Sarah stood by the door of Abby’s social media company. It was in the same office building as the vampire gathering. After enjoying the art and experiencing the vampire court she’d made her way down here. She wasn’t sure what to expect. She was nervous. Of course as a vampire she could just make herself not nervous but that would run contrary to Enid’s very clear instructions on using this form properly. The difference was that the nerves were not crippling. Her body could still act normally. She pulled the door open and was greeted by a receptionist who motioned her towards a hallway.

“She’s expecting you. Down to the left, end of the hallway. Corner office.”

Sarah nodded and walked in that direction. The office door was open, and Abby was behind her desk. She looked up when she heard Sarah’s muffled footsteps. She smiled and motioned to one of the comfortable looking chairs in front of the desk. Sarah sat down and crossed her legs.

“I love the dress, Sarah. You look fantastic. Back to being a vampire I see.”

Sarah gave a small teenage style shrug.

“Better to be the diner then the dinner?”

Abby smiled.

“Very eloquently put. You’re probably wondering why I asked you to stop by tonight.”

Sarah nodded.

“We need to keep you in the media. Capitalize on your two viral videos. Make you the hero people so desperately want.”

Sarah shook her head slowly.

“No! That is the opposite of what I want. I want this all to just fade away.”

Abby put down her pen and slid the draft she was reviewing aside. She interlaced her fingers and leaned forward.

“Sarah, the influence being exerted to keep you safe from MANA only extends so far. If you have popular public support it will prevent MANA from acting against you openly. Trust me, someone over at MANA is going to want to act against you. So, I think publicity is in your best interest. The Empress, the Council and your legal guardians agree.”

Sarah frowned. She was still a minor. What she wanted didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. She understood it logically but damned if she liked it.

“I just… I hate it. I want to go to school, play soccer…”

“You can do all that. You might have people ask for an autograph or what not but its no different than movie stars and other famous supers. Supers deal with this sort of thing all the time. MANA has an entire division for Superhero publicity. Right now we’re still in control of the narrative. We need to keep you in the driver’s seat. Make the public want to know more about you. See more of you. You can even pretend to hate the publicity. Resist the popularity publicly. They’ll eat that up. You are so popular because you don’t want to be popular. Most powered individuals in your position would have already appeared on morning talk shows all over the world. Been doing interviews with all the big press. You’ve been actively denying it. People want a hero like you. One who shuns the fame. A high percentage of the positive comments on social media are extoling how you just sat down and went back to studying after dealing with the hijackers. You didn’t wave for the cameras. You didn’t demand recognition for your actions. You’re the girl next door. They want to know everything about you. But they admire that you’re not using this to get the spotlight. Kids want to see you on social media. Adults admire your restraint. They admire that you appear so clean cut. The media have been trying to find skeletons in your closet and there are none. Parents see you as a role model for their teenagers. You stay out of trouble. You’re never looking at your phone in the photographs.”

Sarah sighed and nodded.

“I’ll do whatever you think is right. If it isn’t going away on its own I may as well benefit from it, even if it is just some security.”

Abby smiled and nodded.

******

Sarah was riding back to the Russian president’s palace. She was leaning her elbow on the arm rest of the rear passenger door. Her silver eyes scanned the passing buildings. She was dreading the next week now. Abby was turning her vacation into one long social media extravaganza. It would probably ruin her time with the Olympic hockey team. She suddenly gulped hard remembering the kiss with Erik. She realized that was probably going to bite her in the ass in the near future. If she weren’t currently a vampire she probably would be hyperventilating and be in the midst of a panic. She was of course in the midst of a panic attack but there were no outward signs of her distress. At least she could hide it from everyone else as a vampire. It would be easy to just turn it off… not feel the panic but Enid had been clear: Vampire form was alright so long as Sarah kept her emotions flowing.

She reached down pulled out several bags of blood and started sucking them back. She wasn’t a nervous eater but perhaps Enid was? As a vampire she always wanted blood. Enid had also been right the speed, the strength, it had drained her reserves, so she wasn’t not hungry. This felt more like she was just keeping her fangs busy. What had she been thinking? Kissing Erik. She hadn’t. Vlad was right if vampires chose to feel emotions they were enhanced too. Even their lust. It also explained what Amee and she did in the girls washroom at the mall. She licked her lips once again as she remembered the arousal she tasted in Amee’s blood. Andrew glanced back at her in the rearview mirror.

“Hungry?”

Sarah looked at the ten empty blood bags she’d drained one after the other.

“Always? Uh…the speed… and strength? It used a lot.”

Andrew nodded.

“Take it all if you need. The Lord will restock it. If you need more call me.”

He offered a business card over his shoulder.

“Can’t have you going hungry.”

Sarah glanced at the fridge and closed her eyes briefly before tearing through the rest of the blood. She wasn’t sure how much she could hold as a vampire but apparently it was a lot. Andrew chuckled.

“Looks like you decided to go big when you turned yourself.”

Sarah stuffed the last blood bag into the trash and licked her lips before looking up at Andrew. She noticed her fangs were still out in the mirror.

