all downhill from here [story part 12]

Still January 5th, after noon.

that very same night Regina and I spent the night at her manor. she was renting the whole second floor from the family living there who made extra money renting the place year round to tourists who want to stay a while in a 16th century manor, in the hometown of the infamous Dracula. It’s gorgeous, inside and out, you can check the photo from an earlier post.

I had spent almost the whole day sleeping, both me and Regina. She truly loved sleeping, almost too much for a vampire.
I once heard of a saying that went like: you only have one life, so do you really want to spend it sleeping? I guess it didn’t apply in Regina’s case.

When I woke, she was still sleeping but as I opened my eyes and gazed at her sleeping – she seemed so innocent – which is the understatement of all time – she had opened hers too. We didn’t say a word to each other and we didn’t romantically smile to each other either. We just stared at one another for a while there, after which she went downstairs to make a phone call. Public phones? Really? I smiled.

“What, you didn’t think we still used carrier pigeons now, did you?”

I didn’t answer.

In turn, I also remembered how I just… didn’t go home last night. Pulled out my mobile, 17 missed calls and 5 messages and three e-mails. That was a record for me.

All of them were either from my mother, my brother or Viktor. I called home and checked it. All was right. One message was from an unknown number. It read: “message sent”.
I instantly realized that it had to be Viktoria, and I showed it to Regina. She nodded.

“How does she have my number anyway?” I said.
“She’s resourceful.” and with that, she elegantly continued “Now you need to leave.”

“What? Why?” I asked confused – somewhat angry.
“Because it’s still daylight and I’m hungry.” She plainly responded, and that would seem totally normal and almost banal for anyone that might have heard this, but both me and Regina knew the implications behind that sentence, which would have been a true grim story for anyone else, except me. I felt giddy yet horrified with myself for being able to get used, almost like it was the most normal thing in the world, to this.

“Plus, the sun I’ve got these past days will be enough to last for a year, I’ve grown rather tired of feeling like a critter.” – that meant she won’t leave the house until sundown.

I remembered the night before and the pain. I remembered how she just bit me, and didn’t drink. I was balancing in my mind whether to be her meal for the day or just go home and come back later. It didn’t take long for me to decide. I went home.

I had no guilt in me like you see in the movies, for letting Regina feed on other people. I had no desire of saving mankind nor did I have a hero complex. I understood plainly and clearly that it’s a biological need for her and not something that she enjoys, although she did enjoy. I understood that she had been doing this for five centuries, and me offering myself would have made no difference to anyone, except maybe me – which I was sick of being tired all the time. Plus, I was hungry myself. Too bad we didn’t share the same culinary taste, we could have had a nice dinner (lunch? oh hell) together.

I was dressed and on my way in under a minute, and Regina seemed pleased. I was pleased also. It was a pretty winter afternoon, warm actually for this time of the year, and I was glad to feel the sun shining on my face and NOT feel any weaker. I had a “in your face” feeling in me, when thinking about Regina.

Instead of going home I decided to head for the cafe, Concordia, for it was a merely 200 meter walk away, and I did. As soon as I entered I realized the mistake. I was planning on having a coffee and a nice lunch all by myself, think about everything that I failed to think in the past few days, or that I kept putting off.

Instead, there they were, all three. Blanche, Sophia and Viktor.

“There you are! Why didn’t you answer the phone! We thought the bad vampire got you…” Sophia said, Blanche and Viktor giggling under their breath.

“Very funny.” I said and sat down next to them.
“They told me – of course they did I thought – and I came up with an idea.” – Blanche said, like always, she was the brains of the whole operation – our friendship.

“Amaze me.” I said with an obvious sarcastic tone in my voice. Sophia and Viktor were looking anxious.
“Well… You can’t prove what you’re saying, and we don’t believe you either, even if we should, because we’ve known each other for all our lives and you never were the one to lie without a reason.” – true.

“So, we thought Regina herself could prove it to them (Sophia and Viktor) and quite frankly, I’d love to see it too for myself.” Blanche said, having a look of “so?” on her face.

I stood there for almost what seemed an eternity, for that was what their eyes drilling hole after hole in my skull did, and, after a while I was sure I had the perfect answer.

“Prove what exactly? What do you expect to see?” I asked them, all of them, looking from one to another.

And then the bomb dropped.

“Well, I haven’t quite been honest with you guys also. I mean, I didn’t actually lie to you, it’s just something you didn’t know about me…” Blanche said.

OH GOD PLEASE DON’T LET HER BE A WEREWOLF.
Ha, my imagination was running wild again. I smiled and let her continue.

“I’m kind of into this vampire thing, really bad. It’s grown to be an obsession to me.”

What? Blanche?! The brains of everything – she was the one to believe in superstitions and myths? This didn’t seem like her. But then I realized: Hei… Wait a second. “The brains” was still “the brains” because they weren’t myths anymore, it was true, and she knew it before everyone. Damn her! And her perfect grades too for that matter! (I was always jealous of that, childish, I know).

“And I love Twilight.”

*SLAP*

Sophia had just slapped her. Hard.
Again, if you’ve read the part explaining what Twilight did to Romania, you would understand. If not, let me summarize it: Twilight was such a disgrace and such a failure in Romania – for making vampires sparkle and everything, when Romanians saw them as monsters and creatures of evil and death – that it almost caused riots. It was now a taboo subject, and anyone who actually enjoyed it was ostracized and looked down upon.

“How dare you!” Sophia said, in a mocking, funny way.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, but I just do. And if what he is saying, then I want to meet her.” Blanche said raising both her hand with her palms towards us into a “Ok, ok…” gesture.

This was almost starting to sound promising for me, getting them to believe what I told Sophia and Viktor, that Regina was ‘a’ vampire.

“And I want her to turn me.” Blanch added, taking a long sip out of her cup of coffee, almost as if to be sure she didn’t need to say anything else, ever.

Silence.

Only when I realized what I had just heard did I stop playing with my spoon in the coffee and turned my head towards Blanche with a “Wait, what?” face.

“If she’s a vampire I’m the only one who can confirm that, if she turns me. If not, then anyone could bite someone else and just drink the blood. It doesn’t mean anything.”

And she was right, that was my first impression of Regina also. She seemed just like a normal human being at first, who liked to bite. Except the fangs and eyes and everything.

And with that thought, and to this day I still can’t understand how I actually agreed with that, to my amazement and to infinity times two stupidity, I agreed.

“Fine!” I said.
“Let’s go.” I added.

“What? NOW?” Sophia said. Blanche’s face was white, scared and almost, almost said she was joking. I wish she would have done that. But she didn’t. Instead she stood up, and after her, everybody did.

Viktor didn’t say a single word this whole time, and I was glad for not having to deal with him too. Somewhere deep inside he knew what pleasing suspicious girls meant. And so we went, straight back to Regina.

On my way there the only word in my head was: “Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid”. And so it was.

If only I hadn’t betrayed Regina by exposing her secret (well, I didn’t really, or at least I didn’t realize), if only had I realized that I could actually hold my mouth shut and have just the same life without them knowing. If only.

By the time we got there I was hoping that Regina was already out to get something to eat (heh). She wasn’t or she was really quick in that regard.
We went straight up, through a narrow dark hallway which had only one door on the right, a door to the people living there, who rented the upstairs to Regina. At the end of the narrow hallway stood a flight of stairs which went 180 degrees at the middle and at the top of those stairs was the door to the top floor, which I omitted previously to say, was made up of a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom.

