Chapter 3

 

Irene lays on bed with her eyes close. Last night’s incident was tiring. It took almost all her energy to suppress the thing inside of her. Sunny is holding both her hands up above Irene’s head as magical dusty lights emerges out from her palms. After a while, she seems to be able to help Irene regain her energy; enough for her to recover on her own. Sunny walks out of the bedroom; quietly closing the door behind her and looks at Seulgi who lowers her head in guilt.

 

“What happened?” She asked. “I,” Seulgi shook her head. “I don’t know.” She whispered under her breathe. It was already late at night when she woke up. She noticed the lights in the kitchen and hall were still on. She wondered if Irene fell asleep too without turning it off. Seulgi got up from the couch as she tiredly called out for Irene. She kept calling but there was no answer. She felt weird.

 

That was when she heard the sound of running water from the bathroom. She can smell Irene’s scent. But it was mixed with blood. She panicky ran to the bathroom only to saw Irene sitting on the tub. She was unconscious; with a nose-bleed and soaking wet.

 

“Irene!” Seulgi ran up to her and immediately picked her up in her arms. She laid her down on the floor to take off the wet clothes and wrapped her with the blanket. Irene’s face and lips have turned completely pale from being in the cold for too long. Seulgi took off her clothes and positioned herself on the side of the bed as she cautiously laid Irene on her chest area. As her eye colors changed, she shifted herself into her black-fur wolf-form. She would be warmer that way. She whimpered as she tried her best to get rid of the cold from Irene’s body.

 

“Then, I called you. I…I don’t know what happened. I just…I was scared. I’m sorry.” Seulgi apologized. Tiffany smile and gives a pat on the back. “You did good, wolf-pup.” She tried comforting her. Seulgi wanted to cry but she holds back her tears. Sunny sighs heavily. She forces a smile. “How about you go home for now? I’ll take care of Irene.” She approaches Seulgi and holds her shoulder. “She’ll be fine.” She nodded to her own words before heading to the kitchen.

 

Tiffany left to Seulgi back home and to return later. Meanwhile, Sunny tries to calm herself by making a cup of coffee. But as she sits down at the dining table, she cannot hold back some of her anxiousness inside that the hot coffee instantly froze by the magical power seeping out of her.

 

**

A day after…

 

Taeyeon wears her beige colored trench coat as she looks at herself in the mirror. Another fact that debunked the fictional vampirism story stereotypes; vampires actually have reflections. As she fixes her hair, Wendy walks in the room and leans her shoulder on the door frame. “You’re up early today.” She spoke. Well, usually vampires wake up after the sun is down. But right now, it is still afternoon.

 

“I have a meeting to attend.” Taeyeon casually replied. “What about you?” She asked as she wore her earring.

 

Wendy shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep.” She responded. Oddly enough, vampires can experience difficulties to sleep. It mostly occurs during the transitioning period though. Taeyeon turns at the younger vampire. “Something wrong?” She may not show it but behind her poker-face, she is actually worried.

 

“Nothing.” Wendy stands up straight. “I’ll be going out once the sun is down.” She spoke. Before Taeyeon can give a word about it, Wendy walks away and disappears to downstairs. The eldest can only sigh heavily. She cannot be bother by anything else but the issue they are facing right now. For the time being, she will not be able to do much about Wendy’s frequent time spent outside of their home.

 

Taeyeon opens an antique box where a silver-colored ring with a red-encrusted diamond is placed neatly inside. She takes it out to put it on her finger. It is a  sun-ring that has been made for her by Sunny. The ring carries a powerful spell that allows vampires like Taeyeon to walk under the sunlight without turning into ashes. Of course, Sunny is smart enough to make the ring functional only when the wearer is a Legacy or has the blood of the Legacy. Hence, only those who currently lives here in the house can use its’ power.

