After lunch, our vampires all started basking in the sun in the backyard...
No, it's a dark cloud.
Zach looked up at the sky and said, "Rain will come."
This insane exclamation earned James an eye roll as he rushed out of the warehouse, and then howled "Why didn't anyone wake me up!!"
Zach tilted his head and looked at James, "Did you ask us to help you call you?"
James' gloomy face matched the sky. "*!" He rushed to the car. He had already skipped work all morning.
Zach was too lazy to care about him, "Keep your voice down, Ike is still sleeping."
James slammed the car door hard, turned the key hard to start, and finally banged the horn wildly. This was his answer to Zach, which was childish enough. After finishing my childishness, I drove out of Grande and went to work.
The reason why this happened was last night.
After two phone calls, Zach went back to the basement, and James and Ike went back to the warehouse. But Grande didn't just settle down. James and Ike's 'pillow talk' in the warehouse could be described as intense, which made the aliens in Grande lose their mood to pretend to be human and rest.
In the second half of the night, the fierce dispute showed no sign of subduing. The aliens also gave up trying to reconcile and began to find things to do on their own—
Zach, who accompanies Louise to look at the stars; Benjamin, who is wrapped in a blanket and playing cards with Harrison, Danny, and Matthew on the back porch; Mo, who is casually pouring out Republican delicacies with his Great Dane in the kitchen; posted on Ryan was peeping at something from the Grande guest room window...
It was not until before dawn that the two of them got tired and fell asleep. The aliens were able to return to their positions before Old Hank got up and continue their daily routine during the day.
So, James blames Grande for not having anyone wake him up? Deserve it.
Zach continued to stand on the back porch for a while. Looking at the getting darker and darker skylight, he showed a slight smile, turned back to the stairwell, went downstairs, called Louise, and came out to admire the dark clouds.
five minutes. Zach came out again. Not only did he come out, he also brought a small folding table, unfolded it on the back porch, arranged the chairs, covered it with a checkered tablecloth, placed a vase in the middle, and placed two bottles of wine, two stacks... red of square-shaped things—
Made of ink. Blood tofu, Republic's novelty, is a food that actually makes the vampire's teeth do something other than bite.
Finally, I put my knife, fork, and plate together. Is this... a date
Louise hesitantly stepped out of the back porch door and looked at Zach's arrangement, "Uh..."
Zach smiled and said, "Sit down." He pulled out his chair in a gentlemanly manner.
Louise pursed her lips and sat down. He turned his head to look at the dark sky outside, "I feel strange."
"It's normal." Zach sat down across from him, "Before they get the 'gift' of daytime operations, rainy weather always gives vampires a special feeling."
"I don't know how to describe it." Louise looked at the red object in front of her, picked up the knife and fork, took a bite, and twitched the corner of her mouth. "Tastes like dirt."
"Mo said something was added to solidify the blood." Zach waved his hand indifferently, "At least I will have something to put in front of me when I need to eat at the dining table."
Louise raised her eyebrows, "That's not bad." She took another bite and curled her lips. "Okay, it's acceptable once you get used to it." It had more of a self-comforting component, as you can tell by looking at her uncomfortable chewing expression. Remember that metaphor describing how vampires see human food, hair. Louise's current expression is that of a human being eating a piece of furry skin when eating meat.
Zach smiled and said, "No need to force it."
Louise immediately put down the tableware and poured the wine directly. She became very skillful with her movements. Then she continued to look outside with the wine glass in hand, half raising her head, "I still feel weird."
Zach was about to play the role of teaching and solving doubts. He also looked at the sky, "That's because you know that behind the thick clouds is the deadly sun. You are secretly happy that you can sneak in activities under it."
Louise blinked, and after a moment she actually nodded.
"Well, you should throw away this secret joy." Zach smiled and waved his hand, "The sun is no longer fatal to us."
