You pulled up the hoodie over your head and lay down onto your bed. You ignored the blankets, which had been kicked onto the floor from the morning; the cold never really bothered you anyway.

Lee Jinki's visit was a major shock to your psyche; it had taken you a while to stop the tremors in your hand and it was a long wait for the redness of your eyes to fade. Afterwards, you could not focus on the hospital rounds - the patients' faces would often morph into Jinki's round face. Even Jocelyn had looked worried when she had dropped by in the late afternoon.

Lee Jinki's words haunted you; 'Who are you?’ The unspoken words in the sadness of his eyes also reflected back at you whenever you caught a glimpse of your own pale face; 'Don't you know me?'

Yes; you knew who and what Lee Jinki was, even if he did not know who you were. Lee Jinki was a war hero of the Red Court. A vampire.

Thick clouds of incense clogged at your senses and you allowed it to seduce you to a drugged sleep. You controlled the Dream-Cycle and returned to the memories you kept close to you. They were the pillar of strength you frequently relied upon, to remind you of your quest and duty. Ironically, they were also your worst nightmares. God, did you wish it wasn't so...

It was mid-August and the harvest season was ending across China. The Palace servants were happily preparing for the lunar festival, which celebrates the successful harvest. Everything was festive in the golden light of the dying afternoon; the clean-swept streets lined with colourful silk lanterns, the strips of paper hanging from the trees, and the delicious smells of sizzling meat and sugar desserts. The anticipation of the servants for the nobles which the Red Court would receive was evident in their rapid whispers and cloy giggles. The mid-August festivals were normally a highlight for you and your sister. Now, the day was marred with horror and blood.

You desperately tried to wipe away the drying blood from your hands; the silk handkerchief ruined from your efforts. Your feet burned from the unfamiliar strain and pounding from running in high heels... because you were being pursued by the Court's soldiers. You had become their prime suspect for the death of your sister.

They chased you across the white marble bridge, with its golden carp and pink lotus motifs. Red dragons - the emblem of the Red Court - danced amongst the fish and flowers. The bridge was one of the many entries into the temple complex that the Red Court ostentatiously maintained on their extensive private lands. The Red Court, one of the major power houses of vampires across the world, was hidden away in a nearly forgotten province of China. But contrary to the world's expectation of an unknown Chinese province, the lands of the Red Court were self-reliant and technologically advanced. The lands also had one of the most up-to-date modern hospitals - unregistered, of course - to care for the residents, as no one was ever permitted to leave the borders of the Red Court. You were training to become a doctor within this hospital before you were chosen for the Palace.

You hardly noticed the steps that took you up to the second floor balcony of the temple. You ran across the shadows of the columns of the colonnade. The current King of the Red Court was a historian and so favoured the aesthetics of the old Emperors; which was why you started to curse the King for the impractical costumes you were forced to wear. The heavy cloths of your dress kicked between your legs and the shoulder straps of the intricately embroidered summer tunic had loosened and now hung down your arms.

The pursuing shouts sounded from behind and, now, in front of you. You stopped and adjusted your face mask, your chest heaving from the exertion, and desperately looked about. They mustn't catch you now!

You looked over the balcony and saw the neatly stacked hay bales. The farmers had been out all week harvesting their fields, and the tribute to the Palace had finally arrived that sometime during the afternoon. You hitched up the bottoms of your dress, judged the distance, and jumped. You staggered a little after you rolled off the hay and landed back onto your feet, but you bravely kept on running. The sounds of your heels echoed ahead of you.

"Wait!"

You almost looked back at the sound of Onew's voice but bit your tongue down - he must not know! You remembered your jade hair pin - it was the Court's way to identify a female's rank and identity - and so you yanked it off and slipped them into a pocket. Your long black hair fell down your back and across your shoulders.

Just then, an arm appeared from one of the side rooms and pulled you inside its shadows.

"Luna!"

You looked at your captor and almost fainted with shock, "Princess Victoria!"

"Luna," Victoria pulled you further inside and put a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, effectively clamping your own lips shut from your years of obedience. "Luna," she continued, "I will spare you the lecture of how stupid you are being right now - and this is incredibly stupid!" She fell silent when the shadows of the pursuing soldiers ran across the doorway.

"Do you trust me?" Victoria harshly whispered into your ear when they were gone.

You nodded, "Of course!"

"Then follow me."

You followed Victoria to the Royal Stables. You noted that she had just returned from a ride: her horse was shining from a coat of fresh sweat, and you noticed then that the voluminous sleeves of Victoria’s dress were tied back by leather cords and she was wearing her riding boots. You frowned that she had done so without your knowledge.

"How am I to do my duty when you don't tell me of your plans?" you scolded her.

