Kathrine threw her arms around him when he sat down next to her. She buried her face into his chest and thanked her lucky stars she had fed. He smelled intoxicating, but she was not craving at the moment. Then she realized she was still wearing her all leather outfit for hunting. Her cleavage was practically popping out of the black corset she wore. Fantastic. Now she was probably going to get questions from this about it.

When the shaking stopped she looked up at him, fake terror in her eyes, and then hugged him tightly. "I'm fine." she whispered before pulling away, "Just a little shaken up...literally." She chuckled at her own joke and then looked around their apartment, "So much for a gaming day today." she muttered as she stood up. Her current plan was to ignore her outfit and act normal. Maybe then he wouldn't comment on it.

She walked over to the living room to find the TV on the ground and all of her games splayed out on top of it. The bookshelves had stayed mostly upright after dumping all of their contents out. She peeked under the TV and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no obvious damage.

--

Markus sighed and stood up. He walked over to the chair he had been sitting and plopped down. He stared down at his hands before looking up at Cassandra again. "First of all: I'm so sorry for what I did. I wasn't myself. Sort of." He stared into her eyes as he spoke the next words, "I'm a vampire...this sounds so fucking weird." He stood and ran his hands through his hair before pacing around. "I attacked you and I didn't let you just die so I turned you. I robbed you of your life and for that I will forever hate myself."

"I understand if you never want to speak to me again, but let me teach you how to control it before you do."

Adam let out a singular breathy chuckle at her joke, before getting up himself to follow after her. "Hows it look?" He asked at her inspection of the TV. He was doing a general scan of the room. He couldn't find anything damaged that was too valuable. The couch might be a bit torn up which could be a problem, but at least they were both okay. He turned to look her up and down again, just for his own peace of mind. Coming face to face with her he crinkled his brow a bit then looked himself up and down. "Did I not get the memo or is that how you usually dress for an earthquake? Because honestly. If i'm doing this wrong I am sorry."

He doubted that was her morning jog outfit or anything, so he couldn't help but ask. It looked more like she had been taking shots all night then sleeping. Maybe she was a bigger party person then he knew? Hopefully she didn't have a hangover. He doubted an earthquake would make that feel any better.

---

Cassandra sat there in the door frame just staring at Markus with an expression of bewilderment. The wide range of emotions she felt were splayed across her face, pulling her muscles in different directions. Her mouth hung open, her one eye was pushed up by her cheek, and her brows were tiled downwards as if bowing to each other. A vampire? she thought incredulously. "A vampire?" She said, just as incredulously. "What th- FUCK" She cut herself off as she felt pain in her mouth. Throwing her hands up to cover it, she dabbed a palm to her tongue. "I bit myself..." She muttered. She stood and scowled at the redness on her hand. "What the heck are you talking about?" She said behind a hand. She kept to the doorway, debating on leaving then and there. She had a burning sensation in her heart. Part of her wanted to smash that chair over his head. The sense she got that he was genuinely apologizing somehow made it worse.

"There is no way, I can be a vampire now. There is no way you are a vampire. I mean who ever heard of a witch becoming a vampire? That's stupid. Vampires are just myth, and old ones at that. I'm pretty sure someone would have found them the heck out by now. Really I mean I don't understand how you think that justifies attacking me, You are such a pig honestly. I trusted you and you pull this then I have those weird dream memories? I can't even-" Cassandra continued to work herself up, talking in circles, her brain flying at speeds she couldn't comprehend. Her thoughts were a colony of bees all rushing around working. But instead of working they are crashing into each other and exploding horribly. "And another thing, what time is it? Why is the sun so fucking- pardon my language. So fucking bright?"

"It looks like everything is..." Then there was the outfit comment. Damnit, Adam, why can't you be less observant? "Oh, this? I was just...trying it on." She simply shrugged it off as she 'struggled' to pick up the TV and put it back where it goes. Then she got to work picking up all of the game discs. A few had been seriously scratched up, but none of them were ruined.

"So much for our gaming day. Now we've gotta clean up this huge mess." With a sigh, she sat down on the couch. A cloud of white erupted around her. A quick glance upwards revealed cracks in the ceiling which would explain the white crap all over the couch, "Oh fantastic. That is not good." She gulped, "I think we've gotta leave the building, Adam."

--

Markus just sat back down and silently listened to her ranting. Until the word witch caught his ear, "Wait. You're a witch??" He stood again, "Shit. I didn't know witches could even turn into vampires. Wait, witches deal with vampires all the time how did you not know we exist?" He was really confused all of a sudden. Then he remembered the earthquake which was an occurrence that never happens in Minnesota. Could that have been caused by Cassandra?

