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Lily nudged the door closed behind her, the vibrations of it rattling the apartment. She tossed her keys into the dish by the door and groaned.
“That bad?” Mary commented from the kitchen, too absorbed in what she was doing to look up.
The apartment was dimly lit, the overhead light turned off. A candle was burning on the coffee table in the living room, a soft light accompanied by two lamps that sat one next to the couch and the other by the television stand. There was something soothing about coming home to the smell of pumpkin spice and roasted herbs, courtesy of the casserole that was currently in the oven.
“I’m just so sick of people treating me like crap because their day was bad. Some idiot literally threw coffee in my face because the order was a little off,” Lily grumbled.
She dragged herself over to the island that separated the kitchen and the living room, sliding onto one of the stools.
“Ugh, I keep telling you to quit. Your boss sucks, too,” Mary said.
“I know, but I need the money. I just… need more adventure in my life, I think,” Lily sighed.
“Well…”
There came Mary’s monthly attempt to drag Lily to one of her strange fests. Lily knew what was coming the second she heard the word well come from Mary’s mouth, but she had already rushed off to her room.
“Hey, what about your casserole?” Lily shouted.
”It’ll be fine!” Mary called back.
She came back in less than two minutes, shockingly, and the first thing she did when she was back in the room was slide a flyer over to Lily.
”Dinner is served!” she said, taking the casserole out of the oven. Mary placed an oven mat on the island counter before setting the burning pan on top of it, and being presented with such an enticing dinner after a long day was definitely what Lily needed.
”You’re amazing,” Lily told her.
Lily, against her better judgement, looked over the flyer. It was advertising a “VampyFest: Witches, Vampires, and Werewolves”. She considered it for a moment. What was the harm, right?
”I know you’re busy next week, but this fits almost perfectly with your schedule. Some might even call it fate,” Mary says. sing-songing “fate”.
Lily sighed. “Alright, fine.”
Maybe Lily’s job really did drive her crazy in those few days, because she was actually starting to get excited about Mary’s crazy fest.
There were people all over the place talking and laughing, filling the air with a warmth that contrasted the slight chill of the evening air. The soft glow of the hanging lights that connected the tents of salespeople illuminated the rows of opportunities. People wore pointed hats and frilly dresses that fell to their shoes, or black capes that flared up at the neck. Some people even were sporting animal ears and fur-cuffed shirts. Lily thought it was quite ridiculous, if not for the creativity and joy that radiated from them.
Mary was dressed to the theme, in a little black dress with a red lace corset over top. Lily, though, wore a simple tank top and ripped jeans. Mary stopped at a stand with infographics and brochures teaching about spells and potions. Lily decided to walk around a bit, and see if anything caught her eye.
She wandered between different stalls, more focused on seeing the different themes everyone settled on than watching where she was going. She heard two girls whispering and laughing just as she walked into them.
“Oh, sorry!” Lily said.
She thought she saw a golden glimmer to one of the girl’s eyes, but a second later and it was gone. She wasn’t dressed like most of the people there; instead, dressed more like Lily. She was wearing a neon orange halter top with dark green flared jeans and a green cardigan. The orange stood out against her dark skin, though Lily didn’t really understand why she paired it with a green that clashed so harshly.
The girl next to her was dressed more like Mary, wearing a black cape and fake vampire fangs. She even had a bit of fake blood near her lips, and a dark red grungy lipstick on. Lily could swear she saw just the tips of her blonde hair turn red for a moment.
“Don’t worry,” the blonde one said, smiling.
Her fangs looked so real, Lily was tempted to ask where she got them. Mostly so she could tell Mary.
“You are not dressed up, like everyone else,” the other girl said.
“Neither are you,” Lily said. “Though, you’re not exactly dressing normal either.”
The blonde girl snickered.
“Told you, Dorcas,” she said.
“Shut up, Marlene,” Dorcas warned.
“We were hoping to run into someone like you,” Marlene said.
