I sat down in one of the armchairs and thought about my feelings. Lately I had been thinking of Viper, of her image before my eyes, of her voice, and of my desire to meet her. These reflections did not lead me to a definite conclusion, and no matter how strictly I ordered myself to suppress these thoughts, they returned again and again, making me worry that I had begun to think of a human being. I pondered, wondering to myself, until I heard my mother call my name – this brought me out of the captivity of my thoughts.

– …Cedric a new car. His old wreck is driving me out of my mind.

It's trivial: my mother has once again started another unnecessary conversation about the fact that I should replace the car. Until today I managed to protect my faithful humble friend, but today, in my thoughts, I was far away from this hall, so this time I did not really resist my mother's insistence to make me a "worthy vampire".

– We've talked about this so many times. Has your ardour still not cooled? – I smiled weakly at my mother.

– You know me, darling: I will insist until you replace your old wreck with a more dignified vehicle! You're Morgan! – exclaimed my mother, clearly not going to give in to this argument.

– Well, for the hundredth time, I'm happy with my car, and I'm not going to part with it.

– But let's face it: it's been looking like an old painted can for a long time. And I'm ashamed that my son drives such an old and unusable car!

– You're the only one who can't accept this sad fact, because everyone but you is not annoyed by my Toyota," I said ironically to this.

– We're just silently tolerating it," Markus's mocking voice came through.

I glanced at my father, silently begging him to cool my mother's temper and make her leave me alone, but he just shrugged and grinned dolefully.

– Well, it looks like all the Morgans are united against my choice," I grinned. – What about you, Mariszka?

– I can't go against my fiancé's judgement! – she replied cheerfully.

– I see, my opinion is not interested in anyone, – I smiled sarcastically.

– Of course you do, but in this case, the majority opinion should be your judgement. – Markus was in his repertoire: we loved to banter with each other, and today he was the star of a slapstick comedy show.

– I've been to the car showroom today and I've found a great one for you," my mother said to me.

– Like a peacock? – I asked mockingly, knowing my parent's taste.

– By the way, your father thinks so, too. Don't you, Gregory?

– It's a great car," I said, but I knew he supported his beloved and was biased in his judgement.

We could have argued for a long time, but this time I had neither the energy nor the will to waste time on idle chatter.

– Well, I'll accept it," I began.

– Hail Mary," Markus said.

– What are you doing here? I think you're talking? – I asked mockingly, mocking him.

– For your information, I have the unique gift of speaking and listening at the same time, which doesn't stop me from observing your argument. Mum's just a magician – she got the stubborn one to come round and win 1-0! – replied my brother cheerfully.

– Do you really agree? – Mother jumped up and down.

– Agree? I was forced to agree! – I said, laughing. – Besides, I myself am glad that now you will get rid of me.

– I'm going to the salon tonight! – My mother jumped up from her seat.

– Luckily, it's already closed," I chuckled.

– Not for me, it isn't! I want you to go to university tomorrow like a normal vampire, in a nice car, not this junk! – replied Mum as she left the hall.

– What's going to happen to my faithful swallow? – I muttered regretfully.

– May she rest in peace," Markus said in a sad, mournful voice. He and Mariszka giggled.

– Shut up, Markus," I said sharply.

– Whatever you say, mister! Not a word of discretion from now on! – he said.

I heard the laughter of the couple again.

I decided to ignore them and meditate again. But this time my father interrupted me.

– How was your day? – he asked me.

– The usual. My life is so boring and monotonous that nothing interesting can happen in it," I replied, unhappy that my father wasn't letting me reflect in peace and quiet.

– Judging by your mood and tone, the routine is eating you alive. Anything new in your studies? – Father asked again.

– The rector has decided to show his power and make fun of the students," I grinned. – As of last week, the senior courses are supposed to prepare the juniors for their exams until winter.

– Why would they do that?

– Who knows. There's a whole pack of these oafs at the university.

– Interesting.

– And fun.

– How does this happen? – asked my father, clearly interested in this innovation.

– Everyone has a student from the junior year sitting on their neck.

– And you?

– And me.

– Who's sitting on your neck?

– A third-year student girl.

– How's your relationship?

– It's not. The only weird thing about this situation is…" I started, but suddenly stopped talking. Should I tell my father about my strange state of mind since I'd met Viper? Maybe he could explain what the hell was happening to me.

– The scent of her blood," I said instead, not wanting to share my weakness with anyone. – I've never smelled blood so beautiful. It's so heavy and tart that it makes it hard for me to focus when I'm sitting next to her.

I learnt long ago to control myself and temper my predatory instincts. Now any scent, even one that incited me to kill, was not dangerous to me. But Viper blood beckoned to me like no other in all the years of my long life. I mentally pictured drinking that marvellous blood and feeling the sea breeze on my face. But where would that sea breeze come from if Viper was born and raised in Brno?

– Does her blood taste as good as its flavour?

– I didn't kill her.

Father's testing gaze was like he was trying to scan my soul. Talking about Viper interested him far more than I'd realised.

– If you want her blood so badly, drink it, then you'll get those thoughts out of your head," my father advised me.

– Have you ever experienced anything like that? – I asked.

– All of us, at least once, suddenly feel obsessed with a certain flavour. In such a situation, you should kill the victim so that you don't feel constrained. Kill her and forget about this nonsense.

– That's what I'll do," I said to get my father behind me.

Kill Viper and drink her blood. Kill her. How easy it is. How easy it would be to get rid of this problem. How sweet this moment will be. The moment I'm free of it. Isn't that the answer to my question?

But when I imagined killing this girl, this elf, I felt uneasy. Something in me rebelled against even the thought of it. This decision would be horrible. If I killed Viper, and this fragile girl was gone – the mystery would be gone. What if her death was in vain? What if I never find the answer and I'm tormented because I was wrong to do what I did? No. Viper has to live. I won't kill her just because talking to her has put me in this abnormal state. Yes, she's only human, but if Viper is to lose her life, it won't be by my hand. Because I had no idea how I was going to live knowing that I had robbed the world of such a fragile, wonderful flower with a strange name like Viper.

"I'm getting a little lazy and thinking about that mortal too much!" – I thought to myself irritably. I was angry with myself and with Viper because she had been on my mind ever since I'd first met her. I could suppress them, block them out, but they still found tricks and secret passages in my mind and broke free. Never in my long life had I thought of mortals at all – they were of no interest to me. Their mundane short lives taught them nothing, and I was sure that all mortals were stupid and ignorant. And I had never thought about a woman for so long. Much less a mortal. Mentally tracing my life's journey and remembering my temporary admiration and brief attraction to one of the vampires that was so much prettier, smarter, more perfect than Viper, I chuckled derisively, laughing at myself and my obsession with some mortal.