Inhalt

Prologue

Ever since my kind had started to exist, we had been forced to live in the darkness of the night. We had been forced to hide ourselves away from the light; the sun our greatest enemy besides fire. And despite us being natural predators, we had partly acted like prey when dawn approached.

But sometimes, things change for the better. Not for all, of course, but for some. And we belonged to those lucky ones that benefited from two certain changes. How ironic that humans, our natural prey, had been responsible for it...

The first big change had been when they had failed to stop the climate change. Their greed for more and more, for bigger, better, more beautiful, more awesome, was ultimately what led to their downfall as the leading race on this planet. You had to give them credit for trying to change things, yet it had been too late.

Heat wave after heat wave had taken their toll on the land and whichever small rest of plants which had managed to resist the heat, was often washed away by harsh storms. Nothing was left.
In the end, they were forced to look for ways to buy more time. They were far from being ready to travel to other planets and cultivate them.

A clever head finally came up with the idea that they could add something to the atmosphere. After all, they already had been doing that whenever they had ‚needed‘ good weather for an event. For those they had send planes to spray silver iodide which had temporarily changed the weather into humans‘ favour. Only this time it would have to be a substance that would cause a more permanent effect!

Finally, after many tries and errors, they succeeded. Clouds returned to the sky and covered the sun effectively, but fortunately not fully. Or else they would have caused themselves yet another Ice Age. But maybe that would have been better...

The second big change, in turn, took place without their knowledge and on a rather smaller scale. This too was triggered by human greed for more and more, but this time by their greed for meats.

They increased the herds of cattle, pigs, sheep and poultry to meet the ever-increasing demand. But even though some people worked to improve husbandry conditions....

These quantities of animals crammed into sometimes very small spaces came at a high price. Diseases. And what do you do to prevent diseases? To nip them in the bud so that they don’t spread? Exactly... You give the animals medication - regardless of whether they need it or not.

Some even went so far as to alter the genetic makeup of the animals. They wanted the animals to be more resistant. They wanted the animals to put on fat more easily. These highly bred and medicated animals served as food for humans. And humans, in turn, were ours.

Taken individually, those two changes were already unnecessary and bad, but together? Together they prepared the way for the likes of me...

Sure, it took us a while to notice that we weren’t bound to the darkness of the night any longer. That we now could wander around whenever we pleased without the dread of dying at sunrise. But when we finally understood the gravity of this discovery, it spread like a wildfire amongst our kind!

Clans started to leave their hiding spots and revealed their existence to mankind. Suddenly we were everywhere and humans could not do anything against it. At least not if they didn’t want to lose everything they had so painstakingly reclaimed again.

You could say they now had a choice between plague and cholera. And for their own sake, they chose the lesser of two evils: us.

It was easier to open new blood banks and special bars to enable peaceful coexistence instead of worrying once again about crop failures and famine. And it was also easier to accept us in their society, because many of us had always been involved in it.

But just because something is an easy thing to do doesn’t mean everyone will like it.

On both sides there were and are those who are not enthusiastic about the new lifestyle. Those who would like to see it gone for good.

And then there are those who think like I do. Who don’t care as long as you let them live in peace.

~ * 1 * ~

Depending on the century you are living in you’ve got several years ahead of you. And with every new generation they seem to increase themselves.

By now humanity has reached a lifespan of around 100 years, given, or taken some. You are born, you grow up, you learn, you go to work, maybe marry someone, maybe you get some children, you raise them while you grow older, then you retire and in the end you die. Simple as that.

At least it is this way when you are lucky and live a normal life. Sure, accidents and illnesses don’t care about normal lifespans at all and when they happen they can rip you out of the routine. It’s sad, no doubt, but it’s still something natural to happen.

But the situation is completely different when you die and… wake up again.

That’s exactly what had happened to me. My family and I had lived in a small village and had led a somewhat normal life, if you want to call it that way. So far, so good.

But whereas my siblings had married and had children, I had remained unmarried. Nobody had wanted to marry the weird one... At least not until this stranger had come to our small village.

Long story short: My parents gladly agreed on marrying me off to the stranger – happy that I finally had found someone for myself. Not knowing that waving goodbye to us when we left my birth-village was the last time they would ever see me again.

Back then, he had locked me up in his heavily guarded residence. To ‚get rid of my unsuitable tan and other blemishes‘, as he had told me. Until that one day when he had deemed me ready...

Let’s just say that this stranger – my ‚husband‘ – was the reason for why I’ve been around for quite longer than I should have been and for why my family never saw me again. I’ve seen empires rise and fall, I’ve seen mankind enslaving and freeing each other…

Or in short: I’ve seen enough to justify why I still held myself hidden.

Ever since I had woken up again I had travelled around the world. At the beginning I had done this because my creator had insisted on it. Later on, after I had gotten rid of him, I had travelled for seeking answers to my questions and out of safety reasons.

If you don’t age, humans become suspicious about you at some point. They start to question you and if you still refuse to move, they start to hunt you down. They fear you because they can’t explain what you are.

At least this had been before they had been forced to mess around with the atmosphere. And now? Now I only did it out of habit. And probably because there still were humans out there that didn’t like those of my kind.

I knew that there were others like me, scattered all around the globe. Once they had needed to live in plain sight to the mortals, had been forced to hunt during nighttimes, but now...

Now they lived amongst them, integrated despite their need for blood. And humans voluntarily gave their blood to them, for peace‘s sake. But their eating habits disgusted me.

Oh, don’t think I wouldn’t drink blood at all. Humans or animals, it didn’t matter who provided it to me. I do drink it, I must drink it, but I didn’t need it as often like the others did. A trait back from when I had been alive which had survived my rebirth.

One of few I didn’t despise. Instead it was one which I rather was grateful for.

