Chapter One:

I think I might've been dreaming. I'm not too sure, but I'm pretty sure I was. For one thing, I was in a very sunny place. Too sunny to even be St. Helens, where I lived. Secondly, I was looking at Grandpa Artie – who, may I add, had been dead for at least a decade now. Either he decided to haunt me after so long, or I was dreaming.

Grandpa Artie still looked the same from when I last saw him so long ago – that wrinkly withered face with large grey eyebrows, the twinkling green eyes and the scowl on his face. Yup, just the way he used to look like.

Our jaws both dropped at the sight of each other. Obviously, Grandpa Artie hadn't been expecting to see me in this sunny place either. I opened my mouth to ask him where we were and saw Grandpa open his mouth too. I closed it to let him speak just as he did the same. I stared at each other awkwardly.

"Arthur?" a musical voice called out, the French accent just barely there. Grandpa and I both turned around to find the source of the sound, though I already knew who it was.

Francis strolled over to me, a beam on his face; his arms open as he stepped into the sunlight.

I blanched, thinking of Grandpa. He didn't know I was gay – or that I was dating a vampire. Nobody knew that last bit; we were trying to keep that part a secret. So why the hell was Francis exposing himself to Grandpa like this? How the hell was I supposed to explain to my grandfather that my extremely attractive boyfriend was a sparkly vampire? With my luck, he'd probably haunt my father and suggest that I be sent to a mental asylum.

I turned to face my grandfather with a panicked expression on my face, trying to figure out a way to explain Francis's sparkliness. It was too late; Grandpa was staring at me in panic, obviously horrified of Francis. Francis ignored the look of panic on my grandfather's face and put his arms around me, resting his face on my shoulder.

And then – this was the really weird part – Grandpa's expression changed. He seemed sheepish, like he was waiting for me to say something to him. He held his hands at his chest, as though he was holding on to something – the way I was holding on to Francis's hands that were around my chest…

And that's when I noticed it. The large oval like frame that encircled my grandfather's figure. My eyes widened, panicking rising as my grandfather's did the same. I reached out to him and Grandpa did the same. Rather than meet his warm [or maybe corpse cold] fingers, I was met with cold glass.

Just like that, my bizarre dream had turned into a nightmare.

That wasn't Grandpa I was looking at.

I was looking at me in a mirror, Francis the vampire completely unseen in the reflection. Me with wrinkled and withering skin, me with the large grey eyebrows – me looking ancient and old and Francis still looking like the seventeen year old he would be for forever.

Francis leaned in and pressed his lips to my wrinkled, horrible cheek.

"Bon anniversaire, mon cher," he whispered.


I woke up with a bitten back howl, my heart beating wildly. Yes, so it was indeed just a dream. Thank God.

I glanced over at my alarm clock [7:00 AM] and looked upwards at the calendar. I blanched, staring at the date. It was my birthday. Freaky. Was I developing Feliciano's strange power or something?

I was officially eighteen, and older than Francis. For some reason, I despised that. I hated knowing that I was older than Francis, and would progressively get older than him until I eventually died [probably of heart attack, the Kirkland family was famed for dying from cardiac arrests].

I pulled myself up into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I might as well get ready to school. I stumbled into the washroom, blinking at my reflection in surprise. I somehow was expecting to see the old man version of myself staring back at me like in the dream. I shuddered. I never want to become that wrinkly in my life [I admit, when I pictured old me the first time after waking up, I considered using botox as a premeditated measure].

By the time I got downstairs to grab an apple to eat on the way to school, Albert was gone, a wrapped package waiting for me on the table. I paused and stared at it, frowning slightly. I had specifically told my parents that I didn't want to get any presents…

It was a camera. I blinked in surprise, picking up the box to stare at its fancy name better. Albert had gotten me a camera? I must say, despite the fact I had asked for no presents, I was quite pleased.

My mother had gotten me a 6-box book set of Jane Austen novels. I blushed, looking around. Jane Austen truly was a guilty pleasure of mine, something I never wanted anyone to hear about. I marvelled in the books, flipping through one of them absently before remembering that I had to get to school. I sprinted out the door with an apple and my bag and ran to my truck, climbing in and driving off.

I fiddled restlessly with my radio, making a face at its bad reception. I knew that I was attempting to distract myself from the fact that today was my birthday that I was officially older than Francis but the thought just came rushing back, bringing my mood lower and lower as it did.

By the time I reached school and parked my truck, my mood was at rock bottom.

Until I saw Francis.

It always surprised me whenever I saw Francis. He looked like the very person I would avoid – French, flirtatious…French. He never lost the ability to make my heart beat faster, although, I would never tell him that.

