The Divergence

───

Lavinia lay lengthwise across the couch, one leg hooked lazily over the armrest while she scrolled through forum posts.

The internet had been restless all day.

Every time she refreshed the page, new discussions appeared.

New theories.

New accusations.

New arguments.

Some people defended them.

Others insisted the leaked reports proved vampires were exactly what old stories claimed.

Pictures of their group had begun circulating too.

Seven vampires walking through Oakridge.

Seven vampires leaving the blood clinic.

Seven vampires outside the police station.

One blurry photograph even showed Lavinia holding the remains of her phone while speaking to an officer.

She stared at that one for several seconds.

"...I look devastated."

Valerie glanced over from another chair.

"You were."

"It was a good phone."

"So you've said."

Lavinia returned to scrolling.

She didn't feel especially bothered by the photographs.

The facts were the facts.

They had killed people.

There wasn't much point pretending otherwise.

If someone else attacked them, Lavinia was fairly certain she'd kill again.

Something that declared itself an enemy had to be dealt with.

If it continued presenting a danger...

Then it had to be killed.

The conclusion felt simple.

She didn't enjoy killing.

She also didn't see a reason to hesitate over someone actively trying to harm her or her friends.

A quiet shift of fabric drew her attention.

Gwendolyn slept on the floor near the couch, silver-white hair spread beneath her head.

She had fallen asleep not long after speaking with Eleanor.

Even asleep, her expression seemed less bright than usual.

The other vampires had idled the day away around her.

Rosaline lay on her stomach, kicking her feet lazily while staring at her phone.

Adelaide sat near the coffee table, repeatedly checking the time.

Celestine and Evelyn occupied the same chair, each somehow balanced comfortably despite the limited space.

Valerie stood near the curtains.

She lifted one edge just enough to inspect the light filtering around them without allowing the sun itself to touch her.

Warm ambient light painted a narrow line across the floor.

Valerie sighed.

"I don't think we should spend another night here."

The room quieted.

Adelaide looked up.

"Are you worried about Gwendolyn?"

Valerie let the curtain fall back into place.

"Her and her mother."

Her expression remained thoughtful.

"Our mess could bring people here."

She glanced toward the sleeping Gwendolyn.

"And none of us want that."

Lavinia lowered her phone.

"What brought this on?"

She wasn't opposed.

Only curious.

Valerie retrieved her own phone and held it up.

"People online are talking about retaliation."

Rosaline's ears twitched.

Valerie continued.

"They're saying they'll fight back."

"That vampires need to be taught they can't kill humans without consequences."

Rosaline chuckled.

There was no amusement in the sound.

"Fight back against what?"

She rolled onto her side.

"They attacked us."

"I know."

Valerie looked toward the curtains again.

"But facts aren't slowing them down."

Evelyn quietly raised her head from Celestine's shoulder.

"Do we have somewhere else to stay?"

The six vampires looked at one another.

Then, almost together...

They shook their heads.

Technically, every one of them had somewhere.

Lavinia still had her apartment.

Adelaide had the home she'd been driven from.

Rosaline had her college housing.

Valerie had her previous residence.

Celestine and Evelyn had places of their own as well.

The problem wasn't whether the buildings existed.

It was whether those places remained safe.

Lavinia's apartment had security cameras.

People had seen her enter and leave.

Her image was online now.

Finding the building wouldn't be especially difficult for someone determined enough.

At night, that didn't concern her much.

A human entering her apartment with a weapon would regret it almost immediately.

During the day...

She would be asleep.

The sun would prevent her from leaving freely.

Someone could damage the building.

Set a fire.

Break windows.

Force sunlight into rooms.

The possibilities made returning alone feel less appealing.

"In short..." Lavinia murmured, "we all have somewhere."

Rosaline nodded.

"We just don't know whether it's safe."

Celestine folded her hands neatly in her lap.

"What are we doing tonight?"

No one answered.

The uncertainty felt strange.

Until now, they had wandered without much planning.

A café.

A mall.

The DMV.

The blood clinic.

The sports field.

A party.

There had been fear around them, but curiosity often outweighed it.

People stared because vampires were new.

Some approached.

Some asked questions.

Some wanted photographs.

One had even volunteered to be bitten.

Tonight...