Nobody had ever understood the way I think about things, which opinions I hold concerning certain situations and I knew for sure that nobody ever would understand. Another reason why I lived on my own. Why I kept my distance, besides being disgusted about eating habits in general.

Yet again it was time to move. To travel to a new place for a while, to keep myself safe from those who tried to hunt me down. They were following me for quite some time now, I probably had even seen them already at some point, but I didn’t care.

Whenever this soft tingling sensation appeared at my neck, I moved without any question, without any regret. I held no ties to the mortal world, so why should I feel grief or anger for having to leave my temporary home again?

With the next gush of wind I was gone from my previous spot. Traceless. Angering those who tried to get to me – again.

I had no need to think about where I would go next. I also held no need to admire most of my surroundings. Yes, I could see them detailed and brightly, but there were only few things that could make me stop and admire them.

Small natural spots, no matter how rare they had become: some sorts of formations – stones, trees, it didn’t matter what it was, as long as the formation caught my eye. I even enjoyed some sorts of buildings, the old ones, not those new cubes made from glass, steal, and plastic.

Humans boast that they protect their borders, that no one can cross them illegally and unseen. That they have guards everywhere to prevent violations. And yet I have never been stopped at a border.

It is easy to get from one country to another when you have lived as long as I have. I know rat runs, crossings and if neither helps... I am simply too fast for the human eye.

I knew remote places around the globe, but I never visited them a second time in quick succession if I had lived there before. Predictability could lead to death and apart from various rock-bottom phases in my existence, I currently wasn’t tired of being undead.

Honestly, I hadn’t planned on staying at Spain when I took a short break. Another habit of mine, one I didn’t really care about.

The next human being was miles away from me, so there was no need for me to keep on running. Despite this knowledge I looked around several times before I sat down on a lump of rock and … did nothing. I only sat there, starred blankly at nothing in particular and waited.

For what? I didn’t know. But I knew that my mind would soon drift to something to think and wonder about it.

This time it were my legs. Or more so the strange feeling of my body in general. How my skin and flesh felt too big for my skeleton. Almost like too big clothes but lacking the possibility to wrap them closer to provide some sort of warmth.

I’ve already been cold when I was still alive. No matter how bright the sun had shone, no matter how big the fires had been, no matter how many layers of clothes I had worn, I had been cold.

And that feeling still lingered in the back of my mind. So, this hadn’t been a big change for me to say the least.

If it hadn’t been for my inner clock telling me that I should move again I probably would have remained on my lump of rock for the next hours, maybe even days or weeks? Time doesn’t matter that much when you have plenty of it at hand.

Maybe I had already spent days or weeks simply sitting there and staring at my legs? Who knows?

Whatever was the case, I forced myself to stand up. I should go before they would get in my reach again. Unlikely but one could never know…

If I only had known what problems my chosen route would arise I would have picked another one.

~ * 2 * ~

The change from the solitude of mountains and meadows to the hustle and bustle of villages and cities wasn’t something I liked. Never had and never would, that was for sure. But sometimes there was no way to avoid such crowded places.

On the other hand, such places gave me the comfort of not needing to hunt. At least when there was a local butcher’s shop or, as of recently, one of these new ‚bars‘. Since I wasn’t picky when it came down to my food, I already had had the huge advantage of getting blood whenever I felt hungry way earlier than others of my kind.

How so? Well… Back before, in the old days when there hadn’t been these blood bars around, there had been a little trick to get your hands on some easy meals. If you owned a recipe for black pudding and could show it to a butcher’s shop assistant they didn’t question for why you needed blood at all. And if you could pay for it, all the better!

Yes, I owned some money. Not much, mind you, but enough to buy some necessities like the mentioned blood. As one could imagine, I was no saint and usually, I didn’t care who provided me my next meal. And when it came down to my victim being a human, it meant that I sometimes took a tad of their money.

Never everything, mind you! At most a few coins or one or two banknotes. Always little enough that it was not noticeable that something was missing.

But today there was no need to go to the butcher’s shop, today I only wanted to pass through and continue my travel.

I had already made it halfway through the city when someone stopped me. A man, human as I could hear his heart beat, who pushed a flyer into my hand and wouldn’t let me continue my way until I had read the colourful piece of paper. A flyer for an open-air concert…

I couldn’t recall if I had ever heard of the bands which would appear on the stage, but given my circumstances I probably had at some point in history.

What a pity that concerts weren’t something I was fond of. They meant dozens of people – humans and vampires alike – squeezed into one spot, drinking, eating, being loud and obtrusive… Things I liked to forgo if I could.

But the man in front of me continued to bombard me with his words, he even raised his voice while he tried to persuade me until I finally forced a small smile on my lips and nodded in defeat. I had agreed to go to this event, but… that didn’t mean that I would have to show up at all, did it?

Whatever it was, this city brought me bad luck. When I tried to slip past the now happy man, he stopped me again and tried to usher me towards one of those pretty, old houses. I could only guess that it was some sort of hotel or motel and he wanted me to get a room.

Just great... Because years of living all by myself and without any social contacts which would have ensured that I was forced to converse had taken their toll on me.

The language itself wouldn’t be a problem thanks too all those years of globetrotting, but… Whatever I would try to give as answer only would consist of some husky tones. And I highly doubted that these would be helpful at all.

„There you are! I thought I told you to stay close to me as to not get lost in the crowds!“ Someone pulled me away from the man who looked rather surprised. „Excuse my cousin, will you? She’s never been here before and almost everything mesmerizes her. It’s already the fifth time today that I have to collect her again.“

Cousin? Slowly I let my eyes wander to the man next to me, who I had never seen before in my entire and long life.

