A snowy alternate-history Earth, ruled by cabals of murderous creatures of the night. And three friends, whose fates are splintered when one of them is no longer like the others.
Veins of Wine
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Chapter 1 - Dreaming
Eve was dreaming.
She was diving in the ocean; the sun's red rays pierced the darkness around her. She twisted and turned, pushing at the salty water surrounding her. In her mouth, she held a blissfully ripe apple, its juices flowing as she bit into it. It was warm outside.
Eve looked back at the two people chasing her. They wore straw and wool robes, with mischievous grins on their faces. Eve had stolen the apple from their farm. The brothers had known Eve since she was a little child and liked to pretend she was a miscreant. This was the tenth apple this week they had "accidentally" left unattended.
Behind them was their family's farm, a wide field overflowing with fruit-bearing trees, bushes, and other shrubbery. The brothers' house was two stories high and made of orange wood. The entire farm lay atop the back of a 200-meter-long larva-whale. Its skin bulbous and green, the whale undulated left and right as it made its way elsewhere, its innate desire for migration never-ending.
The brothers had a father who had named and raised the whale their farm was later built upon. The old man had passed years ago; Eve had attended the funeral, though she remembered little else except meeting the two weeping brothers.
Eve looked back - the brothers slowed down abruptly, staring. Their mouths hung open; their eyes filled with fright. The shorter brother took a shovel from his back and moved towards Eve, his lips trembling. The taller brother shouted at Eve to come back, his voice shaky and breathless.
Eve stopped running and faced her direction of motion. Some twenty meters in front of her was a long creature, covered in a white exoskeleton, with a mouth wide enough to swallow three Eves at once. Its four black eyes bore into Eve's soul, planting terror. Eve's lungs and throat prepared for a scream, but the creature, in one swift motion, engulfed Eve in her entirety.
"Ah!" screamed Eve as she awoke.
She sat on her bed; morning's golden rays painted her room. Her covers, linen and cotton, were torn and scattered around the floor. Her shirt, a thick black pullover, was torn in two at her chest, exposing her bare chest and stomach.
Her window was broken, letting the crisp morning wind carry snow inside. A small pile of it had formed atop the scattered glass.
Eve massaged her eyes and looked around once more. Yup, her sheets, shirt, and window were still broken.
"What the?" Eve asked herself.
She went to stand up and was surprised to see the legs of her bed broken as well. The paint on the ceiling and walls was cracked in six spots. A bookshelf had fallen and scattered Eve's books across her table.
"What. The. Hell?" she asked again.
She pulled her shirt closed and inspected the broken window. "Did an animal get inside?"
Eve spared a look outside the window as she tied her cherry-red hair in a bun. The second-largest city on the planet, Lürich, was still as shadowy as ever. Here, atop the 32nd floor of the Jigsaw building, Eve could see all the way across the city. This morning, the city had chosen a frozen snowy aesthetic it had recently come to love.
Third time it's snowing this week, Eve thought, and wondered how she didn't freeze to death during the night. She went to check her phone - which wasn't where she had left it.
Eve knelt next to the small table beside the bed and found her phone beneath it. She picked up the rectangular copper plate and prayed in her head. She turned it over and exhaled. It was thankfully unbroken. Eve checked the weather; -8°C.
Shouldn't I be an icicle? Eve thought as she checked the time - it was eight-thirty. She would be meeting Nianna and Atilan downstairs in 5 minutes. Her gaze caught on the clock - she was late. Her skin shivered and pulse quickened. Eve felt herself start to tremble.
She set the phone down on the bed and calmed herself. The alarm hadn't gone off, and Eve had to hurry if she planned on meeting her friends.
Eve opened her closet and put on her favorite black sweater and warm pants. She then ran to her mirror and inspected herself.
"Maybe I am dead?" Eve said as she studied her reflection. She was pale. Paler than usual. Those nasty veins she always tried to hide around her mouth were clearly visible. Darker and more obvious than Nianna's tattoos, Eve thought.
It was clear to her that she was sick, something she couldn't afford today. It was the 20th of December, the last day of college before the winter exams next week. She couldn't miss today; Professor Starion had promised he would go over the essay questions that could come up in the exam.
Eve put on some light makeup, enough to hide the fact that she looked like a corpse. She grabbed a face mask from deep within her piled coats. She pulled it over her mouth and exhaled. The woolen mask was warm. If anybody asks, I'll just say I have a cold.
Eve looked at the time. Eight thirty-five - immediate shivers - her arm shook as she held the phone.
"Shit!" Eve said and grabbed her laptop bag. She opened the door in a hurry and took it clean off its hinges. The wood splintered and shot around the hallway.
Eve stared at the door, which hung from its handle in Eve's hand.
"What?"
Mavian heard the commotion and perked up from the couch in the nearby room.
"Eve? What the hell is going on?" he asked, standing up.
"No idea, Dad" - her vocal cords had trouble saying that to him - "I think an animal busted into my room last night," Eve said as she entered the bathroom, opening the door as gently as she could.
"An animal? This high up? Yeah right," Mavian said from outside, inspecting her room. Eve heard him gasp. He continued: "Every single dime it takes to fix all this is coming out of your allowance."
Eve gritted her teeth as she sloshed some mouthwash. She spat out both the mouthwash and an "Okay". Not wanting to spend any more time in Mavian's proximity, she raced out of the bathroom, grabbed her hat and coat, and jumped out of the apartment.
Eve approached the elevator doors and checked herself in its reflection. She put on her fedora; a black brimmed hat decorated with a steel rosy pattern. She pressed the button to call the elevator and sent a quick text to Atilan:
OK
Me and Nia are waiting at the door
The elevator door opened, and Eve stepped inside. The copper floor was dirty. Someone had knocked over one of the four potted plants in the corner and didn't bother to scoop up the dirt. At least they picked up the pot.
Eve closed the front of her coat and tied it across her waist. It made the flat copper birds on the coat's sides jingle. Downstairs, the doors opened into the atrium. A dozen or so people nodded at Eve as she stepped out. She nodded back.
Atilan and Nianna were chatting in front of the large glass door at the end. They both wore woolen coats, as almost everyone did this time of year. They turned as Eve approached.
"Morning!" greeted Atilan. He had soft brown eyes and long black hair under a brown Gatsby hat.
"Hey, hey. What's with the mask?" asked Nianna. She was tall, only appearing small next to the two-meter-tall Atilan. Her hair was black and curly, barely contained under her feather-trimmed top hat. A crow, a tattoo, peeked from beneath Nianna's collar.
"Morning, guys. I think I've come down with something," Eve said as they went outside. Atilan pushed open the door, and momentarily they were outside, in the winter air of the city. A thick cover of snow had settled, and the group had to step cautiously.
Eve braced for the chill to enter her bones – when none came, she looked down at her coat.
Unusually effective?
"Hope you get better soon," said Atilan with a smile.
They turned to walk eastwards, toward the closest train station that would take them back west into the campus. Steel cruisers buzzed above their heads, moving along the street, carrying their drivers and passengers, and levitating some 30 meters above the ground. Another three lanes were above them, denoted by floating bronze buoys.
The sun was still low, but it cut through the morning clouds with ease. The pine trees that lined the streets provided shade, unwelcome in winter, and protection from snow - very welcome in winter.
A group of a dozen or so men and women shoveled snow across the street, forming walkable paths.
The streets were buzzing with activity this early in the morning; people went to their jobs, bought food for breakfast, and chatted about. They passed a bakery, the same one they passed each morning on their walk to the station.
Atilan looked away from the bakery and closed his eyes. He took hold of Eve's and Nianna's shoulders so they could guide him.
"Ready?" he asked.
Eve looked towards the bakery. Miss Ri's Finest, the name of the shop, could be read above the list of today's specialties. The list read:
Chocolate dough donuts - filled with strawberry jam.
Cinnamon rolls - soaked in fresh vanilla pudding.
Atilan smelled and wiggled his nose comically. After he took a deep breath, he said: "Chocolate. Donuts definitely - with strawberry. The second is cinnamon, it's gotta be... And I think, vanilla pudding?"
"Insane," said Nianna, blinking at the list.
"That's 17 days straight without a mistake, by the way," added Eve.
Atilan let go of their shoulders and said: "I'm just that good."
He smiled down at Eve and frowned, though his eyes were still happy. "I miss this," he said.
Nianna rolled her eyes. "I know you do, Atilan. But you won't change my mind."
"Doesn't stop me from trying."
"Well, it should. Like I said many times already. College isn't for me; I will walk you guys to it every day. But I'm not going inside. It's just the way I want it."
Eve felt a pulse from Nianna, unlike anything she had ever experienced. It wasn't physical; nothing pushed her. It was thick and deep and immaterial, like a heatwave yet opposite. It was cold and piercing, dissipating as abruptly as it appeared.
Atilan said: "Cool. Ok. Just surprised, as you always said you loved math. Could have been a proper mathematician within a few years."
Nianna smiled and bumped Eve on the shoulder. "Little help?"
Eve focused back on the conversation. "Uh yeah. Let her be, Atilan, we've been over this many times. How is the gravity exam preparation going anyway?"
Atilan's head whipped around, a grin wide on his face. The kind of grin he springs when you said exactly what he wanted you to. Both Eve and Nianna laughed, and Eve once again noted how something had been bothering Nianna. And had been for a while now. Her laugh was more reserved, not to mention she hadn't been home in 6 months - letting Eve take the brunt of Mavian and Barani's ire.
"Funny you should ask. Check this out," Atilan said as he grabbed hold of his hat. He whispered as they walked:
"Gravitational acceleration equals -0.001 of the gravitational constant times mass divided by radius squared."
Atilan's feet left the floor as he began to gently float upwards, his smirk persistent.
Eve and Nianna gave him a small applause.
"My congratulations," said Nianna.
"Future high mage material," said Eve.
Atilan whispered another equation and returned his gravity back to normal. "Thank you both. Though this is only after two sleepless nights and multiple head injuries."
The train station was in sight, and they made their way up its stairs and into the train levitating above the motor lane. They scanned their phones above the ticketing device and found comfortable seats next to each other. The train wasn't packed, but a couple of people sat across from them.
Eve felt something as she returned her phone back to her coat. Waves radiated from a man opposite her. Deep and icy, like the one from Nianna, but these never subsided. The man shifted in his seat and Eve saw his expression. His brows were furrowed, his teeth clenched enough that the muscles of his jaw showed. Maybe I should have stayed home. I really am sick.
Slowly, the train accelerated and the cityscape of Lürich moved outside the window. They were moving away from the residential towers and into the lower-density area which housed the campus. To the north, Eve could clearly see the Alps, beautiful in their ethereal snow cover. Sparsely spread throughout them, Eve saw vast and beautiful castles - the homes of the Others.
"Eve? You alright?" asked Nianna, her blue eyes concerned. "You were staring at that guy."
Eve blinked. "I don't know. I woke up to my room trashed, the window was broken too. I think something entered through the window. Maybe bit me - I'm super pale. Look." Eve lifted down her mask.
Under there, her lips were pale pink – bordering on white, dark veins radiating away. Her cheeks, flush with copious amounts of blush, clashed in their intensity.
"Whoa," breathed Atilan. "Yup, that's stay-at-home material."
"Any pain?" asked Nianna.
"No, but that might be a symptom too. I don't feel anything in particular." Neither hot nor cold. All that's clear is the pulsing, Eve thought and spared another glance towards the man.
Nianna set her palm to Eve's forehead and felt her temperature. "You feel normal, I don't see…" Nianna's eyes widened and met Eve's.
Nianna was motionless.
"You good, Nianna?" asked Atilan.
Nianna's hand flew to Eve's neck, where she checked Eve's pulse.
"For the 10th time today, I ask… What is happening?" Eve said, sighing.
"No…" whispered Nianna, leaned in, and licked Eve's neck.
"Alright!" Eve stood up from her seat. "I am not a popsicle. This has been the weirdest day in a long, long time. I am not getting my allowance for the foreseeable future. I cannot work because I have to study for 10 hours a day!"
Chills crossed Eve's entire body; she felt supremely sick for a moment. She swallowed, confused at her own reaction and continued: "If I don't study that much, I will flunk this semester. And now I am being licked at random!"
"Would you prefer it be scheduled?" asked Atilan.
Eve gave him a flat stare, but he snickered anyway.
She stomped in a small circle just as the train was slowing down at the campus station. Students exited their cars and walked across the chiseled stone floor, already cleaned of all snow. Atilan, Eve, and Nianna departed the train as well.
"Who did this to you?" Nianna whispered to Eve.
"Nobody did anything. Wait… you don't think someone broke into my room?"
"What are you two whispering about?" asked Atilan.
Eve let out a little laugh. "Well, the working theory is that I was assaulted by an Other last night."
Atilan's expression was dubious. "Unlikely. The Others rarely break into homes; they prefer the streets. Case in point." He pointed at a group of people nearby.
They were murmuring among themselves; new people joined as others backed away horrified. Through the crowd, Eve could see the bright blue tape of the PACT supported by metal rods stuck to the ground.
Atilan stopped a passer-by, a classmate of his, and asked him what was up.
"Other attack," the green-haired boy responded. "Keepers were nearby thankfully. They managed to eliminate the Other before it could kill more. But the poor groundskeeper, the creature ripped off his arms and legs."
"Damn," Atilan said, his jaw hard. "Another attack. Wonder if the media will be reporting this one?" He looked exceptionally kind most of the time, but Atilan could make a perfectly intimidating face when he wanted to.
Eve spied through the people a pool of red liquid. Her heartbeat quickened. She began walking forwards, faster and faster.
She ran.
Nianna appeared in front of Eve and held her face steady. She stared into Eve's eyes and said: "Please. Eve, please promise me you will not go there to see."
Eve, confused at her own involuntary actions and the draw of the crowd said: "I- I promise. Will you tell me why you licked me?"
Nianna turned Eve around so that she was facing the university, away from the crime scene. "I promise. But after your classes. I will wait here. Oh, and don't kiss anyone."
"Excuse me?" breathed Eve before laughing.
"Promise?" insisted Nianna.
Eve looked over Nianna's face; she was worried. Eve nodded and the taller woman let her go.
"All good?" Atilan asked as Eve began walking. Her mind racing over the events of this morning. She looked up at him, and said:
"Yeah. Nianna and I are going to have a private talk after classes. Everything will be ok."
Eve cringed as a wave of nausea washed over her. As she looked back, she found its center to be Nianna, her eyes meeting hers. A soft reassuring smile spread across Nianna's lips – yet that nausea remained – pulsing like a beacon.
She was diving in the ocean; the sun's red rays pierced the darkness around her. She twisted and turned, pushing at the salty water surrounding her. In her mouth, she held a blissfully ripe apple, its juices flowing as she bit into it. It was warm outside.
Eve looked back at the two people chasing her. They wore straw and wool robes, with mischievous grins on their faces. Eve had stolen the apple from their farm. The brothers had known Eve since she was a little child and liked to pretend she was a miscreant. This was the tenth apple this week they had "accidentally" left unattended.
Behind them was their family's farm, a wide field overflowing with fruit-bearing trees, bushes, and other shrubbery. The brothers' house was two stories high and made of orange wood. The entire farm lay atop the back of a 200-meter-long larva-whale. Its skin bulbous and green, the whale undulated left and right as it made its way elsewhere, its innate desire for migration never-ending.
The brothers had a father who had named and raised the whale their farm was later built upon. The old man had passed years ago; Eve had attended the funeral, though she remembered little else except meeting the two weeping brothers.
Eve looked back - the brothers slowed down abruptly, staring. Their mouths hung open; their eyes filled with fright. The shorter brother took a shovel from his back and moved towards Eve, his lips trembling. The taller brother shouted at Eve to come back, his voice shaky and breathless.
Eve stopped running and faced her direction of motion. Some twenty meters in front of her was a long creature, covered in a white exoskeleton, with a mouth wide enough to swallow three Eves at once. Its four black eyes bore into Eve's soul, planting terror. Eve's lungs and throat prepared for a scream, but the creature, in one swift motion, engulfed Eve in her entirety.
"Ah!" screamed Eve as she awoke.
She sat on her bed; morning's golden rays painted her room. Her covers, linen and cotton, were torn and scattered around the floor. Her shirt, a thick black pullover, was torn in two at her chest, exposing her bare chest and stomach.
Her window was broken, letting the crisp morning wind carry snow inside. A small pile of it had formed atop the scattered glass.
Eve massaged her eyes and looked around once more. Yup, her sheets, shirt, and window were still broken.
"What the?" Eve asked herself.
She went to stand up and was surprised to see the legs of her bed broken as well. The paint on the ceiling and walls was cracked in six spots. A bookshelf had fallen and scattered Eve's books across her table.
"What. The. Hell?" she asked again.
She pulled her shirt closed and inspected the broken window. "Did an animal get inside?"
Eve spared a look outside the window as she tied her cherry-red hair in a bun. The second-largest city on the planet, Lürich, was still as shadowy as ever. Here, atop the 32nd floor of the Jigsaw building, Eve could see all the way across the city. This morning, the city had chosen a frozen snowy aesthetic it had recently come to love.
Third time it's snowing this week, Eve thought, and wondered how she didn't freeze to death during the night. She went to check her phone - which wasn't where she had left it.
Eve knelt next to the small table beside the bed and found her phone beneath it. She picked up the rectangular copper plate and prayed in her head. She turned it over and exhaled. It was thankfully unbroken. Eve checked the weather; -8°C.
Shouldn't I be an icicle? Eve thought as she checked the time - it was eight-thirty. She would be meeting Nianna and Atilan downstairs in 5 minutes. Her gaze caught on the clock - she was late. Her skin shivered and pulse quickened. Eve felt herself start to tremble.
She set the phone down on the bed and calmed herself. The alarm hadn't gone off, and Eve had to hurry if she planned on meeting her friends.
Eve opened her closet and put on her favorite black sweater and warm pants. She then ran to her mirror and inspected herself.
"Maybe I am dead?" Eve said as she studied her reflection. She was pale. Paler than usual. Those nasty veins she always tried to hide around her mouth were clearly visible. Darker and more obvious than Nianna's tattoos, Eve thought.
It was clear to her that she was sick, something she couldn't afford today. It was the 20th of December, the last day of college before the winter exams next week. She couldn't miss today; Professor Starion had promised he would go over the essay questions that could come up in the exam.
Eve put on some light makeup, enough to hide the fact that she looked like a corpse. She grabbed a face mask from deep within her piled coats. She pulled it over her mouth and exhaled. The woolen mask was warm. If anybody asks, I'll just say I have a cold.
Eve looked at the time. Eight thirty-five - immediate shivers - her arm shook as she held the phone.
"Shit!" Eve said and grabbed her laptop bag. She opened the door in a hurry and took it clean off its hinges. The wood splintered and shot around the hallway.
Eve stared at the door, which hung from its handle in Eve's hand.
"What?"
Mavian heard the commotion and perked up from the couch in the nearby room.
"Eve? What the hell is going on?" he asked, standing up.
