Blood dripped from the table onto the smooth wooden floor. A painting of the Scandinavian countryside on the wall was marked by a crimson streak. The air was thick in the booth; neither Eve nor Nianna wanted to speak first.

Eve was motionless as she watched Nianna's body return to normal, like rising from the deep black ocean, human features reappearing.

Eve had moved away reflexively and now sat opposite Nianna, who was staring at the floor. Waves bloomed from her, yet this time, Eve decided to focus on their meaning – to try to accept them. Concentrating, Eve let the pulses envelop her whole, and like a half-remembered song, Eve felt shame - vast and unyielding.

Were these Nianna's emotions?

"NiNi… It's alright. Look at me."

Nianna's head rose gently. Her eyes had trouble finding Eve's, but they got there eventually.

"It's like you said. You and I will figure this out." Eve wanted to approach Nianna, but every time she commanded her legs to do so, they stayed firmly put.

"Am I making you feel it?" asked Nianna, nodding at Eve's left side.

Eve was still holding her left arm, feeling the four ridges beneath her clothes. Timidly, Eve relaxed herself further and let go. "No. You can never make me feel anything like that. I just need to process this. I have questions…"

"Another of the red, Rook!" called Nianna and raised her arms when she saw Eve's panicked look.

"It's for me," Nianna assured.

"Coming!" yelled Rook from beyond the curtain.

Eve nodded. "Ok, good. First question is this: Since when were you an Other?"

Nianna opened her mouth to answer, but Eve cut her off: "Six months. Isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Eve laughed. "You became an Other the day after my birthday."

"I did."

"Great. And instead of coming to me, you what? Quit college, left me alone with your parents. I only see you now on the fucking walk to campus."

Nianna shook her head. "It was the right thing to do."

"Leaving me with your parents? Did you know he's making me call him dad now?"

Nianna gritted her teeth. "I did not know that."

"Why am I even talking about him? Who cares?" Eve shook her head. "You should have told me from the start."

A wave of anger from Nianna. "What would you have done then, huh, Eve? Abandoned your life for me? You want to be a Scribe! The PACT, Eve! It's all you ever wanted."

"Fuck the PACT! It's you, me, and Atilan. All there is on this cursed Earth. How do you not know that?"

Nianna snorted. "If the situation was reversed? You became an Other, and I was still human? Would you risk snapping my neck and eating me whole? Or would you have left and never looked back?"

Eve stared at her, her throat tight.

Nianna held her gaze. "That's what I thought." The wave of anger subsided, and Nianna sat back down.

They had both stood up without realizing it.

Someone cleared their throat. "I have wine," called Rook.

"Bring it," said Nianna.

Rook placed down the chalice, glancing at the spilled blood, and left without a word.

Nianna grabbed the red liquid. It was warm; Eve could feel its presence - its calling. Its desire to merge with her and make her whole. Eve's hand whipped out and grabbed the chalice.

"Hey!" Nianna held the chalice firmly. She warned: "The hell?"

They were pulling at the chalice in opposite directions. Droplets were spilled, and Eve grew angry.

"You're spilling it!" With both hands, Eve grabbed the cup and stole it from Nianna's hand. The other girl turned into black liquid, flowed behind Eve from underneath the table, and reformed her body.

Nianna held the cup away from Eve's mouth, who was doing her best to drown herself in it.

"Eve! Control it! If you don't control it now, you never will!"

Nianna held the blood away from Eve, its angelic taste; Eve could not bear it. A fleshy bone-white hand ruptured from the back of Eve's neck and grabbed Nianna's throat. They thrashed in the booth, Eve desperate for the blood and Nianna desperate to keep it from her.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Gah!" Nianna struggled to talk with her throat closed. "Eve, stop-p. You're… You're choking me."

The blood was half an arm's length away from Eve; if she could just hold Nianna back a few more moments, the blood would be hers. She could at last…

Fear.

Fear enveloped Eve like a blanket, radiating from behind her. From where she held Nianna by the throat. Eve let go of the chalice and backed away from Nianna.

Her eyes widened as she looked at her friend. "Nianna! What am I doing?"

Nianna hid the chalice under the table and coughed. "Damn, Evie. You've got a grip."

It was then that Eve felt and moved her third arm. Skinless, it hung from the back of Eve's neck. Her eyes widened as she slowly turned her head to look at it.

"I am so sorry, Nianna. I don't know what came over me," Eve said as she tried to move the third arm and found it obeyed her completely.

"New ones never do. It will subside with experience; the desire to eat," Nianna said.

"Good. Good. Now get this thing off me," Eve said, pointing at the third arm.

Nianna shook her head. "Can't do that. You are in control of yourself and your powers. Retract the hand on your own. Focus, will it to obey you."

Eve did, and felt the bones of the extra arm shatter and liquefy. Its entirety flowed back into her neck and out of sight.

"Sick," said Eve.

Nianna fixed her clothes and sat back down. "Here is what you need to do, Eve. You are going home - to pick up your stuff. You will stay at the Checkmate until further notice."

"Don't think so. I have to study. Exams next week," nodded Eve.

