Ch. 6

“That was, interesting, but Veripema is your aunt?!” Michael yelled.

“Yes. She is. And the scary thing is, my half sister, is her daughter,” she said. She stared into space, again.

“What?! You have a half sister?!” Michael asked.

“Well, I guess she’s more than a half sister. You see, after my mother died, Veripema didn’t tell my father that she was the one to kill her. And then my father married Veripema, and after a while, Veripema killed him, too,” said Rosemary.

Michael stared at Rosemary, shook his head, and asked, “Then who do you live with?”

“The house I live in belongs to Bodoleck, my half-sister’s brother-in-law. He went into hiding, away from here, and he gave me some money to pay for rent and food and things. But he’s back now, and we can just live together for a while until one of us has to leave,” Rosemary replied.

“You’re just so calm about this. I know I wouldn’t be. How can you be? I mean, you’re on the run from a powerful vampire or two, the aunt that killed your parents is one of them, you live with your - whatever, and you act like it’s normal. I just don’t get it,” remarked Michael.

“Well, vampires are different from humans. For one thing, they’re definitely stronger, they have more powers, and have more miserable lives. I’m one of the ones that has a miserable life. That’s that. Nothing more. Unless you count my uncle being half vampire, half were wolf, which are normally mortal enemies, then I have a normal vampire life. We’re nomads. We come and we go. There are numerous different legends, but none of them come even close to what we really are.”

“I don’t even want to know. I don’t think I even have the stomach for it. I’m 
suprised I got through the movie you showed me,” replied Michael.

“That’s funny, I was thinking the same thing.”

“I have a lot of questions, so I’m just going to start asking. Do vampires sleep?”

Rosemary winced and said, “No. We usually eat at night, but I’ve given up on that habit, so I go into a trance, or sit on roofs all night. I’d better think of something else. Both are risky now. I can’t go into a trance, because that’s exactly seven hours, and what if Veripema comes? She could kill both of us. And sitting on the roof would tell her where we are. I’ll think of something.”

“Another question. What do you really look like? You can’t look this human all the time, right?”

“Uh . . . you don’t want to know, I’m sure. You’d be scared out of your guts, trust me. Oh, and this isn’t my normal eye color, either. I have one purple eye and one red. It’s usually that or black, but I’m different.”

“Okay. How can you go in the sunlight?”

“Like I said, the stories don’t even get close to what we really are. We can only be killed by a vampire, or half of one, we can also stand the sun and garlic. We have objects, weapons, that come out or our arms. My mother had a sword and claws, and Veripema has a bow and arrow. Bodoleck has an ax, and I have a, for loss of better words, a retractable dagger on a chain. If you get a certain level, you can get wings. And you reincarnate every one-thousand years. Following?”

“Yeah. And you answered about five questions. Next one. Is there any sort of bat-type thing I should know about?”

“Yes. We have to stay in bat form all day on the day of a full moon, usually from mid-afternoon to mid-afternoon, or else we turn into a pool of blood. Forever.”

“That’s all I was wondering.”

“Good. Now get some sleep. I’ll protect you.”

“That’s a switch. Usually the guy protects the girl when they’re in mortal danger,” Michael said, smiling.

“Just shut up and go to sleep,” Rosemary ordered.

“One more question. What’s your real name?”

“Weren’t you paying any attention? My real name is Bloodrose. But in the human world, I’m called Rosemary. Now, I’m going to give you a potion so you can get some sleep. Instantly. Drink.” Rosemary thrust a glass of some purple stuff into Michael’s hand.

“It won’t taste like blood, don’t worry. I take this mixed with something to alter it’s power all the time to get into the meditative state, and I don’t go around drinking anyone’s blood. Now just drink. And don’t look at me like that,” ordered Rosemary. Michael did as he was told without asking any more questions. Not like he could, because, like Rosemary said, he instantly fell asleep as soon as he finished the cup. The cup fell to the floor from his hand.

Rosemary walked over and picked up the cup. She set it on the bedside table and looked at Michael for a few minutes. After a while, when she noticed he was shivering, she took her shawl off and put it on him. Even if the shawl was cold at first, his body heat made it warm quickly, and he stopped shivering five minutes later.

“Sleep well,” she said, and then closed the curtains around his bed, and just in case, all the curtains to the windows outside. After that, she walked to the door and sat next to it. If the door opened, no one would know she was there, because she was sitting on the side with hinges.

