The Turning

(Thirty-Two)

I.M stepped on the ground; his view obstructed by the thick smoke filling the current room. Despite the decreased visibility within the room, he was still able to tell the room was empty. Hangil, Joo, and Narauram weren’t in the room. A curse slipped from between his lips as he exited the room.

There were only a few ways to kill a vampire. One of the traditional ways to kill a vampire was a stake. The second way, newly discovered by him, vampire venom. The third was starvation, and the fourth was fire. Boram and Chorong chose fire as the last resort. He couldn’t believe their plan involved burning up everything inside. All he knew was he was grateful for not having functioning lungs. If he was an average human, the smoke would have killed him before the fire.

I.M forced his legs to move faster as he bolted down the hallway encased in flames. He listened for voices but heard nothing. It seemed like there was no one in the building. He licked over his lips, nervous. He didn’t know what he expected to find. He hoped Jooheon was doing okay.

He hissed as a piece of ceiling dropped beside him, brushing his hand. If he didn’t find Jooheon soon, he would be burned up like the building. Despite the exhaustion washing over him, he focused on his task. He needed to get to his fledgling. Unfortunately, the council building was a fairly large establishment. The three vampires could be anywhere in the building.

A thought came to mind. He changed his direction heading toward the large staircase. There was a chance they could be in the basement of the building. It wouldn’t hurt to investigate. He arrived at the opened door to the lower level. The most smoke rushed out of the opened door. He grimaced at the sight. There was a chance he was throwing himself into an open flame but there was nothing he could do but fight his way through. As long as he wasn’t completely submerged in flames, he would be fine. He moved toward the door and frowned. The staircase was gone. He could jump but he could barely see where to land. The scent of smoke filled his nostrils.

He closed his eyes for a brief second and then opened them. There was no time to think too much about the next step. He needed to keep moving. All he could do was jump, so he did. He leapt, lifting off the ground and moving his body forward. A strange sensation occupied his chest as he soared through the air. He noticed he hadn’t touched the ground. His eyes widened at the sight of himself hovering in the air. For a second, he dropped but caught himself in the last second and remained in the air.

I.M was shocked to find he was flying. He didn’t waste too much time with the discovery and instead focused on using this newly acquired skill to keep moving. He rush through the air, through clouds of smoke. His vision strengthened the further he traveled, and he was able to see the familiar corridor he walked when his clan first tried to rescue Hyungwon. He spotted several busted windows.

His eyes widened at the sight outside of one of the windows. He directed his body toward the broken window and flew out it. He dropped to the ground, rolling over the grass. Several feet away Jooheon lay on his back, eyes wide, a stain of black blood smeared right beneath his nostrils.

A hand grabbed him by the neck lifting him from the ground. His eyes made eye contact with the blood red eyes of Hangil. The older vampire smirked, fangs on display. He tilted his head to the side.

“I.M,” he said. “I have to say I wasn’t expecting you. But I’m oh so glad to see you.”

I.M grabbed the hands crushing his neck.

“What a mess,” Hangil said, glancing behind him. “Imagine the whole council in flames. All this for nothing. If you all had worked with me, we could have achieved so much for our kind, but you chose all this instead. It’s laughable. Oh well, there is no use worrying about what can’t be helped. I’ll just get rid of you and then your clan. It’s for the best. I don’t know why you survived in the first place.”