Lisa didn't know how she was expecting Jennie to respond. Happy? Probably not. Scared? Maybe. But the Thai at least expected some response, instead, Jennie stood there mouth ajar. Silence.
In light of the slayer's stunned mutism, the redhead decided to continue, "I travelled across Asia and climbed the Himalayas to find the coven that Dara tried to wipe out. There was one witch left, she agreed to conjure my soul from the ether and return it to my body. Apparently that makes my eyes blue".
"So that means you're a good guy now?" Sana asked with childlike innocence. Lisa rubbed the back of her head through her beanie, "I don't know what it means, I haven't figured that out yet".
"Do you still murder people?" Seulgi asked bluntly.
Lisa shook her head, "no, I don't even feed from humans anymore".
"Then how do you feed? Oh my gosh are you a vegetarian?" Nayeon asked, fascinated.
The Thai couldn't help but smile, "no I'm not a vegetarian, I feed from animals".
Sunmi folded her arms and rolled her eyes in annoyance. She certainly didn't approve of her sire's new lifestyle choice.
Jennie still didn't say anything, she wasn't even sure if she could trust the vampire though it did make sense. But a vampire with a soul, such a ridiculous notion to the slayer. It almost seemed perverted.
Jihyo, Nayeon and Sana once again ran at the Thai and embraced her warmly, their loyalty to their friend more powerful than their fear for the monster.
Seulgi's eyes remained firmly fixed on Sunmi, her wolf instincts setting her on constant edge in the vampire's presence. Wendy was more concerned with Jennie, she understood better than anyone what it was like to love a monster.
"I know I don't know you Lisa, and this might be overstepping my bounds but...can I ask why you got your soul back? I didn't think vampires did that kind of thing" the Canadian asked cautiously.
Lisa looked at Jennie, then at Wendy, "I...I wanted to be better, I wanted to prove someone wrong about me".
"You did this to yourself to prove me wrong?" Jennie said abruptly, breaking her silence at last. Lisa was about to respond when she became very aware that there was a lot of people listening, "um...can we talk privately?".
The slayer inhaled deeply, contemplating what she wanted to do, she sighed and nodded once. She folded her arms defensively and began to walk away, "if your girlfriend lays a single finger on any of the girls then I'll put this through her chest" she said sternly while presenting her stake from her coat pocket.
"Best behaviour" the Thai said towards the sulking Sunmi, who nodded reluctantly.
"Is it safe to leave her there?" Jennie uttered impatiently as Lisa caught up with her. The redhead nodded, I told her not to hurt them so she won't, besides I'm sure they could handle her if she tried anything...and we can see them from here".
"Explain" the slayer said almost angrily, arms still folded.
"I didn't want to lose you" Lisa replied with a sigh, "you kept telling me we couldn't be together because I didn't have a soul and at some point I decided I wanted you more than anything else, so I got my soul back".
"So you think I'm just going to take you back now? That your soul changes any of the ways your clan has made me suffer?" the black haired girl replied. The vampire shook her head, "no, now I have a soul I can think and feel as a human would and I know we can't be together, I know I'll never be any good for you".
"How do you live with the things you've done?" the slayer asked.
Lisa hung her head in shame, "I don't, I hate myself. Every second of every day I hate myself".
"Is that why you're here working for Tiffany, repenting?".
"How can I?" the Thai responded sadly, "how can I ever make up for all the pain and fear I've caused? I can't even count how many people I've killed but I see every single one of them in my head, all the time".
Jennie reached her hand out, grabbing Lisa's. The redhead's eyes widened with surprise as she felt herself being pulled against the slayer's body.
Jennie held Lisa tightly, she understood the guilt of killing a human being though of course their circumstances were very different.
The New Zealander didn't know what to make of the new Lisa, or what any of this meant. But earlier when she needed comfort, her ex girlfriend provided, so she was going to do the same. Jennie had very little tolerance for vampires, but she firmly believed that every soul deserved mercy, if they wanted it.
A single tear rolled down Lisa's cheek as Jennie's hand trailed gently up and down her back. "I don't understand" the Thai whimpered, "the things I've done". The black haired girl kissed the redhead's forehead, "it wasn't you, it was the demon".
Forgiven. Lisa had been forgiven.
"We should get out of this forest before sunrise" Jennie said in a soft and tender tone, "I've had more of these damn trees than I can stand".
Lisa dried her eyes with the sleeve of her chequered shirt, still holding Jennie's hand with her own, "you're the most remarkable woman I've ever met" she said sincerely, her mind blown by the slayer's kindness and merciful nature.
