...“ᴵ ᵃᵐ ʸᵒᵘʳˢ,...

...ᵀʰᵉ ʷᵃʸ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵉᵃ ᵇᵉˡᵒⁿᵍˢ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ᵐᵒᵒⁿ,...

...ᵀʰᵉ ʷᵃʸ ᵗʰᵉ ᵐᵒᵒⁿ ᵇᵉˡᵒⁿᵍˢ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵏʸ,...

...ᴬⁿᵈ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ⁱᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʲᵉᵃˡᵒᵘˢ ˢᵗᵃʳˢ ᵇʳᵉᵃᵏ...

...ᴬⁿᵈ ˢʰᵃᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵘᵖᵒⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᵐⁱˡᵏʸ ʷᵃʸ,...

...ᴵ ʷⁱˡˡ ˢᵗⁱˡˡ ˢᵉᵉ ʰᵉᵃᵛᵉⁿ ⁱⁿ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵉʸᵉˢ.”...

...~ᴹᵃʳᵏ ᴬⁿᵗʰᵒⁿʸ...

A little far away from the city’s hassle bustle, there’s a little house near a willow tree. Morning birds chirping on the tree. A window near one of the branches opens into a little room of cozy purple décor. Sun rays entering the room are beautifully scattered by the glass of the window. "hmm...What a ..lovely~ day" a girl sheepishly rose from the bed while yawning and stretching out her arms. She sits on the bed dazed and sleepy. Her eyes travel to the bedside clock "It's… six thirty" she noted lazily.

Then suddenly her eyes went wide in surprise as soon as the realization hit her. She quickly turns to see the clock again. "Crap it's six thirty already" She jumps out of her comforter, in the process overthrowing the white fluff kitty with the blanket on the floor. The white fluff hisses and jumps back on the bed to curl and fall back to sleep. Lazy Ass. "I'll get late for the interview" she shrieked before hurrying to the bathroom and rushing to get ready.

After taking a bath, the next half hour goes by with clothes being thrown out of the closet and the white fluff ball hissing for being disturbed out of her morning sleep. Sure Milan did plan what to wear last night but now the dress and sandals didn’t look as perfect in the morning light. Fluff Ball gives up on her sleep and watches last night’s event unfolding itself again. At last, she ends up wearing matching belies with her blue pants, white shirt, and a blue overcoat that gives her a simple yet formal look. She picks up some files from the study table and walks downstair.

When she steps on the last staircase her eyes fall on the living room, which, to her surprise, looks no different from a crime scene. The magazines and newspapers are all over the couch and center table. Pillows on the rug. A pile of books on the floor. It's a mess.

She looks around the room in a trance. Then last night’s memories flood in and she realizes it was she, who had messed the whole room last night searching for some magazines she bought a few months ago. "Why today out of all days.." she sighs and decides it’s better if she cleans all of the mess after she comes back, that, of course, if she did not want to get late and make a bad impression on her resume.

He takes a glance at the dark purple dial of her wristwatch. "It's almost seven thirty-five" she exclaimed to herself “I’ll clean this up when I’m back okay” Reminding herself one last time she moved carefully towards the kitchen, making sure she did not step on the papers and books. She takes some bread and jam out of the fridge, and calls the little fluff ball, Amie, who comes running down from upstairs to get her breakfast. Pouring a cup of milk for herself and some in Amie's bowl she quickly finishes her short breakfast and hurries out of the house after waving a bye to Amie and locking the front door.

Milan drives her scooty peacefully but today was different, she had to ride faster than usual to be on time because she overslept. She passed through a boulevard and she saw a black Mercedes Benz followed by another two turned towards her through the right side of the highway, her scooter was at a speed so she had to pull on a quick break. Are traffic lights not working or what???

She griped on the break of her scooter but due to high speed, it couldn't stop on time. The car stopped just a few inches away from her. Milan's scooter got misbalanced due to the sudden break and she fell on her side. Milan grunted feeling a chilling pain on her elbow.

Inside the car, a black-haired male with dark eyes and keen features was working on his laptop with a usual coldness on his face. A sudden break made him look provoked. "Why did you stop" he asked not bothering to look up from his laptop. "Sir...someone caused a problem" his driver responds from the front.

On this, the black-haired Male looks up and a strong aroma catches his attention. His expression changes and his eyes begin to turn blood-red. His appealing thin lips were slightly agape making his sharp fangs visible.

He gasped seeing the porcelain girl with long black hair and a pair of dark blue eyes in front of the car. She frowns looking down at her left elbow. "It hurts..." she whines holding her wrist.

