THE HOUSE ON KEHRWIEDER

The sun had just sunk behind a forest of masts, rigging, and sails in the Elbe when Alisa opened the lid of the elongated box in which she slept away the time of glaring daylight. Yawning, she rose from her spartan bed.

"Good evening, Miss Alisa," a voice sounded. A tall, slender man around twenty years old strolled towards her. "Good evening, Hindrik," Alisa greeted him. She couldn't remember an evening of her thirteen years of life when he hadn't greeted her with these words. And while she changed over the years, growing from a child into a young girl, Hindrik remained unchanged in his form, like all Servants who had once lived as humans and then been transformed by a vampire of pure bloodline.

Even his haircut and his stubble, which had been three days old at his death, always remained the same. He had long since given up trying to shave or adopt a more modern hairstyle. Once he had shaved his head completely bald, but when he rose from his box in the evening, his hair was long and curly as always.

Alisa didn't know exactly how old he was, only that he came from the seventeenth century. "Don't you ever sleep?" she asked, suppressing another yawn. "Yes, of course, Miss, every day like a dead man. But when I wake up, I'm a bit quicker than you." "You also have more practice," countered Alisa, pulling her long linen shirt over her head and throwing it into the box.

Then she put on a faded pair of pants and a loose coat. Just as it didn't surprise her that Hindrik was already up, it didn't surprise her that the other two boxes were still closed. Her brother and her cousin, with whom she shared the chamber on the upper attic, never hurried to get out of their boxes at sunset.

Alisa was fine with that. Her younger brother Thankmar, whom everyone except Dame Elina called Tammo, was rebellious and opinionated and annoyed her most of the time. And Sören made sure she knew that he was a year older.

"And, what's new? Anything special I should know?" she asked Hindrik as she twisted her red-blond hair into a knot and tucked it under a flat cap. Hindrik hesitated, but then he denied it. Still fiddling with her cap, Alisa turned around. "Could it be that you're lying to me right now?" She looked at him sternly, but he effortlessly met the gaze of her light blue eyes. "But no, Miss! You asked if you needed to know. "

Alisa smiled. "Ah, I should choose my words more carefully in the future." Hindrik smiled back, approached, and closed the lid of her sleeping box. "Yes, perhaps you should." "So, what is it that you think I don't need to know, but will definitely pique my interest?" Hindrik shook his head. "Wait and see. You'll find out when Dame Elina deems it appropriate." Alisa pouted her lip.

"You're not afraid of her, are you?" "I no longer know the feeling of fear," Hindrik said simply. "But I do respect Dame Elina and therefore will not go against her wishes." Alisa knew that was his final word, so she refrained from pressing him further. She would have to find another way. Something stirred in one of the boxes. Alisa hurried to the door. "I better go then." "Where are you going?" Hindrik asked. "The usual rounds," she evasively replied. "You know Dame Elina doesn't appreciate that! You shouldn't walk alone through the alleys."

"Oh really?" Alisa exclaimed, hands on hips. "And what about the others? They get to enjoy themselves every night! They wander around the harbor, roam the city, or mingle with the night owls at Spielbudenplatz!" Hindrik nodded. "Yes, because they are adults." "Hah!" snorted Alisa, turning to leave.

Before the stairs, she turned around once more, looking back at the man in the outdated knee breeches and ruffled shirt. "You wouldn't betray me, would you?" "If nobody asks me, then I have nothing to tell. And now, get going. You heard it, your brother has woken up. If he sees you, he'll surely want to accompany you." "May the spirits of the night protect me from that!" Alisa said with a shudder, and hurried down the many stairs to the grand hall, its central beam bearing the year 1680.

At that time, wealthy merchants had built these magnificent houses in Baroque style along the Fleet, extending to the inner harbor. Except for the last two buildings, which the Vamalia family had acquired for their family over a hundred years ago, some of the wealthiest Hamburg merchants still lived and worked in these houses, providing living space for the merchant and his family, as well as for his assistants and servants, but also space for the office and - on two floors under the roof - storage for goods.

