"Well, I'm not a vampire in the traditional sense. How humans portray us in films and television is rather inaccurate," he says this so casually as he wanders away from me and inspects some knick-knacks in my room.

Meanwhile, I am still reeling from that first confirmation of all our suspicions and just stand there with probably the dumbest expression on my face. I stumble back and plop on my bed again. I have to sit down and process this. A vampire. We were right? A vampire! Those jars were blood. I look over at him with wide eyes, mouth open like a bullfrog.

"Wait. Traditional sense? What does that even mean?"

He turns around and I sense a hint of a smirk as he observes me. "I'm not undead."

"What? But you are cold sometimes and pale..."

He moves towards me and I tense up, his movements are slow and he grasps my wrist very gently. He presses my hand to his chest and I stare dumbfounded. There's a heartbeat, it's slow but it's there. I furrow my brows and peer up and up into those impossibly beautiful eyes of his. I feel tingles where he's still holding my wrist. I tug a bit and he lets it go.

"Technically, I am a sub-class of demon."

"Demon!" The man is far too nonchalant about this. A demon like fire and brimstone and forked tails and horns? Of course, he just looks like a person. Is that a disguise, does he truly look like this? He must have noticed me looking at him up and down with a peculiar expression because he chuckles and speaks up.

"No, I am sorry to disappoint but no tail and horns to be found here. We come in a variety of flavors and only true, full demons have horns. My mother was human, so what you see is what you get...though..." He pauses as if considering something, like whether he wants to tell me more. What more is there? I am still trying to wrap my mind around the first bit. This hasn't been some elaborate dream right? Its one thing to speculate with a flight of fancy but to be smacked with the truth of the existence of such beings is a little overwhelming to say the least.

Suddenly just as I focus in on this half-demon's face it changes. Only slightly but it is noticeable. Those purplish-blue eyes are glowing like fire and his pupils are slit like cats' eyes. Most of all, his mouth is open as he shows me incisors that have just grown what feels like at the very least a quarter of an inch than normal. They are sharp as they catch the dim lamplight, they aren't needle thin at all but they would definitely do some damage. Thicker like animal fangs...a cat or wolf? At the very sight of them though I am shuffling back on my single bed but I hit resistance before long. I'm in the corner up against a wall and the window.

Felix quickly shuts his mouth and his eyes return to normal. "Ah! Sorry, Colin. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"You didn't," I say but even I feel foolish for even uttering it. I mean I'm back in a corner and slightly shaking.

A sort of somber and sobering look passes over his face and he re-seats himself on the corner edge of my bed, farthest from me. I take a breath and shake my head. I fish out my inhaler and take a few quick puffs just in case and as a means of comfort. I pull away from the wall but only a few inches. Sitting on my knees I stare at his broad lean back.

"Felix..." His back stiffens and he turns his head slightly to the left. I catch the tautness of his jaw muscles. "Why are you telling me all this?"

He turns his head away again and runs those long, an artist's wet dream fingers through his dark hair. "I want you to trust me...and I just..." He stops and is quiet for what feels like minutes. "I do not want you to think that I am so savage a beast as to..."

I know what he means. So savage as to rip apart my beloved tutor and stuff her in a dryer.

I look down at my hands and fiddle with a little piece of loose string along the seam of my jeans. "And I..." I pause and swallow hardly anything since my mouth is so dry. I should have grabbed a glass of water or something. "...I want to believe you, Felix. I do."

"But?" He certainly is sharp. I don't even know what I am saying but there is definitely a 'but' coming.

"But...I don't know, this is just...really overwhelming. You understand that right? I mean Mrs. Cunningham was brutally killed and you make this confession?" I pull my knees up so I can fall back against my bed with a sigh. I rub my face a few times as if I'm trying to erase a dream or a nightmare depending on one's interpretation.

"Yes, I understand but I thought that after our last encounter this was the best recourse," he replies and sighs heavily himself. "I am truly sorry, Colin."

We are silent for some time. I stare up at the ceiling and I'm not sure how I know, but I know he stares at me. I guess its just one of those "feeling eyes on you things". Though, the tingles are spread warm and fuzzy along my spine the whole time. I really hate that shit, it makes it hard to focus or stay in this mode of anger and confusion. Finally, I peer down the length of my body to lock eyes again with this demonic jackass.

It feels like a shift happens, atmospherically and literally, as the warm tingles seem to now be spreading around my chest. There is something in Felix's expression that I have not seen so intensely before. What does it mean? What is he thinking? I sit up and open my mouth to just ask. "Felix—"

There's a sharp and annoyingly loud knock at the bedroom door. We both seem to tense and look sharply in some alarm at said door. It doesn't open thankfully but of course an irritatingly cheerful voice calls out from the other side.

"People are starting to get restless, Colin!" Joanna shouts from the other side. "Felix you can finish giving his sexy b-day gift later, okay? You've been in there long enough and you haven't even opened your presents yet."

"Joanna!" I yell back, feeling embarrassed and hyper-aware of all the implications in that blasted girl's words.

She practically cackles. "Hurry up!" The obnoxious laughter gets faint and disappears and I assume she has walked away now.

My cheeks are impossibly warm and I can't even bring myself to look at Felix's face anymore. I stand up and move a few steps towards the door. He says my name in that goddamn velvet voice and I stop almost involuntarily. I lick my lips and something occurs to me. "Felix, what happened to Mrs. Cunningham wasn't some run of the mill psycho, was it?"

"No, it was not," says Felix and his voice has a certain weight to it.

"You know who...no, what it might be, don't you?"

"Yes."

I furrow my eyebrows and nod even though my back is still to him. I reach my door and begin to open it, wanting to escape this right now when an unbelievably sharp pain strikes my brain. No ordinary headache to be sure.

I crumple to my knees, one hand still holding on the doorknob and the other gripping my forehead. "Fuck!" In a mere second, Felix is beside me with the weight of his palms on my shoulders saying something to me but it's hard to hear at all. How could I over this cacophony of voices? Why was everyone yelling all at once? Can't they just shut up for a minute so I can hear what Felix is saying?

I think Joanna and my mother come into my room too but I barely notice. There's so much pain that I swear my head will split open any moment. I'm suddenly on my back but I can barely see as a vignette seems to form over my eyes. What the hell is happening?

A blurry shape of someone hovers above me and I think it might be Felix but then my world is black. That lasts only a moment as I drown in a brilliant pale light. It's beautiful and frightening.

---

I didn't dream. I didn't even really know I was asleep until I began to stir. My eyes flutter open and I feel warm but heavy. It dawns on me slowly that I'm under the covers on my bed. I rub at my eyes and squint at the figure sitting in a chair beside my bed.

"Mom?"

It seems she had started to doze off but wakes rather immediately upon hearing my voice. She's on the edge of my bed in an instant and kissing my face all over. Ugh. I'm in such a daze though that I'm not all that bothered. "Oh, honey, you're awake! I was so scared!" She pulls back and brushes my hair aside. It feels nice.

"Scared?" I mumble, my voice sounding strangely hoarse.

She nods. "You were screaming so much in pain. I was going to take you to the hospital but...Well, I don't know what that lovely young man did, but he helped you and I will be forever grateful."

Felix did something? I remember a sharp pain and so on and that pale blue light but nothing else. What happened?

"Do you need anything, sweetie?" I stare up at her and nod.

"My throats really dry," I supply and cough a bit.

"I'll go get you some water," she says and bends over me again to plant a kiss against my forehead. Her eyes are a little watery and red but she smiles and makes her way to the door.