Chapter 15

The car ride back was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Taehyung drove silently, his shoulders much more relaxed than they had been when driving to the vampire bar. To be honest, you were surprised he wasn't freaking out more, considering he'd almost been killed by a past lover who had murdered his entire family.

You kept replaying the events that had just transpired over and over again in your head. You could still feel Rosemary's hand on your cheek and the image of her violet irises were burning into your brain. You could understand how Taehyung had fallen in love with her. She'd hypnotized you without even the ability of compulsion, there was no question she could hypnotize even the most closed off people. There was just something about her, something magnetizing and intoxicating that was hard to dispel.

Thinking about what Taehyung had been through and how it had all occurred, you could also understand his perpetual anger and overall apathy toward feelings of compassion or kindness. Even though you knew he was much older, he'd stopped aging when he was young. Which meant, at the time he was turned, he wasn't much older than you were now. He was young, stupid and in love. He probably didn't fully understand what it meant to be immortal and to have to become a killer in order to survive. But then it was too late to change his mind after she'd turned him. And not only that, but she'd killed his family because of their history. With that kind of trauma... you might have expected him to be much worse than he was.

Granted... he had fed on you the very first time you'd met. And then he'd threatened to kill you on multiple occasions after that. And not to mention he'd toyed with your friends just to spite you. But even through all that, he was taking his mission seriously. As soon as he realized that things were going sideways and you might get hurt, he'd removed you from the situation. If he was so consumed by rage and hatred, he might have let Rosemary harm you just so he could have a shot at getting revenge on her.

On top of everything, you'd just found out that there were vampire hunters. Vampire hunters... it was unfathomable. There were probably more vampire hunters out there than you thought, just like there were probably more vampires. You wondered how many there really were, if they still existed today, and if you knew any of them. Just how complex was this web?

When you finally saw the manor appear in the windshield, you breathed a sigh of relief. You were exhausted, drained and really really hungry. The whole point of this expedition initially was to get food for you, and that had been ruined. So, it was safe to say you could eat an entire thanksgiving meal by yourself if given the chance.

Taehyung parked the car outside and you noticed the other two cars parked outside the garage. The others were already back. You wondered if they had been worried about you. It was weird to think about, since none of them had really displayed any kind of affection or genuine worry toward you. Jimin had come close, but you still weren't sure if anything he said was sincere. And Jungkook was too emotionless to tell.

You and Taehyung walked to the front door and you exhaled, feeling happy that you were back at the manor.

It suddenly hit you with a jolt. You were thinking of this place like a home now and less like a temporary residence. Were you actually... getting used to it here? You supposed it should be expected since you'd been here nearly two weeks, but it was still strange to think about. Your mind wandered back to your old apartment and your friends. You wondered if Caden had gone through with his promise and moved into your empty room. That thought alone made you exasperated and sad.

Taehyung unlocked the door and walked through, letting you follow behind him. You had barely walked into the foyer and shut the door behind you when suddenly, Taehyung was slammed up against the wall next to you with a loud bang. You shrieked and jumped back at the sudden impact to see Jimin's arm slanted across Taehyung's throat, holding him against the wall, a murderous look in his eye.

"Six hours?" Jimin shouted, slamming him harder. "You disappear for six hours? What the hell is wrong with you?" You gaped at the scene in stunned silence, unable to move or breathe. "What the hell did you do with her?" Jimin demanded. "I swear to god, Taehyung, if you messed this up, I will drive a stake so far up your—"

"I'm right here, Jimin, stop it!" You cut him off abruptly, breaking out of your frozen state. Before you could think about it, you rushed forward and grabbed Jimin's arm, trying to pull him off Taehyung. "I'm fine, let him go!" You exclaimed, pulling at his arm.

Jimin's head turned and his eyes flashed red when they focused on you. You gasped and flinched back. His expression was one you'd never seen on him before, a look of pure, unadulterated rage and loathing. He looked like he wanted to snap the arm that was holding him like a twig. You gulped and released him, stumbling back in fear. So, this was the Jimin under the mask. It was absolutely terrifying. Jimin turned back to Taehyung, his expression never wavering.

"Where the hell where you?" He growled, pressing his forearm into Taehyung throat. Taehyung snarled and pulled at Jimin's arm to relieve some pressure, but the older vampire was stronger and much angrier.

"Let me go, asshat." Taehyung snarled, digging his nails into Jimin's arms. Jimin ignored his request and instead slammed his other hand on the wall next to Taehyung, making you flinch.

"You think it's funny when you go hours without saying anything to anyone? You think that's amusing?" Jimin barked, tilting his head menacingly. "How amusing will it be when Lazarus hears about this? Did you even think this through?"

