"Good Lord, how many of us do you think there are?" Gregorio had been listening to Anika more and more incredulously. A vampire plague in Los Angeles, of all things? He wasn't sure how much of that he believed. How were there that many of them? There couldn't have been that many of them, unless de Moulins got careless with his prey and she was talking about those unfortunate wretches that were the result. But no, she seemed pretty adamant they were vampires. Another type, like those hose-faced things he'd seen during his last trip to New York? It seemed a safe bet. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "It's a very long story that I can get into better in private, so do forgive me if the abridged version is a bit confusing. There were twenty two of us present in Constantinople when we...made a miscalculation and were changed into what we are now. We were changed. Our blood relatives were changed. Twenty one families from across Europe, Asia, and Africa...all vampires. Of those original twenty one families, only three of us on the Council have been there from the beginning. My brother and I, representing House D'Ambrosio, and one other. Sixteen other families have had their leadership on the Council fall to an eldest child or grandchild. Sometimes several generations. Three families have been lost completely."
He shook his head. "I'm not going to say we're innocent. We've manipulated things behind the scenes for centuries. We've made enemies. Many of those lost were killed by hunters, and a very dedicated group of hunters still remains intent on wiping out the rest of us." He sighed. "Hell, I even feel bad for de Moulins, despite how much of a pain in my ass he is determined to be. Locals around Moulins grew suspicious of them and killed his father as a witch. His two brothers, I'm told, were burned at the stake. His eldest sister, thankfully, was married abroad and was spared. But Adrien only barely escaped with his life and he's been a headache ever since."
Gregorio sighed. "My point is, there are very few of us. Though some of us have made others, the Council tries to discourage it unless the person who's being turned is joining one of the families. There are turned vampires who don't owe their allegiance to us, of course, and we try to keep them in check, but we heavily discourage making more of them. Our children are just that, our children. Born to us. And honestly, given it's a rarity for a pregnancy last full term without complications, it's a wonder there are as many of us as there are. You have no idea how fortunate Danilo's wife has been, having a son and then twins and not losing any of them. Yet. If I can manage to keep Salvatore alive."
Gregorio looked down at his hands. "As for our feeding behavior...I think we both know I'd be lying if I said I hadn't killed. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. It is part of what I am now. But. I can say it would be a lot less stress in this modern world of forensics, if I could come up with some substitute for living blood for us to feed on, but I haven't had any luck." He shook his head and looked over at Anika. "In this way, I do sympathize with de Moulins, at least a little. Being able to feed from a select few people without hurting them would be ideal, but the minute the blood is removed from a person's veins and stored in another container, it becomes useless to us. And our bite is dangerous."
Gregorio sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The talk brought back his own failures. Centuries upon centuries of failed experiments, the goal stubbornly just out of reach. If they couldn't store the blood, couldn't feed from the same few people without danger, had to kill, then Gregorio wanted to cure the thirst instead. But that had, so far, been little more than a dream. "I suppose what I'm asking, Anika, is for you to help me keep them alive while I continue my research. Because I would very dearly love to find a way to cure the insatiable appetite that is the source of so many of our problems. But that has been...well, let's say it's been the work of a few lifetimes just to figure out how much I still don't know."
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Date: 2020-08-08 04:20 am (UTC)He shook his head. "I'm not going to say we're innocent. We've manipulated things behind the scenes for centuries. We've made enemies. Many of those lost were killed by hunters, and a very dedicated group of hunters still remains intent on wiping out the rest of us." He sighed. "Hell, I even feel bad for de Moulins, despite how much of a pain in my ass he is determined to be. Locals around Moulins grew suspicious of them and killed his father as a witch. His two brothers, I'm told, were burned at the stake. His eldest sister, thankfully, was married abroad and was spared. But Adrien only barely escaped with his life and he's been a headache ever since."
Gregorio sighed. "My point is, there are very few of us. Though some of us have made others, the Council tries to discourage it unless the person who's being turned is joining one of the families. There are turned vampires who don't owe their allegiance to us, of course, and we try to keep them in check, but we heavily discourage making more of them. Our children are just that, our children. Born to us. And honestly, given it's a rarity for a pregnancy last full term without complications, it's a wonder there are as many of us as there are. You have no idea how fortunate Danilo's wife has been, having a son and then twins and not losing any of them. Yet. If I can manage to keep Salvatore alive."
Gregorio looked down at his hands. "As for our feeding behavior...I think we both know I'd be lying if I said I hadn't killed. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. It is part of what I am now. But. I can say it would be a lot less stress in this modern world of forensics, if I could come up with some substitute for living blood for us to feed on, but I haven't had any luck." He shook his head and looked over at Anika. "In this way, I do sympathize with de Moulins, at least a little. Being able to feed from a select few people without hurting them would be ideal, but the minute the blood is removed from a person's veins and stored in another container, it becomes useless to us. And our bite is dangerous."
Gregorio sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The talk brought back his own failures. Centuries upon centuries of failed experiments, the goal stubbornly just out of reach. If they couldn't store the blood, couldn't feed from the same few people without danger, had to kill, then Gregorio wanted to cure the thirst instead. But that had, so far, been little more than a dream. "I suppose what I'm asking, Anika, is for you to help me keep them alive while I continue my research. Because I would very dearly love to find a way to cure the insatiable appetite that is the source of so many of our problems. But that has been...well, let's say it's been the work of a few lifetimes just to figure out how much I still don't know."