“Do you ever think of your old life?” Sungmin asked sometime after dawn. We sat on the bed that eventually was labeled as ‘ours’ since Sungmin never really left my room after that first day. His face was angled toward the window again, while I held the pocket knife in one hand and a sharpening stone in the other. Though the knife was pretty useless against any vampyre, I found something about moving the blade against the warm stone calming.

“Not unless Jongwoon brings it up,” I said, and went back to sharpening the blade’s curve.

“It’s all I can think of sometimes,” he said with a listless voice. “When the sun is up, all I can think of is going outside, and running around in it, feeling the warmth and the light. I think of going to the ocean again, and feeling the hot sand beneath my feet. Sometimes, while we are supposed to be sleeping or resting, or whatever you call that trance-”

“Just rest.”

“Thank you. So while resting, I can sometimes hear the sound of a guitar, the one I used to play, and laughter. And then I think of Hyukjae, my roommate and best friend, and I wonder how he’s dealing with my disappearance.” I recognized the name from when he first woke up, but he hadn’t uttered it since. He turned to face me now, his expression calm, but I could sense emotions lying just under the surface. “You have a brother. You should understand how it would feel to be apart from him, and being totally unable to talk to him again, or even see him ever again.” I folded the pocket knife and placed it in my pocket.

More than you would know, I thought.

“It’s dangerous to have these feelings,” I told him, and he smiled this sad little smile that had pain touching my chest.

“I know, but just thinking of him, keeps me from staking myself, as you guys are so intent on putting it.” He looked out the window again, and I thought there had to have been something I could do to ease the pain in my chest, and the hollow smile that he gave me. I stood up, leaving the room and Sungmin. I headed down the hall, following this unexplainable urge, only to turn around and head back to my room when I realized what I was doing. I paused at the door and sighed. There was just something about Sungmin that had me getting worked up about him and what he thought, and it wasn’t like me to be this concerned about another person. My feet turned me around, making me start wandering aimlessly around the hostel. I found myself walking down a familiar hallway and up a set of stairs. Standing in front of Master’s suite, I knocked upon the door. Within moments, a very tired looking pureblood answered.

“Kyuhyun?”

“I want to leave.” His eyebrows rose in surprise and even his jaw dropped.

“Now?” I shook my head and chose to clarify.

“I want to leave tonight and take Sungmin with me, just for a few hours.” This time he looked at me in concern.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked. “Leeteuk is probably searching for you and your brother. If he even catches a whiff of your whereabouts, you would be putting yourself, your brother, and everyone in this clan in danger.”

“I can take care of myself,” I told him briskly, taking his unnecessary concern as an insult. “You think Jongwoon was sane enough to hunt after we left this place, years ago? I was the one who had to be strong enough for the both of us for months. I think I can take care of a fledgling for a few hours.” He rubbed a hand over his face, and for a moment I could swear I saw pain in those brown eyes, but it was gone before I could really recognize it.

“Fine,” he finally agreed. “I’ll open the door for you tonight, and I wouldn’t normally say this, but take some blood in a wine bottle or something. Having a blood thirsty fledgling on the streets can be dangerous. I can trust you not to get into trouble with humans, right? Or you will have a lot of explaining to do, and no way of doing it.” I nodded and walked away from his door, eventually hearing it close.

When I reached my next destination, I opened the door without bothering to knock, finding my brother lying on his bed, just staring at the ceiling. For some reason, that had become his new favorite activity, even going so far as to skip meals in order to do it. I couldn’t entirely pin the blame on Henry for mentioning the bond last week, as Jongwoon had always been a little unstable, but it did help when he wasn’t reminded.

“Do you think dhampyres can be depressed?” he softly asked, and I sat down on the bed next to him.

“I don’t know, but you seem to be good proof to say they can.” His dark eyes closed, and I touched his hand, playing with his small, childish fingers, like I used to do as a kid. “Ate anything today?” A single shake of his head was the only answer I got and I groaned. “Jongwoon, you need to eat. I can’t let you waste away until you’re bloodlusted, and ready to attack even me.”

“I haven’t even reached the first phase yet. I’ll be fine for a few more days.”

“Then what? You drink enough to sate yourself and starve for another week or two? What happened to running?”

