Hey everyone,

Well, this chapter was meant to cover the trip to Merlock's past and describe what really happened to him, his parents, his siblings and his village. But, well, it got a life of its own.

Let's do this,

Venquine1990

Chapter 16

A Morning Of Curiosity

11th of May 2418

Goodman Residence, Japan

Merlock's POV

It's happened again.

It's morning, but it's still dark outside. Twilight hasn't quite started showing up yet.

And yet she's back at my side, back in my bed and I happily, lovingly wrap my arm around her. My arm fits perfectly around her waist and my fingers softly caress her skin through her nightshirt.

My eyes are closed, yet I'm awake. And a smile adorns my face that grows slightly as she cuddles closer.

Then my angel makes me wonder if, perhaps, she can read minds as she whispers: "One day, it will be like this every morning."

I open my eyes to smile down at her and whisper at her: "One day, you won't have to move rooms anymore to experience my presence, my lovely One."

Sarah beams back at me and asks if I slept well. I reply that I only rested as I slept the night before our picnic.

Sarah's smile vanishes off her face and she asks: "Is that enough? Considering what we'll be doing, where we'll be going later today?"

I want to grimace at this reminder. But late last night, while I was resting, I made myself a promise. "Until we leave, I won't worry about it – and neither should you, my lovely Sarah.

What we're about to embark on might improve our future together, but even though we'll travel to the past –."

"We can't change it."

Sarah doesn't sound as relieved as I had hoped she would. My words didn't manage to reassure her as I had intended. And so I decide to try a new approach.

I start to softly run my hand through her hair and whisper: "Remember, my love. This trip is to help me feel better. It's to help me come to terms with my past. It's to put the fear, the horror and the pain that is in my heart behind me."

And these words have the desired results. Sarah beams up at me and nods, her head moving with the same delicacy that has always attracted me to her and her splendor.

"Now, back to my earlier decision. Tell me, my darling, how would you spend these remaining hours before we depart?"

A few minutes pass as Sarah thinks my question through. I genuinely desire to see her smile, yet a thoughtful frown continues to adorn her face. Then, as her eyes seem to focus on her right hand, which lies atop my chest near my shoulder, she mumbles:

"I was – wondering if – if you could – I mean – there are a few –."

She seems unwilling to speak about her curiosities. Yet the troubled look on her face and the way she looks at me as she speaks, as if she's worried that she'll insult me if she voices these curiosities, tell me everything I need to know.

"Sarah, I've lived through almost a thousand years of rumors, hearsay and false theories. If you're curious about which of these are true or false, it won't hurt me to tell you.

If anything, I want you to know about my kind. After all –." Yet this time I am the one who falters. Not just because I realize that I haven't discussed this with her yet, but also because I realize that other thing that I haven't mentioned to her yet.

Sarah stares up at me for a few moments and for just the shortest of seconds I fear that she may dash from the room in utter fright and horror.

But instead, my beloved One proves me wrong and proves why Destiny picked her as my One. She cuddles with me and pulls herself so that her head is tucked under mine as she says:

"After all, one day soon, I'll be like you."

This time I am the one to stare down at the Goddess that lies next to me. Simply because of one word that she had said, that I had not intended to say.

Soon.

Yet as I stare at my beloved, pink-haired, blue-eyed One, I silently vow to myself that it won't be as soon as Sarah may be inclined to believe.

"I won't turn her, not without her consent and not until she knows exactly what that entails. I will educate her in all the ups and downs, all the lies and truths and everything else. She will know all there is to know before I Turn her."

And with this silent vow in mind, I ask her what she wants to know. Sarah smiles and says: "Well, one of the things that people say about Vampires is that they're cold to the touch. But you've held me many times and your body temperature has never felt off or anything."

I grin at her and explain:

"That's because I've learned to control my body temperature when I was only 40 years old. These days, it's done instinctively. I actually need to focus on not having human body temperature to let my body take on the temperature that is regular to my kind."

Then, in a sudden burst of curiosity, I decide to test my beloved One and say: "Most of the time I use it as a defense mechanism. If my looks attract someone I don't care about and they try to cling to me, I purposely retain my natural temperature for barely a second.

Works every time."

Sarah giggles and I feel a slight burst of relief at the fact that the sweet girl didn't look offended or angry at all while I spoke. She really doesn't have a jealous bone in her body. Either that or she is truly confident in our bond and her place as my One.

The chance that it might be the latter brings a smile to my face, even as Sarah speaks. "So that's what happened. I heard rumors that you had gotten into an argument with Meredith and that you freaked her out and even insulted her.

I wondered what that was about."

I shrug while I want to roll my eyes at the memory of that young woman, who has thrown so much of her life away before it could actually become something beautiful.

"I merely told her the truth, my darling Sarah. She asked me what you had that she didn't and I commented on how much she had ruined herself in her need to create a fake version of herself. And I did indeed use my technique, but that was only because I didn't wish for you to see her all over me like she was trying after you left."

