I sat in the car, my nose in an art book as I waited to arrive at my new home. I was currently reading a section about wrinkles and how they relate to clothing when a pink reflection flashed in the corner of my eye. I looked up and out the window, my eyes met with cherry blossoms in full bloom as we passed them. I stared in wonder at how nature could create such flawless beauty whilst it took me years to master the concept of simply drawing it from references.

With a hopeless sigh I turned my attention back to my book. I will admit, it was pretty boring just reading about it instead of drawing myself, but I had no inspiration and no hope of starting a successful project in a car. I could've asked the driver to stop and let me draw the blossoms, but that would've been a waste of time and I really wanted to see my new "home" with my own eyes.

Before I knew it, we'd arrived at a large mansion. I opened the large Iron Gate as the car drove away. It was high noon and the mansion practically shone in the sunlight, but it was an eerie like glow. Warm, but dangerously so. I wasn't sure how to feel about it. The rose garden in the front yard complimented it well, thorns, beauty and all. As I passed, I let my hand brush the soft petals of a white rose oh so gently.

I took a deep breath before approaching the house once more, dragging my small suitcase behind me. I raised my hand to the knocker and, well, knocked three times. The door opened with a groan from its hinges, but I saw no one on the other side. Furrowing my brow in confusion I stepped gingerly in to the doorway. The door slowly closed behind me.

"Hello?" I called. My voice echoed in the broad and empty entrance hall. I sighed. From what social services back in the U.S. had told me, I thought someone would've been here to greet me at the door. I looked around, seeing several doors on either side of the wide staircase and wondering which I should look through first when suddenly fast footfalls met my ears. I looked up, seeing a blonde head of hair come racing down the stairs. It was girl, dressed in a school uniform. She was petite and very pretty. When my brown eyes met her magenta ones she smiled brightly.

"Hi! You must be Ryan, my name is Yui!" She exclaimed excitedly, running up to me and holding out her hand. I gingerly took it in mine and shook her hand. "You have no idea how nice it is not to be the only girl in the house anymore." She said.

"The only girl? How many boys are there?" My foster home belonged to a church, so I didn't get to interact with the boys that often. Yui laughed nervously.

"Six, and you should know, they're pretty… um, unique?" She suggested. I raised a brow in question. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you." I wanted to scoff and say that she'd be surprised.

"So, this is the new girl, eh?" A voice suddenly said in my ear. I shivered and turned sharply, seeing a boy, maybe about eighteen, with bright green eyes, a tiny mole below his bottom lip, and red hair topped with a fedora. He wore black dress pants that reached below his knees and a black jacket with fur trim around the hood. His shirt was untucked, the top button free and a loose black tie hung around his neck. How did he get there so fast? "She looks absolutely, how should I say, riveting. She smells delectable too." He breathed with a giggle.

"Laito, this is Ryan. Ryan, meet the second youngest Laito Sakamaki." Yui introduced. Laito took my hand into a calloused cold one and bowed low so his lips were only a breath away from the appendage.

"You have such soft skin. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, but instead of kissing my hand like I'd expected, he licked it with strikingly cold tongue and hummed. "I could just eat you up." He smiled. I carefully drew my hand back, trying not to show my disgust. So, label Laito the pervert. Check. I laughed nervously in response.

"It's nice to meet you too." I said in a steady tone. Then something dawned on me and I turned back to Yui. "Second youngest? Why would their ages matter?" I questioned. She rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh yeah, the boys are all related." I nearly groaned. Fantastic.

"You must have been suffocated by the testosterone." I said. She giggled in response.

"That's only if you can call Laito a man." Someone else said. I looked to the stairway met with a pair of lime eyes and magenta hair. His clothes were disorderly at best. One pant leg was rolled halfway up, he wore a black jacket with an opened white dress shirt underneath and his tie was lazily tied around his neck like a choker. His whole attire was obviously meant to be a school uniform, but I guess he added his own personal touch. "In my opinion, he's an absolute girl with how long he takes to get ready for the day." He was leaning up against a corner post where the railing turned to accommodate the stairs.

