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ready to let the real world back in either.  Soon, there are things we must discuss.”
    My brow wrinkled as I sorted through my memories to focus on the night I changed. Many of my recollections of that night were fuzzy, distorted as if I was staring through a dirty window.  Bits and pieces of thoughts floated through my mind.  If I could get a headache, I'd have one now.  I could feel his presence in my mind, gauging my reactions.  Sympathy flooded our bond, letting me know he understood what it was like to be so overwhelmed by memories and sensations.
    "Is it always like this?"  I rubbed my forehead with the palm of my hand as if that motion would ease my troubled mind.
    "Yes.  Human memories will always be difficult to remember and recall." Stefan answered simply.  His lips drifted over my temple. "Tell me your last vivid memory."
    My eyes closed and I drew in a sharp breath. When I exhaled, it caught in my chest.  "It was of you.  You cried in my arms.  I was changing and you kept saying you didn't want it this way.  You were sorry…and you’d almost died."  A harsh series of sobs shook my shoulders.  “You almost died…I thought I’d lost you forever.  And then you thought you might lose me.”
    His blue eyes had glazed over, deep in thought.  When they focused back on me, I could see the pain of the memory flash through his mind.  It was crystal clear, like watching a movie.  It drew me in, wanting to see my final human moments from his mind.
    Tumbling into the memory, I watched myself collapse against him, hugging his shoulders and brushing my lips across neck.  I could vaguely remember feeling the uncontrollable urge to bite him, intent on possessing him in every way.  His skin ripped open under my teeth, his thick blood rushing into my mouth.  He’d stiffened and pulsed again inside me again, bellowing out my name as I swallowed greedy mouthfuls of his blood.  The wound began to heal and I’d kissed his neck with bloody kisses.  His hands wound in my hair, pulling my head back slightly.  A drop of his blood fell from my lips into the water, sinking to the bottom of the tub in a lazy ribbon of red.
    "You are exquisite."  He released my hair and ran his hands soothingly over my back.  " Min gudinna.  Min vän.  Min älskare."
    With those words, he’d crashed his mouth to my lips, wrapping his arms around my waist.  I didn't hold anything back from him, returning his kiss like it was the sustenance I had been missing for months instead of hours.
    As our frantic kiss continued, his blood pushed itself through my veins, forcing itself into every crevice of my body.  I could feel it like it was its own being, melding with my own blood, changing me.  My sluggish heart thumped frantically and my body stiffened against him.
    His sharp eyes had immediately known something wasn’t right.  His panic was still strong, even in the memory.
    “Josephine!”  Stefan had bellowed.  He had us both out of the bathtub and had me wrapped in a towel in a blur of motion.  He cradled me to him on the bed.  “Talk to me.  What is happening?”
    My hands clutched at his forearms, my nails sinking into his flesh.  My heart continued to beat out its frantic pace, my body seizing and pushing against him.  I watched my own eyes lose focus and struggle to stay in the present with him.
    “I- I’m changing,” I stuttered.  My green eyes stared blankly into his.  “I’m changing to be with you.  You wanted me to take your life when you were human.  Now you’ve given me yours.”
    “Vackra, I did not want it to happen this way.  Not like this, not now.”  Stefan’s head fell against my breasts.  His tears soaked my naked skin as he held me and sobbed.
    “Wait for me.  We will truly be equal soon,” I uttered weakly, shaking against him.  It was as if my heart was fighting the last of the battle for me.  It pounded out an impossibly fast rhythm until finally, it pulsed a few final