https://youtu.be/kOucrAFX810

I peeked around the corner of the hallway cautiously, having only just stepped a few feet from Oliver's room. I hadn't been awake long, but like always Oliver wasn't around to greet me. So I thought it was a good time to sneak off to visit Theo, being that I could remember where his room was inside the massive building.

I stepped into the halls quietly, my feet bare against the cool floor. When no one appeared to stop me, I began to run on the tip of my feet until I was in front of his door. My heart was pulsing in my throat, not out of fear or panic. It was an excitement; that either I would get to see Theo or that Oliver would catch me. Both scenarios were endearing to me.

I tapped lightly on the door with my fingertips, placing my ear against the wood. When no one answered, I opened the door quietly, peering into that familiar pristine room curiously. A quick look told me that neither scenarios I had hoped for was waiting for me. Theo wasn't here and obviously neither was Oliver. I sighed in disappointment.

The room itself looked untouched. I walked to the piano, touching the keys lightly. There was a new empty composer sheet ready for a new piece to be created, but not a single scratch of pencil on it. I wondered how often Theo would stare at it before coming up without inspiration and move on to something else.

On the table nearby was the piece I remembered, with my name signed on top. I grabbed the sheet music, sat in front of the piano, and began to play it with ease. My thoughts wandered while I played, remembering Theo's lips on mine as the warm water from his shower cascaded over us. Those same lips which covered his bloodied fangs; the fangs that I had watched tear into a man in front of me.

"Did Oliver send you here?" Theo's voice interrupted my thoughts, causing me to nearly leap out of my own skin. I pulled my hands into my lap and looked over my shoulder at him. He stood in the doorway, still and guarded as though I were the dangerous one in the room.

"I came here myself," I answered honestly, wondering if he'd shepherd me back to where I was supposed to be. But my answer seemed to thaw him. His shoulders relaxed just a fraction and he moved towards me for the first time in a long time. When he sat next to me, he sighed before glancing at the door.

"I thought he might be playing a game," Theo said in an offhand type of way, as if the thought didn't mean to leave his tongue.

"Oliver wouldn't play games. He respects you," I answered anyway, peering at him openly. Theo's dark eyes slid back to me, obvious disbelief in response to my statement.

"All Oliver does is play games, Katia. It's how he became a vampire. Of us all, he's the master mimic," Theo tilted his head, as if uncertain of his own facts, "Besides Seb. You'd think his blood would run warm, looking at him."

I frowned.

"What's 'mimic'?" I asked. Theo's eyes darkened as if he'd only just noticed what he said. He leaned closer to me, touching my hair absently as he mulled over his thoughts.

"It's like I told you before, Katia. We're cursed. All we have is a lust for blood. There's nothing human left in us." He told me, his voice low with self-loathing. For some reason, his tone alone brought a sting of tears to my eyes, causing him to hesitate. "Don't cry. I wouldn't hurt you." It wasn't the fear of being harmed that had affected me. It was the sadness that was hidden behind his anger. But I decided not to mention it.

"If you say there's nothing human, then mimicking..." I glanced slowly at his fingers twisting through the strands of my hair slowly.

"We pretend. We mimic emotions, human actions, and pretend the things we do inspire us and the food we eat satisfy us," Theo admitted quietly. He looked at the sheet of music I had been playing, frowning before glancing at me through the corner of his eyes. I was quiet, considering his words carefully. If he meant to say it was all pretend, did this include the way he had warmed up to me over time? Was his kiss on my skin just something he had done, his own type of game to try to feel something similar to humanity?

I thought of Oliver, who refused to sleep in the same room as me. I thought of his words, of how he proclaimed that he hadn't wanted another woman since meeting me. Was it all truly a game? To gain something from me that I couldn't understand?

"What do you think, Katia?" Theo called, his familiar curiosity calling for me to form my own opinion on the facts he provided. He demanded emotion from me. He demanded personality; humanity.

"That's why you didn't like me," I said quietly, "Because I was void before you. I couldn't give you anything you didn't already have..." Did he constantly bug me to form my own individuality just so he could have a reason to mimic?

"You're lying," I finally stated, after much consideration. Theo had only just begun tapping on a few notes of the piano patiently, but froze at my words. "You're lying and you know it. The only thing you're pretending is that you feel nothing at all."

"How foolish," Theo simply responded, watching me curiously. Quite suddenly, his form tensed as he looked towards the door. "You should at least attempt to keep track of your pet, Oliver." I peeked over at Oliver, who stood with his arms crossed at the door. His eyes looked particularly lively at the moment, watching me intensely.

"And just who said you could run about wherever you please, sneaky little devil?" Oliver ignored Theo's quip and directed his question towards me.

