Cheryl had to reconvene her emergency Cobra meeting in Pippy's. Another section of the tunnel had collapsed, causing sinkhole number two—its location too close to the Assembly building to allow safe .

Medics, engineering experts, the head of the fire service and others trooped in to report their findings. We hung around too, no-one objecting to my presence even though I'd only recently been sacked as an MA. My guess was that Cheryl needed all the allies she could get. In between briefings by various experts, her eyes sought me out—her expression a mix of apology and regret.

While the tunnel collapse had damaged many buildings in the city centre, the casualty numbers were few—the bulk of the dead the Vampire Security contingent that had held us at gunpoint. The names could not be confirmed, but Carly Wang was thought to be one of them.

I tried—and failed—to summon up compassion. People told you all the time that life was not fair or unfair, it was only life, but the news of Carly's possible demise felt like the scales readjusting.

My messages to Justin went unanswered. How was it possible to experience so many emotions at once? I jiggled Mirac in my arms. His squishy softness comforted and soothed, while I battled the instinct that ordered me to march up to Cheryl and scream at her, Have you any idea of what's been going on? This disaster, awful as it is, is nothing, nothing!, compared to what I've found out! Why won't anyone listen to me?

They will. Gregor, his presence in my head, calming as ever. My see-sawing emotions bounced up once more. Life might be an utter bitch, but I had this—Mirac back and my brother on my side, and...

Was it too much to expect that the universe spared Justin?

If—and it's a big if—he's alive, I swear to the sun and the stars, that'll be enough. I won't expect a relationship with him or anything, it'll just be enough that he's here on the same planet as I am, and we can talk to each other from time to time, and I'll admire him from afar because I'll be too busy being Mirac's most excellent mother and...

Gregor's lips twitched. Bastard. Priority number two, after becoming Mother of the Year, would be teaching myself how to stop powerful mind readers squirreling their way into my thoughts.

Bryony, who'd parked herself back on a bar stool, and kept shooting questions at the Cobra committee, jerked her head up. "Hey! Have you seen this!"

She brandished that second phone, a film playing out on her screen too far away to see clearly. "Bloody, bloody hell!"

Cheryl and three members of the assembly shushed her, protesting that they had important business to deal with, given that a sizeable chunk of the city centre was now out of limits.

"This is much bigger than that," Bryony said, spinning in her stool so that she faced me. "You said it earlier, Maya. Looks like you're not a tinfoil hat wearer, after all."

I took my phone out. Still no reply from Justin, but a notification from MyTV picking out the day's most popular uploads. 432,317 people are talking about this video. I clicked on the link, the picture on the screen startling me.

Cordelia.

"In 1874," she told the interviewer, "I received an invitation to a meeting, a top secret one. The people there aren't names most people recognise, but they promised me what I wanted."

"What was that?" the invisible interviewer asked.

My heart soared. Every syllable, every stressed consonant in that question all heart-achingly familiar to me. He was alive then! Mirac snuggled closer and let out a tiny sigh. My baby got it too.

"To hunt freely and without interference. Money too, a great deal of it."

"What did they get in exchange?"

"An increase in vampire numbers so huge, the human population couldn't cope. People needed protection—security services, a vaccine that protect the population. Politicians who would profess they cared for people's safety, when all the time they'd actively encouraged vampire numbers to multiply, which they used to justify bringing in policies that disadvantaged the bulk of the population."

"Those names you said," the interviewer asked, "who were they?"

Around me, all activity had ceased, as heads turned my way, listening to the interview open-mouthed.

"Sir Edmund Albright, Jonathan Farlow, and Albert Christie," Cordelia said.

Cheryl, by now on her feet and her eyes out on stalks as she stared at the film on her own phone, gasped.

"Albright!" she exclaimed. "He set up a political party in 1883. The National Conservatives."

"And Farlow founded Sunshine Health," one medic piped up, a third person confirming Albert Christie had set up Vampire Security."

Astonishing revelation made, the rest of the interview with Cordelia confirmed that Vampire Security had only ever appeared to pursue Cordelia. Those at the top specified she must be unharmed. Until now, that is. They'd sent guards after her, figuring that killing off the only surviving witness to that 1874's meeting was now necessary.

Justin had added the two black and white clips where James Hamilton made the same claims.

The thousands of comments underneath the film ranged from this can't be true, to what the fuck... As a one-time MyTV star, I still had some credibility on the site, and I added a link to the blog Safi had written in the comments section, confirming that every word of those three interviews was true.

We'd all been conned.

