Chapter Two

Kai was feeling impatient.

Pacing to and fro around his room, Kai groaned and slapped himself lightly on the cheeks. He’s tried to take cold showers, slam his head against the wall, or even roll around the bed like a child – but no matter what, he could not get Miko out of his head. Or, to be more precise, Miko’s blood out of his mind.

Okay, so maybe sometimes his mind would linger away from her blood to her small waist and ebony hair that cascaded down her pure white skin, but right now, Kai could only think of her blood.

It was times like this where Kai wished that Lay and Sehun didn’t exist. It was so annoying how they only got to take turns each night to drink her blood, and since Kai already got his fill yesterday night, he was forced to wait another two nights before he could once again feast on Miko.

One would think that after a month of drinking the same blood, Kai would already be sick of it. But that wasn’t the case for Kai, oh no.

The more he drank her blood, the more he craved for it. And soon, he was no longer just craving for her blood alone, but a part of his heart also craved for the person itself.

Henceforth, Kai was here right now, pacing to and fro in his room and trying his best to forget about Miko.

Lay was right.

Their father became crazy after he got addicted to blood, and soon he went on a rampage and even attempted to drink his fellow vampire’s blood. Kai would never forget that bloody day, as he hid inside the closet and watched through the crack as his father drank from one servant to another until he was shot dead by Lay – the only one who dared to combat against their blood-obsessed King.

Up until now, those deadly memories still haunted his mind, and Kai was sure that he never wanted to become like that.

Not even if Miko’s blood still tempted his mind.

Heaving another sigh, Kai slumped down on the bed, feeling slightly less irritated now that he reminded himself of his father. Lying down on the bed, Kai could only feel jealous of Lay, who was now most likely enjoying his fill of Miko’s blood.

Heaving out a haggard breath when Lay finally detached himself from her neck, Miko could feel her chest rising up and down from the effort of trying to breathe. After a month of being drunk on, Miko still couldn’t get used to the feeling of those sharp fangs digging into her skin, or the painful sensation that coursed through her body as the greedy vampire princes took their drink.

Wiping the blood away from his lips, Lay glanced down at Miko, himself panting a little too.

“You’re so beautiful,” Lay’s lips tilted upwards into a crooked smile – one that sent uncanny shivers down Miko’s spine. A month, and with each passing day, Miko only felt more and more wary of Lay. What once seemed like a kind vampire now possessed an unpleasant chill in his eyes, and despite his refined speech and agreeable smiles, Miko was starting to sense the danger in the said vampire.

And once again, as Lay glanced down at her with that glint in his eyes – as if she was some sort of prized possession made her stomach churn with disgust. But then again, as Miko reminded herself, she was some sort of possession for the vampires. She was given to them as a gift, and object and food to be used whenever they deemed appropriate.

So averting her eyes, Miko chose not to look into those bitingly contemptuous look in Lay’s eyes. Even if she couldn’t change her status here, at least she could ignore it.

“Princess Miko, you’re really quite beautiful…”

Goosebumps ran up Miko’s skin when she suddenly felt hot breath near her neck. Her eyes widening, Miko snapped her head around to see that Lay had stealthily moved to the other side of her neck, and his eyes were filled with hunger whilst fangs protruded his lips.

“L-Lay,” Miko had barely any energy left, let alone being able to push the heavy vampire off her body, “Please don’t do this. Y-you just had a drink.”

“Hmm?” Lay seemed too absent-minded as his eyes focused on the bare, elegant nape of her neck, “I’ll just take another sip.”

“N-No!” with weak hits, Miko tried to push Lay away from her, “Didn’t you said so before? One sip leads to another, and then you’ll get addicted-“

“-shut up.”

The protests and pleads died in , and tears forming at her eyes, Miko could only close her eyes and hope that Lay would really just take a sip like he said. But worry and doubt surfaced in her heart – Miko could tell that the vampires were losing their patience and self-control the more they feasted on her blood, and from the way it was going, Miko feared for the worst that would happen.

Hiccupping slightly as the tears now streamed down her cheeks, Miko’s heart stopped as Lay’s lips touched her neck. Then, she could hear Lay opening his lips and just as his fangs was about to dig into her skin, the door to her room burst open.

“Time’s up, Lay.”

Lay’s body stiffened. Then, he slowly removed himself from Miko, whose face was still streaked with frightened tears. Rubbing his forehead, Lay heaved out a sigh before turning to the vampire who interrupted, or rather, saved him from drinking any more of Miko’s blood.

Lay’s eyebrow rose when he saw who the vampire was.

“Sehun.” Lay’s eyes trailed down to the golden cup in Sehun’s hand, “What are you doing here?”

