I blinked once. Then twice. Cocking my head, I said, "Sorry, could you repeat that?" Surely I've misheard. There's no way he said—

"I am a vampire," he said again, more slowly, more confidently.

Nope... He definitely said what I thought he said...

I stared at him, waiting for the smile to spread across his face, waiting for him to cave and give up the joke.

But he continued to gaze back, no element of humour in his gaze.

So I started laughing. "Good one! You got me a moment there."

But he didn't join me. His lips didn't even turn upward. In fact, he seemed a little... dejected. Almost as if he had expected this response from me and had hoped for more.

"You didn't really think I'd fall for that one, did you?" I asked nervously when he didn't speak. "Good way to break the ice though. Now what did you really want to tell me?"

He sighed and looked away. "Of course you don't believe me..."

I stared at him, searching again for a crack in the facade. How long is he going to try pulling off this joke?

"Guys," Ben called out a little above a normal talking tone. "Can you come help?"

I wasn't sure who he was talking to. We were far away from where we last saw his housemates.

But sure enough, they had somehow heard him, as the five of them suddenly forwarded into the room, standing awkwardly by the door, giving me distance as if any sudden movement or proximity would frighten me.

My eyes widened as I glanced around, searching for a camera or microphone that he could have used to communicate with them. But if there was one, it was definitely hidden.

My stomach tensing and tears threatening to spring to my eyes, I felt the joy begin to evade my body as the humiliation sunk in. All the secrecy and drama... only to be part of some ridiculous practical joke.

I figured it was all too good to be true.

That he was too good to be true.

Ben and his friends must get a crack out of playing with people's feelings.

I glanced at the doorway, wondering if it would be easy to escape here.

I didn't want them to make any more fun of me than they had already.

But then Erica slowly approached me, breaking away from the group to sit on the couch by my side. "I'm a witch," she said, as if I would believe her.

I rolled my eyes and looked past her to Ben. "I can't believe you're doing this to me," I spat at him.

Though his eyes begged me... pleaded me to believe. "Just... go along with it. Please."

My jaw clenched, gaze turning back to Erica.

If I put up with the antics, eventually I could leave, right?

I was too scared to just run now... what if that was part of their plan? Those who run get tortured or murdered... or whatever sick game they were playing that I had walked straight into.

"Can I have something of yours? Maybe that bracelet?" Erica asked.

Shooting a glare at Erica then at Ben over her shoulder, I yanked the silver bangle off my wrist and held it out to her.

What is she going to even do with it? Tie some string and pretend it 'levitates'?

As she gently took it from my grasp, she brought her other hand out, palm upwards as she placed the bracelet in the middle. Next, she hovered her free hand over the top, giving me clear room to see the space around metal and no sign of strings.

And then it began to hover between her hands.

My eyebrows furrowed, wondering when she set up the trick...

Though all theories fled from my mind when the bracelet started to glow a brilliant bright amber.

Jumping back in my seat, my eyes flew open, flicking up to Erica then back to the bracelet.

One corner of Erica's mouth went up in satisfaction at the fact that she had made her point.

But she was far from done.

Suddenly the bangle snapped in half, extending, twisting this way and that, as the metal contorted into a new arrangement. After endless dances in the air, the glowing string finally sealed back together, before settling back on her hand as the golden hue began to dull.

When all light had receded from the bracelet and it was silver once more, she handed it back to me... as though she had merely sewed a button back onto a shirt for me.

Bringing it up to my face, turning it this way and that, my jaw quite literally dropped.

My once-plain, smooth bangle now had all sorts of ornate and intricate designs etched into the metal work.

"H-h-how did you do that?" I squeaked, my eyes finally going back to Erica's.

She wiggled her fingers at me and smiled. "Magic."

I looked over her shoulder at Ben, who studied me, earnestly... wary.

"Okay... you have my attention now." I cleared my voice, failing to remove its high-pitched tone. "How does this prove you're a vampire though?"

Ben shifted closer to me on the couch. Ever so gently, he picked up one of my hands in his as he looked into my eyes, willing for me to trust him. "I've gone back and forth in my mind since meeting you, sometimes convinced that you already knew about us... All your theories were almost spot on. But whenever I tried to confirm if my suspicions were true... or if you were even one of us... you just outright rejected any belief. You thought it was all fiction. So I was back to square one. I knew the only way to get you to believe me and to maybe not freak you out about it was to start by introducing you to my friends." He nodded to them with his head. "Witch's magic is probably the easiest to digest. It doesn't seem so... scary, as vampires are."

