The next morning, after a night of bad dreams that involved her mother scolding her for being weak and threating to throw her out of the house, Elizabeth came downstairs to breakfast, her eyes puffy as she sat down and nearly fell asleep in her cereal. "Are you okay?" Katherine asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Elizabeth stared at her for a few seconds, then pushed her bowl onto the floor and shouted, "No, I'm not a wimp, Mom! Shut up!" She then grabbed a letter off the table that was from Nadia and tore it up.

"Hey!" Katherine cried. "I haven't read that yet."

"Oh, I bet you wanted to," Elizabeth replied. "A letter from the daughter who is brave and a survivor and not scared of anything! Well, it's not my fault, okay? Stop judging me!" Then, she strode from the room and slammed the front door closed.

"What was that about?" Katherine asked. "I didn't call her anything, I swear!"

"I know you didn't," Gregory replied. "I believe you. Do you get the feeling that there's something going on with her that we don't know?"

"I do," Katherine replied. "Want me to force her to tell us?"

"No!" Gregory replied. "We should let her tell us on her own time. That's what's best."

Katherine sighed. "Oh, all right, fine!" She said. "You're wrong, but fine!"

Elizabeth spent the morning avoiding Charlie, until she finally told herself that she was acting like an idiot. She was her mother's daughter and thus should not be hiding from fear, but facing it head on. She caught up with Charlie just as his free period was beginning after lunch.

"What are you gonna do this period?" She asked him.

"Well, I was thinking I might go to the library and read," Charlie replied. "Are you okay? You've been avoiding me all day."

"Sorry about that," Elizabeth replied. "Nightmares about your fangs. I didn't sleep well last night."

"It should be me who apologizes for that," Charlie replied. "You have to know that I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Yeah, I know," Elizabeth replied. "I get it. I was scared, but now I realize that it's dumb for me to be scared of my own family, and that the only way I'll be able to fix things is if you bite me."

"Not in a million years!" Charlie shook his head and backed away. "I'm not biting you again. Not when it gave you nightmares and scarred you for life."

"But I need it!" Elizabeth pleaded. "Just do it, please? You won't even have to take very much!"

"Would you calm down?" Charlie asked. "People could hear you!"

"I'm not taking 'No' for an answer," Elizabeth pressed. "I won't go away until you do what I want!"

Charlie sighed. "Fine," he said. "If that's what you want, fine. But do you realize how much danger you could be putting yourself in? You were lucky last time cause Mom was at home and she could stop me, but now...now who will?"

"I can get away!" Elizabeth insisted. "I promise."

Charlie sighed. "Fine," he said. "Come with me to the bleachers. It's open there. It'll be easier for you to run if you need to."

Elizabeth took a deep breath. "I understand," she replied. "Now, let's just get this over with!"

They walked outside and got under the bleachers where they would be less likely to be seen.

"All right," Elizabeth replied. "Do you...do you want my wrist again? Or somewhere else?"

"Well there's not a single place that's more safe for you than other places, but..." He looked her over and noticed that she was wearing a scarf. "I think I'll go for your neck this time," he said. "You have a scarf to cover up the mark."

"All right," Elizabeth nodded. She removed her pink scarf and took a deep breath as Charlie took her in his arms and whispered against her ear, "You really are crazy, you know," before biting into her neck. She let out a groan and tried not to scream as he sucked her blood. When she felt like he'd had enough, she whispered for him to stop, but he wouldn't. She managed to punch him and in the eye, which made him release her. She grabbed her purse and her scarf and took off running as Charlie, blood dripping from his mouth and acting more like an animal than a man, chased after her. When he caught up to her and grabbed her around the waist, she pulled some liquid vervain out of her purse and sprayed it in his eyes, and while he cried out in pain, she took off and ran all the way home, praying that no one would be there to ask her questions. She got inside, and was relieved to find the house empty, a note from her father to her mother by the telephone, saying that he'd gone to see his father and would be back soon.

"I'm really concerned about Elizabeth," Gregory said to Elijah as they drank together. "Ever since she met up with Charlie for his last birthday yesterday, she's been avoiding me."

"Well, she is a teenager," Elijah replied. "That happens. I wouldn't be worried about it. She'll cheer up eventually."

"I figured it was something like that," Gregory replied. "But at the same time, when I went to see her when she had a nightmare, I came to comfort her, and she looked terrified of me. That's never happened before. Now, if she were terrified of Katherine, that I would understand. But I'm the sane parent!"

"Well, has she caught you feeding from something other than a blood bag?" Elijah asked. "It would probably be traumatizing for a human girl."

"Of course not!" Gregory replied. "I'd never do that to her."

"I don't know what else to suggest to you," Elijah replied. "I'm sorry."

"All right then," Gregory replied, staring at his father who was barefoot and clad in jeans and a plain red shirt. His hair was mussed and he had a few days' growth on his face. "Enough of my problems. Anything you'd like to talk about?"

"You've asked me that every day for a year," Elijah replied. "And as I always tell you, I'm fine. Can't a person make a lifestyle change without people being concerned for his health? Your mother dresses like this all the time and you never even bat an eye!"

"That's because it's normal for her!" Gregory replied. "It's normal for her to dress casual. You don't do it! It's not your health I'm worried about. It's your sanity!"

"Well, being forced into lycanthropy has made me realize that I need to loosen up," Elijah replied. "I was much too tightly wound before. This is how I am now," he burped. "And there's nothing wrong with that."

Before Gregory could respond, the front door opened and his mother strode in wearing a perfectly tailored blue suit, hose, and high heels, with her hair up.

"Well, look who's here!" Elijah cried and pulled her into his lap. "I called you three times! Why did you ignore me?"

