“What are you fussing about?”

            The Lord clasped his book shut and glared at Jinki. His eyes caused a certain nostalgia. Of fear and pain.

            “I told you clearly that there would be no war for the time being. We do not have enough soldiers. I want to enjoy everything as it is and they are expecting me to create another Hell?! I have suffered in that cold, lonely place and I will suffer no more. Tell them exactly every words that I told you, Jinki. I will have no disobedience in this clan where I rule.”

            Jinki grimaced. His Lord was agitated. He was only a messenger, and a mere advisor. The other Demons had been constantly at edge, now that the Great Demon had returned. They wanted blood and war, and revenge, and His Lord wanted none of those. At least, not for now.

            “If they dare disobey, tell them I will have them sent into the deepest pit of Hell for a thousand year.”

            That was how the Lord always was. Merciless. Cruel. Violent. Jinki knew him all too well.

            “I will tell them,” Jinki softly muttered as a reply. He watched as The Lord put the book back into the shelf, and he was suddenly reminded of his apprentice. Somehow, the two had very similar way of frowning and scolding. He smiled fondly at the thought.

            “I should've killed them when I have the chance,” The Demon mumbled under his breath. He begrudgingly stared back at Jinki, with those soft green eyes that emanated power and dominance. Baekhyun's eyes had been dead grey, and now they changed due to the conflicting souls inside. All Jinki's fault.

            He regret not.

            “I will make sure to tell them not to bother you for the time being.”

            “And tell them to lay low and shut their mouths. I have other plans,” The Lord grunted and his lips. He looked at the ceiling, a marvelous black color that enveloped the whole house. Except for his own private room. It was crimson red. And he loved it.

            “I believe you will tell me when the time is right?” Jinki ended with a question mark, but he knew the answer.

            “Well, it won't be long now,” The Lord contemplated and finally sat down. His eyes were still elsewhere.

            “Jin, you should stop... calling me by my name,” His tone was considerably softer now, though The Demon, himself, might not realize. “That child doesn't need to know.”

            “That... child,” Jinki repeated and held back his laughter.

            “Yes, that disobedient child,” The Lord seemed pleased with himself, “Where is she? I haven't seen her for almost a week.”

***

            I hated human world. I would never get used to this.

            Jinki knew how much I loathed this place and he decided to stay another weeks.

           I didn't hate the beauty of it. Just that the human world was filthy... with memories of the Dead. And every time I stepped inside, I would recall my parents. My father was a man of forty when I last saw him. My beautiful mother was even younger. I used to get nightmares of them pacing back and forth around the doorstep; contemplating whether or not they would abandon me today, or tomorrow, or maybe, the day after that.

            That was why... Whenever I saw doorsteps, with jingles on top of it, and Christmas trees... I just... remembered.

            Humans celebrated Christmas. The Shadow world didn't. But that didn't mean that I couldn't. The spirit of celebration was depressing as hell. Everyone looked so happy. I tightened the thick coat I wore and sighed. Alone as I was, sometimes, people would stare accusingly because they thought I was either homeless or a rebellious runaway.

            I had to admit I was the later.  I had been staying in the city area for a week or so. I didn't know how long exactly it was, but I knew Jinki was constantly bothering me with annoying voice messages. I wasn't gone for long and there wasn't any urgency at all. All was well. Except for him.

            He was resurrected. And that was the end of my bargain, supposedly. But then, I couldn't stand the intensity of us. I couldn't bear to be in the same room as him. I couldn't look into those eyes and said that I hated them, because the truth was... I didn't. So I ran away from him. I ran away from ever feeling something more.

            It wasn't like I despised 'love'. I had read countless stories and swooned over the possibility of loving and being loved in return. I, too, wanted a soulmate with whom I could talk anything and share everything with. But not with him. I had thought it through since the very first night I met him and felt it.

            The connection he had with his past was unbreakable. I knew then, that kind of love would never die, even when he said otherwise. The look in his eyes when he talked of her was not something out of the shadows of his love. It was pain. He was hurt. Deeply. And it left a scar that would never heal.

            I didn't want to be a replacement of someone I couldn't be.

            So, I tried to escape. What I felt for him was a sense of responsibility. That my parents and I owed him a debt of life and it should be repaid in the same way. What I couldn't un-feel for him was attraction. That intense emotion that forced me to swallow everything all at once. I decided to keep it at that.

            “Why are you alone?” Someone hugged me by the waist. I might not have the sense of smell of a vampire's or a werewolf', but I knew this person was human, just like what I was, a long time ago. He smelt of cologne, strong perfume and alcohols. I chuckled and turned at him. He was definitely a looker, for human, at least. His blue eyes struck me the most. And I was quick to form a sweet smile.

