nyr-nra

[nyr-nra]

Red Thirst : CH18

Meeting The Family

Jiyu had called Synda and asked for some money to buy new dresses for her and Jie. Synda happily agreed. She bought herself a new blue dress while Jie chose a white one. They were more elegant and expensive than the one the landlady took from her.

On the day of the gathering, Kiwa came by himself to pick up the sisters. He froze in the doorway when she opened the door.

“You are breathtaking,” he said.

He looked dashing himself. A well tailored black suit, maroon tie. Now he looked like the son of one of the wealthiest men in Ku’ve, but he seemed indifferent about all the events. Actually no one was. She hadn’t seen Jie smile since yesterday. She wasn’t too thrilled about the beautiful dress she bought for herself.

Who would be excited? They had no other choice. That’s the worst feeling of all.

They left her apartment at twilight. Jie sat alone behind them. Kiwa got behind the wheel. Before they started moving, Kiwa turned to Jie.

“I’ll say what my mother said the other day; nothing has changed in your life, if anything it only gets better. You are going to a place where no one would judge you, or try to harm you.”

Jie bobbed her head. “Thanks.”

Her nervousness receded a little, Jiyu could see. They set off.

If the Magistrate HQ was the heart of the Ku’ve, The Crown Hotel was the kidney. Accept that there was only one Crown. The gate stood magnificent. Jiyu had passed the gate several times in the past but never stopped to gawk at the gate. The guard there would shoo them away. Now they were entering the gate.

Jie was staring out the window in the back of the car.

The compound of the The Crown Hotel was the largest in the Ku’ve, almost twice that of the Magistrate HQ, Jiyu had read somewhere. Once inside, Kiwa slowed down the car, sensibly, allowing the two sisters to admire the garden on either side of the stoned path. Myriad light poles had been lit among the flowers and the well maintained hedges, enabling them to see all sorts of the colors as if it was daytime. 

Kiwa rounded the car around the fountain. At the centre of the fountain was a golden statue of a knight, thrusting his word into the sky.

It was gorgeous. She couldn’t take her eyes off.

“It’s Zagerin Knight of the 13th century.”

A historian would know that, and would be mesmerised more than it was doing to her now.

“Zagerin Knight!” Jie said from behind, “The company of the golden knights?”

“Actually, there was only one Golden Knight, but yes. They are also called the Company of the Golden Knight, because the Golden Knight was the commander.”

Jie mouthed the word, wow. But she retreated to silence again.

“What's so special about them?”

“They were the greatest warriors in history. Girls and women of the time would die for them.”

“Who did they fight?” Jiyu asked. “N’ra armies?”

“No. They were N’ra warriors. This was still when Akerin was part of N’ra Empire. They liberated Akerin only in 15th century. It’s that the Zagerin Knight were hailed from Ku’ve. They fought Creatures, too strong for humans. Even the real N’rian soldier were afraid of them.”

“Wow,” Jiyu said. “So, your father is also a historian like you? The statue must’ve cost a fortune.”

“Oh, it’s not real gold. The real ones are at home, along with the real antics. Father wants to let the world know Aisags are the descendant of the Zagerin Knights.”

“What!” Jie blurted out again.

“Didn’t I tell you this before?” Kiwa said.

“Nooo,” Jie said.

Jiyu shook her head. 

They stopped in front of the hotel. A valet in a deep red uniform came to assist them. 

Jiyu craned her neck up to see the top of the building where the large symbol of a golden Crown sat. It somehow glowed in the darkening evening background.

“That’s pure gold,” Kiwa said. “The outside.”

No way.

The building itself was grand. It had a mixture of modern and classic design. It was colored white, and seemed to collect all the lights from the poles in the garden and reflected it back. The steps spread thirty-percent of the building in the front. Jiyu held her sister's hand when they climbed toward the entrance.

The entrance door was wide and tall. The doorman held them and opened them.

Once stepped in, the hum of the outside vanished, and was replaced by the sounds of quiet murmurs and sounds of footsteps on the marble floor.

About a dozen people in the lobby, some talking to each other in a corner, some were sitting in one of the ornate chairs by the wall, some were in the reception desk. When one of the reception ladies saw Kiwa, she excused herself, left the desk and came over.

“Good evening, Sir Kiwa,” she said, in a well trained and friendly voice. “Mr Aisag had asked me to bring you directly to him. Please come this way.”

They followed her.

They took one of the elevators on the right, just for the four of them. The receptionist didn’t press any of the buttons on the panel. Kiwa reached into his suit, and brought out a golden key, and handed it to her. She put the key in the hole below the numbers, twisted it. The mechanical floor number indicator above the door switched from 0 to a symbol of a red wine glass. The elevator rose slowly.

In the silence it went on forever. Jiyu huddled with Jie behind Kiwa. He turned once to give them an insurance smile. 

The elevator slowed down to a stop. A chime and the door splitted and they slid leisurely away revealing an enormous hall. Jiyu dropped her jaw. So did Jie. Their feet moved forward on their own. They stepped onto the hall. The lady from the reception stayed behind. “Have a nice day to you all,” she was saying but Jiyu’s full attention was already in the hall.

Dashin men in expensive suits, gorgeous women in colorful dresses filled the hall. Lovely couple walked with a glass of red in their hands. Families around tables, with their adorable boys and girls. 

Boys and girls!

A big bright chandelier hung at the centre, along with it and the dozens white bulbs on each side lit the hall which made Jiyu forget it wasn’t daytime. Clean wall hangings depicting beautiful scenery adored the walls.

Kiwa joined them.

“What do you think, Jie?”  Kiwa asked.

“It’s amazing,” she mumbled, eyes sweeping the hall inches by inches. “Are they all leeches?”

“Most of them are. Come, let me take you to my mother.”

Kiwa avoided the centre and stayed near the right wall and they made their way through the clumps of people, tables and floor vases. They still attracted some eyes. Kiwa received some greetings, but smiled and politely greeted them back, but never slowed down to chat.

They reached a door.

“Is my mother in?” Kiwa asked the man outside as he barely opened his mouth.

“Good e-evening sir. Yes, Madam is inside.” 

He pushed the door open for them. “Thank you,” Kiwa said, and gestured to the sisters to follow him inside.

A relatively quieter room. Jiyu spotted Lady Iris immediately on the couch. A bunch of women and girls surrounded her. Mr. Lauf, the big bodyguard of Lady Iris, was standing behind them by the wall, near another door.

“Mother.”

Everyone in the room looked in their direction. Everyone, save for Mr. Laug, were adorned with sparkling jewelry around the ears, necks, and arms. Jiyu felt naked standing there. But Jie held her chin high as she scanned each and everyone in the room.

Lady Iris excused herself and walked over, a young girl wa tailing behind her. She looked about the same age as Kiwa, maybe a little older.

“Are you two lovely,” Lady Iris said.

“Good evening, Lady Iris,” Jiyu and Jie dipped their heads. 

“This is Lucile,” Lady Iris said. “One of the big sisters. Lucile, Jiyu and Jie.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lucile said. Her voice was meek and soft.

