The Divergence

The screen facing the stage flickered to life.

For half a second, it remained almost empty.

Then the comments arrived.

Hundreds of messages shot upward so quickly that Lavinia initially couldn't read any of them. 

New lines appeared at the bottom and immediately vanished toward the top as more piled beneath them.

She leaned forward slightly.

"Oh."

Lavinia's empty red eyes moved rapidly across the screen, her enhanced perception making the flood somewhat easier to follow.

There were questions.

A lot of questions.

There were also quite a few comments that had nothing to do with the interview.

Lavinia caught one praising Gwendolyn's hair.

Another asked whether Valerie's eyelashes were naturally orange.

Someone declared Violetta the prettiest woman they'd ever seen.

Three people immediately argued with them.

Someone else insisted Rosaline was prettier.

Another person declared that choosing between them was impossible.

Lavinia caught a comment praising her golden hair before it disappeared upward.

A small smile tugged at her lips.

The less friendly messages were there too.

Some disappeared almost immediately.

The moderators were clearly working as quickly as they could, but the sheer volume made keeping up impossible.

Daniel stared at the screen for several seconds.

His lips twitched.

"I'd just like everyone to know that I've never seen our chat this lively when it's only me on screen." Daniel placed a hand against his chest, sounding genuinely wounded. "Apparently I've learned exactly how little our audience values me."

Several comments immediately appeared.

WE LOVE YOU DANIEL

WHO'S DANIEL?

THE VAMPIRES ARE PRETTIER SORRY

Daniel pointed accusingly toward the screen. "I saw that second one."

Miranda rolled her eyes at him. "Stop being dramatic. You know perfectly well they know who you are."

Daniel looked toward her with an offended expression. "One of them clearly didn't."

"With how quickly this is moving, they might've typed it specifically to annoy you." Miranda gestured toward the flood of comments. "We're going to be selecting questions more or less at random. There are far too many coming through for our moderators to sort everything."

Valerie watched another avalanche of comments rush past before mumbling, "That'll certainly end well."

Evangeline noticed one of the cameras turning toward her.

She grinned.

Then she raised her hand and gave the camera an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

The chat accelerated.

Lavinia blinked.

"Did you just make it worse?" Lavinia asked, glancing toward Evangeline.

"I made it better." Evangeline lowered her hand proudly.

"That's debatable." Adelaide's lips curved slightly as she watched the screen.

Daniel looked down at the tablet he'd been handed and scrolled through several selected questions. "All right. First one."

He paused.

His eyebrows rose.

"Huh."

Miranda leaned toward him. "What?"

"I expected blood."

Daniel glanced toward the vampires.

"Or sunlight. Or immortality. Something dramatic." Daniel raised the tablet slightly. "Instead, our first viewer wants to know about your clothes."

Rosaline immediately looked delighted.

Lavinia looked down at her dress.

Daniel read the question. "'Do vampires actually wear anything else? Every picture or video I've seen has them wearing those gothic dresses. Are those the only clothes you have?'"

Ten vampires looked at one another.

Lavinia glanced toward Rosaline.

Rosaline looked toward Cordelia.

Cordelia's empty red eyes moved toward Adelaide.

Adelaide looked toward Celestine.

Celestine smiled pleasantly at Lavinia.

Lavinia's expression flattened.

More red eyes followed.

Gwendolyn looked at her.

Valerie looked at her.

Evangeline looked at her.

Even Evelyn eventually glanced in her direction.

Lavinia stared around the group.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Lavinia asked suspiciously.

Valerie smiled sweetly. "You're very fashionable."

"So is Rosaline!"

Rosaline immediately shook her head. "You've been chosen."

"By who?"

"Us." Rosaline gestured around the group.

Lavinia looked betrayed.

The entire exchange lasted only a few seconds.

With a resigned sigh, Lavinia pushed herself to her feet.

"Fine."

She stepped around the table and walked toward the open portion of the stage.

The cameras followed.

Lavinia turned to face them, suddenly very aware that her entire body was being broadcast.

