"Rena!? You're back?"

  The gobsmacked night watchman lifted his torch, illuminating Rena's pale face as she pulled back her fur lined hood. Arranged in two lines, her team of canines panted out puffs of vapour. Standing huddled behind her were the two sisters, and Cyrus was rummaging through a bag on the sled.

  "Who are these people?"

  "Linda and Lily Day, from Goldilocks. I request you allow them admission. I will stay outside the fence until a representative can come see me."

  "And him?" The watchman asked, lifting his lantern and pointing to Cyrus, who paused in his search to wave.

  "He stays with me."

  "I do?"

  "He does," Rena firmly affirmed.

  "Where do we go?" Linda asked as she stepped towards Rena.

  "Look for Peter Fisher and tell him you were sent by me," Rena instructed. She stood back, reaching out a hand to pat Hokum on the head, who whined at her side. Cyrus sighed noisily, followed by the soft thud of leather smacking leather. Hokum began growling, which led to the rest raising their hackles and baring their teeth. Rena looked over her shoulder. Briskly, Cyrus, who had drawn closer, stepped back, hands up. "Good girl," Rena whispered with a fond smile.

  The watchman cleared his throat. "There is a public house called the Relay with two porch lamps out front. I'm sure the Fishers are probably in bed, so no need to bother them," he explained, tilting his head and thumbing behind him as he kept his eyes trained on Rena and her pack. Lily and Linda each grabbed a back from the shed and then shuffled through the gate.

  "So does this mean we actually get the tent instead of burying ourselves in the snow?" Cyrus inquired, eyeing the tense hounds as Rena knelt down and unhitched them. As if on cue, they all sat and stared at Cyrus, their eyes reflecting the moonlight. He took another step back as the odd malamute in the group, Kerfuffle, licked her chops.

  "If you want to set up the tent, be my guest. I'm going to my dugout. It should still be mostly intact."

  Rena released the claw brake and began pushing the sled, the runners gliding smoothly over the path of compacted snow. She looked around, seeing only four canines. "Filibuster! Blarney! Come!" The two youngest wolfdogs had dashed off into the night. At her command, she saw their two heads pop over a nearly snow pile. Filibuster bit the Blarney and there was a series of growls and yelps before Blarney flipped over in the snow. Victorious, Filibuster came galloping back to his master's side. Blarney followed, tail low, in a ginger trot.

  "I'm surprised by your little menagerie, considering how certain animals feel about vampires," Cyrus remarked, trailing behind the canid procession.

  "Only dogs. I've had to give up on cats. Rigamarole and Claptrap are brothers which split from their pack. Hokum I found in a trap and nursed back to health. Kerfuffle-"

  "I didn't ask for their history. Geez," Cyrus interrupted, eyeing the dogs and wolves peevishly, watching them wag their tails and prance in the snow.

  "Kerfuffle," Rena repeated, ignoring the interruption, "... is a Malamute, I think, though maybe not pure. Got her as a puppy while I was up north for a while and met a man who has been surviving on his own with just his dogs. He was willing to part with her as it was a lean winter. We didn't realise at the time that spring wouldn't come. I wonder if he's still alive."

  "You don't say? How long has it been winter here?" His attempt to change the subject did not go unnoticed, but Rena didn't mind a segue with a valid question.

  "Three or four years now. Animals and plants are dying. People who fail to adapt to a mostly meat diet aren't thriving." Rena shrugged her shoulders, patting Rigmarole on the head. "Before then, winters were just long."

  Cyrus let out a low whistle, which elicited a bark from Kerfuffle. "Is that because of the, what do you call it, the blight?"

  "The Bleak. When it was smaller a lot of vampires moved towards it. It's just as well I didn't go with them. From the word that's travelled this far north, everything is dying in the Bleak. Some vampires, too stubborn to leave a world of perpetual darkness, turned to feeding on each other. Many have the Stench. The edges of the bleak are the most dangerous and where the White Plague spreads the quickest."

  "Well, damn. That doom cloud had reached the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa shortly before I ended up here. But as far as I know, the White Plague never made it off the Americas." Cyrus shook his head. Rena let go of the sled and walked over to a mound on the side of the hill. She could still see the handle of her shovel sticking out from the new snowfall.

  "It's possible none of us will survive this, mortals or vampires," Rena predicted grimly.

  "Maybe. Maybe not. Layla started a new hunt for the cornerstones as soon as news of the Plague hit us," Cyrus remarked. Rena wiggled the firmly wedged shovel out of the snow. Claptrap padded over and began to dig alongside Rena.

