#chewed out for normal things and held to normal expectations. rather than being cruel and coldhearted doing Wild things

[mejomonster]

Chapter 131. It is still a Bit funny Fei Du, legal adult and former partier, healed from the bomb now, confessor to planning to kill a whole org, gets scolded by Luo Wenzhou for drinking:

Oh, Wei Wenchuan would have done that even without guidance.” Saying so, Fei Du reached for the cans of beer arranged on the table to entertain guests; Luo Wenzhou tapped on the back of his hand with a pen. Fei Du gave an “oh,” and even the preoccupied Xiao Haiyang looked over.

Fei Du: “…”

Then, pretending that nothing had happened, he turned and picked the detailed materials about Wei Wenchuan up off the table, very properly pushing at his glasses.

[bakingandbooks3]

A Court of Song and Serpents

A bit short but the begging of a project I'm SO excited for- hope you love this as much as I do.

Summary: What a time to be alive as Nesta Archeron, going backward to move forward and finding that the places she once called home are now empty tombs.

Nesta

Nesta held her breath for a moment, a pause, and stilled entirely. The Court of Nightmares. She knew the verdict would be severe, but never would she have expected exile to a world of terror. The horrors of that place, of how it was once the main residence of the High Lord- till Rhysand.

Rhysand, the man who boasted of lands bountiful with choice and reason, now sat across from her donning unmasked hatred. A look he kept shielded from his mate, reserved just for Nesta. The kind that rips one apart from the inside out, would carve out the belly of a beast, burn a witch on a wooden pyre.

Nesta felt nothing, she always did. It wasn’t hard to see what he was thinking of her, how his beautiful wife’s wretched sister was little more than a gambling thief who slept her way through his glorious city. Now, fingers smeared that blank canvas so pure of her darkest shades.

Eyes flicking back, she studied that same sister. The Cursebreaker, the Savior.

How small and insignificant she became next to the glimmering shining thing Feyre was. The lands spoke of her beauty and kind touch, and how she sacrificed everything to save a world of people, and Fae that she was raised to despise.

Nesta wished it’d be known that her touch wasn’t always kind.

She built her bricks firm enough that her house of grace never shattered; Held firm, it was all she had left in her. Too many eyes on her filled with grief, excitement, retribution-Nesta was keenly aware of how this Court of Dreams felt of her.

“This is an exile.”

Rhysand's smirk peaked so slightly, his mate tensing.

“No, no. This is an intervention, a chance for you to find yourself away from bad influences and habits. You can’t keep living like this, and I refuse to let it continue happening and I take the fall for it. Your decisions are impractical and immoral. You are sober much less than you are drunk and-”

“If you’re going to condemn me, do it. But don’t sit here and act as if this is out of kindness.” Nesta snarled. She hated the barbed words, but it’s what she felt. “Who are you to question my morality?”

“I think I can speak for my wife when I say that your presence here is….” Rhysand growled but pulled back, like he forgot Feyre was right there, too.

Nesta wished he would’ve let go, so maybe that facade Rhys reserved for Feyre was broken. No, that’s cruel. As much as she hated this and him, he was making her sister happy.

Something Nesta could never do.

“I do not give a shit what my presence is doing. The decision has already been made, so stop scolding me like a child and make good on your word, Rhysand.” Bile rose in her throat, the words feeling nothing but slimy and disgusting. Foreign, yet habitual all the same. Sometimes, she forgets there once was a woman called Nesta who was so much more than the viper living in her now.

Sometimes she remembers that she can’t ever be her again.

Home was nowhere for her, not in a person, not in a place, certainly not in this bombastic group of “heroes”. Nesta didn’t need a hero, she just needed someone to care. But Nesta knew better, no one would. She was taught to be unlovable, just a woman to be sold off and married- to climb her mothers' ever-growing social ladder.

But Nesta on her own was never enough, even with her mother six feet under and rotted away there were unsung expectations unmet. She was a catastrophic failure and a dark smear on a family name that never truly held weight to her.

Nesta looked up, felt everything all at once again, could only see one man pacing a worn-through tether between them. He wasn’t going to stop this, but she could see it, how it looked like he wanted to jump out of his own flesh, the veins of his arm prominent and knuckles normally so brown a new fresh fallen snow.

There was no prince to save Nesta, much less any will to save herself. So when Mor took the pleasure of bringing her to a living Hell, Nesta did not fight.

She was tired of fighting, after all, she fought an inescapable fate for the first twenty years of her life…

Flowers always made Nesta sneeze, but Elain lit like lights during winter whenever she could thread them through her hair. They all symbolized something, Laine would say. There are ones for good days, and hard storms, for sunshine and stars.

Nesta was always adorned in flowers that paralleled the estate. Astute, cold, tired, where she was warm, comforting, and smelled like cookies- ones that Celia normally baked for the sisters. She never asked Laine why she picked the ones for her that she did, her reasons would stay silent for now.

Spring was a high time of activity in the Archeron estate. There was always a flurry of activity, from preparing their mothers' obscene balls, to guests at every corner in every room. The halls were sprinkled in candles and on walls hung frames nearly kissing it was packed so tight.

They were in the gardens. It was an Elain day, as the girls would call it, and no matter how boring or mundane her wishes were they’d be fulfilled. Nesta was propped on the floor in front of Laine, who was bunching handfuls to weave in tangled auburn coils that gathered on Nesta’s head- as a bird's nest would.

Eventually, Nesta would have to learn braids or risk knotting the curls entirely.

The eldest basked in the silence she created from mentally muting her middle sister, and spared a glance at Feyre. What she saw was not surprising, but required far more willpower than she expected to not burst into laughter and risk the flowery rat's nest on her scalp.

Feyre appeared to be so bored out of her mind she was eating discarded flowers of Elains. Actually, ingesting them, as if she was a critique. When Elain wasn’t looking at Feyre, she’d grab another couple and study them- analyzing her next experiment. Glaring at the blues and yellows as if she was speaking to them, “Which one of you will make me puke the fastest so I can run away?”

In time, Feyre looked up from her taste tests to see Nesta grinning at her so violently you’d think Feyre hung the moon.

And Feyre beamed back, crossing a pinkie across her chest and pointing it back to Nesta. Then she viciously spit out the grass she’d just finished chewing, crying directly at Laine, “This MUST stop at once, my stomach hurts far too much to continue on here.”

Elain, in a garden so quiet, simply ignored her sister's poor attempts at escape. Making Nesta work even harder to stifle the shaking of her shoulders, covering her mouth and nose before she started wheezing. Elain would hardly hurt a fly but sent Nesta a glare that could’ve easily killed a man.

Nesta cleared her throat, “I do believe there are more of the blue flowers down that hill near the pond. Would you mind getting some more for Laine?”

Feyre was already on her feet, mouthing her thanks as Elain turned her back to get the next bunch of flowers, “Why of course I will!” And with a very bad curtsey, Feyre threw off her shoes and was rolling down the hill, spinning wildly, her laughter sure to be heard in meadows far beyond theirs.

You would find the Archeron sisters all together, or never in the same place.

Laine was the easiest to find, by the waters or pond on the east side, in gardens surrounded with bugs and willows calling to the young girl. She could hardly read but if the text included any mention of colors and blooms, suddenly she was a scholar. Elain was not simple or dull, but rather a passive spirit, like a summer wind- brief, fleeting, but teeming with love and hope.

Feyre, as their mother said, was a reckless wild child. Far too young to care, far too small to be whipped into shape. If you were sent to find her and your life depended on it, may the Mother bless you. Feyre liked the kitchen, because of the immaculate food and maids who would shove any sweet down the littlest Archerons throat. But, also for the immeasurable amount of sharp items to be found in there. If it was pointy and could stab a wall or scare their ice-cold mother, Feyre would be running the halls with it in hand or making targets of her fathers old trade route maps.

Then there was Nesta, the firstborn. Molded to be another woman that she somehow couldn’t fit, as if her feet were too big or hair too long, Nesta was outgrowing the standards forged into her being. You would see her as a ghost, floating in and out of rooms, comfortable in silence and slumber, but never escaping people. She loved the maids and could recite all of their names like clockwork, and the workers loved her in turn. Always stuck in new worlds between pages or willingly dragged by the two youngers, Nesta teemed with liberation. She was often alone, but never lonely, and found new loves in the library or in the fields beyond marble confines.

Adela was constantly dissatisfied with her eldest's progress inside these walls, as if at eight she should’ve already been engaged to a prince. Granted, Adela knew better. Nesta would never truly find another kingdom to buy into when she already had a crown waiting for her elsewhere. She was known as fair and beautiful beyond her years, would age like fine wine, and become so much greater than Adela ever was. What Nesta saw as fit would normally come to be, an instinct Adela was unprepared she would inherit. Nothing left her more confused than this daughter only by blood, who was hated by both her parents for reasons far from the same, and how at less than ten years had an entire mansion wrapped around her fingers.

But Adela would wait, and simply leave them be for now. When viper's strike, they kill. And even though the Matron of the house wanted her little queen gone, she had other ways to see this through.

Anyways, children's blood on her hands would stain her diamonds.

---

Cassian

Cassian was violently fucking ill. Watching whatever the fuck that was did not help in the slightest. The second she was gone, so was he.

The General and High Lord were not on speaking terms, his presence was an obligation and not a request. When Rhys first displayed his plans, Cassian just about murdered him. Had his brother on the table in a chokehold that the Shadowsinger had to come and release Rhys from. The way his so-called family planned her exile was… horrific.

Cassian was full of light and humor, but not dull the way his family made him out to be. He could see this for what it was, punishing an already broken female for not meeting every damn need of a fully grown woman that was no longer her responsibility. Cass knew better than to downplay the sacrifices Feyre made, but he was also well aware that Nesta's habits were hardly a financial problem and more of a reputation scandal.

That’s what the High Lord did best, when his Court was breaking at the bonds, the mess would “disappear”. Just like the Illyrians hidden in the mountains, the displaced families of Spring, the homeless warriors of Night.

Cassian loved his brother, but more often than not he wondered when Fate would come to bite them in the asses for Rhys’ neglect.

Now, here he was, in his mothers' cabin, wings dragging behind him wiping tears long since shed over a woman who was thrown to the wolves and torn into so many scraps he wasn’t sure how he could put her together again.

He missed his Nesta, the one who threw glares and begged for her people, not this one who hardly spoke and caved into herself enough that she couldn’t see where she was heading.

Cassian fingered for his mug in the wooden cabinets and hit his mark, soon placing water to heat over a small fire over the counter.

He was not okay, not okay at all.

When you look for something in the dark for too long, you eventually find what you need but not always in the way you expect. Cassian coped the same as Nesta Archeron in his first years post-war. It was suffocating trying to be the happy one while dying inside. He watched men he looked up to fall and a lover he admired take her last breath- too much in far too little time. Cassian was not an idiot, he was simply perplexed. Why was he allowed to grieve in unacceptable manners, but Nesta was a sinner in holy clothing?

Bright walls and unlit rooms in the house were silent, only the winds of the mountains singing outside. The newly dusted snow wrapped the dirt in a delicate kiss- a forbidden touch. It was the peak of winter, just after Feyre’s birthday and another insufferable party.

One that Nesta wasn’t invited to.

Cassian wished he wasn’t invited either.

The cup in his hands was dwarfed in comparison to the bulky Illyrian holding it, but at least it was warm. At least it wasn’t empty.

Because if there was one thing he knew, it could always be worse.

Cassian knew that if things were a little different, he’d be the one sitting in a prison of darkness and Hell because of mistakes made as a child. He’d be exiled by family, cast away by the only living remains of a life once lived.

Nesta didn’t know but long before this he had called it even, their sins atoned for in hurting each other equally.

She was the only one in the world who could tell which smiles he was faking.

To anyone on the outside, one kiss was merely that. How curious it was, the iceberg went far deeper.

So when the mug crashed against the wall, and in its wake resembled his inner turmoil, Cassian took to the skies and found himself at the door of a place far too familiar.

.

.

.

AHHHHHHHH OMG OKAY hope you guys enjoyed this:) if you want to be added to the tag list let me know!

@lovemeforever12345 @champanheandluxxury @nahthanks@perseusannabeth@queenestarcheron@silvernesta

@loosingdreams@sayosdreams@audreycressworth@cyra04@that-golden-lyre@nessiantrashh@misswonderflower@dontgetsalmonella@caram267@bickbickbarnes@sabrinasam-blog

[dreamescapeswriting]

Your New Boss ~ KTH [M] [Request]

WORD COUNT: 5K

GENRE: Fluffy, Non Idol! CEO AU, Smut, office smut, unprotected sex, fluffy smut,

PAIRING: Kim Taehyung x Fem!Reader 

As vice president to the company that you worked for people would assume you'd be on time and organised for every day that came at you but today just wasn't your day. Normally you would be up earlier than you had to be, you'd have some coffee and a real breakfast but for some reason, the universe had it out for you today. There was a power outage in your small apartment quarter setting your alarm off and giving you no chance to charge your phone and to top all that off your car was refusing to start for you. As well as having a flat tire at the back, you slammed your head down against the steering wheel wanting nothing more than for this day to end. All you wanted to do was go back to sleep.

"This is just fucking magical!" You screamed sarcastically as you took your black faux leather side bag from the boot of your car before booting the wheel that was flat and storming off towards the closest bus stop. It wouldn't be so bad being late if it wasn't for the new CEO that was taking over the business. You had no idea what his name was but from what you heard he was a hard ass on everyone. The only reason he was even taking over was that your boss was retiring and leaving it to someone he barely knew.

"Here," An elderly man held out an umbrella for you as you reached the bus stop, you thanked him and held it above your head. The uniform you were wearing was suited for the pouring rain that had seemingly come out of nowhere on your walk over, it had been scheduled sun all day which was why you'd worn the skirt and white blouse. Not expecting to get caught in the rain leaving your shirt almost transparent and your legs freezing cold.

"You're late, you're late for a very important date," Your junior worker said as she watched you scramble off the elevator,  it had been creaking the whole ride up. You'd think for a million-dollar company they would learn to upgrade their elevator.

"I know, power outage and then my car wouldn't start, then the traffic coming in-" You sat down on your desk chair feeling defeated in yourself. You were freezing in the clothes you were wearing, the one day you don't bring in a spare change of clothes would be today.

"Then to top off the rain." You hissed as your assistant came rushing over making you jump, he was a little jumpy himself but he plugged a small heater in for you before standing in front of you.

"Do you have this morning's business reports?" You nodded over at the bag and he reached for it, telling you how you were the one supposed to give a meeting this morning but instead, the new CEO took over.

"Oh shit, is he nasty? Think he'll fire me?" Panic raced through you at the thought of being fired, you'd worked so hard to get to the vice president you weren't about to lose it because today the Universe hated you.

"I don't think so, he seems rather nice actually. He has the nicest eyes as well you should-"

"Miss Y/l/n, you're requested in the head office." One of the bitchy females told you as she glanced you up and down, she licked her lips before leaving to go and giggle with her friends. You gathered the papers from your assistant who began watching you closely, you slipped on a pair of heels you kept under your desk before heading over to the main office cabin.