“Siwon can’t open the door,” he mumbled, tears rising to his eyes and slowly falling down his face. “He tried, but even as weak as he is, Master is still stronger than Siwon. He has me trapped here again. Do you know what it’s like, to know that your only reason for living is someone who you hate with every fiber of your being?” I dropped his hand and lied down next to him, snuggling close. The image of Master looking through those ancient books once again entered my mind. I knew that telling Jongwoon, especially before I knew exactly what was in those books, would only break him further, but it hurt me to know what Master was possibly planning.

“Sungmin asked me today if I think about my life as a human,” I said, hopeful, but instead grew scared when Jongwoon didn’t give me any sort of reaction. My fingers reached up, and very carefully I brushed them against the tears, wiping them away. “Did you know I still think about the time when we were kids, and we would make up different adventures?” I let a hesitant little laugh escape my lips at the memory, almost cheering when the corner of Jongwoon’s mouth curved upward.

“We thought that jungle gym at the playground was anything we wanted it to be,” I continued, growing more excited with each word. “A pirate ship, or a castle, or an airplane, and we’d create all sorts of different characters. Do you remember that, Jongwoon? Did you know my favorite was the one where I was trapped in the dungeons of an evil king, which was only my teddy bear? You know, I wasn’t scared at all. I knew that my big brother would storm the castle, fight the king with his pretend sword. And even if he was limping, out of breath, and ready to fall over, he would still make his way down the ladder, to the space under the slide, and into the dungeons to free me.”

“Kyuhyun,” he said after a minute. “A teddy bear and a pretend dungeon are a lot easier to escape from than vampyres and a real prison.”

“I’m sure we can find a way out,” I said, trying not to tear up at how lost and broken my brother sounded. “Master couldn’t have-”

“It’s not this hostel I was talking about.”

“What do you-” The door opened, cutting me off and making me sit up and turn to see whoever decided to rudely enter.

“Do you know- oh,” Sungmin recoiled, and even looked a bit scared when he noticed my glare on him. “I’m sorry, I just got worried when you didn’t come back, and… I’m sorry.” He closed the door and I heard him run down the hall and away from the door, probably in embarrassment.

“He seems to really like you,” Jongwoon said as I began to calm down, and lied back down next to him.

“He just doesn’t trust anyone else,” I explained, but an actual smile from Jongwoon had me looking at him in amazement, and forgetting whatever we were just saying. Smiles like this were rare from him. Most of the time he said that there wasn’t a reason to smile anymore.

“I think there’s more to it than just that,” he said and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at the happiness in his voice.

“If you say so.” I sighed a bit, realizing what I needed to tell him. I doubted he would like hearing it, since it was something he wanted to, but couldn’t, do. “I’m going out tonight,” I whispered to him, watching as the smile slowly fell from his face.

“You mean you’re leaving?”

“Only for a few hours,” I rushed to explain, before he assumed I was going to leave without him. “I’m taking Sungmin to see the ocean.” And the smile was back, though less bright.

“I knew there was something more. You like him, too.” I scoffed at his words.

Me, like a fledgling? Impossible, I thought, and told him as much.

“Is he starting to get the hang of things?” I nodded.

“He still can’t stand the taste of blood, but at least he is starting to get how things are ran, and he can’t stand Donghae.” I heard a light chuckle from his lips.

“Donghae’s still just sore about everything that happened all those years ago,” he said as if that explained the man’s callousness and need for everything to stick to tradition. Jongwoon insisted that it was Donghae’s job as Master’s caretaker to assure everything goes by the book. According to him, Jongwoon should have never been able to become the Sponsa Sanguineus, because there were special protocols to follow, and since he did become one, Donghae went about making it Hell for my brother and even me. I couldn’t understand my brother’s patience toward him – it seemed as though he would easily forgive anyone but Master.

“What’s done is done,” I told him letting my voice hold old anger. I rolled off the bed and onto my feet, ruffling through my brother’s hair. “You want anything from outside?”

“Don’t worry about me, and just have fun,” he said, before rolling over and giving me a good view of his back. My hand slipped through the soft, dark, strands of his hair, and I walked to the door, ready to kill a certain pureblood, but I couldn’t do anything since I stood no chance against even a weakened pureblood. I hated the man for making my brother this way.

I stepped out of the room, only to run into Donghae, who had a determined look in his brown eyes and his face set in a hardened mask. With intuition being my reason, I stood in front of the door, refusing his entrance if that was his plan.

