"Eww..." I shivered, "are there many of these vampires in the world?"
"Yes, there are, but not as many as one might think. The reason is that when the human body is infected by the Nephilim virus - for we think it is a virus - by the Nephilim themselves, it causes such a severe illness that not many survive the transformation process. Those that do, however, live long lives. Very long indeed. If a human vampire infects another human, the odds of initial survival are better, but their lives are much shorter, although they can still far exceed those of the ordinary human life span. The vampires have kept their numbers low on purpose, so they won't draw too much attention to their kind and they can hunt in peace. If there was an influx of bloodless bodies in a small area, let alone a lot of humans changed into vampires, then that would certainly draw unwanted attention to their kind. They have strict rules about who is allowed to become a vampire. If a vampire makes another person into a vampire without the permission of their leaders, they don't hesitate - they just destroy the new one," Grandma explained.
"The ones infected directly by Nephilim are much stronger vampires, and can live on almost forever, if they take care to avoid the things that are dangerous to them. Their bodies also heal themselves amazingly well, so there isn't much they need to avoid in order to stay safe. The human-inflicted vampires are weaker. Despite their extended life span, they eventually grow old and die, if they stay in our physical world. Of course they can also avoid that happening by living in the buffer zone, and that is what most of them do, and only come to our world to feed," Diana said.
Aemilius bowed slightly to get our attention.
"I may leave?" he asked.
"Yes, yes, thank you for explaining what Guardians do," Diana nodded in Aemilius's direction and without further ado he disappeared into the men's locker room.
"This is unreal... I though vampires were invented creatures." I looked at Diana and Grandma. "How do I recognize a vampire, then?"
"Many of the clichés do apply. They are cold. They are pale. If they haven't fed in a while, they look sick, and have dark circles around the eyes. And they have an odd smell... Their skin smells sweet. Like fruit about to rot. Just like the skin of the Nephilim. The smell is weaker in those vampires who were infected by a human vampire, rather than one of the Nephilim. Still, if you are close enough to smell the scent, you are probably way too close," Grandma said. "Unfortunately female vampires in particular choose to hide their scent by using heavy perfumes. And to make their skin look healthy by using makeup," she added.
"And the teeth? They have fangs?" I wanted to know.
"The ones infected directly by the Nephilim are considered to be some kind of vampire elite... they can prove their origin by their teeth. Like the Nephilim they don't have fangs, but when they attack, their mouths open much wider than those of an ordinary human vampire, and their teeth push out... it is as if the teeth were half inside their skull until they attack and the opening of the jaw forces them out. It's hard to explain, it's almost a mechanical process - you would need to see it happening. Which I hope you never will!" Diana shivered at the memory.
"And the ones infected by humans? What are their teeth like?" I could hardly believe that I was having this conversation in a gym, with two ordinary looking people, one of whom was my Grandma, for goodness' sake.
"They're not much different from our own teeth at first glance. But they are sharper, much sharper. They can slice a very deep cut with just the smallest of movements of their teeth against the skin," Grandma clarified.
"Have you actually seen vampires?" I asked her.
"Yes, lots of times," she said, "in our travels through time. The vampires also use shadows as their scouts, because they are photosensitive, and prefer moving in the hours of darkness. The shadows don't like sunlight, but they can move in it without being affected by the light as much. So, in my hunt for the shadows, I have occasionally met with their vampire masters too. "
"Didn't they try to bite you?"
"If I recognize the shadow belonging to a vampire, I retreat. You learn to recognise them through experience. They are stronger, bigger, and faster than the shadows created by ordinary humans in the buffer zone. Also they feed on animals occasionally, physically eating their flesh. Ordinary shadows created by ordinary people never do that."
Grandma rose from the bench again and headed for the treadmill.
"I'm only human, and no match for their speed, so that's why I retreat if I meet a vampire shadow. The best thing to do then is try to warn possible victims from walking alone. Vampires don't want to be seen, and so they prefer lonely prey. Also they prefer young people, whose blood they consider provides better nutrition, so they are not so likely to attack me if there are any young people around. One time was pretty close, though..." Grandma's face revealed the memory was not something she wanted to dwell on, "but someone came to the rescue."
"Who?" I wanted to know.
Grandma did not answer. The whole subject was so creepy, I wanted to talk about something else anyway. So I decided to ask about the dream world.
xxx
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Nephilim Quest Book 1: Shadowhunter
FantasyDana's best friend Kitty has died in a car accident, and the only ray of light in the misery is when her grandmother appears in her spiffy red sports car to cheer her up. At the same time a nightmarish shadow appears to hunt Dana and she has to flee...
