NOTES: Regretfully, I have to inform you all that this story is on an extended hiatus. My partner in crime, Somethinginthenothing (also known as Lilnuglet), has taken a leave of absence. Yes, she will return one day. Yes, we will try to pick up writing the story from there. Until that time, she has asked that I let you all know the situation and extend to you her apologies. Neither of us are happy that the circumstances ended up this way. However, in the interest of the story (and due to real life problems on my end, as well), I'm not going to try to complete it by myself. It'll happen when it happens!

Thanks to everybody who's been reviewing and following, though. Seriously, I really appreciate it and I hope this installment tides you over until such a time as we can do more. Your patience is appreciated.

Jessex (and Lils)

~ Chapter Four: Creatures Of Habit ~

When Anna woke up, her eyes were sore. They were always sore these days. After that night, she hadn't been able to look at Elsa, look at herself, without getting a violent wave of repulsion that brought on a flurry of tears. She had been eating less, as well; she couldn't stomach more than a few bites of anything. She didn't deserve more than a few bites.

Therefore, the sight of a red-eyed Elsa hanging over her bed took a few seconds longer to register in her mind than it normally would have. Anna nearly screamed, pushing back against the head of her bed as she scrambled to sit up.

"What the heck are you doing, Elsa?!"

Swaying slightly, Elsa allowed her hand to fall to the footboard. She was wearing her usual, presentable clothing, complete with high collar and cloak. She also looked completely sloshed. "Anna. Good morning. How... did you sleep?"

Even from a distance, Anna could smell the alcohol on her sister's breath. She drew back in disgust, but forced her expression to remain impassive. "Elsa, you need to leave," she said firmly, pointedly ignoring her greeting and question.

"No," Elsa snapped angrily, levelling a finger at Anna. It only swayed in the air slightly. "No, you have avoided me long enough. We need... to talk about what happened."

"We're not talking about anything," Anna said coldly, pushing her sister's hand away. "This is my room. You do not get to order me around. Get out."

In an instant, both of Anna's hands were trapped in the small of her back, her face being pushed against the pillow, the Countess's weight and steely grip holding her easily in place. A mouth tipped down to graze over her neck, the scent of drink on it pungent... and laced with something else: blood. "Isn't this what you wanted from me? To lessen the distance between us?"

Anna let out the tiniest of whimpers. Despite her desires, both in favour of and against this course of events, tears came to her eyes. "Please stop before you do something you'll regret," she said softly, ignoring the question once again. She was growing slightly hot in areas she shouldn't, and it made her feel even more ashamed. Her sister's breath smelled of blood and alcohol, which repulsed her, and yet it made her heart race and her brain struggle to work.

"Oh, I am in control now." Elsa effortlessly trapped both wrists with one hand so she could reach up and capture a fistful of coppery hair, jerking it back to growl directly into her ear. "And I remember. I remember how you enticed me, how you rolled atop me. Your desires outweighing your sense, giving in to temptation. Your insistence that you are the monster. Tonight... I have come to remind you who the monster is."

"It's me," Anna argued. "I make you feel things you do not want to feel. You want to be good, but I make you forget that. I don't hate you, it's... just the way it is. We should be separated. You said it yourself. And perhaps yes, the species that you are can be monsters, but you're not, Elsa." She stared up into her sister's eyes and smiled weakly. "Just get off me... and go away. It's better for both of us."

Slowly but surely, Anna's gentle, sober words filtered through the alcohol-saturated mind of her elder sister. The eyes dimmed to indigo, though they did not return to blue. "I... should not have done what I did this night. Feeding on that wino. It was a desperate, foolish act of a desperate, foolish woman. I am sorry." Yet her hands did not release Anna. Instead, she held her a moment longer while she pressed a kiss into her temple.

"Get away from me, lest my desires return, Countess," she said very quietly, her voice breaking as she spoke. She did not want her sister to leave; she wanted to hold and cherish her. Searching her sister's gaze, she added with a weak little grin, "And I told you alcohol doesn't solve all problems."

"Perhaps you have a point." Indigo eyes began to lighten as the lips drifted closer to Anna's smiling ones, but then they stopped and smiled themselves. "We... shall have to take this very, very slow." Without anything else moving, the hand on Anna's wrists opened.

"Thank you," Anna mumbled politely, avoiding Elsa's gaze as she rubbed her own wrists. "Now escort yourself out of my bedchambers, if you don't mind."

"Why would I do that when I'm where I'd most like to be?"

Slightly flustered, she continued, "I have plans today. I'm going to church; I think that, perhaps, I might become a woman of the cloth. Not... in this town, of course. The bible says that lust is a sin - that feeling lust for the same sex is also wrong, and that incest is damnable. I feel all of those things all the time, so..."

The smile on Elsa's face turned slightly wry as the fingers in Anna's hair scratched lightly over her scalp. "The Bible is an old book written by old men. They don't have the interests of the fairer sex at heart." Then her expression grew more worried. "Promise me you'll think very deeply on that choice before making it. For some reason, I cannot see that life being fulfilling for you, dear sister."