“Marlene,” Dorcas warned again.
Lily was more than confused, but she let the girls continue bickering. It was kinda fun, and Dorcas was pretty. So was Marlene. Lily hoped at least one of them was single. Hopefully Dorcas. She seemed more… normal. Although, both of them seemed like they might get along better with Mary.
“Why don’t we go somewhere more private?” Dorcas offered. “It is quite loud here.”
“So soon, Dorc? Aren’t you afraid we’ll scare her off?” Marlene whispered to Dorcas.
Lily still heard. She wished they’d stop talking like she wasn’t there.
“We can let her decide that. Right,…?” Dorcas trailed off.
“Lily. And, why not?” Lily introduced herself.
“Perfect, Lily,” Dorcas said, Lily’s name dripping off her tongue like honey.
Lily followed them through the crowd, a million thoughts swirling in her mind. She sends Mary a quick text, telling her she’d met a few friends and was going with them. It was only half a lie. Dorcas and Marlene could be her friends. At some point.
“How exactly would you scare me off?” Lily called out to them when they were closer to the entrance.
“Well, not everyone is interested in… what do you call it, Marls?” Dorcas tried to explain.
“Threesomes,” Marlene said bluntly.
Lily choked on spit.
Marlene grinned wickedly. It was a wild night, and Lily discovered a lot. Her world was turned upside down, so to speak.
✧✧✧
The room was hazy, and Mary felt like she was suffocating on the heaviness in the air. Lily was there, and so were her two new—whatever they were to her. Friends with benefits? Almost-but-not-quite-girlfriends? Dorcas and Marlene, and they had brought a friend of theirs. She was an older woman, looking to be about mid-50s, but Mary had a feeling she was a lot older than that.
“Mary, right?” Dorcas asked, her gaze almost discomforting.
“Right.” Mary nodded, almost light-headed with the attention of three strange women in her and Lily’s kitchen and from being surrounded by a triangle of incense burning around them.
“This is Effie, we’ve known her for—a long time.” Dorcas continued, being vague for whatever reason. Mary didn’t question it, mostly because it wasn’t her place. “She’s a witch. A genuine one, not the kind most humans think they are. If you’re serious about the process, she can transfer some of her energy into your soul through a mark.”
The woman, Effie, set a hand on Dorcas’ shoulder to get her attention. “I can take it from here, darling.” She explained softly, her voice comforting Mary a lot more than Dorcas’ gaze.
Mary shifted in her seat, beyond nervous to be talking to a real witch. She hadn’t even known they really existed before this, not until Lily had come to her about vampires of all things. Which she now was, and Mary had hardly believed her when she announced it. Lily was supposed to be the skeptic, not Mary; the tables were flipped. She glanced to the side, at Lily, to see her best friend smiling softly at her; encouraging.
“You don’t have to decide anything permanent today,” Effie started, and Mary nodded. “I can give you a small mark and transfer a manageable amount of my magic to you temporarily. The magic will stay within your soul forever, but not enough to change anything about your mortality or human self.”
Mary nodded again. “I’m okay with that. Is it painful?”
Effie shook her head, reaching a hand out. “Can I have your arm? It’ll feel more like a tickle.” She tapped her fingers against the inside of Mary’s wrist. “Will you girls leave the room while I do this?”
“Of course.” Dorcas nodded, grabbing Marlene by the arm and reached for Lily’s as well.
“Can Lily stay?” Mary asked. She didn’t want to sit in here alone during this.
Effie smiled softly. “That’s fine. I find it easier to concentrate without the energy of too many people, but one other won’t bother me.”
Dorcas and Marlene slipped away from the kitchen, leaving the three of them alone.
“You’re sure you want to try this, dear?”
“Positive.”
“Okay. I’m going to start the mark then, but it won’t be anything big.” Effie started, closing her eyes. “The color it appears is the color of your soul. I like to think it’s a special thing to learn about yourself.”
