Adapting to her new life in Oregon was easy enough, she had her own bedroom and despite being bare of any sentimental or major earthly belongings, she had decorated it to be hers, given it personality.

Katherine, or Kate, did share the flat with another two people, two boys, Jeremy, who was an undergraduate in Computer Science and George who was in the first days of his residency in the nearby hospital and also in his final days in the lease of the apartment, preparing to move in with a few of his doctor friends.

Kate had bought her very own laptop, her very first private computer and something that wasn't shared with everyone in the house.

With her past and trauma still ingrained in her mind, Kate knew that she needed to burn her fears down much like her house had when she was 7, so she signed up at the local gym next to her high school, going once a week.

She'd signed up with all the AP classes she could sign up to, needing to be constantly working on something, even if it was boring or if it took up a lot of her time.

She didn't sleep much at night, or rather she took naps and was a rather light sleeper, she was unable to stay asleep for too long without being consumed and plagued by nightmares, so she usually ran on coffee and fumes.

She'd startled her housemates the first few nights when they woke up with her at the door to their bedroom or in their bedroom, staring at them, creepily in their opinion, or found her wandering around the apartment, locking the windows, deadbolting the front door and pushing the heavy bookcase in front of it, alone.

George, despite not being in psychology, told Kate what many doctors had already told her, that she was riddled with PTSD from events that she, herself, might not even remember, the same events that led to her becoming an orphan.

None of the medication she took, prior to being emancipated or prescribed to her by George worked, neither in the short run, nor the long run.

Kate was doomed to be plagued by her trauma and have a physical response to it, most of which happened without her remembering, i.e. the appearing in the doorways of her housemates bedrooms or inside of the bedrooms.

But unlike the previous families, Kate felt comfortable enough with the two boys that she allowed herself to relax in their presence, allowed herself to ask questions when she had doubts or seek help when she needed it.

Kate even allowed herself to walk around in shorts during the hot days, which showed off the 2nd degree burn dark mark on her thigh, her hands had also been burnt but they healed faster, so much so that they showed no indication of ever being burnt.

The level of confidence was especially shown when she allowed George to be the first person, since she got burnt, to check how the burnt mark had healed.

Unfortunately, George's lease ended and he moved away, in with his fellow doctors, leaving Jeremy and Kate in the apartment, to bicker over who picked up which chores that George had.

Despite this happening 3 months after turning 16, Kate had taken to enjoying her time in Oregon.

Having spent her first Christmas with people that didn't look like they were scared of her, nor that looked at her like she was some broken frail doll, made her feel proud that she had gotten emancipated.

The solitude from living only with Jeremy ended soon enough, as in the fourth week of January, the Landlady of the apartment building, Helen Moss, a woman in her late 50's, with graying ginger hair and judging mud brown eyes, decided to pay the shared apartment a visit.

Considering it was a weekend, Kate was in the apartment, the radio was playing some classical music and the radiators were turned on in the apartment to keep it warm.

Jeremy was doing a group project at a friend's house to it was only Kate at home.

She'd been doing AP Math homework on the living room coffee room table with a laptop playing a pirated movie playing, scented candles were lit and, on the windowsill, filling the room with a flower garden scent.

Despite being a 16-year-old, and needing to socializing, Kate preferred to stay home, which was why and how she was able to greet the Landlady and catch her surprise visit.

The knock on the deadbolted and bookcase covered door, startled Kate. She knew that it wasn't Jeremy as Jeremy usually warned her when he of the time he was arriving home before hand, and they rarely had unannounced guest.

Jeremy and George had bought a thin welcome mat for the inside entryway of the house as to hide the scuff marks on the floor from Kate always moving the bookcase, so Kate extremely lightly and gently, almost like a ghost, got up and walked to the door.

"Who is it?" She called out, carefully, anxiously, grabbing the baseball bat that George had left behind for protection.

