*Note: I'm not one to write a lot of swears, but one of my characters has a mouth of a sailor. I'm warning anyone sensitive to that. 

The hallway stretched out ahead of me, but it seemed even longer this time. Careful not to make a sound even a dhampyre could hear, I headed straight to the library. In the back of my mind, I hoped I wouldn’t run into anyone while the distinct stench of vampyre clung to me, especially since I carried a book that I obviously couldn’t read. Luckily, I avoided meeting anyone in the hallway, but when I stepped into the library, my luck ran out.

“So that’s where that book disappeared to,” Master said tiredly from the armchair he sat in. A blanket covered his lap and an open book rested on top of that. He gave me a soft smile that looked a bit strained, as if the muscles in his face were too weak to withhold it. “You’ll have to excuse me from not greeting you and Sungmin when you entered, but I’m finding that even walking is beginning to wear me out. In these past few days, Siwon has equaled and surpassed my power. With a need to conserve my energy, I’m rather limited at the moment.” I didn’t say anything, but my silence didn’t faze him in the slightest. “Did you run into trouble? I smell vampyre and blood on you.”

I ignored his question and went to stand practically right in front of him to ask without hesitation, “Why were you reading about the Sponsa Sanguineus bond?” Brown eyes widened for a short moment.

“Nothing escapes you, Kyuhyun, does it?” He chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.

“Not if it concerns my brother.” Master closed the book on his lap, and set it aside, giving me his complete attention.

“Then there is no reason for you to worry. What I’ve been reading has nothing to do with Jongwoon.”

“Don’t give me that crap,” I growled, throwing the book down on the nearest table. The sound threw the room into total silence. Master studied my face carefully, before turning his head away.

“Leave it alone, Kyuhyun,” he said. If I had moved two seconds sooner, if I had turned my gaze or even closed my eyes, I would have missed the way he just seemed utterly defeated. His entire form slumped in the chair and for once I saw how weak he had really grown. To see a pureblood with so much power, lose even the strength to remain sitting up, just seemed wrong.

Even so, I held onto the belief that he deserved it.

My feet carried me out of the room, before my mind had caught up to the decision to leave. I made it to my room in a few minutes. Sungmin hadn’t come back yet, but since the sun was going to rise, I had no doubt he would be here soon. I sat down on the bed and let out a deep sigh. The world was so much simpler when we were human. Now I had to deal with vampyres wanting to turn us to dust and dhampyres with ancient rules. Jongwoon was a mess, who would tense up if anyone even mentioned the bond. And the other half of that bond was stepping onto dangerous ground by reading those books. He could be innocently studying up, but his defensive tone telling me to “leave it alone” had me suspicious.

I almost laid down and pulled the covers over me, but then I realized I was still in the same semi-wet clothes that were probably dirty with sand. Shamelessly, I shucked the clothes onto the floor, grabbed a towel and a new set and headed straight to the shower. The tap stuck for a moment, but I banged on it a few times and hot water came flowing from the facet. I sighed as soon as the water touched my body. Taking my time, I scrubbed all the sand and salt from myself. I should’ve done this before I went to return the book. Maybe then Master wouldn’t have picked up on the scent of vampyre. On the other hand, a simple shower probably wouldn’t get it all off of me. Then again, it probably didn’t matter – Master wasn’t the type to assume the worst about others, especially his own chosen. He must’ve thought that we only got attacked, which was partially true. If Donghae had been the one to smell it, I’d be accused of, at the very least, speaking with the enemy. The only one I really spoke to was Niko, and she’d have to get herself out of her precious apothecary shop before I could even consider her an enemy. As for Heechul, I wished I could’ve gone longer without seeing his face again.

I turned off the water and stepped out.  Taking a second to dry off with the towel, I glanced in the mirror only long enough to catch sight of my own reflection. It always amazed me that humans were so insistent on believing vampyres and dhampyres had no reflection when their bodies were just as real as when they were alive.  Only a few of the older dhampyres had problems with it, being able to see their reflection that had never changed over the centuries. I threw on my clothes before taking a longer moment to really study my face. It’d been a while since I had even a glance at myself. Even with my hair damp and plastered to my face, I still looked every bit like the seventeen year old that got Changed. Even though it shouldn’t have been, it was still a surprise to see. Humans expect to look different every morning they look at themselves in the mirror, even if the change is slight. To go almost months without seeing myself, even I had expectations of something looking different. A fuller jawline, more or less skin around my cheeks, even something little like a blemish. But with blood healing even skin problems, there weren’t even scars to say I once had acne.

