Sacrifices || Jackson Wang \ Han Sanghyuk au

• Chapter 9 •

Alongside the short lived bliss Jackson had put me in, was the Massacre of 1781, in which was very much the opposite of pleasurable. The first infected of our kind, with a disease nobody cared to give a name, went unnoticed. Though, when it began spreading throughout clans all across South Korea like wildfire, is when the royal family started to feel on edge. Lord N sent guards out, collecting the diseased by the dozens to be staked to trees and burnt to the ground. And when the epidemic breached the boundaries of Seoul, our clan was one of the first to be searched and examined.

It was brutal. The diseased bled from their eyes and other body cavities, almost as if every ounce of blood they fed on was rushing out in a vengeance. Bruises laid across their skin. Some even went crazy, hearing voices in their head and hallucinating, their eyes turning a sickening green before they finally keeled over from the constant pain. Though not one of the vampyres residing in our little cabin showed anything but radiating health, the royal guards didn't let us surpass a check.

"Excuse me, we'd like to speak with both the leader and eldest clan member, please." I had opened the door to two guards, both clad in golden suits fashionable for the time. My body just stood there, frozen in fear until I felt the soft touch of someone's hand against the back of my dress.

It was Hoseok. "Leo hyung, we have visitors." He called out, placing both hands now on my shoulders. "Yue, go get Jackson and sit down. Everything will be okay." The words were whispered in my ear, and I turned, my dress spinning below me as I took off, not before hearing Hoseok one last time. "Good evening, Sanduel."

My feet carried me fast, my eyes grazing each room for my boyfriend. "Jackson." My voice was choked out by silent sobs. He found me though, his hands skimming my cheeks and his eyes baring worry.

"Shush, it's okay." On any normal day, Jackson's voice would have instantly soothed me, causing me to melt into his words, but today was different, taking until both of the guards had all four of us pulled into our living room for me to regain stability.

They began the regulated inspection with Leo and Jackson, pushing them aside to work and pull on Hoseok. They stuck things down his mouth and swabbed his throat. His eyes were widened, the lids being spread apart by the guard whom he referred to as Sandeul. "All good." He muttered, his finger prodding and beaconing me for my turn, pushing my brother aside. "Jung Yue, let's not waste time."

And I tried not to, sitting down in front of the two intimidating men. The other one, who's fingers were currently digging through my hair was named Ravi, though it was only slipped out and hardly important to me. Sandeul took every interest in my tongue, poking and pushing downward, like he was some type of doctor.

And even though, I had no symptoms of the disease in which they were searching, one simple cough had them gripping me tightly by the wrists and pulling me out of my home. I slammed my hands against Sanduel's chest, tears flooding down my cheeks. My mind was hardly processing anything but the clouded recognition of my voice screaming out for my brothers, and more importantly, Jackson.

***

"Yue, wake up." Two hands were shaking my shoulders, ripping out of the start of my nightmare. It was Jackson.

"Why are you here?" It came out a hoarse whisper, tears that must have been shed during the dream falling and making my cheeks damp.

"I heard you calling my name." He brought his hand up, pushing his already ruffled hair back, before lifting the covers and laying next to me. He patted his chest lightly, and for some reason, I put all hatred aside and rested my head on him. "What was your dream about?"

His fingers made their way through my hair while tears built back up and glossed over my silver eyes. "When they thought I was infected."

I felt the sigh fall out of his chest, as his thumb wiped under my eye. "Don't cry, okay? Don't you remember what happened after that?"

I tried to think back, to spark some type of memory, but I couldn't get past the immobilizing fear of being taken away from my home to be killed. I shook my head.

"I followed you guys, remember? And I convinced Sandeul to let you go." He said, and then I did remember. But not like how he did. From what I could piece together, staked to that tree in 1781, there was no convincing nor compromise, but rolling heads and two missing guards that in reality, were only casualties to Lord N.

Jackson's fingers wove deeper in my hair sending shivers down my spine and running goosebumps over my arms. "Yeah." I muttered, my words only muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

We laid there for what seemed like hours, but were only a few moments before I spoke again, this time the feelings of everything I'd kept in for centuries, spilling over uncontrollably. "Why didn't you love me?"

If I wasn't crying before, I was then, my sobs echoing off of the walls of my small bedroom. Jackson tried to sit up, but I pressed my head harder on his chest, not letting him move. "Yue, you know that I-"

I cut him off, my mind speaking for me. "You chose to be a monster over me. That isn't love." I could hear his heart beat faster, his breathing become irregular.

"I loved you. Don't ever say that I didn't." He was stern, but his hands never stopped playing with my hair.

I couldn't really say that I believed him, because I didn't. What he was saying were lies, and he'd be back to being the same person I'd despise tomorrow, but for some reason, I was okay with that, because at that moment all I needed was some type of closure.

"Then why did you leave me?" The question came out more hurt than I had wanted. He knew what he'd done to me, but I didn't want him to know to what extent.

This time, when he tried to sit up, I let him. He turned and pulled me up with him, his hands holding my cheeks, like in my dream. "You deserve someone better than me, Yue. You always have."

I tried to hold back from crying, my lip pulled back in between my teeth. "I waited for you." For a split second, his eyes sparkled with the same care he had years ago. He started saying something, but I stopped him again, interrupting with my own thoughts. "I loved you and I waited for you everyday, and now you are here, and you expect me to ignore all of that and pretend it didn't happen, like you are doing."

His mouth fell, hurt covering his normally ego filled face. "You waited?"

"Yes." I cried harder until he pulled me in, placing a soft peck to my forehead and then laying me down, pulling me back onto his chest. The kiss, the warm embrace, one would expect it to hold so much love, so much emotion, but all of that was squandered long ago on my side. The only thing that remained was the reminder of the heartache that lasted centuries.

I cried. But I didn't cry because I was hopelessly in love with the boy that held me. I cried for me, and for the countless years I wasted my time waiting for someone that deep down, I knew would never come back for the future he had promised. It had broken me and it took until I watched Leo start his own happiness with Areum and have it ripped away too, to realize that it wasn't okay for me to pity myself any longer.

I loved Jackson in 1781. It was 2015 and now all I wanted from him was to train the only person that could save my life.