Link and Ripley lead me through the halls until we came to what appeared to be a large glass wall but it shimmered and moved like a current of water. I stopped, slightly out of breath, as keeping pace with their long strides was quite difficult for my short legs, and glanced at them in confusion. "Is that a wall of water?"
Link chuckled as he spoke, "Yes Callie, it is. It is the gateway to the human realm."
I approached the liquid wall awed by its simple beauty. As I reached out to touch it a warm hand grasped mine and snatched it back from the sheet of water. I looked up to see Ripley, with my hand locked in his grip. "Don't." Was all he said as he stared down at me. The warmth of his hand threw me off balance. I could have sworn his skin was so much cooler before.
"How are you warm now? Your skin was much colder yesterday." He only continued to stare at me, his hand tightening slightly around my own, eyes roaming my face as if he were committing it to memory.
A throat clearing brought our attention back to Link. "Once the exchange happens your body temperature shifts to match those that are like you. Had you become a vampire, then to us you would still be cold, while to them you would feel warm. Humans though... they will feel hot to you because of their life force."
The furrowing of my brow, as I tried to process this information, had Link continuing on as he explained more about this new world I was now a part of.
"Humans run at a higher temperature, because they expend more energy to survive. Think of it as an engine, the more it runs the hotter it becomes. Humans need oxygen, food and water to survive, right?" I nodded along with my agreement.
"We, well more so you, are no longer tied to the mortal needs for survival. We don't require oxygen, although we can breathe."
At this point I felt Ripley release my hand, which caused a bit of disappointment to form in my chest, and take a few steps back, as he joined in. "We do still eat and drink. What I mean is, for you and I, a steak will still taste like the steak we ate as a human, but our bodies no longer need its sustenance to survive. It doesn't breakdown in our system for energy like it once did."
"What about breathing? I have been breathing since I got here, but I'm supposed to be dead, right?"
"We do still breathe Callie, we always will, but if we were in, say, an air tight room, our lungs would still inhale and exhale as if there were oxygen available, but the lack of oxygen wouldn't register to our brains." The more he spoke the more transfixed by the sound of his voice I became, it was deep, manly and extremely soothing, taking away most of my anxiety with each word.
"So, Callie? Callie?" I shook my head to clear it as I quickly looked away from Ripley, embarrassed I had become so entranced. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Where do you feel like eating? Anywhere you want to go, and I mean anywhere in the human world, any City, State, Country, It is all ours for the traveling."
My attention again went back to the wall of water, once again fascinated by the power hidden within something as simply beautiful as cascading water. "Do you mean that this one wall can take us anywhere?"
Link came up and patted my head, a trait that was becoming less patronizing and more endearing. "Yes, anywhere, all you have to do is think it and step through the veil. If you don't have a specific address, then it is better to think of a general location like Times Square, New York as opposed to Bob's Pizzeria. We generally only use specific locations when we have a soul to collect."
