Nia: Beginnings

"I can't do that no, it gets painful quickly any other way. We are not built to sit like a human we can curl up like a cat or dog and walk upright very carefully." Sam comes over and smiles.

"Biplane, they are one or two seater but they also have a good expanse behind the seats. Put a platform on it and you can stand there and spread your wings and really make like your flying." Twitch yells a yes and nods very fast.

"Twitch the closest male I can get hold of is Red, I know he mated with you last time but best I can do unless you want to wait all night." Senator Greene says coming closer getting a breath out of Twitch.

"I'd rather not, he wanted to stay with me and help me hunt last time. Sounds nice and all but he's just not really my type. Well I suppose he's too much like me, yes bring him I'll make him wait for after the presentation in case there is a male close enough already coming." Senator Greene nods and walks away again talking on the phone.

"Do you keep growing?" Twitch looks at me, just looks then nods.

"Yes we keep growing into our sixties then stop sometimes we get past nine feet. It seems to depend on how well we eat my sister is half a foot past me she lives in Arizona, the cockatrice does well there." I smile at Twitch Sam gets an awestruck look to her.

"Twitch it may be possible for you to get past ten feet if you eat more. You said it yourself the better you eat the bigger you are."

"The gang Nia, remember the gang, sixty men just up and disappeared. Suppose that a dragon did get past ten feet, alligators can eat people at ten feet. Twitch could eat us if she felt like it, perhaps the gang didn't just disappear perhaps they saw a dragon and went after it." Sam says, Twitch's mouth hangs open and stares at us.

"I'm going to have to visit my sister, if that is true we are in danger. Not just from humans hunting us but from us. The bigger we get the more we want to eat and the bigger it needs to be. If I don't eat for a week I'll take down a cow and eat a lot of it. Cockatrice is our preferred meal because they breed fast, can take two or three a week and not make that big of a dent."

"Do the cockatrices live in the forest around here?" Twitch looks at me and laughs.

"No, we live on chicken farms, the cockatrice are a special section of the farm in the back. Arizona has enough empty land that there are roaming packs, Nevada does not it's a lot of testing grounds and the soldiers shot the ones we have tried to introduce. We can eat chickens as well, similar taste they breed a little slower with just the one rooster doing the breeding."

"Twitch how many eggs do you lay?" Sam asks getting a breath out of Twitch.

"We lay up to three, normally just one. Having a sister is rare she went to Arizona because there are not many females there. I like it here and I'm green, she ended up being golden so blends better in the dirt. I have a son with me I think he flitted off to play. We are dark brown until we are five to six and large cat size then we turn a color. It might go by what we are near most, I like trees I climb them still, my sister spent a lot of time in the sunlight. We would argue sometimes because I'm green and she's just golden closer to white than yellow. I think she wanted to be a darker color like mom. She was black basically I say was because she lived in Maine, there was a really strong cold snap and she couldn't make it. I take comfort in she got to see my first child, and my sisters."

"Twitch it's getting toward dark, you should go eat. We got two cockatrices back there. We can have you speak to the reporters first so Nia can speak to her boyfriend." Senator Greene says coming over, Twitch nods and gets off the chair.

I watch her go toward a back door into another tent then look around. The lights are all set up the people doing them are gone.

"Where is Ben?" Senator Greene sighs and looks at me.

"Not here yet he will be after it gets dark. I'm not saying anything more on him it's his place to tell you everything." I sigh and look down then look up at him.

"My boyfriend is a vampire isn't he?" Sam comes over and puts her arms around me.

"Well fuck I guess he was right you're too good at reading people. Yes he is a vampire, has been for three years. Everything else you need to speak to him about, they don't exactly tell us everything." I nod and move to sit in the chair Twitch exited.

I sit there thinking about what I should ask, there really isn't that much. There is of course the why not tell me earlier. The one I keep coming back to is there sex involved in feeding. I don't know why but that one really bothers me, then it strikes me, if he's getting sex and feeding why didn't he ask if he could have sex with others. I look up at Senator Greene as reporters start showing up an even bigger question coming to me.

