I was starting to get a little annoyed a Brad's attitude. "Look," I said. "It's not like he snuggled up to me and said,'Hey, baby. Do you want to live forever?' And I didn't beg him "oh, please, make me immortal". It was an offer that's pretty hard to refuse when you're sitting there dying. It was pure survival instinct, no concious thought involved. I'm not proud of what I am, but I'm trying to deal with it the beat way I can. I'm stuck with it, and you have to accept that. I have.

"Oh, yeah. Might as well clear one thing up. We don't have to kill to live, unlike a lot of mortals." This was a moot point, really; Brad was a vegetarian. "It's kinda frowned on, actually.If you leave a lot of bodies lying around with no blood, people start asking a lot of questions. And that's not good."

Here was the hard part. I wasn't gonna be the one to make this decision. "One of the major rules is called the masquerade. We're not supposed to let mortals know what we are. The idea is to protect us from mass slaughter. If I let you know, it's liable to jeopardize both my existance and yours. It's not my decision to make."

Brad sat down, putting his head in his hands. After a few minutes, he pushed the hair back out of his face. "I need to know," he said simply.

"All right. I'm responsible for you now." I looked around the apartment, noticing, not for the first time, that Brad's book collection rivalled mine. Then I noticed the books on the table were all about vampires. I pointed to them, eyebrows raised in question.

He grinned. "I told the librarian I was doing a thesis on Dracula and the vampire myths and legends. It's amazing what people will believe once you mention school or college. I got everything they had, plus whatever they could get me on inter-library."

"How did you know? I've looked like death warmed over plenty of times before."

Brad blushed. "Well, ummm... your "aura" and Nicholas' were so very pale. I'd never seen anything like it before, or, at least, I'd never noticed it. So, I started really looking. I noticed a few others with the same pale aura. I only saw them at night, so... I put two and two together. Besides, I knew something was up with you." He shrugged. "I can't explain, but I think you understand."

I did. "Well, we trace our origins to Caine, who was cursed by God for killing Abel. He made three other vampires - Enoch, Zillah, and Irad. The act of making a vampire is called the embrace."

We continued talking until about 2 in the morning. He asked questions, and I answered them as best I could. Nicholas hadn't taught me that much yet.

"I'd better get you back." He seemed to remember something, and dug a tube of something out from under a pile of papers and books. He threw it to me. It was a tube of sunless tanning gel. "You're gonna need that. If you don't have a tan at the end of summer, it's gonna look pretty strange. It's supposed to be waterproof, too, so you don't have to worry about the rain."

We sat in the car talking for a few minutes once we got back to Nicholas' house. Brad whispered in my ear, "I've got a few ideas. I know some people who might know something or know where I can find some more information."

"Like Sherry?" Sherry was a friend of ours who ran an occult/New Age store. "Be careful what you look for. I'd rather you didn't go looking for vampires, you know? Try and see what you can find on Enoch. That shouldn't arouse suspicion. Oh, yeah. I'm gonna need a reason to stay out from the sun."

I thought for a moment. Some drugs could give you skin rashes if you went out in the sun, but they weren't the sort of thing that you'd be on forever. I needed something more permanent. "Look up everything you can find on lupus. I think I remember a couple of kids in India having it, and they couldn't go to school because of the light."

He nodded. "We're in this together, just like always."

I smiled and got out of the car. Brad walked me to the door. Neither of us was sure if Nicholas was home or not. He pressed his face against my hair. His voice was little more than a sigh. "Thick and thin." Then he kissed me. It wasn't a peck on the cheek, either. It was an extremely passionate, leave-you-breathless kiss. I stared at him in shock as he walked back to his car. If you knew Brad like I do, you'd understand.

The door slowly opened behind me. Nicholas was smiling indulgently. "Your boyfriend is full of surprises," he commented. I nodded. Brad had sure surprised me.