Flirting with Danger Bk 1

I took the book from the shelf and looked over at Connelly, who was across the room, a small book in his hands. I stood up and walked over to him, saying, “Connelly?”

“Yes, my love?” he said and then looked at me. He looked at the book in my hands.

“Why do you have a book about vampires?” I asked, looking at him in confusion. He looked at the book again and then to me, making me feel that this was somehow important.

“Every race of vampires has a documentation of themselves, and that’s ours.” he said, putting his book back up.

“Who is Moran and why doesn’t he have a last name on here?” I asked.

“He’s my great uncle and it doesn’t list his last name because everyone knows him.” he said, taking my hand. “Maybe it’s time to go see Mathias.” he said and we then left the room and continued up the stairs.

We came to the top room, which was an office. There were a few tall bookcases on the right side of the room along with a chair and lamp, a long chalkboard from wall to wall on the right filled with formulas. A lot of pictures and paintings hung on the walls, showing landscapes and portraits, and in the middle was a large desk.

Mathias was at his desk looking through scattered papers, muttering to himself when we came in. He looked up and smiled at the sight of us. “Hello. What can I do for you?” he said, smiling softly at me.

“Well, I found this book.” I said, raising the book in my hands to indicate it. He looked at it and saw the title.

“Oh.” he said, looking at me and then at Connelly.

“I’m sorry. I just knew you would tell it better.” Connelly said, looking at Mathias.

“It’s completely alright.” Mathias said, standing and walking over to us. He took the book and sighed, rubbing the cover and then looking at me.

“Is it bad?” I asked.

“No, it is a great story.” he said as he turned away from them and walked back to his desk. The way he said it made me think that it wasn’t great in the way that it’s all happy, but in the way that it was a grand and immense story.

“Take a seat.” he said, indicating two chairs sitting in front of his desk that hadn’t been there before. I looked at Connelly, who was smiling at me, and then we went and sat down.

Mathias looked at me and then said, “Let me start by explaining a couple of things. First of all, there are several vampire races, some old, some new, and too many to name. Well, each race has a leader and something of a basic government to keep our kind in line and keep our secret.”

I nodded and he continued.

“Now, our story begins with someone you may not take seriously, but you must realize that he is very real.” Mathias said, looking at me seriously.

“Who?” I asked.

“Dracula.” Mathias said.

“Oh.” I said.

“Now I know this may seem a tad bit unimaginary, but this is not a fiction story. This is real, and most of the things you’ve heard about him are all from Hollywood.” he said and I nodded that I understood.

“Dracula was the oldest vampire and lead vampire of his kind, the Transylvanian Vampire. Though they had many other names; The Dracul Strain, and Dracula’s Offspring to name a few.

“The years passed and his kind flourished in the land. Dracula’s closest relatives, the royal family, were kept at the castle with him. Now the things you’ve read about Dracula being dethroned, all of that was true, but what no one knew was that he had planned it. He had planned it so that when he came back, he was greater than before and loved even more. But anyway, I’m getting off subject.” Mathias said, looking at me.

“It’s okay. I get more information that way.” I said and he chuckled.

“Anyway,” Mathias smiled at me, “Dracula had a cousin, Moran Peters. And he was just like the others, decimating humans on a large scale.

“And though Moran was killing humans like the rest of his kind, he always had the nagging suspicion that something was wrong about it. In time, the thought overtook him and he fled his country to the Middle East, ashamed of what he was.

“He kept moving, day after day, until he finally collapsed at Jerusalem’s feet. Moran was weak from fasting for so long, but as the thought consumed him, he couldn’t bring himself to down another unsuspecting mortal. So, he scoured the desert outskirts of Jerusalem and found a nest of rats.

“The nest was in the wall of a church. And when he was inside, he saw a bible lying on a table. He reached over and picked it up. And when he got to the last page, his whole outlook on his future had changed. No longer did he think that, no matter what he did, he was hell bound. No longer was he hopeless for salvation for he had life’s rulebook in his hands and in his heart. His hope, happiness, and life’s purpose was restored and made clear to him.

“Moran returned to his country and presented the book to his cousin, but Dracula had no intention of looking at it, much less following its words. Dracula turned away from the book and told Moran that it was full of lies and that it was meant for humans. Mortals. Vampires were not like humans and therefore did not follow the same rules.

“But Moran didn’t believe this. He had life’s true rule book in his hands and left Dracula’s presence. He presented his book to many other vampires that felt the same way he had before and they became his followers.

“Soon he had twenty followers and they all moved out of Transylvania and into Germany, where vampires did not thrive. Soon, over the years, they became their own strain of born vampires. They were devastated though, by the hunts that erupted for them from their neighboring strain. For when Moran and his followers left, Dracula spread through his country that Moran was a traitor and he, along with all of his followers, should be killed for their treason. So the hunts started and continued until Menschlicher Vampir, Moran’s adapted kind, was so close to being extinct that it was almost impossible to find them anymore.

“That’s horrible.” I said. Mathias nodded gravely.

“They lost a whole four generations from those hunts.” he said.

“After that, the hunts ceased and the Menschlicher Vampir race was free to populate again. And, slowly, they did, spreading all over various parts of the country and then eventually over to the colonies of the Americas.” Mathias said, looking at me.

“Wow. That is a great story.” I said. He nodded.

“In the hunts, they managed to miss some of the original Menschlicher Vampir. Six to be exact, and the rest of the fifteen survivors were later generations. Moran is still alive. But the problem is that we don’t really know how we age.” He looked at me and I gave him a confused look.

“Moran and the original six are all still alive and well, but that is only because they are still from Dracula’s strain. You see, each species of vampire, or strain, has different characteristics, rules, etcetera. Dracula’s strain is all tall and has very sharp features. His strain is the one that is the most famous look for vampires.

“We, the Menschlicher Vampir, since we have branched out from Dracula and have accepted Christ, are different from all vampire species even more than normal. Because we believe what the bible says, we have more varied characteristics. We look more like humans, coming in all shapes and sizes just like you.