– But you don’t explain anything! Although I promised! – I was indignant, raising my voice.
“It’s not customary to shout here, mademoiselle,” the librarian croaked colorlessly.
And I had a persistent desire to poke her with a stick from a distance to ask: “Is she even alive?” Because of the echo, the voice seemed otherworldly, as if distant and at the same time three-dimensional.
Turning to me, the parent hugged me tightly, squeezing my shoulders. And when she pulled away, her gaze found my eyes. She looked carefully, piercingly, directly, as only she could.
If she now says that we will now live here, I will certainly bite her.
“Sally, I just don’t have that much time to tell you everything right now.” One question will lead to another. This conversation is not for one minute,” she tenderly touched my cheek with her palm. “But I want you to know, daughter, that I love you very much.” Everything that I have done, am doing and will do is solely for your sake.
– Why did we come to the library? – I persistently repeated my question, because the answer to it was the simplest.
And something else will definitely not follow him. Just one word: information, books, manual. About how to survive autonomously in the forest for a whole year if a maniac is chasing you.
But my mother couldn’t fit it into one word:
– Because this is where there is a passage to places where ordinary people cannot get.
– But we are ordinary people!
I became stubborn. She became stubborn because she wanted to finally hear at least some specifics. The recognition that I had been secretly waiting for for the last four years – ever since I realized that I was a little, but still different from normal people. Ever since I began to subconsciously guess that the maniac was somehow connected with my abilities.
Guess, yes. But don’t believe in it, don’t think about it, don’t reflect. Out of fear of being right, I cut off my guesses in the bud.
The lady in gray was clearly starting to get angry:
– Silence.
“One more second, please,” Mom asked, turning around for a moment, after which she said with a soft smile: “No, Sally.” We are not ordinary people. At least I do. I'm Midnight, honey. One of those who never sleeps at night. Of those who maintain order on this side of the world and on the other.
– Which one? By Dark? – I remembered her words in the car.
– This is what I was talking about. Behind one answer there is the next question, but I really don’t have time now, although I would really like to finally get rid of this burden. One thing I can say for sure: you will get all the answers to your questions elsewhere. Then when you are safe. We're on the second floor.
The last statement she made was no longer for me. Hearing this simple phrase, the Gray Lady silently took her chair again and feigned painstaking work. We freely walked past her desk to the massive gilded door that was located on the right.
The simple curls on the canvas sparkled under the dim light of the lamps. The door looked like the entrance to a treasury and nothing else, but behind it there was a wide staircase of two flights, with carved railings and finials in the form of folded wings of bats.
I even dared to touch one.
Having gone up to the second floor, we just as easily found ourselves in another room. It was almost no different from the previous one, but what is most striking is that we were greeted by the same Gray Lady with a face that did not express any emotions at all.
There were two options: either I had gone crazy, or my mother had gone crazy. However, it could not be ruled out that we had both been out of our minds for a long time.
Questions, questions, questions… Biting my tongue, I kept expecting that we would now meet with someone from the top of this mental hospital. With someone who will quickly and succinctly insert all the necessary information into my head, and then we will go on a new trip. Somewhere where the maniac who was pursuing us will definitely not get to.
But reality, as always, did not agree with the fantasies.
Silently nodding to the librarian, my mother took out a dagger with large red stones in the hilt from her jacket and suddenly turned to me. More precisely, to the door behind me, and therefore I had to actively step aside.
I watched, feeling confused, as she inserted the blade into the gap between the door and the floor. Repeating the outline of the doorway with its point, the mother straightened up and opened the door, turning the round gilded handle.
She let me go ahead.
I went down with caution. So far nothing has changed in the surroundings. The same staircase, the same walls and tops. Even the hall on the first floor is still the same. And the Gray Lady is the same. Stands there, doesn't blink.
Looking at my mother, I received a warm, indulgent smile. And it was a no-brainer that she knew something that I had no idea about yet. But the longer I had to wait for the explosion, the more terrible the pictures of my near future became.
And yet I was the first to go out onto the porch. She went out, looked around and almost counted the steps. The parent caught me by the shoulders literally at the last moment.
Her gaze again expressed understanding. She seemed to know how much confusion was in me now and what feelings and doubts were overwhelming me.
