Free From Slate to Crimson by Brandon Hill Page B

happened to me.”
    “You truly are special,” I said, with an almost instantaneous inward cringe of regret. I had understated my feelings horrendously, but nevertheless, I smiled, and Amelia smiled back.
    “Words can’t express how glad I am to have met you, despite the circumstances of that meeting.”
    Amelia blushed, a tangle of emotions sparking from her mind, quickly suppressed as she sighed. She removed her hand from mine and returned to her meal, but a wistful look remained in her eyes. “The nicest guy I have ever met happens to be a vampire,” she said at last.
    “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I replied, glad for the humor that released the tension of the moment.
    “No,” Amelia said, completely honest. “It certainly isn’t a bad thing. I learned that on day one.”
    * * * *
    We lost ourselves in the downtown crowds after dinner. Feeling once again myself in the fullness of the night, I used the opportunity to teach her more about my kind.
    “It may be easy for you to tell, but how can someone like me tell who’s a vampire and who’s not?” Amelia asked. “You’d think that with your skin, hands, and eyes, it’d be easy to spot you. This city can’t have that many albinos, after all.”
    “It’s not easy,” I said. “You see us, but our mental abilities aren’t limited to reading minds. We can influence thoughts, either towards our will or away from it. We may walk past you, and you won’t notice us because we don’t want you to; we distract your thoughts. And then we can draw you to us with our thoughts. Also, feeding from you lowers your inhibitions somewhat. It’s how I was able to get you to tell me about what happened here.”
    “So let me guess,” Amelia said. “The way I tell your clan from Lothos’ is that you won’t force yourself on us?”
    “Not unless we have no other choice,” I admitted. “I won’t lie to you; there have been times that we have had to control humans against their will. But we only use it as a last resort in extreme circumstances, such as when a human becomes, or is in danger of becoming violently uncooperative. But in all, your assumption is correct, after a fashion.”
    “I see.”
    “Look around closely enough and you will see our kind, and the vast network we have with humans,” I told her as we passed through the throngs of people on the sidewalk. Streetlights and neon lit up the downtown street we travelled. “At the club, you peered that closely. Few mortals have such insight.”
    “I guess I’m just weird, then,” Amelia remarked with a wry grin.
    “Not so much weird as inquisitive,” I said, correcting her, “but you're definitely a fascinating one. Going out alone, and at night, to spy on a spooky old house is something most people your age simply would not do, and, if you don’t mind my saying, especially not most women.”
    “Call it insatiable curiosity, then,” Amelia said after a thoughtful shrug. “It’s gotten me into plenty of trouble as a kid, let me tell you. And I’ve always been braver than most girls. Well, that, and then there’s the fact that my friends were teasing me the day before about my so-called ‘boring’ life. I guess a part of me just wanted to show them up, and then got the opportunity.”
    “Is that all?”
    She nodded.
    “You do have depth of strength to you,” I commented. “Perhaps in time, I will see just how deep it is.”
    “What do you mean?” Amelia said with a note of suspicion. And then she noticed the route we were taking. It was neither the way back to her home or to my safe house. “Wait, we’re not going where I think we are, are we?”
    “Yes, we are,” I said, and instantly met with resistance.
    “No, please!” Amelia said, and felt fear spike within her to near panic. “Don’t make me go there! Not right now! I’m not ready; I just can’t…”
    I paused, deftly maneuvering us out of the traffic of the crowds. “Calm yourself,” I said in a gentle