The most beautiful room in the main house of the Vamalia was the hall, which stretched over two floors, with a surrounding gallery supported by carved columns. The coffered ceiling was also adorned with carvings, the panels intricately painted and overlaid with gold leaf. From the gallery, the living and sleeping rooms of the leading members of the family branched off. In the adjacent house lived the Elders.

The formerly open attic spaces had been divided into chambers where the young vampires and servants slept. Alisa felt the familiar tug in her jaw, which would be followed by piercing hunger and then numbing greed. She would have liked to ignore the feeling, but from experience, she knew that her walk would not bring her joy if she tried to suppress her nature.

So she went into the former kitchen, where the large stove still stood, from which one could also fire the tiled stove in the parlor. Since the Vamalia clan had inhabited the house, the stove had not been used. The vampires felt neither the cold of winter nor the heat of summer. "Good evening, Alisa," greeted her a woman in the uniform of a Hamburg maid. Like Hindrik, she was a servant, but had only come to the house a few years ago. "Good evening, Berit."

Unprompted, the young woman handed her a cup. Alisa greedily downed the still warm animal blood, which two of the servants fetched every evening from the nearby slaughterhouse. Then she left the house.

By now, it had gotten dark. Only the gas lamps on the bridges and in the wider streets emitted their yellowish light in a small circle. Alisa hesitated. She knew that her chances of prey were greatest in the richer districts and around the Börse, yet she was magically drawn to the Wandrahm and the houses on the Doverfleet.

It was only one of the alley districts in Hamburg, but certainly one with the worst living conditions for the people. And yet, even the constantly damp ground-floor apartments, which often stood under water for days during every storm surge, were inhabited. The tiny apartments crowded several stories high around courtyards with three or four rear houses. Men, women, and children slept together in the narrow beds, often with additional lodgers who found space for the night in the last available corners for a few pennies.

The smell of the many people was overwhelming, enveloping Alisa like a cloud. The people on the Wandrahminsel didn't smell as seductively sweet as the young ladies in their tight dresses strolling along the new Jungerfernstieg, or the gentlemen in dark suits meeting for an evening beer after work at the Börse or in the trading offices.

This was a mixture like too many exotic spices, sour and wild, and perhaps precisely because of that, so exciting. Alisa strolled among the people who had finished their exhausting day's work. She passed men sitting on old crates in the street, spinning a top. Women stood together, laughing or arguing. And among them ran children, screaming and playing tag. Not for the first time, Alisa wondered how their blood would taste.

So far, she hadn't tasted human blood. "Too dangerous," Dame Elina had declared, threatening draconian punishments for any transgression. Alisa would have to wait until she was old enough, like the young vampires of other clans.

They would lose themselves in their first blood frenzy if they weren't yet strong enough, was the explanation. And yet - or perhaps precisely because of that - Alisa found it hard to resist. She suppressed a sigh and turned towards the bridge. It was time to go.

First, she didn't want to lose her prey to the market women or other interested parties, and second, she needed to calm her agitated mind. It was exhilarating and dangerous to mix so closely among the hot-blooded, sweating bodies!

Alisa stopped on the bridge that led over the Fleet by the Kornhaus and breathed in the brackish air. It was low tide, and so some boats, whose keels had settled on the mud, were slightly askew in the shallow water. She continued on her way, feeling her legs grow heavy, but she didn't let it deter her.

The Vamalia had long since learned to cross the Fleets at any water level. Only this heaviness in her bones reminded her that once she could only cross flowing water at the onset of the tide change. Alisa took the alley to the Nikolaifleet and followed it to the Börse. Then she went to the square where remnants of the blown-up City Hall still awaited a new construction. Since the great fire in 1842, the Hamburg Senate had been meeting in an orphanage on Admiralitätsstraße.

Alisa crossed a narrow bridge and then strolled along the Alster, where some illuminated boats were still underway. With a thick bundle under her arm, she returned to the inner harbor and the merchant houses on the Kehrwieder. "Well?" inquired Hindrik, as she entered the simple lower room around midnight, where he sat alone at the table, working on a new piece of art.

"What is this?" Alisa leaned over his shoulder.

"It's a model of the Hamburg II coat of arms, a convoy ship that was launched in sixteen eighty-six. Naturally, every detail is recreated to exact size. Not like the craftworks of humans, which only bear a vague resemblance to the original," Hindrik explained.

