'I'm sorry, is that a vegetable sandwich?' Chanyeol asked at lunch the next day. 'have you gone so native that you're a vegetarian now?'

Sehun peered at the grilled mush in his pitta. 'I'm not in the mood to eat anything that bleeds,' he muttered. He forced himself to meet Chanyeol's gaze. 'I talked to Yuri yesterday.'

Chanyeol swallowed hard. 'And?'

Sehun glanced around. He'd purposely led Chanyeol to a deserted table inside the cafeteria, rather than going out to their usual spot. He couldn't take the chance that their conversation tablemate, Suho, might overhear this conversation. Luckily, almost nobody ever ate inside. They had the place to themselves.

'And... you're right. She says there are vampires in the Heights. She's one of them. And Luhan, like you thought,' Sehun said.

'I'm sorry, but... what?' Chanyeol cried. 'Are you telling me that you went up to Yuri and asked her if she was a vampire?'

'Uh, no. I told her that you thought Luhan was a vampire,' Sehun said.

'What?' Chanyeol practically shrieked. His pale skin was even paler then usual.

'Well, maybe I didn't say that exactly,' Sehun replied quickly. 'I just said that you thought... that you thought there might be vampires. In DeVere Heights.'

'Oh my God,' Chanyeol said, looking shell-shocked. 'They're going to kick my and send me to the loony bin!'

'No, they're not,' Sehun assured him. 'I mean, Yuri didn't even seem surprised. She just showed me her fangs and basically said you were right.'

'Oh.' Chanyeol thought about that for a moment. 'Oh. So I'm right I'm not crazy. There are vampires.'

'Yes,' Sehun confirmed.

'Good. Cool. I mean, not good. But, you know, good.' Chanyeol took a deep breath and seemed to calm down a little. 'Yuri and Luhan. How many others?'

'A lot of them. For all I know everyone in DeVere Heights is a monster,' Sehun spat.

'No way.' Chanyeol shook his head. 'I've known Yuri since first grade. Luhan, too. They're not monsters.'

'She told me she was a vampire,' Sehun said. 'She had fangs, for God's sake. Fangs in a human head - that equals monster, right?'

'I've been thinking about that a lot,' Chanyeol answered. 'When I started to piece things together, I kept getting back to a basic truth - Malibu is a spectacular place to live. If vampires were monsters, then it wouldn't be. People would be turning up dead every night, no one would go out after dark, and the real-estate prices would be much, much lower.'

'I can't believe I'm hearing this.' Sehun dropped his sandwich back onto his tray. 'You're the one who told me that a vampire killed Sohee. If that's not the behavior of a monster, I don't know what is!'

'It is,' Chanyeol agreed. 'So one vampire is a monster - not the whole lot.'

'So it'll be like The Wizard of Oz? We'll all have to go around asking: "Are you a good vampire or a bad vampire?"'

Chanyeol shrugged. 'You have to understand, man. Everyone who made my list of... vampire suspects, I guess you'd call it, came from a family that is important to this town. Every single charity in Malibu has a Kwon or a Lu or a Wu on the board,' Chanyeol explained. 'And the DeVere Center - that big brick building up on Cliffside Court? They're doing research into blood replacements, real cutting-edge stuff. Obviously they're trying to find a way to free themselves from having to drink human blood.'

'Lu. Who's in that family?' Sehun asked processing all the information.
'Luhan. Real name, Lu Han but just has been called by his preferred nickname.' Chanyeol answered.

Oh, Sehun thought. 'So, you're telling me that these vampires are out in the open, researching blood, and nobody cares?' Sehun continued on topic of the blood research. 'I'm having a hard time believing that.'

'Nah, They usually do things anonymously,' Chanyeol said. 'But when I started to suspect that they were... well, unusual... I checked into their company holdings and their bank records. I found all kinds of links between the DeVere heights families and charities, museums, hospitals. Basically - everything that's good in Malibu? Funded by vampires!'

Sehun stared at him.

