Enid closed the door of her father’s motel room and walked a few steps. She leaned against the wall and hugged herself looking back at the door. This whole situation was causing her a mix of emotions she was having trouble processing, she was disgusted by his concern. Even if she hated him enough that she still wanted to kill him, she still loved him in a strange he’s my father sort of way. She wished Dr. Anderson was nearby for an appointment because this was messing with her head in a serious way. She took several deep breaths as the sun crested the horizon and shined on her. The knots in her stomach came on making her want to throw up, but her stomach was empty so she dry heaved a few times. She took several deep breaths while holding her gut. She pushed herself off the wall and willed the gloves away. It was probably quarter after five by now based on the clock she’d seen in the room. The sun had risen fully, and she was bereft of all her abilities. Part of her wanted to find a dark hole to hide in so she wouldn’t have to process these emotions as a mortal but there wasn’t time for that. She walked to the shoreline and found a dry storm drain and hopped inside after ensuring no one was looking.

She closed her eyes and let the vampire out when the darkness engulfed her. She sniffed the air and she determined she was alone. She took a deep breath and pulled out her mirror and adjusted her features, so she had long black hair and blue eyes. She let her body take its normal shape, that of a lithe small-chested eighteen-year-old. She pulled off her Atlantean bodysuit and swapped it for a sundress and a pair of sneakers. She grabbed sunglasses out of the purse and put them on to complete her outfit. She looked in the mirror one last time to make sure she didn’t have two noses then climbed out of the storm drain and up onto the walk. She glanced around to ensure no one had seen her and walked into the city. She saw American flags everywhere. Then realized that it was the Friday before Independence Day. The sidewalks were still less deserted at 6:30 am, she spotted an open coffee shop. She hated their stores; The coffee smell was so strong and their food was not the best. But it had seats and food. She crossed the road and went inside. She ordered one of their overpriced lemonades and a sandwich with sausage, bacon and eggs. The barista reconfirmed her order after looking up at what appeared to be a skinny teenager girl. Enid paid the bill with a nice tip and sat down and availed herself of the free wifi after glancing around to ensure no one was watching her she pulled one of her throwaway laptops out of her extradimensional pack and booted it up and connected it to the wifi. She took a bite of the sandwich and started searching for the online ad Eyre would have posted with the location of the car and new ID’s. She found it and pulled out a pen and a paper and started decoding the message.

She noticed a shadow pause near her and glanced up, it was a guy about the apparent age of her current face, she flipped the pad over and closed her laptop and looked up at him.

“Can I help you?”

“Sorry, I was just wondering, if…you wanted another lemonade? Maybe some company?”

Enid did an internal eye roll.

“No thank you.”

She quirked her head in a polite, but firm move on motion. Enid was in no mood for mortal company, or company of any kind at the moment. She gave a small sigh of relief when the teenage boy seemed to get the hint, she looked around at the much busier coffee shop then went back to her decoding. She sent an email from one of her many anonymous email accounts asking for some more details about the offer, with an encoded message that she’d received the drop location and time. She closed her laptop and stood up grabbing it under her arm and her garbage with the other and tossed it out.

She was about to leave when she realized it was still so early that nothing would be open, so she turned around and walked the counter and ordered another sandwich and lemonade and walked back to her seat and opened the laptop. Logged onto her favored social media platform and started browsing with one of numerous throwaway accounts. She ate the sandwich while it was warm but took her time with the lemonade. Mostly to avoid overextending her now very mortal bladder over any need to save money. Shortly after 8:30 one of the staff came over and looked down at her.

“I’m going to have to ask you to order something more or you’re loitering.”

Enid looked up at her put a fifty on the table.

“I don’t care what you do with it, just pretend I ordered another drink.”

The staff member glanced back at her manager who wasn’t paying attention and scooped the fifty up and gave Enid a nod. Enid had another lemonade put on the table beside her with a few coins.

“Your change.”

Enid picked it up.

“Keep it, all of it.”

The woman nodded and walked back behind the counter. The drink sat there untouched for another hour and a half before Enid gave in and drank it. She realized her bladder was swimming now and sighed she scooped up her laptop and went to the washroom once out of site she put it in the pack did her business and walked out the front door. The woman she’d given the fifty too waved at her, Enid nodded in return. She looked at her empty wrist. Musing that it had only taken her fifty years to get accustomed to having a wristwatch on at all times.

