Chapter 15

"Now back to Lilith, my mother. She started to see her children grow old while she stayed the same. Some of her firstborn even died of old age before she pleaded with Samael to give them the gift she had been given. He, of course, refused. He believed that his own children were abominations that would destroy the angels. Lilith did not give up. She took her blood, just as Samael had done for her, and gave it to her children. The ones that survived were called Asuune, in English, it would mean Ascended."

"As the years went on, Lilith realized that Samael had been partially right. Her children were not at all like her. They had power beyond imagination. Some of her less righteous children started killing the humans and drinking their blood. These became known as vampires. Lilith tried to stop them but human blood, to an Asuune, is like crack mixed with meth mixed with heroine. The addiction is something you can't imagine unless you've experienced it." Sarah took another drink, giving Mark another chance for questions.

"Has anyone ever overcome this addiction? Returned from being a vampire I mean." Mark was paying attention and learning a lot.

"I know of only two, and you're looking at one of them," Sarah replied.

"You were once a vampire?" Mark asked.

"Yep, a very bad one. I've killed thousands. Not something I tell everyone, but I hope that you will believe me when I tell you, I've changed, a lot." Sarah stared at the wine in her glass, pondering the life she had led. This was something she told very few people, she trusted Mark.

Mark could see the sadness and self-loathing on her face, so he moved closer to ease her mind. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I know who you are, that other person, when you were a vampire, that's not the Sarah I see," Mark said kindly.

"Thank you, but I have a long way to go before I make up for what I've done. Enough of that. You need to know so much more before morning." Sarah bent down to pour herself another glass.

"Why before morning?" Mark asked with urgency.

"My brother will find us soon. We need to leave in the morning and head out for somewhere safer. I would leave now, but you have so much more to learn before we can risk an encounter with my brother." Sarah took another large sip of her wine.

"Getting back to my name, it isn't really Sarah Sandleton. I mean legally, yes, that's my name, but I was born Ceralin, Daughter of Samael. Not the kind of name you can go writing on your driver's license, now is it?" Sarah paused for Mark's reply.

"No, I guess not. Ceralin, I like it. But I see why you shortened it to Sarah." Mark looked at his wine, he had barely touched it. He was too engrossed in Sarah's tale to notice his wine. Then a thought occurred to him. "How did I get ascended or whatever? I didn't drink anyone's blood."

"I was getting to that," Sarah smiled as she took another drink of wine. "The newly created Asuune had other unique features. We have fangs that can inject another person with our venom, pretty much the same thing as drinking our blood but more efficient. Before you ask, only Nephilim can become Asuune. One of the many roadblocks God has put up to keep us from taking over the world. Injecting a human with our venom would kill them. Also, we cannot have children with humans."

In her best preacher's voice, Sarah made a wide gesture toward the sky, almost spilling her wine. "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind." Her voice returned to normal, and she looked at Mark. "Meaning each species can only reproduce with its own kind and here's the kicker. After we ascend, we can no longer have children at all."

Mark looked at Sarah with pity. "So you never got to have children?"

"No," Sarah looked down at her glass again, and Mark moved closer.

He wanted to give her a hug, but it was too soon, and he was still too attracted to her. He cared for Sarah but he couldn't control himself around her. Giving her a hug, in his current state of mind, would end up leading somewhere he wasn't ready to go yet.

"Anyway," Sarah said, changing the subject. "There are two ways to kill an Asuune that you need to watch out for. Removing their head or draining their blood, completely. This also goes for vampires, who are really just addicted Asuune. But then again we are on God's side in this war so- The sixth commandment, Thou shalt not kill. We are not allowed to kill them."

"Wait, if we're on God's side, does that mean we have to obey all the Ten Commandments?" Mark asked.

Sarah laughed.

"Have to? No. But I, for one, want to go to heaven when I die, and with what I've done, I'm not taking any chances. So if you want to stick with me, I suggest you try to obey them." Sarah pondered for a moment. "At least I've never heard you break the third commandment. That one should be easy for you."

"Umm, which is the third?" Mark asked. It had been ages since he read a bible or even paid attention to the Ten Commandments.

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain," Sarah replied in her preacher's voice again.

"Ok, yeah, that one is easy. Using God's name like that has always driven me crazy. It makes me cringe, just to hear it," Mark said, smiling at Sarah. Truthfully, it had been Jen's rule, but as with many things in marriage, it quickly became his as well.

"The rest of them, well, some are easy, some are not," Sarah said then lifted her glass. Sarah peered from the side of the glass and gave Mark a look like he should know what she meant. But Mark had no idea.

"Anything else I should know? Do vampires hate the sunlight? Do they burn at the sight of a cross? What about silver?" Mark was asking questions so quickly that Sarah didn't have time to answer before he was on to the next, but at least he'd been paying attention.

"None of that is true. All just made up for books and movies. They are the same as Asuune, only more dangerous, because they have no fear of dying. The blood makes them fearless and evil, but also careless. It's much easier to outsmart a vampire than a pure Asuune." Sarah took her last sip of wine then put the glass down by the bottle. "With that, we should get some sleep. We need to head out as soon as we get our things together. I think we should have time to swing by your place to grab anything you don't want to leave behind."

Mark looked around, there was only one bed.

"Don't worry, I'll wear clothes to bed. And I won't bite," Sarah said, ejecting her fangs.

This took Mark by surprise. He didn't expect her fangs to be so-large. Reluctantly, Mark drank the rest of his wine then went to his side of the bed. He slid into bed and faced away from Sarah. The tension was like a thick fog in the room. After a few moments, he sat up.

"Sorry, can't sleep with a shirt on, drives me nuts," Mark said as he quickly pulled off his shirt and threw it on to a nearby chair. His shirt was soaked, and it made a disgusting sound as it hit the leather chair. Although his pants were also soaking wet, he didn't think it would be appropriate to take them off. He also wanted as much clothing as possible between him and Sarah.

"And I can't stand sleeping with pants on, so-" Sarah replied as she stood up, loosened the string around her waist, and her sweat pants fell to the floor. "Don't worry, I'll keep the shirt." Sarah grinned evilly, but Mark was too afraid to look. "And I'll stay on my side."

Mark was nervous as he laid there. Sarah was so close and barely wearing anything. He laid there for at least an hour, going over everything Sarah had said, occasionally hearing Sarah give a cute little snore. She certainly didn't have a problem sleeping. After forcing himself to stop thinking about it all, and Sarah, he was able to picture Jen and Katie on the day they brought Katie home from the hospital. It was one of the happiest days he could remember, and this eventually let him drift off to sleep.