She wore a pink dress. Unlike other girls in the room, she wore a small silver necklace and tiny earrings.  Unlike her mother, her hair was golden. She looked super cute.

“Nice to meet you too,” Jie said.

Luciled smiled.

“Mother, father wants to see me. Can you keep them company and do the paperwork without me.”

“Of course. We don’t need you. Do we Jie?”

“Nope.” Jie looked up at Kiwa and grinned. 

This was the first time Jiyu saw her little sister smile. Every tad of nervousness and fear had evaporated from her. Unlike Jiyu, she no longer looked out of place. 

“Father is in room eleven.” Lucile said to Kiwa.

“Thanks, sister.” he faced Jiyu, “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Get yourself comfortable. Jie, anything you want, Lucile will help you.”

“Okay,” Jie said.

Kiwa left them.

“Come,” Lady Iris said, and led them out of the room through the door, Mr. Laug had been guarding.

“Good evening, Misses,” he said, with a dip of head.

Nice man.

They passed two rooms filled with people before they stopped before an iron door. On the way, Lucile excused herself and left them. Lady Iris used a big iron key to open it. A dimly lit room, devoid of all sorts of decoration and furnishers unlike the rooms they just passed. In the centre was a plushed chair with a rectangular hole in the headrest.

There were some wooden chairs by the wall as well. They sat down on it. 

“I want you two to understand,” Lady Iris said, “how important the secrecy of the Coven is. Once you take the oath there is no going back. The rule is simple, don’t tell anyone about the coven. If you fail to uphold the rule the Coven might resort to harsh measures to compensate for the damage.” 

She paused. Jiyu was getting warmer hearing this. Jie was bobbing her head up and down.

Lady Iris continued. “The last person who tried to disclose the secret is now in the darkest cell of the Rachi Asylum, his memory wiped out. He couldn’t even remember his own daughter, who lived in the next cell along with the wife.”

Lady Iris smiled. Her gaze on Jiyu. But Jiyu saw no warmth, felt no comfort this time. It was more a warning. It would be her who would live in the adjacent cell, if Jie break the rule. The message was clear. That’s the real reason why she was here. She had to be a member of the coven. An insurance.

“Oath?” Jie said.

“You’ll do that after you pay the fee.”

Jiyu’s heart leaped. Her throat froze.

“But we-we don’t have a-any money,” Jie said.

“No no no. Did Kiwa tell you nothing? It’s not money.”

Lucile came back. A man tagged along with her.

“Oh Amma. Perfect timing. You must’ve done with the other. Sorry, I forgot to tell my son to fetch them early. She is Jie, the new member and Jiyu is her big sister. Jiyu, Jie, this is Amma. You will see him a lot after today.”

Jiyu and Jie stood, forced smiles and dipped their heads

“The toast is about to be raised,” Amma said. “Let’s finish this quickly.”

Finish what?

“Jie climb on the chair,” Lady Iris said, gesturing to the plushed chair in the centre of the room. 

Jie obeyed without question. She seemed to have some idea what was going on, but Jiyu was still in the dark.

Amma went behind the chair, opened the locker behind it and began to take out stuff; small glass bottle, cotton, big syringe with needle thrice the length of that of normal ones. 

“Now, remember the rule. Maintain the secrecy,” Lady Iris said. “The fee is Jie’s spinal fluid. Amma will harvest a small amount for now, for the ritual, and every week after that. This is one of those rule where you don’t ask questions. The less you know, the better.”

“Okay,” Jiyu said. “Would it have any side effects on Jie? Taking out the fluid?”

“No dear,” Lady Iris said.

She didn’t say anything more.

“Shall we?” she said to Amma instead. 

Amma went on to open the bottle, sucked the liquid inside with the cotton, and spread the liquid on Jie’s back. Lucky, she was wearing a backless dress, otherwise she would have to remove her entire dress. Jiyu stood close to her sister, and held her hand. Amma was now attaching the long syringe to a metal arm behind the chair. He turned on a switch and the arm moved, the needle disappeared inside Jie’s back.

She twisted her face for a brief second.

After paying the fee, they retracted their way back to the main hall. Lady Iris leading the way. Lucile walked behind them, along with Mr. Laug.

“Do you feel alright?” she had asked Jie.

“No,” Jie said. “Little light headed but it's fine.”

Now, they joined the crowd in the hall, now walking toward the far end of the hall, where there was a low stage. Jiyu saw Kiwa standing beside a tall, strong man. No one needed to tell her who the man was. Arnam Aisag. Kiwa’s father. The leader of the Red Coven. Closer, he looked older than she had anticipated. Long golen hair that touched his broad shoulders. He must be in his sixties but with still strong jaws like that of a warrior.

Descendant of a knight. The gene was still with him.

He smiled as they approaced. He held out his hand for his wife, and then for Jiyu and Jie as well.

“Lovely girls,” Arnam Aisag said. “Welcome to the family.”

Jiyu was sure which family he was talking about, the Coven or the Aisag. Maybe both. 

“Nice to meet … you,” Jie said, dipping her head in reverent.

Jiyu said and did the same.

“Hi, I’m the biggest sister, Hira.” She was tall and thin and beautiful. Her golden dress matched her golden curls. Among the Aisag she radianted the most. “Kiwa wasn’t kidding when he said about your beauty. What a pair. Finally a contender, don’t you think Lucile.” Lucile simply beamed a smile and shrugged. “She doesn’t talk much. Mother said, I do that on her behalf. but I don’t see that’s true. Did Kiwa ever say how we tease him everyday and drove him out of the house. Haha. That’s why he live alone. Poor baby. Can you belive that? He could barely stand two mild sisters, and is going to be carry on father’s legacy. Between you and me, I’ll make a better leader. But they say I’m a girl.” she said the last bits in a whisper to Jie. “I can hold a rifle but Kiwa couldn’t even grab blade…”

Another man with golden hair just like Mr. Aisag came on the stage. Shorter and less comely, a woman and two little girls in pretty dress accompaning him.

“We’ll talk later,” Hira whispered to Jie, who had been bobbing her head. She head returned to usual self, Jiyu could tell.

“Uncle Zal,” Kiwa said. “Aunt, Lily… Naiyo, this is Jie and Jiyu.”

“Oh the new member,” Zal said. He dipped his head to Jie. “Welcome to the Coven.”

His wife and daughters did the same. Naiyo must be Kiwa’s age, or older, but Lily looked about Jie’s age. Only she had inherited her father’s golden hair. She wore a big smile and came to Jie. “You look nervous. Don’t be. I’m a leech too. We could be friend.”

“I l-like yo-your hair,” Jie said. “It’s cute on you.”

“I like you dress,” Lily said. “You are pretty too.”

Kiwa came closer to Jiyu.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. You didn’t say anything about the fee?” she whispered.

“You know, I could. The rule.”

“You are right.”

A week ago, Jiyu had a simply life with a simple friend and a lovely sister. Now she was surrounded by leeches and their family, wearing expensive dress and shoes. Life was changing fast. For better or worse, it’s still early to tell.

Arnam Aisag stood in front of the family, holding high a silver chalice, studded with small colored gems.

“Good evening family.”

