"You should leave this place immediately." Said Marcus, turning his back in the hope of putting an end to the conversation. "I don't want to see your face around here anymore."

"We're not leaving before we find out who is turning our clan members into rogues." Said Lynn with a serious tone and an angry look in his eyes. "You saw it too, haven't you? You surely know something about it."

"I can't tell you anything." Said the boy as he started walking away. His two underlings walked beside him without saying a word.

Syd suddenly stopped, taking one last glance towards Ava before kneeling to whisper something in the boy's ear.

"Isn't that her?" He said quietly. "Boss told us to be on the lookout for someone with those features. She even has a mole on her right cheek under her eye. I think she fits the description perfectly."

Marcus tried to dismiss him. Admittedly there were many girls with curly brown hair and brown eyes in their early twenties, but Syd definitely wouldn't miss up the chance to retrieve the girl their boss was searching for all this time and possibly get a promotion out of it. At last, he won't have to suffer the humiliation of being ranked below what looked like a child from kindergarten.

Despite the glaring look he received from the boy, Syd turned back towards the girl, putting his hands on his hips.

"What is your name sweetie?" He said grinning.

"Ava." The girl mumbled.

"What was that? Speak louder."

"She said her name was Ava." Said Marcus, through his teeth with a pissed-off look in his eyes. "It's not her. Now let's go before the boss gets mad!"

"Shut up babyface!" Syd raised his voice. "Even if it's not the same chick, ain't no way I'm missing my shot at climbing up the ranks!"

"Careful who you're talking to, moron! Only Ruby calls me that! If I hear that word leave your mouth one more time - you're toast!"

"Ruby..." Ava whispered to herself. Somehow that name sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember from where. She decided to intervene before the two of them broke into a fight, seeing how they were at each other's throats. "I'm coming with you."

"No, you are not!" Yelled Marcus as he pushed Syd away, who was holding him by his collar. "You are not the one we are looking for anyway. This whole spiel is a waste of time."

"You heard the chick, let her come. It's not like we are forcing her." Said Syd "Worst case scenario we can still use her to fulfill our quota." He added, lowering his voice.

"Tch! Whatever..." the kid gestured at Lynn and Ava to follow them.

***

It was now noon. The thick fog lifted its veil as temperatures grew higher. There were still clouds with slight glimmers of sun rays here and there, which made the vampires wary, sticking to the shadows as they walked towards the clan's new headquarters: a five-story mansion, that used to belong to a local businessman. He was a shareholder in major companies all around the country. It had been months since anyone had last heard of him, which meant that his estate was most likely taken by force.

Ava was filled with angst as they set eyes on the big iron gate guarding the mansion. She stuck close to Lynn the entire way. The dirty looks she was given by the guy with a shaved head made her want to put a bullet in his head, but she knew it would do her no good.

As they approached the gate, out of nowhere the thumping of footsteps could be heard, coming out of every corner. The next thing they knew, the five of them were surrounded by hoards of people. All walking towards them, slowly. Sharp teeth glistening upon their smirking faces.

"Are you the Red demon's second in command?" One of them asked eying the little boy. They were all wearing white hoodies with an insignia on them.

"Is that the best nickname you could come up with for our boss?" Asked Marcus, unimpressed. "I've heard better. What do you want?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"I am. And what are you planning to do with that information? Shithead."

"You kiss your mother with that mouth? Didn't your parents teach you how to behave around adults?!"

"You can go ask them yourself right after I kill you." Marcus went up to his face. His big yellow eyes glared up at the angry man, ready to start a fight, but still keeping his voice down.

The man in the hoodie snickered, and then he spat on the ground. He removed his hood and introduced himself as the leader of such and such gang. Marcus and Syd rolled their eyes almost simultaneously as they listened to his endless ramblings. He was there to take over the neighborhood, but for the boy, he was no more of a threat than a stray dog barking at strangers on the street.

"You are lucky we need you alive," said the man." I bet your boss will finally give us some attention after we steal away her beloved pet."

"You are welcome to try." Without further warning, the boy kicked him in the stomach, using the man's body as a stepping stool to deliver his second blow right in the chin. Leaving the guy's jaw dislocated.

The rest of the hooded gang members didn't wait for a signal and jumped in straight away. Swinging their fists at the boy and his pals. Lynn immediately joined the fight, both to protect the boy and prevent any fatal casualties. He didn't know what happened to his old clan, but for one thing, he was certain: they didn't hold any intention to keep the rules established by Edwin, especially the one about no killing.

He knocked out the majority of them, but more kept coming. Bodies hit the floor like flies. Blood stained the cold concrete. With each second passing, Lynn found it harder and harder to keep up with all the enemies coming at him. Despite his best efforts and his being nearly out of breath, their numbers kept growing. Seemingly spawning out of nowhere.

Ava was in no way, shape, or form ready to go against hordes of vampires. She tried dodging their attacks, but after a short while, she did the smart thing and played dead after getting her throat slashed. Thankfully no one else besides Lynn knew that this sort of fatal wound was trivial to her.

One of the hooded gang members managed to get a hold of the boy, pinning him to the ground. His torn lips spelled something along the lines of "This is the end for you". Marcus could barely hear him among all the mayhem. The veins on his face bulged as he struggled to get some air. His attacker nearly felt pity for him. After all, to an outside person, it looked like he was beating up a defenseless child. Those thoughts however quickly flew out of his head, alongside his... well head. It was swiftly torn off by the hand of a pale creature with black eyes. A rogue, but it wasn't just one of them. Soon the whole scene was flooded by those grotesque creatures. Savagely slashing away at foes with their long dark claws.

After witnessing their comrades being murdered in such a brutal way, the rest of the gang fled, screaming. Hearing all the commotion clear away, Ava decided it was perhaps time to end her act. She opened her eyes, only to be met by a set of sharp crooked teeth launching at her.

"Halt!" Yelled Marcus.

The creature froze on its spot, only a breath away from the girl's petrified expression. She nimbly scurried away and towards the others.

"Are you controlling them?!" Lynn asked the boy befuddled, relocating his shoulder as he stood up and wiped the blood and dirt off his face.

"We're going to talk about this later. Let's get inside before any other fools decide to show up" said Marcus, then turned to the rogue vampires surrounding them."Disperse."

The creatures obeyed, hiding away in the shadows. Some dragged behind the corpses and body parts of their victims to munch on later like a snack. A sort of self-reward for a job well done.