[CONTENTID1]Dandelion[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]CHAPTER TWO[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3] 

The night was dark since the moon’s beautiful glow was hidden behind looming storm clouds. Yoonhee was in her bedroom because she would go to sleep soon. She sat on her bed and read a romance novel that she had bought recently, holding a steaming cup in her hands. The calming smell of herbal tea filled her room.

From downstairs, she heard the faint voices of her parents and the sounds of the television as they watched a movie. It was a peaceful night—but Yoonhee didn’t feel calm. She couldn’t quite understand why she was so restless and had trouble concentrating on the words written on the pages of her book. Eventually, she put the novel down and got up.

A sense of fear settled deep in her bones as her magic scanned the property, just to be safe. The realization that followed made her stomach drop. Adrenaline crashed through her body. Her parents and she were no longer alone on the property. A malicious and dangerous aura closed in on them fast—it belonged to a vampire.

Yoonhee didn’t have a chance to run downstairs to warn her parents. As the thought crossed her mind, the sound of shattering glass already split the silence of the night. She heard yells, curses, and sensed her parents’ magic flaring up. Dread twisted Yoonhee’s gut. She hurried towards the stairs, but she was too scared to descend them, so she lingered in the shadows and waited, hoping to find out what was happening.

“I found you,” a stranger’s voice snarled. “Your game of hide and seek is over.”

“Leave my family in peace,” Yoonhee’s father snapped. Even though he sounded angry, there was an unmistakable hint of fear in his tone and it worried her. If he deemed the situation dangerous, then she had every reason to be concerned.

Yoonhee heard the vampire’s heavy footsteps on the wooden floor. “I am in a good mood tonight, so I will grant you another chance. If you work for me and my clan, I will let you live.”

“We won’t surrender to you,” her mother screamed. “Leave this house!”

“Ah, so you still refuse. That’s such a shame,” the vampire drawled. He didn’t sound like he meant his words.

Yoonhee shuffled closer to the stairs, finding her way in the darkness since she knew every nook and cranny of the house like the back of her hand. She snuck downstairs and pressed her back against the wall to peer into the living room. The ground was covered in glass shards and the window completely destroyed. Her father was injured and bleeding, but her mother seemed to be fine.

Yoonhee knew she had to step in and help them, but she also knew that vampires were far superior in strength. Her magical power was not enough to stop one of them—it depended on the gentle energy of plants and wasn’t meant to be used in fights. She grew increasingly nervous as she watched the scene in front of her.

“Why are you hiding? Don’t be shy,” the vampire said. His head snapped in her direction, making Yoonhee freeze. “Come out, little one. I know you’re there.”

Her parents’ faces twisted in horror. “Yoonhee, run!” her mother screamed.

The vampire was done playing around. He moved faster than a lightning strike, and before Yoonhee could grasp what was happening, her mother lay dead on the ground, a pool of blood growing around her motionless body. Her eyes were wide open, unseeing and dull.

Her father cried in agony and launched himself at the vampire, driven by sheer desperation. The vampire simply pushed his body aside without flinching. The motion looked effortless, but it made her father crash into the wall behind him. The impact was bone-shattering. He groaned, clutching his aching ribs.

As the gleaming red eyes of the stranger settled on her hiding spot, Yoonhee lost her mind in a panic. She hyperventilated, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Her frantic gaze darted to the body of her mother and to her father. Everything blurred in front of her teary eyes—her mother was dead, and her father and Yoonhee herself would soon follow.

Yoonhee couldn’t think clearly anymore, so she listened to her survival instinct. She dashed across the living room, wanting to reach the front door, but the vampire intercepted her. Within a blink, he had pinned her against the wall. Her head hit concrete. Black spots danced across her field of vision.

“I want to keep you, Choi Yoonhee,” the vampire grinned. His hand cupped her cheek and squeezed uncomfortably. Bile rose in as she fought against his steely grasp. His skin was cold, lifeless as if he was death incarnate. The bleeding red of his iris hypnotized her—she could not move anymore.

“You will join me and my clan in your parents’ stead,” he decided, tilting her chin up forcefully and exposing her delicate neck to him. His breath touched her skin, prompted her to whimper in fear. The touch of his lips on her bare skin was revolting—she winced.

