Bleeding Tears, Crying Blood

I stared at Cian while my fingers gripped Leroy's hand and White. I was a dhampir? I shook my head sharply to shake the thought away. That was wrong. I had never heard of a dhampir before and my parents were both vampires. Besides, it was impossible for a witch to bare an immortal child. The Matter would destroy it before it could develop.

"I can not be a dhampir." I stated.

Cian leaned back and tugged at his beard in thought. "It is very unlikely that you are anything else."

"Well it is impossible for a witch to bare a vampire child."

He nodded in agreement. "It is, that I won't deny. There are only three Clans that have the ability to breed with a witch, one I am sure you're a member of."

"Which Clans are these then?" I asked.

His eyes gave me a calm stare, watching my blank expression intently as he spoke. "The Lionhart, which no longer exists, the Kwan Clan and the Pluvia Clan."

I just about managed to keep my unease and shock from showing but the glimmer in his eyes told me he knew.

The Pluvia Clan. While that name was new to me, it was my own. My father had only told me our old name recently. I was to use it as a cover and keep myself safe as most of the Clans had forgotten about it. Pluvia was my Clan name. I swallowed thickly as my throat dried uncomfortably. White had also become eerily quiet and stilled in my hand.

"I am right, am I not?" Cian said with a smile.

Grudgingly, I nodded. "I am of the Pluvia Clan."

His smile widened. "Then you are of the same Clan as mine."

I frowned, still not at all convinced that I was a dhampir. "But it is not possible. My parents are both vampires."

"Are you certain?"

I nodded my head firmly. Numerous times I had seen mother bare her fangs at father when they argued and father was a Blue Blood and the current Head of our Clan. I doubted my mother ever betrayed my father. While she may get angry with him often, she was loyal. Stupidly loyal.

Cian shrugged. "Well, you're a dhampir regardless." I bit my lip in doubt and my eyes narrowed in distrust at the impossiblity of his words. This seemed to frustrate him a little as he sighed sharply and tugged his long beard hard. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen, nearing twenty." I replied.

"Then you should awaken soon. Once you have, come back to me. We can speak more of this then as there is no point in speaking of something you do not believe in."

I opened my mouth to argue, to press my point that, as I was born from vampires, I couldn't be a dhampir but Cian spoke sharply. "I will speak no more of this. You are a dhampir and, until you awaken, I will keep my knowledge of our kind to myself. Only once you believe me will I teach you of your abilities."

"Abilities?"

"Yes, but no more, Alma. Not until you are ready." Cian said.

I clutuched both White and Leroy, holding his firm gaze with ease but slowly I crumbled. This was exactly how I treated Leroy. Only once he was ready and I had his trust could I even consider teaching him of the Old World. Cian needed my trust to be able to teach me properly and right now he didn't. He was going to wait until I awakened.

"I don't know if I ever will." I mumbled a little sadly.

White purred in my mind gently in comfort while Cian's eyes softened. "You will. Dhampir children awaken later than vampire. You are still within the normal years of awaking."

That would have given me a small glimmer of hope at fully maturing if it wasn't for the fact Cian was still saying was a dhampir.

"Prove it." Leroy suddenly blurted out. "If you're something White and Alma have never heard of before, then prove it."

Cian turned his old tired eyes onto the human male standing next to me and assessed him carefully.

"You are a vampire, even if you are weak." He commented. "And because my statement is upsetting Alma, you in turn are getting angry. You feel the need to protect her. An admirable trait."

Leroy reddened slightly and his grip tightened on my hand. "Alma says she is not a dhampir, that she hasn't even heard of one. Prove to us that you are what you claim to be."

"I can not, not with these chains on." Cian said, shaking his wrists to make the shackles clatter.

"But you are willing to?" White asked warily.

"Yes, more than happy to."

"And if we take the chains off, you will not run from here or harm Alma?"

"I have told you before, I will not leave this crypt until Annie comes to claim me and I would never harm my own kin." Cian said firmly.

White was silent and his power curled in the air. He was thinking, I knew, considering the options. One was the we just ignore this man and his knowledge all together and leave him here. I didn't quite like that, not if he was right. It meant he was extremely rare and needed to be guarded, not left alone in this sordid place. The second was that we unchain him and let him prove himself, something we all know was risky as we had no idea of his real strength and if he was to be trusted.

"We will chance it." White said softly.

This surprised me. White was not one to take risks.

"What makes you say that, White?" I asked.

"I have heard of dhampir before but only briefly. I thought they were extinct. Obviously the Clans forgot about them but they are vampires as such, Alma. He maybe be a half breed but I can still feel a strong connection to the Clans within him. It is our job to care for him at least, even if you don't turn out to be a dhampir. He is one of our own."

"You have heard of them?"

White nodded hesitantly. "But not much."

"I am surprised you have heard anything at all." Cian remarked. "I thought the dhampir were forgotten about, or at least hated still."

"Why hated?" I asked warily.

He only smiled. "If you want me to prove what I am and give help to Alma when she awakens, remove the chains. If you don't, then leave me be. I am quite content here."

I glanced about the dark and dirty place, wondering how on earth he could be.

"We will. But breaking these shackles will be difficult."

Cian nodded. "I know. Only a weapon that can hold Matter can break them if you don't have a key."

"It may take a while." White said. "But I will find one and release you."

Cian laughed lightly then glanced up at the ceiling, eyeing it warily. "The sun is rising now." He said then turned to me. "It is best you leave. You won't be able to speak with me for several hours now."

"Why not?" I asked curiously.

"I can't wake when the sun is up. Now go. Come back any night you want to. I will be content speaking with another." He said then shifted his weight, settling down and placing his forehead on his knees. A few moments later he was asleep.

With Cian now unconscious and, after tapping his shoulder warily a couple of times, no way of waking him, I took Leroy's hand and led him out of the church. We stood outside, stretching and breathing in the fresh air as the dawn slowly crept over the world.

"Take some scissors and towels with you next time you go." White said. "He needs to be cleaned."

I smiled and held him in front of my face, letting my eyes hold the adoration I felt. "You want me to care for him?"

He wriggled uncomfortably, not liking my gaze. "As I said, dhampir or no, he is one of the Clans and has been left there for hundreds of years. We care for him and free him, just as our Lady would instruct us too."

"You feel no threat from him now?"

"No. I felt him carefully and he was open as a book, letting me test him. He hides nothing."

"Then if White thinks it is safe, it must be." I said, lifting him up so he can sit on my head.

I waved Leroy to follow and guided him back through the graves towards the broken wall.

"Alma." Leroy called with a curious tone to his voice. "What is a dhampir? And why is that man chained down there?"

I paused and looked back at him with a frown. "I don't know, Leroy. Cian is the only one who can tell us."

Leroy looked a little confused, probably because I couldn't give him an answer about the Old World. I was just as bewildered. The thought of being something I had grown up believing I was was daunting for me. My eyes flickered over to Leroy. I know understood why he ran from me. It was odd and laughable for some complete stranger to come up and say you're of a completely different race.

I sighed heavily and let my hands reach up to the toy sitting contentedly on my head. I hoped White would find a weapon to break the chains soon. I wanted answers as to what a dhampir was and proof the Cian was one as quickly as possible. I didn't want to return home with these strange and unsettling questions swirling about my head.

I wanted to know what I was.