Cadence’s parents must have heard the car out front because her father flung the door open. “Cadence!” he exclaimed, giving her a hug. She heard her mom yell for Cassidy to come downstairs before she, too, embraced their first born.

“Oh, Cadence! We are so glad you’re home,” her mother exclaimed, leading her into the living room. “How are you, honey?” she asked, motioning for her to join her on the couch. “Do you need anything, darling? Water? Soda?”

“No, I’m fine,” Cadence assured them. “I’m really fine, Mom, I promise.”

“Well, you look good, kiddo,” her dad exclaimed, sitting down in a recliner next to the couch. “You look like you’ve had a nice long nap. You look refreshed.”

Cadence couldn’t help but smile at her father’s attempt at humor. “I guess you could call it a nap,” she said, “but I don’t think it was that refreshing. More like recovering from surgery, I guess.”

“Now, was it painful?” her mother asked. “Because, we had always heard that Transformation was extremely painful, but now I guess they have some new method or something, and it’s not so bad? Is that right, or was Aaron just trying to make us feel better?”

Just then, Cadence’s sister Cassidy walked down the stairs and entered the room, preventing Cadence from asking the question burning in her mind—when had her parents talked to Aaron?

Cassidy was fifteen and looked very much like her sister, though she wasn’t as tall, and she was a bit less muscular. The girls had always been close, and seeing Cadence go off to college had been hard on her younger sister. Cadence stood and threw her arms around her. “Hey, Cass! How are you?”

“Good,” she said in her shy and reserved manner. “Are you feeling okay?”

Cadence wasn’t sure what Cassidy had been told, but this remark made her think, perhaps, she knew everything. She looked questioningly at her parents.

Her mother spoke up, “Cadence is feeling much better, Cass. You’re so sweet to ask. Cadence, we explained that you needed some time away from town to process your friend’s passing, so you went to stay with Grandma for a few days.”

Cadence was nodding along. “Yes, that’s right. I just needed some time. But I’ll be fine. Thanks, Sis.”

As much as Cadence wanted to spend time with her sister, the questions she wanted to ask her parents were mounting, and she needed time without Cassidy in the room so that she could do so. Her father seemed to realize this as well, and he said quietly, “Cass, honey, we’re going to talk to Cadence a little more about what happened that night when she was out with her friends. I really think it’s best if you just join us for dinner in a bit; all right, honey?”

Cassidy was always extremely obedient. She nodded her head in understanding. “All right. I’ll see you later, Sis,” she said to Cadence.

“For sure," she replied, sitting back down on the couch next to her mother.

As soon as Cassidy was out of earshot, her mother continued. “Well, honey, we hope it wasn’t too terribly painful.”

“No, it was fine,” she lied. They didn’t need to know that the pain had been so intense that just the slightest bit of concentration could bring back that sensation, though a much milder version, in her extremities. “Jamie’s system is great. It worked really well.”

“That’s a relief,” her mother said, sighing and leaning back on the couch a bit. “We were so worried that you had gone through a traumatic experience. When we heard that you had decided to go through with it, well, it was just too frightening for me to think about, honestly,” she continued.

“Your mother has a wild imagination,” her father concluded. “She had visions of you screaming in pain, writhing around on a hospital bed, you know, the type of thing you see on horror films.”

“Well, I didn’t know,” Liz chimed in defensively. “I just didn’t know. That Aaron is a nice boy, but for all I knew he was telling us what he thought we wanted to hear.”

Cadence had to stifle a laugh at her mother’s word choice. The idea of referring to someone at least three times your age as a “boy” seemed humorous to her. “When was Aaron here?” she asked, attempting to be nonchalant.

“Oh, when was that?” her mom said, thinking back. “I think it was Friday afternoon, maybe. Or was it Saturday? Could it have been yesterday?”

“Yesterday I think,” Eli agreed. “Yes, Saturday.”

“No, I think it was actually Friday,” her mother stated, correcting herself. “Because Becky had just stopped by, and she wanted me to look at the deals she had gotten on Black Friday shopping. I’m fairly certain it was Friday.”

Cadence was sorry she had asked. When Aaron had been there was actually irrelevant; she just wanted to know why he was there, and what he had said, and if he had seen any embarrassing pictures of her from junior high. “Mom, it doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter. I just wanted to know if… if he, uh, what he had to say. That’s all.”

“Oh, well, let me think.” Her mom took a moment to recollect the conversation. “He just told us that you had spoken to Grandma, that she had explained everything to you, or most everything, I mean, you really can’t know everything about the Clandestine Ternion in just a few days. Or really even a few years for that matter…”

“Mom?”

“Right, well, he just told us that you understood everything and that you wanted to go through the Transformation process so that you could help catch the Vampires that had killed your friend. That’s all, really dear. Isn’t it?”

Her father nodded his head in agreement. “Yes, now that’s what he said when he stopped by Thursday morning, Liz, because it wasn’t until after that conversation that Cadence actually went through with the procedure, right honey?” he asked Cadence.

“So, he came by twice?” she asked, completely confused at this point.

“Yes, yes, that’s right. You’re right Eli. It was Thursday morning when I was working on the turkey. Oh, honey, it’s such a shame that you missed such a lovely turkey this year. It really was something else. And then he came by, uh, Saturday morning and told us everything had gone well. They were just waiting for you to wake up. And now, here you are! All Transformed and ready to start your training. Oh, honey, we’re so proud of you!” She reached her arm out and gave her daughter’s leg a squeeze.

“And a bit scared, too, you know, Cadence, to be honest,” her father added. “We’re proud of you for choosing a path neither of us was ever willing to follow, but we would be lying if we said we weren’t a little, uh, circumspect.”

“Oh, circumspect, yes, I like that word.”

“It’s a good one, isn’t it?”

“Mom, Dad, can we try to focus here, please?” Cadence begged, their typical banter growing increasingly frustrating under the circumstances.

“Sorry, honey,” her dad apologized. “We just want you to know that we will always be here for you, no matter what you decide to do.”

“And please be careful, darling,” her mother added. “We understand that you’re some kind of super-Hunter or something, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get hurt. Please, just make sure you always listen to your commander and do exactly as you are told, okay, honey?”

Though this appeal seemed to go against what her grandmother had requested earlier, Cadence agreed, knowing it would do no good to needlessly worry her mother. “Okay, Mom; you know I’ll be careful.”