Nianna winced. "Your life is over, Eve. It's over."

"No, it isn't. I am still me. I can control it; you just saw me let go of the blood."

"You let go only because the blood wasn't fresh, because I'm not human, and because you care for me," Nianna shook her head. "If any of those things were different, you would have overpowered and killed me."

"You don't know that!"

Nianna stood up like a bolt of lightning. She towered over Eve and looked down at her. Her body was stiff and angry, but from the waves of emotion - Eve felt only sorrow.

"I know it, Eve. I know it. The Others live for a long time, so you best learn it as fast as possible."

"The Others live until killed. They are immortal," Eve said.

Wait. I am immortal?

"Eve," said Nianna. "In this, I am certain. You cannot go back, not after this. If you slip up, the PACT will kill you." “I haven’t done anything.”

Nianna nodded. “I know you haven’t. But until this morning, were you not willing to join the PACT? You and Atilan.” Nianna turned her back to Eve. “It’s all you ever talk about.”

"All that time we talked about the Others… You were there, thinking we would hate you," Eve thought.

"NiNi…" she said. "I am sorry. Sorry for making you feel that way. But I didn't know."

Nianna faced her. "Just listen, please. At least for a little while."

Eve searched Nianna's face and felt her emotions. The waves were tiny now, a commotion of dozens of different emotions, none overpowering the others. It was sadness, anger, loneliness… and a hint of happiness.

"Wait." Eve's eyes narrowed at Nianna. "You're happy I'm an Other!"

Nianna's eyes widened; shame radiated from her. "I-I am. But it's only because-"

"You're no longer alone," smiled Eve.

Nianna gulped. "Yeah."

"I get it. Note to self: avoid blood for the foreseeable future."

"Ah," Nianna said. "That was my fault. I thought you would have been sated. Half a liter is enough for a couple of days."

Eve smiled. "You know me, always a greedy eater."

Finally, Nianna laughed.

Good. That's better, Eve thought and asked: "How did it happen for you?"

Nianna sat back down and answered: "The usual, a lord thought I was cute. Wanted me. So, he attacked and sired me."

"How is that done, by the way? Historical accounts differ. You see, early 13th century scholar Brambus, eastern Himalayas region of course, talked about the process of shkellega, or the rite of the wings. Apparently, a group of Others would gather, naked, and the would-be Other would lay in the middle and they would take turns-"

"Stop!" said Nianna. "That is not true!"

"Oh," replied Eve with mild disappointment.

"I was just bitten!"

"Well, that's vanilla," said Eve, thinking of another possibility. "You sure you weren't covered in-"

"I'm sure, Eve," said Nianna, grabbing Eve's shoulders and gently shaking her.

"Things calm down in here?" asked Rook from the outside.

When Nianna called out that all was good, Rook came in with a broom and wet towels. He surveyed the booth.

Nianna winced and said: "Sorry."

Rook shook his head. "All good. Welcome to the family, new blood." He smiled at Eve.

"Not ready to joke about it yet. But thank you."

"Drinks are on me," assured Rook as he saw Eve pull out her wallet.

Eve said: "You are not paying for this, Rook. We made the mess, let us pay at least."

"Each cup was 200," Rook said, his voice flat. "And another 3 for the lemon."

"On second thought…"

Both Nianna and Rook snickered and laughed. Eve felt it, two overlapping pulses. One was of joy and coming from Nianna. Rook's was also full of energy, but she couldn't quite decipher its clear meaning.

"Are you an Other too, Rook?"

"Whoa, Eve..." warned Nianna.

"Look who's talking!" said Rook. "The night we met, you asked how many people I killed."

Nianna inhaled sharply. "Yeah, that was a bad call."

Eve pushed: "What's the answer?"

Rook considered her for a moment, and ducked down to clean the booth. From beneath, he answered:

"I'm an Ilsilad. And I killed one person."

"We are going upstairs. Let the girls meet Eve," said Nianna.

"Alright. Good luck, Laely is in a mood."

Nianna put on her coat and stepped out of the booth. "When is she not?"

Eve followed Nianna up the winding stairs at the back of the bar. They led into a lounge, directly above the bar. Inside were three women, looking directly at Eve.

One was spread over a couch, drinking some golden beer. She was ginger - violently so, and freckled. She wore a light blue shirt and booty shorts.

In this weather?

Eve felt stupid for thinking that, after the woman twisted like a snake as she stood up. Her arms and legs twisted unnaturally, her head made three complete rotations before coming to a stop.

"Knew it," the woman said to the others. "She brought a new one. I could smell her from two blocks away."

The second woman had neon blue hair and eyes, wore a green dress, but had remarkably similar features to the ginger – maybe sisters. She twisted in much the same way, and grabbed at the chandelier above her by lengthening her arms tenfold. She used it to jump over a table that stood in her way, and landed soundlessly near the ginger.

These two are Teriyad.

The last woman was standing on the ceiling. She looked up at Eve and Nianna and levitated down. Turning around in the air and crossing her legs to sit in the air. She was short, had bushy silver hair, and wore an all-white suit.

She took a long look at Eve's red hair, and asked:

"Who are you?"