Sorry for the wait guys.

Hope the True Blood references don't start to trip people up. I suppose this story will become a semi-crossover now but... don't fear - the focus will remain on Brittana. Always Brittana.

I'll try to explain anything that sneaks in though for those who are not TB fans. If you're not sure about anything, feel free to PM me too :) For example, in this chapter: AVL = American Vampire League. Everything else should be explained in time.

As always, thanks go to my lovely Beta!Jay for the help!

Oh and warning for minor character death. But that's probably going to happen a lot so... yeah lol

Brittany

My muscles lock up instantly at her words and I almost fall flat on my face trying to fight the momentum. I was running so fast... How did she do that? Why can't I move?

"Wh-"

"Good girl." Santana purrs and steps up behind me.

Her voice, although smooth and teasing, hurts my ears. In fact, everything hurts. My skin stings, my muscles burn, my stomach roars in hunger... and my chest feels so empty and so heavy at the same time. It's like I've just woken up from a really deep sleep, only to find that the whole world has changed while I was off dreaming. Nothing feels the same. I don't remember shapes being so sharp or air smelling this intensely. And I definitely don't remember the almost painful clarity that is suddenly allowing me to think faster and more precisely than ever before.

My inner thoughts sound practically foreign.

Wait... foreign? Did I really just use that word in my head? I sound like a text book.

It's like... I'm still me. But I'm also not.

"I know you're wondering how I made you stop... Correct?"

I nod slowly.

"As your maker, I have a certain... control over you. If I can avoid it, I will not enforce this power unless it is to keep you from harm. However, you're going to have to learn to trust me if this relationship is going to work, Brittany." Santana rounds on me and touches my cheek softly. "I don't want a slave. If I was merely looking for something to follow me around and obey my every command, I would have gotten a dog." She smiles. "That's not why I made you."

I ignore the little jump in my stomach when her fingers graze the corner of my mouth. I'm still mad at her... furious actually. But it doesn't change the fact that she's incredibly sexy and intimidating and it's making me all gooey inside. "Why did you make me then? Why bother to turn me at all when you could have just left me there to die?"

Her brow furrows. She takes a long moment to think about it. "I... I suppose I saw something in you that I wanted to know more about... I sensed that maybe you had more to offer than what simply met the eye."

I stare in disbelief, feeling my jaw hanging open stupidly. "What does that even mean?"

Her dark gaze flickers down to the ground before returning to my face. "Why I made you is not of your concern at the moment."

Ever stubborn, I roll my eyes at her and scoff.

"Right now, you need to listen to me and allow me to help you through the transition." Santana nods, mostly to herself, and then fixes her eyes on mine firmly. "And don't bother trying to hide from me. I know what you're feeling. I sense it just as keenly as my own emotions. I'll be able to pick up on any danger you might be in, or any fear or anger you may experience, even if I am hundreds of miles away."

"Great." I mumble sarcastically. I might not be her slave but the more she tells me about our new 'bond', the more I feel like her prisoner. It's unsettling and irritating. Why should she have any right to my thoughts and emotions? She's a stranger to me.

A car engine rumbles faintly in the distance and Santana smirks when she takes a step back from me and towards the nearby road. "Now Brittany, watch and learn."

I'm really starting to get sick of this high and mighty attitude she has, but I cross my arms over my chest and observe in silence as she strolls over, sticking out her arm to flag down the vehicle.

"Can't we just go buy some Tru Blood?" I ask a little nervously, trying to keep my voice hushed.

"No vampire's first meal should be that disgusting, manufactured swill. Your body's first instinct would be to reject it and you'd probably spit it right back in my face." She says through gritted teeth. "I can barely stomach it as it is."

"But I don't want to hurt anyone-"

The old red pick-up truck slows and cuts off my complaint. I can already feel my nostrils flaring at a scent that I can only imagine is the human inside. I know what's going to happen now, and yet, I don't jump out and scream for the driver to get away while they have a chance like I know I should... I just stand there in the shadows, enthralled and curious.

