The Divergence

───

Lavinia flopped backwards onto the grass with an exaggerated groan, her golden hair spreading around her head as she stared up at the moon.

"...I'm never saying I'm masculine again."

Around her, the other six vampires laughed.

The once pristine sports field had become... somewhat less pristine.

Large patches of grass were flattened where bodies had landed.

Several spots had shallow depressions where one of them had been driven into the ground.

Fortunately, nothing was permanently damaged, but it certainly looked as though a herd of energetic animals had decided to wrestle there.

Lavinia pushed herself upright, crossing her legs.

She pointed dramatically around the field.

"I have to erase that loss."

Valerie raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"It doesn't count."

"It absolutely counts."

"It doesn't."

"You lost."

"I was ambushed."

"You agreed to six against one."

"I misunderstood!"

Rosaline laughed.

"You understood perfectly."

"I absolutely did not."

Valerie tapped her chin.

"What if..."

She looked around.

"...three on three?"

Gwendolyn immediately raised one finger.

"There are seven of us."

Valerie rolled her eyes.

"I know."

"The extra person just joins whichever team needs another."

Lavinia sighed dramatically.

"This group is terrible at making fair games."

"No," Adelaide replied.

"We're terrible at making fair games for you."

"Exactly!"

Everyone laughed again.

The previous injuries had already disappeared.

Adelaide flexed the foot Lavinia had twisted earlier.

Perfectly fine.

Lavinia rotated her wrist.

No soreness remained whatsoever.

Even the scratches and bite marks they'd enthusiastically collected during the last match had already vanished, leaving only flawless skin and repaired dresses.

Valerie pointed toward Lavinia.

"I'm with Lavi."

Lavinia smiled immediately.

"I've got one ally."

"I'll join too."

Gwendolyn stepped beside them.

Evelyn glanced between both groups.

"...I'll help."

That left Adelaide, Celestine and Rosaline together.

Rosaline stretched both arms.

"I like these odds."

"So do I," Adelaide replied.

Celestine simply nodded once.

The two teams walked toward opposite sides of the field.

Lavinia laughed to herself.

"This time..."

She pointed toward the opposing trio.

"...I won't get pinned and beaten half to death."

Valerie looked sideways.

"You know..."

"You actually lasted surprisingly long."

Lavinia shrugged.

"Only because everyone kept attacking one or two at a time."

She looked toward the opposite team.

"If all six of you had rushed me together..."

She smiled weakly.

"I'd have immediately become a decorative rug."

Rosaline cupped her hands around her mouth.

"We heard that!"

"I wanted you to!"

The distance between the teams widened until roughly a hundred feet separated them.

Moonlight spilled over the field.

A cool breeze stirred their dresses.

Lavinia folded her arms.

"You all ready?"

Heads nodded.

She grinned.

"Go."

The world exploded.

Wind whistled.

Heavy impacts echoed one after another.

Evelyn reached Celestine first.

Celestine flowed around her almost like water.

She rolled smoothly over Evelyn's outstretched arm before planting one palm firmly between Evelyn's shoulder blades.

Thump.

Evelyn shot forward through the grass.

On another part of the field, Rosaline and Valerie met.

Their fists collided.

Feet followed.

Each impact sounded dull but powerful as they circled continuously, never remaining still for longer than a heartbeat.

Adelaide and Gwendolyn...

Were practically impossible to follow.

Both became pale blurs racing across the field.

One moment they were exchanging punches.

The next they rolled together through the grass.

Then both sprang upright again, trading kicks before disappearing into another rapid exchange.

Lavinia smiled.

She rested one hand on her hip.

"...Freedom."

For once...

Other people were beating each other up.

She didn't have six vampires trying to flatten her.

Life was wonderful.

A blur rushed directly toward her.

"...Never mind."

Rosaline's fist arrived first.

Lavinia leaned aside.

The punch sliced harmlessly past.

Her own foot snapped upward, knocking Rosaline's reaching hand away before stepping backward.

Elsewhere...

Celestine caught Evelyn's arm.

One smooth movement swept Evelyn's legs.

She attempted to drive Evelyn flat into the ground.

Instead...

Evelyn rolled.

Her body flowed over Celestine's shoulder.

One arm wrapped gently beneath Celestine's chin while the other guided the movement.

There was a loud...

Crack.

Everyone paused.

Celestine's body went limp before falling to her knees.

Then sideways.

Silence lasted perhaps half a second.

Evelyn patted Celestine's shoulder gently.

"...Sorry."

Seeing Celestine's chest steadily rising...

