The Divergence

Morning arrived beneath a storm of headlines.

Every major news network led with the same story.

Every social media platform overflowed with clips, arguments, commentary, and reposts.

Television stations replayed the footage repeatedly.

News websites struggled beneath unprecedented traffic.

The livestream had spread far faster than anyone could remove it.

What had begun as a self-proclaimed hunt for a vampire had become one of the most watched incidents since the Divergence itself.

Authorities released only the facts they could immediately confirm.

Fourteen individuals had traveled to a residential home occupied by a vampire and her younger sister.

They had forced entry.

They had intentionally started a fire while both occupants remained inside.

Both victims had survived.

Five of the fourteen attackers had died during or shortly after the incident.

Police declined to specify the precise causes while the investigation remained ongoing.

The remaining participants had either been hospitalized or taken into custody.

That alone would have dominated the news.

Instead...

The livestream eclipsed everything.

Millions had already watched it.

Millions more continued watching throughout the morning.

Entire channels replayed the final minutes uninterrupted.

Frank raising his pistol.

John begging.

The vampire standing perfectly still.

The gunshot.

Then...

She was suddenly there.

Frame-by-frame breakdowns flooded the internet.

Some slowed the footage to fractions of a second.

Others measured distances between trees.

Arguments erupted over how quickly she'd moved.

Some insisted the recording had been altered.

Police confirmed it had not.

No one could determine precisely when she'd crossed the distance.

Everyone agreed on what happened afterward.

She had prevented John from being killed.

That single moment became the center of the debate.

Some viewers condemned her.

"She manipulated him."

"She enjoyed watching him panic."

"She made him choose."

Others answered almost immediately.

"Nobody made him point the gun."

"He made that decision himself."

"They broke into her house."

"They set it on fire."

"Her little sister was still inside."

"What did they think was going to happen?"

Arguments filled every corner of the internet.

Videos reached millions of views within hours.

Comment sections became battlefields.

Some still insisted the hunters had acted to protect humanity.

Others pointed toward photographs of the burned house.

Blackened walls.

Collapsed roofing.

Broken windows.

Then another photograph began circulating.

A young woman.

Wrapped tightly in a blanket.

Escorted by paramedics.

Her expression frightened.

Her face stained with soot.

She looked...

Ordinary.

Not frightening.

Not threatening.

Just a younger sister who had nearly burned alive.

For many people, that image proved harder to dismiss than any debate.

The conversation gradually shifted.

Not away from vampires.

But toward the attack itself.

The question became less,

"Are vampires dangerous?"

and more,

"Why did these men think this was acceptable?"

Before noon, police addressed the media.

Dozens of reporters crowded into the press room.

Camera shutters clicked almost continuously.

The Police Chief stood behind the podium.

His expression remained composed.

"The investigation into yesterday's attack remains active."

Questions immediately followed.

"Can you confirm the number of fatalities?"

"Five deaths have been confirmed."

"Can you explain how they died?"

"Not at this time."

Another reporter spoke.

"What about the victims?"

"They are safe."

"Are they under police protection?"

"Yes."

The Chief nodded once.

"Both occupants of the residence have been placed under temporary police protection while we continue evaluating potential threats."

Murmurs spread through the room.

Another hand rose.

"Are you concerned about copycat attacks?"

"We're preparing for that possibility."

He paused before continuing.

"I also want to address misinformation that's been circulating."

The room quieted.

"Vampires and werewolves remain protected under the law."

Another pause.

"Attacking either without lawful justification is a criminal offense."

Pens scratched across notebooks.

"If an individual initiates potentially deadly violence against another person..."

He spoke carefully.

"...and that individual is killed while the victim defends themselves, investigators will evaluate the circumstances under the same principles of self-defense that apply to any other citizen."

Questions erupted almost immediately.

"So you're saying vampires can kill people?"

"No."

He answered firmly.

"I'm saying that the law applies equally."

Another reporter called out,

"What if the vampire could have simply disabled them?"

"The law does not require someone facing a potentially lethal attack to determine the least harmful possible method of surviving it."

Within minutes...

The statement spread online.

Some condemned it.

Others welcomed it.

Most simply accepted the reasoning.

Even many people uncomfortable with vampires found it difficult to argue otherwise.

If someone arrived intending to kill another person...

Few believed the victim should be legally obligated to risk their own life by showing restraint.

The livestream continued spreading throughout the afternoon.

Discussion increasingly focused on its ending.

