"Yeah, thanks!"
Rosie smiled, and stood up, holding out her hand. Connie took it and went with her towards one of the tables. The other Vampires moved away to make room for them. It felt good being the center of attention. She never wanted it to end, and as a Vampire, she knew it could last forever.
Giovanna watched Rosalie take Connie to the drinks table. When they were out of Connie's earshot, she pulled out her cell phone and stepped behind a cenotaph. She wasn't concerned, she knew Rosalie would watch out for Connie and protect her. She clicked it open and hit the speed dial for the girls' home phone number. Sunny answered the phone.
"Yellow! Team Girl residence."
"Sunny? This is Giovanna."
"Ah, Buon Natale molto, Amico di Ragazza!"
She smiled; Sunny's command of Italian had improved. "A very Merry Christmas to you as well, Girl Friend."
"Is something wrong? Do you hafta cancel your visit tomorrow?"
"No, nothing has changed, I will still be able to come over in the evening as planned."
"Whew! That's a relief."
"Listen, there is something I need to tell you."
"Start talking, it's your nickel."
"I have Connie."
There was silence on the other end for several moments. "Uh, what?"
"Connie is with me, here in the cemetery."
"Buuuuut, we just sent her up to bed a little while ago."
"She ran away. She wants to become a Vampire."
"EEEP!! Aw, hold on! I'll get Eile and we'll talk on the conference phone in her office!"
Giovanna heard the handset get slammed down and Sunny running off as she screamed, "EILEEEE!!!!" Giovanna smiled. She had expected Sunny to work herself into a state, but while anxious, she figured Eile would be more reasonable. As long as she could convince them that Connie was safe, she assumed they would give her a free hand. And indeed, the safest place a Human could be was among Vampires on Neutral Ground, especial one who was Sacrosanct.
The man serving the drinks must have been human, because his eyes didn't glow and he was all bundled up against the cold. Connie watched as he took a coffee pot off a burner and filled two mugs. He added a few marshmallows and sprinkled powdered sugar over the foam before handing them both to Rosie. She in turn passed one to Connie. She took a sip; it was just hot enough to warm her mouth without burning. It was also delicious, better then what Mom had given her. Rosie took her to another table and let her fill a plate with cookies and teeny-tiny cakes, almost like little cupcakes.
"Let us go over here," Rosie said, pointing to a cluster of headstones in front of one of the mausoleums. They sat on two tall ones, Connie dangling her feet in the air.
She swallowed a cake." Can I ask you somethin'?"
"'May I'."
Connie laughed. "You sound just like Mom! Okay, 'may I' ask you something?"
"Certainly."
"You talk just like Giovanna. Do all Vampires talk like that?"
"You mean, our formal and precise speech."
"Yeah. Mayv talks like that, too. It just sounds kinda, you know, funny."
"How much of our nature do you know?"
"Huh?"
"Do you know how we are turned?"
"You mean the parasites? Yeah, Dad told me and Liza about them."
"When they first infest our bodies, they suppress our memories of who we were, what we were like, and every aspect of our lives. It is like being born all over again. We learn to talk this way from our mentors, the ones who turn us. I suspect, though, that the parasites may also alter our minds so that we are unable to talk any other way."
"You mean, I'd forget all about Mom and Dad, Liza, Kitty, Mayv, everyone?"
"Not forever. You would slowly regain your memories after perhaps a century, though by then they would all be dead, except for Mayv. But I do not understand; is that not what you wish?"
"What makes you say that?"
"You are running away."
"How'd you know that?!"
Rosie smiled. "Is it not obvious?"
"Heh, yeah, I suppose."
"And you wish to become one of us; does that not suggest you wish to remove yourself from your former life?"
"Okay, yeah, but I don't wanna forget about them!"
"Why not, if they do not appreciate you, do not love you? If I were in your place, I would want to forget they even existed."
"But...we've had fun together! I don't wanna forget about those times!"
"You will remember them again, but if you truly wish to become one of us, you must give up your life as it is now, and to do that, you must forget it."
Connie hadn't considered that. No matter how angry she felt, she hadn't stopped loving them, even if they had stopped loving her. She didn't want to cut herself off from them completely, she just wanted to teach them a lesson, so they would appreciate her better. It didn't seem fair. Why did she have to forget? How could she make them sorry if she didn't even know who they were anymore?