She walked to the parking lot and found the Blue SUV with British Columbia plates she was expecting and punched the code in to unlock the door and got in. Inside the glove compartment she found a map with the best route to take and stop highlighted for where they should be before sunrise. She grabbed the keys from under the visor and started the SUV up and backed out and started driving south to Bellingham her searches at the coffee shop indicated that was the best place to get a few burner phones. She used the uneventful ride to get her head on straight. Her father’s overnight insights had shaken her paradigm of belief about herself. She always saw herself as the good guy, just doing what she needed to, to keep the peace, but she was just as much a monster as he was, as the Black Son in her own way. There were more than a few tears. She finally pulled into the big box electronics store and wiped the tears from her face.

She pulled the rolls of cash she’d stolen from the drug dealer the night before and started to count them out. She was surprised to see with the money from his pockets and the car there was almost twenty thousand dollars. She counted out four thousand and put it in the bag proper instead of the extra dimensional space. She put the rest in her resealable plastic bag of drug money. She kept is separate because she assumed drug dogs could smell it on the cash since she could when she was at full strength. She replaced her sneakers with low wedges before heading into the store. She walked to the cell phone portion and looked around for someone to assist her. An older woman approached her, she appeared to be a salesperson.

“Can I help you?”

“I need six phones, no contract, pay as you go, sim cards, 100 US/Canada minutes each, 1 terabyte each.”

She blinked at Enid.

“We could do that on a pla-”

“I said no contract or plan. If that isn’t possible, I’ll go somewhere else.”

Enid cut her off and started to turn to leave.

“Wait, what kind of phones are you looking for you?”

“Older models are fine.”

The woman pulled out six Nebula phones released in twenty twenty five. After about half an hour of typing at her computer she finished. Enid paid in cash and took them to her car and put them in her pack. She started the car and turned on the air conditioner, she just sat there with the car running for a half an hour staring out at the cars passing. She finally snapped out of her fugue and pulled one of the phones out and made a call.

“Hello, Allison speaking.”

“Hello Allison.”

“Oh Enid, I didn’t recognize this number!”

“Ya I broke my phone and I’m nowhere near where I can replace it.”

“Can we video call? No one’s around, I’m dodging the company lunch. Tyrone is going to be there.”

“Uh…probably not a good idea, I’m not looking like myself today.”

“Please?”

“This phone sucks. I had to buy a crappy one. I’ll be in town in a couple of days anyway.”

“You will? I thought you weren’t going to get here before September!”

“Change of plans. I’m just actually at the border now. Going to take my time so I don’t get into any accidents”

“Oh, okay. When can I see you?”

“How does breakfast in three days sound?”

“In bed?”

“Wherever you want it.”

Enid heard a phone ringing on the other end.

“I have to go Enid. I love you!”

“I love you too, see you in a couple of days.”

Enid hung up and left the parking lot and went looking for a gas station. After she filled the tank, she drove around for a while longer. During her wandering she saw a Catholic Church, its doors open wide. She sighed at the idea, but she parked in its lot. She walked up the steps and looked inside. She knew churches weren’t anything special, no weird holiness about them. They were just buildings for gatherings to take place, but she still paused there. Her father’s honest words echoing in her head. Surely God would see by now she was not the champion he needed, it should be Maria or Eyre. She heard a woman’s voice behind her. She glanced back; It was an elderly woman wearing a Nun’s habit.

“The church is open to all, is something amiss young lady?”

Enid opened her mouth to respond but she wasn’t sure what to say. Something was terribly amiss but what could a human do? They couldn’t understand the depth of her monstrousness and not feel the need to report it to someone, anyone. The elderly woman walked past and inside motioning for Enid to enter. Enid shook her head.

“Come child, sit, relax.”

Enid shifted then finally gave in, perhaps the woman was a sign, perhaps sitting and just taking a breath is what she needed. The elderly woman smiled and walked inside further dipping her fingers in the holy water and crossing herself, Enid did the same and the elderly nun walked to the front pew and pulled out her rosery. Enid saw no one else in the chapel. She took a seat at one of the pews and stared up at the cross that held the representation of her beloved nephew. She felt a hand on her shoulder but suddenly became lost in a memory from almost two thousand years ago.

