TW: Graphic mentions of assault, murder, large knives and attempted suicide

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"How the hell do you know me?"

This was really not a great day for her. Just when her life was settling down things were thrown up in the air again-all because of the short haired fairy that now sat across from her. The confrontation between the two women had been short lived. Alice, as Nari now knew her, had decided to be truthful with her-with a lot of prying of course.

After all, what could you really say to someone when you hadn't even met them but seemed to know every little detail involving them? She'd even ordered Nari her favourite kind of pastry and sandwich without asking her preference.

Nari was a suspicious woman by nature, always able to sniff out when someone wasn't being honest with her, her mother had gone so far as to call her a 'walking lie detector.' She had a natural affinity to just...know when someone was lying, she could feel it in her gut. So when the small woman tried to play off that she'd just heard her name somewhere before Nari knew it was far from true-alarm bells virtually ringing in her head. Portland was no small city and she had no friends to include her in the local gossip mill so it wasn't possible.

It also couldn't be from any newspaper article about the incident from five years ago, she'd had the story removed from the public eye and any company that refused she'd bought out and sold on to more trustworthy people. It might have seemed dramatic but who wants their parents murder advertised on virtually every news chanel and paper in the city when they're trying to grieve peacefully?

Back to the matter at hand, she'd dug Alice in the ribs until the small woman had caved. They'd sat down together at Alice's request, a table near a large glass window that looked onto the street. The absolutely terrified expression on her pale face had made Nari somewhat hesitant. For a short moment doubt had plagued her mind, thinking maybe she should just forget this strange occurrence, just count her losses and get on with her day; according to Alice what she was going to find out would have come to light sooner or later anyway. The pixie had been adamant that she stay and listen. She had no clue what she meant but it was ominous nonetheless. She did wonder in what way she was involved and why it seemed to terrify Alice.

What she had been told was not what she'd been anticipating at all. She was completely and utterly stumped. It was a peculiar way that she'd learned about the existence of vampires, not how she had imagined it going down at all-to be sat in a random empty coffee shop, buckets of rain falling from the heavens and some beautiful clairvoyant telling her she was destined to be part of it all-she never specified how.

It was laughable really. Her, fated to be a part of the supernatural world? As if.

In her book she was no one special, she held no redeemable qualities and was so unremarkable it was a wonder that jerk-Dean-was even interested in her. Yet here they were. She supposed her earlier thought had been true, 13th avenue really was always full of surprises.

As open and brutal as she had been, Nari knew that Alice was still keeping something locked away in her vault of knowledge. Some troubling thought was ticking away behind her eyes, they swam with guilt but she hadn't said whatever it was and Nari wouldn't push. This was more than enough to learn for one day.

The quaint coffee shop was miraculously empty. The young girl behind the counter had escaped into the break room early on in their discussion, leaving them to talk freely. It was no surprise the place was vacant of customers. The weather had not improved and sadly most people didn't appreciate the stormy sky and cold rain like she did.

Still, though she was inclined to believe her some doubt remained in the forefront of her mind. 'How can I be sure she's telling the truth? She could just be after something from me.' Sipping slowly at her coffee she eyed the other woman with suspicion.

"Alice, forgive me for this but you're gonna have to provide some sort of evidence. I'm afraid I'm not going to just believe you blindly." The spritely woman seemed unsurprised at Nari's skepticism, she just leant back in her seat with a sorry frown.

"Fine. If that's what you want." It didn't take a genius to see how reluctant she was to demonstrate her supposed vampiric powers. "You're probably not going to like what I tell you." 'Well, now I'm nervous. Why do I keep putting myself in these situations?'

Alice sucked in a deep breath of air, tapping the tip of her pointer finger on the table in an annoying rhythm. "Like I explained earlier, I have a certain gift-the ability to see the future." Nari was fascinated by this. Vampires were crazy enough but vampires with superpowers? If it was true it was pretty fucking cool.

Tapping her finger faster she continued. "A couple of years ago I had a sudden string of strange visions. One was particularly nasty, of gore, blood and screams. A home invasion I believe but I'm not entirely sure." Nari paled, skin going as white as a sheet. This couldn't be, there was no way that Alice could know.

Alice took Nari's silence as a sign to continue. "I've been alive for quite a long time but it was honestly one of the most gruesome visions I'd ever had. In the center of all of that carnage was a petite sixteen year old girl huddled in the corner of the bed, absolutely terrified; forced to watch as her parents were essentially tortured in front of her."

