Heaven was full of music. Beautiful, melodic music that created a melancholy feeling with every note. Such a strange song to be played in what was supposed to be the wonderful afterlife.

That’s where you had to be, right? You weren’t a terrible person, so you couldn’t have been sent to the more frightening, fiery option. Besides, why would hell have music?

Opening your eyes, you found that – unless part of your heavenly place was a very exquisite bedroom and not the clouds and angels that was usually promised – you weren’t in heaven, or dead in any sense of the word. Above you bloomed a white canopy that draped over the king-sized bed you’d been laid on. Your bloody scrubs had been replaced by a white button-down shirt that was a little too big and that was it.

Memories of your attack flooded into your mind. Your breathing picked up and your heart rate began to rise. Panic controlled your actions. That man that had attacked you had apparently also kidnapped you. Fight or flight instincts were kicking in and you picked flight. You needed to get out of here fast. You couldn’t wait around for him to come attack you again.

As quietly as you could, you crawled off the bed. With light steps, you made your way through the ridiculously large room towards the door. None of your personal effects were in sight. You’d just have to leave them behind, although your phone would certainly come in handy right about now.

The door to the bedroom creaked open, making you cringe until it stopped. Still, the only sound made as you held your breath in anticipation was the piano continuously playing that depressing tune. You crept out into the hallway, not bothering to take the time to close the bedroom door behind you.

Soft lighting barely gave you enough to see by and take in your surroundings. Tapestries and landscape paintings larger than your own arm span decorated the walls and the hardwood floor was polished to the point of seeing your own blurred reflection on its surface. If this was your prison, then it was a rather nice one. But you still didn’t want to stay.

As quietly as you could, you tiptoed down the hall towards what looked like the stairs that would take you closer to freedom. You passed by another room with it’s door opened. The music was coming from inside. Your eyes barely grazed by the room, but what you saw made you stop. Sitting at a piano was a tall, broad shoulder man with black hair.

Even without seeing his face, that wasn’t the man who’d attacked you. The man - or whatever he was - was shorter, thinner, not so toned, and had different hair.

“No one here will hurt you,” the man at the piano said just loud enough that you could hear him over the piano. His concentration never left the instrument in front of him. The voice mingled with the notes being played, soft, if a little high pitched for the average male. There was something very… comforting about it.

Your instincts were telling you to run, to get as far away from this place as possible. But the man at the piano, there was something about him that kept you in your place. The song he played was like an enchanting spell that calmed your system and made your feel… safe.

Before you could stop yourself, your feet were shuffling into the room, getting closer to the stranger. He finished out the song without acknowledging your approach, speeding up the melody before once again slowing down, letting the last few notes ring through the air.

Removing his hands from the keys, he turned his body towards yours.

He was inhumanly perfect. High cheekbones with a pointed jaw, his eyes were deep, earthy brown, sharp and staring up at you with warmth and fascination.

“I’m happy to see that you’re up,” he commented softly. His volume was so low you almost had to strain to hear what he was saying. “You’ve been out for two days.”

“Two days!” you screeched. In shock and trying to comprehend how you could have been unconscious for forty-eight hours, you started to scramble back, but lost your footing.

The man’s reflexes were unnaturally quick. As soon as you barely began to wobble, he grabbed your wrist and, with a bit too much force, tried to steady you again. In reality, he ended up pulling you to him where you landed with a thud against his chest. You only stayed there for a split second, hypnotized by the eyes that stared up at you, before coming back to your senses and pushing away.

Clearing your throat, you asked, “Where am I? And… who are you?”

“I’m Leo,” he answered, a small, barely-there smile forming on his lips. Cautiously, he reached out your hand with his own, capturing your fingers in his grip. His touch was cold, like holding on to a fist full of ice. “This my home.” Looking away from you towards the door, he sighed. “Come. The others are calling.”

Leo stood up and headed for the door, but you held back.

“The others?”

He nodded. “Yes. The others who live here as well. Don’t worry. They won’t bite.”

Laughter erupted from somewhere else in the house, making you jump. You clung onto Leo’s arm, earning a surprised glance from him. It was impossible to explain why you held onto him like a child attaching themselves to their mother. You didn’t know him from Adam. This could have been another sick game and he could have been working for the man who’d originally attacked you. And yet, you still believed him when he said that no one would harm you. His presence was soothing.