Jennie didn't respond, she merely rubbed Lisa's hand with her thumb before separating them.
"Jen" the Thai called as the slayer began to walk back towards the group, "Sunmi...she isn't-". "I don't want to know Lisa" Jennie replied, "your love life isn't my business".
Lisa laughed to herself ironically, only Jennie Kim could warm her heart and then pierce it within the space of a few seconds. "I guess I deserve this" she uttered quietly as she followed the slayer to the group. The redhead finding out what it felt like to be on the receiving end of the hot and cold mixed signals of the woman she loved. Karma, some might say.
The group of women continued to head out of the woods. Sunmi lead the group out front, the girls not wanting the vampire behind them for obvious reasons, Jennie and Lisa walked at the back of everyone to keep an eye on things.
"I think Sunmi has found a quicker way out than the way we came in, in the first place" Jennie said as she started to recognise some of her surroundings. Lisa nodded, "she's a remarkably good tracker, sometimes vampires excel at certain skills without much training". "What did you excel at?" the slayer enquired. The Thai sighed sadly, "I was always good at the hunting part, specifically seducing victims".
"...like me?" Jennie asked, not really wanting to know the answer. "It's true I wanted to sire you at one point" the vampire responded honestly, "but the reason I was so flirty with you when we first met is because I thought your thighs would look great either side of my head". The slayer laughed nervously, "I don't know whether to be pleased about that or not". Lisa smirked when she noticed that Jennie was blushing, though trying her best to disguise it behind the collar of her coat.
"MY VAN!" Sana yelled as she saw her vehicle in the distance, Jihyo and Nayeon running excitedly behind her.
"Where's your Lexus?" Lisa asked once she saw the lone van parked nearby. Jennie scratched the back of her neck, "uh I kinda threw Namjoon through it by accident".
Lisa stared blankly at her ex girlfriend, "so since I've been gone, you've been fired from the Order for fucking a vampire, then got made most wanted for stealing their files, lost the files, got branded a terrorist by Dara and had to flee the town, now you're leading a group of amateur slayers who call themselves the Super Vampire Fighter Girls and you broke your car by crashing a vampire through it?" Lisa paused then bursts out laughing. Jennie slapped the Thai's arm "really? the vampire with a soul is mocking how bad my life is?".
"WE SHOULD PAINT SUPER VAMPIRE FIGHTER GIRLS ON THE SIDE OF THE VAN!" Jihyo yelled as the three friends all hugged the vehicle and each other, feeling like they'd accomplished their first real mission.
Lisa desperately tried to stop herself laughing, hiding her mouth behind her wrist. She failed miserably.
The slayer looked at the friends then back at the Thai and started to giggle, covering her face with her hands, "I'm a complete mess aren't I?". Lisa put her arm around the New Zealander, "oh only a little...a bit...well quite a lot actually yeah".
Jennie pouted as she looked up at the redhead, "Sana nearly poked her own eye out during weapons training, Jihyo keeps insisting we stop drills whenever she gets a wedgie and Nayeon is designing matching outfits for us to wear during missions".
Lisa grinned brightly as she giggled like a child, the first time she'd truly laughed since getting her soul back. Jennie repeatedly slapped the Thai playfully, "will you stop laughing at me!".
"What do we do now?" Nayeon asked, "those spirits will come back right?". Lisa nodded, "yeah but hopefully not for a while, the Order need to chase Dara out of town again or this forest will just get worse and worse".
"What about you guys" Jihyo asked as she looked towards Seulgi and Wendy, "where are you headed now?". Seulgi sighed sadly, "I don't know where we can go, we were kina relying on the forest. I need to be away from people and have somewhere to hide from the hunters". Wendy nodded, "we're a bit worried to be honest with you".
"Stay with us" Jennie said, "we are living in a warehouse at the moment, there's a large room in there with metal shutters we can use as a cage for when you're in wolf form, and we can protect you from hunters if they ever show up". The two girls smiled brightly, "thank you so much" Seulgi replied emotionally. She had lost all her friends and family since being bitten, only Wendy stood by her, it meant a lot to the dark haired Korean that she had made new friends.
"Jen" Lisa uttered, "can Sunmi and I hide out in your warehouse during sunlight hours? The sun will be up soon and I'm not sure we'll find anywhere in time". Jennie half smiled, "sure, but Sunmi stays in the cage".