“Let me through,” he said in a tone that didn’t offer room for argument, but being who I was, I didn’t care if I had to sit there until I became bloodlusted, Donghae had no right to see my brother.

“Why?”

“Master is weak, and needs to feed,” he stated, looking like he would do everything short of staking me to get through, and even then he would consider doing it.

“No.” He took a step forward, getting into my face despite his shorter height and I just raised an eyebrow at his attempt at being intimidating. If an angry bloodking couldn’t make me afraid, why would a little dhampyre make me tremble in my shoes? I didn’t care that it was Donghae’s duty to take care of the master, nor did I care that he had been responsible for the pureblood the entire time that Jongwoon and I were gone.

“It’s his duty as-”

“And it’s my duty as his brother to protect him.” His hand shot up, latching around my throat and squeezing, but I only smiled at his efforts.

“I don’t care who you are. No one can get in the way of the bond. Don’t you know that because you took the Sponsa and fled that the clan disappeared? Hadn’t you wondered why there are so few of us now?” Until he mentioned it, the thought never crossed my mind, but now that he did, it seemed strange that the clan had been reduced from a hundred to only four.

“No wonder it’s so quiet, the elders aren’t here to make a big fuss over everything.” I couldn’t say I was at all disappointed by their departure. Those dhampyres, old and proper as they were, must have left the clan immediately after Jongwoon and I did. They had been around longer than Master even, and the only reason they never surpassed him was because they were only dhampyres and not purebloods.

“The elders convinced almost our entire clan to disperse. Everyone thought that Master was incompetent if he couldn’t even keep his sponsa at his side, or they believed your pathetic brother would be killed within weeks, effectively killing our clan leader and destroying any sense of protection we had built. It’s both of your faults.” With a weak arm, he tried to toss me to the side, but I maintained my stance. Brown eyes widened when my own hand caught his wrist, slowly pulling it from my throat, at least enough that I could speak.

“I’ve lived on the streets and in a vampyre den. Don’t underestimate my strength just because you’ve been Changed longer.” With a little more force, I threw his surprised form to the ground, and a gasp sounded from down the hall. I looked to see Master himself, dressed from head to toe in white, and Siwon by his side, carrying a glass of blood in his hand.

“Donghae!” he shouted, but not out of concern. The man looked absolutely livid, and his eyes even began to lighten to the white that they turned when he used his magyk. Fists clenched at his sides, and even Siwon looked surprised at the reaction. Donghae on the other hand, looked as though he wanted to cry. My jaw dropped when tears really did begin to drip down his face. To have the man he greatly admired furious with him must have really hurt, though I could relate it to when I had Jongwoon mad at me. “I have told you that I will not force Jongwoon to act on the bond, so do not even begin to do the same.” The man nodded, scrambling to his feet again, only to bend into a deep bow.

“I apologize,” he mumbled, before turning and racing down the hall. I watched until his form disappeared behind a corner, and I looked back to Master, who had lost the strength to stand, and was now leaning against Siwon.

“Almost six years without blood really does drain the body,” he said, attempting to bring humor to the situation, but Siwon only held him up with concern etched into his features. He turned his now dark brown eyes on me, giving me a simple smile. “It’s good that you’re here Kyuhyun. I was hoping that Jongwoon would at least trust Siwon enough to accept this glass, but with you here, then Siwon is unneeded.”

“He won’t drink it,” I said.

“It’s not poisoned or magyked,” Master said, sounding a little confused, but reassuring nonetheless. “You can even drink a sip to prove that I am not lying.”

“He won’t drink it, even if I went out and brought fresh blood from a human for him.” This seemed to greatly surprise both of them, especially considering the relationship my brother and I had. Both knew how we trusted our lives, and then some, to each other, even if they didn’t know why.

“Why not?” Master finally asked after the surprise began to wear away.

“You don’t know half the damage you caused to him.” I whispered, pressing my back against the door. I wasn’t sure Jongwoon could hear our conversation, so I knew I would have to check on him once again, but I wasn’t about to leave Master and his high priest standing here. I knew against even Siwon, I wouldn’t last more than a few minutes, but I would do anything to keep them from entering the room.

“Siwon,” Master spoke clearly, sounding like the leader that he was, and I tensed, waiting for the command to make me move. Siwon only looked to Master, still holding the glass in one hand, and holding his master with the other hand around his waist. “Put a seal on the door-”

“Wait!” I shouted, now extending my arms across the surface.