He was tall… much taller than I was. Easy, given that I was rather short by nature! He had a lean body, and wore a well-tailored black suit with an embroidered emblem on it. His hair was jet black while his skin was a lot darker than mine and when he glanced at me for a short moment I could see that his eyes were orange-coloured.

So far for the visible part... What I could hear from him on the other hand was that he held an Indian accent and lacked the typical sound of a beating heart.

One of my own kind…

Those five words pulsated through my mind while I stared blankly at the other vampire’s face. And yet the very same mind of mine tried to remember if I ever had seen him before. This took me a while and only when his voice boomed all over the place, I snapped back into reality.

„Saros! Over here! I’ve finally found her!“

My eyes rested themselves on a second male, who approached us. He was even taller, bulky when compared to this other vampire at my side, and wore a similar well-tailored suit with the same emblem embroidered onto it. His hair in turn was a muddy blonde and the tone of his skin was somewhere in-between his friend’s and my own. He, too, had orange-coloured eyes as I could see when he looked at me in astonishment.

„No way! How did you do this, Anand?!“ And much like his friend… he lacked the sound of a beating heart.

Two… Two of my kind. Not one as I had thought previously. Two. And both males. And obviously they lived at this place, given that their appearance caused the people around us to greet them.

While the smaller one, at least for me he was the smaller one of them!, Anand as he had been called, only shrugged his shoulders, his taller friend grinned happily before he winked at me.

„You’ve got no idea how long we’ve been looking for you, ma favorita!“ My sweetheart… Really?

Ever so slowly I could feel how my eyebrow wandered upwards to form a tell-tale look on my face. Funnily enough, the slow movement caused his happy grin to turn into a lopsided one before he raised his hands in mock surrender.

„Creepy… You look like Iara… Maybe you’re related?“

My answer consisted of looking back and forth between the two male vampires. I knew no Iara, whoever this should be. And neither did I know those two right in front of me. And honestly, I didn’t want to change that point.

So I glanced up at the sky and observed the wandering clouds. Sure, it would remain that way as I could see from the slow movements, but the colour of them told me that it soon would start to rain cats and dogs. Nope, I held no need for resembling a drowned rat while I was in the middle of an inhabited area. This usually led to people wishing to ‚help‘ me.

„All right, now that we've found you, we can finally extend the invitation to…“ Saros’s smug grin almost fell off his face when he held out a letter which was met with thin air where I had stood previously.

Anand’s own expression looked quite the same: surprised and baffled. But again it was Saros who voiced what both vampires were thinking: „You're kidding, right?“

Being small had it perks. One of those perks was that I could easily hide myself in crowds. And that had been what I had done.

When Saros had been busy with searching for something in his pockets and Anand had been busy with observing the surrounding area, I had used their distraction and had slipped into a bypassing group of humans.

They soon had passed a rather small street and from there on it had been easy to get some distance between those two vampires and myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I was indeed grateful for Anand’s help with the persistent human, but that was all the interest I held in him and his friend. Other vampires usually meant trouble and so it was only natural for me to get away from them as fast as possible.

In the end I slipped into a small side street and took a moment to calm my nerves back down. All those noises and scents were nothing I could handle well.

I preferred the solitude of the wilderness, the soft tunes of nature, the unique and sort of natural scents of wherever I was. Not the suffocating air which wafted through wherever humans lived. I had to leave as soon as possible!

It was difficult to keep a human pace upright but somehow I managed to do it. Hurrying along the streets would just have caught another vampire’s interest – a little something I could forgo right now.

I took turns left and right and followed the small streets of the beautiful old town in an attempt to reach the other side of however this city was called. I passed by small shops and cafés which were filled up to the brim with chatting and laughing guests.

From time to time I dared to glance at those guests, only to shudder whenever I saw them drink or eat something. Disgusting…

And sadly enough I was forced to bear those disgusting habits for longer than I had hoped for due to two cars blocking the next street. By the looks of it this would take a while longer until the road would be free again, so I was forced to search for another way.

More small shops and cafés were scattered on the left and the right, only interrupted by private houses squeezed in-between them, but no additional side streets. Just my bad luck…

A silent sigh escaped my lips when my eyes flitted again along all those buildings. I caught glimpses of still laughing humans, eating, and drinking, enjoying their time spend together.

Again and again I even caught glimpses of people wearing suits or just jackets, either in a dark blue or a lighter grey, all embroidered with the same emblem. Like on Anand and Saros’s jackets. And that only could mean, that I had stumbled right into the permanent residence of a vampire clan… Simply great!

The last time I had felt the urgent need to pinch the bridge of my nose had been forty years ago. But now I was really tempted to do this rather humanly gesture.

Entering the territory of a vampire clan already was a bad thing to do. Especially when you had no idea that they resided there or what kind of clan they were.

A clan with a clear ranking system or a more familiar one where they called each other mother, father, brother, sister, and so on and so forth. Mostly depending on where they had taken their permanent residence, that is.

And unfortunately, I knew nothing about this clan in question!

Instead of giving into the temptation of pinching the bridge of my nose, I only closed my eyes for a moment. I shouldn’t have left my last hiding spot… But I couldn’t change it, so I would have to deal with it one way or the other.

Reluctantly I looked around once again, this time somewhat closer than I had done before. Maybe I shouldn’t have done this, but it was too late.

Why? Because while I foolishly looked around again, I accidentally locked eyes with a man.

He was pale with short cut slightly curled almost black hair and an annoyed facial expression. At least it had been an annoyed expression before we locked eyes with each other. His eyes – orange-coloured... again – suddenly widened, and his mouth opened slightly, while he kept staring at me, giving me an uneasy feeling by doing so.

And given that I’d never been one to mistrust a bad feeling, I started to back away. My movements caused him to stand up slowly, he even outstretched one hand at my direction as to stop me from removing myself further away from him.

