Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (18 page)

“Ji Sun...”
Hyeon
Jin
said quietly.

“Is it too late to do the Ritual?” Ji Sun asked, searching the crowd for someone. She spotted her father and smiled at him.

Ji
Hyun
whispered something to the old man next to him and addressed the crowd.

“I am ordering all of you to leave this instant. This is a family matter and none of you have any business being here anymore. I can assure you that I will enlighten all of you about this tomorrow, but for now, I wish to have some privacy with my family,” he said in his most authoritative and firm voice.

Not really wanting to argue with
Lee
Ji
Hyun
, the bloodsuckers reluctantly gave in. One by one, they exited the room, shooting meaningful and questioning glances at Mun Oh,
Hyeon
Jin
and Ji Sun. Ji Hyun must’ve told the old man to stay, for he didn’t budge from his position. He seemed to be one of the elders in their clan. After making sure that everyone else had left, he spoke to the five remaining people in the room.

“Let’s all go upstairs; we will be much more comfortable in the conference room.”

Five minutes later, they were all sitting around an oblong table made of ivory, cups of coffee in front of them. Ji Sun sat opposite Mun Oh and
Hyeon
Jin
, who sat next to each other.

“You are going to do the Ritual?”
Ji
Hyun
said, breaking the silence. His tone was so casual that
Hyeon
Jin
shot him a questioning look. It was as if he was talking to a stranger, not his daughter.

Ji Sun nodded. “I thought I might do my little brother a favor.”

“He’s not your little brother anymore,”
Ji
Hyun
said coldly. He didn't seem angry, just indifferent.

Hyeon
Jin
wanted to shout at him and tell him to stop talking as if she wasn't his daughter, but Mun Oh probably read her mind, for he quickly nudged her side before she could utter a word.

“But I want you to leave
Hyeon
Jin
out of this. I will take her home afterwards,” Ji Sun demanded, staring deep into her father’s eyes.

“Ji Sun, you have no right to demand anything. Just do the Ritual and get out of our house.”

It was Min Ah who uttered those harsh words.
Hyeon
Jin
couldn’t take it anymore; after all, Ji Sun WAS her stepmother.
Actually, she is as good as her mother now.

“Hey! What’s with all the hostility? Why are you acting like you don’t know her? She’s your goddamn daughter, for heaven’s sake! You made her; you brought her into this world! So stop acting like you don’t give a damn about her!” said
Hyeon
Jin
.

Mun Oh cursed under his breath as his parents’ eyes widened in shock.

“
Hyeon
Jin
...” Ji Sun said, somewhat amazed at her boldness.

“Look, I know this is a family matter and something that doesn’t concern me. But Ji Sun still treats you guys as
family,
so why do you keep pushing her away just because she chose to be happy and live as a human? Is it because of that law or ritual-whatever?! That’s stupid. You shouldn’t let bullshit like that control your lives.” She was breathing hard and looking back from
Ji
Hyun
to Min Ah as she spoke.

“You’re right,”
Ji
Hyun
said quietly.
Hyeon
Jin
looked at him in surprise. “This doesn’t concern you at all, human, so I suggest you keep a passive role in this conversation or else...”

“
Or else
what?”
Mun Oh snapped at his father.

“Mun Oh, don’t talk back to your father,” Min Ah said.

He rolled his eyes and looked away. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“How did you know about the Rule of Thirds, young man?” the old man asked. “You are not supposed to know about that since Ji Sun has yet to perform the Ritual of Renunciation. You just broke another law.”

Mun Oh clicked his tongue. “Look, I’m not a nosy guy. I just accidentally heard it from Mom and Dad the other day. They were arguing about something, and I heard Mom said that
Hyeon
Jin
is my
third
... and then Dad explained what a
third
is.”

“What the hell is a
third?”
Hyeon
Jin
asked before anyone could beat her to it.

“Well, then... it is indispensable that you hear the Rule of Thirds now,” the old man said. He chewed on his tongue for a second and then told Ji Sun, “If you may, Ji Sun, do the Ritual of Renunciation now. We’re running out of time.”

Ji Sun took a deep breath and her eyes lingered on her parents before gazing at her younger brother, who bit his lip.

“Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, you know the...
consequences,
right?” Mun Oh asked her, concerned.

His sister gave him a toothy grin. “Of course I do. It’s the least I could do for you... just remember that you’ll always be my little brother...”

“Wait! What are you gonna do? I mean, what is this ritual thing? What will happen to you if you do it?”
Hyeon
Jin
asked frantically.

Before anyone could reply, Ji Sun gave her an assuring smile. “Nothing will happen. I’ll just renounce my position as the heir apparent to our family. As simple as that. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” she lied, quite convincingly.

“Do it,” Min Ah said in a flat tone.

Without further ado, Ji Sun held out her right hand across the table, Mun Oh stretched his left hand to touch her hand and locked his fingers with hers. They both closed their eyes and after a minute or so, Ji Sun spoke in an uncharacteristically deep and loud voice.

“I renounce.”

For a moment, nobody spoke or even moved, they were stuck like that. Just when
Hyeon
Jin
thought something bad had happened, they opened their eyes together and released each other’s hands. Mun Oh seemed to be fine, but Ji Sun was pallid and her eyes were unfocused for a second.

