It was a cold and dark night in the year of 1845, the rain raking against the window pane of the rustic mansion like an old man urging to enter. Four men wait at a wooden round table, some patiently more than others, for the fifth member to arrive. One of the men, Lord Vladimir, was tapping his sharp nails on the table, gritting his fangs in irritation and his mild facial wrinkles forming into a snarl. 

“Must you keep tapping?” Lord Ambrose said as he picked up the wine glass beside his arm filled to the brim with blood red wine. “I’m sure Lord Ferguson will be here any minute,” 

“Humans,” he groaned, being done with it all. “Why must they be so…insufficient?”

“Like you are any better.” Ambrose quipped as he sipped his wine.

“What was that?” 

“Nothing.” Ambrose looked away.

Vladimir’s eye twitched in anger when suddenly, the door bursted open with a soaked man in a black top hat and coat. He gave the appearance of a drenched cat with the tip of his almond hair dripping from under his top hat. The man’s boyish face curled into a nervous smile   

“Sorry I'm late, men!” he said, quickly stripping out of his coat and setting it on the coat rack with his dripping hat. “I had to run to the pharmacy for my little boy. Awfully sick, he is.” 

“Ah that’s right, you humans do have your weak immune systems.” he said, sipping his wine. He barely met the man, but he didn’t like Ferguson. He saw him as simply incompetent, only here to fill a seat. But in order to ‘keep the peace’ he must mix with dirty water.

“Ignore Vladimir,” Lord Gonzalo said, waving off Vladimir like a fly as he scratched his bushy beard. “Come, sit!” 

Ferguson nods and obliges. He sank into his seat, gently gripping onto the arm of the chair. His eyes seemed to dart around the room like a man in a room full of lions. A vampire, a werewolf, a reaper, and Lucifer himself. Vladimir chuckled. He couldn’t blame the man for such petrified stares. “So, you're the new human at our table?” Gonzalo proceeded, cutting the tension. 

“O-oh! Um, yes!” he stammered. “I was assigned to be the human replacement, taking the place of my father.”

“And might you be our delicious sacrifice.” Lord Lucifer said, finally speaking up. He gave a shit eating grin as he looked him dead in the eye.

“W-what?” Ferguson asked, confused and petrified. There was an awkward silence before it quickly broke into laughter from everyone except for poor Ferguson.

“Look at the man's face!” Lucifer roared in amusement.”How pathetic! I’m just kidding, boy!”

“Oh,” Ferguson eased up, chuckling nervously. 

“Oh please stop toying with the human,” Ambrose said wiping a tear from laughing. “Your foolishness nearly made me spill my wine!”

Lucifer chuckled. “It’s too much fun, my friend.” he turned to his left towards Ferguson and squeezed his cheek. “Plus, humans are so adorable!” he leaned closer to him. “Say, how about you become my-”

“Can we please get to more important matters?!” Vladimir blurted out, preventing the sinful man from speaking any further. 

“Damn you, Vladimir.” Lucifer hissed, recoiling back to his normal position. Ferguson looked at Valdimir thankfully. 

Vladimir cleared his throat. “So, let's tackle the elephant in the room.” he put down some newspapers as he put on his reading glasses. “Have any of you read any of these headlines? Rogue vampires aren't only killing humans, but their own kind. Hundreds of people were killed in one night due to rogue vampires.” he froze as he read the last one. “Vampires truly become savage as they slaughter innocent victims?!” He slammed the papers down.

 “Lets keep a level head about this,” suggests Ambrose, taking the papers and adjusting his glasses. “They’re only trying to stir people into a panic.”

Vladimir huffed. “But must they talk about us like beasts?!”

“I suggest talking to the press,” Ferguson spoke up. “As the only human member and the fact I have a degree in business, I can easily communicate with other humans.”

“A businessman you say?” Lucifer said, biting his lip. 

Ambrose grabbed Lucifer by the ear, pulling him away. “Enough, Luce,” he hissed.

“Ow, ow, OW! Sorry! I’ll stop!” Ambrose sighed and let go, Lucifer gasping in relief. “You're my one and only anyway.” Ambrose scowled and looked away, red in the face. Vladimir looked at them in disgust. He believed it was simply unbecoming of them to have such trivial matters out in the open like that.

“Please keep your personal affairs out of the meeting,” scolded Vladimir. “On the other hand, I think that’s a good idea, Ferguson. However, the press isn’t the main problem here.”

“Right.” Ferguson said, looking away.

“We are to believe that the rogue vampire outbreaks are due to drugged vampires.” Ambrose chimed in, tossing a small cloth bag onto the table. A stain of blood can be seen in the corner of the bag in an abnormal hue of blue. “As much as Vampires like to believe so, they don’t have blue blood.” Vladimir rolled his eyes in response. “Unfortunately, we are unaware of what the drug is, nor do we know the location of the substance.”

“That’s where the Werewolves come in” Vladimir stated  “Gonzalo, do you think you can get your pack to track them down?”

“I think that’s possible.” Gonzalo said, chugging down a bottle of wine, staining his beard in the process. “I can get some of my best wolves to work on this.” 

“That’s good. And how far behind are you in soul collection?” he looked back at Ambrose.

“Quite behind actually,” he huffed, playing with his long and silver hair. “The death department is overworked.”

“Duly noted,” Vladimir responded. “So we should quickly resolve this issue before more bodies form.” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Now, all that is left is to…” he looked at Ferguson hesitantly. “Initiate the new human…” The table cheered with excitement as Gonzalo raised a wine bottle in celebration.

“Time to become one of us.” Lucifer said with a grin. Ferguson chuckled nervously. 

“So…what do I do?” Ferguson asked, rubbing his arm. 

Ambrose handed him a needle. “When it comes around to you, say ‘to the hands of humanity’, prick your finger, and join the hand pile,” he answered. 

“Ah, I see.” Ferguson fiddled with the needle.

Vladimir and Ambrose blew out a few candles, the room growing dim. As they sat back down, Vladimir started the initiation. “As the five of us join together against all odds, may we become brothers as we join our blood." He despised these words, but it’s what was required of him. “From the fangs of the Vampire,” he bit his thumb, blood dripping, and put his hand in the center of the table.

“To the claws of the Werewolf,” Gonzalo said, biting his thumb as well, joining the hand in the center.

“To the blade of the Reaper,” Ambrose said, pricking his finger and following their lead.

“To the horns of a Demon,” Lucifer said, following everyone else.

Ferguson lingered, hesitant. “To…the hands of humanity.” he said as he pricked his finger, wincing, and joined them in the center.

“Might we all be together till our last breath, for we are now…brothers.” Vladimir finished off as they gripped their hands together in a mess of blood and sweat. For better or for worse, they were connected until the end.