It was only when he was halfway standing that I noticed the two other men he sat with at the small table. One with auburn and one with light brown hair… And both seemed worried about their friend's strange behaviour.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other but when the light brown haired man accidentally stepped into our line of sight the strange spell that had held me captivated broke. And I didn’t hesitate to take my chance to escape the street.

No, I never should have left my last hiding spot!

~ * 3 * ~

How was I supposed to know who I had seen only minutes before? I mean his name wasn’t written on his forehead, was it?! Hence why I didn’t mind that I didn’t know it, heck, I didn’t even care who he was at all.

At least I could tell that he either was part of the local clan or a friend or guest of it...

Well, as I had said, I kept my distance towards clans and other vampires in general and I wouldn’t give up on this for some guy who just came along!

While I ran along the streets to get as much distance as possible between him and myself, I was forced to dodge more of those vampires with this emblem on their clothes. Was I mistaken or had their number increased since I had left that blocked street?

Did they think I was responsible for two humans crashing their cars? I hadn’t even been near that street when it had happened!

Yet again I was forced to slip into another side street to avoid running into two more of those clan vampires. They tried to encircle me, no doubt. And maybe they would succeed with it if I would stay on the outside and on the ground as to not catch unwanted attention.

But… where to go? I was in an unfamiliar city for crying out loud! Everything else would have been too easy, wouldn’t it? But maybe, with a little luck, I could find something similar to my usual hiding spots?

Surprisingly enough I found a possible entrance to something in the underground after I had looked around frantically and had caught sight of an out-of-place looking drain cover.

Too old for this part of the city and visibly not used in ages! Yet, I only had slipped into this apparently forgotten hiding spot, after I had ensured that nobody was watching me.

By the looks of it, it once had belonged to this city’s vampire clan and had served as their escape route if necessary. Before things had taken a turn to my kind’s favour, I mean.

Just a bit more luck and these dusty and cobwebbed tunnels might lead me towards freedom.

Decades of living in the wilderness came in handy when I scurried along these unfamiliar tunnels hidden underneath the city.

I had no need to see the streets and houses to get my bearings, I only had to follow the tunnels and in the end I would find a suitable exit. At least, that’s what I was hoping for.

Believe me when I say that I would have laughed if I had known that I gave Anand a hard time with tracking me down – again.
Because while I was busy with making my way through the randomly dimly lit tunnels, the obviously ‚old‘ vampire tried to, well, track me on the surface.

Funny little thing about my kind, you see? When – or rather if! – vampires reach a certain age they develop an ability. That can be anything and not even necessarily something they had been good at as a human. And while we keep ‚aging‘ these abilities grow, too.

So to speak.
There was a moment when I had stopped and listened closely to some infuriated profanities which had reached my ears through...

Honestly, no idea from where exactly these sounds were coming from or who gave them off. But with me not knowing that Anand already was old enough to obtain and use a special ability, I shrugged those noises off and continued my way unhindered.

It took me a while but in the end I found a suitable exit which was located close to the outskirts of the city. Sweet freedom… So close, yet so far away…

Because while I had made my way along the underground the clouds had finally decided to start their watery onslaught on the world.

For any other person this wouldn’t be a big problem, but for me? Thank you very much, but I could forgo getting drenched to the core.

Wet clothes were as disgusting as a lot of stuff, which I clearly didn’t like, too... It would be better to hide myself until the downpour had stopped.

Forced to wait I made myself comfortable on a rather dry and clean spot near my future exit.

There wasn’t much I could do right now, besides to keep my mind focused instead of letting it wander off. Or else I would sit here for who knows how long and would miss more than one opportunity to continue my travel. That would be a shame, wouldn’t it?

So I tried hard to not get caught up in my own thoughts which decided now was a good time to focus on this strangely acting man I had seen earlier.

Why had he looked so annoyed? And what had caused the sudden change into wonder? Maybe happiness?

Geez, why were emotions so hard to decipher?

In the end I shook my head. It didn’t matter why exactly he had looked annoyed or surprised or happy. I would never see him again, so there was no need to continue thinking about him.

Yet I allowed myself one last thought towards the man: Had I ever seen him before?

Immersed in my own thoughts I glanced at the ceiling of the tunnel I sat in and tried to remember. There were one or two moments when I thought it could have been him, but nah… They had been too short to be sure about it.

So I concluded: Nope, I had never seen him before. And with that in mind I allowed some other thoughts to pop up. Like the question: What would happen if you would crossbreed a dog with a fox? Or a cow with an elk? Would that even be possible?

Or my favourite question since I had solved the egg-chicken-question some years ago: How can you be sure that a tree fell deep in the woods when nobody was there to witness its fall?

Or why do humans enjoy swimming around in the excreta of fishes but almost vomit in disgust when…?
Some voices startled me out of my train of thoughts. They were muffled, but surprisingly close and one of them sounded undoubtedly frustrated, almost annoyed.

„Urgs! This is the first time that I really hate being the one with that ability!“

Indian accent… and some laughter. Surprised I blinked at the ceiling again and tilted my head sideward.

„You wouldn’t laugh if you were in my place! It’s so confusing and rapidly changing!“ Okay? Sounded like someone had a headache… Poor bloke, but not my problem.

„Maybe you’re only getting old? It’s the fifth day in a row that we end up here. We’ve searched every place around by now. She isn’t here.“ Another male voice became audible, which was swiftly followed by a female voice. „Anand, are you sure that it is this spot? Maybe you haven’t concentrated enough?“

Anand again? Wow, uh... He was really clingy, wasn’t he? And stubborn if that other man was right about those mentioned five days in a row.

The temptation to chuckle about this was there, but I resisted to let out those small sounds. It might be funny to know that he stood right above my head but giving off chuckles would lead to him noticing me. And the worst case would be that he would appear in front of me.

