CHAPTER 116

"Is your boss around?" The question had to be repeated for it to dawn on him that these two weren't here for a pet check-up or even adopt one. They were here for a specific reason and it involved his boss! 

Knowing the two of them, Scott had no assurance that they were here for anything civil. 

As far as he knew, the only time Tristan and Malia went out of their way to look for someone, it was usually because they wanted to kill them. 

"Are you just going to stand there moping or are you going to tell us if your boss is in or not?"

"S-sorry. Why are you looking for my boss? Do you have an appointment with him concerning a pet?" Scott asked. 

Scott had gotten good with masking his emotions from other supernaturals, Tristan could see that and so could his other half, but he could plainly smell the nervousness wafting off the skittish co-captain. 

"Instead of overthinking and triggering a self-induced panic attack due to paranoia, why don't you just go call your boss, McCall." Malia cut off whatever he wanted to say. 

Having spent some time with Derek and the rest of the pack after their rescue, he finally was able to learn a lot about werewolves and stories of them Derek had to share which also included the two teens in front of him. 

He wasn't that fearful of them any more now that he was with Derek, but with what he heard about them, his wariness of them could help but grow. 'Though looking at them, I don't think they actually want to cause trouble. I can't smell any malicious intent from them either.'

"He's out back doing some scheduled checkups and stitches. Wait here for a second, let me get him."

"Someone is looking for me?" Alan Deaton came out and regarded the two teens with surprise and slight confusion. "Don't worry, Scott. I'll take it from here." He said to his employee who nodded and went about his task. 

"So anything I can help the two of you with?" He asked. 

In response, Tristan rolled up his sleeves to his shoulder to show a tattoo of four ovals stacked atop each other – the symbol of the Buddhist pack. 

Deaton looked at the two of them before opening the small fence at the counter to let them in. He led them to the room he used for treating the pets and closed the door behind them. 

"So anything I can help the two of you with?" He asked again. 

"Vampires. What do you know about them?" Tristan asked straightforwardly. 

Deaton smiled a bit while looking at the two of them before answering Tristan's question. "Like everybody else, not much I'm afraid. I suspected it but never did I expect that Satomi-san had taken in one of nature's most mythical creatures."

"You know grandma?" Of course he knew Satomi knew Deaton but he wanted to hear it from Deaton's mouth. 

The vet nodded. "She's a senior to most of us who were lucky to know her. I also consider her a teacher when it comes to certains things." Deaton briefly explained while Tristan and Malia listened for any hint of a lie, one which they failed to find. 

"That aside, did she send you my way?" They both shook their heads while Malia summarized the events that led to them being here. 

"That's… understandable. I think." He said with a touch of amusement in his words which the duo picked up but ignored. 

"About the vampires, a taboo topic in some supernatural circles and most times than not a forgotten topic in some. One thing I know is that there is almost no written text in the present that contains information about the origin of vampires – the first progenitor. But even if there is no information on how vampires truly came to be, it is however a known fact that the vampire race consists of a lot of sub-branches, some so far removed that no longer bear a single vampiric trait or it has been deformed into something lesser."

He stopped there to let them take that one in first and as if sensing a story about to be told, Malia grabbed a chair and made herself comfortable which made Deaton chuckle lightheartedly while Tristan couldn't be less bothered by her antics. 

"Wait, I thought Dracula was the first vampire? Or is that just the movies and books?" Malia questioned with genuine curiosity. 

"That's a good question." Deaton acknowledged took a moment to put his thoughts into words. "The first written book about the vampire Dracula was in the late 19th century and that book said that he gained his vampirism as a result of dabbling in dark magic in search of immortality, while the others that came after it said he was turned into one, some cursed, and everything in between."

"Then shouldn't the first iteration be closest to the truth?" Tristan asked this time around but Deaton shook his head. 

"One thing very few people know, even among Hunting Families, is that the earliest recorded sighting of vampires dates back to the mid 1700s, around the same time as the emergence of werewolves. While I might not know about the origin of either of them, the origin of vampires had been a debate over the centuries and the unanimously agreed upon consensus is that vampires didn't come after werewolves. Either during the same time period or longer before. Never after."