"No idea, Dad" - her vocal cords had trouble saying that to him - "I think an animal busted into my room last night," Eve said as she entered the bathroom, opening the door as gently as she could.
"An animal? This high up? Yeah right," Mavian said from outside, inspecting her room. Eve heard him gasp. He continued: "Every single dime it takes to fix all this is coming out of your allowance."
Eve gritted her teeth as she sloshed some mouthwash. She spat out both the mouthwash and an "Okay". Not wanting to spend any more time in Mavian's proximity, she raced out of the bathroom, grabbed her hat and coat, and jumped out of the apartment.
Eve approached the elevator doors and checked herself in its reflection. She put on her fedora; a black brimmed hat decorated with a steel rosy pattern. She pressed the button to call the elevator and sent a quick text to Atilan:
You:
Coming down. In the elevator
Ati (Lan The Man):Coming down. In the elevator
OK
Me and Nia are waiting at the door
The elevator door opened, and Eve stepped inside. The copper floor was dirty. Someone had knocked over one of the four potted plants in the corner and didn't bother to scoop up the dirt. At least they picked up the pot.
Eve closed the front of her coat and tied it across her waist. It made the flat copper birds on the coat's sides jingle. Downstairs, the doors opened into the atrium. A dozen or so people nodded at Eve as she stepped out. She nodded back.
Atilan and Nianna were chatting in front of the large glass door at the end. They both wore woolen coats, as almost everyone did this time of year. They turned as Eve approached.
"Morning!" greeted Atilan. He had soft brown eyes and long black hair under a brown Gatsby hat.
"Hey, hey. What's with the mask?" asked Nianna. She was tall, only appearing small next to the two-meter-tall Atilan. Her hair was black and curly, barely contained under her feather-trimmed top hat. A crow, a tattoo, peeked from beneath Nianna's collar.
"Morning, guys. I think I've come down with something," Eve said as they went outside. Atilan pushed open the door, and momentarily they were outside, in the winter air of the city. A thick cover of snow had settled, and the group had to step cautiously.
Eve braced for the chill to enter her bones – when none came, she looked down at her coat.
Unusually effective?
"Hope you get better soon," said Atilan with a smile.
They turned to walk eastwards, toward the closest train station that would take them back west into the campus. Steel cruisers buzzed above their heads, moving along the street, carrying their drivers and passengers, and levitating some 30 meters above the ground. Another three lanes were above them, denoted by floating bronze buoys.
The sun was still low, but it cut through the morning clouds with ease. The pine trees that lined the streets provided shade, unwelcome in winter, and protection from snow - very welcome in winter.
A group of a dozen or so men and women shoveled snow across the street, forming walkable paths.
The streets were buzzing with activity this early in the morning; people went to their jobs, bought food for breakfast, and chatted about. They passed a bakery, the same one they passed each morning on their walk to the station.
Atilan looked away from the bakery and closed his eyes. He took hold of Eve's and Nianna's shoulders so they could guide him.
"Ready?" he asked.
Eve looked towards the bakery. Miss Ri's Finest, the name of the shop, could be read above the list of today's specialties. The list read:
Chocolate dough donuts - filled with strawberry jam.
Cinnamon rolls - soaked in fresh vanilla pudding.
Atilan smelled and wiggled his nose comically. After he took a deep breath, he said: "Chocolate. Donuts definitely - with strawberry. The second is cinnamon, it's gotta be... And I think, vanilla pudding?"
"Insane," said Nianna, blinking at the list.
"That's 17 days straight without a mistake, by the way," added Eve.
Atilan let go of their shoulders and said: "I'm just that good."
He smiled down at Eve and frowned, though his eyes were still happy. "I miss this," he said.
Nianna rolled her eyes. "I know you do, Atilan. But you won't change my mind."
"Doesn't stop me from trying."
"Well, it should. Like I said many times already. College isn't for me; I will walk you guys to it every day. But I'm not going inside. It's just the way I want it."
Eve felt a pulse from Nianna, unlike anything she had ever experienced. It wasn't physical; nothing pushed her. It was thick and deep and immaterial, like a heatwave yet opposite. It was cold and piercing, dissipating as abruptly as it appeared.
Atilan said: "Cool. Ok. Just surprised, as you always said you loved math. Could have been a proper mathematician within a few years."
Nianna smiled and bumped Eve on the shoulder. "Little help?"
Eve focused back on the conversation. "Uh yeah. Let her be, Atilan, we've been over this many times. How is the gravity exam preparation going anyway?"
Atilan's head whipped around, a grin wide on his face. The kind of grin he springs when you said exactly what he wanted you to. Both Eve and Nianna laughed, and Eve once again noted how something had been bothering Nianna. And had been for a while now. Her laugh was more reserved, not to mention she hadn't been home in 6 months - letting Eve take the brunt of Mavian and Barani's ire.
"Funny you should ask. Check this out," Atilan said as he grabbed hold of his hat. He whispered as they walked:
"Gravitational acceleration equals -0.001 of the gravitational constant times mass divided by radius squared."
Atilan's feet left the floor as he began to gently float upwards, his smirk persistent.
Eve and Nianna gave him a small applause.
"My congratulations," said Nianna.
"Future high mage material," said Eve.
Atilan whispered another equation and returned his gravity back to normal. "Thank you both. Though this is only after two sleepless nights and multiple head injuries."
The train station was in sight, and they made their way up its stairs and into the train levitating above the motor lane. They scanned their phones above the ticketing device and found comfortable seats next to each other. The train wasn't packed, but a couple of people sat across from them.
Eve felt something as she returned her phone back to her coat. Waves radiated from a man opposite her. Deep and icy, like the one from Nianna, but these never subsided. The man shifted in his seat and Eve saw his expression. His brows were furrowed, his teeth clenched enough that the muscles of his jaw showed. Maybe I should have stayed home. I really am sick.
Slowly, the train accelerated and the cityscape of Lürich moved outside the window. They were moving away from the residential towers and into the lower-density area which housed the campus. To the north, Eve could clearly see the Alps, beautiful in their ethereal snow cover. Sparsely spread throughout them, Eve saw vast and beautiful castles - the homes of the Others.
"Eve? You alright?" asked Nianna, her blue eyes concerned. "You were staring at that guy."
Eve blinked. "I don't know. I woke up to my room trashed, the window was broken too. I think something entered through the window. Maybe bit me - I'm super pale. Look." Eve lifted down her mask.
Under there, her lips were pale pink – bordering on white, dark veins radiating away. Her cheeks, flush with copious amounts of blush, clashed in their intensity.
"Whoa," breathed Atilan. "Yup, that's stay-at-home material."
"Any pain?" asked Nianna.
"No, but that might be a symptom too. I don't feel anything in particular." Neither hot nor cold. All that's clear is the pulsing, Eve thought and spared another glance towards the man.
Nianna set her palm to Eve's forehead and felt her temperature. "You feel normal, I don't see…" Nianna's eyes widened and met Eve's.
Nianna was motionless.
"You good, Nianna?" asked Atilan.
Nianna's hand flew to Eve's neck, where she checked Eve's pulse.
"For the 10th time today, I ask… What is happening?" Eve said, sighing.
"No…" whispered Nianna, leaned in, and licked Eve's neck.
"Alright!" Eve stood up from her seat. "I am not a popsicle. This has been the weirdest day in a long, long time. I am not getting my allowance for the foreseeable future. I cannot work because I have to study for 10 hours a day!"
Chills crossed Eve's entire body; she felt supremely sick for a moment. She swallowed, confused at her own reaction and continued: "If I don't study that much, I will flunk this semester. And now I am being licked at random!"
"Would you prefer it be scheduled?" asked Atilan.
Eve gave him a flat stare, but he snickered anyway.
She stomped in a small circle just as the train was slowing down at the campus station. Students exited their cars and walked across the chiseled stone floor, already cleaned of all snow. Atilan, Eve, and Nianna departed the train as well.
"Who did this to you?" Nianna whispered to Eve.
"Nobody did anything. Wait… you don't think someone broke into my room?"
"What are you two whispering about?" asked Atilan.
Eve let out a little laugh. "Well, the working theory is that I was assaulted by an Other last night."
Atilan's expression was dubious. "Unlikely. The Others rarely break into homes; they prefer the streets. Case in point." He pointed at a group of people nearby.
They were murmuring among themselves; new people joined as others backed away horrified. Through the crowd, Eve could see the bright blue tape of the PACT supported by metal rods stuck to the ground.
Atilan stopped a passer-by, a classmate of his, and asked him what was up.
"Other attack," the green-haired boy responded. "Keepers were nearby thankfully. They managed to eliminate the Other before it could kill more. But the poor groundskeeper, the creature ripped off his arms and legs."
"Damn," Atilan said, his jaw hard. "Another attack. Wonder if the media will be reporting this one?" He looked exceptionally kind most of the time, but Atilan could make a perfectly intimidating face when he wanted to.
Eve spied through the people a pool of red liquid. Her heartbeat quickened. She began walking forwards, faster and faster.
She ran.
Nianna appeared in front of Eve and held her face steady. She stared into Eve's eyes and said: "Please. Eve, please promise me you will not go there to see."
Eve, confused at her own involuntary actions and the draw of the crowd said: "I- I promise. Will you tell me why you licked me?"
Nianna turned Eve around so that she was facing the university, away from the crime scene. "I promise. But after your classes. I will wait here. Oh, and don't kiss anyone."
"Excuse me?" breathed Eve before laughing.
"Promise?" insisted Nianna.
Eve looked over Nianna's face; she was worried. Eve nodded and the taller woman let her go.
"All good?" Atilan asked as Eve began walking. Her mind racing over the events of this morning. She looked up at him, and said:
"Yeah. Nianna and I are going to have a private talk after classes. Everything will be ok."
Eve cringed as a wave of nausea washed over her. As she looked back, she found its center to be Nianna, her eyes meeting hers. A soft reassuring smile spread across Nianna's lips – yet that nausea remained – pulsing like a beacon.
Chapter 2 – In a Chalice
Professor Starion, a rotund man in his early 50s, spoke confidently at the center of the lecture hall. His scratchy voice was amplified and carried by the microphone across the room, and into the ears of the eleven students who dared take Early Cryptozoology this semester.
"Contrary to the belief of those buffoons in America, the earliest Liumanau settlement was not Chichen Itza, but El Mirador. As evidenced by the Plate of Kon." The professor clicked a button on his hand controller and projected a spectral plate above his head. White lines betrayed the source of the apparition; projectors scattered across the walls.
The plate was once part of a larger whole, this being just a small fraction that survived the millennia. In ancient Liu, it described the founding of the oldest city in Central America.
Eve checked the time - 10 minutes until the end of the lecture. A tightness in her throat appeared momentarily. Eve raised her arm.
Professor Starion noticed her, blinked at her for a moment, and promptly ignored her. Eve nearly slammed her head down onto her laptop when the wave hit her. It crashed into her from the professor's direction. Eve cringed as the wave slowly subsided.
"That would be all for today. See you next week, and good luck on the essay," the professor said with a smirk. Another wave, another near slam into the laptop.
The fucker promised... Eve thought and met the eyes of the other students. All wore disappointment on their faces. No concrete information about the essay; today was a waste.
Eve collected her things. Looks like I have some work ahead of me. She planned on studying all day tomorrow and the day after that. To deliver the most concise, straight-to-the-point essay this muffin of a professor ever saw.
A buzz in Eve's pocket stole her attention. It was Nianna.
NiNi
You alright? Hungry?
No just come meet me. Please.
No, back parking lot. Got my bike.
Eve weaved through the wide halls towards the northern exit. She passed by the cafeteria, stopped and went inside. Nianna won't mind, I'll be quick.
Eve scouted the vending machines and found her favorite; canned strawberry cake. Its glass lid and container betrayed the juicy insides. Eve inserted the coins, pressed the appropriate button, and grabbed the can. She swiped a wooden spoon off the trays on her way out.
She waited until she was outside to open the can. She pulled at the lid, which came flying off with the slightest effort. So fast, in fact, that it escaped Eve's hand and flew into the sky.
Eve stared after it until she could no longer see it.
Well. That's gone. She marvelled at her strength.
This… couldn't be…
Arresting that treacherous thought, she resolved to find Nianna as fast as possible. Between the looks and the licking, Nianna might know what was wrong with Eve.
She laid eyes on Nianna, next to the parking lot. Her air motor behind her, a two-person steel flying machine with propellers on the front and back.
Eve called out to Nianna: "Hey!" and scooped a bit of cake into her mouth.
Nianna turned and faced Eve. Her hand shot up as she yelled: "No!"
As Eve swallowed, and the strawberry cake hit her throat, Eve gagged. She fell to her knees and felt the entire contents of her stomach lunging out. Nianna was there within the second, her hand on Eve's back, supporting. And her top hat in front of Eve's mouth.
Eve emptied herself over the next several seconds – what little was in her. She had skipped breakfast – being late already. Most of what filled Nianna's hat was stomach acid. Eve could taste the vomit in her nose.
"Ugh…" she managed.
"I know. I know." Nianna comforted as she wiped Eve's mouth with her handkerchief.
"I need to go home, get better," Eve said standing up. "Get some antibiotics or something." She looked down at Nianna's hat and winced. "Sorry… no getting the smell out of that," she said.
"I'll get a new one. I stole this one anyway," Nianna said and picked up her hat, vomit sloshing inside. She collected the canned cake too, and threw them both into the nearby dumpster. Several other students were staring, and they pointedly looked away as Nianna gave them a glance.
"Told you to just come to me," Nianna said as she straddled her airmotor and tapped the seat behind her. Eve got on, equipped the helmet Nianna offered, and held tightly to her waist.
"You diagnosed me already? Didn't know you had a penchant for medicine."
"I don't," said Nianna. "But I might… have some experience with what's wrong with you."
Nianna started her airmotor. The propellers spun and the antigravity engaged. The airmotor rose to the lane height, passing just above the bronze buoys. The streets weren't busy around the campus, so Nianna had no trouble merging into the traffic.
"Where are we going?" asked Eve over the sound of rushing wind. She had to evade Nianna's wild hair.
"Not far."
"Today's lecture wasn't any help. The fucker didn't keep his promise."
Nianna laughed. "A professor who is a prick. Imagine that." Nianna revved her airmotor and crossed into the other lane, passing a slow-moving double-decker carrying large metal containers - destined for the factory district.
"I know the maths lecturers aren't the same as in the humanitarian division, but I just can't get how you can hate them so much. Starion is an exception in my experience," Eve said, laying her head on Nianna's shoulder, setting her cheek next to the tattooed crow.
Nianna grunted. "People in positions of power never really care for you. Their job is to manage you, make you do things their way. Sometimes by force."
Nianna led them around the Preptrian Wall, a 2nd century stone monument. All that's left of the 300km long wall that once divided the north and south of the Val Padana. It was a protected site, an attraction. Eve could look down and see the thousands of daily visitors that came to see one of the eleven wonders of Lürich.
Not long after Nianna said: "We are here."
Nianna parked her airmotor on the ground next to a 3-story building. A bar was the centerpiece; the Checkmate.
"Is this where you hung out? Since you left." Eve asked.
Nianna winced, and cleared her throat. "Yeah."
Eve took off her helmet and handed it back to Nianna. "I didn't mean anything by it. You know I… understand." Eve didn't mean to pause, but she did anyway.
Eve followed Nianna into the bar, the four large windows on the front were wide open. The doors screeched as Nianna pushed them open, and a bartender in his early 30s perked up.
"'Sup Nia! Who do you have with you?" the bartender asked with a tight-lipped smile. He was of average height, had American features, and wore the classic white shirt and tie most common in the north-west side of Lürich.
"A friend, her name is Eve," Nianna said and turned. "Eve, this is Rook. He's chill."
"Nice to meet you!" said Rook as he rounded the table and shook Eve's hand.
Firm grip, Eve noted.
The bar was empty save for the three of them. Nianna led Eve to a small booth secluded from the main lounging area. There were others like it, each with a curtain that could be pulled for maximum privacy.
Eve and Nianna took off their coats and sat. Nianna motioned to grab the hat off her head and froze when she remembered her hat was, in fact, filled with vomit and in a dumpster. Eve snickered at her and Nianna shook her head, smiling herself.
Rook asked: "What can I get you ladies?"
Eve piped up, craving something refreshing: "Lemon water please! Large."
"That's…" Nianna said before furrowing her brow. "…actually alright."
"You got something against my lemon water?" asked Rook.
"No." She shook her head. "But we will also need a glass of the red."
"Bit early for wine…" Rook said dubiously.
Nianna closed her eyes. "In a chalice please."
Rook's gentle smile vanished. He glanced towards Eve. "Uh… I don't think…"
"I know," said Nianna. "Please just bring it."
Rook looked back at her and nodded. He closed the curtains as he left. Nianna and Eve were alone in a circular booth, the only light source was a red lightbulb hanging above the table. Paintings of far-off landscapes adorned the three wooden walls.
"I am getting some peculiar vibes from you today," said Eve, looking at Nianna.
"Peculiar? More like horrified." She set her elbows on the desk and rubbed her forehead.
"Whoa! Okay, what is going on? What's wrong with you? What have you been up to these past months?"
"Evie. Look, I have some stuff going on that you do not need to be a part of." Nianna winced as she said it.
"Excuse me?" Eve said, scooting closer to Nianna. "NiNi, we have known each other how long?"
"16 years?" ventured Nianna.
"Don't pretend you don't know. Yes, 16 years. You and Atilan are the only constants in my life. You can't keep shit from me, I've been dealing with your parents alone since you left." She sighed. "And just so we're clear. You leaving did not make them more agreeable." Eve sat back, letting her head hit the wooden wall behind her. "Sometimes I wish they never adopted me."
"I don't," Nianna assured her. "I just… can't be around them, or you, all the time. It is not safe."
"Safe? How long do you plan to make me wait for an explanation? This is getting ridiculous."
"Just as soon as our drinks arrive."
Like he was summoned, Rook ducked through the curtains and presented a platter. On it was a glass of crystal clear and bubbling lemon water, and a grey stone chalice filled with mulled wine. It was warm, smelled perfectly irony, and emitted gentle condensation in the cold air.
Rook set the drinks down. "All good here?"
"Yes Rook. Thank you," said Nianna.
Rook went to leave, and whispered to Eve: "Good luck."
When he left, Nianna turned towards Eve and held her hands. She looked her in the eyes and swallowed. Eve's heart started to race, the look in Nianna's eyes was frightening - she had never seen her this scared. Nauseous waves washed over Eve, blooming from Nianna as she gulped and asked:
"Would you like to taste some wine?"
"I would not. Answers, Nianna."
Nianna reached for the wine and brought it in front of Eve.
Inside was a pool of red, hot liquid. Its edges darkened to a deep burgundy. Small pink bubbles dotted the surface. Eve inhaled, and the smell completed her. From head to toe she felt her skin shiver, her mouth filled with saliva.
Eve inhaled once, and her hands lunged.
She wrestled the wine from Nianna's hand, spilling some of it over the table, and pulled it toward her face and into her mouth. The stone rim of the chalice hit her teeth hard.
