Peridot's protective arm remained in front of me, giving every vampire an obstacle. She was watching every single one of them in complete silence while holding onto me. All she wanted was to get me safe in the house. All I wanted was to be safe in the house. I didn't know how long I had until I was going to be swept up and rushed off to the house. I couldn't get to the house myself without a vampire catching me. It was the only possible path to safety.
"Careful," Peridot whispered. "Don't move. If you move, you'll provoke them."
I stayed quiet and watched Topaz look at each of the vampires. Peridot was still holding onto me, her warm fingers entwined with mine. I never wanted to let go. I was too scared. The moment I let go, I would be killed. I couldn't let go.
"When?" Peridot asked, her eyes following Topaz's movement.
"Not yet," Topaz answered. "They'll all be on your trail."
Peridot ever so slowly began to push me back toward the house. I continued to hold onto her tightly as we got closer and closer. After a few steps, one of the vampires caught onto what was going on and hissed for the others' attention. Then they were flying off of their branches and coming right at us.
"Stay behind me!" Peridot shouted right as Topaz jumped in front of us to block one of the vampires' attacks.
I ducked away from another vampire as she came toward me. They were really coming right for me. They wanted my blood. Since when had four vampires been so much more dangerous than entire armies? It wasn't right. Not at all. To think that Jasper had created them. What did she really have in mind when she was transforming them?
Peridot delivered a blow to an incoming vampire, who didn't seem to take too much of it. Peridot let go of me and tried to take on the vampire with two hands. The vampire wasn't struggling. Not one bit. I saw Topaz taking on two other vampires. The last one was missing. Suddenly, I was being squeezed. I squeaked in surprise and looked down. There was a tree branch wrapped around me. I thrashed and squirmed as I was lifted off of the ground. What in the world was happening?! I noticed the last vampire standing nearby, her hands up in front of her face. She was grinning. She was doing this.
"Help!" I cried, knowing I wouldn't be able to get out of this myself.
Peridot took one step, but Topaz had already started running. She ran up a nearby tree trunk and launched herself onto the branch, effortlessly breaking it apart. It instantly unraveled itself, leaving me in free fall. Topaz was fast enough to get herself back onto the ground and catch me, but now three vampires were on her trail.
"Stay away," Topaz hissed. "This isn't about her. It's about me. I'm your enemy."
"We know you are," one of the vampires—I recalled her name being Spinel—replied. "You're the problem. You have our prize."
"I've never smelled such sweet blood in my life," Jade said, licking her lips.
"Exactly," Spinel hissed. "Why don't you hand your little snack over to us?"
"She's not a snack," Topaz hissed in reply. "She is a human. She is my friend."
"Why would you be friends with a human?" Jade asked tauntingly.
"They're insignificant to us," Moonstone agreed, her stone face nothing but serious. "They are inferior. We are the superior species. We have all ability to end them!"
"But I'm not," Topaz said. "I'm fighting for them because they need my help. Too bad you never learned compassion."
That really set the vampires off. They were up in the air, flying at one target. It wasn't Topaz. It was me. I saw the fright in Topaz's face. That's when I knew it. She couldn't beat them. This wasn't going to end well. Just to my luck, right as it seemed like the end was near, a warm pair of hands ripped me from Topaz's arms, giving her time to get herself free. I held onto Peridot tightly as we stopped by a tree, and she set me down. Fur covered every part of her. Her eyes lit up with green. She was a wolf. I stood at her side with my hand on her back, watching the vampires fearfully. This just didn't look like it was going to end well.
Peridot looked up at me, noticing the fear in my face, and she leaned in and licked my cheek until I was giggling.
"Enough, enough!" I exclaimed, my arms around her furry face. "You're slobbery!"
Peridot barked a very quiet bark and cocked her head in the direction of the vampires. It wasn't going to be long until they were on our trail again. She motioned for me to get on her back, so I did. I wrapped my arms around her neck and held on as we began to run very, very fast. The vampires were hot on our trail. As we ran, Peridot threw her head up into the air and howled. That would certainly get the attention of the other wolves. Peridot kept running, occasionally whimpering when she looked back at the vampires.
"It'll be okay," I whispered, scratching her head between her ears. "Just keep running. They'll come soon."
Just as I said that, I noticed other wolves running by our side. They looked over at me occasionally, appearing concerned. The vampires had snuck past them, and now they were after me. It wasn't exactly the best of situations. Peridot looked back at the vampires, then at me, whimpering again. I leaned in, letting her nuzzle my cheek.
"It's okay," I whispered. "Just keep going. We'll be okay."
She whimpered, staring right into my eyes. I pressed my forehead against hers and held her face close to mine.
"I'll be okay," I said. "I'm gonna be okay. I promise."
I heard one of the wolves bark, and Peridot's head shot up again. We began to move faster than before. I could feel the wind trying to blow my hair off of my head. Suddenly, Peridot made a sharp turn, and the rest of the wolves stayed back. I knew where we were going. Back to the house. Then I remembered Turquoise.
"The baby!" I shouted. "Go! Go! Hurry! I have to get to my baby!"
Peridot listened to me and frantically began to run faster. I saw the house getting closer and closer. I needed to be inside. My baby was in there.