Louise's expression became helpless and she shook her head, "You see, I can only produce a little outline in the mirror now." This means that the sun is still fatal to her, in this afternoon Being able to appear on the back porch at 1 o'clock is just a joy to behold.
"Then..." Zach shrugged, "If you can still feel happy now, just feel this feeling. In the future, you will feel that the sun is just like that. The once deadly threat can only make us slower to react. .”
Louise suddenly became curious, "I remember the story you told before. When you first became a vampire, the noble gentleman of Toledo, your refugee friend, you secretly hunted for your friends, and you were discovered. Frankly My own identity as a vampire, and then I scared the other person away."
Zach raised his eyebrows, "What's wrong?"
"When you become a vampire, can you move during the day?"
"No." Zach shook his head and blinked, "That's why I was discovered. I always ran into the refugee camp carrying prey in the middle of the night." Do you remember that story? Zach secretly told it to him without even remembering whether it was a former neighbor or a former neighbor. A friend of some kind delivered food, but was accused by the upright friend of being a thief who stole the food of the noble master. Zach had no choice but to show his identity as a vampire to defend himself, which scared people away.
"I actually can't imagine what vampires were like living among people in that era. Can you tell me about it."
Dating, isn't it the process of getting to know each other deeply
"What do you want to hear?" Zach asked with a smile, "The life of nobles is still that of a guy like me who has spent some time among low-class people."
"Come on, everyone." Louise went to the 'wine' for Zach.
"The life of the nobles is very simple." Zach took the wine, "They don't have to go out. Even if they go out, there will be a carriage to see them off. Their status as nobles allows them to ignore day and night. They are always on the roof of the house, the roof of the car, Under the cover of the parasol... no one could question any of their actions.”
"This..." Louise pursed her lips, "It's really convenient."
"Those who are not nobles are more unlucky." Zach swung his wine glass, "For example, me, at first, I was a very unpleasant character." Zach's expression reflected memories, "I mentioned that it was a famine, right? We are refugees, I was just lucky enough to be chosen by Toledo."
Louise nodded but didn't interrupt.
"How should I put it?" Zach was organizing his words. "Nobles have no obligation to rescue refugees. Refugees need to work to repay the nobility for their blessing." Zach pursed his lips. "And my job is to be the one who keeps an eye on other people's work. I judge which person is no longer capable of working and will only waste the nobles' property and food..." Zach glanced at Louise, "Recycle him and cut off his continued existence. The possibility, let him exert his final value and become a vampire's blood beast."
Louise bit her lower lip but still didn't bother.
"You can imagine this scene. I am wearing a formal dress that does not fit well and does not suit my low status. I hide under a work booth specially built for me and stare at the people working in the fields, mines, quarries, and pastures every day. People, while they cast glances of envy, disgust, and feeling betrayed, thought about which person to reclaim before nightfall and become food on my 'father's' table."
"That friend of yours..."
"He..." Zach took a sip of wine, "I think if I can secretly send him food, he will be able to work more energetically during the day." Zach stopped talking.
Louise received it too. This story is a tragedy for Zach from every angle. Louise decided to skip this paragraph, "Did the vampires of that era only have nobles and people around them?"
Zach tilted his head and said, "This is just my first job. I haven't finished talking yet." Continue. "My 'father' seems to value me very much, and of course it is because of my perfect work ability." When Zach is complacent, let's try to forget the story he just told, and don't think about what that perfect job means, "I Got my second job, hunting.”
"Hunting?"
"Yeah." Zach nodded. "Among vampires, in addition to the vampire clans that occupy aristocratic status, there are also many scattered bloodline branches hidden among the common people. Basically, all the stigma about vampires in that era came from these scattered vampires."
Is it difficult to understand
"They're not organized," Zach was explaining. "There's no standard for living." Standard? Like the Thirteen Clans, does each clan have its own outstanding abilities and survival characteristics? "Whether it is inheritance or eating, it is creating chaos in human society."