She looked back at you and mimicked your frown. "Luna, now is not the time to tell me off. You were nowhere to be found when I went out. In fact, I went out to find you."

You bent your head in shame. "I'm sorry," you apologised.

She waved it away, "Now is not the time for that." She took your hands and inspected them. She rubbed at the blood staining in the crevices of your fingernails. "Luna, your sister?" she quietly asked.

You bit your lip and shook your head. You fought back the tears and spastically gulped back down the lump that formed in your throat.

"Oh, Luna," Victoria pulled you into a delicate hug. You and she had never hugged before; both of you had been mindful of your statuses but, nevertheless, had formed a sisterly bond through the years of your service as her Maid of Honour.

"What happened?" Victoria asked.

You shook your head, "I don't know."

Victoria stiffened and you pulled away, confused. "Princess?" you asked her and she led you to an overturn barrel. She gestured for you to sit and you obeyed.

"Luna, listen very carefully and don't interrupt me," she instructed. "Sulli was betrayed; by who, I don't know. The nobles are whispering about an event and I am afraid that your sister was involved somehow. No one is telling me anything when I ask about this secret event, but my gut feeling is that it will hurt the Royal family because they are targeting the Luna's. You could be next, and I can't have that! Luna, you have to help me."

"Then I have to let Amber know; Minseok too...” your voice trailed as you absorbed the information.

"No!" Victoria vehemently denied, "You mustn't let anyone know. Remember what the Court and the nobles are like; believe no-one! Your sister was led to that place, and by someone she trusted. And she was killed!"

"She was killed..." you numbly repeated and absently rubbed at your fingernails.

"Luna, please pay attention!" Victoria begged, "There are traitors inside the Red Court. I have found out that these traitors have connections outside of our borders. Nabi Hospital is one of those. Your sister had been there! Remember last year, when she was struck down with a fever? You weren’t even allowed to see her; because it wasn't to be known that she was taken away to Nabi."

"Wait, Nabi Hospital?" The vagueness of your shock started to fade away and Victoria jumped in on the chance.

"Yes, Nabi Hospital. Luna, I need you to go outside and infiltrate Nabi Hospital - you have the medical training! - and find out who the traitors are and what they're up to. Go find out who is responsible for your sister's death!"

You nodded and Victoria looked at you sadly. She gently caressed your face. "I am truly sorry I am asking you to do this. I will make sure Sulli will be given the proper funeral rites," she promised.

You nodded again and Victoria stood back up and back to the business at hand. "Where is your hair pin?" You took out your jade hair pin with its ruby crescent moon. It identified you as Luna, a Maid of Honour to the Royal Family of the Red Court. The quartz gem-drops that hung from the moon symbolised your personal identity and told others of your family lineage and achievements. The jade hair pin was essentially 'you'.

"I am sorry Luna," Victoria apologised again. "I will have to take it and destroy it. You have to die in order to leave here."

“But,” you started to protest.

Victoria sadly shook her head at the unspoken question behind your tearful eyes.

'But what of Onew?'

That was five years ago.

The discordant noises of your alarm woke you up. You uncurled from the foetus position you had slept in. The incense had burnt out hours ago. You numbly stared at the dirty ceiling of your run-down apartment; slowly and carefully rebuilding the mental blocks to imprison those memories.

You had seen Victoria again after that, last week in fact. It was a surprise, to see the Princess of the Red Court out of China and on her own. She had ditched her entourage during an official stately visit to the Korean Blue Court. She told you that there will be someone admitted into Nabi Hospital, potentially someone associated with the Sulli's killers. You were to try to gain access to that person and find out anything and everything useful. There had been more deaths in China and the strain was starting to show on Victoria's thin face. She wanted it to end quickly; she was pregnant. 

"Please Luna, please help me protect my family," she had begged you.

You sighed and rolled out off the bed. You trudged towards the bathroom and automatically brushed your teeth and washed your face. Your thoughts started to drift with dread at what - or rather, who - was waiting for you at Nabi Hospital. You were glad that you had not told anyone in the hospital of your conclusion that Jinki was a vampire; but that wouldn't be maintained for too much longer. The Director will be expecting a full report of the curious patient; and then he would want the full use of Lee Jinki, a vampire, for the good of the human race. You numbly recollected the kinds of experiments routinely conducted on vampires - the pain-tolerance tests, the biochemical trials, the dissections.

You were on a time limit to confirm whether Jinki was the person Victoria tipped you off on; your initial private consultations with Jinki would not be monitored by the Director and so you could use it to interrogate him about Sulli's death and the threat against Victoria's family.

You looked back at your drawn and white face; you were on the brink of crying again. How do you start - what can you believe? - when Lee Jinki was also your Onew?