Chapter 38:
"Hey, Y/N... Long time no see." Jimin smirked as you let out a shaky breath, leaning on the guardrail. You swallowed and made your way down the rest of the stairs as his eyes followed your movement.
"I was worried about you." You whispered, taking a few steps closer. Jimin coughed and looked away, avoiding your eyes.
"I can't imagine why." He mumbled. "Considering everything I did to you and was planning to do... I expected you to still be angry."
"I was—I am. But that doesn't mean I wasn't worried too. I still care about you." You smiled and blinked back a few tears. "Besides... you came through when it counted. You saved me and everyone else."
You turned as Jungkook appeared at the top of the stairs, his hair still tousled from sleep. Taehyung emerged from the dining room and avoided your gaze. You looked around at the three, all finally back in one place. Everyone's relationship with each other had changed drastically in such a short time. This could definitely get awkward.
"Where were you?" Taehyung asked finally, breaking the silence. Jimin looked over at the other vampire and sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Resigning myself to my fate, obviously. It's not every day you destroy your entire purpose for existing... literally." He laughed humorlessly. You pressed your lips together, watching him warily. He said it so casually, but you knew it wasn't something trivial. You just hoped this change would be for the better and wouldn't send him into a spiral.
You couldn't seem to find the right words to say as you stared at the vampire who'd been conspiring to kill you and use you the entire time you'd known him. You wanted to still be angry at him or to still be distrustful of him. But looking at him now, all you could feel was relief. Before you could process you actions, you moved forward until you reached him and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug. You felt him stiffen and let out a small gasp. You squeezed tighter, closing your eyes. It took a few moments, but he finally returned the hug, awkwardly patting your back.
His arms wrapped around your waist and he squeezed, much to your surprise. He seemed to be shaking, as if struggling to hold in his emotions. You sighed against him, feeling his mouth bury in your shoulder. You felt him take in a sniff and you stiffened. You tried pulling away, but he held firm, pressing his nose against your neck. He inhaled deeply and your struggled, pushing against his chest.
"Jimin—" You heard Jungkook start, but he'd already let you go. You stumbled back, backing away as Jimin's eyes met yours, his expression hard.
"You smell..."
"I don't have any resistant powers anymore." You said, feeling Jungkook behind you. He placed a hand on your shoulder and you immediately felt reassured. You straightened your back as Jimin stared at you incredulously. "I can't change anyone else." You finished, taking Jungkook's hand. Jimin's eyes dropped to your hands, then back up to you and you saw his lip curl.
"Well, isn't that just the icing on the cake. So you ended up with everything, didn't you? Your boyfriend's human again and you don't have to worry about anyone being after you. Meanwhile we're still cursed." He gestured at Taehyung, who stiffened. You sighed, frowning at him.
"Don't do that." You said, shaking your head. You dropped Jungkook's hand and crossed your arms. "Don't start this." Jimin looked at you and even though his face was hard, you could see the softness in the eyes. He sneered.
"Why not? It's what I do, isn't it?"
You shook your head. "It's what you used to do. You're not that person anymore." You said solemnly. Jimin let out a humorless laugh.
"Not to burst your bubble, but you have no idea who I am." He sneered nastily. You sighed and shook your head again. You reached out, but Jimin took a step back. "Did you know that I knew who you were that day in the bar?" He snapped, making you pause. You stared up at him in confusion as he narrowed his eyes. "I knew who you were the second I smelled you and I made sure you found your way down to our little vampire base under the club. Lazarus may have been the one with the grand scheme, but I pulled the strings. What makes you think I am any different now?"
You let out a sharp exhale and felt a lump in your throat as Jimin gave you a nasty sneer.
"Why did you even come back?" Jungkook demanded, stepping in front of you. Jimin looked at him, as if remembering he was even there. "Why did you come here if you were just going to start a fight?"
Jimin pressed his lips together and dropped his gaze back to you, the dark orbs hard with a flurry of emotion too difficult to read. His jaw tightened and he shrugged.
"Didn't actually think she'd survived, to be honest." He said nonchalantly. You gritted your teeth, feeling indignation flare in your chest.
"That's not the truth." You snapped. You pushed past Jungkook, ignoring his grunt of protest and stood directly in front of Jimin. "Look at me and tell me you aren't happy I'm alive." Jimin pursed his lips and crinkled his nose. He leaned back, like you were standing too close and opened his mouth. You quirked an eyebrow, remembering how tightly he'd squeezed you when you hugged him.
