The Beauty and the Beast

VII

Did he really just say that he was a vampire? "You're kidding, right?" You nervously asked, since this was the first thing that came into your mind, as you were looking at him with wide opened eyes. This couldn't be real.

Jaebum shook his head after scratching the back of it. Her reaction was really not what he had expected. She really did not seem to believe him. "Shouldn't you be afraid of me or something like that?" He had thought she would immediately jump up and away from him but she just sat there, looking at him confused, probably thinking about whether he was sincere or not. After all, they barely knew each other.

You shook your head. "No, actually not, I'm still not sure if I can believe this or if you're totally kidding me but if you really are a vampire, then why am I still here like this? Why haven't you killed me yet?" You were pretty sure that he wouldn't hurt you because he hadn't done so until now. "You're still alive because ... Ikindalikeyou" He said the last part really fast so you couldn't quite understand it but also, another thought was bothering your mind. If he was like this, were his friends like this, too?

You suddenly felt uncomfortable. "So, are your friends also vampires?" You carefully asked, hoping he would deny it. You felt his grip around you waist tighten as he nodded slowly. "But there's no need to be scared since I'm here to protect you" He embraced you again, and you buried your face into his chest, enjoying his smell. Even though he was so different from you, he seemed so similar. If he hadn't told you, you would've never guessed it. But there were still some doubts about his existence somewhere in the back of your head because after all, everything you knew about vampires was that they loved to drink their victim's blood and even kill them.

For the moment though, you felt safe in his arms.

They stayed like this for quite some time, without saying a word but just enjoying each other's presence. It has also been some time since he had entered the room and had been so close to her, he slowly couldn't ignore the tingling feeling in his nostrils and tongue anymore. Her blood smelled so much better than anyone else's and he wished he could have a taste of it... His beastly side was slowly but surely pushing his manners away with every second she was in his arms, so fragile, so helpless.

No! He can't think of her like this again, he had to control himself if he wanted this to work out. "Uhm, so do you want something to eat?" He asked after pulling away from her. She nodded and he quickly got up. "I'll see what we have" He almost dashed out of the room.

Why did he leave so quickly again? Did you smell? Or did you fart? You tried to smell anything but without success. Everything seemed normal, so you just shrugged it off. Maybe he just had to pee.

Now that you were alone in there, you took the opportunity to look around the room. So far, everything seemed normal, but there had to be something that hinted to his type, right?

The room was pretty clean and you could not find one thing that seemed to be unfamiliar or even strange, just normal ones. So you gave up and sat down on the couch.

What was taking him so long?

The moment he had closed the door behind him, he took a deep breath to get out her smell. If he had stayed in there for only a few moments longer, he would've probably killed her.

"What's wrong?" Mark was just exiting his room, too. Seemed like he was in bed until now. "You're looking like you're starving, Jae! Drink something!" His friend advised and disappeared into the bathroom. The last time he had drunken blood was probably three days ago, it wasn't good for him to go without it for such a long time. With her in his room, it was a wonder that she was still alive, considering the state he was in.

Jaebum dragged his body towards the refrigerator, where they stored their blood. He and his friends did not steal any of this, but they had a friend who was working at a hospital and he was always providing the blood for them. It was not like they would kill a lot of people every day because that would cause too much of an uproar and they wanted to stay here for a little longer. But after all, they were monsters that couldn't suppress their needs 24/7.

Jaebum opened the door and immediately, a cold cloud hit his body. He took out a pack and started to devour the thick liquid.

Junior was only waiting for an opportunity like that. He was waiting until Jaebum was in a state where he completely shut out all of his surroundings until he quietly went over to his room. He had to get rid of her. What was Jaebum even thinking, bringing a human here?

He opened the door and entered the room.

"Finally, what took you-" You turned around and noticed that this wasn't Jaebum in the door frame. The man, that was coming closer to you, looked really angry, it scared you and you tried to get away. "Who are you?" Instead of answering, he just continued to approach you until he had you cornered and you weren't able to escape anymore. He took your chin in between his fingers and observed your face. "What a pretty girl" He muttered before looking directly into your eyes. His eyes were really dark and you slowly felt how your adrenaline started to pump through your body as you grew more and more scared.

"Aren't you afraid of us? Of the beasts we are?" He suddenly asked with a smirk dancing on his lips. You gulped. You weren't afraid of Jaebum but this guy was a different story, but there was no time to be shy and anxious, he wasn't allowed to know how much you were indeed afraid of him. You took a deep breath. "No, I'm not" You tried to put as much confidence and fierceness into it as possible but it didn't seem to work since the man started to laugh about you. "Don't try to fool me, got it? You think you're safe here, right? Jaebum probably said something along the lines of 'Don't worry, I'll protect you' but let me show you your knight in shining armor" You didn't have time to protest because he instantly grabbed you by your wrist and dragged you outside of the room.

After passing by some doors, he came to a halt in front of what looked like the kitchen. The door was slightly opened. The man put a hand up to his ear, it looked like he wanted you to listen to something. Seeing no way to escape him because he still held your wrist firmly, you obeyed. At first, you couldn't make out what you heard but it sounded like something rubbery. As if something was sucked out of a container.

The man opened the door further and pushed you inside.

What you saw there was completely terrifying. Jaebum was sitting on the floor, surrounded by blood packages. The floor was mostly red, just like his eyes. He hadn't noticed you yet, since he was too occupied with sucking blood out of the bags. He didn't look like a human anymore, he was indeed a beast. Your breath hitched and he suddenly had noticed you. His gaze was slowly wandering up your body until it rested on your face. You could not recognize him anymore. His soft features were completely gone now. Your body froze in place. "So, what do you say now?"