devour that
one as well. He let out a belch, turned a little red at the tips of his ears
and apologized.
“Glad to see
you enjoy it. I see your cat-like tendencies carry over to your ‘human’ form.
How does that work?” she asked as she snacked on her potato chips and sipped at
her glass of blood.
“Oh no,” said
Eamon. “My story is for another time. It’s not important at the moment, but I
promise you’ll learn about me in due time.” He emptied his glass and looked
over at Diandra. “Now we get into the rules, background information, and the
importance of protecting your head and your heart.” His eyes were serious now,
so she set her plate to the side and leaned in a little to show she was
listening.
“Protect my
head and heart? I thought that was some weird metaphor for being careful who I
fell in love with,” Diandra replied.
“Oh no, I was
quite serious. You see, we can only be killed two ways. One of them is damage
to the brain- a bullet through it, a crushing blow, being decapitated,
something along those lines. The second way is to do irreparable damage to the
heart- a bullet, a knife, anything. It doesn’t have to be a stake, or something
silver, or anything that ridiculous. A car accident where something impaled us
upon impact would do the same damage as someone Hell-bent on killing us. Most
other injuries we can heal on our own. The bigger the damage the longer it
takes us to heal, but still even the most horrendous injuries can be healed
within a day or so.”
Diandra was
amazed. “So much for immortality, I suppose. Those same things would kill a
human. I guess in some ways we’re not that changed after all.”
Eamon looked
thoughtful for a moment. “I guess that is true. I never really considered it
that way before. The good news is good health. You will keep the perfect figure
you have now. No stretch marks, no blemishes, no colds or flu or allergies. Any
health problems you may have had are long gone. But on the other hand a lot of
things have changed. You’ll never need any immunizations, and stepping on a
rusty nail will hurt like Hell still, but at least you won’t need a tetanus
shot.” He grinned. “So immortality definitely has a leg up on humanity,
wouldn’t you agree?”
Diandra
ignored that and thought hard for a moment. “What about religion? What about Heaven
and Hell, God and the devil, and our souls? What about that?”
Eamon smiled.
“It’s still the same as before you were changed. Everyone’s beliefs are
different. I personally have had this conversation with a few members of
council when I was changed. They remember the birth of Jesus Christ, and swear
by their belief of Heaven and Hell. Just because you are a vampire does not
mean you have to be evil. It’s still a matter of choices. I believe drinking blood
that is donated is fine. I believe attacking a human and drinking their blood
against their will is evil and you will go to Hell.” Eamon shrugged. “It works
for me. But religion is a personal choice, and your beliefs don’t have to
change just because you did.”
He cleared his
throat and continued. “Now for the rules- most of these are common sense. Do
not show off your new abilities- you’re not a toy, selling yourself on the
market. We need to keep a low profile to avoid witch hunts, or in our case,
vampire hunts. Do not share the methods a vampire can be killed. This is a
secret from humans for a reason- we enjoy living. Do not reveal what you are to
another human. Lizbeth gets a free pass, obviously, since she was here and
helped you. Telling others is a huge no- no unless you have no choice, and then
if you have time you should run it by the council to make sure you won’t be
hunted for it. And the but most important rule- no
biting or turning someone against their will. This is an automatic death
penalty. Do you understand all I have told you?” Eamon asked her.
Diandra
nodded, just as serious as he was. “I understand. But how
one as well. He let out a belch, turned a little red at the tips of his ears
and apologized.
“Glad to see
you enjoy it. I see your cat-like tendencies carry over to your ‘human’ form.
How does that work?” she asked as she snacked on her potato chips and sipped at
her glass of blood.
“Oh no,” said
Eamon. “My story is for another time. It’s not important at the moment, but I
promise you’ll learn about me in due time.” He emptied his glass and looked
over at Diandra. “Now we get into the rules, background information, and the
importance of protecting your head and your heart.” His eyes were serious now,
so she set her plate to the side and leaned in a little to show she was
listening.
“Protect my
head and heart? I thought that was some weird metaphor for being careful who I
fell in love with,” Diandra replied.
“Oh no, I was
quite serious. You see, we can only be killed two ways. One of them is damage
to the brain- a bullet through it, a crushing blow, being decapitated,
something along those lines. The second way is to do irreparable damage to the
heart- a bullet, a knife, anything. It doesn’t have to be a stake, or something
silver, or anything that ridiculous. A car accident where something impaled us
upon impact would do the same damage as someone Hell-bent on killing us. Most
other injuries we can heal on our own. The bigger the damage the longer it
takes us to heal, but still even the most horrendous injuries can be healed
within a day or so.”
Diandra was
amazed. “So much for immortality, I suppose. Those same things would kill a
human. I guess in some ways we’re not that changed after all.”
Eamon looked
thoughtful for a moment. “I guess that is true. I never really considered it
that way before. The good news is good health. You will keep the perfect figure
you have now. No stretch marks, no blemishes, no colds or flu or allergies. Any
health problems you may have had are long gone. But on the other hand a lot of
things have changed. You’ll never need any immunizations, and stepping on a
rusty nail will hurt like Hell still, but at least you won’t need a tetanus
shot.” He grinned. “So immortality definitely has a leg up on humanity,
wouldn’t you agree?”
Diandra
ignored that and thought hard for a moment. “What about religion? What about Heaven
and Hell, God and the devil, and our souls? What about that?”
Eamon smiled.
“It’s still the same as before you were changed. Everyone’s beliefs are
different. I personally have had this conversation with a few members of
council when I was changed. They remember the birth of Jesus Christ, and swear
by their belief of Heaven and Hell. Just because you are a vampire does not
mean you have to be evil. It’s still a matter of choices. I believe drinking blood
that is donated is fine. I believe attacking a human and drinking their blood
against their will is evil and you will go to Hell.” Eamon shrugged. “It works
for me. But religion is a personal choice, and your beliefs don’t have to
change just because you did.”
He cleared his
throat and continued. “Now for the rules- most of these are common sense. Do
not show off your new abilities- you’re not a toy, selling yourself on the
market. We need to keep a low profile to avoid witch hunts, or in our case,
vampire hunts. Do not share the methods a vampire can be killed. This is a
secret from humans for a reason- we enjoy living. Do not reveal what you are to
another human. Lizbeth gets a free pass, obviously, since she was here and
helped you. Telling others is a huge no- no unless you have no choice, and then
if you have time you should run it by the council to make sure you won’t be
hunted for it. And the but most important rule- no
biting or turning someone against their will. This is an automatic death
penalty. Do you understand all I have told you?” Eamon asked her.
Diandra
nodded, just as serious as he was. “I understand. But how
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