The Divergence

The last seconds disappeared quickly.

Daniel glanced toward the ten vampires and silently mouthed one word.

Smile.

Lavinia’s lips immediately twitched upward.

Around the stage, the production crew had finished their preparations. Cameras that had previously been angled away slowly turned toward the set, mechanical movements carrying them into position while small lights illuminated along their sides.

The atmosphere changed with them.

Lavinia could still hear people moving beyond the cameras, but the chatter had almost entirely disappeared.

One woman stood immediately behind the nearest camera with her hand raised.

Five fingers. One lowered. Four.

Another. Three.

Lavinia straightened slightly without thinking about it.

Two. One.

The woman lowered her final finger and gave them a thumbs-up.

Miranda’s expression changed almost instantly.

The friendly woman who had spent the last half hour laughing and arguing with Daniel remained, but her posture straightened and her smile became effortlessly polished as she turned toward the nearest camera.

”Good evening, everyone, and welcome back.” Miranda smiled charmingly into the camera. ”I’m Miranda, and as always, sitting beside me is my wonderful partner, Daniel.”

Daniel gave the camera a small wave. ”Good evening.”

”Tonight, however, we have some very, very special guests joining us.” Miranda’s smile widened as she gestured toward the other side of the set.

”And before we show you exactly who they are, I’m going to ask everyone watching at home to please remain calm.”

Daniel laughed softly beside her. ”You’re making it sound ominous.”

”That’s intentional.” Miranda glanced toward him with an amused expression before returning her attention to the camera. ”Because joining us tonight are ten very special women.”

The cameras began to move.

Lavinia watched one turn smoothly away from Miranda and Daniel.

Another followed.

Then several lenses pointed directly toward them.

Daniel extended one hand toward the vampires with a broad smile. ”We went through Hell to get this interview, so everyone watching at home had better appreciate it.”

Lavinia inwardly clicked her tongue.

Daniel really was something.

As a person, he was probably the kind of man almost anyone could get along with. He seemed completely incapable of maintaining a stiff atmosphere for more than a few minutes.

Lavinia tilted her head slightly and glanced toward one of the cameras angled directly at her.

The little light above it remained illuminated.

She wondered how many people were currently looking back at her through it.

Hundreds?

Thousands?

More?

Miranda theatrically cleared her throat. ”While I’m sure quite a few people watching are currently wondering whether we’ve completely lost our minds, we do have an interview to conduct.”

Daniel nodded solemnly beside her. ”Allegedly.”

Miranda gave him a brief look before continuing. ”So I think the easiest place to begin is with introductions. Would everyone mind introducing themselves?”

Evangeline reacted before anyone else could.

She straightened proudly, puffing out her chest as her bright red hair shifted over her shoulders. ”I’m Evangeline. I’m very happy to meet everyone watching!”

Valerie raised her hand next with an enthusiastic wave, her orange hair bouncing around her shoulders. ”I’m Valerie.”

Before Lavinia could prepare to speak, Valerie leaned sideways and bumped her shoulder against hers.

”And the golden-haired cutie sitting next to me is Lavinia.” Valerie smiled brightly at the camera.

Lavinia blinked.

She slowly turned her head.

”Valerie, I wanted to introduce myself.” Lavinia narrowed her empty red eyes at her.

Valerie immediately brought both hands over her mouth, her thick orange eyelashes framing the picture of innocence as she giggled. ”I was helping.”

”You weren’t helping.” Lavinia sighed before looking toward the camera again. ”But yes, I’m Lavinia.”

Rosaline laughed from farther down the group before sitting straighter. ”I’m Rosaline, and since Valerie apparently decided we’re introducing each other now, I’ll continue.”

She gestured toward the next vampire.

”This is Gwendolyn.” Rosaline moved her hand farther down the line. ”Then Cordelia, Celestine, Adelaide, Evelyn, and finally Violetta.”

Gwendolyn smiled brightly and waved toward the cameras. ”Hello!”

Cordelia inclined her head gracefully. ”It’s a pleasure.”

Celestine gave the camera a gentle smile. ”Hello, everyone.”

Adelaide raised one hand in a small wave. ”I’m happy to be here.”

Evelyn hesitated before lifting her fingers in a tiny greeting. ”Hello.”

Violetta smiled calmly as the final camera moved toward her. ”Good evening.”