"I was busy!" Selina replied and tried to get off his lap. "I can't drop everything that I'm doing just because you wanna have sex! I'm finally starting to get your father to appreciate me cause I'm wearing this ridiculous suit and these shoes that pinch my toes, and you are not gonna ruin that for me cause you turned into a sex-obsessed slob!" She frowned at his feet on the coffee table. "Feet on the floor," she snapped. "I don't want you ruining the wood. It's imported mahogany for crying out loud!" She finally was allowed to stand up, and she frowned at him.

Elijah smirked and put his feet on the floor. "You're very tense," he said. "I could help with that."

"No," Selina snapped. Then, she noticed Gregory who was gaping at the change in her. "Shut your mouth," she told Elijah, motioning at their son. "Can't you see we're making Gregory uncomfortable?" She turned to her son. "Sorry if we're making you uncomfortable. How are you, Gregory?"

"I-um, I...good, I guess," Gregory shrugged. "I mean, Elizabeth is having some issues, but I'm sure it's nothing time won't fix."

"Well, if there's anything we can do, just tell us," Selina replied.

"So, what's with this sudden urge to get on Grandfather's good side?" Gregory asked with interest. "Usually you say 'Screw you' to any person of authority."

"And ordinarily, I would," Selina nodded. "But for all our differences, your grandfather is now showing me a measure of respect by not only trusting me to care for his son, but also not making any comment on my way of doing it, so I figure I owe him some measure of respect in return by dressing nice, you know?"

"Well, that's good!" Gregory smiled. "Nice to see you and Grandfather finally reaching a detente after all these years."

Selina nodded. "It has eased some of the tension between us, which is nice."

The clock chimed and Selina made her way toward the door again.

"You just got home," Elijah said. "I can go pick Ethan up from school if you want."

"Oh, it's not necessary," Selina shook her head. "I think he would prefer if I did it."

Elijah scoffed. "I don't understand that kid," he said. "You go to pick him up wearing jeans with holes in the knees and a mustard stain you couldn't see one time and suddenly, he bars you from picking him up. It's ridiculous."

"Well, if you want to pick him up," Selina replied, "all you have to do is put on a suit. You have a whole closet full of them, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Elijah glared. "Can't do anything right by you either. 'Loosen up' you say one minute, then when I do, it's 'put on a suit, you look hideous!'"

"I never said you looked hideous," Selina replied. "Now, I'm gonna go pick up Ethan. We should be back soon, okay?"

Once she was gone, Elijah stared at his son. "Are you wanting to leave too?" He asked.

"Well, it's almost time for me to go pick up Elizabeth, see?" Gregory said, getting to his feet. "It's got nothing to do with you, Father." Even though it did, and the sight of his father being so unkempt was beginning to scare him. "Bye!" He left his parents' house and found a message on his phone from Elizabeth, saying that she was home already and he didn't need to come pick her up. Knowing this, he headed home, hoping that she'd finally tell him what was going on.

But she didn't tell him anything until Katherine was sitting next to him on the sofa.

"I bet you're wondering what was going on with me this morning," she said.

"Kind of," Katherine replied. "But you don't need to tell us what until you feel like it. Unless that's what you're doing now. Did I do something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing you did in real life," Elizabeth reassured her. "I just...on Charlie's birthday, the reason why I went to the hospital only had partly to do with my cutting my hand on a piece of pottery. And actually, I could have survived that if the other thing hadn't happened."

"What other thing?" Katherine asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Well, I picked up a shard of the broken pottery and cut my hand. Charlie hadn't fed yet when this happened, so when he saw the blood from the cut, he...sort of got carried away, and he fed from me until Aunt Laura came and pulled him off." Elizabeth replied. "And after that, I couldn't stop thinking of his face, that predator expression, and I realized that not only him, but any one of you could turn me into lunch at any moment. That's why I've been scared of you." She turned her gaze on her mother. "Are you mad at me?" She asked. "Are you going to be ashamed of how wimpy I am and throw me out in the street? I mean, you're so tough and resilient, and I'm...not."

"Come here," Katherine said firmly, holding out her arms. Elizabeth hesitated, but after a few steps, fell into her mother's lap and burst into tears as Katherine stroked her hair. "I wouldn't do that to you," she said. "The only reason why I had to be so tough is cause I had no other choice. I had Nadia out of wedlock and my parents disowned me and made me leave Bulgaria with no kind words of understanding or anything. I was completely alone. It was awful and I would never make you go through that, all right?"

Elizabeth nodded and hugged Katherine harder. "So I guess my telling Charlie that the only way you'd respect me is if I faced my fears and let him feed on me again was a bad idea?"

Katherine's eyes widened. "You told him he could feed on you? Are you insane? Do you know how dangerous that is? He could have killed you!"

Elizabeth nodded and took the blood-stained scarf off her neck so Katherine and Gregory could see the bite marks. "He very nearly did, but I sprayed some of that liquid vervain in his eyes and managed to get away. That was after lunch today, and I didn't go back to school."

Katherine sighed and gave Elizabeth a little shake. "Don't you do that again, do you understand me? I'm sorry that I make you feel so inadequate that you feel you need to risk your own life to make me happy. Cause it's not true! I was a human once! Whatever you're feeling, I felt once too, and I won't shame you for it at all. Promise me that as long as you're human, you'll never do something so stupid as letting Charlie feed off you ever again. Especially in a place where there's no one strong enough to stop him."

Elizabeth sniffled. "I'll remember that," she replied and hugged Katherine again. "I promise."

"All right," Katherine nodded and got up. "Good."

"Where are you going?" Gregory asked as Elizabeth cuddled up against him.

"I'm going to make a phone call to your sister," Katherine replied, eyes narrowed. "Cause she and I need to have a little talk about Charlie."