Solitary Full Moon

Another evening show was over. It took a while to help with cleanup, lead the animals away, remove costumes and stage makeup, and get their late-night dinner at the circus catering. When Lily and Chloe with her sons Rick and Adam were finally leaving for their hotel, it was a little after 11 PM. Not much time left for anything other than getting home as soon as possible to sleep as much as possible.

Thankfully, in an hour it would already be Thursday, and while they should come to rehearsals anyway, there were no shows on Thursdays. A small window of rest in their busy schedule of multiple shows per day. Everyone was already looking forward to their day off. The boys were arguing about places to visit, there were so many fun things to discover in Yokohama!

“We should go to an arcade! They must have the absolute coolest games here,” Rick proposed on their way to the parking lot.

“I wanna see robots,” Adam replied, wasting no second. “Let’s find a toy shop with real Japanese Transformers!”

He moved in front of Rick for Chloe to look at him and agree with him first. Rick bumped into his back with a “hey!” and pushed him forward lightly. He didn’t want to give in.

“You two still have energy?” Lily asked. The boys were currently competing for the closest walking space to mom so that she would notice them better. However, their free time options were more aimed at persuading each other.

“You know they’re going to nod off as soon as we enter the taxi,” Chloe said with a wise smile.

“Yeah, me too, if I can even make it to the taxi…”

“Good thing I’m here to wake you all up when we arrive.”

Lily perked up slightly. “I’m sorry, I’m usually a bit more awake at this hour, but I think the dinner took all my energy.”

“Don’t worry,” Chloe looked at her sister warmly, “I know how excited you were to get here. You looked so happy today, and you did your best too. You probably pushed yourself more than usual.”

“Ah… You’re right.” Lily smiled, flustered at the compliments and sincerity. “I’m always glad when we’re together like this.”

“Especially here, in Japan. It’s your first stage here, isn’t it? Now you can have a closer look at their culture.”

“Ahaha… Yes, it’s true.” She laughed a little, now even more flustered. There was no reason to be ashamed of her interests, both she and her brothers were long known as fans of Japanese culture to everyone, and their family had nothing against it. Still, it was always surprising when her interests were acknowledged. Chloe could see through her thoughts and feelings easily, even when Lily didn’t voice them.

“Don’t push yourself too much, alright?” She took both of her sons by the hands. They stopped arguing for a moment and continued to walk with her.

“I won’t. I want to look around with the boys, too. Can’t let myself spend all my free time sleeping.”

“Where would you go?” Rick asked.

“Let’s see. Perhaps something like… a comic shop? Or a katana shop? I looked up some names to search for—”

A piercing, broken scream nearby stopped them where they stood.

Chloe hugged both of the boys close to her, but they weren’t too scared. Things like this happened occasionally. Maybe it was nothing, or maybe they could slip through whatever the conflict was unnoticed. It simply needed caution.

“I’ll go check.” Lily had a better idea. The others followed close.

That scream came from a dark corner to the side of the road, away from the parking lot’s streetlights. Only the moon was there to shine on the three men fighting it out in an eerily calm manner. Two of them silently held the other, the one who probably screamed. This area apparently attracted some drunkards. Lily walked up to them without fear.

“Hey, could you take this somewhere else?” she said in English. “People and their kids work here late and want to go home with no trouble. Get out before I kick you.”

Lily stomped her heel on the ground. She was mostly bluffing, actually hitting someone wasn’t in her interests right now. Hopefully, it would give Chloe and her kids enough time to pass this area without attracting attention.

The men took their sweet time to react in any way. Her vision was gradually getting used to the dark and recognizing more shapes before her. All men wore neat military uniforms. Judging by their status, they weren’t merely some drunks. Maybe they came to watch the show together. Did they lead this guy here to beat him up away from other visitors? Was this how they argued normally? Is it so bad that they have to bite each other?

One of them was driving his teeth deep into the victim’s neck. Moonlight reflected in the droplets of blood which was quickly gathering around the wound and running down. Their eyes were crimson red, without a hint of humanity behind them.

“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” Lily stepped back in shock.

The panicking victim looked at her and collapsed, coughing blood into the ground. Only then did the other men switch their attention to her and just stare silently, as if pondering what they were supposed to do with her. They thought for a while, and Lily already knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid this fight.

“Run! Call the police!” she yelled to Chloe and her sons, as one of the attackers launched at Lily. She dodged to the side and kicked him in the stomach. He doubled up slightly, but it only took him a few seconds to recover. Soon he was going at her again, not crying out or throwing insults, only hissing ever so slightly. The other man went behind Lily to catch the rest.

Chloe instructed the boys to run to the parking lot, crying out for help, and they were gone. She kept digging through her purse and watching the man who was coming at her. She allowed him to get closer before she promptly kicked him in the groin, bent him down and smashed his face with her knee, then pushed him away in a cold, collected manner. She backed away while he staggered and finally took out her phone, typing in the number.

She received a response immediately. Behind her back.

“Hey, thanks for calling, I’m the police!” a female voice announced in Russian, and the phone in Chloe’s hand was gone.

Both Lily and Chloe turned to look at her. She was short like a teenager, with bright red clothes not resembling a police uniform and a young face full of absolute glee. She held Chloe’s phone, canceling the call and locking it back to sleep. Rick and Adam were curiously observing everything behind her back, eager to join the fight, but she didn't let them.

“Hold it for me.” She handed the phone over to Adam, ruffled his hair and moved forward, shielding Chloe.

