TRIGGER WARNING:

Blood and violence

The look of murder had engraved itself on Sehun’s face in the same way a sculptor slowly pounds cheekbones onto a piece of marble. That discernable look of blackness presented itself in blatant black stains on white cloth. His brows burrowed into his face in a harsh frown, his eyes were wells filled with swirling pools of crimson blood, and his mouth curled into a fierce scowl. His anger came in softer, however, but it wrapped around the room and squeezed and squeezed until you couldn’t inhale without it tightening its vice-like grip.

There was no refractory period in Sehun’s fury. He came down upon them as a tornado breaking free from a glass prison. He could move faster than Taeri could blink, and within that small window of time, something was crashing around her. The foundation of the building seemed to shake, rubble fell from the ceiling, and dust permeated through the air. After a fit of coughing and rubbing her eyes, Taeri’s view of the scene cleared, and she was greeted by a horrifying nightmare of a surprise.

As Sehun straddled Kyungsoo, his hands wrapped around the latter’s throat.

Although her fear held her by the throat, it was instinct that propelled her to lunge forward and slash at Sehun. Unfortunately, it was her fear that made her attack worthless. Instead of making a gash—even just a scratch—on the vampire, she completely missed and only succeeded in agitating him.

“Stay out of this.” Sehun hissed, his spit landing on Taeri’s blade. “You’re still innocent to me, angel. You’re not the one that killed Marc and Nayeon. This is not your fight.”

“This is my fight.” Taeri’s voice was shaky and so were her legs, but it was Kyungsoo still wriggling underneath Sehun that motivated her to stand. “You’ve been killing innocents.”

“Have you been stalking me?” Sehun cackled before pushing Kyungsoo into the ground. He got up and straightened himself to his full height, making Taeri take a few steps back. “That’s real cute, angel. So, what if I have? What’s it to you?”

“I am a protector,” Taeri pointed at him with the tip of her rapier, “and it is my duty to defend Earth from foreign and domestic threats.”

“That’s adorable.” Sehun laughed, and to , he placed his hands on his cheeks as if he was blushing. “I’m so flattered. A cute little angel stalked me just to tell me that I’m a ‘threat.’ How darling!” Sehun looked down at Kyungsoo who was choking. Blood disfigured the beauty of his heart shaped lips by pooling around the corners of them. “But really? How could you say that I’m the threat?”

“Because you—” Kyungsoo tried to interject, but Sehun silenced him with a kick. Not that it mattered. Kyungsoo’s voice was hardly audible.

“Well?” Sehun twitched his head towards Taeri. “If I’m the threat, then why don’t you do something about it?” He waved his arms around cockily. “Hm? Come on. Why don’t you take a shot?”

Taeri took one more glance at Kyungsoo who was still on the ground, coughing up blood. His neck was blistering for some reason, and those blisters formed the shape of Sehun’s hands. Was it really what Taeri thought it was? When Taehee’s body was examined for a more detailed cause of death, the pathologist noted that blisters in the shape of hands were found all over her body. There was only one explanation for it: vampires. Frost giants had the ability to freeze anything they touched. They didn’t leave frostbite. Only vampires could do that because their skin could range from 10 degrees lower than a normal human’s body temperature to temperatures below freezing. Was it possible that Sehun was that cold?

“I’m waiting.” Sehun sung, and then he yawned. “I really don’t have all night, angel.”

“My name’s not Angel.” Taeri gritted her teeth for courage. With a speed that surprised her, she charged forward and cut a gash through Sehun’s cheek who hadn’t been expecting it. He was still much quicker than her, and he stepped backward before any concerning damage was done. “My name is Lee Taeri.”

“Bravo.” Sehun clapped mockingly. The cut was already healing, and he smirked just to make a show of it. “You gave me a papercut, angel.”

“Don’t call me that!” Taeri swung her rapier again, but Sehun was too fast. He kicked Kyungsoo in his mad dash to get around her. “Kyungsoo!” she yelled when she heard him yell in pain.

“I’m fine,” he coughed, but he was obviously not. Half of his calf pointed in an unnatural direction.

“Oh my, god.” Taeri took a sharp intake of breath. They called those type of fractures comminuted when the broken pieces of bone had pierced through the skin from the inside. “Kyungsoo, hold on. I’ll—”

“Why can’t I call you that, angel?” Sehun interrupted Taeri, and she glared at him until she shied away in fear. Sehun was maniacal. It showed in his smirk, his eyes, and his movements. They just weren’t natural. His head twitched every now and then, and his upper lip curled upwards in random intervals when he talked. “Isn’t that what you are?” In a flash, Sehun had moved and placed his foot over Kyungsoo’s chest. “And isn’t your boyfriend a demon? What a weird combination.”