This was a defense mechanism. He had no idea how to act around you, so he was going back to what he knew. Taunts, insincerity, and sharp insults he knew would get a reaction. You weren't falling for it anymore. No, that was the last time you took the bait.
Finally, Jimin sighed and looked away, unable to fulfill the request. You smiled and punched his arm playfully.
"That's what I thought." You said triumphantly. Jimin flickered his gaze to you and a small smirk lifted his face. He shook his head and sighed.
"You're a piece of work."
"You missed me."
You laughed and you felt the tension in the room ease. Jungkook and Taehyung both approached, both finally seeming to let their guards down. Jimin sighed and scratched the back of his neck.
"Before we have a big happy group hug, I think I should probably tell you something—"
Then, the front door opened again, cutting his sentence off. All four of you turned to the door as two figured entered, their faces blinded by the sun behind them.
"Well, it looks a little different from back in my day." A familiar voice said, his boyish playful tone sending a chill down your spine.
"I must say, I was expecting it to be a bit grander from your description." The second voice send a pang of fear into your chest. The rich, velvety female voice that had been burned into your nightmares penetrated your ears, making you fall back against Jungkook instinctively. The front door closed and the two strangers came into full view.
Dracula and Rosemary smiled down at you, arm-in-arm.
"Dracula... what are you doing here?" You croaked, the lump in your throat making it hard to speak. The Elder vampire scoffed and waved a dismissive hand at you.
"Haven't I told you to call me Drac? Come on now, I thought we were past all this. We are family after all." He grinned and ran a finger along one of the couches. He pressed his lips into a closed smile, peering around the manor as if reminiscing on something.
You almost forgot. This was technically his house. Lazarus had only started using it after he'd run Dracula off. You had merely been a visitor, but this manor originally belonged to him.
"I must say, when we ran into darling Jimin, we were a bit surprised to hear you'd succeeded in taking Lazarus down." Rosemary said taking a few sultry steps toward you. She paused when she noticed Taehyung standing a few feet away. She smirked. "Hello, darling. You're looking as handsome as ever."
"Rosemary..." Taehyung murmured.
"Rosie." Dracula's hand snaked around her waist and he pulled her against his side. "Want to introduce me to your friend?" He was staring daggers at Taehyung and you were surprised at how defensive he was being over her.
"Oh, don't be so overprotective, darling. It's just Taehyung. He's always had a schoolboy crush on me, you know."
"What... what is going on? Why are you here?" Jungkook demanded, wrapping a hand around your wrist. Dracula grinned and inhaled deeply, looking around the mansion.
"I'm taking my place in society back again, of course! Lazarus was the one thing standing in my way, but he's gone, so I can take control. It turns out I didn't have to turn you after all, Y/N, my dear." He smiled at you and held his hand out like he wanted to stroke your cheek. Jungkook yanked you back before he could touch you and Dracula let out a little chuckle.
"I'm here because this is my house. I'm going to move back in, of course. Take my place at the head of the council and rebuild vampire society. Jimin, Taehyung, you're welcome to join me." He nodded at the two vampires. Then he looked at you and his expressions sent chills down your spine. "You too, Y/N, if you'd still like me to turn you so you can be with your boyfriend."
You swallowed hard, looking at Jungkook, then at Jimin who were both sharing the same thinly veiled panicked expression. Your eyes panned to Rosemary, who wasn't smiling. She was staring at you and Jungkook. Looking into his eyes, at his chest, at his hand wrapped around your wrist. You looked down to see that he was squeezing hard enough his knuckles were white. You gulped. Vampire skin didn't change color.
"Drac..." Rosemary started. You opened your mouth to stop her, but Jungkook cut you off.
"You're not touching her. You don't come near her ever again. We didn't escape Lazarus so you could call all the shots. You don't touch her."
Dracula looked at Jungkook, as if seeing him for the first time and his smile slowly started to fade. He looked Jungkook up and down and inhaled through his nose. Your heart leapt in your chest and you grabbed Jungkook's arm with your free hand. You saw the realization appear on Dracula's face and you felt your stomach do a flip as you instinctively pulled him back.
"You... You aren't a vampire. You're... human?" Dracula moved forward and sniffed again. His eyes dropped to you and you took another step back. "You smell different too, why do you smell different?"
Suddenly, Jimin stepped between you two and Dracula. "Leave them alone, okay? You want to take over vampire society, that's fine. We can talk strategy, just leave them be." He said sternly, raising his palms defensively.
