“It almost looks like we’re going on a date,” Sungmin said cheerily, as I gathered the bottle of “wine,” and two glasses into a cooler packed with ice.

“You’re reading too deeply into it,” I said, and handed him the cooler. I grabbed my messenger bag, which was weighed down by one of the books Master had been looking through earlier. To talk to Siwon now about the Latin would seem suspicious, especially if the books contained anything bad about the sponsa sanguineus bond. Since I was leaving the hostel anyways, I thought it would be a good chance to meet with that woman. Who knew when I would be able to leave again?

“Well, we have ‘wine,’ and we’re going to the beach when the moon will be up,” he started, drawing circles on the counter with a single finger. “You don’t think that sounds at least a little romantic?”

“Nope.” I began walking down the hall. Noticing my departure, Sungmin hurried to catch up. It didn’t take long to reach the door, and Master, Siwon and even Donghae were waiting there. “I didn’t know we were having a going away party,” I said, with a raised brow. A visible seething expression covered Donghae’s face, but the other two actually looked mildly amused.

“I wouldn’t need to be here if it wasn’t for your brother,” Donghae mumbled, barely audible if we were human. But with better hearing, all four of us heard what he said.

“Donghae,” Master warned, now wearing a stiff expression. The man just crossed his arms, and once again cursed my brother under his breath. “Kyuhyun, I’m trusting you to not get into any trouble, because this time, I won’t be able to protect you.”

“Master,” Donghae whispered, sounding incredulous. Even if it was me and I had been away from the clan for so long, it still wasn’t the most appropriate thing for a master to say, especially to one of his chosen. Nor did it help that he just admitted his own weakness. I only nodded, and he smiled lightly, moving to stand in front of the door. He waved his arm over it, saying the magyk words, and white light allowed the seal to be broken. A rush of air left his lungs, and he even stumbled back a step from the exertion. Siwon grabbed his shoulder to steady his balance and Master nodded at us as a go ahead. Without another word, I took hold of Sungmin’s shoulder and led him through the door. I didn’t glance back to see the seal being put back into place.

“That seal is different from Jongwoon’s, isn’t it?” Sungmin asked as we started to walk away from the hostel and I nodded.

“The seal around the hostel needs to be much stronger, and having any sort of allowances, makes a seal weak so Master actually has to break the seal and put it back in place.”

“Oh.” I hefted my bag to a better position on my shoulder and quickened my stepsdown the hostel’s driveway, with the fledgling close behind. His footsteps were loud in the silence of the night, but for now, I ignored it as we made our way to the few cars that Master had parked. He mostly used them for business purposes, such as for the blood trade. Out of the three cars, the black sedan stood out the least, and though the red sports car would have been more fun to drive, I didn’t want to be conspicuous. After motioning for Sungmin to get in on the other side, I slipped in. I found the keys in the glove box and started the car.

With practiced maneuvers, I whipped out of the driveway, and through the open gates of the hostel, driving fine without the lights of the car to guide my way. Night vision definitely came in handy when trying to leave an abandoned hotel without bringing attention to the deserted road. When I finally reached the main road, I flipped the light switch, in order to allow idiots to see my car. It felt good to drive again – a semblance of a normality I once had.

“You’ve never had a girlfriend, have you?” Sungmin asked after a few minutes of being on the road. I glanced to him, seeing him just looking out the passenger window at the passing scenery.

“Where did that come from?” I asked, as I sped around another car.

“I had been thinking about it since you said that you didn’t find this to be romantic.”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“If you had a girlfriend,” he started, making it sound like it should have been obvious. “You would know what is or isn’t romantic, or at least have an idea of it.”

“I doubt it,” I muttered and he shrugged.

“So have you?”

“Have I what?”

“Had a girlfriend?”

“Have you?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“You didn’t answer mine either.”

“So…?” His mouth twisted into a playful grin, and I rolled my eyes as I merged into another lane.

