NAPE - 35

Vampire Hunter Association. Bibi clenched her fists tightly. Sweat trickled down her spine. She didn’t know why he had brought her here, but it wasn’t a good sign.

Was he perhaps going to dispose of her? Because a vampire who only drank blood was unnecessary...? It felt like an invisible wall was constricting her from all sides, making it hard to breathe.

“Bibi.”

Doyoon had been silently watching Bibi’s trembling hand.

“Inside, the unpleasantness will be even worse. The smell of fire will be strong, and fangs will be hanging like fruit as decorations. Trophies from defeating predators, you could say. It’s quite effective in instilling confidence and overcoming fear.”

“......”

“Will you trust me and go in, or not?”

Doyoon didn’t explain anything. Perhaps he was feeling anxious. He thought she had opened up to him, but meeting her former master seemed to have turned her back to her old self.

Unable to read anything in Bibi’s eyes, he wanted to confirm even more. Whether this child would trust him and step foot into the Hunter Association or not. It was an unkind and pressuring method, and extremely Kwon Doyoon-like behavior.

“...No, it’s not.”

Doyoon shook his head. There was no need to push this unstable child this far. Seeing Bibi’s shoulders tremble intermittently, he felt uneasy. Her whole life had been harsh and cold to her, and he didn’t want to become another one of them.

“Let’s just come back another time. When you’re okay. Actually, there was something I wanted to show you.”

Doyoon decided to postpone his plan. He gestured to turn back. Bibi didn’t move, but silently looked up at the red brick building. What had Doyoon wanted to show her? The Vampire Hunter Association... Would it be okay to go inside? She objectively thought about the person Kwon Doyoon.

Kwon Doyoon was like a clear icicle. His first impression was chilling, even carrying a strange aura with a dark core inside. However, he had never used cunning tricks on Bibi. He had honestly revealed his inner thoughts and even confessed his desires. Dark yet transparent. So, she didn’t need to worry about a trap.

She trusted him. No, she wanted to trust him.

Bibi made a decision. She didn’t know his purpose, but she figured if Doyoon had wanted to harm her, he would have done so long ago. Looking up at him, she nodded, meaning it was okay to go in now.

A look of surprise flickered in his amber eyes.

“Are you sure?”

A gentle question. It was clear he would turn back immediately if she said no. It was the first time someone had been so concerned about her state and feelings. That reassured Bibi, and she nodded.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Seeing her shoulders, which had stopped trembling, Doyoon took the lead. Bibi followed him, stepping into the tomb of vampires.

While walking forward through the entrance of the Hunter Association, Bibi remained tense. She stayed close to Doyoon, who was strolling leisurely, and kept her guard up. As Doyoon had said, the interior of the building was quite disturbing... no, threatening.

In the lobby, a skull with long fangs was displayed like a trophy, and along the long corridor, menacingly appeared stakes stained with someone’s blood, a pile of firewood reminiscent of a burning at the stake, silver guns, and other tools for killing vampires.

Portraits also hung on the walls, with the number of vampires eliminated neatly written below grim faces. Weapons used by legendary hunters were also displayed to praise them.

“So, where are we supposed to transport the organs?”

“Japan! Japan!”

“Isn’t it said there are no hybrid vampires there? Why go all the way to Korea to buy them?”

“Rumor has it that the quality is better here. They say the vampires here eat garlic well, so it’s effective against cancer.”

Furthermore, as they passed by offices, they could hear hushed conversations that sent chills down her spine just by listening. Words her trainer had spoken long ago automatically came to mind.

“Humans catch and eat everything that’s alive. Especially hunters are the most vicious of the vicious. They’ll peel off your blood, flesh, skin, and even eat your insides.”

Indeed, those words were no exaggeration. Bibi caught a glimpse through a slightly open office door of vampire anatomy diagrams scattered messily. A chill ran down her spine, and her mouth went dry. A slight tremor returned to her fingertips. Seeing this, Doyoon tried to say something but swallowed it back.

