“Honey,” a girl, dressed in a mini skirt and her boyfriend’s jacket, whined as she clung to her lover. The fall breeze ruffled her long dark hair, which she absently tucked behind her ear. “It’s dark, and I’m scared.” He gave her a smile, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. With a gentle movement, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. Tall in stature, with broad shoulders, he looked the image of a perfect boyfriend. Then again, they always did at first.

“Don’t worry, I’ll fight off any mugger, or murderer,” he said, making a fist in his other hand as a sign of strength. She giggled, and that trace of fear vanished into the air of rotten garbage, and rat droppings. Dark and dirty alleys always collected the worst of humanity, and yet many still chose it as an alternative to walking around an entire block.

“Mugger and , I may not be, and murderer is such a distasteful word, don’t you think?” The two jumped at my voice, and once again the scent of fear permeated into the air. Such an inviting aroma, and much better than the usual stench some creatures carried. The man almost instantly turned to where my voice had originated, shielding his girlfriend uselessly. “I have to eat, just like you,” I crooned from a different direction. The man spun around attempting to face me once again in the darkness. Silly boy. He dug out his wallet and threw it to the ground.

“Here. Take this and leave us alone,” he said shakily, actually trying to play the hero, but that enticing scent of fear only grew stronger. I sighed, finally stepping into the dim lighting that the city street provided. The two gasped as I made my presence known, and I bent down to pick up the dingy wallet, flipping through it a bit. I kept an eye on them, hoping they wouldn’t run, because that would be troublesome.

“Oh, dear me,” I pouted a bit, tsking, and shaking my head. A second wallet, a gold necklace and a silver watch were cast down next to where the first one had landed. I picked those up too, inspecting the contents of the girl’s pink vinyl wallet. “These are all well and nice, but you see, I don’t really have use for your silly pieces of paper.” I shrugged and let a smirk touch my lips. “What I really want,” I took a few steps closer, while the couple took those same steps back. The girl let out a little scream when her back hit the disgusting wall of the alley, and the man’s breath hitched when he found himself unable to flee. I took a deep breath, already feeling the high of the hunt coming to me. I could faintly hear the pounding of their heartbeats in their ribcages and the seductive sound of blood pumping through their veins. “What I really want, is-”

“Kyuhyun, stop playing with your food,” said a new, deeper voice from next to the couple, and two white hands viciously grasped the throats of our victims. I noticed dark hair, pale skin, and a form similar to my own.

“Jongwoon, why couldn’t you let me have my fun?” I whined, throwing my creepy image into the wind at his interruption. I almost stomped my foot too, but that would have pushed it a bit.

“I’m hungry, and you agreed to limit it to three minutes,” he growled, while the two struggled to get out of his grip. The girl stood no chance against Jongwoon’s tiny hands, but the man on the other hand looked as though he could succeed against my hungry companion. Now who was the one playing with his food?

“You know, I probably had another minute left at least,” I said, still miffed about his rude interruption. “And would you just snap their necks already? Leaving them struggling like that bothers me.” I could see his eye roll in the darkness, and with a twist of his wrists, the bodies fell to the ground, lifeless.

“I’ll give you four minutes tomorrow then. Happy?” I sniffed, and finally stepped forward, grabbing the woman’s body, and cradling her in my arms, almost mocking a lover’s caring embrace. I brushed my fingers against her hair, tucking the dark strands behind her ear, and moving my hand to close her eyes. I slowly placed the necklace back around her neck, finding that it nicely contrasted with her pale skin. “Why’d you choose another couple anyways?”

“They’re better than the drugged up trash that usually walks down our alley.” Jongwoon shrugged in partial agreement, tilting the man’s head in order to find the carotid artery. As his tongue at the flesh, his fangs extended. Sharp canines teased the skin before he finally sunk them in with a practiced motion, up the red liquid that began to dribble down his chin. I took my time with the girl, nuzzling her soft skin, wishing I had the chance to feel the warmth of a human next to me without needing to kill them immediately after. They always felt so warm, yet so fragile under my fingers.

