30.Nov 2011

They lifted their heads slowly, tearing their fangs from their prey and scanned their eyes over the surrounding forest. A single drop of rain cascaded to the dirt across the ground, running down the length of Yuri's face. She lifted her hand, sweeping the tips of her fingers over her blood-stained cheeks as feet crunched upon the surrounding leaves, approaching her. The bright orbs of another scared into her dark, frightened eyes, the shocked, pain-stricken faces of their soul-mates visible within the oncoming shadows. She brushed the curling tendrils from her face as another rain drop followed, dark clouds sweeping across the pitch-black, overcast skies.

 

Each slowly stepped backwards, to further the distance between them as fear overcame the humans, nausea running through them as the vile stench of fresh blood wafted through the air. Tension surrounded them, the group frozen in their current position, not a single word spoken or a single breath breathed. The vampires glanced down at the forest creatures below, switching their eyes back and forth between their soul-mates as questioning came over them.  Wooyoung dropped his head, the sweet scent of blood wafting through his nose, his clothes stained with the warm liquid that dripped from them as he lifted himself to the ground. 

 

“What are you!” Tiffany screamed in distress as she inched behind Minho, blocking herself from their line of sight as fright washed over her. A shiver ran along her spine as a cool breeze swept over them from the West. Just hours ago, she had awoken in Taecyeon’s car kidnapped. Now she had found herself in the presence of immortal killers, unsure of what could happen next. She silently prayed in the hope of not becoming one of their victims.

 

“Just calm down. Let’s go back to the car and we can explain everything,” Wooyoung spoke slowly and calmly, attempting to dispose of the animal's carcus as his lust weakened.

 

Yuri sent a worried glance towards her cousins as if she were to say, ‘What if they won’t come with us now?’. There was nothing they could do but hope that everything would work out. At one point they were going to need to explain; it just happened to be then. Without them, there could be no promise that the humans would be safe knowing the truth and the penalty for both parties was dangerous and life threatening.

 

“What makes you think that we’ll go with you? For all we know, you could be plotting to kill us too,” Minho replied stubbornly, grabbing Yoona and Tiffany’s hand as they slowly paced themselves backwards. Yoona, who had remained serene the whole time, words frozen between her lips, struggled within his grasp, shrugging his hand off. She turned 180 degrees and paced herself in the direction they had came, ignoring what words Tiffany and Minho had spoken. She couldn't trust what either group had been saying was true as Taecyeon followed her closely behind, mere inches away from her. 

 

“Because there is a chance you’ll never be able to make it home,” Wooyoung responded, pressing his hand against Minho's back as he forced him forward and directed him towards the car so they could continue in their travels.

 

.....

 

“We’re immortals who feast on blood to live and we need to take you to our world. Get it?” Yuri explained quickly, stating important details. She twisted the wheel maniacally as the car sped through the highway, completely isolated as the world lay fast asleep. The car directed towards the oncoming light as the sun slowly rose in the distance, blinding as Yuri pulled on a pair of sunglasses, saving her eyes from it's intensity. 

 

“You mean vampires? We could see that in the forest,” Minho replied, avoiding her gaze as she turned towards him.

 

He was struggling to believe that the girl he felt an emotional and physical connection with wasn’t human. The girl that he had admired and found himself attracted to in the years that he had known her was no less than a demonic creature who preyed on the innocent. But it finally made sense how she was so perfect. And the mystery of her character had been resolved and discovered. He just couldn't understand how he hadn't realised it beforehand. There must have been moments in his past where he questioned her actions, the way she never left her apartment in the blazing heat of the summer, the way he had never witnessed her eating. It finally made some form of sense.

 

“Yes we’re vampires. Happy now? I thought we could keep it a secret but you guys just had to ruin our plans,” Taecyeon snapped angrily. He threw his fist forward, smacking it against Minho's seat as Yoona and Tiffany slowly leaned away from him, petrified by the sudden change of his character.

 

“Don’t be so scared. We’re vegetarian vampires,” Wooyoung piped in as he saw their faces which in that sense meant that they avoided the intake of human blood. Yeah, like that really makes a difference, Tiffany thought to herself. She raised her eyebrow as realisation slowly came upon her that she had caused Yuri such grief and pain in the past. If she had been knowledgeable of Yuri's true strength or powers in the past it would have changed her reactions towards her. And as like it had for Minho, the pieces of their enigmatic characters had finally came together and she finally could see their true characters.

 

“This is preposterous. Creatures like 'you' only exist in books,” Yoona said, breaking the awkward silence that had sat between them since Wooyoung's statement.

 

There was no way in the world that there were real vampires living among them, living among her. Yes, the Lee’s  had the qualities of vampires and fed on blood but there are people who feast on other people. It really made no sense to her at all. Was there any scientific notification of vampire existence? No. Was there any forms of media that supported the idea that vampires? Yes, but in the form of fictional books and movies. They didn't exist and she wouldn't rest until she could discover the real truth behind them.

 

“We exist in the real world too,” Taecyeon immediately replied.

 

.....

 

 

“Why did you want to rob the bank? Are you some sort of freak?” Victoria asked in hatred. He ignored her completely, wiping the sweat from his brow as he removed the mask and passed it into her hands, focusing his eyes forward along the road.

 

They dropped into a state of silence, not a word spoken or a glance exchanged as Nichkhun wrapped his hands around the steering wheel and drove forward, avoiding the urge of wanting to look back. They left the city sky-line behind, driving into isolation from the rest of the world as no other cars surrounded the. Victoria waited impatiently for his response, knowing that he had no real explanation for his daring behaviour back at the bank. Why had he enlisted her help for such a plan? She could understand that he may have wished to have that kind of money. But she didn't think that he would go to the extent that he had to get such a thing. From her understand, the Lees were a rich family, the wealthiest of all vampires. Why did he have to steal?

