Death is not sufficient punishment.

In thrall

I came back home. June lay on the floor. Henrik was still furious with her. Hazel was probably in her room writing some math problems, not caring what was going on in the living room, and Alex hadn't come home yet. Great.

"Brother, you're overreacting. June just scared the girl a little. Erica already knows everything. Absolutely everything. Leave June alone."

"What did you tell her?" Henrik asked, slightly frightened.

"Everything."

June lay on the floor, barely conscious. If I didn't know her, I would tell myself she needed help, but it's still June. Her anger is greater than any other feeling. She managed to reach for a knife and stabbed Henrik in the shoulder. He fainted. Either the knife was sticking deep into his shoulder or a rather fierce fight had taken place.

"i***t," she said to Henrik.

"That's enough. Stop. I'm not going to clean the blood on the floor and the furniture."

"Don't worry. When Henrik recovers, he'll clean up." June smiled and dripped into her room.

I went to my room and started painting. I like to draw. It's reassuring. About fifteen minutes later there was a sound of a door opening. Alex was home. He entered my room. He was wearing a white shirt and black jeans. His shirt wasn't buttoned up. There was blood on the white-collar.

"Are you painting again? How don't you get bored?"

"How come you don't get tired of teasing me?"

Alexander left my room.

When I paint, time passes imperceptibly. Almost five hours had passed. I was starving, so I went out to choose a victim. It wasn't very dark outside, and there were still people wandering the streets. One of them was Erica.

I went to her. She had a bleeding wound that kept me from concentrating. Erika looked at me.

"Cole, your eyes ..."

I blinked a few times and tried to ignore her wound.

"I'm fine. What happened to you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The wound on your arm," I explained.

"I stumbled and fell."

"Your heart rate quickened. You lied to me."

"Nothing serious happened. Don't worry."

"You won't be able to lie to me, Erica."

"Well ... Me and my luck ... I was bitten by a vampire. Or I think he was a vampire. I don't know. I didn't see much of his face. It was a man and he was wearing sunglasses, which is weird because it's evening."

"Stay here. I'll be there in a minute."

I ran to him. Vampires have a very strong sense of smell. The scent of vampires is quite different from that of humans. To explain it, to understand it - vampires smell like the dead. Of course, there is no difference for people.

I found him. He was in a restaurant. The restaurant was full of human corpses. God, he was a ripper. Rippers are extremely feral, predatory vampires, and far more savage and beast-like than their human appearance suggests. Unlike the average vampire, the enjoyment of hunting and terrorizing humans are far more entertaining to rippers, as they destroy the lives and sever the limbs of humans without hesitation or remorse.

"What are you doing here? Geo away! I don't share food." said the ripper.

"You feed on my friend. I'm here to kick your ass."

He laughed and punched me. The blow was weak. I twisted his arm and pushed him to the ground.

"I'm older than you. There's no way you can beat me." I said.

"What do you want from me?"

"I'm not a fan of rippers. I want to kill you, but I'm just going to break your neck because I'm not going to clean up your mess. Tomorrow I'll check to see if there are still corpses of people here, and if there are any, you're in trouble."

I did as I told him.

On my way to Erica, I spotted a blond woman as a victim. Her blood was unique.

I went to the place I told Erica to be, but instead, I found a stranger with blood on his hands. Or he was not a stranger. He seemed familiar to me.

"Are you looking for the girl? Well, too bad." He said.

"Where is she?" I asked.

" In thrall." Answered the guy.

"Leave her alone or ..."

"Or what?" The guy asked with great sympathy.

"I like your question, but you won't like my answer."

"Don't do nonsense, Cole. Think about the consequences."

"What did you do to Erica."

"Nothing, she's fine. For now."

"Leave her alone!"

"Why? Tell me one reason to do it. Just one."

"What do you want from me?"

"From you - to suffer. I promised to make your life miserable after what happened seventy-five years ago. I keep my promises." He turned his back on me and left.

Matteo, my cousin. He is also a vampire. I killed his girlfriend Alexia more than seventy years ago. I had to do it. Her family was firmly against ours. Alexia's family was witches. Although she herself was not, she had to die, too. Either we would kill them or they would kill us. Matteo was obviously blinded by his love and could not see that they couldn't be together. Since then, he has vowed to make my life a nightmare.

We, vampires, are pretty fast. We can outrun a car with ease. We run at about 300 mph. I crossed Mateo's path. And before he knew it, I was in front of him.

"Tell me where Erica is or I'll kill you."

"Are you threatening me? Be careful who you pick on! "

Matteo rested a silver knife on my neck. Little by little, the silver burned my skin.

"I know you won't kill me, Mateo. We are all the same. All Addams. Death is not enough punishment for our enemies. We want something more. Suffering. To hear your enemy suffer. Not to give him peace."

Matteo went on his way again without saying anything.