Hana had always been very fond of night time. The only time she could gaze at the stars, and snuggled up in her warm blanket was at night. The serendipity and calmness of the dark, and the cold wind that played with her hair lovingly; she loved all of them. Besides, night time was the only time her mother would come to her room and kissed her good night.

"You're sad," Sehun interrupted her thoughts. Hana turned back, and her hearts skipped a beat when Sehun's face came so close to her. The two of them were lying down on the cave floor, which felt a bit wet, but comforting at the same time. There was a hole in the ceiling, and through the hole, Hana could see the clear sky.

"I'm not sad," Hana corrected him, her eyes gazing to his, which captivated her the most. Sehun brushed away a string of hair from her face and tugged it behind the ear. "You are sad. I can feel it from you."

Hana hummed in response, "I was just thinking about my mom."

The night time in Shadow world was very different from the human world. The only similarity was that there was no sun. The sky in the Shadow world was almost transparent blue, like a piece of translucent clothes was shielding it. There were stars, but they moved from time to time.

"What about her?"

"She was a very busy woman," Hana smiled at the memory, "She could only kiss me goodnight, and the next morning, she was gone again. Bedtime was the only time I could actually see her. That was before she was gone, of course."

Sehun didn't say anything, but his hands found their ways to Hana's hair, caressing it softly and carefully. "How long?" Hana looked at Sehun, "10 years." Her mother passed away when she was 9 years old. It was an accident, her father said. And little Hana didn't even wipe a single tear in her funeral. Thinking about it now made her sad.

"Don't cry," Sehun spoke. His voice was held back by pain. Hana shook her head and bit her lips in sorrow. Even now she didn't cry for her mother. "I won't."

"Your Mark, does it still hurt?" Sehun asked. Hana shook her head, "Not with you here, not anymore." Silently, Sehun traced his fingers down her spine, in a very gentle manner, careful not to touch areas he shouldn't have. Then he could feel her pulsating Mark, like fire flaming her body. The Mark had gotten bigger again.

Hana almost moaned in delight when Sehun's fingers did his magic to her skin. She bit her lips harder, willing herself not to make any sound that would give her away. "Sehun... What are you doing?"

"Easing the pain," he simply replied. Hana almost cursed through her teeth, but she held back. Did he know what he was doing to her? The moment Sehun's hands left her back, the pleasure went away. She suddenly felt blank, and it was shown through her eyes. She almost cried at the loss.

"Funny," Sehun suddenly said. "I have never been able to read someone's mind before. But I can read yours now." Hana's eyes widened in alarm and she abruptly jerked away from his embrace. "Wait, you can read my mind?"

"Not exactly. I can read your emotions at time, like right now," Hana didn't like the way he spoke. His voice didn't help either. He used that seductive, low husky voice to reply, and she suddenly felt very self conscious. Was she blushing? She hope she wasn't. "You're embarrassed. Why is that so?"

Even without reading her emotion, Sehun knew this girl was thinking about something, and it didn't take long before he realized what she was thinking. The male almost smirked, but he never said anything about it.

"Can we change topic? I feel so... cornered right now," Hana cut in, and she made sure to lean back more, so that there would be more space between Sehun and her. The supposedly cold cave suddenly felt hot, and she blushed even more. God, she was never this dirty-minded before, so why now? And why him, out of all people?

Sehun heard a groan escaped her lips unconsciously. She looked like she was thinking deep and hard. Her bow and arrows resting near her. He narrowed his eyes. He'd seen those weapons before, from a different master before Sungjae. He never thought Sungjae would be that generous to give her such precious antiques.

"I assume that the bow and arrows belonged to Sungjae, yes?"

Hana nodded, "Yes, these are from Sungjae."

"You should keep them well. They're very precious to him," Sehun softly stated.

Then Hana chuckled. She softly patted her bow, tracing the surface so softly. These weapons were precious to her already. These would be her second hand from now on, to make sure she survived whatever would come. From Hana's perspective, whatever would come wouldn't end well. Though she wasn't sure who and when it would come.

"Sehun, can you tell me a bit about yourself? I don't even know anything about you," Hana suddenly asked. She had been curious for a while now. She knew nothing about this male except for his name and the fact that she trusted him.

Sehun raised his eyebrows as if someone just asked him a very difficult question and he didn't know the answer for it. Cold spread around his body unknowingly. He hadn't talked about himself for more than a century now. Hell, he rarely even thought about it. "What do you want to know?"

"How you became the Fallen," Hana started. She noticed that his lifeless eyes became colder. They were empty before, but now those dark orbs looked sad, almost brutal and wild tonight, but not with the flame of burning fire. Instead, his eyes were frozen in coldness, as if he was forever cursed with it.

