Taemin and Jieun were transported to their destination: the Vampire's Realm.

They thanked the horsemen, who did nothing but turn and go back into the portal. Jieun shivered, and swore that she would never meet those creatures again. There was something about them that gave off a ghostly, haunting aura. She didn't like it one bit.

Taemin looked around, then scratched his head. "We can't be early. That's impossible."

"Why?" she asked. She searched for the rest of the group. "Are we at the right place?"

"Of course. Do you think that those guys would be careless enough to drop us off at the wrong destination?" Taemin asked, rolling his eyes. "Come. We better search around."

"Isn't it better to stay at one place and let them come to us?"

"This isn't the time to wait and stay. We're not in the village anymore. If you stay and don't look busy, it looks like you're planning on who to kill next. That's highly suspicious."

"Then can't we call them or something?"

"Call?" Taemin laughed. "I haven't heard that word since Myungsoo said that years ago. Funny."

He reached into pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He tore a piece from the paper, and let it fly. His eyes traced the leaf's pattern in the sky. After a moment, he lunged for Jieun's wrist, causing her to widen her eyes.

"W-What?" she stuttered, slightly blushing.

"Come on. We better follow that paper," he said.

They started dashing in the crowd, constantly pumping into people. No one really shouted at them or glared at them. It seemed quite normal for people to bump into each other in this part of the world.

"Taemin, what are we doing?" Jieun managed to breathe out as they continued running.

"Haven't you seen this before?" he asked back, raising his voice against the wind. "You put someone's blood on this paper and then you can track the person." He turned his head slightly. "In this case, this paper has Myungsoo's blood on it. It's helping us find Myungsoo!"

They took a quick turn, but didn't stop running.

"So basically you can stalk someone as long as you have their blood, right?" Jieun asked.

They took a left turn.

"I guess," he muttered. A small frown appeared on his face. "That's strange…"

"What?"

He stopped abruptly. Jieun gasped and crashed behind him, unable to stop for the moment. She groaned and rubbed her forehead while she looked at Taemin. She spotted him staring at the piece of paper, which froze and pointed out of the realm.

It took her a minute to realize what was going on.

"Are they out there?" she asked.

He nodded. "They shouldn't be, though. There should've been no problem…"

She paled. "Are they in trouble? Let's go after them—"

"We can't,' Taemin told her. He pointed at the paper. "It froze. Something is stopping it from tracking Myungsoo."

"What can possibly stop that piece of paper from finding Myungsoo?" she asked, frowning. "Can't we use Naeun's, then?"

"No, we can't. I don't have Naeun's right now." He sighed. "Responding to your first question, several things can stop that paper. Myungsoo can be dead and his blood might've dried up." A look of horror appeared on Jieun's face. Taemin sighed. "Like I said, it doesn't mean Myungsoo died. He might be fighting in a magic-guarded arena. Then that would mean he's still fighting and he can't escape from it."

"So basically if he's dead or if he's stuck fighting in a trapped area, this paper is useless," she simplified.

"Well, there also might be a cursed creature around him," Taemin added. Jieun stiffened. "But cursed creatures usually don't get in the way of this device unless it's a strong curse…"

"P-Probably it's Myungsoo just fighting," Jieun said.

"Probably," he agreed, nodding. He looked at Jieun. "You got any powers that will help us out? I mean, I heard that you were summoned by the Council."

Jieun pressed her lips. Was she allowed to tell people about one of her power? They didn't say that she wasn't allowed to, but…

With restrictions, of course. The wizard's voice rang in her head like a warning bell. 

"Nothing big. It was just this bracelet," Jieun lied. In the end, she decided not to tell. She saw how the Council reacted when they found out about her power, and she didn't want Taemin to react the same way. Besides, she didn't even know how to use her powers.

He sighed. "A false alarm, huh? Unusual, but likely. You're a strange girl, after all."

"So now what?" she asked, completely ignoring his last sentence. "Do we just wait?"

He grunted. "I hate waiting, but I don't want to pass by them by chance."

"So what should we do?"