As I walked towards Francis, I noticed his younger adoptive brother Feliciano standing beside him, a small wrapped present in his hands. I narrowed my eyes at the sight; I had distinctly told Feliciano multiple times to not get me a birthday present.

"Ve~ Happy birthday, Arthur!" Feliciano exclaimed, waving franctically. I glared at him.

"Not so loud!" I hissed, looking around to make sure no one heard.

"Why don't you want anyone to hear? Birthdays are fun! I don't really remember when mine is but fratello lets me have my birthday on the same day as him and we all go to the amusement park because I love roller coasters and fratello makes a comment about how slow the rides are and then Antonio reminds him that he screamed the entire time and then fratello will mad and then-"

"I don't like birthdays."

"Do you want to open your present here or later?" Francis asked me, wrapping an arm around my waist and kissing my lips lightly.

"Never, preferably," I answered and Francis rolled his eyes.

"Why do you dislike birthdays so much?" he asked me.

"I get older," I answered and Francis scowled.

"-and Ludwig would argue with the vendor guy and get me a free teddy bear and tell me to stop crying because it was embarrassing for 'a man of your age to be doing that' and then I would ask for a kiss and then he'd kiss me and mama Elizaveta would get all happy and take pictures and oh! Did you like the camera Albert gave you?" Feliciano asked suddenly, looking eager.

"Yes I did, it's too expensive for me though. I'm afraid I might break it," I answered with a laugh, looking away from Francis's scowl. Feliciano laughed too, his voice musical and like wind chimes.

"What about the book set thingy? The books by that Jane lady! What was her last name again? Jane A-something." Feliciano scrunched up his face in thought.

"Jane Austen?" Francis asked, pleasantly surprised.

"Yes! That's it!" Feliciano said exuberantly.

"I didn't know you liked to read romance novels, mon chou," he teased and I glared at him.

"I-I don't. My mum must've though I would've liked reading it – when I don't," I lied quickly.

"Ve~ but… in my vision you looked really happy when you opened the present!" Feliciano said confused. My face burned as Francis laughed. "So, when are you bringing Arthur to the party?" Feliciano asked. Francis grimaced as I turned to glare at him.

"Feli…you weren't supposed to tell him. It's a surprise for a reason," Francis told him. Feliciano looked horrified.

"I'm sorry!" he cried out, looking like he was about to cry.

"But it's ok! I'm sure Arthur would prefer not being surprised," Francis added quickly.

"I'd prefer not having a party at all, actually," I interjected, glaring at Francis.

"Like I said, Arthur would prefer not being surprised," Francis said, ignoring me.

"I can't come to the party – I have homework to do," I answered, really not liking the idea of a party. I wasn't a party person, in case you didn't realize it.

"B-but! It's your birthday! Who does homework on their birthday?" Feliciano demanded, scandalized.

"I do," I answered.

"What homework do you have?" Francis asked me, resting his head lightly on my shoulder, smirking as he heard my heart jump in surprise.

"I have to watch Romeo and Juliet," I said quickly and it was true; Mr. Winston had said that in order to really understand Romeo and Juliet, we should watch it.

"Watch it later!" Feliciano protested.

"No – I have to watch it for tomorrow," I replied and Feliciano pouted.

"I'll watch it with him and then bring him to our house at around seven – it'll give you enough time to prepare," Francis told his brother and Feliciano beamed.

The bell rang. "I can't wait to see you there, Arthur!" Feliciano said excitedly. He threw his arms around me for a hug and then ran off before I could say anything.

Francis and I walked towards our first period class [we now had almost every class together thanks to Francis and his powers of seduction], I pointedly ignoring him as he went on about wonderful birthdays are.

We walked to the back of the class, no one questioning why. Everyone seemed to accept the fact that we were dating – even Taylor and Michelle. Michelle even stopped giving me sad glances, preferring to spend time with Peter, who she had now developed an on and off relationship with.

I fumed in my seat about the fact that Feliciano and Francis had wanted to give me presents. Being someone who spent most of his life with his mother trying to make ends meet, the fact that they wanted to spend so much money [the Payes were insanely rich – I guess that's what happens when you have lots of time on your hands and a son who can predict stock trends] on me made me feel awkward. Especially since there was no way for me to return the favour. All the money I earned in my part time job at the grocery store nearby went into my very small university fund. I was really banking on the hope that I would win a scholarship, but that was only plan B. Francis was still being resilient about Plan A.

