Jenna hung precariously from the tree branch, balancing carefully so she could reach out and tap gently on the window. "Leesha!" she hissed loudly.

A moment later, the window slid open, and a dark-haired girl poked her head out. "Jenna!" she whispered loudly. "What are you doing here?"

Jenna grinned. "Come on! Today was my last day of school, and I want to party! I'm free at last!"

"Well, you might be free, but I still have classes. For another week. Mom'll kill me if she finds out I snuck out!"

"Well, don't tell her, silly!"

"Jenna!"

Jenna pouted. "Alicia," she whined, "Pleeeeease?" She attempted her best puppy dog look, which must have worked because Alicia disappeared from the window, returning after a minute and swinging herself out over the ledge.

"Back up so I can get out!" she admonished softly, and Jenna complied.

Quietly, the girls made their way to the base of the tree. Once on the ground, Jenna smiled happily, gently taking Alicia's hand in her own. "Thanks," she said gratefully. "The night just wouldn't be complete without you." Leaning in, she laid her lips over the other girl's, kissing her softly.



Hours later, they lay in a secluded glade, holding each other close as they recovered their breath. Jenna trailed her hand along damp, flushed skin that seemed to glow in the moonlight. "You're so beautiful, Leesha."

Alicia arched under the feathery touch. "Mmmm," she purred. "So are you. So bright, like sunlight."

"And you're so dark, night to my day."

"And we'll always be together?"

"Forever and ever."

There was silence as they held each other, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Finally, Alicia spoke again.

"We should get dressed."

"Don't wanna." Jenna licked a bare shoulder, then kissed it.

Moaning, Alicia moved away. "If we start again, I'll never get home. And I do have class in the morning."

"You could skip."

"Jenn!"

Jenna sighed heavily, then sat up and gathered their clothes, sorting through and pulling out her own. She watched as Alicia dressed. "I can't wait until you graduate next year. Then we can go away from here, move in together. Not have to hide any more. From your parents or mine."

Alicia finished dressing, smiling at Jenna. "One more year. We can do it."

"Yeah," Jenna breathed, pulling her in for another kiss. "As long as we have each other."

Alicia snuck in a quick grope before smacking Jenna's still-bare ass. "Get dressed, you!"



Jenna gave Alicia a final kiss, then watched as her lover ascended the tree, sneaking back into her bedroom. With a wave, she turned and left. Walking briskly, she made her way down the dimly lit street to her house, only a half-mile away. She had almost reached it when a strong hand latched onto her arm, yanking her off the sidewalk and into a dark alley.

She opened her mouth to scream, but another hand clamped down over it, blocking her cries. Staring in horror at the deformed face in front of her, she flinched back as the hand released her arm and reached up to stroke her throat. Jenna struggled, but somehow the hands held her pinned to the wall behind her.

"So pretty," crooned the voice, then a tongue appeared to lick over inhumanly sharp teeth. "It would be such a shame to kill you. Such a lovely little treat. I could keep you forever."

A muffled shriek sounded as thin lips grazed her neck, then teeth pierced her skin. Jenna's struggles became weaker and weaker as her vision dulled. Through a fog, she felt something pressed to her mouth, a salty taste flooding into her. Reflexively, she swallowed.

"That's it," coaxed the voice. "Drink deep and come back to me, pretty. Then I can have you for eternity."

Jenna shuddered as the dark encompassed her.



Alicia woke, blinking sleepily. The pounding on her door continued and, groaning, she stumbled out of bed and wrenched the door open. "Huh?" she asked incoherently as she rubbed at her eyes, squinting at her mother. "Wazzt?"

She came quickly awake at the look on her mother's face, a mixture of concern, anxiety and sadness. "What? What's wrong?"

"It's...your friend Jenna. She's..."

Alicia felt cold finger of dread wrap around her heart. "What. She's what?" she demanded.

"I'm so sorry, dear. She was killed last night. Her body was found early this morning, she's de--"

"No!" Alicia slapped her hands over her ears. "No! It's not true! You're lying!" Backing into her room, she slammed the door shut before collapsing onto her bed. "No," she whimpered, curling into a tight ball and rocking herself. "No. You promised, Jenna. You said forever. You promised!"

Crying brokenly, she huddled on her bed, tears drenching her pillow.



It had been a lovely funeral. Alicia couldn't help but keep thinking that over and over as she sat numbly by her lover's grave.

