The waitress snuck another look at the man sitting in her section. The diner was empty save for him. He had been coming in every night around dusk and didn't leave until the very first rays of sunshine could be seen hitting the window panes. He always sat in the same seat and ordered a cup of coffee he never drank.
Squaring her shoulders, the waitress strode confidently up to him.
"Can I get you anything else?" She asked, eyeing his untouched coffee cup.
The man looked up. She had no idea what he said next, but she left the table regardless.
As she reentered the kitchen, she thought she heard the man say, "He's late."
On the opposite side of the world, in a rainy northwestern state in the United States, a woman by the name of Oro stood at the end of a long driveway. She glanced up at the sky, which was darkening. The sun was trying to stay above the horizon, but it was an uphill battle. The lack of sunshine and the element of surprise were in Oro's favor tonight. Arturro had mentioned this coven many times and curiosity had finally seized such a strong hold that Oro could not help but visit these creatures. She began to move with inhuman speed up the lengthy driveway.
Back at the diner, the clock tolled at 1:00AM. The lone man sitting in a booth looked up at the door just as it flew open. Another man, just as pale and lifeless-looking as the first, entered.
"Marcus, you're late." The man sitting said.
"I thought I picked the time, Arturro," Marcus responded. His eyes flickered to the waitress, who was peeking around the bar again.
"Do you come here every night?" Marcus asked.
"I come here to think," Arturro responded, nodding, "and I know that it is safe to speak freely," he added in a hushed tone.
Marcus sat down.
"Well, here's something to think about," He said, "I just met with the Authority, who have begun the process of vampire mainstreaming in the South."
Arturro's grey eyes widened. "They can't do that. Our kind can never mainstream! We'll be killed- surely you stopped them, Marcus."
Marcus rolled his eyes. "They enjoy going behind my back and creating things such as the new synthetic blood substitute in Japan. They had a solution for every problem I mentioned."
Arturro shook his head. "This is absurd. You are God in their eyes. You should be able to control all of our kind."
Marcus half-smiled at his first creation. Marcus was reaching such an age where numbers didn't even matter, but Arturro kept him at a pace equal to the humans. He hardly ever bothered to interact with the vampires a fraction of his age who called themselves the Authority. This was new, though. To walk among the public without having to hide your true nature… that was something worth listening to.
"We're going to give mainstreaming a try, Arturro, and let the Authority take the fall when it all goes up in flames. I did give them one ultimatum, which they agreed to quite readily."
Marcus's black eyes focused on the waitress through the wall. She suddenly collapsed in unconsciousness. Arturro waited for his maker, the first vampire in existence, to continue.
"I don't blame you for what you did, Arturro, two thousand years ago. I most certainly passed the trait along to you to want to be a god, a creator of your own."
Arturro swallowed. He knew where this was going. Two thousand years ago, he decided that if his maker could create vampires, what was stopping him from making his own line? Arturro spent half of a century making a new breed of vampires. Marcus stood by and watched his first born dig himself into a hole. The 'new' vampires, now referred to as Third Generation or Arturrian vampires, were something quite different than Marcus's creations. Arturro aimed for harder and whiter skin, along with eye color that changed with age and hunger. His vampires had no blood in their system and, most importantly, the sun had hardly any effect on their skin. Instead of catching fire when they stepped into direct sunlight, the diamond fragments Arturro had bred into their skin would sparkle. This was one problem Arturro could not solve. Even though his new breed could walk in daylight and never needed to sleep, it was somewhat harder to take them seriously when their skin glittered. The only way to kill an Arturrian was to rip them apart and burn them.
"Only real vampires can mainstream," Marcus said. "When word gets out that we are real, Third Generation vampires will believe that they can reveal themselves as well. That cannot happen. The less humans know, the better. They are a special breed, Arturro, I'll give you that. They do have certain qualities that we could benefit from having, but once a human sees their skin flashing like diamonds in the sunlight, we lose all respect from mankind. We will go from being feared to being laughed at. I will not allow that to happen, Arturro. It is up to you to ensure that all two-thousand of your breed will comply. There is only one way. You must kill them all."
Oro approached the large house cautiously. From what she'd heard over the years, these Arturrians were different than most Third Generation vampires. She glanced up at the sky once more, only to confirm that the sky was cloudless. The half-moon was clear and supplying a plentiful amount of light, but many windows in the mansion was also alight. The vampires within would have no issues identifying her as their own kind.
"There's someone outside."
"I didn't hear a car."
"It's a woman, wearing a fair amount of clothes for such a warm evening."
"She looks pale. Could she be….?"
"I think she is, Edward. Can you read her thoughts?"
There was silence.
Oro sighed.
"I can hear you," she called.
The door opened slowly and the Arturrian known as Carlisle stood in the doorway.
"Can I help you?" he asked politely.
Oro sighed again. "You can drop the pretense. I know what you and your family are."
In a flash, Oro was on the porch, a mere foot away from the other vampire.
"I would say that I am like you, but we are really hardly anything alike."
Two more of the Arturrians peeked around Carlisle. One was a female, the other male. The female managed to sneak past Carlisle and looked at Oro quizzically.
"She is a vampire, Carlisle," the one known as Alice said in a high-pitched voice, "but I can't see her."
"Who are you?" Jasper asked from over Alice's head.
"My name is Oro. I am a vampire, but unlike the rest of you, I am a real vampire."
There was silence from the group of Arturrians.
"I came here today to tell you the truth; that you are what we call Third Generation Vampires, or Arturrian vampires."
She held up a gloved hand. "I will prove myself, starting now, if you will invite me in."
Carlisle listened to Alice and Jasper debate quietly behind him. They finally moved out of the doorway, and Carlisle said, "Please come in."
The most cautious of their coven was Edward. He could not read Oro's thoughts and therefore did not trust her. His mate and child did not make an appearance, which caught Oro's attention, but she had more important things to be concerned about.
"If you would be so kind, I would definitely like to know what you were saying outside," Carlisle said. His coven was gathered on the sofa farthest from where Oro had sat.
Oro began, "There is much I would like to tell you today. It would be easiest and fastest if you do not ask questions until I am finished. I will show you how I am what most humans picture when they think of vampires."
She pulled off her sunhat and placed it on the chair next to her.
"We are alike in many ways. You all saw that I can move just as fast as any of you can, if not faster. I hunt and I do require blood to survive. I am also not among the living."
She paused, watching their faces.
"But that's where our likeness comes to an end. I will burn in sunlight and," she pulled back her sleeve, and watching the Arturrians closely, sank her teeth into her arm.
She lifted her mouth from her arm and it was covered in blood.
"You have no blood in your veins, whereas I have quite a fair amount of blood at my disposal. "
Oro's eyes flickered to the one known as Jasper. He was not sitting on the couch, but instead hovered over Alice. His entire body shifted when the scent of Oro's blood filled the room.
"If you make any move towards me, I will kill you without hesitation," Oro stated bluntly as she stared him down. "The most obvious difference between us is my strength- and these," she bared her teeth and suddenly two good-sized fangs popped out of the roof of her mouth. This time, all the vampires jumped a little.
Without waiting for a response, she continued, licking her lips. "I am not an illusion. All that I have told you thus far has been true. But to really prove to you that I am what I claim to be is to explain history as it really was."