Vampire Sisters

KATHERINE GRAZED her fingers against Florence's shoulders as she braided her hair, goosebumps gathering on the blonde's arms every time she felt her cool rings against her relatively warm skin. She watched them in the mirror, watched as Katherine's unnaturally cold fingertips carefully styled her hair.

A thought crossed her mind in that moment where she pictured Elena taking Katherine's position. To an outsider's eyes it may not have seemed like much of a difference, but to Florence it meant two completely opposite worlds.

   Where Elena was a doe-eyed brilliance, Katherine held mischief and grace all at the same time; one, now in Florence's eyes, was breathtaking while the other was simply beautiful. —who could differentiate between the two? Especially when concerning a genius's fragile mind?

   She conjured up scenarios where Italy walked into the room. How would she react? How could she react? Ever since news reached Florence's ears of how she was turned into a vampire, she hadn't heard much from her. It may have originally been a relief, but eventually it turned into worry.

   "What're you thinking about?"

   Florence sighed, shaking her head. "Just my sister. I—did you know Logan turned her into a vampire?"

   "I know a lot of things, Flore," said the woman of mischief, "but I would never hide something like that from you."

   "Aw," she cooed, "you're turning soft."

   Katherine made a face, hastily shaking her head. "Soft for you? Never in a million years, Flore."

   Florence hummed, dragging out her next sentence: "Whatever you say."

   "I'm not turning soft!" she attempted to convince. When Florence began to laugh, she hit her shoulder playfully, hiding a grin by turning her head to the side. "Shut up."

   Once she'd finished braiding her hair, Florence's phone buzzed and she groaned, reaching across the bed to pick it up. Italy's name lit up the screen and she jumped up, accepting the call without hesitation.

"Italy!" she quickly addressed. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Don't worry, sis," her voice came through the phone, and Florence could tell the difference between when she was a human and now. "I'm comin' home in, like, thirty seconds. We have a lot to catch up on."

No shit, Florence thought to herself, shaking her head afterwards. "I'll see you then."

   "Should I leave?" Katherine asked, head rested against the headboard of her friend's bed.

   Florence sent her a knowing look. "We both know you have nowhere else to be."

°

ITALY ENTERED her home with her head held high; parasitic blood ran through her veins, and a small part of her hoped Florence would never find out. Though, it was truly inevitable. As soon as she stepped foot into the living room, Florence stood from the couch, arms crossed. Her gaze was strong, and Italy almost shrunk under it.

   "What's going on, Florence?"

   "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, more hurt than curious.

   Italy feigned innocence. "Tell you what?"

   She took a deep breath before displaying her true colors, feeling the veins protrude from her eyes and teeth elongate into fangs. Italy's breath hitched and she contemplated lying. Eventually, she succumbed to the sisterly part of her heart and morphed herself. There stood both sisters, fangs out and hearts swollen.

   "Why didn't you tell me?" Florence repeated, voice cracking.

   "I thought you'd hate me," she admitted, dropping on the couch. Florence still didn't sit, her arms remaining crossed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

   She scoffed, shaking her head. "You really think I'd tell you? You're on the Council, Italy! I can't trust you with something like this."

   "How'd you find out about the Council?" she asked, eyes wide.

   Before Florence could answer, another voice interjected; "I told her."

   The sisters turned their heads to face Katherine, who appeared with her hair straightened and eyes no longer full of mischief. Florence raised her eyebrows, mentally applauding how well she disguised herself in such little time.

   Italy, oblivious to who Katherine truly was, furrowed her brows. "Elena? How'd you know about the Council?"

   She looked over at Florence for a second before answering, "The Salvatores are vampires."

   Florence groaned, knowing having Katherine there was only going to lead to chaos, and Italy's eyes grew wide once again. She turned around quickly, peering down at her sister who was glaring at the fake Elena.

   "You knew?"

   Florence groaned once again, placing her head in her hands. "This is all going to shit."

   "You're telling me," Italy let out, shaking her head. "I was supposed to keep you safe — now look at us. We're both vampires living in a city full of people that hunt them. We're so dead, Flore."

   She laughed, despite the morbidity behind her statement and brought a smile to her sister's face as well. Katherine watched as they embraced with a distant look in her eyes, though she remained immensely happy for Florence. A strange feeling overcame her at the smile on Florence's face and she pushed it back, furrowing her brows in confusion.

   When the two pulled apart, the terrible glint of evil returned to her eyes and she smirked, which could only mean her next revelations were going to cause a great amount of chaos.

   "Is this a bad time to mention that I'm not Elena?"