Hi! I'm Jieun, most people call me IU. I like exploring. I always have. When I heard about this school, I was so excited, but nothing prepared me for what I'd find inside. My friend Jiyeon told me about an abandoned place, Gonam Middle School. I looked it up online and read that twenty years ago, there was a terrible infection that went around, killing almost everyone in that area, well, that's what I assumed. It said all the people simply disappeared. I found the school's history fascinating, so I went to investigate on Thursday afternoon.

After a long walk, I reached the entrance. There were no security guards anywhere. They're an urban explorer's worst enemy. The plants around the path leading to the door were overgrown and towered over me. I took a few pictures before entering the old school. It was quite dark inside and it was apparent the school had been evacuated in a hurry. Things were thrown everywhere, everything was a mess inside. There were old shoes left behind by students, too terrified to go back because of the deadly disease. I continued to walk through the empty corridors. I looked into a room and saw an auditorium, full of empty church pews. But wait... What was that? I was sure I saw something move in there. I felt fear creeping up inside me, but I had to see.

"Hello? Anyone in here? I'm just taking pictures. I won't hurt you."

I entered the room and looked around. It was empty. Nobody was here. There was not a single trace of recent human life in there. I let out a soft sigh, took a picture of the room and left. I walked for a while until I came across an empty dining hall. Chairs were thrown everywhere, tables were overturned. Then I heard it. A laugh. I looked around. There was nobody here. Jiyeon hadn't said this school was haunted, but I was beginning to get a feeling there was someone else here with me. I walked into the dining hall and took a few pictures, then I rushed out to explore more. I was on edge. As I walked through another empty corridor, I heard a scream. I gasped, looking around. The scream sounded like it had come from one of the nearby rooms. I flung the door open, almost taking it off it's hinges. The sight before me was something I never thought I'd see. There was a man lying on the floor. A woman was holding him down, I couldn't see what she was doing to his neck, but then she looked up at me and blood was dripping down her chin. Her eyes were a crimson colour. I couldn't move.

"Problem, human?" The woman asked, standing up. She wiped the blood off of her face and started to approach.

"N-No! Not at all! I'm s-sorry! I can pretend I never saw anything!" I gasped, shrinking under the woman's gaze.

"Yeah. You better not tell anyone. Now, back away and keep walking. I don't mind you looking around, but you do not disturb me." She said, then she pushed me out of the room and shut the door.

I stared at the old, wooden door. I was shaking. What was she doing to that man? Who was she? I had so many questions, but she told me to go. I decided to continue my exploration, hoping I'd never see her or anyone like her again. I was terrified. I left the science corridor quickly and found myself in the sports department. There was a huge hall, full of equipment that had simply been left out and was rotting away. I walked into the hall and took a lot of pictures, then I left. I found an old office nearby. The door was open. I went in and saw a newspaper on the desk.

"NO HOPE FOR GONAM MIDDLE SCHOOL."

I stared at the title. I began to read the article.

"After the horrific killings of twelve students in the drama room, there is no hope for Gonam Middle School. We tried to get a statement from the school, but they refused any attempt. Today, they announced they were evacuating the school after it was discovered there was a disease thriving in the science and drama area of the school where the bodies of the dead students were found. Nobody knows who killed them, or why, but there is no hope for Gonam Middle School."

I put the newspaper down. There was a piece of paper next to it, titled "LOCK PARK IN." I began to read.

"OPERATION LOCK PARK IN.

PARK KYUNGRI MUST BE STOPPED.

LOCK HER IN ROOM 21B.

SHE IS GOING TO KILL MORE IF NOT STOPPED."

"Park Kyungri.. Room 21B.." I mumbled.

I took the piece of paper and left the office. I started looking all around the school for room 21B. After half an hour, I found it. It was an English room. The door was unlocked. I went in, expecting the worst. I found chains on the floor. They were very rusty and it looked like there was blood on them. Was this where they kept Park Kyungri? I needed to know more. I looked around the room and then saw the old blackboard. On it, it said "DEATH TO PARK KYUNGRI, THE ONE WHO KILLED OUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN". I needed to find out who this Park Kyungri was. I wanted to know what they did. I left the room after taking a few pictures and eventually I found myself in a chilling spot. I was outside the drama room where the bodies were found. I opened the door slowly. At first, I noticed the foul smell of the room. Then I saw the blood. There was so much blood. It made me gag. I managed to enter the room. I saw on the blackboard the name of what looked to be the victims of Park Kyungri. Then, I saw another old piece of paper.

