───
Lavinia's foot bounced impatiently against the polished wooden floor.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The rhythm echoed softly through the sitting room.
Rosaline looked over from the couch.
"...You're going to wear a hole through the floor."
"I am not."
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
"You absolutely are."
Lavinia ignored her entirely.
Her crimson eyes sparkled with excitement.
"I've decided."
Several heads lifted.
She pointed dramatically toward the nearest window.
"I can't wait to get to the exploring part."
Valerie, lounging comfortably across another couch, looked up just enough to sigh.
"The what?"
"The Diverged Lands."
Valerie stared at her for a long moment.
"...Can you stop naming things?"
Lavinia blinked.
"What?"
"'The Diverged Lands' sounds dumb."
Lavinia gasped.
"Dumb?"
"It does."
"It absolutely does not."
"It absolutely does."
Lavinia scoffed loudly.
Before Valerie could continue...
Lavinia vanished.
One moment she stood halfway across the room.
The next...
She was directly in front of Valerie.
Both hands landed on Valerie's shoulders.
"Think about it!"
She shook her enthusiastically.
"Think of all the fun we'll have exploring!"
Valerie rocked back and forth without the slightest concern.
"...Lavinia."
Another shake.
"We've got a world four times bigger!"
Another.
"Mountains!"
Another.
"Forests!"
Another.
"Castles!"
Another.
"Who knows what else!"
"Lavinia."
"What?"
"...You're shaking me."
"I know."
"I'd like you to stop."
"...No."
Rosaline laughed.
"I thought you were a couch potato as a human."
Lavinia released Valerie immediately.
She flipped her long golden hair over one shoulder with theatrical dignity.
"I was."
She folded her arms.
Then declared solemnly,
"But now..."
She looked dramatically toward the window once more.
"...I shall explore the Diverged Lands."
She paused.
"By myself if I have to."
Silence.
Then...
Nearly everyone smiled.
Cordelia rolled her eyes.
"You'd be lonely within five minutes."
"Three."
Valerie corrected.
"Two."
Rosaline added.
Lavinia pointed accusingly at both of them.
"I'll have you know..."
She hesitated.
"...I'd last at least six."
More laughter spread throughout the room.
Despite the teasing...
No one dismissed the idea.
Not really.
Because beneath the jokes...
They all wanted to go.
The world had changed.
Again.
Four times larger than before.
Endless forests.
Mountains no one had climbed.
Rivers no one had crossed.
Castles no human kingdom had ever built.
Even the oldest among them couldn't deny their curiosity.
"We already said we were going earlier!"
Valerie grumbled softly with a roll of her red eyes.
Celestine quietly closed the book resting in her lap.
"I'd like to see it."
Adelaide nodded.
"So would I."
Evelyn smiled softly.
"It looks beautiful."
"It does."
Gwendolyn agreed.
"I've spent half the day looking at satellite images."
"They don't feel real."
Violetta smiled.
"I imagine they don't."
She folded her hands neatly.
"But seeing them ourselves..."
She glanced toward the windows.
"...would answer that."
A cheerful voice suddenly rang through the manor.
"The sun's finally set!"
Everyone looked toward Evangeline.
She stood beside the curtains, smiling brightly as the last traces of daylight disappeared beyond the horizon.
The room fell quiet.
Then...
Lavinia disappeared.
The front door flew open.
A delighted laugh echoed from outside.
Rosaline blinked.
"...She actually left."
Valerie sighed.
"I suppose we'd better retrieve her."
Violetta stood.
"I already intended to accompany everyone."
No one appeared surprised.
When Lavinia had first suggested exploring earlier that afternoon...
Violetta had immediately volunteered.
Not to supervise.
Simply because she wanted to see the new world herself.
Outside...
Lavinia had already reached the driveway.
She bounced lightly from foot to foot while waiting.
"I was going to run there."
Violetta smiled.
"The city limits are roughly half an hour away by car."
Lavinia tilted her head.
"...Oh."
"We may as well save our energy."
"Fair enough."
Within minutes...
The large SUV rolled quietly from the garage.
Another followed behind it.
