Resurrect

7 YEARS AGO
“No no no no no”, Siyeon gasped desperately, tears streaming down her face. “No this isn’t happening, you’re not leaving me. You’re not leaving me, you hear? You can do this, you can fight.”

“Siyeon,” Bora’s face scrunched up in pain as she coughed out another mouthful of blood, but her eyes were so tender, so loving, like how she always was, as she gazed back into Siyeon’s. Perhaps, this was the last time. “Siyeon, I love you. I always did. And I always will.”

The ground was being stained by a dark red colour Siyeon did not immediately recognise. Her hands, her clothes, were full of a sticky red. Of Bora’s blood. Even so, she hugged her lover’s body tightly in her arms, kissing her plump lips tenderly. Bora stirred a little. For probably the last time.

“I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t have more time with you. But I don’t… don’t regret anything. I love you. We’ll be together in our… our next lives.” Bora whimpered, with the last amount of energy she could muster, before closing her eyes.

Siyeon felt it, before she saw. She felt Bora’s life leave her body gently, through her fingertips, like water she could not hold, her face forever frozen in that half-smile she always loved. And Siyeon felt a part of her die together. Her heartbroken sobs rung out in the dark, dead night, as she clung helplessly to the limp body which was all that was left of her beloved.

She was alone now.

Was she?

No, she wasn’t. She won’t let herself be. Bora wasn’t gone.

PRESENT TIME
Yoohyeon stood frozen on the spot, staring at her best friend chained and tied up helplessly like a sack of potatoes against the wall.

Best friend. The word tasted bittersweet on her tongue. Minji was more then just her best friend. She hadn’t wanted to admit it before, but standing before this life-and-death situation, it all dawned on her how much more Minji meant to her. The subtle hand touches, the sweet smiles they shared, it was all so much more. To her. And now she could tell, it meant so much more to Minji as well.

And even on her deathbed, Minji still thought of her. Minji still tried to protect her. As she had always done. And she yearned so much to hold her in her arms once again.

Standing beside her tied-up best friend, all dressed in black and with a blank expression on her face, was Siyeon. Her dark, piercing, wolf eyes, looking straight at Yoohyeon, as though into her very soul. This was the girl that was behind all this pain. The girl behind all this suffering. And the girl who was now about to break her world apart.

All for that lifeless, floating carcass in the big container beside her.

The surge of hate and disgust that suddenly overcame Yoohyeon was overwhelming. She longed to rush forward and tear Siyeon apart, limb by limb, and make her pay hard for all the shit she had caused her.

Instead, she could only stand on the spot helplessly, like a leaf fighting against the wind.

Why? How did it come to this?

2 MONTHS AGO

Vampires.

Bloodsucking creatures who could live on forever. Highly feared by many, and have been hunted by humans throughout history. Also known by humans as dangerous, deadly, and would kill without hesitation. Some thought they were undead creatures, visiting loved ones and caused all kinds of problems and mischief. Mostly, they were shrouded in mystery (and humans fear whatever they don’t know).

To kill a vampire was an almost impossible feat. Almost is the key word. A lot of people don’t really know this, but what you have to do was to bind them with iron and stake them through their heart (with a wooden stake or something similar. The materials are important.) It’s a secret the vampires have mainly kept to themselves, for obvious reasons.

And surprise, vampires have blood in them too! And oh, vampire blood could do something far more priceless then what humanity has known, and what humanity has been trying to achieve for centuries.

Well, Yoohyeon knew better knew this. She was a human, but she didn’t follow the lowly assumptions humans have of vampires.

She knew vampires could just be as amazing and wonderful as uh, some humans (since a lot of humans, with their entitled, narcissistic personalities, suck). She knew that they have their own needs and wants, their own interests and personalities. And she knew that they feel and love each other, just as much as humans do.

They were probably more similar to humans then those stubborn humans would ever admit.

She never understood why humans had been trying to hunt and kill vampires for centuries. Humans, with their distorted views and beliefs, were convinced that vampires were a threat.

But, it wasn’t a popular belief, but Yoohyeon was also quite sure that they were a lot more kinder than humans actually were.

She could not swallow the awful feeling in her gut as she waited for Minji, standing in front of her with red, puffy eyes, to speak. She was sure she was going to hear something terrible.