 

Taeyeon goes to the garage where her car is parked. Being a vampire means she lives long enough to experienced driving and riding thousands of cars; from the cheapest to the most expensive ones. Of course, Taeyeon’s taste is more towards sports’ cars. There is no way she will hop along with the wolf and warlock inside a truck. As the garage’s door opens, she wore her sunglasses and drives out to the dirt path leading to the main road.

 

Wendy stares from afar as Taeyeon’s car disappears from her sight. Once she senses her sire is far enough, she heads to Taeyeon’s study room. In there, there are hundreds of books and scrolls filling the shelves on every side of the room. On the corner, at the back, there is an antique study desk along with a chair. The papers were neatly organized in a stack along with a bottle of high-quality black ink and a feather. There were also a few books Taeyeon is currently using to do research for writing. Despite living a modernized world, Taeyeon still loves to write her journals, poems or stories using a feather and ink rather than a normal, click-pen.

 

But that is not what Wendy is searching for. She goes to the smallest book shelf in the room. She reaches a certain book on the top section and slightly pulls it; causing the rack to move and there is a flight of stairs behind it. It leads to the secret room downstairs. Once she steps inside, the shelf closes by itself. Wendy headed down where she is welcomed by the sight of more antique shelves organized in a row at one side of the room. Behind the glasses, there were records of their past lives; documents, pictures and more.

 

Ever since Wendy became a vampire, she lives off her life with fake identities. The small town has human residents that are absolutely clueless about their existence. Although they only come out at night, it’s best to carry a false ID so the humans would not be suspicious. Well, it would be very weird for them if they found out Wendy never ages pass 18 years old. The young vampire goes to a certain shelf where her records were stored. She opens the sliding glass and takes out a box dated on the day of her supposedly death. She sets it down on a small desk in the middle. With mixed emotions, she opens the box to see her old things from the past.

 

Wendy holds the school uniform she worn that day. Its fabrics were stained with her own blood. She smiles bitterly. She remembered her group of small friends. They were all talkative type of people. They were not the smartest but they were certainly the nicest. She remembered how happy they were when Wendy got offered to go to her dream University. They even threw a celebration party for her. It was such a long time ago, Wendy figured that those friends of hers’ must have been married and have their own families by now.

 

She puts down the uniform to take her old wallet. Inside, there is a photo of her family; her father, her mother, her older sister and her younger self posing at the dining table of a restaurant somewhere in Canada.

 

She vividly remembered that day. It was 16^th birthday. Her family brought her to her favorite all-time restaurant. She was really happy. But now, the memory is nothing but pain. Ever since she was turned into a vampire, she can no longer see her family. How can she? Her fake body was cremated. She died and was burned into ashes; scattered in the lake. She is left alone; to live by with the reminder that her family and friends have moved on. They are getting older as years go by while Wendy remained 18 years-old forever.

 

She shut her eyes and put the picture back into her wallet before stashing it back inside the box. It is then she notices a document is placed neatly at the bottom. She takes it out to see it was a report from the hospital. With curiosity, Wendy opened the file and read the writings on the now yellowish papers. Critical head injury. Broken ribs… Her injuries were way too severe for a human to make it out alive.  Wendy remembered that before she died, she saw a bright flash of light in front of her eyes, blinding her. The next thing she knew, she flung and landed hard on the ground. Her ears were ringing and she felt paralyzed. Then, she saw that woman. The one who hit her and ran away.

 

“I’m sorry…”

 

Wendy closes the file and puts it back. She breathes heavily as she slowly goes down on her knees. She wondered if that woman ever decides to help her that night, would she survive as a human? She could be. But that never happen. She ran away. Wendy was already dying. Taeyeon gave her a second chance of life. But it was never the life she asked for. Feeding. Staying away from the sun. Hiding. Forgetting everyone she cherished and loved. Wendy unexpectedly cries in silent. How can fate be so twisted?

