When Enid woke the next evening, she felt a weight on top of her and looked. Matilda’s drooling form was laying across her. She felt good. Really good. All of her injuries were healed, and she could hear her daughter’s heartbeat and not her own. She gently moved Matilda to the side and pulled a blanket over top of her and did a small elbow pump and a small cheer. Helen was the first through the tent entrance looking at her mother.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine I’m just undead again.”

Hazel’s head poked in she kept her voice low after seeing Matilda was fast asleep.

“You know mom, most people wouldn’t cheer about that.”

“With how beat up I was, I’m going to call it a good thing. Let’s go before we wake Matilda, she looks exhausted.”

The trio closed the tent behind them and kept their voices low.

“How long have I been out?”

“Just a day or so. Turned away a lot of visitors. Eyre stopped by and was snooping around haven’t seen her tonight. I guess maybe she left for Florence.”

Enid stretched.

“How about Safa and her mother? Did they come by?”

Helen shook her head.

“I have seen neither.”

She glanced at Hazel who shrugged.

“What are you looking at me for? I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

Helen blinked a few times realizing Hazel hadn’t entered the ball room until after the slaves had fled.

“Just someone mom was looking after.”

Hazel frowned. She motioned to Helen.

“Another stray? Don’t we have enough for those mom?”

Helen glared at Hazel. Enid put her hands on both of her daughter’s shoulders.

“Relax guys. No demons here. And no Hazel, not a stray. I took her mother’s place, so she was all alone in that terrible situation. I’d want someone to make sure you were okay. I just want to make sure they made it out alright.”

Helen pointed to the edge of the camp.

“They’re over there.”

“Why?”

Helen shrugged.

“I do not know mother.”

Enid pulled a cloak from her pack and wrapped around her neck and clipped it together. She pulled the hood up. She glanced at the girls.

“One of you keep an eye on Matilda please? I don’t want her freaking out because she woke up alone.”

“I got her mom.”

“Thank you, Hazel.”

Enid slipped through the camp. It was early enough that many of the slaves were still awake. She closed her eyes and listened to the voices of the camp. Her enhanced vampiric hearing picked up Safa’s voice and she moved towards her. She missed being this. No matter what anyone said that was her true form. She sighed wistfully and crouched beside the tent she could hear Safa’s voice from. A meager fire had been set and the tent was several feet from the edge of the camp.

“Safa?”

Safa’s head peaked out when she heard a voice she instantly recognized. Even in her old age she would never forget the guardian angel who led her through the darkest day of her life.

“Seraph, you should not be here. My mother and I are unclean.”

Enid blinked.

“You’re what?”

“Unclean. I am so sorry I should have told you. I was scared and alone. Allah forgive me.”

Enid glanced back at Helen and motioned for her to leave. Helen nodded and vanished into the camp. Enid sat down and crossed her legs. Pulling her cloak hood down.

“Nonsense.”

“It is true. The Imam said I deceived you so I must be punished and that my mother’s hand makes her unclean. It was a just punishment and that we are beggars we should not be near others.”

Enid frowned.

“What a bunch of bullshit.”

“No, it’s true. He said if mother was worthy, she would have been witness to your glory.”

“Tell me Safa. Who is better at determining whether someone is worthy of my presence? Allah’s avenging angel, or a man who has read a holy book?”

“The messenger of course. They are closer to Allah.”

“I say you are worthy of my presence child. Would Allah let his favored daughter take the form of an unclean woman?”

Enid felt eyes on her and she glanced around but saw no one. She looked back to Safa.

“Tell me, by what measure is your mother unclean?”

“She is a beggar and she had me without husband. Another woman’s husband forced himself on her and her hand was crushed because they said she was the adulterer and she should not have touched another’s man.”

Enid’s frown deepened. She was getting quite angry by this point. The part of religions she hated was mortals deciding they could judge others. As if they had the capacity to determine who was worth of God’s love. Something she knew from experience was boundless.

“Do the teachings not say that Allah would be displeased with those who do not give food to those who ask? And do the laws not say, that a woman who is raped is innocent of a crime for it was the man who committed it upon her?”

“But the Imam-”

“Is a mortal man and he as a vastly wrong interpretation of Allah’s words. Allah’s love is boundless. He is my father. I know this to be true.”

Enid stood up.

“Gather your mother. We will set this wrong right.”

Enid dusted herself off and pulled her cloak back over her head. Safa’s mother came out of the tent at her daughter’s urgings. Enid looked at her from the depths of her cloak’s hood.

“Come with me.”

Both of Safa and her mother hesitated. Safa shook her head.

“They will stone us.”

