Scale

My sister sat down with her legs crossed, sipping from her trusty coffee mug as she watched the vampires go for my neck.

“Whew!” Akashi and Rio said, finally letting go of my jugulars. “Now we're talking...” the vampire added.

My head felt funny, scarily weightless. I was under the impression that there was hardly any blood left in me. Fortunately, the camera's healing powers remained as reliable as ever.

So, I clutched my own coffee mug and took a deep breath, inhaling the delicious aroma of the warm beverage.

“Yuki, show him,” I said, and Yukina immediately took out her phone.

Akashi admired the images and words on the screen for a few seconds, occasionally making noises of affirmation or displeasure.

“In short, there are three places in the city that are being referred to as haunted. The temple, which is clearly our fault... The school, which may be my fault... And finally, the abandoned lighthouse,” I listed.

“Yes... Clearly, the most likely place to house Braz Cubas at the moment is that lighthouse,” Akashi confirmed my suspicions.

“However, I don't think we can rule out the temple and the school. If Toshiki was at the temple... It's possible that we went there at a time when, conveniently, Braz Cubas was out,” Rio commented.

“You're right. And, besides, he met us there... It's not impossible that he was just returning to home base,” Akashi agreed.

“If I may...,” Yukina interrupted. “I think it would be quite strategic on the part of this Braz Cubas guy to check out the school,” she said.

“Why?” Akashi asked.

“After all... My brother goes there every day. It's an efficient way to keep an eye on him, and perhaps the best way to find out where he lives and where the photograph is,” Yukina explained.

“That makes sense,” Rio admitted. “Akashi, is Cubas also able to sense our presence as apparitions?” she asked.

"Luckily for us, I don't think so. That's why he couldn't locate the photograph with you,“ the vampire said. ”He can sense that there is vital energy being channeled in the city, but... His power of rejection prevents him from perceiving subtleties, such as precise position and intensity."

“How convenient...” Yukina commented.

“Very well,” Akashi took the floor. “We'll have to split up and search. Quietly, without letting him know we're looking,” he concluded.

“Fortunately, we have three immortals to do the searching, and three places to investigate,” I commented.

“Precisely,” Akashi agreed. “However, Akito...” he hesitated.

“Yes?” I paid attention, still sipping my delicious coffee.

“I need to tell you. After my talk with Rio, and my analysis of the fights you’ve been in…”, he paused dramatically. “I’ve come to the conclusion that you might have unique abilities as an apparition, too. You might not be limited to immortality,” the vampire stood up, excited.

“What!?” I was surprised and stood up too, with both hands flat on the table.

“Just as we vampires have the power to control our shadows and our blood…” he began. “It’s possible that you have abilities related to light, and also… freezing time itself,” he revealed.

“What!?” I repeated, even louder than the first time.

“Yes, I know it's surprising, but...” he tried to mitigate. “The townspeople's belief in the Apparitions is growing stronger by the day. You may be able to awaken the latent talents left behind by your photographed predecessors,” he said.

“Right...” I forced myself into believing, sitting back down at the table alongside Akashi.

“Speaking of which...” Rio scratched her chin and raised her index finger, as if she had an idea. “Akashi, wouldn't it be feasible for you to strike an Agreement with little Yukina, so that she could also help us against Cubas?” she asked.

“What!?” This time, Akashi and I exclaimed at the same time.

“Think about it... From what you said on the way back, Toshiki was quite powerful... I just figured that if Yukina could have the same powers, she would be of great assistance,” she explained.

“You do have a point, my descendant...” Akashi said, pulling his traditional pack of cigarettes and his beautiful lighter from his jacket's inside pocket. “However, that goes against my goal.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I told Akito when we met...” he said, taking a long drag on his cigarette. I didn't worry about the smell that would linger afterwards, since my parents had the bad habit of smoking indoors as well. “My goal is to maintain the status quo as much as possible.”

“Hmmm... And why would an agreement go against that?” she sought information.

“The number of apparitions and those involved with apparitions must remain the same,” he explained. “We will exchange Cubas for Akito, and Toshiki’s death balances your creation. No other changes are allowed, not without a corresponding subtraction. Those are my rules,” he made clear.

“But... Why?” Rio still had doubts.

“We don't want to attract the wise men, experts, and apparition hunters here,” Akashi revealed. “They exist, and some are a very real threat, even to us.”

