"Oh, there is a whole section here: 'Does holy water hurts you?', 'Are there weapons that can kill a vampire?', Do oak stakes…', really Anna, oak stakes?", she was not mad, she seemed a bit annoyed by the questions, a deep breath and her eyes rolling before continuing, "Well, you humans are in the dark, is what we want after all, but not for you, you are a Seed now, or rather a potential seed".

"What does that mean exactly?"

"A seed is the name we give those with enough compatible genes from the old humanity tree. You, are a descendant of Vampire blood, and has your ancestor, you too have the potential to awaken the power residing within you".

I sat down, inside the sun circle, "This is what you want from me, right, for me to become your student, for me to carry on the legacy, that is what the ritual is about", I try to sound confident, I have to gain some control, and besides, if she doesn't feel threatened by my wish to learn how to kill her kind, then there is nothing I can do to make her lose control over the situation.

"Yes, and today we will begin with your lessons," a smile draws in her face, a bit crooked, a sinister perhaps, but still a smile, "I should start with our roots, the roots of humankind. In the beginning, more than five million years ago, we were but primates running away from the dying jungle, forced to adapt to walk in two legs, as time and evolution took their course, new branches were formed: Homo Sapiens, Pongo, Homininae, Pan…these are the ones that survived, but you are aware of them of course, its basic biology," I pretended to understand and simply nodded, hoping there was no pop quiz to become a vampire. "but, secret to must Homo Sapiens alive in these modern times, are four more, parallel to their branch, yet extremely similar"

"Wait, this is giving me a headache, could you, fast forward to the vampires, and please try to make it, you know, more digestible"

"Well, I guess...dogs, yeah dogs that might work"

"Dogs?" I couldn't help but to show an ugly confused face.

"Yes, dogs come in different sizes and races, even if they all are descendants of the wolf, they come from different breeds of wolves from different parts of the world."

"So you are would be german shepherd and I would be.."

"A golden retriever, yeah sort of"

"I was going to say a Corgi, but I guess is not that important is it"

We started laughing. Why was that so funny?
A little Corgi with orange pigtails, would be a perfect fit for me.

I could feel my eyes watery and my midriff tensed because of laughing. She has a pretty smile...the fangs are not as scary right now. I mean, they are nothing but large canines right, mean looking dogs are just that, mean looking, maybe, she is not evil, she was just born like that. Was she born like that?

"Elisabeta, were you born a vampire or did your master turn you into one?"

Her smile disappeared, her expression was invaded with concern, she was obviously uneasy with the question, and that, that was so interesting. I need to know, if there is something I can use against her, I have to know what it is, what her weak spot is, how to break her perfect and immortal myth. A flaw in her armor, this might be it.

"I, I was born a human, or that is what I thought, or rather knew, it was all I ever knew until the day of the accident." Her eyes seek for mine, but she dodges, her eyes reflecting the white magic circle, "It was a cloudy day, grandma was in the hospital so we were going to visit her. I was four, and...my memory has a few gaps about the crash, but I do remember how happy we were before father had to stir the wheel off the road to avoid a massive truck wheel coming in the opposite direction. I can remember the awful sound of the metal impacting the frozen lake, the shattering of both the metal and ice…"

She went silent, she was crying. My chest was tight, her sorrow was so, so, human. I feel the need to comfort her, to hug her, but I'm still afraid of her. I can't forget that the nook of my neck is their preferred meal.

"For the first time, I felt fear, a primal panic. I tried to open the door, I tried to wake my parents, but nothing was working. The freezing water from the lake started to crawl into the vehicle, the water turned red with blood, there was blood in my hand and then, in an action I didn't comprehend, I tamed the fear turning it from paralyzing panic to will to survive, my fist broke thru the car door's window. The cold water around me had no effect, I wasn't shaking, I was swimming faster than I could have ever dreamed of, I could feel a power within me… but then I was on the surface, lying on the frozen lake, tired and weak, even thru the clouds, the effects of the sun light can affect a vampire"

She might be a monster, cold and blood thirsted, but I am not.
I leave the circle jumping into her, my arms wrapping around her shoulders. Her skin is soft but really cold, she has a heartbeat, she is not undead, and her breath is warm in my neck. It was scary, but, I was a Seed, maybe getting bit tonight would be no different than the night of the ritual, right?

"I, I don't think I'll ever be able to tell this story without crying," she wipes the tears from her cheeks, "well, that was my story, I guess you owe me a story as well. Any accidents, any great memory you could share with me?"

"I. uh well," I have the most boring life ever, what should I tell her, what amazing story can I come up?, oh, maybe something about Kirs-no, not Kristoff, I'm not gonna talk about my ex boyfriend after she told my her tragic tale. I guess I have to be honest, "my life has been, boring, no major accidents or major events of any sorts, sorry"

"Are you sure you never had an accident?, that strand of silver hair, does it has a story?"

She seems determined to hear a story. But I really had nothing of value to tell.

"I was born with it, is just a birthmark"

"I see...I guess we need to get back to your lessons now"

"Oh, right, right, seed lessons, I almost forgot about it. What's the next lesson about?"

"Magic affinity. A seed must have magic affinity, being able to perceive and interact with the eter is vital"

"So, you can teach me, right?", I really hope she does, being able to control fire, or ice, or to fly...oh how wonderful that would be, magic!

"Yes, sort of, all I need from you is to…", she stops and a smile draws on her lips very slowly, as she had just remembered an old fond memory or joke, "...to look into my eyes"

"Why-no!"

No, not this again.

Just look away eyeballs, just stop, do not feed on those precious sapphires, those, those delicate pools of blue tinted membrane, do not stare straight into the beautiful mysterious eyes. Please blink, please listen to me, no matter how wonderful it is...do not look away. No, what am I doing? I said keep looking...what is wrong with me?

I can't see anything but her irises. The room we are in, the bed to my left, the moonlight crawling thru the window, all those are memories, I can not longer see, for all I need is to look into those blue divine twin stars.

But, there is something on my lips, something forcing its way into my mouth. There is nothing I can do…

h3IIo, it has been a while since we talked, like this, hasn't it. For some reason I did not felt like making a note, perhaps to keep the flow of the story, perhaps there were not necessary. This is a shorter chapter...I was enjoying the holidays, a bit too much, but hey, at least Anna made some progress, she is calling the creature a 'she' and even call her by her name.