Chapter Three

“Kai, stop poking your meat and eat.”

Lay turned his attention to Kai and gave him a sharp glance. For the past twenty minutes or so, Kai had just been poking and stabbing the raw meat in front of him – causing disturbance to the otherwise lovely music playing in the background on what would be otherwise an enjoyable breakfast.

In fact, Kai had been sulking around for the past two days. The usual arrogant smirk on his face was gone and replaced by sullenness, and the vibrant energy that used to annoy Lay so much had completely disappeared. 

This sort of Kai annoyed Lay even more than the usual Kai, and as much as it’s bothersome to try and cheer Kai up, Lay wasn’t about to put up with Kai moping around every day – it’s unsightly for a prince, especially since the annual ball will be held a few days later.

Now there was no way Lay would let Kai mope his way through the ball – what would the vampires of the kingdom say? Lay wasn’t stupid either, he knew the reason for Kai’s downcast expression.

That reason being the lady that sat a few seats away from them, her eyes darting occasionally over to Sehun, completely oblivious from Kai’s trained stare on her. And the more she didn’t notice his stare, the harder Kai bored his eyes at her, almost as if he was desperate to catch her attention, even if he could only catch onto the tail of her eyes that followed Sehun.

In a sense, it was amusing.  

If Miko wasn’t a lowly human, and Kai wasn’t a proud vampire prince.

Straightening out the humorous side in the situation, the amusement on Lay’s face slowly dimmed down to its usual cold tight-lipped smile. Cutting the raw meat in front of him into small pieces and putting them primly into his mouth, Lay glanced over at Miko, who was still peeking at Sehun.

