Erica woke slowly, not all at once, but in pieces.
Warmth came first. Not the heavy blanket, but something else, something closer and more familiar in a way that made her brain stall for a second before catching up. Her eyes opened, and immediately widened.
She wasn’t alone.
Kaelin was still in the bed, curled slightly on her side and closer than she had any reason to be. Her hair had come loose from the night before, spilling across the pillow in uneven strands. One arm was tucked between them, while the other rested loosely near Erica like she had drifted there without meaning to and never corrected it.
On the other side was Teresa, still asleep, or at least pretending to be, one arm thrown casually behind her head like she hadn’t made last night significantly more complicated than it needed to be.
Erica froze.
“…oh no.”
Her voice was barely a whisper, but it felt loud in the quiet room.
Kaelin stirred. Not fully awake at first, just a small shift under the blanket, then her eyes opened halfway and locked onto Erica’s.
There was a pause.
A long one.
Then Kaelin realized exactly how close they were. She shot upright so fast the blanket twisted around her legs.
“I…”
She stopped. Her face flushed instantly, color spreading across her cheeks and down her neck as she grabbed for the nearest piece of clothing like it was a lifeline.
“I didn’t… this wasn’t… I mean I did, but not…” She cut herself off, clearly making it worse the more she tried to fix it.
Erica was already moving too, pulling on clothes faster than she probably needed to, her brain still catching up to everything at once.
“It’s fine,” she said quickly. “It’s… yeah. Fine.”
It was not fine.
It was definitely not fine.
Teresa, meanwhile, finally moved. Slowly. She stretched slightly like she had slept perfectly through all of it, then opened her eyes and smiled. Not surprised. Not confused. Just amused.
“…morning,” she said casually, her gaze drifting between the two of them as if she was taking in the aftermath of something she caused.
Kaelin turned even redder.
Erica refused to make eye contact.
Teresa pushed herself up onto one elbow, clearly enjoying this far more than she should have.
“Well,” she added lightly, “this is a nice view to wake up to.”
“Teresa,” Erica muttered.
“What?” she replied, completely unbothered. “I’m just saying.”
Kaelin made a small, distressed sound and turned away completely, focusing very hard on getting dressed like that was the only thing grounding her to reality right now. Erica finished pulling on her shirt, running a hand through her hair like that might somehow reset the situation.
It didn’t.
Nothing about this was resetting.
“…we’re not talking about this,” Erica said.
“Of course we’re not,” Teresa agreed immediately.
That made Erica pause.
“…wait, really?”
Teresa shrugged, standing now, already halfway dressed like she had done this before.
“Not here,” she said. “Not yet.”
Kaelin glanced over her shoulder at that, then quickly looked away again, her expression somewhere between mortified and trying very hard not to think about any of it.
Erica let out a slow breath.
“…you’re terrible.”
“Well, you two look downright ravishing,” Teresa mused.
Kaelin finally finished getting dressed, her movements still a little too quick and too deliberate, like if she stopped for even a second she might have to acknowledge something she wasn’t ready to acknowledge. She kept her eyes down as she adjusted her sleeves, though Erica caught the faintest flicker of a glance before Kaelin looked away again.
Erica gave Teresa a look.
“That’s not helpful.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
───
The smell hit them before the sound did.
Warm bread, something savory, and something sweet underneath it all. It pulled Erica forward before she even realized she was following, her stomach deciding for her that whatever existential crisis she was currently dealing with could wait until after she ate.
The house was already awake. Voices carried through the halls, lighter than the night before and less layered with tension. By the time they stepped into the main room, the table was already half full.
Lumi was trying to climb onto it again.
“No,” Elira said without even turning around. “You can’t sit on tables. They are not chairs.”
“Momma, can my dolls sit on the table?” Lumi argued.
“It is okay for dolls, but not during meals.”
Mira was already mid-argument with Sera about something that sounded like it had started hours ago. Lysa and Talia were whispering again, though this time it involved quick glances toward the doorway as Erica, Teresa, and Kaelin entered.
Kaelin stopped just inside the room for half a second.
Erica noticed it, the way she squared her shoulders slightly, like she was resetting herself before stepping into view. When she moved again, it was smoother, more composed, like whatever had happened upstairs had been carefully folded away and locked somewhere private.
