The following morning Ingo, Conny and Niklas were already waiting in the hall when Florian entered. He wore an unusual item on his throat. A protecting peace of gear covering his throat and the sides of his neck, indented for ice-hockey.
Ingo had just taken a garlic-pill out of a little pillbox and looked at Florian for a second with a tired look on his face before putting it in his mouth. He swallowed it, still looking at Florian and asked: "what are you wearing THAT for?" Florian smiled and said: "I've seen that in a film. It's an anti-bite-protector."
Niklas asked: "against vampire-bites?"
"Yes," Florian beamed, being proud of his cleverness.
That is until Conny mentioned, "umm, you do know that vampires can bite you everywhere? Not just in your neck and throat?" Florian's smile disappeared. "Really?" Ingo caressed his lower, left arm through his long sleeve with his right hand. "I can confirm."
"I thought it was a good idea," Florian said while taking the throat-protector off and feeling embarrassed.
Ingo didn't comment any further and set up his laptop.
When Christopher entered the room, he quickly turned the camera on again.
"I'm as good as on my way to my next assignment for new recruits to our ranks. We need as many strong people as possible to crush our enemies. But I see a bit more potential here, " he said, throwing a meaningful look at Ingo. Perhaps another training day would be possible if the right cash is in it…?"
Ingo instinctively started to search his pockets and wallet, while the others, seeing him, did the same. The result was sobering. They scratched a together one single bill and a lot of change, adding to just about 70,- US $ in total.
Christopher looked at it with a mixture of disappointment and disgust.
"You got to be kidding me!"
And thus, there was no more training that day.