"Your opinion doesn't matter! Whether the book says it or not, they are terrible sins, Elsa!" She pressed closer to the other woman, shame written across her face. "Even now, I see you, and my thoughts are consumed by the need to kiss you, embrace you, feel you make love to me... bite into me, feed from me until there's nothing left. I'm sick, Elsa. No, it's not what I want, but I should spend the rest of my life in a habit. It's for my own good. Both of our own good."

"You aren't 'sick', you're..." But Elsa was beginning to feel her senses fill with the scent of Anna's arousal once more. There could be no denying that, if those were indeed sins, she was guilty of them. "But who am I to condemn you? A monster, a demon. To me, there is nothing you have done wrong other than... failing to suppress your desires."

"Those... desires, they're wrong. Even you said they were, remember?" She turned fully towards the other woman, her face deadly calm now. "And you are not a monster. You have done nothing but take care of me and protect me. I am the monster for I throw it back in your face, want more and more when you give me all that you can. A gluttonous, sinful monster. You are not sinful, you only do what is natural to you. For that... I blame God."

The Countess stopped to take in a deep, cleansing breath before she spoke again, disregarding Anna's blasphemous comment. "I don't think of you that way. Do you hear me? I... cannot deny that your predilections pose a serious... hurdle, but please, I have to do my best to persuade you to stay!" She reached hesitantly toward Anna's face, then pulled back, clutching her own wrist. "No. No, I shall not do this now, I... am not in my right mind. My sister, will you consent to join me for dinner so that I might be in a more fit state to... to speak about this at length?"

Anna drew back and turned away. "No, I mustn't. I cannot risk being in your company for longer than this; it brings me pain. Knowing what I did to you the other night..."

"To me?" With a light chuckle, Elsa gestured to herself. "I am whole. All the things you did, you did to yourself, not I. That... saddens me, but I don't want you to paint yourself with an overly judgemental brush. We will survive this. We will be stronger for it."

Much though Anna wanted to continue denying it, she could not resist the smile on her sister's face as she attempted to draw her away... or the desire for food that rumbled loudly in her belly. They both heard it, and shared a bemused smile. She hesitantly slid nearer to the Countess, touching her arm very gently. "Then I shall join you."

"You... you will?" Her smile widening, Elsa stood from the bed - and then swayed from the alcohol still in her blood. "Good, but you... may need to take breakfast... without me. I'm still in no fit state, and am ashamed of how you're seeing me. Tonight? Say you'll come."

Staring deep into her sister's eyes, Anna let loose a soft sigh. "Whatever you desire." Hesitantly, she placed a warm kiss on the corner of the Countess's mouth, lingering for just a moment too long. "I'll see you tonight, then."

The Countess shuddered visibly and pushed herself away. This time, despite her inebriated state, she was far more aware of her own limitations, and chose to exercise discretion. From the doorway, she paused just long enough to utter, "Tonight."

~ o ~

When the evening arrived, Anna dressed as modestly as possible, leaving no room for even the slightest temptation. Her heavy cloak would not come off whether her sister mentioned it or not. Seeing Elsa gaze upon her was enough to make her lose herself, and she could not afford to do that again. She slipped down the hallway to the dining hall, heart beginning to skip in her chest. She was leaving their home. How would Elsa be without her? She probably would not even notice.

The double-doors to the dining hall began to creak open and Elsa's blonde head rose to watch Anna enter with a cocked eyebrow. "You're awfully... covered this evening, dear sister."

"I am," Anna responded, letting her eyes wander over her radiant sister before forcing her gaze away and settling down in a seat.

"I've had the kitchens prepare you something special," the Countess said with a very slight smile before clapping her hands together. As the servant entered with a silver covered tray, she went on, "One of my favourite dishes from my adolescence. From before my taste for human food began to wane, you understand."

When the dish was uncovered, Anna found she had been presented with a plateful of diced, herbed potatoes, braised asparagus, and a fine-looking cut of steak.

Anna's mouth watered. She had to stop herself from tearing into the rather delicious looking chunk of meat. Instead, she offered her sister a smile, still not meeting her eyes. "It looks wonderful."

Laughing, Elsa opened the silver cover of her own dish and inhaled. It was clearly visible that there was no plate inside, though a large puff of steam from the kitchen wafted up toward her face. "Ahh... still smells just as I remember it. Hope you don't mind your cut being a bit pink; as my vampirism manifested, I wanted it rarer and rarer until it was barely cooked. Yours isn't nearly so rare as that, of course!"

"It's no problem at all," Anna answered immediately, and began to eat, gaze flicking between her plate and the Countess. Elsa looked pleased for some odd reason. "You are in a very good mood, Sister," she commented.

