Change of Perspective

I thought long and hard before I asked my first question. I didn't want to ask the stereotypically Vampire questions but couldn't help myself.
"Do you burn in sunlight?" I ask my eyes wide with excitement
He chuckles, "Not instantly. With all things created, evolution actually helped vampires out. Now, we can withstand the sun for about 3 hours. After that we get a pretty nasty sunburn."
"What about garlic, sliver, stakes?" I blurt out not even realizing how dumb I must sound.
"Silver is a myth. Stakes can kill us but only if another vampire wields it. Garlic is a myth also, I am Italian for god sakes. I would have been dead in infancy." He laughs, his musical laughter filling the room.
"Your fangs?" I ask half wanting to see them and the other half not wanting to.
"They only appear when I am feeding or extremely pissed." He says, his frown returning " I hope you never see that part of me. That beast is not me and can not be tamed."
"What do you mean?" I was afraid of this 'Beast'.
"Well, Jess has already seen a bit of its ugly head. All vampires have a inner demon that's a constant struggle. It fights for its freedom. That's where our insanity comes from. Mine-" He stops looking at the floor ashamed.
I grab his hand instinctively. He looks at me, his shame written on his face.
"I want to know you. Even if that means a side I may not like." I say in a gentle voice.
"Mine, I cannot control. He comes and goes." He finishes looking at me, with a look that made my heart break.
"So, I am suppose to tame your beast?" I ask, squeezing his hand.
"Yes. But I am afraid you will get hurt." He explains, bringing me in closer to him. His embrace was warm and comforting.
"I don't think you will." I say matter of factly.
He looks down at me raising an eyebrow.
"I will beat you up, first." I say laughing.
He chuckles and brings me to the futon to sit.
"So blood?" I ask, switching topics.
"From blood banks. We have a friend who gives us the almost outdated blood. They will get rid of it anyway so we just take it." He shrugs.
"But you ate at lunch?" I say confused
"Human food doesn't sustain us but we can eat it and enjoy it. We are alive in a sense." He explains smiling.
"So that brings me to my next question. You have a heartbeat, How?" I ask laying my head on his shoulder.
"There are two kinds of vampires. The strigoi vii and strigoi mort. Me and my siblings are strigoi vii. My parent switched over to strigoi mort at the age 30." He explains, holding me close.
"What's the difference?" I ask, looking up at him.
"The strigoi mort are the vampires you hear about from Hollywood. They have to drink fresh blood to survive and have died. My parents were bonded just after their 'deaths'. They only need each other's blood to survive on now. They have stopped aging at 30 so they will forever look that way." He continues on, " The strigoi vii, are the living vampires that age. We can age to whatever age we please."
"Oh. Huh, that's cool. So how does the mate thing work? Was I literally made for you?" I ask, wanting to know more about our connection.
"You ask a lot of questions." He laughs.
"I gotta know what I am getting into." I smile up at him. He kisses my forehead, sending shivers down my spine.
"You and I are connected by the fates, for lack of a better term. They chose me and you to be together for a reason unbeknownst to us. But you have the free will to walk away. If you don't want me or the curse I carry, you can leave and have no regrets." He says gloomily.
But I would. I would be damning a good man to a fate of insanity. I couldn't do that.
"Do some pairs not feel as compelled to each other as we are?" I ask squeezing him tight . My arms barely wrapped around his waist.
"It is different for some. It is very unusual for vampires to find their mate as young as me and Zane. Of course, for humans we are much older than 18."
"How old are you?" I say, pulling away enough to look up at him.
"I am only 52, Aliana. In human years. For vampires, I am 18." He laughs at my facial expression.
I sit there trying to work out the math.
"The aging process is rapid. Until 14 years of age, that's when the curse settles in, after that we age slowly learning to deal with our demons. Victoria didn't make it through the change. That is why she died. Her demon was too strong for her to control. She was strong though and fought that son of bitch. She and I were very close." He says. I could see his tears boiling up. He jerks away and turns his back to me.

I had touched a nerve, not knowing it. I get up from the futon and wrap my arms around the waist of my vampire. If the fates, wanted us together I was gonna stick with it. I was Ad Finem Fidelis, dammit! I would not be my father and run again. I could feel his body heave from a sob. I squeeze him harder. I felt his hands clenching mine. He turned around to face me. The evidence of him crying was gone but the sorrow was still there. I decide its time, to let him know what he was getting into with me.

"My dad left me and my ma when I was 16. It was two days away from my 16th birthday actually. Me and mom were out doing grocery shopping when we came home we saw the taxi and my dad loading his suitcases. He didn't have any explanation except that he was 'in-love with someone else'. My mom begged him to stay. She kept asking what she did wrong. He threw her off him and climbed into the taxi. I was so mad, I picked up a bat laying the front yard and starting swinging at the taxi. I smashed out the taillight and the back window. The glass shattered and cut his neck open and a piece of glass had lodged itself in my arm." I tell him the story showing the scar on my left forearm. His eyes started turning darker and I continued, "While me and mom were shopping in the city just a month ago, we saw him with twin boys and a 20-something woman. He had another family for four years." I break down in Vincent's arms. They started getting looser all the sudden.
"Get away from me!" He screams.
"Vincent?" I ask pulling away from him. His eyes were black. His fangs were out. His teeth had suddenly turned into daggers and his canines elongated and were curved. This was his demon.