As soon as I knocked Regina opened the door. For all I know, it was instant. Amazing. She actually enjoyed doing everything ‘vampire style’ when she wasn’t in danger of exposing herself. But now she was.

unaware existence

“Hi!” she said with a giddy tone, to the three people behind me, without seeming the least bit of surprise. Of course she wasn’t, she must have heard us way before we knocked, plus, surprising someone of her age was hardly possible anymore.

“Hello” they all repeated in unison like a really old and creaky piano.

“Come in” she said and she stood aside, gesturing us to come inside with her left hand, still holding the knob with the right one, and as we each passed by, inspected us from top to bottom like we were entering a secret cult ceremonial room.

“I’m so glad you decided to visit me. Something to drink.” That was not a question. I realized it wasn’t, but Viktor, Blanche and Sophia didn’t.

You cheeky girl I thought. Still playing silly games after centuries. Don’t you ever get bored?

“Water please, we already had coffee.” Viktor said.

“Regina coffee. Yes… lovely coffee I could say.” Regina added with a smile on her face, she was complimenting herself. How lovely.

I thought the Viktor’s requirement of water was actually spot on, she didn’t have a fridge or anything to eat or drink, except a bottle of water and a cup. She gave them both to Viktor. Don’t picture any serving a cup of water on a plate or something like that. No, she shoved them in his hands with a “here, help yourself” look.

And then she continued doing what she was doing previously to our arrival. Packing apparently. WHAT?

“So, are you going somewhere?” I asked.
“Yes, we are.” – WE? Nobody seemed to realize but me. I didn’t want to know at that time, I had other issues pressing on my shoulders.

Blanche started walking around the room, looking at the walls and what not, trying to occupy her face with something else while I made the courage to speak. When I failed to open I mouth, I instantly realized that was a double failure.

“So… Regina. We’ve been told you’re a vampire.” Blanche said plainly.
Viktor chocked with his water, Sophia left out a small start of a laugh which she quickly covered with her hand.

I felt sick to my stomach and had to sit down.

Regina looked at me with the angriest look I’ve seen in my  life. I could actually feel two burning spots inside my retinas as I looked in her eyes and she looked into mine. Seriously. I know this was an auto-suggestion kind of thing, and it was all me, but I felt it, in my head. In my mind. I was doomed and I knew it. Fuck my life.

Again, the words came into my mind: “Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid”.
Here’s a quote from my diary, which is more detailed I guess:

“That grim day was the apocalypse of my innocence as a human being. Up until then I had never hurt someone, but that day I managed to hurt everyone that I cared. At least that’s what it seems now, I hope it will turn, in the long run, to be a good choice that I made then. I remember Regina’s look on my face and I can still feel her anger burning my eyes. I regret that I accepted and willingly led my friends into a life they should never have known. I remember how the sun was going down that very same second and for the first time in my life, I felt more scared of the dark than ever. I was locked there, in that room, with an angry and hungry centuries old vampire, and it wasn’t just me, there were three other people, my most loved friends, and I only then realized what had I done. I have sent them to their demise. I will be sorry forever, for their lives will never be normal again. Nor mine.”

Going back to the almost explosive moment when Blanche plainly said that to Regina, like she was asking her about the weather.
As soon as Blanche said it and Regina turned towards me, I felt the room spinning.

Regina’s reaction wasn’t really what I expected. I expected her to deny it, I expected her to act silly, to laugh and make fun of that statement. She was fully capable of doing that and right there and then, she could have easily pulled it off. Sophia and Viktor were already skeptic enough to say “let’s go, this was a waste of time” at the slightest hint of me seeming like a liar.

Instead, Regina did not have that particular reaction.
She exploded.

In less than three seconds, the door shut violently, we felt gusts of wind all around us, a blur circled back and forth the door and the spot in front of me, some gasps and shrieks were released, the lamp had been knocked off and smashed and then, in that eerie light of the sun going down, the time where you’re not sure if it’s day or night, a horror movie began.

Regina was behind Blanche, holding her forehead with her left arm and with her right arm wielding her big golden knife at her throat.

“YOU STUPID CHILD!” she shrieked at me and then Sophia tried to approach her but Regina hissed at her exposing her fangs.
Sophia more than surely saw her fangs and her eyes which by now were getting darker and darker. She fainted.

Viktor tried darting out the door but in a second Regina pulled him and knocked him all the way through the other door, in the middle of the living room, and before Blanche even knew she had released her, Regina was back at her throat in the same position she was a second before.

I was still in my chair, just looking at all this like I was watching a spectacle which was not very good. I remember I was actually used to her doing such things, and I still didn’t understand how could I not be more surprised or angry.

I think I had that “You asked for it” feeling in me. But now I understand, they were simply curios, as I was, and that I was the retard in the group. And the child.

“I’m sorry Regina, they are my friends and I needed them to know. For a hundred reasons if you need one.” I said, still bored, feeling like a boss. I was the master of her secrets. Stupid child.

“I’ll give you a reason why you shouldn’t have told them.” Regina said in a very quick and menacing tone.
“Death.” – and with that she sliced Blanche’s throat.

the definitive guide to vampires

…introduction to this guide.

so you’ve dug deep into the story, also maybe you managed to have a look over the first 10 things you should know about vampires list.
however, the story and the list does not even begin to explain how deep everything goes and, in the same time, fishing details out of

Bathory crest – notice the merge of the two sigils inside.

the story can be [I know] confusing at times.

so that’s why I have decided to write this article as a definitive guide to vampires in which you will find everything you need to know about vampires, up to and including how to deal with one, what can she do and what can’t she do, how is a vampire made and how can you kill a vampire. [ oh this sounds so dumb and naive for some, I’m aware, but I have no other way to put it – it is what it is ].

I know – I’m 100% aware that if it was me, reading this text right here, a few years ago I would have either thought to myself: well this is a nice fantasy story, or I would have smiled and laughed at how naive some people are for believing and writing these kinds of things.

Frankly, I couldn’t care less whether you believe me or not. I don’t care if you take this guide and the lists seriously, I don’t care if you regard the story as reality or fiction. I’m glad you’re reading it. I know – some people would rather believe “Dracula” the novel. I mean let’s face it – who am I to step in and squash almost everything else ‘known’ about vampires?

Well, for one – Bram Stoker not only did never travel to Dracula’s homeland, but he never actually studied anything related to vampires. All his information was gathered from libraries. I might not have his talent in writing, but I have the knowledge.

Not only did I travel to Dracula’s homeland, but I was born in the town where he was born. I grew up there, I played, partied and went to school around his house. I played in the cemeteries and castles of Transylvania and yes, some of them really are as spooky as they are in movies, just not for people who grew up seeing Dracula’s citadel out the window. Like me.

And one more thing: whether you take this guide seriously or not, I assure you – it will be more than useful for the few unlucky ones out there. Because they do walk among us, and you better know what you’re up against.

…the image of vampires in the 21st century.

The vampire today has been softened and modeled and remodeled by countless books and movies in mass-media. We have been brainwashed and have absolutely no idea anymore about what it is and what does it represent. We don’t know whether they are afraid of garlic or vervain, whether they burn or implode. We don’t know whether holy water works or if they even exist at all!

