Who am I?

'Drink up your tea sweetie,' Nana said. 'It's going to be a long story. Dave, why don't you go and check what Ilhas has found about you know who?' He nodded and got up to leave, and for the first time I found myself alone since the whole series of events started.

'You're in safe hands,' he murmured to me before leaving.

'He cares about you that lad.'

I doubted it, but I hoped it was true, because I had started caring about him.

'You were born twenty-five years and a few months ago to my daughter Fira. She was part of a research team on Bhuvar whose task was to determine how many vampires and werewolves were settled on Earth and to assess the level of threat they represented. To compile the data, she had to go on Earth. She was so talented,' Nana added wistfully.

'What about my father?'

'Nana took a deep breath and said, 'He was not a vampire.'

'He was a human then?'

'No, he was ... a werewolf.'

For a few seconds I felt as if I had been struck, but then I got thinking.

'How could he be a werewolf? I thought that vampires and werewolves were sworn enemies?'

'They were. They are. Werewolves are vampires' weakness.'

'So how did he get together with my mother then?'

'He had been living among the human beings for so long that he, himself, forgot that he was a werewolf and when he saw Fira, he fell head over heels in love with her. She tried to resist him, and believe me, your mother was a strong woman, but his love and sincerity got the best of her. When she discovered that he was a werewolf and he learnt that she was a vampire, they were already in love.'

I tried to keep up with the narrative, but it was hard as each time new questions came to my mind and I had to voice them out.

'But I heard that The saliva of werewolves are toxic to vampires.'

'Not just saliva, all the bodily fluids contain the deadly toxin.'

I was still not satisfied with the answer. 'So how could my mother get pregnant then? Would the first kiss, the first touch not represent a danger to her?'

'They knew the risks. Your father, Hans, had vowed not to be intimate with your mother, but there's no stopping love. Fira was ready to sacrifice her life for a night of love. And what had to happen happened. You happened Ash.'

I didn't know whether to laugh at the absurdity of the situation or cry in frustration that love is what killed my mother.

'Your mother was very much weakened after this, but she was the happiest she had ever been. She knew that she only had a few years to live, with the toxin moving slowly inside her body. When your parents learnt that Fira was pregnant, they were on top of the world. The embodiment of their love would stand as proof that they did not make a mistake.'

Nana pulled a handkerchief out of his shirt pocket and wiped my tears. I hadn't even realized that I had been crying. He continued,

'They had to hide from the world. If word got out about this unnatural union, they would have been in trouble.'

'You mean that before no vampire and werewolf had ever been in love or indulged in sex?' I felt a bit shy to be so forefront, but the need to know the truth was stronger than anything else.

'Oh no, they were not the first. Many had tried and failed. Some died during the intercourse, others a few days or hours afterwards. Some have tried to lead a platonic relationship and have been partially successful. But no one had been able to survive as long as Fira did. And we had never heard of any pregnancy between a werewolf and a vampire. This was my Fira, feisty and strong.'

'Could you not have done anything to help her?'

'We were always here for her, but nothing was in our hands.'

'And then you were born. My Fira tried to stay with you as much as she could, but her body had been damaged beyond repair and she left us. Your father was heartbroken and even he died a few days later. He called your Nani one night and told us about your birth. Your Nani could not bear it and left everything to come to Earth, knowing that she wouldn't be able to come back as it would put you in danger.'

'So many sacrifices. Nani, my mother and my father and all for what? For me? I'm an oddity, something that shouldn't have existed.' The guilt was weighing me down and the pain was too unbearable. I felt choked with tears. I wanted to shout and cry, but at what? At my rotten destiny, at the turn of events. It had always been the same, like for the prize money taken by Gati, and now it was about my whole existence.

'No,' Nana interjected vehemently. 'You're not an oddity. You're unique. You're special. You're the proof that love can conquer anything.'

'Love killed my parents!'

'No, love made them live a few lifetimes within a few years. They had no regret and you should have none. Don't cry, my lovely. Great things await you.'

He seemed so convinced that he managed to uplift my mood to a certain extent, but the raw guilt was a heavy burden to carry.

The conversation was cut short at that time when a hassled Anita barged in the living room, looking rather perturbed.

'Nana, Ilhas has come and needs to meet you now. Dave is with him.'

'Anita, take care of her. She's your own blood.' Nana then walked hurriedly off to wherever both men were waiting for him.

A rather contrite-looking Anita turned to me then. The harshness from her face was gone and she smiled at me.

'I'm sorry by my behavior. I felt threatened by your presence.'

'By me? Why?' I found this to be absurd.

'We barely know you and yet all of a sudden you were the center of attention. I felt ignored and... Okay, now that I'm saying it, I do sound like a spoiled bitch. Sorry.'

She came to me and gave me such a tight hug that it was difficult to breathe and I took in a few gulps of oxygen as soon as she released me.

'Friends?' she asked, extending her hand in my direction.

Okay, what did I have to lose? Nothing, so I also extended my hand and we shook hands. It seemed so different from the last encounter that I found it funny. Well, since in theory we were friends, why not use this opportunity to ask her a few questions.

'Do you know about my parents?' I asked her softly.

'Yes, Nana told me once.'

'So, you know about my birth?'

'Only what Nana told me.'

'If I come from a family of vampires, then why am I not a vampire too?'

'Did you go through the initiation?' It was the first time that I had heard this and I think my confusion was pretty visible to her.

'You don't know about the initiation ceremony of vampires?'

'Anita, up till yesterday I did not know anything about vampires, so how can I know about this ceremony.'

'Yes, that's true.' She gleefully clapped her hands together. 'I'll tell you about it. I had a wonderful ceremony 200 years ago and it was the talk of the town for the next 10 years. It was that great.'

That seemed to be a topic she greatly enjoyed, talking about her. At least through that, I would get plenty of information.

'When a vampire turns 16, they have to undergo the initiation. Before that age, they are not allowed to look for fresh blood on their own. They have to rely on secondary sources. So during the ceremony, they have to drink the fresh blood of a donor and then you party all night.'

'That's it?'

'Ya, drinking the blood is simple. They just cut the skin and you lick the few drops and that's it. Of course, there are some who became drunk at the very first drop and they had to be stopped from sucking all the blood of the donor. I remember, I had a friend, Sam. His donor was a voluptuous girl whom he used to fancy. She had pricked her thumb and Sam had to lick the first drop of blood, then lick the thumb to make it heal. But her taste got to him and he kept sucking until the poor girl fainted. His pals had to physically pull him from over her. But the party was so much fun afterwards'

'But I thought that you drank synthetic blood?'

'That's just for the initiation. The Vetala are those who drink fresh blood each time,' she added in a mock-whisper.

'So this is what one has to do to turn to a vampire, such fresh blood?' I inquired. Was this why I was not a real vampire?

'If you have vampire blood in your veins, then yeah. My party was even better than Sam's. We had a live band too. Wait here, I'll bring the album.'

Finally, Anita was not that bad, just a little too pampered. So, now that I knew about the initiation, would it work on me? Did I even want to try? Just the though of sucking someone's blood made me feel queasy.

Just then, Dave came in, followed by Nana and another man, whom I presumed to be Ilhas.

Looking at me, Dave plainly stated, 'There's bad news.'

章節 9: Who am I?

批量訂閱

章節 9: Who am I?

批量訂閱

目錄

顯示選項

章評

段落註釋