Maybe it was the fact Jongwoon had been Changed longer, or maybe it had to do with his mixed love and hatred for humans that made him quick to feed. I, on the other hand, liked to savor my meal, liked to picture what the human was, before they became my meal. I sometimes created whole stories of their lives, starting back as they were children up until they became my dinner. Anything to relieve the boredom eternity brought on.

“Still going after the young lovers, I see,” said a voice at the entrance to the alley, and I bared my fangs with a hiss, warning the vampyre to keep away. Jongwoon behaved similarly, dropping his food in favor of extending his claws. “I’m not here to steal your dinner.” The man raised his hands in surrender, taking a few steps closer, but Jongwoon and I remained ready to attack.

“What do you want, Heechul?” I growled, watching as he lowered his hands, and straightened his bloodstained white shirt. To anyone else, it merely looked like paint, since the rest of him had been cleaned of all traces of his last kill, but I knew Heechul, and I knew how proud he was to display his conquests.

“I have a message from the clan leader,” he said, actually sounding irritated now that his real purpose had been revealed. Despite being high in the clan’s hierarchy, he still had been tasked with the need to play messenger. The messages grew in importance, but he loathed the job in the first place, even if it was a position that invoked envy from many of the clan members.

“We want nothing to do with the clan,” Jongwoon declared, but I bet even he failed to recognize the pain in his voice as he said the words.

“Yes, well the clan wants nothing to do with you either. It’s our leader who says you may be of importance.”

“He can stake himself for all I care,” Jongwoon muttered.

“I fail to see how that makes a difference to us,” I told him, looking down at my food wishfully. Another meal gone due to a loss of appetite.

“We found quite a few fledglings roaming our territory,” he began with a scowl on his face. “And we thought at first that we just had a fledgling who had no master or knowledge of how to feed without Changing his food, but then we managed to capture two of these fledglings.”

“Still finding this of no importance,” I said, finally moving to a more comfortable position, while my body remained tensed, ready to defend any attack.

“We brought them back since they looked fairly new, and on occasion, newly Changed fledglings could be of use to us, as I’m sure you both understand quite well.” Of course he had to bring that up yet again. How the clan took us in, starving of thirst, and ready to turn bloodlusted, out of the kindness of their hearts, but that same nightmarish clan turned us out only a few years later. “They caused a bit of a scuffle, and as one of our men prepared to put a stake through one guy, the other began to cry.” My eyes widened at the confession, as I was sure Jongwoon’s did, judging by his gasp. “And before anyone had a chance to react to that, the first guy told the other one, not to cry, because he would always love him.” Heechul spat out the words, as though they were poison on his tongue, and I had no doubt of the reason why. Love and vampyres didn’t mix. Not even in the slightest.

“Love,” Jongwoon whispered from my side, with a hint of longing in his voice, and Heechul smiled, showing terrible and sharp fangs. A smile that scared even the most mature of vampyres, yet neither I, nor Jongwoon, flinched at the expression.

“You two should know what this means. They remember being human, which makes them dhampyres. An ungodly lot, those creatures are.”

“Looks like you caught yourselves some good test subjects,” I told him, crossing my arms. Dhampyres were not publically hunted, because they still were considered part of the vampyre brethren, but almost all vampyres despised their very existence for multiple reasons.

“Dhampyres are a danger to the clan,” Heechul argued, annoyed at my tone. “Retaining human memories either makes them want to Change family, friends and even people on the street, causing even more problems, or they drive themselves bloodlusted with an inability to kill, or they attack and kill vampyres because of their old morals. They’re a danger even to you two bloodhounds.”

Jongwoon growled at the name, but I ignored the insult. Bloodhound or not, I at least made my own decisions, instead of blindly following a clan. I accepted the fact vampyres found us to be the dogs of the world, sniffing out food and devouring it, only to do the same the next day. In my mind, they were even further below that.

“I’m not going to go after your little pureblood problem, so unless Jongwoon’s heart starts beating again, I don’t think you’ll have the help you want.”

