They were going sooner rather than later and she didn’t care if Donner didn’t think she was ready yet because she wasn’t about to keep in contact with Cædmon of the vampire escort service for any longer than was strictly necessary.

“He’s toast,” she told her constant companion. “I’m getting my dad’s address and then Cædmon is out forever.”

Tonight they found themselves seated in the barn Ant wanted to purchase and put on the property for a cow and maybe a rescue miniature horse someday. Or, what Luna supposed a barn would look like. It was painted red and white, there was a loft with hay, and empty stalls because there weren’t any animals housed within.

“The procedure takes more than a day, Luna. He will have papers to fill out and then those papers must make it through offices and approvals. You’re looking at a week at the very least and I would be surprised if it’s done that quickly. A month is more realistic.”

“I thought you said this was the faster option?” That was outrageous! She couldn’t deal with Cædmon for that long!

“It is. Going on your own would involve blood work and testing and a year is the quickest it could be done. They do nothing efficiently. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Society takes perverse pride in their struggles. They make things as difficult as possible for all involved.”

“So what you’re saying is, I’m going to have to hold hands with the psycho vampire more than once?”

“Yes. You will be required to visit those offices more than once to meet with a welfare official who will be determining whether or not you are truly related to him.”

“But, I’m not!”

“Well, for all we know you could be, but that isn’t a problem. They are understaffed and undertrained. I’ve never heard of such a case being dismissed and if the signs point in that direction you can, no doubt, change their minds.” Implying the use of her unheard-of natural abilities.

“Why do I have to do this at all? Why can’t I do that from the beginning?”

“You need the paper trail and messing with their minds is a last resort. It isn’t easy to get into the head of a government employee undetected. There are security measures monitoring their physical states, though, in the welfare department, those are less stringently applied. What they regularly handle are familial disputes. No doubt the person who gets your folder will be glad to have a relatively simple case to process. That may cause them to drag it out, in fact, to their benefit.”

None of this was what she wanted and weren’t her desires the most important ones in the world? “How can I make sure that doesn’t happen? Because I don’t want to be left hanging here for a month or something while an office worker takes a break from in-fighting families!”

“There isn’t much you can do,” he told her sternly. If he didn’t nip this in the bud she’d give herself away to the authorities. “You can let them know it’s important to you that you find your father, but that’s it.”

“Wait, I have to tell them about that too?” She threw her head back and groaned.

“That is the reason for the proving of your relationship with the vampire. It is a reasonable one and should not be questioned. You need to connect with your missing father, if he is alive, so that you may attend the school of your choice. Otherwise, you will be at a disadvantage when the time comes for Nyx and Aether.”

“I wouldn’t need him if I wasn’t going to Arcane? I could avoid all this if I didn't go?”

That was not the road he wanted her to travel. “While that is true, you are better off finding him and going to school earlier and, in case you’ve forgotten, we need access to the library.”

“You don’t even know if there’s anything in there that’ll get you out of here.” She pointed to her forehead.

“It’s the best chance we have,” he said harshly, “and it’s better to know if Ji-hun is dead or alive. Better to find him yourself than have him find you. You will at least have the upper hand in that situation.”

“You think he knows about me?”

“Doubtful, but when he returns to the country he will find out. I don’t know where in the world he is. I didn’t send him anywhere before I died and even if I had, his function was mostly self-determined. I'd give him an objective and leave him to complete it as he saw fit.”

“Why would being here matter?”

“His return will trigger a certain magic circle which will then generate a letter to inform him of your existence. Parents do not often live in ignorance of their children within Society. While there are few procedures for dealing with the issue, they will at least be made aware of the child they did not know they had.”

“A magic circle?” New terms and definitions. Ant had her copying from a dictionary lately, a few words at a time, related to whatever book she was reading to them. She wondered if she should be writing all this down, too.

“Something else you would normally learn about in your later schooling as children cannot create one. You, being grossly overpowered, may be capable, but I don’t know what need you’d have. It can act as an alarm system with a specific purpose. Artifact powered as anything else, unless one is strong enough to keep it going themselves.”

