Blood red love
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Vidar looked at Charlie. She had an expression of stubbornness, as if she had felt his fear and had countered with digging her heels in, prepared to show him she wouldn’t flee. How could he not fall for her? He was amazed, and a little impressed. He had been able to keep his hands off her for most of the time she had been in his apartment. From the first step, she had looked like she belonged here. He wondered how he would ever let her leave.
“Okay,” he said, taking a deep breath. He had no idea how to do this. “The Thursday’s club, I know there are many theories floating around regarding it. What are the more popular ones?” he asked. She looked amused when she contemplated the question..
“There are the most likely one, which is that you all are mafia, meeting on neutral ground to talk through your differences. Then there are the more romantic one which say you are spies, meeting to make sure no country get to far ahead of the others. We have the CEO’s meeting to keep the monopoly of a market, I find that one a little boring. Then there are the variations of secret gay club,” she told him. Vidar had to chuckle. He was amused by what kind of fantasies people had spun.
“The reality is far more interesting,” he told her. “We are a group of old friends that has formed a clan. We have been meeting for a long time. It gives us a chance to talk to our kin, to plan and play cards and remember the good old times,” he said.
“You make it sound like you’re a room full of ninety–year–olds,” Charlie told him, laughing.
“Oh, no Charlie, not at all. Most of us are far older than that,” he said. She stopped laughing and looked at him, searching for a hint of humour in him. When she didn’t find it, she
nodded.
“How old?”
“I’m coming up on my twelve hundredth year, I think. We didn’t keep as close of a record the first hundred years of my life,” he admitted.
“Hundred?” she asked.
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“Yes, Charlie. I’m a vampire. I have eternal life,” he told her. He paused and looked at her. He wondered how she would react. Would she pull away in fear? Try to run? He couldn’t let her run. There were still things she needed to know.
“Okay,” she said, nodding. He waited a little longer, thinking she was shocked. “So like, “Blah blah blah, I’m going to suck your blooood“?” she asked, holding up her hands like claws. It was Vidar’s turn to be stunned. Of all the scenarios he had run through in his mind since meeting her, this one had never come up.
“Eh, no,” he said.
“Oh, right. Did I offend you?” she asked.
“No, no, not at all, you surprised me,” he said. Again, he added in his mind.
“Good. Okay, so vampire?”
“Yes. Why are you taking this so well?” he had to ask.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m still in shock. But I figure I have three alternatives. I could say you are crazy or trying to fool me. But I don’t think you are. Then I have to believe you are telling me the truth and I have two alternatives. I can accept it and appreciate you shared this with me even though it has to be a big secret. Or I can be scared and try to run, presuming you will hurt me. But I don’t think you will. I have always felt safe when you are close to me. I refuse to think you are going to hurt me,” she said as if her reasoning was the most natural
thing.
“Right. And you are correct. I am not crazy and you are never in danger when you are with me,” he told her.
“Is it okay if I ask you questions?”
“Yes, I’ll answer anything,” he said, trying to get back the control of the conversation. He felt he had lost it somewhere along the way.
“You can be out in sunlight. I have seen you, and you don’t glisten?” she asked.
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“Yes, I can and no, I most certainly do not.” She nodded.
“Can you eat garlic?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know Dracula?”
“He is a fictional character, so no.”
“Oh, too bad. I have seen your picture in the paper, so you show up in photos?”
“I do now–a–days. The photo thing was the case when silver was used to develop the photos. We don’t do well with silver. That is why we didn’t show up in mirrors back in the old days.” he explained.
“Stake?”
“If it’s dipped in silver and run into my heart, it would kill me. As would decapitation.” saw her scrunch her face as if she didn’t like the thought.
“Do you turn into a bat, or a wolf?”
“What? Where do you get these things? No, I don’t turn into any kind of animal.” She
nodded.
“Do you sleep in a coffin?”
“No.”
“Do you drink blood?”
“I used to. Now days we take supplements instead.”
“Do you have fangs?”
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“Of course I do. Do you want me to show you?” he asked.
“Yes, please,” she said. She sounded excited and moved closer to him.
“Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you,” he repeated..
“I know,” she said, nodding. Vidar opened his mouth and slowly he let his second set of teeth come forward. It wasn’t just fangs, rows of sharp teeth covered both the upper and lower row. The two prominent fangs in place of canines were ready to sink into soft flesh. He watched Charlie as she studied his teeth.
“Wow, that is impressing. Those will do a lot of damage,” she said, sounding fascinated.
“They can,” he agreed, and let them fold back again.
“Impressive. Which other superpowers do you have?” she asked, and he chuckled.
“I’m stronger than any human, faster, I can see in darkness. I have extremely good hearing. and my nails can turn into claws,” he told her.
“Are you dead?”
“Do I look dead?” he asked.
“No, but isn’t that what a vampire is? A dead human?” Vidar laughed. It was refreshing to talk to her about this. He hadn’t met someone with as many views on what it meant to be a vampire.
“No. There are two types of vampires, well there are three, but we’ll get to that later. Let’s start with the basic two. There are the ones who are born a vampire, we are a cousin species of humans. Then there are those who are turned. They start off humans but are altered to
become a vampire. They haven’t always been around. As we understand it, the serum that turns a human were first developed around three and half thousand years ago. Put in modern terms, it’s an aggressive virus that will re wright the DNA of the human to be more like a
vampire, but not a perfect copy of one. There is a fair amount of magic involved as well,” he told her. Charlie was looking at him with big eyes.
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“Magic?” she asked.
“Well, yes.”
“Does that mean witches are a thing?” Vidar chuckled at her excitement.
“It does, but they rarely have green skin and warts. There are also werewolves, dragons, demons, changelings and most of the things you heard of,” he said.
“Unicorns?”
“No, no unicorns, at least not to my knowledge.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding disappointed.
“But there are pegasuses,” he offered.
“Really?”
“Yes, they are rare, but they do exist.”
“So you are a born vampire? Are there differences?” she asked.
“I am and there are. A turned vampire can’t have vampire children, or children at all for that. They aren’t as strong as a born vampire and are generally seen as a not so flattering copy of the original. With that said, newly turned vampires can be vicious. The bloodlust in them can be overpowering and confusing and cause a lot of problems. If they survive the first month, they usually regain more control,” he explained.
“Do you feel blood lust?” she asked.
“It happens in battle sometimes. The heat of the moment makes the more primal instinct kick in. But not on a day–to–day basis,” he told her. She nodded.
“And you and the others form a clan? Does that mean you are related?”
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“No, it used to be that way. Vampires are often territorial and possessive. But as the world. grew, and we needed to adapt, the old family standards weren’t cutting it. I have known most of the men in the Thursday club for centuries. We get along well enough and we found it beneficial to work together, especially in this modern world. We formed a clan, and it has had the desired result,” he said.
“It’s so fascinating,” Charlie said.
“Aren’t you scared, Charlie?” he asked her.
“Not of
. I may be low key freaking out about the fact everything that goes bump in the night is real. But I’m trying to remember those things existed before as well and have never bothered me,” she said with a small smile. Vidar smiled back at her and brushed a lock of hair
out of her face..”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you. None of us will. You are safer than almost anyone else in this world,” he said.
“And why is that?” she asked with a frown.
“Because of what you are.”
Chapter Comments
Rudite
“Because of what you are.” Oh, what does this mean? Is there something special about her? Is she his fated mate?
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impressive
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