She remembered him there in pain. She had watched from the shadows unable to set foot in the sun. Had she wanted, she could have lasted long enough to rescue him, but she did not rescue him. He told her this was his time and the way it had to be. She remembered sitting beside him on the bench in the gardens before he was arrested. The words he had told her to never repeat. Most of which she had forgotten until this very moment. She felt peace enter her once again, as it had when Gabriel had touched her cheek and called her sister. She could hear his voice again. Feel his hand on hers. The same peace had come over her on that evening.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“You have suffered as I will soon suffer, you are angry, and you are hurt. The scars still mar your flesh and your soul. You seek to save me from such suffering but is through suffering that we become strong. You see a human of flesh and blood before you, but I am the lord of all creation. To fulfill the covenant with my children, I must suffer as they suffer, earn the strength it grants through the blood and pain of this body. You have a good soul, the best of hearts, you need to let them win out over your anger and your rage. I see you, Enid. I have always been with you. I was with you as your mother tried to drown you. I was with you as your father whipped you. I was with you when you lay bleeding in the snow. How proud I was of you, choosing to die before your time to save a few lives. I will be with you as you suffer in the future. I shall mourn with you. I shall hold your hand when you bare the daughter who will remind you of your humanity. I shall be with you when you face your worst fears and grant them mercy. I shall be with you when it is your time to make the sacrifice of love. As I will make the sacrifice of love tomorrow. On that day, I will be with you as you set aside your blade and embrace your enemy as a dutiful wife should. Be strong, be merciful when you shouldn’t, forgive those you cannot, in doing this you will find me within you. I have always been, and always will be your true mother and father. You will forget what was said until it is time child.”

She heard the voice of the elderly woman behind her.

“The time is now, sister.”

Enid looked back and it was the elderly nun, as their gazes met Enid recognized the eyes. They were Gabriel’s. Enid felt tears on her cheeks. She stood up and hugged Gabriel tightly clutching onto her as if her life depended on it. Her voice was full of desperation.

“Am I the monster my father said I am?”

“The man who raised you, speaks with wisdom, but remember your true father forgives all for those who are truly repentant and ask for his mercy. The purpose that man served was to make the true depth of your sins clear before you so that you know what to ask forgiveness for.”

Gabriel put her hands on Enid’s cheeks and wiped away her tears with her thumbs.

“I have done such things… and I was arrogant enough to think I was in the right.”

“Sister, you are filled with righteous wrath. It is your birthright. You are his avenging angel and always have been, but stuck in this mortal shell, how could you do but to be wrathful? I am so proud of you. You have sacrificed much and have much yet left to sacrifice. You understand love in a way none your brothers and sisters can. Soon your wrath will be used to save everything you love. You just need to ensure in the future it is directed to those who deserve it.”

“How can he possibly forgive me?”

“He already has sister. Now you must forgive yourself that is the hard part.”

Enid nodded. Gabriel pulled Enid close and hugged her tightly. Enid felt like she was home in a way she hadn’t felt since Lucius had embraced her the first time.

“Gabriel, how did they know last night?”

Gabriel looked up then back down to Enid as if asking permission.

“The enemy has eyes everywhere. Even in Scotland.”

Enid blinked flicking through all the people she’d seen in their time in Ullapool. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily remembering the chatty airport driver and her neighbor.

“Thank you, Gabriel. I understand my enemy more now.”

“It’s almost over sister. One day soon you will take your rightful place among us. Remember your father will be there in your time of need you already have the answer you seek.”

Gabriel released the embrace and put a rosery in Enid’s hand. It was made of amethyst and silver.

“Perhaps you should meditate on it, sister.”

Gabriel looked up to the crucifix and crossed herself before walking towards the exit. Enid looked down at the rosery in her hand. She knew the rote, but she preferred the method Junpei had taught her. She folded the rosery up and put it in her pack. She would give them to Maria who would love them. Enid was about to rush to the exit to try and catch up to Gabriel when she found herself face to face with the parish father. She’d almost run him over in her haste.

“Sorry Father.”

“It is quite alright.”

He seemed to notice her puffy eyes.

“Are you alright?”

“I am father, I am.”

He stepped out of her way.

“I’m glad you found the answers you were seeking.”

“Did you see which way the sister went when she left?”

He shook his head.

“I did not see anyone in the church but you. I was going to approach you as you seemed like you were in crisis, but I was pulled away. It seems I was wrong.”

“No father, I was in crisis, but the sister made things clear. I’m glad there are people like you in the world.”