“How specific?”

“Very specific,” he said. “One for each law. I suppose it keeps the amount of bureaucratic overreach in check because it is no easy feat to create one in the first place. Many symbolic rules aren’t tied to circles, like those that govern the Dark Alley, but they hold little value.”

“Is that why that lady doesn’t get arrested for buying bodies?”

“Yes. While it is technically illegal, they’ve not put measures in place to detect the breaking of those laws. Most of what happens on the fringe of Society is not legal, but neither do the elites want to dirty their hands or minds by becoming involved in it. They prefer to let the unwashed live in filth without consequences. Until, of course, it has an impact on the lives of acceptable households.” He shifted on the wooden crate. “For example, you may find Fairy Dust-”

“What?!”

He should have known she would interrupt. “A drug, Luna. Literally dust of a fairy's wings, yes, but also a powerful hallucinogen. It is illegal, but hasn’t yet touched the families of those in government so little is done about it. If one were stupid enough to buy or sell it within a main street they would be fined and arrested, but otherwise, it is ignored.”

“Fairies are real, too? How many things in storybooks aren’t from people's imaginations?” She was thinking of when Ant read them Peter Pan. “Are they like Tinker Bell?”

“Somewhat,” he told her. “The book is more accurate to their reality than the following adaptations. They are tiny beings most concerned with their own happiness and not easily found or deceived. They are known to lure both adults and children away with them into dark forests during the new moon, to what purpose Society still does not know. Those who follow them are never seen again,” he paused. "I believe I told you something about them previously."

“Maybe, but wow, kidnappers. I guess that is what Tink did to Peter. Kind of messed up now that I think about it.” And then she thought about it some more. “Yeah, hey, that whole story’s about human trafficking! Tinker Bell recruited Peter to get other kids for Neverland. Didn’t Peter kill them when they got too old?”

“I don’t recall, but I wouldn’t be surprised. There are shockingly dark themes in many tales told to children.”

That was for sure. It was a lesson about not following strangers, which was good advice that she’d have to ignore.

The next morning, she dressed in her Sunday best, and then Cædmon arrived with a box containing something he said used to be hers and she almost lost it in front of him.

“What the fuck is this?” she hissed aloud to Donner, as she stood alone in the room she and Georgia shared, her cousin long since out in the chicken yard, looking at the abominable thing of lace.

Donner was also disturbed. “I don’t want to think about it.”

“Do I have to wear this?!” Half a second later, “I’m not wearing this. Nope.”

“No,” he interrupted, “you should.”

“Hell no!”

“Listen to me,” he began. “This is a common issue with the family members of vampires. The undead retain memories and sometimes insist on this sort of thing being done. It’s better to go along with it, it will lend credibility to your story. It could speed up the process.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“It’s a slip!”

“I am aware,” he practically growled. “And I don’t like it either, but you are going to Arcane Arts and you are going to wear that shit to make it happen. Do it.”

Whenever he got out of her head she was going to hit him hard.

Real hard.

But that time was not now, instead, she changed her clothes and wore the barely-there item Cædmon presented her with along with fabric shoes.

“It’s fucking cold and getting dark outside, Donner.”

“I don’t know what period this clothing is from, but I doubt it was made for winter. This concerns me.”

“Oh yeah? Me too, but for other reasons.”

“I mean he may not be as stable as he appears.”

Good, so he was crazy and she was about to walk around wearing silk in the middle of winter because she needed the insane vampire to get her into Society so she could find her actual, narcissistic father so she could go to school so the guy trapped inside her head could get out. Also, she was supposedly the goddess Life.

And if that last part was true, then why in the world was she doing all this? It didn’t make any sense. If she was Life, couldn’t she do what she wanted?

She felt like she’d had those thoughts before.

A dark green coat that looked like something she thought Mary Lennox would wear became reality and she donned it, with newly created boots to match, over the provided slip that didn’t count as clothing. If Cædmon got uppity about it she’d get rid of him and find some other way of making Ji-hun sign her school papers.

Or she’d kill him, be an orphan, and sign that shit herself.