"OK. Let's take a step back for a second. The light is bright to you because you have not fed yet. It's taking away energy from you. In order to gain that energy back, you need to drink blood." He took in a deep breath, "We've gotta go get you some or...well. I don't know. I've never done this before."

Adan let the clothes excuse go with a shrug. He was still curious in some way, but he would leave it for later. As he scooped up the picture of his mom from the couch side table, he felt a pang of sadness. The picture was still in-tact but he still felt somehow responsible for letting it get in some form of danger. "I'm just glad we're okay, we can game another time..." As Katherine sat down, and commented on the dangers of the building, Adam looked up to see the trails of white coming down from the ceiling. "Uh...yeah. Yeah I agree." Those cracks were pretty bad looking. He hoped the people upstairs were okay. He hoped the floor to this place was even okay.

"Uh, after you." He gestured with the picture frame to the doorway, still looking up at the ceiling, as if that were somehow keeping it up.

---

"Not to mention the fact that-" Cassandra was brought back to reality by Markus interjecting. "What? Witch? Who said anything about a- I'm not a witch. That's ridiculous." She wasn't sure if she was lying to herself, or to him. She didn't know why she would bother doing either though, it was obviously a useless action. Just as she was to continue rambling about she was TOTALLY NOT A WITCH, Markus began talking about something that didn't exactly sit right with her. "No! Are you crazy? I'm not a freaking cannibal. And for that matter I don't really want anything to do with you thank you very much!" She took a few steps back. "You knocked me out! You bit me!" She threw a hand up to her neck, feeling for a wet spot. When she came up with none she was very confused. Was that a dream too? How long had she been out? Was she even awake now? She pinched her arm, wincing but not letting out noise. She continued applying more and more pressure until she had to yelp and pull her hand way, shaking her arm to try and get rid of the pain. Which, worked? That was new. "Okay. Not asleep." She indignantly threw at Markus. Her mind continued to race, but the light was distracting, and though she tried hard to ignore it, so was some strange sense of hunger welling up in her gut. "God this is all too much for me!" She slumped down and sat harshly on the floor. Her hands making a worse mess of her hair. "My heart can't take all this in one night." At the mention of the organ, she felt a strange absence. She placed her hand hesitantly on her chest. Nothing. Her mouth parted slightly, and her eyes went distant. She noticed her tongue didn't hurt anymore either.

Annalies wondered what she would do if the ceiling started collapsing on top of them. She figured her first instinct would be to pick Adam up and run out of the building as fast as she could. Maybe even jump out the window if it was absolutely necessary. They were only three stories up. It would hurt for sure, but she'd make a quick recovery. Quicker than being crushed by the ceiling. Her little emergency plan was cut short by the thought that she couldn't possibly explain away something like that. Adam wouldn't believe her if she simply said she lifts or that she does parkour on the side or anything like that. She'd have to tell him about her and a part of her wondered if she wouldn't mind having him know. She wondered if that would make a difference in their friendship.

For now, she stuck to plan A while the ceiling was still intact. She stood up and walked over to the door carefully. Her favorite pair of combat boots sat over there and she figured they wouldn't look entirely ridiculous with the outfit. She slid them on without tying them and grabbed her purse. She double checked to make sure she had everything she'd need for a while. She had no idea when they would give the all OK sign to come back into the building. She figured it'd be at least two hours. Maybe more.

She opened the door carefully with her eyes on the ceiling once Adam was ready to go. People were poking their heads out of their apartments down the hall trying to figure out if it was safe, "The ceilings aren't looking too good. Anyone out here should go outside." She heard from an official looking guy walking down the hallway. He was knocking on doors trying to alert people.

---

Markus' heart hurt a little at all of the stress she was under. She was clearly in denial. When she sat down the ground he felt himself gravitate towards her, but he stopped himself a few feet short. He kneeled down to be level with her and attempted to make eye contact, "Listen, sweetheart. I know you hate me right now, but if you are going to survive you need to listen to me. Its not cannibalism anymore. You are no longer human. You are a vampire. A completely different species. A predatory species that has instincts far from those of humans. In order to survive you must drink blood. I will show you how to do it without even hurting the person you are drinking from."

"After I show you how to survive you have my full permission to never speak to me again. I fucked up, royally, and I hate myself too. But you have to let me help you. I am the one that cursed you with this it is my burden to be your teacher."

Adam let his eyes wander away from the ceiling once he thought that Katherine had herself ready to leave. He then slowly and gently took his jacket off the love chair and put it on, then slipped the picture into his pocket. He looked around for something else to grab, worried he might not be able to take anything else. He sighed somewhat and followed after his roommate, not wanting to hold them there any longer. He peeked his head around the counter to see the building attendant making the rounds. He looked down at himself in his sleep food and shrugged inwardly. He would rather be chilly and look silly instead of you know, die. He tapped Katherine on the shoulder. "Let's get going, it might get busy." He took half a step ahead of her but waited facing her to leave.

