Christoph's question came out of nowhere, earning a shocking expression from Christmas. Without her realizing it, her pupils constricted, and her muscles stiffened. Before stating anything further, the young man confirmed whether the girl knew her reality.
He walked up to her and patted her back gently, trying to calm her down and sympathizing with her, "Do not worry. You are not alone."
He did not reveal the fact that he was a vampire too. This news would have scared the girl. Christoph's voice had this effect to charm anyone, and in the past few days, he had been implementing it knowingly or unknowingly on the firm's employees.
The basic requirement was to make sure they trusted you. How do you gain trust? Christoph was a psychologist and knew people tend to trust someone who talks while maintaining eye contact, making them seem sincere. That is how you charm someone.
He had used this trick on Chichi to make her visit the company with her team. Trust accumulated over time. Now that Christoph had promised to fund the project, Chichi trusted him greatly.
Christoph gazed into her dark eyes. His gaze was not aggressive but gentle. He asked, "Do you trust me, Chichi?"
The girl gazed back into his eyes and nodded lightly. Christoph's soft voice was akin to herbal medicine in her ears, and her stiff body gradually relaxed. Christoph asked, "Do you know you are also a vampire?"
Christmas felt uncomfortable again, but Christoph did not hold back and revealed with a sad smile, "I am also a vampire."
Another bomb exploded in her mind, making her pupils constrict from shock again. However, the young man ensured not to scare her away, "Do not worry. We do not eat humans. Have you ever craved humans?"
Christmas shook her head, and the young man explained further, "Yes, this is the misconception. You see, vampires do not crave humans but blood. It is a primal instinct of any creature on the planet. We do what is necessary to survive. We survive on animal blood. The difference is you have been consuming it unknowingly."
(To avoid confusion, Chichi will be Christmas only.)
After getting this much information, doubts arose in her head, and the young man diverted her attention while implanting the basic knowledge she needed about vampires. Humans or any other creature would surely get afraid of something new, something they did not understand. Christoph himself had experienced this firsthand.
To ease Christmas, he gave explained to her briefly. The young lady said, "I have never consumed blood, I swear."
Christoph smiled, "My dear, your mother is a native of Sango. Their cuisine has raw meat and blood as ingredients in some recipes. Tell me, do you eat anything containing blood in it?"
After some thought, Christmas recalled, "I love the chicken blood soup my mother cooks."
The realization came in too fast, shocking her to the core. She was an intelligent person and mumbled, "Does she know?"
Christoph patted her shoulder, "Yes, she does."
Christmas held her face in her palms, and tears formed in her eyes. She could not believe that her mother knew the truth. The young man embraced her, "Why are you crying? Do you think your mother will hate you?"
The girl nodded and sobbed while her head burrowed in Christoph's wide, strong chest as if trying to hide from the world.
The young man sighed and continued consoling, "I do not know when she found out, but your origin story is unpleasant. You were not born out of love, my dear, but your father violated your mother in his thirst for blood. Shortly after, the people chasing after you killed your father too."
A shocked expression surfaced on her face again. Christoph patted her back, "Tell me, do you wish to live and make your dreams come true?"
The girl nodded with bright eyes, holding back her tears. The subtle cold feeling from his masculine body was very calming. The young man said, "Then trust me, I will not let anything happen to you. I only need your obedience Christmas, and I will handle the rest."
The girl said in a suppressed voice, "But what will you do? If some people can kill vampires, they must be strong, right?"
Christoph shook his head gently, "They need four men in the least to deal with one strong vampire. I may not be that strong, but I am not easy to deal with. I will take you to a place where you will be safe and receive the mark of our family."
Christmas could not comprehend what he wanted to say.
Christoph said, "Do not think too much. You have enough to digest now. I will tell you on the way about how this works. First, we need to make some preparations."
Christmas nodded, but she did not let go of Christoph. The young man smiled, "To make preparations, I must move around right Christmas?"
The girl noticed what he was saying and realized how she was sticking to him. Hurriedly she took a few steps back, her gaze locked on the ground. She felt embarrassed.
Christoph said, "I would not mind that when you have turned eighteen. I am also not that old, just twenty-one."
He chuckled lightly. Christmas just hoped to find a seam in the ground and bury herself in it. The tension in her mind calmed a bit. The young man approached the wall and pressed a panel on it. The floor parted, and a cabinet rose, loaded with guns and ammunition.
Christmas was trying to wrap her mind around it when Christoph picked up a Kevlar jacket from the cabinet and beckoned her over.
He put the jacket on the girl's body and tied it up without further discussion. He picked up a helmet and extended it toward her. He said, "You are a half-breed, and if the hunters manage to kill you, they will take your body because it will not disintegrate into ashes like mine."
Christmas enquired, "Why would they need my body?"
The young man put on his jacket as he replied, "To extract the cells and experiment, to derive the medicine that makes these people so superhumanly strong."
In a state of shock again, she mumbled, "To think there was such a bizarre side to the world and humanity. More than that, I am shocked I learned all this in a garage."
Christoph smiled and put a gun in the holster of his jacket, "Well, sweetheart, garages are where adventures begin."
Christmas rolled her eyes in annoyance when Christoph mentioned that 'sweetheart' thingy, but she smiled back at him. The two got into the car and left the villa, driving on the road of death and misery.