"Hey there." Santana flirts, gliding over to the car and leaning into the open driver's side window.

"H-hi." The kid replies. My ears prick up and I recognize his voice instantly. I know him.

"Me and my girlfriend got super lost out here in the woods, all by our lonesome, and now we're all cold and hungry and afraid." Santana glances over her shoulder and winks at me. I just roll my eyes at her again. "Don't suppose a big, strong man like you could give us a ride now, do ya?"

"Uh... I... uhm... I guess I could uh..." He stutters, shuffling in his seat to get a better look at me. "Hang on. Brittany? Is that you?"

What's she doing out here? I hear him think.

It's the first thoughts I've heard since I woke up. Ever since I can remember, I've been able to listen to the words people only say in their heads. I'm not sure why exactly. Growing up, my parents just told me I was special and that apparently my grandma had the same sorta gift when she was still alive. They also made sure to warn me that I needed to keep my ability a secret. People didn't exactly take kindly to a girl who could eavesdrop on all their deepest, darkest thoughts and desires 24/7. So I tried to ignore it as much as possible.

Of course, it didn't completely work... but as I got older, I eventually got better at blocking what I did and didn't want to hear. The odd perverted remark or dark, violent image occasionally slipped in. But mostly I was good at managing my little quirk. Even if I had no idea what it was or where it came from.

The pierce of Finn's inner voice through the virtually unnoticed silence I'd been experiencing though made me realize that I hadn't been working at all to block Santana's thoughts from my head – not when we first met in the bar and not when I woke up with her in the dirt.

I'm not sure whether to feel relieved or confused. It's not me. I haven't lost my mysterious ability because I'm a vampire now. It's her. Why can't I hear what's going on in her head?

I make myself shake it off when I notice Santana glaring at me impatiently. Now isn't the time. I'll deal with it later. I duck my head and move a little closer to the car. "Hey Finn."

Santana raises her eyebrow. She looks pissed. "You two know each other?"

"Kinda. We go- I mean, we went to school together." I correct myself bitterly.

"Is that right?" Santana teases, turning back to Finn. "So big man on campus, how's about giving me and my girl here a ride home?"

Holy shit. Look at those tits. Finn muses while nodding dumbly. It isn't until Santana's strolling around to climb into the passenger seat that I realize what she's going to do. Before I can even take another step, I hear a muffled, obviously male scream and the sickening crack of bones. I scrunch my eyes closed.

"Britt-Britt... why don't you come over here?" Santana sing-songs and I can practically hear the smirk in her voice.

With heavy feet and a sinking feeling in my stomach, I drag myself over to the car. It's only when the toes of my sneakers collide with the front tire that I finally open my eyes.

Finn's head is hanging down limply to the side, his pupils dull and lifeless and his jaw slack.

He's dead.

I frown but I don't really feel anything. I don't cry. I don't throw up at the sight of his bones protruding out, showing off his broken neck. I just stand there.

I know Santana killed him and I should feel angry and disgusted... and I do... but mostly, I'm still just really hungry.

"Open the door." Santana says calmly from her place in the seat beside him.

I obey her and tug the driver's side open, sliding in so that his bulky body is sandwiched between us on the front bench seat of his truck. She grabs hold of his hair with one hand and yanks his head so that his neck is exposed to me.

"I thought I'd make it easy on you. You get to eat and I don't have to hear you whine about how you feel guilty for killing." Santana stares at me eagerly.

After a few long seconds, when I haven't moved, she raises her eyebrows. "Well? Go on then. Take a bite. It may not be as tasty as it would be if you were draining him live... blood hot and pumping and laced with adrenaline... but it's delicious nevertheless."

I feel my fangs extend at her surprisingly mouth-watering description of human bodily fluids and lick my lips. The body of a boy I've known since I was five years old lies in front of me completely stripped of all life. And even though I never really liked him (because he was boring and awkward and always smelled like potato chips and cheap body spray), I feel like a monster for the way I'm dying to tear him apart.