“What do you mean?”

“Most vampires are full after ten of those. You just ate twenty and you look like you might want more.”

Sarah nodded then quirked her head to the side.

“Is vampire blood more…better?”

Andrew nodded.

“Yes, but it comes with its own set of problems. I’d avoid it at all costs.”

Sarah nodded and looked down at the empty blood bags. Truth be told she had never felt full as a vampire. She wondered just how much she could drink. She also pondered how she would get her hands on enough blood to test. The car pulled up to the palace. Andrew got out and opened her door. He motioned to her chin.

“Missed some.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Sarah ran her finger along the spot he indicated and felt moistness. She licked her finger off after swiping the blood up with it.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime. I’ll let the Lord know you’re in need.”

Sarah nodded.

“Thank you for the ride.”

Andrew chuckled.

“Thank you for stopping me from getting filled with silver. Would have made for a very bad night.”

Sarah waved and made her way up to the front door. It swung open and one of the President’s security detail motioned her inside. Prin hurried to her room in an attempt to avoid Erik. She was successful in so much that she didn’t run into anyone besides security. She closed her door and leaned against it. She’d be trying to catch her breath if she weren’t currently a vampire. After several minutes she pushed off the door and started getting changed into a long t-shirt. She was just finishing cleaning the make-up off her face when she heard a knock at her door.

Sarah pulled on her bath robe. She was expecting it to be Kira trying to cover emergency changes to the schedule to accommodate the media extravaganza that Abby had planned. Thus she had a fairly neutral expression on her pale face when she opened the door. That changed quickly when she saw it was Erik. She stepped back without a word. Her guest walked inside. He looked at Sarah with a bemused expression. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“So… earlier…”

Sarah held up her hands defensively.

“Was one hundred percent a mistake on my part, sorry.”

Erik closed the door behind him and turned towards her, he touched his lip where her fang had grazed it.

“Didn’t feel like a mistake to me.”

Sarah shook her head.

“It totally was.”

He moved closer. She could hear his rapid heartbeat and her fangs slid out without her meaning them too. She saw the artery on the side of his neck. She put her hand over her mouth.

“You know. I’m feeling kind of off… maybe we should talk about this later?”

Erik pressed closer. It wasn’t that Sarah didn’t want to continue the kiss she started earlier. It was more she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to resist the blood flowing through his veins.

“Just one kiss, make sure the last one wasn’t a fluke?”

Sarah shook her head.

“No means, no mister.”

Her protests were for naught. She was more than strong enough to toss him off of her but she really didn’t want to say no. He pressed her against the wall by her bathroom and their lips met again. Sarah returned the kiss passionately. They rolled through the open bathroom door and Erik was the one pressed against the wall. Sarah took control of the make out session and while his hands roamed down her back her slips moved down his cheek to his neck and she slide her fangs in. Erik started to twitch as he went through all the stages of arousal and finally made a mess inside his jeans. Sarah didn’t stop, she was enthralled by the fresh blood. Enid appeared in the mirror and started shouting at her.

“Stop! You’re going to kill him.”

Sarah didn’t listen and kept going. All that mattered was the blood. It wasn’t until she heard his heartbeat struggling to pump blood the precious little blood that remained that she stumbled back. He slid to the ground. He was unconscious from blood loss and would die very quickly. Sarah didn’t know how she knew that exactly. She also knew he needed a blood transfusion immediately but that would be quite impossible.

Sarah looked in the mirror and finally saw Enid’s stern countenance staring back at her. Blood was dripping down her chin. It wasn’t like Amee at all. The blood had stopped. With Erik it wasn’t stopping, nor did Amee’s blood run out. Enid had her arms crossed.

“Bite your wrist and give him blood, quickly. Or he’ll die.”

“But…but won’t that turn him?”

“Not if his heart’s still beating. Hurry.”

Sarah bit her wrist near the artery and pressed against Erik’s lips. As the blood passed his lips and hit his tongue his eyes snapped open. He started gulping down Sarah’s blood desperately, as if he knew he was about to die.

“Don’t let him drink too much, it will make him… unpredictable. Pull away now. Look in his eyes and force yourself on his mind. Tell him to sleep.”

Sarah yanked her wrist away. Erik growled like an animal that just had its food ripped away. Sarah grabbed his cheeks. Erik who was much stronger than he had been struggled against her but failed. Sarah met his gaze and said sleep as forcefully as she could. Erik’s eyes slipped shut and his nose started to bleed. Sarah released his face and he slumped against the wall again. Sarah looked at Enid.

“What now?”

“Clean up the blood seems like the obvious answer. You’ll need to make him forget about the kiss…the blood. All of it. And next time be more careful kid.”

Sarah grabbed Erik’s arms and started dragging him towards the shower.

“It’s all over his clothes.”

Enid sighed heavily.

“Lets just get him undressed first, yea? Clean off the blood.”

The lights in the bathroom flickered. A silvery vortex formed just in front of the doorway. Sarah blinked at it and looked at Enid. Enid shrugged.

