I'm a horrible person, I'm sorryyyyyy!!!!! >_< I've no excuses *bows so low, needs another level*

~

I managed to do a pretty good job of storming out of the wolves’ place. I hadn’t bothered with shoes or my bag, and only retrieved my keys to make my great escape while I could hear the boys holding back an unhappy Taekwoon. I almost gave up when he called out my name in shock a couple of times, my heart shattering, but I convinced myself that it was something necessary so I could put both our demons to rest.

It was starting to rain when I stepped outside. The wind was icy and threatened to cut through my skin, but I held on until I reached my truck, climbing in and slamming the door shut behind me. Driving was a shock of normalcy, but muscle memory came into play and I fell back into the motions naturally. Driving and leaving Taekwoon behind was harder for me to adjust to, but that was also momentarily necessary.

Driving fast enough that I should have gotten multiple tickets, I barely had time to take in the sights around me, and yet I still kept my eyes off the road. Because of the time of the year, night was falling fast, and autumn leaves were scurrying everywhere to accompany the scrambling beings that were bustling about in the gloomy weather with determination. Unlike me, multiple bodies were bundled up in warm clothing in various colors, my most favorite being the neon pink that matched the vet wrap my forearm had been dressed in before my early-morning swim with Jekyll in the river. What also tickled me pink was the fact that I had brand new eyes and I could tell the differences from the humans and the creatures that went bump in the night.

Passing a busier part of town without any other choice, I looked around me and realized with grim humor that monsters are everywhere. The reality had been so difficult to believe before because of all the false reassurances from parents and teachers and the adults while growing up, but the truth was what it was. In all honesty, it’s just so easy to hide in such a large, naïve world. When the streets are stained red, it’s not paint; screams in the night aren’t just part of the imagination. If it feels like someone’s watching you, it’s very likely that it’s not even a someone but a something. I’m telling you, we’re surrounded.

That boy in line at the theater with his group of friends? Yeah, he’s a monster. That girl, kissing her boyfriend’s neck so tenderly? She’s a monster, too.

Monsters are everywhere. It’s just all too easy for beasts to hide.

I should know. What I didn't know was what else there could be lurking out there.

Pulling into the driveway of my parents’ house at last, taking in the ordinary sight of the pale yellow panels and brick siding, I felt like crying. I judged myself at first, thinking I was so absurd, but then I didn’t think myself too ridiculous after all considering all the ups and downs I’d experienced. For the first time, I gave myself a little wiggle room, and I didn’t hold back the tears that pricked my eyes. Turning off my dad’s truck, I left the keys in the ignition and gripped the steering wheel tightly, letting my head fall back while the tears rolled soundlessly down my cheeks more out of frustration than sadness at this point. I didn’t wait in the truck, however, and just kept crying while I climbed out, thinking about all the reasons to weep as I walked.

I had to use the key that was hidden in the flower pot by the front door to get in, and even that made me cry harder because it was so normal. It reminded me of times when I’d had to use that same key to get into the house because I’d gotten home before both my parents, which had been too long ago. Opening the door made me think of times I’d come home to the smell of breakfast for dinner, or the smell of mashed potatoes, or lasagna—but now the house smelled like dust, and it was colder than it was outside. Wiping my cheeks unhappily, I started for the stairs, heading straight up to my parents’ bedroom door.

I thought about knocking, but my gut told me there was no point. I was positive my dad had left a long time ago, maybe even while I’d still been living here in spite of my wishful thinking. I wanted to feel angry at him for abandoning me, but all I could feel was more sorrow. But could I really blame him? I understood a little now; I'd lose my mind too if I lost Taekwoon. I would never abandon our child, however—leaving behind such a precious gift would only make me feel ashamed, and I knew that I would never leave behind something so important—that would cause me even more agony.

I vowed that if I were to ever be so lucky, that I'd cherish our child more than life itself; I would learn from my dad's mistake.

Trying the doorknob, I found it unlocked and held onto the brass for a long time, holding onto my breath as well as I listened for any movement inside. Hearing nothing, I pushed lightly, opening the door very slowly, with caution.

The bittersweet stench of alcohol assailed my nose and I winced, holding my breath again. I hadn’t known my dad had fallen to the bottle. Opening the door wider, I took a step inside.

A wet squishing sound gave me pause. I looked down, confused, for a moment wondering if my mind was breaking again.

“I didn’t think you’d be coming home today.”

His voice scared me so bad, I fell back, tripping over my own two feet. Sprawled on the ground, I stared through the half-opened door up at Jekyll, and then caught sight of the body lying lifelessly on the bloodstained carpet of my parents’ bedroom floor between us. My hand flew to my mouth to stifle the scream that was already clawing through my throat, the tears falling in earnest now from my eyes. My father’s dead stare strangled me and threatened to rob me of consciousness, leaving me lightheaded.