Santana frowns at my hesitation, almost as if she's surprised that I'm able to control myself long enough to even doubt, before slowly leaning over Finn's body to slide a hand behind my head. "It's okay Brittany... Trust me."

The slight pressure on the back of my neck is the final straw. I allow myself to lean in and sink my fangs into his thick neck.

Warm, syrupy liquid floods my mouth and throat like hot cocoa. I hear myself moan quietly but I'm unable to care. It's incredible. Fireworks are shooting off behind my closed eyes and my whole body feels tingly as I suck down his heat and let it fill me up. Santana's grip tightens in my hair and massages at my scalp. Her pleased little hum lets me know that she's very much enjoying the sight before her.

"Open your mouth wider and tilt your head a bit... you're losing some of it." She instructs while her fingers nudge me in the right direction. "Make a seal with your lips on his skin."

There's blood smeared across my cheeks now. It's sticky and I want to be grossed out. But I'm not.

"You can't help getting a little messy when you feed but I want you to learn at least some table manners." Santana chuckles. I can barely hear the raspy sound over the high pitched rushing in my ears though.

Not only is the taste of Finn's blood better than any flavor I ever thought could possibly exist in this world but the feeling it's giving me is like a cross between an orgasm and the sharp burn you get from climbing into a bath where the water's a bit too hot. I feel like I'm drowning and flying and drunk off my ass all at the same time.

I can already feel myself getting addicted to it.

All too quickly though, the stream slows. I keep sucking and burrowing my teeth further into him, trying desperately to get some more but I begin to notice I'm only gnawing through blood-less, chewy muscle.

Santana tugs at the back of my head gently until I eventually detach and sit back.

With a kind smile, she brings her hand around to cup my red stained cheek.

"Feel better?"

I just sit there, stunned into silence, my eyes locked on Finn's neck and the now gaping, shredded mess of flesh that I created.

That I created.

"Brittany?"

What seem like hours of stillness and silence go by. I feel like the whole car is spinning.

At some point, Santana releases my face to drag his body out of the seat and throw it onto the side of the road. She moves so quickly that I barely have time to blink before she's right next to me again, this time holding my head with both of her hands.

I reach up absently to feel my still erect fangs with my fingertips. This isn't real. It's a nightmare. It has to be.

"Didn't that help?" Her voice isn't nervous or worried. She's pressing me, trying to get me to admit how much I loved ripping him apart.

I lift my gaze to hers and nod slowly.

"It only gets easier." She assures me, now wearing slight grin. She brushes at the sides of my mouth with her thumbs for a moment, obviously trying to remove the fast drying blood, before leaning in and licking at it instead.

My eyes fluttered closed again. Like so many other things that have happened tonight, it should be disgusting... but somehow she manages to make the action feel sexy and sweet.

Despite the way my senses seem to have calmed and everything hurts less after feeding, my anger towards her remains. I want to shove her away and slap her across the face as hard as I can. She had no right to do what she did. She had no right to make me into a monster. She's selfish and smug and cocky, and I want nothing more than to be as far away from her as possible.

But instead of kicking and screaming about how mad I am, I turn my head and abruptly capture her tongue between my lips.

My hands press on her shoulders, taking advantage of her brief shock to pin her body beneath me on the seat. The kiss is violent and angry. Nothing like me at all. Sure, I've been passionate before... but never like this.

I bite her bottom lip and savor the now familiar tang of blood.

It's different from Finn's though. It's spicy and prickly and thin. But it's still amazing.

We both groan, fangs occasionally clashing as our tongues battle and taste. She arches up into me, fingernails dragging over my lower back. But I pull away only a few seconds later when the rage bubbles up again.

This stranger, no matter how alluring and beautiful, has taken everything from me. I don't even know who I am or why I'm currently making out with her like a wild animal. I don't want that. I want to hurt her. I want to make her understand my confusion and my pain.

Nothing makes sense.

