A/N: Here is the next chapter. I'm working on making them longer, but it's going to take a while (bear with me). Please review! -K

She kicks open the scratched wooden door and shoulders her way into the apartment room, her hands full of groceries for her roommate. "Amelia!" she yells into the kitchen as the door slams behind her. "I'm back!" There is a clamor that sounds like pots from the next room and then footsteps. A tiny young woman emerges from the open doorway, bringing with her the aroma of cookies. Corinne shudders, puts the paper bags by her feet, presses her lips together. She won't be enjoying the taste of Amelia's baking anymore and she acknowledges this grudgingly, with only a bit of regret.

Amelia walks towards her and Corinne eyes the nineteen year-old. The two of them have been living together for a year, ever since Corinne's parents left her on the streets. The younger girl swallows, tries to memorize the inky color of Amelia's hair, swept up into a ponytail, the bangs falling over her brow and almost covering her eyes. Amelia is petite, sweet, dressed in a plaid dress, soft gray sweater, and brown boots. Corinne could undress her with her eyes, she knows this girl's body so well. Something stirs in her gut that has nothing to do with the bloodlust and everything to do with the memories of nights spent together, legs tangled, fingers entwined. Naked, the sheets kicked off of the two of them, fan whirring above them because the air conditioning is faulty in their cheap apartment. Corinne is bitter. There will be no more nights like that. She has to leave, because the longer she stays, the greater the chance she will hurt Amelia. Or kill her.

"Hi, Corinne," Amelia murmurs. She walks up to the vampire and kisses her on the mouth, tugging gently on her lower lip with her teeth. "How are you, sweetheart?" She bends down and picks up the groceries, then makes eye contact with her lover. Waiting for an answer.

"Amelia…" She does not want to be cold. Does not want to leave, and most of all does not want to break Amelia's heart. But this is inevitable with what she has become. Damn you, Elyse. "I have to leave." She makes her voice sharp, breaking eye contact with Amelia to stride past her and into the kitchen, grabbing her homemade scarf from the couch on the way. "I can't stay here anymore."

"What?" Amelia's voice nearly ruins things. Corinne stops in the doorway, her throat constricting. She does not want to do this. "What are you talking about? This is your home." The human follows Corinne, takes her hands, presses her body against the vampire's. Corinne's eyes stray to Amelia's perfect breasts, barely concealed by the dress she is wearing. She wants so badly to stay here, to sleep with her lover once more, for things to be the way they were. But it will not happen. Things are different. Weakness is not allowed.

"I—I can't explain. I just have to go, okay? It was great. You and me. You know I love you." She swallows. "Maybe I'll be back sometime."

Corinne turns away and walks into the kitchen, her stride brisk. "I'll help you unpack the groceries." Refrigerator door: open. Place food on the correct shelves. She tries not to look at Amelia's face but fails. She knows she is crying. She knows she hurt the human, the girl she loves. She wants so badly to take her with her, but ending Amelia's life and introducing her to what Corinne has become would be too selfish.

Tears spill over and slide down Amelia's gorgeous cheeks. She twists her fingers together, bites her lip, stares intently at the pale green walls of the kitchen like nothing has ever been more interesting. "Why?" Her voice is raspy because she is holding back her sobs.

Corinne caves. She goes to Amelia and wraps her arms around the girl's waist. Amelia turns her face away in an attempt to stop the hurt, but Corinne is stronger. She kisses the tears from her cheeks, then moves to the human's lips. They are salty from the tears. Soft. Warm. Amelia's lips. So familiar, so comforting. Both of them need comfort and Corinne cannot supply it. A vampire cannot…dammit, whatever I am, I am damned. I can't help her. I can only leave her now so it will hurt less.

Amelia pulls away from the too- short embrace first. "Go." Her voice has hardened. "Don't drag it out, Corinne. Just go if that was your plan, yeah?"

Corinne grinds her teeth, trying to make her body relax. "I can't change this. I have to go. I wish I didn't—I want to stay with you--" She cuts herself off before she loses control. Pretends this is just a test. Just a nightmare. Avoiding Amelia's eyes—it is better to convince herself she is a coward rather than a monster—she turns on her heels and walks down the hallway to the bedroom. There is not much she wants to take—just her wallet, a box of keepsakes, the money she has kept safe in the back of the closet that is enough for her to get by on her own. She throws these things into a bag along with a jacket, the scarf, and a dress. Elyse will provide for the rest.

Corinne pockets her key to the apartment. She wants to have the assurance that if she is able to return someday, she has the means to do so. Then there are no more words. Brushing past Amelia (who has frozen in place in the middle of the hallway), Corinne squeezes the human's hand. I'm sorry, she says, sending the words silently into her mind. She makes the mistake of looking back as she is closing the door behind her.

She knows the look of betrayal, of horror, of pain, on Amelia's face as she leaves will haunt her forever.

-vVv-

"I'm not going anywhere with you tonight."

Corinne turns away from Elyse, her body language—stiff posture, folded arms—clearly revealing her anger. She keeps her lips pressed tight, her chin pointed up. Anything to make sure she doesn't cry. Monsters don't cry.

"I can hunt on my own. Or not at all."

"That's ridiculous," Elyse snaps, stalking towards the younger vampire. She crosses the room in a second and grips Corinne's arm tightly. "You are my fledgling. It is my job to take care of you until you can survive in this world alone. You have a lot to learn." I would know. My sire never taught me. Piercing indigo eyes glare into Corinne's, but the fledgling doesn't back down.

