"Effy? What the hell's going on? Where's Katie?" Emily was panicking by the time she finally got through to Effy. The other girl's phone had just been ringing and ringing for ten minutes solid with no answer. Emily had been close to going back in to the club and asking Sophia for help in finding her twin, regardless of what the consequences would be.
"I've found her." Effy replied with a heavy sigh, her voice sounded strained. She'd probably been going out of her mind just as Emily had. "I went out looking for her and when I got back she'd let herself in. She's asleep in my bed. Guess she just freaked out after all, I'm sorry for worrying you Ems."

"Thank god." With everything that had been going on she had feared the worst. For a minute she had thought that maybe Sophia's little game hadn't been to bait Naomi in to hunting after all, but to distract them so she could take Katie. If one thing would make Emily give in to Sophia it would be the threat of losing her sister. As much as they fought Katie was still her twin and she would do anything to protect her. When they were younger their mother had told them that being a twin meant that at one time they had been the same person, one special baby living inside of her belly that split in to two amazing little girls who shared the same soul. It was corny and the girls had stopped believing in it years ago, but something about sharing a soul still rang true to them. Emily couldn't imagine living with only half a soul. "Kick her arse for me for scaring us will you?" She smiled as Effy chuckled on the other end of the phone.

"I will in the morning. She's out like a light…I'm going to join her, 'night Ems." Effy hung up and shook her head at the sleeping figure lying in her bed. She had really though she and Katie were getting somewhere, that the other girl was ready take things further, but she'd obviously been wrong. Peeling off her clothes in to a pile on the floor she pulled on a clean t-shirt for bed and slipped in beside the sleeping Katie. She frowned as she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl; she was ice cold. Climbing back out of bed she pulled an extra blanket out of the wardrobe and draped it over the pair of them before she cuddled back in to her; she didn't feel the sticky blood on her neck or the crimson stains down the front of her shirt.

Over the other side of the city Emily called a taxi to take her back to Naomi's. She'd started to feel light headed since she'd nearly had a panic attack over Katie going missing and the alcohol in her system didn't help. She felt exhausted as Naomi opened the door for her, the blonde's eyes were dark and brooding and Emily felt like walking back out of the door. She didn't have the energy for another argument and as much as she cared for Naomi that seemed to be all they had been doing since Sophia had turned up. Emily wasn't sure whether what they had was worth the hassle. "I'm sorry." Naomi apologised as she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and softly kissed her. "You were right, I was losing it. I just feel like Sophia's running circles around us right now. Around me…"
"Naomi." Emily cupped her cheek as the guilt in the other girl's eyes shone through, but Naomi cut her off with another kiss.
" I need to be stronger Ems. I need to be able to protect you… soI'm going to start feeding on humans again, willing ones though, I'm not hunting."

"You don't have to do this for me-"
"I'm not. This is for me too Ems. I wanted to stop killing humans, not to stop feeding from them. I stopped for Gina, but I've spent the last thirty years fighting who I am; what I am. If I keep fighting this Ems, then I'm going to end up snapping and killing someone and it will probably be you. I couldn't live with myself if that happened." Emily could understand her reasoning, by denying herself human blood all together Naomi was more dangerous than even Sophia. One momentary slip of control and she could easily kill someone; whereas vampires likes Cook and Sam, who indulged in their hunger, were far more in control of it.
"How'd Gina take it?"
"She wishes I'd never tasted a drop of human blood, but that's nothing new. She knows this is for the best." Naomi sighed, she and her maker had ended up in a rather heated argument when she had announced her intentions, but in the end Gina had accepted her decision. The older woman was ancient and barely needed to feed at all, whereas Naomi was feeding almost daily on her diet of pig swill. By feeding on humans she would only have to take blood two or three times a week; she would no longer be ruled by her thirst, and, in time, she would be ready to take out Sophia for good.

Effy moaned as she felt a pressure at her neck and her eyes slowly opened to reveal Katie was the cause of it. Her lips were pressed against her neck, kissing a soft trail along it and up her jaw until she had to move to reach her lips. She straddled her under the covers, wearing nothing but one of Effy's T-shirts so her bare thighs were pressed right up against the barely conscious girl. As wake ups went it wasn't bad and Effy certainly wouldn't grumble about it if Katie chose to wake her up like that every morning, but she hadn't forgotten what Katie had put her through the night before. She kept her lips still as the smaller girl tried to coax her in to kissing back. Katie huffed and bit down on her lip, drawing a cry out of her. "Fuck! What is with you?" She snapped as she pushed her away and frowned. "You disappear on me last night and now you're all over me?"

