Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (23 page)

She was now passing the third block from the movie house. As she paused in front of a clothing store for guys, she remembered how he had volunteered to be her human doll for a day just to stop her from crying and make her feel better. That was a huge turning point in their relationship. She finally took notice of his ‘bright side’ and, at some point, understood his personality better. Looking at her reflection in the glass windows of the store, she saw herself smiling like a fool. It made her feel so much better to think of their blissful moments together.
Well, almost
. Since he always tried to ruin everything with his condescending attitude.

We can never be on the same page...
she thought, still gazing at her reflection.
But no matter how many stupid fights and silly arguments, our hearts will always stay the same... and that’s what matters.

Feeling a lot better, she went inside the store in a hurry as an idea came to her.

Back at the cinema, the
Antonio
Banderas
movie had just ended and the next one was ‘
Van Helsing
,’ a movie starring
Hugh
Jackman
. Mun Oh almost laughed out loud upon realizing the irony of the situation.

A bloodsucker watching a vampire movie. How classic,
he thought. He was just about to go out and find
Hyeon
Jin
, but his legs suddenly felt weak. It was as if someone had electrocuted them and he couldn’t straighten them without feeling pain shoot through his nerves. He tried again and again, but it was fruitless. This was definitely a first for him; he normally had a high tolerance for pain. Not wanting to aggravate whatever it was that was causing the pain, he checked his watch. It was 4:30pm.
Time really flies when you’re having fun
, he thought grimly. With nowhere to go, he simply concentrated on the movie, silently wishing that
Hyeon
Jin
was there to make him feel better.

Three blocks away, Hyeon Jin was having fun by herself, picking up the most hideous and hilarious shirts that she could get her hands on and imagining Mun Oh donning them. She just thought that she should give him a nice little present before ‘it’ happened. In the process of comparing two neon-colored sleeveless shirts, she had the urge to check her watch, thinking that the movie must be over by now.

Four thirty-five...

Mun Oh’s slumber was supposed to happen when the clock strikes midnight...
she thought.
Maybe we could still walk along the beach and watch the sunset and have some foreign food for dinner...
She cooked up a little plan in her head, as she grabbed an orange collared shirt with frills and pink buttons.
Perfect!
She thought with a huge grin. After paying for the shirt, she giddily made her way back to the movie house, picturing him wearing the shirt.

Halfway through the movie, Mun Oh was about to reach for his soda when he felt his fingers go numb along with his hands. Same with his legs; he tried to move them again and again, but all he got was the same painful sensation coursing through his body. There was no mistake about it: something terrible was happening inside of him, and the worst part of it was—he had no idea exactly what was going on. Taking deep breaths, he turned his head from left to right, trying to grab somebody’s attention. There were only a few people in the cinema now, not more than twenty, and none of them was close enough to him to see that something was wrong. He closed his eyes. For the first time in his life he felt helpless, but not totally hopeless...

Hyeon
Jin
!
He thought wildly.
Where is that big-footed girl?! She wouldn’t dare leave me here!
He looked around at the dark surroundings, thinking that she might be hiding or something. The coldness around him was starting to seep through his skin, making him shiver madly. That was another first—the cold had never bothered him, or any bloodsucker for that matter. They could withstand extremely high or low temperatures. Even with everything that was happening around him, he still managed to focus on the film and actually appreciate the story. It was somewhat close to his own story.

Van Helsing
lost the woman—the human—that he cared for. And what made it worse was...
he was the cause of her death
.

•••

A cold shiver ran through Hyeon Jin’s body and her hands shook as she rounded the corner to the street where the movie theater was located.

She should've seen the signs but she had chosen to ignore them.

She was just about to cross the street when she felt a chilly hand slithering around her waist. Before she could blink, she was in a dark alleyway that served as a dumpster to the nearby shops. Looking around frantically, she saw nobody. But she knew better than anyone that whomever had brought her here was no human. For a split second, a smile crossed her lips as she thought with relief that it must be Mun Oh trying to pull a prank on her.

"Hey!
Lee
Mun
Oh! Come out!" she called out, still looking around. There was no sign of movement. That's when she realized it was not him. The eerie feeling was NOT something that she associated with Mun Oh's presence. Taking careful steps towards the entrance of the alleyway, she clutched the paper bag with the shirt for Mun Oh close to her chest and braced herself. She could almost hear her heart drumming madly in her ears.
Just three long strides...
she thought desperately,
I'm almost there...

"Where are you going, human?" A chillingly familiar otherworldly voice called out.

She froze, her heart almost jumping out of her chest.
What the heck?
She turned around to see the Cheshire cat smile of the bloodsucker
Han
Kyung
.

"What... what are you…? What do you want?" she stuttered.

"So, we meet again," he said simply, and in a second,
Hyeon
Jin
was back in the middle of the alleyway, face-to-face with him. "You wanna hear a story?" He took a step towards her and she backed away two steps. "I was kinda thirsty and I smelled a considerably good
catch
nearby... saw her about to cross the street... brought her here... only to find out it was
YOU
." He shook his head. "Tell me this isn’t my
lucky
day."

"I'm not a good
catch
! You already knew that. I have... errm... a blood disease..." she tried to convince him.

