‘The mysterious man who’s always appeared on her dreams.’
.
.
My little legs ran through the torrent of rain without stopping. My body’s soaking wet. I looked back a few times, making sure the vampire wasn’t after me.
“Help me! Anyone! Please!”
No one’s listening. My voice swallow by the sound of thunder mixed with lightning flashes in the sky. It blocked my breath when I suddenly saw a black shadow moving farther there.
“Help me—”
My little body fell to the body of the road. I try to endure the pain. My knees are bleeding from hitting the asphalt pretty hard. It stings. However, I immediately got up and ignored the wound on my knee as the dark shadow approached. I’m shivering in the cold. The cold raindrops feel like they’re piercing my bones.
“Mom... I’m scared.”
My leg tripped, I fell. My body can’t move anymore. I’ve drained my power. My eyes are getting blurry, covered in my own tears.
‘What am I supposed to do, Mom?’
Water droplets rained down on my tiny body, lying limp on the asphalt. He’s right in front of me. His blood-red eyes lit up in the dark. The devil’s smile is disguising by the torrent of rain. His icy hands were outstretching around my neck. My heart is beating fast. I wanted to escape, but my legs couldn’t move. The blood-sucking creature brought his face closer.
‘Help me...’
The man grinned broadly, exposing both of his fangs. I closed my eyes. Give it up. Maybe I can meet mom again.
“ARGHH— “
Suddenly, a loud squeal came out of that vampire’s mouth. My blue eyes widened to find someone stabbing a vampire in the chest with a Katana sword. A second later, the vampire disappeared. That figure walked up to me. He was wearing a black hooded robe. I can’t see the savior’s face clearly. That figure pulled my little body into his arms.
“Please, d-don’t go...”
His right hand touched my face. There’s a warm feeling coming up. I don’t know why I feel like this uncle’s hug is so warm. The man tightened his arms.
“Sorry. Dad came late. I’m truly sorry, Ara.”
‘Dad? Isn’t my father dead? Who is he?’
***
I open my eyes slowly. I’ve been blinking a few times before my consciousness really gathered. The smell of drugs immediately pierced my sense of smell. I can see the room as white as a patient’s room. I turned around slowly. A beautiful girl was sitting holding my hand tightly channeled with an iv tube.
“Tiara? Are you awake?!”
She seemed pleased. Claire shouted William’s name. The man with brown hair was lying on the couch. He immediately got up and walked up to us.
“Are you all right?” asked William.
I nodded quietly and smiled at them both. My esophagus is dry, it’s hard to say a word.
“Would you like a drink?”
Claire and William immediately help me sit leaning on the top of the bed. I try to refuse them.
“I can do it myself. Don’t worry about it.”
Honestly, I hate looking weak in front of other peoples. That poor stare makes me sick. I don’t know what the reason.
“How can we not worry? You’ve been unconscious for two days!”
“W-what? Two Days?!”
“I’m going to go home and clean up base camp first. Let William take care of you here,” Claire said.
“I’m fine, seriously. I’m comeback too.”
“Tiara Kim. You stay there. It’s an order,” said the man with the brown eyes.
“Yes, sir.”
William pulled a wooden chair closer to the bedside. “How did you faint that night?”
“I don’t know, Will. My body suddenly limped and my head was dizzy.”
“It’s weird. Hmm, are you hungry?”
My eyes immediately brighten than before. I nodded my head a few times. William smiled at me, who turned enthusiastically for food.
“I’ll buy you some food. Don’t you dare to run away.”
“Yes, Captain.”
William ruffled my hair slowly. Then he came out of the room. I turned my eyes towards the big window next to my bed. I didn’t realize I was thinking about my dream.
‘Who is he? When have I ever seen him? Why can’t I remember his face?’
My head is throbbing. That dream feels so real. It’s like I’ve been there before. Déjà vu. You could say that. The pain in my head is growing. It is strange. I can’t remember what happened in that dream. All I remember is that after the incident of my mother’s death, I fell unconscious and was taken to the hospital by my aunt.
