Lisa looked cool and calm on the outside but inside she was nervous, judging by the stakes in her friends' hands and the fact they were fighting a werewolf with a slayer in the woods, the vampire felt it was safe to assume they knew she was a vampire.
The four women all got up to their feet now the werewolf had ran away from Lisa in fear. They may be safe from the beast for now but now the girls were faced with something much worse, a vampire.
Jihyo gripped her wooden stake tightly, gently moving it to a more accessible position in case she needed to use it. Nayeon very slowly and cautiously straightened herself up from behind the log. Nobody wanting to take their eyes off the redhead.
Sana's whole body was trembling and her breathing began to get even more rapid than before, but not of fear but rather emotion.
"LISA!" the Japanese girl yelled in tears as she launched herself at the Thai, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Lisa reciprocated the hug and held her friend equally as tight.
Nayeon and Jihyo both looked at each, their own eyes now crystallising with tears. They both instantly dropped their weapons and ran over to their friends. The three girls all embraced the vampire firmly as they exchanged a mass of 'I missed yous' and crying. They knew what she was, and perhaps through sheer naivety, they didn't care.
"You're not going to bite me are you?" Sana asked as she looked up at Lisa with gleaming sad eyes. Lisa giggled, "I love how you ask me that after you ran over and hugged, and not before". The girls laughed as they wiped their eyes.
"Huh? Jennie where are you going?" Nayeon asked as she saw the slayer head off into the trees. "I'm going to hunt that werewolf, it's still out there" the black haired girl replied bluntly and without emotion.
"No you can't it's too dangerous!" Jihyo protested. Lisa agreed with her friends, "Jen it ran away, werewolves are terrified of vampires it isn't going to attack you again while I'm here".
Jennie readied her stake, "doesn't matter, it's still dangerous and capable of killing people. It needs to be stopped". The redhead rolled her eyes, "and then what? Go to the ocean and kill all the sharks because they're dangerous too? It's out in the forest, humans shouldn't be here anyway". The slayer shook her head in annoyance, "this is totally different, werewolves aren't normal animals they are supernatural and dangerous". "So you're just going to kill it?" Lisa replied angrily. "Yes" the slayer yelled as she continued to march off into the trees, perused by the other girls, "it's a monster and has probably killed people already".
"That isn't its fault!" Lisa yelled back, "that werewolf was an ordinary person once, an ordinary person who got bitten and turned into something dangerous without any say in the matter. Turned into something it never wanted to be and forced to do evil things by a dark force it can't control". Jennie laughed ironically, "so what?! It still hurt people, it still caused pain whether it had a choice or not. It is still a tool of evil".
Jihyo leaned in between her two friends' heads and whispered, "do yall get the feeling they aren't talking about the werewolf anymore?". Nayeon nodded, "...overidentifying much?".
"Ever think the reason it came out to the forest was to keep itself away from humans?" the Thai protested, "choosing a life of isolation so it can't hurt anybody anymore?". "I don't care" Jennie replied as she stopped walking and looked Lisa in the eyes, "it's a monster and I'm a slayer. Simple".
The redhead sighed, "and what about the days when it isn't a monster? When there's no full moon? When it's day time? That werewolf is a human 27 days of the month". Jennie's stake began to lower as her resolve wavered. "There's monsters in this forest Jennie" Lisa continued, "but that wolf isn't one of them. If you want to stake something then stake me, I'm the one you're angry at".
"Angry?" Jennie replied with a look of sheer bewilderment, "you think anger is what I feel? After everything you've done, everything your clan has done? You think you can boil it down to something as simple as anger, like we're just a couple who've had an argument over something petty. Just looking at you makes me feel sick and rage like I can't describe. Leave". The redhead shook her head, "no. I'm not here because of you anyway, I've been sent to investigate missing people in this forest. I'm not leaving till I've found out what happened to them".
Jennie rolled her eyes, "something here worrying Dara is it?". "No" the Thai replied calmly, "I'm not part of Sandara's clan anymore". The slayer raised an eyebrow, "why?" she asked suspiciously.