Sehun shifted his feet almost uncomfortably, but he kept his expression more or less calm.

“Well, bringing her the medicine,” Sehun answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Narrowing his eyes, Lay moved away from the bed and walked over to Sehun.

“Right,” Lay cocked his head, “Isn’t this the role of the maid though? Why are you bringing it to her personally?”

Sehun remained undisturbed under Lay’s suspicious eye, “Why? I can’t?”

“Hmm,” Lay placed his hands in his pockets before he gave Sehun a smile, “No, of course you can. It’s just that-“

Cutting himself off his sentence, Lay leaned in to Sehun and whispered in his ears.

“Aren’t you getting a bit too personal with the princess lately, Sehun?”

The smallest of frowns crossed Sehun’s brows.

“What are you talking about?” Displeasure darkened Sehun’s expression, and his body tensed up in a defensive manner.

“Hmm.” Lay tilted his head, and remained that position for another second more. Then, backing away from Sehun, Lay gave him the smallest of smirks before patting his shoulders and exiting the room, his polished leather shoes making its signatures taps on the floor.

The tension remained in the room as Lay’s footsteps still could be heard tapping down the corridor, but knowing that these taps were only just a technique Lay uses to ensure his authority as the eldest brother of the princes, Sehun paid no heed to it and instead stole glances at Miko. 

Miko, with her face seemingly paler than ever and her jet black hair sprawled messily out under her on the bed, looked frail and frightened – like a pure white rabbit who just barely escaped death from the night wolf.

Sighing, Sehun then closed the door behind him. Lay’s taps could barely be heard by now anyway, so the tension in the room lifted a little; similarly, Miko seemed just the tiniest bit more relaxed when the closed door blocked out the footsteps.

Sehun took small steps towards Miko. Somehow, it just felt right to do so, because from the look in Miko’s eyes as her eyes trailed his every step towards her, Sehun knew that she was feeling too delicate right now to be pounced upon.

When he finally reached her, Sehun held out the cup.

“Here, the medicine.”

A look of mild gratitude flashed across her eyes, yet Miko made no attempt to reach for the drink and just remained petrified in her position.

“You don’t want it?” Sehun raised one eyebrow as he waved the cup in front of her face, but Miko did not budge from the bed. Finally, she spoke, tired puzzlement seeping through her voice.

“Why are you here?”

The other eyebrow rising, Sehun let out a small sigh before placing the cup on the bedside table. Leaning forwards, he reached for Miko’s arm and pulled her up so that she was in a sitting position. Miko was too tired to resist, so she allowed herself to be hoisted up.

“Thought you might need some help,” Sehun grabbed the cup and brought it to her lips, feeding it to her in little sips, “From the way my brothers acted this week, I knew that sooner or later one of them was bound to do something bad.”

Miko winced a little when some of the drink spilled down, grazing over the raw bite marks on her neck. His eyes travelling down to her bite marks, Sehun reached two fingers out and lightly traced them against the swollen marks.

A moment of silence passed as Miko stiffened upon Sehun’s touch, but Sehun seemed oblivious to her discomfort and continued touching, seemingly deep in thought. It was then, with Sehun so close to her and his attention elsewhere did Miko finally get a proper look at the said vampire.

Once again, his turquoise eyes mesmerized her. But all of a sudden, Miko also noticed his long, fluttering eyelashes and soft waves of hair that fell gracefully over his forehead. His nose was straight and his petite lips seemed gentle – so gentle that Miko couldn’t help but wonder for a second how it would feel like to touch it.

By the time Sehun snapped out of his daze and released his fingers from Miko’s neck, Miko’s heart was beating irregularly. But as much as she tried to tell herself that he was her captor, and that he was a filthy vampire she should close her heart to, she could not think of him that way.

Not when Sehun had not drunk her blood once, and that the times they spent time together was, if not pleasant, then at least passable. Sehun’s wasn’t full of rough vigour like Kai that scared Miko, but neither was he calculating like Lay.

Sehun was just Sehun. Forever with few words, and forever so untouchable and distant – almost like a glittering blanket of ocean without the disruption of wind or wave.

And as Miko lifted her eyes and found that Sehun too, was staring at her, she tried to find her reflection in his iris.

But no matter how hard she tried, all that she could find in his eyes was the hazy pool of sea-water which blocked the entrance to anything else. It was like a cove, its entrance covered by a gush of fog that disallowed Miko to understand anything about Sehun.

Sehun, was a mystery. In fact, everything about him was a mystery. Why his eyes was blue; why he doesn’t drink her blood; why he always paints the ocean in his notepad…there were so many questions swimming around in Miko’s mind.

And it frustrated her. It frustrated her how she even wondered how his lips