Red.

Why is everything so red?

I laid sprawled on my stomach as I struggled to keep my eyes open. Despite the searing pain on my wrist and the aching in my body, I focused on my left hand, and tried to move my fingers tentatively. My fingers were bright red, stiff and numb, and I could hardly move them, when I realized how cold it was. Snowflakes landed on my face, causing me to shiver in response.

Snow?

It’s supposed to be white…

Then why is there so much red?

Where is it coming from?

I tried to get up, but my body wasn’t listening to me. It was as if all the life and energy in my body left me. I felt helpless. I started to panic as I realized that I was starting to lose feeling in my legs, which was replaced with a sharp pain that pierced through my chest and abdomen. The burning in my right wrist intensified in conjunction, creating an orchestra of pain that traveled throughout my body.

I let out a soundless scream as I squeezed my eyes shut. I clenched my teeth together to endure the pain, and my body responded with a painful spasm. I was so out of breath, and I started to feel myself drifting away despite the waves of pain overwhelming me.

It hurts.

I’m bleeding to death…

This isn’t how I imagined myself dying.

My eyes fluttered open as I felt a cold shiver running down my spine. Two pairs of eyes focused on me.

“Are you hurt little one?” the man asked with a devious glint in his eyes. He knelt to get a better look at me.

“She smells delicious.” The woman her lips in anticipation.

I could see their sharp canines from where I was laying, as my eyes traveled up, I saw that their eyes glowed unnaturally bright red. I swallowed thickly as I felt my heartrate jump. I cursed at my inability to move, since I couldn’t feel my arms now.

Vampires.

I was stuck. I was helpless, and I was going to be killed by these vampires. Fear consumed me as struggled to move. It made the couple laugh in response. They knew they had me trapped. They were just drawing out this encounter, like some sadistic predator enjoying watching its prey struggle in futility. It gave them sick pleasure watching me squirm, knowing that my death was imminent, and that they held my life in their hands.

I could feel myself losing consciousness again, I was slipping away again—this time I feared for good. Just as the vampire couple approached for the kill, I heard the whooshing sound of an arrow followed by a thud. And that was all I heard before the darkness consumed me.

OOOOO

I woke up out of breath, and a thin layer of sweat covering my body. I gripped the edge of my bedsheets, willing my racing heart to slow down. I let out a sigh as I glanced at the clock. It was 2:43AM. Why am I dreaming about this now?

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and made my way to the bathroom sink. I doused my face in cold water to try and clear my thoughts. I stared at the reflection, studying the details of my face as water dripped from my jaw.

I looked like I was half dead. I grunted as I noticed that the bags under my eyes got darker, making my eyes look sunken and swollen at the same time. I dried my face and threw my towel on top of my chair as I made my way back into my room when something shiny caught my eye.

I wrapped my fingers around silver necklace, tracing over the carvings as a tear managed to slip from my eye. An overwhelming sense of guilt and sadness washed over me. I glanced at the picture frame on my desk, and in gold sharpie, were the words: Kyungwon & Binnie forever <3.

I let out a choked sob as I curled up in my bed, clasping the necklace tightly.

OOOOO

October 2014.

 Age 15.

“Oi Kang Kyungwon!” a girl with short brown hair kicked me in the back of my knees causing me to kneel. “I still can’t believe you fall for that every time!” she snickered.

“Binnie,” I sighed, “why are you like this?” I got up and dusted myself.

“It’s fun to annoy you! Besides, since I’m your best friend, I get to bother you once in a while,” she smiled and stuck out her tongue playfully.

“In the four years I’ve known you, you’d bother me at every chance you get.” I rolled my eyes.

“Shut up,” she smiled shyly, then she punched me in the arm lightly, “we’re still getting dinner, right?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll be there after archery practice ends.”

“Okay, I’ll head home for now then, good luck with practice!” Binnie grinned.

“What’s taking her so long?” I glanced at my phone, “she should’ve been here an hour ago!” I was feeling a little grumpy since I was still carrying my archery gear with me and it was a pain in the to bring around. Just as I was about to call her again, my phone started ringing: Binnie-bingu <3 appeared on the screen. Just as I was about to speak, a husky voice cut me off: “Kang Kyungwon-ssi? It’s so nice to hear from you, I’m sorry, but Binnie-ssi isn’t available to speak right now.”

