The morning sun beat relentlessly against the reinforced exterior of House 132, but inside the living room, the world was cast in a safe, perpetual twilight. Thick, heavy velvet curtains blocked out every single stray beam of light, sealing the room in the cool, dim shadows that my vampiric physiology demanded.
A full day had bled away since our secretive medical checkup in the 5th District tenements. It was morning now. Evelyn had already buckled on her pristine white-and-scarlet armor and left early for her official vanguard patrol duties at the Bureau. Only Elicia and I remained inside the house.
Knowing I was completely safe within these four walls, I had allowed myself to fully unwind. I sat sprawled out across the soft fabric of the main sofa, the heavy fabric of my dark traveling cloak draped over the armrest. With no one but my oldest sister around, I let my massive, translucent crimson blood wings completely unfold from my spine. They stretched outward in the dim air, their delicate, crystalline veins thrumming with a faint resonance as they hovered lazily behind my pale shoulders. Elicia didn't mind. She was currently across the room, humming a quiet melody while using a bit of gentle divine magic to dust the high wooden shelves, her high-tier casting staff leaning securely against the wall near the mantle.
Suddenly, a loud, deep gurgle echoed from my midsection.
I blinked, my right hand instinctively drifting down to rest over the flat, slim surface of my stomach beneath my white linen dress. The sound was intense. My accelerated two-month pregnancy was operating at a brutal, rapid pace, and the little raspberry-sized boy growing inside me was constantly draining my internal reserves. I was absolutely starving. But I didn't want the cold, metallic iron vials or the raw protein packs Doctor Bob had prescribed. My body was screaming for real food… specifically, a sudden, wildly unpredictable pregnancy craving that completely overrode my usual stoic discipline.
I stood up from the sofa, my crimson wings folding back just enough to clear the furniture as I glided quietly into the dark kitchen. I began rummaging through the pantry shelves, my mismatched jade-green and crimson eyes scanning the supplies Alta had left for us until they locked onto a small, cardboard box.
Chocolates. Specifically, dark, rich chocolate squares topped with whole roasted nuts.
My mouth instantly watered. I grabbed the box with my right hand, turned back to the living room, and sank right back into the cushions of the couch.
Elicia glanced over, a soft, maternal smile wrinkling the corners of her eyes as she watched me open the box.
"Hungry again, little Ren? That little nephew of mine is certainly keeping your appetite alive."
"He demands sugar," I replied in my flat, deadpan register, already pulling a thick square of chocolate from the packaging.
I popped the entire piece into my mouth. The rich, sweet cacao hit my tongue, instantly triggering a wave of intense satisfaction through my system. However, as I bit down, I realized the whole roasted nuts embedded in the center were incredibly hard… far too dense to comfortably chew without making an annoying crunching sound in the quiet house.
Adjusting my strategy with mechanical efficiency, I decided to change my approach. I closed my eyes and simply sat back against the sofa cushions, holding the sweet morsel perfectly still on my tongue. I began to carefully suck all the rich, smooth chocolate away first, letting it melt completely into a sweet liquid before swallowing, leaving only the hard, bare nut behind to savor afterward.
The smooth, rich dark cacao completely dissolved against my tongue, leaving behind only the small cluster of clean, hard roasted nuts. With a quiet, methodical flick of my jaw, I spat the bare nuts out of my mouth and dropped them into the small porcelain bowl resting on my lap, entirely satisfied with my makeshift culinary process.
Just as the metal bowl gave a light clink, Elicia stepped into the center of the living room. Her 5'8" frame cast a shadow across the carpet as she dropped her dusting rag onto the coffee table with a dramatic sigh. She looked around at the scattered parchment sheets, the leftover medical wraps from Doctor Bob's clinic, and my tattered crimson trench coat thrown carelessly over a dining chair.
"Your house is an absolute mess, little Ren,"
Elicia scolded gently, putting her hands on her hips. Her crimson eyes rolled with playful exasperation, but as she walked closer to the sofa, her gaze dropped directly to the porcelain bowl in my lap. Her eyes lit up slightly at the sight of the clean, glistening nuts.
"Oh, those look good. Can I have some?"
A sudden, rare spark of pure mischief flared behind my flat, deadpan expression. I knew exactly what I had just done to those nuts, but my face remained completely stoic. I nudged the bowl toward her with my right hand.
"It's all yours, big sister," I said, my voice completely devoid of any warning.
"Thank you, sweetie," Elicia beamed. She reached down, scooped up a handful of the roasted nuts from the bowl, and popped them directly into her mouth, chewing them down with a satisfied crunch.
