“Eunbi-ya.”

SinB flickered her eyes open when she heard a familiar, delicate voice whisper her name. She was greeted by the warm, smiling face of Yerin, illuminated by the blue sky and the rays of an afternoon sun.

“Yerin-unnie?” SinB sleepily questioned, her voice sounding a bit scratchy.

She realized that she was lying down on top of a grassy field. The subtle sounds of birds chirping could be heard. Her head was resting on Yerin’s cozy lap.

“What happened? Where are we?” SinB was perplexed. She began to lift her head until Yerin gently coaxed her to lie back down.

“Do not be frightened, Eunbi-ya. I am here to help,” Yerin spoke calmly while using her fingers to comb through SinB’s hair.

“How do you know that name?” SinB felt uneasy despite the tranquil atmosphere.

“That is unimportant,” Yerin blocked the question. “What is important is that you're safe.” She gave SinB an eye smile. An eye smile that never failed to make her heart race.

Yerin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before lowering her head closer to SinB. The smile remained vibrant. SinB started to relax.

“All you have to do,” Yerin tenderly whispered, “is wake up.”

SinB felt confused once again. Though Yerin continued to smile, SinB kept on hearing her voice repeating “wake up” in a variety of volumes and inflections.

She slowly closed her eyes letting the vision of Yerin’s smile fade into her memory. The voice urging her to wake up consumed SinB’s mind, forcing her to return back to reality. Away from the sweetest dream she ever had in her life.

The first thing that hit SinB’s senses was the comforting aroma of Jasmine tea and lavender. She found herself lying on a Victorian style couch and covered with a quilted blanket. Her clothes were the same.

Scanning around the room, SinB felt like she was transported to a completely different era. She guessed that she was situated in a living room. It was primarily dark. The only source of light was the golden hue emitting from an antique desk lamp. Still, SinB could detect a furnished coffee table, two Victorian arm chairs, and a large shelf filled with books.

SinB sat herself up, leaning her back on the arm rest and allowing her legs to stretch the length of the couch. She was taken by surprised when she noticed two large eyes peering at her behind the couch. With a gasp, SinB brought her legs up to her chest, tightly clutching the blanket.

The eyes rose to reveal them belonging to a petite girl who looked about the same age as SinB if not a year or two younger. Even in the dim light, SinB could tell that the girl was not menacing, whatsoever. In fact, she looked quite adorable with cheeks that begged to be pinched affectionately.

“Annyeong,” SinB cautiously uttered. Though the girl appeared harmless, SinB wasn’t sure if she could trust her.

The girl didn’t say anything. Instead, she scurried out of the room leaving SinB to dwell in her confusion.

Nothing was adding up in her head. The last thing that SinB remembered, other than that wonderful dream, was Yerin’s fierce eyes and prominent fangs preparing to feast on her. Was she dead? Was she stuck in some sort of purgatory that really appreciated 19th century European art?

Hurriedly, she felt all over her neck for bite marks. But, there was nothing. No pain, no blood. Her skin was still intact.

Before she could get even more wrapped in her thoughts, the dazzling lights of the chandelier , flooding the entire room with light, and enabling SinB to clearly see her surroundings.

“Oh, good,” SinB heard a voice coming from behind her. When she turned back, she saw Yerin walking into the room wearing a light pink button-down tucked into a tan colored skirt. The innocent girl from before was hiding behind her while a very attractive girl with short hair trailed closely by Yerin’s side. She appeared to be floating.

“You’re finally awake,” Yerin finished, crouching down in front of the couch SinB occupied to meet her eyes. The innocent girl sat in one of the arm chairs, while the other girl stayed standing, lazily laying an arm on top of the chair.

“What happened? Where am I?” SinB repeated the questions she said in her dream. Her eyes locked on Yerin. Though she looked like the same charming girl, her presence felt off.

Yerin smiled at SinB, but she could tell that the younger girl was growing suspicious of her by the second.

“You fainted,” Yerin replied with a stern edge to her tone. “I carried you back to the manor, so you could rest. In fact, you’ve been sleeping for quite sometime, now. It’s already Saturday morning. I surmise it was due to you being overwhelmed by the scare tactic I tried to use. You know, pretending to bite you. But, it turns out that my colleague over there spiked the water bottle I gave you to drink.”

