I felt numb . . . and cold. Everything was dark and the smell of rot and many, many years lingered in the thick, damp air. Where was I? I tried to look around, tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t feel, but my body was weak, drained.

   Where the HELL was I?

   That’s when I heard the voices, they were in another room, muffled by the fog that clouded my ears. “I can’t save him . . . his wound is beyond my strength to heal.” A voice said. It was strangely familiar, I couldn’t place a name to it, but I was sure I recognized the softness.

   “Then there is but one hope if you wish for his survival.” Another answered.

   Who’s survival? What were they talking about? I realized that they weren’t in another room as my hearing slowly became better, the fog in my ears cleared and I could tell they were just a few feet away.

   “No . . . I don’t want that for him . . . not him.” The first voice said, immediately after I could hear a whining sound, like someone crying.

   “I’m so sorry,” A new, weak voice sobbed. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

   “How many times do I have to tell you to stay AWAY FROM THE BLOODY CITY?!” The second voice hissed in fury, making my insides twist with fear. “You STUPID dog!”

   “Calm down Nosferatu,” The first voice interjected. “He’s already suffering enough . . . We don’t have much time to make the choice.”

   Everything went quiet. The silence drove me crazy and I tried to look around and see what was going on, but again, my movements were stopped my some unknown force. It was like I was too weak to lift my own head, so I gave up, and just listened.

   Yet another new voice broke the silence, this one older, more sultry. “I say we take him back to the site and let nature take its course . . . there’s no other logical decision, is there?”

   Again, silence.

   I waited to hear a reply and then got bored, falling asleep again. “I know what you’re thinking and the answer is ‘NO’.” The first voice said after a moment. My body was getting heavier, tired, sinking into whatever it was I was laying on.

   “It may be his only hope for survival . . . you want him to live, do you not?” The second voice pleaded.

   “Not like this,” The first voice yelled, quickly calming down again. “Not this life.”

   “But it’s HIS choice, isn’t it?” The second voice said. When there was no reply I started falling asleep again, or maybe I wasn’t falling asleep, maybe I was falling into darkness. That’s what it felt like, letting go, leaving everything, becoming lost.

   It was surprisingly peaceful.

   The loud thud of a thick wooden door woke me up again and then not even a moment later, a voice hovered over top of me. “You there,” The voice said, it was the second voice, and for some reason I just knew he was talking to me. “Do you want to live?”

   I tried to speak, but couldn’t, so I tried to nod . . . it was weak and barely a movement but it was the best I could do.

   “Enough to leave behind everything you know?” The voice asked me.

   I thought about it for a moment. Did my will to live, overpower my love for my life? What was my life? My family? My School? My friends . . . what friends? If I had to leave behind something, what would it mean to me?

   Almost nothing.

   Still, I was hesitant to nod, but nod I did.

   The second my head stopped moving, I heard a light sigh. “Then the decision is made . . . I only hope you do not come to regret it.”

   And then darkness took me.

My eyes flew open and then I winced at the sunlight coming in through my bedroom curtains. Ughhh, what the hell? My eyes adjusted slowly and I sat up in my bed, blinking and feeling cold after that horrible, horrible dream.

   I lifted my shirt just to make sure my body was normal, everything seemed okay, nothing broken or bleeding.

   But still, something felt weird.

   I checked the time and saw that I still had forty-five minutes to get ready before I needed to leave for school, so a long hot shower was exactly what I needed to shake off this cold that sunk into my bones. After washing my hair a few times, I grabbed my towel and stepped out the shower, almost choking when I saw my reflection in the partly foggy mirror.

   I scanned my torso and waistline, blinking at the muscles that had grown overnight. Since WHEN have I had the body of pop star? I questioned my reflection and then rubbed my eyes, making sure I was seeing right.

   A smirk spread over my lips as I made a muscle with my arm and a large bicep bulged out from under the skin. Damn. I’m so awesome I build muscle in my sleep! “I knew all those hours or ing would pay off.” I didn’t think they’d build up my abs though, but hell, I wasn’t complaining.

