Hindsight.

She didn’t know what made her seek out the room. Maybe it was nostalgia, maybe it was boredom, but somehow she found herself inside this particular guest room of the mansion.

At first glance it was very unassuming. Like all guest rooms in Bill’s mansion it was lavish and comfortable. However to her it was special. As she touched the bedpost nearest to her she recalled why. This had been the room where she and Bill had first slept together.

Back then she’d just assumed it was a good one night stand. Two people caught up in the moment. Little did she know how that one night would be the one that decided the path of her heart. She chuckled, remembering the shock and mild embarrassment. She thought everyone knew she’d slept with her Boss but no one suspected anything. However ever since that night she and Bill had snuck moments together; little by little she fell for him.

She moved to sit on the bed and fell back. The scents of them had long since left the room but the same emotions seemed to linger in the very furniture. This had been her room for a few weeks before Bill had made another guest room her permanent residence.

“Would you have done different…?” she asked her past self.
“Had you known the road ahead… would you have said no that night?”

She asked herself that as she closed her eyes. Had she known all the twists and turns, the ups and downs… all the tears, the happy times, the dangerous times… all the pain she would cause him, the pain he would cause her… would she have done any different?

Did she after all this time…regret the one choice from that night?

She turned over on her side. She wondered if Bill held this room in the same regard she did.

Would he covet the spaces she’d inhabited? Or purge them from his mind and home as soon as she was gone?

He’d once mentioned that time was of no consequence to a vampire. Then would their time together vanish from his mind?

She shook her head. She didn’t want to think of those things. She just wanted to make as many memories right now as she could. She rolled around the bed, messing up the sheets in the process.
As she rolled around she paused. She’d once recalled that a vampire guest who had come to the mansion had mentioned Bill played the piano, and sang…

She giggled. Maybe she could get him to sing for her once; that would make such a precious memory.

Bill Compton had been going out of his mind, his thoughts and actions had become more erratic than normal, he had been busying his mind trying to attempt to distract himself from the problem at hand. He didn't know what to do, what to think, doubting himself further. What was the point in being a vampire if you could not save the one you loved from an impending death?

Just to stand by and watch how they accepted their fate and greeted it with open arms knowing that there was no possible way to save them. It was maddening, almost to the point of tipping over the edge into despair...hanging over the edge of sanity.

They say that a vampire has the ability to clear their minds of every single thought, impulse or deepest darkest desire. But it seems that with Bill Compton, it was just not possible. He had tried to shut things out, only to fail as every single thought and emotion flooded his system, paralyzing him to the point of breaking down...She was dying, and there was nothing that he could do.

He had several outcomes worked out in his mind, but yet all of them pointed at the same solution, turning her into a vampire. It was the solution that swirled around in his mind, he knew that Kiara did not want to be a vampire, or if it was even possible for a wolf to become a vampire. He had heard rumors of a wolf that had been turned against their will. Neither being one nor the other, to become a hybrid of sorts.

He had to think of something else, anything else. This was killing him, scorching through his entire body, as though fate was laughing at him, cursing him for having too much. Feeling the need to take away the one thing that was keeping him from giving up, from going over the edge. He booted up his computer, his only attempt at focusing on something else. He needed to or else he would give in to temptation.

His computer booted up. Aside from normal work emails there was a small little program on the side that flashed red. It had been the program installed when he'd been raging at Kiara, a way to keep full tabs on her after her betrayal.

It showed a few of her recent emails. Most of them were pretty innocent, just some work emails, getting inventory taken care off.

The last email however came from her doctors. Aside from the doctors reinstating how short her time was there had been a small PS amended to the email.

"Miss Griffen.

Upon further inspection of your blood work we've found the pathogens you spoke off. It looks like your initial guess of the effects of vampire blood was spot on. Although not a permanent solution it looks like ingesting vampire blood does stave off the effects of your condition.

We do not suggest you ingest it often as the effects on your 'peculiar' metabolism may be detrimental. We are still urging you to make a decision on your treatment but we will approve you changing out of the CeeNu we prescribed to small amounts of vampire blood equal to the dosage of medicine we suggested.

Please let us know of your treatment decision as soon as possible."

Going through page after page after page of emails that had been returned from his Sheriff's updating him on the doings in every corner of Louisiana. But even the mounds of figures and data were not even enough to distract him. On a usual day it had been what he would have done to keep his mind on track, but tonight he guessed wrong. Shutting down his computer, not caring about seeing the screen flash with updates to his security system and emails from his other contacts he just wanted out of his office for a short while. These four walls driving him mad from staring blankly at them as if another solution would pop out and scream at him.