“That wouldn’t work, they’d go to your aunt and we don’t need all of those complications. She’s not magic and they’re highly resistant to allowing outsiders access.”

She could deal with that, too.

“Fine,” he spit. “If things go so far awry that any of that is necessary, I will not try to stop you, but for now we have a plan and I believe it will work, so stop dwaddling and do what needs to be done.”

Cædmon had nothing to say to her about her clothes when she joined him down the road from the farmhouse, standing there looking pleased for her company, which was such a him thing and so uncomfortable. She couldn’t wait for this to be done and for Ink Pen to get rid of him. Or maybe she owed him a normal death, rather than erasure. She had time to think about it.

“How are we getting there?” she asked aloud because either he or Donner could answer. “To the Annex? I don’t know what it looks like, so I can’t take us there.”

“And you shouldn’t,” Donner said. “Because they would know. Not even after you know exactly where it is should you do anything like that.”

Cædmon said, “If you bring us to Toad Road, we can make our way from there.”

So, she did. An alley she’d seen before was their destination and though they scared one of the nine lives out of a stray cat, no one else perceived the arrival and they walked into the dwindling crowd unnoticed but for the fact that a vampire was walking around with a child who should have been in bed by now.

“I didn’t think of that,” Luna told Donner. “They can tell a vampire when they see one?”

“Most people can. It’s that uneasy feeling and he is much paler than any living being should be.”

“Don’t they think it’s strange for a kid to be with him?”

“No doubt they do find it a bit odd, but because it’s rare, not because he may be grooming you. This sort of ancestor, new generation relationship is known to exist, I’ve told you.”

The problem, she thought, was that Cædmon was after a different kind of relationship in the long run and she wasn’t ready for any of that.

“He practically worships the ground you walk on,” Donner said, agitated by the thought. “I don’t believe either of us has any real idea what he might be after. Whatever memories he has, or thinks he has, are a mystery.”

“You think he’s not remembering things right?”

“Possibly. A few of the things he said were contradictory. If you got him talking, I think more incompatible information would be presented. I don’t know that his memory is as infallible as it first appeared. He may be very old, ancient even, and deterioration has happened.”

“Still,” she looked at the vampire holding her hand, guiding her to the Main Circle and then down Lighted Way. “If he’s been around that long, he’s done better than you’d think.”

“Yes. I would not have expected him to exist at all by this point.”

By then they were getting to the end of the road and a massive building, bathed red in the glow of the sunset, faded into existence like a mirage. The cobblestones went around the Roman architectural structure in what appeared to be a circle that met back at the front.

“Yes, it does go around,” Donner told her. “A long way to walk for no good reason. There’s nothing in the back, not even an alternate entrance.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“There isn’t one.”

He sounded bitter about that.

“I bet there is,” she said. “You didn’t find it, but I will.”

“A fool’s errand that we don’t have time for.”

“I’m pretty sure all we have is time.” Considering Father Time was real and all.

“When I’m out of here you may do whatever your childish heart desires, but until then stay on task.”

Inside, they were met by a rather nervous man dressed, as she expected, in a long robe. He also wore a pointed hat with a green ribbon and had a name tag on his cloak.

“That’s his distinction,” said the voice inside her head. “The green means he’s near the bottom of the pyramid, so to speak. The few below him are the janitorial positions and they have orange.”

She remained silent as instructed by Donner and discussed with Cædmon. She’d had to go over the plan and his easy acceptance of everything she said was both gratifying and terrifying.

They were led to a seating area, others were scattered at brown wooden tables like the one where they now sat, filling out paperwork or being spoken to. It was a wide, open room of columns and marble. Flaming torches were upon the walls and their shadows were dancing.

“They went for the gusto, huh?”

“They take pride in this sort of thing. I suppose it’s better than neglecting aesthetics entirely, but if they put half the effort of maintaining all of this into other fields, they could rule the world. Instead, they remain tied to their relative island.”

“Yeah, but it seems like they don’t even know they’re missing anything. If they don’t mind it, why do you?”

“I don’t need a reason,” he scoffed. “I will do as I want.”