"What do you mean who is it? Open the door you silly girl." Helen replied, her tone annoyed, as it usually was when she came to that unit, ever since she'd tried to set up Kate with her grandson and Kate stood him up and decline every and all chances and advances.

Kate's face blanched, her eyes widened and she looked at the blocked bookcase with almost terror. In all honesty, Kate wasn't sure who she was more terrified of, the monsters from her nightmares, or her Landlady.

"Just one moment, I-let me get dressed." Kate called out, rushing to her room to grab her grey bathrobe throwing it over her shoulders, closing it around her body and splashing the water from the cup on her bedside table on her face.

She quickly pulled the bookcase back, hiding the scuff marks with the welcome mat and unlocking the door, pulling it open to reveal the Landlady with a baby faced pale blonde girl with jade eyes.

"Finally! What took you so long?" Mrs. Moss snapped as she stepped into the apartment, her mud coloured eyes instantly assessing the cleanliness of the apartment.

The pale blonde girl with a baby face shyly entered after the Landlady, giving Kate a small smile as she carried a backpack with her.

Nothing but the clothes on her back.

"I was getting ready to take a shower." Kate replied, her voice quiet and slightly meek, looking between the Landlady and the new girl.

"Are you alone?" Mrs. Moss questioned, turning her eyes back to Katherine, making the younger girl stand up straighter and look at her uncomfortably.

"Yes, Mrs. Moss, always am." Kate replied, closing the door, resisting the urge to deadbolt and cover the door. "Jeremy has a group project that he's working on with his colleagues in the University library."

Kate knew that that would be the next question, it always was.

"Shame." Mrs. Moss replied, walking over to the living room couches and sitting down on them as if it was her own apartment. "We have business to discuss, and as a member of the lease, Jeremy should be here." She sighed before continuing, "Just have him come to my apartment when he gets back."

Kate nodded and wrung her hands before her, impatiently, anxiously. "Can I get you something to drink?" She asked politely, out of curtesy for having guests over.

"This is Lissa Dracul, she is starting the same high school you're attending and looking for a place to stay and since George left recently, you have room to spare. I decided to bring her here. What do you think Lissa?" Mrs. Moss said, not missing a beat as she ignored Kate's pleasantries.

Kate and Lissa's eyes widened, both thrown into each other's limelight so suddenly.

"It seems wonderful, but I wouldn't want to intru..." The pale blonde girl began but was cut off by the Landlady saying "Wonderful, you'll stay here then. I'll make sure that Jeremy will keep an eye on both of you so that you're safe."

The two girls looked at each other quietly but before they could say anything Helen simply walked out the apartment leaving the two alone.

"Guess we're roommates." Lissa tried to joke, hoping to break the ice. Kate, who along with Jeremy, was just getting used to not having George around and there only being two people in the apartment, looked at Lissa with slightly suspicious eyes.

"Katherine Alastair." Katherine said extending her hand for the pale girl to shake, her tone flat and almost uninterested. Almost too polite.

"Lissa Dracul." the jade green eyed girl introduced and grabbed Katherine's hand, shaking it carefully, politely.

The handshake was short, thankfully for Lissa, she never really liked when other people touched her, with the exception of Rose or her family. Even her ex-boyfriend was a strange sensation she didn't quite like.

Despite being short, Lissa could've sworn that Kate's eyes flashed an almost crimson colour for a brief moment, but unfortunately it was gone in a blink of an eye.

"What year are you enrolling in high school?" The brown haired girl inquired, her forest green eyes staring into Lissa's pale jade ones, gazing into her eyes as if she were trying to read her mind, her soul.

"Um.. Sophmore year." The new girl answered, seemingly attempting to think into what year she was enrolling, stepping back and creating some space between them, something that they were both thankful for.

Katherine nodded slowly and pressed her lips into a thin line, she hated meeting new people, given her background.

