We are monsters

Half-born? Cross-born? Pure-born?

Wren had never heard of a vampire wielding any magic, yet before his eyes, Blair was bending the stream to her will.

Its form changed into a blossoming flower and just as he noticed the slightest relaxation in her shoulders, Miss Fauna's shrieking voice made her double over.

The water flower crashed back into the stream as the light vanished around the crumpled vampire, her head hung low as some of the girls muttered in fear and repulse.

"What are you!? A freak of nature!?"

By now the whole warren had rushed over after all the commotion, and Miss Fauna was still hurling her insults at Blair.

Wren suddenly stepped between them, his voice cold.

"Enough Miss Fauna."

The shock on her face was evident, very few witches stood up to her and never so bluntly.

He'd probably get told off by Alrick once Miss Fauna spoke to him but Wren didn't really care at that moment, instead leaning down to help Blair stand.

Insults were still being thrown as Blair took his hand into her shaking one, being pulled gently away into a more discrete area.

"Are you okay?"

Blair didn't answer at first but eventually spoke,

"I'm okay."

After a few moments of silence, he slowly lowered to sit on the grass surrounded by bushes that kept them hidden away, gently guiding her to sit by him since he could see the tremble in her legs.

Wren didn't let go of her hand, the coldness spreading from his palm which felt nice, like running it through a calm stream. But made sure not to put any pressure on her, so Blair could remove her hand at any point if she desired.

Though she had remained calm it still took a while before her breathing became invisible once more and she finally spoke,

"You have questions, right?"

"A few yeah but you don't have to answer them."

In his mind, though he was really hoping she would answer them, he was staying calm on the outside but he was as rattled as Miss Fauna had been.

"I don't know if I can give you all the answers but...I'll try."

"You will?"

Blair bowed her head slightly,

"Ask away."

He took a deep breath and while playing with a strand of grass in his other hand he asked, making sure not to finish until every question he asked was free from his throat.

"You used magic earlier, how? What do you eat? Do vampires sleep? Do you have dreams and what sort of dreams do you have? Do you ever get cold? I know you burn in the sun but does that mean you can't feel warmth? Do you have a family? How do vampires have families? Does it hurt being a vampire? Would you ever want to be normal? What emotions can you feel and not feel? What's it like to be immortal? How do vampires die? What powers do you have?"

Wren probably had a million more questions but when he saw the wide blue eyes staring at him he closed his mouth, he was curious and wanted to know it all.

Blair on the other hand took a moment to process all the questions, her lips parting slightly before closing tightly again until she cleared her throat and found her voice.

"That's...a lot of questions. I'll try my best though...do you mind if I start with the easier ones?"

"Of course, go ahead."

"I can eat human food as long as I drink some animal blood during the month, Vampires can sleep but we don't have to unless we need to reserve our energy, most vampires can't dream but I can...we don't get cold and we can feel warmth, Being a vampire is like when you first learn how to swim. We feel all emotions, some stronger than others,"

She paused and explained the next few questions in greater detail.

"Being immortal is...weird and wonderful, like a tragic love story. You know how it ends or in this case, never ends...but it's still a journey, it's why most vampires are in Covens or are alone. There are very few out in the world that live as long as we do and most don't like to interact with our kind unless they have to.

Vampires have families in a few ways, most bite and inject their venom to turn another and grow their family that way.

Some do the crazy and partner with humans, having a natural-born half-vampire but its a very complicated ordeal, you have to make sure the baby doesn't kill the mother while pregnant and most times the humans don't survive the birth and more often than not the vampire is too late to turn the human after the baby is born. It's why a lot of the Half-Born are forced to become rogues because once their mothers are dead the vampires hate them for their birth, like I said very complicated."

Blair could see his mind turning like cogs in a clock and carried on,

"The other method is to partner with a powerful gene, this one is more considered to be looked down upon but some vampires will partner with an Alpha werewolf or A nymph, A Muse, Fairies, Pixies...It's like partnering up with a human but the chance for the mother to survive is greater and the chances to end up with a Cross-born are great. But still frowned upon in the Covens of Pure-borns."

Wren held up his hand and shook his head.

"Hold on, so Half-born vampires are between just humans and vampires? Cross-born are...half vampire and half another bloodline from other mysticals...but what's Pure-born?"

She nodded before reaching up to touch the pendant around her neck, a sombre smile on her face.

"Pure-borns are vampires with the purest of blood, I don't know all the details but in the vampire society, they are considered the elites. But to be pure-born...is rare, even rarer to be successful."