Liam and I woke up a short while later, and stopped by to check on the unconscious main characters. They had been placed in a secure, windowless room, still tied to the chairs I had secured them to earlier. Both still slept silently, their heads slumped forward.

Selina sat off to the side, idly polishing silver, a large wooden club and a spray bottle at her side.

"..." I glanced over at Liam. "That club is to protect herself from attackers, right?"

He grimaced, "Good chance it might be there to be used as a tool to silence hormonal teenagers."

"Yeah... I thought that too." I stepped forward, patting Chelsea's cheek lightly. "Wake up."

Selina groaned. "It's sleeping, and is being quiet and clean for once! Can't you let it stay that way?!"

I ignored her. "Chelsea." I called again, adding a little bit of vampiric command behind the words. "Wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open. "Belaire?"

"I'm here." I felt relieved seeing the calm rationality in her eyes, and untied her. "How are you feeling?"

She threw herself forward, hugging me tightly. "It shifted again. And I woke up to a strange man injecting something in my arm! I'm really scared, what's going on?"

I patted her head. "They're after something in your blood, but don't worry, I'll protect you. I won't let them hurt you again."

"Thank you!" She started to cry, and then thought better of it, sniffing back her tears determinedly.

I chuckled, pushing her back to sit on the chair, and gestured towards Alex. "How do you feel about him now?"

Chelsea shrugged, a mild dislike in her eyes. "I still feel somewhat connected to him, but I don't want it. I don't like how obsessed with him I become when I shift."

I glanced off to the side, mentally pulling up the mission progress.

36% Complete

So little... I sighed. They are still on track to an unhappy end.

"Let me ask you a question. What would you like to do with your life? What would make you happy?"

She stared at me strangely. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want to live in this world of vampires and hunters? Do you think the excitement is worth the danger? Or do you want to live a normal life, and find happiness in the mortal world?"

"I..." Glancing over at Alex, she hesitated. "I don't know."

I smiled. "It's okay to not know. But I want you to be thinking about this." I stood up. "Because sometime soon, I'm going to ask you again."

"Okay."

"Good girl." I patted her head.

Selina, who had disappeared, showed up again with a frown.

"Miss, the Vampiric council has summoned you."

"What do they want?"

"It seems to be related to the recent attacks."

Liam picked me up, holding me protectively. "I'll take you there."

"You know I can walk, right? "

"Walking is unnecessary."

"Is this how you're going to be from now on?"

"Yes."

"You're ridiculous, you know that?"

"I know." He tightened his arms around me. "But it makes me happy."

I shook my head, and looked over at Selina, who was watching us without any surprise. "No snarky comments?"

"Of course not, Miss. I would never dare to say anything disrespectful to you."

"... Are you ill?"

She smiled, sitting back in her chair. "No. After all, I'm very grateful to Sir Liam and his willingness to prevent you from stumbling about like a natural disaster."

"That's more like it." I turned to Chelsea. "Stay here with Selina. She'll keep you safe."

"Are you sure I can't come with you?" She watched the butler with a nervous expression. "I'm a little worried that she might kill me herself."

"Oh don't worry about that." I grinned.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, if Selina wanted you dead, you'd long be a corpse buried where no one can find you." I reached out to pat her head again. "Besides, she's much scarier than any rogue hunter groups or vampires. So no need to worry about them."

The girl stared at Selina, who had gone back to polishing silver. "Yeah... I'm not scared of them anymore."

"Selina, keep Chelsea safe."

"If I must."

"And..." I hesitated. "Keep Alex unconscious for now. I'm not sure what is triggering this shift back and forth, but let's keep him under until we figure it out."

"Yes Miss." She patted her club. "I'm happy to help."

"... Use medicine. Not the club."

"Spoilsport."

I rubbed my head. "Let's go face the vampiric council."

"Yes, wife." He walked out slowly, still cradling me in his arms.

_______________________

We entered the large council room, which remained poorly lit as usual. The council members stood and bowed, and I directed Liam to place me on the throne.

