As sunset approached, Camellia wandered the unworked field. With care, she stepped around daisies and tall grass. She pulled her dress high to avoid the tallest vegetation. Meladee and Eva worked in the nearby barn, and sheltered beneath a great tree, Faustina huddled against the same barn.

Camellia looked up and saw her father’s farm. The great, dark house towered high above the landscape, atop a ridge, master of the fields below. On one side, the ridge cut sharply. It transformed a corner of the house into a kind of cliff. The other side sloped gradually till it became flat. Sprawled over that land, were crops, animals, a walled orchard, and buildings. Another small slope rose between Camellia and the sprawling farm, so she couldn’t see everything that belonged to her father. Though, she knew it was there. As she approached the slope and its wildflowers, she looked up. Close to the small hill, she saw less of the worked fields, but her father’s house always stayed in view.

Camellia bent. She debated taking some of the flowers, but she didn’t want the overgrown field to look disturbed. She placed a hand around a sprig of yellow blossoms, tightened her grip, but let go, leaving the blooms where they grew. Camellia stood and walked back to the old barn that dominated the overgrown field. As she walked, she watched water run from several drains on the lower ridge, diverting from the nearest crops. The liquid sparkled in the low sun.

Only Camellia’s brothers knew she had returned to the farm. They had helped hide Faustina behind the farthest barn, and each brother volunteered to visit those far off fields, keeping the other family members closer to the main house. Camellia’s half-sisters and Viorel didn’t know about the guests. When the AAH came looking for her, Camellia heard of it only from her brother Chevril. Luckily, another brother had turned them away, and he and his wife had been the only ones present to receive the guests. Mercifully, Chevril asked no questions, and Camellia didn’t bother to ask if Adalhard had come.

Camellia kept her mental shields tight. She hid from her father and the others, but she also practiced her ability to block the creatures. Maybe, even Ah’nee’thit couldn’t watch her when she hid her mind so completely.

“You should go back to work.” Eva strolled from the barn door.

“I know. I will.”

“What are you doing out here? I thought you disliked this place.” Eva gestured to the farm above.

“Partly,” Camellia admitted. She smiled and looked at the ground. “But, there are good memories here too. You still like parts of Lurren, right?”

“That’s different,” Eva said. “Lurren, the one that I remember, was taken by a monster. I don’t like the new Lurren. I want the old one back. This place hasn’t changed. There’s no old and new. It’s the same place that was bad for you.”

“I’ve noticed. It’s also the same place that had some good things for me.”

Eva grew silent, and her eyes roved up the wild hill to the fields and beyond. Camellia thought Eva settled her gaze on the vampire’s far off house.

“Eva? Do you think I’m competent?” Camellia asked.

Eva turned her head and set her eyes on Camellia. “You’re competent enough for me,” she answered without hesitation.

“It’s very nice of you to say, but what I mean to ask – and answer me honestly – do you think that I should be somewhere for people who...can’t cope with day to day life?” Camellia braced herself for Eva’s answer, knowing what she thought the answer should be.

“No,” Eva stated. “Of course not. You make decisions and behave like a stable individual. You do not belong in a hospital.” Eva glanced at the farm and then the sun. She looked directly at it but only for a moment.

Camellia frowned. She would have said yes, but Eva didn’t. Camellia felt her expression relax and become something more neutral.

She glanced at the sunset and knew it was time to take cover, but she had to make sure they were alone first. “Go in. I’ll be right along. I have to shoo this escaped pig away.”

Camellia stared into a shock of heather and wondered if she knew the animal. A little pig nose brushed at the foliage.

Eva looked in the same direction and startled as she too spotted the pink and black pig, nosing through the wild flowers. The pig reached the base of the lower ridge, looked at the women, and snorted. Eva’s eyes widened, and she turned for the door.

Camellia walked to the pig. “Go back up to the farm. Wolves are going to eat you at sundown,” she scolded quietly. She opened her mind a sliver and sent the pig a compulsion to walk back up the ridge.

The pig started up, and Camellia was glad she didn’t have to send the image of a wolf. She watched the pig walk higher, and satisfied, she entered the barn.

