Hyunjin didn't know how much time had passed. Neither her nor Hyejoo said another word. She couldn't feel her arms anymore, but as the time passed, she could hear more clearly. Focusing on her eyes, she felt them shift.

"Hyejoo, my eyes are back! The serum is wearing off, try it as well."

A few seconds went by in silence.

"I can't," Hyejoo said.

". Why is yours taking longer?"

"Who knows. Maybe mine was stronger or it's just because you're older or something. I didn't even know they had this kind of stuff here. Guess there was a lot I didn't know about the place I lived in."

A loud bang exploded in the distance, shaking the walls and floor. Hyunjin snapped her head to Hyejoo, as she did the same.

"It's happening," Hyunjin mumbled.

"I don't wanna die here, Hyunjin." Hyejoo's eyes shined again.

"Hey, no one is dying here. Yves will show up any minute now."

Hyunjin prayed she would. This was one of the times she had to be strong, no matter what. If she broke, everyone would break with her. It didn't matter how terrified she was.

A few minutes passed, more explosions shook the whole building, and Hyunjin could even hear screams in the distance now. She could only imagine what it looked like outside-

The door barged open. Hyunjin snapped her head in its direction, to observe Yves panting, rushing to them.

"They're here," she said, her trembling hands trying to unlock the chains around Hyejoo's wrists. "They're so many, everywhere, destroying everything, attacking everyone they see."

"I ing told you!" Hyejoo said, sitting up, moving her arms around, getting the blood circulating in her veins.

"I get it! Not the time!" Yves moved to unlock the ones at Hyejoo's ankles.

"What about Gowon and Heejin?"

"I handed them the key. They must have escaped by now."

", , ..."

At last, Hyejoo was free. She jumped on her feet, cursing more and more at how her body hurt. Yves walked over to Hyunjin, and their eyes met. But Yves didn't say anything, and rushed to release her. After a minute, Hyunjin was free as well.

"Thank you," Hyunjin said, getting on her feet, her whole body dormant.

Yves nodded, and reached for a gun on her back pocket. "I believe this belongs to you."

Hyunjin stared at the gun in her hands - the one with the moon stone on the handle, and the moon phases engraved along the barrel.

"It does." Hyunjin took the gun from her hands.

"I heard you also hunt vampires. I know this sounds incredibly selfish, and I don't care if you hate me, but your intentions seem sincere. Could you fight alongside us tonight?" Yves asked.

Hyunjin activated her eyes again and drew her eyebrows together, staring back at Yves, and she didn't feel the same hate she had felt in both nights they had locked eyes in the past.

"I will do anything to protect my friends and kill their leader," Hyunjin said, cocking her gun.

Yves showed the smallest hint of a smile and nodded. "Then let's go. I'll go get your friends before we head downstairs."

She turned and rushed for the door.

"Are you okay?" Hyunjin approached Hyejoo, grabbing her arms.

"I feel weak. I can't activate my eyes, I can't hear or smell anything better."

"Don't panic. Remember, before you were a vampire, you were a slayer. You already fought vampires. You got this."

Hyejoo gulped, looking down at the sharp, silver knuckles in her hands. Then, she looked back at Hyunjin, a way fiercer and more confident expression on. "I got this."

"Hyunjin, Hyejoo!" Jiwoo's voice boomed in the walls, making both girls snap their heads to it. She stood with Jungeun and Yves just outside the room.

Ignoring how horrible, awful, creepy the room they still were in was, and how with all the noise the bodies stood still, they rushed to the door, and Jiwoo engulfed them both in a hug. "You're okay! I was so worried!"

"No time for this!" Jungeun said. "We need to go!"

"Follow me." Yves dashed down the corridor, and they followed her.

Hyunjin's heart hammered her chest. She had to find Heejin, make sure she was okay, fight by her side.

"Can you guys activate your eyes and all?" Hyunjin asked.

"We can. Yves already explained the serum thing to us," Jungeun said as they sprinted through the white corridors with several closed doors in both sides. Were all those rooms just like the one they were locked in?

