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We didn’t talk anymore and later in the day, I went to town to look in on Costello. He was sitting at a table, oiling some parts and wanted to hear everything that I had learnt at Grey Castle. When I told him about my conversation with Lucca, he frowned, then shook his head.

“News from the Capital is bad,” he said. “There is talk of a revolt. People have been coming here to get to safety.”

I had seen tents outside of our town, Costello told me that they were building shelters in the mountains. “I’ve been seeing vampires at night,” he said, darkly. “But we’ve had no attacks.”

“You think it will come?”

He nodded. “There is a shortage of product. That means they will come looking for food. People are collecting silver, they’re getting stakes ready.”

“Really?”

“I’ve heard one of the blood banks was blown up near the city, so people can’t donate anymore. So people are losing money too. This is bad for everyone.”

I fell quiet.

“What about the demons, what Dominic said about the Council?”

Costello told me of a conversation he’d had with his friend Joe, the next day.

“He said word on the street was that the war was already here.”

We were quiet for a while and didn’t speak. He fetched us some beer and we listened to the music on the radio. It was hard to think that elsewhere, people were fleeing for their lives, being attacked and killed.

“You’d better lock your door at night,” Costello warned. “Don’t be inviting any strangers in. You don’t see people around at night on the street at the moment.”

I went past the graveyard on my way home. I found my father’s headstone and stood for a while, composing myself. Then I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, emptying my mind as I tried to establish a connection with him. I had almost given up hope when his face floated towards me, lit up by sunshine.

“Father!” I was so happy to see him.

But he was angry with me, I could tell.

“What are you doing with vampires!” he said. “They are scum, they are killers!”

I shook my head, not wanting to argue with my father.

“They are all the same, all of them. Sooner or later, they kill us, they feed on us!

Tears were running down my face.

“Promise me you will stop seeing him!”

I nodded but didn’t say the words. I didn’t know if I would see Lucca again. Our last conversation had been so fraught, he had been so angry with me. I had not expected him to be so harsh, so brutal.

Stupid, I know.

Of course, he would take his son’s side over me, choosing not to believe me. I was just a girl, someone he liked and had slept with. But I wasn’t family. And I knew how important family was, if you were actually biologically related or not. Once a family tie was established, the bond went beyond blood. The name was like a spell, it was cast upon you and nothing could tear you apart.

I stopped by the store on the way back.

But the shelves were empty, I could find no bread or eggs. Even the fridges were bare.

I went up to the counter, where a listless woman barely greeted me.

“What’s with the empty shelves?” I asked.

“There’s been no milk delivery,” she said, shrugging. “Cows have been dying, all around the countryside.”

“What?”