Chanyeol followed Hae Ri to the back. It was where they could be alone albeit it was where the incident happened. Hae Ri felt her nose twitch. There was an alluring scent of blood – blood of strong young men, soldiers perhaps. She felt a little perplexed since the club was not open yet but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. There was something more important that she has to do now. She turned around hesitantly to face Chanyeol. He refused to meet her eye. His eyes remained fixated on the floor and his eyebrows were slightly knitted together.

“Fire boy…” she began.

He jolted upon hearing that nickname but his eyes still did not meet hers.

Upon seeing his lack of response, Hae Ri played with her fingers nervously.

She took a deep breath and spoke the 2 words that kept repeating themselves over and over again in her mind.

“I’m sorry.”

She saw his pupils enlarge. She saw that look of sadness displayed on his face. She saw him finally lifting his head to lock eyes with her. She prepared herself and smiled reassuringly at him.

He looked up and saw her dimples etching sweetly beside her lips. He looked up and saw her eyes brighten up because he was finally responding. He looked up and saw the girl he had fallen for.

But he was no longer going to be deceived by what he could see.

He bit his lips and held back the raging emotions.

“I-I’m the one i-in the wrong…” he stuttered.

 Hae Ri stared at him with a frown. She was confused.

“I’m the one who couldn’t register the truth,” he steadied his voice.

Hae Ri started to shake her head.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong…” she reasoned in her mind.

“I should have been more prepared…I should have known that things were not going to be so simple…” Chanyeol started to mutter to himself, his eyes darting left and right.

Hae Ri was getting frightened by his actions. She reached out her hand but he stepped backward.

“I’m sorry…I’m really sorry…”

2 figures witnessed everything from a projection. The projection blurred a little because its source was dying – purplish and black, completely unlike its previous grandeur. It has lost its green magnificence and its branches were slowly drooping.

“This is an opportune time,” the master announced.

“Indeed, my Lord. Did you plan this?” a Bloodsucker asked.

Chanyeol went to the only place he could get solace – the storeroom. He crouched himself into a small ball and remained motionless. He was getting so confused. The dichotomy between what is true and what is false was overwhelming him. He could no longer trust his eyes and he was afraid to trust his heart. So he simply let himself sink into nothingness, to make him forget.

A piece of black mass detached itself from the dark and moved stealthily towards Chanyeol. Although it would have been an impossible task before, this time, the piece of shadow seeped into Chanyeol’s mind.

Madame lay on her bed self-indulgently. That enthralling scent in the air – she could tell her fellow sisters were having fun. She could too. She had fun. Though Lay was not her initial target, his blood did not fail to satisfy her. It was just that she wanted more. Call it greed but once your initial desires are fulfilled, it is hard not to yearn for more.

“Well…I guess it’s time for part 2,” she smirked as she sprawled on the bed.

She stretched out her hand and wrapped it around her back. Her palm was pressed onto her tattoo. Immediately her tattoo started to pulsate. Madame chuckled.

“What is going on between you and Hae Ri?!” Baekhyun demanded before adding softly,

“You made her cry.”

He pushed Chanyeol against the wall. Though he was so much shorter than the latter man, he was a lot stronger due to his bloodline. Baekhyun grabbed the front of his shirt and kept him against the wall. He was losing it. Chanyeol slowly lifted his head to look at his attacker. Baekhyun almost lost his grip on him because he was so taken aback by what he saw. Cold, dark and emotionless eyes. Orbs that completely do not suit the passionate and cheerful guy he had known. Chanyeol looked straight at him, unaffected by the fact that Baekhyun was trying to corner and question him.

“Nothing is going on,” Chanyeol replied calmly albeit robotically.

Baekhyun frowned.

“Come find me…”

Chanyeol’s ears perked up. Something was calling for him.

“I’m right here…”

Chanyeol tried to identify the direction of where the voice was coming from. This was what he had been searching for.

“Let go,” he simply said.

Baekhyun looked amused.

“Not until you tell me what’s going on,” he replied firmly.

“Let go before I burn you,” Chanyeol stated.

Baekhyun smirked.

“You wouldn’t,” he challenged.

He had more or less grasped Chanyeol’s character during the times they had spent together on the journey. He knew that Chanyeol would soon cave in. He was never one to put up a cold and threatening front after all.

Chanyeol followed the voice that was beckoning him. The only thing in his mind was to find the last tattoo. He did not know where he was going but he felt that he was getting closer to the source. He was in an unknown part of the club where there were many rooms and he barged into one of them where he felt that the voice was coming from.

Madame was waiting for him.

She was seated gracefully on a cushion chair, swirling a glass of red wine in her hand. What was in the glass could very well had been blood but Chanyeol could not tell. He stood rooted at the door, analysing the situation.

“C’mon in. You have come to find what you were looking for right?” she spoke in a saccharine tone.

“The tattoo,” she added before turning around to show him her exposed back and the red lotus tattoo.

Chanyeol approached her coldly.

“Hand it over,” he demanded.

“They’ve really made a good machine out of you - efficient and emotionless. He must be impatient,” she commented before slowly taking a sip from the glass. She her lips slowly and looked straight into Chanyeol’s eyes.

“If you want it, come and get it,” she purred.

Madame smirked.

 “What’s so funny?” Lay asked gently.

“Nothing much,” she casually replied.

She picked up her glass of blood and raised it at him.

“Cheers, I’m in a good mood tonight,” she stated.

Though he was confused, he always felt relaxed in her presence and so he drank up as he was told to.

“Yes, drink up. This is probably your last taste of blood…” Madame thought.

She sauntered over to him and sat on his lap. She carefully ed the top few buttons of his shirt and laid her hands carefully on his shoulders before she leant in. Her fangs grazed his skin gently before she sank them down into his artery. Lay felt that jolt of adrenaline he had become used to. He felt her heartbeat and he felt her ecstasy. He closed his eyes and smiled as he let himself relax into the bond. It was pure bliss that he could never get enough of.

But something felt amiss.

 He could feel a burning sensation that began from his neck all the way to the rest of his body. It was as if he was burning in the depths of hell.

“Hell fire…could it be?!” his eyes jolted open and he saw her eyes glow with murderous intent. Venom was dripping off her fangs as she injected them into his system. Vampire venom from a strong vampire could be lethal to their fellow kind as well. She was trying to kill him. He struggled under her hold but he was quickly becoming weak and she could easily keep him still. His fingernails dug into her arms but that was the only damage he could inflict. He was too frail to make any sound and the only place where he could scream for help was in his mind.

“HELP ME!!!” he screamed with all his might in his head.

…

“Lay?!” Hae Ri responded in his mind.

“Why are you in our telepathy channel??” Lu Han inquired.

“Where are you???” Baekhyun shouted.

“H-help…me…” he croaked as he sent another telepathy to the rest.

Hey guys! I forgot to thank my LOVELY NEW SUBSCRIBERS in the previous update hehe :P

Here's many many thanks to Rin-Ji, lulu-jellyfish, Luna567, JeLLY_BeaNS, MadHatter-Sky, ArieMay <3

ohmigosh this chapter was so hard to write T.T