Chapter 6 Question and Answer
True to his word, Ian left with Isabelle the next morning. The only redeeming factor in the whole incident with his father and Isabelle was that it triggered a memory of a secret cubby behind the shelves with the skulls. Simon had been ecstatic. Here were the books that he had been looking for; five of them. This would jumpstart what Cullen had been researching and if he had kept a journal or log, it might provide clues to the number and identity of his victims.
Isabelle was fairly quiet for the first part of the trip. Ian was just glad she was talking at all.
"What kind of art were you studying at the university," he asked quietly.
"Art history and fine arts," she replied after a moment. "I love my art classes but I don't know what I will do with a degree yet. I thought about teaching, or maybe getting into museum work. I think I would like painting restoration work too. I have two years left until I graduate so there is plenty of time to decide."
Ian chuckled. Isabelle glanced at him curiously from under her lashes.
"I own several art galleries," he replied to her unspoken question. "I can't draw a straight line to save my life but I love everything about the art world. Especially finding new artists and helping promote their talent."
"Historical and antique pieces too, or just the more modern artists?" She asked her curiosity piqued.
"Everything," he said smiling. "Paintings, sculpture, modern art, you name it and I've bought and sold pretty much all of it. Each gallery is a little different. I don't think that my father ever really understood me. He is much more a 'keep your feet on the ground and make yourself useful' kind of a person. Having a non artistic child obsessed with the art world just confused him." He grinned. "I thought he would have an apoplectic fit when I told him I wanted to study art. I think he pictured me running off to Europe to 'find myself' like some sort of art crazed hippie."
Isabelle laughed out loud at that. "I just can't see you with long hair and paint on your face."
"Neither could I," he laughed. "He was very relieved when I went to a local university for my B.A. in business and art. I studied abroad for a while too before I opened my first gallery. I still travel all over looking for pieces for my collection and to keep my galleries a bit eclectic."
Isabelle sat back with a smile. "My grandfather was a bit like that. I inherited my artistic abilities from my grandmother's side of the family. My mother was a professional photographer. She and dad died when I was eight, so grandpa and gran pretty much raised me. I think he was a bit disappointed that I didn't take after him, in more ways than one."
"What do you mean?" He asked, giving her a sideways glance.
"Nothing," she shook her head.
"Is he still alive?" Asked Ian, recalling that she had said that she didn't have much family.
"I don't know," she replied, her smile disappearing. "My last year of high school he started going off for longer and longer periods of time. He didn't adjust well to losing gran. He made sure that I had things all set up for college and the money to go and then he just disappeared. I haven't seen him since March of that year."
She appeared lost in thought and Ian didn't push. God, every time the woman opened her mouth she became more appealing. Her intelligence and flashes of humor were making him enjoy the time that he was spending with her. He gave her another quick glance.
She was even more beautiful than he had first thought. She was fine boned and somehow had seemed small and helpless. He had been surprised at how tall she was once she was up and moving around. He was 6' and if he had to guess, he would put her at 5'7" or so. Her black hair rippled with an iridescent blue sheen where the sun hit it. Deep blue eyes and even features made her attractive but it was her personality that hit him like a ton of bricks on the head.
"Can I ask you a question?" Queried Isabelle a bit later.
"Sure."
"Don't vampires have a thing about sunlight? Why doesn't it bother you?"
He was surprised. "You know what I am?"
"Yes," Isabelle gave him the 'do you think I am completely clueless?' look. "I knew the minute I laid eyes on you."
"Well," he hesitated, trying to find words to explain. "For one thing there are different, well, types I guess you would call it. I was born a vampire. It is not unusual when both parents are vampires to have a child, although it is pretty rare to have more than one or two. Having been born a vampire gives one a leg up so to speak. I can tolerate several hours of sun or on an overcast day I can be out for quite a while. My father is a 6th generation vampire. We can trace the lineage back to the middle Ages. The longer it has been in the family lineage the greater the resistance to the traditional things like sunshine. Each generation gets a little more tolerant. This starts right from birth and makes it much easier to hide what we are."
"Can vampires and humans have kids?" she asked curiously.
"It happens," admitted Ian. "And it is pretty rare. But it is not encouraged. You can have all sorts of complications for the mother as well as the baby. You also get some strange combinations of genetics sometimes. Sometimes the oddities don't show up until after they are adults. Jack the Ripper for example was one of those. Human mother, vampire father, he grew up seemingly a completely normal human. He didn't seem to inherit any of his father's characteristics. The blood lust didn't hit until he was in his twenties, and apparently he just sort of slid into complete insanity. It took the vampires of London quite a while to track him down and take care of him."
"So the legends aren't true then?"
"A human that has been made into a vampire is more like the traditional version. They have extreme sensitivity to sunlight, silver and all the rest. They also have the body temperature drop and the sleep that you can't wake them from. That tapers off with age but it can take hundreds of years to build a small amount of resistance. It depends too, on who made you. If a human was turned by someone in my family they would start off with less sensitivity right off the bat, almost like they inherit part of the bloodline with the blood exchange."
"Then, too, you have human's that can't be turned even when all the conditions are right. No one is exactly sure why."
"Does it bother you that I am a vampire?" He asked after a moment.