Stepping over my dad’s body, Jekyll shook his hands a little, red droplets flying. He looked at me sadly. “I didn’t mean for you to walk in on this, beautiful. I wanted to get revenge for us in private.” He got close enough so he could crouch down in front of me, and then touched his bloodied hand to his lips, the tip of his tongue darting out to the side of his finger. He sampled the taste a moment and then shook his head sadly. “No, he’s not nearly as tasty as you are.”

I started to crawl back away from him as best I could without letting him touch me. “How dare you?!" I gasped. "Why can’t you just leave me alone?!” I screamed at him, shaking my head in denial, still able to see my dad’s legs from around his elbow.

He raised his eyebrows at me, cocking his head to the side. He smirked wickedly, his fangs exposed. His irises lightened to the reflective silver slowly, like dye spreading in water. “Hey. What kind of guy would I be if I left the woman I loved alone? Besides, I had to get revenge on this bastard for letting you run off with werewolves. Werewolves, Mia, come on!” He shook his head in disgust, turning back to look at the corpse in the room behind him with distaste.

I gathered my legs under me and started getting to my feet, and as I straightened up, he did too, with an enamored smile. He still towered over me, but I felt better at full height. I shoved at his sternum, sobbing a little as I started letting loose on him, my fists connecting with his chest. “What makes you think I’ll ever love you when you kill everybody I love!”

He grabbed me by my wrists, his grip not even slipping even with the blood on his hands, and he pulled me flush against him. He leaned in, his face down close to mine, and his breath bloomed over my face, intoxicating. “I’ve given up on you loving me, Mia, but I’m not giving up on you being by my side.”

His hands tightened painfully and I gasped, twisting uncomfortably. “Jekyll, my wrists—”

His hold loosened drastically and he switched his hands to my waist, bowing me against him. “You’ll be my beautiful bird in a cage,” he whispered, his lips brushing against mine lightly.

Shocked from the contact, I gasped and shoved at his chest, disliking the way that felt outside of our dreams. Because it wasn’t Taekwoon, it didn’t feel right, and the sensation that ran through me was akin to pain.

“Stop!” I shouted, at the same time that the door to my parents’ bedroom was thrown against the wall.

I jumped and Jekyll exhaled angrily, letting me go as he took several steps away from me, running his bloody hands through his dark hair in obvious agitation. I stared at him in confusion, amazed that he’d actually let me go, but then I realized why and stared at the woman standing in the doorway of her bedroom with her long black hair braided over one shoulder. She was wearing a lot of black, something that wasn’t normal for her because she usually wore a lot of blue or white, and she wasn’t smiling; she even looked a little younger than the last time I’d seen her.

Her eyes were the strangest of all.

“At least pretend to behave yourself around me, Jekyll,” my mom admonished, glaring at the psychopathic vampire.

I noticed it then; “You have blood on your lips…,” I whispered, staring at .

My mom finally looked at me, and didn’t even bother to lift her hand. She her bottom lip and frowned, shaking her head, looking at Jekyll again. “He does taste horrible.” She turned to look over her shoulder at the man whose ring she still wore. “I expected someone better,” she mumbled with mild disinterest, wiping her hand absently on the leg of her black slacks. She faced me again, looking somewhat apologetic; I couldn’t read her expressions very well anymore, so I ended up guessing. “I didn’t know how terrible of a father he became, sweetheart. I thought you were left in good hands.”

Taking a deep breath after what seemed like an eternity, I had to lean against the wall beside the stairs. I ran my hand through my hair, pulling a little at the ends. “You’re here.” I furrowed my eyebrows in disbelief. “You’re not dead.” I looked at Jekyll, blinking because I was crying again. “You said—”

“Hey, I might have bitten her a couple times,” he defended, “but only after my friends did. I’m not her Maker—she really isn’t my type.” He smirked. “No, I didn’t kill her. Why would I kill your parents?” Then, realizing what he just said, he smiled devilishly and looked into the room, shrugging with his dark amusement. “You know what I mean.”

Uncaring of his words, my mom took a step towards me. “Mia, I tried to keep him away—”

I held my hand up, keeping her away. “I can’t…” My heart was ready to stop from all the trauma. “You’re one of them.” My eyes were burning from so many tears; I closed them and rubbed furiously, baring my teeth in frustration as I did.

Taking a deep breath, I caught my mom nodding slowly. “Yes.”

“You’re one of them!” I shouted, shoving at Jekyll in time with my exclamation.

He stumbled, laughing. “You’re always cute, aren’t you?”

