Soph dug around in her handbag, searching for her phone. The leather bag - a gift from her wayward mother - was too god-damned big and she could never find anything in it.

As she rummaged, she could hear the chink of her crystals loose in the bottom of the bag. None of them had been charged recently, and she cringed to think what her Nona would say if she saw the way Soph treated her wiccan tools. Of course, Soph still hadn't told Nona that she'd resigned from yet another coven. The woman would probably have a heart attack.

Her hand brushed against something sharp, and she pulled it from her bag with a hiss. Her athame, with its silver blade and black wooden handle, had sliced the inside of her thumb. Ignoring the odd looks that passerbys were giving her, she tossed the knife back into her bag and stuck her thumb in her mouth, resolving to buy a leather sheath for it the next time she visited the Rama's Occult.

She continued along the street, weaving and dodging through the afternoon rush of corporates leaving their office buildings. She was going to be late; she knew it. Sure enough, she reached the train station in time to see the last carriage of her ride departing.

"God damn it!" she said, once more ignoring the disapproving looks thrown her way. As she wheeled around to race back up the stairs to the street, she yanked her bag off of her shoulder to rifle through it properly. She finally found her phone and scrolled through her contacts. Selecting the one she wanted, she put the phone to her ear.

"Luie," she greeted without preamble when her cousin answered. "I missed the train so I have to catch the bus. I'll be late."

"Again?" Luie sounded exasperated. "This is the fourth time, Soph. Can't you ever leave work five minutes early?"

"Gotta go," Soph replied. The bus was coming.

She dropped her phone back into her bag and darted out onto the road, fumbled the straps as she tried to get it back on her shoulder then dropped her bag completely. "Damn it!" she exclaimed as she crouched to grab the crystals that had spilled across the asphalt.

A horn bellowed to her left, and she glanced up in time to see a truck screeching up the road. Stomach plummeting and mouth dropping open, she could do nothing but stare like a fox in headlights as her certain demise hurtled towards her.

"Ah fuck."

And then suddenly she was standing on the opposite side of the road. Hands gripped her arms, and a man's face briefly filled her vision, then she was alone and people milled around her as if she'd been there the whole time.

Staring ahead in shock, her heart raced, and blood pounded in her ears. Had she just been saved by a vampire?

***

Soph trudged up the drive of Luie's house and knocked on the door. A dog barked from within, followed by footsteps.

"Where have you been?" Luie hissed as she opened the door. "You're two hours late!"

"I missed the bus," Soph replied woodenly, pushing past her cousin to get into the house. "But listen, something happened today and I need to tell you."

"If this is about Rhonda at your office being a witch again, forget it, I don't want to know." Luie turned and led the way back down the hall towards the kitchen. Soph followed.

"I'm certain Rhonda's a witch, but that's not what I'm talking about. Listen!" she grabbed Luie's arm, forcing the woman to stop and face her. "I was saved by a vampire today!"

"A what?" Luie said incredulously, then her eyes narrowed. "Why did you need saving, Soph?"

"I-" Soph began, suddenly hesitant.

"Luisella? Is Sophia here?"

"We will talk about this later," Luie said in a low voice. "Nona is here."

"Nona." Soph blanched. "Why did you invite her?"

"She invited herself, seeing as you won't return her phone calls. She's here, Nona," Luie announced as she stepped into the kitchen. Soph had no option but to follow.

By Soph's count, Nona should have probably died years ago. The woman must be kicking close to a hundred now. But that was the curse of the Italian grandmother; they seemed to live forever.

"Nona," Soph plastered a smile on her face as she moved to plant a kiss on each of her grandmother's cheeks.

"Why are you ignoring my calls, Sophia?" Nona asked in her broken English. "You break your Nona's heart."

"My phone's broken," Soph explained, pulling her mobile from her bag to show her Nona. The screen was indeed shattered, but that had been a result of her near miss with the truck earlier that afternoon. Nona looked at the phone and tsked.

"Luisella, please more wine," Nona requested as she waved Sophia into the seat beside her. Luie poured the three of them a glass of red and sat down on their grandmother's other side. "Sophia," Nona continued, "Have you found a husband yet?"

"Not yet, Nona," Soph sighed. It was always Nona's first question. "I've been too busy at work."

Nona tsked once more and flapped her hands. "Women should not work. It is a man's duty to work. Signore, salami. I blame your mother for this."