"Was he asked to date me?" Senator Greene stares at me a second.

"No, we actually had no idea who you were. He just knew he couldn't reveal himself to you, you would have been told before you got married. We were thinking once we found an assassin you would make a good she sleeps with a vampire cover girl. You lied to him really well, I'm told he was floored and had to be carried to the jet." I giggle and nod.

"I like animals, I like teddy bears and I smile at most people. The only way to tell who I am is to be one yourself and watch the eyes. To be honest the only one who figured it out so fast was invisible man, he turned around and knew instantly I'm an assassin."

"Chris yes we know him, we would have asked him to try, sadly his boyfriend is a goblin so we knew he wouldn't have lived. Before you ask no, we are not dating all of the assassins, Chris told him two years ago. You are very good at staying hidden with your little company do you even know who runs it?" I shake my head.

"I just get a phone call and a package in the mail sometimes, for all I know the president is the one running the company." Senator Greene laughs and shakes his head.

"No he doesn't, not a thing can happen in Washington without the press being all over it. Speaking of press they seem to be all here, come on up with me and do a little grandstanding if you can before we show them Twitch then you can go see your boyfriend. They will ask questions of Twitch, she likes to talk so will have fun." I grab his arm.

"Did I kill friends?" Senator Greene shakes his head.

"No not all want to come out of the closet so to speak." I sigh and look at Sam then go up on the little stage.

Senator Greene moves up to the podium and holds his hands up so the questions stop. I look around at the reporters most are watching him one is staring at me. I look at him a little closer he does not look familiar then I realize his eyes have the hard line to them, he's an assassin. I motion to the secret service man who comes over looking confused I take his hand and lead him to the assassin. The assassin's eyes get wide when I say loudly what he is, the secret service man tackles him and they wrestle before the assassin ends up on his belly one arm pulled back behind him hard and a pistol in the secret service man's hand.

I collect the pistol to let the assassin be handcuffed. After he is taken out of the tent the secret service man asks for the pistol, I shake my head. He shrugs and goes back just to the side of the stage.

"Well now that was most surprising, now before any of you start asking questions that was not why you are here. I am in part why you are here but not the reason you are thinking now I'm sure. Nia if you would please introduce yourself." Senator Greene says as I get on the little stage again.

"I am Nia I'm not sharing my last name. Some of you may know there are assassins the world over I am one of them, that man is another. I don't know who he is I can tell you who I was, I was going to retire I guess now I'm just going to change jobs perhaps." The reporters are staring at me I had to stand beside the podium it's not built for someone of my height. "I am perfection."

The tent erupts in shouted questions, the reporters silence when I shoot the ground.

"I'm not answering questions right now we have something else that will answer questions while I speak with my boyfriend. For right now I am going to say the video you have all seen is not faked, it is real and not what I saw when I was shooting them. I am different from most their magic does not affect me. Senator Greene here is offering me up as a security blanket to the rest of you I can't be affected by their magic. I did not know they were using any or shapechanging until I was sitting in the police station. Now Twitch if you could come out here I think they are ready for question and answer time."

There is some muttering and people backing away when a wolf comes out of the back and pads toward me. I raise the gun and the wolf stops I sigh and put the gun down. The wolf comes closer and sits Senator Greene touches my shoulder and nods toward the wolf. I look at the reporters, they have recovered and are watching me I point to the wolf then will Twitch to look like she really does. There are shouts of surprise I think one of those is mine Twitch isn't bronze as she called it, more of a greenish brown.

"A male was close enough to run and well I'm mated again. Honestly I half envy you humans and always being able to mate without mating all the time." Twitch says as she comes closer.

"Well that's great I'm happy for you. I'd hug you but I remember the painful twitch comment." Twitch laughs and comes closer offering up her head to my hand.

"Scratch my head we are a little cat like in that respect it's wonderful." I scratch her head getting a strange almost purr out of her.

Twitch moves away from me and goes up to the podium then stands up. The podium leans forward a little as she settles in to it then it leans back to a full upright position.

