The next time she opened her eyes, it was light outside. She slowly strolled back into the living room, and saw that the curtains were open and the sun was brightly s.h.i.+ning in. She strolled around the room, and over to a ma.s.sive bookshelf that was on the end opposite of the kitchen. After scanning the books, she walked over to the kitchen to check and see what was there. She didn't expect to see much, but the shelves were in fact well supplied, but it was what was in the fridge that surprised her the most. In there was a shelf that had medical bags that here filled with a red liquid, and Alyssa knew exactly what she was looking at. She took a deep breath and kept looking to see there was milk and she had noticed the cereal when checking the cupboards so she decided to make herself some breakfast. She poured herself a decent bowl of cereal and filled the bowl with as much milk as she could without spilling the cereal over the edges. She wasn't used to having this for breakfast as milk was a rare find and usually it was powdered, as opposed to something fresh. She checked the expiry date, and it wasn't even due to go bad for at least a few weeks. It was obvious to her that Gabriel had done at least a little shopping while she was asleep.

She spent most of the day scouring the house, looking in every nick and cranny for more clues about the man who was man who lived there. While she was tempted, she stayed away from the other bedrooms, showing at least minimal respect for the privacy of the man that saved her from the undead a few days prior. He didn't seem like a threat, and if he really was the creature he claimed to be, then he genuinely needed her help. That need was enough to keep her safe, and she had to work that angle while it was a good deal for them both. She didn't want to break that bond by snooping around too much so she kept her searches to common rooms like the hallways, closest and even the bathroom. To her surprise the water was running, and even though she had no idea how he managed to do it, she took her first shower in what seemed like forever. Afraid she's run out of water halfway through was.h.i.+ng herself, she did all her scrubbing first and enjoyed the hot water before turning it off after a brisk fifteen minutes. She could have stayed there for hours, but didn't want to be that kind of guest.

It wasn't until after the sun fell that she saw Gabriel again. She was reading a book on the couch when he strolled into the living room.

"Sleep well?" She asked him.

"What makes you think I was sleeping?" Gabriel countered.

She held up the book, which was a book about vampires. Considering where she was, it seemed like a good book to take from the shelf.

"For the record, I prefer a soft bed as opposed to a casket." Gabriel informed her. "That whole casket thing came from paranoid members of our group. They were afraid that people would stake them in their sleep, so they would lock themselves in caskets which could lock from the inside. I never liked doing that. If someone can break into your house, they can break into a casket. I personally preferred a safe room, which had more room and privacy."

"Good to know," Alyssa said, putting the book down. "Is all of this true?"

"No," Gabriel confessed, "A lot of what people a.s.sume about us is fabricated. Some of it was made up by us to give false hope. For example, silver doesn't affect us at all. This myth has saved friends of mine on more than one occasion."

"Interesting," Alyssa said, thinking about it.

"I can only imagine," Gabriel said as he walked over and sat down on a chair that was opposite of the love seat she was sitting on. "I also happen to be over seven hundred years old. I'm surprised you're not going to ask me about how things were in the past, especially before the outbreak when humanity was thriving."

"Is that what you call it?" Alyssa objected, "Famines and genocides in Africa, wars being waged over oil, and people killing each other with a.s.sault rifles in their own schools. That's your idea of thriving?"

"Wow, I'm impressed." Gabriel said, smiling at her. "What makes you think I wasn't taking about civil rights in the 60s, or winning the world wars? I'll be the first to admit that world wasn't in the best shape entering the twenty-first century, but it wasn't all bad. Despite what I thought of humanity, even a vampire like myself would never claim that humanity deserved to have a zombie apocalypse."

"Fair enough," Alyssa conceded, "But we invented the apocalypse, so we kind of deserved it considering we tried too hard to play G.o.d."

"That's true as well, but we can't blame the ma.s.ses for the malice of a few scientists who messed up a flu vaccine." Gabriel said, enjoying the conversation. "When this thing first broke out, it was like the whole world was set on fire. We lost a lot of our own as well. Many of those not lucky enough to fly had to fight their way out, and sometimes the numbers were too overwhelming, even for a vampire."

"Vampires against zombies," Alyssa said, thinking about it. "I could only imagine how many you guys could take out."

"I watched one vampire kill over two hundred zombies in less than thirty minutes." He informed her, "We are very fast and can more from kill to kill before they can even grab us. These come in handy as well when taking out the undead."

Alyssa watched as Gabriel held up his hand and the nails on each finger began to grow right in front of her until they were claws that were at least a inch long and looked rather menacing. She looked back at Gabriel after looking at his hand.

"You can shred them without any weapons," she noted, "That's helpful."

"I'll use a weapon if one is handy," Gabriel confessed, "but if I can fly away without having to come in contact with them, it's usually my preferred method."

"Wise choice," Alyssa admitted, "Lowers your risk of infection. Are Vampires capable of being infected?"

"Yes we are, but it hasn't happened in a while." Gabriel said, "And trust me, you guys don't want that to happen again."

"I don't doubt it," Alyssa said, putting the book down. "I did a lot of thinking about what we talked about, and considering the talk we just had I'm confident I can help you."

"I'm glad to hear that," Gabriel said, "But it's nice to hear you confirm it."

"How do you intend to take my blood?" she asked him.

"I will show you the first time," Gabriel explained, "But after that, I would recommend you do it on your own after. It's best if I'm not around when you're draining into the bags. I have a lot of control, but I prefer to stay away from temptations."

"So you want me to do it myself, in my town?" Alyssa asked.

"I would prefer it," Gabriel insisted, "To help with portion control."

"Seems fair," Alyssa said, thinking about it. "I wouldn't want to sour this deal over something this simple. Show me how to do this so I can get home."

"Alright," Gabriel said, as he stood up. "I fetched some medical supplies, more than enough to help you withdraw blood for a while. You can bring them back with the other supplies I gathered for your town. We can take you back after I show you how to fill a bag up with your own blood. I recommend doing one bag every few days but no more than three a week. I would personally recommend only two, at least three days apart. Anything more and you put your own health at risk and I don't want that anymore than you do."

"Okay," Alyssa said as she watched him put the tools onto the table in front of her. "So after you show me this, you're going to take me home?"

"Of course," Gabriel replied, "I will honor our bargain, so let's get started."