"This day can't get any worse, it just can't." You mumbled to yourself as you placed your hand on the door to the main office.

"Come in!" A voice sounded from inside that seemed strangely familiar to you, it was odd. There was something about the voice, you couldn't quite place where you knew it from but there was a feeling in your gut that made you not want to head inside.

"Sir, I would like to formally apologise- ah!" As soon as you walked through the door the papers you'd been carrying began to fly out of your hands and all around the floor of the room. Taehyung looked up from the piece of paper with your name on it and his mouth almost fell open, he had no idea that it would be you.

"Miss Y/l/n?" He called out as he continued to watch you bend down and pick up the pieces of paper that were scattered around his office floor. He sighed to himself and got up to close the window, the breeze had been relaxing to him until now.

"Sorry Sir," You mumbled still not knowing where you knew his voice but as soon as you turned around and came face to face with him you could have died. Coincidentally the day could have gotten worse and it just did. Taehyung's mouth fell open as soon as you locked eyes, it was you.

"Why are you late?" He wasn't going to waste time on pleasantries, he kept up his stern look as he sat down on his chair and looked over your file. There'd never been an incident with you being late before so he saw no reason for you to be late today, even before he was your boss he knew how strict you were on your timekeeping.

"Sir, I was-" You glanced at him, he was still the same person as he was before you broke up only to you he was someone who hurt you badly.

"There was a power outage in my apartment building, then my car wouldn't start and there was traffic. As you can see I've never been late in the past..." You trailed off your own words not wanting to ramble in front of him, there was no reason for you to ramble to someone like him.

"Hmm, how odd that it all happened on the same day. You must have some serious bad luck," He said with a giant smile on his face,

"Hmm, I'm starting to think so." You mumbled while staring at the floor,

"Sorry? What did you say?" You shook your head as you plastered the fakest smile you could manage onto your face,

"Nothing Sir," He hummed before going back to looking through your reports and files that you'd produced.

"For being late this morning I want you to play catch up, you'll be filling out reports all week." He shut the folder and turned to look up at you, his eyes locking with yours.

"Before you leave, I run a strict business here. You'll have to change into something more appropriate for the workday. A white see-through shirt just isn't right for business." Your arms slowly folded over your chest as you grew insecure of him seeing all of this again,

"Yes Sir, won't happen again." He nodded to you and you turned to walk out of the door,

"Another thing," Your hand rested on the door handle of his office door, you turned to glance over your shoulder at him and his demeanour had changed now. His eyes seemed to have softened as he watched you closely.

"I don't want our past to disrupt our working environment-" You scoffed rolling your eyes at how unbelievable he was acting right now. He was still just the same entitled, can do no wrong guy he was before.

"What you mean is, you don't want me running around and tell everyone what you did to me." You snapped coldly as you turned to face him again, it was evident that you weren't going to leave the room just yet if this topic was being brought up for discussion.

"What I did to you?" He put the emphasis on the 'You' as he spoke, he raised himself from his desk and placed his palms flat on the table as his demeanour changed back to someone that was cold and cruel.

"What did I exactly do to you?" Your weight shifted from one foot to the other as you tried to match his cold stare but nothing could compare to his.

"The cheating for starters, all the women you were seeing behind my back but don't worry Sir. I won't let anyone know, I wouldn't want them knowing I snooped so low to date someone like you," He began shaking his head the moment that you told him he was seeing women behind your back,

"It's not true. Why would I ever cheat on you?" He was trying to get across to you that there must have been some kind of misunderstanding but you weren't going to stand here and battle it out with him. It was in the past now and that was all that mattered to you,

"I won't let anyone know about our past, it's something I wish I could forget also." You mumbled sarcastically as you stormed out of the room making sure to slam the door behind you as you headed for your desk.

"What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost." Your assistant was worried Taehyung might have said something that had upset you but it wasn't true...Almost wasn't true.

"Can you just go and buy me a new shirt please, I feel exposed." You were handing him your purse trying to get him out of your hair, if you spoke about it even a little it would bring back all of those feelings again and leave you crying on the floor.

"Right away ma'am." He could sense there was something you didn't want to talk about so he headed out of your way while you sat at your desk contemplating the decision of quitting. You'd worked so hard all these years to have your ex come above you and potentially ruin everything for you.

"Do you want a lift back? I can drive past your apartment," Your assistant said to you later that night as you sat at your desk. Your heels were kicked off under the desk and you were at with one foot under yourself while you tried to stay away to finish the reports.

"No, it's alright. I have overtime tonight. I'll see you tomorrow though," You mumbled to him as he walked behind you and left. The rest of your floor was empty except for a few of the cleaners and of course Taehyung who was observed to make sure you did the overtime like you were supposed to. The words on the pieces of paper were all starting to blend together and make less sense the longer you stared at them, it was infuriating to do.

"Here," A mug of coffee was slipped onto your desk by Taehyung. He was already starting to feel guilty for making you do overtime but he didn't want people in the company to think he was picking favourites. You had to be tough in this company or it would chew you up and spit you back out. Glancing at the cup you ignored it and continued on with working not wanting to take anything from him, you didn't even want to be in the same room as him.

"You're free to go as soon as this report is finished and on my desk. You'll be doing overtime all week and you have a meeting on Friday." He slammed another folder full of reports on the desk before storming out of the building leaving you alone with the cleaners who had all turned to see what was happening.

The week continued on just like that, snide remarks being made by you in direction of him and Taehyung piling more work onto your desk with the excuse that, 'It was your job.' Later nights meant less sleep and less sleep meant you weren't pumping out the best of work but it was finally Friday night which meant you could go home and get away from him for the weekend.

"Drinks tonight?" A lady from your office questioned as she walked up behind your chair and began shaking it playfully,

"Erm I'd love to-" Your eyes looked behind her to see Taehyung watching you, he was sitting against his chair with his eyes dead on you.

"I have work to finish, next week?" The girls all began leaving and you were alone in the office with Taehyung again. Luckily for you, there was a large wall keeping you both apart but it wasn't large enough to your liking. You could still feel his eyes burning into the back of your head as you worked on the papers you were doing.

Taehyung wasn't in his office which meant you had about two seconds to get the report put on his desk and get into the elevator so you wouldn't have to face him. You dropped the papers down on the desk and began sprinting your way over to the lift, sliding inside and leaning back against the cold wall as you breathed a sigh of relief. Managing to avoid him all week had been difficult but you'd managed by sending your assistant in to give him or ask him for things. Or leaving whenever he wasn't around. There was no reason for you to talk to one another and you wouldn't have to feel hurt by him whenever you looked at him anymore.

"Y/n! Hold the door!" You scrunched your face together hoping the door would close as quickly as possible as he continued to yell your name out and begged you not to let the doors shut. The doors were so close to closing, you were almost free when his long shoe stuck in the door to open them again. The tension quickly began to grow awkward as he stood inside with you,

"Didn't you hear me calling?" You shook your head not wanting to admit you'd been hoping to get away from him. You just hoped that the elevator would move as quickly as possible but you seemed to move one floor and it began rumbling and it sounded as though it was about to fall apart.

"S-Shit," You whimpered your hand gripping onto the bar behind you, Taehyung glanced at you with panic in his eyes. He knew how badly you hated confined spaces and being trapped inside of an elevator probably wasn't what you had in mind for a fun Friday night.

A loud crunch sounded and the elevator jolted to a stop before the lights began to flicker out plunging you and Taehyung into complete darkness.

"I'll push the emergency button." Taehyung went to move but the elevator made another creaking sound so you gripped onto his wrist not wanting him to move.

"S-Stop, what if we fall?" He shook his head at you, he could tell just how frightened you were but there was nothing to be afraid of.

"We're okay, the ropes and wires will be fine it's just the power outage...Remember, they've been happening all week." You knew he was doing his best to keep you calm but it didn't help you at all. You slowly let go of his wrist so he could call someone but the button did nothing, it just seemed to push in and not do a thing.

"I don't have my phone it's up in my office," He whispered as he looked over at you, you were showing him your dead phone battery as you slowly slid down the back wall.

"We'll either start moving soon or someone will come to get us it's okay." But this was far from okay, this was all things not okay because you were stuck in here with your ex-boyfriend who was now your boss.

Time seemed to be passing by slowly, neither of you was sure of what the time actually was but you could have sworn you'd been in there for two days - which was impossible someone would have found you.

"We could talk you know, save us sitting in silence." He was sitting across from you on the opposite wall, his shirt was untucked with the top three buttons undone looking as immaculate as he always did. His brown curls were a mess from all of the times he'd been running his fingers through it and he'd even put his glasses on. Something he used to do whenever he got headaches from what you could remember.

"What should we talk about?" Your eyes were locked onto the ceiling, you didn't want to make eye contact with him as you spoke but you had to admit this was better than sitting there doing nothing.

"We could talk about why you think I was cheating on you..." You looked at him with raised eyebrows, pulling your knees into your chest.

"I don't think you were, I know you were." He rolled his eyes at you as he tried to move closer to you,

"Y/n. I love you I would never do something like that...Why would you think that?" Taehyung's words were buzzing around in your head as you tried to focus on them, the one constant thing was that he said 'loves' you and not loved past tense. Taking in a deep breath you tried not to think about the way your heart was pounding rapidly, at the way your body longed to be closer to him for this.

"I saw you with those other girls, I saw the way they flirted...T-The way you touched them," He shook his head as you fumbled over your words, none of it had been true. He would never do something like that to you, he couldn't stand hurting you.

"None of it was true, I was seeing a lot of girls towards the end because I was getting something for you...A lot of them were private jewellers." Your brows knitted together as he spoke to you, denying everything you thought to be true this last year. Taehyung could see how confused you were so he began to reach into his pocket,

"I take it everywhere I go, it reminds me of you and how much I'll always love you." There it was again. Love. Present tense.

"Tae-" He cut you short by pulling out a small navy blue box, he popped it open to reveal a silver chain with a ring around it.

"It's like a promise ring...only for adults and not teenagers. I wanted to make it perfect so it-"

"Has the date we met engraved," You whispered as you saw the date etched into the outside of the ring with enough space beside it to add another date to it.

"So you weren't cheating on me..." He shook his head slowly,

"But you let me walk out," You whispered to him as he crawled to sit next to you, he looked at your hands wanting nothing more than to reach out and take it into his own. He knew you were single, he'd been asking your scrawny looking assistant everything he could about you and he knew you hadn't dated anyone since.  

"I didn't want you to hate me by trying to force you...I-I figured you'd realise I would never-" He was cut off when you suddenly, out of nowhere, began kissing him hungrily. Your hands working their way into his brown curls as you pulled him to face you, he hummed against your lips moving his hands to your waist.

"W-Wait, what are you doing?" He questioned part of him not wanting the kissing to end but the other part of him confused as to what was happening.

"I love you too...I-I thought you were cheated and I- I've never stopped loving you." Those were the only words he needed to hear from you as he brought you into another hungry kiss, you took control by sitting on his lap and smirking as you felt him bite down on your lip.

"As needy as ever." You whispered as you began kissing down his jawline and towards his neck, his aftershave was still the same. It made your body lurch forward as you ground your hips down onto his pants, you could feel just how much he needed you. He let out a whimper as you ground down and you giggled,

"I love you," You whispered to him as he cupped your chin in his hand and forced you to look into his eyes.

"I love you too," He mumbled bringing you into a rough kiss, his hands moving the edge of your skirt up as he pushed his palm along the inside of your thigh. Letting out a loud gasp as his thumb brushed along the outside of your core through your underwear you looked at him, begging him silently to take you then and there but the lift jolted and the lights flickered on.

"My office," He ordered as you stood up to straighten yourself out.

Once out of the confined space reality began to seep into you about what you were doing with Taehyung. How you'd practically pounced on him without a second thought but your body didn't care. You still wanted him badly so you raced to his office with him. He drew the curtains shut around the small window that looked out over the offices while you looked out at the city view.

"It's beautiful," You whispered as you stared out at all the nightlife. The lights on all the buildings were the only thing lighting up the top half of the sky, it was lovely. Taehyung stood behind you while watching you instead of the view,

"It's the second most beautiful view for me," You groaned at how cheesy he was being and looked down at the floor not wanting to show him how shy he still managed to make you.

"Don't hide from me," He whispered standing behind you and placing his hands on your waist, your breath hitched as soon as he touched you.

"You're beautiful," He whispered as he leant down to put a long kiss on your neck making you whine out at the feel of it.

"I missed the way you sound," He admitted as he continued to leave small kisses on your skin. Biting down softly as he pulled you closer to him. He was still hard for you which made you weak at the knees,

"You like this baby? You like the way I touch you?" You couldn't fathom the words to speak quite yet so you pushed your ass back against him and gasped feeling how hard he was.

"Want you," Was the only thing you could manage to say while rolling your hips back,

"Want you inside." You whispered but he cocked his head to the side and decided to tease you as he sucked on your neck.

"You want me inside? Inside where?" He ran his hands down your body, lifting up the tight pencil skirt that had been teasing him all week. Then his thumb came into contact with your wet panties,

"You're so wet Y/n, did I do this to you?" You nodded weakly and he smirked pushing the edge of your panties to the side as he began to rub harder on your exposed clit.

"Say it, I want to hear you say it." He whispered as he began rubbing roughly on your clit, teasing one finger at your entrance but never once pushing it into you.

"I want you inside of me, I want you to make love to me on the desk." You panted heavily, moaning out at the smallest of touches.

"Good girl," He praised spinning you around so fast you didn't have time to comprehend what was happening until you were placed onto the edge of the table.

He had a cocky smirk plastered across his face as he sunk down in front of you, looking up into your eyes as he placed a small kiss on your clit.

"Taste so much better than I remember," He wasted no time in teasing you and dipped his tongue into you. Moaning against you as he could feel you clenching around his tongue.

"Oh shit." You let out a high pitch yell as your hands pushed into his curls, pushing him closer to your core as you bucked against him, whimpering as he continued to eat you out on the desk.

"Look at me," He ordered as your head rolled back, you hissed as he pushed two fingers into you and chuckled.

"So tight, has no one fucked this pretty little cunt?" You shook your head, you'd not slept with anyone since the moment you left. It was always going to be him you would let touch you, no one else.

"T-Tae please, I'm close." You panted as he continued to push his fingers in and out of you, curling them as he pushed them knuckles deep. The room was starting to feel like it was spinning each time he thrust his fingers into you.

"You want to cum all over my fingers?" You nodded pathetically and he chuckled kissing up to your ear as he continued to fuck his own fingers to you.

"So fucking tight, cum all over my fingers then angel." You whimpered hearing him whisper into your ear, you bit down on his shoulder bucking against his fingers to drawer yourself closer to the edge.

"Ugh, shit- T-Taehyung!" You cried out feeling a warm sensation rise through your body before white clouded your vision. Cumming all over his fingers as he continued to pump them in and out of you. Staring into your eyes as he slowly pulled them out and sucked them clean.

Seeing this you went to slide off the desk to return the favour but he shook his head, unbuckling his trousers as he looked at you.

"N-Need to feel you around me." You smirked this time, seeing how desperate he became within a matter of seconds.

