"You know… your powers are kind of sexy,

" Alyssa commented as she lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, really? They didn't make you think that I'm some sort of monster?

" Elias smirked as he leaned his head against hers.

He was glad that she wasn't freaked out. He had promised to show her what being a vampire was like using Scott, and the powers made up a big portion of that. Having to feed was a whole other thing.

Alyssa smiled softly and shook her head.

"Nothing can make me think that you're a monster. I know you're a good person,

" she told him.

"It must be cool to have powers, though. Tell me more about being a vampire.

"

Elias nodded a little. He was awed by her comment. He never wanted to be a monster. He didn't want to come close to being anything like Alaric, to wanting to hurt innocent people. That wasn't who he was. That wasn't who his family was, and he could see that in Melina as well.

"It's cool and helpful when I need them, but vampirism has its drawbacks,

" he replied. Some things were hard, but he could see that being human was hard too.

"Like drinking blood?

" Alyssa asked him quietly.

Elias sighed and nodded. That was the big drawback. He was glad that he could eat human food, which he believed was because he wasn't a vampire.

Both of his parents weren't vampires. The older he grew, the more grateful he was for that. He didn't want to be a slave to his feeding.

"You don't have to drink from the source. There are blood bags and even suppliers for vampires that provide blood in other ways. I've seen blood in what looked like a bottle of soda,

" he told her.

Vampires were more widespread than she realized, and a lot of them didn't like drinking right from humans. Plus, that was messy and complicated. It was easier to drink it in more discrete, normal ways.

Alyssa seemed to relax a little as she nodded.

"Well, that's good,

" she said.

"Any other drawbacks?

"

"People finding out what you are,

" Elias replied.

"It can be easy to get carried away with your powers when you think no one is watching. You always have to be careful.

"

Alyssa nodded.

"I'm just curious,

" she said with a shrug.

Elias smiled a little. He was glad that she was asking questions. It expressed interest. He wasn't going to try to sway her.

He was going to tell her the truth and let her make the decision on her own. Nothing good would come out of her being ill informed.

"Well, your mind is sharper during intense situations, and your senses are amplified,

" he added. He figured that she would like those things.

As a demon, he felt more alive than he probably ever could as a human, but everything had consequences.

He wanted her to be aware of that. That meant being human had consequences too that she had to consider.

"That would help during surgery,

" Alyssa murmured.

Elias stroked her cheek gently, drawing her eyes to his.

"You have plenty of time to think things through. Don't decide now,

" he told her. He didn't want her making a decision out of pressure when there didn't need to be any.

She was still young. They still had time, and he wanted them to take the time to think and prepare. It was a huge decision.

Alyssa flashed him a grateful look before kissing him on the lips.

Elias pushed his hand into her hair, holding her close as their lips moved.

His teeth caressed her bottom lip in a light caress, coaxing a sigh from her that made heat course through him. He wasn't sure if they could handle a round three tonight, though.

"Do you want any more wine?

" he asked her.

Alyssa shook her head.

"I think I've had enough,

" she laughed softly.

Elias nodded his agreement before rolling out of bed. He walked over to the table where the bottle of wine was in a bucket of melted ice. He wanted it to stay chilled throughout the night.

"I'm going to grab more ice,

" he told her as he took the bottle of wine out. He dumped the melted ice in the sink before pulling on his clothes and heading out of their motel room.

Elias glanced up and down the row of motel rooms that surrounded his. He headed to the left, venturing to the ice machine tucked into a corner with a broken vending machine.

It wasn't the fanciest place that they could've ended up in, but it was good enough for another night before they went back on the road.

He walked up to the ice machine and filled the bucket back up with ice, a yawn soon breaking from him.

As much as he wanted to enjoy what alone time he had left with Alyssa, he was pretty exhausted after training with Melina so much. Using his powers so much drained him, but it felt good to actually be using them.

Elias walked away from the ice machine and headed back toward his motel room, stuck in his own thoughts.

He didn't notice a weird gust of air behind him. He didn't notice anything weird until he felt a light sting on the back of his neck and then ended up on the ground.

Ice scattered all across the sidewalk. He looked around as he got to his hands and knees, feeling stunned and confused. There was no one in sight. Did he just trip without knowing it?

He had quite a bit of wine and was tired. He blinked a few times before getting to his feet, feeling a little dizzy. He grabbed the ice bucket and hurried back to the motel room.

"Hey. Did they not have any ice?

" Alyssa asked from the bed as she snuggled under the covers.

Elias looked down into his empty bucket, remembering how he spilled all of the ice when he fell.

He thought about mentioning his random fall, but he then decided against it.. He didn't want her to worry over nothing.