---

Sweetheart She thought bitterly. "I'm not a god damned fairy tale Markus." She spat with some sense of panic. Her hand clutched around her chest, looking for a sense of life. She felt panic continue to rise in it's place. "I can't feel my heart..." She said under her breath, much more to herself then to him. After he finished speaking she threw up her eyes at him. "I don't need your permission to not speak with you again you know." She felt her neck this time instead, looking for the jugular. Still she found no sense of life. "I'm not..." She breathed out again, her eyes dangerously still. She wasn't looking for answers in her head, she was hiding from them. Her stomach was screaming at her, she felt a humming all around her, as if the air was vibrating. Whenever she played back the current conversation in her head, she couldn't help but hear the word blood louder and louder. She didn't notice she was doing it, but her slack mouthed shock had turned into bared teeth.

"Yeah, but where are we gonna go? Not too many places unless we walk all the way into Dinkytown." Annalies glanced around as they walked out of the building. The apartment building had 9 floors and separate four towers. All of those people were now trying to crowd out of the front doors. She glanced behind and saw all of the employee's ushering people out of the building. She briefly wondered if it was the same at all of the apartment buildings in the area. If so, how long would it take them to inspect?

"Guess we can just make our way to campus and sit in a library or something. Get some studying done?" She was simply shooting ideas out there, but she still couldn't figure it out. "I wonder what Markus is doing. I hope he is OK." She checked for her phone in her purse and frowned when she didn't see it. She wouldn't be able to call him now. She doubted anything was wrong, but she didn't want him to freak out if he couldn't get ahold of her. She briefly wondered if she could sneak back into the building. Adam would never let her. He thought she was fragile.

--

Markus boldly moved forward, placed one hand on her shoulder, and moved her chin up so he could meet her eyes, "Listen. Your heart no longer beats. You no longer need to even breathe. You will never age another day. All we need to do now is get you fed. If you keep yourself calm you can put the person into a trance. They'll even enjoy it, but you have to stay calm. Please. Let me help you." His eyes were pleading with her and he doubted that she would allow him to be this close to her for longer. She would probably always hate him and after he taught her everything he knew she would never speak to him again.

It saddened him to think about all of this. He hadn't just ruined her life. He had ruined the only connection he had ever felt. He had never had feelings for another person. Not even during his few years of human life. There was something so special about Cassandra and he had fucked all of that up. It was time to stop thinking of himself though. He had to fix this.

Adam was looking the building over. Inspecting it as if he would tell how bad it was from just this glance. He hadn't heard any panicking really, so he was assuming everything was fine. Hopefully no floors had given out and what they saw in their place was the worst of it. He let out a sigh. He wasn't so in the mood for studying. "Well one half of that idea sounds pretty alright." He looked over to his roommate to see her fishing through her bag. When she scowled his brow crinkled in response. "Don't have you phone?" He began feeling his jacket pockets but he knew he probably left his in his room. Maybe they could just borrow someone else's. "I'm sure we can give him a call somehow." He turned to face her instead of the building.

He didn't have any family in the area, but he cared deeply for his own, and he was pretty damn sure Katherine did too. "I'm sure he's just fine." Adam didn't have much of a basis for the sentiment, but that wasn't really the point. Adam looked over his shoulder and debated trying to grab their phones and his wallet. They would be great to have, for obvious reason, but he didn't want to worry Katherine, or put her in more danger. One more pat-down of his jacket and he found only his student card. "Maybe I have enough on here for some coffee..." He muttered. He didn't really enjoy coffee, but this felt like a time to drink it.

---

Cassandra flinched and was drew from her stupor as she felt a hand land on her. She listened to his gambit a bit as her face twisted slightly into something akin to disgust. The look in his eyes...It was so sad, she felt her anger wane somewhat. She was never good with anger, or any spiteful feelings really...He looked genuine, and in some way she let that make her feel a little guilty. Shaking her head a bit she slapped his arm off with the back of her hand. "Look I..." She was loosing focus. The gnawing in her belly was getting loud. "I just..." She noticed she wasn't wearing her glasses, but how clear everything looked. How could that be? "I just.." She was loosing steam. She couldn't manage to formulate thoughts into a cohesive string. Everything was so jumbled up, and her gut was yelling at her over it. "I'm just so hungry." She admitted, starring into the ground. She didn't want this. She hated this. This could't be happening. She felt tears welling behind her eyes. "I don't want to be hungry." She wasn't sure she felt so horrible because her huger hurt so bad, or because she was starting to grasp why it did. "...Help me..." She muttered without any thought, a tear letting loose from her eye, and hitting the floor between her splayed out hands. She was fully hunched over now.

