"How are you feeling?" Maya asked gently, moving closer to sit beside Malik.
"There are noises everywhere... What's happening to me?" Malik's voice trembled as he looked at his mother.
"Calm down. Breathe," Maya instructed firmly. She needed to teach him how to control his heightened hearing.
"Focus on that driver," she said, pointing toward a bus driver some distance away. "What is he saying?"
Malik strained to listen. "The next bus will arrive in two hours," the driver told the man beside him.
"Okay, thank you," the man replied as the driver climbed aboard the bus and pulled away.
Malik repeated softly, "Bus... two hours... thank you." Maya smiled—he hadn't caught the entire conversation, but given the distance and crowd between them and the driver, she was impressed.
The training continued for several days. Maya took time off work and called the city school to inform them of Malik's absence. She taught him everything he needed to know about being a vampire, focusing especially on controlling his speed. The watch was an invaluable tool.
"The watch upgrades itself," Maya said as the device displayed more detailed information than before—his holistic stats, name, age, race, speed, strength, and cell count.
"Yeah, if I run faster than the human speed limit, it blinks red, telling me to slow down," Malik explained proudly. "The best part is, it only activates when I'm around others. When I'm alone, it records my real speed and strength."
After several days of intensive training, Maya felt it was time to tell Malik the truth about who—and what—he really was.
"After the world was split into pieces, the new creations were magically transported to each land," she began. "Except for three kindred—the Nightfed, also known as vampires; the Moonborn, the werewolves; and the Willbenders, or witches.".
In the beginning each kindred wanted to own the island for themselves, this lead to an all out war ,which they later came to a truce .rules were made " Maya had started from the beginning explaining their history.
"Some practices were banned or prohibited that included marriages between them,"Maya avoided telling him why this rule was passed, just that it was prohibited.
Malik had been engrossed in the story , it felt like one of the fantasy stories he listened to,only this time it was about him and his origin. "Wait , if each kindred had been transported to a designated area, why don't the three kindred ,have to fight over one ,while they can go to another ?" Malik questioned
"Remember I said a ritual was performed?" Maya asked, watching Malik nod thoughtfully. "That ritual opened a rift and pulled the new kindred into their assigned lands. When the rift closed, each piece of land was surrounded by a barrier."
Malik's eyes widened with curiosity. "What does the barrier do?"
Maya pointed to the ring on his finger. "Take vampires, for example. Too much sun exposure can burn a vampire to a crisp—death by daylight. But when a vampire stays within their designated island, they can walk in the sun without fear. The barrier makes that possible."
"And what about werewolves?" Malik asked, resting his chin in his hands.
"I don't know much beyond the basics, but rumors say that although the full moon awakens a werewolf's abilities, it doesn't make them lose control of themselves," Maya explained. "In the stories I've read in the human world's libraries, werewolves often lose control to their beastly nature by forcefully transforming . On the island, however, wolves aren't forced to transform,they have more control."
Malik frowned in confusion. "Then why don't vampires make enough rings for everyone and just leave the island? Why fight over the land if the protection can be countered with a ring?"
"That's a good question," Maya smiled. "First, the rings can't be mass-produced. Each ring needs a special material that blocks the sun's effects, and that material is very rare—only found in a specific place. Second, the barrier itself is like an invisible wall. No matter what anyone tries, it's impossible to break through."
Malik's brow furrowed deeper. "Mom, if you're a vampire, how are you here?"
"Well," Maya replied, "it's not impossible to leave the island, but you need permission from the original kindred. If they grant it, a portal opens, and you can step through."
"A portal? Like in the movies?" Malik's eyes lit up, recalling scenes where characters traveled instantly through glowing gateways.
Maya laughed softly. "Yes, More ,or less, am not sure how it works myself, " she answered .a long silence followed as each were lost in their thoughts. Malik was imagining the portals, the island, everything he had heard ,while Maya remembered her luck stumbling upon a explorer original kindred and how she had found herself in human territory.
"Are human the original kindred," Malik asked out of the blue.
"Am not sure, "she answered. Nobody knew who they were since after the rift , the rest of the kindred could not leave their island for a long time, this lead to each generation forgetting a little about the original kindred, until no one knew what or who they are.
"Only the highest-ranking leaders know," she answered.
Malik spent two more weeks training and was finally ready to return to school. He had learned to control most of his heightened abilities. As he stepped outside, he looked up at the sun and asked, "Mom, if I'm a vampire, why am I not affected by the sun?"
"You're not a vampire,you're a hybrid," she said, pausing as she carefully considered what to reveal. "I'll tell you who you really are when the time is right," she decided, choosing to let him adjust to the vampire side of things first.