"She's not dead, is she? She's fine, I did my job." Taehyung snapped, nodding his head in your direction. "Now, let me go!" He shouted, trying to shove Jimin away. Jimin's arm released only for a second before slamming Taehyung back into the wall, as if to shut him up.

"Don't be insubordinate! We may have history but if you put her in danger, if you disobeyed Lazarus' orders, you know what will happen!" He roared, his voice shaking the floor under your feet.

You stared, paralyzed in fear and distress as you watched the exchange. You'd never seen these vampires fight with each other, at least not to this extent. They bickered sometimes, but this was on a whole other level. It felt like... it felt like something had snapped and Jimin no longer cared about saving face. There was murder in his gaze and Taehyung was baring his teeth, his eyes turning red as he readied himself for a fight. You suddenly noticed Taehyung's bandage on his neck slip. For a split-second you felt an urge to go fix it, but you had to catch yourself before you moved.

You felt a presence appear beside you and you squeaked, whipping your head around. Jungkook's face swam above you as he peered down, his expression stoic as always. He glanced up and down at your trembling form and his eyes narrowed when they lingered on your neck. His eyes met your gaze and the blackness felt like a black hole that you would fall into if you stared too long. You tore your gaze away and instead stared at the corner of his mouth awkwardly. Jungkook let out an annoyed sigh and looked back at the scene between Jimin and Taehyung, crossing his arms.

"Aren't you gonna do something?" You asked, your voice trembling as you pointed at the scene. Jungkook gave you an annoyed glance.

"Why would I?" He asked tersely.

Suddenly Jimin yelled and you looked back to see Taehyung's jaw clamped down on Jimin's arm. Blood burst from Jimin's flesh and he jerked back, yanking his arm from Taehyung's bite. This time, Taehyung came at Jimin, grabbing his shoulders and throwing him backwards. You shrieked when Jimin fell to the ground, landing on his back with a thud.

"Because they're going to kill each other!" You exclaimed, stumbling backwards.

This was way different than watching them fight against no-named vampires, or even watching Taehyung fight Rosemary. They were fighting each other, which felt way more dangerous and volatile. These three had always seemed like a united front, even if they weren't happy about the orders. They worked together, not against each other. And now...

Jungkook let out an exasperated sigh and moved forward toward the fight. He grabbed Taehyung's shoulder and yanked him off Jimin, flinging him against the opposite wall. Taehyung slammed against the wall and pushed himself to his feet, snarling angrily, his mouth dripping with blood and the bandage on his neck almost halfway off, revealing the angry gash. Jungkook stepped in between the two aggressive vampire and placed his palm on Jimin's chest to keep him from lunging again.

"Stop." He growled, annoyance thick in his voice. "You're scaring the girl." He nodded at you as you hugged yourself and trembled quietly.

Jimin expression softened slightly when he glanced over at you. Taehyung didn't seem to care and instead shoved Jungkook's arm away, making a beeline towards the stairs. He brushed past you, bumping your shoulder on the way and you stumbled back, giving him an incredulous look. Taehyung blinked and gave you a sideways glance, a flicker of guilt in his eyes, before turning his back and stomping up the stairs to his room.

Jimin straightened and exhaled sharply, brushing his hair back. His eyes were closed for a few moments as his shoulders relaxed and the hardness fell from his face. When he opened them again, his face was back to its usual smirk that never reached his eyes. He turned to face you and his eyes softened.

"Sorry about that, Y/N." He said, not sounding very apologetic at all. "I hope he didn't hurt you or anything."

"N-no, he didn't." You pressed a hand to your chest and took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down. "We're both fine."

You gasped when you suddenly felt Jimin's hands on your shoulders. You hadn't even realized he'd moved in front of you. His hand slipped to the back of your head and he tilted it to the side, his eyes zeroing in on something on your neck.

"What the hell is this?" He demanded, swiping the other hand across your neck to brush your hair away. You shivered at the touch and quickly composed yourself, swiping his hands away from you. You stepped back and glared up at him.

"Don't touch me." You muttered, rubbing at your arms. Jimin glared at pointed at your neck.

"What is on your neck?" He demanded. You pulled your eyebrows together.

"What are you talking about?" You mused, rubbing at your neck in confusion. You couldn't feel anything there and you honestly didn't know what he was talking about.

Jungkook took out his phone and switched on his front facing camera, passing it to you. You looked inside and blinked, surprised to see yourself look so distraught. Your face was pale, paler than usual and your hair was disheveled and wild. But the most prominent you noticed was the large purple bruise on your neck that stood out in a stark contrast against your skin. You swallowed hard, rubbing at it gently. You couldn't remember where you'd gotten it right away... and then you remembered the bar and Taehyung's mouth latched onto this particular spot, pretending he was feeding. You blushed at the memory.