Everyone relaxed.

The match immediately resumed.

Lavinia blinked.

"...It's always the shy ones."

"They're terrifying."

Rosaline answered by kicking Lavinia's leg.

The strike forced Lavinia down onto one knee.

Rosaline reached.

Lavinia caught her wrist.

"Oh no."

She smiled.

"You're coming with me."

Before Rosaline understood what Lavinia intended...

Lavinia accelerated.

The world blurred.

Grass streaked beneath them.

They crossed nearly fifty feet in an instant.

Rosaline laughed the entire way.

Lavinia finally stopped.

Using Rosaline's momentum, she twisted.

Rosaline landed flat on her back.

Lavinia's foot immediately settled against her throat.

"Ha!"

She folded both arms proudly.

"Pinned."

Rosaline looked completely unconcerned.

"...Comfortable?"

"A little."

Lavinia looked elsewhere.

Adelaide now fought three opponents simultaneously.

Valerie struck first.

Gwendolyn followed immediately after.

Evelyn, having finished apologizing to unconscious Celestine, joined moments later.

The three attacked from different angles.

Adelaide defended remarkably well.

She ducked beneath Valerie's punch.

Redirected Gwendolyn.

Blocked Evelyn.

Then Valerie struck from behind.

Gwendolyn immediately capitalized.

Within seconds Adelaide found herself forced downward.

Lavinia watched with enormous satisfaction.

She pointed dramatically.

"She understands my own suffering now!"

Adelaide laughed despite being restrained.

"It isn't fun, is it?"

"It absolutely isn't!"

Something grabbed Lavinia's ankle.

"...Hm?"

Rosaline.

Still beneath her.

Rosaline smiled sweetly.

Then kicked upward.

Her heel buried itself into Lavinia's lower stomach.

Lavinia's foot left Rosaline's throat immediately.

"Wai...!"

She flew nearly twenty feet upward.

Rosaline rolled smoothly to her feet beneath her.

Then...

Jumped.

Her second kick landed directly against Lavinia's stomach.

Boom.

Lavinia sailed backward before tumbling repeatedly through the grass.

She eventually rolled back onto both feet.

Her dress looked considerably messier now.

Several blades of grass clung stubbornly to it.

Lavinia brushed at them.

"...That doesn't count."

Rosaline laughed.

"I snuck you."

"You were being petty."

"Adelaide wasn't out yet."

Lavinia huffed.

"...Fine."

She looked back toward the other fight.

Evelyn now sat on the grass.

One leg bent in an angle legs generally weren't supposed to.

She didn't appear bothered.

Instead she calmly held Adelaide's ankle while Gwendolyn and Valerie kept Adelaide occupied from either side.

The three coordinated surprisingly well.

Every escape Adelaide found immediately opened another opportunity for someone else.

Eventually...

Valerie pinned one arm.

Gwendolyn caught the other.

Evelyn, despite the twisted leg, simply smiled apologetically while preventing Adelaide's escape.

Celestine slowly pushed herself upright.

She rubbed her neck thoughtfully.

"...That was unpleasant."

Her eyes searched the field.

She found Adelaide first.

Pinned beneath three laughing vampires.

Celestine looked upward.

Raised both hands.

"I surrender."

Nobody objected.

She quietly wandered over to watch instead.

Meanwhile...

Rosaline and Lavinia had entirely abandoned proper fighting.

They rolled through the grass together.

Each repeatedly trying to pin the other.

Rosaline caught Lavinia's shoulder.

Lavinia twisted free.

Rosaline bit lightly into Lavinia's forearm.

"Ow!"

Lavinia immediately retaliated by nipping Rosaline's shoulder.

"You're biting!"

"You started!"

"I absolutely did."

Rosaline laughed.

"So it's fair."

Lavinia wrapped both arms around Rosaline's waist.

Rosaline hooked one leg behind Lavinia's.

Both lost balance.

They rolled together several more times.

Occasionally one gained the upper hand...

Only for the other to immediately reverse it.

Neither seemed especially interested in actually winning anymore.

Most of their effort had shifted toward preventing the other from biting first.

Celestine watched quietly.

"...Are they still fighting?"

Valerie looked over.

"...Technically."

Gwendolyn nodded.

"I think."

Adelaide, still pinned beneath three vampires, sighed dramatically.

"...Someone help me."

"No," three voices answered together.

Rosaline successfully bit Lavinia's shoulder again.

Lavinia complained loudly enough that even several people walking along the nearby path stopped to watch.

One passerby blinked.

"...Are they..."

