Prudence reread the part where the letter mentioned her a few times. For some reason, she didn’t think it was her at first. Did she really attack someone so savagely? Why would she do that? The two dead bodies floated in her mind again. Of course, she would do that. This part of her, the one making her drink blood for her own survival, was the one making her do all those things. If she could somehow claw it out of her, she would.

Prudence realized she was standing silently for too long, so she frowned. “That’s not that helpful.”

“Well, at least ya know that ya’re not a dainty little flower. That’s always helpful when people are trying to kill ya.” Charlotte handed Prudence a bowl filled with solid balls of brown, white and pink food. The bowl was cold. “Ice cream. Desert. It’s yummy.”

Prudence took the bowl and sat down in what they called the living room. The seats were comfortable and soft. All of them seemed to be pointed at the black thing hanging above the fireplace.

Milo reached for something on the glass table, but he stopped. He turned to Prudence. “Oh, I forgot to explain to you. This is a television. We figured out how to make moving photos. When I press this button, they will show up. But you need to understand that those are just moving photos, nothing more.”

“…Alright.” Prudence was confused. Milo was so serious.

“There are no tiny people inside,” Milo said.

Prudence raised her eyebrow. “…Alright.”

“Ya’re weirding her out dude.” Charlotte chuckled, hitting Milo on the side. “Ya know the fact people always think that in your stories, it doesn’t mean she will too.”

“Maybe not, but I like to cover my bases. There is no reason to scare her.” Milo turned on the television.

A loud sound escaped it, and Prudence was faced with what she expected. Moving pictures. The explanation didn't make it any less strange. But Prudence could understand how someone would think people were stuck in it. When she looked at the device, strange images from a book floated in her mind.

“Zahn.” She spoke as if reading from a book.

“Huh? Are ya remembering something?” Charlotte moved from her seat as if to catch Prudence if she fell over.

“No. It’s one of those things I already know.” Prudence scrunched up her face. “Johann Zahn.”

“Milo, ya know who that dude is?”

“Yeah, he invented the camera before technology caught up,” Milo said, impressed. “How do you know about him?”

“I don't know; maybe I've seen or heard of him?"

“Or you’ve read the book.” Milo got up and then sat down. “I would have said I can get it for you, but come to think of it, I’m not so sure. I’ll check.”

Prudence smiled. The rest of the evening devolved into Milo talking about cameras and Prudence listening. The ice cream had melted. Charlotte had left, but not before saying she'd be taking Prudence to town with her tomorrow.

Prudence hadn’t even gotten used to the fact one could take her picture with just a tiny brick people kept in her pocket when Milo’s eyes started to close.

“You can go to bed you know.” She smiled at him. It was kind of sweet he was trying to keep her company.

“No, I want to keep you company, you don’t have to be alone all night. I don’t know why I’m already sleepy.” Milo looked at the floor. “Oh, wait, I have something for you.” He walked away and came back soon with a pile of white pages. “Vampire myths. Now I don’t know how much of this is accurate, but this is what society has thought of them. Considering we got the weaknesses right, there might be something else here that’s of use. I included fictional accounts too. Most of the stories describe vampires as hypnotic, hungry beasts that can entrance their victims with their beauty but looking at you I don’t really buy that. Not that you’re not beautiful, it’s just you don’t seem like someone that would do that. You’re nice.” He stammered out.

“I understood that. Did you get that, from the…” Prudence couldn’t remember the word Milo used to describe the latest piece of technology someone had invented.

“Computer and the Internet." Milo smiled. "You don't need to learn everything at once."

Prudence picked up the papers from Milo. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some sleep, you need it.” She wanted to greet him, but she did not want to hug him, and a handshake seemed too formal. Instead she squeezed his hand as a greeting.

“Sure thing. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask me.” Milo left to go to bed.