-13- Terrifying truth

Yibo was tense and nervous as he made his way down with Zhan. Zhan showed him where his car was parked, a black SUV with tinted windows and even curtains that can be pulled forward in case of an emergency, should the daylight surprise him and he has to stay in the car.

He knew that whatever he experienced today would turn his life upside down. And, was he really ready for it? Was he able to listen and hear the explanations that his life is built on a lie?

Zhan drove the car through the streets of the city and out of it. And the further they got from the city, the more restless Yibo became. Where are they going? And what will await him there? What truth would await him and how will he deal with it?

Even before they set off, Zhan informed his father that Yibo would accompany him and had a few questions. Zhan's father didn't seem to be surprised and Yibo heard him say to Zhan, "We expect you guys for dinner. And Zhan, you haven't eaten the last two days, be strong." What did he mean "we"? Are there more of them? Will he end up in a nest of vampires and maybe end up as their meal because he remembered things he should have forgotten?

When they had been on the road for more than an hour, Yibo noticed something in Zhan's eyes. They glowed a little. But it was only visible when they were hit by light. Yibo worried a little, even though it looked beautiful, but he saw this coloration in Zhan's eyes for the first time. "What's wrong with your eyes?" He finally asked anxiously when the light inside the car again made Zhan's eyes light up.

"Don't worry, these are my senses. They are sharpened. It smells of blood in this place, and I haven't eaten for two days, so the senses are taking over."

"Will you make it home? Or..."

"Or what Yibo? Do I attack you and suck your blood? No, definitely not, out of the question. Don't worry, I was able to do without food for a long time."

"Well, if you say so..." Yibo replied thoughtfully. He didn't feel like asking why his blood is not an option for Zhan. His head was buzzing enough as it was, he didn't want more questions.

As they turned onto a long field path, something painful flashed in Yibo's memory. It was only a picture or a tiny fragment, but that alone made his head hurt. He saw a picture of a man in traditional clothing and a long goatee.

Even before they reached the end of the field path, a house appeared before them, huge and only slightly lit. In front of the house are many old big trees, on a tree from a big branch, a long swing is hanging down. He could even make out the large double-winged entrance door. And the closer they came to the house, the more aware he became that this was the country house from his dream.

Zhan parked the car in the garage of the house, a rather recent addition, as Yibo noted. Besides Zhan's car, there were four other cars in it. They all had tinted windows and Yibo recognized curtains on the windows of at least one other car.

They entered the house through a door in the garage. It smelled like freshly cooked food. An old woman, apparently an employee of the house, greeted him and Zhan. She gave Zhan a small bottle, the contents of which he emptied immediately. After he handed the empty bottle to the old one, they walked on and Yibo recognized the corridor, he knew where they were going.

He stopped at a door and asked, "This is the room, isn't it?" Zhan nodded and looked very thoughtful. Yibo would have liked to take a look inside the room, but Zhan asked him to keep going.

As they stopped in front of the big heavy door to the large living area, Yibo took the chance to take another deep breath. Laughter could be heard from the other side of the door. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you."

Yibo looked at Zhan in confusion and he said, "Your loud breathing gave you away."

"Oh, I forgot." Yibo replied.

Yibo himself opened the door and it looked just like in his dream, only without the birthday decoration. Four other people sat at a long, large table, looking at Yibo with eyes wide open. Yibo stood behind Zhan and looked out from the side. "Ha ha, so that hasn't changed." Said a pretty young woman. Yibo remembered her, she is Yanli, Zhan's older sister.

Zhan took Yibo by the hand and led him to the table with the others. Yibo saw the man who is apparently Zhan's father and he smiled. It was him that Yibo briefly saw. And as in his memory, he still wore traditional clothes and his long chin beard. Next to him sat a beautiful woman, Zhan's mother. Opposite them sat Yanli and Zhan's younger brother Cheng. Yibo also remembered Cheng's name, although he did not dream of him.

"Before we start dinner, we want to give you the opportunity to ask your questions Yibo." Said Zhan's father.

Shyly, Yibo nodded and asked, "Who am I really?" Was the most important question Yibo could think of.

Zhan's father cleared his throat and said, "Well, before I explain it to you, unfortunately I have to send Zhan and his siblings away, they have to work. But don't worry, he will be back soon."

"But, I thought Zhan was staying."

"Zhan and his siblings are working with other clans to ensure the safety of our country. Right now, there are some foreign vampires here. The news are filled with reports of bloodless corpses. And finally we have a lead on them. Zhan and the others must deal with these fierce vampires."

"Oh, okay." Yibo replied.

Zhan and his siblings stood up, Zhan gave Yibo another kiss on the forehead and then they left and Yibo was alone with Zhan's parents.

"Well, then I will begin. So first of all, you are Wang Yibo, your name has not changed. You are really 23 years old and the child of a couple belonging to a rather small vampire clan. Your mother was born and raised as a human, she was transformed by a wild vampire, that's what we call the vampires who drink pure blood. She was simply left to die. Your father, a pure vampire, found her on a patrol. He took her with him, nursed her, taught her to live with mixed blood and after more than a hundred years of happy marriage, your mother unexpectedly became pregnant. So you are not a real human being either, but I'll get to that. Your parents and their clan rose to higher ranks. And those who represent their clan will be allowed, to attend our biannual meetings."

"Then what? Yibo asked.