Mary felt the tickle then, and watched as lines started coming out of her skin. They looked almost like branches of a tree, crooked and sprouting in different directions. It was small, like Effie said it would be. Then, the color changed from the white glow into a red, and then a purple, and finally settled on a light magenta. Mary gasped.
She felt different—it was like she had a sixth sense. She snapped her head to look at Lily, disbelief evident in her eyes. All her best friend did was nod, as if she had felt something similar. A shift in their humanity.
“Alright?”
Mary looked back at Effie and nodded. “I feel different.”
“That’s normal, lovely. And your soul is magenta, isn’t that beautiful?”
“Is it a bad idea to do more? Right now?”
“Some witches will go through the entire transformation in a day. So, no, not exactly. I can feed you a little more, but I’d hate to overwhelm you. It’s a lot to put a mortal through.” Effie said.
“Let’s do it. Just a little more.”
Effie did, and Mary felt energy she didn’t know was possible. She felt the magic in the tips of her fingertips, but that’s all she had for now. Effie told her they’d have to meet in a few days to really practice how magic itself worked, and Mary could only nod excitedly with glassy eyes.
Lily hugged her as soon as Effie left.
“Now you’re stuck with me for a lot longer than planned.” Lily teased, holding both of Mary’s hands with bright eyes.
Mary smiled. The new energy infiltrating her system was enough to put her on cloud nine. “Do you blame me for wanting to be with my best friend for eternity?”
✧✧✧
Lily was slowly going crazy. After that night… going home with Dorcas and Marlene…
There were all these things. Small things. Lily excused them the first few times it happened— the way Dorcas made her feel dizzy sometimes when they kissed. That was normal. The glimmer she saw in Dorcas’s eyes sometimes, like the day at the fest. And Marlene’s hair color changing slightly at the tips.
The more it happened, the less Lily could excuse the signs. It was a bit hard to explain away Dorcas and Marlene’s fangs. At first, Lily thought it was a roleplay sort of thing. After all, they did meet at a vampire fest. But, again, it was hard to excuse it as just that after a while.
So Lily did the only thing she knew how– she started researching.
She figured internet searches wouldn’t help much, but she started out looking up blogs and asked Mary what she knew. Mary just thought Lily had finally come around to believing in the supernatural, and Lily felt a little bad for being judgemental before. She comes up with more questions than answers, so she starts going to the library.
Books upon books, most older than Lily’s grandparents, maybe even older than her great-grandparents. Eventually, she started reading books so old she wasn’t sure it wasn’t pure bullshit. She wasn’t certain any of her research was actually useful.
How did one confront their… Lily didn’t even know what Dorcas and Marlene were to her. Maybe it was easier to just leave now, when it wasn’t too late to be sucked into their crazy world. Not that it wasn’t already too late. And the thought of leaving them made Lily sick.
SIDE EFFECT: DESPERATION??? / longing/ lust/ symptoms of sickness??
Another sticky note to add to her growing collection. Among it were:
FANGS?! WTF!
Blood thing? How true is supernatural fiction?
WTF is true vs myth?????
GLIMMER EYES? COLOR CHANGING HAIR?
WHAT POWERS!!!?
Wtf is my life anymore
Vampires?
Are werewolves, witches, etc. also real?
Lily needed to get a grip.
✧✧✧
Dorcas had collapsed to the floor in pain, not understanding what was going on. A vampire had bit her, she remembered. Not much was known about them, but everyone said they were dangerous, conniving. Blood thieves.
Dorcas went on to turn many more, some of them dying shortly after because their mortal bodies couldn’t handle it. Some died later on, in various ways. Just because vampires were immortal didn’t mean they were invincible. Dorcas found that out the hard way. When she first started turning humans, she was like the other vampires, taking without thinking first, too drunk on power and need to care.
Then she met Marlene.
“Lily?” Marlene’s voice, foggy and slow, made its way to Lily’s ear.
“Give her…” there was Dorcas’s voice, muffled and gone as quickly as it came.