Reaching the elevator at the end of the hallway, Doyoon pointed to the emergency exit. The two quickly descended the dark, long stairs. In the basement, there was a thick iron door with ‘Archives’ written on it. Security seemed tight, but it was easily unlocked when Doyoon swiped his key card.

Stepping inside the archives, the smell of old paper filled the air. It was also similar to the smell of decaying tobacco piled up in plastic bottles.

Suppressing a slight feeling of unease, Bibi stared at the mobile shelving units filled with various records. Seeing the rows of bookshelves standing like dominoes, she felt an overwhelming sense of the flow of immeasurable time, or history.

Doyoon pressed a button on the wall. Then, surprisingly, all the bookshelves simultaneously slid and moved to one side.

While Bibi was gaping at the strange sight, Doyoon pushed the cleanly revealed wall to the side. The wall rotated smoothly like a revolving door, revealing a new door hidden behind it. It looked flawlessly white and solid, as if a chunk of Arctic ice had been cut out and made into it.

Just like before, it slid open silently to the side with Doyoon’s key card. Black darkness, without a single point of light, appeared.

“Come in.”

Doyoon gestured with his head, clicking his tongue, and entered the darkness first. Bibi hesitated before following him, pushing herself inside. A faint light from Doyoon’s phone illuminated the interior. A normal human wouldn’t be able to see properly, but a vampire could discern their surroundings well enough.

Doyoon gestured to Bibi and took out a thick book.

“You said you had some old memories, right? You said you saw some elaborate decoration in the dark.”

Doyoon asked in a businesslike tone. When she nodded, he placed the book on his arm and opened it. It looked heavy, but he didn’t show any sign of shaking or strain.

“Perhaps the decoration you saw is likely a family crest. Vampires don’t just engrave decorations randomly. I’ll flip through them quickly, so stop me if anything looks familiar. Okay?”

Bibi was unsure. Her childhood memories were blurry, like a painting submerged in water, and the elaborate decorations only surfaced in distorted forms. She wasn’t sure if she could properly identify anything Doyoon showed her. Still, it was better than doing nothing.

“Okay. Here I go.”

Bibi widened her eyes and focused as much as possible. With a shh-shh sound, Doyoon’s smooth hand began flipping through the pages of the book one by one. One page, two pages, three pages... The number of pages turning at a steady speed began to accumulate. The thick book was nearing its end.

“Is there anything familiar? Even something similar to what you remember.”

Doyoon carefully watched Bibi’s face as he flipped through the pages of the book with the crests. An ambiguous and unreadable expression...

Even after flipping through all the pages of the book to the end, there was no significant discovery. Now, was the only option to contact the pureblood vampire families one by one to ask if they had a lost child and investigate? If they conducted a noisy investigation like that, the chances of Bibi being exposed would be high... They couldn’t do that yet.

Having gained no particular clues, Doyoon hid his disappointment and quickly flipped the book shut. At that moment, Bibi hastily tugged on his sleeve.

“Huh?”

Bibi’s eyes were sparkling as if she had found something among the turning pages. She even snatched the book from a bewildered Doyoon, opened it, looked at it for a while, and then held the book upside down.

Ah, this is...

Bibi exclaimed inwardly. When she looked at the crest of a certain family upside down, the blurry image in her memory became very clear.

A goat below a cross... Wait... there... there should be something else here... A winding rope? Or... this? Bibi traced the shape of a snake with her finger.

This is it.

Certainty flowed from Bibi’s excited expression. Even without speaking, it was clearly felt. This was similar to the complex decoration in her memory.

“Is it right that there’s a snake going in when it’s upside down?”

At Doyoon’s question, Bibi nodded vigorously. Her eyes were full of anticipation. He could strongly feel her desire to regain her severed and disconnected memories and to know who she was. Doyoon bit his lip regretfully. The words he could give her right now were...

“You remember the crest of a family that doesn’t exist in this world.”

Yes, what she remembered was a non-existent family.

________________________________________

Returning home, Doyoon tried to talk to Bibi again. But Bibi subtly avoided his gaze, slowly backed away, and then abruptly jumped onto the refrigerator. A gloomy red light emanated from her eyes, clearly indicating that she didn’t want to talk.