  "Not that hogwash again," Rena grunted.

  "She considered the plague a sign. And this 'Bleak' convinced her."

  "That's just a result of dropping too many bombs as far as I'm concerned," Rena said with a shrug as she tossed snow over her shoulder. Cyrus quickly stepped back to not get showered in it.

  "You're a vampire, Ireeee-rena. Not everything is science!" Cyrus huffed as he began to unload the tarpaulin from the sled. "Magical vampire healing blood ring a bell? Yeesh."

  "There is still an order to the world. I just need to discover what the new order is," Rena responded as she continued to work on clearing out a small cave in.

  Cyrus shook his head as he gathered up the rest of the supplies to start assembling the tent. "...Hey.... how well will this actually keep the sunlight out?" he asked, eyeing the thick canvas.

  "Well enough, but always make sure you make it by a wind break. I'd hate to lose it." Rena patted snow from herself, finally finding the old tunnel she had crafted before. One of her pack let out a playful yip and went charging in ahead of her. "I've had that tent for forty years. They don't make them like that anymore."

  "They don't make anything like they used to anymore. There is no 'they'. You've gone back to frontier life!" Cyrus complained. "Even the caravan I travelled with had covered wagons to sleep in that were up off the ground. And by the way, thanks for valuing my life as much as your old tent."

  "The tent is actually reliable and safe." Rena grabbed her bedroll from the sled.

  "Excuse you!" Cyrus retorted, placing a hand on his hip as he watched her. "Don't forget the amount of times I saved your life."

  Rena rolled her eyes. "Only after you got me into the trouble I needed saving from." She placed her bedroll on the ground, then got down on all fours, pushing the bedroll through the narrow opening. As she wriggled and crawled in, she could just feel Cyrus's gaze on her hide-clad posterior.

  "Ah, well, you've got me there," he finally said, presumably returning to assembling the tent. Several times she heard the dogs yip or growl and Cyrus curse them out. But eventually they lost interest in him and piled into the dug-out with Rena.

  From outside, she heard his voice. "Hey, just how much space is in there?"

  Rena wrapped her arms around Kerfuffle's neck as she laid beside her. "Just enough for me and the pack!" Soon her face was covered in warm, wet dog kisses.

  One of the other dogs nearer the entrance growled.

  "Lucky pups..." Cyrus could be heard before his muttering faded.

  "Yes...?" The door was opened only a crack, and the voice of an elderly woman could be heard on the other side. Linda held her arm across Lily's back protectively. Lily kept her eyes averted, allowing Linda to handle introductions.

  "We was told to find Peter Fisher. He here?"

  "He is..." the woman responded, her voice trailing off in uncertainty. Creases formed in all the worry spots on her face before she ducked behind the door. After a brief period, she opened the door a little wider, revealing a wiry woman with grey hair bundled into a tight bun. "I'll send him out."

  The door was then shut. Linda looked over at her sister, who remained sullen and anxious. "Hang in there." Lily made no response.

  The door opened once again, and the sisters looked up at the man who was pulling on a fur-lined cloak as he stepped out. There were bumps and small nicks on his face from a clumsy attempt at shaving, making the bottom half of his face appear redder than the rest. "I'm Peter. What can I do for you?" His spaced apart, hazel eyes squinted as he took a moment to try and gain any clues from their appearances.

  "Rena sent us," Linda explained.

  At the mention of Rena, Peter's curved eyebrows shot straight up. "Is she alright?"

  "Yeah. She's here. Oh. Not HERE, here. She's outside the town, somewhere." Linda stepped forward, releasing her comforting hold on Lily, and she brought her gloved hands up in front of her. "I'm Linda Day, and that's my sister, Lily. We're from Goldilocks." As Peter continued to squint at the duo, Lily grew ever more anxious. Why did Rena send them to him? She'd hoped just by hearing Rena's name, he'd just know what to do or say, but he seemed as lost as she felt.

  "Linda and Lily," Peter repeated after a moment. "Well, Rena must have sent you here for a good reason."

  "She dint say. She's trying to help us, but she can't come in town, she says. Not without your mayor's say-so," Linda explained. Lily caught Peter's eye as he was examining her, and she looked away. Instinctively, she pulled her hood closer about her face.

  "Does that mean Rena killed the abomination?"

  There was a pause. "The what?" Lily glanced up at her sister, who spoke. "Oh you mean the vamp? No, no... I mean yes. I mean, I dunno..." her sister continued to flounder. Then she looked up with a fierce expression, voice growing defensive. "Don't ask me!"