"I wanted to play the piano, not that I needed your permission," I answered before smiling sheepishly. Theo lied in two parts. He lied about his own emotions. And he lied about Oliver. It was as clear as the life in Oliver's eyes, the warmth in his aura as he found amusement in my words.

"Oh. How silly of me. I'm sorry, Queen Katia," Oliver announced, bowing only slightly at the waist.

"Yes, how dare you question me," I responded with mock sharpness before lifting my chin softly, "But I forgive you." Before he could say anything else, I stood and leaned over Theo carefully. I placed an innocent kiss just below his earlobe, causing him to freeze once again into a cold statue.

I lifted my lips over his ear and whispered, "I'll see you again, liar." A low growl vibrated through him, most uncharacteristically, but I took my time moving away. Theo didn't frighten me, despite his cold touch and cruel statements. And then I stepped past Oliver, running my fingertips over his arm briefly, before beginning my walk back towards his room. I looked down at my fingers momentarily, their glow warming through me temporarily.

Before I could turn down the hall to Oliver's room, his familiar grip was suddenly wrapped around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. I smiled, turning to look up at him pleasantly.

"What is it?" I asked him curiously.

"You're going the wrong way," Oliver responded, a sly smile crossing his features. "We're going out." I blinked with surprise. He was finally letting me go with him? After the party, I expected to be under house arrest for the rest of my life.

"But I'm barefoot," I decided to answer. Oliver looked down at my feet and it was as if he was only just allowing himself to look directly at me for the first time in a long time. His eyes traveled up my body slowly, focusing on my suddenly flushed face.

"Hmm, one second," He said shortly. And then he was no longer there. I glanced at my wrist where the glow of his touch still remained and when I looked up again he was in front of me. He held out a pair of tennis shoes and a pile of fabric, including a coat he had purchased for me previously. I smiled, taking them from him with a new excitement beginning to pulse in my veins.

"Where are we going? Nowhere fancy, right?" I made a face at the thought of another party and Oliver chuckled.

"Not fancy. Just fun."

~...~

I stood shivering in a wooded area watching Oliver carefully. It was snowing slowly, the forest a picture of white among the spaced trees. But it wasn't the cold that caused me to shiver. I felt anxiety along with a taste of excitement, knowing Oliver to be the type to do wild things on whim that would probably be life threatening on my part.

There was a noise of life as Oliver abruptly pulled out a machine from a nearby shed. My mind recognized it as a snowmobile. I tilted my head, watching him carefully lead it to the clearing before looking back at me. He gestured for me to come closer.

"Come play, Katia," Oliver teased me and then shifted so that there was space between him and the handles. This snowmobile was meant to be for one person, of course. So naturally, Oliver would require more than one to be on it if only to spice things up. Regardless, I trusted him not to get me killed. I slid into the space uncertainly, leaning back against Oliver if only because I enjoyed the feel of him so solid against me. The snowmobile rumbled with life under me, sending my heart to my throat dangerously.

"Alright, put your hands here," He wrapped my gloved fingers over the handles easily. "Here's a quick lesson. This here is the throttle and this is the breaks. You ready?" Just a glance at the controls told me he left out about 300 pages of instructions and I quickly shook my head.

"No, I'm not," I said with mild panic.

"Alright, good," Oliver responded and just as quickly as I confirmed he was crazy, we were lunging forward. I gasped, the cold forgotten as he led us through the trees. Our speed picked up and then we were weaving through the snow fast enough that I was certain we'd run into something. The night was blinding around me. I couldn't see the trees we were passing until they were already passing us.

At first, I was tense with terror, holding on for dear life as Oliver controlled the snowmobile with ease. But as we swerved through the paths, snow flowing around us in intervals, I found laughter beginning to bubble within me. We lunged from a small hill, the drop just enough to cause a screech of surprise from me that immediately developed into more laughter.

Suddenly, another snowmobile swiped across our path, nearly causing a collision and forcing Oliver to divert towards another direction just as quickly before slowing down to a stop. I felt numb all over, my heart bursting within my chest, and looked to see who it was but saw nothing.

"Miles," Oliver breathed into my ear. Sure enough, Miles pulled up beside us, smirking widely.

"Scared ya?" He asked, addressing me directly instead of ignoring me as he usually did. Miles smiled, but it was a dark one. I glanced from him to Oliver, who only rolled his eyes. "I'll race you," Miles announced to Oliver before taking off.

"Oh, no you don't," Oliver called back, sending us behind him just as quickly. For a moment, we followed behind Miles, weaving in his own tracks as he took his race through the paths between trees. My heart thudded in my chest loudly with enjoyment.

And then we suddenly sped up and swerved to the right, away from Miles. Confused, I tried to look after Miles and then forward to see what it was the Oliver was planning. The terrain went uphill, slowing us down momentarily before leading us back towards Miles' path.

