Lisa and Rosé sat next to the riverbank resting and talking as Mark and Yugyeom kept watch.

Rosé sighed softly as she kicked around rocks with the tip of her boots. “What if we’re too late to rescue Jiwoo? She might already be dead…”

Lisa placed a gentle hand on Rosé’s shoulder. “Don’t think like that. I’m sure Jiwoo is fine. This is Jiwoo we’re talking about. She’s stronger than anyone else.”

“I know, but still...I can’t help but feel like—” Rosé’s voice trailed off when a scream echoed through the trees. Each of the four hunters was now on full alert.

“Was...that Jiwoo?” Yugyeom asked unsurely. “It sounded a lot like her.”

Rosé didn’t give any time to register if it really was Jiwoo she heard and ran toward the scream. She heard Mark and Lisa call after her, but she didn’t slow. If Jiwoo was in danger, she had to get there fast to help her. She wasn’t about to abandon her to the creatures lurking in these trees again. Rosé was panting heavily when she reached a small clearing. She leaned against the nearest tree to catch her breath and cupped her hands around .

“Jiwoo! Ji—” A hand covered to keep her from yelling and Mark’s voice sounded.

“Stop yelling,” he said. “Do you want to get yourself killed?”

Rosé pushed Mark’s hand off of , tears flowing down her cheeks. “I need to find her.”

“We don’t even know if that was her screaming. And even if it was, if she was attacked, the thing she fought with is probably still out there,” Mark warned. “Stop yelling or we’ll all die.”

Rosé scoffed and crossed her arms. “Just so you know, if Jiwoo is dead, I’m going to blame you.” She turned and stomped away from him angrily.

“Yeah...I’d blame me too,” Mark muttered as he rubbed his forehead.

“Hey, guys,” Lisa called out to them, “I found something.”

The other three hunters walked over to where Lisa was standing to see a thick puddle of blood at her feet along with a silver chain. Rosé gasped when Lisa picked it up. She immediately recognized it as Jiwoo’s necklace. “That’s her necklace. She was here.”

“And look.” Lisa pointed to show a trail of blood leading down into the trees. “The trail goes that way. Should we follow it?”

Rosé grit her teeth, taking Jiwoo’s necklace from Lisa’s hand and without a word, followed the blood trail. The other three hunters exchanged looks before following after her. They followed the trail to a house hidden between the trees. They cautiously approached the house, stepping onto the front porch. Rosé frowned noticing the front door set to the side and not on its hinges and peeked in, looking around warily.

“Jiwoo?” she whispered.

There was a thick scent of blood in the air when Rosé and the others stepped in. The sound of talking came faintly from what appeared to be the living room. Rosé stopped and listened hearing Jiwoo’s voice as well as a couple male voices.

“Jiwoo?” she called out a little louder. The talking stopped and not a moment later, Jiwoo stepped out of the room. She didn’t appear to be hurt but her clothes were drenched in blood.

Jiwoo’s eyes widened. “R-Rosé? Guys...what…”

“Jiwoo!” Rosé was quick to pull Jiwoo into a hug, not caring if the blood on her would transfer over. She was glad to see her friend safe, alive, and well.

Jiwoo looked at Mark, Lisa, and Yugyeom with confusion. “How...How did you guys find me?”

“We heard your scream and followed the blood trail here,” Rosé explained. “We followed after you when you left for your mission. Oh, I have so much to tell you...but...first, are you okay?” She checked Jiwoo’s body for wounds and was surprised to find none and only a single bandage on her neck. “Who’s blood is this on you? Jiwoo...who’s house is this and how are you still alive?”

Jiwoo held Rosé’s hand. “I’ll explain everything later, but first I need help tending to their wounds.”

“‘Their?’” Mark frowned.

Jiwoo motioned the others to follow and led them into the living room. The other hunters were surprised to find four males in the room. Three of the four were badly injured while the other was changing his own bandage.

Yugyeom frowned looking at the one male laying on the couch with his eyes closed and one of his hands on, what appeared to be, a hole through his stomach. “Bambam?”

Bambam opened one of his eyes which shone a bright red. “Oh...great,” he mumbled as he shut his eye again.

“Jiwoo, what is this?” Rosé asked recognizing Jackson from Jiwoo’s mission file. “Why...Why is he here?”

“I told you I’d explain later, but for right now…they’re the reasons why I’m still alive,” she said and walked over to the vampire who had started tending to the injured vampire on the floor. “Jaebum oppa, take a break. You need to rest too,” she urged trying to take the gauze from him.

“I got this,” he said, holding the gauze tight. “Believe me, this is nothing for me. Tend to Bambam first. I don’t trust him around your human friends.”

“Oh, come on. I’ll be an angel,” Bambam joked as one of his fangs poked out from his lips. “I volunteer Yugyeom.”

Jaebum rose an eyebrow and his red eyes met with Yugyeom’s dark brown ones. “No, it’s bad enough you already reconnected with Jiwoo. Reconnecting with your ex-boyfriend is worse.”

Bambam snorted as Yugyeom immediately denied. “We weren’t boyfriends. Just good friends and partners...fighting partners.”

Jaebum shrugged. “Same difference. But still no. And Lisa is also out of the question. Too much reconnection with your past is bad.”

Lisa frowned. “You know who I am?”

“Believe it or not, I helped your mom give birth to you,” Jaebum said as he finished bandaging up Youngjae’s wounds and handed him a carton of blood.

Lisa blinked, tilting her head. “So, you’re that handsome doctor mom kept talking about…”

Jackson groaned as he sat up, the blanket that had been covering him falling off his figure showing his uncovered torso. “Look, this is great and all but I’m trying to rest, so if you all could shut up.”

Rosé gasped seeing the four long gashes across his chest. “What happened? First, Bambam’s got a hole in his chest. And he has gashes in his chest… and that one looked like he’s been mutilated…No offense...”

Youngjae made a face, shooting a glare toward her. “Gee, thanks.”

“Those wounds...they’re all similar to the ones from the camp,” Mark said.

Jaebum’s eyes snapped up at Mark. “You saw the camp?”

Mark nodded. “We came across it. What creature did this?”

The vampires and Jiwoo all fell silent and exchanged glances.

“Um,” Jiwoo started, “please help me bandage them up first and get them to their rooms first. And then, I’ll explain everything. Just...please promise me you’ll keep an open mind about it. It might shock and confuse you at first like it did me.”