  Rena had told them to say as little as possible about the situation, and allow her to do the talking once she could come in. But she was not with them yet. With a longing glance towards the gate they'd arrived from, Lily began to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to camp outside until Rena could have an audience with the Chief.

  "Daddy, who are you talking to?" peeped a delicate voice. A young girl learned out of the doorway, her golden pigtails hanging like a pair of woven ropes. Her large eyes peered curiously at the sisters.

  "Go back inside, honey," Peter hurriedly said, gesturing at her. Her dumpling face issued a pout, but after catching her father's eye and gesturing her protest, she quickly disappeared, shutting the door. Lily stared at the door where the girl had been.

  "You have... children?" Lily asked in her timid, trembling voice.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  "Yes."

  Lily's mouth felt dry. Suddenly, it didn't seem a good idea to be there. "We should go. Sorry to have bothered you," she said, grabbing at her sister's arm and turning to leave.

  "Wait!" Peter said, stepping out and taking hold of Linda's other arm. The hapless Day woman was caught between two people as much as caught between two directives. Go with her sister, or follow Rena's advice.

  "Let go!" Linda commanded.

  "Your sister... is she..." Peter looked at Lily' whose face grew pale and bloodshot eyes grew wider. She quickly looked away, hiding her face from the man.

  Lily let go of Linda and turned to flee.

  "No, don't run - I won't hurt you!"

  Lily had only taken a few steps, but she paused. Could she trust a stranger with her secret? She shivered as she paused in the snowy avenue outside the man's house. Linda stood between Peter and her sister. "Is she what?"

  "I'm sorry." Peter releasedLinda's arm. She took a step back, regarding him warily. He brought a hand up to his mouth, looking at the two women a moment before lowering it again. "Is she infected?" He asked in a hushed tone.

  "She won't hurt nobody!" Linda insisted. Lily stood behind her, placing an arm on her sister's shoulder.

  "I believe you. Rena wouldn't have sent you to me if you were dangerous. I have to say, I've never seen someone in the early stages of infection." Lily felt his probing eyes and sudden interest very disconcerting. She wondered if that was how caged birds felt as humans stood outside, just staring at them. Not that anyone could afford to keep pet birds anymore. Still, he did not seem horrified.

  "Well there ain't much to see," Linda continued to block Lily from Peter's view, stalwart and belligerent in her tone.

  "It's okay, Linda," Lily squeaked. She looked Peter over as if with a new set of eyes.

  "I'd invite you in... and please don't take this wrong, but my children are very curious and I just don't want-"

  "It's fine," Lily cut him off quickly, although she was feeling the sting of the slight. No father would want a monster like her near their children.

  "Well, let's go back to the Relay, then," Linda suggested after a sigh.

  Three steaming cups of tea were placed down on a table. With her hood still up, Lily placed her gloved hands on the cup, barely able to feel its warmth. Linda took off her gloves. Peter, who sat across from her and her sister, rubbed his raw chin, then winced when he bumped a patch of razor burn.

  "Rena didn't tell us much. Just to find you," Linda summarised.

  Peter looked over to Lily, who kept her head low and her face obscured.

  "She has been bitten, though? That's a fact?" Peter asked in a hushed voice. Linda looked around at the mostly vacant common room of the Relay. Clearly the lodge was just a two story house, but at least it was a fully wood panelled house and not one of the sod huts most people seemed to live in.

  "Yes." Lily said, her voice nearly drowned out from the crackling of a nearby fire.

  "Why did Rena bring you here with her?"

  Linda and Lily looked at each other. Lily looked away, focusing on the fire, leaving Linda to do the talking. "We know she's, uh, diff'rent." Linda tapped her fingers on the table. "Her and her friend."

  "What friend?" Peter asked, eyebrows raised in earnest astonishment.

  "Cyrus," Linda said, scrunching up her nose, her nasolabial crease deepening with contempt.

  "Cyrus?" Peter repeated, a pitch higher and a decibel louder. He dropped his voice and added, "He's here?"

  "Yeah. Don't much know the history there, but them two are... weird." Linda said. Lily nodded in agreement, reflecting on the inconsistent and mismatched interactions between the two vampires. "You know him?"

  "I... I have never met him, I just know his name," Peter said, his voice going quiet. "But if he's here this is going to get more complicated."

  "Why?"

  "Ah... that's... I wouldn't know where to begin. Let's focus on what brings you here." Peter rolled the ball back into the Day sisters' court.