Zane, Matt, and Ronnie ran in and pushed me out of the room. Tommy stood in the doorway blocking the entrance. I could see the three struggling with putting Vincent to the ground. They weren't doing so well. Jess and Cassie were in the living space with me. Jess clinged to my side.

"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" Cassie asks grabbing my arms for an inspection of my body.
"What happened?" Jess asks repeatedly.

I couldn't take my eyes off of Vincent who had knocked out Zane. He was laying on the ground. Jess screams from terror. Vincent was still fighting his brothers and was winning. Ronnie and Matt weren't small at all and it made me terrified of what Vincent was really capable of. Ronnie flew across the room into the wall, leaving a hole. Matt struggled to contain Vincent. Before I knew what I was doing, I had squeezed past Tommy and had the girls yelling for me to retreat. Vincent flung Matt in the same direction of Ronnie who was still recovering. He used some mad MMA skills. My fear had risen up in my throat. He swung his gaze on me.

"We have wanted you, pretty one. He has kept you from us. " The demon snarls, walking toward me.
I was scared stiff. The Demon possessing Vincent had reached me.
"What? No fight from his precious one?" The demons slurs touching my face.
Something inside me rose up and gave me the courage to look at the demon's eyes.
"Vincent, I need to come back to me. I won't give up on you if you don't give up on me." I speak in a gentle voice still commanding authority, "It's just you and I now, babe. Come back to me."
I wrapped my arms around his familiar body and put my head to his chest, hearing his heartbeat. I hear the laughter of the Beast.
"I need you, Vincent! I need you to protect me!" I scream, tears running down my face. My body racked from me sobbing.

Familiar arms wrapped around me, "Oh mio Aliana. Che cosa ho fatto?" the familiar voice reaches my ears.

I look up to see my Vincent. His eyes returned to his bright Hazel color and teeth had returned to normal, too. His face was contorted in pain and he looked at his brothers. I removed myself from him letting him move. He fell to his knees and I followed him grabbing his hand. My eyes never leaving his face.

"I miei fratelli ... Mi dispiace tanto. Perdonami." Vincent says his voice hoarse.
"Its ok, little brother." Matt says helping Ronnie get to his feet. He walked over to Vincent and put his hand on Vincent's shoulder.
"She did more than we could.Lei è veramente il vostro compagno. Lotta per lei ." Matt says leaving the room. Ronnie nodded toward Vincent and left. Zane was left on the floor and was coming to.

Jess ran to Zane's side. She helped him to his feet.
"Zane, I didn't-" Vincent tries to apologize
"Vin, its ok. I know you would do the same for me." Zane says with a smile.
"Thank you, brother." Vincent sighs
"I love you, bro." Zane says walking out. Jess giving Vincent a dirty look. I glare at her.
"I love you too." Vincent replies.
I storm out following Jess.
"What the fuck was that, Jess?" I yell pissed off to the highest degree.
"He hurt Zane. My Mate! How the fuck am I suppose to act!?" She yells back.
"He can't control the demon and if you would take the time to realized that Vincent would never hurt anyone, we wouldn't have an issue!" I scream. I felt Vincent's hands pulling me away but I jerked away.
He was mine and no one would treat me like a beast.
"Is that what he told you!? What a crock of shit!" Jess yells back.
I snap. I ran at her and tackled her to the ground. My hands surrounding her throat. She looked up at me in shock.
"He is mine. I will not let you treat him like a piece of shit." I spit, venom dripping from my own voice. She nodded unable to speak. Vincent removes me from Jess.

He takes me to his room again and shuts the door.
"Guess we both have our demons." He says, shaking his head. He ran a hand over his face.
I was sitting on the futon, shaking I was so mad. I was also ashamed. I had tried choking Jess. The one who had my back always and was my rock. I hurt her. I started to cry again.
"Shh.. It's ok. She will forgive you." Vincent says, bringing me into his arms again.
" How do you know?" I sob into his chest.
"Because she is your family. Family forgives you for your faults and loves you nonetheless." He says in a soothing voice.
Then we hear a small knock on the door.
"Come in, Jessica. She is ok, now." Vincent says.
She enters, eyes filled with tears. Zane was trailing behind her.
"I am so sorry, Jessie. I never meant to hurt you!" I sob, Vincent holding me upright.
She runs to me and hugs me, "I am sorry, too! I was such a bitch! I deserved it!"
We are both sobbing and didn't even notice Zane and Vincent had left us alone. We cried until we couldn't no more.
"I have to say, that was a pretty bad ass tackle, chica." Jess says laughing.
"Thanks, you are a total wimp." I laugh with her.
Zane and Vincent re-enter upon hearing our laughter.
"See told ya." Vincent says smiling at me.
"Sorry you guys saw my broken pieces. " I say, standing up
"We all have our issues. I just hate to see you two fight because of me and Vincent." Zane admits, letting Jess snuggle up under his arm.
"It won't happen again, right?" I say, winking at Jessie
She nods and places her head on Zane's shoulder. They leave the room.

Vincent shuts the door and joins me again on the futon. I snuggle up to his side laying my head on his chest. He wraps his arms around me. I could feel him breathe and his body starts to relax. Before I knew it, I had fell asleep.