"Then take me." You slowly spread your legs for him on the desk and he gulped looking at how wet you were, your cum still dripping from your folds and he grunted. Reaching out to run his fingers through your arousal before coating himself in it. Pumping himself slowly as he grunted out your name,

"S-Shit baby...I don't- I don't have any-" You shook your head at him as you knew what he was going to say,

"I'm on the pill." As soon as the words left your mouth it was like something took over him and he slowly pushed himself into you. Your nails dug into your shoulders as you whimpered out his name.

"T-Taehyung i-it hurts-" It'd been so long since anything like this had happened for you, he kissed you lovingly.

"I know Y/n, I'm sorry." He pulled back out before sliding back in moaning as he felt your walls tighten around him.

"Even tighter than before," He grunted as he kissed you again, holding onto your hips as he continued with the slow thrusts into you not wanting to hurt you.

"F-Faster," You panted as your back arched forward into him. His eyes scanned over the white shirt and all he could picture was Monday morning when your shirt was wet, he ripped your shirt open and smirked seeing a black bra.

"So fucking hot." He hissed as he buried himself deep into you, freeing you from your bra and throwing your ripped clothing somewhere in the room.

"Argh fuck." You whimpered as he began tugging and twisting on one nipple while biting softly on the other. He had you in the palm of his hands and he knew it.

"T-Taehyng faster please." You begged him so he began to piston his hips forward, bringing you closer to the edge of the table to pick up his speed. Thrusting in and out of you quickly while you let out screams of his name and curse words.

"J-Just like that!" You cried out as he reached down to play with your sensitive clit again. Tugging it between his fingers and rubbing it roughly.

"Oh god, Tae!" You screamed out as he continued to thrust into you, you clenched around and he grunted.

"B-Baby d-don't," He stuttered out as his hip movements began to stutter, every clench as bringing him closer to his own release and he didn't want this to end.

"W-Want you to cum." You whimpered out to him as his rhythm picked up again, hitting your hilt every time making your eyes roll back.

"Y-You first princess," He chuckled watching the way your eyes rolled back as he hit you in just the right spot. You clenched around him a couple more time before moaning out his name loudly, so close to your second orgasm you wanted to push him away from the over-stimulation but pull him back and never let him stop.

"S-Shit I-I'm cumming." You whimpered as he pushed into you roughly one last time, making your core clench around him and released onto his cock. His hips jutted as he let out a growl from his lips, holding you in place as he filled you up. You whimpered feeling some of it drip out of you already but he held himself inside of you. You convulsed a little and he chuckled pulling out slowly before cupping your face in his hands and smiling at you.

"I love you so much Y/n," He pulled you into a loving kiss but you pulled away,

"I love you too," Your voice came out hoarse from all the yelling and you whimpered laying back against the desk not caring that you were laid on stacks of ruined papers.

"Am I off the hook for being late now?" You laughed as he pulled you up and wrapped his blazer around your body, he chuckled at you.

"You're only off the hook if you come back to mine tonight. I want to wake up with you in my arms, cook you breakfast...Like old times." He whispered as he pushed his head into the crook of your neck and kissed softly.

"Of course," You whispered back to him as he pulled you down from the desk, laughing softly as you whined out desperately. You suddenly felt empty when his seed left your body and he rolled his eyes at you, promising to do it again when you got back to his place if you behaved yourself on the ride home.

Tagline: @fluffyjoons​ @lyoongx​ @mitzwinchester​ @fan-ati--c​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @taestannie​ @rjsmochii​ @bisexualmess007​ @sw33tnight​ @sweeneyblue1​ 

[lantsovsupremacist]

tiberias (cal) calore vii: illicit affairs

i’m only on the 3rd book so a) pls don’t spoil you’ll break my heart and b) my perception of the characters has only been developed to this point so if you come for me do it with the correct context lmao!!!

you knew what it was.

leaning your forehead against the cool metal post of your bed frame, a shaky exhale escaped from your lips. you wished just like that lost breath, you too could leave behind your body and with it, mind. a few minutes was all you needed, really; some semblance of relief.

even with your door shut tight with a deadbolt, the danger contaminating the palace lingered outside of it. you were not foolish enough to deny the cracks it could slip through. you would give any adversary a worthy fight, though. you could not afford not to, especially now.

for the first time in your life, you had truly encountered a problem that you could not use your abilities to maneuver out of. as much as your lungs screamed and your legs ached to run, you could not. being a swift, your first instinct was always to run. your speed always gave you the advantage in pursuit.

a familiar knock at the door broke you from your trance of pity. you stood up, sniffling as you ran the back of your hand across your nose and mouth. the action of clearing your throat sounded more like a whimper, but you managed as you gathered your skirts and headed for the door. you pushed down the nausea and wrung your hands to settle yourself.

your fingers shook on the deadlock before you pried the door open. the amount of weight on the wood, the length of the echo, and the momentary pause before the second, lighter knock gave away the identity of the person on the other side. you were in his arms before you could take another breath.

despite offering you the comfort you had craved all morning, his touch triggered the sobs caged in your chest. perhaps, it was because your heart was only safe in his hands. but, without the key to let them out, they messily tore through and paved their own path.

a year ago, your greatest worry would be the shame brought to your family on account of conceiving a child out of wedlock, let alone to the crowned prince. now, it seemed the impending war took precedence. you could have laughed; a red threatened your livelihood. a girl, really.

you were always careful, and it did not even happen very often. both you and the prince were very busy people, after all. send offs and reunions.

“we can fix this,” cal murmured into your hair.

“no, you don’t get it,” you broke out with a defiant shake of your head, “there’s nothing to fix.”

he pulled back, stroking your hair and pushing it behind your ears. your golden strategist was at a loss. your heart fell further into the pit of your stomach. you chewed on the inside of your lip, desperate to look anywhere but his eyes. yet, in the space of the same moment, you never wanted your gaze to leave his.

“i won’t leave you,” his warm hands ran up your arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake, “and i won’t let my father have a say in any of it.”

“it’s not the king i am frightened of,” you admitted with a sour taste in your mouth.

cal nodded with a grimace, “then i’ll be sure she is controlled until the end of the month.”

but who could control the queen who could twist minds? you chewed on the thought to avoid choking on it, forcing it down in distaste. both cal and yourself needed time neither of you had the privilege to claim.

cal communicated the importance of waiting until the traditional queenstrial to propose publicly. while the larger part of you agreed with this position, a small piece of your heart reserved for crippling doubt and senseless paranoia wondered if he was stalling for a different reason. if you could at any time expect desertion, it would be now but true to his word, cal had done no such thing—a loyal soldier until the end.

“and if they don’t chose me?” the secret fear you had harbored far before you had even become aware of your current condition felt a traitor to expose to the boy who had given you everything, kept every promise he could.

he studied your face carefully to ensure he held your full attention (though he was foolish to ever think otherwise), “make them, my dear.”

despite the event’s purpose of selecting a bride for the princes themselves, all of the noble houses knew the eldest had little choice in the matter. while your relationship with cal was not overt due to the inherently illicit nature of the affair, servants were known to talk. even in your deepest frustrations, you could not necessarily blame them.

his confidence in you was endearing but what other choice did you truly have?

you pulled away from his arms and lingering stare, wrapping your arms around your middle. pacing the length of the room, you suppressed a bitter laugh, “and then what? when a baby is born after less than eight months? and that’s to say we can persuade your father to rush a royal marriage.”

“let them talk,” his fingers twitched at his sides and you caught the scent of smoke, “nobody will be able to do anything.”

he thought he could protect from anything. sure, there would be little opportunity for any political action after a marriage was solidified but rumors would swirl. born into the pressures of eyes always watching you, they did not cut deep, but a queen needed a reputation demanding of respect. you did not want to be cruel but you decided that if need be, you could.

you wanted so terribly not to cry but willing it away only drew your focus to it more. you did not think the act made you weak but you would rather avoid the complete exhaustion it often caused. you were already so tired. but, some things were inevitable.

cal caught on before you did, “baby,” his voice was croaky, maybe laced his emotion of his own, “please don’t cry.”

you giggled at the irony. it was watery and your voice was nearly gone but it was there. confusion spread across cal’s features. you studied his face as he began to understand. a slow, crooked smile spread across his freckles and indicated the transition.

“suppose i could have chosen better words.”

“mhm.”

you had not noticed he was slowly rocking you in his arms. calm rushed into your senses. cal radiated your favorite kind of warmth. he monitored his body temperature around you, never too hot but always comfortable. it reminded you of home. he was your home. he smelled of pine and dying embers.

now nearing nineteen, you met the prince at fourteen. your elder sister married sooner than your parents expected, hastening your introduction into political meetings as a representative of the swift house of nornus.

who could blame a young and inexperienced teenage girl for falling in with a powerful, older boy who dared throw her an extra glance. what began as a benefit to palace life at fifteen soon turned into a vice. it was easy to tell yourself that you could stop any time you desired but you were addicted to the way he touched you, the way he tasted, the way he spoke your name.

for a while, you were foolish enough to believe he maybe even loved you. when you turned sixteen, you understood you were a pastime for the prince. so when at seventeen he told you he loved you, you did not believe him. he was gone for service quite a bit and your training schedule stole away any time for secret meetings when he was home. you began to purposefully avoid him but the withdrawal from the high that was cal left you dizzy.

when he did not make a move to find you, you tried even harder to move on. you had both made a mess of your hearts, left bleeding and shattered on the floors of the palace. you watched him escape the palace more often, always finding another place to be. one night, however, you followed him. you told yourself it was curiosity that caused you to slip out of your covers and into a warm coat, a coat you would not have needed if you left with him.

you caught up easily with your inhuman perception and speed and yet, he still saw you coming. he always did. that night, you wandered through a village and blended in. that night, you could be normal. he helped you clean up the mess between the two of you and things were different but the same again. they were better. you still took the long way to his room and pulled him into hidden corridors but the longing stares across meetings reignited.

you cleared your throat, “when you returned from delphie.” you tone held the pace of a simple comment, not the answer to the unspoken question pressing down on both of your minds.

cal turned his lips into his mouth and nodded, taking a deep breath, “i remember.”

it was a good memory, a good time. slow and gentle and loving. rane had worn you ragged sparring evangeline from sun up to sun down. you enjoyed the younger classes attending for the exposition but your muscles felt like weights lodged into your body and your breath had not yet fully returned after running circles around evangeline.

usually when one of you returned from an excursion outside of the palace, you wasted little time in attaching to every piece of each other. but, you were both exhausted—exhausted but greedy for the attention of the other. it had been a month ago, nearly to the day.

you and cal never discussed the prospect of children. even if one of you did not favor the idea, there was no choice in the matter. cal, as a future king, needed heirs, and if you wanted to be queen, you would have to bear them. but, you did want them and secretly, you knew cal did, too. it was more than a superficial requirement.

cal always looked at you, found you in a crowd, so it was hard to study him in secret. when he was with children, however, all attention transferred to those at his feet. it was then you saw him fully relax, the weight of his crown falling off his back. he loved them. you loved him more for it.

“and i don’t regret it,” he continued, dipping his head to place it gently on your shoulder. he kissed you neck once, twice, and then dropped his head back down.

[good-rwbyaus]

Uncle Crow AU - Prologue pt. 1 out of 2. - mod lilac - [ next ] 

Description: A month after Summer’s death, Yang is determined to look for her mother and takes a curious Ruby with her through the reputably safe forests of Patch. Meanwhile, Qrow chooses to check in first with Ozpin instead of visiting the girls first. As a result, a near miss turns into a true disaster. 

But he can make this right. 

He failed to save his teammate. He won’t fail to save her family. 

Characters: Qrow, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Ozpin, Taiyang

Trigger Warning: Suicide

----------------

How could such a tiny body lose so much blood? 

He had to stay calm. Not just for Tai but for the two girls he’s carrying with him. 

“Tai. Your daughters are seriously hurt. Ruby especially - she’s hemorrhaging fast. Meet me on the main path to Patch with the medical team. Call Ozpin while you’re at it too. Shit-” The phone that was being held against his mouth fell to the ground, his hands too preoccupied with a red-cloaked bundle that looked far too pale and felt too cold to catch it. Blood dripped from her body impossibly so, more blood lost than even an adult could hold. 

Despite all that, she’s still alive. Heart still beating. But for how much longer with that deep wound in her back, he’s not sure. The normally bubbly five year-old was still like stone, her pained motions having stilled after lapsing into unconsciousness. His older niece, on the other hand, was hanging tightly against his neck as he dashed through the forest, ignoring everything but the road he needed to find. 

"I’msorry.I’msorry.I’msorry,” Yang mumbled into his back, the hot tears running down onto his back. Probably apologizing about the phone among other things, since she’s been like that since he got to them. The phone was his mistake; he should’ve expected her to drop it. She practically shook with every breath and word she took. She’s hurt. She’s in shock. More importantly, she knew her sister wasn’t in a good way. Even someone as dense as Ironwood could tell. 

“Yang, don’t worry about it. You did great. Better than anyone could expect of you. Your dad's gonna bring the cavalry now. Ruby’ll be okay. Don’t worry. She’ll be okay,” Qrow comforted softly as he passed by a familiar trail marker used by Signal Academy. “Just keep hanging in there. We’ll make it, okay? Everything will be alright.”

He needed Yang as calm as she could be too. She’s already broke a few ribs, luckily stable at first glance, but one wrong jostle... No, don’t think about it, Qrow. He just needed to be fast. And careful. But fast. 

The wind tossed Qrow’s messy hair, the sweat on his brow completely unrelated to fatigue. Ruby’s only hope now is if he took her to Patch straight away. If he returned home to grab a motorcycle, it might already be too late. He couldn’t leave behind Yang either; after all, a Grimm somehow appeared this close inland. Damn it. If Tai couldn’t meet him halfway...

No. Tai’ll be there. Tai will carry Atlas on his back if his daughters needed him to. It’s all on him to get both of his nieces to where he is. Ruby has to live. Taiyang’s family’s already suffered so much. First, because of his sister....and now with Summer’s death. He won’t let his friend and his nieces suffer anymore. He’ll make sure they won’t lose each other. 

“Ruby. Stay with me. Alright?” he whispered.  

A flickering petal distracted him from his thoughts, red like the blood that dripped from her body. A semblance. At any other occasion, he would’ve broken out the beer with Tai - a Semblance was a joyous occasion for a Hunter family. But now he couldn’t help but think that if this had been the only way Ruby could unlock her aura, he’d rather her not unlock it all. 

However, at this moment, he was still grateful. The mystery of how she could lose so much blood without dying was solved. Her Aura was pushing her body to produce more blood than was typically possible - enough to fill an adult body or two even.

But everything has its cost. Her eyes glanced at her thin limbs, looking a bit more listless and shriveled than before. The ramped production was chewing up her muscles for resources, but...as long as she lived though, though it’d be difficult, she’ll recover her mobility - she’ll be able to do what other kids did. It’ll just take time and effort. 

He felt the grip around his neck loosen.  

“Both of you. Yang, come on. Stay with me now,” Qrow repeated, acting a lot more confident than he felt. He felt the girl’s grip tighten again. His surroundings blurred as he dashed through the forest, ignoring the branches whipping across his face and arms. 