A terrible work.

Of a human.

“Hello sweetheart,” Siyeon whispered, shutting the door gently behind her.

There was no answer. Of course, there wasn’t. She hasn’t answered her since that night. Siyeon wasn’t sure why she had kept that hope burning alive throughout the years.

She sighed and sat down. “It still didn’t work. I’m so sorry, darling. I’m not really sure what went wrong. It’s so hard to go on like this.”

She stood up and pressed her hands against the cold, hard glass separating her from her one and only.

“You’d tell me to take a break, to move on, wouldn’t you? You’d hug me and tell me I’d tried my best and I can stop trying? Truth is, I can’t. I can’t live without you. I had never lived since that night. I can’t stop until you are back in my arms.”

“Sometimes I dream that you are still with me, and that we are living our best lives together. I’d love to see you dance again. It was always your freedom I loved to watch. People told me that I have such an amazing voice, but yours have always been my heaven and my lullaby. Then I wake up and it’s all cold and I realise it’s not real.”

Her voice broke at the end, and she wiped away a tear she didn’t realise she had been crying.

“I miss you so, so much, you know? You’re the only one I have in this cold, cruel world. People don’t know who I really am. I feel like I’m such a monster. But this is the only way. The only way that I know.”

Siyeon sighed. She had tried so, so hard, to remember. However, that night’s happenings just won’t come back to her mind. She could not recall what had led to it, only Bora’s last few words “Siyeon, I love you.” It was so long ago, but it also seemed like it had only happened yesterday.

Or perhaps, she had forgotten it. Either intentionally or unintentionally. She didn’t want her last memory with her most beloved to also be the most painful moment of her life. The most painful moment which had driven her to do all the things she had been doing since then, to live what she knows as her life since then.

But it was also the factor that had caused her to find out the most dangerous, most highly sought after secret in the world. The secret which she had been searching for. The secret which she had to use.

But she was going to use it solely for her own sake. For what she and Bora deserved, and still do. Maybe some sacrifices have to be made along the way. But it was all good, since it was for this only thing she ever knew, ever believed in, ever hoped for.

Right?

Siyeon sighed and turned back.

“Baby, I promised you I would not stop until you are back with me, until I can hear your voice call my name again. And I intend to keep that promise.”

“Just wait for me for a while longer.”

Gahyeon. A bright angel, a sunshine, someone who could light up the entire room with her pure, innocent smile. The one who would hold Minji’s hand and beg her for an ice cream, the one who would be the first to run to Minji to give her a hug whenever she needed it.

Minji still couldn’t believe this. Gone. Her Gahyeon. Gone.

Not just gone. Killed. Murdered.

She was shaking uncontrollably as she recounted to her best friend, Yoohyeon, the state they had found her little sister in. Deep burns on her wrists and ankles, which could only have been caused by iron. A wooden stake, made of the finest oak wood, through her heart. And most frighteningly, she was bled dry.

However, she could see that Yoohyeon already knew how bad it was. Because it was the same as the previous times.

Gahyeon had been the 3rd vampire to be killed in the past 2 months, of what was probably the same scheme.

But why? What was happening? This couldn’t be a doing of a vampire. Vampires won’t kill each other, they had no reason to. Even through conflicts, vampires know that killing each other won’t solve anything. As ironic as it sounds, they preferred to sit down and solve things amicably.

There was only one possibility left.

The work of a human.

And with that, the dangerous shaking of the entire vampire world.

Yoohyeon was afraid.

Was she afraid of the unknown? That was what she was trying to tell herself. Indeed, something like this had never happened before in the entire vampiric history, which in itself is pretty long knowing that vampires can live on forever. No one knew where to go from there, no one knew where to start looking at the problem. Yoohyeon secretly knew that a lot of them didn’t want to admit that the possibility of their greatest secret was now known to a human outside of their control.

Yoohyeon was probably the only person who knew who vampires truly were. Stumbling upon the vampiric world and becoming best friends with Minji was all an accident. Despite their vast differences, they somehow got along very well together.

Minji didn’t want to admit it to her, but Yoohyeon knew that some of them were suspecting that she was the one behind the murders.

