The Divergence

───

Lavinia settled back into her chair, resting one cheek against her hand as she stared at the clock in the corner of her monitor.

9:58 AM.

She let out a quiet sigh.

"...Nine hours."

Or thereabouts.

Nine hours until sunset.

Nine hours until she felt comfortable stepping outside.

"...That's a lot of time to kill."

She unlocked her phone again and opened another news site before quickly abandoning it in favor of social media.

News articles were informative.

People were interesting.

Her thumb began lazily flicking upward.

Posts flooded past one after another.

Some were excited.

Some terrified.

Some convinced the world had ended.

Others insisted humanity had simply entered its next stage.

Videos showed newly transformed wolves laughing as they discovered their ears moved when they smiled.

Another showed someone crying because they'd become a vampire and couldn't leave their house.

Someone had already coined a name for the event.

The Divergence.

Lavinia read the accompanying explanation.

Humanity hadn't simply changed.

It had...

Diverged.

Three races now existed where previously there had only been one.

Humans.

Werewolves.

Vampires.

"...The Divergence."

She rolled the word around thoughtfully.

"...I like that."

It was simple.

Easy to remember.

It sounded official enough that she wouldn't have been surprised if governments eventually adopted it themselves.

She continued scrolling.

One thing became obvious remarkably quickly.

Half the world was talking about vampires.

The other half...

Barely mentioned them.

Lavinia frowned.

"...Oh."

That made sense.

Where it was currently daytime, vampires seemed to have disappeared almost entirely.

Most had apparently stayed indoors.

Meanwhile, wolves were everywhere.

Running around.

Showing off ears.

Showing off tails.

Filming themselves.

Posting videos.

On the other side of the planet, however, where the sun had already set...

Vampires were beginning to appear.

Not nearly as frequently as wolves.

But enough that photographs and videos were steadily increasing.

"...Interesting."

She tapped the search bar.

"Werewolves."

Thousands of results appeared instantly.

She opened the first discussion thread.

Nobody agreed on anything.

"They're stronger than humans."

"No, they're faster."

"My cousin turned into a full wolf!"

"They can't transform."

"They absolutely can."

"They're just people with ears and tails."

"My neighbor punched through his garage door."

Someone claimed wolves healed from injuries almost immediately.

Another replied that they'd watched one limp after twisting an ankle.

Dozens more argued beneath them.

Lavinia smiled.

"...Nobody knows."

She couldn't really blame them.

The Divergence had happened...

She checked the time.

"...Not even three hours ago."

People were trying to explain something nobody understood yet.

Rumors spread faster than facts.

She opened another gallery of photographs.

More wolves.

Different ages.

Different appearances.

Different fur colors.

They all shared one thing.

They looked...

Alive.

Lavinia tilted her head thoughtfully.

"...You know..."

She looked down at herself.

Then back toward the screen.

"...You all look a lot more alive than I do."

A quiet laugh escaped her.

She wasn't joking.

Not entirely.

She'd been sitting at her desk for...

She wasn't actually sure how long.

Yet she'd hardly moved at all.

Outside of scrolling.

Blinking.

Breathing.

Even now, she remained almost perfectly still.

Her fingers twitched against the phone.

The fabric of her dress shifted softly across her skin.

She drew another slow breath.

That was it.

Her apartment was silent.

Not quiet.

Silent.

Beyond the walls she could hear neighbors talking.

Footsteps.

Running water.

Heartbeats.

Dozens of them.

Hundreds, perhaps.

Each one quietly reminding her that living bodies surrounded her.

Inside her own apartment...

Nothing.

She listened.

No steady rhythm echoed from her own chest.

No pulse filled the silence between breaths.

Only the faint rustle of black fabric as she shifted in her chair.

"...Huh."

She rested a hand lightly against the center of her chest.

Nothing answered.

She wasn't alarmed.

She'd already more or less accepted she was a vampire.

Still...

Feeling the absence of something she'd never consciously noticed before was...

Strange.

"...I really am dead."

She paused.

Then softly corrected herself.

"...Well."

"Not dead."

Another small smile appeared.

"...Just a vampire."

For some reason...

That sounded considerably nicer.

Lavinia remained seated for another minute, absentmindedly rubbing a finger over the edge of her phone.

"...Well."

Nine hours.

She could only browse the internet for so long before she started going stir-crazy.

Her crimson eyes drifted toward her computer.

A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"...Games."

That would certainly kill a few hours.

She slid her chair over to the computer desk before pressing the power button.

The monitor sprang to life almost immediately, followed by the familiar hum of the tower beneath it.

Some things, thankfully, hadn't changed.

She logged in.

