2 Chapter 2: The Future

"You're one as well. A vampire."

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My mind went blank. I suddenly felt the world swirling around me and if I wasn't in a chair I would be falling to the ground right now.

Suddenly, as if fireworks were ignited in my head, emotions bombarded my brain and I couldn't think straight anymore. Sadness. Rage. Regret. Guilt. Uncertainty. Fear. But most of all, doubt.

Could she really be a vampire? She could walk in the sun just fine. She also never had the urge to drink blood. But then I realized that I did: when I saw one of my siblings had an accident while playing and was bleeding lightly, I did have the urge to consume it. I gasped and put my hand in front of my mouth. I suddenly felt the growing urge to throw up.

Could this be why he never let me clean the silver crosses? Why he didn't let me help with the mass? Because of the holy water? Because I was a vampire?

After that, I only felt fear. Overwhelming fear. What was I supposed to do now? Vampires were the archenemies of the Church and suddenly she was told she was one. If I was lucky I would just be excommunicated but otherwise...

I suddenly felt cold sweat flowing down my back and couldn't help but tremble in fear. I didn't even want to think about that scenario. But then the trembling stopped, just as fast as it began.

Why? Why was she still alive then? Why didn't he kill her when she was a child, when she couldn't even fight back?

I directed a puzzled gaze at him and noticed he had been waiting silently for me to calm down.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. After a few tries, I was calm enough to think rational again. 'Alright Dana, calm down. If he wanted to kill you he would have done it by now. What is he waiting for. What does he want?'

Seeing that she had calmed down somewhat, he smiled weakly at her and said, "You must be wondering why you are still alive, right?"

I nodded meekly.

"There are three reasons for that. The first reason is because I swore an oath to protect the weak and the innocent in front of my superiors. The second reason is because is promised I your mother to take care of you on her deathbed. The third and final reason, and perhaps the most important reason of all in my opinion, is because you reminded me of my own daughter." He smiled sadly and directed his gaze outside and yet not at the same time. Like he was looking further beyond that.

"Your daughter?", I asked, puzzled, "Is she not here then?" I couldn't help but ask. Something inside was telling me to shut up but my curiosity got the better of me.

"No, she and my wife are no longer here. They were both killed by a vampire just like with your parents. I was out hunting at that time and saw them getting killed when I returned home. After that it spotted me and rushed over to kill me as well. "

I didn't know what to say. Being left alive because of the guilt of her savior and father figure didn't feel exactly great, but what choice did she have. It was the only reason she was still alive.

"But before he could," his voice shook me out of my thinking and I tried to focus on his story again, "a priest, just like I am now, jumped before me and slayed it before my eyes. I didn't know what to do anymore. My whole world disappeared together with them. So I became a priest, just like him, and decided to kill vampires to avenge them and maybe find peace through His words."

I stayed silent for a little while, contemplating his words and story. Then I gulped. What now?

"You have two choices at the moment." he continued. "The first one is leave this orphanage by excommunication and be hunted down when you eventually succumb to your bloodthirsty urges."

I paled and started trembling again. I was afraid. Afraid of what the other members of the Church would do to me and if her friends and siblings would join them in the future. If she can survive that long at least.

"Calm down Dana. " he said, "We both don't want this to happen, believe me. Please, let me finish speaking first."

I took another deep breath and tried to calm down, which wasn't easy after this 'vision' of the future.

He continued with a question, "Dana, do you hate vampires now?"

I looked down and was silent for a little while before looking up and fixing my gaze upon him.

"I don't know..." I responded while sighing, "I hate vampires because they killed my parents and your family and want to avenge them but... I'm one myself apparently so, I don't know if I have to hate myself as well. I'm just... Confused... "

He smiled bitterly. He couldn't really understand the feelings but could follow the line of thought.

"The second choice you have is to stay here and help the Church with slaying vampires. You will probably have a seal placed on you to keep you in check and you won't be treated as a human but as a tool. You will also face some scorn and hate from people with similar pasts as ours but you will have a place to stay and food and shelter.", he told me.

I closed my eyes and deeply thought about my potential future plans and actions. 'I will probably be looked at with hatred and worked like a slave but at least I'll survive... I also won't have to say goodbye to Mary and the rest. I just hope they won't stop treating me like their sister and see me as a monster...'

"Can you guarantee they won't kill me or send me to my death for no reason, Father?" I suddenly raised my head and asked.

"I'll make sure you will be treated fairly. I'm good friends with one of the Cardinals of the Church's Headquarters and ask him to treat you mildly. I will do everything in my power to help you, you can be sure of that." he responded immediately. It seemed he had been thinking this through for a long while before I was called to his office. For me that was all I needed to be certain of his sincerity.

"Alright" I said, "I'll do it. I'll become a pet dog of the Church."

He smiled bitterly "Well, you're not wrong but please don't say it like that and especially not with other members of the Church nearby."

He stood up from behind his desk and slowly walked toward me before bending forward and tightly hugging me.

"I'm sorry." He said softly to which I only responded by hugging him back. I was probably crying right now but didn't really care.

We stayed like that for a few minutes until he loosened his grip and stepped back and said:"You can leave now. We'll talk more about this later."

I nodded and weakly smiled before turning around and walking to the door. I opened it and threw one last glimpse at Father Alexander before closing the door again and walking back to the sleeping quarters, leaving the both of us alone to our own thoughts.