And the minutes ticked by. They seemed slow at first, but when each second seemed to be an entire minute, she started counting along to the analog clock on the wall across the room.

~ * ~ * ~

“Rise and shine! Time for breakfast!” said Sister Mary Jo. She had a tray with two cups of apple juice, toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon on it. There were two forks on it.

“Where is Rosemary?” Sister Mary Jo asked Michael.

“I’m over here,” replied Rosemary from a bed next to the door. She got up and walked over to Michael’s bed.

“Well, I brought double the amount that I’m supposed to. I thought you two could share,” said Sister Mary Jo cheerfully, as though this idea was brilliant.

“Thank you so much for your generosity,” replied Rosemary. Michael rolled his eyes and grabbed a fork. He stuffed some eggs into his mouth and swallowed it down with a gulp of juice.

“I have to tend to some other things. Take care,” said Sister Mary Jo as she closed the door.

Rosemary looked at the food and said, “You can have it. I don’t want mine.”

“I have another question.”

Rosemary looked at Michael, and then he asked, “What would happen if you eat food?”

“Nothing. Nothing would happen. But I can’t eat meat because that might get me back in my habit of drinking blood. I can eat anything else, though,” said Rosemary, and just to prove it, she stuck a piece of toast into her mouth.

“But then, why do vampires have to drink blood anyway?”

“Because we do. It’s just the way it has been since the beginning of time. And we have the ability to do it. We’re fast, so even a cheetah would be appetizing. And we’re strong, so not even a whale could shake us off. And we have the senses on our side. There’s also the teeth,” said Rosemary.

“Can I see your teeth. I’ve always wanted to see how big they are,” said Michael.

“Well . . . you can’t see how big they get. If I was still drinking blood, then you would, but not now. You see, the size depends on how much blood you drink. Veripema’s teeth are probably huge. But mine, seeing as I haven’t had blood in a very long time, it appears as though they’re normal size. But they are a bit bigger. Not much. You wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“So, what would happen if I cut myself, and you were in the same room? Would you go crazy? Would you attack me?” Michael asked.

“I don’t really know if my thirst for blood is strong or not. I can’t try, because then I might start drinking blood again. I would have to live in a cave or something. Away from here. Away from people I knew. That’s what Bodoleck had to do. He was still drinking blood when he moved here, and he left to get out of that habit. The only reason he was able to come and warn me was because he has also gotten out of that habit,” replied Rosemary.

“What in the world are you two talking about?” Sister Mary Jo asked.

“Well . . . uh . . . I was thinking of writing a story about vampires, and Michael here was wondering what kind of things I made up for their lifestyle. He he. That’s all. Honest,” insisted Rosemary. Sister Mary Jo shook her head and started to clean Michael’s bed. He had to move to the next bed for her to be able to do so.

Once Sister Mary Jo was gone, Rosemary said, “It’s my turn to ask about humans, now. You’ve been so busy asking me questions about vampires that I haven’t been able to ask any questions about humans. They’re so interesting to me, I just want to know more about them.”

“Okay. First question.”

“Well, how do you get married? I’m sure it’s different than vampires, seeing as only a vampire is able to do it,” Rosemary asked shyly.

“Well, they have a ceremony, and once the important person of some sort that leads that ceremony, well, they say their vows, and then he says ‘You may kiss the bride.’ It’s a complex ceremony, and I usually don’t pay much attention to it,” explained Michael.

“What’s a kiss?” Rosemary asked.

Michael stared at her blankly. Then he said, “You don’t know what a kiss is? It’s common among us humans.”

“What is it? I really have never heard of it before.”

“I . . . don’t really . . . know how to . . . explain it. You see, I’ve never really kissed a girl before, so I wouldn’t really know. But if anything happens between you and a boy, just go with it. Don’t ask questions,” said Michael.

“Can you at least tell me what you do, or whatever?” Rosemary pleaded.

“Well, okay, this is hard. I’ve never had to explain this kind of stuff to a girl my age. My little brother, no big deal, but a girl?! Jeez,” complained Michael.

“Can you just tell me before I do decide to drink your blood?” she threatened.

“Okay, okay! You don’t have to go there. Okay. Well, it’s when your lips . . . touch . . . and I guess you feel an . . . emotional . . . connection. Is that good enough?” Michael asked.

“I guess,” replied Rosemary. Michael wiped his brow and started to scarf down his breakfast while Rosemary thought a bit.