And who do you think made all this possible? Why all of a sudden, over the course of 10 years, vampires became SO well-known and SO changed – turned from bloodsucking monsters to sex symbols – starting with Anne Rice’s book.

They did. Yes. I’m not being paranoid.

I won’t start saying that, well,I know because they told me directly because that would not be true, at least in part. That would be like the president of the US telling me, and just me, personally, that aliens visit Earth. Fake and gay some would put it.
You should be aware that the vampires, before mass-media explosion, were very much feared, hunted and there were countless vampire hysteria cases where villages, whole regions started killing and hunting vampire actively.

Ireland has such a case even in the 7th century, then in the 8th and all the way up to the 14th century. Countless bodies were found with stones in their mouth for apparently preventing the fangs to come out. The stones were inserted prior to their death experts say.

This is the link to the news coverage.

The same happened in Italy, in the 16th century Venice, and also in Florence later. A female body was found with an exact stone like that in her mouth, inserted prior to death, to prevent her from feeding.

This is the link for that.

There are many more cases like these. The witch hunts are nothing compared to the vampire craze. All the way leading up to the 19th century and beyond, there have been groups of people, societies and organizations that actively hunted for vampires. There have been many vampire epidemics over and over again. The most famous cases are those of Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole in the 18th century. There’s so much information about those two that I can’t decide on what to link here, so I will leave you to search for them if interested. I will invite a guest writer who has already composed a very complex and hefty list of the most known such accounts. I don’t really care for them to be honest.

The vampire belief in today’s Transylvania is very much alive and still going as it did hundreds of years ago. As recent as 2004 (as I was saying in another post) there have been active vampire hunts and killings. The case of Petre Toma (reported by The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Daily News and CNN) who was exhumed and then staked, heart removed and burned to assure his death.

…how and why did the image change.

Someone, at some point, in the vampire world, decided that enough is enough, and rather than living in secrecy, they should approach the “make them not fear us anymore”. And they succeeded. You have to think about it – someone who has been around for hundreds of years has not only has the knowledge but also the connections and power to control and do whatever she wants, including but not limited to influencing Hollywood. Vampires sit in the shadows of the world’s most important organizations and no, they shouldn’t be feared. Because they do not mean humanity harm, they were human once. They just want what we all want: privacy.

That assumption is based on what? Nothing. I don’t have any proof. I just see what’s out there and try to put two and two together. I have seen things, which cannot playback for you on video, because I’m not a VCR, and I have overheard things, which even if recorded, would make no difference for a skeptic. We’ve been arguing on which religion is right and wrong, failing to see that religion is not based on which god is greater or bigger, or the true one, and it’s just pure geography. If you’re born in a certain part of the world you’ll be more likely to have another religion than you would have otherwise [in other place]. Think Europe vs. Asia.

And more on the matter, and this is a quote whose author is escaping my mind right now, we fail to see the irony of men cutting each other’s throats for millenia because they fail to agree on what happens after they cut each other’s throats.
There have been centuries and centuries of vampire hunts and epidemics and then, all of a sudden, they weren’t monsters anymore, they were sex symbols. Interesting enough how that can change. You got to love PR. I’m wondering why the devil isn’t a sex symbol yet, he’s been around for more than a few centuries, I guess it’s about time, right? Right – but nobody has an interest in doing that. But someone had an interest in doing that for vampires.

…who is the vampire expert?

The short answer is: anyone can be a vampire expert. I do not proclaim myself a vampire expert but I try to present them as they are. A true scientist presents its sources. I’m not a true scientist.

You have to pull your head out of your ass and look around you at what’s happening. This is the 21st century, you have to forget Van Helsing. You don’t need to be dressed in Victorian clothes with a monocle and have a vampire kill kit with stakes and holy water in it to be a vampire expert. You don’t need to live in the vampire world. You don’t need old books and manuscripts. Vampire themselves use iPads (LOL – I KNOW RIGHT?!) so why would we chase old manuscripts for “confirming our suspicions” ? Regina herself often used an iPad, although I felt the paranoia in her all the time.

And can you blame her?
Anyway, I don’t know in what way was it used.
So don’t look at them as being technologically impaired, on the contrary, they need to keep up with technology, for many reasons.

All you need to be a vampire expert is first hand access in seeing and/or talking with a vampire. Because, let’s face it: the moment you have that, you have more than 99.9% of the human population, which makes you an expert above everyone else.

…vampirism and vampire characteristics.

Vampirism is not magic, it is not a disease (well at least I don’t consider it) but it does behave like a retrovirus. I don’t know what it is, but I’m pretty sure it has something to do with altering genetic code.

A dead person is a dead person and that’s it. If blood is not flowing and electricity is not generated, life does not exist. Vampires are not dead. Why is it so hard to comprehend that? Why is it so difficult when you have first hand proof that there are creatures which live solely on blood (leeches, mosquitoes and others) and there are creatures who undergo a total transformation to become from A to B (like silk worms and butterflies among others).

Why is it so hard to comprehend that the human body is the most complex in all of nature – and with that complexity other things follow, because the more complex it is – the more room for change. The only true difference right now separating you from vampires is your lack of better-to-instant healing, which could also mean rapid cell regeneration, translated easily into immortality. Of course vampires are more than that, but if you know at least the bit of evolution studies, then you know that nature does not change according to inhabitants, but inhabitants adapt according to needs, which are created in turn by nature itself. In the same way humans evolved to have speech, vampires might have evolved to have retractable fangs – which are more than present in nature.

…characteristics.

