Ice Cold

Chapter Ten

          Hayden took me straight to my room when we got home. Mom had started asking questions the second we'd gotten in the door but Hayden had told her to hold on. I wasn't really aware of what was going on as Hayden walked me to my room. I was still in shock from everything.

          Hayden had made sure my window was locked before he ushered me into bed. He sat beside me while I stared out the window and didn't say anything for a few minutes. My mind was still processing everything. Connor's words still echoed through my head, "'Lex, don't be afraid of us, there are good vampires,'" the words sounding as clear as if Connor were right beside me. I also thought about how Connor and Hayden had both advised me to keep the vampire part of the murder out of the story to the cops. I'd come up with some story about a boy with a knife and then how Hayden and Connor had scared the guy off and he'd escaped into the woods.

           I looked up at Hayden who seemed like he'd just said something, "what?" I asked.

          "I said, if you have any questions about... them, then you can ask me," Hayden said.

          I nodded and decided that there was a question I wanted to ask, "what did Connor mean when he said there are good vampires? How can any vampire be good if all of them are blood lusting creatures?" I asked, none too nicely.

          Hayden looked as if I'd slapped him, "vampires can be good. Even though they all lust for blood doesn't mean all vampires do it. Vampires like Connor don't harm humans, they live on animal's blood or, on special occasions, when a person offers them their blood," Hayden explained in a strained voice.

          "Why would anyone offer a vampire their blood?" I asked.

          "In some cases humans and vampires become lovers and the human offers their blood out of love. Other times when one is marked by another vampire then only that vampire is supposed to be able to bite that human. It is a great sign of disrespect and sometimes a challenge if another vampire bites a marked human. Last of all, a human offers a vampire their blood as a sign of respect for their being," Hayden explains.

          I looked at him for a second, processing all of it, "what does it mean to be marked by a vampire?" I asked.

          "When a vampire takes interest in a human he makes his or her scent noticeable to any other vampires so they know that that human is marked," Hayden said.

          "How would they make their scent noticeable?" I asked.

          "Let's say if one hugged you, by doing this you'd have their scent on you, but it eventually goes away so that vampire has to replace his or her scent. The only permanent mark is by being bitten. If a human is dear to a vampire, then it is their responsibility to make sure that human isn't bitten and marked by another vampire. There have been many deaths of vampires this way," Hayden explained.

          "Oh," I said, simply.

          "That's enough questions for now, but do you understand now that vampires still can be good? Not all of them are evil," Hayden said.

          "I don't believe Connor and his clan are evil or bad. I'd have to judge for myself if any other vampire can be good," I said, spitting out the last word.

          "I see, and that's fairly smart of you, but Connor and I are doing all we can to keep rogues out of this town so they won't come in and start killing the humans here. The way rogues are, they scavenge for food, so if they were to get their hands on a human then their hunger would cause them to suck them dry," Hayden said, anger crawling into his voice as he finished the sentence.