"She's bleeding" the male murmurs instantly covering his nose. His eyes were still scanning the features of the girl in front of his car. Adam, his butler who was sitting beside the driver's seat in front, noticed the sudden change in him from the rear mirror "Master Zang are you okay?" he asked in a worried yet calm tone studying Zang from the rear mirror.

"Yes I am" he responded detaching his eyes from the girl who succeeded in catching his attention.

"How can a normal human's blood be so strong" Adam exclaims breaking the silence, sounding a little suspicious. "And what if …she isn't one" Zang stated. That bemused Adam, he tried to figure out who she could be but he was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Zang smirking in the rear mirror.

"She's hurt, you've got to treat her wound first and drop her to Jades' 3rd branch and..." ordered Zang as he signaled Adam. It didn't take Adam much time to understand Zang's words because he knew that the vampire king must have read her mind. But Zang's behavior was unusual. It's not like he read the minds of everyone wandering around and surprisingly he smiled, even if it was half, that's rare. "..make sure she's safe," Zang said completing his sentence.

"I'll take care of this master" Adam agrees stopping his curious thoughts from making things up. He unlocks his seatbelt and after getting out of the car he closes its fine metallic door and bows to Zang.

^^^...to be continued^^^

"ᵀʰᵉⁿ ᴵ ᵐᵉᵗ ʸᵒᵘ, ᵃⁿᵈ ᴵ ʳᵉᵃˡⁱˢᵉᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ᵘⁿⁱᵛᵉʳˢᵉ ʰᵃᵈ ᵒʳᶜʰᵉˢᵗʳᵃᵗᵉᵈ ᵐʸ ʷʰᵒˡᵉ ˡⁱᶠᵉ ʲᵘˢᵗ ᵗᵒ ᵇʳⁱⁿᵍ ᵘˢ ᵗᵒᵍᵉᵗʰᵉʳ. – ᴰᵉˢᵗⁱⁿʸ."

~ᴶ. ˢᵗʳᵉˡᵒᵘ

_

After the misadventure of the morning, Milan was in distress but was glad that the person was kind enough to not leave her in the middle of the road and for being considerate enough to order his people to help her out.

He introduced himself as Adam, his butler, and had dropped her at the Jades Company after bandaging her elbow carefully. He told her that her scooty was sent to the parking lot of the company so she could get it when she was done with work. She's still a bit confused though because she does not remember telling him where to drop her off and when she asked him how he knew that, he said she had told him before.

"Or maybe I did..." she trails off in thoughts. "whatever"she shook off her thoughts deciding to focus on the job at hand. She walks into the very modernized design company she'd always dreamed of working in. It's made of all toughened glass exterior, which gives off more of a fashion design company vibe than marketing and jewelry. She reaches the resume desk and a lady in a white dress and blue cap welcomes her.

"How can I help you ma'am?"

"Hello, I have an interview scheduled today at 8:15 AM, where can I find the chief secretary's office?"

The lady gave her directions and thanking her Milan went in the elevator.

Milan stood outside the chief secretary's office with other candidates waiting for her turn. She heard some of them mumbling prayers and some girls talking among themselves about how austere the secretary was while choosing new members. She had heard all of the talk about the company and its executives before but listening to those people made her nervous. 'No! Milan you've prepared for this moment for so long. You can't lose yourself now. You got this!' she motivated herself and stood straight. After waiting for a few minutes a lady called Milan in.

Meanwhile...

Zane arrived at his mansion and would have a video conference in fifteen minutes. He walked past the corridor into his dressing room to which a large walk-in closet is attached. There was a big mirror with a

broad frame placed on the wall beside it. "When Adam arrives send him in," Zane instructed the maid standing outside the door and handing his laptop to her "Keep it in my study room"

"Yes master" she replied as she walked out the room and closed the door behind.

Zane unbuttons his black shirt, unveiling his toned abs. His perfectly sculptured back is visible as he takes off his shirt. On his back, he has a mark of his clan, a sword with the vampire clan's symbol. It stretches with movements in his muscles. There are also some scars old and new of battles and fights all over his back and front, giving him a powerful personification. Someone knocked on the door.

"Yes come in".

"Master you called me?" Adam stepped in.

"Yes, you need to find out something Adam" Zane replied while taking a white shirt out of the closet. Adam stole a glance at the oval-shaped green pendant hanging in Zane's cupboard 'It's still with him' he thought

"About that girl we saw earlier"

"Master is she...by any chance the girl from six years ago?" He queried.

