thought in it. Just animalistic behavior I guess. The movies do little to help our image, but there are covens that do not live as we do. They are the ones we call the dark ones. They thrive on murder, violence and have no regard for human life.”
“I still cannot get over how you have a code of conduct!” I shook my head, smiling.
“I know it sounds funny, vampires following rules.” He grinned. “It’s just a code the light coven follows, or we’re supposed to follow although some do slip up. That is strongly frowned upon by the elders of the coven. It puts us at risk of being exposed and possible severe problems. The family I am in, my coven are Followers, a branch of the Light Covens. We want to coexist with humans peacefully and we respect life and its value. We are not the monsters the dark covens are.” I was shocked by this. I had no idea these worlds existed, these societies of vampires so vastly different, so conflicted.
“The dark ones.” He sighed, looking out into the dark rainy driveway. “They are the ones you want to avoid at all costs. They are reckless killers to the core. They hunt people for sport, not necessarily for survival. It’s all a game to them, and its pure evil to be blunt.” I felt a shiver down my spine of fear at his word.
“How do you know if a dark one is around? I mean, can you sense one?” I was hoping he would tell me they only lived in Alaska or something. He didn’t.
“We can sometimes sense their presence, but they are very skilled at deception. They keep themselves very well disguised. The dark ones are vicious. Hell, even other vampires outside their coven, do not want to be in their presence for very long.”
“Have you ever met one or seen any of them?” I asked timidly. I snuggled closer to him feeling suddenly very cold as the rain picked up.
“Unfortunately, I do know them.” He closed his eyes, his head dropped down he seemed suddenly pained by something.
“What’s wrong? You can tell me. You know I love you no matter what.” I tried to reassure him. I knew he was always afraid to scare me.
“Vincent,” he whispered in a barely audible voice. I froze I felt my stomach drop; I knew exactly who Vincent was. William had told me briefly about the one who changed him; it was very brief, and I didn’t push him that night for more details. I could see even at that, time speaking of his name was hard for him. I now understood why. Vincent was a dark one; it all made sense now.
Chapter 22
A painful past
I could see the pained look on Will’s face. He was rubbing his eyes. I placed my hand in his to reassure him. I knew whatever he wasn’t telling me must be bad, by the way he was acting.
“It doesn’t matter, William. He was bad, not you. Vincent and you are nothing alike. You are not a dark one like him.” He looked into my eyes. He was extremely intense and he didn’t even blink as he took my other hand in his.
“Yes Corrine, it does matter. You have to understand the changing process.” I felt another chill down my spine. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to know what it was. I was feeling unsure now, even scared.
“When a vampire changes a human, the human takes on some of the blood from the vampire who bites them. We sometimes call the vampire who turns a human a mentor. The vampire is often considered a parental figure to the newly changed. The two combine somewhat; it’s very complicated.” He stopped to watch my reaction. I made myself stay calm. I didn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t tell me all of the details.
“So the changed human will retain some of or all of the mentor vampire’s traits, much like a child has traits from parents. It’s almost like a rebirth of sorts, if you want to put it that way.” He shrugged and looked away.
William seemed to be growing uneasy as he went on trying to explain the details of his complicated existence. I sat quietly, waiting for him to go on, giving him time to collect his thoughts. “The mentor vampire, will then guide the newly changed one, and teach him or her their ways, good or bad, depending on which coven