Chapter 21. Answers*

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Chapter 21. When it Rains by Paramore

Evan sat silently on the couch, still holding Emil's hand. All she could do was stare at him as he sat next to her, head down. The hand she held was at the end of his extended arm, as he was sitting as far from her as he could while still holding her hand. She wanted to give him time to decide what to tell her.

She stared at him for a moment longer and then said, "How do you go out in the sun?"

Emil surprised her when he burst out laughing, breaking his morose mood, "Sunlight doesn't hurt me. It's more that we would not be able to hide what we are if a human saw us in direct sunlight, we don't really get rosy cheeks and tans. It is a story we tell the Newborns to keep them away from humans. I'll show you sometime."

"Newborns," Evan said, now with trepidation in her voice.

"We call newly transformed vampires Newborns, for lack of a better word. Their hungers and behaviors are so like that of a demanding child, we must raise them as if they were children. At least a responsible maker does that." As Emil finished his explanation, his eyes clouded over, looking haunted.

"Oh," Evan replied, not quite sure what to think about Newborns. "What about being invisible? I mean, I can see your reflection in the mirror over the fireplace."

"Well, that is a human story. We tend to move so fast, that we are able to sneak up on our victims without them ever being the wiser. I suppose it might look like we are invisible to some. And yes, we are matter, and we do show up on photos after going through the change," Emil answered, slightly bemused by how easily Evan moved on to the next question. She seemed to take things remarkably in stride, in comparison to how she handled herself with Matt Thomas.

Evan smiled. "What else is fake? Is it all fake, are there any stories that are true?"

"Holy water doesn't burn us. The only way to kill us is to dismember and burn us, or other more gruesome methods. Crucifixes don't stop us. That comes from the Middle Ages when the church hunted us. Many of our kind would shy away from the symbol of the cross, for fear of being found out, but it doesn't do anything to us. The wooden stake is nonsense. It couldn't penetrate my skin. It would splinter," he said in a rush. Emil seemed to want to get everything out in the open as quickly as possible.

Evan was surprised with the bluntness of his answers. She looked appalled for a moment. "Dismember? If the wooden stake won't hurt you, how would someone dismember you then?"

"It takes one of us, or another supernatural creature to do so," Emil said pointedly, though he looked as if he was leaving something out.

"There are other...creatures?" Evan asked with a tremble in her voice. That hint of fear seemed to please Emil as a grin crossed his face.

"Finally, something I've said gets to you. Yes. There is truth behind most of the scary campfire stories, and horror movie monsters. Hollywood tends to exaggerate on a few things, but underestimates most of the truth. Werewolves exist. Zombies exist, although that is mostly a Voodoo witch medicine state. The zombies will die eventually. It just happens while they are still semi-conscious."

Finally, she looked overwhelmed. Emil paused, allowing his words to sink in.

"Don't you have any more questions? There is at least one I can think of that I would probably want to know if I had a blood drinker sitting inches from me," Emil looked directly into Evan's eyes, challenging her to come up with the obvious question on her own.

Evan's eyes widened, but she did not pull away. She lifted her chin, attempting bravery. The she abruptly asked, "Are you going to drink my blood?"

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