Opened her launcher.

Clicked the game she'd been playing for the better part of the last year.

As the familiar menu appeared, she found herself relaxing without even realizing it.

"...Nice."

For just a moment...

Everything almost felt normal.

Same apartment.

Same computer.

Same game.

Different...

Well.

Everything else.

She queued for a match.

It found one almost instantly.

Lavinia settled back into her chair as the loading screen appeared.

"...Let's see if I'm rusty."

The match began.

Within three seconds...

"...Oh."

She blinked.

"...That's different."

The world seemed...

Slow.

Not literally.

The game still ran at the same speed.

The animations hadn't changed.

Neither had the players.

She had.

Every movement seemed obvious before it happened.

Every sound immediately told her where someone was.

The minimap barely required a glance before she instinctively understood what was happening across it.

Her fingers moved almost lazily across the keyboard.

One opponent appeared.

Gone.

Another.

Gone.

A third rounded the corner.

She was already aiming before they fully appeared on her screen.

"..."

She stared.

"...What?"

The first round ended.

Perfect.

She hadn't even come close to dying.

"...No."

She leaned toward the monitor.

"It's not..."

Another round.

Another flawless performance.

Someone tried flanking her.

She reacted before she consciously realized they'd appeared.

Her hand simply...

Moved.

"..."

By the third round she stopped trying to understand it.

"...I'm cracked."

A grin spread across her face.

"This is amazing."

Everything felt...

Easy.

Ridiculously easy.

Not because she'd suddenly memorized strategies.

Not because she'd become more experienced overnight.

Her brain simply processed information faster than everyone else's.

She wasn't thinking harder.

She was thinking...

More.

Every second.

The match ended.

Victory.

Someone immediately typed into chat.

report lol

Another followed.

nah she's cheating

Lavinia snorted.

"...Already?"

She queued again.

Another lobby.

Another match.

Nothing changed.

Opponents peeked.

She shot them.

Someone tried sneaking around.

She was waiting.

Grenades.

Angles.

Footsteps.

It all felt...

Obvious.

Halfway through the match she burst into laughter.

"This is unfair."

She wasn't even pretending otherwise.

"...No."

She nodded to herself.

"I'm going to abuse everyone equally."

Another enemy rushed her.

"...Including you."

Click.

Respawn.

"And you."

Click.

Another.

"...And definitely you."

The victory screen appeared once more.

She leaned back, stretching comfortably.

"...Champion."

The next lobby loaded.

Voice chat erupted almost immediately.

"There's no way."

"She's cheating."

"Report her."

"I watched that killcam!"

Lavinia quietly muted her own microphone.

"...Problem solved."

She smiled innocently.

They could yell all they wanted.

She wasn't about to explain to strangers that she'd become a vampire three hours ago.

That conversation probably wouldn't go particularly well.

The countdown ended.

Another massacre.

Another victory.

Another lobby accusing her of cheating.

Some people were surprisingly creative.

Others simply repeated the same insults.

Lavinia listened for exactly three seconds before muting the enemy team as well.

"...Much better."

Silence.

Peace.

A scoreboard heavily tilted in her favor.

"This really is relaxing."

Time blurred together.

One match became two.

Two became five.

Eventually she stopped counting.

The apartment remained as quiet as ever, broken only by the occasional soft click of her mouse and keyboard.

Every so often she'd stretch.

Take a sip of water out of habit before remembering she wasn't actually thirsty.

Then continue.

Another victory.

Another helpless lobby.

She smiled to herself.

"...Poor things."

There wasn't an ounce of guilt in her voice.

"They never had a chance."

The next match began.

Lavinia pushed forward as confidently as she had every game before.

An enemy rounded the corner.

She fired.

The other player moved.

Not randomly.

Not luckily.

Intentionally.

Her shot missed.

"...Hm?"

The opponent immediately returned fire.

Lavinia ducked behind cover without thinking.

"..."

She blinked.

"...They reacted."

Not predicted.

Not stumbled into the correct movement.

Reacted.

She peeked again.

The opponent had already repositioned.

"...Interesting."

A smile slowly spread across her face.

For the first time all afternoon...

Someone wasn't immediately collapsing the moment they appeared on her screen.

She leaned a little closer.

"...Let's play."

Lavinia leaned forward in her chair.

A smile slowly spread across her face.

"...There you are."

The round timer continued ticking downward as she edged around the corner once more.

The opposing player was gone.

Not gone.

Moved.

Lavinia's eyes flicked instinctively toward another angle.

There.

She fired.

The other player fired at almost the exact same moment.

Neither connected.

"..."

A tiny laugh escaped Lavinia.

