I should be at the gym, shouldn't I? Yes I should.

This has proven to be the hardest one to write. Surprising, since the last three were men and I don't exactly have a great track record for writing men. Anyway, this is Molly, and her sire's an eccentric Daeva. I am the most original storyteller evar!!!1!

Molly's Introduction

"Where are we going?" Molly asked as Icarus stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. She could still see herself in the mirror, which seemed to run contrary to everything she'd heard about her condition. Icarus lived up to the myth better -- his impeccable white suit was merely a faint blur.

She looked down at the tapered fingers of her sire. Was he even a he? The hands and throat were usually a good indication, but even those were bafflingly slender and smooth. The pale hands overtop her equally pale skin was a stark reminder of the changes her body had undergone in the last five hours. She'd never been a sunbather, but the Embrace had pulled all the color from her skin. She looked carved from marble, just like him.

Of course, this comparison was only possible because the top that his household had provided her with was cut scandalously close, exposing her neckline and a good bit of shoulder and décolletage. It was also Dolce & Gabbana. She'd make a lot of money off it if she could get to a computer and her eBay account.

Icarus toyed with her hair, tucking one of her curls into the messy bun that Lauren, his thrall, had made. "Oh, you know. Here. There. Everywhere. I figured we could drop in at the Krispy Kreme and have a jelly donut."

"What, really?" She twisted to look up at him. He was grinning. "Oh. Not really."

"Of course not, dear. You --" he straightened and looked dramatic and moody "-- have no need for the Krispy Kremes anymore." He pursed his lips. "Though I admit, sometimes I watch Kadzen eat the jelly donuts and I swear he's pretending he's Kindred...."

She grinned. "So where are we going?"

His smile returned. "Your debut." A frown crossed his face -- not an angry frown, but an "I'm thinking about something" frown. Reaching into his white jacket, he produced a large black velvet box. Molly squashed the urge to sit up straighter and perk her eyebrows.

"Here. You need this." From the box came a black velvet choker with an ivory cameo. It didn't look cheap, but it didn't look expensive. Maybe fifty dollars, at best.

"Oh," Molly said, trying not to be disappointed. Her imagination was always better than the real thing, and her imagination had been conjuring up images of Julia Roberts and million-dollar diamonds. "I really don't like wearing those things, though."

"But you've such a lovely neck," he said, without any sense of irony. "You should accentuate it." He started to fasten the choker to her.

"No, I --"

One hand closed on her shoulder, tightening until she could hear the bones grinding. "Sweet Molly," he murmured in her ear. "Who's been alive a few centuries, hm? I think I know a thing or two about making a woman look good. And you have appearances to keep up now that you are my childe."

Molly nodded mutely.

"Now shut the fuck up and let me put the choker on you."

Molly's heart didn't pound, her face didn't flush, but waves of fear washed over her all the same, cold and constant, the antithesis to sexual climax.

Icarus straightened and finished with the clasp. "Very nice!" He clapped happily, brushing at her shoulders. "A little lint." He plucked off a stray hair from the top. "There. Perfect! You look perfect!"

The next thing she knew his hand was on her wrist and he was spinning her around the vastness of her bedroom like it was the ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton. The ruby slippers he wore -- straight out of The Wizard of Oz -- flashed under the antique light of the room's candles and lamps.

"We are going to have such fun, you and I!" He grinned and kissed her cheek. "So many nights of joy! Me and my childe!" From there he began to sing a modified version of "Me and My Shadow", which just sixty seconds ago would have brought a happy, easy smile to her face.

She still smiled now, but it wasn't the same.

Still. She had to keep up appearances.