I strolled through ghostly silent corridors, enjoying the massacre I created. Truth to be told, I wanted more as the Wolf Street Gang was indeed lacking in size. But so far, I didn´t see anyone who could even remotely challenge me to a fair fight. Well, thus far, I mostly fought against overly brave combatants and the few guards they left behind.

They were probably a bit too proud of their abilities to pick out any followers whenever they went home and probably didn´t even consider someone of their own ranks betraying them.

After I looked into every room and couldn’t find any more rats, I strolled down the stairs into the ground floor which was mostly reserved for living rooms and such. Happily, I walked towards their meeting hall, a large room with multiple doors filled with tables and benches and most importantly, werewolves.

Some were crying their souls out of their bodies, some were staring at my bloodied blade with horror. I even remembered quite a few of them, and certainly remembered how I murdered in front of their eyes.

“Ladies and … children. And you.” I pointed towards an old man who could only walk with the help of a crutch. “Your alpha male threatened me. And you … will be the only ones to survive of this pack! You only have to do two things for me. One, you need to answer all of my questions truthfully. If you lie, you die. And after that, you will remain here until the guards pick you up, alright?”

“They will study us …” A woman said, which was entirely in the realm of possibilities. But I just didn´t care enough.

“And if they rape you, I couldn’t care less. Anyway, do you have any other bases?” I pointed towards a mother who hugged her child tightly. She shook her head instantly, and so I strolled past her.

“Next, how many of you are retrieving the sapphire?” I stood in front of the old man, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Forty-three.” I chuckled loudly, as I could already say it wasn’t that many. There were certainly far too few beds in this house. I shrugged, and then stabbed him slowly. He was screaming loudly as the top of my blade entered his body, only to leave it shortly afterwards.

“How many?” I asked, tilting my head in wonder.

“Thirteen.” He actually told me the truth. Well, anyway, my blade pierced his chest once more, going through his ribcage and punctuating his left lung. Suddenly, I yerked the sword to the right, breaking through ribs in the process and carving right through his heart. I laughed slightly as the woman right next to him screamed in terror but stopped as soon as her child began to cry loudly. Swiftly, I walked towards the next person and asked him the same question.

“Thirteen. Grandpa didn´t lie, you monster.” He claimed while I was already walking towards the next person, sniffing the air in curiosity. It obviously smelled like dog, but there was also something else lingering in the air. Blood … human blood.

“He told me it was forty-three… are there any werewolves around Mary right now?” I asked the next person as I strolled towards the door.

“No.” And we had another one who would survive that day!

“Are there any werewolves except for the meeting point?” I asked, staring at the runes on the door with great interest. They were glowing slightly as I traced them with my finger to read them.

“No … only Jacob.” Someone muttered. The runes on the door were quite confusing as I struggled to read them properly. Sure, the runes were done alright, but the sentence structure was horrible. I could read the word scent several times, but other than that, I was completely incapable of understanding these sloppily done runes.

“Does anyone know what this sapphire can do?” I asked and looked into the round.

“… no.” A few of them said, shaking their heads slowly

“Great … what is behind that door?” I asked swiftly. Nobody answered me. The younger ones simply bit their lips or did similar actions, while the mothers looked away in terror.

“You girl, what´s your name?” I pointed towards a girl who was hugged by her mother.

“…Laura.” She muttered quietly, just loud enough for me to understand her.

“Oh, I know someone with that name. She is such a lovely person. Come here.” I waved her over to me, but her mother seemed to have different plans.

“Please! Don’t! You can have me, but please spare her!” I needed someone to open the door for me in case it was trapped. I didn´t want to kill anyone. Why was I always so misunderstood?

“Okay? Then … get going?” I said drily and looked at the old man´s corpse. Well, maybe that was the reason.

“It is going to be fine … close your eyes and hold your nose, alright? Just like we did thousands of times already.” She said to her child as she sat it onto a bench, only to walk over to me in fear. Not only the girl but also all of the other children in the room followed suit in closing their eyes and covering their nose, which did surprise me a bit.