Lavinia wasn't sure what waited outside.

Adelaide broke the silence.

"I need to visit Marcus."

The others nodded.

That was nonnegotiable.

Adelaide had promised.

Afterward...

They could simply keep moving until sunrise.

It wasn't much of a plan.

Still, it was something.

Lavinia returned to the forum.

Another post had climbed rapidly through the page.

The title described the Oakridge vampires as monsters.

She opened it.

The writer claimed nobody should be surprised that vampires had killed so many people. Their eyes were inhuman. Their bodies were unnatural. Their need for blood proved they were predators pretending to be citizens.

Lavinia slowly ran her tongue along her teeth.

Her fangs pressed lightly against it.

She looked around the room.

Valerie was reading through messages with a faint frown.

Rosaline had stopped pretending to be amused.

Adelaide's fingers tapped against her knee.

Celestine and Evelyn remained close together.

Gwendolyn still slept.

Compared to yesterday...

Everyone's energy felt dimmer.

Not absent.

Simply restrained.

The first evening after the Divergence had been full of discovery.

Running.

Falling.

Meeting one another.

Tonight carried something heavier.

Lavinia locked her phone.

"They don't know us."

No one asked who she meant.

Valerie looked over.

"No."

"They don't."

Lavinia glanced once more at Gwendolyn.

Her scent of roses and caramel was faint while she slept, but still familiar.

Comforting.

Outside, the sun continued descending.

The gradual excitement that always came with evening began building inside them.

Even with the unease filling the house...

Their bodies welcomed the approaching night.

The sensation rose minute by minute.

A quiet alertness.

A growing awareness.

Until the last edge of sunlight vanished below the horizon.

The familiar buzz peaked.

Rosaline sat upright.

Celestine and Evelyn unfolded themselves from the chair.

Adelaide stood.

Valerie slipped her phone away.

Lavinia moved to Gwendolyn and nudged her shoulder.

"Gwen."

No response.

She nudged again.

"The sun's down."

Gwendolyn's ear twitched.

Her crimson eyes opened slowly.

She looked around at everyone pulling on boots and smoothing dresses.

A soft breath left her.

Without asking what they were doing, she sat up and slid her feet into her boots.

Nobody mentioned Eleanor.

Nobody asked whether Gwendolyn wanted to remain.

She simply followed them toward the door.

The moment it closed behind them, Gwendolyn leaned heavily against Valerie's side.

"I'm absolutely bored."

Valerie looked down at her.

"Already?"

"I slept all day."

"That was your choice."

Gwendolyn ignored that.

"We should explore."

Rosaline smiled faintly.

"That sounds better than wandering without a plan."

Lavinia nodded.

"We'll stop by Adelaide's apartment first."

Adelaide looked toward her.

"You don't all need to go up."

"We won't."

Lavinia glanced at the others.

"The situation is annoying enough."

Valerie hooked one arm around Gwendolyn's waist.

"We'll wait downstairs."

The seven vampires began walking.

Oakridge felt different.

There were fewer people outside.

Some storefronts had closed earlier than usual.

Others remained open but nearly empty.

Those they passed looked at them with more caution than before.

The previous curiosity had hardened.

A few people stared openly.

Others stepped away.

Some expressions held unmistakable hostility.

Lavinia noticed all of it.

Fortunately, the group gradually slipped back into something resembling their usual mood.

Valerie poked fun at Rosaline's dramatic complaints.

Gwendolyn pointed out clothing she liked and declared several shop displays cute.

Adelaide smiled from time to time.

Evelyn and Celestine walked shoulder to shoulder.

The warmth wasn't as effortless as before.

But it was still there.

They were halfway to Adelaide's apartment when a car approached from behind.

The driver's window was open.

As it passed, someone leaned toward it and shouted,

"Murderers!"

The word cut through the night.

The car accelerated before any of the vampires could react.

Seven pairs of crimson eyes followed the taillights until they disappeared around a corner.

Silence settled over the group.

Lavinia tilted her head one way.

Then the other.

She ran one hand through her golden hair.

After several seconds, she laughed softly.

"Are the people who died victims now?"

No one answered immediately.

Rosaline looked down.

Valerie's smile disappeared.

Gwendolyn remained pressed against her side.

