“I can’t go to college?” Hana raised her eyebrow, making sure that she heard right. Sehun flipped through the pages of books. The book looked old and torn, like it came from decades ago. It was so strange that a cold-blooded murderer like him would sit down so calmly and read books. He actually looked normal.

“You can’t,” Sehun answered calmly. He had talked it through with Luhan yesterday. Not that he needed Luhan to understand what he was doing anyway. Luhan was pissed off at Sehun for ‘throwing away his life carelessly for one insignificant life’ and stormed out of the door angrily. Oh well, Sehun was sure Luhan would come back soon, and if he didn’t, then Sehun would be glad. Luhan had always bothered him every single day.

“This is not fair. You’re depriving me of social life and study,” Hana sighed and lazily slumped onto the comfortable couch. Yesterday she found it hard to sleep in the guest room. Everything smelt different. The bed was too soft for her liking and she had back pain by the time she woke up this morning.

“Don’t fool me. You don’t have any social life,” Sehun scoffed, eyes still on the page. His mind was elsewhere, thinking about a lot of things. The text on the book was mere distraction to his complicated thoughts. Hana put a hand on her chest dramatically and retorted, “Ouch, Sehun. Thanks for making me sound like a loser!”

“You are,” Sehun bluntly spoke. He was so, so blunt that it annoyed her. He didn’t care about hurting Hana’s feelings. The girl rolled her eyes secretly, though she was sure it wouldn’t escape Sehun’s eyes. It was as if he grew a pair of eyes on the back of his head.

“I won’t be shocked if you’re depriving me of sunlight soon, like those vampires in the movies. They don’t go out in the sun, do they?” Hana sarcastically remarked. Sehun put down his book a bit, and blankly stared at Hana. “You won’t deprive me of sunlight… right?”

Sehun still kept quiet. Hana’s eyes almost popped out of its socket, “You can’t deprive me of sunlight because of this stupid Mark! You can’t do that!” She paused, taking a long, deep breath, before realizing how much she sounded like Miyoung right now. Hana was supposed to be the quiet, over-thinking one, but now she was freaking out because some guy she just met tried to control her life. Hana whispered a soft and slow, “…I’m sorry.”

“I won’t deprive you of sunlight,” Sehun shook his head, not revealing anything more than that. He wouldn’t do anything that stepped out of the line. But Hana should, and would understand that if she became the Forsaken, sunlight would be her worst enemy. It wouldn’t kill her, but it would feel like strong acid on her skin. The sun would burn her like hell on earth for eternity before somebody killed her.

Hana didn’t look so convinced, though. Sehun seemed to be hiding a lot of things from her. She could feel that Sehun had a lot more to say than just that one simple sentence, but he held back. They were strangers, Hana reminded herself. But if they were going to stay with each other for a while, Hana hoped that they could at least talk normally without wanting to rip each other off.

Sehun was quiet, as usual. He didn’t talk at all. He gave up trying to read, so he put the book down and stared at white space. His seat was wooden, and located near the window, so that the light could come in. The night would come in a few hours, and he would have to go out and hunt again. It was such a dilemma for him, because he couldn’t leave the girl alone in his house.

Sehun was sure of the protection spell located in his house. But it wasn’t always impossible for someone to break in, especially if the person was strong, like Kai or his brother. He was very hesitant about leaving Hana and doing his job. What he was worried about wasn’t the Forsaken, it was his own brother.

“Sehun?” Hana whispered, calling him out. The male seemed to be in a daze. “Sehun?” She called him again, and Sehun slowly raised his head. Hana had always wondered how Sehun kept his patience around her. She understood that her straightforwardness and nagging could be absolutely annoying, but Sehun seemed patient enough to answer them. “Sehun, what exactly is my Mark? Why do you freak out over it? Even Luhan seems to fear it as well.”

“Your Mark is a sign,” Sehun explained, but then, he refrained himself from talking too much, as usual, “A bad sign. I can’t tell you more about that.” She didn’t ask more. “And you call yourself the Fallen? Why does it sound so much like Lucifer?”