"He's human!" Dracula exclaimed, his face hardening like cement. He shoved Jimin out of the way and marched straight up to you, his face stricken. "He's human, which means... Lazarus' crazy idea... it wasn't crazy? It worked?"
He reached out and grabbed your arm. Jungkook shouted and tried to fight him, but with a flick of wrist, Dracula sent him flying backwards. You cried out as Jungkook's body slammed into the stairwell and he collapsed on the ground, groaning. Dracula dragged you forward and you whimpered, trying to free yourself from his grip, even though you knew it was futile.
"You thought you could hide this from me? You thought you could go on to live your life without me finding out that you can turn vampires back?" Dracula demanded. His nails dug into your flesh, and you winced.
"Hey! Let her go!" Taehyung moved forward, but his way was blocked by Rosemary, who easily stomped his foot with her heel and elbowed him in the face, sending Taehyung stumbling back. Jimin lunged at her, but suddenly, Dracula was yanking on your hair and twisting your neck, making you cry out in pain.
"Stand down, or I will make her bleed." Dracula growled, pulling your head to the side by your hair to expose your neck. Taehyung and Jimin instantly stilled and Rosemary relaxed a bit. She looked back at Dracula, then down at you. There was something in her gaze, something you couldn't identify. Unease? Concern? Or maybe you were thinking too hard.
"Your blood will turn me human again. It will turn all of us human." Dracula looked down at you and grinned, a new, maniacal expression lighting his eyes. "Lazarus must have used the bunker. His notes, his experiments are all down there. We can see how he attempted the procedure and duplicate it. I will finally be free. Finally..." He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, as if imagining the sensation of being human again.
"N-no..." You heard Jungkook croak behind you and there was a shuffle, before Rosemary turned around and stepped in front of you and Dracula, blocking anyone from advancing. Dracula dragged you back and turned to face the three boys.
"If I'd known... if I'd believed that Lazarus crazy mumblings actually had some truth to them? Oh... I would have helped him, would have produced offspring just to augment his work. I would have..."
You squeezed your eyes shut, whimpering from the fear and the pain. He sounded serious and unhinged and you knew better than anyone that this was a dangerous combination. He wouldn't let anything get between him and his goal.
"Your diary..." You croaked, trying one last ditch effort to reason with him. "You didn't want to use humans as lab rats. You said it made you uncomfortable. That you didn't like the idea of your descendants being used."
Dracula laughed dismissively. "Yes, well that was before I knew it could work. What is the life of one human to me? Even if they are my descendant. I owe them nothing."
You inhaled sharply and tried again. "What about her? What about the woman you loved? You told me I was descendant of her too. You would be okay with killing one of hers?"
Dracula's face instantly changed at the mention of her. He spun you around and wrapped a hand around you throat, making you squeak in pain. He closed his fist and lifted you off the ground, cutting off your airway.
"Don't you talk about her." He growled. You gasped and struggled, your throat exploding in pain. "You don't get to talk about her. You don't speak her name. This curse kept me from being with her. This curse is why all of this is happening. She would understand. She would want this for me. She would want my suffering to end!"
"But at what cost?" You heard Jungkook's voice, but you couldn't understand his words. "Your suffering will end, but how many people have to die for you to get what you want?" You were staring to get light-headed and you desperately clawed at Dracula's grip, your feet dangling helplessly off the ground.
Dracula was silent for a moment and you let a choked sob, your vision going dark around the edges. Then he scoffed and released you, allowing to you fall to the ground in a heap.
"Don't you get it? No one else matters. I have lived long enough, have seen enough, and I know. I know the hate in people's hearts." Dracula ground out, his fingers flexing and contracting. "Nobody deserves good things. Everyone is capable of terrible things, so I will look out for myself. I'll cut down anyone who gets in my way. That includes all of you. Rosie—"
"Drac, doesn't something seem off?" Rosemary cut him off suddenly. "You said it yourself. She smells different. And if Lazarus' experiment worked, then why aren't they human too?" She gestured at Taehyung and Jimin. Dracula stirred and you saw his boots turn back to you. You whimpered as you heard him lean down and grab your shoulder. He rolled you onto your back and you looked up into his piercing, golden eyes as they scanned you meticulously.
"You do smell different. Why?" He demanded, grabbing your jaw and tilting your head side to side. You coughed and gasped, the swelling in your throat making it impossible to speak.
"She's not resistant anymore." Jungkook said, breaking the silence. "She couldn't turn anyone even if she wanted to. Her blood is normal, just like any other human."
