We sat there until the sound of Lisa's shiny convertible McLaren whizzed in from a distance. I walked up to open the front door. Lisa pulled over in the driveway. Then, in my second blink, she actually reached the porch in a blur.
"Get inside quickly," she whispered in an urgent voice. Lisa closed the door behind her and started to look around the house. Then she saw Jennie who sat on the couch scowling at her with a curious look. Lisa didn't seem too pleased to see the girl but didn't say anything. She just turned me around to the corner with her.
"Why are you with her?" Lisa asked. I frowned at her a little.
"The vampires almost munched Jennie when they were looking for me," I said. "I had to bring her here. But...what's wrong?"
"I picked up some strange scent along the way," she said.
"That must be hers," I jerked my head towards Jennie.
"That's not what I smelled, there are other scents," she said. "Did any of them follow you?"
"No," I said. "We escaped."
"Is she okay?" Lisa asked again, glancing sideways at Jennie.
"More than okay, I guess," I said, looking over my shoulder at her too. After all, Jennie didn't suck energy from anyone in my house, so I guess she was okay.
"Have you told your mom about what happened yet?"
"What? No!" I answered anxiously. "I can't tell her. It will scare her to death."
"It's no use to hide it anymore, Chaeng,"
"But if she knows the undead have been after me..." I started to protest.
"Who's been after you?" Mom emerged from the kitchen, whipping her hands dry with a kitchen towel.
"It's time to tell her," Lisa whispered. "You should give your mom some credit. She's been through worse."
"Would you tell your father everything, too?"
"You must believe in those who care about you, Chaeyoung," she said. I hated it when she said something like that. The sound of our argument alarmed my mom even more. She came towards us, looking between me and Lisa curiously. Sometimes the hardest thing about keeping a secret is knowing that someday you're going to reveal it, no matter what. So I exhaled and turned to Mom.
"Mom, I have something to tell you," I said, and then after I told her about all the things that had happened to us recently, I sort of braced myself. I was expecting Mom to ground me until the end of time, but Mom just stared at me wide eyes.
"Oh my god, Chaeyoung!" She finally gasped in shock. "Why didn't you tell me anything about that?"
"I didn't want to upset you, and I was afraid you would get mad at me," I said, lowering my head in shame. To my surprise, Mom didn't get angry or start making extra curfews. Instead, she pulled me into her arms and just brushed my hair gently. At the same time, I was also aware of Jennie's starry eyes. Something about the way she looked at Mom was telling me that she wanted that kind of affection too.
"Oh honey, I'm just so worried about you," Mom said, tightening her grip around me, and I hugged her back. "I guess that's why I didn't want to tell you anything about your father. I knew you wouldn't get over it easily."
"I'm sorry, mom,"
"I think Chaeyoung can't stay here any longer," Lisa turned to my mom. "She needs to move out of here."
"What? What do you mean?" I asked pulling away from mom to look at her. "Where else should I be?"
"The vampires had ventured close to the school, which means they're all over the town by now," she said logically. "You can't stay at home anymore. It's not safe."
"Lisa is right," Mom said with her worried eyes. "You have to go somewhere else."
I looked back at the two people who really cared about me. Maybe hiding might sound like a cowardice choice, but for the half-bloods like us, it could be a smart decision. And for my mom's sake, I had to nod in agreement.
"Okay, so where to?" I asked.
"The Ultara Academy," Jennie's accented voice said from the couch. We all turned to look at her.
"What did you say?" I asked.
"The Ultara Academy has special security systems modeled after the famous architectures around the world. If you activate all the codes, it will turn every part of the school into military protection." Jennie continued in her most charismatic tone. "Trust me, the school is the most secure place to hide."
"You're just a newbie," I said, impressed. "How could you know so much about it?"
Jennie uncrossed her legs and stood up straight. Her face held high as she took a few steps towards us.
"Because the Kim family built it three hundred years ago," she said with a shrug.
Lisa and I looked at each other. We just didn't know what to think.
A moment later, Mom packed me a big load of an overnight bag. Then we drove back to the school in Lisa's car. Mom sat with me while Jennie and Lisa sat at the front. They both didn't talk at all. Mom told me she had to meet the Headmistress in person, maybe to ask permission for my temporary stay or stuff like that.
