Chapter 29: Chapter 29

Elena drew her bottom lip in between her teeth as she contemplated and had to admit that he was slowly changing her mind. She was curious indeed, but her anxiety held her back. It was like a heavy anchor that prevented her from moving forward.

“Come on, Elena. I know you want to see them,” he coaxed. “I will stay with you the entire time. We will do it together, okay? What’s the worst that could happen?”

She couldn’t answer that without hurting his feelings since it was apparent that he liked his clan, so she refrained from telling him.

“Join me, my flower,” Ryder said, stubborn as always, and walked towards the door, expecting her to follow. And she did, after a moment of hesitation. She grabbed her shoes and followed him to the hallway that led to the foyer. They walked at a casual pace, which allowed her to look around.

The pictures decorating the entire house were interesting, depicting various scenes and people, some of them familiar, others not so much. One of these portraits showed Helen, painted with an abundance of colors that were mixed randomly, yet somehow looked exactly like her.

“Edgar could open his own art gallery,” Ryder commented once he noticed her glances. “He has a small atelier in the west wing of the house where he spends hours working on his art.”

“So these were all made by him,” she concluded. His talent was impressive.

“Yes. I think he could easily become famous if he wanted to, but for us vampires, it’s better to stay in the background. Humans would eventually notice when someone famous never ages and lives for a hundred years without changing even a bit.”

“It must be difficult to fool them,” Elena mumbled, knitting her brows. It was no secret to her that supernatural beings could reach a very high age. Whether it was vampires or werewolves or witches, in theory, they all could live forever. However, most witches did not. Countless had lost their lives while trying to fend off hunters or vampire clans. The thought left a stale taste in her mouth. Elena wondered if her own kind would see her as a traitor for joining a vampire clan…

“Well, nowadays it’s harder to blend in than it was two hundred years ago,” he answered. “Citizens are monitored more closely than ever, so it’s necessary to get a new identity every thirty years or so before people get suspicious when we don’t age. Fortunately, some vampires work in administrative positions—they can easily tweak some things here and there to help us hide our nature.”

“How old are you, exactly?” she asked curiously.

“I was born around 250 years ago. Haven’t counted in a while. It becomes pointless when you’re past the age of 100,” he explained, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked. They reached the stairs at the end of the hallway and descended them, entering the empty foyer of the house.

“That means you have experienced a lot throughout your life,” she mumbled, cocking her head. He hadn’t told her much about him yet—she hardly knew anything, and she wished to change this. “I’ve been wondering, do you have a job? You never mentioned anything.”

Her interest in him made him smile. “I used to be a pianist in recent years, but I had to stop when I became too famous. My reputation threatened to expose my true nature because nosy fans started to look into my private life,” he sighed with a shake of his head. “After that, I worked in my parents’ law firm for a while, but didn’t enjoy it since music is my passion. So, instead of being a pianist, I ended up writing songs. It allows me to stay out of the public eye… but I do miss playing in front of an audience sometimes.”

Elena wondered what kind of vampires his parents were—and whether they would even like her, given the fact that she was a witch. Maybe she would meet them one day. The thought made her stiffen a little bit, so she decided to ignore the topic for now.

“Working as a vampire is hard, huh? Sounds like it’s difficult to find a suitable job,” she replied.

“It’s not as hard as it might seem. The other clan members have found ways to blend in with humans as well. In some cases, the professions they chose are rather surprising. Take Dorian, for example. I always think he is mad for becoming a surgeon. I don’t know how he withstands the temptation of blood in his daily life, but he makes it work somehow. He’s got astounding self-control,” Ryder explained. “Chump and Avocado, on the other hand, are producing music, and Clitus works as a private detective. His vampire senses make his job quite easy.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. I thought you all had weird jobs,” Elena remarked. “But they sound pretty normal. What I don’t understand is why you need to go so far to hide your identities from humans. Vampires are much more powerful than humans anyway. What is there to fear?”

“It’s complicated, but I will try to sum it up for you. Exposing our true nature to humans is considered a crime in our society. If you commit this crime, you will get in trouble with the most influential vampire clan there is. Its leaders make the rules and enforce them all around the world. Many vampires have disregarded their laws before and paid with their lives,” Ryder said. “It’s easier for us if humans don’t know about us. As long as they are oblivious, we can do as we please without repercussions. Humans might not be physically strong, but they do have dangerous weapons at their disposal. It would be wrong to underestimate them. Think about the utter chaos they caused during the witch hunts of the Middle Ages.”

Elena frowned, having heard the stories about her kind being hunted down from her own parents. Humans could indeed be dangerous—it was a good thing they had forgotten about the existence of witches and wizards.

“True, they are stronger than one might think,” she mumbled. While they crossed the foyer, Elena gazed around, not spotting any of the other vampires. She was relieved about that.

“How old are you, if I may ask?” Ryder wondered, shooting her a glance. She seemed to be in her twenties, but in the supernatural world, that could mean anything.

“I’m 24,” Elena replied and gave him a small smile. “A little younger than you.”

His lips twitched in amusement. “I see,” he chuckled. Ryder opened the front door of the house and let her walk outside first before he followed her. They headed down the steps and followed a path around the building.