"I feel like there's a lot going on here," started Chloe with a grand gesture of her hands that enveloped the entirety of Vatican City.

The priest nodded his head again. He didn't say anything for a while. There was so much to say; he wasn't sure where to start. "Yes," he started.

"It's funny, you know. I was just here the other day with... I was just here the other day. It was so exciting and awe-inspiring. I never would have guessed that this... whatever this is... is going on." She was met with more silence. "Let's maybe start with the basics. How long did it take me to recover?"

"It took a week," replied the priest.

Chloe's eyebrows shot up in shock and surprise, "A week?" She paused, processing this information. "I missed my plane! What about... well, what about everything?"

"Yes, you missed your plane. I managed to get your belongings from the police station... some of them. Not all of them, I'm afraid. I could only take what your family wouldn't miss."

"Wait. What? My family?" She felt like she was sorting through information very slowly.

"They will request your belongings. The police will return all of your things to your family. And your companion's things will go back to his family. That's usually the way things work."

"I'm missing. Is that it?" 

The priest nodded. 

He's good at nodding, she thought. "And...will I be found?" she asked, holding her breath.

Now the priest looked at her with a new intensity. "That's a good question. We got the virus under control in your body, but you can never fully recover from the bite. You will always draw vampires to you now. You have a certain scent about you that they just won't be able to resist. If you go home, you will only put your friends and family at risk. Vampires will be curious about you. They will wonder why you smell so appealing and disgusting at the same time. But your human companions, well, they won't be able to run away from them. So, you tell me, will you be found? Certainly, we won't try to keep you if you choose to go home."

Chloe felt the air rush out of her lungs, "Excuse me?" she demanded. "Keep me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Keep you on with the church, of course. You could become a nun and work for the church." He sounded like he was hesitant. Like he was holding back some information.

Chloe couldn't contain a snort of derision. "Listen, no offence or anything, but I'm not exactly 'nun' material. I could never sit around reading, of all things, the bible every day. No. Way."

Now the priest smiled. "Of course. Well, if that's really what we did all day, then I wouldn't be a priest, either."

Chloe stared at him with her big brown eyes demanding answers. "What do you mean?"

"I mean there are some nuns and priests that run the religious aspect of the church. For sure. But, like, we have to have our facade. Just like the vampires have their facades. The general population can't know about these secret worlds. They couldn't handle it. So we give them something to believe in."

"Do the religious nuns and priests know?" asked Chloe.

"Some do, most don't. We are pretty secretive about our existence."

Chloe eyed him up a little bit. He was interesting, if not crazy. But if he's crazy, thought Chloe, then I must be crazy too, right? She frowned. Her head was starting to spin with questions. "What's your name? If you saved my life, I should at least know that."

"Quinn," he replied. "I was bitten by a vampire, like you, eighty years ago. I have been fighting for human life ever since, even though I'm not quite human anymore." He paused, gauging her reaction. She looked a little pale. "Are you okay?"

"If you're not quite human, then what are you?" she asked, sounding a little breathless.

"The same thing you are. We call ourselves the 'Swiss Guard'."

Chloe snorted, "The Swiss Guard? I saw the Swiss Guard the other day, and they did not look like you."

Quinn frowned, "There are different ranks within the Guard," he said defensively. "The Swiss Guard you see around Vatican City in the yellow and blue stripes are human servants of the Church. Our kind are in the order of Red Guards."

Chloe took in the name. She turned it around in her mind. "And this 'Red Guard' rank means you, what, go around saving people from vampires?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "That would be how you're alive."

"You did all that in a dress?" she asked, pointing to his black cassock with her chin.

He smiled at her with a slight roll of his eyes. "No, I changed, just for you. First impressions, you know. I will give you some time to think about your choice. But you should probably make a decision soon. We should start training you right away. You have much to learn."

"It's not like you've given me much of a choice. Go home and basically be the reason all of my friends and family die. Or, and I will add that the second choice doesn't look so great either, stay with a bunch of strangers and kill or be killed. Awesome." Chloe pursed her lips.

"Option one sounds about right. Option two is more exciting. You're not exactly a sitting duck. And, also, not all vampires are bad. We actually have an agreement with them. As long as they stick to the terms, we keep our hands off."

"An agreement? What kind of agreement?" Chloe wondered out loud. She thought about what the old hag had said on the day everything in her life had changed. She had said that the Pope wouldn't like the vampire feasting on tourists. She had also said that the refugees were fair game. She shuddered. "Refugees?" she asked with a wince.

"Anyone who won't be missed. If they attack people like you, people who will be missed, then we are sent out to hunt them down."

"Who is in charge of these terms? Who sends you out to hunt down the 'offending' vampires?" asked Chloe.

Quinn looked momentarily confused, as if the answer to this question should be obvious, "The Pope, of course."

Chloe let out a nervous laugh, "The Pope? Like, the Pope? He has agreed to let vampires into Vatican City to kill poor people? Didn't he just welcome refugees into Italy the other day? Boatloads of them, right? Is he just inviting fodder for the vampires?"

"Actually, yes to most of your questions. Except the vampires are not invited into Vatican City. They are not allowed to step foot inside the gates. It's part of the agreement. The Pope keeps a steady population of poor people outside of the gates and the vampires are allowed to kill them," said Quinn as he watched her face carefully. "In return, the vampires do not touch the tourists who visit Rome and spend money. They do not kill the rich and, certainly, they do not kill those who serve in the Catholic Church."

"Okay," she felt her stomach turn a little bit. "Are you a part of the Catholic Church?"

"Yes, but it doesn't really matter. Red Guards are very hard to kill. We are just as 'immortal' as they are. They can be killed with a stab to the heart with a wooden cross carved into a stake at the long end. Or by being submerged in Holy Water. Also, of course, by being exposed to the sun, or a very hot flame.

"It might be beneficial for you to know this bit," Quinn continue, "We can also be killed by very specific methods. Being stabbed through the heart with a wooden cross carved into a stake at the short end will do us in. Also, if we are submerged into goat's blood, we will die."

 Chloe scrunched up her nose. 

"I know, it's weird. Those are the only two things that we know can kill us. Pentagrams will burn us. Anyways, being a part of the Catholic Church isn't what protects us the most. It's our level of invincibility and quick healing."

Chloe briefly reflected on her new-found immortality. That was a lot to take in. She would have to try and cope with that later. "Is this agreement worldwide, then? Do all vampires only target the poor?" asked Chloe.

"It's really in their own best interest to kill those who will go unnoticed. They want a vampire hunt as much as any witch wants a witch hunt. But, yes, the agreement applies worldwide... well, at least, in Catholic countries where the Pope has some power."

Chloe thought about the implications of this agreement. The Catholic Church told its followers not to use birth control. The Church was against abortions. Against the pill. Against the use of condoms. The Catholic Church, through the use of large families and large tithes, kept most of its parishioners poor. She felt the blood drain from her face as she realized that the Catholic Church was breeding vampire food. All to keep their inner-circles safe. She felt a wave of nausea come over her. She had always been suspicious and skeptical when it came to religion, but she had never attached the word malicious or evil to it before now.

Quinn watched the emotions dance across her face. "You're quick. I can see the disgust. I've been there... still am, really. I haven't quite figured out what to do with that emotion yet. Maybe we can figure it out together."

Chloe swallowed a few times, trying to keep her nausea under control. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

"So, you'll stay?"

Chloe stared at him for a few seconds. "I'll stay," she agreed.

~~

A/N You've continued! <3 Glad to see it! And thank you. Don't forget to comment and vote! :)