A shiver runs down Mael’s spine together with the cold morning wind, he rubs his arms, attempting to warm himself up. He's wearing a long beige coat with a black suit underneath and a black beret, his long hair in a low bun just so it doesn't become messy due to the windy weather. His red eyes are focused on his older brother. “Do we really need to do this in a cemetery?” He asks, clearly uncomfortable as he looks around, hoping that the only souls there are from the dead.

Ezekiel scoffs as he drags the bodies of the dead young men towards the grave he just desecrated, there are a lot of laws being broken right now, and as an officer of the law, Mael can't help but feel guilty for his own actions and choices. Three young men died in front of him, stripped from their clothes and with a clean hole in their foreheads where the dead shot was given. 

Perhaps the centuries tend to make you insensitive to these things, or maybe it's just Ezekiel’s job that robbed him from guilt, but Mael isn't even 70 years old, and looking at those cold corpses is making him sick. “Can't you hurry up?” He asks, he's not going to tell his brother that what they did is wrong, or some moral speech since he's a detective who solves murders himself. Because he's the one that suggested killing those boys after all.

To vampires, human lives are as precious as they're useless, on one hand they're the source of their food and they can't live without them, however, humans are feeble and hypocritical beings that infuriate vampires by mere existence. So, killing humans is something most vampires are against while others are in favor of, not that anyone could kill humans, due to the strict law imposed 500 years ago after the war.

If anyone found out what they did, not only Mael and Ezekiel would be convicted to death, but their whole family would be dragged down with them. So this must remain deep into the ground, buried with the other skeletons of other people's secrets.

“Don't worry Mael, everything will be fine, you tied all loose ends”, Ezekiel finally speaks once he finishes covering the grave, making sure every speck of dust is in the right place. “Since this was already a fresh grave, no one will question about the marks”, he continues, putting his hand on the youngest’s shoulder, his deep red eyes staring straight into Mael’s soul. “It's time for you to forget this, don't worry about guilt Mael, I'll carry it for the both of us”.

Mael blinks slowly, a gush of wind passes him, almost taking his beret away, but he holds it still, he looks around the cemetery, the place is empty besides him and his brother who are seated in one of the stone benches. He was there to solve something with his older brother, what exactly it's hard to say as he doesn't seem to remember.

He erased my memory, he observes, looking at Ezekiel that is staring at his phone with a frown, the man always looked down rugged, like a thug, but the fact that he carries way too many secrets for the sake of their family’s peace of mind, already earns him the respect he deserves.

“Do you think Eryx will be fine at the Academy?” Ezekiel asks, his voice is low and deep, the concern in his voice not matching his scary expression.

“We all had to go through it, he'll be fine”, Mael nods, looking at the bleak sky, covered in grey. “He's an Algeo at the end of the day”.

“I'm just worried he might relapse”, Ezekiel sighs, rubbing between his eyes, clearly tired.

“You think he might start taking drugs again?” Mael asks, pondering about the scenario. “I guess that is possible, even if his body was cleansed during the change, he could still have psychological attachments to the drugs”.

“I should call Milo”, Ezekiel says, clearly more worried by the minute, getting up with his phone ready to call their brother. Mael laughs softly, pushing his brother down to sit again, that, besides being two times bigger than him, complies.

“Calm down bro, we need to trust Eryx a little, plus, Milo is probably asleep right now”. Mael's voice is soft, he sighs, it's been not even 24h since Eryx turned, but all of their lives have already turned 180°.

He looks at his older brother who's focused on his phone, probably still debating on sending a text to their other brothers. 

It's funny how Mael always struggled with identifying with his brothers, especially the older ones, not only he was the youngest for a very short while, but when he was born, all of his brothers were already out and about, even if he and Levi have a very short age difference compared to the others, he never had anything in common with him.

And when the youngests were born, he had already stopped growing and was living in another vampire city on the outskirts, so he never had a connection with them either.

Compared to any other brother, he always felt like an outsider in his own family.

He isn't anyone's favorite brother, heavens, he's probably not even in their top 3, even so, the moment he saw Eryx and his bright orange eyes, just like their father, he couldn't help but feel deep inside him that right now he should get his shit together and be a big brother for his suffering younger one.

The whole reason why Mael became a detective was because of their father's suspicious death, and also because he wanted to piss off his older brothers who had a hand in crime. Even so, after 20 years as an officer of law, he always purposefully avoided any cases that could even graze his brothers and even turned some of his colleagues the wrong way when they were investigating Nicolas' business.

He always was proud to say that ‘the law is above my personal relationships’, however as a good hypocrite he always put family first, even if he isn't sure if his family even likes him.

The realization that Ezekiel chose to erase his memory to spare him from the agony and guilt is what makes Mael wonder if he should really remain a detective after all.

Do I even like this job? He thinks to himself as he watches the clouds slowly moving in the sky. I wanted to be a painter… Another sigh leaves his lips, this time getting the attention of his brother.

“Something wrong Mael?” Ezekiel asks, putting his phone away, his expression of worry makes Mael laugh. Should he be worried about working on something he doesn't even like that much when his brother had to give up his dream because of a brutal accident?

“Do you ever wonder?” Mael asks, his tone is soft as the wind gushes through them, making him hold his beret in place again. “What would your life be like if you never had to give up ballet?” 

The question drives Ezekiel silent, but it doesn't take long for him to shake his head, his answer clear even before he starts speaking. “I don't worry about such things”, his voice is deep as he stares straight into Mael's eyes. “I don't hate what I do right now, if I would dwell in the past, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the present”.

Mael becomes silent, giving up his dream must've been hard to Ezekiel, but he had the support of the family. Would he be given the same grace? Will the family care about him like they do with Nicolas' adopting a baby or Eryx becoming a vampire?

Is he important as well?

Or he's just lost in between his older well-established brothers and his doted younger ones?