Now I was going down much slower. Firstly, because it finally dawned on me: instead of bright day, we were greeted by night. Secondly, the street was radically different from Ashwool Street. Instead of sprawling construction projects and brand new townhouses, there were long Victorian-style houses with white trim, carved corners and low railings around the balconies.
Two horses harnessed to a dark carriage rushed past us. Here and there there were passers-by who seemed to have stepped out of the pages of a history textbook or the frames of a pseudo-historical film.
“You will study here,” my mother said, as soon as we stopped at the gates of the academy, behind which stood a gloomy tall building with spiers and ugly gargoyles on the ledges.
“I’ve already graduated from school,” I reminded, forcing myself to stay in place by an effort of will.
It was simply unbearable to want to take even a couple of steps back.
– This is not a school, Sally. This is an academy for Midnighters.
Taking a large burgundy rectangular map from the inside pocket of her jacket, she placed it directly into the open mouth of the stone bat. The mouth instantly closed and opened with a click, leaving two impressive holes on the card. Then the gate next to the gate creaked open.
I was in no hurry to go inside.
“But you yourself said that I’m not like that.” What will I learn here then?
– Everything that I didn’t tell you about, because I recklessly believed that this side would never touch you. But she touched, which means you must be prepared for the fact that our world is not as simple as it seems at first glance. And he won’t find you here,” she was the first to go through the gate.
Without doubting for a moment, I immediately followed her, hoping to finally get an answer to the main question. Clenching my fingers into fists, I felt that the solution was already close.
– Who, mom? Who have we been hiding from all this time?
Silently continuing our way past the working fountain, on which stood an ugly stone gargoyle, she nevertheless responded dully, as soon as we reached the steps of the main building:
– From the Hunter.
But it didn’t become one gram clearer.
“Hey, you seem to be lost in thought,” Nirel touched my hand, pulling me out of recent memories.
Catching the attentive gaze of his green eyes, I directly and unvarnishedly blurted out what I knew about the Midnighters. There were only two theses: for some reason they do not sleep at night and maintain order in the world on both sides.
“Very generalized, of course,” he drawled slightly dissatisfied. – That is, you don’t know anything at all about where you ended up.
“Actually,” I confirmed dully. – We entered the library from one side and left from the other. I thought I had lost my mind.
Having carefully examined me from head to toe, the student made an unexpected conclusion:
– So you are one of the Coming Ones. – But, probably catching the misunderstanding on my face, he added: – From those who came from the world of people. And I’m wondering why your clothes and shoes are so strange. Okay, then let's start with the main thing. Our ancestors were not people.
“Of course, not people,” I agreed, suspecting that we would now plunge somewhere much deeper than the Stone Age. – Everyone knows that we descended from monkeys.
Nirel did not deny this fact:
– Once upon a time – perhaps. But then our ancestors chose a different path. They, Sally, became vampires.
Chapter 4. Secrets of the Midnighters
I tried to digest this information. I honestly tried, but even after what I had already learned and seen, I didn’t expect to hear something like that.
Simply because vampires are not superheroes at all. This is a pale, bony likeness of a person, living in a crypt, sleeping in a coffin and not knowing what toothpaste, solarium and manicure are.
“My mother is not a vampire,” I objected, having recovered from the first shock.
Smiling indulgently, Nirel corrected me:
– Not such a vampire as you used to think. Almost none of us have fangs anymore, because the need to drink blood has simply disappeared over the centuries. They don't grow anymore, see? – He showed me his even white teeth. – Now we take away unnecessary emotions from people in a different way.
– Do you take away unnecessary emotions? How? For what? – she asked, even more amazed.
So far everything has only become more confusing. Vampires without fangs and the need to drink blood are some kind of toothless vegetarians.
– It’s simple: people with an unstable psyche have moments in life when emotions take over them so much that they lose reason. Then they do things that affect the rest of the world. With their emotions they change the lives of other people, and mostly exclusively for the bad. For example, they commit a crime or become the cause of a series of accidents that lead to someone’s death. We – vampires – take away these “extra” emotions from them, thereby maintaining balance in the human world. Moreover, various emotions may turn out to be “superfluous” – even happiness.