A soft knock. “Done in there?” Sungmin. He must’ve wanted to take a shower.

“Yeah.” I picked up the towel and headed to the door. Sungmin stood on the other side, holding a towel and a bundle of clothes. He gave me an awkward smile and moved past. I headed to the bed and laid down, tossing the towel off to the side. I had a feeling Sungmin would clean up when he was done – the guy hated when the room was a mess but never really complained about it to me. I closed my eyes and fell into the trance.

“Don’t finish him off,” a voice hissed in my ear. I looked to the man in my hands. He was little more than a tattered body, barely breathing, eyes swelled shut. Blood streaked his entire body. Each of his fingers were stuck in different angles, broken, and they hung from limp arms. Clean cuts ran along his ribs, and one leg was twisted around grotesquely.

The owner of the voice moved into view. A vampyre. I couldn’t name him, but I knew of him. “Wait a little longer. We want to see the life leave his eyes.” The vampyre ran his fingers over the trails of blood and brought them to his mouth, them clean. Those same fingers ran over the man’s stomach, drawing more blood in the wake of the claws. This time he held them out to me. I had no room for hesitation, and accepted the digits into my mouth. I wanted to hate how they tasted, but as the blood dripped down my throat, all denial left my mind. He pulled his fingers back with a knowing grin and I looked back to the man. I didn’t know how much more this man could take. Judging by the vampyre in front of me, and the excited calls from the others on the balcony and on the edge of the arena, probably not much more.  

“End him,” a soft voice called from above. There was so much power behind such quiet words, silencing all in less than a second. The vampyre in front of me sent a glare up to the owner but even he wouldn’t argue with the bloodking – no one dared to challenge Leeteuk. Even I wouldn’t stand against him.

I should have never come here, I thought as I drew a line along the man’s neck and watched his life slip away in a shower of blood.

I jumped up in bed, looking for any sign that I was still in the vampyre den. When I saw only my room at the hostel and Sungmin sleeping beside me, I fell back onto the pillows. Just a dream. Usually only fledglings still dreamt. No dhampyre here did, not even my brother. Sungmin mentioned it a few times, but he only heard sounds, or had a few flashes of memories. Whole scenes were rare. They started after living in the vampyre den, and maybe it was my mind’s way of trying to cope with the horrors witnessed there. I told Niko about it once, but none of her books held any insight as to why, only saying that it was possible and potions could bring clearer images.

I sighed and closed my eyes once again.

When I woke up at sundown, Sungmin was no longer next to me. I stretched out as much as I could, now that I had the whole bed to myself and felt at least five bones shift and pop. I rolled over and did the same, feeling a few more joints crack. Next order of business was to get up and look for something to do. It was one of the downsides to living in a clan rather than on the streets. Only officials or those that were social found themselves busy. Since I was neither, I found my days pretty boring. Most of the time I just followed my brother around, and he spent most of his days with Sungmin and Henry – the two closest in age to him. Today probably wouldn’t be any different.

I found myself heading to a part of the hostel I didn’t normally visit, by following the light scent of my brother from his empty room. The door to the parlor stood before me, and, with a shrug, I opened it.

“-And she hugged me so hard, I swear my ribs cracked,” Sungmin recalled from his meeting with Niko in his quiet but happy voice. A laugh resounded around the room and I recognized it without even trying. Apparently they didn’t notice my entrance. I hung by the door listening to their conversation taking place across the room by the fireplace. I couldn’t see them, so I figured they would be sitting in the plush chairs that faced away from me.

“We met Niko about three years ago,” Jongwoon stated, and I almost smiled at the fact he sounded better than he did yesterday. “And I’m not surprised that she hasn’t changed at all.” He paused. “How is she, by the way?”

“She seemed pretty crazy to me.”

“Trust me when I say that’s normal for her.” The two shared a small chuckle.

“She also told us to visit her sometime,” Sungmin said, sounding a little unsure of whether that’d be a good idea. “She wants Kyuhyun to make sure you come, too.” Jongwoon snorted.

