Short Stories-Kai Ships Only! Volume 3

Yeonkai- Emerald Promise

"Give me one reason I shouldn't fucking kill you."

"I-I know where your parents are!"

Kai couldn't tell if Yeonjun was telling the truth or just trying to save his own ass. His stake pressed further into the older's chest as he questioned "how?"

"I was there when..." Yeonjun shuddered when the steel spike punctured his lung.

"WHEN WHAT?!" Kai ripped the spike out and pointed it directly upwards into the blonde's jaw. "WHEN WHAT?!"

"I was there when they were turned!"

"I don't believe you."

Yeonjun shrieked when the spike impaled his bone. In one swift kick, he knocked Kai's legs out from under him, careful not to shatter his ankles. He then ripped the stake out and tossed it far to the side. The taller wasn't giving up. His jaw quickly healed itself while he dodged out of the way from another attack. "I'M NOT LYING! IF WOULD YOU JUST-"

Kai grabbed a switchblade from his pocket and charged again.

The blade sliced across Yeonjun's chest as he stumbled from another attack, cutting his silver chain cleanly from his neck. The proof, his emerald proof of what he was saying, began rolling towards the lake's edge. It became a race to get it. Kai was racing to catch his maker down the hill while Yeonjun raced to catch his promise.

"GET BACK HERE ASSHOLE!" The blonde was getting away. Yeonjun was too fast even for a normal vampire. Kai saw his opportunity to slow him down when he passed a large boulder peeling from a path. Without hesitation, he ripped it from the ground and threw it as hard as he could.

The emerald tumbled into the lake. Deep green melted with the black surface, barely visible under the cloudy night sky. Even Yeonjun's vampire vision couldn't help him find it when he dove to get it back.

Truly desperate, he swam to the bottom and frantically began to rip the lake weed apart. Disturbed mud made black water blacker. Every hard object he touched was either a shell or a rock. No sign of the gem seemed to be anywhere. There was however, this impending feeling that someone was nearby.

Yeonjun stood still. When the mud settled, he looked around to see if he could catch any trace of what he was feeling but no matter how hard he looked, there wasn't anything. The water was silent. Maybe too silent. Minutes passed and he remained alone on the bed of the lake. When he determined there was no silver hair to be found, he dove back down to start looking again.

Kai sat on a branch while twirling a knife in the air. His eyes glared at the surface of the water, daring his target to pop out. He had been waiting for this since he turned. Three vampires were there in his last night as a human. Two of them were dead. With Yeonjun's death, the list could be complete. He just needed to wait.

"Holy shit..." Yeonjun held an object in his hand that felt exactly like the emerald he lost. His dead heart felt like it could almost race out of his chest. If he lost it, he may as well have let Kai kill him the first time. Anything would be more merciful than what the police were rumored to do.

Starlight began to peak through the cracks when the clouds parted. Kai's stare never left the edge of the lake. He watched it ripple when an eagle dipped to retrieve a fish. In that moment he felt like the eagle. A beast in the night just waiting for his prey. Once he had a clear shot, he was sure as hell going to take it. Only someone else got to his target first.

Yeonjun screached when his wrist was gripped below the surface. Water was spat as he was dragged on to the pebbled edge. The emerald was in his left hand. Starlight confirmed it. Without looking up, he shouted "GOD DAMN IT KAI!"

"Kai? He's alive?"

Yeonjun's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw his worst nightmare standing above him. Two bullets broke his kneecaps before he could run. His right hand was then stabbed so he couldn't fight back. Taehyung Kang, the head of the new hunter's task force, held a gun to his temple and demanded to know where Kai was. In a hopeless plea, he cried "I don't know! I swear! I'm telling the truth!"

"WHERE IS HE?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

Taehyun's eyes told him everything. There was a look in them Yeonjun had only seen in the most desperate people before they went insane. "He's... GOD! SHIT! FUCK!" His knees were shot again after they healed themselves. His left hand was stabbed through too. The emerald laid exposed in his broken palm and he prayed the officer wouldn't see it.

"This is the last time I'm going to ask you this. Where is Kai?"

"I SWEAR TO YOU! I DON'T KNOW! HE COULD BE ANYWHERE!" A lighter was waved across Yeonjun's face. "You don't- oh my god... SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE!"

"Who the fuck would help a monster like you?" Fire singed the ends of the vampire's blonde hair then dragged across his cheek. Wind blew the initial flame out. Taehyun wasn't discouraged. His grin drew wide when a spark lit it again.

Yeonjun cried in agony as an "x" was branded below his eye. When Taehyun stood up, his mind detatched from reality. He didn't see or hear the cop taunting him. Instead, he saw his dead cousin standing above with their family emerald around his neck. Dazed, he smiled and said "hey Soobin. I'll be there soon okay?" The vision only smiled back while he passed out after.

When he woke up, he found himself in a white bed with a large window blinding his face. Outside was other apartment buildings in the city. Famous rooftops let him know he was in the richer area of downtown. Their shine reminded him of what he lost. Panicked, he mumbled "oh fuck. Please tell me it's somewhere! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" The emerald appeared in his lap after it was tossed on to the bed. To his complete surprise, he looked up and saw Kai standing in the doorway with a gun in his hand.

"Don't move."

"Wasn't going to..." The scar below his eye started to burn when the adrenaline wore off yet Yeonjun still didn't dare to move.

"What's so important about that?"

"It's-it's my family treasure... I promised them that I'd find them all once my cousins died..."

Kai didn't feel sorry for him since his cousins were part of the three that turned him. He suspected Soobin was the actual one to do it but they were all guilty as far as he was concerned. "So?"

"It's a key... why um. Why did? Where's? Uh..."

"Taehyun is alive. I didn't kill my best friend. The only reason you are is because you said you know where my parents are and you're going to take me to them."

"Okay... we both want the same things. I'll help you find yours but then can you let me find mine after? Please?"

"No funny shit and we'll see."

Yeonjun gulped when he stared into Kai's eyes. Unlike Taehyun, he saw a shred of decency left within. Ironically, as dead as they both were, he saw humanity.