Katie pouted up at her with big brown doe eyes as she crawled back up the bed to claim her lips. She started kissing Effy like it was the last kiss they would share, their lips crashing together as Katie's hand slipped between Effy's legs. "I'm sorry babes; let me make it up to you…"
"Katie!" Effy barked as she tried to clamp her legs together. She didn't know what was wrong, but something in her gut was screaming at her to stop the smaller girl.
"Baby, I needthis." Katie purred as she ground her hips down against the other girl and her lips went to her neck. "Please Effy, this is what I want, what I need…"

"Fuck!" Effy screamed as something sharp pierced her neck and she jerked her head back as she pushed Katie away a little more forcefully. The oldest twin actually growled at her as she steadied herself on the bed. Her eyes were wild and her mouth was covered in blood. Effy's blood. "No…no, Katie, no…" Effy felt tears stinging at her eyes and a lump in her throat that threatened to turn in to another scream. Katie's tongue darted across the razor sharp fangs in her mouth as her eyes narrowed on her trembling girlfriend.
"I need you Effy…I'm so hungry baby…"

"What happened to you? Who did this?" Effy was terrified of the creature sitting on the end of the bed, but she couldn't forget that it was Katie; even if she could snap her neck and drain her dry in the blink of an eye, it was still Katie; Her Katie. She tried to stay calm, to keep Katie talking and take her attention off the drops of blood running down her neck. Katie's eyes were almost black as they followed the path of a single drop of blood, a low growl building in the pit of her stomach. "Answer me! Who did this to you?" Effy used her anger; it was the only thing stopping her from running out of the room screaming. It wouldn't do her any good to make any sudden movements around a newly born vampire. While Katie's memories of her human life and her very humanity itself were still inside of her they were buried under the all-consuming hunger that was driving her. Effy had to keep her talking if she had any hope of keeping her life. She slowly stripped the pillowcase off the pillow at her back and pressed it to her neck to stop the bleeding; and Katie's beady eyes never left her.

"He attacked me…" Katie frowned as she tried to clear the fog her hunger had shrouded her memories in. Part of her knew what Effy meant to her and wanted her to carry on trying to distract her from the blood soaking in to the pillowcase at her slender neck, but a bigger part of Katie could still taste Effy on her lips and wanted to sink her fangs deep in to her throat and drink until there was nothing left.
"Who? Cook? Did he do this to you?" Effy felt her blood boiling. She knew Cook had a thing for her, and he and Katie fought like cat and dog, but turning Katie in to the thing she hated the most was low, even for him.
"No!" Katie shook her head. It was hard for her to think when the other girl's heart was going ten to the dozen, slamming against her chest and grating on the fledgling's last nerve. "It was…someone else…I was coming out of the off-licence down the street and he was there…he thought I was Emily…"

Katie wished that she could say her memories of what had happened were vague or missing all together, but she could remember every agonizing second in detail; from the moment her legs had finally given out from under her to the very last breath she had drawn as a human, lying in the park, her hair full of twigs and leaves and her blood pooling around her. "Why did he turn you?" Effy's hand was as steady as a surgeon's as she slowly reached for her mobile. She hit the first speed dial button that would offer her any help and left the phone by her side. If Katie noticed she didn't mention it.
"It was an accident...he didn't mean to turn me." Katie remembered the sour taste of her maker's blood pouring in to her mouth as she had driven the knife deep in to his neck and back out again. The wound hadn't been enough to kill him, but it had chased him off, leaving Katie to slowly die in the mud. Had it not been for the blood that had landed in her open mouth she would have died; instead her eyes had opened some time later and the world as she knew it had changed.

The streetlamps in the park were too bright for her sensitive eyes, the sounds of animals scurrying in the bushes around her were like nails on a chalkboard and the smell of the dead blood congealing beside her had turned her stomach. She'd been disoriented and out of sorts and the only thing her mind could pick up on was Effy. She'd made her way back to the house and when Effy hadn't answered she'd let herself in. Finding Effy's bed empty, but smelling gloriously of the other woman she had curled up on to it and finally given in to the sheer exhaustion her body felt. When she had woken up the transformation had finished and the pain was gone, but it had been replaced by something far worse; the hunger.

