The Divergence

Deciding where to go had taken considerably longer than Lavinia thought it should.

Everyone wanted to leave, everyone wanted to do something, and yet when the question of what exactly they wanted to do came up, the room had dissolved into suggestions thrown from one vampire to another.

Eventually, Rosaline and Adelaide settled the matter for them.

"We should go to the mall." Rosaline leaned forward in her seat, looking around at the others. 

"We haven't really gotten to explore comfortably since everything happened. There were too many theories floating around before, and people were constantly watching us like we might suddenly eat someone."

Adelaide nodded in agreement, brushing a lock of green hair behind one pointed ear. 

"A mall gives us plenty to do without having to decide on one thing beforehand. We can walk around, eat something if we feel like it, shop, or just look around."

"We've already been there." Lavinia folded her arms and leaned back against the couch. "Valerie and I went before."

"I haven't!" Evangeline immediately hopped to her feet, her long red hair bouncing behind her. "I want to go! I want to buy things!"

Lavinia stared at her.

Evangeline stared back.

"That's one vote for the mall," Rosaline said with a grin.

"I voted too." Adelaide raised a hand.

"So did I," Cordelia added with a gentle smile.

Lavinia looked around the room and realized with growing displeasure that she had already lost.

"Fine." Lavinia rolled her empty red eyes. "But since apparently we're going shopping, I have a question. We're all adults, and most of us haven't worked in nearly two weeks. Where exactly are we getting the money to go shopping?"

Evangeline immediately struck a dramatic pose, placing one hand against her chest while lifting her chin. "Unlike you, Lavinia, I was quite well off as a human."

Lavinia raised an eyebrow. "Were you?"

"Very." Evangeline maintained her dignified posture for another second before breaking into a giggle. "I hadn't worked a day in my life."

There was a brief silence.

Lavinia slowly shook her head, but she couldn't stop the smirk forming on her face at how ridiculously proud Evangeline looked. "Why did you say that like it was an accomplishment?"

"Because it was." Evangeline tossed her red hair over one shoulder. "I was very talented at not working."

"Apparently." Lavinia laughed softly.

As far as Lavinia knew, there wasn't any obvious pattern to who had become a vampire. 

Their old lives were all over the place, and Evangeline apparently being wealthy enough that she'd never needed to work only added another example. 

Regardless of whether Evangeline had remained human or become a vampire, financial security probably wasn't something she would ever have needed to worry about.

Evelyn tentatively raised one hand from her seat. "I don't really have money."

"Neither do I," Rosaline admitted immediately. "At least, not enough that I want to spend it recklessly."

Adelaide gave a small shrug. "Same here. I was a working adult before all this. I wasn't exactly wealthy."

"Some of us were still in school before becoming vampires." Rosaline gestured around at the others. "Forget being rich. I'd consider it a victory if nobody here has debt waiting for them."

Lavinia grimaced. "I don't even want to think about whether becoming undead legally cancels debt."

"It should." Valerie rested her chin in one hand. "You aren't alive."

"We're sitting here talking."

"Technicalities," Valerie dismissed.

Before Lavinia could argue, the lounge door opened and Violetta stepped inside.

Her purple hair shifted softly behind her as she approached the group, her eyes settling almost immediately on Evangeline, who was still standing with entirely too much confidence for someone who had just proudly announced she'd never worked.

Violetta stopped beside her and placed a hand on top of Evangeline's head.

Evangeline blinked.

Violetta gently shook her from side to side.

"What?" Evangeline protested, her red hair swaying with every movement.

"Nothing." Violetta gave her an amused look before releasing her. She reached into her pocket, removed a credit card, and held it toward Celestine. "Use this. Anything everyone buys tonight can go on the card."

Celestine accepted it and examined the card briefly. "Everything?"

"Within reason," Violetta answered.

Lavinia's pointed ears twitched. "How much is the limit?"

Violetta raised an eyebrow.

Lavinia smiled innocently. "I'm just curious."

"Of course you are." Violetta chuckled and crossed her arms. "Even if you somehow managed to purchase the mall itself, you wouldn't exceed the card's limits."

The room erupted.

