The ride to Compound 3 takes around two hours. Along the way, I see that Jongin is right: nothing has really changed. People are still driving about in their cars on their way to work, friends and couples walk along the streets. It’s like I haven’t been living underground hiding from people who want me dead. Or alive and contained, I don’t know. Halfway through, Jongin and I are ushered into a smaller vehicle that’s less noticeable while the other refugees continue on their way to a safer place. For that last remaining hour, I fall asleep dreaming about white sickly skin, books, and gold bracelets.

A hand gently shakes me shoulders yet panicked, I swat it away; the sensation of clawed hands grabbing at me shaking me to my core. But then something soft presses against my forehead and I force my eyes open, met with the sight of the column of Jongin’s neck.

“Sleepyhead, it’s time to get up,” he mumbles, brushing his lips down against my cheek and then settles his chin above my head. 

The light from the sun is dimming as we approach the compound which is a medical clinic. At first, I’m confused, but Jongin takes me hand and we hurry inside. The receptionist is a petite brunette, probably in her mid twenties. She looks up as we walk in, a smile gently placed on her lips. “Can I help you?”

“Yes,” I hear Jongin say. “Terrible weather today, hm?”

Her eyes light up in understanding and directs us to a private room down a hall. There we sit as we wait. Jongin explains that some compounds are closer to the city and need to be hidden more discreetly. There are underground workings beneath the whole city and some buildings have access to them. So we run the buildings normally, hire humans while hiding the bases. I don’t know about the other ones, but for Compound 3 the code, I guess, is to say the very opposite of the weather that day. That is what distinguishes someone who doesn’t know of us, and those who are us. 

In the midst of explaining, Jongin grimaces and rubs his forehead. Come to think of it, he doesn’t look that well. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He takes a deep breath and manages a smile that isn’t too convincing. 

“Well, you don’t seem fine. Do you...” I press a hand to his forehead, but he doesn’t feel feverish. “Do you have a headache? Lack of sleep? Lack of water? Lack of food…? Lack of food.” He shrugs and tries to shake me off. “You’re hungry.” For blood. “This is a medical clinic, I’m sure they’d have some-”

“Stop, Daeun.” Jongin takes a hold of my hand gently. “Don’t worry about it. Right now, we need to find Danmi as well as Yoonmi. When we’ve got some time we can worry about that. But not now.”

“Alright...I guess.” Soon after, somebody walks in. She introduces herself as Dr. Young, before asking us what we need.

“We need to see someone by the name of Danmi in Compound 3. Do you think we could talk to her?”

“Yes, she was here. However, just yesterday she transferred.”

“What do you mean she got transferred?” I ask.

“Apparently when SHC started their vampire killing spree, Danmi and her son were separated. She was taken to Compound 3 and he to 4. Now that things have settled down a bit, we allowed her to transfer.” 

Jongin’s grip on my hand tightens along with his jaw. “Is there some sort of record, like a sign out sheet or something?”

“There is. It isn’t a sign out sheet, but it’s a request for moving compounds. You are…?”

“I’m Jongin, and she’s...she’s like my second mom.”

Something soft passes through the woman’s gaze. “I’ll get it to you in a minute.”

For a few pressed moments we stand there. I face him, and place a hand on his cheek which he covers with his own. There’s a lot unspoken, but somehow we just know. We just understand.

The woman is back quickly and hands us a file that contains several sheets of papers. Many checkboxes are filled and questions answered. At the very end of the stack, there is an unopened letter addressed to Jongin. He opens it, glosses over it, and puts it away in his pocket. It’s not even a minute before Jongin hands back the file, smiles in thanks, and starts to leave. His jaw is set in a hard line and I wonder what is wrong.

“Jongin,” I call as we huddle back into the car. “What is it?”

“It’s…” Shaking his head, he instead hands me the letter and I cautiously open it. Distantly, I hear him speak to the driver and our car starts to move.

Find us if you can.

I feel cold all over, the hair standing up on my neck.

We have her, and your precious little soul mate.

Love,

Yoonmi.

“So where are we going?” I ask, slipping the note back into its envelope. Jongin doesn’t answer, and chooses to stare out of the window. The high rise buildings and people blurring into disfigured shapes and muddied colors. “Jongin, do you know where they are?”

It seems like minutes of cold hard silence before he answers. “Yes, I do know where they are. But,” He looks at me. “We’re not going there.”

“What? Why? Aren’t we going to get them? Aren’t we-”

“No, we aren’t. We aren’t going there. You are going to a safer place, and I’ll find them.”

It’s my turn to be silent for a while. The hum of the car and rubber on gravel filling up the void in the vehicle. “Is that what you think is best?”

“It is. Where they are…it’s dangerous. She’s dangerous.” He slips his hand into mine, brings it up to his lips. “I don’t want you anywhere near her.”

Something twists within my stomach. This feels wrong. Something bad is going to happen. I feel it. I turn to him. I want to argue with him. I want to say that I’m coming with him whether he likes it or not but, “But where else is safer for me, than with you?”

He shifts my hand so that its on his cheek. It’s warm, and it makes me think that I don’t ever want to feel cold again. The car comes to a gradual, steady stop before a building just as I see Sehun exit the front door. He sees me and starts toward us. “Daeun.” My name falls from Jongin’s lips and the car door is opened, a hand coaxes me out of the metal contraption. “Daeun.”

The car speeds away, and then it starts to rain like in those corny movies. I’d probably laugh because it’s so ridiculous that my life would be anything like a movie right now, but the rain is cold, and the warmth is starting to fade.

Ack, it's been too long, right? Sorry about that:/ I've been studying up for midterms which is in a couple weeks(crossing my fingers) But yep, this story is sort of coming to its end. Sort of. Maybe five more chapters left? ten at most? Well, enjoy! Thank you all for supporting this story and I.