The hall went huss. Every eyes turned to him. 

“It’s a new moon for us.”

Rustling among the crowd. A girl came forward flanked by a man and woman, her parent. They stood in front of everyone, two metres away from the stage. Two more girls, one looked over seventeen and a young boy who looked not more than twelve joined the first girls with their parents. The boy only had his mother by his side. The last to join them was a man in his early twenties. He was alone. They circled the stage.

Lady Iris told Jiyu and Jie to join them. They took the spot on the far right.

Hira took a silver tray with chalices and distributed them among the new member. Their parents and Jiyu were given standard wine glass with white wine in it.

“When my great great grandfather,” Arnam Aisag said, “Aisagi himself saw leeches being maltreated, he knew something needed to be done. Thus the Coven was born. We protect each other,” Arnam Aisag said. “Let’s welcome the new ones to the family.”

Just like everyone else in the hall Jiyu raised her glass and drank, praying for good days ahead.

[nyr-nra]

Red Thirst : CH02 Ogma’s Tip

The car jerked to a stop, bringing Kil to full alert once again. The painkiller made one feel drowsy. He had been half asleep in the car. Senu was kind enough to not bring his fit of rage that he showed to those poor blood thieves.

He almost killed them. He needed to remind himself to keep that rampage under control.

Kil followed Senu out of the car. The night in Kuve was still young, especially in the south-east border of the Kuve Central. The ward is known for it’s night market. The aroma of foods whaffing from the night market made him drool, but rather wait for lady Mialin’s home cooked hot dinner. 

They walked a couple of blocks through a throng of night-outs, before they turned right to an old dilapidated building. Kil had come in this ward a couple of times before, one time with lady Mialin. But not this building, Ogma had chosen to be his lair. But last time Ogma had chosen to meet in a bar for his tips to those blood thieves. Kil had to wait an hour outside the bar alone.

Compare to other building in the neighbour this one looked fancy, and the bulbs in the entrance was still working, even though two of were flickering ready to retire. Senu led him through the entrance hall to a long dimly lit hallway inside. Rusted brown iron doors lined on either sides. Loud musics, ruckus of fighting and arguments came out of them as they strode further down. In the room Kil heard moaning and pleasure of at least three different voices, uncaring of the world.

At the end of the hallway there were two stairs, one led to the upper floors, on to the underground. They took the dark stairs and came underground. Senu knocked at the metal door at the bottom and told his name.

“Mr. Sayosi,” Bone said, Ogma’s constant companion. “Mr. Wuloc is waiting.”

Senu must’ve phoned Ogma while Senu was drowsing in the car.

The basement had a completely different aura. The noise of the night market died as Bone closed the door along the moaning of the three voices above. They were in a similar but smaller hallway, but cleaner. Kil detected perfume and the fragrance of strong coffee. White bulbs lined the ceiling which made the hall even brighter. It felt like they were in an office building, not in one of the run down buildings of one of the most backward wards of Kuve.

Bone opened a door and ushered them in. A small meeting room. Once, Senu and Kil were seated in the comfy couch, Bone offered coffee.

Both said, “Yes, thank you,” at the same time.

It was another aura in the room. It had red bulbs instead of white and the room smelled of alcohol or spirits. Kil felt like he was in a private cabin in a bar.

Bone came in with three coffees on a tray, set it on the table and left without a word.

Kil picked up a cup. He blushed a little when Senu didn’t pick up his. Kil was a little sleepy from the painkiller. He needed the coffee if he wanted to partake in the conversation between Senu and Ogma. And he had a favour to ask from him.

He drank his coffee.

They didn’t have to wait long for Ogma.

“How’s the day, Mr. Sayosi,” Ogma announced himself. “Killian is it?” 

He sat across from them. He had a brown envelope with him, which he flopped down on the table between them. 

Ogma had white hair, just like Wazu, but cleaner and shorter. He also wore a matching white smart. He looked smart, didn’t look like the sort who would hide in a secret basement. He must be in his late thirties or early forties. Last time, Kil saw him from afar. Now upclose, he noticed a green tint in his eyes.

The Aborigines of Akerin didn’t have white hair or green eyes. 

“Yes. Kil for short.” Kil answered.

“Good name,” Ogma said, bobbing his head.

“Just took care of the thieves,” Senu said.  

“Oh. Good good. Took you longer than I had expected, still good work.”

Senu wasn’t impressed with his words.

“At least we don’t hide in a basement under an old building that disguises as a cheap housing building, in the part of the city where the Magistrate would never look.”

Ogma gave Senu a stern look for a couple of seconds before he let out a fake chuckle.

“C’mon my friend, you know I was joking.”

“I was joking too,” Senu said.

Kil was a fan of jokes. He set down his cup.

“Wazu is in the city,” he said.

Ogma tore his gaze off Senu and turned to Kil. His green eyes lingered over Kil for a long moment, then he leaned back comfortably.

Ogma was always mysterious to Kil. He came into picture just two months ago. He mailed an envelope that contained tips of five school students who visit a cabin in the woods every Saturday, with packages of packed cells which one of the boys stole from his father’s hospital. Senu considered the veracity of the mail for three days before he finally decided to check the kids. The five kids begged not to hurt them. Now they each had a cell in the Rachi asylum.

After that Senu agreed to meet him. The next tip was about an old grandpa who forced his grandchildren to bleed for him behind their parents. It was amazing how Ogma found out before the parents did.

He truly was good at what he does.

“I know Wazu is in the city,” Ogma finally said, his lips curled into a triumphant smile.

Kil wasn’t surprised.

Ogma leaned forward and tapped the envelope on the table. “I put some pieces together. The thieves were the last thing I needed. I did some routine checks of these fellows and the name of the man himself just popped up everywhere. Admittedly this Wazu guy is tricky. Cautious. He hadn’t been to his home town in ten years. He stays at one place for two-three months and move on to the next. The places he decided to stay belongs to all sorts of people; his friends, his victims, his middle-school teachers. About a year ago he stayed at a girl’s apartment for a whole week. She never saw him again. She still hold to the hope the last time I talked to her. Anyway, Wazu is in Kuve. But you might want to act fast.”

He tapped the envelope again.

“Why didn’t you tell me if you knew he was in the city?” Senu asked.

“I wanted to be sure first. We are talking about Wazu here. The man at the centre of every blood dealers and thieves in … probably the whole Akerin.”

“Okay. Where is he?”

Ogma nodded at the envelope.

“Two possible locations. One’s a pub called Blued Eagle, under his fake name. Took me forever to find out the name was Wazu’s alias. The second location is more promising. It’s an old building in Aluv ward. Private property.” 

“How do you find out the locations?”

“Kid, you got yours. I got mine,” Ogma said. “Now, the envelope contained the details of both locations. That's all I could find. The rest is upto you. Wazu is elusive, one whiff of any of you and he’d be gone. And we don’t want to wait another two or thress years, do we? Another thing is, Wazu might be the final point of every minor blood dealers out there, but he must also have a final point where he delivers all the blood he collects. He might be supplying the coven…”

“He is,” Senu said. “The coven is helping him. That’s the only explanation on how he could nowhere and everywhere at the same time. They are powerful. They could be anywhere. It could be the moaning upstairs, or the director sitting in the magistrate office.”

