Free Midnight Blood (Born Immortal) by Nicole Yanski Page A

Mill switched her cane to her other hand, and shifted her weight onto the same side.
         “Do you need to sit down?” Shayna asked her, and looked around, to no avail, for the chair that was usually by the register.
         “No dear, I’m fine,” the woman insisted. She smiled at Shayna and continued, “Another way a Changeling is created, is for a vampire to drain the human of most of their blood, and then the human consumes a different vampires blood,” Shayna was fascinated, she stared at Aunt Mill in awe, as she went on, “This usually doesn’t happen child. The most common reason this particular act happens, is when the human is left for dead by a careless vampire, and another vampire finds him, and acts as a savior. The original vampire intended on killing the human.”
         Shayna thought about taking blood from a human, and her stomach churned. Images and questions ran through Shayna’s mind, as she stared at Aunt Mill while she spoke.
    “Vampires these days are more careful, and as a result there aren’t very many Changelings anymore. They’ve either changed, or died. They are more prone to death.”
         “Changed?” Shayna said quietly.
         “Yes dear, changed to a full vampire, with no mortal blood in their body.” Aunt Mill replied. She wondered if she was telling Shayna too much.
         “How?” Shayna said, perplexed. “How do they change?”
         Aunt Mill took a deep breath, and closed her eyes briefly. Shayna thought she saw a look of remorse when she opened them, but in a blink it was gone.
    Aunt Mill took Shayna’s hand. “You dear,” she said.
         “Me?” Shayna was confused, what did she have to do with their change. She wondered.
         “Yes dear,” she squeezed Shayna’s hand gently, Shayna noticed her hands were unusually soft, and dry. “They need your blood to change. The blood of a Halfling Princess. It must take place the last night that the girl is seventeen, and the two must intimately exchange blood, to consummate the arrangement.”
         Shayna was intrigued by what she was being told, but terrified too, there were so many things about this world she would probably never understand. She wanted to know as much as she could though, and Aunt Mill for the time was willing to talk to her.
    Aunt Mill continued, “There are a few rare accounts of a Changeling, changing without ever tasting a princesses blood,” she shook her head at this, and watched a young boy walk his dog past the shop, “Nobody knows how they changed though.”
         “No body at all?” Shayna asked.
         “No dear. You Halfling Princesses are rare yourselves, so a Changelings odds of ever changing, are not that good anyway.” She knew Shayna was uninformed on the subject, and the old woman had much sympathy for her. “Vampires usually don’t breed with humans,” she said, and picking up a stack of books off the counter, “Can I help you with anything else dear?”
         Shayna did want more help, but knew Aunt Mill was probably busy, “No,” she answered. “I think you’ve helped me enough today, thank you.”
         “Anytime, Shayna dear,” Aunt Mill said and nodded. “Hope to see you again soon.”
         “You will,” Shayna said, and turned toward the door, “Bye.”
         She left the little shop, more informed, but disappointed too. She had hoped to find a book that she could read herself, so she could absorb as much information as possible. What Aunt Mill had told her was more than she thought she would find, but she regretted not asking more questions, although she didn’t know what questions to even ask. Of course once outside the store, she thought of tons of questions she should have asked. She had one more stop to make, before heading home. She crossed the street and turned onto Railroad Avenue.
         Shayna walked through the gates of the cemetary and, was stricken with an unusual feeling,