She couldn't stop herself from shaking. Her parents had started to worry about her, noticing her odd behavior, almost knowing that something was going on. But she didn't care. She was addicted to him... Edmund... She needed him just like she needed the things he could do to her, the things he could give her.

He made her feel wanted, appreciated, like she could actually do something right for once and she wasn't just some weak, pathetic little girl. He made her feel good. Fantastic. Even though he was a little rough with her, she liked it.

Alison ran through the streets, pulling her jacket tight. It was cold out, but that wasn't the only reason why she was trembling.

She hadn't been able to go to see him for the past two days and she was feeling nervous, twitchy... She had to see him.

But... But what if Dmitri had found her tonight? What if he finally realized something was going on, realized that she was avoiding him. She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to ever be around him again, no matter how handsome he was. Nora was right. He didn't respect her, he didn't treat her right or even love her. He didn't really want her around. Edmund didn't love her either, but he at least appreciated her. He did things for her and when he said he would turn her, she believed him.

She hurried through the streets, every shadow seemed to be Dmitrti, her eyes looking around almost in a panic.

Dmitri had been watching her for the past five minutes, watching her twitch and look into every shadow, while he was perched at the top of the building. He had let her believe that she was avoiding her, yet that wasn't the case. If he needed to find her, he would be able to. He had talked to Chi and she had warned him that Addy was in trouble. Two days earlier he had followed her and had marked the place where she had headed. She was getting in the vampire world too deep and too fast, eventually she would crash and burn. That would not be pretty. He had to convince her that she was making a mistake that she would get badly hurt.

He let out a soft sigh, regret mixed in with anguish for the young girl. He never should have gone after her, he never should have mixed her into this world. He stepped to the corner of the building ahead of her and jumped down, cutting off the way she was heading. "Hello Addy. How have you been?" Maybe he could bring her back to her senses, perhaps he could wake... He stopped in mid pause as something caught his attention. His eyes darkened as he stared straight at Addy. She was doing drugs, the little idiot. "Have you lost your mind?"

She nearly screamed as he lept down in front of her. Her eyes were wide with fear as it was, but she was able to control herself. "Dmitri! Hi! I didn't expect to see you tonight." She said, forcing a smile to her face, but it wasn't held on by more than a thread.

"Uh, I'm doing okay. Just been busy with school and other things. I finally have some new friends." Well so they weren't from school, big whup.

"I've been wondering where you were. I was waiting for you to come see me." She lied.

But she frowned as his eyes darkened and snapped at her. "What? No. I haven't. I just needed to get out of the house!" She said quickly. "My parents are driving me crazy! After they saw those bruises that you wouldn't heal, they refuse to let me out of the house for anything that's not school!" She snapped back. And that had been the truth. "Sneaking out at night is the only way I'm free of them."

Dmitri's eyes narrowed and a low growl escaped his throat. He could smell the lies as she told it to him and it didn't soften him not one bit. If anything it angered him and made him want to shake her that much more. She was screwing up her life and now he had the proof. "Don't lie to me! I can smell lies and I know that you are lying." He paused and his expression soften "Why Addy? Why are you willing to screw up your life? I made you a promise to turn you and I never go back on my promise."

He snorted as he remembered that she had mentioned friends. "Are these the friends that you made at the Sinister Puppet, Addy?" It came out harsh and cruel. "Don't even think of saying they aren't because I can smell them. Their scent is all over you." Part of him felt betrayed, she would rather go to the vampires that had hurt her instead of running to those that would protect her.

He snarled. "I warned you not to go to the Sinister Puppet. Did you listen? No you didn't want to. Now though you run to those that made you feel this pain, blame them. They hurt you. Stop putting the blame on the people that don't deserve it. It's your fault and your fault alone that you didn't listen to me and got hurt. I cared for Addy and I still do, but I can't and will not force you to do something that you don't want to. If you want to go to them, go. Don't expect me to stop you."