“-that would keep everyone out but Jongwoon and Kyuhyun, and then anyone with Jongwoon’s permission. I can’t be sure Donghae wouldn’t try this again.” My eyes widened at his request and my arms dropped, as Siwon nodded and stepped forward, leaving Master barely standing on his own two feet. He passed off the wine glass to me, muttered a few words in Latin, and waved his arm over the door. White light burst from the four sides. The priest stepped back, and Master motioned for me to try the door.

I grabbed the doorknob, thinking that there was a chance that they would have locked me out anyways and were secretly laughing at how gullible I had been. I swallowed the thought and with a simple twist of my wrist, the door opened. I pushed it open a crack. What I saw had my heart in my throat, the glass shattering upon the floor. Without a single thought, I threw the door open the rest of the way and ran to the bed, seeing my brother curled in upon himself, trembling. My hesitant hand reached out, daring to touch him. It wasn’t the first time I had seen him like this, and a number of reactions could follow a simple touch. When he jumped up, fangs bared, I almost fell back. Anger this time.

“I knew it,” he growled, lowly. “I knew it was only a matter of time.” His eyes landed on Master, who had probably been given the shock of his life, or afterlife. “Thought I could escape past the seal on the hostel, so you decide to put a seal on my room, too? As if you haven’t already held me prisoner long enough?”

“I-I,” Master stuttered, and for the first time, I actually saw his eyes grow glassy, noticeable even from ten feet away.

“Jongwoon,” I said firmly, getting his attention.

“And you let them!” he lunged for me, but I almost breathed a sigh of relief since he was weak from not feeding, and it only took a matter of seconds for me to pin him. I looked to Master, who had fallen to his knees just outside the doorway.

“Go!” I shouted, and he looked at me in confusion, like he didn’t quite understand the words. “Go, you idiot!” Siwon finally stepped in, pulling Master up, and leading him quickly down the hall. Their disappearance helped calm Jongwoon down a bit, and I managed to get him back onto the bed.

“Listen to me,” I said firmly, moving his face so that we met each other’s eyes. “The seal doesn’t keep you in. You are free to leave the room. I’m free to come and go. If anything, you should be glad that the seal is in place, because not even Master can enter without your permission.” Those words had him completely deflating and he slumped a bit. My hands slid from his face to his shoulders and I pulled him close. “Maybe… maybe he’s not as bad as we thought.”

Or maybe he’s only trying to win trust, I thought to myself. I slid away from the rare moment of affection, and started to walk to the door.

“Kyuhyun,” he said, stopping me. “I’m hungry.” He sounded like a kid saying that, enough to make a light smile touch my lips.

“I’ll get you something,” I said.

“No need,” a new voice said, and I looked to see Sungmin standing at the door, looking confused at the puddle of blood and shards of glass on the floor. In his hand was a glass almost full of blood, and he turned to grin at us a bit sheepishly. “I hope this is enough. Master just said to bring a glass to you guys-”

“Wait, Master told you to?” Jongwoon asked, his voice uncertain and a little skeptical. Sungmin nodded, looking proud of himself.

“It was the first time he really spoke to me, and he seems like a really nice guy,” he said, sounding excited about their encounter and I spared a glance to Jongwoon, seeing that this time, he didn’t hold the fear that he once held at the mention of our master. “He told me to go to the kitchen where the blood is stored and grab any pack, and pour it into a glass to bring to you.” Some sort of feeling came over me, at the thought that maybe Master really did care about Jongwoon, but at the same time, he could have just been trying to win him over.

Sungmin, oblivious to the new seal, began to walk into the room, but a loud thud echoed his running face first right into the invisible barrier, almost spilling the blood with the comical action. He looked at us in complete confusion and tears sprung to his eyes as he rubbed his nose with his other hand. “What just happened?”

“I’m sorry, Sungmin,” Jongwoon said, sounding almost like he didn’t believe that would really happen. “You can come in now, it’s ok.” A hesitant hand waved around the entrance and finding that no barrier blocked his way, he walked in, handing the glass to Jongwoon, who only held it back to him. “Take a sip, it’ll make your nose feel better.” Sungmin nodded, taking the glass only to have a sip and hand it back to Jongwoon, who downed it within seconds.

“So why couldn’t I walk in?”

“Master put a seal on the door, so no one but those who had Jongwoon’s permission could enter,” I explained and Sungmin looked confused.

