Disclaimer: These characters and events belong to Rainbow Rowell. The title belongs to Halsey.
I remember being in the nursery. Wyatt had a toy and I wanted it. It was the coolest toy. I was just starting to pull the toy out of Wyatt's hands when they came.
They were grey, and they had fangs. I knew what they were. They were vampires.
The teachers started screaming and then got out their wands. They started yelling spells, but nothing seemed to work. And then Mummy was there. She got her wand out, too, in one hand, but her other hand threw fireballs. That worked better than anything the teachers did. The vampires started catching on fire and burning up until there was nothing left but dust.
Then something grabbed me from behind. I was in the air, moving up and backward, and then Mum started screaming. I looked over where I heard the screams coming from. A vampire was holding onto Mummy by the shoulders, and he was biting her neck.
"Tyger, tyger, burning bright!" Mummy yelled, and then she and the vampire were both on fire.
Then there were fangs in my neck, and I don't remember what happened after that.
Now I'm in bed. At my house, not at Watford. I've been in bed for three days. That's what they told me, anyway. Dad and Auntie Fiona. They're both here, which is weird. Auntie Fiona usually only comes on the holidays. I just woke up. I feel horrible. Everything inside me feels all twisted up, and my skin is grey. Why is my skin grey?
Dad and Auntie Fiona came in a little while after I woke up and said some healing spells over me. Then they went away. I want to get out of bed, but I don't have any energy. My arms and legs feel heavy.
Now I hear footsteps in the hall, one set heavier than the other. The footsteps stop outside my door and I can hear whispering. "We're going to have to tell him, Malcolm," says Auntie Fiona's voice. "You saw the wound, and anyway, he's turning grey."
"Let's put it off a few more days," says Dad. "He's been through enough already."
What are they talking about? What do they have to tell me? They know why I'm turning grey?
Oh.
I'm a vampire.