She spread her arms slightly.

"This is basically what we woke up wearing after the First Divergence." Lavinia turned slowly, allowing the cameras to capture the black gothic dress from several angles. "It's not normal clothing, though."

She caught one side of the skirt between her fingers and lifted it slightly.

"The biggest difference is that it repairs itself."

Miranda leaned forward. "The clothing itself?"

"Yes." Lavinia nodded. "If it gets cut or torn, it'll mend."

She released the fabric before touching one of the golden details decorating the front of her dress.

"I don't really know how it works."

Lavinia briefly fiddled with one of the golden buttons.

"But I definitely have a thing for the design."

The chat exploded with compliments.

Lavinia caught enough of them that her smile became slightly more pronounced.

"And we can wear normal clothing." Lavinia smoothed the front of her skirt. "It's not like the dress is stuck to me or anything. This is just more comfortable."

Daniel nodded thoughtfully. "So vampire fashion isn't mandatory."

"No." Lavinia shook her head, golden hair fluttering around her shoulders. "We just happen to look amazing."

Rosaline clapped from her seat. "Exactly!"

Lavinia laughed before turning and walking back.

She sat beside Valerie.

Then, at a volume no human in the studio could possibly hear, Lavinia muttered, "I'm not answering the next one."

Valerie leaned toward her and deliberately whispered at nearly the same volume. "You did really well."

Lavinia narrowed her eyes.

"Don't patronize me."

"I'm praising you."

"You volunteered me."

"And you did wonderfully."

Lavinia sighed and turned toward the screen again.

Daniel received another question.

"Oh, this one's been asked quite a few times." Daniel looked toward the group. "Can vampires fly?"

Several heads turned.

Gwendolyn practically bounced out of her seat.

"I'll do it!" Gwendolyn announced brightly.

Lavinia crossed her arms.

"Why couldn't you do the clothing question?"

Gwendolyn laughed as she moved toward the open stage. "But I want this one!"

Celestine smiled toward Lavinia. "Besides, you looked very cute showing off your dress."

Lavinia slowly turned her head toward her.

Celestine's smile remained perfectly gentle.

"You even twirled a little."

"I turned around."

"It was cute."

Lavinia stared at Celestine for another second before looking away.

"Traitor."

Gwendolyn reached the open section of the stage and looked toward the nearby employees.

"I need a little room for this." Gwendolyn gestured around herself. "I don't want to hit anything."

The nearest camera operator backed away.

Another employee hurriedly moved a lighting stand several feet farther to the side.

Gwendolyn waited until the space around her was clear.

Then her wings emerged.

The leathery wings extended outward from her back, unfurling rapidly until they spread several meters to either side.

Miranda's eyes widened.

Daniel's mouth fell slightly open.

Even though they'd known about them beforehand, seeing the wings appear directly in front of them was something else entirely.

Gwendolyn shifted them carefully.

The membranes flexed beneath the studio lighting.

"Yes, we can fly." Gwendolyn smiled brightly toward the camera. "It's actually really fun."

She turned slowly, allowing the cameras to see the wings from behind.

"We didn't know about them at first. Maybe some vampires discovered them before we did?"

Gwendolyn gave the wings a small flex.

A noticeable rush of displaced air moved across the set.

Several papers fluttered.

Daniel grabbed the notes in front of him.

"Careful!"

"Sorry!" Gwendolyn immediately held her wings still.

Daniel laughed. "No harm done."

"It's not anything too crazy." Gwendolyn looked over one shoulder at her own wing. "You have to learn how to use them, but flying feels surprisingly natural."

The chat had become almost unreadable.

Half the viewers seemed to be discussing the biological impossibility of a person Gwendolyn's size flying with wings.

The other half had abandoned science entirely.

GWENDOLYN IS ADORABLE

THE WINGS ARE HUGE

SHE ALMOST BLEW DANIEL'S NOTES AWAY

CAN THEY CARRY PEOPLE

THOSE ARE BAT WINGS

HOW FAST CAN THEY FLY

Someone repeatedly posted that vampires shouldn't be physically capable of flight.

