"Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

[Y/n] felt an uncomfortable tugging sensation on her hair, pulling her head down and off her metal slab of a bed whilst her body still managed to cling on. [Y/n]'s [e/c] eyes shot wide as she stared down at the small child who had been tugging her hair. It was Aytsa. His black locks and big green eyes stared up at [Y/n].

"Good morning Aytsa," [Y/n] croaked out sleepily, blinking sleep from her eyes.

"Food!" Aytsa cried out, tugging her hair again, "food!" he called again, his hands clapping together. As she sat up from her bed, [Y/n] was quick to realise Aytsa wasn't the only one in her room. At the back of the room sat Mitzu and Draka who were engaged in some sort of one-sided conversation, Draka being the only speaker and Mitzu simply seeming annoyed at Draka. Then [Y/n] noticed Seishin, who's head was buried deep within the female's book Animal Farm, his expression both confused and intrigued. Laion was sat on his own making train noises and Kori stood in the corner, watching the waking female silently.

Finally [Y/n]'s eyes were drawn to the chair in the other corner of the room from Kori. In it sat Nyais, who wore a small smile when [Y/n]'s eyes met his. Her [e/c] orbs widened dramatically, before narrowing in confusion. "How long have you been here?" she asked the first thing that came to her head.

"Good morning to you too," Nyais chuckled softly, earning a bashful and slightly guilty expression from the [h/c] haired female. "I've been here for... ah, two hours give or take? I came to replace the boys' beds," he explained. "That of course meant waking them up and getting them on their feet. When they were on their feet they wanted to eat but I thought it would be best if they associated good things like eating with you so I made them wait for you to wake up," he smiled. "I was going to wake you up but then I saw you sleeping," he said gently.

"Th-Thank you for keeping them under control, Nyais," [Y/n] responded carefully; despite the kindness of his actions, she would be lying if she said she didn't find them slightly bizarre. "Uh- mind if I ask what you've been doing these last two hours?" she questioned.

"Other than keeping six potentially destructive children under control?" he responded with a laugh. "I guess I've just been making sure no one wakes you up," he hummed - to [Y/n] that seemed like the other way of saying 'I've been watching you sleep' but at least she got an extra couple hours quality resting time out of it.

"What about Aytsa?" she asked, her head tilting slightly to one side.

"Aytsa? Oh, yeah... that was his 28th attempt at getting close enough to wake you up," he said nonchalantly, "I guess at that point I caved in. You were gonna wake up in five minutes anyway. Your breathing had started to grow a little uneven," he said. [Y/n] nodded, still a little baffled about how acute hearing could tell you so much. It had never seemed overly impressive to the girl but now she understood just how handicapped humans must be an areas such as that.

[Y/n] turned her attention to the small green eyed boy who stared up at her with the same expression as before, if not holding a little more desperation. It was easy to forget when looking at such adorable children that they were still humans' natural predators and killing machines. "Alright, alright," she said softly, ruffling the small boy's hair affectionately, "I'll be back in a moment. Why don't you go and talk to Kori? He looks a little lonely," she smiled, looking over at the dark grey haired boy whose gaze remained fixed on [Y/n], unblinking. His chest didn't even seem to rise and fall. Aytsa nodded and ran over to the little boy, however Kori shook his head and continued staring past him, right at [Y/n].

[Y/n], a little unsettled, sent her gaze towards Nyais before disappearing through the door and walking over to the kitchen, still in her pyjamas (or some strange feeling fabric that was probably supposed to be her pyjamas). The kitchen was spotless - the dinner she'd eaten the night before (just a packet of microwaved rice) was all cleared away and washed up. The bin was empty and the surfaces were shining. A small post-it note sat on the table reading: 'I hope you don't mind but I thought I'd make myself useful while the guys set up the beds. The kids were a great help too. - Nyais'. A small smile crossed [Y/n]'s face at this before she went over to the metal box and pulled it open in order to retrieve the blood packs - bigger again this time. Yet another note sat in the box, as well as a key.

'The kids will be big enough to open this up tomorrow. I expect Aytsa and Mitzu won't want to hang around and wait much longer, so you'll probably need this. - Nyais.'

[Y/n] expected the succinctness and brevity of this note was due to the fact that Nyais knew he would be here before she woke up. She left the note where it was (as she always did) before picking up the blood packs and the key. She awkwardly stacked them in her arms, brushing the key off the top and allowing it to land on the table. She'd come back for it later, she decided. After all, the kids weren't yet tall enough to reach the metal container.

The [h/c] haired female haphazardly made her way into her bedroom where the six children (and Nyais) remained. Or at least, where she thought they all remained. Kori was missing. Her gaze shot to Nyais in surprise and she tilted her head.

