The fires of conversion had been hell for her. She had grown up in a household where she had been taught that God was good, kind, and forgiving; this made it hard for her to understand why she was being punished in such a manner. Yet, through the whole thing, both Sasha and Tanya had been with her. They had tried to comfort her by holding her and whispering soothing things to her even as she writhed and cried out in pain.
Learning to live the life of a vampire had been easier for Irina then learning to live as a noble woman. Her years of going without much to eat also prepared her in dealing with the constant hunger of a newborn. Her whole life she had led a poor, simple existence that had taught her to do what was necessary to survive. This made it easy for her to adapt to having to drink the blood of others. She felt no remorse when she held men against her, crushing them in her embrace as she greedily sucked their lives away.
What was harder for her was getting used to the silk and satin gowns, covered in semi-precious jewels and lace. Sasha and Tanya never gave a thought to the costly elaborate costumes they were, while Irina could sit for hours, staring at a diamond necklace that they had placed on her wrist, thinking that such a trinket could have fed her human family for years.
On one such occasion she sat looking at a large emerald ring that Sasha had placed on her finger when Tanya's voice broke gently into her thoughts. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Looking up from her hand, Irina couldn't help but smile. She already had come to love both Tanya and Sasha as family. Tanya made her laugh and smile in a way that her human sisters never had, but then her life now was much different than it had been then. Being the oldest of ten children she had been treated more like a third parent than a sibling.
Remembering Tanya's question she nodded and glanced to the ring again, a sad look once again returning to her features. "It is lovely." The green facets of the emerald were covered by Tanya's hand though. "But, it is not you," Tanya replied softly. Irina looked up at Tanya for a moment then shook her head.
Tanya continued to smile kindly and patted her hand. "I will talk to mama about getting you some more simple things to wear." Irina shook her head and frowned as she replied, "No, I do not want to seem ungrateful. You and mama have done so much for me already…"
Tanya waved her hand in the air in her typical, arrogant fashion, "Nonsense! Simple classic gowns would suit your frame and features better anyway! None of us really need any of these baubles and yards of lace and ribbon. The difference is that mama and I like to play dress up." She chuckled and kissed her cheek as she hugged Irina. "Do not worry little sister. Things will become easier. I know that this is all very different for you."
Things did become easier after that. Eventually the bloodlust faded enough that Irina learned to control her hunger and hunt more discriminately. The simple gowns that Sasha and Tanya ordered for her, while still made of silks and satins, were in more somber shades of grays and blues that suited her better, and she began to enjoy attending balls and receptions. But, her roots were still there, never far behind, and she was grateful that neither mama nor Tanya ever mentioned the fact that she tended to gravitate towards the servants at the parties or that she was more attracted to the footmen than to the nobility that they brushed elbows with at a constant basis. She was different than them and they accepted this without question. After all, she was still family.
Little over a year after her conversion she was at a ball with her mama, Tanya having decided to entertain herself for the evening elsewhere, when she drifted outside, wanting to escape the confines of the noble class with their frivolous behavior. Looking around she hoped to engage one of the footmen or groomsmen in conversation, as she had done countless times before. Unfortunately, most of them were occupied and she stood there alone in the cool night air for some time before she heard a soft, ragged voice behind her. "Pardon me, lady, but could I bother you for something to eat?"
The voice was familiar, tickling the hazy memories from her time as a human, and turning she saw ihim/i. In that moment she felt a rush of emotions ranging from the longing she had felt to lead a normal, happy life with him, to the anger she had felt at the treatment she had received at his hands in her last human moment and she gasped, "Aleksei?"