“Why are they attacking us? I didn’t think this place was so hostile?” Sigmund shouted at the top of his voice.

“They’re vamps!” screamed Moriaty as soon as she caught sight of one of Hans’s canines appearing over his lips.

“What?” Marimbo gasped.

The alert drew his attention, he knew Moriaty’s life was endangered. He cast a serious glance toward Sigmund who seemed too preoccupied to lend any hand. The Lovecraft leader had to think up something fast lest Moriaty lose her tender life. With a grunt, he pulled out the daggers from his left shoulder. He cast aside one of the weapons while he gripped tightly onto the other. He was going to make use of it and a devious smile graced his lips.

Even though Brock and Thorian were caught in the thick of the battle with each other, they could tell their respective allies required the extra hand they could give. But, each being had his hand full at the moment, leaving them capable of doing little or nothing at all, to help.

Then after the stammering from Brock had lost its effect, Vellesca roused, groaning. She was concussed. Yet, she knew the hurt could wait. Her brethren needed her help. She glanced around to find her weapon a few feet in front of her. With her own telekinetic abilities she drew it into the air ready to strike. Vellesca was able to move any object so long as she focused on it. This time, she wasn’t going to miss and be made a fool of. She fixated her angry gaze on Brock, just waiting for the right moment to avenge herself.

Hans came to the realisation he was leaving his family open to continuous attack since he had refused to attack Moriaty when he ought to. He wasn’t going to wait anymore. He charged at her, determined to land the killer blow. He was going to make her death quick so he wouldn’t have to regret killing a person so beautiful. He darted to and from her presence, leaving a façade of himself before her. He was tricking her into believing he was close by while in actual sense, he hadn’t moved an inch. Moriaty, falling for the trick, lunged at his shadow with her left hand in a chop motion. Before she could regain her composure, Hans was behind her, clamping her hands together. She groaned helplessly, fighting to rid herself of his hold. He twisted her hands and knocked her to her knees. Incapacitated, Moriaty closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, awaiting her imminent death. Just before he finished her off, fortune came to her rescue.

Marimbo caught Vellesca unaware just as she was planning to kill Brock. She gasped, frightened. This dispossessed her of the control of her blade, the Companion, which fell to the ground with an ear-piercing thud, at the centre of the battle. Marimbo held the dagger that had ironically nearly killed him to her throat.

“Stop this madness at once!” Marimbo shouted. His voice resonated through the forest, waking the dead-sleepers who were unaware of the battle that had been raging on. Hans paused in action. He ensured he still held Moriaty tightly from behind, ready to break her body in two from her arms to her neck. His knee heavily pressed on her back to keep her restrained and powerless. In the midst of battle, everyone halted, turning their attention toward Marimbo. Hans had Moriaty’s life in his hands. By just adding slight pressure she would be broken dead. Marimbo however had the control of how long Vellesca had to live – a clean cut and she would be a goner.

“I mean it!” Marimbo yelled at the top of his voice as he slowly dug the dagger into Vellesca’s throat. She groaned in pain.

Thorian was disappointed that Vellesca could allow herself to be captured. Even more so, he hadn’t expected their foes to match them in combat. He hissed and stepped away from Brock who did the same. Every other pair of fighters followed suit. Vellesca wanted to free herself forcefully only to find the dagger digging deeper into her neck.

“Vellesca, easy!” Tek shouted.

“Admit that you attacked us,” an enraged Marimbo demanded.

“That’s because you’re in our territory. We do have good reason,” countered Thorian.

Hemphia was on her feet dusting off dirt from her colourful robe. “You’ve been causing too much bloodshed on our land and we can’t have that now. Can we?” she glared, buttressing Thorian’s defence.

“That’s right. You see, this zone here’s ours and we live among the humans not against them. We won’t have anyone going rabid here!” Tek quickly added ensuring they feel his presence.

“We aren’t rabid animals, you fool! And we don’t like blood either!” a vexed Sigmund hurtled.

Brock scoffed. “Yeah we are nothing like you freaks.”