"Really?!" Evangeline bounced immediately.

Rosaline shot upright. "Why did nobody tell us about this before?"

Even Evelyn's red eyes widened, while Valerie leaned toward Lavinia with a delighted smile.

"We're rich," Valerie whispered.

"We are absolutely not rich." Lavinia pointed at the card in Celestine's hand. "Violetta has a terrifying credit card. That's different."

Violetta laughed softly at their excitement. "Before everyone gets carried away, the money isn't exactly free. The government expects something in return."

That immediately quieted them.

Adelaide tilted her head slightly. "Blood?"

"Blood," Violetta confirmed.

Violetta's expression grew somewhat more serious as she looked around the room. 

"Vampire blood is invaluable. There isn't another substance on Earth that can do what ours does. Injury, sickness, disease—as long as someone is still alive, our blood can heal things that medicine simply can't."

Adelaide slowly nodded. "So the money is essentially compensation."

"That's the easiest way to think about it." Violetta gestured toward the card Celestine held. 

"There are obviously still details being worked out, especially concerning how blood will be collected and distributed, but nobody expects vampires to continuously provide something so valuable without receiving anything in return."

Lavinia shrugged. That seemed reasonable enough.

Then a thought struck her.

Her red eyes widened.

She stared at Violetta.

Violetta noticed immediately. "What?"

"We bled all over the forest."

Valerie blinked.

Lavinia's expression became genuinely horrified. "Do you know how much blood we got everywhere last night? Evangeline practically opened my throat!"

"I did not open your throat." Evangeline crossed her arms. "I scratched it."

"You slashed me!" Lavinia pointed accusingly at her before looking back toward Violetta. "We lost so much money!"

For a second, Violetta simply stared.

Then she laughed.

Lavinia frowned. "Why are you laughing? I'm serious."

"Because you didn't lose anything." Violetta shook her head, still chuckling. 

"Humans lose blood. Vampires don't, at least not in the same sense. We regenerate it. You could bleed during a fight, heal, and be right back where you started."

"That's still blood on the ground that could've been sold," Lavinia muttered.

"Are you planning to scrape it off the leaves?" Valerie asked.

Lavinia slowly looked toward her. "If it's worth enough."

Valerie burst into laughter.

"So greedy." Rosaline shook her head.

"We just established that most of us are broke!" Lavinia protested.

"Not anymore." Evangeline pointed triumphantly toward Celestine. "We have the card."

"The card isn't ours!"

Celestine quietly slipped the credit card closer to herself as Lavinia and Evangeline argued over their newfound financial circumstances.

Violetta allowed them to continue for several seconds before speaking again. 

"Gwendolyn won't be joining us tonight. She's staying with her mother a little longer, but she'll meet everyone back here once we return."

Lavinia's attention immediately shifted. "She's staying the whole night?"

"Not the whole night." Violetta shook her head. "Just longer than she originally planned. Eleanor wanted more time with her."

"That's fine." Lavinia nodded.

The others hummed their agreement, and Violetta glanced toward the doorway. "I've also assigned two soldiers to drive everyone. They'll remain nearby while you're inside, so call if anything happens."

"We'll behave." Rosaline smiled sweetly.

Violetta stared at her.

Rosaline's smile slowly became less convincing. "Mostly."

"Please behave," Violetta corrected.

A short while later, the vampires filed outside toward the two waiting SUVs.

The crisp night air immediately washed over Lavinia as she stepped from the building.

She stopped for a moment and inhaled deeply, letting the mixture of distant exhaust, trees, humans, pavement, and countless subtler scents fill her senses.

One particular scent caught her attention.

Lavinia's nose wrinkled slightly.

"I can taste a wolf."

Valerie, walking beside her, bumped Lavinia's shoulder with her own. "There are more werewolves than vampires. You're going to smell them sometimes."

"I know." Lavinia glanced toward the darkness beyond the facility. "It's just weird how obvious it is once you recognize the scent."

"Maybe one day you'll become a professional wolf detector." Valerie opened the SUV door. "A prestigious career."

Lavinia gave her a flat look. "I'll bite you."

"Promise?"

