Grey's Pov
The serpent's head lowers until her jeweled eyes_bright as emerald flames_ fix on me. For a moment, the cage bars between us hum with a faint light, the weakened barrier trembling like a cracked glass wall.
"Mom" I whisper again, my chest tight. The word leaves my lips with more reverence than I ever give anyone else.
Her tongue flickers, brushing the barrier and I feel the sharp sting of her aura ripple through me like fire against my skin.
"You're growing taller than I expected" her voice is a whisper but comes out like a gentle wave of roar. She has barely spoken since the tragedy, so I treasure each and every word she says. I force a smile that doesn't reach my eyes.
Her tail lashes once, hard enough to make the barrier flare weakly, as if protesting its prisoner. She hisses again, but this time, hungry and impatient.
"We'll find a way..I know for sure" I press my palm against the glowing surface. The faint burn sears my flesh but I don't flinch.
For a moment, silence. Just her breath, deep and heavy, echoing in the hollow chamber. She wants to say something important and though I'm impatient, I hide it.
" A Vard" Her voice slips_hissing, sweet, poisonous.
My eyes widen both in irritation and confusion. Why a Vard all of a sudden?
She notices the frown and confusion on my face as she slithers comfortably. " A Vard is amongst us, son"
My frown deepens with confusion as I register her statement.
Why should a Vard be in such a place? This doesn't make any sense at all.
"Are you sure of your statement?" I ask as flashes of what happened hit my mind. My fists clench unconsciously. I grit my teeth hard enough for them to break. IT. DISGUSTS. ME.
Her hiss is an agreement.
"Where is that Vard mother?" Deeping my fingers In the fabric of my sweater.
"Right under your sleeve son...right under your sleeve" her voice is dangerous and deep.
I furrow my eyebrows, my thoughts failing to work at that statement.
Under my sleeve?
She curls herself up, watching me sharply, as if reading my every thought.
Then...I remember the strong smell of his soul. No Vard aura, no power, but the strong sweet smell of his soul is for no regular human or demon.
No. No. No.
It can't be...
"I am very disappointed" mother hisses as she closes her eyes.
"My deepest apologies. He is just too weak to realize"
"That's no excuse. I'm all the way here but I knew" Her eyes open, her sharp stare piercing through my soul.
I remain silent, my head facing down, wrapped with shame.
"Get him for me. I need the shards"
How?
Before I protest, the heavy metal door creaks open.
"Ruelle?" My eyes brighten as I watch her running towards me with a heavy pant. She hugs my waist tightly as she raises her head to look at me. I softly return the hug.
She releases my waist as her gaze shifts to the serpent. Her eyes glimmer with tears, a tender smile appearing on her face. "I can see you finished the food mommy"
Mother hisses, "Of course I did. Though half burnt " I can feel the shrug in her voice.
"I tried " Her statement is half a giggle. She turns to me then widens her eyes," there's some left...I know you haven't had dinner yet"
I scratch the back of my head with a crooked smile, " Well..I ummm...Hey,did you get the book?"
"Oh, right," She goes through her stuff packed in the bag impatiently. A frown appears on her face as she takes longer to search for the book.
"I..I forgot it at the Wizard's place" She is lying. But I wave it off. Wherever she has left the book, I know she will find it. Plus, nobody can open it unless you use a certain strong spell or a Vard.
"It's fine, just make sure you get it soon." I look at my wrist watch and heave a deep sigh. It's 9 pm..the party started like 30 minutes ago.
"I have to go" I pick up my jacket that was hanging on a hook and a black marvin that was on top.
"Where are you going?" Ruelle's voice is soft and pleading.
I caress her head smoothly, giving her a warm smile.
"My birthday party"
"But we don't have such..." Her frown is confusing as she arcs her brow.
"I have to make things real.." I give her a kiss on her temple then turn to mother. "I'm heading out now. Ruelle, take care of her"
_______
I barely focus on the road as my mother's words linger in my mind.
A Vard is amongst us...not just a Vard...Blue.
She can't be lying, especially about something like that.
But why haven't I felt his presence? It's impossible. A Vard's presence is more powerful than any other gods' . And if they were really here...no demons would be roaming around freely like they are doing now.
But sunset is..so weak. Weaker than a normal human being.
But what I know for sure is that, mother is not lying.
...