"I am Twitch. Sorry I couldn't help it Nia has such a way with words." The reporters laugh. "I know I sound like Kelsey Grammer I'm female even, don't ask we don't get it either. I am a dragon, yes we do and did exist I'm not the last of my kind either. I was just mated and I'm a little happy so if I laugh just call it soon to be mom again happiness."

Senator Greene guides me into the second tent I motion to Sam who runs after us. I notice first two cages torn to pieces with blood on them. Second I notice a big shipping crate opened with men standing inside, after a moment of them moving around I realize there are women as well. Then I see Ben he's looking very nervous and just as lovable as I remember. I run closer until he holds up his hand and shakes his head.

"Don't come in here Nia, it's not quite dark yet and we're hungry. I would have told you long before now if I could have simply changed to how I look. You knew the truth so fast and yet you didn't. I'd understand if you didn't want to see me again." I grab a chair and sit down a little way away from the tent the others eye me until I hold up the gun.

"Don't tempt me. Ben no I understand the not being able to tell me, I had no idea I shot dead two vampires, a werewolf, and a necromancer until the video was shown me in the police station. Greene there said you guys don't share everything so I'm going to ask, is there a chance you can knock me up?" Ben sighs and looks down.

"We don't know there is a theory that we can't mate with anyone because of us being dead and magical, not very but we are the magic interferes. You being a dead magic zone makes it perhaps possible that I can knock you up." One of the females comes forward.

"There is also a theory that if he fed on you it would lower your resistance to his sperm. Vampires have mated after becoming a vampire, us gals are screwed on having kids it's to a living female. The records do not show how it worked they just say it's happened. For all we know it's wishful thinking. We don't share with the rest because we were the last to get spells. We waited until the sixteen hundreds it was easy enough to inhabit a place and have nobody drop by that didn't know. I'm Constance by the way, I'd shake your hand it's just during the day when we are awake it's hard to think of anything but feeding."

"Thank you Constance that is something to thing on. I guess since we are talking about feeding, how does it work?" Ben sighs and drops to his knees.

"Depends on the person, some of us view feeding as just something to do in between what they like doing. Some of us view it as sex it involves sex for them always. I can separate I just like to be having sex during and no I never did while we were dating. I would only feed no sex and it's hard but I do love you and I did get plenty of sex with you." I smile at Ben.

"That was one of my questions and good answer." I pause then think of seeing Ben how he really is, there's not much of a difference. "I don't see much of a difference why do you need spells?" Ben smiles and I get the answer his little fangs are now big fangs.

"Going about like this only works when you can be reclusive, it's very hard to be reclusive in today's society." I realize just talking I can see his fangs and it's a little unsettling.

"Couldn't you feed on me without showing your true form?" Ben shakes his head.

"I've tried you would giggle and tell me to stop. The spell they use is very good, it goes on our age with a little pill type thing to swallow, babies get them immediately after birth. Vampires get them when you wake up the first time as one. The mages now don't know how it works but it seems to cycle your real form with one humans would like, any damage done to one affects the other." I look around to realize it's getting darker.

"Ben, supposing Constance has the right theory and you need to feed on me while we try. How much of me would you take?" Sam comes closer looking at me odd.

"Any one feeding is only half a pint to a full pint. More if you wish to make a vampire. If Ben tries we will have to kill him you are our security blanket. I think he wants the child in you just as much as you do." Constance says putting her hand on Ben's shoulder.

"Nia are you sure you want to do that? I know you love him and everything but that is a lot of trust. There are plenty of stories of people dying to vampires. Adoption is a viable option you know." I look at Sam and shake my head.

"I trust Ben, and I know the stories are just that, Bram Stoker was a vampire. Gary Gygax wrote D&D as a means of making money for the fantasy creatures. I'm not sure I want to know how many other books and movies are made to provide money. Adoption is not a good option for me, I want to hold a child I birthed, if Ben can not put one there for me even with artificial then I don't know, I guess see if I can have a one nighter in a few months." Ben comes over and kneels down in front of me taking my hand in his. "Ben before anything else, why are you a vampire?"

