“Okay. Okay. Okay. E-Everything’s okay now.” Scott said, slamming the window shut. They had fled, faster than Will’s abandoned car could take them, back to his house. The vampire and ghoul could easily scale the wall, and Scott had marked the windowsill with a hastily-scribbled sigil. Everyone collapsed onto the bed and floor, exhausted.

“That…could have gone better.” Will mumbled.

“Gee, you think?” Amber said, then turned to Scott. “Okay now then. Scott, what the hell? I’ve never seen you just cut and run like that. What’s going-hey, what’s up?” She had started out angry and frustrated, but now in the light where he was plainly visible, everyone could see something was wrong. Scott was pale, sweating, and shaking; he was shivering and trembling too much, rubbing his arms together. He sat on the bed and crawled under a blanket, looking like nothing more than a scared little child. He took several deep, calming breaths.

“O-Okay. I-It’s fine now. He’s gone, everything’s fine for now.” he reassured himself, then addressed the room. “S-So. Uh. We’re in trouble. As you might have gathered. Like, big trouble.”

“Indeed, that Brian and his creations are a threat.” Leo said, sitting back against the wall, absently holding his sword to his shoulder. “They-they got Mielios. That hurts. He was a good man, or bug, or bugman.” At that, Scott gave a hysterical little cackle.

“Haha! No, no, that’s not what I mean at all. Losing Mielios? No problem. Mutated vampire horde? Yawnathon. My psychotic, traitorous, evil ex-best friend granted incredible cosmic power beyond the ken of man? I could take all of that and double it and still would be getting off far too lightly. I-It was the…being in Brian’s shadow. Do you know w-what it was?”

“You mean Rie-” Will started, but Scott tackled him immediately, smothering his mouth with his blanket.

“Don’t say that name! Don’t say that name! Never say that name, not unless you want doom to befall you!” He climbed back onto the bed, the blanket still around his shoulders but providing no comfort. “H-He can hear when his name is used. Never say it, ever. It can summon him.”

“In the Necronomicon, there are methods of raising the dead, but there’s more.” he said, pulling the book out and flipping through it. “There are also records of daemons, and how to summon them. But honestly they’re what could be considered a subset. The worst ones a-are, what we would consider…gods.” He swallowed, shaking hands moving pages. “When I say gods, I don’t mean an almighty bearded Jehovah or any of the gods from the various mythologies around the world. They’re just stories. I’m talking about the true ones, vaster and more ancient than time itself. They are numerous and unknowable. Some beasts bigger than galaxies, swimming through an ocean of void between the stars. Some existing outside of time and space altogether, where form is a foreign concept. Some are mindless masses of pulsating flesh, while some can even look like you. There is a practically infinite amount of them, each stranger than the last. Most of them live in different dimensions, like the daemons do, or on the far side of the universe, or places just as weird as they are. There are many, and most of them don’t really notice a little blue rock in the corner of the Milky Way. And that’s how humanity has survived to this day: they don’t notice us.”

“Oh sure, some human may occasionally do something to draw the eye of the smaller ones, but on the whole we’re beneath notice. That’s the way I’d like it to stay. Few of them are benign, like Zet-Mathaig.” Scott said, nodding to Leo.

“And…the universe is filled with ‘em?” Will asked in a small voice. This was…he didn’t even know what this was. The necromancer nodded. “Th-Then how have we not been noticed by these guys by now?”

“Think of it this way. When two dust particles collide in your attic, do you go investigate?” Everyone in the room looked uncomfortable, digesting this new perspective on reality. Scott shook his head. “And unfortunately, we haven’t always flown underneath the radar. I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but somewhere along the line the one who’s name starts with an ‘R’ found out about Earth, and humans. That w-was…bad.” He sunk lower in his bed. “The Necronomicon has a record of what happened. Upside of him discovering us, he doesn’t possess the power to wipe us out instantly. Downside, that prolongs our suffering.”

“H-how bad could it be?” Amber asked, throat dry. Scott shivered again.

“Remember how Atlantis used to be an island and now it isn’t?”

“Atlantis?” Both Amber and Will asked.

“An ancient civilization on a mysterious continent in the sea,” Kevin piped up. “Along with Mu and Lemuria, it’s a legendary country that was supposedly hyper-advanced, but collapsed eons before our current time. No records of such places have ever been found beyond hearsay, but if you’re saying it I guess it must be true.”

“Smart man.” Scott said, trying to grin but it ended up a grimace instead. “I don’t know exactly how, it only says ‘with his divine beasts, he laid waste to the land, sinking the legend of Atlantis forever beneath the waves.’”

