by Sean Hayden
I nodded my understanding, and let him continue his genetics lesson. "Homo cruentus plurimus, or the common vampire, has twenty-five pairs giving them fifty which is probably what makes them a little harder to kill than a nosferatu. Homo cruentus dominus has twenty-seven pairs. Fifty-four chromosomes are a lot of genetic information and is the main reason they are at the top of the food chain. No one can explain the jump from twenty-five to twenty-seven pairs, but most believe there is probably a missing classification along the line somewhere. They died out, Mother Nature goofed, or they are close enough to master vampires no one has genetically coded them. Me, I think it's probably the latter. Then we get to you, Ashlyn. Care to guess how many chromosomes are floating around in your DNA?"
Maybe it's an inferiority complex had to deal with, but I blurted out, "twenty-six?"
"I'll give you a hint, you're getting colder."
"Twenty-seven?”
"You're getting warmer, but we don't have all night. You my dear have the base twenty-three, but there's more! Let's see what else you've won. You share all the genetic markers of the dementus, informis, plurimus, and dominus, so you have all twenty-seven of those. It's because of that I know you're definitely a vampire, and still there's more. Since you are different, and if I had to guess, I would have said twenty-eight. I would have gotten a little closer, but still not good enough. You my dear have thirty-two chromosomal pairs giving you a total of sixty-four bits of genetic coding."
I didn't know what to say. I sat there and pondered the information he had given me and I drew a complete blank. I was a completely new subspecies of vampire, but still a vampire. Did this mean I get to name my new subspecies? Or did doctor Gibbs since he made the discovery? I decided I didn't really care. "Am I okay?"
"You are better than okay, you're perfect. It's why you don't burst into flame in the sun and probably why you can't feed off regular humans. You, my dear, are a predator of predators. Did you know you're only seven years old, or at least your cells are? You're never going to get old, and unless you come across something much stronger than you, you could live forever."
"Seven, but I was seven when I stopped growing, so I guess it makes a little sense," I pondered out loud. I had been excited when I first entered the office, and the Doctor had provided me with a lot of answers, but for every answer I received, three more got asked. Now the Doctor started squirming in his chair like a little kid, so I knew he had more.
"Do you want to know what the MRI showed?"
"You tell me. Do I want to know?"
"You definitely do. You have all twenty-three pairs of human chromosomes, so you have a complete set of human organs, but they don't work. Not a big mystery there, the same thing happens to vampires when they are turned. What's different is you have an amazingly dense skeletal structure. Regular vampires don't have this. They are super strong, but if they had one weakness, it would be their bones. Someone could theoretically hit you with a car doing ninety, and it might not break a bone. I couldn't even see bone marrow, just solid bone. When a human is changed, their marrow dies and they can't reproduce red blood cells, scientists believe it's why they have to consume blood. Same thing with you, but instead of wasting the space, your genetic code improvised. It's quite amazing."
"Yeah, it's quite amazing. Thanks, Doc," I said sarcastically. I made to stand up but the doctor immediately ushered me back down.
"Wait, there's more! Your brain is different. You know how the brain looks right?" I nodded. "A rat's cortex is very smooth, and then as you move up the cognitive chain the more ridges in the brain are visible. Well most people don't like to admit it, but aquatic mammals like dolphins and whales have even more ridges in their cortex than humans. Most species of the fey who have volunteered for an MRI have even more than them. If I had to compare your brain, I would say it's more fey than human," he ended.
Ever hear the expression TMI? I had heard it, and now I knew what it meant. I felt dizzy and like I might burst into flame. My brain felt overloaded and I needed to get out of the tiny little room. I could tell Gibbs had more to say, so I held up my hand for silence. I am normally pale, but my hand looked positively ghost like and I think the Doctor finally noticed it as well.
"Are you okay?"
"No. I'm done. If there is anything else please keep it to yourself. Speaking of which, are you going to share your findings with anyone?"
