Chapter 5

“We do, we just cannot see our own reflection,” Paris answered, amused that a clever girl like Ann believed in Vampire tales.

“Do you need to be invited into a house? Did my mom invite you in?” Ann asked, eager to know.

“Yes, we need to be invited in, into some houses. Depends if an Inupiat shaman put an invitation spell on a house,” Paris answered, wondering if he must compel her to forget.

“Shaman?” Ann asked, confused.

“Yes, a native witch doctor, if you must.” Paris smiled.

“I know what a shaman is,” Ann said, annoyed and eager to get him to leave. She found him incredibly attractive, but she was slightly angry about the fact that he and his friends used her as a meal more than once.

“All the houses in this town seem to have an invitation spell on them,” Paris confessed.

“Wow, so my house is not the first one you invade. How long have you been in town to know all the houses have an invitation spell on?” Ann asked worriedly.

“We have a compound on the outskirts to the North of town. We arrived here for the first time 500 years ago. We have housing in every Alaskan town. Actually, we have housing in almost every city in the world. All Vampire nests do,” Paris explains, not really knowing why he felt he can trust her.

Ann took a deep breath. “Please will you leave? In Vampire stories, a human can uninvite a Vampire. I guess that is just in stories?” 

Paris just laughed at her and decided not to tell her the truth. A Shaman must put an invitation withdrawal spell on a house as well. Either any human that was in the house at that moment or the human that invited them in. In this house’s case, it seemed the Shaman that placed the spells either did not place any of the two or perhaps placed the spell that the invite must withdraw. Paris left with vampire speed, leaving a gash of wind fluttering the curtains.

Ann closed the window with relief and made a mental note to visit a nearby village to find a shaman. She did not know that they were still in practice, but since her town had werewolves and Vampires surely, she will find Shamans. She shut her window once more and sits down in front of her dresser that matched her armchair. For a moment, she flushed red at the thought that this was the second time in one day that Paris saw her naked. She tried to put it out of her mind and dried her hair.

Ann put on her cotton, laced trimmed nightgown but not before she scanned her room to make sure no one sneaked in again. She went to her window and turned the lock into position. She also went to her bathroom and made sure the window was shut properly. That night, she decided to also lock her bedroom door. She was not sure if she felt fear or not. All she knew was that she would have no vampires feeding on her that night. 

Ann struggled to fall asleep. She kept putting on her bedroom light to make sure there was no one in her room. She eventually fell asleep with her light on.

Paris lingered near Ann’s house all night. He knew he was attracted to her, but wondered why he felt a sense of possessiveness over a girl he only met four nights ago. Paris thought back to a human girlfriend he was very much in love with about 900 years ago. He shared his secrets with her as they got married with the permission of the Council. Only the Council can give permission to Vampire and Haman unions. It was a common practice. Since it was nearly impossible for a human to become a vampire and common for vampires and Humans to fall in love, it was only fair for humans to know the truth when they enter marriage with a vampire. Humans that are part of Vampire Nest are not allowed to be compelled by the Vampires, they must be there willingly. When humans become vampires, the Higher Council makes them promise a few things. A vampire promise was the most binding promise made. Attempt to break the promise and your skin will start to boil.

Vampires fed on their human partners and, in turn, the human replaced the blood lost by drinking their vampire partner’s blood. A Vampire needed to feed every 3 days to stay sane and when their blood was in a human, a vampire could not drink from the human as it would make them weak. A vampire will drink two pints from their human partner and give two pints back.

Even though it was nearly impossible for a human to become a Vampire, it was not impossible for a human to live forever alongside their vampire partner. When a human drinks from a vampire every two to three days, they will not age. 

Paris was deep in thought and did not hear Shysie sneak upon him. “In love with a human again?”

“No,” Paris answers back, hoping that he sounded believing. 

Shysie allowed Paris to have human girlfriends, but she claimed Paris. 900 years ago, she got rid of his human wife on their wedding night and got away with it. Even though Paris tried to kill Shysie after that, he was not able to, as he also loved Shysie, but he was not in love with her. He never allowed himself ever to love a human again. To this day, Shysie was not punished by the Council for killing a human, especially a partner of a vampire, and no one knew why. 

Shysie snuggled into Paris's arms, “I love you, Paris, don’t ever forget that.”

Paris returned the embrace. “you have nothing to worry about.”

They moved with vampire speed and got to their compound in seconds. Hardly anyone was home, only Dario, his human wife, and Wynn.

Dario and his human wife have been married for almost 500 years. His human wife was a native of Barrow but has been traveling with the Vampire Nest ever since. 

Wynn was eating a huge piece of steak with baked potatoes. Shysie rolled her eyes at the sight of her brother eating. Wynn looked up and gave her a big messy smile. “Jealous?” Wynn asks with a mouth full of food. Shysie stuck her tongue out at him. 

Wynn was a hybrid. No one, including himself or the Council, knew how he became a hybrid. Vampires cannot drink from werewolves and the Council has tried everything to turn a vampire into a Hybrid Lycan Werewolf, but all ended in a bloody, painful mess. What baffled everyone was the fact that Shysie was only a Vampire and since they are twins and Wynn a hybrid, he must have somehow become a hybrid, and therefore there must be a way for Vampires to become Lycan Werewolf Hybrids.