Dark Eclipse : The Bloody Truth｜SEVENTEEN

26. The Return of Kyungmi

Author POV

"Kyungmi is here? The Principal of the Oakwood House where we had been locked up for our entire lives? That Kyungmi found us?" Mingyu thinks to himself as he runs to the room.

He bursts the door wide open, revealing a woman in his 50s with shoulder length blonde hair, wearing a pair of glasses, a black fedora and a long brown leather coat. She turns her head towards Mingyu and look at the other boys again.

"So this is where all of you have been..." Kyungmi mumbles.

Wonwoo grits his teeth, "How'd you find us here...?"

"There's something I must tell you." She said.

"We don't wanna hear it! Get out, now!" Jihoon yells. This is the first time he yells despite his bubbly character so the boys seems a little taken aback.

Joshua steps forward, looking at Kyungmi in the eyes. "It's been 120 years. Long time no see, Kyungmi. I assumed you'd given up on finding us after all these years... but clearly, you've still been looking for us."

"How in the world did you find us?" Joshua makes the last line sounds strict as the boys stand behind him.

Kyungmi takes off her fedora, smirking as she looks at them. "Actually, I didn't find you. What I found was..."

Her lips trembles and quivers as she didn't continue her words. Instead, she changes the topic of the conversation.

"Anyway, we don't have much time. You may find this hard to believe but please listen to what I--"

Mingyu cuts her words, glaring at her from behind. "One hundred years. You had us locked in that orphanage for a full century. Now you show up again after 120 years... and expect us to hear you out?"

She raises her tone, "I didn't lock you up! To be more exact... I had no other choice. I did it to protect you."

"What?" Hansol raises his eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Jeonghan asks.

Joshua narrow his eyes to Kyungmi, "Protect us? From what?"

She clicks her tongue, turning away. "From the First Vampire."

"The First Vampire?" Jihoon's eyes widen.

Kyungmi took a deep breath, "To protect you from Damien who calls himself the First Vampire and his subordinates. I had no other choice but to hide you boys in the Oakwood House because... their goal is to get rid of you all."

Chan shooks his head slightly, "I don't understand. Who's the First Vampire, and why does he want to kill us?"

"We've heard enough! Do you actually buy what she's saying?! She's lying! She's just trying to drag us back to the orphanage!" Wonwoo shouts, clearly he didn't believe what Kyungmi said.

"You all know it too. That you boys are different from the vampires. Have you ever wondered why?" She looks at them, smirking as she knows they're filled with curiosity by now.

"It's not because someone made you vampires or enhanced your abilities through experiments. It's rather the opposite."

Their eyes widen as they heard her words.

"The other vampires are incomplete beings created by the First Vampire. That's why they're aggressive, vulnerable to sunlight and lacking cognitive abilities... making them unable to control their desire for blood."

"But you boys are different. You're the only Vampire Lords who have been given the ancient powers. I had kept you hidden because clan Damien sees you as their biggest threat and will try to kill you."

"The First Vampire was the first human to become a vampire using a forbidden mehod. He then bit humans indiscriminately to enslave them. Most of his vampires are incomplete, lower-tier beings but their uncontrollable desire for blood allowed them to multiply exponentially. Using their advantage in numbers, they began to attack the ancient kingdom."

"So today... the seven of you and myself are the only remaining vampire lords. That was why I hid you in the Oakwood House. I hoped that you'd grow up never knowing that you were vampires." She explains to them. Although it was long as an essay, they quickly catch up and understand her words.

"Don't be ridiculous! We spent our entire childhood in the orphanage! When could all that possibly have happened?" Mingyu protests.

Kyungmi sighs, "As we struggled to fight against the First Vampire, we decided to protect the ancient powers. We sealed the ancient powers in you boys and teleported you to a distant future. As a result, you lost all memories and become babies. I found each of you from 19th-century orphanages all across the world and brought you to Oakwood. I'm sure you've realized that you no longer grow up. That's because this is what you originally looked like. You won't age any further."

"If what you're saying is true, how come the First Vampire hasn't found us until now? He had centuries." Chan asks.

"He couldn't sense your presence because the ancient powers within you had been sealed. However, 17 years ago... it begin to unseal."

Joshua's eyes widen, "17 years ago? That's when..."

"My parents told me that before I was born... vampires were just mythical creatures that only existed in novels. I don't know why things changed..." Haeun's words rings on his head.

"Lower-tier vampires appeared around the same time." Joshua mumbles. "If so..."

He then looks at Kyungmi again, "What happened 17 years ago? Why did our power begin to unseal?"

"Because..." Kyungmi let out a heavy sigh before continuing.

"Her Highness the Princess reincarnated. She reincarnated as a human 17 years ago... unsealing all the powers she had created."