Chapter 10 - The More You Know (Part 1)

(Levi's POV)

We get down stairs to the kitchen and I grab two bags of blood from the fridge, one for me and one for Eren. I get some cups from the cupboard and pour each bag into a cup. I turn around and hand a cup to Eren.

"Thanks." he says. I just nod in reply, turning around to head back upstairs and to the attic with my cup in my own hand. "So where do you guys get this blood anyways?" he asks as we walk up the stairs.

"They have special blood banks all over the world where humans go and donate blood. Some know what they are donating to and others don't."

"Oh cool." he says, slightly in awe. "So does that mean that I could have donated blood to vampires before!? Since I have donated before. That would be so cool!"

"I guess it's possible."

The stairs to the attic are on the opposite side of the floor that the bedrooms are all on. We get to the stairs and head up them and walk into our 'library'.

"Woah" Eren breathes quietly. I chuckle lightly at his response. He's like a little kid who just walked into a candy store for the first time. The 'library' isn't very extraordinary, it's really just five or six tall book shelves and a couple chairs at a small table in a corner. There are a few windows in the room to let in light. I walk over to a shelf to get the book I'm looking for. It's on one of the higher shelves so I have to stand on the tips of my toes to reach it. I can hear Eren snicker behind me.

"Did you want some help there Levi?" he asks, trying to hide his laughter. I glare at him before grabbing the book.

"Shut up, brat" I grumble, walking over to the table and chairs and taking a seat, sitting the book and my cup down on the table. Eren follows, still chuckling slightly, and takes a seat in the other chair, sitting his cup on the table also.

"So what's that for?" Eren asks, gesturing to the book I had set on the table.

"It's a book on vampires. It should have everything you need to know with better explanations than what I would come up with." I answer, taking a sip from my cup.

"Oh sweet!" he says, swiping the book away from me and starts flipping through it. He is very childish but it's kind of cute.

(Eren's POV) *Italics mean it's being read from the book*

The book looked quite boring on the outside, it was just a dark green, faded cover with faint wording on the cover to say the title. There was no author though; that's strange but ehh whatever. I shrug slightly. I flip open the book to the table of contents first. It seems that the book is also handwritten.

Vampires - Table of Contents

History of Vampires and Their Origins

Physical Description and Facts

Mates

Lifespan and Flaws of Vampires

I decided to skip over the history for now and go straight to the part about physical description and facts.

Section 2 - Physical Description and Facts

I skim through the pages, looking for things that catch my eye.

Vampires have fangs that can retract; although, they have slightly larger than normal canines. The reason their fangs are like this is so that they can blend in in the human world easier.

I think I remember Levi saying something like that once to me.

Although it is said that vampires drink blood from humans, while that is still true, most vampires get blood that has been donated or removed from the human in a way that does not involve being bitten. The reason behind this is because vampires have a special type of chemical in their saliva that changes a human. If a vampire bit a human every time they drank and did not kill the human, there would soon be too many vampires and the world would go chaotic. While most vampires get blood from blood banks, there are still some who do not care about killing humans. They think of humans as no less than insects to crush beneath them. There will also be times when vampires will drink from other vampires; though, this is explained more thoroughly in the Mates section. If a vampire goes without blood for a long amount of time they can go into a blood lust. Blood lust is when a vampire goes crazy from hunger and most end in a killing spree. Blood lust can be cured with enough blood but if it happens it will most likely end in a mess and can attract much unwanted attention from humans. A vampire in blood lust will attack anyone, even other vampires if they are close enough.

Vampires can have children, despite popular belief amongst humans. The child of a vampire will always be born a vampire. Unlike vampires who were created, born vampires have amazing control over their urges, even at a young age, and will rarely ever fall into blood lust. Also, while created vampires will stop aging right after they are turned, born vampires will not. Born vampires will continue to age until they reach the age of 23, after that they will stay that way forever.

Other facts include being slightly faster and stronger than an average human and having enhanced senses. A vampire's eyesight is well enough to see in the dark even with just a sliver of light for help. Their sense of taste is much different from a human's as well. All vampires have a different taste for blood; for some it could be sour while for others it could be sweet. It all depends on the vampire's preference. Touch and smell are also enhanced. A vampire's sense of smell is able to detect who is who. Vampires can also tell when someone is also a vampire by their smell, though it is harder to tell when the vampire is newly turned. As of when this was written there is no other way to tell if someone is a vampire or not unless they choose to show themselves.

Wait, then how was Hanji able to know I was a vampire? I look up from the book to look over at Levi. He is reading a book that he must have gotten while I was reading. He seems like he is into it but I can't really tell.

"Levi. I have a question." I say quietly.

"Hhmmm?" He hums in a bored tone, looking up from his book and looking at me with a bored look.

"How come it says here that there is no way to tell if someone is a vampire other than smell but Hanji was able to tell with that test she did?" I ask, pointing at the part in the book.

"No one knows. Stupid shitty glasses won't tell anyone how she does it. We have all wondered that actually. She probably doesn't even really know herself." He says, making a tch noise and taking a sip from his cup. I just notice now that he holds his cups weird. He holds them at the top instead of on the side like most people.