It did not matter.
Eve drank.
As the wine filled her throat and stomach, for the first time since what felt like forever, Eve felt warm. Inhaling over the rim of the cup, her lungs filled with air that was now richer and fuller than before. Her stomach relaxed, a tension in her abs released. Eve slumped back in the soft seat, melting in ecstasy.
Eve angled the cup faster than she could drink, hoping to use gravity to her advantage. Wine spilled out of her mouth and across her cheeks. It spread underneath her shirt and across the front of her body.
It felt like being covered in a warm blanket.
The cup was empty.
Eve's tongue darted out, licking the chalice, her shirt, whatever was left of the wine.
Eve shivered once again and felt a dull ache across her entirety. She wanted more; this was nowhere near enough. Rook! How dare he bring so little. Eve gripped the cup, which promptly shattered into stone shrapnel.
As the chalice disintegrated, Eve saw Nianna.
Nianna's hand was over her mouth, her brows furrowed above wide eyes. She was crying, visibly more so than audibly. Tears flowed freely.
As the wine-high subsided, Eve looked down at her wet clothes, at the broken cup, and her face painted red.
"I... I don't know what came over me..." Eve said quietly.
"Oh Evie. Oh no." Nianna wiped her tears into her sleeves. She grabbed Eve's hands.
"What's wrong with me?"
Nianna kissed Eve's hand. "That was blood, Evie. That was blood."
Eve's heart sank. She stood up. "No, it wasn't," she breathed and looked down at the liquid. Eve knew what blood looked like, and this wasn't...
Blood.
"I can't. I am not." Eve grabbed her left forearm and felt the scars beneath. She went to leave the booth, but Nianna stepped up to her, threw her arms around her, and hugged tightly.
"You are. I'm sorry. You are," Nianna said, holding her even tighter than before.
Eve shook her head wildly. "You know what they do. You know what they did. I cannot be an Other!"
"We will figure it out, you and me. We will figure something out. Sit, please."
After she did so, Eve gulped and tried to steady her breathing. She inhaled as much as she could, and exhaling slowly, she felt her heart calm. After a minute, she could speak again.
"How are you so calm? Aren't you afraid of me?" Eve asked. Nianna was still close to her, supporting her by the shoulders.
Nianna laughed, properly and loudly. Eve laughed too, but tears fell from her eyes.
Nianna nodded to herself and put her hand in Eve's palm. Nianna's hand darkened into a black goo, her fingertips lengthened and sharpened, all angularity vanished as Nianna's entire form morphed into darkness. Her clothes sank beneath her dark skin, vanishing.
Eve recoiled, and Rook popped his head inside.
"Everything alright?" he asked, before laying eyes on Nianna. "Ah. I will give you two some privacy."
Eve blinked at Rook as he closed the curtains, and at Nianna's mercurial form.
"You're an Other..." Eve whispered. "A Nykiram."
Nianna's head bobbed in a nod, and Eve wondered:
Then what am I?
"Contrary to the belief of those buffoons in America, the earliest Liumanau settlement was not Chichen Itza, but El Mirador. As evidenced by the Plate of Kon." The professor clicked a button on his hand controller and projected a spectral plate above his head. White lines betrayed the source of the apparition; projectors scattered across the walls.
The plate was once part of a larger whole, this being just a small fraction that survived the millennia. In ancient Liu, it described the founding of the oldest city in Central America.
Eve checked the time - 10 minutes until the end of the lecture. A tightness in her throat appeared momentarily. Eve raised her arm.
Professor Starion noticed her, blinked at her for a moment, and promptly ignored her. Eve nearly slammed her head down onto her laptop when the wave hit her. It crashed into her from the professor's direction. Eve cringed as the wave slowly subsided.
"That would be all for today. See you next week, and good luck on the essay," the professor said with a smirk. Another wave, another near slam into the laptop.
The fucker promised... Eve thought and met the eyes of the other students. All wore disappointment on their faces. No concrete information about the essay; today was a waste.
Eve collected her things. Looks like I have some work ahead of me. She planned on studying all day tomorrow and the day after that. To deliver the most concise, straight-to-the-point essay this muffin of a professor ever saw.
A buzz in Eve's pocket stole her attention. It was Nianna.
NiNi
You alright? Hungry?
You
Yeah. Gonna eat something before meeting you. I'll be quick
NiNiYeah. Gonna eat something before meeting you. I'll be quick
No just come meet me. Please.
You
You're freaking me out a bit. But ok. You out front?
NiNiYou're freaking me out a bit. But ok. You out front?
No, back parking lot. Got my bike.
You
Sweet, omw
Eve stepped onto the wooden floor of the hall, outside the lecture room. The University of Advanced Mathematics, Physics, Technology and Humanitarian Sciences was the largest in Europe. And second in the world only to the Grand State University in South America.Sweet, omw
Eve weaved through the wide halls towards the northern exit. She passed by the cafeteria, stopped and went inside. Nianna won't mind, I'll be quick.
Eve scouted the vending machines and found her favorite; canned strawberry cake. Its glass lid and container betrayed the juicy insides. Eve inserted the coins, pressed the appropriate button, and grabbed the can. She swiped a wooden spoon off the trays on her way out.
She waited until she was outside to open the can. She pulled at the lid, which came flying off with the slightest effort. So fast, in fact, that it escaped Eve's hand and flew into the sky.
Eve stared after it until she could no longer see it.
Well. That's gone. She marvelled at her strength.
This… couldn't be…
Arresting that treacherous thought, she resolved to find Nianna as fast as possible. Between the looks and the licking, Nianna might know what was wrong with Eve.
She laid eyes on Nianna, next to the parking lot. Her air motor behind her, a two-person steel flying machine with propellers on the front and back.
Eve called out to Nianna: "Hey!" and scooped a bit of cake into her mouth.
Nianna turned and faced Eve. Her hand shot up as she yelled: "No!"
As Eve swallowed, and the strawberry cake hit her throat, Eve gagged. She fell to her knees and felt the entire contents of her stomach lunging out. Nianna was there within the second, her hand on Eve's back, supporting. And her top hat in front of Eve's mouth.
Eve emptied herself over the next several seconds – what little was in her. She had skipped breakfast – being late already. Most of what filled Nianna's hat was stomach acid. Eve could taste the vomit in her nose.
"Ugh…" she managed.
"I know. I know." Nianna comforted as she wiped Eve's mouth with her handkerchief.
"I need to go home, get better," Eve said standing up. "Get some antibiotics or something." She looked down at Nianna's hat and winced. "Sorry… no getting the smell out of that," she said.
"I'll get a new one. I stole this one anyway," Nianna said and picked up her hat, vomit sloshing inside. She collected the canned cake too, and threw them both into the nearby dumpster. Several other students were staring, and they pointedly looked away as Nianna gave them a glance.
"Told you to just come to me," Nianna said as she straddled her airmotor and tapped the seat behind her. Eve got on, equipped the helmet Nianna offered, and held tightly to her waist.
"You diagnosed me already? Didn't know you had a penchant for medicine."
"I don't," said Nianna. "But I might… have some experience with what's wrong with you."
Nianna started her airmotor. The propellers spun and the antigravity engaged. The airmotor rose to the lane height, passing just above the bronze buoys. The streets weren't busy around the campus, so Nianna had no trouble merging into the traffic.
"Where are we going?" asked Eve over the sound of rushing wind. She had to evade Nianna's wild hair.
"Not far."
"Today's lecture wasn't any help. The fucker didn't keep his promise."
Nianna laughed. "A professor who is a prick. Imagine that." Nianna revved her airmotor and crossed into the other lane, passing a slow-moving double-decker carrying large metal containers - destined for the factory district.
"I know the maths lecturers aren't the same as in the humanitarian division, but I just can't get how you can hate them so much. Starion is an exception in my experience," Eve said, laying her head on Nianna's shoulder, setting her cheek next to the tattooed crow.
Nianna grunted. "People in positions of power never really care for you. Their job is to manage you, make you do things their way. Sometimes by force."
Nianna led them around the Preptrian Wall, a 2nd century stone monument. All that's left of the 300km long wall that once divided the north and south of the Val Padana. It was a protected site, an attraction. Eve could look down and see the thousands of daily visitors that came to see one of the eleven wonders of Lürich.
Not long after Nianna said: "We are here."
Nianna parked her airmotor on the ground next to a 3-story building. A bar was the centerpiece; the Checkmate.
"Is this where you hung out? Since you left." Eve asked.
Nianna winced, and cleared her throat. "Yeah."
Eve took off her helmet and handed it back to Nianna. "I didn't mean anything by it. You know I… understand." Eve didn't mean to pause, but she did anyway.
Eve followed Nianna into the bar, the four large windows on the front were wide open. The doors screeched as Nianna pushed them open, and a bartender in his early 30s perked up.
"'Sup Nia! Who do you have with you?" the bartender asked with a tight-lipped smile. He was of average height, had American features, and wore the classic white shirt and tie most common in the north-west side of Lürich.
"A friend, her name is Eve," Nianna said and turned. "Eve, this is Rook. He's chill."
"Nice to meet you!" said Rook as he rounded the table and shook Eve's hand.
Firm grip, Eve noted.
The bar was empty save for the three of them. Nianna led Eve to a small booth secluded from the main lounging area. There were others like it, each with a curtain that could be pulled for maximum privacy.
Eve and Nianna took off their coats and sat. Nianna motioned to grab the hat off her head and froze when she remembered her hat was, in fact, filled with vomit and in a dumpster. Eve snickered at her and Nianna shook her head, smiling herself.
Rook asked: "What can I get you ladies?"
Eve piped up, craving something refreshing: "Lemon water please! Large."
"That's…" Nianna said before furrowing her brow. "…actually alright."
"You got something against my lemon water?" asked Rook.
"No." She shook her head. "But we will also need a glass of the red."
"Bit early for wine…" Rook said dubiously.
Nianna closed her eyes. "In a chalice please."
Rook's gentle smile vanished. He glanced towards Eve. "Uh… I don't think…"
"I know," said Nianna. "Please just bring it."
Rook looked back at her and nodded. He closed the curtains as he left. Nianna and Eve were alone in a circular booth, the only light source was a red lightbulb hanging above the table. Paintings of far-off landscapes adorned the three wooden walls.
"I am getting some peculiar vibes from you today," said Eve, looking at Nianna.
"Peculiar? More like horrified." She set her elbows on the desk and rubbed her forehead.
"Whoa! Okay, what is going on? What's wrong with you? What have you been up to these past months?"
"Evie. Look, I have some stuff going on that you do not need to be a part of." Nianna winced as she said it.
"Excuse me?" Eve said, scooting closer to Nianna. "NiNi, we have known each other how long?"
"16 years?" ventured Nianna.
"Don't pretend you don't know. Yes, 16 years. You and Atilan are the only constants in my life. You can't keep shit from me, I've been dealing with your parents alone since you left." She sighed. "And just so we're clear. You leaving did not make them more agreeable." Eve sat back, letting her head hit the wooden wall behind her. "Sometimes I wish they never adopted me."
"I don't," Nianna assured her. "I just… can't be around them, or you, all the time. It is not safe."
"Safe? How long do you plan to make me wait for an explanation? This is getting ridiculous."
"Just as soon as our drinks arrive."
Like he was summoned, Rook ducked through the curtains and presented a platter. On it was a glass of crystal clear and bubbling lemon water, and a grey stone chalice filled with mulled wine. It was warm, smelled perfectly irony, and emitted gentle condensation in the cold air.
Rook set the drinks down. "All good here?"
"Yes Rook. Thank you," said Nianna.
Rook went to leave, and whispered to Eve: "Good luck."
When he left, Nianna turned towards Eve and held her hands. She looked her in the eyes and swallowed. Eve's heart started to race, the look in Nianna's eyes was frightening - she had never seen her this scared. Nauseous waves washed over Eve, blooming from Nianna as she gulped and asked:
"Would you like to taste some wine?"
"I would not. Answers, Nianna."
Nianna reached for the wine and brought it in front of Eve.
Inside was a pool of red, hot liquid. Its edges darkened to a deep burgundy. Small pink bubbles dotted the surface. Eve inhaled, and the smell completed her. From head to toe she felt her skin shiver, her mouth filled with saliva.
Eve inhaled once, and her hands lunged.
She wrestled the wine from Nianna's hand, spilling some of it over the table, and pulled it toward her face and into her mouth. The stone rim of the chalice hit her teeth hard.
It did not matter.
Eve drank.
As the wine filled her throat and stomach, for the first time since what felt like forever, Eve felt warm. Inhaling over the rim of the cup, her lungs filled with air that was now richer and fuller than before. Her stomach relaxed, a tension in her abs released. Eve slumped back in the soft seat, melting in ecstasy.
Eve angled the cup faster than she could drink, hoping to use gravity to her advantage. Wine spilled out of her mouth and across her cheeks. It spread underneath her shirt and across the front of her body.
It felt like being covered in a warm blanket.
The cup was empty.
Eve's tongue darted out, licking the chalice, her shirt, whatever was left of the wine.
Eve shivered once again and felt a dull ache across her entirety. She wanted more; this was nowhere near enough. Rook! How dare he bring so little. Eve gripped the cup, which promptly shattered into stone shrapnel.
As the chalice disintegrated, Eve saw Nianna.
Nianna's hand was over her mouth, her brows furrowed above wide eyes. She was crying, visibly more so than audibly. Tears flowed freely.
As the wine-high subsided, Eve looked down at her wet clothes, at the broken cup, and her face painted red.
"I... I don't know what came over me..." Eve said quietly.
"Oh Evie. Oh no." Nianna wiped her tears into her sleeves. She grabbed Eve's hands.
"What's wrong with me?"
Nianna kissed Eve's hand. "That was blood, Evie. That was blood."
Eve's heart sank. She stood up. "No, it wasn't," she breathed and looked down at the liquid. Eve knew what blood looked like, and this wasn't...
Blood.
"I can't. I am not." Eve grabbed her left forearm and felt the scars beneath. She went to leave the booth, but Nianna stepped up to her, threw her arms around her, and hugged tightly.
"You are. I'm sorry. You are," Nianna said, holding her even tighter than before.
Eve shook her head wildly. "You know what they do. You know what they did. I cannot be an Other!"
"We will figure it out, you and me. We will figure something out. Sit, please."
After she did so, Eve gulped and tried to steady her breathing. She inhaled as much as she could, and exhaling slowly, she felt her heart calm. After a minute, she could speak again.
"How are you so calm? Aren't you afraid of me?" Eve asked. Nianna was still close to her, supporting her by the shoulders.
Nianna laughed, properly and loudly. Eve laughed too, but tears fell from her eyes.
Nianna nodded to herself and put her hand in Eve's palm. Nianna's hand darkened into a black goo, her fingertips lengthened and sharpened, all angularity vanished as Nianna's entire form morphed into darkness. Her clothes sank beneath her dark skin, vanishing.
Eve recoiled, and Rook popped his head inside.
"Everything alright?" he asked, before laying eyes on Nianna. "Ah. I will give you two some privacy."
Eve blinked at Rook as he closed the curtains, and at Nianna's mercurial form.
"You're an Other..." Eve whispered. "A Nykiram."
Nianna's head bobbed in a nod, and Eve wondered:
Then what am I?
Chapter 3 - Shkellega
Blood dripped from the table onto the smooth wooden floor. A painting of the Scandinavian countryside on the wall was marked by a crimson streak. The air was thick in the booth; neither Eve nor Nianna wanted to speak first.
Eve was motionless as she watched Nianna's body return to normal, like rising from the deep black ocean, human features reappearing.
Eve had moved away reflexively and now sat opposite Nianna, who was staring at the floor. Waves bloomed from her, yet this time, Eve decided to focus on their meaning – to try to accept them. Concentrating, Eve let the pulses envelop her whole, and like a half-remembered song, Eve felt shame - vast and unyielding.
Were these Nianna's emotions?
"NiNi… It's alright. Look at me."
Nianna's head rose gently. Her eyes had trouble finding Eve's, but they got there eventually.
"It's like you said. You and I will figure this out." Eve wanted to approach Nianna, but every time she commanded her legs to do so, they stayed firmly put.
"Am I making you feel it?" asked Nianna, nodding at Eve's left side.
Eve was still holding her left arm, feeling the four ridges beneath her clothes. Timidly, Eve relaxed herself further and let go. "No. You can never make me feel anything like that. I just need to process this. I have questions…"
"Another of the red, Rook!" called Nianna and raised her arms when she saw Eve's panicked look.
"It's for me," Nianna assured.
"Coming!" yelled Rook from beyond the curtain.
Eve nodded. "Ok, good. First question is this: Since when were you an Other?"
Nianna opened her mouth to answer, but Eve cut her off: "Six months. Isn't it?"
"Yeah."
Eve laughed. "You became an Other the day after my birthday."
"I did."
"Great. And instead of coming to me, you what? Quit college, left me alone with your parents. I only see you now on the fucking walk to campus."
Nianna shook her head. "It was the right thing to do."
"Leaving me with your parents? Did you know he's making me call him dad now?"
Nianna gritted her teeth. "I did not know that."
"Why am I even talking about him? Who cares?" Eve shook her head. "You should have told me from the start."
A wave of anger from Nianna. "What would you have done then, huh, Eve? Abandoned your life for me? You want to be a Scribe! The PACT, Eve! It's all you ever wanted."
"Fuck the PACT! It's you, me, and Atilan. All there is on this cursed Earth. How do you not know that?"
Nianna snorted. "If the situation was reversed? You became an Other, and I was still human? Would you risk snapping my neck and eating me whole? Or would you have left and never looked back?"
Eve stared at her, her throat tight.
Nianna held her gaze. "That's what I thought." The wave of anger subsided, and Nianna sat back down.
They had both stood up without realizing it.
Someone cleared their throat. "I have wine," called Rook.
"Bring it," said Nianna.
Rook placed down the chalice, glancing at the spilled blood, and left without a word.
Nianna grabbed the red liquid. It was warm; Eve could feel its presence - its calling. Its desire to merge with her and make her whole. Eve's hand whipped out and grabbed the chalice.
"Hey!" Nianna held the chalice firmly. She warned: "The hell?"
They were pulling at the chalice in opposite directions. Droplets were spilled, and Eve grew angry.
"You're spilling it!" With both hands, Eve grabbed the cup and stole it from Nianna's hand. The other girl turned into black liquid, flowed behind Eve from underneath the table, and reformed her body.
Nianna held the cup away from Eve's mouth, who was doing her best to drown herself in it.
"Eve! Control it! If you don't control it now, you never will!"
Nianna held the blood away from Eve, its angelic taste; Eve could not bear it. A fleshy bone-white hand ruptured from the back of Eve's neck and grabbed Nianna's throat. They thrashed in the booth, Eve desperate for the blood and Nianna desperate to keep it from her.
"Gah!" Nianna struggled to talk with her throat closed. "Eve, stop-p. You're… You're choking me."
The blood was half an arm's length away from Eve; if she could just hold Nianna back a few more moments, the blood would be hers. She could at last…
Fear.