This was Lisa's chance to explain, explain to Jennie about getting her soul back. Tell the New Zealander that she's good now, she's not evil anymore and she put herself through all this pain and guilt for Jennie, because she loves her.
"I ran away from them because...I knew Sandara was going to kill me" Lisa lied, "the clan were angry at me for sleeping with a slayer and risking exposing them to the Order. Dara unnie acted like she was impressed with me but I know her, she thinks I'm a liability. I knew it would only be a matter of time before she killed me so I ran".
Lisa loved Jennie, genuinely. In fact her love for the slayer was the only thing she felt that was stronger than all the guilt of 30 years of murder. However Jennie deserved better, she deserved a normal, healthy relationship, someone who she could build a family with and do things normal families do, like going out in the sunlight for one. Jennie deserved things a vampire couldn't possibly provide. So Lisa lied.
Jennie wasn't sure she could trust anything that came out of the Thai's mouth, vampires weren't known for their honesty after all, however Jennie too got kicked out of the Order for sleeping with a vampire. Plus Sandara was ruthless, she crushed anything that got in her way. The slayer believed Lisa's explanation was at the very least, plausible.
"Ok so you had to run from your clan" she replied, playing along for now, "that doesn't explain why you're out in a forest at night investigating missing people". "I'm being paid to" the redhead replied bluntly and honestly, "Tiffany is giving me a hell of a lot of money to do this for her, as well not turning me to dust...which is a bonus". The black haired girl raised a brow again, "why on earth would Tiffany trust you to help her with anything?". Lisa adjusted her beanie a little and shrugged, "she doesn't have a lot of options I guess?". "Why doesn't she?" Jennie asked.
Lisa tilted her head, "you mean you don't know? Tiffany was booted out of the Order, they put a death warrant on her...she said it was something about documents she approached her bosses about". The New Zealander's eyes widened dramatically, "fuck no. Oh god this is all my fault".
"Anyway you guys should leave and go home" Lisa said as she prepared to continue tracking the dark energy, "there's something much worse than werewolves out here".
Sana nodded, "the evil goat". Lisa looked at Sana like the girl was crazy, "there's an evil goat?...well I guess it's no worse than my theory about evil trees" she replied as she looked at the trees suspiciously.
"There was a goat" Sana responded.
"It made our campsite disappear" Jihyo added.
"It was made out of sticks" Nayeon said with a nod.
"Wait wait wait" the Thai said as she tried piece together the information, "so you made a campsite out of sticks and then a goat ate it?".
Nayeon shook her head, "no, no, it possessed me".
Lisa tilted her head with a raised brow and look of confusion, "Nayeon got possessed by a goat?".
Jennie couldn't help but smile, though she tried her best to disguise it.
"The goat was made out of sticks" Sana said as she tried to help.
This just confused Lisa even more, "so the goat was made out of sticks, possessed Nayeon and made her eat the campsite?"
"Nobody ate the campsite!" Jihyo exclaimed.
The Thai turned to look at Jennie, "please help..." she pleaded.
The slayer smirked, "Sana found a Wiccan figure made of twigs, a goat. Then this spirit or something possessed Nayeon and made her say weird threatening things. When we walked to where Sana found the figure, it was like we got transported somewhere else, our campsite was gone and the area was different but we only walked for a few seconds, not long enough to get lost".
"I'll lead you guys out" the redhead replied, "you need to leave". Jennie shook her head, "I'm a slayer, it's my job to be here. I'm not leaving". Nayeon agreed, "if people are going missing here then we need help, it isn't like Jennie's on her own she has us..."
"SUPER VAMPIRE FIGHTER GIRLS!" the three girls yelled, accompanied with action poses.
Jennie facepalmed with embarrassment.
Lisa stared blankly for a solid 10 seconds, "...amazing" she said with a cocky smirk as she looked at Jennie.
"Lis you're staying with us right?" Jihyo asked hopefully. The three girls all looked at Jennie and Lisa pleadingly. The slayer sighed, "seen as both of our plans happen to mesh, it seems logical to work together on this occasion. But if you try anything" she added whilst looking at the vampire, "I will kill you". "Noted" the Thai replied bluntly.
