Adopted by the vampires

The first thing they noticed about me wasn’t my name. It was my heartbeat. It echoed in the silence like a ticking clock—too loud, too fast, too alive. I felt it the moment I stepped inside their house, the instant the doors shut behind me with a final, deliberate click. Six pairs of eyes turned toward me, glowing faintly in the dim light. Predators. I swallowed. Human. The parents stood at the front like rulers of a forgotten kingdom. The mother’s smile was polite, practiced, but her gaze lingered on my throat just a second too long. The father said nothing. He didn’t need to. His presence pressed down on me like gravity, ancient and merciless, as if he could crush my bones with a thought. “You’re shaking,” the mother said gently. I wasn’t sure if it was concern—or hunger. The oldest sister watched from the staircase, one hand resting on the banister like she was ready to strike if I ran. Her eyes were sharp, calculating, already measuring how fast I could move, how easily I could break. “Tch,” she muttered. “She won’t last.” The words sliced deeper than she probably intended. Then came the brothers. Four vampires. Four dangers. One smiled—slow, knowing, dangerous. One stayed silent, eyes dark and unreadable. One circled me like I was a puzzle he couldn’t wait to tear apart. And the youngest… stared like he’d never seen something bleed before. “Can I touch her?” he asked, voice curious. “No,” the father said sharply. That single word saved my life. I stood there, fingers clenched around my bag, heart racing faster with every second. I had been warned. They all had. Bringing a human into a vampire household was reckless. Unnatural. A liability. And yet, here I was. A fragile thing among immortals. The house smelled like old wood, cold stone, and something metallic that made my stomach twist. Portraits lined the walls—faces frozen in time, eyes following my every step. They had lived for centuries. I had survived for days. “This is your last chance,” the oldest sist