Nari was shaking now but defiantly she wouldn't let the tears that glinted in her eyes fall, standing strong for now as Alice recounted the dark tale she had unwillingly been a part of.

"The most heartbreaking part for me was when that sixteen year old tried everything she could to save them. Such a young age but you were so brave, Nari. Those people, though, were...sick individuals. They didn't care who they hurt, or why-so long as they could fulfil their sick goal. So, they started with your father, beating him so bloody that you would later say there was hardly anything left to recognise."

Nari flinched, eyes screwed shut tightly. She resisted but ultimately the bruised and swollen bloody face of her father appeared in her mind like a ghostly apparition, his eyes screaming for help while those malignant men ruthlessly punched and kicked him. Those same eyes haunted her, taunted her. There was no escape-they stared back at her in the mirror everyday.

Already too much for her she muttered quietly. "Stop."

Alice either hadn't heard her or just didn't care. They'd started now, there was no point in stopping until Nari knew she was telling the truth. It was crucial she be warned about what was to come, and that had to start here.

"When he was as good as dead, they turned to you and your mother, Yeong-ja. Always selfless she shielded you behind her but you were a spirited girl, you wouldn't go down without a fight. You rushed one of the men, the biggest one, managing to get him to the floor. In the end though he pinned you to the ground and made you watch as your mother was beaten too, laughing in your ear while he did."

Nari's chest rose and fell rapidly, heartbeat thrumming in her ears. "Please...please stop." Her broken whisper was hoarse thanks to her dry throat; heartachingly a lone tear trickled from her eye.

She could see it all as Alice was describing it, her dad's lifeless limp body bleeding thick crimson blood onto the white carpet, the scent of iron sickeningly heavy in the air. Her mother, dragged from the bed by her hair, viciously maimed by one of the attackers' large bowie knives. She had screamed and screamed until her voice was raw; all the man on top of her had done was laugh and taunt her.

It pained Alice to see the effects her words were having on her, she didn't want to hurt the girl but she had asked for proof and she would have to continue to be the bearer of bad news.

"Finally, after hours of this they ended it with a gunshot to both their heads. Miraculously, you were left mostly unharmed, traumatised and alone when the police found you. This led to years of guilt and paranoia. Why didn't they hurt you? Or kill you? Why did you get to live when your parents didn't? What did you all do to deserve this? The truth is, Nari, we don't deserve anything that happens to us in life. Despite what we wish and how we act, it will still happen regardless, there's nothing we can do to hinder or prevent it. I think that's what broke you. To know that there is no reason or cause as to what befalls us in our lives. What did you do, Nari? When you just couldn't take it anymore?"

Dread shot through her body, stomach clenching with nausea at Alice's seemingly harmless question. There was absolutely no way she could know about that. She had never told anyone about it and she had done her best to forget it herself.

She shook her head in denial, disbelieving that Alice actually knew what she was thinking. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Alice's golden eyes conveyed her sadness but she pushed on. "Yes, you do. What happened that night, when you were all alone? When you sat in that freezing cold bathtub with the razor on the side?"

Her head shook more fiercely now, voice cracking with the pressure of her building tears. "Nothing happened!"

What Nari assumed were tears gathered in Alice's eyes but they never fell; they pressed against her waterline and obscured her vision. She reached across the metalic table, the icy touch of her smaller hand against her hot flesh made Nari's quivering form flinch.

Uncontrollable tears spilled from her red eyes; never ending like someone had left a tap to run. They weren't just because Alice knew her darkest secret but because it proved that she was right-vampires existed.

"It did, Nari. Until you admit that, you will never be able to move on. There's no shame in what you did that night, but you can't pretend it didn't happen-you'll be stuck in limbo for the rest of your life. So, allow me to help."

Grabbing the sleeve of her green jumper, Alice pushed it up her arm with lightning speed, Nari registering the action a second too late. When she did she was quick to yank it back down; not before they both saw the large raised, thick pink scars that ran from the beginning of her wrist down to the middle of her forearm.

Red hot anger flared inside her, burning through her entire being like liquid fire. With a violent shove to Alice's hand she leapt up from her seat, the chair she'd been occupying flying backwards with an ear shattering bang.

Those pretty hazel eyes were wild, filled with blazing rage that wouldn't be contained or suppressed. Nari Jeong had been like a ticking bomb sat dormant for years; now her time was up.