As the day continued, I noticed that Francis didn't bring up the topic of my birthday again. I saw Feliciano try to, only to have Francis shoot him a look and silence him. We sat our table for lunch, and I saw Francis nod at Kiku in greeting. It always surprised me that the moment Lovino, Ludwig and Antonio, the older, 'more intimidating' Paye boys were gone, our table grew to include my human friends. Along with Feliciano and Francis, Kiku and Ben [who seemed to still be dating, though still at that very shy first stage], Peter, Michelle, Taylor and Laurent sat with us too – although I didn't consider the last two to be friends. Feliciano got along surprisingly well with Kiku, and it amused me to see the well-mannered Japanese boy attempt to hold a coherent conversation with the always hyper Feliciano. The others seemed to ignore them; they only time they'd ever talk to me was whenever Feliciano and Francis skipped school on sunny days. Francis didn't seem to mind the fact that he was being blatantly ignored – a fact that always surprised me, considering how attention-loving the frog normally is.

The rest of the day flew by and like that, I found myself strapping my seat belt on, Francis sitting right beside me in my truck.

"Am I allowed to wish you happy birthday yet?" Francis asked me hopefully.

"No," I growled.

"Happy birthday to you~" Francis sang out. I turned on the radio and put the volume up as far as I could. Francis winced at the static. "You have a terrible radio," he informed me.

"I'm quite aware of that, thanks," I said through gritted teeth. Francis pouted.

"Why can't you just enjoy your birthday? It's a big day for you!" he pointed out.

"I don't like birthdays." Just like Harry Potter. But of course Francis wouldn't understand that.

As I parked my truck in the driveway, Francis leaned in, waiting for me to turn off the ignition before making his move.

"Bon anniversaire, mon chou," he murmured, pressing his lips against mine. I attempted to move away from the kiss but his hands found their way to my face and held it against his. My heart rate rose and I suddenly lost the ability to breathe. Just like that, it was over. "Like your birthday now?" he purred.

"No," I muttered, blushing deeply. Francis rolled his eyes and kissed me again, lighter this time.

"Let's hurry upstairs to your room so we can finish watching that movie and get to the party," Francis said, letting go of my head and unbuckling his seatbelt. I mimicked his movement, still feeling slightly shaky.

He grabbed my hand as we walked towards the door, sufficiently numbing my hand and making me clumsily fumble my keys around while trying to unlock the door. Francis found this all very funny – even though it was all his fault to begin with.

As I located the copy of Romeo and Juliet I had borrowed from the library, Francis made himself comfortable on the couch, lying down and giving me suggestive looks. I ignored him and inserted the old VHS copy into the player, fast-forwarding through the opening credits. I sat down on the edge of the couch as the movie began. I felt Francis pull me towards him and smacked his hands away. I wanted to be able to concentrate on the movie without Francis trying to make a move.

"Arthur, we're watching a romance movie," he protested as I glared at him.

I turned my attention back to the TV and I heard Francis move into a sitting position beside me, wrapping and arm around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder.

He was surprisingly silent for the beginning part of the movie. I was able to listen to the actors converse and completely ignore Francis softly kissing my earlobe.

"Romeo annoys me." Of course, I shouldn't have expected it to last for very long.

"Why not?" I asked, staring at him. Romeo was one of those romantic figures, wasn't he? I would've thought that Francis would be enamoured with the character.

"First he's in love with Rosalind and claims he can't love another woman and then he meets Juliet and falls 'madly in love with her', despite the fact their parents are enemies. Then he goes and murders Juliet's cousin. How is that supposed to make him seem like a good husband for Juliet in her parents' eyes? He ruins himself more and more as the play goes on," Francis replied. "He's a stupid character."

"You're just jealous," I muttered, not appreciating Francis destroy one of my favourite plays. I went back to the movie, completely ignoring Francis again.

Francis didn't speak again until near the end, when Juliet awoke from her induced slumber only to see her would-be husband Paris and Romeo dead at her feet. I was feeling a stab of pity for the girl, only to hear, "I envy her."

"I thought you hated Romeo," I said. Francis rolled his eyes.

"I do. I wasn't talking about him. I was talking about how easy it is for her to kill herself after she realizes her beloved is dead."

"And why is that a good thing?"

"I once wondered how to kill myself since, as Roderich proved, it's not easy to kill our kind," Francis said lightly, nuzzling into the crook of my neck, eyes on the television screen.

"Why?" I asked, horrified. "Why would you want to kill yourself?"

"It was something I was contemplating when your life was in danger last year," Francis murmured, not looking me in the eye.

"And how were you planning to go about and kill yourself?" I asked, trying to the fury out of my voice.

"Going to Russia and provoking the Ceemya," Francis replied.

"What the bloody hell is a Ceemya?" I demanded to know.

