Joy was dreaming. She realized that much as soon as she stepped into her dream world because Yeri was with her. They were dashing through the woods, twigs snapping underneath their feet.

“Follow me, Joy,” whined Yeri. She wore a white skirt with matching converse and stockings that complimented her white, pink, and green striped sweatshirt. Her light-up furry jacket kept her warm in the cold winter weather. At least, Joy guessed it was wintertime in her dream because the trees were bare, the icy wind bit at her cheeks, and the sky was a colorless canvas. “You’re too slow!” she giggled mischievously.

“Where are you taking me?” Joy asked.

The expression that Yeri threw back at her friend sent chills running down Joy’s spine. “To see the truth.”

They arrived at a clearing hidden at the center of the thick forest, and looking around at the tents that were set up in clusters, Joy realized where they were. The werewolves’ territory.

“I know about your relationship with the werewolves, Yeri. But who betrayed you? What could have happened that you lost your life?”

Yeri sighed heavily, grabbing Joy’s hand and leading her inside Chanyeol’s tent. “I first met the werewolves through Hyuna. She had some kind of secret business going on with the wolf clans, but I wasn’t allowed to know. But they wanted to keep me around for business of their own, as I later discovered. I made a blood pact with some of the werewolves as you already know, but the one I truly loved was Chanyeol. He was my sun and I was his moon. Without him there could be no day or night in my world because he was my everything, Joy. Do you understand what it feels like to love someone so deeply and then have them ripped away from you?” She went through Chanyeol’s drawer and fished out the werewolf charm bracelet. “I see him struggling to go on without me, and I can’t bear for him to be in such pain. I want him to be happy. But Joy, if you find out the truth, Chanyeol may really not be able to withstand it. His own pack members are the ones betraying him. And some vampires, too. Swear to me that you’ll protect him, that you won’t let him hurt himself after all of this is over.”

“I’ll make sure Chanyeol stays safe and healthy. I swear it on my life.” Joy clenched her hands into fists, digging her fingernails into the flesh of her palms so hard they left bloody crescent marks. “I need the names of the ones who betrayed you, Yeri.”

“Let me show you,” she decided, covering Joy’s eyes with one of her hands.

Joy’s surroundings changed all around her, the ground morphing into itself and the tent collapsing and fading away until it turned to dust. Day transformed into night with stars glittering in the midnight sky above, and Joy was no longer Joy but Yeri now. She was in a different part of the wolves’ territory, somewhere further than the clearing, a secret place. There was a huge circle drawn in the dirt around where Yeri stood with lit candles decorating every inch of the line. Six wolves waited just outside the circle in their full werewolf forms, down on their haunches with their ears pulled back. One of them opened its mouth and let out an ear-piercing howl as a beautiful vampire made her way through and came to stand at the front of the wolves.

Hyuna smiled, but it was ice cold and did not reach her eyes. “My dear Yeri, how unfortunate that it has come down to this. Did you truly think you would be able to tell your friend about everything even after making a blood pact with some of the werewolves? My, oh my, how naïve you are, little child.” She inspected her long fingernails that were painted as red as the color of crimson blood, and pulled out a cigarette from her coat pocket.

“I wasn’t going to tell Joy, I swear!” her own voice cracked, sounding phony even to her ears.

“Save your lies, you weak human. I had Kai follow you around for days because I suspected you would break down and be desperate to tell someone everything. He read your text messages while you slept in your room last night.” Yeri watched, frozen in horror, as the vampire lighted her cigarette and exhaled puffy white clouds of smoke.

“K-Kai came to my room? But w-why…? I don’t understand, Kai, I thought you trusted me!” Yeri identified the wolf with chocolate brown fur as Kai and spoke to him directly, knowing wolves could understand everything even when they were in their true form- they just couldn’t talk back. We made a blood pact, remember? How can you doubt me like that and stalk me like some stranger?” Kai growled in response, an unpleasant sound that made her realize with a pang in her chest that they were no longer friends. How could he have sided with Hyuna instead of Yeri? How could he do this to her? How could any of these wolves betray her like this in the end, after all the moments they shared together? Anger pulsed through her then, almost as hot as the candle flames that danced around her in dark shadows.

