Say Yes To Forever

Chapter Ten

Monday, October 6th comes, and I cannot wait for the end of Sub-human Anthropology. While Cyrus goes to the bathroom before taking me out to lunch, I quickly gather my things, “Professor Ramsey?”

He stops just shy of the door, “Yes, Miss Ward?”

“You mentioned the extra credit today… doing a short paper on the Sub of our choice? I was wondering if you had any suggested readings, other than our textbooks, about… about Vampires?”

He thinks for a moment, then pulls out a pen and piece of scrap paper. “There’s a wonderful book by Samantha Everson, a teacher of Basic-human studies out in California…. Well, she’s about to move to California, finishing up her last year at Brown, where she teaches both Sub and Basic-human Anthropology classes.” He hands the paper to me, “You can find it at the campus bookstore, and it should help you with your extra credit essay.”

As I read over his note, Vampires: Just Like Us by Samantha Everson, then tuck it away in my notebook, “Thank you.”

Professor Ramsey smiles pleasantly, “It is wonderful how involved you’ve become in this class. Keep up the good work!”

Closing my bedroom door, I’m tempted to lock it but don’t want to alarm Mama. Instead, I prep my desk to look like I’m in the middle of literature homework and press play on my boombox. As ‘Barbie Girl’ by Aqua plays softly across the room, I open my new copy of Vampires: Just Like Us.

Reading through the table of contents, I’m trying to w**d out what I already know from class and what I’d like to learn now. Newling/Sire… Mating… Fertility… Telepathic/Empathic Readings… now all of that is new. I write down a few key phrases and then jump to the dictionary in the back.

Newling: a newly turned Vampire, a Vampire fresh from their transition; a Vampire is considered a Newling for three years, though may always be called as such in relevance to their Sire.

Sire: the “father” or “mother” of a Newling, the Vampire who commits the transition of one Human into a Vampire. Sires are responsible for guiding Newlings through their lives as a Vampire, teaching and taking care of them.

Mating: for this there are two kinds. One is “pereche and împerechere and cuplata” - mate and mating and mated. Mating can happen more than once for Vampires, just like Humans, but these romantic feelings are far more powerful and slightly supernatural in comparison. It is very difficult to get between a Vampire and their mate. A Vampire can be in the process of mating at any point, but to have mated both the Vampire and the significant other must share in a one moment of true happiness. Two is “intipărire or imperecherea adevărată”- imprinting and true imprinting. Imprinting is still an extremely powerful connection between a Vampire and their significant other, and is one of Vampire’s metamorphic Sub-human abilities. Though there are physical traits associated with the imprinting of one Vampire to another individual, most Vampires describe the process as something other worldly, pure, and transcendent. It is similar too, but not exactly, the idea of soulmates. Imprinting is said to happen only once, though Vampires claim that if their mortal mate passes away, they will be reincarnated.

Fertility: like Human men, Vampire males are always fertile. Like Human women, some – but not all – Vampire females go through a menstrual cycle and are able to carry children. The Vampire females that are fertile go through a thirty-three-month cycle, usually ovulating around the sixteenth month.

Telepathic Readings: telepathy is the well-known idea of an individual ‘reading the mind’ of someone else. Though not all Sub-humans have the ability to do a telepathic reading, some Vampires can proceed to do both telepathic and empathic readings. This is not only the ‘reading’ of words, but also ideas, feelings, and bodily functions.

Empathic Readings: empathy is the well-known idea of an individual ‘reading the emotions’ of someone else. Though not all Sub-humans have the ability to do an empathic reading, some Vampires can proceed to do both empathic and telepathic readings. This is not only the ‘reading’ of feelings and auras, but bodily functions, ideas, and words.

Leaning back in my chair, I try to process everything. After minutes of just staring out the window, it might best to read this all cover to cover. Then, maybe, I’ll know how I really feel about the idea of Cyrus being a Vampire. Regardless of my feelings, though, if he is, I need to let him tell me on his terms.