"So I've been told."
Han
Kyung
said, nodding. "But I'm not a stupid bloodsucker. I know a good
catch
when I..." he paused to sniff in some of the air around her, "...
smell one
."

Hyeon
Jin
shivered with terror and with no Mun Oh to get her out of this; she thought a little taekwondo would do the trick. Throwing the bag aside, she got herself in defensive position.

"Oh yeah? Try me. If you can get past my taekwondo defenses then I'll let you bite me," she challenged him.

Han
Kyung
laughed his horrible otherworldly laugh. "Ooohhh... I'm scared," he said, mocking her, and took another step toward her.

In one swift move, she lashed out with her right foot and caught him
right in the groin
. He yelped and jumped around in pain, giving her the upper hand. She grabbed his left hand and, using her momentum, back threw him on the ground. There was a sick crunch as his back hit the cement. Now time for her favorite part—
kicking a man when he's down...
literally
. She kicked hard everywhere, screaming profanities at him.

Just when she thought he was knocked unconscious, she stopped for a second. That's when he took his chance and grabbed her feet with so much force that when she hit the ground, she bounced twice. Every muscle in her body vibrated with pain and she felt like she was paralyzed.
Han
Kyung
got to his feet and glared down at her. Sighing heavily, he grabbed her by the sleeve of her sweater and hauled her up effortlessly. His face was an inch away from her neck when a sound interrupted the moment. It was the alarm of a cell phone.
Hyeon
Jin
silently thanked whoever invented the cell phone, as her body shook with utmost fear and pain.

Almost instantly, he released her and started to walk away as if nothing had happened. She fell on her butt with a loud thud, confused and dazed.
Han
Kyung
raised an arm as if to wave goodbye. "My mission is done. I hope we never see each other again, human.
For your own sake
," he said without looking at her.

The two of them were not aware of
it
, but they were in two different places at that time.

While she was desperately trying to save her neck, literally, from
Han
Kyung
, Mun Oh was having a battle of his own inside the cinema. Unable to move his legs and arms, he suddenly felt a presence of their
kind
nearby. Confused but totally alert, he didn't dare let his guard down. But it was hard to defend himself when he was inexplicably paralyzed. He didn't know what was happening but it was definitely not good.

He should've seen the signs. Whenever he and
Hyeon
Jin
got into a silly fight, something unpleasant almost always happened right after.

As the
Van Helsing
movie ended, a chill swept over him and his body froze.

"It's time..." A voice whispered in his right ear.

He could still move his head, but there was no need for that. He already knew
who
it was. Or rather,
what
it was. Looking straight ahead, he felt another presence on his left side. This one actually had the audacity to sit beside him. His blood boiling in fury, he balled his fists and tried, with all his might, to move.

"Are you feeling the effects?" The one seated on his left side whispered in a husky voice. "I suggest you do not fight it off; it'll only make it worse."

"What do you want?" Mun Oh asked finally, gritting his teeth.

The one on his right, who was probably seated at the row behind him, leaned in to whisper, "We came here for you. On your parents' orders. They said you are to come quietly and without making a scene. The preparations for your lethargy are almost ready."

"It's not yet midnight," Mun Oh argued, still looking straight ahead.

The one at the left side spoke with what sounded like a tone of sympathy. "There has been a misunderstanding about the schedule. It's a little after sunset now."

Mun Oh turned his head to stare wide-eyed at the one on the left side. He was a man in his early thirties, who wore a military haircut and large spectacles. He recognized him as one of his father's trusted friends.

"Come now, dear child," the one on the right said, lifting him to his feet. "Let's not make matters worse. You need to be home now." Mun Oh saw that he was also one of his father's friends—a heavy-set man with a chiseled jaw and thick mustache. His touch seemed to have taken off the paralyzing effect that he was feeling.

"No...
Hyeon
Jin
..." Mun Oh mumbled. "She doesn't know. I need to tell her!" He desperately tried to free himself from his grip as they made their way out of the movie theater. The lobby was empty and outside, the sun was near the horizon, ready to set soon. The colors in the sky were blending, giving off a mesmerizing glow all around.

"Let's go," the man on his right said in a sad tone.

"I'm not going without her!" Mun Oh screamed, causing the lady at the ticket booth to stare at him disapprovingly. He kept on thrashing against him, but in his weakened state, everything was futile. As they stepped out of the movie house, he searched the streets for any signs of
Hyeon
Jin
, with one last attempt to escape from them. There were a lot of people passing by here and there; the opposite side of the street looked jam-packed as well.

Hyeon
Jin
... where are you?
Now he wished he could smell her so that he could find her quickly. He rounded on the mustached man. "Please... I need to see her." He was feeling more and more miserable by the minute.

With a heavy sigh, the mustached man gave him a pat on the shoulder. "It is your parents' wish that you do not see her during your final moments... It is better that way." He shrugged. "Don't worry about her, she's being taken care of by
Han
Kyung
. She must not interfere with the ritual."

"
WHAT? You left her with
Han
Kyung
? No!
" His words did nothing to calm him down. If anything, it made him worry some more. "That bastard! If he touches so much as a hair on her head, I'm gonna tear him to pieces and—"