"Wow, you guys had some intense chemistry!" Beth commented after hearing Katherine describe her first meeting with the only person she had ever turned into a vampire. Katherine shook her head up and down.

"Yes." She said and sighed. "Yes, we really did. It was something I have never felt before and will never feel again." Beth could not tell, but she almost looked mournful.

"Why is that? First time you fall in love is the best time?" Beth asked with a smile. Katherine gave a sarcastic chuckled.

"You could say that. However, I am not sure that would be excuse in my case. First betrayal is always remembered more clearly than mere love. I knew there was a reason he came into my life. I could not let myself believe that he simply found me attractive or interesting, but he made me believe that. He had some motive. Of course…I was right." Katherine could remember every moment with Louis as if it was a testament forever seared in her mind.

"I don't understand, sir. Why are you not home? There is a civil war waging. Just in March there was the Battle of New Ross fought in Ireland. Why are you not there?" She asked as they walked through the garden. Louis Joyce had found time everyday after the party to visit the Colberts. Her Father at the first calling asked his daughter what the meaning of it was. She simply replied that he caught her fancy, an innocent distraction. He reminded her bitterly that he was a human, and she was a vampire, but not just any vampire. She had a great more to hide than the average vampire did. She was one of the most powerful vampires, not from simple strength, cleverness, or age. She had human traits that her father could never dream of using again. She walked this moment through the garden in the middle of the day. She had all the vampire strengths and almost none of the weaknesses, and so there were more reasons to protect her own.

"I could ask the same of you, madam. Why is your Father not participating? Why are you not in England?" Louis challenged her.

"My Father has not a side to choose. He wishes not to be involved. We are rather happy traveling and enjoy being unattached to loyalty or bid for war." The truth is that they had changed their identity and location so many times that they were able to slip in and out of roles as was needed. It was dangerous for them to be political or even loyal to any country or issue. They remained neutral as a matter of protection. Civil wars and wars in general perpetuated paranoia in people, and they began to believe what they saw before them. Such a situation proved too unstable for them.

"That is quite a feat you have surmounted. Pray, why would the King allow so much? Are you highly favored?" He asked with a teasing air, but Katherine felt as if she was involved in an interrogation. Her frustration was becoming harder to hide with simple manners. She paused and placed a fake smile on her lips.

"We do not involve ourselves in Court often, and we are not favored. Perhaps he has heard of my beauty and charm and thinks it cruel to leave me in the world fatherless as well as motherless." She then walked away from him proceeding down the lane. He followed close behind her.

"Pray, Master Louis, why are you not involved? Are you highly favored? I fear the King might not adore the beauty of men as he does women." She jested. She ceased walking and turned to confront him. He stopped before her.

"I am a simple Irish man, milady. What hope or skill can I give a King? I am alike with you in my neutrality." He approached her close and held his hand out asking for her own. She offered it and he kissed it.

"It is quite comforting to find one in agreement with my own sentiments and convictions." He smiled at her. She scoffed and laughed at him. She felt a stone drop in her stomach, but could not admit to herself that it could be fear.

This man off balanced her, by his very touch. She had been puzzled until this moment what faint emotional signal he was sending out. She concentrated to read him and found an acute sadness affecting him. Katherine was equally concerned about his sadness as well as her curiosity about it. She should not be caring about this human as she found herself doing. She watched this man holding her hand. His touch had so many stories waiting to be shared and his eyes cried out to tell them. She instantly became overwhelmed with her desire to connect with him, and her instinct for self-preservation.

"Master Louis, I am afraid I have allowed too many intimate acts to pass between us for you believe that you know my entire character. I will never be anything to you but a true mystery. Savor the opportunity to know such a woman who will not give herself completely in hope of affection." She said as she turned on her heel to continue down the lane. She knew she was playing with him. She knew that she could end the relationship at that moment, and end a possible danger to either herself or him. Nevertheless, she continued. She was in some way having fun. She could end the visit but not the relationship. She was not that cold yet.

"Katherine, have I offended you?" He asked as he caught up with her breathless.

"No, sir." She said firmly.

"Then why do you rebuke me?" He asked stepping in front of her to stop her motion. She disliked very much to be held back. She would try to move and he would move in front of her again. Her anger once again overwhelmed her, but he stayed calm. How was she not affecting him?

"I wish to know your motivation, Master Louis. I have allowed this dalliance to continue with you now as you have called for the third time this week for my company. One is not motivated to be in company with a single woman unless an agenda is quite in motion. I demand to know your intentions." She watched Louis for any faltering, but he stood before her most confident. Why could she not intimidate this man? Why was he so insistent?

