About a week after their date, Alex yet again found himself making the same trek to her mansion. Lilith had sent a text inviting him over, saying she wanted to talk to him about something. She refused to specify what, which wasn't exactly the most comforting thing in the world. He figured it wasn't anything too bad, but someone just saying "we need to talk" without specifying was always worrisome.
When he finally arrived at the mansion, he saw Lilith sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair. When the flashlight of his phone shined on her, her eyes reflected back like a nocturnal animal. With how unnatural she appeared in that moment, it felt like he was in one of those found footage films. Except he wasn't running from this supernatural creature, he was dating her.
"Can you please turn off that light?" She asked, rising to her feet. "It's like looking into a lighthouse."
"Sorry." He turned it off, which he immediately regretted because now he could barely see anything. "I had to find my way here somehow."
"First the scheduling conflicts, and now the lack of night vision." Her voice suddenly came closer, and the next thing he knew, she was standing right in front of him. "Perhaps I should turn you into a vampire early simply to resolve these issues."
"Don't threaten me with a good time. Also how the fuck did you get in front of me so quickly?"
"Vampiric speed." She crossed her arms. "Did I not mention that?"
"I remember something about it, just haven't seen it in action."
"Well, no matter. Let's go for a walk in the forest, shall we? As I said in the text, there are some things I want to talk about."
The couple walked down a path behind the mansion which led down a hill. His eyes were starting to get a little more acclimated to the darkness, which was aided by the full moon. He still held onto her arm just in case, however (he probably would have done that anyway, this just gave him an excuse).
"So, for the reason I invited you over," she started "there is going to be a ball in a few weeks, and various vampiric houses will be in attendance. My parents have urged me to come along with them, and they wanted to take this as an opportunity to meet you."
"Do they?" He looked to her. "Do you think it'll be alright? Y'know, a human going to a gathering like that?"
"It is unusual for such a thing to happen, yes." She said, the wind blowing through her natural hair. "It's not every day one of our own gets into a relationship with a human, though it's not entirely unheard of. My family is eager to see what kind of human their daughter has gotten involved with for that very reason. Many vampires are of the belief that we are incompatible with humans, so our relationship might be the cause of contention."
"Wait a minute, wouldn't you bite me later on if things worked out? If that's the case, why would it be a problem?"
"'If' is the key word. I wouldn't bite you unless I was sure I wanted to marry you. I hope you don't take any offense to this, but we've only recently started dating so I'm not ready for that commitment yet. And even if I do drink your blood and marry you, you would still be a newcomer to this family."
"I guess that makes sense..." the two grew quiet for a moment, as they drew nearer to the tree line at the bottom of the hill. The dirt road cut through the woods, as the distant sound of the river slowly became louder.
"Are you nervous about it?" Lilith asked, breaking the moment of silence.
"Kind of." He answered. "I'm worried they won't accept me. Also, what should I even wear? Is it just gonna be the standard suits and dresses, or will it be the same renaissance kind of style?"
"That typically depends on the specific event, but the theme for this ball is masquerade so everyone will be wearing masks. I'll be sure to get you outfitted with something appropriate, so you shouldn't have to worry about that." She giggled. "Perhaps we'll wear a matching color scheme. We'll look like a fine couple."
The irony was not lost on him that he would first be meeting her parents at an event where everyone was wearing masks. He wouldn't even know what they looked like. But then again, perhaps the dress code would make him feel slightly less out of place. Lilith seemed fine with it in any case.
They came to the riverbank and the sound of running water rose above the rustling of the trees.
"Wait a minute, I just thought of something." Alex said, looking out on the black stream of water. "I remember you telling me that vampires can't get pregnant, so how do you have parents?"
"You really don't know anything about how vampires operate, do you?"
"In my defense, I didn't even know vampires existed until several weeks ago."
"That's fair." She sighed, an accepting smile on her face. A part of her was growing weary of having to explain so many things to him, but the other part of her was understanding of his situation. For her these were facts of life, but for him it was like a whole other world. "In vampiric families, it is not very common to be biologically related. Typically we are adopted as young children, and then bitten once we are old enough. There are also our human servants, who in some cases will work their way through the ranks and eventually be adopted. It's a similar system for our spouses. If you'll recall, I told you on the day we met that marrying you into the family meant turning you into a vampire. You would not be a full, adult member of the family otherwise."
"So would our wedding ceremony involve you sinking your fangs into my neck?"
"It is not technically part of the ceremony, but yes I do intend to do that once we decide to wed." She raised an eyebrow "Though you said that in a strange way..."
"How so?"
"There was something whimsical about it. Do you...does the idea of me drinking your blood excite you?"
"No it doesn't." He said, blinking.
"You're lying, I can tell!"
"Okay, maybe just a little. The way they sometimes show it in movies, I feel like being bitten would like...sensual? Romantic maybe?"
She laughed. "You see, this is the sort of thing I love about you. What I just said would scare so many people, but you seem almost excited at the prospect."
"There are more people like me than you'd initially think. I'm not that special." Since she had internet, he had to wonder if she was aware about the whole subculture of people who wanted to fuck vampires and other supernatural beings.
