Shine Bright Like A Diamond

Chapter Twenty Three

She had long black hair, reaching to her mid back. She was wearing a tight black dress, with a thick black sweater, and skinny jeans to add more of her own fashion. On her feet there were white and black converse, but on her face there were dark sunglasses and a serious quirk to her lips. Beside her was a slightly older woman. She had long brown hair, but it only reached her shoulder blades. She was wearing a simple white shirt, dress pants, and high-heeled shoes.

“Is that her Dami?” The long black haired one asked, removing her glasses to show deep black eyes.

“That’s her, Hye Yoon,” Dami nodded her head. “What are you going to do” she asked, turning her brown eyes to the slightly shorter girl.

“Just watch,” she huskily said, and took a last drink from her cup before heading to her target.

It had been a week since Young Bae and Seungri had mated with each other. The feeling of celebration, and excited happiness had finally died down. It was odd, not having both Young Bae and Seungri here with them anymore, as the four brothers had always been together, but at the same time, it was understandable. It was that moment that Young Bae and Seungri would take the final steps to finalizing and individualizing themselves from living with their parents’ forever- a real magical moment really that any young vampire would feel pride in.

It was almost longing and sadness that had followed a few days after their departure into the world- into another castle. Almost as if the Dark Castle itself could feel the waking loneliness that had taken hold there, as the missing children that had once filled it with joy had grown up and started to leave. Obviously, they were already dearly missed. It was almost sad really, to think that the dungeon was never going to be the same once all of them had mates and were able to move out to their own castles. But they had all four promised that the Dungeon was forever theirs, the dark castle was home base, and they would still come back, even if they were all mated, and they would enjoy even more moments there.

It seemed almost like a far away memory of when those childish thoughts had entered the mind, but they were still strong. That much they were all sure about.

But for today, everything remained calm.

The sun was already setting over the bluish, pinkish, orange, and golden sky. There was a cool breeze that washed over the dark castle, making it feel refreshing compared to the hot afternoon that had come earlier. It was practically a relief from that heat that had everyone now feeling happy and more alive.

Daesung was one of the many that was feeling especially good that late evening. He was walking to his bedroom, tired and dirty from training when Minzy suddenly approached him. The nurse had looked at him shyly, a new look that he had never seen on her face whenever it came to him, and so he was a bit confused as to what she wanted. Despite everything, he offered her a friendly smile and asked her what was wrong.

“Prince D-lite, I heard that you were courting someone new…” She said, but then bit her lip as she seemed to reconsider her words, “Actually no one told me. I kind of walked into the main living room when the two of you were in there face,” she seemed to puff her cheeks out in a slight pout. The face was almost cute but Daesung was a bit more confused, but blushed in slight embarrassment at the thought that he had been caught kissing Hyori.

Nodding his head he said, “Yeah, I am courting Hyori, the princes from the farther north,” he smiled now, but his eyes were apologetic. Even though they were apologetic, they seemed to sparkle with a life that Minzy herself had missed before and now could only stare at in awe. “I apologize for having made you uncomfortable. We got carried away and ended up sharing a kiss. That should have been done more privately and with better consideration,” he bowed to Minzy, making her catch her breath. A royal prince was bowing to her, and that just didn’t seem right. But her heart was now beating hard and she could only stare at Daesung’s blond hair. “I assure you, it won’t happen again,”

Minzy shook her head, for a moment getting tongue-tied when Daesung now stood upright again, a dazzling smile on his lips. She clenched her hands, and started to speak fast, “You don’t have to go to the extreme. I was just wondering if you loved her?” Minzy blushed this time, feeling odd at what she was asking. It felt like she had no right to ask Daesung this, but selfishly she wanted to know and hear it from his lips, she needed to hear it so badly.

That he felt something

That he was happy

Anything

She was scared…but still she needed to hear.