You were completely crazy.

“We have to go downstairs,” he informed you.

When you still didn’t move, he bent down and scooped you up into his arms. He took one step and then he zoomed out of the room, an artificial wind blowing your hair until he came to a stop in an occupied living room.

Strewn out on a red suede couch was a young man with a goofy grin on his face that didn’t match the high-class tailored suit he wore. His chestnut hair was tame, falling straight down on his forehead.

“You know, Leo, you’re really good at making accidental jokes,” he chuckled.

Another man sat in a black leather chair, typing away on a laptop that rested on the coffee table in front him while a third man paced around the room. Leo put you back down on your feet and took a step away, placing a decent amount of space between the two of you.

A cold sensation swept across your exposed thigh, making you squeal. Appearing in front of you was a new man who you might of thought of as attractive if it weren’t for the seductive, predatory look in his eyes as he beamed down at you.

“Now that she’s awake,” he purred, “she’s really rather cute.”

At his comment, Leo shoved the man back with a hand to his chest, making him land hard on his backside.

“Was that really necessary?” the man on the floor scowled.

Leo didn’t answer, just staring down at him with a blank face.

The man who was pacing the room finally stopped, turning to face you. “Ah, (y/n). Good. I thought Leo was going to keep you upstairs forever.”

You stiffened. “How do you know my name?”

The man at the computer scoffed. “It’s on your hospital ID. Not exactly that hard to figure out.”

“Hongbin,” the third man snapped. “Would it kill you to at least attempt to be civil?”

Hongbin? Not exactly the kind of name you picture the scowling typer having.

The one named Hongbin simply rolled his eyes instead of verbally answering. Slowly, the third man approached you, stretching out a smile on his face.

“I’m sorry for the rudeness,” he said. “But we’re not used to having… your kind here.”

You frowned. Females?

“You may call me ‘N’ if you’d like.”

It was nearly impossible to hold back the laugh, but you managed, only letting a slight choking sound to escape. Who called themselves by a single letter?

“As you’ve already met Leo,” N continued on, pretending as if you hadn’t almost insulted him, “I guess that just leaves Ken, who really needs to learn to behave himself,” the man who’d been pushed the ground waved his fingers at you with a wink. “And Hyuk is the lazy one on the couch.”

In a second, the goofy grin was gone. “Watch it, hyung.”

“Don’t test me today,” N growled. Looking at you, he sighed, “(y/n), we have a few questions for you.”

Almost out of reflex, you glanced at Leo, who was staring off at nothing. Back at N, you asked, “What kind of questions?”

“We need you to describe the thing that attacked you,” Hongin deadpanned, still typing away at his computer.

“Thing?” you gulped. “So, I wasn’t seeing things. He really wasn’t human.”

“No,” N confirmed. “He was very far from human.”

“What is he?” It was the next obvious question to voice, but you almost didn’t want to.

“I think you already know what he is,” Ken smirked, standing up to his feet.

The image of his fangs growing in front of your eyes flashed in your mind. Those glowing red eyes, how he bit your neck -

“No!” you screamed. “No, that’s not possible….” your voice trailed off into a whisper. “They’re not real.”

But they were. And the fact that Leo had brought you down a flight of stairs in less than a second hit you like slap to the face. The one who attacked you wasn’t the only non-human.

“We are very real,” N countered in a serious tone.

Your eyes flickered from one supernatural creature to the other that surrounded you. The closer you looked, the more abnormal they appeared. Not knowing what else to do, you started to back slowly away from the group of men. Then you bolted.

You ran out of the living room, nearly tripping as you quickly turned to the right. By a miracle, a pair of double doors that could only lead to outside and to freedom were located at the end of the parlor. Right as you made it to the doors, a pair of arms encased you. Suddenly you were back in the living room and being thrown to the ground.

Ken wiped his hands, satisfied in having kept you in the house. “Well, that was fun.”

“We’re not going to harm you, (y/n),” N insisted. “But you need to cooperate with us.”

Glaring up at the one who seemed to be the ringleader, you demanded, “How did I even get here?”

N sighed, obviously losing his patience with you. Well, too bad. You had your own questions first.

