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“I discovered this property a few months ago,” he said, looking around the room. “The drive leading in was mostly swallowed by the forest, telling me no one has been here for years.” He looked directly at me. “You’re safe here.”
“Where did you live before this?” I asked.
“Oh, here and there.” He leaned back in his chair. “Vampires move around a lot. If we stay in one place too long, humans start to notice that we don’t age.”
“Oh,” I said, not knowing how else to respond.
“You know you can’t ever go home, Sarah.”
“What?” The word came out louder than I intended.
He sighed and ran a hand over his face. “You can’t go home again.” He looked directly into my eyes. “If you return to your family, you’ll eventually lose control and kill them. Or the Strategoi will find you with them and kill you all. Either way, if you return to them they’re as good as dead.”
“I’ll never see Allie again,” I whispered.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “That’s the hardest part about becoming a vampire.”
I blinked quickly, trying hard not to cry. The thought of shedding more blood tears was too much to handle.
“Who’s Allie?” he asked after a minute.
“My sister.” I clenched my hands into fists, digging my fingernails into my palms. “She’s the only family I have. My parents are dead.”
“I’m sorry.” He sounded sincere when he said it. “There’s no one else? No husband or boyfriend?”
I laughed, but it sounded hollow. “No.” I glanced at him. “What about you? Do you- I mean, do vampires have families?”
“Most do, yes. When a vampire changes a human, they become that person's master. But it's more than that. They become your parent, in a weird sort of way. Even though they are often your lover as well.”
“Gross,” I said, scrunching my nose.
He chuckled. “Yeah, that didn’t come out right. It's hard to explain. But if the same vampire changed both you and I, we’d be part of the same vampire family.”
“Okay. So where’s your family?” I asked.
“As I told you, my master and I have parted ways.”
“Do you have any vampire siblings? Or children? I mean, have you ever changed anyone?”
“I have no family.”
His tone told me not to pry, so I changed the subject.
“Will sunlight kill me?”
“You? Yes.”
I looked at him questioningly.
“Vampires grow stronger as they age, and can develop a tolerance for sunlight. It takes centuries, mind you. A newborn such as yourself would be killed, but an elder can walk in the sunlight just like a human.”
“What else can kill me?”
“Several things, I’m afraid. Fire, beheading, being stabbed through the heart.
I shuddered at the thought.
“But if you manage to avoid all that, you are indeed immortal.”
