The Divergence

───

Lavinia crouched beside the edge of the sidewalk and pressed her palm into the grass.

She rubbed it back and forth several times, watching the blades bend beneath her fingers as though she were trying to scrub away something visible.

"There."

She lifted her hand, inspected it, then rubbed it once more for good measure.

"Clean."

Behind her, the police car pulled away from the curb.

Its lights no longer flashed, leaving only the red glow of its taillights as it carried the werewolf farther down the street.

Lavinia rose and smoothed the front of her dress before watching it go.

She didn't hate wolves.

At least...

She didn't think she did.

The things she'd said to the woman had been prickly, perhaps, but they hadn't come from genuine dislike. Even the instinctive tension that appeared whenever a wolf drew near didn't feel personal.

It was closer to...

Grudging respect.

A quiet awareness that something dangerous stood in front of her.

The woman had been strong.

Fast.

Not quite as fast as Lavinia, and perhaps a little weaker, but not by enough to dismiss.

Her body had understood that before her thoughts did.

Lavinia tilted her head as the police car disappeared around a corner.

Then her eyes widened.

"...Wait."

She turned sharply toward the others.

"That mutt called us bats!"

The remaining six vampires finally began approaching again now that Lavinia had cleaned her hand.

She gave them the most wounded look she could manage.

None appeared repentant.

Valerie snickered.

Rosaline laughed openly.

Gwendolyn covered her mouth with one hand, though the movement did nothing to hide her giggling.

Even Evelyn smiled and let out a tiny laugh.

Lavinia clutched both hands against her chest.

"...Evelyn too?"

Evelyn immediately looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry."

She paused.

"...It was a little funny."

Lavinia staggered back one dramatic step.

"How cruel."

Celestine smiled softly.

"You were trying to wipe wolf scent on us."

"I was seeking comfort."

"You were seeking a clean dress," Valerie corrected.

Lavinia clicked her tongue.

Valerie folded her arms and nodded toward the street where the wolf had disappeared.

"She probably got bats from the internet."

"Bats?"

"Mhm."

Valerie pulled out her phone.

"Ever since the government confirmed we drink blood and can't come out during the day, people have started calling vampires bats."

Rosaline leaned over to look at the screen.

"That's not very creative."

"It could be worse," Celestine said.

Valerie scrolled briefly.

"It already is."

She turned the phone around.

"Somebody called us nocturnal blood dolls."

Gwendolyn brightened.

"That's kind of cute."

Everyone looked at her.

"...What?"

Lavinia shook her head.

"Nothing."

Adelaide reached into one of the hidden folds of her dress and withdrew her phone.

"I should head out."

The group quieted slightly.

She glanced down at the screen, then back toward them.

"I still have a few things to settle tonight."

Gwendolyn immediately stepped closer.

"You are coming tomorrow, right?"

Adelaide smiled with her usual confidence.

"Definitely."

She held out her phone.

"Give me your number."

Gwendolyn did so at once, then watched carefully as Adelaide saved it.

"There."

Adelaide showed her the contact.

"I'll message before I come over."

"You don't have to ask."

"I know."

Adelaide looked around at the others.

"I'll see all of you tomorrow."

The goodbyes overlapped warmly.

Then Adelaide stepped backward.

A soft rush of air stirred the hems of their dresses.

For a heartbeat, her pale green hair streamed behind her.

Then she was gone.

Only six vampires remained on the sidewalk.

Rosaline looked in the direction Adelaide had vanished.

"I'll stay a while longer."

She stretched her arms over her head.

"I'm not in any hurry."

Valerie smiled.

"Good."

The group began walking again, loosely clustered together as they moved away from the fading police activity.

They hadn't gone far when Valerie spoke.

"There are six of us now."

Lavinia glanced sideways.

"...Yes?"

Valerie's smile widened.

"We should go pick a fight with some wolves."

Rosaline immediately looked delighted.

"That sounds fun."