“What the hell is going on?”
***
I’m trying to remove the iv tube that’s stuck in my hand. I’m feeling pretty good. Besides, this thing’s limiting my movements. Damn it. It’s hard to let go of this thing. Suddenly something hit my head hard.
“Ouch, it hurts—”
“Are you out of your mind?” shout out to William who just walked into the room.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re still a patient. Stop. You could hurt your hand.”
“All right.”
‘Why would I obey this man’s orders? It’s weird.’
William put the plastic bag he was carrying on the tabletop. Then he pulled out the contents one by one. There are several boxes of food and two medium-sized bottles of mineral water.
“Do you want me to feed you?” he offered.
“I can do it myself.”
“Okay. This is for you,” William said, giving me oatmeal in his hand.
I took it with one hand. I just realized my hand was being bandaged, and automatically I couldn’t hold the spoon William gave me because I wasn’t left-handed.
“Why?”
“Nothing—”
“Give it to me.”
“My ass—”
William took over the food box I was holding, saying nothing. I only gave up when the man fed me the oatmeal.
“Master told us to come to the base,” William said while feeding me.
“Is there another surprise mission?”
“No, I’m not. It’s a matter of what’s in the box.”
“The box?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. Master said he’d explain what’s in the box.”
“So, can we meet the master?!”
“Yes. I think so.”
My smile knotted. Meeting with hunter organization leaders is the thing I’ve wanted most since I first joined this organization. No one knows what their leader looks like, except the Alpha team. Alpha team is our senior. They’re the best team the organization has. They are also the master’s personal bodyguards.
“We’ll be there tomorrow. Master says wait for your condition to recover first.”
“I’m already healed.”\
“....”
“My hands are okay. So—”
Suddenly William hit my right hand slowly. I screamed. The pain even extends to the bone.
‘Is he turning stupid now? How could he hit my hand that still hurts!?’
“Why did you hit me?!”
“You said it cured you, right? I’m just testing it.”
“If you repeat ... I’m going to kill you.”
“How dare you threaten your own leader like that? Do you want to be punished, Ara?”
“No, I’m not. I’m sorry.”
“Good. Be a good girl, okay?”
“Hn.”
William smiled and told me to go to bed. As team leader, he has privileges that no other member has. If I don’t want to get punished, I have to obey every command that comes out of that man’s lips.
‘Why didn’t I just sign up to be leader?’
***
(Claire's POV)I put my hand in the coat's pocket which I was wearing. The snow falling. My head looked up, enjoying the snowflakes that touched my face. My hand was outstretched, touching the pieces of ice that fell from the sky.‘It’s beautiful....’Don’t want to linger outside with the cold, bone-piercing air. I went back to walking while yawning a few times, withstanding the whacking drowsiness. My face must look terrible. My eye circumference looks blacker than usual.We both didn’t sleep to look after Tiara. She was lying unconscious worries us. William has even asked the master for permission to prevent Tiara from being included in the assault mission -without the girl’s knowledge- because her condition is not improving.I also agree with our leader. The doctor said that
William and I were on our way back to base camp. The man’s silver sports car drove off the highway. My hand has recovered enough, too. Finally, Dr Peter allowed me to go home. Being in the hospital is boring. I don’t like it.“When we’re going to meet Master, Will?”“This afternoon.”“Really? Then let’s go home. Why we’re stopping?” I asked, realizing that our car was pulling over to the side of the road, turning into the parking lot of a convenience store.“Wait. I want to buy something,” William said, pointing at the convenience store next to their car with his chin.“I’ll wait here.”“Don’t go anywhere. I won’t be longer.”“Yes, Sir.”William smiled and got out of the car. I can
'When you're alone in the dark, he'll come.'..☘☘☘THE sound of lashes echoed throughout the underground prison. This vampire kingdom's prison is only lit by a few torches in the corridor. It's so dark. Cold. The stench of the prisoners' corpses stifle the air. Loud screams were heard from one of the rooms. A man of small stature was being tortured by several guards."ARGHHH!""Tell me, who is your master?" asked one of the guards to the man sitting on his knees with an iron chain shackled to his hands and feet.The man remained silent even though his entire body was covered in wounds from guards who whipped him relentlessly. Fresh blood was pouring all over her body. He has sworn allegiance to his master."Answer my question. Are you deaf, huh?!" snapped the bodyguard as he kicked the man in the stomach, his body hit the iron wall behind him.