"You can lead" the black haired girl uttered as she gestured for the redhead to walk, "I want you where I can see you at all times". "Aw come on Jennie" Nayeon replied, "you don't need to be like that it's Lisa".
"She's a vampire Nayeon, she's a demon she kills people without remorse" Jennie replied angrily, "think about all those school friends you lost, all those funerals you had to attend. Ever stop to wonder how many of them Lisa was responsible for?".
The vampire's feelings were hurt, she couldn't help it, Jennie wasn't even wrong which is what made it feel worse but Lisa was hurt by how much Jennie hated her.
However, little did the Thai know that's the slayer's angry outburst wasn't actually intended to remind the girls that Lisa is a vampire. She was reminding herself. Jennie felt envious of Sana and the girls when they were hugging the Thai, she too so wanted to hold her ex girlfriend in her arms again.
"You don't have to like me Jennie but if we are going to work together you can at least be civil" the redhead said with irritation. "Civil?" Jennie laughed, "you're a vampire for fuck sakes". "A vampire that literally just saved your life, you're welcome by the way" Lisa replied with a frown. Jennie shook her head, "and you're expecting what? A medal? The murderous vampire chased a big dog away, organise the parade!".
"I bet the last bag of my Doritos that we find them fucking behind a tree in a few hours" Jihyo whispered. Sana and Nayeon laughed as they all continued trailing behind the bickering duo.
As the group walked deeper through the forest Jennie tried her best to look anywhere but at Lisa. Problem with that was Lisa looked hot, and Jennie was painfully aware of the fact. The tight ripped skinny jeans, the tank top, the beanie, the red hair, the cuts and bruises all appealed to the slayer much more than she cared to admit. The bad girl vibe combined with the fact that Lisa was vampire, dangerous, was very sexy to Jennie. The New Zealander didn't know whether it was because of the consumption of vampire blood over the years, the way she'd lived most of her life in the supernatural and dark parts of reality or whether she was just plain fucked up. Either way, she couldn't deny even to herself that she was incredibly attracted to the Thai right now.
"I like the hair" Jennie said casually as she now walked side by side with the vampire, apposed to behind. "Thank you" she replied, equally as casually. Jennie was curious, there was something different about Lisa but she couldn't quite put her finger on it, the Thai seemed less arrogant and playful as she usually was. The slayer wondered if being forced to run from her clan was the reason for the change in demeanour. Before she was able to ask however, Lisa began to sniff the air.
"I can smell blood...and fear" the redhead uttered as she continued to smell the air, "this way".
The vampire picked up the pace and the other girls all followed her hurriedly.
"I can hear crying" Jennie said loudly as she began to run ahead in front of everyone, her heroic instincts to help those in need overtaking her mistrust of Lisa.
The group of women all ran as fast as they could, the cries coming from the same direction as the smell of blood. Someone was definitely in trouble.
A young woman with a torn and blooded white dress and messed up light brown hair, lay on the ground sobbing. "She looks hurt" Lisa said with concern as she quickly made her way to the distressed girl.
Jennie's mouth hung open in shock, Lisa saw Jennie covered in cuts and scars on more than one occasion and never showed the slightest bit of interest, why would she, she's a vampire. Yet here the Thai is, showing what appears to be genuine concern for a woman she's never met before. Lisa was different, something was going on and Jennie didn't like it.
"Are you ok?" the redhead asked as she helped the woman up off the floor. Nayeon spotted the huge claw marks on the woman's back, "I think the werewolf attacked her". Lisa nodded, "sure looks that way, does anyone have any antiseptic product and bandages?". Jihyo groaned with frustration, "all our medical stuff is at the campsite with the rest of our weapons".
Lisa huffed slightly as she put her hand in the back pocket of her skinny jeans, "I was hoping to use this for a different purpose but never mind", the Thai pulled out a small metal flask of whisky, "this is going to sting ok?" she said to the woman softly as she began to pour it onto the wounds. Jihyo immediately removed her scarf from around her neck and handed it to Lisa, so the vampire could use at as a temporary bandage to try and stop the bleeding, tying it around the woman's abdomen tightly. "We need to find your campsite and get her proper bandages" the redhead said with concern as she looked at Jihyo and Sana who both nodded.
