JENNIE

It was eerie how quiet a mansion could seem when you've fired all the other inhabitants or how small and enclosed a room really was …once you locked the doors and barricaded the windows.

I hid inside my bedroom like a refugee in the midst of a war—one where the entire world was the enemy. From the corner, Tinkles hissed, hating being trapped with me almost as much as I hated myself.

Idiot, a voice in my head hissed, but for once, it wasn't my long-dead mother. Did you really think I wanted you? Lisa scoffed. Please, Jennie. You were just a means to an end.

The words shouldn't have hurt me as badly as they did, but they cut, piercing through my chest, tearing.

The night I had run from her lair—and whatever dark truths it might have hid—I had made sure to take off her necklace. It was somewhere in the foyer I thought, I couldn't be sure. The damn thing haunted my nightmares, twisting around my body and threatening to swallow me whole.

I knew that it had saved my life from Raphael's bite and, for whatever reason, Lisa hadn't taken it back. I tried not to think of her, I tried, but she dominated my thoughts. My mind was a prison, with her as the jailer taunting me with the keys.

And there was no escape.

Raphael had ordered Lisa to procure my contract for some reason, and she had poisoned me to the brink of death to ensure that I couldn't refuse.

And? A part of me prompted when the thoughts became almost too painful to contemplate.

It had been all to ensnare Roseann; the only Kim who mattered to anyone, even the Devil herself. Always Rosé.

And yet ...

She had bought my contract to keep me from being bitten by anyone else. She had come to the restaurant when I had been in danger—and something told me that I had been the bait to lure her there in the first place.

Raphael had set a trap for her, but why?

I almost wished that Lisa had stayed committed to her role as Dracula: an evil vampire who'd nearly killed me for reasons unknown.

I could understand that creature—but not the person who claimed to have saved my life, who kissed me so violently that my bottom lip still stung in places where her fangs had nipped …

I almost wanted her to come barging into my room, as boldly as always, with Roseann in tow—if only to give me a reason.

Perhaps Lisa loved her?

The thought pinched something inside of me and I clutched the blankets so tightly my nails dug into the cotton.

Maybe Lisa was right after all? I had to enjoy pain, because the cruel thoughts kept coming.

Was she just another one of Rosé's scorned paramours? One who loved her so obsessively that Lisa poisoned her dowdy sister out of spite?

Or was the truth behind everything more sinister?

My Uncle's words chose that moment to strike me like blows. This is for her. They did this to get her.

Whatever the reasons, I had only been a means to an end.

In her own way, I supposed Lisa had tried to warn me.

So, why in the hell did I feel so betrayed?

By her most of all …

--

It only took a day for me to die—or at least become so weak that my blankets felt like slabs of steel weighing me down to a concrete mattress.

It was as if all of the combined strength of Lisa's 'cures' had faded overnight. I felt drained. Breathing didn't seem worth the effort it took to suck air into my lungs. I may not have been a vampire, but a heavy, undeniable stench of demise clung to my skin like perfume.

And I was glad, impatient even.

Lisa had said that I welcomed death. Well, here I was with open arms. The only soul to witness my departure from the world of the living would be my cat—not that Tinkles was shedding any tears.

The silence felt heavy, oppressive.

Other than the occasional plaintive meow from the corner, there was only the rushing sound of my own heartbeat. I supposed it should have hurt that no one had come after me.

Not Roseann, the sister I had caught sneaking through a vampire's lair. Or even the vampire in question.

To be fair, I had left only one guard on the grounds with strict instructions to keep everyone out.

But still …I had no one. Not even Harper, who had all but killed me and yet I still missed his reassuring presence.

Shut up, Jennie I thought as my breath rattled in and out of my chest. Just focus on dying.

But even dying turned out to be much more boring than I had ever anticipated. I drifted, at the mercy of my own relentless thoughts—at least until I heard the voices.

"Hello, Jennie." I vaguely recognized the lilting accent and I stirred, struggling to lift my head from the pillow.