“She’s talking to the wrong brother,” he said. “It’d be more like I would have to drag him there. I probably would have gone last night if he mentioned he was going to see Niko.” After those words they lapsed into silence.

“Jongwoon,” Sungmin said a moment later, sounding serious. “There is one thing I’m interested in knowing, and it’s easier to ask you than to ask Kyuhyun. He’s not the friendliest guy.” I mentally shrugged at the comment, and heard Jongwoon chuckled at the same time.

“Sure, what is it?” I could practically hear Jongwoon’s soft smile in his voice. I wondered what it was that Sungmin felt he couldn’t ask me.

“We ran into a vampyre named Heechul,” he started to say, sounding hesitant. “And he said that he and Leeteuk were after us, I think?”

“You don’t need to explain anymore. I get it. Heechul is a member of a vampyre clan that Kyuhyun and I were unfortunately a part of for the two years before we met Niko. We escaped this clan and ended up on the streets, and while on one of their hunts, Heechul and a few other vampyres found us, brought us back, and made us part of their clan. I assume you can understand a bit of what it was like, before Master changed you.” There was a pause while Sungmin thought about those words, before my brother continued. “You wouldn’t believe how much I wish I could erase the memories of having to live there. Kyuhyun took it all in stride. No what horrors we witnessed, he never faltered, never even considered giving up.”

The room fell into silence with that confession, a silence that had me wanting to scream in order to break it, yet also wanting to be quiet enough to hear Sungmin’s reaction to the words. If asked, I couldn’t begin to say why I felt the need to know what he thought. My heart pounded multiple times a second, just begging for some kind of relief in any form – anything just to ease the suspense.

“Is that why he’s so…?” Sungmin trailed off quietly, not quite able to describe what I was like.

“No, he’s been like this for much longer,” Jongwoon said just as quietly. “But that’s a story for another time. Anyways, back to the vampyre den. I hate to admit I was not in my right frame of mind, and there was only so much Kyuhyun could do for me. After a while, we finally met the clan leader, a vampyre bloodking by the name of Leeteuk, the very one who is after us. He had strangely treated me with kindness, and I grew attached to the feeling. After coming out of Hell, and entering just another version of the same inferno, kindness was like a salve to the burns. The problem was that the longer I stayed, the more I needed his gentle hand, and soft voice.”

I took a step farther in the room. Whenever Jongwoon talked about Leeteuk, his nostalgic voice brought anger to rise up in me. That man knew nothing of kindness. I almost said as much, until Jongwoon spoke up again.

“One night, I had told him of these feelings, which had been my biggest mistake since I had become a dhampyre. In a single instant, if he had any doubts of my real identity, they vanished, and he learned that both my brother and I were dhampyres. Heechul overheard it, spread it around the clan and all the vampyres were all too willing to, ah, dispose of us. Leeteuk stopped them, asked us to stay, saying he would protect us, and I believed him. What else was I to do? I didn’t want to be on the streets again, and he was kind, but Kyuhyun refused, saying that even if we were on the streets again, he would take care of me, but we needed to be away from Leeteuk and his clan.”

“He was never kind.” Two heads peered from the chair backs with surprise evident on their faces, and I slowly walked towards them. “You fell into this notion of love with a monster who patted your head, and told you that you were special. It failed to enter your mind that he only wanted to use us.”

“I know that now,” Jongwoon said, sounding exasperated.

“No, you don’t.”

“Kyuhyun, we’ve been over this. It’s in the past.” Jongwoon’s voice balanced on the edge of stability, as he stood up to face me, but I pressed harder into the wounds that had yet to heal.

“No, actually, it’s not, because they just captured us only a few weeks ago, and then I received a message from Heechul, saying Leeteuk is still after our throats.”

“Kyuhyun, I get it,” Jongwoon warned with a tone that made me think twice about continuing to argue with him. “I messed up, and I’m paying for those mistakes.”

“Guys-” a third voice began.

“What do you mean you’re paying for them?!”