Bryony hurried over to Cheryl, the latter's face the picture of righteous fury. "As the leader of this country, how are you going to address these accusations?" She shoved her phone camera in front of Cheryl. Her snotty-nosed creep of a colleague might have gotten in first with the tunnel collapse, but Bryony was now primed to lead on the much bigger story.

Kyle showed me his own phone, where many people had uploaded footage of mass protests outside houses, offices and facilities as people screamed for justice. I recognised one of the bigger houses—a sprawling mansion in the city's west end owned by the current CEO of Sunshine Health. Vampire Security guards were in place, but the crowd numbers dwarfed them. It would only be a matter of time before they stormed the place, Bastille-like.

Protestors held aloft various banners. Leeches. Parasites. Bloodsuckers. The last one made me smile. Not the true meaning of the term, but an apt description for companies that had profited from misery.

My phone rang.

"Are you okay?" Sharon. "I'm watching the news and there's been this colossal accident in the city centre, and I just know you're involved somehow because where there's trouble, there's my daughter running after it to introduce herself, beg to be its best friend and worry her mother half to death."

"I'm fine," I said, Sharon's stridency reassuring in the aftermath of such calamity. "Cross my heart."

More muttering from Sharon about unreliable statements. "And what's this about companies creating the vampire problem in the first place? Is that true?"

When I confirmed it, Sharon's response included words even I didn't use. "All of us on the Garshake Estate," she said, "suffering all those years. The people there who still do. Terrible, terrible."

Terrible indeed, but she'd given me the beginnings of an idea. The name above Sharon's in my contacts had prompted it too.

Mirac had fallen asleep once more, undisturbed by the cacophony going on around him. I crouched down, guilt flooding me once more. All those empty promises about me being a better mother, concentrating on him, and him only...

Maybe he understood some of what was going on in my head. His eyes flickered open, and his mouth swerved up in a small smile. I'd promised safety and security, and now I was going to abandon him again, and take his father with me too. His hand caught hold of my hair.

Baby, tug once if you're okay with me leaving you again, twice for no.

Mirac's fist yanked my hair harder than such a small kid ought to be capable of, and he released my hair. I kissed him, leaning forward to breathe in that gorgeous toffee smell. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

I straightened up. "Kyle, Gregor, I've had an idea, but we'll need to act quickly."

*****

Sharon agreed to babysit Mirac, though she rolled her eyes when I told her what we'd planned. Gregor had helped himself to one of the abandoned Vampire Security vans and he'd driven Kyle and I to the Argist Academy to drop Mirac off, the three of us refining my idea as we headed there.

"Yup, my daughter," Sharon told Mirac as she hugged him tight. "The woman who runs towards trouble every bloody time."

"Mummy, you said bloody!" Rosie ticked her off.

"Naughty me. Maya, love once you've set it up, I'll come and help. Do you want me to call Leonie and the others?"

The offer almost made me cry. "Yes, yes please! I know it would be better to wait until a criminal investigation has started but I'm afraid Vampire Security and Sunshine Health will do something spiteful in the time it takes to set up enquiries."

"Probably will, those bastards."

"Mummy! You did it again."

Sharon hugged me tightly as I left, extending the hug to Kyle after having given him a ticking off for acting like an arsehole. ("Mummy!")

Back in the van as Gregor drove us towards our destination, I made another phone call.

"Remember me?"

"Aye," Ross, the father whose child I'd saved from vampires, replied. "That film that's doing the rounds anything to do wi' you?"

"Yes and no. It's all true."

"Mmm. I voted for those bastards at the last election."

"Time to make up for that massive mistake then, eh?"

I explained what we had planned and how speed was of the essence. Ross agreed. And yes, he was sure he could muster up plenty of support. Ten minutes later, and we arrived at destination number one—the Vampire Security storage centre where they'd transferred Kirsty's vaccines and the stolen supplies.

Two Vampire Security Guards had been hanging around outside Pippy's earlier. As the mood on the street had turned ugly towards anyone dressed in that regulation black uniform, they were only too happy to divulge the location to prove themselves now one of the good guys. When I worked out the second storage facility was only five minutes away from the Garshake Estate, the plan presented itself like magic.

The storage facility, as I'd guessed, was deserted. No sign of guards at the front, although the barrier remained in place on the gate. The security guard's badge we found in the van's glove compartment allowed us entry, and we drove in, seeking out the cold storage units.

"There!" I said, pointing at the blue containers at the front. We jumped out. God, there were so many of them. Sirens started up—in the far distance but it wouldn't take them that long to get here. We would need to remove everything so quickly.

Gregor opened the van's back doors. "We'll all load as much as we can in. Drive it to the estate, unload. Come back, and repeat."

