It was a quiet night. Too eerily quiet to be exact. Ten shadows emerged from the dark forest approaching a small cottage. Slithering stealthily into the house, they quickly found their targets: one man and one woman. They were alliances with one of the princes, sending information of passing Akatsuki members and/or other vampires. A flame flickered off as they silently advanced toward the couple.

Jong Dae's POV:

“Who are you working under?” demanded a low voice. He was Park Seung Hyun, the leader of the Akatsuki; old and aging, yet still strong and fierce as a lion. Seung Hyun’s power was swordsmanship; he wielded any sharp, metal weapon, be it sword or spear-- just anything.

“Our lives were going to be spared!” cried the woman, falling to her knees.

“Please, we only did this to survive!” her partner begged.

“That’s what they all say,” Lee Jong In spat as he teleported from the corner of the room to the couple, snarling in their faces. He was my sunbae by a few years; a very enthusiastic and impassioned vampire.

­“Stay back!” boomed Seung Hyun.

Jong In slunk a few steps back, bowing his head to Seung Hyun in obedience.

“Why don’t you tell us, Mr. and Mrs. Burke,” Seung Hyun continued, returning back to the mission.

“W-We can’t say! We’ll be dead!”

“Either way, I see that you’ll end up dead. You either tell us or you don’t. That’s all there is to it,” Hana simply stated. She was also my sunbae and Seung Hyun’s captain. She was like a mother, aunt, and sister to all of us; her power was healing.

The couple quivered in fear. I noticed that the woman kept on looking warily from side to side, always quickly glancing at the closet in the corner of the room.

“We’ll give you 10 seconds,” said Seung Hyun, “and that will be all.”

A moment of silence passed.

“I guess that settles it!” Jong In happily exclaimed with a delightful grin spreading across his face.

“Jong In!” reprimanded Hana as she narrowed her eyes at him. Jong In was always too excited when the end result would be this. I hated that part of him. It disgusted me to think that someone would take pleasure in killing someone… or anything.

Jong In smiled sweetly at her, batting his eyelashes.

“Hana, Jong In, I leave it to you,” our leader sigh as started walking towards the front door.

I turned away from the scene. I was never one for seeing bloody deaths.

The dank smell of fresh blood soon wafted through the air. The members took a deep whiff and softly groaned.

“Leader, are we allowed to?” Jun Ki asked quietly. He was one of the young ones in our group.

“No, you may not drink! Now let’s move out!”

Everyone began filing out after him with drooping shoulders. It was another failed mission after all and they couldn’t drink any blood either. So far all alliances have been stubborn in not telling us who they were working for. Six princes were left now, and yet we still have no clue who the original traitor was working for.

I lingered in the back, just within reach of the cottage, waiting for the others to go ahead first.  I was still curious about why that woman was nervously glancing at the closet. And that’s when I heard a small cry. Ears perking up, I located the sound of the cry and ventured back into the dark space, and slowly approached the closet. I opened it and something small was rustling underneath the cover of a blanket in a basket. Lifting the blanket up, I found a small infant whimpering. Immediately I reached for the baby and picked it up, cradling it in my arms. Its scent told me that it was a baby girl, almost a year old. Looking at the fragile, innocent baby, I felt a sudden closeness to her and I knew that I could not abandon her. I clutched her closely to my chest and sprinted back into the forest where Seung Hyun was leading the group.

“Leader, I found a baby girl in the closet!”

“A baby! How sweet!” clapped Jong In as he eyed the infant.

I glared at him. “Don’t even think about it Jong In.”

“What?! I—“

“We will keep her,” decided Seung Hyun amidst our argument. And he continued leading the way.

My eyes lit up. “Really? Thank you, Leader!” I called. Jeez, no question at all? That’s really weird…

“She will serve as a good mediator,” murmured Sora, another elder member.

“Psch! How are you supposed to take care of a baby?” Jong In chortled, striding next to me. “You’re not even a mother! Not even a girl at least!”

“Hana will help me take care of her, right, Hana?” I asked as I caught up beside her, peering into her face with puppy eyes.

She stared at me with hardened eyes. I blinked. “Pweasee? Buing buing~!”

Hana rolled her eyes. “Alright, Jong Dae. I’ll help,” sighing in defeat.

“What’re you gonna name her?” peeped a curious Jun Ki.

“Hmm…” I gazed more closely at the now sleeping baby. “I’ll name her Ji Ae, meaning treasure and love.”