“Still love to exercise your power over people, I see,” I said, feeling my fangs lengthen in defense. Now wonder Heechul acted friendlier than I remembered. I carefully glanced around the familiar room, finding that the large, dark, cave-like room hadn’t changed since the last time we had been here, not that that was surprising. Vampyres, when not hunting, tended to be lazy creatures, holding no need to do anything but feed.

“Power? I guess you can call it that. I merely call it knowledge.” He laughed, but no vampyre could truly find something comical. Their laughs remained lifeless, much like the heart in their chest, and instead had been a stigma of mockery towards both dhampyres and humans.

“Leeteuk,” my brother finally spoke, bringing our attention to him. “Just tell us why we’re here, and stop playing those social games with us.” Leeteuk, the clan leader, crouched down next to Jongwoon, brushing a hand over his bent head.

“I see you’re still feeling it, that one emotion I could never reciprocate. What does it feel like, this ‘love?’ Painful? Like that already dead heart is being crushed even further? Maybe I should have accepted your innocent confession. Maybe then you two would have stayed longer, and I wouldn’t have so much of a dilemma right now. I will admit you’re rather pleasing to the sight.” Another laugh, and as his hand went from my brother’s head to his neck, caressing the skin contemptuously, and for a single split second, I watched my brother give into that touch, melting into its harsh gentleness with a hopeless look on his face. I hissed, baring my fangs in warning. Chains or not, I wasn’t about to let him hurt Jongwoon further. The man only laughed at my threat. “You dhampyres are all the same. Holding onto weaknesses, and if you had been Changed by any vampyre, rather than one of those disgusting purebloods, you wouldn’t have those holding you back. You two would have made quite an addition to my clan.” He backed off, standing up and walking to his throne lavishly decorated with silks, jewels and iron chains. Being a clan leader, and even a bloodking, had its merits, usually in the form of treasure. Though why vampyres had a use for it, I had no idea.

“I want your pureblood master,” he declared, as if it wasn’t already obvious.

“And what makes you think he would come after us?” I asked, despite knowing exactly why he would.

“Both of you are his chosen,” he said, as he once again approached us, gracefully walking over to Jongwoon again, and without warning, lifted his black t-shirt. He smirked, holding the shirt up and revealing a delicate design of what looked like leafless black vines that swirled and crossed over each other, starting at his heart and extending out to the base of his neck, shoulders, and wrapping around his back. The lines ranged from thick to thin, and were a dark black color, looking almost like the tattoos humans would get, but darker – a striking contrast to the skin there. “And your brother is his own personal blood bank. Jongwoon is his sponsa sanguineus, or bloody bride in this detestable tongue, and their bond is the closest to any human marriage we vampyres can get. To think, though, it’s typically only between a pureblood, who doesn’t need blood and one of his chosen dhampyres.” Leeteuk dropped the shirt, dusted his hands and rose up to his full height.

“How sentimental,” he scoffed. My eyes carefully followed him as he continued to parade around the room.

“Even if the bond was forced, both parties feel the connection, and if the sponsa is in any sort of danger, guess who would feel it. The mate, because isn’t that the easiest way to eradicate a pureblood? By torturing and disposing of their sponsa?”

My legs began to cramp from kneeling for so long, and I wanted nothing more for him to stop his monologue and just throw us in his dungeons, but Leeteuk probably had other ideas. He always was one to show off.

“I once captured a pureblood, and her sponsa about a century ago. She had been Changed longer than I had, so it came as a surprise that I manage to snatch both her and the dhampyre. I recall listening to her screams as I slowly peeled his flesh from his bone, and reveled in the way she began to tear at her own skin. When he finally disintegrated, with a stake in his heart, she did too, as if that stake had pierced her own heart. Purebloods don’t let go of their sponsa so easily, so how was it that you managed to get away from your master?” Neither Jongwoon nor I opened our mouth to answer the question and before Leeteuk could demand one, a loud explosion sounded from somewhere in the mansion. Leeteuk grinned and his fangs extended as he his lips.

