Prudence carried all the papers to her room. She sat down on the bed and set to reading them. She tried to read with the light on, but she had to turn it off. It hurt her eyes too much. That made her feel even more aware of her vampire side. And even more uncomfortable.

The night was spent wide awake, faced with things that made her flinch with disgust. The images she had seen were reminding her so much of the scene in the ambulance she had to stop several times to calm herself down. They were all gore and blood. Abominations crawling around on the ground after people, and well-dressed gentlemen hypnotizing young women.

All the references to unquenchable hunger made her go to the kitchen. She opened what she now knew was called a fridge. The door was too hard to open for her liking, and the cool air inside made her flinch. There were a few metal canisters labeled blood. Prudence picked up one and then turned around, wondering how to heat it up.

Not knowing how she called Milo.

He got up, his hair askew, and smiled when she apologized profusely about waking him.

He gently ushered her to the kitchen. There Prudence picked out a mug for herself. She poured some blood into it. She might as well get used to this. If she was going to control her hunger and not kill anyone else she needed to know.

Milo opened a small box-like thing, put a lid on the mug, and then put it inside. He then pressed a few buttons. Despite the fact he seemed sleepy he wasn't impatient, in fact, he was far calmer than Prudence was. For some reason it made her feel better about the fact she needed to drink that.

"When this beeps, open it and press this button to turn it off. Then take it out. Be careful it'll be hot. Okay?"

“You’re leaving me alone?” Prudence’s voice cracked. She didn’t want to mess this up and ruin the kitchen.

Milo smiled. "I'll be here; I just want you to do it yourself."

Prudence nodded. When Milo sat on a chair, she stared at the spinning mug and the numbers going down slowly. She could feel Milo was observing her, and if she focused hard enough, she could feel his heartbeat. It didn’t make her hungry if she thought of his face. The more they talked, the more his face was solidified in her mind.

After the microwave had beeped, Prudence jumped. She ran Milo's instructions over and over in her head as she attempted to retrieve her cup. The blood was nice and warm. Milo handed her a thin straw made from a strange material.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll go to bed now. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything else.” Milo made a move like he wanted to hug her, but when Prudence flinched, he just smiled and squeezed her hand.

Prudence nodded and went back to her room. She drank her blood as she read the list of things vampires might be vulnerable to.

Reading people talking about half of her as a myth was a strange out of body experience. She tested a few things out and realized her instincts still remembered dangers. Crosses made her uncomfortable and dizzy, as she figured out when she walked around and found one in a room. The sun felt as if someone was pouring uncomfortably hot water on her. She didn't have a way to test the wood bit. And honestly, she didn't want to. Silver didn't have an effect on her skin.

When she read the theory that the vampire myths could be mistaken for a disease called Porphyria, the first thought she had was how much she wanted to have it. But when she read on, she realized she couldn't have it.

Prudence closed her eyes and started repeating to herself. "I'm not a monster; I'm not a monster. I can stop myself; I won't be a threat. I'm not a monster…"

Later, she fell asleep on the bed, surrounded by papers. Her dreams were flooded with photos from the papers around her.