   I wore a white beater under a plaid fitted shirt, attempting to show off my new beauty. I went to brush my hair and raised an eyebrow when I noticed that it had grown like . . . an inch. With a shrug, I styled and gelled it, smirking at how y I was. All of the es at school would bow down to the y of Jang Wooyoung. Hell yeah~

   Grabbing my backpack, I ran downstairs, expecting to see my mom in the kitchen ready to give me a bowl of whatever crap she had cooked up today. But she wasn’t there.

   Actually, both my parents and my sister were sitting in the living room . . . staring at the TV.

   When I walked into the room, they all turned their heads in a weird slow motion and looked at me with the same empty face. Creepy. “Hey guys . . . I’m going to school now.” I mumbled and tried not to look them in the eyes.

   “Have a nice day, dear.” My mom said with an empty smile and tranquil tone.

   “Drive safe.” My dad added and then the three of them all turned their heads back to the TV in the same slow motion.

   I almost ran out of my house, blinking when my car wasn’t in the driveway. I went back inside and called out. “Hey, do you guys know where my car is?” I waited for a reply.

   Nothing.

   When I went back into the living room, the three were still sitting there, eyes fixated on the TV. “Guys, do you know where my car’s at?”

   My dad looked at me. “Take mine . . . you can have it, son.” He handed me his keys and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. This all felt weird, like some trick, but I didn’t want to be late for school so I took my father’s car keys and waved again, this time sprinting out of the house.

   When I got to school, I got out of the car, looking around for a familiar Jeep but failing to find it. I frowned, for whatever reason, and just kept walking. The school seemed . . . normal. Like the way they were before. No one was smiling, no one was cheering, a few bullies roamed the halls and smashed some kids into their lockers and different cliques mingled together in different corners. Everything was . . . just normal.

   I walked up to my locker and blinked when the one next to mine was cracked open. Curiosity killed my common sense and I opened the locker all the way, blinking at the empty space inside Nichkhun’s locker.

   I looked around, paranoid, but for just reasons. I looked for Taecyeon, he was nowhere in sight. And then . . . one of the girls that I would always see hanging on the giant’s arm walked past, I think her name was Yoona, or something. “Hey~” I grabbed her arm and she turned to me with a disgusted look. “Hey . . . do you know where Taecyeon is today?”

   She looked at me like I was just some creepy guy. “Who?”

   I blinked. “T-Taec . . . yeon . . . You know, he’s really tall . . . you’re always hanging on him.”

   She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a weirdo . . . don’t talk to me.” She walked away.

   “Y-Yah!” I yelled after her, turning to the next people I could see. “Do you remember Taecyeon?” A couple of people looked at me weirdly and shook their heads. “You know . . . Taec, and Khun?” The girl in my arms shook me off her and clinged to her boyfriend who was looking pissed off. “Guys, you’re telling me you don’t know the two most popular guys in school?!”

   “Back the off, dude!” The guy pushed me into the lockers and then grabbed his girlfriend and they both hurried down the hallway.

   I got up, looking at everyone in horror. This was weird.

   This was beyond weird.

School passed slowly. People were still talking about how much of a nut job I was, and at lunch, a few guys chased me around the halls until I finally hid in a place those idiots would never step foot in . . . the library.

   I curled up in the back section of the library, near the old yearbooks.

   I needed to escape this place. Everyone was clearly going insane, like they had their minds erased or something, they were acting creepy, like my parents . . . Oh my god, what if my parents had their minds erased too?!

   Then . . . what if the car accident really happened?

   And that dream I had, what was it? What was going on?! I clutched my head and curled into a tight ball on the floor. My head ached, like it had been all day, pulsing and throbbing and digging into my brain like sharp claws tearing at the inside of my head.

   I heard footsteps and then peeked my head from around the bookshelf.

   The only person was at the other end of the library . . . they were walking, but there’s no way I could hear their footsteps on the carpet. I stared at their feet, blinking when I timed the steps and heard their very joints moving.