“Hunters!?” I exclaimed.

“Exactly. Like the witch hunters of old. Don't tell me you've never heard of them...,” Akashi teased.

“I have heard of them... It's just...” I searched for a way to express myself.

“You didn't think they were real?” he said to me.

“Yeah...” I admitted.

“Apparitions are far more prevalent in human history than you may realise, my protégé,” the vampire stated.

“I suppose I hadn't considered that...” I confessed.

“Honestly, I wish there was a witch or wizard to help us with Braz Cubas... Some are notoriously capable of canceling out some of the most powerful abilities of hostile apparitions. However...” He took another drag on his cigarette.

“However?” I asked.

“Ah...” he exhaled the smoke slowly. “They must be waiting… To see how things will balance out,” Akashi concluded.

“In other words, which apparitions will be left standing at the end of our fateful confrontation with Cubas,” Rio simplified.

“Exactly,” Akashi confirmed.

At that moment, I began to let my imagination run wild a little.

“So… What are we waiting for?” I asked, getting up from the table once again. “Let’s hunt him down,” I proposed, excitedly.

“Yes... The sun has already set. Let's explore,” Akashi responded to my enthusiasm and headed for the exit door. Rio followed him.

“In order of strength and probability of the Dry-Corpse being there... Akashi, I think it would be prudent for you to inspect the lighthouse. I'll go back to the temple, and the school is yours, Akito,” the vampiress ordered.

“That seems right,” agreed the older one.

“Okay…”, finally, I gave in to their wishes.

Akashi flicked the butt of his cigarette into the kitchen trash before leaving, giving it a single snap and exhaling one last puff of smoke. Then, the vampire opened the front door, and the three of us left in single file.

“Well... Akito, good luck with school,” Akashi said.

Suddenly, his jacket began to turn black. In what seemed like an instant, his clothes were now a solid black and red. From his back emerged a pair of enormous bat wings, equally dusky in color.

“Huh? I thought you didn't need wings to fly. And what's up with your clothes!?” I was surprised.

“These vests are a mixture of shadow and blood manipulation... Much stronger than regular cloth. And the wings are for me to fly faster. I'm not just going for a leisurely stroll, after all,” he explained.

My eyes turned to Rio, who looked a little embarrassed. Suddenly, an identical pair of wings sprouted from her back as well, tearing through her worn sweatshirt.

“On the way back... I'll definitely borrow some clothes from your sister, Aki...” she said quietly, still blushing.

“You too...?” My jaw dropped. “I wish I could do those cool things...” I commented.

“If you master the extra skills I mentioned, you could even become more powerful than us, Akito. Don't get discouraged!” Akashi tried to cheer me up, and decorated the statement with a smile and a thumbs up.

“Frankly. . .” I muttered, and they both took flight and parted ways all the way up in the sky, each heading for their own final destination.

As I tried to stare at the horizon, still full of the lights and buildings it always had shown me, my sister also left the house through the front door and stood beside me.

“Akito...” she called, and I finally lost sight of the vampires, turning back to Yukina immediately. “I want to go with you,” she said.

“Huh? Why?” I asked.

“I... want to understand the world of apparitions better. I want to understand you better, and the problems in your life...” she admitted.

“... I appreciate your intentions, Yuki. I really do,” I told her. “But... I don't know. It's a little complicated. In Rio and Akashi's case, and in my case too, fatal injuries mean very little. In your case, it would mean death,” I explained.

“I understand, but...!” she insisted, and I felt sorry for her.

There really is something about siblings that makes them truly impossible creatures. Willing to do the most idiotic and stupid things for each other. This was another one of those moments, as if the one the day before hadn't been enough.

“Let's do this... Since the school is the least likely place for Cubas to be, I think the risk of taking you is small enough,” I conceded.

“Really!?” she exclaimed, surprised.

“Of course. You were the first person I told about the camera, and you're my loyal sister. If I can't protect you, I've failed as an older brother,” I emphasized.

“Thank you!” she said, jumping up and down with joy. “I'll be right back!” she exclaimed, running through the kitchen and up the stairs.

A few slightly absurd squeaks, thumps and other noises later, I saw Yukina running down the stairs, wielding her kyudo bow and with a quiver full of arrows at her waist, some being traditional wooden ones and others plastic with rounded tips, used for training.