Alisa pointed to a row of hatches in the hull. "Were these all cannons?" "Yes, indeed, the Admiralty armed its convoys to Spain and Portugal well. And yet, we often found ourselves staring into the muzzle flashes of pirates," Hindrik replied. "You sailed on this ship?" Alisa said, almost reverently.

Hindrik didn't often talk about his life. He simply nodded curtly and changed the subject. "And? What's new from the exciting human world? What did you get?" Alisa beamed and unrolled the bundle of papers.

Solemnly, she laid out the newspapers side by side: "A Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung from yesterday, a Kölnische Volkszeitung from the day before yesterday, a Hamburger Fremdenblatt from today, and the Altonaer Nachrichten from yesterday."

"Not bad," Hindrik agreed, delicately fastening a spar with his pointed fingers. "Let's start with the news and troubles from Hamburg," Alisa said, opening the second-to-last page. "The ropemakers are protesting the city's plans to tear down the ropewalks on Hamburger Berg and build even more entertainment establishments like those around the Spielbudenplatz.

The men of the ropemaker's union believe their ropes, which they spin in their long runs there, will always be needed in shipping and elsewhere," she summarized the first article. "Also, two days ago, the residents of Altona gathered and threatened the tryworkers, saying they would throw them and their cauldrons into the Elbe if they continued to render whale oil outdoors on the beach.

They say the stench is so beastly that a tannery smells heavenly in comparison." Hindrik nodded knowingly. "The humans aren't entirely wrong. But the problem will solve itself soon. There are hardly any Greenland whales left, and all the other whales swim too fast to catch up with in the rowing boats. Moreover, not as much whale oil is needed anymore. The street lamps now burn gas, and the petroleum they bring in barrels from the United States will replace the whale oil in many places."

Alisa sighed. "You're probably right. They're much further ahead with their inventions over there. It must be fantastic! Oh, how I'd love to smuggle myself onto one of the emigrant ships and just go along to see it all with my own eyes."

Hindrik looked at her in shock. "You wouldn't do anything foolish, would you? It's not as nice as you think. I was over there just a few decades ago and was glad to come back. I'll have to watch over you even more closely if such thoughts are crossing your mind."

They were treading on thin ice, and so Alisa thought it wiser to change the subject. "Where is everyone? The house was deserted when I came back."

Hindrik carved two more shrouds. "The new Central Hall is being opened. It's a huge spectacle. This time they've built it out of stone, with a pompous columned portal and whatever else is in fashion." He made a face.

"The old one burned down, didn't it?" Hindrik nodded. "And why didn't you go with them?" Hindrik sighed. "Because I'm supposed to keep an eye on you and the young ones." "Well, now you've got me in your sight." Alisa flipped through her newspaper and was about to continue reading when the door was flung open and her brother Thankmar burst in. "We're going to school," he blurted out. Alisa frowned. "Who told you that nonsense?"

"That's not nonsense! Lady Elina said it exactly like that! - Um, well, not directly to me, but I heard it clearly," Tammo insisted.

"Tammo, you've been eavesdropping!" He nodded proudly. "And what do you say to that?" "Going to school? That's ridiculous," Alisa shook her head.

Tammo shrugged. "I swear. To a academy for young vampires that was just founded." Alisa furrowed her brow and looked at Hindrik questioningly. "And where is this academy supposed to be?"

Tammo just shrugged again. "I didn't hear that." "Then why bother with such incomplete news?" his sister scolded, then stormed out. Tammo watched her go and then sat down next to Hindrik. "I bet she'll find out," he said, grinning, his fangs gleaming in the dim light. "I wouldn't bet against that,"

Hindrik replied. "But wouldn't it also be an option to simply wait until Lady Elina tells you what you need to know?" Tammo looked at him as if he had gone completely mad. Hindrik caught his gaze. A sound between a laugh and a sigh escaped him. "No, apparently you rule out that possibility." Alisa sneaked up to the first floor and followed the gallery to the painted door, behind which the merchant's living room had once been.

