«Sit down, Hitcher», he said quietly.
«For the first time tonight you're going to hear everything you need to know.»
Ethan sat down slowly, as though afraid the chair would collapse under him. His fists rested on his knees, white from tension. His heart pounded so loudly it seemed it would leap out of his chest and fall onto the table.
Flash opened the folder.
On the cover was a stamp in black letters: «FEDERAL BLOOD CONTROL ACT — 2050». Inside were photographs of bodies, court documents, reports, charts, lists of names.
Everything looked official, sterile, yet every page reeked of death.
«This is Act 1212», Flash said quietly, sliding the first sheet toward Ethan.
«Passed seven years ago. According to this document human life…» he tapped a finger on the line.
«…is valued at compensation from one to fifteen thousand dollars if a vampire kills a human during emotional loss of control or an accident.»
Ethan stared at the neat figures, the copy of the very contract.
Five thousand — the exact amount they had offered him, the exact amount he had torn up in the courtroom.
«This means», Flash continued, his voice dropping even lower, yet each word landed like a nail,
«that if they kill a human they face nothing. It's vampire hierarchy, the law protects them.
Emotional loss of control is their favorite phrase; it covers almost everything — hunger, irritation, boredom, even a bad mood.»
«But if a vampire kills another vampire…»
«…that's different.»
«That's a crime against their own kind under their laws. For that a vampire is sentenced to execution, no witnesses, no trial.»
«Not like what happened to you», Gideon interrupted, looking at Ethan.
Flash leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
Ethan raised his gaze in shock, eyes widening, pupils trembling as though the last support had just been yanked from under him.
«What…? Loss of control? Are they serious…?»
His voice cracked into a rasp as rage and pain finally found an outlet at the same time.
Flash nodded once, without emotion, yet that nod carried all the weight.
«Yes… Killed a girlfriend? A mother? A child? No big deal. Pay the family a fine and you're free.
Act 1212 calls it emotional loss of control. A beautiful phrase for "I was hungry, angry, or bored out of my mind".»
«Fine from one to fifteen thousand. In your case, five.»
«The average price of a human life in 2050.»
Flash's voice sounded hollow, laced with a bitter fury that had long stopped erupting outward and now simply lived inside him like a chronic illness.
«The rules are designed so people take the money and forget what happened. No punishment, no prison in such cases.»
«No jury trial, not even a public hearing.»
«Just a check and a vampire recommendation not to remember the incident.»
Gideon, still standing at the table with his mug, added quietly, almost wearily.
«This is their peaceful coexistence with us. They don't kill, they lose control.»
«And we're not victims, we're compensation recipients.»
Ethan shrank into himself as though the words had physically stabbed him.
His eyes filled with pain and rage, tears didn't fall, but they stood there, ready to spill at any moment.
«But they killed Maria!» he burst out.
«And now that vampire is free, and I'm supposed to take the money or lose my life too?»
Flash nodded slowly, without a trace of comfort.
«You're thinking clearly.»
He gave a cold, crooked, joyless smirk.
«Welcome to 2050, kid.
Here beings stronger than humans rule. To go against them you need to be stronger than them… or smarter.
Or at least refuse their money.»
Gideon placed a tablet on the table, the motion casual yet the air in the hangar seemed to thicken.
The screen lit up with cold blue light.
On it was the massive architecture of the vampire senate, white marble, columns, flags with a black-and-red symbol resembling a stylized drop of blood encircled by thorns.
Caption at the bottom:
«Vice-Presidential Election and Forecasts»
«In short», Gideon began, swiping a finger across the screen, «we're going to disrupt their election.»
Ethan tensed, body strung tight like a wire.
«What…? Why?»
A face appeared on the screen, close-up. A vampire in a formal suit, white hair slicked back, cold gaze, lips curved in that same smile Ethan had seen in the courtroom. Arrogant certainty that froze blood in the veins.
Flash tapped the screen right on the vampire's face.
«This bastard is your target.»
He zoomed in; now the eyes were visible, pale gray, almost white, with a red glint deep inside.
«He buried your case, signed the compensation order.
Personally. While you stood in the courtroom yelling, he sat in his office stamping papers.