And Lily was thrust into another memory.
Marlene loved her turning. It was exhilarating. Dorcas’s memories flood her mind—
And in turn, Lily’s. Lily feels her mind squeezing together…
Marlene was turning someone for the first time. She was excited, felt the power coursing through her blood, felt their blood become hers, felt her memories flood their brain.
The fifth time she turned someone, it didn’t go as well. It was Marlene’s first kill, and it takes Dorcas three weeks to convince her it wasn’t her fault. This just happened sometimes.
“Lily!” Marlene’s voice, clearer this time.
“Marlene, stop,” Dorcas said firmly.
“Dorcas,” Marlene choked out.
“We can’t…”
Another memory.
Marlene’s most recent turning. It was months ago, and she was desperate for blood. Dorcas and Marlene weren’t quite enough for each other anymore. Dorcas’s turns weren’t helping Marlene as much as they should’ve been. Their bond was just as strong, but they needed another.
There was a fest. They went every year. It was the perfect opportunity, and a great excuse. They needn’t worry about fitting in, though Dorcas still did. And then—
Lily gasped as she came into consciousness again, her neck still aching from the bite. Marlene was sobbing, no doubt afraid history was repeating itself.
“Lily,” Dorcas hissed. Literally hissed.
“I’m fine,” Lily gritted out.
“You will be,” Dorcas told her. “But we still have some steps to go. For your recovery.”
Dorcas gave her some sort of potion to help replenish her energy. It helped, but not much. Dorcas had told her it wouldn’t. That it would take a few days for her to fully recover, maybe more. Marlene and Dorcas would be right there to help her.
“We need to complete the bond,” Dorcas said, somewhat uneasily.
”How?” Lily asked, voice raspy from her dry throat.
Dorcas and Marlene shared a concerned look.
“Lily, I want to be extremely clear here. You do not have to do any of what we’re about to tell you. You can recover fine without these steps,” Dorcas began.
“What do I have to do?” Lily asked, voice still hoarse.
“Well, we need to consume each other’s blood. There are many ways to do that. Um, and we would need to… how shall I put this?”
”We have to fuck,” Marlene finished for her.
“Marlene!” Dorcas scolded. ”But yes, we do need to consummate our relationship in order to share a bond.
Lily took a deep breath.
“Ok, let’s do it,” she said.
✧✧✧
After realizing that Dorcas and Marlene were vampires, everything became a lot more clear. Lily went over the last four months in her mind, again and again. Dorcas and Marlene meeting her, maybe not as much of a coincidence as Lily had first thought. Maybe they had planned it. She tried to think whether she had seen either of them before, but she can’t remember meeting them before the fest.
Lily realized, slowly, that Dorcas and Marlene might have seen her as prey this entire time. While Lily had stupidly thought that there was something real there.
She was so damn stupid.
Seething with anger, she showed up to their apartment that evening. She banged on their front door, demanding to be let in. She didn’t even know if the two of them were home.
Marlene opened the door.
”Vampires,” Lily said. “They’re real?”
”I’ve been saying for months that I am one. Thought you were smarter than that, Lils.”
”Fuck you,” Lily said, shoving Marlene. ”You both lied to me! For months!”
”I didn’t lie about anything,” Marlene gritted out.
”You let me believe you two actually cared about me. But no, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been so stupid to trust you. I don’t even know why I’m here.”
Dorcas, who must’ve heard all the yelling, joined in.
“Lily, calm down,” she said.
”’Calm down’? Seriously? Are you insane? You have some nerve—“ Lily yelled.
“What exactly do you think our intentions are?” Dorcas interrupted calmly.
”Get a nice fuck every once in a while, and eventually turn me into a vampire. You’ve been grooming me!”
”No.”
”That’s all you have to say? Go to hell. Why should I believe you?”
“You’re more than just someone we want to turn, Lily. Trust me, we wouldn’t have spent four months just dating you otherwise.”