"J-Jisoo?" It hurt to speak. My lips were so chapped that when my tongue shot out to dampen them the dried skin scraped like glass.

"Yes." I had no idea if she was really there—an elegant dark blur perched on the end of my bed—or just a figment of my imagination. "I thought I should explain …"

There was a heavy note in her voice. Explain. There was only one thing—or person—she could have been referring to.

"I don't want to hear—"

"I used you, Jennie," she said, ignoring the fact that I'd spoken at all. "I am not proud of that, but …you seemed to be the only one who could reach her."

Even the mere mention of her had the power to make my entire body recoil. A broken cough rattled from my chest.

"You made her see you," she went on before I had the chance to get a word in edgewise. "But I made sure that she couldn't ignore you. She can be stubborn, Lisa, but the moment she brought you into the club, I knew that you were different. I merely …helped things along."

As she spoke, several things seemed to click magically into place.

The different wardrobe.

The hair cut.

The constant rebellion against Lisa's wishes; she had done it all for a reason.

"Why?" I rasped, straining to see her expression. Had she wanted to push her temper to the brink in the hopes that she'd kill me?

"Not for the reasons you might be thinking," she murmured, eyes on the wall. "We tend to do crazy things to protect the ones that we love, even from themselves. Sometimes all it takes is giving them something to live for."

"I don't understand."

"You wouldn't," she said softly. "You're a mortal. You can't possibly understand living through so many centuries that even a day passes like an eternity. You humans glamorize immortality, but it is a curse—especially if the time you live isn't even your own. Imagine being chained to a life you no longer wanted …"

I could barely follow her. The words buzzed around my brain and it was too exhausting to try and make sense of them—not that Jisoo seemed to mind. Something told me that she spoke more to soothe her own conscience than anything else.

Suddenly, she turned to face me.

"You should have seen her after the auction. After you danced, she nearly struck me. I thought she might kill me." She spoke without a shred of fear or anger. "'Why would you make her so appealing? Why? Does her life mean anything to you?' I don't think she believed me at first, when I told her the same thing I'm telling you now; dressing you, Jennie, was a challenge for me because I did not use a single bit of my magic."

She paused, allowing the words to sink in.

"Every garment I made for you was no more powerful than the rest of the clothing in your closet. I want you to know that before she comes. I want you to know …she would have come anyway."

She stood, heading for the door. "She will always come."

"Wait!" I croaked, reaching out weakly as if to pull her back. "Wait …"

But she was already gone and the silence swallowed me up again.

Hours passed it seemed, though it could have been minutes before someone else appeared at my bedside.

"Jennie? God, Jen, can you hear me?"

My eyelids felt too heavy to lift them fully, so I took in the beautiful woman through slits.

Was she an Angel? Blonde curls formed a halo around her flawless face, gleaming so brightly my eyes watered.

Gently, she took my hand from where it clutched at my blanket and I didn't have the strength to pull it back. Her warmth was a shock. I was freezing.

"Jen, I don't have a lot of time," she said quickly and something clicked like a light bulb switching on. I knew who she was.

Roseann was wearing black again. The plain tank top showed off her tan arms—but it was subdued compared to the brilliant, pastel-clad image of her I had always had in my head.

"I just want you to know that I'm sorry," she continued in a rush. "I'm so sorry, Jen. If I had known, I would have never—" She broke off, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I know you don't understand everything—there's no way, really, that you can. Just …keep in mind that every family has their dark secrets. It just so happens that ours is darker than others."

She spoke almost too quickly for me to follow, but there was a desperation in her words that I couldn't ignore. For the first time in her life, my silly, flighty sister was …serious.

"I can't tell you everything," she repeated. "There isn't enough time. But, I screwed up. You should have never been a part of this, Jen. I'm sorry ..."

She stood back, finally revealing the figure that stood behind her, someone so pale they shone even brighter than the pendant they held, dangling from two ivory fingers.

Jisoo's words echoed in my mind as she came closer, haunting me as my vision faded to black.

I want you to know …she would have come anyway …