“I paid with my life for one, my soul for another, and my heart for a third. What more can I give away? What more do you want from me?” Shaking knees finally gave out with sob, and my heart ached at the sight of causing such distress in my brother but all I could do was stand there, looking at him as violent tears flowed down his face. A delicate hand reached out to touch Jongwoon’s shoulder, but he brushed off the comfort Sungmin offered and buried his face in his own hands. “I’m living in Hell, putting you through Hell, and you think I don’t know it’s all my fault? That I never realized I had everything to do with the fact that we became dhampyres, and were trapped here for a year, or that Leeteuk wants to put a stake through us?” He let out another sob, almost choking on the emotions in his throat, and then whispered in the coldest and most quiet voice I had ever heard from him, “I know, Kyuhyun. I know.”

Not knowing what exactly to do, I took a step forward, slowly, and tentatively lowering myself down to meet his height. I didn’t mean to do this. I didn’t want to hear him so upset. So while regretting my complete stupidity, I reached out with my right hand to rest on his head, ruffling his hair under my uncertain touch. He opened his mouth, as another batch of tears streamed down from closed eyes, but no sound came out.

“J-jong-” My own broken version of his name was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming against a wall.

“Sponsa!” Three sets of eyes moved straight towards the tall figure standing in the door, and we stared as he let out a small sigh of relief and concluding his actions with a small bow. “I apologize for disturbing you, but Master insisted that I find you, Sponsa, and determine the cause of your distress.” Why Siwon insisted on referring to my brother by his ‘title,’ was beyond me, since that had always been the best way to provoke him. Jongwoon brushed my hand away and rose to his feet. His eyes were cold as stone, and the tear tracks drying against his cheeks, gave him an ethereal shine that reflected the pain I knew he felt inside.

“So even my emotions do not solely belong to myself.” Jongwoon scoffed, muttering more to himself rather than anyone else in the room. He crossed his arms. “Where is he?”

“Sponsa, I do not think that is a good idea, he-”

“I didn’t ask if it was a good idea,” Jongwoon said icily, and internally I winced, despite not being the recipient of such words. “I asked where he is.”

“I do not need to tell you,” the priest said stiffly, and averted his gaze.

“Don’t you dare pull that crap-”

“He’s in the library,” I said, sparing Siwon a bit of my brother’s anger. The man who I just saved sent me a glare in thanks, but I only raised an eyebrow at him. I didn’t mind the priest; he never really took sides on anything between Master and my brother, and mostly kept to himself, with his research on magyk. Still, when he did get himself involved in some sort of feud, he was rather stubborn in his reluctance to become uninvolved.

Not wasting a single second more, Jongwoon tore past Siwon’s attempts to stop him, and raced down the hallway towards the library. Realizing the possible danger Master was in, Siwon chased after him, and with a groan, I did, too. Loud footsteps followed my silent ones, and I figured that Sungmin had decided that his presence was also required, or at least that his curiosity needed to be sated.

“What the hell, Ryeowook?” Siwon, who reached the door first almost jumped back in surprise of the informality used, and Sungmin behind me let out a soft gasp, but I only winced at the tone. The words themselves were rather quiet, but the power behind them had them thundering in my head. I had a feeling this would end rather badly. “You had to send your little priest to see if I was ok? Then what, have him give me a little magyk spell, make me feel better, like I was some child throwing a tantrum, while you sit here all nice and comfortable?”

“Jong-”

“At least you know my name is not Sponsa,” he snapped. A quick glance to Siwon let me know he regretted using the title, but I doubted he had any idea of Jongwoon’s abhorrence of the word.

“Calm down!” If Jongwoon’s use of Master’s name was shocking, hearing Master raise his voice had us paralyzed. “You’re doing neither of us any good by getting angry.”

“So what? You’re going to sic Siwon on me again?” With a bit of resistance, I unfroze myself and pushed past the priest who looked like he still couldn’t believe what was going on. Once I stood within the room, I could see Master still sitting in the same armchair, his face hardened with surprising control, but his fingers dug into the armrests and his body shook with the strength it took to keep himself grounded. My brother stood with his back to me, and I swore that the room around him was about ten degrees colder

“No, it’s not that,” Master started, and the strain in his voice told me he was seriously trying to hold back the anger in his own tone. “It’s that I can’t keep calm when all I feel is your anger through this stupid bond! And that only fuels your anger!” Those last few words had been almost shouted at a volume loud enough to wake the dead. “All I feel from you is this horrible anger, and guilt that makes me want to tear my heart out. But what scares me most is when I feel absolutely nothing, and having you close enough to actually feel your emotions again, makes that nothingness so terrifying.”