"I'm trying to figure out if we should go or not. The paper hasn't moved, so it's a pretty strong curse. I don't know if they can handle the monster, so—"

"Wait, what makes you think that the cursed creature is monster?" she inquired, frowning.

"You're right. It doesn't have to be a monster. Usually it's some kind of beast that holds a curse, though," he said. 

"What if a human like me holds a curse? Is it generally supposed to be we—"

"Kya!" 

A high-pitched howl echoed in the air. A gush of wind from the forest blew against their skins. Taemin's eyes widened, while Jieun started to shiver in fear.

"W-What was that?" she stuttered, her teeth chattering.

"That's Naeun's scream," he muttered. He stared at the forest. "That wind is her way of telling us where she is. Let's go!"

"I-I think we should wait! After all, we don't know what—"

"Come on, Jieun!" he shouted, grabbing her hand. He started to drag her out of the realm and into the forest. "When we're called to fight, we got to fight!"

Jieun wanted to cry. "I can't fight, damn it!"

"Shut up and stop whining! I can't let you alone in this district!" he yelled back. 

"Why not?" she asked him.

He paused and looked at her for a moment. "You'll probably end up dying someway without an adult supervision. Come!"

She dropped her jaws, but kept quiet. What else could she say?

What Taemin was saying was probably true.

"Naeun!" Myungsoo shouted from the tree. He anxiously searched around, trying to find his teammate. "Naeun, where are you?"

"Grr…" A deep growl echoed in the forest. He heard the heavy footsteps march towards his way. Myungsoo sealed his lips, but he kept his eyes wide open for any sight of the lost girl.

It was only moments ago when an enormous beast had swooped in and knocked everyone off their feet with its tail. At one point, the beast at flicked Naeun away to a certain direction in the sky. He had followed her, but at the same time, he lost track of where Mino was.

What for Myungsoo was that he didn't have time to figure out what kind of monster he was fighting. The monster was fast, which completely took Myungsoo by surprise considering the size of the beast. It was at least twenty times the size he was. With its size and weight, how could it possibly scatter the group that quickly?

Just when he was about to dash to another tree, something had grabbed his collar. He gasped for air, but he was pulled to the side. He was about to electrocute the person who captured him until he noticed that it was Naeun. His eyes shimmered with delight, but a deep frown appeared when he saw the bruises and scratch marks all over her skin and face.

"Naeun!" he exclaimed, scrabbling to face her. "How did you survive—"

"Where's Mino?" she asked in a low voice.

"I lost him—"

"You what?" she exclaimed. Her eyes widened and she groaned. "How can you lose him?"

"Well I lost you, too, but I found you! I'm sure we'll find him soon!" Myungsoo exclaimed.

"I screamed for help and used the wind to enhance my scream. What can Mino do alone? Nothing! He can't call for help!" she pointed out. 

Myungsoo bit his bottom lip. "At least the two of us are okay…?"

"You idiot!" she scolded. She was about to slap his head until someone grabbed ahold of her wrist. She turned, ready to scream at whoever was holding her back. However, her strength weakened and a faint blush appeared on her face. She smiled, glad to see a familiar figure behind her. "Taemin! You're back!"

"I thought we were meeting you at the realm," Myungsoo said, blinking his eyes.

"I didn't want to wait. You guys took too long," Taemin said. He pulled out a piece of paper and grabbed Naeun's wrist. "I need a bit of your blood. I ran out of yours. Something was blocking me from tracking Myungsoo."

"Then how did you find us?" Myungsoo asked.

"I followed Naeun's scream and the paper started moving again," Taemin exclaimed. He grabbed a knife and pressed the blade against Naeun's palm. She flinched, but squeezed her hand to soak out the blood.

"T-That should do," Naeun said, releasing her grip. Taemin quickly bandaged Naeun's palm, trying to prevent the blood from leaking out. 

"It that you weren't injured on your palm. This would've been a lot less painful. The paper only works with blood from your palm," he said. She only smiled at him, giving off a warm radiance. "Anyway, where's Mino?"

"Somewhere in the forest," Myungsoo said, his eyes searching for any sign of him. "I think the monster went to find Mino."

"Where's Jieun?" Naeun asked, looking around.