"Going to try and make me princess?" the vampire snapped back. The Thai held her hand up, gesturing for her charge to back down, "we will both stay in the cage". Sunmi rolled her eyes again before walking over to Lisa and draping her arms around the redhead's neck, "I suppose I can get on board with that" she replied while turning her head and smirking in Jennie's direction.
If Sunmi couldn't kill people then she was determined to find other ways to hurt them.
"And it's ok if Lisa gets hungry" the dark haired vampire continued, "she can just feed from me again", Sunmi exposed the fresh fangs marks in her neck.
The thought of Lisa feeding from Sunmi bothered Jennie more than she cared to admit.
"Let's just get out of here" the redhead sighed. "There's plenty of room in the van" Nayeon said happily, "though some of us might need to have bags on our laps". Sunmi looked into Lisa's eyes, arms still around her neck, "I'll sit on your lap". "Will you now?" Lisa replied flirtatiously, trying to disguise a grin.
"Why are you letting that chick steal your girl?" Wendy whispered in Jennie's ear. Jennie shook her head slowly, "she's not my girl. Soul or not she's still a vampire, we don't have a future but she can have a future with Sunmi". "But" the Canadian protested but didn't get very far. "I want a normal life Seungwan" Jennie continued, "I want to get married, and have children. And when I get old I want my partner to get old with me. When Sandara is defeated, I am quitting being a slayer".
Wendy didn't push the subject any further, she simply grabbed Seulgi's hand and entered the back of the van.
Jennie sat in the passengers seat at the front with driver Sana, not wanting to witness Sunmi's over the top flirting with Lisa. The slayer felt like this was her punishment for not saving the real Sunmi when she had the chance, now the demon Sunmi is hurting her in revenge.
The group of women arrived at the warehouse, Lisa and Sunmi got out of the van first so they could scout the area and make sure nobody had tracked Jennie and the girls while they were absent. The Thai signalled the all clear and so the humans proceeded into the building.
While the rest of the group were getting settled inside, Jennie was out the front with Nayeon.
"The view of the forest from here doesn't seem so beautiful anymore" the slayer uttered sombrely. Nayeon shivered and rubbed her arms, the days seemed to be getting colder, "I know what you mean, I look at those trees now and just feel..." she paused, "dread".
"We're going to have to go back in there one day, aren't we?" the Korean asked. "Someone is" Jennie replied, "when Sandara has been defeated then somebody will need to destroy the pentagram, which I don't imagine the children will allow without a fight. It might be better to send vampires to do it".
"Vampires, like Lisa?" Nayeon asked with a smile, hoping this meant that the Thai would be staying with them. The idea of Lisa staying with them made the New Zealander's heart race, "um maybe, I mean uh...I guess if she wants to then...". Nayeon grinned happily.
"Why is there is a sheet over the shutters?" Jennie asked as she and Nayeon re-entered the warehouse. The room with the shutters, being used as a cage, had two large black sheets hiding the inside from view. Jihyo pointed at the sunlight coming through some of the gaps in the roof, "the light enters the cage when the sun is at this position so we needed to block it out". "Where's Lisa?" the slayer asked while looking around. "She's in the cage with Sunmi" Sana replied casually.
"Lisa alone in a cage with Sunmi while covered by sheets...nothing to be annoyed about" the black haired girl whispered to herself while clenching her fists. That's when the thought occurred to her that her ex girlfriend may of been having sex with Sunmi, possibly even more people than that, while they were dating. Jennie didn't even want a relationship with Lisa anymore but it still bothered her that the relationship they had in the past was probably never real in the first place.
The girls spent the day resting, cooking and generally bonding with each other. There was a lot the group didn't know about Seulgi and Wendy, and visa versa. The vampires however, spent the day alone with each other in the cage. The cage wasn't locked but Lisa knew Sunmi wouldn't try to leave as long as she was in there too.
"What are you going to do now you have a soul?" Sunmi asked her sire, they hadn't really had much chance to discuss things till now. Lisa was sat on the floor with her back against the wall, cracking her knuckles out of restlessness, "I don't know. At first I planned to just stay away from people so they'd be safe from me, but both the witch and Mina believe that I'm this prophesy ensouled vampire, that I'm destined to do something important. I guess I'm just going to allow things to flow". "So where does that leave me?" the dark haired girl replied. The Thai sighed sadly, "you should of returned to the clan when I gave you the chance, Jennie isn't going to let you leave to kill people. Plus you know too much about her and the girls, she wouldn't trust you to keep that secret".
