Excerpt: At the end of time

They made it home as fast as they could, which was pretty slow, considering that Katherine took the opportunity to mess around with the shopping bags, almost choking once before Lillian pulled over again and made her sit next to her. Now, as they walked up the driveway to the door; Lillian carrying most of the bags and Katherine tagging along, Lillian felt peace.

Placing the bags down on the doorstep, Lillian hurriedly unlocked the doors and hurried Katherine into the house. It was fast approaching midnight, and she knew that there would be more of her kind wandering around the streets. And Lillian did not want them to know that Katherine was staying with her. The vampires, although they fall under her rule in this area, was not what you would call, friendly. They were merely bloodthirsty fiends who would stop at nothing to get blood. Even though she had enforced a rule of twelve kills a year, some vampires liked to toe the line. And most of the time, she would always be too busy to check if they are indeed following the rules that came along with asylum in this territory.

Tuning back to what Katherine was doing, she realised with a small smile that the young child had found the television room. Judging from the noise, she could tell that Katherine was watching one of the action movies Zayne, her advisor, left behind when she stopped by for tea the other time. Smiling, she quickly brought the bags into the house, locked the doors securely, before she made her way to the living room. Sitting down beside Katherine, she smiled at the young girl, before turning her attention to the screen.

Though they had not spoken much, Katherine appreciated the silence. The silence told her many things about her new 'mum', about how living with Lillian would be like. And Katherine was already liking it. Seated beside Lillian, her eyes threatening to close any moment, she never felt more at home. "Thank you, Lillian," she said again, for what seems like the fiftieth time this night.

Lillian smiled at Katherine, replying, "I told you, Katherine. I would do anything for you."

Katherine smiled wider, if that was even possible, and snuggled close to Lillian. Despite her having woke up only a few hours ago, the shopping and the wildness of the entire day was getting to her. As her eyes drooped close, she noted that Lillian had taken to smoothing her hair, while the channel had been changed to the news.

The last thought Katherine had before falling asleep was that of pure bliss and happiness. For once, her dream of a peaceful life had been fulfilled.

When Katherine finally managed to get to sleep, Lillian switched off the television, making her way to the other room, which hosted most of the documents she had needed as the ruler of her territory. Even though she had disappeared from the vampire world for quite some time already, she had to still maintain some correspondence with the vampires around, to ensure that the vampires in her territory could remain there unmolested. Sighing at that thought, she sat down in the plush wingback chair, taking out the latest pile of work that she had to complete.

Ameena, the next most powerful vampire in her territory after her, had reported of some rouge activities on the fringes of her territory. Sighing again, Lillian took out a new piece of paper, swiftly replying to that correspondence. She supposed she could not help but to feel guilty for these rouge activities. After all, she did allow them to stay in her territory. However, she did know that these days, the vampires were getting cockier, especially when they are so full of themselves and their superiority.

Smirking at that thought, she turned her thoughts to the rest of the correspondence that still lay on the table. Alyssa, the head of the Australian territories and also one of her good friends, had sent in more reports about the unrest that was going on there. Lillian made a mental note to go down to Australia some time soon. That is, once Katherine woke up and gets her passport. Lillian hoped that the girl would know if she had a passport. But judging from what she had seen so far, she doubted it. She made a mental note to take Katherine to the immigration offices as soon as possible. It was essential that she made it to Australia before the unrest got worse. Despite holding the most power in her territory, she did have sufficient pull over the vampires in the Australian territories; after all, she was one of the most respected vampires in the world. And most of the vampires won't risk angering her. She was also, she admitted with a small sigh, the object of Jacob's, the werewolves' ruler, infatuation. While Lillian would have found it irritating at times, she mainly used it to her advantage. The vampires would not dare irritating her in fear of word getting back to the werewolves. The two parties were bitter enemies despite Lillian's urging for both sides to form a truce of some kind.

The vampire sighed again, scribbling something about how she would be arriving in a few weeks time in response to Alyssa's letter. With that done, she sighed again, leaning against the back of the chair. It was hard ruling this territory, but she had managed in the past. But now, there was Katherine to take care off, and she did have a soft spot for the girl. In so many ways, Katherine reminded Lillian of herself, and for once, it disturbed Lillian.

Another sigh escaped her (well, she did seem to be sighing a lot more these days…), and she rolled her eyes, prepared for a night of boredom, until she heard a cry from the living room. Swiftly, she got up, running to the living room where she knew Katherine was. A sigh of relief escaped her when she realised that Katherine was safe, but the expression of pain in Katherine's face was enough to alarm her. Scooping the girl up into her arms, Lillian quickly walked to her room, careful not to jostle her and disturb Katherine's sleep.

Pulling the covers down with one hand, she placed Katherine on the bed, before sliding in too, drawing the covers up around them. Wrapping her arms around Katherine, she hugged the little child to her chest, knowing in her heart that this was one child that she would do anything to protect.