It had been a full nine days since the latest victim, Nam Minseo, had been confirmed to have gone missing.

And it had been a full week since two other sets of remains were found – those of the British tourist and English teacher, Rose Spencer, and the Chinese foreign exchange student, Xiao Li.

Just like Alice Park, the remains of both women were found mutilated and drained of blood, having been discovered in two opposite places; one in Incheon and one all the way in Busan. Kangta, Siwon and many other police officers had gone through their list of the most wanted murderers and serial killers but found no one who matched the unknown killer’s methodology. And though no one really wanted to admit the possibility out loud, they knew that the chances of the most recent victim of still being alive were slim to none.

Sooyoung entered the conference room and heaved a heavy sigh, leaning against the wall adjacent to the door and completely oblivious to the fact that she wasn’t alone in the room in her stress, frustration and exhaustion. It had taken all that she had to be professional and keep her distance as she informed the families of both Rose Spencer and Xiao Li, who had arrived from their home countries this morning, what happened to the two women. She had struggled to keep calm yet somehow still sympathetic face as she watched two broken families grieve openly, having to face the fact that their families were now a member short.

She pressed a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, willing all the memories to disappear even just for a while. She could still hear the sobs of the parents, their broken cries for their daughters who would never come back to them. Sooyoung trembled as she mechanically controlled her every breath, trying to calm herself down. She couldn’t break down now. Justice had yet to be served.

Changmin and Kyuhyun exchanged a look; the twins simultaneously getting up from their seats to approach their childhood friend. “Soo?” Changmin called out softly. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m okay, oppa.” The brunette dropped her hand to her side and opened her eyes. “I’m okay.”

“Idiot, you don’t have to hide from us.” Kyuhyun stepped forward and wrapped her in his arms reassuringly. “Everything will be okay, alright? We’ll solve this case, just as we always have.”

Sooyoung buried her face against his shoulder and nodded. “You always know what to say.”

“I just know you well.”

Siwon entered the room at the point; his eyebrows rising slightly at the sight he was met with. But Changmin merely shook his head and led the other man away from the pair towards where everyone else was. It had taken quite a long moment before Sooyoung sufficiently relaxed her nerves enough to pull away from Kyuhyun, holding up a hand to his face as she smiled gratefully at him. Kyuhyun returned the smile and allowed her to step past him; the two joining everyone else around the conference table.

“We need to find a new lead.” Siwon addressed the team as a whole. “We can’t let this continue longer than it already has. We’re risking every young female adult in this country. The investigation into how all victims had been offered job opportunities isn’t getting anywhere far right now and we need something to add up to it or at least give us a fresh start.

“Uh… Oppa?” Jessica spoke out all of a sudden. “I think I just found another similarity that I actually feel stupid for not seeing earlier.”

Changmin shot out of his seat. “What is it?”

“They’re all single.” She replied. “As in single since birth.”

“Oh, .”

Kris turned to Amber and arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘oh, ’?”

“I’ve been thinking about this but I kept hoping that I was wrong because it’s the scariest thing ever but now that unnie pointed it out…” She trailed off as she furiously typed on her laptop, turning it to face her team once she found what she was looking for.

Yoona leaned closer to the screen, which flashed a certain Wikipedia page. “Countess Elizabeth Bathory?”

Realization dawned in on a few faces. “Oh, .” Kris ran a hand down his face.

“Someone start explaining who this hideous-looking woman is and why I’ve heard ‘oh, ’ twice in the past minute.” Heechul demanded. “Now.”

“She’s the Blood Countess… known for bathing in the blood of young women to stay young, luring young girls into her Castle by promises of jobs inside.” Seohyun replied shakily; her face turning a lot paler than usual. “And her methodology for killing women matches the one of our serial killer.”

“This can’t be happening.” Yunho groaned. “You mean her soul returned to kill women again 400 years after her death?”

“That’s not possible.” Sooyoung shook her head. “We’ve established right from the start that the murders hadn’t been committed by anything supernatural because otherwise we would’ve felt it or figured it out by now. Evil souls have such strong energies that you can’t ignore them… so that means…”

Changmin frowned heavily. “Someone turned the Countess into a role model.”

The room fell into a tense silence; all eyes focusing on the Wikipedia page of one Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Was Amber really right or were they looking into things too much already out of their desperation and frustration? But one couldn’t deny the similarities between the two cases and it scared them more than they could imagine. In this day and age, was anyone really still capable of believing that she could stay young by bathing in the blood of s?

“I’m still not a hundred percent sure about this because quite frankly, I can even wra