"You've got it right Adam" Zane confirmed putting on the shirt that fit him perfectly aligned with his muscular figure. "Her mother may have succeededin hiding her from us for all these years but her aroma...will always make me find her out." he smirked "Don't you think this is her fate?" heasked, more like stated, putting on his black coat and turning toward Adam.

"I agree with you master, but she has once saved your life and besides that, she is innocent and isn't aware of the sins her parents have done".

"She has saved me? Well, I saved her too in return, so we are even. Anyway, I'm not going to kill her even though

she is a danger to vampires..." Zane told Adam, clearing his quires while walking toward the door and gesturing Adam to follow.

"There are just some things I want to confirm... so I want you to find out everything you can about her. I want the information on my table till evening" he ordered knowing his butler was very capable of meeting all his demands.

_

"Milan" he whispered for the first time calling out the little girl's name "I'll miss you," he said softly, but

she was already gone afar and couldn't hear him.

"Huh!" Milan snapped out of her dream "That same dream again" she sighed her mind roaming back to all the past 4 years she's again and again having the same dream. It gave her a weird feeling of losing, something, or,

someone. She turns to pick up her phone which was ringing continuously after waking her up.

"Yes it's Milan speaking" she answered the call "Oh Zia it's you!" She exclaimed getting off the bed "Nah I was

just too sleepy that I didn't read the name before picking up... yes I'm fine, what about you...."

Milan walked out on her room's balcony to see the peacefully setting sun in the west, spreading dark

orange and heartwarming purple shades in the sky while talking to her best friend on call. She leaned on the fence to feel the cold breeze. A silent breeze blew through the branches of trees and her hair, the smell of roses, jasmine, and many other flowers from the garden filled the air. The evening that was getting dark felt relaxing and soothing to her.

"Wait you mean you are already in Korea!" Milan exclaimed in surprise. "Why didn't you inform me before?" she pouted. After getting a satisfying answer from the other side of the call her face brightened again replacing the disappointment of earlier. They exchanged a few more words and then decided to meet for dinner.

Meanwhile...

"Master, Mr. Adam is here" the maid informed knocking swiftly on the door.

"Send him in". Zane is sitting in his study room. The room has high ceilings, a self-designed wooden shelf fixed on the big wall, and a large chandelier hanging overhead. He was reading a book that appeared quite old, and a few more books were kept on the beautifully designed and polished wooden table in front of him with a fantastic black curved lamp placed beside it. Adam walked in.

"Master, I looked for the information about the girl, but I couldn't find much" Adam lightly frowned his brows and continued "But I did get her personnel file she submitted to the company this morning and was able to investigate a few more things..." Adam paused and shorted out a blue file from the bunch of papers he was holding and handed the file to Zane.

Zane opened the file and after a few minutes filled with the sound of flipping pages and a little humming he asked "Did you find something from her university?"

"No Master, all the information that we found from Seoul University came out to be false including her birthdate, father's name, and other personnel information" Adam answered with disappointment as he continued. "We tried to track some information but couldn't find much".

"What about her mother?" Zane inquired, with a sudden coldness spreading across his tempting eyes.

"As you know master, she is still hiding; she keeps changing her name sporadically and keeps traveling to different places. But we are trying to trace her location, we'll find her soon."

Adam completed his sentence and met Zane's eyes "No need to find her, She'll be the one who will come find me now" Zane smirked giving Adam a hint who felt chills soon after he understood.

"But Master her daughter..." Adam began hesitatingly.

"Don't go that way Adam you know I'm not going to hurt her, at least, not until she becomes a threat to me and not if when she agrees to my proposal," Zane interrupted as he understood what Adam meant to say and leaned forward to pour the red liquid in the wineglass.

^^^To be continued...^^^

...ᵀʰᵉʸ ᵃˢᵏᵉᵈ "ᵈᵒ ʸᵒᵘ ˡᵒᵛᵉ ʰᵉʳ ᵗᵒ ᵈᵉᵃᵗʰ?"...

...ᴵ ˢᵃⁱᵈ "ˢᵖᵉᵃᵏ ᵒᶠ ʰᵉʳ ᵒᵛᵉʳ ᵐʸ ᵍʳᵃᵛᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃᵗᶜʰ ʰᵒʷ ˢʰᵉ ᵇʳⁱⁿᵍˢ ᵐᵉ ᵇᵃᶜᵏ ᵗᵒ ˡⁱᶠᵉ"...

...~ᴹᵃʰᵐᵒᵘᵈ ᴰᵃʳʷⁱˢʰ...

