Ahiru Armia would never describe herself as an important person.
Neither was she a person that had interesting things happen to her.
Sure, her mom died of cancer, and she didn't have a dad - dead or deadbeat, take your pick - and her grandmother passed when she was still learning to walk, but everyone had family issues.
Ahiru Armia went to Eiche Stadt Community College, a major in ballet, a minor in English and had just moved to the small town of Kinkan in June after Graduating. The roommate she had all four years had promised to come out and visit her, promised to call and text and email, but the communication stopped between them a month ago. She was probably busy.
Ahiru tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear, watching the door of the flower shop waiting for a customer to walk in. Sighing, she stopped leaning against the counter to pick up the broom, again, to sweep the floors. Again.
A quarter to eight, almost closing.
She looked at the door, bit her lip and wondered, should she? Well, no one was coming in anyway. Resolute, she gave a firm nod.
Ahiru began the closing routine, switching out water for the flowers, watering the plants still situated in pots, and picking out any flowers that were beginning to wilt and toss them in the compost pile. She and Freya - her boss, manager, and friend - would make mulch at the end of the week when the bin was full.
She swept up any dirt or leaves still on the floor then mopped, careful not to mop herself in like the last time.
She took care of the cash register, turned off the showcase lights, restocked any lackluster flowers, and locked the doors.
Freya would be proud of her, it was her first day by herself and she hadn't forgotten a thing.
Freya caught a cold and wanted to close for the day, but Ahiru assured Freya that she could handle the shop by herself. And, now her day was over and she could go home and take a bath. A well deserved, hot bath, with the bathbomb her roommate got for her birthday a few months ago.
With fall steadily approaching, Ahiru thought her thin jacket would be enough, but found she was actively freezing. Truly, there were icicles hanging off her elbow.
The sky dark, and the streetlights strangely not turning on, Ahiru had a choice to make: take her normal, safer, route home, or she could cut across using the alley where the street lights were working on the adjacent street.
Ahiru peered down the street she was currently on - dark and cold - then up the alley - flooded with light from the street above it - it felt like a no brainer.
Between the buildings, the wind didn't bite her cheeks and she felt what may have been genuine warmth returning, the pitter patter of the icicles on her elbows melting onto the floor.
That's when she heard the voices.
One deep and one much more feminine, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but as she paused to listen, it sounded angry and personal. Tones ringing with aggression and hostility. Probably just an old lady watching a drama on the loudest possible setting right next to an open window. Perhaps swathed in blankets, the heater as high as it could go. Why didn't she just close the window? Was it stuck?
Ahiru shook her head as she kept walking.
"- You can't have him!" One said, the more masculine voice.
"It's up to him! And if he chooses so, I'll change him."
There was a growl - maybe the old lady had a dog? - "No! If he makes a choice, it'll be to become a wolf!"
What weird teen drama was this lady watching? But it was intriguing nonetheless, and Ahiru found that her feet where following the sound of the television.
"Once the blood moon comes, we won't be able to change anyone for a century!"
A scoff, "And who told you that, Rue?"
"You know who." She said. Rue? Rue said.
He barked a laugh, "You're still believing his lies?"
"Oh? You don't think it's true? We won't be able to change anyone once the blood moon passes."
"The blood moon will act as a supernova, strengthening us all, it makes no sense that suddenly our blood is useless to change others. But, fine. If you want to use the blood moon as a time limit, I'll give you until the blood moon to change his mind. But, mark my words, he would never chose to give up his heart for you."
"Neither would he chose you. His love for me is much stronger than his affection for you."
Ahiru came to a stop, she had no idea where she was anymore. She stood in the shadow of a building that stood next to an empty lot, surrounded by a fence, and as Ahiru peaked around the corner of the building she saw two figures standing in the light of the rising moon.
Were they LARPing?
Ahiru crossed her arms and continued to watch them.
"You're a fool to believe a word Drosselmeyer says."
Drosselmeyer.
