There have been no more open mentions about silver in the coven for the next few weeks or so and the vampires’ lives went on as per normal, perhaps slightly more interesting because the members were beginning to discover the interesting side to Seulgi.

Contrary to the raw talents that Seulgi possessed, the young vampire actually had a rather unexpected blend of personality. Seulgi could be stubborn at times but obedient during other times. She could appear as the most intelligent vampire but could sometimes make the dumbest mistake. All these however, the members found it rather adorable, but what made them like her above all was her sometimes, foolishly, positive attitude towards duelling. It was no doubt that duelling was Seulgi’s favourite activity and cleaning up was her least favourite. Wendy liked to joke that making Seulgi do housework was almost equivalent to making Seulgi drink a barrel of Bear’s blood. Bear blood or no, Seulgi had no choice but to take it

Today, was supposed to be feeding day but Irene had told the young vampire to fast and she would soon understand the reason for it. Besides feeling famished, the young vampire was feeling especially uneasy with the training session the next day with Irene which was unusual because Seulgi always looked forward to any private sessions with the leader. That night, there had been animated discussion between the coven members and the leader.

“Irene, I think it is too soon.” Wendy said, her voice rich with concern.

“Trust me, she can hold out.” Irene had replied coolly and patted Wendy on her back. “Remember Joy passed this well too?”

“Not before giving me several bites…” Wendy mumbled to herself.

Irene had been thinking of bring the young vampire to a populated town to test Seulgi’s restraint however her coven members, especially Wendy, were strongly against the idea.

“I think Wendy is afraid you cannot hold out against Seulgi.” Yeri joked and fell silent immediately when she was met with baleful stares from the leader.

“Fine, then I shall modify the night’s training according to what you guys deem fit then.” Irene finally relented and then walked over to Seulgi. “Your fate is no longer in my hands but theirs. Blame them if you must.”

The slanted smile that Irene gave at the end made Seulgi swoon and for a while the young vampire had forgotten she was in the presence of the rest of the coven as she held on to Irene’s arm, taking the older vampire by surprise. “Decide my fate.”

The leader seemed taken aback at first with her eye brows raised before she started smiling and then laughing. The rest of the coven members laughed too.

“I had no idea Seulgi was into theatrics and was this good at responding to jokes.” Joy said as she laughed.

Seulgi after realising what she had spewed, was secretly glad that the other had not taken her seriously but she caught the look on Wendy’s face. It was undeniably a strained laughter. Wendy knows.

The young vampire casted her eyes away from Wendy. Wendy was a really observant vampire and Seulgi felt as though the vice-leader was able to see through her emotions or read her mind.

Seulgi truly felt bad, for Wendy, and for herself. If what Joy and Yeri had implied about Irene and Wendy being close companions and that Wendy has been harbouring feelings for the leader had been true, then that would automatically make Wendy and Seulgi rivals in love.

The training was none other than putting Seulgi in the same room as a human, a living, breathing one with hot, fresh blood coursing through his veins. In the very same room, was the leader as she stood, observing the young vampire in silence. Seulgi had not expected them to take the trouble to travel so far just to put her discipline to test in a dilapidated farmhouse. Once she had set foot into the house, she knew immediately what this test was about and she was feeling bitter about it. Yet, she had to admit that this would truly be a good test. In her famished state, it would take all of the discipline that she had acquired over the past few weeks of training to not recklessly feed on this human bait.

“This farmhouse gets destroyed, you lose.” Irene stated impassively, disrupting the young vampire’s thoughts. Seulgi tilted her head as she could not comprehend what the leader had meant.  

“You can only feed when I have permitted you to. Before I do, you have to get past me to do it.”

“Get past you?” Seulgi repeated and her jaw clenched as an image of herself in a scuffle with Irene appeared in her mind.

“Yes, get past me, like our scuffle for the jacket, except this time it’s a heavily sedated human being.” A small smirk played on the leader’s lips as she stated.

The young vampire’s eyes twinkled as she felt a sense of déjà vu. “It is like the first when you baited me.” The scent of the human bait had momentarily distracted her and threatened to change her form. Fortunately, Irene had been there and she proved to be a strong distraction herself. That beautiful eyes that reflected of discipline for herself with a hint of indulgence for her members, that usual cold expression that contrasted with her fiery dedication to the coven, it all pleased Seulgi and it made the young vampire want to find out more about the leader.

Irene nodded, composedly. “And like both times, the baits were humans who have sinned. Of course, by my very definition.”

“Sinned?”

Irene nodded again, this time with mirthless smile. “They have done very bad things and have eluded punishment. Anyway, that is not the main point. The main point is that you will have to last until I give you permission to feed on him. The permission will not come any time early but if you can no longer suppress your urge then you may feed on him only if you can get past me without destroying this farmhouse.”

As if to accentuate the deplorability of the state of the farmhouse, a piece of wooden board fell off the beam and crashed with a loud thud. Seulgi’s eyes widened at the sound and excitement grew within her as she imagined how much fun the duel would be to have to balance violence and cautiousness. It was like in the fields, except that, that was the first training and Irene had been more lenient. The young vampire knew that today’s training would be the one that truly proved her capabilities to the leader and the rest of the coven members. If she had also understood correctly, Irene might actually have been the one who had endorsed for her to go through this session much earlier than the rest of the coven members had wanted. So, Seulgi was determined to hold out her thirst for as long as she could for she did not want to disappoint them, much less Irene.

**

Of all places, Lisa knew she should not be here, at the club. Yet, Lisa could not resist coming, hoping for a chance to meet that beautiful being again. Lisa was certain, there had been a person, or a being who had saved her the very night Roy assaulted her because the very next day, Roy had gone missing, his body a mangled heap at the foot of the building near the c