She had the strange temptation to show him her other face, the face that would send him reeling in fear. However, since her night of mercy towards the girl she fed on, she began to feel guilt or perhaps humiliation in the idea. She wished not to be known as such by this gentleman. She wished to be what he wanted her to be, and the idea was fearful to her. She had never had to change her character in any way for a human. That was ridiculous! He was weaker than she was, and would die in such an undignified manner in a short time compared to her. Why could she not resist the idea of pleasing him? Of being pleased by him?

"Intentions? Is this not a demand usually produced by a father or guardian?" He smiled back at her.

"I am in control of my own life. I do not seek courtship or marriage in any case, my lord." She shot back.

"Then you are a rarity in such times, another contradiction to present tradition and protocol. But then I have not proposed the notion of courtship nor marriage, have I?" He answered back, still with a smug smile. She came close to him with a rage inside of her. He must know. He simply had to know. Why would he be so arrogant? So sure of himself?

"Yes, a rarity I am, a rarity that must ask for this visit to be concluded. I fear perhaps my uniqueness will endanger your proper character, although I find that kind of temptation never to be lost on simple Irish men." She turned quickly and headed to the house.

"Katherine!" He tried to catch her again. "Katherine I was only kidding. There is no need for offense." But she kept walking, ignoring the gentleman. She was flustered with a sure amount of confusion, attraction, and concern. She did not listen to the pleas from the man to come back.

He left the house minutes later leaving her with a sense of calm, but not of peace. No, peace was something she rarely felt, surprisingly it was usually after his visits. Even though he made her blood boil hot with lust as well as with genuine rage, she felt content with him, almost secure. She knew that the feeling was folly. Such personal attachment especially to a human would only bring her hazard for her heart and safety. Even though she had long fights inside of herself to remember such conclusions when she was alone, she lost all of these in the presence of him. It was only a primal voice that reminded her of her power yet vulnerability. She was unable to contain herself though when a letter arrived after sunset.

My Dearest Katherine,

My sincerest apology is in order. I am truly in grief for causing such an offense. I must confess though there is a motivation, an agenda.

I wish to be close to you, to learn of your life and circumstances. I know you are not as a traditional woman, I knew that the moment I met you. I find that so very refreshing.

If indeed you are not, then please join me for supper tonight at my current lodgings. It is a house outside of the city. I will send my driver to retrieve you at 8 o'clock.

I hope to see you, milady. It would gladden my heart immensely.

Yours most truly,

Louis Joyce

She left the letter on the desk and quickly dressed. She would meet this man. She was unafraid. What ever he might be, whatever he had against her, he would be no match for her. A swell of youthful pride ran through her, clouding her judgment. What harm could he wield against her? What hurt could he truly inflict? She smiled at the thought.

She waited patiently in her room until she knew his carriage was at her doorstep. She did not wish to explain her soon whereabouts to her father, who she was sure, would disapprove. She exited her room quickly and quietly told her attendant to tell the household she was resting and did not want to be disturbed. She quickly and quietly took the stairs down the foyer to exit the front door. She had her hand upon the knob when she heard his voice.

"I suppose he summons you then." Her father came into view. He crossed his arms and took full inspection of his daughter across the room. He was an intimidating man in his human life, but as a vampire, he could be terrifying. Even though she was stronger than him and more powerful, she still felt a deep need to obey him.

"It is very late you know. Of course you do." He crossed the distance to Katherine. "What are you doing, Katherine?" She scoffed at him, grabbed the knob once more, and opened the door. He quickly intercepted her arm before she could cross the threshold.

"You may be more powerful Katherine, but you can fall just as hard as the rest of us. You know they won't like this, and if you don't stop it they will." Whenever the word "they" was used between Katherine and her father it was understood they spoke of the Bloodline. The society she was to be a head of; that she would change. She made no decisions now, but that was soon to change. She did not enjoy being paraded about as the "miracle of vampires", but at the same time she was unsure of being in charge of a society that she did not believe in. The Bloodline frightened her, and it was a feeling she had not been used to until recently. They controlled the world, and even she was not immune to their wrath.

"He might bring some distracting charm and excitement to you Katherine, but a relationship like this is dangerous." He warned.

"I supposed you would be the authority on dangerous and forbidden relationships with humans. After all, how would I have come about?" She answered back and tried once more to go through the door but he tightened his grip.

"They will not think twice to dispose of one little Irish man, Katherine. You will find him dead…in pieces." She ripped her arm from his grasp and forcefully grabbed the lapel of his coat. She knew she was stronger than he was and she wanted to remind him once more.

