"Oppa!"
Soyun jerked upwards with a scream only to realize she was no longer at the playground, no longer a child and Neugdae was sitting a few feet away.
"I prefer Sunbae actually."
Soyun ignored his words to look at her hands and saw that her nails were now claw-like and black signifying that she'd turned into her vampiric form. Not even that fact mattered as the new memory flowed into her. It was more than she experienced in that vivid dream, there was newfound information there.
"I remember" she breathed then turned to Neugdae "I have parents!"
"What do you remember about them?"
"I…" and she trailed off unable to give an answer.
"That's okay we're taking this one step at a time."
"I remember Yong-Su Oppa but not my parents? How does that make sense?" she said with frustration.
"ThinK of your trauma as a maelstrom and I'm fixing it by starting at the outer edges working my way to the center. That memory is just an event that happened your childhood that relates to but is at the farthest edges of your trauma. You not remembering your parents mean that they are closer to the center of your trauma."
"I don't like it."
"Well the good news is that this first step might help you remember things even without my direct interference…eventually…maybe…"
"How reassuring" she said dryly before palming her face with a sigh.
'No I should be happy enough as is' she thought with some frustration at herself 'I remember Yong-Su Oppa now.'
Already she can begin to recall even more of their interactions beyond that first meeting. Just as importantly she could recall the feelings that accompanied their shared time together and couldn't help but smile. As far as she knows he is her first best friend and she will always cherish the memories they have together.
'I wonder what happened to him?'
Now there's a thought, maybe she could track him down and see if he has any answers as to what happened to her but on the other hand…
'What if he's…'
Soyun's thought trailed off as she remembered the state she was in when father Joseph found her. Tired, injured, covered in blood and feeling so hollow inside that she couldn't even muster the energy to be frightened at her situation. Soyun swallowed at the memory suddenly not very keen to find out what happened to her first best friend.
He's probably dead.
The thought entered her mind before she could banish it and Soyun squeezed her eyes shut as images of flames and the sounds of screams flashed in her mind's eye.
'NO!'
"Hey!"
Her red eyes snapped open coming face to face Neugdae as he gave her a troubled look. He held her wrists in a surprisingly strong grip that rendered her unable to move her arms.
"W-what?"
"We just had a breakthrough here Soyun, let's not ruin it."
"…okay" she said breathlessly only just noticing that she was panting.
"Alright" he released her "now there is something else I wanted to talk to you about but I'm not so sure you're in the right state of mind for that kind of discussion right now."
"I'm fine" she answered immediately.
Neugdae seemed unimpressed "yeah, word of advice, don't brush off the concerns someone has for your mental health" his eyes narrowed "especially when that someone is a telepath who can sense the turmoil of your thoughts."
Soyun scowled "wow Sunbae do you usually peek into the thoughts of young women without their permission?"
"Funny" he replied blandly "but I'm serious Soyun. Take some time to get your thoughts in order."
"Haah~ fine" she breathed out with begrudging acceptance.
"Besides I think what we plan next needs to be something for the priest to hear as well."
"Why?"
"I got into contact with someone from the precinct."
"You went to the police?"
"I went to a detective" he clarified "coincidentally she's the one we talked to a few days ago when those maniacs tried to shank us with a scalpel."
Soyun cringed at the memory "you mean Officer Hwa?"
"Same one."
"Why her?"
"She's competent, well respected, highly trained and not on the Noble Blood's payroll."
Soyun stiffened "and the other officers are?"
"Yes and no" at her questioning look he continued "don't get me wrong there is corruption in the police force. In fact Officer Hwa is sure there are actual spies hidden in the precinct itself. Even if we're wrong Ji-Hae's father alone has enough money and political connections to hamstring any legitimate legal attempts against him."
Soyun scowled at that she did do a little research on the Noble Blood Chong Ji-Hae and while she obviously couldn't find anything incriminating about him just the fact that his father is a multi-millionaire and own a large company spells all kinds of trouble.
"At this rate the authorities will never be able to actually tackle the vampire problem."
"Yep, turns out in the end bureaucracy and politics will be the death of humanity."
"Ugh" Soyun groaned.
"Oh so you understand."
She gave him a sour look "I'm not ignorant Neugdae it's just politics are…"
"Messy and you don't want to deal with it?"
"Right" she affirmed.
"I'm of the same mind but unfortunately we'll need to take such things into consideration moving forward. It's one thing to get rid of the Noble Bloods but what would be the point of doing that if their operations don't die with them. Remember in the end Noble Bloods are just servants and until that Pureblood is gone…"
"Nothing changes" she finished before sighing "okay, when do you want to meet again?"
"I'd rather all of us come together to get acquainted and hash out an actual plan as soon as possible but you said the priest is injured."
