Running in My Veins: Jicheol SVT AU ✓

Chapter 26

Hi, hi! How are you all doing Carats? I am SVT deprived. I miss Going. At least, I have this story to chug along with. Anyway, this chapter isn't super long, but it does dig deeper into this crazy mystery we have on our hands. I won't say anything else, I hope that you enjoy!

"Please make this quick, Seungcheol," The King says, "The leaders from China should be here any minute now."

"Do not worry," Seungcheol states, "I only wish to ask you a question."

"Ask then," The Queen says.

Seungcheol nods, "I was doing research alongside my advisors and one of them brought up something that intrigued me. He seems to recall reading something about a faction of vampires that branched off from the society following the new laws that were put in place." The King and Queen stiffen for just a second before quickly relaxing. Seungcheol notices, but pretends to not have caught the action. "Well, your advisor must have read wrong," The King states, "There has never been any rogue faction of vampires. Ever."

"Are you sure?" Seungcheol asks, "Because if there is, they may be behind all these issues that have been happening as of late."

"The things that are occurring are due to the hunters," The Queen states. Her face is serious, but her eye twitches just a bit, almost as if this topic is stressing her. "I doubt the influx of newborns appearing is the fault of hunters," Seungcheol says calmly.

"What are you trying to say, Seungcheol?" The King asks, "You don't believe that these deaths and the newborns are connected."

"I have reason to think so," Seungcheol says, "Albeit, I still don't know why or who exactly is behind it. But, my suspicions are on this other faction as of late."

"There is no faction," The King bellows. His hands clenched on the arm rests of his throne. His nostrils flare a bit as he talks and the Queen places her hand on top of the Kings in an attempt to calm him. "Of course not," Seungcheol says, "After all, if there were to be, I'm sure that the people would know all about it. It is a major issue if a large group of vampires rebelled against the King." The crown prince eyes his parents, who finally seem to have retained the blank expressions on their faces. "Yes," The Queen says, "Another faction of vampires would seem like a threat to the peace of our society. If they were to exist the people definitely would know and we would deal with it accordingly. Is that not right, love?" She looks to her husband with a tight-lipped smile, a look that appears forced. The King nods his head, "If there were one, which there isn't, I would have handled it swiftly."

Seungcheol nods, "I am sure you would have. I mean...you would never have just let them go..."

"Never," The King says, "But, that is if there were a faction at all. There isn't one. I mean who would want to leave our society. We provide our people with all they could ever need. We are the model vampire society."

"Yes, we are," Seungcheol murmurs, "It was a silly idea in the end. I will make sure to reprimand my advisor for coming up with such a ridiculous notion. I apologize on his behalf and for wasting your time. I see that the idea of another faction is rather stupid. I mean who would ever want to leave this place."

"I am glad you see that," The King states, "Please don't mention things like this again. We wouldn't want our people getting the wrong idea."

"Of course, father," Seungcheol says with a blank expression on his face.

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Seungcheol walks back into the library with the same look. His friends stare at him, waiting to see if he has found anything from his parents. "What did the King say?" Mingyu asks.

"There is and never have been any factions of vampires that left the society," Seungcheol states. The group all groans loudly and sigh. "I guess that means we have to go back to the books," Seungkwan whines.

"Oh no, the faction exists," Seungcheol says quickly.

"But, the King told you it doesn't," Minghao says with furrowed brows.

"Yes, he did," Seungcheol says, "But, he was lying."

"How do you know?" Hansol asks.

"My mother and father have a very good handle over their emotions," Seungcheol says, "Even when they yell at me, they seem to maintain this sort of air. But, when I mentioned the faction, they lost their composure. They would never have acted in that way if they were telling the truth. The faction is real. They're out there. I'm sure of it now."

"Do you think they're really behind all of these crimes?" Soonyoung asks.

"Maybe," Seungcheol states, "We still need to find more about this secret group of vamps though."

"That isn't going to be easy," Jun states.

"That's an understatement," Wonwoo says, "If the King and Queen really did react in that way, that means they were the ones to have hid the existence of the faction. They would have gotten rid of all evidence and trace they possibly could to keep it under wraps. If we are to search for the faction, we won't find it in this library or anywhere in the society."

"Then, we need to broaden our search," Jeonghan says, "The faster we find this faction, the faster we find out if they're really the ones behind the crimes."

"You're all making it seem like this is some easy task," Minghao murmurs, "This is going to be freaking difficult. For more than one reason. We're looking for a group of vampires. You know how well we hide. I'm sure this faction is hidden even better than we have. And how do you think they'll react when we find them? They left for a reason and I doubt they want to be buddies. Not to mention the fact that we're looking for something that the royals of our society has hidden. They buried it for a reason. They don't want it found. What do you think will happen to us if they find out we're digging into the faction?" The group's eyes widen and they fall silent. It's true. They're getting into something that could turn out very messy. There's many reasons why they should just let this stay a secret and not poke their noses any deeper into this mess. But, how can they? If this faction is involved in these deaths, how can they just let them be? They need to know for sure who these guys are and whether they have anything to do with the deaths or the newborns. "I'm in if you all are," Hansol says, breaking the silence. No one says anything after that, but they're gazes all lock with one another. Their eyes all saying the same thing.

Our boys are getting into some crazy business. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to what is going to happen next. It's been a while since we had some Jicheol moments, so we may get that soon. We will see. If you enjoyed this chapter, please comment, vote, follow me, add this story to your library, and check out my Romance One-shots. I will see you all in the next two weeks <3