"You mean, they don't have the resources that nobles have in human society." Louise thought of bad things, "And they can't act at will without being bound by social rules, such as, well, eating at will, killing people, and creating descendants?"
"Yes." Zach nodded, "Every vampire clan has nearly half of its members, whose job is to hunt these scattered vampires. During the day, we gather in museums, manors, and clubs, just like normal people of some status. Life, at night, we take off our ceremonial clothes and walk in the streets, looking for and hunting those guys who are hated by humans and us."
Zach paused, "They are ugly, insidious, and vicious." He glanced at Louise, "I say this not because they are my hunting targets, but because this is the fact. They do not have a complete life, Their eternal lives are forever missing the bright half, and they can only survive in the time after the sun disappears... "
"Weren't you the same at that time?" Louise frowned. Think about what Louise wants to know? It's how vampires who can't move in the sun live.
"It's different." Zach shook his head, "We are lucky to be 'born' into a vampire clan that is already a noble family. We have privileges in that already class-conscious society." Zach looked at Louise again, "Even when I didn't have status, I could hide under the eaves all day long and watch others work, just complete the work, and no one could make any comments. And those who were hunted, they could only work during the day. 'Sleep', 'work' at night, Louise, think about what work is done only at night."
Louise didn't have to think about it, she had been. All black professions that are shamed, despised, gray, even hated and feared by people, this is the job that can only be done at night! Oh, one has to add in Zach’s context, that era.
But Louise's face had turned bad. She frowned, glanced at Zach, and turned her head.
Zach was not prepared to comfort him, as the date was not going well.
He continued, "These vampires do not do these jobs for the sake of living. With eternal life, they have countless ways to exist in this world, and they chose the worst one, only to continue for themselves regardless of the consequences. That kind of thing. Toledo was not born a noble. I'm not saying that my 'father' was a good man, but at least he allowed his clan and his descendants to successfully establish themselves in that era and live a stable and complete life. And Those vampires who have lost half of their lives have no consciousness, no sense of responsibility, and abuse the abilities given to them... "
Zach suddenly raised his eyebrows, "Gangro and the others are not nobles. They are nomads in the wild. They have found a way to survive without causing chaos. Neither is Rimel. They are immersed in the laboratory. Scholars of 'occult subjects' are still very respected by people, so they were never on our hunting list at that time."
Louise shook her head, "You made it very clear. Vampires that do not meet your living standards will be hunted and killed, and will be described as ugly and sinister..." Louise shook her wine glass and didn't bother to speak.
"That's exactly what I mean." Zach actually affirmed, "And our living standards are not set by us, but by human society. Human beings have created classes and privileges, and vampires who have already lost half of their day , in order to better continue the race, we can only seize those classes and privileges. Even hunting down those of the same race who have gone astray is to maintain the reputation of vampires. Is there anything wrong with this? "
Louise frowned. She wanted to know how vampires survived in ancient times. The answer had already come out. She wanted to seize the privileges created by humans in that era. Even though the way Zach said it was uncomfortable, she couldn't argue with it.
Louise finally shook her head, "What about now? In fact, I have been thinking a lot about the future of my life recently. I..." She hesitated for a while, then looked at Zach, "If, I will never be able to act in the sun. What should I do?" This must be Louise's real worry, after all, her progress is really slow.
Of course Zach knew Louise's worries. The fact was that he didn't know how to answer. Many of the descendants of the thirteen clans died in accidents while practicing walking in the sun, and the rest were successful. So in Zach's knowledge, there is no 'unable' (only failure and death).
However, at this moment, Zach no longer needed to answer this question. A living example appeared in Grande's backyard.
"I've been listening to it for a long time." Georgina's eyes were a little distracted. "My suggestion is that you'd better master the unique ability of the Thirteen Clan. Otherwise, you will hate yourself."
Zach reacted for a while before accepting that Grande was invaded by a Sabbat Toledo without anyone noticing or alerting anyone. (.)