“If they raise a hand against you the raise it against me, how do you think that will end for them. I promised I would keep you safe and I shall. Come.”

Enid started walking towards the center of the center of the camp. She looked at Safa’s mother. The woman wouldn’t look up. She looked quite broken in spirit and physically. Enid could only imagine the pain the smashed and twisted hand brought her. Enid took her good hand.

“We have a great many things to set right. I owe you a boon for taking you from your daughter when she needed you most.”

Enid led the pair through the camp. The wolf-born had apparently left the slaves to their own devices after providing them with supplies and freedom. By the main fire several men were chatting and laughing. The oldest among them stood and pointed at the three women.

“You do not belong here. You are unclean! If you associate with them you are unclean as well!”

Enid pulled released Safa’s mother’s hand and pulled her hood down.

“Do you not recognize me Imam? You dare call the favored daughter of Allah unclean? Do I need to light up the night as the sun lights up the day once again for you to know your place?”

Enid relished in the aura of power she started radiating in her anger. Being a vampire was where it was at, especially being the vampire Empress. At least in this form she knew her strengths and her limits.

“You will learn the error of your ways. You are not worthy to speak of in Allah’s name! It is you who should be cast from this camp and the light. You who cowered in the darkness. You who sold your women out to save your own hide. I did not see you among the general slave population. You have broken many laws but this woman, this woman has broken none. She cared for a child she did not want and was forced on her by the crimes of man. You broke her hand and cast her out. What man has done wrong, Allah wills et right. When his children suffer, Allah suffers. Those were his words to me”

She took the twisted hand and wrapped her hands around it. She whispered the words to transfer the injury to herself. It would take a great deal of her blood due to the age of the wound. As the spell completed and started to transfer the wound to her she spoke in Arabic again.

“Allah, if this woman has done no wrong in your eyes, let her pain become mine so that I may carry its weight instead of her.”

Enid grimaced as her hand became twisted and broken. The woman fell to her knees and began chanting God is great over and over again. The men joined her save for the Imam who was staring at Enid’s hand. She held it out. Holding back her body’s natural tendency to heal rapidly.

“This should be your hand Imam; This should be the hand of all men and woman who falsely claim to speak for Allah.”

She looked up again.

“Allah, I beg of you to take this pain from me.”

Enid let her body heal the hand. Which led to another round of God is great. She glanced around feeling the same set of unseen eyes on her. She shook her head and touched Safa’s mother’s shoulder and offered her hand.

“Please stand. You may have my tent. It is larger and warmer than yours. My daughter takes up little space.”

Safa’s mother clutched onto Enid’s hand tightly. Tears dripped down her cheeks.

“You are a gift from Allah. You delivered us from bondage. You have cleansed me. You treated my daughter like your own. You have delivered us from the tyranny of another tyrant. You ask for nothing and you still give more. I wish I could have seen your true form.”

Enid smiled and touched Safa’s cheek.

“Look into my eyes mother of Safa. See what your daughter saw.”

The woman fell to her knees again wringing her hands.

“Allah is Great!”

Safa was tugged into her mother’s embrace her eyes still on Enid.

“There was so much darkness and you were a beacon of light for my daughter.”

Enid nodded.

“What is your name?”

“Eimaan.”

“Eimaan, I wish you the best of futures.”

She looked at Safa and touched her shoulder. Enid’s eyes glanced in the direction the Imam had been run off towards.

“Safa you are a girl of faith and strength. Do not carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. I must go, I will say farewell before we leave.”

Enid freed her hand from the clutch of Eimaan and Safa and waved. She pulled her cloak over her head and slipped into the shadows. Dragging them to her. It had been a long time since she had fresh blood and she was going to get some. Tonight, karma was taking the form of a vampire named Enid. She felt the eyes on her again, looked around and saw nothing. She shook her head and followed the scent of her prey. He was trudging away from the camp. He had long since stopped running from the stones that were being thrown at him. Enid didn’t savor the moment she just went for it. Grabbing him from behind she sunk her teeth into his throat and started gulping down his blood ravenously. It was only right he paid the price for the healing she had to do to fix Eimaan’s hand. He struggled at first but soon went unconscious then died. She tossed his body off the road and into the brush like she was throwing away a piece of trash. She wiped her forearm across her mouth. The footsteps caught her off guard. She spun around and saw Eyre looking back at her.

“You shouldn’t be here Eyre.”

“Yet I am. You were starting to fool me. All that talk of God… I thought maybe you couldn’t be my mother. You were too good, too pious. What a spell you wove. But then you showed your true colors mother.”

“He betrayed his people that he promised to protect. Let God judge him. I just sent him on his way.”

