The Lost Prince's

The Chapter 4 Humphire

Vampire. The dark creatures that often appear in various story books and movies seem to really exist. They blend in between humans. They do not have red eyes or long fangs sticking out between the lips. They look like ordinary people. Things like garlic and holy water don't hurt them. And the story of a vampire that burns to ashes in the sun is just a figment. Vampires can live and walk in the hot sun, no different from humans. They did not sleep during the day in coffins in enclosed rooms. They are doing activities like normal humans. It is almost impossible to distinguish them. Physically, vampires look like ordinary humans with faces and bodies

idealised. Vampires look really pretty. As if their appearance is a weapon of attraction to their prey, which is us humans. Only the existence of shadows could tell them apart.

I'm a logical person and wouldn't have believed such absurd things as vampires if I hadn't woken up in a vampire's house a week ago after a vampire named vanBLood attacked our family. The vampire who saved me and Karen lives with two vampire hunters, Shine and Shane. According to the hunters Zero is ‘vampire good’ so they are friends with him. I really can't

trust all this. It's been hard for me to deal with the fact that vampires exist in this world. But as soon as I entered Humphire I found something I had never realized before. Vampires really do exist. And many. Humphire High School is filled with vampire students who intend to adapt to the human world. There are human students here as well. But they're not ordinary people. They were people with unique talents like Karen. People with different physiques and those who can read crystal balls and tarot cards. And

they also use magic. What looks most normal here are the hunters. At least they are ordinary people. That's why I chose to sit next to Shane in class.

"You don't mind me sitting here?", I asked.

"Originally you didn't bite me" Shane joked, a smile flashing across his face.

"All right"

"What do you think, back to school in a.. um, special place?"

I lifted both my shoulders. "Surprising, I guess. I really don't think these people exist. It's like a different world"

“Since the beginning, this is the reality in this world. You just haven't realized it”, Shane said. "Eh? What's he doing here?" Shane sounded surprised, his gaze turning to the bench at the back end. An

the messy blonde-haired male with brilliant topaz blue eyes and wearing a Humphire uniform sat there with one hand propping his head. He looks tired from the weather. Zeros!

"What's he doing?" My breath was restrained, unable to believe seeing Zero in this room. "Didn't he go to school?"

"No. He's enrolled as a student here, to keep an eye on like me and Shine. But he stopped coming because he thought it was very troublesome to attend school every morning until afternoon."

"I think I know why he came back. He wants to watch me"

***

As I thought, getting out of Zero's house is a bad thing. It is actually quite fun to see the usual activities such as school. Except that I can't just see it from afar. Although the people in Humphire ‘special’, being among humans makes me nervous. Not without reason, of course. In Zero's house there were only two humans, and they were hunters that were stronger than me, other than that it was only Karen. I have no desire to drink his blood. But in Humphire that desire kept drowning in my head. Sometimes it's like a whisper and sometimes it's like a vampire's wild instinct that keeps pushing me. I'd rather be alone, keep my distance from other students, humans because they make me nervous, and vampires because I don't want to be one of them. When the break came I stayed away from the canteen and crowded places, aloof to the garden behind the school building. But it seems like I'm out of luck today. I smell someone here, two people. It's Zero!

"Arion" Zero greets a student who approaches him, a vampire. Zero was still lying under the tree, not even raising his face to look at his interlocutor.

The vampire named Arion had a shadow that was very different from Zero. The shadow is big, feels warm and luminous. Arion has brown hair that is long enough to cover his neck. For some reason, he looked completely different from Zero.

"I found you!" said Arion.

"What are you doing here?"

Arion looked annoyed at Zero's question. "I should have asked that! What the hell are you doing? Don't you realize what you've done? Don't you realize we're worried about you?"

"Calm down, you're not like you"

"You..." Arion's words were stuck at the end of his tongue. Her emerald green eyes were filled with millions of mixed emotions. Emotions that seem unstoppable anymore.

"So what do you want?"

Arion clenched his teeth staring intently at Zero.

"You're gonna arrest me?"

"You know I can't even if I want to"

Zero turned to Arion, letting out a short sigh. Then he got up to a sitting position. "Thankfully.."

"Until when you're gonna..."

"Enough, Arion. Not now" Zero cut off Arion's words. He stood up and disappeared behind the trees.

