His time was running out. 

 

 

"Spare me... please, my Prince," the bloodied man whimpered. He couldn’t even dare to stand up.  

His "attacker” was in a full black outfit and the blood on them made it seem like it was shining under candlelight.  

He made his way towards the kneeling man in an agonizingly slow way. “And now I'm your Prince, huh?" He circled him. "Tell me one reason why I should forgive you?”  

The man didn’t say anything.  

Kai lifted his chin to make him look up. “You deserved it. Right, Jungwoong?” His voice became dangerously low as he said his name. 

The man begged Kai with shaking voice while kneeling, "I'll do anything. Just don't kill me-" but he understood from the look of the man looming over him that he was doomed. 

Kai's eyes were seething with rage and hatred. He didn't even want to speak to that filth who killed his mate, Jennie.

He ripped his throat out in one move. But the man was still alive. He placed his finger on Jungwoong's body like drawing something. Along the trail Kai's finger touched, his body parts, such as skin and blood started to scatter in the air with a beautiful arc before disappearing completely. 

The agonized grunt filled the warehouse. 

When Kai finished, there was no part intact on Jungwoong's body. He became a horrifying sight, a gory mess.

Kai made sure to let him experience the horror and pain before completely cutting his head off.

 

His chest was still burning. He had to kill more. As there was nobody left to kill, he began to destroy the warehouse itself. His fangs were itching to rip something and his hands were punching everything in sight. Furniture, walls, and corpses. 

 

Kai heavily sat down, leaning back on the cold wall of the warehouse and wiped the blood from his chin. Surrounding him were the countless corpses of his enemies, who were his kind at some time. 

He felt strangely cold and tired. 

After getting Jennie's revenge, he had left with only emptiness. 

 

He sat there for a long time. The candles were burnt out long ago. The bluish light of the moon which was coming through the broken window was the only source that illuminated his empty eyes and battered state.  

 

Jongin... now Kai brought out a golden necklace with a ruby ring from his leather jacket's pocket. It was covered with dried blood crusts. He's been keeping it for three days. The guilt and regret were eating him alive. He wanted to die after avenging Jennie. That's why he came to raid this place without plan in the first place. But he was too strong to die. His vitality could have been a good thing if it was a different situation.

 

He was the second youngest of twelve princes of Vampire kingdom, the strongest Kingdom to ever existed in the world. 400 years ago, the brothers went their separate ways. He still doesn't understand the reason for their separation. After Minseok had gone, his brothers just left one by one. As he was young and hot-blooded, he, too, wanted to go and explore the world.  

While traveling around the world almost for a century, he met Jennie, a newborn vampire.  

It was midday. She was wearing peasant dress and was sitting in the corner of cave while shaking. Hunger was clear in her eyes and her whole body was screaming confusion. 

The poor girl looked so lost and confused and he wanted to help her. It seemed... no... her creator happened to be an irresponsible bastard who broke the first rule, to take responsibility for their creations. He had abandoned Jennie to fend for herself.

 

At first, Kai tried to find her creator for her. Even though it would be a bit traumatic for her, it was the best choice for newborn vampires. But he was nowhere to be found.

So, Kai took Jennie with him. 

She was scared. Scared of everything. Even from him who without hesitation offered her "The book of dry humor" which was his favorite possession.

 

Kai patiently taught her everything about vampires and how to survive and how to have fun.

He didn't rush her.

She was like an interesting new toy for him. The way she reacted to new things, the way she made her own decisions. Jennie had very little expressions, but every reaction he got out of her was amusing. 

For example, the very first thing she did after learning to hypnotize, was to try to make Kai dance ballet. Obviously, that didn't work on him, but he laughed until his stomach hurt. That was when he realized he hadn't cracked up like this after leaving his brothers. Her fearless, unamused, even annoyed look whenever he too much, the way she sought vengeance even with the slightest discomfort, and the way she sparred with him with all her might, just for him to feel like being scratched by a kitten.

 

Since when did he start to love her? Kai doesn't know that. Probably when she kissed him so innocently that time. Then, it had been almost twenty years since knowing each other and becoming travel companions. The blush adorning her cheeks were the most precious thing ever. It made him want to bite her until he consumed every bit of her... Well, that turned dark so quick... Or it was when she made him laugh so hard. Maybe even before that, like when she destroyed a group of human traffickers. Or! Or when she participated in Sarcasm championship 1735 Ireland and won. 

 

Anyway, as one thing leads to another, they fell in love. And nothing more needed for Kai to decide to live the rest of his life with Jennie. Of course, they faced some hardships in the beginning stage of their relationship. But in the end, everything was worth it. Or so he thought. 

 

Back to Jungwoong. He was that irresponsible bastard who changed Jennie. After vampires had been defeated in the war a hundred years ago, survivors had been living in hiding. As the princes had disappeared and no one knew their whereabouts, left elites had been treated like royals. And Jungwoong was one of them. 

Then, he came into their life almost 30 years later and demanded to take Jenne back with him. Clearly that made Kai’s blood boil. Not only he abandoned Jennie, he DEMANDED to take her from him. Kai wanted to kill him right then and there. But if he died, Krystal would have to die along with his other creations. That was the only reason Kai spared him with a promise to never show his face again in front of them. At least, until he figured out a way not to implicate Jennie if he decided to finish Jungwoong one day. He didn’t trust him, but he didn’t want to worry about him just yet. He was content with their life.  

