“‘What am I doing here’? What are YOU doing here? And please tell me you brought Blade with you.” you said, glancing around hopefully.

But alas, there wasn’t much here other than a courtyard full of freshly slain zombies, and a handful of stragglers.

Louise shook her head, her playful expression telling you that she was still thinking of a way to get away with petting you.

“Unfortunately not. Eric sent me here to better understand the social tendencies of mon–”

She paused to clear her throat.

“‘Supernatural citizens’.” she corrected herself, affecting a tone heavy with the implication that this wasn’t her first time making this correction.

Your shoulders drooped.

“So…no backup?”

“Don’t look so disappointed.” Louise said with a pouty expression.

“I’m not! It’s good to see you. Really.” you said, perhaps a little too quickly.

The tender smile that she gave you in return was so precious that you made a mental note to sketch it from memory once you were back in your dorm. Her gaze traveled down to one of your tails, and you watched as her eyes lit up the moment she recognized what it was she was looking at. And boy were your tails wagging up a storm right now.

“Oh...I can see that you are very happy to see me~!”

“Ha! Sorry, it’s like they have a mind of their own sometimes…” you said with a sheepish grin and a nervous chuckle. “The second one is new. Actually…come to think of it, they both kinda are.”

You fought hard to get them under control, and almost missed the moment when she reached a hand towards one. You swiftly turned away from her, just fast enough where her hand groped empty air instead of a bundle of fluff.

“My my! You’ve grown so much! In height AND appendages.” she said, reaching up to grab your face while you were preoccupied with getting your tails under control. “And you’re speaking so fluently. I do hope that no one else has tried stealing that beautiful voice of yours.”

She pinched your cheeks with that last comment. Your heart was racing so fast! She was so close, and her hands were…surprisingly warm for that of a vampire. That thought pulled you back to reality.

How was an undead creature of the night such as herself putting out so much life energy?

Just then, your ears twitched, and you glanced to your left to see a shambling zombie creeping up on you. A half-second later, Louise’s eyes flitted to her left, where another zombie was quickly approaching the two of you.

“One moment, s’il vous plaît.” she said, her eyes going cold as she released her grip on your face, and brought her hands up to draw both swords from where they rested on her back.

(Cont.)