Meladee waited on the other side and peered out the opening. “Is it dark yet?”

The rich pink and orange of sunset glowed through the crack, and grey twilight approached.

“No, you can see it isn’t dark.” Camellia pointed and closed the door.

They lost some light, but Camellia felt plenty came through the high set windows. She sighed, walked to her hay ridden workstation, and sat down. Camellia rifled through a thick directory: the Guild Registry. She’d snatched the registry from headquarters right before they fled.

“Does he get up at all before sunset?” Meladee pestered.

Camellia didn’t look up. She worked to separate thin pages. “Sometimes, usually in the summer to make up for the short nights. He would stay inside though.”

“How often does he have visitors?”

With a loud clang, Eva tossed metal to the ground. “Meladee. We’ve not seen the man for the three days and two nights we’ve been here. Relax. Better yet. Finish your project. And, let me focus on mine.”

Eva sat on the barn floor, in an area cleared of straw. She followed the blueprint, pulling her fighter ship to pieces for parts. The freeze gun already took shape.

Meladee resumed her work. With a small chisel, she etched the casting circle on a large medallion. She would inscribe the entire circle first, and when she had a rough image, she would enter a meditative state to finish it off, imbuing it with magic as she carved.

Camellia was eager to see how both her companions’ projects turned out. Already, she marveled at Eva’s gun and anticipated Meladee’s magic.

“Maw,” squeaked a small voice that Camellia recognized.

Camellia looked up, but Meladee beat her to it. Meladee already laid eyes on a black kitten.

“A kitten!” Meladee snatched the little creature up and pet it. “I love cats!”

“And distractions,” Eva added.

“Careful, Meladee,” Camellia cautioned. “That’s Benji. He’s a vampire kitten. My father turned him to prevent his death. Every so often, he uses his cuteness to get a meal off unsuspecting strangers. He can’t drain you, but I know how you feel about vampires.”

Meladee froze. Benji now presented his belly, looked up at her, and purred. He watched her finger attentively. Meladee placed Benji on the ground, but the kitten came right back.

Meladee shooed him. “You have to go. Take your underhanded cuddles and find someone else to eat.”

“Maaaaaaw,” Benji begged.

“Wait.” Meladee almost welcomed the kitten back. “If this is a vampire, how come its out during the day?”

Benji waited patiently. He turned his head to Camellia as if to say, why am I out during the day?

“His collar has a small daywalker’s jewel. I brought it back for him from a distant country.” Camellia pointed to the glint of red around Benji’s throat.

“Alright, then you really need to go.” Again, Meladee shooed the kitten. “Come on. Go.”

Camellia smiled. She crawled to Meladee’s space and held out her hand for Benji. He looked at her blood-filled digits and strolled closer, rubbing himself on support pillars and old tools as he came. When he was close enough, Camellia put her hand under his belly and pulled him away.

“Come here, Benji.”

Benji jumped free and hissed. He aimed a swat at Camellia’s hand, but she avoided the tiny claws. Benji hissed again and darted through the barn, low to the ground. He popped through a hole and disappeared.

“Oh, I’m so sorry I ruined your meal,” Camellia cried, with much sarcasm.

For a while, the three women worked in silence. Meladee finished her etching and studied the spell to prepare her meditation. She would rest first. Eva coaxed the gun from her ruined fighter, heating and banging the metal into the shapes she needed.

Camellia worked through the registry. Only one guild had a house near the temple ruins: the Enchanted Textilers. Camellia researched their guild and found two complaints regarding noise. They also failed to provide full shipping records of their wares every few years. Their main warehouse resided in the heart of Suen’s tourist trap. The Enchanted Textilers possessed two more locations. One giant warehouse in mid-Tagtrum and a small operation in Gotic, the Groazan capital.

We could visit that one easily. But first… Camellia jotted a note for the Gotic guildmaster. She struggled to find the right words. Finally, she decided on We know about Ah’nee’thit, and we have information to trade. Can we meet? At the bottom of the message, she left her contact information. She almost added a smiley face to break the tension of the brazen message, but Camellia wanted the guildmaster to take her seriously, just as he would a hooded stranger on a foggy night.