I slowly bopped my head, as though his words were sinking in at all. "So... mutations?" I confirmed.

"Mutations from human DNA," he confirmed my earlier theories. "We get stronger as we breed with more mutations. Get more... abilities when we breed with other types of mutations. Myself, Drake, and Loren are from vampire lines with nothing else. Well... my dad's line is vampire. My mum was human."

"So..." But I didn't have anything to say. I was lost for words.

"Demonstration?" he guessed.

I nodded.

Ben raised his hand and pointed at Drake. "Keep your eyes on him."

In the blink of an eye, the space was vacant, but I had barely time to register it before Drake was standing back there.

Yet my hand that had been clenched tight around the bracelet before was suddenly empty. Looking down, I confirmed it was gone.

Gaze going across the room, Drake held it up in the air, a slight upwards tilt to his lips.

Next I knew, Loren grabbed it from him, placing it back in my hand in the blink of an eye, before going back to his spot.

The actions of the two vampires were barely visible, but I certainly noticed a flutter of movement.

"Jayce is also a witch," Ben then said.

As if rehearsed, Jayce waved his hand, and I almost thought he was waving at me, but then my bracelet started to levitate again, floating away from me.

Extending a cautious hand, I reached out and grabbed it, almost feeling the magical pull resisting my tugs until at once the weight became mine.

"And you, Ivan?" I asked him.

"Vampire and shifter."

"Shifter?" I repeated. "Like... shape shifter?"

He nodded. "Shall I demonstrate?"

I shuffled backwards in my seat, eyes wide, not sure if I wanted him to. I mean... what would he shift into? A giant werewolf? Did he have control in an animal form? Was I in danger?

But he took my silence as a confirmation.

His shoulders moved backwards as he arched his spine, head turned upwards.

Then all at once, he threw his body forward, and he continued to collapse until he became a small dark shape with wings—

Ivan is a damn bat?

My jaw dropped once more as I watched him fly towards me, swooping over my head.

The fuck...

"Okay," Ben said after Ivan the bat had lapped the room. "Enough demonstrations. Do you all mind leaving Olivia and I alone to talk now?"

I hadn't even noticed until his voice broke me from my stupor that I had slightly lifted my legs from the ground, crouching towards Ben... as though the vampire who most likely wanted to eat me was the safest option in the room.

But then that thought saw me edging away from Ben.

As my mind raced, Erica got up first, heading out of the room.

Then she was quickly followed by her brother, and then Loren and Drake.

Finally, Ivan flew to the door, shifting back into human form as he walked out of the room.

"Where do his clothes go," I found myself whispering, surprising myself that my thoughts came out loud... and that I somehow still had a voice.

"They sort of just become part of him when he shifts."

I turned and looked at Ben, surprised there was an answer or explanation to anything I had seen. "Great. I hate shifters in movies and shows where they suddenly run around butt naked." Like that was my biggest concern at the moment.

Ben laughed, a little flicker of hope flashing through his eyes, telling me I was evidently handling this better than he thought I would. And that spark of kindness saw the tenseness slowly leaving my body as my feet lowered back to the ground and my fists unclenched... But I didn't relax all the way.

"So... I imagine you have a number of questions?" he asked.

"Only like... a hundred."

Ben made a gesture with his hand that indicated I should start.

"How many creatures are there? Just vampires and witches?"

"Assume every single fable is correct."

"Each one?"

He nodded.

"Even unicorns?"

Ben laughed. "Yes."

"You've seen one?" I was a little too excited about that question.

"Trust you to hook on to that..."

"Mermaids?" I queried.

He nodded again. "A couple of my friends from school are mermaids and shifters. They all wanted to meet you, but I figured this would be overwhelming enough."

"What about fairies?" I asked, hope tingling my tone.

Ben paused. "The normal kind, yes."

"But not the Terra fairy?" Already, my heart was beginning to sink as my childhood fantasy began to meet the reality of truth.

He shrugged. "The legend says they are hiding..." But something about the way he said that and looked at me suggested otherwise. Like he knew something more.

But instead of following that line, I then asked, "What's Jade?" remembering her dreamy green eyes.

"Witch as well."

"And your friend Lukas who doesn't want to meet me?"