Thanks, but no thanks. I could forgo another encounter with him and his companion. Or rather companions, if I hadn’t miscalculated.

Why was he so determined to find me anyway?

Okay, this question answered itself when the other vampire growled unhappily at his friends: „Yes, Iara, I’m sure! She is here. Somewhere. And I’ve concentrated enough! We must find her, or else Duke Doran will demand our heads on a silver plate!“

Oh… Great… Such joy… The leader of their clan wanted to see me… Yeay…

I really should get going as soon as possible.

With those new information ringing in my ears I pushed myself up from my seat and turned to the left to search for another exit.

Yes, I knew that I wasn’t in trouble for hunting in a clan‘s territory, but time had taught me that some vampires didn’t need such things as an excuse to try to kill you.

Heck, not even humans needed it if you were unlucky enough to stumble across some vampire-haters!

The last encounter with another supernatural being popped up in my mind uninvited and made me shudder. I had passed some town in... no idea where it had been, but it had been on the way to my last hiding spot, and had taken the liberty of buying some blood from a butcher’s shop.

With my little meal I had rushed into a forest and had been busy with eating in peace and quiet until somebody had growled at me. This had triggered the fight or flight reflex and... I had chosen flight.

No need to get physically involved with someone else – from my side, of course.

I didn’t know that whoever had growled at me had found the bill and the bag of the butcher’s shop when I had fled. I didn’t even know that they still were surprised about this, but hey, back then I had every right to expect that someone wanted to kill me!

Some incoherent noises left my throat while I followed the tunnel once again.

I took turns left and right while I kept on wandering around, occasionally I even glanced at the rare openings in the ceiling to check the weather and the time.

In the past it had somehow been easier to distinguish between day and night... Before there were street lights and neon signs, I mean. Now I had to guess if the light I could see was nowadays ‚daylight‘ or rather from one of those street lights.

Tricky thing, especially with some other vampires hot on my heels. On the other hand...

Were they even still up there?
I hadn’t heard them for a while now, so maybe they had given up? Well, there was only one way to find out, wasn’t it?

At the next possible exit I dared to climb up the old rusty ladder, pushed the drain cover away and hoisted myself up onto the street.

A dead end as a look around revealed, cleverly hidden between two houses and with a wall at its end. And as far as I could see empty besides of me, myself, and my own presence.

Since there was no sign of other vampires I dismissed my thoughts and worries about them and made my way towards the wall. One well aimed jump would be enough to get me out of this street and would allow me to continue my journey to...

Well, I would see where I would spend some more time when I had gotten there. That was all I needed to know.

But little did I know that this would never happen.

~ * 4 * ~

No idea how they had succeeded in catching up with me, but they had. Yet, it needed all four of those annoyingly persistent vampires to overpower me, so they could take me to their residence. And although all four of them held me, they struggled with not losing me again.

Don’t get me wrong, neither did I hurt them, nor did I cause a scene. But have you ever tried to get a hold on a wet piece of soap? Almost impossible to not let it slip away. And the way wasn’t short enough for this not being a problem. For them, at least.

Somehow they managed to get me into their residence and to drag me towards a large door with two other vampires standing in front of it and chatting about...

Well, no idea what they were talking about and honestly didn’t care either, because I was busy with other things.

We must have given them quite a sight to behold, because they simply blinked in a baffled way at our approaching knot of vampires. Or maybe it was due to the exhausted sounds even Saros gave off.

„Urgs… Hurry up and open that door already!“ As funny as our appearance might have been, there must have been something in the undertone of their peer’s voice that caused these other two vampires to push the door open in a hurry. And to close it again hurriedly after we had somehow made our way into the big room behind said door.

But even when we had entered, those four didn’t let go off me.

„Anand? Saros? Iara? Narvik? And a guest? What a… pleasant surprise?“ A confused sounding voice greeted us, while the four vampires still tried their hardest to stop me from slipping away. „Mind to tell me what exactly you are doing there?“

„Duke Vin! Urgs… Grab her wrist! No! The other wrist! We are sorry to disturb you, but… Urgs, Narvik! Her leg! We’ve finally found the woman Duke Doran wanted to meet and managed to… Can’t you tell a leg from an arm?! Managed to bring her here.“ Grunts and groans accompanied the exhausted huffs of the female vampire and caused this mentioned Duke Vin to raise his eyebrows in surprise while he continued to observe his subordinates’s struggles.

And while he observed our little scene rather confused and surprised, someone else started to snicker quietly at the sheer sight we gave off. And another person started to growl in a threatening manner…

„Let go of her, immediately!“

The voice clearly didn't tolerate any contradiction and added its own fair share of surprise to what was happening right now. Additionally, it frightened the four vampires enough to become careless. Which in turn led to them ending up in a heap on the floor at which I looked with a frown and a small pout.

Served them right for abducting me!

„I have to apologise for their rude behaviour, moja milá! Have they hurt you? If so, I’ll take care of a proper punishment!“ My dear? What had those vampires with their unwanted pet names?

Still frowning and pouting I glanced towards the man who had rushed to my side.

Why was he busy with examining me? Almost like he was looking for any possible injuries those four could have caused me! And more importantly: I could be mistaken, but... Wasn’t he the man I had seen some days ago in this blocked street?

Yes, indeed, he was! And his rather ‚strange’ behaviour was the reason why those quiet chuckles turned into roaring laughter. Which grew even louder when I swatted his hand away and scowled at him for trying to touch me.

Bad boy! No touchy-touchy!

A hurt expression showed itself on his face at this and it even deepened when I took some steps away from him. He clearly was too close for my liking and honestly, I didn’t even want to be here at all and that he should know.

