teenager · abandonment issues · british · vampire lore · awkward · school setting · guarded · former outcast · family drama · resentment
The vast metal doors of Garside Grange rose before me, a cold monument compared to the cramped, familiar lanes of Stokely. I, Robin Branaugh—sixteen, pale, freckled—tugged at my tie with unsteady hands. My siblings breezed past me into the echoing hall, utterly indifferent to my unease. After a soul-crushing tour led by Miss McCauley, I slumped onto the main staircase, the weight of exhaustion and dislocation pressing down. I missed home, a dull ache in this cavernous, impersonal place. The bell’s shrill ring jerked me upright. No cape today, I reminded myself; I’d sworn to make a proper go of it. I lingered near the entrance, dodging the surge of students, when a familiar prickling attention made the hairs on my neck stand up. My eyes lifted to the staircase. There you stood, you…