"I am. Because... I have you in my life." Fidgeting, she picked up the napkin to dab at the corners of her mouth, purely out of habit rather than any necessity. "You saw me at my absolute worst this morning, and at my least human a few nights before, and yet you have relented to dine with me. It warms my cold, half-dead heart."

"Well, I'll be leaving soon, won't I? I want to spend time with you before I go, if only a little - and how can I refuse you when you ask me the way you do? So sweet..."

Instantly, Elsa's expression fell. She remained quiet for a long moment as she stared down into the shining surface of the silver dome on the setting before her. "So then you... still mean to go."

Anna didn't say anything for a few moments; she simply ate, her eyes downcast. Then, throat tight, she responded in as measured a voice as she could manage. "Of course. It is not a choice."

"I've forced you from your home," Elsa breathed, holding perfectly still. "My condition, it makes it impossible for you to stay. There is no justice. Shall..." Looking up, she cocked her head slightly to one side. "Shall I go and leave you to the castle? I would, very gladly."

"No, it's not about you!" Anna exclaimed. "This... well okay, it is, but it's not about you being a vampire, Sister. It's about my desires. I simply need to be... purified. Becoming a wife of the Lord is the only option if I wish to cleanse myself. I would go whether you left me the castle or not," she finished, meeting her sister's gaze head on, her own blue-green eyes beginning to fill with tears.

The look on Elsa's face grew very drawn as she watched Anna's go through so many varying emotions in such a short period. This was disastrous to her. "But you don't need to! You... are so perfect exactly as you are now! Why should you wish to purify what is already pure?" Seeing that Anna was not so easily swayed, she leaned in slightly and said, "I know it pains you that you tempted me, but it is also my responsibility to hold my instincts in check. That is a vow I made to myself long before you began to tempt me, and it is something I must uphold now, but... without you in my life, what meaning is there? Why should I continue on, knowing that the one thing I promised never to sully... had no choice but to escape from my purview?"

Anna heard the honestly in her sister's voice, the intense emotion, and once again could not meet her gaze, biting her bottom lip as she contemplated. She felt as if she was abandoning the Countess... but surely, becoming a nun was the only way, wasn't it? Perhaps. For now, it seemed she must not press the issue. Elsa was far too distraught.

"A... as you wish, my sister," she responded meekly - then let out a soft gasp as her hand slipped, the knife slicing cleanly into her flesh. "Ow!" She covered it with her other hand, pain coursing through the two fingers she had cut.

Instantly, Elsa was at her side. Not "instantly" as in "soon", but meaning that in the time it took Anna to wince and cover her hand, Elsa was suddenly there, bending over her shoulder. "Anna, are you alright?!"

"Yes I'm fine, just a bit of..." Anna's words cut off and she swallowed. The tenseness in her sister's body was practically palpable as she shifted her fingers, watching with dismay as a single, crimson drop fell.

"Blood," she finished.

The Countess nearly shoved Anna out of the way in her haste to pounce on the droplet where it lay on the tabletop, quickly fetching it into her mouth. Next instant, she was shivering in delight. All Anna could see from her vantage point was the back of her head, platinum hair in its ornate bun, but the body language told the tale. "Mmmhh..."

Anna was ashamed that the sound of her sister's pleasure was enough to bring the heat between her legs again, but her primary concern was for her well-being. "Elsa, f... forgive me, I was clumsy... tell me you are alright! You did not lose yourself, did you?"

Every hope was shortly dashed. When Elsa turned, her irises were completely red, glowing in the low light of the dining room. Her lips were curled up to reveal her long, sharp fangs, tongue lolling out and smeared with the tiny amount of blood resulting from the cut. Her eyes trained on Anna's, not wavering, stabbing down deep into her soul.

A gasp escaped the younger woman's throat as she shuddered, mouth watering almost as much as she was sure her sister's was. She found she could not look away and that she had never before seen the Countess's eyes such a violent shade of crimson. There was a mindlessness in her sister's gaze – a hunger, a craving – that it was clear only Anna could appease.

"Sister, let's not do this again," she begged, backing away quickly. As she moved, the scarlet eyes roved down to the hand. Like an animal, she darted forward and ran her face along her arm, down and down toward the cut, but she face hovered down by the wrist as her own hands came up to caress both arm and fingers gently.

Then Elsa spoke, in the darkest, most hollow tone of voice she had ever used in the lady's presence. "Mmhhh... Anna smells so sweet..."

Anna trembled, tears filling her eyes. Why did her sister have to become this? This monster? "Elsa, control yourself," she pleaded gently, even as she felt the soft, pleasurable digits sliding along her skin. Her heart was beating in her chest... and she realized she was failing to resist herself again, despite all her promises and good intentions. "Don't touch me!"

She brought her hand up in an attempt to strike her sister's face. She was not sure if she would succeed at it, but she was hoping her sister would realize what was happening.