"It's fine. I have my wallet in my purse. Just didn't have my phone in my purse evidently. I also don't know my brother's number by heart." She shrugged. For some odd reason, she had never taken the time to look at the number twice. When they had bought the contraptions before beginning college they had the clerks type the numbers in to show them how. They just allowed others to do it for them because for some reason phones were difficult.

She couldn't even imagine what help that technology could have been back in her own time. Maybe her family could have been saved if cell phones were so carefully placed in everyone's pockets with panic buttons readily available.

Kathrine snapped herself out of it. No time to think of such things, "Let's just go to the Caribou that's next to Burger King. I could go for a hot apple blast or a sparkling tea or something." With that, she began walking in the direction of the little coffee shop situated next to the light rail train station. The walk wasn't far if one could walk directly there. Unfortunately, you had to cross two busy streets that were diagonal from each other. Both of which rarely allowed pedestrians to walk. One had to wait while the system said,"Don't walk." In its annoying electronic voice repeatedly.

--

"Cassandra," He breathed her name and then pulled her into his arms. He could see the anger fading in her eyes and then this feeling of despair trickle in. He knew exactly how she felt in those moments. The feeling of not being alive mixed with shock. It's an incredibly empty feeling to have your humanity stripped away. Sure you still have all of the emotions of a human, but the instincts and body are different.

"This feeling..." He gulped, "This feeling will get better once you feed. I promise." He squeezed her close and then let go. He wished he could snap his fingers and make all of this just disappear. If only that were the case. He stood.

"Let's get you fed, come on," He outstretched his hand towards her so that he could help her up.

Adam couldn't help but throw up a brow when he heard she didn't know her brothers number by heart. He had sort of assumed this whole time she was tech savvy, because of all the video games she played. He could remember some times she needed help with technology before, but he had figured she was doing that thing where she acted like she knew less about things then she did. Not that he was 100% SURE she did that, but he had such strong inclinations about it, he took it as fact. Adam was about to say something when he noticed the far off look in her eyes, but before he could she reanimated, and mentioned heading over to the coffee shop. He followed behind her, taking a look back the building as he did. He wondered what they would do if it came down. Nothing fun he was sure.

Making their way away from their abode, Adam found himself deep in thought. He was wondering if anyone had gotten seriously injured. Would their be relief services? Maybe he could volunteer. Not that he had much time because of school, but still. He though about the school building then. Was it damaged? Would it be closed for a while? While he could appreciate some down time, he didn't like the wasted tuition money. He- "Don't walk." The droning computerized voice broke his little internal tirade. He stared at the button and gave a small sour face. "Hate this thing..." He muttered. He knew why it was there, and that it was important because not everyone could see and all that, but god did it get old fast.

---

She let herself into his arms this time, still flinching when she did. All her buzzing thoughts, mixed with the emotional pit-hole and stomach pain left her in a state of pure confusion. As he stood she stared up at him. She was afraid. Of him, of the situation, of herself. She let a limp hand float up to him, and with all the effort she could muster, she stood slowly. She let her hand linger in his for a second, then pulled it back, looking down at the floor. "I'm not..." She still felt ridiculous saying this. "I'm not eating anyone." She felt less and less sure about that though. This was going to be a long night.

For the next couple of hours, Kathrine and Adam sat outside the coffee shop. Nothing had been damaged inside, but there were already many people in there taking refuge due to the fact no one could return to their apartments. The fire department was slowly making rounds clearing each place. After being alive for so long, it surprised Annalies that she had never experienced an earthquake. She had no idea how the humans were supposed to react. Should they go volunteer? Should they sit around and wait until it's safe to reenter places? Luckily no buildings in the area had collapsed. The news on Kathrine's facebook feed said so. It was live and she stared at it as she sipped her sparkling tea.

"The anchor says everything in the city should be back to normal in no time. Scientists are trying to figure out how a city not placed on a fault could possibly have a category 5 earthquake. Google said that a 5 was only one level down from a very serious earthquake." I stated simply. My mind went to the possibility of magic. Perhaps a witch in the area had been practicing some powerful magic and messed it up. OF course, I could not share this plausibility with anyone as witches were mythical creatures to the humans. So I simply sipped my tea and waited for the green light to return home. My video game day was being seriously messed with.

---

"You aren't eating anyone. Think of it as..." His brain struggled to find an alternative metaphor to put her at ease, "Drinking a smoothy? I don't know, but you aren't eating a person. Please? Just get dressed and we'll get you feeling better. Besides, we probably have to vacate the building while they check foundations and such. I think that's what is supposed to happen after an earthquake."

As she got dressed, he tried to call his sister. He knew that Anna would know how to handle this situation. He also knew that her way would likely be running away, but he didn't want that to happen either. When she didn't pick up Markus sighed and sat down on the couch with his face in his hands.