"I have to put all the information in your file, but I won't publish. The FBI plans on keeping you safe, even if it entails doing it from other agencies as well as the world at large. Before you got here Morello debriefed me and said nothing leaves this facility if it concerns you. I'm sorry, I thought you would have shared my enthusiasm, but I don't think you do. At least you have some answers."
"And a thousand more questions, Doctor. Thank you," I told the kind man.
"Are you going to name yourself?"
"Excuse me, doctor?"
"Homo cruentus what? If you don't mind, I need to give you a name. Since it's yours, I thought maybe you would like the honor."
I thought about it for a minute and decided to let the Doctor have a little fun. He had done his best by me, and wouldn't be able to publish a paper with the potential to make him famous. "The honor is yours doctor. Make it cool though," I said and smiled at him.
"Thanks, Ashlyn. The best of luck to you," he said and stood to shake my hand.
"Thank You, Doctor" I said and left. I had a forensic science class to get to. I considered skipping it and just heading back to my room to ponder what I had learned and to think about what I didn't know about myself, but I knew some roads lead to madness.
I entered the class and took my seat and learned what I had to do to keep a crime scene fresh. The instructor introduced himself as Special Agent Williams, and he didn't like me very much. I had asked Walker about his apparent hostility toward me and he told me Williams last partner had been killed by a vampire a few years back. I didn't mind him hating me after today. I just kept my mouth shut and paid attention to what the man had to say.
Chapter 13
I colored in the answer bubble with the tiny little label "d" with my number two pencil. I had finished the final question of my final exam in Forensic Science, and after graduation I would be a bona fide diploma carrying, gun toting, badge wearing, bad guy catching, black suit wearing Agent of the FBI. Graduation would be tomorrow, the last Friday of January. Christmas had come and gone as well as the New Year without much fanfare or hullaballoo. All of the recruits had flown home for the holidays except for me. I had elected to stay in the dorms, and spent many of my nights with Darenthalis.
I had expected him to travel to whatever land he came from, but he didn't. I asked him why and he told me time moved differently where he hailed from and he wouldn't be needed back there for another three months before it became time to celebrate Yule. I pretended to understand and nodded my head. I appreciated his company anyway.
I gathered my test booklet and raised my hand for the proctor to come and collect my final exam. A woman with both a severe hair and dress style click clacked her heels across the linoleum classroom and took both my test and little green answer sheet. I let out a little sigh, and I gathered my things and left the classroom and headed over to the dorms. I decided to take a shower and start packing my minimal things. I opened my door and I glanced over to my bed and saw a box wrapped in beautiful paper.
Curiosity got the best of me and I went over to pick it up. I had thought the wrappings to be paper, but as I ran my hand over the beautiful fabric I knew at once whoever wrapped it used silk. A ribbon wrapped around it and ended in an intricate bow on the top. The silk wrappings themselves had been dyed a dark hunter green and the ribbon and bow a beautiful shade of silver. I had never seen silver silk in my entire life. In fact the closest I had ever seen had been a mottled grey that gave the impression of silver. I couldn't resist slipping the ribbon over the corner of the box and removing the beautiful silk wrapping. I had no
idea how whoever had wrapped it got the edges to stay together. I couldn't even decently wrap a package with paper and tape.
The box felt heavy and sturdy, but opened easily by sliding the top off the bottom. I gasped when I saw the beautiful dark grey silk pant suit combination wrapped in a paper like substance half as thick as tissue. I lifted the beautiful items out of the box and found a white silk shirt and black patent leather shoes underneath. Inside one of the shoes lay another small box and I opened it to find gold cuff links and a small note on parchment paper.
I read the note and it confirmed my suspicions. Darenthalis told me how proud he felt at my accomplishments, and that he had no doubt in his mind that I owned nothing appropriate to wear to my graduation. I smiled inwardly at how right he had been, and vowed to gift him something equally as beautiful when I returned to the real world.