“What Dorcas means—“ Marlene cut in, “is that you mean more to us than that.”
”Ok, but vampires don’t ask before they turn,” Lily said.
“Ugh, she’s one of those,” Marlene groaned.
”Lily, the books you have no doubt researched are full of false narratives that are centuries old. Most vampires have learned, like humans, that consent is important. I recall there was a time human men didn’t believe it was. Some still do. The same is true of vampires. Also, most humans do not see supernatural creatures in a positive light. The ones who actually believe we do exist especially,” Dorcas explained.
”Ok, so what is true? How do I know you’re not lying to me? I’m so confused,” Lily mumbled.
”I have some books, written by actual vampires, that may be helpful for you. If you’d like, I can give them to you,” Dorcas offered.
“Okay, yeah,” Lily said.
Lily spent the next month researching, and rebuilding that trust with Dorcas and Marlene. They talk things through, instead of Lily making assumptions. She fact-checks with Dorcas about certain things she reads about. Eventually, Marlene and Dorcas tell her about soul-bonding.
✧✧✧
“So how do we do this?” Lily asked nervously. “I’ve never… well actually, all of this is new to me.”
“We’ll go slow. You can stop us at any time,” Dorcas said.
“Right,” Lily said, face hot with a mix of anxiety and exhilaration. ”So do we… is the blood thing during sex?”
”Typically, yes,” Dorcas said.
“Kinky, right?” Marlene grinned.
“Marls,” Dorcas sighed.
“How…” Lily trailed off.
“It’s quite normal to bleed during sexual intercourse…” Dorcas said.
“Why do you say things like that?” Marlene groaned.
Dorcas ignored her, continuing. “But obviously there needs to be an exchange of blood between the three of us so we shouldn’t rely on that. It depends what you’re comfortable with Lily.”
“Dorcas and I have bonded,” Marlene said, “So we have a bit of experience. But this is sorta different. But turns out, Dorcas is very skilled with a knife, and I now have a knife kink.”
“Oh my god,” Lily said, mortified.
“Would you like to find out if you do, too?” Marlene whispered in Lily’s ear.
And, ok, maybe Lily did.
“Am I seriously doing this?” Lily whispered, mostly to herself.
“Only if you want to,” Dorcas reminded her.
Lily nodded. Because, in the past few weeks, she learned so much that nothing really surprised her anymore. And, she was kind of excited.
“Ok, let’s do it,” she said.
They started off slow, only going as far as they normally have. Of course, they all had a different intention this time around. Marlene was pressed against Lily’s back, letting her hands trail over Lily’s body, before they settled on circling her breasts. Dorcas was… lower. Her lips are exploring Lily’s thighs, and Lily was sure that she would have marks the next day. Dorcas always made sure to go just close enough to where Lily so desperately wanted her to, before focusing her attention on a different part of Lily’s body. This time it was her neck.
Dorcas scraped against Lily’s neck with her fangs, just hard enough that Lily could feel it, but not enough to break the skin. It made Lily whimper with need. Dorcas pushed her fangs a little farther, and Lily gasped.
“Lily, may I bring a knife over? I won’t use it yet,” Dorcas asked.
”Yes,” Lily gasped out.
Marlene made faster circles on Lily’s tits. Lily moaned and arched back into Marlene, wanting to get closer.
“Marls, baby,” Lily whined.
“You’re so fucking sexy,” Marlene told her. “Your tits are so… I just wanna sink my fangs into them.”
Lily groaned. She wanted that, too, now. She also needed Dorcas to be back as soon as fucking possible.
“Dorcas,” Lily gasped. “Need Dorc— ah.”
Marlene tugging on her nipple cut her off.
“It’s not polite to talk about someone when they’re not there,” Dorcas scolded lightly.
“Dorcas,” Lily said, desperately.
Dorcas returned to her spot, holding the knife under Lily’s chin as she kissed Lily’s shoulder lightly.