So, yes, maybe Yoohyeon was afraid of the unknown, and possibly her own sake. All of them were, but who wouldn’t be? When a force which seemed stronger than them was battling them behind a mask.

But the victims, all 3 times, had been young, female vampires. Yoohyeon did not want to consider the possibility that Minji could possibly be the killer’s next target. She stole a glance at her beautiful best friend who was sitting at the dining room table with a blank look, lost in her own thoughts.

Oh, Yoohyeon loved her so much. She was her most precious person in this world, and she would go to the grave for her. She didn’t want to lose her to anything, and definitely not to the killer who had forcefully stolen Gahyeon’s life. That was what she fearing the most.

Love.

No, Yoohyeon was not going to think about anything more than that. There are more urgent matters right now anyway.

A FEW HOURS AGO

Tonight. She would strike. She would do what she had to do, and finish this lone battle she was fighting all these years.

No, she won’t make a mistake again. She made sure of it.

The past 3 times, she acted out of fear. She was reckless, she made careless mistakes she could have easily avoided. But she reassured herself that it was because it was her first few times doing something so dangerous.

In a few more days, she would get back who she was fighting for all this time. And when that time comes, she could look back and say that what she had done was all worth it.

She was careful this time. She took her time, knowing the vampires would be extra careful after the last few incidents. And this time, she played on her victim’s biggest fear.

Love.

Ironically, she was fighting for love all this time. And now she was using love to get to her purpose.

This was a rather risky feat. If it failed, she could be persecuted, tortured for what she had done.

However, Siyeon was not afraid anymore. She replaced that fear with determination and resilience. She was so sick of being afraid, of being depressed, of being lonely.

This is going to end. Starting tonight. The beginning of the end.

She smiled to herself as her red-haired target made her way towards her, the streetlights barely illuminating the dark night.

“Minji.”

Her target stopped in front of her.

“Yes that’s me. Who are you? And what do you want?”

“Who I am doesn’t matter. I want to strike a deal with you. You see, I know who you are, and I know who your best friend is. And if the world gets to know how she has been betraying them… Let’s just say that things won’t end well for her.”

A bolt of relief, accompanied with some pleasure, went through Siyeon when Minji tensed up.

“How do you know? And what do you want?”

“I have my ways. And as for that, your life for hers. You will come with me, and I will spare Yoohyeon. I will not let the world know that she has been keeping your species’ secret behind their backs.”

Yoohyeon’s name seemed to snap Minji out of her trance.

“What…? But why? Why do you want me?”

Siyeon smiled.

“You see, you’re the same age as my girlfriend. She’s the love of my life, and she means everything to me. I would do anything for her. She used to be alive, but hasn’t been for 7 years.”

Siyeon waited for Minji to process what she had said.

“I know your vampires’ secret. I know what your blood can do. I might have missed that little detail about age when I went for your sister. But don’t worry, no other human in this world has to know about it. I don’t plan for it to happen. I just need you to save my girlfriend, and in turn you can save yours.”

Minji reacted slightly when she heard Siyeon call Yoohyeon her “girlfriend”, but did not refute or reply to what she had said. The shock from knowing that someone else, and a mere young human, knows all their carefully guarded secrets still shook her to the core.

“Imagine what those cold-blooded humans can do to your Yoohyeon when they find out that she knows about your vampire community. Let alone being best friends with one of you.”

Yes, Minji knew. The world would not look kindly upon what they would deem as one of the biggest betrayals possible. Yoohyeon would be hated on, and punished for her crimes. And Minji did not want to imagine what possible stunts they could possibly pull on her.

“A vampire’s blood could resurrect a dead human, provided that they are of the same age and gender.” Siyeon continued.

This was it. The point of no return. Someone else knew about their secret, of what their blood could do.

The wave of despair and helplessness that overcame Minji was beyond words. If this got out to the humans, she knew the entire vampire population would be wiped out.

Humans had been trying to resurrect their dead counterparts for years, with no known success. This ability with their blood was perhaps the price vampires have to pay for being immortal.

And she couldn’t knowingly lead her beloved best friend to her suffering.

“OK.”

Siyeon smiled, pleased with her reply. “Let’s go.”

Yoohyeon, forgive me. I didn’t have a choice. Minji willed, as she was being shackled up with iron chains. I love you. I always did.