“At least you’re starting to know how I feel,” Jongwoon scoffed.

“And I felt everything six years ago, too. And every day since, when your emotions were strong enough to travel such a distance.”

“Then why didn’t you do anything about it sooner? If you knew I hated this bond so much, why didn’t you let me leave sooner? Why-”

“Because I couldn’t let you to leave! I had to protect you.” The grand confession that he shouted out, only received an emotionless chuckled and a head shake from my brother.

“And that meant you had to treat me as your prisoner? Feeding off of me like I was some sort of personal blood pack for you?” he asked incredulously.

“That’s not-”

“Then how was it, huh? I seem to remember you locking me in this hostel, forcing me to give my blood freely to you and-”

“I had to do that! I am a pureblood clan leader, and you are my sponsa. To not feed from you was unheard of.”

“So that gave you the right to force me?”

“To everyone else, yes it did,” Master stated with a level tone, greatly contrasting with his earlier voice. Even Jongwoon was surprised by the change, which I noticed in the way he flinched, but he maintained his position. “Only you and your brother couldn’t accept that. I thought that after a few years you would be able to understand. But things got worse, and then I couldn’t take all the hatred I felt from you, in your words and your actions, and even from your emotions through the bond. That night, I really believed you would actually do something like that, so I let you leave.” By the time Master finished explaining, he held his head in his hands, long fingers digging into his scalp. Even with the way Jongwoon felt towards the man, I knew he still felt at least a shred of sympathy. He could never be that cold hearted towards anyone, even our Master, but his next actions proved me wrong. Instead of saying anything else, Jongwoon simply turned around and started to walk my way. He didn’t even look the least bit surprised at our appearance at the door.

“Jongwoon,” Master called quietly and his voice held emotions that I couldn’t, or didn’t want to name.

A loud thud brought our attention back to the pureblood. I heard Sungmin gasp behind me yet again while Siwon brushed past me as he ran to the man lying on the floor. The blanket was crumpled around his delicate form, only making it harder for him to struggle to sit up.

“Master,” Siwon said, as he knelt down beside the man, reaching out to grip fragile shoulders. “You’re not hurt, are you?” Master shook his head slowly, now lacking the strength to even do that much. His eyes drooped but he managed to reach up and push Siwon’s hand away.

“Let me stand,” Master said, sounding rather determined. Jongwoon on the other hand had stopped in his tracks, looking unsure as to whether he should turn around or continue on.

“But-”

“At least let me try,” he growled. The priest backed off, still looking rather concerned. As soon as he was given back the body weight that Siwon had supported, Master’s arms gave out from under him, and really, the entire sight screamed pathetic, but no one made a single move to help him. At first, I thought it was simple pride that had him wanting to do things on his own, but as I saw the determined look he sent to Jongwoon, I knew that his reasons were entirely different. He didn’t want Jongwoon to know that he had fallen so weak without him. He didn’t want to guilt my brother into doing anything for him, and with shaking arms, he began to push himself up, looking like a man who had done a few too many push-ups rather than one who was just trying to stand up once again. Sweat started to bead on his skin, and Siwon, who still sat next to him, looked rather pained himself, watching the once great pureblood now struggling desperately to even sit up.

My eyes shifted toward my brother. With his fists clenched, and an apathetic look on his face, he ignored the entire scene behind him, and started to walk. Both Sungmin and I watched him leave the room, running as soon as he cleared the doorway.

“Should we…?” I turned my head to look at Sungmin as he whispered out the two words.

“ ‘Should we’ what? Chase after him?” The doe eyed man nodded and then glanced to Master who had finally given up. With an unreadable expression adorning his face, he allowed Siwon to pick him up and carry him out the door and away from our staring eyes. “You should go back to our room. I’ll take care of Jongwoon.” Sungmin nodded, but didn’t move. I doubted he understood even a single bit of what just happened, and I really couldn’t blame him. Still, I wasn’t about to waste the next five minutes trying to explain everything, especially when I had a brother to find and calm down.

I walked out of the room, heading down the hallway that would lead to my brother’s room, only to find the door locked. I knocked on it a few times, not getting an answer.

