"Perfect," Genna said. They were in a crowded restaurant ten minutes away from the house. "This is great." She felt less out-of-whack here with all these normal people milling about and talking.
"Um. I hate to break it to you, but this whole situation isn't exactly common knowledge," Brendon said, glancing around nervously.
"I know," Genna said rubbing her now aching head. "It's just… I needed to be someplace with people. Normal people. Sorry."
"Don't apologize," Brendon said, though he said it out of habit. "Well, what do you want to know?"
"Everything you know," Genna said immediately.
"Well…" He lowered his voice. "People like you and people like me, no one knows how it all started. What scientists have figured out is that it's genetic."
"Scientists? So there are other people who know about… us?"
"Um. I think there are a select few. But the scientists themselves were probably like us. Normal people don't want to know we exist. Can you imagine the holocaust that would cause? People would freak out. Anyway, our history is full of fiction, myth, and legend. Little to nothing can be known for sure about either of our… species."
Brendon cleared his throat and continued, "People like me are said to have once been a very peaceful people who were very rich and prosperous. Yours were more nomadic; they were shepherds and farmers.
"There were two royal families: one from your people, one from mine. Someone or something had killed the sons of both the royal families, the next to take the thrones. Each kingdom blamed the other. My people, rich and wealthy, threatened to quit buying your people's products if you didn't confess what you'd done. And your people threatened to stop selling products to my people. Consequently, that was almost an agreement. My people began trading with a small, poor civilization, presumably the normal human population."
The waitress stopped at the table and they ordered drinks quickly before Brendon continued.
"Your people, they continued to travel. It had seemed to end more peaceably than any impending war had before. But that was before a small group of activists started up. On both sides, they rose in anger and revenge, determined to exterminate the other's people completely. More deaths ensued. A war broke out. Thousands of people died on both sides.
"Of course, most of that is legend, but it seems feasible to me and most other people like me. I assume the story is a bit different, depending which side you ask, but you'll have to live with my story. So fact or not, the next part is a bit fuzzy.
"According to the research I've done, the Vamp-… uh… my people, I mean, won the war and the few people who survived of your clan fled to the mountains where they were outcasted forever. They promised to get revenge on my people someday. They are said to have become so comfortable on the mountain that they actually befriended the wolves that lived there. They studied magic and taught themselves to take the shape of what was supposedly the fastest, smartest, and strongest animal: the wolf."
The waitress came back with their drinks and when they told her they weren't ordering food, she seemed a little grumpy, but left them alone.
"But that doesn't really match up with other stories – stories that I assume come from your people," Brendon continued. "That your people won the war and my people were exiled into a desert area called "The Waste," where, in order to survive, they had to kill that already-mentioned small population that was probably the normal human race. Hence the blood-sucking myth."
"So it is a myth?" Genna asked.
Brendon raised an eyebrow. "You've seen me eat, haven't you?"
"Edward ate normal food. He just said it would be like what normal people would think about eating dirt."
"Edward?" Brendon asked.
"Edward Cullen," Genna clarified, somewhat embarrassed. "From Twilight."
"Oh dear God. Please don't compare me to Edward."
"So what's fact and fiction then?" Genna asked, steering away from the fantasy novels.
"Most of it's fiction," Brendon said. "You don't change on the full moon or any lunar cycle, for that matter. My knowledge of your race is a bit less than my own, though. Um. I love garlic, I don't think I can turn into a bat, I don't have too pointy ears, I don't normally wear a cape, and I'm pretty sure I can go outside in the sun."
"Fangs?" Genna inquired.
"Yeah. Well, kind of. Not right now, obviously. But when I turn I do."
"You turn too? Into what? Is it kind of the same as mine? Not a wolf, but I mean the whole mediation thing? And do you or don't you drink blood?" Genna blurted out.
Brendon laughed. "Um. When I turn, I look basically the same. Minus the fangs. And I might… well, I do drink blood. Hold on, hold on!" he said quickly, checking the disgusted look on Genna's face. "It's not like that. You don't understand. Vampires don't want to turn. We're nothing like you in that sense. It's a curse." His expression darkened considerably. "When I turn," he said quietly, "I'm incapable of controlling what I do. I become bloodthirsty. But I don't change often. If I'm under a ton of stress – be it emotional, physical, or psychological – I might change easier if I'm not careful. I've pretty much mastered the art of controlling my changes.
"I do know that it gets ten times harder not to change when I see a Wolf in full form. Which is why it was risky for you to change. I would've tried to kill you, Gen." He gave her a significant look.
"But how come I don't lose control?" Genna asked.
"Well, if you believe the histories, which I do to an extent, then you'll notice that your people chose to become like wolves. They became friends with another creature and harnessed that power. But we… we were forced to kill innocents. A bloody stain on any race, I assure you."
"So um… so you said we couldn't be together?" Genna had been waiting to ask that question for a while and she dreaded the answer.
"Well, you can understand why, can't you? I'm supposed to hate you. You're supposed to hate me, Genna. If I ever hurt you…"
"You won't hurt me," Genna said, though she'd lost some of her confidence back with the sucking blood thing. "I trust you."
"I don't trust me," Brendon said seriously. "If you ever turned on accident… and I wasn't ready…"
"Why would I change? I'd have to be mediating!"
"I don't think so. If I'm not mistaken, it's now a lot easier to go back and forth right?"
Genna nodded.
"That just means it's easier for you change unexpectedly under pressure. Becoming a Wolf has now ingrained itself into your fight-or-flight reaction. Both sides. You're faster and stronger as a Wolf."
"I don't care," Genna said defiantly. "We're not breaking up."
"It's not a choice, Gen!" Brendon said angrily. "I wish it was, but it's not!"
Genna cringed.
"I'm sorry," he said blankly. "But I won't hurt you. I won't do it."
Genna felt tears brim her eyes. "Then why did you come here at all if you already knew we couldn't be together?"
"I didn't know! I didn't know until you told me you'd never had your first kiss!"
"What?" Genna asked, shocked out of tears for a moment.
"Well, that's how most people turn into a either a Vampire or Wolf. They... have their first kiss by someone they love." He blushed a little.
"Who did you kiss?" Genna asked, knowing how vindictive that question sounded.
"I was only in kindergarten," Brendon said defensively. "I guess I thought it was love. Or something."
Genna hated to admit it, even to herself, but that made her happy. "So… so what? I got my first kiss. It's not like I changed right there."
"Well, I was always wary about other people. You can never tell if they're different until you ask, so I asked you how you felt. And you told me exactly what I didn't want to hear: stronger, powerful, and peaceful. The exact way you felt as a full-fledged Wolf, right?"
Genna didn't answer. He was right. She had felt amazing. And she remembered how he'd acted strange after that…
"Was it your mom or dad?" Genna asked as a change of subject. She would come back to the breaking up thing later.
"My mom," Brendon said with a traceable hint of pride.
"Is there anyone else I should know of who is a Wolf or Vampire?" Genna asked.
"Analeigh," Brendon admitted. "She's a Vampire. Um. Well, either your mom or dad, but you know that. We're not that common, though. We're sort of a dying race, both you and I."
The waitress came back with the bill of a total of five dollars. Genna tipped her one hundred percent just to make her happy. Brendon and Genna got back into Genna's car and she drove back home. It was already seven o'clock and Analeigh was supposed to come at eight.