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The sun dipped below the horizon and the sky was filled with the remnants of its light. This would last no more than an hour, but it was the beginning of a large window of opportunity to get moving.

Ceres brought her thralls into the conference room and had them take turns in a chair placed before her. With a fingernail, she cut open her wrist and let a few drops of her blood fall into the open mouth of each when they took a seat. Isabelle looked on with a little confusion, but refrained from saying anything while Ceres moved through them. When finished, Ceres sent them back out to gather the humans and prepare to cover more ground across the city.

"Are you slowly turning them?" Isabelle blurted this out once the thralls had left the room.

Ceres looked at her with mild irritation, then looked at Edgar. Edgar raised in eyebrow in response. Ceres was good at her work as a hunter, he knew; he also knew she was terrible with people. Ceres shook off the irritation before replying.

"To turn them, I have to bring them to the edge of death and then feed them. Feeding them this way is like a giving them a caffeine hypo. And we all share some light telepathic benefits."

Isabelle, wide-eyed, shaped her mouth in an "o" and gave a slow nod.

Ceres grabbed her helmet and slammed it on over her head. Isabelle and Edgar followed suit, albeit with less aggression. They left the conference room and found the humans queued up beside the entrance to the stairwell with one of Ceres' thralls by the door, and the other two keeping the group calm and organized, the three of them armed once again with their EMP rifles. The three vampires walked to the stairwell. Ceres opened the door and indicated to Isabelle and Edgar to stay close as she began to descend. The humans followed close on their heels.

"It's unlikely there are any of those things out there, but we'll be first to pop out and spread out to make sure," said Ceres. "When we determine it's safe, I'll take lead of the humans and you two take the rear."

Isabelle heard the words, understood the words, yet needed to clear her head and refocus. Here was Ceres in her element, the Ceres she remembered, the Ceres she fell in love with. She wondered in what ways, if any, Ceres had changed over the years. With a sigh, she came back to the present, scurrying behind Ceres down the stairs.

At the base of the stairs, they paused. Ceres cracked on of the double doors open and peeked out. Edgar found it odd, at first, to see the door open inward, though he came to realize it would not do to have a door swing out and draw attention if there were Beings in the area. Ceres drew out a telescopic wand with a mirror on the end and angled it to see around the door they stood behind. She then collapsed the little contraption and signaled to Isabelle and Edgar to follow her. The three slipped through the door and it was shut tight behind them.

Edgar readied his rifle and nodded to Isabelle to do the same. Ceres had no weapon of her own, the he could see, but that might be for the better. Their use of these weapons would mean nothing more than their total failure. Still, he was glad to have the countermeasure available if things went sideways.

The building they exited was situated on the northeast corner of the three-way intersection. Ceres directed Isabelle to survey the area two blocks to the south, indicating she herself would move to the north. She directed Edgar to survey the area to the east, around and behind the building. Edgar took off with a laugh. No other vampire would ever deign to command an elder in such fashion, but field operations was in Ceres' domain, and so far he had no reason to distrust her.

The daylight waned, and though it remained light enough to see clearly, Edgar hugged close to the buildings on the north side. If his orientation was correct, he expected this area to be devoid of Beings, having watched them plunge in and out of buildings further to the east then head north. Still, prudence warranted caution, and he did not desire to be caught among traps left by Beings he knew little about. He surveyed the street, the walls, the windows, the debris, and was careful when moving past corners or large transport vehicles. He went as far as three blocks, determined there was nothing to be seen, then made his way back with as much caution and care.

Ceres and Isabelle were waiting by building's exit when he returned. In low tones only a vampire could hear, Ceres said,

"All clear?"

Edgar nodded.

The door cracked open and one of the thralls peered out. Ceres made a quick gesture with her head, and the thrall threw the door open and held it, while another opened the other door. The humans filed out and the thralls pulled the doors shut.

Continued after the break

"We have about six hours before they release the drones. It will take another 2 hours before the drones get this far into the city. It will take us at least 4 hours to get to the next safe house, and if things are looking good and we're in really good shape, we can skip past it and jump to the next one." Ceres paused.

"You know the risks, Ceres," said Edgar. "We'll follow your lead."

"Then just like I said earlier, take the rear."

Ceres turned and signaled for the first group of humans to follow her. Everyone fell in line as they began moving, and Isabelle and Edgar waited until the last of the humans were on their way before joining them. They watched reds turn blue and purple across the sky with a mild sense of nostalgia.

"Ayer estábamos solos," said Isabelle. We were alone yesterday.

"Y antes, estábamos dormidos," said Edgar. And we were asleep before that.

"What a strange series of events."

"What strange times."

Isabelle nodded in response.

The two walked like sentinels with their rifles. Together with two thralls and their EMP rifles ahead of them, they composed a rear vanguard, appearing to escort prisoners to their detention camp. Perhaps it was a fitting illustration, thought Edgar. They were all prisoners in a world overrun by Beings intent on their extermination. What were they doing but moving from one cell to another, even if the cells allowed them to enter and exit at will?

They were no more than an hour into their trek when there was some commotion at the front. The thralls moved forward and guided the group of humans to circle back and duck into a nearby alley, closed off on one end. As the line of humans folded with one of the thralls in the lead, Ceres was joined with Isabelle and Edgar.

"There's something strange going on up ahead," said Ceres, again in sub-human tones. "I caught the scent of the Beings. It was light; I'd wager there are only two of them."

"Hmm," said Edgar. "This is strange?"

"What's strange is they have a human with them. Definitely male. Smells like the one we left tied to a chair in the other building."

Edgar looked around. "Is there somewhere we can gain some vantage without being seen?"

"This way," said Ceres. She led them to one of the apartment buildings and waited until the humans were out of sight. She then leapt up to the fire escape overhead and signaled for Isabelle and Edgar to follow. Edgar jumped over the railing with no trouble. Isabelle, however, missed. Ceres and Edgar, with lightning reflex, each caught one of Isabelle's arms and pulled her up.

"Thanks," she said.

Together, the three vampires ran up the stairs, stepping lightly, making little to no noise. At the top of the building, Ceres rushed to one side and peered over, indicating to Isabelle and Edgar where to look. They watched as three figures moved beyond the walls of one building to walk across an intersection. Though there was no light, the vampires could see them clearly: a human bound in chains being guided by two of the Beings. The human was none other than the one they had left in the chair in the building where they were reunited.

"Well, I can consider that spot compromised now," said Ceres, referring to the safe house.

The three watched in silence as the Beings and the human moved erratically through the area. Edgar sensed Ceres growing agitated with each twist and turn they took.

"I don't know how he knew to bring them here," she said. "To put them in our way. I tell no one of the path we take, and I change the path it often."

"Lucky guess," said Edgar.

"Maybe. We'll have to backtrack, but without a clear pattern, I don't know which way to go, and I don't trust we'll be safe if we settle down here."

Edgar thought about the situation, and decided there may be no better opportunity than this to learn something of the Beings.

"Tell us where the next safe house is and skip it," he said. "Isabelle and I will lead these strays away. If we're successful, we'll circle back and await a signal of where to find you."

"And if you're not?"

"Consider that safe house compromised as well, and consider us dead."

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