Hardly ideal, but what other options did we have?

The rumbling of an engine made us all jump. Damn it, I'd counted on at least two or three hours before interruption.

"I'll tell them we've been ordered to move the stuff," I said to Gregor and Kyle, "Not that many people know I've been sacked as an MA. I'll just pretend I'm still one and we've got the authority to do this."

Instead of vans, though, an enormous HGV drove towards us, and shuddered to a halt.

Gregor started to laugh. "Don't think you'll need those persuasion skills."

The driver door opened. Out jumped Justin. A filthy version of Justin—white streaks through his hair, which somehow was much shorter than it had been the last time I'd seen him, and his clothing ripped and badly in need of washing—but a welcome sight nonetheless.

I longed to fling myself at him but didn't in deference to Kyle. The action wouldn't have been tactful.

God, I love you. You're wonderful.

Ditto.

How did you know what I was going to do?

He shrugged. He just did.

The presence of two vampires made the operation much, much easier. The lorry's trailer was big enough to take all the boxes of vaccines and chemicals. Justin and Lewis's inhuman strength allowed us to load up the lorry in record-quick time. We piled into the tractor cab.

"Dunno if we'll be welcome at the Estate," Justin said, his sudden glance at his twin making the meaning clear. No, an estate full of unvaccinated kids wouldn't roll out the red carpet for two vampires even those delivering vital medication. I trusted Justin with my life; his twin not so much.

"We won't hurt anyone," Lewis said, removing two large bags of fake blood from a bag in front of him, "and we'll stay in the cab, so no-one sees us." He and Justin chugged the blood down. It didn't remove temptation entirely, but a full stomach made a vampire less likely to pounce.

"Fine, when you drive into the estate, take the first left and then a right. Ross knows we're coming so—"

"Better go now," Gregor said, pointing to the facility's entrance as five vans, sirens blazing, headed our way.

Justin floored the accelerator, the move throwing all of us forward as no-one had put on their seatbelts.

"Do you plan to drive through those vans?" Gregor asked, voice faux casual.

"Yup. Duck down folks in case they've got guns. But this baby," he slapped the steering wheel, "is American built, and weighs at least twenty times what those vans do."

The engine size must have been incredible too, as the lorry picked up speed much, much faster than you would have thought a vehicle of its size able to do. When the Vampire Security guards realised the lorry didn't intend to stop, they piled out and abandoned their vans. The lorry sent vehicles spinning in its wake, as we drove out and off towards the Garshake Estate, making for the school there.

Ross waited outside, Leonie beside him along with many of Sharon's agency nurse colleagues all dressed in their nurse uniforms.

Justin and Lewis slunk back in their seats, but no-one noticed them as Kyle and Gregor began to unload the lorry's contents.

"Are they all here?" I asked Ross.

"Aye—all three hundred and twenty-two of them."

I'd alerted the world to what was going on at the estate. While knowledge that a large-scale vaccination programme was taking place might attract attention from rogue vampires, I figured that was the lesser risk. What I wanted was protestors—those people currently stood outside the offices, homes and buildings that belonged to Vampire Security, Sunshine Health and the National Conservatives to make their way here and stand guard outside, preventing anyone from those organisations trying to stop us.

Ross accompanied Gregor, Kyle and I to the estate's outer wall. Sure enough, people had seen my note under Justin's film, and they'd begun to make their way here, banners aloft. A shout from the crowd stopped them in their tracks. Vampire Security vans heading this way. A group of them formed a human chain, linking arms with each other to block the road, and a guard, gun in hand, exited the vehicle at the front.

"Fire on unarmed civilians and you'll be sent to prison for life," I shouted over. I wasn't close enough to see the woman's expression, but suspected it wasn't pleasant. She looked around her. The trickle of protestors had turned to a flood. Guns or not, they were vastly outnumbered. While those at the top of Vampire Security were undoubtedly wicked, the foot soldiers were ordinary guys and gals for the most part. If they'd seen the footage too, they must be wondering about the people they worked for and questioning if they wanted to do it anymore.

She returned to her van and drove away to the accompaniment of cheers. The other vans followed.

I turned my face away, knowing I was about to burst into noisy tears. We'd done it, finally. Organised a mass, vaccination programme for the residents of the Garshake Estate, and this, I promised myself, was just the beginning. Some way, and some day soon, I'd ensure that everyone who needed the vaccine in Dunrovia would get it. Free of charge.

AUTHOR NOTES - thanks for reading! All reads, votes and comments much appreciated. Next update, Friday 17th September 2022.