Part IV: Quarta Vigilia (1/1)

I thought AhIn smacked or pushed me, I thought I maybe died—for like the fourth time these past weeks—but what actually happened afterward came as a shock that had me gasping loudly and startling AhIn who was looking down at me from his standing position. All my memories came rushing back to me simultaneously, deeply buried memories. I looked around me, trying to find her, my soulmate—that cringey word, maybe my old self was a cheesy granny. She was still fighting with SeungHyun, holding her ground with a fierce and determined expression. I think she felt it too, the change inside me, because I noticed the glimpse of a smile making its way to her lips. I was relieved she was still there, I was glad Irene was still alive. Irene, no, Joohyun. Bae Joohyun was the girl I had met and turned a few decades after the founding of Goryeo, where her father had had a pivotal role. I had converted her the night her house was broken into, only months after her father's death, when one of the thieves panicked and took Joohyun and her maid as hostages. After slashing their throats said thief disposed of their bodies at a river just outside the property, but by the time I rescued them only Joohyun's conversion was possible, given the amount of time elapsed after exsanguination. She was the girl I had fallen madly in love with, the girl who managed to save me before a pack of werewolves almost killed me, the girl who took me to Dana, an old witch, to get help with the animal’s lethal poison that had entered my system. Dark and old magic was casted upon me, leaving me in a state of coma. I rested for centuries and centuries while my body got rid of the poisonous agents in my blood through detoxification, until one day I woke up and Joohyun knew she had to finish the ritual, just as Dana had shown her. The girl who I turned into a vampire so many centuries ago was then the one who turned me back into a human, and thus my new life begun, erasing all my past memories. For three years, I lived as a normal human once again, unaware of my real life beyond humanity, beyond death. I was just Seulgi, the baker’s assistant. The old lady with me in that old picture wasn’t one of my relatives as I had always thought, she was MiYoung the baker, and the first person I bumped to in the middle of the streets, as I wandered aimlessly after becoming a human again. In regards to my lack of any consistent memories, the doctor assumed I’d been in an accident of some sort—the war didn’t spare anyone— and MiYoung decided to take me in and give me a home, “I’m getting old after all and with my dear husband is away fighting in the war, I need an extra set of hands,” she reasoned. Three years later I was ironically a prey of my own kind when, early in the morning, on my way back from the market I was attacked by a vampire. That wasn’t the end though, Joohyun was there, she always was. She knew what she had to do, Dana had told her that once I became a human, it would take two full transformations to bring me back: from human to vampire, and then from vampire to my old primum self.  We had been sealed together by an obscure spell, our lives intertwined to one another forever. Only she could turn me into a vampire, only she could turn me into my original primum state, her blood was sole the key to my life.  “Thank you, Joohyun,” I whispered and a tear escaped my eye. The weight of the infinite amount of memories was overwhelming. How could I begin to repay my debt to her? “Ah, the little mouse can talk,” observed AhIn out loud teasingly. Well, I knew how I could begin to repay such debt,  the first step was getting rid of this nuisance. I was a primum, no? Surely this would be a piece of cake. “Your first mistake was talking too goddamn much and giving time, imbecile,” I replied annoyed, getting on my feet swiftly, taking him by surprise. My body felt strange, I thought I would know just what to do with it but it felt foreign and odd, like a kid who had abruptly grown into an adult. My moves were clumsy but it didn’t take long before I got the hang of it. I pushed him backwards and he tried to prevent the attack but I was too damn fast for him. He fell backwards, hitting his back against a nearby tree trunk and looking at me with big round eyes, his slick back hair falling onto his forehead in disarray. “It can’t be,” he whispered, standing up. I sent a right swing, not too fast, I wanted to test my recently upgraded set of skills. He blocked it and simultaneously directed his right foot forward in an attempt to kick me off-balance but I briskly jumped back, avoiding it. He gave it a second try but this time with his left fist and we fell into a steady exchange of blows. He incorporated a lot of kicks, I could see his style being influenced by Taekwondo, but that wouldn’t be enough to beat me.  