Basil sighed, he was weirdly level headed at the moment compared to the rest who would jump at the next chance to tear at one another’s throats.

“Well this is turning out to be an odd endeavour might I say.” He put his hands in his pockets and walks closer to the rest of them.

All of them have now packed up around their threatened family members, confused and also ready for the next action. For a second, Hans weakened his grip but on realising if he did any further, Moriaty could escape. He immediately tightened his clamp behind her body once again.

Both families could agree on one thing – they were not the enemy they sought. Vellesca was scared. The fear in her eyes revealed it, if nothing else did. She wasn’t ready to trade her life for no just cause especially considering they seemed to have misunderstood each other. Little do the opposing unit know that she was the second youngest vampire in her group, after Hans. The feel of warm blood dripping from her neck only worsened her situation. Vellesca knew if she or any one of her family made the wrong move, Marimbo, the enemy before her wouldn’t think twice before disembowelling her.

“I don’t get it, if they are not skin-walkers or vampires then what in the fuck are they?” asked Ukaid, slightly tilting his head.

“You aren’t normal that’s for sure…” Hans whispered. Moriaty looked back, surprised to hear the predator speak.

“We are rare blood types,” Brock proudly stated. “You could say we are as human as you can get. Our blood is completely clean and we come from a race of the original humans that walked this plane.” He continued.

“I see now, I guess I should trust my senses more rather than use my rationality,” replied Thorian.

“Is that why you paused and changed our assault strategy from earlier?” a befuddled Hemphia enquired.

“It seems so and with good reason,” Thorian revealed. He sighed for a moment, staring right into Marimbo’s deep eyes. Without thinking twice, he spoke, giving an outright command. “Everyone, we fight no more.”

He glanced towards Hans who still held Moriaty under his control. “Let her go Himura.” Hans instantly obeyed his superior. Moriaty stumbled to her feet, stretching herself. She found herself slightly embarrassed. She winced as she touched her left shoulder from where Hans had twisted it. Thorian gracefully stepped forward openly presenting himself without nursing any killing intent. He spread his hands toward Marimbo, intermittently turning his head to the rest of the Lovecrafts.

“Apologies. We believed you to be a threat but that was my mistake. Recently, there have been mysterious killings at our mines and in the Hanford plains. It’s sabotaging our business and drawing attention towards the federation. This is why we thought you were the ones responsible because we’ve never seen you around before,” he explained.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but you shouldn’t all be wandering around like that at this hour. Just what did you expect from us?” Hemphia questioned, cutting in curtly.

“I didn’t expect anything, it’s kind of our tradition” Marimbo said, letting go of Vellesca.

Relieved, Vellesca wiped the blood off her neck to save face. Her wounds healed almost instantly. She stepped slightly back from Marimbo who proceeded to explain their reason for wandering around so late in the night.

“The reason we’re out so late is to scan the territory and prepare for where to go in case any humans figured out our secret. We often do this as soon as we settle in any new territory,” Marimbo began. “We usually settle down for a maximum of twenty five years before moving on to new lands. I suppose it is the best way to avoid drawing any attention to ourselves. It’s been a long time since I’ve met vampires, a very long time indeed…” he confessed, concluding.

“Anyhow, we are the Lovecrafts and my name is Marimbo,” he proudly introduced himself as the family head. The conversation continued.

“So, if I may guess, you’re new in town?” asked Ukaid.

“Yeah, we’ve just moved in. We haven’t come here to cause any trouble” Moriaty replied, her gaze flickering toward Hans.

“This is the first time I’ve ever been out in the new world, it’s kind of exciting,” she carried on.

“Whoa!” said Ukaid, astonished by her beauty. Hans noticed the pull Moriaty’s beauty had on Ukaid. It was the first time he had ever seen his sparring partner so flustered. He briefly shook his head. He didn’t feel like the only one weakened by such purity and was less ashamed of his poorer performance in battle. What he found strange about her was her ability to switch from being so deadly one second to being accommodating the next. It was as if it was natural for her. She continued to smile as Marimbo explained part of the Lovecraft culture.