Just before sunset, Camellia’s brother, Chevril, brought food. Camellia asked him to deliver the letter, fairly confident she had the right guild. Chevril agreed to help, hugged her, and left to deliver her letter that night.

Camellia returned to the guild registry and realigned its thick spine with a well-placed tap. Then, she opened her bag’s mouth and proceeded to stuff the tome inside. Even an enchanted bag had a limited mouth, and Camellia couldn’t count the times she’d stuffed a thick petticoat or stretched a box inside. When she finished, she looked at the bag. It seemed displeased and full of shame, like someone who had just eaten an entire cake.

A shadow moved in Camellia’s periphery. She glanced over.

“I wondered why he came down here. Where did you get that ship?” Viorel stood in the barn door.

Camellia jumped to her feet. Her heart beat faster as she was sure her father knew.

For the second time that day, Meladee froze, once again in the presence of a vampire. Eva set wary eyes on the tall man. Both women remained seated, but Camellia stood by her work.

“The ship belongs to one of my friends,” Camellia said. “They’re helping me do some hobbyist restoration work. All perfectly safe and little travel is required.” Camellia’s lie hung in the air.

Viorel probed her thoughts.

Camellia felt his mind touch hers, but the attempt at contact fell away, like a leaf fluttering into heavy glass. Camellia half-smiled.

“You’ve been practicing.”

“Not really,” Camellia returned. “I’m less exhausted. When I’m not here, I don’t have to maintain my shields all the time.” Truthfully, Camellia had been practicing, thanks to Ah’nee’thit. Still, she decided her father should think otherwise.

“Who are these?”

“This is Meladee Arai. She’s a pilot, and we’re traveling around eastern Tagtrum and Groaza together. Nothing mandatory. Just for fun. The other is Evangeline Dyelan, and she’s a metalsmith. She’s helping me with that hobby work. Who told you we were staying here?”

“I watched Chevril come down here with food. And, Benji had you on his mind. A better question would be why didn’t you tell me you came back? This is my house.” Viorel stepped across the threshold. He finally entered the barn but kept his distance from the watchful women.

“I didn’t want to disturb anyone. I know how troubling my presence can be,” Camellia scoffed. She felt unable to say such a thing with feigned care.

“You are out of line.” Viorel took hurried steps but stopped when Eva sprang to her feet. He beheld Eva’s red hair and gold skin, not to mention the strange gun she held by her side. “A metalsmith?”

Camellia shrugged. “Metalsmiths often collect fine metal work. Eva collects guns.”

Viorel’s eyes moved from Eva’s strange weapon to the unfinished gun at Eva’s feet.

“We’ll only be here two more days,” Camellia said. She narrowed her eyes. “Do you want us to leave?”

“I never want you to leave.”

Camellia bit her lower lip. “I could stay away forever. But, I couldn’t do the opposite.”

Viorel didn’t answer. He stared at Camellia, and for once, she didn’t feel his mind touch hers.

“Dad?” Amaranth, another of Camellia’s brothers, stood in the barn doorway. “There’s a guy here to see Camellia. I brought him down. No one wanted him in the house. He’s…”

“I’ll take care of it.” Viorel shouldered past his son and disappeared from view.

Camellia crossed to the door and peered outside. Amaranth made a half-hearted attempt to shove her back in, but she gave him a dismissive tap on the shoulder. Camellia exited the barn and followed her father, keeping several paces behind. Eva, Amaranth, and Meladee trailed after.

Under a nearby tree, Camellia saw Cahir.

“What do you want?” Viorel asked.

“I just want your daughter.” Cahir smirked. “I’m sorry. I mean I want to talk to your daughter.”

Camellia’s heart had slowed but again sped up. She heard Eva whisper a hurried request to Amaranth, but she missed the words. People in motion whooshed behind her, but ahead, Cahir and Viorel were still.

“You’re not talking to her,” Viorel denied. “Get off my land.”

“But, Viorel. It’s my understanding that you are looking to marry off the troublemaker. I’m offering myself for just such a purpose.” Cahir smiled and touched his chest.

