The Dark Heroine: Dinner With A Vampire

Dinner With A Vampire. Did I Mention I'm Vegetarian? (7)

Dinner With A Vampire. Did I Mention I'm Vegetarian? (Chapter 7)

For a second, a flicker of doubt crossed his face, but too soon, it was gone.

"Of course," he replied.

"If a... when a vampire, you know... feeds, do they... kill the person they are"-

-"Feeding off?" he finished. "It depends."

"On what?"

"How thirsty the vampire is." I nodded signalling my understanding. "A vampire takes as much as they need to quench their thirst. Generally we don't take that much, but sometimes... you have to understand Violet, that we are a different species. It's no different from a lion killing an antelope. The antelope is it's prey. It just helps that neither the lion nor the antelope look or behave like one another..." he trailed off, bitterness in his voice. But his eyes were full of pleading, begging for me to understand.

I wordlessly nodded, letting that information absorb. It sent chills running down my spine, and I unwittingly let out a shiver. "How... how many have you killed?"

"About eighty. I... I lost count," he said, genuine remorse in his voice. I felt my eyes widen, and I leaned away from him slightly, shocked. That many? "Don't look at me like that, that is a pretty good track record considering I am two hundred and one." His blue eyes flashed darker for a moment, and I knew he was angry, but I didn't care.

"What about the others?" I managed to whisper, my voice hoarse as I fought back the horror.

"Kaspar, over a hundred. Lyla eighteen, and Cain twenty-eight, but he isn't fully fledged yet. I'm not sure about the other guys, and the King has probably killed thousands," he said, calming down.

I nodded again, slowly finding my voice. Why did it not surprise me Kaspar had killed so many? "Why has Lyla killed so few?" I asked, curious.

"That is for her to tell, not me," he said sharply. I sensed there was far more to that story. Far more.

"Okay, so... what do you mean Cain isn't fully fledged yet?" It sounded like some bird watchers language.

"Well, he isn't eighteen yet, so he isn't as thirsty." He smiled, seeing my totally confused face. The dark moment of our conversation seemed to have passed.

"A vampire born into vampirism ages normally until he or she is eighteen. As in each year, they look a year older. They are not fully-grown yet, and there powers are slightly weaker. So Cain is actually younger than you are, he is sixteen. However when they reach eighteen, they become full-grown vampires. Now for every hundred years they live, they only look as though they have aged one year. Hence, why Kaspar and I only look nineteen, twenty-ish, but are in fact two hundred. Get it?

"Yes. So vampires aren't actually immortal?" I asked, becoming more and more interested.

"Theoretically, no. But we age so slowly, we practically are. Oldest vampire is 500,000 years old, and he is still going strong."

"Wow," I breathed. A thousand questions popped into my mind, as I became more and more interested. He slid a plate of toast across the breakfast bar, and I took a piece, hungrily scoffing it down.

"Can you go out in sunlight?"

"Yes, but just at risk of getting really, really, bad sunburn. So pushing me outside won't kill me if you are thinking about it." He said, pulling funny faces, making it look as though he was melting.

I giggled.

"And if you are thinking of bumping me off, feeding me garlic bread will just make my breath smell, buying me a necklace with a cross on it will just make me look religious, and giving me a shower in holy water will make me smell nice." I nearly choked on my piece of toast, as I burst out laughing. He patted me on the back, and I slowly recovered.