Ethan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
Because he didn't really have a choice anyway.
The line crawled forward like a group of lazy sloths in the jungle. Ethan stood there hunched over, unable to take his eyes off the white medical tents.
Gina, her blonde hair carelessly tied into a high ponytail, nudged him lightly with her elbow, just enough to make him flinch.
She wore a worn leather jacket over a black tank top that stretched slightly across her shoulders after their recent training sessions.
She let out a quiet laugh, though the cheerfulness in it sounded forced.
"Don't freak out," she whispered, leaning closer to his ear.
"It's just needles. One little poke and done. And after this, Dad's finally gonna teach us how to hunt for real."
"Can you imagine? We'll be running across rooftops with wooden stakes like in those old movies."
Her eyes sparkled with excitement for the adventure ahead, though faint shadows of exhaustion rested beneath them. They had trained late into the night yesterday in the basement, smashing wooden stakes into old mannequins, practicing strikes and evasions.
Gina clearly hadn't slept enough, even if she tried not to show it.
Ethan gave her a weak smile.
"Hunting…" he muttered.
"They could've called what we do something else. Or made some kind of organization out of it. And the vampires too… well, you get what I mean."
Gina shrugged, adjusting her ponytail.
"What other choice do we have? Either we donate blood to them, or someday they just… drink us dry." She nudged him again, gentler this time.
"Hey, don't fall apart on me. We're a team. You, me, and Dad. We'll get through everything."
Ethan nodded.
He watched as the line slowly approached the entrance to the first tent.
Inside, nurses were already preparing fresh blood bags and laying out medical instruments. The smell of antiseptic mixed with something metallic drifted all the way out here.
Gina noticed him nervously shifting from foot to foot and sighed quietly.
"Listen," she said more seriously now, lowering her voice.
"I'm scared too. Not of the needles, of all of this. But if we show fear, they'll notice right away. Vampires love that kind of thing, so keep your face like a brick wall."
"We'll donate blood, go home, and tonight I'll teach you something useful. Deal?"
Ethan looked at his sister.
Despite the exhaustion and the shadows beneath her eyes, she was still trying to support him.
Like always.
"Deal," he answered softly.
Gina smiled and ruffled his hair with her hand.
"That's better. Now stand up straight. You look like something already bit you."
The line moved forward a few more steps.
Now they were almost at the entrance to the tent.
Ethan took another deep breath and tried to calm the pounding of his heart.
There wasn't much time left before the blood donation.
Ethan stood with his hands buried in his jacket pockets, staring at the ground. His thoughts drifted far away from the cold morning air and the smell of antiseptic.
He remembered yesterday's training session in the basement.
Gina circled around him like a predator.
"Faster, shrimp! Stop standing there like a sack of potatoes!" she shouted before driving a sharp kick into his chest.
Ethan barely had time to raise a block.
Every single time, he was sent flying backward onto the old mats their father had dragged home from a junkyard years ago.
His breathing would break apart, his chest burning, while Gina only laughed.
"Get up! Vampires aren't gonna wait for you to finish your nap!"
Ethan wasn't strong like her.
Thin arms. Narrow shoulders. No real strength.
While Gina could already punch through an old wooden shield, Ethan could barely keep his balance after one of her light shoves.
After every training session, he would collapse onto the mats and think:
«How am I supposed to protect myself… if even my sister can knock me down with one hit?»
As if sensing that he had disappeared into his thoughts again, Gina nudged him and chuckled quietly.
"You're thinking about how I knocked you down with that kick yesterday again, aren't you?"
Ethan blushed slightly and looked away.
"I'm not."
"You are," she smirked.
"It's fine, dumbass. We'll keep training. You'll get stronger. The important thing is not being afraid."
They were almost at the entrance of the first medical tent now.
Two nurses stood near the doorway, chatting quietly under the assumption that nobody could hear them.
One of them, a young woman around twenty with a badge reading "Amelia," lowered her voice, but Ethan still caught every word.
"Can you believe they signed the pact in Geneva just last week?" Amelia said while adjusting her white coat.
"Now vampires officially have the same rights as us. Passports, driver's licenses, even unemployment benefits. They can only take blood with official consent now. No more night raids or 'accidental disappearances.' Everything's legal."
The older nurse beside her gave a skeptical snort.
"Legal… sure. Why don't you call them our best friends too? And those three families they found drained dry in Brooklyn last week, was that 'legal' too?"
Amelia shrugged.
"Officially, those were called 'accidents.' Now everything's supposed to be civilized. They say they want equal rights, courts, peaceful coexistence…"
Ethan listened and felt something inside him grow colder.
"Peaceful coexistence."
The words sounded beautiful.
But in reality, they only meant one thing:
Vampires now officially stood higher on the food chain.
And humans…
Humans were just donors.