"Yeah! But you'll keep putting that off and putting that off! I'll graduate high school and you say I should graduate college before you turn me so I'll get a good education or something. Then you're gonna come up with more bull on why I should be human longer!" She said as she realized that he knew what was going on. Maybe not all of it, but a good enough portion of it.

"No, they're not friends I made at the club. They weren't friends then and I didn't go back there! I haven't been. And Nora's really nice! She might seem kinda eccentric at times, but she's never done anything to hurt me!" She resisted the urge to stomp her foot. This felt just like her parents questioning her.

"He only hurt me because of the same reason you did! He didn't know Dmitri! He understands now, and he's never hurt me since! He's not bad, I didn't understand him before, but now I do and he's my friend!" She argued, defending Edmund. And she didn't know why, but hearing him call her 'Addy' when Nora and Edmund called her 'Alison' made her feel like a little kid. Maybe that was why she didn't like the nickname anymore.

"You can force me to do whatever you want Dmitri. You're stronger than I am. If you don't want me to go, you'd just drag me off somewhere and keep me there." She said with a frown.

"I don't need to be protected. I don't need to be treated like a baby Dmitri. I want to live! I want to try things and actually feel like I'm important! You just act like your my parent or something, when I really wanted a friend."

Dmitri growled at her. "Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps I had chosen a time for your turning? That perhaps as soon as you graduated high school I would have kept my promise and turned you?" His eyes were narrowed. "I guess that hadn't crossed your mind. Once i promise something I go through with it, even if it takes me time to figure out when I'll go through with it." He thought everything through to such an extent that it sometimes seemed laborious, but it had never driven him wrong so far.

He had sensed annoyance when he used her nickname and decided to revert to her actual name, perhaps she would listen. "Alison, I'm not trying to baby you, I'm worried about you. Friends worry, that's part of what makes people close. I'm not your father and I never will be, but you can't stop me from worrying."

He shook his head. "I may be able to lock you up somewhere, but I won't do that. Why? because you are my friend and are allowed to live your own life. I just don't want you to get hurt, yet if you do know that you will have brought it upon yourself. I will have no part in the destruction of a perfectly good mortal. I hope that they won't kick you out."

"Yeah, but every time I wanna talk about it, you seem to try to avoid it! Like you don't really want me to be like you. At least when Edmund or Nora tells me something, they don't try to tell half-truths." She said, glaring at him. "You won't ever say when. I ask if it's when I graduate high school, you don't say anything. You keep it all to yourself, leaving me in the dark. All you do is tell me about vampires, leading me to think that you're gonna change me any day, but you don't want me hanging around them to learn first hand!

She set her jaw, glaring at him as he spoke again, using her proper name now, just like a parent when they were getting 'serious' about something. "Well you're sure acting like him right now. You try to be nice at first and then with the 'I'm doing it for your own good' crap."

Alison turned on her heals to continue the way she was going, too angry to speak. If he wasn't going to stop her, fine. She wasn't going to stop. If he was going to let her do what she wanted to do, then he could just go home and sulk about it for all she cared. Her fists were shaking, partially from her edgy nerves and partially from anger.

If he really cared about her and he really knew that they were bad, he'd stop her himself. He wouldn't let her go no matter what she wanted. So that left only two choices in her mind. Either he was lying and he knew that she was safe and happy with them, or he really didn't care about her. And since he claimed to care about her, it must be the latter, which she already knew.

Sure Edmund had hurt her a few times, but that was just because she was too weak to really keep up with him. That was all. He never really meant to hurt her, he was just too strong. But he, unlike Dmitri, seemed to actually think she was good for something. He let her explore, learn on her own. He didn't coddle her or baby her, protect her from every little thing so she wouldn't get hurt.

Half-truths? Those young vampire knew nothing and if she thought that they were going to change her if ever she was on the verge of death she was about to be sorely mistaken. He wasn't going to allow her to ruin her life with drugs. If she thought that he was acting like her parents, well so be it. He would act like them.

