chuckled and smiled at her fondly. “You remind me of a young girl I once knew, ages ago,” he said. “When I was still human. My niece. She had a similar type of steely determination.”
“Determination?” She was never complimented on that before.
“In the face of everything that’s happened to you, you’ve risen above it with a steady resolve. And you don’t have the advantage of many years of life to draw on, yet. It’s impressive.”
“Thank you,” Nora said shyly. “Should we get going, then? You can lead the way.”
Again, Alexander chuckled. “Ever-anxious, are we? I know you might feel like you can go for a very long time, at first, but we have to be careful to mediate our travel speed.”
“What? Why?”
“We have to make sure we don’t rouse your hunger,” he explained. “You haven’t fed yet, and we don’t want to have that instinct take over.”
Oh, right. Hunter had said something similar when he’d hidden her from the hunters. “Why would it do that?” She had forced it down herself, only minutes earlier, and had proven herself by not taking the life of the hunter. “I’ve withstood it before.”
“Yes,” Alexander said, “but the difference now is that we’ll be making use of the skills afforded to you by your new body. And they require you to embrace the part of you that’s fully Vassiz. If you do that for too long, or too suddenly, the inhuman part of you…it might take over. And you won’t be able to control it any more than you can control where the sun rises in the morning or sets at night.”
“Wait,” Nora said, “are you saying that by making use of the Vassiz abilities, I risk…somehow losing myself?”
“That’s exactly right,” Alexander said. “There’s a fine balance that we have to achieve. The Vassiz blood in us is strong, but all of us have descended, at some point in our lineage, from humans. The human part is infinitely stronger. The Vassiz portion of ourselves…it is all beast. It operates on pure instinct. There is no thought. We control it through the feedings, however. That’s why we need to take human blood, for us to retain the human characteristics that keep us in control.”
“Wow,” Nora breathed, “I never knew that.”
“Hunter did not share?” He sounded…not confused, but interested. “It doesn’t matter. What you need to know about your new body, then, is that you now have two entities living inside you. The Vassiz one…” he put one hand out, palm-up, “…and the human one.” He put his other hand out the same way. “We must always stay in control of the Vassiz entity, for if we lose control, we risk losing our minds and our humanity. We will become little more than beasts, like dogs or wolves. We will digress to a markedly less sophisticated form.”
“But the Vassiz form…it gives us speed, right? And agility, and balance. And longer life. No?”
“Yes,” Alexander said, “and at first, it might seem that those gifts are an advancement over the human form. But that is not so. For the Vassiz traits are all purely physical . They serve to restrict the mind. It is our humanity that gives us the most precious gift of all: Control over our thoughts.”
“I never thought of it like that.” Nora drew her eyebrows together.
“There are many things you don’t know yet, Nora.” Alexander smiled. “But I will do my best to teach you.”
“Thank you.”
He shrugged. “Think nothing of it. But my point to all this is that we have to be careful keeping you in control. Whenever you make use of any of the Vassiz abilities – those you mentioned, among others – the entity that resides within you becomes stronger. Like a caged beast, it wants to be freed of the constraints put on it by your still-human mind. When you’re not making use of those abilities, the entity relaxes, and becomes…dormant, shall we say? Taking human blood keeps it at bay more than anything, but so do many years of experience.
“Determination?” She was never complimented on that before.
“In the face of everything that’s happened to you, you’ve risen above it with a steady resolve. And you don’t have the advantage of many years of life to draw on, yet. It’s impressive.”
“Thank you,” Nora said shyly. “Should we get going, then? You can lead the way.”
Again, Alexander chuckled. “Ever-anxious, are we? I know you might feel like you can go for a very long time, at first, but we have to be careful to mediate our travel speed.”
“What? Why?”
“We have to make sure we don’t rouse your hunger,” he explained. “You haven’t fed yet, and we don’t want to have that instinct take over.”
Oh, right. Hunter had said something similar when he’d hidden her from the hunters. “Why would it do that?” She had forced it down herself, only minutes earlier, and had proven herself by not taking the life of the hunter. “I’ve withstood it before.”
“Yes,” Alexander said, “but the difference now is that we’ll be making use of the skills afforded to you by your new body. And they require you to embrace the part of you that’s fully Vassiz. If you do that for too long, or too suddenly, the inhuman part of you…it might take over. And you won’t be able to control it any more than you can control where the sun rises in the morning or sets at night.”
“Wait,” Nora said, “are you saying that by making use of the Vassiz abilities, I risk…somehow losing myself?”
“That’s exactly right,” Alexander said. “There’s a fine balance that we have to achieve. The Vassiz blood in us is strong, but all of us have descended, at some point in our lineage, from humans. The human part is infinitely stronger. The Vassiz portion of ourselves…it is all beast. It operates on pure instinct. There is no thought. We control it through the feedings, however. That’s why we need to take human blood, for us to retain the human characteristics that keep us in control.”
“Wow,” Nora breathed, “I never knew that.”
“Hunter did not share?” He sounded…not confused, but interested. “It doesn’t matter. What you need to know about your new body, then, is that you now have two entities living inside you. The Vassiz one…” he put one hand out, palm-up, “…and the human one.” He put his other hand out the same way. “We must always stay in control of the Vassiz entity, for if we lose control, we risk losing our minds and our humanity. We will become little more than beasts, like dogs or wolves. We will digress to a markedly less sophisticated form.”
“But the Vassiz form…it gives us speed, right? And agility, and balance. And longer life. No?”
“Yes,” Alexander said, “and at first, it might seem that those gifts are an advancement over the human form. But that is not so. For the Vassiz traits are all purely physical . They serve to restrict the mind. It is our humanity that gives us the most precious gift of all: Control over our thoughts.”
“I never thought of it like that.” Nora drew her eyebrows together.
“There are many things you don’t know yet, Nora.” Alexander smiled. “But I will do my best to teach you.”
“Thank you.”
He shrugged. “Think nothing of it. But my point to all this is that we have to be careful keeping you in control. Whenever you make use of any of the Vassiz abilities – those you mentioned, among others – the entity that resides within you becomes stronger. Like a caged beast, it wants to be freed of the constraints put on it by your still-human mind. When you’re not making use of those abilities, the entity relaxes, and becomes…dormant, shall we say? Taking human blood keeps it at bay more than anything, but so do many years of experience.
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