“You are the worst kind of con artist mother. Preying on people’s beliefs. Angel. Saint. You are neither mother. How did you kill all those vampires and that demon? Where is your vile sword?”

“Eyre. You can see a being’s true nature. Look past my face. Let go of your pre-conceived notions and see me for what I truly am.”

Eyre stared intently at Enid as if looking through her. She suddenly clutched the sides of her had screaming in agony. She recovered and looked around. She started to look panicked.

“I’m blind! What did you do to me mother?”

“I am not who you think I am. I did nothing to you. Your gift of true sight blinded you so you would not go insane.”

Eyre stumbled back as Enid stepped towards her. Using the sound of Enid’s voice to judge distance. She rubbed her eyes and fell when she tripped over a rock. Enid approached her and took her hand pulling her up. After several minutes Eyre’s vision cleared and she stared at Enid.

“What are you?”

“It is just as the people said. I am Seraph. First among the host of Heaven. Avatar of the Universe. Favored daughter of God.”

Enid’s hands lifted from her sides. She wanted so much to hug her daughter tightly and tell her how much she loved her but all her work to hide her true identity from her would be in vain.

“Why do you wear my mother’s face?”

“She is who the demon’s hunt. It was the surest way to distract him from you.”

“You say you are…an angel but I just watched you drain a man dry.”

“Tonight, I am a vampire. Tomorrow I may be a mortal. Last night I became the sun. I am not bound by the laws of nature or mortals.”

“But why bother drinking… at all?”

“As a vampire do I not need to feed? If I do not feed what would happen?”

“You could just switch back.”

“If it were that easy I would be in my true form all the time. It is not. I am what I need to be when I need to be it. Currently I need to be a vampire. But I do not need to be this vampire.”

Enid waved her hand and took her Sarah form.

“Be this vampire, but I am a vampire.”

She shook her hair shedding the false face.

“I would suggest you avoid mentioning this whole thing to your mother. She will hunt for me fruitlessly because once the damage is corrected here I will move on to my next task. You know how dogged she can be.”

Eyre nodded and reached out to touch Enid’s face. Enid didn’t recoil.

“You look like her, you speak like her. You feel like her. You move like her. But you are not her. She would not sacrifice herself for mortals, or even me. Nor would she waste her blood on a mortal with a smashed hand.”

Enid nodded.

“Take hope Eyre. Your mother is more like then me then you realize. All it will take is the unconditional love of her favorite daughter. Such love can thaw the coldest heart.”

Eyre nodded her eyes widening.

“You speak the truth. It is as if you’ve seen it.”

Enid nodded.

“I do not experience time the way you do. We have met before, in your future. In my past. Your future. It will give you a headache if you think about it too much. Do not give up on your mother. God never will.”

Eyre nodded blood tears forming in her eyes. Enid pulled her close and hugged her tightly. A bit to much like she might in the 29th century.

“Hugging you. It feels like when she used to hug me when I was a little girl. You are so perfectly her. No wonder the demon couldn’t tell the difference. He was raging for months while I was there. Why… would you protect her? Me?”

“God has a plan for you and your mother. I cannot share the plan with you but trust me when I say that it is one of his most important plans. No matter how distant your mother tries to be you pull her back to you. You show her that vampires can have humanity. She needs your strength of heart to complete her task.”

“She is so distant. I know she loves me somewhere in her cold dead heart. But even you, I feel more love from you then I have from her in my entire life.”

Enid sighed. Even by now she had been closer to Eyre. What had changed? She had to set this right or the alternate future she witnessed would come to pass. Enid reached into her pack and pulled out a photo of the pair they had taken in a photobooth in Japan in the eighties. She held it in front of Eyre.

“You see how happy you two look? That smile on her face. That is because of you Eyre.”

Eyre’s shaking fingers reached out to touch the photograph.

“Such a small painting. So life like.”

“It is not quite that, but…do you see that look in her eyes. Those are the eyes of a mother who loves her child more then life itself. If you don’t let whatever this bitterness you have in your soul consume you. If you be the bigger person. Your mother’s face will light up just like that whenever she sees you. You will laugh and you will love together. Centuries from now you will sit drinking terrible ale while sitting and looking over the ocean watching the sun set. In that moment you will know your mother’s love.”

Eyre looked at Enid her cheeks stained with new blood tears.

“You speak the truth again. I… I always thought I wasn’t good enough to have her love.”

“Eyre, she won’t admit it now, but she loves you so much. Your mother is lost. Her father… he did terrible things to her. She is not sure how to love you. You can show her the way. She needs you to show her the way home.”

“I feel such… overwhelming passion and love from you. Is that is what knowing God is like? Is that what he brings to you?”