Setting me down, he stood behind the ornate chair and drew his sword, casually resting it on his shoulders.

"Liam?"

"Yes, wife?"

"Why do you have your sword out."

He frowned. "I don't trust the council."

"You realize I'm the head of the council?"

"Yes, dear. But that doesn't mean that they can't betray you. The sword stays. "

I sighed. "As long as you're happy."

"Every day that I'm your husband, I am."

I stopped flirting with Liam and turned my attention to the council. "Why did you summon me?"

One of the elder vampires stepped forward. "It's about the human girl. We tested out her blood."

He gestured forward, and a thin, black haired teenager stepped forward, twitching nervously under my gaze.

"Greeting Lady Belaire, I am Orrick. a humble vampire of just a century in age..."

The council member interrupted him impatiently. "Tell her what you felt after you drank the blood!"

"It felt..." Orrick swallowed, glancing around. "... felt like a blood bond."

My stomach dropped.

"A blond bond?"

"Her blood is special." The elder vampire spoke up, frowning. "I've never seen or heard of anything like it. Once a vampire has drunk her blood, it affects the basic instincts. The vampire feels close to the human, wanting to protect her, care for her. All other blood will lose its taste eventually. " He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It seems to be directly proportional to the amount of blood drunk."

A blood that causes addiction?

I groaned, thinking over the story in my head. It had all started with Alexander getting injured and drinking her blood out of desperation. He had almost taken too much that night. After that he had been obsessed with Chelsea, following her, protecting her, eventually causing her to agree to be in a romantic relationship with him.

Was this entire romance story fueled by an addicted vampire and a manipulated teenage girl? I felt sick. No wonder this story ended in tragedy.

"Is there a way to reverse it?"

"Possibly. But I'm afraid that this is not the worst part, Lady Belaire."

"What is?"

The councilman gestured, and Orrick stepped back out of sight. In his place another young vampire was brought before my throne. This time, however, he was dragged in while chained.

The vampire hissed threateningly at me, thrashing against his bonds, trying to attack those around him, seemingly unfazed as the chains cut into his wrists. He mindlessly threw himself forward over and over again, only stopping when they pinned him to the ground with brute force. The vampire looked up at me, and I was startled to see his eyes were a pure black color.

Liam stepped in front, protecting me from the newcomer. "What happened to him?"

"This?" The elder vampire smiled bitterly. "This is what happened when a vampire comes into contact with blood mixed with the medication they were injecting into her. They become mindless creatures, only killing instinct remains. Even self-preservation is completely destroyed."

"A weapon against vampires." I whispered, thinking of the words the masked men had spoken:

The Black Rose is coming, and your kind will be purified from this world.

This... was the Black Rose? A bioweapon to make vampires mindless monsters?Ones that would harm each other, and be easy prey for the hunters?

"How much medicated blood does it take to achieve this effect?"

"Just a few drops."

A silence fell over the room at these words.

Liam was shaking slightly, standing close to me as if this could shield me from the horrors we were discussing. One hand still gripped his sword tightly, the other blindly reached out, gripping my own. "Do you have any way to reverse it?"

The council members looked at each other awkwardly. "Perhaps..."

"Speak up." My voice was cold. "I will not fault you for your words."

"The blood's effect seems to be suppressed by mixing it with vampiric blood. The magical power within it seems to be the antidote." He paused again, looking even more uncomfortable. "The problem seems to be finding blood powerful enough."

Liam's grip on my hand became almost painful.

"We tried our own blood, and it was the most effective... but it wasn't enough." He looked up at me, his nervousness clear. "We need more powerful blood."

"You need my blood."

"No!" Liam snarled, picking me up and holding me in his arms, his sword still drawn, now raised, ready to fight.

I raised a hand and placed it on his cheek, forcing him to look at me. "Liam."

"No! What if it's a trap?" He backed away from the vampires. "Losing blood weakens you! What if they want to make you vulnerable..."