"Fuck it." He muttered, for the first time truly using the curse words of the present century. He strode to her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to his chest and then bending his knees, he launched himself straight through the air to land on the top of the building. Taking off at a run and making sure that she wouldn't hit anything, he launched himself from building to building, slowly edging his way higher and higher on the city roof tops.

In the distance he could see the Chi's apartment building looming. She owned the entire building and had appropriated the entire top floor for herself. He could see the open balcony window and launched himself straight through it, landing in her living room. Chi looked up as he entered, she was sitting on the sofa. On either side of her there were a male and female who looked up, the female more startled than the male. "you can put her in the third bedroom."

Dmitri strode to the room without answering and shoved the door closed behind them, which locked into place. He placed her on the bed. "I'm sorry to do this, but you need to detox."

"Wha! Where are you taking me! Get your hands off of me!" She screamed. punching and kicking at him as he carried her off.

She screamed and fought the entire trip, her anger growing every moment. "What the hell are you doing! Let me go!" But as they came to the building and she saw Chi she glared. "Why the hell are you bringing her in to this! She has nothing to do with anything!" She snarled as Dmitri drug her into the room.

Alison fell with an 'oof' on the bed and scrambled up, her eyes wild and angry. "Let me out of here! You said you wouldn't do this! You said you'd let me live how I wanted!" She yelled at him. "You lied to me Dmitri! You lied! And don't tell me you're sorry cause you're not! If you were sorry, you wouldn't do this to me!"

Grabbing a pillow she threw it at him. "I hate you! I HATE YOU!!" She screamed as she grabbed a book that was sitting on a near by table and threw it at him once the pillows were gone. She didn't care if they hit him, she just wanted to throw something, hurt something.

Dmitri shrugged brushing the pillows off easily and catching the book in one hand. Like they would ever hit him, he could move fast enough that nothing should hit him. "I said that I wouldn't and then decided that I wouldn't let you ruin your life. If you insist on acting like a child then I will act like a parent. If you showed a little more maturity, I wouldn't have to treat you this way."

He watched her, his eyes blank and everything she said seemed to simply roll off him. She could hate it all she wanted, it didn't matter to him, he had been insulted worse when he had been in the army that had attacked the city of Kiev. "I am sorry, I didn't want to do it, but I saw no alternatives." He tilted his head as he returned to look at her. "Chi wants me to let you know that your parents have been informed and they are glad that you are safe, they noticed your disappearance and were about to call the police. Chi put their worries to rest." She should be grateful, then again she was in a drug withdrawal state so he had a feeling that she wouldn't feel that way.

He placed the book on the edge of the console table that was against the wall that faced the bed. Picking the pillows he dumped them back on the bed. "You can throw those to me again or you can punch them. I'll let you decide."

"Well tell Chi to shut the hell up and stay away from my parents! Why don't you just leave me alone! You're just mad because someone actually wants me around! Mad because he thinks I'm pretty and I'm not some stupid kid! I don't care about my parents, I don't care about school, I don't care about anything Dmitri! I want to go back to Edmund and Nora! They're my real friends!" She glared at him for a moment and then a grin came to her face slightly.

"And It's not just the drugs I go back for you know. Those make me feel better too, but the way Edmund holds me, the way he makes me feel. I know he doesn't love me, I'm not stupid, but he does care about me. I know that because he tries not to hurt me when we have sex." Her eyes glimmered maliciously. "And I like it. I love the way it feels. It's not just the drugs I want from him."

She was trying to hurt him, trying to make him so angry that he just let her go. Granted she was telling him the truth, but that was what she wanted him to hear. She wanted him to know just what was going on between them.

"He treats me like a woman. You just treat me like a kid."

Dmitri ignored the comment about Chi, yet the sex didn't surprise him either. She had been a virgin when she had meant her and he had quickly realized that she wasn't that anymore. Did it matter? To any other individual it probably wouldn't have, but to Dmitri it did. He was surprised that she shamelessly gave her virginity to the second vampire that she had meant, regardless of the consequences to her body.

