My dear Anastasia has been laying here in my arms for almost a day. She has not stirred much but for a few tremors that riddles what I fear could be her dreams. What has my foolish behavior done to her?

But this truly begs to bring a question, did I release too much of my venom into her? For I fear then her transition into a vampire might have begun and her tremors aren't dreams, but her body slowly dying.

As the sun slowly starts to set on this miserable day, I once more feel her body stir. I pull her even more closer to where her head is resting on my chest. I close my eyes and think to myself, that only if I had left her alone in that alley, none of these beastly things would have happened to her.

"Se…Sebastian," I hear her whisper and I immediately sit up straight.

"Anastasia, my love. My god you are awake!"

"Sebastian, what happened?"

"I was foolish my love, I tried to claim you but I feared that I went too far."

"What do you mean too far?"

"I was worried that I might have turned you, but my love, you look fine. How are you feeling?"

"I have the worst headache ever. Do you perhaps have some aspirin?"

"I will check with Lilith. Just wait here, I shall be right back."

She slowly starts to get off from the bed, but she stumbles as her legs seem to give away. It must be the venom that have not completely worn away.

"My Anastasia, I beg of you, please stay in bed."

"I said no Sebastian!" she unexpectedly snaps at me and tries to stand up again. "I do not wish to lay here any longer."

"As you wish. Do you want to accompany me downstairs?" I ask as I reach out for her hand.

"I would prefer if you take me home instead."

"But my love, I do not wish to leave you alone."

"Sebastian please take me home. I am not feeling well, I know how to look after myself and in any case, Eva is there as well."

I try to hide my disappointment as best as I can and wrap my arm around her waist. "I shall do it at once, please may you do me one favor though, can I give you a jacket to dress you warm? I fear the day has grown cold and there is somewhat of a drizzle outside."

I continue to retrieve a long black jacket from my coat rack standing in the corner. A very jacket I have worn so many nights while I have gone out on a prowl. I watch as she slips it on and I softly chuckle as I watch her drown in it herself.

She turns to me and smiles, but it is a smile that does not reach her eyes. "How do I look?" She twirls around in a circle.

"Absolutely exquisite," I step forward and pull her into my embrace. "Let me take you home my love so that you may get some rest."

She follows me downstairs, insisting that she needs no help. As we pass the common room, Lilith and Edward are still entertaining Breyden, whom out of concern for Anastasia has cancelled his trip home. The concern is visible in each of their eyes, but I slowly shake my head to beg them to not ask any word.

"My dear Anastasia, we are pleased to see you have joined us again," Lilith rises from her seat to give her a warm hug.

"Thank you, Lilith," she accepts the gesture and reassures all in the room. "I promise I am feeling better, I only have a slight headache and my body feels a bit weak too. But I should feel better within a day."

I look over to Breyden as Anastasia tries to convince us all, all he does is nod to confirms that her soul is still present. After another few minutes, we finally make our leave out the door.

The drive to her home is fairly quiet. I do get the impression that she could be slightly upset, as for her aggression is clearly present. Have I only but pushed her away, has my claim on her left damage to our relationship. Whatever the reason may be, the longing for each other has surely died from her side.

Do I dare bring up the question, am I so vulnerable and insecure? For I need to know that what we have is still perfectly intact. I do not wish to lose her, not now, not when I have only found her. But I let her be and do not pry any further and leave her as she just stares out the window.

As we finally reach her home, she turns to me and presses her lips gently against mine. She gives me the softest of butterfly kisses and holds me in a hug. Her eyes meet mine for a second as she speaks, "I promise you Sebastian I am okay. I shall give you a call in the morning." 

"Anastasia my love, I truly am deeply sorry. I only wanted to protect you from their pack. I never wanted to harm you in any way."

"Sebastian I do understand, if you did not do what you did they would have taken me. Please, I am not mad. I am fine, please stop worrying your big head."

"Hahaha. You do make me laugh my love. Now please rush in and please if anything happens give me a call."

She hugs me one final time before she rushes out in the rain. I sit there for a long while longer, just to make sure that all remains okay. After waiting for an hour, I feel a lot less worried and start to make my way home.

...Anastasia...

Never have I felt such incredible pain, it clearly feels if my head can burst apart. Whatever that nonsense that Sebastian calls venom, is clearly not agreeing with my system. Every bone in my body hurts, I know I was lying to Sebastian but I did not want to make him worry. I understand why he did what he did but I sure would have loved if he asked me first, but I guess that is a vampire, they do not ask, they just take.

As I wander through the kitchen to make my way to the room, I notice that Eva is not home. She must have had to work a late shift again, guess I will just grab some hot cocoa and go to bed. 

After aimlessly doing nothing for hours as I cannot fall asleep, I drink what is now my fifth painkiller for the evening. I do not feel any much better than I felt before, the pain is almost unbearable now. "It is just my body fighting the venom," I try to reassure myself. "All that I need is some sleep." I and decide to take something to help me.

I do eventually fall into a deep sleep but my dreams are riddled with nightmares of vampires and the most horrific things. From killing humans for fun to hunting them down like animals to feast. The dreams seem so vivid and real, I can almost taste the blood that drips from the human's throat. 

All of a sudden I sit straight up in bed, the aching in my body seems to have grown even worse, but there is a new feeling creeping up in me too.

 Next thing Eva comes through the door, "Anastasia, are you okay? I heard you screaming?"

"I must have had a nightmare, the most bizarre one I must say."

She does the most peculiar thing though, she raises her hand to my forehead. "You look pale but you do not feel like you have a temperature. Are you feeling ok?"

"I am not sure, something feels wrong."