She had woken up with Effy nestled in to her side and everything about the other girl had simply captivated her, from her sweet scent to her soft warm skin, the hunger inside Katie had grown insatiable with every passing second. She hadn't understood it at first, had thought her overwhelming desire had been for something else, that's why she'd started kissing her neck; but then Effy had woken up and Katie's touch had set her heart racing and her blood pumping. She'd practically been able to tastethe other girl's blood and Katie's fangs had descended of their own accord, piercing the soft flesh of Effy's neck and releasing the sweet nectar inside as well as the madness Katie felt bubbling up inside of her.

She had tried to kill Effy. She had intended to drain her dry and even as she perched uneasily on the end of the bed there was part of her that still wanted to. She pushed that part of her down, trying to bury it as deep as she could. She had died trying to protect Effy, had ran passed her house and thrown away her last chance of salvation. He might have stopped if she'd gone inside, or she might have had more of a chance to fight him; but instead she had kept running, had died alone to protect the life of the girl she loved so much. The life she had been so close to snuffing out. "I don't want to hurt you…" Katie's voice was hoarse and choked as she stood up off the bed and backed away to the other side of the room. "I need…I need help, Eff."

"I know." Effy stayed where she was on the bed, her knees tucked up to her chest as she kept the pillowcase at her neck. The puncture wounds were shallow and had already stopped bleeding, but Effy kept them covered anyway, hoping to stop the scent of her blood getting to the young vampire. Katie was fighting for control, but her eyes were still wild and on edge and Effy didn't want to risk setting her off again. "It's going to be ok…" It really wasn't. Things were as far from ok as they could get, but she needed to keep the other girl calm.

Katie didn't answer her. She stood as still as a statue as her nostrils flared and caught the scent of Effy's blood. It was like a switch going off in her head as her eyes darkened and became engrossed on the blood stained pillowcase, the flimsy cotton was the only thing keeping her from Effy's delicious blood. "No." Her voice sounded clear. "It's not."

Effy screamed again as Katie darted across the room, she wasn't as fast as other vampires but she was still too quick for Effy to do anything about. "Katie! No!" She clenched her eyes shut and braced herself for the incoming attack, but it never came. She heard Katie whimper and opened her eyes to find Cook standing by the bed, holding Katie by the throat with one arm pinned behind her back. She would have breathed a sigh of relief had her lungs not felt like there were caving in. She'd hit the speed dial for Cook, knowing he would be closer than Naomi and faster. For all he was a prick he wouldn't see Effy hurt and the moment she hadn't answered him on the phone he had known something was wrong. He looked at Katie like she was something he had stepped in as he kept his grip tightly around her throat.

"Don't hurt her!" Effy pleaded even as her tears fell from her eyes and she choked back a sob. "Please Cook, it's not her fault! She can't help it!"
"I know." Cook looked over at Effy as she cowered on the bed, his eyes full of pity. "I have to take her away Eff. Somewhere safe-"
"Fuck off Cook! Let go of me!" Katie sprang back to life as she tried to wriggle free of his grip, but Cook was older and stronger and had no trouble in keeping hold of the struggling fledgling. His tone was sharp as he hissed in her ear.
"I do that Katie-kins and you'll fucking rip her throat out! Look, I know how fucked up everything feels right now and I know her fucking blood is singing to you Katie, but imagine how you'll feel if you kill her? Just come with me, yeah? We'll fix this."

"How?" Katie choked out as her watery eyes settled on Effy. She had tried to kill the person she loved most in the world, and she would forevermore look at her and see a beating heart, not the enchanting girl attached to it. Nothing could fix that.
"We'll start by getting you out of here, away from Eff, and then we'll get some blood down you. It'll take the edge off." Katie nodded and Cook removed his hand from her throat and unpinned her arm from her back. He kept an arm wrapped around her waist, knowing that he could easily stop her if she went for Effy again.

The other girl climbed off the bed, for all she was shaking she took a few controlled steps towards Katie, her eyes never leaving the smaller girl's, as though she was searching for something; for the girl she had fallen in love with. She heard Katie take a sharp breath and felt her body stiffen rigid as she pressed her lips to her cheek. Cook tensed, but the younger vampire didn't move a muscle as Effy cupped her face in her hands and stared her in the eye.
"It won't be forever Katie…You're coming back to me!"