The thing controlling her body was restless.

It pulled at her muscles, forcing her body to pace up and down in the darkness. It kept glancing—with her eyes— at the mirror. She knew the demon wanted to get out of the mirror, as it had told her many times.

She, however, didn't care.

She couldn't care, not when the only thing she remembered about her life before the darkness was the mirror. She assumed that was the reason she was here. But that didn't matter. Whether she got out through the mirror or not, the demon would still be inside her, steering her like a ship and forcing her to do its bidding.

She was a slave, a slave to a creature so primal and ancient and evil.

Every moment that passed made her weaker. The demon was strong, and could control her body like a puppeteer. Sometimes she fought back, and then the demon merely rested, biding its time until it could enslave her body once more. And since her mind was part of her body, it enslaved that, too.

You need to get us out of this mirror, hissed the demon. Only you can do it. So fight, damnit, take control for one minute, and walk out.

Why? What was the point in fighting? Even if she escaped this place, she'd still be shrouded in darkness, because the demon was darkness. The demon pulled hard on her muscles once more, and lighting shot down her spine as she was forced to step closer to the mirror.

Only you can walk through it, it said.

And then it released her.

She suddenly felt as light as a feather, and every memory she had flooded back to her. She felt overwhelmed, but one thing stuck in her mind: she had to get out of this mirror and find her friends. So she slowly reached out for it, and her hand sank through it as if it were water. She stepped through, a tear falling down her face. She couldn't believe she was free.

She remembered her name, she remembered her friends.

And to make sure it wasn't all a dream, as she stepped through it, she whispered to herself, and marvelled at the fact that she could use her own voice:

'My name is—'

She was outside the mirror.

And faster than lighting, the demon leashed her mind once more.

It lassoed her tongue with its darkness, stopping her words. It spread itself throughout her body, and she could hear it laughing, a sadistic ancient laugh that sent chills down her spine. She screamed and cried, yet somehow her mouth stayed shut and no noise escaped her lips.

Just a second ago, her own name had been on the tip of her tongue, but now she had no idea what she'd been about to say. Her memories slid away like raindrops running down a window, and once again she was alone in the darkness.

She was still screaming, but she knew it was no use. The demon ripped through her mind and seized her facial muscles, pulling them into a sadistic smile. And then it forced her mouth open and spoke with her voice:

'Thank you, little meatsuit. After 1000 years, I am finally free.'

***

Yoohyeon was leaning against a tree, panting heavily. Siyeon stood beside her, running her hands through her hair. Tiny beads of sweat trickled down her face, and even from a distance Yoohyeon could tell her lips were parched. They needed to find some water before they could do anything else.

'I'll find a stream,' mumbled Yoohyeon, and staggered through the trees. She didn't look back at Siyeon, because she didn't know if she could face her yet. There was so much they needed to talk about, but it hurt too much to speak the horrors they'd been through out loud. And then there was the thing that had been bothering Yoohyeon since they'd started being pursued...

No, it was probably nothing. Even so, she couldn't tell Siyeon. Not yet.

She soon found herself at a gently bubbling stream, and almost cried with relief.

'Siyeon!' she called, as she ran to the stream. She cupped her hands and let the water fill them. It looked vaguely clean, so she decided it was safe to drink. She lifted her hands to her mouth and sipped, relishing the feeling of water flowing through her body. Soon, Siyeon was at her side doing the same. They kept drinking until they couldn't drink anymore, and lay on their backs on the grass by the stream.

'When will this forest end...?' murmured Siyeon, gazing up at the towering trees above them. It was dawn now, and the daylight somehow made the huge trees less terrifying.

'I don't know,' said Yoohyeon sadly, cursing her own ignorance. She wished she knew how to get out of this place. How had this even happened? All they'd wanted to do was go for a midnight walk together...

'Yoohyeon,' said Siyeon, her voice shaking slightly, 'What... what were those things?'

'I think you already know the answer,' said Yoohyeon. 'You saw their faces after they pulled their hoods off.'

'Yoohyeon... they had fangs,' whispered Siyeon, in a terrified voice. She seemed so petrified that Yoohyeon wanted to hug her.

'It doesn't matter what they were, we've lost them now,' said Yoohyeon, wondering if she was convincing herself that or Siyeon. She couldn't stop her mind from wandering back to when they'd first been ambushed.

They had all been together, all seven of them. They'd barely set foot in the forest before they were surrounded by people dressed in all black and wearing black masks covering their mouths and hoods. They'd chased them around the entire forest, and eventually Siyeon and Yoohyeon had got split up from the others. That was what Siyeon knew. But there was a few minutes where Yoohyeon had lost her, and that was when it had all happened.

Two of the creatures cornered her, and threw her against a tree. And then... something happened that she'd only heard about in stories. They both removed the masks covering their mouths, revealing elongated canines and bared them at her. At that point, Yoohyeon was too terrified to comprehend what they were, or the fact that they were even real. So she stood there, frozen with shock, and couldn't even scream as one of them bit her neck. It hurt, she remembered the pain well.

But then the thing had stopped. It said something to its companion that she couldn't make out, and then bit its own wrist. The next thing happened in a blur. Yoohyeon could only watch terrified, as it raised its bleeding wrist and dripped the blood into her mouth. And by the time she realised what was happening, it was too late. Somehow her brain stopped freezing, and a wave of adrenaline coursed through her. She kicked one of them, and ran. Looking back on it, the thing had probably let her run away, because creatures that fast could easily catch up with her.

She now lay on the grass with Siyeon, back in the present. Just the memory of what happened was horrific.

No, she wouldn't tell Siyeon what the creatures were. Siyeon knew deep down, and so did Yoohyeon, but saying the name aloud would only confirm the thing she was desperately trying to deny.

Legends always said that vampires took pleasure in turning humans in to one of their kind. And when they did, they did it by forcing them to ingest their blood.

A day ago, Yoohyeon wouldn't have thought they existed.

But now she had no choice but to believe.