The Divergence

───

Lavinia quietly watched the two officers disappear down the path.

Neither she nor Valerie spoke for several moments.

Only after the patrol car doors closed in the distance did Lavinia finally look away.

Instead, her eyes wandered upward.

The night had fully settled over Oakridge.

Streetlamps cast warm pools of light across the paths, while the trees beyond swayed gently in the evening breeze.

Except...

There wasn't really any darkness.

Not to her.

Lavinia blinked once.

Then slowly looked around the park.

Every blade of grass.

Every leaf rustling overhead.

Every bench.

Every winding path.

She could see them all.

Perfectly.

The shadows humans disappeared into simply...

Didn't exist.

The world remained bright.

Clear.

As though she were standing beneath a pleasant afternoon sun rather than beneath the moon.

She glanced toward a cluster of trees farther into the park.

Even there...

Nothing vanished into darkness.

"..."

Lavinia smiled faintly.

"So that's another one."

She'd already discovered absurd strength.

Ridiculous speed.

Now...

Night simply wasn't dark anymore.

Beside her, Valerie stuck out her tongue playfully.

"...I think we scared the police officers."

Lavinia rolled her eyes.

"No."

She smiled.

"The police officers scared the police officers."

Valerie snorted.

"...Fair."

She laughed quietly.

"They looked more nervous than we were."

"They absolutely did."

Lavinia turned away from the bench.

"...Come on."

The two vampires began walking side by side toward the street bordering the park.

For a while...

Neither spoke.

The cool night breeze drifted between the trees, stirring their long hair and causing the skirts of their dresses to rustle softly against their legs.

Eventually Valerie broke the silence.

"I seriously don't believe someone was bored enough to call the police on us."

She shook her head.

"We were literally sitting on a bench."

Lavinia nodded.

"Mhm."

Valerie sighed dramatically.

"What did they expect to see?"

She gestured vaguely behind herself.

"Two vampires plotting world domination beside a fountain?"

Lavinia laughed.

"...Maybe."

Valerie looked over.

"I'm asking you."

Lavinia shrugged.

"I don't know."

"I'm perfectly happy walking around instead."

She tucked a loose strand of golden hair behind one pointed ear.

"I haven't even felt tired since I became a vampire."

Valerie hummed in agreement.

"Me neither."

She stretched both arms behind her head while walking.

"I haven't slept once since the Divergence."

Lavinia blinked.

"...Really?"

"Nope."

"I wasn't tired."

She smiled.

"So I didn't."

Lavinia laughed.

"I slept."

Valerie looked over curiously.

"Were you tired?"

"...No."

"Then why?"

Lavinia smiled innocently.

"...I was bored."

Valerie stopped walking for half a step before bursting into laughter.

"...That's..."

Another laugh escaped her.

"...Such a ridiculous reason."

She reached over and gave Lavinia an amused pat on the shoulder.

"You slept because you had nothing better to do?"

"I wanted to see if vampires could."

"And?"

"I can confirm they can."

Valerie giggled again.

"...Thank you for your important research."

"I do what I can."

They continued along the sidewalk together.

Cars occasionally passed on the road beside them.

Headlights swept briefly across their dresses before disappearing into the night behind them.

The cool air carried with it countless scents.

Fresh rain lingering from somewhere earlier in the day.

Restaurants still serving late customers.

Freshly cut grass.

Human scent.

Perfume.

Exhaust.

Every now and then...

Another vampire.

Faint.

Far away.

Gone almost as quickly as it appeared.

Valerie suddenly stepped a little farther ahead.

Lavinia looked up.

"Hm?"

Valerie turned around while still walking backwards.

A grin spread across her face.

Without warning...

She spun gracefully on one heel.

Her black dress blossomed outward around her before settling neatly back into place.

She pointed playfully at Lavinia.

"...Race you."

Before Lavinia could even process the words...

Valerie turned.

Ran.

"...Hey..."

The sentence never finished.

In the instant it took Lavinia to realize Valerie had actually meant it...

She was already impossibly far away.

One hundred feet.

Two.

Three.

The orange-haired vampire became a rapidly shrinking silhouette beneath the streetlights.

Only the faint scent lingering in the air remained.

Bright.

Fresh.

Tangerines.

Citrus.

Lavinia stood there for exactly one second.

Then rolled her eyes.

"...Cheater."

She bent forward slightly.

Pushed off.

The world didn't disappear this time.

She knew what to expect.

The road remained perfectly clear before her.

Streetlights streaked gently past.

The cool night air rushed through her golden hair as her dress fluttered wildly behind her.