"When your parents came to introduce you to everyone, you were six months old. They also hoped someone would find out why you cried all the time. Day and night you cried all the time. The representatives of the clans sat all around this table while your mother cradled you in her arms and tried to calm you down. When the door to this room opened, Zhan came in. He had just returned from a two-year world tour. He entered this room, went to the window over there where your mother was sitting and closed the window. He crouched down in front of you, stroking your cheek with his index finger and telling you that you were about to get warmer. He explained to your parents and all of us, that we seem to have forgotten that every baby of a vampire is like a human and freezes when pressed to the cold bodies of his parents or when a cold breeze hits him. And he was right. None of us thought about it, because the last baby that a vampire woman gave birth to, was born 75 years earlier. It was our Cheng."

"So I kept crying just because I was freezing?"

"No, not only. Of course you were cold all the time. But you needed something else. When Zhan tried to leave the room, you suddenly started screaming loudly. Then we realized you had stopped crying. Zhan turned around, looked at you and you stretched out your arms to him. He came back to you, poked you on the nose and smiled. Your mother put you in his arms, you cuddled your head to his chest and fell asleep. We were all speechless. And when Zhan put you back into your mother's arms, you woke up immediately and cried out. Your father already guessed what this meant. But since you were only 6 months old, he thought it was impossible for you to find your mate. Usually our species only finds their mates when they are already full vampires and only rarely are they more distant in age. So everyone thought that maybe you just liked Zhan. Your parents left with you again and wrote us that your crying had gotten worse. Two months later, they came to us desperately seeking our help. But we ourselves had no idea what was going on. Then your father told us to call Zhan. We did, you saw him and you were calm. You wanted immediately on his arms again."

Zhan's mother nodded and smiled gently. "Zhan took you in his arms. You were 8 months old and just like two months before, you pressed your head to his chest and fell asleep. Zhan gave you back to your mother, you woke up and screamed again.Then Zhan took you in his arms again and even before we could even think the word "mate", you smashed your little fangs into his neck, the fangs can appear suddenly even in babies of our species. Blood ran down your lips. We were all shocked. You were 8 months old, chose your mate and even marked him. Even Zhan was completely speechless. Especially since you marked him. That meant you marked your mate and no one else would be able to get him now. Your mother cried because she didn't understand that for our species, finding a mate is normal and important. Your father, however, insisted that Zhan finish the ritual and mark you. But Zhan didn't want that because you were so small. Besides, it is a very big and difficult challenge, because you were a baby, so he couldn't come any closer to his mate.". She explained.

Zhan's father nodded and explained: " The mating for mates is important and it does not matter which sex the mate is. But because you were still a baby, Zhan couldn't be mating with you, of course. And always the older of the two mates has to take the younger mate and take care of him. So you can imagine what it must have been like for Zhan to have a mate who is a baby that he has to raise and then mate with. Your father was aware of this too, but he insisted on the ritual and all the other clan leaders would have done the same. So Zhan completed the ritual with a heavy heart, since you chose him and as little as you were, you were determined that you would not give Zhan back. So he had to mark you as well and we all didn't know how you would react. But instead of screaming because it might have hurt you, you looked happy and clung to Zhan. Your parents also immediately left you in the care of Zhan. He was there for you day and night, taking care of you lovingly for four years."

"And then what happened?" Yibo wanted to know.

"The day after your fourth birthday you were supposed to join your parents on a journey. You had been very upset about it for days and cried over and over again. But since your mother insisted on it, and since she did not understand what a mate meant even after these four years, she left Zhan no choice but to agree. They took you with them. You screamed and cried. And I have to say, separating two mates is brutal, worse than any torture. But your mother was adamant. After these four weeks, during which Zhan also suffered, he wanted to pick you up again. But..."

"But?" Yibo asked excitedly.

"But you were gone. We found your father's body away from his home, the other clan members had been killed as well. There was no trace of you or your mother. She killed your father and everyone else, kidnapped you and took you somewhere. Many clans were looking for you. Zhan didn't eat for weeks and was even looking for you during the days. As I said, for mates, separation is like torture. When Zhan collapsed exhausted, he slept for several months, he was in a coma. His body could only react to the torture of separation with this. When he finally woke up, he told us he could connect with you, but you don't remember him. You no longer know who you are or where you come from. We couldn't just come and get you either, because although Zhan could talk to you in your dreams, you were too young to tell us where you were. And when you were old enough, we couldn't just rip you out of your life. Especially since you didn't remember."

"My mother, was she the woman who raised me?"

"Yes. She found a new husband who was willing to be your father and supported her lie construct. When she escaped, she left some clan members alive, out of necessity, because they were not there. They found her and attacked her. She ended up in a wheelchair and for fear of being attacked again and that we would find you, she never left the house. Then Zhan learned by chance that one of her former clan members wanted to kill her. But when he arrived at your house, your mother was already dead. The man had already cut her heart out of her chest. He could only save you. But since you could not remember him, he had to leave you behind. Because you must know who he is and accompany him voluntarily. And since you did not recognize him, he had to leave without you again. The shock of your mother's death blocked you and he lost contact with you for ten years. Until he happened to see you on one of his patrols in the park, then he saw you there again and again until he finally talked to you. You couldn't remember him, but your body obviously could." Explained Zhan's father.

"That's right. I thought for ten years I was looking for him to prove that he really existed and was there to save me. But the moment I saw him again, I felt an incredible attraction to him. Something like that, I've never experienced before."

"The truth is you have Yibo. But you were too small to remember. We found that your mother somehow blocked your memories, but those memories are slowly coming back. Probably because you will transform soon. At least we think so. Because there are signs that Zhan was watching. So we should take precautions."

Yibo was totally shocked when Zhan's mother told him that. He would transform soon too? Is he really a vampire too? For Yibo, all this was a terrifying truth about his life.