Nicholas allowed himself to drown in Lira's kisses. He could tell she was inexperienced, but he found her innocence alluring. Her soft mouth matched his demanding lips, making him moan with deep pleasure. He slid his palms down the wall's smooth surface and wrapped his arms around Lira's small waist, drawing her closer to him. He felt Lira's small fists on his chest unclenching. He could live like this forever with Lira in his arms. It wasn't just her blood; it wasn't even her kiss. It was Lira altogether that made him feel that way.

The beating of her heart calmed his senses, and his instinct told him to be gentle on her so he could further revel with Lira's steady rhythm of music that her heart was making.

After what seemed like forever, he broke his kiss and pulled away from Lira's flushed face. Her eyes shone, full of longing and hope. He heard her heart started to beat wildly again. He couldn't delve into her thoughts. She must have learned how to block her mind. But he would give just about anything just to hear what her mind was saying, what her heart was feeling.

A tear fell from her eye. Did he hurt her? God! He must have hurt her. Was his grip too tight? Were his lips too demanding? He wiped the tear away with his thumb—his heart crushed seeing the tear on her face. But the moment he touched Lira's face, she blinked as if she had just woken up from a trance.

"I—I need to go," she said softly and walked away from him, leaving Nicholas' mind in turmoil. He rested his forehead on the wall and closed his eyes. Now that Lira left, why did he feel this gnawing emptiness in his heart? He thrust his fist in to the wall, causing the wall to crack and sending small debris to scatter on the floor. Why was he feeling this way? He was starting to fall for Lira.

#

Lira composed herself before going out of the mansion. She found Ian waiting for her outside, rubbing his palms briskly and blowing heat in to them. "Five minutes Lira? More like thirty minutes and fifteen seconds. I almost froze to death out here."

Lira forced herself to smile. "Jeez, Ian. You timed me?"

Ian must have noticed something was off with her. "You okay? Did that vampire hurt you?"

Lira shook her head and smiled again, though it did not reach her eyes. "Oh please. With my new found abilities, I could thwart him with only a rose's thorn as my weapon."

"Cocky much?" he joked. "Let's get out of here before I decide to show that vampire he's no match to an elf."

Lira chuckled. "You sound a little disappointed no fight sparked. "

Ian shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah well, I miss myself some sparring."

Lira thanked Ian for his help when they arrived at their dorm building, to which he jokingly answered "anytime my lady" making Lira roll her eyes and say "quite with the lady thing." She then went to their room to find Yumi curiously eyeing her.

"Where have you been?" Yumi asked.

"Outside," Lira answered innocently, flopping on her bed.

"You've been keeping secrets from your friends lately," she said almost sounding accusing.

"You've been keeping secrets from me, too. What was that book you often try to hide from me?"

"Nothing," Yumi simply said and drew her blanket over her head and slept.

Lira looked at the ceiling and sighed. She touched her lips softly with her fingers. It was as though she could still feel Nicholas' lips on hers. She closed her eyes and couldn't help but recount the kiss they shared. Why did he even kiss her? And why did she like it? She did like it, a lot in fact, but she couldn't prevent the tear from escaping her eye before she left Nicholas in the hallway. Why did he have to be a vampire whose brother was her mother's executioner? Should she forgive, forget her anger and hatred? What did her heart even tell her? Everything was just so confusing. Oh, how was she going to sleep with her mind full of Nicholas and his kiss? She was so sure he would even make a visit in her dreams tonight. But after hours later, she fell asleep and dreamed of Lazarus instead.

Lira felt tired the following day. The throbbing headache wouldn't leave her in peace. When she woke up that morning, it was as though her skull was breaking with a blunt pain that wouldn't go away. She was now in the rec room with Mari and Yumi that evening. The two were happily exchanging ideas as to what color their gowns should be for the Ball while Lira was still nursing her headache.

"Do you think midnight black will suit me? Or how about ravishing red?" Mari asked.

"How about envy green?" Yumi joked.

"Ha-ha," Mari answered, turning to Lira. "What about you Lira? What color do you want your gown to be?"

Lira thought for a moment before answering. "How about sparkling white? Like how I picture a Greek goddess would wear or a Diwata would."

"I don't know what to wear," Mari told her friends, looking crestfallen. "I think Matt's not falling with our plan Yumi. And I so wanted to impress him during the ball. He said he'll be on guard duty at the ball."