• A vampire has the strength of 20 men, be it woman or child. A vampire’s strength depends on a number of factors. The most important factor is the way in which she was made, which will be the next point I will make. The second most important factor is the bloodline. Another important factor comes after that, which is age. A vampire’s strength also depends on muscles, yes, they do have muscles and a big muscular vampire is stronger than a child, however that becomes unimportant if the child is of a superior bloodline and older. Other smaller factors include but are not limited to: how often a vampire feeds, how much sunlight she received in the short-term past and the type of blood she drinks (some humans have more nutritious blood than others).
• A vampire’s main diet is human blood. She can survive on animal blood, but because many animals are rather different from humans and have totally different diets, their blood does not contain all the nutrition that a human (or vampire) body requires. A human couldn’t survive just on animal blood also, but she could survive on human one – if we could digest it.
• A vampire’s strength also translates into increased speed. They run very fast and very far without stopping. They can sprint even faster and then have to slow down. In other words: exhaustion exists. A vampire is not a blur when she runs and she does not have the speed of sound. She’s just that much faster than a human. She can get tremendous speeds, but nothing close to the limits of physically impossible. The stronger she is the faster she runs. When a vampire really wants speed, she will combine running with small jumps, or hops if you wish. Watch a cheetah running and you will know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s that split second when none of the four limbs touch the ground, they don’t run on four limbs, but hop just high enough for that extra push. A vampire can jump high, much higher than a human being, but only because her muscles allows that and because she is leaner, easier and has more training. It’s not flying.
• A vampire’s circulatory system is not similar to a human one. Her veins and arteries do not carry the main blood supply, instead they have double or triple the number of small capillary veins which flow through the muscles. Human muscles have little to no blood flow, compared to other parts of the body, but a vampire’s main blood supply flows through the muscles. This is also why wounding a vampire is not that serious, because the contraction of the area instantly closes the bleeding – and healing does the rest in no-time.
• A vampire can see better in the dark, much better, but only when she is in attack/defense or feed stance. The pupils dilate considerably, gaining a reddish tint. The extreme dilation causes more light to pass through and make them literally night stalkers. This is why also their eyes, in that stance, can glow much like the ones of large predators.
• A vampires sense of smell and hearing are somewhat improved, but only as much as the body allows it to. They do not grow extra ears or extra eardrums, they do not grow extra olfactory cells. They just use the existing ones to the max, be it because of their healing capacities or general alternation of the genetic code. Humans don’t use them at maximum, like we don’t use anything at maximum. A vampire can push pretty much any part of her body at maximum, but not for infinity. You can catch a vampire with her guard down, with hearing and smelling tuned down. In the sunlight, many vampires are just like humans. Preferring to conserve all their strength into healing power, rather than hearing or smelling.
• A vampire is not afraid or repelled by crosses, holy water, garlic or silver. These are myths and inventions. Just like you are not being harmed by them, vampires aren’t also. There’s also no flower and no vervain that kills, weakens or makes them more visible.
• A vampire cannot get drunk and drugs or poisons have no effect on them. It’s related to their ability to instant heal. They aren’t strong enough, no matter the quantity. Along the same lines, a vampire’s blood is that much different and contains that much different minerals, plus the healing ability, that diseases do not affect them. Be it because of their difference or because of their ability to heal. Think of inter-species diseases – they are less frequently passed on, and when they are – it’s a big problem. For a vampire, even if she contracts something by ingesting the blood, the virus passing into the bloodstream is highly unlikely, and if that happens, it will be dead because of the healing ability long before the vampire realizes she even had a disease to begin with.
• Vampires can be killed by decapitation, prolonged exposure to intense fire and by piercing their heart for an amount of time that will allow decomposition. Because the heart cannot heal while a sword is still inserted, it starts decomposing and by the time you pull out the sword, it will not start again. However this takes several days. A short-term staking does not work. Also shooting a vampire just wounds her, even if the shot is in the head. The wound heals and the bullet is often (but not always) expelled out as a foreign body. Vampires shot in the head lose consciousness for several minutes to an hour, depending on the vampire. You have to understand that this apparent indestructibility is not that great, it is only because of their ability to actively dodge hits and then, if they don’t, because of their ability to heal. The only thing you need to do is figure out how to overcome their ability to heal fast. Be creative. Also, they really hate guns. I bet if someone could make a true statistic, it will reveal that vampires are much less prevalent in countries pro-guns, like the U.S. Sorry teenage girls waiting for Edward.
• A vampire does not shape-shift, at least not physically. I have observed that many, but not all, prefer a certain animal or have a certain attachment to a type of animal. Regina enjoyed cats and snakes (figures). Also, the animals apparently behave funny (curios – angry – confused) when near a vampire taking the stance of the respective animal. Trust me, you wouldn’t like to meet a vampire who likes wolves, because wolves really love biting stuff and are really edgy (paranoid?). Clue: Viktoria. Physically, they don’t shape-shift, ever. Not into a bat and not into anything else. She doesn’t turn into mist or dust. A vampire is inside the same body for eternity and nothing can bend the laws of physics so much that will allow a vampire to rearrange every single atom in her body in a matter of seconds. No.
• A vampire can and will grow new limbs and organs. This takes a considerable amount of time and blood, months in some cases. Vital organs, if damaged or removed, can kill a vampire unless she has a steady supply of blood while regenerating fully. Which is often impossible if she cannot hunt. Friends are a no-go. Given the example of a missing kidney, that would be nothing. Other organs have their functions reduced or stopped, but others are more important. A vampire needs to breathe but can overcome this by drinking fresh blood (straight from another breathing body) and can also hold her breath for a considerable amount of time (order of hours) – but in the end she will die – lack of food will slow and then stop cell regeneration.
• A vampire cannot mind control you, but has the training and the charisma necessary of steering your intentions and impressions on certain subject, as much as you could call it “influencing”. It highly depends on the circumstances and the human involved. Cross-sex influencing obviously, is preferred. You can control this and resist it. A vampire is only as strong in your mind as you let it to be. Even fear works for a vampire, the more afraid you are the higher her chances of making you do something you don’t want to. However, no vampire can mind control you to enjoy being bit, if you don’t accept the bite.
• Vampires do not associate with one another, do not form secret societies and prefer to keep from themselves. Ever heard the saying “don’t go into business with friends and family” ? They are ahead of times, technological wise, and are not old style as you would think. They need to blend in and act as normal as possible. There are few cases in which a vampire creates a mate for him – as in – turns a human into a vampire – but this is just a relationship which is often a love/hate one. The last part doesn’t really belong here, but it connects to the fact that: you can, although rarely, encounter vampire families, usually just two members, which goes against the “no association” idea. As you can see, human or vampire, “it’s complicated”.
• Vampires can and do make love. They can have children, although they can control whether to have one or not (it is a conscious choice). Most prefer not to, because the child born is a moroi – a half-breed, but only until he gets older. As time passes, all moroi become rang one vampires. The differences are obvious only in young vampires.
• Young vampires are very much like humans. Fifty percent of a vampires strength come from her mind, from her knowledge, from what she learned and what she knows. From her age. Most have training in vast fields from mathematics to music, fighting and preaching, public speaking (yes, you read that right), and any other field you might think off. They get bored I presume, with all the time they have an everything. Instead, you would be, tomorrow, the same person you are today, if you would be turned in this second. Except the small biological changes. You will not be able to easily kill anyone or be that strong for that matter. Time makes you a vampire, biology just helps.
• There are two types of vampires, genetically the same, and in the long run they assimilate, however they differentiate at younger ages ( up to 100 years). The two types are strigoi (rang one, superior vampire) and moroi (inferior, rang two vampire).
  