There was a pang of fear in her heart, and chills ran down her spine. Why? She'd never heard that name before. Who was this man?
"He will be mine." Rue said with a snarl.
"You're also a fool for believing he would choose to be a bloodsucker!"
"And what's his other choice? A mangy dog?" She barked a laugh. "Right. Fakir, darling, why don't we just get this over with, hmm?"
"Fine." He snarled. Fakir.
Ahiru wasn't sure if what she saw next was real, she wasn't sure how it could be real.
But, the man - Fakir - started to growl, she heard what sounded like bones breaking, fabric ripping; claws scratching pavement. She saw a man, a head taller than the woman in front of him, grow until he stood to be seven feet tall, black fur - in the moonlight it gave off a greenish hue - covered his entire body. She saw long claws, snapping teeth; she watched as he attacked the woman now half his size, a beast she only saw on TV or in movies.
A werewolf.
Fear filled her and shook her core, she tried to back way, get away before they released she was there, but one false step. The sound of glass crunching underfoot, two heads turned to her and she had one thought.
Run.
She let out a scream as she scrambled away. Glass still under her, she turned too quickly and began to fall, landing and scraping her hands on the rough ground.
She expected to die, to be torn apart by teeth and claws, but instead there was a hand on her back.
"Are you alright?" A smooth voice asked her.
Ahiru looked up and saw a woman. She carried a crossbow.
Ahiru scooted away from the weapon and looked back to the lot, where two others, also armed, attacked the two creatures.
Rue and Fakir took off, Fakir launching into a four legged run and Rue turning into a bird and flying away.
"Miss? Are you alright?" She asked again.
"What?" Ahiru could feel her heart trying to escape her chest. "What happened? What was that?"
The lady hummed, her hair was green. Mint green. How did she get it that color? "I think you should come with me. Oh look," She took hold of Ahiru's hand. "You're bleeding, come with us, we can bandage you up."
Ahiru looked up as the other two came to join them, a girl with blonde pigtails and one with pink hair tied into a bun. They held an axe and a glock, respectively.
A hand rested on her elbow and she was pulled off of the ground.
"What's your name?" The first lady asked.
"Ahiru. Ahiru Armia. Your hair is mint."
She chuckled. "Yes, it is. Ahiru, would you come with us please?"
Ahiru started shaking, even though she didn't feel cold. "Y- yeah, I'll come with you."
"My name is Edel."
Her hand still rested on Ahiru's elbow and Edel's other arm came to rest around Ahiru's shoulder.
"What-" She cleared her throat, "What was that? What happened? Just now."
"That was Fakir and Rue." The pink one said. "The alpha of the wolves and vampire princess." They carried heavy titles but the girl said it with biting sarcasm.
"Vampire's have princess'?" Ahiru asked, tring to wrap her mind around what was being said.
"Kind of, it's just their way of saying who's in charge." She shrugged.
"So, is there a vampire king?"
"Drosselmeyer."
Again, Ahiru felt rampant fear course through her.
Edel picked up where the girl left off. "Drosselmeyer is the king over all vampire's in Germany. Though, if there are others elsewhere, we do not know."
She was lead to a restaurant named Ebine's.
A werewolf, a vampire princess and a vampire king all walk into a bar-
Ahiru wasn't paying attention as they unlocked the door and set her down in a booth. Now she was truly unaware of where she was. She had never been to this part of town before.
"I'll fetch Ebine and have her make you something to eat." Edel told her. "Pique, will you clean up her wounds?"
"Yes." The girl with pink hair nodded.
Ahiru looked up at the window, strands of garlic hung in the window as a detergent, there was a windchime in the lobby that still tinkled with music after they opened the door, a few crucifixes were fixed to the wall. Ahiru recognized the potted plants that lined the windowsills and the flowers that sat in a glass vase on the center of the table, they came from Freya's flower shop.
"Ahiru?" Pique returned, standing awkwardly holding a red box labeled 'First Aid'.