– And before this you had to drink blood? – I clarified, grimacing.
My imagination quickly painted the entire procedure in the most vivid colors, including the nasty taste of metal in my mouth. I definitely wouldn’t agree to such an abomination, because…
What if a person is sick with something? Or haven't washed for a week?
I shuddered with disgust.
“It happened, but not for the last three generations,” Nirel confirmed. – Now, fortunately, this is not required. We have learned to do without this procedure. Now we take away dangerous emotions with the help of touch. Prolonged touch and slight hypnosis. If such emotions are not drawn out, then a skew will constantly occur, first in one direction, then in the other. Of course, problems happen despite the existing protocol of actions, but it’s better to do at least something than to do nothing, right?
I nodded, agreeing with the guy. If he was telling the truth, then the matter smacked of a fair amount of pessimism, because something out of the ordinary was happening in the world every day.
But on the other hand, I briefly imagined what the Earth would look like now if vampires had never existed. Probably, we would all simply die out and everything would go from scratch: bacteria, fish, monkeys, dinosaurs, cavemen. Maybe nature learned from its mistakes and therefore created vampires in the next round?
Actually, I asked the third-year student exactly this question.
“Maybe,” he answered slyly. – In any case, we are the protectors and balance of this world. And not only us. All Midnighters.
– Is there anyone else? Spiders? – I guessed.
But it turned out to be wrong. I'm not feeling good today. It’s understandable, there are so many new discoveries in less than a day, so much contradictory and at the same time incredible information that it’s time to go to bed as soon as possible with dreams that tomorrow will be different – normal.
– Not spiders. Transformation is Percy's special gift. Each vampire has his own special gift, but not all of them reveal it right away. For example, it hasn’t shown up for me yet.
Smiling with slight sadness, the guy quickly returned to our main topic:
– In addition to vampires, Midnighters also include werewolves, witches and hunters.
Having caught on to the most important word, I fidgeted on the bench with impatience.
– Hunters? Everything about the rest is more or less clear. Witches can cast spells, werewolves turn into animals, and hunters? Who is this anyway?
Nirel sighed heavily.
– Those for whom our existence does not allow us to live in peace. They consider us monsters and are trying in every possible way to rid the world of our presence. But don't get scared ahead of time. Let's just say that no one has seen them on this side of the border for a long time – since they crossed into the human world, so there is nothing interesting about them. Maybe they degenerated a long time ago.
Hearing the last phrase, with which the guy probably wanted to cheer me up, I smiled wryly. Because now I knew for sure that one annoying hunter still existed in the human world. Mom herself told me about this today, and I just didn’t know what to do with this information now.
How dangerous were they? Have they really degenerated or are they still hiding to hunt down vampires one by one? And my mother? Is she a vampire, a witch or a werewolf?
– Nirel, if I’m still a Midnighter, then who am I? Vampire or witch?
“Vampire,” he answered without a shadow of doubt.
– Why did you decide that? – I became stubborn.
It's not that I want to be a witch. In principle, I would prefer to remain a purebred person, but if I have to choose…
– Because Madame Pelisay named you Salaman Dragon. Your family is the oldest and largest among all vampire families.
– So I have many relatives? – I was puzzled.
Accustomed to the fact that my only family member was my mother, I did not expect such a catch. On the one hand, this news made me immensely happy, because I always wanted to have grandparents, brothers and sisters, and all these noisy, cheerful holidays when large families gather and give many, many gifts. But on the other hand…
Relatives could end up with foulbrood.
The third-year student brought me down to earth again:
– Not sure. Dragon is the common name of the genus, but from the first Dragon, according to history, many branches came. If I'm not mistaken, he had fourteen sons. There were also daughters, but each got married and received a new clan name. It’s better to ask your mother about your relatives when the opportunity arises.
“If it turns up,” I sighed, remembering how I had been waiting for answers for eighteen years, and how I still haven’t received some.
But I still had some clue. Madame Pelisay said that I am Dragon on my father's side. I wonder if he's still alive? And if so, why have I never seen him? Even if their relationship with his mother was truly accidental and for one night, had he really not been overcome by curiosity over all the years to find out who was born to him?
Or did his mother simply not tell him that she was pregnant?