“The potion was supposed to help her relax once she surpassed a certain heart rate,” taunted the stunning girl who wore a white, collared shirt under a tight sweater vest and a yellow pleated skirt. “How was I to know that she was going to pass out?” Her voice was sweet, but SinB felt like she was trying to intimidate her. “I’m Eunha, by the way.” Eunha bowed as a form of courtesy, but nothing in her eyes said that she welcomed SinB into their home.

Yerin stood up and walked towards the girl sitting. “And this young lady,” Yerin took her hand gesturing her to stand up, “is Umji. Umji-ya, give your unnie a bow,” Yerin gently addressed her as if she were speaking to a child. Umji, in her dusty pink blouse and teal skirt, complied and blankly gave SinB a respectful 90 degree bow before sitting back down. Yerin warmly smiled at Umji, akin to that of a mother towards her young daughter.

“Annyeonghaseyo,” SinB awkwardly got up from the couch to return the bows and formalities, trying hard not to look them in the eye. She gulped before carefully asking the question that's been on her mind. “So, all you are vampires?”

“Precisely, SinB-ssi,” Yerin answered. Placing her hands behind her back, she began to talk while slowly walking around the room. “But, you do not need to fear. Unlike your boss who has been forcing you to take part in unethical practices, Eunha, Umji, and I are part of an organization whose job is to help individuals like you. Individuals who have been swept in schemes pertaining to the supernatural. Individuals who have been mistreated and abused by those of another species. We are called ‘Sisters of the Night,’ and we hope that you can put your trust in us.” There was pride and dignity in Yerin’s words. As surreal as it all sounded, SinB couldn't help but believe.

“Each one of us has our own unique power among from the usual vampire skill sets,” Eunha chimed into the conversation. “For instance, I have the ability to read minds.” She glared at SinB.

“But, she rarely uses it. She has strict moral standards, believe it or not,” Yerin refuted. “I can create force fields. Eunha-ya, throw that book on the table as hard as you can at me.”

Eunha took the decent-sized hardcover book and threw it like a ninja star at Yerin on the other side of the room. The book headed for her stomach. But, before it could reach her, the book stopped several inches away from Yerin’s body as if an invisible wall was shielding her. The book dropped to the floor with a thud. Yerin picked it up to set it back on the coffee table. She glanced at SinB and was pleased to see the girl impressed. Shocked, but impressed.

“And, our Umji here can infiltrate people's dreams, creating whatever fantasy her imagination makes up,” Eunha pressed on. “Those beasts and monsters that were haunting your dreams the past couple nights?” Eunha directed her question to SinB. “That was Umji.” Eunha leaned into Umji, smiling at the young girl and tickling her chin with adoration.

“Wait,” SinB interrupted, “those dreams, those terrible nightmares were because of you guys?” She felt offended.

“The first dream was suppose to act as a warning. You may recall that you had it the night before you were suppose to retrieve the memory card. We were testing to see if you would have any change of heart,” Yerin promptly explained.

“But when we found out what happened to Yoon Bora, we made sure that the second dream burdened you with guilt,” Eunha sneered at SinB.

“Well, lucky for you all, second time was the charm,” SinB commented with a hint of sarcasm. “I was sick with guilt, and I even fainted from all the pressure. I suppose you were the ones who sent me that text message to make sure I started my day as miserable as can be.”

“Actually, we didn't send any text,” Yerin said quizzically, double checking with Umji and Eunha. They, too, had their brows furrowed. “It must be your boss, then,” she concluded. “Those vampires enjoy watching mortals have their downfall.”

Shaking her head, trying to understand all this information, SinB had to sit back down on the couch. “He got a two for one deal, if you ask me,” SinB said, exhausted. She pushed her hair back and massaged the bridge of her nose.

Feeling sympathetic for the distressed girl, Yerin sat down next to SinB and proceeded to gently rub her back. But, she soon stopped when she felt SinB’s muscles tense up from her touch. Yerin retreated her hand, disheartened when she realized that she lost a bit of SinB’s trust and affection. “I am sorry that you feel discouraged, SinB-ssi. But, you have to realize that we are on your side. There are steps, though, that you need to follow in order for this to flow accordingly.”