  1.)A rang one vampire is a vampire who has been made the proper way. A way which presumes both her and the maker being vulnerable and unconscious for an amount of time, in this case, the maker risks and cannot do it often from biological reasons also. The maker is drained almost entirely of blood. The older the maker and the better the bloodline, the stronger the turned human will be, even from her first day. The main advantage of first rang vampires is that, given the possibility, they can match their makers strength and bloodline, which is risky. As such, few makers take the chance of creating first rang vampires. It is a privilege given only to the few.2.) An inferior rang vampire, a moroi, is either a vampire born (a child vampire), either a made one. In both cases, it is the same. An inferior rang vampire’s disadvantage is that she is looked down upon and she is much weaker than a superior one, but only in the short-term. An inferior rang vampire is made easily, by the same procedure but with much less blood exchange and without a direct bite from the human, with no consequences, after effects or losses of consciousness. In her first years, an inferior vampire is vulnerable, needs to feed much more often, has a much higher degree of weakness in the sunlight and does not posses the ability to heal to such extent as a superior. She will also get older, for 5 up to 10 years, after which the transformation is complete, aging stops and ability to heal matches the superior rang vampires. In the long run, on the course of 100 years, a superior rang vampire and an inferior rang vampire will match in everything, except status and strength – because in many cases, superior ones are of a better bloodline and made by a stronger and older maker. However, inferiors or ‘critters’ have often managed to successfully defeat and kill a superior. It’s not something unseen before and it is common.
• There is a Codex Strigis from which vampires learn all of the above, plus much more. It is a well-kept book, accessible at will only to the few influential ones and the queen herself. It is written in Latin and it is a guide-book and law-book for vampires. Codex Strigis translates into “The vampire book” or “Book of vampire” or “Vampire bible”. Among the most important rules in the book are the laws which state that no vampire will ever enter a home without permission (this is not magic, it is a rule by which they live, they obey purely out of – something – the degree of obedience and respect for the Codex and the elders is astonishing) and no vampire, under any circumstance, will make himself willingly and fully known to a human unless:
  a) she plans on killing the human or
  b) she plans on turning the human in the very near future
  Same book also explicitly says that any turning must be done with the spoken accord of the human. No human will be turned without accepting by his own consent, unhindered and not forced. The book is, as most things, rare, unheard of and kept under heavy guard. A truck of diamonds doesn’t hold the value of that book. It was written eons ago and since then, unlike our christian bible, it suffered alterations and additions, times change – the book changes. It needs to. IT is something meant to be helpful, not hindering. Nothing in it resembles the kind of circular logic we find in the bible, such as “it’s good because I say it’s good”.
• A vampire does grow hair an nails like a human being but apparently, it adapts, and by repeated, dense and often trimming of the aforementioned, they grow slower and slower in time. As such, many vampires have a hard time changing appearance over the course of a month, but they can do it over the course of a year.
• A vampire cannot have piercings or tattoos, they are both absorbed or repelled. The healing power overcomes them. Hair dye works, yes.
• A vampire has a soul, a beating heart and a brain. She has a physical body and as such has a normal reflection in any mirror and also has no problems in taking photos, although you wouldn’t want to do that. You have to understand that a photo places a vampire at a certain place in a certain time, which can be detrimental to their needs. Very.
• A vampire drinks water – yes. More rarely than a human being because blood has a high percentage of water, but she does. Be it for physical need or mental need, a vampire does drink water. She does not die apparently from the lack of water over the course of months, however, there are no accounts of a vampire not drinking water for more than that.
• Please don’t ask me about ‘biological needs’.
• No, you can’t poison a vampire with cyanide.
• There is a constant search of magic power in the world of vampires, although this is as much of a secret for them as the vampire world is for us. There have been no proven accounts of a vampire using magic, but apparently they still search for it such as our search for immortality or cure to all diseases. Ironic.
• Vampires have no central authority except the queen, which is not actively present in their life. No throne and no ruling place, it is a nomadic life for her, chosen not imposed, in which troubled places are set to order one by one. News does not travel fast in vampire world, the need for secrecy makes it prone to sluggishness. Instead, authority and order is kept by self-discipline, obedience to the Codex Strigis, respect for the elders and the queen, and enforcing laws through the power of the elders present in the area, who often do more than necessary and even so – if overwhelmed – the queen and an elite few always manage to keep them straight. I have seen the madness of which Regina is capable, and I have seen her close companions in such a state also, like Viktoria, and it would take an army to stop them when they are angry.
  You have to understand – it is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. There is total devotion and obedience to the elders and especially the queen. Few know who the queen actually is, not because it is a secret, but because there is no need for telling, and from those few none dared threaten her after they had found out who are they up against. There is no need for an army or a police like in our society, they are few in numbers. I have overheard things and formed a clear picture of actual area numbers, I been going over those numbers, but by what I know about how each keeps from himself and needs that much space, if you would be to calculate for the whole human population, you would end with less than 150 vampires to each million humans. Do the math, that’s roughly a bit more than a million individuals. Such numbers are easy to control, their total number doesn’t even reach a medium-sized European capital city. So when you ask who is the authority then my answer is: they are their own authority, but when someone steps over the line, the elders and – if needed – the queen intervene.
• Vampires use the internet, yes, although they are mainly active on the deep web if you really must know.
• Vampires consider internet a weapon both against them and usable by them. They learned how to steer it in the right direction, just look over the stories, and you’ll see the “disinformation by over-information” method. This present guide is meant to set records straight.
• There is a free pass (no, not multi-pass, no Korben) in the vampire world. A free pass is a piece of paper, any paper, with a drop of blood on it. The free pass can only be given by a few known vampires, the oldest ones, and the queen, which rarely does. A free pass allows a vampire or a human (which rarely happens, but it does) to disobey any rule in the Codex Strigis for as long as she has the free-pass. As you can see, this is a powerful weapon and is rarely used. It is hushed and spoken under the breath, in the vampire world, that Vlad Tepes himself had a free pass, although most have no clue from whom. Nobody knows if there even was such a thing back then, or if there are vampires that old. One thing is sure, someone DID turn the oldest vampires that there are today, and that or those someone, haven’t been seen since. This free pass or  “libel” how is it called, is against the concept of organization vampires currently have. They prefer no means of authority being enforced upon them, but the free pass has been created out of a need. The free pass guarantees a vampire will not be held responsible for his actions and allows him the right to let the giver of the free pass to explain in his name, and also the free pass guarantees a human to live and speak freely in front of any vampire, inferior to the giver of the free pass, but not limited to. The free pass is often used only and only in the interest of the whole kinship, and not for personal reasons. It is strictly forbidden to ‘hire’ someone and give him a free pass. In such cases, the elder is held responsible by the next higher authority available, which is usually Viktoria, or Regina – and when that happens, you’re literally, royally fucked.
  The drop of blood on the free pass is identifiable by any vampire, by taste or smell, they can discern who the giver of the free pass is, if they previously met him.
• I keep saying ‘elder’ but not really say what is that. It is any vampire of superior rang that has more than a hundred years over the other vampire. As such, each vampire can have an leder, and be an elder in the same time. Much like your grandmother being your elder but the great-grandmother being both yours and your parents elder.
•  There have been vampire actors, writers, painters, singers, politicians, leaders and role-models, in the human world. Lately, there has been a change, surveillance today plays a big role and apparently going back in the shadows is a necessity. I agree.
• Vampires don’t sleep in coffins. No. Those are reserved for the dead. Vampires don’t sleep in the ground either. They sleep like you and me, and yes, they need sleep, although much less and by my observation, they are true batteries. Being able to put sleep off for several days and then recuperate by over-sleeping in the following days. I would bet that’s trained.
• Vampires have often been known to wake up exactly before sundown or be able to tell sunrise moment, even without looking outside. That is not biological, it is trained. Years and years of training have taught them exactly when the sun goes down and when it comes up, according to seasons, and they can often approximate pretty well what time it is, without a watch. However, a traveling vampire will have problems with this. Relocate a vampire from Greece to Norway and watch her get confused. It takes months to get accustomed, call it “jet-lag extreme” if you wish.
• Yes, vampires can cross running waters and don’t need to sleep ‘on the soil of their homeland’ – I don’t even have words to begin and understand where this crap came from.
• Vampires wash their teeth – I think it’s rather more of a habit or a hygienic, clean like feeling, rather than a necessity. Their teeth don’t get damaged. And no, not all vampires have perfect white teeth. The color of one’s teeth is more or less genetic. Yes, they also shower and everything else. I don’t know how many times should I point this out: they are by all means, or at least look like, more alike humans, rather than different. THEY NEED TO.
• It is true, yes, that many, older vampires, have a certain ‘stand-by mode’ in which they don’t move, not even flinch, they don’t move eyes, sometimes they even hold breath involuntarily. I call it ‘time out’ and I guess it’s their way of really relaxing. And trust me, it only happens in very, very safe conditions when there is very, very little chance of anything happening. They are more than aware that ‘bad things happen when you least expect them’ because they know this is logical, of course they ‘happen when you least expect them, because when you least expect them – it is then when you have your guards down – and that’s why they happen’ – and that’s a quote.

