The life of a child ends with the loss of innocence. Once lost, the child is lost, and the adult is born.

Matt lost his innocence at an early age, his life starting with the uncaring hands of a mother too young and a father too consumed by his demons.

In his world, there was nothing but poverty and pain, both dulled by the peddling of poison, the same poison which claimed his mother a day before his sixth birthday and drove his father mad.

At the age of ten, marked and scarred beyond his years, he stood at the curb of the house he had been born, red and blue lights flickering all around him, brass casings littering the street and his father’s corpse laying cold on the lawn.

Years passed quickly after that, marked not by dates but by the lessons carved into his body, he had been too old and too angry to accept love and spent his life at the corner of a street or trapped in a prison of violence perpetrated by his peers.

And although he never took more than he needed to survive and shared what little he had with those for whom he felt kinship, his crimes would still lead him down a dark path.

And as the judge’s gavel fell, he was given a choice, freedom in service, or servitude in captivity.

It had seemed an obvious choice then, but as he would come to learn, it was simply another step down that same dark path, those he would come to call brothers leaving their lives in the sands of an uncaring desert, thrown away for a greed not their own.

They had granted him his freedom, but at a cost too great and a burden too heavy, the country he returned to seemingly more interested in meaningless platitudes than actual aid.

As if drawn to it, he had returned to the only place he had ever known as home, finding the same cesspool of misery and desperation, only now he was the image of his father, seeking an end in the bottom of a bottle and a handful of pills.

But as he was about to end the saga of a life tormented, the ring of a phone stopped him, and as he answered, a nurse informed him that his daughter had been born and that her mother had died during labor

His mind fought to make sense of the situation, reasoning that it must have been some sort of mistake, but no.

The mother had, in an act of desperation, written his number under her emergency contacts. Like him, she had no one else to rely on except for a one-night stand.

In a haze of intoxication, he stumbled out of his car, barely able to stand as he entered the hospital lobby. He didn’t know why, but for the first time in his life, something other than mere survival drove his actions.

The head nurse had given him one look before calling security, and he listened as she listed all the reasons his child would be better off without him, and he knew she was right, he knew what he was.

With a disdainful glare she handed him forms for him to relinquish any rights he had as a father and he was convinced that it was a mercy, a mercy to spare a still innocent child the life he’d lived.

But as he was about to sign the papers, through a closing door he heard the cry of an infant, and like an electric shock, the sound ran through his body, clearing his mind of its drug induced fog.

He pushed the forms away and ran towards the sound, the nurses, and security guards yelling after him as he sprinted down the hall, bursting through a door to a room filled with small cribs, only one occupied by a small puffy child wearing a pink beanie.

His legs trembled as he approached the crib, his hand shaking as he reached out, but everything stilled as his daughter took hold of his finger sending tears down his face.

The hospital staff caught up with a vengeance. The nurse no longer letting her contempt for him go unvoiced nor the fact that she deemed him unfit.

And she wasn’t wrong, he knew she wasn’t, but something had changed, when he came home he’d had no one, no family or friends to return to, but that had changed, now he had something to live for, someone to return to.

It took weeks, but Matt stayed by his daughter’s side, even as the hospital administrator demanded DNA testing in a last ditch effort to keep him from his daughter.

But it only proved what he already knew.

The months that followed had been some of the worst of his life, but also some of the brightest, as withdrawals wreaked havoc on his body. The only thing that kept him sane and moving was the knowledge that she needed him.

He swore to be better for her, and he’d kept that promise ever since.

Even as she grew ill and doctors suspected him of mistreating her, even as she was diagnosed and those same doctors told him he couldn’t possibly take care of her by himself, and every single day after that as he sat beside his daughter as she slowly withered away in a hospital bed.

They told him she would never live past eight, but he watched with pride as the tiny spark of love grew into a radiant a warmhearted little girl, his heart swelled with pride every day, never once regretting the time he’d spent by her side.

