Damien darts into his home and goes straight for his room. Thank God for super speed.
He then begins to dress. He quickly rushes into his bathroom, applies a little bit of gel on his blond hair to make it slicked back and smooth, and makes sure that the blood that was once on his nose disappears and it isn't visible.
He then walks into his walk-in closet, puts on a white shirt, black pants, black socks and polished shoes. Then he throws a suit on his body; he adjusts himself and then looks at himself in the mirror. When he sees everything is perfect, he walks out of the closet, and he lets out a yelp.
"Cece, what are you doing here?"
"Hello to you too, brother." A girl who looks like Damien sits on the bed with her legs crossed. One would think her to be a model in her luxurious metallic champagne-gold evening dress with a sculpted, strapless sweetheart bodice featuring intricate feather-like embellishments.
The fitted silhouette flows into elegant draped fabric with a daring thigh-high slit, accented by crystal strands. The dramatic open back is finished with an oversized metallic bow, creating a glamorous, couture-inspired look.
With her wavy blonde hair up in a bun.
"What are you doing here, Cecelia?"
"Why, I found out that you were nowhere to be found, so I knew that you had gone out to continue the mischief you said you were going to leave off in London."
"I didn't go fight monsters."
"Really, Damien? You can lie to our parents but not to me. I'm your twin sister," she says confidently and with anger in her voice.
Damien knows she's right, so he sighs.
"Okay, fine, yes, I did go fight monsters; they were wendigos," he says, the last part excitedly and Cece just looks at him with a smile on her face, and she tilts her head. "What?" he asks.
"Who is he?"
"What?"
"The guy you met at wherever you went to, who is he?"
"I didn't-" he scoffs. "I didn't meet a guy."
"Damien, what did I say about lying to me? You are a very bad liar by the way, and I know when you've met a guy."
"Really? How?"
"You always have that spark in your eyes. Come on, I knew you were gay before you did when you had a crush on Tommy Spring in year three."
"Bloody hell, Tommy Spring was so beautiful, and he's so hot now. Have you seen his Insta?"
"No, and I don't care about him. Now tell me who he is?"
Damien just stares at his sister, and he should know by now that there's no keeping secrets from her. And Damien might be the psychic one in the family, but Cecelia and he still have a psychic bond that was formed in their mother's womb.
"Okay, fine," he groans, and then he jumps on the bed.
"His name is Rowan," he says dreamily, like Rowan is staring down at him right now. "He has those beautiful cognac brown eyes, full lips, a sharp jawline that can cut anything, and he's just so effortlessly cool."
"Really?"
"Yeahhh, oh." he sits up. "And he's a hybrid," he says to his sister.
"A- wait, what?"
"Remember there were rumours that a hybrid lived here in America; he is the hybrid. He's part werewolf, part witch."
"Shut up, are you joking?"
"Would I joke about something this serious, Cece?"
No, apparently not.
"I saw him use magic at the same time I saw his claws and those golden eyes that werewolves have."
"Holy shit. I'm beginning to like this boring-looking town."
"It's not boring!" Damien protests. "This town is more than just a place where everyone is romance obsessed; there's something to it I can feel it."
"Is it your spirit powers talking or just you?"
"I don't know, both?"
"Hmm."
"Come on, Cece, just give it a chance."
"Alright, alright, you act like I have a choice. It's not like I'm going to run away or anything." She rolls her eyes, and she looks at her brother as he looks at her with a raised brow.
"You have done that before."
"That's in the past. I'm not doing it again. Besides, do you think mom and dad will approve of this little crush you have on a werewolf witch hybrid?"
"I don't really care."
"Okay." Cece raises her hands in surrender. "At least I don't have to wear uniforms anymore."
And as Cece has always said, uniforms are a way of drawing the creativity out of kids' brains. She has gotten in trouble so many times for violating the dress code; at least now she can dress however she likes.
Rowan lies back on the bed. "I want to see him again."
"Ugh, you are such a lovesick puppy."
"I love love, I'll not love love. And me and Rowan what we have is magnetic."
