A small issue is not an issue.

Wolves

I woke up in the morning with a terrible headache. My brain bounced back and forth in my skull as if it wanted to break out from there. My stomach made loops, and I got my hand in front of my mouth every five minutes so I wouldn't throw up in bed.

I took deep breaths and massaged my temples as I tried to figure out what the heck had happened last night. It wasn't an easy task; it was just like trying to remember the night after the most brutal hangover of my life. The images slowly surfaced, and I finally managed to piece together the events.

Did I accidentally smoke a joint or two? There is no fucking way that I would do so much bullshit overnight in my right mind!

I felt something move next to me. The unholy demon cat made my life more damn miserable as it drilled its head into my side and poked me with its nose. I planned to fall asleep again, but when, despite several, threatening growls, the abomination didn't stop disturbing my beauty sleep, I sat up in bed cursing.

"May the devil take you!"

The cat stared persistently at me with its huge eyes, certainly wanting to tell me something telepathically, but I wasn't very moved by this, because it was boldly sitting on my bed. I pushed it to the ground with a rough motion the next moment. A cat should know its place!

My gaze slid lazily toward the other bed not far away, where Alex was still asleep dreaming peacefully, true to his habit of lying almost completely across the bed. Unlucky bastard.

I rolled off my bed, searched the bottom of it, and finally found the cigarette. A pack of chewing gum can do wonders, believe me. I had to hide my cigs well because Alex hates the smell of them, and if he manages to find them, he'll destroy them mercilessly not even slightly caring about my opinion regarding this.

The enchanted mistletoe proved to be surprisingly effective. It successfully kept Alex away from my cigarettes. Every time he sniffed the smell of the tobacco, the magic power of the mistletoe simply made him forget it. I was reminded of the gypsy girl named Luna and I truly considered becoming a regular customer.

Going back to the topic, I'm not a chain smoker at all, but blood screws me up. Seriously. It's alright while I am sipping it, but I'll pay double the price for it the next day. Three drops of scarlet fluid and an all-day-long headache is guaranteed with a little bit of nausea as a bonus. In any case, cigarettes help a little in alleviating the aftereffects.

I was taking my steps carefully, on the one hand, because I was dizzy, and on the other hand, because that purring demon cat persistently wanted to make me trip every so often. Anyway, I opened the front door in complete peace of mind so I could puff a cig... But the next moment, the prepared cigarette fell out of my grip.

That day Alex woke up to screaming that strongly resembled the wailing of a banshee.

The wolf worriedly rushed in the direction of the sound, which would have been hard to call my own, hitting such a high octave. Even seconds later, I was just looking at the paper money resting on the top step.

Alex asked what was wrong, but I simply pointed to the piece of paper on the cold concrete. He picked up the money and then sniffed the air. Even I could faintly smell the gremlin kid's smell. How in the deepest depths of hell did that little shit find me?!

That was the moment the wolf spotted the cigarettes as well. He immediately snatched the box from my hands and slammed it to the ground, then trampled on it a few times to achieve the desired effect.

I have to admit, after the initial shock, my reaction to this was not quite pretty. Alex remained silent and just put up with it, had he done anything else besides this, he would have to bear serious consequences. After I cursed all his ancestors and vowed to take revenge, I marched back into the house.

It took half an hour for Alex to gather the courage to come after me. I sat on the bed in the room and massaged my temples. I looked up at him, and he knew from my killer gaze that now was the time to apply the put-down-the-cocoa-and-slowly-very-slowly-back-away behavior.

There was one good thing in the day, though: it was called Friday, the last weekday. The fact that I only had to survive six hours of school until the weekend somewhat improved my otherwise disgusting mood.

By the way, after the vampires left, something changed. Sure, it wasn't directly related to them, but after four wet days, the rain finally stopped. The sun was shining, its rays drying the puddles, and trying to burn my retina, yet I, now, somehow rejoiced in the warm shine that caressed my skin. The temperature was also pleasant, a gentle breeze ruffled my hair and brought friendly scents. As we walked, the street no longer looked scary at all, the strange, terrifying darkness that hid in the shadows disappeared without a trace.

