Yo. SO I wrote this on-and-off for a while, and I'm posting it to make up for the lack of chapter updates for Dirty Little Secrets. So enjoy.

Darkness swept around the large house like a suffocating blanket, wrapping the inhabitants inside in a dull, endless night. To most of them, this was not a problem, in fact it was a convenience. Creatures such as themselves did not need the light, and avoided it like the plague. All, that is, except one...

Said person stood in the library, facing the large window that openly showed the night. The bright moon overhead and dim candles lit about illuminated her short blonde hair and her soft blue eyes as they looked out with longing. The never ending black was tiresome to her and she missed the sunlight. Being the only one who could survive under it that lived in the house made sentiment for the day even more intense. She sighed at the thought of her family. Her brother was one, her sister was one, yet she was not. No one could really explain why, it was just the way it was. Though her siblings were on the most part understanding, she couldn't help but feel there was a disconnection between them because of it.

She sighed again and turned to the desk near the window, wondering where her brother was. She usually found Ivan here, sometimes reading, sometimes in a heated entanglement with his lover (the Vietnamese woman had been staying longer since her "moon-seeking", as they liked to call it, family disowned her. Interactions between the two species were, at the simplest, frowned upon.) or sometimes having a "light snack", as he put it. She shivered as she thought about the mangled bodies strewn across the dark wood top, the blood trickling down her brother's pale chin, the sharp fangs on his smiling face glistening in the moon light...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the creaking of the library door opening. She turned to see a tall, pale, very handsome man walk in, blue eyes piercing through the dim light as he scanned the room with seriousness and authority. Immediately she recognized him as another like her brother and sister, a member of another clan that conversed occasionally with her family, though it would be a far cry to call them friends. There was clan loyalty, and then there was tolerance of others. That was it.

His eyes rested on her and a chill ran through her body, but she had learned by then to suppress it. His kind always produced that reaction from her. She simply nodded at his stare and looked back at him. "G-good evening."

"...Good evening... you are Ivan's sister, correct?" His voice sent another shiver down her spine. It was so deep. So... Alluring.

"Y-yes... Yekatrina."

He nodded and glanced around the room again, uninterested. "Ludwig..." He removed his hat and his slicked-back blonde hair made him look all the paler. "Is your brother in? I have... to speak to him." He coated it over with professionalism, but she could still hear the underlining tone of contempt.

"I believe so... He may be somewhere else in the house. You are welcome to wait in here and I'll get him for you." Her offer was as much for her as it was for him. This man honestly made her uneasy and she would like nothing better than to be as far from him as possible.

One corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and the look in his eyes told her that he was hoping Ivan was, in fact, not there and he could leave this place as quickly as he came. But he cleared his throat saying, "Thank you. That would be... very helpful." and walked briskly into the library.

A few steps in he suddenly froze, a perplexed look coming across his face. He blinked and inhaled deeply, looking about the room as if searching for something.

This strange behavior caused Yekatrina to pause and watch him, an almost maternal need to make sure he was alright bubbling up.

He raised his head and took another breath, like he was smelling the air... When his eyes drifted slowly to her she realized that was exactly what he was doing. With a sick feeling she remembered something very crucial her brother once told her. They could smell blood...

"...Fraulein... May I ask you a...a personal question?..." His expression continued to look confused, but his eyes were quickly growing a hungry glint to them.

She didn't want him to. She wished she hadn't lingered when he had paused. And she wished she could refuse him now. But either a twisted politeness or something else compelled her to nod. "A-alright..."

"Are you... like your siblings?" He asked delicately, trying to not use the actual word.

"I am a Braginski, if that's what you mean." She knew that it wasn't, but she had a false hope that that answer would suffice him and he wouldn't actually ask.

"Yes, but you are, in fact..." A ravenous inflection filled his voice as he spoke the last word. "...human."

Fear filled her chest as she looked away from him, suddenly very interested in the desk. Her fingers trailed the grain of the wood to keep them from trembling. "Y-yes..."

She didn't need to see his face to know it had changed. The remnants of confusion were gone, replaced by a much more sinister expression. She felt his eyes roam over her body and she shivered, suddenly feeling the powder blue dress she wore was the worst choice she ever made. It showed too much skin for him to look at, for him to smell, for him to want to bite into...

"...I see." He continued to look at her a moment more before he headed to one of the walls covered in books. He stood with his back to her, feigning reading the titles, though she knew he was occasionally glancing at her.

A long silence ensued and the air grew thick and tense between them. She wanted to run just then, and would have if her feet were listening to her. She supposed it was out of fear that kept her rooted to her spot. She tried to take a step when he spoke again.

"It must be... an interesting dynamic you have with your brother and sister, with your... condition." He said it like it was a disease to be human. She bit her lip and tried to keep the tears from forming in her eyes.

"I-it's not that bad... they understand-"

"You mean put up with." The shock of his interruption was ebbed by the hurt of his words. Her eyes flicked toward him and she realized he was slowly and steadily coming closer to her. She took a shaky breath.