Lavinia covered her face with one hand.

"How does that make any sense?"

"There are six of us," Valerie repeated, as though that answered everything.

"That doesn't make it less foolish."

Rosaline walked backward in front of them.

"It makes it safer."

"No. It makes it six times as stupid."

Valerie clicked her tongue.

"You're no fun."

"I jumped off a fourteen-story building with you."

"That was different."

"Somehow?"

Lavinia sighed before lowering her hand.

"The wolf back there was a little weaker than me."

Valerie raised an eyebrow.

"You could tell?"

"I think so."

Lavinia flexed her fingers thoughtfully.

"She wasn't as fast either."

"But every time I meet a wolf, my body tenses."

Her gaze drifted toward the dark street ahead.

"It's like I'm preparing for a difficult fight before anything even happens."

Celestine nodded slowly.

"I feel that too."

"So do I," Evelyn added quietly.

Gwendolyn was half walking, half draped over Celestine's back, her arms resting loosely around the teal-haired vampire's shoulders.

She lifted her head.

"Online sources said wolves group together."

She frowned.

"In packs?"

The word came with slight uncertainty.

"I think that's what they're called."

"Exactly," Lavinia said.

"So finding one might mean finding several."

Valerie's eyes brightened.

"That's why we should do it."

Lavinia stared at her.

"We find the first wolf we see..."

Valerie continued, "Then beat her up."

Rosaline nodded enthusiastically.

"A simple plan."

"A terrible plan."

Gwendolyn rested her chin on Celestine's shoulder.

"It does sound dangerous."

Lavinia rolled her eyes.

"No."

Everyone looked at her.

"If we fight wolves, we'll all smell like wolves afterward."

Silence.

Valerie's expression changed.

Rosaline slowly lowered her raised fist.

"...Oh."

Neither appeared nearly as enthusiastic now.

Lavinia smiled smugly.

"Thought so."

Valerie shrugged.

Then suddenly rushed forward.

Before Lavinia could react, Valerie's palm pressed flat against the center of her back.

"Tag."

Lavinia blinked.

The other five vampires looked at her.

Then, as though they'd all reached the same understanding at once...

They vanished.

Five blurs scattered in different directions, leaving only faint gusts of air and the trailing sweetness of their scents.

Lavinia stood alone.

Her golden hair settled around her shoulders.

"..."

She looked down the empty street.

"I feel like Valerie always finds some way to mess with me."

Then she smiled.

Chasing them was simple.

She bent slightly and took off.

The city rushed around her as she followed the interwoven trails.

Some split at intersections.

Others left the pavement entirely.

One vaulted a fence.

Another climbed straight up the side of a building and continued across the rooftops.

Their scents remained easy to follow.

Catching them...

That was the difficult part.

Vampires were nearly equal in speed.

If someone already had a lead, simply running behind them wouldn't be enough.

Lavinia narrowed her crimson eyes as she raced forward.

The only way to catch one...

Was to stop following.

And cut her off.

Lavinia crossed the street in a single light jump.

Her boots touched the roof of the neighboring two-story building with barely a sound, and she continued forward without breaking stride.

The wind pulled at her golden hair and sent the layered fabric of her dress streaming behind her, but her movements remained smooth, each step carrying naturally into the next.

Gwendolyn's scent lingered ahead.

Caramel and roses.

Easy to follow.

Not easy to catch.

Lavinia smiled faintly as she crossed another rooftop.

Gwendolyn and Evelyn had remained fairly close together. Their trails repeatedly overlapped, separated, then joined again several streets farther on.

Evelyn's sweet vanilla scent never drifted too far from Gwendolyn's, as though the shy vampire had decided being chased was considerably more enjoyable when she wasn't doing it alone.

Celestine's trail was stranger.

Lavender crossed itself several times.

At one point, she'd apparently run an entire circle around the same block before leaving in a completely different direction.

"...What are you doing?"

Lavinia laughed softly beneath her breath.

