“—and, with the rations, I was finally able to settle down. Each day was no longer a battle to survive, but after a year and a half of hunting, I had no idea who I was anymore.”

  Both girls were sitting on the couch, holding each other’s hands. Alicia had her legs pulled up underh her, and had quietly listened as Katrina shared what her ge had been like. She’d wanted so badly to speak up, to try and offer fort, but she could tell how hard it was for Katrina to ret everything that had happened. In the end, Alicia had opted to stay silent, to let Katrina speak until she’d shared everything.

  “Even with the rations, it was still incredibly difficult. I get enough to survive, but never enough to feel sated. I’m stantly battling my hunger, suppressing the urge to sink my teeth into everyone I see.” Katrina paused again, wiping a tear from her face. “Every year, without fail, on the anniversary of the ge… I stay up until m, and I sit iairwell on my roof. I stare at the sunlight, w if this time I’ll actually do it. I always want to, more than anything, but… obviously it’s never happened.”

  “Hey,” Alicia said, cupping Katrina’s face, encio look up. “I’m happy you’re here, Kat. You’ve made my life so much better, so much brighter, and you’ve given me a ce to fight for myself.”

  Katrina leaned forward, the girls toug foreheads as they held each other. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke up again. “I’ve old this to anyone. I hought I would find someohat I trusted enough.”

  “Not even Sera?” Alicia asked.

  “No. I was still hunting when we were together, and I couldn’t bear the thought of ruining what we had, which… ended up happening anyways.”

  “Do you know what happeo her?”

  Katrina shook her head. “No idea. She was so angry, so hurt by what had happened… I couldn’t bear the thought of fag her again. Does that make me a coward?”

  “Kat… I don’t think that’s something I decide for you.” Alicia brushed a tear off Katrina’s cheek before tinuing. “All I know is that, right now, you’re trying to be better. You haven’t attacked anyone in more than two years, and I think that’s amazing.”

  Alicia pulled Katrina closer, huggiight before kissing her forehead. She felt Katrina’s arms squeeze her tight, and she buried her fato Alicia’s shoulder. Her body started shaking, tears running down her cheeks as she began to cry. Alicia held her, brushing her hair out of the way and she did everything she could to fort the Vampire.

  After nearly half an hour, Katrina’s breathing calmed, and she stopped g. Without saying anything, Alicia leaned back, lying down on the coud pulling Katrina with her. her had anything more to say, aually they both fell asleep.

  —

  As usual, Alicia woke at the crack of dawn. Though initially fused, as she hadn’t fallen asleep iree, she couldn’t help but smile when she found Katrina still in her arms. She was surprised the Vampire had actually stayed asleep, and wondered if the stress of sharing her past had simply drained her.

  After a few minutes of appreciating how Katrina’s body felt against hers, Alicia saw rays of sunlight start to filter into her house. Panic set in, and she removed herself from the couch as quickly as she could. Miraculously, Katrina mao stay asleep the whole time, and Alicia gently pced a b over the Vampire as she got to work.

  Walking outside, Alicia expanded her senses, reag into the ground just in front of her house. Vines sprouted, creeping up the rge bay window until they’d reached the sed story. As they grew, heavy leaves began to emerge as well, w together to form a heavy b of greehat covered the window. With that finished, Alicia let herself take a few mio nitpick over details; she added a few flowers, some smaller vines with cute blossoms, just minor details to keep her inner botanist happy.

  A quick trip inside revealed that her pn had worked perfectly. The living room, while not pitch bck, was easily dark enough for Katrina to sleep safely.

  The matter at hand resolved, Alicia took a seat on the floor. She was in no rush to start her day, and this was her first ce to start unpag everything that had happe night. A fancy date, a new delver, and her first kiss with Katrina. She could still feel herself blushing whehought back to that moment, it had been such a surprise.

  Of course, then Katrina had finally opened up about her past. On the one hand, Alicia was ecstatic that Katrina trusted her enough to share everything, but oher, it was hard to deny that Katrina’s history had been signifitly more harrowing than she’d expected.

  Much like Katrina, Alicia wasirely sure who she was, and what the rules of this new world were. She always khe ge had been chaotic, she repeated the stats often enough at work, and her own neighborhood had been trashed the night of the ge, but it was hard to escape the nagging feeling that she’d beeraordinarily lucky. The age hadn’t hurt her, or her Heart Tree, and her Race was an incredibly peaceful one. She had no violent urges, and she had access to free food so long as the sun tinued shining.