A sense of dread washed over me. This wasn’t good. I had a bad feeling.

“Who are you?! What have you done to her? What do you want?” I growled.

“I’m no one you need to concern yourself with Kang Kyungwon-ssi. But if you want your friend to stay alive, I suggest you listen to what I’m about to tell you very carefully. I want you to go to the warehouse location that I’m going to text you. Alone. You have 30 minutes. Otherwise you can say goodbye to your precious Binnie.” He cackled.

“How do I know she’s alive?” my voice quivered.

“Oh, right, I forgot about that.”

There was some static on the other end of the call, and the unmistakable sound of tape being ripped off flesh was heard.

“K—Kyungwon? Oh my god, you have to help me. I’m scared Kyungwonnie, I’m scared,” she sobbed, “I don’t want to die. Save me Kyungwon, save me, please, God, I don’t want to die. I don’t know what they want from me. They’re not human Kyungwon, their eyes are red, they’re not—“

“There’s your proof, she’s alive. Be at the location in 30 minutes, otherwise the girl dies Kang Yuha.” The phone call ended with a click, and the line went dead.

Vampires. This is insanity, how did they track us down so fast? I thought I took care of those tracking us down with Yewon. Most importantly, they know my codename. Ugh, I have no time to think about this now. I have to save her. I can’t lose her too.

I was covered in blood. Not my own, but from the vampires I slaughtered. The adrenaline had me on a high, as I evaded an attack to my right.

“Binnie! Stay behind me and stay close!”

I fired an arrow which hit the industrial light fixure, causing it to fall on a vampire, temporarily immobilizing her as I aimed for her heart. The vampire disintegrated to ash as the silver tip cut through with a vengeance.

I counted the arrows I had left in my quiver, I only had four left. I scanned the area, there were only seven left. This wasn’t going to be easy.

Two rushed me in an attempt to catch me off guard, I grabbed one of the arrows from my quiver and I yelled for Binnie to get back as I skillfully dodged the first vampire and stabbed him in the heart from the back, as he missed me. Then I rolled to my left, and shot the arrow at the second one. They both disintegrated in seconds.

Another one sought the opportunity to try and grab Binnie, but I was faster, as another arrow hit the bulls’ eye. I quickly moved next to her and we found our backs against the wall.

The remaining vampires surrounded us. Knowing that they had us cornered, they all leaped at the same time, attempting to gouge our throats as their red eyes burned with rage.

Everything started to move in slow motion, the silver ring on my middle finger started to glow and black-blue flames engulfed my ring as I swung my arm upwards diagonally, my fingers curving as if to hold something.

“I hope this works.”

A black katana appeared in my hand, and it was surrounded by black-blue flames, which then extended further as I whipped the blade in an arc. The flames immediately burned the two closest to us, and cries of agony echoed across the warehouse as they were engulfed in the flames. The other two managed to dodge the flames, and kept a steady distance away.

I swung the katana, sending waves of flames in their direction but they weren’t dense enough to burn them since they were too far away.

“Dammit, if only I could control it. If only I could control the flames better.” I cursed.

Binnie was shaking from fear as she gripped onto the back of my shirt to try and steady herself.

“Kyungwon-ah…” her voice quivered, “are—are we going to make it out of this alive?” Tears start to fall freely down her cheeks.

“We will. I promise you. We will, even if I have to die, I’ll keep you safe.” I watched the movements of the two vampires, they were waiting for an opening to attack. The female’s legs tensed, and she sprung for an attack, with her teeth bared.

“Get back!” I ran forward to meet her halfway, she somehow twisted midway and dug her nails into my shoulder, causing me to fall forward. I let out a cry of pain, as I rolled to break the fall. Fresh wounds marked my shoulder and collarbone. Just as I recovered from my fall, the woman was on me again, her strength was overwhelming. I managed to kick her off and just as she was about to rush me, I ran towards her and stabbed her in the chest—my flames consuming her body. I stood over her body, as I wiped off the blood from my lips.

