After reaching our goal, yet very unexpected and much easier, Zhan and I still did not want to return home immediately. Sure I am looking forward to going back to work and even more to finally see my little Yizhan again. But a few nice relaxing days with Zhan in Finland sounded better to me for now.

On the one hand, we just wanted to use these days as a vacation. On the other hand, we also hoped to still find answers to all our unanswered questions at Mira and Oleg's house.

There are a lot of books in their house. Many of them are very, very old and still handwritten. But none of the books was written by Mira or Oleg.

Isn't that strange? They lived so many centuries, experienced and saw so much. But still they did not write anything about it. They didn't collect anything about the legends of werewolves and vampires either. So incredibly many books, but none of it is helpful for us.

Looking at their books it becomes clear that they were more interested in poetry, poems, love stories, non-fiction books about the universe and thick detective novels.

In a large box we found pictures of them from different eras. Some were drawn by hand, then there were pictures taken with the first cameras, up to modern photography. It is impressive to see how slowly they have aged. In addition, you can see that they have traveled the world several times.

They seemed to have visited the same places over and over again, taking pictures in the same places, just at the different eras. We decided to pack up the pictures and take them with us. We want to create a photo album from these pictures as a memento of them.

It is only a pity that they can no longer tell us the stories about these pictures. I would have loved to know more about them and their life together. Zhan told me that the pictures themselves also tell a story. He may be right. But still, I think it's a shame not to be able to hear it from them.

On our fourth day at their house, I woke up in the morning, looking at some more pictures we had found the night before, when Zhan woke up sat down next to me and looked at me questioningly, "What are you doing?" He asked me.

"I'm looking at the pictures, what do you think?" I replied, confused.

"That's not what I mean. I mean what are you holding in your hand?"

I looked at my hand and frowned at Zhan. "I'm eating a slice of toast?" I asked.

"Say Yibo, when was the last time you drank blood?"

I pondered and pondered. Then it occurred to me. "At the ritual when we performed it."

"So three days ago? And you haven't drunk blood since then?"

"Um yeah exactly."

"But how is that possible?"

"I, I don't know. I think I've been eating whatever you cooked for the last few days. I guess I didn't need blood."

"You're a vampire! Vampires need blood."

"But, but I feel fine. I have no desire for blood."

"Are you sure Yibo? I don't want you to suddenly keel over."

"Don't worry ZhanZhan, I'm really fine." I said. And it was the truth.

And only then we realized that we didn't find any blood in the whole house. Oleg was a vampire and couldn't feed on Mira. If he could have, he and Mira would not have been so surprised to see me drinking from Zhan. They were totally amazed that Zhan's wolf instincts had not been activated in the process. So he couldn't possibly have fed on her.

Besides, he was already old and weak and certainly didn't go hunting for any animals every night. So, why was there no blood in the house? In addition, Zhan noticed in some of the pictures that Oleg was standing in the sunlight only lightly dressed. Could this have something to do with the ritual?

Since it was a sunny day, Zhan and I went outside to see if my skin was still that sensitive to sun. We stood outside in the sunlight, I took off my jacket, and nothing. No pain! Instead, the sunlight actually felt delightfully warm.

These changes didn't come on their own. Were they related to the ritual? And if so, how much was changed? To see if I was still a vampire at all, I struggled to transform. I still have a hard time doing that. But eventually, after about half an hour, I transformed. But like the first time, I didn't look like a vampire.

Zhan calls my transformation an angel transformation. Because to him, I look like an angel. Only without the blond curly hair and without wings. 

But also with my transformation something had changed. Only very slightly and not visible at first glance. It was first noticed by Zhan when he looked deeply into my eyes. "They are so bright blue and now there is also the hint of silver in them." He said.

I took a mirror and yes, indeed, a thin silver ring was visible in the brilliant blue. But if I changed, did that mean Zhan might have changed as well?

His human form was unchanged, as was mine. But when he transformed, I immediately noticed in his wolf form that something had changed in him as well. Now his eyes were no longer silver. But as bright blue as my eyes. And exactly like with me, a silver ring is to be seen in the radiating blue.

So are not only the wolf head signs on our necks a sign that we belong together, but also our eyes? Zhan assumes that it is. And I am also convinced of it.

Is our adaptation to each other perhaps the visible proof for others to show them that the peace treaty between our two species still exists? After all, who carries an ancient document around all the time to prove with it that the peace treaty has not lost its validity?

Somehow I also find it really great that my wolf now has the same eyes as I have. I always liked his silver eyes. But now I like them even more. They match his white fur even better than the silver ones. Now he is even more special than before.

But I also noticed that my feelings for Zhan, since this ritual, have become even more intense. I can even feel him, his presence, inside me now. Each of his touches on my skin, feels like a gentle tingling. And when we look at each other, we can feel what the other feels.

The ritual had been so simple that we didn't believe it would work. In our minds there was the idea of a difficult and very dangerous ritual. But when we had to perform only this simple ritual, it seemed unreal. But now that we see and feel the changes, we start to believe.