"Oh, um-" Ahiru lifted shaky hands off her lap and placed her hands palm up on the table. "W- why- umm, what?"
Pique chuckled, "It's okay, I know. It's a lot." She sat down across from Ahiru and opened the kit.
"What did I see? Really, what did I see?" Ahiru searched Pique's eyes. "Werewolves and vampires, they aren't real. They can't be."
Pique smiled, "I wish I could say otherwise."
Ahiru fell back against the seat. She swallowed hard. "Did you give me drugs?"
Pique stifled a laugh. "No, I wish I could say I did. Unfortunately, what you saw was very real."
Ahiru hissed as Pique applied alcohol to open cuts. "Ouch."
"Sorry, I should have warned you." Pique blew on the cuts before she started wrapping gauze around the base of her palms. "Edel will be able to explain it all better. There, that should be good."
"Finished?"
Ahiru jumped, she looked over at Edel, who returned with a cup of soup and a bit of bread.
"Pique, Lillie, I would like you to get ready to follow her home."
The two nodded.
"Ahiru?"
Ahiru's head snapped back to Edel as she sat across from her in the booth. "Yes?"
"I'm -" She sighed, defeated. "I'm going to tell you what you just saw, and while I do so I want you to eat your soup."
Ahiru nodded mutely, she picked up the bread and dipped in into the bowl.
"What you saw, was something that we have been trying to stop for over a century, a Devil's race of creatures sent as a plague on this earth, known to us vampires."
"Vampires." She repeated under her breath. She sucked on the piece of bread, not finding it in herself to chew.
"To try and stop them, a witch, Siegfried, decided to take matters into his own hands and cursed himself to turn into a werewolf." Edel tried to keep a calm facade, but that didn't mask the hatred that poured out of her. "But he damned himself, and hundreds of others. That is the simplest way to say it."
Ahiru nodded slowly.
"I suggest," Edel started, a smile, meant to be comforting but instead looked creepy and put on. "You forget this, go home, go to sleep. After a while, you won't even remember this, you'll think it was a dream."
"What if-" Ahiru gazed outside, her attention captured by a moon that brightened the night. "What if I don't want to?" Drosselmeyer. That name haunted her, now that she had heard it she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to forget it.
Edel's eyes scanned the woman across from her, "We have been hunting these creatures since the beginning. A group started by the farmers of this town to protect themselves and their neighbors. They called themselves the Bookmen."
"The Bookmen?" Ahiru said, rather doubtful.
She waved the question away. "They were farmers, not geniuses."
Ahiru nodded, looking down at soup that was barely touched, crumbs that dusted the plate and table.
"Miss Edel -?"
"Yes?"
"Um, thank you. For the soup. And- and bread."
Edel smiled, and it was different from her other smiles, it was softer. She reached across the table and patted Ahiru's cheek. "Of course. I hope you'll be able to leave this behind you, but if you are unable, we will always welcome you. With open arms."
"We're ready, Edel."
Ahiru looked to Pique and Lillie, standing next to the booth empty handed.
"Are we going back outside, without anything to protect us?" Ahiru felt fear fill her, unlike she'd ever felt before. Would this be her life now? Never-ending dread and trepidation?
Pique smirked, "Of course not." She lifted up the back of her shirt and pulled out the glock from before. "Just hidden."
Ahiru let relief flood her. She looked at Lillie, half expecting her to pull the axe out, too.
"C'mon, let's go." Pique stashed the gun back in it's hold and Ahiru stood. Following them out the door. Ahiru looked back at Edel, but she had already dropped her pretense, a vacant express as she stared out the window. Ahiru wasn't sure how she felt about this woman.
As Pique and Lillie walked her home, they talked adamantly, complimenting each other on their attack and how cool it was to see Fakir and Rue on the same night, fighting.
Pique cracked her knuckles, "'Course, if they hadn't ran away, I bet we could've taken em."
"Oh, and Ahiru, how wonderful it must have been for you! A front row seat to the ultimate throw down!" Somehow, Lillie's sweet voice didn't match what she was talking about.