Damn it! He should’ve checked in with Ozpin later. He should’ve headed over to the house first. Maybe he could’ve stopped th-

He shook his head slightly, causing the blonde holding onto him to grip him tighter. Regret’s not going to help Ruby right now. He had to keep running while staunching the bleeding wound in Ruby’s back, all the while not jostling either child. That’s all he knew and could do. It had to be enough.

The greenery that surrounded him turned into a vast clearing, the central road leading to Patch now in full view. Qrow’s eyes caught a precession of vehicles far in the distance along with a familiar mop of blond hair.

“Tai! Over here!”  

------------------

A steady beep filled the air, the heartbeat monitor in Yang’s room being the only noise present after Yang cried herself to sleep. The sharp scent of cleaning materials made him scrunch his nose. Minutes passed in silence as the only two adults in the room tried to find something to say. 

“So you really did tell the kid the truth about Raven,” Qrow sighed, breaking the quiet. He watched as Taiyang tenderly ran a hand through her sleeping daughter’s hair. Unlike how she was minutes before, Yang was now sleeping quietly in the hospital bed, face streaked with tears but breathing evenly and softly.

The girl’s explanation about how everything came to was heartbreaking. She spoke of how Ruby wanted to come along with her, the younger girl thinking she was going to play, when in reality she was really going to ask people about her birth mom. So she tried to sneak to Signal Academy through the normally peaceful Patch forest. Only to be met with a Beowulf which struck her and shattered her ribs. Ruby, not knowing any better, ran forward to protect her sister...

That was when he found them. A blond-haired girl yelling for help while tossing rocks and desperately cheating death, luring the Grimm away from her already mortally-wounded sister. 

Yang thanked him for saving them while simultaneously begging him to make sure his sister was alright - never recognizing that he was the man she called uncle when she was but a toddler. He didn’t want to lie, but who told the cruel truth to a child who was probably holding so much guilt in her. A child who didn’t care about what happened to her - several broken ribs and a broken fibula - but only having sincere, desperate concern about her younger sister. 

They were good kids. Not like him who was a good-for-nothing. A failure of an uncle. Never could give his nieces the attention they deserved. Mostly because if they’d gotten truly attached, they’d want him to stick around. And if that happened, bad things would befall them. 

They always did. Maybe it already even happened. 

His head shook as he saw Taiyanng’s contorted face, who looked like he took a claw to the gut. Shit. Despite his gruff looks, Taiyang’s always been the most sensitive of STRQ. He cared too much about too many things. 

“Ugh. Tai. I didn’t mean it like that,” Qrow slapped his friend’s shoulder and then gripped him tightly, “You couldn’t have known something like that would happen. The forests of Patch are supposed to be safe. It was a freak acci-”

���A freak accident that nearly killed both my girls, Qrow!” Taiyang rose his hand to bash the table and stopped himself, watching his daughter sleeping uneasily, face contorted in fear and pain. A rough palm rubbed against the girl’s forehead, the tightness in her brow loosening from the touch.

“And there was nothing you could’ve done different, Tai.” he spoke softly, “Look they have Ruby in the operating room right now. Ozpin’s supervising. The best of Vale are attending to her right now.” 

“No alarm bells are going off. No yells of code Blue,” Qrow patted Taiyang’s shoulder, “That can only be a good thing, righ-”

The doors to their room slid open. A harried-looking, young man walked in with white coat and all, slightly crouched over in humility. An apologetic look was on the man’s face. All bad signs. 

“Are you Ms. Rose’s family?”

"Yeah, is she alright? Is my little girl alright?” questioned the anxious blond, caught in a pose between trying to respectfully stand while crouching to comfort his sleeping daughter. 

The doctor lowered his head and then looked up. 

“I’m sorry. I have bad news.”

_____

[ next ]

[homogrimoire-archive]

Kingfield's Fourth Anniversary - Day 3

Your Hand in Mine

The Entity had grown tired of her usual show. Trials were efficient, but now a tad dull. So, she looked for inspiration, and found it in the games and stories humanity had created. Their purpose was to elicit emotion, so they would serve The Entity well until she decided to go back to doing Trials. Thus, this is how David and Dwight found themselves in a new game. But some things never change. Stakes are high, death is always nearby, and a foe stands in their way. [Basically, Kingfield but it's the video game ICO. And they got turned into teenagers. R.I.P.]

AO3 Link

Dwight awoke, prepared for another trial. But, he quickly noticed that something was different. He was in a cage with no means of escape. He began to panic, shaking against the bars. The Entity never did crap like this. After seeing the futility of trying to escape, he took deep breaths to calm himself down. He looked around to see what he could notice… a long way down and a set of spiraling stairs too far away to reach, even if he could break out. At least he seemed safe, for the time being. He didn’t doubt for a second that this wasn’t The Entity’s doing, and hell and despair was bound to break loose eventually.

Dwight sighed and waited with a fearful anticipation for things to progress. As he nervously chewed on his nails, he noticed something about himself. Something was on his teeth… braces. He quickly prayed that what he thought was happening wasn’t happening. He felt his face, feeling the telltale bums of some acne, got up and noticed that he felt shorter, and sunk back to the floor of the cage with a groan. Yup, that thing turned him into a teenager. The Entity was undeniably cruel, but this was a new low for her.

He wondered why The Entity would do such a thing. Had the sight of blood and gore finally become tiresome? What did she have to gain from what she was doing now that she wasn’t already getting before? Dwight almost didn’t want to think about it. Then, he heard another call out to him.

“Oi! Someone there?!” the other boy called out from below. Quickly Dwight scurried to the bars of the cage to see who could be.

“Yes! Yes! Someone's hEre!” he frantically called out, his voice cracking as he screamed “here.” He couldn’t be bothered to care. The sight and sound of another person was comforting.

“All right! Just ‘old tight then!” the boy said. Dwight noticed that it seemed familiar, and a spark of hope emerged.

“David! Is that you!?”

“…Holy shite, Dwight?! ‘M on my way luv!” David assured, shifting from a jog up the stairs to a full on sprint. By the time he reached where he was level with Dwight, David was out of breath. “Is it… is it really you?” he huffed.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Dwight confirmed with great joy. He felt so happy to see David he could cry.

“Well, a sight for sore eyes I’ll say, and a new sight at that too.” he said, noticing Dwight’s younger appearance. Dwight blushed away at the compliment, hiding his face behind his hands. Then, he realized that David must also be in a younger body as well. He shifted his fingers away from his eyes to get a look at his boyfriend in teenage form.

“Aww, David, you’re so cute!” Dwight exclaimed as he moved closer to the edge of the cage to get a better look. Don’t get Dwight wrong, he loved how rugged David looked, but he couldn’t help but fawn over the teen David.

“God, don’t bloody remind me…” he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Even his voice was kinda cute now, nowhere as deep as his adult self. His face was a bit softer from having yet to deal with trying to heal from fighting so much. It was even a little chubbier. And of course, he was a lot shorter, but shorter than expected. His hair was in a simple style, cut a similar length all around rather than a fade on the back and sides with a tuft of hair on top. He also seemed to have the beginnings of some muscle definition, rather than the well defined body his adult self had. None of that really mattered to Dwight though. It was David, and he was gonna love David no matter what.

“But you are cute!”

“How ‘bout we get you out first ‘fore we start this.”

“Oh, right, right! Hmm…” Dwight hummed as scanned around for something to help in that regard.

“You know, you’re pretty cute too.” David said as he awaited orders from Dwight. He too was shorter, but had a similar haircut to his adult self. His face was softer, A little lankier too, but still obviously Dwight. None of it really mattered though. It was Dwight, and he was gonna love Dwght no matter what.

Even if their bodies had regressed, their love and memories with each other persisted.

“How ‘bout wE-” Dwight began in a mocking tone, but then his voice cracked. He quickly covered his mouth. “Don't you dare.” Dwight said.

“Wasn't gonna say nothin’ luv.” David responded as he held in a fit of laughter. He knew he wasn’t in any position to laugh either, but seeing Dwight like this was fantastic, fun even. He imagined that his boyfriend felt the same way anyhow.

Eventually, Dwight spotted a lever higher up. After jumping through a window and a bit of navigation, David finally reached it. And thankfully, it did the trick, slowly lowering the cage.

“Nice!” Dwight celebrated with a hop and a fist in the air.

“Right. See you down there luv!” David happily nodded.

David felt as if he couldn't get there soon enough, perhaps because of his shorter stature now. But, he did. Once back at the floor level, Dwight directed him to a spot where he could jump and land on top of the cage. Hopefully, they could both jump on it at the same time and break the chain, and hopefully the lock too or a bar or something.

On the count of three, David jumped to the cage as Dwight jumped up. They landed at about the same time, causing a chain to break under the sudden force. The cage fell a few feet with a loud clang. David slipped off as it hit the ground, fortunate to land on the stone with his behind rather than his head.

The lock was broken upon impact, and the cage door creaked open.

"Yeah, we did it!" Dwight celebrated as he took a step out. Unfortunately, his foot got caught on the lip of a platform, causing him to trip, landing right on top of David. Embarrassed, they both remained in a quiet shock for a moment.

"You, uh, come 'ere often?" David joked. Dwight laughed at the cheesy line.

"Nah, but maaaybe I will if you're here. Maybe." Dwight quipped.

"Ahh, cheeky. Sounds like y'need a little convincin'."

"Do I? I'm not sure you can." Dwight said, knowing very well what he was doing.

"Sounds like a challenge. I like a challenge." David smiled, and closed his eyes as Dwight leaned in. But, that kiss did not come.

Suddenly, Dwight's weight was lifted off of him. He opened his eyes to see that Dwight was just as surprised as well. A shadow lifted him up and over its shoulders in a familiar manner.

"Hey, lEt gO!" Dwight shouted as it carried him away. Quickly, David picked up an unlit torch and dashed over to the shadow.

"Fock off bugger!" David yelled as he slammed the makeshift weapon over its head. It fell to the ground, releasing Dwight in the process. With one more good swing to its back as it lay stunned on the floor, the shadow disappeared into nothing. Swiftly, David cast aside the torch and rushed to Dwight's side.

"You good Dwight?" David asked, looking him over to make sure nothing was amiss.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm alright. What was that?" he wondered, looking past David to where the shadow was felled.

"I don't know, but I don't think we're in a trial, not a normal one anyhow." David noted as he helped Dwight up.

"Yeah… Say, how did you end up here?" Dwight wondered, hoping some light could be shed on the situation.

"Don't know. Woke up in one a them caskets over there. Managed to knock it over and break free. You?"

"Woke up in that cage." Dwight pointed. Still in the dark.

"Any reason she might do this to us?"

"Probably a million reasons. But for now, we have no way of knowing." Dwight sighed. "But, at least we're stuck with each other." Dwight said on a more positive note, and pecked David on his cheek, making him blush.

"Stuck with me huh? 'M wounded Dwight…" David said, turning his back to his love, pretending to be hurt.

"Aww, can I ever make it up to you?" he wondered, knowing the answer already. He embraced David from behind, throwing his arms around the other and resting his head on top of David's.

"I dunno, maybe." he teased. Then he realized what was happening. "Wait a bloody minute… are you taller 'an me?"

The realization hit Dwight like a truck. He backed away to confirm their suspicions, and a happy smile spread across his face. He even giggled a little.

"I'm am so going to enjOy this!" he cried as he pulled David in for an embrace one more. Dwight was about a little more than a head taller than his boyfriend, so David's head came to rest at Dwight's chest.

"Well don't get used to it luv. We both know how we end up. M' late growth spurt is gonna kick you in the arse." David said, trying to sound annoyed and angry as he leaned into the hug. He wasn't though. He was going to enjoy this while he could too. With one final squeeze, Dwight let his boyfriend go.

"Alright! Let's see… how are we going to gEt out of here…" Dwight said as he scanned the surroundings. The dim light by torch gave just enough light to be able to see.

"How 'bout behind 'ere? Looks like there's another room." David noticed with a light kick to the bottom of the pillar-wall.

"Oh yeah, you're right. Maybe we could…" Dwight began to wonder. But, once his fingers grazed the stone, a bright light shone, blinding them for a moment. Once the sudden spark of light faded, the pillars moved to reveal a corridor to another section of the place.

"Well damn. I knew your fingers could work some magic, but not like that."

"David!" Dwight yelled, his face reddening with embarrassment. David chuckled as Dwight gave him a light slap on his arm.

"Sorry babe, couldn't resist." he said, a devious little smile on his face. Then, he took Dwight's hand. "Well, we should get a move on luv. Doubt our benefactor 'll be merciful if we sit 'round twiddlin' with our thumbs. Don't think she'll be giving us answers to much either."

"Yeah, you're right. As long as we got each other, we'll be fine." Dwight affirmed, tightening his grip. With a kiss, they proceeded onto the next room.

After a series of steps to help Dwight navigate the area and fending off more shadows that began to look familiar upon closer inspection, which they tried not to dwell on, they finally made it outside. They were still hand in hand when the fresh air hit them. Their hands rarely broke away from one another during the ordeal.

"Wow, It's nice out here." Dwight said quietly.

"Yeah. Wouldn't expect something like this from her."

The place was beautiful, with no ominous vibe to boot. They guessed they were stuck in some kind of castle, an old looking one at that. They didn't recognize it from anywhere, and David distinctly didn't recognize the architecture. Didn't seem like a place built in the future or modernity either, unless complex stonework made a comeback. Then, Dwight noticed a bench nearby in the shade.

"How about we rest for a moment? She probably wouldn't make a bench if she didn't want us to use it." Dwight reasoned. His experience told him that The Entity was quite the minimalist. While her recreations of trial settings were faithful, her additions were bare, and her subtractions were many. The result was a place that was exactly what it needed to be, nothing more, nothing less.

"Yeah, I could use one. Legs are bloody killing me after all those stairs!" he rightfully complained.

He took a seat first, Dwight taking the one next to him. They leaned against each other, taking in the peacefulness of their surroundings. There was a light breeze. Birds chirped as they flew by, and the air was a comfortable warmth. Eventually, they closed their eyes and fell asleep on the cool bench, hands still intertwined.

It was their first truly peaceful sleep in a very long time.

-

They eventually awoke, feeling refreshed. They stayed together on that bench for only a few moments longer. They didn't want to give her a reason to interfere with an otherwise relatively acceptable ordeal. They'd take this over a trial any day. They briefly hoped the others were alright too, off on their own odd but agreeable adventure.

They continued on with their journey, David helping Dwight get from point A to point B because he wasn't exactly a physically strong guy, and defeating shadows that threatened to not only take Dwight, but also pull at their heartstrings. Many times, David swore he would never let them take Dwight into that dark with them.

Many more times, they found comfort in simply being with each other. That lay in their rest stops at the benches, gazing at the serene scenery, and even in exploring the sprawling castle. For all its concerning mystery, it's grandiose couldn't be denied. Thus, they chose to enjoy the exploration too, in part out of spite against The Entity. By comparison to the trials, this place was a heaven.

But, people make mistakes. Ancient, and Great gods don't.

-

David was the first to wake this time, stretching with a loud groan that awoke a still sleepy Dwight.

"Five more minutes…" Dwight sleepily moaned.