Dmitri continued to stand there, he didn't get angry, he didn't even yell. As calmly as possible, he told her what he had planned for her. Would she listen, probably not. she would hear, but it wouldn't register in her mind. She was trying very hard to hurt him. "Unlike you, I like to get to know the person that I'm going to sleep with. I find that it forges a better connection between them. I had planned the night that we were going to spend together. Full moon and rose petals." He sighed. "I suppose that you didn't want romance, just a quick fuck." He was saying it as he saw it. If she thought that she could hurt him, she was sorely mistaken.

"What does any of that matter? You won't ever see me like that. You won't because you never did from the beginning. You saw me as some weak little girl you needed to protect. You saw me as some little human that you'd appease until her stupid little dreams of being a vampire just went away because she's only a confused teenage girl who really doesn't know what she wants." She said frowning.

Alison moved to the bed, sitting with her arms crossed.

"That wasn't going to change... I wanted it to... I told you I wanted it to but you didn't do anything. You just kept treating me like a daughter, a pet... If I'm going to die Dmitri, I want to live first. He makes me feel alive. I don't care if it's the drugs or the sex. I feel alive! You've never made me feel like that. You're too obsessed with Chi." She nearly spat the woman's name. "She's all you really care about. Otherwise you wouldn't have brought me here. You wouldn't have brought me to her."

Obsessed with Chi? Oh please that had ended almost three centuries ago. She was a dear friend and a mentor, nothing more. "See that's exactly what I mean, you know nothing. You think you understand the world and you think that he makes you feel alive, but he's feeding you lies. you haven't seen the torture chamber that the Tarepha use to torment their prey, you haven't seen how some would simply rip you to shreds. Tarepha may be territorial at times, but they have an uncanny sense to know what their prey is feeling and will even be willing to share, to feel the fear all that much more." He cocked his head as he watched her. "I'm surprised that he hasn't gone that far with you yet. I suppose that in time he would of."

"You wanted it and I know that. Do you know what patience is or are you all so ready to give up everything you have? Never to feel the sun on your face, never be able to feed on anything but blood, never to be able to talk to those that you knew in life and wait centuries for any residual power to appear. It does have some benefits, sometimes they compensate for the loss, but never completely. Since you seem to want this so much, I'm almost tempted to turn you tonight and let you feel the burn of drug withdrawal for the rest of your immortal life." He lifted a finger. "Unlike you I do have my nice moments and at this moment I feel merciful. Once you get over the drug withdrawal I will turn you. I shouldn't, because it is a reward for the cruelty that you have shown me on this night, but this has gone on long enough."

"He doesn't want to hurt me! He hasn't yet, and he won't." She said stubbornly. "If he wants to share me, he'll tell me first. He'll teach me what to do and he won't let the other one hurt me either." She sniffed. "Nora's even fed from me and she even made it fun." She said with a glare.

"And It's not that I can't wait. I can, but you never promised when you would turn me and you refused to tell me. You refused to even set a standard or anything. Just go away Dmirtri! Leave me alone! You don't love me, you don't want me around, so why are you here now?" She snapped.

But as he said that he would change her whenever she was over the drugs she glared. "No! Don't you even touch me! I don't want you to turn me! I'm not going to be your pet for the rest of whenever!" She said stubbornly. "I want someone I can really be with! You don't even think I'm pretty the way I am! You think I need to do all sorts of stuff! Ed likes the way I look, unlike you."

She didn't want him to turn her. She wouldn't be his daughter, his pet.... She wanted someone who would accept every single part of her. He wouldn't. He might put up with her anger, frustrations and her wild emotions, but he'd never accept her body. He'd never love her or want to be with her.

"Just leave me alone Dmitri. Go away." She lay down on the bed, turning her back to him.