"That's so sweet of you. I admit, a lot of students at school really don't like how much Meredith changed herself. Some even say that they felt she was beautiful before she convinced her mother to let her go through all that plastic surgery."

I nod and ask: "Enough about her, we were talking about your desire to learn more of my kind. Is there anything else you wish to know, my darling Sarah?"

Sarah nods and states that it's mostly the physical biology of my kind that she's interested in. Her love for studying and her intelligence endear her to me, just as always.

I smile and lean my head back on my pillow as I say: "Well for one, vampires have little blood coursing through their veins. It's mostly the venom that they are known for that runs through our bodies. There are still blood-cells coursing through the blood and the venom, but we don't really require it to remain healthy like humans.

For another, as I'm sure you've noticed whenever you laid your head on my chest, our hearts still beat, though much slower than that of a regular human.

Naturally when our emotions overwhelm us, our heartbeat increases accordingly, but it will never beat as speedily as an energized human heart.

The same counts for our lungs. We don't really need to breath, but we make sure to train our bodies to keep breathing on instinct once we've fully gone through the Change and come into all of our powers and abilities.

Anything else, my pretty one?"

By now twilight has come, the sun has started its ascend across the sky and small beams of light attempt to break through the curtains of my room.

We have changed positions as well. Sarah is now the one lying on her back and I am on my side. My right hand is holding up my head and my left is softly caressing through Sarah's hair.

And Sarah herself looks like a divine being sent down from the heavens to bless me with her presence. Her eyes are closed and a gentle smile adorns her face. Her hands are clasped upon her chest as she lies on her back. The look on her face shows her delight as she listens to my words.

As I ask my question, she turns her head my way and says: "There are a few more things. One of which I didn't even realize I was curious about until after our picnic."

I nod to encourage her to speak her mind and she says: "From what I understand, all of you were born vampires, right? I nod again. So can vampires be born from regular mortals or –?"

Sarah falters, as if she realizes that she has brought the conversation back to our upcoming adventure. But while this is true, I ignore this fact for now.

"Indeed yes. While certain beings need to be together to create a similar being in their offspring, vampires, werewolves, fae and witches have been able to be born from mortals for as long as I can remember.

I do remember certain older members of my clan that were born from other vampires and even a few who joined, because they had befriended a vampire and asked to be Turned. Unfortunately, each of them have long since passed and, as far as I know, each of our current members were born from regular mortals.

All, bar Adam, apparently."

For a few minutes silence lingers in the room between us. I turn to Sarah, as she mentioned multiple curiosities but has only spoken of one so far.

My pretty one seems hesitant to voice her next question. I wonder if, again, she worries that she might insult me, but then I notice that a light blush taints her fair complexion.

And then – her eyes drift downward, to her stomach alongside a single hand. Instantly I realize what might be going through my dear one's mind and my eyes widen in shock.

For a moment an image of my beloved One, pregnant of my child, flashes through my mind. Yet I force the though out of my mind as I know how easily one as young as myself can be tempted to make such a fantasy actual reality.

Instead, I gently lie my hand atop of hers and draw her attention back to me. I stare straight into her gorgeous blue eyes as I tell her:

"Do not get me wrong, my dear one. One day you and I will enjoy such a wonderful blessing. And like yourself, I dream of such a day quite often.

But you must understand, it is most unsafe for a mortal and a vampire to mate in such a way. I must ask you, be patient.

For now, just focus on what we have planned for the day and then, once our trip is behind us, I will continue to teach you what it means to be a vampire."

Sarah nods and asks if this means that she will be turned one day. I nod at her and whisper those two last words back at her; one day.

Sarah looks at me curiously and I gently smile back at her as I say: "There is much for you to understand about my kind, Sarah my love.

Not to mention that being Turned is a process in and of itself. It's best that we do what we can to prepare you for this day."

For some reason Sarah seems displeased with this fact. It takes me a few moments before I understand why there is a frown of dissatisfaction on her precious face.

"Forgive me, my dearest. I did not mean to make you think that I will leave you hanging for years or that I consider you too young or immature.

Trust me, I desire to have you at my side for as long as my inner vampire will allow me to continue existing on this plane.

But I have been waiting for your arrival and birth for so long, I want to do this right. I have learned everything there is to know and now I want to teach you in return.

Can you understand this, my One?"

Sarah smiles, yet she whispers: "Just promise me that you won't take too long." I run a hand down her face and whisper a promise to her.

"By this time, my One, you will be like me. You will know all there is to know and you will either have gone through the process of Turning – or you will have Turned."

We smile at each other and it almost feels as if, through our smiles and our gazes, we cement my promise within our bond.

Then suddenly the sound of flesh on wood sounds from somewhere far away. Only a second later I realize that it's not a faraway sound.

It's a knock on my bedroom door.

There we go,

I'll admit, the ending might not entirely fit with the rest of the chapter, but I felt like creating at least some kind of nice transition into what we'll be covering next.

The trip to the past,

Venquine1990