Seung Hyun’s eyes are alert and cautious as his eyes continue to scan their surrounding. Cradling Sandara in his arms he gently rocks back and forth. She’s calm right now. He keeps one of his arms rested over her chest to keep track of her chest rising up and down while his eyes look out for enemies. He’s afraid she might stop breathing again. A couple times he had to do CPR on her to breathe when she was in this calm state. He wonders what kind of silent torture she is experiencing right now to make her stop breathing. He wants it to end already. This is too much for her to handle.

“Where did they take us?” He thinks a loud. I thought they were human. I misjudged them. Seung Ho, G.O. and Joon. Who are they? Seung Hyun hears branches rustles on his left side. His eyes dart towards that direction. He jumps up in a protective stance while still holding Sandara.

A small white fluffy rabbit jumps out of the bush. Its little nose sniffs around for a bit then hops toward Seung Hyun. The rabbit looks up at him. Sleeping Beauty will awake. For a brief moment Seung Hyun thought he read the rabbit’s mind. 

“This forest is making me imagine things. We need to get out of here.” He looks down at the rabbit again. This time another white rabbit appeared beside the other one. “Where did that one come from?” The larger rabbit rubs its nose against the little one. They both look up at Seung Hyun one more time before hopping off into the bush.

“That was strange.” Seung Hyun shakes his head. He begins to walk in the direction where the rabbits disappeared to. No harm in following those strange rabbits. Maybe they know the way out of this place.


They have walked several miles now. With Seung Hyun’s speed they’ve only walked for an hour. He sits down and looks at Sandara still calmly sleeping. His forehead creases. What’s going on in there? No screams. No thrashing and convulsing. Ever since those rabbits appeared she has been calm. I hope she is doing okay. Seung Hyun caresses her soft cheek. With the same routine he places his arm over her chest and eyes scanning their surrounding. In ten minutes we’ll start walking again. I just want her to lay comfortably for a bit.


It’s too quite. The forest is giving off an eerie feeling for Seung Hyun. He could sense they’re being watched but he cannot see them. He concentrates hard to find the source of his uneasiness. Suddenly he hears a faint cough.


“Tabi.” 


“Dara!” Seung Hyun’s eye meets her smiling eyes. He hugs her tightly and quickly releases her to see her face again. He helps her sit up in a comfortable position. He cups her cheeks in his hands. “Your eyes they’re very tired…I wish I was – “

Sandara covers his mouth with her hand, “Shh! Don’t you ever wish that! I would never want you or any of my loved ones to go through that ever!” She buries her head in the nape of his neck. “Thank you for keeping me sane throughout the torture. You’re voice was very healing for me. You pulled me out of the darkness. “

“Thank you too for not giving up…” He gently rubs his cheek against her head.

“I’ll never get tired of listening to this.” Sandara listens closely to his chest. 

“You can hear it beat only your name. It will forever call for you no matter where you are.” Seung Hyun playfully twirls a strand of her hair.

“That’s what woke me up from the darkness. Your heartbeat beat out bright lights in the darkness I was in.” Sandara sits up. “I’m the first ever Guardian to survive a Dark Angel’s bite.” She pauses then turns her head around.

Seung Hyun pulls Sandara off the ground and hides her behind him. “I knew we’re not alone. I can feel two of their presence. They’ve been following us. I don’t know why they haven’t attacked us yet.” His eyes dart back and forth.

Sandara’s head starts to hurt. She shuts her eyes and covers her head behind Seung Hyun. During her torture she remembers hearing familiar voices. She tries to recall the situation. Her eyes then snap open, “I wanted to warn you about them. Tabi, you were with them earlier. The Dark Angels that surrounded me...” She turns him around. 

“Seung Ho, G.O. and Joon. Which one of them bit you?” His eyes turn dark as he stares into her eyes.