Forcing down the inexplicable draw that I feel to her, the one that tells me that being here, with her, is exactly where I belong, I sit back and snarl.

"Bri-"

My palm connects with her cheek fiercely before she can finish.

"Why did you kill him? He didn't have to die. Couldn't we have used that glimmering stuff I heard about on the news? I thought vampires could totally wipe away people's memories like the flashy thing in Men in Black!"

"Okay first of all, don't believe everything you hear. Secondly, it's glamouring. And thirdly, that's beside the point. You never would have been able to stop yourself from draining him, so there would have been no chance for me to alter his recollection anyway. Young vampires need time to develop control over their impulses. It was a necessary loss."

I scoff. Out of control was right. I feel like I'm boiling from the inside out and every passing thought is becoming an action that I regret faster than I can even comprehend. Her sarcastic stoicism isn't helping either. She barely even flinched at my slap.

"I hate you." I growl.

She narrows her eyes slightly. "Your little display just now says otherwise."

"Shut up. I don't know why I did that. It was just... a reflex." I scoot backwards and throw myself out of the car, storming down the road.

"Why are you fighting this so much?" Santana calls out. She's already caught up to me by the time I spin around.

"Because I don't want to be like this! Like you! I don't want to kill people and not be able to control my body even when my head tells me to stop!" I clench my jaw. "I'm going home."

"Brittany, no." Santana commands forcefully. "You can't. You don't belong in their world anymore."

"Stop acting like you know what's best for me! You don't even know me. You're just some random vampire who decided I looked like a nice midnight snack but then changed her mind at the last minute and thought 'hey, you know what would be even more fun? Making this girl into a psychotic demon just like me! Then we can hold hands and go on killing sprees together.'" I taunted childishly. "Well you know what Santana? Go fuck yourself. I'm not gonna be your little playmate."

She sighs heavily and rolls her eyes. "You can sulk all you like but it won't change anything. You don't have a home with your family anymore. There's no going back there. That part of your life has ended. Your only home now is with me."

I want to fight her some more, I really do... but as I spot the bottoms of Finn's shoes lying amongst the thick dried grass on the roadside, I get the sinking feeling that there's no point. She's right. She's right about everything and I feel the urge to either sob helplessly or hit her again for it. "Where do you live anyways? Some dusty old crypt?" I snap.

She laughs and moves closer to take my hand. Despite myself, I let her. "You've been watching too many movies." My body is naturally comforted by her touch even though my brain cries out to battle her every step of the way. She begins to guide me down the road.

"Wait... what about Finn's car?" I ask as we pass it.

"He won't be needing it anymore." She shrugs. "And besides, I have a much nicer mode of transportation waiting for us."

It's only a few minutes later when we return to the park that we'd slept in and Santana wheels out a flashy motorcycle from behind a big tree. She starts it up with an energetic kick and smirks like she's hot stuff.

"What about helmets?" I enquire, unimpressed with her display. "I mean, I know a fall won't kill us but I'm pretty sure I can still feel pain."

Santana just raises an eyebrow at me. "Seriously? You really don't trust me?"

"No." I cross my arms over my chest defiantly.

She sighs in frustration for what feels like the millionth time tonight. "Just get on. We've got a long ride ahead of us and at this rate, we'll be lucky if we don't get burnt to a crisp by sunrise."

I huff but do as she says, reluctantly wrapping my arms around her waist as I settle in behind her.

"Hold on tight." She announces.

"Yeah, yeah I know. This isn't my first time on a motorbike."

She was right about the drive taking a while. We pass through several towns and it's nearly three hours before we arrive at our destination in the city of Shreveport.

It's some dive of a bar called 'Fangtasia'.

Without a word, she parks the bike in a space close to the door, shuts off the engine and climbs off.

As we step up to the entrance though, she turns to me expectantly.

"Wait a sec." Santana mumbles, before reaching over to brush off my face and neck, presumably still speckled with dirt and blood. "Do you have something to tie up your hair?" She asks after cleaning me as best she can.

"Why?"