"If you touch him or they come near him, I will paint the world with all of your and their blood." She hissed. She pushed him back as she let go of him. The feelings she felt were not completely towards her father. They were towards the Bloodline, but they were not there now to suffer her temper.

"I dare you to align yourself with them, Father. Your loyalty belongs to me totally, or you would do well to join my Mother." The last barb that she shot towards him wounded him more than she had intended and she could feel in its full severity. He stared at her hurt and exposed. He nodded with his shredded dignity evident and left her alone by the door. She stood for several moments regretting her last words to her father, but she did not seek him out to apologize. She did not yet have the humility for that. She wanted to forget, and so she left.

She climbed into the dark carriage and rode alone with the adrenaline buzzing happily in her ear, and she felt the rage she unleashed moments ago surrender to her suppression. She suddenly felt a surge of emotion she had never allowed herself. She supposed that it was the passion from her human side. She had observed mortals trying their best to preserve their present, to savor every drop of life. She had wondered what that might have felt like. She was assured of a long and wealthy life with no end. She had even been severely injured and deathly ill, yet she lived. She had at one time as a teenage became infatuated with her immortality and even on several occasions tried to take her own life. Each time the blood only kept flowing and the poison never took full effect. She was trapped.

In time, she began to accept her fate and even started to enjoy it. To live forever meant power, and no human is more susceptible to the temptation of any power than a woman in Katherine's birth time. She was revered and catered to despite her sex. She was more powerful than any human, and any vampire. She was alone, but she would not suffer from loneliness. She became promiscuous and reckless, but this too would pass. She would calm once more. Then she began to understand the responsibility of her position, and she was trapped once more.

Perhaps Louis made her feel alive as a human, but she knew he made her feel intoxicatingly insignificant. He talked to her the way he liked. He challenged her and taunted her. He touched her without permission and with obvious lust in his eyes. It might have been a game she did not know the rules to, yet still she played. It might even offend or frighten her at times, but it was a game that excited her.

As the carriage pulled outside the city Katherine felt her skin grow hot. She was playing right into him. She felt the tingle of fear. What was she doing? Was it just for a rush? Was it rebellion? Or perhaps suicide? She did not know, and she could not care. She just wanted to be held by him. She wanted him, and she could not understand why. She just wanted to fade into his world, his life if only for a night.

When she finally arrived to the house, her body was shaking. When the doorman came to escort her out of the carriage she hesitated, biting her lip and closing her eyes. This was the last surrender into desperation. She had been questioning who he was, but who was she? What monster was she? How had guilt snuck into her life when the creatures around her practiced none? Anything he was could not match her.

"Katherine?" She looked up. There he was. He reached out his hand for her, and she took it. She could not take her eyes from him.

What enchantment has he placed on me? She thought to herself.

The firm grip of his hand steadied her, but the light in his eyes spun her. She had not noticed her surroundings. She found herself in a private parlor before a fireplace. His eyes bore right into her. She felt herself shake with emotion and could not form a thought. His hand trailed down her face and settled on her neck gently. She breathed heavily. She could not stand his penetrating blue eyes anymore. When she looked down away from them, she could see nothing but the color.

"Why did you ask me here?" She whispered. He lifted her face towards his.

"Why did you come?" He replied. She would have normally had some witty retort to give him but she could not form words. She could only see emotions all inside her and around her. She felt his feelings of melancholy and loneliness as well as her own. She felt the passion from both of them. She suddenly found a sob escaping her and she collapsed. He followed her to the floor as she cried.

"Katherine, it is alright." He whispered as he brought her close and tried to calm her.

"No it isn't." She sobbed. "You don't know what I have done. You don't know who I am." He lifted her face to his.

"I know Katherine. I know." He said with so much sincerity that she wanted to believe it was true. He kissed her gently on the lips and waited for her return of affection to continue. His arms wrapped around her and in the moment, she was human. Passionate. Vulnerable. Mortal. She felt herself dying in some strange way. With this man, she had no rule, but she was not powerless. It was equal terms. When they began to make love, she did not think of consequences or conquest. She did not have an ulterior motive or regret in her mind against her actions with this man.

She would fall asleep with this man with a feeling of contentment. She felt loved and valued for whom she was, instead of what she was. Katherine did not think of the future, or what her attachment to this man would mean. She finally had accomplished what she wished to do, and that was to live in the present.

She woke up beside the fire with him still holding her. She turned over and he smiled happily watching her wake. He kissed her gingerly as if it was their first kiss once again. He traced the curves of her face and body. It was a moment she cherished, and then he made a request.

"I want you to turn me, Katherine."