   I hid behind the bookshelf as fast as I could and tried not to let myself think that I was crazy.

   No no no no no, this isn’t happening! Another shriek of pain split up my head and I winced, clutching my face.

   “Are you okay?” A voice asked and I jumped back in surprise, looking up to see the school librarian looking at me concerned. She was in her mid-twenties and rather homely looking.

   I looked at her and then stared at the skin on her neck that could be seen above her v-neck blouse. I focused on the peach pigment of her skin and then watched as she breathed in, the vein slightly rose on her neck when she gulped silently. I could see every microscopic hair on her smooth neck and started counting them, by the time I got to thirty her voice pulled me away from my fixation. “Maybe you should see the nurse.” She said softly, stepping towards me.

   I backed away, inhaling deeply and smelling her. I was completely freaked out. I mean, it’s not like she smelled bad, like she hadn’t showered, it was just . . . I could smell her. “N-No . . . I’ll be fine.” I ran out of there as fast as I could.

   My head throbbed the whole way to the front desk.  I had a plan. If nobody remembered Nichkhun and Taecyeon, there was one thing that would remember . . . the registration file on the computer at the front desk. All students have to register when they first attend, so I should be able to find them there, even if no one remembered.

I snuck past the front desk, looking around like the paranoid crazy person I was, making sure everything was clear. The lady that sat at the desk got up to use the bathroom, so I didn’t have much time. I sat in her chair and wiggled ‘cause the seat was still hot from her sitting in it so long, whatever, I pulled up the student files.

   There were so ing many. There was no way in hell I’d be able to search them all in time . . . I smirked as a of genius crashed over me and I pulled up the search bar, typing the single name in and clicking ‘search’.

   Within a second, a file popped up and I opened it. Horvejukul, Nichkhun. Eighteen years old, parents . . . I felt a sudden drop in my stomach as I read the word ‘deceased’ where his parent’s names should have been.

   Hearing a toilet flush in the lady’s room, I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the address, tucking the paper in my pocket as I ran out to my car. Looking around to make sure I wasn’t followed, I stared at the piece of paper for a long time and then finally typed the directions into my GPS, pulling out of the parking lot.

I drove for half an hour, following the stupid animated voice wherever it told me to go, and when I finally stopped, I found myself in front of a rather large and old house. It looked creepy and abandoned. After checking the address three times, I sighed and got out of the car, making my way up to the front door.

   I knocked.

   Nothing happened.

   I knocked again.

   Still no answer.

   “Well, well . . . look who we have here.” A vaguely recognizable and sultry voice said from behind and I spun around, looking around quickly. There was nothing. “Oh, don’t be like that, you remember me, don’t you? I can tell by the way your heart’s racing . . .” The voice said again and I scanned everywhere, searching for where the voice came from and blinking when my eyes landed on a small, dark grey, cat. Noooooo. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon, and neither did that master’s~” The cat said.

   I screamed and forced myself back, realizing that the only thing behind me was the giant door that was closed. The cat looked at me, flicking its tail. I could tell it was going to pounce at me or something. “Y-Yah . . . don’t eat me!” I warned the talking demon cat.

   Demon cat.

   Since when did my life turn into a horror movie?

   The cat looked unamused. “No worries, I don’t eat tainted human meat.” The cat stood up and walked over to me, pressing its’ paw against the door and suddenly the hinges creaked and the door opened. “I assume you’re here to see master Nichkhun and master Taecyeon . . . they’re not here, but you’re welcome to wait.” He looked back at me, flicking his tail and meowing. “Come along, I won’t wait all day~” The cat disappeared down a hallway.

   Did he expect me to follow him? He must be crazy.

   Before I realized what I was doing, I was following the talking cat down the hallway.

   The inside of the house was just as old as the outside, and it all freaked me out. It was like some bad movie prop, strangely more scary looking in reality. The hallway was lined with bookshelves with old leather bound books, manuscripts – mostly in other languages – and a few odd jars and displays here and there, showing random (and weird) things. It was lord of the cobwebs in this hallway.

