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Usually she would have matched her best friend's excitement about going to the party, but Kitty was somewhat dreading it, worried that Mal might show up unannounced. Krista hadn’t mentioned anything, meaning Mal hadn’t told her about what happened or maybe he did but made her forget everything. It filled her with rage thinking about the vampire controlling Krista’s mind. Apparently there was some flower out there that could stop Krista from being compelled, which was another option for Kitty.

Damn, she should have sourced this unknown flower sooner so she could slip it into Krista’s drink, but then what if her friend was also a vampire? Maybe Mal turned her into one?

No. She promised herself not to overthink anything and just enjoy the day with her best friend, but alcohol would probably help that. She watched as Krista grabbed a glass too, sipping on the drink a lot slower than Kitty. Of course, they were at a posh party with ball gowns, red lipstick and high heels. She quickly observed the others who were standing nearby, realising they were all holding their glasses lightly, taking a mouthful every few minutes whilst chatting to their friends. Krista’s eyes were also scanning the crowd, but probably not to see how quickly other people were drinking their drinks. She was looking for Mal. Until recently Kitty didn’t really mind that her best friend spent most of her time with her boyfriend. They were still in their honeymoon phase and also Kitty had Phoebe, but now she felt like every time Krista announced she was going to see Mal she was putting herself in danger. Her boyfriend was a vampire, a killer, a murderer. Well, she knew not every single vampire killed people, but she didn’t put it past Mal. Looking past that British charm and funny-sounding accent there was something more sinister.

Kitty let out a laugh, although it was somewhat forced. Mal did suck, in more ways than one. “Oh no. I’d wanna buy an expensive hottie… plus it sounds kinda weird buying someone. Like I get it’s for charity, etc etc, but yeah a little weird.” Kind of embarrassing too, but whatever. The rich liked to spend their money on stupid shit.

Before Kitty had the chance to reach for another glass Krista had already dragged her towards the dancing, announcing that they were going to dance. The music wasn’t as good at the Ruby Slipper, but it had a beat she could move to.

Soon the dance floor filled with a few more bodies. Kitty pulled lightly on the neck of her dress, peeling the fabric away from her skin. It was getting hot. She turned to her friend, fanning her face with her hand as she did so, “They need some AC I’m… what the fuck is that?” She stopped fanning and pointed at her friend’s neck with an expression of anger on her face. She couldn’t bite her tongue anymore, “Was that Mal?” She snapped.



KRISTA MAY

Sometimes it was so hard trying to wear her emotions on her face. If Kitty wasn’t unhappy with something or someone it was written all over her face, which is why she was finding it so difficult to be around Krista lately. There was something inside waiting to snap about Mal. The chances were that Krista had been so caught up in her own life that she probably failed to notice the twitch on Kitty’s face whenever Mal’s name was mentioned. She wished she was human so that Phoebe could compel everything away and everything could go back to normal.

Kitty craved normal so badly sometimes. One friend was a vampire, the other was potentially a snack for her vampire boyfriend and then there was Kitty who ran around on all fours once a month. She tried not to think about it too much though because it truly blew her mind.

To become super-duper rich was the dream. A swanky large house with like four sports cars parked out front and huge pool at the back, maybe even a tennis court too even though Kitty had never picked up a tennis racket before in her life. Her house would have a cinema, a bowling alley and a whole room filled with arcade games. One day, maybe. “Totally. Then they’d fall madly in love with me and we’d elope somewhere like Mexico or Aruba!” She let out a quiet laugh, one that wasn’t strained compared to before.

She needed to forget about Mal and his stupid fangs. Kitty decided she would speak to Krista another day and focus on having fun with her best friend. The music and the dancing would help with that, imagining all her problems leaving her mind as she danced in tune with the music.

The happiness didn’t last long though after she spotted the scabs on Krista’s neck. She didn’t even seem bothered that Kitty had noticed them, responding to her comment with a giggle and acting like it was normal. “A hickey?” Kitty exclaimed as she frowned deeply. She’d stopped dancing, folding her arms across her chest. “Is that what you tell people?” Surely Krista knew that wasn’t going to wash with people? There was a fucking wound on her neck in the shape of two little bite marks. But surely that meant Krista knew Mal was a vampire if she had bite marks on her neck. “Is that what Mal told you to tell people?” Had he compelled her to tell people such a stupid unbelievable lie? “I know what he is Krista.” The two were surrounded by people and Kitty didn’t want to utter the word vampire in case someone pounced on them. She grabbed Krista by the wrist, pulling her through the crowd, away from the dance floor towards somewhere quiet. “He tried to do the same thing to me but his little mind tricks don’t work on me… do you know what he is?” She wanted to hear the words come out of Krista’s mouth. She wanted to hear her best friend admit that she knew Mal was a vampire.