She smiled at him and rushed out into the sun. She drove to one of the parks on the coast and pulled her wedges off as she walked onto the grass. She picked a shaded spot and kneeled down as she had so many times before in her karate classes. She began to breath and let her mind drift. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there and meditated when she opened her eyes, remembering an entry in Mariana’s spell research for the creation of a new universe separate from this one. She had abandoned it because she could not figure out a way to make them stable. Mariana had been trying to recreate the extradimensional packs. She hadn’t understood the spell completely at the time, just the theory, but she had read it three hundred years ago, her human education had opened her mind up to more possibilities.

Her currently mortal hands were shaking with adrenaline, and she fumbled with the pack’s buckles. She finally managed to open it and pulled out the Atlantean tablet she had used to make a copy of Mariana’s journal and spell research. She found the entry with a search and read it over. It had everything they would need, besides the requisite energy which was, well substantial, impossible without, without massive amounts of blood powered magical energy in this day and age. Mariana could have never succeeded because reality is too fixed. They didn’t need a stable universe though, just stable enough to get the Black Son inside before it collapses.

This has to be it. The only way matter and energy can truly be destroyed. If only we had a way to generate enough magical energy to create it. Oh, you gloriously devious bastard. You will aid us in our hour of greatest need. You’re going to help us make the unstable universe.

She put the tablet on the grass in front of her and pulled out another one of the burner phones. She slid the sim card in, and it got a signal almost immediately. She called the burner number Eyre had included in the ID package.

“Who is this?”

“Your long suffering mother.”

“Mom!”

“Eyre, I’ve got it.”

“Got what.”

“I know how we will destroy the Black Son.”

“How?”

Enid lifted up the tablet and read off the title.

“Tell Maria to look up: Pocket universe stability experiments, in Mariana’s journal.”

Enid heard her writing it down.

“Mom, is everything okay?”

“I have been better, but you know what, it’s a good day.”

“When will you get home?”

“Two days, I suspect we will need to go to Rome afterwards so I can keep a commitment. I am told the time is now.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Okay I’ll check in at the scheduled update time. I’ll use the next number to contact you.”

“Good luck mom.”

“I love you Eyre.”

Enid hung up the phone and pulled the sim card out. She stood up and grabbed her shoes and smashed her phone screen against one of the steel bars on her way back to the parking lot. She put it in her bag to be disposed of later. She looked at the clock I the SUV, it was five pm. Time for supper she mused.

*****

Enid was leaning against the wall arms crossed as she waited for the sun dip below the horizon. She tapped her arms with her fingers. She found herself bored of waiting. She was so used to having a phone to fiddle with she found that she didn’t know what to do otherwise, she realized the phone was a distraction from her thoughts. She leaned forward her hands wrapping around the old weather-beaten railing. She watched the sky turn from blue to orange, then finally to black. She turned and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

“Dog.”

She heard the locks open, her father was in the jeans and t-shirt she had left him. His hair was wet. He blinked at her not recognizing her current face.

“It’s me, new ID, new face. Come on. We only have eight hours of night.”

He nodded and picked up his suit and dress shoes and closed the door. She slid the key card under the door and left the do not disturb sign up.

“Let’s go.”

She led him to the SUV and got in, waiting for him to join her.

“Where did you get this?”

“Your granddaughter and I have a network of contacts across the world. We pay them, they provide things we need. Like clean cars, ID, weapons.”

She reached over and opened the glove box pulling out his new ID, an Alberta driver’s license, credit card and a Canadian Passport.

“That’s your new name. The old ones are burned.”

He nodded.

“Is that common, to put them in a fire?”

Enid blinked, then shook her head and backed up and pulled out on the road and headed towards a gas station.

“No, it’s a term used to describe if something is outed. So, because our enemies know those legends they’re burned. So, they can be tracked. Our enemy may have people looking for them so they may be useful to attract attention somewhere, they aren’t for our purposes tonight. This world is highly interconnected as I’ve explained, and countries spy on each other. A lot of the tactics we use come from those spies.”

“How do you know so much?”

“I used to be in the United States Navy with another one of my legends. I was a pilot, then naval intelligence, it’s kind of funny I had to do undercover work, since I was a fake person, pretending to be another fake person. It gets confusing and complicated fast. You’ll get used to the changing names and Identities. It’s how we evade the governments. Humans don’t live to be two thousand years old. So, when your ID says you’re fifty but you look twenty, you need to switch.”

“I understand, if someone lived for so long in our village there would be talk of deals with the sidhe.”

“Exactly, only, humans these days are much more dangerous.”

“I noticed that with the weapon you used last night. It is like fire in a waterskin.”