"Damn it! I still can't!" Hyejoo cursed.

"Older vampires have faster regeneration. Their bodies reject it faster," Yves said.

"Wow, great." Hyejoo let out an annoyed groan. "Sooyoung, what the was that room we were in?"

Yves didn't answer and slowed down as they were reaching an intersection. "Something I'm not proud of. But it's for the greater good."

"How in the moon is that for the greater good?! Who the hell were those people?" Hyunjin found herself asking, more aggressive than she intended.

Another explosion shook the building, saving Yves from answering.

"The vampires are in the lower levels. We need to use the stairs. Follow me, and prepare yourselves to fight."

Before she could take off in a run, Hyejoo grabbed her arm. "Gowon and Heejin, we need to find them."

"They already got out by now. If they went up, they must in the first floor, where everything is happening."

"Let's go, then."

Nodding, they resumed the run, following Yves through a door she opened with an ID she fetched from her pocket. So, that was a secured area of the building. No wonder Hyejoo had no idea that existed. The images of the room wouldn't leave Hyunjin's mind, but she pushed them aside and focused on her senses. She would be fighting any minute, and she needed to have all her focus on. She would worry about that later.

Screams and war shouts and thuds grew louder, more and more scents reaching her nose by the second as they made their way downstairs. Hyunjin gripped her gun in her right hand, ready to shoot at any second. All she wanted at that moment was to find Heejin, to make sure she was fine, and then she would look for her targets.

Yves stopped by the exit door, a hand on the knob, the other grasping on the handle of her rapier. "You can hear what's going on."

They nodded, and Yves opened the door.

It was just like that night at the Blood Alliance, except even worse. Countless vampires and slayers fought among each other, and Hyunjin couldn't even distinguish them in the middle of the chaos. Something was on fire on the other side of the big, ample room, that Hyunjin realized was the reception of the main tower. A sudden urgency called for her, like she had to find Heejin in that second.

"Hyejoo, Hyunjin, go and look for Chaewon and Heejin. I'll help and join the-"

Hyunjin raised her arm and pulled the trigger. Yves turned, just in time to see a vampire turning to dust mid air, inches away from her. Her widened eyes looked at Hyunjin.

"Be careful, they're dangerous," Hyunjin said. "Let's go, we need to find them."

She stormed away, still hearing the mumbled 'thanks' from Yves. Hyejoo, Jiwoo and Jungeun followed right behind, and Hyunjin focused all her attention on her nose. There were so many different scents it made her head spin, and the effect of the serum hadn't disappeared completely. She could have her eyes on, but it didn't matter how hard she tried to look for a specific scent, they were all blended together. Still, she forced herself to do it, trying to search in the middle of the havoc for Heejin's scent. It had to be somewhere. But what if they still were in the levels below, wherever they were locked in?

"Hyejoo, take me to the cells or whatever they are."

"Do you think they're still there?"

"I don't know, but I can't track their scent. This ing serum is still running."

"We'll stay here and look for them," Jungeun said.

"We should stick together."

"We will take much longer that way! They might need help," Jiwoo said.

Hyunjin bit her lip. "Please, please, be careful."

"You too." Jungeun smiled at them before changing direction, deeper into the battle to cross the room to the other side.

Hyejoo led the way, sprinting across the mess, ignoring everything happening. It was best not to draw attention to them, but Hyunjin couldn't let people die. She shot a vampire who was about to pounce on a slayer as he fought other vampire, and the slayer didn't even notice.

"This way." Hyejoo pulled her to the right wing, through a large corridor that connected the tower to the other building.

A couple slayers running in their direction bulged their eyes out when they saw them.

"There's more of them here!" one of them said, charging at them with his huge sword almost dragging along the floor.

"Oh, for the love of the moon," Hyunjin cursed, ready to dodge any incoming attacks.

"Hey, it's me, Hyejoo!" she said, jumping backwards. "We're not the enemy, we are not gonna fight you!"

"Like I'd ever listen to filth like you! How do I know you're not with them now?"