The only positive thing Jungwoong’s visit had resulted was hurrying their mating ceremony. Who knew how long he would have procrastinated knowing his teasing and laid back personality. 

They chose one beautiful night in autumn. With skyful stars, a valley full of Casablanca lilies, with their two-person world, everything was perfect. After they exchanged blood, Kai brought out a golden ruby ring. He always felt that ruby suited Jennie the most. As he got on his knee and proposed, "When we find my brothers, let's have a grand wedding. I'll treasure you for my whole life,", she laughed with joy and hugged him tightly.

 

Tears started to blur his eyes as he held the necklace to his heart. Now that he got her revenge, the reality of her death was sinking in. 

Jennie was his bright moon. Beautiful and precious. They spent almost 250 years together. But it was not even close to enough. He thought they would be together, forever. Teasing and loving each other. 

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t even introduce you to my brothers!” he whispered as he got choked up. 

The only sound that could be heard in the warehouse was a broken man’s heavy breathing and occasional sniffs. 

As the night gets deeper, Kai got quieter and quieter. In the end, an only chilly wind of spring night was howling through the broken window.

 

The only regret he had besides losing his love of life, was not searching his brothers when he could have. He just realized how much value the time holds. He thought he was invisible. Like time could never control him. He thought his brothers would be always there for him. Or in this case, Kai, for them. 

He wanted to find his brothers. To mend their broken bonds, to tell how much he loves them and... to bid his last farewell.

 

Kai wore the necklace with a heavy heart. "I'll join you soon. Wait for me. Just a little more," he whispered before kissing her ring.  

 

He finally made his way towards the door and stepped outside. The sun was already up. Birds were chirping happily like the brutal murder of many didn't take place last night. The forest which was dark and hollow now looked calm and beautiful. Tree leaves were just sprouting and little squirrels were playing tag through branches.   

He took a deep breath, but suddenly, burning sensation spread to his whole body from his chest. Like his body was angry at him for losing his mate. The more power he had, more painful his breaths became. It was like his body, his soul was instinctively trying to join his other half.

After what it felt like an eternity, the pain finally subdued. He knew his time was limited. 

He was broken beyond repair. 

And the only thing that kept him moving was to meeting his brothers one last time. 

But before that, he needed blood. Plenty of it. 

Just then he caught the smell of humans. Their scent was way too delicious to resist. “Blood…” 

 

… 

 

Kai couldn’t remember what happened after that. When he got his consciousness back, he was standing between corpses,  tossed carelessly here and there. He stumbled backward in shock. 

‘It’s understandable. Since I lost my mate, I need a lot of blood. That’s right…” he mumbled to himself. Trying to justify his action. 

He wiped his mouth with his already dirtied sleeve and turned around to get out of there.  

 

Don’t get him wrong. He had his fair share of “hunt”, but he never attacked children. Like this… There were 9 children, age of, approximately, 5 to 13 years old. What Kai saw was a truly horrifying image. Even by vampires' standard.

 

[I need to hurry]

 

 

He didn’t know where his brothers were. So, he decided to visit their old castle in the Crescent Kingdom. Who knows, there could be some kind of clue. 

After Vampire's Moon Kingdom's fell, Crescent Kingdom was founded in its place a hundred years later. Even though this country used to be filled with vampires, now there's no sign of them. During the Great War, documentaries about them were destroyed completely. And with the flow of time, vampires became mere bedtime stories for children. 

 

It took him 4 days to get there. His bloodthirst seemed to have increased. This time, he didn’t wait too long to witness children’s unfair death. Thankfully there hadn’t been any unbearable pain attack again.  

[Only if I could have teleported to here,] Kai thought bitterly.  

He realized he had no problem when using his full power. But the aftermath was the problem. The more power he used, his body was in more pain. Well, he was constantly in pain. It was just a matter of how much.

 

No living creatures were around the castle. There were no usual stoic guards or lively atmosphere. It was just a spooky abandoned place... Or so he thought until he stepped inside. The presence of low ranking vampires was everywhere, even though no one was in sight in the Great Hall.  

He was actually disappointed to see his home in this state. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust. Once the magnificent hall turned into a dark and desolate “cave”. Broken furniture was everywhere and the royal family’s portraits were sliced and ripped.  

[Ah… This doesn't bring back memories.]

 

It hasn't been long for vampires to notice his arrival. Since he wasn't doing a dedicated job in hiding his aura.  

"Who is there?!"  

"Who are you?!" Dozens of vampires appeared before him in the blink of an eye. All of them were so bulky and a gangster looking.  

[And they call themselves a vampire? Hah. What happened to our elegance?] Kai thought judgingly. 

"Look I don't want trouble. I'm here to look for something," he said exhaustedly and tried to pass by them. 

But then the largest of them stopped him by grabbing his shoulder... Like that wasn't big no, he said, "Listen, little guy. You are on our turf. And we don't want you here. Just go away when you can."

When Kai didn't say a word, they laughed at him for being a coward. "Look at him shaking! Oh, are you scared?" an annoying voice said from somewhere.  

Kai started chuckling lightly with his head down. Then his chuckle transcended to full-blown laughter. He was even holding his stomach. 

"What's so funny? Huh?!" They didn't like his attitude. 

Kai became silent. Other vampires couldn't see his face as his fringes hid his face. 

"Hey-" 

When Kai looked up, his eyes were shining bright with bloodlust. He disappeared from where he was standing and before anyone could comprehend what has happened, he appeared right behind the b