Before climbing inside...
Violetta opened the rear compartment.
She retrieved a small insulated cooler.
Several blood bags rested neatly inside.
Valerie looked over.
"...Planning ahead?"
"We don't know how long we'll be gone."
She placed several additional bags inside before closing the lid.
"I'd rather not discover we've underestimated our appetite."
Lavinia nodded approvingly.
"Excellent thinking."
Rosaline grinned.
"I thought you just wanted snacks."
"...Also that."
The cooler disappeared into the rear of the vehicle.
Everyone climbed aboard.
The doors closed.
As the engine started...
Evelyn quietly looked around the spacious interior.
A tiny smile appeared.
"...It feels like we're going on a picnic."
Cordelia chuckled.
"I suppose..."
She looked toward the cooler.
"...it could be considered one."
Rosaline laughed.
"A very vampire picnic."
The convoy quietly left the manor behind.
The drive passed peacefully.
Streetlights slid by outside the windows.
Restaurants.
Homes.
Traffic.
Everything looked...
Normal.
Gradually...
Buildings became less frequent.
Streetlights disappeared.
Neighborhoods gave way to scattered farmhouses.
Then...
Those vanished as well.
The road continued through increasingly dense woodland.
After roughly thirty minutes...
The SUVs slowed.
Then stopped.
The engines fell silent.
Lavinia climbed out first.
The night air felt cool against her skin.
She looked ahead.
The road simply...
Ended.
Not cleanly.
The asphalt fractured into enormous jagged slabs.
Cracks spread outward through broken pavement.
Chunks of concrete lay tilted at odd angles.
Beyond them...
Grass.
Tall.
Untouched.
The transition felt almost surreal.
One step remained civilization.
The next...
The world belonged to something else.
The remaining vampires stepped out one after another.
The darkness surrounding them would've blinded a human.
To vampire eyes...
Everything remained perfectly clear.
The towering trees in the distance.
The twisting branches.
The thick undergrowth.
Even individual leaves moving gently beneath the evening breeze.
It all appeared almost as vividly as daytime.
Lavinia breathed deeply.
The scents struck immediately.
Fresh earth.
Pine.
Wildflowers.
Water somewhere far away.
Animals.
Hundreds of them.
She smiled.
"...It's different."
"It is."
Celestine agreed softly.
"The air feels..."
She searched for the right word.
"...untouched."
Lavinia wandered toward the rear of the SUV.
She opened the trunk.
The cooler waited exactly where Violetta had placed it.
She lifted the lid.
Cool air escaped.
Without hesitation...
She grabbed one of the blood bags.
Piercing it neatly...
She took several long gulps.
A second later...
She winced.
"...I'd rather it was warm."
Soft laughter came from behind her.
Violetta smiled.
"I could've warmed it before we left."
Lavinia looked back.
"...Oh."
Another sip.
"I didn't think about that."
She shrugged.
"It's still good."
And with that...
She drained the rest in several quick gulps.
The warmth was missing.
Freshly heated blood carried a richness and depth of flavor that chilled blood simply couldn't match.
Still...
Cold blood wasn't unpleasant.
Just...
Less satisfying.
She folded the empty bag neatly before placing it back inside the cooler.
Valerie stepped forward.
Closed the lid.
Then lowered the rear hatch with a solid click.
Silence returned.
Ahead...
The broken road gave way to endless wilderness.
Lavinia walked toward it.
Her boots struck asphalt.
Hard.
Solid.
One more step.
The pavement ended beneath her feet.
The sound changed instantly.
From the dull firmness of cracked road...
To the soft crunch of wild grass.
She stopped.
Looked ahead.
Then smiled.
At last...
She had taken her first step into the self termed Diverged Lands.
The night was wonderfully quiet.
No sounds of traffic.
No distant sirens.
No hum of power lines.
Only the steady crunch of boots through tall grass as the group steadily made their way farther from the broken roadway.
The SUVs gradually disappeared behind them.
Ahead...
The immense forest waited.
Even from several miles away, the trees were unlike anything any of them remembered.
They were taller.
Much taller.
