Interlude: Petrograd, 1919 (3)

[Catherine's POV]

"Katyusha, you're home!" Yekaterina's mother exclaims, using the diminutive form. The relief on her face turns to anger. "You've been gone for days! Do you know how worried I was about you! I thought that the communists found you!"

"Mama, it's alright, I'm fine, everything is fine" Yekaterina says stepping into the dim light of the house, trying to calm her agitated mother. She places a hand on her mother's shoulder and squeezes. For the first time, Yekaterina really notices her mother's beauty. Her mother, Elena, is older now, in her forties. She has the same lustrous red hair that Yekaterina had been gifted with. She has put on weight over the years, but the curves suit her well. Yekaterina is shocked when she finds herself imagining what her mother might look like unclothed...

Elena pulls her daughter in for a tight hug.

"Yekaterina...you are so cold" her mother says, stepping back, a frightful look on her face.

"I've...changed, Mama" Yekaterina says, unsure of how to explain her transformation to her deeply religious mother.

"Your face looks different, your body. What happened to you?" her mother says, fingering the cross hanging from her neck. Yekaterina pauses, finding her words.

"Mama, I've been given a wonderful gift. A gift that I can share with you. A great power. Power to restore our family. To destroy our enemies" Yekaterina says, finding it difficult to verbalize what has actually happened.

"Katya, what are you talking about?" Elena says, plainly confused. "What have you done?" she says, her hands trembling, as she steps back towards the wall.

"Mama, please, don't be afraid. Something wonderful has happened to me. I am strong now. We can be strong. We can retake our place, and wipe away the Bolsheviks, together."

"How?" her mother whispers.

"Let me show you" Yekaterina says, pulling her mother into a firm embrace. Yekaterina can hear her mother's heartbeat pounding in her ears. Brushing Elena's hair to the side, Yekaterina kisses her mother's shoulder. Her hand rises to cradle the back of her mother's head, her thumb just behind her mother's ear. Yekaterina kisses her mother's neck. She's can feel her mother's carotid artery pulsing just beneath the skin. All that blood so close to the surface.

"Yekaterina, please, what are you doing?" Elena pleads. "This isn't right..." she says, but makes no effort to move away.

"Mama, let me give you the gift" Yekaterina says. Her fangs extend. She pauses, breathing on her mother's neck. Yekaterina wants to savor her mother's last moments of mortality.

Yekaterina finds herself fantasizing about her first feeding with a transformed Elena. Sharing their first meal. Then sharing even more...

Yekaterina's fangs scratch her mother's neck. Elena gasps, and pushes her daughter away. Backed against the wall, she holds her golden cross out.

"You're not my daughter! You're a friend!" Elena yells. Softening, she says "what have they done to you, Yekaterina?"

"I've been chosen for eternal life, Mama" Yekaterina says, her fangs prominently on display.

"At what cost, daughter?" Elena says, her heartbreak plain on her face.

"I think you know what I am now" Yekaterina says, frustrated by her mother's reaction.

"You are cursed, Yekaterina. You've damned yourself. Your soul...." Elena says, beginning to cry. Yekaterina becomes angry at the rejection. Tears of her own form.

"I wanted us to share this. To avenge our family. But you're just a weak old woman. You don't deserve this gift" Yekaterina spits. Yanking her mother from the wall, she bites into her mother's throat. Elena screams, trying to push away, but Yekaterina holds her in place.
Elena's blood spills into her mouth. Through tears, Yekaterina drinks her mother. Elena's screams turn to whimpers as she weakens.

Elena's heartbeat becomes irregular, and she passes out. Yekaterina drops her to the floor, and puts her face in her hands.

Oh my God. What have I done? Yekaterina thinks, horrified at what she's done. She falls to her knees, crying into her hands. She hears footsteps behind her, and turns to see Yelizaveta glide into the small room. Yelizaveta squats next to Yekaterina, caressing her cheek.

"Never feel guilty about feeding, child. Guilt is for the cattle. Their blood is ours by right" Yelizaveta says confidently.

"But... My own mother..." Yekaterina says, sniffling.

"You have a new family now, a dark sisterhood. She is just a human. You are a goddess on earth now" Yelizaveta says, pulling Yekaterina into a hug. Yelizaveta's lips curl into a smirk. "Of course, she doesn't have to remain a mortal. She's on the edge of ****. It's your choice, child." Yekaterina wipes her tears away, her face hardening.

"No" Yekaterina says, resenting her mother's rejection. She's weak. She doesn't deserve it. Yelizaveta kisses Yekaterina softly on the temple.

"Then consume her, daughter" Yelizaveta says, nudging Yekaterina forward. Yekaterina crawls to where her mother lays **** on the floor. She looks so peaceful Yekaterina thinks. She pushes her mother's head to one side, and sinks her fangs back into her mother's throat. Yekaterina rapidly gulps down her mother's blood, feeling her mother's life flooding into her body.

After Elena is exsanguinated, Yekaterina sits back on her heels, and catches her breath. Yelizaveta stands next to her, her hand resting on Yekaterina's head.

"Good" Yelizaveta says, "no tethers to your past. Only the future."

Yekaterina rises to her feet. She's brushes the dust from her knees.

"Let's get the fuck out of this shithole" Yekaterina says. Yelizaveta just smiles.