“K—Kyungwon-ah.”

I whipped my head in the direction of Binnie’s voice.

“No…” I whispered.

I had miscalculated, while the female was distracting me, the male caught Binnie. She was struggling against his vice grip. I quickly took my bow and aimed at the vampire.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you… unless you want your friend to die.” He smirked.

“Who are you? Who sent you here?” I growled.

“My mistress sends her regards. It took us some time to track you down, Kang Kyungwon. It appears that you didn’t die, even though my mistress left you for dead five years ago. I’m just here to finish what she started.” He tightened his grip on Binnie, causing her to yelp in pain.

“Fine, I’ll put down my weapon. You can have me. Just let her go. She won’t talk. She’ll pretend like this never happened. Just let her walk away from this. She has nothing to do with our war.” I clenched my teeth in frustration. I hated negotiating.

“Very well. She was only a means of getting you here. Now put down your weapon.”

I put down my bow and quiver, and put down my ring on the floor. I took a few steps back and glared at him.

He walked towards me, and set Binnie free—or so I thought. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, sinking his fangs into , then broke her neck.

“No!” I screamed as I rushed forward, and I saw her limp body fall slowly. “Binnie!!!” I ran and grabbed my ring to summon my katana. “You bastard!” I started swinging wildly, I was consumed by my emotions, the rage I felt was taking over.

The vampire dodged swiftly and parried my attacks. No matter what I did, I couldn’t land a scratch on him. The flames danced wildly around me and it was dangerously close to burning down the warehouse.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll destroy you!” I charged at him.

He took out his own sword and deflected my swings. He gritted his teeth as he tried to deflect another one of my attacks, causing us to lock swords for a few seconds. He got a good look at my face. He seemed entranced by my eyes.

“That gold eye… But the other eye isn’t… A one-eyed hunter? How is that possible?” He was repelled backwards and stared at me. “Now I’ll absolutely have to capture you alive, instead of killing you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re dying right here.” I spat.

Just as he was about to make a move, a figure suddenly sprang to live and started restraining his movements.

“Binnie! What are you doing?”

“Kyungwon! I can’t hold him for much longer, you have to kill him. You have to!” She took two of the arrows and stabbed him in the chest.

“No Binnie, I won’t. I can’t. That means you’re going to die too!”

“Just do it Kyungwon! I don’t… I don’t want to be a vampire. I’d rather die as a human. I’d be damned if I let you die here.”

“Binnie… No, there has to be another way!”

“There isn’t! There isn’t. So just… tell my parents I’m sorry okay? Tell them I love them Kyungwon. It’s okay, this is what I want.”

“No…” Tears started to fall, as my vision started to become blurry.

“Thank you, Kyungwonnie. I was so glad to have met you.” She closed her eyes in anticipation.

“I love you Binnie.”

I gripped the handle tightly and ran forward. The sound of metal meeting flesh cut through the warehouse. The vampire fell down and crumbled away to ashes. I pulled out the sword from Binnie’s back and rolled her over so that she was facing me.

“Binnie! No… no… this can’t be.” I started to cry again.

Blood started pooling in as she struggled to speak.

“T—this isn’t your fault. Don’t. Don’t blame yourself Kyungwonnie.” She raised her hand and cupped my cheek gently. She wiped away my tears and smiled lightly. “There was no other way. So don’t feel guilty. I just—“ she coughed, “I just wish we had more time together… there was so much I wanted to do with you… so much I wanted to tell you. I love you Kang Kyungwon. I love you.” Tears sprang from her eyes as she struggled to breathe.

“I love you too Binnie. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault… “ I held on to her hand tightly.

“Shh… it’s not. Just… Just tell my parents okay? They’ll be so sad… I just wish I could’ve taken care of them better you know?” She started choking on her blood, causing more to squirt out from . “H—here, I w—want you to have this. It’s s—something my g—grandmother g—ga—gave me. T—take it.” She pulled the silver necklace from her neck and held it in her fist.

I took her hand and smiled at her sadly.

“I’m so glad… I’m not alone.”

