“Rise and shine,” said Niero, looming over Racherl’s bed. “It is time to go to our new home.”

“Rise and shine?” she said. “It’s the middle of the night, you know.”

The vampire glanced out the window, illuminated only by a few stray fireflies that kept brushing up against the glass. “I’m trying to use human phrases,” he said. “To make you more at ease.”

“Well,” said Rachel, “it’s pretty obvious how that one’s supposed to go.”

She dressed as quickly as she could, which was not particularly fast - her already damp clothes were now drenched in sweat, her arms and legs too numb to feel sore. Even sleeping in clothes like these was a full body workout.

“When will you add weight?” she asked, figuring even an extra pound would crush her flat.

“When you can jump a foot off the ground,” said Niero.

Her first thought was that she would never be able to jump that high. Then again, a foot was not so high if she put her knees into it.

She did a small test jump, but the second she was off the ground, the weight took hold of her and slammed her against the floor. It wasn’t just the amount of weight that made things difficult, but the way that it was distributed. She felt like she no longer had a center of gravity.

“Shit,” said Rachel, struggling to pull herself up. “It’s damn near impossible.”

“You will adjust,” he said. “Do you ever notice how a baby moves when they first start walking? They wobble from side to side, keep falling over. Balancing is incredibly difficult. But by the time you’re an adult, you’ve had so much practice that you do it automatically. You don’t even notice you’re balancing, and you forget what it’s ever like to struggle.”

“So I’m a giant baby?” asked Rachel, finally standing again, using the bed frame for support.

“You don’t like that?”

“Being a baby? No. Not even babies like being babies. That’s why they’re crying all the time.”

The vampire chuckled at this and extended her a hand, helping her to the door. He inserted his mysterious red key in the lock and a blue light once again leaked through the paneling, bringing with it the smell of flowers.

But before opening the door, Niero turned to Rachel. “It’s funny,” he said, his expression suddenly turning somber. “But for a vampire, being a baby is a very comforting feeling. It makes us feel like we’re at the beginning of something. Beginnings are something you eventually run out of.” He turned his head away. “If you live as long as I have, all you have left at a point are ending and forgotten plot threads.” He pulled back his robe and revealed a series of sigils inscribed in the fabric, the same ones on Rachel’s cloak.

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Only, these sigils were much larger and burned far brighter than hers.

There were far more of them as well.

“I have learned to walk many times,” he said, now opening the door. “This may sound strange to a human, but whenever I’m not struggling, I feel very uncomfortable.”

Once the door opened, a shower of flower petals leaked into the room. As Rachel stumbled forwards, the feeling of a hardwood floor was replaced by damp grass and squishy soil.

She was now standing outside of a small yellow building. There was a field full of flowers there, and a lake full of moonlight. There were more colors here than she had ever seen in her entire life. Flowers were less common around the farm, since they were impractical - the soil had to be saved for things they could eat, like potatoes. Most of the colors she saw on a regular basis were just different shades of dirt.

And the farm was flat too, no mountains in sight. But now she was at the top of a hill, with various bright lights along the bottom of it - a small village perhaps. And there were many small out of the way lights beyond that. And even further off was a vast ocean, much like the one she had seen outside of the restaurant.

“We live over there,” said Niero, pointing to a large red house. One might have called it fancy if the paint were not chipped and the walls not punctured in places. And they were not small holes either, but gaping holes that let her see the inside.

The interior was even worse somehow. The floor was hardly visible beneath the clutter, and the corners were full of cobwebs and strange stains. It looked as if no one had lived there for quite some time - no one aside from the wildlife.

Several squirrels darted out from under the house as she got close.

“This will be the first part of your training,” said Niero.

“What will?” asked Rachel.

“The house,” he answered. “You will clean the place up. I have not been here for quite some time, as you can clearly see, and it appears to have fallen into disrepair.” The house creaked menachingly as the wind blew through it. “You’ll find some cleaning supplies in the closet, and you can get what you can’t find down in the village. The market is on Tuesdays, which happens to be two days from now, so that will be a good time to do the shopping.” He handed her a small pouch of copper pieces. “Though you’ll probably want to go down tomorrow to get yourself some food,” he explained further. “I’m sure there’s some left in the house, but I can’t recommend eating any of that…”

“Wait,” interrupted Rachel. “This is my training?”

“Yes. What did you expect?”

“Well, killing some shit,” said Rachel, scowling at the house. “If I were a man, I bet you wouldn’t have me doing housework.”

“If you were most men I’ve met,” said Niero, “I would not have agreed to train you.”

She blushed slightly, mad at herself for being happy over a little compliment. “Yea, but, does this even count as training?” she asked.

“Well,” said Niero, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “It has been at least a century since a human managed to pass this test, so yes, I’d say it counts...”