Idea

Bloody Echo

She dances with the clouds above,
A silent waltz, a whispered love.

“Mom, no!” The little boy's thin arms stretched helplessly into the air to reach the blonde woman on the dirty sofa.
Equally thin arms held him back. “Ezra, don't!” He was held fast, unable to move as he watched his mother's shaky fingers finally find enough strength to push the liquid down the cannula.
A sigh escaped the blonde woman's mouth as her eyes glazed over and her head tilted back with a jerk. She was dancing with the clouds again, as she so often said.
“Ezra, come on, we have to get out of here!” He was pulled and tugged at, but he couldn't take his eyes off his mother. And then a shadow detached itself from the wall and knelt down to her almost reverently, ignoring the dirty floor, the greasy pizza boxes and the stench of garbage.
“You should listen to your brother,” the deep voice rumbled. “Go now!”
And then he was finally torn away by the sight of the pale woman, whose elbows had far too many puncture marks and whose neck had far too many bite marks.

Outside, the sunlight mocked him as if it were an ordinary day as usual.
“Kaine, why did you do that!” Furious, Ezra shoved a small fist against his brother's chest. “She needs our help! We need to get back to the apartment and...”
“Stop it, Ez, stop it already!” Only now did Ezra realize that tears were running down Kaine's sunken cheeks. “We can't help her.”
“But it's getting worse! First it was once a week, then twice, and now...”
But Kaine just shook her head. “Let it go, it's out of our hands.”
“B-but I don't understand! Why is she doing this? Why is that man there? What is he doing to her?”
A resounding slap moved Ezra's head to the side as Kaine glared at him angrily. “Stop asking those questions! You know what the bloodsuckers are like!”
“No I don't!” Ezra stifled a sob and roughly wiped the tears from his cheeks. “You never tell me anything! Why? Why is all this happening?”

Kaine sighed as he buttoned up Ezra's tattered jacket. “Vampirism is both a curse and a blessing. Strength, speed, immortality... but there are also many limitations and they can no longer smell or taste certain things. Drugs are just one example of many. And they still love human blood.”
Ezra sniffled quietly to himself. “But what does that have to do with our mother...”
“Bloodies – blood bodies – that's what they call it. Mom... she... she sells her body, her blood. If she takes drugs and then lets a vampire suck on her... they both get something out of it. A high, just different.”
There was silence between the brothers for a moment before Kaine grabbed Ezra's hand. “Come on, let's find something to eat.”
But Ezra stopped, staring at the ground at first before searching Kaine's gaze.
“I hate them. All of them.”
That almost made Kaine grin. “Me too.”
“I'll find a solution so no human ever has to sell their blood again.”
But Kaine shook his head slowly. “You can't stop nature, Ez. The best thing... yes, the best thing would be to become part of it and swim at the top. Then you can never be hurt again. Then you're no longer the weak human, then you're the predator.”

20 years later

Annoyed, his fingers drummed against the cheap wood of the large meeting table as he listened to the presentation, ignoring the loud pounding of the heartbeat that revealed the speaker to be nervous.
“... and as you can see, this process has enabled us to copy the taste one-to-one and transfer it to the desired liquid. Nothing stands in the way of a whole range of different offerings.”
“Yes, that's right. We have milk, dark, hazelnut, marzipan...”
“In short: chocolate. Yes, we got it,” he interrupted the assistant as she painstakingly listed the varieties.
“That's right, chocolate.” The lecturer, a short man with glasses, was beaming from ear to ear. “We are aware that, as a start-up, we don't have the financial resources. That's why we're prepared to sell to one of you two. Your companies are the market leaders in the field of vampiric nutrition.”

Now it was his turn to smile and show off his proud fangs. “Even though I'm more of a natural flavor advocate myself, I know the market is changing. Variety is important to really cater to everyone's tastes. That's why I'm prepared to pay you 10% above the usual market price.” An unbeatable offer and he knew it.
His opponent coughed interrupting. “Well, what my esteemed brother is offering certainly sounds promising. However, I can offer you 15% and also the certainty that you are working with a company that completely dispenses with human donors and produces all food purely artificially – without sacrificing quality.”
Kaine's fingers clenched into a fist. Ezra did it again. Every single time! Over and over again, he had to invoke moral authority, brag about how great his damn veggie company was and how much he loathed vampires. Kaine had stopped counting how many times he had offered to turn his brother into a vampire. That idiot! He just didn't see the tremendous advantages it brought! The tiny disadvantages were more than worth it.

“Well, I think we've already made up our minds.” Glasses Man and his assistant were still beaming like two honey-cake horses as they walked up to Ezra and shook his hand. That disgusting, human hand. That was the moment Kaine got up and left.
He ignored all the stares and emails and only made a few phone calls himself until he was finally home. But today, not even the expensive luxury penthouse he shared with Sahara could comfort him.
“Woman, where are you?” he snarled into the cold apartment and just a few seconds later he felt a hand on his back and turned around.
“Why are you so tense today, darling?” Sahara purred and looked up at him. “Didn't the presentation go well?”
“Save your pity,” he hissed. “You know very well that these eco do-gooders would rather invest in Ezra's organic company. These idiots think they can make a difference. But I'm telling you: greed, corruption and strength will always prevail. You just have to decide soon enough what to bet on.”
“Of course.” Her hand stroked his shoulder reassuringly. “You'll definitely get the next deal.”
“That's right.” His hand tightened around the back of her neck. “And you'll make sure of it.”

Distrust flashed in her eyes, her hand on his body stiffening. “What do you mean?”
His smile was confident and threatening at the same time. “I've made some calls and called in favors.” That didn't bode well for Sahara. “You're going to sneak into his company and spy for me. I'm tired of waiting for him, brother or not. Even he has to bow to the powers that be in the city, because he himself has chosen not to be one of us.”
Her pupils formed into slits, not unlike those of a snake. “Of course not! You can spoon up your own crap!”
His grip on her neck became even tighter. “Don't forget where you come from, Sahara, and who gave you a chance at this beautiful life of luxury. Do you think anyone other than me has any use for a defective skin shaper like you?”
The hand on his chest turned into tiger-like claws, scales appeared on her delicate neck and the growl of a wolf rumbled in her throat. “Don't you dare talk to me like that, Kaine!”
He just shook his head slowly, as if speaking to a defiant child. “Don't forget who I am, darling. You'll do as I say, and maybe then you'll finally get to start your much-anticipated planning of our wedding.”

Anger flared in her eyes before she finally came to her senses and lowered her eyelids, a sign that he had won.
“That's good. You will report to me everything he does, who he meets with, what he decides. I'll run him and his damn company into the ground and when he's out of financial ground, he'll finally join me and come to his senses.” And finally be safe. “You'll be around him as an employee. Don't tell anyone where you stand with me. I'm counting on you, Sahara.”
He could feel her pride welling up inside her before she nodded reluctantly.
“Oh and darling...” he murmured, his lips against her temple as he pulled her closer to him, ”...and if he wants you to crawl under his desk, that's exactly what you're going to do.”
His little brother should finally choose his side, Kaine would see to that.

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