“These wolves are mine, Yeri. They follow my orders, not yours. You should’ve kept your mouth shut instead of telling Joy you wanted to share some news with her. We know exactly what you wanted to share, but you won’t get the chance. The crows will be pecking at your lifeless body by sunrise.” Hyuna took one last puff of her cigarette before crushing it on the ground with her high heel. “When did you find out, anyway? You finding out the truth was never part of my plan.”

“P-please! Don’t do this, Hyuna. I was planning on telling her before but now I won’t tell her, I swear it on my life! Just please don’t hurt me,” begged Yeri, getting down on her knees and holding out her hands in sheer desperation. She knew she was powerless here, surrounded by a vampire and six werewolves. She wouldn’t be able to escape even if she tried her hardest.

“Answer my question, Yeri! How did you find out what we had planned? Who told you?!”

No, I won’t tell them anything. They’ll kill me either way, so I might as well protect one last secret. “I’m not giving you any answers!”

Hyuna’s eye color transformed from dark brown to burgundy in a second, revealing her fury. “If I find out who told you, I will show no mercy on them. Let the ritual begin.” She began reciting an ancient Latin chant, the words sounding harsh and alien coming from , and approached Yeri at lightning speed. Yeri backed away in terror, stumbling until she felt unbearable heat engulf her left ankle. She’d accidentally stepped on one of the lit candles, and the fire burned through her tender skin, causing her to scream. She frantically tried to put the fire out as Hyuna shoved Yeri onto her knees again and held up her Katana sword high above her head. With a single, swift , she sliced Yeri’s chest. Blood seeped through the pastel fabric of the human girl’s sweater and Hyuna bent her forward, catching her blood in a stirring pot. She brought down her sword on Yeri’s arm now, then her other arm, both of her thighs, her calves. Pain seared through her as she felt the pain of being stabbed over and over. She screamed until she could no longer make even the slightest noise, and then she fell limp in Hyuna’s strong arms.

She was dead. The candles all went dark, wafts of smoke drifting up from them into the cold night air. The spell had worked, for it had tainted her human blood with a power stronger than any vampire and any werewolf. Her blood was no longer that of a human’s. It was the blood of a hybrid.

Hyuna grabbed the human girl’s body, dragging it across the dirt, through the circle she had drawn with her claws. She strung it up from the thick oak tree nearby and hung the body upside down above the pot so the last of her blood could fall in. “With your blood my babies will be able to grow strong and finish their last development phase. I shall keep your blood safe until they are ready to consume it.” Hyuna signaled to the wolves with a flick of her pale wrists and they followed her back to their camp.

Joy woke with a start, her breath leaving her body in ragged, short gasps. She felt a stinging pain in her hands and looked down to see fresh blood dripping from the crescent marks on her palms. Damn, I haven’t even been taking care of my hands. They’ll be scarred forever if I don’t bandage them up. She wrapped up both of her injured hands and grabbed her phone, dialing Jungkook’s number.

“Hello?” answered Jungkook sleepily.

“Jungkookie? It’s me, Joy. I know exactly what happened to Yeri. Come over to my house right away.”

“B-but aren’t your parents home…? What will they-”

Joy cut him off impatiently. “They’re gone to stay with my aunt for a few nights because she was having severe migraines and couldn’t take care of the kids properly. Just get here fast so we can discuss everything.”

“Joy, it’s 1 AM; I only slept for an hour…”

“If you don’t come here right now I’ll come to your house instead,” Joy threatened, which made Jungkook stop whining, throw on his clothes, pack a bag, and catch a taxi to her house. Joy splashed cold water on her face, still bothered by her nightmare, but at the same time she felt Yeri’s presence in the room. She lingered here- Joy could feel it in her bones. The dead girl’s spirit was restless and trying to make her see the truth so she could bring her the justice she deserved.

Jungkook arrived only fifteen minutes later, his tousled dark brown hair a mess from sleeping and his clothes wrinkled. Joy started laughing at her friend’s appearance, unable to control herself from teasing him. He made a face. “You always disturb my sleep schedule. This better be good, Joy.”