  "Well... Lily got bit. That Cyrus creep killed the vamp 'n said he could save her. He was lying, turns out. But Rena says maybe there's a way. So we're followin' Rena while she tries to figger somethin' out. She says Lily ain't a threat to her 'n Cyrus." Linda recapped as briefly as she could.

  Peter sipped his herbal tea as he listened, expression unreadable. "Hmmm... she thinks there might be a cure? First I've heard of it." Peter set down his mug and leaned back, lacing his fingers together. "Best we keep Lily's secret to just us for now. One third of the town would turn her out, one third would want her killed, and one third would want to study her." He rubbed the back of his neck, and Lily wondered which of the categories his family would fall into.

  "Why ain't you scared of her?" Linda asked. Lily returned her gaze to the fire, trying to mask her interest in his response.

  "I'm an optimist. I believe that our humanity is something worth fighting for." Lily stole a glance back at him, then turned back to the robust fire.

  "I don't want to be a monster..." Lily said softly, still trying to reconcile with the reality of her fate.

  "I don't think most people do. But sometimes trying to fight monsters makes monsters of us all." Lily could feel the vibrating in her feet as Peter scooted his chair noisily closer to the table. "I've heard of people with albinism or vitiligo being hunted. Anyone who even just has very pale skin and hair, or no hair at all. Anything that reminds them of the abominations."

  "I don't know what all them things are, albism or vertigo or..."

  "Albinism and vitiligo," Peter corrected. Linda scrunched up her face but kept whatever sharp remark she had back. "They're... uh... well sometimes people are just born or get damaged in a way their skin can't make the darker colours, so they look white . But they are unrelated to the white plague," Peter explained. Lily and Linda looked at him as if he were speaking another language, but owing to a distinct lack of curiosity about these skin issues, both just shrugged and moved the conversation along.

  "Do you think Rena can help me?" Lily asked, giving Peter her full attention once more.

  "I'm not sure. Rena can fight abominations, and she can heal wounds, but I don't know if she can heal you," Peter frowned, tapping the side of his mug.

  "She won't say what she got in mind, but made it sound risky, and maybe, just as bad as being a vamp. Can't think what'd be as bad as a vamp, though," Linda muttered darkly.

  "Did she? I wonder if she's thinking of turning Lily into a vampire," Peter mused out loud. Vampire. Lily looked at Linda, complicated feelings stirring in her. Could she live with her sister as a blood drinker, even knowing she may hurt her? Disgust her? She then looked down at her tea which remained untouched.

  "I'd rather be anything but one of them things," Lily said quietly. Linda placed an arm on her shoulder. "I want to live."

  "At what cost?" Linda asked. Lily tightened her grip on her cup as her pink lips grew taut.

  "Any cost... any cost but you, sis."

  "Well, let's not jump to any conclusions just yet. It all depends on how... oh." Peter went quiet as a sobering realisation dawned on him. The Day sisters looked at him, their faces asking the questions their voices did not. "...There's a chance that Rena won't be able to help you. If she is rejected again by us... she will be terminated."

  "What? Why?" Lily asked, her expression stricken.

  "She doesn't want to become a monster either. I guess long before I was born she swore she would only live for as long as she was guarding my family." Peter's eyes dropped, his expression growing increasingly more grave. "So, part of the pact is that she must be terminated by the last person to break their oath to her. And that is me." Peter's face grew pale, contrasting more with his poorly shaved chin. "I wanted to come home. And now, if the clan will not renew their contract with her, then..." Peter blinked and looked up, hole alighting in his eyes. "Unless... did she make a formal agreement with either of you?"

  The sisters looked between each other. The information laid out to them was heavy and involved, something far beyond the scope of what either of them had dealt with before. "Dunno. Don't think so. She just said she'd do what she could. We didn't shake hands or swear on nuthin," Linda admitted.

  "Should we have?" Lily asked, bewildered by how Rena could agree to help when her own life was so precarious.

  "What'll happen to us if she dies? I ain't gonna trust that notcher, Cyrus!" Linda uttered, disdain dribbling from her voice. This caused Lily to blush and quickly look away.

  "I can offer some help, but at the first sign of danger, I'm afraid I must do what any father would do to make the world safer for his children," Peter said grimly. Lily swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She wanted people to be kinder, to drop everything and help her. But he was a father. She looked at his grave countenance then away. He had his own family to protect. And she might be a threat to them. Although the idea of harming a child sickened her, she wondered if she would even be able to tell a child from an adult when the change happened.

