ANATOMY LESSONS

The Holy Father sat in his lush green garden in the Vatican, a late red rose in his hands. Absentmindedly, he traced the edges of the petals with his fingertips. He heard the footsteps in the grass and the coughing - his senses, despite his nearly thirty-two years in office, were still remarkably young - but he ignored the disturbance as long as possible.

Thirty-two years, he thought. No other pope before him had been fortunate enough to remain in office for such a long time. Why had the Lord chosen him specifically to sit on the highest throne of Christendom for so long? What tasks did He still have in store for him? He had not been idle since taking the name Pius IX. And he was not complacent. He had proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and, more importantly, the infallibility of the Pope when proclaiming a dogma. In a way, this was also a way of protesting, showing that he, who should be the most powerful man in Christendom, was powerless, imprisoned in the Vatican - or rather, in the tiny parcel that the Italian king and his unspeakable parliament had graciously left him when they decided to seize his state, given to him by God himself, by force of arms. But he was not quite as powerless as they all thought. True, he could not retake his state in open battle. His few Swiss Guards and their antiquated weapons were not up to the task, and the French limited their offer of support to asylum in their realm. No, he had to find other ways. The fact that his word still mattered to the common people had been demonstrated by his call for a boycott of the elections under threat of ecclesiastical penalties. Those vile nationalists had driven him to flee to asylum at the time, but he had made sure that only a few people went to the polls to elect this illegal National Assembly. Pius suppressed a sigh. This republic had remained only a brief interlude in 1849, and he had soon been able to return to the Vatican. But was the situation much better now?

Perhaps he should have been more bold and courageous back then, when Vincenzo Gioberti told him of his bold dream to unite all of Italy under a Roman pope. If he hadn't been so hesitant, perhaps Vittorio Emanuele wouldn't be sitting on a throne in Rome now. Perhaps there would be a united, divine Italy under the protection of the Holy Father. What else on Earth would come closer to paradise?

Well, perhaps history would give him a second chance. - Would God grant him a second chance!

The coughing behind his back grew louder and more insistent, and so the Pope realized that he could no longer ignore it. "Step forward. What is it?"

The Camerlengo, secretary and representative in the event of the Pope's death, and a corporal of the Swiss Guard followed the invitation, approaching and greeting as befitting their positions.

"Now, tell me what's on your mind," Pius urged the secretary with a somewhat forced smile.

"Cardinal Angelo wishes to speak with you, Holy Father," the Camerlengo said with that submissive tone that the Pope so detested, that he had prayed for forgiveness for his rejection of the secretary several times.

"Then do not keep him waiting any longer. I will receive him here."

Well, he didn't love the Cardinal either. But he was not a man to be met with pitying contempt. On the contrary. He was a strong personality, radiating something mysterious, eerie. A predator to be wary of and better not to take one's eyes off.

"Holy Father." The Cardinal bowed and kissed the ring offered to him. The setting sun made his robe gleam like fresh blood.

"Please, sit, esteemed Cardinal. What do you wish to discuss?" Pius had to exert himself to keep his hands still in his lap.

"First, how are you, Holy Father? Tell me, how do you feel?" Pius pondered. "Good, actually wonderful. Remarkably wonderful, considering my advanced age."

"Yes, eighty-five is a proud age," the Cardinal confirmed, smiling somewhat self-satisfied for some reason. "I have come to tell you that the body of the revered Count Bernardo has been pulled from the Tiber. Another close confidant of Prime Minister Cavour and a supporter of the King, who will no longer harm you."

Pius was outraged. "You act as if I am having my opponents cold-bloodedly murdered one by one!"

The cardinal nodded. "But no, it would not occur to me, Holy Father. The body was washed ashore pale and bloodless, with, like the others, only insignificant injuries."

He looks like a cat that has licked the cream, thought the Pope, but he preferred not to inquire further about what the cardinal knew about the increasing political murders among the king's confidants and influential members of parliament. He feared the answer too much.

"Nevertheless, I cannot regret that our - I mean your opponents are diminishing. The goal is getting closer!" exclaimed the cardinal. Enthusiasm made his eyes glow. "We will witness it! A united Italy under the hand of the holy, Catholic Church. Under your hand, Holy Father!"

"Perhaps," Pius said hesitantly. "If I am allowed to remain on this earth for so long."

The cardinal changed the subject. "I have had a chain made of rubies for you and asked you to wear it."

Pius pulled the jewelry from under his white robe. "It would not be appropriate to show it openly."