They discussed her dream over coffee and biscuits to keep themselves awake, with Joy not leaving any part out because she wanted Jungkook to see it all as she had- the candles, the wolves surrounding Yeri, the blood…

After Joy finished, he covered his face with his hands in frustration. “That vampire tortured our Yeri. She…murdered her…and those damn wolves didn’t even protect her. No, they used her. They used her in their sick game. All along, she was the last puzzle piece they needed to make their hybrids. It still sounds strange to me, though. What are these hybrids capable of doing, exactly?”

“We still don’t have enough information. Meeting with Chanyeol again will be too difficult right now. I need to meet with Jimin and see if he knows anything useful.”

Jungkook awkwardly cleared his throat, unsure how to put his emotions into words that wouldn’t strike her the wrong way. “So, um…how’s it going with that vampire Jimin? Have you met up again after that night when he told you his name?”

“Yeah, I saw him last night. We talked for awhile…” she blushed. “I let him drink my blood.”

Jungkook nearly spit out the coffee he was sipping. “What? You let him…feed off of you?”

Joy nodded tensely. “Well, yeah…Jimin just wanted a taste, that’s all. I let him because I thought it would make the two of us develop a deeper bond, and I think I guessed right. His entire mood suddenly changed after he tasted my blood. He told me that he was worried for my safety and didn’t want any other vampire to come close to me. He said I could meet him again whenever I wanted to, that he would be waiting for me…”

The blush in her cheeks was really starting to irritate Jungkook. He grit his teeth together and hissed, “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think it’s a good idea after all for you to get information from that creature. We can meet up with Chanyeol again, we’ll find a way.”

“Don’t I have a say in this, Jungkook?” shouted Joy as she got up and walked over to the corner of the living room. “I’m the one risking my life to see him. I’ll decide when to stop.”

“You’ll stop when you’re dead, just like Yeri, is that it?” he yelled back angrily, following her to where she stood. “It’s my fault for encouraging you to make him fall for you. What if he tells us the wrong information? What if he’s one of the vampires who worked with Hyuna to kill Yeri? She said that vampires were involved in her death, but in your nightmare she was the only vampire present at the scene. That must mean that other vampires were working behind the scenes, gathering information and God knows what else.”

“He would never lie to me! He’s a very honest person, Jungkook, believe me. He shared his entire story with me, telling me about how he became a vampire in the first place. He’s just as lonely as we are, Kookie.”

“Don’t call me that,” snapped Jungkook, his nostrils flaring in anger. “I hate it. It makes me feel like a baby. You never take me seriously, do you?”

She looked apologetic all of a sudden and it made him feel guilty for getting so worked up. “I’m sorry. Of course I take you seriously. It’s just that…”

“It’s just that what?” He dreaded what he was about to ask but he knew that he had no other choice. “Do you love him, Joy?”

With a defeated sigh she lowered her gaze to rest upon the carpeted floor. “…Yes…nobody has ever made me feel the way that he does. He makes me…defenseless, like all of my walls come crashing down whenever I’m with him.”

And all of my walls come crashing down when I’m with you. Jungkook nodded and forced a fake smile. “Ah, yeah, I see that now. But…can you not go tonight? Tonight, just stay with me here.”

“J-Jungkook…”

“Please,” he whispered, knowing how needy he sounded but not caring at all. He was insecure and she made up for his every flaw; she was what completed him. “Forget about tomorrow for right now. This may be the last time that I’ll be able to hold you in my arms before you’re completely his. So please…stay close to me tonight because if you’re with me, I’m okay.”

“I’ll stay with you,” she said, wrapping her arms around her friend and holding him tight. “Nobody could ever replace you, Jungkook. You know that, right? I’ll always come to your side when you need me to.”

“I’m sorry for ignoring you all those weeks after I confessed. I didn’t think you would want to be my friend again. I thought I screwed everything up,” he admitted, his voice cracking up at the end.

“Never,” whispered Joy fiercely.

That night, they lay facing each other in Joy’s bed, both of them quiet and drifting off to sleep. Jungkook brushed away the hair that fell in front of her face so he could see her features clearly in the moonlight that bathed the room. And for the first time since Yeri’s death, he slept without fear, without restless dreams…He simply slept by his best friend’s side.