Tick. Tick Tick. Times up!

Tick. Tick. Tick. The ticking of my ring against the table is the only sound in the dimly lit room. My own reflection is staring back at me in the mirror, my wild mane of hair almost covering the eyes that contain enough anger to kill a man with a simple penetrating stare. Tick. Tick. Tick. The dark grey walls surrounding me are soundproofed. I am sure that if a human would be sitting in my place, he would hear nothing of what was going on outside this room. I, on the contrary, have good enough hearing to know the police station I am in is in total chaos. Normally I would have been able to hear clearer, I would have been able to eavesdrop on every conversation. But as I said, the room is soundproofed. The ticking of my silvery red ring continues to ring into every corner of this interrogation room. The door, also soundproofed, has been closed for the last six minutes and I am losing my patience. The urge to break out and resume my hunt resurfaces for the five hundredth time since I have been here. A peculiar sound stops me. A sound that not even a human standing right next to me, leaning in closely, would have been able to hear. It’s the sound of an order. I look down at my left forearm. A message in fiery green letters appears on the black sleeve of my duster. Do not act, do not risk our ties with the humans. We need to keep their trust. I grunt in frustration. I try to control my thoughts by breathing calmly. Breathe in… Breathe out… Breathe in…

  My concentration breaks as I hear someone walking towards the door. As I turn to look at it, the door opens and a rough-looking man enters. His dark brown hair, streaked with grey and looking like hands ran through it several times in frustration, looks like a mess. He strides around the table and sits in front of me, I see deep purple bags under his eyes as he gazes into a small black notebook. He immediately starts clicking a ballpoint pen repeatedly. He shoots a quick glance at me and writes something in his book. I take my time to observe him. As my eyes run up and down his body I see that his ocean blue suit is wrinkled and has brown spots, which I smell is coffee, marked on his cuffs and near his neck. His white button-up shirt is also stained. The smell of his nerves is overpowering. I start breathing through my mouth to avoid the horrible odour.  

  “You humans should shower more often,” I throw at him in annoyance. “You stink.” The man looks up at me, brows pulling together. “What?” He asks incredulously. I look away from him, rolling my eyes. “Did I stutter?” I say almost shouting at him. He keeps looking at me for a moment and then writes something in his notebook. The man lays it in front of him, closes it, and stares at me. I can see his blue eyes moving over me and resting occasionally on a hilt sticking out of my jacket. “I thought you said you were harmless,” He says raising an eyebrow. “Are you really carrying a sword around with you?” His confusion is masked by a thin line of courage. I can feel he is on the verge of breaking down. The sound rings into my ear once more. I automatically stare at my forearm. The fiery green letters appear once more on the black surface. Do not add fuel to the fire, Eridas. Leave him be. I scoff. I wasn’t going to… I think.

  “What is that?” the man asks me in alarm. I stare back at him, looking deep into his eyes. “It’s a message. My boss is telling me to lay off you. Rather unnecessary really,” I say calmly. “What do I need to do to get out of here?” I add. He looks surprised at the question. “As long as you answer truthfully as to why you were driving so recklessly, you will be fine,” The man responds trying to match my calmness. “I am detective Harold Brown. I-“ I cut him off.

  “I will answer all your questions with every ounce of truth I possess, sir.” I state with my hand over my heart. I spot scepticism in his eyes. “Alright then,” He takes his notebook in his hand and starts clicking his ballpoint pen furiously once more. “First of all, I would like to know your name.” He asks, looking up from his notebook. “My name is Eridas van Helsing, sir.” I answer immediately. Harold scribbles my answer into his little book. “And why were you driving so recklessly before?” He asks without looking up from the notebook, his pen ready to write the answer down.

  “First of all, I wasn’t driving recklessly. I am a great driver and as you saw, I hit no one, nor caused any accidents. Second, my reason for driving over the speed limit is justified. I was busy, I was in pursuit of murderers. I was following three vampires that have escaped me now, because of you.” I try to keep my voice calm and controlled, but some anger slips in. Harold looks at me, eyebrows raised and almost disappearing into his grey streaked hair. “Sorry, what now?” He says chuckling. But the longer he looks into my eyes, the faster his smile disappears. “Chasing vampires.” He states mockingly. It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow at him. There is always supposed to be someone in the police station that knows about my order, that knows about the Cetaria and that they should never interfere with our cases. “Where is your supervisor? I need to talk to him.” I say maybe a little too demanding. He stands up quickly, causing his chair to topple behind him. “You won’t kill him. I won’t let you,” Harold declares with a hard edge in his voice. “I know an assassin when I see one!”

I burst out laughing. “The simple thought! Of a human-“ I laugh some more. “A human stopping me! Oh, it’s ridiculous!” As I laugh I see Harold looking bewildered at my outburst. I stand up as well, slowly, and stop laughing. Harold steps back. I stare deep into his grey eyes. I feel my frustration rising up into my chest. “Do you really think that I care whether you pathetic little human lives or dies? I couldn't care less!” I see fear dawn into his eyes. He steps back until he can’t anymore. He pressed tightly against the wall, an expression of pure terror on his face.