Pen's house
The place is stuffed with drunkard teenagers who rick of sweat and drugs. My ears ring with irritation due to the loud music that is at its peak. But it doesn't disturb me at all..I'm used to this shit. I grab a bottle of liquor from one of Pen's girls who looked like a prostitute waitress serving drinks.
People's hi's and hello's pass me like thin wind as my eyes roam through the crowd, searching for Pen.
Since we started 'dating' , Pen has been throwing a birthday party for me the last 4 years.
'I live with my harsh grumpy aunt who's kind of allergic to people ..and hates celebrations' I always had excuses why no one could visit my place or throw a party there. I know the excuses are fuckin' lame but I couldn't think of anything else.
'Whoa..babe, it's like you are being raised by a demon' Pen would say with a worried face. Well, I'm practically raised by one though.
Pen is uncontrollably hot. You would think her curves are sculpted by a great sculpture. The crystal blue eyes always have great passion beneath them. Her thin curved lips are always in blood like color that drives one crazy when she smiles, or bites it. Her face and body is a complete art. And those long slender white legs....
Everyone was after her...and I had to make her mine. Well, it was not rocket science to achieve her, especially when she was already drooling over me like a lovesick girl.
She thinks I feel the same way for her..but my feelings are far from love. I just needed to win her, use her body to feed my dark spirit...the dark demons inside me. Every time we have sexual contact with her, her beautiful soul is fed bit by bit to my spirit...and it just makes me have great power. When all of her soul is gone, something dark will grow in her, to feel the empty space.But I can never get enough. They can never get enough.
I have devoured a lot of beautiful souls. Just one look and I manage to see through a human...to see if one has a beautiful soul.
Lust and desire. It's all demons ever feel.
No love.
No compassion.
No sympathy.
No heartbreak shit.
Just_lust, desire.
And it's all I've ever felt for Pen. Ever since my father was killed brutally in front of me_barely a toddler _ my half god side drowned, taken away by the wind. It was all gone and now all that is within me is darkness.
Our heavens destroyed, our immortals...my home.
"Yo..dude, what took you long?" the rough tap on my shoulder drags my mind back to reality. The cigarette tucked between his lips is halfway done. His large dark eyes are drowsy, half closed. Guess he had too much to drink already.
"Lance, I guess you should put that down. You planning to drink the shit out of you?" I glance at the full whiskey bottle locked in his hand.
He drags his free hand through his thick black messy hair, stumbling back a little.
" Your girl is__" a hiccup cuts him off, " is really becoming sunset's tail__" Another sharp hiccup escapes him, looking like his about to vomit any second.
His statement strikes in my mind like a poisonous venom. My fists clench hard, knuckles becoming pale. I don't understand why the blood in my veins are boiling, why my chest is tightening, my breath__
"Hey..chill man, Charlie and Loyd are looki__"
I walk away with heavy impatient steps before Lance can finish his dragging sentence. Pen mingles with other guys, a lot. But not once has it ever got me feeling this way. I'm never possessive over her, never acted jealous or protective even though she's mine.
But today...
What is sunset doing here? Why is he with her?
I pass through the crowd that is now annoying me as fuck. I feel like it's slowing me from finding them, like it's hiding those two_him.
I spot Juana. She's standing next to the drinks table, her blond hair falling on her shoulders with curls. My heart eases a bit when I see her. She definitely knows where her 'owner' is. My feet rush towards her unconsciously.
"Juana... where's Pen? And why aren't you with her?"
She startles for a moment, her cheeks flushing when her eyes meet mine. Geez.
"Uhh..I, umm.. she's...well Pen is just_"
"Quit your stupid fumbling and speak!" My voice is sharp and dangerous. Not once have I ever shouted or insulted a lady... I'm always the 'sweet Charming prince' as they call me. But now..I don't give a damn about that. The impatience in me is way greater.
Juana's eyes widen with fear then points the back door with a shaky finger. "She went outside with a guy"
___
My eyes search for them amongst the people in the pool. Could they be making out?
The thought tightens the chest even more as anger rises, and I can feel it's at its peak.
Shane. She's alone. Irritated.
She's sitting on a bench, with a full tumbler in her hand. She's staring at something, or rather someone. The stare is full of disgust and holds a heavy weight beneath it.
There they are!
"Should we?" Charlie's voice echoes behind my mind. Both him and Loyd are standing beside me like hungry dogs held by their owner, waiting to be released.
