The Night Belongs to the Moon | Taeyong

39 | Scarlet Heart

Taeyong waited by the fence and when the vampire emerged fully out of the mist, he saw fresh blood dripping from his yellowed fangs.

'This way,' the hunched man grunted without greeting the Lord, and turned around on the same path. Taeyong followed and saw his footsteps melting into the snow behind, leaving a clean sheet of white.

There was no front door and the window frames had no glass but the moment Taeyong stepped inside the manor, the overwhelming stench of blood hit him like a wave of current. It was unbearable, even for him and he had to stop himself from gagging to continue forward.

The walls inside were lined with battered red wallpaper through which blood was trickling down onto the blackened floor, pooling in places. There was no lamp nor any torches and as they walked further into the maze-like manor, it became harder to see till they reached the second floor which was unnaturally lit under the faint glow of a single light source.

Of course, Taeyong thought to himself, shaking his head as they turned into what should be the heart of the manor. And there he was, Yuta, sitting under a skylight fitted into roof like his own private spotlight while the rest of the hall was shrouded in darkness.

'Taeyong,' Yuta exclaimed heartily. 'Long time.'

'Where are they?'

'Oh, have a little patience,' Yuta said pitifully. 'You seem to have forgotten all your manners. Come, have a goblet.' He raised a hand and a second vampire walked out of the darkness with a goblet of blood on a golden tray.

'To our guest,' Yuta hissed, when the vampire stopped in front of him and kicked the pathetic thing towards away from him.

But Taeyong declined, sending the vampire into a frenzy of panic as he retreated back into the darkness, trembling.

'Tch, so rude,' Yuta jibed. 'Ah, I get it.' -his lips glinted in the moonlight- 'Is it only her blood that you like?'

'Yuta,' Taeyong roared, stalking forward and pulling Yuta up by his collar. 'Do not test me,' he glowered, his fangs bared and eyes red with rage. 'One word about her and I will bury you in the snow outside.'

Despite Taeyong's strangle on him, Yuta smiled, quite amused with the reaction. 'What has she done to you?' he said with a sly grin. 'It's impressive, really. But then again, she always was so sweet. Hard to resist, isn't it?'

This was it. Taeyong raised his hand but just as he was about to summon the energy, Yuta spoke, calmly, 'If you kill me now, you will never see your little minions again, and if you kill me now, you will forever be branded as a traitor.'

Taeyong's arm froze mid-air.

'Do you want the ones who followed you to die, hm?' Yuta taunted and when he saw hesitation taking form on Taeyong's face, he added, 'Yeah that's what I thought,' he said, pushing Taeyong away.

'Where are they?' Taeyong asked again.

'Right here.'

'Yuta,' Taeyong warned.

'I am not lying,' Yuta said and with a wave of his hand, he lifted the veneer of darkness behind him. And there they were, all battered and bruised; their hands and legs were tied to a silver pole each and their mouths were gagged shut. Johnny, Doyoung, Jaehyun and Mark were still holding up but Jungwoo and Haechan were lying motionless in the corner, barely able to keep their eyes open as blood flowed out of their wounds.

'Oh, almost forgot,' Yuta said and with a second wave of his hand, just at the foot of his seat, the darkness revealed Taeil, sitting with his arms tied to a similar pole, only his body held no signs of struggle like the rest.