Dracula stared at you, his mouth tightening. It was silent, still, like time had frozen. All you could hear was your own labored breaths and your heartbeat slamming in your ears.
"That's... fine." Dracula breathed finally. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together, composing himself. He opened them again and tilted his head he stared down at you. He lifted an eyebrow, as if considering you in a different light.
"We just need... a new approach." He murmured. "Your blood won't work... but that just means I need to make new offspring. New descendants, with powerful blood." He knelt beside you and brushed some hair out of your face. You felt a chill shoot down your spine and you suddenly felt the urge to run. That look on his face was enough to make you want to sprint in the opposite direction and never look back. Dracula put his hand on your chest and started to drag his hand down. You gasped and started panting as unbridled fear and panic worked its way into your stomach and up your chest, almost closing your throat.
"You may not have the blood now... but you're still my descendant. Our offspring would be... exponentially stronger."
"No!"
There was a slam and a thundering of footsteps. Dracula's head snapped up and you took the opportunity to flip over and army crawl away from him. You could hear shouts and sounds of punches being thrown behind you, but you couldn't worry about that. You needed to get away, far away. You made it to the stairs and you'd just grabbed the railing when someone grabbed your ankle and dragged you back along the floor. You screamed as you were flipped over and Dracula planted his hands on either side of you, his face hovering inches from yours. He grinned.
"Not so fast, darling. Not until I put a new donor inside you." He grinned and grabbed the waist of your pants. You screamed again, the reality of what was about to happen settling like a rock in your chest.
"Get your hands off her!" The voice from above felt like a gift from the gods themselves and as Jimin pulled Dracula off you. You exhaled, feeling like your lungs were being crushed under him. Jimin threw Dracula against the opposite wall and lunged at him.
You sat up and pushed yourself backwards, watching the scene for the first time. Taehyung and Rosemary were wrestling on the ground a few feet away, while Jimin was trying to pin Dracula against the wall, even though he was desperately trying to get him out of the way, so he could get to you. Your eyes scanned the room for Jungkook, your heart leaping in your throat. You couldn't see him anywhere and you opened your mouth, but the lump in your throat made it difficult to do anything.
Suddenly Rosemary had Taehyung pinned and she raised something over her head. You let out a cry of shock as you noticed the thin stake. She hesitated for a second, then plunged the stake into Taehyung's hand. He screamed and you whimpered, tears leaking out of your eyes. She stood back up, pulling another stake from her belt. She turned and the two of you locked eyes from across the room.
Her violet eyes were wilder than you'd ever seen them. But there was something there. Something you'd never seen before. She looked more than just wild, she looked horrified. Her eyes fell down your body, then back up and her grip on the stake loosened. There was a shout and the two of you both looked over to see Dracula had flipped it around and was now the one pinning Jimin to the wall.
"I underestimated you!" He exclaimed, laughing a bit. "I didn't think you were as loyal to her as this. All of you!" He laughed again, looking over at Taehyung, who was trying to free his impaled hand. Dracula looked over at you and you flinched, grabbing at the rail. You pulled yourself up as Dracula turned back to Jimin. "Well, normally, I'd want to keep you around for my new society. But it appears you're going to be nothing but a pain in my side. So I suppose I'll kill you now and take what I need from her without the distraction."
He grinned and slammed Jimin's head against the wall. Then, he tilted Jimin's head to expose his neck. You inhaled sharply when you realized what was about to happen. You looked over at Taehyung, but he was incapacitated. Jungkook was still nowhere to be seen. No one could help. There was no one. It was... over...
Your eyes fell on Rosemary again and you found her still staring at you. The stake was limp in her hands and there was something... something that you couldn't identify in her eyes. She looked down at the stake, then looked at Dracula and Jimin, then looked back at you. You looked down, seeing her hands trembling. And in one split-second, you knew what you had to do. You pushed forward and stepped up to Rosemary. You took the stake from her hands, looked up into her eyes and turned away. You took a deep breath and mustered all the resolve you had before rushing forward, and just as Dracula leaned in to bite Jimin's neck, you plunged the stake right into Dracula's back.
Dracula screamed, released Jimin, and whirled around. You gasped and stumbled back as Dracula grabbed your arm. He gasped and sputtered and looked into your eyes. His golden eyes shone and you saw an emotion you'd never seen from him. Fear.
His grip loosened and he fell to the ground. You whimpered and stumbled back, catching yourself before you fell over. You watched those golden eyes turn glassy and grey, watched his skin pale, watched as your last relative died. He was the only and last link to your past, but the only thing you could feel was relief.