Without a word, I walk towards them, each stride huge.
They are sitting on a bench opposite Shane. Both are holding the same type of tumblers, and it annoys me. Pen's arm is leaning on his shoulder. He's not moving away from it. Why??
"Oh, honey you're here" Pen's voice is calm, like she has done nothing wrong. Fuck that slutty face!
He looks at me with no expression. How can he be a
"Finally, let's leave Blue. The boy has come to pick up his toy" Shane heaves a sigh of relief as she stands up. Blue follows, about to walk away but I grab him by the collar.
"Get your hands off of me" Why does he always have confidence when he clearly knows I can crush him within a second? His sunset eyes don't match with his cold aura...and that makes it__beautiful. I. Hate. It.
"And take your god-damned hands off of her!" My voice is not calm, rather chaotic and like a hiss.
A frown appears on his face then followed by a light smirk.
"Sorry, but I don't play with plastic toys"
I hate his fuckin' attitude! I give him a hard blow on his cheeck and he crumbles down. Why can't he just humble himself in my presence like everyone else?! Acting like a tough guy but he's just like a soft fragile object. Wait, I now get why he's acting all tough.
I get on top of him and look into his half conscious eyes.
"You shouldn't have come here!" I hiss like a dangerous warning as I continue smashing his drop dead gorgeous face with my fists. His face makes me so furious...it ignites something dangerous in me and it makes me afraid. I just wanna ruin it but then, each punch I throw makes my heart sink and very heavy. I should stop..but I can't. From the moment he walked into the class...
The thought creeps in my mind "he's a Vard, he's a Stupid fucking Vard" I continue hitting him hard."but this is just a fragile human, right?
People are surrounding us. Recording and cheering like crazy hooligans. Everything else becomes background noise as I become still...my grip slowly loosens.
Have I hit him that bad?
Why is blood coming from his back? I__ I didn't even touch there. I quickly get up from him as my breathing becomes uneven.
I never mind killing anyone..on purpose or not. Innocent or not. It never bothers me...I don't know what guilt feels like.
But looking at the state I've left him in....
He's a fucking Vard I should kill him on the spot, but not yet .
_________
Blue's Pov
It had started becoming dark, and fear began creeping in like a silent ghost.
Lacey and Robert did not keep their promise.
7:07 pm.
The heavy weight of the dark presence started hoovering and I could not stay inside. I decided to stay on the front porch as I thought of where to go. But one thing I discovered is that my old man has nothing to do with this.
I picked up my barely used phone and called Shane.
"Look who deci__"
"Take me to Pen's party...I'm giving you 5 " With that, I hung up the phone and clutched it tightly. The faint footsteps that came from inside made me almost shit my pants.
The rate of my heartbeat is abnormally high and my knees are weak, barely supporting me.
The atmosphere became more chilly and my baggy green hoodie was not of any help. The chilliness was not a normal one, and I knew it was coming from that thing that's inside.
Shane please hurry up.
The footsteps became louder and closer. Was it really going to follow me outside too?
My nails deepend in the thin fabric of my hoodie. I swallowed continuous gulps of saliva that hardly went down my dry throat.
It was here. Just behind the door.
Why is it still?...why can't I hear its shaky loud breaths? Is it gone?
The doorknob twists slowly, like a suffocating suspense.
I really wanted to turn away and run..but my feet were mysteriously glued to the ground. It's like they were buried in a dry cement.
I was so scared that tears started to form in my eyes unconsciously but I did not let them fall.
It opens and__nothing. Now that made me my heart want to rip apart. Because, it's standing somewhere here, I just can't see it.
Sudden whispers filled my head. Whispers of a language I didn't even understand. They were just whispers but loud enough to burst my eardrums and brain.
In a glimpse , I was pinned on the wall. An invisible force chocking the air out of me. I tried to free myself but my whole body was numb..I couldn't move. The choke was suffocating me, not even a sound could come out.
Lacey, Robert..help! Shane..
I tried to remove those helpless words from my mouth but nothing. I knew I was going to die in an invisible demon's hand. At that time, I had no right to call myself a Vard.
Tears slipped out of my eyes unconsciously as the choke became intense.
"Blue!" My neck was released instantly as Shane's voice grew louder. Her voice released me, freed me.
"Where is your fro__oh, there you are" I never thought I'd be that happy to see her. But I covered that relief with my nonchalant face.
