Chapter 1.

"the beginning"

Ruby Hart was your normal college student. With normal brown hair, which she twirled around her normally pudgy fingers, and normal doe brown eyes that shone just enough to make her normal height of 5'3'' really stand out. Even her clothes, ripped jeans and an oversized red T-shirt, were normal.

The only thing about Ruby Hart that was not normal was her family or, to be specific, her adoptive sister, Eliza Hart, only two years older than Ruby.

Eliza was outstanding, she was the blonde popular schoolgirl, or at least she was before graduating Mooresville’s Highschool. She started dating a nice bloke, that she soon discovered was a vampire, not just a handsome man struggling to pay rent, unwillingly being pulled into his dramatic life.

Thing is, Eliza had no intention of alerting her sister of the species of the man that had breakfast in their house, joined their movie nights, or suggested almost every family night game. She believed that Ruby, out of everyone in her life, deserved a normal life. Until Ruby discovered the truth.

The morning of the day Ruby discovered everything was quite normal. She was stretched on her brown comfy living room's old couch, scrolling through her phone that had a broken screen as she was bored out of her mind. Suddenly, her phone started ringing in her hands, startling her. She answered the phone after seeing the contact name sprawled on the screen, ‘Auntie, Mira <3’

"Hi, Aunt Mira," Ruby greeted enthusiastically, feeling relieved that her family knows that she was still alive and that she was currently the only Hart who happens to know the purpose of a family house.

Auntie Mira answered over the phone before sighing heavily in content, "Hey, honey,", She couldn't wait to surprise her youngest niece with her arrival, "Guess what?"

"You decided to ground Eliza, even though she is twenty-one because she had gone MIA and her phone had been off since yesterday’s morning?" Did Ruby confess all about her sister and sort of guessed? Oops.

No one could blame her really, she was kind of wishing Auntie Mira would ground Eliza so she would feel a bit better, knowing she’ll always be there when she wants to talk or interrogate her about what she had been doing lately. Considering that her curiosity could light up the whole world just like her smile always did.

"What?" Auntie Mira questioned in confusion over the phone, as she knocked on the door, keeping up with the surprise in store.

"Hold on, someone's at the door, might be the girl of the hour?" Ruby said, getting off the couch before walking to open the door. The moment she recognized her Aunt, she dropped her phone, smiling from ear to ear.

She blinked back, taking her Aunt’s new look. Mira Philips had a slim body, she was her mother’s youngest sister and she took after Ruby’s mother with the strawberry blonde hair, just cutting off a few ends since Ruby had last seen her but all in all, Auntie Mira looked just like she did two months ago, beautiful, in the most inspiring way possible.

Ruby engulfed her aunt in a bone-crushing hug as Mira smiled, holding onto her niece. She might have been distancing herself from Eliza for a few secrets that came up in a way neither of them liked but Mira couldn’t see herself ever mad at Ruby.

"God! I didn't know how much I missed you until now,” Mira claimed, caressing her niece’s cheek, “Your hair has gotten longer and you got a piercing?” She laughed, noticing before Ruby led her inside, taking her bag from her hand, “Wow, I am shocked. I thought you were against anything with a needle nearing you.”

“Well…Andy suggested it and you know how I love her, she is the coolest, ever,” Ruby shrugged her shoulders, leaving her aunt’s bag by the staircase.

Mira nodded, adding with a slight tone of disapproval, mimicking, “And the worst influence on my littlest niece, ever.”

The brunette nineteen-year-old rolled her eyes, turning to the fridge, “Auntie Mira, you know I love you but the parental authority is not a good look on you,” She claimed, pulling out a bottle of orange juice from the fridge.

“Am I wrong, though?” Mira asked, sitting on one of the dining table’s chairs as she continued, “Andy is a cool kid with troubles at home and she got arrested, twice.”

“Both of them were faked and you know it, her dad did it to frame her but deep down, she is a really good person,” Ruby sighed, explaining before she offered her aunt a fresh cup of juice, “Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Okay…what’s wrong with Eliza?”

“What’s not wrong with Eliza…,” She scratched the back of her head, sitting down on a chair in front of her aunt’s, “She barely answers my calls anymore and she is never in the house. I have seen her twice in the last two weeks. It’s not like her and whenever I bring it up, she says that she is with Will, doing God knows what.”