“Jongwoon, it’s me, Kyuhyun. I just want to talk.” I waited a few more minutes for an answer, before deciding that maybe he just needed some time to calm down. Still, it had me worried that I couldn’t see for myself that he was alright.

Having nowhere else to go, I headed to the library. Maybe I could find a book on dhampyre dreams. When I reached it, the room was dark, save for the small fire left in the fireplace. It wasn’t as though I needed the light, but I threw another log on anyways. I stoked it back to life, then turned to judge the area. Shelves full of books lined the walls, and more rows of them filled the far half of the room. A few tables and plush chairs sat near me and the fireplace. Upon closer inspection of the shelves, I couldn’t find a single speck of dust or remnant of silverfish. Definitely the work of magyk, I thought as I ran my hand over the wood and felt the buzz of the particularly strong spell. Usually magyk was hard to detect, but I supposed living with Niko helped with that a bit. I couldn’t say what the spell was, who casted it, or how old it was – all things that Niko could do with ease – but I could at least feel it.

I started with that shelf and started to pick through each of the books, first to determine the language and second to find anything about dhampyres and dreaming. The first few proved completely useless to me, since they were in Latin, and it wasn’t until I was to the next shelf that I found one actually in a language I could read. It still didn’t help me, though, since the book was about literature in the medieval era.

The next few nights were spent in the library sorting through books. Every other hour I would head to Jongwoon’s room to see if I could get a reaction, but I only heard silence from his room. Sungmin sometimes ventured into the library, asking if I wanted help with whatever I was doing. I never clued him in, but I did ask him to check on my brother sometimes. He always reported back with a solemn expression and a shake of his head.

I had been through half of the shelves in the middle of the floor, only finding two books that looked promising. One was about dreams in general for non-human creatures and the other was a diary of a pureblood. I couldn’t find much on undead creatures in the former and I scanned through the pages of the later and found the word “dream” twice. I figured I would get more out of it if I read them. Still, I only set them aside for now. If I could find two books, I was positive I could find more hidden among the other books. In the case that none of them were at all useful, I was still left with the option of consulting the priest and maybe finding more in the books written in Latin.

Light was just starting to spill from the curtains in the back, when I finally decided it was time to head back to my room. Sungmin hadn’t come to find me this night, not that I was expecting him to. I also hadn’t made the trip to Jongwoon’s room for a few hours, so I decided that was my first destination in order to convince him to talk to me. After walking for a few minutes, I once again noticed the distance between our rooms. Despite being a dhampyre two years longer than I had been, our rooms should have only been just down the hall of each other, but because he ranked higher than I did in status, he actually had one of the suites on the upper floors. As turned left to start walking down the next hall, I got knocked to the side by a bulldozer with the name of Donghae.

“What the hell?” I yelled out after him, and he turned his head, giving me a panicked look that didn’t seem to match his face. Dark eyebrows were knit together over wide eyes and his mouth hung open.

“The scouts are back, and they found two of our clan members,” he explained before taking off once more and running down the hallway towards Master’s room. If the scouts were here, then that meant…

My feet started to carry me down the way Donghae had just came from, well before my brain made the final connections, and within seconds I started to run, forgetting all about Jongwoon as I raced to the front door.

“It’s good to be home again,” said a female voice I immediately recognized as Boa’s, which meant the other person she was talking to was either Junsu or Changmin. The trio had been scouts for Master for almost two centuries before Jongwoon and I had been Changed, and Junsu even longer. They were the guys who taught us how to even survive without a clan, since they’d done it for most of their lives, reporting back only periodically or when they found something of interest to Master or the clan. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to hunt anything, let alone the few humans I did manage to catch those first few months, just to sate the bloodlust for another few days.

I finally stepped around the corner, seeing the three standing in the lobby area, and another two lying on benches and covered in blankets. Despite the dirt covering them, the deathly pale skin, and the dark, twisting and moving lines of a bloodking’s curse painted on their skin, I still recognized the two to be Yunho and Jaejoong. The two were dhampyres who were Changed after Jongwoon but before myself.

