We had all huddled together in a small sitting room on the top floor. Em’s mom had made some tea in the upstairs kitchen so those who wanted could warm themselves, even though the heating system had been turned on, it would take a while for it to get warm in this room. Luckily, the kitchenette had plenty of blankets too. But I, for one, was a bit too nervous to really sit down so I opted to stay standing to do my explanation. Ilse passed me with the last cup of tea, quickly but gently squeezed my shoulder with a smile and then went to sit down next to her husband who swiftly covered both of their laps with a blanket.

“I think you can start when you are ready.” Ilse smiled yet again.

“Okay…” I folded my hands in front of my mouth and closed my eyes for a second before I opened them again. “So this all started not too terribly long ago after I had a study evening with Ria and I headed home after going to the snack bar…” I got to the part just after Em had found out I was a vampiress before Em’s mom gave me a chance to take a breather.

“It must’ve been really scary and overwhelming for you, to practically have noone to talk to about this.” Ilse commented.

I nodded. “That’s why it was a pretty big relief to me that Em found out so early. She was a great help and an amazing support…” I then looked at Ria. “I should have told Ria earlier as well, but I was so terribly scared I would lose her… dropping a bomb like that on anyone isn’t easy. If I had told her back then, though… things might have gone very differently….”

Ria looked down at the floor, she already knew what I was going to recount next. While I told the tale of the kidnappers and what happened to Ria on that fateful evening, both of Em’s parents and Karin as well were looking at me with shock in their eyes. Switching their gazes between Ria and myself as I continued. I did try to at least tone down my description a little bit. Such graphic details wouldn’t really help anyone, and my version of the story was already graphic enough.

“My Goddess in heaven…” Ilse leant back on the sofa, putting a hand on her chest.

“Yeah….”

“I can’t even fathom how that must’ve felt to you two… and I take it that’s the time when Emma immediately wanted to come over to you?”

“It was.” Em nodded.

The room filled with silence for a while before Em’s father spoke up.

“What I do not understand is how Corelia made such a rapid recovery.” Paul said. “But I take it it has something to do with your powers too?”

I nodded. “It does.”

“Is she a vampire too? And does that mean our Em is as well?” Em’s mom asked.

“Not really.” This time it was Ria who replied. “But I think Rora was about to explain that.”

I nodded once more.

“Oh, sorry. Please go ahead.” Ilse apologized.

“Thank you.” I smiled softly and continued my story. “The people who cleaned the entire mess in the park are part of an organization that revolves around a group of vampires. They call themselves the conclave. I had already gotten an invite earlier to go to their meeting but because of circumstances Em and Ria got invited too.”

“The extracurricular activity…”

“Exactly, we all went there and got a very friendly welcome, and we also met a lot of other vampires that day. That’s also when we got some more insight of what exactly had happened with Ria and what had also changed in Em too. While I hadn’t turned them into vampires, their bodies had taken on some of my new abilities.” I squeezed my own hand and looked over to Em and Ria to see if they wanted to tell themselves.

Em nodded and turned towards her parents. “In easy terms… Because Auro had kissed us, we have both become immortal…”

Ilse’s and Paul’s eyes went wide open.

“I-immortal?” Ilse stuttered. “Meaning you can not die?”

“Yes.” Em nodded.

“And our bodies won’t age too much either.” Ria added, presumably to relief a bit of the pressure from Em’s shoulders.

“That’s why we couldn’t really avoid this talk forever.” I added again to put everyone’s attention back on me. “We would’ve liked it to be under better circumstances, though. But after a while, it would become obvious that the three of us are… different. While I could withdraw from society without a lot of fuss, for Em and Ria who actually do have a family, that’s a lot harder. Especially since Em loves you all so much.”

Ilse started to sniff and a tear rolled down her cheek. “Give me a second.” She put out her hand and looked for something, but her husband cut to the chase and passed her a tissue.

“I’m sorry mom… I… I…” Em had started to sniff too, she was on the point of starting to cry again, for the second time this evening.

Ilse got up from the sofa and took her daughter in for a big hug. That just opened the sluice gates as Em started crying in her mother’s arms.

Karin, Paul and Ria also got remarkably sadder and I had to try really hard too to keep things dry.

“I’m not crying because I’m sad, dear… Well… I am… but not because of what any of you have done. The three of you just have been so… unfortunate… that this has all happened to you. The victims of complete and utter circumstance.”

Paul wiped his tears away. “I don’t think you could have reacted better in your situation.”

“Hmmm.” I don’t know if I completely agreed with that statement.

“I agree with my husband.” Ilse replied, still embracing her crying daughter. “The three of you are safe and in good health, that is what matters most. From what you told us so far. If you hadn’t been what you are now… Things might not have been that way, or are we wrong?”

“I suppose if you look at it like that…” I rubbed the back of my head. “But there’s still things that we could’ve done better.”

“There always is.” Karin spoke up for the first time since we moved to the sitting room. “But you are… for all intents and purposes… still human…”

“Mistakes happen all the time, Aurora.” Ilse added. “There’s no need to think about what could’ve been, or what you should’ve done… You should focus on what you can do now. And I only know that I am very grateful that you have told us the truth. At this moment.”

Karin’s and Em’s parent’s acceptance of what had happened did make me feel a bit better about myself. It was also at this point that Em had practically stopped crying and distanced herself a bit from her mom, who just smiled at her daughter.

“There’s still something I want to say about my personal situation, but you probably already guessed what that’s all about.” I continued, pushed forward by a newly regained momentum. As everyone kept listening to me attentively, I told them about Alessia adopting me, who exactly she was and what the precise reasons were for doing what we had done.

“Well, when we talked about this earlier today after dinner, it doesn’t look like you were lying.” Ilse nodded happily. “This Alessia person, even though she now appears to be a vampire, really does sound like a very decent human being.”

“She is.” I nodded back. “I’m quite happy she adopted me. And not only because of the practical consequences of helping Ria.”

“Well, if it was only adoption you were after, you could have asked us too. We wouldn’t have minded a bit.” Ilse looked over at her husband, who in turn just gave us a nod. “Although Emma probably would have thought very differently about that.”

Em chuckled and nodded along.

“I guess it would’ve been pretty awkward to be in a romantic relationship with someone who is technically my sister.” I laughed nervously and rubbed the back of my head once more. “But I do really appreciate the sentiment. And now that we are out in the open with pretty much everything… I do have to admit I do see you people as a mother and father figure to me too…”

“The same goes for me too!” Ria bursted out.

“Awh.” Ilse almost started crying again. “I have said this before, but you two are always, and I really do mean always, welcome in our home.”

“As long as we are allowed to come to the eventual wedding.” Paul added.

“Yes, that’s the sole condition.”

I didn’t know if I should be blushing or laughing, but since Ria and Em were already taking care of the former, I took care of the latter. “Haha, of course you will be invited. Front row seats and everything.” I could already imagine Em getting walked to the altar by her parents with Ria besides her. That mental image was definitely one I’d be keeping around.