Of course, the strong hands of the vampire easily caught up Anna's arms, forcing the one nearer her face away. Then they pulled up. Then Anna was suspended above the floor, the toes of her shoes just an inch from the carpet. Elsa looked as if she were doing nothing more strenuous than holding a glass of wine aloft. All the while she stared with unseeing eyes. Did she even realize who Anna was? Or was she just another meal now?

"Please hear me..." Her sister was not her sister. Anna shifted in the firm grip, distressed at the loss of contact with the ground. With a soft whimper, she leaned down and captured her lips. It was the all she could do, the only thing she had left: surrender.

At first, nothing happened; the cold lips remained immobile. Then Elsa slowly began to respond, her mouth kneading ever so slightly into the one above her, delicately, as if Anna's lips would shatter if she moved too quickly. Little by little, Anna was lowered to the floor once again, but she was not released. Anna leaned into her sister's mouth, loving the sensations of their lips pressing together. Her sister tasted as she always did, and the tight, possessive grip she held on Anna was stimulating. She slowly slid her fingers into the ornate blond hair, recognizing a flicker of Elsa in those crimson eyes. Shame and guilt poured through her as she hoped, desperately hoped, to be able to kiss Elsa like this just a bit longer...

But it was not to be. Just as Anna gave herself over entirely to the kiss, Elsa swished her tongue through her open mouth before drawing back to press her lips into Anna's forehead and whisper, "You, my dear sister... have saved us both with your love. How do you not know your own strength?"

The press of tongue between her lips as they met skin was enough to send a strong rush of need through Anna, and her knees went week. "B... because I am not strong at all, Sister. Perhaps... I am the vampiress, for I am addicted to your taste. I want to feel you inside me instead of the other way around, just once." Realizing the words that had fallen from her lips, Anna covered her mouth and backed away a bit. "I must get some sleep," she muttered hastily before slipping out of the dining hall as quickly as possible.

Once she was alone, the Countess stared down at her own hands. When had she released her sister? Or had Anna somehow broken through her supernatural grip with no power of her own? With the words "I want to feel you inside" echoing through her mind, she clutched the cloak tighter about herself and glided out of the dining room toward her study. A lot of thought was needed before she could decide what could be done about their terrible predicament.

~ o ~

The following evening saw a coach being pulled over the drawbridge by a horse with glistening haunches under the moonlight. Elsa looked out over the moat from its window, face drawn and closed off. She was still feeling quite jumbled inside from her most recent encounter with Anna. All factors carefully weighed, it had not gone nearly so badly as it could have, but they still had quite a lot of work to do. Of course, they could not work on those things if she was unable to be in the same room as a wounded Anna without devolving into a disgraceful beast, and therefore a visit to the fair nuns of St. Idun's was in order.

Kai bowed his head to his mistress as he opened the might doors of the church. "Madam," he said kindly, a smile on his jolly face despite the current situation and what he knew she was here to do. He would take upon the carriage once the Countess had gone back inside.

As she had done so many times before, Elsa strode down the aisle and knelt before the altar, crossing her heart and saying her prayers. For her, it was as much old tradition as it was belief; part of her, despite her knowledge of her own dark purpose in life, still believed she and her family might be saved. To find their way to the heaven of yore. It was a small part indeed, atrophied and pathetic, but one she could not let die. If she did, then there truly was no hope for her.

One of the sisters went to Sister Inger with news that her Countess had arrived. Many days before schedule, but that had become more common lately. She wondered what was going on in that estate on the hill, but she would not probe in the Countess's business. Her job was to appease her appetite, like her father and mother before her. Clad in a polite smile and her black-and-white habit, she stepped out into the chapel.

"Countess. How do you do?"

"Evening, Sister Inger." When Elsa drew upright, it was clear that she had not been keeping well. Her irises were mostly blue, but sparks of violet could be seen in the flickering candlelight. "I'm afraid... I must call upon your services again."

"Do remember that there are nights made just for this, once a month," she said thinly before turning her face away. "I will gather the sisters, you can choose whichever. They are all prepared."

Elsa dipped her head in disgrace. "Yes, Sister. My apologies for my recent instability regarding my thirst. It has never been my intention. You can trust that in the near future, I'll be more... more watchful of..."

Something was not as it should be.

The Countess surged to her feet, cocking her head to one side as she inhaled a lungful of the stuffy air within the cathedral. A hint of something light yet musky lingered within the scents. It was very familiar – too familiar. "Sister... what is that?"

"Hmmm?" The Sister cocked her head, confused, regarding the blonde with curious eyes. "What do you speak of?" she asked, searching the church with her eyes, wondering what it was that she seemed to be inhaling in the air. "Perhaps it is just a particularly eager sister; you know how the young ones swoon when they hear of your arrival. Disgraceful, but youth is capricious by nature." With an exasperated sigh, she dismissed the matter and turned to leave. "This may take awhile, as most everyone is in bed; make yourself comfortable, Countess."

