“Healthy one, isn’t he? Looks like he’d taste fresh.”
That was the answer. Yan realized who they were.
Vampires.
He didn’t know why they had ventured out here from their kingdom where they usually clustered together, but given how strange the world had become, it wasn’t surprising. What mattered was why the vampires had kidnapped Yan.
“Don’t eat him. Do you want to eat something that smells?”
“I’m just saying. Do you think I’m that hungry?”
Yan momentarily forgot his situation and sniffed. Did he smell strange? But all he could detect was a musty dust odor. He had even showered right before being kidnapped, so he couldn’t understand what supposedly smelled.
“But the scent is faint. At this level, wouldn’t it be possible to overlay it?”
“Isabel, taking someone another has already marked as a bound one is bad manners. Besides, you already have a bound one.”
“I know, I know! Always with the nagging.”
Yan was even more confused. It was a different kind of confusion than when he first realized he’d been kidnapped. This awkward conversation seemed unbefitting of kidnappers. Furthermore, what did they mean by “someone already marked as a bound one”? Though he couldn’t be certain since his eyes were covered, it seemed he was the only person there, so he couldn’t tell who they were referring to.
“But you know… Could there have been some misunderstanding?”
The woman called Isabel said.
“This man looks like an ordinary person. Ah, of course, there’s a scent on him, but that alone isn’t enough to call him a bound one.”
Her voice, adding that they might have brought a useless person, sounded somewhat anxious. Yan thought Isabel seemed quite young. Her thin voice and the way she readily expressed her emotions gave that impression. Perhaps it was a characteristic of vampires who aged slowly.
“That’s possible.”
“Then we’ve just wasted our efforts, haven’t we?”
“But we can’t be sure. If he’s useful as bait, then it’s worked out well, and if not…”
The man stopped mid-sentence. Yan understood the meaning hidden in the silence.
If not, they’ll just kill him.
A typical line from malicious kidnappers.
‘Shit, what is this.’
By this point, he felt miserable. He thought he had been living a decent life, but here he was, suffering all kinds of indignities for the crime of falling for some man. Reflecting on everything that had happened since falling for Sirius, all he could do was sigh and all that flowed were tears.
‘If I’m bait, then it must be for…’
There were only two vampires Yan knew personally: Sirius and Procion. They were probably using him as bait to lure one of them, but regardless of who the target was, it was bound to fail.
“Mmph, mmmph…”
They both don’t care about me…
There was no point in muttering hopelessly—no one would hear. The kidnappers easily ignored Yan’s feeble mumbling and whispered among themselves.
“Don’t look into his eyes. You’ll be hypnotized. Of course, avoiding eye contact doesn’t guarantee you won’t be affected. But it might buy us time. Remember, the longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it is for us.”
“Don’t worry, you know who I am. I can make anyone lose their mind, no matter who they are.”
“Don’t be too confident, Isabel. We’re dealing with those who inherited the former Lord’s blood. To be honest, just the two of us…”
“I’ll do anything for Lady Alesha!”
Isabel shouted sharply.
“So drop that discouraging talk. Unless you’re wishing for our downfall!”
Internal division? If only they would keep fighting and hurt each other… Yan’s modest wish wasn’t granted. The man apologized readily, saying, “I’m sorry. I’ve been too negative.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you; I just wanted to stress the need for caution. We’ll only have one chance.”
“I know we’re much weaker. But fights aren’t just about raw power, right? We have two advantages. We have a hostage.”
“And it’s daytime.”
Yan then realized that night had passed. No wonder his head felt clearer than expected after regaining consciousness—he must have slept soundly.
“For us with bound ones, daytime isn’t particularly disadvantageous, but it’s different for Sirius. That makes it a fair fight. We don’t even need to finish him off; we just need to pretend to flee after fighting for a while. Then Sirius will rush to this guy, right?”
“And we ambush him from behind when he lets his guard down.”
“Exactly.”
Yan felt as if every hair on his body was standing on end.
‘What are they planning to do to Sirius?’
He recalled a documentary channel he had once watched. A carnivore pouncing on the back of a herbivore. Of course, he knew that Sirius, if categorized, would be a carnivore. The superhuman strength from his well-trained body, his threatening agility, but still…
‘What if he gets hurt?’
Sirius might die.