What the fuck was that?I don't understand what they're talking about. And I still feel tense for no reason. I walked backwards, about to turn around slowly as my legs were fixed to hear a voice calling out to me.

"You're there!"

The next second a vampire named Arion appeared in front of me. Making my steps stop in a place like freezing.

"Are you eavesdropping? Who're you?!"

"I-I don't-no..." Eavesdropping? I'm not eavesdropping. Just accidentally hearing their conversation. But somehow my tongue can't say it so smoothly. And again, this guy in front of me doesn't look real. I mean she looks like a fairy instead of a vampire. Her white skin was glowing, her dark brown hair was slightly wavy, extending to the neck framing her face nicely. More than all that, her emerald green eyes were like casting magic.

"He didn't mean it, let it go"

I turned to hear Zero's voice. Whahuh? When is he back?!I saw him go in the opposite direction. "Zero's.."

Arion threw his gaze at Zero, then returned to me. "You know each other?"

"It's none of your business" Zero said. He walked up to my hand and pulled me away from Arion, back to the school building. The break ended just as we were walking towards class.

I didn't think much of their conversation this afternoon. I almost forgot about it after coming home. But Arion came to Zero's house that night. It seems that they were close friends, or at least so long ago, because Zero did not look happy with Arion's arrival at all. At first glance they have completely opposite natures, I don't really understand how they became good friends. Arion as tall as Zero's ears and

his body was slightly thinner than Zero. Her hair dangling around her neck looked like a warm brown melt. Her face was thin with a high nose and a very slick aunt. The color of his eyes were emerald green as if it was giving off its own light. I don't like to judge people but I have to admit, he's very handsome. And as a vampire he was far from threatening or creepy. Shine who has similar properties to Arion is immediately familiar even though he just met.

"We have not yet known. My name is Arion Ravenly" said Arion as he approached me with his arms outstretched and a friendly smile. A beautiful name, even her voice is beautiful.

I shook his hand. "Keyra Wilder"

"It's nice to meet you. Em, and you?" Arion threw her gaze behind me, Karen standing in the doorway. “Hey, you look alike! Are you twins too?”

"I'm Karen Wilder, nice to meet you" Karen said as she reached out, shaking Arion. "We

not twins. I'm his sister"

Arion nodded slowly, then looked back at me. "I didn't realize before, but you..half a vampire?"

"Yes, that's how it is"

"Did Zero change you?"

I raised next to an eyebrow, not expecting this kind of question. "No. She's not. He just, um, decided to keep an eye on me"

"Haha. I think your choice is a little less than good. Come on, Zero's a bitch but he's nice"

"Ehm, excuse me" said Karen, starting to walk towards Shine. Arion nodded with a smile at Karen, she sat down on the chair beside me.

"Last noon..."

"Ah. I was not intentionally. Sorry" I preceded him. A little embarrassed to remember that eavesdropping problem. "And if you bother coming here to confirm it or something, take it easy I've even forgotten what I heard. That's none of my business"

"Em.all right. Thanks though. I'm not here for that actually" Arion said. "You're with Zero, so I'm not

worried about it."

Surprisingly, he didn't look 'not worried' this afternoon'. It's not that he was a little angry when he found out I heard their talk. "It looks like you're Zero's friend, why don't you go to his room and have a four-eye talk with him?"

"Well, but he won't. Hahaha" Arion laughed blandly. The hue of disappointment stained his face.

Understand if he is disappointed. Zero is completely indifferent to Arion, even though Arion seems to care about her. Zero even looks upset or maybe angry when he sees Arion coming to his house.

I can't help my smile. I honestly can't say no. I had absolutely no intention of getting to know any other vampire than the one I knew. "I don't mind, 'cause you're trying to get him home, right, in other words get the hell out of here"

"You realize it apparently. Though I did not say much”, said Arion, a smile back decorate his face. “By the way, don't you like him that much?"

"I can't say no"

Arion laughed a little. This time his laughter sounded crisp. "But I think he likes you"

Eh? He kidding?"Well, maybe, as a blood bag"

"Whatchu mean? Did he drink from you?"

"No, not yet. He just said my blood was interesting"

Arion looked surprised, his mouth opened for a few seconds which felt long. "He said it?"

I'm nodding. I don't understand why Arion looks so surprised. It is not natural that Zero

vampires to give my blood.