However, Elsa had no intention of making herself comfortable. The moment she heard Sister Inger's footsteps fade out of sight, her silent feet took her though the door that had been left ajar and into the rectory. The squashy armchairs looked welcoming, but those did not concern her; the scent was growing stronger. Following it to one of the small antechambers, she thrust open the door.

Lady Anna's teal eyes locked onto her sister, apparently only mildly surprised to find her in the entranceway. "Just curious if I look the part, you know? The second I heard the others scrambling, I didn't have a doubt in my heart that it was you who had arrived. I still hoped you wouldn't find me until after I was gone, though." Her voice shook, and her face shone with fear as she added, "I simply did not know how to say goodbye, is all..."

As Elsa's ears distantly took in the words, she could not believe what she as seeing. The voluminous black tunic and white coif somehow complemented her round, angelic, freckled cheeks. She was even wearing a large silver cross around her neck and a rosary hung from her belt. Truly dressing the part. Elsa could remember many times in their youth when Anna had wished to play dress-up, and it seemed some things never change. As she moved, the bottom of the habit swirled to reveal bare feet; it seemed she had not stepped into the clunky-looking shoes of the holy order quite yet.

"Good Lord," Elsa breathed, a hand at her lips. "You really... meant to follow through with it. You're joining the church."

"You know as well as I do that I didn't have a choice," Anna told her breathlessly, taking her sister's hands and running her own warm fingers along the frigid digits. "Last night is proof; you nearly hurt me, I nearly gave in, let you take my throat as yours. No longer, Sister." The well-covered head shook gently as she backed away a step and dropped her eyes, face full of guilt and doubt. "We cannot play this game any longer. In the long run it will only hurt the both of us. I didn't want this but we ran out of options, sister. Tell me you understand; would you not do the same?"

A pained look crossed Elsa's face, but she stepped in to brush a fingertip over the elaborate cornette poking up from atop the coif. "Is this bit even necessary? I've never seen any of the other sisters wearing cornettes."

Anna blushed, hastily pulling the rather ridiculous headpiece off and tucking it behind her back. "I... I just wanted to try it."

"Yes, of course." Smiling fondly, her hand then drifted down to cup her sister's gentle face. "And you do wear the habit well, but then again... you wear anything well."

"What is the point of you being back here?" Anna asked almost gruffly as she drew away from the older woman, searching for her own clothing. "Why don't you go sit in the pews and wait for your next donation instead of- of bothering me while I try to do the right thing for everyone?"

"Anna." Her hand shot out to ensnare one of Anna's wrists before she had a chance to think about it. "Please wait a moment. Talk it through with me."

"I did. And I don't know if you remember, but by the end of that 'talk' you wanted to eat me for dinner," she said softly, chewing her bottom lip. She simply did not have the energy to try and pull away from the Countess.

The biting drew Elsa's attention. Too much of it. Watching Anna's teeth gouge into her own flesh stirred the hunger again from where it lay just below the surface, and she was instantly panting and salivating... but she found she could think through her thirst-haze much more effectively than before.

"I... cannot deny that control has never been my strong suit, Anna. That's why I've tried so hard to simply keep myself apart; because a lapse that resulted in you being hurt would ruin me entirely. Also... it would be unfair for me to continue the charade, the pretense. To either of us." Eyes lifting, she whispered, "Your blood does call to me, and in a way no other blood has."

Anna's face heated. She licked her lips and drew back nervously, before taking another few steps closer. "You do not mean that," she whispered in disbelief. Her hands twitched with the urge to touch her sister, to hold her face as she kissed it, to guide Elsa's mouth to her throat. Instead, she wrung her hands together, shivering very lightly. "You are saying it to convince me to stay. You do not need to, sister..." Regardless of her words, she stared hopefully, the honest part of her heart praying she was wrong, that her sister indeed felt such an intense pull.

"I did not want to believe it. I hated the thought." Flinging her body around, she went to the door to grip the jamb for support, her other hand running through her perfect hair. "Damn me, Anna... for all those reasons I have told you before, for your welfare, I did not want to believe I needed your blood this way, I could not accept it! It still stabs at me from within my own chest, but... but what am I to do? The thought of losing you, of casting you off into servitude to a church you have never known all your life... I cannot bear any of it! Any!"

Anna wrapped her arms around her sister from behind, pressing her face into her back. "Then what will you have me do? Name it and I will do it. Even if you asked me to throw myself from the cliffs of Arendelle, I would."

They both stood in that way for many minutes. Cherishing the closeness, the moment. Then Elsa took a deep, steadying breath and held it for an eternal second before she breathed, "Stop me."

Anna did not breathe for a very long moment, then slowly reached around to cup her sister's cheek, drawing her face closer. Face aflame, eyes still unsure and nervous, she whispered, "No. I can't stop you. That power... is not within me."

"You must." When the Countess again opened her eyes, they were burning circles of pure red light. A rivulet of saliva ran from the corner of her mouth to her chin as she inhaled Anna's scent over and over, fanning the flames of her desire. "If I should begin to lose control... you must stop me before I do you serious harm. Only you have the power once I'm... once I lose myself. Can you do that?"