   “Right this way, young master.” The cat sat in front of me and then pointed into the room on our right with its tail.

   I looked into the room and was surprised by how well lit and oddly comfortable it looked. I stepped inside and took a seat on the big leather couch next to the fireplace, looking around the room. A painting hung over the fireplace in a spectacular gold frame.

   It was a painting of a man, or a teenager from the look of it, it was an old portrait – like some Victorian kind. The young man wore black robes, the same color as his long hair and deep eyes. He was actually hot, very exotic looking, definitely Italian, with a blend of sharp and subtle features.

   Suddenly, I remembered about the cat and looked around, realizing that the creature had disappeared and I was now alone in this creepy old house. I started to panic. This wasn’t the place I wanted to be. What was I even doing here? Even if I found Nichkhun, what the hell would I do? Just ask him why he didn’t go to school and make accusations? What as I even accusing him of? I thought about this whole day, this whole situation . . . it was too much for my mind and my head started to throb again. I gripped the sides of my face and hissed in pain, trying to will the aching and pulsing shrieks of pain to go away.

   My stomach started to hurt, not the typical stomach ache either. It felt like something was ripping my skin open, I felt all the wounds from the car accident all over again and it burned and made me want to vomit. My senses were going crazy. I was hearing things that I couldn’t name, feeling things that weren’t there, I smelled everything from the dust on the floor to the birds outside. It was like my body was on overload, taking in every possible thing that there was to take in. I threw my head back and screamed.

   And then silence.

   Just like that, things were back to normal, but not really.

   My senses were still new – heightened – but I had an unexplained control over them. Like a storm that had passed through my mind and now left a wreckage for my brain to clear up.

   I heard a thumping sound and spun around, eyes fixated on the door. As I tried to put a name to the sound, I then heard footsteps and quiet breathing. I blinked, staring at the doorway and no more than four seconds later, a figure turned the corner, stepping into the room and pausing when he saw me standing there.

   I relaxed and was, for once, relieved to see Nichkhun.

   “What are you doing in here?” He asked before I could even speak.

   “You weren’t at school . . .” I answered, guardedly.

   “How did you find this place?!” He closed the open book he had in his hand and glared at me. “What is your real intention here, speak quickly!” I stared at him, confused by his defensive nature, it was like he was scared . . . but of what?

   When I didn’t answer, he raised his hand, fingers extended towards me. “I don’t want to hurt you . . . so just tell me.” He warned me.

   I was so confused as to what the hell he was doing. “I got the address from the school’s records . . . and I drove here because no one remembered you or Taecyeon . . . everything’s been weird this day and I remember . . . I remember hearing your voice in a dream, but I’m beginning to think that it wasn’t a dream at all,” I said, feeling so much better when he lowered his hand that he obviously considered a weapon. “I want some answers, then I’ll leave.”

   Nichkhun hung his head forward with a frown. “I’m sorry,” he said. I already didn’t like his tone. “I have answers . . . but I’m not sure you’ll like them.”

   “I don’t care. Tell me what’s going on . . . What’s wrong with my body? Why am I having these headaches and crazy lapses of my senses . . . what happened after the car accident?”

   He looked up at me again and said slowly. “You were going to die . . . and so, we changed you . . . into a vampire.”

I stared at him, motionless as he explained that he himself was a wizard – I knew he had the whole mothering school tricked, I knew it, I ing knew that wasn’t ‘all that’– which explains a lot. And Taecyeon, though still hot and incredibly y, was a werewolf . . . explaining the reason why he was nowhere in sight around the full moon. Apparently he was the big black mound I ran into on the highway, thus crashing into the woods and impaling myself on a tree branch. Damn my inability to remember to put on a seatbelt.

   The feelings I was having, the heightened senses and headaches, were all the side effects of the change taking place. From what Nichkhun told me, it would still be a few days before the headaches went away for good.

   The vampire who changed me was the very man in the portrait above the fireplace.

