He was beautiful beyond perfection. There was nothing lacking in his appearance. He was tall, and muscular. Everyone looked up to him as a leader, and truthfully, he felt good. He belonged at the top and he loved the idea of ruling over a thousand and more vampires in the Shadow world.

There was nothing that could bring him down, with the exception of one disturbing pest that haunted his dream for over a hundred year. His annoying little brother, Sehun, was a dangerous threat to his position. Before his father died, Sehun was clearly the favored one out of the two.

“My Lord,” one of his loyal servants, Dongwoon, who occasionally acted out as a spy, bowed down in front of him. There was a pleased and satisfied smile grazing the older’s lips, and he mentioned Dongwoon to stand up.

“You have come back,” He said it slowly, tauntingly, “Kai doesn’t go out for long today. This is unusual. Anything interesting happened?” He knew Kai would normally go out from day to night just to avoid this thick, uncomfortable tension between the two of them.

Kai was his cousin. Ironically, he liked Kai more than his own brother. He would never admit it, though. Even he himself, didn’t know why. Maybe because Kai wasn’t a threat to the throne. Or maybe because Kai never bothered him. Kai never once tried to talk out of casualties. Most of the time he would stare at him like some kind of pest.

Dongwoon dared not to look up. Truthfully, it was hard to breathe in this room. Sehun’s brother, Jaejoong, had this murderous and intimidating aura around him. And Dongwoon knew exactly what he was capable of. If he said one wrong word, or he did something unpleasant, his head would fly off from the body with a simple snap from Jaejoong’s finger.

“Kai talked to a Marked being. Aside from that, nothing else happened,” Dongwoon specifically mentioned the ‘Marked being’ with such a disgusted tone that it amused Jaejoong. He smiled a little, and Dongwoon stole a glance. Jaejoong looked really innocent and pure when he smiled, but who knew what he was thinking at the moment. Dongwoon shuddered.

“He did? That’s unusual,” Jaejoong spoke with a long humming tone, “Does she smell good?” Dongwoon replied almost immediately, “She doesn’t smell different from other human. Just a little sweeter, but nothing unbearable.”

“Maybe you should keep a closer eye to Kai,” Jaejoong said, or more like ordered. Dongwoon nodded. “With your ability, Kai shouldn’t be able to notice you straight away, but if he does… You can tell him who assigns you to him. But not why. Do you understand?”

“Yes, My Lord,” Dongwoon answered courtly. It was better to be killed by Kai than Jaejoong. But Dongwoon wasn’t hoping for either choice.

“Did you see Sehun?” For a second, Jaejoong’s voice faltered a little. There was uncertainty, but thankfully, Dongwoon didn’t notice it. . Did he actually feel insecure against his younger brother? “Have you seen him in the city before? With Kai?”

“No, My Lord, I would have told you if they met,” Dongwoon replied. He hadn’t followed Kai 24 hours a week, but he had never seen a glimpse of Sehun before. He was sure Kai disliked Sehun ever since he left. Maybe Jaejoong shouldn’t worry too much.

“That’s good,” It wasn’t a praise. Jaejoong looked down at Dongwoon, “Keep up your work. I want to hear more report tomorrow.”

***

“You’re pale,” Sehun remarked when Hana walked back from the restroom. He waited for fifteen minutes and here she was, sweating and barely breathing normally.

“I’m fine,” Hana grunted, not recognizing her own voice. She sounded scared, and maybe she was, just a little bit. She was paranoid. She was too paranoid, and she knew that. But it didn’t mean that she could stop the sudden increase of heartbeat. She didn’t know what to feel when she saw Kai. Was she happy? No, not possible.

She couldn’t tell Sehun that she just met Kai. He was human, and Sehun didn’t deal with humans. This was Hana’s personal matter, and she bitterly remembered how Sehun told her he didn’t care for her feelings whatsoever.

“Let’s just call a cab, you can’t seem to stand the sunlight too well,” Hana suggested. The sun was especially sunny today. Sehun shook his head stubbornly, “I’m fine. Let’s just walk home. It’s only a couple buildings away.”

