There we were, on the day of our wedding ceremony, with our extended family in the background, while my mother spoke of danger to my life. Zhan and I could only stare at her. Unnoticed, my brother had also joined us with Cheng and asked, "Danger from elves? Did you perhaps consume illegal substances mother?"

"How do you know it's about elves?" She asked.

"The book! I know the sign. I have seen it many times in my dreams and when I lived in the U.S. I had enough time to research what kind of dreams they are and what this sign means. According to a legend, this sign belongs to an elf folk from WeißWald, a mystical world, not the place in Germany, to which only elves have access." Explained my brother.

"You dreamed about this?" I asked, as my mother continued to stare at him, speechless.

My brother nodded. "Yes, I dreamed about it when I was younger. I didn't think anything of it at the time. Just a child's fantasy. But after I went to the U.S., I had those dreams again in which Beautiful Tall Beings with white skin, white hair, blue eyes and pointed ears painted that sign. Since I had a lot of free time, I started researching and quickly found some information. But I could not believe it. It sounded more like a made-up story. But now that I see the book in Yibo's hand, I think it wasn't all made up."

Suddenly a thought came to me, or rather a question popped into my head. Had I shown my transformed self to my brother? I thought about it and was sure, no, I hadn't shown it to him yet. So I exchanged glances with Zhan and he immediately understood what I wanted. He nodded and I transformed. This then got the full attention of everyone present who had also never seen me transform.

But while my new extended family reacted with astonishment, my mother let out a short horrified scream. She stared at me with wide eyes and asked, "What are you?"

And I clearly told her for the first time, "I'm a vampire!"

She shook her head vigorously. "No, you are not a vampire! You are a hybrid such as should not exist!" She almost screamed as she said this. She actually looked threatening as she then also whirled her hands around angrily in front of my face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zhan transform and jump in front of me. He growled at my mother and gritted fearfully his teeth. I had never seen him like that before. He had never lost control like he did at that moment. And it wasn't until I slid my hand over his head and he looked up at me that he slowly calmed down. "Shhh, it's okay ZhanZhan. I'm fine. Don't worry." I whispered.

Horrified, my mother looked back and forth between me and Zhan. Meanwhile, Cheng had also transformed and stood in front of my big brother. Was Cheng suddenly worried too?

Grandpa Xiao finally came to us and said sternly, "That's enough now. You all transform back and Mrs. Wang, well, you should tell us what you know!"

Zhan and I transformed back, then Cheng did too. And for a moment, it seemed like my mother actually wanted to talk at last. Even though she still seemed shocked. But she finally accompanied us to the campfire and sat down on a chair there. My little brother stood next to her and put his head on her shoulder. For him, it was all just confusing.

After my mother-in-law brought my mother a cup of soothing hot tea, everyone, including my father and stepmother, waited for my mother to finally start talking. But she took her time, and the more time passed, the more reluctant she seemed to want to say anything.

In fact, my mother waited until she finished her tea and then said, "Actually, I don't want to tell this in front of so many people."

My big brother suddenly laughed and replied, "Oh don't worry. There are no people here." Everyone giggled, but it wasn't actually funny. Especially not for my little brother, who suddenly became very anxious and crawled onto my mother's lap.

After further coaxing from my in-laws and Grandpa Xiao, my mother finally agreed to at least tell us something. After all, my in-laws explained to her that there are no secrets in our big family. Especially not when someone in the family might be in danger.

"The danger could come from my people. Even though neither I, nor my sons have anything to do with what happened back then and led to our family being persecuted by their own people for a long time. But they don't care." She began. Everyone waited for her to continue speaking, but she took a deep breath first and asked for someone to keep my little brother busy so he wouldn't have to overhear what she wanted to talk about.

The twins volunteered to play with the little one. They took him by the hands and ran with him on it. I heard my little brother laughing as they twins lifted him in the air and made him "fly".

When my mother made sure my little brother was far enough away that he couldn't hear her, she finally continued speaking. "At the time around World War II, my grandparents escaped from WeißWald, a mystical place where almost exclusively elves lived. Unlike in fairy tales, elves are not nice and empathetic creatures. They love to slaughter and compete with others. My grandparents worked for the elf King Liam, who ruled his people with an iron fist, and they had a son who was a soldier in the royal army. The king had four wives and each of his wives, gave him 3 children. One day, however, the elf king died unexpectedly and a battle for his throne ensued. Because unlike humans where the firstborn takes the throne, elves have to fight for it. For only the strongest would have the right to ascend the throne and rule the kingdom. When the battle for the throne began, my grandparents were afraid that their own son would be drawn into the battle, after all he was a soldier. But he was their only son, my father! So when their son came home one evening and said he had been ordered to fight, they panicked. That very evening they sedated him and took him, together with some other elves, out of the elven kingdom. They fled to the human realm. They adapted to the appearance of the humans and blended in completely. Four years passed, during which they lived and worked peacefully with the humans. But then they were found by the soldiers of the new king. It was forbidden for elves to go to the humans. They asked my grandparents and my father to return to their kingdom. But they did not want that. They felt more comfortable with the humans. Besides, my father had also just married an elf who had escaped with them from the elf kingdom. And they were afraid that only death awaited them in the elf kingdom. Because my grandparents had poisoned the old king. I do not know why. Of course, the soldiers did not take no for an answer. So my grandparents, my parents and some other elves got together and killed the soldiers. For years, soldiers and mercenaries were sent again and again to retrieve my family and the other elves, and again and again they killed. At some point they had covered their tracks so well that the soldiers and mercenaries couldn't find them. But that doesn't mean they gave up!"