Sandara swallows hard in fear for the first time. He needs to calm down. Anger will only cloud his better judgment. He needs a clear mind when we face our enemies. She reaches her hand out and gently cups his face. “It was an accident. I forgive that Dark Angel who bit me. I over came this trial. I’m here with you right now. Still breathing. Our focus now is to get back to Bom and find out what to do next with us against the entire vampire race.”

“How can you forgive them so easily? I was so close in losing you just like my father. I would have lost my mind if I had lost you. I would be outrages to wipe out all of their kind.” Seung Hyun balls his fists.

“You need to control your temper Tabi. There’s so much for you to learn with the little time we have.” Sandara places her right hand over his heart. “Peace and serenity not anger and revenge.”

Seung Hyun exasperates a sigh and briefly closes his eyes, “I’m sorry.” He kisses her forehead and pulls her into his arms. 

Sandara’s eyes focuses at the trees to their left side. She squints then lightly pushes Seung Hyun away. She runs into the direction she was looking at earlier leaving him behind. He calls after her and quickly pursues her.



“SANDARA!!!!”


Seung Hyun breezes and dodges tree after tree searching for her. He has no visual of his target. But he could sense her presence about a couple miles from him. He pushes harder with his speed to catch up. After a minute gone by he abruptly stops in his track. In front of him now is Sandara with her arms spread apart. She is grasping onto two men by their necks one in each hand. Her fingers are sinking deeper into their skins and their faces are changing color. 


He calls out, “Dara!”


She looks at him with smiling cheerful eyes, “I caught them!”


“Yes indeed. Er, D?” He casually walks toward them. He could tell their in desperate need of some air. “I think they need some oxygen. I thought you forgave them? You’re holding them too tight. Please to see you two again. Joon. G.O.” He nods his head at the two men in Sandara’s grasps.

Sandara loosens her grip but still does not let go, “I’m just making sure they’re not going to bite us.”

G.O. raises both his hands. He coughs and mumbles some words out, “We’re. On. You’re. Side.”

“I’m sorry.” Joon manages to cough out.

Sandara releases them and both men drop to their knees coughing and panting for air. Seung Hyun pulls Sandara closer to his side. He slightly pushes her behind him. She brushes his arm aside and takes a step back beside him. Stubborn. They both thought alike.

Joon and G.O. bowed their bodies forward towards the grass and remained in that position. G.O. spoke with his face still on the ground, “We’re here to protect and keep on eye on you guys throughout your journey.”

“Excuse me? May I ask where are we heading to that you two have to tag along?” Sandara crosses her arms, “We don’t need Dark Angels as our body guards. We can manage on our own.”

“Who bit her?” Seung Hyun squeezes her hand. She tightly holds onto him.

“I did.” Joon raises his head and stares directly into Seung Hyun’s piercing eyes. He stands up. G.O. too also follows him.

Seung Hyun takes a step closer to Joon, “Why did you bite her?” He says coldly.

“It was an accident….I panicked…” Joon stutters. His eyes falter in fear as he now looking at his feet. “Please forgive me. I’ll offer my life and service to you both for your forgiveness.” He kneels down in front of them begging.

“Do you feel remorse after you bit her?”

“YES!” Joon cries out. His hands are now shaking as he awaits their verdict.

“I forgive you.” Seung Hyun takes Joon’s hands and lifts him to stand up. He looks him in the eye, “Do not fail me again in protecting her life.”

“I promise!” Joon shockingly embrace Seung Hyun. He feels his body stiffen and quickly let’s go. “I’m sorry.” He bows his head.

Sandara lightly tugs Seung Hyun’s arm, “They’re Dark Angels you know. We can’t trust them. They only obey vampires’ orders. Not ours.” She eyes Joon then G.O.

“Didn’t you say earlier that you forgave the Dark Angel who bit you?” Seung Hyun looks into her eyes curiously trying to figure out what she is thinking.

“Yes, I did. But that doesn’t mean I trust them.” She wraps her arms around his arm and starts pulling him away from the two men. “Come on, we still have to find Bom and the others.”