"This is fun."

Another opponent appeared behind her mystery rival.

Without hesitation, Lavinia flicked her aim away.

Click.

The unsuspecting player dropped instantly.

Almost simultaneously—

Her mysterious opponent snapped toward someone attempting to flank them.

Another clean elimination.

"..."

For a brief moment...

Neither of them shot at each other.

Instead they quietly dismantled everyone else unfortunate enough to wander into view.

The voice chat exploded.

"What is happening?"

"How are they doing that?!"

"They're both cheating!"

"No way that's legit."

Lavinia barely heard them.

Her attention remained entirely on the other player.

Another exchange.

She peeked.

The other player anticipated it.

Both fired.

Both immediately retreated.

"..."

Neither had landed a hit.

Lavinia couldn't stop smiling.

She'd spent the better part of an hour deleting people before they even realized she'd seen them.

Now...

Someone was actually making her think.

Someone rounded the corner beside her.

Click.

Dead.

Another appeared.

Click.

Dead.

Across the map...

Her opponent was doing exactly the same thing.

The scoreboard steadily climbed.

One name.

Then the other.

Far above everyone else.

"They're walling!"

"Aimbot!"

"There's two of them!"

"This match is cooked!"

Lavinia laughed under her breath.

"...Poor lobby."

Her fingers danced effortlessly across the keyboard.

She typed a single message.

?

She hit enter.

Several confused replies immediately appeared.

???

what

???

The other player didn't respond.

Instead...

A grenade flew over the wall.

Lavinia's eyes tracked its arc.

"...Nice."

She tossed one of her own.

The explosions echoed almost simultaneously.

Without thinking, she pushed out from behind cover.

The other player did exactly the same.

For one glorious second...

Both of them occupied the open.

Both reacted.

Both fired.

Lavinia's screen flashed.

Her character collapsed.

"...Ah."

She leaned back in her chair, letting out a quiet breath.

"...You got me."

The killcam played.

The movement looked...

Ridiculous.

Almost impossible.

"..."

Lavinia reached over.

Clicked one button.

Her microphone came to life.

"...Hey."

The lobby quieted slightly.

Her naturally soft, lilting voice flowed effortlessly through the voice chat.

"Are you human?"

Silence.

A second passed.

Then another microphone clicked on.

"...Not anymore."

The answering voice wasn't identical to Lavinia's.

It carried the same unmistakable rise and fall.

The same effortless cadence.

Yet where Lavinia sounded playful...

This woman sounded fiery.

Brash.

Like she was permanently one sentence away from laughing in someone's face.

"You were stomping everyone."

She snorted.

"Then you ran into me."

A laugh escaped her.

"And the second I couldn't kill you instantly..."

"You got excited."

Lavinia laughed openly.

"...I did."

"I've been bullying these poor people for the last hour."

"Then you showed up."

The other vampire chuckled.

"I noticed."

"You've been farming."

Several other voices suddenly cut in.

"...Hold on."

"What do you mean not anymore?"

"What are you two talking about?"

"You both cheating or what?"

Another player laughed nervously.

"This is some weird roleplay."

Lavinia rested her chin on one hand.

"...No."

Her smile widened ever so slightly.

"I'm a vampire."

She said it so matter-of-factly that it almost sounded threatening despite the softness of her voice.

The lobby fell completely silent.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Then—

"No you're not."

"She's trolling."

"Definitely hacking."

"What kind of joke is this?"

"Bro she's committed to the bit."

Another voice interrupted.

"...Wait."

"...Your voice..."

The questions immediately piled on top of one another.

"What happened?"

"Are you serious?"

"Can vampires even play games?"

"You're lying."

"Prove it."

Lavinia quietly muted the lobby again.

"...That was about what I expected."

A soft laugh came through her headset.

"Same."

A notification appeared in the corner of her screen.

Friend Request Received.

Another followed almost immediately.

Direct Message Received.

Lavinia opened it.

The message was remarkably short.

You're definitely a vampire.

Here's my number.

Call me if you're bored.

Sun's up anyway.

Below it sat a phone number.

Lavinia smiled.

"...Straight to the point."

Another message arrived before she'd even finished reading the first.

Name's Valerie, by the way.

Nice finally finding someone else.

Lavinia looked at the number for another moment before quietly saving it.

"...Valerie."

She couldn't help smiling.

Only a few hours ago...

She'd thought she was completely alone.

Now she'd stumbled across another vampire...

Not in some government shelter.

Not on the news.

But by accidentally running into someone who could keep up with her in an online game.

"...Small world."

Or perhaps...

Given there were now vampires scattered across the globe...

A surprisingly connected one.