Chapter 112Of Pleasure and Heaven

His daughter, what does one say to that? She was very beautiful and certainly had some of his presence. But he had much more Germanic facial features, slightly sharp and focused. She had more of a mythological hint to her shapes. Moments passed as I tried to get a grip on myself once more. Then I wondered if our body was still functional in the way to make children. I mean, I may not have had any experience, but I knew how it should work, biologically. But with so many things changed, could we even... There was only one question, I felt, that I could safely ask.

"Is she your daughter from before you were turned?"

Afentis looked surprised at my question. "Oh! I see. No, she is adopted from a long time ago. She grew up as if she were my daughter, but she became ill and I had no choice."

Ah, things fell into place.

Faith smiled. "Let's go in, it's much warmer there."

Afentis and I nodded and followed her in through the decorated corridor. She was a true hostess, dressed like a lady. Her clothes were really pretty now that I payed more attention to them. She wore a long white dress with silver linings. She was like a moving cloud with the dress following her moves slowly and deliberately. I was slightly curious as to why I didn't hear her footsteps on the stone floor, perhaps she wasn't wearing shoes?

Something was preying on my mind "Afentis, can I ask an odd question?"

He answered with a smile. "Of course."

I had to ask. "Can we still have sex?"

Faith giggled softly but didn't slow down, she opened the doors to the living room and sat down on a luxurious sofa in front of a fire. We followed and sat down as well opposite of her, the warm glow of the fire a welcome companion.

Afentis laughed a little. "I guess it's only natural you would ask. Alright, better tell you the whole story then." He took a deep breath. "Our bodies have changed in some ways; we will not receive or carry any diseases. Our body simply fights off these 'attackers' easily. Chemicals, however, still work to some degree, injections, breathing in, etc. You could even become drunk if your stomach wouldn't throw up every time you drank it. Of course it would take a larger amount of a given chemical compared to a normal physique."

I nodded, I kind of knew this already.

"I'm sure you already know you can kiss with someone." Those words made me blush. "Kind of in the same way you could have sex with someone, feel them completely and enjoy the same or more intense pleasure. But you will never become pregnant, as your eggs no longer function. Same goes for male vampires, everything still works, but they could never impregnate a woman."

My face felt as red as if about to burst into flames, it couldn't have been from the fire alone.

Faith giggled. "You're making her blush."

Not fair! That only made me blush even more.

Afentis laughed softly. "I'm sorry, Amy. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

There was another question I had to ask. "Why are we all virgins?"

Afentis looked more serious. "I don't have a definite answer, just a good guess. I can't speak for Kai obviously, but I do know that those of the Orphanage believe that the older a child gets, the stronger it's visions. And, obviously, they would lose their visions when they share themselves with another."

I nodded, it sounded reasonable. "And you don't have any idea who turned Kai?"

Afentis shook his head. "No, if either I or Faith had done it, I would know."

Faith spoke quietly. "In fact, I have chosen not to turn anyone for a long time."

"Can I ask how old you both are?" I could almost bite my tongue for being so curious.

Afentis smiled. "Tomorrow, Amy. First we will sleep. I do have a little surprise for you, a place you will certainly like to sleep today. Faith, is it still like before?"

Faith nodded. "Go ahead, I will see you afterward."

Afentis stood up. "Come, Amy, follow me."

Curious and intrigued I stood up and followed Afentis. I stopped and turned around as I suddenly remembered to be polite to my hostess. "Thank you, Faith."

She just shrugged. "Afentis knows his company, you will always be welcome here." She winked playfully.

I giggled and followed Afentis who was waiting at the door. We took another path this time and walked down a flight of stairs that led down in a sort of basement area. The corridor was lined with simple lights that looked like candles, probably for the atmosphere. Even with those simple lights it looked much warmer and more welcome then the cold Church it vaguely reminded me off. There were colorful paintings and statues here and there of landscapes and animals. I was surprised as I half-expected them to be of battle and knights.

"You will sleep here today. Just walk back to the living room when you get up. You can take with you what you wish if you don't feel like waiting."

I looked at him quizzically. "How do you mean?"

"Just go in, you'll see."

He opened the door for me and let me in. He closed it behind me but I hardly noticed. This was for a very simple reason. It was a octagonal room of reasonable size with a sort of desk in the middle and a bed on the side. But that wasn't what attracted the attention of my eyes as if they had been dragged out of my skull with steel cables. It was amazing, every wall of the room, even around the door was filled.

Books.

Thousands of books. All kinds of books in the bookcases, even with some ordering. Lighting was simple and elegant with a soft light on the ceiling, no chandelier for some reason, and the same type of lights on the eight corners. They gave a soft, spread out light without sharp shadows that would be ideal to read by. No matter where you would sit in the room, you could read a book in all comfort.

The desk was not unlike the one I had seen at the bookstore. Solid hard wood with a thick layer of veneer. The bed looked slightly Gothic but simple with tree-patterned sheets on them that seemed to fit well in the whole magical feel of the room. This place...

This place was heaven.

I walked around the room for a while until I found a section that said 'Mythologies'. From somewhere in my memories came the urge to take thick book with two words on the side; 'Homerus - Iliad'. Instantly, I knew that was the book I was meant to read. It was the same thing I sometimes felt in libraries when I walked around. This was like a library, but solely mine.

I loved it.

I laid down on the bed with the pillow underneath my chest for support. I leaned on my elbows as well as I opened the book in front of me. In such good condition, the last upward glance of the night made me look at the modest and carefully hidden climate system they must use in here. Like handling a precious jewel, which I certainly considered this book to be, I started to read.

The Iliad, book 1 - The quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon - Jupiter promises Thetis to punish the Greeks.

The words washed over me like the warm shower I took earlier tonight. I soaked them up like the towel that dried me. I read as long as I could muster, even slightly past sunrise, when my body could take no more.

With my face on the pages, I slept.