“Is this okay, sweetheart?” Dorcas asked softly.
”Yeah,” Lily whispered. “Dorc, please, I need— fuck! Marlene.”
“Marlene, play nice,” Dorcas warned.
“I am being nice. She’s so wet for us, Dorcas. Tell her, baby,” Marlene said.
Lily just whined again. She couldn’t make sense of anything but Marlene’s hands around her breasts and Dorcas’s knife. Shit, Dorcas and her knife. Lily never in a million years thought she’d have a knife kink, but there she was, desperate for Dorcas to make her bleed.
“Need you,” Lily cried out. “Please, I need… I need you to make me bleed. Dorc, please.”
”Okay, I’ve got you,” Dorcas reassured.
She saw Dorcas give Marlene a look before switching positions with her. Marlene grins wickedly as she presses Lily onto the mattress. Marlene lowers herself and settles her head between Lily’s thighs. And then Marlene’s tongue did wicked, dizzying things. Lily was moaning and whining, and saying a lot of nonsense. She wasn’t even sure what she was saying anymore. Just begging for it to keep going. For any sort of release. She almost didn’t even feel Dorcas press the knife into her shoulder, drawing just enough blood for Dorcas and Marlene to have a taste. Lily came into Marlene's mouth just as she did.
Dorcas kissed Marlene as she drew blood from Marlene, undoubtedly tasting Lily on her tongue. The thought of it made Lily spill even more. Dorcas, noticing, licked it off her pussy. Then, she licked the blood off Marlene’s shoulder, and drew a bit more which she took on her pointer finger. She drew some of her own blood and gathered that on her middle finger. She held up her fingers to Lily’s mouth, and Lily took it greedily.
As soon as she did, she could feel the effects. Lily felt a desperate need to be close to Dorcas and Marlene, to taste their blood again, to sink her fangs into their skin and take.
Lily was panting, and maybe begging a little.
“Dorcas, need more. Please, I need more. Marlene. Please, fuck me again. I’ll do anything you want,” she rambled.
“Lils,” Dorcas said softly.
”No, Dorcas, no, please. I need—“
”Lily, we can’t. It’ll subside. If we go too far, you could get hurt.”
”No, we won’t. I swear, I just need you. I need both of you, or I’m going to die, I swear.”
Dorcas shared a look with Marlene.
“One time after,” Marlene said, like it was a reminder.
”Okay,” Dorcas sighed. “Lily, we can do it once more, but no more after that.”
Lily sighed with relief, which slowly turned into moans as Marlene and Dorcas tore her apart slowly. This time was more desperate, more messy. Marlene teased her relentlessly, telling Lily how sexy she was, how pretty her tits were, how pretty she sounded screaming and moaning. It only made Lily dizzier. Dorcas was the one with her tongue in Lily’s pussy and her fingers circling Lily’s clit this time. Lily was more handsy, pulling Dorcas and Marlene closer, tugging on their hair. Lily came more intensely this time, screaming Dorcas’s name as she did.
“Next time, I’m making you two come for me,” Lily said softly.
Dorcas and Marlene had to fuck each other in the living room as Lily slept it off after that.
✧✧✧
“Lily.” Dorcas sounded serious.
Lily looked up from the textbook she had laid out on the table in front of her—she had been reading up on vampires and other supernatural creatures.
“Yeah?”
“I know we keep asking, but it’s really important. Are you sure you’re okay with this? Us turning you?”
Lily wished she could properly put into words how sure she was, but there was only so much she could say.
“Yes, I’m more than okay with it. I promise.”
“We don’t want you to regret it.” Marlene commented. She sat next to Lily with strands of her hair between her fingers, braiding and unbraiding them idly.
“I won’t. I know I won’t, and it isn’t like I’m going in blind.”
Dorcas sighed, and she moved to sit down beside Lily too. “We know you aren’t. But this is big, and we’ve only known each other for a few months. It’s something permanent, and it changes everything about your life as a human.”
