When I woke up, I realized I was lying on a polished, smooth, cold marble floor. I sat up dizzily, clutching my aching head, and saw I was in a humongous chamber. The crystal chandelier let out a soft light that filled the whole room but wasn't bright enough to cause Vampires pain. A smooth red carpet went the entire length of the room from the large, silver-lined oak double-doors to the two gold and silver thrones in the front, raised high up on platforms.

I gasped. There were people sitting in the thrones.

They were the most beautiful Vampires I have ever seen -- such inhuman beauty it was hard to look at their faces directly. I felt a strange sense of fear around them -- they were dangerous, and scary, and felt wrong, like they shouldnt exist. They wore pure white robes, with glittering crowns on their heads.

"She is a human." The female said, her words sounding like a whole chorus of angels speaking at once -- but it wasn't beautiful, it was frightening. The voices were eerie and disconnected, so her words overlapped themselves like echoes and finished speaking at different times.

"Yes she is, your Queen-sshi." CAP said politely, and I realized the six Capital Guards were stationed on either side of the thrones. "She and her brother over there." He indicated the still-unconscious Doojoon beside me.

"Oppa....." I breathed, then realized Doojoon and I were the only ones in the chamber. The others were gone. And that I had silver chains tied around my wrists and ankles.

"What is your name, human?" The Queen asked in her disjoined voice. I shivered. "Y-Yoon Jimi, your Queen-sshi. And my oppa's name is Yoon Doojoon."

"Siblings?" The Queen's eyes flashed, and the King, who said nothing so far, shifted slightly in his chair. The Guards stared at me in suspicion. The Queen slowly calmed down.

"Interesting....and what brings you to the Vampire Shadowrealm, Yoon Jimi?"

"We didn't mean to, your Queen-sshi. We live with the other creatures that you've taken away, and when Kikwang -- er, the Prince -- showed us the Gateway, we accidentally fell through, and they jumped in to save us."

"So you have no intentions here at all? No ulterior motives?" The Queen asked, her disconnected and ghostly words sounding sharper, like a knife.

"None at all, your Queen-sshi, but for me, my oppa, and the others, to go back to the human world." I said.

"That's not possible." L. Joe spoke up. "It may be true you and your human brother are innocent, but the others are not. They are all criminals. They will face their punishment -- death."

"No!" I yelled furiously. "They didn't MEAN any harm by it! Please, just let them go, and you'll never see them again! They are harmless! Dongwoon may be a Newborn, but I can control him! I can! And-and Yoseob is my best friend, I know him! He didn't do anything wrong! Junhyung may have some anger management problems, but isn't it better for him to stay in the human world then go back to that Revolution-whatever here? And Kikwang is a Prince! He just wants to research quietly by himself! Give him some peace! And Hyunseung did nothing at all! Why is he getting punished? Why are any of them----"

"Shut up, human!" Ricky barked. "How dare you raise your voice in the prescense of the King and Queen?"

I glared at him. "Why are YOU raising your voice, then?"

Ricky looked taken aback and said nothing. "What an interesting human." Changjo said, smiling. I could feel him staring at me from behind his mirrored glasses. "Why aren't you screaming in fear right now?"

"I've seen monsters scarier than you Vamps ever since I was born." I said, glaring at them. "I'm not that afraid of a bunch of blood-ers. I LIVED with those so-called criminals."

"Seen monsters?" The Queen's eyes flashed again. "So....you have the Sight?"

"Um.....I guess so....."

"What about your brother? Does he have the Sight too?"

I was starting to get a headache listening to her disjoined, multiple voices speaking like echoes. "No, oppa could never see them."

"Interesting....." The Queen said nothing, but I had a feeling she made some sort of signal, because the doors immediately opened and several Vampire guards (not as dangerous as the Capital Guards, of course) pushed in my friends.

"Yoseob! Junhyung! Kikwang! Hyunseung! Dongwoon!" I yelled joyfully. They smiled back, weakly. Their wrists were bound in silver chains, and they were pushed forwards so they stumbled and fell near me.

"These are the criminals?" The Queen asked.

"Yes, your Queen-sshi."

"Hmmm....their sentence?"

CAP grinned, exposing sharp fangs. "Death, your Queen-sshi."