“No, I’ve never had time for a girlfriend,” I told him, and he frowned a little, before turning back to look out the window, and it must have been a trick of the eye, but I swore I saw a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Why not?” he asked and I couldn’t name the feeling I heard in his voice.

“It’s always just been me and Jongwoon,” I confessed. “Our mother died when I was a kid, and our father spent most of his time at work in order to provide for us, so Jongwoon, being the older brother, decided he would be the one to take care of us.”

“How old were you two?”

“He was ten, and I was seven.” I couldn’t explain the reason why I was telling him past memories that had already been boxed away in my mind. Maybe Jongwoon’s words had been getting to me, and something had already started between me and the fledgling. That thought left my mind almost as soon as it entered, with only half a second in between to actually consider the possibility.

“Sounds like it was rough,” he said sympathetically, but I only shrugged.

“We survived,” I told him, brushing off his unnecessary pity. I to a new road, and I looked to the clock on the radio. Only half past ten, so we would reach the ocean in another hour or so. A tapping sound started to drum itself into my head, and I looked to Sungmin, who was tapping his hand against the car door.

“So how about you? Any girlfriends?” The tapping paused, then sped up and stopped completely at a light. It turned green again before Sungmin had the courage to answer.

“Uh-uh, but I had a few boyfriends,” he admitted, almost sounding almost embarrassed by the fact.

“I didn’t think you swung that way.”

“You don’t sound surprised.”

“Why should I?” I shrugged. “It’s not like it matters anymore that you’re dead.” His jaw dropped and he gave me a look of pure confusion.

“Why shouldn’t it? You said we could still feel love right? Maybe I’ll meet a nice dhampyre guy, who actually knows what romance is, and-”

“That’s all well and nice, but you can kiss arousal goodbye, and-”

“What?!” he almost shrieked, looking down to his crotch. “You mean… I can’t…” A glare was sent my way when I started to laugh at his reaction. “You’re joking with me again, aren’t you?” he whined, sounding desperate to hear me say just that.

“Not at all,” I said shaking my head. “Blood is a requirement for getting it up, isn’t it? Which is something we don’t have.”

“Wait,” he said, holding a hand up, still trying to comprehend what I had just told him. “Isn’t the master and your brother, sort of ‘married?’ ” My hands tightened on the steering wheel and I stared at the road, straight ahead.

“Where did you hear that?” I asked, trying to keep from growling at the mention of the bond that those two shared. How could it even possibly be compared to a marriage? Even arranged marriages, in this day and age, weren’t forced. There was always a second choice. Even if it meant being disowned and on the streets, there was still an ability to choose otherwise. Jongwoon, my brother, didn’t have that other choice.

“Henry was trying to explain the bond to me, but he said he didn’t even know what it was like, so he compared it to being married.” I let out a deep breath, trying not to blow up. It wouldn’t do me any good to get mad at a fledgling who didn’t know any better.

“What is between Master and my brother is not like marriage. It is a bond, or a union, and merely just a contract. My brother gives Master more power if Master feeds from him, and my brother got something he couldn’t live without. No love, no , not even a simple partnership, or a step onto equal ground.”

“What did your brother get?” Sungmin asked and something snapped inside me. I had asked Jongwoon numerous times, but he never said a word, and that frustration and anger reemerged with his ignorant questions. He had no idea. No clue about anything. I suddenly turned the wheel, and stepped on the brakes, pitching us forward in our seats. If anger hadn’t suddenly taken over, I would have felt bad for the loud thud of Sungmin’s head hitting the dash and his little cry of pain.

“Let me make this clear,” I said, turning in my seat to face him with a stern tone in my voice, loud enough to make him forget about the sore on his head, and press himself against the door in fear. For some reason, I didn’t like that look on his face, where his doe eyes were wide with alarm, and one hand clutched his chest while the other hand fisted his pant legs. His lips were parted, with unspoken words of fright. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t stop myself from making that face even more apparent. “Whatever is between my brother, and that bastard of a master, is between them. It does not concern you one bit. Grow up, and learn that there are some things you shouldn’t keep questioning.” His mouth snapped closed, and he nodded with only a small movement of his head.