“He’s here already?” He walked to Jongwoon, using a single clawed finger to jerk his chin up, eliciting a pained whimper. “You, Jongwoon, must have a stronger bond with this pureblood than I thought.” With a dark chuckle, he dropped Jongwoon’s head. He advanced toward the door, and I sighed. If our master really was here, even a vampyric bloodking stood little chance against him. Master would have never let my brother leave if he couldn’t protect him at all costs. Just as the vampyre touched the doorknob, another explosion, this one of simple force, threw the door, and the wall around it into Leeteuk, pushing him back and onto the ground to be crushed under the weight of the rubble.

“I’m tired of vampyres getting into my business, and then underestimating me,” said a rather sweet sounding voice, pitched higher than mine or Jongwoon’s. A man I recognized as Master stepped through the broken wall, narrowly missing a falling piece of plaster, not that it would have affected him. Though only looking around twenty-five, with a boyish face, brown wavy hair, and an almost delicate and small frame, I knew him to be much older than any would have ever guessed. Comparing Leeteuk to him seemed like comparing a child to an adult.

Even going without feeding from Jongwoon for a few years, our master still had enough power to break into a vampyre den. On his shoulder, he carried what looked like a man, but I could tell from the scent, it was no human, at least, not anymore.  As he walked closer, I noticed a few gashes that tore at his skin, exposing pink tissue, and scars that would have faded with the taste of blood. After bonding, only blood from Jongwoon could sooth over such wounds, and perfect the skin once again. With a flick of his wrist, the chains holding our hands fell to the ground.

A maniacal laugh sounded from the pile of rubble and Leeteuk rose up, brown eyes now red as he finally used one of his birthrights as bloodking, building the strength it would take to draw blood from a person’s very body. My eyes shot to the only person in the room who still had blood coursing through his body, and if my heart still worked, it would have jumped with the sight of my brother. He had curled upon himself in pain from the feeling of every part of him begin to tingle. I knew it was only a matter of time before the vibrations got too strong and every microscopic drop of blood would burst from his skin, exploding in a spray of crimson. I had never felt it myself, but I had first witnessed it when a meal had angered the leader, and within a single minute there was little left of him but the blood that painted the walls. It wasn’t pretty, and it was horrific even to imagine my brother suffering the same fate.

I heard something heavy hit the ground, and I turned to see Master with his arms raised, and the man he carried, lying on the floor. Brown eyes that now shone white, stood bright against his face, and I ran to take hold of Jongwoon, pulling him out of harm’s way - a difficult task when even a simple touch brought excruciating pain. His agonizing scream pierced my ear painfully, and made my stomach twist with such a sound. Master could only do one thing right now, and it was going to cost him.

“Shh, Jongwoon, it’ll be over in a moment,” I said, hoping that ‘over’ didn’t mean he would burst in a shower of blood. It would be very bad for everyone, Leeteuk included.

Another explosion sounded, and the entire ceiling collapsed onto Leeteuk. Jongwoon groaned in relief, since the birthright had been interrupted when Leeteuk had once again been buried but that was the least of our problems now. I looked to Master, who could barely stand from using enough strength and control to bring the ceiling down without damaging the surrounding area.

“Master?” I questioned, not knowing how I could lead two weakened and one unconscious person out of the mansion when I knew that other vampyres were on their way. Master squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, his entire face contorting in pain.

“Take Sungmin, and let me lean on Jongwoon. I can’t carry him,” he told me, and I looked to the man on the ground which I assumed was ‘Sungmin.’ His eyes remained closed and unaware of the danger he was in. Pale skin was bright against the dark clothes he wore and contrasted well with the dark hair tangled into a complete mess. Dirt was smudged across his face, and his clothes were tattered and covered in dirt and grime. With a wrinkled nose, I bent down to pick up the unconscious man, but as I turned him over, I noticed something very striking against his skin. Two puncture wounds lied on his neck, with fresh blood smeared around them. I looked to Master, who was being supported by my brother.