It didn't matter anymore. It would all be over soon. I would never have to see them again or intrude on their perfect little family of three.

I went back to school and sorted through the last of my things in the dorm. There were my parents' pharmaceutical research notes-containing the preliminary formula for a drug that could free vampires from the threat of crucifixes entirely.

The next day, I was sitting on a bench with the notebook, waiting to meet Caspian, when I spotted Silas and Julian in the hallway.

Elena had dragged them to a bench not far from mine. Her bright laughter echoed through the corridor.

"Behave yourself," Silas said, ruffling her hair. "We leave for the Caribbean in a few days. You can wear any dress you want there."

Listening to them, my chest felt suffocating. Just then, a classmate called my name, and I stood up to go over. When I came back, Elena was holding my notebook, tearing out the pages one by one.

My vision went white. I rushed over and snatched it back.

Elena let herself tip backward, striking her forehead on a stone pillar with a sharp cry. Every vampire student in the hallway turned to look.

My hands trembled as I opened the notebook. It was my parents' life's work-and five years of my own research. All destroyed. The pages had been ripped to shreds, and the remaining ones were smeared with a silver-ion solution that had blackened the text beyond recognition. On top of the pile of ruined paper, she'd drawn a large, mocking smiley face in marker.

Silas was at my side in an instant, not bothering to ask a single question before erupting: "Alice! Have you lost your mind? Why did you push her?"

Julian helped Elena up, his face dark as a storm.

Caspian walked over then. He took one look at the destroyed pages in my hands, and his expression turned lethal.

"Your research notes were destroyed?" he asked in a low voice.

Silas's fury faltered. He leaned in to examine the torn paper and frowned. "That's impossible. Elena wouldn't do something like this?"

"Let's go," I said to Caspian, my voice flat. I didn't wait for Silas to finish. Strange-I should have been hysterical. I should have screamed and raged the way I had so many times before. But all I wanted was to leave.

I'd been fighting them for six months. Six months of arguments, and the outcome was always the same. Since I was leaving anyway, there was no point wasting my breath.

I walked toward the exit with the ruined notebook clutched to my chest. To my surprise, Silas followed.

His tone was as cold as ever, but there was something oddly strained beneath it: "Give me the notes. I'll try to restore them with a restoration spell."

I didn't look back. "Don't bother."

I had originally planned to give this notebook to Julian-he'd once shown a deep interest in pharmacology.

Silas seemed to sense something was off. He grabbed my arm. "Alice, what's going on with you lately?"

There was a thread of anxiety in his voice I couldn't quite place. I simply reached out and gently pushed his hand away.

We stood at an impasse for a moment before he spoke again: "Elena is still young. If she really tore it, it couldn't have been on purpose."

Of course. He was only worried I'd "retaliate" against his precious darling.

I stepped into the elevator and pressed the close button. In that moment, the part of my heart that had refused to give up finally went still, and went completely numb.

As the elevator doors closed, I said softly, "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Julian came running-he seemed to want to stop the elevator, but it was too late.

As the elevator descended, the last thing I glimpsed was the flash of panic in his eyes.

At noon, Caspian accompanied me through the final preparations for my audience with the Vampire King. That was when Julian suddenly called.

After I picked up, there was a long silence. Just as I was about to hang up, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "When are you coming home?"

I hesitated. "School's been busy. I'm not coming back."

"What about tonight?" he pressed.

I was confused. "I have plans."

Another long silence.

"Today's the anniversary of us being turned into vampires," he said, awkward and halting.

I held the phone for a long time without speaking. In years past, I'd always started planning months ahead-expensive gifts, and I'd tell them that even though vampires had eternal life, every day had meaning as long as you had family. I'd even begged them, eyes brimming with tears, to turn me on that very date, so the day of our rebirth would be the same forever.

But now?

"Happy anniversary," I said flatly. "Just go ahead and turn Elena."

Caspian plucked the phone from my hand, his tone frigid. "Your birthday gifts have already been sent to the castle. I'm sure you'll find them quite 'surprising.'"

After he hung up, Caspian shook his head. "I sent over the medal of honor for your research project."

I smiled and shook my head. They probably wouldn't believe it. Or if they did, they wouldn't care.

Caspian then took me to the Vampire King's castle. He was already waiting on his throne. I lay on the bed that had been prepared in the great hall.

The King looked down at me, solemn. "Are you ready for your new life?"