We finally got to the door, where Peridot let me off and rushed to push me inside. I closed the door as she got all four of her paws in, then we ran into the bedroom. I sighed as soon as I saw that Turquoise was fast asleep in her crib, safe and sound. Peridot followed me to the crib, from which I picked the baby up. When her head touched my chest, she awoke from her sleep and snuggled closer to me. I was overwhelmed with my love for her right then, and the tears began to fall. Peridot stepped to the side as I sat down on the floor next to her, holding our daughter close and sniffling. Peridot nuzzled the baby's cheek. She made a curious noise in response. That's when it occurred to me that Turquoise had never seen Peridot like this before. It was new to her. I leaned closer to Peridot as Turquoise began to reach for her. I smiled even more as her tiny hand came into contact with Peridot's blonde fur. Peridot closed her eyes and leaned against the baby's hand. It was such a sweet thing to watch.
I saw Peridot look up toward the window. I followed her gaze and noticed that the commotion had come back closer to the house. Peridot looked back at me and whimpered, clearly hesitant to go back out. I laid one hand on her cheek and leaned in, placing my head on her forehead.
"I'll be okay," I said. "You go. Go out there." Peridot barked anxiously, then she licked my cheek once. "Go. Go, Peridot."
Peridot looked back at the window, then at me. She barked angrily and nuzzled the side of my face.
"I'm safe in here," I argued. "Someone has to look after the baby."
Peridot finally gave a surrendering whimper, taking one last chance to lick my cheek. I kissed her nose and sent her off. She walked out of the room, of course looking back at me one last time, then she finally ran outside.
I watched Peridot specifically from inside as she ran towards all of the vampires. I saw her run next to Topaz, who appeared to have taken some damage from her half-siblings. I watched curiously to see what would happen between the two with all of this chaos around them. Peridot looked back at me through the window, and Topaz followed her gaze. Then they looked at each other and nodded. Suddenly, they were flying through the air. They were each going after a certain vampire of their choice and trying to take her down.
Turquoise was making noises and searching for her other mother. I ran my fingers through her hair to try to calm her down. She knew her mother just as well as I did, and I found that adorable.
"It'll be okay," I said. "She'll be back soon to hold you."
Turquoise and I both looked back at the window just in time to see Peridot, back as a human, picking up Topaz and swinging her at one of the vampires as if she were some sort of sword. Topaz had a death grip on Peridot's wrist as she put her foot straight out, kicking one of her siblings extremely hard. I clutched Turquoise closer to my chest and gasped quietly. I couldn't tell who was winning. Turquoise made another one of her noises as Peridot turned back into a wolf, Topaz following behind her.
"You know that's her, don't you?" I asked. "Remember how soft she was?"
Turquoise made another noise, continuing to watch everyone.
"You're gonna be like them some day," I said. "You're a wolf too."
I hummed a tune to her as we watched the wolves, who seemed to have an advantage now. Their number. I saw little Pink running with the rest of the wolves, and for some reason, that scared me. She was only seventeen. Not even out of high school yet. Here she was, fighting against vampires. I had been there once too, of course. It was still strange to me. I was human, and she was a wolf.
"Look," I whispered. "That's your mama. She's fighting them."
Turquoise squeaked and reached toward the window. The poor baby just wanted Peridot.
"She'll be back soon, I promise," I said. "She'll come back."
I gasped as I saw Peridot get thrown down onto the ground face-first. Topaz easily pulled her back up, revealing the damage that had been done to her. She had a cut on her face that was bleeding. It wasn't anything she'd complain about, but I was terrified. She and Topaz ran at the vampires again, delivering final blows as they retreated.
I rushed to open the door with Turquoise in one arm. I threw open the door, letting Peridot, Topaz, and all of the wolves inside.
"Peri!" I cried.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Peridot responded as I gently touched her cut. "It's just a scratch."
"It's bleeding," I said.
"I know, but it's fine," Peridot replied. "Oh, good. The baby's okay."
"She's been waiting for you," I said, kissing Turquoise's cheek.
"Aw," Peridot cooed. "I missed you too."
She reached for the baby, but I knew she wasn't ready yet. "Nuh uh," I said. "You need a bandage."
"Laz," Peridot whined as I walked away. "I'll be fine."
"I'm taking care of you," I said as I took a first aid kit out of a cabinet. "No refusing."
Peridot sat down on the couch while I approached her with the white plastic box. She smiled as I gently put ointment on her cut and then a small bandage. She smiled at me the whole time.
"I'm fine," she said. "You're worrying too much."
"I don't care if you think you're fine," I responded. "In my eyes, you're not, so I'm taking care of you."
Peridot looked over at Topaz when I was done and smiled just a little bit. "I was a bit worried at first, but you actually handled all of them pretty well," she said.
"Thanks," Topaz responded. "You too. That whole swinging thing was actually pretty fun."
"I had to think on my feet," Peridot said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I can't believe I didn't get us killed. I guess I have to thank you for going along with it."
"Do I hear you being nice to Topaz?" I asked, leaning in.
Peridot blushed. "Maybe," she answered.
I pressed a kiss against her cheek, making her smile. "I'm so proud of you," I said.
"Thanks," Peridot responded.
"I knew you could be better," I said.
Peridot happily accepted the kiss I gave her afterward, then she took Turquoise to play with her. Topaz finally looked happy for once. It appeared her bad relationship with Peridot was gone. Finally.