Chapter 1
Dan Carter turned seventeen on a Tuesday, which already felt like a personal attack.
Nothing catastrophic ever happened on Tuesdays. Tuesdays were for protein shakes, calculus quizzes, and junior varsity lifting after school. Tuesdays were safe. Predictable. Human.
So when his mom texted “Family dinner. Be home by 7. Wear something dark.” Dan assumed it was one of her phases—like when she tried keto or briefly insisted the house needed “protective crystals.”
He did not assume cult activity.
Dan was the kind of guy teachers described as “a leader” and “pleasantly surprising.” Six-foot-one, broad shoulders, varsity soccer captain, permanently sunburned nose. He liked ESPN debates, cherry Slurpees, and helping freshmen find their lockers even when his friends roasted him for it.
He was also currently valedictorian-ranked. Which felt fake. Like a clerical error the universe hadn’t noticed yet.
At school that day, everything felt… off.
Ashley Monroe brushed past him in the hallway, faux fur coat swishing dramatically even though it was eighty degrees outside.
“Cute shoes, Dan,” she said sweetly, then leaned in. “They’d look better on my bedroom floor.”
His brain blue-screened.
Behind her, Colette Nguyen adjusted her glasses and mouthed ignore her while flipping through flashcards. Colette smelled like library books and peppermint tea. They had been study partners since sophomore year, bonded by mutual overachievement and shared hatred of group projects.
Ashley was chaos. Colette was gravity.
Dan liked them both in ways he didn’t understand and pretended not to notice.
By the time the final bell rang, his chest felt tight. Like something was waiting.
Dinner was quiet. Too quiet.
His dad didn’t make jokes. His mom didn’t hover. His older brothers—Mark and Elias—had driven in from college and sat stiffly, dressed in black like they were attending a funeral for vibes.
After cake (no candles), his Uncle Victor stood.
“Daniel,” he said, voice smooth and serious. “It’s time.”
“For what?” Dan laughed weakly. “Are we doing one of those murder mystery dinners? Because I didn’t sign up to be stabbed.”
No one laughed.
His mom reached for his hand. Her palm was cold.
“We’re going on a drive,” she said. “You need to trust us.”
They drove past the city. Past streetlights. Past cell service.
The car finally stopped at the mouth of a cave carved into a mountainside, hidden behind dead trees and fog like something straight out of a horror movie trailer.
Dan swallowed. “You’re messing with me.”
They weren’t.
Inside the cave, torches flared to life. His entire extended family stood in a circle, wearing dark robes. Symbols were carved into the stone floor—ancient, sharp, wrong.
His heart pounded so hard it hurt.
Uncle Victor stepped forward and pulled back his hood.
His eyes glowed red.
Every single person did the same.
“Happy birthday,” his father said softly.
Dan took a step back. “Nope. Nope. This is—this is some prank. This is illegal. I’m calling the cops.”
“You can’t,” his mom said gently. “You’re one of us.”
Silence crashed over him.
“We are vampires,” Uncle Victor said. “And tonight, you take the blood oath.”
Dan laughed once, sharp and hysterical.
“You’re insane.”
His father bared his fangs.
Dan screamed.
They cut his palm. Blood dripped onto the stone, hissing like it was alive. His uncle sliced his own hand and pressed it to Dan’s.
The world tilted.
Heat flooded his veins. His vision sharpened. He could hear everything—heartbeats, breath, the cave itself breathing.
“Swear,” the family chanted.
“Protect the legacy.”
“Protect the blood.”
“At all costs.”
Dan’s mouth moved before his brain caught up.
“I swear.”
The torches flared.
Something ancient inside him woke up.
And somewhere deep in the cave, something else smiled.