“Which is to make them do what you want?” That was dictator talk and she didn’t much care what he did, but it didn’t make sense. “Who cares? Why bother?”

“I will not explain myself to you.”

He often shut down conversations that way, yet he did tell many things by the end of it usually. Maybe not this time though; she could feel him seething. Being here was making him irritable.

“Welcome, sir.” Her attention was returned to the world as another man appeared, this one slightly less nervous-looking and with a blue ribbon. He nodded at her and she nodded back. “I am told you require assistance?”

“Yes,” Cædmon spoke with an unknown accent. She hadn't heard it so strongly before and realized he must be more careful when he was speaking to her. “This is my descendant,” he held up their linked hands. “We are looking for her father, after the death of her mother.”

“Ah,” the man nodded. “Yes, well, I will bring out the papers for you. A moment, please.”

It was, indeed, a moment. She watched the worker and he didn’t even need to go far, the paper pile came to him mid-air, zooming in from a hall that stretched out to the left.

“These,” he said as he returned, “are the formalities, sir. Please, take your time. We like to avoid any mistakes if possible, as it can slow the process.”

While Cædmon got to writing out the approved story, she looked around the area. The people of Society were so detailed in their architecture. Why did their clothing take such a backseat?

She should have known that would set Donner off.

“Practical in so many, many ways, or so they think. All of their pride was placed in the construction of their buildings, none of it reserved for anything else. I don’t understand that thinking, but at this point, there’s nothing to be done about it. I will force them to change and if they will not, they will be swept aside because the future does not need their regressive tendencies. I do not fault their architecture, it is far better than the post-modernist shit that passes for aesthetics in the modern world these days, all disgusting metal and twisted silver.”

“Yeah, that’s true for sure,” she said. “I saw that article Ant had open on the computer about the town and the new art installations. I can’t believe they call any of that crap art!”

“Indeed,” he said darkly. “Incredible cost for meaningless drivel. Ten thousand dollars to wrap large pieces of metal around itself, give it a ridiculous name, and call it art. I do not doubt the fools behind such atrocities truly believe themselves artists. The fault lies with those who encourage them. It is a sign of a degrading culture. Holding up meaningless trash as aspirational.”

“Like that dumbass banana held to a wall with duct tape!” She was getting into it now. “I can’t believe they did that! Unless that guy who ate it was part of the original purpose, the thing was crap. I saw an article about a painting a guy rigged to go into a shredder. Remember that? It was hidden in the frame. That was something with meaning. And the guy eating the banana gave that meaning.”

“The public is so easily led by the powers that be,” Donner spoke in a cynical tone. “It will be no work for me to turn the tides in whatever direction I please once I’ve gained power. The fools have no idea they’re being manipulated. All of that incredible rubbish does serve a purpose. Remember this, Luna, when I rule the world. Remember that the masses are sheep. The artwork itself is nearly meaningless. When pieces sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars that is money laundering. There are backroom deals and favors exchanged by the wealthy and powerful. When some peon manages to get their rubbish installed outside the library that is a conditioning tactic. Your local government is likely unaware of how they are being used to ruin the common sense of the citizens, though. They, too, are but a cog in the machine.”

What Luna didn’t know, as she and Donner railed on about the modern state of the artistic world and what it meant in the big scheme of things, was that she’d been spotted by the person she knew as David the mailman who might marry Ant someday and that he was very unpleasantly surprised to see her because this was raising way more questions than it answered.

As in all questions, no answers.

He was already putting in a request for a copy of the papers that would soon be submitted and then relaying what he saw to the Sphere Nerds.

“She’s out there with a vampire!”

Ned pushed his unnecessary black, square-rimmed glasses up his nose. “There’s more going on here, Rob. You gotta get in that house!”

“No, he can’t go now,” said Norman. “We don’t know how much longer she’ll be here. We’ve got to put in that they will be given an appointment for the next meeting. For tomorrow. While they’re here, Rob will go in.”

“I shouldn’t go alone,” he said, in his own defense. “I can distract Autumn, but someone else needs to search the house.”

It was reasonable.

The plan was set.