KRISTA MAY

Boys weren’t supposed to come between friends. It was one of the unwritten rules of girl code along with not stealing your friend's man and telling your friend if they had lipstick on their teeth, but somehow Mal had wedged himself between the two. For now, only Kitty was aware of this though. Krista was busy being away with the fairies, as always, talking about Mal and whatever other subject popped into her mind. It was a blessing that Krista was there to fill the conversation. There was never a moment's silence with Krista.

Now Kitty was filling the conversations with accusations. Ones that she knew were true. Mal had been nibbling at her best friend like a chew toy and he told Krista to be okay with it all. “You’re a bad liar Krista.” She retorted furiously, rolling her right eye as Krista said she just wanted to make sure Mal was safe like the man needed any protection at all. He had two fangs that made sure he was okay.

She wasn’t about to have an argument with Krista in the middle of a crowded dance floor, so she pulled the pair off to somewhere quieter. As much as she would have loved for a hunter to overhear their conversation and go after Mal she couldn’t do that to her best friend. Even though she hated Mal she knew Krista loved him. The truth came out of Krista fairly easily, but Kitty threw her hands in the hand in frustration with her friend, “You like it? You like him biting you?” Bullshit. That was total bullshit and she wasn't buying a single word coming out of Krista’s mouth because it was Mal’s words. “You wouldn’t even know if he was doing that mind shit on you!” She was trying her best not to raise her voice and draw attention to the two. “Yeah that’s exactly what he was gonna do.” Force her to be quiet whilst he took a chunk out of her.

Kitty sighed heavily, folding her arms over her chest. She knew she shouldn’t have come to the stupid party with the stupid people and stupid music. She kept silent for a few seconds after Krista’s question, thinking about what to say. She wanted to tell Krista the truth, but she also wanted to lie. It was different when she told Phoebe because Phoebe didn’t freak out as she knew werewolves existed, but did Krista? “Because I can’t be compelled… vampires can’t compel other supernatural beings.” She was going solely off what Phoebe had told her, “I’m a werewolf… that’s why.” If Krista was okay with sleeping with someone who literally lived on human blood then she could accept the fact her best friend was a werewolf.

KRISTA MAY

Feels good? How the hell did being bitten by actual fangs feel good? Mal had definitely told Krista to believe. God, Kitty’s hatred for the men was growing stronger and stronger. She thought she knew Krista but all of that was starting to unravel. There was no way she would have pegged Krista as the type of person who enjoys pain. In fact, Kitty had always pictured Krista as the type of person to be overdramatic about a paper cut, acting like she had lost a limb when there was barely any blood. “Having sharp ass teeth pierce your skin and have someone literally sucking blood from you feels good?” Krista could stand and argue her point all evening and Kitty wouldn’t buy any of it because Mal made her believe these things. Ugh, maybe Phoebe could like reverse the compulsion. Somehow.

The pitch of Krista’s voice rang through Kitty’s ears. She quickly glanced around, but no heads were turned. The last thing they needed was to make a scene about this, putting them both in danger. “No you wouldn’t!” Surely Krista knew that? Kitty felt like she was going around in circles with her best friend. It was like slamming her head into a brick wall over and over again. Mal’s compulsion was deep.

Kitty was quick to frown at Krista’s questions since it sounded like Krista was almost accusing Kitty of something. It hurt. “He came over looking for you and I invited him to wait in our dorm for you but then he got all fangy with me.” She had never seen a vampire’s true face before and it was scary as shit. The way Mal’s eyes got all dark and those veins that appeared on his face.

Kitty had wanted to share her secret with Krista from the moment the pair moved in together, but she was too scared. Krista could freak out and tell someone at the college, like a member of staff. Then she could get kicked out of college or even worse taken away by some men in white lab coats so they could test the theory. The only reason her sisters believed everything was because they saw Kitty get bit by a wolf. They knew it wasn’t some rouge dog like the doctors said. But Krista didn’t see it happen and there was a strong ass chance she would think Kitty had lost her mind. “Yeah it’s called compulsion.” And she was soooo happy it couldn’t be done to her. “I ain’t lying… look.” Again she quickly scanned the area for prying eyes, but most were caught up with the auction. Her right eye flickered back to Krista, glowing gold for a second before fading back to brown. “Yeah full moons are a real thing. I turn into a wolf…” It did sound absurd, but if Krista was okay with having a blood sucking vampire boyfriend then she would be okay with having a werewolf best friend. “Er… not really. Apparently, werewolves and vampires hate each other but I don’t know why.” She said with a shrug. Ancient theories aside though, she hated Mal because he was hurting her best friend and telling her it was okay.


KRISTA MAY