It felt like a stone had dropped onto his heart. Even though their relationship was over, even though he had resolved to forget him. It was exactly like when he had first fallen for Sirius. His heart had pounded just like this, and he had sweated just the same on that day when Sirius had saved his life.
But the situation was the opposite of then.
‘No, it’s okay. What are you worrying about, Yan Circuitz?’
Yan tried to calm himself. Who was worrying about whom in the first place? While Yan wasn’t weak, Sirius was much stronger. The comparison was almost meaningless. He was the Lord of the kingdom, while Yan was just a police officer who had barely shed his rookie status. And now he was captured by vampires.
‘Sirius won’t come anyway.’
The person I love isn’t interested in me. It had always been a depressing fact, but for the first time, he felt relieved about it. Because he had no value as bait, Sirius would live on, completely fine.
Though Yan resented him, that was better than Sirius dying. Yan lamented that he seemed unable to let go of his lingering attachment. Even in this state, he was worried about Sirius. Would this attachment be severed if he were killed by the kidnappers?
Just then, a loud bang resonated. Yan jerked his head up in surprise. Though he couldn’t see, he could somewhat gauge the situation by sound.
“He’s here!”
Footsteps echoed chaotically. The urgent movements made even the motionless Yan anxious. But he tried to remain calm. It seemed the police had arrived, so if he trusted them and waited a little longer, he could be rescued.
‘What if I face someone I know? Being a hostage, how embarrassing can it get?’
The mere thought was awkward, but it also relieved some tension. He might have to endure teasing, but he wanted to meet his reliable colleagues soon. When would he be free from these frustrating ropes?
‘But why aren’t there any gunshots?’
While it’s standard procedure not to provoke hostage-takers when a hostage is involved, it was too quiet. It was hard to believe there was a standoff between police and kidnappers.
Relying almost entirely on his hearing was maddening when there was so little to hear. Yan struggled again, but the ropes wouldn’t loosen.
Just then, he was lifted, chair and all. It felt like boarding a ride at an amusement park. Before he could react, he was thrown, chair and all.
“Mmmmph!”
The wind hitting his face was incredibly vivid. Yan wondered if the hostage handling manual had changed without his knowledge, but that couldn’t be the case. He finally suspected that his rescuers might not be the police.
“Hello, Yan.”
That suspicion turned to certainty thanks to the languid voice.
“I didn’t know you had this kind of hobby.”
The man asked, tracing a finger over Yan’s chest bound with ropes. It was the familiar voice of his master. Yan gritted his teeth.
“Mmmmph!”
It meant ‘untie me,’ but Procion didn’t. He carried Yan, chair and all, heading somewhere. Then the real fight began. The sound of blades clashing, someone’s scream, the impact of fists striking people—or rather, vampires… Among them, the most impressive was a sound like tearing through wind. A noise that would normally be heard in a narrow canyon on a windy day was resounding, and he couldn’t figure out what it was. It sounded like a whip, but the whip sounds Yan knew weren’t this threatening.
It was fortunate that there were no gunshots. Yan felt relieved that the vampires were fighting using classical methods.
‘No, that’s beside the point—at least remove my blindfold!’
If this was the case, he didn’t understand why Procion had caught him when he was thrown into the air. Was he planning to carry him around like baggage? Yan shouted with all his might, but again to no avail.
“Those guys are so ignorant. Threatening to kill the hostage if we don’t arrive before sunset… I wonder if they even know how many miles it is from the kingdom to here.”
“Mmph!”
“Of course I came by helicopter. You don’t think I transformed into a bat and flew here, do you? Some clans have that ability, but not ours.”
“Mmph…”
“Having a brother can be so bothersome at times like these. If we had grown up in different environments, would either of us have had such abilities? What do you think, Yan?”
Untie my mouth before talking, you jerk! Just as he mentally snapped, an ominous feeling flashed through Yan.
‘Brother…?’
From recent experience, there was usually a reason for ominous feelings. Rather than finding that his fears were exaggerated, it was more common to discover that the outcome was worse than expected.
“It’s boring talking alone.”
Murmuring this, Procion removed Yan’s gag. Though his mouth was as dry as if in a drought, Yan ignored it and shouted:
“Brother?!”
“Why are you surprised? You didn’t think vampires don’t have siblings, did you?”
“…Please tell me I’m wrong about what I’m thinking.”