"Dear Mr Lee,

Thanks for all the attention you've been giving me lately. I'm glad that you've been writing on the boards, telling people to kill me and lock me up. You know, if you hadn't been so cruel, this wouldn't have happened. Those students would still be alive. But no, you messed up didn't you? You're so silly, Mr Lee. But guess what? I'm coming for you next. So you better be ready.

Love from your favourite student,

Park Kyungri."

Park Kyungri sounded insane. That was my first thought. My second thought was what Mr Lee did to upset her. I was about to leave the room when I felt someone poke me. I turned around and almost screamed. It was the woman from before.

"Still here? Oh, you're reading the letter I wrote to Mr Lee all those years ago." The woman said, grinning.

"You're Park Kyungri? No.. You can't be. You're lying. Park Kyungri wouldn't look as young as you-" I started, but she shook her head.

"I'm Park Kyungri. I'm a little different from most humans, one could say. Mr Lee was very silly, he betrayed me, so I caused problems for him. Ruined this school. Infected his students. Then to finish the job off, I killed him." She said, laughing to herself.

"That's.. That's terrible. Why did you do that?!" I asked, shocked. "And how are you different?"

"Mr Lee and I were very good friends. I did things for him in return for good grades. One day, he broke our promise and spoke out about it. It got me in a lot of trouble. I was suspended. Nobody would talk to me. He made my life a living hell. I had to have revenge. And I'm different because... Well, you won't believe this because you look like one of those people who don't believe in supernatural things, but I'm a vampire. Been one for a long time and I'll be one until I die." She explained. "Don't even start, I can read thoughts."

"No you can't." I said, staring at her.

"Yes I can, Jieun, also known as IU. You like exploring and you're very shocked, scared and confused and you want to know more about me and my school." She said.

I gasped. I wanted to run away, but she grabbed my arm. "You're so silly, don't run off. I'll tell you. Come sit." She said, pulling up two chairs.

She sat on one then patted the other. I reluctantly sat down, waiting for her to begin her story.

"So... I didn't really plan to come to this school, but I lost a bet and had to enroll, even though I'm about.. Just over one hundred and fifty years old. I'm a young vampire. You could imagine how young I looked twenty years ago. They didn't suspect a thing. In fact, I went on to become one of their favourite students. I was the most athletic, prettiest, most popular. They were distraught when my grades went down. That's when I started doing things for Mr Lee. I soon became the favourite again. But one day, Mr Lee told someone about our secret. I was angry, but I was also getting hungry. I was spending too much time around humans without tasting some of their blood. It was killing me. So, when everyone heard about their favourite student Park Kyungri killing people, they thought it was all a lie. Then they found the bodies. I wrote Mr Lee that nice little letter you saw before, and then he started telling everyone to go and kill me and lock me up. I got my friends together, the vampire ones obviously, and we made a deadly disease. It had no cure. Then we simply let it spread. It was great fun watching the humans panicking... But then they captured me and locked me in a room. I can remember they laughed at me and hurt me, then they left me to die. But of course, my friends came to break me out. It took them a while though, those chains were tough. But anyway, my friends moved on. I chose to stay here because it's nice and not many people know about it. They come to visit me occasionally, we have a nice feast." She stopped and looked at me. "Close your mouth. You look stupid."

"...I can't take it all in. I can't believe it." I started, staring at her with wide eyes.

"It's all the truth. Vampires struggle to lie. If I was lying, you'd know. Hyuna says I've got this weird habit when I lie. My nose twitches apparently." She said, chuckling.

"Could you tell me about life after the school was abandoned?" I asked.

"Well, it's been pretty boring. I'm usually awake at night, I only woke up because I heard someone walking around before you. He tried to attack me, so I killed him. I was hungry anyway." She said, shrugging. "Don't look so scared, I'm not going to kill you. I feel like we've got a connection now."

