The Divergence

The noise outside the ruined building steadily grew louder as more people gathered beyond the shattered windows and damaged entrance. 

Sirens joined the distant murmur of voices, and somewhere outside, someone repeatedly shouted for the growing crowd to move farther away from the building.

Inside the lobby, Lavinia wrapped both hands around a twisted section of metal and pulled. 

The beam scraped loudly across the floor before she lifted one end and shoved it aside, sending dust drifting through the air. 

Adelaide worked several feet away, clearing chunks of concrete and broken furniture from what remained of the entrance.

"That should be enough." Adelaide pushed a large piece of concrete aside with her boot, her green hair shifting over her shoulders as she examined the path they'd cleared. "At least people won't have to climb over anything to get outside."

Lavinia brushed her hands together, sending another cloud of gray dust from her skin. "Unless something else falls down."

Sitting off to the side on what remained of a bench, Gwendolyn stared upward at the damaged ceiling with a slight frown. 

"Do you think staying inside a building where a bomb just exploded is actually safe?"

Valerie walked past and lightly nudged Gwendolyn's shoulder. "Even if the whole building fell on top of us, we probably wouldn't die."

Gwendolyn's face immediately scrunched up. "I don't like that thought at all."

"The not dying part?" Valerie stopped and looked back at her with amusement.

"The building falling on me part." Gwendolyn folded her arms and glanced suspiciously toward the ceiling. "Imagine being stuck under all that rubble and unable to move. That sounds horrible."

Lavinia paused and looked upward as well. It wasn't impossible, despite how ridiculous the idea of a vampire being trapped beneath ordinary rubble might initially sound.

Vampires were enormously stronger than humans, but their strength still required them to actually move. Leverage mattered. Position mattered. 

A vampire with both arms pinned tightly against her body couldn't simply apply all of her strength to whatever was above her, any more than a human could.

There was considerably more weight required to immobilize a vampire, certainly, and ordinary debris would rarely be enough.

That didn't make them immune to being trapped beneath a collapsed building.

"You've successfully made me uncomfortable too." Lavinia lowered her gaze and gave Gwendolyn a mildly accusing look.

Gwendolyn smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

Valerie had already turned away, but her amusement faded when her empty red eyes settled on one of the bodies lying several meters across the lobby. 

Someone had placed a jacket over the person's face, but there was nothing that could hide the complete absence of a heartbeat.

Her lips twitched as she almost said something, only to stop herself.

What would she say?

That she was angry?

Everyone knew that.

That she was unhappy someone had attacked them and killed people who had absolutely nothing to do with whatever grievance the attacker had against vampires?

That was obvious too.

That whoever had planted the explosive deserved to die?

Valerie's orange eyelashes fluttered.

That thought came much too easily.

Violetta wanted the police to handle it, and logically, Valerie knew that was the reasonable response. 

They would investigate the bombing, find whoever was responsible, determine whether others had been involved, and eventually arrest them.

That was how things were supposed to work.

Running through the city, tracking down whoever had done this and tearing them apart wouldn't bring anyone lying motionless in the lobby back to life. Worse, it could make everything spiral again.

Another vampire killed humans.

Another headline appeared.

More people became frightened.

Someone attacked another vampire.

The vampire retaliated.

Again and again.

Valerie understood that perfectly well.

What bothered her was how unnatural restraint felt.

Someone had attacked them. People had died because of it. Killing whoever was responsible didn't feel excessive or cruel in the slightest.

It felt correct.

Enemy.

Threat.

Remove them.

Valerie's expression tightened slightly.

She didn't remember thinking like that as a human.

Not this easily.

Her gaze shifted across the lobby until her empty red eyes caught Lavinia's. 

The golden-haired vampire stood beside another twisted metal support with both hands wrapped around it, her boots crunching against gravel as she shifted her footing and pushed.

Metal scraped loudly against concrete before the beam toppled away from the entrance.

Lavinia straightened and looked down at herself. A thin coating of gray dust had settled over the black fabric of her dress, and she brushed at it several times before realizing she was only spreading it around.

"Oh, wonderful." Lavinia stared at the dusty fabric with clear displeasure.

Valerie's mood lightened slightly. "You look very hardworking."

"I look filthy." Lavinia gave her a flat stare.

"You can be both," Valerie replied cheerfully.