…vampire society.

They have very few principles by which they live on. They realize principles limit ones abilities. However, there have been hints of really strong moral values in the vampire world. Who would expect that?

They have no faith and no religion. They do not worship their elders or makers, instead they base everything on mutual respect. You have to understand, vampires live a very, very long life and they need respect and manners, because you meet the same people over different centuries and on the course of countless years. It would be very hard and very stressful to be enemy with someone over centuries. Not to mention deadly.

Vampires don’t know and don’t care who Bram’s Stoker Dracula was, but they do base apparently a lot of things on Vlad being the first vampire and most agree that the first vampires emerged in the Balkans and like the tales, some point to Transylvania and some to neighboring territories (read countries). The elders and the queen alike, agree on the existence of the old ones, the ones who made the queen herself, because she actually remembers him, but also older ones, the ones that basically ‘made the makers’ but are only fairly certain of one, yes, Vlad the Impaler.  Vlad’s grave has been opened (by the Romanian government, curiosity, yes) but it was empty.  Quite a shocker, right? This is verifiable by anyone. Nobody in history knows if and when, and where he died.

Many vampires, old and young, pay respects to Vlad’s birthplace and his burial place. That is why I met Regina. That is why she was in my home town, lucky me to have been born there (I guess). That is why the monastery where Vlad is was supposedly buried is in the middle of nowhere, on an island in the middle of a lake, off-limits for everyone, including high-ranking priests. Only a very obscure cult of monks stay there. It is called “Snagov island”. A very, very good article about it – from a visitor from Texas – is here. Vlad Tepes is seen as the savior of the west by the Romanians, and not as Dracula. He managed to keep the Turks at bay, for Romania was a buffer zone between muslim world and christian world for centuries. If you do read the article, do take note of ‘the caretaker forgot to tie the boat’ and the monk was so happy and friendly (unlikely for a monk), and when he heard about the boat, he plainly suggested to ‘spend the night there’. I have only once been there, and never again going back. The place is creepy as it is – but the monks – well those are something else. No idea what’s up with them and what are they guarding, but they are up to something. I would bet my everything that those people have seen more vampires than the queen herself.

…vampire culture.

Attempts at creating a culture inside the vampire world have increasingly been encouraged inside their ranks and as a result, as you can see, paintings, drawings, movies, books, general culture and rumors about vampires are increasingly appearing, we don’t know why but the proof is in front of everyone to see. This is the result of the queen ordering everyone to stop hunting those who try to make vampires known, as long as they don’t posses any real danger. “Let them be – see where it leads, for secrecy never did us any good except hunting parties and mobs.” – I dearly hope she is not wrong, I’m fairly certain of it, she has centuries of my knowledge, but seeing the latest “Underworld” movie made me shiver to my core, when I pictured that such a scenario is upon us – more than we know it.

Vampires don’t have weird customs and traditions or an inclination to organize festivals and big ceremonies for celebrating grim occasions. They don’t drink human blood out of golden goblets and they don’t offer their ring for you to kiss. They don’t make observations like ‘I don’t talk with my food’ or ‘puny human’. They really try to be as human like as possible, although there are the few who feel that it is against their nature, that they do not want to be human anymore. Which is allowed as long as it doesn’t jeopardize the kinship. Do take this with a grain of salt, and don’t greet a vampire, if you ever come across one, with “Hey dude, ‘sup?” – for the love of god don’t.

Vampires have been known to rescue humans from disasters, including but not limited to fires, explosions and floods. I felt this belongs here, with vampire culture.

Vampire traditions are limited to visiting the homeland of Vlad, paying respects and moving on. It is done as often as they want and feel like needing to renew their allegiance. The town is off-limits only 3 days per year, which change every year.

Those three days are the days in which the town of Sighisoara has an annual medieval festival. Thousands of tourists flock the streets and it smells like risk for any vampire to be there.

I have never heard of a vampire wedding although there have been funerals. Viking style.
No birthdays, I guess it would be rather amusing celebrating your birthday for centuries, yes. I could see some of my friends who over enjoy planning and celebrating a birthday doing just that. However, not in vampire ville.

…the treaty of Vienna.

The treaty of Vienna from 1760 establishes that all vampire kind will unite under a common cause, disregarding duties or allegiance, if the cause is deemed to be of a real threat to the queen or the vampire world. And that is why she is a dictator but a philanthropist in the same time. Power to do anything, yet very mild – when not… in frenzy. If you have seen the movie “Bruce Almighty” then Morgan Freeman as god could be a good analogy to her. Powerful as fuck, deadly, yet calm on the surface. Like the ocean. Or the eye of a storm.  The examples could continue until sunrise, but you got the point.

The same treaty speaks of “no vampire will make himself or his kinship known, freely, willingly and to a full extent, to the human population at large, nor to any singular specimen, “because they are many and we are few”. And we desire to remain that few. A war between vampires and humans is out of the question, for eternity. Anyone who puts the human species in danger puts himself in danger, for we are one and you should never forget that”. Seriously. I’m not joking. You can’t make this stuff up.

That bit makes me feel a bit less concerned about aliens really. Not that I believe aliens visited us, but if they ever do and mean us harm, well, at least we’ll have the vampires on our side. – This is meant to be a joke and should be treated as such.

…how do I know all this?

Why would you believe Dracula (the novel), Vampire diaries, True Blood and Twilight – but not me?
At least I’m not trying to sell you anything. This is for free and for your own good. Read and ponder about it.

Meeting me is not an option, stop asking for that. I will gladly answer any questions online, but I will not meet with anyone that has nothing to offer except more questions.

…who am I?

Read the “who am I?” page from the blog. That’s all you need to know. Also, if you can read between the lines, then aren’t you a lucky bastard?

…vampire weak points?

As far as weak points for vampires go, I couldn’t really find any that can be named just that. All myths about them turned out to be false, and in the end, what turned out to be false also, is the fact that they aren’t human.

They are, more human than you would think, but in the same time, they are something out of this world. I call it schizophrenia, for they can be me and you now and be a black panther in the next second, unrecognizable and menacing.

In the end, I propose that their greatest weakness is their humanity. I also agree that, their downfall would 100% be, without any doubt, making themselves known to the world…

We fear them, we would continue to fear them even if we have lived with one under the same roof. We hunt them and we want to destroy them just because they aren’t like us and just because we consider them monsters. We wage wars against other nations just because they have a different religion, how is anyone supposed to trust the human race in handling a different specie?

In this respect, I consider vampires to have more and better moral values and be better in general, more GOOD, not evil, than the majority of human beings. For they have known we exist (obviously) for centuries, and they have lived with us, without trying to exterminate us. Well, we don’t really exterminate all the cows also (Big Mac anyone) but my point still stands. Given, humans get killed more often than necessary, but I wonder – would they still meet their death if it wouldn’t be that fear of vampires? That sometimes irrational fear – and we all know what we do with what we cannot understand or what we fear: we destroy. History has taught us many times that we react with violence every time we encounter “the unknown, which can be dangerous”. Let’s destroy it, just in case, and if later is proven we were wrong, who cares, we didn’t miss it before we encountered it anyway, right? Also, let’s forbid everything that might pose a threat, just in case. Let’s forget about the positive aspects that we could gain, we can’t deal with the negative, even if they are shadowed by the positive.