"Yes, yes, you are right," the cardinal hastily agreed. He pulled a white cloth from his pocket and unfolded it. "Look, I have another one of these wonderful stones for you to add to your chain."

He reached out demandingly, and Pius handed him the piece of jewelry. The cardinal attached the pendant and returned the chain. Pius held it in his hand and examined it. Strange feelings stirred within him. They were perfectly cut rubies with a brilliance as if they were alive. They emanated power, and he felt as if he wanted to touch them again and again. And yet there was also a voice advising him to cast away the devil's deception.

"Is there anything else you wish to report to me?" Pius asked. His voice sounded cool.

"No, Holy Father. I beg your leave."

Pius nodded and waved over the Swiss Guard who always stood within sight to receive his orders.

"Take care of your health," said the cardinal.

"That is solely in God's hands!"

The cardinal touched the Holy Father's hand once more.

"Of course, it is our Lord in Heaven who preserves your health, yet I implore you to always wear the chain!"

He left. Pius IX. watched him go and stroked the red gemstones in his lap confusedly.

"Out of bed," Alisa shouted, pulling up her trousers as she walked, tying her shirt and slipping into the matching jacket. Once again, she was flooded with gratitude that Hindrik had freed her from corsets and tight skirts. "Come on, get dressed. Today, we're going to cut open dead people," she called out cheerfully, giving Ivy's coffin lid a strong push, causing it to slide to the side.

Ivy sat up. "I heard you. I'm coming already, even though I can't share your enthusiasm."

"The science of medicine is fascinating. What people have discovered in the past centuries is simply incredible! They are not like us. Human bodies are fragile and susceptible to all kinds of diseases. And their powers of self-healing are more than pitiful compared to ours! There are so many ways for them to die prematurely."

"A clean vampire bite," Joanne suggested, showing her tooth gap.

"Yes, that too," Alisa admitted, "but I mean more cholera and plague, rabies and consumption, or accidents of all kinds where bones break and wounds form, which then become inflamed and lead to death."

"What a delightful topic before the evening meal," Chiara teased, who was currently having her corset laced up by Leonarda, which accentuated her ample figure even more.

"It is delightful! I mean, they have learned to splint broken bones and sew wounds, and…" Suddenly, she paused. Something silver glimmered next to Ivy's pillow. Alisa leaned over the edge and retrieved a lock of hair. Confused, she held it between her fingers and looked over to Ivy, who was pulling her glowing garment over her head. As usual, she wore her long hair loose, falling in gentle waves over her shoulders and back. Alisa could clearly see the shorter ends of the strand that Franz Leopold had cut off in the church.

She held up the lock. "Did he dare to do it again?"

"What?" Ivy looked up and noticed the lock of hair in Alisa's hand. "Where did you get that from?"

"From your coffin. Did Franz Leopold cut off another lock of your hair? Why didn't you say anything?"

Ivy took two quick steps towards her and snatched the strand of hair from Alisa's hand. "No, he didn't. So you don't need to plan a revenge campaign for my sake!"

Seymour whimpered and snapped at Alisa's jacket. "Hey, what's gotten into you?" She felt a little hurt. Until now, she had thought that the wolf would accept her, even more, that the affection she felt for the noble animal was mutual.

Ivy stuffed the lock into her bag and grabbed Seymour by the nape of his neck. "Nothing! He's just a little moody sometimes." The wolf growled. "You can stroke him. He likes you."

"Are you sure?" She hesitantly placed her hand on his neck. He only whined.

Alisa looked up at Ivy. "But then where did you get the lock from? Did you reclaim it from Luciano, or did he give it to you voluntarily?"

Ivy smiled somewhat wryly. "You do have similarities with Seymour, I must say. Once you've got hold of something, you don't let go, no matter what. Yes, when it comes to persistence, you two are truly evenly matched."

Alisa looked into the wolf's yellow eyes. "I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment."

Ivy hooked her arm under hers and pulled her out of the sleeping chamber. "Come now. I'm hungry. I don't want to go about dissecting corpses like this. Otherwise, in my greed, I might make a mistake and fall upon the subjects."

Alisa grinned.

"And now tell me about the incredible medical discoveries of mankind," Ivy prompted as they strolled through the dimly lit corridors towards the hall with the golden ceiling.

Alisa's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "Have you ever heard of Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, or Ignaz Semmelweis?"

Ivy shook her head and urged her friend to continue. By the time they reached the hall, Alisa had informed her that they were tiny creatures that caused diseases in humans and also spoiled food. The Frenchman Pasteur had proven that heat destroyed these creatures in food.