Lavinia sighed and ran one dusty hand through her golden hair before immediately realizing what she'd done. 

She froze with her fingers still buried in it, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

Valerie's smile widened. "You made it worse."

"I know."

"Your hair has dust in it now."

"I know, Valerie."

"I could help you get it out."

Lavinia slowly opened her empty red eyes. "I'm already irritated enough that I can barely stop myself from trying to track down whoever did this and breaking something."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "Something?"

"Something," Lavinia repeated.

"Very specific."

"I'm practicing restraint."

Before Lavinia could say anything else, Gwendolyn disappeared from beside the damaged bench and reappeared directly in front of her. 

She grabbed both of Lavinia's shoulders and began gently shaking her from side to side.

"Lavi, no matter how irritating it feels, we're letting the police handle it." Gwendolyn's white hair swayed around her as she continued shaking Lavinia. "We're not hunting anyone, and we're definitely not breaking anyone."

"Gwen." Lavinia's golden hair swung back and forth.

Gwendolyn continued. "We're going to be patient."

"Gwendolyn."

"And reasonable."

"Gwendolyn!"

Gwendolyn finally stopped shaking her, although she kept both hands firmly on Lavinia's shoulders. Her playful expression softened as her white eyelashes fluttered. "I don't want my mom turning on the television and hearing another story about vampires killing people, especially not us."

Some of Lavinia's irritation faded.

She raised one finger and poked Gwendolyn directly in the forehead. "I'm not going to do anything."

Gwendolyn rocked backward slightly from the poke before laughing. "Good."

"I said I wanted to break something. I didn't say I was actually going to."

"That's an important difference." Gwendolyn smiled and finally released her shoulders.

Valerie leaned against a relatively intact section of the reception counter and folded her arms. "I'm glad one of us has enough optimism to keep checking."

Gwendolyn immediately looked toward her. "Do I need to shake you too?"

"No." Valerie raised both hands without hesitation. "I'm extremely well behaved."

Adelaide glanced over from where she'd been clearing the entrance. "That might be the least convincing thing you've said all night."

Valerie placed a hand dramatically over her chest. "Adelaide, I'm hurt."

"Emotionally, perhaps." Adelaide turned back toward the entrance.

Lavinia snorted softly, but before Valerie could formulate an appropriately offended response, several pointed ears twitched simultaneously.

Footsteps were approaching from outside.

Light.

Humanlike.

But not quite human.

A heartbeat accompanied them, steady despite the destruction surrounding the building.

Lavinia turned toward the ruined entrance just as a petite figure stepped inside.

The first thing she noticed was white.

Long, impossibly thick white hair spilled down the newcomer's back and shoulders in soft waves. 

Two large snow-white wolf ears rose prominently from the top of her head, twitching independently as she surveyed the lobby, while a fluffy white tail swayed behind her.

Golden-green eyes moved from the scorched walls to the ruined reception desk and then toward the bodies scattered across the floor.

The werewolf blinked.

Her ears tilted slightly backward.

"Did something dumb happen here?" the werewolf asked.

Lavinia stared at her for several seconds before a smile slowly appeared. "'Something dumb' is putting it very lightly, but yes. You could describe it that way."

The werewolf's ears perked up again. She hopped over a chunk of broken concrete and approached with open curiosity, her white tail moving gently behind her.

As she came closer, Lavinia realized the werewolf was petite as well.

Still slightly taller than her.

Lavinia privately considered that unnecessary.

The werewolf stopped in front of her and made absolutely no attempt to hide the way her golden-green eyes traveled from Lavinia's boots to her dress, then upward toward her golden hair, pointed ears, and empty red eyes.

"You're a vampire." The werewolf tilted her head curiously. "I've never met one before."

Lavinia mirrored the gesture. "I'm beginning to suspect that."

"This is a terrible place for a first meeting, though." The werewolf glanced toward one of the bodies, and her ears lowered briefly.

"Also true," Lavinia agreed.

The werewolf's attention moved past her toward Gwendolyn, Adelaide, and Valerie before returning to Lavinia. "You're all really pretty."

Valerie immediately brightened and walked over, examining the werewolf in return with far less subtlety than even the werewolf had shown. "You're very cute too."

The werewolf gave a proud little laugh, her fluffy tail lifting slightly behind her. "I know."

