Every pair of eyes stared at me as if I was a Victoria Secret model or someone new to this planet. The sound of my elder sister clearing her throat made me realise that I should be doing something else. Ah, yes. I recovered from the weird position and straightened my back, dusting the dirt off me. All the while, a pair of eyes watched me stonily.

"You're late", the deep voice of Mr. Jamieds, our mentor, repeated.

"Um..yeah, I guess, I am", I said sheepishly, looking back into dark grey eyes that sternly stared at me, expecting an answer.

"I-uh, I was-", I began when I was interrupted by another voice.

"Where were you? What were you doing? Are you okay? Oh my god, you're so late and you didn't even have dinner yet. Val, hon, what made you come home so late?" Another voice came through the light, but it was more caring, it carried concern. I smiled upon hearing my aunt's voice. My mom. She might not be my real mom yet she's like my real mom. It's complicated, I know but it's really simple to me.

"I was with Victor, Clarence and Jasper. We, uh..we were racing", I lied, not totally as I really was with them and running away from them.

"Oh god, those boys. Val, I've told you so many times to not play with them. They don't seem like a good company for you", Mia- my aunt said with a stern voice.

"I know, I know but they were literally begging for me to play with them. What would I have done?" Well, that was a lame question. I could have ignored their pleas, had that been the situation.

"So you were with the boys you're not allowed to be? And you come home late, rather sneak into the house, despite knowing how unsafe it is to be out at this ungodly hour of night and you don't even apologise. Zeoliette, we have given you enough liberty but you cannot take them for granted. Abide by the rules like your sisters and brothers do. I hope I won't have to repeat the same again. Mia, it's your foremost duty to keep the children under a strict watch. I don't want this activity to repeat again. Mind it", Mr. Jamieds warned, turning around and entering his room.

Once we heard the lock of his door click, all of us let out a deep breath, we didn't even know we were holding.

"Val, you should never do this again. No, Val, I'm serious", Mia said as I laughed at the dying tension in the room.

"Mr. Jamieds hasn't been in a good mood lately. Valerie's birthday is around the corner and like every year, he's behaving oddly, locking himself up in his room for hours. He's not even having his meals properly. Children, please don't upset him as he's already quite peachy."

"Mia, don't worry, we won't. Also, Zoe, you've got a letter from school", Christine spoke up, getting up from the ground.

"A letter from school? What is it about?" I asked, reaching out to grab the letter and peeling off the wax. Our school had never sent us any letter and it was the first time they had sent us a letter instead of an e- mail, so I was pretty surprised. Glancing at the curious faces staring at me, I read the letter out loud-

"To Zeoliette Valerie Flores,

This is to inform you about a recent attack that was performed on one of our dearest students, Mr. James Boston. We are assuming it to be a wild animal and we feel extremely sorry to inform all of our students that we couldn't save him. This is to inform you to stay safe and away from the woods as such attacks have become a regular thing these days. The school shall remain closed till 4th of September to repair some damages that had been done to our school. Lessons and homeworks shall be mailed to you as soon as we repair the technical damages. Thank you for your cooperation.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. Adams,

The Principal of Woodlands High School."

The entire family stared at me with wide-eyes. The same thought of who it could me struck all of us. It had been twenty years since the last attack and somehow our ancestors had controlled the thirst of those vampires. But this was something unusual.

"Who could that be? It's been twenty years since the last attack. Who could it-", Mia was cut off by the sound of the lock of the front door twisting. All the seven pairs of eyes nervously turned to the door. Which darn crackpot even mustered up the audacity to come to this place at this ungodly hour? Someone was going to have to spend a night with a mischief of rats. Good luck, to whoever it is! I snickered at the thought when the door slowly opened, revealing two dark green eyes.

"Hey, my dear sisters and brothers", the green-eyed handsome boy said, closing the door behind him. After a short pause, he added, "And my precious mother."

Mother? What? Who is this intruder?

He had green eyes, greener than mine, sharp jawline and brown curly hair. Handsome but not striking. The guy looked to be around 18 or 20 but I couldn't guess a vampire's age based on his looks. A huge bag hung from his shoulders and the poor boy was visibly struggling to carry it. Strong in looks, weak in reality, I smirked. I moved my eyes from him to my aunt who was standing there, jaw dropped, wide-eyed as if she had seen something unexpected and scary. And that's when I felt the tension between them. Did I have a cousin? And Mia had a son? What was even going on?

Mia's countenance changed from shock to austerity within seconds. She recollected herself and looked at the boy with a frosty expression. Alright, this was something strange as I had never seen Mia become so stern and scary. The boy seemed to lower his head under Mia's firm gaze but immediately looked up at her with a newly confidence. Witless pride.

"Get the hell out of here", Mia ordered, her voice sombre and scary, "Agarus." Mia's austere voice made shivers run down my spine. I swear, I'll kill this boy for making Mia so livid that I was genuinely worried for her. The boy neither flinched nor moved an inch. The crackhead just stood there, fidgeting with the straps of the heavy bag, looking at each of us, one by one. When his eyes settled on me, I threw a deathly glare at him which made that twat smirk.

"What are you standing here for? Get the hell out of here, Agarus and don't you dare call me your mother", Mia's enraged voice echoed in the room but Agarus stood rooted to the ground.

Agarus. Why does the name sound so familiar? I think-

"You wouldn't want to do that, Mia", another man who looked a little older and sturdier yet handsome enough came into our view.

"Y-You", Mia stuttered when the door to Mr. Jamieds room busted open.

Uh-oh. 

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a/n:

Hope y'all are doing good. Here's the first chapter! Tell me about how it is in the comments. Also thank you for all the encouraging comments in the prologue. If y'all like the chapter, vote and comment!