In her other hand, she carried the trusty slingshot, which we both used, and the ammunition pouch.

“Here!” she exclaimed, handing me the slingshot and the pouch, which I immediately put inside my pockets.

“Is this your idea of anti-apparition equipment?” I teased her, smiling at her innocence.

“Of course! The arrow hit you earlier, didn't it?” Yukina asked, ironic. “So it does work on apparitions, simple as that,” she was quite assertive in her statement.

“Okay, okay. Positive thinking is important, right?” I asked rhetorically.

After a few soft laughs and plenty of good humor, we set off on foot to our usual school. The unusual part was the hour: night had already set in, and the moon reigned supreme in the starry sky.

As we walked, I ceased paying attention to the transitions between streets and sidewalks to search for traces of the supernatural and, above all, for the white robes of Braz Cubas.

At first glance, there was no sign of him. I wondered if perhaps the others were having better luck in their searches, especially since they would reach their respective destinations much faster than I would.

“Ah... I wish I could fly...” I commented.

“Isn't that asking a little too much?” my sister replied, and it was the absolute truth. With what I have, I should consider myself blessed.

Vampirism, I thought, was a double-edged sword. With the power of photography, it was still possible to pretend to live a normal life, at least for a few years. However, it wasn't as useful as vampirism, at least at first glance.

As I contemplated my own pettiness, we arrived at the school, which stared at us with its doors closed.

The building itself was nothing special. White, almost entirely white with gray details. Two floors, and a gray line separating the two. Each outer corridor was surrounded by railings, and the feeling of those inside was that the place resembled a prison. Overall, it had a modern, square architecture, and my favorite place in the building was the roof, where you could admire the rest of the neighborhood, even though it was also surrounded by bars.

I suppose, in light of the truth, it wasn't the only school in the world where students felt imprisoned.

“... Now what?” my sister asked.

“Oh, come on! Haven't you ever climbed over a gate in your life? He-he,” I laughed, already with both hands on the bars of the low school gate. “Besides, if anything happens, Akashi will hypnotize the authorities...,” I argued.

“You're too calm, you know that?” she said, indignant, but she followed me over the gate and into the school grounds.

Honestly, I never thought I would voluntarily return to school at a time other than when forced to do so by circumstances beyond my control. The gentle night breeze cooled our courageous endeavor, and the moon illuminated us, once again, with its usual indifference.

“Okay... Tell me more about the school’s haunting,” I asked.

“Let me see...,” she said, pulling out her phone again and opening the forum where we had seen the rumors. “Okay. So... Ever since a moth bit a student's finger, there have been rumors that it appears and follows people inside the library, and something bad always happens to people who see the moth,” she explained.

“... That's it? A moth?” I questioned the veracity of this urban legend.

"No, it got worse over time. Some students said that when they pulled a book from the shelves, they saw a kind of moth-man on the other side. However, when they went to the other side of the shelf and examined the hallway, they found nothing," she elaborated.

“Uh-huh,” I doubted it.

“And finally... The school has already fumigated the library, and the administration said they didn't find a single moth or larvae... But the reports keep coming in,” she pointed out.

“That's interesting,” I admitted. “So, in the worst case scenario... There's a moth-man in there. It doesn't look like Braz Cubas' hideout, honestly...”

“It doesn't hurt to look, and it doesn't hurt to exterminate this apparition, if it really exists,” my sister argued.

“That's true, that's true... I never thought it would be possible to be a fantasy pest exterminator,” I joked.

“Aki...” Suddenly, my sister stopped walking.“They're saying here that the last student who saw the moth captured it and tried to take it home...” she gasped.

“What?” I pressed her to speak up.

“He was found dead in his own room,” she revealed.

“What!? The school didn't make an announcement about it!?” I was shocked by the news.

“It happened last night...” she revealed.

“What the hell... This is getting dangerous...” I commented.

“He was my classmate…” Yukina gave in to despair. “He was absent today, but I didn’t think it was a big deal…” she whispered, lowering herself with both hands on her head.

“Focus, Yuki!” I crouched down to her level and gently placed one of my hands on her head. “I'm really sorry... But we have a chance to find out the truth behind this. That's what he would want, isn't it?” I asked her.