Dmitri shook his head. "I never said that you weren't pretty. I wouldn't have stopped scaring you if I had thought otherwise. You don't understand the vampire psyche and I suggests you don't try."

He nodded. "Alright. Goodnight Alison." He felt the door unlock at his touch and he opened it and slip through. Once closed the door locked again. He strode to the living room and sat on the opposite couch that faced the three other vampires.

The male got up and waved. "I got get going, good luck man." Then he was on the balcony and vanished into the night. Dmitri watched him go, almost disheartened. How was he going to make everything right between them, he seemed that no matter what he said or what he did it was the wrong thing.

Looking at the two women that sat side by side couldn't have been more different. Silver-haired, ancient, Asian Chi side by side with red-haired, young, French Catherine. Yet both of them got along really well. "What am I going to do?" Neither of them answered, they didn't know what to tell him.

Catherine had watched him with soft eyes. "You really do care for her and not as a parent. You care for her the way a lover would for another. You want what is best for her. She's blind to it, give her time for now. She might come around."

As soon as the door clicked shut Alison glared at it, reaching into her coat pocket and pulled out her cell phone. Quickly dialing Edmund's number she frowned as she got the answering machine.

"Edmund? It's Ali... I... I was on my way over, but Dmitri stopped me. He... He's holding me somewhere, I don't know where. He's trying to take me away from you... But I'm locked in a room, and he won't let me out. Please call me when you get this. Please..." Her voice was almost desperate.

Closing the phone she tucked it under the pillow and pulled her jacket, sweater shoes and pants off, leaving her in her t-shirt and underwear. If she was here for the night, she might as well get some sleep right?

But.... But she couldn't sleep. She was so angry... So tense and strained... She needed something to calm her down. Even if it was a little bit of pot... But she needed something. She couldn't keep her hands from shaking, her eyes flicking around the room. Her hand tensed over her cell phone, waiting for him to call her back.

She needed anything, something... A pained whimper escaped her as she curled up into a ball. Why was he Doing this? Why was Dmitri only trying to hurt her. Didn't he understand how good that he made her feel? Why was he trying to pull her away from everything she wanted?

She wanted Edmund holding her tight, feeling him around her, his teeth nipping gently at her neck, playful almost. The way he knew just how to make her cry with pleasure... Someone actually wanted her... Someone actually showed her that they cared for her... That was more addicting than the drugs really. The touch, the pleasure... He showed her he cared. Even Nora touched her gently, comforted her when she'd been sore that first morning.

Alison tried to dial the number again, but the answering machine was all she got... She whimpered again, pushing her face into the pillow.

Catherine tilted her head towards the room where Alison was. "She still has her cellphone you know." The two other vampires simply stared at her. Catherine shrugged her shoulders. "I just wanted to make sure that we are all on the same page. I'm sorry if I stated to obvious."

Chi rolled her eyes. "This building belongs to me, if any vampire that I don't recognize even stands on the edge of the building, I'll know. There's a reason why I took over the top floor. This building has high protection against your common thief and every door and window in this place is keyed to my power. Also the rooms beneath this floor all belong to people I trust, vampires and mortals alike."

Catherine turned her face to eye the bedroom, unlike Chi, she had trouble shielding strong emotions from her telepathic powers. She empathized with the young mortals pain, knowing what it was like to be ripped by something you enjoyed, but she knew that this was going to end up being for the better. She stood up. "I'm going to go talk to her."

Dmitri stood up abruptly and let out a low growl. Catherine turned to him and hunched her back with a low hiss. Chi eyed both of them and pointed to Dmitri. "You sit." Dmitri turned his look to Chi and opened his mouth to protest. She lifted one eyebrow and waited. Dmitri sat down defeated. Catherine went to the room and became a shadow to slip under the door. She retook her human form and looked at the mortal curled up in a ball. "Hello Alison."

She wasn't in pain because of what she was doing... She was in pain because of someone keeping her from something she wanted to do.

