How to Resist Temptation.

A/N; this is the fourth story in the loose collection of AU stories inspired by the fabulous Kittyclaw and her story, How to Begin a Journey. [Part of the Athame Chronicles.]

Its best to have read How Not to Play Chess first, as that sets the theme of these stories.

Ulrich was definitely one of the cutest boys in the school. Sissi was accustomed to having only the best things. So logic dictated that she should have him. The problem was that he didn't seem to notice her. He was always walking around with the tall girl who wore desperately unfashionable clothes. I mean, come on, who wears long sleeves and black in the middle of the spring?

Those two were inseparable, and it rankled. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right. And if she was entirely honest with herself, she was probably at least a little jealous.

So of course you break them apart. Then she can have Ulrich all to herself.

The question was, how to do that?

She cornered him outside science class. He seemed startled when she edged him into a corner.

"Hello Ulrich." She held out her hand, smiling brightly at him. "I'm Elizabeth. But you can call me Sissi, okay?"

His eyes darted around a little, uncertain what to make of her. "Hi?"

He shook the hand she was offering. Something about her made him want to like her.

She smiled wider. "It's nice meeting you. Are you going to the cafeteria?"

He nodded, suddenly realizing just how hungry he was. His stomach grumbled.

"We should go get something then shouldn't we? I want you to meet my other friends. You'll like them, and your new here, so you should have as many new friends as you can don't you think?"

Ulrich nodded and she ran her finger tips up his forearm.

It was a little strange that this girl knew what he was going to do next. In the back of his head there was a little voice that told him that he shouldn't be letting her touch him. It was that same voice that told him when to duck when he was trying to get on a dragon.

"You know what Sissi, uhm…" she batted her eyes at him and he was suddenly having difficulty remembering what he was going to do.

She wanted to have lunch with him, that's what he was going to do. Where was the harm in that?

"Come on Ulrich." She took his hand and tugged at his arm. He felt all kinds of fuzzy, and a little numb while he followed her to the cafeteria.

Ulrich sat at Sissi's table and listened to her talk in a contented manner, not really certain what was going on around him. Sissi rested her hand on his arm, sending tingles through his whole body. He grinned at her, not noticing Herve and Nickolas glaring at him.

"Ulrich dear, I have to ask you, do you like me?"

He nodded. That was what she wanted to hear right? He was pretty sure he liked her, she was pretty and her friends were nice enough.

The annoying voice in the back of his head was screaming at him that something was wrong here, and there was a niggling feeling that he was forgetting something important somewhere.

"Ulrich." She liked saying his name didn't she? "Who's that girl that you always hang around?"

She asked a lot of questions didn't she?

"I'm the girl he's always hanging around. My question is, who are you?" Yumi dropped her book bag on the floor next to Ulrich's. "Ulrich, I thought we were going to meet at the greenhouse?"

She was wearing dark maroon gloves that ran all the way up to her elbows, matching her black shirt and pants.

Ulrich looked at her confusedly. Her face fell, something was wrong. His face always lit up when he saw her. His heart was beating slower than it should have been.

"Are you okay Ulrich?"

He nodded dumbly, and Sissi stood up to look Yumi in the eye. "He's just spending time with us, you don't have a monopoly on him."

Yumi did not know how to respond to that. "I don't keep him to myself." She finally managed to stammer out. "He's my best friend."

She put her hand on his shoulder, Sissi glared at her harder. Ulrich shrugged her hand off his shoulder. Sissi ran her fingers over the back of his hand again. Wondering to herself, if she could just make Yumi go away. Or maybe just forget about Ulrich and leave him for herself.

"I think we're getting off on the wrong foot. I'm Sissi." She held out her hand, but Yumi didn't take it, instead ignoring it pointedly.

Sissi frowned. What she didn't know, couldn't know, was that Yumi wasn't Human. She was a vampire, and because of that, her senses were far more developed than a normal person's. With Sissi so close to her, she could almost taste the difference between Sissi and the other girls in the room.

It was against her beliefs, but she had to know what was going on. It was the work of a moment, even if it was difficult and draining to do so.

Yumi was inside Sissi's head. The girl didn't know how it worked, but Sissi had learned that she could make people more willing to follow her suggestions when she touched them. The more she touched them the easier it was to compel them.

It bothered her a lot that she was doing this to Ulrich. Yumi glared at Sissi, and for a second she felt her fangs pressing against the insides of her gums.

That scared her.

That scared her a lot.

She stood right in Sissi's face. "I know what you're doing. I don't appreciate you doing that to my Ulrich."

My Ulrich? That's not right.

Sissi huffed and stood as tall as she could. Still not as tall as Yumi, but nearly as tall. "I can do what I want! You don't have the right to try to control me."

Yumi stuck her in the chest with a finger. "See here you jumped up little arriviste Jezebel. If you want to make time with Ulrich, that's all well and fine, but you'd best not be doing it with all this jiggery-pockery. Do I make myself clear?"

Sissi stared at her dumbstruck and completely uncomprehending.

"you will not cheat. Use what little personality you have to get his attention from now on."

Sissi puffed herself up and stood her ground. "What are you going to do about it?"

Yumi put her lips to the other girl's ear, and whispered so that no one else could here. "I know what you are, and what you're doing."

Yumi could hear the temptress' heart rate increase rapidly. There was a tang of fear that cut through the smell of her perfume. Yumi grinned at her, and she nodded her head slowly.

"You win this time, but you aren't going to be able to protect him all the time." She snapped her fingers under Ulrich's nose and then stormed off, her lackey following her.

Yumi sat down across from him and took his head in her hands. "Ulrich, are you okay?"

He blinked a few times, like he was waking up. "yumi? I, where are we?"

"You don't remember?"

He shook his head. "I was getting out of science, and then some girl cornered me. I don't remember anything after that. What happened?"

She was quite for a moment. Still not quite calmed down from her confrontation. Sissi set her on edge, and not just because she didn't like the girl. If she was honest with herself, it was because she didn't like the idea of competition for Ulrich. He was her friend, the only one she had here. He meant a lot to her.

"Her name is Sissi. Ulrich, have you ever met a temptress before?"

He leaned back, shocked. "Seriously? Oh god, Yumi, I should have been paying more attention." He dropped his head on the table.

She tussled his hair. She liked to do that for some reason. Maybe because she was so much taller than he was.

"Just don't let her touch you. That's her trick. I chased her off for now. Scared her pretty good to I think."

He looked up at her. "Uh, Yumi. Is everything okay?"

She paused. Her stomach felt strange, like there was a tension knot but other than that she was okay. "Yeah, why?"

He tapped his teeth. She ran her tongue over her teeth in reflex, startled to feel her fangs. She didn't remember them sliding out. This Sissi thing was clearly bothering her more than she thought it was.

"I think I just need a few minutes." Her hand was still on his, his quickened heartbeat was the most reassuring thing right now.

"You're doing worse than I am. Are you sure everything's all right?"

She nodded, it was the first time in the month since she had accidentally revealed herself to him that she lied to him.

"Just try to resist temptation? I don't want to lose you."

He squeezed her hand. "Now that I know, I think I'll be okay."

She smiled, glad that her fangs had finally slipped back into her gums. She felt almost normal again, but this school was getting weirder and weirder.