The next morning, Topaz was gone, likely to feed. She and Peridot had made an agreement that if she was going to stay, she was going to have to feed at least twice a week to keep any worry of her thirst overtaking her at a minimum. Peridot was very much enjoying the time without the vampire, but Turquoise was looking around for her as if she were family. She wasn't upset without Topaz. She only wondered where she was. I tried to tell her, and she seemed to partially understand, but not fully. She was a baby after all.
"Wasn't Topaz supposed to be back by now?" I asked as Peridot walked by.
"I don't know," Peridot answered. "And really, I don't mind. The longer she's gone, the better."
"Peri..." I growled. "Are you really going to keep acting like this?"
"Am I gonna have to keep telling you my reasons?" Peridot responded.
"This isn't healthy for us, Peridot," I said, standing up. "It's not healthy for us to keep having this same conversation. It's not healthy for Turquoise or anyone. We need to decide what we're going to do and go through with it."
"But we're—"
"I know you're 'natural enemies'!" I exclaimed. "But that doesn't mean you have to be! All you have to do is try to be friendly!" I looked her right in the eyes. "Maybe you two will find that you have something in common."
"A werewolf having something in common with a vampire?" Peridot asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," I answered. "Who knows. I bet you two have at least one thing in common."
"...why do I feel like you're right?" Peridot asked.
"Maybe I am," I answered. "Maybe you should try to find that something in common."
Peridot shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I really just...don't trust her."
"You don't have to," I replied. "But you can be nice."
Peridot started at me for a moment before finally sitting down next to me. I laid my head on her shoulder and sighed. I was nearly relaxed. I just didn't understand why Peridot couldn't give Topaz a chance. They both loved family. They had that in common, but Peridot had never wanted to get into that conversation.
"Lapis?" Peridot asked.
"Yeah?" I responded.
"...you'll stay with me, won't you?" Peridot asked.
"Of course," I answered. "Why wouldn't I?"
Peridot shrugged. "Maybe I'll bug you to the point of leaving," she suggested.
"You can be stubborn," I said. "But that doesn't mean I'll leave you. I love you."
"I love you too," Peridot replied.
"You're trying to get me to calm down about your view on Topaz, aren't you?" I asked.
"Maybe," Peridot answered.
"You need to try to be nicer to her," I said. "If you don't, I'm gonna have to punish you."
"How are you going to punish me?" Peridot asked, clearly unthreatened.
"I'm gonna make you sleep on the couch," I answered.
"Hey," Peridot whined, grinning a little. "That's not very nice."
"So be nice," I said.
I kept my head on Peridot's shoulders, nearly falling asleep. The only thing that kept me from falling asleep in the first place was the door suddenly flying open. This made Turquoise start to squirm. I rocked her until she calmed down again and was happy. Peridot looked over at the door faster than I did afterward. We both saw quickly that it was Topaz, who was breathing hard and almost limping over herself.
"Topaz?" Peridot asked. "Did you get attacked by a bear or something?"
"I could take down a bear any day," Topaz answered. "That's not the problem."
"Then what is the problem?" I asked.
"...while I was out..." Topaz answered. "I ran into my half siblings."
"Half siblings?" Peridot asked.
"They were on the same trail as I was," Topaz explained. "All four of them together."
"There are four more of you?!" Peridot cried.
"They're different than me," Topaz replied. "They aren't the same...they feed on human blood and worship Jasper like she's their savior."
"Worship Jasper?" I asked, holding onto Peridot's arm.
"They say they praise her because she's the one who gave them 'eternal life,'" Topaz explained. "She's the one who transformed them."
"She transformed them too?" Peridot asked.
"She transformed all of us," Topaz answered. "All five of us."
"Why?" I asked.
Topaz sighed and sat down on the coffee table. She sat down very carefully to make sure she wouldn't break it. She looked first at Turquoise, then at me, then at Peridot. Then she sighed.
"Story time," she said. "...so...it was quite a while back when this all begins. Quite a while—"
"Wait, wait, wait," Peridot interrupted. "What time exactly do you mean by 'a while back'?"
"...well...I say that where I'm starting is around 1912," Topaz answered.
"1912?!" Peridot cried.
"That shouldn't come as a surprise to you," Topaz responded. "I mean, I am nearly a century old."
"...right," Peridot said. "Continue."