"Knowing Father Joseph he won't let that stop him" she sighed "so long as he can stand he'll be there and even if he couldn't he'd still want to at least meet the two of you if I'm going to be working with you guys especially you Sunbae."
"Overprotective father figure, got it" he went to the desktop in the corner of the room and opened the drawer "I'd rather not use my actual phone from here on out so here."
Soyun easily caught the object which turns out to be a burner phone.
Holding up an identical but different colored one he spoke "it has a number programmed in it, we'll keep each other up to date but don't expect a reply until after school."
"I understand" she said pocketing the phone before standing up "keep in touch and…thanks for helping me."
"I'd say it was no problem but uh…"
She rolled her eyes "it wasn't that bad."
"For you maybe, all you had to do was sit back and let it happen meanwhile I'm busting my ass behind the scenes making sure I don't do irreparable mental and emotional damage."
"You're the one who offered in the first place and I even gave you the opportunity to back off. Don't go blaming me for something you literally volunteered for."
Now it was his turn to roll his eyes "Jesus Soyun I was just messing with you."
The vampire ended up scoffing at him "I'm leaving now."
"Looking like that?"
Soyun saw the strands of white before she said anything and so grasped her rosary. With a bit of concentration and a silent prayer she immediately changed back to human form.
"Do you need that thing to assume a human guise?" Neugdae asked curiously."
Technically no but "it helps me calm down."
"If you say so."
Soyun frowned at the response however a glance at the clock had her priorities shifting "I'll see you later."
"If you're going to tell the priest about me use the name Wolf?"
"Wolf?"
"It's a codename and what I told officer Hwa to call me. You should probably get one too and a proper disguise. Or just stay in your vampire form, either works."
"I'll take that into consideration" she said before making to leave the apartment.
Meanwhile…
'I've gotten rusty' is the thought that pervaded Stefan's mind as he glared at his injured body.
Following his stint in the clinic he was escorted to a safehouse which is actually a small apartment in a low income area. It is the kind of place that can be rented without needing an ID and the landlord doesn't ask questions so long as no one causes enough trouble to bring the police on them.
At the moment Soyun has left to, in her own words, meet with her contact. Joseph couldn't help but snort at the term yet he felt an undercurrent of pride at her initiative. Don't get him wrong he was still worried and despite trusting Soyun's ability to judge someone's character he still wanted personally vet this 'contact' of hers.
That would be for later however as currently he was laid up on an inflatable bed with a lot of bruises, a few abrasions, two cracked ribs, a nasty thigh wound that almost nicked his femoral artery and he was slightly concussed. All in all not a bad outcome for someone who is almost a decade out of practice going up against a small army of moderately trained vampires and a Noble Blood.
"Tch" he scoffed with a scowl.
Joseph didn't think his practical skill played as much a part of his success however so much as it was his pre-planning, the vampires' incompetence and Soyun working behind the scenes to undermine them that made the plan succeed and prevent his death. Going over the battle in his head Stefan handled himself about as well as he could for the most part but knew the moment where he messed up was with the Noble Blood. Specifically he sighted the point when Ji-Hae destroyed his bazooka and he threw that smoke grenade to escape.
At that point he should have given Soyun the signal to engage but he chose not to.
Personally Stefan would like to say the reason he didn't was due to parental worry for her safety. He considered Soyun to be his daughter in all but blood and while she is a powerful vampire in her own right what parent would willingly send their child into a dangerous situation? His more militant mindset would give the excuse that the reason why he took such risks was to teach her a lesson by demonstrating the practical application of military tactics and urban warfare against vampires.
In truth however Stefan attributed a lot of his decisions during that battle to pride. Yes he cared very much about the potential danger to Soyun and wanted to prove a point to her but mostly he wanted to prove something to himself. In hindsight he realized how foolish it was of him to do this and now due to his hubris he is confined to the sidelines for at least a few weeks until he recovers from his injuries.
With Soyun gone, the twins safe at friend's home outside the city and his thoughts offering nothing but admonishment and self depreciation Stefan picked up a burner phone and turned it on. After turning on the phone the first things he saw were a multitude of missed calls which got a raised eyebrow from him. After checking the time he dialed the number and waited.
"I was starting to think you actually died in that fire" came the voice from the other line.
He smirked "scared you did I?"
"Well I'd say you did, especially since some of your precious equipment was recovered at the crime scene."
The smirk was replaced with a frown "there a chance I can get some of those back?"
"Not unless you're willing to raid the precinct yourself. Those things are locked up tight in evidence. The police chief is understandably cautious after finding modified illegal military grade weapons that were involved in over a dozen murders in broad daylight."
"They were vampires."
"All the same and vigilantism is still illegal."
Stefan scoffed.
"And speaking of vigilantism there's been a new development in that case concerning the Blood Syndicate."