“Okay. If you say so. What I’m thinking is that he might’ve been collecting all this time, just so he could run a pub of leeches.”

“What?” Kil blurted out. 

“What? You never heard of leech pub before?” Ogma was taken aback. “Is he new?”

“I thought you knew everything about me.”

Ogma chuckled again.

“Anyway, my only advice is don’t rush to kill this man if you want to know more about the coven.” 

Ogma stared directly at Kil’s eyes when he spoke this. He leaned back.

 “Where is Grym anyway. I thought he would be coming with you.”

“He said he had other things,” Senu said.

So, Senu had asked Grym, his old roommate, first before he asked him. It hurt a little.

“Interesting fellow, Grym is. I’m sure he is doing his best. That’s it. Is there anything I could do for you gentlemen?’

“I do … accutally have a request,” Kil said.

“Fire away.” Ogma said, leaning back again, his hands resting on the backrest.

“I was hoping if you could help me find my mother.”

“Okay. Tell me more about her,” Ogma said.

“Her name is Siri Wahr,” Kil said.

“Siri Wahr, is her name. She left me and my father before my first birthday. I met her once when I was seven. Never after. I tried looking for her, but it’s like she never existed. I don't know if it’s possible. But I want to know if she is alive.”

Kil produced his phone and showed him a picture that Kil found in his father's phone.

“I’ll do my best.” Ogma said.

“Why do you want to meet your mother, ” Senu asked once they were back in the car. “Kil. I thought you hate her for leaving you.”

Senu was Kil hated his mother for leaving him. But he needed her. Whatever ability father has possessed, the reason why people called him a Wu, had been passed on to him. Father had never talked about this, or disclosed it to anyone. He must’ve a reason for not using it to help people. Kil needed to know. And he could share it with anyone else for now.

“She is my mother, I just want to meet her, tell her father have passed away. Meet her new husband, perhap.”

Senu didn’t believe him. Kil could tell, but he didn’t ask any further questions.

[nyr-nra]

Red Thirst : CH01 Lynchers

The city of Kuve sprawled. The sun had set but it was still alive, like any other day. Cars, bikes, bus and train gave the city a constant buzz, which could be easily ignored. High rises scratched the sky in many places of the city. Huge malls and multipurpose buildings squatted in several locations. The river lisari ran from north to south. 

But Kuve wasn’t the city without shadows. That’s where the leeches lurked waiting for prey. The BLC agents and the city police alike were blind as bats at night. The blood drinkers roamed at night, so did the lynchers.

It’s a moonless night. In dark alleys and backstreets Kil and his Senu had been chasing blood thieves.

Blood trickled down the wrist of the urchin. The thieves had left a shallow but long cut.

The girl with the birthmark on her temple screwed up his face in pain. She was lucky Kil had found her. The thieves had just started bleeding her.

Kil unwound the bandage from his left hand, exposing his hidden scars. He felt vulnerable this way. He wrapped it around the bleeding wrist of the little girl. The girl groaned as he tied the two ends of the bandage.

Kil quickly filled a syringe with a healing serum and injected its pale yellow liquid into the girl’s feeble arm. A single vial wouldn’t heal the cut completely, but she would have less time to heal completely after that. And she would bear the scar.

“Where do you live?”

“Under the rainbow bridge,” the girl replied.

Most homeless and urchins lived under bridges.

Kil heard a babel closing in to their location. He turned to see a dozen men running toward them. Each held a makeshift weapon in hands; sticks, slabs of wood, shovel, iron rod. One had picked up a large stone, and was about to chuck it toward Kil, but stopped as soon as he saw Kil helping the little girl. The clothing of the horde was as ragged and dirty as the girl.

“Father,” the girl called out, running toward them.

A middle aged man spared a glance at Kil first before he devoted his attention to the girl. The rest showed cautious seeing Kil’s half hidden face, clutching their weapon tight and shaking at the same time.

Kil didn’t remove the scarf around his face. It was imperative to keep his identity a secret, Senu had said.

The girl showed her bandaged wrist to the horde of homlesses, relating her story of how the blood thieves cut her wrist and started to take her blood, when the two lynchers show up. 

The ragged man who she called father bobbed his head, and mounted ‘thank you’ to Kil. The rest were still impatient. The girl had her people to take care of her now, Kil could continue his hunting.

He broke into a run, pricked up his ears to pick up any abnormal sounds. He went deeper into the alleys, looking for a chalk mark on the edge of the building at every corner. 

People dawdling and loitering in the alley jumped aside to make way for him, confusion in their eyes. Kil knew he was on the right trail. And as he went further the number of people dwindled.

After dozens of turns, he ended in a less tidy backstreets. Dark, grimy and mouldy walls and pervasive sewage odour. Kil began to understand why the thieves would pick this route.

It was a run down part of the city, they must be outside central Kuve now. The building had less windows, and those that did were dark. Without the moon it was almost completely dark. 

Voices. Not far.

He had to slow down. After a while he found himself in a crossing. He turned right and saw them. In a small space, Senu’s tall shadow closed in on three smaller ones. Tall building loomed on three sides. A deadend. But he was outnumbered.

Kil took a deep breath of determination and walked over.

“Good timing,” Senu said without turning. A scarf hid his face, just like Kil, but his color was blue. His two-inches blades glinted in his hand. A single bulb glowed from a pole nearby.

The three blood thieves took several steps back as soon as Kil joined in. They had also drawn their weapon. One of them had a five-inches blade. One was carrying a leather bag on his back. It was a box shape, which Kil discerned was the freezer that housed the blood they had stolen from homelesses including the little girl.

Anger flaring inside, Kil pulled out his own two-inches blades.

The thief with the big nose spoke first, “The boy with scars on his left arm…” his lips curled into a smile as he faced Senu. “A you, fast, tall with a blue scarf. The leader of the new batch of lynchers.”

The big-nose was the shortest of the three blood thieves. Everyone would be taller than him. Even Kil stood one human head taller.

“So, he isn’t here,” said the one with the leather bag. “Are we in luck?”

The man thought he felt lucky but he was visibly shaking all the same. And stood farthest, closest to the wall, under the dark window. Kil had a feeling he was aiming for escape.

“I heard he stalks alone,” said the matted-hair one, nervously clutching his five-inches blade. His temple gleamed with sweat.

Kil wondered who they were talking about. Seemed to know who they were really frightened of.

“He or not you are all going to the asylum all the same,” Senu said. “All sinners must.”

The matted hair charged. Senu jumped in to fight him, while Kil slowly circled around the big-nose. He had a short blade in his right hand. Unlike his bold friend he waited.

He didn’t flinch nor attack back. Senu had been having fun with the matted-hair over his side. They were just small thieves who carried blades.

Kil lunged forward and swung, the thief tried to dodge but the blade scratched his cheek. It was evident that they weren’t much of a fighter. Kil dashed and punched with his blade. His opponent caught it with his palm, the blade piercing through it.

