I’ve never felt so comfortable before. I’m wrapped from head to toe in what must be the softest and fluffiest- ouch. Okay, let’s ignore that sudden sharp pain in my stomach and get back to this nice- “Owww.”

“You’re finally awake.” The Magus says from beside me, “You really had me worried, how are you feeling?”

I guess I passed her test, then. “Thirsty,” I reply as I sit up, and I notice the jacket I was wearing has been replaced with a frilly white nightgown.

“That’s good. I mean, I’d be worried if you weren’t after what happened. I’m sorry about that by the way, I’ll see what I can do about your thirst.”

“It’s alright, just… please don’t make me do it again.”

“I won’t,” she says, taking me by the hand. “Listen, Rose, I have a confession to make. Due to the severity of the situation, I… had to look into your memories while you were asleep.”

My heart stops, She did WHAT? I didn’t know something like that was even possible! Did she get into my Demonic knowledge? “What did you see?” I ask, hoping that she didn’t.

“I saw everything that you’ve seen, from when you woke up in that house, all the way until you passed out here- but what bothers me is what I didn’t see.” Her voice wavers, “My spell was supposed to show me twelve hours worth of memories, but...” she stares into my eyes.

“I have no memories from before today.” Because I didn’t even exist.

She pulls me into a hug, and surprisingly I have no urge to bite her despite being so thirsty. “Oh Rose… I’m so sorry.” She squeezes me tighter, “If you’d like, I can try to figure out where you were summoned from, but I’m afraid I can’t do anything about your memories...”

So she doesn’t know after all, I sigh in relief. Had she learned about the demon realm, we’d both be in for a world of hurt. “That’s okay, I have a feeling that wherever I came from wasn’t a nice place, so it’s probably best that I don’t remember anyways.” Even if I wanted to go back- which I don’t- I wouldn’t want to rely on anyone else to do so.

We sit in silence for a little while, until she seems to recall something and lets go of me. “I’ll go and find you something to drink, can’t have you starving to death on me.” She heads for the door and stops on her way out, “Oh, and Rose, don’t be afraid to come to me if you ever want to talk about… anything.”

“Okay.”

“Sit tight, I’ll be back soon.” She says, before finally heading out.

Now that I’m alone, it finally sinks in that she wasn’t joking about adopting me. I mean, in the demon realm vampires are expected to fend for themselves, so it feels really strange having someone want to take care of me. Not that I’m complaining, I just don’t understand why a human would decide to adopt a vampire- especially one they just met.

My stomach sends me another reminder, and I double over in pain. It’s been getting worse ever since I woke up, and at this point it’s bad enough that it would knock me off my feet if I were standing.

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Losing my second meal- and probably the first, too- has really taken its toll on me. I just hope the Magus returns before things get too bad, otherwise I may lose control and attack her- and while I don’t think she would hurt me, if I were to ingest any more of her blood in my current state it would kill me for sure.

Trying to distract myself from the pain, I look around the room. The Magus’ clothes are strewn all across the floor- including the bathrobe she had on earlier, and there are also a few piles of sand here and there, so this must be her bedroom. Other than that it’s just a plain bedroom and there isn’t much to see, so I plop down on my back and stare at the ceiling while waiting.

It’s hard to tell how much time passes, because by the time she returns I’ve long since stopped thinking clearly, and it amazes me how much I trust her already. I smell the blood long before she enters the room, and it pulls me from my stupor. “I’m back, Rose.” She says, placing a tray with four cups of blood on the bed. “I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I tried to get you a variety.”

Why is one of them blue? I mean, I guess it doesn’t matter as long as it’s blood... She takes one of the cups of normal-looking blood and holds it up to my mouth, and after an investigative sniff, it checks out so I let her feed it to me. It’s alright, but after what happened earlier I feel my taste in blood may be a bit skewed.

“How was it?” She asks, placing the cup back on the tray.

“It was good, thank you.” I reply as my shaking calms.

“I’m glad to hear that.” She picks up the blue one and holds it up to me, “What do you think about this?”

“It smells a bit strange, but also delicious.”

She looks excited, “Try it.”

I look at her suspiciously, “I would’ve expected you to be repulsed by me drinking blood.”

“Why’s that? I mean, it’s not that big of a step from eating meat, and some humans even drink pigs blood.”

“Point taken,” I take a sip of the blue blood, and surprisingly it’s quite good, so I finish the glass. If I had to gauge it, I’d say it’s the second best I’ve had so far.

“I knew it.” Her eyes light up, “That was Aquafiend blood. It’s one of the weaker monsters found in the area, and it’s also not even remotely humanoid- which adds yet another thing that separates you from regular vampires.”

“You mean they can’t drink monster blood?”

“More than that, they can only drink the blood of humans.”

I’m starting to see what that woman meant about me being the only real vampire on this world.

“This is a big deal.” The Magus assures, “If you can drink monster blood, I don’t have to call in any more favors to feed you- I can just use money.”

“Call in favors?”

“Don’t worry about it.” She says, grabbing another glass for me, but I shake my head.

“I’m full. Actually, I think I’ve had a little too much.”

“Already? But you’ve only drank…” She looks between me and the tray, “Nevermind, I guess it makes sense with as small as you are. How long do you think it’ll be until you’ll want more?”

“I’m not sure, I haven’t held on to any of the meals that I can remember for long enough to be thirsty again…”

“Oh, right. Well, just tell me when the time comes and we can go from there.”

“Okay.” I yawn, “Thank you so much, Miss Magus.”

“I’d prefer you called me mother. Or, if you would like, Sera is fine too.”

“Mother…” Such an alien word to me, and she looks far too youthful for the title- though I’m sure she’s older than she looks. “Can I ask you a question?”

She beams at me, “Of course.”

“Why… What made you decide to adopt me?”

Her smile drops a bit- but not completely, and she sits down next to me on the bed. “I could go on and on about how you reminded me of someone I used to know, or how you were the cutest thing I’d ever seen, but honestly I didn’t put that much thought behind it- I just saw a chance and I took it.”

“Even though I’m a vampire and you’re a human?”

“Species didn’t really play a part in my decision, but even if it did, you aren’t a vampire- at least not by this worlds standards.”

I feel a little offended at that, It’s more like they aren’t real vampires… “Then what am I?”

“You’re just you, silly.” She pats me on the head, “But those from other worlds are generally called Travelers- or Otherworlders, but I’d go with the former if anyone asks.”

“A Traveler...” I guess it’s better than being called an alien or something. I close my eyes, there’s just so much to take in, and now that my stomach has stopped bothering me I’m losing the battle to stay awake.

A kiss on the forehead causes me to peel my eyes open a bit, just as the Magus- Sera- is getting out of bed. “Goodnight, Rose.” She says, taking the tray from the foot of the bed.

“Goodnight.” I reply, and sleep takes me soon after.