“What’s the first step?” SinB said, sounding defeated. She was hunched over with her elbows pressed down on her thighs, and her hands holding up her drooping head. She stared emptily at the wooden floor.

“The first step is to tell us how you met this certain vampire,” Yerin, who had been missing her usual innocent charm, softened the tone of her voice.

“You guys are just going to learn how stupid I was,” SinB scoffed.

“Try us,” Eunha mused, gracefully sitting herself in the chair next to Umji.

SinB, still trying to grasp the fact that she was surrounded by vampires, straightened her back and proceeded to tell her story. “It all started about three and a half months ago. My dad wanted me to go to business school and even offered me an internship at his company. But, I didn't want to attend a boring business school when my real passion is dancing. When I told my parents about my plan of applying to a performing arts university, they laughed at my face. They weren't going to pay a single won for some “stupid dance school” as they put it.

“But, they knew that ever since I was a little girl how much I loved dancing. I even appeared on Star King with my dance group, at the time, when I was ten. Never did they tell me how proud they were of me. Award after award, championship after championship. Nothing.

“So, I decided to stand up for myself, for my dream. I got into an argument with my dad. He grounded me and I, regrettably, ran away from home. For the first two days, I slept over at Sowon or Yuju’s house. They knew how my parents and I usually clashed. But, I didn't tell them the severity of the fight this time around. On the third day, I slept on the cold street. It wasn't long, though, until Virgo, my vampire boss, approached me with a job offer I desperately needed.”

SinB noticed Eunha’s eyes darting over to Yerin with the announcement of Virgo. Yerin glanced back at her, but remained unfazed.

SinB continued, “He was kind and handsome and he revealed himself to be a vampire upon first meeting. He said that he had no intention of harming me as long as I did my job. As all of you know, I was given the job of retrieving memory cards from the cameras that were hidden in the dance studio locker rooms. The studio switches every month to avoid suspicion. The task was easy and simple, and Virgo paid me a lot of money for them. It took me awhile to understand what he was doing with the memory cards. But, I would see the pictures get circulated, and I would go about my day pretending that I had nothing to do with it.

“No one got hurt, at first. I guess that was one of the reasons why I decided to keep following orders. Of course, there was the hefty profit I received twice a week. I was able to rent my own apartment and continue taking classes at Destiny Dance Studio. For once, I felt like I was actually taking control of my life. But now, I’m living with the repercussions. And now, a talented, young woman is in the hospital with multiple injuries. And now, there are hundreds of pictures of women and men who are being exploited, and they don’t even know. And, it’s all because of me and my foolish decision.”

SinB didn’t realize that tears were welling up in her eyes until she finally blinked with the conclusion of her story. The streams slid down her pale cheeks.

“You are very brave for telling us your story, SinB-ssi. For opening up to us,” Yerin talked softly, expression remaining neutral. “Unfortunately, I must admit that the steps are only going to get more difficult. Emotionally and physically.” She bit the inside of her lip in pity.

“I don't care. I just want this to be over,” SinB, wiping her tears away with her sleeves, said with an ounce of fearlessness. “What’s the next step?”

“The next step is letting go some of the weight of your burden. You have to tell Yuju and Sowon the truth about what you have been doing for the past three months.” Yerin, who really wanted to comfort SinB, revealed the next order of action.

“But, wouldn't that put them in danger?” SinB questioned, not totally sold on the plan.

“That is a possibility. I suggest you leave out the parts pertaining to vampires, for now. But, you’ll be surprised how much strength can be gained from a clear conscience,” Yerin explained. “Plus, your best friends deserve to know the truth.”

SinB, who avoided making eye contact to anyone in the room, got the courage to take a good look at the meek Umji, then at the elegant Eunha, and finally, to the strictly professional Yerin. Yerin tried to smile at SinB, but the warmth was missing, along with the attraction that SinB had for Yerin.

Author’s Note: First of all, Virgo is an original character. Feel free to imagine whichever Korean male celebrity you want him to be. Personally, I picture Kim WooBin. Second, thank you to everyone who read, subscribed, and commented on this fic. I greatly appreciate it all! Third, SinRin may have found themselves in a rocky path in this chapter. But, trust me, it's going to get better. :)