It was on her tenth birthday that a young woman had approached him; she told him of impossible things he could not believe, but then she told him of a way to save his daughter, and although he had his doubts, hope carried him forward.

The young woman, Lydia, had told the truth. As fantastical as her tales had seemed, they had all been true.

It had been with cold sweat running down his back and a heart thundering in his ears that he had carried Maria towards the giant wolf the size of a minivan, his fears stoking his doubt and uncertainty.

But Maria simply offered the monstrous creature the same warm smile she had always greeted her doctors and anyone else with, shocking Matt and the wolf both.

He now sat with her in his lap as a fever raged through her body, Maria letting out small whimpers at every gust of cool night air which brushed against her searing skin.

“She’ll be okay... She’s strong.” Lydia reassured Matt as she crouched down beside him.

Matt remained silent, but Lydia pushed on.

“We’ll bring you up to the homestead around dawn and get you settled in one of the houses.” Lydia continued.

“Will... Will she be happy here?” Matt asked, surprising himself as much as Lydia.

She seemed stunned for a moment, but then broke into a kind smile.

“She’ll have friends to play with every day, she’ll never go hungry nor grow ill, and you will never have to shoulder the weight alone ever again.” She replied before standing up. Her demeanor changed as she turned and stared at the woods towards the dirt road leading out of the secluded woodlands.

Matt and the group of parents all let out shocked gasps as Lydia set off towards the road, first on two legs, then with a shimmer like a mirage, her body changed into that of a light brown, reddish wolf, which continued on all fours.

***

Lydia barreled through the woods, wanting to intercept the intruders before they got any closer to the newcomers. She knew what was approaching. She could smell their rotten stench carried on the wind.

Vampires.

“Sanguinares,” she corrected herself mentally.

Her reaction would not have been so sudden had it been the sickly sweet smell coming from the Eve valley, but there was no doubt these were Sanguinares.

She burst through the woods onto the dirt road in front of the SUV, the driver flooring the brakes and the tires slid across the gravel road.

Lydia did not shift, instead she simply stared down the vehicle as if preparing to tear it apart.

The door opened, releasing an even more pungent smell than before. Lydia wrinkled her canine nose in disgust.

“Please be at ease. We are not here to cause any trouble. In fact, we would like the opportunity to make amends!” A man declared as he walked to the front of the vehicle.

“We seek the apprentice of the Titan.” The man said, putting an excessive emphasis on every word as if unsure she could understand him.

Lydia let out a chest rumbling growl, having no patience for these unwelcome trespassers.

“Lydia.” Her brother’s voice called out from behind her, and she turned to see him holding out a tank top and pair of shorts while wearing almost the same.

Begrudgingly, she shifted and grabbed the clothes, never taking her eyes off the vampire in front of them even as he politely looked away.

“What the fuck do you want with Tessa?” Lydia hissed, and John sighed from behind her.

The Sanguinares looked slightly taken aback by her tone and question.

“As I said, we’re here to talk to-“ The vampire began, but was cut short.

“If you wanted to talk, then I’m sure the Eve Clan would be able to pass along a message.” Lydia interrupted. John placing a calming hand on her shoulder and she relented, stepping back.

“You’ll have to forgive my sister, but we really aren’t keen on visitors, least of all your kind,” John said calmly.

“I understand. We had a meeting scheduled with the Eve clan, but it would appear they’ve canceled all visits from outside the Valley... This isn’t uncommon, but we are quite motivated to make amends for the slight we’ve committed.” The vampire explained.

“Oh, wait a minute, you’re from the Devos Court?” Lydia scoffed in realization from behind John.

“Clan. And yes, my name is Michael Devos.” Michael corrected.

John looked back at Lydia in askance.

“The daytime goons Tessa beat the snot out of,” Lydia explained with a grin.

“Yes, that would be us, an unfortunate case of insufficient vetting of personnel, one that will not repeat itself. I wanted to convey this to Miss Brahma in person, along with a small gift to show our sincerity.” Michael said, but before either Lydia or John could say anything, four armed men sprang out of the vehicle behind Michael and rushed to him, placing themselves between him and the ditch on the western side of the road.