The thief didn’t wince. When Kil tried to pull his hand back the thief grabbed him over the fist along with the blade, his nails digging into his flesh. He was stronger than he looked. Kil was caught. He couldn’t move.

Kil brought up his right leg fast, and kicked the thief between his legs. There was a loud crack.

He didn’t flinch. He didn’t feel anything. 

It dawned on Kil. The curse of the red thirst not only gave the person an uncontrollable urge to drink human blood, it took away a specific aspect of being a human. Right now Kil was fighting a leech whose ability to feel pain had been snuffed.

A fucking Painless. They were the hardest to fight.

The small thief crooked a smile, and flashed his blade in his hand. Now when Kil couldn't move, he was ready to attack. Before he could use his blade, Kil dropped his right blade and used it to grab the wrist of the thief. He gave all his strength and yanked the small thief hard. Apparently the thief wasn’t a heavy weight. The small thief smacked the wall with a heavy sound. The crack was louder this time.

The thief tried to stand up but his legs failed him. He flopped on the floor, throwing curses at Kil.

“Puny,” Kil muttered.

Kil knelt, picked up his blade again, and raised it high. He was about to bring it down directly into the heart thumping of the thief.

It stopped.

Senu had grabbed his hand. He looked him in the eyes and said, “Don’t.”

“Aish.” Frustrated, Kil lowered his hand. 

“Bind him,” Senu said.

Kil bound the hands and feet of the thief with zip ties, and tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and gagged him as well.

He looked around. Senu’s opponent was lying on the ground, writing and groaning. Groaning. So he wasn’t a Painless. 

“Fearless,” Senu said.

Kil had tied his hands and legs too. Kil could see a long cut on the man’s right cheek, several shallow but long slashed on his chest. His whole front was soaked with his own blood.

The last thief had abandoned the freezer box, and was not trying to climb to the dark window. Not a Fearless.

Kil took a few steps back, launched forward, leaped and stabbed the man on his shoulder blade. He landed back with his feet, but the thief thud the ground with a painful growl.

Neither a Painless.

The thief sat himself up and leaned on the wall. He was trying to reach the handle jutting out of his back.

“Don’t send me to the Asylum. I'd rather die.” 

“As much as I love to kill you,” Kil said. “I can’t. You are lucky. Are you a Bliss?”

The thief nodded.

Blisses were the worst. They drank human blood for pure pleasure. They felt numb or senseless of everything around them whenever they consumed blood. Losing grasp of reality, they emerge in a world of their own. A trip.

Kil hated them the most.

“Why? Why are you doing this to us?” the thief asked, his breathing was ragged, he was sweating profusely.

“Animals shouldn’t live among men,” Kil gave his honest answer.

Kil reached for his blade at the back of the thief. Kil glimpsed a quick movement, and a glint of yellow light, and the thief’s hand flashed his blade and he swung it toward Kil’s neck.

Kil reacted instinctively by raising his left arm. The blade skewered his already scarred forearm, stopping it. Kil felt the tip graze his neck.

“Son of a bitch!”

Kil staggered back. Pain spread to his other part of the body.

Enraged, pulled the blade off, spraying blood all around. Before Senu could stop him, he stabbed the thief's right knee cap.

The wail echoed in the night.

He wrenched his own blade from the back of the scoundrel, gribbed it tight and thrust it to the other kneecap.

The thief’s wailing was louder and more painful. And Kil let him.

Senu had a disappointed look. He didn’t like Kil stabbing leeches in the knees. The serum would heal them, but they would be crippled for more than a year. And if they were in the asylum, there was a chance that workers at the asylum would forget to give them even painkillers, let alone healing serum. They had a reputation for that.

Kil was used to Senu’s disappointment. He promised revenge to the leeches when he brought him from Senggu to the city.

Senu proceeded to gag and bind the thief, while Kil opens the freezer box. He found seven bottles of blood inside. The sight sickened him. The anger was blazing so strong inside him that he wanted to gore the thief’s kneecap all over again.

He picked a bottle and flung it against the wall. It broke, spilling blood and glass pieces all over.

Kil destroyed the rest of the bottles while Senu was extracting information from the three blood thieves. When he was done, the wall turned gory red and the place was stank with raw blood. Although Kil wasn’t sure if the smell of blood was from the bottles or his own arm.

It hurt.

“Where are you taking the blood?” Senu asked the matted-hair man. “Who is buying?”

“Nobody.” the man said.

Senu smacked him hard in the nose. Senu was against killing leeches but he occasionally enjoy hurting them, especially to wring out information.

The thief he howled as his nose broke. Senu raised his fist again.

“Wazu… it’s Wazu.”

Kil’s body reacted on it’s own. 

“Where is he?” he asked, pulling the front of the man’s shirt.

“I don’t know.”

It was a reflex that Kil punched the man’s already broken nose. Blood splashed to his face.

“WHERE IS HE?”

Kil punched two more times, before Senu pulled him back.

“I … don’t…know.”

“Fucking liar.” Kil tried to shake Senu off.

“Enough,” Senu said. “Calm down. We don't have much time. We might’ve already alerted the police.

Kil walked away from the thieves, feeling their eyes on his back.

No one knew about Wazu. It was frustrating. He vanished after he killed his father. For two years Kil had been looking. His name came up a couple of times during this time, but it always ended in a dead end. Today could be the same.

“Does Wazu work for the coven?” Kil heard Senu asking.

“I don’t … know,” came the unison answer in a terrified voice.

A siren blared from the direction of the highway. 

“Listen,” Senu said. “We know who you are, and where to find you. If we meet again in the same circumstances, I won’t be able to stop this boy. You were right about your luck. I wouldn’t be able to stop the other boy.”

But Kil was reluctant to leave yet. 

“They might be lying.”

“If Wazu is in the city, Ogma would know something. These men knew nothing. Wazu is too careful, as usual. We’ve alerted everyone in the building.”

Senu indicated the buildings surrounding the area.

Back in Senu’s car, Kil took a roll of bandage in the glove box and wrapped it around his blood dripping arm.

Then he filled a syringe with the healing serum and jabbed himself in his upper arm. 

Although he failed to find out anything about Wazu, again, he felt little relief that the thieves were finally caught. The police are pretty familiar with the work of lynchers by now. They would find the thieves and test them if they were leeches.

Senu started the car.

“Senu?”

‘Huh?”

“Who were they talking about?”

“Who do you think, it’s your old roommate.”

Kil could see someone’s spirit. He saw’s the spirit of the, bag holder.

In next part as well. 

“The Coven is in Kuve. I can’t tell if Wazu is working for them or with them. But he is important to them.”

Don’t show the tattoo from Ogma, in the next chapter. Hide it.

His wore a loose sleeve, elbow length shirt, He kept the buttons open, they flaped and rustled as he ran against the wind. The summer was ending and the wind was starting to get colder, he found himself wishing for a more thicker shirt or a jacket. The winter in Akerin was ending, but the wind was still chilly at night. Kil regretted not taking his jacket with him.

[nyr-nra]

Red Thirst : CH00

The examiner studied Kil as he was made to stare at the blood in the glass bowl. The bowl was inside a glass box, and three metres from the chair.

