CONNECT: Rise Of The Undead King

"So Connect is just a no-foundation name that humans decided to give the vampires?"

Uche asked still not registering the fact.

Mira nodded, while Uche let out a disbelieving sigh and said,

"Tell me more about this vampire of yours."

"As you might have known, humans only think of us as something that exists in their imagination. They see us as nothing more than fantasy, but I'm sure they'll soon learn about us when we descend on them like rainfall."

She paused.

"We are an entirely different entity, a different race that lives separate from humans. We have our own world, and I'm only here on a mission in the human world. I've come to learn a few things here, but that's a matter for another day.

Just like the humans, we have our own way of doing things. There are rules that govern us, and we have leaders, just like them."

Mira continued explaining everything about vampire life, while Uche listened with keen interest. She talked about their world, what made them different from humans, and what made them similar. She explained how vampires possess a strange power over blood, how they are influenced by it, control by it and why they cannot live without it.

Lastly, she spoke about him being different from every other half blood vampires she had known.

"So you're telling me that a half-blooded vampire comes into play when an adult vampire on a mission gets into a relationship with a regular woman, and that's what happened to my parents?"

Uche asked, and Mira nodded.

He wondered which one of them was the vampire. His grandmother had surely kept things from him, unwilling to reveal anything until he grew up.

'I wonder if I can go meet her now.'

"You talked about me being different, even from other half-blood vampires. Could you explain further?"

Uche requested.

Mira sighed, adjusting her position on the chair. She had been talking for a while now, so Uche thought maybe she was exhausted, but he failed to realize that vampires rarely get exhausted.

"Half-blood vampires, when born among humans, will have human characteristics. All their vampire traits will be suppressed when living with humans. Only their supernatural healing ability will function, but even that won't be as effective as a normal vampire's healing. It won't look supernatural, which is why many half-blood vampires—and the people around them—never realize they're different.

They will never crave blood, the sun won't harm them beyond a slight itch, nothing suspicious enough to reveal their difference. The same goes for their healing, like I said before. None of their vampire powers will activate—until they begin living among vampires. Only then will they start discovering their true nature."

"Once a half-blood vampire is among pure-blooded vampires, they begin to crave blood. After drinking human blood, they become a true vampire, awakening all their suppressed traits. But that's not the same for pure-blood vampires. Whether they live among humans, half-bloods, or other pure vampires, their traits are never suppressed."

Mira continued.

"But you—although you're a half-blood vampire and your traits are suppressed—your healing ability is unlike anything I've ever seen, even among older vampires. It's one of the few things that made me interested in you in the first place."

Mira revealed.

"What's wrong with my healing trait? Don't all vampires have the ability to heal naturally?"

Uche asked, looking confused.

"Yes, but yours is entirely different."

Seeing the troubled look on Uche's face, Mira reached into her hat and brought out a small pen-like stick, almost like a nano-stick.

'Did she keep that in her hat?'

Uche thought, both confused and intrigued by the strange object.

She rubbed her finger on it a few times, and right before Uche, a system-like screen appeared, displaying a video.

'Wow, is this some advanced technology?'

Uche wondered.

The video showed a young man lying on a state-of-the-art operating table, his abdomen cut open and his eyes plucked out.

Realizing it was a video of himself—back then in the lab—he jerked his head back and gave Mira a questioning gaze.

Sensing his reaction, the young woman paused the video and said,

"Don't worry, I'm the only one who has this video. Everything else has been erased from their system. So even if they tried to share it with the public or use it to blackmail you, they wouldn't find it."

Mira explained with a calm smile, making Uche stare at her in confusion.

"How… how did you do it?"

He asked, not fully believing her.

"It's what I'm good at. So don't ask how—just pay attention to the video."

Mira replied.

Remembering how she had somehow hacked his lock combination before, Uche decided not to press further and watched.

Seeing his body heal itself, bloody tendrils knitting his flesh together, Uche realized how grotesque it looked. Disgusting, to say the least.

'Damn, no wonder they call me Monster.'

Uche thought, looking away in embarrassment.

After his abdomen had healed, Mira fast-forwarded to the part where he picked up his own eye and fixed it back. Still not understanding her motive, Uche glanced at her and asked,

"So why bring this up? Does it have anything to do with me being different?"

Mira didn't answer. Instead, she walked over to the crescent-shaped knife on the floor and picked it up. Uche immediately stood up on instinct.

"Be calm, nothing's happening."

She reassured, then brought the knife down on her left arm, cutting deep, almost severing it.

Uche stared in shock but remained still.

Mira let a notable amount of blood flow before her wound began healing. Then, with a faint smirk, she said,

"It seems you've figured it out. That's exactly what I'm trying to show you."

She returned to her seat as her arm fully healed, while Uche stood frozen, confused.

He hadn't noticed it before—when he'd stabbed her with the knife and she'd healed. Her bloody singlet had obscured his view then, and he hadn't paid attention, too distracted by the shock of the moment.

But now, he saw it clearly: the strange bloody tendrils that usually emerged when he healed did not appear on Mira's body.

"How? Why? Is this how vampires heal normally?"

Uche asked, still bewildered.

"Now, sit down. We still have a lot to discuss."

Mira said with a slight smile.

Uche slowly sat back down, confusion still written on his face.

"When I said you're slightly different from us, I didn't mean just a little difference, but a huge one. In fact, you seem like a different species entirely. I would have said you're a different race from vampires—if not for the fact that I can smell my kind when I see one."