“Are you really the police?” Lily asked with a sharp exhale. Any of her attacks barely shook her enemy. She was already regretting the amount of strength she put into the shows today. The limit of whatever the adrenaline allowed her tired body was dangerously close.

“Eh, sort of. I’m better. Now scram, I’ll take it from here.” She took out a knife and threw it in the air to catch it again, playing with it while she waited for her opponent to rise and meet her.

Lily wasn’t sure she could let this suspicious young lady fight two men at once. She backed away to join her and take a better look, leading her opponent to follow close. Chloe took that moment to run up to the other man away from them who was still lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

“Can you hear me?” she asked, bending down to him and trying to hold him up. “How are you? Can you walk?”

The newcomer turned at her sharply. “No! Get away from him!”

Too late.

Another shriek rang out. With it, a doubled echo from the boys.

Lily froze, watching in silent horror as giant fangs dug deep into her sister’s neck. Chloe’s eyes, wide from shock. The man’s eyes, just as red as the blood that splashed out, staining her white jacket.

“Lily… Protect… them…” Chloe whispered, turning to her sons, and fell.

“Shit.” The woman in red pulled Lily away from an attack she missed entirely. Her opponent was met with the knife instead. It slashed his eyes, making him recoil. “Mari, get them.”

And a new voice spoke, “Ability: The House, In Which…”

A black figure emerged behind them. A woman, previously hiding in the dark, was now surrounded by a bright golden light, its reflections dancing on her mirror necklace. She walked forward swiftly and yet gracefully, with barely any sound following her. The woman approached each of the men in a quick sequence and lightly tapped all of them, which made them immediately collapse on the spot. She sat down before Chloe and softly touched the back of her head too, even though she was already on the ground.

Then, only silence remained.

It took a while for Lily to awaken from her stupor. Soon, it transformed into a cold rush of dread that pushed any remaining drowsiness out of her body for good. She bolted and fell to her knees before her sister’s unconscious body. The boys followed soon after.

“Chloe! Sis! Wake up!” Lily shook her by the shoulder. She looked up at the glowing woman to meet her empty, golden eyes. Their emotions were difficult to read. It was frightening. “What are you… what have you done…”

“She is alive,” the woman replied in a gentle voice and moved her gaze away timidly. With the golden glow around her, she somewhat resembled an angel. “Only asleep, for now.”

Lily kept holding onto her sister and lightly shaking her, while the kids broke down crying at their mother’s feet. She couldn’t understand what happened here. She couldn’t believe it. What were they supposed to do now?

“Okay, we’re done. Time to leave.”

The other woman sheathed back her knife and joined them. She looked pained and regretful for a moment, but the expression was soon gone as if it never happened. Next, she picked up the crying boys like kittens to put them on their feet. Lily jumped back up on her own.

“Shouldn’t we call—”

“Nah, don’t call anyone. They won’t do anything. They could become vampires too, though. And if not, you don’t want them to shoot her, right?”

“What…”

“Vampires? They’re real vampires?” Adam asked.

“That’s what we call them.” She shrugged and pointed to Chloe. “Anyway, she’s a vampire now, so we have to leave her here.”

“We can’t leave her here!” Lily protested. “What will they do to her? We have to take her away somehow! I can’t just leave my sister!”

“She’s one of them now, they won’t do anything to her. No one will be able to hurt her anytime soon, as you witnessed here already. Just look at this.” She walked up to the vampire she injured and turned his head with her heel for everyone to see. A bleeding knife wound over his eyes was steadily closing up. “The bastard is asleep and yet he’s healing already. Fucked up, huh?”

The glowing woman looked at her disapprovingly and nodded at the boys.

“What? They look like they’re at least ten, they’ve heard worse! Anyway. If you take her with you, she’ll wake up and turn all of you.” She jokingly poked Lily with the handle of her knife. “You want this to happen? Wanna join her? ’Cause she really wants you to join her.”

“Cut it out!” Lily pushed her away furiously.

“Pff. Let’s go before anyone else comes here.” She tucked her knife away and turned to the parking lot, going on ahead and gesturing for everyone to follow her. “I’ll explain later.”

“Where are we going?” Rick asked weakly, still watching his mother.

“We’re going home,” Lily replied. She took him by the hand. “We’ll come back for her. I promise.”

“You’re not going home. She’s going home once she wakes up. You’ll have to stay somewhere else for now, somewhere she can’t find you.”

“We only have our hotel here,” Lily said, “but—”

“Then I graciously invite you over. Sleepover time.”

“Uh— How long are we supposed to stay there?”

“I dunno? Let’s think later.”

“Later when?”

“Ugh. In the car maybe? Tomorrow? I don’t care. Just go already!”

“Okay…” Lily was defeated. She didn’t know what to think about now either. She led both Rick and Adam by their hands, following their strange savior to her car.

The woman in black, still glowing, stayed behind for a while, standing between those she put to sleep. It looked like if she left, her spell would be broken. Then, slowly, as if she were a ghost, she floated after the group. When she almost reached the car, her golden light went out and hid her figure in the dark again.

“Get in the back,” their new leader told Lily and the boys. Despite her young appearance, she was now their driver, and a very experienced one, it seemed.

“By the way, I’m Olga! This is Mariam.” She pointed at her companion in the other front seat. “And you must be The Oldie Family. That’s what the posters say.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Mariam turned to the others for a moment out of politeness but didn’t look them in the eyes. With the car’s interior lighting on, she finally wasn’t blending into the night or surrounded by a blinding glow, and she turned out to be strikingly beautiful.