He doubted anyone alive knew the true origin of the first vampire. The Hunters, specifically the Argent Family patriarch, was the only person he could think of that knew the origin of werewolves but even they had little to nothing on vampires. 

"So no origin history? Got it. Anything else you can tell me about the vampires that came after?" Tristan asked. 

It was years ago when Deaton last looked into anything concerning vampires so he had to think a bit to drag up anything he knew. 

"Some people believe that the reason why the vampire line is branched out with different variant species is related to why nothing about the first vampire is known, as if his existence was erased on purpose that not even his gender or things he did remained. Just like history had forgotten about him, so also is nature trying to forcefully wipe them out by further diminishing their bloodline with every vampire they sire. I'm sorry but I really know little to nothing when it comes to vampires and their history in the supernatural world."

Tristan waved his hand to dismiss Deaton's apology. "Don't be. You've already helped me out a lot by the little you know."

Deaton nodded and then added whatever he knew that wasn't related to vampire history. 

"As you are a part of Satomi-san's pack, I'm sure you have an understanding of how nature in some way or another compensates for all its disasters…"

"Always seeking balance." Tristan said. This was something Satomi had thought all of her betas. Nature has an obscure way of trying to make up for every destruction it causes like bringing out more gold, diamonds, oil, soil fertility etc. 

"You're right. Part of why vampires and werewolves don't get along is because the one that came after started fighting the first one for the moon's blessing. And so as a balance for giving them a natural enemy in werewolves and weakness in their fangs and claws, nature gave them an out that would enable them reach the heights of the first progenitor. Just like the way a beta can become an Alpha, so also could a vampire now climb the evolutionary step, but that too came with a caveat; they will have to find out how to do it themselves."

Malia was flabbergasted by what she was hearing. Why did nature sound like a petty bitch she knew? 

Just how many times must it try to fuck the vampires over? "That's fucked up on so many levels." Were her expressed thoughts, they all agreed. 

"So how come vampires are almost an extinct race at this point? Please don't tell me the green bitch won."

"Hahaha, no it didn't. You can also say it did depending on the side you are looking from." The middle-aged veterinarian stated. 

"How so?" Tristan queried, completely engrossed in the spotty vampiric history. 

"They couldn't control their craving for blood and sank their fangs in everything they came across. You can imagine what followed after, right?"

"A vampire hunt." Tristan said but Deaton just smiled and corrected him. "A vampire extermination. From the medieval Hunters to supernatural creatures that prowled the day or the night, even humans joined in. Though they were all separated due to their differences, it didn't stop the entire supernatural world to hunt down any vampire they could."

"Well, damn…" Malia subconsciously cursed. 

"If they were left unchecked, then maybe humans and other races would no longer exist in the present day. They brought it upon themselves in my opinion. So drunk on power that they acted without restraint and almost endangered the world due to their hunger. Even though they could multiply pretty quickly, the people they sired ended up turning against them. Backed against an existential crisis, they were picked off one by the other while the rest that remained vanished into hiding and preserved themselves and the line as much as they could."

"And that'd pretty much everything I know." He dusted his hands to show a gesture of being empty-handed. 

"Thank you, doc. I am truly grateful so allow me to owe you one for this." Tristan said and Malia stood up for them to take their leave. 

"Then I guess I'll hold you to that. Care to hear a doctor's advice?"

They both nodded. 

"Then don't bother looking into the history of vampires. Other than the fact that you'll find nothing, it's better to spend that time enjoying these few years of your youth as it is the best time of your life." A very genuine advice from Deaton to the two teens standing before him. 

They both sported wry smiles, very small in Tristan's case, as they heard his word. "That's the plan, doc." Malia said and they were about to leave but Tristan stopped and turned to Deaton. "Yeah?"

"It's just that I was wondering about what you said about nature making vampires and werewolves share a few similarities."

"Yes, what of it?"

"I always thought vampires were solitary in nature and kept mostly to themselves, but then they wouldn't have been able to fight off the werewolves of the time or create as much chaos as they did."

Deaton nodded. "True. Just like werewolves, vampires also moved in their own groups – a mini supernatural community if you will."

"Just like wolves had their pack and witches their coven, vampires had their clans."

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