"Now kiss!" An excited voice squealed from the corner.

"Oh my god, Hyuna..." Kyungri mumbled, staring at the woman who had just emerged from the corner.

"Why are you talking to a human?" The woman, apparently called Hyuna, asked.

"Because I can. She's nice. I was just telling her about the school." Kyungri said. "What time is it?"

"It's... Around six in the evening." Hyuna said, looking down at her watch.

"I really should get going then if it's that late.." I started, trying to get up, but Kyungri shook her head.

"You should stay for a bit longer! I want to show you what we do to the explorers at night. We have great fun scaring them all." Kyungri said, grinning.

"Kyungri, if she wants to go home, you should let her." Hyuna said, coming closer.

"You're just saying that because you're old. I'm sure she would want to stay and have fun, don't you Jieun?" Kyungri asked, looking at me.

"Uh.. I guess I can stay for longer.." I mumbled, looking down.

"I'm not old, four hundred and five years is not old..." Hyuna grumbled, folding her arms.

"Doesn't matter. Anyway, I sense humans. Let's go and play." Kyungri said, standing up. "Come, Jieun. You'll like our games. You can be part of them!"

Kyungri took my hand and lead me through the corridors of the school with Hyuna following, muttering "This isn't a good idea" and "Why are we even bringing a human with us" and Kyungri would just tell her to stop being miserable. Half an hour later, I was tied to a chair in the middle of a corridor, pretending to be dead. Kyungri had drawn on my face so it looked like I'd been cut and was bleeding, then she'd hid around the corner with Hyuna. It wasn't long before two teenage boys came walking down the corridor. They stopped walking and stared at me.

"Oh my god... Is that a dead body?" One of them asked.

"I told you this place was creepy!" The other said.

"Scream." A voice whispered.

I suddenly let out a loud scream, thrashing around on the chair. Kyungri and Hyuna came out, laughed and pulled me away quickly and untied me, then we ran off into a classroom.

"That's funny every time. We do it with Kevin and Sojin when they come to visit." Kyungri said, still laughing.

"Don't you feel mean though?" I asked, frowning.

"You're really asking me? I'm the infamous killer of Gonam Middle School. I don't feel mean at all." Kyungri mumbled, shrugging.

"Kyungri's just young and foolish. She doesn't have feelings." Hyuna said, looking at the younger vampire.

"At least I'm not old and obsessed with cats." Kyungri said quickly, then ran across the room before Hyuna could grab her.

"God Kyungri, you're so rude!" Hyuna squealed, pouting.

"I'm not, I just know what--" Kyungri was interrupted as the door opened.

"Well, look who it is!"

"Oh my god, Minha!" Hyuna gasped. "I thought you'd moved to Japan!"

"Japan is boring. It smells like humans in here. Kyungri, you don't look pleased to see me." The woman, Minha, who I assumed was a vampire too, said.

"I'm pleased to see you, Minha." Kyungri said sarcastically, then she grinned. "You're stupid."

"I'm not stupid, but--- Wait, who is that?" Minha asked, looking at me.

"This is Jieun. I met her today. She's a human." Kyungri said.

"A human? I'm hungry..." Minha muttered, rubbing her stomach.

"We're not eating her. There's two boys walking around somewhere if you're hungry." Kyungri said, patting my head.

"...Hyuna, help me find them! I'm hungry!" Minha whined, tugging the eldest vampire's arm.

"Fine, but only if you'll share." Hyuna said, then they both left the room, leaving me and Kyungri alone.

"So Jieun, I think I should get to know you a bit more. I won't read your thoughts, you can tell me." Kyungri said, sitting on the edge of one of the old desks.

"Well, I don't really know what to tell you. There's not a lot of interesting things about me that I can tell you." I said, shrugging.

"Hm... Do you like taking pictures?" She asked, pointing at the camera in my bag.

"Yes. I always take my camera when I go exploring places." I said, smiling.

"I've not seen a camera in ages. Yours looks all... Futuristic." She said.

 I took my camera out and put it on the desk. "Do you want to learn how to use it?"

