Give Her the Background

"So, I guess I'll start with some of the basics. You know about the Carolina Incident, obviously."

"Of course. Fourteen years ago, Carolina Polychem decided to put profit above the health and safety of the community where they had one of their plants. When a hurricane knocked out the water supply to their plant, they failed to control several systems and ended up venting a huge cloud of toxic gas. Supposedly it killed around six thousand people in the surrounding counties."

"Firstly, that number is horse shi... I mean, that number is a lie. The six thousand is just the number who turned down the multi-billion dollar payout of hush money and corresponding non-disclosure agreements. And secondly, while those people's deaths were tragic, it's not why I'm bringing it up. Those Polychem ja... jerks were working with aconitine distilled from monk's hood.

"The thing about aconitine, is that when it gets in the body, it messes with the body's muscles and nerves, something to do with the way the body uses sodium, I think. While this can be dangerous all by itself, the real kicker is that it can cause things normally controlled by the brain through various neurons to become uncontrolled. This was a bigger problem in the area around Polychem, because it was home to what is believed to be the fourth largest population of theriomorphs in North America.

"Now, I don't know what you've heard or how accurate it is, but theriomorphs are a unique, race amongst Homo sapiens. Some xenophobic bigots claim that they're an entirely separate species, and they may have been, at one time, but now they're pretty tied in with the sapiens genome. The difference is the activation of some genes that humans, or at least regular humans, either lack or have deactivated for whatever reason. These genes give them two special "gifts," as some people call them. The first is the ability to repair huge amounts of damage to the body far more quickly than normal and to not build up layer upon layer of scar tissue when they do so.

"The second ability is the more bizarre one, the ability to act as an aether channel. Now, just acting as an aether channel doesn't really differentiate things much, since we all do it to a small degree. The key is that the residents near Polychem had aether channels that were directed toward the "Lord of Wolves", Mamberi. When the aconitine stole their ability to close these channels, Mamberi's energy flooded in and viciously tried to reform their bodies. Unfortunately for them, they survived due to their first gift and became the first of the modern werewolves.

"Now, unlike the stories of the past, it seems that Mamberi isn't eager to give up his play things, so the modern werewolves don't have any way to revert back to their original form." Though, I know at least one wizard who could probably do it for them, I don't say aloud. "Thus, they're left as the tormented beasts of some malevolent spirit or demigod or whatever and are a terrible threat to those around them."

Cathy stayed huddled under my jacket, half her cocoa gone and just her big brown eyes peeking out above the glass, as though the tiny ceramic would provide some protection from the horrors that I was talking about.

"Well, anyway, that was the start. Once people had actual bodies that proved something 'unnatural' was possible, the freaks decided to come out of the woodwork. First it was the shamen, then the fae-kin, then the Christians finally got in on it and showed off their 'blessed', and so on and so forth. As it turns out, there have been a lot of weird things in the world throughout history that have either survived in the shadows, mixed in with humanity to the point where they stopped being a separate species, or just 'disappeared into the aether'.

"Which finally brings this discussion back to my family. Now, at some point, way back when Great-great-great Grandma Douglas, we're not actually sure how many 'greats', was back in Europe, she got her freak on with something that wasn't really human. And, because she didn't have the blessing of modern birth control, nine months later she had a little bastard child. That child grew up and had little brats of its own and so on and so forth, until my family comes along.

"Now, my parents have the dubious distinction of both being from branches of this family. Go ahead, call me inbred, since my parents are fourth cousins or something. The point is, it's the first time the bloodline was reinforced in their offspring, rather than diluted. And, apparently the genes really liked that, because I... and, to an extent, my sister, got a heaping dose of freaky genes."

I left the conversation hanging there, knowing that Cathy's curiosity would get the better of her and kinda dreading it anyway.

"Wha... what are you?"

"Well, that's not ex...."

"I mean, what was that thing that your great-great-great-great-great grandma slept with?"

"You really want to know?"

True to form, Cathy nodded from under my jacket.

So, rather than telling her, I slid around the booth beside her and leaned in until my face was filling the makeshift hood that now smelled of cocoa, peppermint, and something apple-y that always seemed to cling to Cathy. As my face filled her vision, I pulled my lips back enough to bare my fangs.

"V...v...vampire...."

"Got it in one," I said while grabbing my jacket and sliding back to the other side of the booth, leaving Cathy blinking in the light with a mess of floofed hair that was kinda adorable.