“A pity, such a pity,” The ghoul recited the sentence over and over again while staring at Hana hungrily. It had been hours since she was brought here, and even though the pot was still steaming and the water was boiling, the ghouls hadn’t made a move on her yet.

Hana was still tied on the chair, unable to move whatsoever. She observed them; the ghouls had been restless and almost panic. Their empty black eyes didn’t show any emotion, because it couldn’t, but Hana could hear it in their voices. They were scared. But why?

“Is he coming?” One of the ghoul, named Junsu asked the one talking, Taecyeon. The leader hummed in response, still staring at Hana intently, “The Lord is coming to get her. Ah, such pity… We could have enjoyed her tasty, juicy meat, even though she is too skinny for my liking.”

“Say, what if we eat her right now?” Junho asked, his lips, and Hana swore that she could see the drips of his drool on the corner of his mouth. She cringed. “The Lord doesn’t need her full form, does he? Maybe we can cut off her arms and her legs?”

“We can’t risk the anger of the vampires!” Taecyeon glared at Junho. “They will slaughter our entire clan if this girl isn’t safe… and complete. If you’re hungry, you can take the remaining meats in the fridge.”

Junho immediately rushed to the fridge and Hana could hear the shrieks of his fellow ghouls, as they flew after Junho and fought for the white, bloody meat in his hand. Vomit. She needed to vomit. So she looked away from the horrifying sight.

“Who is coming?” Hana almost couldn’t recognize the voice that came out of . It sounded eerily dry and low. She wet her lips by it over and out of sudden nervousness, bit it hard.

Taecyeon turned his head to face her and gave her his full attention. He knew he didn’t look ‘desirable’ with his torn skin and hollow eyes. But he could care less. “You don’t know who’s coming?” He asked back the question. Hana shook her head. Why would she ask if she knew?

“I can’t tell you who is coming. But you’ll know him soon, that’s for sure,” And suddenly Taecyeon groaned and got up from his seat, “Junho, Junsu, don’t fight! You disgusting piece of filth! Jaebom, stop them! Don’t just stand there and drool over the meat, you idiot!”

Hana cringed at his change of tone. He kept on scolding the others and calling them names. But the others didn’t seem to care, they were too busy stuffing down the meats into their mouths. There was stinky yellow liquid coming out of their mouth when they ate so heartily.

Then all of a sudden… BANG! A loud bombing sound was heard closely, and everyone froze in their spots.

Taecyeon was the first to react. He ran, or flew to Hana’s side and quickly untied her. She was too stunned to even struggle against the ghoul. He grabbed her by the arms and forcefully dragged her with him. “Junho, go check on the door. Junsu, you go with him! Jaebom, Wooyoung, Chansung, the three of you come with me.”

And in what seemed to be the weirdest situation Hana had ever experienced, the cannibals dropped the meat and hurried down as the leader said. Then she heard a commotion outside. She couldn’t look back because Taecyeon held her tightly and continued to run. They went through tunnels and tunnels of dark water. The air shifted and a few more ghouls appeared along the way.

“What is this you’re bringing, Taecyeon? The Fallens are here to kill us!” The ghoul who just appeared hissed at Taecyeon. He glared at the new intruder and retorted, “It’s either the Fallen or the vampires! Both will kill us for this girl. And trust me, I’d rather get killed by the Fallen than by the Lord of Vampires.”

The Lord of the Vampires? Hana mentally thought as she felt stinging pain shot up her arms, is that the one coming in? And if the Fallens were here, wouldn’t Sehun be here as well? Hana suddenly struggled against Taecyeon’s arms, and he dropped her immediately when she planted his teeth to his slimy skin and bit him.

“You !” Taecyeon cursed at her. Hana fell down to the shallow dark water and got herself covered with strong smelly liquid. She cringed and immediately got up when she saw Taecyeon flying towards her way with his arms extended to reach her neck.

She ran with all her might. And bumped into someone.

The person grabbed her on the arms gently, but tightly, and didn’t waste his time to slice off Taecyeon’s left hand with his dagger. Hana’s eyes widened. She watched as the ghoul stopped and screamed in agony at his loss. The other ghouls ran after him, and angrily stormed at this one person Hana least expected.

