When Blood Meets Silver

Chapter 26

"Thank you so much, Jinsol!" Jiwoo gave her a quick hug.

"Will you guys be okay?" Jinsol asked, not masking the worry in her voice.

"Yes, the Silver Blades are around a fifteen minute walk from here," Heejin said

Chaewon sighed. "What are we gonna say when we get there?"

"You can leave it to me." Heejin laid a hand on her shoulder. "The rest of you, you'll stay in the trees around, waiting for us."

Hyunjin nodded. "Is everyone ready to go?"

"Should I stay here and wait for you?" Jinsol asked.

"Go home. We will stay no matter their answer."

"Please, stay safe." Jinsol pulled Hyunjin closer, her arms squeezing as hard as she could.

"We will. I'll update you when I can."

With a smile, Jinsol nodded at them.

"Let's go, then." Hyunjin took a quick breath, fixing her jacket and checking again for the gun and emergency flask in her pockets.

"This way." Heejin led the way, and Hyunjin rushed to walk by her side, with the others following behind.

They walked in silence, making the next corner, ahead on the road with houses on both sides. A hand found Hyunjin's, Heejin's fingers intertwining with hers with a little squeeze. Hyunjin looked at Heejin, finding her staring at the road ahead, cheeks a bit redder and a small smile on her lips. For a moment, Hyunjin allowed herself to forget where they were going and enjoyed the feeling, as if they were out taking a walk at dusk, under the still hot July sun, on their way to get ice cream after going to the movies. But she focused again on the reason why they were there, holding her hand tightly, trying to tell her everything would be okay.

The others kept silent, and Hyunjin didn't resist the urge to peek behind her shoulder. A couple steps behind them, Jiwoo and Jungeun walked side by side, a smile in Jiwoo's lips as she almost skipped instead of walking, her head shot up towards the sky. A few more steps back, Hyejoo had an arm around Chaewon's shoulders as they walked glued to each other, and Hyunjin smiled, happy that Hyejoo didn't seem too down.

Heejin came to a halt near the next intersection, the others approaching behind.

"At our left, after a five minutes walk, you'll find the headquarters. It's impossible to miss it, a big, tall building in the middle, with two other buildings at both sides," Heejin explained. "Me and Chaewon will go through the main road. Approach through the trees, but don't get too close. Stay low and wait for us."

"Got it," Jungeun said.

"Is there anyone guarding the entrance or the area around?" Jiwoo squinted, trying to get what was at the end of the road.

"No, just by the entrance of the buildings."

"Okay. So, this is where we go our separate ways?" Hyunjin asked.

"Yes. We'll go ahead. Here, keep my blades." Heejin reached for her blades at her waist and handed them to Hyunjin.

Hyunjin accepted them and stuck them in her jeans, turning to Heejin, and grabbed both her hands. She tried her hardest to show confidence in her eyes, but she knew Heejin could see the worry behind them.

"Wait for me," Heejin whispered, grasping her hands harder and giving her a reassuring nod before letting them go.

"I will."

"Chaewon, ready?"

"Yes. Hyejoo has my gun already."

Hyejoo gave her a nod with a smile before Chaewon joined Heejin.

"See you guys soon," Heejin said, turning and starting the walk with Chaewon.

They let them go ahead a bit before crossing the street. Making sure there was no one around, they jumped the wall separating the road from the trees around the neighborhood, and rushed ahead. A couple minutes later, Hyunjin could see the building like she remembered it to be - a tower at the center, filled with windows that reflected the setting sun, and the two smaller but wider buildings Heejin had mentioned.

Running between the trees, they got closer.

"Let's climb and wait." Hyunjin jumped to a high branch of the nearest tree, and the others did the same.

From there, she got a better view of the headquarters. There was a round fountain in front of the main entrance and small trees carefully placed at the perimeter, sticking out of the brown concrete floor. Just above the door stood big, silver-colored reflective letters with the initials SB, and now she understood what they stood for. Hyunjin always wondered how they managed to have such a big, modern building all for themselves, and what they claimed to be, *legally*. A business building?

Her eyes found Heejin and Chaewon, walking past the fountain, and directly at the big glass doors of the tower. The two people guarding the door faced each other, then approached them. The girls raised their arms the same second, and Hyunjin focused all her attention on her hearing, but still, she was too far away to be able to make what they were saying.

"Just let them in!" Jiwoo mumbled, a couple trees beside Hyunjin.

Hyunjin's heart thumped hard as she watched Heejin talking, unable to listen to her. The two men exchanged looks, and one of them fetched for an intercom from his back pocket.

"He's talking to someone!" Jiwoo said.

"We know, we can see it." Jungeun sighed.

"I'm sorry, I'm nervous."

And finally, a minute later, the men turned, walked towards the entrance, and Heejin and Chaewon followed them.

"They made it!" Jiwoo gasped.

Hyunjin breathed, her tensed body relaxing with it. "Now we wait."

"And hope they believe them," Hyejoo scoffed.

But even if Hyunjin managed to relax a bit, her heart kept hammering in her chest. Would they really listen to them? Would they believe them? What next? Would four vampires really walk into the slayers' building? Hyunjin was ready to put all their differences aside if that meant putting an end to the Blood Alliance, but would they do the same?

She couldn't stop the questions from swarming her mind as they waited, minutes after minutes, but did her best to keep the answers positive.

Something prickled Hyunjin's neck, like a mosquito biting on her skin.

"Ouch!" Jiwoo hissed. "What the hell was this?"

Hyunjin scowled, taking a hand to where she felt the small pain. Her hand touched a small dart, sticking out of her skin.

"Guys, are you..." Hyunjin couldn't finish her sentence when a sudden, yet overwhelming dizziness hit her.

Her eyes closed, and her body lost all strength as it fell down the tree.