After our car went past all sensors and scanners of the Ultara gate, we parked at one of the convertible parking lots and entered the Ancient Hall together.
"You don't have to come with us, Chaeyoung," Mom said, "You can stay with your friend." And before I could say anything, she and Lisa went straight to the Headmistress's office, leaving me and Jennie behind.
"Okay, I better go back to my room now," Jennie said. Then all of a sudden, an excellent idea popped into my mind.
"No, you come with me," I said and grabbed her hand.
"Hey!" She said, "Where are you taking me?"
"My friends' suite,"
"You've gotta be kidding me!" She said and tried to brush my hand off, but I kept a firm grip, carefully not to break her wrist. "Let me go!" She yelled again.
"I want you to apologize to my friends like a civilized human being," I said firmly, turning to look at her in the eyes. "I'm sure, they will understand after they listen to you."
"Uh huh? So that you guys can finish me off later?" She said.
"Do you want to change or not?" I asked, and she blinked a few times as if to consider the idea. I guess I had gotten through to her somehow. "Admit it, Jennie. You really need help."
Jennie glared at me like she wanted to throw me out of the window again. But then with a low hiss, she finally nodded.
"Alright, to hell with it," she said. But before we started to walk again, Jennie paused and looked down at our joined hands.
"There's a reason I don't let certain people touch me," she said.
"Oh yeah? Sorry," I said with a big sound of 'duh' and released her. Who wants to touch her anyway?
"Unless you want to transmit your energy to me and get high from my touch," she added smugly, "- which you already did."
After she told me that, I noticed I was feeling kind of light-headed, but it wasn't dizziness. It was more like a mini rush of a roller coaster-like feeling.
Note to self: Avoid any physical contact with a succubus.
As we continued to walk along the hallway, some of the Ultara geniuses practically rubbed their eyes in disbelief. Well, I guess the last time they saw us was when we tried to tear each other to shreds, and now I just prayed that Joy isn't going to stake me later.
Then we reached the suite and I knocked on the door. Jisoo came to open it.
"Oh Chaeng!..." But then she almost jumped like a kitten in hot water when she saw Jennie standing behind me.
"Can we come inside?" I asked. With her eyes still opened wide, Jisoo made a quavering answer that sounded like a yelp. I took it as a yes and gestured to Jennie to enter the room first. She warily stepped inside and I closed the door behind us.
"Who is it, Jisoo?" Joy's voice echoed from the bathroom. She sounded like she was brushing her teeth.
"It's Chaeyoung," Jisoo replied in a nervous tone. Joy got out excitedly. Of course, she didn't expect to see Jennie here, but when she did, Joy started yelling something in French (which made her sound a lot scarier). Joy's eruption almost shook the entire mansion. She just stomped over to Jennie with her nostrils flared.
"Whoa whoa- Joy wait!" I said, stepping in between her and Jennie. "I can explain!"
Joy looked even more irritated when I pulled her away to the other side of the room. I just wanted to keep the two of them apart and as far as possible.
"She just came here to apologize," I told her.
"Quoi? Comme c'est bizarre!" Joy said, throwing her hands in the air.
"Look," I said in a more controlling voice. "I don't understand what you said, but we have to help her."
"Excuse me!" Joy yelled again, "Have you gone totally nuts?"
I had to lean myself away from her since I was close to getting my eardrums popped. Jisoo was still standing like a statue, looking completely clueless. I turned to Jennie who rolled her eyes and acted like she was bored.
"Jennie," I hissed. "You need to say something."
"Say what?" She asked with a shrug.
"Jennie!"
"Fine," she waved her hand off and walked a few steps forward. "I'm sorry, okay?"
"She doesn't sound like she means it!" Joy hissed angrily.
"Oh, please, can't you guys just give it a break?" I groaned. "Jennie, you have to apologize like a civilized human-"
"Fine!" She cut me off. "I'm sorry for what I did. I really am. I would take it back if I could."
Then there was a long awkward silence among us until Jisoo cleared her throat.