Luhan stepped in front of her and threw the ghouls off with such grace and ease. His expression didn’t change the whole time. He looked calm and serene when he was using his bow and arrows. The scene wasn’t supposed to give her any sense of relief, but she did feel relieved and safe when Luhan came.

And out of nowhere, more and more ghouls started appearing and disappearing in front of her eyes. They had the invisibility ability, so it was no surprise to Luhan when they vanished to thin air, only to appear right in front of his face. Luhan smirked. This was where his ability was deemed very, very useful.

Hana’s eyes widened when Luhan threw his stacks of arrows to the floor and carelessly shatter them, while putting away his bow. She ducked down and worriedly clutched into the end of his shirt, “What are you doing? Why are you throwing away your weapons?”

“Just watch,” Luhan hissed, and when the next ghoul appeared in less than a meter distance away from him, he lifted his right hand and the arrow shot up almost instantly, piercing the ghoul’s chest faster than a bow’s speed. Hana’s lips opened in awe. He was using telekinetic to combat these invisible monsters.

“That easy?” It wasn’t meant as an insult, but rather as praise, but Luhan didn’t take it so well. “Well, this is the fastest way, Genius. Why don’t you go and try to fight them? I’d like to see you try. If you can do as much as to scratch their skin, I’ll give you a big, standing applause.”

“Well, I was trying to compliment you,” Hana furrowed her eyebrows together, her eyes never leaving the shooting arrows. “You don’t need to take everything as an offense.” You and Sehun are exactly the same…

The ghouls didn’t bleed red. They bled black, just like the water beneath. Hana shivered. What if the water she just fell down in, actually contained some of the ghouls’ blood? Disgusting.

“Duck down!” In the midst of her carelessness, Luhan threw his arms back and shot another arrow with a simple gesture of his hands. Hana ducked down at the perfect time because Luhan almost hit her head. She breathed in and out nervously, feeling absolutely useless and weak at times like this. Apparently, being a damsel in distress didn’t feel good… at all.

***

"This will be the last time I help you, Sehun," Kris' deep, piercing voice spoke through his gritted teeth. There was a sense of authority in his voice, and even though the Fallen was independent on their own, they looked up to Kris as some sort of leader. His eyes quickly scanned through the piles of ashes and corpses that they massacred tonight. The number had been a great loss to the Shadow world.

Sehun ran his eyes through the corpses but they weren't what he was looking for. He calmly thought through the words Kris just said. "I won't consider this as a help." The same Sehun, stubborn as always. He would never admit defeat. And he would never, ever say thank you. It hurt his pride just by thinking about the word.

"Sehun, she's safe," Sehun whipped his head around to see a broken doll in Luhan's arms. She looked pitiful and lifeless in that zombie state. Sehun's jaw tightened at the sight of Hana. Luhan's fair face was covered with dust and ashes, but aside from that, he looked fine, as usual. "Next time, don't ask me to guard her, she's useless in battle."

Ouch. Hana winced. Now that certainly hurt; to hear the word 'useless' directly from Luhan's mouth. But even so, she stood immobile in her spot, frozen like a statue. Truthfully, she was way too tired to even retort the insult. There was nothing she could do to defend herself from the uselessness Luhan accused her for.

"There will be no next time," Sehun's eyes darkened. His lips were pressed tightly together into a thin line. There would be no next time for this kind of situation. Sehun had regretted tonight more than anything. "I will make sure of that." He spoke and pierced his eyes to Hana's. She stared back at him with an unreadable stare, a mixture of wonder and amusement, and somewhat sadness and sorrow.

No, Hana didn't doubt his promise for one second. What actually surprised her was the emotion in his eyes, the first she saw since their first meeting. She held his gaze for a good ten seconds before whatever emotion she saw was gone, and she was left in what felt like disappointment and longing. Sehun had his eyes on Kris now.

"You'd better make sure there won't be next time," Kris firmly stated. His hand was balled into defensive fist. Yongguk and Himchan shook their heads and with a last nod at Luhan, they were gone from the sight. The two werewolves had no interest in this affair. They were solitary; they found their peace in loneliness.