Coffee didn't come in for the first lesson. She told Jo that she was going to the doctor, but really, except for the human girl, we all knew what the real reason was: in our biology studies, we just reached the moment when we had to talk about blood. Now think about what it's like to start talking about cakes in front of a dieting woman — she wants to taste it right away. Well, vampires are also pretty similar.

I noticed that if I uttered the word "blood" in front of Coffee, she would shake noticeably. I wonder how many times I would have to say it to break her will and make her attack the human closest to her. Would seven be enough? Or would it take more for her to abandon all reason? In the end, I decided these thoughts would remain mere fantasies — I didn't want to challenge the anger of a vampire. Unfortunately, everyone's favorite ice princess arrived by the second lesson.

On that particular Friday, another very uplifting thing happened: I watched with pleasure as Alex bit into the sandwich he had made in the morning and then swallowed the evil little bite with a reddened head, half choking. He glanced at me with flashing eyes as he gulped down a bottle of water like crazy.

I was eating my slice of pizza quite satisfied with this outcome while Alex shouted all of his curses at me in alphabetic order and then backward. He hates spicy flavors, and I technically filled his sandwich with hot sauce, but well, he deserved it! That box of cigarettes was not cheap at all, he needed to pay for it.

"So, what are your plans for the long weekend?" Jo asked.

"I work on Saturday and Sunday," I said.

"We could go somewhere together, all five of us," she mused, "We never go on class trips."

I found her incredibly cute as her ears blushed. Oh yeah, Alex and I usually were broke, Alice didn't really like class trips, Coffee didn't go because Jo wasn't there, and Jo got sick twice in a row just before the trips. Although I basically didn't give a shit about the whole thing, I remember how lethargic Jo was when she missed it.

Alex's eyes lit up. As they looked at each other with the girl, I guessed they wordlessly made an alliance to convince the rest of the team. I just sighed deeply. Ignoble vampires are rioting in the city, but they plan to hike. Are they out of their minds? – I thought. At least, Alex definitely was.

(....)

Unsurprisingly, my workplace had the most customers on Fridays and Saturdays. By the time the clock struck two in the morning, I was ready to give up the ghost there and then and resign along the way. My eardrums almost got ruptured, because of the loud banging of that track about an albatross that was so hit lately. Music like this usually enters through your ears and then comes out through your eyes. Because you are bored to tears.

The brasserie was full of life, I mean young people — the small pub could barely accommodate them, there were so many. This, of course, meant for me both better pay and a week-long muscle spasm.

Then the man, who never failed to sour my life, arrived. Geri easily made his way among the alcohol-smelling youths rocking to the rhythm to get to me. My gut feeling told me that he would show up soon.

"Hello, honey," he sat down on one of the bar stools and I would have liked to grab his throat on the spot. Well, I was raised to be patient. There won't always be enough eyewitnesses to defend his shitty ass.

"How can I help you?" I said rather than greeting.

"Come on, you're having a bad day, dear Shay?" he asked, then added that just the usual.

I filled the glass feeling nauseous and tried not to think about how much I would like to drown the man in that one glass of whiskey.

"Thank you," he raised his glass and then drank its contents in one big gulp.

"Why did you come?" I inquired, a little more unfriendly than I had planned.

"Where's the stone?"

He did not beat around the bush and immediately got to the point. His words had never sounded so harsh. There was no trace of his usual, gentle smile on his face as his eyes flashed with a dangerous light. Somehow, sometimes, humans can be quite scary, too. Sometimes it's really hard to decide whether to be more afraid of monsters or of those who hunt them down.

"It was stolen," I answered simply.

I knew from his gaze that he didn't believe me.

"I'll tell you what's the deal, dear Shay," he said, with a dangerous edge in his voice. "So far, you've managed to survive because you have great connections and you're useful. But as soon as you do more harm than good, you become worthless. Do you understand what that means?"

He looked me hard in the eye, but I stood my ground.

"Well, knowing this, what's your answer?"

"The stone was stolen," I repeated, looking into the onyx eyes that absorbed all light.

The man sighed deeply, then smiled again, as if the previous scene hadn't happened.

"Well, who stole it?" he asked, gesturing with his hand for another glass of alcohol.

