The girl's lips pressed hungrily against Beca's, a low growl escaping the dark-haired woman's throat as Victoria moved her knee closer to her core. The ground was cold under the shorter woman, her breath hot compared to the chilly night air. It formed with stark condensation, her words shaky.

"Vic," Beca purred between the biting and nipping as the green-eyed woman dug her teeth slightly into the girl's collarbone, another growl escaping her throat with little force as she shivered under Beca's subtle touch. "I can't."

Victoria pulled back quickly, trying to catch her breath as she leaned heavily against the loose dirt- her features sharp, but delicate as the orange glow of the fire shaded her expression. Her lips red with slight irritation from the chaste movements she had pressed against Beca moments before- the taut scent of burning wood coated both of their lungs.

The small clearing that the two had settled in was a high traffic area during the spring- flowers budding into a sea of red poppies and sweetgrass. But in the winter, it was desolate, the ground cold and hard, even with a thinly spread blanket. The trees around them bathed in a warm glow that would attract people if any of them gave a second thought to the two girls.

"I'm sorry, I-"The taller woman ran a hand through her pitch hair, the waves falling over her shoulders like tar. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." Beca lied, nodding to drive home her words. She was pale, her lips a subtle grey as the sickness that she had been carrying for months now ravished her body. It was easy to ignore the chills and nausea by now, but she could never shake a cough- a cough that produced neon red blood in a clammy hand every time she pulled her palm from her lips. "I can't risk you getting sick."

"Beca," She chuckled, the sound light and airy despite her dark appearance. "If I were to get sick, it would have happened by now, yeah?"

"I suppose." Beca pulled herself up, crossing her legs in front of her as she rolled her shoulder- it was stiff, the girl pooling on the ground wasn't doing much for her already pain-filled arms. She stared down at her hands, idling a piece of grass around between her fingers. "I'm just worried. You're not immune, Vic. You just haven't caught it yet. Not like half the town has."

"You think I will?" she asked, sitting up herself, running her sweat filled hands against her pants as she sat adjacent from Beca, staring at the shaking girl with content. Concern, but content. "This town… its oblivious to what is going on."

"Consumption?"

"Vampires." Victoria cracked a smile. "Well, demons."

"You're not paying any stock to those rumors, are you?" Beca asked, knitting her eyebrows together. She had heard them too- people talking about how fast the illness was ripping through town, starting with the Mitchell family. The brunette swallowing the lump in her throat as she glanced away. She had already lost her mother- the scorned looks and murmurs not helping her case.

"Beca, no" Victoria whispered, grasping her girlfriends hand in hers. Her touch was soft and warm compared to the frigid one the smaller girl carried. "I'm not… You're not a demon, alright? I feel like you would notice if you were undead."

"Yeah, well, I feel like I am." She scoffed, her breath catching in her throat. The familiar pull ripped through her as she raised her fingers to her mouth, coughing violently as her chest filled with a rough ache, one that made her eyes water as a metallic edge coated her tongue. She struggled to swallow it back as a warm hand rubbed small circles on her back.

Beca breathed in carefully, the cold air cooling her throat as she stared down at the wine colored liquid that coated her fingers. She grimaced away from the color. Part of her wanted to protest the closeness of the girl next to her, but the instant calmness that filled her at the subtle touch was enough to silence her.

"What if you were?" Victoria finally whispered after a few moments of near silence, teary eyes moving up to budding ones. They were tender and caring, the woman's lips slightly parted.

"What?" Beca forced past her lips, a slight burn still resonating within her lungs.

"Beca," Victoria swallowed thickly, not pulling her stare away from the younger girl. "Will you let me kill you?"

The scent of burning wood moved through the dining room, logs placed softly in the stone-clad fireplace folded under the mercy of the flames, bringing a certain edge of warmth to the large area. It was darker and colder than the last time Beca had set foot into the house that she owned.

She had bought the place on a whim, it was being foreclosed on, easy to purchase without catching too much attention. She didn't even have to go through a realtor, instead, she bought it blindly, paying in cash.

Moving back into the dorms at Barden was a far cry from the large home, but it was almost more comforting- not having to deal with the multiple empty rooms and the study that she had spent most of her time in when she did sleep here. The books still remained, the tiny brunette aching for them in a way.

Beca adjusted herself uncomfortably against the cold of the large mahogany chair, her other hand messing with the dinner fork that she had yet to tear into the steak with. The scent of freshly cooked meat was thick in her lungs as she stared down at it- knowing it was mostly pink inside.

Jesse had no trouble shoving aside his anxiety as she bit down on a baby carrot that had been fully cooked through, his focus on cutting the prime edge of beef down to chewable bites as Beca swallowed down her own uneasiness. Her mother shouldn't scare her this much- two months ago she was six-feet-under and swallowing dirt for most of her meals. Now she sat with poised composure, beaming down at the food in front of her.

Beca Mitchell's mother hadn't aged past 35, her features soft and caring despite an underlying coldness beneath grey eyes. She sat up straight, dawning a nice blouse for her families Sunday dinner. Like this was nothing. It was supposed to be nothing.

Instead of focusing on her food, Beca raised the glass of amber campaign to her lips, wishing for a stronger effect in alcohol that she consumed. It took a lot more than a 300 dollar bottle of Armand de Brignac to give the girl a buzz.

"Beca, sweetie." She spoke with utmost precision. "How are your classes going?"

She almost choked, snorting into her glass as she pulled the rim away from her lips, struggling to swallow back the bubbles that pressed so heavily into her throat. She cocked an eyebrow, "It's fine. Classes are fine."

Jesse chewed slowly now, staring at his sister and mother with curiosity.

Beca set the glass down, putting her hands in her lap as she chewed on her bottom lip. She felt like a kid who got a bad grade on a literacy test. The looming grey stare her mother produced was enough to get her to cower. Beca Mitchell wishing more than anything that she could curl up in her dorm room and not suffer through a casual meal with who she considered the devil.

"And the girl?" Blair said with a bit of breathiness to her words, she wasn't staring at her daughter, instead, she was pressing a steak knife into freshly cooked meat, the sound of metal against porcelain making Beca cringe.

Her heart clenched, lips parting slightly as Jesse struggled to keep from hacking on his own food, he set the fork down, looking towards his mother. "What are you talking about?"

She chuckled lightly, shaking her head as she shot her stare towards her daughter who looked greener than usual. "Beca, darling, did you think I wouldn't notice your little pet wandering around town?"

She didn't say anything, she couldn't muster words or formulating thoughts. A slight noise escaped her throat, a mix between a growl and a gasp that sounds more like she was choking. The food she did consume threatened to make a reappearance.

"Pet?"

"That Beale girl," She waved her fork around in the air. "Callie? Christina?"

"Chloe," Beca corrected, clearing her throat. "How uh… You're okay with this?"

"You're not 18 anymore, darling." She spoke, shoving the pointed ends of her fork into the steak with a thud. "If you want to tramp around with a human, be my guest."

"Huma-"Jesse spoke, knitting his eyebrows together as a pointed edge of a boot shoved into his knee, shifting the whole table. Blair looking at her children with concern as the boy hissed through clenched teeth. "Yes, human. She's a nice one. Pure."

"Just don't break her, okay?" Blair laughed with a lazy smile. "You know how fragile humans can be."