A shriek came flying from across the field, SeungHyun had Joohyun trapped in a chokehold. Playtime was over. I leaped upward trying to reach a tree branch above me to gain some distance from Creepy Slenderman but involuntarily missed the branch— scratch that, I missed the tree altogether. I found myself meters above the treetops, almost floating in the air. It was a surreal experience, the strength of my thighs propelled me way above where I was aiming for effortlessly but I couldn’t bask in the greatness of my new superpower abilities for too long when Seunghyun was about to rip Joohyun’s head from her body.  As soon as I landed I charged forward, sprinting towards Joohyun and smashing AhIn’s skull to the ground in the process, its contents flying everywhere as it cracked open. It was unquestionably gross, white and gray matter spilled in all directions. The poor guy didn’t even see it coming, I was running at the speed of a comet. Consecutively, I went for Irene’s captor, trying to avoid any brusque movements that would injure her, given the close proximity at which she was being held. I carefully wrapped an arm around his torso and the other around his neck. “I’m faster and stronger than you. Let her go, now!” I yelled, hoping he wouldn't notice the anxiety in my voice.  He didn’t let go, though. As if time was somehow stretching, in one millisecond I felt the muscles of his body contract, ready to choke Joohyun, but in the next millisecond, I had already pressed his neck with enough force to leave him gasping for life.  The intimidating man tried to reach for my arm with his shaking palms after finally releasing Irene. “How?” he managed to ask as he fought to let some air into his lungs.  I thought he was talking about my being a primum situation. “Beats me, it all feels like a movie reel showing in front of my eyes. You’d have to ask Joohyun for the specifics on how it all went down, but you just tried to rip her head off so I’m afraid you’ll just die wondering,” I replied, feeling a sense of finality wash over me exactly as I pressed harder into his neck, successfully disconnecting his head from the rest of his body. Joohyun was still on the floor coughing slightly with a small grin plastered on her face. We made it. I wasn’t completely sure whether all our adversaries had been defeated but it definitely felt like it. “You’re back. You remember,” Joohyun whispered with tears pooling in her eyes. “Kind of, I guess. It does feels like my life, but maybe more like a past life? I don’t know how to describe it,” I said, scratching the back of my head embarrassed. I felt completely bare in front of her, all of a sudden. I had all these memories, filled with loved and passion, yet this felt so new to me, as if I was seeing her for the very first time. I wondered if she felt underwhelmed by my conversion and how things turned out to be.  “Are you disappointed? I'm still struggling with all of these new memories.”   “Not in the slightest. You’re still you, Seulgi,” she assured me as I helped her up.  “I-I love you too,” I mumbled remembering her previous confession, unable to contain the words any longer, things definitely made more sense now. Feelings were overflowing inside me, the turmoil tingling all my senses. I needed to touch her, feel her, kiss her, know her.  She smiled, visibly delighted, and leaned forward boldly. Our lips touched, timidly at first, but growing more and more hungry with every second. We had kissed only minutes ago but this felt different, everything felt like our first time. I loved everything about it, I loved her. After a minute or an hour later—who knows?— we separated, unable to look away from each other, unable to fully move apart as we still held onto each other, I noticed the blood on my clothes. I had acted automatically, on my raw instincts, like so many other times before, but it still made my stomach churn a bit, having another vampire’s blood on me. Joohyun seemed to notice my disgust, “What is it?” “I need to change,” I confessed, pointing at my clothes sheepishly. She chuckled, poking at my check. “You’re cute.” I felt attacked by her remark, I wasn’t cute at all. “We both need to change or are you planning on walking to the airport looking like Jack the Ripper?” I reasoned. “I know, I know. It’s just the way you carry yourself, it’s cute” she replied, stroking my hair. “What? No! How so?” The only one who ever told me I was cute was Key and Krystal, but in a mocking tone, not for real. Joohyun took a deep breath, still smiling. “OK, I’ll be honest. Half of the time you sound like teenagers these days, you act so huma. It’s different but it’s kind of endearing,” she explained. I knew it. I had my memories back, but they seemed to be stored somewhere far away, I was struggling to reach for whatever was left of me in them. I felt dumb and incredibly insecure. “I’m different. I’m sorry,” I apologized. “Let’s just find a house nearby to get some clothes and head to the airport,” I added, walkin