Finally, the day came to an end.
The cursed bell rang, and I was free.
I walked through the halls like a convict stepping out of prison, weaving through clusters of noisy students. Their whispers followed me, as always.
"Isn't that the pale freak?"
"Look at those eyes…"
"Creepy."
I didn't even flinch anymore. Their voices were just background noise — gnats buzzing in the summer heat. Irrelevant.
I had one destination: Rain's classroom on the first floor.
Her classmates spilled out into the hall, all chattering and laughing about things that didn't matter. To me, they were shadows, faceless and forgettable. Rain was the only one in this entire building I could imagine becoming someone important. Not that I'd ever want her to. If the world was cruel enough to throw her into danger, I'd burn it all down before letting it touch her.
Lost in thought, I barely noticed the small body bumping into me until I staggered a step back.
"Damn," I muttered, rubbing my side. "Does clumsiness run in the family? Dad once broke his arm bumping into a chair. Now you…"
I caught myself rambling and shook my head. Tangents. Always tangents.
"Hello, my favorite raining sister."
Rain, all four feet and something of her ten-year-old self, blinked up at me with a pout. Her dark hair was tied in two messy braids, and her schoolbag looked twice her size.
"Why did you bump into me, big bro?" she demanded.
I sighed. "You bumped into me."
"No, you bumped into me."
This was our usual back-and-forth. Pointless. Endless. And somehow comforting.
I reached down and tugged her backpack off her shoulders. "Let's take this off your hands—"
The weight nearly pulled me to the floor.
"What the hell? Did you fill this with bricks?"
Rain crossed her arms, unimpressed. "Books, big bro. It's called studying. You should try it sometime."
I groaned, adjusting the monstrous thing on my shoulder. "I don't need to study. My genius brain absorbs knowledge directly from the air."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like it absorbed that door earlier?"
I stopped walking, glaring down at her. "You heard about that?"
"Alexander told me," she said smugly. "The whole school knows."
I muttered something under my breath that I probably shouldn't have said in front of a ten-year-old. Rain just laughed.
By the time we got home, the sun was dipping low, casting gold light across the quiet street. The front door swung open, and Mom was already there.
Her name was Elena, though I rarely used it. To me, she was just Mom. And at that moment, she looked like a storm in human form.
Her eyes went wide when she saw the bandages across my face.
"My baby!" she cried, voice trembling.
Insert meme sound here.
"Mom—" I dodged left, barely avoiding the bear hug that would've cracked my ribs. "I'm fine, mommm—"
Too late. She snatched both me and Rain, crushing us into her chest.
"My ribs! Mom, my ribs are cracking—!"
Finally, she released us, smiling like she hadn't just committed assault.
Before I could breathe, two missiles tackled me to the floor.
My six-year-old twin brothers. Luca and Dante.
"Big brother's home!" Luca shouted, climbing onto my back.
"Attack formation!" Dante yelled, locking my arm in a surprisingly effective hold.
"Why am I always the one getting abused?!" I groaned, struggling against their tiny but merciless limbs.
"Because you're big!" Dante said matter-of-factly.
"And because it's fun!" Luca added.
Mom laughed behind them, clearly enjoying the show. Rain just shook her head. "You deserve it, big bro."
"No loyalty in this family," I muttered, surrendering as the twins celebrated their victory with high-fives.
Later, as the chaos settled, we all gathered in the living room. Rain spread her notebooks across the table, and I found myself roped into helping her with biology homework.
"Red blood cells… transport oxygen," I said, scanning the page. "White blood cells kill bacteria."
Rain rolled her eyes. "I know that."
"Then why am I here?" I leaned back in my chair dramatically. "Clearly, you're already a genius."
"Clearly." She smirked.
I sighed, staring longingly at the kitchen, where the smell of Mom's cooking drifted out. Garlic, onions, something rich and savory simmering in the pot. My stomach growled.
Dinner was a ritual in this house. We all sat together, bowls steaming, waiting for Dad to get home.
When he finally walked through the door, the atmosphere shifted.
His name was Adrian. He worked for the government, though the details were always a mystery. Silent. Serious. He was a shadow that slipped in and out of our lives, but somehow his presence anchored us.
"Welcome home, honey," Mom said, sliding a bowl in front of him.
He nodded. "Evening."
That was Dad. A man of few words. I guess I inherited that silence from him. Not by blood, though.
None of us were related by blood.
Rain and I were adopted. The twins came later. Sometimes I wondered what that made me exactly. From what I understood, my biological father was a deadbeat — Adrian's brother. Which technically made me his nephew, not his son. My biological mother? I knew even less. All I had was the name she left me with: Alucard.
Apparently, Mom had almost renamed me Seb. SEB. Can you imagine? As much as I hated sounding like the villain of some cheap novel, at least Alucard had weight. Seb was… Seb.
I shuddered.
"Alucard," Mom's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. She gave me a pointed look. "You're wasting good food."
I blinked at the spoon dripping soup back into my bowl.
Right. Dinner. Family. Normal life.
At least, for now.