"The Ceemya is a family," Francis said, rolling his eyes. "One of the oldest covens in the world. They're kind of our royalty, when I think about it. Roderich lived with them for a few years before moving to England. I showed you the painting of him with them."

I remembered now. The man with pale blonde hair and his two regal sisters. Ivan, Katyusha and Natalia. I completely ignored the movie playing now and turned to face him.

"And how would provoking the Ceemya make you die?" I asked, partially curious and partially furious.

"You don't provoke them. Ivan…Ivan does not appreciate annoyances. Neither does Natalia. You provoke them, it's the last thing you do," Francis replied. Before I could berate him on contemplating doing such a horribly stupid thing, he moved away from me, no longer cuddling into me but just sitting beside me.

"Albert?" I asked and he nodded. A few seconds after that we heard the sounds of my father's police cruiser roll into the driveway and Albert opening the door. To my surprise, he was holding Chinese take-out.

"Happy Birthday, Arthur," he greeted as he walked into the living room. "Hungry?"

My stomach grumbled, answering for me. I flushed as Francis and Albert laughed, storming into the kitchen to escape the mini blow to my dignity.

Albert and I ate in silence, Francis not joining us. Albert was far too used to Francis not eating with us to really care.

When we finished, Francis swooped in and stole my seat as I stood up to throw out the garbage. "Would it be alright for Arthur to come to my house this evening, sir?" Francis asked smoothly. I quickly prayed that Albert was the type who liked to celebrate birthdays at home with family only.

"There's a match on tonight," Albert mused and my hope dissipated. "I guess you can take him out – I won't be much company anyways."

"Bon," Francis said, smirking at me triumphantly. I scowled in response.

"You should take your camera," Albert suggested, picking up the camera. I took it from him uncertainly, not really wanting to take pictures.

"That's a good idea!" Francis agreed, taking the camera out of my hands and turning it on. Before I could do anything, there was a bright flash. Francis burst out laughing as he stared at the picture that he had taken of me. "That's a lovely expression, Arthur," he remarked and showed me the picture of me looking terribly surprised.

I glared at him and he took another picture, momentarily blinding me again. Francis and Albert laughed. I grabbed it from Francis and took a picture of him, hoping to blind him the way he had blinded me. No such luck, but the quality of the pictures was superb. Not going to lie, I was slightly disappointed that he showed in the pictures at all. Yet another vampire myth disproven.

"You kids have fun tonight. Tell Feliciano I say hi," Albert said, already getting up to walk to the living room. I rolled my eyes. Albert had become oddly attached to the bubbly Italian boy when I broke my leg. Feli saved him the trouble and embarrassment of helping me shower [though Francis had originally wanted to do that].

"I'll him," I promised as Francis took my hand and dragged me towards the door. I grimaced at the thought of going to a party.

Francis drove us in my truck, making it go faster than the truck would've preferred going [and me, for that matter]. He dropped subtle hints on how he could always get me a much faster car. I pretended that I couldn't hear him and turned up the radio, pretending that the static that came out was actually music.

"Can you do me a favour, s'il te plait?" Francis asked me.

"Depends," I replied.

"The last proper birthday we celebrated was for Antonio. That was in 1935. I know you don't like it, but we're all very excited for the chance to celebrate your birthday. Try not to be so negative," Francis told me, and I tried to process the 1935. Jesus, I never stopped feeling taken aback when he brought up stuff like that.

"I'll do my best," I told him and Francis smiled a little.

"I should warn you that everyone's going to be there," Francis told me and I blinked.

"You mean, Ludwig, Antonio and Lovino are going to be there too?" I asked, surprised. "I thought Antonio and Lovino were in America." It was thought that the three older Paye siblings were all at University – Oxford, to be exact. I knew that Ludwig was still at home, but I had thought that Antonio and Lovino went to America.

"Antonio didn't want to miss a chance to party."

"And Lovino?"

"Lovino's going to be on his best behaviour. Antonio and Feliciano will see to that," Francis replied.

"This better be a tame party," I warned and Francis rolled his eyes.

"Of course it will. We're a group of vampires; do you think we can drink alcohol?" he asked and I laughed.

We pulled up to the house, my jaw dropping at the sight. It seemed that Feliciano had gone a little overboard in his decorating. Japanese lanterns hung on nearby trees and bright little lights were strung on the top of the roof. There was a large vase of flowers waiting at the doorstep. I blanched.

"Feliciano gets a little excited about parties sometimes," Francis apologized as we got out of the truck, pushing me forwards.

"I really don't want to do this anymore," I muttered, planting my feet into the ground.

"You promised you wouldn't be negative," Francis reminded me and pushed me towards the stairs. I sighed, climbing it. I flashed him a quick grin.

