Parallel World

Chapter 20

I couldn't get the strange case of Bree's transformation back into a human out of my head. I'd never experienced anything like that in my life. Sure, I had heard that it was possible but my sources of information were old legends and stories I had heard from others, nothing concrete. Since there was no-one in my world who could tell me more about it I reached out to a human who certainly should be able to advise me.

That person was Meghan, a professional vampire hunter. This was a family occupation, passed down from generation to generation after an incident in the 16th century - a member of the family turned into a vampire after death and attacked others. The family had no choice but to sharpen pieces of wood and turn the relative back into a deadman.

The new "skills" proved handy when someone else in the village turned into a vampire. Over the years it happened a few more times and Meghan's ancestors were always there to help. Later they realised that they could turn hunting vampires into a profession and so, for the past five centuries, there was at least one full time vampire hunter in the family. Meghan had taken over from her father who, in turn, had inherited the job from his father.

Meghan grew up listening to both legends and true stories about vampires. Her training started as soon as she had turned 17. Aged 21, Meghan became a vampire hunter. Nine years had passed since that day.

It was ten pm and we were walking around a cemetery in New York. It was one of her favourite spots in the city and also a place where many fierce fights had taken place.

Meghan knew about my status in the vampire world and she also knew that I was the creator of the world's best synthetic blood. Was it odd that we were friends? Not at all. As Meghan said, if a police officer sees a pickpocket would they rush to make an arrest? They'd only do that if they witnessed a crime. Meghan's job was similar to law enforcement - she observed and only intervened when necessary.

Meghan usually fought newborns, old vampires did not interest her. As she said, us oldies were pretty harmless. New vampires, that was an entirely different matter. Those who had died in accidents or from an illness usually didn't cause much drama unlike vampires who had transformed after suffering a violent death. They were full of anger and wanted revenge. The trouble was, they often killed or severely injured innocent people in their quest for blood and trashed everything they saw. Besides, Meghan knew that in the last eighteen years many vampires had switched to synthetic blood and there were many vampires who exclusively targeted criminals or attacked several people for smaller amounts of blood and left their victims alive. "There will always be vampires in this world. My job is not to kill them all. My job is to ensure that they don't cause chaos in the human world," Meghan had once said.

I had told her about Bree. She was curious.

"What is Bree up to now?"

"She went to Africa to build water access points and work on sanitation projects."

Meghan chuckled.

"A former vampire in Africa? Well, well..."

"Hey, I would appreciate if you wouldn't rub salt into my wounds. I'll never see Africa in my life. By the way, if vampires can't stand the heat how come people can turn into vampires after death in Africa?"

"It's very simple: vampires, just like humans, adapt to their environment. African vampires are fine with heat but struggle in cold weather. Same can be said about vampires from Carpathia although they have less objections to snow," Meghan explained.

"Have you ever dealt with a similar case - a vampire becoming a human again?"

"No, never. However, I'm aware that it's possible. Bree's case is an unusual one. As far as I know, the only way a vampire can turn back into a human is if the vampire who transformed him or her dies. My father, who had heard this from his father, told me that one of our ancestors once fought two rival vampire clans. The leaders wanted to create an empire and turned more and more young people into vampires. OK, my ancestor didn't do it on his own, he had at least a dozen men with him but what is important in this story is the bit where they noticed that a lot of vampires had turned back into humans. At first no-one could understand why it happened. Only when they spoke to them after the battle did they establish that it occurred when the vampire that had transformed them had died."