Uche continued staring at Mira, wondering what she meant by him being in complete darkness. Was she talking about his ignorance of the Connects' ways? After all, he knew next to nothing about them.
Knowing the conversation might last for a while, he eventually gave in to temptation and moved to one of the chairs, sitting opposite Mira, watching her with keen interest.
"Hmm… before I start, can I get a dress? I mean, I can't remain like this—it's not cool," Mira said, pointing to her bloody, tattered singlet.
"Eh? Well, I don't any dress for your gender,"
Uche replied with a slight shrug.
"Ouch, poor single guy, I'll take one of yours then."
Mira said with a smirk on her face
He stared at her for a while before standing up, bringing out a new outfit for her, and changing his own dress in the process.
"I'm sure you can start now."
Uche asked as he too sat down comfortably.
"I will start with my own questions. First, how did you become a Connect? Were you born a Connect, or were you turned?"
Mira asked.
Uche didn't really understand her question, so he decided to answer with what he thought was best.
"I don't really know about that, but I discovered I was a Connect at the age of five, when I fell from an apple tree and broke my leg. It healed immediately, and that's when everything started going wrong for me,"
Uche explained.
"Your parents?"
Mira asked.
"I never got to know them. They both died right after I was born. I grew up with my grams, who happens to be a normal human and knows nothing about me being a Connect,"
Uche answered—not fully honest. He knew his grandmother was aware but kept it to herself, and he wasn't going to reveal that to this stranger. She must have had her reasons, after all.
'A half-blood… but never in my life have I heard or seen any of these traits in other half-bloods I've encountered,'
Mira thought.
"How are you sure your granny is normal human being and not like you?"
She asked with a little interest.
Uche think about it for a while before shaking his head and said.
"My grams can't walk, she uses a wheelchair."
He replied.
"Well that explains a lot."
Mira said, her finger in her lips.
"It must have been tough—knowing nothing about what you are, always on the run, hiding from these humans who want to kill you or turn you into a lab rat. It must have been really tough. But I assure you, it all ends here and now."
Mira paused, choosing her next words carefully.
"I don't know how you might see it. For someone like you, who grew up among these heartless humans—learning their ways—accepting what I'm about to say might be hard to believe."
"What is it? Tell me,"
Uche asked almost immediately.
Mira smiled, her smile charming and inviting.
"Well, you won't believe it if I tell you that what these humans call *Connects*—a name I still don't understand the reason behind it—are actually something else. Some believe we are an evolved race of humans, while others think we are entirely different beings."
She paused again, contemplating.
"I'm sure you've heard of the human mythological race known as *Vampires*—either from movies or novels. I'm sure you've heard of them."
Uche nodded, his interest suddenly piqued.
"Well… we actually belong to that supernatural race. You and I are both vampires, creatures of the night."
Mira revealed, staring at Uche, curious about his reaction. She expected him to laugh uncontrollably in disbelief, mocking her. That was the usual response when this truth was revealed to half-blood vampires raised among humans.
But Uche did no such thing. Instead, he sat calmly, staring blankly into the air, saying nothing.
Meanwhile, the poor boy was lost in thought.
'Vampire… vampire… vampire… what the hell does that mean?'
He tried to recall what he knew about these mythical beings. He had heard of different creatures but knew little about them, having had almost no education. Now he struggled to sort them out in his mind.
'There's Dragon, Phoenix, Zombie, Werewolf, Vampire, Banshee, and so on.'
He began recalling their traits.
'Yeah… Dragons are legendary serpent-like creatures, closest to gods. Phoenixes are beings made of fire. Hmm, Zombies—if I'm right—they're those mindless undead creatures that attack and kill humans on instinct.'
At first, when he discovered his healing ability, he had thought he was some kind of zombie, especially since his grandmother always cooked plenty of meat for him after serious injuries. But since he wasn't mindless, he dismissed the idea. Otherwise, the experience wouldn't have been pleasant.
He continued thinking.
'Werewolves are wolf-creatures that can turn into humans at will, and into vicious wolves during the full moon. I think they also eat humans.'
Then his thoughts reached the word that unsettled him.
'And then there's Vampire… aren't those the night demons, those- those....?'
As the realization clicked, Uche suddenly rose in one swift motion, staring at Mira in disbelief.
"It can't be true. Are you kidding me?"
He said, his tone filled with disbelief.
Mira also stared at him, wondering why he had reacted so late—it had been almost a minute and a half since her revelation.
"What was that for?"
Mira asked, surprised also rising to her feet.
"No no, don't come closer, are you really one of those creatures? Those bloodsucking mosquitoes?"
Uche said slowly, stepping away from Mira.
Now the teenage girl couldn't help but burst into laughter, she laughed for half a minute before coming back to her senses.
"Why on earth are you laughing, tell me what's so funny!"
Uche shouted, still not moving close to her.
"Really? Bloodsucking mosquitoe or what you said?"
Mira couldn't stop herself from laughing. She had seen all kinds of reactions from other half bloods, but not one like this. And why the hell is she running from her.
"Well if you're running from me you can as well run from yourself, because we're practically the same thing, bloodsucking mosquitoes."
She laughed again.
"No you're lying, I'm not like you, I've never drunk human blood before, yet you claim I'm a vampire. Are you serious?"
Uche argued, not believing it a bit.
Bits of information about vampires resurfaced in his mind. Since birth, he had never felt an urge to drink human blood. He had never been harmed by the sun either. Working under intense heat had never affected him.
None of the vampire traits fit him—unless those traits weren't true.
The only phenomenon was the hunger that gnawed at him whenever he suffered a severe injury, which he always satisfied with plenty of cooked meat. That didn't sound like a vampire's trait at all.
So he wondered what Mira was thinking.
Meanwhile, she stop laughing, cleared her throat and started talking, choosing her words carefully.
'This is going to be tough…'
"Can you sit back down?"
Mira asked gently.
But Uche refused, his single eye darting around the room.
"No. You need to explain everything while I'm standing. If my knowledge is correct, vampires are always affected by the sun—their skin burns. That has never happened to me. And you were fine when we were on the bike, even with the sun shining brightly. So, explain."
"I wasn't affected by the sun because of this,"
Mira said, pointing to her hat lying a few meters away.
"You won't understand that yet, so don't ask further questions. But about you—it's simply because you're half-blooded,"
Mira explained, which prompted Uche's next question.
"Half-blooded? What's that supposed to mean? Like half-vampire, half-human?"
"Yes. You're not a complete vampire yet, since you still need to consume human blood to complete your transition. That's why most vampire traits don't affect you. What puzzles me is why you have such an incredible, strange healing ability for a half-blood,"
Mira said.
Uche finally sat back down opposite her.
"Yeah, it's just like those books you've read,"
She continued.
"We feast on human blood but we're not mosquitoes. We get hungry from injury and blood loss. We are weakened by the sun—a normal vampire can't remain under it for more than a few minutes without burning. And yes, we are far stronger than humans. We can live for more than a thousand years, almost immortal. We can even slow down our aging."
Mira paused, her gaze fixed on him.
"But even among vampires, you seem to be a strange figure—slightly different from everyone else. When I first discovered you, I was just going to observe and ignore you, thinking you were on a mission with another unit. But upon closer observation, I found you were different. You knew almost nothing about us, always going along with the flow of the human world. So I thought the best thing to do was involve myself."