"All women my age work," Soph tried to explain, as she had a hundred times before. "It's not just a man's responsibility anymore."

"And this is why no man wants you, Sophia. You will be a spinster before you find a suitable partner."

"Nona," Soph groaned. "Do we have to talk about this? I've had a long day."

"Did you know Maria has a boy your age," Nona continued as if Soph hadn't spoken. "Marco, his name is. Why you no ask her at the next gathering?"

"Because," Soph said through gritted teeth. She looked to Luie for support, but her cousin offered none. "I resigned from the coven a few months ago. It just wasn't right for me."

Nona blinked at her. Her old, weathered hands trembled at the stem of her wineglass.

"Nona, are you okay?" Luie asked, her brow creased in concern. She shot Soph a dark look, as if to say why would you bring that up now? Soph merely took a sip of her own wine and waited.

"Sophia Gabrielle!" Nona exploded, flinging her hands out and knocking over her glass. Red liquid splashed across the table and Luie jumped up with a cry, but Nona wasn't done. "Con del Fondatore Maledizione! Hai uscire ancora un altro congrega? Hai portato vergogna su questa famiglia e ai nomi dei nostri antenati! Il Signore vi salva, per non posso certo!"

Soph shrank back in her chair as Nona ranted. The room darkened and the lights above the table flickered. The small amulet that Soph wore on a chain about her neck for protection warmed against her skin as it reacted to Nona's ferocious energy. She met Luie's eye across the table. It was going to be a long night.

***

It was late in the evening when Nona finally retired to bed. After she had spent a good fifteen minutes yelling at Soph, she had demanded that Luie bring her some crystals and a stick of sage so she could burn the negative energies in the room and free Soph of her ability to make terrible decisions.

"Why do you have to bait her like that?" Luie said. The two cousins sat in the living room with a fresh bottle of wine. Hash, Luie's fox terrier, was asleep across his owner's lap and he made small, jerky movements in his dreams. No lights were on and only the muted television provided them with a small amount of visibility. "She's not a young woman, you know."

"Well, if she'd stop trying to make me join covens, we wouldn't have to keep having these arguments," Soph responded defensively. She tucked her feet up beneath her and swirled her wine in its glass. Luie gave her a pointed look as she scratched behind Hash's ear.

"You're a witch, you should belong to a coven."

"And maybe I will one day! But I don't particularly like hanging out with Nona's friends, or their sons she keeps trying to set me up with."

Luie shrugged and sipped her wine. For a few moments, they both stared at the television, watching some late night game show.

"About what I was trying to tell you earlier," Soph began. Despite Nona's dressing down, she hadn't forgotten her near miss with the truck or the man who'd saved her.

"Your vampire?" Luie said. Soph nodded. She'd seen him only for a brief second, but his features were imprinted in her mind; dark hair and grey eyes, skin that wasn't as pale as she'd thought it would be, and a look of concern that had pinched his brow together.

"You don't believe me," Soph said, "but one minute I was... Well, let's just say that I was standing in one place, then a second later I was standing somewhere else. I saw his face and felt his hands on my arms. He moved so fast that no one else saw him. Only vampires can move that fast, can't they?"

Luie nodded hesitantly. Soph took her cousin's lack of denial as belief in her story. She sat forward eagerly. "But why would a vampire save a human, Luie? Why would he bother? What's my life to him?"

"Soph," Luie interrupted suddenly. "What do you know about vampires?"

"Erm," Soph began, sitting back in her armchair. "They're fast, and they drink blood?"

Luie sighed, briefly pressing her hand to her face. "You really do need a coven," she muttered under her breath, then looked up. "Vampires have powers, Soph, and the ones that can walk in daylight are called Possessives. They can manipulate human emotions, force humans to love them and give them blood. I know that look, Soph," She added when Soph said nothing. "You want to find the vampire, but please don't. He's dangerous. If you find him, he might kill you. Promise me you won't go looking, Soph. Promise me!"

"Fine!" Soph raised her free hand in surrender. "I won't look for him!"

"Good." Luie eyed her wearily. "Do you want to stay the night? It's late, I can get another bed set up."

"No, I'd prefer to go back to the city," Soph stood. "And I don't particularly want to risk another verbal beating from Nona in the morning."

"Same time next week then?" Luie asked, pushing Hash aside so she could see Soph out.

Soph gave her a brittle smile. "Wouldn't miss it."