"I think we should sit down and talk about it," she suggested and we sat on the couch. Jennie sat on an armchair next to mine. Jisoo and Joy were on the far side. But even after we sat down, I tried to ignore the outrageous tension in the room. At least, Joy wasn't too worked up about having Jennie around now. She seemed to soften a little after the apology. I started to explain everything and why we should help this stuck-up succubus.
"In short," I concluded. "Jennie needs to come with us. It's like doing a rehab for her or something like that."
"I don't know what's gotten into your head, Chaeng," Joy said. "This psychic freak is a walking time bomb! One day she will put each of us into a coma!"
Jennie gritted her teeth. Her eyes glared murderously at my best friend, but I hurried on before she could actually burst.
"Joy, in spite of her vampiric behavior, Jennie's still pretty much human," I tried to convince her.
"Just because she's a human doesn't mean she's harmless," Joy said, "And this girl is not even human enough to be with the three of us."
"Actually, you only have two and a half," Jennie corrected.
"Oh, shut up!" Joy growled. "Who do you think you are?"
"Okay, stop that!" I broke them off, "Please listen to me, Jennie can't do this alone. She's been trying to become a vegetarian like me- I mean she tries to get energy from nature instead of taking it from people."
"Really?" Joy arched her perfect eyebrow in suspicion.
"Yes," I said.
"Then why doesn't she just do that? Why do we need to help?" Joy asked stubbornly.
"Because Jennie's just like me," I said again. "If she can't get energy, she'll go crazy and start feeding off people again. Getting energy from the plants takes time, so we have to help her until she learns how to convert her diet from a new source."
"And what can we do to help that?" Jisoo asked, looking genuinely concerned. I know Jisoo would be the first to side up with me. This girl has a heart of gold.
"We have to be her donors," I told them.
"Chaeng! Are you insane?" Joy cried. "Don't you remember what she did to us? She almost made Jisoo live in a vegetative state!"
"That's not true! It was unintentional!" Jennie tried to argue.
"Oh, you know what?" Joy went on in a sarcastic tone, "The definition of being unintentional is when you don't do it over and over again!"
Oh my gosh! I groaned, dropping my head in my hands as a wave of headache hit. I didn't know why Joy was so optimistic about the whole humanity thing with me, but when it comes to Jennie, she was simply cold and insensitive.
"Joy," I said again slowly. "I could get through my psycho-phase because I have the two of you, but Jennie doesn't have anybody. She needs us!"
Jennie's face blushed brightly when she heard that, but she was trying her best not to let it show.
"Are you sure she really wants our help?" Joy finally asked. I kicked Jennie's foot because the answer should be best coming out of her mouth. Jennie scowled at me in irritation, but I know she got the hint.
"Oh yeah," Jennie said, "Your half-human friend is so sure that I do need your help."
Joy bit her lip again. I prayed so hard just for the two of them to stay in their seats.
"Well," Jisoo spoke in a softer tone. "Let me know what I can do for you."
Jennie turned to look at her, somewhat shocked. I could see Jisoo's eyes shimmered as she blushed away from Jennie's gaze.
"Well... er... I... I don't need much energy," Jennie shuttered, which was kind weird of her. "If I don't let myself weaken so much, I won't lose control again."
"How do we donate it to you?" Jisoo asked.
"You can transmit it through physical contact with me," Jennie honestly told her.
"Oh please, don't tell me that you want us to have sex with you," Joy said, looking disgusted.
"Don't flatter yourself," Jennie snapped. Joy started to rise from the couch, but Jisoo pulled her back down. I let out a loud sigh of relief. But then Jennie turned to me again before speaking.
"The simplest ways to transmit energy to me can be done through hugging and kissing. But I won't force you to do that if you're not comfortable. I think I can also absorb a small amount of energy when people open up about their personal lives."
Now I see why people seem to be drawn to Jennie so much, she's a great listener.
"Jennie," Jisoo breathed. "We're your donors now. It's our will to do that to help you."
Joy just rolled her eyes. Suddenly, the phone in the room rang, startling all of us.
"Who could that be?" Joy muttered and went over to answer it. The rest of us just sat, watching Joy's expression change while she spoke to the person on the other end.
"Okay, mom, we'll come and see you at your office," she said then put down the receiver and turned to us. "We have a problem."
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