The trunks looked almost ancient, thick enough that several people would struggle to wrap their arms around one.
Their branches intertwined high overhead, forming an immense canopy that seemed almost black against the moonlit sky.
Lavinia smiled wider with every step.
"This is exciting."
"It is."
Celestine agreed quietly.
"It almost doesn't feel like Earth."
Rosaline nodded.
"I know exactly what you mean."
The air itself seemed different.
Cool.
Fresh.
Carrying the scent of pine, damp soil, wildflowers, and flowing water from somewhere beyond the trees.
There was no trace of exhaust.
No concrete.
No city.
Only nature.
Evangeline tilted her head upward.
The moon hung brilliantly above them, silver light spilling across the endless fields.
She inhaled deeply.
"...I wonder how much better the environment is now."
Everyone looked toward her.
"The air tastes so clean."
She breathed in once more before smiling.
"I know it doesn't literally have a taste, but..."
She shrugged sheepishly.
"...it feels cleaner."
"It does."
Evelyn agreed softly.
"I've never smelled air quite like this."
Violetta hummed thoughtfully.
"While it hasn't yet been fully verified..."
Everyone listened.
"...the initial estimates are rather optimistic."
She folded her hands behind her back as they continued walking.
"The Second Divergence appears to have dramatically offset the environmental damage humanity has caused over the past several centuries."
Rosaline blinked.
"Seriously?"
Violetta nodded.
"The amount of new forest alone is staggering."
She gestured toward the seemingly endless wilderness stretching ahead.
"Combined with the additional oceans, rivers, wetlands, and untouched ecosystems..."
She smiled faintly.
"...the planet's climate has effectively been given an opportunity to stabilize again."
Lavinia looked sideways at her.
"So..."
She tilted her head.
"...I'll never hear someone mention global warming again?"
A laugh escaped Violetta.
"I wouldn't go that far."
Lavinia grinned.
"I was hopeful."
"It will likely remain a topic of discussion for quite some time."
Violetta looked toward the distant horizon.
"The scientific community will naturally want decades of observations before reaching any firm conclusions."
She paused.
"But..."
Another small smile appeared.
"The amount of land and sea introduced by the Second Divergence has, for lack of a better phrase..."
She glanced toward the others.
"...given the climate a second chance."
Evangeline smiled brightly.
"I like that."
"So do I."
Celestine said.
"It sounds hopeful."
For several moments...
Only the breeze accompanied them.
Adelaide eventually looked upward.
The moon remained exactly where she expected it to be.
"So..."
She looked toward Violetta.
"Wouldn't gravity change?"
Everyone looked over.
"If the Earth is larger."
She continued.
"Or the seasons?"
"Or the tides?"
Cordelia added.
Rosaline nodded.
"That's actually a good question."
Violetta considered it for a moment.
"It's far too soon to answer with certainty."
No one seemed surprised.
"Those concerns have already been raised by astronomers and physicists."
She smiled slightly.
"As you might imagine."
Lavinia laughed.
"I imagine several scientists have had a very long day."
"I suspect they still are."
Violetta agreed.
She continued.
"Fortunately..."
She glanced toward the moon herself.
"...the preliminary observations suggest that everything remains..."
A small pause.
"...normal."
Adelaide blinked.
"Normal?"
"The Moon appears unaffected."
"The length of the day remains unchanged."
"No unusual tidal activity has yet been reported."
She shrugged gently.
"Whatever altered the planet..."
"It appears to have done so in a way that preserved its natural systems."
Cordelia frowned thoughtfully.
"So reality cheated."
Lavinia nodded seriously.
"I respect that."
Rosaline laughed.
"Of course you do."
"I would've done the same."
Another round of quiet laughter spread through the group.
Then...
A bush rustled.
No one jumped.
No one even looked alarmed.
Long before the leaves moved...
They had already heard it.
A rapid heartbeat.
Tiny.
Quick.
Terrified.
Its breathing was even faster.
Lavinia's smile widened.
"There you are."
Before anyone could blink...
She vanished.
The grass bent violently beneath the burst of speed.
The distance between her and the bush disappeared almost instantly.