“Cahir. I don’t want to marry you, and you’d better be careful. He’s a vampire,” Camellia warned.

“I know he’s a vampire.” Cahir stepped closer. “Our mutual friend determined that I could not perform my duties faced with such adversity. Thus, a gift was in order.”

Viorel glanced at his daughter. “Get inside.”

Camellia disobeyed and gasped as, from his back, Cahir sprouted tentacles. The monstrosities waved and wriggled, stretching for the sky only to knot back on themselves.

Cahir smiled, and three tentacles shot for Viorel. The vampire turned his back on his daughter to face the attack. Viorel caught two, one in each hand. The other shot through his flank. Her father did not scream, but Camellia put her hand over her mouth and stared at the writhing tentacle. It poked through her father’s back. Viorel pulled the captured tentacles tight and stepped back, until he slipped free of the third. His flank dripped blood.

Camellia searched the dirt for rubbish, plentiful near the old, rotting barn. She snatched up a jagged stake and rushed forward. With the pointed shard of wood, she pinned one of Cahir’s tentacles to the ground. Then, she grabbed her father’s arm, and together they retreated. Viorel pushed Camellia behind him and hunched against the barn. He waited to heal, keeping his eyes on Cahir.

Cahir strolled in their direction. He pulled his pinned tentacle free, slicing it in half as he snaked it off the stick. “That hurt,” he scolded.

Camellia searched for another weapon, settled on a jagged plank and handed it to her father. Viorel took the plank.

Four of Cahir’s tentacles darted forwards. Viorel stepped on the first while two more crashed through the plank. The fourth bust a hole in the barn. The tentacle under Viorel’s foot waved helplessly. The tentacles stuck in the plank stretched for Viorel’s chest, but he twirled the board and wound the tentacles, like string on a ball. Before the fourth tentacle pulled free, Camellia ran inside the barn. She found the thing flailing and grabbed it. She tied it into a knot and watched as it tried to jerk itself out of the barn. The knot strained the hole but eventually broke through, returning to its master.

Outside, Cahir shouted, “Camellia!”

But he also laughed, and Camellia concluded that her knot tying skills would not defeat Cahir’s new limbs.

Vaguely, she noticed that Eva, Meladee, and Amaranth had disappeared as well as several items from the barn floor. The back door stood open, but Camellia ignored it and turned to the front. She darted back outside. She snatched up a pitchfork as she went.

Outside, Cahir pulled the knotted tentacle close, but Viorel still had the other three trapped. Her father held the board tight and scooped up the third tentacle, stepping off it long enough to recapture the frantic thing. Viorel wound the third tentacle on the board and started to reel Cahir in.

“Stand back, Camellia. He has more of them.”

This time Camellia obeyed her father. His order came just in time for her to avoid four more of Cahir’s tentacles. Two wrapped around Viorel’s legs and tried to pull the vampire off his feet. Viorel stood his ground, caught another tentacle on his board and wrapped it. The fourth whizzed by his head as he dodged. The sneaky thing aimed for her father’s back, but Camellia grabbed it. She dropped the pitchfork and found some more debris. Just as her father had wound several tentacles on the old board, she wrapped the one tentacle around a splintered pike, not caring at all when splinters punctured Cahir’s limb.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Cahir shouted. His tentacle twitched, spasming over the splintered wood. “You should be helping me. I’m trying to rescue you.”

Viorel held most of Cahir’s tentacles captive, but Cahir still had three tentacles in reserve. Camellia stabbed the splintered pike into the ground, keeping Cahir’s tentacle in place. Then, she began to free one of her father’s legs.

“Dad!” Amaranth shouted.

Around the corner of the barn, Amaranth, Eva, and Meladee charged to help. Amaranth captured the tentacles around his father’s ankles, holding them like writing snakes. Meladee hung back but performed a minor spell. A small ice blue circle danced unevenly over the board and mass of tentacles. It flared and covered the things in a sheen of ice. The tentacles slowed. Meladee conjured another spell for Cahir but stopped.