„Sorry buddy, but it seems like she isn’t quite as fond of you as you’re of her, doesn’t it?“ A snarl was the man’s response to this rather amused sounding remark before he got a grip on himself again and tried to approach me a second time.

The result remained the same: I scowled at him and took some steps away, rubbing my temple in visible confusion.

They couldn’t force me to stay here, could they?

What did they even want from me?

I owned only the things I had on me, I knew no names or news, so what was it?

The next time the man tried to reach me, I rushed off to the other side of the room and stuck my fangs in his direction. Geez, I even hissed threateningly, which I rarely did. Much to the amusement of those others present.

„A feisty one, isn't she? Let me help you, Doran.“

At this remark my eyes snapped around the room and started to search for an exit. It wasn’t often that I acted this way, but my patience was running short with them and that could end nasty for everybody involved.

My search was interrupted when despite the man’s protest something auburn rushed towards me and grabbed me.

The gloating laughter soon died down when the auburn-haired man learned the same lesson as his subordinates had learned previously: It’s easier to grab a hold on a slippery piece of soap than on me.

„Vin, be careful. There’s no need to…“ Okay, so the auburn-haired man was Vin, the dark-haired Doran… and that left the light brown-haired man nameless for me.

At least until my momentary pursuer snapped at him: „Shut up, Kilian! Why not try your luck yourself when you know everything better again!“

I wouldn't be surprised if he really tried…

One perk of being a vampire clearly is that you don’t get exhausted so easily. Another one is that you’re faster than an average human.

At least those are perks when you’re not chasing another vampire around. Then they turn out to be annoying.

Or to put it simple: There were eight vampires darting through that weird big room of which seven – them – tried to catch one – me. And we weren’t quiet, mind you.

Frankly, we even were so loud that the two vampires in front of the door became worried about what was happening. And due to this they did something utterly stupid. They opened the door…
The uproar was enormous when my pursuers noticed this and even grew louder when I slipped out of the room and was gone.

Too my utter dismay their residence turned out to be quite spacious.

There were dozens of hallways and rooms which mislead me until I was forced to stop. Where was I? Where had I come from? And how should I ever get out of this enormous dead-trap?!

Panic clawed at my neck while I looked around frantically.

Everything looked the same, there were no signs or scents that could have shown me the right way. I felt like a blind and deaf rat trapped in a maze...

Had the walls moved? The hallway hadn’t been this small before, had it? Or had it? I wasn’t sure about this.

When I thought I heard something my panic took reign over my actions. I gave of a raspy cry of fear before I started to run again. Headless, directionless.

My panic-stricken mind made me believe that I could hear steps, that someone was following me, someone was chasing me, while I continued to run as fast as I could.

A full blown panic attack wasn’t something I experienced often, but occasionally it happened. Usually I would run as fast and as far away as I could, but since I was trapped in this blasted residence… there was no escape.

Maybe I could hide somewhere? Trick my pursuer with leaving the hallways? Yes, that sounded like a good idea!

After I had rounded some more corners I dashed through the next best door and slammed it shut in my back.

No bedroom, no kitchen, no bathroom, no library… Only a spacious room with some mats and balls and other stuff like that.

Better than nothing, right?

Hurriedly I rushed away from the door and hid myself behind a piece of training equipment.

It didn’t matter that this strange bicycle wasn't the best choice to hide my trembling form at all, but at least it was a better choice than those mats.

Additionally, it somehow helped to trick my mind into believing that I had hidden myself away enough to not be found at first glance. Which in turn also helped me to think a little more clearly again, even if it only was a tad bit.

Okay, I had to calm down again and if that meant that I had to take deep breaths, as unnecessary as they were, then that would be what I would do!

So I closed my eyes and forced my body to take the deepest breathes I could take, to hold them in and to finally release them slowly. Repetition would do the trick, so I did it again and again, only to growl at myself when it didn’t work out like I had planned.

Damn it!

Frustrated with myself I pushed my fingers into my hair and started to tug at it. I had to get out of here!

But without help this would be quite difficult. And neither of those other vampires had acted like they would do me the favour to gladly show me the exit.

Lost in my mental fight against my panic attack I missed the sound of approaching steps.

What I didn’t miss was the highly amused voice that spoke up when I yet again pulled on my hair. „As funny as this was, I would advise you to stop running away. The Dukes are worried sick about your well-being, you know?“

Ever seen a startled cat jump up? I could rival them…

But the amused laughter of my finder died down when he took a closer look at me.

I still was trembling, my eyes darted back and forth due to my panic coming back to me, and in general I looked rather stressed than amused.

„Hey, easy there, girl… Calm down. I’m not a bad guy, you know? See? I don’t want to hurt you, I only want to bring you back to the Dukes, that’s all. They want to get to know you. That’s something good, isn’t it?“

I recognized him. That male vampire that tried to sooth me was Saros. At least, I guessed it was him…

He seemed to be rather friendly, albeit I couldn’t quite understand why he kept smiling at me, and why he hadn’t tried to grab me again.

It wouldn’t get any better, would it?

So when he crouched himself next to me and extended his arms to show me that he meant no harm, I launched myself at him.

Before he could understand what exactly I was doing, I already had crawled underneath the jacket of his suit which I had chosen to serve as my new hiding spot.

„Um… And what exactly are you…?“ My low growl had cut him off mid-sentence, but what convinced him fully were my claw-like nails being pressed in-between his rips. „Ouch! Alright, fine! I won’t complain that you abuse me as some sort of teddy bear!“

Poor Saros had no other choice than to endure me clinging onto his body and he knew it.

Oh, the irony!

With another laugh he shook his head and flopped himself down on the ground.

„Five minutes, at max! And then we’ll go back to the Dukes, am I understood?“

He received another growl as an answer before I made myself sort of comfortable under his jacket.