Rosaline and Valerie were somewhere farther ahead.

Their scents remained fresh enough to track, rich cocoa and cherries weaving through bright tangerine and citrus, but Lavinia suspected chasing either of them directly would be pointless.

Valerie had started the game and already knew Lavinia would come after her eventually.

Rosaline seemed exactly mischievous enough to spend the entire night leading her around Oakridge without ever allowing herself to be caught.

No.

She needed someone less predictable.

Or at least...

Someone she could cut off.

Lavinia reached the edge of the rooftop and stopped for less than a heartbeat.

A flash of teal moved through the street below.

There.

Celestine.

Lavinia immediately changed direction.

She pushed off the roof and dropped toward the sidewalk, one hand already reaching downward as she aimed to land directly behind the other vampire.

Celestine didn't look up.

She didn't turn.

She didn't even seem to acknowledge that Lavinia existed.

Yet the instant Lavinia's fingers came within reach...

Celestine moved.

Her body folded sideways with startling precision.

One hand touched the pavement.

Her legs swept overhead in a flawless cartwheel that carried her completely out of Lavinia's path. The motion didn't end there.

Celestine pushed against the ground, sending herself upward in a blur of teal and black.

Her fingers caught the edge of a nearby rooftop.

She swung beneath it once, flipped over the ledge, and resumed running without losing more than a fraction of her speed.

Lavinia landed in the space Celestine had occupied.

Her dress snapped loudly in the air before settling around her legs.

Several humans nearby froze.

One man had been walking toward the corner with a paper cup in hand. He now stood perfectly still, staring first at Lavinia, then at the rooftop Celestine had scaled in less than a second.

A woman farther down the sidewalk looked between them with her mouth slightly open.

Lavinia ignored both.

Her hand remained extended.

Empty.

"...Damn it."

She lowered it slowly.

That shouldn't have happened.

She had minimized every sound she could.

Her landing had been almost silent.

Her body barely displaced the air until the final instant.

Celestine hadn't even turned to check where she was.

She had simply evaded the moment Lavinia reached for her.

Not hesitated.

Not guessed.

Moved.

Lavinia looked upward.

Celestine was already halfway across the rooftop.

"...No."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You're not doing that twice."

She bent her knees and jumped.

The pavement dropped away as she rose past the second floor, caught the rooftop ledge with one hand, and swung herself over in a smooth arc.

The humans below stared even harder.

Lavinia took off again.

Lavender guided her forward.

Celestine wasn't running in a straight line.

She crossed one roof, descended into an alley, climbed the opposite wall, then doubled back across the next block.

Her path seemed almost random at first, but Lavinia gradually realized it wasn't.

Celestine was making herself difficult to predict.

She wasn't merely fleeing.

She was creating angles.

Constantly changing height.

Using walls and ledges to disrupt any direct approach.

Lavinia clicked her tongue.

"...You're taking this very seriously."

No answer came.

Only the fading scent of lavender.

She chased for another half minute before forcing herself to slow.

Following from behind wasn't working.

Celestine was too fast, and every time Lavinia gained ground, the teal-haired vampire changed direction before she could close the distance.

Lavinia stopped atop a narrow office building and listened.

Footsteps.

Not human.

Too fast.

Too light.

Approaching from the north.

Celestine had curved around again.

A smile slowly spread across Lavinia's face.

"...Found you."

Instead of continuing along the rooftops, she stepped off the edge.

She dropped into the street below and landed between two parked cars.

Then she ran.

Not after Celestine.

Toward the point where the scent and footsteps would converge.

She crossed one street, vaulted a low railing, and reached the corner just as teal hair flashed into view.

Celestine rounded the building at full speed.

Lavinia moved at the same instant.

Her hand shot forward.

This time she aimed for Celestine's wrist.

Celestine's crimson eyes widened slightly.

For one brief instant, Lavinia thought she'd succeeded.

Then Celestine caught her first.