Daesung smiled and shrugged his shoulders, “I just might.” He said, and then waved her off, “I got to go now, clean myself and get ready for dinner. Ji Yong will be waiting for me in the Dungeon,” he said as he darted away without much thought. Minzy reach her hand out to him, trying to stop him. The response that she had gotten was unsatisfactory.

She needed a yes or a no, not a maybe. Still, she didn’t call him back. She just let him go, watching him with a troubled look on her face. She almost wanted to scream and cry again, but she bit her lower lip forcefully making it bleed, and kept shut.

Daesung on the other hand, was amazed at how his heart no longer beat erratically around her. It was such a relief knowing that he no longer felt something strong around her. It was helping to prove that he was getting over her and there was a chance that he was going to get to freely fall in love with Hyori. But there were still times that late at night he would wake up, thinking about her. Minzy had been like his first love- the very moment that he had noticed her, his heart had been caught. He wouldn’t call it love at first sight. It didn’t start that way.

The first time he saw Minzy, to him she was just another girl. Nothing really clicked or popped, but then again back at that time, he had his thoughts wrapped around his studies so tightly he hardly thought about anything else other than passing the test. It was crucial that he learned his magic and he didn’t want to fall behind Ji Yong nor Seungri. His life was like a never-ending cycle that now that he thought about it had dulled the world around him and sort of numbed him to it. Then he was startled out of it the day that he heard her stand up for herself and going against what Chae Rin, a head nurse had to say. Minzy’s eyes had blazed, and her dark hair had looked almost alive in it. Her voice was strong, piercing to his soul, and her spunk in a way y that it sparked a ual desire in him, and he had been captivated. It was almost as if at that moment his heart had been captured by an aggressive flower that he had yet to get to know- and he didn’t know anything about her.

But his curiosity was peaked, he could no longer just focus on his books and lessons, so he tried to get to know her. His first words to her were not the most graceful thing in the world. In fact he had tripped and tied himself over them so much that she had laughed at him. Her laughter ensnared him more and made him smile, making him wish that she was laughing because she found him exceptional- but maybe that was not what had been in her mind. Not even now did he know what was in her mind at all. Not even her feelings.

Because of his shyness and his own overwhelming feelings that he still couldn’t describe, he had been foolishly always watching her from afar, waiting for the right words to come from his lips so she would know how he felt. The longing was almost chocking, and he wasn’t sure if he could even describe the rush of his emotions. So he fretted and he kept his mouth closed, wishing that he could speak to her normally and just tell her what he felt. But of course, he felt like he had spoken up too late.

It was just a random moment- a sudden rush of strength and courage that had made him straighten out and with a push from his brothers he had walked up to Minzy. He had told her how he felt, telling her every last feeling in a poetic sonata that he had sung with his powerful lungs.  But it seemed that his singing voice had only embarrassed her and she had ran out of the room, face crimson red and part of him wondered if she was also crying. He followed her. She had then yelled at him that it was not proper for him to be saying such ‘weird’ things to her. All he could think about was that his feelings were probably ‘weird’ because that was all he had said.

He fought so much against the emotions that followed that heart-striking trauma- but he actually ended up regretting ever having told her his feelings in such a way. The feeling made him feel such great shame that he gave up completely ever trying to sing. So Daesung never sung again, and although his brothers would sometimes ask him to sing with what they called his beautiful powerful voice- Daesung would just recall the shame that he felt the day he confessed and shut his lips tightly. Like always, he would refuse to sing.

He could speak and have fun- but never again, he had promised himself, was he to sing anything!

Since then he had tried to search for a way to convey his feelings to Minzy in a less ‘embarrassing’ way, but he could never get it. For she never loved him or cared about him. He had waited too long and his heart had been broken for so long that he feared that after years of it being in such a bad condition he might never feel any joy or emotions of love ever again.

But here he was now, with a sort of contentment that welled up in his chest just knowing that Hyori saw him differently- and treated him so lovingly. It was almost as if she was slowly mending his heart and trying to erase any of the shame it had felt before.

