Emerald green eyes are the first things I see when I open mine. Who is it? Where am I?

“Taeyeon.”

The voice connects my brain to my ears. “S-Seo?” Speaking proves to be a pain in the neck, literally, and I groan as a sting runs up and down the back of my neck.

“Don’t move too much. Your bite wound has not healed completely.”

“Bite . . .” I frown, trying to recall being bitten. Then I remember. Helene. Ttrowtos. Ms Pink. Ms Pink. Ms Pink! “Is she okay now?” I ask while attempting to push myself up, ignoring the protest in my neck.

“She’s in the freezer.”

“Why?” I ask as a shard of fear stabs me somewhere deep inside. “Is she—is she—”

Seo shakes her head, setting off a wave of relief in my chest. “She’s not dead. But things didn’t go as planned.”

“What do you mean?” A sinking feeling sets in. Something must be wrong. Something is wrong with the way I’m feeling. Didn’t Helene say I will lose the ability to love Ms Pink? Am I not supposed to have been converted into a vampire? Is this what being a vampire feels like? Is this what not loving Ms Pink feels like? But I’m still worried sick about her. It doesn’t make any sense.

“Taeyeon.”

“Huh?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

I blink and shake my head. “What did you say?”

“Helene tried to convert you.”

“Tried?”

“She didn’t succeed completely.”

“So I’m not a vampire?”

“I’m not sure if you are.”

Looking at my hands and touching my chest, I seek a sign that might indicate what I have turned into. “I don’t understand.”

“Helene infused her essence into your bloodstream. On any other ordinary human, they would have ‘died’ like you did, but they would also have been revived almost immediately once the essence spreads through their blood. You, on the other hand, ‘died’ and didn’t revive. You stayed in a coma.”

“How long has it been?”

“Thirty-nine hours.”

“Oh no . . .”

“Helene thought you weren’t revived because of your resistance to supernatural energy. But when we checked, your heart had stopped beating although your blood was still flowing.”

“My heart . . .” With my palm over my chest, I hold my breath and try to sense a heartbeat. There is none. Holy . So that’s why I feel a little different. “But am I a vampire?”

“Maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“Your blood has been modified by Helene’s essence. But because it is Erika blood, we’re not sure how it has changed exactly.”

“Is that why I can’t stop thinking about Ms Pink?”

Seo looks deep into my eyes suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise. “Your eyes are glowing blue right now. That’s a sign that the usual rules do not apply to you.”

“My eyes are blue?” I get up from the bed and look around for a mirror to check it out. The bite on my neck hurts and I groan again, touching it with my fingers to get a sense of how bad it is. “Why isn’t it healing faster if I’m a vampire?”

“Helene has been trying to infuse her essence repeatedly over the past thirty-nine hours.”

“So she’s been sinking her fangs into the same spot on my neck over and over again?” I wince as the wound stings me again. “No wonder I’m so sore.”

“I can apply mimea if it hurts too much. But it defeats the purpose if Helene is going to bite you again later.”

“I don’t care about the bite. What I really need to do right now is see Ms Pink.”

“But she’s in the freezer. Helene put her in there for fear that your blood might kill her.”

My eyes fly to Seo’s and flash at the thought of Ms Pink dying because of my blood. “I need to see her. Please.”

“Alright. I will bring you to her.”

X

It is only as I am following Seo through the corridors that I realize we are actually in Ms Pink’s castle. I am instantly relieved to know that and a sense of home sets in. This is Ms Pink’s castle. This is her home. That’s good.

It takes a moment with my distraction but with the cool wind on my face, I come to the realization that I have no trouble keeping up with Seo even though she’s moving rather quickly. In fact, I’m pretty sure this is a pace I would have had trouble with prior to being bitten by Helene. This is cool.

We speed through the dungeon and turn into a spacious room with a huge machine that looks like a futuristic refrigerator lying flat on the floor. It is in the middle and I notice the numerous tubes running from it into the walls.

“What are the tubes for?” I ask as Seo fiddles with the contraption.

“They maintain the freeze.”

My focus moves over to the figure lying inside when Seo lifts the lid. Pale and slightly blue, Ms Pink’s skin and veins have regained their normalcy and her eyes are no longer open wide and stricken with shock. She looks at peace as she lies there on the pink velvety cushion and it calms me down somewhat. There are things I need to say to her but I can’t do it with Seo watching.

“I would like to have a moment alone with Ms Pink.”

Seo looks at me with her cool, green eyes, contemplating something in her mind. “Don’t take too long. There’s something I need to show you after this.”

I nod absently, my mind already fully latched onto Ms Pink and get on my knees to reach for her hand. It’s a cold, cold hand but it warms me up. Weaving my fingers with hers, I grasp her hand and hold it to my lips. Whatever was supposed to stop me loving Ms Pink is obviously not working. If anything, the feelings I have for Ms Pink seem to have deepened and intensified because my heart may not be beating right now, but seeing Ms Pink makes it feel like it’s beating again.

“Is this how you felt when you said you love me?” I ask Ms Pink, my lips moving across the cold skin of her hand. “Is this what you meant when you said I make you feel human again? I think I know what you mean now. This strange feeling in my heart. It’s incredible. It’s so weird but incredible.”

I lean forward and press my lips on Ms Pink’s frozen ones.

“Whatever it is, I’m very happy because I still love you. Even if I don’t know what’s happening to me. Even though my heart has stopped beating.” I laugh to myself. “And you know what? You won’t have to carry me anymore ‘cos I can do supernatural speed n