"Right."
"Lillie, leave her alone." Pique placed her hand on Ahiru's shoulder. "It's scary, seeing them for the first time, but you get used to it." She rolled up the sleeve of her shirt. "I got this when I was hiking in the woods," On her arm were ancient scars, streaking down her forearm, they ran deep, the new, scared skin was thick and coarse. "One of the hunters helped me, took me back to Ebine's, and bandaged me up, I've been a bookmen ever since."
"What about you, Lillie?"
"I'm old blood, my family have been apart of the bookmen for generations." Lillie smiled proudly. "I was given an axe on my fifth birthday, it was destiny for me to one day be the leader of the Bookmen."
"Your parents gave you an axe for your birthday?" Ahiru paled, she got ballet slippers her fifth birthday. "That's-"
Pique rolled her eyes, "Lillie, you got a plastic axe."
"And I still have it!" Lillie giggled into her hand.
"We're here." Ahiru pointed up at the tenant building, crumbling red brick, just about ready to fall apart with a rickety fire escape running up the front.
"Hey." Pique grabbing Ahiru's attention and stuck out her hand. "It was nice meeting you."
Ahiru gave her a smile and took her hand. "It was nice meeting you as well."
"Here." Pique dug into her pocket and pulled out a card.
Eiche Stadt Police Department
Pique Basu
Police officer
"You're a police officer?"
"Yep!" Pique winked. "The cell is the best way to reach me if you need to."
Ahiru smiled, "Thank you, I really appreciate this."
Lillie stepped forward and offered her hand as if she expected her knuckles to be kissed. Ahiru did her best to just shake her hand.
"I work at the restaurant, if you ever need me, I'll be there."
"Thanks. Thank you! Um, will I see you guys again?"
"Hopefully, you won't have to." Pique said bleakley before perking up, "Whelp! Gotta go, it was nice meeting you, night!" Pique saluted.
"Yes, bon soir, Ahiru lieb."
"Um," Ahiru waved awkwardly, "Right."
Her eyes watched them as they strolled away, disappearing into the night.
Before she walked into her building she caught a glimpse of a looming figure cast in the alley's shadows across the street. Ahiru took a step forward but before she could get a better glimpse, the sharp shrieking of a bat flying overhead frightened her, when she looked back across the alley, the figure was gone.
Ahiru tired not to think too much about it as she continued on the next day. She asked Freya - it was much closer to begged - to deal with all the customers and just let her take care of keeping the floors clean, the flowers perky, and the fridge stocked with arrangements.
It was about noon when he walked in.
The bell on the door chimed and Freya greeted the new customer while Ahiru trimmed a hibiscus. Coming along well, save for a few yellow leaves, she would have to tell Freya, so she could move it into a pot with better drainage.
"Oh sure, she's right over there." Ahiru heard Freya said. There was a customer here for her?
She put the clippers in the pocket of her apron and stood to greet the guest.
There were a few things that set her off.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
One: she didn't recognize him, the only man who she could even fathom coming to see her was her college dance teacher, a forty year old man with a sharp lisp and a tendency to threaten his students with marriage.
"Hi, are you Ahiru?"
Two: he was the most attractive man she had ever seen. A whole foot taller than her, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail - but in a way that actually looked nice - and eyes more green than the greenest forest on the earth. Nothing like her college ballet teacher.
"Yes, may I ask who you are?"
Three: she did recognize him.
"We meet last night."
Four: she felt her heart drop to the floor, she'd have to wash it, the floor was very dirty, covered with leaves and dirt.
"Fakir."
Five: scheisse.
"Can we talk?"
"Umm-" She started shaking her head.
He scowled, "You'll find I'm not giving you a choice." He placed his hand on her elbow and whispered into her ear. "Tell your boss you're talking the day off to reconnect with an old friend." He pulled back until his eyes locked with hers, daring her to defy him.