The sidewalk blurred beneath her boots.

Within moments...

The place she'd started was already hundreds of feet behind.

Lavinia smiled.

She couldn't even see Valerie anymore.

She didn't need to.

The faint trail of citrus drifting through the air guided her effortlessly forward.

"...Found you."

Still smiling...

She accelerated after the scent, the quiet streets of Oakridge stretching endlessly before the two vampires as they vanished into the night.

Lavinia slowed to a stop at the mouth of a narrow alley, the cool night air barely disturbing the strands of golden hair settling over her shoulders.

She looked ahead.

Then...

Up.

A metal fire escape hung along the side of the brick building, its lowest platform easily fifteen feet above the ground.

Lavinia sighed.

"...Really?"

She folded her arms.

"You want me to not only catch you..."

Her crimson eyes followed the zigzagging stairs all the way to the roof.

"...You also want me to climb after you?"

She clicked her tongue dramatically.

"...What a demanding friend."

Despite the complaint...

She was smiling.

The run had been exhilarating.

Even now she could still feel the lingering excitement humming pleasantly through her body.

She hadn't expected moving that quickly to feel so...

Natural.

As she'd chased Valerie through Oakridge, she'd noticed something else.

Humans barely reacted.

The few she'd passed hadn't screamed.

They hadn't even had time to stare.

Most continued walking as though nothing had happened.

The handful who did notice simply turned their heads in confusion.

They hadn't seen her.

Only...

Something.

A blur.

A flicker crossing their vision before it disappeared.

"...That's convenient."

She looked up at the fire escape again.

"...Alright."

Lavinia bent her knees slightly.

She didn't crouch very far.

Just enough.

Then pushed.

The ground vanished beneath her.

She shot upward with surprising ease, one hand catching the bottom rung of the fire escape with a metallic clang.

"...Got you."

Without pausing, she pulled herself upward.

The climb felt...

Ridiculously easy.

As a human...

She would have climbed from the inside.

Carefully.

One step at a time.

Trying very hard not to look down.

Now...

She simply grabbed the outside of the structure and flowed upward almost like she was climbing a ladder lying flat against the ground.

Her boots found narrow footholds without effort.

Her fingers never slipped.

And strangely...

She never once worried about falling.

The thought simply...

Didn't occur to her.

Even if she did...

She somehow knew.

It wouldn't really hurt.

The certainty wasn't arrogance.

It was instinct.

Like knowing water was wet.

She climbed the final section before placing one hand on the rooftop ledge.

With one smooth motion, she pulled herself onto the roof.

A cool breeze greeted her immediately.

Lavinia straightened.

The city stretched endlessly around her.

Rows of glowing windows.

Moving headlights.

The distant murmur of Oakridge at night.

And...

Valerie.

She stood near the edge of the fourteen-story building, hands clasped comfortably behind her back as she looked down at the people and traffic below.

The wind played gently through her vibrant orange hair.

Without turning around, she smiled.

"...You found me."

Lavinia walked over.

"I was following your scent. Tangerines are surprisingly easy to track."

Valerie laughed quietly.

"...That's a little weird."

"You started it."

"...Fair."

For a while...

Neither of them spoke.

They simply looked out across the city.

Finally, Valerie let out a quiet sigh.

"...I just felt like doing something."

She glanced sideways at Lavinia.

"...Sorry for dragging you into my antics."

Lavinia shook her head.

"I'm not angry."

She smiled.

"...I actually enjoyed the run."

Valerie looked genuinely relieved.

Then...

She smiled.

Radiantly.

The expression transformed her face, revealing the elegant points of her fangs as she laughed softly.

"I'm glad."

She looked back over the city.

"...I wasn't really sure what to do today."

"I stayed home."

"Everything had changed."

She laughed quietly to herself.

"My apartment was exactly the same..."

"...But it didn't feel the same."

Lavinia listened without interrupting.

"I wasn't scared."

Valerie admitted after a moment.

"Not really."

"It was more like..."

She searched for the words.

"...Being by myself suddenly felt wrong."

She smiled faintly.

"I don't know why."

"But somewhere inside..."

"I just knew."

She placed a hand lightly against her own chest.

"...The other vampires would make me feel less alone."

Her crimson eyes shifted toward Lavinia.

"...Then I met you."

She laughed softly.

"And..."

She shrugged.

"It just felt right."

"Being together."

Lavinia looked at her for a long second.

Then nodded thoughtfully.

"...Wow."

Valerie raised an eyebrow.

"...What?"