   I chuckled a little, thinking about all of this as it registered slowly. It was like some teenage novel. A vampire, werewolf and a wizard all living in the same house with a talking cat. Which reminded me. “What about the cat, is he like some secret demon?” I asked.

   “Jeonggam?” Nichkhun chuckled and shook his head. “He’s human . . . well, he was human, but after breaking up with a witch . . . let’s just say he’s human at heart~” After a quiet chuckle, Nichkhun suddenly looked sad again. He looked at me with his sad eyes and I couldn’t help but feel only a couple of my heartstrings pulled from the glimmer in his eyes. “I’m really sorry that we ed your life up . . . I feel so guilty.”

   I raised an eyebrow at the nonsense words that were coming from his lips. “What are you talking about?” I snorted. “ed my life up? Really?” I shook my head and he shot me a questionable glance. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I wasn’t the ‘coolest’ dude around . . . and my family life, not the greatest . . . So now I’m a vampire, so what? That’s more excitement than I’ve ever known.”

   “Say that after a hundred years and everyone you know is dead.” He sighed.

   “I’ll still know you, right?” I blushed when the words fell out of my mouth. “I mean, do wizards have long life spans like vampires?”

   “Not quite as long, but still longer than humans.” Nichkhun smiled from ear to ear. “Yah, do you want to stay for dinner?”

   “Depends on what you’re cooking.” I said bluntly.

   “I can make whatever you like,” He wiggled his fingers at me. “I’m really quite the magical chef.” The wizard said with a cheesy grin. I realized then exactly how much of a dork he was.

I leaned against the wall, watching Nichkhun cook. He actually knew how to do it without using magic, but I thought it was stupid since it basically just wasted time, though I didn’t say that. I could tell he was trying to show off to me.

   As he cooked, the front door opened and a foul wet dog smell hit my nose. I held my breath as the footsteps neared the kitchen. “Yo, Khun~” Taecyeon yelled through the hallway. “What’s for din–” the tall guy stopped and when he saw me in the kitchen with the wizard. “Oh, hey . . . y-you’re here.” He looked nervous and then looked away.

   “He knows the whole story, Taec.” Khun said as he closed the oven and looked back at us. “He’s also staying for dinner.”

   The tallest guy looked at me and then nodded. “S-Sorry about the accident . . .” I recognized the tone of voice. He must have been the sobbing voice I heard in my ‘dream’.

   “Don’t worry about it~” I shrugged, trying not to be distracted by how utterly gorgeous his strong chest and broad shoulders were in the beater he was wearing.

   Taecyeon smiled and then nudged me. “Really?” His grin was infectious. “Ah, I feel so much better now about almost killing you~”

   I laughed a little, a bit nervous actually, and sat down at the table as Nichkhun carried a dish to the table that was already set and ready for dinner. “Let’s eat~” We all sat at the table, getting our plates together. I hadn’t realized how ravenously hungry I was until then. Just as I picked up my chopsticks, a deep voice scared the hell out of me and I turned around in my seat. “How kind of you all to inform me of the evening meal.”

   In the door stood a tall, lanky, young man. I’d never met him but I recognized him. He was a vampire, I could tell from his scent, it was like fire and cold. The vampire eyed me for a moment before shifting his gaze to Nichkhun. “I suppose you were distracted, though~” He mused and then suddenly appeared at the edge of the table, if I hadn’t been paying attention I wouldn’t have seen his legs moving. The vampire pulled a chair back and took a seat next to Taecyeon, he looked at me. “A pleasure to meet you again, I’m glad to see your wounds are healing nicely . . . as you are taking to the transformation quite well.” He flashed a crooked grin and I could faintly see his razor sharp canines.

   I gulped. “N-Nice to . . . meet you too.” I didn’t know what to say, so I just stared at him.

   “My name is Chansung,” The vampire introduced himself and then bowed his head only slightly, I could hear a slight accent in his voice, though he hid it well. “Questa è la casa delle tenebre . . . welcome.” I stared at the vampire’s teeth as he spoke.

   Since when was real life this . . . unreal?

to be cont.