"And the doctor Semmelweis realized that even simple lye or chloride of lime prevented the transmission of toxins from the sick or corpses to the healthy. He issued hygiene regulations for handling pregnant women, thereby ensuring that far fewer women succumb to the dreaded fever in childbirth today." Alisa's cheeks glowed. They entered the hall, where a buzz of voices and the warm scent of blood greeted them.

Luciano spotted them first and waved to them. "Oh, I see Alisa is in one of her dangerous phases again, where she has to impart the fascinating knowledge of mankind to everyone," he said, winking at Ivy with a playfully tragic expression. "You have my deepest sympathy. Come, sit next to me quickly and fortify yourself, you'll surely need it now. Raphaela, we have an emergency here!"

The young, pretty vampire turned to them and hurried to their table. The child on her back whimpered. "What emergency? Who is about to perish from blood loss?"

Ivy laughed brightly as Alisa shot the Roman a offended look. The friend took her arm and pulled her onto the bench.

"Raphaela, Luciano is once again exaggerating massively, but you can still pour us two cups, but please fill them to the brim! And then let's toast to the fact that we vampires are so extraordinarily robust compared to those little creatures!"

Alisa hesitated for a moment, but then she joined in Ivy's irresistible laughter.

The young vampires had wondered who would take over the anatomy lesson. Nevertheless, they were surprised when the librarian Leandro entered the classroom and asked them to follow him.

"He really doesn't look like a bookworm," Alisa observed once again.

"Isn't that true? He's more of a fighter who would defend the objects of his protection with violence rather than the typical scholar," Ivy agreed.

Leandro led them into a plain room with only three simple wooden tables. On them lay the three dead bodies they had taken out of their coffins last night. Someone had stripped them of their clothes. Two oil lamps burned in their iron holders on the walls, illuminating the pale bodies.

"I've never seen a dead person up close before," Alisa remarked, surprised. She ran her fingertips over a cold arm.

There were two men and one woman. While the woman and the man who lay on the far left had been torn from the prime of their already very short human lives, the man in the middle had reached a rather old age. Sixty or seventy. Humans aged very quickly after they had passed the peak of their powers, and their bodies deteriorated rapidly. A vampire matured as quickly as a human but then everything slowed down. The middle of their lives, when they possessed their greatest strengths, lasted two to three times as long as with a human, and there was no limit to age. If the will did not leave them, the venerable ones could continue to exist indefinitely.

Alisa turned her attention back to the pale human bodies. How the three had died was not easily discernible. Only the body of the young man showed external injuries that likely ended his life.

Human bodies were indeed too fragile! Bone fractures took weeks or even months to heal, and if not carefully treated, they grew crooked, rendering the limbs unusable. Even the smallest wounds often began to rot and fester, poisoning the entire body until the person died.

"What do you think?" Ivy asked.

"An accident or a fall. Perhaps he lost too much blood. The tear over there on the side seems quite deep." They could only speculate about the other two bodies.

"The woman died in childbirth," Luciano said, lowering his gaze sheepishly.

The two girls looked at him in surprise. "How do you know that?"

"Pietro said so. The child was with her in the coffin, but they left his body there."

Alisa placed her hand on the equally pale hand of the human woman. She couldn't have been dead for long. Her skin showed dark spots on the underside, but otherwise decay had not yet caused visible damage. In contrast, the bellies of the men were swollen, and dark fluid ran from their noses and ears. Alisa continued to contemplate the dead woman. A strange feeling washed over her. How peculiar that so many died at the moment they sought to propagate their kind. Women were so vulnerable and so fragile.

Ivy nodded as she voiced her thoughts aloud. "Yes, it's the same in Ireland. All the young women walk around year after year with swollen bellies, and most of their children are buried after only a few moments, days, or months on earth. You can watch the mothers wither away more with each passing year until they lack the strength for another birth and are laid to rest with their child. Our families suffer from the fact that no children are born anymore, but when one is born, it is strong, and it is granted a long existence. Sometimes I wonder if humans are also doomed to extinction."

Alisa shook her head. "No, I don't believe that. They will continue to multiply, especially if their medical knowledge continues to advance so rapidly. Perhaps with their inventions, they will eventually defeat death entirely and be able to exist forever like us."

"By all demons, she's back to her favorite topic again," groaned Luciano, rolling his eyes.

"Silence!" the librarian's voice boomed through the room. The murmuring of the young vampires ceased. He had tied an apron around himself and held a sharp knife in his hands, the kind surgeons used for their operations.