"Ayato, this is Ryan. Ryan, this is the third eldest Ayato." Yui said. Ayato gave me a once over before leaping down the rest of the stairs to get a closer look at me.

"Yui smells far better, but I guess you'll do." He said. I just about reeled back. That son of a bitch just insulted me, didn't he?

"Now Ayato, it's hardly good manners to treat a guest in such a way." A third person said from my right. I turned to see a black haired man wearing glasses as a gloved hand pushed them up the brim of his nose. His suit was neat and almost entirely black, save for the red tie. When he let his hand drop he opened his eyes to reveal a bright violet color. Ayato scoffed at him but backed up by a step. I didn't miss the one detail of how close he chose to stand to Yui, but the blonde didn't seem to notice.

"Reiji, you remember me telling you about Ryan? This is Reiji, the second oldest." I glanced him over one last time. He looked to be in his mid-twenties at least. If his attitude was anything to go by, I would've said he was the oldest.

"Welcome to our household Ryan. If you would follow me, I do not believe it appropriate to have you meet the other three out here in the entrance." Are they sure he wasn't a butler? He sure acted like one. None the less, I followed him, shadowed by the three I had already met. I couldn't help but wonder what the other three were like. As far as I could tell, Ayato seemed completely uninterested in me, while his brother, Laito, probably would jump any girl he found to be his fancy. Reiji, I couldn't really tell much other than he was a stickler for mannerisms. Guess that hasn't changed for me then, what a bother.

"Ryan?" Yui called. I perked up at my name and turned to the girl. "Before you meet the others, there's something you should know." I tilted my head, now curious. But my attention was soon drawn away when I ran into an archway.

"Oops, clumsy much?" Laito remarked with a grin. I rubbed my now sore shoulder and ignored him, continuing on.

"You were saying Yui?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not sure how to say this, but the Sakamaki's and I are—"

"Here is the living area. Reiji interrupted. I stared at him, wondering why he would interrupt. Maybe he wasn't such a stickler to manners as I'd first thought. I took a look around the room. There was a couch and two chairs set around a coffee table. But it seemed to be empty as far as I could see.

"Please, sit." Reiji said and I hesitantly obliged. I didn't know why, but the fact that Yui wanted me to know something before I met the other three was somewhat troubling. Before I could blink, Laito was sitting next to me. Uncomfortably close. I tried to move a few inches away from him, but his strangely cold hand held me in place by the waist. I had half a mind to get up and kick him in the face, but I sat still and swallowed my pride. After today, I'd do what I wanted, but for now, I had to make a good impression.

"Oh, is it another sweet one?" A new boy asked. Cold shivers raced down my spine as I turned to see a boy with wide, lavender eyes leaning over the couch to get a closer look at me. He wore a school uniform, the jacket lazily hung off one shoulder. He had an eerie smile on his pale face, which was surrounded with hair the same shade as his eyes. Now that I thought about it, they all had unusually pasty skin. I gulped and gave the best smile I could to the boy.

"Hello, my name is Ryan. What's yours?" I asked sweetly. He frowned slightly, as if missing something.

"Where's that fearful look gone?" He asked and I felt my heart rise in my throat, suddenly nervous.

"He's Kanato, the third to youngest. He, Ayato and Laito are the triplets." Yui answered for me. I noticed she was still standing and I deeply wished she'd come sit next to me.

"Oh, is that so?" I questioned, trying to lean away as Kanato leaned closer. But as a result, I leaned into Laito and he held me closer. My stomach dropped. I was truly afraid now. Trapped by a pervert and being stared at by a psycho. Not the best position to be in.

"Seriously, another one? I thought we were finished with bringing in girls." I was seriously not going to get used to these boys dropping in unexpectedly. Leaning against a post was a boy with very light pink haired and red eyes. His jacket and torn over shirt were black, as well as his slacks. He had a torn white undershirt a well. I couldn't help but wonder what he did to get them so beaten up.