Another viewer responded that vampires shouldn't be physically possible in the first place.

Lavinia had to admit that was a fairly convincing rebuttal.

Gwendolyn retracted her wings completely back into herself before returning to her seat.

She settled beside Lavinia with a pleased smile.

"I was a lot less nervous than I thought I'd be." Gwendolyn smoothed her white hair back into place.

Adelaide looked toward the cameras. "It may be because there isn't anyone physically watching us."

Gwendolyn raised her index finger to her lips.

"Hmm." She considered that. "That might actually be it."

"We know people are watching." Adelaide gestured toward the screen. "But there's still only a camera in front of us."

"It doesn't really feel like thousands of people." Gwendolyn nodded slowly.

The next question went to Rosaline.

Then Adelaide.

Cordelia answered one about whether vampires could still taste normal food.

Celestine explained their sleep habits.

Valerie enthusiastically answered a question about vampire senses and spent entirely too long describing how Lavinia smelled like berries and pine until Lavinia threatened to throw a cushion at her.

Even Evelyn eventually received a question.

She stood and walked toward the open stage without anyone encouraging her.

Lavinia watched curiously.

Evelyn's blonde hair framed her pale face as she faced the cameras. Her voice remained quiet, but it didn't shake.

She answered carefully.

Calmly.

Then she smiled, thanked whoever had asked the question and returned to her seat.

Lavinia tilted her head.

She'd always thought of Evelyn as shy.

Maybe she was.

But perhaps that wasn't quite the right word.

Evelyn spoke softly.

She rarely pushed herself into conversations.

Yet when attention actually fell on her, she didn't seem frightened by it.

Maybe quiet was simply quiet.

The questions continued.

There were less pleasant comments too.

Some called them monsters.

Others demanded they leave human cities.

A handful were considerably uglier.

Miranda and Daniel never acknowledged them.

The vampires followed their example.

Eventually, nearly another half hour had passed.

Miranda leaned back and released a small breath. "I don't think I've ever been this engaged during a viewer question segment."

Daniel laughed beside her. "I haven't been able to slack off once."

Miranda turned toward him. "You aren't supposed to slack off."

"I know." Daniel nodded solemnly. "That's why I'm going to have to make up for it later."

Miranda snorted.

Daniel smiled innocently.

Miranda looked toward the camera again. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to start wrapping up the questions shortly."

A wave of complaints immediately appeared in the chat.

Miranda laughed.

"I know, I know. But our guests are nocturnal." Miranda gestured toward the vampires. "We're already cutting into the hours when they can actually go outside."

Cordelia shook her head gently. "I don't mind. If speaking here helps people become a little less afraid of vampires, then I think the time was well spent."

Violetta smiled toward Daniel and Miranda. "And you've both been wonderful hosts. Thank you again for inviting us."

Daniel dipped his head. "We're glad you came."

Miranda nodded warmly. "Very glad."

Lavinia relaxed farther into her seat.

It had gone well.

Much better than she'd expected.

The interview hadn't felt particularly difficult.

It had mostly been talking.

Laughing.

Answering strange questions.

She was still watching the comments when something changed.

Lavinia's fingers stopped against the fabric of her skirt.

A sensation moved up her spine.

Not pain.

Not even discomfort.

Just—

Awareness.

Her head lifted.

Across from her, Violetta's expression changed.

Valerie stopped reaching for the snacks.

Gwendolyn turned sharply toward the side of the stage.

Rosaline's smile disappeared.

Cordelia looked toward the ceiling.

All ten vampires reacted within nearly the same instant.

Miranda noticed.

Her brows furrowed. "Is something—"

The explosion hit.

BOOM.

The roar swallowed everything.

Orange light flashed through the studio as flames erupted somewhere beyond the stage.

The floor lurched beneath them.

Cameras shook violently.

Lights swung overhead.

The entire building vibrated.

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