AN: The requisite information chapter. I've been meaning to write this one for a long time. Hope it answers some questions. It'll probably raise some others. Enjoy. inspiredthoughts@hotmail.com ********************** Curiosity Killed... Chapter Twenty-Three ******************** I enter my second week in Backstreet captivity rather passively. The fever drained my strength and most of its reserves, leaving me as weak as a kitten. Kitten. Cat. Get it? I know, I know, I'm so not funny. Anyway, I basically spend five days sleeping and waking to various babysitters who are all very nice to me without letting me do a damn thing. I lead a tough life. But on the flip side, I get to order Backstreet Boys around. They feel guilty, well, everyone but Kevin who wishes I wouldn't have gotten sick but doesn't give a damn that it's all his fault. Stephen takes care of me. He always makes sure I wear a coat when I go out. Even Dracula takes care of me. He rarely lets me go out. Only Kevin forces me to walk alongside the damn bus. "Brian, can I have more hot chocolate?" One of my favorite captors smiles indulgently at me from over his hand of cards and promptly places them down on the small 'dining room table' as he slides out of his tour bus's booth and goes to the cabinets to wrestle me up another pack of cocoa. I wait a moment and slowly reach out to take a quick very non-cheating look at his cards when I'm certain his back is turned. "Cheating isn't very attractive Cat..." "Either are eyes in the back of your head," I mumble but leave the cards alone sulkily. "You've won the last five hands!" "We've only played five hands, and its Go Fish." I sigh gustily. "That's the point." Brian returns with my hot chocolate, complete with tons of marshmallows. "I love you," I gush as I eagerly reach for my drink, "you're SO my favorite kidnapper." I close my sable eyes as I savor my fourth cup of hot chocolate. I'm not sure what possesses me to say, "My Mother used to make this for me all the time to warm me up when I was little." "She doesn't make it anymore?" he teases. "She died when I was six. Cancer I guess, though there was a lot of stuff wrong at the end. I don't really remember all that much of the sickness, just before and then, well, the funeral." I open my eyes to find Brian staring at me, his own gaze a very somber, entirely human blue. "What about your Father?" I shrug, the movement angry and hard with unhappy memories. "I don't really have a Father. He raised me I guess- fed me when he remembered and made sure I didn't run naked through the streets or anything like that. I... we never got along. I've pretty much been on my own since I was fourteen. We haven't spoken since I was sixteen." Brian reaches across the small table and tries to take my hands away from the mug but I flinch and tear them away. "We are NOT bonding over this..." I warn hotly. "I was just going to offer my condolences," he says gently, "it must have been hard growing up like that." "I had Stephen," I offer tightly, "I was as happy and well adjusted as you could have expected." "You've known him a long time." "He's been my anchor ever since I figured out this entire world is one big storm." I stare at my hands and the whites of my clenched knuckles. "You love him very much, don't you?" He sounds wistful. I nod. "With all my heart." But Stephen isn't my heart; he simply holds it. I know Brian tastes the slight untruth in my words but seems willing to let it drop. Good bloodsucker. He picks up his cards. "So... um, Go Fish." Never mind. I pout. "You suck." ********************************************************************************* "So, can you explain some Vampire stuff to me?" I roll half way out of my stolen bunk and see Brian staring up at me from the one below. I sigh and settle so that I can peer down with my chin resting in my cupped palms. "What do you want to know?" "I dunno, just basic stuff..." "Stuff Lydia should have told you before she went sight seeing to cause more mayhem?" Ohh boy, I sound bitter. Brian's face shutters. "I... She is our sire Catherine. None of us, we can't..." "You can't come out and say what a complete and utter nut job she is?" His face hints at a carefully controlled smile. "You've met her, haven't you?" I roll my eyes expressively. "Unfortunately. Beautiful woman. Crazier than a mental ward. She should have been killed off years ago. But, well, I guess you wouldn't know any of that. Okay, Vampire history lesson- let's see... "Vampires came into being with humans since ya'll have that whole parasitic thing going on. Anyway, original Vampires were very weak and easily killed. They couldn't stand the slightest bit of sunlight and wood gave them hives, hence the creation of wooden stakes later on. They also had no choice in who they turned, anyone they bit became Vampire unless they were killed solely as food. "Vampires evolved with humanity though. Certain traits and characteristics began to emerge... limited tolerance to wood, increased night vision, ability to stand slight exposure to sunlight, hypnotic eyes, and the inability to cope with religious objects for some reason though I still haven't figured that out. "The Council came into being, I don't quite remember, two millennium ago? It consists of ten of the most powerful Vampires in existence. There's specific seats of power like Marquis de Leonce who is Head of Europe. There's a seat for North America, South America, Asia, Australia, and one covering all the assorted Islands. That leaves four non-specific seats that are filled by Vampires of great power who have no wish to rule and regulate. "Their control on the Vampire world is pretty close to absolute. They create universal laws and decrees and what not like the whole secrecy clause that gets me in so much trouble, as well as rules concerning the creation of new Vampires, etc. "Now, a big thing is the definition of bloodlines. Blood is essential to ya'll, being bloodsuckers and all... Its important, who you come from, who your sire is and who your ancestors are. Sort of like horses I guess. The Council has a very elaborate breeding program set up if you will. "When new Vampires are turned sometimes they show up with new powers thanks to that friendly power called evolution. There have been a slew of nice traits that have popped up over the centuries- resistance to fire, commanding shadows, talking to animals, increased mental power, the ability to walk in sunlight. The Council has these special Vampires turn people to see if their particular ability can be passed on. Some can't and die with their originator, a genetic fluke, some pass their trait to every one of their offspring, some pass it to selected members. "The Vampires who can pass their trait on are given the distinction of being a new bloodline, or, a prestigious part of a continued one." "Lydia..." Brian whispers, sounding pained. I shoot him a sad, crooked grin. "Yeah, she should have been killed when she was turned because she came over wrong, insane, but Lydia was the first, the first Vampire since the dawn of creation to stand in the light of noon, her face turned towards the sky. There have been others since her, but only she passes the ability on to her line." "So Dracula and Leonce and the others..." "It depends on their line. The older Vampires have more limitations of course. Dracula is very old school- he has mind powers, hates all that is holy, can't abide sunlight, and dies when beheaded or if a pointy wooden stake is shoved through his heart. Marquis de Leonce is pretty much the same, only he can talk to squirrels." "Squirrels?" he demands, torn between amusement and, well, real laughter. I go one up and chuckle loudly. "Don't ask. Really don't ask how I know that. Anyway, this pretty much brings us to ya'll, through some major simplication of course... Ya'll are pure children. You have possess all of Lydia's traits and that's rare because she doesn't breed true. Barely an eighth of her offspring can touch sunlight and not burn for it. "Now, I'm sure there's some hot debate going on because Backstreet Boys, Vampires don't need those kinds of complications. They're rabidly secretive like that. But, if you all breed true, if your offspring can walk in daylight, then you might be worth all the trouble." Brian runs a worried hand through his hair. "What if they decide we're not worth the trouble?" I don't answer- I'm not sure how too. I don't like how he's looking at me though. It's the first time I've seen Brian looking at me like a way to gain power instead of just a girl in a bad situation. I guess he really is becoming Vampire. Its not a comforting thought.