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forward. She also opened communication with Abbott, so he could hear her
conversation with Eric.
    “Eric, there’s something you need to know about me, and when
I first start talking you aren’t going to take me seriously, or will possibly
think I’m crazy. Don’t interrupt, just let me talk for about three minutes, and
then I’ll give you whatever proof you want me to supply.”
    She took a deep breath — not that she needed to
breathe, other than what was needed for the mechanics of talking, but she wanted
to get as much of this out as she could before he interrupted.
    “I’m not human. Not anymore. When I was twenty-three years
old, I was turned into a vampire. I’m very old, even though I don’t look it.
Hang gliding with you at night wouldn’t have been dangerous because I can fly,
and I wasn’t nervous about going over the cliff to rappel for the same reason.
I’m inhumanly strong and fast, which is how I put you on the ground so quickly
when I kissed you. I have excellent night vision, and I can hear about a
hundred times better than you. I can also hear frequency ranges outside of
human hearing. Life is much easier as a vampire now that there are blood banks,
so we can purchase bagged blood. I don’t eat food. The only things I drink are
water, unsweetened tea, alcoholic beverages, and blood.”
    Abbott had come in while she was talking, but Eric hadn’t
seen him yet.
    “This is my friend, Abbott. I was a little nervous about
telling you so soon, so he’s here to help me explain. Normally, we like to wait
until we know someone fairly well before we share our secret, but... you’re
different. You needed to know sooner, rather than later.”
    She couldn’t tell what Eric was thinking, and didn’t want to
invade his privacy by reading his mind. However, she could tell he didn’t
believe her.
    Eric glanced at Abbott and then looked back to Kendra,
adjusting himself a little in the chair so he could more easily keep an eye on
both. “You said you had proof? I think it’s time to pull some of it out.”
    “What would make you believe me? Tell me and I’ll do it.”
    “You can fly?”
    There wasn’t enough room to fly inside, so she levitated up
from the chair and floated across the room and back, sinking gracefully back
into her seat. She looked at him the entire time, but he waited until she was
seated again before responding.
    He didn’t get flustered, just calmly said, “Well, that is a neat trick. I thought vampires had fangs?”
    She opened her mouth so he could see her teeth, let her
fangs grow and stay out a few seconds, and then shrink back to their normal
size.
    She saw him grow pale, and smelled his fear.
    “Please don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you, and neither will
Abbott.”
    “I’m not afraid, and I’m not completely convinced yet,
either.”
    “Eric, every human emotion has a smell. I can smell when you’re
afraid, when you’re horny, when you’re angry, when you’re happy.”
    She heard Abbott in her mind. That’s not helping, Kendra.
Let him get used to the idea of not being able to hide emotions later.
    How do I help him not be afraid?
    You know how to do this. Sit back in your chair, look
relaxed. Drink some wine. I’m going to stay on the other side of the room and
be as discrete as I can, for now.
    Kendra sat back in her chair, uncrossed her legs and
re-crossed them the other direction. Abbott was right, she knew how to make it
easier for him. She pulled enough air in to speak, and told Eric, “We don’t
have to kill to feed. We take less in a feeding than the Red Cross takes in a
blood donation, and our bite is much more fun — if I choose, I can
make it orgasmic. However, I’ve already fed tonight, as has Abbott. We aren’t
interested in your blood. Very few humans know of our existence, and I’m only
telling you because I want to try to have a relationship with you, and, well,
this is probably information you need to know, if we’re going to date. I