Frank aiming the pistol.

John begging for his life.

Then...

The vampire saving him anyway.

That final decision complicated nearly every simple narrative.

People who disliked vampires struggled to explain why she'd prevented the killing.

People who supported her pointed toward her final words.

"You decided what I was... before learning what you yourself was."

The quote spread almost as quickly as the video itself.

It appeared beneath news articles.

Across discussion forums.

Inside reaction videos.

People argued over what she had meant.

Others believed there was nothing to interpret.

Frank had already answered her.

By raising the gun.

Outside the burned home...

Marked police vehicles remained parked along the street.

Uniformed officers maintained a visible presence.

Yellow tape still surrounded the property.

Curious neighbors watched from a respectful distance.

Some quietly left flowers near the sidewalk.

Others simply stood in silence.

The smell of smoke still lingered faintly in the air.

Inside another nearby house...

Two sisters remained under police protection.

For now...

No one else would be getting close to them.

Across the country, arguments showed no sign of slowing.

Even internationally, news organizations continued covering the attack.

Some commentators still condemned Isolde for forcing Frank to confront the choice she presented him.

Many more condemned the hunters.

Whatever opinions people held about vampires, the facts were difficult to dispute.

Fourteen people had driven to a house.

They had broken in.

They had set it on fire while people were still inside.

The entire sequence that followed had been witnessed live by millions.

No amount of opinion could change what the camera had already recorded.

───

The shared living room had rarely been this lively.

Morning sunlight filtered through tall windows, illuminating polished wooden floors and shelves lined with centuries-old books. 

A fire crackled quietly within the hearth despite the warmth outside, its gentle sound blending with the occasional laughter drifting through the room.

Every television had been turned off.

Nobody needed it.

Their phones contained more than enough news already.

Lavinia lay stretched comfortably across one end of a long couch, one leg hanging lazily over the armrest while she scrolled through article after article.

"...Isolde handled it better than I would've."

Without looking up, she tugged at her foot.

It didn't move.

She frowned.

"I'd have punched both of those idiots once."

Another tug.

Still nothing.

Valerie hummed contentedly from the floor beside the couch, one hand wrapped comfortably around Lavinia's socked foot as though it belonged there.

"I would've killed them."

She ran her fingers idly along the fabric of the sock.

Lavinia immediately tried pulling her foot away again.

"...Valerie."

"Mhm?"

"Release me."

"I don't think I will."

A quiet snort escaped Gwendolyn as she looked up from her own phone.

"Isolde didn't kill either of them."

She smiled softly.

"And because those hunters were... well..."

She gestured vaguely toward the countless articles.

"...no one's really blaming her."

"They're trying," Rosaline said.

She sat sideways in an armchair, one arm draped across its back.

"I've seen people saying she shouldn't have made him choose."

Rosaline shook her head.

"How are they even trying to blame Isolde for anything?"

Before anyone else answered...

Two pale hands appeared over the back of her chair.

Evangeline leaned over it, resting comfortably against the wood before gently patting Rosaline's head.

"They're human."

Rosaline looked up.

Evangeline smiled faintly.

"They've never really needed reason or logic to blame someone."

Rosaline couldn't help laughing.

"...Fair."

Across the room, Celestine lowered her phone.

"I'm just glad her sister wasn't hurt."

Her voice remained calm as always.

"That's all I kept thinking about while watching the replay."

Adelaide nodded once.

"That was the one good thing."

She folded one leg over the other.

"The police responded relatively quickly."

"They prevented an actual tragedy."

Silence settled briefly.

Everyone knew exactly what she meant.

Had officers arrived even slightly later...

The outcome could have been unimaginably different.

Cordelia crossed her arms.

"I would've killed the entire group."

Several heads turned toward her.

She held the serious expression for only another heartbeat before smiling.

"...Though..."

She shrugged.

"That probably wouldn't have helped our appearance."

A few chuckles spread through the room.

Evelyn smiled timidly from her place near the fireplace.

"I..."

She tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind one ear.

"I think Isolde did the best thing."

Everyone looked toward her.

"She could've killed them..."

Her voice remained soft.

"...but she didn't."

"Even after everything they did."

Violetta smiled warmly.

"And because she didn't..."

She folded her hands neatly in her lap.

"Anyone planning to use this incident against vampires lost their moral high ground."

"They can't honestly claim we're bloodthirsty monsters after millions watched a vampire save the man who'd just tried to murder his own friend."

Adelaide let out a quiet breath.