Everyone fell silent. After a minute or two, Grandpa Xiao asked, "And you think they're still looking for those elves from back then after all these years?"

"And their families. Yes." Replied my mother.

"So if I understand correctly, they don't know anything about you and certainly nothing about your sons, who are after all, only half elves. So why do you think your sons might still be in danger?" Asked my mother-in-law.

"An elf cannot hide its true identity from other elves. All my life, I had only ever been afraid that I would be found out. Because my parents told me that the elves would never give up looking for them and their descendants. After all, someone has to be punished for the murder of the old king. Unfortunately, I don't know how it is with half-elves. My parents didn't know either. But they assumed that they would just kill Hai Kuan and Yibo because they are mixed beings, which must not exist. So after Hai Kuan's birth, they advised me to be even more careful. I understood that it was best for me to be on the road with my sons as little as possible. Because unlike me, they could not be tracked down easily. The human side in them is stronger." She explained.

"But now Yibo is no longer human." Said my father. He looked very angry and I could see how much effort it was taking him to hold back.

"Yes, I know. I felt it when they came to visit me. But I didn't know what he was now. Seeing him transformed scared me because I wasn't prepared for that sight. Because he looks like my father did back then. With that white hair and blue eyes. I only saw him transformed once, but I never forgot what he looked like when he did it. And Yibo looks like him then."

"But you're a real elf, aren't you? Then shouldn't you know this sight from yourself?" Asked Zhan.

"I can't transform. I never could. Even other descendants of elves who escaped back then couldn't transform. No one could explain why that is."

"Elves are magical beings. Their magic usually springs from the place where they come from. Maybe they use up magic eventually if it's not recharged. Maybe that's why you've only seen your father transformed once." Explained Grandpa Xiao. Why on earth did I get the feeling again that he knows more than he's letting on?

"Well who knows. I'd never been to WeißWald, and I'd only seen an elf once, and that was my father. I was a young girl myself then and he only turned to show me who we really were. He told me the story of my grandparents and how they escaped to here. The book I gave Yibo doesn't say anything about that either. My grandparents wrote it in case soldiers came again. There they explain how elves can make themselves invisible in the shadows. And they explain how to kill elves quickly." She explained.

I just sat there, not knowing what to say or think. Elves? Really? I couldn't believe it. I was firmly convinced that these were just stories and elves didn't really exist. Even though I thought the same thing about werewolves and vampires two and a half years ago, I couldn't and wouldn't believe that something like elves really existed.

Just an hour before, I wanted nothing more than to be able to lead a normal life with my husband, at least for the time being, and now this! All of a sudden I have to deal with another topic and ask myself questions again, to which no one has an answer. Could there really still be soldiers of the elf king searching for other elves? And if so, what will they do if they find me? Will Zhan and I be able to stand up to them?

Finally, it was Zhan who reassured me when he said, "I don't think there is any danger yet. In this day and age, even elven soldiers can't walk around here unseen. Someone would have noticed something at some point and word would have spread quickly. And in the meantime, the throne might have been reoccupied at least one or two more times. Besides, I think if they'd really wanted it, they would have taken you many years ago, after you'd started your own family."

"And you're sure of that?" Asked my mother.

Zhan nodded and Grandpa Xiao said, "Zhan is right. Besides, you don't seem to have any magical powers. So it should be difficult for them to find you. After all, they are looking for magical energy. I guess when your grandparents' and parents' magical energy wore off, they couldn't locate them and finally gave up looking for them. And Yibo may look like an elf when transformed, but he is a vampire. And Hai Kuan has around as much magical power as I can fly."

"But I dreamed about the sign." Gave my brother to consider.

"I'm sure that can be explained, too. You could have seen the book with that sign as a small child. Or you saw the sign somewhere else." Replied Grandpa Xiao.

"My parents had a large wall painting in the living room and on it the sign appeared several times. My mother had painted it after she and her family escaped from WeißWald. She painted it as a memento of where they came from. And maybe they had told Hai Kuan a little about WeißWald and the elves back then, when he was very small and had often been with them." My mother explained. Well, that would clear that up, too.

And finally, some guests shouted that we all wanted to celebrate and that we should finally do it. That ended the topic of elves, at least for the time being. And after Zhan calmly explained to me again why he doesn't believe that we still have to expect an attack of elf soldiers, I felt better again and the party mood spread in me.

For me, the topic of elves is settled, at least for the time being. And should any elves show up at some point, we will find a way to deal with them. Mhhh, maybe with a peace treaty? Hahaha

The party went on peacefully. My mother talked a lot with my in-laws and Grandpa Xiao. My father and stepmother danced and celebrated with the others. My brother and Cheng retreated back to the house with the pregnant Yanli. Well and Zhan and I sang, danced and laughed with everyone else.

Then at 2 am we went home. My mother was allowed to spend the night in the farmhouse with my little brother. Since I myself had not drunk any alcohol, from the smell I was totally sick for whatever reason, I drove. My husband was drunk and told me during the drive home every minute how much he loved me. Over and over again he said, "You are my honey and I love you so, so much."

Then after we arrived at the apartment, I immediately put Zhan to bed. I cuddled with Yizhan a little more and then lay down in bed too. As soon as I lay down, Zhan turned to me, wrapped his arms around me, kissed my cheek and whispered, "You are my life Yibo. I don't care who or what you are, I love you and always will." Then he went back to sleep and I closed my eyes smiling and fell asleep too.