Nayeon glanced over at Jennie, she was the slayer surely she was the one who was supposed to be doing all this? Jennie however was fixated entirely on Lisa, staring at the girl with more shock than she did the werewolf.
"We are going to take you back to our camp, can you walk well?" Sana asked as she helped Lisa keep the woman on her feet. "If we can find it..."Jihyo added. The woman shook her head pushed the girls away, "I have to go, I have to find her". "Find who?" Nayeon asked. The woman continued to cry, "she's scared and on her own, there's something evil in this forest...I have to find her". Lisa tilted her head, "you think she's been attacked by the werewolf?" she asked. The woman began to sob even harder.
Jennie stepped forward towards the group a little closer, "it's the werewolf you're looking for isn't it?". The woman looked at Jennie through clouded eyes and nodded, "her name is Seulgi, she's my girlfriend". "But she attacked you" Sana said with concern. "She was just scared" the woman replied sadly, "usually during the nights of a full moon I lock her in the basement of my house at night so she can't hurt anybody, but trophy hunters found us, we had to run away so we came out to hide in the forest to live here. This way we could hide and she wouldn't be a danger to anyone when she turns because we are so secluded here", her hands began to tremble as she lost control to her emotions again, "we have a cabin out here in the centre of the forest, she doesn't attack me when she's in wolf form, only other people, I guess because some part of her still recognises me and the wolf form is used to seeing me a lot and knows I'm not a threat but...".
"What is it?" Jennie asked softly as she placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. The woman wiped away her tears with her blooded and dirty hands, "I was reading my books and she was just resting in front of the fire, we put a rope on her just in case she tried to attack me but as I say she never does. Suddenly we hear a knock at the cabin door, she started to growl really loudly and aggressively. I figured she was just unsettled, she doesn't like other people in wolf form and someone knocking on the door at night in a lonely cabin in the woods is...odd. I thought it might be a lost traveller so I opened the door and nobody was there".
The group of girls all listened closely. The girl started to breathe heavily, "I closed the door again and returned to my books, I was creeped out but I convinced myself it was just the wind or something. I started to relax again but Seulgi continued to growl and became more and more unsettled, she wouldn't rest, constantly on alert, her ears were perked up the whole time. After about an hour there was another knock on the door, I went to open it again, stupid I know but when you have a big werewolf on your side you tend to feel a little invincible". The woman started to calm down the more she spoke. "I opened the door and again there was nothing there but this time I heard children's laughter and saw something moving behind the trees. A little boy walked out from behind one, he was wearing old fashioned clothing and like a goat mask made out of animal skin. Then a little girl walked out in an old dress and a similar mask but it was a pig with the eye holes sown shut".
Jennie looked at Lisa, "vampires maybe?". The Thai nodded, "could be". "That's what I thought at first" the woman replied, "but when I closed the door again I suddenly heard the laughter from inside the house and the children were gone from the trees...they were inside. Seulgi suddenly went crazy, snarling and barking. She broke out of her rope and charged at the door to escape, I turned back to try and lock the door to stop her, that's when she scratched me and knocked me out of the way. She ran out into the forest and I've been trying to chase after her but I got lost suddenly, like I was in a different area to before".
"Interesting" Lisa uttered. "What is?" Jennie asked. The Thai dragged her hand down her face as she thought, "whatever this evil is, it hasn't actually hurt any of us yet. It's only done things designed to scare you". Jennie nodded, "yeah I thought the same earlier. Perhaps the evil is a poltergeist or something". "Strongest activity so far seems to be at that cabin, I say that's our next port of call" the redhead replied.
"I have to find Seulgi" the woman protested, limping off and trying to leave. Jennie chased after her, "look I know you're worried...uh I'm sorry I don't know your name". "Seungwan" she replied, "but people call me Wendy". "Wendy" Jennie continued, "I have a duty to find whatever this evil is and stop it, but I also have a duty to protect innocents...I'm sorry I can't let you walk about this forest alone looking for a crazed werewolf. You need to come with me". Wendy smiled, "you're a slayer. Me and Seulgz always wondered if you guys really existed. We heard about the Royal Order when we were looking through old scripture about her condition after she was bitten. She'll be really happy when I tell her I actually met a slayer" her smile soon turned to a look of sadness, "I know you feel like you need to protect me but you have your duty and I have mine. My girlfriend comes first, she needs me. I know she's a monster...but she's my monster and I love her, I know you can't understand that".
