Sunset was the best time of day. The time when you can imagine the smog was just clouds drifting by. And on my swing I could fly above it all, like the birds of old.

A hand came down on my head. “Does your Papa know you’re here, piccolina?”

I looked up at my cousin. Unlike me he wasn’t wearing a respirator. But the smog didn’t seem to bother him. Instead he breathed normally.

Frowning, I said, “Stop calling me that. I’m not little anymore.”

“Alright then, Angelina.” He smirked. “Now, what did you dye your hair with this time?”

His fingers slipped through my oily dark hair. I hadn’t even gotten close to the ink black hair he sported. I pushed his hand away. And it took some of the pigment, revealing the golden hair beneath. I huffed. An hour of work was wasted.

“What do you want, Ardito?”

“I haven’t seen you around much, piccolina.” He sat on a rock at the cave’s entrance. And looked out at the city.

It was more beautiful than the slums we’d come from. Even the family house was dirty and unkempt compared to what lay before us. When he and I were playing in the escape tunnels under the house, we’d found this place that ended in a cliff. And over the years we’d come he so often, he’d installed the swing for me. But I’d been coming here less and less after Mamma died. There was too much to do at home, especially with Papa turning to his drink more and more. At this point I’d have to get a job. Not that I’d tell Ardito. I had my pride still. And there were plenty of people willing to hire a twelve year old.

“The family could help you.”

I glanced over but his eyes were fixed on the city. I huffed and didn’t answer. Mamma had hated this side of the family. And Papa had distanced himself because of it. I couldn’t really blame her once I found out how the family really got its money. And now that Mamma was dead Papa would never ask for their help again, despite having grown up with them.

“I could help you.”

I met his gaze with a glare. I’d asked for his help once when Mamma lay sick in the hospital. And he’d done nothing. Being the son of the Don I’d thought he had some sway. But I’d been wrong.

“Things are different now.”

“How?” But when he wouldn’t meet my gaze , I jumped off the swing and cornered him. “You can’t be serious. You’re only 14. You can only change once you’re 18.”

“Technically the age doesn’t matter. And…” He seemed to hunch in on himself. “Things have changed. For me at least.”

“You promised me you wouldn’t change until you were 18.”

“I also promised to help you. And I can’t do that as I am now. At least this way I’ll have more sway.”

“Forget about that.” I grabbed his hands. “Just stay human.”

I knew that if he turned, I’d lose him. And I’d already lost my Mamma to the grave. And Papa to drink. I couldn’t lose him too. Because once he turned he’d be expected to work for the family. Then he’d be nothing more than a criminal.

He shook his head with wet eyes. “The Don is dying. We don’t know how long he has left. So I have to step up as heir.”

The man had already lived a century. Surely a few more years wouldn’t hurt him. But then again he’d looked like death at Mamma’s funeral. And that had been two years ago. Hanging on for as long as he had was practically impossible. Not when his kind often died in their 60s.

“What about Bruno?”

But he was already shaking his head. Bruno was his older brother. But he was born out of wedlock. Ardito was the only legitimate heir.

“Is becoming a vampire really that disgusting to you?” He asked

Just mentioning the name made me shiver. Mamma had told me they were evil creatures that served the dragon of death. They were tasked with bringing more souls to the underworld. And tempting pure souls to join their ranks. Once Papa had revealed his family’s nature she’d forbidden me from playing at the family house. But Ardito was human. So I wasn’t going against her wishes. But now…

I stepped away. “You would be evil like them.”

“Seriously.” He stood, already tall for a 14 year old. “You actually believe the lies they told you?”

“Mamma’s never lied to me.”

“She also didn’t get to know us.” He brushed a hand through his hair. “We’re not monsters that kill the innocent. We don’t change strangers. Hell, our blood donors live longer than most humans.”

“But you have killed.”

“Murderers and gangsters. Always criminals. Never the innocent.”