"Where's Kori?" she asked, her tone quite obviously concerned. Nyais simply chuckled and gestured with his finger for [Y/n] to turn around, which - of course - she did. And there he was, stood a few metres behind her, unblinking. [Y/n] released a sigh of relief however, simultaneously, she tensed up a little. Was Kori planning her murder or something? This kid freaked her out.

"Don't worry," came a small voice from the side of the room - the brunette boy, Draka, looked up at [Y/n] with a smile. "Kori don't want to eat you. He just want to play!" the boy grinned. His red eyes once seemed concerning but his toothy smile brought [Y/n] comfort. She did wonder how he knew her thoughts, however.

"He can't read your thoughts like I can," Nyais responded, causing [Y/n] eyes to widen in surprise a little. Oh, yeah, of course. His hearing and her breath pattern or whatever. That still unsettled her. Everything unsettled her. "All vampires can sense emotion. It's a good technique of selecting good prey - humans with darker emotions often have higher blood pressure and therefore are less nutritional." His statement made sense, she supposed. "Draka sensed your fear so he consoled you - he's a smart kid, it would seem. I didn't know four year olds could piece something like that together with such ease," he hummed. Such a statement didn't make sense for someone who'd spent so much time in this area of work; didn't he do stuff like this all the time? Hadn't he seen hundreds of kids like these?

"No," he responded to her thoughts once again. "I suppose it would make sense for you to think that you're not the only human this must have happened to. Humans spending time with vampires doesn't seem too weird in your society," he began, rubbing the back of his neck. "No human brought here has ever had the chance to live past the 21 days. If you do manage to survive, you'll be the first human indoctrinated into our society," he explained. "So we'll have you under high guard at all times. A lot of the older vampires will likely want you dead for changing taboo... but ultimately it's the king's choice."

"So no human has ever befriended a vampire before?" [Y/n] asked quietly, a little confused. What had she done that was so different? All she'd done was not scream and play nice... was that really so hard?

"That is correct," he affirmed, looking away for a moment. "Most humans only see the vampire in control of their unit once; when they wake up. The only other time they might see them is when they're being punished or taken to die," he said, "so me coming to see you every day is... well, it's the first time it has ever happened, I suppose. I'm breaking the norm. Asking for your life as well... it's a stretch for our kind but I'm hoping I can convince them to let you live. You might have to sign a contract, though," he explained.

"A contract?" [Y/n] echoed.

"Yeah. You'll know if it's organised. I still can't promise you you'll live. Remember how much I'm breaking the norm already," he sighed. [Y/n] nodded in response, before Nyais rubbed his neck. "Right, well... you need to spend more time with the children over these next few days so I'll make my visits shorter. Plus, I've got to do something," he smiled. [Y/n] would ask what it was he had to do but she didn't dare; she didn't want to seem rude, after all. Plus, in her eyes, if he wanted her to know then he'd tell her.

"I understand," [Y/n] said softly, "thank you very much, Nyais," she smiled, dipping her head. When the female spoke his name something seemed to appear in the eyes of the male, if only for half a second, before disappearing as he dipped his head and waved goodbye in turn. He walked out of the room and locked the door behind him.

It was so easy for [Y/n] to forget she was locked in here - so easy for [Y/n] to forget about her life before the vampires - when Nyais was so kind and accommodating. She supposed that, due to the fact that she had been apparently 'prepared' for this moment her whole life, it was extremely easy to simply accept this as her fate. But... her friends at home were sure to miss her. As were her parents. Would she ever see them again?

She turned to look at the children once more, forcing a on her face as she pushed away the thoughts about anything but her current situation. Draka was pulling on her trouser leg and grinning. "What is it, Draka?" [Y/n] asked gently, her head tilting to one side.

"We can't eat you, can we?" he asked, his arms crossing over his chest. Though the question sparked some alarm in [Y/n] (which Draka clearly picked up on as he removed his hand from her and took a step back), she kept her smile.

"No, Draka. I don't want you to eat me," she said softly.

"Can I eat human who want me to eat them?" he asked again, his curiosity proceeding to cause her slight concern. 'This is normal for them,' she reminded herself, 'this is just what they do.'

"Well, I suppose so," she hummed, before passing the red eyed boy a blood pack. "Do you know how to eat these yet?"

"Not bite?" he responded, his head tilting as he looked from the cap of the blood pack to the blood inside it. [Y/n] nodded with a smile.

"Not bite, well done!" she smiled. "You crack open the seal and drink from there," she explained, passing a blood pack to Seishin (who didn't notice at first as he was still engaged with Animal Farm). "Can you show everyone how to do it, Seishin?" she asked. The boy absentmindedly moved his gaze from the blood pack to [Y/n], before nodding, placing the book down after looking at the page number for a while.

"You do it like this," the blue-eyed boy announced clearly to the room (which [Y/n] couldn't help but find adorable in a macabre way). He sucked the blood pack dry with a smile. "It's easy!" Soon after, every child followed suit, except for Aytsa who remained confused.

