Bella Notte (33 page)

I looked at my dad
and felt the same sense of awe; I did not know my family at all.

“
Ah, well I
was going to get to that later but since your mother brought it up,
I'll elaborate. Yes, you females are only able to have one birth;
however, it is not limited to one child. You are capable of having
identical twins, triplets, and so forth. The singular egg can split
as many times as it wants, but, once you are pregnant, that is it. I
don't really know all the workings of it, but I do know that you
cannot become pregnant until you have performed the ceremony of life
with your chosen partner,”- he eyed Dominic-“and then you
will be able to conceive. Now, on to other topics. You are faster,
stronger, and more capable than you were before. You also age slower.
We haven't figured out exactly how slow, but I've never heard of a
vampire dying of old age. Your knowledge will grow rapidly and you
will absorb things better. In a few weeks your teeth will begin to
retract naturally and then you will be able to learn how to do it by
command. Unfortunately, until this is learned, as well as self
control, you won't be able to return to school. This is already taken
care of because you are currently checked into a hospital out of
town. No arguments please. Your body has changed greatly. You now
have a few new joints that will allow you to do things that your old
self could never have dreamed of. All of your bones have hardened and
thickened, but this won't weigh you down. This will cause you to be
heavier if you were to step on a scale, but you will feel lighter
than before. Your organs have altered as well. Your heart and lungs
will move slower, thus causing the beats to be less and you will now
require less oxygen. You will learn to speed up your heart rate when
necessary later. Your breathing you will probably never stop doing as
you did in your past life, unless it is absolutely necessary, like
today. Your digestive system will take food, but that will not be
your main source of nutrition any longer. Blood and raw, or very
rare, meat, will take over what was normal for you. But do not forget
that you can still indulge in whatever you want. It will probably
taste different now and thus your favorite things will adjust
accordingly. You can run faster than you can drive, but we drive to
be less obvious. Every sense you had before is now heightened beyond
anything you can imagine, this is something else you will learn to
control later. It generally does not cause any problems. You are not
sensitive to sunlight, but because your vision is so amplified,
direct sunlight will hurt your eyes … nothing permanent
though. You can get sick and you are susceptible to the elements.
These things cannot kill you. The only true death that can claim you
is when your heart is cut out and burned, or if you yourself are
burned to death … something that was very common during the
witch hunt days. Otherwise, you can heal,
if
the part can be found or regrown. That is to say that someone can cut
off your head- which is very hard to do by the way- and take it with
them, yet you won't die. Another person would have to bring back the
head and then your body would repair itself. Your other systems will
adjust as you develop. Intercourse is something that is common
amongst our people, but please do not fall into that trap. Wait for
your life mate. We can't get STDs and all, but our name does hold
something … and I would greatly appreciate it if you did not
get involved with the wrong things. Before I forget, do not drink the
blood of a human directly. It will affect you strangely because of
all the things that they put into their bodies. You yourself cannot
make a vampire, only through the ceremony of life can that occur, and
going around biting people will only damage yourself. However, the
blood of a vampire will be the sweetest to you. I don't suggest that
you go biting them either though; as I am sure they would bite you
back! Werewolf blood will make you sick. It is best to avoid them
anyways.” My father looked at me with stern eyes
.
I can't believe my dad talked to me about sex and drinking blood. My
world is upside down!

“
Ah, one more
thing… We can hear your thoughts. You can hear thoughts that
are directed to you. Or, if you were to share an intimate moment with
another, then you could hear their thoughts. But, until you are
trained, your mind is an open book and everyone else’s is a
closed, locked one. You will learn how to block out the thoughts of
others and prying minds and you may even learn to pry yourself but,
until you are taught, you must keep your mind empty unless you want
someone to know something. Like your mother had mentioned, some of us
do have special gifts. It is something that develops and we learn
about as we grow, so you may encounter odd things for yourself. Just
be aware that it's normal. Now, your grandmother will continue.”
He looked to his mother and I could see the admiration.

“
Child, you
are one that is filled with fact and fiction from your cinema
watching. I will attempt to distinguish between fact from fiction for
you. There is much for you to learn and it is a misfortune that you
will only learn some from us, but that is to come later. I will also
speak with you about the society you are now entering into and the
expectations that go along with it so please try and listen, closely.
We do not burst into flames when we come into contact with the sun or
ultra-violet rays. Our hearts still beat and we still breathe. We are
not undead- merely another evolutionary change. We have reflections
in mirrors and can be seen on film. A stake through the heart won't
kill you, it will only hurt … terribly bad. We heal from
almost all wounds, your father spoke of the ones that are fatal, but
our healing time is slowed greatly when the damage is serious. Silver
has no effect on us, unless you find it tacky, then it is merely an
annoyance! You will now have great physical and mental abilities, but
they will bring great responsibilities with them. We do not sleep in
coffins and since we are not the risen dead, we do not need our grave
dirt to stay alive. Some of us do possess the possibility to morph
into animals, but it is a skill that is not easily learned and is one
of the gifts your father spoke of. We certainly do not change into
mist or fog and float around looking for our next victims. We prefer
the night hours
only
because of our sensitive sight. If everyone saw things so well, there
would be no daylight activities. We can eat as much garlic as we can
stand, but it does come out through our pores like it would with a
human. Crosses and religious symbols have no effect on us either-
over time some of us have actually started to practice some of these
faiths. We can't fly, but we run fast enough and jump high enough
that it appears as though we
are
flying. Iron is another metal to us. We are colder than most living
creatures, which are one of the things we have not been able to hide.
We can enter any dwelling we see fit to enter, no exceptions. We
could drink, bathe, or swim, in holy water without it doing anything
to us. As your father said, we cannot turn people by a simple bite,
nor were we created in such a manner. Many of us are subject to the
call of blood and thus must remember to feed before we mingle with
anyone. When the lust comes forward it is dangerous for anyone- not
just humans. We have fangs, but hide them easily. Our speed,
strength, beauty, senses, and, at times, our morality are heightened
with our change. We are paler than most folks, but that could easily
be explained away by climate.” She took a sip of the glass of
water sitting in front of her.