“What´s your name?” I asked the silver-haired woman.

“Laureline … but my friends call me Laura.” I laughed loudly at her bold lie. At least it was a good joke, so I didn´t kill her outright. I nodded towards the door and stepped back a bit until she reluctantly opened the door.

A wave of stale air hit me, filled with the scent of blood. So much blood. It instantly covered up everything else, from the fresh blood of the werewolf to the disgusting smell of doggos. So much blood … so much human blood, some fresh, some older.

I took a step forwards with interest and froze as I was inside the doorframe. Cages upon cages were stacked in this room, all filled with one or two humans each. The familiar, lovely scent instantly turned into a disgusting one as I looked at each and everyone in this room.

Children. There were children in these cages. So many children. My grip around the sword tightened, even though my whole arm was trembling. I horror, I looked to my right where I noticed a young boy, sitting on the ground, leaning his back onto the wall. His lifeless eyes were wide open, his shirt torn open, revealing a gaping wound in his chest. Someone had ripped open his ribcage, letting a few organs spawl out of it, just to get towards his heart.

“What … in … the world.” I instantly changed my mind. I was still processing all the stuff I saw, but my body was already moving on its own. In one go, I stepped backwards, twirled around and deprecated the woman who was still standing there overwhelmed by the scent. The door closed again behind me, driven by glowing magical runes as I turned around and looked at the rest of the pack.

Some of the women screamed and some tried to flee while I slaughtered my way through the room. Throwing knifes hit those that got close to the doors, while I used my sword to murder each and every adult in this room.

The children started to cry and shriek loudly as I murdered their mothers in front of their eyes. Honestly, the only reason why I didn´t send them to purgatory as well as that they didn´t know what was behind the door. If they knew, they would die as well. But I was still conflicted about them.

I slashed and slashed, stabbed and stabbed until blood filled every metre of this room. Seeing these children in the room, so innocent, so desperate for help, burnt through a lot of fuses in my brain.

So much that I murdered every single adult without any remorse, even thought their children would bear witness to it. I didn´t have fun doing that. Nobody put up a fight and I felt just so saddened.

As soon as I finished up with all the adults, I strolled towards Laura who was covering in a corner of the room, a few younger children behind her. I grabbed her collar and lifted her up while ignoring how she kicked my belly without much strenght.

“Tell me, what the fuck should I do with you?” Werewolves. I understood them now. They were children of the night, just like I was. And just like me, they fed on human life itself, which was hearts in this case. I noticed as well that blood from older humans was slightly less attractive … but unlike them, I didn´t start abducting children. I didn´t know it these puppies in front of me ate human hearts as well, but they would certainly do so in the future.

For a short moment, I hesitated. Should I take their lives with my two hands, or should I let them live, risking they would turn against Mary and eat hearts of children? In a split second, I took my hand far back, making myself ready to stab Laura to death. I couldn’t risk them doing what their parents did.

“Stop!” Someone screamed, even before he opened the door abruptly. He froze in place as he noticed the blood beneath his feet and looked at me in horror. The massacre I committed certainly assaulted his nose as well, as he fought the urge to throw up. “Lucy … what are you doing…”

Jacob Silberbaum. He probably revealed my identity because of my height, but that wasn’t the only thing surprising me. My blade stopped, just in front of the girl’s chest. I stepped back from her, seethed the blade on my back again and took off my mask while frowning. He wasn’t supposed to be there. Sadly, I severely underestimated his strength which probably allowed him to free himself.

“I´m freeing you of this burden. Just like promised.” I commented drily. Well, that was part of the answer to why I was here, but the part that hopefully interested him the most.

“And so you are slaughtering my family?! Lucy … what have you done?” He walked towards me, over a few corpses and through puddles of blood while his eyes darted around the room. He was in shock and despite all that, he walked in front of me and took my hands as if we were some sort of couple. His warmth spread around my fingers … but it didn´t feel as good as previously. It was the warmth of someone who killed children or would soon do so.