She'd gone through the day in a trance, ignoring all the well-meaning words of comfort directed her way. No one knew. Know one knew what Jenna had really been to her. Unable to stand the platitudes any longer, she'd finally left, returning to her house and locking herself in her room. Eventually, her mother quit trying to cajole her out, leaving her to grieve alone. And at sunset, she exited her room through the window, making her way across town to the freshly dug grave that was her love's final resting-place.

Alicia brushed a hand over the words engraved on the headstone. Two years. They'd had barely two glorious years together before being so cruelly separated. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she sobbed harshly.



Jenna woke, gasping. Dark, so dark. She tried to sit up, but couldn't. Trapped!

Frantic, she clawed at the lid to her cage. Fingers easily shredded through the satin covering, then ripped through the wood. Jagged chunks fell around her, and she paid no attention to the splinter that wormed their way under her nails. Finally, finally, the wood was out of her way. Fingers sunk into soft earth, and she dug her way up through the confining soil. Her gown caught on an edge of wood and, frustrated, she kicked it, breaking it off.

A hand burst through the ground, grasping convulsively at the night air. So close now. Jenna dragged herself up, emerging from the mound like a child being born. Spitting dirt from her mouth, she crouched on the small hill, panting. A low cry made her jerk her head up, and she met the astonished eyes of her lover.

Alicia had scrambled away as the grave had begun to tremble beneath her. She watched in disbelief as a pale hand shot forth from the ground, and a dirt-streaked woman crawled out. She gave a cry when she recognized Jenna, disbelief mingled with desperate hope surging through her. "Jenna?" she gasped out, holding back a scream when her lover's beautiful violet eyes briefly flashed yellow.

Jenna shook herself, staring around in confusion. "I was...there was a man. In the alley. He..."

Squashing the momentary flash of fear that surfaced in her, Alicia darted forward and wrapped her arms around Jenna, pulling her in tightly and rocking. "Jenn. Oh my god, Jenn! You were...they said you were dead!" She pressed feverish kisses to the smudged face, laughing and crying breathlessly.

Jenna found herself caught up in the rhythm of her lover's heartbeat, the pulse of blood inside her veins like a siren call. She struggled to concentrate. "I don't...understand. What...what happened?"

"You're back! You promised you wouldn't leave, and you came back for me!"

"Not precisely," came the venomous, hissing voice behind them.

They whirled, Jenna flinching back from the man that some part of her recognized. "No..." she moaned.

"What? What is it? Who is he?" Alicia clutched Jenna to her, glaring at the intruder.

"Me? I am her master, her creator. I made her what she is. When I saw her last night, I knew she would be mine." He cackled at Alicia's look of outrage and denial. Then he turned his burning gaze upon Jenna. "Come to me, Childe. Come to your Sire and master."

"No," Jenna whispered shaking her head. "No, no, nononononono," she chanted, her voice growing louder with every repetition.

A look of pure fury crossed the man's face, and he stalked forward. He grabbed one of Jenna's arms, jerking her off the ground. "You will obey me, Childe!" he growled, belting her hard across the face.

Alicia's eyes narrowed at this violence toward her lover. Scanning the area, she covertly picked up one of the sharp hunks of wood that had been dragged out of the grave when Jenna had emerged. She crept after the man, who was even now dragging Jenna away. Leaping, she plunged the makeshift weapon into the man's back, and he spun about, glaring at the bloody piece of wood she'd retained.

"You little bitch," he snarled, casually flinging Jenna away from him. "I would have let you live, but now? Now you will pay for that." He jumped at her, tackling her to the ground.

Alicia struggled futilely as sharp teeth lowered themselves to her neck. Then the man pulled up with a jerk, twisting about to gaze in disbelief at his newly created childe.

Jenna stood, another chunk of wood clenched tight in her fist, glaring poisonously at him. "Don't. You. Touch her!" Again she struck, knocking him off the other girl. Simultaneously, both girls attacked him, plunging their weapons into his body over and over until, by chance, one strike managed to pierce his heart. He had one last second to stare in complete shock at his lovely Childe and her ferocious lover before he collapsed into dust.

The girls fell to the ground, clinging to each other once more.

"What!?" Jenna bolted upright.

Alicia watched her calmly, fingering the silver locket Jenna had given her for graduation. In it were two tiny pictures, one of each of them. "I said, I want you to turn me."