When I turned back around, I slammed my hands against the steering wheel, making Sungmin flinch. My hands gripped the sides of my head, and I released the breath I held in my lungs. I put the car in gear again, merging into the almost non-existent traffic, and out of the corner of my eye, I watched Sungmin slowly begin to calm down, but it wasn’t the same. The atmosphere had grown too tense; I had made him afraid of me, and no matter how many times I wanted to tell myself I didn’t care, somehow a pain in my chest had me thinking otherwise.

“Look, I’m sorry,” I grumbled, angrier at myself, than anyone else, especially the man who once again looked like a scared child. “I just… The spona sanguineus thing is sensitive,” I said, trying still, just to calm down, “and it wasn’t through the best circumstances that my brother became Master’s sponsa.” With a lowered head, he nodded, and I released an angry sigh, forcing myself to calm down. The scenery passed by too quickly and I pulled my foot off the accelerator, realizing I had been driving well over a hundred miles an hour. The car slowed, until I was below the speed limit. I needed to calm down. Tension radiated from his side of the car and I glanced over to see him chewing on his lower lip.

“I know you want to say something,” I started, swallowing my anger loudly. “So just say it. I… I promise not to get mad.” Silence dragged on for a moment and inside, I cursed myself for being so cruel only a moment ago, but when he opened his mouth to speak, I felt a rush of relief through me.

“When you said equal ground, what did you mean?” he asked in a soft and insecure voice, one that almost begged me not to yell at him again and that pain in my chest only grew fiercer.

“Dhampyre hierarchy,” I stated, but figured he probably wouldn’t understand just from that. “Purebloods and clan leaders, especially ones as old or older than our Master, are the closest we get to royalty. Below them are dhampyres with special talents, or assigned roles, and also ones that have been changed for at least a few centuries. Siwon being a high priest, and Donghae being Master’s caretaker, and each over three centuries old, makes them fall into this category. My brother, being the sponsa of a clan leader also makes him part of this social level. Dhampyres are next, with age being the main factor in their status, and finally any vampyre.”

“So we’re right above vampyres on the social level?” he asked, gaining more confidence with his words.

“Figuratively, but we’re accepted by almost every dhampyre and pureblood, when there’s a collective hatred towards all vampyres. The structure also gives a pureblood clan leader absolute control over everyone below him, especially his or her sponsa. And all the other dhampyres allow this to happen because that is the way of things.” I finished the explanation practically growling, but this time, I didn’t feel such a negative response from Sungmin.

Sungmin never said another word the rest of the drive, and I didn’t bother trying to make conversation. Somehow, when we finally reached the ocean, beautiful even in the night, neither of us moved. Sungmin looked at me, almost like he expected me to stop him in some way. He waited only a moment before all tension was forgotten and he leaped from the car, and ran screaming like a kid through the sand to the water, losing his shoes somewhere in the sand. Even he couldn’t stay upset when freedom called his name through crashing waves.

“It’s cold!” he shouted, with a smile on his face so brilliant, I swore there area around him grew lighter.

“What’d you think it’d be?” I shouted back, taking my time walking towards him. Each step had me walking further from the topic that drawn such a rise out of me. Along the way I picked up his shoes and socks and took mine off, feeling the little grains of sand between my toes. A single laugh echoed above the sound of the waves and I let my lips twitch up into a smile, hearing him shriek as a wave crashed against his legs. I dropped our shoes nearby and joined him by the water. Maybe coming to the ocean was exactly what we needed. I looked behind me and towards the sky, judging where the sliver of the moon was in the sky.

I heard a giggle before I was splashed with the water, and a noise passed through my mouth at the coldness on my back. I whipped around, locking eyes with my target who stood with a childish grin on his face. He stuck his tongue out as I took one step closer, challenging me with the mocking gesture. Another step had his body tensing and when the next wave touched my toes, I pushed into a sprint, chasing after him as he started running. The water wanted to hold my feet in its cold embrace, making it harder to run, but it slowed Sungmin down even more. There was no way I was letting him get away with it. I got close enough to grab hold of his shirt and the tug was enough to make him fall backwards into the water. A second later he was sitting up, splashing me again. I kicked the water spraying it into his face, then bent down to use my hands. He was up and running again in seconds.