Lily felt frustration bubbling. “I know that, okay? I’ve been reading a lot, and I know what I’m getting into. I’m not going to be stupid about it.”
“That’s not what Dorcas is saying.” Marlene said, and the two shared a look without words.
Lily snapped the book shut, and looked at both of them, one after the other.
“You both are important to me now,” she started. “I feel a connection with you, and I know that means something. And I’m ready to work through the changes with you two. As long as you’re okay with it, then I am.”
“Alright, Lils.” Marlene leaned over to give Lily a sweet kiss on the temple, and it had pulled a soft smile from her. Dorcas looked at her like she hung the moon and the stars, too, and Lily had never been so sure of a decision in her life as much as she was about this one.
✧✧✧
Lily was sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of resources she had at her fingertips now, as well as the amount of research she had been doing the past few months. It felt like she was back in high school, cramming for exams that she could probably ace without studying for hours, but she’d do it anyway.
This time, no amount of studying felt like enough. There was so much to learn, so many mannerisms, so many different ways of adapting to vampirism.
Dorcas and Marlene had given her a new stack of books, one of them being as thick as three textbooks, but felt as light as a magazine. Lily had been most excited to open that one, and as soon as she’d gotten home, she did.
That was how she learned about the memory sharing aspect, and the fact that some vampires mastered the skill of legilimency; some were even born with the ability, like a superpower. Lily made a note to ask Dorcas and Marlene about that. If they had the ability to read her mind, she’d like to know—especially with the things she thought about sometimes. In the back of her mind, though, she wondered what they could do with that if the possibility were ever to come around.
The two of them were tainting her mind, she was sure of it.
Lily moved on from that topic with a slight flush to her cheeks, one that quickly faded when she got to a chapter about what vampires weren’t immune to. The ritual that could be done to banish them from existence entirely, with the steps and materials right at her fingertips. Why did they trust her with this knowledge?
She went on to read about The Veil, a type of portal hidden deep within a highly-secure building called The Ministry. It was the most common way for the law to get rid of vampires—push them through, and their soul disconnected from their body, detached forever. Not even the strongest of witches could string the pieces back together.
Lily shuddered, thinking about how horrific of a fate that would be, and had to take a break from reading.
She made herself some lavender tea, distantly wondering if enough garlic could actually kill a vampire. She knew that, at least, was something from fiction, but she was learning not to assume if things weren’t real when there’s a strong possibility they could be.
Lily was just adding a bit of milk to her tea when Dorcas and Marlene knocked at the door, letting themselves in. Lily felt less overwhelmed by the feeling of dread this new knowledge was inflicting, and instead was simply content to have the girls with her.
✧✧✧
It took a while for Lily to get used to being a vampire.. and bonded to Dorcas and Marlene. It was exhilarating and almost magical… but there was still something missing. Dorcas and Marlene seemed to notice it, too.
“Isn’t the point of the bonding thing that we’re supposed to feel… complete when one of us turns someone? Like, feeding off each other?” Lily asked them one day.
“So you feel it, too?” Marlene asked with relief.
“Usually vampires are complete in pairs. Perhaps in our case, we need two pairs,” Dorcas pointed out.
“You mean…” Lily started.
“It’s time for you to find your soulbond. Someone who will match you, but also Marlene and I,” Dorcas said with a nod.
The next week, Dorcas and Marlene took Lily to VampFest, as per their tradition, and they searched for someone who they would feel a connection to. Someone to share their soulbond with.
There was a blonde woman dressed in black, staring up at the fairy lights mesmerized by them. She wasn’t paying attention where she was going, and Lily was too busy laughing at a joke Dorcas had made.
They crashed into each other, and Lily could swear she felt a shift of power, of energy. The woman looked at her quizzically, like she felt it too.
“Sorry,” Lily said, standing up. “What’s your name?”
The woman took the hand Lily offered her.
“Pandora,” she said.
Lily shared a knowing look with Marlene and Dorcas.