The mood they had begun rebuilding fell again.

By the time they reached Adelaide's apartment building, conversation had mostly stopped.

The lobby grew quiet the moment the seven vampires entered.

People stared.

Whispers began almost immediately.

Lavinia heard every word.

Blood clinic.

Killers.

Dangerous.

Monsters.

She ignored them.

The group moved toward one wall and leaned against it together while Adelaide approached the stairwell.

She looked back.

"I won't be long."

"We'll be here," Celestine said softly.

Adelaide nodded.

Then disappeared through the stairwell door.

The remaining six settled into silence.

They ignored the guarded looks.

Ignored the whispers.

Ignored the receptionist discreetly reaching for her phone.

Lavinia folded her arms and stared at the closed stairwell door.

Only one day earlier, people had watched them with fascination.

Now they watched as though waiting for the vampires to prove every ugly thing the news had said.

And for the first time since the Divergence...

Lavinia wondered how much longer they would keep caring what humans thought.

Lavinia let out a quiet sigh.

She watched people enter the apartment lobby, only for many of them to immediately stop upon noticing the six vampires waiting near the wall.

Some quietly turned around and waited for another elevator.

Others pretended they'd forgotten something and hurried back through the stairwell door.

A young couple froze before awkwardly walking around them, keeping as much distance as possible.

Lavinia wasn't quite sure what she felt.

Irritated?

Not exactly.

Annoyed?

Yes.

That was closer.

Twenty-seven armed people had driven to a blood clinic, opened fire, and killed a security guard before she or any of her friends had even stepped outside.

Then those same attackers had died.

Now...

Humans looked at the vampires as though they were the ones who had started everything.

Watching people recoil from them over and over was becoming tiring.

Beside her, Valerie leaned comfortably against the wall, one foot propped behind her.

"If I didn't know any better..."

She glanced at another person quickly looking away.

"...I'd say they're looking at us like dangerous animals."

Gwendolyn laughed softly.

"I think you're imagining things."

Valerie looked toward another family that immediately chose the stairs over the elevator.

"...Sure."

"They're just suddenly very interested in exercise."

Rosaline snorted.

Even Lavinia smiled.

The laughter eased the atmosphere slightly.

Time drifted by.

Nearly twenty minutes later...

The stairwell door opened.

Adelaide stepped back into the lobby.

Her expression remained composed.

No tears.

No visible anger.

Simply...

Calm.

The six vampires immediately pushed themselves away from the wall and joined her.

Lavinia held the front door open.

"How'd it go?"

Adelaide rolled her eyes.

"My parents wasted absolutely no time."

She sighed.

"They tried convincing Marcus that I'd cruelly murdered people."

Her voice remained steady.

"It took everything I had not to snap at them."

The others stayed quiet.

Adelaide smiled faintly.

"I told Marcus I'd call him."

She looked toward the street outside.

"I probably won't come by as often."

"At least until things calm down."

Lavinia nodded.

"...Probably for the best."

The seven vampires stepped onto the sidewalk together.

Night had settled comfortably over Oakridge.

The streets remained quieter than they had been only a day earlier.

Several people watched them from across the road.

Others deliberately crossed to the opposite sidewalk.

None approached.

At least...

Not immediately.

Footsteps hurried toward them.

Every vampire turned almost simultaneously.

A man carrying a phone mounted on a small stabilizer approached with surprising confidence.

A tiny red recording light blinked steadily.

Livestream.

He stopped several feet away.

The camera pointed directly toward them.

He smiled.

It wasn't a friendly smile.

"So..."

His voice carried easily.

"Do any of you feel remorse for the crimes you committed?"

Nearly every vampire rolled her eyes.

Lavinia blinked once.

"What crimes?"

She sounded genuinely puzzled.

The man stared.

"You killed over twenty innocent people."

"And the security guard."

"How can you possibly justify something so cruel?"

Lavinia looked thoughtfully toward the sky.

Then rested one finger against her chin.

"Oh."

"I understand now."

She nodded slowly.

"So..."

"Armed people who fired at us first are innocent?"

The man frowned.

Lavinia continued before he could answer.

"If those same people walked into a school..."

"Or a shopping mall..."

"And opened fire..."

She tilted her head.