He sank his teeth into her neck so abruptly, she cried out in pain. The agony was like a hot torch that burned her from inside out. It hurt so bad, she had never experienced anything like it. Part of her was convinced she would die—maybe he wouldn’t kidnap her, maybe he would just kill her on the spot. Blood flowed freely from her body, and he greedily drank every drop. Her chances of surviving slimmed with every second.

“Let her go!” Yoonhee’s father shouted. She could hardly hear his voice with the pain clouding her senses, but when the vampire was shoved away from her, the agony faded. Yoonhee held on to the wall for support, seeing her father through blurry vision. He was using all of his magical power, summoning wolfsbane, a plant that was highly toxic to vampires. His magic wasn’t meant to be used to fight, but he wouldn’t let his daughter be taken away without a struggle.

“Run away!” her father yelled. The vampire growled in anger and approached him, disregarding her for a moment. She met her father’s eyes for the last time—he was crying just like her, mouthing, “I love you.”

A sob shook her frame. She turned and ran towards the door. Yoonhee wouldn’t let his sacrifice go to waste because she knew the vampire would not show mercy towards any of them. Therefore, she took off into the night, and as she was running into the forest, she cast a protection spell on herself, hiding her magic and leaving no trace behind.

The nightmare ended as abruptly as it always did, and Yoonhee opened her eyes to stare at a dark ceiling. Her dreams had been consistent throughout all these years and the memories of that night did not fade. She didn’t want to think about them anymore. She wanted to forget and live in blissful ignorance like a regular human, but as a witch, she had no other choice but to be careful.

Yoonhee could only pray that Baekhyun wouldn’t reveal her identity to any other vampire. The man who had killed her family was still out there somewhere, looking for her and other witches. He and his clan would take her away if they found her… and she didn’t want to know what they would do to her.

She sighed deeply and rolled on her side to watch Sooyoung’s sleeping form. He had a deep sleep and thankfully didn’t know of her nightmares. They were not something she wanted to share with anyone because she saw them as a weakness.

She listened to her boyfriend’s deep and even breaths, watching the outline of his body in the darkness. His black hair melded with the background, and half of his face was obscured by shadows. Nonetheless, he looked attractive.

Yoonhee was lucky he had taken her in four years ago. She had been on the run for almost a year when she had encountered him. Being a wizard himself, he had seen through her protective spell and realized that she was a witch. Yoonhee had been desperate and lonely, so she had accepted his offer to move in with him without second thoughts. Years later, their relationship was anything but perfect, but it offered her security in a world that was not safe for her. And this was more than she could ask for.

As she lay in the darkness, she eventually drifted off and fell asleep. Again, she dreamed of a vampire, but this one had blue eyes.

The next morning, a strange feeling loomed in the back of her mind, a sense of foreboding. Ever since her soulmate had stumbled into her life, she did not feel safe anywhere. He could find her anytime he wanted, and she was terrified at the thought of him taking her blood against her will.

Only the peaceful atmosphere of her flower shop succeeded in calming her somewhat. Yoonhee tended to the germinating plants she kept in the back of the shop. She watered them, taking care of them with motherly affection. Even though they were still tiny, she sensed a familiar essence of life pulsing within them. It felt comforting and made her smile. They would grow up to be yellow sunflowers, and she hoped they would find a place in the garden of one of her customers.

Hearing the chime of the doorbell, she put down the watering can and wiped her hands on her flowery apron before she turned around with a smile plastered on her lips.

“Hello, how may I help—” she cut herself off once she recognized the visitor and her smile disappeared. “What are you doing here?” she asked and stared at Baekhyun. A bolt of panic hit her and her good mood was chased away by fear. Now he had even invaded her safe haven. The only place where she had felt comfortable.

“Good morning, Yoonhee,” he said and came closer.

She snuck behind the counter, preferring to have a barrier between them, even if it wasn’t much. The iciness of his vampiric aura made her uneasy—it was a stark difference to that of a human or even a wizard. Vampires only brought misery along wherever they appeared.

“I told you not to come back,” she retorted defensively. His unwelcomed intrusion in her shop destroyed her illusion of safety. This place was as unsafe as any other when he was involved. Now she couldn’t unsee it anymore.

Baekhyun didn’t show a reaction to her words. His cool blue eyes darted over her appearance, took note of the earthy stains on her apron and the way she clutched one of her paper charms in her hand. Yoonhee felt highly uncomfortable under his scrutiny, but she refused to show weakness in front of a leech, so she stared at him like he star