“You are feeding on human children, Jacob …” I said and looked into his blue, saddened eyes. His world came crumbling down around him as all the lies I gave him were revealed as what they were … lies.

“I´m not … at least until I awaken my powers. I have never harmed anyone … ” So he knew. He knew …  but he also told me he didn´t want to follow in his fathers’ footsteps, which was honestly the sole reason he was still alive.

“I will turn you over to the authorities. I will not allow you to hurt any child in the future because you cannot control your inner beast.” Screw my promise with Aska. I would find a way to justify my actions later. I would protect these children, no matter how much it would cost me.

“Lucy … I thought you loved me.” He said clearly shaken by my statement.

“Love? Jacob, I gave you everything you wanted. I played the cute little girl, said whatever you wanted to hear and even fucked you. But love? No, I used you to save my family from yours.” I said and pulled my hands away from him.

“That’s … not true. You love me … I saw it in your eyes.” He claimed while looking at me in panic.

“You mean this?” I changed my facial expression considerably. No more did I wear my slightly bored one. I replaced it with a cute smile, glittering eyes that boasted of energy. Just for a second or so, until I relaxed my muscles once more. “This wasn’t real. I´m a crazy bitch who only needed to know where you live … you said it yourself, Jacob. You would do everything to save your family, and so do I.” I claimed and balled my hands into fists.

“Lucy …” He said, still trying to figure out who I really was.

“Lucinda.” I said drily.

“I … I am so dumb.” I wouldn’t say so. Just incredibly horny and immature. “I … I led you here … I let myself be fooled even though my father told me to never trust anyone … I am the reason all of them are dead … but I will not allow you to take the rest of my family with you.” I jumped backwards as he tried to grab onto my shoulders. Truly, he was a bit faster than a normal human, but he lacked the agility and speed of those who already could transform into a wolf. He stormed towards me, while I danced backwards, away from him.

“You have no chance, Jacob. Don’t make me kill you.” I said as I jumped onto a nearby table.

“Lucy … do you think I will be able to live like this? I am the reason everyone is dead, just because I love you.” He said as he approached me slowly. I hopped around the table a bit, trying to figure out how stable this wooden construction was.

“Then stop loving me. Hate me.” I said drily.

“Kill me!” He screamed while I twirled around my own axis, my left feet in the air. My shoe crashed into his shoulders, breaking a few of his bones in the process. He was thrown to the side into a puddle of blood and groaned as he hit the ground. Shortly afterwards though, he already tried to sit upright while I jumped off the table and approached him.

I crouched down right next to him and went through his hair with my bloodied fingers.

“Jacob, I don’t love you. I never will. But I am grateful for what you did. You saved my family, and I will repay that debt.” I leaned down and kissed his forehead for a few seconds until I grabbed beneath his back and legs. I stood up, with him in my arms and looked towards the other children, still in the corner of the room, looking at me terrified.

“I will not kill you. And I will not give you to the king either. You will be safe, as long as you do as I say.” I said, not really hoping they would trust any word I said. Too often did I go back on my promises that day. “Jacob, if you really want to save them, now is your chance.” At first, I could only see defiance in his eyes, but that changed as soon as he looked over to them.

“… do what she wants.” Slowly, the children nodded one by one, while I placed Jacob’s head onto my knee awkwardly and wore my mask again.

“Follow me.” I said and walked towards the magical door. I nodded towards it and thankfully, one child opened it for me. Together, we walked into that disgusting room where I picked out cages for all of them. At first, I placed Jacob into a cage and closed the door shut.

“You were never supposed to be here. You could have lived in the academy, free of any worries … why did you come here?” I asked as I pointed towards the next free cage and hieved a child into it.

“… I was worried … about you.” He muttered, clearly in pain and slowly drifting in and out of consciousness. Bitterly, I could only smile as I placed one child after another into the cages and made sure each and everyone was locked tightly.

Sighing, I left the room again, unsure what to do with them, but certainly not willing to dispose of them. Dissatisfied, I strode out of the main room while looking at all the bloodstains on the ceiling and walls. This was what I always wanted, but it surely came with a bad aftertaste.