Fever Fae - Meg Xuemei X

Chapter 1

The alarm blared in my ears.

Jerking awake, I swung an arm to hit the retro clock’s bell to stop the shrieks, only to knock over a hummingbird desk lamp. It hit the floor, and its gold-accented glass panels shattered.

Shit. Mom was going to kill me for breaking her favorite touch lamp. What excuse could I give her?

A sharp pain surged to my brain, clearing any sleepiness.

Mom was gone, as was Dad. They’d vanished without a trace three days ago. I’d dropped out of college and left my hot boyfriend to come home to take care of my six younger siblings.

I hit the clock and the shrieking alarm shut up. I forced my eyes open and stared until the clock came into focus. The needle pointed to five.

I groaned. Five AM was a goddamned hour.

I had to get up and make breakfast for my siblings. I’d clean up the mess of the broken lamp after those little buggers were out of the house.

It sucked to be the oldest child.

Why did my siblings need to eat? Couldn’t they just grow up like the weeds in the backyard instead of requiring maintenance?

My mouth drooping, I dragged myself to the edge of the bed and perched there. For a second, I debated throwing myself back onto the pillow and letting the world burn.

And then my siblings would miss school. Chaos would whip the house with them all home, and I wouldn’t have a moment of peace. Then social services would pay us a visit and take them away because I couldn’t provide for my siblings.

Anxiety throbbed in my veins.

I tramped to the window and wrenched open thick curtains. A mass of gray light splashed across the sky. The tiny hairs on my nape bristled. Someone was watching me.

I scanned the street, skimming beyond the tree lines along the driveway that curved around my Spanish-style house. I didn’t spot any movement, yet I knew for sure I was being observed closely.

Did this new development have anything to do with my parents’ disappearance? My heart rammed into my ribcage. I’d have to wait until my siblings were out of the house to scout the neighborhood and investigate.

I yanked back the curtains to obscure the view of any stalker. A foreboding chill slithered up my spine, knocking the last trace of sleepiness from my system. I threw on a pink T-shirt that said: What’s my weakness? Six pack abs and a trail of golden hair. The hem settled a few inches above my knees. I opened the door and bumbled downstairs.

The house was quiet. All of my siblings still slumbered. Sweet dreams, I thought bitterly. Pausing in the middle of the stairs, I yelled so my voice filled the house. “Wake up! I’m not nice like Mom!”

“You’re a bitch, Evelina!” A high-pitched voice came from an upstairs room. Safiya was my least favorite sibling, a fifteen-year-old who demanded the world revolved around her.

“This bitch is the one who puts the bread and butter on the table now,” I said. “Unless you can do the same, you’ll get up, eat something, and go to school to get the fuck out of my sight.”

None of my siblings reacted to my swearing, not even a sigh. I wouldn’t have dared to whisper an F-bomb in my parents’ presence.

I stumbled down the stairs to the ground floor, yet I didn’t hear anyone getting out of their beds, other than that three of them pulled up their blankets to cover their heads.

I had superior hearing. I always knew what my siblings were up to in their rooms. Like Emmett, my sixteen-year-old brother, would always masturbate heavily if he obtained new manga porn comics.

I jogged to the common room, and from under the counter, I snatched a hyper whistle I bargained off eBay for an occasion like this. I returned to the base of the stairs, put the silver whistle in my mouth, covered my ears, and blew it with my full lung capacity.

The piercing sound blasted through the house, worse than the fire alarm.

“Stop, Evie! Just stop!” Siblings shouted their pleas.

Emmett traipsed down the stairs and shook his head at me in disgust. “You’re the most terrible sister on earth.”

I grinned. “Depends who’s judging.”

Safiya stomped after Emmett, glaring at me. The rest of my siblings charged out of their shared rooms toward the three bathrooms, bumping each other out of the way to claim the first right to use the bathroom.

Those little buggers were unruly. As long as they didn’t bite anyone,