“Just wait until I get my hands on you,” I threatened, and he smiled at me mischievously for only half a second, before splashing me again. The need for childish revenge had me chasing after him, feeling the wind ruffle my hair, and the water splash against my legs. Playful laughter sounded from ahead of my and just as I was about to grab him, he tripped, falling into the wet sand, and kicking my legs out from under me.

Our eyes met, and all the laughter was gone. I gazed into dark brown eyes that stared back at me. My entire body covered his, and only my lower arms kept me from collapsing onto him.  A drop of water rolled down my cheek and onto his, and I watched as it traveled down to his parted, pink lips that looked so soft. A tongue darted out and those lips, and it took me a few seconds to realize I was leaning closer, and his eyes were slowly closing and all I wanted at that moment was to see if those lips were as soft as they looked. And when that thought entered my mind, I pulled myself away and awkwardly got up. I held my hand out to a dazed Sungmin who accepted my help to stand.

What was I about to do? I asked myself, berating myself for the unnecessary distraction.

“We’re soaked,” he said a little sheepishly and if we had blood to blush with, his cheeks would be flaming red with it.

“And full of sand,” I added. After rinsing off what we could in the water, we headed back to the car, grabbing our shoes along the way.  Master would probably force me to detail his car as soon as we got back, but, in all honesty, it would be well worth it. After being on the run for so long, and taking care of my brother, fun was only in the form of playing with my food, but this, this with Sungmin, was something I couldn’t have for so long.

I started up the car, and got back on the road, trying to remember the route I needed to take to get to that one woman’s back alley store.

“We aren’t heading back to the hostel, are we?” Sungmin asked after I had been driving for a few minutes.

“I have an errand to run,” I said.

“Oh,” he said, sounding disappointed, and looked out the window. I didn’t know what came over him and the car ride was silent the rest of the time, even as we got into the city and to the small alley that hid an apothecary shop.

“You should come inside with me,” I told him, when I pulled up to the curb. “This area isn’t safe for fledglings.”

“Then why are we here?”

“I need something translated, and Niko is the only one I can ask to translate Latin,” I told him.

“Niko?”

“You’ll meet her.” Before he could say anything more, I grabbed the messenger bag and got out of the car, waiting half a minute for him to follow me. I looked down both sides of the alley first, making sure that no one would suddenly ambush us, and sighed before walking to the door. I opened it, not caring that the sign said closed and rang the bell at the front counter.

“Closed. The sign says closed,” a loud, and rather irritated female voice sounded from one of the rooms in the back. Her foreign accent made the words roll off her tongue in a way that I knew I couldn’t replicate. “Can’t anyone read? Dear Lord. You’d think that eventually someone would learn that c-l-o-s-e-d spelt closed, and meant the shop was no longer open to customers.” A tall and slim woman emerged from the oriental looking curtain, wearing what looked like pajama bottoms with cartoon cows printed on them, and a t-shirt that read “hot stuff.” Her feet were covered in big, fuzzy frog slippers and her long dark hair was tied back in a messy pony-tail. Almost anyone in the world would call her beautiful, with her cream colored skin, contrasting with her dark exotic eyes, and almost red lips, set on a heart shaped face. Back a few centuries ago, she used that beauty to lure men to their deaths. Before she locked herself away in her apothecary shop.

“If it isn’t my second favorite dhampyre,” she gushed, running up to the counter and leaning close enough to pinch my cheek. “How’s your brother? Still adorable as always?”