“I’m… Lily. Sorry for the trouble. And thank you.”

“Richard.”

“Adam.”

“You guys have some real epic names, you know that?” Olga exclaimed, starting up the car.

And they took off.

═════ ◈ ═════

“You want some music?”

For some time, their ride remained silent. It wasn’t supposed to be too long. The further away they were from Chloe, the more this situation felt real and daunting. The kids, exhausted from crying, fell asleep on Lily a while ago. She couldn’t.

“No, thank you,” she said.

“Want to quietly wallow in misery? Sure thing.”

Mariam shot a displeased gaze towards Olga.

“Okay, okay, sorry! Geez.”

Lily had many questions to ask. Where could she even begin? She thought about it for a bit. “What exactly happened there? You seem to be familiar with everything.”

“Well—” Olga dramatically cleared her throat. “We’ve seen these vampire guys appear more often lately. All of them seem to be normal people—we knew some of them before they became this. Not sure if those are actual vampires, I’m guessing it’s the work of someone’s Ability.”

“Ability?”

“It’s basically magic. Like a special gift some people have.”

“Ah… I see.”

“That’s a pretty normal reaction,” Olga caught her gaze in the rear-view mirror, “you don’t seem very surprised. Know something about Abilities?”

“I think… I think my brothers might have something similar.”

“Oh really?” Olga seemed utterly amused.

“Yes. They have a special curse they can activate.” Lily sighed. “Are all Abilities this scary and dangerous?”

“Oh no, they’re not all that bad.”

“You two have Abilities, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I have the ability to drink as much as I want forever! My liver is strong as steel!” she proclaimed happily.

“Okay…” Lily wasn’t as excited to hear this.

“I can make people fall asleep,” Mariam continued.

“Doesn’t sound too bad to me!”

“I suppose…”

Olga peeked at Mariam for a moment, lowering her voice. “Hey, Mari, tell our undignified friend to hide his black freeloader, lest he scare our guests.”

Not voicing her dissatisfaction with this request, Mariam took out her phone and typed a message. Seeing this made Lily abruptly straighten up in her seat.

“I need to make a call.”

“Go ahead.”

“I need to somehow convince my manager that we can’t work. Why Chloe needs to stay away from everyone. How am I supposed to do this?”

“You work on stage, yeah?” Olga wasn’t worried about this at all. “You’re like an actress. So act! Fake it. I’m sure you can do it.”

Lily looked at the two boys resting on her and tried to awkwardly reach down for her backpack without disturbing them. After some digging, she fished out the phone.

She didn’t know how this was supposed to go. She hoped to get no answer. It wouldn’t save her, a call would be necessary sooner or later. But she really wasn’t ready now.

A tune informed her about entering voicemail. Good. It was late, after all. Even if their manager wasn’t asleep yet, it would make sense to stop with work-related calls for the day and make use of that bit of rest. She waited for the beep and spoke in a strained voice full of unimaginable suffering.

“Hello. Lily here. I’m terribly sorry, but we can’t come to rehearsals tomorrow. And, uh, we probably can’t participate in any upcoming shows. This means me, Chloe, Rick, and Adam. We all caught a terrible disease and we have to stay at home. It’s highly contagious and it feels… awful. I know being ill is not a good excuse, but I assure you it’s really, really bad. I don’t want any of the others catching it. I’m sure Chloe would eventually try to slip away to work when I’m not looking. When she recovers enough for an evening show, perhaps? You know how she is. Please don’t come close to her. It would be really helpful if you could send her home right away. When you see how she’s trying to carry herself, you’ll know what I mean. I’m so sorry for this, but we need to sleep this out. And please don’t let anyone visit us! They’ll catch it too! We’ll see a doctor as soon as we can. I hope you can understand. Goodnight and stay safe!”

She ended the call, slowly lowered her phone and let out a breath of bitter relief. This was bound to raise more questions and worry. And problems. No way this was going to work.

“Nice acting! Well done. I’m sure your sister would do just fine at the circus, but perhaps she'll attract less attention this way.”

“Excuse me? She’s a vampire now! She’s going to bite people! It’s horrific that we had to leave her unsupervised in the first place!” Lily hid her face behind her hands.

“Well, not really. They don’t just bite everyone. She wasn’t even supposed to be a vampire.”

“How do you mean?”

“Vampires only bite important people. Like the military or government officials, or someone who protects the city in a different way. She wasn’t important. She only got turned because she saw them in the act. They try to keep it down and away from normal citizens. You guys should’ve just ignored it and walked past them. Then you’d be fine.”

Lily stopped hiding. “I beg your pardon, but could you ignore a man shoving his teeth down someone’s throat and turning it into a bloody fountain?”

“All kinds of fucked up things happen here.” Olga laughed dismissively. “Get used to it.”

“How do you know so much? Who are you, anyway? Where are you from?”

“You really like to ask questions, huh? I'm from Minsk. Mari is Armenian— where were you from again?”

“Yerevan.”

“Right. We came to work here, just like you. We walk more around the city, though. This gets us to know more people and news. Like vampires taking over the army, or a traveling circus visiting Yokohama.”

“But the show ended long ago. Why were you still staying there?”

“Ah, I was just having a little sentimental moment.” Olga waved her hand at the mirror. “Just sitting there in the car, admiring the scenery. Thinking that perhaps working in the circus would be kinda cool. Maybe I should’ve thought about this before. Then I would’ve had a whole different life. And a job. This sounds like a thing I could do.”