"Freya!" She called out as the grip on her arm tightened just ever so slightly. "This is an old friend from- from college! Is it alright if I take the rest of today off to catch up?" Her eyes never left his. The beauty she saw in it before faded and all she saw was vicious, vicious poison.
"Oh, of course! You deserve it for doing such a good job manning the store all by yourself last night." Freya smiled, all too innocent, much too nice. She was going to get Ahiru killed.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
The grip on her arm let go and she stepped around him to get clock out and retrieve her belongings.
He at least respected that he couldn't go into the back with her. As soon as a door separated them, she rushed to the employee restroom and locked herself inside, an unsteady grip on the sink as she looked at herself in the mirror.
"Why is he here?" She rubbed her face trying to think of why he was here. The looming figure that leered at her across the way reappeared in her mind. Was that him? How did he find her? Know her name?
She groaned, wondering what to do when an idea hit her. "Ooh!" She pulled the card out of her back pocket - after the night before, she decided she'd never go anywhere without it. She put in the number and placed the phone against her ear. "Please, please, please, please pick up, please pick up. Pick up, Pique. Pique, pick up. Pique. Please."
"This is Pique Basu, I didn't pick up so that probably means my phone is dead, or I'm in an epic shootout battle with a drug lord. Leave a message after the tone."
Ahiru sucked in a breath and tried not to cry.
Beep.
"Pique, it's Ahiru, I tried to forget it, but-" She bit her lip and looked at the door. "Fakir's here, at my job, I don't know what to do, um, get back to me once you get this." She ended the message. She tried not to cry, it was hard, maybe werewolves didn't like having witnesses so he decided to find her and end it. She lived a decent life. Who would plan her funeral? Would he just eat her and throw her out? Use her bones for broth?
She unlocked the door and stepped out. She opened her locker and traded her apron for her purse and jacket.
When she came back out, Freya was making small talk with Fakir, which made him uncomfortable.
"How long have you lived here." Her hands holded and holding up her chin as she leaned on the counter.
"I- uh, moved here a few years ago." He said, his eyes on a bucket of flowers rather than giving her his attention.
"Oh? I've lived here my whole life, I've never seen you here before." It was innocent, hardly an interrogation.
He coughed, "I don't go out often."
"Did you live here while you went to ESCC?"
"What?"
"The college we went to." Ahiru supplied, not sure why she was helping his lie, perhaps she was eager to die.
He meet her eyes, and she was struck by them once more.
"Right. Our college."
She cleared her throat. "Okay, Freya, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Enjoy catching up with your friend." She waved goodbye, too happy and too innocent, would Fakir be able to hear her if she ran up to Freya's ear and whispered to her that he was a werewolf?
"I will." Ahiru looked at Fakir with uncertainty, but tried to smile.
Once they walked out of the shop and down the street a ways, he started talking. "Alright, what did Edel tell you?"
"What?"
"Edel, the woman that 'saved' you." He wagged his fingers in the air to imitate quotation marks.
"Miss Edel told me about you and Rue, about Siegfried, and Drosselmeyer. What you are." She cast him a sideways glance, looking him up and down. "You look normal."
He scoffed. "Life would be pretty hard if I was a wolf all the time."
"So it is true?" She stopped walking, shellshocked, "Everything she said?"
He rolled his eyes and turned back once he realized she wasn't keeping up with him.
"I doubt it. Edel has the bad habit of lying. She said we were evil, right?"
She shrugged, "In essence."
"I suppose she's not that far off. But she thinks we're monsters, scum, risen out of a story book to personally haunt her."
"Oh!" Ahiru exclaimed, "I get it now!"
He sighed, "Get what?"
"The Bookmen, why they call themselves that!"
He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.
"Hey, why did you come and find me? How did you find me?" She asked, fearful again. "Are you going to-"
"I'm going to hurt you, if that's what you think. Once they saved you, I wanted to make sure they weren't going to try to recruit you, I followed you home and from your home you really only had two scent trails, one leading to the grocery store and one-" He jutted his thumb back to the flower shop. " that way. I just read your nametag before I went to talk to Freya."