"Why do you do that?" I ask him curiously.

"Do what?"

"Hold your cups like that?" I gesture to the cup in his hand. He looks to his cup and then back to me.

"It's a stupid story." I stare at him pleadingly and wait for him to continue with the story and after a few moments of silence he sighs and goes on. "Fine. When I was a little kid I had always wanted a tea set but we didn't have a lot of money so it was hard to get things. I finally got one after wanting one forever and when I went to pick up the cup, I picked it up by the handle and it broke off and the cup fell and broke. I've never held my cups like that from that day on."

"Aww you don't want any more cups to break for you. That's so cute and sad at the same time." I say, laughing at his story.

"It wasn't funny. It was probably one of the worst experiences of my life. Now get back to reading so we can get out here faster." he says, nodding towards my book. He has his normal bored look on his face but it also looks like he is trying to hide a small smile. I have been trying to read him better since he always pretends to be emotionless most of the time. I like to think I am getting better at reading him.

"You know, you don't have to stay in here with me."

"Yah. I know that." he looks back to his book he was reading.

"Then why are you? I mean not that I mind at all, but don't you have better things to do than sit around and wait for me to read a book?"

"No." is all he says before he starts reading again. I decide to let it go for now and start reading again. I take a sip of blood from my cup as I skim some more through the section until something catches my eye.

A vampire's eye color will change to red when they get very emotional or are feeding (though, they only change if they are feeding from a human. Something about it being fresh from the source.) With some practice vampires can also switch between eye colors at will. There are rare cases where a vampire may have a different eye color. It's around a one in one million chance though.

I wonder if my eyes are a special color!

"Hey Levi! What color are my eyes?!" I ask him excitedly.

"Green." he replies without looking from his book.

"No, I already knew that. I meant what color are my eyes as a vampire?" He looks up at me from his book and sets it down on the table.

"How should I know, I've never seen your eyes change idiot." I decide to ignore the insult this time.

"Well how do I get them to change?" Levi just shrugs.

"Hell if I know, you just know how to do it I guess. I don't really know how to explain it but you can feel them change. You just kind of do it."

"Oh" I pause for a second. "I want to try!" I say excitedly before closing my eyes and trying to concentrate on changing eye colors.

"You look like you're trying to take a shit."

"Shhh I'm trying to concentrate." I shush him, waving him off while keeping my eyes closed. He probably rolled his eyes at me but he stays silent.

After a few seconds of concentrating I open my eyes. "Did it work?!" I ask Levi excitedly. He glances over at me before replying.

"No"

"Aww really?" I pout slightly.

"Seriously? Just try again. It's not that hard once you figure it out." He says, rolling his eyes at me.

"Okay, I'll try one more time." I close my eyes and try to concentrate again.

"Try not to look so constipated this time." I flip him off but stay silent. I can hear him chuckle quietly from across the table. It's more of a scoff than anything but I'm still going to take it as a laugh from Levi. I smirk slightly.

I let out a breath before opening my eyes. This time I can feel something, I just hope that means I did something right. "How about this time?" I ask, anticipating the no but instead I get nothing. Levi is staring over at me with a slight look of surprise on his face. "What is it?" I ask.

"Your eyes are gor…" He whispers to quietly for me to hear the rest.

"Huh?" He clears his throat before replying again.

"I said your eyes are gold. "

"Woah really!? I thought that was like a one in a thousand chance!"

"One in a million actually. You are the only other person I have ever met that has a different eye color than the normal red."

"Really? Who is the other person?"

"Myself."

"Ooohh really?! What color are your eyes?" I ask, standing up and leaning over the table to get closer. Our faces are only inches apart now. He has a slight look of panic in his eyes before it goes away quickly and he leans back a little bit to put some more distance between our faces again. I brush it off as nothing though.

"Blue."

"Ohh! Show me please!"

"No."

"Why?" I whine.

"Because I don't feel like it."

"Please. Just this one time." I pout at him.

"Don't do that Eren."

"Do what?"

"Don't pout. You're acting like a child."

"Aw please just show me once and I will stop." I say, leaning closer slightly, still pouting. Levi groans before replying.

"Ugh fine. One time though!" He finally gives in to my plees.

"Yay!" I shout excitedly before sitting back in my chair properly.

Levi closes his eyes for a second and when he opens them back up his eyes are a brilliant icy blue. He blinks again and his eyes are back to their normal piercing gray color.

"Wow! Your eyes are so pretty!" I say, not really thinking about what was coming out of my mouth.

"What? Thanks I guess." My face starts to heat up because of my slip up with words.

"Shit I didn't mean it in a weird way. I'm sorry, I just spoke what came to my mind."

"It's fine brat, I don't mind actually. I never really show anyone my eye color. I don't really like it. I don't like being special. I never have."

"Well I like your eye color and I think being special is a good thing. It gives people personality!" I say proudly.

"Yah, I guess you're right."

"You bet I am!" I say, making a proud stance. "So everyone else has red eyes besides you and I?"

"Guess so. Now since I gave you what you wanted do what I want and finish that book." He says, pointing to the book I had left open on the table.

"Alright. Fine." I sigh and sit back down and find where I left off last in the book.