LOST SOULS

Yujin opened her eyes to discover a scene that was too much familiar. There was the large corridor unfolding in front of her. A black subtance was running out of the ceiling and down the walls, as if somebody had knocked over an inkpot onto a blank sheet. Yujin was not running as fast as the previous times : her body felt much heavier and it was harder to move her legs. A pain in her chest prevented her from breathing properly. Blood dropped out of her nose. The shadows were closer as the door, the only exit, seemed to shrink. Her speed slowed down a few meters away from the exit. She held out her hands and grabbed the handle in a last effort. Yujin lowered it the moment when the cold embrace of the shadow reached her legs. The door opened to the void.

To Byun Baekhyun.

Yujin opened her eyes to the chandelier that was hanging right above her head, almost invisible under the green moss that covered it. Her body was lying against a hard but still soft material. Yujin turned her head and realised that she was no longer in the living room, but in a bedroom. She straightened her back and scanned her surroundings : not much remained of the tapestry on the walls : it was either eaten away by moisture and replaced by a curtain of vegetation or simply gone ; the furniture was quite modest : the double bed she sat on, an armchair whose back was torn apart and a chest of drawers but without drawers, inclined on the side because of a missing leg. On her left, the window was hidden by a wall made of some climbing ivy. However, one minor detail puzzled the girl.

It was night-time.

Yet, she was able to see as if it were not.

The bed creaked when she rolled on her side and put her feet on the ground. Yujin stopped moving and wait, being careful of any sound she could hear. She did not know where Baekhyun was nor when he was coming back but she knew she only had one wish : to flee. She was not afraid of the vampire. Not anymore. Instead, she was afraid of what she could do to him. Her reactions became unexpected as her condition worsened. Yujin was undoubtably changing.

And she was not sure that it was for the better.

The young girl took advantage of the fact that the house was deserte – she was certain to be the only human presence in there for the moment – and tried to stand up. Her legs betrayed her after a few steps and her knees met the floor in a second. She realised, horrified, that her body refused to move. Her hands started to shake, then her arms. Soon, her whole self was shaking. Yujin gagged and then, she threw up. A puddle of some black substance spread on the floor, in between her hands. The brunette clenched her jaw to muffle her cry as a sudden pain exploded in her skull. She felt burning.

The ill feeling disappeared as if it were never there in the first place.

An empty feeling spread into her whole body, replacing the pain. Yujin let out a breath as blood dripped along her chin. She had no idea of what happened to her. She could move again, her body slowly regaining strength. When she lifted her head, her eyes met Baekhyun's ones. He was watching her with a unreadble gaze, from the threshold, carrying a plastic bag with a hand. No sympathy. No pity. No disgust. Baekhyun carefully hid his feelings – if he had any at all. After a few seconds without moving, he started to walk in Yujin's direction and crouched in front of her with precaution. He took out of the bag a couple of plastic pockets filled with a dark liquid. A divine smell was wafting from it and played with her senses, as her fangs grew bigger once again. She heard herself growl, felt her heartbeat fasten and her stomach cry in agony.

“Drink”, the vampire demanded, “it will help you”

His words seemed to do the exact contrary as it suddenly woke up the human part of Yujin. Her eyes filled with lust widened in horror. She violently slapped Baekhyun's hand and stepped back until she was against the farthest wall. She hugged her knees tightly as she shook her head.

“I do-don't want any of it”, she said with a quivering voice.

She felt overwhelmed by contradictory thoughts : she wanted to please her hunger yet she did not want to yield. It would mean that she would finally accept the vampire growing inside her when she only wanted to push it away until Death ended her suffering. Her eyes keep going from a glowing red to a humanly yet dull black. The young man stood up, disappointed.

Yujin was not fighting Baekhyun anymore.

She was battling against herself.

You really want it, don't you? So take it.

A voice resounded in her mind. A voice she knew too well. A voice she listened to every night since the accident.

Take the blood and enjoy the savor.

“Leave me alone !” Yujin snapped as she put her hands against her temple.

Listen to me. I know what you want and what you want is for the hunger to stop. Do as I say.

“Shut up!”

I know you well. I know what you want better than anyone else.

Because I am you.

“No, no, no ! I don't want to ! Leave me!”

Yujin whailed. Her voice weakened as the other raised in her head. Its venemous words overcame the barriers of her mind and crawled in between her thoughts to poison it. One of her hand suddenly drew back and pulled her hair as a shriek left her bloody mouth. Her own body was betraying itselft, obeying to the vampire sleeping inside rather than to the resisting part of her volonté that fought to survive. The dark liquid fell out of her nose like it did before, ran along her chin and tinted her pale skin dark.

Yujin was focusing on the battle that occurred inside her head and she did not notice what happened around her nor did she hear the vampire approaching. It was only when she felt a pressure on her face that opened that she realized that the young man was still there. Her vision was blurry yet his eyes glowed enough for her to recognize their owner. She could hear something be ripped open and soon after she could smell the strong scent of blood, which made her stomach growled. The liquid dropped in , bitter yet so sweet, flavoured and foul. The brunette's drive was divided : should she drink the blood until she feel full or should she push it away and throw up what came in ? Yujin caught the arm that kept her jaw open, hoping she could make him let go. However, she avidly brought it closer. A new strength was gaining her body as she emptied the blood bag.

