Slowly, I read the note one more time. The words were still the same, but somehow I was still hoping that the contents inside would change into something bright and positive instead of the pain and blue that hid inside Junhyung’s tottering handwriting:

“Yoseob found __________. Our mission is half-completed. Doojoon was sent away.

                                                                                                                             - JH.”

    I sighed. This was more complicated than I thought. And in addition to that ugly fact, my throat was burning for a drink. I trudged into the kitchen and realized that Junhyung had taken all of our supplies away for the mission. Only the emergency cells were left, but I couldn’t use them because of my allergies. I sat down the floor and began to draw circles while waiting for other news. Being trapped inside my own house with an enormous army of Rooks waiting outside was quite an uninteresting experience. My head was spinning around because of the thirst, so I lied down on the floor. Then, a flash of light appeared, and a reddish note fell down to my hand. I opened it as quickly as possible and read:

“Mission uncompleted. Pawn took __________. We are on our way back. Steady yourself.

                              - JH.”

   I threw the note aside and stood up. My legs were shaking so badly that I decided to crawl into the bedroom and took my dagger. Just as I got ready, I heard a very familiar noise outside of the house.

   “Hyunseung!” Yoseob shouted; his voice was almost drowned out in the shouts of the Rooks. “What are you doing there? Get out here, fast!”

   I tried to stand up, but it was impossible. I fell down to the floor, holding my head. As soon as I saw the dagger, I began to think of a very, very insane plan. It wouldn’t be so effective since I drank my own, but it was the only way.

   I cut my arm and drank my own blood. At first, I thought I could dry myself into a mummy, but it felt a lot better. I ran outside and touched the doorknob, waiting for the signal.

   “Jang Hyunseung!” Junhyung yelled, and that was the only time that I felt happy hearing his annoying voice.  

   I turned the doorknob and bursted out, holding my trustworthy dagger. At the moment I stabbed the first Rook, I lost my every sense. I couldn’t remember if the fight took a minute, an hour or a whole day; but after the last Rook fell down to the ground, my legs felt like they couldn’t hold me for another second. I sat down on the front steps. Yoseob kicked a dead Rook out of his way and sat down next to me.

   “Are you okay?” He asked, and I nodded heavily. “What happened to your arm?”

   “It was nothing.” I panted.

   “Are you sure? You look pale.”

   “Yoseob! Hyunseung!” Junhyung appeared out of a corner. “I’ve got some details from one of the Rooks here. He said that Pawn dropped __________ somewhere in the suburbs. That son of a just wanted to tease us.”

   “The suburbs?” Yoseob raised his eyebrows, and right after he received the confirmation from Junhyung, he sprang up. “Damn it! He wasn’t just teasing! Junhyung, Hyunseung, the suburbs…”

   A thought flashed through my brain and I startled. So did Junhyung.

   “Damn.” He whispered. “How could I be so stupid? The suburbs… The illegal hunters are there!”

   “Let’s go! We can’t lose her to them!” Yoseob took my hand and helped me stand up. Junhyung sprang ahead and we followed him. Right into the darkness.

♥

   It didn’t take us a very long time to reach the suburbs. But searching for the girl was a hard job. We couldn’t find her anywhere, and my throat was still burning like hell. I couldn’t drink my own blood in front of the other two; and I also couldn’t drink from any of them – it was against the rules. I ran to a corner hidden from view. Then I heard a small moan. It wasn’t larger than the sound of the wind going through the trees. I tried to open my eyes as large as possible, and I saw a tottering old shed hidden in the forest nearby.  An unconscious mind reached mine, and I could feel every pain of it.

   “Junhyung! Yoseob!” I shouted out loud, and not very longer, the two approached me. “I felt something. Over there.” I pointed at the shed, and Yoseob rushed there. Junhyung begun to follow him, but I grabbed his shoulder as a hold and panted real hard. The thirst came back, more violently than ever. I felt like something was booming inside my head. It hurt so badly.

   “You okay?” He asked me worriedly.

   “Fine, just a little dizzy.” I let go of him and said. “I’ll catch you up later.”

   “You are thirsty, aren’t you?” Junhyung crossed his arms and said.

   “No. I took the emergency cells.”

   “You are allergic to it!”

   “It was just a bit itchy. Now go.” I pushed him. He looked at me questioningly, but then followed Yoseob into the shed. I placed my hands on my knees, took a deep breath and started to walk towards my friends’ old direction.

