After Dark Games

Family Meeting pt1

Jessica was the nervous one in their relationship. She was the one who fretted and worried and Tiffany was the calm and collected one. However, their roles made a slight switch as they made their way to Tiffany's house.

"So I know about Seunghyun and Jiyong but I don't know what they look like. Could you give me something to go on?" Jessica asked in hopes of giving Tiffany a distraction.

"Oh, sure. Seunghyun is tall, with dark eyes. He looks like he's angry all the time and has different variations of angry for every emotion, so don't be offended by him, that's just who he is. Jiyong is skinny like a twig. He'll probably be the first one to greet you and give you a hug, so be prepared. Taek, I think, is the most balanced out of all of us. He knows when to be serious and when to relax. And Yuri is...Yuri. She'll be the only girl there besides us so I don't think you'll have any trouble recognizing her."

Jessica was nodding as they walked, listening intently and making mental notes but her brain froze at the mention of Yuri.

"You've never talked about her before."

"Because she never came up."

Jessica wanted to ask more (in fact she had already thought of a whole list of questions) but Tiffany had stopped walking and Jessica raised her head to look at the quaint little home. It looked very, suburban.

She followed Tiffany up the steps and steadied herself against the white column as Tiffany took out her keys.

"I wasn't expecting this."

"You thought we lived in some horror mansion with boarded up windows didn't you?"

Jessica blushed in embarrassment.

"All my knowledge of vampires comes from books and TV. You can't blame me."

"I don't," Tiffany said with a smile as she opened the door.

Jessica peered inside and almost fell down the steps when someone popped out from the side and into the center of the doorway.

"You must be Jessica. I'm Jiyong."

Jessica quietly said hi and was taken aback by his friendliness when instead of shaking her hand, he pulled her into a fierce hug. He left her standing dumbfounded as he trotted back into the house. Tiffany shrugged her shoulders as if to say I told you so.

The house was bright inside; lamps and ceiling fans illuminated every corner of the rooms. Jessica wasn't sure if this was an exception for her, or if they purposefully looked for artificial sources of the sun.

Tiffany led her into what must have been the dining room, where a girl was sitting at the large mahogany table.

"Yuri, come meet Jessica."

Yuri's bored expression turned into a much more interested one. She rose from her seat gracefully and strode over to where they stood, her eyes roaming all over Jessica's body. Jessica wasn't sure if Yuri was sizing her up or appreciating what she saw.

"So you're the infamous Jessica."

As she was avoiding Yuri's eyes a hand appeared in her line of sight. The first thing Jessica noticed was the stark red nail polish on Yuri's pale fingers.

She took the hand and forced herself to look up. Yuri was taller than her by a few centimeters and her eyes were so clear she could see her own reflection in them.

"It's so nice to put a face to the name." Yuri took back her hand after Jessica shook it and walked over to the bar cart near the wall. "Would you like something to drink? I make a mean martini. Well, at least I was able to when I was alive."

Yuri was smiling, but Jessica couldn't feel any more uncomfortable. Thankfully, Tiffany stepped in.

"Why don't you get her a glass of wine?"

Yuri turned her smiling face to Tiffany-Jessica saw it now, Yuri was mocking them-and gushed, "Of course! Be right back."

Jessica stared at Yuri until she disappeared around the corner.

"I'm sorry about her. She likes dark humor and seeing people squirm."

"That's nice."

Tiffany kissed her gently and it got the knot in her shoulders to disappear.

"But once she gets to know you, she'll stop."

Jessica moved in to kiss Tiffany again but saw someone appear at the threshold of the room, someone tall, dark, handsome-it must have been Tiffany's brother. But then he smiled and it couldn't have possibly been Seunghyun. He didn't look angry at all.

"Welcome. I'm Taek."

Right, Jessica had forgotten about him. She shook his hand warmly. So far, with the exception of Tiffany, he was the only one who didn't make her feel like she should be on guard.

"I hope our colorful little family hasn't scared you yet."

As if on cue, Yuri reappeared with two wine glasses. Only one of them was wine though. Whatever Yuri had in her other hand was much darker and thicker.

"Here you go. Oh wait," she raised the glass to the light. "Yea, this one's definitely the wine."

Yuri took a sip of her liquid, all the while smiling at Jessica and slinked back into her seat.

Tiffany bore daggers into the girl with her eyes. The night could be a potential disaster if Yuri was going to keep acting the way she did.

"Is Seunghyun here yet?" she asked instead of confronting Yuri. Yuri was only doing this to get a rise out of her but Tiffany wasn't stupid enough to take the bait.

"He'll be here soon. In the meantime," Jiyong flew past her with a brightly colored box, "let's play Twister!"

*