"Have you enrolled yet?" Kate questioned, attempting to sound genuinely curious but sounding like a bitchy mean girl that she knew from school instead.

Lissa nodded, almost too fast for her own good, her loose pin-straight pale blonde hair swinging over her shoulders as she did said motion.

"Mom is-" She cut herself off, exhaling through her nose deeply before continuing "Was close friends with the Headmaster's wife, I've met both of them."

Lissa's words slipped from her lips like goopy and delicious honey, honey that everyone usually took in and believed. Everyone but not Kate, who's brows furrowed momentarily, but kept her mouth shut.

Lissa's nods slowed down to just gentle ones, believable ones.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Kate told her after a few moments of silence, in which Lissa was just looking around the living room. Prompting Lissa to blink her jade eyes back to Kate with aggressive defensiveness, clearly throwing her personal shields up.

"You said was, I don't mean to make assumptions." Kate continued, her voice more polite than before, also more personal and soothing, a certain lower of her own defensive shield clear in her features.

Lissa's face falls, and her fists clench, along with her jaw. Kate watches her, quite literally swallow her emotions. Clearing her throat, Kate steps to the side, closer to the door and deadbolts it, but doesn't push the bookcase in front of it just yet.

"You'll be staying in my room with me, George was sharing with Jeremy but he's moved into a house with his fellow residents from the hospital, so we'll move the extra bed into our room when Jeremy gets home." Kate told Lissa, allowing her to deal with her emotions.

"Come on, I'll show you to our room, there's only one bathroom though." The brown-haired young girl stated making Lissa hum as she followed her, her bitten into nails dig into the palms of her hands so deeply, so painfully, expressing her internal pain in a physical way.

Kate didn't push, she knew how difficult dealing with painful emotions could be, how hard it could be to talk about her feelings. Jeremy and George had helped in part, when she had to talk about the reason for her actions, and the story behind her burn, but they didn't make her feel judged, not unlike the actual adults in the world.

Kate opened the door to their bedroom to display a sentimentally bare bedroom, with a bed in the middle of the bedroom on a wall.

The room wasn't anything too fancy like hers back at the Academy that Lissa had just escaped, and it was bare of any personal items, something that Lissa was shocked at, as her dorm had been packed with sentimental things that she hadn't had the courage to pack away over the years.

The blonde girl didn't know how long she was staying in the apartment with Kate and Jeremy but she knew that having only 2 roommate did ease things in case she had to make a speedy and undetected escape.

" Jeremy's room is just across from ours in case of emergencies," Kate began to explain as she pointed to the closed door behind Lissa. "And the bathroom is the door before his. Kitchen's through the doorframe that you saw in the living room."

Lissa nodded slowly, still clenching her jaw.

"Internet password is on the fridge and I need to know if you have any allergies before I cook dinner tonight."

Lissa turned her head back to Kate, watching her slowly as she watched her, "No allergies. And I don't have a phone or a computer to use the internet." her words were slightly heavy as she thought of an excuse, she didn't want to throw her late parents under the bus for the lack of connection to the human world.

Her voice was also rough and hoarse from her grinding her teeth as she swallowed her emotions.

"Alright, if you have the money we can buy them next time I have to go out to buy food, that is if you want to come with." Kate offered, she might not like new people, but she knew that she had to make an effort with Lissa as they were going to be sharing an apartment.

Lissa nodded once more, and this time gave Kate a smile, one that spread across her features, one that Kate considered truly angelic, and returned ever so slightly.

Lissa's smile faded ever so slightly and her head tilted down to floor and her cheeks flushed pink. She knew nothing of human customs, but she knew that like every other being they valued their privacy, and she would be invading Kate's.

"I don't have much clothing in the wardrobe soif you have anything to hang up use the right side of the wardrobe, it willfacing your bed when we move it." Kate told Lissa as she stepped back onto thehallway, quickly turning to face Lissa and telling her softly "The firstaid kits are in the bathroom and in the kitchen."