 

**

 

The trio Legacy head towards a house kilometers away from the town. “I don’t think this is a good idea.” Taeyeon anxiously spoke. Sunny chuckles at her while Tiffany remains clueless by what she meant. The warlock simply heads on first with the werewolf walking closely behind her. Taeyeon hesitates to follow at first but soon goes along with them. Before they can even step onto the porch, an arrow is shot directly at them but they quickly avoided it and it landed straight at the door.

 

“What the !?” Tiffany was bewildered. She was absolutely sure no one was following them. If there was, she can easily pick-up their scents. They hear rustling behind the bushes. Then, running footsteps from behind the thick trees. Suddenly, a dagger is thrown at them in which Sunny quickly deflects with her magic. Before anyone can react, a shadowy figure pushes Taeyeon to the wall and has a steel stake pointed on her chest. Tiffany tries to intervene but Sunny stops her.

 

“You’re not welcome here.” The woman spoke in an intimidating tone. Taeyeon gulped as she can feel the steel slightly wounding her skin.

 

“Jessica, stop.” Sunny held the stake. “We come here in peace.” She stated.

 

“Yet, you’ve brought the vampire with you. I should just kill her now.” Jessica glared at Taeyeon who was basically begging Sunny for help through her eyes.

 

“Please, calm down…I don’t want to force you.” Sunny’s eye colors changed. Knowing how strong the warlock is, Jessica finally backs off but her eyes never left the vampire. She puts away the stake and turns to Sunny with a disinterest expression. “What do you want?” She asked coldly. The warlock sighs, of course their presence is not welcomed at all. Tiffany is just confusingly standing behind Sunny while Taeyeon tries to calm herself.

 

“We need to talk. It’s urgent.” Sunny spoke. The seriousness of her tone took away Jessica’s icy attitude. Whatever reason they come here; it must have been important since they have decided to show up at her doorstep.

 

“Come inside.” Jessica simply replied and opens the door with the arrow earlier stuck on it. The three looks at each other before heading in and the door is close behind them once Jessica enters. She goes to the living room first and the others silently follow. There are two young women sitting there. They are surprise to see the three new faces in the room. “Jess?” The one with ravened-hair felt confused. Jessica approaches her and gives the stake.

 

“Both of you, go upstairs to your room. Now.” They did not argue nor ask. They immediately do as they are told. The two quickly dismiss themselves upstairs to their shared bedroom. Once they did, Jessica sits down on the couch. “Sit.” She offered with a plain tone. Tiffany sits on the other couch with Taeyeon while Sunny takes the single one. The werewolf watches as Jessica takes off her leather jacket. There are unfamiliar symbols tattooed on her arms and upper chest area. Even her neck has one. She never seen it before.

 

“Oh, umm, Fany, I forgot. You don’t know her. She’s Jessica…a hunter.” Sunny introduced her.

 

“A hunter?” Tiffany felt more confused. Of course, she does, she never knew the existence of such being before.

 

“Half angel, half human. I’m basically a mortal with magical powers.” Jessica claimed as she showed her arms that were filled with symbols. “The few ones left that still exist.”

 

“Jessica and her clan were involved in the war. She fought when she was still very young. Most of them died in the battlefield. She is the few remaining ones who survived and still stayed closest to town.” Sunny explained with a bit of bitter feeling inside of her.

 

“Well, no one really wants to live close with those who used them as pawns.” Jessica casually said but the words were indeed hurtful for the two Legacy to hear. Well, they cannot argue. It was true. During the war, the hunters were the soldiers put in the front-line against the Demons. Of course, almost everyone got killed. But that was not the thing that made Jessica feel resentful. Instead, it was the fact that they were supposed to be accompanied by the vampires in the front-line but the leader of the vampires refused to cooperate with them. 

 

“The mortals were not so useful in the eyes of the…immortals.” Jessica turned to Taeyeon. The vampire sighs heavily. “Look, you’re angry at the wrong vampire. I can’t go against my sire at the time.”