Lavinia paused.

Valerie grinned.

"Get in the car." Lavinia shoved her gently toward the open door.

Valerie laughed and climbed inside.

The ten vampires divided themselves between the two vehicles, and within minutes, the military safehouse disappeared behind them.

Conversation gradually faded as the SUVs accelerated through Oakridge.

Lavinia rested against the seat and watched the city pass beyond the window. 

Streetlights, restaurants, stores, houses, and passing vehicles flowed together as the SUV moved, and the empty red eyes of the vampires inside tracked the scenery with varying levels of interest.

The cabin became almost completely silent.

Only the quiet hum of the engine, tires against pavement, and the heartbeats of the soldiers in front disturbed it.

The vampires themselves produced little sound when they weren't moving.

Their scents, however, mingled throughout the enclosed vehicle. 

Tangerine and honey drifted from Valerie beside Lavinia, mixing with the scents of the others until the interior carried a strange sweetness no ordinary collection of passengers could have produced.

Lavinia found it comforting.

Eventually, the mall came into view.

The moment their SUV stopped, Evangeline practically launched herself out.

"Finally!" Evangeline spun around in the parking lot, her long red hair fanning behind her as the second vehicle pulled into place. "We're here!"

"You're acting like you've been trapped inside for a year." Adelaide stepped out after her.

"It felt like a year."

"It was a few days."

"Exactly. An eternity."

Lavinia climbed out more slowly and stretched her arms above her head. "If you're this excited now, you're going to be unbearable once we actually get inside."

"I plan to shop all night." Evangeline smiled brightly.

Lavinia immediately groaned. "I hate shopping."

"You haven't even started yet," Celestine pointed out as she joined them.

"And I'm already tired of it."

Cordelia stepped from the other SUV and paused.

Unlike Lavinia and Valerie, she'd never been here before. In fact, Cordelia hadn't even lived in Oakridge before the Divergences, so she took several moments simply looking around.

Vehicles moved steadily through the parking lot. 

Groups of people crossed between rows of cars, while the brightly illuminated mall rose ahead of them, its entrances constantly swallowing and releasing streams of shoppers.

Cordelia's blue hair shifted as she turned her head, quietly taking everything in.

"We'll have a great time." Celestine smiled toward her.

"We're going to shop all night," Evangeline repeated enthusiastically.

Lavinia groaned again. "Please stop saying that."

Rosaline immediately appeared beside her.

Lavinia's ears twitched suspiciously.

Rosaline leaned closer, a smirk spreading across her face. "You know, Lavinia, maybe you didn't enjoy shopping much as a human, but things are different now."

"How?"

"I can imagine quite a few outfits you'd look absolutely irresistible in."

Lavinia slowly turned her head.

Rosaline smiled wider.

Lavinia dramatically flipped her long golden hair behind her shoulder. "Why did you phrase that like I'm some kind of meal?"

"Maybe you are."

Adelaide broke into laughter before Rosaline could say anything else, covering her mouth with one hand.

Lavinia pointed at her. "Don't encourage her."

"I'm sorry." Adelaide shook her head, still laughing. "It was the way you said it."

"I said it normally!"

"You flipped your hair first," Valerie reminded her.

"That was unrelated."

"Of course." Valerie nodded solemnly.

Lavinia narrowed her eyes at both of them before turning toward the entrance. "I'm going inside."

The others followed, their laughter trailing behind her.

Attention found them quickly.

Lavinia noticed it before they'd even crossed half the distance to the doors.

Heads turned.

Conversations briefly faltered before resuming in quieter tones. 

People looked toward them, some openly and others through quick glances they probably thought the vampires couldn't notice.

It was different from before.

There was still fear.

Lavinia could smell it in some people, subtle but unmistakable, and the occasional heartbeat quickened sharply as they drew closer.

But fear wasn't alone anymore.

Curiosity mixed with it. Excitement. Fascination. Wonder.

A few people even smiled.

Rosaline noticed a child peeking around the side of their parent's body. She smiled gently and gave a tiny wave.

The child disappeared behind the parent.

A second later, a small hand emerged and waved back.

Rosaline's smile widened.

