Rosé glanced across the room at Jiwoo and Jackson who were talking with each other quietly as she dressed his wounds. It made Rosé feel uncomfortable seeing her partner being so casual and friendly toward vampires, especially toward the vampire she was supposed to kill.

Mark, who was helping Rosé bandage up Bambam nudged her gently. “It's rude to stare you know. And don’t make that face. If Jiwoo saw the look on your face, she’d be disappointed. They’re her new friends. We have to respect that.”

    Rosé sighed, holding the gauze in her lap. “I know. It’s just weird. In all my years, I never thought I’d be here tending to a vampire’s wounds and watching Jiwoo—” she paused, glancing at Jiwoo again. She saw Jiwoo smile as she talked with Jackson and shook her head. “Watching her fall in love with one…”

    Mark raised his eyebrow in confusion. “Fall in love?”

    “She has that look of love in her eyes. I only ever saw her look at Jungkook like that, but that’s different,” Rosé said. “The way she’s acting with Jackson, it’s different than how she acts around you, or Yugyeom, or even Jinyoung oppa. Besides, I know when a girl has fallen in love. I am all too familiar with the feeling.”

    “You’ve been in love? With who?” Mark spoke with a hint of jealousy in his voice. Rosé gave him a look and said nothing while rolling her eyes.

    Bambam snickered at the scene in front of him and glanced over at Jackson and Jiwoo. “Yeah, I never thought I’d see Jackson hyung look at human so fondly,” said Bambam, gaining the attention of both Mark and Rosé. “He’s always hated humans. There must be something about her that he felt drawn to. I think it’s cute. The both of them falling for each other, I mean.”

    “Cute? Cute how?” Rosé asked.

    Bambam paused for a while before speaking. “I saw the way Jackson hyung looked at her when they first met face-to-face. There was a glint in his eyes that was usually never there. And even after she almost beat him up and after she almost broke his nose, he always looked at her different than anyone.” Bambam sat back comfortably on the couch when they finished bandaging his wounds. “The first time I saw that glint in his eyes was the first day we brought Jungkook here and—”

    “Jungkook?” Rosé questioned.

    “I shouldn’t have said that…” Bambam muttered cursing under his breath.

    “What about Jungkook?” Rosé asked raising her voice gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “What did you guys do to him?”

    Bambam shot Jackson an apologetic look when the other vampire glared at him. He heaved out a heavy sigh before speaking. “We tried to keep him from becoming a monster,” Jackson replied. “But we couldn’t stop it and, well, you see how that ended up.” He motioned to his own wounds and then to Bambam and Youngjae.

    Yugyeom frowned. “Jungkook...is alive?” His voice cracked as he spoke.

    Jiwoo shook her head. “No, my brother is dead. He’s a monster now. There is zero humanity left about him anymore.”

    “He somehow escaped from the basement this morning,” Jaebum explained. “That’s how this whole mess happened. We really tried our hardest to figure out how to prevent him from becoming a rogue vampire, but he made us stop. He knew there was no hope of stopping the transition.”

    “Rogue vampire…” Lisa repeated. “I remember my mom talking about them when I was young before she…was killed. What are they?”

    “Rogue vampires are vampires who killed their makers. They gain immense strength but it rips away whatever humanity they have and the blood craving is intense. They begin to become like rabid animals and usually hunt in packs,” Jaebum said. “They’re a bit like wolves but wolves are more civilized.”

    “So, the camp was attacked by rogue vampires?” Mark asked, looking at Jaebum who nodded. “So...this thing we have all dedicated all our lives to was a lie? We’ve been hunting the wrong kind of vampire? I’m so sorry.”

    Jaebum waved his hand to dismiss the apology. “It’s fine. It’s human nature to be afraid of the unlike, I get it. One hundred years of dealing with this will make you understand. I just wish humans nowadays were more open-minded. You think they would be by now.” Jaebum rubbed his palms together as he sat back in the chair he was sitting in. “But anyway, I had never actually seen a rogue vampire until about a little over a decade ago. They haven’t been around very long. Through my research of them, I’ve noticed they’re usually one track minded, really vulnerable, and unstable. They hunt during the day like idiots and burn up in the sunlight. They’re especially susceptible to silver more than we are. It’s like the weaknesses we have are multiplied by ten for them.”

    “So, is that why the rogue vampire Bambam saved us from turned to ash? I thought that it was weird that happened because normal vampires don’t turn into ash when they die,” said Yugyeom.

    Jaebum nodded. “Yes, that is why. Bambam, you see, is immune to silver. He’s been hunting them whenever he can. You all were very lucky he was there.”

    “Okay, so if they’re so dangerous, what are we waiting for?” Lisa asked. “We’re can all go out and kill them before—”

    “No,” Jackson said quickly. “It’s too dangerous for all of you out there. I know you were all trained for this, but only five of you going up against however many rogue vampires there are out there is too risky.”

    “And why should we trust you guys? For all we know, Jiwoo could be under some kind of weird spell,” Rosé said.