"Vampires," I declared, "while I was fighting a goblin, they took it from the boy. I followed them to the dormitory, I fought with several of them there, but I didn't find the stone in the end."

"I see," he nodded and drank the glass of whiskey. "Why did you hide the boy? You know him?"

"He owed me one."

I had to say something.

"Now, he owes you two," the hunter replied, "is it better now?"

I did not answer.

"Make sure this won't happen again, Shay," Geri said. "The Crosspherate doesn't like disobedient pets."

"Say it again," I told him in an ominous voice, "and I'll bite your throat here and now, in front of everyone."

The previously ear-splitting music, as if suddenly completely faded, I couldn't hear it anymore, only the sound of the man's accelerating heartbeat drumming in my ear. Though the humans were rocking around us the same way as before, the two of us froze — no one cared about us. 

The hunter was surprised, his eyes slightly widened. I've always been known for my calmness and prudence, which is why he loved working with me — maybe he might have thought I was under his control. But a real monster is not easy to tame. When he saw flames of anger burning in my eyes and my uncovered canines, he swallowed hard. He knew my abilities well, better than anyone else.

When I was eight, he was nineteen and a young hunter. The Crosspherate appointed him to train and to keep me under his control. I never forgot the hatred I felt for him at the time — nor did I forget that he was one of the few who didn't see me as a monster. When no one heard it, he spoke kind words to me, when no one saw it, he disinfected and treated my injuries, which were too severe to heal immediately.

Then after my mother's death, I didn't see him for years until he suddenly appeared in the pub. I recognized him immediately despite the years that had passed. At the time, I thought they would kill me right away, but in the end, he just sat down and ordered whiskey. All he did that day was to send his men to the other side of the pub and ask what had happened to me. I didn't understand the relief in his eyes as he sipped his drink. Leaving the Crosspherate is a deadly sin. 

Yet that day, after paying for the drinks, he left with his men, waving quietly goodbye to me. He came the next day again, as he did the third day. He made me his informant so the hunters couldn't touch me. Even though I kept saying the opposite, I was grateful for what he did. This was the reason why he was still alive, despite what he said. I've always been a proud monster. Even if I'm cautious of the Crosspherate, a small team of hunters isn't enough to scare me.

When he shook his head, I hid my canines again.

"I don't want you to die," he finally said. "Next time, I won't be able to prevent the execution squad from being sent after you."

"Don't worry, I'd run away," I said, chuckling softly.

He smiled too.

"I have no doubt about this," he nodded.

I filled another glass of whiskey and pushed it in front of him. "I'll treat you for that."

The man glanced gratefully at me, then drank the contents of the glass with one large gulp.

"There's one more thing," he added. "I want to warn you."

"Against what?" I raised one of my eyebrows.

"Plenty of wolves have gathered in the city, and the full moon is approaching," Geri declared. "Watch out for your werewolf friend. That pack is lurking nearby."

My fingers clenched into fists.

"What's their purpose?"

The hunter shrugged. "I have no idea. In any case, they are suspicious."

I nodded. I completely agreed.

"By the way, is that cat under your protection?" he asked it suddenly, which surprised me a little.

"No, why?"

"Because he's standing behind one of the windows," he replied.

Geri's abilities only got even sharper over the years. Without looking behind himself, he was able to sense the cat kid. As soon as a pair of green eyes met mine, the boy hid behind the wall. This feels like deja vu... I hate troublesome things. And this kid is trouble himself. There's no way I'll get involved with him again. Anyway, it's not raining right now, so it's completely fine for him to be outta there.

"So, we can catch the kid and take him to the Crosspherate, right?" he said, "If he's not under your protection, I think I'll go and...

He would have been ready to stand up when I grabbed his wrist.

"Okay, he's under my protection, just stay put," I interrupted him.

A victorious grin appeared on the man's lips.

"Anyway, did I mention that yesterday our mediums perceived strange energies around one particular hospital? Interestingly, the child's guardian was hospitalized right there..."

"If you knew, why did you ask, idiot?" I interrupted him again as I wiped glasses and served the guests who came up to me.

"It was fun," his grin widened, "and I was curious how you'd explain it."

"For me, it wasn't..."

