Author's Note: Greetings everyone! Well, I want to let you know that the updates will be coming faster than before. And, although I'm not certain of it, I think that I might have made a mistake in regards to how Protestants at that time addressed their ministers. Well, other than that, I ask everyone to enjoy reading and to continue to read and review.

From the red sky of the east to the sunset in the west.
We have cheated death and he has cheated us.
But that was just a dream and this is what it means,
we are sleeping and we'll dream for evermore.
And a fragment remains of our memories.
And the shadows remain with our hands.
Deep gray came to morn, all the colors of the dawn.
Will this journeyman's day be his last?-

"Journeyman"-Iron Maiden

Seuche in Deutschland

Chapter XII

04 January 1824

Dear Lysander and Alcander,

How are you, my boys? Besides my own words in this letter, I am also writing on behalf of Christian. By the time you receive this we may already be in Prussia. Yes, you heard correctly when I said, "we." I am coming with Christian to Berlin. It's too bad that we will not be able to celebrate Christmas together as a family on the seventh. At first I thought it was possible, but now I realize that it's impossible. But we can have Christmas when we return, and I believe that an additional person ensures a quicker return to Romania. I hope that when we arrive you'll have some more information for us.

Until then, take care my boys,

Dad

On January 09th, Adrian Tepes and Christian Belmont arrived in Berlin. The two men took a carriage to Lysander's apartment, and were fortunate to catch the brothers at home. Lysander and Alcander were also aware of their father and cousin's arrival, because they received their father's letter yesterday.

Lysander prepared for himself, his brother, his cousin, and his father a glass of wine, before Adrian asked the first question.

"So…what new information can you tell us since your last letter?"

"A few ups and downs," replied Alcander.

"All right," began Christian, "let's start with the ups first."

"Well, we did learn the name of the head vampire," said Lysander.

"Really!" exclaimed his father. "And who's that?"

"His name's Alric…Alric Ingber," responded Alcander. "But he remains something of a mystery to us."

"Why's that?" asked Christian.

"That's probably the beginning of our downs," replied Lysander. "But I suppose we should move into that."

Adrian nodded. "All right."

"After we received the name of this head vampire, we went to the records office. The city of Berlin keeps track of births and deaths. They mostly receive them from churches after a baby's baptized. Among the records we found one Alric Ingber. He was born in 1780…"

"Which'd make him around the same age as your mother," interjected Adrian.

"Yes, but here's where it becomes confusing. He has a birth-date, but no death-date, which means Cander and I're confused. For all we know this Alric could still be alive and controlling these vampires."

Adrian sipped his wine. "I seriously doubt that."

"What makes you so certain, Uncle?"

"Because it'd be highly unlikely for a vampire to follow orders from a mortal. There has to be something more to it."

"Such as to how this Alric knows our names and nationalities," added Alcander.

"Yes…that as well."

"More than likely," began Christian, "this Alric character has been to Romania. And if he knows who Sander and Cander are, then he probably knows who Uncle Adrian and myself are."

"…That's one possibility," replied Alcander.

"It's the only possibility, Cander!" his cousin responded. "Who else would've heard of us outside of Romania, or maybe Hungary?"

"Hmm," began Adrian, with another sip from his wine glass, "well, people outside of Romania and Hungary've heard of my father before. Although, to them, Father's only known as a historical figure."

"Which brings us into our second down," replied Lysander.

"And that is?"

"Do you remember those letters that I had you read before Cander and I left Romania?"

Adrian and Christian nodded.

"The last of them was from my friend, Ingo Langheinrch. He's a representative of Prince Fredrick William III of Prussia…Yesterday he came by with a letter…a letter from Romania."

"Romania?" Christian responded.

"Yes, Romania. He received a letter from my superiors the same day that I received the letter from Dad. Apparently, Ingo mentioned to my superiors that I'd started my investigation."

"Investigation?" asked Adrian.

"Well…that's what I told him when Cander and I arrived."

"What do you mean?" added his cousin.

"Unlike Romania, Western Europe regards the concept of vampires as nothing more than a ridiculous superstition. I couldn't say to him, 'My brother and I're investigating to see if there's a vampire in this city.' Had I've done so, he would've locked me up in an asylum. So, I told him that my government sent me here to investigate the epidemic in this city. And, of course, he sent my superiors a letter to inform them that I'd begun my investigation. And, of course, my superiors wrote back that I was never sent here on such an assignment."

"…So what did you say?"

"I told him the truth."

"You did!" replied his father.

Lysander nodded. "Ingo's my friend, and the only reason why I lied to him was because I had no other choice. After I told him the truth, I told him to write to my superiors in Wallachia that I was investigating traces of vampirism…I think he'll be shocked when he learns that vampirism's taken seriously in Romania."

"Yes, he'll be surprised—that's for certain. But for all I know, what you've done Sander may result in this friend of yours launching a crusade to educate Eastern Europe."

"That's possible, Dad; but what else did you expect me to do?"

"Nothing…you did what was right, Sander…But who knows…maybe one day Romanians'll believe that vampires're just some folk tale. Vlad the Impaler'll be thought of as nothing more than a historical figure. While all of us—along with Trevor, Simon, and Richter Belmont—will be thought of as nothing more than legends, like Hercules or Achilles…even by members of our own families."

"…Perhaps that's true," replied Christian. "But regardless of what happens to us in the future, we've a job to do right now."

Adrian smiled. "Very true, Christian." Then he turned to his sons. "So, where do we begin?"

"I don't know," Alcander said. "We haven't seen any vampire activity since New Years."

Adrian smiled at his youngest son. "You're not using your head, Cander."

Alcander shot his father a look. "What do you mean by that?"

But Adrian kept his smile. "Where do vampires often hide, Cander?"

"…I don't know…I want to say, Castle Dracula."

Adrian shook his head. "You've a Tepes brain; now use it!"

"…In an area where they'd be away from people who could discover them?"

Adrian returned his smile. "Exactly!" And then he turned to his first born. "Sander, are there any abandoned areas in this city?"

"…Yes…most of them…damn!"

"What?"

"Most of them're in the northern part of the city…I guess that explains why the incidents were first taking place in the northern part of the city."

"Do you know any specific buildings?"

"…No…none that're specific…I mean, I know of buildings that're unused, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of Berlin's homeless're living in them."

Adrian turned to the clock. "It's three in the afternoon. We'll have at least two-and a half-hours to conduct a search. Let's secure a carriage, and make our way to north Berlin."