Elastic Heart

-chapter thirty seven-

"Eyes are the most sensitive part of a vampire." Felix instructs. "If enough force is used, a human can damage their eyes and they can be temporarily blinded." 

I sit with my legs crossed on the floor as I watch Felix and the twins describe how to kill and subdue vampires. We were in the forest, a little ways away from the house as to not agitate the other vampires that I was learning how to kill their kind.

"The force applied behind the attack needs to be at least twenty miles an hour." Alec explains. "The object of attack doesn't matter." 

"What if it was something with fire?" I question. 

"Flames would be put out at that speed." Jane dryly comments. 

"I meant like a half smoked cigarette, burning embers pushed into the eye. Would that make them permanently blind?" I ask. 

The trio stare at me for a few moments. 

"I do believe that you're onto something here." Felix nods. 

"If you do get an object hot enough onto their eyes and enough to light the venom that lubricates it, then I do believe that you can render them completely blind and unable to heal." Alec nods. 

"Could my fingers work if I grow out my nails?" I inquire. 

"You would probably burn the tips of your fingers off with venom and break them at the force applied. I'm sure that as a last ditch effort that yes, fingers would work." Jane answers. 

"Do you have any suggestions of what objects to shove into their eyes?" I inquire. "Should I start carrying some sort of weapon with me?" 

"Pocket knives would work." Felix tells me. "Long pointy objects. Pens. Thick sticks. Forks. Pins. Fish hooks." 

"Is there a certain part I should aim for like the pupil? Or just any part of the eye." I mentally take notes. 

"The pupil or iris are good places to aim but the eye in general should be good enough." Felix says. 

"And I have to want to mean it?" I repeat. "Go for the eyes. If I can, use fire. Go for the pupil if I can. I have to use enough force to equal something to twenty miles an hour." 

"Yes." Felix smiles. "Very good. You catch on fast." 

"Next we move into newborns. Those are freshly turned vampires. They still have human blood coursing through their veins so that enhances their strength and makes them very thirsty." Alec informs me. "They are dangerous. The chances of you escaping them without getting bitten is very slim. You might be able to distract them with the scent of blood if you are quick. They get their arms around you, however, you are dead." 

"What about a newborn immortal child?" I look up at Felix. "How dangerous is that?" 

"Whole villages have been massacred because of that. You said that you saw an infant. How old did it look?" Felix questioned. 

"I'm not good with guessing babies ages. I think that it would of been a year maybe. It could probably crawl." I shrug. "Sorry. It was all bundled up. I just really saw it's eyes." 

Felix moves to kneel next to me. "Do you think that you would be able to kill it?" 

I hadn't thought of that. Would I have to kill a baby if it came down to it?

"I don't know." I whisper. "Would it feel it? Would it scream and cry? Is there a way I could make it not hurt?" 

"Fire is the only way to kill our kind for good. Removing the head could stop us from feeling anything but I don't think you would be strong enough to remove it's head, even if it is a mere child." Felix informs me. "I need to know if you could kill the child? Light a match and light it aflame."