Ms Pink is right. Mimea works fast. The heat dissipates from my skin like magic and by time Ms Pink returns, my skin is back to its pallor. Then, I’m sent back to the solitary confinement room. I’m beginning to call it that because I’m always in there alone. Well, not quite alone since there are captes fizzing all around me. Yes. Fizzing. From what were silent and strange invisible sensations to the fizzing I am capable of hearing now, some progress has been made. I can almost see them now. Almost. But at least, I can hear them.

Right now, there is a cluster of captes hanging around behind me. They hover there for a while, then fizz over to my right. I still can’t see them, but I can see a disturbance in the air. Very slightly, like a tiny fraction of heatwaves in summer, it is possible to see them if you are looking for them specifically. But the fizz stops suddenly and the ‘heatwaves’ disappear too. Where did they go?

“Kim Taeyeon.”

“Praneos.” I roll my eyes as the fake man appears from behind. “I know it’s not really you.”

“But I am the only available option out of the triplets.”

“What is the point of appearing as Praneos? If you’re trying to frighten me, it’s not working.”

“Fine.”

Praneos turns into what looks like a swarm of bees and reshapes into an alluring female figure.

“Good evening, Ms Kim.”

I giggle despite the sombreness of my environment. “Good evening, Ms Pink.”

‘Ms Pink’ frowns then transforms into a mess of static grey dots before taking on Helene’s appearance. “If you laugh at me, you will be a dead human.”

I raise a brow, not feeling in the least intimidated by the empty threat but unsure if Helene meant it as a joke. “Will you really kill me?”

‘Helene’ rolls her eyes and turns to someone I can’t see. “Your claim is an idiot.”

“She is not my claim anymore.”

Ms Pink!

“A claim isn’t necessarily bound to you by sharing intimacy. Three hundred years as a vampire and you still don’t know that?”

“We don’t share mindspeak.”

“Mindspeak is not the defining factor of a claim.”

“As far as the Feds are concerned, we are not a threat to them.”

“If that is really the case, why was a vanguard sent to kill your precious baby?”

“You know Charles. He will use the Federation to suit his purpose.”

Do they even realise that I’m still here?

“Or the Federation is using Charles to suss you out.”

“Why would I need to be sussed out?”

“Have you lost your sense of awareness? Spending time with your human is clearly not beneficial for you.”

“Taeyeon can hear us.”

“Name one benefit you have gained from being with her.”

“We are ending the conversation now.”

“One benefit.”

“Stop it.”

“One.”

Ms Pink snarls. Immediately, ‘Helene’ hunches into an offensive stance and snarls too. More snarls are exchanged then ‘Helene’ lunges. It is weird to see only one half of a fight and I would have thought it funny if it weren’t for the topic they are fighting over.

“I was right. You can’t even name one,” ‘Helene’ taunts while holding off who I presume to be Ms Pink.

“It is none of your business,” is Ms Pink’s hostile reply.

“I am your maman.”

The fighting stops. Ms Pink must have ceased her fire out of respect for Helene. Interesting. When did Ms Pink bury the hatchet with Helene? What changed her mind?

“You may have your reasons but I don’t see any. I have been helping you because you are ma fille. But very soon, it will not be enough. One reason. Give me one good reason to convince me to continue helping you.” Silence ensues and the captes display Helene in a confrontational pose, standing with arms akimbo. “Just one. I am not asking for much.”

“She makes me happy.”

My heart thumps hard at Ms Pink’s words and I can’t help but smile. “You make me happy too.”

“You have an empire of fashion, vast amounts of property, literally endless wealth but you need a mere human to make you happy?”

It hurts hearing myself referred to as a mere human but I can’t blame Helene for putting it this way.

“She is not mere human. She has the Erika.”

“Even more troublesome than a mere human.”

“Even more amazing than a mere human,” Ms Pink retorts, making my cheeks warm and the fire in my heart flare.

With this declaration by Ms Pink comes a switch in my mind-set. The ‘training’ I’m undergoing may be mentally exhausting and physically torturing but my determination to get through it all is on. It is a crazy world but Ms Pink is here for me. And if I want to stand by her, I will have to toughen myself up. Just like she did for me.

“Ms Pink,” I say, not caring that I am interrupting two powerful vampires, “I’m ready to be burnt again.”