“Shut up.” Taeri slowly walked forward in hesitance. She didn’t want to be decapitated by a vampire, but she also didn’t want Kyungsoo to die on her. “Step away from him.”

“Aw, you love him, don’t you?” Sehun laughed and placed a hand over his mouth, trying to suppress his laughter. “That’s beautiful. I loved Nayeon too, but guess what?” He shrugged and pointed to Nayeon’s black, charred body that was still burning with Kyungsoo’s flames. “She’s over there. Dead. Because of you two.”

“A lot more people are dead because of you and her.” Taeri continued to walk forward, slowly nearing Sehun’s hulking body. “It’s only fair.”

“Then it’s fair if I kill you too.” Sehun shrugged. Just like that, Taeri knew that he was a true psychopath. The word “kill” sounded like butterflies and sunshine on his tongue. “Your life for Nayeon’s. Your boyfriend’s for Marc. Sound like a good deal, yeah?”

Sehun came forth without warning, and Taeri only had time to swing her blade. Luckily, it was enough to stop Sehun. When he did, there was a gash across his chest—very much like the one Nayeon had across her collarbones.

“You’re an annoying little angel, aren’t you?” Sehun watched as his wound healed away almost immediately. “Why don’t you stop using that knife of yours, bring your wings out, and actually fight?”

Taeri bit her lip in thought. She preferred to use her rapier because it was easier to wield than a pair of wings. Yes, she could fly from place to place if she wanted, but it was immensely tiring to have them out. Yes, she could make gusts of wind at command, but she offered more places to be injured by having them out. But Kyungsoo was still on the ground, his neck blistering with frostbite as he struggled to breathe. With her wings out, she could at least protect Kyungsoo from Sehun’s blows and fly to safety.

“Why don’t I?” There was no point in trying to act brave now. Taeri’s knees wobbled, her grip on the hilt of her rapier was sweaty—causing her to continuously turn the sword unsteadily, and she constantly glanced down at Kyungsoo to see how he was faring.

“I’m waiting.” Sehun sang. In annoyance (and a touch of fear), Taeri wasted no time in focusing her strength to her back. She closed her eyes to allow for a greater concentration, but it was difficult to do with Sehun with laughing.  “I’m still waiting. What are you doing? Are you trying to sleep while standing up? That’s pathetic. Maybe I should just hurt your poor little boyfriend while you’re—”

Taeri’s eyes had been closed, but she didn’t need for them to be open to know that the room had been engulfed in a torrent of light. As she spread her wings, she felt them brush against the pillars and the ceiling. Then finally, when she opened her eyes, she had the joyous pleasure of watching Sehun’s mouth go ajar in awe.

“What’s the matter?” She asked the dumbfounded vampire. “Have you never seen a pair of wings before?”

Taeri looked behind her, where her gorgeous—yes, she dared to admit that they were beautiful—wings were. Their gleaming golden hue matched the color of hair, and they seemed to glow in the darkness of the building with the feathers seemingly alternating from varying shades of this ethereal gold. Although they shuddered slightly in fear of Sehun, they splayed outward—much like a peacock’s tail. The color and glow of her wings, however, looked very much out of place against the black and blue shadows on the dirty walls.

She looked back at Sehun again. He was still staring at them in awe, as if her wings had hypnotized him. It was Taeri’s turn to take the offensive. She flapped her wings as hard as she could to produce a gust of wind that knocked the awestruck vampire by surprise. When he realized what had happened, it was too late. He was slamming into the adjacent wall.

“Kyungsoo.” Taeri walked forward to where Kyungsoo was still on the ground. His neck was still laden with blisters.

“I’ll be fine.” He weakly rose. His voice was down at least one octave. “Get Sehun.”

Taeri’s eyes flew over to the dusty pile of rubble where Sehun had landed. A hand burst forth from the bricks and soon thereafter, a head—the head of the enraged vampire.

“I’ll give you that, but that’s it.” Sehun growled. He was every word, every synonym of murder. Not death, because there was still some sort of positive connotation the quietness of dying. But murder. Axe to the face murder. Blood pouring out of open wounds murder. Hand through the heart murder. Taeri stumbled backwards at one glance of his face.

“Taeri!” Kyungsoo reached for her, but it was too late.

Sehun and Taeri had engaged in combat, with the latter taking broad at the former. Within the course of just a few seconds, she had to have at least swung at him several times. None of them ever landed, however. Sehun’s speed was supersonic, and trying to touch him was synonymous to catching lightning in a bottle. This continued for another few minutes—or maybe hours because that’s what it felt like, and Kyungsoo tried to join in, but his broken leg made it impossible for him to walk near Sehun. On the corner of her eye, Taeri saw that he was looking through the dirt—presumably for a fallen life potion vial.

“What’s the matter?” Sehun paused for a few seconds, and Taeri was glad for the break. His breathing, unlike hers, was