Page 15 of A Touch of Darkness (Chronicles of the Cursed #1)
Once Rebecca has left and Professor Draedon and I have made our way to his office—because I still need more answers, and I don’t plan on leaving him alone until I get them—I decide to ask the question that’s been edging closer to the surface. My brain is trying to make sense of all of the information I’ve learned but I feel like the pieces aren’t adding up.
“I want to know more about vampires. More about your curse. I’m trying to wrap my head around this, Professor, but my mind goes directly to Twilight .”
His smirk shows me there’s much to be learned.
We’re sitting at his desk now, him behind and me directly in front, only the old wood separating us. The soft glow of a few sconces dimly light up the space, but there’s an eerie shadow that lingers in the corners of the room.
He brings the pen he’s holding to his mouth and taps it lightly against his lips, as if stalling, buying more time to figure out what he should and shouldn’t tell me.
“I understand it must be difficult to go from believing humans are the only species to suddenly have various supernatural species thrown at you,” he says, setting the pen down and lacing his fingers together in front of him. His strong, chiseled jaw ticks as his eyes narrow in on me, pulling at something deep within me that I can’t name. “Vampires have been around since the original curse in the early 18 th century. In the beginning, we were much more feral, more like what humans see in old television shows and horror films. Vampires were an uncontrollable species, and the vampire curse spread quickly because no one knew anything about it. We didn’t know what caused humans to turn into vampires and we didn’t have the control to stop it anyway. We were nothing more than the bloodsuckers you’ve heard in lore.”
With that, a shudder rolls through my body, and I instinctively straighten my spine, hanging on his every word.
“Over time, many of us started to domesticate. We began to see the error of our ways, and the time that had passed since we first turned created…” He stalls and the look in his eyes changes, as if he’s drifting farther and farther away from me, lost in a memory from another time. “Time passed and we evolved. We learned, through trial and error, that we needn’t drink from humans, that there was a more humane way to survive. Different regions of the US have their own ways. But now, in our region, we’ve split up into various factions and we all live somewhat different.”
“What do you mean factions?” I ask, unable to help myself from pulling more information from him.
“For example, the faction I am part of here in Pennsylvania is the Midnight Alliance. We aim to promote peace among the supernaturals and the human species. Our faction supports ourselves mainly with alternate blood sources, like blood that has been donated freely by willing participants. We also don’t believe in harming others for our gain. We are as humane as a group of vampires can be, and it’s because many of our faction members are, in fact, the oldest vampires in existence. We are the domesticated out of the bunch, because how can one promote peace while killing the innocent?”
I nod in understanding as he sits back in his chair and takes a deep breath.
“When I say vampires have evolved, I mean we live very much like humans. At least the Midnight Alliance does. We can blend in perfectly with humans. It helps that vampires have beating hearts and we’re warm to the touch just like regular humans—some of the vampires in old lore do not have these qualities. In the early days of the curse, the sunlight did affect us greatly. It weakened us, and it even killed us if we stayed in it too long. Over these past nearly two hundred years, our species has adapted. Sunlight still can weaken us to an extent, but there is no danger in being out for a prolonged period.”
So, very different from any of the movies I’ve seen…
“And you only drink blood from your…sources? You don’t have to eat actual food?”
With that, he shakes his head. “We can eat anything we’d like. We sustain ourselves on regular, human food. The blood is what actually provides us with full sustenance and heightens our senses, power, and abilities. Without blood, we are of very little use. But we also eat food as well, just like you do.”
“And what about the whole…killing you thing?” I ask, unsure if there’s a way to ask that properly. It feels a little awkward asking a vampire how he can die.
“Silver will greatly weaken and eventually kill us if it stays on our skin for too long. It rips our flesh bit by bit. Another option is a stake through the heart. When turned into a vampire, the heart remains, continues beating, blood keeps flowing, but there is a change to the heart that happens anatomically. It’s been studied by scholars over the years. Of course, anyone would be killed by a stake to the heart, but humans could be killed by a stake to nearly any part of their body. If a stake went through our chest and missed our heart, we would heal rather quickly. Unlike humans.”
This feels like a lot.
A lot, a lot.
My head swims with all of the new information, and part of me kind of wishes I could just go to bed and wake up and have it all be nothing more than a weird ass dream. Actually, all of me does. If this were a dream, I’d have my sister, we’d be attending a regular college, and none of this would be true.
“I can tell you more in time, Sylvie,” the Professor says. “But I think you’ve had enough information thrown at you to last an entire lifetime.”
I nod and lean backward in my chair for a moment, willing myself to get it together but unsure of how. At least I have some answers as to how all of this works. I suppose that can be a shred of a silver lining. Maybe.
Sort of?
When I’ve finally composed myself enough to leave the office and head back to my dorm, I bid Professor Draedon a good night and tell him he’ll be seeing more of me soon.