Sehun’s face suddenly darkened at the mention of his name. “Lucifer? He’s not the Fallen. He’s the Devil.” If there was anyone more cruel and cunning than Sehun’s brother, it was the Devil himself. Sehun felt a deep familiar hatred re-surfacing and he pushed it down. At least the Devil was buried somewhere now, sleeping days and nights for who knew how long.

“You know Lucifer? Does he even exist?” Hana asked in amusement. She believed in hell and evildoers, but she thought that Lucifer was only a legend. Sehun kept a straight face, but Hana saw him through. His eyes were full of hatred and madness. “Of course he exists. He only chooses a different name and different face every time he comes to this world.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re called the Fallen, though.”

Sehun felt a stab of pain into his heart. Every time he talked about his past, he couldn’t help but remember pieces of memories he never wanted to remember anymore. He was silent for a minute and so, which felt like eternity for Hana. She stared at Sehun, waiting for his reply, which came too slow and too late.

“What do you think the Fallen stands for?” Sehun said with a bitter taste of irony, “It stands for a person who falls down, doesn’t it?” Hana nodded, listening attentively, and Sehun continued, “Like I said before, the Fallen was once a Shadow creature, be it a vampire or a werewolf.”

Another long pause.

“The Shadow creatures that succumbed to the darkest part of their heart are called the Fallen. We live to kill and to hunt another Shadow creatures who break the rules. As for me…” Sehun met her eyes, “I am a vampire that hunts vampires.”

So he was once a vampire. Now he was a ruthless killer.

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” Sehun said, and Hana’s attention was back on him, “But you will get it as time goes by.” She stared at him, speechless. Sehun stood up from his seat and walked out to the balcony. Hana felt a smile, a genuine and soft smile curved up her lips after a long and tiring week. Maybe… Sehun was trying to cheer her up… in his own way.

***

“Kai, what a surprise…” The monotone voice greeted him. Clearly, it was meant to be a sarcastic remark. Kai humorlessly laughed. “Don’t lie to me, Cousin. You already know I’m here since ages ago.” The person in front of him was Sehun’s brother, who also happened to be Kai’s cousin, much to his disappointment since birth. “How would I know? You disappeared to London around a decade ago.”

“A century ago,” Kai corrected him. He wondered how Sehun could look completely different from his brother. Maybe because they had different mothers. Kai grabbed himself a drink and plopped onto the couch comfortably like he owned the house. “Can’t you try to play nice and conceal your murderous aura a little bit? The air’s kinda stuffy here.”

The man smirked in response. If it weren’t Kai, the person would die from such an overwhelming and intense aura. They were almost on the same level of strength and ability, but Sehun’s brother was clearly superior. He wasn’t the vampire’s leader for nothing.

“Much better now,” Kai commented sarcastically. “Thank you.”

“Why are you here?” Sehun’s brother asked. He didn’t feel the need to talk in a nice and mannerly way. They despised each other, but they came to a conclusion that they should work together to fight off the Fallen. Kai had always preferred Sehun to his brother, and he would still prefer Sehun now, despite of his status as a Hunter. That was just how much he hated Sehun’s brother.

“I’m here to play with my cousins, why else?” Kai took a sip from his glass. “I heard Sehun’s living a good life outside of this House.” The ‘House’ Kai was referring to, was the whole vampire’s clan. The male in front of him didn’t reply. “My younger brother is a fool. He chooses to be a Fallen creature instead of living this glamorous life. He’s meant to be damned forever.”

“He’s not damned forever,” Kai reminded, “There’s still a way for him to gain back his sanity.” Sehun’s brother scoffed at his sentence, “He chose his life, Kai. Let his soul burn in the brink of insanity.”

“You’re cruel, you know that?” Kai stared at him, not even bothering to conceal the hatred. There was a laughter that followed, but not his own. The sound brought chills to Kai’s skin. He put down the glass and got up from his seat, “I will go check around town, then. See if I can accidentally meet Sehun there if I out the blood of a human, or two.”