THE BISHOP PART 3

The Bishop turned to me once more.
"You need to understand us if we are to do business, Frazzi. What do you know of vampires?"
"You're unspeakably evil undead creatures," I shrugged. "You rise at night and drink the blood of the living and engage in horrific debaucheries." I added wiith a nod, "No offense."
Chuckling, the Bishop replied, " None taken. But, bad press aside, what you know is incomplete. True, we are undead and we do drink the blood of the living. Evil? That's a relative term, not an absolute, don't you think?"
"Look at all the fools who think bin Laden is some kinda Robin Hood," chimed in Marchell. " His type have killed more daylighters in the last 10 years than all the undead and night stalkers have in the last 2000."
"Just so," agreed Newton. "We do not kill to feed. 5 minutes every night or two is more than sufficent. Those we feed upon are those society needs least..."
"Like the criminal element," Marchell clarified. "The night I met you I first thought you were a burglar. You sure looked like lunch to me."
"... and the willing," finished Bishop Newton. "There are humans who admire us and hope to someday join us. Few rise to our standards, in the end, but they are more than willing to supply what we need. "
I wanted to ask what happened to the many who failed to reach those standards, but it seemed impolitic.
"Okay, you're almost social do gooders. What is your point?"
"Patience, young one," directed the Bishop. 'Our wisdom will be yours shortly. As I was saying, we rarely kill."
"We hardly need lowlife psychopaths joining our ranks," added Marchell.
"Further, Frazzi, there is the hunter-prey balance to consider. If we killed humans and each rose as a vampire and killed their humans and so on, within a month the planet would be depopulated. We'd starve. No. we have a vested interest in keeping the human population growing."
Marchell gave one of her giggles. " Think of us as ranchers. Yippee ti oh ti yay."
"I get it now. You're like big bloodsucking mosquitoes" I observed, " who feed on the bad guys and common sense impaired."
"That would be a very shallow view," Newton retorted. "Stop to consider. You are immortal You feed once every night. What becomes your biggest night in, night out problem?"
"Beats me."
"Time. Frazzi. Time. What do you do with all that time? Hours and hours compiling into weeks, months, years? Long term, there is only one thing to occupy all that time. Learning. All other pleasures one might seek grow stale quickly.
"Want to find a vampire?" added Marchell. "Try the librairy at night. Dark alleys are sre strictly for humans who prey on their own."
"Just so. We vampires are a learned lot. We are constantly seeking new knowledge and furthering our research. We select those we turn carefully. We selected only the brightest and those who have skill sets that enhance our little community."
"I was Madam Curie's research assistant," explained Marchell. "That was before anyone knew about radiation poisoning."
"And, of course, the one turned must be willing. Reluctant vampires could become a problem."
"And this has to do with me how? " I asked.
"We are, of course, far ahead of the humans scientificly," the Bishop contined, "And we do leak things to them as it serves our purposes."
"Who do you think gave Al Gore the idea for the internet?" Marchell asked rhetoricly.
"But we are not so advanced as you. We are willing to help you with your little werewolf problem." confirmed the Bishop. "but there is a price. Knowledge."