"So my father, Labradorite, was married to a woman...I think her name was Fluorite," Topaz continued. "I don't really remember. Of course, like any woman back then, she wanted children, so she tried to have one with Labradorite, only to end up with not one, not two, not three, but four. Quadruplets. My half siblings. Surprisingly, all of them were fine at birth. Fluorite was just fine. She was alive, and so were all four kids. She was very happy to have all of them there with her..." She sighed. "According to Da—er, Labradorite. So they grew up all nice and happy until my siblings were all ten years old...that was when Fluorite was found dead. Supposedly, she was murdered. It wasn't until many years later that I found out that it really was a murder." She shivered. "It was how Jasper found my family. Life turned around for them after that. Labradorite couldn't bear living without a love. He was so used to having a wife to help with the kids...that's when he found Rhodochrosite. My siblings did not like that. They didn't like it even more when he ended up marrying her. Just like Fluorite, Rhodochrosite wanted a child...so she had me. Just me. No other babies. No one hates anyone else like my siblings hated me that day I was born. Rhodochrosite wanted so badly for the rest of my siblings to treat me as they treated each other...but they didn't listen. Then came that fateful day..." Topaz shook her head. "Another planned murder to get my siblings and I away from my family. I was only six years old. She killed both of my parents this time. The police soon found my siblings as I, and we were put into a foster home. My siblings were rebellious, and they weren't around much. I, on the other hand, was practically spoiled rotten. Our foster parents loved me so much, and I loved them. They took care of me as if I were their own biological daughter. They tried to treat my siblings the same way, but all four of them rejected their care...it was terrible. Eventually, when I turned eighteen, my parents said goodbye to me. We stayed in contact...until...that day Jasper found me. Little me decided to fall for her...when I should have ignored her...and she pulled me away to transform me." She met my gaze. "And I think you know the rest."
I looked over at Peridot, who seemed to be intently listening. For once, she didn't look angry. She looked intrigued, as if Topaz's history was piecing things together. She didn't have the perfect life with Jasper, that was for sure. She was troubled. Now only even more troubled now that she knew her love of her life was a liar.
"...why?" Peridot asked. "What did Jasper want from your family? She was clearly targeting you after she killed off your siblings' mother."
"...supposedly, she caught sight of my siblings," Topaz answered. "And she decided to keep an eye on them, seeing how many there were. She thought that they would be powerful as vampires, so she waited. She thought that, since they were probably going to be powerful, I must be powerful. She transformed them, and she was right. All four of them are extremely powerful. I, on the other hand...I'm not. As you've seen. The best power I have is I'm really good at tracking." She met my gaze once more. "That's how I found you again after I ran off to think. Your scent is one of the strongest ones I've ever smelled."
"So what's going on with them that's making you need to discuss this with us?" Peridot asked, leaning forward.
"Like I said, I ran into them," Topaz answered. "And like I said earlier in my story...they hate me, and they worship Jasper like she's their savior. So when I told them that Jasper's dead..."
"They didn't take it well," I said.
"Right," Topaz replied. "And when I told them that I didn't care and that I was mad instead..."
"They took it even worse," Peridot said.
"Exactly," Topaz responded. "They were furious at me. They tried to get rid of me themselves, but I ran away before they could. I think they followed me nearby here, where some of the wolves met me. They managed to scare my siblings off, but they know I'm associated with them. They'll likely also find out about you two. Now that they know my view...they want nothing to do with me."
"Shouldn't they be avoiding you then?" Peridot asked.
"No," Topaz answered. "I mean that they don't want any chance of having anything to do with me. They want to kill me. If they know about you, they'll probably want to kill you too. They probably want to kill all of the wolves."
"Not Turquoise," I whispered, holding the baby close.
"I wouldn't let them hurt her," Topaz said. "Not after the deal I've made."
"What do we do?" Peridot asked. "How are you so sure they'd know us anyway?"
"They're going to be snooping around," Topaz answered. "I'll be up all night. I can't sleep, anyway. I'll be protecting you guys."
"What would they want from us?" Peridot asked, carefully wrapping an arm around my waist.
"Right now, all they'd want is for all of you to be dead," Topaz answered. "Because you know me. I imagine that the moment they get a single whiff of Lapis's scent, their course will change just to get a taste of her blood. I've never seen a vampire that's smelled it not want it. It's one of the sweetest scents I've ever smelled."
"Not again! Not this again!" Peridot shouted. "They can't kill her!"
"I'd never let them," Topaz replied.
"Neither would I," Peridot said. "I'm staying up too."
"Peridot!" I cried. "You can't stay up as long as she can! You'll get too tired!"
"I'm not letting some vampires hurt you," Peridot said. "I can't."
"Peridot, I know you want to protect me," I responded. "You always do, but it's not healthy for you to be up that late for so long!"
Peridot leaned in, tangled her fingers in my hair, and kissed me. I felt kind of bad doing that in front of Topaz, but I couldn't resist the feeling. Peridot soon pulled away and took one of my hands in hers, staring at it.
"Your love is so much different than all the love I've seen," Topaz said. "It's...genuine."
"...yeah," I responded. "It is." I looked at Peridot and smirked. "And you're going to bed tonight."
"Dang it," Peridot said playfully. "I won't argue any longer. I'll go to bed tonight, but I will be staying up other nights."
"Make sure you get enough sleep to do that," I replied. "I don't want you being so tired."
"I will," Peridot said.
I laid my head on her chest and closed my eyes. I felt Turquoise lay against my stomach and start to fall asleep. It was nap time for her, after all. I didn't hear any talk between Peridot and Topaz as I began to fall asleep, surprisingly. I couldn't tell if Peridot was still trying to process the information we had been given, or if she was just trying to keep the situation from getting out of hand. Either way, it made falling asleep a little bit easier.