Taemin frowned. "She's right behind—"

When he turned, his eyes shot wide open. Jieun wasn't behind him anymore. He turned left and right, trying to figure out where she went.

"Heh." Myungsoo smirked. "See? I'm not the only one who loses people."

Naeun raised her other hand and slapped the back of Myungsoo's head.

Mino gasped for air. He could sense the monster chasing after him. The way that the monster's voice only got louder told him that he was slowing down.

Run, Mino! he told himself. You can't just die here alone!

"Mino!"

He looked up, still running. He widened his eyes when he saw Jieun on a tree that was a few feet in front of him. She pulled down a rope, making sure that the other end was tied to the branch.

"Where did…rope…you…?" Mino wasn't able to finish his sentence. 

"Climb!" she exclaimed. 

He wasn't going to doubt her. At least, not right now. He ran as hard as he could, hoping to grab the rope with at least one arm.

"Grrr!" The beast's voices growled even louder. Mino could feel the ground shake as the beast chased after him.

Damn it! Why couldn't it chase after Mino or Naeun? he wondered. Right when he was about to grab the rope, he was knocked to the side by the beast's tail. He coughed out blood and crashed against a tree.

"Oh my gosh. Mino!" Jieun screamed, panicking. She climbed down the rope, but that was the last thing Mino got to see.

Before Mino got the chance to get up and run, the beast had pinned him with its claws. It growled at Mino, but its lips once it realized that Mino could be food.

Oh hell no. Hell no, he thought, panicking. 

The beast let out a furious roar. It echoed in the forest, and Mino felt like his ears were going to burst. He breathed hard in quick, short breathes. He was slowly getting dizzy as the beast pressed against his lungs, trying to crush his ribs and strangle him to death.

Click!

Something clicked. Mino wasn't sure what it was, but something definitely clicked. His whole body—his spirit—shook. When he opened his eyes, there was no sign of white in his eyes. A dangerous black color stretched across his eyeballs.

Death! Death! Death!

Something kept chanting in his head—he didn't know what it was. He wanted it out. He didn't like that voice in his head. He didn't like the words it said.

Kill! Kill! Kill!

Mino grabbed onto his ears and gasped for air. The sound, the chants, the mutters, the laughs—they screamed in his mind. The voices only increased in volume. He began to claw his ears, letting out small whimpers of pain.

Stab! Stab! Stab!

His fingers clawed against the side of his head. It was already torturous to have a beast force air out of him. What was this voice? What did it want with him?

He kept scratching his head, trying to get the stupid voices out of his head. His fingers skinned his head, causing some parts to bleed. He couldn't breathe like before. He started panting, trying to intake as much of air as he could. He body trembled, his mind shook, his head spun.

I want to kill! I want to kill! Kill, kill! I want to kill!

Mino screamed. A sonic boom touched the forest. Jieun let out a shriek and hid behind a large boulder. She covered her head as a black aura took form from Mino's howl. 

The beast let out a thunderous roar and stopped pressing against Mino's chest. The black aura surrounded him, squeezing the creature until death was the only thing remained of the creature. A mark similar to Mino's formed on the ground as the beast was into the crowd like a sacrifice. 

Jieun gasped, panting for air as she saw a wave of black hit the boulder behind her and run pass her. She swore that there was no oxygen left her to breathe. It was like she was taking a glimpse of death, of what dying felt like. 

She looked down at her feet. The grass, which was lush green before, began to curl, wilting only when the edge of the aura touched it. At that moment, Jieun knew that whatever happened, she was not allowed to touch the black aura. If she touched it, it meant immediate death.

"Mino!" Jieun cried out. "Please, control yourself!"

Mino couldn't hear Jieun. Or was it that he wouldn't listen to her? The cursed mark only glowed brighter. Chains of midnight and violet shot out of the mark and began to grab itself around him. At this point, he was not allowed to cover his ears. His hands were pinned down to the ground, and he was forced to listen to the daunting voices.

Please. Help. Someone. Help. Mino. Stop. Please. Help. Please. Tears trickled down Jieun's cheeks as she noticed that the aura was slowly enclosing her. Please. Stop. No. Death? No. Stop. Help. Mino. Stop. Mino. Stop. Mino. Stop. Mino. Stop. Mino. Sto—

Crack!

