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"I really don't know how to tell you this so I'll just say it..."

Apparently daddy dearest was at a loss for words. Good. I'd gone my entire life without the sound of his voice and I was sure I could continue to do just peachy now.

"Belladonna... I'm a vampire."

My mind froze. I really wasn't expecting that. They say mental illness is hereditary.... and my being insane would explain a lot......

"And your mother.... she was a witch."

I laughed a humorless laugh. There was an undercurrent of hysteria in it. "You really expect me to believe that? Your a complete stranger, whether your my father or not. I don't believe a single word that's coming out of your mouth. I do, however, believe that you are an insane..."

"Belladonna. I am not joking!" He cut me off. I was once again surprised by the seriousness in his voice and the fact that he was able to keep a straight face while feeding me this bull shit. "What can I do to prove to you that what I'm saying is the truth?"

"You AREN'T a vampire so you can't prove it!" I shouted. Why did my sane parent have to die?

“This would be so much easier if Tanya had explained it!” he exclaimed, exasperated.

“Yeah, well. I don’t really think she intended to die!” I shouted back.

He rubbed his face, breathing deeply to calm himself. “Yes of course. I’m just surprised to find that you weren’t raised in the Wiccan customs.”

“And of course, by Wiccan you mean… what exactly?”

“My knowledge isn’t very insightful. Since I’m not a member of their coven, let alone race, I don’t know their customs. I can give you a vague idea though.”

“Well, it’s a start,” I replied.

“Witches have many abilities that the untrained mind doesn’t. Early humans began experimenting with herbs. They coexisted with nature. As technology developed further, humanity became distanced from the Earth. A group of people separated from the rest of humanity and stuck to the old ways, living off of the Earth and practicing magic. Gradually, humans and the witches became entirely different species. There are human witches, but they will never achieve the level of magic that a witch born into the craft will.”

“Um…. Magic?”

“Yes. True magic. The man that tried to kill you was a witch.”

I remembered the way he had been inhumanly strong, and seemingly able to summon the dagger to his waiting hand. Suddenly the possibility of there being vampires and witches seemed a lot more realistic. “If he’s a witch and I’m a witch, why was he trying to kill me?”

“He was the man your mother was supposed to marry. An arranged marriage, you see. Tanya was descended from a line of extremely powerful blood. It’s very magical. She was the only female of her generation in her family, and they had high hopes for her. She was to be married to a man of almost as much power. His lineage was very pure as well. Well, we fell in love and ran off together. I guess killing you would be revenge."

“Oh, lovely! Just what I wanted to hear!” I said, sarcastically.

“Well, I’ll be able to tell you more about vampires, since I am one.”

“Yeah about that,” I said. “In all of the stories vampires are sterile.”

“No we are perfectly capable of….. Reproduction,” he said, uncomfortably. “We do drink blood, and have fangs…”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I interrupted. “Fangs?!”

“Yes,” he smiled, revealing elongated incisors. “See?”

I nodded, dumbly, and immediately stuck my finger in my mouth, poking my incisors. “I don’t have….. erm… fangs.”

“No. Not until the awakening ceremony,” he grinned. It was a somewhat creepy sight. I really had no clue how it had escaped my observation.

“As I was saying, when you bite someone to feed it doesn’t turn them. In order to be a vampire you must be born one. As the legends go we do feed off of humans, and we do this by biting them. To kill a human isn’t considered barbaric or a crime. It’s a way of life for many. Still, some choose to leave their dinner alive. The only rule is, as you can probably guess, don’t let them know they’ve been fed from. One thing all “mythical” beings have in common is causing mass hysteria in humans. From witch hunts to vampire slayers, the product of our existence, real or imaginary, is fear and the deaths of many innocent people. We prefer to just stay hidden.”

“Makes sense.”

“It does, doesn’t it? Now to cover a few key points to staying alive. We are unaffected by time, but not necessarily immortal. We are allergic to garlic. It causes respiratory failure. Sunlight is harmful to us, but we don’t just burst into flames if we come in contact with it. It causes severe burning and flu-like symptoms for a few days after exposure. If you are left in the sunlight for extended periods of time you will die, but it takes a few hours at least.”

“I’m out in the sunlight all the time,” I said.

“Yes. These symptoms will kick in after…”

“The awakening ceremony. Yeah, yeah, I got it. Just testing you.”

He smiled. “Fast learner. So are you ready to get out of bed finally?”

“Um, I think.”

“Good. It’s time you meet the Record’s Keeper.”

“The what?”