“Never thought I’d see you again,” Junsu commented, as soon as he caught sight of me. I tore my gaze away from the two that obviously needed help, and looked to the three scouts who wore expressions of mixed emotions. Changmin had a serious, adult-like expression on his otherwise childish face, while Boa and Junsu seemed to be alternating anger and exasperation. The three looked like they hadn’t changed a bit, not that I expected them to, since dhampyres were ageless, but it was nice to be able to look upon them once again like I had just seen them yesterday. Boa still had her shoulder length, brown hair, straightened to perfection, and large brown eyes set on a small head with ivory skin. Her slim body unchanged in the five years since I had seen her, much like Junsu’s and Changmin’s. Junsu’s hair still had that almost unnatural a quality of looking good while in reality it was a mess, and Changmin’s mischievous eyes peered from behind his serious façade.

“Never thought I would be here again,” I said, and Boa tossed a stray strand behind her shoulder.

“So why are you back?” she asked.

“My brother and I got into an unfavorable situation. Master got us out of it.”

“This ‘unfavorable situation’ doesn’t happen to involve a certain vampyre clan, does it?” Junsu asked, crossing his arms against his chest.

“And if it did?”

“It would explain this.” Junsu pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. The edges were worn, and the paper an antique white, rather than the typical bleached color. He unfolded it, and started to read. “ ‘I’ve been waiting for a chance to use my little curse, and these two were prime subjects. I’ll be willing to take it off them, but for a price. Hand over your sponsa. I might even be willing to let him live, at least until I grow bored.’ Then it’s signed by Leeteuk, a vampyre Bloodking. It was in Yunho’s pocket, and the two were placed on one of our common routes, so I doubt it was a coincidence.”

“So Heechul wasn’t lying when he said Leeteuk won’t give up,” I muttered, but I knew the three in front of me caught the words. Junsu opened his mouth, to ask me what I meant, but Boa placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Before we can get into the hows and whys, these two need help,” she said firmly, nodding to the other two at her sides.

“We’’ have to bring them to my rooms,” a new voice said, and I looked to see Siwon, who had been knelt by Yunho the entire time. I didn’t even notice him at first, but he would have been the only one who could let the scouts through the barrier. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Where’s Master?” Boa asked, crossing her arms and leaning on one hip.

“Resting,” the priest said simply.

“Then why don’t you get him up? These two need more than what you can do, Priest.” Her voice betrayed her growing impatience.

“I can’t,” he argued. Choosing to ignore her attempt to refute, he made his way to the resting dhampyres, checking their eyes and making judgments I wouldn’t even begin to understand. “The sponsa refuses to allow Master to feed,” Siwon explained. “And Master has grown tired as of late.”

“I guess there’s nothing we can do about it,” Boa stated. Sounding only mildly disappointed. I was surprised by her words. Usually she had a rather determined character, one that wouldn’t give up at any obstacle, especially if someone’s life was at risk, but she had always been a little weird when it came to Jongwoon’s bond. Silent steps put her next to Siwon, and she crouched down, whispering to him about the two unconscious dhampyres.

“So vampyres, huh?” Changmin finally asked, speaking for the first time today, and I nodded. An expression of uncertainty touched his face, and he looked as though he couldn’t figure out how to react to my presence. We had been friends, or as close to friends as I could get. I had no doubt he felt betrayed by my disappearance, especially after we had talked about becoming a team of scouts on our own. That was before my brother could no longer handle the nightmare of reality.

 “Rather unpleasant bunch, aren’t they?” he continued. “We’ve run into a few of those ers and Boa was almost attacked by one. Of course, I didn’t let that happen, but it’d been a damn close call.”

“I had to live with them for a few years. Unpleasant doesn’t even begin to describe them.”

“Oh. Yeah, you could say that, I guess,” he said, shuffling on his feet a little. Boa called him over a moment later to help carry the cursed dhampyres. “I’ll see you ‘round.” I nodded and turned around to start heading toward my brother’s room once again as he went to Boa’s side.

I once again tried his door, and once again found it to be locked. Still, I waited a few minutes to hear something from him. Nothing. After letting out a curse of frustration, I shook my head and walked down the halls to my own room. I didn’t even knock on the door, just opened it to see Sungmin sitting on the bed. Before I asked if he had seen Jongwoon, I gave him a second look, noticing his paler than normal skin, how he wrung his hands in his lap, and his large eyes, impossibly wider. Worry completely filled his features. I only opened my mouth to ask why, when he suddenly jumped up.