I couldn't help it. The sheer absurdity of the moment broke through my regular cold, mechanical demeanor. A sharp, uncharacteristic burst of laughter escaped my lips… a genuine, amused chuckle that echoed loudly through the quiet, curtained room.
Elicia paused mid-chew, her brow furrowing in deep confusion as she stared down at me.
"Is something wrong? Why are you laughing like that?"
I leaned back against the sofa cushions, my massive, translucent crimson blood wings giving a rhythmic, amused flutter behind my shoulders.
"You know, big sister... I sucked all the chocolate off those first, and only left the nuts in the bowl."
The room went dead silent for a fraction of a second as the realization processed through Elicia's mind. Her eyes widened in absolute horror. Her face flushed a deep, furious crimson.
"Pfft… !"
She instantly spat the remaining crushed nuts out of her mouth, coughing violently as she wiped her tongue with the back of her sleeve. She glared down at me, her chest heaving with deep, explosive indignation.
"Huh?! Hey! You young lady! That is quite a disgusting stunt you just pulled! I am your older sister!" Elicia yelled angrily, her commanding voice cracking with betrayal.
In a flash of pure, maternal rage, she lunged forward to retaliate. But instead of reaching for my face, her hand shot straight past my shoulder and firmly grabbed the sensitive, upper joint of my exposed left blood wing.
An involuntary jolt of raw electricity shot straight up my spine. My eyes widened, and a sharp gasp escaped my throat.
"Ah… ! Don't touch that! It's extremely sensitive!" I protested immediately, my body tensing as my wings instinctively tried to curl inward away from her grip.
"I don't care if it's sensitive! You need to be taught a lesson!" Elicia huffed angrily, tightening her fingers around the soft, membrane-like edge of the wing anyway, refusing to let go as she scolded me.
As she stood there lecturing me, a sudden wave of powerful nostalgia washed over my processing core. I realized that back when we were kids in the town of Allure, whenever I pulled a naughty prank or got into a fight with the village boys, Elicia would aggressively pinch my ear until I apologized. It was her signature big-sister punishment.
But things had changed. I wasn't that normal human girl anymore. My body had transformed, my ears were hidden beneath thick locks of hair, and my anatomy now included massive, demonic appendages. Yet, even though the shape of my body had altered into something entirely predatory, Elicia hadn't changed at all. She didn't look at my wings with fear or disgust; she just treated them like a replacement for my ears… a new handle to grab onto while she furiously protested my childish behavior.
"Sensitive or not, you are acting like a bratty ten-year-old! Carrying a child hasn't changed your mischievous streak one bit, Eirene. Next time you want to pull a stunt like that, you can clean the entire living room by yourself!" Elicia huffed, her fingers still firmly clamping down on the membrane of my wing.
"Stop it, Elicia. Let go," I muttered, my voice returning to its flat, deadpan register as I tried to twist my spine away from her grip. The tingling sensation from her touch was making it impossible to focus.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sudden, heavy thuds against the front door echoed sharply through the quiet house, cutting through our bickering like a blade.
Instantly, my crimson wings snapped tightly against my back, the translucent membranes flattening flush against my spine under my white dress. Months ago, a sudden sound like that would have triggered a violent panic, a desperate, traumatized instinct to claw my way into the nearest shadow to hide my mutated body. But my trauma and fear had fully recovered. The quiet sanctuary of House 132 and the developing life in my womb had given me back my absolute composure.
I looked up at Elicia, my mismatched jade-green and crimson eyes locking onto hers with cold, tactical seriousness.
"Let go of this. I'll open the door."
Seeing the sudden shift in my demeanor, Elicia reluctantly released her grip on my wing. She crossed her arms over her high-tier chest, letting out one last angry, indignant huff.
"Fine. But we are finishing this conversation later, young lady. Go see who it is."
I stood up from the sofa, smoothing down the front of my white linen dress. I walked across the dim living room, my bare feet making absolutely no sound against the floorboards. I figured it was just the district paperboy dropping off the morning edition, or perhaps a routine delivery from one of Alta's underground runners.
I reached out with my right hand, unlatched the heavy iron security deadbolt, and pulled the thick wooden door inward.
The bright, blinding morning sun spilled into the entryway, forcing me to squint my eyes against the sudden glare. But as the silhouette in the doorway fully materialized against the light, the breath completely caught in my throat.
It wasn't the district paperboy.
Standing on the threshold, clad in a heavy leather duster coat with the metallic glint of a revolver cylinder peeking from his belt, was my big brother. Elias.