"Oh..." You whispered, rubbing the bruise on your neck nervously. You flipped your hair over your shoulder, so it covered your neck, but Jimin wasn't backing down.

"What is that? Where the hell were you and what were you doing?" He asked again, taking an intimidating step forward. You jerked back, raising your palms defensively.

"Look... I—" You trailed off, unsure of how to explain what had happened. "We went to get food, but we were ambushed by a vampire trying to kidnap me." Jimin sucked in a sharp breath, but you waved your arms quickly. "Taehyung took care of him, but he said something about... someone from his past. So, we went to talk to her." You finished sheepishly, rubbing the back of your neck. Jimin narrowed his eyes.

"Someone from his past? Do you mean Rosemary?" He asked. You blinked up at him in surprise.

"You know her?" You asked. Jimin's eyes flashed at the confirmation in your gaze.

"He took you to see Rosemary? Is he insane? Does he know what would happen if she knew about you?" Jimin grabbed your shoulders and shook them slightly, his eyes flashing with panic.

"She didn't find out about me." You protested, trying to step out of his grip. Jimin's eyes widened as his face fell and his hand dropped back to his side.

"Wait... you met her?" He asked, his voice dropping an octave lower. You swallowed and glanced over at Jungkook, who was glaring hard at the exchange, his arms crossed.

"Um... yes? But it wasn't bad, I mean... okay it was kind of bad, but we got out there fine. Taehyung got hurt but it wasn't anything major. We're both fine." You mumbled, rubbing your neck self-consciously. You really didn't want to tell them that Taehyung was the one to give you the bruise, but you also didn't want them to think Taehyung had let Rosemary hurt you. Jimin let out an exasperated sigh.

"Ugh, I swear that kid will be the death of me." Jimin rubbed the bridge of his nose and leaned his head back. Jungkook let out a small huff and you turned to look at him. His expression was still stoic, but you could see a tightness in his jaw that made you uneasy. You looked in between them, not liking their matching grim expressions.

"What do you mean? Who is she?" You asked carefully. Jimin opened one eye to look at you thoughtfully. He exchanged a look with Jungkook, which made you feel even more anxious.

"She's a very old, very powerful vampire." Jimin said slowly. "Taehyung has a complicated history with her, like many younger vampires. She takes pleasure in corrupting naïve humans and turning them only to leave them blind in the dark." He explained cautiously. You stared, open-mouthed, your mind reeling from this new information. So, Taehyung wasn't the first person she'd turned into a vampire for fun? How many people had she ruined? You gasped, when a horrible thought occurred to you.

"Wait... did she turn you guys too?" You asked incredulously. It was unfathomable to think that that girl had an even greater impact on these three than you first thought. Jimin chuckled, shaking his head.

"No, not us." He said with a wry smile. You breathed a sigh of relief. "But we've had a few run-ins over the years." He gave Jungkook a sideways glance and you looked at the youngest, surprised when you saw him avoiding eye contact. Run-ins? What did that mean? Just what was going on here?

"She's about as old as vampires themselves." Jungkook cut in, drawing your attention back to him. He was still looking away, but his stoic expression had hardened, and he was glaring now. "It's uncommon if you haven't had a run-in with her." He muttered, talking more to himself than he was to you. You swallowed hard.

"Wait... does that mean she's as old as the Elders? And Dracula?" You asked, feeling your stomach flip nervously. Jimin pursed his lips and glanced back at you cautiously.

"She's definitely as old as Lazarus." Jimin said, giving Jungkook a sideways look again. You frowned at the exchange.

"What?" You demanded, looking between the two. "Why do you keep giving each other looks? What aren't you telling me?

Jimin sighed and gave you a sympathetic look.

"You're actually tied to her as well, Y/N." He said gently. You stared, your heart thudding in your chest, waiting for him to elaborate. "Rosemary and Dracula... They knew each other. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's the one who turned her."

You gaped in surprise at his statement. Rosemary... had known Dracula. It shouldn't have been so surprising after hearing hold old she was, but from the looks in their eyes and the fact that Dracula had been the one to turn her, it placed an even more sinister thought in your head.

"Wait... Does that mean... Is she... related to me?" You asked with bated breath. Jimin sighed again and gave Jungkook another glance.

"We don't know." He said tersely, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand. "We don't know a lot about her past and who she was as a human, but it's possible that she had a child while human. I couldn't be sure though."

You stared at the ground, your mouth parted and your legs shaking. This information... it was... insane. It was already a lot to process that you were related to vampires in the first place, but her? That she might be one of your direct ancestors? This threw a wrench into everything. Remembering Rosemary's violet eyes and raven hair and the smooth velvety voice. You'd been face to face with her. She'd even tried to feed on you and... she could have been related to you?

"Y/N, don't worry. You said she didn't find out who you were, right? Then you're safe. You don't have to worry about her." Jimin said, trying to reassure you. It wasn't working.