“He’s no different, if that answers your question,” I told her, and she smiled brightly. Her eyes glanced behind me and she squealed when she caught sight of Sungmin who was looking around the shop. The boy had obviously never seen something like this shop, which was full of different spices, teas, candles and other knick-knacks like sheer fabrics with tassels, and urns. Niko had a habit of collecting anything that fit her strange tastes and always lit the shop with candles at night, rather than doing the normal thing and use electricity. The scent of incense burning didn’t seem to make the place any homier, but she loved it. At the sound of her delight, Sungmin looked to the front and his eyes widened as a hundred and twenty pounds of ecstatic woman headed straight for him at an inhuman speed.

“Oh my God, he’s adorable!” she shouted, practically crushing him in her arms. Sungmin on the other hand, looked scared to death by her reaction. “Can I have him Kyuhyun, please?”

“Have you lost your sense of smell? He’s Dhampyre, not human.”  Her nose wrinkled and she dropped her arms.

“Dammit, Kyuhyun, stop ruining my fun.” With trudging footsteps, she walked back behind the counter and leaned onto her arms. “So what is it this time?” I pulled out the book and laid it down in front of her.

“Small translation. Just need you to tell me what this book is about.” Her eyes lit up at the sight of the ancient book, and her fingers caressed the cover almost delicately.

“How did you get a hold of this? I haven’t seen a book like this since I was still in Europe in, I think, the time of Charlemagne, and boy, was he handsome in his younger days. I think I had some of my best conquests in those days too. Do you remember if Charlemagne was before or after the Black Plague? If he was before, then I was in Rome at the time, but if he was after, I think I had just started as a kitchen maid in some Lord’s house somewhere in Germany, which at the time was the Holy Roman Empire.”

“Niko, the translation.” She looked up, completely surprised by my presence, since she had once again lost herself to her own little world, and then rolled her eyes.

“Can’t you let a vampyress reminisce about her past a bit?” I opened my mouth to say no, but someone else spoke up before me.

“Vampyress?” Sungmin asked, sounding a bit fearful.

“Sweetheart, I don’t bite,” she said, smiling with her fangs extended.

“Stop scaring him, he’s just a fledgling,” I said, without any real conviction.

“She’s a vampyre,” Sungmin said, once again, shakily, and his already pale skin took on the color of paper, even in the candle light.

“Sungmin, meet one of the rare vampyres raised by a witch coven, who would be more likely to dissect you and use you in one of her magyk potions or just for pure research, than bite you.”

“And that’s supposed to comfort me?”

“Don’t worry, hun,” she drawled, with a wink. “You’re too cute, even if you are a dhampyre. You can take Kyuhyun’s place as my second favorite dhampyre, but Woonie will always be number one in my heart.”

“Now could you get back to the translation,” I said with a growl, while her interest in Sungmin began to grate on my nerves. Cream colored cheeks puffed out in a pout but thankfully she didn’t argue and started to scan through the book, flipping pages rather rapidly. Things were just starting to settle down when her head shot up, and with a look of pure shock, she ran to Sungmin, giving him no warning as she lifted his shirt. His bare skin seemed to confuse her, and she turned back giving me a hard look. The fledgling on the other hand looked completely violated, and I wasn’t surprised.

“All right, what kind of trouble did you and your brother get into?” Her voice took on a dangerous tone, and I wondered why she seemed so on edge. What did the book even say? She ruffled the hair on the top of her head, causing strands to fly out. “I know you couldn’t have bonded with anyone, and the fledgling doesn’t have the marks for it. Besides, only one with magyk can create the bond, and last time I checked, you two were still dunces when it came to anything more than feeding.”

“Last time you checked, we had just gotten away from your nephew’s clan. We honestly didn’t do anything but feed.” Apparently she didn’t take too kindly to my humor, because she gripped the collar of my shirt and gave me a good shake.

“That book,” she started rather fiercely, “is all about different ancient bonds that could be created between those of the vampyric kind, and has one whole chapter dedicated to the sponsa sanguineus bond, which is just about the only one still in use. You wouldn’t come here if it wasn’t somehow important, so, sweetheart, start talking before I make you.” Dark eyes flashed red with boiling rage.  I knew the whole scene probably looked rather comical to anyone else, a man being threatened by a shorter woman wearing frog slippers, but Niko was probably the only one in the world who could actually make me fear for my existence.