"Understand that this will be the last time we talk about it," The male warned. Curious, Hana nodded willingly.

Sehun was around five centuries old by the time his father was murdered. The cold blooded killer was none other than his own older brother, Jaejoong. Even though they had different mothers, and had always despised each other, Sehun would never expect his own brother to murder their father.

At first Sehun thought Jaejoong killed his father for greed of the throne. Well, maybe he was right. But then, Sehun only knew part of the truth. After the murder of his father, it was apparent that Jaejoong wanted to get rid of him as well. The reason why he had murdered his father was because he wanted to choose the younger one for the throne.

Devastated, Sehun's only refuge was his girlfriend by then, Soojung. She was a sweet girl. Understanding and caring, Sehun poured out everything to her. He was worried, very worried that Jaejoong was out for blood, and soon, his greed would cause a war between the races. It was a very dangerous situation for both of them, because Sehun's fragile heart was the reason he couldn't fight back his brother. As a result of his foolishness, Soojung was killed as well.

Sehun grimaced at the memory. He didn't want to remember. But when he blinked, there was something wet stuck in his eyes. It wasn't until Hana wrapped her tiny little hands around his and squeezed it that he knew that he couldn't cry. He could only swallow the sadness and tears inside of him.

Sehun broke down when Soojung died. She was the only person keeping him sane. Without his father and his girlfriend, the world suddenly turned it's back against him, or so he thought. He attempted to avenge both of them of course, but his effort ended up in failure.

As he lied down dying, he spoke out his vow. 'Until the day I take my revenge for both of them, my soul will not rest in peace'. The vow bind him ever since, and true enough, his soul grew restless as each day passed. His bloodlust grew stronger, and it was only a matter of time before he would really fall to darkness and became the Fallen.

Hana bit back the apology in her lips. She knew Sehun didn't need it right now. Maybe a consolation would help. And so, she extended her arms around his body and hugged him gently. A tear slipped from her eyes to replace his, and in this situation, both of them found solace in each other.

"What are you doing?" Sehun's voice was hoarse. He still didn't cry, but clearly he was struggling to maintain his calmness.

"I don't know," Hana sobbed silently, hugging him tighter. All she wanted to do was to make him feel better. He sighed and put his hands on top of her trembling ones. "Why are you crying now? You're such a crybaby."

"I know," Hana almost chuckled in her tears. She had a long way to go to know Sehun better, but tonight was the first step of them all. Her heart beat in a way similar to his, slowly and evenly, and she wiped away the tears. She willed herself to know him more, to be there for him when he was sad and couldn't cry, but most of all, Hana wanted to see a smile from him, because he had never smiled nor laughed in front of her before...

***

"What happened to you?" Kris asked, clearly enjoying the fact that Jaejoong was clutching his shirt in pain. He panted, feeling like a knife just drove through his heart. Cold sweats formed around his forehead, and for one second, he looked weak and vulnerable.

"Someone just touched her," Jaejoong growled, "Sehun, you bastard!"

"Are you sure it's Sehun?" Kris folded his hands in front of his chest, "A Fallen wouldn't touch another person, more or less, the opposite gender."

Jaejoong didn't answer. He had a feeling it was Sehun. This pain in his chest was caused by a single touch from another male to his mate. If a touch would hurt so much, then what would happen if that male touched her in a more intimate way? Jaejoong cringed at the thought, fist forming and ready to strike. He would kill whoever it was that dared to touch his mate.

"Even if it's Sehun, it's legally right, you know," Kris reminded. "He's technically a Fallen, but the girl could still be Sehun's mate. He's a royal blood, just as much as you are. In fact, if you didn't kill your father, he could be ascending the throne soon enough."

Jaejoong didn't need to be reminded. He knew. The girl could either be Sehun's mate or his, but he was hoping she would be his. Sehun had taken enough from him. "That's why I need to claim her first. Don't you understand?"

Kris didn't say anything else. This matter was not his.

In front of them lied a map, the color was brownish, almost grey. The map was enchanted of course. That was why Jaejoong used it. There were only two of these maps in the Shadow world. One was lost to the Fallen, the other one belonged to the secret library of the vampire clan.

"Legend says that my blood will be able to locate her whereabouts in an instant when no other magic can," A wicked smile graced his lips and he didn't hesitate one bit to bite his palm and poured out the blood to the map before the wound healed itself.

At first nothing happened. Kris tensed a little when he saw the blood moved in the direction of lines and dots in the map, and finally stopped along the line of a river, known as the Hellgates River among the Shadows. Jaejoong made a 'tsh' sound. He felt restless now.

"Let's go," he signaled to Kris. The two of them disappeared into the darkness. Soon enough, Jaejoong would find his mate, and there was nothing Kris could do to stop him.