Jennie sighed as she glanced behind her towards Lisa, "I understand that better than you think. We'll help you find your girlfriend". Seungwan smiled brightly through her tears, "thank you".
"Change of plan guys" Jennie announced as she and Seungwan re-joined the group, "first we are going to help Wendy find Seulgi, then we'll head to the cabin afterwards". "And do what exactly? Tell her to sit then scratch behind her ears" Nayeon protested, "she's a fucking werewolf Jennie how the hell are we supposed to capture her". "Sometimes I can calm her down and she listens to me" Wendy replied. "Before or after she bites my arms off?" Jihyo added.
Lisa began to walk away while the girls squabbled. "Where are you going?" Jennie asked suspiciously as she caught up with the Thai. "To the cabin" the taller girl replied, "Tiffany isn't paying me to chase after werewolves. I'm here to find out what happened to the missing people, the cabin seems like a good place to start looking for clues". Jennie shook her head, "you can't go alone". The Thai waved her hand to dismiss the slayer's concerns, "I'll be fine. I've been here for hours yet I'm the only one of you who hasn't seen or experienced anything". The black haired girl tilted her head slightly, "you think whatever it is isn't interested in you?". Lisa nodded, "it probably recognises that I'm a vampire. I doubt it has any interest in demons".
"I-" Jennie sighed deeply, "I still don't think you should go alone. You don't know for sure that it won't do anything to you and if it makes you get lost like it did with us then you might not have any protection from the sunlight when daytime comes". Lisa smiled slightly at the slayer's concern, "even more reason for me to get to the cabin. It's the only shelter I know of here so far and I'll be able to track the werewolf energy that's still there if I'm quick. I can look for clues then stay in the cabin till it's night again".
The black haired girl nodded reluctantly, "ok then, tonight is the last night of the full moon, when we've found Seulgi we'll head up to the cabin to meet you...be careful". Lisa smiled again and nodded her head once, "you too".
"Oh and Lisa?" Jennie called as the Thai started to walk away. "Yeah?" the redhead replied as she turned back around. Jennie's face was cold and expressionless, "whatever is going on with you, this...change in the way you are. I just want you to know that I don't trust it and I don't trust you. So whatever game you think you're playing, I promise you won't win". The slayer turned away and headed back towards the group of women.
Lisa watched her walking off for a little while, she so wanted to tell Jennie the truth but this was a good thing. The more the slayer hated Lisa, the better off she'd be. "You're no good for her" the vampire uttered to herself quietly before turning her back on the group and heading out towards the cabin.
"What's the plan?" Sana asked Jennie as she reunited with the group. "Lisa is heading out to the cabin, we'll join her tomorrow once we've found Seulgi" the slayer replied, "for tonight I think we should track Seulgi down and follow her at a safe distance until sunrise when she returns to her human form, all things considered we can't rely on Wendy to be able to calm her down". Wendy nodded, "that's probably the best idea we have, I need to be there when she's human again. I think she's probably safe from the evil while she's in werewolf form but she'll be alone and confused when she wakes up in the morning...she'll be vulnerable". Jennie placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, "don't worry, we'll find her I promise".
The women all walked for a couple more hours through the forest, tracking large footprints in the snow that they believed to belong to the wolf.
"Wait" Nayeon said suddenly, "I can see a fire in the distance". Jihyo nodded, "I think that's our campsite!".
The girls all ran towards the camp seen as it was not too far from where they were tracking the werewolf anyway. "Thank god I'm starving" Sana said as they charged quickly towards the fire.
"Oh shit what the fuck..." Jennie muttered under her breath as the group stopped dead in their tracks. "I'm guessing from your reaction that it didn't look like this when you left it?..." Wendy said as she watched the other four girls look around in horror.
It was their campsite alright but something had been here.
Around the fire in a big circle painted in fresh blood, was a symbol.
A pentagram.