"You don't know anything about vampires"

I honestly don't want to know anything about vampires. If only I could erase my memories then I would have wiped out everything about vampires. Perhaps then my thirst for blood will not arise. There's a lot I want to forget. Lately I have started to forget myself. Every breath I took between Humpire's students only made me realize that I was a vampire. I couldn't get close to the human disciples because the sound of their heartbeat triggered my 'thirsty' taste. My esophagus would heat up as if it was burning from the inside whenever the vampire instincts inside me awakened.

I never wanted to be popular and the center of attention in school, but I also did not want to be an invisible figure. But for me now being invisible is the thing that

very much I want.

It had only been a few days since I had entered Humphire, but I already knew some popular disciples here. From the group of vampire disciples, there was a blonde curly-haired man named Raymond and a

girl with blond hair straight along the waist, Thalia. While from the human disciples a male witch named Nicholas and a rubber girl named Luna are their mascots. Luna's position was later threatened by Karen. Although the characters are opposite. Karen's just like me who doesn't crave popularity. But of course with her pretty face, blond hair and big blue eyes not to mention her very feminine nature, Karen quickly became popular. There was another student who sucked in, Arion, with his good looks and friendly attitude and a new student who came in the same day as me, Leith. Both of them were in 3rd grade, and I only knew a glimpse of Leith. He was slightly taller than Arion, pale-skinned with white hair and gray eyes. I don't know him personally, but he's often seen alone in parks or on rooftops. Not intentionally paying attention to it, because I myself was also busy being alone. Lately I seem to be on the attention-grabbing list. Most likely because I was the only half vampire in Humphire. I heard that there are many exhumans among Humphire disciples, only that they have become completely vampire without human blood. That said, vampires can recognize blood from its aroma. And maybe that's why vampire students often throw ‘freak’ stares at me.

"Key? What are you doing up here?", asked Arion who came out the door on the roof.

I picked up the book I was holding, showed it to Arion. "You alone?"

"Hm? I'm looking for you"

I raised my eyebrows. Searching for? "What do you need?"

Arion laughed softly, apparently he was just joking. "none. Can't I if I just want to see you? We are friends"

I don't know from when and with whose consent Arion said that we were friends. But strangely, I don't mind.

"From now on let me keep you alone"

"You don't have to" said I, who didn't understand what Arion meant. Maybe he has a purpose of his own?

Arion. "Where can I let you, a girl can't be alone, you know?"

I can't help my smile. It's strange that someone said something like that to me. Well, Arion doesn't know that I'm used to being alone. I even roamed the forest alone.

"Oh! You smile! Wait, I'm not kidding you"

"Sorry, that's funny. I usually go alone"

"That's it" Arion nodded as if understanding. Then his eyes looked at me for a long time, before he finally said, "You know, you look prettier when you smile. I wish I could see you smiling"

My eyeballs are growing, my cheeks are heating up. A strange feeling rose up in my chest. I turned my eyes away from Arion and threw my gaze back at the book. "Only a madman who smiles keeps smiling"

Arion laughed crisply at my less cynical commentary. Well, I guess the sweet compliment that Arion made was still good even though it was for a girl like me. For a moment, only for a moment did I barely forget that I was not the ordinary girl I used to be. My body is slowly changing. And I'm gradually becoming a vampire. I can't stop him. Even though I don't drink blood, like Zero

tell me, my change is inevitable.

The night is getting late. The voices began to quiet. This house is far from a large highway packed with vehicles. Also far from the hustle and bustle of people in the middle of human civilization there. There were only the sounds of animals and all sorts of nocturnal insects living within the forest exactly 5 meters behind this house. And it seems that most of the animals of the night are already asleep by now. Well, midnight's long gone, I guess it's almost morning now. I closed my eyes at 9 p.m., hoping to fall asleep for a minute

by tonight. I'm really tired. My head has been spinning since yesterday. But I still can't sleep at all. I held up the blanket I was wearing to cover my head. Look at the small clock on the wall. Hour 3.20. Sighs slowly. I glanced at Karen who was sleeping beside me. His sleep looks good. It seems Karen is a lot tougher than me. Even lately he looks happy again. Like before his talent made him shrouded in fear at all times. Karen often sees a future where others are hurt and even die. She would cry and lock herself in the room after telling the person but could not change her future. Karen would continue to curse herself and say it was all her fault.