"Because you have some Finn left in it."

I cringe at the thought and dig into my pockets to fish out a hair band. I sweep my long blonde tresses up deftly into a lose ponytail.

"It's a lot easier if it's dark you know. Nobody notices a few sneaky red highlights in my hair." She smirks.

"I'm not dying my hair to cover up blood stains." I grumble.

"I never said that. Your hair is fucking sexy blonde." Santana wiggles her eyebrows mischievously and I'm not sure whether to blush or elbow her in the stomach for annoying me.

"What does it matter how I look anyway? Isn't this a vampire bar? What are you like, introducing me to your parents?" I tease.

"Something like that." She grins and pushes the door open so we can step through.

Inside, it's dark and busy and there's heavy metal music bouncing off the walls. I follow her through the crowd of swaying, leather-clad occupants until we reach a door to some kind of back area. She tugs it open like she owns the place. And for all I know, she does.

I find myself standing in an office with a large desk, a bricked up window and two other doors - one off to each side. There's some muffled noises coming from behind the one to our right that sound anything but innocent.

"Mike? You back here?" Santana calls out as she throws said door open.

The first thing I notice isn't the walls packed with storage shelves and crates full of Tru Blood and alcohol. It's the tall, completely naked, buff Asian guy pounding into a petite, equally naked blonde on a worn, black leather couch on the far side of the room. He pulls back slightly from his position behind her and I can see that he's got blood smeared all over his lips and fangs, matching the obvious bite marks on the girl's back and neck. But instead of screaming or trying to get away, she seems to be thoroughly enjoying the violent treatment.

It's not that I'm a stranger to sex. I've done things... with boys and girls before. Mostly girls actually. But seeing two people going at it right in front of me, especially when one has clearly been drinking the blood of the other, is still pretty startling. I'm not quite sure whether to yelp or giggle or be weirdly (and a bit unwelcomely) turned on. I think the smell of her blood is sort of helping to cloud my judgement.

"Oh hey Quinn. Didn't know you were here. Am I interrupting again?" Santana speaks up beside me and I'm half snapped from my shock.

"Go away Santana." The blonde warns through her broken grunts of pleasure.

"Whatever." She scoffs, focusing her attention back on the guy. He clearly isn't fazed by her presence in the slightest and continues pumping away. "I thought I told you to put your human on a leash."

If I ever get the chance, I'm going to lace your Tru Blood with silver, bitch. I hear the girl, Quinn, think.

It catches me off guard. Well, more off guard than I already am considering the visual I'm currently faced with. But since I can't hear anything from Mike, I'm beginning to wonder if this whole 'hearing thoughts' business is something that just doesn't work on any vampires. It's not like I'd ever met one in real life before Santana. I've only been around humans. So I wouldn't have known.

I guess it make senses though. Maybe I could ask her sometime.

But that would mean telling her my secret... Unless she already knows? I mean, even though my memory is pretty fuzzy now, I think I remember her asking me 'what I was' when she was biting me...

Can vampires taste special powers?

"Be nice San." He puffs out with a wry smile.

"Seriously though Mike... I love how you're the world's biggest activist for mainstreaming but whenever little Q here lets you have a nibble while you two fuck, it's some kind of exception."

"You know that's different." He smirks.

"Uh huh." Santana replies, obviously not sold on the idea. "Well I just thought you might like to officially meet Brittany... now that she's awake and all."

Suddenly everyone's attention is on me and I can't help the way I want to turn and run. Why is nobody acknowledging the fact that two people in the room are having sex? Why is Santana looking at me like this is all normal and gesturing with her head like I should go shake the naked guy's hand and introduce myself?

"Hi Brittany. Welcome to the family. I'm Mike." He smiles at me before getting a better grip on the girl beneath him and moving his hips a bit faster. "And this is Quinn."

Oh fuck! The blonde moans in her head. She doesn't say anything out loud though.

I must look just as uncomfortable as I feel because the next thing I know Santana and Mike are both laughing at me.