Perhaps because Lavinia had already been ambushed by Valerie, none of the others seemed particularly bothered by Rosaline stealing their introductions.

Daniel chuckled as the camera returned to him. ”We’ll have a segment for viewer questions later, so everyone watching will have an opportunity to ask about anything you’re curious about.”

His expression became slightly more thoughtful.

”But before we get there, I wanted to start with something that’s been discussed quite a lot over the past ten days.” Daniel looked toward the vampires. ”There are plenty of people online calling vampires monsters. Some have used considerably worse words.”

The mood quieted slightly.

Daniel rested his hands together. ”We’ve heard everyone else’s opinions about what vampires are. I’d rather ask vampires themselves. How do you feel about being called monsters?”

Cordelia shifted slightly in her chair, her long blue hair sliding over one shoulder. ”Before vampires or werewolves appeared during the First Divergence, humans already called other humans monsters.”

Daniel nodded thoughtfully. ”That’s true.”

Cordelia placed one hand lightly against her chest. ”I’ve always thought a monster was something you were supposed to be afraid of. Something dangerous or terrible.”

She glanced briefly toward the others before looking back at Daniel.

”I don’t feel particularly frightening.” Cordelia smiled faintly. ”I feel normal.”

Miranda let out a quiet laugh. ”For whatever my opinion is worth, I don’t think any of you look particularly monstrous.”

Her eyes swept over the ten vampires.

”You’re all far too beautiful to make convincing scary monsters.”

Daniel leaned slightly toward Miranda. ”You know what they say about judging a book by its spine.”

Celestine covered her mouth as a soft chuckle escaped her. ”I believe you mean judging a book by its cover.”

Daniel paused.

He lightly patted the side of his head. ”That’s the one. I must have gotten the words mixed up from all the excitement.”

Miranda rolled her eyes. ”You’ve known the phrase your entire life.”

”I’ve had an exciting evening.” Daniel smiled unapologetically.

Miranda shook her head before turning back toward the vampires. ”Moving on before Daniel forgets any more common expressions, there’s something else I’d like to clarify.”

Daniel nodded seriously. ”Probably wise.”

”According to everything publicly known about vampires, you consume blood.” Miranda rested one hand on her knee. ”Is that actually true?”

Adelaide nodded calmly. ”We wouldn’t be called vampires if we didn’t.”

A small laugh escaped Miranda.

”We do consume blood.” Adelaide continued in the same practical tone. ”It’s how we feed, and we need it to survive.”

Miranda tapped her fingertips lightly against her knee as she considered the answer. ”I think that’s probably one of the hardest things for humans to understand.”

Adelaide looked toward her attentively.

”For us, blood usually means something has gone wrong.” Miranda gestured lightly with one hand. ”Someone’s injured. Someone’s in danger. There’s something almost instinctive about seeing or smelling blood and immediately recognizing that something isn’t right.”

Daniel nodded. ”And the smell certainly doesn’t make most people hungry.”

”Exactly.” Miranda looked toward the vampires again. ”Humans don’t normally smell that coppery, iron scent and associate it with food. So what is it like for you?”

Lavinia raised one hand slightly.

Miranda noticed immediately and smiled. ”Lavinia?”

”Technically, humans do eat bloody food.” Lavinia lowered her hand back into her lap. ”Medium-rare steak can be pretty bloody, and plenty of humans happily eat that.”

Daniel pointed toward her. ”You have us there.”

Lavinia smiled slightly. ”But I understand what you mean. Blood doesn’t smell unpleasant to us. It smells like food.”

She considered how to explain the rest.

”And we don’t actually need very much.”

Miranda leaned forward slightly. ”How much is not very much?”

”Not enough to cause any adverse effects if someone willingly lets us feed.” Lavinia glanced toward the others before returning her attention to Miranda. ”We don’t need to drain anyone. We don’t even need anything close to that.”

Daniel’s eyebrows rose slightly. ”That’s probably going to reassure quite a few people.”

”It should.” Lavinia nodded. ”And being bitten isn’t painful either.”

Miranda blinked. ”It isn’t?”

Lavinia shook her head. ”No. It actually feels really good.”

Miranda stared at her for a second before laughing in genuine surprise. ”That wasn’t the answer I expected.”

Valerie smiled mischievously beside Lavinia. ”She’s right.”

Lavinia immediately turned toward her. ”Don’t make it weird.”