"I fell in love with one, she strung me along and enticed me and the sex was wonderful. When she revealed herself to me she swore we could be together forever. When I woke up Constance was there to comfort me. She lives for the chase not the captured." Constance comes over and looks down at me.

"Nia I know it's not my business but do you like letting Ben decide things?" I sigh and nod.

"My job was always kill this guy I had to figure out how it's just so nice to let someone else do the deciding. Do you change after becoming a vampire or do you spend the rest of your days the same person?" Constance nods then shakes her head.

"Yes and no really, we are like anyone else what happens around us alters our perception of things. I'm over one hundred years old and while I don't see a problem with things like racial profiling and race hatred, I don't like it either. Before I was changed I had a black boyfriend, he was shot because a visitor thought he was a slave and didn't react fast enough when called by slave. We didn't own any slaves we would buy them and free them before the civil war started. The man that changed me showed up three nights later and took advantage of my sorrow. I don't regret it it's been a mostly very nice time since, I regret him taking a day walk. He was old and I think hoped I would keep him interested enough to not. When the wild west turned tame he didn't have anything else to hold on to. I like technology, give me a laptop and games and a couple men to entertain me when I'm hungry or horny and I'll go another hundred years at least." I giggle and nod up at Constance.

"Thank you, you are so going to have to visit us. I suppose one more question then we can go to the breeding me part. Ben how do you make money?" Ben smiles at me.

"I own a house, the neighbors think I'm daylight sensitive, they keep an eye on the windows. I charge the rest to come over and feed in my house and get money from the group. You are right there are movies and books that make us money. Actors and actresses as well, a lot ends up going to us vampires because we can only operate in the dark, not many jobs that will allow for that. The hope is with us in the open as can't go out during the day we can open things like restaurants and get regular jobs." Sam leans on my shoulder and looks at Ben.

"Hi Ben I'm Sam, we can talk more later I know a certain someone that is fertile and wants your kid. Be careful with Nia you guys need her to be rather on the conscious side."

Ben takes my hand and pulls me up we look around for a place to get to the fucking. There really isn't a good place so head for the box it's lined on the inside with thick cloth. I pull Ben to me and am kissing him when a strange noise comes in and something is licking at my cheek. I pull back to look at it, it's a small dragon, about the same size as a large cat with wings.

"Mom told me to come get you I think I'm getting my color. I caught two birds isn't that amazing." I think it was going to say more but I put up my hand.

"Wait slow down, does your mom need me or is it just to come help her answer questions?" It flits around then settles down a little into something of a hover.

"Mom said she needs you, I don't know why. I think cause it's dark and the vampires can come out." I sigh and look around, there's nobody back here besides Ben, me, and the flying dragon on speed.

"Alright we are coming." The dragon flits away, I grab Ben's hand. "Ben, a pint how many times a week?" Ben sighs and looks down.

"Two is about minimum the body replenishes a pint about every day. It's possible I can just feed on you but it would leave me a little thirsty I wouldn't want to more than twice a week." I smile at Ben and pull him close.

"We should get you another girlfriend, unless perhaps donated blood would work?" Ben shrugs and looks down.

"We don't know, there really isn't enough donated blood to pilfer some, at least not that anyone has admitted to trying. They are always airing commercials about needing blood we didn't want to just steal some. People do need blood to live, we aren't exactly alive we do one night stands and have a few volunteers, mostly homeless. We help them they help us it works well if smelly sometimes." I take his hand and pull toward the other tent.

"Sam is going to college to get a degree in history and fantasy creatures. We should get her and Constance talking, perhaps some of the older vampires if we can find them." Ben chuckles I look at him then where he nods to see Constance and Sam sitting together talking.

There are several men and one woman standing on the stage I recognize one the loudmouth senator from Texas. He doesn't look terribly comfortable standing up here. I stop to look up at him, he's tall.

"Don't worry your on the not cute side anyway." He looks down at me his mouth opens and closes then he starts to laugh.