Tao felt like he was going to die. His stomach hurt so much and his head was pounding. His throat felt like sandpaper and it felt like his body was shrivelling up. and he was hungry. By this point, he knew he wasn’t hungry for anything normal. Water made him want to throw up and anything he ate didn’t stay down for long. His mother was frantic, calling every doctor she could and taking him to every hospital they could drive to in her attempts to find out what was wrong.

Tao lay in his newest hospital bed, trying to figure out what had happened to him. It had to have been at the party he’d snuck out to a week and a half ago to attend. He hadn’t left his drink unattended and he hadn’t eaten anything, but something must have been put in his drink when he wasn’t looking. That had to be it. but the doctors would be able to figure out what was wrong with him if that was it, right? But they knew as much as him.

“Hey,” Tao looked at the door to see his cousin walking over.

“What are you doing here?” Tao asked, “I thought you ran away.”

“I did,” his cousin nodded, “but I’m back to help you.”

“How can you help me?” Tao scoffed, “even the doctors don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“They don’t know what to look for,” the older boy shrugged. Suddenly, his teeth grew and sharpened and the whites of his eyes turned black while the rest turned yellow like a cat’s eye.

“What?” Tao tried to move back, but he was attached to too much medical equipment to get very far.

“We’re vampires, Taozi,” his cousin explained, “it’s in our DNA.”

“I don’t believe you!” Tao hissed, “I’m not a vampire. I’m human.”

“really?” the older raised an eye brow, pulling out a bag of red liquid, “so if I open this bag, you aren’t going to go nuts trying to get to it?”

Tao didn’t answer, eyes to focused on the bag. If he had of been paying attention, he would have felt his fangs growing. What he did pay attention to was the fact he wanted what was in the bag. Badly. His cousin noticed this and teasingly moved the bag around, laughing to himself when the younger’s eyes followed the bag. Finally, he walked over and handed Tao the bag.

Tao wasted no time in ripping the bag open and downing the liquid. It wasn’t until he’d drunk all of it that he realized he’d just drunk blood. And he suddenly felt a lot better. He wasn’t hungry anymore and a lot of the pain he felt faded. That knowledge made him feel sick.

“Don’t try and throw up,” the older of the pair cautioned, “you need that or you’re going to die.”

“How did this happen?” Tao cried, cheeks wet with his tears.

“The vampire gene is triggered if we come in contact with another vampire,” his cousin explained, “but only until we reach full psychical maturity. After that we can be surrounded by vampires and nothing will happen.”

“That’s what happened to you?” the older nodded.

“And to you,” his cousin sighed sadly, “on your way home from that party, we crossed paths with each other. I was heading to the party just as you were leaving. We bumped into each other and the contact triggered your vampire gene. Sorry about that. I didn’t think you’d be there. I mean, you’re thirteen. I didn’t think you’d be sneaking into parties like that so soon.”

“What do we do?” Tao asked, “You ran away because of this, right? How can I stay at home when I drink blood?”

“I’ve heard about this place for people like us,” his cousin said, “it’s called Dark Lake Academy. It’s a safe place for supernaturals like us to train. I can’t go anymore, I’m too old, but you can go.”

“I want to go,” Tao said, eyes narrowed in determination, “what do I have to do to get sent there?”

“Become a troubled kid,” the older explained the plan, “the councillor at your school is a supernatural, so when you get sent to her just tell her the full story.”

“Alright,” Tao nodded, slightly nervous. He hoped that this would work. He wouldn’t be able to hide what he was from his mother forever. If he had to go to Dark Lake to hide this from his mother, he’d do it.

A/N: and how Tao became a vampire is now known to all!