"I have no idea what a vampire is supposed to be, so you won't hear any argument about it from me," Velvet says, as she leans forward to rest her elbows just behind her knees.

Hunched as she is, the shrug of her shoulders is a pretty expressive one. "The only vampires I know of are a kind of bat. You'd be the first vampire person. So whatever you are is news to me."