"All right luv, five more." David agreed, and curled up closer to Dwight. He blindly searched for Dwight's hand and took it into his. By then, it was instinctual. Didn't want any shadows sneaking up and taking away his love. It was a damn good excuse to always be holding hands, even if they got sweaty and clammy easily. Neither minded though.

What they imagined were five minutes , the couple was up and continuing their journey. They crossed a bridge into an assault by the shadows. It was the most shadows they had encountered in a single attack. But, Dwight was confident in David, and David in himself.

However, that confidence proved to be their mistake. David had strayed too far from Dwight.

"David! Help! Oh god. David!" Dwight cried out as he beat his fists on the shadow's back. He tried kicking it as he flailed, but to no avail.

"Dwight? Dwight!" David screamed once he saw what was going on. He beat his way through the shadows as fast as he could, fueled by the desire to save his love, by the fear of losing him. He clawed his way through the horde more and more frantically as Dwight grew closer and closer to the void from which the shadows emerged, and into which he would surely disappear.

It was not enough. It was too late. As Dwight was submerged into the portal, he could still glimpse what lay outside of it. He saw David continue to struggle, tears running down his face with a pained and intense expression on it. Then, a wave of energy, and he froze, that despairing look on his face forever etched into Dwight's mind as it was onto the stone corpse.

"No… No no no no no!" Dwight hoarsely screamed, tears of his own flowing relentlessly. He futilely tried to reach out for David's outstretched hand, but he couldn't reach, couldn't feel the warmth from that small act of intimacy anymore.

This place was different. What if death here truly was the end? Both men would have been alright with that at one point. But now, they had each other, a great reason to live .

He was eventually dropped off somewhere by the shadow. He almost didn't notice with grief consuming him. But then, he heard it, a familiar song.

La la la la la la laa

Laa la la la laa la la

He quickly got up, wiping his tears away even though they continued to flow and blur his vision. He could make out the thing in front of him. The lullaby that was anything but a comfort made it clear it was the huntress. Yet, it didn't exactly look like her. She was shrouded in much darkness. She only seemed to retain her pale mask and skin.

Her head methodically swayed to her song like a slow metronome. He readied a fighting stance like David had taught him. She got up, and slowly walked towards him. Inch by inch, his stance weakened, along with his will. He then found himself falling to the floor, curling into a ball.

Finally, she stood before him. Gently, she picked him up, and held him close as if he were a small child and not a lanky teen.

La la la la la la laa

Laa la la la laa la la

Despite knowing, he leaned into it, holding tighter. Perhaps it was selfish, but he focused on trying to fool himself into thinking it was David. Back in his strong, comforting arms, something he was sure he would never feel again now.

He wailed in despair. Eventually, his weeping stopped. He too was stone now. Yet, the shadowy huntress continued her lullaby, and continued to cradle him in her arms, happy and content that the little one was calm now. Finally, a success in the one hunt that eluded her.

-

"Five more minutes…" Dwight sleepily moaned.

"All right luv, five more." David agreed, and curled up closer to Dwight. He blindly searched for Dwight's hand and took it into his.

Refreshed, the couple continued their adventure. Soon, they came across the largest horde of shadows that had come across yet. They were defeated soon enough, David sticking close enough to Dwight to be able to protect him in this instance.

Their journey continued. Brave David clearing jumps that made Dwight quake, Dwight jumping after some coaxing from David, David catching him and pulling him up when he came up just a bit short. Taking care of more shadows, opening more pillars with magic. Eventually, they came face to face with their antagonist for the first time. She appeared in a spark of light and dark.

Hm hm hm hm hm hm hmm

Hmm hm hm hm hmm hm hm

Still holding hands, David put himself between her and Dwight, his trusty stick drawn.

"Fock off you bloody monster!" David yelled at her.

Dwight. I'm waiting for you, dear child. she asked in a sickeningly sweet voice and smile, arms outstretched towards him to welcome him. Come to where you belong! Yet, as she spoke, her lullaby did not stop. She also spoke in both her mother tongue and the one they both understood.

"Fuck off!" David yelled. With a scream, he charged at her with the stick. It proved effective against shadows, why not her? The answer was magic. A field of energy simply made him unmajestically flop back, knocking the stick out of his hand.

"DavId!" Dwight yelled as he rushed to his side.

This is the thing you follow? What are you doing with something like that? she said to Dwight.

Dear Dwight lives in a far different world from you. Know who you are, and leave him for that reason. she ordered David, and in a spark of light, the shadowy Huntress vanished.

"Are you Alright?" Dwight was quick to ask. "'M fine. Had my arse handed to me there," David groaned, "but I'll live. A better question is what the 'ell’s she on about?"

"I don't know. Who ever knows what those monsters think." Dwight said. They both figured she was someone who wouldn't make much sense if she spoke anyhow.

So, they went onward, now knowing of their greater enemy in this game they were thrown into by The Entity. Since their trusty stick, now partially burnt, had proven to be slightly less trustworthy, they were unsure of how they would defeat the huntress, if they could, or if that was even the endgame of his ordeal. There were still many things unknown about The Entity and this game.

-

After the usual fanfare, they came to rest at a bench looking out to the ocean. Despite the overcast sky as well, it remained comfortably warm. With the time for repose upon them, their minds wandered. Dwight still held onto David's hand, letting him absent-mindedly rub his palm. Eventually, their wordlessness was broken.

"Hey Dwight?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, y'know?"

"I know. You know I love you too, right?"

"I do."

"Good. I'm glad."

-

Their journey to find a way out of the castle continued on. The threat of various types of shadows, small and many, flying, and the normal ones, persisted. Traversing the place was a team effort neither minded.

For such moments when it was just them, they could imagine they were teens living a grand, fantastical adventure together like those of storybooks. They both wondered how their lives could have turned out if they had known each other when they were younger, before The Entity. Realistically, they both knew that their meeting probably wouldn't have resulted in anything meaningful, all things considered. But, they dreamed of something wonderful all the same.

-

"No… No no no no no!" Dwight hoarsely screamed, tears of his own flowing relentlessly. He futilely tried to reach out for David's outstretched hand, but he couldn't reach, couldn't feel the warmth from that small act of intimacy anymore.

This place was different. What if death here truly was the end? Both men would have been alright with that at one point. But now, they had each other, a great reason to live.

Dwight continued to try and break free of the shadow's grip, to escape and run back to David. And do something, anything. But, they came out of the portal soon enough, and Dwight was at the feet of the shadowy Huntress.

La la la la la la laa

Laa la la la laa la la

Dwight screamed and rushed at her, hitting her repeatedly as she did not react to his weak blows.

"Give him bAck to me, damn yOu!" he bawled as his voice cracked.

She tried to comfort him with an embrace, but he pushed her away. He began to run. As he did so, he began to turn to stone.

She calmly walked over to him, and saw the saddening expression on his stone face.

Another failed hunt of that which is elusive. She hoped there would be more successes in her future. She knew that feeling of success in this elusive hunt now, and wanted it more and more.

-

"Dwight?"

"Yeah?"

"You think it's bad I wouldn't mind staying here forever?" David wondered. Dwight gave it some thought.

"Nah. I don't think so. This place isn’t sO bad. A lot better than any trial, that's for sure."

"Well, more than that. I don't 'ave a lot going for me back home. At least 'ere, I don't 'ave to worry 'bout that."

"Yeah… I get what you mean." Dwight replied. He didn't have much going for him either back home. He wasn't even sure what would happen if he got back.

Would he end up when The Entity picked him up, or ten years into the future. Either way, a lot of adjustment would be in order. The only thing he did know was that he and David would be able to find one another since they came from about the same time. That also begged the question if they would remember each other. Dwight didn't want to remember all the terrible torture and death he saw and endured. But, he didn't want to forget David and the friends he made while there.

"But, I still think I want to go back. I still want to be somebody. I want to live a real life. I think I'm brave enough to do that now." Dwight said with quiet pride.

"'M sure you'll do great luv." David was happy for him, but this also made him sad. Maybe that thing was right…

"Thanks David, for believing in me." Dwight gratefully said, and leaned against David as they say.

"Welcome luv. I'll always believe in you." he replied with a smile. It quickly faded though. He could believe in Dwight, always would. Couldn't say the same for himself.

Dwight felt David hold onto him more tightly. At first, he interpreted it as an act of affection more than anything else. But, he couldn't shake the odd feeling that something was up with his boyfriend.

"What's wrong David?" he asked, pulling apart so he could look at him. David averted his gaze.

"… You wouldn't leave me, would you?" he asked after a moment of hesitation. Such moments of vulnerability were difficult for him still. Though, admittedly easier than before.

"What? No! David, I-" Dwight began, realizing what David was really talking about. "David, come on, look at me." Dwight begged, and gently lifted David's chin.

He looked into Dwight's eyes for only a moment before returning to look down.

"I'd never leave you behind, alright? Wherever I go, I want to be by your side. Now matter where or when we are, that's not gonna change. I love you." Dwight finished, placing a kiss on David's forehead. David returned the gesture with a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks babe. Needed that." David said, returning to cuddling with Dwight. He smiled and felt a warmth spread across his body as Dwight enveloped him. It was a good feeling to know that Dwight wanted to be by his side.

-

"Well, this place looks 'bout right." David noted. It appeared to be a gate leading to the outside. Behind it, a bridge. "Wanna work you magic again luv?"

"Here goes nothing." Dwight said, and cautiously grazed the door. And just like last time, a spark of light. But this time, it's magnitude and intensity was far greater, eliciting a scream out of Dwight.

David yelled for him, but was pushed away by the light. When it faded, the gate began to open. David ignored it, and rushed to Dwight's side as he lay on the ground.

"Dwight. Dwight!" David said with great worry as he tried to shake the other awake.

“I’m alright.” he grumbled as David helped him up. “Come on. We should hurry.” David hummed in agreement, and led the way, holding Dwight’s hand as he ran behind.

At the bridge’s midpoint, something unexpected happened. A beam of a spark of light hit Dwight, holding him back and sending David tumbling forward and off the edge. He just barely caught the ledge, and hurried to pull himself back up. Then he noticed that the bridge was retracting, separating him and Dwight.

With a grunt, he jumped the gap, narrowly missing the ledge. But Dwight was quick to act despite being zapped, and grabbed onto David’s hand. Dwight struggled to pull him up. As David struggled too, Dwight felt a terrible feeling. It began with his feet, and spread up his body, taking his legs, waist, torso. It was a literally heavy feeling. Despite this, he continued to try and help David up, as he had done for him many times during their adventure. Then, he sensed another. He didn’t need to look up to see who it was, nor did he care.

From below, Dwight could see the shadow Huntress looming above Dwight, staring down at him with a smile. Then he saw it. She was turning Dwight to stone. It was too late.

“I’m sorry. I- I love you.” Dwight said through tears, and let go of David before the petrification wave could take him too. David plummeted to the waters below, a range of emotions overtaking him before he blacked out.

-

When David awoke, he was on the rocky entrance of a cave. He’d lost his trusty stick in the fall, and was left with nothing now. There was only one way to go, so David went into the cave. All there was for him to do now was find his way back to the castle, and save Dwight. Or die trying.

That thing was right. He wasn’t like Dwight. He wasn’t strong in those wonderous ways that Dwight was. Maybe it was a tad pathetic or unhealthy, but it's who he was. But so what? He could always work on that later. And he loved Dwight, and Dwight loved him. For now, he would do all that he could: focus on saving his boyfriend.

The cave and subsequent areas proved to be more daunting than the castle. But, David persisted, even managing to find an axe that carried the spark of light and dark. It would surely prove useful later when he beat that thing to bits for what it had done.

The whole time, David could not help but notice that his hand felt so empty without Dwight holding onto it.

He tried holding the axe in that hand, but it did not provide any comfort. The handle was hard and cold, like stone. Nothing like Dwight's warm and soft hands. He quickly switched the sword back to his other hand and pressed forward.

Many more shadows manifested as he found his way back into the castle. Without Dwight and his insight, David found the place to be more puzzling. Now that he was alone, he couldn't help but focus on the fact that these were more like shades than mere shadows. Many of them were in the image of fellow survivors: friends and acquaintances.

He saw them emerge from the caskets, the same kind as the one he broke out of. He really hoped this was some sort of cruel joke by The Entity, and not really them. Regardless, at the end of the day, it was them or him and Dwight, so David did not hesitate to force the shades to dispel. He appreciated the axe since it took care of the enemies quicker. He would have appreciated it more back when he had Dwight to protect.

And eventually, he found Dwight, frozen in place, reaching out to David and surrounded by those shadows.

"Get away from him!" he ordered the wretched things. That got their attention, and they went for him, only to quickly be dispelled.

Solemnly, David walked up the steps, and fell to his knees in front of the statue, letting the axe fall too. He placed his hand into his love's. What was once alive with warmth and love was now dry and cold and hard. He began to weep.

"I'm sorry Dwight… I'm sorry…"

How long he stayed there, he wasn't sure. But eventually, he picked himself up, and the axe.

"I'll be back. I promise."

With that, he proceeded onward. He held the axe up to a set of stone pillars. A spark of light, and they moved to reveal an elevator. He could hear the Huntress's song echoing from above.

This struggle would be over soon, and he and Dwight would be united. That's how these kinds of things went. Beat the bad guy, and things would be fine.

The elevator reached the top with a clang. Past the wide hall and in the open room at the end of it, the shadow Huntress sat.

Hm hm hm hm hm hm hmm

Hmm hm hm hm hmm hm hm

You come for the release of death. It is not an escape. she revealed to David as he angrily walked down the hall.

You come for a love you don't deserve. Love is not eternal. she told him as he stared her down in the middle of the room.

"And wot in the blazes do you know about love, either of you?" he questioned with a rage in his voice.

She laughed, and the lullaby was the only sound of hers to remain. A field of energy then surrounded her. From it, a wave flew out. David braced himself, with the axe in front to shield him.

And it worked. The wave flew around the axe, and a quick glance showed that the two nearby pillars could be used as protection too.

With a battle cry, David charged at the Huntress. The axe clashed with the force field, knocking the weapon out of his hand and sending him flying back. He saw her charging up to send another wave out, and hurried to take cover behind a pillar. Once the wave of light and dark passed, he hurried to the axe and rushed at the monster again.

Once more, he was thrown back. Though this time, the sword landed closer to him. He blocked another wave, and attacked again. All the while, she swayed to her song as she sat on the throne.

David rushed at her once more. With a roar, the barrier shattered, and the axe embedded itself in her chest. She stopped her lullaby for a moment before weakly resuming it.

Sing 'nonomori'

Say 'nonomori'

It's all we have left

She gently said. And with one final, bone-chilling laugh, there was a flash of light, and the shade huntress was simply gone. The force sent David flying backwards into the air. His back hit a wall, and he fell to the floor, unconscious.

-

Dwight woke to a thundering roar. He didn't know where he was. As he got up, he noticed he was a shadow now, sparks of darkness flying off him. He looked around, and saw that two blockade pillars had been opened. He knew it was David, hoped it was anyhow, and rushed over, going up the elevator.

