Nepenthe (d.belikov)

eight

Since the discovery of each others identities and their shared connection to the Vampire World, Kate and Lissa had grown astronomically close, comfortably close at least.

Lissa started joining Kate on her plans, they stuck together in high school, from 8 to 3:40 pm then the two either went to the library, three times a week, or the private gym, one time a week next door to their high school, until 6 pm, or they went shopping, if the food was low.

When none of that happened, the two were holed up at home, either watching movies or slowly sharing more of their backgrounds. Kate would also let Lissa feed from her when she needed, always with discretion so that Jeremy never found out, to make sure that she didn't encounter the need to drain a human and become Strigoi.

They'd gotten caught by Jeremy a few times, back at the apartment, but Jeremy, not understanding the full extent of what was happening just assumed that Lissa and Kate had began hooking up, or dating, which neither denied, as denying would bring up more questions than those that they were willing to answer someone who wasn't part of their world.

And that's how the two ended up collecting firewood for the camping trip that Jeremy invited them on. 

Lissa had Kate pressed against a tree, her mouth locked on the left side of Kate's neck, her teeth creating puncture holes from which she could feed from, while Kate bit her lip, enjoying the vampiric sedatives that were pushed into her bloodstream, her hands were on Lissa's hips, ready to push her away if the need arose.

A rustling sound caught the attention of the two, alerting them that if they didn't make a noise to show that they were busy, that the rest of Jeremy's friends would walk up on them.

A moan escaped Kate's lips, similar to the one that Jeremy was used to hearing sometimes from the room that the girls shared, a moan that had him groaning and moving away from the direction he had been walking on. "You're meant to be collecting firewood, not making out." Jeremy called out to them, annoyance clear in his words.

"Would you rather hear us in our tent?" Kate called out, her words slightly slurred, the buzz from the vampiric sedatives clearly impairing her mind.

Another groan left Jeremy's lips, followed by "Don't take too long, we'll be starting dinner soon."

Kate let out a dazed laugh, which was followed by another moan, only this one was from Lissa pulling her lips back and tracing the punture wounds with her tongue, before pulling back. As the sedatives began to leave the left side of her neck, Kate winced at the stiffness and dull ache, while she had grown used to the sensation of Lissa's fangs breaking her skin, she was still not used to how dazed she felt after she pulled away.

"How are you feeling?" Lissa asked worriedly, she was always carefully when she fed from Kate, never drinking one drop more than what she needed to survive the bare minimum. But still, sometimes she worried that feeding off Kate once a week was killing the girl.

"Like I've drank a couple shots of tequila and proceeded to walk into a pole." Kate replied with a lazy and dazed smile, this was the same answer that Kate gave Lissa each time the blonde Moroi questioned after feeding off her, the same answer that had Lissa rolling her jade green eyes in amusement.

There was no denying that Lissa was grateful to have ran into Kate after running from the Academy, grateful that she didn't have to hide who she was, grateful that there was someone just as paranoid, just as worried, just as secretive as she was.

Lissa wouldn't lie, there were times in which she compared Kate to Rose. She knew that both girls would willingly lay down their lives to save her, both girls valued Lissa's opinion, both girls treated Lissa like she wasn't a fragile Moroi. But Lissa couldn't help but notice how Rose had been oblivious to the real world, how she loved to party, while Kate knew of the real world, she knew the dangers first hand, how Kate hated large crowds that idn't offer a quick getaway.

Rose had been raised in safety, with the threat of Strigoi was used to have students behave as they still had years of innocence, where parties were always safe, where the chances of facing death daily were slim.

Kate was the opposite, she grew up in a setting with no safety net, with no way to protect herself, in a setting that brought dangers not only to her but also to those around her, where she was forced to grow up quickly, where parties were a disaster waiting to happen, where the chances of facing death daily were more than she could count.

As Kate caught her breath, Lissa fixed her friend's shirt, making sure it wasn't crooked, she gently brushed over the area that she'd bitten into moments prior, her jade green eyes watching the now purple and red colours bloom around the bitemarks. Another thing that she and Kate had agreed on seeing as they weren't denying that they were together, when Lissa fed on her, she'd leave a hickey over the area she'd bitten into to disguise the punture wounds while they healed.

It happened quickly, almost too quickly.

Lissa barely had time to react as Kate yanked her forward and behind her, trapping the Moroi girl between herself and the tree, a bit rougher than when they trained at the gym, but the sight of a wolf-like animal with its hackles raised answered any and every questions that Lissa might've had.

The animal's red eyes were locked on Lissa, who was standing behind Kate, its head tilting to the side analizing the situation. Kate copied the animal's actions, lowering herself down slowly and pulling from her hicking boots, a familiar object that Lissa knew Kate always carried with her.

A silver stake, simple with a leather bound grip that exposed the absolute back of the stake, where the initials K.M. were carved into.

"Kate... that's a psi-hound.... they-they obey whoever is able to train them...." Lissa whispered frightfully, wrapping her arms around herself as she kept her eyes on the psi-hound, deeply thankful that the eyes of the animal were still blue, which meant that it had not been given the order to attack.

"Run." Kate ordered, not caring what species the animal was. Everything in her was telling her that the animal was a danger to Lissa, and that was something that Kate wouldn't let close to her Moroi.

Lissa hesitated for a moment before doing as Kate told her, running as fast as her legs could, she didn't care in which direction she ran as long as it was not the direction of camp, she knew that Kate would find her afterwards, she always did.

At the sight of Lissa running, the eyes of the wolf-like animal changed from blue to red, and it snapped its jaws at Kate, who almost sadistically smiled back at it.