*Flashback*

It was his first day in kindergarten. It was then that he met his friends.

At first, Ethan was looking for someone to meet, and the first thing he approached was a boy in an orange hoodie who was playing with a toy robot.

- Hi. - the green-eyed boy said hello. The boy with the robot looked up at Ethan.

- Hi. he greeted quietly. Then Ethan noticed that the boy's hair stuck out like horns:

- What is your name? - he asked.

- Tobyas. Tobyas Larkson. But to my friends, I'm just Toby. And your? - answered the boy.

- Well, I'm Ethan. Ethan Gold. Ethan replied. - You mean Larkson... I've heard that name before... Toby, are you somehow connected with Tord Larkson, the Red Leader?

- Oh yeah! Red Leader is my father! - Toby's eyes lit up with delight. - That’s why many people call me “Red Leader’s heir” and “Red Prince.”

And as soon as Toby said this, another boy approached them, although at first they thought it was a girl, because of the long hair. But no, it was such a boy with the appearance of a girl. He had either brown or red hair, most likely a mixture. The clothes were purple and black, but the pants were blue. Also, one eye had a pupil resembling a cat's constricted pupil, and this eye was red, and the other was normal, blue. Their ears were pointed like vampires, and their skin was paler in comparison.

- So you're a real prince? What is it like to be a prince? Do ladies love you? Are you wearing a crown? - Questions rained down.

- Oh, no, I don’t wear a crown, many ladies don’t really like me, and I’m almost a prince. But "Red Prince" is just my nickname in the press. I was named that because my dad owns the world and he's basically the king of everything. - Toby replied. - Girl, why are you interested?

- Well, first of all, I'm not a girl, I'm a boy. Many people consider me a girl because of my appearance, but I'm not offended, I just tell them that I'm a boy. Well, secondly, our distant ancestor was a prince. That's why I got interested. - the vampire boy explained.

- It's clear. - Ethan said. - Are you a vampire? Won't you bite us?

The boy's ears drooped.

- Yes, I'm a vampire... My father is a vampire, and my mother seems to be an ordinary person, so I'm a half-vampire. And no, I won't bite you! No one in our family bit!

- Okay, okay, we got it. Let's get acquainted? - Ethan suggested. The vampire boy nodded.

- Yes, let's do it)

And Ethan introduced himself:

- I'm Ethan. Ethan Gold. This - he pointed to Toby. - Toby. Tobyas Larkson, son of the Red Leader. And you?

The boy opened his mouth, but then another boy's voice was heard:

- Maxel, I can't keep up with you, I told you! - a boy with black skin ran out. His hair was blond and he wore a blue hoodie and light gray shorts and checkered socks. The eyes were interesting; black as a black hole. Max turned to him.

- Oh, hi Theo! And here we are with the guys! Do you want to join us?

Theo sighed.

- Of course, why not. - he sat down to them, and Max introduced him:

- It's Theo. Theo Ridgewood. He is my cousin. And as you can see, he has, yes, black eyes. But don't worry, his parents, my Uncle Tom and Aunt Susan also have black eyes. Aunt Susie also has dark skin, which was passed down to Theo.

Theo chuckled.

-And you, then, are Ethan Gold and Tobias Larkson, children of Edd Gold and Tord Larkson?

Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

- Where are you from -

But Theo interrupted them:

- Our parents were friends...

Toby's eyes lit up with delight.

- Truth?!

- Yes...

They talked about a lot more and realized that they were great friends and began to do everything together.

*End flashback*

Remembering this story, Ethan sat on the bed, and in a meditative pose began to conduct his psychological session in order to find out what psychological state his friends had at the moment. Toby was as bad as usual, and all because Ethan dyed his hair yellow.

- Have you dyed your hair? - Tord asked him sternly. Toby sighed.

- Yes, father .... - he tried not to cry.

- What did I tell you about hair dye?

Toby just wanted to have multi-colored hair like Max, whose parents allowed him to dye his hair reddish.

- But Papa ... Max is allowed to tint his hair, why can't I? Toby asked tearfully. Tord looked sternly at his son:

- And then, Toby, that I forbid you to dye your hair, because in the future they will laugh at you, and say that the Red Prince is a disgrace to the red army and his father. We don't dye our hair.

- Yes? Didn't you dye your hair in high school? Toby answered boldly. Tord did not like it and very much and he hit Toby in the face:

- How dare you talk to me like that?! DID YOU FORGET THAT I AM YOUR FATHER AND BOSS?!

Toby was silent. He wanted to go to his room and close himself in the room.

- ANSWER ME, SOLDIER!!! Tord barked, frightening his son with his bestial side. But Toby looked furiously at his father and shouted:

- I HATE YOU!!! YOU FORBIDDEN EVERYTHING TO ME!!! NO TEARS, DO NOT DYE HAIR, I DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING!!! YOU ARE THE WORST PAPA IN THE WORLD!!! WOULD MAMA BE HERE, SHE WOULD NOT ALLOW YOU TO-

Tord again lost control of himself, and allowed himself to beat his son.

"It's terrible... Hmmm... What about Max?" - Ethan shouted in his thoughts, switching to Max, who had almost the same situation.

- Mom, today we are with the guys- Max began, but Molly interrupted him and was very rude:

- I don't give a shit what the fuck are you doing there... Why the fuck did I marry your father? - here she stood up with a bottle of wine. Molly has been drinking a lot lately. After her best friend, Annya, who was Toby's mother, turned into a monster thanks to Tord, alcohol and flirting with other men became Molly's only solace. Because of this, Molly became more aggressive, and Matt and Max most often fell under her aggression.

- Mom, is this because of your friend? It seems that you love her more than me and my father ... - Max said upset. Molly turned her head towards her son.

- What did you say about Annya? Do you even know who she is? - her furious tone immediately frightened Max. She immediately began to beat him, telling him what a fucker he was, and the fact that she lived for Anya, and so on.

"And even you, Maxel, are suffering... But what is it?" - Ethan thought as he pulled out his laptop. Connecting to the server of the Red Army laboratory base was a piece of cake. Entering "Chimera" in the query, the name of the pink monster that Toby called "Mama". Looking through the search results, Ethan found a video called "chimera.091.transformation.", and turned it on. He saw what Toby's mother looked like. In the video, Annya turned into a monster. It was a terrible sight... Annya's skin was melting and her bones were stretching, her cries of pain were terrible (and luckily Ethan was wearing headphones).

After that, Ethan's life changed. He often began to have nightmares related to this video, and he could not sleep well, waking up in a sweat. Things got so bad that Ethan started taking drugs to ease his suffering. Ethan wanted to tell Toby about it. But... He was afraid that Toby wouldn't take him seriously. So Ethan was silent, and this brought him problems.

- This world has long been rotten, and there is only one way out ... - he said to Max when he drank Cola with coke.