Blood Bank

A w a k e n i n g - 8

Hoseok still tried to process what happened as he fixed the living room. He was beyond confused and didn't expect to see Aera like that. He finished up and walked up to Aera's room.

Aera was busy bandaging the unconscious boy as his wounds did not heal. Hoseok's eyes wondered over to her wrist which was perfectly fine.

After the intruder had finished drinking, his hair shifted from the snow white to the jet black hair he had now. The skin around his eyes had lost the dark veins while his white eyes were switched out with a neon aqua blue.

"Can you tell me why you risked yourself like that? Didn't I tell you to call Joon?" Hoseok asked. Aera flinched at the harsh tone. She finished bandaging the boy and tucked him into her bed.

"He's the one who saved me back then." Aera muttered. She fought the urge to break down as her suspicions were confirmed. "If he's real then... it wasn't a dream."

"How can you be so sure it's him?" Hoseok asked.

"He has the mole under his lip." Aera answered. "For some reason when he bites me or I have a wound, if his saliva touches it the wound heals."

"Aera he's a wanted Nightwalker." Hoseok said. Aera looked up at him in disbelief. "He's too dangerous for the public. What doesn't help is that he's your master."

"Master?" Aera question aloud.

"You're his blood bank aren't you? That's why your blood smells different." Hoseok answered.

Aera brought her hand up to the gauze that covered the crook of her neck. She wanted to remove it, but the sound of the door opening downstairs caught her attention.

"Please don't tell Joon." Aera begged. "I need answers from him."

"You're risking your safety Aera." Hoseok shot back. "And I can't lie to my best friend."

Just then, the door slammed open. Namjoon ran in and pulled Aera into a hug with his back facing towards Hoseok. Aera hugged back and looked at Hoseok. She mouthed a please as Namjoon pulled back.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere? Who's sleeping on your bed?" Namjoon asked. "Hoseok what happened?"

"There was a loud sound outside the house and..." Hoseok trailed off before letting out a sigh. "I looked out the window and saw this guy get attacked by a B-Class Nightwalker. I took care of it but had Aera contact you just in case."

"You kept control?" Namjoon asked.

"I didn't have to go all out so it's fine." Hoseok mumbled.

"I'll question him as soon as he wakes up to write an official report. Thank you, Hoseok." Namjoon said. "I need to write a report, you can go home now if you want."

With that, Namjoon exited the room. Hoseok stayed quiet and turned to leave but Aera grabbed his hand.

"Thank you for covering for me." Aera said.

"The moment he becomes a threat to your life I'm turning him in." Hoseok mumbled. He walked away, probably out of the house too. Aera sighed and took a seat beside the boy. She caressed his warm cheek and examined his features.

She was sure that it was him.

Her eyes traveled towards his bandaged torso and noticed a weird mark on his skin. Upon closer inspection, it was the symbol that was on the rabbit statue. On his right collarbone was a neon aqua blue wing.

"Please wake up already."

^ ^ ^

"Really? That's an odd turn of events." Taehyung said. He sat beside Aera who was writing in her notebook. "Has he woken up yet?"

It was currently lunch break and Namjoon was busy with whatever Seokjin asked him to do. She decided to hang out at the library and came across Taehyung. She told him about everything as she wanted to get it off her chest. Surprisingly, Taehyung believed her.

"Unfortunately, no. It's so weird though, he's a wanted Nightwalker. Dangerous and all but why couldn't his wound heal?" Aera asked. "You know a lot about vampires, what could that mean?"

"Well, I haven't read anything about slow healing but maybe because he was weak?" Taehyung suggested. "Maybe the last time he drank blood was when he saved you from the whacko pink-eyed guy."

"This is so frustrating." Aera groaned.

"To relieve some stress why not read? Have you read the books I gave you?" Taehyung asked. Aera shook her head. "Then read them now! Quick!"

Aera smiled at his actions and took one from her bag. It was the Children's book The Lonely Rabbit by Min Yoongi.

"Little rabbit hops and hops
Even across the little rocks
He hops as far as his paws can take
And hopped and hopped without a break

He looked around and let out a sigh
Not another creature to be found in sight
His cries can be heard for miles at a time
But no one responded to his cries

One day as the little rabbit slept
A beautiful fairy came to his nest
She kissed the top of his furry head
And the little rabbit awoke again"

"This is a cute book." Aera giggled. The rabbit here was a cute pink color with a weird looking eyebrow.

"The author once said it was based on something he heard." Taehyung added. He looked up and saw a familiar person approaching them "Isn't that your boyfriend?" Aera looked back and saw Namjoon.

"He's not my boyfriend." Aera said. "He's my childhood friend."

"Hey, sorry I came out late." Namjoon said. "You made a new friend?"

"My name's Kim Taehyung, nice to meet you!" Taehyung chirped. Namjoon smiled and extended his hand.

"Kim Namjoon." Namjoon said. He took a seat beside Aera and sighed. "Ah Jin-hyung really is trying to kill me these days."

"What did he make you do this time?" Aera asked.

"He assigned me to this case of a Nightwalker that's been attacking random people." Namjoon answered. "I might get a little bit busy but we'll still keep looking for your parents okay?"

Aera felt the smile on her face drop at the mention of her parents.

If the nightwalker that saved her was there, then Namjoon was lying to her.

"Yeah, we definitely will."