X

Ms Pink is beyond cruel. After days of merciless training, I am sent to class. On a Saturday, no less. Ms Pink is heartless. Judging by the way she looks at me, she knows what I am thinking but makes no comment. A few silent minutes later, I am dropped off at the steps of the main building on campus. Ms Pink’s flashy car and my overwhelmingly pink jacket attracts quite a few stares so I enter the building in a hurry instead of watching Ms Pink leave.

Once inside, I slow down and stroll down the corridor to the lecture theatre. It is ghost town in here since it is a Saturday and the whole place seems is a little eerie. My footsteps are all I hear for a while until a second pair of footsteps join mine.

“Taeyeon, wait up.”

The voice belongs to Max so I stop to allow him to catch up. “Hey.”

“What happened to you?”

“Mmm? What do you mean?”

“There’s a bruise on your neck.”

“Ah.” I pull up the collar of my jacket, my cheeks colouring a little. “It’s nothing.”

“That doesn’t look like nothing.”

“It’s just a bite. Anyway, how was your week?” I ask, hoping to change to subject. Thankfully, Max does not push on.

“Nothing much. Other than a few interviews, I’ve been going to the gym and just hanging out with friends.”

“Sounds good.”

“Mhm.”

We walk the last few metres to the lecture theatre and Max holds the door open for me. I give him a smile and enter first, leading the way to our regular seats at the back. I can’t explain why, but something is amiss. Whether it’s the atmosphere in the theatre or something in the air, I can’t tell but I can’t shake the feeling that someone or something is watching me from somewhere.

“Do you find it a little weird in here?” I ask Max, wondering if I’m the only one who feels this way.

“Weird?” Max looks around. “What’s weird?”

“I don’t know. Just my imagination I guess. Something feels off.”

Max snorts. “The only thing that’s off is this lecture.” He snorts again. “Something’s not right with the prof’s brain. Who schedules Saturday lectures when there are five other days to choose from?”

“I know, right.”

I sit through the lecture on borderline discomfort. Despite my nonchalance, I am bothered by the invisible yet tangible oddity hanging somewhere around me. Is this a result of the training I have undergone for the past few days? Looking around the theatre has rendered no clues so I give up trying to figure it out.

Max asks me out for dinner but I decline politely. Dinner is reserved for Ms Pink. Sunny comes to mind randomly as I walk out into the sunshine. I miss her. That girl must be enjoying herself with Summer right now. It must be nice to have a girlfriend who doesn’t mind letting her skip a few lectures. In fact, it had been Summer’s idea for Sunny to join her in Lamod for fashion week. And here I am, with a strict vampire girlfriend who insists on my good attendance in school—a girlfriend who isn’t even on time to pick me up.

“Hey blood bank!”

“Y-Yoona?” I gasp and stare, unblinking as the woman sends an impish grin my way. “What are you doing here?”

Yoona’s grin turns into a pout and she casts doleful eyes at me. “That’s not exactly the type of welcome I was hoping for.”

“I am just surprised to see you.” Is she the reason why I felt strange in the theatre? But she wasn’t in it.

“Well, I am sent here to pick you up. For a price, of course.”

“Blood again?”

Yoona’s grin is back. “10 cc.”

“No.”

“Oh come on. I’ve missed your blood. The replicas just don’t work the same as yours.”

“Replicas?” My blood has replicas?

“Mhm,” Yoona replies with a nod. “Gotta make do with second best when you’re not around to contribute some blood for the better of mankind.”

“How do you replicate my blood?”

“I got it analysed. It’s not too difficult to replicate the composite but there’s something about your blood that makes it impossible to replicate a hundred percent.”

“So you are producing blood? Literally?”

“No, silly,” Yoona laughs. “I simply take the lethal portions of your blood, reconstruct the composite of elements and stuff them into bullet shells. They aren’t as lethal as your blood though. Your blood is the best.”

“Well, if you’re using my blood for a good cause, I suppose I can give you 10 cc of it . . .”

Yoona hugs my arm and squeals, “Yes! You’re the best!”

“Uh . . .” I clear my throat as awkwardness threatens to seep in, “if you’re here to pick me up, where’s your car?”

“Car?” Yoona laughs yet again. It is beginning to irritate me. Why is she always laughing at me? “Slayers don’t do cars. Slayers don’t want to be stuck in traffic when there is an emergency.”

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