It was already midnight when Kwan woke up. He was still on the couch in the living room, but Rebecca wasn't there anymore. The fireplace offered a faint warmth, but the cold breeze drifting through the open door made him shiver. Outside, rain poured steadily.
He sat up, confused. "Where did Rebecca go? Why is the door open?" Kwan stood and walked to the doorway. Darkness stretched beyond the porch, and in the distance, wolves howled. "That's not a good sign," he muttered.
Worried, he shut the door and returned to the couch, trying to stay calm. "What if those people took her?" he whispered to himself. "But it's raining so hard... I hope she's okay."
A few minutes later, a knock broke the silence. Kwan jumped up and opened the door—relief flooded him. "Rebecca—where have you been?"
She stood there, soaked, bruised, with dirt and dried blood on her skin. Her hair hung loose and messy. She looked exhausted.
"Did you... did you kill someone?" he asked, stunned.
"They’re coming for me, Kwan. Please—lock the door," she said urgently.
Kwan did so without hesitation. A moment later, a loud thud came from outside—someone was trying to break in. His heart pounded. What was going on? Was Rebecca hiding something?
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone," Rebecca said softly. "Are you hungry? I can make you something."
Kwan stared at her. "No, I’m not hungry. Go clean up first. Then tell me everything. Who’s after you?"
Rebecca nodded. "Okay. Just… calm down. It’s not what you think." But when she looked into his eyes, she knew she couldn’t lie. "It seems I really can’t hide anything from you," she whispered. "Wait here. I’ll just take a bath."
She stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Cold water cascaded over her as memories of earlier that night replayed in her mind.
An old friend had come to visit—Granger, the vampire who had once saved her by turning her into one of his kind.
"Why did you keep him?" Granger asked, his black robe clinging to his wet frame. His voice was sharp. "Didn’t I tell you to stay away from him?"
"He’s my husband," Rebecca replied, defiant. "And I didn’t bring him here. Fate did. We were meant to find each other again."
Granger laughed, low and bitter. "Destiny? Don’t be naïve. Whether he’s your husband or not doesn’t matter. You’re a vampire now, and he’s human. Give him to me, or things will get worse."
"Over my dead body!" Rebecca snapped, pulling a gun from her coat.
Granger stepped back just as she fired. One bullet hit him in the stomach. He growled and dodged the next. Moving faster than her eyes could track, he caught her by the neck and lifted her off the ground.
"You ungrateful traitor," he hissed. "I gave you a second life, and this is how you repay me?"
"I didn’t ask for anything," Rebecca gasped. She could barely breathe, but with one strong kick, she knocked him back—and he let her go.
Rebecca started running for her life. Granger chased her to the forest. Rebecca ambushed him, sending him off guard with a powerful kick as she suddenly leaped from a tree.
"Stop playing with me!" Granger roared as he staggered back. He let out a chilling howl, summoning his allies.
Two other vampires appeared beside him, their eyes glowing in the darkness. They launched after her without hesitation.
Rebecca pushed her body to its limit, sprinting through the forest. Branches whipped her face, her feet stumbled over roots, but she didn’t stop until she reached the mansion. She slammed the gate behind her, her body bruised, her clothes torn and muddy.
She thought she'd lost them—until a voice whispered behind her. "Shit!" she gasped as Granger stepped out of the shadows, blood still seeping from the wound in his stomach.
"You’re already wounded," she said, panting. "You won’t last much longer. I’m giving you the chance to walk away."
"Don't be foolish, Rebecca, I'm a vampire," Granger growled, showing his fangs. He attacked Rebecca, but she kicked him back, and his stomach continued bleeding.
Rebecca closed her fist and punched him again and again until he fainted, then the two other vampires appeared. Rebecca didn't want to fight them, so she went to the mansion, but the door was locked.
"So, that's what happened?" Kwan asked, staring at Rebecca in disbelief.
"Aren't you afraid of me? I'm a vampire, Kwan." Rebecca dried her hair with the towel.
"Why would I be?" he said gently. "You’ve taken care of me since I got here. If you wanted to hurt me, you would’ve already done it."
A small smile formed on her lips. "Exactly. I could never harm the man I love." She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Let’s just go back to sleep."
"Yeah… okay." Kwan returned to his room and lay down on the bed. His thoughts swirled.
Rebecca was a vampire. She’d been bitten, saved, and changed. That meant if she bit him, he might change too. But she didn’t. Even when he was bleeding, she resisted. Vampires were drawn to blood—yet she held back.
"She must love me that much…" Kwan whispered. With that comforting thought, he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.
The next day, the two officers returned. They have decided to force their way inside the mansion even if they couldn't get the owner's consent. In the eyes of the government, it wouldn’t be considered trespassing; after all, their actions were part of an official investigation.
"I already told you," Rebecca said, her tone sharp. "I don't trust strangers—and I'm not hiding anything."
"If you're really that confident," the older policeman countered, "then why won't you let us search your home? You've got nothing to lose. We are not going to rob."
Rebecca let out a heavy sigh. "Fine," she muttered. "You can search. But make it quick."
The policewoman smirked. The two police officers went inside the gate, and Rebecca closed it behind. Looking at their backs, Rebecca's blood boiled. Not this time, she reminded herself, but her stomach growled.
"Why did you—" The policewoman turned, noticing the sound, but before she could react, Rebecca leapt forward, bared her fangs, and sank them into her neck.
The older policeman was shocked, eyes wide in horror. He stumbled backward and collapsed to the ground, trembling in fear as he watched the beautiful lady bite his comrade. Rebecca lifted her head, blood dripping from her mouth as she stared at him.
"This can't be real..." the policeman stammered. He pulled out his gun and fired at Rebecca, but her movements were so fast that she dodged all the bullets.
Meanwhile, from the window of his room upstairs, Kwan saw what happened. Rebecca killed the policewoman, and now she was also trying to kill the other police. Kwan needed to stop her, so he immediately went downstairs, but as he reached the front lawn, he was too late.