"You're loud" I walked past her, rubbing my broken neck. I released a deep breath, but my heart was still in full chaos.
"I'm happy to see you too" She replied with genuine joy in her voice, her soft footsteps keeping up with my pace.
At that moment, I wished that those soft footsteps could always remain there.
"Why all of a sudden do you want to go there Mr Vampire?"
I ignored her questions and remained silent the whole way.The earlier scene was still creeping in my mind.
____
The place was loud...very loud.
It smelled disgusting. Human sweat, alcohol, drugs...and hell knows what the other smells were.
People were making out from every corner without a tiny piece of shame. But no one gave attention to such, it seemed normal, like the sun rising. Humans are really despicable.
"Look who showed up"
I turn, only to spot Pen. Her face looked like it was dipped inside a colourful pool.
"What do you want?" Shane groaned, her eyes rolling with boredom and irritation.
"Definitely not you" Pen flipped her hair and wrapped her arm around mine. I flinched slightly with that move. But I did not want to pull away although it was pissing me off.
"Are you just gonna let her?!" Shane was clearly shocked and annoyed. She looked like a parent who was disappointed to the core.
I knew what I was doing. But in real sense, I wasn't doing anything. It was the plastic doing everything.
"Let's go get you some good drinks" Pen pulled me away with one of her wide smiles. Shane angrily followed behind. Her strides were long and heavy.
As expected, Pen was all over me, longer than expected. Shane kept on giving her death glares and cursed her continuously. All those curses fell on deaf ears as Pen ignored her completely.
But everything got ruined when he appeared.
.....
Now, I'm on the ground. A ragged breath catches in my chest, pain slicing through my ribs as I force myself to stand up. My head pounds like someone has been kicking it for hours. Well..it has been punched for more than ten minutes. I wince as I try to keep my eyes open. Every damn lomb is screaming in protest.
Everything is almost like a blur.
Shane.. someone is holding her back as she's shouting something. Flashlights are everywhere.
My legs are weak and I don't realize I'm stumbling back until
Splash!
I fall inside the pool of water and waves of laughter echoes in my head like a broken screeching melody. I don't even know how to swim. The waves of laughter increase and become like wild torture in my mind.
I try my best to gasp for air..try to keep myself floating.
Shame and embarrassment cover me like a heavy blanket, as I look at the blurry humans surrounding me with loud annoying laughter...
I watch as Shane runs and jumps inside the water.
"Blue.." She puts my arm around her shoulders. I turn to her and see her eyes glimmering with tears.
"I'm sorry" it sounds like a whisper and guilt.
"Why are you still here?!! Get lost you fucking animals!!!" Her voice is loud. Hoarse and dry. I can feel the deep crack in it.
"GET LOST!!" The crowd disperses bit by bit as she takes me out of the water.
My body is weak...I just want to go home.
A heavy lump gets stuck on my throat. I fight back the tears demanding to come out.
I want to go back home.
......
Author's pov
Blue sat on the edge of the pool, water dragging cold across the hem of his hoodie. Laughter still bounced off the tiles like nails in a skull. The world tilted and blurred; the faces around him seemed both far away and impossibly close. Each breath tasted of chlorine and humiliation.
Shane was a storm. One minute she'd been yelling until the crowd split, the next she'd jumped in and hauled him out like he was her only anchor. Now she kept one arm steady around his shoulders while the other fought back the scabbed panic in her throat. Blood had dried where his back had been hit, tracing dark, angry lines through the fabric when he'd fallen. He'd felt none of it until he'd stood and the pain had flared through him like raw wire.
"Come on," she muttered, voice rough but soft at the edges. "Let's go. Now."
Pen drifted away toward some new drama, perfume trailing like a flag. The party resumed its orbit without them—drunk, ravenous, unbothered. Blue could have crawled under the table and dissolved. Instead he let Shane pull him toward the door, toward the cold, forgiving night.
Outside, the air hit him like clean glass. He leaned on the rail for a moment, trying to breathe past the shame and the ache. Shane's hand on his back steadied him; it was the only thing that made sense.
"Do you want me to call Lacey?" she said, low. "Or Robert?"
Blue closed his eyes. Of course he didn't want them to know. Not this. Not the marks, not the way his skin had opened like a bad seam. Not the helplessness. "No," he rasped. "Just—just take me home."