‘No one noticed, after he’s eating your soul slowly.’..☘☘☘"DID you bring the box?"William pulled out a black box from inside his backpack. Later, he gave the box to the man whom he called as ‘master’ in front of the three of them. The man opens it slowly. A medium-sized roll of paper inside. He unrolled it on the table. Empty. There’s nothing written there.“What does that mean?”The man just smiled, responding to Tiara’s question. He then took a small folding knife from his suit pocket.“Why don’t we find out?”Tiara’s eyes rounded to see the handsome man hurt his own hand. Fresh blood flowed out of the wound on his hand. Then, he directed the droplets of blood on the paper. Within seconds, it formed an image of a droplet of blood.
‘She didn’t realize she opened that gate. There’s no way back.’..***“I have something to tell you,” William seemed to sigh before continuing, “I want to say... That I am—”“What are you two doing?”The man with the dark brown hair let go of his arms quickly. They turned towards Claire who was standing sculpted while staring at them with her eyes shocked. She is still trying to digest the situation of the two of them looking like cuddles. No, they did.“Ah, so this is what you guys do when I’m not around. You’re really brave, Will.”“Y-you misunderstood, okay!”“Haha. Just keep going. I came back because I left my wallet,” the girl said, picking up a black purse on the couch.“Did you meet someone earlier, Claire?” asked Tiara to the reddish-brown girl.Claire seemed a little surprised wh
‘Everyone has a secret they want to hide. Like a time bomb. It could explode.’..☘ ☘ ☘The pop music heard softly from the headphones of the girl who is experimenting with her laptop. Her pliable fingers dance quickly over the keyboard. Then she picks up a cup of hot chocolate next to her. She blew it slowly, then drank a little of the contents of the cup. Claire put the cup down and refocused. She was busy doing her hobby, hacked websites on the internet.The phone next to it vibrates, showing an incoming message. Her cheeks were a little dazzling to see the name on her phone screen. She quickly picked up the phone and opened the chat message.Wed | 7:45 AMYeong-jun: Morning.Claire: Morning ....Yeong-jun: Have you had breakfast?Claire: I haven’t had a chance. Just a cup
"When I’m say, ‘It’s okay.’ I just need you by my side."..☘ ☘ ☘THE sound of a digital alarm is interfering with the hearing of an eighteen-year-old girl. Her tiny hand slowly grabbed the clock and turned it off. Tiara blinks her eyes a few times and stretches her arms up. She shook her head fast. Her head was a little dizzy this morning.After finished wash her face and getting dressed, she walked down the stairs. Tiara stepped towards the kitchen. Her blue eyes capture William’s figure putting some plates of food on the table.“Are you awake, Ara?” the man asked.“Can I help you, Will?”“Could you please help move the soup to the bowl?”“Yes, of course.”She took a medium-sized bowl and filled it with a vegetable soup made by William. It was confusing her. Why the smell of this man’s cooking was always good? There must be a secret in the recipe.
I rested my body behind a sofa with red velvet fabric with gold carvings on each side. My eyes stared straight out the window. My hands loosened up my tie a bit. I don’t know why they’re going to have a ball party next week with the reason of finding my mate. Though I’ve repeatedly confirmed to both of them, I’m pretty sure I can find my mate by myself. However, the mother who wants to have a grandchild soon makes the king not change his decision.“Damn it.”I glanced to the side. My hand grabbed a glass of deep red liquid on the table. Then bring the glass closer to my face, inhale the smell of blood first fleetingly. It’s good. Just had a sip, bland.“Fuck!”I immediately threw the glass roughly against the wall. The medium-sized glass crushed in an instant into small pieces as it touched the wall. T