I took a breath back. I think now I understand how Karen felt back then. Karen told me all the details of her dream about the vanblood attack. But whatever we do our fate is not

unaltered. The future Karen saw really happened. All the details of that night are still vividly reflected in my mind, every second. That memory kept roaring and reverberating filled my head every time I closed my eyes. The black figure that flashed chasing behind us felt so real, so close. I could still feel the moment the long, skinny vampire fingers pressed against my neck. I felt my neck that somehow felt hot. I think I'm thirsty. I got up and sat in bed. Looking up at Karen who was still sleeping. He's really sound. I could hear his slow heartbeat. And the pulse in his neck veins pulsated along with his heartbeat.

Duk duk duk... Unknowingly I swallowed. Holy hooch! Suddenly I woke up from sleep, stepped out of the room without a sound. Hurry to the refrigerator in the kitchen and grab a bottle of water. I drank the whole thing one drink. The heat in my throat is a little less. Sighing, I grabbed a strand of hair at the top of my forehead, grabbing it slowly. My head really felt like it was going to break. What the hell just happened? Where did my mind go?! My hands started shaking. I clasped my hair even stronger, hoping to stop the shaking. Why does my throat feel dry when I listen to Karen's pulse? I honestly think I know the answer to that question. I tried to take it out of my mind by ruffling my hair. It's insane! This can't be happening. Maybe I shouldn't insist on sleeping with Karen. Zero told me to sleep on the second floor to keep my distance from the humans. I refused without a second thought. No. gabe. I just want to believe that I'm gonna be okay.

Vaguely. I heard the guitar. From upstairs. Zeros! Why is that idiot playing guitar these nights? Hearing her made me remember her annoying words. Well, everything he said

always sucks. I stepped onto the back porch. A cold wind coming from the direction of the forest swept over me. I took a deep breath back. Quietly a thousand languages, threw my gaze far behind the trees just now on the forest lips. Grunting quietly. It was strange how I could clearly see some other tree line behind the darkness in the forest there. There was no sound other than the footwork of some insects and night beasts. And murmuring softly Zero's voice is still playing her guitar.

"Worrying about something?", asked Shane who I didn't realize was sitting next to me on the back porch.

I shook my head slowly. "You're not sleeping?"

"I just woke up. It's morning already. Shine and I used to get up early for sports" Shane said.

He threw his eyes into the forest. But Shane seemed to be thinking of something else. As he spoke I understood that he was thinking about our conversation material.

"Karen and you are so similar. Just different hair and eye colors"

I smiled at Shane's words. "I think it's more than our difference" I glanced over to see Shane's face, which seemed to have just gulped slowly. "Right now Karen's trying to be her old self"

"Have you?"

I'm exalt. "When his talent appeared a year ago, he limited himself and was more moody. Karen used to be really sweet and cheerful, she was a fun person. He made everyone love him"

"And what about you, first?"

"Eitherway. I'm the one who died"I grinned at my own words.

Shane turned to look at me, surprised by the words I just said. But that's the truth. I can't remember it, the old me. I'm not a sweet person like Karen. But I guess the current me isn't the old me either. Right now I'm just a lump of flesh moving and breathing without a soul. The hollow inside me was now filled with fear and anger. Is correct. Maybe I was dead that night when vanblood drank my blood. I just realized it now.

Shane took a deep breath. "You're a very strong Key. That's why you can survive. I'm sure your parents agree with me"

"No. They just don't know that I'm scared either"

"But you always try to be strong to protect your sister. I think all the sisters are" Shane said. This time I looked at him. His words just now didn't seem to be directed at me. "Shine's only 3 minutes older than me. But he always acted as my brother. You asked me back then why we were here, living with vampires"

I'm nodding. Shine didn't tell me anything when I asked her.

"It's all because of me. We're like you who hate vampires. When our parents were alive, Shine and I objected to the obligation of continuing our family duties as hunters. We started seriously becoming hunters after vampires killed our parents. We used to think all vampires were monsters without hearts.

They must be killed for our survival"

"Have you? Then how can you change your mind?"

"Zeroan. After getting to know him, I agreed that they were indeed a different species from humans, but not all of them were evil" Shane stared into both of my eyes.. "I was like you at first, not believing. Two years ago I was seriously injured from a fight, and at that time Shine desperately asked for help from vampires"