♥

   Yoseob’s fire was flickering on his hand when I walked in. The girl we were looking for was laying unconsciouly on the floor with Junhyung kneeling down nearby. I looked at Yoseob and saw his face puckered with different emotions at the same time. Junhyung stood up and said:

   “She’s okay. Something hit her head, and that’s all.”

   “Thank you, Junhyung.” Yoseob let out a long sigh. Junhyung left the girl and joined us. That was when a gentle but attractive scent came to my nose. My hands started to shake badly, and I soon realized what was happening.

   It’s her blood.

   Junhyung was standing between that girl and me before, so of course her weak scent was blocked by his. But back then when he was out of the way and the wind was blowing in that direction, the scent of her came right into my nose. If I were well-fed, it wouldn’t be a problem, but I was still being burnt from the thirst. I stepped back and grabbed a corner of the table nearby. I tried to breathe as fast as possible so that I wouldn’t smell anything, but it got worse. My instinct was screaming inside, ordering me to take a bite from that tasty treat as soon as possible. But I myself didn’t allow it to happen. She was Doojoon’s foster child, and somehow she was my niece. I couldn’t harm her. Every organ inside of me started to scream. My legs began to shake, and soon enough, Yoseob and Junhyung realized what was happening.

   “You lied!” Junhyung screeched. “You told me you took the emergency cells!”

   “Hyunseung…” Yoseob whispered. “You cut yourself, didn’t you?”

   “I… I did.” I gasped under my breath. “I was thirsty and you guys were outside without any help, so I… I decided to drink from myself…”

   “You idiot! Every normal vampire knows that it will only worsen the thirst if you drink your own blood!” Junhyung grabbed my collar and lifted my feet off the ground. Normally I could fight him, but the thirst was so unbearable that I ignored him and stared at the girl. “You should have told us what was happening and stayed inside! Or you could just have my blood! Nobody would know if we broke the rule! We were on a mission!”

   “Only you two did.” I grabbed his shoulder and started to shake. Realizing that I was going through a difficult situation, Junhyung put me down, but he still mumbled. “Idiot.”

   “There’s no point arguing now, Junhyung.” Yoseob said and losen his collar, revealing his neck. “Take mine, Hyunseung. It will be okay.”

   Yoseob’s scent was far from wonderful – it was a complicated mixture of morals and vampires’ blood; but somehow I was still attracted to the girl’s scent more. I shook my head weakly and grabbed Junhyung’s arm.

   “No, I can’t.”

   “Did it stop?” Yoseob asked after he walked towards the girl and blocked my view. Still, the scent didn’t stop bothering my mind.

   “No…” I moaned and kneeled down. It felt like millions of needles were stinging my brain, and even worse, the scent became stronger than ever.

   “Stop… stop it… please…” I pleaded. “Please stop me. I don’t think I can bear this anymore. Just kill me if I try to harm her or something. Please…”

   “That’s it!” Junhyung growled and hugged me tight. “No one is going to kill anyone. Yoseob, catch a prey here. I will look after Hyunseung and __________.”

   “Okay.” Yoseob buttoned his collar and walked outside. At that very moment, something exploded inside my head. I pushed Junhyung aside and rushed towards the girl.

   “HYUNSEUNG, NO!” Junhyung screamed. Yoseob instantly appeared between me and the girl, but got pushed away just like Junhyung. Every of their efforts were too late. I got near the girl and bit her neck with my sharp fangs. Her sweet, wonderful hot blood came into my mouth, and she didn’t even moan like other victims. That was extremely wonderful. I took large sips of that incredible blood, pleasing my overdried throat.

   “Argh…” The girl turned and moaned weakly. At that moment, I woke up from something that seemed to be a very, very long dream. I left her neck and saw two little holes that my fangs made. I can also see the blood on my hands, see the fright on Yoseob and Junhyung’s face and see that the girl’s face is getting paler and paler.

   “No… no…” I whispered and stepped back. “No…”

   But the truth is always ugly. I still felt the scent of her blood inside my mouth. I still remembered everything.

   “Hyunseung…” It was Yoseob. He made me feel scared. After all, it was my mistake.

   “No!” I staggered back. “Don’t touch me! Stay away! This was my entire fault!”

   “Hyunseung!” Junhyung screamed my name as I rushed through the door and ran away. Hot tears were fallling on my cheeks, but I ignored and kept running. The moonlight – my only companion – shone its brightest lights, which only made my heart more hurtful.