She sat up as she heard a voice. It wasn't Chi's at least, though she knew the other vampire was out there. Alison glared, looking at the pale woman.

"What do you want? Want to tell me I'm doing something stupid? Want to tell me I'm ruining my life? That he'll never really love me and it's only going to hurt me in the end?" She snipped as she pushed herself up.

"Well I don't care! I don't! And I'll tell you just what I told Dmitri. I like the way Edmund makes me feel, I like the drugs, I like the sex! I don't care if it kills me because they won't ever hurt me or let me die!" Her fists were curled up tightly, she gritted her teeth, keeping the angry tears back.

"I know Edmund doesn't love me... But he appreciates me. He wants me around and wants me to live before I die." Her voice was almost a whisper now. "Every time I talked about being like him, Dmitri would change the subject, or try to distract me from it. He doesn't want me around. He thinks I'm not as pretty as I should be." She finished then, wanting to get everything out before the woman interrupted. How many times would she have to repeat herself tonight? How many times would she have to explain why she didn't want to be here?

Catherine simply blinked at her ad waited for her to stop. "Are you done?" She didn't wait for an answer and plowed on. "I didn't come here to tell you that you are doing something stupid, I'm pretty sure that Dmitri covered that for me." Besides she was sure that if she followed that same train of thought, it wouldn't get her anywhere. That girl, no woman, was hardheaded and was going through withdrawal. She probably wouldn't listen to anything that Catherine would say but it was worth a try.

"You can do whatever you want, I really don't care. It's your life, but I do wonder about a few things. I don't understand why someone would pick care over love. Love is wondrous and nothing can even come close to it. Love will hurt, but love also brings immense joy, like nothing you can even imagine." Catherine watched her and paused wondering if the information would sink into her brain.

Catherine edged herself onto the console table against the far wall, facing the bed, and crossed her arms. "Do you believe everything people say? Do you believe everything people tell you? Then why don't you believe that your parents love you and that they worry for your safety, that all they want is the best for you?" She too a breath, not that she needed it, but more to give her time to organize her thoughts. "If Edmund truly cared for you, he would want the same. Ever thought that he is taking advantage of you, using you because he can and he knows that you won't say anything? Ever thought that when he gets bored with you, he'll discard you?" She eyed the young woman, her eyes bright in her face. "Tarepha are fickle creatures and always does something because it brings them something, they rarely give."

Catherine shook her head. "Unfortunately you didn't take something into account. Dmitri is a man of his time, he fight to protect those he loves and he does love you my dear, he simply has trouble expressing it. He's a guy that was born a thousand years ago and he was a warrior. He sees women as people that he has to protect, he knows that you can take care of yourself, yet he worries. His afraid to lose you and I fear that if you still feel the way that you do, he might already have."

She shook her head again, this time the red hair moved with it. "You are wrong, he finds you very beautiful, different from anybody he has ever known." She looked at the door, still feeling the soft stabs of pain coming through it. "You didn't see the pain, the anguish, the fear in his eyes, when he walked out of here. You don't feel the worry and the pain that lances through his heart. I'd never thought the he would feel this way but he does." When it came to vampirism, she sighed. "I'm glad that he wanted to wait, because the only person that I ever changed, loves me and wants me dead. Apparently his vampire side hates me and neither of us can figure out why. He would eventually, he simply wants you to mature a bit, become a little more worldly. He would have done it though, he is a man of his word."

"If you don't care, why are you here?" She said, pointing out the woman's contradiction. "If I can do what I want, why aren't you trying to help me get out of here? I don't want to be here..."

She gave a little huff though as she spoke about love. "I don't need another parent. That's all he's acting like. It's not what I want."

Alison blinked though as the woman suggested that He could be using her. "So? Yeah I've thought of it. But I don't care and that's what you guys don't seem to understand." She said with a sigh of frustration. "I just want to live. I want to have fun. I want to live... I want to experience things that I might not have ever gotten to learn waiting for him to act." She said bitterly.