            “Why are you alone?” I repeated his question right back at him. He was clearly pleased that I was replying and not pulling away like other girls would. The difference was, I was not weak and I could just punch him whenever he stepped out of the line.

            “I don't know. Maybe I am just waiting for someone like you,” He came closer and I bit back the snarky remarks about his breath. I loved the smell of alcohol, just not on him. He was definitely drunk, and I, too, needed to get my mind off of something, so I offered him a drink. “Where is your boyfriend?”

            I rolled my eyes at the mention of the 'boyfriend' and sarcastically replied, “Somewhere.” Non-existent.

            They said when one was in misery, she turned to tears. And when tears didn't work anymore, she turned to alcohol. Pathetic. I couldn't, and wouldn't cry, so I turned to alcohol, but I knew my limit. This human was my drinking buddy for tonight, and despite his hands on my waist, and slurred questions that he muttered out all the time, I actually enjoyed a human's presence. Especially in the cold Winter night, when everyone had a family to celebrate Christmas with, it felt less lonely with someone around.

            “What a sight,” I heard a loud sneer from behind and I scoffed. I recognized that voice anywhere anytime. It was Baekhyun's voice. And with it, came a demon in disguise. My demon in disguise. I smirked upon his arrival and waited for his sentence, for I knew he was good at insulting. “So you just let anyone touch you now?”

            I hiccuped, and grinned wider. I lifted my hand to touch his face, but the Lord wouldn't have it. He didn't understand. I never wanted to touch him. I wanted to touch my Baekhyun, who promised me I was his one and only. My Baekhyun who loved me despite of everything. I missed him badly. My hand was enveloped in the warmth of his skin. His body, but not his completely.

            Soft, green eyes. Beautiful. I chuckled.

            “Get your hands off of her,” He said the sentence so fluidly that I suspected he had it practiced many times over. Or maybe I was just high. The human let go of me, seemingly terrified. His shaky hands were trembling hard. In less than a minute, he was out of sight. I laughed at his pathetic attempt to escape and offered my Lord a glass.

            “So this is where you have been for a week, eloping with humans now,” He didn't sound disgusted, just surprised... and maybe even annoyed. I didn't know and I didn't care. “Where has your moral gone to?”

            Insults, insults and more insults. It hurts. His words stung.

            “We didn't elope,” I didn't know why I bothered to argue. “I was alone the whole time.”

            “Until you met him,” He sarcastically replied and drowned in a shot all at once.

            “Hey! Note the past tense 'was'! I met him ten minutes ago before you barged in, okay?” I replied with the same amount of sarcasm and scoffed at him.

            “Don't use that sarcastic tone on me!” He looked grim, his eyes turned darker and his voice sour and y as Hell.

            “Don't use that sarcastic tone on me,” I mouthed him back, repeating what he said and mocked him. My Lord didn't like to be mocked, apparently.

            “You're drunk,” He gave out a heavy sigh and turned to the bartender, “How many shots did she have before I came?”

            “Don't say!” I snapped at the bartender, but the Lord glared at that human as if he was a prey being toyed at. He was more intimidating than me. I didn't blame the bartender for answering.

            “Two big bottles.”

            . I was like a deer caught. Like my whole world was doomed when my Lord looked at me. He made me feel like a bad, naughty child who had done something so wrong it bordered between criminality and naughtiness. The human bartender went on to point out two of the biggest bottles with the strongest alcohols in the bar. I sighed dejectedly and stood up. It was time to go.

            “Where do you think you are going?”

            He didn't move an inch, and had his back facing me.

            “Out.” It was a vague answer. Maybe I could run to another country. I heard Switzerland was beautiful. So many possibilities running through my head. It all became dead silence when he spoke,

            “You can't run away from where you belong,” For a moment, he sounded different, and I couldn't pinpoint why. “You can't hide from me.”

            I was stuck on the ground. I swallowed the lump of saliva and it was strange. “I can. Trust me, I can and I will.”

            He chuckled and finally turned back, his eyes caught mine and I melted inside. There was something so strong, so dominant and powerful about this male alpha. He overpowered anyone else whilst doing nothing.

            “You can try me. There is nowhere in this world where I can't find you. And when I do, I won't let you go, ever again.”

            I shivered in anticipation and delight.                 

A/N: This story will focus more on romance since it's a first person point of view. Don't worry, you will find other familiar characters soon. How soon, though, I can't promise. Because these characters are the so-called antagonists of the trilogy. So they won't meet the other clans for the time being.