Everwinus

Nothing went according to plan.

At first, yes.

We met at our hideout. Meusewin wanted us to go over the plan again, and one of our salespeople came to pick up and sell the very last bags of our drug.

My family didn't suspect anything, I told them lies, my fathers tried to encourage me to find a decent job, and then the time had come.

Nothing went according to plan.

Nothing!

I looked at the blood on the floor behind the sales counter. It slowly poured out of the woman whom Zarko had killed. He killed her, stole her blood, and then left her lying there.

It wasn't just one person in the pharmacy, but 2. A woman and an elderly man.

The woman wanted to scream for help before Zarko could stun her. The old man had warned her. She died before she could scream. I stood guard in the sales room while my friends forced the old man to hurriedly get what we needed from the shelves.

In between, I heard him whimpering and begging for his life.

Meusewin probably wouldn't let him live.

I didn't like the thought. Just like all the deliciously fragrant blood on the floor.

I felt sick.

I heard Zarko and Agnes arguing. I wanted to punch him in the face after the woman fell to the ground. Murder was not planned. And I didn't like the grin on Zarko's face. I wanted to tear the grin off his face, even if he had to do it.

I looked again at the front door and the wide glass windows next to it. It was quiet on the streets. The sky slowly turned bright. We left the lights off so that we wouldn't be discovered so quickly. I stood in the shade, kept watch, while the others were at the back of the shop.

Again, the old man begged... I heard something rumble, a bang, then I smelled blood for the second time. Sighing, I shook my head. I wasn't a fan of murder. Agnes often made fun of me because I refused to kill anyone. And that, although I clearly had what it takes. Her words, Meusewin's words, not mine.

And I, of all people, had thought about joining the army as well. In retrospect, I thought this was a stupid idea. My brother had left in the meantime. Neither our fathers nor I knew if he would come back. He had big plans for the time after his return. With these words, he had said goodbye to us.

"Do you have everything?" I called to the back. "Soon it will be exceedingly bright outside." I blinked, annoyed. The light hurt my eyes. Sunlight. Annoying.

"Yes! We can go!" Zarko was the first to leave the storage. Some blood from the dead woman stuck to the corners of his mouth, over which he licked contentedly. He carried a bulging bag over his shoulders. Meusewin and Agnes followed, both equally packed. A trail of blood ran across Meusewin's face, a few blood splatters stuck to Agnes's cheek, and her hands were smeared with blood. She licked her fingers.

"Let's get out of here!" Meusewin grinned. "And then I need strong alcohol. The old man tasted of illness!"

"We did him a favor. Released him from his suffering." Zarko laughed softly. "The woman tasted better. You can lick her blood off the floor."

"Ew!" Agnes laughed too.

"You are impossible..." I grimaced and kicked one of the shelves that stood against the wall. The smell of the blood made me hungry.

"Don't be so sensitive, princess." Zarko patted me on the shoulder.

Growling, I slapped him away from me. "Don't touch me, ass. You enjoyed it! And call me princess once again and..."

"That's enough!" Meusewin suddenly stood between us. "We have to go! Before the day watch comes by here."

During the day, mainly humans worked as city guards, and at night, vampires. The shift change would be over shortly, so we had to go.

The shift change was the best time to disappear undetected.

But it was precisely here that things did not go according to plan at all.

As soon as we left the pharmacy and turned into a small alley, our escape route, we were faced with two city guards. My two aunts. Agnes mothers. Normally, the two never came along here after work. We stared at each other for a moment. At first, they did not understand what they were seeing.

"Mom. Mamsi. What are you doing here?" Agnes grinned broadly and tried to get her soiled hands out of sight.

"Agnes?" Aunt Walpurga looked at her, slightly dazed. "Is that blood?"

I reacted first and ran. "Shit!"

My friends followed, slower than I did, as they carried the precious goods. Goods that were supposed to bring us a fortune. Money that I needed. Thanks to my always calm disposition, I had lost every job I had started. The reason for dismissal was always the same: injured colleagues, injured customers, a brawl, disregard for authority.

Sometimes it was just one of those reasons; in my last attempt to find a respectable job, it was all reasons. And so I stayed in our gang. They knew me and my anger.

They could handle my anger.

I stayed. Faithfully and without any other way to get money. I saved it, wanted to open my own boxing hall at some point, or something similar. For this, I needed a large building, because I wanted to live above the premises. Then, finally, I was able to hang up my career as a criminal.

A small house outside the cities would also be nice.

There, I would have my peace.

Our neighboring town had such a boxing hall. The sport was a tradition there. I was allowed to do test boxes there as a teenager. I liked it. I was able to let off steam and found an outlet for my anger. For the rest of the day, I was unusually relaxed. For a year, my fathers paid for my training there, but then the money became too tight.

Unfortunately, our neighboring city was two hours away. Too long a way. And if I couldn't find work here, then I couldn't find it in another city. Here I could at least live with my two fathers.

Of course, I had tried to find work there in the boxing hall. Unfortunately, in vain. They didn't need anyone, but offered me to come to training regularly. Of course, this costs money.

Maybe I could open a small boxing hall with an associated pub?

Or just a boxing hall? For boys and girls with similar problems to mine?

I wanted to do something good. And then, as an old vampire, I would live in seclusion. Far away from all the people who robbed me of my last nerve.

Just for this dream, I watched my friends cross boundaries instead of standing against them.

I don't know how we made it out of town. I didn't know when we'd left my aunts behind, or why there was more blood on Meusewin and Zarko's hands. I don't know if more guards would have followed us. Everything blurred in my memories. I had run.

We couldn't go back to the city, and so my best friend decided that we had better leave the country.

The border to the wolves was not far.

I had to leave all my savings for my dream behind.

Well hidden.

I would earn new money.

--- Bonus: Brothers ---