“Morning,” Kaelin said, like nothing had happened.
Erica blinked once.
“…morning.”
Kaelin nodded, just once, then looked away and moved toward the table.
That was one way to handle it.
“Sit,” Elira called, finally turning with a plate in hand. “Before Lumi decides your breakfast belongs to her too.”
“Mine!” Lumi shouted.
“That was sarcasm, Lumi.”
Erica slid into a seat, still catching her breath in a way that had nothing to do with walking. The normalcy of it all felt surreal compared to the last five minutes, like the house itself refused to acknowledge anything outside of routine.
Kaelin took her seat across from her.
For a second, neither of them looked up.
Then Kaelin did.
Just briefly.
“I’m heading out to train later,” she said, her tone careful but not stiff. “If you want… you can come watch.”
It wasn’t smooth.
But it wasn’t distant either.
Erica smiled a little.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’d like that.”
Kaelin nodded, a little quicker this time, then focused very hard on her food.
Elira watched the exchange with a small smile, clearly deciding Kaelin was simply warming up to Erica.
The room shifted a few moments later.
Not loudly. Just noticeably.
Erica felt it before she saw it, the way conversations dipped slightly, the way Mira stopped mid-sentence, the way even Lumi paused like something important had entered the room.
She turned.
Lord Malrec Van Helsing stood in the doorway.
He didn’t announce himself.
He didn’t need to.
But the moment his eyes softened, the room changed again.
“Papa!”
Lumi launched herself at him, and just like that, the tension broke.
He caught her easily, lifting her up like it was the most natural thing in the world. The shift in him was immediate, the weight of the council gone, replaced with something softer, something human.
“There you are,” he murmured, pressing his forehead lightly to hers. “Already causing trouble?”
“I’m winning,” Lumi said proudly.
“I don’t doubt it.”
He set her down gently, then stepped further into the room.
For a moment, he looked like nothing more than a tired father coming home late and finding his family already moving through the morning without him.
Then his eyes found Teresa.
His expression settled.
Teresa, who had just grabbed a piece of bread like nothing in the world could bother her, suddenly found the table incredibly interesting. She turned slightly, reaching for more food than she needed, whistling under her breath like she hadn’t noticed him at all.
“You lied.”
The words landed clean.
Teresa didn’t turn.
“God,” she muttered, “is there no decency? Can we talk about this later, sir?”
Her tone made Erica blink.
That was not the Teresa she knew.
Malrec didn’t react.
“Teresa,” he said evenly, “in this house, I am dad.”
A pause.
“But more importantly,” he continued, “you still lied to me.”
No one spoke.
Not Mira, who had been mid-argument. Not Sera, who usually would have pushed back just to see what happened. Even Lumi went still, though that might have been because Elira had a hand resting lightly on her shoulder now.
Teresa sighed, still not turning right away, like if she ignored it long enough it might resolve itself.
“Yeah,” she said finally. “I did.”
“That’s not an answer,” Malrec replied.
“It’s the honest one,” she shot back, turning now, her expression more annoyed than apologetic. “What do you want me to say?”
“That you understand why it matters.”
Teresa rolled her eyes slightly. “I understand why you think it matters.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No,” she agreed. “It’s not.”
The tension edged sharper.
Erica shifted in her seat, feeling like she was sitting in the middle of something she absolutely did not want to belong to, but the lie was about her.
“That’s on me too,” she said, stepping in before it could go any further. “I went along with it. She lied on my behalf.”
Teresa glanced at her.
Malrec’s gaze followed, sharp and measured again.
“I know,” he said. “You lied as well.”
Erica nodded. “I didn’t want to make things worse. I just… didn’t think it would get dragged into all of that.”
“That is precisely the problem,” he said. “You did not think.”
“…yeah,” Erica admitted. “That sounds right.”
A small sound escaped Mira before she could stop it. Lysa elbowed her under the table.
Malrec exhaled quietly, the edge of the moment dulling just slightly.
“The council has already made its decision,” he said.
Teresa straightened.
“…and?”
“House arrest.”
“What?!” Teresa snapped immediately, hands going up in disbelief. “That’s ridiculous. Wouldn’t they want one of their hunters actually out killing vampires instead of stuck in a castle?”
