CHAPTER 3

[Jessica’s POV]

            I watched her drive off through the window of my living room. What a strange girl… especially for a vampire. The only vampires I’ve come to encounter had red, bloodthirsty eyes. Never have I met such beautiful violet ones. They gave off a warm aura, like she could be trusted. Maybe that’s why I agreed to let her bring me home, not to mention it was a rather grungy part of town.

I yawned, stretching my arms above my head, as I trudged up the stairs. I hadn’t realized how much time had passed. The drive only felt like minutes… when in fact, it was nearly an hour!

I suddenly remembered my sister. Quickly, I checked my phone.

There were 15 missed calls, and 10 messages. I skimmed through the messages that mainly consisted of, ‘Why aren’t you answering your phone?’ or ‘Pick up!’

I got to the final message when it wasn’t from Krystal, but Amber.

I put the receiver to my ear and listened.

“Hey, this is Amber… uh… sorry if I’m bothering you, but you weren’t answering your phone earlier so… um.” There was a pause, with muffled voices in the background. “I just wanted to say that… Krystal is going to stay over… at my house.” There was yet another pause, but this time the voices weren’t so muffled. I could hear murmurs of another voice. ‘Amber hurry up! I’m hungry!’ I strained my ears to listen.‘Just hold on! I’m on the phone!’ ‘Ugh, fine. I’m going.’ ‘W-wait! Krys!’ With that, the message cut out.

My eyebrows twisted in confusion. Weird.

I shrugged and stretched my arms over my head. Today’s events were a little too much for me. I lay down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Sooyoung… what an interesting name... I gently closed my eyes.

Suddenly coming to the realization…

“MY CAR!!!!!” I screamed and buried my face into my pillow. “How am I going to get around without my car? AIIIIIISH!!!!!” I flailed around on my bed in frustration. “I should have just stayed home…” I mumbled and cursed to myself.

[Sooyoung’s POV]

I pulled up to the elementary school waiting for the two kids to come out. I had to admit that I was pretty wiped from what happened today. It’s been awhile since I’ve actually been in action so it makes sense that I was so winded.

I stepped out of the car and leaned on the side. What a beautiful day. I commented, taking in the scents of fresh air.

“Sooooooyooooounngg~~~~!!” A small voice called out to me from a distance and I waved at the small child who jumped into my arms. “Hey kiddo, where’s your sister?” I asked and she just pointed behind her.

“Good afternoon Sooyoung-unnie.” Seohyun greeted and I smiled, greeting her back.

“Good afternoon, young miss.”

I helped them into the car and we drove off.

“Let’s go get some ice-cream!” Yoona shouted from the backseat, hopping over my shoulder.

“Sit back and put your seatbelt on. It’s—“

“Dangerous and a violation of traffic safety rules, I know, I know. Yeesh.” Yoona mocked her sister’s tone.

I chuckled softly and stopped by a local ice-cream parlour.

“YAY!!” Yoona jumped for joy, while Seohyun held a blank expression, but I could tell she was excited too.  

They rushed over to the stand as Yoona began ordering numerous flavours. I had to calm her down as Seohyun ordered a small vanilla cone.

“Bubblegum! No, Oreo! No wait! Brownie fudge!” Yoona ogled at all of the flavours, drool seeping out of the corner of .

“Okay Yoon, make up your mind, or Taeyeon-umma might get worried if we take too long.”

Yoona put her fingers to her lips and furled her brows, clearly in concentration. “What kind… what kind…” she mumbled.

“Unnie, if you don’t order soon, you’re getting a vanilla cone.” Seohyun warned, the rest of her cone.

Yoona stuck her tongue out at Seohyun. “What kind should I get Unnie?” she asked staring up at me.

I stared through the little window and scanned the flavours. It was a little hard to see with my sunglasses, so I raised them a bit to see clearer.

“Omo… you have really beautiful eyes.” I heard the worker on the other side comment.

I raised my head to meet her gaze. She was grinning widely while staring at me with curious eyes. I quickly lowered my glasses and coughed awkwardly.

“Thanks.”

“Are they coloured contacts or…?” she asked curiously.

“No their natural.” I said calmly, but mentally smacked myself for the honesty.

“Oh how lucky…” she smiled again.

Lucky? I felt more cursed if anything. Even in the vampire community, I was considered a freak of nature. If I had the choice, I would wear different coloured contacts, but they never made a difference. The purple would always find a way to show through. Well at least she doesn’t seem suspicious.

“What flavours are most popular?” I asked eager to change the subject.

She looked up in thought for a moment before answering. “Among kids, cotton candy or bubblegum is the most popular. In general, its usually cookies & cream or maple nut.”

I glanced down at Yoona. “Any of those sound good to you?”

She smiled and pointed at the glass. “Bubblegum!”

I ruffled her hair and repeated to the cashier. “I’ll take 1 scoop of bubblegum and 2 scoops of cookies & cream.”

She nodded, and I handed her some money.

“Here you are… have a good day!” she brightly smiled.

I smiled back and we sat down at a bench outside.

“Thanks Unnie~” Yoona happily swung her legs back and forth, while Seohyun sat quietly reading a book.

“You’re welcome.” I patted her head.

We sat there for a while, watching the cars go by, when one of them came screeching to a halt. Three men wearing camo attire, with bandanas around their faces came out of their car. I narrowed my eyes. Without a doubt, they were Bounty hunters. They rushed into the ice-cream parlour that we were just in.

After much screams and ruckus, the men came out, pulling out the worker that served us. She was weeping and trying to fight back, but the men held her down.Instinctively, I held Yoona and Seohyun back protectively as we watched the scene.

“Wow, this is a feisty one!” I heard one of the men chuckle.

“Yeah! What a catch! I’m sure we’ll get good pay for this one!” The other man chuckled along with him.

Wait was she a vampire? I hadn’t even noticed. Her kind nature and smile really threw me off. The young woman locked eyes with me for a moment. Her eyes now seemed helpless and pleading as if I was the last option. I sadly turned away and she hung her head low in defeat.

“Finally gave in huh?” The third man scoffed. “Let’s get out of here.”

They pushed her into the car and screeched off.

I clenched my jaw and my fists. I wanted to help her, but I couldn’t risk exposing myself especially with Seo and Yoona beside me. I felt the anger in me building and the darkness in my heart begin to seep its way out. I felt useless, and almost like a traitor to my own kind. Before becoming completely immersed, I felt a small tug on my shirt and it brought me back.  

“Unnie… why did those people take the nice lady away?” Yoona asked innocently.

I sighed deeply. “Because they are not nice people. They don’t like people like me.” I said calmly.

She tilted her head. “Why don’t they like you? You are the nicest and bestest Unnie ever!”

“I know right?” I replied sarcastically.

She nodded seriously. “If anyone tries to take Unnie away, I’m going to kick them with my super kick! Hiyaa!” she got off the bench and demonstrated her “super kick” that consisted of kicking forcefully into the air.