“Then we heard a scream and came to check what was wrong,” Mariam continued. It was uncommon to hear her voice. She barely took part in their conversation or showed any signs of being here.

“Haven’t you said that we should ignore whatever happens?” Lily directed her question at Olga.

She grinned. “I always love a good fight.”

“Right…” Lily leaned back in her seat, dropping the tension somewhat. These women didn’t seem any less suspicious now than they were before, but they were helpful at least.

She didn’t know where they were now. Everything was so dark and unfamiliar outside, with barely any lights to help her. Only the moon continued to follow the car wherever it would go. The same full moon that watched what had happened earlier and remained unchanged by it.

The navigation system beeped quietly, notifying Olga when to turn and how close their destination was. Soon, they would arrive home. Someone else’s home. It was still unclear how long Lily and the boys were supposed to stay there. Were they to just hide and do nothing? They couldn’t hide forever, they had a tour schedule to follow and a family to return to. Was their time in Yokohama enough to fix this? Not knowing anything was terrifying. The idea of vampires being real seemed exciting, but Lily was forced to discover it in the worst possible way.

“Do you know how to make a vampire human again?” she asked.

“We don’t.” Mariam was the one to reply this time. “Maybe someone else knows. We could try to ask him.”

“You think that’ll work? Haha. Sure, let’s ask him.” Olga laughed mockingly.

“Give him a chance, okay? Maybe it will work this time,” she said, slightly upset.

“Maybe-maybe. Anyway, if this was easy, it would’ve happened already. There are many vampires in Yokohama, and outside of it too, no doubt. It’s been going on for a while, and no one’s tried to fix it yet.”

She watched Lily’s mirror reflection get noticeably more gloomy. “I mean, it’s probably possible to fix, once we find whoever did this to them. We just don’t know where to look. But we’ll try something! Chloe will be fine. She’s alive and well now and she’ll still be once this shitshow is over.”

“Will she be alright?” Lily asked.

“Of course! Don’t bury your sister just yet. I saw how she took out that guy, I didn’t even have to do anything. Either as a human or a vampire, she won’t let anyone get her easily.”

Lily relaxed slightly. This was true. Chloe might not have been a fighter, but as a daughter of Melis and a mother on her own, she was expected to know how to protect herself and others. With calculated grace and no hesitation. Seemed like it wasn’t her first time doing this seriously. Not so much for Lily, who had only training fights before.

“Maybe they liked how strong she is and thought she could be a valuable asset. As a vampire. With her skill, she might even be as good as those military guys. A force to be reckoned with. The best at kicking and biting.”

“Please stop.” Lily wasn’t amused at all.

“Fine. You know, you didn’t seem too bad yourself. Would be fun to fight you sometime,” Olga added.

“It's… not my best day. I was simply too tired after the show. I’m certain I could take them all out easily if I wasn’t.”

“You sure look strong. I believe you.”

It felt bad to be acknowledged when she did nothing useful. Lily cursed her eagerness to overwork herself on stage today. If she didn’t, she would be in a better shape to protect them. If only she had a sword with her… actually, she shouldn’t have approached those monsters in the first place. If she didn’t talk to them and threaten them, none of this would have happened. It was all her fault, wasn’t it?

“Hey, we’re almost there!” Olga announced happily. “Kids, wake up! Oh, by the way.” She opened the car's glove box. It was full to the brim with little chocolates. She picked out three of them and reached them over her shoulder. “For you.”

Rick and Adam, sluggishly shaking themselves awake, considered the chocolates. They weren’t too eager to take them, probably still shaken by the whole situation, perhaps not even fully trusting Olga. Lily accepted the gift for them with a “thank you", carefully observed it from all sides and gave it to the boys personally. They thanked her and took it without further questions. The chocolate felt slightly cool. Not something she would expect in a car that normally was warm everywhere else.

Meanwhile, Olga dug into a different compartment and pulled out three more candies of a different kind, opening and throwing all of them in her mouth. A car full of sweets? Interesting.

“Want some?” Olga asked Mariam while chewing.

“No, thank you.”

“Kay.”

They were approaching a small apartment complex with only a few floors and more width to make up for it. Hopefully, it had enough space for all of them. Most of the lights were off, it was dark and quiet. No wonder, considering it was midnight already.

Lily unlocked the boys’ seat belts while the car was slowing down. She remembered her sister’s words, asking her to protect her sons. She hoped to be strong enough to do it. She hoped to be the right one to ask.

A sleepover in a new place would usually sound fun. Lily only wished it didn’t happen in these circumstances. It was difficult for her to be glad about anything right now.

═════ ◈ ═════

A blonde man in his late twenties opened the door for them. He looked remarkably handsome and was wearing loose, simple clothes. Probably sleepwear.

“Oh, hello, welcome! Who might this beautiful lady be?” He stepped out, watching Lily while she was unzipping her thigh high boots. She stiffened.

“Lily. I’m with my nephews, Rick and Adam.”

“Sergei. Pleased to meet you.” He was all smiles even just holding the door for everyone. They left their shoes near the entrance and went through.

“Our guests had a bad night, so try to behave,” Olga said while walking past him and slapped him on the back of his head. Mariam entered last, and Sergei closed the door behind her with a pout.

The apartment was in a traditional Japanese style with barely any furniture, perhaps even too little. Anything there was to see appeared very neutral and didn't tell much about the residents of this place. With three young people living here, all from Russian-speaking cultures, it was highly unusual.