Kil knew the examiner was looking for any abnormal alteration in his eyes, nose, and lips. Any sign that showed he wanted to consume the human blood, the examiner would fail him the test and mark him leech on the Arinyr Card.

But Kil knew the bald headed, pumpkin belly middle aged man would get nothing from him. He felt no craving nor the thirst. If anything, he thought he was repelled by the sight of the human blood.

The examiner waved a hand, and his assistant, a slim young girl, walked over, threw a creamy shroud over the glass box, cutting the sight of the blood.

“Turn right,” the examiner said, who was sitting behind the table, playing with a pen.

Kil’s brown Arinyr Card was on the table in front of him.

Any unwanted suggestion Kil gave him, he would punch a seal and sign the second slot of the card as ‘leech’. The next day, BLC officials from Kuve would come and take him to the asylum of the leeches in Rachi.

Kil swivelled on the chair to his right.

In the same distance as the glass box was a bulky monitor on top of a similar iron table. Currently its display was black, but Kil knew what was coming for he had taken this test before when he was only twelve.

The display flickered and something gory replaced the blackness; A man dying, his gut was opened by some ragged blade, its entails were spilled out over his chest and the asphalt.

Kil flinced.

“Eyes on the screen,” the examiner said.

The next video was more grisly. It looked as if it was caught on hidden camera. A little girl of not more than twelve was sawing her wrist a razor, blood spurting all over as she did. Kil had to endure five more similar videos, which he went through with peeled eyes. He had to. One of them had nothing to do with a sharp razor or entails, but a mother feeding blood to her young boy from a glass bowl. The boy drank it as if it were milk. Kil knew he would take some days forgetting it. 

He found himself wondering how his twelve years old self managed to forget all these.

By the time the monitor went black again, Kil’s stomach had been twisted to uncountable knots. This was what the examiner wanted. He wanted to see how he would react. Kil only reacted like a normal human would. 

The BLC should come up with a less grim method to filter out leeches. Maybe a blood taste or by studying a tissue or something. People with the thirst must surely have different biochemistry than normal humans.

The examiner leaned over Kil’s Arinyr Card and scribbled the word ‘pass’ on the second slot, stamped the BLC seal and signed over it. The pretty assistant ushered him outside.

Kil was sure she winked at him in the doorway.

Jiyu and Jie were waiting outside. Kil sat down next to Jiyu. Jie turned twelve this year, so she was taking the test as well. She shivered visibly. Her big sister, Jiyu, was trying to calm her down. “It’s gonna be alright.”

Jiyu was thirteen. She had to wait for her fourteen for her second Arinyr test.

There were around a dozen kids in the waiting room. All of them had either their mother or father or both with them to quell theri anxiety. Kil, Jiyu and Jie had only themselves.

“I heard the new examiner is creepy?” Jiyu asked in a low voice. On hearing her sister question, Jie shrivelled and displayed fear in her eyes.

To Kil’s eyes the examiner wasn’t scary. If anything he was funny looking, with the melon belly and the bald and the bushy moustache.

“I don’t know about that but he got a super hot assistant,'' Kil said, which earned him a stern look from Jiyu.

Jie seemed like she hadn't heard his response, staring at the floor and shaking uncontrollably.

“You have a girlfriend, remember?” Jiyu said pointing at herself, a slender silver bracelet glinted around her tiny dainty wrist.

“I do,” Kil shrugged.

“Jie Tsuyo,” the girl assistant announced.

Jie got to her feet. And made her way..

“Be strong, sister,” Jiyu said.. 

Jie stopped at the door, turned and looked at them. Kil and Jiyu smiled a smile of assurance. Jie smiled back, nervously, and disappeared into the testing room.

Kil remembered drenched in sweat from nervousness on his first test. His father was there that day to comfort him though.

The pretty assistant came out again and headed for the washroom, but not without flashing a smile at four boys in the waiting room. Kil included. But Jiyu hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t alone. Like the rest of the boys who received the smile, Kil grinned dreamily. That earned him an elbow from his girlfriend.

“Ouch.” Kil let out a little too loud.

Few turned their heads, but their gaze lingered not more than two seconds. They had their own worries. If their child failed the test they would take them away to the asylum in Rachi. Kil heard not many return from the forsaken place. He also heard they go crazy there after being forced to endure the thirst for so long. So naturally, none like the idea of bunk in the eerie building in the east Island of Akerin.

The kids were truly frightened too. Especially the twelve years olds. At least they had a parent. Kil’s father was uncaring about the test, and Kil also knew he had nothing to worry about, so he told his father to rest at home. Jie’s parents had a different reason; they forgot.

“You scared?” Kil asked Jiyu.

Jiyu’s scowling vanished, replaced by a face of worry.

“I’m a little bit scared,” she said. “They won’t take away a twelve years old girl, will they? They shouldn’t separate a child from their parents.”

Kil fully knew BLC took leeches of any age, as young as seven for correction, to get rid of the thirst. He also knew enough not to scare Jiyu more by sharing it right now. He put an arm around her, and drew her closer.

“I’m sure Jie is strong.”

Ten minutes later Jie came out, which meant she passed the test lest they would have taken her through the backdoor and locked her in a secluded room. 

Jiyu dashed to her little sister and hugged her. But Jie still looked terrified. She shivered harder as she hugged her sister back. She was teary as well.

Kil didn't understand how people are easily frightened.

“Let’s get away from this creepy place,” Jiyu said. “You hungry Jie?”

Jie bobbed her head timidly.

Kil peddled the bike hard and drove away fast from the Senggu’s clinic where they set up Arinyr test centre for the year. Jie clung to her sister from behind on a seperate bike. They raced to the nearest food stall. They bought currywurst. Kil didn’t have money, so Jiyu paid for three of them. She always helped her mother in the market, so her mother gave her pocket money from time to time. 

They parked their bikes beside the road, flopped down on the grasses, ate their food and watched the sunset. A grass field spread in front of them. Five kids were flying kites in the windy sky. It was late summer, and the heat had abated heralding autumn. The sun was bright red and lonely, casting its last light on the green field and the mountain ranges. It’s Kil’s favorite part of the day. 

“I hate this,” Jiyu said, holding out the food in front of her.

“Then why did you order it?” Kil asked.

“I only ordered it because you two did. I don’t want to be left out.”

Jie munched her food in silence. Her eyes in the distance, as if her mind was somewhere else.

“Nobody forced you.” Kil said.

Jie finished her food, and ran into the field toward the kid. She asked one of the kids to allow her to fly the kite. Once she held the thread she looked happy for the first time of the day.

“In the city,” Jiyu said after a while, “I heard they have the greatest food. And one can easily find work.” 

“I heard the cities are dangerous, especially in the capital,” Kil said. “ I thought you wanted to become a writer, plus you’re only thirteen. You can’t find work..”

“ I’m not talking about now. Maybe when I’m fifteen. I can’t find work then. My dream to become a writer is also the reason why I need to leave Senggu. In Kuve I could study creative writing and work part time to pay for it.”

“Leave then,” Kil said. “My father and I are staying here for a while. Father loves Senggu, so do I.”

