The soft whoosh of the sliding glass doors made the receptionist look up. Only to blink in confusion when she saw no one there. She shrugged, convinced it was another technical malfunction, like she’d seen so many times before. Those doors would open at the slightest gust of wind. Or on some days not even open at all.

The office was buzzing with voices, the whirr of computers and printers and the distinct sound of air conditioning. The same as usual, but now there hung a certain tension in the air. All the workers were in a state of curiosity.

In the conference room at the back, at the highly guarded executive’s offices, a meeting was taking place between all the managers of the company.

That morning, the employees had been startled to see all those men in power arrive one by one. They’d never known more than three or four of the managers to be at the company at the same time. They all wondered what kind of important project they were discussing to need so many important executives. But no one was telling them.

The huge table in the conference room was surrounded with men in suits. Thin men, fat men, bald men, rugged men,… but all with the same serious look on their face. They stared at the wall where a photograph of an old rundown house was projected.

The CEO of their company cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.

“What do we know so far?”

“We’ve sent seventeen volunteers to the house already. None came back out.”

“And the data we managed to gather from them?”

“Very little to none. The camera’s and bugs we’re sending in with them seem to be disrupted the moment they set foot inside.”

The CEO sighed and rubbed his temple.

“Do we know why yet?”

“Not yet, sir. We’re trying to measure the magnetic fields around the house, but our readings vary constantly.”

“We should have sent in one of our teams from the beginning.”

The CEO looked up at the manager who’d grumbled the comment.

“And sacrifice our assets when we only have this little information about our target?”

“Isn’t it worth it?” another manager asked. “The price is, after all, a vampire. It would boost the worth of this company through the roof.”

The CEO sighed again.

“Very well. This project has been going on for far too long with far too little result anyhow. We need more intel. We need that vampire. Carl will set up a project to get us that. Leo will think up a back-up project in case Carl fails.”

“I won’t.”

“Nevertheless. Back-up project. One of you better get me some results, gentlemen. Or at least some data we can use.”

“Any news from the survivor?” another manager piped up.

“Nothing so far. She’s dropped off the face of the earth since we tried to pick her up for questioning.”

One of the manager at the very end of the table seemed to shrink considerably.

“My men had her in custody. They were bringing her here, but something happened on the way.”

“Yes, yes. The vampire got to her, didn’t he?” the manager next to him mocked. “He can’t leave the damn house. Your men were careless and the girl got away.”

“Enough,” the CEO interrupted. “Mark has already been punished for that mistake. Just keep looking for her.”

“So, this is what a meeting with the top dogs looks like, huh?”

The room full of men turned as one. A woman sat on one of the empty chairs at the end. No one had even heard her come in. She smiled at them.

“What the…? Steven, get security.”

“Steven, let’s not.”

The woman kept smiling at them, watching the assistant Steven pick up his phone. And frown in confusion.

“There’s no signal, sir.”

“Off course not. I wouldn’t want anyone disrupting this important meeting.”

“Who are you?” one of the managers demanded.

She stood up and made a mock bow.

“Kim Ae Ri,” she introduced herself. “But I’m sure you’ll recognize my mate better.”

“Mate?”

“She means me. I offered to let her call me husband, but she says she’s still waiting on a proposal for that.”

They all turned to the other side of the room. Sehun appeared from the shadows with a smirk. They gasped as they recognized him from the old oil painting that had started it all. This entire project. The reason for starting this company.

“You… You…! You can’t leave the house!”

“Obviously I can. But it was entertaining to let you believe otherwise. Honestly, who in their right mind goes hunting for a vampire? Even if he’s supposedly stuck in a house somewhere.”

“Get our teams in here!” 

The CEO looked beside himself. His prize was right in front of him. With an addition, as they now noticed how pale the woman looked and how her fangs showed when she smiled at them again. How could he let such an opportunity slip away from him now? Sehun smiled evilly.

“Though we appreciate the steady flow of food you keep sending our way. I’m getting a little concerned about my weight.”

Ae Ri chuckled, but her eyes quickly turned dark.

“And I’m not very happy about your attempt to torture my friend. Solbi had nothing to offer you.”

Sehun walked up to the CEO.

“We were growing tired of your poking around, so we decided to pay you all a visit.”

He grabbed him by the tie and yanked him closer.

“You were looking for a vampire, weren’t you? Well, here we are.”

Without warning, he buried his fangs in the CEO’s neck, practically tearing his throat out. Screams and shouts of horror resounded through the room. They all stormed to the door, but Ae Ri was waiting for them.

She tripped the manager who was yanking on the locked meeting room door. She hissed and looked back at Sehun who nodded. Ae Ri dug her fangs into the squealing manager. The rest looked on in horror, trapped in the room with two of the creatures they’d been trying to catch.

The smell of blood flooded the air. Screams, chaos and pleading sounded through the room. All their voices blended together into incomprehensible noise.

None of the office workers noticed. The rooms had been soundproofed for privacy and the entire area was off-limits for anyone not in the higher levels of management.

It wasn’t until late that evening that security discovered the room full of dead bodies.