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As she drove, she toldhoo to Hillhouse," she said "It’s where the coolest kids froination, but it wasn’t easy to visualizeabout the "coolest kids" "Did your parents want you to go there?"
"My parents died when I was fourteen" She said it without e one’s parents at fourteen was i for weeks aboutback--that was impossible
"My mother died of cancer" Mãe turned the truck onto Interstate 75 "And my father had a heart attack soon after that"
"Were they old?" I asked
"In their thirties," my mother said "Not old That’s one reason I wanted to become a vampire--to never suffer as they did"
The landscape rushed past us I sat back in the seat, thinking
"Don’t worry, Ari" My mother patted my arm "Your father will come back"
"But where is he? Why haven’t we heard from him?"
She said, "I don’t know for certain But I have a hunch: he’s gone after your shadow rits in a sia’s Low Country, where silver and pale greenthe roadside and the air smelled sweet, like dried hay Back in the truck, my mother handed me a small laminated card On it was a photo of me, my name, and the day and month of my birth But the birth year listed made me seven years older
"I had it made on the black market in Miaedly aged twenty-one "I never heard of any black et driver’s licenses and passports?" She rolled down the cab"Didn’t your father ever mention Vunderworld? Vampire Underworld It’s an important part of our support network"
"Why do I need a fake ID?"
She put the key into the ignition, but didn’t start the engine "You’ll find that et into bars and clubs There’s no reason for thee ady"
My college education would be preht
"Without a few lies, you’d never be able to fit in" Mãe kept her eyes on the dashboard "You’re only fourteen, Ari Do you want theht about it Could I ever fit in? "What happens when I get older?" I said "When I don’t age, but everyone around me does?"
She started the car "So That way, they can live in a co"
"They have surgery to look older?" It struck h Florida, I’d noticed roadside billboards advertising procedures toOne read, NOT EVEN YOUR HAIRDRESSER WILL KNOW FOR SURE
"The best surgeons, the ones in Miaes subtle," Mãe said "They can even ery or facial injections" We were driving down a rural road, the afternoon sun turning the olden "Of course, it only works for a time--the span of a human life Then we have to relocate, take on a new identity, and start again, the way your father did
"There’s onewe should talk about" Mãe slid her eyes from the road to me "Sex"
"I know all about it," I said quickly
My mother adjusted the truck’s rearview mirror "You know the facts of life But do you kno they work for vampires?"
By the time the truck turned onto the Hillhouse campus, I knew all about vampire sex--at least in theory--and, for the first tiht my mother was a prude
Because our senses are so acute, vareater intensity than humans My mother said the sauinists and the Nebulists advocate celibacy," she said "Sex between two huht be so powerful as to be all-consuht be?" In spite of my reluctance to discuss sex with my mother, I did want to know more "But isn’t always?"
"I wouldn’t know" Her voice sounded guarded "Since I became a vampire, I’ve been celibate"
My ?" I asked
"Nothing"
The thought shocked me Then I realized that --but for some reason, that didn’t bother me so much
"Mãe, this is an aard subject," I said "But I don’t plan on never having sex, if that’s what you’re trying to get at"
"I want you to be careful" She looked away, and I wondered what she was feeling "To weigh the possible consequences If you decide to do anything, you’ll need to take precautions"
"I know about birth control," I said
"More than that" She turned toward ain "Dashay has told me a little about hoas for her and Bennett--how her hore out of her control, at tis you’ve never felt before And Ari, don’t do anything until you know you’re ready"
Hoill I knoondered But I didn’t ask my mother that Much to my surprise, I felt sorry for her