"This might be the only way to free my brother. To save my kind." I smiled sadly. "Would you want me to ignore them?"

"Wife..." Liam sounded like he wanted to cry. "Do you really want to? Don't let them force you into this!"

"It's just some blood. I'll be fine. You can protect me, even if I'm weak." I leaned in and kissed him.

After a brief, startled pause, Liam tightened his grip around me and deepened the kiss. His movements were fierce, colored with a sense of desperation as if he never planned to let go. As he lingered, I slowly lost track of where we were, only returning to reality when the council members started coughing awkwardly.

Liam pulled back slowly, his dark blue eyes locked on my own. "You will stay safe." He spoke quietly but assuredly, as if making a vow.

"I will."

"I'm coming with you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

_______________________

We followed the eldest council member into the basement of the castle. A half century ago my character had built an up to date laboratory there, researching ways to minimize vampire weaknesses. Liam sat down on one of the exam tables, holding me in his lap.

A vampire wearing a white coat and holding a needle and syringe approached cautiously. "Umm, Lady Belaire? I need to draw your blood now."

"You may." I extended my arm.

"... Do you have to sit on the human's lap while I do it?"

"Yes."

"Definitely."

I answered at the same time as Liam, who was staring at the poor researcher as if he were his worst enemy.

"... Very well." He quickly cleaned my arm and stuck the vein, drawing off a single syringe. While we watched along side the council member, the researcher drew up some of the blood into a pipette, adding it to a vial containing a tiny amount of black fluid.

"This is the blood mixed with medicine X."

I stared as he dripped my blood in and stoppered the vial, mixing it vigorously. "They call it the Black Rose."

"And humans say us vampires are dramatic." He shook his head, and then grinned brightly as the fluid in the vial turned a bright gold. "A full reaction! The other tests only flashed gold and then immediately turned black again! The blood must be powerful enough to suppress the medication!"

"So how do we know if it's effective?"

"Easy. Bring in Lyrin." He called out, and the previous vampire that had been poisoned before was brought in. He hissed loudly, turning his head towards the vial in the researcher's hand, his black eyes focused on it intensely.

Liam frowned. "Shouldn't we do some testing first?"

"The poison, and therefore the antidote, only works on vampires." He shook his head, opening the vial and nodding to the others to hold the poisoned vampire down. "That and poor Lyrin may not have much time. If we don't cure this quickly, who knows what long term effects this might have?" Without another word, he slowly poured the vial's contents milliliter by milliliter into the vampire's mouth. It took the entire vial before the effect was seen.

Shuddering, the black-eyed vampire fell to the ground. After a long pause his eyes fluttered open, revealing the black color draining out to reveal the normal red iris. He then sighed, and closed his eyes once more, apparently asleep.

The researcher took out a stethoscope and listened at the vampire's chest intently.

"How is he?"

"Great! No heart or lung sounds! Still a vampire!"

"..." Before I could comment, the vampire woke up.

"Where am I?" He asked in confusion.

We let out sighs of relief. It works.

As the others took the recovering vampire out to rest, the councilman spoke up. "What should we do next, Lady Belaire?"

I stuck my arm back out. "Make more."

"No, we don't even know if we need it!" Liam shook his head.

"We'll need it." I spoke with certainty. Things were starting to come together in my mind. The multiple attempts on the heroine's life in the original story wasn't because she was in a relationship with a vampire, but the quality of her blood.

I wasn't sure how long they had known about its effect, or if they had ever stolen her blood before. The events in this life had moved forward so quickly. I had changed something, even if I wasn't sure what exactly had set this mess into motion.

It only took a few drops to turn a vampire into a mindless snarling monster. But it took a whole vial to save them. Even if I had only been in this world a short while, but I was determined to save it.

I silently pulled up the mission progress screen once more.

81% Complete

My blood was the solution to the problem I had been facing: how to give the male and female lead a happy ending.

I needed to break their pseudo blood bond.