Lavinia looked between the two of them. "That worked surprisingly well."

"Compliments are important." Valerie nodded solemnly.

"They are." The werewolf nodded back with equal seriousness.

Lavinia decided not to involve herself any further.

The werewolf extended one hand toward her. "I'm Chloe."

"Lavinia." Lavinia accepted the offered hand and immediately noticed the warmth.

It was strange.

Humans felt warm to vampires, but touching Chloe felt warmer still, particularly after Lavinia had spent so much time surrounded by other vampires. The grip was also firmer than Lavinia expected from Chloe's relatively small frame.

Chloe released her hand before gesturing toward herself. "I'm an Alpha, by the way. Alpha werewolf."

Valerie glanced pointedly toward Chloe's large white ears and fluffy tail. "We gathered the werewolf part."

Chloe's ears flattened slightly. "Right."

Gwendolyn covered her smile with one hand, while Lavinia's lips twitched as she suppressed a laugh.

Chloe glanced around the ruined lobby again, and her expression became noticeably more uncomfortable when her eyes passed over the bodies. "I guess I'm super thankful humans have mostly been focusing on vampires with all these attacks."

Silence followed.

Chloe's golden-green eyes widened as she apparently replayed her own sentence.

One hand flew over her mouth.

"Was that rude?" Chloe asked from behind it.

Lavinia stared at her speechlessly. Valerie's lips trembled beside her, while Gwendolyn looked down as her shoulders began to shake with suppressed laughter.

Even Adelaide turned her face away.

Finally, Lavinia shook her head as a smile broke across her face. "No. Somehow, no. I don't think that was rude."

"Really?" Chloe slowly lowered her hand.

"Really," Lavinia assured her.

Chloe visibly relaxed. "Oh, good. Because I realized how terrible it sounded after I said it."

"It sounded a little terrible," Adelaide admitted, causing Chloe's white ears to immediately droop. Adelaide's expression softened at the sight. "But I understand what you meant."

Chloe's ears rose again.

Valerie moved behind Lavinia and casually rested her chin on Lavinia's shoulder, loosely draping her arms around her. "You should probably leave soon, though."

Chloe looked toward her. "Why?"

"The police are coming." Valerie smiled innocently. "If you stay here much longer, you might get dragged to the station with us for questioning."

Chloe froze, her tail bristling so abruptly that it nearly doubled in apparent size. "What?"

Lavinia felt Valerie's shoulders beginning to shake against her back as Valerie continued with remarkable innocence. "You did walk into a building immediately after it was bombed. That's suspicious behavior."

"I was curious!" Chloe protested, her ears flattening.

"That's what suspicious people say." Valerie nodded gravely.

Chloe looked toward the destroyed entrance, then toward the vampires, then back outside. "I planned to be home in time to binge my show."

Valerie lifted her chin from Lavinia's shoulder. "Then you should probably run."

Chloe's ears snapped upright. "Bye!"

She spun around and hurried toward the entrance.

"Wait, she's joking!" Gwendolyn called after Chloe with a laugh.

Chloe hopped over the chunk of concrete she'd crossed earlier without slowing. "I'm not taking the chance!"

Her fluffy white tail disappeared through the ruined entrance a second later.

Lavinia stared after her while Valerie settled her chin back onto Lavinia's shoulder. "That was an Alpha?"

"Apparently." Valerie watched the doorway with amusement.

Gwendolyn smiled toward the ruined entrance. "She was cute."

Adelaide glanced toward the street. "I don't think that's necessarily incompatible with being an Alpha."

Lavinia considered that for a moment before nodding. "Fair."

A faint movement came from the stairwell behind them.

Rebecca cautiously peeked around the doorway, her green eyes moving across the vampires before lingering on the entrance Chloe had just disappeared through. "Was that a werewolf?"

"An Alpha werewolf, apparently." Lavinia brushed more dust from her dress before glancing down and frowning when she realized she still wasn't making much progress.

Rebecca stepped a little farther into the lobby, although she remained near the stairwell. "Are all of you okay?"

Gwendolyn turned toward her with a warm smile. "We're fine. Nobody else came crashing through the ceiling while you were waiting."

Rebecca's expression relaxed, and Gwendolyn walked over before lightly taking her hand again.

"The police should be here soon to help," Gwendolyn reassured her.

Outside, the approaching sirens grew louder.

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