"I don't get it," the small boy frowned, holding the blood pack in front of him with a frustrated groan. [Y/n] knelt beside him, her expression soft as ever, taking him through how to open the blood pack. "Can you do it now?" she asked, passing him the opened blood pack. He nodded with a grin, before drinking it like a Capri-sun. She subconsciously looked away when the children drank. Knowing that the blood had come from another human, she couldn't quite bring herself to watch them consume it.

[Y/n] sat there for a moment, wondering. How would the kids grow? What sort of people - no, vampires - would they become? She was already beginning to notice their development. Aytsa was quite a needy child - he wasn't independent like the others. Laion was the polar opposite, doing things himself and keeping himself entertained. Seishin was extremely talented when it came to knowledge; his engagement with Animal Farm, an adults book in a childlike setting, was beyond comprehension. Then there was Mitzu, the only one to throw a temper tantrum so far. She hoped that wouldn't be an omen for what was to come. Draka seemed enthusiastic, even if he didn't understand everything. He seemed to get emotions better than anyone else. Finally Kori; [Y/n] would be lying if she said that Kori wasn't a concern for her. He was yet to say a word. He moved silently and was constantly staring at [Y/n]. The female rubbed the back of her neck at the thought.

"You're not mama, are you?" Draka's soft voice came from below [Y/n]. The [h/c] haired female stared down at him with surprise, quickly shaking her head with an apologetic smile.

"I'm not your mother, no," she said softly, "but I am your friend, so we've all got to get along, okay?" she grinned, kneeling down to be on a similar level to him. Draka nodded at this with a massive grin of his own, seemingly approving of the idea.

"Yes, yes! Friend!" he repeated the word, wrapping his arms around [Y/n], who responded to his hug with one of her own.

"Friend," [Y/n] echoed, scooping him up in her arms and holding him against her before looking at the rest of the kids. "Alright guys, out of my room now. Let's go to the living room," she decided, walking out of her room and through to the living room, Draka clinging onto her like an adorable little monkey.

* * *

[Y/n] sighed as she looked down at Draka; the boy hadn't removed his arms from her the whole day. Even when she'd prepared lunch, made her bed, washed her face and all the rest, the boy held onto her one way or another. Only briefly when [Y/n] had needed to use the bathroom and change out of her pyjamas had she pushed the vampire child off her, though he'd remained pressed against the bathroom door the entire time. It was now just gone 7pm (according to the wall clock) and the brunette had fallen fast asleep on the now-immobile female. The others were looking tired too; Kori's eyes were lidded as he sat on the sofa, still watching [Y/n]. Seishin kept on pausing as he read and yawning, or rereading sections. Aytsa and Mitzu had begun a grumpy-tired quarrel and Laion was already snoozing on the floor. She balanced Draka over one shoulder before walking over to pick Laion up, balancing him over the other.

"Come on guys," she said softly, "time for bed." Her voice was soothing; she never spoke in that patronising baby voice that she'd seen countless mothers adorn, mainly because these children advanced so fast she felt it would be stupid to dumb herself down for them. The children responded to her words with mumbles of tiredness as they followed her into their room.

In place of yesterday's cots were small beds that could fit each of them. She wondered what they'd be like when they were teenagers - how would they cope all in one room? She'd have to ask Nyais.

[Y/n] moved from child to child, tucking each one into bed and kissing their foreheads in an endearing manner. When she got to Seishin, she was fired a question that caught her off guard.

"If you're not our mother, why would you kiss us?" he asked.

"W-well," [Y/n] began with a stutter as though she'd been caught doing something wrong despite there being nothing wrong with her actions, "It's because it's an endearing thing to do. Friends can love one another too, you know?" she said softly, to which Seishin pondered for a while.

"I suppose," he hummed, his blonde hair concealing part of his face as he looked down and thought, "but isn't it wrong for an inferior species such as yourself to love a vampire?" he asked. 'Inferior? This kid's four! Why the hell does he know a word like inferior?!' [Y/n] mentally exclaimed, before reaching the conclusion, 'Animal Farm.'

"It's rude to call someone inferior, Seishin," [Y/n] said softly, "just because I'm weaker than you doesn't mean-" she cut herself off. In vampire society, weakness seemed to be the epitome of what decided superiority and inferiority. "Well... even if I am inferior to you, it doesn't mean you can talk to me like that. Remember, I'm your friend. You don't talk to friends like that."

"But you're not supposed be friends with a vampire," he frowned.

"And who told you that?" [Y/n] responded, her voice entirely absent of hostility.

"W-well... no one, but-"

"I want us to be friends," [Y/n] interrupted, her expression firm and determined. "We're all gonna have to get along, so why not?"

Seishin looked a little stumped at this point before hanging his head and thinking once again. [Y/n] hoped he'd come around the next day. She proceeded to tuck the rest of the children in before deciding to go to bed herself and finish reading Animal Farm.