“It has been nearly seven hundred years and we still haven’t found her. Just how incredulous is that?” Complained a vampire with blonde, wavy hair. This vampire’s name is Sulli. With eyes as bright and innocent as Sulli’s, one would not have expected that this vampire was actually a merciless hunter and an insatiable blood-drinker.

Sulli, together with four other vampires, Victoria, Amber, Luna, and Krystal were the most important members of the legendary Vampire Coven, The Valks, the initials from each of the core members.

The Valks was an extremely large group of coven whose existence traced back to thousands of years ago and because of the power they have amassed, they were informally conferred the title of Vampiric Royalty. Leadership in The Valks used to change every few centuries but ever since Victoria, Amber, Luna, Krystal, and Sulli ascended to the position, it has remained that way. Under the five girls’ leadership, membership was exclusive to only vampires with exceptional prowess or who has lived for an extremely long time.

Like with most large covens, The Valks lived amongst civilisation, in a mansion and had human servants amongst their services, known as the bloodletters.  

Amber shrugged her shoulders, “Why should we find her? I thought we have agreed time and again that it is best to let it go?”

Amber was a female vampire who perpetually sported a boyish haircut. One would have mistaken Amber as a male because her mannerisms and personality were too much like a man’s.   

“Let it go?!” Sulli shrieked. “No way! She will seek us to exact revenge, I assure you!”

Amber sighed, “why does it feel like the thousandth time we are having the same argument? My vote remains unchanged. Let’s just stop harping on the past. We have wasted enough time and resources trying to find a single vampire.”

“We did seriously try to kill her before. For all we know she might be making a powerful coven of her own in hopes of bringing us down someday.” Victoria, the leader of The Valks, reasoned.

“Remind me what happened, it has been so long ago after all” Luna joined in the conversation, her face showing only mild interest.

“Well… jealousy happened.” Amber stated, her face twisted in disgust at the piece of memory that came to her mind.

“Equal parts of jealousy and fear.” Krystal corrected. “Come on guys, do not pretend that you have forgotten everything that happened, we were practically already in the midst of incinerating her.”

“It was only because she hid the truth from us!” Sulli defended themselves.  

“No matter what it still does not sound right to kill a vampire, what more, a fellow coven member at that time, just because she hid something from us,” Amber said again, patience slipping away.

“Stop acting like a saint. You were in on the plan to destroy her as well, Amber.” Sulli spat, her irises turning red and her body tensed with fury.

“Only because you guys forced me to!” Amber raised her voice, her irises turning red as well and her fangs were bared.

Victoria, the leader, who has all the while only been listening, had decided to finally intervene in the heated discussion.

“It was wrong of us to behave so foolishly back then but I concur that letting Joohyun run loose can be a danger to us, especially when so long has passed and there has been little to no news of her.” The oldest amongst The Valks reasoned.

Victoria had onyx black long hair that she often styled in gentle waves. Victoria’s large, intense eyes and an equally strong, sharp nose lent her a domineering look and it was often put to good use before the lesser vampires.

“You never know when she might snap and bite back on us, literally,” Krystal added, her voice attained a hardened quality to it.

Amber, the only vampire who has voted against pursuing their former comrade right from the beginning, had given up persuading the rest and decided to sit out of their thousand-year-long plans. “I will not be a part of this. Just remember that Joohyun was one of us until we turned out backs on her though. Remember that. Or perhaps are we too soulless to even consider that? Whatever it is, you guys can expect no help from me.”

**

Seulgi had been with them for three days now, and in those three days, Wendy has kept her in the library grossly overesti