"Matt once told me he likes simple girls," Lira offered.

"You mean I'm complicated?" Mari asked looking dumbfounded.

Yumi giggled. "No silly. I think what Lira meant was you sometimes dress overkill. So maybe you need to, you know, tone down a bit with those outfits. And if by simple Matt could mean he likes girls who dresses down, who doesn't laugh boisterously, who isn't too forward, flirty—"

"Okay Yumi. Thank you for pointing out my not so fine qualities. You may stop now," Mari said looking upset.

Yumi chuckled. "But you are absolutely my wonderful, beautiful, boisterous, forward, flirty friend who I absolutely love!" Yumi threw her arms around Mari for emphasis.

Lira couldn't resist chuckling, even though it caused her head to throb. "But Yumi, shouldn't Matt like Mari just the way she is?"

"Yes, he should. And we love Mari for who she is. But there isn't any harm in changing for the better, right? Let's try to tone down your outfit; maybe it overshadows your finer qualities. Let's see if that will work. If not, then Matt is the one with the problems," Yumi explained. "Maybe Matt likes simple girls, like Lira."

It made Lira blushed for Matt said that himself to her before.

"So you mean I need to dress like Lira?" Mari asked sounding aghast with the idea.

"Hey!" Lira said, defending her choice of clothing.

Yumi giggled. "Not to that extreme. Just tone down a bit. There is no harm in trying."

Mari hesitated for a moment. "I'll try, but I'll still keep my accessories. I can't live without them."

When Mari and Yumi made plans for what Yumi called 'Operation Mariella version 2.0', Lira thought about her dream last night. Remembering Lazarus sent shivers to her spine. He was THAT scary. She couldn't even perceive how Dalisay the Diwata had endured the tortures Lazarus had given her. And to think it was the Diwata who saved his life in the forest. Lazarus was pure evil and his henchmen had the same degree of evilness about them. Oh, how she shivered every time she remembered how Lazarus' minion flogged the Diwata's back until it bled, making his henchmen leer and their eyes shining black with hunger as they eyed their victim's blood covering the floor; while Lazarus was staring in the night outside his window, oblivious of Dalisay's cries of pain. Why did she allow it to happen? She had powers. Why didn't she use them? Thinking about it more gave her yet another headache. So she forced those thoughts away.

And she landed on the memory of Nicholas' kisses. Her first kiss to be exact.

"Mari," Lira started, "Have you... have you ever kissed a boy before?"

Yumi dropped her pen, mouth hanging wide open. Mari gave Lira a knowing grin.

"I'll take your smile as a yes. How—how many boys have you kissed?"

Mari's grin grew even wider.

"That much?"

Mari chuckled. "What is this about Lira? Have you been busy kissing boys around lately?"

Lira blushed. "When I was outside last night, I saw a couple engaged in a fervent kissing session near the woods. It made me curious what's there in a kiss. That's all." It was true, actually. Last night, she spied a couple kissing behind a tree at the entrance of the woods. She was just not sure if they were her human classmates or the vampire ones.

"You plan to play tonsil hockey with someone, Lira?" Yumi asked, comically raising her brows.

"What?"

"You know, French kiss someone," Yumi explained with a knowing grin.

"I don't want to French kiss someone. Jeez. You're making me regret asking you guys," Lira grumbled.

Yumi chuckled. "Sorry Lira. Just messing with you friend."

"What made you ask, Lira?" Mari queried.

"Did it make you squashy all over but ended up liking it, the kiss that is?"

Mari seemed to ponder her thoughts before answering. "Well, it gives you a nice feeling especially if the guy you're kissing is highly skilled with it. As for liking it, I guess if you really like the guy you're kissing, you ended up enjoying it."

"The Ever-Knowing Mari," Yumi joked. "Hey Mari, we could join the school paper and write an advice column like: How to make a guy fall for you in 10 days or Kissing 101: the truth behind tongues clashing and French kissing; or Flirting: The Mari and Yumi style—proven and tested."

"Oh please. I can make a guy fall for five days," Mari joked.

"I am not hearing this," Lira muttered covering her ears.

