Hadrian stared at the now crimson eyes of Edwin, so unlike his own and a clear indication of what he had done, and felt as if he was going to fall over. Sire killers were not unheard of, but they were not welcomed by the vampire community as a whole.

Even though Paul had been a git and a half, Hadrian had never raised his hand against his sire. Nor against Fernand, despite knowing of his garden. In this way, a vampire coven was like a family. You didn’t go up against family.

“Who attacked you, Eddy?” Who did you attack? Hadrian truly wanted to ask. But he owed it to Edwin to give him some trust. A sliver of it, for the sake of their friendship.

“A certain Fernand Polites. He knew of you. I have a secret to share with you, Harry,” Edwin looked torn at that. He made a step towards Hadrian, and the vampire made one towards him. That seem to give him courage.

“I have always wanted to see healers doing their job. Not just the hedge healers, who are forced to work to put food on the table, but the privileged ones too. And I have a plan. A plan that might end with an execution if it falls through.”

“I see. How much time did you spend planning?” Hadrian expected to hear, since I have become like you, but instead was surprised by the fire in Edwin’s eyes.

“When I was little, I couldn’t have been older than four, a man came to my mother’s clinic. He needed a liver transplant urgently. There was one and, for a change, no people waiting on the list. He still couldn’t get it. The man had to wait for three months, as is the law. He died because regardless of what mom tried, she couldn’t get him the organ he needed.”

Hadrian nodded. The system was rotten. For all that the countries claimed to be different, they all shared the same system enforced by the Alanqian Empire back when it used to rule the world. He tried to speak, but Edwin beat him to it.

“Then, when I was about six, a village got a strange plague. The cleaners were called without any word to the healers. You know what cleaners do, don’t you?” Hadrian didn’t know the details. They went in, killed everyone who was sick or rebellious, and went out. His confusion must have shown because Edwin decided to elaborate.

“They don’t just kill, they destroy every evidence that there were people living in a settlement. They don’t spare the children, not even the healthy ones. And some of them…” Edwin stopped. For a second, he was six again and hearing the rumors.

He had been rebellious back then and had gone to the village at night. It was just five kilometers from his mother’s hut. Fortunately, far enough away for his mother and he to be left alive.

Edwin had gone there and had seen the pyres, the leveled houses. The salt on the land. The dead plants and animals. So much death, so much destruction. His mother could have helped these people, he had thought back then. He still believed that.

“You don’t have to tell me,” said Hadrian. He understood what Edwin meant.

“Some of them take liberties with the healthy ones in the settlement. They are permitted as a reward for their services. By law. There is a tell-tale sign when it comes to rape, did you know that? The legs are…”

Edwin put a hand over his face. His mother had explained to him why some of the women he had seen in the village had stained skirts. He had remembered thinking that the Alanqian demons had nothing on the cleaners then. Their emperor had outlawed rape millennia ago. 

Firm arms embraced him and he returned the embrace. Hadrian was always good for comfort.

“I don’t want to live on, peacefully, in such a world. I owe it to the kids to change things. I guess becoming a vampire and being granted immortality has made me wake up to reality not only in thoughts, but in deeds,” Edwin had never felt more certain in his words.

“You shouldn’t have killed Fernand. Paul, our sire, is going to come after you. Fernand was always his favorite. He thought his trick with the garden oh so clever,” Hadrian imagined the emotions that would pass through Paul once he found out his precious firstborn was dead. With only the black sheep remaining, he might go and make another vampire out of spite.

“What garden?” Edwin had killed the vampire because vampires were evil and Hadrian was the only exception, period. He had not bothered to get to know the man.

“He had this garden with flowers that could make you see things. They bloomed at night, and people came to him in droves. He ended up drugging them and keeping them in his cellar. As you might imagine, he moved a lot. Placed the flowers in pots and had them carted to his new home every time a mayor did their job.”

Edwin gave out a dry chuckle. Then another.

“This is the silliest thing I have ever heard of,” Hadrian looked at Edwin, not understanding his words.

“I mean, Fernand was strong. Why have a web when you could hunt?”

Hadrian didn’t like these words. There was always a slight personality change when the vampire curse took hold. Hadrian reigned himself in by repeating to himself he was still human, every time he woke. But, it seems, Edwin wasn’t even noticing it was happening.

“Eddy, you are not a monster. Don’t think like one,” said Hadrian sternly. Edwin sighed and looked at the far wall.

“But I have to, Harry. Change is brought upon by monsters, not men. I will be speaking with Thorold Hafnon later. Come with me?” Murmured Edwin. Hadrian wondered where this was going to lead. He hoped that it won’t lead to a bloody revolution.

“Daniel should come too. It will be better if he is not cut off from this. He waited for you the entire night; you know?”

“I saw him on the doorstep. I still think he is a jerk, though,” said Edwin with a slight grin. Hadrian returned it. If Edwin could still joke, then he was the same healer he had met all those months ago.