“Wait-with his divine beasts?” Leo asked, putting the puzzle together. “I don’t know how divine they are, but those creatures in the mall were very beastly. That means-”

“He’s planning to do it again, only here.” Scott finished, rocking back and forth. “Not good, not good.”

“Why? Why’s he doing this?” Amber said, feeling very small right now. She didn’t think a ghoul’s super strength would be of much help right now.

“No one knows. There’s no rhyme or reason to any of these primordial gods. Even if there is, their ways are too strange and alien to make sense of. Egypt used to be the superpower civilization on Earth, but now it’s not. The ‘R’ guy was there.”

“This is getting ridiculous!” Will suddenly burst out, annoyed and angry. “We can’t keep calling him the ‘R’ guy, this’s way too serious for such a stupid-sounding name.”

“Well, he’s been referred to by many pseudonyms over the centuries.” Scott said. “He’s also known as the Calumnious Rumination, the Serpent, the Last Temptation or the Tempter, the Abhorrent Reptile, the Man of Many Faces, and the Poisonous Thoughts, just to name a few. A-And he knows about us. T-The Calamitous Ruination knows about us, specifically. He’s seen us. We managed to get away, but he knows about us. H-He’s gonna hunt us down and extract our souls, and he’s gonna do horrible, monstrous things to them, and he’s gonna laugh, and it’s gonna be a nightmare, and it’s not gonna end, it’s not gonna end, it’s not gonna end, never, never end, ever end, never end, never end, n-never-” His eyes were wide, and he couldn’t stop rocking back and forth. The previous calm that came from trying to explain had led him back to the fact that Riepaimva had seen them. There would be no rest, no escape. They were all doomed. Amber, watching him tremble, finally had it. She walked up to him.

“ENOUGH!” She gently slapped his face with a finger, back and forth. His head rocketed from one side to the other. She grabbed the sides of his face, cheeks red, and forced him to stare up at her, straight in the eye. “Look at me. We are going to get through this. I don’t know how. But we will. We’ll figure something out. You will figure something out. You are better than this. You saved me from death. You stopped the daemons. You can do this. I know you can. I believe in you. You are the toughest…no. You are the smartest, the biggest, the baddest necromancer ever. Right?”

“R-Right.” Scott said, calming down. He stared at her, then looked away. He couldn’t believe himself. It was just like the time he’d ran away before. He stole another glance at he still nervous, but now smiling girl he’d once abandoned.

‘Never again.’ he thought. ‘I will never run again.’

“At least you’re feeling better. But this is just fantastic.” Leo said, rubbing his head. “Sounds like Satan on steroids, and he has a burning hatred of humanity. I’ll admit, this doesn’t look good. But there’s another thing that’s bugging me: why involve the vampires? They didn’t seem to be local, and if he is as powerful as you say, he shouldn’t need any vampires for help.”

Kevin glanced around the room, then cleared his throat.

“Uh, guys? Maybe she can answer that.” he said. He pointed to the bed. All eyes were drawn to it, and Scott jumped when he realized he was sharing his bed with an unconscious Genevieve, half-hidden beneath the pillows and blankets.

“Ahh! Holy crap! Kevin, what the hell man!?” Will cried, trying to keep his voice down. Kevin shrugged helplessly.

“W-Well, she got beat up, and that’s no good, p-plus she seemed to know those guys, and I needed to find the one who bit me anyway, and…” He gazed down at her, the bruise on her face fading but still vivid. He nodded. “I couldn’t leave her there. I don’t know what’s going on, but Nightfang can not allow such violence. Especially against a woman who wasn’t even fighting back.”

“Ugh.” Will buried his face in his hands, wishing it would all go away. Kevin was crazy. There was no other way to parse it.

“No, actually this’s really good. She can answer some of our questions.” Leo said, standing up. His blade was still at the ready. “Can you wake her up?” he asked Scott.

“Yeah, hold on.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Everybody get ready if she’s…less than cooperative.” Everyone tensed up. “Sekh.”

“Waah!” Genevieve gasped, startled awake with a rush of energy. “Huh? Gregor-what?” She blinked and fearfully looked at the teens surrounding her, the largest one holding a sword. “H-Huh? What’s going on?”

“Good evening. Genevieve, I presume?” Leo said easily, congenially. The woman nodded slowly, one eye never straying from the silver blade. “Good. I’m sorry about all this, but it appears as if we’re in a tight spot right now, and we’d really appreciate your help. I understand it’s been a trying night, but do you think you could tell us about those vampires you were with earlier?” Panic flashed across her face before she tried to school her features into a neutral expression. Charitable parties would say she succeeded.