"Can I take a picture of myself? Wait, I don't know how that'll turn out. Whenever they tried to take school pictures for me, it was always blurry or I wasn't even there." Kyungri said, frowning.

I turned the camera on and looked through it at her. "It's blurry."

"That's the one of the downsides of being a vampire. I can't take pictures of myself. I can just about see myself in a mirror." She said, sighing.

"What are the other downsides?" I asked.

"Well, there's a lot. One I suffer from is being a rogue vampire. I travel alone. I work alone. I still have friends, but they're not usually here, especially like this. I get really lonely sometimes... But I couldn't leave my school. I'm still a wanted criminal in the public's eyes. This school is far away from everyone, nobody comes here. That's why I'm still alive. People believe that vampires live forever, but we don't. We can get to around eight hundred years old or even a thousand if we're lucky. We're strong, but we can be killed by the same things that humans get killed by. In fact, one of my old friends... I think her name was Luna... She got hit by a train. She made it to my school and I tried to save her, but it was too late. I also know of vampires being caught in wars and being killed by bombs and stuff. I think Minha's master was in Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped, he died." Kyungri said. "I could tell you more, but there's some things I'm not supposed to tell you."

"Do you have a master?" I asked.

"I did. He died though. He was quite old. I think he was in his late seven hundreds." She said, blinking a few times. "He didn't like talking about his age. He just told me one day he was getting old, then he left and when I found him again he was dead."

"Oh... Can I ask, how did you become a vampire?" I looked up at her curiously.

"My family couldn't support themselves. I was the youngest and didn't work, so they gave me away. I had a bad childhood. I was tortured by these horrible men. My master saved me from them. He asked if I wanted to be a vampire when I was thirteen. I said yes and he did it." She said, then she pointed to some scars on her hands. "He put his own blood in me here. It hurt a lot, but that's because I was young."

"I see... So, could you turn someone into a vampire if you wanted to?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I won't. I wouldn't be a good master. I'd lose my apprentice most likely. Hyuna would be a good master though. She knows what she's doing, but she travels a lot and I don't know if people like doing that." Kyungri said. "Before you even ask, I will not make you a vampire."

"I don't want to be a vampire. I'm happy being a human." I said. "Kyungri, I really should be going now."

"I don't want you to go. You're nice." She said, quickly grabbing my wrist.

"My car is parked up at the entrance... I can sleep in it and then come back to see you." I said.

"Okay-- Wait, a car? I haven't seen a car in years. Can I see it?" She asked. "It's dark out, I'll be okay."

"Yeah, you can come see it. It's nothing special though." I said, then we got up and started to walk.

We passed Hyuna and Minha on our way out.

"Kyungri, where are you going?" Hyuna asked.

"She has a car. I want to see it. Will you keep the school safe?" Kyungri asked, looking at the two.

"You're so strange, but we will." Hyuna said, grinning. "I can't believe you're excited over a car." Then she walked with Minha in the opposite direction.

We reached the entrance and left the school. It was dark outside. I managed to find my way to my car and I unlocked it. I opened the door for Kyungri and she sat inside.

"This is really weird...  So many buttons. How do you know which is which?" She asked.

"I don't know what all of them do, I just know the ones I need." I said, opening one of the back doors to the car. I got in, pulled a blanket over myself and closed the door again and curled up. "I'm going to sleep now, Kyungri. Make sure to close the door when you're done."

"Okay! See you tomorrow, Jieun." She said, then I quickly fell asleep.

I woke up a few hours later. It was dark out and I could hear voices.

"You're really making her stay?"

"I like her. She's nice. I've never had a human friend before. I want her to stay for a while."

"Be careful though, Kyungri... You remember what happened last time you met a human."

"Don't remind me..."

"What happened, Moon?"

"She fell in love with her. And then her human died."

"I said don't remind me!"

"We're leaving now anyway, calm down!"

"Bye Kyung!"

"See you both soon."

The voices stopped, then I heard the door to my car open. I opened my eyes slightly. It was Kyungri again. She watched me for a while, before climbing into the back with me. She curled up on the floor, but I didn't see what happened after that, because I fell asleep until the morning.