 

“Then, your pathetic sire was a coward.” Jessica spatted a remark. Despite the truth behind it, Taeyeon still felt offended. “Many of us died in that battlefield. We sacrificed ourselves too.” But her words seemed to only anger Jessica. She stands up with a blade in her hand. “Krystal and Sinb became orphans that day. I had to raised them on my own without any time to grieve. You have no right to say anything about sacrifices, Kim Taeyeon.” She said with pure coldness and resentfulness. Taeyeon silence herself.

 

“Enough.” Sunny finally spoke. “There will be no more mentioning of the past. Now, please, calm yourselves.” Jessica rolls her eyes and sits down. Taeyeon clears to ignore the awkwardness of the situation. Tiffany just quietly witnesses the whole scene. After a short silence in the room, Sunny can finally talk. “Good, now everyone’s in their right minds. I’ll just say it. The reason we came here because we need your help, Jessica.” She seriously stared at the brunette. “I fear…. that the Demons have returned.”

 

**

 

“Are you sure you’re, okay?” Seulgi asked. Irene responds with a nod and a smile. After yesterday’s incident, Seulgi could not help but feel concern of her best friend’s condition. It was terrifying to see Irene in that condition without knowing the reason why. Of course, Irene explained to her that she simply slipped and hits her nose on the edge of the tub before getting unconscious. The explanation was…not so convincing since she was wearing her clothes and the shower head was on. But after Irene countless efforts to say she was just clumsy, Seulgi finally decided to believe on the story.

 

Seulgi sighs in relief. “Well, I’m just glad you’re awake. Too bad we can’t go to that gig tonight.”

 

“No, no, you should go. I’m sure Baekhyun and the others will be there too. Go have fun with them.” Irene said.

 

The werewolf scoffs. “I had enough with them when they pushed me off the waterfall.” She remembered Baekhyun and the rest of the pack pulled a prank at her by shoving her down into the waters below. Thankfully, she survives the fall. If she was a human, she would be long dead.

 

“Okay, okay,” Irene laughed. “But still, you should just go. I’ll be fine on my own.”

 

“No way, I’m not leaving you. Besides, it won’t be fun without you.” Seulgi sulked. Then, an idea popped in her head. “Wait, how about…we sneak out?” She suggested.

 

“W-what? No, no, a’ah, Sunny clearly told me to rest at home. I can’t go out.” Irene shook her head.

 

“But Sunny’s not at home. So is Tiffany! They said they won’t be back until tomorrow.” Seulgi holds Irene’s hand with a confident expression. “They will never know we’re gone.” Irene almost fell for the idea but soon realizes it is ridiculous to do so. “Seul, you’re crazy.” She let out a chuckle.

 

“No! Think about it. They’re out of town right now. We’ll just go to the gig and go home before midnight. Irene, come on. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity!” Seulgi dramatically raised her arms up. Irene sighs as she thinks about it. Well, after yesterday’s event, she is sure that it might happen again tonight. Of course, if she manages to control her emotions with some-kind of a distraction, she may avoid it. It’s ridiculous but it might just work.

 

**

At night, 9 o’clock.

 

“Where are you going?” Joy asked when she sees Wendy is heading towards the door. “Out.” The vampire simply answered.

 

“Taeyeon told us not to go out though.” Yeri reminded her. Well, as if she cares about what Taeyeon has to say. There is no way she is staying all night stuck inside the house.

 

“Whatever. She’s not here anyways. If you want to stay at home, fine. But I’m won’t.” Wendy replied. Before she opens the door, Joy suddenly goes to take her jacket hanging on the coat-stand. “I’m coming with you.” She said as she fixes her hair. Wendy just lets her be. Yeri did not want to feel left out. So, she too, take her coat. Hence, the trio vampires head out to spend their night at Wendy’s frequently visited place; the one and only local pub in town.

 

 

 

To be continued.