  Eridas, that’s enough! You will apologize to the man, and explain who we are. Instead of the green letters, she is speaking into my ear. I turn around sharply and lift my forearm to my mouth. “What?! Telling a human? Who we are?!” I almost shout into the invisible link. Eridas, the time of secrecy is over. The banished have invaded, they are attacking everywhere. And the vampires have joined them. Tell him. Tell them all. Shock roots me to the ground. The banished? Here?

  “How?” I mutter into the link. No one knows. The gatekeepers were meant to protect us from this. Rumour has it the order has fallen. They say all gatekeepers are gone. Wiped out. “I-“ I’m unable to say another word. Cold spreads into my body and fear grips my heart. The banished have been gone for almost ten thousand years. They were banished for trying to enslave all magical creatures and humans who supported them. They failed, but they say the wars were horrifying. That even Alexandrea Dalataga, the most powerful man on the planet, had a hard time defeating them. How is this even possible?

  “What is going on?!” Harold’s shout brings me back to reality. I turn to look at him. He opens his mouth to shout again. “Wha-“ Suddenly his phone is ringing. He fumbles with his pocket and manages to answer. “D-Detective Harold Griffin, how can I-“ He is cut off by a rough voice. If another human were in this room he would not have been able to hear it. “Are you alone?” It shouts over the phone. “Is there a man in a black cloak near you?” Harold looks at me. He says yes. The voice answer immediately. “Then you answer to him! The town is crazy, Harold! Crazy I say! And they, those people in cloaks, they fight like demons! Turn into these giant wolfy things!” The voice stops talking for a moment and I hear gunshots. Then the voice resumes shouting over the phone. “Harold, listen to me. Those men, the ones in cloaks, they are called the Cetaria. They have been helping us since forever. They are our only hope of surviving this! You listen to whatever he says to you! I got to g-“ The connection dies. Harold is looking at me, horror-struck. “I don’t understand…” He says quietly. And all of a sudden he resembles a child, a child that is looking to me for answers. I am in as much shock as he is, maybe even more than him. I never thought this day would come. A day where the banished, the cruel and terrible, would walk among us again, spreading their fear and rage like they did last time. I was never there during the wars. But it’s all written down. All the things they did, all the living creatures they killed during those wars. It’s all horrifying.

  Eridas. Listen to me. This is no time to be overwhelmed by fear! We are part of the Van Helsing family! We will not fall! They have been beaten once, we can do it again! “You are right,” I say quietly. “You are right!” I shout, banishing the fear out of my body. I can feel the adrenaline starting to pump into my veins, warming me up. Courage takes over. I am a warrior. I am a hunter. I do not cower behind others!

  I turn to fear-struck Harold. “We need to evacuate this town. We need everyone in here to get out there and start moving all citizens to the biggest building you have in this town, you hear me! Move!” My tone is commanding and controlled. I seem to have gotten through Harold’s fear. He nods and runs out of the room shouting orders. I follow him into the main room of the police station. People are running around in total chaos. I see Harold in the middle, trying to calm everyone down. He is failing terribly. I see fear all over the place, I can hear phone calls of people describing terrible things that are happening, of monsters sucking blood and ripping humans apart. But I also hear of men and women in cloaks, like me, saving people. I have had enough of this madness.

  “WILL EVERYONE SHUT UP AND STAND STILL!” I shout at the top of my lungs. Everyone in the station stops immediately with what they are doing and turn to me to see who shouted. The officers start whispering. I hear them all clearly. They say I’m one of them. One of the cloaked ones. I look every single whisperer in the eyes. “I thought I told you to shut it,” I say calmly. “I have orders. Every one of you will arm him or herself and get out there. People are in danger, they need you. Every innocent you see, you will bring to the biggest building in the city. Warriors like me will be there. They will protect you and the innocent and they will take you somewhere safe. Once we are out of danger, I will answer any questions you may have. We will explain everything. But not now. Now is your time to do your duty to this city! Get out there and help the innocent! It is what you vowed to do as the police.” Everyone is standing still, doubting whether to listen or hide. But then out of the crowd comes Harold, a blazing look in his eyes. Determination set in his face. “You heard the man! Out! C’mon!” He starts shouting at everyone. I catch his eye and nod gratefully. Harold runs up to me and asks. “What will you do?” I look into his grey eyes. I see the choice he has made. He has chosen to stay and fight, instead of running away. I feel regret for ever thinking he was a coward. “You said I was an assassin, here to murder your boss. You were right. I am an assassin, but I am not here to kill any innocents. I will take my sword, and kill every last one of those pathetic vampires.” He looks worried. “Harold, I’m sorry I called your boss pathetic. At the time I thought he chose a cowardly detective. Apparently, I was wrong. He chose a brave man.” A smile appears on his face. “So, Harold, are you with me?” I stick my hand out.