"Y-yes... they put up with it." She couldn't hide the venom in her voice, and she didn't want to either. Being a human wasn't a crime, though it might get you killed... She shook her head of that last bit and looked intently back at the desk.

He nodded, pursing his lips slightly in a probably disapproving manner. His hand reached out and rested on the books, gloved fingers dragging across the titles as he drew nearer to her. "Have there been any- incidents?" He glanced slowly at her, the very movement like a wave of cold water on her.

"I-I don't know what you mean..." That was a lie. She knew exactly what he was talking about. About the longing looks that would last no more than a second when her sister stood too close to her. The fact that her brother locked her in her room every night, just to be safe. Or when, somehow, she would cut herself and everyone would go quiet and turn to her, mouths twitching. Taking all the will-power he had, Ivan would lead her into her room and leave her there for hours to make sure no one would...

"I mean what I said."

She jumped slightly when she heard his voice so near. She glanced back to see him standing there, back to her, looking out the window as she had been before. Her whole being began to shake

and against her will, she felt hot tears roll down her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to do anything but make a sort of choking noise. She coughed slightly to regain her composure, only to have it fall apart when he spoke.

"Have there ever been times when anyone tried..." His voice trailed off for a moment. She took a try and looked out the window. It had begun to rain, sprinkling at first then pounding onto the wide clear panes. It gave an eery and even more somber look to the silent figure standing between her and the dark outside. He pressed his hand against the glass and followed a stray drop with his finger as he finished his abandoned sentence.

"...to take a taste?"

She bit her lip, keeping herself from making any noise and staring straight in front of her. The fear inside her was growing quickly and crippling her. She could barely control her trembling now, knowing what he was thinking was sending her over the edge.

He turned to her when she didn't say anything. His face remained stoic as he watched her shake, though his eyes shine brightly as though deep down, he was enjoying seeing her in this state. "Fraulein, are you alright?"

She opened her mouth to attempt to say something, but only had time to gasp as a cold, hard object pressed swiftly against her, pinning her against the desk. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a pair of arms reach out and grab her wrists, grip strong enough to crush the bones in one motion. Frigid breath tickled her ear as the deep, alluring voice whispered silkily, causing her to shake all the more violently.

"I can hear it, inside of you." She heard the obvious strain in his words, how it was taking all he had to keep in control. "Flowing through your veins. Just... waiting..."

The breath on her ear shifted down, rushing against the skin of her neck. She gulped in air desperately, feeling her lungs collapsing inside from utter terror. His lips brushed her as they drew apart, mouth forming into a sort of snarl, teeth sharp and poised over her jugular. One of his hands let go of her wrist and trailed up her arm, leaving sparks of strange sensations in it's wake. He roamed it over her shoulder and across the swell of her breasts, making it's final resting place on the other side of her neck. She shivered at this as well, though not only in fear...

"I could do it right now... It would be easy..." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to her, voice no higher than a whisper. "One quick bite- clean and simple..."

Every time he spoke a word, his lips would grazed very gently across her skin, causing those strange feelings again, only stronger. Fresh tears pooled down her face as she could practically feel his resolve setting, hand upon her wrist and neck tightening. She closed her eyes, anticipating the impact like one anticipated death. Like a cold winter wind, he drew a breath and opened his jaws wider, sinking his teeth slowly into the flesh of her skin-

A sound outside stopped them both dead. A clear, cold, feminine voice called from somewhere else in the house,

"Yekatrina!"

Her eyes snapped open, wide and surprised by the sudden outburst. His teeth paused, nearly breaking skin as his eyes darted upwards. He gave her wrist a sharp squeeze, a silent command that she carried out with a slight tremor. "Y-es, Syestra?"

"Come here! I need your help..."

She could have laughed with joy at that moment if she wasn't still so terrified. Natalia might be one of the most dangerous people on this earth, but she had such wonderful timing.

Her joy was cut short by the sound of a low growl next to her. He had released her neck and he lifted his head, leaving two small marks where his teeth once were. He mumbled something in his native tongue while he slid his hands off of her body, those funny little sparks emitting from his gloved fingers and onto her skin.

When they reached her hips, he suddenly grabbed her and pulled her harshly against him. She made a squeaking noise like that of a mouse, caught in the claws of a hungry cat. His face buried into the crook of her neck, savoring the smell of her skin and groaning very lightly.

"Next time..." He whispered in that restrained tone again, though it sounded this time like he might lose it at any moment. "...this..." His tongue flicked out and drew an X-symbol on her violently-beating pulse. "this will be mine."

And then he let her go and left before she could even comprehend what had just happened. She gripped the edge of the desk so tight her knuckles turned white, just to keep her from collapsing. The tears from her wide eyes had dried, but she could still feel them, and his teeth on her. She silently convulsed against the desk, fighting desperately to calm herself. He had basically told her she was going to die. That he was going to do it herself. She should be scared, terrified, depressed beyond the point of sanity...

...So why did she only feel weak in the knees?

R&R please.