Emilia felt her hands shaking as she stared at the space where Bresal disappeared. Jayden, most likely, slept somewhere in the room. A possession usually took a lot out of a person.  Vijay hopefully could breathe now.  And, her father, well, he probably continued to sleep away in the backroom. Lucky.

She could feel goosebumps form on her arms as she stared at the people and creatures below. Small groups had formed along the edges of the Thames. A few pointed to where Bresal had been in wonder. Her eyes landed on a small girl with blonde hair, holding the hand of a woman in a large hat with pieces of long red hair flittering out with the wind. The girl stared up at Emilia and smiled with a small wave. Emilia returned the smile and wave. The girl's eyes flashed a golden color, and the smile widened to show more of her teeth. Emilia's hand fell to clutch the balcony railing.

Do not show weakness. Emilia chided herself. She could just be one of the fae children.

The woman turned and looked up at Emilia. A sharp intake of breath stilled Emilia's heart on seeing the red-headed woman she assumed to be a vampire the evening before standing with the young girl. Her skin had been completely covered, apart from her face.

Had they come up with some new technology? Who was this woman? Emilia took a few steps backward on the balcony. I mean, it's London. There is an overcast today. So, maybe—no, there shouldn't be anything. Those latex trials killed tons of vampires a few years ago, and—what the fuck is happening here?

Vijay coughed in the doorway of the balcony. Emilia turned to see him touching his throat tenderly with a grimace.

"Well, that guy was no joke," Vijay hoarsely whispered. "Do you have any tea for something like this?"

Emilia nodded and walked inside. "Have you—no, you wouldn't have."

"What?" Vijay whispered behind her.

Emilia shook her head. "You shouldn't try to speak so much after something like that. I have a tea to help soothe your throat."

Vijay grabbed her arm and provided a big gesture with his other hand that she could only assume meant, "what?" Or, perhaps, a rare British curse word she hadn't learned yet. Emilia debated about answering for a moment, but Vijay shook her arm, causing her to sigh.

"Fine." Emilia rolled her eyes, pulling her arm free while walking towards the kitchen. "I think I saw a vampire from last night outside with a little girl. I wanted to know if you knew about any new technology vampires used to walk around during overcast."

She turned to glance at Vijay as he shook his head no. Emilia sighed while pulling out a small jar filled with different shades of dry petals and leaves. 

"That was what I was afraid of. So, here is the stuff we have. It has a small magical healing agent in it. I'm just going to make you a full pot. Do you mind if I just put the tea inside the pot? I find—" Emilia stopped talking when she saw Vijay shake his head no again and smiled. "Good, I think it works best when there isn't any metal to disturb the brew."

The two shared a small smile before Vijay began to rummage through the drawers. He pulled out a small pad of paper and pen, then began to write. Emilia tapped the button to start the electric kettle while waiting for Vijay to stop writing.

After a moment, Vijay tore the piece of paper off the pad and handed it to her. Emilia took in his neat handwriting with a small amount of envy.

I don't know much about what the vampires are up to. I try to stay out of those types of politics. There are some online chats we could look at if you wanted, but I don't know if they've got people monitoring those boards. Probably wouldn't be a good idea to leave them an IP address of our location before you run off to their hideout.

Emilia nodded. "So, you think I should go find him?"

Vijay pressed his lips together for a moment before beginning to write. The kettle sounded behind Emilia. She turned and took the kettle off to pour it into a blue pot with white designs drawn all over it. Steam came out of the top as she watched the dried leaves and petals float around inside. Once filled, she closed her eyes and pressed her hand to the side of the pot. A soft glow surrounded everything inside briefly before returning to normal. She softly smiled to herself about not having to snap her fingers. Her abilities were continuing to mature.

Emilia turned to Vijay. "Give it a few minutes."

He nodded and handed her another slip of paper.

Not much of a choice. That guy thing is collecting power below. We both can feel it. That vampire lady is probably somehow connected.

Emilia stopped reading to look up at him. "She was holding the hand of a small girl. The girl's eyes glowed like Jayden's did when Bresal went into his body.  Maybe they aren't vampires."

Vijay grimaced and turned down to his pad of paper. He quickly wrote a response. BODY JUMPER. FUCK!

She laughed lightly and nodded. "Possibly."

Vijay motioned for her to continue reading his note.

If we don't take care of them now, more women will disappear, and they will gain power. I am not sure why they need to amass so much human energy, but we both know that this never leads to good things. My grandfather told me some stories, and it usually ends with that civilization disappearing. OR, a takeover. I don't want either.

"Neither do I," Emilia replied. "But, I mean, is regaining my Hunters license really worth dealing with that."

