Kyuuketsuki 06

"Turn me back, dammit!" I complained.

"Quiet." She said, effectively telling me I had no right be be upset about having my humanity forcibly removed.

"I want to be able to go outside during the day! I want to have a reflection! I want to be able to eat food with garlic in it! I want to be able to be in the same room as a cross, not that I'm religious! I want to be able to live on normal food!"

"You can do all of that."

What did she just say? If I heard correctly, then according to her, everything I knew about vampires was horse shit.

"Jeez, did all your knowledge of vampires come from movies and books?"

Obviously.

I suppose vampires are nothing uncommon to themselves, but to ordinary humans, they're creatures of legend. And even though humans don't believe in them, and we laugh at anyone who claims they've encountered a vampire, we still have a certain concept of what they're like. The human understanding of vampires of course comes from fiction. The question of whether the fictional vampire ideal was fabricated entirely or it was based on a possibly real vampire could be asked, but if that's the case, then the vampire who would have been the basis for all vampires in popular culture hasn't come forward yet. That or they're dead. Vampires are supposed to have extremely long life spans though.

I think how it actually is, is that the way vampires are portrayed in media is the way that most people become accustomed to, and as a result they associate the fictional vampire traits with what real vampires must be like if they exist. It really goes to show how easily fiction can blend into reality, especially with a little influence from mass media, but that isn't the point.

The point is that people will of course associate their knowledge of fictional vampires with real ones, because they've got nothing else to go off of. They haven't run into a real vampire.

"Is what popular culture tells us about vampires wrong?"

Completely wrong, is what I expected to hear. Instead,

"Yes and no."

"What does that mean?"

"Vampires have ranking. Bottom tier vampires do burn in the sun, they can't stand religious instruments and symbols, no garlic, feed on only blood, et cetera, et cetera. There's also middle tier vampires, which are relatively the same but with less issues, like being able to tolerate a certain intake of garlic, or things like that. Then there's top tier vampires. Most problems the average vampire have, they don't. Garlic is no problem. Crosses aren't an issue. Breaking and entering is entirely possible, though I've never known a vampire who does that kind of thing. Most restrictions of the typical vampire aren't present. Then there's me."

And then there was her.

"Where do you rank?"

"I'm the upper echelon of the top. I'm a pure vampire, but also retain the pure essentials of humanity."

This made no sense, but I didn't interrupt her explanation to tell her I thought this.

"I can go where I please, the sun doesn't affect me at all, my skin isn't pale as you can see, I can eat as much garlic as I want to, holy water has no effect on me, I can break crosses by looking at them, and I have a reflection. I can live off of normal food and don't require blood. My reflexes, speed, strength, and combat ability are unparalleled. Seven thousand stakes to the heart couldn't kill me. While the top vampires have very little dragging them down, I go way beyond that. Most vampires have at least some downside to being a vampire, but I have none. The best thing about me is that I have no visible features that make me look inhuman. For me, I only benefit from being a vampire. I'm the top of the top, and for the longest time I stood there alone."

"Until?"

"I met you."

Oh. I see.

"So, why's this bite mark on my neck? You didn't bite me."

I asked a question that I should have saved for a more appropriate time.

"It's popular culture's interpretation that it's a bite mark. It's really just a natural mark that all vampires have. See?"

She moved her hair out of the way of her neck so I could see. There was a mark there, the same as mine. It was still strange, and even though it wasn't a huge revelation I still needed time to accept this fact.

"How did I become a vampire when you didn't bite me?"

"Uhh, so this is where media got it right. Almost all vampires do create new vampires when they bite a human. As for me, I'm a unique case. I guess my vampirism is too strong, so just a bite won't cut it if I want to make someone a vampire."

"So it was the kiss then."

"..yes."

"While that seems to be obvious now, you spoke about it like you already knew a kiss would turn someone into a vampire. Have you turned someone before?"

"No. You're the first."

"How did you know a kiss turns someone into a vampire then?"

"I just know. I didn't need to do it once to figure it out. I just knew."

"That doesn't make sense, but okay."

Awkward silence befell us.

"So, I'm in the same class of vampire as you now?"

"Yes. While I never thought of myself as special because of my position, I don't know how I feel about someone else being in there next to me."

"..."

"More importantly, the higher ups are going to have a field day if they find out about this."

I knew she was already having a bad time due to accidentally creating another one of her type, so I dismissed that she was referring to vampires like they're one corporate entity with ranks and departments.

"Well, luckily for you, this won't affect you too much. You don't need to take others' blood, because you can still eat food and take in nutrients normally. I would, however, remove any crosses and such if you have any in your home. Nothing bad will happen to you, it's just that the crosses and other religious items will be destroyed when you enter a certain proximity. That's not even a huge deal. You can just resume your normal life."

Go back home and lay in bed, finish the novels, and enjoy my break.

As if there wouldn't be any more problems.