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“Six weeks,” Emil said quietly, “I must go to my daughter.”

“Emil, you can’t,” Maurick stated from the rear

“I have a child,” Emil boomed more firmly.

“You had a daughter. And you had a son,” Maurick announced, nodding to Inka and me.

“What do you mean?” Inka cried, stepping forward.

“Do you really think that you are fit to raise children now? Are you that stupid? You are creatures of the night.You drink blood.What if one night, you’re still hungry, and there’s a delicious snack right in front of you? Could you resist the urge for blood? I’d love to watch you try. Will you mentor them in your image? A nocturnal existence and never witnessing the sunlight. Can you grasp that you are no longer normal? You’re freaks,” Claudias hissed from the top of the steps where he’d hidden.

“And who made us so?” D’vid said, leaping up the stairs and grabbing Claudias by the throat. D’vid forced his brother’s head back. “If the others drink the blood of people, then I can too, can’t I, brother dear?”

Claudias struggled in vain against his siblings’ superior strength.

I watched, fascinated whether D’vid would really do it.

Panic shone in Claudias’s eyes, and his cockiness disappeared. Claudias suddenly seemed very aware of the monsters we were and understood nobody could stop us.

All of a sudden, Diana rushed forward and pulled on D’vid’s arm.

“What type of monster are you?” she cried, smacking him.

D’vid turned to face her. Casually he threw Claudias against a wall.

“The same as you,” D’vid bit out.

That hit home. Diana retreated two steps. She raised her hands and, with a swift spin, faced Marel. “What have you doneto us? How long till you cure us?” she shrieked in a high-pitched tone. Diana’s voice hurt my ears.

“There isn’t one. You are the living dead. There is no remission, absolutely nothing to help us,” Maurick interrupted the conversation.

“Shut up!” I screamed. “Look at what you’ve created. Damn it, Maurick. We had lives. Are you proud of what you have done?‘I would never hurt you, Jacques,’ you said.‘You’re my best friends; there is no danger.’

“What fools we were. You made us into some sort of blood-thirsty monsters. Maybe I should kill you, but I won’t.” My voice fell to a whisper. “You were betrayed too, weren’t you? You weren’t meant to be part of The Great Experiment,” I stated.

The memory clicked into place.

“Yes, youwerebetrayed. Remember, I hit you, and you landed against the wall and were knocked unconscious. But Claudias experimented on you, too.” I nodded to Claudias. “What a turnaround. What a cruel joke. Well, Maurick, stay away from me and mine. You are not one of us.” I warned, but Maurick wasn’t listening.

He faced Claudias, glaring.

“You were the one that betrayed me,” Maurick hissed, his fingers clenching and unclenching.

“Just like you did,” Tobais snapped, and Maurick subsided.

We all looked at each other. There was nothing more to say. Everything had been said and made perfectly clear.

But there was one last question I had to ask. I turned to face Marel.

“You said we had been here for six weeks. Do our families know what has happened?”

“Yes. When we realised, we informed the council. They, in turn, contacted each of your families and explained. Then, the public was told. We had to inform them because fresh blooddonations are required daily for you. You can’t drink any blood older than a day because that makes you seriously ill. Most of the populace have donated freely there are only a few who won’t, and we cannot force them.” Marel avoided looking at D’vid, and I guessed his parents were one of the exceptions.

D’vid knew, too.

“I’m going home to see my family,” I said, taking Inka by the hand and pulling her towards the door.

“Make sure you are back by sunrise, or you will die,” Marel reminded us as we pushed past him.