I nodded calmly and closed my eyes. After the First Embrace, all former ties of blood would be severed forever.

Sharp fangs pierced my skin, and the scalding royal blood surged into my veins. A tearing agony engulfed me, and I slowly sank into unconsciousness.

The day I formally entered the Progenitor Research Center was three days after my transformation.

Caspian hosted a final banquet for all participants. As vampires, we rarely consumed human food, but that evening the table was laden with the finest blood wines and specially prepared dark berries.

After several rounds of drinks, the atmosphere in the banquet hall turned thick and somber. More than a few vampire researchers seated at the long table had tears in their eyes.

Caspian set down his goblet and surveyed the room, his voice echoing through the vast hall:

"This is your last chance to contact the outside world. Make a call to your kin or your loved ones."

"Once you enter the core laboratory, you'll be immersed in a hundred years of research stasis and pharmaceutical trials. If you want to back out, now is the time."

The soft sounds of dialing filled the room, interspersed with stifled sobs. I sat still for a long time before finally taking out my phone and opening a social media account I hadn't touched in ages.

Silas had posted an update. They'd taken Elena to the Caribbean. In the photos, the sea was a blue so vivid it hurt to look at, as if God had spilled his palette.

Elena was wearing the hand-sewn lace dress that should have been mine. She glanced over her shoulder on an endless stretch of sand, her smile dripping with sweetness.

Caspian's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Alice, make a call."

"Once you walk through those doors, who knows what century it'll be when you come out."

I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles went white. After a long hesitation, I dialed the familiar number.

But the voice that answered was Elena's-light and gloating: "Hey! Need something?"

My voice was hoarse from the transformation. "Are they there?"

Elena chirped back, "You mean the boys? They told me to answer. They're busy taking me diving right now and can't talk. Whatever you need to say, you can tell me."

In the background, I could faintly hear Julian calling out: "Elena, put the phone down! Come over here-the waves are strong!"

Elena's voice carried a sliver of undisguised triumph. That petty teenage vanity seemed almost comical to me now.

"So what did you want to say? I can pass it along."

"Oh, by the way-you left a box at home, right? Since you've moved out, there's no point keeping that old stuff around, so I had someone get rid of it. You don't mind, do you?"

My heart went completely still. I answered flatly, "Never mind."

I hung up.

When everyone had finished their goodbyes, we began walking toward the massive door. On one side lay the bustling human world. On the other, a century of solitude.

I removed my SIM card, snapped it in half, and tossed it into the recycling bin by the entrance.

I crossed the threshold without looking back. Not once.

……

After a week in the Caribbean, Silas was gripped by an inexplicable restlessness. With the Full Moon Festival approaching, Elena wheedled to stay on the island for the celebration, saying the beachside festivities were famous.

Silas's instinct was to refuse. His work was done for the year, and he should have felt at ease-but this nagging sense of absence wouldn't leave him alone. They'd only been gone seven days, yet it felt like centuries.

He was groping for an excuse to go home when, to his surprise, the usually composed Julian spoke first:

"You can come back and play anytime."

"There's urgent blood-contract business at home. I have to go."

Elena was still in high spirits and protested: "But you promised Alice there'd be absolutely no work during the family vacation!"

Julian froze, his gaze drifting guiltily toward the window.

Elena huffed and stormed out, abandoning a newly purchased plush toy.

Silas stared at the teddy bear on the floor. He suddenly remembered-it was the kind I used to love as a child.

What was I like as a little girl?

Silas tried to recall, and was horrified to find the images almost completely blurred. All he could summon were the last six months-my frantic screaming, my tearful demands to drive Elena away. And then, the version of me that grew quieter and quieter. I no longer clung to him for bedtime stories or asked about their missions. I was always "busy at school." When I crossed paths with him in the castle, my eyes were full of distance and unease.

Each time Elena broke something of mine, my reactions had evolved-from explosive rage at first, to eventual numbness. All I'd say, in a voice devoid of feeling, was: "It's fine."

Silas picked up the teddy bear from the floor. He was suddenly aware of a hollow ache in his chest, as if he'd lost something precious beyond measure.

When had he lost it? That little princess who used to tug at his sleeve, whose eyes held nothing but him-when had she disappeared?

Julian's cold voice shattered his reverie:

"I'm flying back to North City tonight."

"If you want to stay here with her, suit yourself."