  How many demons had hurt people during the ge? Most of the age Alicia had seen that night had been the result of a huge Rage Demon pig a fight with a Dragon. Their fight had been terrifying, and it had only gotten worse as people around the neighborhood started disc their powers, using them to try and protect themselves.

  Alicia had been terrified, but the danger had evaded her. The fighting had stayed away from her tree, and the more dangerous individuals had quickly left the neighborhood afterwards. It had been easy to feel secure in isotion, to wele the loneliness with open arms if it meant an escape from the horrors of that night. Thinking ba it, most of her first month after the ge had bee hiding iree, jumping nervously at any sign of life.

  Shaking her head, Alicia realized she was now watg Katrina sleep. Not wanting to be a creep, she walked back outside and started her m routine. Visiting pnts, watering flowers, dipping her feet iream and enjoying the sunlight.

  As her roots sank into the soft riverbed, and the warmth of the sun began to revitalize her, her thoughts tinued rag. She recalled the first moment she met Katrina, when she’d realized she was a Vampire. There had been a tiny fsh of fear, possibly a remnant of the human part of Alicia, but the moment had passed quickly.

  She didn’t choose to bee a Vampire. The System forced it on her, forced her into a situation where she had to hunt to survive. That could have easily beehere’s no reason I didn’t turn into a Vampire, or a Demon, or any one of the hundreds of races that so easily spread chaos in their wake.

  The more she thought about it, the more she believed that Katrina was a good person. She wao be a part of her life, to see her grow and overe this part of her. With her job at ORC, she even made det money; maybe she’d be able to start purchasing blood on a reliable schedule. Katrina made her happy, and she was determio return the favor.

  An idea crossed Alicia’s mind, and she opened her eyes. It was still m, but the sun was now high in the sky; Katrina would likely still be asleep for many more hours. Leaning forward, Alicia focused on the ground oher side of the river. The sides of the river had been almost pletely cleared of crete, and a healthy patch of dirt stood waiting for her. With a deep breath, she ected with one of her Racial Features, Seeds of Life, and got to work.

  Alicia had learned early on that this particur Feature allowed her to create almost any pnt she desired, no seeds required. When used in bination with another Feature, Oh Nature, she was able to grow and trol the pnt life arouo an incredible degree. At first, she’d tried to fill her wn with every possible variety of unique, colorful flowers, but had quickly learhat her magic had limits. Sure, she could grow anything she wanted, but if she stopped trating, they would default to normal behavior. If they didn’t have water, or if there were any other of a million different problems, the pnts would die. This had led her to mostly rely on mundane gardening, using her abilities only to start new growths. Alicia had always grown pnts that she ked, as they were easy to research, but now she wondered if she could create something new.

  Oher side of the river, something began to grow. She tried to be careful, to move slowly so she could ualy what she was doing. Small bulbs formed, and then a series of lush, vibrant green stems. They reached for the sky, small leaves f, then hints of a flower. The buds stayed closed at first, but soon opeo reveal deep, crimsoals. Several rge, stronger petals grew wide, and additional smaller petals grew underh that opy, almost resembling drops of blood.

  When Alicia fihis new pnt had clearly been inspired by Blood Orchids, but had grown into somethiier. She shook her own roots free, crossing the river to i her work. She leaned close, breathing in the smell, and her senses were overe with a dull, metallic st; exactly what she’d wanted.

  To finish her project, she grew a small colle of thick bark, formed it into a makeshift vase, and filled it with water. She took her new flower, carefully dislodged it, a ihe vase.

  With a sigh of relief, she leaned back, stretg her arms high into the sky. When she opened her eyes to look around, she saw the sun had ged positions again. By her calcutions, she had just spent roughly 4 hrowing this pnt. Thankfully, there was still plenty of time left to deliver her present. She picked up her new flower and began walking bae.

  Katrina was still asleep, though it looked like she’d turned onto her side at some point. With each breath, her chest would rise and fall, and Alicia had to stop herself from getting lost in the Vampire’s beauty. She instead left the flowers on the ground, in front of the guitar she’d bought Katrina, a.

  Alicia spent the rest of her day wandering her house. She barely spent any time inside, and decided she wao it up for Katrina. After all, there was a ce she might be spending more time here, and Alicia wao make a good impression. She did her best to wipe away all the dust, pack up all the clutter, and the heavy amount of dirt that she’d tracked ihe years. By the time the sun had started setting, the house was far from perfect, but Alicia leased with her results.