“Are you going to answer me or not?” she asked, angrier than she had been earlier. She was furious that he wasn't smart enough to realise that his plan could fail and bring them to trouble. So far it had worked out fairly fine. But there was no way either of them could sense what the future beholds. Unless he actually could.

 

“Vampires need money too. Very few of us have proper jobs, the rest of us work in the black market. And sometimes that doesn’t bring in enough cash so we take drastic measures and steal it. How do you think we got so rich?” Nichkhun finally answered after patiently waiting for her to return to calmness and serenity before he responded.

 

I really can’t trust this guy. If I have no idea what he’s going to do next, I have no idea whether he is telling the truth by telling me that he’ll help me out. He’s such an idiot. I hope you’re listening to me, Victoria thought as she smacked him over the head with the bag in her hands. She waited for a response though nothing came out of his mouth. She grew impatient, directing a glare towards him but he was busy elsewhere. His focused all of his attention to his phone than the road, the car swerving side to side carelessly.

 

“Give me that and drive properly,” Victoria snatched the phone from his hands, scanning her eyes over the messages he had been sending. Each seemed pretty suspicious to her. Why is he worried about some sort of portal? How is it important to him? Victoria thought curiously.

 

“You saw what you needed to see so give it back,” he growled as he tore it from her grasp, sliding it into his pocket, “Why do you need to be so annoying? I should have just left you back in Seoul. Then at least I would have some peace.”

 

“If you want to get rid of me then just kill me. It would be more useful.”

 

She was saddened at the thought that he regretted bringing her along. She thought that by then they were on friendly terms which days earlier would have seemed preposterous to her. They were from two different worlds, vampire and hunter, which never should have became what it had. She blamed it upon herself for what had happened between them; she never should have released him in the first place. Who knew how many more would fall victim to his attacks? Victoria crossed her arms and sat in silence, trying not to interrupt what was so very important to him.

 

He was slightly surprised by her actions, expecting her to continue to make bother for him. Was it what I said? He thought as he made sly glances at her. Why does she have to be so hot too? Damn she looks fine in that outfit. I seriously need to get a piece of that action. I wonder if she kisses as well as she looks, his eyes widened at his sudden thoughts, Stop it Khun! This is a business partnership only.

 

“Almost all of the portals to the immortal world have been closed – an insider informed me. There isn’t a chance we can get in unless we go all the way to Rome in a few days before that one is closed off too,” He broke the silence between them, hoping to start a conversation between them again. Victoria turned to face him, interested in what was being said. “I have some friends heading to LA with their soul-mates so I need to call and get them to meet us in Rome,” he continued.

 

.....

 

“There is no way either of us is going to go with you freaks to this world of yours. How do we know you aren’t plotting to kill us?” Minho asked after hearing the full explanation from Taecyeon. He used the term that Tiffany had called them a day earlier, anger seeping from his actions as he curled his hand into a fist. Minho was furious that they thought this plan of theirs would work. It was stupid that they thought they could lure him into their trap by claiming that he was involved with them because of his status as Yuri's 'soul-mate'. He had never been close to her so how could that have been ever so possible?

 

“They said they’re vegetarian! Why can’t you just trust them?” Yoona shrieked, bothered by hearing complaint after complaint from Minho and Tiffany. It was time that she finally got a word in to set them straight.

 

Yes, she thought that they would never exist. But their existence had been proved after a true explanation. And their reasons for bringing them along seemed pretty genuine. Even if the soul-mate concept sounded a little far fetched. She was in need of action within her life and it was exactly what she would have wanted. A hidden wanting for Taecyeon to noticed her had existed since earlier that year and the mere fact that he claimed she was his made her feel so wanted by him that she would do anything for it to be true.

 

“You trust them instead of us? They’re vampires and we’re human. Of course they want to kill us. Who cares how good looking they are or if they’re vegetarian? For all we know, they are lying and they are going to kill us just like they did to those animals,” Tiffany replied in complete agreement with Minho, turning towards Yoona with her eyebrow raised. How could one of their own defy and ignore what had been said earlier? And Tiffany was sure that it was Yoona's admiration towards Taecyeon and her status as his soul-mate that had caused her change in opinion. She had Wooyoung but her knowledge of what they could do to her was more important.

 

“You do know we’re right here, right? We can hear everything you are saying so mind turning down the volume a little,” Yuri complained as she plugged in her headphones to block the noise. Her words were ignored and they paid no attention to what she had said, continuing to argue between themselves.

 

 “SHUT UP! I’m getting a phone call,” Taecyeon shouted furiously, catching everyone off guard. Their bodies shuddered from shock as he pulled his phone from his pocket, its incessant ringing bothering their ears. He lifted the object and pressed his ear up, beginning to talk to the person on the other end. The rest of them sat in complete silence as the wheels whine at contact with the road. They continue like that for a few minutes as Taecyeon busily speaks into the phone.

 

“Okay, that’s fine. We’ll meet you there,” he finally replies, pressing his finger on the screen as he hung up the phone and placed it in his lap.

 

“Meet who where? Who was it?” Wooyoung asked curiously as he leaned forward, trying to snatch it from Taecyeon's grip. He felt like an outcast being stuck at the back of the car, isolated from the group of them that chatted animatedly with each other as no one bothered to direct any of their attention towards him.

 

“It was Horvejkul. He said the portals have all been closed off and the only one left open is in Rome. We’ll meet him there,” Taecyeon replied as 5 sets of eyes watched him questioningly.