“Acting like that is only going to make her stay here more difficult, you idiot,” Jonghyun said, smacking the younger vampire on the head.

“Aish, alright,” Taemin rolled his eyes and took a step back, holding his hands up in a show of surrender.

 Suryeon spoke up from her spot behind Key, “Why can’t I leave?”

“There are rules,” the girl jumped at the sound of a voice behind her. She whirled around to find Minho sitting in an armchair with an old-looking book in his lap.

“R-rules?”

“Yes,” he replied coolly, “There are laws which vampires must abide by. Just like your people have rules,” he looked up from his book, “All supernatural beings have rules; the universal rule is not to let humans know of our existence. Each family of creatures has different rules. One rule for vampires is to not bite other super naturals. It’s forbidden.”

“What does that have to do with me leaving?” Suryeon asked curiously, moving to sit on the couch beside his chair. She leaned her elbows on the arm of the couch as she awaited his answer.

Kibum sank down beside her and Taemin followed on his other side.

Uninterested, Jonghyun and Jieun went upstairs just as Onew came down with several large, leather-bound books in his arms.

“If you leave, your existence may be found out and we could all be in great peril. There would be an investigation that would inevitably lead to my being found out as well. We are already very lucky that I have not been discovered,” Onew answered for him, setting the books on a table and sitting in an armchair beside Minho’s.

“Yes, and if they found out that we’ve broken the treaties twice, all of us could be in danger…” Key mumbled.

“What treaties? And who are ‘they’?” Suryon asked.

Taemin was the one to answer this time, “’They’ means The Aristocracy. They are like a government for the vampires,” his voice was disinterested, “They have treaties with all the other species which prohibit attacks on each other. If the treaties are broken, it’s up to the Aristocracy to punish whoever is responsible.”

Minho chimed in once more, “Your Fae folk have their ruling class. Even though your people are divided into their four elemental kingdoms, you are all ruled by one royal family. Other supernatural beings have governments as well. Vampires have their Aristocracy; Warlocks are mostly freelance workers, but we still have rules.”

“Like our rules about our powers; we are not to harm any living thing unless in self-defense,” the faerie said, glad to finally be getting answers.

Minho nodded, “Exactly.”

Suryeon’s expression changed and she rose from the couch, “But, what about my friends? They will notice that I’m gone. You said I’ve been here at least two days; my best friend is probably worried sick. Is there any way I can just visit her to tell her I’m ok?  Make sure she isn’t looking for me?”

The four males exchanged uncertain glances.

“I could visit her and be back by tonight. One of you could even come with me if you’re worried about me not coming back,” she continued trying to convince them.

“I’ll go with you, Baby Faerie,” Taemin stood up and took her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing her knuckles softly.

“Uhmm-“ she tried to back away, but couldn’t move far because of his hold.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Key rose as well, “You aren’t the best with self-control, Taemin-ah; her blood is so sweet, I don’t know if we can trust you alone with her,” he broke their hands apart, taking hers securely in his own.

“I have self-control,” Taemin grumbled and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

Onew sighed, flipping through the pages of a book, “Why don’t you let her decide who she wants to go with her?”

“Thank you,” she bowed her head to the other half being, “I know Key the best; and, no offense to the rest of you, but I trust him the most.”

“Great choice,” Key smiled, “Let’s go,” he began to lead her towards the door, her hand already locked in his.

---

After several minutes of walking, Suryeon had no idea where they were as they walked through the forest. Kibum was leading the way and seemed to know exactly where he was headed so she just followed him, happy to be out in the sunshine again.

“Why are you so giddy?” he finally asked as he walked in circles around her, his pace much faster than hers, “You keep smiling at every little thing. You’re practically dripping with joy.”

She shook her head and chuckled, “I’m a faerie, what did you expect? This is where I belong—outside.”

“I guess you’re right, it’s not really fair for us to hold you hostage,” he sighed and plopped down in the grass, “This is where I rescued you from those two idiots. I don’t know where you go from here.”

“I’m not a hostage if I stay willingly,” she dragged him back to his feet, “Come on, it’s time to go visit my friend Yunhae. That girl must be worried sick,” she kept a hold on his hand as she led him through the edge of the woods to a big river, “Yunhae!” she called out.

When there was no response, Suryeon carefully began moving the surface of the water to search for her friend.

“Your friend is in the water?” Key watched her smooth movements from where he had sat down again, mindlessly pulling blades of grass from the ground.

“Yes,” she began to use both hands to manipulate the clear blue liquid. “She’s not here,” she sighed after a while, “She must be on land…” Suryeon turned and surveyed her surroundings, “Please stop hurting the earth,” she scolded Kibum.

“Sorry,” he folded his hands in his lap, “What exactly is your friend?” he asked suspiciously.

“Hmm?” Suryeon hummed as she turned her focus back to him, “Oh, she’s a mermaid.”

“You’re best friend is a mermaid?” he all but laughed out loud.

“Yes, is there something wrong with that?” she began to wander along the river bank, looking around.

