Persephone von Karnstein stood alone in the empty foyer, staring at her coffin. Carmilla had assigned her a room in the manor for whenever she was ready to move in. She decided to move her coffin into her assigned room, even though she wouldn't need it until she was done living with her human parents. It gave her something to do, at least.
Persephone shoved her coffin towards the grand staircase. The heavy mahogany box was surprisingly easy to move thanks to Persephone's new vampire strength. Things got harder when she reached the stairs, though, as the twists and turns made the coffin difficult to move without someone to steer the other end.
"Need some help?" asked a voice from the landing. Persephone looked up to see a redheaded vampire smiling down at her.
"I could use some," Persephone smiled at her new sister. "The steps are super bumpy."
"Sure thing!" the redhead grinned, racing down and grabbing the other end of the coffin. "I'm Jinx von Karnstein, by the way."
"I'm Persephone," the Chinese-American vampire said. "But you probably knew that from watching my initiation ceremony."
"Yep," Jinx nodded. "Welcome to our clan, by the way. It's great to have another fledgling around."
"Fledgling?" asked Persephone.
"It means someone who's been a vampire for less than a year," Jinx explained. "I've only been a vampire for a few days. It's been an exciting few days, though. I'm being trained in the mystical arts by our clan's seer, Liesel. It's majorly cool to learn actual divination."
"Sweet!" said Persephone.
"So, what was your human life like?" asked Jinx. "I know some vampires consider it rude to ask, considering they're trying to start a new life, but I just get curious."
"I don't mind," said Persephone. "As you probably heard, my human name was Jessica Tang. I was a cheerleader at Stokerville High School. My best friend on the team's Micki Steele. Sometimes we even fool around. We aren't exactly girlfriends yet, but it could happen. She's joining Selena's pack soon, you know."
"Awesome!" said Jinx. "I'm friends with the pack's shaman, Taylor Wagner. My human name was Alyssa Bennett, but I also answered to High Priestess Silvermoon."
"Why?" asked Persephone.
"I was the leader of a small Wiccan coven," Jinx explained. "The other members were Taylor and our friend Dani Romero-Marquez. Dani's actually studying to become a real witch. There's this great witch in town who runs a shop for magicals like us, and she's teaching Dani. Her name's Morgana."
"I actually think I have some classes with Taylor and Dani in school," Persephone mused. "Shame I don't share any with you, Jinx."
"We share a lesbian vampire clan now," Jinx chuckled. "In my book, that's much cooler than sharing Algebra class!"
"Oh, are you a lesbian like me?" Persephone smiled.
"Aren't most girls in this town?" Jinx laughed. "I'm technically bisexual, but I strongly prefer girls. Only very specific boys turn me on, and most of them are pretty feminine-looking themselves. Legolas from the Lord of the Rings movies, for example."
The two fledglings reached the top of the first flight of stairs. "One more flight to go," said Persephone.
"You'll probably want to sleep in this coffin tonight," said Jinx. "It won't be safe to go to school tomorrow until we can get you an Amulet of Daywalking, and Morgana's closed right now."
"Amulet of Daywalking?" asked Persephone.
"It keeps the Sun from burning you to ashes," Jinx explained. "Its rays will still sting a bit, but they won't do any real damage as long as you keep your amulet on. Everyone in the family has one so they can go to school and look like normal human teens to this town. A vampire naturally only needs to sleep for a single hour out of a twenty-four-hour period. Most of us von Karnsteins just take the hour minimum right after getting home from school, but my sister Dracona takes four-hour power naps. Probably to save up energy for all the wild sex she has."
"Wild sex?" Persephone repeated.
"Like you wouldn't believe," said Jinx. "Vampires are pretty sensual creatures as a rule, but Dracona von Karnstein takes it to the next level. If you let her fuck you, be prepared to feel totally exhausted when she's done with her sexy playtime. Don't worry, I doubt she'll proposition you tonight. She's got an entire pack of buff werehyena herms having a sleepover in Tatiana's room to keep her busy."
"Good," said Persephone. "I'm still kinda tired from making love to Matriarch Carmilla and, y'know, turning into a vampire."
"Understandable," said Jinx. "Back to the Amulet of Daywalking. Matriarch Carmilla makes sure every fledgling gets one as soon as possible. Otherwise they'd be stuck slumbering in their coffins all fucking day like vampire clans that don't have access to a talented witch like we do. We'll need to get you one right before school so you don't miss it, so it'll be most convenient if you stay the night."
"What'll my parents think?" Persephone asked nervously.
"If we're lucky, nothing," said Jinx. "Morgana should be able to cast a geis to modify their memory. I think we'll request that they recall that you were invited to a sleepover here, and they said yes. Oh, the geis should probably also make them remember you always being this pale and cold to the touch. As for your fangs, they're retractable."
"Good advice, Jinx," Persephone smiled. "I have to admit, I'm excited to try out this coffin. No idea why."
"You're a vampire now," said Jinx. "Our traditions are slowly becoming instinct to you." As they arrived at the top of the second flight of stairs, Jinx glanced around the hallway. "I take it you're taking the vacant room on the end?"
"Yeah," Persephone nodded.
The two fledgling vampires dragged the coffin into the center of the unoccupied, unfurnished room. "There we go!" Jinx proudly declared. "Your coffin's all set up. Shame you'll only be using it this one night."
"I'll be using it every day starting next year," said Persephone. "Until then, I think I'm really gonna enjoy being an off-site von Karnstein. I'm actually living out all my favorite books!"
Jinx sighed happily. "Oh, I know exactly what you mean, Persephone. It really is a romantic's dream come true isn't it? And just imagine how much more we'll enjoy it when we meet our soulmates!"