For once in his life, Daesung felt like singing again.

And it was like that after his shower and dressing in comfortable clothing, he headed into the Dungeons, singing so loudly that the walls seemed to resonate with it. Ji Yong giggled when he saw his brother singing and smiled widely, his brown eyes lighting up with what seemed like joy for him. After all, it had been a long time since he had seen, or heard Daesung sing and he couldn’t help but to think that Hyori was a good influence on his brother.

“Ah, the Angel of the dark castle has found his voice once again.” Ji Yong said from where he was sitting on the blue haired reapers lap, and turned to him as he asked, “Don’t you just think that he sings like an angel, Seung Hyun?”

Seung Hyun whom had a slightly stunned look on his face nodded his head, and smiled. He was not stunned because of Daesung’s voice; in his own biased opinion, he believed that Ji Yong had the most dulcet angelic voice in the world. What did stun him was the fact that just a few weeks ago, he had advised Daesung on something, and the blond had taken it. No one ever took Seung Hyun’s advice because at the end of the conversation they usually forgot that they had even been advised. Those people end up dead. Deasung on the other hand looked like he had new life in him- as if he was a more alive person and Seung Hyun was amazed at the outcome. “A resonation with the soul, you have a beautiful voice Daesung,” he said in answer to Ji Yong.

“Thank you.” The blond vampire blushed. “But you two don’t have to be so nice, if my singing annoys you, all you have to do is tell me to shut up,” he said, bouncing into the towards his usual place on the couch. There was pizza already set out for both him and Ji Yong. Seung Hyun obviously still didn’t eat and it didn’t seem like he was ever going to eat. For reasons that being a reaper meant a different kind of diet, and it was starting to worry Ji Yong.

He couldn’t remember when the last time that Seung Hyun had fed of his energy had been, and he could already see the effects of it. The deadly pale skin, the sunken and sullen look of his cheeks, and that hallowed look of his gorgeous black eyes. Perhaps the last time Seung Hyun had fed was when they had their first ual encounter.

They hadn’t had much of a chance to be intimate since the mating ceremony for Seungri and Young Bae had taken place. Then there was the issue that his father had wanted to spend fatherly time. For the first time in a week, this was actually some down time. It wasn’t much, but at least he was away from his parents and he was here with Seung Hyun, and Daesung.

When he and Daesung were finished eating, they each settled for watching television. Daesung kept his usual sitting, even though the couch that Seungri and Young Bae usually took was open- and curled up, while on the other end Seung Hyun and Ji Yong curled into each other.

“You haven’t fed,” Ji Yong remarked when the lights had dimmed and the television was nothing but a murmur and Daesung’s soft snores could be heard.  Seung Hyun had his eyes closed, but Ji Yong knew that he was awake. Seung Hyun shrugged his shoulders at what Ji Yong said. Ji Yong pouted, and traced his fingers across the lines of Seung Hyun’s handsome face. “You don’t have to fear feeding on me, I’m so full of energy, it’s ready to burst,” he whispered, and Seung Hyun opened his eyes.

“Well, when you put it like that,” Seung Hyun smirked, reaching his arms around Ji Yong’s waist to pull him close, “It is really hard to resist how tempting you are, Ji Yong,” Seung Hyun said. Sighing to himself, Ji Yong curled into Seung Hyun, and hummed softly, enjoying the safety of his mates arms around him, and the delicious warmth that seemed to lull him towards sleep.

Seung Hyun wanted to feed, badly, but he held back. It wasn’t because he wanted to hold back, but more because he simply couldn’t.

Something was bothering him and he didn’t want to worry Ji Yong, and the thought of taking his energy at a time like this didn’t seem sound in his head. His first instinct was to protect his mate, but maybe even this was beyond him already. The last thing he wanted was to place his mate in a vulnerable position.