Five thousand for Maria.»
Ethan stared at the screen without blinking. He clenched one fist, staring at the monitor.
The weasel on his shoulder squeaked quietly, as though sensing something ignite inside him.
«Moreover, his clan covered Maria's killer», Flash continued, voice dropping lower, almost a whisper, yet each word landed heavily like lead.
«They know names, places, and silenced everyone who tried to challenge their business. Witnesses disappear, documents vanish.»
«Judges receive compensation for silence. This isn't justice, Hitcher.
This is a bought court…»
Gideon lifted a vial of bubbling gray liquid; it glowed with a faint, sickly light, bubbles rising and bursting with quiet hissing.
He held it to the lamp as though examining a precious stone.
«First target — find their weak points», Gideon said calmly, though the same cold fire burned in his eyes as in Flash's.
«They're not immortal, they have weaknesses.»
Ethan's lips trembled, but for the first time not from fear. It was a different tremor, the kind that comes when rage finally finds an outlet.
«And… what am I supposed to do?» he asked quietly, voice steady now.
Flash looked at him hard, gaze like a rifle sight.
«Infiltrate.»
«You worked next to them, you know their habits, their expressions, their rhythm of life.»
«You know when they come for a cocktail, when they leave, when they relax.»
«We need our own bee inside the hive.»
He poured murky gray liquid into a metal mug, the same kind Gideon had, only without the inscription.
The liquid sloshed heavily, leaving oily streaks on the sides.
«Tomorrow you'll accept their money, schedule a meeting, and take the compensation.»
Ethan froze, staring at the mug.
«Then… they'll leave me alone?» he asked, a weak, almost shameful hope in his voice.
«Exactly», Flash nodded.
«They'll find it convenient to think you've broken, and write you off as crushed.
They love the broken — those people simply forget the incident and continue living by their rules.»
Ethan brought the mug to his nose, wincing as though struck. The smell was heavy, earthy, with a hint of rot.
«What is this…? Smells like… swamp.»
«Wisteria», Flash answered.
«Diluted in water, Gideon's special extract. Not the kind sold in flower shops.»
«Flowers?» Ethan repeated, incredulous.
«And what do they do?»
Flash leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
«Until today people were told vampires have no weaknesses», he said slowly, savoring every word.
«That's a lie», Flash said, opening his eyes fully as he spoke.
Gideon nodded in confirmation.
«Wisteria suppresses their hypnosis and other abilities.»
«Even if he looks straight into your eyes you'll stay yourself.
I guarantee he won't control you. You won't forget anything. You'll remember their beautiful, lying words forever.»
Bruno, still standing against the wall with the ammunition crate, added in his deep bass:
«And if there's wisteria in your blood it becomes poison to a vampire.»
Flash looked at Ethan with a wild gaze, no trace of humor in it.
«Deadly.»
Ethan stared at the mug, at the gray liquid that now seemed not merely poison but a weapon.
He slowly brought it to his lips.
«How much… do I need to drink?»
«One mug is enough so they won't sense it», Gideon answered.
«But not so much you'll puke your guts out.
One swallow every twenty-four hours. Keep the level in your blood stable.»
«Why does no one… why does no one know about this and how do you know all of it?» Ethan asked, voice still trembling but now laced not only with despair but with something new — hunger for knowledge, a desire to understand what exactly he would fight for.
Gideon set his mug down and crossed his arms, looking at Ethan with tired, almost paternal pity.
«Because wisteria has almost disappeared», he answered quietly.
«Vampires destroyed its fields, greenhouses, seeds, everything. The remnants are banned, possession carries a life sentence.»
«Officially the plant is considered extinct in the wild nine years ago. Biology textbooks say it was a natural evolutionary process.»
«In reality it was an order from above. Act 1212 doesn't even mention wisteria; they simply erased it from all databases, all labs, all pharmacies.»
«Anyone who tried to grow even one bush in a basement disappeared. Or vampire enforcers broke into homes and poisoned everything.»
Flash gave a short snort, eyes never leaving the map.
«Let's just say we all have experience with wisteria. And the first time someone came after us…» he paused, staring into empty space.
«Figure it out for yourself where we learned.»