Sunmi's eyes widened as a look of panic washed over her face, "you're going to let her slay me?!". "No" Lisa replied while shaking her head, "I'm going to appeal to her. You're going to have to stay with me Miya, forever. This is why I gave you the option to leave. I don't kill anymore and I'm going to do what I can to help people while isolating myself from society. Which means you're going to do the same".
"Are you going to make me get my soul back?" the vampire asked. Again Lisa shook her head, "that wouldn't be fair. I killed the human, the real Sunmi, then I made you a demon and made you do awful things. The real Lee Sunmi is dead, her soul deserves to rest, not be burdened with the guilt of murder".
The sky darkened once more and the Thai got up to her feet and exited the cage. Sunmi remained inside, sulking on the floor. Jennie's prisoner and Lisa's pet, neither scenario was much fun for the demon.
"Why aren't you having fun with the others?" Lisa asked as she approached the slayer, sitting alone on the far side of the room. "Because it hurts" the New Zealander replied bluntly, "my loneliness is easier to cope with when I'm actually on my own, it's more painful around other people, especially when they're laughing and having fun and I'm just...I don't care if I live or die".
"I get it" the redhead replied as she sat beside the smaller girl, "I prefer to be alone these days too".
"What does it mean Lis?"
"What does what mean?" the vampire replied.
Jennie turned her body around so she was fully facing her ex girlfriend, "you said you got your soul back to prove me wrong, to be better, what does it mean?". Lisa grabbed Jennie's hand softly, "at the time I thought that if I got my soul back, then that would be enough. You'd take me back and things could be like before". The slayer shook her head, "but what about your clan, Sandara's rise in power?". Lisa looked deep into Jennie's eyes, "none of that mattered to me if it meant I couldn't have what I wanted, and I wanted you".
"Why?" Jennie whimpered emotionally. "Because..." Lisa continued, nervously, "because I'm in love with you".
The slayer began to cry, "it's not fair" she sobbed, "why now? Why couldn't you of meant it before...when I needed your love". "I still would have been a vampire" Lisa replied, trying her hardest not to cry too.
The Thai couldn't fight it anymore, her will was too weak and her love too strong. She wanted Jennie back.
"Do you still love me?" she asked pleadingly, her voice starting to crack with emotion. Jennie nodded tearfully as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, too overcome with sadness to reply right away, "y-yes I'll always love you but...I don't think that means anything anymore. My parents, my best friend, you...love brings me nothing but pain".
The vampire's vision blurred with tears, "don't you miss me?". "Of course I do" Jennie cried, "you have no idea how much I miss holding you, kissing you, being satisfied by you. I miss just being near you, these months apart have killed me. But it doesn't matter. You can give me what I want but you can't give me what I need".
Lisa started to break down and sob, grabbing onto Jennie's waist as the slayer stood up, hugging her tightly. "Jen please" the vampire choked out, her face pressed against the New Zealander's stomach. Tears streamed down Jennie's face as she began to stroke the Thai's hair, "I'm sorry you've put yourself through so much pain and misery for me", she leaned down and kissed Lisa's forehead, "I hope one day you realise I'm not worth it".
The broken hearted slayer left the defeated and sobbing vampire and headed to bed. In what felt like a life time ago, Jennie fell in love with Lisa for all the wrong reasons, and now she was walking away for the right ones. It was the right thing to do. So why did Jennie feel like she was dying?
Lisa's hands were shaking, she hadn't felt lower than she did right now. She fought against the evil inside her to get her soul back but it still wasn't enough. It was like nothing she did mattered. Doomed to spend eternity roaming the earth in pain, and the only thing that could make it all worth it, didn't want her anymore.
The redhead looked over in the distance to see Jennie sobbing in her bed, the slayer's pain was hurting the vampire more than her own. "She deserves some happiness" the Thai uttered to herself, "even if it isn't with me".
"Woah woah woah" Sunmi said with annoyance as Lisa suddenly marched over and placed a thick lock around the shutters, connecting them to the wall and locking them closed. "What the hell are you doing?" the vampire continued to whine. "Saving you" the Thai responded, "as long as you're locked in here you can't hurt anyone, which means Jennie has no reason to slay you".
Miya's eyebrows raised with concern as she watched her sire heading for the door, "where are you going?!".
Lisa looked back briefly, "I'll be back, there's something I have to do first".
The Thai left the warehouse and began her journey to the small town she was staying in before, where Tiffany was waiting for her with the rest of her payment. But Lisa wasn't looking for Tiffany, she was looking for Mina.
If Lisa was going to try and get Rosé's soul back, she needed help.