“Wait,
that’s it?”
Hyeon
Jin
had to ask. Mun Oh nodded and Ji Sun forced a smile. “Are you... okay?” she asked her. She nodded and got up abruptly.

“We need to go now; your father is worried about you,” she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You may go, but she stays,”
Ji
Hyun
said.

“No
.
You said that if I do the Ritual—”

“No; let’s stay for a while, Ji Sun. I want to know about the Rule of Thirds,”
Hyeon
Jin
said firmly.

“But
Hyeon
Jin
, you shouldn’t even be here...”

“The Rule of Thirds... an ancient rule, passed from generation to generation only through word of mouth,” the old man said, as though he wasn’t aware of the conversation around him. He chewed on his tongue again. “It’s a simple rule. Three bloodsuckers for every generation will have their
third
in the form of a human being. It is the human who is born as the third full moon makes its appearance in a starless sky, three months before the bloodsucker is born.
Destiny will bring the bloodsucker and his
third
together
. It is foreseeable. The
third
is characterized by the fact that the bloodsucker will not be able to smell him… or her.” There was a long pause. All eyes were on him as he chewed on his tongue longer than before.

Hyeon
Jin
was desperately trying to digest every bit of information. So far, all she had managed to figure out was that she is Mun Oh’s
third
and he couldn’t smell her... not that she hadn't been already aware of that. She wasn't really a big fan of lengthy explanations.

“So what if I’m his
third?”
she asked.

The old man closed his eyes. He might’ve dozed off,
Hyeon
Jin
thought, for he kept his eyes closed for almost two whole minutes. Nobody else from the table seemed to want to wake him up, so she took it upon herself to disturb the old man’s peaceful slumber. She tapped on the table thrice.

“Hey, I was asking you—”

“
The third
...” the old man said in a booming voice, causing her to jump out of her chair. He still had his eyes closed; making her wonder where the hell that booming voice came from. “...
is the one ill-fated to either make or break the bloodsucker
.”

At the same time, Ji Sun, Mun Oh, and
Hyeon
Jin
asked, “What?” though in different tones.

“Only time can tell whether the
third
will make or break the bloodsucker...”
Ji
Hyun
added, staring at the cup of coffee in front of him.

“I still don’t get it,”
Hyeon
Jin
said.

“The
third
only appears once in a bloodsucker’s lifetime,” Min Ah said. “As Mun Oh’s
third,
you might be the one destined to be with him
, or...”

“Or what?”
Hyeon
Jin
snapped at her, getting more and more impatient with all the cliff-hangers.

Ji
Hyun
and Min Ah exchanged meaningful looks while Ji Sun and Mun Oh simply stared at their parents.
Hyeon
Jin
pounded her fist on the table again.

“Or what?!”

“
The one destined to destroy him
,” the old man replied in a stern voice, his eyes still shut.

Hyeon
Jin
was quite sure she had misheard him. She continued to glare at the old man, hoping to hear him say another “but” or another “or.” To her dismay, he was back to dozing off. Min Ah appeared to be close to tears as
Ji
Hyun
reached out to hold her hand for comfort.

“I didn’t know about that last bit," mumbled Mun Oh, hanging his head. "I just heard that she was the one I was destined to marry or something... that’s why I was happy.”

“But... it is
uncertain
whether she will make or break him?” Ji Sun asked. “I mean, how would he know?”

“We honestly don’t know. I, for one, tried to stay as far away as possible from my
third
. It wasn’t easy, but I had to do it,” Min Ah said helplessly.

“No one knows... No one ever knows,” said the old man.
Hyeon
Jin
seriously thought he might’ve been sleep-talking all this time. “Those who were born with a
third
are unlucky.”

None of this was making sense to her. Maybe
Han
Kyung
had done something to slow down her brain's thinking process. She made a mental note to make sure she kicked his ass later.

“Damn it! Screw that 'make or break' thingy! It’s not like I’m gonna get married to him right away, and I sure as hell wouldn’t kill him even if you paid me! How could I kill him? Besides, he’s stronger than me and I’m just a
mere human
, remember?” she said, her tone full of sarcasm.

“You need to understand that you could destroy someone without even using force,”
Ji
Hyun
snapped at her.

“I can assure you that no matter how much of an annoying jerk he is, I’m not gonna kill him. If I wanted to, I would’ve done it the first time we met.”

Min Ah had had enough. The tears that she had kept inside flooded from her eyes as she stood up abruptly, knocking her chair to the floor. She glared at
Hyeon
Jin
, who was stunned.

“Stop talking about things that you do not fully understand! It’s all about you, isn’t it? Do you not realize that our son is doomed because of you? Do you not see that whichever path he takes, whatever he does, he’d still end up sacrificing something and destroying himself? And it’s all because of YOU!” She was sobbing uncontrollably.
Ji
Hyun
stood up and wrapped an arm around her.

Hyeon
Jin
felt as though she had been slapped across the face. Min Ah's words stung her so much that she felt her body shaking with guilt and misery, and her eyes filled with hot tears. She felt as though her head was about to explode from all the information and the sudden burst of emotion. Just when she was about to break down as well, Mun Oh seized her hand and held it close to his heart. She didn’t realize that he was looking at her.