THE GATES OF HAVEN: HEART'S HOME

CHAPTER 5

It wasn't until after I'd eaten dinner and we were both seated on the couch with our feet up, facing each other, that I finally broached the topic of information.

"Should I start the slew of questions now," I asked, "or did you just want to start from the beginning and tell me everything?"

He laughed and then frowned as he considered his words before speaking.

"There is much to tell you, possibly too much for you to take in all at once."

He was gazing down at our legs, which were intertwined between us as he spoke.

"I consider myself human. I was born human, and when I die, my heart will stop just like that of someone who is not infected. There are many of us, probably more than you could imagine. We have our own society, our own laws, our own problems. Much of this you will have the chance to experience in your own time. So... perhaps, I should start with our history."

Lacing his fingers around his knees, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he organized his thoughts.

"During the War of 1812 a strain of what we now understand to be the human immunodeficiency virus came into contact with a patient suffering from anemia, changing the structure of the virus. Rather than killing the patient, who had been receiving blood orally as a test subject, it made him stronger. His health improved enough that he was released from the institution and sent back to the front lines. The patient soon returned when he found that he could not eat anything that was animal or vegetable-based without becoming violently ill. Salt and other minerals seemed to be okay but did not provide the nourishment he required to survive. Since he was anemic, they tried giving him more blood. Human blood was the only thing that this patient could consume to stay alive. All other types of blood led to food poisoning and eventually death, as they unfortunately found out in that man's case."

Alex paused for a moment before continuing.

"That should have been the end of the story, but it was not. Prior to his untimely death, he fed on several victims of war. Some lived. We speculate that he was injured at some point when he fed and transferred his own blood. Those who did not die in the sun kept their condition a secret, taking advantage of their newfound abilities. The desire to pass on the enhancements played a hand in the speed with which the disease spread. To this day we are still learning about HAV, or human anemic virus. Studies have shown that it changes the condition of the skin and the rate at which the body changes with age. It also produces the inability to stand directly in the sun. Exposing oneself outside in the middle of the day is equal to standing in an oven at three hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit. The infected subject starts to burn, and if not covered, dies."

Alex looked at me to gauge how I was taking the information. I nodded.

"So," I said, "it's a virus, but as long as I keep getting blood, specifically human blood, I should be okay. And it doesn't have to be directly from a living body?"

"That is correct. The experience, however, of drinking it from a live body, once the change is complete, is quite different from drinking it from a blood bag."

"Different how?" I asked.

Alex blushed, and I felt my own face flush in reaction.

"The..." he stammered, "the rush of the blood from the living being has a direct effect on abdominal muscular contractions, heart rate, blood pressure and respiration rate and depth."

"An orgasm?" I asked.

Alex, when he fed on me last night, had... an orgasm?