He looked down to his lap, hesitating for the first time in a while.

"What?" I implored, unsure what of all the things he has exposed me to could make him pause this time.

"He... he's vampire and witch," he whispered.

I cocked my head to the side, trying to decipher the odd reaction. But then it sunk in. "Wait... he's the one with the book?"

"Yeah... it's not a book though."

"So the story... the uncle... the torture... it's him?"

Pursing his lips, Ben met my eyes again and nodded.

"Oh, no. Oh, shit. So there's really an evil vampire out there?"

He sighed and nodded again. "Rüdiger is his name."

"That's quite the name..."

"He's German."

"I see..." But I could hear the reluctance in his tone to talk about the topic. So I moved on to the next question. "Then the whole 'I can't go out when it's hot' thing..."

"Is because UV rays above moderate level begin to blister our skin."

"Like a sunburn?"

"Yes. But much more quickly and intensely."

I nodded as though it made sense. Though none of this really made sense. A part of me was waiting for the moment I would wake up in my bed and Monday morning would start again. I imagined telling real Ben about this silly dream I had... but I didn't wake up. This was my reality.

"What about..." I looked down at my hands, suddenly more interested in them than talking.

"You can ask anything, Olivia," he said, though his earlier hesitancies said otherwise... and was why I was pausing now.

Anxiously, I met his gaze again.

And he was clearly scared. Scared that any answer was about to send me running. Scared of the answer that could send me running.

But I ripped off the bandaid. "What about your... diet? I've seen you eat meat and..."

"We are still mammals. Still need to eat real food and some vegetables. Our DNA is an offshoot of human DNA. The stronger the vampire line, the more resistant we are to human diseases..." He was avoiding the topic, slowly getting to it, trying to justify everything. "But we are largely carnivorous. Struggle to digest certain foods—"

"Like cookies, popcorn, garlic..."

Ben nodded.

"And the... blood?" I finally asked.

He leaned forward towards the coffee table, flipping open a little box situated there. "We store these around the house just in case we don't feel like getting up when it's time to take another." He let out a small, nervous laugh, sitting back as he held up the small bottle filled with the crimson red pills.

"What is that?" My eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes. We need blood," he confirmed. "That is essentially what characterises us as 'vampires', alongside the whole super speed, vision, senses, and sensitivity to sun... The blood provides specific nutrients that, without it, we would become malnourished."

He shook the bottle, causing the pills within to give a little rattle noise.

"But a couple of years ago," he went on, "Rüdiger invented the blood pills. They contain everything we need that we normally find in blood, but it is all synthetic. So those of us who don't actually get joy out of hurting people or animals for their blood like the monsters we were born to be choose to take these. The stronger the vampire line, meaning your family has been breeding with vampires for a really long time, the more blood pills you will need in a day."

"So... there are those out there who still..."

"Terrorise humans and drink their blood?"

I nodded.

"Yes," he breathed, looking down like he had to apologise for their actions.

"Are there made-vampires?"

His head whipped up, like he was shocked I didn't have a more drastic reaction to his earlier forthcomings. "No. It's only a genetic mutation. You have to be born with it."

"Okay... You said these pills were only invented a few years ago. What did you do before that?"

He looked down.

"Ben?"

He sighed and met my gaze again. "Stole from blood banks."

I pursed my lips, surprised there was no story of mass killings... then again... was he censoring himself? "So it has to be human blood?" I asked instead.

"Animal blood can suffice, but... it's just not as easy to come by unless you go hunting in the wilderness or on people's farms. And in London... well, you know there isn't much wildlife here. Also it's a little bit gross biting through all the fur..." He shuddered.

My eyebrows shot up. "So you've tried?"

"Mhmm." He looked anywhere and everywhere but me... like he was confessing his biggest embarrassments. Like he was ashamed of what he was.

"Then these pills were quite the saviour?" I concluded.

"Definitely makes us feel less like monsters." I could hear the despair echoing in his tone.

"Then Rüdiger isn't as evil as you let on?"

Ben let out a deep, shaky breath. "His reason for making them isn't good."

"Why? You don't need to drink human blood ever again."

His eyes stared into mine in the most serious gaze I had ever seen. He was tired, distraught from the topic of the evil vampire, it seemed. Sick of him. "Rüdiger made the blood pills so that we wouldn't need humans anymore."

"Need?" I repeated, picking up on his emphasis.