Vanessa looks up at her, searching.

VANESSA
Why do you want to be a vampire so badly? Actually?

Mari considers this for a moment, struggling internally, before replying.

MARI
I used to live with my shitty parents. I had this book, though, that I - well, I stole it from my school library, but anyway. It was a book filled with stories about vampires. I would read it whenever my parents were fighting or whenever shady people would come over...I had to leave it behind when I ran away and it was the thing I regretted losing the most. I had memorized all the stories, though, and during my early nights on the street, I would whisper them to myself to calm down. Vampires were the heroes of my childhood the way that superheroes or princesses are for other kids. So when I overheard you guys...saw you drinking that guy...and realized you were real...it was like staring through the wardrobe, seeing Narnia on the other side. I would have been an idiot to walk away from that.