"Does this look negative to you?" I asked and Francis rolled his eyes.

"Non…but it looks very attractive," he replied, swooping down and kissing me lightly. Using my sudden light-headedness to his advantage, Francis pushed me into the door, walking in behind me.

"Happy Birthday, Arthur!" the group chorused happily, beaming at me with their blindingly white smiles.

I looked around with slight horror. Feliciano had gone all out with the streamers and balloons, and a banner was hung above the Payes with Happy Birthday on it. Nearby Roderich's piano was a large table holding a magnificent looking birthday cake. Not too far away was a table with wrapped presents.'Feliciano gets a little excited about parties' indeed.

"Arthur!" Elizaveta exclaimed, rushing towards us and enveloping me into a hug. I tried not to shiver at the contact of her cold skin and wrinkled my nose as her chocolate brown hair tickled it. Roderich approached in a more dignified manner, shaking my hand warmly.

"We couldn't stop Feliciano in time," he told me, rolling his eyes as a gleeful looking Feliciano.

Lovino and Antonio were not too far away from them. It always surprised me when I saw Lovino; he was horribly attractive, probably the most out of the entire group, but he never had a smile on his face. It was no different today. He wasn't smiling, but at least he wasn't glaring either. Antonio stood beside him, beaming at me happily.

"¡Hola Arturo!" Antonio said enthusiastically. I eyed his rippling muscles and wondered if he had always been this muscular. It really had been a while since we last saw each other. "You know, I thought you'd look kind of different now – but you're still just as red faced as usual!" he remarked and my face turned an even darker red, making him and Francis laugh.

"Thanks a lot," I said sarcastically.

"¡De nada!" he replied jovially, his beam growing. "Well I have to step out for a moment and get something – don't do anything fun while I'm gone!" he said, giving Feliciano a look.

As Antonio walked away, Feliciano came towards me – practically skipping. Without a word, he took me by the arm and started pulling me towards the gift table.

"I want you to open presents now!" he said excitedly when we reached the table, taking the camera out of my hands and motioning to a big box-shaped, silver-wrapped present. He seemed to be waiting for my response so he could capture it on film.

From Antonio, Lovino and Ludwig, the tag read. My curiosity was suddenly peaked. What did they get me? I ripped through the wrapping paper and pried open the top of the box, staring into its contents with curiosity.

It was empty.

"Wow…thanks, this is amazing…" I said, slightly confused.

Lovino smirked and Ludwig chuckled. "It's a stereo for your truck," he explained. "Antonio's gone to install it so you can't return it. It was Feli's idea," he added.

Of course Feliciano had been one step ahead of me.

"Thank you," I told Ludwig and Lovino, smiling at them. Lovino's smirk faded and he looked away. I decided to ignore that. I suppose that all of Francis's comments about my radio were leading up to this. "Thanks, Antonio!" I called out loudly.

I heard Antonio laugh from outside and decided that that was his way of saying, 'you're welcome'.

"Open mine and Francis's next!" Feliciano demanded, pushing the present into my hands. I put the box down to hold it, glaring at Francis.

"Don't worry, I didn't spend any money on it," he promised.

"You better not have," I muttered.

"I'm here!" Antonio cried out, running into the room, stopping beside Lovino. "I want to see what he got you!" he exclaimed.

I stuck my finger under the edge of the wrapping paper and ripped it open. The smooth paper sliced through my skin.

"Fuck," I muttered, pausing in my unwrapping to examine the cut. It was a tiny cut, so small that only a bead of blood came out of it. The drop of blood hit the paper.

Everything that occurred afterwards happened way too quickly for me to even remember.

"No!" Francis cried out, pushing me backwards. I yelled in surprise, hitting the cake and the rest of the presents. They crashed down with me, the glass plates that had been with the cake breaking around me.

Ludwig leapt forward, his eyes looking frenzied. Francis grabbed Ludwig by the waist and pushed him away from me, looking furious. Ludwig tried push past him, to get to me.

It was then when I realized my arm was in pain. Lifting my right arm up, I realized that there was a large gash from my wrists to my elbow. Feeling light-headed, I tore my gaze away from the blood that was pouring out of my wound to see the feverishly hungry eyes of six vampires.

Oh fuck.


A/N: Wow, 20 reviews for the preface [that's like, less than 300 words long]? That is the most amount of reviews I've gotten for something so short. So here's a long chapter to make up for that ^^

I love you all so much, like you have no idea.

The Ceemya is indeed this story's Volturi. I believe Ceemya is family in Russian, if my Russian friend is correct.

As all, read and review~!