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Cinder's POV:

Attacks and Bites

The News is a very useful tool. Obviously it tells you about current events and which politician screwed up recently and what wars are happening right now, all very handy information for the normal Earth resident. But for me, it's a quick way of finding out what new horror Levana has unleashed on this world. And she's been doing some unleashing.

I stare at the TV screen, completely rapt with the story the news anchor is telling. Blurry footage of the park last night fills the screen, and at the bottom, written in bold text, is the header: GIANT WOLVES ATTACK AGAIN.

"A week after their first appearance at a high-school party, the giant wolves showed themselves again at the park at approximately six pm last night." The anchor-woman states, "However, unlike their first attack, these beasts claimed victims. Twelve people died during the attack, and fifteen are currently in hospital being treated for their wounds. We advise all of our viewers to stay indoors during the evenings until this situation has been taken care of."

I grab the remote and turn off the TV. Twelve people dead. Twelve! No way can there be that many lunars in the Commonwealth! And that's not even counting the fifteen injured! Escaping Luna is possible, sure, but possible isn't the same as easy.

"Hey Cinder!" Iko calls, coming around a corner, "True Blue is having a sale today! Wanna come check it out with me?"

"Iko, what has been my answer every other time you've asked me to go shopping with you?"

"Oh, come on Cinder! Your wardrobe is in dire need of something stylish!"
"Actually, my wardrobe is perfectly happy with t-shirts and baggy pants."

Iko groans. "Your impossible."

"I pride myself on it."

She huffs but doesn't push me any further. Plopping down on the couch beside me, she gazes at the TV. "Pass the remote, will ya?"

"Trust me, you don't want to see what's on the News today."

Iko raises her eyebrows. "I was going to watch a movie, but now I'm curious. What was on the News?"

I sigh and explain the incident at the park to her. When I finish, Iko has gone pale.

"Twelve people?" She whispers.

I nod sadly. "And that's not all Levana's been meddling around with on this side of the universe. You see, Kai invited me over to his house yesterday-Iko stop squealing!"

"Sorry." She says, though she's still grinning like a maniac. I just know she's going to be writing down ship names for me and Kai later today.

"Anyway, he wanted to talk to me about something-no, not to confess his undying love. His dad's been pretty sick lately, and he wanted someone close to his age to talk to about it."

Iko smirks. "Sure that was the reason."
"Iko, I swear…"
"Oh Cinder, don't pretend you weren't flattered he chose to talk to you!"

I was a little, but there's no way I'm telling Iko that.

"Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Sorry. Please go on."

"His dad isn't sick Iko, they're just saying he's sick because there's no other way they know how to describe it. He's been bitten by a vampire."

Iko's cheerful teasing smile collapses with horror at my words.

Unlike in the movies and books of this world, vampires can't turn other people into vampires with their bite. What we can do is probably even worse. Our fangs have a sort of venom in them, except this stuff doesn't kill our victims. It forces them to do our bidding for the rest of their lives. Unless we die first of course. Whichever vampire bit Mayor Rikan can make him do literally anything. Drink poison, strangle his loved ones, murder everyone around him, anything.

An image pops unbidden into my head, of Mayor Rikan, smiling dreamily, driving a knife into his son's chest, completely deaf to his cries of pain and mercy. I shudder.

Iko gets up and takes her phone out of her pocket. "I'll call Dr Erland. He should know about this. Should we hold another meeting?"

"We can't. He said he had to work at the hospital today."
Iko cursed under her breath but starts dialling Dr Erland's number anyway.

As Iko's phone buzzes, trying to make the call, I slump against the couch cushions and think about yesterday. That had been the first time I'd seen Kai cry. I felt awkward and useless as I stood next to him, staring at his dad. I wanted to tell him what was actually wrong. I wanted to tell him so badly. But I couldn't. For one thing, I'd look crazy. For another, the truth would probably upset him more. I couldn't do that to Kai. His despair was bad enough already. I feel like such an idiot for not seeing how sad he was before! The signs feel just too obvious now. A smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, a laugh that was too forced, a forlorn frown when no-one was looking. They were there, I saw them. How could I not know what they meant?

Dr Erland's distorted voice crackles out of Iko's phone, shocking me out of my thoughts. "This had better be good. I'm in the middle of a therapy session."

Iko has never been one for beating around the bush. She prefers to leave eloquent speaking to the poets and songwriters. Still, I'm sure there could have been a better way to start the conversation than: "Mayor Rikan's been bitten by a vampire."

A steady stream of profanities pours out of the speakers.

The cursing eventually stops and we're left in silence. Iko and I look at each other, both of us suppressing laughter at the fact that sensible Dr Erland just swore like a sailor.

Eventually, his (now much calmer) voice speaks through the phone again. "Alright, I've left my patient for a little bit so we can speak more freely. Now, what makes you think that the mayor has been bitten by a vampire?"

Iko quickly composes herself so Dr Erland won't know that we were laughing at him. "Cinder saw him. All of the symptoms are there."

There is a sound that might be a sharp intake of breath. "This is bad, this is very, very bad. Rikan is a man with significant power and influence. Now that Levana has control of him… this could mean disaster for the city!"

I lean closer to the phone so that Dr Erland can hear my voice. "And let me guess, we can't do anything about it because we don't have the resources, numbers or information to actually make any progress, right?"

I wait for him to make some kind of tired agreement. That's what he did all of the other times after all. And Dr Erland's nothing if not stub-

"You're right, we can't afford to stall anymore. We've got to find a way at getting those things, and fast. Cinder, Iko, I want you two to drill our guard friend for information regarding the castle's defences and where to broadcast the message of our revolution. Which communities will be most likely to listen, things like that. Also, get him to point out any lunar fugitives. He's a werewolf, he'll be able to smell them. I'll get my daughter to hack into some of the government's files on bioelectric protection. I'll find a way of hiding what she's really doing."

I stand corrected.

A/N: The revolution is underway!

Now we know what happened to Kai's dad, and Levana's brief cease-fire has ended. Will there be any other attacks? Will Dr Erland be able to hide his daughter's true assignment from her? Why am I putting off making Kaider official in this story?

Please review!

P.S: True Blue isn't a real clothing store, I just made it up for the sake of the story. Just wanted to clear that up in case there was any confusion there.