"The moral high ground disappeared long before that."

She looked toward Violetta.

"It disappeared when they attacked us at the blood clinic."

Rosaline burst into laughter.

"And we killed more of them than they killed of us."

Cordelia looked over curiously.

"I still can't believe they thought that would work."

"It didn't," Adelaide answered simply.

"They underestimated us."

"They underestimated how fast we are."

"They underestimated how durable we are."

"And then they panicked."

Evangeline folded her arms.

"Most people don't understand just how dangerous we actually are."

"They keep assuming we're only slightly stronger than humans."

"They'll probably continue assuming that."

"I don't mind."

Neither did anyone else.

The room settled into comfortable silence.

Only fingers moving across phone screens broke it.

Then—

Lavinia gave another determined tug.

Her foot remained firmly in Valerie's grasp.

"...Seriously?"

Valerie looked up innocently.

"Hm?"

Lavinia narrowed her crimson eyes.

"...Do you have a foot fetish?"

Silence.

Then...

Rosaline snorted.

Cordelia laughed outright.

Adelaide covered her mouth.

Even Evelyn giggled quietly.

Gwendolyn lowered her phone just enough to grin.

Valerie slowly looked at Lavinia.

Then...

She smiled.

Beautifully.

Warmly.

Far too warmly.

Lavinia immediately recognized that smile.

"...Ah."

She raised both hands.

"Now hold on."

Valerie stood.

"Lavinia."

"I didn't mean—"

"I think you did."

"I really didn't."

"You definitely did."

"I was joking."

Before Lavinia could continue...

Valerie slipped one arm beneath her knees and another behind her back.

Lavinia barely had time to blink before finding herself lifted cleanly from the couch.

"...Valerie."

"Mhm?"

"...Don't."

Valerie's smile only widened.

Then...

She spun.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The room became an indistinct blur of polished wood, bookshelves, windows, and amused vampire faces.

Lavinia wisely decided resisting would accomplish absolutely nothing.

Instead...

"Aaaaaaa..."

Her pitiful wail echoed dramatically through the sitting room.

"My dignity..."

Another spin.

"My beautiful, magnificent dignity is flying away...!"

Her long golden hair flared outward with every rotation, whipping around them like bright silk.

Rosaline had already doubled over laughing.

Cordelia wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.

Even Violetta's shoulders shook.

Valerie finally appeared satisfied.

She gently lowered Lavinia back onto the couch.

The world stopped spinning.

Lavinia blinked twice.

"...I survived."

Nobody answered.

They were too busy laughing.

She slowly reached up and felt her hair.

It had become an absolute disaster.

Golden strands pointed in entirely unreasonable directions.

"...Look what you've done."

Valerie examined her handiwork.

"...I think it suits you."

"It absolutely does not."

"It does."

"It doesn't!"

"It really does."

Lavinia sighed dramatically before retrieving her phone again.

"I'll remember this betrayal!"

"You say that every time."

"And one day I'll mean it."

Valerie simply smiled.

"I'm sure."

Still grumbling beneath her breath, Lavinia brushed at her hair with one hand while returning to scrolling through the endless stream of articles.

Around her...

The laughter gradually faded.

A comfortable quiet settled over the room once more.

Violetta looked around at the other nine vampires.

Only ten vampires were present here.

In an entire world.

In just over a week...

Everything had changed.

Fear.

Confusion.

Violence.

Uncertainty.

Yet...

She smiled.

"I think..."

Everyone looked toward her.

"...coexistence became a little more feasible today."

For a heartbeat...

No one spoke.

Then Rosaline grinned.

"I'll drink to that."

Gwendolyn smiled brightly.

"I agree, but we don't have any drinks..."

Cordelia nodded.

"Me too."

Adelaide gave a small, satisfied smile.

"It's progress."

Evelyn's quiet voice followed.

"I hope it keeps getting better."

Celestine inclined her head.

"It will."

Evangeline smiled faintly.

"It has to."

Valerie looked around the room before raising one hand.

"To coexistence."

One by one...

The others raised theirs as well.

"To coexistence."

Their voices overlapped with laughter and smiles, filling the room with a warmth that had been absent only days before.

Outside, the world remained divided.

Arguments still raged across every screen.

Governments continued debating what the future would look like.

Humans still feared vampires.

Many vampires still distrusted humans.

Nothing had been solved.

Not yet.

But for the first time since the Divergence...

It truly felt possible that someday...

It might be.

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