"Come over here, all of you. I'll start with this man and show you the location of the important veins. There are veins with delicious blood and those with pale blood. You can tell by the color and the pressure within each vein. Fresh blood flows more strongly and is of a brighter red. You can also recognize it by its smell. It tingles a bit in the nose and is sweeter. But be careful! If these veins are injured by a reckless bite, the human being can easily bleed to death, even if we follow the instruction to take only as much as they can recover from in a short time."

The librarian began to cut open the skin of the dead man and expose the important veins he had spoken of. He wielded the blade surprisingly skillfully and precisely, something one wouldn't have expected from his large hands. Then he cut the swollen abdomen in the shape of a Y and showed them the organs of humans, whose injury usually led to their death.

"Pay close attention and watch carefully," Leandro cautioned. "When we're done here, you'll expose a part yourselves."

Tammo shifted from one foot to the other. "Isn't it incredible?" he whispered to his sister. "I feel such a greed within me that I don't know how to control myself. It's as if I should fall to all fours and howl into the night like Seymour. I want to run out like a predator and tear prey apart."

Alisa knew what he meant. She felt this restlessness within herself and the dull sensation as the fangs continued to protrude. The smell of the dead in the room, growing more intense, clouded her mind. The others were also in a state of trembling tension. Sharp teeth gleamed in the lamplight. Even Seymour quietly whimpered through the room. Only the librarian seemed completely calm. Perhaps he had learned to control and suppress the sweet pain of hunger. It took Alisa great effort to complete her assigned task. The images and desires that arose in her mind were exciting and frightening at the same time. She was almost relieved that the clan members would still be strict for a few more years, ensuring that none of their descendants went on human hunts.

Early in the morning, before the sky brightened, at a time when most of the young vampires sat lethargically in the chairs of their common room, the three friends slipped outside once more and wandered among the ruins for a while.

"That was exciting!" Alisa enthused. "I've learned so much new about humans. It's much more memorable when you stand next to the body with a knife in your hand than just flipping through a book!"

"Hear, hear," teased Luciano. "And that from the mouth of our book fanatic! You're not thinking of giving up reading, are you?"

"Nonsense," scolded Alisa. "It's not an either-or situation. The practical tasks provide additional insights and practice in handling the scalpel. I can understand the students well, secretly dissecting even though the Church has forbidden it."

"My realization mainly consists of the fact that the presence of corpses makes my hunger even more unbearable," said Luciano, making a pitiful grimace.

"Quiet!" Ivy suddenly hissed with an unusually sharp voice.

"Why? We..." Luciano began to ask.

"Quiet!" Ivy commanded. They listened but could only hear the gentle rustle of the wind.

"What is it?" Alisa whispered, stepping closer to Ivy. "Do you hear something?" Now she also noticed that Seymour's fur was bristling, and he had positioned himself protectively in front of Ivy.

"No, I can't hear or smell anything. It's more of a feeling," Ivy shrugged helplessly.

Alisa closed her eyes and tried to scan the surroundings with her mind. There were faint traces of various humans and vampires, all of which seemed familiar to her. The human tracks were all from previous nights. Nothing unusual. Nothing that should worry Ivy and Seymour. And yet, there was something else, a power she couldn't quite grasp with her mind. What kind of being was leaving these vibrations? The feeling became clearer and clearer.

"It's not a human," she whispered. "Then what? A vampire?"

"If so, then none I know! I can't detect any of the scents from the six clans we're familiar with," Luciano whispered hoarsely, his body trembling as if he were freezing.

Alisa alternately stared at him and Ivy. "Me neither. But what creature could it be if it doesn't belong to one of the six clans?"

"That's exactly the question that worries me. I've sensed this aura twice before, once when I was alone outside with Seymour and encountered Franz Leopold, and then again when we were walking around together. But I didn't attach much importance to it then. It wasn't as clear as it is now. Come, let's return to the Domus Aurea. Seymour is so restless, that's not a good sign!"

Alisa would have liked to learn more about the mysterious entity but didn't dare to even try to persuade the others. Ivy seemed strangely intimidated as she let herself be pushed up the hill by Seymour. Alisa didn't know her like this, and this sudden change worried her more than anything else.

Later, as they lay down in their coffins to rest, Alisa brought up the unknown power again, but Ivy was unusually dismissive. Feeling a little hurt, she eventually fell silent.

"Let me rest and think about it for a day," Ivy eventually pleaded. "I'm so confused."

"One cannot think during the day!" Alisa retorted. "One cannot even dream as long as the sun is above the horizon."

Ivy only nodded and commanded Seymour to jump into her coffin. It seemed she wanted him close to her on this day, while her body lapsed into its death-like stiffness.