The golden bracelet formed a small crack. Magic powder fell from the chains and touched the ground. It crawled through the black aura, aiming to touch Mino. 

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill— The golden specs brushed against Mino's bleeding ears. Calm. Rest. Stop. Please.

Something shut down. Mino wasn't sure what it was, but he was slowly able to gain control of himself. His eyes shifted back to its normal position. His pupils resized back to the way it was. His ears were still bleeding, but that was okay. The voices stopped screeching in his mind. They stopped engraving the dark thoughts and disappeared. The chains, sensing that something went wrong, broke and faded away.

Mino gasped for air. One hand wrapped around his neck, while the other tried to keep him from collapsing. He felt like he was on the verge on death, or that he was doing some kind of ritual with death. He coughed out blood, unable to say anything but just let out measly coughs.

Jieun slowly stepped away from the rock. Her legs were buckling and her face was horrifyingly pale. She looked around the forest, noticing that there was no sign of life anywhere. The trees were dead black and the grass was replaced with rocks and dry dirt.

She slowed her breath, watching Mino try his best to recover from whatever he had went through. When he slowly turned to look at her, she yelped and touched the rock. She flinched from the rock when she noticed how hot it was. She looked back at Mino, who returned to coughing up blood. Figuring that he was in his normal state, she quickly ran to his side.

"M-M-Mino," she stuttered quietly. Her voice was still shaking, and she cursed herself for that. "A-Are you okay?" Mino didn't respond, but only coughed more blood. "W-What was that? W-What happened just n-now?"

"I…don't k-know," he stammered back. His voice sounded strained. "I…was so scared…I…I…I wanted to…"

Kill, he finished in his head. He paled and shivered. "I don't want to talk about t-this…"

"Was that the power of the curse?" Jieun asked. "That black aura? Is that what the curse does?"

Before Mino had the chance to tell her anything, he noticed that Myungsoo, Naeun, and Taemin were running their way. They looked worried at first, but their expression was easily replaced with utter shock. The three scurried over to Jieun's and Mino's side.

"What happened?" Naeun asked, her eyes wide. "There's almost no sense of air around here!"

"Everything's dead," Myungsoo noted. He looked at the two. "Did you guys do something?"

Before Jieun was able to explain, Mino stopped her. "I took down the monster. Remember? I said I'd take down the next monster we meet."

"Impossible," Naeun murmured. "That monster was really strong."

"Where is the beast?" Myungsoo asked, looking around.

Mino and Jieun exchanged looks. What were they going to say about that?

"This is definitely a power that cursed people has," Taemin said. He glared at the two. "Are one of you guys cursed?"

Jieun looked at Mino. She was thankful that he still had his hand around his neck. He was covering up the mark with his fingers.

"We didn't do all this," Jieun said, helping Mino lie. "It did this."

"You're saying that it self destructed and did all this?" Naeun asked. 

"The beast was cursed. I saw a mark," Jieun lied. She looked at Taemin. "Didn't you see it?"

He slightly widened his eyes. "I didn't even get the chance to meet the creature."

"Oh," she said. She looked at the other two. "Then you two must've seen it, right?"

Myungsoo and Naeun exchanged looks. Then, they bit their lips and sheepishly looked away.

"It was too fast for us," Naeun replied, embarrassed.

"I didn't see a thing except for a black shadow," Myungsoo muttered.

Jieun faked a smile. "See?"

Taemin looked at her. He studied her for a moment. He was highly suspicious of Jieun, but he didn't say anything else. He figured that the lie was good enough for Myungsoo and Naeun to accept. What mattered was that the group should get out before anyone pressed charges against them for property damage.

"We're going back," Taemin said, turning around.

"We're not cleaning this up?" Myungsoo asked.

"How do we clean this up? Everything's dead," Naeun pointed out. She got up on her feet. "I want to go to the realm, too. I'm a bit sleepy."

When everyone managed to get back on their feet, they slowly trudged their way back to the Vampire Realm.