And maybe the ritual was difficult and dangerous for Mira and Oleg, because Oleg could not drink from Mira without her instincts awakening and she could have killed him.

But with Zhan and me, it's more like drinking from him puts us in ectasis. The vampire venom can't hurt him, but with each of my bites, he got the venom off and it caused him to get even more excited. Just like his blood excites me. And ultimately, for us, it leads to incredibly intense sex, and not wanting to kill each other.

To do one last test, Zhan and I went to the next village with a restaurant. It had been crowded and we ordered the day's menu. All the smells around us, as well as that of our food, no longer bothered me. I could sit in the restaurant with Zhan and eat like a normal person!

Later, when we were back at the house, I drank some more of Zhan's blood, just to see if I could still drink blood at all. And yes, I can. That means I can feed on human food and blood. So I really got a bit of humanity back through the ritual.

All too gladly we wanted to ask Mira and Oleg about it. Zhan led his own reflections and said, "I guess it could also be some kind of protective function so that no one would find out your true identity."

"You know what ZhanZhan? I think you might be right about that. We got the possibility of eternal life through the ritual. So it would be stupid if someone found out by chance in a few years that we are not human. Because imagine we're out somewhere right now, I get hungry and drink blood, and someone sees it?" I replied.

"That's exactly what I mean. I just don't know if it would be good for you to avoid blood."

"Well I'm fine. But to be honest, when I drank from you earlier, I felt even better. So I suppose I will continue to need blood to stay healthy and fit. Besides, I always feel human when I drink your blood. And I love that feeling."

"I know my cute vampire."

"You ZhanZhan?"

"Could we come here again in winter? There's no snow here yet. But there will be in winter, and I'm sure it'll be really nice here then."

"Of course. If that's what you want, then we'll come back here in the winter. We could take over their house. Then at least we'd have a place to stay and we can come here any time we want."

"Oh yeah. I think they wanted us to take over their house anyway. It's small, but it's perfectly adequate for the two of us."

"That's true. You know what I was just thinking about?"

"No, what?"

"About the two of them telling us we'd eventually have offspring together."

"Don't give me that. How are we going to have offspring? I'm as much a man as you are! It's not like I'm going to change my gender."

"No, that would be silly. I love my cute Yibo as he is. As a sweet man. But maybe the ritual has changed something in you, too."

"If that's the case, you can't have sex with me without a condom from now on!"

"Hey why not?"

"I don't know how you imagine it. But should I get pregnant as a man, where would the baby come out?"

"Mhhh, maybe with some kind of c-section?"

"You mean cutting open my belly?"

"Yes."

"Forget it. Besides, the wound would heal right away."

"A small wound heals right away. A bigger one takes a few minutes."

"Ahhh ZhanZhan the idea really scares me. Imagine what that would do to my body. I'm sure I'd get all fat from just eating all day."

"I wouldn't mind. I'd even still feed you."

"Yo that's not fair."

"Oh yes it is. If you really do get pregnant someday, I'll spoil you all day. And even if you become round as a ball, I'll still love you just as much as I do now. It would be nice to have a little baby like that that's a mix of the two of us."

"With my luck, it'll be two babies at once."

"That would be fine with me, too."

"Um, let's talk about something else instead. We're still so young and I don't want to have kids yet. Besides, we have Yizhan and he's still a baby too. At least for a few more months."

"I guess that's true. We have time, after all. And I want to enjoy this time alone with you for a long time. I just don't want to share you yet."

"Haha my wolf is possessive of his vampire."

"Sure I am. After all, this adorable cute little vampire will soon become my husband."

"Mn. And I'm looking forward to it. By the way, where are we going to get married? We can't do it at our hometown, can we?"

"I thought maybe we could visit your father in Hungary and then travel on to Germany and then get married there."

"Why do you want to visit my father?"

"Because I think there are things between you that you need to sort out. With your mom, I think it's hopeless. But I think you mean more to your dad than you think."

"Well, sure. After all, he does call me from time to time. But..."

"I think you guys should talk face to face and work things out."

"All right. But when do I get to meet your parents?"

"When they get back from their travels. Only no one knows when that will be. They've always been on the road more than at home. That's why my grandfather raised me, while Yanli and Cheng grew up with our uncle."

"For wolves, though, they're not very caring about their offspring."

"You're right about that. But that's how they are, and I know they love us anyway. They travel the world, meet other packs, spend time with them and make connections with them."

"I see. Um, how long will we be staying with my dad?"

"A couple of days. In that time, I'll get an appointment at a registry office in Germany, which I hope will be timely."

"Okay. Somehow I get all nervous at the thought of seeing my father again after all these years."

"I understand that well. But I'm with you and will hold your hand." Said Zhan and I was happy about that. Because with Zhan, I feel more confident and believe that I can manage everything.

So our journey will not end so soon and in a few days we will go on to Hungary and then to Germany. I am very excited to see my father again. Will he be happy to see me? Will we finally be able to talk and will I be able to tell him how I felt when he and Mom abandoned me?

And what will it be like in Germany? Will we find a registry office that still has a free date for us?