"And that's Subaru, the youngest of them all." Yui told me.

"What is she doing here?" He asked, obviously irritated. I take it he doesn't like people very much. "She's not another sacrifice, is she?" Whoa, whoa, sacrifice? What?!

"Who cares, as long as we get dinner, right?" Laito said seductively leaning closer so his breath touched my ear. At that I literally did jump up from my seat. Dinner? They were talking like I was food. This was not what I expected. At. All.

"Bullshit, I don't need another lousy, useless girl in the house!" Suddenly my fear melted away and I fell into anger.

"Who are you calling lousy and useless?" I demanded angrily.

"Keep it down would you?" Someone groaned from across the room. It didn't surprise me this time, just annoyed me. I peeked over, seeing a boy lay there with his eyes closed, earbuds tucked in his ears and his music player around his neck on a choker. He was wearing the same school jacket as the others. He wore a tan sweater vest with a white dress shirt on underneath, the two top buttons open.

"Oh, great, everyone's here. Ryan, that's Shu, the oldest." Yui said. I concluded then that I'd probably need her council the majority of my stay here. "Now, there really is something I have to tell you." I looked at her. She seemed nervous, playing with her hands as she shifted in her seat. Seeing her expression I immediately calmed down. I didn't say it, but she had my full attention. "Well, you see, the Sakamaki's and I are…." She hesitated, obviously trying to turn the words over in her head to see if anything worked better. She let out breath and looked at me. "We're vampires." She said.

My mind went blank first. I must have looked stupid standing there, not saying anything. Then it reeled. I was in a house, with seven vampires. How didn't I notice this before?! I took a wobbly step back, holding my head in my hand. I was close to the door, I could just make a run for it. Wait, no, they were too fast. But I didn't see any silver around, so fighting them was out. It didn't look like I had another option. Plus, I was closest to the door. Maybe I could make it.

I turned to do just that, but as I reached for the handle I stopped. Where would I go? I had nowhere to turn to, no one to help me. I might've been able to escape, but what then? There was no one waiting for me.

I really was the antelope in this situation, just waiting to be devoured by the lion's.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind I wanted to punch myself. I was Ryan Star, a girl who never backed down. I clenched my fist, calmed my erratic heartbeat, stood taller and turned back to the others in the room, fixing them with a hard glare.

Whether they were mortal or no, I had sworn to myself a long time ago that the one thing I'd never do was run away. I wouldn't show those that claimed to be stronger fear.

"Well? Is someone going to show me to my room or what?" I demanded. Laito let out a short but loud laugh.

Subaru glared right back at me, Ayato and Laito both had different smirks on their faces, Kanato's smile never seemed to falter, Yui stared at me in shock, Reiji had an apprehensive look, and Shu had locked one single deep blue eye on me.

"I like this one! She's got spunk." He said with half lidded eyes. Suddenly he was no longer in his spot on the couch and I felt his presence behind me instead. "Should be quite a challenge." He whispered uncomfortably close to my ear. I stepped calmly away from him.

"I'm tired, I've had a long trip here and would like to get some sleep, so if you don't mind?" I lied. I wasn't really that tired, but I had to get somewhere I could think. Sitting in a room with blood thirsty beasts didn't exactly keep me calm enough to think coherently.

"Right, of course!" Yui exclaimed. "Follow me." She jumped from her seat and to the door. Once she opened and walked through it I followed her, but I didn't see her anywhere in the hall. "Not you." She suddenly said from behind me. I turned and saw her holding a finger up to Laito's face. He held a smirk on his face as Yui closed the door. "I'll do my best to keep them out of your room, but they're persistent. You should be careful while you're here." She told me and I nodded. As she led me to my room I could feel their stares from the shadows, pricking the back of my neck as if they were pressing the thorny stem of a rose to my skin.

I'd better get used to calling this vampire filled mansion home.


A/N: Woo hoo! Brand new story! I know, I know, what about my other stories, but you can't stop the creative juices from flowing! Any who, leave a review and tell me what you guys think! XD