Would you donate blood to keep a human being alive? I will assume the answer is yes. Then, why wouldn’t you donate the same blood to keep another human being, which although different, is still the same as you? A vampire.

Consider it an illness if it makes you have peace with your conscience, but answer this: would you rather eradicate all vampires or donate blood monthly – you and the whole human kind – to keep them alive?

And your answer is why they live in secrecy.

Any more questions that you might have, please leave them as a comment and when enough, I will compile another guide like the one above, which will address them.

You can argue with me and tell me that I’m wrong if you wish, you are allowed and encouraged, but do not expect me to retaliate. I have nothing to change and have no opinion on what “might be different”. These are as they are, and I can’t change that, no matter what you might think.

when history repeats itself [story part 11]

January 5th, well over midnight.

We were in the church, something was definitely moving around, for what seemed like hours for me, I now realize it wasn’t more than three seconds until the door slammed shut, Regina became alert, something moved in the top right corner which was just pure nothingness. It was so dark that not even getting right underneath it would make anything visible in that corner.

I remember I thought werewolves at the time. Later I laughed at myself. I have come to know since then, than even the supernatural – or what we consider supernatural but is actually explainable – has limits. The limits being: nobody just transforms into a wolf just because the moon is shining. Just as vampires can’t shape-shift, werewolves don’t exist.

Tell-tales. I was rest assured of this by some very (VERY) knowledgeable… people. Although now I realize they might have been playing around. Doesn’t matter, doesn’t change the fact.

There were no werewolves there, that’s for sure, instead, out of the shadow a long, slim and very beautiful girl – although I couldn’t care less at that time – descended right in front of me.

I had maybe less than a second to take everything in. She was wearing what we would call “under dressed” – especially for a cold January night. She had tight jean shorts, military black boots and on top she merely had a tight denim jacket which was only buttoned at the neck, leaving the whole area underneath exposed. Nothing else except a sporty kind of bra. It was a weird outfit and I truly wondered how was she not freezing. I was dressed up to my teeth and was till cold as hell.

She had long silky hair, which was long enough to touch  her lower back. She was not blonde, she was way more than that. She was silver, almost white, that kind of blonde. The moonlight sure added to that even more. Her lips were almost non-existent, rather than Regina’s which were always full, oily and pink. Waiting for a kiss, or a bite.

She was even whiter than Regina and her eyes were a true match with the color of a shallow seaside. That kind of see-through green, strong but somewhat washed up green. They seemed to have a spark in them for a second, but then they turned almost to grey, flat, devoid of any life.

She looked at me… suspiciously, investigative. She examined my eyes, looked at my pendant for a bit and then turned her head. Now all this lasted for less than two seconds. She had just jumped down from somewhere from the upper corner – no idea how she got there or how was she even staying there, but there had to be some supports I guessed.

In any case, after she looked at me she turned her head and looked at Regina, which by now was straightening herself up, looking suspiciously comfortable, and putting her knife back in her leather jacket.

“My queen…” she was bowing before her! This silver fox was on her knees in front of Regina.

“Stand up and stop doing that every time you see me. I would rather have a kiss.” – Regina said and with that, I got giddy I might see the two of them kissing.

Disappointment struck when silvery there approached Regina and she was the one who got kissed, my Regina kissed her, on her forehead. I considered that to be pretty… mom-daughter kind of relationship. I certainly hoped that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t.

“What are you doing here?” Regina said commanding her to start speaking, now.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.” – Well, it seemed that silver was already very friendly and talked with Regina as she would talk with an equal.

“You should know better that my affairs are not of your concern.” Regina said. I really hoped silvery wouldn’t make her mad again, because we had just been there, done that a few minutes before. Wasn’t ready for round two.

“Forgive me.” And she bowed her head again. The she tilted it back up and continued “It has been reported to me, in your absence, by a critter, that two killings took place here. I came to see to it.” silvery said.

“And? What did you find Viktoria…?” Regina said with a faintly amused tone. I didn’t find anything amusing about more killings. I had no idea that Viktoria was actually talking about the two vampires that died here.

“Well, nothing. I just arrived here…” Viktoria said.

“I ended their misery. They are down under me if you feel like talking with two dead critters. You have nothing to attend to anymore.” – It felt to me like Viktoria was either a servant or someone who took care of pressing matters while Regina was doing whatever she did, with me, or others. She had a very neutral face about the whole incident. She had no questions regarding why and how they died. She plainly didn’t gave a rat’s ass about them, especially the fact that at hearing the word ‘critters’ her face went even more neutral. Apparently, vampires and critter vampires didn’t mean the same thing.

Then Viktoria looked at me raising an eyebrow, and Regina intervened: “Meet the one I have chosen.” And before I had the chance to charm her with my spells and good looks, before I could even open my mouth to say hello, Viktoria interrupted me.

“But he’s just a boy!” She said.
“VIKTORIA!” Regina shouted back.

“I… forgive me. I don’t know what’s happening with me. This… boy. It’s making me feel uneasy.” Viktoria apologized and once again was back with her head bowed down.

“I understand.” Regina said approvingly. This was nice of her I thought, or maybe Viktoria was not just someone else, because she sure was possessive of me, which didn’t bother me, yet.

Regina then looked at me and then introduced us properly.

“This is Viktoria Smirnova – my closest companion, and oldest.” Regina said. This was getting interesting.

“Hello.” I finally managed to have said it. Yes! But at that Viktoria came close to me and as instead of nodding or responding back, she came too close to me. She smelled my lips and I backed out – what the hell.

At that I saw her fangs elongating and her eyes already dark and red, swirling inside like the Black Sea in a rough storm.
“Tasty…” and she flashed towards me, but instead I countered her flash with one of my own. A flash from my flashlight, which was still going strong. I remembered how strong it was when I shone it to my face and now I did the same to Viktoria.

She hissed and turned her head. I stopped her right there and then, and that’s how I knew: Vampires did see better, much better, when they were in their “frenzy” state. That’s why their pupils dilated to extreme like that, they were sucking in all the light they could, and others.

I didn’t get to see all of the reaction because by now Regina was already between us, with her back to me and going slowly towards Viktoria.

“Viktoria… I didn’t know…. you had it in you…” Regina was saying this as she was going with slow, small steps towards Viktoria which by now was backing down, making herself seem smaller and thinner than Regina, which wasn’t the case no matter how you looked at it.

“I’m sorry. Regina. My queen. Please… I need to leave this place. I don’t feel myself near the boy. Please. It was a mistake…”

Regina just kept going slowly towards her, she was much like a cat by now, or a snake. Or both, she was both walking and undulating her body closer and closer to her prey, which was Viktoria.

I wondered why didn’t she just run, she sure was fast enough for that. But she didn’t. Instead she propped herself with the back to the pillar, the same pillar I was just backed into not even twenty minutes before, and looked at Regina approaching her, with horror.

Regina came close to her, closer than necessary, she basically stuck her whole body to Viktoria’s and then very slowly, she inclined her head and Viktoria already inclined hers too, in an upward motion, tilted towards the right and the ceiling, exposing her neck. It was like she knew.

