"I'm telling ye, it's nae one of them," James said as we, Carmen, Max and myself, walked along the street leading to the stoners' house. "Sure these lads are capable of conspiring to blow up a blood bank, but they wouldnae do that."

"They're obsessed with being pale," I argued. "The best way to achieve that is by staying away from the sun and–"

"From what we've witnessed, we're certain one of them is connected," Carmen mentioned. "It's possible one of them has a twin brother that's evil."

"Or sister," Max added in. "Can't always assume the evil twin is of the same gender."

"Or sister," Carmen repeated.

"Or a doppelganger," Max suggested. "Doppelgangers can easily fool anyone. Maybe he has a lookalike who's a werewolf."

"Max, you sound ridiculous," Carmen said as we stopped at the doorstep of the bungalow.

"Naw, and for the last time we're nae here to rat anyone." He lit a cigarette he had pulled out while waiting for the door. "And Dr. French didnae drop the assault charges, did she?"

"On the condition we become her lab rats." Gerald cleared his throat. "Anyway, we haven't seen your friends since episode four. This is the second time they've come to visit, but I'm starting to suspect that when you bring them with you, something nasty is up."

"I've met you at least once since then," Max said.

"That's because I picked up something at the shop," Gerald explained. "As for the others, I'm not so certain."

"I ran into you while you were picking up garbage in the park." Literally, I ran into Sasha while he and the other stoners were doing community service. Speaking of said devil . . .

"Is that him?" I asked Carmen.

"Yep, that's him."

Carmen and I pushed James and Gerald out of our way and marched right on through.

"You have got some explaining to do." Carmen moved her head from side to side, making cracking noises with her neck.

"Yeah, I don't think that's necessary."

"He has wires in his hand, Lena. He and the others could be building a bomb of some sort." She hissed at me.

"You mean these?" Sasha asked as Ariel and Homayun, phone in hand, also emerged from the basement. "We're just repairing some fencing weapons."

"Fencing weapons?" Carmen shook her head when they mentioned that. I'd doubted them at first as well, but I had this gut feeling that Sasha wasn't the guy who was working with the terrorists. This coming from someone who suspected him in the first place.

"Yes, fencing weapons," Sasha confirmed. "The guys and I decided to pick it up again and a couple of our epées need rewiring."

"I started this past weekend," Gerald mentioned. "Say, Jimi, you interested in taking up the sport?"

"I'll pass," James said as he put out his cigarette in the ashtray. "Besides, I'm better at sorcery than with swords."

"But you do know how to build a bomb, don't you?" Carmen was very, very persistent.

"I do," Ariel replied, "but–"

"Aha! So you built the bomb and handed it over to the terrorists to detonate at the blood bank–"

"You mean the foiled plot to blow up the blood bank?" Sasha asked. "I'm not allowed near blood banks."

"The more reason to blow them up!"

"Carmen," Max stepped in, "he's telling the truth."

"Telling the truth? Yuh rass! He covering it up!"

Max showed us a web page on his phone. On the web page were board members for a group called VETHA. One of the board members had a striking resemblance to Sasha, if Sasha were a woman.

"VETHA, never heard of them," James commented.

"Same here," I said. "Do you know her, Sasha?"

He nodded yes. "She's my twin sister, Olesia."

"Ha! I knew it!" Max said, jumping up and down and dancing around.

"Fine, I believe you," Carmen resigned. "But what the Hell is VETHA? Are they some advocacy group for vampires and humans?"

"That's exactly it. Come, sit."

We, including Ariel and Homayun, all moved to the living room James and Carmen sat on the sofa while I opted for the floor. Max? He stood next to an end table.

Sasha continued, "VETHA is a group of vampires and their allies who want vampires to abstain from drinking blood, citing that it portrays us as monsters and not, well, human. They're not a violent group, but one of their founders left and started a radical organization that targets blood banks. VETHA wouldn't do such a thing because they understand blood saves human lives, transfusions and all. The radicals, however, see those places as a cash grab for blood farmers. As for Olesia, to tell the truth, she's not really a board member, but she supports VETHA."

"Not a board member?" Carmen took out her phone and looked up the webpage again and once she found her picture the name under it was Julie, erm, something. Carmen closed the application before I could see the rest of it.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but she's a secret agent-mercenary, sort of. I can't think of the word for it, but it's a vampire thing. Clanless vampires who work for other vampires is how I would describe it."

While Sasha struggled to explain black sheep of vampire clans, mentioning his sister's name triggered my memory."Olesia? As in Olesia Savchenko? I can't place when or where, but I've heard that name before."

"That's because she betrayed the clan and exposed our blood farming operation." Sasha shook his head, then continued. "It's also why she supports these groups. Other than vampires, the only other group that practices blood farming is dark w–"

"We got some bad news," Homayun interrupted, glancing from his phone. "Turn on the TV to the news channel! Quick!"

Max, the closest to the remote, turned on the TV. The local news was reporting on an exploded transport truck carrying blood.

"You think that was the truck at the clinic today?" I asked Carmen.

"I don't know. And it's a good thing I didn't donate. I wouldn't want my blood to go bye-bye when it can help someone like James, for example."

James nodded his head. "Carmen was there to help me after the car accident that took m'legs."

"So, that makes you both AB, right?" Max asked. Ah, innocence!

The moment he asked, Gerald, Sasha, and Homayun stared at them. After that revelation I couldn't help eyeing on them as potential meals, even if I don't like the taste of AB.

"Don't you even dare!" Carmen yelled at them.

As for James, he was oddly calm about it. "Instead of looking to us as breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I say we go after these radicals. We'll all get what we want: we stop future blood bank bombings and ye can feast on human familiars."

"What if they don't have AB?" Gerald asked.

"Does it matter if they hae AB?"

The room fell silent as the stoners eyed each other.

"He has a point." I stood up, lowered my head slightly while looking for my confidence to speak, then continued, "It's all blood, right? If we're going to kick these radicals' asses and sneak in a meal, I mean, this is the opportunity to do it. What are we up against?"

"Probably some weak-ass vampires and fanatics crazier than me," Max answered.

"Any witches they hire for protection, I can handle them," James proposed. "Those account for more than the crazy fanboys who volunteer."

"You better arm me with something, weapon or magic spell I can read," Carmen added in. "I ain't taking the sidelines."

"We'll help too," Sasha said after they broke from their mini conference. "Olesia and I aren't really on good terms, but if we're sending a message to the local chapter that they're unwelcome here, I'm all for it."

What a relief it wasn't going to be just us four. Five if I had chosen to have Draven involved in this. I'm still alive telling this story, right? "Well, I guess now would be an excellent time to prepare, wouldn't it?"

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While I don't think VETHA is any original for the equivalent of an animal rights organization but for vampires, it's the best I could come up with at the time. I originally had it as VETH in my short "The Nemesis". I don't have any interactive questions for this part but you know the drill by now. No harm intended to the aforementioned animal rights organization

Song featured: "Войны света (voini sveta)" by Lyapis Trubetskoy (or you can look up the other singer's band BRUTTO)

Edited: 18/06/2020