A loud and high pitched sound wakes Eryx up, his eyes slowly opening to adapt to the sunlight entering his room, for the first time in his life, the direct sunlight in his eyes hurt, not an unbearable pain, just a strong discomfort. He turns off his alarm and gets off the bed, pulling the curtains along so that he can open his eyes properly. The first thing he notices is that Sevan already left, although it's still 6 a.m., he barely sleeps, Eryx observes, probably because of his genus.

Slowly he gets ready for the day, a quick shower, brushing his teeth and drying his hair as he dresses, at the end he stares himself at the mirror inside his wardrobe. In all of his life he never thought looking at his reflection would remind him so much of his brothers. He’s the shortest but he still has decent proportions, long legs, that make him seem taller than what he truly is, his neck has a bit of pulsing veins due to the recent change in blood, his skin that was most often than not tanned is now pale like the silver moon, his hair is what mostly remains the same, short red waves that reach his red eyebrows, sometimes even tickling his red eyelashes. The bright red tone of his hair is nothing compared to his new eye color, bright orange, a color similar to the tangerines he used to eat with his mother as a child but with a glimmer that made him look unhuman. Perhaps because I’m not human any longer, he reflects, touching the small mole he has under his left eye, reminding himself that the reflection is real, not a figment of his imagination. I really am a vampire now.

He purses his blood red lips, a characteristic some vampires have due to the sensitivity in the area, since there’s where their canines are supposed to rest when they pop out, so to avoid accidents their lips are extremely sensitive, some vampires having red, pink or even purple lips due to such. A long sigh leaves his lips as he finishes putting his tie.

The Link Academy’s uniform is a reflection of the colors in the flag representing Iris City, dark purple pants and blazer with golden details, a white buttoned shirt and a striped purple and yellow tie. And close to the heart is embroidered the symbol of the Academy, a flower bouquet composed of the flower that names the city, Iris, and tying the bouquet is a white string, a representation of the eye color of the founder of the Academy. The link so per say.

Not ready at all to start the day, Eryx grabs his bag and leaves the dorm. The corridors are bustling with people, some he recognizes from the day prior, others he doesn’t, however they all seem to know each other, probably because most vampires all go to the same schools or frequent the same social circles, while Eryx was trapped with life as a human until literally two days ago. 

His first stop is at his brother’s office, it takes him almost half an hour to find the Architecture department, and ten more minutes of asking around to finally find Milo Algeo’s room. He doesn’t knock, his brother wouldn’t hear anyway, the door is open and the place is swallowed in sunlight, as most of the windows are open, and at the center of the room is a sofa where Milo is laying, wearing sweats and laying as if he was a sculpture, bounded by the sofa. His breath is slow and he looks exactly like the portrayals of angels humans have at their churches. But in Eryx’s eyes all he sees is his brother lazying around. 

With a simple movement he kicks the sofa his brother is sleeping in, yet no answer, for fucks sake, he thinks, pulling his bag to grab his water bottle, opening and emptying its content directly to Milo’s face.

Even so, Milo’s eyes open slowly, as if he can’t be bothered to even be startled, he looks at his brother, whose face is flushed with anger. A soft smile on his lips. ‘’Good morning, baby’’.

‘’Morning my ass, just give me the blood, my class starts in ten and I’m starving’’, Eryx says, closing his bag, annoyed that he now will need to fill his water bottle again. Vampires do not need to eat or drink human food, and water isn’t an exception, however due to the lack of nutrients in recent bloods, they are advised to eat and drink them in order to replenish vitamins, some vampires even enjoy the taste, while others strongly avoid it, preferring to take pills to compensate. 

After turning Eryx can’t stand the smell of human food, probably a side effect of being a newborn, soon he’ll probably be able to go back to eating the foods he used to enjoy. However drinking water is a necessity since vampires still require water for their bodily functions to work, while some just drink more blood, Eryx doesn’t have that luxury since his body requires more than most vampires to function at the moment. So he ends up drinking a lot of water to be sure his body won’t start shutting down.

Milo scratches his head as he yawns, slowly getting up from the sofa, with no concern for his brother’s hurry. ‘’It’s here somewhere, give me a moment’’, he says, even his words are sluggish. To be honest, Eryx never saw Milo hurry for anything in his life, he never even saw him flustered, angry or even expressing any emotion that isn’t sleepiness. 

Maybe it's because of the anxiety over the first day of classes, or the anger of having to deal with his lazy older brother so early in the morning, but Eryx strongly wishes to see Milo changing his expression for once in his life. 

The older man grabs his bag, where he searches for the blood he’s supposed to give to his younger brother, he doesn't even bother to store it properly, Eryx feels annoyed and angry, time ticking and he really doesn’t want to run and get sweaty so early in the morning, Eryx suddenly has an idea, an idea he isn’t sure if its childish or just stupid. As Milo pushes the three blood bags from his bag and opens his mouth, turning to his younger brother, Eryx speaks before he can.

‘’I’m gay’’, he says, incredibly aware that when Nicolas came out, all Milo did was nod and leave the room in silence to go to sleep, or at least that’s what the eldest himself told him. 

In his mind, Milo’s reaction wouldn’t be much different, he would just not care. But oh boy, was he wrong. Milo drops his bag, and one of the blood bags in his hand bursts open as he clenches onto them. 

‘’Hey, don’t waste my blood!’’ Eryx says, jumping to grab the blood bags, licking the excess blood and drinking them as he feels the hunger taking over, not allowing a single drop to be wasted. While he’s there, consuming the blood, Milo is staring at him with a blank expression, his posture is straight and his eyes are cold and serious, however he doesn’t utter a single word.

Only when Eryx finishes eating and tosses the empty bags in a bin nearby, his lips stained with the blood he just ate, that he glances at his brother again, Milo’s eyes are red, and tears are falling through his cheeks. What the fuck? Eryx freezes. 

‘’Why the hell are you crying?’’ His tone is more of concern than out of anger.

‘’Baby, you’re not pure anymore?’’ Strangely enough, Eryx understands completely what Milo means by those insensitive words.

‘’I’m still a virgin, brother’’, he says, rolling his eyes. ‘’Hopefully not for long’’, he provokes, making the older one cry even more. ‘’Why are you crying over my innocence?’’ He asks, freaked out.

‘’Because you’re still a baby’’, Milo says, choking on his own words. ‘’You’re supposed to never grow up’’.

‘’Brother, you think Luc is still a virgin?’’ His question makes Milo open his eyes in shock.

‘’He is’’.

‘’Ha, no way in hell he is’’, Eryx shoots back, looking at his phone. ‘’Shit I’ll be late’’.

‘’Wait, baby, what do you mean the other baby isn’t a baby anymore’’, Milo’s words barely make sense to even himself.

‘’Gotta go’’, Eryx says, grabbing his bag, ready to leave when Milo holds his arm, his red eyes pleading.

‘’Please don’t grow up’’.

Eryx almost feels bad for his brother, however the reality is, he knows quite well that Milo needs to stop seeing him and Luc as babies. 

‘’But I already did’’, he says, before pushing his brother away and running towards his classroom, praying that he won’t be late.