Fear enveloped Eve like a blanket, radiating from behind her. From where she held Nianna by the throat. Eve let go of the chalice and backed away from Nianna.
Her eyes widened as she looked at her friend. "Nianna! What am I doing?"
Nianna hid the chalice under the table and coughed. "Damn, Evie. You've got a grip."
It was then that Eve felt and moved her third arm. Skinless, it hung from the back of Eve's neck. Her eyes widened as she slowly turned her head to look at it.
"I am so sorry, Nianna. I don't know what came over me," Eve said as she tried to move the third arm and found it obeyed her completely.
"New ones never do. It will subside with experience; the desire to eat," Nianna said.
"Good. Good. Now get this thing off me," Eve said, pointing at the third arm.
Nianna shook her head. "Can't do that. You are in control of yourself and your powers. Retract the hand on your own. Focus, will it to obey you."
Eve did, and felt the bones of the extra arm shatter and liquefy. Its entirety flowed back into her neck and out of sight.
"Sick," said Eve.
Nianna fixed her clothes and sat back down. "Here is what you need to do, Eve. You are going home - to pick up your stuff. You will stay at the Checkmate until further notice."
"Don't think so. I have to study. Exams next week," nodded Eve.
Nianna winced. "Your life is over, Eve. It's over."
"No, it isn't. I am still me. I can control it; you just saw me let go of the blood."
"You let go only because the blood wasn't fresh, because I'm not human, and because you care for me," Nianna shook her head. "If any of those things were different, you would have overpowered and killed me."
"You don't know that!"
Nianna stood up like a bolt of lightning. She towered over Eve and looked down at her. Her body was stiff and angry, but from the waves of emotion - Eve felt only sorrow.
"I know it, Eve. I know it. The Others live for a long time, so you best learn it as fast as possible."
"The Others live until killed. They are immortal," Eve said.
Wait. I am immortal?
"Eve," said Nianna. "In this, I am certain. You cannot go back, not after this. If you slip up, the PACT will kill you." "I haven't done anything."
Nianna nodded. "I know you haven't. But until this morning, were you not willing to join the PACT? You and Atilan." Nianna turned her back to Eve. "It's all you ever talk about."
"All that time we talked about the Others… You were there, thinking we would hate you," Eve thought.
"NiNi…" she said. "I am sorry. Sorry for making you feel that way. But I didn't know."
Nianna faced her. "Just listen, please. At least for a little while."
Eve searched Nianna's face and felt her emotions. The waves were tiny now, a commotion of dozens of different emotions, none overpowering the others. It was sadness, anger, loneliness… and a hint of happiness.
"Wait." Eve's eyes narrowed at Nianna. "You're happy I'm an Other!"
Nianna's eyes widened; shame radiated from her. "I-I am. But it's only because-"
"You're no longer alone," smiled Eve.
Nianna gulped. "Yeah."
"I get it. Note to self: avoid blood for the foreseeable future."
"Ah," Nianna said. "That was my fault. I thought you would have been sated. Half a liter is enough for a couple of days."
Eve smiled. "You know me, always a greedy eater."
Finally, Nianna laughed.
Good. That's better, Eve thought and asked: "How did it happen for you?"
Nianna sat back down and answered: "The usual, a lord thought I was cute. Wanted me. So, he attacked and sired me."
"How is that done, by the way? Historical accounts differ. You see, early 13th century scholar Brambus, eastern Himalayas region of course, talked about the process of shkellega, or the rite of the wings. Apparently, a group of Others would gather, naked, and the would-be Other would lay in the middle and they would take turns-"
"Stop!" said Nianna. "That is not true!"
"Oh," replied Eve with mild disappointment.
"I was just bitten!"
"Well, that's vanilla," said Eve, thinking of another possibility. "You sure you weren't covered in-"
"I'm sure, Eve," said Nianna, grabbing Eve's shoulders and gently shaking her.
"Things calm down in here?" asked Rook from the outside.
When Nianna called out that all was good, Rook came in with a broom and wet towels. He surveyed the booth.
Nianna winced and said: "Sorry."
Rook shook his head. "All good. Welcome to the family, new blood." He smiled at Eve.
"Not ready to joke about it yet. But thank you."
"Drinks are on me," assured Rook as he saw Eve pull out her wallet.
Eve said: "You are not paying for this, Rook. We made the mess, let us pay at least."
"Each cup was 200," Rook said, his voice flat. "And another 3 for the lemon."
"On second thought…"
Both Nianna and Rook snickered and laughed. Eve felt it, two overlapping pulses. One was of joy and coming from Nianna. Rook's was also full of energy, but she couldn't quite decipher its clear meaning.
"Are you an Other too, Rook?"
"Whoa, Eve..." warned Nianna.
"Look who's talking!" said Rook. "The night we met, you asked how many people I killed."
Nianna inhaled sharply. "Yeah, that was a bad call."
Eve pushed: "What's the answer?"
Rook considered her for a moment, and ducked down to clean the booth. From beneath, he answered:
"I'm an Ilsilad. And I killed one person."
"We are going upstairs. Let the girls meet Eve," said Nianna.
"Alright. Good luck, Laely is in a mood."
Nianna put on her coat and stepped out of the booth. "When is she not?"
Eve followed Nianna up the winding stairs at the back of the bar. They led into a lounge, directly above the bar. Inside were three women, looking directly at Eve.
One was spread over a couch, drinking some golden beer. She was ginger - violently so, and freckled. She wore a light blue shirt and booty shorts.
In this weather?
Eve felt stupid for thinking that, after the woman twisted like a snake as she stood up. Her arms and legs twisted unnaturally, her head made three complete rotations before coming to a stop.
"Knew it," the woman said to the others. "She brought a new one. I could smell her from two blocks away."
The second woman had neon blue hair and eyes, wore a green dress, but had remarkably similar features to the ginger – maybe sisters. She twisted in much the same way, and grabbed at the chandelier above her by lengthening her arms tenfold. She used it to jump over a table that stood in her way, and landed soundlessly near the ginger.
These two are Teriyad.
The last woman was standing on the ceiling. She looked up at Eve and Nianna and levitated down. Turning around in the air and crossing her legs to sit in the air. She was short, had bushy silver hair, and wore an all-white suit.
She took a long look at Eve's red hair, and asked:
"Who are you?"
Eve was motionless as she watched Nianna's body return to normal, like rising from the deep black ocean, human features reappearing.
Eve had moved away reflexively and now sat opposite Nianna, who was staring at the floor. Waves bloomed from her, yet this time, Eve decided to focus on their meaning – to try to accept them. Concentrating, Eve let the pulses envelop her whole, and like a half-remembered song, Eve felt shame - vast and unyielding.
Were these Nianna's emotions?
"NiNi… It's alright. Look at me."
Nianna's head rose gently. Her eyes had trouble finding Eve's, but they got there eventually.
"It's like you said. You and I will figure this out." Eve wanted to approach Nianna, but every time she commanded her legs to do so, they stayed firmly put.
"Am I making you feel it?" asked Nianna, nodding at Eve's left side.
Eve was still holding her left arm, feeling the four ridges beneath her clothes. Timidly, Eve relaxed herself further and let go. "No. You can never make me feel anything like that. I just need to process this. I have questions…"
"Another of the red, Rook!" called Nianna and raised her arms when she saw Eve's panicked look.
"It's for me," Nianna assured.
"Coming!" yelled Rook from beyond the curtain.
Eve nodded. "Ok, good. First question is this: Since when were you an Other?"
Nianna opened her mouth to answer, but Eve cut her off: "Six months. Isn't it?"
"Yeah."
Eve laughed. "You became an Other the day after my birthday."
"I did."
"Great. And instead of coming to me, you what? Quit college, left me alone with your parents. I only see you now on the fucking walk to campus."
Nianna shook her head. "It was the right thing to do."
"Leaving me with your parents? Did you know he's making me call him dad now?"
Nianna gritted her teeth. "I did not know that."
"Why am I even talking about him? Who cares?" Eve shook her head. "You should have told me from the start."
A wave of anger from Nianna. "What would you have done then, huh, Eve? Abandoned your life for me? You want to be a Scribe! The PACT, Eve! It's all you ever wanted."
"Fuck the PACT! It's you, me, and Atilan. All there is on this cursed Earth. How do you not know that?"
Nianna snorted. "If the situation was reversed? You became an Other, and I was still human? Would you risk snapping my neck and eating me whole? Or would you have left and never looked back?"
Eve stared at her, her throat tight.
Nianna held her gaze. "That's what I thought." The wave of anger subsided, and Nianna sat back down.
They had both stood up without realizing it.
Someone cleared their throat. "I have wine," called Rook.
"Bring it," said Nianna.
Rook placed down the chalice, glancing at the spilled blood, and left without a word.
Nianna grabbed the red liquid. It was warm; Eve could feel its presence - its calling. Its desire to merge with her and make her whole. Eve's hand whipped out and grabbed the chalice.
"Hey!" Nianna held the chalice firmly. She warned: "The hell?"
They were pulling at the chalice in opposite directions. Droplets were spilled, and Eve grew angry.
"You're spilling it!" With both hands, Eve grabbed the cup and stole it from Nianna's hand. The other girl turned into black liquid, flowed behind Eve from underneath the table, and reformed her body.
Nianna held the cup away from Eve's mouth, who was doing her best to drown herself in it.
"Eve! Control it! If you don't control it now, you never will!"
Nianna held the blood away from Eve, its angelic taste; Eve could not bear it. A fleshy bone-white hand ruptured from the back of Eve's neck and grabbed Nianna's throat. They thrashed in the booth, Eve desperate for the blood and Nianna desperate to keep it from her.
"Gah!" Nianna struggled to talk with her throat closed. "Eve, stop-p. You're… You're choking me."
The blood was half an arm's length away from Eve; if she could just hold Nianna back a few more moments, the blood would be hers. She could at last…
Fear.
Fear enveloped Eve like a blanket, radiating from behind her. From where she held Nianna by the throat. Eve let go of the chalice and backed away from Nianna.
Her eyes widened as she looked at her friend. "Nianna! What am I doing?"
Nianna hid the chalice under the table and coughed. "Damn, Evie. You've got a grip."
It was then that Eve felt and moved her third arm. Skinless, it hung from the back of Eve's neck. Her eyes widened as she slowly turned her head to look at it.
"I am so sorry, Nianna. I don't know what came over me," Eve said as she tried to move the third arm and found it obeyed her completely.
"New ones never do. It will subside with experience; the desire to eat," Nianna said.
"Good. Good. Now get this thing off me," Eve said, pointing at the third arm.
Nianna shook her head. "Can't do that. You are in control of yourself and your powers. Retract the hand on your own. Focus, will it to obey you."
Eve did, and felt the bones of the extra arm shatter and liquefy. Its entirety flowed back into her neck and out of sight.
"Sick," said Eve.
Nianna fixed her clothes and sat back down. "Here is what you need to do, Eve. You are going home - to pick up your stuff. You will stay at the Checkmate until further notice."
"Don't think so. I have to study. Exams next week," nodded Eve.
Nianna winced. "Your life is over, Eve. It's over."
"No, it isn't. I am still me. I can control it; you just saw me let go of the blood."
"You let go only because the blood wasn't fresh, because I'm not human, and because you care for me," Nianna shook her head. "If any of those things were different, you would have overpowered and killed me."
"You don't know that!"
Nianna stood up like a bolt of lightning. She towered over Eve and looked down at her. Her body was stiff and angry, but from the waves of emotion - Eve felt only sorrow.
"I know it, Eve. I know it. The Others live for a long time, so you best learn it as fast as possible."
"The Others live until killed. They are immortal," Eve said.
Wait. I am immortal?
"Eve," said Nianna. "In this, I am certain. You cannot go back, not after this. If you slip up, the PACT will kill you." "I haven't done anything."
Nianna nodded. "I know you haven't. But until this morning, were you not willing to join the PACT? You and Atilan." Nianna turned her back to Eve. "It's all you ever talk about."
"All that time we talked about the Others… You were there, thinking we would hate you," Eve thought.
"NiNi…" she said. "I am sorry. Sorry for making you feel that way. But I didn't know."
Nianna faced her. "Just listen, please. At least for a little while."
Eve searched Nianna's face and felt her emotions. The waves were tiny now, a commotion of dozens of different emotions, none overpowering the others. It was sadness, anger, loneliness… and a hint of happiness.
"Wait." Eve's eyes narrowed at Nianna. "You're happy I'm an Other!"
Nianna's eyes widened; shame radiated from her. "I-I am. But it's only because-"
"You're no longer alone," smiled Eve.
Nianna gulped. "Yeah."
"I get it. Note to self: avoid blood for the foreseeable future."
"Ah," Nianna said. "That was my fault. I thought you would have been sated. Half a liter is enough for a couple of days."
Eve smiled. "You know me, always a greedy eater."
Finally, Nianna laughed.
Good. That's better, Eve thought and asked: "How did it happen for you?"
Nianna sat back down and answered: "The usual, a lord thought I was cute. Wanted me. So, he attacked and sired me."
"How is that done, by the way? Historical accounts differ. You see, early 13th century scholar Brambus, eastern Himalayas region of course, talked about the process of shkellega, or the rite of the wings. Apparently, a group of Others would gather, naked, and the would-be Other would lay in the middle and they would take turns-"
"Stop!" said Nianna. "That is not true!"
"Oh," replied Eve with mild disappointment.
"I was just bitten!"
"Well, that's vanilla," said Eve, thinking of another possibility. "You sure you weren't covered in-"
"I'm sure, Eve," said Nianna, grabbing Eve's shoulders and gently shaking her.
"Things calm down in here?" asked Rook from the outside.
When Nianna called out that all was good, Rook came in with a broom and wet towels. He surveyed the booth.
Nianna winced and said: "Sorry."
Rook shook his head. "All good. Welcome to the family, new blood." He smiled at Eve.
"Not ready to joke about it yet. But thank you."
"Drinks are on me," assured Rook as he saw Eve pull out her wallet.
Eve said: "You are not paying for this, Rook. We made the mess, let us pay at least."
"Each cup was 200," Rook said, his voice flat. "And another 3 for the lemon."
"On second thought…"
Both Nianna and Rook snickered and laughed. Eve felt it, two overlapping pulses. One was of joy and coming from Nianna. Rook's was also full of energy, but she couldn't quite decipher its clear meaning.
"Are you an Other too, Rook?"
"Whoa, Eve..." warned Nianna.
"Look who's talking!" said Rook. "The night we met, you asked how many people I killed."
Nianna inhaled sharply. "Yeah, that was a bad call."
Eve pushed: "What's the answer?"
Rook considered her for a moment, and ducked down to clean the booth. From beneath, he answered:
"I'm an Ilsilad. And I killed one person."
"We are going upstairs. Let the girls meet Eve," said Nianna.
"Alright. Good luck, Laely is in a mood."
Nianna put on her coat and stepped out of the booth. "When is she not?"
Eve followed Nianna up the winding stairs at the back of the bar. They led into a lounge, directly above the bar. Inside were three women, looking directly at Eve.
One was spread over a couch, drinking some golden beer. She was ginger - violently so, and freckled. She wore a light blue shirt and booty shorts.
In this weather?
Eve felt stupid for thinking that, after the woman twisted like a snake as she stood up. Her arms and legs twisted unnaturally, her head made three complete rotations before coming to a stop.
"Knew it," the woman said to the others. "She brought a new one. I could smell her from two blocks away."
The second woman had neon blue hair and eyes, wore a green dress, but had remarkably similar features to the ginger – maybe sisters. She twisted in much the same way, and grabbed at the chandelier above her by lengthening her arms tenfold. She used it to jump over a table that stood in her way, and landed soundlessly near the ginger.
These two are Teriyad.
The last woman was standing on the ceiling. She looked up at Eve and Nianna and levitated down. Turning around in the air and crossing her legs to sit in the air. She was short, had bushy silver hair, and wore an all-white suit.
She took a long look at Eve's red hair, and asked:
"Who are you?"
Chapter 4 - Elemental Gap
Eve held the levitating girl's gaze. Her eyes were bright pink, startlingly so.
"I'm an Other, my name is Eve," she said, taking off her hat and bowing slightly.
Nianna added: "She's my plus one. I'm cashing it in."
A wave from the ginger, followed by: "Fucking great, Nianna. Right now? You sire someone now?"
"I didn't sire her, Laely."
The blue-haired woman's eyes widened. "Does her sire know she's here?"
"No. Eve here was turned while she slept. Possibly drugged to induce a brief coma."
Eve glanced at Nianna. I might have been drugged?
Laely, the ginger girl, laughed. "A rogue. Perfect. But what about..." - Laely walked up to Nianna and stared up at her - "...Vami!? Did you even look for him?"
"I did," said Nianna, as waves of pity radiated. "He's dead."
Laely's entire body recoiled. Her eyes shone red as green dust enveloped her. Nianna immediately shifted into darkness. She was taller than Atilan now, and by a lot.
The levitating girl sucked in a breath. "I'm sorry, Laely. But you need to calm down. Look where you are."
"I don't give a flying fuck if we are in the Checkmate. All these rules were yours and Rook's idea, not mine," Laely yelled and focused back on Nianna. "And you!"
Laely's arm lengthened and slashed at Nianna like a whip. Nianna bent backwards and fell to the floor. Her face grew a snout, she gained a tail, and her body was covered in dark fur. Nianna had become a dark wolf.
She ran at Laely and morphed back into herself as she grabbed her by the throat. Nianna pulled the shorter girl off the ground. Waves of excitement drummed from her.
"Drop the dust, Laely. Now."
Laely screamed and slammed at Nianna, whose dark form cringed slightly with each strike. Nianna remained firm and after a dozen punches, she asked:
"Are you done embarrassing yourself?"
When Laely nodded, Nianna let her go. The ginger fell to the floor on her knees.
Nianna turned back into herself and looked down at the kneeling woman.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry? My boyfriend is dead." Laely stood up. "Who did it?"
Nianna sat on a sofa and motioned for Eve to do the same. "Keepers. Who else? He went after a civilian in the open and paid for it."
Eve sat next to Nianna and asked: "On the campus? Was that him?"
"The dead body? No, that was his victim. Vami's body was taken by the Keepers, as protocol."
The levitating girl turned herself upside down, her slick hair falling down, and floated in front of Nianna. "Heard about that. Are you sure it was him?"
"I'm positive, Kori."
Kori nodded, still upside down and moving slightly to her left - now facing Eve.
"Species?"
"Me? Uh, not sure. I have some mental senses, so possibly a Liumanau - but no antennae." Eve tapped her hair, searching for any new growths. "So that rules them out. I can summon arms from anywhere within my body. That hints that I may be an Étha with a unique mutation..." Eve powered through the word, a tingle of pain escaped from beneath the skin of her left arm. Eve quickly continued - "But they have no mental abilities."
Eve noticed all the girls staring at her.
"How much did you tell her?" the blue-haired woman asked Nianna.
"Not a thing, Mini. Eve is a cryptozoologist."
"No shit?" asked Laely as she stood. "Well, good for you. It should make acclimating much easier!"