"Trust me," Anna whispered, excitement making her face flush as she put a finger to Elsa's lips, shushing her softly, before replacing the finger with her lips. Elsa's were moist. This time, their kiss would not end until she chose to end it.

Which was all the prompting Elsa needed. Her lips began to ensnare Anna's as she wrapped both forearms around the trim waist through the thick material of the habit, so hungry to taste her that she dipped her backward slightly. The vampire strength was more than enough to compensate for Anna's weight and their precarious position. Anna felt the flash of familiar heat as she tasted her sister, digging her fingers into her to keep from falling, forcing their bodies to press up against each other, her body hot in contrast to the Countess's cool, grazing her tongue along her fangs occasionally. She was trapped in her eyes, as well, those burning eyes that burned for her. It made her heart leap in her chest... made her feel a thirst of her own.

Why did Elsa feel such an urgency in this moment? It was as if she needed to flay the implied chastity of the nun's habit from around her sister's warm, vital young body. Every movement was charged with hunger and lust, and before long Elsa picked Anna up bodily and nearly threw her down into the room's only chair, never parting from her lips for even a single second.

Anna whimpered at the roughness with which her sister was treating her. It made her more excited. Elsa had given into her desires, yet had not lost herself. Staring into those hungry eyes for a moment, she grasped her sister's hand, pressing it eagerly upon her breast through her habit, forcing the top of it down and offering her throat in submission.

"Take from me," she encouraged, eyes full of desire.

Magnetism brought the fanged mouth to the exposed veins, the expanding and contracting skin where breath was running back and forth, back and forth. Pressing her lips to it left wetness from both her own and her sister's mouths. Still, she hesitated. As the mouth kneaded inward, she whispered, "I... it's not that I wanted this from the beginning. Please... please do not hate me."

"It's what I wanted from the beginning. And I could never hate you, sister." Lady Anna ran a soothing her through her sister's hair as she shuddered with pleasure – or was it the promise of it? The feeling of her sister's lips, the points of her teeth, was making her shudder, sending sparks down her spine. The promise of something altogether otherworldly.

"I don't mean this," she whispered with a light peck. "I meant... this." Then, after a rasping breath, Elsa's fangs broke the skin of her sister's neck.

Anna nearly screamed as she felt the Countess bite into her, and muffled the sound she did make in her sister's hair, whimpering. Pleasure coursed through her, pleasure she had never felt before. Nothing even like it. She could not control her body; it was as if the moment fangs pierced the skin, her body could no longer do without. She dug her fingers into her sister's hair, forcing her mouth harder against her.

"Deeper," she groaned in a lusty, raspy voice, biting into her bottom lip because the feeling was too strong to allow it capture all of her attention. But Elsa did not bite deeper - instead, she pulled away to stare into Anna's eyes, her own still blazing, blood smeared over her lips.

"Are you certain?" Her voice was almost a rumble of thunder. Anna whimpered pitifully as the thunder shook her bones, staring into a ruddy gaze with her own soft teal. She nodded swiftly, her pouty, plump mouth parted slightly and slick with moisture.

"Yes," she answered without even a shred of doubt in her voice. "Take all I have."

A smile lit the bloody lips. One swollen with dark lust and portents. "As you wish, my lady."

This time, when the Countess fell to Lady Anna's neck, she did not stop, did not hold back. Her fangs widened the twin wounds as her tongue lapped up the fluid of life that began to spill down, staining the white collar of the habit a rich, deep crimson.

The Lady's eyes rolled, and she nearly fell against her sister in her eagerness. There was little she could do but whimper, and listen to the sweet sound of the vampire drinking her essence. Her body burned everywhere, lips parting with gasps every few moments as if swimming and coming up for air. She could hear her blood coursing down her sister's throat, giving her life. Elsa was raw, needy, possessive... perhaps not purposely so, but the grip she had on Anna said one thing: mine. And Anna agreed wholeheartedly. She was Elsa's. The thought prompted her to close her eyes and allow herself to fall, to rejoice and give herself over fully to the ritual.

Movements jerky, Elsa drew back and gazed down upon her prize, her conquest. Red dripped down onto her own lapels as she grinned, mouth open and coated, eyes almost fully glowing so bright were the irises. Both hands passed up and down Anna's body, smearing the blood slightly before trailing up and sliding underneath her coif to press it back, revealing tangled and matted orange locks that echoed familiarity in her heart, that served as a touchstone.

"Aaaannnnaaa." It was a statement of purpose. It was a rallying cry.

"Say you love me, Elsa," Anna whispered desperately as she palmed her sister's cheek, kissing her and tasting her own blood before drawing back. Her heart slammed in her chest. Elsa was slick with perspiration and her eyes were beyond wild, beyond hungry. Golden locks were tousled from the way Anna had gripped them and her face was somehow both pale and flushed, not its usual fair and remote tone. Her fangs arced beautifully, and Anna touched them longingly, drawing her sister's face down her neck to somewhere lower. "Tell me you love me," she murmured again, eagerly.