“Fucked if I know kid.”

Sarah started to drag Erik towards the shower faster. Not so much to get him cleaned up more quickly, but to get him away from whatever the hell was happening. The vortex stabilized at about six feet in diameter. Sarah was in the process of lifting the unconscious Erik up to shove him into the shower when the lights flickered again. The silhouette of a girl appeared. Finally, it formed into a full-fledged teenage girl. No, a teenage elf. She was wearing black robes with silver trim and runes. She was holding a staff made of black metal, capped with a platinum dragon wrapped around a crystal orb. Sarah just stared at the ruby-eyed silver-haired elf-girl. Erik’s unconscious form was halfway into the shower. Both covered in his blood. Her response would have been a lot more panicked than it was if she weren’t a vampire.

“Uh… this is definitely not what it looks like.”

The silver vortex rapidly shrunk and then vanished with a pop. The elf-girl looked between Erik’s unconscious form and Sarah. Sarah was not expecting to understand a word that this fantasy creature spoke. She was quite mistaken when the girl spoke with a very solid mid-western united states English accent. The elf quirked an angled eyebrow as she spoke.

“You drank too much, fed him blood and now you’re trying cover it up? Starting with the getting rid of the blood step?”

Sarah blinked a few times.

“Uh…I guess it is exactly what it looks like then?”

The elf snapped her fingers and the blood vanished from the pair. Sarah jumped.

“What the hell?”

The elf grinned.

“Just a little magic. Do your vampire eye thing and send him on his way. Jesus-whosit said you needed help with something.”

Sarah shook Erik until he woke up, he was looking very much like he wanted to continue down the path they started on when they’d kissed. Sarah looked into his eyes. Enid spoke from the mirror again.

“Erase both kisses. Just tell him to walk back to his room and go to sleep. And when he wakes all he’ll remember is that he had a really good dream, involving you.”

Sarah told Erik what Enid had told her to say. She stepped back and so did the elf. Erik walked right past them almost in a daze. After the bedroom door closed Sarah’s eyes swept towards the elf.

“You’re Serena.”

The elf smiled and curtsied.

“At your service, Sarah MacCloud.”

Enid frowned and spoke from the mirror.

“Be careful with this one. Somehow, she’s like Seraph.”

Sarah nodded her silver eyes scanned the elf for any signs of her actual intention. The elf was unreadable to her.

“Umm, you’re an elf.”

“And you’re a girl who looks like a twelve-year-old boy.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes. Serena laughed.

“Come on Sarah, it’s a joke. What do you need?”

Sarah looked at Enid who just shrugged again.

“Well, there is this friend of mine… She misplaced her soul. She needs it back so she can help me with a problem. And uh… I need to get to another dimension for a clone?”

“The woman in your head?”

“Yes? You know about her?”

Serena tapped her chin.

“This is going to be a quick pop in and fix things and pop out it seems.”

Sarah looked at Enid again, but the red-headed woman was no longer in the mirror.

“You’re like Seraph can’t you just make a new body and move Enid there?”

Serena blinked at Sarah. She shook her head.

“No, ma’am. She lets me be so long as I follow her rules and that would break them. It would break them a lot.”

“But you can pull a soul out of wherever? Go between dimensions?”

“Yep. I’m not altering reality for someone else. Can do it a bit for me but not for say you.”

Sarah motioned to herself.

“But the blood…”

“Magic. Easy magic. I’m a Sorceress after all. Well, a sorceress in training. This next part… that might get me in trouble, but I’ll risk it.”

Serena closed her eyes. Sarah watched as reality rippled around them. Literally the walls rippled. Serena’s form shifted. Suddenly Sarah was staring at a black-haired teenage girl with bright blue eyes. She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

“What did you just do?”

“Made myself fit. A place for Enid when we succeed.”

Sarah blinked a few times.

“You shouldn’t have done that. MANA will detect it…”

“Well, I wish them luck figuring out the epicenter.”

“But there was ripple…”

Serena looked Sarah up and down.

“You saw that? I guess you did. Who am I?”

Sarah looked at Serena in confusion.

“Serena?”

“Hmm you are immune. Interesting.”

“I really don’t understand.”

“I changed reality so that I belong here. I came here with you from Aurelius Academy, I can fly, have super strength. I’m tough. The Russians are trying to entice both of us to stay here in Russia.”

“Why?”

“Because otherwise how would we explain my presence here?”

“You mean we can’t just go fix it and you can go home?”

Serena shook her head.

“No, it’s not simple like that.”

“You just…changed the universe to suite your needs and it’s not simple to get Maria’s soul back? What do we have to do?”

Serena laughed.

“No silly. I can change things for me, but I can’t for others. Seraph has strange rules. Just believe me when I say, getting Maria’s soul back isn’t easy. First, we have to figure out when it went missing, then we need to track it down. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“Then just go with it hmm. Fake it till you make it. By the way, we’re old friends. Figure it’d be easier that way.”

“Sure, but I don’t know anything about you.”

“I’ll get you filled in. Right now, though, get some sleep.”