"Enough with the angst, Laely," warned Kori.
Laely snorted, grabbed at a supporting beam on the ceiling, and pulled herself up onto a raised platform in the center of the lounge. She was hidden from sight, but Eve could hear her plopping down on something soft - a bed perhaps?
Mini walked up and sat across from Eve, she said a touch too loud: "Don't mind my sister. She is a bitch."
Eve's eyes widened as she looked up to where Laely was. She expected an explosive reaction, anything else except the single wave of displeasure.
Kori said: "The main question is of your species. Usually, when sired, you get taken in and taught the basics by whoever sired you."
"Won't work. She remembers nothing," said Nianna and looked towards Eve for confirmation.
Eve nodded and said, "Nothing. I just woke up with increased strength, these pulses of empathy, and now the extra arm."
"We can do a metal test," said Mini.
Eve's eyes widened. "It's real then? Others have chemical elements they're vulnerable to?" She smiled at Nianna. "That means that the Cubrin gap is bogus. - There are no mysterious gaps in the abundance of natural elements. Wait..."
Eve got up from the couch and began pacing. "If the gap is manufactured by the Others, then that must be why all cobalt deposits were lost during the turn of the previous millennium, when the Vanator Others first appeared. Right, Kori?"
Kori straightened and floated away from Eve slightly. Her brows furrowed. "Why would I know?"
Eve's expression turned deadpan. "Come on, the flying, the metallic hair. You're a Vanator."
"This one," Kori looked at Nianna, "is going to be a handful."
"Don't I know it," Nianna smiled and looked at Eve. "Want to do the test?"
"Sure," Eve said with a giddy smile.
"I've got it," Mini said and turned in her seat. Her arms twisted and lengthened as her head turned to look behind her. She used her arms to open a safe on the wall behind her, hidden behind a small bookcase. From inside she pulled out a leather satchel.
Eve glanced upwards. "Is Laely going to be alright?"
"It's a part of being what we are," said Kori. "Many of us die every day. She will bounce back."
Mini opened the satchel and emptied ten small cubes across the table. They clanked like dice, and Mini began arranging them in a line. They were metallic, of various shades of grey, but one was clearly gold.
Eve asked: "How will we complete the test? There are eight elements in the Cubrin gap, and 12 species of Others. We are missing 5 elements."
Kori smiled at Eve's question and levitated closer. "Ah, excellent question, young one. Cubrin himself is an Other, and has gone through great efforts to conceal the final element. The element his kind is vulnerable to."
"Wait. Albion Cubrin is alive?"
Kori nodded. "Yes. He is quite an interesting fellow. Very talkative."
"You've met?" asked Eve.
"We did. Many times."
Eve glanced at Nianna. "How old are you, Kori?"
Kori rotated clockwise with a smile. "I am 807 years old."
"You... but..." stammered Eve, "look like you're in your 30s."
Kori laid in the air, as if she were relaxing on a bed. "Ah, the blessings of immortality."
"Eve," called Nianna. "You lost track of your question again."
Mini smiled. "Kori does that too. I can already see conversations between the two of them leading nowhere."
Eve nodded, embarrassed. "Right. So, the other 5 elements?"
Kori blinked. "Oh. Well, silicon is shared by two species. And the other three are too abundant for Cubrin to spread falsehoods about them. Hydrogen, Fluorine, and Beryllium."
The blonde reached back into the safe and brought out a yellow can. It was marked with large symbols showing the toxicity of its contents. Mini brought the can closer and gave it a good shake. Eve could read a large F on its front.
Fluorine. Extremely poisonous, 1 milligram capable of killing a fully grown human. It attacks the body's cells and deconstructs... Wait.
"Fluorine is harmless?" asked Eve.
Kori shook her head. "Far from harmless, just not as dangerous as you've been told. Beryllium as well."
When Mini set down the can of Fluorine, she rose and went to the kitchen. Eve looked at the elements in front of her and asked: "How will we test for Hydrogen? It needs cryogenic storage."
Mini returned and handed Eve a glass of water. She smiled and said, "H2O baby. Drink up. And here." She handed Eve a sharp kitchen knife.
"Place each element one by one in contact with your skin, and try to cut yourself with the knife. Your powers should also immediately stop working."
Eve looked towards Nianna. "Did you do this as well?"
Nianna shook her head. "No. My sire told me what I am, and what he is."
"What about you girls?" Eve asked Kori and Mini.
Mini sat deeper in the sofa and crossed her arms and legs. "Yup. My sire definitely told me what I am. Definitely."
"Me too," Kori smiled. "I've known since day one."
Eve stared at the glass of water. "My situation is uncommon?"
"Big time," said Nianna. "What your sire did is punishable by death."
"Who enforces it?"
Nianna made a vague hand gesture. "The Others as a community, I guess... but mostly the elders give the go-ahead."
Mini clapped her hands and pointed at the elements. "Hurry up, Eve. We need to figure out how to contain you."
Nianna nodded. "Yup. Remember the blood downstairs? You're exceptionally strong - Even for an Other. We need to know your element if you lose your calm and attack someone."
Eve gulped the water down with her eyes closed and waited. She opened her eyes, and when she didn't feel anything different, she put the blade to her finger and sliced.
Nothing.
"Whoa," gasped Eve at the ease with which Eve tried to harm herself.
"You're not a Honikai. Next," noted Mini.
Eve heard Laely rustle from above them. She could practically see her move to the edge of her platform as quietly as she could. She was peeking from above, trying to steal as many glances as she could of her sister and the test.
Eve startled herself as she realized she could hear. She closed her eyes and focused. Laely's breathing, the beating of her heart, the falling of droplets from the sink in the kitchen, the sound of Rook wiping the booth clean.
Eve could see it all, as clear as if it were happening in front of her.
As she focused outwards, Eve reached a barrier some 20 meters around her, beyond which she heard nothing.
"Hey, Nianna. I can hear!"
Nianna looked at her and laughed, giving a thumbs up. "Good. I can hear too."
"No, I mean I can hear really well. Like echolocation except better, much more precise." Eve explained and called out: "Hey, Laely?"
Laely jumped away from the ledge and back to her bed. "What is it, Red?"
"Can you hold up your fingers and I will try to guess how many?"
Laely laughed. "Be my guest."
Eve closed her eyes again and focused upwards. She felt Laely's arm, and her three outstretched fingers.
"Three," Eve said.
"No fucking way," Laely said, twisted on the bed and dropped down onto the floor next to Eve.
"That's... unusual," said Kori. "Never heard of that ability, even as a mutation."
Nianna smiled. "Eve, it may be possible you have multiple mutations. Considering the arms and now this."
"Mutations?" asked Eve.
"All Others have a mutation. Majority have just one - an alteration of their base abilities. Some have multiple," replied Mini.
Eve closed her eyes again; Rook had finished cleaning the booth and was back behind the counter when two customers walked in.
"You need to be careful, Eve. Others with multiple mutations are highly sought after. If your sire doesn't reveal themselves, you might find yourself the target of several Clans. They will want you."
Eve gasped. "Groups of Others bound by species and common history and goals? Those are real?"
Nianna grunted. "They are. Plenty of times when you would talk cryptozoology, I was impressed just how spot on your theories were."
Eve smiled and closed her eyes again. Rook was tending to the two customers, a man and a woman. They wore suits and had metal shields on the left sides of their chests. Both had flowers on their person, the stems pressed between the suit and the small shield. The man wore ten rings, and the woman had a sword on her back.
"How did you realize she was an Other, Nianna?" Kori asked.
"Uh, guys?" Eve interrupted.
She was still listening, focused entirely on the downstairs. The man had a ragged voice, the kind you get after years of cigarettes and alcohol.
"Rook, isn't it?" the man asked, and Rook's heartbeat immediately skyrocketed. He became a beacon of nauseating waves.
Rook put on a smile and asked. "That's the name, what can I get you?"
Nianna put her hand on Eve's shoulder. "What's up, Eve?"
Eve focused on the shields, they were small, made of steel. And had four emboldened letters on their front, encircled by leaves of the olive tree.
The letters read: PACT
The man smiled downstairs. "You can get on your knees, Other vermin. You are under arrest."
Eve's eyes shot open. "Rook is being arrested!"
"Don't fuck around," warned Laely. Mini and Nianna rose to their feet.
"Eve? Are you sure?" concern radiated from Nianna.
Eve focused again. She felt the tension in Rook's muscles and joints - he was ready to bolt. The man opened his hand towards Rook, and a sizzling ball of energy appeared in it.
"Do not fucking test me," warned the man.
The woman spoke for the first time. She sounded apologetic. "Please, Mr. Rook. Come peacefully."
"Nah," interjected the man. "Look at him, Meadowsweet. He is a runner."
Eve rose herself. "I am not joking. Keepers, two of them. One of them is named Meadowsweet."
"The velvet serpent?" asked Kori.
Laely's eyes widened. "You know the Keeper?"
Kori raised a hand to silence Laely and asked: "Does she have a sword with a broken tip?"
Eve closed her eyes. The inside of the woman's scabbard was filled, except its latter quarter, where it ended in many jagged points.
Eve nodded.
"We need to run," Kori said and flew towards the window.
"What about Rook?" asked Mini, eyes panicked.
"He's gone already," said Kori as she unlocked and opened the window. She touched the floor with her legs, timidly so, and began climbing down onto the street.
"Let's go," said Nianna and grabbed Eve by the hand.
"No way I am leaving Rook alone," Mini said, still firmly in her place.
Laely approached her sister. "Hey Mi, we need to go."
Mini stared at her sister. "Don't call me that, we are no longer children."
Laely winced. "Yeah, I know. We have to go with them," she motioned at the window. "I know Rook means a lot to you, Vami meant a lot to me too. But they wouldn't want us getting killed alongside them."
Mini clutched her hand and said: "Dammit!"
Mini and Laely followed through the window. Nianna and Eve were outside already, climbing down a duct to the winter streets below. The trip was short, they were only on the first floor.
"We stand out," said Kori - who was very short now that she was no longer floating.
Nearby citizens of Lürich were glancing at the 5 women. Particularly at Laely, who was still in her booty shorts at temperatures below freezing.
"My bike is out front. Can you make us lighter while we are on it, Kori? I don't think it can carry us otherwise."
Kori nodded and asked Eve: "Is the coast clear?"
They were at the corner of the building, the bike and the entrance to the Checkmate was around the bend. Eve closed her eyes and checked up on Rook. He was on his knees between the two keepers, with a metal mask across his face. His hands were glued together by some paste. Eve scanned the surroundings, and finding no other suited individuals with shields on their chests, she said: "Clear."
The five women huddled onto Nianna's bike. Kori put her hands on the bike and small bolts of lightning arched across her arms and hair. The bike shot up as Nianna turned it on.
"Whoa!" she yelled as she regained control. "Good job, Kori."
Laely was shaking, rattled by the sudden motion.
"Close your eyes, Laely," said Mini. "It's not as bad."
Nianna took off as fast as she could, swerving to avoid other airmotors and cruisers. The Checkmate was out of sight soon.
"So..." asked Kori, "where to now?"
"I'm an Other, my name is Eve," she said, taking off her hat and bowing slightly.
Nianna added: "She's my plus one. I'm cashing it in."
A wave from the ginger, followed by: "Fucking great, Nianna. Right now? You sire someone now?"
"I didn't sire her, Laely."
The blue-haired woman's eyes widened. "Does her sire know she's here?"
"No. Eve here was turned while she slept. Possibly drugged to induce a brief coma."
Eve glanced at Nianna. I might have been drugged?
Laely, the ginger girl, laughed. "A rogue. Perfect. But what about..." - Laely walked up to Nianna and stared up at her - "...Vami!? Did you even look for him?"
"I did," said Nianna, as waves of pity radiated. "He's dead."
Laely's entire body recoiled. Her eyes shone red as green dust enveloped her. Nianna immediately shifted into darkness. She was taller than Atilan now, and by a lot.
The levitating girl sucked in a breath. "I'm sorry, Laely. But you need to calm down. Look where you are."
"I don't give a flying fuck if we are in the Checkmate. All these rules were yours and Rook's idea, not mine," Laely yelled and focused back on Nianna. "And you!"
Laely's arm lengthened and slashed at Nianna like a whip. Nianna bent backwards and fell to the floor. Her face grew a snout, she gained a tail, and her body was covered in dark fur. Nianna had become a dark wolf.
She ran at Laely and morphed back into herself as she grabbed her by the throat. Nianna pulled the shorter girl off the ground. Waves of excitement drummed from her.
"Drop the dust, Laely. Now."
Laely screamed and slammed at Nianna, whose dark form cringed slightly with each strike. Nianna remained firm and after a dozen punches, she asked:
"Are you done embarrassing yourself?"
When Laely nodded, Nianna let her go. The ginger fell to the floor on her knees.
Nianna turned back into herself and looked down at the kneeling woman.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry? My boyfriend is dead." Laely stood up. "Who did it?"
Nianna sat on a sofa and motioned for Eve to do the same. "Keepers. Who else? He went after a civilian in the open and paid for it."
Eve sat next to Nianna and asked: "On the campus? Was that him?"
"The dead body? No, that was his victim. Vami's body was taken by the Keepers, as protocol."
The levitating girl turned herself upside down, her slick hair falling down, and floated in front of Nianna. "Heard about that. Are you sure it was him?"
"I'm positive, Kori."
Kori nodded, still upside down and moving slightly to her left - now facing Eve.
"Species?"
"Me? Uh, not sure. I have some mental senses, so possibly a Liumanau - but no antennae." Eve tapped her hair, searching for any new growths. "So that rules them out. I can summon arms from anywhere within my body. That hints that I may be an Étha with a unique mutation..." Eve powered through the word, a tingle of pain escaped from beneath the skin of her left arm. Eve quickly continued - "But they have no mental abilities."
Eve noticed all the girls staring at her.
"How much did you tell her?" the blue-haired woman asked Nianna.
"Not a thing, Mini. Eve is a cryptozoologist."
"No shit?" asked Laely as she stood. "Well, good for you. It should make acclimating much easier!"
"Enough with the angst, Laely," warned Kori.
Laely snorted, grabbed at a supporting beam on the ceiling, and pulled herself up onto a raised platform in the center of the lounge. She was hidden from sight, but Eve could hear her plopping down on something soft - a bed perhaps?
Mini walked up and sat across from Eve, she said a touch too loud: "Don't mind my sister. She is a bitch."
Eve's eyes widened as she looked up to where Laely was. She expected an explosive reaction, anything else except the single wave of displeasure.
Kori said: "The main question is of your species. Usually, when sired, you get taken in and taught the basics by whoever sired you."
"Won't work. She remembers nothing," said Nianna and looked towards Eve for confirmation.
Eve nodded and said, "Nothing. I just woke up with increased strength, these pulses of empathy, and now the extra arm."
"We can do a metal test," said Mini.
Eve's eyes widened. "It's real then? Others have chemical elements they're vulnerable to?" She smiled at Nianna. "That means that the Cubrin gap is bogus. - There are no mysterious gaps in the abundance of natural elements. Wait..."
Eve got up from the couch and began pacing. "If the gap is manufactured by the Others, then that must be why all cobalt deposits were lost during the turn of the previous millennium, when the Vanator Others first appeared. Right, Kori?"
Kori straightened and floated away from Eve slightly. Her brows furrowed. "Why would I know?"
Eve's expression turned deadpan. "Come on, the flying, the metallic hair. You're a Vanator."
"This one," Kori looked at Nianna, "is going to be a handful."
"Don't I know it," Nianna smiled and looked at Eve. "Want to do the test?"
"Sure," Eve said with a giddy smile.
"I've got it," Mini said and turned in her seat. Her arms twisted and lengthened as her head turned to look behind her. She used her arms to open a safe on the wall behind her, hidden behind a small bookcase. From inside she pulled out a leather satchel.
Eve glanced upwards. "Is Laely going to be alright?"
"It's a part of being what we are," said Kori. "Many of us die every day. She will bounce back."
Mini opened the satchel and emptied ten small cubes across the table. They clanked like dice, and Mini began arranging them in a line. They were metallic, of various shades of grey, but one was clearly gold.
Eve asked: "How will we complete the test? There are eight elements in the Cubrin gap, and 12 species of Others. We are missing 5 elements."
Kori smiled at Eve's question and levitated closer. "Ah, excellent question, young one. Cubrin himself is an Other, and has gone through great efforts to conceal the final element. The element his kind is vulnerable to."
"Wait. Albion Cubrin is alive?"
Kori nodded. "Yes. He is quite an interesting fellow. Very talkative."
"You've met?" asked Eve.
"We did. Many times."
Eve glanced at Nianna. "How old are you, Kori?"
Kori rotated clockwise with a smile. "I am 807 years old."
"You... but..." stammered Eve, "look like you're in your 30s."
Kori laid in the air, as if she were relaxing on a bed. "Ah, the blessings of immortality."
"Eve," called Nianna. "You lost track of your question again."
Mini smiled. "Kori does that too. I can already see conversations between the two of them leading nowhere."
Eve nodded, embarrassed. "Right. So, the other 5 elements?"
Kori blinked. "Oh. Well, silicon is shared by two species. And the other three are too abundant for Cubrin to spread falsehoods about them. Hydrogen, Fluorine, and Beryllium."
The blonde reached back into the safe and brought out a yellow can. It was marked with large symbols showing the toxicity of its contents. Mini brought the can closer and gave it a good shake. Eve could read a large F on its front.
Fluorine. Extremely poisonous, 1 milligram capable of killing a fully grown human. It attacks the body's cells and deconstructs... Wait.
"Fluorine is harmless?" asked Eve.
Kori shook her head. "Far from harmless, just not as dangerous as you've been told. Beryllium as well."
When Mini set down the can of Fluorine, she rose and went to the kitchen. Eve looked at the elements in front of her and asked: "How will we test for Hydrogen? It needs cryogenic storage."
Mini returned and handed Eve a glass of water. She smiled and said, "H2O baby. Drink up. And here." She handed Eve a sharp kitchen knife.
"Place each element one by one in contact with your skin, and try to cut yourself with the knife. Your powers should also immediately stop working."
Eve looked towards Nianna. "Did you do this as well?"
Nianna shook her head. "No. My sire told me what I am, and what he is."
"What about you girls?" Eve asked Kori and Mini.
Mini sat deeper in the sofa and crossed her arms and legs. "Yup. My sire definitely told me what I am. Definitely."
"Me too," Kori smiled. "I've known since day one."
Eve stared at the glass of water. "My situation is uncommon?"
"Big time," said Nianna. "What your sire did is punishable by death."
"Who enforces it?"
Nianna made a vague hand gesture. "The Others as a community, I guess... but mostly the elders give the go-ahead."
Mini clapped her hands and pointed at the elements. "Hurry up, Eve. We need to figure out how to contain you."
Nianna nodded. "Yup. Remember the blood downstairs? You're exceptionally strong - Even for an Other. We need to know your element if you lose your calm and attack someone."
Eve gulped the water down with her eyes closed and waited. She opened her eyes, and when she didn't feel anything different, she put the blade to her finger and sliced.