I even wrapped my arms and my legs tightly around his upper body and refused to let go anytime soon, eliciting another laugh from the bigger vampire.

Five minutes turned into ten, ten into fifteen which turned into half an hour, before he finally stood up again and walked all the way towards... Honestly, no idea where he was heading to, but apparently his destination was an office.

With me still clinging onto him for dear life, of course.

By now I highly regretted my ridiculous decision to pick him of all people as the most promising safety spot…

Not once had he shut up! He had kept talking and joking until I had been highly tempted to throttle him.

But for the time being I had been satisfied with growling at him in annoyance.

Loud noises greeted us when Saros entered the office in which these other three male vampires were busy with arguing loudly with each other.

Which in turn led to Saros being forced to duck to prevent himself from getting hit by a chair which was thrown across the room in pure anger.

The ruckus made me peek out of my makeshift hiding space until I could glance around the room with narrowed eyes.

At least Kilian had the decency to not throw another piece of furniture at our direction…

Instead he barked at the much friendlier man: „What do you want?!“
Disapproving of Kilian’s barking I tightened my grip around Saros, who heaved an unnecessary sigh at my actions.

„Sorry for the disturbance, Duke Kilian, but we should contact you as soon as we find her and…“

Within the blink of an eye Kilian had rushed towards Saros and indicated him to continue his sentence. „And I’m here because I’ve found her, but… there’s a little problem.“

Fortunately, Vin stopped Kilian from decapitating the poor bloke on the spot. „And what kind of problem should that be?“

„She refuses to let go.“

~ * 5 * ~

Silence followed this statement for which I was grateful. Again I asked myself what had gotten into me that I had thought choosing the chatterbox out of all people as a hiding spot would be a splendid idea?

Well, I knew the answer already: because he was big and strong. Or rather strong and big? As ridiculous this question would seem to others, for me it was a serious one. And one worth to ponder about.

Lost deeply in those thoughts, I didn't notice when Saros pointed to me still clinging onto him, albeit with a rather blank look in my eyes. „As I said… She refuses to let go since I’ve found her, but... Okay, that look is new.“

As if to prove it, he tried to pull on my arm and was rewarded with me growling at him and only clinging to him even tighter. Much to the displeasure of his bosses. Or rather leaders? This always depended on the clan itself.

However, I didn’t like to be disturbed when I was pondering over important matters, so it came as no surprise that I snapped at the hand that dared to wave in front of my eyes. Couldn’t they see that I was busy? What was so important that they couldn’t wait until I had finished my pondering?!

Ever so slowly I blinked and focused my gaze on the three male vampires gathered in front of Saros and me. That was another reason why I had chosen to live in solitude, far away from others of my kind! No one who could get on my nerves, no one who would show off emotions which I had to decipher…

But no, I just had to travel again! In the future I would steer clear of this country, that much was for sure!

Movements caught my eyes and I watched how Doran stepped next to Kilian, placed his hand on the other male’s shoulder to catch his attention, before he leaned in to him to whisper something into his ear.

No, I wouldn’t question that interaction at all, but I surely would appreciate if they would give me a tad more personal space.

„How… interesting, to say the least? And surprisingly fast...“ My eyes darted to Kilian and narrowed themselves when I noticed their confusing facial expressions. Both men looked amused but hurt at the same time and I couldn’t think of any reason that would justify such a mixture.

„As it would seem she already has chosen her first bodyguard. Am I right, querida mia?“ What did he mean with that? Why should I pick a bodyguard? Why would I even need one? I could take care of myself, thank you very much!
Questioningly I glanced back and forth between the other vampires present before I narrowed my eyes at Kilian again and gave off a muffled snarl.

„I am honoured that you have chosen me, Milady“, Saros grinned happily at me, when I glanced up to his face, visibly unsure of what I should think about this newest pet name he was using. „But maybe you should let go of my hand? I mean… before you’ve chewed it off completely?“

It took me a moment to understand what the grinning man was trying to tell me. And it took me another moment to squint my eyes at the hand stuck right under my nose. Blinking in surprise I weighted up my options. Release Saros’s hand or chew it off… The latter clearly tempting, but it would be a nuisance to get rid of the taste and remains stuck in my teeth...

In the end I relaxed my jaw and allowed him to pull away. Maybe I should feel embarrassed about having bitten him, but it was his own fault that I had done it at all. So, I only gave off a short snort and turned my mind towards more important matters.

Since Saros had shown me off to his bosses – thanks again – there was no need for me to almost break his ribcage further, wasn’t it? Snorting yet again, I loosened my grip on him until I stood on my own feet again.

Maybe I should investigate this ‚Milady’-thing. I mean… what was that supposed to mean anyway? Additionally, I didn’t need a bodyguard. Heck, I didn’t even need such a title as pet name, or pet names in general while we’re at it! All I needed right now was some food and a chance to get back on the road again.

I wrinkled my nose at the mere thought of being hungry and wiped my mouth repeatedly, no matter if it was necessary or not. But while my actions irritated Kilian, Doran, and Saros, Vin seemed to get the involuntarily given hint.

„Allow us to invite you to dinner. We would feel honoured if you would join us, vida mía.“ Again with this ‚my dear’ nonsense? But before I even could think about declining their offer to eat with them, they already ushered me out of the office and back towards this big room where we had first met.

At least Saros had some fun while he followed us and chuckled quietly to himself. Another perfect example for the bad luck that inhabited areas brought me…

Some other vampires already had gathered in the big room and nodded at us in greeting when we entered, before all eyes darted back and forth between the five of us.

The three ‚Dukes’ held sour expressions on their faces while Saros looked like he was in pain. And for my own facial expression… I looked grumpy and disgusted while I was busy with digging my sharp nails into Saros’s forearm.

