Everwinus

"Are my parents okay?" Everwinus looked at the two vampires sitting in front of him.

He was sitting in a small, makeshift interrogation room. The chair on which he sat was wobbly, and stood at an old table that was just as wobbly. His hands were tied with ropes, and he was still wearing his dirty clothes. A werewolf had brought Everwinus a bowl of water and a cloth. He had washed himself with that.

He had also been given a cup of lukewarm tea. But no food.

No blood.

His stomach protested.

"Your fathers are very disappointed!" The vampire in front of him, whose name he didn't know, although he had seen her many times in the city, frowned. She belonged to the city guard. Her mustard-yellow uniform looked brown in the dim light. The vampire next to her, on the other hand, wore a simple, dark soldier's uniform.

The badge on his chest, a spear surrounded by vines, told Everwinus that the man was not a normal soldier but belonged to the city guard. However, much higher in rank than the woman next to him.

He was a hunter.

His prey was escaped criminals.

This group of soldiers only took on the 'worst' cases.

"We'll ask the questions!" grumbled the soldier.

He earned an indignant look from the woman and a push in the side. "Be nicer, Friedhelm!" she hissed. Then she turned to Everwinus. "My name is Tina Rotbuche. That's my brother. Friedhelm. You are Everwinus Weisweg?"

He nodded.

"You know why we're here?" the woman asked.

He closed his eyes. "How many have died?"

"Too many. There were also injuries!" The man, Friedhelm Rotbuche, seemed anything but peaceful. "But you should know that. Theft, drug trafficking, murder. The penalty for this is high."

"I know." Everwinus grimaced. The penalty for murder, in particular, is high. Life imprisonment, if I'm lucky. The rope, if I'm unlucky. "I'm not a murderer. My father's? Are they okay?"

"Yes." Tina Rotbuche smiled briefly. "They are worried and disappointed. Your small group has killed a total of ten vampires. Eleven, should your aunt Walpurga succumb to her injuries. Are you telling us that you have nothing to do with it?"

"Hey! This is my area! You're investigating drug trafficking, sister!" the soldier hissed.

His sister ignored him. "Several robberies in different cities. Presumably, even more murders can be attributed to you and your friends there. In addition, the production and trade of illegal substances from the side effects of which some consumers have died. And you want to tell me you're not a murderer. Really?"

"What?" Everwinus blinked. "Someone died from the drugs?"

"More than just one!" The soldier slammed his fist on the table. "So? TALK? WHERE are your ACCOMPLICES? Why did you kidnap the young wolf?"

"Ansgar? Is he okay?" Everwinus sucked in a sharp breath. "Did you talk to him?"

"Not yet." The woman frowned. "Why a kidnapping? How? We know from the pack that the wolf is a good fighter."

He shrugged his shoulders. "They wanted to kill him. I didn't. So... We took him with us. I was able to convince the others that it was better to take him with us." Everwinus laughed bitterly. "As a source of food. Otherwise, they would never have agreed with me. We anesthetized him."

Again, the soldier banged on the table. "Food source!"

Everwinus twitched briefly, then narrowed his eyes. Anger flared up in him. Anger that he had suppressed so far. These people wanted to foist the crimes of his friends on HIM? Did they think he wanted to hurt Ansgar? He wanted to fucking protect him! He was happy to stand up for his own crimes, but not for those of others. "What else should I have done? Kill him? That's what Meusewin wanted. We found him in our camp! An innocent man. At the first opportunity to free him, I did it. They wanted to kill him! No sooner had we reached a city than he had lost its purpose.  No idea which city. The goods are gone."

"Hm." The woman nodded. "The boy is an alpha wolf. How could you sedate him?"

Everwinus did not answer.

"And with what? Was it drugs?" the other soldier asked. "Or..."

"He's a pain in the neck," Everwinus murmured. His stomach growled. He was hungry. And thirsty. Very thirsty. He needed blood. "But he somehow grows on you. Scatterbrained as he is. He's afraid of spiders." And his blood tastes... SHIT!

"The stolen goods? Where is it? Still with your friends?" The woman looked at him thoughtfully.

"I told you. Everything is gone! You don't listen. In the river." Everwinus grinned. "Meusewin will burst with rage when he notices the absence of his stuff. But they have probably already stolen new stuff. But if they don't get the right herbs and the other shit, well, then I've screwed up their business a lot. You're welcome!"

He would like to pull the skin off their bodies, hit them... They did not listen to him.

He was hungry.

And where was Ansgar?