"Please let them go." I begged. "They'll never bother you again, I swear......"

"Silence." The Queen snapped, looking vaguely excited. "Well, it's been a long time since I've seen a human with the Sight........very interesting, indeed......it seems like we can't let you and your brother go after all....."

"Why not?" I demanded, fear trickling down my back.

The Queen didn't answer. Yoseob stood up with shaky legs. "Yah! Send Jimi and Doojoon hyung back!" He shouted. "They don't belong here! They weren't any part of this!"

"Sit down, Dhampir." The Queen hissed, looking down at him in disgust. "Filthy half-bloods should keep their mouths shut when facing their betters."

Yoseob's face turned an ugly shade of pale pink, and his eyes flashed red. "Shut up, you old bag!"

There was a ringing silence. The Capital Guards looked furious. "How dare you speak that way to the Queen!!!" L. Joe snarled.

"That's enough, L. Joe." The Queen said softly, dangerously. L. Joe immediately fell back into silence. "We'll let Changjo handle this. Changjo, darling...."

Changjo smirked and walked forwards. Staring intently at Yoseob, he removed his mirrored glasses.

I screamed -- one eye was a bright, scarlet red, the other was a pale ghostly white, and they seemed to be spinning flames and ice and dancing with sparks if I stared long enough into them. But my scream was nothing compared to Yoseob's.

Yoseob fell to the ground, bucking and twitching, his eyes rolling in the back of his head, and his face screwed up in intense pain. The horrible screaming never left his mouth.

"Stop it!" I yelled. "Stop it!"

 Changjo continued staring at Yoseob, who continued screaming terribly in pain. The Queen watched this, and I had the sickest feeling that she was enjoying the scene.

I stood up and, despite having chains around my ankles, managed to stumble forward in front of Yoseob and shield him from view.

Changjo frowned and focused his spinning eyes on me. But nothing happened.

Changjo frowned, and stared at me even harder. I tilted my head to the side, puzzled. The others were watching me with disbelief.

Changjo suddenly screamed in frustration -- it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end -- and Ricky put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm yourself, Changjo. Don't make a scene." He whispered. Changjo glared at me murderously before thankfully putting his glasses back on and sulking back.

".........Interesting." The Queen whispered. "How come Changjo's Mirror Eyes didn't hurt you at all?"

"Was it supposed to do something?" I asked. Changjo twitched in annoyance, and Niel put a warning hand on his shoulder again.

"I wonder.....but Chunji's Ability seemed to work on you.........how curious......I wonder, if maybe Niel could......?"

"Of course, your Queen-sshi." Niel said, stepping forward. He raised his hand, palm facing towards the ceiling, and out burst a large fireball of blue and white flames.

He smiled at me before throwing the fireball straight towards me.

I screamed and flinched, waiting for the fireball to hit me. I should have run away, but Yoseob was there.....

Yoseob! I had to protect Yoseob! I couldn't let him get hit too..............

I had to protect him!!!

BLAM!!!!!!!

At the last second before impact, I felt a sharp twinge in the back of my head, and suddenly the fireball was stopped in mid-air, and seemed to have collided with an invisible wall. It curled up and disappeared with a puff of light grey smoke.

Niel's smile fell, and he looked confused. "But.....how......?"

"Was that an Ability?" Chunji asked CAP.

CAP hesitated. "No......but somehow....it seemed just like it. How the hell does a human have Ability-like powers?"

"Maybe she has an Ability that can block other's Abilities." L. Joe suggested.

"But that doesn't explain why my Ability worked on her!" Chunji said in frustration. "Besides, an Ability like that is impossible. I don't think anybody's had a Protection Ability for over three centuries....."

"Listen, I don't know what you guys are talking about, but I don't have this Ability-whatever." I interrupted. "Also, that was very rude. Why did you throw a fireball at me?"

The Queen held up a slim hand. "Take them to the dungeons. I have no patience for them at the moment."

The lesser guards grabbed us and hoisted us up, then half-pushed, half-dragged us out of the hall.

The doors slammed shut.

"Capital Guards....." The Queen said slowly. "Yes, your Queen-sshi?" They asked in unison.

"Figure out that human girl's power. As soon as possible."

"Yes, your Queen-sshi."