Teaser Tuesday: Blood, Chains and Starlight by Seraphine Vale

🌒 Teaser Tuesday: Blood, Chains and Starlight by Seraphine Vale

Genre: Contemporary Urban Fiction / Gritty Adventure / Black Girl Coming-of-Age

Happy Teaser Tuesday, my fiction lovers! Today we’re spotlighting Blood, Chains and Starlight, a story that simmers with tension, unresolved grief, and raw teenage survival. If you’ve ever lived with someone who made your skin crawl, or held your breath in your own home like a ghost—Tessa's story might feel all too real. But don't worry—this isn't just a tale of trauma. It's about what happens when a girl dares to look at the stars anyway.

Tessa's sneakers squeaked on the polished tiles of the entryway, the faint echo bouncing off the walls as she stepped inside. She had just come from an exhausting tutoring session for the city-wide university entrance exams, her mind buzzing with formulas and test strategies. It was dark outside now, the only light coming from the dim hallway lamp. The house was quiet, too quiet, as if it was holding its breath.

Her gaze fell on the shoes lined up near the door: her own sneakers, freshly kicked off and dropped carelessly to the side; her mother’s sky-blue house slippers, worn and soft from years of use; and a third pair—too big, too... masculine. Sports sneakers, new, not her mother’s.

Tessa wrinkled her nose. Her stepfather. She knew instantly to whom they belonged. His name was Gage, and though Tessa wasn’t sure what he did for a living—if anything—he sure had plenty of time to spend at home with her mother. He was always there, like a stain on the family fabric she couldn’t get rid of.

She pushed open the door to the living room, half-expecting the usual scene. The television was on, muted, the faint glow of the screen illuminating the figure sprawled out on the couch. Her mother, Susan, lay under a blanket, snoring lightly, while Gage snored beside her, his head tilted back in an uncomfortable angle. His stench of beer lingered in the air, a constant reminder of his laziness and disregard for anything other than his own pleasures.

Tessa’s heart sank, but she tried not to show it. "I'm home," she muttered quietly.

Susan stirred, blinking awake. “Tessa, you’re late,” she said, her voice thick with sleep and a touch of irritation. “What time do you think it is?”

“I’ve been at tutoring,” Tessa explained, trying to keep her voice calm. “You know, the exams are coming up. I have to stay late sometimes.”

Susan’s expression soured. “Tutoring? You can’t even remember to come home on time. Look at you, always out so late—what’s going to become of you if you can’t even prioritize your time?”

Tessa felt the familiar sting of her mother’s criticism. Every day, it seemed, Susan found a new way to remind her that no matter how hard she tried, it was never enough.

Gage grunted in his sleep, muttering something about food. His presence drained the air from the room. Tessa’s stomach twisted in a way that had become all too familiar.

She swallowed hard and turned to leave, but her mother’s voice called out again. “Dinner’s on the counter. Don’t forget to clean up after yourself.”

Tessa grabbed one of the bento boxes from the counter, the neat label reading "For Dinner" staring back at her in stark simplicity. The food inside smelled good—the only thing in this house that did. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was an afterthought. Something her mother had put together half-heartedly before collapsing onto the couch with Gage.

Without saying another word, Tessa hurried upstairs, leaving her mother and stepfather behind in the darkened living room.

Tessa sat on the edge of her bed, the soft glow of her laptop screen casting shadows across her face as she scrolled through her social media feed. The steady hum of the city outside her window was like white noise, soothing in its monotony. Her mind was still reeling from the argument downstairs, the sting of her mother's words still fresh.

She clicked through a few more articles, but then something caught her eye.

"Morning Star Gang Turns Over a New Leaf: From Thugs to Heroes?"

Her heart skipped a beat. The Morning Star gang—the name alone sent a thrill through her chest. They were the stuff of local legend, dangerous, unpredictable, and powerful. Once known for their criminal activities, they had reinvented themselves under the leadership of Malik Tarek, the son of the gang’s late founder.

She had followed their story for months, each article, each post, fueling her admiration for them. But it was Malik who captivated her most.

A photograph of him popped up alongside the article, showing a young man with a fierce, confident gaze. His hair was long and styled into dreadlocks, and his arms were covered in intricate tattoos—an entire sleeve of artwork that looked like it had its own story to tell. He was standing next to a black motorcycle, his expression one of cool detachment, like he didn’t need to prove anything to anyone.

🩸 Why You’ll Be Obsessed:

✊ Black girl in a toxic household just trying to breathe
🏙️ Real-world issues: poverty, violence, neglect—but never without hope
💫 The Morning Star Gang: Not just a name. A legend. A lifeline.
🖤 Slow-burning fascination with a boy who’s more than just his ink
🌌 Tessa’s coming-of-age is messy, real, and beautiful

If you’ve ever searched for escape in your Wi-Fi signal or found a strange kind of comfort in scrolling through someone else’s myth, Blood, Chains and Starlight is going to wreck you beautifully.

Thanks for checking out the blog! If Tessa’s story hits you in the chest the way it hit me, don’t keep that to yourself:
✨ Leave a review
✨ Share this post with a fellow fiction junkie
✨ Talk about it online—word of mouth keeps indie stories alive!

Until next time, keep chasing starlight even when the world tries to keep you in chains. 💥

—Seraphine Vale

Check out Blood, Chains, and Starlight at the following links:

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