She finally released the hand that fed her and looked daggers at the vampire. Without saying anything, Yujin rushed out of the room. She angrily wiped her chin smudged with blood. She hated that Baekhyun had forced her to taste that. She hated herself even more for actually enjoying it. Yujin did not know what to think anymore. She hastily went down the stairs, found a closed door she managed to open – with more strength she thought she had – and ventured in what looked like a garden that was never taken care of. The grass reached her thighs, some brambles even caught her legs yet she kept walking among the bushes and branches.

After a while, Yujin realized that she had left the property Baekhyun owned and that she was in the forest that surrounded the Ivy Quarters. She was no longer in Yulyeong. She was lost. Physically and mentally lost. Her life had turned into a nightmare since that night. Nothing that was happening to her made sense. She had no other choice but to endure. Yujin had became the spectator of her own life, a puppet controlled by hunger.

By instinct.

The sun shyly made an appearance behind the trees, its sunbeams coming through the foliage. The young girl no longer felt the fatigue but she imagined she could – another trick of her human side. She stopped walking, considering she had put enough distance between the vampire and herself even if she knew he was never far. A strange noise caught her attention. Some sort of creasing. Then a crack. Her body reacted before her mind. She pressed her back against the trunk of an old pine and waited, on the alert. A snicker gradually reached her ears. The sound was so weak she wondered if she was not dreaming – with Baekhyun, she always doubted the reality of the things she saw. But that time, she let her body guide her.

The noises became louder and clearer. Strangely, Yujin was able to decipher everything she heard: a leave being moved, a shoot being brushed, a branch being snapped.

The girl was certain of something now.

Someone was approaching.

And it was not Baekhyun.

Yujin titled her head on the side so that she could catch a glimpse of what was coming nearer without giving her position away and froze. She distinguished the tall and slim figure of a stranger walking in her direction. The young girl immediately felt a feeling of awe towards the young man. His white hair were bathed in light, contrasting with the darkness he came from; his skin, almost as pale, made him even more attractive : Yujin could not look away, as is she were under a spell. A smile decorated his rosy lips as the shadows of the trees thrown onto his elongated face gave depth to his stare. His eyes scanned the woods around and missed a few times – willingly – the tree from which Yujin watched him. The latter finally looked away and waited for him to go on his way.

The silence felt once again, Yujin cast another glance as discreet as possible in his direction. She did not expect to meet his gaze. Nor did she expect him to appear right in front of her the next second. He bent forward, overlooking her small frame with all his height and leaned on the tree behind her, thus preventing her to move. His smile widened, seeing the baffled look on her face, and showed the tip of his canine.

Yujin started from fright when she felt his nose brushed against the skin of her neck.

“Hm. What an exquisite scent.”

He stepped back to watch his new prey. He wrapped a finger around a brown lock and brought it to his lips.

“So this is the reason he forbade us to come here”, he added with a wider smile, “It is really selfish of him not to share his new toy.”

His stare darkened as he suddenly grabbed Yujin's shoulder, his nails digging in her skin. She let out a cry. She just knew what was coming, she felt the exact same fear a few nights before. Baekhyun got her the first time. She would not go through that a second time. Gifted with a new determination, Yujin lifted her hands and pushed him with all her strength – thanks for her, she got it back earlier.

The young man did not expect such a reaction and went back several meters, almost tripping over a root. Astonishment could be read on his face. Yujin took advantage of his surprise to flee, praying that he was different from Baekhyun and would not want to play cat and mouse.

“Now, that is interesting. I thought that it was only a rumor but Baekhyun did let his piece of meat live.”

The young girl heard him laugh. Far from being offended by the nickname he gave her, Yujin instead reacted to the name mentioned by the stranger and cast a glance behind her shoulder. The vampire, motionless, waved at her.

Yujin put as much distance as she could between them.

It was difficult to distinguish the forest from the houses because of the invasive vegetation. All the scenery offered a range of shades of green. Yujin finally noticed the outline of a house with its missing windows and its old washed-out door in the distance. The trees were more and more scattered and the foliage less strong as she moved forward. And, when she discerned the familiar male figure sitting on the front steps between two bushes, the young girl told herself that she was no longer lost. She quickened her pace.

“Baekhyun !” she exclaimed once she was close enough. The concerned party turned his head in her direction. Yujin welcomed with relief the impassive face of the man for once. His defined cheekbones, his eyes made from fire shaded by his locks falling on his forehead, the nonchalance of his body, slumped on the stairs, one leg outstretched, the other bent. She had missed it all. Indeed, her previous encounter with the white-haired vampire helped her in putting her hatred for Baekhyun aside – at least, for the present moment.

The brunette stopped in front of him and bent forward, as she would have done if she had been out-of-breath, or rather human.

Only, when she stood up straight, Yujin did not just face Baekhyun.

But also a horde of red-eyed vampires.

_

Hey you! (if there is still someone reading this story dsjfxlqxs)

I'm really sorry for the late update. I was not really motivated to keep translating this story

(bc if you didn't know, I wrote it in french first and published it entirely on my french wattpad account, as well as the prequel. (btw pls let me know if there is any mispelling or grammar mistake as english is not my first language thx!))

BUT since it's the summer holidays and I passed all my exams, I'm willing to continue the translation of the last chapters (3.5 more to go, without the prequel)

Thank you anyway