"More than love you." The fangs raked over the skin instead of poking through, scoring it with shallow gouges. "I own you, Anna. You... are part of my collection." She raised up to smile darkly. "A collection of one."

Eagerly, she dove down and tore open a new well for her dark nectar, consuming every drop as it burbled forth, the energy of her precious vessel renewing her own as it filled her stomach. Anna's head swam; the words made her feel as giddy as the actions. When her sister bit into her, it was like she was biting into Anna's very core, her essence. She felt as if she no longer had any secrets, did not have a need to keep them any longer. Yes, she was her sister's. Always had been.

"I love you, Elsa, and... you are mine, too," she stated quietly but firmly, barely able to speak over the waves of pleasure coursing through her. Even if Elsa were to deny that, she would know it in her heart. They belonged to each other.

The tongue that lapped up the blood also smoothed over the punctures, closing them off more than if she had left them be as it trailed up toward Anna's jawline, drifting higher until it flicked over her earlobe. Then Elsa stopped and breathed in deeply, head weaving back and forth slightly.

"Oh, you could not imagine my surprise... when you presented yourself to me in your bedroom and I felt the call of your veins... in my own house, all along, like a forgotten chocolate from Christmas that has not gone stale..." A low, unstable moan as she licked along her neck again, unwilling to waste a single drop. "What a lovely gift you were."

"Tell me, Sister," Anna said softly as her eyes searched Elsa's. "Do we stop here, or will you take me in... every way that I desire? My blood is a siren's song with the way you describe it. Does my body call to you so? Do not forget: that night, I wished for more than your bite, and even now, I want what I wanted then." Her chest was beginning to slow as her sister stopped slurping from the source, closing her wounds as if they had never been open.

"That, we should not do," Elsa rumbled into the heaving chest. "Although... we already do as we should not." Again, she passed palms up and down Anna's sides, this time sending them lower, trailing over hips and thighs. On their way back up, she ran them over her lap instead, fingertips gouging in slightly. "Does my siren wish me to grant her another aria?"

"N... not here," she stammered, face crimson. "Not in this place, in these clothes... I want it to be special, intimate. Your siren will perform for you then, Countess."

"Perhaps I do not wish to wait," Elsa whispered with a leering smile as she leapt onto the chair, knees against the arm rests and gazing down at the sanguine sight beneath her. "I have you here and now. Waiting has only hurt us. If I were but to... remove these vestments..."

Probing fingers trailed down the habit, along the chain holding up the cross. But when they touched the cross itself, something curious happened. At first, it merely seemed as if Elsa was pausing for a moment, but when her other hand began to scrabble at her throat, the true nature of the circumstances were revealed to be more dire.

"Elsa? Elsa whats happening?" A part of Anna was glad for the interruption, but the other part of her was full of worry. Could she not breathe? She shook the woman's shoulder, then blinked as she realised that her sister had touched the cross just before this happened. She vaguely remembered something about a cross in those vampire books, about religious symbols being a sort of bane. Quickly, she took the necklace off of her throat, tossing it aside while staring into her sister's eyes, trying to soothe her.

"Come back to me, Elsa. Just come back to me."

At first, nothing happened. Then slowly, Elsa's eyes began to flutter, her chest began to rise and fall. Licking her blood-slicked mouth, she focused on her sister's concerned expression. "Anna? How... what was I doing?"

"Nothing... important. But you touched my cross." She stroked her sister's face, eyes wide with worry. "Are you okay? For a moment, I thought... I was going to lose you."

"I feel tired," Elsa admitted with a faint smile as Anna wet her lips nervously. "It's been a while, but I have come into contact with a crucifix before. Just... suppose I had forgotten. Nothing to worry your head over." Leaning in, she left a light kiss on Anna's cheek and whispered, "Shall we return home?"

Anna cupped Elsa's cheek and brought their lips together, smiling gently. "I'll go anywhere, as long as its with you." Her face was so red her freckles nearly disappeared. The idea of being able to kiss her sister whenever they had privacy was making her heart race.

Meanwhile, there was little innocence in the look Elsa was giving Anna; it was positively lascivious. As she brought her to her feet, Elsa said in a soft, plying voice, "Very well, we shall depart. But first... you should change back into your normal clothes."

"I don't know, I kind of like this look," Anna teased with a tiny giggle, swishing the robes back and forth with her hands. "You seemed to like it well enough a few moments ago..."

"You could wear anything ever crafted and be the most gorgeous creature ever to walk this realm, Anna." Then Elsa turned and seated herself in the chair as if it were a royal throne, gazing patiently up at the girl in the blood-stained habit. "Now... change."