Vijay walked over to her and pointed at the parts about the civilization disappearing and the takeover.

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed. "That is the usual story. But, I'm not really equipped for this type of thing."

Vijay groaned and threw his hands up in the air. He stared at Emilia, and she turned away from his gaze.

"I think the tea is ready." She smiled, turning to pull out a mug for him. Emilia spared him a tense smile before leaving the room.

Once outside of the kitchen, Emilia let out a sigh. Jayden snored on the sofa with a small bit of drool pooling beside his mouth. She shook her head.

"The poor guy got sent for slaughter."

A loud yawn sounded from the hallway before her father came into view. Liam took a moment to scan around the room and over his daughter before groaning.

"What did I miss?" He asked.

"What's below made us a special little visit. The thing's name is Bresal. He controlled Jayden's body for a bit to talk to me and make me match him on Bifrost."

Liam scrunched his nose. "The guy must be desperate if that's his point of contact. I remember the good old days where they would just send one of their people to begin shit."

Emilia shrugged. "He might be using the body of a little girl with the help of a red-headed woman, who could be a vampire that walks around during overcast.  Sort of second-guessing the, she's a vampire part right now."

"That's a lot to process," Liam muttered, leaning against the doorway. "Where is Vijay?"

"He got attacked," Emilia sighed. "I made him some tea to help ease the pain and heal his throat."

Liam nodded. "Thank goodness I put my wards up before going to sleep."

Emilia scrunched her nose for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, he didn't mention you being here at all. He just knew about the three of us."

The two stared at one another for a moment before Liam sat down beside the coffee table. Emilia ran into the kitchen to grab the paper and pen from Vijay before rushing back over.

"Okay," she huffed. "Write down the ones you used."

Liam nodded and began to write down his formula as Vijay came through the door hugging the teapot against his chest and holding the mug in his hand.

"Let me help you." Emilia turned to grab the pot and settled it on the table. "My dad has a good ward that we can put up on the flat."

Vijay smiled and then motioned at Emilia.

"On me?" Emilia laughed nervously. "I mean, is it necessary that I go?"

Liam stopped writing to look at his daughter for a moment. "Why, are you scared?"

Emilia's eyes widened, and she motioned around them. "I mean, look at what he did to Jayden and Vijay!"

Liam shrugged his shoulders. "So? They aren't trained and don't have the powers you do. You'll be fine. I mean, maybe you will lose a finger or something, but we can always grow it back."

Emilia pressed her lips together while staring at her father. "You are almost as bad as Mom."

Liam sighed and waved his hand at her. "Let me concentrate on this. If you feel that nervous, just call Ben and see what gadgets he can spare you."

"Ben."

"Yes, Ben."

Emilia bit her tongue to stop herself from saying, "I would rather fuck a porcupine."  She knew her father would just call her dramatic.

Vijay hit her arm. He motioned towards the phone, then at her, and shrugged. Emilia scrunched her nose and eyebrows. She shook her head.

"No!" She screamed. "He is the guy that made me lose my license in the first place. I got banished here to be nothing of what I once was. And, now—now, those fuck-tarts need me to handle something big. I am not talking about, oh, hey Em, look, there are these werewolves that got out of hand, and we need you to get them back in line. No. This is some demigod-like creature that wants to date girls he finds on the internet and possibly steals their energy. This is not fucking okay!"

Liam placed his pen down and then folded his hands on the coffee table. He tilted his hands to look at his daughter for a moment.

"Honey, this reminds me of when you started your monthly friend," Liam sighed.

"Dad!" Emilia gasped, glancing at Vijay as he turned to look out the balcony.

"Listen," Liam started. "Life doesn't really need to ask your permission. There are times where you will be asked to do these things, and it isn't right. The way the Guild is handling this isn't right. But we can't let people die. And, I trust you more than any other little half-witted guppy your mother would send over from her people."

Emilia smiled slightly at the end of his speech. Her mouth opened to respond when a knock sounded at the door. The three alert people in the room looked amongst themselves. No one moved. The knock sounded again, but this time it became a little bit more insistent.

***

Dating Advice from a Hunter:

Ward up, people!  You never know when you will be dating a mind reader or just ended up on a date with an evil guy.  As Jayden showed us, mind control is not fun.  Plus, no one wants to be the cautionary tale on the news.  So, remember to put your wards on so that your mind is properly defended from the baddies.  And, if you can't do it, make friends with a witch, wizard, or another magical being.  Some of them will be nice enough to help.

Happy Hunting!

E.V.

***

Chapter WC: 1,950

Story WC: 17,259

Any guesses for who could be at the door?  Is it the little girl?  Nothing says run better than a little girl creepily saying, "Come play with me."