“You were never alone you idiot,” I sobbed.

“Haha… I’m a little scared though. I’m scared Kyungwonnie.”

“Binnie…”

“Thank you for everything. I…I’ll watch you from above okay? So don’t die. Live on for me okay? Live on…” She gasped, “ I can feel it… Goodbye Kyungwon… I love you so much.” She went limp in my arms.

“Binnie… BINNIE! NO. No…” I held her body closer as I wept. I sat there, rocking her body back and forth. Her blood dyed everything red. Ever since then, I gave up being a hunter. Killing my best friend by my own hand, made me give up the only life I'd ever known.

OOOOO

After that incident, we stayed in that town for three more years. I couldn’t look at her parents in the eyes as I delivered her last words. I could only feel my world fall apart once again, as I lost another person in my life.

We moved to a different city, away from that town. I could feel myself suffocating every day as I was reminded of my memories with Binnie. My best friend. I missed her so much. And it was a constant reminder of my inability to save my loved ones. It was a result of my inexperience and weakness. The fact that I was unable to properly wield my anti-vampire weapon allowed an innocent to die. And so, I gave up hunting to live a quiet life.

But life is not always so kind to give you what you want.

OOOOO

“Yewon! Kyungwon! It’s time for school, you’re going to be late!”

“I heard you the first time, mom!” Yewon rushed down the stairs and grabbed her schoolbag.

“Take care of your little sister okay, Kyungwon?”

“Yes, I will, mother.” I bowed slightly, and picked up the two bentos on the kitchen counter and left with Yewon for school.

After the entrance ceremony concluded, I found my new homeroom, opened the door, and tried to slip in quietly. The room was buzzing with excitement as people were catching up with one another, talking about their summer and about the upcoming semester. I spotted an empty in the back corner of the room, next to the windows. I sat down, and stared at the clouds passing by.

After about 10 minutes, the teacher entered the class. He was greeted enthusiastically by the students, and he only chuckled in response. After shifting through the papers he held in his hand, he asked for the students to settle down.

“Alright class, it turns out that we have a new transfer student this semester! Kang Kyungwon-ssi, please come up to the front and introduce yourself!”

I got up slowly and made my way to the front of the class. I bit my lips nervously, and let out a deep sigh.

Just as I was going to introduce myself, a tall, dark haired girl with cat-like eyes entered the classroom.

“Oh, Kim Minkyung-ssi you’ve finally arrived.”

“Ne, seonsaengnim,” she bowed slightly, “I’m sorry for interrupting.” She quickly excused herself and walked to an empty seat.

I cleared my throat, obviously flustered by the sudden interruption. I could feel the heat rushing to my face in embarrassment.

“Um…Hi, my name is Kang Kyungwon. I transferred here with my younger sister Yewon. I was born on November 5^th. So… uh… please take care of me.” I bowed.

The class clapped politely in response to my introduction.

“I forgot to introduce myself, but for the people that don’t know me. My name is Kim Heechul and I will be your homeroom professor for the year.”

Many students clapped and hollered, causing the teacher to laugh.

“Furthermore Kyungwon-ssi, the person that just came late is Kim Minkyung, our student president.”

She stood up quietly and bowed. Her eyes never left mine. It was as if she was searching the depths of my soul. I felt so in front of her. But her eyes were beautiful… it was as if I was under a spell.

“So, just pick an empty seat to sit in and we’ll get started okay?”

Heechul-seonsaengnim snapped me out of my revere, and then I nodded quietly and sat in the window seat.

The class continued, but all I could think about was Kim Minkyung. Just who was she? And why was she staring at me? Something about her felt familiar to me. But I swore I had never met her in my life.

I felt my right eye throbbing suddenly, and I used my hand to cover it as I closed my right eye. The pain subsided after a while, and I cautiously opened my eyes.

One of them was gold.

I hope you liked this chapter, I'm still new at writing haha so there's always room for improvements. Please feel free to leave comments below! I would really appreciate that a lot! Please don't be a silent reader. If you have any criticisms, please let me know! 

This is just the beginning of the story, all the other characters will be introduced slowly as the story progresses. Thanks for being so patient with me! :D