Lydia’s form shimmered, but John held out a hand for her to stop.

An unnatural, grating growl, entirely different from the one Lydia had produced, echoed out of the woods. Four blazing red eyes appeared as a muzzle of black scarred skin and bared rows of teeth manifested in the shadows.

John stepped forward to the ravenous creature making certain to stop at the edge of the road.

“These men are within our borders.” John declared to the monstrous four eyed hound.

Upon seeing it was one of Aleks’s specters, Lydia had returned her attention to the Sanguinares, all of whom had their eyes locked on the hound, all except one, Michael looked shocked at John and Lydia could see the wheels in his head turning.

The monstrous hound made a huff like the bellows of a forge and turned away, although not before staring down each of the five Sanguinares, almost as if to commit their appearance to memory.

John let out a weary sigh as the creature left.

***

Tessa sat on a grassy knoll at the outskirts of the Oleson’s new homestead, the various houses, and barns still visible from the hill she sat on.

Six metal discs the size of her palm laid spread out around her in a hexagonal shape. Created by her teacher, they each emitted a base force of existence... At least that’s what he’d written on the messily scribbled notes he’d left her as homework, although the pieces of paper were more like the ravings of a madman.

Examples of such could be found in the headline of each page;

Learning how to breathe without a thought.

Unlearning how to see with your eyes open.

Feeling the push and resisting the pull.

Observing without being seen and touching without being touched.

Gaping maws and the dangers therein.

Crucial navigation for a breathless traveler.

Rudimentary weights and trades.

There were many more, but considering the first page had the words;

NO SKIPPING AHEAD UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

She tried to keep her curiosity in check.

“Okay, six forces, not opposed, nor aligned. Mixed, they can be malign or benign.” Tessa recited, taking rhythmic breaths.

The six metal discs emitted a low hum, the tune shifting in pitch as Tessa manipulated the resistance placed on the forces emitted. She could not control the energies, but she could manipulate the restrictions placed upon them.

But one quickly overpowered the others, eating up the metaphorical space, pushing the others out.

Tessa tried desperately to contain it, removing all her tampering and when that didn’t work, increasing the resistances on the force.

A sizzling sound brought her out of her trance as she saw the metal disc floating midair in front of her, glowing cherry red.

She winced and covered her face as she prepared for the worst, but at the last second the surrounding discs all lit up, energy arcing between them and once all six were linked, the power seemed to spread out, dividing equally among all six.

Tessa’s breathing was ragged as she released all her tension in one heavy sigh.

“Fucking hell, that was scary.” Tessa cursed.

Now aware of the world outside her little hexagon, she only now spotted Lydia approaching, a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt telling her she’d recently shifted.

“You’ve had visitors.” Lydia greeted.

“Visitors?” Tessa asked as she stood up and stretched.

“Remember the guys you told me about, the ones you thrashed?” Lydia asked with a grin.

Tessa cringed while collecting the metal discs.

“They wanted to make amends.” Lydia snorted contemptuously as she threw a duffle bag at Tessa’s feet, the dense contents hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Inside the bag she found a collection of dark gray and silvery rocks, along with a business card. Tessa examined the rocks briefly before looking up at Lydia in confusion.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t have any idea what they are, either.” Lydia responded with a shrug.

“I have a feeling they weren’t meant for you.” John said, walking up to the pair while wearing only a pair of shorts.

Tessa felt her cheeks redden immediately and turned away. Lydia let out a chuckle at seeing her blush and turned to her brother.

“Put a shirt on, would’ ya?!” Lydia chided John with a playful slap on his shoulder.

John looked down at his own torso as if looking for whatever he was supposed to cover, but was unable to find anything out of place.

“Oh, and you’ll probably need to stay here for a few more days. It seems the Valley is in full lockdown.” John added as Lydia shoved the shirtless woodsman towards the homestead while telling him off.