Today, Lady Elina conducted her meetings with the most important members of the family here. Alisa edged closer cautiously. Like all vampires, she had an almost silent gait, but Lady Elina and a few other family members had extremely keen hearing! So it was far from easy to eavesdrop on their conversations.

Alisa held her breath. She didn't want to risk being caught. As benevolent as the clan leader usually filled her position, she could also be very unpleasant if one went against her instructions. And eavesdropping on the closed circle's conversations was certainly one of the things she didn't approve of!

Finally, Alisa's ear was at the keyhole, and the words drifted over to her. "Of course, they will not travel to Rome alone. We will appoint one from our circle to go with them, and we will also give them one or two experienced escorts from the ranks of the servants to monitor the progress of their education. Perhaps I will even travel with them myself.

" Rome? Had she heard correctly? Did Lady Elina really say Rome? "And how are the children to safely get there? This is not just a journey to the Old Land on the south bank of the Elbe! And even that I wouldn't dare to attempt today," said the croaky voice of the Elder who had led the family at the beginning of the century.

"Well, fortunately, the times are over when only horses and carriages were available for the land route. We will travel by train. There is now the possibility to cross the Alps! As far as I know, two passes are already being used," Lady Elina explained. "By those monsters of steam horses?" exclaimed another Elder.

"I wouldn't set foot in something like that. Humans have no experience with these fast machines at all. Why not a ship?" "Well, humans have been experimenting with steam locomotives for fifty years now. I believe that can be considered enough experience," Lady Elina countered. "Fifty years," the Elder exclaimed. "What are fifty years anyway?" "A lot for a human life," the clan leader retorted.

"The children and their escorts will travel by train!" she reiterated in a tone that brooked no argument. "And now let the children come. Since we already have the second eavesdropper outside the door, I think it is appropriate to inform them of the full extent of our decision."

Alisa recoiled. How was that possible? She was sure she hadn't made the slightest noise! It was almost eerie. Once again, it was evident that Lady Elina hadn't been chosen as the head of the clan by chance!

"You can fetch Thankmar and Sören," Lady Elina said in a slightly raised voice. "And bring Hindrik as well."

Alisa hurried off and returned with the three of them after just a few moments. With a queasy feeling in her stomach, she opened the door and entered. On one side of the table sat in comfortable armchairs those eight Elders who occasionally left their chambers and still took an interest in the affairs of the family. On the other side, Lady Elina and the vampires who were considered the most experienced of the clan faced them: Elina's younger brother Olaf, her cousins Jacob and Reint, and Anneke, a second cousin, as well as the two servants Marieke and Morten. Lady Elina waved the young vampires and Hindrik closer.

"Since you've already speculated about the words you overheard, now listen to the whole story," she said.

She recounted the secret meeting at Lake Geneva and the outrageous proposal that the Druid from Ireland had presented to them. In Alisa's head, it started to buzz.

She would travel to Rome by steam train and live with the Nosferas for an entire year. She would receive instruction in defense against church powers and other magical arts. But she would also learn the language of the country and the history of its people. And not only that. She would get to know the young vampires of the other clans: the Lycana from Ireland, the Dracas from Vienna, the Vyrad from London, and the Pyras from Paris. How many stories had she heard about these families, whose members were supposed to be deceitful and evil, and with whom the Vamalia had been at war for centuries. And she would be taught alongside these vampires?

In reality, she should have felt disgust or something like fear, but instead, it felt more like joyful excitement. She and the two boys - well, that was a small downside, but one she would have to accept - would go to Rome and finally escape the boredom that had been gnawing at her so much!

Above the Eternal City, evening descended. It would be another of those mild late summer nights that invited leisurely strolls, visits to one of the theaters or music houses, one of the taverns with their white linen tablecloths, or one of the numerous bars to enjoy a good drink at the wooden counter. As the evening progressed, many of the male night owls would be drawn to the houses that multiplied in the narrow streets somewhat away from the magnificent palaces and churches. The revealing clothing of the ladies - who weren't really ladies - and their mostly brightly painted faces clearly indicated the type of entertainment the visitors pursued here.