“
Now for the
society that you live in and what is expected of you... We are highly
cultured and educated, which you will ultimately be as well. Our
manners are generally perfect and we are well-behaved. Ones as young
as you are would call us 'Old School,' I believe? If you were to
watch the old black and white films that have balls, dinner parties,
and large family roots, but also a deep connection to the community,
then you would have some idea of what life is like with us. Since we
control so much in the human world, many of us sit on boards or run
committees for charities, organizations and the like. You will be
expected to get involved. I do believe that there are cinematic
societies that we run; these are generally in charge of the
preservation of old films and the education of these classics. We
have one that is actually responsible for the films that the theater
in town runs. As you can see there are many things that make our
lives work: balls, dinners, functions, business ventures, education,
culture, and so much more. Since you were born into this family, you
have a greater responsibility to everything that makes us who we are.
If our world had royalty then the Hutchinsons and the DeDominicos
would be it. We, however, did away with the formal title many years
ago. But taking away the title did not stop us from being treated in
that manner, and being looked upon, and up to, in such a way. So, we
have accepted the role without complaint and we are the ones that
protect our kind. I am sure it sounds like a lot, or maybe it sounds
like nothing because these are merely words, but you will learn this
responsibility and do your duty with the grace of those that have
come before.” Her voice was icy steel and her beautiful eyes
locked on mine as though she could blink and I would be gone if I
even thought I couldn't do as she expected.

I nodded, I mean,
could I do anything else?

“
Now, Emma
dear, I don't think that we need to stress the need for you to keep
this a secret, do we?” Grandpa's voice was gentle and soft
compared to my grandmother's.

I shook my head.

“
Good, because
if anyone found out that we were vampires, then I would expect that
we would have to fear the ignorance that many films have created for
our kind. People would mob us, and ultimately we would all be in
danger,” he looked around the table as he said this, “I
know that you would never want to put any of us in danger. You will
know when you are amongst your own because we greet each other
silently; there is never any confusion about which you can be
yourself around. I am very proud of you my darling.” He smiled
and everyone nodded their heads in agreement. “Dominic, I
believe that makes it your turn.”

I looked at Dom with
knitted brows.
What
will he tell me?

Remember that I
can hear you, Em.
He winked at me. “Now because you have changed, after you
graduate from your current school, in a few months, you will be
attending one of the many schools for us. Before you start with your
questions, let me explain. After the change of all vampires it is
required that they attend our schools. You will learn to control the
things that your family has mentioned, and you will also be fully
immersed within your own culture. You will get to experience all that
your grandmother has spoken of. You will not need to fear keeping
your new secret. It is tradition and so I know you will do it with
grace. I, unfortunately, did not get to enjoy this event because I
changed early, at the age of fourteen. For males, it is common for us
to change around the age of sixteen, so I never went to our school.
Instead I traveled and learned from many great teachers. However,
when you go to whichever location you choose, I will be there as
well. I will be a temporary professor- teaching in the ways of the
world and passing on the things that I have learned from my many
teachers. Your family and mine felt it was necessary to keep the
tradition of having the betrothed couples attend at the same time.
Generally, I would have been there before you, so I would be able to
help you settle, but this time we are doing it quite differently.
What do you think?” He was the first to pose a question to me.

“
I think it is
kinda neat to think of schools being out there just for our kind.
But, I mean, are they exclusive? Are werewolves there?” I was
going to keep attaching more questions but I was cut off.

“
No! They are
not!” My grandmother looked like she was going to bust a
vessel.

“
Okay, I was
wondering.” I tried to think of a way to calm everyone down, I
felt the same anguish over their reaction as I had from Mike's
dismissal of me as a vampire.

“
Emma. You
must forget all about the werewolves. Mike's family and ours have
developed a mutual understanding of keeping each other’s
secrets, but that is as far as it goes. If either side steps out of
line then the tender balance is blown. You must never speak to that
boy again. It is forbidden to interact with their kind. Is that
understood?” Her eyes held the tint of red in them and I was
really scared.

“
But …
Mike is my friend and I love him.” I whispered it, but I knew
my thoughts betrayed me.

“
He is no
longer your friend Mike, darling. He is now dangerous to you. He
could kill you without a second thought. It is his nature. It
wouldn't be his fault; it is what he was created for. I am sorry,
honey, but I do have to agree with your grandmother. Please do as we
say on this one. And love is something that can change.” My
mother's voice was kind, she looked from me to Dom as she spoke the
words about love.