”I wasn’t!” Valerie protested with an innocent expression.

”You were thinking about it.” Lavinia narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Valerie placed a hand against her chest. ”You can’t prove that.”

Daniel laughed before shifting forward in his chair. ”That does lead into another question, though. If vampires don’t need much blood, then theoretically, if you were provided with a reliable supply, there wouldn’t be any reason to feed on random members of the public.”

Violetta folded her hands neatly in her lap before answering. ”That’s precisely what we’re working toward.”

Daniel turned his attention fully toward her.

”Measures are already being implemented to ensure vampires can obtain blood without harming anyone.” Violetta spoke with an easy calm. 

”There are many details that still need to be addressed, especially considering how recently vampires came into existence, but I intend to continue working toward arrangements that benefit everyone.”

Miranda smiled. ”Coexistence.”

”Exactly.” Violetta nodded. ”There is no reason humans and vampires need to be enemies.”

Daniel leaned back slightly. ”Current estimates put the worldwide vampire population somewhere between one and two million people.”

Violetta gave a small nod.

”So by that metric, having ten vampires sitting in one studio is actually pretty remarkable.” Daniel gestured toward the group. ”We got lucky.”

Miranda smiled toward them. ”Very lucky.”

Rosaline straightened proudly in her chair. ”You hear that? We’re a blessing.”

Lavinia glanced toward her. ”I don’t think that’s exactly what she said.”

”It was close enough.” Rosaline smiled without shame.

Miranda laughed before glancing toward the notes resting near her. ”We’ve started with some fairly serious questions, so I’d like to ask something much simpler.”

She looked toward the vampires.

”What do vampires actually do all day?”

Valerie immediately raised her hand.

Miranda pointed toward her with a smile. ”Valerie.”

”Sleep.” Valerie answered cheerfully.

Several of the vampires laughed.

Miranda blinked. ”That’s it?”

”During the day?” Valerie nodded firmly. ”It’s a very good option.”

Lavinia shook her head. ”She’s making us sound incredibly boring.”

Valerie turned toward her. ”You were lying on the couch watching television today.”

”I was awake.” Lavinia pointed out defensively.

”While lying on a couch.”

”That doesn’t count!”

Gwendolyn giggled before looking toward Miranda. ”We sleep during the day because sunlight is dangerous to us, but we don’t have to spend the entire day sleeping.”

Daniel tilted his head curiously. ”So you can stay awake through daylight hours?”

”Of course.” Gwendolyn nodded. ”We just can’t go outside.”

Adelaide folded one hand over the other. ”It’s mostly a matter of finding something to do indoors until sunset.”

Miranda smiled. ”And once the sun sets?”

Evangeline immediately leaned forward with visible enthusiasm. ”Then we can do anything!”

Lavinia laughed. ”Within reason.”

Evangeline turned toward her. ”Anything within reason.”

”That’s very different.” Lavinia smiled.

The interview continued from there.

Miranda asked what they enjoyed eating besides blood, only to discover ordinary food still tasted perfectly normal to them.

Daniel asked whether they still enjoyed things they’d liked as humans.

They did. Movies. Games. Music. Books. Food. Conversation.

Rosaline happily admitted that she enjoyed fashion considerably more now that she’d become a vampire, while Adelaide dryly pointed out that Rosaline had probably already enjoyed fashion before becoming one.

Gwendolyn spoke about her mother.

Cordelia discussed how strange the first several days after the Divergence had felt.

Celestine explained that becoming nocturnal was inconvenient but surprisingly easy to adapt to.

Evelyn gradually became comfortable enough to answer without needing encouragement first.

Even Violetta relaxed as the questions drifted farther away from politics and security.

Minutes passed.

Then more.

Lavinia gradually stopped noticing the cameras.

Every so often she remembered thousands upon thousands of people might be watching them and felt a brief flutter of nervousness, but it disappeared almost immediately beneath another question or one of Valerie’s whispered comments.

Eventually, Daniel glanced toward the clock positioned beyond the cameras.

Nearly half an hour had passed.

Daniel straightened and turned toward the nearest camera with an easy smile. ”We’ve asked quite a few of our own questions, but I think it’s about time we stopped being selfish.”

Miranda nodded beside him. ”We’ve been receiving viewer questions since the interview began.”

Daniel clasped his hands together. ”So from this point forward, we’ll be taking questions directly from everyone watching at home.”