“Yes, it’s a good town for farmers and florists and the like.” she said. “But not for someone like me with dreams. My parents were born in Senggu, so did their parents. I don’t want to end my life here. You won’t understand anyway. You don’t have a dream. You and your father came here to rot and perish.” 

“Father said we never had a home before we settled here,” Kil said. “He always said how lucky we were that his friend gave us a place we could call home.”

“You are at your destination. I’m still at my starting point. You’ve left your cage, I’m still in mine.”

“Leave then,” Kil said again.

“I CAN’T,” Jiyu said. “I can’t leave Jie with my parents. Father came drunk yesterday and fought with mother. We hid in the closet again.” 

Jiyu sniffed. There was silence for a while. 

“And I can’t leave you too,” Jiyu said after composing herself. “You are my boyfriend now, aren’t you. You promised, remember?” Jiyu held her silver bracelet in front of him.

Jiyu’s mother was a n’ra woman. According to their culture girls get a bracelet called a maiden bracelet at the age of twelve. Jiyu said, back in the days it marked the legal age for a girl to be allowed to court boys. Or it indicated the girl was ready to receive a proposal. Jiyu ran to him the day she got it and she asked him to kiss her on the lips.

It was their first.

They also promise to always stay together.

“Let's say I’ve a dream,” Kil said. “What if I left town to pursue it. What will you do then?”

“I’ll come with you. We promise to stay together. That’s what we will do, right.”

“Right.”

The sun had set, the twilight had settled. In the field, Jie was flying the kite. A kid, probably the owner of the kid, was tugging at her skirt. But she wouldn’t let go of the thread reel. Some girls had also come out and were now capering in the field.

“Let’s fly,” Kil said to Jiyu.

“No. It’s getting dark. Let’s go home.”

But Kil had already started running down toward the field. Jiyu was calling his name behind him. 

“Come,” he yelled back, “let’s see who flies hi…”

Kil stumbled on a hard stone and tumbled forward headfirst. He dove headlong to the field filled with pebbles and gravels, and slid for a whole metre before he stopped. He flipped over, saw the blue sky. He saw two kites in his vision. His forehead hurt. He reached it with his hand. “Ouch!” he jerked it back as the pain doubled when touched. Little blood came on the tips of his fingers.

“Kil brother,” Kil heard Jie’s voice. And a loud laugh of Jiyu’s voice.

Jie’s head appeared in his vision, looking down at him.

“You okay?” 

Kil sat up on the damp and rough surface. Somehow his bad luck had brought him to a grass free, but stony area. Jiyu was a few metres away. She doubled over and guffawed. Kil started to snicker at his own folly. Three kite runners who had seen him diving were cackling too, pointing hands at him. 

The only one who truly worried about him was Jie. But Jiyu also stopped laughing when she saw the blood trickling down his face. The sisters pulled him up, and they came home.

On the way, Jiyu bought a bottle of water, and cleaned the injury, and his face.

“Take a stick as soon as you get home,” Jiyu said. “Don’t worry there won’t be any scar. It’s minor.”

Kil wasn’t worried much. They drove merrily as before back home. It was almost completely dark when they reached their gate.

“See you tomorrow, Killian brother,” Jie said. Jiyu simply smiled a goodbye of the day.

 The two sisters went through their wooden fence gate. Next to Tsuyo’s gate was Kil’s iron fence gate. He pushed his bike inside, and parked the bike in the shed near the gate. He saw the shadow of his father through the semi-transparent glass of the greenhouse. He must be watering his flowers. He went into the house quickly to look at a mirror.

A thin red line one-and-half inch, started from the corner of his forehead and slanted toward his left eyebrow. He must’ve grazed the sharp edge of a stone. The blood had dried up. It was a minor cut, nevertheless it would leave a scar if he didn’t take a healing serum within twelve hour. From the cupboard, he took out the small metallic box in which they kept their serums. He set it down the round eating table and flopped himself down on a chair.

He picked out the syringe first, and started looking for serum vials. But there were only empty vials.

“We ran out of serum a week ago,” father said from the door.

Father came in limply, supported by a walking stick. His father was in his sixties, but he looked much older, with all his hair gone white, and the walking stick to help his impaired leg. 

Father limped over, squinted his eyes at his son’s temple, studying the shallow cut.

“Hmm,” he said, displaying little concern. “I’ll get one or two tomorrow morning. Does it hurt? You could use my painkillers.”

Kil had a reason not to believe his father’s word. And he would need a healing serum in twelve-hour if he wishes to avoid a scar on his forehead.

The healing serum or SOMA serum could heal any wounds and injuries, given one inject it everyday until it completely heals. It also healed faster than normal human healing speed. It could even grow a severed limb if the person could afford a vial everyday for at least ten months. And the best thing about SOMA is that the wound wouldn’t leave any scars.

“You’ll get it tomorrow morning!,” he couldn’t hide the frustration in his voice. “Where would you get money to buy it?”

Kill pulled his left sleeve to his elbow, revealing seven old scars in his forearm. It marred his rather smooth skin, “Remember when you made the same promise?” Kil said. 

In Akerin, in the era of SOMA serum, the beggars, the urchins and those who were so poor that they couldn’t afford a vial of healing serum had visible scars. A scar on his brow was tantamount to announcing, ‘I’m poor. I’m poor.’ Kil could hide the scars on his arm, even if he had to wear long sleeves every season. But he couldn’t walk into the school campus with one on the brow however small and short it was.

“I have some flower plants I could sell early tomorrow,” father said.

“Your stupid flowers couldn’t fetch five-hundred ged let alone hundred ged for a nice meal.”

His father knew he was right.

“I’ll get a vial, I promise,” father said. “Let me put this bandage over it for now.”

Kil let him, fuming. The bandage might be useful for now.

“How’s the test?” Father asked, cleaning the scar with spirit and the skin around it.

“Nothing.”

“Jie’s?” father asked again, putting the adhesive bandage over the cut.

Father didn’t ask about Jiyu last year when she gave her test. But he was always fond of little Jie. Kil found himself wishing his father liked Jiyu as much as he liked Jie. Then he immediately realized how childish the thought was.

“Nothing,” Kil said.

“Let’s eat dinner.” father said. “I’ve prepared your favorite …”

“I’m not hungry,” Kil said, still mad at his father. “I’m off to bed.”

Kil left his poor father alone and came to his room.

Lying on the bed, Kil could hear the sound of an argument coming from Jiyu’s house. They must be having dinner. Her parents always fought while eating. Kil wondered how could Jiyu and Jie eat in the yellings and cursings. Or they might be skipping dinner and lying on the bed like him now.

After a while, father knocked on his door and called his name. Kil pretended to sleep and didn’t say anything. “I’ll keep the painkillers in the kitchen, if you want them,” father said. “Good night.”

The scars on his left arm had been a constant object of frequent ridicule from his classmates. He had to wear long sleeves even in summer to avoid them. Kil was mad his father for not being a competent father. He couldn’t wait to be fifteen. Then he would find a job. He would take whatever works that pay.