"And why did you come back? Edel told me to forget what I saw."
"I don't like the idea of humans knowing we're here, so I asked Siegfried what he wanted me to do. He wants to see you."
Her head perked. "Siegfried?"
"Yes, I suppose I should tell you the correct version of history."
"Why does he want to see me?" She asked, interrupting him.
"I don't know." He studied her, scanning her up and down. "He thinks you can save us."
The sound of laughter grabbed their attention and they saw a young family walking down the street towards them. A young family on vacation to a small German town, they were enjoying themselves, the sights.
"Who is Drosselmeyer?"
"Not here." He said, his eyes never leaving the small family. It was couple with two kids, barely taller than their mother's waist. "Listen, now that I've talked to you, I don't doubt that Rue will take some interest in you, she likes stealing my toys."
"Why? Why does Siegfried think I can do anything?"
He dug his hands into his pocket, "I don't know, I don't know why Siegfried wants to meet you, why he thinks you can do anything." He shook his head, "I'm sorry."
Ahiru played with the zipper on her jacket. "It's fine."
He pulled a card out of his wallet - what was with everyone in this town carrying business cards? Was that just what happened when you got involved with supernatural mumbo jumbo? - and handed it to her.
A white card with silver print that said one word.
Scent
She turned it over and on the back there was an address.
"Wait, isn't Scent a bar or something?"
Fakir shrugged, "It's a club. The old alpha thought it would be a great idea to turn a century old house into one." His eyes rolled heavily.
"Oh."
"Meet me there tonight, try to come before sunset."
Ahiru held the card with both hands, "What happens if I don't come?"
He cocked his head, "You think I won't chase you down if you don't come? I may hold the title of alpha, but Siegfried is the real leader of the pack. Whatever he commands, I obey."
"You said you wouldn't hurt me." Ahiru was cautious, suddenly afraid of him again, images of a hairy beast entering her mind.
"I won't." He started to walk away.
"I'll come!" She called out to him, not sure why she agreed to all of this. Perhaps she was curious and Fakir would give her more answers than Edel.
"Good."
She stared after him as he turned down onto another street. She wondered if she should go back to work or take the day off. Maybe take another bath. Another bath was sounding really good right now, she still had a bathbomb left over.
Then, her phone went off. An unsaved number she recognized the last few digits of after she hurriedly entered it into her phone.
"Pique!"
"Ahiru! Ahiru, are you alright? Your voicemail scared me."
Ahiru looked down the street to where Fakir had disappeared. "Uh, have you ever been to a club before?"
"What? Ahiru, you made me think you were getting killed by the Great Fakir, and now you're asking if I've been to a club? Are you okay?"
Ahiru looked back down at the card. "Yes. I am, I need some help."
"Ahiru, I'm still on duty, can you explain to me what happened?"
"Fakir came to where I work, he told me Siegfried wants me but I don't know what for. He said…" But could she? Could she save them? And save them from what?
"Ahiru." Pique reprimanded.
"He said I could save them all."
Pique was quiet. "I get off in an a few hours, I'll swing by your place okay? You have to tell me everything that happened, and I'll bring one of my cocktail dresses, alright?"
"Alright, thank you, Pique." Ahiru chewed her lip. "Do you need to tell Edel?"
"No, I don't have to, why?"
"Nothing." Ahiru stuck the card and her hand in her pocket. "I just- something Fakir said."
"Alright, well, I'll see you soon then, promise you won't attract any more supernatural beings, will ya?"
Ahiru laughed, "I can't make any promises. Bye."
"Bye."
Ahiru hung up her phone and dropped it in her purse.
Ahiru Armia was no one special. She graduated last June and lived by herself in the small town of Kinkan for three months. She worked in a flower shop, sweeping dirt and leaves. She stumbled upon a meeting between old enemies and now she was being pulled into a century long rivalry.
Ahiru Armia wasn't used to interesting things happening to her.