Regina continued what she was doing without stopping for anything, it was one smooth dance, which seemed rehearsed over and over again over the centuries…

I heard Viktoria’s flesh ripping, I could feel it in my own neck even – and I remembered how I was in the exact situation just a while ago. Viktoria was squirming slowly, not violently, shaking her body and clenching her jaw and her fists, and she actually had the power to keep shouting in pain. In agony. It was pure horror for me to even think about how much pain that should be, to make a vampire scream in agony. I only figured that Regina was capable of inflicting much more pain that she had done to me. And I also understood that a vampire’s weapon of choice is often a bite and not the mind, for it is sure effective – in the short-term at least.

I was also pretty puzzled as to how exactly things happened – as far as I knew vampires drank blood for nutrition – but what nutrition could they get from another vampire? Did Viktoria just feed? I ushered my thoughts rapidly as I saw Regina pulling back and Viktoria falling to her knees. Looking at me and then putting her head down. She was exhausted and I hated myself thinking that I had caused this, but then, she was a bitch anyway, she deserved it. I was still pretty doubtful that she will let this go. I will have an enemy, for centuries, apparently.

And when I say that a vampire’s bite is effective in the short-term. I mean it. Against all odds, Viktoria stood up, erased her tears (So vampires could indeed cry! And not blood! They just needed a very good reason, like this) and slowly approached me. I backed out a bit, but a reassuring look from Regina made me stop and let her come to me. I felt exactly like visiting a friend who has a dog, and he looks at me to reassure me that the dog is docile and won’t bite.

Viktoria bowed down to me to – now that was more like it – then she apologized.

“I’m sorry… there’s something… I… you’re different.” Viktoria said.

Regina intervened: “Of course he is! Look at his neck” and Viktoria was looking for a place to bite, but I saw her eyes and knew all too well what Regina was referring to, so I put my thumb under my pendant and pushed it forward, and with that Viktoria drew in a sharp breath and put her hand over her mouth.

Human instincts I thought. Glad she has them. But an amazed vampire? That’s pretty rare.

She only said one word, whispering it to herself: “Anna” and she looked at Regina.

“Yes, it’s the one.” – I really hoped she was referring to the pendant and not me, otherwise it would have felt  too Matrix for me.

Later did I find that she was referring to both. Damn my intuition. But then something else jumped in mind. Viktoria knew who Regina was, she knew her name!

Regina, like always, read me like an IKEA instruction manual and knew exactly what I was thinking. She came close to me and looking me straight in the eyes, with a “I’m dead serious look” she told me:

“Viktoria is my biggest and most fortunate mistake I’ve ever made. She was one of the girls my mother had for me to feed, but I was young…” and she trailed off, feeling a hint of guilt in her eyes.

“…she had nobody to teach her, and she was hungry. She took too much from me and then…” Viktoria trailed also. This felt awkward, they were completing each other’s sentences like two twins. But then again, if two persons are together for more than five centuries, that’s got to mean more than twin thinking.

“…and then I tried to give it back by biting myself and forcing her to drink. She drank more from me than she had left in her body, and so we became the same.” and there and then I understood the second way of making a vampire.

“I wanted to end her afterwards, I didn’t want anyone else like me.” Regina said and then after a short look at Viktoria, continued “but I’m glad I didn’t. She kept me company through the centuries. Even though we rarely saw each other in the last hundred years…” and now she was looking at Viktoria with an inquisitive look, which in turn had a very guilty face.

“I found my mate.” Viktoria was explaining to me.
“Yes you did my love.” And with that Regina kissed her forehead again. My love? More kissing? I felt I wasn’t supposed to be there. But I was wrong.

And then, looking back at my necklace, Viktoria told me again how this was Regina’s over five centuries ago – it never crossed my mind selling the damn thing – and was asking me where I got it and everything that Regina and I already had went over, and seeing as how I approved of everything, with a clear face of “I know, I know” she announced:

“Then we have to find them! Once and for all!”

“Find who?” I said.

“Whoever gave this to me, and you for that matter.” Regina said. But wait, that could only mean one thing: the black eyed children.

“But that’s impossible!” I said, and then without allowing any of them to speak again I continued on the same reassuring tone I had started “We all know they only showed up two times! Out of nowhere! In 500 years!”

“Yes, but nobody ever searched for them, for all we know, nobody knows they exist.” Regina said looking like she was just hatching a plan.

“All I have to do is find my maker, maybe he will know more…” Regina said, looking worried at her own plan. I had the impression she didn’t like her own plan. Which rarely happens even in the human world.

“But you…” I said without having the opportunity to finish.

“I know what I said…” she was stroking my face with her right hand, going with her finger down my neck to see if I’m still wounded. I wasn’t.

“But I never found him because like the children, I never searched. I’m not very curious by nature…” Regina said.
“Well you sure had me fooled.” I added.

Viktoria was smiling. I guess it got very rarely for her to see a human, a boy, a baby compared to them, standing up and making sarcastic comments to Regina.

“Yes, well, the necklace is of a special interest to me.” Regina said and she saw how I got upset almost instantly. Of course I got upset, I was giddy because she was interested in me, not my necklace.

Saying that, a silence fell over the whole church. My flashlight was now off and the only light we had left was the moon, which was getting dimmer and dimmer because it was moving in a spot obscured by one of the pillars. I felt an eerie feeling creeping up my spine. Here I was, in total darkness, above an empty crypt with hundreds of skeletons – human and vampire, and to top that off, two rather angry and hungry vampires were standing next to me. In the shadows.

It was my worst nightmare and my most beautiful dream I had yet. And, in that silence, Regina once again elegantly boasted her commanding skills. Her way of saying anything she wanted to anyone she pleased, for she was a queen, but, at the time for me she looked more like a spoiled girl. Which surely was not. She had the elegance of a well looked after French princess and in the same time the rigidity and ambition, the trust in herself and the look of what I imagined could as well be the look on Caesar’s face.

She boasted all this, and expressed all that she was through something rather simple. She broke the silence when she raised her hands and announced with a commanding authority: “I have decided. We shall talk more about this.”

“Oh…?” I said. I instantly had the feeling of shutting the hell up, she wasn’t finished. Again, love/hate relationship. I wanted to punch her for being so damn cocky but I also wanted to kiss her for being so comforting. It felt nice to be in the company of someone who knows what to do, always. And who was not afraid to tell you what to do also.

“Let us leave this place. It reeks.” – I hadn’t noticed. Was it the incense? No.
“Viktoria, send a message to Karl that he will attend to matters until your return.” Regina said. I wondered what would happen to this ‘Karl’ if he fucked up, but then again, I don’t think Regina would have let anyone decide anything too important without her consent. Or she really trusted someone, ‘Karl’, with her life, which was unlikely. I was also a bit jealous.

And as Viktoria prepared to leave, Regina also added: “The manor.”

Viktoria nodded and in a split of a second with a ‘whoosh’ kind of sound, she was near the door which seemed to have opened by itself, especially for her. She took a quick glance back at the two of us and then she was gone.

Regina still owed me some explanations. In my mind at least, because in hers, she clearly was convinced she already told me and allowed me to see too much. In any case, she still took my hand which made me turn my gaze from the door to her, she was with her head bowed down and I couldn’t see her face, but as soon as she felt my eyes on her, she straightened her body, lifted her head and with kitten eyes but a very mischievous smile she asked me:

“Ready?”
“More than ever.” – I had no clue what was I supposed to be ready for.

Related articles

• Fear, Itself (jackcampbelljr.com)