Noticing Lily’s curious gaze, Olga spoke, “Yeah, our place is going through some renovations, so we’re crashing here for now. It’s only been a few days, we haven’t had enough time to liven it up. But you’ll be fine. Hey, Esya, go find futons for our guests.”

“How about you do it?” he shot back at her.

“No can do.” She demonstratively shook her hands, then pointed at Mariam currently leading everyone to the bathroom.

“Ugh.” He complied, while Olga happily went to join the others. Mariam made sure everyone was there to wash their hands, then left the room when she was done to give them space.

“Can you make buterbrods?” Olga asked while drying off.

“But it’s so late!” Mariam appeared to find this outrageous. A surprising amount of emotion for her gentle attitude.

“It’s always a good time for a buterbrod! I could use a snack right now. Maybe our guests want a snack before bed too. It’s good for your nerves.”

Not yet entirely convinced, Mariam proceeded to do it. She also turned on the kettle. Meanwhile, Sergei found something in the closet.

“We only have two more!” he said loudly from another room.

“Two…” Olga looked at the guests. One of them would be left without a futon.

“Give them to the boys, I can sleep on the floor.” Lily came closer to check those futons and the room. A proper tatami room. Cool. “It's alright, I’ve slept in many peculiar circumstances over my career.”

Sergei looked at her with curiosity. “Really? Such as?”

“I’m a circus performer,” she replied a bit coldly. “I work with horses. On tours.”

Olga immediately rushed to them. “Haha, well, good for you that you’ll be sleeping on my futon this time! Can’t let our guests sleep on the floor.”

“But—”

“That’s final.” Olga was dead serious. “Besides, there's two parts in them. I could just steal someone's blanket and sleep on it. Hehe. Did I say this aloud? You didn't hear anything.”

Lily didn’t feel confident or willing enough to argue, so it was settled. Sergei proceeded to roll out the futons, slightly upset. Lily wasn’t entirely certain she liked how this young woman was bossing everyone around. Sure, she wasn’t doing anything too bad and her friends didn’t seem to mind. Still, did she do anything herself there at all?

Lily led Rick and Adam to the kitchen, sitting down at the table between them. They sat on little cushions on the floor—surprisingly there were enough of these for all six of them. Mariam was currently assembling a small buterbrod empire. She now had her hair in a ponytail, her sleeves rolled up to reveal pale, delicate hands. Tender and yet used to housework.

“Actually,” Olga joined them in the kitchen, leaning on the doorframe, “you don’t have to eat right here. You can just take the tea with you or go to sleep or whatever. Do what you want.”

“Alright…” Lily was unsure about this proposal. “Are you hungry? Shall we eat here?” she asked the boys.

They both nodded silently. Her heart fell. They were so energetic after the show, and now there was barely any of it left. They were probably also drowsy, but eating before bed if they wanted wouldn’t bother them at this age. Olga was right, they all could use a snack. Even though they had dinner not too long ago, it seemed as though it had happened in their previous life.

Mariam revealed a plate full of cute bite-sized buterbrods before everyone. They were allowed to take as much as they wanted, there was enough for all of them and then some. Mugs of chamomile tea with honey followed soon after. Sergei came to join everyone at the table and they filled him in on what happened earlier at the circus.

Rick and Adam absent-mindedly chewed on their buterbrods. Not talking or competing for space, despite so little being available here for six people. They looked at others sometimes but mostly kept to themselves. Having had enough snacks, Lily wrapped her hands around the kids, hugging them close. They had the right to suffer the most. Even though their mother probably was alive, they didn’t know anything for sure. Good that they didn’t have to watch her turn into a vampire right before them. To her sons, she still remained her true self.

Lily didn’t feel like talking. Instead, she used the opportunity to observe their helpers in a proper light without hurry.

Olga was wearing bold, bright clothes and overall resembled a ray of light, or perhaps a personification of summer. She tied colorful ribbons into her short hair, styled in a somewhat silly but pretty way. Her youthful features were contrasted by her confident, experienced nature.

She was barely older than a teenager, but she seemed to have gone through a lot. She looked agile and strong, and certainly could have done a lot with that knife earlier, or even without it.

She loved to be dramatic and play around, not discouraged by the gloominess of her companions or the situation she was involved in. She remained upbeat and confident despite everything, and Lily wished she could have some of this confidence right now.

Mariam had the beauty of an actress or a model and the modesty of a mouse. Her gestures, manners and stature suggested a good upbringing, possibly something close to Lily’s own background. The same couldn’t be said about Olga, who did her best to use as little manners as possible without upsetting Mariam. She wasn’t as refined and put too much vigor into everything to ever fade into the background.

Mariam was still wearing her mirror necklace with mirror earrings to match. They were hidden by her hair most of the time. Both her hair and clothes were black, concealing her shape and making her appear like a shadow. A dark night sky to Olga’s sun, with her mirrors as the stars.

Curiously, their eyes seemed to be similar in a way that was hard to grasp. They both looked lifeless, devoid of light. While it was fitting to Mariam’s mysterious and ghost-like appearance, it was especially odd to see on Olga, who was so full of energy and color.

Next to Mariam was Sergei, a man who appeared to be the oldest here. He wasn’t in Olga’s good books and yet allowed her to boss him around without protesting too hard.

The man looked… somewhat unwell. He tried to hide this under makeup, but Lily could see some bruises and redness on his face, as well as dark circles under his eyes. He probably liked to drink and fight a little too much, she noted disapprovingly. His features had something melancholic about them. However, right now he was shining with energy as much as Olga and seemed to be in acceptable health.