Mira crossed her arms, nodding, “I mean Will is a good guy but she has been different ever since they started dating.”

“And let’s not talk about his brother, Van,” Ruby ran a hand over her face, adding, “He and Will have so many family issues and I don’t want her getting in between them but I don’t know how to stop it.”

“That’s the last thing a girl wants, to get stuck between two brothers, never ends well,” Mira nodded, agreeing. She looked lost for a moment as if she had been in a similar situation before shaking her head, asking, “Well, if she isn’t answering, have you called Will?”

"Oh God, I am so stupid. I completely forgot,” Ruby shook her head at herself before asking, “Could you please?"

Mira chuckled lightly, pulling her phone out of her pocket, “Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

After two rings, Will did answer, “Hello?”

"Hey, Will. It’s Mira, Eliza’s aunt," Mira greeted, over the phone, placing it on speaker for Ruby as she asked, "Where’s Eliza? She is not answering her phone.”

"Eliza is not here at the moment." Will stated, quietening down for a few seconds before he questioned, "Is everything okay?"

"She left me all these weird messages telling me to stay away from Kevin," Mira rubbed the back of her neck, revealing. Kevin was her boyfriend of two years who also taught Occult History at Ruby and Eliza’s college but they had recently broken up so Mira could focus on other things in her life.

"Yeah, me too," Ruby added, shaking her head, “What is going on? I can’t exactly avoid my teacher without knowing what he had done. Tell Eliza that she is being weird and it’s scary.”

Will paused, asking as he failed to hide his surprise, "Wait…Mira, you are back home?"

"Yeah, what's going on?"

Ruby shook her head, sighing in frustration, "Where's Eliza, Will?”

"I'm supposed to meet Kevin at some cafe for lunch to…talk," Mira shrugged her shoulders, remembering.

"Mira, Ruby, both of you. Listen to me very carefully," Will demanded, seriousness lacing his words, "Whatever you do, do not meet Kevin at all—"

The Hart girl interjected, scoffing, “Not until you tell us what’s going on.”

Will replied, reassuring, “I am going to come over now and I'll explain everything." He finished, hanging up as Mira and Ruby exchanged a look.

“That went well.”

_______________

Ruby was obsessed with drawing and painting. Art, itself, was just mesmerizing. Too good to be true. It took her to other dimensions, she could be anywhere in the universe while still being in the confinements of her pink wallpapered bedroom. Magical, wasn’t it?

She was sketching on the floor with a charcoal pencil, her fingers ached from making it to the top of the canvas and back down about twenty times in one minute but she kept going. It relieved her stress over studying, her sister’s many secrets, and it made her feel better about almost everything.

Ruby only stopped when the noise from downstairs had gotten too much, she lifted her canvas off the floor, placing it on her desk before making her way to the bottom of the house as her aunt spoke up, “I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what the hell's going on.”

She walked inside before placing an arm on her aunt’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze to reassure her as she commented casually after seeing Kevin and Will on the other side of the room, “Damn, the tension in this room is so thick you could cut it through with a knife.”

The brunette girl didn’t notice as Kevin turned to her with an exceptional look in his eyes. One that neither Will nor her Aunt Mira had seen before. He was awestruck like he had never seen Ruby Hart before, which was impossible because he had been teaching her every day for a whole year in college.

After a few seconds of silence, Kevin asked, “Do you believe in vampires, Mira?” He turned his head to Ruby, raising an eyebrow, "What about you, sweetheart? Do you?"

"No? Funny, isn’t it?" He shook his head, laughing it off as Mira and Ruby looked at him like he had grown three heads, “Well, who does? right?"

Kevin shrugged his shoulders, chopping carrots on the kitchen’s island, "But believe it or not. They do have a place in our history," He revealed, making Mira raise her eyebrows at him in a confused manner, while Ruby eyed him warily, she was beginning to regret not taking her sister's advice, "And, as a history teacher, I find them fascinating.”

"Why are we talking about this?"

"You left because I was not interesting enough but here is it," He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and quite dramatically, “I am obsessed with vampires. There I said, isn’t that interesting?” Kevin inspected the looks of surprise on their faces before chuckling.

"Are you ok?" Ruby asked, fully concerned with his well-being as he was currently the only considerable father figure in her life.

