Chapter 7

When she awoke she was at her home. Anthony sat at her bedside in one of her wooden kitchen chairs. He was watching her seeing if she was alright. When he was certain there was nothing more he could do Anthony said, "I will go now you are safe here." Reaching out and grasping his arm Leah said, "Wait don't go! You are him aren't you that burnt corpse I saw in the park that night? The one who attacked that creature who was trying to bite me." Now Anthony recognized her face now from the night of his betrayal and the events of that night came back to him. "Yes that was me. If I may ask why are you not terrified of me? You saw me kill men right in front of you." Anthony said. "You saved my life twice. Once from being drained of all my blood and the other from being raped and possibly killed. As far I'm concerned you're my hero and I have no reason to be afraid. Now let me ask you a question. How did you kill them so easily?" Leah replied. Shrugging Anthony said, "It was what I was made to do. I was created specifically to kill vampires like the one who tried to feed off you that night we first met. Unfortunately for those men I failed to see the distinction. As far as I could see they would have violated you and then killed you because you could have identified them."

"So the creature who attacked me really was a vampire? I wasn't sure if this was all some delusion that I have been experiencing since that night." Leah said. "Yes the creature I killed was a vampire. I needed his blood to heal from the burns I had experienced." Anthony said. "You say that as if it's no big deal." Leah commented. "Like I said it makes sense. It was what I was built for." Anthony replied. "So let me get this straight you're not a vampire, but you are not human either. If that's the case then what are you?" Leah asked. "A fair question and the answer is simple my race has no name. At present there are only two of us myself and my daughter Samantha. She is the product of my late wife Elena and I a human woman much like yourself. Almost no one knows we exist at all. We are hybrids you see a cross between vampire and human, while I was designed to be this way she was born into it. Both of us came out of the womb as we are or at least with the potential of becoming this. I reproduce as humans do but possess the abilities of a vampire as far as I can tell." Anthony answered.

"How old are you exactly?" Leah asked sitting up in bed her back leaning against the headboard. "I am thirty years old." Anthony replied. Leah stared at him in disbelief. From what she could tell he looked like he was in his mid-twenties at most. Deeply curious Leah said, "Tell me more." She couldn't help it this man fascinated her. Anthony gave her the shortened version of his life. By morning she sat there amazed at what she had heard. If she had not seen what she had seen recently Leah wouldn't have believed it.

Looking at the sun lighting up the blinds in front of her window Leah said, "It's morning already. I'll just open the blinds and let some light in and you can tell me more." Leah pulled the string to swing the blinds open. Anthony turned around saying, "There's not much more I can tell I mean... aaah." Crying out he immediately turned away from the blinding light. "The blinds! Close the blinds!" Anthony yelled covering his eyes. Quickly Leah closed them as soon as she could. Anthony was still covering his eyes when she turned around trying to shield them. Moving to the bed she moved his hands gently away. What she saw made her gasp. Anthony's pupils were like pin pricks. "Can you see?" Leah asked holding his hands in hers. Anthony shook his head trying to look around but only seeing a bright blur. "How did this happen? Is it a new change?" Leah asked. Laying down on the bed Anthony tried his best to answer, "Recently I felt my body's performance improve. I feel stronger, faster then ever before each time my senses become keener. This seems to be a side effect. My eyes are now very sensitive to light, and can no longer handle the light of the sun."

"Will the rest of your senses act similarly in this fashion?" Leah asked. Anthony still blind shrugged saying, "Probably given the circumstance. I couldn't tell you for sure this is all new to me too." He seemed so calm to her given what was happening to him. "You don't seem to sound too concerned." Leah said. Tilting his head towards her voice Anthony said, "Will worrying change what is happening to me? No, nor will it speed up the healing process, so what's the point in panicking?"

Thinking to herself Leah thought, 'Take a deep breath and calm down. He is right worrying won't solve the problem if anything it will make it worse.' Laying down beside him so she faced him Leah said, "Alright talk to me." Not understanding what she meant Anthony replied, "Talk about what?" Propping her head on one hand Leah said, "Tell me something about yourself. If you can't do that tell me what you're feeling right now."

"I feel lost. Something is missing I can feel it. My body is changing all at once and I don't know why." Anthony said. "Is this supposed to happen? Is this some your father had planned but couldn't warn you about ahead of time?" Leah asked. Sudden interest showed on his face. "What do you mean?" Anthony asked. "Well you said it yourself you were made to kill vampires. Maybe your body is trying to follow preprogrammed genetic instructions. All of us have a physical potential of what we could be. Perhaps your body is trying to push itself to its limits. You know like when people go through puberty their body changes to prepare for adult hood." Leah suggested. Anthony thought it over for a moment. His brow furrowed in deep thought contemplating her words and seeing if there was any possible truth in them. "You may be right. I wish he was here to tell me for sure, because I can't honestly remember him telling me this. Perhaps in hindsight he had expected to tell me about it one day but never got the chance." His mind tried to remember anything that might prove helpful. Like flipping a switch he turned something on.

Leah watched as Anthony suddenly let out a gasp. "Anthony are you alright?" Leah sitting up so she could have a better look at him was concerned. Anthony's eyes came back into focus. He acted as if he hadn't heard her. His eyes seemed to search the room taking in every detail a smile playing on his lips. Eventually they settled on Leah who was looking at him with raised eyebrows. Leah jerked upright a shiver running down her spine. Her body seemed to turn to jelly as it relaxed. She could sense something touching the back of her mind. Gazing into his eyes she realized it was him. A wave of emotion hit her. Stumbling to her feet Leah found it hard to stand. She could feel his need for her and it was overpowering. Every part of her body reacted all at once. Sweat formed on her skin, and her breath became shallow. She was becoming so hot that Leah felt like she would burn up. Her knees were weak and gave out from under her. Before she could fall and hit the ground he was there catching her his grip so strong and firm just holding her in place. Anthony's heart hammered in his chest as he held her close her nipples became firm and sensitive.