Shane grunted, and they moved. She hailed a taxi with the kind of fierce efficiency she used on a bad day at school, like she could muscle the world into behaving. In the backseat, Blue's head fell against her shoulder. For the first time since the door had opened, he let himself tremble.
Farther down the street, in the shadow of an alley and behind a smattering of trashcans, Grey watched.
He had come to the party for noise, for the easy collisions and the thin cigarette-scented warmth of it all. But after the punch—after he'd slammed into the boy—something in him had tightened. The sight of blood on Blue's back had prickled at him the way a bell rings when wind hits in a certain key. It had been wrong. Wrong in a way that tasted like prophecy.
He'd stood at the edge of the crowd, letting the heat wash over him, telling himself the bruise of anger was enough explanation. And yet his mother's hiss kept scratching at the back of his skull: the word Vard curled like a hook. She'd told him what to do. She'd told him who to claim.
Tonight, the instruction hovered like a command the wind half-carried. Win his trust. Coil around him like shadow. Tear the shards free.
Grey's first reaction had been disbelief—he was better at scoffing than at believing. But scorn drained away when he'd watched the small boy stumble, watched Shane drag him away. Up close, Blue's hollowed expression had not matched the casualness he'd put on at school. There had been a fragility that looked like a wounded thing trying to act whole.
"Blue," Grey thought. The name tasted strange—not an insult, not a weapon. It felt like an address. Like a door.
He pushed off the wall, adjusting his jacket with a calm he did not feel. It would be easy to follow them, he decided. Accidental. Concerned. Casual. He could be all the things his mother wanted and none of the truth she hoped for—he could be the hand inside the glove.
A taxi took them home to the quiet of Blue's street. Shane insisted on staying until he was inside, knocking and making sure the door locked behind them. Blue's fingers fumbled as he fished the key from his pocket; each motion was careful, as if he was afraid the world might topple with a wrong move.
"Sleep," Shane demanded at the threshold. "I'm not leaving until you text me I'm not dead."
Blue managed a half-smile that asked her to believe him. He wanted to mean it. He wanted, more than anything, to curl into an absence of attention and let the wounds do their work. Instead he shoved the bloody sheets into the drawer and locked it, the metal clang echoing like a small lie.
After she left—after the taxi's tires hummed away and Shane's footsteps faded—Blue sat on the bed and let the dark settle. The whispers had started again that afternoon on the couch, soft as smoke. They curled now at the edge of his hearing, hissing words he half-understood and half-feared. Each syllable felt like cool steel sliding into place.
At the same time, Grey found himself walking the long way home, along the quiet backstreets rather than the main road. He told himself it was to avoid the noise, but really he was tasting the evening, letting it map itself in him. The serpent's words moved inside his head like a pulse. Break him open. Bring me what is mine.
He replayed the party—the laugh, the punch, the way the boy's shoulders had curved when he'd hit the ground. He remembered the blood, but he also remembered something else: a flash of white where the boy's hoodie had parted, a momentary glint like a shard of light.
His jaw tightened. The idea lodged—absurd and vivid—that the small human who flinched from punches was hiding something terrible beneath his skin.
Grey stopped under a streetlamp and looked up at the sky, thinking of coils and teeth and the emerald fire in his mother's eyes. The plan was forming now. Subtle. Slow. Compulsion wrapped in care.
He would approach Blue tomorrow. Casual. A question about the party, a fake worry about the punch. He'd offer his hand—an easy, olfactory-free kindness—and see how the boy reacted.
If Blue flinched the wrong way, if his scent shifted even a fraction, Grey would know he'd been right to listen to his mother. If not—if the boy was truly nothing—then Grey could walk away and keep to himself.
Either way, there was a thrill he couldn't deny: to get close, to be the one who unwrapped the secret. To be the hand that found whatever lay beneath.
He flexed his fingers and felt the old hunger stir—not only for power, but for meaning. Pen's party, the drunk girls, the cheap perfume—the world was full of noise. The thing that had drawn him now hummed like a hidden bell.
He moved on, quiet as a shadow, with the soft, steady intention to return to Blue's orbit. He would be casual, he told himself. Friendly. Useful. Everything his mother asked.
And when morning came, when Blue woke with his back on fire and the whispers in his ear, Grey would be waiting in a place that smelled of normality. He would offer a smile and a hand and a voice that asked, innocently:
"You okay? That looked rough."
Blue would answer—if he answered at all—and Grey's next move would begin.