“Yes. My father loves me unconditionally. I have made so many mistakes. So many arrogant mistakes. But he is always there for me. Always ready to offer his hand to help me stand when I’ve fallen down. That is what you need to do for your mother.”

“I still don’t understand… why do they hunt my mother?”

Enid took Eyre’s hand and put the photo in it.

“Because they seek to destabilize creation so they can escape the prison I crafted around them.”

“You… made hell?”

“Yes, I am the keeper of the gates of Hell. It was I who cast the rebels into the pits. I have seen the a future where you do not…where you make poor choices. It ends with the world being cracked in half. You are at a crossroads Eyre. One path, the path of resentment, and hatred it leads to your death. The other it leads to a golden age for humanity. The path of kindness, love, and forgiveness. My father and I, we cannot force you down either of those paths. We can only try and light the way to the one that leads to happiness. You need to walk it. And that starts with forgiving your mother.”

Eyre looked at the photograph and tried to hand it back. Enid closed Eyre’s hand gently.

“Do not show anyone that photograph but you keep it as a reminder of what you are fighting for. Now please do me a favor, let the professionals handle the demon hunting. Do what you do best. Love often. Love deeply. Protect humanity from the monsters you can defeat. And never tell anyone about our meeting tonight. I don’t want to say there will be dire consequences because it sounds like God will smite you. But there will be dire consequences. I am not going to make you forget.”

Eyre blinked at Enid.

“Will I ever see your true form?”

“You may before I leave, or you may not. It depends on what God’s plan is. I should get back to camp, my actual daughters are probably getting worried.”

“So the wolf-born is your daughter then?”

Enid nodded.

“And the vampire?”

“Yes, I turned her after I adopted her. She has talents that are useful in my fight.”

“And the little girl?”

Enid nodded.

“She was a surprise. I was expecting one boy but it was twins.”

“Where is your son?”

“Long dead now. Centuries ago. He lived a full and exciting life. He had many children and many grandchildren. In fact, we are related in a fashion. He would be your ancestor.”

“I have the blood of angels in me?”

“You didn’t live to be almost a hundred and still look like you’re thirty because your mom was a vampire, hon. Though it was partially that.”

Enid waved and lept into the air enjoying the freedom of flight without wings and the stabilization that her flowing cloak brought her. She landed at the outskirts of the camp towards the center. It was late enough most were asleep. Safa however was not, nor was her mother. They sat with Helen, Hazel and Matilda who seemed to be wide awake. Enid frowned and knelt down and scooped up Matilda.

“It is still nighttime and little girls should be in bed.”

Matilda clutched onto Enid’s neck.

“Mommy!”

Enid kissed Matilda on the tip of her nose. Which caused the girl to giggle. Safa watched the pair as did Eyre from a distance. Enid bounced a Matilda gently then looked to Helen and Hazel.

“Well, it’s probably time for us to get going. Creation won’t save itself.”

Helen stood. Hazel followed suite and nodded. Enid winked at Matilda.

“Ready for another trip?”

Matilda kicked her legs and touched her mother’s cheeks.

“Yes!”

Safa rushed towards Enid and hugged her tightly. Enid wrapped her free arm around her.

“I am glad we met Safa.”

Safa had tears on her face.

“Where will you go now?”

“Wherever I am needed. Where that is, we do not know.”

“Can you not just go wherever you want?”

Enid blinked at the teenager.

“I have been trying for many years to go to specific places and only through a cheat was I able to do it regularly. Not even Michael can travel between realms until my work is finished.”

“When you appeared before us you… said. You said you were the highest among Allah’s host.”

Enid blinked at her again. Could Safa be onto something. She’d been trying to sneak through the barrier in Limbo like a thief in the night. She had never tried to just walk through the front door like she belonged. She looked at Helen and Hazel. She looked down to Safa.

“You may be right. If you are then you deserve to see the fruits of your labor. There is nothing for you here and back home is there?”

She looked to Safa and Eimaan. The mother and daughter nodded.

“Then gather your things as they are and join us. If you are right, you will look upon paradise. If you are wrong, then I will end up looking quite silly.”

Enid unleashed her divinity once again. Matilda pouted and started playing with her hair.

“Mommy.”

Enid rubbed her head against Matilda’s.

“I’m still your mommy. I just look different. Come now. Touch me where the skin is bare and let us see if Safa’s wisdom eclipses my own.”

Eyre stared in awe at true form of Seraph. Enid nodded to her then once she had everyone she was talking with her touching her she willed herself to the garden between the trees of life and knowledge. She spread her wings wide and there was a sharp crack as air rushed into fill the void left by the group vanishing. Eyre blinked then crossed herself.