“They have worse. I could take out our entire village with one bomb from my plane when I was in the navy. Just out of nowhere death would fall from the sky. And now they don’t even need to have someone in the plane, they can do it remotely.”

He looked at her with eyes wide.

“Exactly, if my enemy knew precisely where I was, he could launch a missile and I would just be gone. Well probably not, I can survive quite a bit, but you know what I am getting at. This is why secrecy is important. Humans destroy what they do not understand, and they do not understand us.”

“Couldn’t you just do the same?”

“I could, but then he would just be free. Right now, he has trapped himself in a body, and refuses to give it up because it gives him power in the mortal world. I have enough money I could buy a drone and missiles and take out the entire imperial council in minutes, hell I could buy a nuke and turn Prague into glass, but so many innocents would die and for what? Revenge that no longer even has meaning; My sister didn’t die.”

Her father nodded, obviously not comprehending all of what she said but seeming to get the base meaning.

“You seem… better than last night.”

“I am, I know how to defeat my enemy now. It won’t be easy and there is risk, but its more than we had.”

She held up her hand as they approached the border. She looked at her father.

“We’re about to go across the border. You’re my ID’s father, so let’s try to pretend we are a functional family for a few minutes.”

Her father nodded.

“Don’t say anything, unless they ask you directly, if things get tense, I’ll just mind fuck them.”

He blinked at the term she used. She lowered her window as she approached border control. The man leaned down.

“Passports please. Did you do any shopping?”

Enid held out her hand to her father who passed her his passport. Enid handed them both to the Canadian border agent. He looked over the passports and shone his light at both of them. He took both booklets and handed them back to Enid.

“Had to refill my tank and we had breakfast, lunch and supper, otherwise no shopping, we were just there for a concert in the park this afternoon.”

He nodded.

“Welcome home.”

He waved them through the check stop. Enid pulled away and started towards the Trans-Canada highway. They rode in silence for a few hours and were entering the mountains. She stopped in Kamloops for gas, which her father demanded he get to try and pump. She went inside and bought some junk food and drinks for morning. They continued on their trip. Her father was watching the mountains pass and would look down the drops as they drove along the curvy highway.

“I have never seen anything this high.”

“We’re in the Rocky Mountains. Imaginative name I know. This highway is the one I like driving least, I mean there are some in the alps I dislike as well, but this one I hate. I always feel like I’m going to fall off.”

He nodded.

“How far are we from home?”

“Oh, we won’t get there tonight. This road is so windy, and the mountain highways take time to navigate.”

She looked at the screen at the center of the console which was helpfully counting down the time and kilometers to their destination.

“Car says two hours to Valemount. That is our stop for tonight. Any further we’ll get sunlight before we get a place to stay.”

He nodded and looked at the screen becoming enamored with the slowly counting down kilometers and the fact he could see the road they were driving on a moving map.

“What we could have done with maps like this at our village.”

“All things considered, I’m glad we didn’t have them.”

He nodded.

“You are right I would have abused them.”

He got quiet again then looked at her wrist.

“Why don’t you have that thing on that showed you the time?”

“Smartwatches can be tracked. I want to make sure I get a clean one once we get home.”

“Was your old one dirty?”

“No, yes, it was burned like our ID’s, the phones and smart devices we use can be tracked by anyone with the right tools. I had to get rid of it and I didn’t want to buy a random one from a store. Eyre has someone who makes them specifically for vampires. They track vital signs, they, the special ones show we have a heartbeat, which we definitely don’t. You know since we’re dead and all.”

“So, if someone checks them, we look normal.”

Enid nodded.

“I understand, it is all part of hiding our existence.”

“Exactly.”

He fell into silence again becoming absorbed in the car’s screen again. He grew bored of that and spoke again.

“You seem more comfortable here then before we crossed the border.”

“I’m closer to my sister and daughter. I know I’m going to see them. I miss them. Also, vampires are territorial when we aren’t in our territory, we feel a bit off. My territory is where we’re going to arrive tomorrow night. It has a calming effect.”

“Enid, thank you for being so patient, and open to answering my questions. I know many of them are stupid and obvious to you.”

“You are welcome. It is part of being a vampire’s creator.”

“Yes, but I’m also someone you hate.”

“I don’t hate you. I am angry with you. I realized yesterday that part of me even still has this strange love for you as a parent. I know I should hate you, despise everything you are. Feelings are weird. Even after two thousand years of them.”

He nodded again and looked back out at the mountains.