"Back to the point, I can still take care of the wolf and the cat but promise me not to adopt any more stray animals," Geri said. "I know you have a huge heart, but there is a limit to my influence.

"Likewise, there is a limit to my patience," I added.

He dropped a piece of paper money on the counter, then stood up and gave me one last, serene look.

"You did well," he assured me. "It's not a shame to have emotions, they make us human."

"I'm not human. I'm a monster."

My voice sounded more bitter than I would have liked.

"It's not our blood that determines who we are, little Shay," he smiled. "We can't choose our parents, but what we do is our responsibility."

"Oh, for God's sake, just leave already," I snapped. "I'm tired of your lukewarm sentimentality. Next time you want to make an emotional speech, spare me, and look for someone else!"

But I contradicted my words as there was a smile hidden in the corners of my mouth.

"All right, all right," he waved. "I won't be bothering you anymore."

Geri looked towards the window again as he smiled kindly. The owner of the emerald eyes, noticing the gesture, disappeared from behind the glass again. I could still hear the hunter growling under his nose something along the lines that he couldn't believe that such a scaredy cat had robbed an emerging new king, and then the noisy crowd swallowed him. I shook my head as I sighed deeply. I agreed with the man, it really seemed impossible.

Not even a minute passed after the hunter left, and I could already hear the soft, slightly hoarse voice.

"I'd like some cocoa."

That damned gremlin kid! I didn't even notice when the imp sat down on one of the chairs. At that moment, I began to understand how he could achieve even the impossible. I've almost forgotten that cats are famous for their unnoticeable footsteps.

He waved some money in front of me with a tiny smile; I snatched the paper from his hand and then set out to make his drink.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I pushed the steaming, brownish liquid in front of him. "Ordinary children sleep at night and don't drink cocoa in a pub."

"If you didn't work in a shabby place like this, I wouldn't be here," he said calmly, then took a sip of his drink.

Spite him! This brat is even insolent on top of everything!

"Interestingly, when you were half-dead, and a group of vampires and who knows what kind of creatures were chasing you, you were thinking about this place quite differently," I stated.

"It was yesterday," he shrugged. "Today's today."

Seriously, this is why I don't like kids.

"So, what brought you here?" I asked, resting my head on my hand.

He looked up at me slowly.

"My feet." Seriously, the kid gets on my nerves. "And I have nothing else to do."

You son of a mother!

"And, wouldn't you be able to enjoy doing nothing elsewhere?" I asked with a smile.

He glanced to the side nervously, but after gathering up some courage, he led his emeralds back to my face.

"You make delicious cocoa," he replied, then cleared his throat so that his voice didn't sound so thin. "That's the only reason I came here for."

"I see, I get it," I said, then when a customer slammed into the counter, repeating, 'A beer, dude!', turning away from him, I served the smelly teenager.

"Hunters will leave you alone, but don't cause too much trouble again, okay?" I added.

He nodded silently, then sipped his drink. When he was done, he handed the mug to me in the company of another five hundred forints.

"I'd rather not ask where you'd got the money from," I sighed.

There was a sly smile on the little thief's lips. "If you need something, just tell me and you can take it as yours! There's nothing I can't steal."

"I thought so," I shook my head in disapproval.

At the end of my shift, which meant two o'clock in the morning, I turned to the kid, who didn't disappear even after two cocoa, and though he no longer ordered anything, he watched me silently as I worked.

"Where do you live?" I asked, grabbing my jacket. "I'll walk you home."

"It's not necessary." He shook his head, "I sleep at a new place every night."

Getting rid of the hunters didn't mean the monsters would stop hunting him; the boy was aware of this — a really smart brat. In any case, his face finally had some color, he seemed to have rested and eaten a little, well, at least he wasn't emitting a repulsive stench, which made my stomach calmer near him.

"Why did you take the risks of coming here?" I inquired.

"I already told you," he replied. "I'm bored."

Seriously, are kids today addicted to adrenaline, or they just don't realize they're constantly playing with fire?

"Don't come near the pub too often," I warned him. "Not only humans are coming here."

"Don't you say," he glanced at me, convincing even me of my own mental disability. The little imp has a lot of nerve to anger me like this!

"All right, then good night and I hope I'll never see you again," I said, heading home.