“Why?”

“Some are not exactly happy with my refusal to fulfill all parts of being his sponsa,” Jongwoon answered this time.

“Oh.”

“Sungmin could you do something for me?” Jongwoon asked, and Sungmin nodded enthusiastically. “Leave the room and see if the barrier is back when you try to enter.” Without any further direction, Sungmin walked out the door, and held his hand out, meeting the barrier once again and pressing against it. “Come back in.” The barrier disappeared with his words and Sungmin’s hand pressed forward. He entered the room and sat down on the bed next to us.

“So that’s what a seal is?” I nodded. “So that’s what’s around the front door?” I nodded once more. “Then how do we leave?”

“We don’t,” Jongwoon said, setting the glass down on his nightstand. “Believe me, there is no other way out of this place but through that seal, not that a fledgling like you should be out there anyways.”

“Why not?” This kid had some unending curiosity, but I had started to get use to his questions. They were sort of refreshing after being on the streets where knowledge had to be gained within seconds of needing it. Sungmin had it easy, but most dhampyres had it easy compared to me and Jongwoon.

“Fledglings like you are vampyre chow,” I said with a devious smirk. “Henry was lucky but most aren’t. Vampyres don’t eat fledglings, don’t kill them either, and unless they like you, which is rare, then they like to torture cute, little dhampyre fledglings to the brink of insanity, because really, what else can they do with their time?” With each word, Sungmin grew more and more apprehensive, and even began to rub the front of his neck a bit.

“I think I remember something like that,” he said softly, looking at his hands, unaware of my and Jongwoon’s stare, and then his eyes widened. “I do remember! I was poking around this old mansion, since my car broke down and I needed a way to call Hyukjae, or least a place to charge my phone. When someone actually answered the door, I explained my story and the next thing I remember was that I was handcuffed in some sort of prison and…” He trailed off at this point, staring at his hands, as if he was surprised they were still there. “How come I didn’t remember earlier?”

“The Change can sometimes affect the memories around when you were Changed,” Jongwoon explained, reaching up to rub the fledgling’s shoulder.

“I should have died,” he said softly. “I mean, I remember lying on the ground, thinking, ‘this is the end,’ and then I saw someone asking for my name, and everything went dark. And then next thing I know, I see you, and you’re telling me I really am dead.” His finger poked me in the chest, and I pushed it away with a lazy hand.

“Don’t poke your elder,” I grumbled, and he just laughed.

“So how were you two Changed?” he asked, and I averted my eyes from his face.

“That is a story for another time,” Jongwoon said, brushing the question away easier than he normally would have and lying back on his bed. “You two should rest if you are going out tonight.”

“Going out?” Sungmin asked, looking to me for confirmation.

“You said you wanted to go to the ocean, and though it won’t be warm or sunny, I thought you would still like it, but if you don’t want to go, it’s fine.” I opened my mouth to continue, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me and I looked to see Jongwoon sitting up again with a grin on his face.

“You’re rambling,” he said, and jerked his head to Sungmin who wore the biggest smile on his face, almost like he just won the jackpot, only, sweeter, like someone had given him a bunny or something.

“I want to go,” he said, still smiling, and there was some sort of weird feeling in my chest when I saw that expression.

“Good,” I said, jumping up, and sending a glare to Jongwoon who was holding back chuckles behind his hand. But the glare faded within moments since I couldn’t bring myself to be mad at him for his moment of joy. My focus shifted to Sungmin, and his blinding smile had softened, but only a bit. “Now you need your rest to keep from becoming vampyre chow since I won’t stay around long enough to rescue you.”

“Yes, sir!” he saluted, and jumped off the bed, running out of the room. I shook my head at him.

“And you say the two of you don’t like each other,” Jongwoon deadpanned, sending me what looked like a smirk. He lied back down, now with a content smile. “Now, go rest, and I’ll think about eating again in a few hours.” A single hand waved me away, and I walked from his room, feeling much better this time than the last time.

I did exactly as he asked, crawling into bed next to an already unconscious Sungmin, and fell into that sleep-like trance.

* Sorry for the wait to upload this. School is keeping me crazy busy, and I can barely find the time to eat a proper meal, let alone write and edit. Anyways, I'll admit, this is a bit of a slow chapter, but the next chapter has a lot going on, and you guys will get to meet my favorite character :) Hope you have a lovely day!