Eva had snatched the pitchfork and threw it at Cahir. With one of his many limbs, the man caught the sharp implement and threw it aside. Distracted, he didn’t have time to dodge Eva’s shot from the half-finished freeze ray. Covered in a sheen of ice, Cahir struggled to move. Camellia ran to his side and picked up the pitchfork.

“Put him out of his misery or get away!” Eva shouted.

Camellia just held the pitchfork and stared. “Cahir, let us help you.”

Cahir laughed, and through their frosty shell, his sluggish tentacles cracked towards her. She stepped back and leveled the pitchfork.

“You can’t help him.” Eva strode to Camellia’s side. “And be careful. He’s bound to have a special tentacle he could use to infect you.”

At Eva’s warning, Camellia backed further away. Cahir frowned, and she saw one shorter tentacle, complete with a ring of suction, inching her way. Camellia pointed at it, and Eva nodded.

“If you go to Lurren, you’ll die. Ah’nee’thit sent me to rescue you. Camellia, just make this easy and be my priestess,” Cahir begged through frozen lips.

Before Camellia could answer, Eva took the pitchfork and stabbed Cahir in the chest. Camellia gave a quiet cry and put her hands over her mouth. She wanted to look away but watched as Eva twisted the weapon and let go. Cahir staggered, and his limbs snaked for Eva.

Eva drew her crystal staff and caught all the attacking limbs in a neat twirl. With a flick of her thumb, electricity danced along her staff, cooking the offensive tentacles. Cahir fell, and every tentacle went limp.

Eva pulled her staff free. Camellia felt Viorel and Amaranth relax.

“He needs to be utterly destroyed,” Eva ordered. “Don’t bury him. Don’t leave a shred of him intact.”

“Cahir stabbed my father,” Camellia panicked. She pointed at Viorel. “Can he get infected?”

Viorel glanced between them.

“Did Cahir use the special limb?” Eva asked.

“No,” Camellia said, heart still beating fast.

Eva relaxed. “Infection is always a possibility. But usually, they use that special limb.” Eva gestured to the short sucker tentacle. “His infection was in early stages. His total destruction may not be necessary, but we take no chances.”

Camellia nodded.

Eva whirled and faced Viorel. “If you want to protect your farm, get the cleanup right. All traces of him should be burned, and do a controlled burn of the land.”

Eva glanced at Camellia. She seemed ready to avoid Camellia’s eyes, but if she felt the urge, Eva didn’t give in.

Eva pulled a bottle from her pocket. “You’re all going to take some of this.” Eva shook five pills into her hand. “These pills can stop early infection. It seemed to work for organic Lurriens as long as the creature didn’t contact their minds.” Eva handed a pill to everyone, with the exception of Viorel. She handed him two.

Everyone swallowed their pill.

Then, Eva handed Viorel the bottle. “Take one everyday for a week, and it would be best if you limit your contact with the others.”

Viorel sneered but took the offered bottle. “And, I assume you have enough of this stuff for my daughter?”

“Ever the concerned father I see. Yes, I have plenty,” Eva said.

With narrowed eyes, Meladee approached. “Why didn’t you say anything about that stuff?”

Eva ignored the question.

Viorel ceased to drip blood and straightened as his wound fully healed. Camellia noticed her father’s recovery and grabbed both Eva and Meladee’s arms. She pulled her friends back.

“Good luck,” Eva stated.

Viorel glared at all of them, but mostly Eva. “You’re leaving? You lead this thing to my land, and you’re not going to help?”

Eva shook her head. “No. We’re leaving. I’m sorry about your land, but we aren’t getting stuck here. She’s not getting stuck here.” Eva nodded at Camellia. Then, she drew her gun.

“Oh don’t,” Camellia begged.

“If he doesn’t approach us, I won’t.” Eva kept her eyes on Viorel and backed away.

Camellia hurried to pull her friends along. She stared at her father with open fear and couldn’t tell if he was genuinely bothered by her expression or just frustrated because his daughter was such a drama queen. The three women backed away and retreated around the barn.

Camellia’s last glimpse of her father portrayed a very confused and emotionally sickened man.