Kevin claimed, brushing it off, "I am alright, sweetheart but not joking, at all,” He asked, standing in front of the stove, “What about you, Will? Are you a fan of vampires?"

"Not entirely, I think it’s a myth,” Will replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

Kevin nodded, pursing his lips in a straight line before inquiring, "Did you know that vampires are the oldest creatures of the night?" Will only nodded with a fake smile and interest, "Except for werewolves. of course.

Mira’s eyebrows almost rose to her hairline as she scoffed, “Werewolves?” She pulled away from Ruby, walking up to her ex-boyfriend, “Werewolves…Now, I know you are really mad.”

"You know. I've read that there was a curse placed on both species by a powerful witch...that keeps werewolves slaves to the moon and vampires bound by the sun,” He shared, not for a second wavered by Mira’s disinterest.

"Wait,” Ruby cut in, her eyes lighting up with interest, “By bound by the sun, do you mean sparkle? Like bound to sparkle in the sun?"

If it wasn’t for how serious she looked, Kevin wouldn’t have laughed but he did as Will attempted to suppress a smile from escaping him, “What's so funny? have you seen Twilight?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as Kevin shook his head, “Oh God! How could you not, Kevin?"

"Here we go," Will and Mira exchanged a look, muttering under their breaths.

"It’s Twilight for God's sake! Well, you're so watching it and by the way. I am shipping Bella and Jacob,” She revealed, placing her hands on her hips, warning, “And don't you even dare ship Bella with that sparkling Cullen. I mean the guy is hot and all but he is nowhere near Jacob Black, for heaven's sake he looks like a Sex God—" Ruby went full fangirl mode before her aunt cut her off.

"Ruby.”

"Right, Auntie Mira,” She rolled her eyebrows, correcting herself, “He is just really good looking,”

The Hart girl turned to him, continuing, “Just take my warning seriously and stay away from Edward's shippers, they are idiots. I mean Edward is hot and all but he gets all Diamond-like and although it’s cool sometimes, it’s annoying most of the time."

She rambled on and on as Kevin stared at her with nothing but admiration, Will did not miss it as he took a protective stand beside Ruby before Mira interjected, “Ok, sweetie. I think Kevin learned not to talk about vampires with you ever again.”

"But Auntie, I am not even quarter way done, there's still all about Bella's pre—" Ruby started before her aunt cut her off, again.

Mira nodded, rubbing her niece’s back, "He got it, honey, I'm sure he'll get the movies."

"You know…,” Kevin trailed off, continuing his subject from earlier, “They say these creatures would do anything to have that curse broken...and that they wouldn't care whom they had to diminish to do so."

It got quite fast before Ruby crossed her arms, leaning on the kitchen’s island, “That sounds incredibly cool, story-wise.”

_______________

A while later, they were all sat around the dining table, having lunch. Will and Aunt Mira had their doubts as they were quite suspicious of Kevin but Ruby was secretly enjoying a new side to her Occult History’s teacher. Never had ever someone shared her interest in the supernatural.

"Oh, I know this all sounds crazy but—" Kevin started, only to be cut off by Ruby Hart in the process. It was a rather awful habit of hers but she used to say it like it is and whenever she thought of it, rendering her a very disturbing person.

Ruby shook her head, claiming, “Actually, I find this pretty interesting,” She took a sip from her non-alcoholic mimosa, “All of the supernaturals being real is fascinating."

"Yes. Vampires are very much real.”

She raised her eyebrows, questioning, “Then why isn’t everyone aware of that already?”

“Because—”

Mira interjected, turning to her niece, "Ruby, go upstairs.”

"What…but Aunt Mira, I—”

“Fine, stay,” Mira shook her head, rising to her feet, “Might as well see how to dump a crazy ex for a future reference," She stated, looking up at Kevin, "Get out.”

He scoffed, putting down his glass of wine, “Excuse me?" Ruby attempted to interfere before Will shot her a look, telling her that she clearly shouldn't, so she kept her mouth shut.

"I don't know what it is you're trying to do or why you're saying this but..." Mira huffed out, shaking her head in confusion.

"Mira, honey…”

"I said. Get out," She repeated herself, and Will took that as his sign to interfere and stood up.

"You heard her," He turned to Kevin, tilting his head toward the door.

Ruby looked down at her glass of non-alcoholic mimosa, commenting, "Well, that escalated quickly.”