And wasn't that an annoying thing to discover. Given how relatively new vampire culture has been in Korea Stefan figured that everything involving them was centralized to the Noble Bloods with only a few unaffiliated gangs most of whom are attempting to get into the ranks of their groups anyway. He did not expect to be dealing with a massive organized vampire criminal organization unaffiliated with the Noble Bloods. Or at least so it seems considering they need a Noble Blood to survive he figured the 'unaffiliated' aspect will be contended at some point sooner or later.
All the same it appears he need not worry about them since said organization is apparently already being targeted with several members as well as their offices being hit throughout the week.
"Did you manage to find who did it, or a lead?"
"More like they found me."
Stefan sat up straighter "what?"
"Came home last night and found someone waiting for me in my living room. He was in a full disguise and had voice modulator too I couldn't get a read on him."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, except maybe for my pride and sanity" she added the last in a grumble "there wasn't much I could do in that situation even if they were just a vampire."
"What do you mean?"
"He claimed not to be a vampire and could do magic."
Stefan stiffened at that and did his very best not to let his sudden anxiety show in his voice "magic?"
"I know how it sounds but let's just say he made a very convincing argument when he teleported the bullets out of my gun so you tell me, is he crazy or am I?"
By this point Stefan's grip on the phone was almost white knuckled before he released a breath and calmed down "point taken. What did they want?"
'An alliance against the Noble Bloods."
"Really?" Stefan said hiding the shock in his voice.
"Apparently he wants the vampires in control of the country as much as we do."
"That's…" he trailed off to think.
"Do you know something about this?"
"I don't but it's suspicious."
"I know which is why I wanted to run this by you. He's going to contact me later this week to set up a meeting."
"You want me to be there?"
"Yes, just in case it's a set up. Though why he would choose to go through all that trouble I don't know."
'Unless they knew we were in contact and wanted to get to Soyun and I through you' he thought grimly.
It's the only reason why they would want to get involved especially against a Pureblood.
'Then again they could be lying and this person was an agent of the Pureblood.'
Stefan sighed "this is getting more complicated."
Chiyon scoffed on the other line "you're telling me. As if dealing with a possible vampire gang war wasn't bad enough now I have to deal with vigilante wizards. What else is next?"
'If only you knew.'
"Contact me when you have a date for the meeting and I'll be there to provide backup."
"Got it."
"By the way does the mystery magic user have a name?"
"He calls himself Wolf."
After hanging up Stefan immediately took the SIM card out and snapped it in two. After contemplating this newfound information Stefan could find no reason for them to get involved. And even if they were to get involved they wouldn't go against an established Pureblood.
'This whole thing reeks of a setup…which means that Chiyon is compromised.'
He grimaced at that but schooled his expression when he heard the door opening and immediately he reached for his pistol.
"Father Joseph?"
Aborting his previous action Stefan called out "I'm here."
Soyun stuck her head in the room and sighed "thought you ran off for a minute there."
Stefan rolled his eyes "how did your meeting go?"
"Well enough" stepping into the room proper Soyun pulled out a burner phone "he gave me this."
Stefan scrutinized the phone "is it clean?"
"It is, I checked. I'm supposed to call him when we're ready to set up a meeting."
"He's letting you choose the time?"
"I wasn't sure when you'd be up to travel."
"You told him about me?"
"He already knows."
"And yet you won't tell me his name."
"I don't think he wants anyone to know he's involved."
"You do"
"It couldn't be helped."
Stefan scowled at that, Soyun did tell him a bit of how she came into contact with this person. Apparently they managed to figure out her secret through unknown means but instead of reporting her or even blackmailing her they approached her with an olive branch. Of course Stefan thought it to be some kind of trick and to her credit Soyun is not nearly as naïve as she may seem at first brush. She herself has a healthy amount of paranoia yet this person managed to impress her enough to gain her trust all the same.
Seeing his expression Soyun added "Wolf."
Stefan froze "what?"
"That's his codename or well the name he wants to go by."
"Wolf?"
"Yeah" she nodded before noticing his expression "why, what's wrong with it?"
"Nothing" he smoothly lied "what else happened during this meeting of yours?"
"He managed to convince a police officer to help us."
"Did he now?"
"What's with that look?"
Stefan looked her in the eye for a long moment as he weighed his thoughts before answering
"I recently spoke to one of my contacts and they informed me that they were confronted by an unknown individual who broke into their home and admitted to being the one involved in a string of murders that occurred throughout the week. Said individual also goes by the name Wolf."
The more he spoke the more prevalent the shock on Soyun's face became to the point where he could actually see a bit cold sweat form on her brow.
After a few moments Soyun seemed to collect herself and reply "in his defense those 'murders' were all vampires."
Stefan raised a brow "all the same and vigilantism is still illegal."
Soyun scoffed and Stefan couldn't help but feel a swell of pride.
'Like father like daughter.'
~To Be Continued~