In aeternum

Chapter 13

The shrill whistle echoing his ears made him annoyed but he couldn't do anything about it as it wasn't an external sound that he could stop. It was internal, reminding him of why he left this place in the first place. He sighed and looked at the guards who had also been staring at him.

"My name is Seonghwa and I'm here to meet the vampire lord," Seonghwa said firmly and the guards exchanged glances before one of them stepped up.

"Why should we allow you passage? The vampire lord is not taking any visitors right now."

"Because I seek his wisdom."

"Unfortunately, we cannot allow you in."

Seonghwa pursed his lips and sighed again. "Okay. Okay... Well, I've asked nicely but let's do it this way."

The guards both brought their guard up from Seonghwa's words but the other just calmly took out an insignia from his pocket. The two guards gasped and hurriedly scuttled to the side before bowing to him. Seonghwa kept the insignia and walked right in, wondering if he should have just done that in the first place. No, he hated that. He continued down the hallway and the ringing in his ears got louder. He shook his head and sighed again.

"You can do this, Hwa..."

He reached the room he needed to go to and the shrill sound stopped. He made a tiny squeak and groaned before reaching a hand out to open the door. He pushed it away and headed in. Before him was a bed and a man laying in it, still and lifeless. Seonghwa felt his chest tightened at the sight of the man but gulped it down as he walked towards him. He let out a tiny sigh and looked down at the pale male.

"Vampire lord," he whispered as if he was afraid to wake the other. "It is I, Seonghwa, here to ask for your wisdom."

Silence.

Seonghwa blinked and wondered if the vampire lord was really so weak that he couldn't even stay awake anymore. He frowned as he could still sense the vampire lord's life source and it wasn't fleeting. It wasn't anywhere near death to Seonghwa's confusion. He reached a hand out and touched the body. Of course, it was cold as all vampires were but what Seonghwa was looking for was something else. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly.

Pulse.

Breathe.

Twitch.

Twitch.

Seonghwa twitched and blinked a couple of times as he moved his hand away.

"Vampire lord... what is this...?" Seonghwa whispered and reached for his shirt button but a spark made him flinch back and he gasped. "A barrier? Who did this to you.... The Overseer? Damn it. I need you right now."

Seonghwa tried again but the barrier kept his fingers from reaching the vampire lord's shirt. Seonghwa thought about using his ability but didn't. If someone had put a barrier there, they could have put more than just that. Seonghwa knew something was wrong but he didn't know how to fix it.

"What do I do... I need... to know about the Archive of Knowledge... and you're the only one who can give me such information," Seonghwa mumbled and curled his fists. He shut his eyes tightly and cursed himself for being unable to do anything about this. He opened his eyes and gasped as he was no longer in the room. The lifeless male was now standing in front of him in his black robe and pajamas. He turned around and smiled, making Seonghwa flinch.

"Ap- ah, no. Vampire lord... You're alright?" he asked in a whisper and the male shrugged.

"Being unable to wake up is a troublesome thing," the male spoke in a well mannered tone. "I guess the Overseer has been studying a lot recently to make his prophecy come true."