"Hold on right here, Katia," Oliver demanded, moving my hands over the controls he had been working himself. I blanched, uncertain of his intention. "I'll be right back!" What?!

The land abruptly disappeared below us and we were suddenly airborne. It was as if time slowed down, preserving what would no doubt be the last moments of my life. Oliver launched himself from behind me, diving like a swan towards the ground below us. He then slammed into Miles', who had unknowingly been racing just under us. I wanted to demand him to come back now, but my eyes were glued to the night in front of me as I flew towards the ground.

Just as I met the ground, Miles' own snowmobile spun out and flipped through the snow the opposite direction due to Oliver's antics. I felt the impact of the ground against my own machine, nearly launching me from my seat. It was enough to disrupt whatever idea of steering I thought I had, steering me into the night wildly. Only a miracle kept it from flipping under me completely.

I inhaled sharply to scream, but suddenly the trees were cleared in front of me. Instead, my new problem was another drop off. Only this cliff appeared to be significantly larger than the previous one. I fumbled with the controls, trying to remember which ones included the breaks Oliver had barely mentioned. I only caused the machine to speed up and so I opted to let go altogether; probably not the best idea.

Suddenly, Oliver's hands were on the handles and his body was against mine once again. He turned the snowmobile into a wide arch, slowing it to a stop dangerously close to the edge. The sudden silence was deafening. My blood was rushing through me loudly and my breath was nonexistent.

"We won," Oliver announced, only glancing at the cliff momentarily with a shrug.

"You... I almost died!" I answered, stepping off of the machine with shaky legs. Oddly enough, I didn't feel any anger. If anything, I felt exhilarated. "Is Miles alright?"

"I should kick your ass," Miles' suddenly stated quite abruptly behind me. My heart leaped and I turned quickly to face him. He stood impossibly close to me, snow covering his clothes and hair completely. His face had blood splattered across his features, though there were no wounds to see. His eyes were targeting Oliver, the threat intended for him.

"Oh, it was just a bit of fun," Oliver laughed, pleased with himself. Miles narrowed his eyes dangerously, anger vibrating from him. I lifted my hand to his torn shirt, lightly touching the blood that stained him as I searched for any wounds with concern.

"Are you hurt?" I asked him. The thought for some reason was quite painful to me. Miles' eyes sharply moved from Oliver to me. He snatched my arm roughly, pulling me closer to him dangerously. I gasped with surprise. His aura pulsed with wild anger that felt like a bright flame so close to me.

"Why? Are you going to make me feel better, Katia?" Miles smirked, his fangs a clear danger in the night. But fear didn't follow his obvious threat. Instead, a warm anticipation flowered within me and I inherently tilted my head enough to bare my throat. It was as if his proximity were a drug, muddling my thoughts and leaving only my instincts. And my instincts demanded to give everything to him without hesitation.

"Don't even think about it," Oliver growled threateningly, having already stood prepared to attack. I was breathless as I watched Miles, who only looked startled in response to my reaction. He leaned forward a fraction, breathing in my scent just above my flesh. "Miles!"

Miles abruptly released me. "I know, I know. She's yours," He said begrudgingly. With him suddenly absent from my immediate presence I felt my mind clearing, a seductive chill snaking over my skin at the thought of what could have happened. "There really was no fear. Unusual."

"Yeah, I shake in fear every time I see that ugly face of yours," Oliver responded, his humor having returned after the threat was over. Miles scowled at him unappreciatively and a short laugh escaped me. He looked at me once again.

"Oh, so you agree with him?" Miles asked me, referring to his ugly comment. I lowered my chin, glancing at him shyly as I took in his features once again. In the night, he was as graceful and ruggedly beautiful as he had been the moment I had laid eyes on his and Levi's identical features.

"I find you quite handsome," I finally managed to find my voice. Miles seemed to grow taller with the comment, a smug look crossing his face as his anger evaporated around him. Oliver stepped beside me, his arm snaking around my shoulder easily.

"Let's go running," Oliver suggested, the thought behind the suggestion lost to me who took it quite literally. Miles shrugged.

"Fine, but if you throw me through a glass window mid-jump, I'll definitely kick your ass," Miles answered with amusement. I looked up at Oliver with confusion.

"What exactly do you mean by running? And why are there windows involved?" I asked curiously. He smiled at me before abruptly leaning over and placing a soft kiss over my cheek. A spark of fire lit under his lips, pleasantly startling me until I felt wonderfully lost and found at the same time.

"You'll see."

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Music: Basic Instinct by The Acid

Thanks to fitasoa for the fanmade cover! It looked really neat so I thought I'd share here.

And of course, thanks for reading!