The sky was cloudy. It was already morning and Maddie was lying on her bed. She didn’t sleep all night thinking about the General’s offer. She really had no idea what to do.

This is a hard decision. I have to ask the others if I don’t want to go through another sleepless night.She thought and without a second thought she jumped out of the bed. She moved closer to the mirror, put her hair up into a ponytail and put on some clean clothes. She rushed to the door. She needed to talk to LuHan and Dana.

The HIVE was huge but the mall was off limits. Vampires were not allowed to go there unless they were on a mission. The Founders always said that being outside of the HIVE was a big risk because there could be humans around armed and ready to kill, but Maddie had never seen anyone. She would often go to the mall with LuHan and Dana just to hang out away from the soldiers and all that stuff. They met near the east part of the wall and they walked towards the secret passage trying not to be seen by any soldiers.

 A few minutes later they arrived at the mall. Everything inside was destroyed and abandoned but Maddie always loved how peaceful this place was. Luhan walked fast and sat on a bench. He looked at Maddie and smiled.

“So I guess you didn’t ask us to come here to play hide-and-seek like the old days…am I right pretty?” He said.

“Yep you’re right my friend…actually I asked you to come here because I need your advice.” Dana leaned closer so she could see both of her friends’ faces.

“What is it Maddie?” She asked. Maddie sighed and started talking. “First of all guys you must promise me you’ll keep it a secret.”

“You know you can trust us pretty.” Said Luhan.

Maddie smiled at him and quickly looked around just to make sure that nobody was listening to them. She leaned closer and lowered her voice.

“Do you remember when General Wu asked to see me?” Dana’s eyes widened and she looked at Maddie

“WHAT? You met one of the Founders in person?? How was he? Was he handsome?”

“Well I have to admit he surprised me. He looks pretty good.” The girls looked at each other and started laughing like crazy.

 Luhan rolled his eyes at them. “Excuse me ladies, we are trying to discuss about something serious here so can you please focus a little??”

 “Tsk tsk tsk… calm down mister grumpy!” Said Dana the huge smile never leaving her face.

“Ok ok…so let’s be serious now. Guys the General asked me to go on a special mission.”

Both Luhan and Dana widened their eyes and stared at Maddie. Dana was the first one to talk. “What mission? You mean we have to leave the HIVE again? But we just got here!”

“No he just wants me to go alone. He said I’ll go undercover.”

“Undercover? Where?”

“I don’t know…he said he’ll give me more details if I accept it.”

“So he let you choose? This is weird.” said Luhan while scratching the back of his head

“I know…I thought the same thing.” Said Maddie with worry.

“What are you going to do?” Asked Dana while playing nervously with her hair.

“I have no idea. On the one hand it’s a great chance for me to prove to the General what I can do, but on the other hand…I must accept a mission without knowing anything about it and I have to leave home again for who knows how long and stay away from you guys.”

“Well this is really a hard decision, but there’s something I don’t like. The Founders would always give orders. They never gave any choice. Why is it different now with you?”

Maddie looked at Luhan with worried eyes and the boy saw how confused she was. He moved closer and hugged his friend.

“Don’t worry pretty. Everything will be ok. Let’s go now. It’s dangerous to stay out especially in the noon.” Maddie looked at him and a weak smile appeared on her face.

“Let’s go.” she said.

Back to the HIVE everything was quiet. It was still noon and the vampires wouldn’t risk to walk out in the sunlight even though the weather was cloudy.

Kris was walking fast at the long corridor. The sound from his boots hitting the clean floor was almost the only thing someone could hear inside the building. The sound stopped a few seconds later as Kris stood in front of a huge wooden door that was guarded by three soldiers.

“The Queen has asked to see me.” Said Kris and the soldiers immediately stepped aside and bowed.

The large door opened and Kris walked into the huge room. The large curtains were completely blocking the sunlight from entering but the room was full of beautiful small candles. At the other side of the room there was a big desk with many computers around it. A woman was sitting behind the desk with her back turned at the door. Kris walked towards her and made a big bow.

“You asked to see me.” he said.

“Yes of course. Sit down General.” Said the woman and even though Kris couldn’t see her face he knew she was smiling lightly.

“Ma’am it’s cloudy outside. You can pull the curtains for a while.”

The woman stood up and smiled. She was holding a glass of pure human blood on her right hand. “Oh I’m totally fine mister Wu. I’ve always loved the light from the candles. It calms me down and helps me think.” She sat down again looking straight into Kris’s eyes. “Now let me ask you General, what happened with the girl? Did you tell her about the mission?”

“Of course my Queen. She will be ready to leave next week.”

“Good. We have to be extra careful with this mission General. Everything must go according to plan.”

“Do not worry your majesty. You know you can count on me.”

The woman leaned closer. Her smile had disappeared from her face.

“You have never failed me before but let me make this clear. I don’t like giving second chances, so you’d better make it right or else I will not consider the fact that you’re one of the Founders.”

Kris was hardly trying not to show any signs of fear. Park Nari was not easy to handle. Kris had seen how cruel she could be and he wouldn’t risk his life just to defend his hurt pride.

“Yes ma’am. I’ve got everything under control.” Said Kris and made his way out of the room after he bowed to Nari. He moved to the door but before he opened it the woman spoke again.

“Don’t forget what I just told you General…for your own good.”   Kris walked out of the room trying not to show how irritated he was by the woman’s behavior. The sound of his boots hitting the floor echoed inside the empty corridors.

It was late at night but Chanyeol wasn’t sleeping. He had to find as much information as he could about that female hunter. He was a mess since he hadn’t slept for two days but he refused to leave his laptop before he found a clue about the girl. Suddenly a weird sound drew his attention. He turned his head to the sofa where his best friend was sleeping on.

“Any progress?” Said Baekhyun with a yawn.

“Nope. There’s nothing about her in their files. I checked every file but I can’t find anything else but her codename, not even her picture.” Said Chanyeol and drank some coffee from a big red cup.

“Hmmm a mysterious woman. That’s y.” said Baekhyun playfully and a smirk appeared on his face.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes at him “Man seriously? We are talking about a vampire here.”

“Rubbish, they look like humans anyway. If she’s pretty then I don’t mind.”

Chanyeol threw a pillow at his friend and yelled. “You flirty little ! Can’t you think of something else for a while?”

Baekhyun put his hands in front of his face. “Yah be careful! Don’t hurt my pretty face. Besides what else should I think of? I’m not a romantic fluffy kitten like you.”   

“Huh. Seriously I’m too tired to contin