~Blood Lust~

I was still feeling tired after the nap, but at some point I needed to start my day. I had questions but I wanted a break from the madness I now viewed the world as. I asked him to leave for a while, so I could run some errands I needed to do.

I walked to my closet and searched for a good running errands outfit. Something cute but casual and comfy. I chose the typical jeans and sweater; it was the beginning of fall and the air was starting to get crisp. I walked downstairs and saw my little sister sitting at the dining table eating a snack.

"You finally decided to get out of bed sleeping beauty. You missed school today, you feeling okay? You never miss school after missing so much of it last year." She looked concerned.

"I'm okay, I just wanted a break today. Classes were getting a little crazy."

"I'm sure you're excited to be done, only a month more and you're out of here, going off to college and leaving this life behind."

The topic of me leaving always made her upset. We don't have much here anymore after losing our parents to the fire a year back. It scares me too, the thought of leaving her here with our uncle.

"Ari, you know I would never go further than a short drive away. I'll be here every weekend at least. Focus on getting your license and maybe I'll invite you to a few parties!", I joked.

"Where are you going? Can I come with? I don't want to be stuck alone with crazy Uncle Alec."

I rolled my eyes, "He's not that bad, he just has his weird quirks."

The town considers my uncle a hot nutcase to be brief. He always taking about weird voodoo, and stuff. With my sudden realization of the truth behind beings I thought were fictional, I started to wonder if he was crazy after all. I mean, if vampires exist I wouldn't be surprised what else was lurking in the dark. I reminded myself to have a conversation with him later about it. Maybe he would have some answers for me.

"So can I join? Please Evie", she begged.

"I'm sorry Ari, but this is a personal errand. I won't be gone for too long I promise. When I get back we can watch your favorite show together."

"Well that's a deal that's hard to pass up on." She was trying to hide her excitement at the new deal she had been given. "See ya in a bit sis!"

I grabbed my keys and walked to my car. I was headed to Cara's house for the typical Monday study session. This time, we were focusing on our upcoming history test on the Roman Empire, a subject I found interesting given my newfound knowledge. Did armies use vampires as soldiers during war? They're almost a super soldier; any side that had them definitely would have won hands down.

While studying with Cara I found myself drifting off, thinking about the subject I just couldn't get off my mind.

"Evelyn, I've asked you same question three times? Are you even paying attention? What is on your mind right now that's more important than this history exam we have in four days? Our college careers are on the line here." She was always the type to exaggerate the little things.

"Sorry, I just have a lot in my mind right now and got distracted by my own thoughts."

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Is it your parents again?"

Whenever I spaced out people always brushed it off as me getting distracted thinking about what happened to my parents a year ago. Normally they're right, but this time it was different.

"Yeah, sorry I was drifting off again wasn't I? I need to stop doing that or else people are going to think I'm crazy like my uncle", I said jokingly.

"We've been friends since first grade. You know you can always talk to me. I think that's enough studying for today anyways. We've been going at it for an hour now." She seemed concerned as always about my mental well-being after it all happened.

"Yeah, I told my sister I wouldn't be gone too long since she's stuck with crazy Uncle Alec."

"I mean at least he's hot, it makes the crazy a bit more bearable." She laughed.

"This is my uncle we're talking about, that's just weird!" We both laughed at the thought.

"Speaking of hot, how are you and Ian? You haven't talked about him every second possible like usual."

"We're good, I guess there hasn't been anything new to tell." I was really hoping the subject wouldn't come up, I should of known better than to think I could avoid it. "I've got to go; text me our plans for tomorrow! I'm hoping you, Hailey, and I are still going shopping!"

Her eyes lit up when I said the word 'shopping'. "You got it girl! See you later!" Her voice was just as cheery as her bubbly blond personality.

When I got back to the house I saw Uncle Alec sitting in the living room, reading another one of his voodoo books. I decided now was as good a time as ever to ask him what he knew about vampires.

"Hey Alec, what are you reading today?"

He whipped his head around, surprised at the sudden voice behind him. "Oh, hey Evelyn. I'm just reading about the history of the Salem witches. Did you know that they never successfully burned a real witch, they were all tricked into believing they had."

"No, I didn't know that. Just out of curiosity, were you ever interested in vampires?"

The question clearly threw him off guard. I wasn't the type to ever express interest in his hobbies. "Well yes, they're one of the most fascinating creations of nature. Why do you ask?"

I tried to think of a reason I would ask such an odd question. "There was some talk about it in history class today, and how fear of them led to control over early civilizations." I hoped that was a convincing enough reason.

"Well of course people were scared, and based of lore they should be", he said.

"What do you know about them?"

"This is the first time I've seen you express an interest in my hobbies! Well there's the stereotypical lore such as their need for blood and their ability to cheat death. However, legends tell different stories about them in each culture. Some say they look like the undead, others say you could never tell a vampire from a human. But, all the legends agree on one thing, their blood lust is what drives them, they're monsters who feed to kill and don't care about who or what they destroy along the way."

"What do you believe?", I asked.

"Well if they are real, they must have to blend in with us. So I would speculate they are undistinguishable from humans, hiding in the shadows. Waiting to attack their unknowing victims."

I nodded my head, acknowledging his statement. "Well I promised Ari I'd watch her favorite show with her when I got back. I don't want to keep her waiting. As usual, yell if you need anything."

Alec nodded and I started to walk up the stairs to watch 'Pretty Little Liars' for the hundredth time. Ian didn't seem like the monster that the myths described. Was that the trick? Is that how they have been hidden for hundreds of years without detection? Either way, they're real and what I believed was myths and lore is reality. I needed to know more about them, but for now, it was time for some quality sister time.