Harutyun Jr. was crying his lungs out as his mother Adrijana pushed him in the cart as they were walking through the grocery store. To any onlooker, she looked negligent and apathetic, letting her baby cry like that. But she had spent four hours getting him dressed, trying to find the right sensory fabric for him to not just tear off his body and run away. She had fed him three bottles of dhampir sang-formula, and so he w...

I woke up to the smell of dog shit and bleach, and the sound of my mother’s voice muttering to herself - again. It always sounded like a lecture, I guess when you’re a teacher that part of your voice never goes away. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and made my way to the kitchen, where she was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor. I looked over at my brother, looking like he’d been punched in the face. “What happe...

Melancholy skidded down the stairs and was making a beeline to the kitchen. “Hold it right there young man.” “Huh? What did I do??” “Go outside and wail.” “But Ma, I just want breakfast!” “Not a single bite, you’re starting to moult, the Death Energy is backlogged inside you. You’ve been holding your Keens in again haven’t you? Hanging around that Hound friend of yours chasing each other all over the Mound til the wee hou...