Blood and rose

Chapter 25: Alive

Rose's POV

Rose: Are we... Living?

It was the first thing I wanted to know. I know it may have seemed like an absurd question with all of the novels and fiction that had already been written about us, but I was curious.

Philip: Hehe... Im surprised you were astute enough to ask such a question. Most let it slip past them. Yes, we are infact, partially living. Im sure you may have noticed in moments of adrenaline or joy, you can feel the beating of your heart... That should be proof enough... The only difference though, is that we start to die when we do not feed. And when we do not feed we age rapidly. Blood is our life force. It is our sustenance. It is what keeps us alive, and what keeps us from aging or even dying. So long as we drink, we will be alive and beautiful forever.

Rose: I see... Well... Does that mean that nothing can kill us?

Philip would shake his head.

Philip: ... We can die. But it takes much more than simply a stake to the heart. Anything that hurts us must be of holy origin. If it be a stake, it must come from a divine trees bark. Silver is also a painful one. But any of these items used to harm us, must go through a purifying ritual, and must be soaked in holy water for many days. Only then, will there be an item capable of killing us.

Rose: What exactly does that make us then?...are we some type of hell spawn or demon? Why do we even exist? Why should something holy and pure be the only thing to kill us?

Philip would smile and chuckle a bit.

Philip: Your determination to understand is commendable. But to be honest... I do not know the entirety of our origin... Considering the creatures we are, I wouldn't be surprised if we were something evil... But... I would hope that we weren't. It would be quite unfortunate to have been afflicted with some sort of curse without having earned it, wouldn't you agree?

I would nod in agreement, and sigh. I would have hoped to be something that wasn't evil, or something that wasn't destined to kill. But now that I was learning more, I couldn't help but think the worst of our existence.

Philip: I would also like to show you something, but you must focus on my eyes for a moment.

I would do as he instructed, and stare at his bright blue eyes. The color would slowly fade to a dark shade of red.

Philip: When we choose to feed from a human, our eyes become this color. With hypnosis, we can easily make it so that anyone looking into our eyes, will see what was once our natural color at birth. This includes any monsters or humans of any kind, so long as we have more experience. Our years of learning our abilities; our wisdom in honing them... That is what makes a truly powerful vampire. But anyway... our eyes. They can also become red when we start to have an appetite. Luckily enough, this doesn't seem like something you need to worry about. At least for now since you have Matthew.

Rose: Well... Thank you for telling me at least.

Philip: Of course. We also have a plethora of other abilities. We can see in the dark, transform into certain animals, detract and retract our claws, hypnosis, enhanced speed, sight, smell and hearing. These are all things that you must learn to utilize to survive.

My head would turn to the house, with the visual of Matthew in his wounded state. I couldn't let his pain continue. And I didn't want him to feel the burden of protecting me all the time. So I would ask Philip...