Nothing.
"Whoa," gasped Eve at the ease with which Eve tried to harm herself.
"You're not a Honikai. Next," noted Mini.
Eve heard Laely rustle from above them. She could practically see her move to the edge of her platform as quietly as she could. She was peeking from above, trying to steal as many glances as she could of her sister and the test.
Eve startled herself as she realized she could hear. She closed her eyes and focused. Laely's breathing, the beating of her heart, the falling of droplets from the sink in the kitchen, the sound of Rook wiping the booth clean.
Eve could see it all, as clear as if it were happening in front of her.
As she focused outwards, Eve reached a barrier some 20 meters around her, beyond which she heard nothing.
"Hey, Nianna. I can hear!"
Nianna looked at her and laughed, giving a thumbs up. "Good. I can hear too."
"No, I mean I can hear really well. Like echolocation except better, much more precise." Eve explained and called out: "Hey, Laely?"
Laely jumped away from the ledge and back to her bed. "What is it, Red?"
"Can you hold up your fingers and I will try to guess how many?"
Laely laughed. "Be my guest."
Eve closed her eyes again and focused upwards. She felt Laely's arm, and her three outstretched fingers.
"Three," Eve said.
"No fucking way," Laely said, twisted on the bed and dropped down onto the floor next to Eve.
"That's... unusual," said Kori. "Never heard of that ability, even as a mutation."
Nianna smiled. "Eve, it may be possible you have multiple mutations. Considering the arms and now this."
"Mutations?" asked Eve.
"All Others have a mutation. Majority have just one - an alteration of their base abilities. Some have multiple," replied Mini.
Eve closed her eyes again; Rook had finished cleaning the booth and was back behind the counter when two customers walked in.
"You need to be careful, Eve. Others with multiple mutations are highly sought after. If your sire doesn't reveal themselves, you might find yourself the target of several Clans. They will want you."
Eve gasped. "Groups of Others bound by species and common history and goals? Those are real?"
Nianna grunted. "They are. Plenty of times when you would talk cryptozoology, I was impressed just how spot on your theories were."
Eve smiled and closed her eyes again. Rook was tending to the two customers, a man and a woman. They wore suits and had metal shields on the left sides of their chests. Both had flowers on their person, the stems pressed between the suit and the small shield. The man wore ten rings, and the woman had a sword on her back.
"How did you realize she was an Other, Nianna?" Kori asked.
"Uh, guys?" Eve interrupted.
She was still listening, focused entirely on the downstairs. The man had a ragged voice, the kind you get after years of cigarettes and alcohol.
"Rook, isn't it?" the man asked, and Rook's heartbeat immediately skyrocketed. He became a beacon of nauseating waves.
Rook put on a smile and asked. "That's the name, what can I get you?"
Nianna put her hand on Eve's shoulder. "What's up, Eve?"
Eve focused on the shields, they were small, made of steel. And had four emboldened letters on their front, encircled by leaves of the olive tree.
The letters read: PACT
The man smiled downstairs. "You can get on your knees, Other vermin. You are under arrest."
Eve's eyes shot open. "Rook is being arrested!"
"Don't fuck around," warned Laely. Mini and Nianna rose to their feet.
"Eve? Are you sure?" concern radiated from Nianna.
Eve focused again. She felt the tension in Rook's muscles and joints - he was ready to bolt. The man opened his hand towards Rook, and a sizzling ball of energy appeared in it.
"Do not fucking test me," warned the man.
The woman spoke for the first time. She sounded apologetic. "Please, Mr. Rook. Come peacefully."
"Nah," interjected the man. "Look at him, Meadowsweet. He is a runner."
Eve rose herself. "I am not joking. Keepers, two of them. One of them is named Meadowsweet."
"The velvet serpent?" asked Kori.
Laely's eyes widened. "You know the Keeper?"
Kori raised a hand to silence Laely and asked: "Does she have a sword with a broken tip?"
Eve closed her eyes. The inside of the woman's scabbard was filled, except its latter quarter, where it ended in many jagged points.
Eve nodded.
"We need to run," Kori said and flew towards the window.
"What about Rook?" asked Mini, eyes panicked.
"He's gone already," said Kori as she unlocked and opened the window. She touched the floor with her legs, timidly so, and began climbing down onto the street.
"Let's go," said Nianna and grabbed Eve by the hand.
"No way I am leaving Rook alone," Mini said, still firmly in her place.
Laely approached her sister. "Hey Mi, we need to go."
Mini stared at her sister. "Don't call me that, we are no longer children."
Laely winced. "Yeah, I know. We have to go with them," she motioned at the window. "I know Rook means a lot to you, Vami meant a lot to me too. But they wouldn't want us getting killed alongside them."
Mini clutched her hand and said: "Dammit!"
Mini and Laely followed through the window. Nianna and Eve were outside already, climbing down a duct to the winter streets below. The trip was short, they were only on the first floor.
"We stand out," said Kori - who was very short now that she was no longer floating.
Nearby citizens of Lürich were glancing at the 5 women. Particularly at Laely, who was still in her booty shorts at temperatures below freezing.
"My bike is out front. Can you make us lighter while we are on it, Kori? I don't think it can carry us otherwise."
Kori nodded and asked Eve: "Is the coast clear?"
They were at the corner of the building, the bike and the entrance to the Checkmate was around the bend. Eve closed her eyes and checked up on Rook. He was on his knees between the two keepers, with a metal mask across his face. His hands were glued together by some paste. Eve scanned the surroundings, and finding no other suited individuals with shields on their chests, she said: "Clear."
The five women huddled onto Nianna's bike. Kori put her hands on the bike and small bolts of lightning arched across her arms and hair. The bike shot up as Nianna turned it on.
"Whoa!" she yelled as she regained control. "Good job, Kori."
Laely was shaking, rattled by the sudden motion.
"Close your eyes, Laely," said Mini. "It's not as bad."
Nianna took off as fast as she could, swerving to avoid other airmotors and cruisers. The Checkmate was out of sight soon.
"So..." asked Kori, "where to now?"
Chapter 5 - Eagle
Nianna parked her airmotor on a private spot atop the Eagle, the 3rd largest skyscraper in Lürich. Or was it the 4th? Eve could never quite remember. She collected herself as she stepped off Nianna's bike. She had been pressed between Kori and Laely during the ride, and had gotten some of Kori's hair in her mouth.
Eve coughed it out, taking hold of the railing that guarded the walkway on the Eagle's 63rd floor. Eve could see a good chunk of the city from up here, and the entirety of Eaglesight, the district that housed the Eagle and many other skyscrapers. Lake Garda was just to the north, guarded by the Alps on all sides. Eve stared at the stone structure in its center, a man-made artificial island; hexagonal in shape, two thousand years old, and one of the wonders of Lürich.
The Cathedral of St. Michael, the main headquarters of the European branch of the PACT.
Beautiful, Eve thought.
It was a testament to her passion, a billion-tonne construct representing humankind's will to resist and overcome the Others. And Eve was a betrayer now, a creature of the night.
A gust of wind hit from the east, ruffling Eve's red hair and forcing her to grab her hat - lest it be carried away forever. The sun was just setting and the full moon rose in the east.
"This is the safehouse you told us about?" asked Laely.
Eve turned and saw them approach the tall glass door that led into the interior of a luxury apartment. Kori was floating again.
Nianna nodded as she opened the door. "Yeah. We can use it for a week or two."
The girls sat on the couches around an antique wooden table. Eve closed her eyes and listened to the apartments below and above, both were empty. Nianna's emotions were a mix of anxiety and fear. Eve was about to say something but Laely beat her to it.
"First Vami, and now Rook. Is the PACT targeting us?"
Mini shook her head. "Why would they be? We were careful."
Nianna answered: "Doesn't matter now, does it? If they knew about Rook, they know about us. Vami must have told them."
Laely rose to her feet, her skin radiating mist again: "Like hell he did."
Kori floated over to Laely and put a hand on her shoulder. "Have you ever been tortured, Laely? By the PACT?"
"What?" Laely looked into Kori's eyes. "No, I was not."
"Then trust me," Kori nodded. "Vami told them everything."
Mini opened a small fridge beneath the table. She pulled out a bottle of vodka. "How did they get Vami, Nianna?"
Nianna grunted. "As far as I can tell, they waited for him to reveal himself. Somehow, they knew which college Vami was going to. The moment Vami attacked that groundskeeper, they were on him."
Mini opened the bottle and threw in some red dust. She closed the bottle again and shook it well. "How do you know?"
"There were eyewitnesses. People I know since my college days. I'm pretty sure the Keepers that caught Vami were the ones that arrested Rook."
Mini took a deep chug of the vodka straight from the bottle. Eve cringed, expecting her to throw up, like Eve did after the canned cake. Instead, Mini just let out a satisfied sigh and made eye contact with Eve.
Mini smiled and said: "You can drink or eat anything if you sprinkle some dried flesh in it. It still won't quench the hunger though. So, yeah, you can still get drunk." Mini drank again.
Laely cleared her throat and looked at Kori. "Speaking of the Keepers; what do you know about the woman with the sword?"
Kori thought for a moment. "She is part of the Meadowsweet lineage. Her mother, grandmother and so forth, were all distinguished Keepers of the PACT. I've met her ancestor while I was in Hokkaido three centuries ago."
Eve's mouth hung open. She knew the Others were immortal, but to hear such casual talk of events spanning centuries.
Will I be like this? Old, wise and detached. Will I remember this city, my friends, my family...?
"How dangerous is she?"
"If her family is anything to judge by, we are looking at a world-class swordsman and mage of Physical Chemistry. And her sword is the real problem here."
Everybody perked up to listen to the floating woman.
"A compound of every single element in the Cubrin Gap, including Beryllium. Specially made as an instrument of Other extermination. When powered, the sword forms a tip of frozen Hydrogen Fluoride - thereby covering every single element to which Others are vulnerable."
Mini whistled. "Well, we should get the fuck out of Europe."
"Agreed," Laely said. "We need to get out of this city, and run far. After we get Rook and Vami back."
Nianna and Kori glanced at each other. Nianna spoke: "That is not happening. They are both at St. Michael's by now. You need to let go."
Laely smiled. Waves of wicked nausea radiated from her. "You either help us get them back, or I snitch." Laely glanced at Eve.
Eve was being used as a bargaining chip. Not on my watch.
"Nianna," Eve said. "Whatever it is, you plan on telling me?"
Nianna looked at Eve. Sorrow came from her first, then a long pulse of regret, and finally, determination. Nianna nodded. "Of course."
Eve looked at Laely. "Then you're going to have to get better ammunition. Whatever it is, Nianna had good reasons for it."
Laely smiled. "She kills people."
"Laely," Nianna warned, standing and turning into darkness.
"Yes, Nianna? I thought Eve trusted you... No problem if I tell her everything?" Laely's arms and legs stretched, her eyes shone red as dust formed ethereal armor around her body.
"I'll tear you to shreds," said Nianna.
Laely flashed a cheeky grin; "To shreds, you say?"
Both women took a step forward when Kori floated between them, she pointed a finger at each of their heads. From it, a long white spike snapped into existence. It pointed at the heads of Laely and Nianna, and at its tip, it was pointier than a needle.
"Down, girls," said Kori. "We appreciate your hospitality, Nianna. And the hospitality of the Wallayan Clan. We shall continue this in the morning."
Eve saw Mini smiling again and glancing between her sister and Nianna. Tense waves flowed from her.
What kind of a tangle of emotion did I fall into?
Nianna and Laely calmed slowly, shifting back into their human shapes.
Laely grunted. "Fuck. Alright. Tomorrow it is then. We begin with training this puppy." She pointed her finger at Eve.
Nianna shook her head. "I don't..."
Laely interrupted her: "Think Eve should be able to defend herself, and us? To learn her abilities so that we may find her sire and her species? Get a grip, your emotions are showing."
Laely stalked out of the room and into an adjacent bedroom. Mini followed, bringing the vodka, but went into her own, separate room.
"Hypocrite..." whispered Nianna.
"Laely has it rough, Nianna. You know this," said Kori as the blades vanished back into nothingness. "First her parents, now her sister."
"What about Mini?" asked Eve.
Kori looked down at her from where she floated. "Laely was turned, then abandoned by her sire. She attacked her family, killing them all and eating her parents. But Mini survived, becoming a Teriyad, like Laely. She is carrying an incredible amount of guilt."
Nianna nodded. "Yeah. She's been getting worse lately, and now that Rook and Vami are gone... they were the only ones that could rein her in. I'm worried she will snap."
"Mini and Laely are young Others too?"
Nianna took off her coat, revealing a short black blouse and grey slacks. Tattoos covered most of her body. "Three years since they were turned."
"Very young," said Kori. She nodded to both Eve and Nianna and floated into her own room.
The sun had set completely now, light was still coming in from the outside - from the moon and the skyscraper nearby. Nianna was resting on the couch, her head thrown back and her eyes closed. She was thinking furiously, Eve felt the waves of conflicting emotions within her.
Eve put down her coat as well, and her bag. The laptop within clanked as Eve pulled it out and set it down on the table. Eve had barely saved up for it - sacrificing more than half of her measly allowance for 2 years.
It was made of bronze, and one of Eve's favorite possessions. All her class notes were on it, as well as some apps that turned Eve into a pirate. She opened it and turned it on.
"Want to watch something? We haven't seen each other like this in a long time." She smiled at Nianna, the other girl glanced at the screen and smiled herself.
"I guess we can. We can now." Waves of happiness.
Eve turned serious. "Tell me tomorrow? What Laely meant about you killing people."
Nianna searched Eve's eyes, and nodded.
During the evening and well into the night, Eve and Nianna caught up on 6 hours of missed opportunities; shows they once binged together. Before Nianna became what she was, and before Eve followed her into this life of immortality. They laughed, made some overpriced popcorn in the kitchen, and drank some whisky.
The entire time, Eve heard Laely softly cry into her pillow.
Eve coughed it out, taking hold of the railing that guarded the walkway on the Eagle's 63rd floor. Eve could see a good chunk of the city from up here, and the entirety of Eaglesight, the district that housed the Eagle and many other skyscrapers. Lake Garda was just to the north, guarded by the Alps on all sides. Eve stared at the stone structure in its center, a man-made artificial island; hexagonal in shape, two thousand years old, and one of the wonders of Lürich.
The Cathedral of St. Michael, the main headquarters of the European branch of the PACT.
Beautiful, Eve thought.
It was a testament to her passion, a billion-tonne construct representing humankind's will to resist and overcome the Others. And Eve was a betrayer now, a creature of the night.
A gust of wind hit from the east, ruffling Eve's red hair and forcing her to grab her hat - lest it be carried away forever. The sun was just setting and the full moon rose in the east.
"This is the safehouse you told us about?" asked Laely.
Eve turned and saw them approach the tall glass door that led into the interior of a luxury apartment. Kori was floating again.
Nianna nodded as she opened the door. "Yeah. We can use it for a week or two."
The girls sat on the couches around an antique wooden table. Eve closed her eyes and listened to the apartments below and above, both were empty. Nianna's emotions were a mix of anxiety and fear. Eve was about to say something but Laely beat her to it.
"First Vami, and now Rook. Is the PACT targeting us?"
Mini shook her head. "Why would they be? We were careful."
Nianna answered: "Doesn't matter now, does it? If they knew about Rook, they know about us. Vami must have told them."
Laely rose to her feet, her skin radiating mist again: "Like hell he did."
Kori floated over to Laely and put a hand on her shoulder. "Have you ever been tortured, Laely? By the PACT?"
"What?" Laely looked into Kori's eyes. "No, I was not."
"Then trust me," Kori nodded. "Vami told them everything."
Mini opened a small fridge beneath the table. She pulled out a bottle of vodka. "How did they get Vami, Nianna?"
Nianna grunted. "As far as I can tell, they waited for him to reveal himself. Somehow, they knew which college Vami was going to. The moment Vami attacked that groundskeeper, they were on him."
Mini opened the bottle and threw in some red dust. She closed the bottle again and shook it well. "How do you know?"
"There were eyewitnesses. People I know since my college days. I'm pretty sure the Keepers that caught Vami were the ones that arrested Rook."
Mini took a deep chug of the vodka straight from the bottle. Eve cringed, expecting her to throw up, like Eve did after the canned cake. Instead, Mini just let out a satisfied sigh and made eye contact with Eve.
Mini smiled and said: "You can drink or eat anything if you sprinkle some dried flesh in it. It still won't quench the hunger though. So, yeah, you can still get drunk." Mini drank again.
Laely cleared her throat and looked at Kori. "Speaking of the Keepers; what do you know about the woman with the sword?"
Kori thought for a moment. "She is part of the Meadowsweet lineage. Her mother, grandmother and so forth, were all distinguished Keepers of the PACT. I've met her ancestor while I was in Hokkaido three centuries ago."
Eve's mouth hung open. She knew the Others were immortal, but to hear such casual talk of events spanning centuries.
Will I be like this? Old, wise and detached. Will I remember this city, my friends, my family...?
"How dangerous is she?"
"If her family is anything to judge by, we are looking at a world-class swordsman and mage of Physical Chemistry. And her sword is the real problem here."
Everybody perked up to listen to the floating woman.
"A compound of every single element in the Cubrin Gap, including Beryllium. Specially made as an instrument of Other extermination. When powered, the sword forms a tip of frozen Hydrogen Fluoride - thereby covering every single element to which Others are vulnerable."
Mini whistled. "Well, we should get the fuck out of Europe."
"Agreed," Laely said. "We need to get out of this city, and run far. After we get Rook and Vami back."
Nianna and Kori glanced at each other. Nianna spoke: "That is not happening. They are both at St. Michael's by now. You need to let go."
Laely smiled. Waves of wicked nausea radiated from her. "You either help us get them back, or I snitch." Laely glanced at Eve.
Eve was being used as a bargaining chip. Not on my watch.
"Nianna," Eve said. "Whatever it is, you plan on telling me?"
Nianna looked at Eve. Sorrow came from her first, then a long pulse of regret, and finally, determination. Nianna nodded. "Of course."
Eve looked at Laely. "Then you're going to have to get better ammunition. Whatever it is, Nianna had good reasons for it."
Laely smiled. "She kills people."
"Laely," Nianna warned, standing and turning into darkness.
"Yes, Nianna? I thought Eve trusted you... No problem if I tell her everything?" Laely's arms and legs stretched, her eyes shone red as dust formed ethereal armor around her body.
"I'll tear you to shreds," said Nianna.
Laely flashed a cheeky grin; "To shreds, you say?"
Both women took a step forward when Kori floated between them, she pointed a finger at each of their heads. From it, a long white spike snapped into existence. It pointed at the heads of Laely and Nianna, and at its tip, it was pointier than a needle.
"Down, girls," said Kori. "We appreciate your hospitality, Nianna. And the hospitality of the Wallayan Clan. We shall continue this in the morning."
Eve saw Mini smiling again and glancing between her sister and Nianna. Tense waves flowed from her.
What kind of a tangle of emotion did I fall into?