“We happened across you and brought you back here. Leo gave you a transfusion since you’d lost so much blood. It’s taken a few days for your body to recover. We’ve waited patiently for you to wake up so we can try to catch the rogue that’s terrorizing the city and hunting in our territory.” N crossed his arms while giving you the most stern look you’d ever received in your life. It even out did your mother’s. “And before you ask, no, Leo didn’t use his blood for the transfusion. He used the supply of blood we have stored here since he and Hongbin prefer to quench their thirst in that manner. Satisfied?”

You nodded slowly. Behind you, Leo helped you back up to your feet and guided you over to the couch, shooing Hyuk away. The latter simply sat up and shuffled over to give you room to sit down, grinning at you mischievously.

“(y/n), can you describe the one who attacked you?” N urged.

“The… ,” you gulped, “vampire?”

“He wasn’t a vampire.”

Your head snapped in the direction of the new voice.

Leaning against the archway that led out into the hallway was a newcomer. White blonde hair that was styled back away from his face went well with the all black suit he sported. He stared at you with a harsh yet unreadable expression. You found your heart beating rapidly, but you couldn’t quite discern as to why.

Gracefully, he pushed off the archway with his shoulder, hands firmly in his pockets as he stepped up to join the group.

“I didn’t think you would be back so soon,” N commented in surprise.

“Ravi, you described the attack yourself,” Ken asserted. “That sounded exactly like a rogue vampire to me.”

You couldn’t help but watch the latest addition to the gathering. He was no longer looking at you, instead staring down Ken with a glare that made you wonder what he was contemplating.

“Since when can one of our kind just disappear?” he demanded.

Hyuk offered, “Maybe he’s really old and that’s just something we have to look forward to?”

“That’s not how this works, Hyuk,” N exasperated. To you he explained, “Hyuk is the youngest member of our coven. He’s barely a hundred years old. To him, this is still a fun ride.”

The young vampire gave you that child-like grin again and nudged you with his shoulder playfully. Taken aback, you leaned away from him, but that caused you to nearly fall into Leo’s lap.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, feeling your face heat up.

Hyuk’s eyes trailed down from your face to your legs that were out there for the world to see. Suddenly, you were hyper aware of the fact that you were only clothed in a men’s shirt and your underwear. In a pathetic attempt to cover yourself up, you tugged at the hem of the shirt, but that only covered up another few centimeters of skin.

Noticing how uncomfortable you were, Leo moved to find something to correct that, but Ravi was already throwing a blanket at you before continuing on.

“I’m not saying that he wasn’t similar to us, but he’s something more.” He jutted out his jaw, shaking his head in frustration. “I was so ing close to having him and ending this . I’m sick of this hiding.”

“It’s hide or be discovered,” N pointed out. “Now, can we just let (y/n) finally explain what happened?”

All six heads turned to you. The last thing you wanted was to relive that particular event. You’d been mentally mocked and tortured by that vampire’s sick games. And you didn’t even know why he chose you. What was it about you that made him decide that you were to become his plaything? The worst part was what could have been. He’d said that if you hadn’t gone to the police, he would have continued his mind games. Just how crazy and paranoid did he want you to become before he finally ended it all?

Your fingers fidgeted nervously with the old woven blanket while you tried to find the courage to to talk about the events. A hand reached out and covered your own. The ice cold touch somehow had a calming effect. Maybe it was because you could focus on the temperature instead. You shot the owner of the hand a grateful look. Leo’s own eyes were soft, patiently waiting for when you were ready to beginning.

“I was just trying to get home,” you began in a quiet voice. You didn’t feel the need to speak up more. Vampire’s had super hearing after all, right? “He grabbed me before I could make it to the bus stop. He was mad because I ‘ruined his fun’ by going to the police.”

“Fun?” N questioned.

You nodded. “For the past week or so, he’d been… playing with me. It started stupidly, like moving all my furniture just a bit from its place. Then he sent me my favorite flowers to my work with a note that said he was watching me. Then he taped a missing person’s poster with my face to my front door. So I went to the police because I thought someone was stalking me. Which I guess was technically true. He didn’t exactly like the fact that I took some action.”

“Smart girl,” Ken mused. When you glanced at him, he sent you a wink. At this point, you were pretty sure you’d rather fight off Jae’s attempts at holding your hand than this vampire’s flirty comments.