I finally took my shower and began the arduous task of packing my single back pack. I smiled at the thought of how long it would take Rose to pack with the sheer amount of luggage she had arrived with. I put on my last clean set of sweatpants and T-shirt and decided to take one last walk around the campus. My tummy started growling at the same moment. I decided on stopping by medical one last time to grab one last "juice-pouch" from the infirmary and say my farewells to Doctor Gibbs.
Snow had started falling when I stepped outside the dorm. I watched the flurries swirl around the buildings and settle down on the frosty ground. At least they had a chance of sticking and not melting away too quickly. Virginia weather often became unpredictable around this time of year. One week hot, the next freezing, but I had always loved snow. Even as a child out in the nights of Chicago, I would always play in the snow.
I made my way over to the medical building and let myself in. I followed the familiar hallway to the good Doctor's office and knocked. He sat in his customary position behind his desk and he smiled when he saw me. "Ashlyn, I'm glad you came by. I feared I wouldn't get to see you again before graduation tomorrow," he said.
"I didn't want to take a chance of you not being there and me not getting to say thank you for everything. Thanks, Doc."
"I'm honored for the opportunity to meet you. Are you hungry?"
"I could eat."
"Wait right here. I'll be back in a moment," he replied jovially and left to get me some dinner. I had eaten two nights ago, and probably could have waited until after the ceremony, but I didn't want to take a chance. My exams had been grueling and I must have expended a multitude of nervous energy for me to be this hungry. He returned with a, "Here you go," and handed me the cool bag of blood. I shook it for good measure and popped the rubber stopper on the bottom.
We continued our conversation while I ate. We talked about exams, where I hoped I would get my first duty assignment, what cities I would be interested in seeing or living in, and how I thought I fared on my exams. Then he surprised me once again.
"I have named your subspecies by the way."
"Okay, what am I? Homo cruentus painintheassicus or homo cruentus psychoticus, which do you like, doc?"
"Your classification, pending your approval, is homo cruentus imperator. Emperor Vampire. I made you an emperor. Hope you don't mind."
I stared at him wide eyed. In fact I felt them start to moisten and then tear freely. I stood and walked around his desk and bent down and gave the sweet little man a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I couldn't say anything more to him without breaking down and crying, but I managed to croak out a "See you tomorrow," and left. I finished the pouch of blood in the hall and ducked into one of the labs to toss the remains in one of the biohazard bins and went back to my dorm to have my breakdown. I thought of going to see Walker to brighten my mood, but I figured seeing him would just make me cry too. I sighed resignedly at how long the night would last.
* * *
I woke at sunset and found our grades posted in the hallway of the dorms. We had all been assigned a testing number, and we were instructed to look for our number to receive our score. Now no one would know who failed and who passed. I knew I needed at least an eighty-five percent to pass each of the nine exams I had taken to pass the academy. I searched the column of numbers and found my numerical designation. I took an unnecessary deep breath and ran my finger to the right to see my grades. The breath expelled itself after I reached the last grade. I had passed! I had passed with flying colors actually. The lowest grade I received had been a ninety-one in interrogation. I could live with a ninety-one. If I had to guess vampires would probably be pretty effective interrogators naturally.
I had two hours to kill before we had to be at the gymnasium for graduation. I took a long leisurely shower and did my hair. I thought about running down to the store and buying some makeup, but I figured why start now. Instead I dressed in the beautiful suit from Darenthalis and decided to head to the Gymnasium a little early. I really had nothing to else to do. This way I could probably say my goodbyes a little early. At least I wouldn't have to worry about my makeup running.
The snow still fell from a cold sky on my way to the gymnasium. I worried about the water from the snow settling and discoloring the silk in my outfit, but I looked down and saw the water beading up on my sleeve. Waterproof silk? I wouldn't have put it past Darenthalis to have magicked the damn thing. It might actually be bulletproof too.