Nianna and Laely calmed slowly, shifting back into their human shapes.
Laely grunted. "Fuck. Alright. Tomorrow it is then. We begin with training this puppy." She pointed her finger at Eve.
Nianna shook her head. "I don't..."
Laely interrupted her: "Think Eve should be able to defend herself, and us? To learn her abilities so that we may find her sire and her species? Get a grip, your emotions are showing."
Laely stalked out of the room and into an adjacent bedroom. Mini followed, bringing the vodka, but went into her own, separate room.
"Hypocrite..." whispered Nianna.
"Laely has it rough, Nianna. You know this," said Kori as the blades vanished back into nothingness. "First her parents, now her sister."
"What about Mini?" asked Eve.
Kori looked down at her from where she floated. "Laely was turned, then abandoned by her sire. She attacked her family, killing them all and eating her parents. But Mini survived, becoming a Teriyad, like Laely. She is carrying an incredible amount of guilt."
Nianna nodded. "Yeah. She's been getting worse lately, and now that Rook and Vami are gone... they were the only ones that could rein her in. I'm worried she will snap."
"Mini and Laely are young Others too?"
Nianna took off her coat, revealing a short black blouse and grey slacks. Tattoos covered most of her body. "Three years since they were turned."
"Very young," said Kori. She nodded to both Eve and Nianna and floated into her own room.
The sun had set completely now, light was still coming in from the outside - from the moon and the skyscraper nearby. Nianna was resting on the couch, her head thrown back and her eyes closed. She was thinking furiously, Eve felt the waves of conflicting emotions within her.
Eve put down her coat as well, and her bag. The laptop within clanked as Eve pulled it out and set it down on the table. Eve had barely saved up for it - sacrificing more than half of her measly allowance for 2 years.
It was made of bronze, and one of Eve's favorite possessions. All her class notes were on it, as well as some apps that turned Eve into a pirate. She opened it and turned it on.
"Want to watch something? We haven't seen each other like this in a long time." She smiled at Nianna, the other girl glanced at the screen and smiled herself.
"I guess we can. We can now." Waves of happiness.
Eve turned serious. "Tell me tomorrow? What Laely meant about you killing people."
Nianna searched Eve's eyes, and nodded.
During the evening and well into the night, Eve and Nianna caught up on 6 hours of missed opportunities; shows they once binged together. Before Nianna became what she was, and before Eve followed her into this life of immortality. They laughed, made some overpriced popcorn in the kitchen, and drank some whisky.
The entire time, Eve heard Laely softly cry into her pillow.
Chapter 6 - Broken Spine
Eve opened her eyes slowly. She was lying face down on a pillow on the couch. The laptop was still on the table, but Nianna was nowhere to be found. Eve pulled herself up and sat, coming face to face with Laely.
The ginger was staring at her from across the table, tapping her fingers on its glass surface.
"Nice to see you back among the living," Laely said. Sunlight raged outside, and Eve covered her eyes.
"Wha-What time is it?"
Laely snickered. "Well past noon. I forgot how long young ones sleep."
Eve got up. She had slept in her clothes, so she grabbed her sweater and checked it for that signature sleep stink. Eve smelled nothing. "Did I say anything? I talk in my sleep sometimes."
"No worries, Red. We Others are corpses when we sleep."
Eve's eyes widened. "Really? I read about that, didn't think it's true. That means that in the battle of Gran Chaco, the Étha soldiers really did sneak in by pretending to be corpses. That would also explain how Queen Enri-"
"Stop!" yelled Laely, holding her hand up. "Enough with the history lectures. I will be the one doing the teaching today. Also, go look at yourself in the mirror."
"What do you mean?" Eve turned to walk to the bathroom. Atilan loves my history lessons...
"After we couldn't wake you up in the morning, I was assigned babysitting duty. I have the grand task of teaching you how to fight. And assessing your species."
"What about Nianna, Kori, and your sister?" Eve splashed her face with water and fixed her hair. The water washed away the makeup, and now, much more than yesterday, Eve's face was covered in the black branching lines of the blood vessels beneath. Plainly visible across her face, and as Eve checked her neck and chest, they covered her entire body.
"Nianna and Kori went to scout the Checkmate, and I don't know where Mini is. She left before I woke up."
Nianna was out. Eve hoped she wasn't trying to avoid the talk. Eve found some high-end concealer in the cupboard beneath the mirror and applied it freely to her face. Physical manifestations of me being an Other. But which species has visible blood vessels as their marker?
"Trouble sleeping?" asked Eve before she could stop herself.
Laely turned her back to Eve. "You heard?" Waves flowed from her; Eve could almost sense their meaning.
"I did. But you don't need to feel embarrassed. I'm sure I will be crying in a few days' time too, when the situation finally dawns on me."
"Huh, I guess." Pulses of anger, clear and resolute.
"Why are you upset?"
Laely turned to face Eve again. "You using your power on me? The empathy whatever?"
"I cannot turn it off."
More anger flashed from Laely; she walked up to Eve. "You better learn how to. Others that can't control themselves have increasingly smaller circles of allies."
Eve nodded. "I will do my best."
"Do that, and more." Laely moved away. "Follow me to the-"
Laely stopped talking when Mini walked into the lounge. She was dressed in all black and held a pitcher full of aged yellow tulips. Laely clutched her hands and emitted sadness.
"Hey," she said, throat tight.
Mini nodded at her sister as she undressed from her blazer and black coat.
"How was it?"
Mini smiled and looked at Laely, wicked satisfaction across her face. "Defaced again. This time it was cow shit. Smeared right over mom's gravestone."
"I-I can't-"
"Believe it?" interrupted Mini. "Neither could I when I saw it. I left it for you to clean. Go."
Shame and sadness, mixed and danced, flooded towards Eve from Laely's direction. It was almost worse than the nauseous waves from before.
"I will go. Can you teach Eve?"
Mini smiled at Eve. "Sure. Gotta take care of the young ones."
Laely quickly got her clothes from her room, a coat and fedora. She covered herself and left out the door. Sadness followed her the entire time. Eve looked at Mini as she grabbed another bottle of hard liquor from the cabinet.
"Let's go," Mini nodded towards the exit, pulling her blonde locks into a ponytail.
"Where are we going?" Eve grabbed her things.
"The basement. It's large and practically abandoned."
Every apartment in the Eagle was purchased before the Eagle was built. It was, after all, prime real estate overlooking the central northeast of Lürich. Its value is set to increase indefinitely if properly maintained. The Eagle was an investment, so it had a staggeringly low occupancy rate of below 5%.
Eve and Mini got in the elevator and made their way down.
Eve's stomach gurgled. Hard.
Mini raised her eyebrow. "Didn't you have a drink yesterday?"
"I did."
Mini grunted. "You must be an eater."
"Eater?" asked Eve while laying a hand on her stomach. It still rumbled.
"A vague division among the Others. Some prefer eating human, some prefer drinking human. I'm an eater myself. Everyone else in our group is a drinker."
They passed the 20th floor, and the elevator stopped. The doors opened to reveal a woman in her early 40s, dressed in a silver coat that dropped to the ground and dragged behind her. She wore an inordinate amount of white powder on her face. She took a step inside the elevator.
"Heya!!" yelled Mini. She pulled the bottle of vodka out of her coat. "Wanna go drinking with us?"
The woman scoffed and backed away. She took a long look at Eve and Mini's clothes. "Heya!? Do you have any idea who you're talking to, harlot?"
Mini was pressing the close door button frantically. The woman continued: "I am the second daughter of Dr. Gregoor." The door began to close. "And I will not be insulted by some common, sub-million net-worth, delinquent street-"
Blissfully, the doors closed.
Mini laughed. Eve tried to hold it in but burst out laughing herself when she heard the woman continue to curse behind the closed door, even as the elevator continued on its way down.
"That hit the spot," said Mini. "I love fucking with the rich. It's so easy!"
"I have to admit. It did look fun."
The doors opened to the basement. It was an underground parking lot, shaped like a rectangle 100 feet across. Only two cruisers were parked, both luxurious and well beyond the total amount of money Eve could ever hope to make in her lifetime. Granted, that was before she had an infinitely long lifetime.
Wonder how much wealth I will be able to accumulate. After a century or two, I'd need to be an idiot not to be a millionaire at least.
Eve followed Mini to the center of the lot. The blonde girl turned with a mischievous smile.
"We fight," Mini declared.
"To the death!?"
Mini's eyes narrowed. "No, Red. Fuck. We are just training. I want to see what you can do before giving you specific instructions."
"Oh. Okay then," Eve said and tensed.
"What are you doing?" Mini pointed at Eve's hands and legs. They were in a boxing stance.
"I'm... getting ready to fight?" ventured Eve.
"Not like that, you aren't..."
Mini thought for a moment before asking: "Let's see how good you are at cryptozoology; What am I?"
"A Teriyad."
"Correct," nodded Mini. "And what is our primary weapon?"
Eve relaxed her stance. "Like all Others, you are strong. As a Teriyad: you can secrete pheromones that can affect a person's motor functions, and you can stretch your body. Your sense of smell is exceptional, and you can heal much faster than the rest of the Others."
"My kind lacks direct attack capabilities. With that in mind..." asked Mini, "Do you think I would come at you from the front?"
"I suppose not. You would try to disable me from a distance."
Mini smiled, and Eve suddenly felt dizzy. She fell to her knees. "W-What... but there's no dust..."
Mini walked over to Eve, who could barely keep herself from falling to the ground completely. "I'm not my sister."
Mini kneeled next to Eve and whispered in her ear: "My dust is invisible. And you spent an elevator ride enclosed with me. I am in your lungs."
Eve felt her muscles weaken further; her eyes watered as she tried to keep them from closing. Eve labored to say: "I thought you said... no killing?"
Mini tapped her on the head. "We are hard to kill; you need to shred our hearts and stomp our brains. Anything less heals with time. Your lungs should be better within the hour, and the pain will last for a few minutes more. This is just a light paralysis."
Eve stood on all fours and felt like a dying animal. Her lungs ached with each breath; it was too much effort to even crawl. She tried multiple times to rise to her feet, and after the fourth try, Eve fell on her back and stared at the stone ceiling - even the ceiling in the Eagle's parking lot was extravagant - carved into a diamond pattern.
Mini stood above Eve. "Told you. Paralysis."
Mini slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small cardboard bag. It held something wet. She said: "You have lost this fight. And so, no food for you. Next time, be better and anticipate my moves."
Mini pulled out a piece of glistening red meat from the bag.
Eve's stomach grumbled; her eyes tracked the meat as it moved from the woman's hand into her mouth. Mini's teeth enclosed around the flesh.
How dare she? I am hungry. Does she not hear my stomach? This witch is making me watch. Eve's arms and legs twitched and began to thrash on the floor.
"What the fuck?" asked Mini and started to chew hurriedly. She raised her arm towards Eve, and the invisible dust pressed across Eve's spasming form, fighting to get inside. Eve could hear it now, though invisible, the dust moved the air as it went, creating audible fluctuations in pressure.
Eve closed her eyes.
She heard the bones in Mini's jaw, moving and scraping against each other as they tore into the flesh. Teeth shredded the muscles and tendons, the sound of it was divine. It called to Eve, it begged to be a part of her - to complete her.
Eve grabbed a thick support pillar holding the ceiling and pulled herself upwards. She could still hear Mini's dust shredding her skin and entering her blood. It tried to push itself in through her mouth, but Eve learned; she held her breath.
"Whoa, Eve. Calm down." Mini brought both her arms upwards. Her legs lengthened, joints preparing for an escape.
Mini swallowed.
Eve heard the meat travel down her throat and through the esophagus. Forever out of reach.
"No!" screamed Eve and lunged at Mini.
The other woman extended her legs quickly and bounced away just as Eve's hand passed in front of her face. Mini hit a wall, her eyes were frantic.
"Eve, I am sorry! I have more in the apartment!"
"Lies!" An arm, wet with white blood, thin and jointed at 5 places, exploded from Eve's shoulder and reached 20 feet towards Mini. It grabbed her by the throat, pushing her into the wall.
Eve held the woman there as she slowly approached, basking in her fear. She could see the flowery pattern within Mini's eyes, the same patterns shared by all of her kind. Mini's waves were exquisite, unique. Eve had never felt fear like this before. How can it be so savory?
Another arm formed from Eve's other shoulder and punched into Mini's stomach.
"Give it back!" Eve pressed further into Mini, both into her throat and stomach. It took a lot of force to pierce an Other's skin without their metal of vulnerability. But Eve was ready to supply all the force necessary.
Mini's stomach was the first to give, flesh parted around Eve's fingers.
Mini started to scream.
Finally! Eve searched through Mini's stomach, seeking the meat, tearing organs as she went. The wall was the next to give; it cracked and dented under the pressure. Mini's entire body was imprinted into the wall.
The piece of meat was nowhere to be found. Eve removed her arm from Mini's insides, pulling intestines as she did.
"Where is it!?" Eve screamed in Mini's face and grabbed her by the face. Eve was still pushing into the wall when she heard a gentle, and spreading, snapping from Mini. The spine in Mini's neck was splitting in two under Eve's pressure. Ha! A taste of your own medicine; paralysis.
Snap.
Mini's arms stopped moving and clawing at Eve. They lay at the woman's side, relaxed. Mini's eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks wet with tears. Her heart was beating ferociously; Eve could hear it as clear as she could feel her own stomach rumble.
Eve was hungry.
Eve let go, and Mini fell to the floor. She was still conscious, staring daggers at Eve.
"Holy shit."
Eve was startled and spun to face the source of the voice.
Nianna stood there, next to the floating Kori. She had found a new top hat and had her hand over her mouth. Waves of surprise and disgust sang out of her. Kori was advancing towards Eve, a floating shard of metal formed behind her. Eve could hear it sizzling into existence.
Eve glanced at Kori and raised her two flesh arms towards her. If she wanted to, Eve could close the distance to Kori within a moment.
Kori backed away a bit. To Nianna, she whispered: "Can you calm her?"
"Yes." Determination replaced disgust, and Nianna stepped towards Eve.
"She ate the food! I needed it more," Eve explained, teeth snarling and pointing at the paralyzed woman behind her.
"Evie... Calm down. I will give you some food. It's me, it's Nianna."
Trust and acceptance wrapped around Eve; she felt Nianna's true intent and care for her. It was pure, empty of any lies or schemes. Nianna wanted her to calm down, but Eve didn't understand why she even needed to. Mini took what should have been mine!
Nianna lunged at Eve, and Eve's arms rose again to strike, but all Nianna did was give Eve a hug.
The arms vanished and Eve's eyes opened. She looked around, at the blood on her clothes, at Mini's motionless body on the floor, and Kori tending to her. She looked up at Nianna; the taller woman held her tight.
"What did I do... Why did I do that?" asked Eve, staring at Mini's guts scattered across the basement floor.
"Hunger. Young hunger. It's not your fault," explained Nianna.
Kori added: "Mini will be fine; she's healing already."
"I don't know what came over me. I saw the meat and I just... nothing else mattered. Just the hunger."
Mini's lips twitched as she inhaled a breath, her face became gaunt, like she was starved. "It's not her fault. I hurt her, then taunted her."
Kori slapped her own face. "Mini..."
"I know." Mini could stand again. Her stomach wound was closing up quickly, and Mini's guts and blood dried and rotted on the floor. From red they turned into a dull brown, then into grey, and finally - into nothingness.
Others leave no signs of injuries behind. Impossible to get a blood sample. And the Teriyad do heal exceptionally fast, Eve thought, and had to force herself out of analysis mode.
"Sorry, Mini."
Mini grunted, keeping most of her weight on the floating woman next to her. "All good. We will work on it. But for the love of all that is Other... you're one scary cunt..."
The girls laughed, and Nianna let go of Eve. The laughter stopped when an elevator door opened at the far end of the lot. A woman, the woman that tried to join Mini and Eve in the elevator, was talking on her phone.
She was yelling into it: "Yeah! And then she offered me some alcohol!"
Mini breathed: "Oh shit."
Nianna grabbed Eve's face and held it firmly. "Just keep looking at me. Just focus on me."
The woman's robe scratched the ground as she walked. To Eve's ears, it sounded like sandpaper pulled across wood. Her stomach grumbled when she heard the woman's heartbeat. It was perfect, rhythmic, full of life and energy...
"Hey!" warned Nianna. Eve had closed her eyes without meaning to.
"I called her a harlot of course!" explained the woman to her phone. "And I explained how she should act around someone with my status. She apologized profusely!"
The woman walked up to her cruiser and unlocked the door. She stepped inside.
"You're okay," exhaled Nianna.
The woman started up her cruiser. The engine of the 5-seater roared into life, its frame lifting half a meter off the ground. The woman inside hung up and put the phone inside a bag on the passenger seat. Inside was a stack of papers, and as she pulled her hand out, she pressed a little too hard onto a paper. It came edge-on between her fingernail and the flesh beneath.
Eve stopped in her tracks; Nianna was leading her into a separate elevator away from her prey. Eve heard the skin of the woman's finger tear, the blood sprayed across the paper and the inside of the bag. Droplets fell heavily, as if they were thrust from a rain cloud in the middle of a scorching summer.
The woman exclaimed "Dammit!" and put the finger into her mouth, sucking at the wound.
Eve closed her eyes.
Crimson arms sprang from Eve's back, piercing her clothes and coat. They grabbed at the floor and ceiling.
Nianna whispered: "Dammit."
Kori let go of supporting Mini and flew towards the bleeding woman.
"Good luck," said Mini as she lost her support and fell to the floor, too exhausted to move.
With monstrous force, Eve's new arms released her from Nianna's grip and launched her towards the woman's cruiser.
Eve's thoughts were simple, clear. Without doubt or apprehension. She was hungry, and there was food.
A flash of timid white light, and Eve collided with a block of metal - summoned by Kori.
She fell to the ground and recovered quickly. She focused on the floating woman, who was calm. "Stand down, Eve."
The woman in the cruiser was screaming. She stared at the 6-armed creature and a flying woman. She hit the pedal hard, too hard - she swerved into a supporting pillar. The sound of metal bending and buckling around the pillar expanded through the air and into Eve's ears.
"Ah!" Eve screamed and grabbed at her ears.
In the time she lost her focus, Kori attacked. She sliced clean through two of Eve's white arms. They fell to the floor and withered immediately. Two new ones flowered in their place. Eve recovered and glowered at Kori, who was floating above her, holding a silvery-white sword.
"You have to be joking..." Kori said as she watched the two arms reform.
Eve thought furiously, and with a vicious grin, she produced a small coin from her coat pocket.
She held it up for Kori to see.
"What is that?" the floating woman asked.
"Cobalt."
Eve could hear Kori's eyes widen, the muscles of her face contorting in surprise. Eve threw the coin at the woman. All her focus on the small object, Kori evaded, letting Eve pass unchallenged towards the crashed cruiser. The woman was still alive inside, bruised and bleeding, but alive.
Good. Fresh will taste better.