"Maybe we'll come back another time when you're more... available." Santana drops a hand to my waist and guides me out.

"Okay! See ya girls!" Mike beams.

Santana's still sniggering softly to herself when she closes the door behind us. "I don't think I'll ever know what he sees in that girl. She's such a stuck up bitch."

I gawk at her. "Really? That's all you've got to say? You just had a conversation with a guy and a girl who were humping like bunnies right in front of us!"

Santana furrows her brow at me. "So?"

"So?" I repeat loudly. "SO?!"

"Yeah... what's the big deal? Mike's not the shy type and Quinn's used to it by now. I've walked in on them more times than I can count. They're always going at it back there."

I can't understand this. Is a lack of boundaries a vampire thing too?

This world is definitely not what I'm used to.

Santana looks like she's about to say something else to me when the door leading to the rest of the bar swings open and another blonde woman with severe grey eyes strides in. She looks a fair bit older than Quinn though and is dressed in a black and red leather corset and matching tight pants.

"Fuckin' idiots starting fights over stupid humans..." The woman mumbles, barely acknowledging us as she moves to sit down behind the desk in the corner. "When are they gonna realize that those borin' blood bags ain't worth nothin' more than a hot meal anyways."

Santana's hand slips into mine and I see her smile out the corner of her eye as she tugs me over to stand in front of her.

"Hey Pam... I want you to meet someone."

The woman looks up from the papers she's shuffling through and eyes me cautiously. "Oh no Santana. Please tell me you didn't. I was really hoping that Mike was fucking with me."

"This... is Brittany." Santana offers, a little hesitant.

The older blonde, Pam, lets out a loud sigh. "What did I tell you about making?"

"But-"

"We can't have baby vamps running around messin' shit up with all this mainstreaming crap smearin' the media. Eric's going to have a fuckin' fit when he finds out."

"But I-"

"And you're not even close to ready for this kind of responsibility. You can barely even take care of yourself." Pam stands and moves around the desk, coming to sit on the edge in front of us.

"I'm two-hundred and twelve years old!" Santana groans.

Pam snorts in response. "Could have fooled me."

"I can handle this Pam. You handled me and Mike when you were a lot younger."

"It was a different time Santana. Don't act like you're oblivious to all the fuckin' pressure we're under now that those fools in the AVL are fangin'-up in public like a freakin' pride parade on Halloween."

"I know but this was... I needed to do it." Santana squirms in place.

I really don't know how to follow their odd conversation but from what it looks like, Santana seems kinda embarrassed.

Pam raises an eyebrow. "Needed? Killing is one thing... but since when do you need to turn every pretty young blonde thing that catches your eye?"

"It wasn't like that." I see Santana's gaze drift down to the floor and in the face of all the distrust and bitterness I feel towards her, I can tell she's being genuine.

"Oh really? You're tellin' me you didn't spot sweet, innocent Brittany here – " Pam glances at me for a moment before turning back to Santana "- and get that nice tingle in between your legs and aching in your stomach? You didn't charm her into following you somewhere quiet and then tear into her like a bag of potato chips, losing all your self-control when you tasted her pure, adolescent blood and felt her extremely- " She smirks and quickly checks me out. "- attractive body yielding to your command? And then, when she finally stopped squirmin', you realized that you actually wanted more of that ass than you first thought?"

"It was more than that." Santana snarls abruptly. "And don't ask me to explain how... it just was."

Pam pauses and blinks a few times. "You're serious."

"No shit Sherlock." Santana sneers.

Pam tilts her head to the side curiously. "Right... well whatever it is that you think is going on here, it still doesn't excuse the fact that you've got some serious explainin' to do when Eric shows up."

"I'll deal with it." Santana gives a firm nod.

"Okay then, Tiger." Pam steps away from the desk and looks me up and down once more appraisingly. "Brittany – it's been a pleasure." Her tone doesn't match her words at all though. It's cold and sarcastic.

She sends a final warning stare at Santana before making her way back out into the bar.