He locked up his office for security reasons as he headed straight into the large open spaced lounge which contained a large plasma screen TV, book shelves, a large black piano and a warm inviting fireplace. The fireplace was always lit on an evening, hearing the wood spark and burn in the flames, burning away everything that it touched as it burnt away to nothing. His eyes gazing into the flickers of orange and yellow flames, feeling its intense warmth brush over his skin. He just stood there, gazing into the flame, wishing, willing for a solution, one that would never come.

Kiara left the bedroom she'd been frolicking in. She looked around and the guards were nowhere to be found. She shrugged as she made her way downstairs. She'd checked her email on her phone and was glad she could get off those hard drugs. They had made a mess in her system.

With a bit of renewed vigor she made her way to the kitchen. It was empty but she knew there would be some snacks in the fridge. She passed by Bill's closed office door. She wouldn't bother him. He seemed so depressed since she'd told him about her condition.

Once in the kitchen she pulled out some left over strawberry pie and whipped cream. Sitting alone she began to eat, the food and sugar settling magnificently with her. Eventually she'd have to ask Bill for some of his blood.

"Hmm... maybe I should try and get it somewhere else" she thought out loud. But then she scratched that idea quickly. Bill would be very cross if she drank the blood of another vampire.

Bill continued to gaze into the flickering flames of the open fire, feeling as though the flames had taken were burning away at everything that he was, a poison slowly seeping away through his veins, destroying everything that he was. He heard the movement of from the corridor behind him, scanning out he found it to be Kiara. He had yet to speak to her tonight, but he did not know what to say to her. What could he say to her?

He could hear movement in the kitchen, the sound of the fridge opening and closing as well as the drawer opening, knowing that she would be searching for something to eat. He had yet to speak with their new chef Tia about changing her diet to a more healthy one, one that humans called a sustainable diet.

He knew that he should go to her, but he didn't have the strength to face it. He couldn't make false promises of a bright future when he knew that she would not be in it.

Kiara jumped when her phone rang.

"Dammit...people" she said as she put her fork down. She answered the phone.

"oh hey kid... no you know me.. eating... she got it? good thanks for delivering it... huh? oh no don't refill it. Doc said I should get off that shit and try V instead... crazy huh?" she said before giggling.

"Yeah...I'll have to ask him for some.. he'd go batshit if I found V from another vampire... what? no.. he's been depressed since I told him... oh thanks. I'll go sign the will tomorrow if I wake up during the day, if not I'll get the lawyer to come here"

His arms gripped the side of the fireplace, feeling the wood splinter a little in his hands. The soft white wood turned to dust in his hands, small splinters digging into his flesh, feeling the blood pool on the palm of his hands. His glass of blood remaining untouched, feeling no need to feed from bottled or fresh donor blood at all. He wanted to remain locked away in this room forever, he could only just hear the murmurs of his human staff talking among themselves in various parts of the house, but there was something else that he zoned in to.

"Yeah...I'll have to ask him for some.. he'd go batshit if I found V from another vampire... what? no.. he's been depressed since I told him... oh thanks. I'll go sign the will tomorrow if I wake up during the day, if not I'll get the lawyer to come here"

He frowned as he heard one part of the conversation, turning he headed straight into the kitchen where he found Kiara, perching himself leaning against the door frame, his arms folded across his broad chest, not saying a word.

Kiara smiled into the phone. "Thanks Kid... say hi to the missus for me..." she said before hanging up. She returned to her pie but not before noticing she wasn't alone anymore.

"I'm sorry...was I too loud?" she asked, thinking maybe her conversation had disrupted Bill's work.

"No...I was...Distracted..Nothing to fret, just a King trying to find another distraction" he smirked softly.

He walked from the solitude of standing alone by the only door leading into the kitchen as he sat himself down on an empty stool by the large island that Kiara was sat at as he watched her consume some kind of food made by Tia.

"Do i want to ask what that call was about?" he asked curiously.

She lowered her gaze to her half eaten pie slice. "Well..I'm finalizing a few things with my lawyer... also... " she looked up at him. "...doctors gave me another option to.. give me some more time"

She wondered what he would think. He didn't like talking about her impending death... like if he denied it hard enough it would perhaps become a lie and she wasn't really dying.