“You see our family has a bad habit of scouting new territories. We do this for our protection preparing us for future events. Considering we pretty much moved in today, that’s the reason we were randomly lurking at this hour and we were going to do more assessment in this area for the following few weeks,” he continued.

“Well if you’re going to live here, there are territorial terms we must discuss,” Thorian asserted.

“I would have it no other way,” replied Marimbo.

“You’ll also need to be careful, there are dark forces around, an enemy unseen,” Thorian also added.

*****

Even though, they were still wary of each other as strangers, they became acquainted trading soft secrets and sharing stories of conquests, among others. They explained their lifestyles and what businesses they currently owned locally, including those they had shares in. In no time, albeit there was a snag here and there, they reached a compromise that would see both groups co-habituate in peace and harmony. Thorian and Marimbo shook hands with their family members by their side. However, Brock was still disgusted by the sight of the vampires; Hans noticed this. He could tell that Brock had a problem with his brethren because of his negative attitude and his inability to hide disapproving facial expressions. To add to this, Brock gazed back at him like a psychopathic reptile. It wouldn’t be the first time Hans had seen such a threatening man. It brought back a distant memory, a flashback of a traumatizing event that took place in his childhood. Enraged by such a reminder, Hans’s insecurities kicked in and so did his frustrations. He twitched his lips and blinked repeatedly. Deep down, Hans knew something between the families would break down. What he believed was that the man was going to be the cause of so many problems in the future if he wasn’t taken care of sooner rather than later. However, he couldn’t anticipate how this would all play out, at least, not yet.

The anger in Han’s eyes vanished as soon as he saw the beautiful Moriaty glance in his direction. He couldn’t hide a faint smile. After saying their goodbyes, the Himuras vanished into the night.

All the members of the Himura family could sense something about the Lovecrafts and their enchantment. They were incredibly attracted to them, fascinated even. They began to make their way back to the family household with less worry but still aware that there was an unknown enemy still lurking in the darkness. An enemy that could cause both families serious trouble and exposure, if they allowed it to roam freely. Fortunately, they might have just averted bloodshed. But with their differences, the question asked is: how long could they stave off the fight before all hell broke loose, again?

“My dear, how’s your arm?” Marimbo asked Moriaty once they were assured the Himuras were gone.

“It’s fine father, I thought he was going to break it, he was so aggressive…” replied Moriaty.

“Anyways, you’re more injured than I am. We need to get you treated soon,” she suggested, worried.

“It’s okay, it’s not deep enough to put me down.” He grinned, pulling his daughter to his side. He groaned faintly. “By tomorrow, it’ll have healed up,” replied Marimbo.

“So, what are we going to do about the Himuras?” asks Brock.

“They could be a problem…” he opined.

“Yes, they could pose a threat but we gave them our word and that would go against everything we stand for” replied Sigmund.

“Indeed, it’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a vampire; they are beings that dominated the old world just like us. They keep their word and value their rules. If we follow the agreed territorial boundaries set forth I think we can live among them,” Marimbo revealed.

“Besides there aren’t many of us in our family and both our races are dying out, it would be foolish for us to fight,” he continued.

“Father’s right, violence doesn’t solve anything” Moriaty contributed. She got interrupted by Brock quickly, just before she said the last word.

“My lord, if I may suggest that it would be probably best to take some cautious action and not one of threatening means,” opined Brock.

“Go on?” Marimbo curiously replied, listening to his guard.

“Let me observe their capabilities just in case?” asked Brock.

“It would even give me a chance afterwards to go and track the real enemy they were searching for which is now a foe of ours as well,” he added.

“Hmmm…” Marimbo put his hand on his chin, rubbing it quickly for a second to critically think deeply about his suggestion.

“Go!” enforced Marimbo who gave his blessings to his guard to stalk the vampires on their journey back.

As soon as Brock went after the Himuras, the rest of his family move in the opposite direction and towards their new home.

*****