Dyed in Red

Four: The Dawn Before Darkness

"Then I knew... where I got my fabulous hair from."
~ Hailee Greene (Hailee Gersełna)

FOUR

"The Enhancement? No, it doesn't wear off until you use it all up," said Crysanthė.

I brightened up at the news. This meant we didn't need to worry about a time limit. For a moment, I found myself very curious about what powers the other progenitors had. Crysanthė appeared to be a frail support type, but details about him and his power proved him worthy as a progenitor.

Crysanthė enveloped Vivan's hand with his bony ones. "As an Elite, your natural weakness is that you forget faces very easily. Since your ability relies on tracking people from their faces, I think I'll help you forever commit to memory the next foreign face you see."

Vivian beamed. "Whoa, I can't believe you can do that!"

I watched Crysanthė's smiling face as he exerted himself again and again to enhance our powers. This was exactly it. He didn't seem worn out or tired in the least. His natural stamina probably outranked mine by at least fivefold.

"And Josephine," he said, turning to her. "You reappear when you touch something. Instead, I can make you and whatever you touch transferable."

Transferable meant that Josephine could make others invisible upon physical contact, just like Roman could teleport those he touched.

I glanced at Zach, who stared at Crysanthė as intently as I was. He seemed to be a tad suspicious of him, too. It was too nice of Crysanthė to help us this much, considering that we were strange vampires seeking the Second.

"Hazel," Crysanthė's call snapped me out of my thoughts. "Your ability is the most useful and the most taxing. I think I'll rest a few to recover my full power for you. In the meantime, could all of you gather me some supplies?"

"Of course, it's the least we can do."

He handed us a shopping list of items. After scanning it once, Zach ripped it into three sections. "Roman and Hailee, get the blood. Marella and Josephine, get the baking ingredients. Hazel and I will get the groceries. Vivian, stay here in case our mystery vamp shows up early. Commit that face to memory."

Everyone took their positions after a couple of complaints again. Hailee routinely groaned about Zach's authoritative tone but always while following the orders he barked. And I understood why.

"Excellent arrangement," I said as we zipped southward to a farmers' market that Crysanthė told us he frequented.

"Hm?"

"Roman and Hailee are good friends. She feels at ease talking to him, and he's the least likely to get annoyed by her chatters. Hailee can't kill, so their only option is going to the base and grabbing juice boxes, which is convenient since Roman teleports. The chances of them getting caught doing what's supposed to be a dangerous activity are practically zero."

Zach's lips curved upward. "And?"

"And now that Josephine is transferable, she can effortlessly obtain baking ingredients because whatever she touches becomes invisible with her. Even if anything goes wrong, Marella's half-offensive, and she's a descendant of the Third. She can bail them out."

I felt incredibly proud of myself for reading Zach's analytical mind before he chuckled. "I'm impressed so far. And?"

"And...," I stuttered. "Well, it's obvious why you put us together."

"Is it now?"

Imaginary heat rushed to my face. "Don't make me say it."

"Alright, I'll say it. All the baking ingredients on the list are in the forest that surrounded us." Zach shot me a smirk. "But the groceries are at the farmers' market, which is the farthest place from the manor. You and I are together for groceries because we're the fastest."