Vampire in the Trash Bin

Chapter One

"This is impossible, impossible..." Eva Ling muttered, staring at the Chinese breakfast on the table with a face as pure as new-fallen snow, yet clouded with confusion. She absentmindedly sipped her soy milk. The early summer sunlight flooded the dining table, casting a soft, golden-orange glow.

Sophia Zou, the matriarch of the Ling family, paused with her chopsticks mid-air and frowned at her third son, Ryan Ling, who was wolfing down his food. "Ryan, must you eat like a starving wolf? You're a grown man in your twenties. You'll ruin your image with those table manners."

"Since when does he need an image?" Liam Ling, the youngest who rarely appeared for breakfast, stirred his milk without appetite. He carefully avoided the direct sunlight, dark circles under his eyes as he whined pitifully to his mother, "Mom, I'm not hungry. I want to sleep."

Sophia's expression hardened. "No, Liam. You always look half-dead precisely because you skip breakfast. Finish it." She turned to Ryan. "Ryan, hands off!"

Ryan, caught red-handed trying to steal food from his younger brother's plate, feigned innocence. His long hand hovered mid-air. "Mom, Liam says he can't finish, and I don't have enough. Saving resources, maximizing utility—Liam and I agree on this." He winked at Liam, who nodded solemnly in agreement.

"No. If you're still hungry, buy your own food. You can't just take Liam's," Eleanor Ling interjected calmly from where she sipped her coffee. As the eldest daughter, she shared her mother's sense of responsibility toward her five younger siblings.

"Eleanor is right," Sophia nodded approvingly. "Liam, finish your breakfast. Ryan, wait until you go out." Both named brothers pulled identical faces of displeasure and groaned.

Sophia gestured toward Arthur Ling, who was eating quietly. "Can't you learn from Arthur? Is eating one meal in peace so difficult?"

Liam took a reluctant sip of milk, wrinkling his nose. "Mom, you know Arthur hates talking. Getting a word out of him is harder than climbing to heaven." He deliberately turned to the expressionless Arthur. "Right, Arthur?"

Arthur, now the center of attention, continued sipping his soy milk, showing no intention of replying. Sophia began to wonder if her son was deaf or had become mute. "Arthur! Did you hear Liam asking you a question?"

"Hmm." Arthur gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"And?" Liam teased, adopting the tone one might use with a child. "Is breakfast good?"

"Hmm." Arthur drained the last of his soy milk, stood up, collected his dishes, and left the table, signaling he was finished and ready for work.

"Truly the soul of quietude," Ryan couldn't help but chuckle, watching his clearly annoyed younger brother. "Liam, Arthur's improving! He used to ignore you completely. Now he even says 'hmm'. Good, good. One day you'll get a full sentence."

Liam snorted, unconvinced his brother would ever break his silence.

Sophia sighed as she watched Arthur disappear into the kitchen, shaking her head. Her gaze then shifted to the empty seat where her second son should be. "Where's Thomas? Why isn't he down for breakfast?"

Eva, who had been staring at her soy milk muttering "impossible," finally looked up. "Thomas left early with that bamboo broom he's had for five years. Probably sweeping the streets again."

"Sweeping the streets?" Victor Ling, the family patriarch, lowered his newspaper and stood up. "Eva! Why didn't you stop him? Why didn't you tell us?" Oh heavens! His eldest son was at it again...

Eva frowned defensively. "I tried! But when I tried to stop him, he looked like he'd smelled a sewer. He was so angry, I just..." More importantly, Thomas had threatened her. If she called the family, he'd make her life miserable. She knew better than to cross him. Despite his eccentric street-sweeping habit, he kept his promises. She didn't want her future to be difficult!

"What time did he leave?" Victor couldn't believe he rose at 5 AM every day yet still missed catching his son sneaking out to sweep.

Eva thought for a moment. "Around three-something? I was still awake then." To avoid their father, Thomas was starting earlier and earlier. "It's already past seven. Hasn't he swept for over four hours? Good grief, his obsession is getting worse."

"Relax, Dad," Eleanor said coolly. "Sweeping streets isn't murder or arson. It helps keep the city clean. Don't get so worked up. Thomas enjoys it, let him be." She refrained from commenting further on her brother's peculiar hobby.

"But Thomas Ling, my eldest son, sweeping streets is just wrong!" Victor declared, reiterating a stance he'd held for over a decade. "A proper young master, sweeping streets instead of helping in the company! What if the board members see him? Where would that leave my dignity?"

"Your dignity's been stale for years, where could it possibly go?" Sophia teased her husband, waving her hand dismissively. "Enough, enough. All of you, finish your breakfast. Liam, eat up and get ready for school. Eva, remember to wait for your brother. Eleanor, don't argue with your father at the office today. It's unseemly. And Ryan, if you have no schedule today, stay home. Don't go out partying all night with your 'friends'. I won't wait up, and I *will* lock you out."

She rattled off orders with efficient authority, silencing the table. Eva stared at her soy milk again, muttering "impossible."

"What's 'impossible'? Eva, is your soy milk poisoned?" Liam, thoroughly disinterested in breakfast, watched his sister lost in thought. She must have uncovered something.

Eva looked at Eleanor, shaking her head in disbelief. "This really is impossible!"

"For heaven's sake, *what* is impossible? You've been chanting it all morning. Aren't you tired?" Ryan grumbled. "Thankfully you're not sitting right across from me, or I'd be driven mad by your 'Impossible Sutra'."

Eva took a deep breath, gathering courage. She looked thoughtfully at Eleanor. "Eleanor, can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead," Eleanor replied elegantly, taking a sip of coffee.

"Are you a virgin?"

Coffee, soy milk, and milk sprayed across the table simultaneously. Ryan choked on his egg pancake, his handsome face turning crimson as he pounded his chest until the food went down. Liam coughed violently, tears streaming as milk went down the wrong pipe. Sophia scrambled to save the food on the table, while Victor stared, dumbfounded and clearly winded by his daughter's outrageous question.

Eleanor looked down in horror at the coffee stains on her beige office suit. Instinctively, she grabbed a dishcloth from the table and started scrubbing frantically at the expensive fabric. "Ev... Eva?"

"So, *are* you a virgin?" Eva blinked her large, innocent eyes, leaning on her elbows as if oblivious to the chaos around her.

"Eva Ling! What on earth are you thinking? How... how could you ask such a thing?" Eleanor's face flushed a deep scarlet. She scrubbed harder at her suit. Damn it! Not only did the coffee stain remain, but oily streaks from the cloth now marred the beige fabric. She threw the cloth down, glaring at her shockingly blunt little sister, too furious to find polite words. "You—!"

Finally catching his breath, Ryan leaned forward, eyes sparkling with amusement at his flustered eldest sister. "Well, Eleanor? Eva asked you a question. You haven't answered." Oh ho ho! This was priceless. Even the ever-composed Eleanor could be rattled.

"Eva! Why are you asking this?" Victor scolded, his own face flushed, though he was secretly curious if his nearly-thirty daughter was still pure. But Eleanor *was* engaged; it wouldn't be surprising if she wasn't.

The architect of the chaos, Eva, shrugged nonchalantly. "I just want to know the answer. Eleanor, are you really...?"

"I..." How could she possibly answer? Both options were mortifying. Eleanor shot daggers at her sister. "Eva—Ling!"