"That's... that's not what I'm worried about." You said, your hands trembling at your sides. "Wait..." You looked back up at him. "Are you saying if she found out who I was she would try to kill me?" You asked.

"I—" Jimin paused, glancing away for a second. "I honestly don't know what would happen. We have to assume the worst. She's not known for her affection for others..."

You turned away, avoiding their gaze even though your heartrate was speeding up enough that you were sure they could hear it. Your breathing picked up and you had to force yourself to slow the breaths and take deeper ones to calm yourself down. You closed your eyes and took a few moments to try and compose yourself, talking yourself down from a full blown panic attack. It was too much...

And on top of all of that, Rosemary had a history with all three of them. You didn't want to ask Jimin and Jungkook their story with her, you didn't want to know. After finding out that this woman, the one who ruined Taehyung's life and screwed him up so horribly, could be related to you? you didn't want to know anything more about her. If you found out more about how horrible she was, how manipulative and cruel... and to know that you might share that blood? You couldn't... you just couldn't...

"I... I have to go." You mumbled, stumbling over to the stairs.

"Y/N, I promise, you're safe here. I'll make sure Taehyung never puts you in that situation again." Jimin said again, but you waved a dismissive hand.

"I just... I need a minute." You said, shaking your head. You climbed up the stairs and wandered into your room, rubbing your forehead where a headache was staring to come on. You shut the door behind you and leaned against it, breathing heavily.

Tears welled up in your eyes and you clamped your palm over your mouth, trying to stifle them. You felt weak, annoyed at yourself for reacting like this. This shouldn't have surprised you. After everything you'd found out about yourself and your parents and even your lineage, it shouldn't have surprised you that there was a vampire relative of yours still at large.

Lazarus had told you that all your ancestors were dead... did he know about Rosemary? You had to assume he did from the way Jimin talked about her. Had he lied to you about her? Did he know if she was related to you? If he had lied, then why? Why wouldn't he had told you about her? Perhaps he knew that you would want to know more. Regardless, you felt left in dark yet again. There were still so many holes in the story that Lazarus had given you. It felt like he'd only filled in the edges of the puzzle that was your life and your lineage. And now you were searching through darkness for the pieces in the middle that would complete the entire picture.

You walked over to the bed and fell into it, lying down on the pillow. You felt something hard under there and you reached out, pulling Dracula's journal out from under your pillow. You'd forgotten that you'd put it there. You stared at the leather covering, thinking about the man—the vampire—who last held it. Even through reading the journal, you still didn't know who he was. All you knew was that he had a rebellious side and he was fascinated with humans. None of that told you about his character.

You blinked when a thought occurred to you. Had he written about Rosemary? If he'd known her, if she'd been an important piece in his life, then he would have written about her, right? It was a long shot, but this journal may have been the closest thing you had to some real answers. You opened it and flipped until you found an entry that seemed promising.

I think of her every night. Her long, velvety locks, her succulent skin and sweet-smelling perfume, the ample tops of her bosom, the plump ruby lips. She is always in my mind. The recurring dream of her death will always haunt me, even as I wake. The small things remind me of her, the garden where she would grow the roses, the books in the library where she used to sit and read for hours. I have never loved another and I will never feel the same way for another again. I miss her all the time, even when I don't think of her, I miss her.

Sometimes I wonder if she was sent to punish me. To make me love her and then to have her ripped from me seems like a cruel punishment for the sins I have committed in my long life. For now, I must live with the pain and the heartbreak for the rest of eternity.

You closed the journal after finishing the entry and let out a long exhale, thinking on what you'd just read. Dracula had been in love once. It wasn't entirely surprising, but the way he talked about her was. This woman, she had made Dracula fall so hard that he still thought of her and her death centuries after. She had really had an impact on his life to the point where he wondered if she'd been a curse.

This woman did not sound like Rosemary. That and the woman in the journal was dead and you knew Rosemary was very much alive... or undead you should say. This didn't sound like the woman you'd met earlier that day. The woman Dracula was describing seemed gentle, quiet, a bookworm. Rosemary was anything but that. However, you had no idea what she was like all that time ago. She could have changed.

You sighed and placed the journal on the side table, rolling over to the other side. You were any closer to getting answers and there was no point in thinking about it now. At least you could be happy in the knowledge that Dracula was capable of human feelings, that he had been in love at least once in his immensely long life. At least you could be happy that Dracula wasn't the cold-hearted villain from the stories. He was just as complex and multi-layered as humans were.

And with that knowledge you had to conclude that the other vampires in this house were the same. Although abrasive and heartless at times, it was clear that there were more sides to them than met the eye.

With that thought in your head, your eyelids drooped, and you were asleep in seconds.