It has been 60 years since the Hayden twins were turned. The twins never split up once. It's now 1945, and a lot has happened in the last 60 years.
They have been training their gifts, and now Clayton can weaken or strengthen any gift used on or by someone near him to the same degree. When practicing with Christina's tracking ability, he can weaken it to a point where it's basically useless, and not just blurry.
Christina, on the other hand, has gained more gifts from their travels, like lie detection and telepathy. She has also been training the abilities she already had before. She is now able to keep a permanent mental shield up on her and her brother, even if they are not together. With her lie detection ability, she can just tell when someone is lying. There is a feeling in her gut about it. Her telepathy works by making a link between her mind and the person she wants to talk to. She isn't a mind reader, she can only hear what is projected to her through an established mind link, and she found a way to make sure it doesn't interfere with the mental shield. Once the link is established, Christina or the other person linked can start the conversation, but Christina is also able to permanently cut the link if she desires. Her telepathy has come in handy multiple times while traveling. Clayton uses it to check in on Christina and vice versa. It's also used if one of them run into trouble or when Christina copies a gift from a vampire they haven't sensed, Christina warns Clayton a vampire is near.
The twins have been settled in Salt Lake City for a few months now. Christina was working in the hospital as a nurse, and Clayton was working in the library. They planned to stay in the area for a few years.
It was just a normal day at work for Christina until she smelt something heavenly. Better than anything she has ever smelt before. She immediately stiffens and can tell her eyes are getting darker due to her increasing hunger. She looked to where the smell was coming from and saw a man in a suit standing with the Chief. She turned around to get away from the scent as quickly as possible, but before she could make a break for it, her name gets called.
"Oh, Christina. Come over here for a minute." She hears Chief of Medicine, Dr. Smith call.
Knowing she can't ignore him, Christina tries her best to relax her tense posture while holding her breath before turning around and walking up to Dr. Smith.
"Yes, Chief," she says in a sweet voice with a smile, even though she is still very tense. Either the Chief didn't notice or didn't care how tense she was because he introduced her to the man standing next to him, the man she knows is her blood singer, with a smile.
"Christina, I want to introduce you to our new attending, Dr. Williams....Dr. Williams, this is Christina Hayden. She is one of the best nurses at the hospital."
"That's very kind of you to say, Chief." She says to him with what she hopes looks like a sweet smile, before turning to Dr. Williams and holding her hand out for a handshake, "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Williams"
"The pleasure is all mine. Please call me James, Nurse Hayden." He says, taking a hold of her hand, but instead of shaking it, he brings it up to his lips and places a kiss on her knuckles.
"Call me Christina," Christina said with a smile that looked more like a grimace while pulling her hand back. Her blood singer is obviously interested in her, going off the smirk he is sending her. All she wants is to get away from him as quickly as possible, before she gives in to her hunger. She doesn't know how much longer she can stand in her blood singer's presence without attacking him so she quickly makes up an excuse to leave them, "It was great to meet you, James, but I need to get back to work. See you later, Chief." I say before quickly walking away.
Tony, I have a problem. Christina says in their mind link
What? What is it? Are you okay? He asks frantically.
I almost drained someone. Christina told him, obviously still on edge.
At the hospital? But you have never had control issues before. He said confused, but no longer as frantic as before.
It's the new doctor. He's my blood singer. I was so close to tearing out his throat in front of the nurses station. He was with Dr. Smith, when I saw him. I tried to leave but before I could, Dr. Smith called me over and introduced us. I managed to make up an excuse to leave before I completely lost control. But I can tell my eyes are black.
Okay, so you're away from him now?
Yeah. Walking towards the other side of the floor. But his scent is driving me crazy.
You can still smell him?
It's more like the memory of it. I'm holding my breath because I don't know when he will leave.....what do I do? I don't want to hurt anyone!
Okay. Okay. Calm down.
Don't tell me to calm down!
Okay! Just....do you think you can control yourself?
I don't know. It took everything I had in me not to jump on him and rip his throat out...and I was only in his presence for a couple of minutes.
Alright. Your shift is almost over, right?
Christina looks at the clock on the wall. Yeah, I have another hour.
Ok. Here's what we're going to do. You're going to get through your shift, then go to your boss and tell them that your grandfather was severely injured, so you're leaving to take care of him. You will no longer be able to work there, effective immediately. While you do that, I'm telling my boss the same thing and packing our stuff.
So we're just going to leave? I thought you wanted to live here for a few years.
It's just another town. We'll find somewhere else. You and I both know if you kill him, even if he is your blood singer, you'll let the guilt eat you alive.
I-
Don't even try to deny it. Your innocence is definitely something you carried over into your vampire life. He says, cutting her off.
Are you sure you're okay with leaving? We just got settled here. I can always try to suck it up and gain control over it.
I know you could gain control over it. But even if you do, you would have to deal with the hunger and pain of not feeding on the guy every time you catch his scent. It'd be torture, and I'm not okay with you going through that. Frankly, this is just another town. We can go and settle anywhere. I care about you way more than staying here for a few years. It's you and me. Always.
You're always so protective over me, not wanting me to go through any pain.
And I always will be. Indefinitely.
Indefinitely. Christina responds with a fond smile on her face, even if he can't see it.
Now get through the last remainder of your shift and go tell your boss you won't be working there anymore. Compel him if you have to. Then meet me at the apartment, and we will figure out where to go next.
Ok. I love you, Tony....and thanks
Anything for you. I love you too, little sister. See you in about an hour.
With that, the conversation ended. Christina ended her shift and found Dr. Smith and told him exactly the story her brother gave her. She left the hospital and headed back to the apartment they were living in. They traveled light, so everything was packed in a couple of duffelbags. Christina hugged her brother, and he kissed her head.
"Thank you." She said to him.
He smiled and released her, "Come on. Let's get out of here."
"Where to now?" Christina asks, grabbing a duffel bag.
"I don't know. Let's head towards Michigan and see where we end up."
"Have we been gone from that area long enough?"
"It was 40 years ago, and we traveled through Canada, so as long as we stay in the States, we should be fine."
"Okay. Let's go." Christina says with a smile, and the twins leave Salt Lake City and Christina's blood singer behind.