Awakening The Bloodline

Chapter 1: Weird is Our Normal (Until It Isn’t)

Casi had always felt like a total freak. Luckily, she wasn’t flying solo in Freakville. Her partner-in-crime since, like, forever, was Nathan. They’d been matching each other’s weird since the sandbox days.

And when she said weird, she meant next-level weird.

For example: Casi could see a mile away. Seriously. It was like she had superhero binoculars built into her eyeballs. She could read a license plate from down the street or spot a lone mosquito on the ceiling. Nathan could do it, too. Oh, and they could both run a 100-meter dash in about ten seconds flat. You know, casually.

They’d figured out it was best to keep the super-skills on the down-low around age twelve. That’s when people’s friendly smiles started looking a little… strained. A little scared. Her mom’s obsession probably didn’t help. She wasn’t into normal movies. She loved the ones where scientists in hazmat suits poked at alien goo or government agents chased down “special” kids. The message was clear: if anyone really knew what you could do, you’d end up in a lab or a body bag.

So, they hid it. All of it.

Now, Casi was about to hit sixteen. Nathan was turning eighteen - same day. A weird coincidence? Maybe. But they loved it - it meant one big, shared birthday bash.

Besides the freaky skills, they had this other thing. A connection. If they were too far apart for too long, a little ache would start up, like a phantom headache. They never, ever talked about that part. I mean, come on. They were already weird enough.

Lately, though, Casi was dealing with a new and not-so-fun craving.

Weird didn’t even begin to cover it.

She was thirsty. For blood.

Just thinking it sounded insane. But it was true. When someone stood close, her eyes would laser-focus on their neck. She could hear the thump-thump-thump of their heartbeat, and it didn’t sound like a rhythm; it sounded like a dinner bell. It was getting impossible to focus in class. She’d started ditching school a lot.

Nathan would ditch with her. They’d bail for the woods behind town, where they could run at full speed, see as far as they wanted, and just breathe without feeling like exhibits in a zoo. He hadn’t mentioned a blood thing, but he was changing too. Seemingly overnight, he looked like he’d been carved out of marble. Girls practically tripped over their own feet staring at him. For a guy who’d rather read a comic than be the center of attention, it was a nightmare.

But today… today was different. Today, everything was dialed up to eleven.

They were both jittery, on edge. Casi’s thirst was a drumbeat in her skull, and every person she saw looked less like a person and more like a walking juice box. Nathan was pacing, his skin itchy and hot, buzzing with a restless energy he couldn’t name.

“I just feel… hungry. But not for food,” he grumbled, raking a hand through his hair. “It’s like my bones are itchy.”

“Tell me about it,” Casi muttered, fiercely staring at the ground so she wouldn’t stare at the jogger’s vein across the street. “At least my thing doesn’t flare up around you. You’re, like, the only safe person. Everyone else is a potential… snack.” She gagged saying it.

Nathan finally stopped pacing and looked at her, his usually calm eyes wide. “Casi… let’s ditch school. For real. Not just to the woods. Let’s just… go.”

A chill that had nothing to do with the weather shot down Casi’s spine. Her sixteenth birthday was in three days. Nathan’s eighteenth was right after.

“What was happening to them?”