One of these girls had taken up position at a dark corner. Time passed, and she began to walk restlessly up and down. Every time she approached the door of the nearby bar, the light that enveloped her revealed that she was unusually pretty and clean, with a delicate innocence still evident on her face, something rarely seen in this place and at this time. And it was no coincidence that had brought her here. She reached for the purse under her skirts. For that much money, she would have been willing to carry out much stranger assignments!

The man who had chosen her and stationed her here approached her and handed her a glass with a greenish liquid. "Drink, he will be here soon. And make sure he doesn't slip away. He has a tempting target in mind and definitely doesn't want to linger here. It's your job to make him think otherwise!"

The girl drank the glass empty and handed it back to the man. The bitter concoction brought tears to her eyes. She shook her head to dispel the rising dizziness. Hopefully, he would arrive soon. She felt her legs growing heavy.

Then she saw him. No doubt about it. Her client had told her she would recognize him by his gait, and indeed, she had never seen a man move with such grace. It was as if his shoes barely touched the cobblestones. The girl took a deep breath, then stepped forward to intercept him. "Excuse me, Signore!"

Erado marched briskly through the alleys. He was looking forward to this evening, which he intended to spend without the other clan members, who were increasingly getting on his nerves. Always the same revelries, always the same faces and conversations. Yet there was so much more they had already seen. Even Erado, one of the youngest in the group, had experienced the time under Napoleon and his family, the first timid stirrings of rebellion after his fall, secret societies and counter-societies, uprisings and their suppression - and then Garibaldi, marching through the country with his few men to unite it. Now Italy was a kingdom, the Papal States no longer existed. Instead, the former ruler of Sardinia-Piedmont, Vittorio Emanuele II, sat here on his Roman throne, while Pope Pius IX sulkily retreated to the pitiful remainder of his Vatican. The offer of asylum from the French, he had declined, yet the French ship still cruised off the coast. It had been exciting decades, but the others were only interested in their gluttony and their experiments on how to make blood even tastier with a touch of fine wine. In their sedans, they allowed themselves to be carried through the city by their shadows, too lazy to explore the night on their own feet.

Erado shook his head to dispel thoughts of the other clan members. This night belonged to him alone, and he didn't want it spoiled. He enjoyed the scents and the warm evening breeze, swung his elegant cane, and hurried with almost a dancing step over the cobblestones. His long coat billowed behind him. He was a vampire in his prime. His black hair was well-groomed, with only the temples showing the first silvery strands. He felt strong and looked forward to the pleasures of this night awaiting him in the salon of a certain lady: singing and refined art, perhaps a bit of card playing and interesting conversations about politics, opera, and other topics currently heating up Roman minds. Of course, his desires would not be neglected. But discreetly! He planned to visit this establishment more often, and a bloody scandal would certainly not be appropriate!

A young girl stepped into his path as he turned into a narrow alley. "Excuse me, Signore!"

He didn't need to ask her what she wanted. Her appearance made it clear. Erado stopped and raised his hand in dismissal. He didn't have time for something like this today. Then he noticed that she looked clean and well-groomed. And she was pretty too. He could see the blood pulsating in the veins of her neck. Her scent was sweet and aroused his hunger. Perhaps it wouldn't be wrong to satisfy his first hunger beforehand. She smelled of young skin and a bit bitter, something he couldn't immediately place. Surely she had already enjoyed a few alcoholic drinks tonight, circulating in her blood, but that wouldn't affect him much. He was used to it. So why not? He smiled and approached her.

"Signorina, shall we step into the courtyard next door? It's too bright and lively here."

She giggled and blushed a little. What a strange reaction for a street girl, he thought, as he put his arm around her shoulder and led her into the shadows. And something else puzzled him. A vibrating tension surrounded her like an aura. She peeked sideways past him as he brushed her long hair from her neck.

Oh, there were so many signs that could have saved him if only he had allowed himself a moment of reflection! But the countless nights in the company of his decadent family had clouded his senses and numbed his mind. Too late, he realized the truth. The trap snapped shut.

The first warning sign he registered was the taste of her blood. Something was very wrong here! But it was already too late. Paralysis set in immediately. He felt the movement behind him, but his reaction was as slow as that of a human. By the time he had turned around, he could only stare in disbelief at the human who clutched a weapon with both hands, the silver blade raised for the deadly strike.