Fangs & First Kisses

Chapter 5

OWEN

Walking through the castle reminds me, once again, that my family is a nightmare.

The hallways are a shrine to their brutality. The walls are lined with decapitated heads, their expressions frozen in terror. Some are fresh, their skin still taut, while others have decayed down to the bone, their skulls yellowing with the passage of time. Iron maidens, guillotines, and brazen bulls lurk in the corners, their metal stained dark with old blood.

It's a house of horrors, and I live in it.

Most of the time, I don't see them in use. But I know they are.

When I'm at Rushmore High, my parents entertain themselves by luring in naïve humans—tourists who mistake our castle for a historical site. They walk in, wide-eyed, expecting a tour. They make it back out.

And yet, my parents insist on referring to themselves as royalty. 

As if we're better than humans.

I swallow against the nausea curling in my gut. The scent of dried blood clings to everything, seeping into my clothes, my skin. I hate it. I hate them. I hate that the war two thousand years ago—the war that forced us into hiding—didn't kill us off. Instead, it only made us stronger. We learned to shift into animals, to blend into the forests, to hunt without being seen. And for what? Revenge? Survival? We had already won. But my family—our entire species—never let it go. We are parasites, feeding off the weak, sinking our claws into the world and never letting go.

I wish I could stop it. I wish I could end this cycle. But vampires can't die by natural causes.

We can live forever—unless another vampire decides otherwise.

I round the corner and spot Olivia curled up on a velvet chaise, reading. For a second, the weight in my chest eases.

Olivia is the only good thing in this family. The only one who doesn't relish in bloodshed. Or at least, she never shows it. Sometimes, I wonder if she's like me—if she lies awake at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering how we were born into this nightmare of a life.

I walk over and hug her without a word.

She tenses, surprised, then slowly wraps her arms around me. "Okay... What happened?"

I don't answer. Not here.

Instead, I step back and motion for her to follow me. She frowns but gets up, trailing behind me to my room.

Once we're inside, the door shuts, and I sit on the edge of my bed while she perches on my desk chair, waiting.

I hesitate. I shouldn't tell her this. I shouldn't tell anyone. But if I keep it inside, I feel like I'll suffocate.

I run a hand through my hair, exhaling shakily. "Olivia... Promise me you won't tell Mum and Dad."

Her expression turns serious. "I promise."

I stare at the floor. "I... I have a crush on a human."

She sucks in a sharp breath, slapping a hand over her mouth. Her eyes dart to the door, like she expects Mum or Dad to burst in at any second. "Owen." Her voice is barely a whisper. "You know what will happen if they find out."

"I know," I say quietly. "But I can't stop it."

She stands and paces the room, her hands clenched into fists. "Do you realize how dangerous this is? If they suspect anything, they won't just kill her, Owen. They'll make her suffer. And they'll make you watch." She stops and turns to me, her face tight with fear. "And you won't be able to stop them."