“Jongwoon is bonded, and I found our Master looking through this book.” Those dark eyes glanced back and forth between each of my own eyes, but settled to a simmer when she decided I was telling the truth.

“Do you remember the page?” I shook my head, and she released my shirt. “The book is mostly about creating and destroying the bonds, but it also highlights the conditions of each bond.” With firm steps, she went back to the book, flipping to what I assumed was the chapter about the sponsa sanguineus. “Here: The sponsa sanguineus bond, is rather ingenious in the sense that it unites the souls of the bonded partners. With a basic ritual of purification, another of opening and releasing the souls, and a final ritual to entwine and lock the souls away, the bonded pairs are almost forced to rely on each other for existence. The mate must only feed from his sponsa sanguineus, or bloody bride, while the sponsa must rely on her mate to protect her due to the magyk running through her, allowing her to once again hold blood within her body. This unique condition makes her more susceptible to one of the bloodking’s birthrights.”

 Niko turned the page, scanning over it for a moment. “It goes on to talk about the different details on how to prepare the ritual, and a few of the conditions, such as having one practiced with magyk, and the different ingredients for the different rituals, but it’s really nothing you will need to know. If Jongwoon’s already bonded to him, then I doubt he was looking at this part.” Her delicate hands turned the page once more, and her eyebrows furrowed at the sight. “Ah, here we are. ‘The bond can only be broken by the death of the mate. If the bride dies, then both will perish, but if the mate has fallen, then the bride is released from the bond. The process is still painful, as all the blood in her body is forced out through orifices such as the mouth, nose and eyes, but her survival is almost definite. One method to break the bond, is to cause the mate’s death during the brief periods that he feeds from his bride, minimizing her pain.’ ” A loud slam signaled that she had closed the book, and her fingers once again traced over the cover.

“This is really frightful stuff,” she said at last. “I’m glad that I had refused that one man’s proposal a few centuries ago, while I had been in England. A silly Pureblood wanted me to be his sponsa and fortunately for me, a little damsel had caught my eye only a few days before. Married life is not for me. Though, any life out of my little shop isn’t really for me. This place is rather nice, with a decent view upstairs, and out there isn’t so nice. I mean-”

“Niko, the book?” Once again, I seemed to have caught her off guard, and she looked down to the book pouting a bit.

“Do I really have to give it up? This also has how to create the careo capitalis bond.”

“ ‘careo capitalis bond?’ ” Sungmin asked from across the room, finally speaking up.

“ ‘Without head’ in Latin, and it would make anyone my absolute slave for the rest of their existence. I could make someone else go out and do my errands while I stay here, studying some of those magyk books my sisters sent me, or watching old romance movies. Humphrey Bogart isn’t much of a looker, but he’s brilliant in Casablanca and don’t even get me started on Cary Grant.”

“Wouldn’t want to,” I deadpanned and flinched when she smacked me on the back of the head.

“Are you really a vampyre?” A soft voice asked, and we both looked to Sungmin, who shuffled on his feet.

“Vampyress, darling, and yes. If you’re a fledgling, someone should have told you we don’t feel emotions, so you were probably expecting something animatronic, like those robots that the humans build, who’s only thought is ‘kill?’ ” Sungmin nodded, and looked to me, unsure if that was the right thing to do. “We can still feel, hun, but only things that are more primal, such as interest, or irritation. Regret, guilt, love and even hate, are more innately human, which is a side we vampyres lose.” While she was distracted with explaining, I slid the book into my messenger bag, and threw it onto my shoulder again.

“Well, that’s all we have time for,” I said, clapping my hands together, and making two sets of eyes turn their gaze on me.

“You need to come visit more often,” she said cheerfully, “especially you, sweetheart.” Playfully, she leaped at Sungmin, and hugged him tightly, before turning back to look at me. “And you need to bring Woonie.” I shrugged, non-committedly, and headed to the door, grabbing Sungmin’s shoulder along the way.