Scooting back, Jenna shook her head violently. "No. No. I can't. I won't."

Ignoring her protests, Alicia explained her reasoning. "Look, I'm human, you're a vampire. Ergo, I will eventually age and die, while you have the potential to live forever. So I want you to turn me, that way we'll never have to be alone. Like we promised each other. Together, forever."

"I...I..." Jenna swallowed, then stared her lover in the eye. "Leesha, are you sure? Absolutely positive?"

Alicia smiled. "Forever with you? No being all old and gray and wrinkly while you stay young and beautiful? Like I even have to think about that. So here's the plan; you turn me, we make mad passionate love in our glade one last time, and then we get the fuck out of this town." She tilted her head to the side, baring her neck.

Jenna kissed her soft skin. "I love you," she breathed before her fangs slipped gently into Alicia's flesh.

Alicia's eyes fluttered closed, and she raised her arms to embrace her lover. "Love you too, Jenn."

When she felt Alicia's pulse weaken, Jenna pulled back, biting open the vein in her wrist. She held it to her lover's mouth, relieved when the woman began to lap at the blood seeping from the wound. As they exchanged blood, both could feel themselves drawn closer together, forming a deep bond that they'd never dreamed could exist.

When it was finished, Jenna carefully dressed then lifted Alicia's still body, carrying her to the shelter she'd fashioned nearby. No sunlight penetrated this place, and they would be safe during the long hours of the day until her Childe rose the next night.



The sun had finally set, and Jenna once more picked up the body of her lover, easing out of their shelter and back into the glade where she wanted Alicia to wake. She settled back, waiting.

An hour passed, then another. Then, finally, Alicia's body quivered, her eyes popped open, and she sat up, blinking. Her eyes lit on Jenna, and she smiled, lurching forward.

They kissed, melding themselves together. Then Alicia pulled back. "Jenn...inside me. So hungry, it's burning inside me. I need..."

Jenna lay back on the soft grass, grinning in understanding. "Come, love. Feed from me."

Laughing, Alicia pounced, kissing pale flesh before sinking her fangs in, feasting on her Sire's taste.

Jenna closed her eyes, moaning. She could feel herself being drawn into her lover, and her body tingled with desire. She clasped her hands to Alicia's head, holding her in place.

Then, without warning, her hands were empty. She gasped, eyes opening to see a small blonde girl standing over her, smug grin on her face and sharpened stake held in her hand.

Horrified, Jenna looked down at her dust-covered chest. Her lover was gone, and all that remained was the sparkling locket which had been around her neck.

"Hey, don't worry, she's gone now," came the cheerful explanation. "She can't hurt you any more."

Jenna's fingers sifted through the dust to pluck up the locket. She raised shocked eyes again, shaking her head. As she stared, the young woman held a hand out to help her up, and she felt rage building in her chest. Her features shifted, and the girl jumped back, raising the stake again.

"Why?" Jenna questioned brokenly. "She...she never hurt you. Never hurt anyone."

The girl snorted. "She was a vamp. And so are you. And me...I'm the Slayer." She shrugged. "It's kind of in the job description for me to dust you."

Jenna blinked through the tears in her eyes. She sat frozen as the girl drew closer, almost welcoming the thought of that stake puncturing her chest and sending her to join her lover again.

"Buffy! You find it?"

The girl glanced behind her, and another girl, a redhead, crashed into the formerly serene glade, coming to a halt as she saw her friend standing over what was apparently a vampire.

"Willow, I'm kinda busy, you mind?" Buffy turned back to finish her job, looking around in confusion when she saw that the vampire had vanished.



Jenna ran. She ran hard, sobbing, pushing her way through the woods blindly as tree branches lashed at her. Perhaps if she ran far enough, fast enough, she would wake from this nightmare in which she was so terribly alone.

A root tripped her, and she went crashing to the ground. Rolling, she righted herself, bringing her clenched fist close to her face. She opened it, and Alicia's locket tumbled into her lap. In the palm of her hand lay the remnants of her lover's ashes.

With her other hand, she opened the locket, seeing the face of her beloved as it had been such a short time ago. Carefully, she poured the ashes from her shaking hand into the locket, then snapped it shut. Clutching it to her breast, she howled out her anguish into the uncaring night.

So??? Let me know what you think!