A Chilling Revelation

Uche continued to stare at Mira, pondering what she meant by him being in the dark. Was she referring to his ignorance about the Connects and their ways? After all, he knew almost nothing about them.

Sensing that this conversation might stretch on, he eventually gave in to curiosity and moved to one of the chairs, sitting down opposite Mira. His eyes never left hers, watching her with a mix of skepticism and interest.

Before Mira could begin, she glanced down at her blood-soaked, tattered singlet and said.

"Before we start... can I get something to wear? I mean, I can't sit here like this. It's not exactly... comfortable."

Uche blinked in confusion.

"Huh? I don't have any female clothes."

He replied, shrugging awkwardly.

Mira smirked.

"Just give me one of yours. I'll manage."

After staring at her for a moment, Uche sighed, stood up, and fetched one of his shirts. He handed it to her and, while she changed, he took the opportunity to switch into clean clothes as well. Once they were both settled, Uche sat back down, crossing his arms.

"So, can you start explaining now?"

He asked, leaning forward slightly.

Mira didn't answer immediately. Instead, she regarded him with a curious expression, as though weighing her next words carefully.

"Before I start telling you everything, I have a question for you first: How did you become a Connect? Were you born one, or were you turned?"

She asked.

Uche frowned, not entirely understanding what she meant by turned. He decided to answer with what he knew.

"I'm not sure about that. I only discovered that I was... different when I was five. I fell from an apple tree and broke my leg in the process. It healed almost instantly, and that's when things started to going wrong."

"What about your parents?"

Mira asked, her voice soft but probing.

Uche hesitated.

"I never knew them, they both died right after I was born. I grew up with my grandmother who's just a regular human—she doesn't know anything about me being a Connect."

That wasn't entirely true. Uche was certain his grandmother knew more than she let on, but she had never spoken about it, and he wasn't about to tell Mira everything. His grandmother's secrecy had to be for a reason, and he intended to respect that.

Mira's gaze narrowed slightly, as though she sensed there was more to the story, but she didn't push him. Instead, she leaned back in her chair, her eyes taking on a distant look.

"It must've been difficult,"

She said, her voice almost a whisper.

"Growing up not knowing what you are, constantly hiding from people who'd want to kill you or turn you into a lab experiment. But I promise you, it all ends here."

Uche stayed silent, unsure of what to say. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his unease growing as Mira continued.

"You might find this hard to believe," Mira said, her tone careful, "especially since you've spent your entire life among humans, learning their ways, while hiding from what you're, not willing to accept reality, due to what you might have heard or seen."

"So what am about to tell you might be difficult to believe."

Mira claimed.

"Just say it already."

Uche complained, curiosity gnawing at him.

Mira smiled, a slow, almost predatory smile.

"Humans have different opinions about us, some think we are evolved human race - a set of humans who are closed to attaining immortality, while some think of us as a new race, created by some unknown force, maybe by a deity. They call us Connects, though I've never understood why. Some of them even believe we're an entirely different species, alien from another world."

She explained.

Uche leaned in, his curiosity piqued despite himself.

"So what are we?"

Mira's smile widened slightly.

"You've heard of vampires, right? From movies, books, myths?"

"Yeah, of course," Uche said, frowning, trying to guess what she's getting at. "But what does that have to do with—"

"You and I are vampires."

Mira interrupted him, her tone steady but firm.

Uche's mind went blank for a second. His thoughts tumbled over one another as he tried to process her words. Vampires? That couldn't be right. It made no sense. He had heard of vampires—blood-drinking creatures of the night, burned by sunlight, cursed to live forever in the shadows—but he had never experienced anything like that.

He remained silent, staring into space as his mind worked overtime, recalling everything he had ever heard about mythical creatures. He thought about the various legends—dragons, phoenixes, zombies, werewolves. He knew a little about all of them, even if his education had been sparse.

'Vampires… night demons, right?'

He thought, and then it hit him. His eyes widened in realization, and he shot up from his seat so quickly that the chair nearly tipped over.

"It can't be true," he blurted, his voice filled with disbelief. "You're saying I'm a vampire? Are you serious?"

Mira, surprised by the sudden outburst, tilted her head curiously.

"Why are you reacting like that now?"

She asked, confused. She had somehow expected this type of reaction, it's normal for every half-blooded who had grown up in the midst of human, to react like this after revealing what they are. Some of them even burst into laughter as it doesn't make sense to them, many had grown up reading several fantasy books about different mythical beings, so the reaction is normal.

But for Uche, he had gone into a complete silent even after she had told him what he was, only reacting now - after a couple minutes had past.

Uche shook his head, pacing slightly as he struggled to make sense of it all.

"Vampires drink blood, right? I've never done that. And the sun—vampires can't stand sunlight! I've been fine under the sun my whole life!"

Mira watched him, waiting for him to finish his rant before responding.

"And you too, you walked just fine earlier even when the sun was shining brightly, so what are you getting at."

He complained.

"I wasn't affected by the sun because of this."

Mira gestured to the hat that now lay on the floor nearby.

"It's… a special protection, let's say. As for you, well, your situation is unique, i don't also understand while you aren't affected by the sun, it's something we'll have to figure it out in time. Also, for the blood craving part, that's simply because you're a half-blooded and grown up among the humans, so some traits will be hidded until you get to the midst of your kind."

Mira paused, staring at Uche, probably guessing his reaction. After a while, she continued.

"All vampires are affected by the sun. And yes, we do need human blood to sustain ourselves, we heal faster, almost in an instant, and we're far stronger than any human. We can live for centuries, even a thousand years. But not all vampires are the same. You seemed to be be different from the rest of us for reasons I don't yet understand."

Uche stopped pacing, staring at her intently.

"So, what? I'm just some kind of mutant vampire?"

Mira chuckled softly.

"I wouldn't call you a mutant. But you're... rare. When I first found you, I thought you were part of another vampire unit on some mission. But after watching you for a while, I realized you didn't know anything about our kind. You've been living in the human world, following their rules, completely unaware of who or what you really are. That's why I decided to involve myself—to help you understand."

Uche didn't know what to say, the room felt too small, the air too thick. Everything Mira was telling him went against what little he thought he knew. Vampires, he wasn't sure if he could believe it, but he couldn't deny that strange things had always happened to him, things no human could explain.