Hyejoo's nostrils flared, her eyebrows knitted together, and her eyes came alive, shining their beautiful silver. "You're a dumb ."

Hyejoo ducked, avoiding another swing from his blade and kicked his gut, just enough to send him falling on his and rolling on the ground, the sword escaping from his hands. Hyunjin took a step to her right, avoiding the sword directed at her chest, grabbed the guy's arm, and with a single, strong pull, his body rotated in the air, his back hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"Let's go, ignore them." Hyunjin took off in a run again. "Did you know those two?"

"The one who attacked me was from my training group. A dumb , as you can see."

At the end of the corridor, the fight was even worse than the one they had just run away from. Even more vampires and slayers, and a cloud of dust flew in the air.

"What the ..." Hyejoo breathed as they reached it, and Hyunjin realized why - the whole wall at their right side had collapsed, all reduced to debris, rocks, and broken glass.

"The explosion," Hyunjin said.

"They're deranged."

"Where to now, Hyejoo?"

The girl looked lost, as if she had never set foot there, her eyes fixated in the battle happening right before her eyes.

It was then, with a deeper breath, that it brushed Hyunjin's nose. "Heejin. They're here, I can feel her scent!"

Hyunjin grabbed Hyejoo's arm and dragged her along, squinting her eyes at every direction. A vampire launched at them with an ugly grunt, and Hyejoo swung her fist, her silver knuckle with such accuracy, it pierced right through his chest, his whole being disappearing the same second. She panted, but kept running. Just what they needed now, getting attacked by both factions at once. How did they ever think they could avoid the situation they tried so hard to prevent?

"Heejin!" Hyunjin called, her heart thumping so hard it blocked her ears.

She kept on taking deep breaths, trying to follow her scent, but as she did so, another reached her nose. One she both dreaded, and wanted to feel. She snapped her head to her left, and her body halted as her eyes found him.

Jinyoung, fighting three slayers, blocking, dodging, avoiding every blow thrown in his direction at once with such ease, it almost felt like he was playing with them. A twisted smirk was on his lips, like he was having the time of his life, punching one of the slayers in the face so hard he was sent flying until his body hit the wall, falling lifeless on the floor.

Her legs took a step in his direction, then another.

Kill him.

"Hyunjin, help!" Hyejoo's voice brought her back, as she snapped out of it and turned.

She raised her gun, but she couldn't just shoot a slayer. Grunting, she sprinted, grabbed the slayer's body by his waist, twirled, and sent his body against the other slayer, both tumbling along the floor.

"What were you doing?!" Hyejoo frowned at her.

"I'm sorry. I got distracted."

"With what?"

"Doesn't matter. Let's find them."

It did matter. She wanted to kill Jinyoung so bad, but she couldn't believe she forgot about Heejin, even if for a split second.

Hyunjin looked ahead to find a slayer slashing a vampire dead, but when they turned to dust and disappeared into thin air, she noticed the trail of red already running through the slayer's neck as he collapsed to the floor, lifeless. Before Hyunjin could process the shock, she caught a glimpse of Heejin and Chaewon, right next to where that had just happened. Back to back, as they protected themselves and fought back, Heejin swinging her twin blades and Chaewon shooting vampires dead.

"Heejin!" Hyunjin shouted, but her voice got lost in all the uproar.

She dashed, avoiding everything coming her way.

"Gowon!" Hyejoo's voiced boomed next to her, and both girls heard it now.

Their eyes widened at them as they were getting closer. So close, almost there...

A tall figure approached them first, his arms reaching for Heejin from behind, one around her neck, other to her waist. Heejin didn't have the time to react. It took one second for Jinyoung to flash an evil smile directly at Hyunjin and take off in a run, so fast it felt like he had teleported away with Heejin.

"NO!" Hyunjin screamed, so loud it hurt .

She ignored everything. With the biggest impulse she could at that moment, she sprinted, her body colliding with many others along the way, but at that second, she didn't think, and nothing else mattered.

Hyunjin wouldn't let Jinyoung take Heejin. Not again.

---

A/N: :))

And prepare yourself for the next chapter :))

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