Family Secrets In the animal world, there's a wake of buzzards, a herd of bison, a murder of crows, a shrewdness of apes, and a band of gorillas. In my world, we typically see a pack of werewolves, a coven of witches, and a family of nightwalkers. One of the most difficult things for humans to understand in regards to nightwalkers (beyond the aversion to sunlight and the preference for blood straight from the tap) is our concept of family. The world of the nightwalker is a very dangerous one, particularly if you are young. Anything older and stronger than you will use you as a punching bag until you either fight back or die. However, it could be many years before either of those options becomes a possibility, leading to a long, torturous existence. So, this is just one of the reasons why the concept of the family was created. A family is generally comprised of a father/mother figure. This nightwalker is always the oldest and/or the strongest (age does not always equal strength) of the group. The youngest head of a family I have ever encountered was roughly three centuries. That family was wiped out within a couple of years. The other members of the family are usually nightwalkers created by the head of the family. However, other nightwalkers may be "invited" to join the family for his/her own protection. What’s more, a nightwalker can ask to join the family in the hopes of gaining protection from stronger vampires. Families vary in size depending on how many the head of the family can control at once. A weaker nightwalker of only a few centuries will have a family of two to three. A nightwalker who is an Ancient (more than 1,000 years old) can keep a family of 10-20 nightwalkers. I was raised in a family that ranged in size between 16 and 35 nightwalkers at any one time. Typically, a family’s size decreases as a result of deaths. Gaining entrance into a family is relatively easy. Leaving a family alive is usually very difficult. One important aspect of a nightwalker’s existence is control, particularly controlling others. If a nightwalker leaves your family, it means that you have lost control of someone. It can raise questions about a family leader’s strength and power. In the history of Sadira's family, I am the only one known to have "walked" away. In general, all the members of a family will live in a single home. While we're not home bodies, nightwalkers do need a central place to store a change of clothes, a personal item or two, and a secure place to sleep during the daylight hours. The sleeping together in one house makes it easier for the head of the family to control the entire family. However, it can be very dangerous, because if discovered, an entire family can be wiped out in a single day by a hunter. (It is why the hunters for the Daylight Coalition often refer to it as a nest -- as in a nest of vipers.) These are a lot of generalities in regards to families. No two families are the same. Many are horrible things filled with violence, torture, and pain. It is a wretched way to spend what will feel like an eternity. On the other hand, some are not. Some are simply what they profess to be -- a source of protection, a place to call home.
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Coming Soon |
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Pray For Dawn |
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Wait for Dusk |
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