"...doctors gave me another option to.. give me some more time"

Bill frowned as he became more alert, like he was half asleep but had suddenly been awoken from his walking coma. His body stiffened like that of a still statue, his face full of hope for the first time in days.

"How?....Is it possible?" he asked, praying for an answer.

She nodded. "I had a hunch but I didn't want to get your hopes up. But the doctors ran tests. It isn't a permanent solution... but if I ingested vampire blood on a regular basis it may stop the progression of my illness. Enough to where I'd have more time to find a permanent solution."

She smiled softly. "More time is good...right?"

"More time is good...right?"

"Of course....More time is good...Very good" he nodded enthusiastically "What do you need me to do?"

Bill had already began spinning out several idea's, filling vials of his blood for her. Anyway possible for her to keep his blood in her system long enough to find a solution.

"Tell me..What do you need me to do?" he asked again.

She bit her lower lip. "I'll...need your blood.. as fresh as possible" she said softly.

"Not a lot... I don't want the V to make me crazy" she added.

"Hopefully like this I won't be suffering from the side effects from the other pills...those were killing me"

Bill dropped his fangs as he heard that she needed the blood to be fresh, he sank his fangs into his wrist and felt his own blood pool into his mouth as he reached for a small glass on the island and held his wrist over it as blood filled the glass. His wrist healed until the glass was almost half full as his wrist healed before any more blood escaped his self created puncture marks. Licking up the last trickles of blood from his own wrist, he pushed the glass towards her.

"Fresh enough?" he asked.

Kiara blinked. She didn't think Bill would be that quick to comply but apparently he was.

"um...yeah that'll work..." she said as she took the glass. She hesitated for a moment. Usually she drank blood from the source so seeing it in a glass was a tad unnerving but...

"Down the hatch..." she muttered before she drank it. It had that harsh coppery taste but she powered through it. She set the red stained glass down and shuddered, feeling the V course through her veins.

He could tell that she was a little unnerved about drinking his blood straight from a glass, but there was no time. He had to get his blood in her some way or another, and normally it would have been through a physical sexual session, but right now he was not about to take the risk not with her still so fragile and depleted of energy at the moment.

"If there is another way to ingest, then i shall do whatever it takes" he offered.

He would do anything to make it better for her, even if it meant a drip in his arm draining himself of more blood for her to use to create some of her easily digested products.

She took a moment to compose herself. The V gave her energy a-plenty and it made her tingle all over like she was being dipped in cool water.

"y-yeah..." she said, taking several deep breaths to calm herself.

"Gods...I'd forgotten how potent your blood can be" she said, her eyes finally focusing on him with a sort of raw intensity.

"The older the vampire, the stronger the blood as I am told...I would imagine that the blood of Eric Northman is quite something, or so I would think..He is not one to dish out his blood like confectionery" he smirked.

He had dropped his fangs again as he held his wrist ready to bite again as he pulled the glass over under his wrist.

"Another drink?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Oh...I'm hungry...but not for blood" she whispered. As the blood coursed through her veins it revitalized her, but it also ignited her more baser desires.

She licked her lips and took a bite out of the pie still left on the plate. It was sweet and delicious but it did nothing for the hunger boiling up inside her.

Bill instantly knew what she meant when she said that she did not hunger for more of his blood, but something more on a physical nature. But Bill had stopped himself from acting upon his animalistic urges and concentrated on getting her health back.

"Sweetheart....You know we cannot" he stated, knowing that she would know what he meant.

Her breathing was getting ragged. The wolf inside urged to just tackle and ravish Bill, to sate the hunger inside. The woman inside knew why he said no. She'd been quite ill the pass few days and even with a healthy dose of V, a good bout of carnal adventures may not be in her best interests.

"Bill...." she wrapped her arms around herself. "I...feel hot... please" she whimpered.

Bill retracted his fangs as he forced himself from his seat as he turned towards the window that looked out onto the open dark night sky. Everything in him told him to give into her wishes and demands, but he couldn't.

"Kiara.....You know we can't.....I can't....I'm sorry" he whispered.

Kiara slid down from her chair to the floor. Her breathing still labored as she rode the drug effects of the V.

"Bill...help me...please....have mercy" she pleaded. Her vision shook. Her skin felt heated. She tugged at her own clothes which were keeping her too warm.

Almost fumbling around she slid out of her blouse and pressed her back to the cold tile floor, seeking relief.