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The man raised an eyebrow, curiosity towards the little girl in front of him. He grasped the bottle in his hand somewhat firmer, as if he was afraid we'd take it from him. Unlikely in any normal situation.

"Aren't you a little young to drink?" His voice clear of slurring and alcoholic damp.

Seriph looked up with a bright smile. "Don't I need to drink to survive?"

The man smiled. "I meant alcohol."

"I didn't."

She surprised him by leaning forward on her toes as if she was giving him a kiss on his cheek. The whole thing was very cutesy to see. Until, of course, she moved to his neck and bit him. I hadn't seen many others drink up close but in her case the change of expression on her face was almost scary. Usually so quiet, demure and calm, now she appeared to let go in this one thing. An almost hungry aggressive look on her face as she bit his skin, drank his blood.

I could feel his heartbeat.

I could feel the scare, the surprise and the rush when she bit him. The confusion in his mind. The double sensations of lust and disgust. He definitely did not feel at ease with her apparent age. And it seemed that Seriph not only felt it, but enjoyed it immensely.

When she released him, he wobbled a little, confused about what just happened.

"Eh... I'm going." A little wobbly he exited stage left.

Seriph was smiling in a slightly disconcerting way. It only lasted a moment before her usual demure and careful stance was regained. Now she looked 'normal' again. Though it dawned on me that this was the facade. She had to be careful, always.

"Anne?"

I didn't realize she was talking to me until she repeated it.

"Anne?"

"Oh, yes?"

"I saw parts of his mind. He's going to his girlfriend, celebrating a month together I think. Is that normal?"

"Yes. Well it only appears if you're open to the person and want to see it."

"Interesting. So what did you see with me."

I took a deep breath. "Too much. Your mind is... Very full. It was hard to even see anything specific about it, even with my memory. The things I've seen were mostly things I've done with you."

"Because you had an anchor for the experience."

I blinked. "That's a very good way to say it. I suppose so. The mind needs to cope with things it's own way."

She nodded. "And I was out, so I didn't register anything from you."

"I have no prior experience with it, so I don't know if you would have, even if you were conscious."

She nodded to herself. "Hard to judge. Considering the body is going through some transformations, it might be overloaded as it is."

She took things very literal, didn't she?

We walked a little further to the waterside. It was fairly high tide, the water reaching quite far up the docks. The ocean was not too bad tonight. Usually this close there was always a smell of old clothes or something when you got near it. Maybe because of all the pollution but probably because of the dead plants near the shore. Dried seaweed.

Seriph walked to the waterline, one of the lower docks was level with the water so she could sit on the end of it, her legs able to go in the water if she desired.

"It's been so long since I've done this."

She sighed loudly when she lowered her toes in the water. And more again when continued to allow her feet to submerge themselves. It sounded oddly erotic when she lowered her calves and lower legs into the water. The shiver in her voice was so strong that it caused tingling sensations going all the way through my spine.

I wanted to ask why, but I couldn't speak. I didn't even realize I was just staring at her.

Seriph looked around at me, but just smiled and turned back to look out over the ocean. I sat down next to her, cross-legged and not daring to put my own feet in the ocean. Of course I still wore shoes, but if I'd wanted to, I could have removed them. It was a little too much though. Again there was a musky smell on the air, but mixed with the ocean air this time. I couldn't place the origin of it exactly, but I assumed it was Seriph.

She looked very relaxed for the moment. "Don't worry, this is fairly normal for me."

I had to ask, my curiosity required it. "Did you... eh... have an orgasm just now?"

She smiled. "I'm surprised you dare to ask it. Simply put, yes. You know I'm oversensitive, and the stimulation of the cool water on my skin is exceptionally nice." She sighed a little. "Despite the uncleanliness of it."

I smiled. "It shouldn't matter much. Your skin should stay quite clean. You won't sweat much anymore either."

"Natural defenses, makes sense."

"What are you going to do now?"

She shrugged. "Same thing I did every night. Try to take over the market." She smiled. "With a lot less worries and more freedom."

"But you can't see the sun anymore."

She shrugged again. "It's not like I saw it much to begin with. Can I have your mobile phone?"

"Sure."I retrieved it for her and gave it. She dialed a number and spoke only three words. 'pickup, now, docks' before she hung up. She spend a moment deleting the number from the phone itself before she gave it back to me.

"I'm going now, I will contact you tomorrow."

What could I say? "Okay, I guess."

She smiled and leaned in for a little kiss. The touch of her lips on my cheeks was like a small fire. It caused a wave of heat through my body that I wasn't attuned to or able to control. The flush on my cheeks caused Seriph to smile as she checked at the result. A simple, but not cheap, looking car honked once at the beginning of the docks.

"Stay here until I'm gone." Seriph spoke firmly and ran towards the car in smooth, agile bounds.

The car rode away with her, leaving me a little confused and very alone.

Had I done the right thing?

Would vampiric hindsight be better or worse?