"Progress," Rosaline murmured happily.

The automatic doors slid apart as the group approached.

The mall hit Lavinia's senses all at once.

Humans.

Food.

Perfume.

Cleaning chemicals.

Warm electronics.

Fabric.

And beneath all of it, blood.

So much blood.

Thousands upon thousands of heartbeats existed throughout the enormous building, each carrying the scent of living bodies. 

Lavinia's fangs pressed faintly against her lower lip before she consciously relaxed her mouth.

Fortunately, they'd all fed before leaving.

Not that Lavinia thought they particularly needed to.

As far as she could tell, vampires certainly didn't need to feed every day, or even every other day. Going without blood for a while wasn't some immediate crisis.

But not needing blood didn't stop it from tasting good.

Very good.

Valerie stepped ahead of the group before doing a little half circle and walking backward in front of them. "I'm happy to be back."

Lavinia rolled her eyes. "The first time wasn't even bad."

"We had fun."

"We walked around."

"That's fun."

"You bothered me for half of it."

"That's also fun." Valerie smiled brightly.

"For you."

"Exactly."

Lavinia shook her head, but the smile tugging at her lips betrayed her.

For Valerie and Lavinia, the mall wasn't new. They'd already been here together before. 

For everyone else present, however, this was their first time entering it since becoming vampires, and Lavinia could see the difference immediately.

Evangeline looked as though she wanted to run in five directions simultaneously.

Cordelia continued studying everything with calm curiosity.

Rosaline was already paying more attention to the people than the stores.

Adelaide seemed content simply following everyone.

Celestine quietly observed the directories as they passed.

Evelyn stayed close to Cordelia.

The constant gazes continued.

Lavinia barely cared anymore.

Maybe that was simply what happened when something occurred often enough. Eventually, even something uncomfortable became ordinary.

Someone staring at her red eyes?

Normal.

Someone whispering after noticing her pointed ears?

Normal.

A person abruptly stepping aside to give her more room than necessary?

Normal.

At least nobody was screaming.

That was an improvement.

Evelyn glanced around as another group of shoppers passed, unconsciously shifting closer to Cordelia until she was half hidden behind the blue-haired vampire.

Cordelia noticed immediately.

Without teasing her, Cordelia reached back and lightly took Evelyn's hand.

Evelyn looked down at their joined hands before looking up.

"You'll be fine." Cordelia smiled gently and continued walking.

Evelyn's fingers curled around hers. "I know. There are just so many people looking at us."

"They're curious."

"Some are afraid."

"Some are." Cordelia nodded. "But they're still letting us walk beside them."

Evelyn considered that before giving a tiny nod of her own. "That's true."

Lavinia glanced back at them and smiled faintly.

Then Evangeline suddenly grabbed her arm.

Lavinia nearly stumbled from the unexpected pull. "What?"

"Clothes first." Evangeline pointed toward a store with absolute conviction.

"We just got here!"

"Exactly!"

Lavinia tried to pull her arm free. "Why does that mean clothes first?"

"Because Rosaline said she'd find things that make you irresistible." Evangeline started dragging her toward the storefront. "Now I'm curious."

Lavinia's eyes widened. "That was not an invitation!"

"It sounded like one to me." Rosaline hurried after them with a delighted laugh.

"No!" Lavinia dug her boots against the polished floor, although she was careful not to apply enough force to damage it. "I'm not letting either of you dress me!"

Valerie immediately grabbed Lavinia's other arm.

Lavinia turned hopefully toward her.

Valerie smiled.

"I'll help."

"Help me escape?"

"No. Help them dress you."

"Valerie!"

Adelaide's laughter followed them deeper into the mall as Evangeline and Valerie pulled Lavinia between them, while Rosaline walked ahead to inspect the first store.

The attention of the surrounding humans followed as well.

But for once, Lavinia didn't find herself thinking about what they might be afraid of, what rumors they'd heard, or what some stranger online had said vampires would eventually do.

They were staring.

Let them stare.

Tonight, Lavinia had much more immediate problems.

Namely, three vampires who apparently intended to turn shopping into a coordinated attack against her.

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