Chapter 35

"Why?" My curiosity seemed to make Blaze smile.

"He's my cousin." Blaze rolled his eyes. I found it strange, as Callum's dark skin and hair were the complete opposite of Blaze's features.

"Don't remind me." Callum let out a suffering sigh.

"So you called your aunt and uncle hippies?" I asked with a smile.

"They are the nicest, hippiest people in the world." He eyed Blaze up and down. "Their son, on the other hand..."

"Oh fuck you," Blaze responded as he rolled his eyes. He tried to hide his smile by coughing. Callum, on the other hand, was openly smiling.

This was clearly how they expressed love to each other.

"Why are you here again?" Callum crossed his arms, having given up on finding what he was looking for.

"I wanted to meet the new recruit," he joked as he saluted. "I'm to be responsible for your training, seeing as my other two colleagues are still out somewhere making out." He snorted.

"Is that jealousy I perceive?" Callum poked him in the shoulder.

"No." He looked away. "I just don't like that the other gammas are neglecting their duty as—"

"Don't listen to him, he's just sour," he told me.

"I am not!" he said, and this set them off again. I examined the strange vial in my hand while they argued like five-year-olds.

I was having a hard time not laughing at the way they spoke to each other. It was very entertaining. It was a very sibling-like rivalry.

"You should leave. Your annoying voice is interfering with her healing," Callum concluded.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Blaze asked.

"Leave, Blizzard Raynor, or I will use my magic on you," the half-druid threatened.

"I will, Callum Shields, if you use my name and ask nicely," he said with a smirk.

"That is your legal name," Callum said, but Blaze stood still, only lifting an eyebrow. So he conceded.

"Leave, Blaze Raynor." He still stood there, and Callum let out a defeated sigh. "Please."

Blaze smiled triumphantly as he said, "As soon as you heal, I'm coming for you," and left.

"Finally," Callum said, taking the vial from my hand and walking over to a table.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Vampire blood," he said calmly, forgetting I was new to the supernatural aspect of life. "I am conducting an experiment, but you didn't seem to react to it."

I didn't really listen to that last part.

"Vampire blood? As in, Dracula?"

"Oh, well, I believe Dracula was a metaphor, but I am not very well-versed in vampire history," he said calmly.

"Vampires are real?" I asked, still not quite believing it.

"As real as we are," he said as he examined the liquid.

"And is everything about them true?" I thought back to Twilight. God, I really needed to do more research on supernatural lore. I can't use those movies as a reference.

"Well, they don't glow in the sun, nor do they walk around with magic rings that help them avoid the sunlight," he said with a smile. "Although I did love The Vampire Diaries."

"I never watched that," I admitted, and he gasped.

"You should. The vampires are hot," he said with a smile. "And it's a bit closer to reality than Twilight."

"So what is reality?"

"Like any magical creature, they have the ability to use magic. They are not very fond of the sun, they never get old and never die, some of them are hot, some of them are not." He giggled at the unintentional rhyme.

"Use magic? Can wolves do that?"

"Well yes, we are shape-shifters, that is our magic," he explained. "Witches, druids, vampires, werewolves, and demons are all magical. It is just that magic presents itself in different ways."

"Demons? Wow, is God real?" So many questions.

Callum only smiled. "I don't have all the answers. Werewolves we believe in the moon goddess, and druids believe in different things." He turned around. "All I know is that we have tried so hard to keep our existence a secret from humans. Sometimes we manage to keep it from each other."

It took me a second to process everything, but then I remembered he mentioned something earlier.

"You said something about an experiment..."

"Oh yes! Well, as you know.." he looked at me and corrected himself, "Well, maybe you don't know, but vampires aren't really dead. They may have to 'die' to turn, but it isn't really death as their body heals from whatever caused their demise and their souls don't leave their bodies. The vampire venom only makes time stop for them, but that magic comes with a price..."

"Drinking blood," I guessed, and Callum nodded.

"Most vampires live normal lives. They are just really pale and get easily sunburnt," he said with a giggle. "They can even have children."

"Wow. How do the children age? Or do they remain children forever?" I couldn't stop the stream of questions. It all seemed so interesting to me.

"You have to get bitten to become a vampire. Most kids never make the choice. Being a vampire is hard," he sighed. "Being anything supernatural and living in a world where there are innocent humans is hard."

"But wouldn't it be weird? To look older than your parents?"

"Well, vampires alter their appearance to fit in. They use magic to disguise the way they look to humans, but that only works on them. The rest of us magical creatures or people who have the magic gene see them as they truly look."

Callum put the blood back on one of the shelves.

I processed everything quietly.

"Are they stronger than werewolves?"

"Not usually. Not stronger than a royal alpha or a royal beta. But they can be. Physically strong if they are old, and some are magically more powerful."

"What abilities do they have?" I was asking a lot of questions, but I was extremely curious.

"I don't know. That is what I was trying to find out with the blood." He looked away. "Vampires and wolves don't mix well. That is the only part of the lore that is true," he said calmly. "We don't hate each other, but we avoid each other on purpose. Some of us have a heightened reaction when they are around. That is what I was testing."

"Heightened reaction?"

"The purebreds can sense them. I want to figure out why and if half-lings have a reaction to them."

"Interesting." I nodded. "Maybe it is some chemical reaction. Maybe this isn't magic but science and.."

"Why can't it be both?" he said with a smile.

And I found myself wondering.

"Yeah, maybe it's both."