"This won't happen again," For the first time in forever, Hana saw how Sehun actually agreed to someone. This tall, intimidating male with blond messy hair must be someone important and powerful. Kris curled his lips into a sadistic smile and glanced at Hana, and her heart froze for a second. His dark orbs appeared to be reading her, or at least that was what she thought. And suddenly Kris was in front of her. Hana was bewildered by how fast he moved.

"So this is the source of all trouble, hm?" His voice wasn't low, nor was it high-pitched, but it sent shivers down her skin. There was something so sensual about his voice. "You do smell funny." He leaned in closer, and Hana was so focused in his eyes to notice that Sehun growled at the sudden closeness of the two. "Indeed, your smell is very very strong, even for a Marked one. Say, how long have you been Marked."

Hana breathed in his scent, a gentle mixture of woods and the wet leaves. He smelt really good. "I have no idea."

Kris abruptly stood up, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean by that? I thought you willingly asked to be turned a vampire?" Luhan was the one who answered for her, "No, she’s a lost case. She didn't know about this whole ordeal until she met Sehun."

"Well," For a second, Kris was at loss if words. "Isn't this interesting? I bet you don't know about your creator, then?" Hana shook her head. "But your creator will come to claim you, won't he?" Hana didn't know, so she didn't reply. Kris hummed all of a sudden and turned back to face Sehun. "Now this is interesting. You're taking responsibility of her, knowing the risk of both your brother and turning the Forsaken."

Sehun had a brother? Hana looked at him questioningly but he never looked back. He was glaring at Kris. "This is my damned business, so I'd rather have you away from it." Luhan's grip on Hana's arms tightened. There was a tension hanging heavily in the air, and it was suffocating. She blinked once, and twice. Kris and Sehun still had their glaring competition to each other. Basically none of them wanted to let go first.

"Fine, deal with it your way. I don't care. Just don't ask me if anything like this ever happen again," Kris spoke in a mildly gentle tone, but he was cold, as cold as frost, and Hana shuddered. This was a threat, and in her opinion, Sehun took it way too lightly. His hands were dropped on both sides, and he stared ahead blankly. The next second, when Hana blinked again, Kris was gone. Without sound and trace. He was truly one fearsome person.

***

"Where's Luhan?"

"Somewhere," Sehun answered nonchalantly. They went to a hotel nearby, where Sehun just needed to flash his credit card and the owner seemed to shut seeing how these two young people stayed together in one suite room. Hana didn’t care, because she knew Sehun wouldn’t take advantage of her no matter what. Besides, Sehun’s house was damaged beyond repair.

He put down all his fighting gears with a loud thump, and Hana estimated that it must weigh heavily. She couldn't imagine how hard it must be to carry all those weapons while fighting.

"I haven't said my thanks," Hana whispered, her voice hoarse. She didn't scream, nor spoke much in the ghoul's nest, but she cried a lot. Sehun looked up from his position, his eyes boring onto hers. "Not only to Luhan, but to the others... And well..." She stopped, doubt had clouded her eyes. She was scared of him. "...To you, as well." She barely mouthed the last word because she was unable to find strength in her voice.

Sehun wanted to reply with something sarcastic, but he realized that the trembling girl needed comfort more than anything else. He bit back his words and gently-as gentle as he could manage- spoke, "Did they hurt you anywhere?" Hana looked up, her eyes glassy, but there was obvious dry blood on her lips. She was biting it hard.

"No, they didn't hurt me," Hana chuckled drily, and she knew Sehun didn't believe her. "They just threatened me."

"Are you...?" Sehun couldn't finish his sentence because tears came out from her eyes, glistening like pearls under the lamplight. Hana stood there, sobbing uncontrollably, because she didn't know what to do. She was scared of her life. As she cried out, a piece of her burden was lifted up, and she cried even louder. Who the hell cared if she bawled like a baby anyway?

Sehun blinked, and he stood in front of her, reaching out to caress the gentle soul. His arms wrapped around her, one hand brushing her hair softly, and even without any words spoken, the comfort was given. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."