Seung Hyun allowed Sandara to pull him away. His eyes though still looked back at the Dark Angels they left behind. Sandara, what are you doing? They’ll still follow us you know. The couple did not use their extraordinary speed instead they just walked a normal human pace through the forest. Sandara was very quiet throughout the walk. Her arms still linked to Seung Hyun. He lightly shakes her arm while still walking, “What’s wrong?”

“My judgement.”

“We have the same problem.” He softly chuckles.

She stops walking and exasperate a sigh, “They’re the first Dark Angels I encountered that made me feel this way. I’m so confused whether to follow our Guardian rules and not trust them or go with my gut feeling that they do have a good heart.”

Seung Hyun tilts her chin to look up at him, “Again, we have the same problem. I too feel the goodness of their hearts especially when they were down on their knees begging for forgiveness. It’s weird but they have a heart more than the vampires we encountered this morning. There’s a very big difference.”

“It goes against all the teaching the Elders and our Guardians has thought us. Dark Angels and Vampires are our enemies…” Sandara turns her head. “I know they’re still following us. I don’t get it…”

“Why don’t we ask them?” Seung Hyun looks toward the direction she is looking at. Joon and G.O. appear from behind the trees. They cautiously walk towards them.

8:00 p.m.




“Dara?”


Seung Hyun pulls Sandara’s hand back. She turns around and gestures her index finger to her lip, “Sshh.” She motions Joon and G.O. to venture on ahead of them. They disappear from their sight. The forest is dark with dim light illuminating from the moon. They are only using their night vision senses to guide them through the darkness. Seung Hyun is still adjusting to this new ability of his. It’s his first time to use this power. He never knew he could intensify his vision in the darkness. He was aware in the past that he could see a little better than a normal person but he did not know he can use it more clearly. He feels like an animal roaming through the forest in this dark atmosphere. He feels like roaring like a lion. He chuckles to suppress the laughter. Sandara shushes him again. She pulls him down on his knees with her toward the ground.

“Tabi, there is nothing funny about our situation.” She whispers as her eyes scans behind Seung Hyun, “Since G.O. explained to us earlier that we’re walking in the vampires’ territory we should be very cautious.”

Soft footsteps are quickly heading towards the couple. Seung Hyun grabs Sandara by the waist and leaps several feet in the air and onto a tree branch. They could hear the vampires speaking amongst each other.

“You smell that?”

“I smell a Guardian.”

“A female Guardian.”

Rustling and shuffling noises can be heard from below. Seung Hyun tightens his grip around Sandara’s waist. A few seconds later they hear snapping of necks. Sandara tries to wiggle her way out of Seung Hyun’s tight grip. He could feel her loosening in his arm and again pulls her back. He grunts, “What are you doing? It’s not your fight. Stay put.”

Sandara squeezes Seung Hyun’s forearm, “They need our help.”

“They’re distracting them for us. We need to get away before they follow your scent up here. Let’s go Dara.” Seung Hyun carefully pulls Sandara to stand up on the branch. He looks down for a clearing then they both leap down. They break into a run. 




20 minutes passes by. The couple collapse on the grass to catch some air. The moon is out shining through a small opening of the forest. Sandara pulls Seung Hyun away from the illuminating light toward the shade of darkness under a tree. “I hope they’re okay.” She pants.

“They’re strong men.” Seung Hyun jumps back to his feet, “We have to keep running.”

“I wish we could run the opposite direction. Away from all this chaos…but G.O. is right we have to face them now rather than them chasing after us for eternity.” She takes his hand.

“Brave love? Forgive me for trying to keep you away from all this. I only wish for your safety but they’re right about us sticking together.” He squeezes her hand, “This.” He kisses the back of her hand, “is what I’m fighting for - Freedom to love you without any fear of someone trying to harm you.”

“I’m not letting go. Together we’ll end this for our love and peace in this world.” Sandara brings his hand closer to her cheek and smiles.