He was dressed loosely but decently, simple and comfortable. His long hair was put away neatly into a bun. His gestures were closer to Olga’s, and yet he carried himself more elegantly, like Mariam. Perhaps he wanted to impress one of them? Lily hoped it wasn’t her. Still, he was being nice so far. Maybe she should give him a chance.

Despite his flirty attitude, Sergei appeared to be a good man. After hearing everything, he expressed his sympathies and supported their option to stay here, however long they needed. He was directing his attention at the boys, too, probably rejoicing at finally not being the only man around. He also assured her he would do his best to help their search, and Lily wondered what it meant. Was he the one who knew something? How could it work or not work this time?

“Anyway,” Olga concluded, “let’s do our thinking tomorrow and rest for now. We all need some sleep. You can use the bathroom if you’re into midnight showers.”

This was a wonderful idea. The kids were allowed to take their showers first. Sergei followed them to show how the shower works, then joined Olga in the tatami room. They were looking for clothes they could offer to change into.

Meanwhile, Mariam and Lily stayed to clean up the table. To be precise, it was Mariam who did most of the cleaning, thanking Lily but asking her not to worry about it. Lily tried to stick around and do at least something because she didn’t know how else she could be of use. She remained as long as her self-esteem allowed her and then excused herself to wander around the house, stopping in the corridor to get her phone.

═════ ◈ ═════

There were several spacious but mostly empty rooms. The apartment was big enough for a family. Probably not a cheap one. Their hotel was built in a European style, so being in traditional Japanese rooms felt new and exciting to Lily, but the excitement remained sour. It would be bigger and more genuine if it happened at a different time.

It was simply wrong to be here, alone and without Chloe to share her joy. How was she doing now? Did she wake up already, did she return to their hotel? Do vampires sleep when not forcibly knocked out by an Ability? Lily wanted to see her so badly. She wasn’t ready for anything that happened and was about to happen next. She wasn’t sure she could do this alone.

This apartment was on the ground floor. After some exploration, Lily found an entrance to what she would call a mini terrace. She slid the door open, letting the fresh night air inside. She could just leave the house this way if she wanted. Instead, she sat down on the tatami-covered floor and leaned on the doorframe, turning to face the city outside.

The same full moon looked back at her again. Alone, not joined by any clouds or stars. The only visible source of light and the brightest being in this never-ending night. Most of the world below appeared to be asleep, with the only sounds coming from the wind and trees. Cars were too far away to hear or see them. People here were lucky to live in a peaceful neighborhood.

Lily hoped the night air would bring her to her senses because she was barely holding on at this point. Her thoughts were getting too difficult to ignore and making her feel suffocating heat everywhere. Appearing before the others like this was out of the question. She was a pathetic excuse for an Oldie tonight, losing her cool before strangers even more would be unforgivable.

The door behind her quietly slid open. Lily didn’t turn around, her face wasn’t ready yet. She heard someone approach without a word and lay something down beside her. Lily peeked there to see a neat pile of clean clothes. Something for her to change into after the shower. She could also see the hem of a black skirt near the pile.

“Thank you very much.” Her tone was slightly uneven. Not good. She hoped it wasn’t noticeable.

“The bathroom is still occupied, so please wait a bit longer.” Mariam's voice was soothing and kind. Seemed like it was naturally like this.

“Of course. After three shows in a day, a shower is the best thing ever, I’m sure the boys needed it. Thank you.”

“Poor people, you work so much…” Mariam lamented genuinely. She stood at a distance but was still addressing Lily, despite her stubbornness to look away and keep her dignity.

“It’s not so bad. Tiring, true, but also fun. Performing for an audience can be intimidating, but I love what I do. You just have to be confident in it.”

“I could never go on stage before a crowd this big… I respect you so much.”

“Haha… thank you,” it came out a bit more tragic than she wanted. Damn it. The acting skill of her career was steadily failing her.

Mariam seemed to notice. “I’m sorry.”

“What for? You didn’t do anything.”

She paused for a moment. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, please don’t worry,” Lily replied, struggling to convince her.

“Do you want to be alone for a bit?”

“I’m alright! I’m, uh…” She was torn. She truly felt terrible and there was no way she could show this to anyone. But for some reason, the thought of being left alone with this hurt even more. “No, please stay,” she ended up saying.

So Mariam stayed. She came closer and joined Lily on the floor.

“Do you want to talk?”

She didn’t know where to start. She didn’t know whether she should. Why burden a stranger with her troubles?

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“If you say so.”

Mariam simply accepted it and kept sitting there beside her. Lily was already approaching her limit, but she couldn’t ask her companion to leave. She didn’t want to. Although she was breaking at the seams from the tension in her head, she did her best to keep calm and look at the night city in front of her.

“The moon is really beautiful tonight,” Mariam said suddenly after a while. Lily turned to face it again.

“It is.”

“So beautiful and yet so sad," she continued. Lily wasn’t sure where she was going with this but felt like playing along.

“It’s true, I think. Perhaps it just feels lonely up there.”

“Why do you think so?”

“The sun is asleep, and there are no stars to keep it company tonight.”

“That’s a lovely thing to say. Very romantic.”

“I think you mean ‘cheesy’. It’s something my brother would say. He likes this poetic stuff.”

“I think it sounds really sweet.” Mariam seemed a bit hurt by this. Of course she was a romantic too. Lily mentally slapped herself. Mariam spoke so little outside of this room, it wouldn’t be nice to scare her away. She was fine, however. “What is your brother like?”