His suspicions were correct. David lay in the center of the room. Dwight ran to his side. He wasn't dead, thankfully. Just unconscious. Another rumble, and Dwight realized that the place was falling apart. Quickly, but gently, he scooped David up. It took less strength than he thought, likely because of his condition.

Running on intuition, Dwight traversed the area, finally coming to a lone boat tied to a dock. Carefully, he set David in it. He considered getting in, but decided against it. He had the feeling he was done for, or would be soon enough. He didn't want to cause David any more pain. So, he pushed the boat, and let it drift away towards the nearby shore away from the island. He hoped for the best for David as a sadness enveloped him while he watched the boat become smaller and smaller.

-

David found himself waking up in the boat, which had since landed on the beach. There was a dull pain at the back of his head, but he ignored it. He got up and stepped out of the wooden boat, but tripped and landed face first in the sand. A real great way to start things.

He picked himself up and dusted himself off, scanning the beach as he did so, and saw nothing at first. But then, in the distance, he saw something lying on the beach. With nothing better to do, he began to walk towards it. As he neared it, he realized the figure looked familiar, and began to sprint towards it. Even closer, he saw that it was Dwight.

"Dwight! Dwight!" he called out as he shook the other awake.

"Five more minutes…" he groaned as he turned to face away from what awoke him. David laughed, and began to cry tears of joy as he picked Dwight up, thoroughly waking him up in the process.

"Huh? David? David!" Dwight exclaimed as he realized what was going on and tightly embraced him back. He too began to cry tears of joy.

They briefly broke apart to look into each other's eyes, and kissed.

-

Hand in hand, they sat together, watching and listening to the waves, and sharing a watermelon they found growing in a patch not too far away. They did not know how long they would have this moment, where they felt love and contentment so intensely. They didn't ponder on how long they would have this anyhow. They just wanted to live in that moment then and there, so they did.

"Hey, you think we can count this as our first real date?" Dwight asked before taking a bite of a piece of watermelon.

"Do y'want it to?"

"Do you?" Dwight asked in return. David pondered the question for a moment.

"It's a nice place, innit? Nice for our first date." David answered. "Would take you somewhere fancier, but, y'know." Dwight chuckled at that.

"As long as you're here, this is perfect." he smiled. David pecked Dwight's forehead in response.

Hand in hand, the lovers leaned against one another, feeling a love they thought they would never feel.

[write-like-you-mean-it]

A Hunter’s Prey: Illumi’s Visits

seems meaningless when you’re chained to a bed. Minutes could be hours or vice versa. I find myself waiting patiently. Maybe patiently is not the correct term for how I am waiting. Stressfully, angrily, fearful were all better words to describe how I waited. It could’ve been days since I’ve arrived at this place.  He did bring me water but I did not drink. Once he realized I had nothing else to say to him beyond cries of fear, he left me to watch the sun rise and set. 

Illumi only comes once a day to see me. That's how I’ve been counting days. It’s been 6 visits. They were always in the morning. The sun had just risen so that the same purple-yellow hue hung in the room. Each time he has come has been as quick as the last. 

The second visit was short. He brought me some food. Illumi sat in the same chair that he did the first time. It was like he was studying me. He didn’t even say a word this time. He just listened to my cries of missing my life. It was a cry of my life finally changing. He let me scream at him until my throat was sore. I refused to eat any of the food. It was the same as the water from the day before. I wasn’t going to allow myself to die by his hand. 

The next visit has been the longest. He brought bandages, food, and a pitcher of water. My throat still hurt from the day before, and I had cried out all my tears. Illumi sat in the chair once more.

“Can I please leave?” I whispered. It was all I could muster. A small voice trapped by pain, exhaustion, and lack of basic needs. 

“You must drink,” Illumi stated. “It’s been too long since you’ve had water.” He takes the cup of water and puts it to my lips. I still refused to drink. It seemed that his normal expression seemed tired. Was it tired in general or tired of me?

Illumi took the cup and drank a small sip of water. “It is not poisonous. Please drink.” He held it back to me. I took the drink and finally gulped the water. It was like the most heavenly drink on the planet. I had almost forgotten the taste of water with this state. I finished the glass in record time. 

“Good,” Illumi muttered while reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small pin. For a moment, I thought he was going to do unsavory things to me. He would kill me by a thousand pins in my body. He quickly stuck it into my arm. I went to pull away but he was much faster than I could ever be. Before I knew it, my arm was at my side, unable to move it. 

Illumi took my left arm into his hands. With quick work, unhinges the cuff. He started wrapping up my bloody wrist that had been bleeding on and off from the sharp edges of the cuff. I didn’t have time to pull away. His skin was softer than I originally imagined. An assassin should feel rough and coarse. Illumi didn’t feel like that. It’s like he cared for his appearance as much as anyone. 

He put the cuff back onto my wrist and pulled the needle out. “Does it feel better?” He asked. It was a quiet question. I waited until I regained feeling in my arm before I responded. 

“Yes,” I stated. It did feel better but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much it felt better. The cuff wasn’t catching on my skin anymore. The hurt and scarring was replaced by a dull throb from blood pumping through my veins. 

Illumi held out his hand. It was like he was beckoning me to give my other wrist. My thoughts were caught between feeling the same relief for both wrist or giving into this monster. I didn’t have a choice as Illumi grabbed my wrist and pulled me over. It was forceful and a little painful. He did the exact same thing as before, put a pin in my arm, uncuffing my wrist, and wrapping my arm. 

“You should listen when spoken to,” he stated, finally finishing with the wrap. Again, it felt like a weight was lifted off my arm. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt after all.” I met his gaze for a split second. It was almost like he had a feeling of concern written across his face. It couldn’t have been. He is emotionless. 

Illumi withdrew his needle and stood up. “Eat. I’m not going to force you today but you have to eat.” It was a command not a suggestion. I sighed while I watched him walk out of the room. I did actually eat the food that day. It was delicious. 

The third visit was the fastest one yet. He seemed busy. It was like I was an afterthought on a checklist of his life. Illumi brought me food then left. There was no communication. A simple translation of food for… What was the food a transaction for? I doubt that I wanted to know. 

The fourth visit makes my blood boil. Illumi was later than normal. The sun was already up when he walked into the room. He took his normal seat next to my bed. At this point I’d been trapped so long that I was losing track of days. I’d counted the cracks in the ceiling so many times that I’d memorized their locations. 

I was guessing that the boredom was a ploy to actually make him the brightness of my day. I refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing it was. “You seem to have enjoyed the food. I should tell the butlers to make more.” My face was glued to the door. I didn’t even look at him. 

“Have you been drinking the water?” Another question I refused to answer. 

There was a long pause before Illumi’s next words. “Would you like to get you a book?” He was baiting me. If I were to respond, he would still have control. I’m not insane as of yet. I still have time before I’ve actually accepted his help. 

I could tell my noncompliance was angering him. “You do realize that I could kill you in the moment and it would be nothing to me.” I couldn’t tell if it was a lie or if it was a threat. All I knew is that I was in control of the cat and mouse game was we’re playing. The more that I ignored him, the more that he revealed his true colors. 

It was a dark braiding sense of blue that swirled around the room. I could feel the anger emanating from his soul. “Don’t expect anything tomorrow if you do not talk.” His voice was even more terrifying than before. It was a small command rather than a statement. I wondered if this is what he normally was like on missions. No. He would never be this careless. 

Illumi didn’t raise a fuss when he left. It was a calm calculated movement. He put his hand under my chin and dragged my face to look at him. “You will talk to me.” It was the first time I saw his eyes today. They were as soulless as before. This time I felt dizzy. A blue hue danced around my vision. I felt compelled to speak. It was almost like a command that I couldn’t refuse. 

I did refuse. I stared back at him with refusal lingering in my heart and on my tongue. Once he realized I was not going to budge, he let go of my face. He picked up some of the old trays left over from food. Lastly, he picked up the tray of today’s food and walked out. For my noncompliance, I earned no food. 

The fifth visit was Illumi still stewing in the anger from before. He knew that I couldn’t go many days without food or water. I was like a dog that needed to be fed daily. He walked in with a purpose, dropped a piece of bread and a water bottle down, then left. It was all too fast to even try and say anything. He was gone in a swish of his long black hair that dangled far below. 

I felt compelled to say something. Anything. I wanted to apologize for yesterday. It was like the isolation and anxiety was getting to my head. If I had to stay with him then maybe I shouldn’t be so unforgiving. I shook away the thoughts my desperate mind craved and went back to counting the cracks in the walk while chewing on my old bread. 

The sixth visit was late at night. Illumi arrived while the sun was setting. He brought the same food as before: bread and water. This time he actually sat in the chair. I’d missed the absentminded squeak of the wood. It was almost calming. I took a sip from the bottle. “You’re later today.” 

If I’d surprised him with my voice, he didn’t react. “I had a mission,” Illumi said, holding out his hand. With the other one, he held bandages. It was time to replace the old ones. I set my hand in his. This time, he did not use a pin. I doubt I had the strength to fight back nor could I win. 

It was a quiet moment. There were so many quiet moments shared between us. I studied his face while he unlocked my chain. His face was soft and pale. It was like he’d never seen the sun or felt it’s warm glow. Instead, there was a hint of not being allowed to go. 

My studies only faltered when he reached a tender spot left by the cuffs constant push. It made me jump back in pain. A simple cry rang from my lips. While I tried to pull away, Illumi held on tighter. The last of the bloodied bandage fell to the covers of the bed. He replaced them quickly. The cooling pressure helped my hot wrist. It wasn’t until he put the cuff back on that I handed him the other side. 

“Thank you,” I said while he went back to his work. I realized that Illumi was not a man of his words. While he talked, it was only to appease others. At least that is what I know so far. I was his prisoner and he did not need to do this. 

“You should wash off the blood from before,” he stated matter-of-factory. “You could use the water for some. I will bring you more later.” 

“Would you be able to bring a book too?” I asked while the cuff was being put back on. I still couldn’t tell if the look he always gave me was one of curiosity or of cruel intentions. He nodded his head and left.

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

Full Masterlist

[9uk]

Where Are You?

⌲ summary : Kim Taehyung. That is the name of a nobody in school constantly carrying a camera around with him. Also, the name belonging to the guy who carried your last words

⌲ pairing : thirdeye!taehyung x reader

⌲ word count : 10k

⌲ genre: pinch of fluff, heavy angst

⌲ warnings : themes of depression, suicide, self-harm and paranormal activities. character death. taehyung can see ghosts that is.

⌲ a/n: this is quite different from what i usually write but i just needed to get the plot that has been bothering my head for months out of me. nonetheless, enjoy & feedback is always welcomed.

The way life works is a true wonder.

 Expect the unexpected, predict the unpredictable. It's all bound to happen one day, at a certain point of time in our very lives. You just have to catch that split moment, the millisecond on the dot—where a mini twist in your words or actions can bring about a very drastic change. It can be a tiny alteration that causes the downfall or rise of a situation. The choices we make for ourselves or others, is very much alike to a heavy dew sliding off a leaf and carelessly falling into stagnant water. The mini waves of the impact send the lily pads nearby dancing, a floating hibiscus petal to drift further into the unknown and push a sleeping fish a centimetre away from entering the opening of a heron's beak. It's the butterfly effect, minuscule yet major. Be it a coincidence or some cruel twisted joke god decided to play on you—you solemnly swear you heard a voice of another being in this house. A house you were supposedly alone in. It could be the cannibal. There is more than a fair share of emphasis placed on 'supposedly' because at this very moment, you are certain as heck that you are not the only one in here. Here being the old crooked house that sits alone by the edge of the second highest hill in town, standing obstinate to the ground despite the occasional flooding showers and hurricanes your region suffered. The old folks claim that the house belongs to a war veteran whose entire family starved while waiting for their sole bread-winner to come home. The man never made it back to his doorstep where his three children and spouse awaits, hope draining with every growl of their stomachs and in complete oblivion to the impending fall to the grave. Every so often, the family of five could be sighted behind the murky windows. However, there are also mediums who concluded from ridiculous superstitions and calculations of the house's location that a possible dead body could still be inside, and its vengeful spirit is bent on seeking retribution for the plain injustice of their murder. Depressed souls would see it as the way to the end, Blank minds and torn hearts enter the house with nothing but one wish—death. The number of suicides that occurred in the house is a little over a hundred—one hundred and three spirits to be exact, nothing more, nothing less—loitering within its four walls. There were instances of teenagers stepping foot into the forbidden site with hopeful hearts for a thrill and a video camera in hand, seeking for juicy content to gain views and be the first to break the belief — the bunch of kids were reported missing on the news a few hours after. The statistics are somewhat the building blocks to the infamous reputation it holds today. When the police went inside to search for the families' missing loved ones, it did not work out at all. In fact, the number rebelliously increased, the police force losing yet another one of their colleagues. 

That's when they decided that everyone is prohibited to enter, unless they carried a death wish. It is almost like the Suicide Forest in Japan, tarnishing those who visit with a conflicted soul. Even the authorities chose to not touch the house, claiming it was still on a long-term lease. And under whose name? 

They would never reveal.

The house became something everyone refuses to lay finger on, or even talk about. The ominousness it contained drove humans miles away, like a sleeping dragon not wanting to be bothered the slightest bit. It's almost like a door to a parallel universe or something. You did your homework regarding the possessed piece of property. The internet's local ghostbuster website shares more about the rumours circulating the house. 

You can't escape once you make it through the two front doors. This is as clear as day already, the number of missing bodies serving as solid evidence. Questions however, still bugged at your mind.

Why exactly is that? Were all the window sills locked? Or is the door just created to be one-way? Sometimes people are so caught up with their fantasies that they forget to look at things more logically. 

A cannibal was living inside. This is just a mere speculation, but it was not impossible. It seemed like the most rational explanation one could provide to the disappearance of people. Leftover bones can be easily cremated, destroying all traces of the deceased. But you had rather resort to jumping off a cliff or simply overdosing to kill yourself—than to ferociously be feasted on by your own kind. 

It was some kind of portal to another world. Although these kind of things were not scientifically proven, it was still a valid suspicion because nothing ever made sense about that creepy house. Maybe people went in and get sucked into another dimension or flung into hell. Maybe the books were right. As well as the shows and movies on television. Everybody was afraid, of what the gaunt and creaky relic held between its paint-flaked walls and dirt-smeared window panes, why people went in and never got out, why citizens were constantly missing—but the discovery couldn't be anything more valuable than a life. But you clearly cared a whole lot about yours, because you are not even batting a lash when you tell your friends that you were going to check the cursed place out. All you receive is the dropping of jaws and the heavy pleas for you to not go, because apparently ten years ago a man as bold as you executed the similar plan you had and- "Guess what Y/N," Woo-gi leaned across the table, the bowl of mashed potatoes shifting forward a little. "He died. Unnatural cause of death. His body was never found and the saddest thing is that the family couldn't even give him a proper burial or send him away in peace." Her attempted blazing eyes fixes on yours, and her fingers creep to the knife resting on the surface of the table cloth.  

Woo-gi is making the best efforts to get you to empathise with the family of the deceased man, knowing that trick works perfect on your soft putty heart. Lifting the cutlery up, she brings it down and mercilessly stabs into the piece of char-grilled pork chop for effect. There is a shredding sound of the piece of meat being torn apart by your dear pal. The vegetables at the side jump up in shock. "Gone. Just like that."