She bit her lip, glaring at the wall as she spoke about Dmitri. Lies... All of it...

"He wanted me to learn how to clean up. Makeup, tanning, dressing up and everything like that. Edmund doesn't care about that. I don't want to do those things, I shouldn't have to do those things to look beautiful for someone who says he loves me. He might love me... But he doesn't want me. He sees me as a weak kid. Something that needs to be protected and coddled."

Something clicked in her mind then and she frowned even deeper. "And Dmitri said he was from the same Coven. Why would he be any different?" She pointed out. "And I've gotten so much from him... So what if he wants something in return every once in a while. You say Dmitri is different, and if he is, can't Edmund be too?" Logic was on her side at least for that one, as this woman hadn't met him before.

"And... If Edmund does get tired of me... Oh well. I would have enjoyed the time I had. I..." She paused a second. "I feel so good with him it's like everything's just a dream. To wake up and find that it's gone? It's going to happen sometime. But I don't want to think about that now. It might never come, I could die first." She gave a little shrug.

Catherine sighed. She didn't get it, did she? She was a mortal child, thinking that she could get whatever she wanted, when she wanted. If that was what she wanted, then she wouldn't survive as a vampire. Chi may seem like an innocent vampire, but when you unleashed her power it was like unleashing a tidal wave, no one could control it, besides the tidal wave itself. She didn't wish Chi on anybody when she was in a bad mood.

Catherine had frozen into a statue like form and if it wasn't for the hair that moved and the colors she wore, she could have been a statue. "I'm not going to help you escape, because I don't have a death wish. Besides I doubt that Dmitri and Chi would allow you to step through the living room to get to the front door. They are both out there you know."

All of sudden she started to laugh, sounding low and husky, a Nephim trait. "Dmitri is a little bit on the slow side, I'll admit that, but he's a great guy. Besides you aren't listening, Dmitri was born one thousand years ago, you didn't simply sleep with someone back then, unless they were a whore. Dmitri wanted to court you, give you pretty flowers, some sweets like chocolate and perhaps bring you to see a movie. I suggested the show at the casino, with some ballroom dancing." She paused. "Yet if you prefer to get high off drugs and a casual fucking that is a choice you made. Everybody needs a good fuck every now and again." She shrugged her shoulders. "Even I need that."

She slid off the table and approached Alison to sit on the edge of the bed. "Do you know how much thought he put into preparing you for the vampire lifestyle? I was sure that he was going to get a headache. Besides I know that Dmitri wouldn't get tired of you, he's attracted to you and probably talked about all that frippery, like make-up and such before he realized the way he felt about you."

She looked at the girl, she was definitely a child and acted like one. "Perhaps it's time you stop sulking and acting like a woman. Then he wouldn't see you as a child. How do you expect for us to treat you like an adult if you persist to act like a child? As a vampire if you make a single mistake in front of the vampire, you are dead. Some vampires do not tolerate mistakes and there is nothing that we can do about it. Only your sire can protect you, if he is old enough and Edmund is not old enough."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Dmitri left the coven as a full-time member three years ago. He still feels attachment to the place, but he is more of an independent now. He changed. When he attacked me three years ago, he was more of an animal than a human. Now he is completely human. I heard that he even dated a few humans. He never would have done that before. Humans were only food."

"If you all think I'm such a kid then just let me go and play. You think I'm a kid? You think I'm making mistakes? Well that's what kids do." She didn't want flowers, candies, sweet little dates. That wasn't what she wanted and no one seemed to understand that. So what if she liked sex? So what if she liked drugs? Sure drugs weren't the smartest things, but Edmund wasn't out to kill her He knew just how much to give her to make her feel good and no more, even if she wanted more. He wasn't going to let her overdose...

Her head was beginning to ache and she felt a twinge of nausea.