The temptation to ask questions was certainly there, but nobody dared to verbalise even one of them. Understandable, if you would ask me.

Busy with mentally cursing those impertinent men I hadn’t noticed that Saros had led me towards the massive desk with three boss’s chairs at the head of the room. At least until he spoke to me: „I'm afraid you must let go off me now, Milady. Just stand here and I’ll be back at your side after dinner, okay?“

Let go off him? Stand here? And again this stupid pet name! Wide-eyed I stared up at his apologetic face, gritting my teeth in frustration when all I could verbalise were incoherent tones he didn’t understand.

Since words didn’t work I switched to hissing at him in a low tone, hoping that he would understand me now. „No need to worry. Look… I’ll be right there, next to Anand in plain sight to you. Nothing will happen to you, I swear.“

Reluctantly and with yet another hiss I removed my nails from his arm, only to wrap my own arms tightly around my chest. All while I gave him an angered look.

Why had I even thought in the beginning that he would help me to get out of here? Or that he would make a great hiding spot? I didn’t know what had gotten into me at that time, but right now, I regretted it immensely. Again. And when Doran dared to chuckle lowly, he was the next to receive that angered look of mine. Not funny.

At least he had the decency to try an apologetic smile.

No one could doubt that I would love to be anywhere else but here, standing between these visibly expensive chairs, surrounded by other vampires, and waiting for a meal that would be brought to us in a few moments.

„Relax, vida mía. There is no need to be so tense. We don’t wish to harm you in any way possible. It’s quite the opposite of it.“ Doran tried to reassure me, intending to emphasize his words by placing his hand on my arm. Heck, no!

Too avoid being touched by him I took a step away from him, unintentionally bringing myself closer to Vin by doing so. Who in turn grinned broadly at this while the other man pouted visibly. „This will certainly become an interesting experience.“

I didn’t intend on staying long enough to find out what this was supposed to mean. But for now I was stuck with them and was forced to wait for an opportunity to get my freedom back.

Finally the doors were opened and a group of humans entered the room. Suspiciously I glanced at the group, slightly sniffing the air while I tried to understand what the meaning of this should be.

Why were there humans strolling around casually in this vampires lair? Hadn’t they set up precautions? Or had I missed something? Maybe some changes in how to keep your home safe and unseen?

Could be the case... I rarely was interested in stuff like that, because these household-tips often only applied for vampires with permanent residences.

My unvoiced questions answered themselves when the door was shut again and Kilian welcomed the group at their home and began to thank them profusely for their oh-so-generous willingness to provide their blood. Highly over-dramatic if you would ask me… My mind almost wandered off again, only to stop itself from doing so when all hell broke lose.

Well, for me it was hell, for them... not so much.

Unlike movies and books had portrayed my kind during meals, these vampires didn’t launch themselves at the gathered humans. Instead they simply sauntered towards their chosen ‚donator‘ and told them to relax, given that it would make things easier for everybody involved.

Okay, there’s one thing to know about a vampire’s bite. More often than not does it hurt like hell.

I mean, we ram our fangs into our preys neck! We have to tear through flesh to reach our meal’s blood. And with a little bit of bad luck we sometimes unintentionally inflict wounds to some muscles, too. Which explained why some of the humans screamed, despite the attempts made to make it easier for them.

But not only these few screams echoed through the room, but also the pleasurable sighs and groans from various throats - but don’t ask me which sound came from whom exactly. Even the air started to fill itself with the smell of slight fear, blood, and arousal…

Okay, that explained pretty well why they had allowed them to wander into their home so freely! And I was stuck in this, too... There wasn’t much I could do against this feast – not that I even thought about stopping it anyway.

After all, there was a chance that this distraction could offer me an opportunity to escape, right?

With that small hope in mind, my eyes roamed along the scene I was forced to witness. But instead of a possible way to escape this mess, I only found things I wished I hadn’t seen...

I saw how Iara and Narvik sunk their teeth into the necks of two teenagers; their bites visibly overwhelming the poor hormonal young humans.

I saw how Anand and Saros did the same to some older men.

I saw how Kilian, Vin, and Doran feasted on their own donators, all with different facial expressions.

I saw how some of these vampires present gently helped their still living humans to sit or lay down when they had finished their meals.

I saw how they kept one of the humans untouched… For me to feast on…

And all I could do was to stare at all of this. Disgusted. Displeased.

I already felt nauseated at the mere thought of having to eat in front of them... while they would look at me... I couldn't. I simply couldn't bring myself to follow their invitation. Yes, I was hungry, and I would have loved to get rid of this feeling, but not if that meant someone would watch me.

So, instead of stepping forward to Doran, who softly shoved ‚my donator‘ invitingly towards me, I backed away slowly while my eyes kept darting back and forth.

I caught glimpses of other vampires still feasting away on their blissfully grinning humans, I caught glimpses of red, I could hear some soft whimpers, as well as the satiated growls and slurping sounds of eating vampires.

Could I vomit? I didn’t know… I had never pushed myself so far that I would have received an answer to this question. But I hoped that I could… Maybe that would be the way to get rid of the sour taste in my mouth which refused to be swallowed.

I had to get out of here… Fast!

None of them needed to be a rocket scientist to see that I was stressed out of my mind. Their ‚Dukes’ even looked like they felt my turmoil, but they couldn’t quite understand what had caused me to literally tear down the hidden door on the back wall of the room to get out of this personal hell of mine.

„Well… Maybe she doesn’t like European food?“ Saros's remark triggered amused giggles from the other vampires and deadly glares from his bosses. The latter clearly the reason why the big vampire cleared his throat and ran after me in a hurry.

Only this time it turned out to be not so easy for him to find me again…

Impressum

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