Something needs to be done.

~~~

“The annual ball?”

Lay flashed Miko a charming smile.

“Yes, the annual ball,” Lay slightly tilted his head, “and you will be attending.”

“M-Me?” Discomfort and slight apprehension crossed Miko’s small face, obviously scared of the thought of being in the same place with so many vampires at once, “Uhm, are you sure that’s a good idea-“

“-are you talking back at me right now?” The smile on Lay’s face disappeared in a flash, and his eyes hardened, “don’t forget that you’re nothing more than our prey. What right do you have to assert your opinion?”

Miko’s lips trembled slightly and her eyelashes fluttered downwards she bowed her head.

“Yes,” Her voice barely scraped her lips, “I’m sorry.”

Eyeing the frightened princess, Lay’s expression then softened as he reached a hand out to the side of her cheeks. Miko visibly stiffened, and her lips trembled even more as she tried hard not to move away from Lay’s touch.

“Every time I see you, you’re really so beautiful,” a tinge of steel lined Lay’s gentle words, “but don’t get too ahead of yourself, princess. Know that Sehun’s never going to like you – to him, you’re just food.”

Her eyes startling wide, Miko stared up at Lay, confused pain and fear blending into the conflicted expression plastered across her face. Smiling down at her, Lay then let go of Miko and backed away from her.

“For the next few nights leading up to the ball, we’ll let you rest.” Lay announced, walking over to the door of her room, “Prepare yourself for the ball, princess.”

“P-prepare?” Miko sat up from the bed, “prepare for…for what?”

“Well,” Lay smirked, enjoying the dread on the princess’ lovely face, “what do you think?”

The next few days was spent in isolation. No vampires came to drink her blood at night and in the mornings, the maid brought food to her room – it was almost as if Miko was back at the castle, back to the times when she was locked up in her room.

Back then, Miko didn’t mind the loneliness. In fact, she didn’t even know she was lonely. But as she was once again thrown into the world of seclusion, a surge of depression washed over her, yet Miko couldn’t even identify what she was missing.

Why was she feeling lonely when she had no friends to begin with? Just who exactly was she missing so much to be feeling so lonely?

But as much as these questions were asked, Miko knew there’s only one answer:

The pair of turquoise eyes that haunted her mind.

Shaking her head as the vampire once again entered her head, Miko whimpered softly and hugged the pillow to her chest. At the same time her heart throbbed and ached from her longing to see him, dread consumed over her desires like a bucket of cold water as it taunted and toyed with the fear in her heart.

It was illegal for her to feel like this towards…towards a vampire.

But was he really a vampire?

“Of course he is,” Miko protested against the questioning voice that squeaked, “Why wouldn’t he be?”

He never drank your blood.

“He must just not like blood that much. He eats raw, bloody meat every day for breakfast – how could he not be one?”

He has unusually blue eyes. He always paints pictures of the ocean.

“Well who says that vampires can’t have blue eyes? And he might just like the ocean, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

…

Though the voice stopped speaking, doubt still filled in between the gaps of her determined resolution of Sehun’s identity. Somewhere in her heart, the voice still edged on the belief that there’s something different about Sehun, something strange about him – Miko just don’t know what.

Sighing and slumping down onto the bed so that she was lying flat on her back, Miko stared up at the ceiling and stretched out her hand before her as she watched the way her fingers seemed to glow under the beam of moonlight that shone across the room.

The moon was unusually bright today, and its beams unusually pale. They shimmered down in silver sparkles which bended at the tips of her fingers, and if not for its blinding appearance, the moon would’ve almost been beautiful.

Almost.

“Princess.”

Jumping up from the bed, Miko stared with widened eyes at the maid who had entered the room without her knowing. Her heart palpitating in her chest, Miko watched as the maid brought with her a laced ebony gown – though beautiful, but looked like it would suffocate anyone who wears it.

“Princess, please allow me to help you change into this dress,” The maid spoke as emotionlessly as ever and held up the gown, “The annual ball will start soon.”

When Miko remained on the bed, her already pale face turning another shade of white and her legs trembling beneath her, the maid then repeated her request a second time.

“Princess,” There were a bit of harshness to the maid’s tone this time, “Please get up from the bed.”

Gulping down her fear, Miko crawled off the bed and in her breath as she felt the fabric clung onto her body. By the time she was fully dressed, Miko could no longer tell the difference between the dress and her skin.

“Princess, let us go.”

It was the first time Miko had stepped inside the grand hall of the vampire castle. Silk curtains hung by the wall-sized windows, and a huge chandelier hung down the arched ceilings. Yet what caught Miko’s attention the most was the vampire that sat on one of the three thrones at the very end of the hall, his turquoise eyes even more radiant than usual.

And as Miko stared into those beautiful, beautiful eyes, she thought that they were staring back at her too.

“Ah, our princess has arrived.”

It was then, as Lay’s voice sliced through her daze, did Miko suddenly realise that she was standing in the spotlight in front of hundreds and hundreds of vampires, their eyes hungrily boring into her.

With a small gasp, Miko found herself unconsciously stepping back – only to find that what once was a large double door behind her had vanished into the walls.

She was trapped.

“Well, well, my fellow vampires,” Lay stood up from the middle throne that he occupied and raised up his hand, “Let the ball begin.”

A night before the ball, Lay visited Kai’s room.

As expected, Kai was sulking on the bed – the big scowl on his face covered by the pillow that he buried his face into. So when Lay entered his room, Kai was not a bit in the mood to listen to Lay talk.

“Leave me alone.” Kai mumbled down into the pillow as Lay stood before him, his slim fingers tapping against his crossed arms.

“Let’s have a talk,” Lay ignored Kai’s request and continued to speak, his voice crisp and clear, “About Miko.”

That immediately got Kai’s attention. Lifting his head away from the pillow, Kai sat up and squinted his eyes at Lay, half suspicious of the vampire in front of him.

“What is it,” Kai spoke cautiously, his eyebrows furrowed together, “about Miko?”

A contemptuous smirk crossed Lay’s lips before he shook his head at Kai. Tilting his face upwards a little, Lay spoke with a sneer. “You like the princess, don’t you?”