“He’s big as a wardrobe. Strong. Speaks in pretty words. He came in a set of two. There’s a grumpy one and a cheeky one—that’s him. They’re both acrobats like me, well, they used to be. They work for the government now. I didn’t get to perform often alongside them, but it was nice.”

“Yes, this sounds nice… performing with all of them. You have a big family.”

Good. This was going well so far. “How is your family? If I may ask.”

Mariam tensed considerably. “I think they’re alright. I hope so. I haven’t talked to them in years.”

“Why?”

“Well, I… I had to leave my home. They don’t know where I am.”

“They must be worried sick!” Lily finally decided to face her. She could see multiple small moons in Mariam’s mirror accessories. Mariam herself looked sorrowful. “Are they not supposed to know? Were you abused?”

“No, they were nice. Although I think that if I were to return, my parents would never let me leave our home again.”

“Did they love you?”

“Yes, I believe they did.”

“And you?”

“I loved them too. I still do, I think—”

“Then get back to them somehow! Don’t you miss them?” Lily raised her voice and moved closer, startling Mariam. She was doing so well. “You don’t need to come home, you could just… call them or… write a message or a letter, right?”

Mariam was surprised to be the center of attention now and tried to look away. “I don’t know…”

“They would certainly be glad to hear from you! You can have your own life now, but they’ll at least know you’re alive and safe! Why did you even have to leave?”

Mariam fell silent. She seemed unsure how to answer or what to do with this information. Only then did Lily stop attacking, feeling a chilling wave snap her back to reality. She looked horrified.

“Oh god. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay…”

“I’m so sorry,” Lily continued, backing away. “I shouldn’t dig into your family situation. You must have your reasons. I don’t even know you.”

“It’s okay,” Mariam assured her frantically, “you’re right. I haven’t thought about them lately, maybe it really would be better to reach out—”

“I shouldn’t have snapped at you. You’re not to blame for anything, you decide what to do with your life. Please ignore all this.”

She could barely prevent her voice from cracking at this point. Keeping it together was harder with every second.

“It’s alright.” Mariam didn’t seem to be hurt by this as badly. She returned to her usual calmness, even with a hint of compassion, and said, “You don’t have to hold back. I’ll leave if you want to.”

Lily sniffed and immediately hid behind her hands. There was no way back now. And yet, she couldn’t allow herself to lose face.

Then Mariam gently placed a hand on her shoulder. It just stayed there for a while. Slowly, it traveled down her arm and back up again, and again, stroking her.

Lily let out a loud whimper. How disgraceful… However, she didn’t move away, and neither did Mariam. Instead, she inched closer to Lily and with some hesitation, as if checking if this was okay, enclosed her in a hug.

That was all Lily could take.

All the tears she had been holding back rushed out at once. They cut her eyes and burned her face, running down through her fingers, which did a poor job of keeping everything out. There was just so much. So much of everything.

Through her sniffs and gasps, Mariam kept holding her close and caressing her hair, not disgusted or disappointed. She was there for her. Comforting and warm.

“I don’t want to lose her… I’m so scared…” Lily managed to say between sobs. “What will happen to her… I did this to her… I let it all happen… I’m so sorry… I’m really sorry…”

Mariam remained silent.

“What should I do without her? I don’t know anything… I should’ve been in her place. She would know what to do now. She always does… I’m not… good enough for this…”

Mariam kept stroking her, quietly allowing her to let it all out.

“I’m sorry you have to see this… I wish I could be stronger than this… I usually am but… maybe I’m not…”

Her palms were thoroughly covered in snot. Mariam put something small and light on Lily’s lap. She moved the hands away from her face to look, two long snot strings sticking to them. On her knees was a small, recently opened package of tissues, mostly full. Lily took it, thanking her and turning away for a moment, minding Mariam’s cleanliness. She remembered how Mariam had given the same package to the boys earlier. So caring.

Getting rid of the mess took many tissues. The tears were still coming, but Lily was already missing the ability to breathe through her nose. The cat was out of the bag now and she couldn’t hide herself anymore, but Mariam didn’t appear to be put off by her red, puffy face or anything else on it.

“I texted my sister earlier… is this stupid?” Lily smiled faintly and reached for the phone lying next to her. She unlocked it and opened the Messages app, tapping on Chloe’s tab. She held the phone up for Mariam, showing her the most recent message sent just before Mariam entered the room.

“Do you think a vampire can reply to texts? Or is she mad at me because I’m not there for her to bite? Does she check her phone at all? Will she remember me?” Her voice was weak and full of nervous smiles. “Maybe she could tell me how she feels. Or send vampire artworks. Or ten knife emojis. That would be fun...”

“You value your sister a lot,” Mariam finally replied with a sympathetic tone. Melancholic and yet warm.

“It’s the only way it could be. I wish I could do something useful instead of just fooling around…”

“For now, that’s all you can do. Your life goes on. She needs our help, but she probably wouldn’t want you to only suffer in her name.”

“Maybe you’re right…”

That was unexpectedly deep. Mariam continued, “You know how she became a vampire?”

“Uh…” Lily wasn’t happy to recall it, but the sight was still freshly imprinted on her memory. “She was bitten by a man she tried to lift up. To help him escape.”

“Yes. Doesn’t this mean she brought it upon herself?”

“No!” Lily raised up slightly in her seat. “She just didn’t know better! We had no idea this would happen! How could we have known that vampires are real? She only wanted to help!”

“So you don’t want to blame her?”

“Obviously!”

“Then, do you think your sister would blame you?”

