. Elliot was giggling while swimming backwards as his twin brother blindly approached him. "Polo!" Elliot dived under water evading his brothers advances till he swam to the edge of the pool where Astrid was seated in the a plastic white lawn chair. " Be easy with your brother will you! It is almost time for dinner , make it quick." Elliot frowned at his mother before kicking off the side of the pool swimming quickly towards his brother. " Marco!" shouted Alex before reaching out across the water for his brother. Elliott was now in front of his brother enjoying his brother struggling to find him. " Polo!" Elliot went to swim far from his brother before he felt something grab onto his foot. Alex opened his eyes to see what he caught a hold of was Elliot's foot. " Hahaha gotcha you suck !" " You only won cause mom wanted me to let you win, cause you're helpless!" said Elliot. "Am not!" Alex began to kick water in the air with his feet as he floated in his back in the water. " That's enough boys, now come it is time dry off and feed." Said Astrid.

She wrapped them both in white cotton towels before marching them forward towards the storm door. The house they lived in was rented off an old women who lived next door. Astrid dared not dream of buying a house or anything in her name for that matter, it was too risky. They walked barefoot through the tile floor the kitchen and up the white carpeted steps. Astrid remained at the bottom of the steps as her 8 year old boys slammed their bed room doors one at a time. While they were getting dressed she made her way over to the fridge pulling out a pitcher full of blood from the hunt she had a week ago. Bob cat was on the menu tonight , it was always some kind of animal she could find from the surrounding forests. Ohio seemed so much different from the city life she once lived with Arnold in PA. The mountains of West Virginia were vast and could be seen across the Ohio River. Even the people were more laid back than Astrid cared for. All cars around her town seemed to held together by cable ties. People would work on their cars in the Walmart parking lot and what Astrid still couldn't fathom is why people wore pajamas as if they were actual day time Clothing. No she wouldn't conform to the strange ways of the folk around her. It was herself and her son's in this strange barely had any friends until she met Chase.

Astrid never thought she would love again. Arnold was her world and all she knew for she years. Chase was a gentleman and rare to find this day and age. He also respected her kids and even the boys enjoyed when he stopped by. He was a mortal of only 23 years of age ,but seemed wise beyond his years is what attracted her to him. Underneath the stars on her porch they would talk about life, history, science, you name it and it was discussed. He didn't know Astrid was a vampire for all he knew was her name was Holly and she worked as a receptionist at a doctors office for the past three months that was it. Astrid planned to keep it that way , but she didn't know how long she could keep this up before he catches on. Astrid jumped as a nerf foam bullet whizzed passed her head and into the sink. " what did I tell you boy s about doing that in the house! Now put that away dinner is almost ready." Astrid looked down at the pot of blood and saw the steam emit from it. Taking it off the burner she reached above her opening the cabinet wooden door to find glasses for the three of them. " Mom can't we just eat in our rooms, we wanna play mine craft?" said Alex . He was no taller than Astrid's waste as he went over to give her a hug. ". Absolutely not you boys play enough of that game as it is, it won't kill you to sit down with your mother for supper." " But mom please!" said Alex as he was holding his hands as if he was praying. Astrid quickly turned to them with her brown eyes turned to their silvery hue. They better not to test their mother anymore especially when her eyes changed or when black spikes began to protrude from her skin. They had powers like their mother, but haven't yet learned to fly. Astrid promised them this summer break she would teach them to fly and they were both excited to try something new.

TTheyeach took their seats with Astrid at the head of the table. Each had a glass full of blood to the brim in front of them. Of course the kids loved their twisty straws and began to suck the blood quickly through them. Astrid was more mannered than her boys and took small sips as she tried to block out the bubbles the boys were blowing in their blood. " Alex and Elliot you both have a baseball game tomorrow , I believe it is against the Jaguars tomorrow. So by 11 pm I want you all in bed fast asleep." Elliot saluted his mother mockingly before slurping the last drop of blood from his glass. " Mom I don't why you make us participate in these sports if we can't be ourselves . I wanna run fast and knock the ball clear out of the park!" said Alex. Astrid explained to them several times in the best way that she could understand. They weren't like everyone else and yet she wanted them to get out / socialize. The boys always wanted to go over to sleep overs or pool parties , but Astrid wouldn't let them. It was too uncertain on how they would behave around other children other than school. " Alex we have been over this we are different from other people." Alex slammed his fist onto the table causing his glass to fall to floor and it shattered into a million pieces. " I just wanna be like everyone else ! Why mom? Why do we have to be so different?" "Enough!" shouted Astrid as she was now standing towering above them. Alex quickly pushed his chair from the table and ran towards the stairs to his room. Astrid flinched as she heard the door slam shut. " I told you he was mental." Said Elliott. Astrid looked down at her son disapprovingly before gathering his glass and hers. She kissed Elliott on the forehead before ushering him upstairs to bed while she cleaned up the mess Alex left. Times like these she felt she should have taken the cure and not only freed herself from the curse, but her son's as well. However her own selfish fear had caused her to live eternity alone. Even though she had Chase he didn't understand her struggle and her son's weren't handling being different any better than herself.