He followed her to a more narrow segment of the river as she smoothly leapt across a few large rocks to the opposite bank, “No, but isn’t that weird? You’re different species…”

“No. Why should that matter? We all are the same inside, right? So she can breathe under water, I can move it to my will. And, apparently freeze it,” Suryeon shrugged “Honestly, I don’t see why these distinctions exist. Everyone is different so why should it matter if someone has a fishtail and can breathe under water. Yunhae is my best friend and I love her.”

“Suryeon? Is that you?” a familiar female voice cried out.

“Yunhae!” Suryon turned around to face the young brunette girl standing at the tree line, her dark brown hair hung dripping over her shoulders.

“Where have you been, Yeonnie? I have been looking for you everywhere!” the girls rushed to embrace each other.

“I’m sorry, Hae. I…” Suryon glanced from Key to her friend, “something came up, but I’m fine,” she smiled apologetically.

“What happened to you?” Yunhae began, “What happened to your clothes? And your hair is darker and your skin is paler. And your eyes!” she circled her friend before stopping in front of her to inspect her eyes.

“Oh, right. I forgot… Key, can I please just tell her? I swear she won’t tell a soul,” Suryon begged the man who had risen to his feet at some point and now stood a few steps behind the pair.

“The others will get mad if they find out I let you tell,” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “I don’t know if you should…”

“Please?” she pleaded, letting her irresistible faerie charms out. That was a feature about fae; they had an enticing magnetism that could rarely be refused. It was easy for them to get whatever they wanted. All they had to do was let this charm out and there was no way to refuse them.

“Alright,” he gave in, “But only because I can feel how much you’re dying her to know and how much you trust her.”

“Yay! Thank you so much, Key!” Suryeon gave him a quick hug then turned to her friend, “Hea, you may want to sit down.”

Yunhae looked skeptical but obeyed the other girl anyway. Both seated themselves on the large rocks in the river, Yunhae’s legs dangled in the water for only a moment before changing.

Key was mesmerized as he watched a shimmery glow start at her toes and fade all the way up her curves to her slender waist. When the sparkle was gone, her legs had morphed into a long, shiny, silvery blue tail and fin. Pulling the light sun dress she was wearing over her head, she revealed the light blue bikini top she was wearing.

“So where have you been Suryeon?” Yunhae asked solemnly, “And why do you look different?”

“I’m not a faerie anymore, at least, not only a faerie,” Suryeon began, “You see, while I was wandering the woods a couple days ago, I ran into some people. I asked if they needed help but then they started acting weird; one of them… bit me…They were vampires,” she continued to explain the last few days to her friend, hoping she would understand.

“So what’s going to happen to you?” Yunhae asked, “Will you stay in this in-between state?”

“We think she will. Onew is a half-breed too, he still does magic like a warlock but he craves blood like a vampire,” Key spoke up from where he sat, a little ways away to give them privacy, “At least we hope so. We never meant to break the laws, but Taemin and Jonghyun couldn’t resist. They have very little self-control when they’re hungry. Plus, they didn’t know she was a faerie.”

“Then why don’t you tell the Aristocrats—or whatever—that you didn’t know? Why can’t you just say it was an accident?” Yunhae asked, wanting a solution that meant her best friend didn’t have to stay trapped in a mansion.

Key sighed, “We could still get in trouble; it’s against the laws to create half-breeds.”

“Why? What’s wrong with them?” Suryeon inquired.

“We don’t know; Minho and Onew have been studying about it. It’s an ancient law.” he answered.

“There has to be some reason.” Yunhae said and Suryeon nodded in agreement.

“Onew and Minho are trying to find it,” Key got up from where he was sitting in the grass, “We should get back, Suryeon.”

“Can Yunhae come with us?” she begged.

“I don’t know…” he rubbed the back of his neck again, “It might not be safe; we can’t let her be attacked too.”

“I’ll be fine,” Yunhae said with certainty and pulled her dress back on. She pulled her tail from the water and shook off the droplets, in a matter of moments her smooth legs had returned.

Suryon turned to face her friend, “How do you know?”

“Because if they know I’m not human, they know they will be in even more trouble for biting me. And besides, I’m pretty sure vampires don’t like fish,” Yunhae went to stand by Key in the grass, “Would you want to bite me?” she asked leaning towards him.

He hesitantly sniffed her hair, “Not really, you smell… cold. No offense,” he held up his hands, “Just… think of it like not wanting to eat cold soup.”

“No offense taken,” she shrugged, “I’m glad I don’t smell appetizing to you.”

Suryeon stood staring at her friend with a raised eyebrow, “You are so weird, Hae,” she laughed and joined them in the grass, “Shall we go back then?”

The other two nodded and the trio made their way back to the mansion.

=============================================================

Hurray for a finally long chapter~!!!

Okay, I cheated... in the original story it was two chapters.... and they were the two longest chapters I've written..... and I combined them OTL

BUT WHATEVER at least I'm updating really often!!!!

(mostly because I'm not sure how much I'll update when I start school next week...... imeanwhut?)

I will do my best. And I always have Onlythebest24 and Unmei474 to yell at me if I've gone too long without an update lol

As always, comment my lovely readers~^^<3