Her voice is a cold, menacing one which intended effect worked perfectly on your rather timid self, the bumps on your skin appearing unwillingly.

Her gaze finally drifts to the dish plate and leaves yours, allowing you to ponder over her words. In her final attempt to scare you out of the hasty decision, you only chew on your corn salad nonchalantly. She was right, it was a deadly risk but you wished you treasured your life as much as a normal person would. You didn't have any care in the world, dead or alive. So why not make the reason of your death be 'died exploring a haunted house', how cool and mysterious would that be on the headlines? "Sounds like a dream come true for me," You sweep the coleslaw you have no interest in to one side, isolated from the rest of the dish. Gone forever, just like that? You have been spending the past few years of your life sinking into the mattress and hoping the blankets would swallow you whole and cease your existence—what made her think that you would be afraid of something like that? Then you realise that your friends have no clue about your disorder. In fact, no one did. In their eyes, you were this outgoing girl who cracked plenty of jokes and lived with a happy family. At times, you would go overboard with your imagination but that's something people who felt constrained and suffocated often possess. Their stale life is the cause of their fantasies and aspirations running too wild.

But nobody would understand. She shakes her head and sighs, exasperated. It was like there were no words in the dictionary that can come together to bandage the open wound in your heart, or get rid of the black sticky substance bugging your insides since day one—even as a close friend, the most she can do is to pray for the best for you. No one can really help you out of this sunken pit, the route is yours to take.

"I'm telling you one last time," Woo-gi lunges forward to grab both of your hands, eyes glistening with worry, trying yet again, her utmost best to stop you in your dangerous expedition. For the last time. "Don't go."

Life works in mysterious ways, and you're the kind of person who would stubbornly step on a freshly mopped floor and try walk across it despite having a bright yellow caution sign shoved in your face. Maybe this would be the turning point in your life. A life which encompasses of...well, nothing much. The world's too tiring of a place to live in. And that is also why, you are in said haunted house, face to face with an unexpected human being. "Hey," Every drop of blood in your body freezes. It's the first thing you hear before a piercing scream leaves your chest, rattling the window panes. The sudden call startles the shit out of the shivering mess you were, your body jumping backwards out of reflex. You shun away from the piercing light being aimed straight into your eyes, arms coming up to block the sudden encounter. Cannibal? Cannibal! You shrieked and jumped back further upon realisation, making a beeline for the doors. Both feet took you there as fast as they could, the wooden planks beneath your heavy stomps threatening to snap. Except when you reach for the handle, the first rumour is proven to be true. The doors wouldn't budge. You shake them with all your might, only left with creaks and a stubborn obstruction to your fleeing. Your heart pounds wildly against your chest, with the knowledge that the monster is a few feet away from your panic-stricken form. "Just give up." The low voice appears behind you, the hairs on your back shooting up and your hands frozen. Why were you even so afraid? You wanted to die anyways. Nothing is able to coherently come out of your parched throat, only able to quiver in fear. "Do I really look that ugly?" The tone is derisive, so human-like and you think you may have overreacted. Whipping around, you are only met with bright white as a beam of light is pointed directly to your face. You may have been mistaken. But that doesn't stop you from feeling threatened. "Put that away." You commanded and once the shining path of white is directed to the ground, your hands slowly descend from shielding your face. "Kim Taehyung?" "Y/F/N?" The both of you speak out in unison upon the recognition, despite the low lighting playing as an obstacle. It was dark, but you can almost make out the look of shock on his face as he takes a moment to register your existence right in front of him. As for you, relief overwhelmed the surprise you felt and for once, you were thankful to see Kim Taehyung. A fair bit of questions were going through your mind now, and your heart was close to jumping out of your mouth any time soon. But somehow you managed to stay relatively calm. 

As long as Taehyung was standing there, looking at you with a face of confusion, you wanted to end your life faster to escape the interaction with this guy. Or to explain what in the world you were doing in a horrid place like here. God wouldn't let you die in peace, he had to let you bump into Taehyung minutes or hours—nobody knows—before your anticipated death. The only thing going through your mind is how you have to explain why you were inside the most forbidden house in town. Then, another thought flickers in your mind. What was he doing here then? It couldn't be... For some reason, he stands there, still astounded by your presence. Wait no, it had nothing to do with your presence. It was you. Just like how having a guest in here came off as no surprise to him, but the fact that it was you... You feel like you rendered him speechless, disbelief widening his eyes and parting his lips. He was acting strange. Just a few moments ago, he was telling you so confidently about the fate of the doors and now there was a 180 degree change in his vibe. He kept staring at you, the moonlight flaunting a light shimmer to his black orbs and you felt queasy under his relentless gaze—like he held some sort of power over your empty soul. You couldn't decipher just what is it in his eyes, your head hurt as you tried to think.

It was never the same case in school though. While you exuded an aura of confidence wherever you walked, leaving a trail of your floral scented shampoo and fruity perfume, Taehyung would keep his head low and try to blend in with the shadows. He didn't smell like anything, nor did he frequently speak. 

To his pals, at the very least. The moment you hear the name Kim Taehyung, the first word that comes to mind is eccentric. You weren't exactly someone to judge people in this manner, but you know him barely—only to the extent where you can only think of an adjective like that to describe him. You've seen him more than a couple of times around in school—always carrying a vintage camera around—but have never spoken a word to him. For an obvious reason, he was located in the best class—the one where the top students are—while you are in just another average class.

He was just another schoolmate to you. The both of you have never interacted during your whole journey in high school, except for that one time. However, you have only heard things about him. Unpleasant things that make your blood boil a little, because you feel like everyone should be treated equally no matter the circumstance.

One would say, "Kim Taehyung? You mean the guy who sits in the garden for an hour after school, waiting for a butterfly to land on his pinky finger? I mean, who even does that?"

Another would comment, "He's constantly talking to himself and his polaroid films, if that is even possible. Other than that, he either talks to flowers or trees. Sometimes, he eats by himself and then he raises his spoonful of rice to feed the person sitting opposite him—only that there isn't anyone there. Some girls screamed and ran away, even their boyfriends were scared of such a person. That is mainly why they didn't do anything bad to him.”

You didn’t have much thoughts about the guy, but you admired how he could be himself without the fear of being excluded from the norms of this society. He could find the comfort in being alone, and that was the type of peace you wish you possessed.

That one day, things blew out of proportion. It was a normal Tuesday, nothing extraordinary but school and sleep. You were seated with your usual group of friends during lunch, when suddenly a yell breaks through the canteen, followed by several laughters induced with pure evil. Almost the entire cohort turns to the infamous corner—just a small turn into the back kitchen where the trash is taken out by the vendors—the place where many students are dragged in there and come out with a  blue black to the eye and nasty purple patches all over their limbs.

The whole cafeteria slowly fills with hushed whispers and serious gossiping, heads turning to one another unable to drop the topic for now. Yoongi walks out from the corner, followed by a few of his friends of a milksop. Wussies, you silently remark on their terribly feigned outer strength and masks of bravery. Nothing but imbeciles, you curse them in your head. Yoongi and weaklings plop right next to you, the eyes from the surrounding tables discreetly catching up on the interaction between the both of you. "Y/N! You look gorgeous today." He tries to place his hand onto your waist but you quickly shun away from him. The small action itself caused the whole canteen to blanketed with silence, every pair of eyes now focusing on the drama that was about to unfold between the notorious gangster and his proclaimed girl. "Don't fucking touch me you disgusting piece of shit." You have had enough. The menacing words seem to pierce through every wall in the school, every person at the scene being informed of your opinion towards Yoongi all this while. You stand up, pointing a finger of accusation directly at his face—to which he flinches at, caught off-guard by your swift movement. If you had the opportunity to get away with it, you would have dug your nails into his eyeballs and gouge them out of his eye sockets, then feed one each to the weaklings by his side. Instead, you take a deep breath. Small gasps leave everyone's lips and he panics—ego bruised by your harsh rejection. Yoongi was your boyfriend. You've been tolerating him for quite some time now, all for the sake of your parents. Without this relationship, your dad would have never been able to clinch the business deal with his father. All it took was a couple of sweet phrases and fake smiles, you couldn't be bothered with the rest of him other than the profit he could bring to your company. Yoongi on the other hand, seems to interpret the relationship in a very different way. He seems to have grown fond of you and naively believed that love between the two of you is real. You never put a single thought or effort into the relationship with Yoongi, not wanting to mislead him any further but some guys just can't seem to get the message, despite the many obvious hints you've dropped. You never ask him out.

Or when he does, you would only politely decline. In school, most of the time you stick like glue to your friends and try to avoid him and his rambunctious clique at all costs. Your dear friends took empathy in you and helped you out of certain situations concerning Yoongi at times. Somehow your boyfriend's pleasant way of proving his worth was to step on the backs of people who seemed inferior to him to climb his own ladder of pride. 

It was like after each time he nailed someone to the ground and kicked their guts out, Yoongi feels like he reached another level of achievement. It's sickening to the thought and you want to have nothing got to do with that narcissistic asshole. This behaviour of his begin not too long ago, a few days prior when he marked his first victim. You were puzzled, but you didn't probe. He bullies physically and mentally, using their screams and pleas to feed his ego and push himself higher up the ladder. He started torturing anyone who ticks him off or come in his way to no end, and you think you may just be next albeit being his supposed girlfriend. 

The conduct only made you despise him even more. Come to the thought of it, the things you do for your parents include self-depreciation and the loss of any shame left in your skin. You can feel the anger slowly twisting in his veins, radiating off his now clenched fists. Contrary to his untamed anger building within him, his friends are slowly retreating from his side, trembling in fear at your spit of acid. You chuckled, almost despicably—both at the cowering of his tough underlings and the way he almost peed his pants at the mere fling of your index finger. He realises that you are mocking his fragility and there are a couple of muffled giggles ignited in the crowd—his temper starts to get the better of his mind as the emasculation finally dawns over him. Before he can lay a finger on you, you are already a step ahead of him—grabbing the cup of hot tea off the table and splashing the boiling liquid onto his uniform, scalding his body. You thought you had might as well went all out in punishing a rascal like him. Your friends reach for your arm, trying to hold you back from going any further in dealing with the jerk and you throw the cup onto the ground, causing it to shatter into fragments—the sound of the porcelain splitting and cracking into pieces haphazardly rings through their ears. You'd like to refer it as a clear warning to everybody witnessing the event—to simply not mess with you.

You wished to be left alone.

While he screams in agony at the possible second-degree burn, you waltz away from the commotion nonchalantly. You think that that scumbag ought to have a taste of his own medicine someday, and if no one else dare stuff it down his throat, you would more than gladly do so. You find yourself striding off—to the hidden corner behind the stalls. And there, you discovered the bloodied body of Taehyung. With a broken camera by his side. A boy like him deserved more than this, no human should ever be hurt as badly as this—especially for no reason at all but one's inability to control their emotions, and the poor decision to vent it out on others can make horrible things happen. You kneel down by his side, checking the wounds inflicted on him. Fishing out a packet of tissues you always keep in your pocket for emergencies, you wipe the blood stains off his abused skin. He's in too much pain to express his surprise at your assistance, grunting as you pressed the tissue against the wound. When the bleeding on a certain cut has stopped, you offer him the support of your arm to let him sit up straight. Taehyung holds onto your forearm and pulls himself up from the ground. He groans as he does so, his back clad with bruises and soreness. 

You noticed that he was stunned into a daze, probably at the grasp of realisation that someone was actually helping him. But you ignored his feelings, just shifted your attention fully onto the fixing of his injury. You recall having a plaster tucked away in your purse and you quickly take it out as well, secretly laughing at its design—hot pink with Hello Kitty. 

Taehyung doesn't miss the sound of light escaping your lips, and he himself bites down on his lip to hold back a chortle at the girlish visual of the bandaid—temporarily pushing the questions behind your intentions away. You actually felt glad you could bring a smile to his face with something like the childish print of a bandaid. Nonetheless, you peel it off and gently place it over the deep cut on his forearm as he tries to control his wincing. "Hey, it's alright. You can cry out for all you want," You smoothed the plaster flat and tight on his skin. When you lightly slap the face of the Hello Kitty to tease him, he lets out a yelp—something that sounds puzzlingly adorable coming from him. "Here, have this." You fish out a piece of candy from the other side of pocket, handing it over you the victim. The amount of surprise he shows never ceases. You let out a short laugh, "I know you're not a kid, but still..." You smile up at him. "Just take it as a form of apology for what I caused you to go through." Taehyung doesn't move a muscle, just sillily blinking at your actions. You take his hand and shove the sweet into his palm, closing his fingers around it. 

For a brief moment, both your eyes meet. 

There is an unexplainable exchange of thoughts running through each other's minds and it was close to feeling like the two of you shared something in common. Taehyung was ostracised in school and probably the life he had out there judging by his abstruse personality and unfathomable behaviour. He was a prisoner out here in the real world. 

Freedom, but yet he can't truly express himself without being placed behind bars in the eyes of others. 

You are guilty of doing so in the past, when he was nothing but a lingering, mystifying shadow that held no importance in your life. That's exactly what you did to him—judge and rule him out of the ordinary. All you feel for him is sympathy, and that isn't anywhere better than the culprits themselves if you weren't about to step out and lend him a helping hand. Regret washes over your system as his dark pupils venture into your soul.

 You were not as innocent as others perceive you to be. Bystanders were the invisible strokes of support to the metal bars that locked him up. His hand, although held by you, was trying to cling onto your grasp and not wanting you to leave. You would consider yourself a lucky chap indeed, having born into this world with food and shelter, kin and kith. In fact, rather luckier than the rest to be able to own what you like and not solely what you need. Above all of the materials your parents could afford, you were trapped in incongruity of being a prisoner of your own. You didn't know what you were passionate about in life, and to live without passion is akin to being dead. You just did well in your studies because the society deems that degree certificate as a strong foundation in your job. But you truly did not know if you really enjoyed burning the midnight oil to continuously mug or if the elation of attaining a perfect score on your assessment is pure, or just for the sake of your insatiable parents. Education is key. Well definitely, to a certain extent and you have witnessed how far your own set of parents are willing to go as long as you achieved soaring colours of distinction. 

Sleepless nights, wandering mind and a stagnant heart. Sometimes the urge to pretend to be ill to escape the torment of school. Sometimes the subconscious act of bringing the kitchen scissors to your wrist and slit... You want to collapse to the ground and never be able to wake up again. You wished a drunk driver would accidentally run you over and end everything for you. Then nobody would know about how tired you were of this pointless life. You were a prisoner of yourself too. With no doubt, you and Taehyung are definitely similar in many ways the world can't see. "See you...soon, I guess." A soft chuckle emits from you like that happening would be a miracle, but the expression does not reach your eyes. Your eyes that were blocked by a wall of defence to your vulnerability of an emptiness. She is broken. A whisper goes by his ear. She needs help. The raspy voice travelled to his other ear, making him shiver slightly but unnoticeably. Taehyung could feel it too but he was in no place to ask about your wellbeing. He could only stare and wonder. The eye contact was broken off, before your hand recedes from his, carefully. He catches the way a faint smile ghost on your features as quickly as it appeared. A bittersweet kind of happiness. But he doesn't say a word, even after your figure grows smaller with every step you take back to class. What you missed, is the shutter of the camera lens, floating in the air. "Hey, don't touch that!" He snatches the device back and winces at the stretch he feels in his back muscle.