"Liam. Trust me."

"With my life." He answered immediately.

"Trust me with my own life."

He bit his lip, hard enough that I smelled blood. "Promise me that you won't sacrifice yourself."

"... I can't. But even if something goes wrong I promise we'll see each other in the next life. "

There was a long silence.

"I'll support you. No matter what." His arms tightened around me. "But know I won't let you die alone."

I leaned in and kissed him, tasting the blood on his lips. "Stay by my side, dear."

They drew off over a liter, enough to make medicine for the entire clan. I felt the power draining from me, and as the exhaustion grew, I leaned against Liam's shoulder for support. I felt him shudder at the movement, as if holding himself back against protesting further. We both sighed with relief once the needle was removed.

"Make two vials immediately." I commanded.

"Yes, Lady Belaire." A few minutes later, the vials were placed in my hand.

Liam stood up, still holding me. "What next?"

"Back to Alex and Chelsea. Before Selina gets tired of their nonsense and strangles them."

_______________________

We chuckled, heading back to the secure room, only to have our laughter fade into silence as we saw the door hanging open.

A thin rivulet of blood flowed out from the doorway.

Liam set me down and rushed in, drawing his sword as he moved. I followed closely behind, looking over his shoulder.

The first thing I noticed was the Chelsea and Alex were gone.

The second was that Selina was on the ground.

"SELINA!" Letting out a cry of distress, I knelt beside her as she laid on her back, her face pale. I rolled her gently, wincing as I saw a stab wound in her right flank.

Her eyes fluttered open. "I'm sorry Miss. I didn't keep Chelsea safe."

"Don't worry about that! Who did this? Did the Black Rose come back...?"

"Alex." Her voice was grim.

I was stunned. "A-alex?!!"

"He pretended to be asleep, and when Chelsea shifted and became hysterical, he took advantage of my distraction to stab me. ... Bastard."

"Selina..."

" If I'd known he was this much of a pile of excrement I would have spit in his tea much more often."

"..." I had questions about the "more often", but they weren't important. "Did Alex take Chelsea?"

"Yes..."

"I have to find them." My voice broke as I sank down with frustration. "I think... he might have gone to the Black Rose." It's what my gut was telling me. Alex was acting like a villain right now, and that's what a villain would do.

I briefly thought of the cold ancient gaze he had watched me with, the Alex that wasn't Alex, and shuddered.

"But I have no way to track him."

"Oh, I placed a tracker on the human girl." Selina held up a device that blinked slowly,

"When?"

"When she first arrived. I worried that a hormonal teenager would run away in a fit at some point and wanted to be prepared."

I took the tracker, patting the butler on her head. "Selina, you are a true cheat character, you know that?"

"Miss, I'm the one who is supposed to be delirious from blood loss and talking nonsense, not you."

_______________________

I arranged for two nearby vampires to take Selina immediately to the nearest hospital for treatment, and stared down at the tracker.

"We need to go after them."

"We shouldn't rush in." Liam spoke up solemnly. "We need to prepare, go in strong, be ready for everything. It takes time. If we're reckless now, we'll regret it later."

"Perhaps." I called up the mission progress screen.

75% complete...

74% complete...

73% complete...

A message popped up, the glowing blue words silently threatening.

WARNING, IF THE HERO OR HEROINE DIES PRIOR TO COMPLETION OF THE MISSION, THE WORLD WILL COLLAPSE, AND THE MISSION WILL FAIL.

"What will happen to me?" I whispered, ignoring Liam's look of concern.

There was a few moments without an answer, and then the cold words appeared before my eyes.

DESTRUCTION OF THE SOUL.

I slumped against Liam, my mind racing. I had always known the consequences for failure would be dire, but...

72% complete...

"We need to go now." I finally spoke up. "I'm out of time. If we don't save Chelsea... "

Liam looked frustrated, but nodded. "Let's gather as many vampires as we can at least. " He picked me up. "I'm staying by your side."

_______________________