His reasoning being that Ha Yi should have been back a week ago, right after the mating ceremonies. His small deity had made it clear where they were and they were not so far that it would take them decades to get back.  A few days should have been sufficient with the speed that Ha Yi owned now, and the speed of her wings. But now it was like a black hollowness. He couldn’t connect with his Deity and he had no idea where Ha Yi was.

Of course, that shouldn’t be a worry. Maybe they had been detoured and it was perhaps his lack of power that made it harder to connect- but then his mind would correct him of such foolish thoughts. Although he had not fed much on Ji Yong, the last time he had fed it had been a considerable amount. Seung Hyun still had a lot of energy, so why was he worried. It was so much that he couldn’t even sleep.

When Ji Yong’s breath evened, he removed himself from his mate’s hold and walked out of The Dungeons. When he was outside, he let out a heavy sigh and made his way to the main living room. He was so focused on his thoughts that when he crossed the  living room he failed to noticed Dong Wook making his way across the top hall. The black haired vampire spotted him though, and with curiosity followed Seung Hyun outside when he saw that the reaper was leaving the dark castle.

For a moment, he wondered if Seung Hyun was running away when he followed him into the new training grounds. Once there, Seung Hyun stopped walking. He seemed to look up at the sky, and towards the moon. The full moon, glowing so white and large in the zenith of the midnight sky- and Dong Wook scoffed to himself for being so cautious, and decided to approach Seung Hyun.

But as he took his first step, he immediately stopped, and his eyes widened. Dark ribbons of energy seemed to coil and curl around Seung Hyun, almost looking like a dark mist. It then centered itself into one point, swirling into a circle of darkness in front of Seung Hyun, before Seung Hyun seemed to open his eyes and the ball vanished.

The reaper was frowning, panting hard as he did so. His eyes were glinting a dull blue- obviously exerting so much energy, in what though, Dong Wook was not sure. Seung Hyun did it once more, and this time he sent the ball up to the sky, where it turned into dark clouds that immediately surrounded the light of the full moon. In his frustration, Seung Hyun bared his sharp teeth, and cursed. It wasn’t like him to get overly emotional over something that should be easily solved, but he needed to find his deity.

“What was that?” Dong Wook asked.

Seung Hyun tensed, and then turned to face Dong Wook. The black haired vampire noticed that he was spotted, blinked, and then grinned. He was not sure if what he had just seen was something that he was not supposed to. Therefore, he went for a friendly approach. Seung Hyun on the other hand, sighed once more, and decided to leave without saying anything.

“Wait!” Dong Wook tried to stop him, as he sped towards Seung Hyun and tried to reach for his arm. He wanted to ask Seung Hyun so many things, mainly about his powers, but as his hand was about to wrap around Seung Hyun’s wrist, the reaper turned into dark mist. Then he was gone, and Dong Wook was left standing alone.

For a moment, he just stood there, before he decided to go to bed.

“AAAAAAAAAAIIIEEE!!” The high pitch scream left soft reddened lips. The pale milky flesh seemed to become translucent, and bluish.  Wild curls were matted down in blood, but even though screams of pure agony left those lips, the eyes of this girl remained focused, and stubborn. That was who Ha Yi was. She was a strong person deep down and she was not about to say anything that she was not supposed to say.

“You still refuse me?” the girl with long black hair in front of her asked. She had first introduced herself as Hye Yoon. The rest was history.

“You must be daft, to think I will speak against him,” Ha Yi growled, barring her fangs. “He doesn’t want to be found!”  

Hye Yoon smiled, before she leaned in close to Ha Yi, “I didn’t want to have to do this, but, I don’t think you are leaving me much of a choice. One way or another you will let me know where Seung Hyun is, he is vital to us, and if you won’t tell me by yourself, then you will let me know through your energy,”

Ha Yi closed her eyes, and turned away. She refused to speak.

And like that, Hye Yoon closed her eyes. A mist of black wrapping around herself and Ha Yi, creating a one sided bond, so painful, yet it opened so much of Ha Yi’s unwilling mind to her.

And she took all the information.