During their evening class the following day, Nicholas, Sevastian and Stephan sat with them. Nicholas, who sat beside Lira, remained silent all throughout the class, which was a first considering Nicholas had no control over his obnoxious mouth when it came to insulting and commanding. He wouldn't even look at her. Was he disgusted with the kiss they shared? If so, why was he still sitting with her? Did Philip also ordered him to look out for her? Lira was also equally silent matching Nicholas' brooding mood.

At the end of their class, Philip asked for Lira to stay behind. When all the other students left the room, Philip approached Lira with a sad smile on his face. He handed the journal back to her and cupped he face. "I can see your mother through your eyes. I will never let anything happen to Cassandra's daughter." He dropped his hands and added, "I will do everything within my power to fulfill her dreams." He extracted something from the inside of his coat and handed Lira what seemed to be an old photograph of a woman holding a small baby in her arms. Both had beautiful clear brown eyes. "That's your mother holding you in your arms. I managed to save this picture and the diary before the other vampires burned your mother's house. You can have it as well."

"I know how much you loved my mother. I won't say I have forgiven you now, but I'm getting there," Lira said.

Philip gave her a sad smile and nodded.

Lira left the room, unknowing of a glowering Nicholas eyeing them.

#

It was only two days left before Academy Ball when Lira and Yumi found themselves in the old music room with Mari's arm crossed over her chest and her foot stomping impatiently.

"Mari, why do we need to learn how to waltz?" Lira asked.

"Yeah Mari," Yumi agreed. "It's not as if we have dates to dance with."

"I know we agreed not to accept any dates and to go at the Ball together. However, I refused for my friends to be a wallflower during the Ball. What if someone asked you to dance? What will you do, huh?"

"I can bust a few moves. I have some real killer moves hidden you know," Yumi said then danced animatedly, throwing her arms in the air while swaying her hips.

"You can't dance like that at the ball!" Mari said, looking aghast.

"Okay, Mari. Jeez!" Yumi said raising her hands in surrender.

"Alright. So Ian here will be my dance partner and we'll teach you the basic steps for a waltz. It's simple actually," Mari explained.

"You know how to waltz?" Lira asked Ian incredulously, to which Ian just shrugged his shoulders and gave her a smug smile.

"So what are we waiting for? Show us the moves then," Yumi interjected.

"I'm just waiting for our pianist—oh there she is!" Mari said enthusiastically when Clara popped her head on the doorway.

"Hello. Sorry for being late," she said apologetically. Clara gave Lira and Yumi a small smile. She faced Ian and gave him a smile as well, but Ian only gave her a curt nod and averted his gaze. She made her way to the piano and asked, "Tell me whenever you're ready, Mariella."

Mari and Ian showed them the basic steps. Lira tried the steps with Ian. Ian, being a good friend and all, bit his tongue from cussing every time Lira murdered his toes several times with her foot. Yumi was equally as bad as Lira was, if not the worse. Ian shot Mari a pleading look to let him rest for a moment before he'd end up mourning over his dead toes. Mari, who was so focused on teaching her friends, did not notice Ian's pained expression. Clara, upon seeing Ian's dilemma, giggled but still continued to play the piano when Mari instructed her to do so.

After their lessons, Mari thanked Clara for her help and they made their way to the mess hall for their dinner. Clara said her goodbyes and went inside the posh dining hall.

"I didn't know you and Clara are friends," Lira said, addressing Mari.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? After the attack, Clarisse's room was beyond repair. Don't even ask me how that happened. So Miss Amara asked for volunteers to accommodate Clarisse while they are fixing her room. No one volunteered, not even the Elites who were supposedly her friends. Could you believe that?" Mari explained.

"Well if you really think about it, we're talking about the Elites here. You know how shallow and uncaring bitches they can be," Yumi concluded then looked apologetically at Lira for using one of the words Lira considered a 'profanity' instead of using a more suitable 'euphemism' that she favored.

"I guess everyone was scared those monsters would attack Clarisse again and they don't want to get involve. Poor girl. So I volunteered. She was once your friend Lira; not to mention Matt's sister. Since I love the two of you, I volunteered to be of help. She mentioned that she plays the piano well, so I asked her to come," Mari said. "She asked about you, you know. So I blabbed about most of our adventures. She tried to hide it but I could see she was a bit envious. I surmised the Elites do mundane boring stuff most of the time compared to our super cool escapades extraordinaire."