“I mean… probably not? She’s so kind.”

“Do you think she would want you to blame yourself?”

Lily paused at this. She relaxed back down. Mariam offered her embrace again, accepted without hesitation. Lily rested her head on Mariam’s shoulder. “I guess not…”

“Would she want you to be so hard on yourself?”

“No…”

“Does she think like this about you? Does she say these words to you?”

“No. I know it’s all in my head. Doesn’t make it easier to stop.”

“She probably knows how you think about yourself, right?”

“I believe she does. Though I normally do a better job at not shoving it in her face, unlike now.” Her only saving grace was that she didn’t have to look at Mariam while saying all this.

“Then she knows you. And I’m pretty sure she treasures you anyway.”

Lily said nothing.

“There is something in you she loves despite everything. So let her love you.”

More silence.

“If you can’t think about yourself as well as she does, it’s fine. But trust her on this. Let her love you.”

Lily sighed heavily. “Does it matter now? It’s too late…”

“You’ve heard it from Olga. She’s still alive. You can see it for yourself soon if you want to. And then we’ll bring her back. We have to bring back everyone. They’re still in there somewhere.”

“This would be a miracle.”

“Miracles are more common than they seem,” she said with a smile in her voice. “Give them a chance to happen.”

“I’ll try.” Lily felt the flood slow down. Mariam had so many kind words for her, it was strange to hear her gentle voice so often. It seemed healing, just like her hands.

“To be honest, I feel lost most of the time. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do and I’m so afraid of everything. The unknown is always the scariest. I think it’s similar for Sergei too. Olga never seems to be like this. She’s always brave and confident, she always has a plan. It really helps. So please don’t be too hard on her, okay? She only tries to help, in the best way she can.”

“Huh…”

“Even Olga doesn’t know everything, not to mention me or Sergei. We’re not much wiser than you or most other people are. Because if someone was, they would make everything normal again already. But we’ll try and figure this out anyway, together. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Lily was too tired to argue, but she also didn’t have anything else to add. She wanted to hope, too. Her breathing calmed down, as did her tears. The nighttime breeze was cooling and drying up anything that remained.

“How are you feeling now?” Mariam asked.

“Better, I think…” Lily pondered. She wasn’t quite there yet, but she felt the grip on her heart relax. “I'd love to have that shower, I think the boys must be out by now.”

“I think so, too.”

“Thank you… for being with me. It really helped.”

“I’m glad to be here.”

Mariam let her go, and Lily carefully got up, picking up her belongings from the floor.

“Do you always carry tissues with you?”

“Well… you looked like you’re about to cry for a while now.” This made Lily flustered. Was she so bad at hiding it?

“And you held onto them for me all this time? It’s very kind of you.”

“Haha… happy to help…” Mariam’s smile turned bashful for some reason.

“I feel like this night has been going on forever.” Lily turned to exit the room. Her body started to remember how exhausted it actually was. Took it long enough. Still, it was a good sign. “Can’t wait to finally go to sleep and let it pass.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“What if I can’t fall asleep though… could you perhaps knock me out like you did with the vampires?”

Mariam’s smile fell, and she stated very seriously, “I believe it would be best not to do this.”

“Fiiine.”

She was at the door, about to leave. Mariam stayed sitting where she was and turned to the moon again.

“You know… I think the moon might not be alone tonight after all.”

“Huh?”

“Look. Stars. They’re here. Only a few, and they’re hard to see, but they’re here.”

Lily looked up to the sky. It was difficult with her vision somewhat blurry from crying, but she thought she could see something shine faintly.

“That’s nice… I’m glad it’s not alone.”

“It’s never truly alone. Sometimes we just can’t see it.”

“Pollution be damned.”

Mariam chuckled softly, and Lily left the room, finally content.

“But then,” Mariam said to no one, “if it's not lonely, why does it still look so sad?”

═════ ◈ ═════

Washing the day off her body felt divine. All that tension was now leaving, evaporated by the boiling water. Somehow, there were even enough toothbrushes for everyone: good thing those cheap packs sold multiple at once.

She passed the kitchen on her way back. Olga, Mariam and Sergei were quietly discussing something behind closed doors. Lily thought she could hear another voice too, it sounded somewhat distorted. Perhaps they were talking on the phone? It almost sounded like two Sergeis in there. A clear sign that she must teleport herself to bed immediately. Those hallucinations were getting out of hand.

Olga heard her approach and slid the kitchen door slightly open, leaning out to greet her. “Hey! How was the bath?”

“Fantastic. Thank you very much for letting us use it.”

“Aww, you know, we’ll be sleeping under one roof now. As far as I’m concerned, we’re not strangers anymore, so you guys can just use anything. It’s not even our house.”

“Right…” This was begging for questions, but Lily didn’t feel like it. “I’m going to bed.”

“Sleep tight!” With that, Olga disappeared into the kitchen again, back to their secret meeting, and Lily proceeded to the bedroom.

Rick and Adam were tucked in and sleeping already. Poor kids, they should have had their bedtime a long time ago. How were they still holding on? At least now they looked peaceful.

Lily counted the futons and approached the one closest to the boys. Indeed, they were short of one. She wondered how Olga was going to sleep now, would she be alright? Or maybe she would steal it from Sergei? Either a blanket or the full thing. This seemed like her. Although, letting him have it would also be like her. She seemed to be someone who could happily give her things to those she cared about.

Tomorrow was already there. Lily hoped it would bring some clarity to their situation. Not developing this thought further, she fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.