His companion stared at the pile of laughing vampires rolling through the grass.

"...Playing?"

The answer seemed obvious.

Because despite the occasional loud impact...

Despite broken bones that had already healed...

Despite bite marks appearing and disappearing...

Every single vampire wore an unmistakable smile.

Even Adelaide eventually stopped struggling.

She looked toward Lavinia and Rosaline wrestling through the grass while continuing to complain about biting being unfair.

"...We're ridiculous."

Valerie nodded.

"We really are."

None of them seemed particularly bothered by the observation.

In fact, judging by the laughter echoing across the moonlit field, they were all having far too much fun to care.

...

Lavinia stood near the center of the sports field, slowly twirling one golden curl around her finger.

The grass around her no longer looked remotely pristine.

Several patches had been flattened by bodies tumbling across them. Other sections had shallow depressions where someone had landed too hard, been kicked downward, or driven into the ground.

A few longer streaks marked where vampires had skidded across the field before stopping.

It wasn't destroyed.

But it was very obviously disturbed.

"...How bad would it be if someone needs to use this place soon?"

She looked toward the nearby path.

A few humans still lingered in the distance, talking among themselves while occasionally glancing toward the vampires.

They had definitely been seen.

Lavinia sighed.

"Wonderful."

Behind her, the others were scattered across the grass.

Most had stopped moving much while waiting for their dresses to finish repairing themselves.

Their bodies had recovered almost immediately.

Adelaide's twisted foot had healed long ago.

Lavinia's broken wrist no longer ached.

The scratches, bites, and cuts they'd inflicted on one another had vanished, leaving only dried traces of blood that were gradually flaking away from flawless skin.

Their clothing was another matter.

The dresses restored themselves, but far more slowly than vampire flesh.

Rosaline's dress still had a narrow tear along one side where the fabric had been caught during the fight.

The damaged section was drawing itself together little by little, dark threads reconnecting without leaving a seam.

Valerie's sleeve had nearly finished repairing.

Gwendolyn's skirt still showed several small rips.

Evelyn and Celestine had suffered less damage, though even their dresses needed a few more minutes.

Lavinia looked at the field again.

"Next time, we should use a forest."

Gwendolyn, who sat nearby with her legs tucked beneath herself, looked around.

"A forest?"

"Yes."

Lavinia gestured toward the damaged grass.

"This is incredibly obvious."

"The sunken areas."

"The flattened patches."

"The people who watched seven vampires beat each other across the entire field."

Gwendolyn considered that.

Then smiled brightly.

"You're right."

Lavinia nodded.

"Thank you."

"The trees and uneven terrain would make it much more fun."

Lavinia's smile vanished.

"...That wasn't what I meant."

"We could jump between branches."

"Gwendolyn."

"And use the trunks for cover."

"Gwendolyn."

"And if someone gets thrown, they might go through a bush."

Lavinia raised one hand and pressed it against her forehead.

"Am I the only person here with common sense?"

Valerie looked up from where she lay flat on the grass, phone held above her face.

"Probably not."

"That sounded suspiciously unconvincing."

"I was being polite."

Lavinia gave her a narrow look.

Footsteps whispered over the grass.

Celestine approached, carefully brushing one hand over the back of her dress. Her long teal hair had collected several blades of grass despite Rosaline's earlier attempt to remove them.

Lavinia immediately brightened.

She hurried over and half clung to Celestine's arm.

"Celestine."

Celestine looked down at her.

"...Yes?"

"How did it feel?"

Celestine blinked.

"How did what feel?"

"Having your neck snapped."

Evelyn, who had been sitting only a few feet away, immediately lowered her head.

Celestine huffed softly.

"I didn't expect it."

"Neither did any of us."

Lavinia leaned a little more heavily against her.

"You just collapsed."

"I noticed."

"Did you lose consciousness?"

Celestine thought for a moment.

"Not exactly."

Her expression became more thoughtful.

"It was similar to sleeping."

"But not the same."

Lavinia tilted her head.

"How?"

"When we sleep, we can wake up."

Celestine lightly touched the side of her neck.

"I couldn't move."

"I couldn't force myself awake."

"I was aware of something being wrong, but everything felt distant."

She paused.

"Then my neck healed."

"And I could move again."

Lavinia stared at her.

"...That sounds unpleasant."

"It was."

Evelyn raised one hand timidly.

"I'm sorry."

Her voice came out in a quiet stammer.

"I got caught up in the moment."

"I didn't mean to..."

She looked away.

"...Do that."

Celestine immediately shook her head.