"Really?"
"Seriously, when we touched, the lights went all flickery and all. It was weird."
"Hmm, that does sound weird."
"I don't know, there's just something about him that seems familiar, which is crazy to say considering the fact we just met. I feel so drawn to him, and you can call me delusional but-but I think he feels the same way."
"Oh brother, delusion motivates you, so if I call you that it wouldn't be as an insult."
The door barges open. "THERE YOU TWO ARE!" The twins immediately get up at the sound of their mother's voice.
Katherine Ivanov angrily stands at the doorway; she's dressed in riches and royalty.
She's in a sleek ivory satin evening gown with a fitted silhouette, an elegant square neckline, subtle draping and a flowing matching scarf that adds a timeless, sophisticated touch.
"I've been looking everywhere for you two; the guests want to see you," she says and then walks away. Cece and Damien look at each other, and they burst out laughing.
"Uh, I don't see you two following me!" she yells, and the twins immediately leave Damien's room and follow their beautiful mother to the garden where the welcome party is taking place.
Yes, their parents threw a welcome party for themselves; it's normal in the moroi community to do that. Once they move into a new state or country, they announce to other morois that they've arrived by throwing a party.
No other moroi lives in Cupid's Hollow in upstate New York, but they do live in the city.
There's an orchestra, food- both blood and solid food and the people looking like royalty; moroi do look like royalty.
Cece's stomach growls, and Damien hears it.
"I'm so hungry."
"Me too." Damien clutches his stomach.
"Let's take some blood before-"
"Damien! Cecelia! Over here!" their mother calls them.
"Oh come on." Cecelia groans, and they both march toward their parents. They don't want to get on her hot side. She's the one with the fire powers.
"Mary Lou, these are my kids Damien and Cecelia." Katherine introduces them to an older woman who looks fifty but is probably in her seventies. That's moroi genes for you.
"Aww, they're so cute." She says. "And this one is more handsome than his father." Mary Lou pinches Damien's cheek.
"Hey, that's not true." Alexei Ivanov says in a Russian accent, which makes them all laugh.
"Accept it, Dad."
"Never!" They both give each other a funny death stare.
"Aww, the happy family." Mary Lou begins. "You know, Katherine, I'm still shocked that you guys moved to Cupid Hollow of all places. You do know the Lockwoods live here, right?"
Damien and Cecelia exchange confused looks. "The Lockwoods?" They say in unison.
"Yes, dears."
"Who are the Lockwoods?" Cece asks.
"Well, they're-" she stops talking when she notices the uncomfortable faces their parents are making. The twins can see it too. "Oh, they don't know." Their parents don't say anything; they just stay quiet, awkwardly quiet. Suddenly, their mom has nothing to say.
"Dad, Mom," Damien says. "Who are the Lockwoods?"
"The Lockwoods are a werewolf family. They've lived here for years, and our family used to live here years ago, and they somehow clashed with the Lockwoods."
"In what way?" Damien asks.
"A Lockwood and an Ivanov fell in love, son."
Damien and Cecelia look at each other with shock in their eyes. "What?" they both say.
"Yes."
"A werewolf and a vampire?" Cecelia says in disbelief.
"Yes." Their dad says again. "Their love caused a lot of trouble in Cupid Hollow; it made the two communities fight. Werewolves and moroi vampires were supposed to live in peace, but what peace would exist when the alpha's daughter fell in love with a vampire boy?"
The twins both look at their dad in awe, not believing their ears.
"Their relationship caused a lot of destruction; people died, people got hurt, and the town was on fire."
"So what happened to them?" Damien asks, hoping they got a happily ever after.
"They both killed themselves."
And now they're both more shocked than they were before.
"But hey, it's not like history is going to be repeating itself; we'll just steer clear of them," Katherine says.
"It's for the best." Mary Lou says.
Damien can hear his sister giggling. He looks at her.
"I think I'm going to love this town after all," she mutters.
But Damien doesn't smile or say anything; he just looks away. He knows for a fact that there's more to this story than they're leading on. And he's going to find out what that is.