"I am afraid I don't want to,” Kevin rose to his feet, turning to face Will, threateningly.

Mira scoffed, shaking her head, "Fine. I'll go,” She pulled her niece off of her chair, “C’mon, Ruby," They were about to leave then suddenly Kevin took a knife from the island, threatening Mira with it.

"Kevin…what the hell are you doing?" Ruby questioned, fear was radiating off her as she stared at him in disbelief.

He stated, holding up a knife over Mira’s neck, "You're not going anywhere."

Out of nowhere, Will was beside Kevin and in a second, he was pinning him against the wall with the knife held up to his neck. Ruby could have sworn that just a second ago Will was just beside her, “Will…,” Mira uttered, attempting to process what just happened.

"How did you do that?”

Will didn’t answer, ordering them while still holding the knife to Kevin’s neck, dangerously close, “Mira, take Ruby and get out of here. Now!”

"You can't kill me, Will," Kevin smirked, having no fear over his life whatsoever.

Will challenged back, "Watch me," He had the upper hand, pressing the knife so hard that it started a cut on Kevin’s neck.

"Will, stop…" Mira warned as she and Ruby ran up to his side, “He is not worth it, alright…”

Kevin shook his head, stating, "I may not have a witch protecting me...but if you kill this body what's to stop me from jumping into Mira’s next, huh?" He taunted him, as Mira and Ruby watched with equalized fear and confusion.

"Mira, Ruby. Go!”

"But you..." Her aunt went to protest as Will turned to them, black and bloodred veins growing under his eyes, his once green eyes turned black with swirls of red around them.

He shouted out, “I said, Go!” Noticing the sudden change of his features, Mira wasted no time, reaching for her niece’s hand and running out of their house as Ruby was too stunned to move.

How could it that nice, welcoming, and fun Will Langston could have the face of a monster? She couldn’t have trusted and confined in a monster for a whole two years, never for a second doubting him. How stupid was she….

_______________

Hours after the ‘Kevin incident’ and the brand-new discovery, Aunt Mira and Ruby had made about Will, he took them back to the Langston Mansion. Mira was going through the shock phase, she couldn't believe that the bedtime stories that her sister used to tell her when she was little happened to be so real.

Ruby, however, felt betrayed and hurt. Her only sister had been distant for months and that was the reason. She felt her heart ached at the thought that her sister didn’t trust her enough and since Will brought her and her aunt to his and his brother’s house, she hadn’t spoken a single word as her face remained expressionless but her mind was racing with thoughts.

She heard a knock on the door, looking up to find Eliza at the door, "Hey."

Eliza sighed, taking just one look at her sister’s face. She didn’t know what to say as she sat on the edge of the bed. She wished Ruby could start the talk, say anything, even if it was how mad she was, but just a word.

"Say something…please,” She reached out, holding Ruby’s hand in hers.

Ruby sucked in a deep breath, asking, “How could you do that to me?” She shook her head, pulling away from Eliza, “I am your sister, your only sister. I thought you could trust me.”

Eliza shook her head, controlling any stray tears as she claimed, “I do trust you, Ruby, I really do.”

“Then why couldn't you tell me?” Ruby questioned, shrugging her shoulders and not caring as a few tears escaped her eyes, “I mean was it something I said that made you feel like you can’t come with something like this to me? Was it my fault, Eliza?”

"I was just trying to protect you…," Eliza sniffled back, replying, "I never wanted it to come to this.”

Ruby used her knuckles to rub the tears off of her face, “Then it did…,” She trailed off, asking, “Who else knows?”

"You already know that Will is a vampire…" Eliza started, her sister nodded before she continued, “So is his brother, Van, and Andy…"

“Andy...?” Ruby repeated, squeezing her eyes shut as she motioned for Eliza to continue.

Eliza sighed, finishing with her arms crossed over her chest, taking in a deep breath, “Noah is a werewolf, Winnie and Clara are witches.”

"What about Kevin?”

The blonde Hart girl exhaled sharply, stating, "That wasn't Kevin. That was a vampire,” She allowed her sister to process the new information before continuing, “He is possessing Kevin's body and—”

Ruby interjected, her lips parting, “Possessing? As in his soul is in Kevin’s body…?” Eliza nodded as the brunette eyes widened, “Wow…that is mad, sister…”

"You didn't even hear the rest of it."