_

It was a bloody war between two most powerful clans of all time, The Vampire Clan and The Wolf Clan. For centuries, as long as the books have preserved the data, they have been blood enemies. Wars after wars were fought between them for land and power. This was one of the bloodiest wars, at the shore of river Yuri, which lines the border between the human world and their realm. The Vampire clan was led by the most ruthless prince the world had seen in centuries, Zane Xian, and The Wolf clan was led by Jack Hwang, who was known for bringing the most advancement in wolf arms in the last few centuries.

The war was at its final chapter, with vampires having an upper hand over wolves with their new war weapons. Zane and Jack had found their way to each other for a duel in the middle of the battlefield. They fought with everything they had, too intense a fight, for the spectators to be able to keep track of their speedy moves. For hours they fought. Not one ready to give up, even if on the verge of fainting from fatigue. Jack smirked deciding to use his final card. He swifts into his half-human form and slides something out of his back pocket and keeping it at his side runs towards Zane for a head-on. As soon as Zane blocks his wolf’s head, Jack stabs the silver dagger in his gut. Zane growls loudly and pierces his teeth in his wolf’s neck. They both fall backward. There was a roar on the battlefield, wolves had started to backstep. Some came and picked up their leader to get him out of there quickly. Zane ordered his men not to follow them and stay to help the injured vamps.

Adam came running to help Zane up but he refused and told him to go help others. Zane stumbles to get up and reach the river shore. He bends and cleans his wound, but what he did not know was that the dragger that pierced his skin was made of silver and no vampire, not one, has ever survived the wound made from silver. He started to lose consciousness and in his weak and half-conscious state, he was unable to call for help. He slipped through the moldy soil by the river and fell into it.

Zane opened his eyes, flinching. He outlines a female figure over him and he blinks, his vision clears. A teenage girl was leaning over him, she had blue eyes… before his mind could make out anything else his nose found a delicious aroma and his eyes fell on her neck. The next second he flips her over, holding her wrist, and bit her neck, sucking the blood he needed so desperately. She shrieked and tried hard to push him away but he didn’t bulge. She screamed for help but there was no one there except them. After a while, her screams stopped and her limps went limb, her movement stopped completely. Zane had lost his control over himself, either due to the fatigue of the days-long battle or her overpowering taste of blood. Like a drug, one very addicting his mind resonated. Either way, he had a hard time getting off her when he realized her movements had stopped and his subconscious mind kicked in that if he continued, she might die. He stumbled off of her and ran away towards the forest, opposite the river.

After a while, the girl woke up hissing with pain in her neck. She looked around in horror, remembering the earlier events. She relaxes once she confirms no one’s there. She touches her neck “What a terrible man… I was just trying to help him with the wound. It looked ...painful. Grandma was right I should stay away from strangers. They are weird” She sat there some more minutes thinking about his weird behavior “Uhuh! Maybe he was just scared looking at me touching his wound so he bit me in defense..?” She doubted her statement. “I know this sounds insane but that’s the best excuse I can think for him right now” She thought some more and stood up in annoyance “Hell with his looks! He’s stupid enough roaming off in the forest with that wound” She kept her small knife and herbs in her pocket and decided to go find him before a wild animal did.

Meanwhile…

A lion was hiding in the bushes, silently studying every move of the little dear from a distance. It awaited an opening and as soon as the dear bent down to grasses, he leaped out, ready to get a hold of his prey. Something very fast caught it before it landed on the dear. Lion roared and the figure that leaped over him rolled it down to the ground and bit its neck. The little dear, alarmed, ran away. After drinking the lion’s blood and fulfilling his appetite, Zane with some difficulty climbed on a tree to rest.

On the other side…

Milan walked deeper and deeper into the woods, carefully hiding here and there whenever she heard the shuffling of branches or traces of animals. She was quite familiar with the outer parts of the forest but the deeper parts were still a mystery to her. Her grandma never allowed her to roam near the forest yet she had rebelliously explored the region in years. She was quite scared but some motivation to find the man from earlier kept her going.

“Now, I know I’m inviting trouble but if he wasn’t injured I’d never go to such an extent to find him, and you see it would be such a pity if a pretty face as his gets eaten by a wild animal,” she told herself with a fake sigh and continued walking ahead.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a wild boar came running in rage from a distance. She noticed it running straight to her and in fear screamed, turned around and ran with all her might. “AAAAAAHHHHHHH NOO! HEEELP ... someone HELP... don't come here AAAAHHH!” she screamed aloud while running away from the boar.

Zane having predator senses heard her screaming and recognized it from earlier. “That girl again” he sighed “What trouble did she get into now?” he jumped down the tree and then disappeared towards the direction of the voice.

^^^To be continued...^^^