Silas looked up sharply. In Julian's eyes, he saw the exact same restlessness and dread.

Almost instinctively, Silas replied, "I'm leaving tonight too."

Julian said nothing. He turned in silence to pack his things.

The next evening, their private jet touched down in North City. The whole way, Silas's temples had been pounding.

When they arrived at the castle, the great hall was cold and empty. No familiar figure anywhere. The old housekeeper came forward to take their cloaks.

Silas asked, as if it were a casual afterthought: "Alice isn't back yet?"

The housekeeper shook her head, her eyes rimmed red. "Miss Alice never came back at all."

Silas frowned, a note of unease creeping into his voice that he himself didn't recognize. "It's been over a week. Tomorrow's the Full Moon Festival-how could she not be back?"

The housekeeper had served the castle for many years and had always doted on me. She replied coolly: "I wouldn't know. After all, hasn't the lady of this house already been replaced?"

Silas was about to press further.

But Elena rolled her eyes with evident irritation, latched onto Silas's arm like taffy, and wheedled: "Oh, she'll come back eventually. Don't worry about her. Come look at this poetry collection I just bought-you have to read it to me tonight."

Silas felt a surge of inexplicable frustration. He recalled how Elena had mentioned my name in the Caribbean with barely concealed disdain. Now I'd been missing for over a week, and there wasn't the faintest hint of concern in her eyes. All those syrupy calls of "sister"-how many had ever been sincere?

The housekeeper retreated to the kitchen, muttering under her breath: "If the masters don't care about the young miss, why bother pretending to ask about her now?"

Those words were like poison-tipped silver needles driving into Silas's heart.

Elena was still complaining in that small voice: "She's a grown woman. It's not like she can just get lost."

A nameless fury ignited from deep within him. Silas wrenched his arm free. Without a word, his face like stone, he walked upstairs.

Behind him, Elena let out an exaggerated wail: "Did I say something wrong? You won't read to me anymore?"

Silas didn't look back. He left behind a single, icy sentence: "You're fifteen. Can you not read?"

Elena's aggrieved sobbing immediately filled the hall. Once upon a time, Silas would have turned around to console her in an instant. One teardrop from her and he'd give her anything she wanted. He'd always believed that failing to be kind to Elena was tantamount to betraying our dead parents-betraying the hero who'd tried to save them in the blast. He'd placed Elena on a pedestal, showered her with extravagant favoritism, and told himself it was repaying a debt.

But what about me? I was his real little sister.

Silas walked to the second floor and stopped at my bedroom door. He pushed it open and found it bare. Even the faint scent of cold fir that had always been mine had vanished.

He stepped inside and looked around. Only now did it hit him-I'd taken so many of my belongings with me.

A violent wave of unease crashed over him, like a hand closing slowly around his throat. He sank into the sofa and scrolled through his phone-through the entire contact list-searching for missed calls or messages from me.

My social media was silent. Not a single post.

Dead silence.

Where had I gone?

Julian walked in then, his face alarmingly pale. He'd clearly noticed something was wrong too.

"Can't reach her?" Julian's voice wavered.

They exchanged one look, then finally summoned the courage to dial the number that made every vampire tremble-the Vampire King's private line.

The phone rang three times before the King's deep, pressure-laden voice came through.

Silas held his breath and spoke with desperate humility. "Your Majesty? forgive the intrusion. I wanted to ask-is Alice with you, receiving the First Embrace? She hasn't been home in days?"

Dead silence on the other end. Then, after an eternity, the King let out a cold, derisive laugh. His voice was glacial:

"You mean you don't know she's already joined the century-long isolation research project?"

Silas and Julian went rigid, as if struck by lightning.

"Project?" Julian seized the phone, shaking. "But she-she was supposed to still be undergoing your transformation. She's so frail, how could she possibly-"

"Frail?"

The King's voice was laced with undisguised scorn and admiration:

"She is the most resilient, most gifted vampire I have ever seen. Three days after her transformation, she volunteered to enter the isolation zone and begin her research."

"For the next hundred years, unless the research succeeds, no one will see her."

"Isn't this what you pushed her into? Coming to ask now-don't you think it's a little late?"

The phone slipped from Silas's hand and landed on the expensive carpet with a dull thud.

Silas and Julian sat slumped in my empty room, staring at the blood-red moon through the window, like two children who'd lost their entire world, letting out howls of near-total despair.