Southern Korean Peninsula. 1716.

"Beware the dark, for that is when the Gumiho's come and take you!" The village shaman would cry. Hyoyeon never found these tales and warnings particularly rousing, or frightening for that matter. They were just tales and the people who believed them were idiots for thinking so. It is moments like these that she wishes that she'd been born in one of the larger cities, or even the capital for that matter. Then she could be on her way to becoming a revered entertainer, a singer perhaps, or one of those sword dancers that the Emporer always adores to watch. At least that's what she's heard in the tales told by travellers who come through the village. How she wished she could be like them, moving from place to place instead of stuck in this small town.

"The Gumiho will walk through the town, taking on the appearance of a captivating man or woman. It will lure you into the woods, where it will then cut out your heart and feast upon it!" The shaman exclaims and riles a horrified gasp from the audience, except for Hyoyeon. Hyoyeon merely chuckles at the notion of such a creature. The Shaman lets loose a few more urgent cries and pleading cautions before ending his speech for the night. They went through this tirade once a week, and frankly Hyoyeon found it amazing that no one but her was sick of these rants. 

She quickly gets to her feet and exits the building, having to start preparations for her family's meal tonight. She walks through the crisp fall evening with a brisk pace, not wanting to waste another second of these twilight hours. She was almost to her house when she notices a guy standing on the street across from her humble abode. He was absolutely captivating with a tall, lean frame and a jaw like cut stone. His gaze was smoldering, and when focused on her as if it were piercing through her very soul. He walks over to her, his gait making it seem as if he were almost gliding. He stops in front of her and speaks with a bassy voice that moves like water through every note of his speech.

"Excuse me. I just got into town and was wondering if you could help me." He says smoothly and she swear she feels her knee's give out below her. She gapes for a few more moments before she mentally slaps herself and nods at him with a smile.

"Oh yeah, uhm...What did you need?" She asks listlessly, trying to keep her attention focused on the conversation. 

"Well you see, I was trying to find an inn or hut that would serve food, but I can't seem to to find it." He says as he looks around the town with a searching and ultimately confused expression. Hyoyeon stifles a chuckle.

"Ah, well that would be because we don't have one. This village isn't big on travellers, most come in morning and are gone in the evening if they do come through." Hyoyeon explains. "If you need somewhere to stay though, we have a loft behind our place I can keep you in for the night." She offers and he gives her a bright pearly smile. She swears she'd never seen whiter teeth as they sparkle in the fading sunlight.

"I'd be most appreciative." He says humbly with a deep bow. She smiles and leads him into the back and sets up some blankets from her room. Before he settles down he turns around and addresses her with a sheepish smile. "Sorry. Just one more thing." He says and she quirks a brow. Her curious stare turns horrified when his eyes change from a deep brown to a bright silver. "I'm starving." He then lunges at her and pierces her neck with two sharp teeth. 

Hyoyeon tries to scream against the burning agony in her neck but a hand against keeps her from making a sound. In the midst of it all her brain just couldn't process this, she thought they were stories. She thought that Gumiho's weren't real, and yet she still held that feeling. She held the feeling because this thing never went for her heart, just her neck, her blood. Eventually he pulls away and she can feel herself drifting into darkness when she hears his muffled voice.

"I suppose I should thank you for being so hospitable, despite me being a stranger." He says with a bored tone. She wants to question what he means, but is too close to death to really put much thought into it. She then felt something moist pressed against her lip and liquid start to flood . She couldn't really taste it, and thus swallowed it down thinking it to be water. That is when the taste of rice wine hits her lips and she nearly gags at the sudden change in flavor. She tries to fight against it, but his arm feels like a metal bar against and she can't seem to get it away. It's then that she notices it's an arm, and that he's feeding her his blood. He finally pulls his arm away as he feels her start to spit it all back up. 

Hyoyeon collapses to the ground and curls her hands into fists against the dirt, the burn in her veins already setting in. She feels as if her whole body's been set on fire and then thrown into a pot of boiling oil. She can feel her veins shrivel up in her skin and her heart hammer as it tries to pump blood to her body. Eventually it can't muster any more energy and she feels the sudden silence of her heart  as it comes to a shattering stop. There is a brief solace where she contemplates why she isn't dead, but is given little time to dwell on it as the burning converges in her eyes and an unbearable pressure in her upper jaw cause her to collapse against the ground, whimpering and begging for mercy. Her vision goes white for a brief moment and then the burning and pain all subside, leaving her lying on the dirt while the townsfolk surround her.

She can feel the hands of her mother on her arms, but not like she used to. Every crease and line in her mothers hand she can feel on the skin of her shoulder, and when she opens her eyes she can see the bright light of day, even though she knows for a fact it is still dusk. When she looks up at her mother, the face of warmth and compassion she'd come to rely on turns cold with fear and she starts to back away from her.

"Mom?" Hyoyeon calls, immediately after becoming aware of the presence of two large objects in . Upon running her tongue over them, she'd feel the smooth edge of elongated canines in place of her old ones. She backed away from the crowd that'd formed around her, starting to fear what had happened to her. She looks around, finding the man who had done this to her long gone. She lets out a growl of frustration, and finds herself surprised at the sound. The crowd behind her lets out all sorts of gasps and murmurs.

"She's a Gumiho, isn't she?" 

"She has to be one of those monsters..."

"How could she hide under our noses all these years?"

She heard them. All of them. All of the whispers and the start of rumors and the animosity now directed at her. It angered her and ignited a burn in the pit of her stomach that grew with every murmur whispered. She took in a deep breath and suddenly became aware of all the intoxicating scents behind her. The scents of fresh peaches and hot bowls of rice and cooked chicken flooded her nose and it was overwhelming. She turned around to stare at the scents with a hungry glare, starting to stalk towards them slowly. The crowd gasps at her silver eyes and make attempts to back away from her. Hyoyeon feels the burn growing stronger, harder to resist and she pounces on the crowd, digging her new teeth into the first vein she comes into contact. She bites into a woman's shoulder, reveling in the taste of spiced meat coming off of her. 

She tears through the village until their nothing left, finally coming out of her frenzy when the last body hits the floor. She looks around her and realizes what she's just done. Everyone was dead, her family, the few friends she had. The village was empty aside from her, and the thought made her chest give a phantom contraction. She couldn't even begin to process what she'd done, or what even had happened to her. So she just wanders out of the village, towards whatever would come at her next.

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[a/n: A little set up for our sequals protagonist! Give you a little insight to her past. So enjoy our little prologue here while I get to work writing for literally every other story I've been working on....If I try to start another story before finishing one of the other two, slap me. Heol, so much work. Anyways, comment, subscribe and upvote if you liked it and I'll see y'all at my next update! -The Informed Puppy]