“Vampires? Pshaw, what vampires? Everyone knows there’s no such thing as vampires. Yeah right.” she said unconvincingly with a dismissive wave of her hand, desperate to try and get control of the conversation. The group was nonplussed.

“Miss, please. We know you’re a vampire.” Leo deadpanned. Genevieve plastered a fake smile on her face and her eye started twitching.

“M-Me? A vampire? How ridiculous! A-Anyway, where are we? What are you kids doing here, what’s going on? I’ll scream if you don’t fess up!” she tried to threaten nervously.

“Yeah right, no such thing as vampires. That’s a total load of crap, and I know it!” Kevin barked, pulling off his mask. “Remember me?” Her eyes went wide.

“Oh God.” She hung her head, unable to look at anyone. “It’s you.”

“Yeah, it’s me. Why the hell did you bite me and turn me into a vampire!?” Kevin demanded.

“Uuuh. I am so sorry about this. I never meant to, honest.” Genevieve shook her head. “I’ve found it’s the easiest way for me to get a meal. I find a guy, usually late high-school or college, I flash some leg or cleavage, then it’s easy to take him to a dark, secluded place. I get fed and they usually wake up with a headache thinking they got lucky. I never turn anyone! That’s the last thing I wanna do! But it’s all your fault!” she wailed, pointing a finger at him.

“My fault? How is it my fault!?” he sputtered.

“You! Your blood alcohol level! It was waaaay higher than it should’ve been, you looked like you had two, not twelve! When I bit you I had an empty stomach, it got me as drunk as you! The next day I figured I bit my lip after I went to sleep, I didn’t mean to mix our blood!”

“That’s how vampires make others of their kind.” Scott elucidated helpfully. She gave him a dirty look.

“Well, you did. Now.” Kevin drew himself up, trying to be as intimidating as he could. The glowing red eyes were a nice touch, but it looked like she was being menaced by a stick insect. “Tell me how we can reverse it.”

“What?”

“Tell me how we can change me back.” he said, his voice dropping an octave. Genevieve’s eyes shot nervously from side to side.

“W-Well, I, ah…uh…”

“Tell me!” he growled, slamming his fist into a bookcase.

“I’m sorry! There isn’t!” she said, tears in the corners of her eyes, flailing her hands wildly. “That’s why vampires never turn people without good reason! It’s permanent! I-I’m sorry, but there isn’t a way to go back to being human. If there is, I don’t know it.” she said, downcast.

Kevin felt like he’d taken a sledgehammer to his chest. He grit his teeth against the ache, eyes pricking and hot. Sure, the powers were fun, but he did hope to go back to normal. It felt like he was on vacation, only to find he’d accidentally moved. His head fell and he sagged against the bookcase.

“Hey, you okay, man?” Will asked worriedly.

“Y-Yeah.” No. No he wasn’t. “J-Just…just a lot to t-take in, that’s all.” he said. He felt a pressure in his chest, and didn’t know whether it would come out as laughter or tears. He shuffled to a corner, trying to get a grip, breathing deeply.

“Indeed.” Leo said diplomatically, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder and giving him a sympathetic look. Amber gave him a hug. Kevin nodded, and waved her away.

“I’ll…be okay. I will. Just…I’ll be okay.” he promised. Leo nodded, satisfied.

“But what about the other vampires? The ones who you were talking to before they…transformed.” he said.

“Gregor, Ilya, Galina, the others are-or were, my friends. We, uh…c-can you keep a secret?”

“I think the fact that you’re not in a government lab right now should prove it.” Amber deadpanned. Genevieve’s pale cheeks tinged pink.

“Ahh, right. Well, I’m not saying anything specific, but we’re part of a clan of vampires in Eastern Europe. About two weeks ago, nearly half the clan suddenly left, just up and vanished. The head of our clan was furious, he nearly destroyed the castle in his rage.” she explained, trembling at the memory. “He took a small task force abroad to try and track them down. I finagled my way onto the expedition, and, here I am. The clan, they’re…my family. I-I don’t have anyone else. So when they left, even though I’m the youngest vampire there…”

“You had to see if there was anything you could do.” Leo finished, and she nodded. “I understand. By the by, you have a very good American accent.”

“Dat is because she ist from Amerika.” a deep voice came from the window, making everyone jump. Deep red eyes, darker silver hair, and a lined, patrician face was upside-down outside of the glass.

“M-M-Master Harvaste!” Genevieve squeaked. He gave her a stern glare.