“And then what?” N urged.

You shrugged. “He said I smelled delicious and then….”

You swallowed, unable to verbally convey the inhuman action. Your hand unconsciously went to your neck. From the touch, there was no evidence of the attack, but that didn’t wipe it away from your memory. Tears prickled at your eyes until you couldn’t hold it back anymore. Bending over, you cried into your lap, releasing all the frustration and fear that had been building up in you ever since you walked into your apartment and this all began.

Someone awkwardly patted your back. It wasn’t quite as comforting as it was meant to be.

“Great, it’s crying,” Hongbin complained.

“She, Hongbin. We’ve been over this a hundred times. She’s a female, not an ‘it’.”

Finally letting it all out, you sat up, a bit embarrassed to have broken down in front of a group of stranger. A group of supernatural strangers.

“Are you alright?” Leo whispered, concerned.

You nodded, wiping away any evidence of the contrary. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good,” Ravi snapped, not at all actually relieved or bothered by your answer. “Now, what did he look like?”

Throwing your hands up, you scoffed. “I don’t know. It was dark. I didn’t really see his face.”

“Great,” Hongbin snorted. “She’s useless.”

You shot him a death glare. “He was short, lanky. Blonde hair, I think, and red eyes.” You nodded. “Yeah, red… bright red eyes.”

“That’s typical when we’re feeding,” Hyuk bragged.

“Yeah, well, that’s not something I’m used to seeing,” you snapped.

“Thank you,” N said to you sincerely. “That’s more than we’ve been able to gather in months. That’ll help to track him down and finally end this.”

You looked at N desperately. “Can I go home now?”

“No,” Ravi answered shortly.

“Why?” you whimpered. You just wanted to go home and try to put all of this behind you. “I’m not going to tell anyone that you exist. Who would believe me anyway? They’d just lock me up for a psych eval.”

Ken rolled his eyes. “That’s not why you can’t leave.”

“The rogue will come after you again,” Hyuk chimed in.

“How do you know he won’t just move on?” you asked. You were hoping - counting on that being the logical thing to do. Then again, nothing about your situation was logical. Not even your slightly underwhelming reaction to all of this.

“When vampires start a hunt and their prey gets away, they won’t stop until they’ve won,” N explained.

“My life isn’t a game,” you shouted.  

“It is to him,” Ravi shouted back. “He lives for this. It gets him off. And you’re the first one to get away from him. He won’t take that loss lightly. And the next time you might not be so lucky.”

Mulling over their words, you considered your options. Leaving surely meant that your chances of getting attacked were great, but you couldn’t settle with the idea of staying here in this house. Between Ken’s flirtatious comments and Hongbin clear disgust with you, you were sure you’d go crazy. Besides, you never did very well just sitting around and doing nothing. You had your life and you needed to carry on with it.

“We could always use her as bait,” Hongbin suggested.

N didn’t even bother to verbally chastise him, going straight for a slap to the back of the head. Hongbin hardly even acknowledged the hit.

Standing up, you said, “Give me my things. I’m going home.”

Exhaling, N gave in. “Fine. I won’t force you to stay, but be aware that your chances of ending up dead increase tenfold the second you step out of that door.”

You kept your stare steady. “Okay.”

Shaking his head, Leo disappeared, running out of the room before returning less than five seconds later with your scrubs and purse in his hands. He showed you to a side room where you could change and left you alone.

Back out in the hallway, you handed him the shirt. Draping your purse strap over your shoulder, you thanked Leo for his help. All he gave you in return was a nod before disappearing once again.

Ravi was leaning up against the front doors, staring past you.

“You realize what an idiotic mistake this is, right?”

You stopped just before you could pull on the handle. “Its mine to make. I can’t let this stop me from living my life.”

He snorted. “That’s either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.”

“Story of my life.”

Pushing off the door, he walked past you. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

Just before you opened the door, you hesitated. You almost changed your mind. This house, although occupied by six vampires, was certainly safer than the outside world where you were vulnerable to be attacked again. But you’d already made up your mind and, to be honest, you’d be a bit humiliated if you turned back. So, to save face and stay stubborn, you walked out of the house and back to the real world.