Her fingers closed around Lavinia's forearm.

One foot planted against the pavement.

Her hips turned.

The movement was small.

Almost delicate.

But both of them were moving well over a hundred miles per hour.

Celestine pivoted.

Lavinia's momentum changed direction all at once.

The world rotated.

"...What?"

Sky.

Street.

Building.

Lights.

Her body struck the pavement shoulder-first.

The impact tore through her dress and skin before she began sliding.

Black fabric shredded beneath her.

Warm brown skin opened across her arms and legs.

Blood streaked over the road in dark red lines, so deep in color it nearly appeared black beneath the streetlights.

Lavinia tumbled once.

Twice.

Her hair whipped around her face.

Then her back struck a concrete wall.

Crack.

The surface fractured slightly around the point of impact.

Several people nearby screamed.

A man standing outside a convenience store dropped his phone.

Someone else stumbled backward into the glass door behind them.

Lavinia slumped to the pavement.

For a moment...

She simply stared upward.

The night sky remained perfectly clear.

Stars faint above the city lights.

Her expression had gone vacant.

Not from pain.

The pain was there, certainly.

A broad burning sensation across every scrape.

A dull pressure where she'd struck the wall.

But mostly...

She was confused.

"...How?"

Her voice came out softly.

She had been certain their reflexes were similar.

Vampires seemed nearly equal in speed.

They perceived one another clearly even while moving fast enough to become blurs to humans.

Yet Celestine had evaded her twice.

Not because she was faster.

Because she seemed to understand the spaces between Lavinia's movements.

The instant before a hand closed.

The fraction of a second when Lavinia committed her weight.

The exact point where momentum became difficult to change.

Celestine hadn't overcome her speed.

She'd used it against her.

A rush of wind swept across the street.

Celestine appeared beside her.

Her composed expression was gone.

Worry filled her crimson eyes as she crouched quickly.

"Lavinia."

Her gaze moved over the torn dress, the blood running down Lavinia's forearms, the raw patches along her legs.

"I'm sorry."

She reached down with both hands.

"I didn't mean to throw you that hard."

Lavinia looked at her.

Then down at herself.

The bleeding was already slowing.

Skin pulled together along the shallower scrapes.

The deeper tears began closing from the edges inward.

"I'm fine."

Celestine's breathing had become noticeably quicker.

"But your dress..."

"And your skin..."

"It's healing."

Lavinia accepted her hands.

Celestine pulled her upright with effortless strength.

The motion left several nearby humans staring in stunned silence. One moment Lavinia had been crumpled against a cracked wall, bloodied and torn. The next she stood steadily, as though the collision had done little more than inconvenience her.

Celestine's eyes remained fixed on the injuries.

"I'm really sorry."

The words came quieter this time.

Lavinia looked at her for a moment.

Then stepped forward and wrapped both arms around her.

Celestine stiffened.

"...Lavinia?"

"I'm fine."

Lavinia patted her back gently.

The scent of lavender surrounded her, familiar and soft.

"My injuries are already closing."

Celestine slowly relaxed.

Lavinia smiled against her shoulder.

"And your movements are seriously good."

Celestine blinked.

"...You think so?"

"You threw me into a wall before I understood you had my arm."

Lavinia pulled back just enough to look at her.

"That was impressive."

A tiny, uncertain smile appeared on Celestine's face.

"I used to do gymnastics."

"That explains some of it."

"Only some?"

Lavinia looked down at the torn fabric hanging from one sleeve.

Then at the blood still streaking her skin.

"...You also weaponized me against a building."

Celestine covered her mouth, and despite the worry still lingering in her eyes, a quiet laugh escaped.

Lavinia smiled too.

"There."

She gave Celestine another reassuring pat.

"Much better."

The last open wound on her forearm sealed shut as they stood together, leaving only blood and torn cloth behind.

Around them, the nearby humans continued staring, too startled to approach and far too curious to leave.