“It was nice to meet you, Niko,” Sungmin said, still a little nervous from being in her presence. I couldn’t blame him.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” she replied smoothly, coming to stand by us, while I peeked my head out, peering into the night. Usually, I wouldn’t be so cautious, but this time I had Sungmin with me, and I didn’t want to take any chances. I sniffed the air a bit, and after deeming it safe, I took him by the arm and pulled him outside, while he waved goodbye to Niko. The door closed behind us, and I didn’t waste any time leading him to the car. A feeling settle over me as soon as we got this his door, and I knew for a fact, I didn’t like it one bit.

“What’s this?” Sungmin asked, in shock, recoiling as he pulled his hand away from the door handle to see crimson liquid coating his skin.

“You should know, little fledgling, what that is.” Without really moving, my claws extended, and my fangs pressed against my lip.

“Heechul, what are you doing here?” I asked, turning toward the vampyre, who leaned against the alley wall. His shirt proudly wore fresh blood stains, and he even had the audacity to leave his mouth dirty of the stuff.

“Leeteuk had a feeling you would be visiting his dear aunt sometime,” he said haughtily, and pulled himself off the wall.  “He had me watch the area, but I didn’t actually think you would show up. So where’s your brother? Still inside, or is it just you and this cutie?”

“Sungmin, get in the car,” I said, keeping my voice level, and focusing my full attention on Heechul. The guy was dangerous, and even with him alone, I barely stood a chance against him.

“Oh, come now, he doesn’t need to leave,” Heechul said, “we’re just talking, right Kyuhyun? Just talking.”

“Kyu-”

“I said get in the car, Min!”

“No.” I turned my head at his defiant tone, to see him standing a few feet away, watching Heechul with dark eyes.

“See, even the fledgling wants to stay,” he said, walking closer, and closer, until he stopped and grinned, showing off red teeth. “So Kyuhyun, where is your brother? Leeteuk wants him back.”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because I’m sure you want your fledgling to keep all of his limbs.” In less than a blink of an eye, Heechul was behind Sungmin, holding his throat with a single hand. In another blink, Heechul was on the ground with Sungmin standing over him, his foot pressing against Heechul’s throat in a painful manner. The vampire only laughed.

“So your fledgling knows a few tricks? You three are going to be entertaining when we finally get ahold of you. Your master is just the icing on the cake.” He reached up, gripping Sungmin’s foot tightly in his hand, making him cry out and I internally flinched at the sound. Without thinking, I kicked Heechul in the gut, forcing him to let go, but not before he was released from Sungmin’s hold. “You can go back and tell your master that we haven’t given up yet. If anything Leeteuk is even more interested.” He turned and walked towards the alley entrance, leaving us hurrying to get back into the car. Sungmin’s limp challenged him a bit, but neither of us wanted to stay too close. I started the car with a roar from the engine, and tore out of the alley, driving through the empty city streets.

“How’s your foot?” I asked, getting a small whine from Sungmin.

“Hurts. I think he broke something,” he said, clenching his fists to lessen the feeling.

“Grab the cooler and get a drink,” I told him. “But if it really is broken, it’s going to be just as painful to knit the bones back together.” The sound of a lid opening told me he had grabbed the cooler, and he quickly poured himself a glass from the wine bottle, downing it quickly. A painful cry tore through his lips, but was soothed over with a sigh of relief.

*Hey, guys! Been a while, hasn't it? I've been meaning to update something for a while. Just never got around to it. To ALL of my readers, whether you just read this story or any others, I just want to let you know you are totally free to send me a message about updates. I have no problem with anyone saying "Hey, it's been a while since you updated  ________, have you made any progress? Do you know when you'll update this next?" I'm human. I admit to getting distracted by life a lot, and I don't mean to leave you guys hanging. As long as you're being nice about it, and not expecting me to update every other day, I don't mind a few reminders here or there that I haven't posted anything for a while. Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed the latest installment of Bloody Bride :D