“It is a couple of buildings away. But you are obviously not fine with it. Look at you just now, you were as pale as a ghost, not that you aren’t pale enough normally. But that’s out of the point. What I’m trying to say is… It’s okay. You accompany me here, and now I will pay you back by accompanying you in the cab.”

Sehun folded his hands in front of his chest. It was indeed very bright today, even more than usual. His vampire side was screaming inside, telling him to just go with the girl and took the cab. So he nodded, much to Hana’s delight. There was a word stuck at the end of his mouth, and he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Let’s go,” Hana smiled, and the two rose up from the seats. “Erm, you can wait here if you want. I will call the cab and then you can hop in.” Sehun shook his head. What nonsense! He would never let a girl do what he was supposed to do. This was supposed to be his job while she was waiting in her seat. “No, I’ll go with you.”

“Goddamn, you’re stubborn!” Hana cursed but she didn’t complain when Sehun walked with her to the taxi stand. He stared at her amusedly, “Hana, you’re not supposed to curse.”

There was a slight, very very light tingle that ran down her stomach when he said her name. He didn’t sound as cold as before. There was some hint of joke and playfulness in the sentence he said just now. Had he ever called her by her name before? She didn’t remember.

“I curse when I want to,” Hana simply retorted, waving her hands at the cab that came from their left. “It’s my problems with God. May He forgives my sins when I die.”

Sehun furrowed his eyebrows together. She wouldn’t die. He wouldn’t let her die no matter what. Even if he had to risk his life protecting her, Sehun wouldn’t let her die. Maybe Hana had forgotten his promise to her, so when they got into the cab, the male simply spoke in his softest voice, “I won’t let you die. I promised you.”

Then… Another thump. The unwanted red blush was quickly finding its way back to Hana’s cheeks. He had said it so easily. She shouldn’t feel this way, should she? “I know you won’t. I’ll drag you with me if I die.”

Sehun didn’t say anything else.

***

The soft skin touched her neck.

Hana was trapped. She was in some sort of compulsion. The sweet voice kept on telling her soothing words, and they worked wonders. She was a female-that was what Hana knew. Her fingers were too delicate and soft to be male’s fingers.

It’s okay, you’ll be alright…

Hana nodded, her mind was light. She didn’t care about anything else in the world. The fingers touched her neck again, this time the nails pricking the skin, and blood started to pour out from her shoulder. The red color made her happy. She felt no pain, no sadness, no anxiety, no fear.

For the first time in her life, Jung Hana didn’t fear a single thing. Her feelings were bursting like bubbles, and it felt good to actually forget about anything else. The soft voice chuckled, and Hana found herself smiling as well.

It won’t hurt as much, I know it. I will help you through this. Do you trust me?

Trust her? Trust her for what? The words were at the end of her tongue, but as soon as she thought of it, another wave of happiness washed through her mind. Hana was blank again. So she nodded. Hana trusted the voice. The voice freed her from fear.

Do you like the red color? I love the red color.

She did. Hana loved the color of blood; of death.

Your blood smells so sweet.

It did? Hana chuckled. She didn’t sound like herself.

I want to taste it.

There was some sort of pain when the fangs pierced through her skin. But it dissolved soon, replaced with dizziness from pleasure. It felt so good when her blood was drained out of her body. It felt good to have those fangs her skin. Was Hana ? Yes, she was.

I Mark you with the vampires’ Mark.

Vampires? Hana giggled. Did vampires even exist?

You will be gifted with immortality and powers, and cursed with the insatiable lust of blood until you find your one true Mate.

Mate? Hana thought, this was starting to sound like some animal’s discovery channel. Who talked about Mate when they could have just said husband, or boyfriend? What the voice talked about didn’t make sense. Hana moved a bit. But there was a force that held her back.

You’re Marked now. Come find me. I will finish your transformation with my blood. You’ll make one very pretty newborn vampire.

The fangs left her skin. The pleasure was gone. The next thing she knew, Hana out.

And at the same time, she woke up. The dream felt so familiar. Sweats trickled down her forehead. It was midday, and she fell asleep with a book on her lap. Sehun was nowhere to be found. The dream seemed more like a forgotten memory than a mere hallucination.

The one who Marked her was a vampire. And it was a she.

The dream was a clue to that person. Maybe she had a chance of not being a Forsaken, after all…