"Stop the games!" The soldier frowned. "The evil glare won't do you any good. Confess! Do you have any idea what you have concocted? This poisonous stuff is highly addictive! And immediately! If they don’t get more, the consumers die after a short time. Your stuff robs them of their minds and makes them aggressive! And then the wolf! Is he an accomplice? Are you planning to build a drug empire here? Why else would he still be alive? He's a risk!"

"Drug empire?" Everwinus exploded. He jumped up angrily. The chair tipped over. The shackles were the only thing that prevented him from giving the soldier a black eye or strangling him. "Accomplice? Ansgar! Ha! I should have suggested that. Could have saved me all the sabotage. Scatterbrained as the wolf is, he would have ruined the business immediately. He is innocent! Don't you dare drag him in here! You ugly, conceited, stupid ass face!"

Everwinus wanted to kill the man.

Drink his blood.

Vampire blood, however, tasted terrible.

Ansgar's blood, on the other hand...

"I didn't save him so that YOU bastards could frame him for a crime!" he roared.

"Why did you save him?" the woman asked calmly, as if he weren’t threatening them by standing up in front of them. The other soldier stood up, slapped Everwinus without a word, then picked up the chair and forced Everwinus to sit down.

Of course, he resisted, but hunger and bloodlust made Everwinus weak. He felt slightly dizzy, and after the slap, the feeling got worse. "Ass!" he muttered. "Shit..."

"Why did you save the boy?" the woman repeated her question calmly.

"I don't know." Everwinus remembered the confused figure he had seen in the darkness. Ansgar's purple strands of hair seemed to glow in the moonlight. "I saw him and wanted to protect him. I didn't know that he would almost drive me crazy as a thank you. How can someone be this..." He shook his head. "Ansgar is innocent." He thought of the wolf's eyes. Blue-green. The soft ears. Everwinus wanted to pet the ears whenever they twitched. The way Ansgar babbled blithely, changed from topic to topic, only to fall into a bush. "He's cute," he slipped out.

"Cute?" The soldier blinked and grimaced in surprise. "You like him."

Everwinus’ cheeks caught fire. "Seems so." And then, after a pause, he said in a voice trembling with anger: "My friends are in a city, not far from where Ansgar's uncle and sister found us. But as soon as they notice the loss of the goods, they will probably come here. To take revenge. I betrayed them. I should have done that earlier! And I am very sure that some of the things that are needed for the drug are not available here. Finding a replacement will take time. Maybe they're already on their way here. But when they realize that you are here, they flee. And! I DIDN'T KILL ANYONE!"

"Betray them earlier? Killed no one? Oh, yes. You did, boy." The soldier sat down again next to his sister. "Why did you take this path?"

"For a better life on my own feet." Everwinus laughed. "You must have inquired about me! I haven't found any other work. Nobody wants to hire someone like me. Meusewin always said the drugs were... Less dangerous."

"I want to believe you." The woman nodded. "That must have been hard. How about... a deal?"

"Tina!" Friedhelm Rotbusch's fist found its way onto the tabletop again.

His sister ignored him. Again. Everwinus wondered if she wasn't the higher one after all. "What kind of deal?"

"You help us arrest your friends, and in return, you won't be convicted of drug trafficking and murder. You're right, your friends will escape when they notice us. You have escaped us long enough. You have covered your tracks well over the last few years. This kidnapping was the second big mistake, after the last robbery. Without these mistakes, we would not have been able to arrest YOU." She sighed. "And that's only because you apparently wanted to help the boy." She shook her head. "Otherwise, we would never have found you. You surprise me."

"I'm not a murderer!" Everwinus repeated.

"Indirectly, you are, boy!" The soldier looked at him. "No deal!"

"Then his friends will escape, you know that!" Tina Rotbusch almost growled as she spoke. "They escape and leave more dead behind! What do you think happens when they get creative and 'invent' new drugs? They are anything but stupid."

"Fine... Do what you want!" Friedhelm Rotbusch stood up, the chair squeaked as he did so, and he left the room. His sister did not look after him.

"So? What do you say?"

"What exactly does the deal look like?"

"Well, no punishment whatsoever as long as you never return." She smiled. "What do you think of that? You will never be able to go home again. A new start, if you will."

"Are you authorized to offer me that?"

She nodded. "Certainly. My brother doesn't like it, but I'm leading this investigation. And I have sole decision-making power. Well explained, I can offer you banishment." She winked at Everwinus. "My brother was transferred as a punishment while I was promoted. He refuses to wear his new uniform. He pretends not to have lost his position. He is still in denial."

So she was actually the higher-ranking one.

"Everwinus? You will never see your fathers again unless they follow you here. Are you aware of that? Not even your brother, if... He's not back yet."

"I already knew that before..." Everwinus chewed his lower lip briefly. "Ansgar is innocent. I did what I could to protect him."