Kil found himself recalling Jiyu’s desire to live in the city. We could live together in Kuve, Kil thought. Kuve must be expensive to live, plus he had to wait until Jiyu turned fifteen. That’s two years.

What about father? He could do it all by himself. He pretty much was alone all the time.

Jiyu’s parents' fighting became louder. Kil wished it would intensify. Then Jiyu and Jie would come here, and they could spend the night together.

But the argument died after about half an hour.

Kil sat upright. A sudden idea came. His friend Mik who worked at the gas station told him about it.

He could bleed.

No matter what the government did to wring out leeches from the crowd, they still managed to avoid their claws. They would rather live like a rat rather than sharing a cell with two others in the asyl. But they needed to drink blood to quench their thirst, lest the throes would kill them. Mik mentioned a travelling blood dealer who came a few days ago, and now currently put up in the Butchers’ Alley. He said he had to sell his blood to pay for his father’s hospital fee. He even shared the secret passcode to get to the dealer. Kil could sell his blood tonight and easily buy a vial of serum tomorrow morning.

How many units of packed cells could a boy bleed? How much could he get for one unit?

It didn’t matter, the dealer might know.

Kil jumped off the bed with new hope, but little excitement. He paused. 

Selling blood for leeches was one of the cardinal sins. He would be a sinner. It’s a crime under Bureau of Leech Control’s book. But the BLC wouldn’t know. He hadn’t known Mik was a sinner until he revealed it himself.

No one would know. 

It was near midnight when Kil finally made a decision. He put on his jacket and walked down the stairs barefoot, careful not to wake up his father. He closed the door slowly, and put on his shoes.

Minutes later he was pedaling fast toward the market in the eerily dead night. He reached the town’s market in ten minutes. It was eerily quiet in the market, but bulbs from the poles illuminated almost every corner. Kil winded his way through stalls the vendors left. If someone was still awake and looking out the window from a tall building nearby, they might assume Kil was a thief. 

 He parked his bike at the mouth of Butchers’ Alley. A single red bulb flickered above a metal door that stood beside a butcher shop. Kil took a deep breath and knocked.

Nothing.

He knocked again.

Nothing.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

The passcode!

“I’m looking for White ... Tiger,” Kil said, his voice shaking.

Is white tiger real!

A soft clang from the other side, and the door opened a fraction. A gaunt face appeared in the crack.

He stared down at Kil, as if waiting for something else.

“Mik sent me here,” Kil said.

“Come on in.”

The man wore a shabby light blue suit, and was almost twice as tall as Kil. Kil stared up and down at the man, and he seemed to have out of proportion legs. He didn’t look Akerinian. Must be a foreigner.

The long-legs closed the door behind him and led Kil down a dim stairs.

The place stank of meat and blood. Kil wasn’t sure if it was because he was in the butcher house or the blood dealer had collected so much blood that the place smelt of it.

“You’re lucky, the man leaves tonight.” long-legs said, as they walked down the stairs.

They stopped at a thick metal door. Even though Kil stood three steps above the stairs, the man looked down at him.

“After tonight, you never talk about this. Understand.” It was an order.

Kil bobbed his head. It was understandable. To assist another sinner made him a sinner too. And sinners were always scared.

The man knocked three times. Few seconds later the door opened, and the blood dealer appeared. 

The dealer’s hair was white, his eyebrows and goatee were white too. It was dim inside the room, but Kil could see the man’s clean shirt and waistcoat. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He looked smart for a sinner.

“I’m not done with the old man,” the white hair man said.

“I can wait,” Kil said.

“What’s your name kid?” the white hair man said.

“Killian. Killian Vidar.”

The white hair man seemed taken aback by his name. He squinted his eyes and looked at him. Kil regretted telling his family name. The blood dealer tried to close the door behind him, but not before Kil saw the old man he was talking about.

“FATHER!”

Kil pushed the door guard and the dealer aside and rushed into the room. His father’s lips were taped, and he was tied to a chair. Multiple needles with blood tubes jabbed into his arms and neck. The blood tube connected to blood packages which were collected in a small portable fridge at his foot.

They were draining his father. His skin was pale from losing too much blood. And he looked extremely weak. His weary eyes searched for his son.

He mumbled something, but the tape was muffling him.

“Father, what are you doing here,” Kil said, trying untie the rope from behind.

His father looked worried, and he was trying to say something. Kil pulled the tape. 

“You shouldn’t … be … here,” father managed the words with great effort.

The tall man grabbed Kil from behind, and the dealer shut the door loud. Kil tried to shake free. Even though the man looked weak he was freakishly strong.

“Hold him,” the dealer said. “If we are lucky, he might be just like his father.”

Tha lanky man pinned him down now.

“Let me go... Let me gooo.”

The man pressed his knee harder, and with one hand he pushed Kil’s face to the dirty floor. With his other hand he stretched out Kil’s right hand, and held it firm.

“Don’t touch my kid,” Kil’s father yelled.

The blood dealer knelt down beside them. A blade glinted in his hand. Before Kil could say anything, the dealer jabbed the tip of the blade to his palm and dragged it across the palm.

Kil resisted the pain. It was nothing.

The dealer picked up his hand, and sucked blood from his palm.

“You dirty leech,” Kil said.

The dealer spat.

“What a disappointment,” the dealer said and turned away.

“Help help,” Kil began to shout. “Somebody help.”

They didn’t even try to stop him. Then he realised why. They were in the basement. There was no window or ventilators. No one would hear them. It looked like they made the room for the purpose of bleeding.

Fucking sinners.

“Please leave my son alone,” Kil’s father said.

“Powder him and put him in the butcher’s room.” the dealer said to the lanky man.

“Jirin Vidar, I want to make a …”

“Why did you abduct my father?” Kil said.

“We didn’t,” said the lanky man, pulling him up. “He came by himself. Just like you.”

The realisation hit him. His father came here to sell blood, so that he could buy healing serum with the money. His father had resolved to walk the path of sinners just so his son could avoid a tiny scar. So that Kil could go to school without shame. Now the sinners were going to drain him dry.

“LET HIM GO,” Kil screamed.

Long-legs let go of him, and kicked him on his back. Kil flew and hit the wall. It hurt, but his mind was about his father. The white hair blood dealer was now muttering just for him.

He pushed himself up. Long-legs came up to him, and blew a some white power to his face. It stunk his eyes, and within seconds started to see blurs. Then he fell on the floor.

He drifted into sleep, his eyes met his father. The eyes of a poor man who had been working so hard for his son. 

When Kil came to consciousness, he found himself in a pool of blood. The blood dealer was gone, long-legs wasn’t there. Kil couldn’t tell how long he had been out. The door to the room was opened, natural light from the room upstairs came through it.

Kil turned his head, and his heart sank.

His father was still in the chair. He still had the tape over his mouth, but he was free from the rope. The needles and the blood tube and the packed cells were gone along with the mini fridge. The blood Kil had been sleeping came from his father’s throat which had been open from ear to ear. His whole body was drenched in his own blood.

Kil held his dead father in his arms, and he screamed.

“FATHER.”

And the feeling he felt was a mixture of agony and pure hatred toward all the leeches in the world.