  "Gotcha," Linda responded. Lily looked at her loyal sister. If Linda were willing to do all of this for her, certainly Peter, as a father, would do much the same, or more for his children. "So wha'da do until sundown?"

  "That's easy. There's always plenty of work to be done around here."

  Lily felt as though she might wilt. However, to her surprise, the promise of work didn't seem so bad for once.

  It was quite the procession that marched out through the Fisham gates at sundown. A guard, armed with a spear and wooden stakes, preceded Chief Fisham, who walked with his fur cloak billowing in the constant prairie wind. Behind him was his nephew, Peter Fisher, and following were the two visitors from Goldilocks. Pulling up the rear were a pair of hunters, bows and quivers on their backs and tomahawks at their belts. Despite Rena's long and peaceful relationship with the Fisher clan, it seemed they were not keen on taking chances.

  A chorus of howls marked the arrival of Rena. Trailing behind her, in hunter's garb too large for him, was a shorter male, kicking up sprays of snow as he moved in misfitting moccasins.

  The two groups lined up across from each other. Peter looked at Rena with clear apprehension, and Chief Fisher with reserve. Rena betrayed nothing on her pale face, and her companion crossed his arms and shook his head.

  "The threat to Goldilocks has been removed," Rena spoke, her voice rising over the stirring wind. "I am here to offer my protection once more."

  The chief crossed his arms, staring hard as the assorted canines gathered in a loose horseshoe around Rena, backing her like a small army. His attention then drifted to the short scruffy figure to her left. "Who is this?"

  "Cyrus, my Grand Sire," Rena answered, gesturing to Cyrus, who dropped his arms and lifted his whiskered chin. So this is Cyrus. Peter squinted. She wasn't exaggerating when she said he was a little man

  "Please never call me your Grand Sire again," Cyrus could be heard grumbling.

  "We have received word from Goldilocks that you have done well. But we must ask, did you kill the threat that was plaguing the Westarm Ward?" Chief Fisher asked, narrowing his eyes shrewdly.

  The guard and two hunters placed their hands over their weapons. From the distance, Peter barely saw the momentary twitch at her eyebrows as she surely saw this action. He felt a small tic in his own jaw as he clenched his teeth, but remained as neutral and somber as possible. Her gaze then skipped right over Peter to stare beyond him. Is she angry with me for coming back? Or... He turned his head only enough to glance back at the girls from Goldilocks, then looked straight ahead again.

  "I did not."

  There was a prolonged silence, and Cyrus quickly stepped up beside Rena, his dark eyes trained on the sentries. He muttered something to her out the side of his mouth, and Peter's stomach fluttered and his ears grew warm. He quietly reminded himself he knew very little about Cyrus except what Rena told him, which wasn't much. But it was enough for him to dislike the black haired vampire.

  The Chief crossed his arms, looking at the two vampires long and hard. Peter then stepped forward. "She still removed the threat, does it matter if it was killed or not?"

  "If she just chased it off, it or its progeny could come back," Chief Fisher responded. He then raised his hand and stepped forward, gesturing to Rena and raising his voice. "Explain."

  "By the time I tracked the abomination, it had already been killed." Rena elaborated, gesturing with an open hand to Cyrus who remained alertly at her side. He waved.

  "My bad."

  "So you lied to Goldilocks?" Chief Fisher asked, arching an eyebrow.

  "I told no lies. I said the problem was dealt with. A secondary threat was Cyrus, whom I reasoned with to cease hunting in this ward." Cyrus widened his eyes, then narrowed them at Rena, before looking back at the hunters. Peter glanced at them as well. They looked grim and ready to pounce, given the word. That was as it should be. Chief Fisher, however, remained calm, keeping his hands at his side. Rena continued. "I have entered into a pact with Cyrus, into which he has specifically agreed to bring no harm to the people of Fisham."

  "That's right. I come in peace," Cyrus affirmed, holding up empty hands.

  Chief Fisher regarded the two, stroking his whiskers as he was prone to do when thinking. Or just wanting people to believe he was considering something. Peter looked tensely at his uncle, and the two sisters kept close to each other, likely concerned with how the Chief's decision would impact their own fates. "Well, you have done your duty by us. I invite you into Fisham for further negotiations on new terms," Chief Fisher bowed his head and then gestured for Rena and Cyrus to follow. Together, the group walked back into Fisham. Peter sighed with relief, and tried not to stare at the unexpected new addition.