Kai’s frown deepened. “What are you talking about, I don’t.”

Eyeing the vampire a second longer, Lay then dropped his smirk into a smile.

“Of course you don’t,” Lay lowered his head so that he wasn’t looking at Kai with an angle, “So you’ll help me with my plan tomorrow, won’t you?”

“Plan?” A slight hint of worry swam beneath Kai’s question, and Lay only widened his smile.

“Yes, you see,” Lay tilted his head, “Sehun and the princess had been getting too close lately, and I’m planning to do something about that, won’t you help me?”

Any hints of worry that once possessed Kai’s eyes immediately vanished, and Kai nodded his head eagerly – perhaps too eagerly – as he stood up from the bed and faced Lay.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“The plan is simple,” Lay stared straight into Kai’s eyes, to the point where Kai almost thought the following words were meant for him, “to let Sehun realise that Miko is just a mere human. A pathetic, weak human who dies easily – they will grow old and wrinkled and wither gradually until they’re nothing but bone ashes.”

Silence encapsulated the room as Kai’s heart began hurting for no reason at all, dull stabs of pain throbbing his chest over and over again, so much that Kai almost felt like he could cry. But he didn’t – because there was no reason to cry.

“S-So, how are you planning to show that to Sehun?”

If Lay noticed the tremor in Kai’s question, he didn’t show, but his lips did stretch into a wide smile.

“Tomorrow night at the annual ball,” Lay spoke slowly, articulating each word, “I will allow the vampires to drink Miko’s blood.”

“What?”

“Of course, not enough to kill her,” Lay’s smile widened, “but enough for her to be traumatised. Enough for her to hate and detest vampires forever – so much that she will push Sehun away. Then, Sehun will realise how weak a human is. How utterly selfish and wretched a human being is, even if it’s a beautiful princess.”

What once was small aches of pain had now increased tenfold, and they cut through his heart so much that Kai almost thought his heart was going to bleed to death.

To have Miko….hate vampires forever? To have Miko detest his presence forever?

W-Why does it hurt him so much to think about it?

“Kai, you’ll support me right?”

Lay’s cold voice snapped Kai out of his pained daze, and staring into the vampire’s piercing eyes, Kai wasn’t sure how to respond.

“You don’t like her, do you Kai?”

As Lay bored his eyes into Kai, guilt and pride trapped up the agony that penetrated his heart. Lifting his head up so that he stood taller, Kai let out a weak scoff.

“Of course I don’t.”

Yet no matter how hard he tried, Kai just couldn’t bring himself to believe what he just declared. Even if Lay rewarded him with a large smile and his pride as a vampire prince remained intact, but he just couldn’t ignore the throbs of pain that nagged at him.

And even now, a night after, as he stared into Miko’s frightened eyes, her back pressed against the walls as her eyes darted around the hall filled with hungry vampires, he still couldn’t throw the pain away from his heart.

“Well, well, my fellow vampires,” Lay stood up beside him and raised his hand, but not before sending Kai a long stare that seemed to dare him to try anything, “Let the ball begin.”

“AHH-“

The terrified scream that escaped Miko’s lips was soon smothered as the crowd of vampires covered her frail body, tumbling over each other in the process as each and every one fought to get a taste of the princess’ sweet-smelling blood.

“Ah, how crude,” Lay sat back down on the throne and leaned his elbows on the armrest, a scornful smirk playing at his lips, “this is why us vampire princes don’t associate much with these vulgar commoners.”

But Kai wasn’t listening to Lay, both his body and heart frozen on the spot. Cold sweat was seeping through his shirt and helplessness captured his whole being like a prisoner as he stared blankly at the horrible scene unfolding before him-

ROOAAAR

All of a sudden, violent torrents of water broke through the windows and crashed into the banquet hall. The crowd of vampires shrieked and shrilled as the strong currents curled them into its body and washed them out of the castle. Once again, Kai remained still in his spot, and watched motionlessly as the waves gradually dimmed until every single vampire had been thrown outside.

Slowly looking to his right, Kai found his eyes fixing on Sehun. The usually calm vampire with calm turquoise eyes had stood up from his throne, his chest heaving up and down in heavy pants and his eyes blaring a terrifying shade of dark blue. Yet there was only one focus to Sehun’s attention as he bored his eyes into Miko, who laid lifelessly on the wet, marble floor, her dress torn to pieces and bite marks covering almost every inch of her body.

“I can’t believe you.”

When Lay spoke from the middle, his tone was so chilling it sent uncanny shivers down Kai’s spine.

“You actually broke your promise. For a pitiful human being like her-“

“-THE ONE I CAN’T BELIEVE IS YOU!”

The roar that flew out of Sehun’s mouth trembled the ground, yet Lay remained unmoved. With a snarl, Sehun then took a step forwards to go towards Miko, yet before he could, a flash of lightning sped past him, stopping him from moving any further.

“Sehun.” A hint of sadness crossed Lay’s voice, as if he was deliberately trying to pull Sehun back from Miko, “Even if we have different mothers, we are still half-brothers, are we not? Are you really going to break your promise?”

No hesitation crossed Sehun’s features, and without even a glance back at Lay, Sehun moved towards Miko. Immediately, another bolt of lightning shot past Sehun, cutting past his arm in the process. A line of blood gradually seeped out of the deep cut left on Sehun’s arm, but he ignored it and picked up Miko, carrying her in his arms.

“If you take one step out of this castle,” Any hints of nostalgic disappeared from Lay’s voice, replaced by hardened anger that boomed across the large hall as a final warning, “I’ll kill you.”

Sehun stopped in front of the broken window before a small, sad smile crossed his lips.

“Kill me if you can.”

With that, Sehun leaped off the broken window ledge and dashed into the distance.

Cursing loudly, Lay finally got off the throne. Following suit after Sehun’s trace, Lay easily caught up with the vampire.

“DIE!” Lay roared as he aimed at Sehun’s chest.

Zap.

Jerking his body to the side, Sehun fortunately dodged the lightning bolt in time, and gritting his teeth, he continued sprinting.

Zap.

This time, Sehun wasn’t so fortunate, and the lightning bolt pierced through his leg. Letting out a pained shout, Sehun tumbled towards the ground, his blood smearing all over the dirt and leaves on the ground. But even as he sprawled to a halt on the floor, he still held Miko stubbornly in his embrace.

Now that all