Anna was speechless, breathless even, as she peeled the garments off. Would her sister not turn away? Her face flushed when she was in nothing but her smalls, feeling a tingle and warmth knowing the Countess's calm, cold eyes were on her all the while. Glancing around, she wondered where she had misplaced her other clothing before finally locating and picking it up, giving her elder sister a look at her shapely posterior before slipping on her other clothes and cloak.

The only comment from the Countess the entire duration of the clothing exchange was a single "Mmm" when Anna bent over to pick up her dress, prompting a quiet squeak. Once she was clothed, she raised her arms from the sides of the chair, a pair of boots in one hand and the other outstretched toward Anna. "Shall I assist you, my lady?"

"If you don't mind, Countess," she said lightly as she draped her ankle over Elsa's waiting hand, a smile gracing her features once more. She felt like she was dreaming. "What are you going to tell the uh, sisters, Elsa?"

"I need tell them little," Elsa told her gently as she slid the first boot on fluidly. "The bloody wounds on your neck should spell out the entire tale, I will think. Switch?"

Lady Anna blushed, touching her throat as she offered her sister her other foot. "Honestly... are they that bad? I cannot imagine the sisters will be accepting of this. It's obvious with your swollen lips and flush that you did more than feed."

The worry was evident in the younger girl's face and tone. Elsa had been seeking to ignore it, hoping that her indifference alone would convey that she also was not to worry. It seemed more convincing was needed.

"Sweet angel," she whispered as she pressed her lips against the top of the foot in her hand, "now, you are mine. Wholly my possession. Those things I own, I care for – especially you." Then her eyes blazed as they looked up and into Anna's. "And those who would dare threaten their well-being will live only long enough to lament they were ever born before I hang them by their own intestines."

The possessive, sweet tone in her sister's voice and the words that fell from her lips made Anna duck her head, heart thumping so hard it was threatening to fall out of her. She could not keep the smile off her face even at the violence at the end of the Countess's statement. Moreover, the lady flushed at the nickname she was graced with; she did not think she was an angel at all, but it was wonderful that her sister saw her in that light.

"Take me home, then," she murmured breathlessly.

Elsa's voice rumbled slightly when she answered; clearly, she was scarcely able to contain herself. "Gladly."

"Shall I call you 'Mistress' now that you own me?" Anna teased, toes wiggling and eyes twinkling.

"Countess," Elsa corrected, but she was smiling as she pulled the other boot on smoothly. "Or 'Sister'. Or 'Elsa'. Or 'Sir'."

"Not 'Sir'!" They both chuckled quietly at that one as Elsa rose. "What about 'Sweetness'?" she asked innocently, kissing her sister on the cheek before leaning against her, sighing happily. "Or... 'Beloved'?"

Nodding, the elder sister's fingertip grazed over Anna's upper arm. "We will explore all possible titles. We have plenty of time." She began to guide Anna toward the door, then hesitated. Lines of thought pulled at her forehead as she contemplated.

"What is troubling you?" Anna asked, face filling with worry.

"Will you be a dear and... retrieve that crucifix?"

Anna's worry did not recede but she nodded quickly, walking over to where she had laid the habit down and scooping up the necklace. "Whatever for?"

The look on Elsa's face was deeply frightened, but she hastily rearranged it into a blank one. "Just in case you need it... if I... if something were to happen. A precaution and nothing more."

The doubt in her sister's voice was readily apparent. And the guilt. She laid a firm hand on her forearm. "Elsa, I know I'm safe with you. There's no need for this. Every time something has happened we did not intend, I was able to stop you. We do not need this horrible thing. The idea of doing that to you again..." She shook her head, eyes haunted. "I cannot."

"We cannot predict the future," Elsa said firmly. "I am begging you to take it with you only because... because I cannot pick it up and carry it for myself. Please do as I ask of you, if only for my peace of mind?"

Clearly reluctant, she pulled the necklace on, frowning. "Alright, there. Now can we go home?" The thought of her sister becoming that monster again was not appealing. It had happened more than once now; she lost herself and Anna worried she would not come back. Perhaps this crucifix would be a wise safety measure, after all.

Looking at it with distaste, Elsa reached over and shook the neckline of her dress until the cross disappeared underneath. "No sense parading it about. Makes me feel ill to look at." Then she offered her elbow for Anna to take. "Back to the castle, then."

"Of course." Daintily, Anna took her sister's arm, squeezing it for assurance as they stepped out to where Anna knew the burning, judging gazes of the sisters would alight upon her. The thought made her flush, made doubts swarm in her mind, but she forced them back. She did not want to look ashamed at being with Elsa, did not feel ashamed about being with her.

Sensing Anna's misgivings, she whirled and narrowed her eyes at the sisters. Her own face was much more easily composed to look as if no more had transpired than a feeding.

"She offered. I accepted. No more will be spoken of this. Be grateful none of you will be required for this evening's feeding." Then, without waiting for another word, she spun and pulled Anna toward the door to the dais. Their castle awaited.

~ To Be Continued ~