A hand reached through the leaves.
Something squeaked.
Branches shook.
Then...
Lavinia stepped back into view.
Both hands carefully held an enormous gray rabbit.
"...Oh."
Valerie stopped walking.
"It really is huge."
The rabbit kicked frantically.
Its long ears flicked back and forth as it attempted to twist free.
It was nearly the size of a small dog.
Far larger than any rabbit should have been.
Its heart raced wildly beneath soft gray fur.
Lavinia shifted her grip.
"Hold still."
The rabbit immediately tried biting her hand.
"Oh."
She calmly rotated it away.
"No biting."
Another attempt.
She adjusted her grip again with practiced ease.
"No."
Rosaline laughed.
"I don't think it agrees."
"It has poor manners."
Lavinia replied.
The rabbit continued squirming.
Its oversized hind legs kicked uselessly through the air.
Valerie walked closer.
She looked genuinely impressed.
"...If every animal out here is larger like this..."
She looked toward the forest.
"...I can absolutely understand why they'd try to restrict people from entering."
Cordelia nodded.
"A rabbit this size could probably knock over a child."
"And that's just a rabbit."
Rosaline added.
Lavinia looked proudly at Valerie.
"You know..."
She smiled triumphantly.
"...I think 'Diverged Lands' was an impeccable name."
Valerie snorted.
"...You're unbelievable."
"You didn't say I was wrong."
"...I refuse to encourage you."
"So I'm right."
Valerie opened her mouth.
Paused.
Then sighed dramatically.
"...I'm choosing not to continue this conversation."
Lavinia beamed.
"I accept your surrender."
Rosaline laughed.
"She didn't surrender."
"She spiritually surrendered."
Cordelia covered her face.
"That's not how conversations work."
"It is now."
The rabbit wriggled once again.
Lavinia smiled down at it.
"Oh."
"I almost forgot."
One by one...
The others drifted closer.
Evelyn gently stroked the rabbit's ears.
"So soft..."
Celestine smiled as she carefully ran a hand across its back.
"I've never seen one this large."
Gwendolyn scratched beneath its chin.
It froze.
"...I think it likes that."
Rosaline chuckled.
"It also looks absolutely terrified."
"It can be both."
Cordelia rubbed its head gently.
Adelaide quietly observed it from every angle.
"The proportions are nearly identical."
She sounded fascinated.
"It's simply..."
She looked again.
"...scaled upward."
Violetta smiled.
"The biologists will be delighted."
"They'll also want to catch one."
Rosaline said.
"I'm glad this one found Lavinia instead."
Lavinia puffed out her chest proudly.
"It clearly recognized superior company."
The rabbit attempted to bite her again.
"...Never mind."
More laughter followed.
After another few moments...
Lavinia crouched.
She carefully lowered the rabbit onto the grass.
For one brief second...
It remained perfectly still.
As though completely confused.
Then...
It exploded into motion.
The oversized rabbit bounded toward the bushes with astonishing speed.
Leaves shook violently.
Branches swayed.
Within moments...
The rapid heartbeat faded into the forest.
Silence returned.
Cordelia watched the moving branches disappear into the darkness.
She folded her arms.
"...I think we may have traumatized the poor thing."
Lavinia looked offended.
"We petted it."
"We also kidnapped it."
Rosaline replied.
"For..."
She glanced toward Gwendolyn.
"...how long was that?"
Gwendolyn checked the time on her phone.
"Three minutes and forty-two seconds."
Rosaline nodded.
"So."
She looked back toward Lavinia.
"We kidnapped it for nearly four minutes."
Lavinia considered that.
"...When you phrase it like that..."
She frowned.
"...it does sound a little bad."
Valerie smiled.
"A little?"
Lavinia ignored her.
She turned toward the towering forest once more.
The moonlight shimmered across the immense trees.
Somewhere within...
Countless unseen animals moved through the undergrowth.
Rivers flowed.
Wind whispered through leaves no human had ever seen before yesterday.
The Diverged Lands stretched onward into darkness.
Waiting to be explored.
Lavinia's smile slowly returned.
"...Let's see what else lives out here."