At that moment, I began to realize that the concept of death had been permanently altered in my mind. In such a short period of time, life had already lost some of its value, and I treated it with indifference.

“... I'm sorry, I overreacted,” I said to her as she teared up. “You can go back home if you want...,” I suggested.

She took a deep breath, trying to choke back her tears. Repeating this a few times, she eventually calmed down, while I remained silent by her side.

“It's okay, Aki. Let's get to the bottom of this. I don't want anyone else to suffer, if there really is an apparition here at school,” she said resolutely.

“That's the spirit, Yuki. Let's go, then,” I gave her my hand to help her up, and we walked together toward the school's entrance doors.

All the lights were off, and there was no sign of a single living soul in the school. It was not for me to understand the reason for the complete abandonment of the school, even by security guards and night watchmen.

A cloud covered the moon, and the night became even darker. Yukina and I silently agreed not to turn on the lights, to avoid attracting suspicion or fueling further rumors.

She walked behind me, practically glued to me, holding the end of my jacket. The first and most obvious place we needed to search was, of course, the library itself. However, I remained alert to the possible presence of Cubas anywhere else.

The vision of Cubas trying to murder Rio invaded my mind like a true intruder, refusing to be subdued by my conscious mind.

Then, the vision of my first death rose to the surface of my cognition.

Suddenly, every apparition seemed absolutely terrifying to me.

However, I couldn't allow myself to stop moving forward. I shook my head and continued walking through the dark corridors of the school. I really wanted to be able to say that we were walking through the twilight, but the deeper we went into the school, the fewer windows there seemed to be, and, simply put, it could be said that we were moving in total darkness.

Finally, the library came into view. The wooden door contrasted sharply with the light-colored floor of the school, and it was clear that the library had been built in a wing that had been merged to the rest of the school at a later phase. It was said that the collection had been donated by a great writer who collected books from all eras and genres. Without thinking too much about the implications of this, I put one foot inside the library, and the other followed. Yukina finally came in, further behind.

Inside, we were met with complete darkness. There were no colors, and barely any shapes. Only the areas just below the thin windows had any kind of clarity. We took slow and careful steps into the library, tapping the walls in search of a light switch.

“Honestly... There's not enough light here,” I whispered.

“I can't see anything! Stay close to me, Aki!” Yukina pleaded, whispering as loudly as she could.

“I wish I had my camera here so I could use the flash... Didn't you have your cell phone with you, Yuki?” I asked.

“It's almost out of battery! The flashlight won't turn on!” she revealed.

“Well, you have it turned on all day long...,” I criticized her.

“Now is not the time for that! Make some light! Akashi said you might be able to!” Yukina did a whispering voice, but in reality she was almost shouting.

“Do I look like a firefly to you right now?” I replied indignantly.

“I hope not... I don't want your butt to be our source of light...,” she teased, letting laughter escape through her nose.

“Light... Light... Light...” I tried to focus my thoughts on the idea of creating light out of nothing. “Like a camera flash...” I whispered to myself. “I know!” I exclaimed loudly, and my voice echoed around the library.

“Hey! Don't scream, you clown! That scared me...” Yukina screamed even louder.

“Shhhhhhh!” I put a hand over her mouth. “I had an idea. I'm going to try it out...” I said, reaching out my hand.

Then, I snapped my fingers, thinking about making light.

Suddenly, a blinding flash of light filled the entire room, serving the only purpose of blinding us even more.

However, it was indisputable: it worked.

“Ah! What was that!?” Yukina exclaimed, covering her eyes with her hands.

"It's that easy...?", I asked myself. “It worked, somehow”.

“Whoa...” she whispered back, still rubbing her eyes.

Akashi was right about the population's belief affecting the apparitions' abilities. The creation of light had been an instinctive and intuitive process, and it was nearly more unbelievable than my immortality.

I snapped my fingers once more, avoiding looking directly at my hand and instead looking at as much of the library's interior as possible. The shadows cast varied, angular, and mysterious shapes. I continued to explore the library's interior, now able to partially admire it with repeated snaps of my fingers.

The neatly organized books, the perfectly aligned shelves, with the contents arranged in alphabetical order and by size... Truly a work of art.

Suddenly, with one more snap, a different shadow appeared before me. A different form, a different shape. Large. Larger than anything else in that room.