" I can't believe you," she hisses. "I can't believe you would take someone away from the life they were living to become this!" She bares her fangs. "I loved someone, you know! I had someone that cared for me. Maybe you didn't, so you wouldn't know how that feels, would you? I had to break Amelia's heart. Are you happy now? Happy with what you've done?"

Elyse narrows her eyes, her brows pulling together. "You should be honored that you are my first fledgling, Corinne. You have no idea of my kind's history, do you? You don't know that my sire is one of the oldest in the vampire community. Or that I spent 100 hundred years searching for you, the woman I would change first."

Corinne wrenches her arm from her sire's grip and spits out the words: "I don't care. Fuck you."

A mistake is an error in judgment, a misguided action. This is what Corinne has made. Before the words even sink in, the younger vampire is caught in a grip so strong she could not even attempt to escape from it. Someone's cold breath slides across the skin of her throat and then there are the fangs, sliding into the neck, opening a wound from which Elyse drinks. She makes it purposely painful, a punishment for her fledgling's rude words. Corinne wants to scream, she wants to writhe, but the death grip keeps her in place and makes the feed even more painful. She can feel her skin ripping from Elyse's teeth, can feel the blood trickling down her chest. This is no lesson; this is torture. Elyse is furious.

Then the bloodlust attacks Corinne. Her muscles tighten and become taught and she throws herself out of Elyse's arms, sending the older, stronger vampire skidding across the floor. The fledgling stares at her arm, her eyes following the blood that slides over flawless skin, toned muscles. And suddenly she finds herself licking her own arm, lapping up her own vampiric blood in a frenzy, eager for the rich taste.

And Elyse is standing again, leaning against the wall, watching. You didn't give me a chance to warn you of my temper, she chides silently. The room is black. Elyse's eyes shine and Corinne's are drawn to her own blood. She drinks, tongue sliding over her arm until the blood is gone, until the wound at her throat has healed.

And Elyse is laughing, nearly cackling, because the fledgling is staring across the room in horror, finally realizing what she has done.

-vVv-

I hate you.

Corinne stares murder at her sire from her seat three tables away at the nightclub frequented by their kind. She is wearing the dress she stuffed in her bag when she left Amelia's because the blood wouldn't come out of her other clothes. Elyse tells her there will be a scar. A reminder not to curse at a vampire stronger than her own self, a reminder be respectful. Corinne is digging her long fingernails into her own palms in order to keep herself from lashing out in anger. She is surrounded by others of her kind—other vampires that are much older, much more controlled, much more beautiful. The voices blend together and bounce off the mirrored walls, making Corinne flinch from the noise. She hates loud places. She glances at her sire again and sees her laughing, knows she heard the silent retort. Corinne can only scoff in frustration and turn away.

When she scans the room for something else to occupy her interest, one particular woman catches her eye. Two, really. They are in a corner, sharing a chair; one sits on the other's lap. At first Corinne figures the one on top is feeding on the other, but then she realizes the vampire is kissing the other's neck. The one in the chair moves her hand from where it is caressing the other woman's waist to her jaw, turning her face so their lips meet. Corinne watches them kiss. A shiver runs through her: jealousy, arousal.

"That is Fala and Moira."

Corinne turns away quickly in surprise to face the speaker: a male vampire, dark-skinned, with emerald eyes and a hint of a smile hovering about his mouth. She recognizes him from her brief glimpses into Elyse's mind; his name is Jager, and he is the one that changed Elyse. Corinne blinks and smiles sardonically. "They're interesting."

Jager snorts. "They don't care who's watching. They'll go on all night."

Corinne watches as the dark-haired girl, the one sitting on the other's lap—Moira—runs her hand through her lover's hair and down her arm, then leans forward, licks Fala's cheek. In other situations this action might have been odd, but it suits the couple.

It reminds Corinne too much of Amelia. She turns back to Jager, downs the drink he pushed in front of her in one swallow. "I have to go. Lovely meeting you." She smirks at him, pushes herself to her feet, watches him wave with an all-knowing look on his face. Disgusted, she passes her sire without a thought and steps out of the bar.

She doesn't remember how it happened, but in the past week she has picked up the human habit of cigarette smoking. It might be an awful habit, but it can't hurt her. And it makes her feel more human, more mortal to pretend she is slowly killing herself with carcinogens. Pretense. That is what this life as a vampire is based on. And she despises it. She shakes her head, stops thinking, knocks a cigarette out of the pack and into her hand. Lights it, takes a drag, watches the blue-tinted smoke curl in the air in front of her. The street is dark; for whatever reason the streetlights are not lit. But the street is empty, and she takes the opportunity to walk, alone, her knee-high leather boots thudding gently with every step. Her mind wanders back to Fala and Moira; the darkness spurs such thoughts.

Did they fall in love first, and one changed the other so they could be together? That would be an act of selfishness. Or did they find each other after they were brought into this dark life? Corinne wants to believe the latter, although she doubts it. She doesn't want to consider the first option. Because that would make her a coward. She would be nothing but weak for not changing Amelia, like Moira and Fala did for each other. There are a million questions running through her head: did she leave Amelia to her human life for Amelia's own good? Or because she is afraid of eternal commitment? Is she selfish or selfless?

When was the moment, Corinne wonders as she breathes in the cigarette smoke deeply, when I ceased to be a human and became a monster? Was it when I killed that man, or when I walked away from the one person that had ever loved me?