Paying no attention to him, my mom tried taking another step towards me, her hands held up in a pleading gesture. “Mia, please understand that I didn’t have any say in this—!”

I slapped her hands away, for a moment choosing Jekyll over her. I used him as a shield so she wouldn’t be able to touch me again, and I didn’t even care that I recognized the look of pain on her face. “You left me alone. I thought you were dead.” I shook my head at her angrily. “This new you? It isn’t much better.”

Jekyll turned around and wrapped his arms around me, and I was too numb to fight him off this time. He kept himself between us so my mom couldn’t get any closer to me and murmured, “She kept me away from you for so long. Can you believe it? If it weren’t for her, we would have been together a long time ago.”

I scoffed at her. “You promised me up to him?”

Appalled, she shook her head. “Of course not, Mia! I was trying to keep him away from you—!”

“Yeah, you did a great job,” I congratulated, looking down at his arms around me.

Laughing, Jekyll tightened his arms around me. “Well, now that you’ve come to your senses and left behind that pack of fleabags, why don’t we go home and be a real happy family? Really, it's about time.”

Staring at the woman I thought had died, I shook my head slowly. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I can go anywhere with her.” Now I had to stall, and what better excuse to use? It helped that I could use Jekyll’s ignorance against him. “This is no happy family.”

Upon hearing my words, Jekyll turned to look at my mom, smiling wryly with his eyebrow creeping up mischievously. “She’s been a real thorn in my side all these years. If you want her gone, that can definitely be arranged, beautiful.” He looked all too happy to kill her now.

Her expression remained sad as she looked at me, her eyes still that shade of mercury associated with vampires. It seemed like she didn’t mind the option of death at all, and guilt started to well within me. Spurred on, Jekyll started to move towards her, but I held him back, wrapping my hands around his forearms. He paused, happy that I had held onto him at all, and smiled at me as he leaned into me again, glad to receive attention.

“Don’t,” I whispered, swallowing back the lump in my throat. I shook my head once, unable to say anything other than that one word.

Chuckling quietly, Jekyll cupped my cheek, running the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “It was only a suggestion, babe. I’m a slave to your whims, so if you don’t want her dead, then I won’t be the one to kill her.”

Looking at me hopefully now, my mom murmured, “I really tried, Mia. I didn’t want to leave you alone, but look at what I am. I couldn’t come back to you like this.”

I looked away, finding myself unable to meet her silver gaze. “And look at what I’m turning into now.”

Running his hand through my hair lovingly, Jekyll murmured in my ear, “Don’t worry. It’s going to be great, I promise—trust me, the first taste is going to blow your mind.”

Frustrated with him, wanting to get as far away from him as possible, I took a step towards my mom, seeking her as a refuge just like when I was a little girl. She opened her arms to me immediately, and I stepped against her, winding my arms around her waist hesitantly. I had expected to feel her warmth wrap around me like old times, had expected security to cover me like a blanket, but all I could smell was the alcohol. I now knew it was the scent of my dad’s blood, and my stomach rolled.

Holding my breath, I closed my eyes and pretended the murderer holding me was my real mother and not just the shell.

Her fingers combed through my hair familiarly and I felt the urge to cry again. “I’m so sorry, baby girl.”

“Me more,” I whispered, my heart squeezing with the familiar pet name. “I should have never let you out of my sight.” She tensed at my words, and I pulled away to look at her; I’d never seen anyone burn alive before, but her expression had to be the best portrayal of someone enduring such pain.

We all heard the front door open, but I was the only one who didn’t let out an inhuman hiss.

“Knock-knock!” Ken called up in a cheery, singsong voice. “Did anybody order pizza? Not that I have pizza, but I was just wondering because I’m kind of hungry.”

I ducked around so I could see him standing by the open door with a pair of ratty jeans and a black t-shirt that said You Wish You Could Taste My Rainbow, his feet bare. Hyuk was entering just behind him, shrugging into an olive green sleeveless with his own pair of designer brand jeans, quite aloof for the situation.

My door opened and Ravi stepped out of my bedroom, looking like a male model in his torn-up jeans and absent shirt. His muscles worked visibly underneath his mocha-colored skin as he moved, lifting his hand to spear his fingers through his midnight hair, showcasing the tattoos he had on his collarbone and arms. He smirked devilishly at Jekyll, his canines looking awfully sharp for his human shape. “If there’s no pizza, then I guess I’ll just have to tear into something else,” he rumbled tauntingly, menacing and alluring at the same time, his eyes starting to lighten to a sapphiric blue.

Looking at my mom, I realized that was about to go down. Grabbing her by the tops of her arms, I pulled her against the wall at the same time that Ravi lunged for Jekyll. The male vampire bared his teeth with an intimidating snarl that didn’t sound anything human, but Ravi’s growl was even more daunting with its deeper timbre and lower rumbling, giving me goose bumps even though I knew he was my family.