'I know what you're thinking. Park Chanyeol, freak with too much time on his hands,' Chanyeol said. 'But you gotta believe me. I've done my research.'

'But one of these philanthropists killed Sohee!' Sehun declared. 'What's the deal? One museum for every corpse? A research institute when the deaths hit triple digits?'

Chanyeol ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. 'This is the first death I've ever heard of that has a vampire feel to it. I'm just saying... they're not all bad. I mean, most of them aren't bad.'

'Tell that to Sohee,' Sehun said.

'Please, just stop saying her name, okay?' Chanyeol asked. 'I have nightmares about her. Sometimes even when I'm awake. Those shots I got of Luhan and Seohyun - they were what totally convinced me my theory was right. If I'd just had the cojones to accept the truth a little earlier, I might have saved her.'

'What were you going to do? Rent a van with speakers and blast news all over town?' Sehun said and then cringed as he heard how harsh it sounded. He lowered his voice. 'I just mean, it's not your fault. You didn't kill her. A vampire did. Let's focus on that.'

'Okay. Well, whoever killed her isn't like Yuri or Luhan,' Chanyeol said. 'The vampire that killed Sohee is evil. Yuri and Luhan aren't.'

Sehun sighed. 'That's what Yuri said. She thinks whoever did it is some kind of rogue vampire. One that's gone feral. She said it was called bloodlust.'

'Bloodlust?'

'Yeah. It's like an addiction. When a vampire has bloodlust they can't stop drinking. They keep going until they've drained so much blood that the human dies.' Sehun stated.

Chanyeol's face went even paler.

'She said it hasn't happened in decades.'

'Well, we can't let it happen again,' Chanyeol replied. 'My dad told me that the cops picked up Donghae Lee - you know, the guy who was making out with Sohee at the party?'

Sehun nodded.

'Well, lots of people saw then together. I guess they told the cops. And, of course, I even have video footage of it,' Chanyeol said. 'The cops figure Donghae might know what happened to Sohee. He might be the last one who saw her alive.'

'So they think he might've killed her,' Sehun translated.

'He's the only suspect they have,' Chanyeol answered. 'And I think they're right.'

'So Donghae's a vampire?' Sehun asked.

'I think so. I've been filming everybody, trying to get proof.' He shook his head and smiled faintly. 'You know, it never occurred to me to just go ask one of them. You're not bad for a novice.'

'Glad I could help,' Sehun said wryly. 'So the cops have Donghae. Will they charge him?'

'Doubtful,' Chanyeol said. 'And his family is so rich, he'll be sprung in no time. But that doesn't matter. I'm going to find out if he did it. And if he killed Sohee, I'm going to make sure he can never kill again.'

Sehun took in the guy's frame. Chanyeol looked like he'd never lifted a weight in his life. But his eyes were deadly serious. 'You're talking about a vampire who's willing to kill,' Sehun said gently. 'How are you planning to stop him?'

'I don't know yet,' Chanyeol admitted.

'Look, Yuri said Kris is pretty pissed off about this whole Sohee thing and he's going to take care of it. And you said the police are circling Donghae,' Sehun pointed out. 'Let them handle it.'

'I don't trust Kris and the police aren't going to be able to make anything stick,' Chanyeol said flatly. 'At the moment they think somebody gave Sohee the drugs that killed her. But pretty soon they'll find out that there weren't any drugs in her system and then they'll drop the case. Though I guess they might be kinda confused when they find she's been drained of blood... But anyway, we're the only ones who know Sohee's murderer was a vampire.'

Sehun frowned. The guy had a point. He eyed Chanyeol, who was drinking Yoohoo through a curly plastic straw. Drinking it ironically through a curly plastic straw, Sehun corrected himself. Chanyeol was a good guy. He was smart, he noticed things, and he knew his way around a camera. Clearly, he'd also picked up a lot about investigating from his dad. But in a fight, he'd be butchered, and Sehun couldn't let that happen. He sighed.

'If you're really going to go after this vampire,' Sehun said. 'then I'm going with you.'