"Connie."
She looked up, and saw Giovanna standing in front of them. She hadn't seen or heard her approach. She figured that was some kind of Vampire power.
"There is someone I would like you to meet. Finish your snack."
"Who is it?" She chewed her last cookie and drank the last of the chocolate.
"Someone whom I believe you would like to know. Ready?"
"Yes." She hopped off the headstone and laid the cup and plate on top of it, then looked at Rosie.
"Thank you for keeping me company."
She smiled. "You are welcome. It was my pleasure."
She took Giovanna's hand and followed her away from the party deeper into the cemetery. They wound their way around mausoleums until they came to the edge of that section, and Connie saw row upon row of headstones all around them. However, Giovanna skirted the edge of the mausoleums until she came to a tiny grove of trees. Inside, cloaked in their shadows, were half a dozen obelisk-style monuments. Connie couldn't see any details, just black shapes against the luminescent snow.
Giovanna stopped just in front of the trees. "Angela."
The top-most shadow of the tallest monument turned to face them, and Connie saw two red eyes like candle flames. She realized the "monument" must be a gigantic Vampire, bigger than even Medb, but then the eyes dropped down to the ground and stood no taller than her. They came towards her, and once they stepped out the shadows she saw they belonged to a little girl no older than herself. She was as tall as her, with a slim body, dressed in an open white fur coat, with gloves and a Cloche hat. Her blond hair, brighter than Dad's, was cut short and styled in finger waves over her neck and cheeks. Her skin was ghostly white, and Connie couldn't be sure if that was her natural color, or if it was just the night and glowing snow.
"Angela," Giovanna said before she came too close, "this is Connie. She is the daughter of Eile Chica and Sonne Hiver. I invited her to attend our party so that she could see what being a Vampire is like. As long as she is with us, she is under our protection."
The girl Vampire had stopped as soon as Giovanna mentioned Connie's name. "I understand," she replied, in a quiet, doll-like voice.
"Good. Then I will leave you two to get acquainted." And she turned and left without a further word.
Connie stared at Angela as she stared back for some moments. Feeling kind of awkward, Connie finally said, "Hi."
"Hello."
"Um, Merry Christmas."
"And the Season's Greetings to you and your family."
"Thanks! Uh..."
"Yes?"
"Are you really a Vampire?"
"Yes."
"'Cause I never knew there were any kid Vampires."
"As far as I know, I am the only one in existence."
"Oh. How old are you?"
"I was turned when I was eight, or so I have been told."
"Don't you know?"
"My memory has not yet fully returned, though it is starting to."
"Eight, huh
? That's the same age I am."
"That is my physical age; chronologically, I am over a hundred years old."
"Wow, really?! That's so cool!"
"Cool?"
"Yeah, um, neat, keen, groovy; Dad likes ta say that a lot."
"I still do not understand."
"Um, gee, it means something real special, something you really like."
"Ah, yes, like saying 'the cat's pajamas'."
"Yeah! Hey, that's funny!" Connie imagined Snowshoe Kitty wearing pajamas, and giggled.
"Why did Giovanna invite you to our party?"
"Huh? Oh! It's because I wanna be a Vampire."
"You do?"
"What, don'cha believe me?"
"No, it is just that it is unusual for a Human to wish to become one of us who has not already long associated with us."
"Well, I wanna be one so bad, I became an Honorary Vampire first."
"Honorary?"
"Yeah. Giovanna said the Christmas cookies were made with blood, and if I ate them, I would be an Honorary Vampire."
Angela looked hesitant, like she had a secret she wasn't sure she should share, but finally she said, "I see."
"But she said I had ta learn what it's like being one first before she could turn me. Some kinda dumb rule."
"Odd. I am not aware of any such rule, but then, I was turned against my will."
"How'd it happen?"
"I do not fully remember. Giovanna told me about it later, and even she did not witness it, she only deduced it from the evidence. I do recall it was Christmas: Mother was reading Yuletide stories to me and my siblings as Father trimmed the tree. He called us into the parlor to reveal his handiwork, when it happened. Giovanna told me a rogue Vampire broke into our house and killed my family and our servants. I managed to hide, but it found me and took my blood. Fortunately, by then it had become sated, and it did not take enough to kill me, but it left me for dead. Giovanna came, tracking it, hoping to destroy it,