She didn't care what Dmitri had done... She didn't care if a mistake could cost her in the vampire world. She didn't like pissing off people because she didn't like confrontation, which was why she'd been avoiding him. With Edmund everything was so relaxed. She didn't have to worry about anything other than making sure she still had food over there.

She'd been coddled and protected too much. She'd never had a chance to live... Now when she actually had been enjoying something in her life, someone else who claimed to love her just pulled it away. When was she going to get to do what she wanted? When was she going to be able to say what happened in her life?

Laying down she rolled over so her back was to the woman. "You don't know me, I don't know you or want to know you. If I'm going to be a prisoner here, I'd rather be in solitary confinement..." She muttered.

Catherine rolled her eyes. She had been as dramatic as this one, it had been a very depressing moment of her life. "You'll mourn those you wish to leave behind in time. People always do, I simply hope that Edmund doesn't decide to take his Tarepha anger out on someone you love." Reality? To her it was, she had been on the down low for too long, watching her back and assuring that no Tarepha and Ishak decided to rip her spine out, simply because it would be fun for them.

Catherine stared at her, unsure if Alison was being sarcastic or not. She had agreed that she was a child, so why did Catherine feel more confused. She finally shrugged and went to the book shelf, laying a finger on the spine of the book and pulled out an old looking book. She went to Alison and placed it on the bedside table. "If you decide that you wish to read something your majesty." Catherine's voice was low and held a tinge of irony. she didn't know why she said it but it sounded like the thing to say.

The door opened and a glass of water floated to her face followed by a bottle of pills. The door closed and Catherine placed the glass on the side table. She opened the bottle of pills and slipped two out, placing them next to the glass. "These will help with any nausea or headache you might have." Catherine assuring that she had the bottle in had went to the door and turned her head to Alison. "Good night then. I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow morning. It's omelet day and mortals say that I'm an excellent cook." She then melted to the ground and vanished out of the door.

"No I won't..." She muttered. But then again, what teenager ever thinks that they'd miss their 'parents'? "And they won't miss me. They haven't yet." She sniffed. They hadn't even tried to call her cell phone after all.

And why would she care if Edmund knocked her parents around trying to find her? He knew who'd taken her... She'd told him and he was smart enough to figure it out anyway.

A irritated 'hmph' was the only response Catherine got from her as the woman called her 'your majesty'. It was totally stupid and out of line after all. Sure, most royalty had their lives controlled too, but she knew she wasn't a princess or anything which was why she wanted to live her own life. If she had others to think about, she wouldn't mind an order here and there... But to be dragged down a path she didn't ever want to start going in the first place?

"I'm fine." Alison muttered. She didn't want the drugs. Sure she felt sick, like she was going to throw up, but if she did, so be it. As Catherine left she finally felt safer. She didn't like that woman... She used to be Dmitri's probably, and Alison didn't like that one bit....

Pulling out her phone though, she tried to call Edmund again... But still there wasn't any answer. So she left another message. "Edmund... It's me again... I... I can't get out. There are two other vampires here other than Dmitri at least, and one's the really old one you saw before. They... They have to let me go sometime... And when they do, I promise I'll come straight to you. I miss you so much..." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Please... Please don't be mad at me, And please don't come to try to get me, I don't want them hurting you."

With that done she curled up into a ball, shutting her eyes tight. She hated grown ups sometimes... How they acted like they were only looking out for her, saying they wanted her to be happy. If they wanted her to be happy, all they had to do was let her go. They said she was a kid... But kids got to have fun, they got to be daring and reckless. So why couldn't she? Almost every girl in her school had already had sex, and they seemed to like it, but she'd never understood why, now she did. She understood why they liked drugs. She was just doing what the others were doing, so if that's what kids did, why were they stopping her from being one?

The tears were falling before she knew they were even there. They streaked her face, soaking into the sheets. The sobs were silent though, shaking her body, but hopefully not giving her anger, her hate, her fear and longing away. Half and hour later she was fast asleep, the sun starting to rise as she did so, showing how her body was already adjusting to her new lifestyle.