“House arrest,” Malrec repeated, unbothered, “is a polite term.”
Teresa froze.
“…what?”
“You will serve as perimeter guard,” he clarified. “Day rotations, night rotations, internal watch when required. You do not leave your assigned post without direct approval.”
Teresa stared at him for a second.
Then groaned, dragging both hands down her face.
“Ah… yeah,” Erica muttered under her breath. “I can see why you’d hate that.”
“It’s not house arrest,” Mira said quietly. “It’s just… more work.”
“It’s boring work,” Teresa corrected.
“Which is worse,” Sera added.
Elira set a plate down in front of Erica, her movements calm and deliberate, like she had no intention of letting the mood spiral any further than it already had.
“You lied,” she said to Teresa, not unkindly. “You deal with the consequences.”
Teresa dropped her hands, exhaling.
“…yeah. I know.”
Malrec’s attention shifted.
“And as for you, Erica.”
The table went still again. Kaelin’s posture tightened. Lysa and Talia stopped whispering entirely. Even Lumi looked between them like she could tell something important was happening.
“You have your first assignment.”
Erica blinked.
“…oh.”
“There have been reports,” Malrec continued, his tone shifting into something more structured, more formal, “of feral vampires attacking the newly summoned warriors.”
“Players,” Teresa muttered.
Malrec glanced at her briefly. “Yes. Whatever they call themselves.”
He looked back to Erica.
“They are being targeted in an area with minimal protection. That should not be happening.”
Erica felt something click into place.
Quest.
“…okay,” she said slowly.
“You are to eliminate any feral vampires you encounter,” he continued, “and locate their point of origin. There is likely a nest nearby. If you find it, destroy it. If the threat exceeds your capability, you return here and report.”
He said it plainly and cleanly. To anyone else, it would have sounded like a standard order. To Erica, it sounded exactly like what it was.
A quest.
“…right,” she said, trying not to sound like she was analyzing the structure of it in real time.
She glanced sideways.
“So… Teresa isn’t coming with me?”
“No,” Malrec said immediately. “She has duties here.”
Teresa threw her hands up again.
“Of course I do,” she muttered. “Because that makes sense.”
“Taking out feral vampires should be within your capability,” Malrec added, his attention still on Erica. “If there is an elite present, you withdraw.”
“No!” Kaelin’s voice cut in before anyone expected it to.
Everyone looked at her.
She straightened under the attention, but didn’t back down.
“Let me go with her,” she said. “I can handle it.”
“You have not completed your training,” Malrec replied.
“I’m close.”
“You are not finished.”
Kaelin’s jaw tightened. “That doesn’t mean I can’t…”
“Sit down.”
The words weren’t loud. They didn’t need to be.
Kaelin froze for half a second, then lowered herself back into her seat, her hands curling slightly into her sleeves.
“…yes, sir.”
The room went quiet again.
Erica looked between them, then down at the table, then back up at Malrec. She thought about the timing, about what she needed to do, about her sister, Nathan, and the starting area.
This actually worked.
The game wasn’t forcing her to stay here. It was pushing her out.
“…okay,” she said finally. “When do I leave?”
“Today.”
A beat passed.
Then Erica, Teresa, and Kaelin all reacted at once.
“Eh?!”
Malrec didn’t react.
“Preparation time is limited,” he said. “You will leave before midday.”
Erica leaned back slightly in her chair, staring at him.
“…of course I will,” she muttered.
Teresa dropped her head onto the table.
“This is the worst morning ever,” she groaned.
Across the table, Kaelin didn’t laugh. She just looked at Erica, worried in a way that made her seem older than she had all morning. Like her own lover was leaving her.
Erica tried to lighten the room before that look could settle too deeply.
“Do I get a horse?”
Malrec looked at her inquisitively.
“I believe your defining characteristic was clumsy, Right. So can you ride?”
Erica thought about her history in games. There was no equestrian training. No need to know how to actually ride. The only horses she had ever ridden in games felt automatic, like sitting on a moving chair with better sound effects.
“I guess not,” Erica mumbled.
“Then I guess not,” Malrec replied, with the faintest smile.
Teresa made a muffled sound against the table that might have been laughter or despair.
Erica honestly couldn’t tell which.