The restaurant was exclusive, the lighting intimate. Trev had told her it was owned by one of his people. He had yet to tell her who and what exactly his people were but she had decided to leave those questions for another time. Most of the patrons were immortals, with a scattering of high ranking humans. He had said all the humans in the place knew about the immortal world. Tara was amazed as she recognised famous people that Trev identified as immortals. She hadn't thought they would be in the public eye.
She and Trev sat on a private balcony in full view of the rest of the patrons but removed enough to be virtually on their own.
"How do they hide who they are?" she whispered knowing that immortals had a keener sense of hearing and could possibly hear them even from afar.
"You don't have to whisper," he smiled "The tables are spelled so no one can hear our conversations. And the immortals in the public eye spell themselves to age and not be too conspicuous."
"Just how many immortals are there in the world?" she asked
"About half a billion"
Tara couldn't help but gape at that. How could there be so many of them and yet the world knew nothing of them? She had never suspected it, though her sister was convinced supernatural people and events were common enough. She couldn't wait to tell her how right she had been. "How can people not know? With that many of you it's hard to believe people don't find out"
"You have to understand, most of the existing immortals were born in ancient times, no matter how we adapt to the times we don't really change"
"And we are back to the archaic forms of discipline" She shuddered
Trev took her hand into his and she looked up to meet his eyes "My people and I do not believe in torturing others. Yes there are reported incidences where humans have been tortured for trying to expose our existence but for the main part most are simply discredited"
"How?"
"Living as long as we do, we tend to accumulate vast amounts of wealth and as you have seen we are in public office and own major businesses. Humans who try to expose us find that the man they're trying to sell the story to is one of us, their member of parliament, the police commissioner, mayor, you name it. Normally they are advised to drop it and if they don't the story gets trashed and they find it difficult to maintain their jobs. If they are in business then they lose their connections, most end up bankrupt"
Tara gasped. "That's cruel!"
He gave her a penetrating look that she had seen many times, one that told her he was serious about what he was about to tell her and would be gauging her reaction. She had wondered at that trait of his, although now that she knew he was some kind of nonhuman it sort of made sense.
"What do you think would happen if humans find out that they live among people capable of feats they confine to science fiction?" his intense eyes held hers "They would panic, give in to their jealousy and greed, they would petition their governments to eradicate us. The governments would want to weaponise us, experiment on what makes us tick. Our children are born far apart and they are the ones that would be targeted. We know this because we went through it before. Each act of group cleansing, like the Salem massacres and many others, humans going out of their way to kill immortals"
She couldn't deny what he was saying, it made too much sense. Yet still to destroy someone's life so callously? She couldn't get over that.
"Tara. We have a right to live just as much as humans do. We are not mutants or results of heinous magic or experiments. Our heritage traces back to Adam and Eve just as that of humans does. The difference is it, for us, was lesser generations ago and we retain the knowledge"
Tara found that surprising, she had not even thought about the origins of the immortals but now that she thought about it she realised she had assumed it was some sort of a disease. A contagious one, like how it took a bite from a werewolf or vampire to become one, how ghouls infected with even the slightest scratch. To hear that they were as normal as humans was a bit of a shock "So you don't infect people?"
Trev winced at that, she couldn't blame him, it was an awfull question but she had to know. A part of her couldn't let go of the idea that Ray or someone else in her life had infected her with immortal blood or maybe experimented on her. Trev had said he had no idea what she was. As an immortal he should know about all the others in existence and if he didn't know what she was becoming she was in more trouble than she wanted to believe.
"No, we don't turn humans into what we are. Most immortals don't know how to do that and the handful that do would not do it lightly. Turned humans are a danger to our existence. As children we are taught to hide what we are, to blend with humanity and not leave evidence of who we are. A turned human would come with parents, siblings, friends who would notice the change immortal blood bestores"
"Like what?"
"All signs of aging would be reversed, their looks refined and at times they would gain some height. Those are not things you can hide from those who love you and few humans are willing to leave their loved ones. Then there is also the fact that some humans having gained the power that comes with whatever race they become would want to show their enemies and competitors how much more powerful they have become. The military would want to get their hands on the way of the change for military purposes."
"You mean they know of your existence?" from what he had said about the government wanting to weaponise them she would not have thought they would know.
"We have an understanding with your government."
"Why?" she questioned having a few conspiracy theorists as friends led her to believe the government would not let such a goldmine be without good reason.
"Because when beings from other worlds, more advanced and or magical, threaten this world we deal with them." He said it with a straight face, casual, as if it was the most natural of statements and not the height of insanity.
Tara laughed at that. That was all she needed to cap this weird ride she was now on, aliens. "Are you for real?" she whispered. "Little green men exist."
Shaking his head he gave her an amused half smile then leaned in. "No," he whispered. "They are mostly humanoids with different abilities and slight physiological differences." He leaned in even closer and lowered his voice further. "Some of them even live amongst us."
"Get out!" she whispered back almost bouncing in her chair with excitement. "Does that mean area 51 exists?"
He was enjoying her excitement though he looked as composed as ever. He had that look of an indulgent adult enjoying a beloved child's discovery of the world's wonders. Yeah it was a bit condescending but she was too excited to care.
"Well, like I said we deal with those who prove threats to our world, sometimes that includes incarceration."
"Ooh some of my friends are going to love this." she enthused.
