Chapter 1.

Why are they doing this?

They just want the supplies, don't worry bunny – The boy said grabbing the girl and her teddy bear of the window. A granate flew smashing the glass. The girl screamed and tears welled up in her eyes. It was too much, the war, the loud noises and no one was there to help. – Don't cry bunny we'll make it, let's go! The shelter will close soon and sunrise is coming up!

Tugging on her sleeve he pulled her up. Sunrise was deadly for Pretrans. If they got caught in the sun rays they would die of burns.

Her small dress was dirty, the white petals of the flowers turning an ugly,yellow brown. The teddy bear didn't have one eye, filling falling out under the right arm. The boy could always find those eyes in a crowd. She had light green eyes with a dark rim, always wide open and curious. He spent days watching over her. She never said a word against punishment if it meant getting that cookie or stealing a book. Just what 5 year old stole medical books? Watched with gruesome fascination pictures of organs, bones and nerves spiralying around the human skeleton.

The same one that hang around him, clutching that teddy bear and giving him a gummy smile. Who else would hang out with the scrawny kid with the wild look? He looked like a ravid animal, his eyes always alert watching for a foe that would attack him, clutching the girl beside him.

Where are we going? – The girl asked flinching at every little tremor. The shakes were loud, the pavement under her didn't seem solid enough.

The shelter! C'mon! - Small feet rushed, passing wonky stairs, green from mould and gray from dust. The place where they loved to play was a on old abandoned house, with high chimneys and narrow windows, the front lawn burned to a tan yellow, dead bushes and a half fallen rusty gate. The rooms were mostly empty, here and there a broken chair, cups or a stray toy. No one knew who actually lived in the house.

Aawex...-

What?

It's dark..

A bit more, let's go, we'll be safe there -

A hand wrapped around a smaller one gently tugging. They only had a few meters to the main entrance. They ran through a long hallway, one hand on the wall feeling the old walls under their finger tips until they came in front of a steel door. Simple, shiny steel and a door knob. Knocking and choughing three times. Click, click, click. The door hinges creacked as they gave away under the weight of the steel. Light illuminated the dark hallway and showed two pale faces, eyes wide as plates, hair smeared with dust, dirt and debris.

Can we please take shelter? – The boy pleaded. The woman in the door smiled kindly, looked at them both and smiled. Orphans. They weren't uncommon in these days of war.

Come in but the bear stays, it's filthy and you two need a good bath! Come on in! – Flashing a perfect set of pearly whites the woman let them in. The girl noticed the long canines and whimpered in fear.

It wasn't custom for a full transformed vampire to take in pretrans that aren't it's own offspring. The Laws didn't forbid nor did they encourage it. Mates could have offspring only in times of wealth and peace and these were not such times. The Vampires were at war, civilians running for their lives taking only their offspring and mates, few could spare the maids and butlers. The Aristocrats fled in style, giant limusines with caravans of jewlery, expensive furniture and rugs trailing behind filling up the Sanctuary before the majority of the civilians even left their houses.

The Oracles have foretold the war.

The humans shall see us

and there shall be a red dawn.

Everyone went bat shit crazy. First the Aristocrats hearing it first from the Oracles, pulled their businesses from the human world and packed. You wouldn't believe where the fanged hand was, trading, stocks even the common places like libraries.

The Oracles remained silent worshiping the Immortals in the alabaster temple.

The Civilians on the other hand stayed calm, organised and slowly evacuvated the cities under the World, travelling south, to the Sanctuary.

Humans would hardly notice anything from the commotion. Most was done under the night sky. Civilians didn't care much about fancy chairs of persian rugs, their loved ones were at stake, no pun intended and it was their primary concern to keep them safe.

The Vampire cliniques shut down, the Healers fled with the Aristocrats surely bribed with sweet words filled with poison with a high price. Anyone had a price, you just had to name it.

Shelters were used as check points, filling up with young and old, waiting for the transport to make the journey to the Sanctuary. Often were they ruled by the power of money, the ones that couldn't afford much were left last to enter, trying to hide from the deadly sun rays.

Pretrans that weren't that lucky running from the dawn scattered the streets as bony, dark skeletons. These young had luck, was it from the greedy stare the woman gave them or the promise of young blood possible to sustain their bottomless thrist.

Adult Vampires fed only from their mates. Taking a vein from a pretrans was considered a crime, sin against the creation of the Vampires, it was also a delicacy in the upper casts of the Aristocrats. Orphans, slaves and servant young were often „dessert".

A back room was outfited with a makeshift bathroom for the injured. The little girl was taken there along with two other girls, teens almost there at the Change. They took her small, dirty dress off and showed her under the shower head. The water was barely warm, colder than spring rain making the girl jump.

The marks! – A woman gasped. The little girl hugged herself under the water, mattered hair sticking to her face. The young orphan was born with it. No one would dare tattooing a young and yet there she was, five years old with a tattoo made of the Ancient language warning about Death.

*rewritten*