18. The year one truly becomes an adult, unbound by the restrictions of teen-hood. Lianna was once 18. Technically speaking, she still was, body-wise. She’d been 18 for over two years now. No, she wasn’t dead. Technically.

She was a vampire. In a world that had long since grown from just the simple human being, vampires weren’t all that special.  After years of bloodshed between the mortals and their immortal counterparts, a treaty had been signed, guaranteeing what became several hundred years of peace. Each side regarded the other with a grudging acceptance, nothing more, nothing less. As long as no one crossed the border.

Earth, after many centuries of evolution and shifting, had settled into one large land mass surrounded by one large ocean. The land was split cleanly between the two groups, separated by a linear ditch called the Cut that sank miles into the ground. A small portion belonged to neither majority; it was reserved for the Shape Shifters. Normally antisocial people, the Shape Shifters were exactly what their names implied, people that could switch between humanity and some form of an animal. Although the Cut also ran through their land, the Shape Shifters simply built a bridge to connect the two landmasses, as they had no prejudices among each other.

Lianna had once lived in the western hemisphere, among the humans. Unlike her neighbors though, the existence of vampires intrigued her. Lianna would often spend nights holding her history book to her face, marveling at the single picture of a vampire. He had dark locks pulled away from his forehead, swept up at a perfect angle that she’d never seen a human being achieve. His clothes looked expensive; he was wearing a brightly adorned suit that nearly glistened on the page. Under the picture, the caption indicated that his name was Jaejoong.  Apparently he was one of the members of The Triangle, the kings of the vampire world.

What intrigued Lianna most wasn’t the fact that he was royalty. Rather, she always felt attracted to his breathtaking beauty. His skin was as a clear as an opal, smooth and pale. Jaejoong’s eyes sparkled even more so than his apparel, and his mouth was crooked in a half smile, giving him a mischievous look. He looked barely over the age of 20, even though he was supposedly over a thousand years past that.

All those nights Lianna spent with a flashlight upon her bed, staring at him, she never imagined she’d ever set eyes on the real being. Now, as she lay on her new feather bed draped loosely in a sheet of genuine silk, she knew that the picture did him no justice. Jaejoong’s handsome features were indescribable. Staring up at the red ceiling gently glowing in the moonlight, she thought back to when she’d first set eyes upon him.

---

 

June 16, 2800

Northwest, formerly known as the country of Canada

The sun was shining gently over the horizon as it set behind the hills in a bath of purple and red. In the rural Northwest, high rises were rare and unsettled landscape was easy to come by. Lianna lay on the grass beside a tree in an otherwise barren field. She came here often. She’d bring a pile of books and settle down between the soft stalks, reading for hours after school had let out. Lianna would finish all her work at school so that she could spend this time without a worry.  

On this particular night, Lianna had brought her sketchbook with her. As she drew the setting sun before her, she felt a presence. Turning, she saw a young man a mere five feet away. He stood with his hands tucked in his jean pockets, a tight shirt clinging perfectly to his built body.

“May I help you?” Lianna asked hesitantly as she stood up.

The young man walked closer, and Lianna recognized his face that had been partially hidden by the sunlight. Even so, she retreated a couple steps.

“Why, yes, I believe you can, Lianna.” Jaejoong said, barely over a whisper. He had a deep voice that made Lianna’s heart tremble.

“H-how do you know my name?” Lianna stuttered. “And what are you doing here, your Highness?” She wasn’t sure if that was an appropriate title to call him, but it was worth a try.

“Just call me Jaejoong.” He laughed. “And, well, I’ve been watching you for some time.”

“What?”

“You see, we have a bit of a problem… I’m in love with you.” Jaejoong said, though it sounded more like a confession.

“You can’t be in love with me.” Lianna said stupidly. “You don’t know me.”

“Don’t I? I know you come here almost every night. I watch you play the piano for hours on end when weather is at its worst. I know you call out in your sleep for someone named Da  –”

“I don’t love you,” She said without a clue why she did. Her chest shook with every breath she took.

“Oh, come now,”Jaejoong said, and cocked his head to the side. “Don’t you?”

She did. She loved his intense gaze and the way his lips always curled slightly up at the corners. He could have come at her with a knife and she’d be too speechless to stop him. Perhaps it was the allure of being in the presence of a vampire. It hadn’t occurred to her that his being on this side of the border was something to be alarmed about.

Jaejoong looked her up and down, and Lianna realized that her shirt was slightly askew. Part of her bare chest could be seen above the dip of the cloth. Before she could fix it, he ran a finger from down through the middle of her s, ending at her belly button. She shuddered. Out of nowhere, he hooked a hand around her waist and pulled her against him, roughed-up shirt and all. Lianna’s head was upon his shoulder. She could feel his cool breath in her ear sending shivers down her back. She leaned back a bit to fully focus in on the situation, and their eyes met. Jaejoong groaned, and in that instant he sunk his teeth into her neck so fast she barely had time to breath.

At first, she could only feel pain as all puncture wounds should. Almost immediately, the stinging was replaced by a heated sensation. Lianna could nearly hear her heart beating faster, to the point where she couldn’t feel it anymore. She moaned quietly when Jaejoong slid a hand through her long hair and pulled ever so lightly. Was this what it felt like to get murdered by a vampire?

A few seconds later Jaejoong released her. He his lips and smirked playfully.

“I –" Lianna coughed and blood started flowing anew in a thin stream down .

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Jaejoong muttered, and bent back towards her to her wound.

Lianna lifted a hand to touch where his mouth had been. The puncture marks were gone and her neck felt dry.

“The change won’t take effect for some time; you might as well come with me.” Jaejoong said. His eyes searched her’s hungrily.

“But, my family, I can’t just leave them.” Lianna said, still breathless. “I’m not dead, am I?”

“How could you be? You’re breathing and talking, aren’t you?”

“But my heart, it stopped.”

“No, it’s still there, just beating much slower.” Jaejoong said calmly, “I wouldn’t leave my love without a heart, that’d be a rather ironic.” He brushed a stray hair out of her face. “As for your family, well, they’ll think you’re dead.”

“No! You – you can’t do that!” Lianna staggered away from him.

“With your fragile health, they won’t be surprised. I’ve already arranged with my brothers to create a dead clone to take your place here.”

“No…” Lianna collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her parents would be heartbroken. She couldn’t do that to them. “I have to go back.”

“To do what? You’ll be killed if you try.”

“My parents wouldn’t do that to me, they’d protect me!” Lianna resisted.

“No, they won’t.” Jaejoong stared at her, a glint of what might have been pity in his eyes.

“Why?”

“Because you’ll be a vampire.”