William wasn't happy with Faith's choice, but almost everyone else agreed that she could help the situation, and they needed as much help as they could get. John was in the process of setting a peaceable meeting up with the Vampire Hunters, which was putting everyone on edge. Faith had been trying to calm Hope down all day, who was not taking the idea of being trapped among vampires very well. She had taken to barricading the bedroom door, and went through a series of crying, screaming, and rambling. Faith didn't have the heart to tell her that vampires had super strength, and could open the door equally as easily with the wardrobe now dumped in front of it. Faith wasn't sure what to do; she had never seen her little sister like this! Usually the cool, open and tough one Hope had had very little freak-outs in her life. Of course, Faith understood her fear, but she wasn't sure what to do to calm her down.
She wasn't sure if anything could be done!
Eventually Faith was done trying to coax her into serenity, and led her into the bathroom, turning the shower on with clothes and all. The shock of the water jolted Hope out of her brain, who squealed at the sudden coldness. After a moment of shock, her tense self melted and she started crying again, falling into Faith's arms. After a while Faith turned the water off and led Hope out of the bathroom, helping her into some comfortable clothes whilst she did the same. She then sat Hope down at the vanity, and retrieved the hairdryer, whilst she sat numb.
There was a knock at the door but Hope didn't seem to notice, before it opened slowly, the heavy wardrobe being pushed out the way as it did. Faith met Florence's eyes as she peeked through worriedly, obviously understanding that Hope may not be so receptive to her now. Faith would not have been surprised if Florence and everyone else had heard her meltdowns earlier. Carefully Florence tiptoed into the bathroom, hands deep in her pockets and a glum expression, which was highly unusual on her. When Hope saw her through the mirror she tensed, and her mouth fell open in an open scream, before she snapped her eyes away and remained silent.
"Hi guys." Florence started, gulping nervously. "I just wondered if you were... ok?"
Faith knew Hope would not answer so she did for her. "We're ok now Florence. Are you?"
"I've been better..." She chuckled miserably. "You know Hope, I may be a vampire but I have never and never will want to hurt you. I only had human blood once to be honest, when I was turned into a vampire on my 18th birthday. That was eighty years ago Hope... I swear I will never hurt you. I know you're not only worried about that, also my whole existence... but when you're ready I promise I'll explain everything to you."
After a couple of moments, Hope allowed her eyes to meet Florence's, seeing the raw honesty and sadness there.
"O-ok. If you promise." She whispered.
"I'll pinkie promise you." Florence insisted, holding her pinkie out to Hope who slowly offered hers in return.
After that, things started to turn to normal, Hope and Florence talking on the bed whilst Faith dried her hair. Once she was finished combing her long silky locks, Faith entered into her bedroom to see Hope and Florence talking normally, but there was an air of mistrust and distance between them.
"Hey Faith, Florence has offered to take us to the beach for an hour – William said we can get out of here!" Hope exclaimed, a happy smile on her face.
"Really? That is great Hope... why don't you two go ahead and spend some time together whilst I get organised here? I want to do some research in the library." Faith revealed, secretly wanting Hope and Florence to clear the air between them and wanting to do some research on the history between vampires and humans.
"Are you sure Faith? You've been holed up in here for longer then I have!" Hope exclaimed, perplexed.
"Yes I am. I'll be going out soon for the meeting with the hunters anyway, remember? I want to research about our joint history to be more prepared." Faith shrugged.
"Ok, it's your choice. I'll see you in a bit." Hope nodded, taking a deep breath before leaving with Florence who promised to have her back soon.
Faith gave the room a quick tidy, much to the displeasure of Lizzie the maid who caught her in the act, playfully scolding her. Whilst Lizzie changed the bed, Faith went to the library to the section she hadn't been brave enough to explore yet. Vampires. The central wall was covered in books about them, constantly playing on Faith's mind as she read. Until then, she hadn't given into her curiosity, but given the light of recent situations she couldn't hold off any longer. Marching into the room, thankfully empty as usual, she waltzed straight up to the centre display and started climbing the golden ladder, looking for books of interest. Soon she had a pile of twelve books beside her, ranging from 'The Anatomy of a Vampire' to the 'The Europe Vampire Coven's Ancestries: Volume 3'. There were a few books written in olden English, which she couldn't understand, but the hand written words and diagrams peeked her interest so she added them to her pile.
It took her three trips to transport the books from the bottom floor to the studying nook above which had quickly become her haven. Taking the first book off the pile, she delved into the science of vampires and was amazed to see there were different types – four to be exact. She was in the middle of learning about Deformed Vampires (also known as Class D), which was incessantly creeping her out when she heard a shuffle to her left, causing her to scream in fright.
"William! What are you doing?" Faith scolded, her cheeks blushing bright red.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He muttered sheepishly, coming into clear view in front of her.
Faith was momentarily stunned at how tall he was whilst she was sat down, although she wasn't intimidated. There was always a sense of peace that wrapped around her like a warm blanket when she was with William.
"How long have you been there?" She asked sceptically.
"A while. Your concentration face is cute." William chuckled teasingly, winking at Faith, whose cheeks were heating up, reaching out to her ears.
"You know, the best way to learn about something is to study it at its source." William began awkwardly as Faith was rendered speechless by his previous declaration. "I have some free time... if you want to use my brain I wouldn't mind."
Faith mulled over the idea for a second, the answer always coming back as yes.
"Ok..." William settled in next to Faith on the loveseat, waiting patiently for her to begin. "Well, erm, I've been reading about the different types of vampires... Purebloods, Noblebloods, Changedbloods and Deformed Vampires. What are you?" She asked.
"I'm a Pureblood because my parents were both vampires when I was... conceived."
"Ok... so have you always been a vampire then?"
"Well, kind of. When you are a Pureblood you have dormant vampire blood all your life, but you don't change into a true vampire until you drink human blood, which starts the change. You will definitely survive the change, but for a human being turned into a vampire, the chances aren't as strong. For me it happened when I was eighteen, and that was one of the only times I drank a humans blood."
"What did it feel like?" Faith asked, mesmerised.
"It hurt. A lot. It felt like there was a fire raging inside me."
"Oh." Faith didn't really know what to say to that, so she changed the topic quickly. "Anyways, is your mum a changedblood? Because she was a human but was then turned by your dad?"
"Yes that's right. It is possible for a vampire and human to have a baby, but if the mother is a human, there is a very strong possibility that she will die. The baby will then be known as a nobleblood. But still, a vampire can only have a child with their One – their soul mate - it is impossible to have a child if not. Deformed vampires are insane because they either tried to fight the virus causing it to mutate leaving them deformed, or they never drank human blood. They are slowly dying, although it takes centuries and lots of pain." William explained grimly.
"That is a grim fate. Is there many who turned out like that?" Faith asked.
"I have encountered quite a few in all my four hundred years of existence... they are all locked up safely though. They will never be released into the world, as they are highly unstable. If they got one whiff of blood they would not stop until they drained the host, as their humanity has gone."
"D-does my b-blood... tempt you?" Faith whispered, the question slipping out before she could lock her mouth.
"Sometimes... animal blood never truly satisfies you." William revealed in a gruff voice, his eyes boring into Faith's.
Edited