When the door closes, Santana turns to me. "She likes you."

"Huh?" How the hell did anything in that conversation indicate that woman liked me?

"Just... trust me. She does." Santana smiles and it's almost shy.

Without saying anything else, she gestures for me to follow her through the second door – the one without a naked Mike and Quinn behind it – and down a metal staircase to what I assumed was a basement of sorts.

In my head, I'm still going over everything she said to Pam though. Santana seemed so sure and honest when she said there was something more behind her reasoning for turning me into a vampire than just blood and lust and selfishness. Could I really be special to her in some way? Not just another victim or play-thing or forced companion? I mean, I couldn't deny I felt something when she touched me... and when she looked into my eyes... But it was so often overshadowed by dislike or exasperation that I wasn't sure what it meant.

If not for her sincerity and conviction in that exchange with Pam, I would almost want to make fun of her for the way she had been taken down a peg by the other vampire. Before we'd arrived here, she'd totally put me off with the way she seemed so calm and arrogant and bigheaded. She made me think that she was completely in charge of every aspect of her life... I mean, un-life. I mean... whatever.

But she wasn't. And after seeing her brief display of honesty, I'm not sure whether to laugh at her or find the obvious slivers of substance and passion surprisingly alluring.

She may not be as high and mighty as she'd like to pretend but she's definitely not as stone-hearted as I first thought either.

My mother did always say not to judge a book by its cover.

"You'll be sleeping with me in my coffin since there aren't any spares right now." Santana throws back over her shoulder while we pass by a couple of said sleeping cases. "It's going to be a little cramped but, as your maker, I think it might help you to feel me close by for a while."

And there she goes, slipping right back into that 'I'm your maker and I know what's best for you' voice again. "I'm not a baby." I roll my eyes.

"You've only been a vampire one night. I'd say that constitutes infancy." Santana stops in front of a sleek black metal coffin and opens the lid to reveal plush, red velvet lining. "Now come on, it's almost sunrise."

I narrow my eyes at her but climb in anyway. It's actually large enough for me to lie on my side comfortably with plenty of space for her to slide in behind. And only a few seconds later, she does just that, closing the lid with a gentle tug.

It's suffocatingly dark inside and I can feel her body molded to mine closely at my back. She slides a cautious hand around my waist to draw me closer. I want to stay pissed off. I have so much to resent her for. This new 'life' is going to take an awful lot of getting used to. And part of me is still itching to fight against it until I have no voice left in throat and no strength in muscles. But right now, having her hold me just feels... right.

I don't push her away when she snuggles in tighter.

"We'll need to get you a shower and change of clothes later. We still have dirt all over us."

"And blood." I whisper.

"Well... that's something you'll get used to. But despite not sweating or ever needing to use the bathroom, becoming a vampire doesn't mean that you lose all sense of personal hygiene and decorum."

"Wait... I'll never have to go to the bathroom again?" I ask, amazed.

"Nope." She chuckles. "Your bodily waste emission days are now far behind you."

"Do you brush your fangs?"

Santana laughs again and squeezes her arm around me lightly. "I do. But only because I like the minty taste. Generally, our bodies self-maintain. Apart from needing to ingest large quantities of blood on a regular basis, we don't have to do much of anything."

"Weird." I mumble, my eyelids unexpectedly starting to droop. I hear some footsteps just outside our coffin and muffled voices. I guess other vampires sleep down here too.

"Can you feel it?" Santana murmurs after a few moments of silence.

"Hmm?"

"The sun." She sighs. "It's coming up."

I close my eyes fully and take a second to search for what she's describing. Then, like someone is holding a lit match close by, I sense a strange kind of warmth above me. "Yeah..."

"Make sure you pay attention to what your instincts tell you Brittany. The world is a very different place for you now." She yawns, resting her face at the back of my neck. "Don't worry though. I'll always be right here. I'll never let anything or anyone hurt you."

I hum quietly, only half taking in her words as I drift off into a dark, dreamless rest.