"You shouldn't feel sorry."

Evelyn looked up.

"It was a good move."

Celestine smiled faintly.

"I thought I had you."

"You escaped."

"And then you stopped me from continuing."

Evelyn still looked uncertain.

"But I broke your neck."

Celestine nodded.

"Yes."

"...And?"

Evelyn blinked.

Celestine gently reached out and patted her shoulder.

"I'm fine."

"If anything, now I know to protect my neck better."

Lavinia smiled.

"See?"

"Educational violence."

Evelyn stared at her.

"...That doesn't sound right."

"It really doesn't," Valerie called from the grass.

Lavinia ignored her.

A short distance away, Rosaline and Adelaide sat facing one another.

Rosaline carefully picked blades of grass from Adelaide's pale green hair.

Adelaide did the same for Rosaline, though every few seconds she found another piece tangled deeper in the bright red strands.

"How did you even get grass here?" Adelaide asked.

Rosaline glanced toward the back of her shoulder.

"I rolled a lot."

"You rolled across half the field."

"I was fighting."

"You and Lavinia were biting each other."

"Still fighting."

Adelaide removed another blade.

Rosaline smiled and reached toward Adelaide's hair again.

Valerie continued scrolling with her back flat against the ground.

Every so often, she shifted the phone slightly to avoid the glare from one of the nearby lights.

Gwendolyn looked toward the humans on the path.

"Do you think they'll call the police?"

Lavinia followed her gaze.

"For what?"

"Because we were fighting."

"We were playing."

"They might not know that."

Lavinia looked at the field.

Then at the lingering humans.

"...They probably heard us laughing."

Gwendolyn waited.

Lavinia hesitated.

"...Probably."

"That doesn't sound very confident."

"I was being realistic."

Gwendolyn smiled.

"I think we looked friendly."

"You kicked me through the air."

"Affectionately."

"You tried to bite my shoulder."

"Also affectionately."

Lavinia stared at her.

Gwendolyn smiled wider.

Valerie finally locked her phone and rolled smoothly onto her feet.

She stretched, raising both arms overhead before slipping the device into one of the hidden pockets of her dress.

"Alright."

She looked around the field.

"We have to go."

Rosaline glanced up.

"Where?"

"A party."

Every vampire looked toward her.

Lavinia's crimson eyes widened slightly.

"A party?"

"Mhm."

Valerie walked over to Evelyn first and pulled her lightly to her feet.

Then she helped Celestine.

Rosaline accepted a hand next, followed by Adelaide.

Gwendolyn stood on her own and immediately began brushing at her skirt.

Lavinia remained where she was.

"Wait."

Valerie turned.

"What?"

"Would it still be a party if we went?"

Valerie raised one eyebrow.

Lavinia gestured toward the group.

"There are seven vampires."

"We draw attention by standing still."

"What if we ruin it just by showing up?"

Valerie laughed.

"It's being thrown by my human friends."

She approached Lavinia.

"They invited me."

"That isn't the same as inviting all of us."

"They know I'm with other vampires now."

"Do they know there are six others?"

Valerie shrugged.

"They'll find out."

Lavinia looked unconvinced.

Valerie reached into Lavinia's hair and plucked out several strands of grass.

Then she brushed dirt from the back of Lavinia's dress.

"They invited me."

"So I don't see why all of you can't come too."

Lavinia glanced over one shoulder as Valerie brushed along her back and waist.

"That logic is questionable."

"It'll be fine."

Valerie moved to the other side and removed another bit of grass from Lavinia's golden hair.

"Besides..."

She smiled.

"You're curious."

Lavinia opened her mouth.

Then closed it.

"...Maybe."

"I knew it."

Valerie gave her waist one final brush before stepping back.

Rosaline was already excited.

Gwendolyn looked delighted.

Adelaide seemed amused by the possibility.

Celestine and Evelyn exchanged uncertain but interested looks.

Lavinia sighed.

"Fine."

She looked once more at the damaged field.

"But we are definitely using a forest next time."

Gwendolyn raised both hands enthusiastically.

"Yes!"

Lavinia pointed at her.

"For privacy."

"Of course."

"And not because the trees make it more fun."

Gwendolyn's smile became suspiciously innocent.

"...Of course."

Lavinia groaned.

The seven vampires began leaving the field together, still brushing grass from one another's dresses and hair as they followed Valerie toward the street.

Behind them, the uneven patches of grass remained under the lights, leaving very obvious evidence that something much faster, stronger, and considerably less careful than a group of ordinary athletes had spent the evening playing there.