“I think something’s wrong,” he stated, shakily. “Jongwoon was here, and we were waiting for you to come back, but then just a moment ago, Donghae came by and said that Master decided to offer Jongwoon ‘eternal freedom,’ and wouldn’t take no for an answer, even though he obviously didn’t look like he wanted Jongwoon to agree. I don’t know why, but-”

“Did they just leave?” Sungmin nodded frantically, and I didn’t waste a second racing out of the room and down the hall. “Eternal freedom,” could only mean one of two things, and both ended with death. The hallways grew longer, and the stairs grew impossibly higher, as I made my way to a familiar room. Loud steps followed me, and I felt a little relief that Sungmin decided to come with. Despite being a fledgling, I would need all the help I could get if something went wrong.

As I approached the door at the far end of the hall, I heard a loud crash of something hitting the floor, along with the breaking of glass.

“Are you insane? I’m not going to kill you!” I heard a voice yell, and if I wasn’t still running, I would have let out a sigh of relief at hearing my brother. “Why do you think I didn’t kill you in the first place? Or kill myself? Because I secretly liked being your food?”

I reached the door, twisting the knob to find it locked, only to ram my shoulder against it.

“I knew that if you died, this clan would die, and I didn’t want to be responsible for that. And I couldn’t let Kyuhyun die again for another of my mistakes.” My whole body froze with those words, and I took a step back in shock.

What did he mean by “die again?”

Sungmin took that chance to kick in the door, revealing Master sprawled on the floor with a gash on his shoulder, the nightstand and its contents strewn on the floor, a broken ceramic lamp, and Jongwoon standing a few feet away from the man on the ground. Neither of us really knew how to react, so we stood there, waiting for one of the two to make a move.

My brother was first, walking in the direction of his escape, but something caught hold of him, stopping him in place. I took a step forward to help free him, but Sungmin grabbed my arm, shaking his head. Master’s voice stopped me from questioning his action.

“Jongwoon, I give up,” Master practically whispered, gripping Jongwoon’s ankle like his life depended on it, like the world would end if he walked away. Long bangs covered his face, but by the tone of his voice, I wondered if tears fell behind the dark strands. “I’ve lived long enough to know when there is nothing more one can do.” My brother picked up the foot Master held onto, but set it down a second later.

“Why?” The single word launched the room into silence, and Master’s hold slackened, and he seemed to slump even further into the ground.

“I can’t,” he began, softly.

“Why?” Jongwoon asked again. No answer. We waited, but he didn’t make any move to speak again. The hold on my arm disappeared and I looked to Sungmin who had taken a few steps forward. After touching Jongwoon’s shoulder lightly, he knelt down to Master, and whispered something. A long few seconds passed, before Master nodded, apparently allowing Sungmin to pick him up and place him back onto the bed. Finally resting on pillows, Master relaxed. Brown eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment, as they almost disappeared behind drooping lids.

“It sounds like we all need to talk,” Sungmin finally said cheerfully, opposing the otherwise serious atmosphere.

“Sung-” I started at the same time Jongwoon said, “I will if he answers my question.” Those brown eyes finally slid away, but were back a moment later, along with a pink tongue that wetted his lips.

“It’s been for you,” he said closing his eyes to the anger that flared up on Jongwoon’s face. I should have felt that same emotion, but my brother’s words still echoed in my mind, and I wondered what he wasn’t telling me. “Everything has been for you.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“I mean,” he started, his voice cracking on the second word, “that I have been in love with you, since the first time I had seen you, when you were still human.” A single gasp sounded, and I glanced at the other two dhampyres, wondering if they felt the same shock I did. Sungmin’s mouth hung open. Jongwoon’s eyes widened, until anger glazed over them, and they narrowed to slits.

“So you Changed me, forced me to be your sponsa, and kept me here, all because of a stupid infatuation?”

“No!”

“That’s exactly-"

“I Changed you because I had to,” he cried, but the words didn’t even seem to penetrate his mind, and while shaking his head, Jongwoon left the room. “I had to Change you, or kill you,” Master whispered and those tears I thought I heard in his voice earlier, finally spilled from his eyes.