Putting down the fork in my hand, I was a little sad that I had eaten all the cake Mom had given me. That sadness did not st long, though, as I heard Dad say from beside me, “Why don’t you go get your present from the coffee table while your mother and I clean up?”

  The happiness immediately returned as I smiled and shouted, “Yay! Presents!” and hopped down from the stool to the cabin’s floor.

  Daddy had rented this cabin for my first-ever camping trip! It was also supposed to be my gift for my fourth birthday, which we were currently celebrating.

  None of that mattered, though, as I ran towards the coffee table, which had my second gift sitting on it. As I got closer to the coffee table, the room gradually got darker, and the sky outside the window I could see through slowly lost its color until all that was left were the stars in the sky and the light from the kitchen.

  I then picked up the little doll of a bck-haired, red-eyed girl wielding a sharp, dark red scythe with bck roses engraved on it.

  I started to py with the doll when I heard a scream come from the kitchen.

  Dropping the doll, I got up and turned towards the kitchen. It was then I saw the blurry-faced body of a man lying on the ground in the kitchen’s entryway with a trickle of blood flowing down from his neck. Behind him and through the open wall of the kitchen, I was able to see the back of a strange, unknown man as he bit into the neck of the blurry-faced woman he was holding up off the ground.

  The woman then grabbed onto him and shouted, “Run Luna!”

  Heeding Mom's words, I ran down the short hallway of the cabin towards the room where Mom, Dad, and I were sleeping as I heard a sickening crunch from behind me.

  Something in me wanted me to turn around, but I was too afraid and kept running until I made it through the door as I closed it behind me. I then remembered what Mom said about how if an intruder makes his way into the house, then you need to hide in the closet. Since that was the case, I ran over to the closet and, made my way inside, and closed the door behind me.

  I went to sit down in the corner like Mom told me to when I heard a sound that was a mix between something banging into a wall and wood snapping. Following that was the rushed footsteps of something making its way towards the closet I was sitting in.

  The footsteps stopped as the sound of running came from the hallway for a brief moment before I heard the sound of someone being tackled from inside the room I was in.

  I heard the voice of a woman say, “Don’t let him get away this time, dear. We can’t have him killing any more innocent people.”

  The woman's voice had a mature and melodious tone to it that seemed to capture a person's attention the moment they heard it.

  It was then that a deeper male voice responded, “I got him this time, dear. He won’t be getting away from us again.”

  The voice sounded fairly confident, but that proved to be false the next moment when a new voice said, “Isn’t that what you said st time?”

  This voice sounded like the woman's voice that spoke previously, but it sounded slightly younger and more immature than the other one. It also interrupted the voice of the man who was clearly trying to come up with some sort of retort by saying, “By the way, have either of you noticed the person in the closet yet?”

  After that was said, there was a slight pause before I heard a set of footsteps approach the closet. They stopped just before the door, and I held my breath as I waited for something to happen for what felt like an eternity. Then, just when I felt like I was safe and I could breathe again, the door was pulled open, revealing a tall woman with a mature figure and pure silver hair. The most striking feature, though, was the piercing red eyes pced on top of the perfect face, which seemed to glow faintly in the low light.

  This woman then reached forward and picked me up as I started to scream for my mother and father to save me.

  The red-eyed woman only smiled at this before saying, “Don’t worry dear, I will be a perfect mother for you,” as she opened her mouth wide, revealing the elongated sharp fangs in her mouth as she leaned forward to bite me.

  I then shot up from my bed, breathing hard as that old nightmare haunted me again.

  Well, I should not call it a nightmare as much as it is a jumble of not-so-pleasant memories.

  Regardless, I was now awake, and there was nothing to do about it but get ready for the day. Thankfully, I did not need to figure out what to wear today as I already had a beautiful knee-length red and bck dress pnned, with silver roses lining the bottom of the skirt. And sitting next to that was my graduation cap with a silver rose embroidered on the top of it.

  Getting up from my bed, I went to take a shower and get myself cleaned up in my ensuite bathroom.

  This did not take very long, and I was soon making my way downstairs in my new dress that I honestly wished I could wear for more than just today. However, knowing my mom, that was not going to happen.

  Speaking of which, the moment I made it to the bottom of the stairs, my Mom spotted me from the doorway into the dining room and said, “Luna! You look so cute in that! I should contact the designer to make some more clothes for you.”

  Walking into the dining room, I looked at the same woman I saw at the end of my nightmare, Alicia de Mythos, my mother.

  Next to her was what appeared to be the younger blonde version of her and my elder sister, Sera de Mythos.

  Opposite the two of them was my bck-haired, red-eyed father and the bodybuilder-looking head of the house, Mark de Mythos, who looked as comical as always, dressed up in his custom suit and tie.

  Next to him was what you would think my father would look like if he was a young, well-off businessman, My brother, John de Mythos.

  I looked around for a little longer to see if I could find the st member of our little family, only to hear my brother say, “Your little shadow was taking after you today and is still sleeping in a little longer.”

  I was about to ugh at his insinuation when I heard a young voice from behind me say, “No I wasn’t!”

  Turning around, I saw a little girl with straight bck hair, red eyes, and a dress almost identical to mine holding a stuffed bat in her arms.

  She had clearly just gotten out of bed, as evidenced by the sand in the corner of her eyes, but I did not call her out on it like a certain brother of mine. Instead, I smiled before patting her on the head.

  The moment I did, she got defensive and covered her head with her stuffed bat while shouting, “Stop messing up my hair!”

  This only got a ugh from everyone before me and my sister took our seats at the table.

  Once seated, some of the servants my parents hired brought out breakfast and gave each of us a gss filled with a red liquid.

  I knew what it was like everyone else in the room, and I knew that I needed it, but it did not make drinking it taste any better.

  Sighing, I raised the gss to my lips and prayed that it was not the pig's blood my sister had tried to prank me with one time.

  Getting out of the car at the venue for my graduation, I followed the signs and met the teachers and staff in charge. They then led me to a room where all the other students in my css gathered to get ready for the ceremony that would be taking pce in a few hours.

  Looking around, I spotted myself in one of the mirrors hanging up on the wall.

  My modest, above-average-height build, wavy bck hair, and perfect facial features, combined with my unique red eyes, made me the css beauty of the school, much to my chagrin. At least the dress I was wearing looked good on me.

  I then put on my robe, cords, and cap before waiting for the ceremony to start.

  What felt like a few hours ter, I finished giving my valedictorian speech and went back to sitting with my css as the diplomas started to be handed out.

  It would soon be all over, and I could go home and spend time with my family, not doing anything.

  An hour ter, I was walking out of the graduation venue with my robe open and my diploma in my hand. I don’t entirely know where my cap went, but one of my friends told me they would find it and give it back to me during the graduation party our css was holding a few days from now.

  I was also exhausted, and my family decided it would be best if we went home now as I would be seeing my friends again in a few days anyway.

  Boarding the car, which was actually a short limo, my brother handed me a water, and we all started chatting about how some of my friends were going to cope with the real world.

  This sted for a few minutes before there was a bright fsh of light at the front of the car, followed by a moment of weightlessness that ended as we all got flung towards the front of the car, and everything went bck.

  Vulthurtoor