Eve grabbed at the wreckage, and like opening a book, Eve revealed the woman's hurt body within the cruiser. The tearing of the metal didn't bother her this time; Eve's eyes were open, she wanted to see the color of blood.
The woman screamed, staring at Eve.
She was about to pounce when something pierced her chest. Eve stared at the long metallic spike protruding from her, and her white blood that sprayed out from the wound. She heard Kori's breathing from behind, and the strain of holding the spike in her hand.
A fifth and sixth muscle-ridden arm formed from Eve's back. One grabbed Kori's shoulder, and the other her arm. The two arms pulled in opposite directions and tore Kori's arm clean from the shoulder. Eve threw the removed arm away.
Pathetic.
Kori screamed and clutched where her arm used to be.
This is a centuries-old Other? Weak.
Eve snarled in disappointment and focused back on her meal. The woman was clutching a small weapon, a revolver, and pointing it at Eve.
Eve removed the spike from her chest and threw it to the floor next to the rotting arm.
Shots rang out as bullets hit Eve's face and body. She heard them strike her bones, tear her arteries - and none of it mattered. Here, enveloped in the finest cotton and silk, Eve's meal waited.
"Eve," called Nianna.
Eve turned.
Nianna forced a chunk of meat into her mouth.
Eve tasted it, and it was completeness. Sensation returned to Eve. The bullet wounds, the hole in her chest. It all became real. Eve felt exhausted, the extra arms melted back into her, and Eve fell into unconsciousness.
The ginger was staring at her from across the table, tapping her fingers on its glass surface.
"Nice to see you back among the living," Laely said. Sunlight raged outside, and Eve covered her eyes.
"Wha-What time is it?"
Laely snickered. "Well past noon. I forgot how long young ones sleep."
Eve got up. She had slept in her clothes, so she grabbed her sweater and checked it for that signature sleep stink. Eve smelled nothing. "Did I say anything? I talk in my sleep sometimes."
"No worries, Red. We Others are corpses when we sleep."
Eve's eyes widened. "Really? I read about that, didn't think it's true. That means that in the battle of Gran Chaco, the Étha soldiers really did sneak in by pretending to be corpses. That would also explain how Queen Enri-"
"Stop!" yelled Laely, holding her hand up. "Enough with the history lectures. I will be the one doing the teaching today. Also, go look at yourself in the mirror."
"What do you mean?" Eve turned to walk to the bathroom. Atilan loves my history lessons...
"After we couldn't wake you up in the morning, I was assigned babysitting duty. I have the grand task of teaching you how to fight. And assessing your species."
"What about Nianna, Kori, and your sister?" Eve splashed her face with water and fixed her hair. The water washed away the makeup, and now, much more than yesterday, Eve's face was covered in the black branching lines of the blood vessels beneath. Plainly visible across her face, and as Eve checked her neck and chest, they covered her entire body.
"Nianna and Kori went to scout the Checkmate, and I don't know where Mini is. She left before I woke up."
Nianna was out. Eve hoped she wasn't trying to avoid the talk. Eve found some high-end concealer in the cupboard beneath the mirror and applied it freely to her face. Physical manifestations of me being an Other. But which species has visible blood vessels as their marker?
"Trouble sleeping?" asked Eve before she could stop herself.
Laely turned her back to Eve. "You heard?" Waves flowed from her; Eve could almost sense their meaning.
"I did. But you don't need to feel embarrassed. I'm sure I will be crying in a few days' time too, when the situation finally dawns on me."
"Huh, I guess." Pulses of anger, clear and resolute.
"Why are you upset?"
Laely turned to face Eve again. "You using your power on me? The empathy whatever?"
"I cannot turn it off."
More anger flashed from Laely; she walked up to Eve. "You better learn how to. Others that can't control themselves have increasingly smaller circles of allies."
Eve nodded. "I will do my best."
"Do that, and more." Laely moved away. "Follow me to the-"
Laely stopped talking when Mini walked into the lounge. She was dressed in all black and held a pitcher full of aged yellow tulips. Laely clutched her hands and emitted sadness.
"Hey," she said, throat tight.
Mini nodded at her sister as she undressed from her blazer and black coat.
"How was it?"
Mini smiled and looked at Laely, wicked satisfaction across her face. "Defaced again. This time it was cow shit. Smeared right over mom's gravestone."
"I-I can't-"
"Believe it?" interrupted Mini. "Neither could I when I saw it. I left it for you to clean. Go."
Shame and sadness, mixed and danced, flooded towards Eve from Laely's direction. It was almost worse than the nauseous waves from before.
"I will go. Can you teach Eve?"
Mini smiled at Eve. "Sure. Gotta take care of the young ones."
Laely quickly got her clothes from her room, a coat and fedora. She covered herself and left out the door. Sadness followed her the entire time. Eve looked at Mini as she grabbed another bottle of hard liquor from the cabinet.
"Let's go," Mini nodded towards the exit, pulling her blonde locks into a ponytail.
"Where are we going?" Eve grabbed her things.
"The basement. It's large and practically abandoned."
Every apartment in the Eagle was purchased before the Eagle was built. It was, after all, prime real estate overlooking the central northeast of Lürich. Its value is set to increase indefinitely if properly maintained. The Eagle was an investment, so it had a staggeringly low occupancy rate of below 5%.
Eve and Mini got in the elevator and made their way down.
Eve's stomach gurgled. Hard.
Mini raised her eyebrow. "Didn't you have a drink yesterday?"
"I did."
Mini grunted. "You must be an eater."
"Eater?" asked Eve while laying a hand on her stomach. It still rumbled.
"A vague division among the Others. Some prefer eating human, some prefer drinking human. I'm an eater myself. Everyone else in our group is a drinker."
They passed the 20th floor, and the elevator stopped. The doors opened to reveal a woman in her early 40s, dressed in a silver coat that dropped to the ground and dragged behind her. She wore an inordinate amount of white powder on her face. She took a step inside the elevator.
"Heya!!" yelled Mini. She pulled the bottle of vodka out of her coat. "Wanna go drinking with us?"
The woman scoffed and backed away. She took a long look at Eve and Mini's clothes. "Heya!? Do you have any idea who you're talking to, harlot?"
Mini was pressing the close door button frantically. The woman continued: "I am the second daughter of Dr. Gregoor." The door began to close. "And I will not be insulted by some common, sub-million net-worth, delinquent street-"
Blissfully, the doors closed.
Mini laughed. Eve tried to hold it in but burst out laughing herself when she heard the woman continue to curse behind the closed door, even as the elevator continued on its way down.
"That hit the spot," said Mini. "I love fucking with the rich. It's so easy!"
"I have to admit. It did look fun."
The doors opened to the basement. It was an underground parking lot, shaped like a rectangle 100 feet across. Only two cruisers were parked, both luxurious and well beyond the total amount of money Eve could ever hope to make in her lifetime. Granted, that was before she had an infinitely long lifetime.
Wonder how much wealth I will be able to accumulate. After a century or two, I'd need to be an idiot not to be a millionaire at least.
Eve followed Mini to the center of the lot. The blonde girl turned with a mischievous smile.
"We fight," Mini declared.
"To the death!?"
Mini's eyes narrowed. "No, Red. Fuck. We are just training. I want to see what you can do before giving you specific instructions."
"Oh. Okay then," Eve said and tensed.
"What are you doing?" Mini pointed at Eve's hands and legs. They were in a boxing stance.
"I'm... getting ready to fight?" ventured Eve.
"Not like that, you aren't..."
Mini thought for a moment before asking: "Let's see how good you are at cryptozoology; What am I?"
"A Teriyad."
"Correct," nodded Mini. "And what is our primary weapon?"
Eve relaxed her stance. "Like all Others, you are strong. As a Teriyad: you can secrete pheromones that can affect a person's motor functions, and you can stretch your body. Your sense of smell is exceptional, and you can heal much faster than the rest of the Others."
"My kind lacks direct attack capabilities. With that in mind..." asked Mini, "Do you think I would come at you from the front?"
"I suppose not. You would try to disable me from a distance."
Mini smiled, and Eve suddenly felt dizzy. She fell to her knees. "W-What... but there's no dust..."
Mini walked over to Eve, who could barely keep herself from falling to the ground completely. "I'm not my sister."
Mini kneeled next to Eve and whispered in her ear: "My dust is invisible. And you spent an elevator ride enclosed with me. I am in your lungs."
Eve felt her muscles weaken further; her eyes watered as she tried to keep them from closing. Eve labored to say: "I thought you said... no killing?"
Mini tapped her on the head. "We are hard to kill; you need to shred our hearts and stomp our brains. Anything less heals with time. Your lungs should be better within the hour, and the pain will last for a few minutes more. This is just a light paralysis."
Eve stood on all fours and felt like a dying animal. Her lungs ached with each breath; it was too much effort to even crawl. She tried multiple times to rise to her feet, and after the fourth try, Eve fell on her back and stared at the stone ceiling - even the ceiling in the Eagle's parking lot was extravagant - carved into a diamond pattern.
Mini stood above Eve. "Told you. Paralysis."
Mini slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small cardboard bag. It held something wet. She said: "You have lost this fight. And so, no food for you. Next time, be better and anticipate my moves."
Mini pulled out a piece of glistening red meat from the bag.
Eve's stomach grumbled; her eyes tracked the meat as it moved from the woman's hand into her mouth. Mini's teeth enclosed around the flesh.
How dare she? I am hungry. Does she not hear my stomach? This witch is making me watch. Eve's arms and legs twitched and began to thrash on the floor.
"What the fuck?" asked Mini and started to chew hurriedly. She raised her arm towards Eve, and the invisible dust pressed across Eve's spasming form, fighting to get inside. Eve could hear it now, though invisible, the dust moved the air as it went, creating audible fluctuations in pressure.
Eve closed her eyes.
She heard the bones in Mini's jaw, moving and scraping against each other as they tore into the flesh. Teeth shredded the muscles and tendons, the sound of it was divine. It called to Eve, it begged to be a part of her - to complete her.
Eve grabbed a thick support pillar holding the ceiling and pulled herself upwards. She could still hear Mini's dust shredding her skin and entering her blood. It tried to push itself in through her mouth, but Eve learned; she held her breath.
"Whoa, Eve. Calm down." Mini brought both her arms upwards. Her legs lengthened, joints preparing for an escape.
Mini swallowed.
Eve heard the meat travel down her throat and through the esophagus. Forever out of reach.
"No!" screamed Eve and lunged at Mini.
The other woman extended her legs quickly and bounced away just as Eve's hand passed in front of her face. Mini hit a wall, her eyes were frantic.
"Eve, I am sorry! I have more in the apartment!"
"Lies!" An arm, wet with white blood, thin and jointed at 5 places, exploded from Eve's shoulder and reached 20 feet towards Mini. It grabbed her by the throat, pushing her into the wall.
Eve held the woman there as she slowly approached, basking in her fear. She could see the flowery pattern within Mini's eyes, the same patterns shared by all of her kind. Mini's waves were exquisite, unique. Eve had never felt fear like this before. How can it be so savory?
Another arm formed from Eve's other shoulder and punched into Mini's stomach.
"Give it back!" Eve pressed further into Mini, both into her throat and stomach. It took a lot of force to pierce an Other's skin without their metal of vulnerability. But Eve was ready to supply all the force necessary.
Mini's stomach was the first to give, flesh parted around Eve's fingers.
Mini started to scream.
Finally! Eve searched through Mini's stomach, seeking the meat, tearing organs as she went. The wall was the next to give; it cracked and dented under the pressure. Mini's entire body was imprinted into the wall.
The piece of meat was nowhere to be found. Eve removed her arm from Mini's insides, pulling intestines as she did.
"Where is it!?" Eve screamed in Mini's face and grabbed her by the face. Eve was still pushing into the wall when she heard a gentle, and spreading, snapping from Mini. The spine in Mini's neck was splitting in two under Eve's pressure. Ha! A taste of your own medicine; paralysis.
Snap.
Mini's arms stopped moving and clawing at Eve. They lay at the woman's side, relaxed. Mini's eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks wet with tears. Her heart was beating ferociously; Eve could hear it as clear as she could feel her own stomach rumble.
Eve was hungry.
Eve let go, and Mini fell to the floor. She was still conscious, staring daggers at Eve.
"Holy shit."
Eve was startled and spun to face the source of the voice.
Nianna stood there, next to the floating Kori. She had found a new top hat and had her hand over her mouth. Waves of surprise and disgust sang out of her. Kori was advancing towards Eve, a floating shard of metal formed behind her. Eve could hear it sizzling into existence.
Eve glanced at Kori and raised her two flesh arms towards her. If she wanted to, Eve could close the distance to Kori within a moment.
Kori backed away a bit. To Nianna, she whispered: "Can you calm her?"
"Yes." Determination replaced disgust, and Nianna stepped towards Eve.
"She ate the food! I needed it more," Eve explained, teeth snarling and pointing at the paralyzed woman behind her.
"Evie... Calm down. I will give you some food. It's me, it's Nianna."
Trust and acceptance wrapped around Eve; she felt Nianna's true intent and care for her. It was pure, empty of any lies or schemes. Nianna wanted her to calm down, but Eve didn't understand why she even needed to. Mini took what should have been mine!
Nianna lunged at Eve, and Eve's arms rose again to strike, but all Nianna did was give Eve a hug.
The arms vanished and Eve's eyes opened. She looked around, at the blood on her clothes, at Mini's motionless body on the floor, and Kori tending to her. She looked up at Nianna; the taller woman held her tight.
"What did I do... Why did I do that?" asked Eve, staring at Mini's guts scattered across the basement floor.
"Hunger. Young hunger. It's not your fault," explained Nianna.
Kori added: "Mini will be fine; she's healing already."
"I don't know what came over me. I saw the meat and I just... nothing else mattered. Just the hunger."
Mini's lips twitched as she inhaled a breath, her face became gaunt, like she was starved. "It's not her fault. I hurt her, then taunted her."
Kori slapped her own face. "Mini..."
"I know." Mini could stand again. Her stomach wound was closing up quickly, and Mini's guts and blood dried and rotted on the floor. From red they turned into a dull brown, then into grey, and finally - into nothingness.
Others leave no signs of injuries behind. Impossible to get a blood sample. And the Teriyad do heal exceptionally fast, Eve thought, and had to force herself out of analysis mode.
"Sorry, Mini."
Mini grunted, keeping most of her weight on the floating woman next to her. "All good. We will work on it. But for the love of all that is Other... you're one scary cunt..."
The girls laughed, and Nianna let go of Eve. The laughter stopped when an elevator door opened at the far end of the lot. A woman, the woman that tried to join Mini and Eve in the elevator, was talking on her phone.
She was yelling into it: "Yeah! And then she offered me some alcohol!"
Mini breathed: "Oh shit."
Nianna grabbed Eve's face and held it firmly. "Just keep looking at me. Just focus on me."
The woman's robe scratched the ground as she walked. To Eve's ears, it sounded like sandpaper pulled across wood. Her stomach grumbled when she heard the woman's heartbeat. It was perfect, rhythmic, full of life and energy...
"Hey!" warned Nianna. Eve had closed her eyes without meaning to.
"I called her a harlot of course!" explained the woman to her phone. "And I explained how she should act around someone with my status. She apologized profusely!"
The woman walked up to her cruiser and unlocked the door. She stepped inside.
"You're okay," exhaled Nianna.
The woman started up her cruiser. The engine of the 5-seater roared into life, its frame lifting half a meter off the ground. The woman inside hung up and put the phone inside a bag on the passenger seat. Inside was a stack of papers, and as she pulled her hand out, she pressed a little too hard onto a paper. It came edge-on between her fingernail and the flesh beneath.
Eve stopped in her tracks; Nianna was leading her into a separate elevator away from her prey. Eve heard the skin of the woman's finger tear, the blood sprayed across the paper and the inside of the bag. Droplets fell heavily, as if they were thrust from a rain cloud in the middle of a scorching summer.
The woman exclaimed "Dammit!" and put the finger into her mouth, sucking at the wound.
Eve closed her eyes.
Crimson arms sprang from Eve's back, piercing her clothes and coat. They grabbed at the floor and ceiling.
Nianna whispered: "Dammit."
Kori let go of supporting Mini and flew towards the bleeding woman.
"Good luck," said Mini as she lost her support and fell to the floor, too exhausted to move.
With monstrous force, Eve's new arms released her from Nianna's grip and launched her towards the woman's cruiser.
Eve's thoughts were simple, clear. Without doubt or apprehension. She was hungry, and there was food.
A flash of timid white light, and Eve collided with a block of metal - summoned by Kori.
She fell to the ground and recovered quickly. She focused on the floating woman, who was calm. "Stand down, Eve."
The woman in the cruiser was screaming. She stared at the 6-armed creature and a flying woman. She hit the pedal hard, too hard - she swerved into a supporting pillar. The sound of metal bending and buckling around the pillar expanded through the air and into Eve's ears.
"Ah!" Eve screamed and grabbed at her ears.
In the time she lost her focus, Kori attacked. She sliced clean through two of Eve's white arms. They fell to the floor and withered immediately. Two new ones flowered in their place. Eve recovered and glowered at Kori, who was floating above her, holding a silvery-white sword.
"You have to be joking..." Kori said as she watched the two arms reform.
Eve thought furiously, and with a vicious grin, she produced a small coin from her coat pocket.
She held it up for Kori to see.
"What is that?" the floating woman asked.
"Cobalt."
Eve could hear Kori's eyes widen, the muscles of her face contorting in surprise. Eve threw the coin at the woman. All her focus on the small object, Kori evaded, letting Eve pass unchallenged towards the crashed cruiser. The woman was still alive inside, bruised and bleeding, but alive.
Good. Fresh will taste better.
Eve grabbed at the wreckage, and like opening a book, Eve revealed the woman's hurt body within the cruiser. The tearing of the metal didn't bother her this time; Eve's eyes were open, she wanted to see the color of blood.
The woman screamed, staring at Eve.
She was about to pounce when something pierced her chest. Eve stared at the long metallic spike protruding from her, and her white blood that sprayed out from the wound. She heard Kori's breathing from behind, and the strain of holding the spike in her hand.
A fifth and sixth muscle-ridden arm formed from Eve's back. One grabbed Kori's shoulder, and the other her arm. The two arms pulled in opposite directions and tore Kori's arm clean from the shoulder. Eve threw the removed arm away.
Pathetic.
Kori screamed and clutched where her arm used to be.
This is a centuries-old Other? Weak.
Eve snarled in disappointment and focused back on her meal. The woman was clutching a small weapon, a revolver, and pointing it at Eve.
Eve removed the spike from her chest and threw it to the floor next to the rotting arm.
Shots rang out as bullets hit Eve's face and body. She heard them strike her bones, tear her arteries - and none of it mattered. Here, enveloped in the finest cotton and silk, Eve's meal waited.
"Eve," called Nianna.
Eve turned.
Nianna forced a chunk of meat into her mouth.
Eve tasted it, and it was completeness. Sensation returned to Eve. The bullet wounds, the hole in her chest. It all became real. Eve felt exhausted, the extra arms melted back into her, and Eve fell into unconsciousness.