    “Our powers don’t work on her,” Youngjae replied. “I can’t tell when she’s telling the truth like I can all of you. Jaebum hyung can’t see her lifeline, and Jackson hyung’s compulsion doesn’t work on her. She’s not under any kind of spell.”

    “How is that possible?” Mark asked.

    Jaebum shrugged. “Honestly, no idea. Our powers only don’t have an effect on those with vampire blood. But, one reason we can’t let you all go by yourselves, is because Jackson made a promise to Jungkook before his transition to protect her and, I have reason to believe that the rogue vampires are after her.”

    Mark frowned. “Why would they be after her?”

    “Youngjae brought up a point a while ago that maybe they conspired to turn Jungkook into a rogue vampire to get to Jiwoo. I think it might have something to do with the day she got attacked when she was young,” Jaebum stated. “Based on the facts I’ve gathered, there was some kind of ritual. On a certain day over a decade ago, a bunch of human and vampire deaths happened. Then it came to my knowledge about when Jiwoo was attacked. It was the same day. I think a bunch of vampires planned to kill their makers and kill an equal ratio of humans, normal ritual stuff. But they probably needed a human sacrifice. Who better than the daughter of the leader of the vampire hunters?”

There was a thick silence in the room as he spoke. Jiwoo gulped listening to his words as things slowly began to make sense. They did only attack her, they didn’t go for Jungkook or even her father at all.

“Unfortunately, the ritual wasn’t completed,” Jaebum continued. “Jiwoo survived somehow. I don’t know what the ritual was for, but I’m afraid I’d rather not know what happens when it is complete. Which is why we need to protect Jiwoo at all costs.”

Yugyeom and Lisa both helped Youngjae to his room while Rosé and Mark helped Bambam to his. Jiwoo stayed in the living room with Jackson and Jaebum having a quiet conversation.

Jaebum looked to Jiwoo and tilted his head. “You look like there’s something you want to say.”

“Um, yeah. Kinda. It’s just...something Jungkook said to me.” Jiwoo played with her fingers, frowning. “He said I had dirty blood. He said that combining human and vampire blood doesn’t affect a human but vampire blood lingers. What does that mean?”

Jaebum studied her for a moment before speaking. “If you don’t mind, may I see your scar?”

Jiwoo nodded and lifted her shirt off. She straightened her back for the scar to be better seen. Jaebum sat in front of her and glanced at Jackson who waved his hand as if in approval. He turned his attention back to Jiwoo’s scar and touched it gently. He slid his fingers gently over it and hummed lowly.

“Interesting,” he muttered. “Jiwoo, you weren’t supposed to survive that. From what I see, and feeling the scar, it was deep. Very deep. It seemed to have even cut open your heart.”

“Then how...how am I still here?”

“I think your father may have used vampire blood to save you. When vampire blood has a sort of healing property to it when combined with human blood. It usually does linger within a human beings body,” Jaebum explained. “Our powers don’t work on those with vampire blood. That’s why they don’t work on you.”

“So, I have vampire blood in my body?”

Jaebum nodded, “And a lot of it. One would think you were a vampire with the amount of blood you have. I’d say you have about...mm...more than half. That must have been why Jackson healed up so quickly after drinking from you.”

“So, that means I really do have dirty blood.”

Jaebum shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t call it that. Maybe miracle blood. Majority of people who are born half vampire and half human don’t survive. The vampire blood and human blood clashes because they’re so different. There’s only one person I met that is half and half and I haven’t seen him in a long time. So, I’m not sure what happened to him.”

“What does that mean for me?”

“Mm...you’re a miracle,” Jaebum said. “Your body took to the vampire blood well and you’re still alive. It’s seriously a miracle. Anyway, I think you two should get some rest. You need it the most, the both of you. That was one hell of a morning.”

Jiwoo looked down and nodded. “Yeah...you get some rest too.”

Jaebum nodded back as Jackson stood and held a hand out to Jiwoo. She took it and followed him to his room.

Jiwoo sighed as she sat on the bed and pulled on her shirt. “I can’t believe it…” she said when Jackson shut the door. “I should’ve just died that day.”

“But then we wouldn’t have met,” Jackson said as he sat next to her.

“Jungkook wants to turn me into what he is,” Jiwoo muttered. “I contemplated it because he was my brother but to lose my humanity like he did, it’s not worth whatever power he gained.”

Jackson sighed. “Rest, okay?”

Jiwoo looked up at him and gripped his hand. “Only if you lay with me.”

“Oh...no. I don’t want to...accidentally lose control.”

Jiwoo reached up and cupped his cheek. “You won’t. I trust you.”

“I’m not talking about wanting your blood.” Jackson touched their foreheads together. “It’s...something else.”

Jiwoo tilted her head up slightly so their lips were dangerously close to each other. “I don’t mind.”

Jackson bit his bottom lip as he stared at her lips. The urge clenched in the pit of his stomach. He wanted her so bad but wasn’t sure if it’s what she really wanted.

“Kiss me,” Jiwoo whispered.

“I’m not the kind of guy you can control, princess,” Jackson said with a smirk.

Jiwoo laughed as she pulled him closer to her, “Shut up and just do it, dummy.”

Jackson smiled and connected their lips together.