Lavinia kept an admirably straight face.

"...That's so romantic."

"..."

Valerie froze.

"...Excuse me?"

The next instant—

She vanished.

A blur of orange swept across the rooftop.

Smack.

Her palm landed squarely against Lavinia's shoulder.

"It's not like that!"

Valerie protested loudly.

Lavinia rocked back half a step from the impact before breaking into laughter.

"I know."

She rubbed her shoulder with exaggerated seriousness.

"I know."

A snicker escaped her.

"I just couldn't resist."

Valerie stared at her.

Then groaned.

"...You're the worst."

"I've known you for..."

Lavinia glanced thoughtfully toward the night sky.

"...About two hours."

"And you're already bullying me."

Lavinia smiled innocently.

"I prefer teasing."

"...There's a difference?"

"Oh."

Lavinia nodded with complete confidence.

"A very important one."

Valerie rolled her crimson eyes before laughing despite herself.

"...You're impossible."

"And yet..."

Lavinia smiled.

"...You still climbed onto a fourteen-story building with me."

Valerie opened her mouth.

Paused.

Then laughed again, shaking her head as the two vampires stood together beneath the night sky.

Lavinia's laughter gradually faded into a quiet smile.

She rubbed her shoulder one last time before wandering toward the edge of the rooftop.

The city stretched endlessly before her.

She stopped just short of the ledge.

Far below, traffic continued flowing through Oakridge's streets.

Headlights drifted through intersections like slow-moving streams of light, while people wandered along sidewalks beneath glowing streetlamps, entirely unaware that two vampires stood fourteen stories above them.

The world hadn't stopped.

The Divergence had happened.

Humanity had changed forever.

Yet...

Restaurants still served customers.

Cars still obeyed traffic lights.

People still laughed together as they walked home.

Life...

Continued.

Lavinia rested one hand lightly against the edge of the rooftop.

"...Huh."

It felt strangely comforting.

Then—

A long, distant howl echoed across the city.

It rose clearly into the night before slowly fading away.

Lavinia immediately turned toward the sound.

Beside her, Valerie did exactly the same.

Their pointed ears twitched almost in unison.

Neither of them spoke.

They simply listened.

Another, much fainter howl answered somewhere even farther away.

"...Werewolves."

Valerie murmured.

Lavinia nodded.

"They're probably having their own strange day."

"I'd imagine so."

The city fell quiet again.

Valerie walked over beside Lavinia before lowering herself onto the edge of the rooftop.

Her legs swung lazily over open air, heels lightly tapping against the side of the building every few moments.

She looked down at the city for a while before speaking.

"...You know."

"We're vampires now."

Lavinia smiled.

"So I've noticed."

Valerie laughed quietly.

"We're strong."

She counted on one finger.

"Fast."

Another.

"Apparently really beautiful."

A third.

She looked down at her hands.

"...But."

"We can't ever go into the sun again."

Silence settled between them.

The breeze drifted gently across the rooftop, carrying with it the scents of the city below.

After a while...

Valerie turned her head.

She didn't look directly at Lavinia.

Instead...

She quietly studied her side profile.

The golden hair catching the moonlight.

The elegant point of one ear.

The calm expression resting naturally on her face.

Valerie spoke softly.

"...I'm not sad."

Her voice carried none of its usual teasing.

It was simply...

Honest.

She looked back toward the city.

"...Is that weird?"

Lavinia considered the question.

She watched a car disappear around a distant corner before answering.

"...No."

She smiled faintly.

"I'm not sad either."

Valerie blinked.

"...Really?"

Lavinia nodded.

"I've thought about it."

"I should probably miss the sun."

She looked up toward the night sky.

"I should probably miss being human."

She laughed quietly.

"...But I don't."

She rested both hands on the rooftop ledge behind her.

"I remember my old life."

"I remember who I was."

"And..."

She shrugged lightly.

"I don't hate him."

"He did the best he could."

Valerie listened quietly.

"But if someone asked me whether I wanted to go back..."

Lavinia smiled.

"...I'd say no."

The answer came naturally.

Without hesitation.

Valerie watched her for another few moments before looking back out across Oakridge.

Then...

She began gently swinging her legs again.

"...That's probably a good thing."

Lavinia looked over.

"Hm?"

Valerie smiled.

"If we're both happy..."

She shrugged.

"...Then maybe we're doing alright."

A quiet laugh escaped Lavinia.

"...I think we are."

Neither of them spoke after that.

They simply sat together above the city, listening to distant traffic, and the occasional murmur of voices rising from the streets below.