“How do you know? You don’t go on missions. You’re not one of them.”

“I am the Don’s heir. And I know more about how the family is run than you.”

I scoffed and activated my holoband. When Papa had revealed their treacheries to Mamma, I’d decided to do my own research. Hacking into the family network had been easy since I’d hacked the cameras many times before so Ardito and I could sneak out. The Don’s private drive had been harder. But after a few day’s effort, I’d cracked it. Inside were transactions from other gangs. Records of different missions they’d carried out in different sections of the city. They included raids of different facilities. Transportation of drugs and weapons. And even assassinations. All of these documents floated above my holoband for Ardito to see.

But he didn’t bat an eye. “All of this was for good reason.”

“If you think that then maybe you’re beyond saving.”

I shut off the holoband and walked to my hover bike. But he followed close behind.

“And what about you? You bend the rules all the time.”

“It’s never anything illegal.” I said grabbing my helmet.

“Well it’s illegal to drive a hover bike without a liscence. And you can’t get one until 14.”

“I have a special license.” Though I’d had to hack into the DMV to get it. But it couldn’t be helped. I needed something better than public transportation if I wanted to take care of things for the house. Papa was in no condition to do it now.

“You’ve hacked into private networks.”

“Does it matter when it’s a criminal database?” I hopped on my bike. It shook to life with the flip of a few switches.

Ardito grabbed my handlebars. “How would you justify hacking into the city wide monitoring system?”

My mind went back to before I knew better. It was right before Bruno had changed. And Ardito and I had been playing outside the family house after school. When we heard the adults freaking out. Bruno had been kidnapped. I didn’t know who’d done it or why. But I knew I had to help.

So when the Don left with most of the adults, we snuck into his office. And I used his computer to hack into the city cameras. Papa had shown me how to do it once when we visited the city dump for parts. From there I tracked Bruno from where he left his highschool until he was stuffed into a hovercraft.

Running the plates, I put an APB out to all the officers using my aunt’s account. The police got there before the family. And it was my Aunt Martha that brought Bruno back. Back then she and Mamma had been on good terms with the family. So when Mamma became suspicious, Aunt Martha sided with her sister.

I sighed, looking at Ardith’s smirk. “Bruno could’ve died otherwise.”

“So you do care about the family.”

“I did before you let Mamma die.”

His face fell. “I tried. But she wouldn’t accept our help.”

I hadn’t known that. Not after Mamma had said that she would do anything to continue living for me and Pappa. But why hadn’t she taken their help? Unless…

“We’re you trying to turn her?”

“No!” He shook his head. “We had other ways we could’ve helped.”

But she must’ve been convinced otherwise. Mamma and her family had grown up serving the dragon of light. The exact opposite of Papa’s family. So of course she wouldn’t trust them. But I’d spent most of my time at the family’s house since my parents worked long hours to make ends meet. Though Papa would sometimes take me to his lab to help him with his various inventions, it was the mafia who watched me for the most part. Especially when it was discovered that the factory Mamma welded at had been slowly poisoning her with nauseas fumes. Papa had left me with them while he cleaned the house of any harmful things Mamma had brought home. They might be the reason I was even alive at all.

I sighed. “I have to go home.”

“But you’ll be back right?”

I couldn’t say. My feelings were all over the place. Mamma was always right. But Ardito made a good point. She didn’t know the family like I did. Even Papa couldn’t know since he’d denied the change at 18. But vampires were inherently evil. I’d seen evidence of that.

Ardito sighed. Then let go of my bike. “You can come back anytime. And if you need anything we will help you. We owe you that much.”

I didn’t reply. I wouldn’t even know what to say if I did. But as I pushed my hover bike high into the sky I knew I’d lost the one cousin I’d considered a brother. So I pushed the bike higher and higher until I broke through the smog. This high above the city I could pretend that nothing had changed. Just for a bit longer I could pretend everything was fine.