I reached the double doors and pulled the right hand door open and walked inside. The blue mats I thought permanently attached to the floor had been removed and a portable stage had been wheeled in and set up, so had extra sets of bleachers. I wonder if they expected a crowd tonight. I settled myself on the lowest row of the closest bleachers and waited, but not for long. Noticing movement in my vision, I looked up at the railing separating the second floor from the drop off to the main floor and saw Darenthalis and Walker both standing there and waving me up.
I left my seat and headed up, counting the twenty two stairs as I had every time I made the climb. I walked over to the elf and the agent and smiled at them both. Walker actually whistled at me so I did a little pirouette, showing of the gorgeous outfit my elven friend had gifted me. "You sure do clean up pretty, vampire," Walker joked.
"Thank you, kind sir, and you may thank the kind sir standing next to you for the beautiful outfit I'm wearing."
Maybe I shouldn't have told him. I think I actually heard Walker's neck snap he turned his head at the Elf so fast. I looked at Darenthalis to see if I had offended him or gotten him in trouble, but he just smiled at me warmly.
"Has a vampire maiden finally thawed your icy elven heart, Daren?"
"Shut up you mongrel dog. I simply rewarded a star pupil. I offered her your telephone number instead, but she turned it down, and for good reason! Flea collars are expensive."
I couldn't believe my ears, Daren? How long had these two been working together? I started laughing and couldn't stop. The words "flea collar" kept setting me off again and again.
"Shut up, tick," Walker retorted to me. "It wasn't that funny."
He started me laughing all over again. I would miss these two, but I had a feeling I would see both of them again, sometime. I held out my hand to shake theirs, but I found myself pulled into two warm hugs instead. I felt like the crème filling in a hunk cookie and I really liked it. I heard the doors below leading to the outside world open and close repeatedly. It sounded like the show would start soon if people had started making their way to the seating area.
"It's time, child. Go take your seat," Darenthalis told me. I hugged the both of them again and walked down the steps to where some of my class had already taken their seats. I slid onto the bleacher next to Brian Watson, our graduating mage. He looked down at me and smiled and I returned it.
The bleachers behind us began to fill up with middle aged couples and individuals dressed for the occasion. I watched as my former roommate walked in and smiled at a grey haired gentleman in his late forties. He wore a black suit and black tie over a J.C. Penny button up white dress shirt. This must be her
father, Special Agent Gates. I sat there staring at the man wondering if Rose told him about me. I doubted it. She probably wouldn't want her father knowing his precious puppy had been beaten by the bloodsucking undead.
By the time the ten of us had seated ourselves on the bleachers side by side, Special Agent in Charge Morello strode through the front doors carrying manila envelopes and a stack of blue leather (probably pleather) certificate holders. I had already received one for the high school equivalency exam I had taken and passed during my stay at the academy. I assumed these read "academy diploma". He strode purposely toward the dais at the rear of the gymnasium where he joined Darenthalis, Walker, and Dr Gibbs. A single podium occupied the center of the stage and Morello took his place behind it. He tapped the microphone twice to make sure it had power and to get everyone's attention. The low murmur of voices quieted down and he began our graduation ceremony.
"Members and family of class 010903 welcome and be seated. This is the third graduating class of this year, and by far the most interesting. These members of the supernatural community are now valuable members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is hard to come by such morally superior people in today's world, but these are shining examples of what it takes to be an agent of the FBI. I'm not going sit here and bore you with speeches about what a difference you can make to save the world from domestic chaos. You already know it, or you wouldn't be here. You have what it takes to make a difference or you wouldn't have passed the exams and expectations of your instructors, who you may now look on as peers. I will congratulate all of you as you come to receive your diplomas, but let me be the first to congratulate you as a group for a job extremely well done. Congratulations to you one and all."
The audience gathered was small due to the minimal class size we had of less than a dozen, but you wouldn't have been able to tell from the sound of the cheering at the conclusion of Morello's speech. Recruits, parents, relatives, and teachers all screamed with joy. I felt pretty lonely until I saw the beaming faces of my three friends on the stage staring at me.