"They'd suddenly become criminals then?"

"They're different situations."

"How?"

The question came immediately.

He hesitated.

Then quickly recovered.

"We don't have proof they attacked first."

Lavinia blinked.

"You don't?"

He lifted his phone slightly.

"The investigation was covered up."

"If the government hadn't buried everything..."

"We'd know what actually happened."

Valerie laughed.

Not loudly.

Just enough to make her opinion obvious.

"The only thing that's clear..."

She folded her arms.

"...is an idiot standing in front of us saying whatever sounds good."

The man's face reddened.

He ignored Valerie.

Instead he looked back toward Lavinia.

"What about the families?"

"They're grieving."

"Do you have anything you'd like to say to them?"

Rosaline sighed.

"I do."

Everyone looked toward her.

"I'll grieve with them."

The reporter's expression brightened slightly.

"...Over how unbelievably stupid those attackers were."

His face immediately fell again.

Rosaline shrugged.

"If they'd stayed home..."

"They'd still be alive."

"Instead..."

"They drove over to attack us."

"What exactly were we supposed to do?"

"Stand still?"

The reporter quickly swung the camera toward himself.

"As you can see..."

He spoke dramatically.

"The vampires continue showing absolutely no remorse for their monstrous actions."

"They don't even seem capable of empathy."

"They're proving exactly what many people feared."

"There's nothing human left in them."

Lavinia quietly twirled a lock of golden hair around one finger.

She smiled gently.

Those empty crimson eyes settled calmly upon him.

"...Do you really think that?"

He looked directly back.

"You killed over twenty people."

"Not one of you looks guilty."

"None of you seem sad."

"I can't reach any other conclusion."

Lavinia nodded once.

"I see."

She smiled just a little wider.

"So..."

"If you think we're monsters..."

She took one relaxed step forward.

"...You wouldn't be too surprised if we killed you too?"

Silence.

The seven vampires hadn't moved.

Hadn't bared their fangs.

Hadn't raised a hand.

Yet something about them suddenly felt...

Wrong.

Every smile remained.

Every pair of crimson eyes watched him quietly.

His heartbeat immediately doubled.

The livestream camera shook slightly.

"They're..."

He swallowed.

"...They're threatening me."

Lavinia sighed.

Then waved one dismissive hand.

"We're not going to kill you."

She looked him up and down.

"Even if you are a little stupid."

Valerie burst into laughter.

Rosaline joined immediately.

Gwendolyn simply looked at him.

Not angrily.

Not hatefully.

Just...

With the same expression someone might reserve for a person insisting rain wasn't wet.

Then she walked past him.

Celestine followed quietly.

Evelyn after her.

The others naturally began moving as well.

For a brief moment...

It seemed finished.

Then—

The man hurried after them.

His voice grew louder.

"Anyone helping vampires is betraying humanity!"

"They should be punished!"

He pointed toward nearby apartment buildings.

"Anyone siding with monsters should be charged!"

His expression twisted.

"It should be considered a crime!"

"Punishable by death!"

The seven vampires stopped.

Lavinia slowly turned around.

Her expression held no anger.

Only genuine confusion.

"...What do you actually want?"

The reporter didn't hesitate.

"Justice."

"For the people your kind murdered."

"Humans should be judged by humans."

Lavinia stared at him.

Then slowly looked away.

"...He's serious."

She muttered it to herself.

She honestly couldn't tell whether to laugh or feel disappointed.

Did he genuinely think she'd apologize?

For killing armed attackers?

She suddenly clapped her hands together.

The sharp sound echoed along the sidewalk.

Then...

She bowed politely.

"I'm very sorry."

Her voice became perfectly sincere.

"I'm terribly sorry we killed people who fired at us first."

She continued before he could interrupt.

"I'm even more sorry the attackers murdered the security guard."

"And shot the receptionist."

She raised her head.

"I suppose I should've made sure all twenty-seven attackers survived."

"So everyone could feel better."

The reporter opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Lavinia smiled brightly.

"There."

"I apologized."

She folded her hands neatly behind her back.

"So..."

She tilted her head.

"...You shouldn't have any other reason to keep jumping in front of us now, right?"

The reporter simply stared.

For several long seconds...

He couldn't think of a single thing to say.