Caught in Between

-18-

It was Friday night and my mother was away at work. She would return home in a few hours, but it was just Jen, Debby and I alone in the living room. Jen was standing up in front of Debby and I, who were sitting on the couch looking up at her with excited eyes. Jen sighed as she placed her hands on her waist. "What do you guys want to know?" She asked us and before I could open my mouth, Debby blurted out a question.

"How fast are vampires?"

"Very fast. What else—"

"Why do you guys always look so drop dead gorgeous?"

"Not all of us are attractive. I've seen some ugly ones."

"What about jobs? Do you guys work?"

"Not all, but yes. It's a great way to keep busy since we live forever."

"Is that why you guys are rich?"

"Where do you get this information from? Twilight? And yes, because we have hundreds of years to save and spend our money. Rebecca, do you have any questions?" Jen turned to me, seeming slightly annoyed by all of Debby's interesting questions.

"So you told me about the transitioning phase, but can you go into further detail? I'd like to know more about that," I answered her and she nodded her head, approving of my question.

"Okay, well, just like with any sudden changes, there's an adjustment period. It's called The Transition for a reason. Like with diseases and viruses, your body rejects it and fights against it to keep your body healthy. When the vampire venom courses through your body, naturally, your body wants to reject it. That's the first step, is trying to allow your body to attempt to fight it. It's painful. Your body will feel like it's on fire and you'll be constantly screaming in pain. But in my opinion, I don't think that's the worst part. Second step: once your body has accepted its fate, and recognizes that it can no longer fight it, the venom will overcome you, therefore, being born again as a vampire.

"This step is so crucial. You're going to be a fresh vampire and realize you possess so many new powers, but if you don't learn how to control them, you can become overly aggressive. You have to be tough and mentally disciplined. You will want to eat all the time, you will have the desire to kill anyone and anything just to have the taste of a drop of blood. So, you'll have to do your best to stop yourself from doing that. Last step; is being integrated back into human society. If you've managed to keep your hunger and powers under control, you're ready to live among humans again. You'll be overwhelmed by all the different types of scents in everyday life of humans. Some humans' blood will smell sweeter than the others, and some will just smell so delicious, you'll want to have a taste of it. But if you've mastered the second step, you'll have self-control."

Jen stood there glancing between Debby and I, waiting to see if we had anymore questions. I cleared my throat.

"I've heard about transitioning, now, I want to know how to become a vampire," I stated and I saw Debby stare at me with widened eyes. I knew she knew why I was asking. She's always had the ability to read me as if I was a book.

"That part is simple. You drink the blood of a vampire. And it's not a few drops, it's about two sips, as if you were to drink water," Jen explained, and for some reason, the thought of drinking someone else's blood, vampire or not, made me sick to my stomach. "You can mix it into something else, the venom within the blood won't lose its potency. When I drank it, mine was mixed with whiskey."

"I thought you had to be bitten by a vampire? And also, wouldn't alcohol kill the venom like with bacteria?" Debby asked, appearing to be confused. Jen chuckled at her expression.