“What are you doing?!” my mom hissed in my ear, grabbing me right back and flipping us around so I was the one held against the wall.

Gripping onto her shirtfront, I glared at her. “Those fleabags are my family!” Realizing what I said, I amended, “They don’t have fleas!”

Looking over her shoulder once I realized more important things were happening, my eyes peeled wide taking in the sight of Ravi going full-on kick boxer on Jekyll. The vampire looked like he was a er for pain, taking multiple blows to the face and ribs, blood bursting from his busted lips and spurting from his nose. An enticing scent filled the air and my head swam with momentary desire, my mouth watering.

Leaning in close, my mom whispered, “Please just come with me. Now that it’s inevitable—if we can be together, then let’s do it.”

There was no better way to confirm that my real mom was truly gone.

Shaking my head at the stranger in front of me, ignoring the desire for Jekyll’s blood, I narrowed my eyes in disgust. “I’d rather die. From what I’ve seen, vampires are no better than demons.”

A foreign expression crossed her face, a mix between derision and mockery; I’d never seen that look on her before, never seen her look so vile. “Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about turning into a in the literal sense.”

“I hadn’t actually thought about that, but if I had to choose—yes!” I snapped, offended that this woman that looked like my mom had dared speak to me that way.

Narrowing her eyes unhappily, she ran her nails down her forearm suddenly. I didn’t know why until I started to smell a different kind of sweet smell, this time like grape juice left out in the sun. “You will not disobey me, Mia.”

As she brought her bleeding forearm towards my face, Jekyll started laughing, even while Ravi had him in a chokehold. I lifted my hand to cover my lips once I realized what was happening, but with her unwounded arm, she took both my hands in one of hers and forced them in-between us, leaving my mouth exposed. She was much stronger despite her smaller build and I didn’t stand a chance, left unguarded. All I could do was purse my lips and hope that would be enough, but I knew I was doomed. Breathing in desperate, shallow bursts through my nose, I looked at Ravi helplessly.

“Ken-hyung!” Ravi exclaimed, and just as my mom’s forearm touched my mouth, I caught sight of Ken launching over the stairs’ banister. He landed in a roll and quite literally bulldozed into my mother, knocking her over like a bowling pin. She tripped over her own leg and slanted, crashing into the floor gracelessly, ending up motionless.

“No!” Jekyll gasped, half-strangled by the fold of Ravi’s elbow.

Ken got to his feet quickly, looking at me with his eyes wide. He grabbed me by my shoulders and looked at my mouth, panicked. “You haven’t tasted it, have you?”

I shook my head quickly, my hands held up uselessly. I could smell the blood with even more clarity, and it was exceptionally difficult to resist the urge to my lips now. All I would have to do was open my mouth and run my tongue—

I couldn’t even talk.

Jekyll started to struggle even more in Ravi’s grip, and the werewolf’s muscles started to really stand out with his effort now. Jekyll kicked his legs out and tried to stand up but Ravi forced him back down in an uncomfortable angle, and an awful snap sounded. I flinched, but Jekyll only bared his teeth up at his captor, and Ravi smirked right back.

“Straight to the gallows for you,” Ravi growled, his eyes a fierce azure.

Ken took me by my wrist and led me towards my bedroom, sniffing the air. “You’ve got a bathroom over here, right? Never mind, you don’t have to answer.”

I kept my mouth closed as I followed after him, feeling lightheaded from how much I wanted to just end the madness and my lips.

“Mia! It can all be over, beautiful, just take the blood,” Jekyll shouted from behind me, and then I heard a meaty thump that silenced him right up.

There was a compelling tone to his voice and I wanted to obey.

Noticing, Ken turned around and shook his head at me quickly. “No way, sister. Don’t listen to him—remember Taekwoon? He’s outside handling the vampire guards Jekyll set up all over the place—not that he didn’t want to come join this party in here, but Hakyeon thought it’d be safer if he took out all his aggressions outside. I’m sure he’s about done, don’t worry.” At the mention of Taekwoon, at the notice of him being outside, my heart relaxed some, but I was unable to say anything about it. Ken paused, then started laughing. “I forgot you can’t talk right now—come here, come here.” He found my bathroom and led me straight to the sink.

I stood over the mirror and caught sight of my reflection. My eyes widened when I noticed how different my irises were, noticeably a shade lighter. With the blood staining my lips, I looked one step closer to the creatures that had taken my mom and turned her into the monster she now was. My stomach clenched with how much I wanted to my lips.

“Wash your mouth, Mia,” Taekwoon murmured from the doorway, appearing suddenly, and I turned to look at him.

I hesitated.