"Y/N." The wooden planks beneath him cursed out loud, warning sirens of his voice turning stern. Besides his low voice and creaks of weak wood and nails, there is only a dripping sound from some leaking pipe. "What are you doing here?!" It is the second time he has raised the question to you, but you only keep silent, eyes searching the room for answers. 

Why hadn't you disappeared or get eaten by some ferocious beast yet? Taehyung was only complicating your attempt of suicide. You tried to keep your head clear when you first pushed the rusty front door open, disallowing the memories to flow into your mind.

 It was a blockage to all forms of happiness in your life, to prevent your pathetic self from backing out. But Taehyung, an actual human being, catching you in the act of wanting to kill yourself just shot a dose of reality into your numbing heart and racing thoughts.

  "Uh..." You wet your lips.

 "What about you? What are you doing here?" You turn the cameras back to him. It would not be shocking if he came here to take his life as well. Taehyung purses his lips in serious contemplation before candidly answering. "I can see ghosts," He looks down like it was something to be ashamed about. 

That wasn't the case for you. You were completely taken aback by his confession but you found it extremely intriguing. "Oh—Wait what?" One thing about the revelation was that it for sure explained a lot about the way Taehyung acts. You trust his words, but you don't know how to link it to the fact that he was standing right in front of you in the living room of this damned house. Raising a brow at him, you wish for him to elaborate further. "I uh, heard r-rumours circulating around in school, that uh," He pinches his brows.

 "You were going to come in here. So I kind of decided to see if it was true." You were amazed by his candidness.

"And it is." You mused.

It was heartwarming to see that someone actually bothered to risk their life to come look for you. Then again, Taehyung is a guy filled with secrets. God knows, but maybe he is the owner of this house. When his eyes capture yours for one more time, it drowned you into the whirlpool of emotions he was feeling. 

Something like denial, frustration and lastly, regret. The eye contact is never broken. Like Taehyung was staring so hard at you to try and figure the different parts of you out, to evaluate every inch of you and you squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that?" You croaked out, beginning to feel very creeped out despite the tinge of softness laced in his eyes. "You—Urm, you—! Argh!" He only hesitates even more, turning into a stuttering mess. You jump back in surprise at his reaction. Lost and confused as to how to provide you with a suitable reply, he yells and pulls at his locks of hair. It was when he proceeds to fall to the ground on his knees and seemingly begin whimpering into his palms, all surprise turned into worry for the guy. You kneeled down and called out to him. "Shit—Taehyung!"

"What do you seek, young man?" "Your whole point here is to know and advice me." Taehyung bites back. "Very well. An unsolved mystery, something concerning a girl and regarding the old house just down the street." He shuffles his cards and keep them away neatly. It seemed like those tools will not be of any use to Taehyung, and he clearly understood why the man's face have fallen drastically—it isn't a simple case a few cards can crack. You were not only beautiful, you were inculcated with kindness, you held a type of pureness lost by many as they grow up, you spoke in a manner that is highly respectable and the crowfeet that form at the side of your eyes whenever you laughed too hard couldn't get any more adorable. He shifts uncomfortably on the hard wooden seat, and gulps anxiously. "Was her body found?" Taehyung doesn't know. 

He doesn't know where the hell you went or what the fuck you were doing, he only knows that when his eyes flew open, he felt the cold of the night stinging on his skin and an empty space next to him. You were no longer in his arms and the next moment he is springing up from the worn out couch and beginning his search for you. He looked every nook and cranny of the house for you but to no avail. The only resort left got him sitting across a renown psychic. But even the expertise in this region seems to find this case uncrackable. "No." He tilts his head, bringing out a rock of some sort. Taehyung sees it as a mere rock but not to him apparently. "This is the Magic Stone." His fingers fidget around with the purple coloured object. He does this continuously, causing Taehyung to perk an eyebrow up at his claim. The psychic burrows into deep concentration, a conclusion forming in his head. Then, all movement ceases. "Her soul has to bring you there herself."

 The medium's advice sounded strained, like it was the hardest thing to come to a conclusion like that. It's a clear excuse when he says the reason of those teardrops rolling down his cheeks are caused by the wind.

You want to reach out and pat him on the back in hopes of alleviating his pain but you quickly retract it back as the muffled sobs through his fingers grow even louder. All you could wonder at that point in time was whether something bad was happening to Taehyung. Maybe the demons in this house were taking him away first.

Maybe he is really going to die. Then, with every drop of care drained from your exhausted body, you placed your hand on his clothed back with a strong determination to do your best and ease him (into the underworld most likely) without any pain. "Are you okay?" Only for his cries to stop abruptly when he feels your hand smoothing over his back. Hastily, Taehyung removes his hands from his face and turns around to look at you. His eyes were red and swollen from all the desperate weeping, saliva of sorrow pooled in his mouth as he watches you with a kind of anguish and concern. It mirrored the look you gave him when you saw him lying on the ground, beaten up. This is where the two of you are similar. 

Prisoners, but of two entirely different reasons. You drifted your gaze to his elbow and notice the striking dash of pink. The band aid still being there was what solidified the certainty that this was all real. This wasn't some kind of twisted dream. And that would only mean one thing. Because your hand did not manage to rub his back, for the paleness casting over it only sank into his body, deep into his spine—only for his body to be in one piece as you fast to recede it like you had just touched a strong flame—unable to feel anything touching your palm even when you made that physical contact with him. "Taehyung... why..." You inspect your hands carefully. Your skin was never this white. All the hairs on your forearm had disappeared as well, your whole body lacking any hint of life. It felt surreal. Like something that would only occur in dreams. 

"Why can't I touch you?" Maybe if you try pinching yourself, you would wake up. Maybe this was just one of your daily nightmares from stress. It was when you started aggressively pinching the pale skin on your arms, thighs, waist—you realised you could still feel yourself. The only difference being that it was so, so cold. It was similar to touching an ice pack, frosty and nothing much else. 

Cold. That's how you feel and the perplexity that hit you all at once began transforming into larges beams of anger, sadness and helplessness. You wanted to cry as loud as you could for help. "Why do I feel so cold?!" You refused to believe anything your senses were telling you. Everything your naked eyes were showing you. 

Lunging forward, you run your hands all over Taehyung again and hope to actually feel something tangible. 

To your dismay, your fist only goes through his heart like he was made of air—no, like you were made of air. 

You were the dead one here.

"The police have searched the whole compound of the town and spread the news of the missing school girl country wide. In the past two weeks of finding the teenage girl, Y/F/N is still unable to be located. If you have come across—Zap." Taehyung clicks the button on the remote control and flings it to the other end of the couch in frustration. He ruffles through his hair, hoping for hints of you to magically pop up in his head. The thing is, the both of you had barely spoken to one another. Plus, he had a tough time speaking to the people at his-and your-school. One week. One whole week since the disappearance of your body. The police are proven to be fucking useless and incompetently unreliable, he mentally notes. He figured that the fastest method to locate you, would require him to act out on his own. The list of things that can happen to your body goes down a long scroll that even Taehyung himself is unwilling to imagine. He wants you to at least, still be in one piece when he finds you. He uses the term body, because your soul is for sure loitering somewhere in town. It can't go too far from your body, a rule he remembers by heart. So, it wouldn't be entirely impossible to detect where your corpse would be. Think, think, think! He repeats like a mantra in his bursting head. Where would you go if you were this free, lingering spirit? And then he recalls.

"You're up here again."

He pushes himself up onto his usual spot—a high wall surrounding the perimeter of the rooftop, granting anyone up here a perfect view of the school field and vast blue sky. The job of the wall is to prevent any students from falling over and have their bodies crush to pulp when they plop to the ground floor. But Taehyung doesn't play by the rules. Where is the fun in that? He often questions anything that has to do with system and order. As a person who lives by pure intuition, Taehyung brings himself to the top floor for the second time after just doing so the day before. It could be the voices whispering encouragements for him to pay upstairs a visit, or maybe it had to do with a very strong gut feeling tugging at his chest. Nonetheless, he was here.

The boy from yesterday is situated at the exact place as before. His skin was terrifyingly pale—but not translucent—and the cracking of his bones could still be heard whenever he swinged his legs. He must have just died a few days ago, Taehyung concludes. The boy doesn't acknowledge Taehyung, nor does he reply.

"What are you doing here?" Taehyung cranes his neck a little to face the boy properly—who in turn was staring at his feet with a strange amount of attention. Then upon following his line of sight, Taehyung realises how small and young the boy was—his own legs were almost twice as long as the kid's.

"My brother," He finally speaks, but only softly.

Taehyung digests his answer for a moment, before cautiously popping the second question. He knew better than to ask why the boy had died, it would probably even send the kid into a fury and then to hell, which was the last thing Taehyung wanted to happen to him. "If you don't mind me asking," He nervously grips the edge of wall.

 The boy tipped his chin up slightly, intrigued by his words. His big round eyes came into view, leaving a heavy load to weigh at Taehyung's heart. His eyes, still freshly glistening and vibrant with blackness illustrated the bright and long road that awaited him in his life, only to be torn apart by whatever fatally tragic accident he was met with. It's a pity. It's a pity how some promising futures can be so easily robbed of in a blink of the eye. It is not a frequent occasion where tears pricked at Taehyung's eyes. He closes them for a second, before getting the question out. "Who is your brother?" The boy now turns to fully face him, legs still swinging regardless. His eyes looked way bigger and innocent than Taehyung had thought they would be. And it doubled the pain beneath his ribs.

It's suffering to bump into an innocent soul. He had rather someone who acted the way they deserved their death. The boy switches his stare on Taehyung now, silent while his orbs grow shinier. "I'm sorry in advance," The child looks like he was about to burst into tears. Taehyung felt the same. What was a sweet boy like him even apologetic for? "Min Yoongi." Taehyung blinks in surprise. The boy was gone. A series of giggles echoed in the stairway and without another thought, Taehyung hops down to hide himself from whoever was there. He does not recall any platform being built after the wall. He simply knows that if he falls over from such a risky position, he would die. He heaves a deep sigh of relief when the platform does not crumble into pieces under his full weight. He thinks it must be the doing of the boy. His smile is cut off when the footsteps and voices grow louder, noticeably two female students just hanging out. Unlike being rash as himself, they only prop their elbows on the wall, admiring the scene as that. Which he was grateful for, otherwise he would definitely get caught for loitering around carelessly. "Finally. Something great about this shit hole." Taehyung sticks onto the wall like a lizard, trying his best to be away from the edge. "Honestly, the perfect spot to take fresh breather," the other voice makes an appearance. "No one ever comes up here unless you want to be making a serious offence." A flock of birds crosses the sky and Taehyung secretly hopes they don't share the tiny space with him. "For peace and quiet, I'd give anything." The first voice replies. He silently nods in strong agreement. And he recognises it as yours, because of that one time you were called up to present a book review in Literature class. Your voice was distinct yet soft, you spoke with a sense of urgency to bring your point across and yet still manage to maintain your composure in your tone. He must say he’s never been this impressed by a presenter before.

And here he is, hearing the same voice again. This time, much quieter and lower compared to in class, but it leaves him beyond intrigued of the next content spilling out of your mouth. "Then, where are you going to get your dear peace and quiet after this semester?" The second girl with the higher pitched voice asks. "Hm, great question." The first girl ponders and probably stares into the horizon.

Then she replies, after the earth spins a full round. "Somewhere with sand and salt maybe." She answers seriously, after much consideration. "Can't you just say the beach? You idiot." "Whatever. Just checking if that peanut brain of yours is working." A gasp can be heard. "You better run before I catch you!" Their shoes leave heavy footsteps on the concrete and their voices gradually fade away.

Taehyung feels bad for eavesdropping onto their conversation, but it was something he couldn’t help even if he did not want to.

Speaking of which, Taehyung hasn’t thought about what he’d like to do during spring break. Maybe he’d bring some flowers and offerings for Yoongi’s brother and the others always by his side. Without being seen, that goes without saying.

They’d be over the moon to receive flowers because no one is really there for them. Or have simply forgotten about them. Taehyung wonders if anyone would bring him flowers when he passes on.

Still, Taehyung felt a seed of envy being planted inside of him, wishing that he could go to the beach or park during the season of blossoms with friends and genuinely have a good time. He has never gotten the opportunity to hang out with any normal human ever since birth. He told a friend he trusted about his ability of seeing things normal people couldn’t and the boy went about telling everybody about his confession which led to the beginning of his ostracisation

Weirdo. Freak. Those were the names he eventually got accustomed to being called as.

The seed of envy grows. The both of you are lucky enough to be discussing about where to head to for vacation, something he couldn’t do.

Lucky enough to be going on a vacation. Not everyone has that blessing.

He wish he could be like everyone else. Lead a normal life, have friends, and be wealthier. This way, he wouldn’t have to struggle so much.

For a moment, he wishes that he could replace the position and live the life of anyone else. 

Like the girl who can play the violin. 

Like the boy always sleeping in class.

Like the school’s janitor.

Like Yoongi. 

Like you.

"Hey you! What are you doing up there?!" Someone like a security personnel yells at him from downstairs. Now, how the hell was he supposed to get back up there?

You must not be far. His feet dents the soaked sand beneath, leaving prints that queued in line to be washed up by the incoming waves. With the ends of his pants rolled up, he spins around aimlessly to search for you. It was fortunately a weekday, which allowed the beach to be emptier. And that would make the task of spotting you much easier. He strolls along the coast, patiently kindling his instincts to take him wherever you were to be. It feels almost surreal—the texture of the grainy sand rubbing against the sole of his feet, the gentle whispers of the arriving waves, the wind slicing through his thick hair, ruffling it like feathers—how peculiar it felt to realise that he is alive, being hyper aware of all five (or six) senses.

The tangibility of things would signal that he is actually a living human, but something intangible is missing in him and it makes the whole experience of being alive feel so...detached. Every part of his body felt like it didn't belong to him—it was his toes coming in contact with the sand and not him, it was his hair dancing with the wind and not him, it was his legs moving on their own accord and not Taehyung. This is what happens when you interact with supernatural beings for the whole of your life, he thinks.

"Hey watch your step!" A shout intrudes his thoughts. Taehyung pauses, retracting his feet back. The small kid carries on building her sandcastle with her companion. Watching their busy hands, Taehyung tries to figure out who exactly was the one who warned him. Regardless, he whips out his camera to take a shot of the girl building sandcastles. "Yay! It's done!" The girl pats the top of the castle and runs towards the benches shrieking in contentment, failing to withhold the excitement of breaking the news of the small achievement to her mother. The other girl however, only smiles at Taehyung and vanishes. He runs his eyes across the ground. Just below his toes, there laid a tiny baby turtle. It scurries, towards nowhere, seemingly unable to acquire the skill of waddling on the fine sand like all his other pals. A meter ahead, his friends totter in clusters towards the entrance of the sea. The poor buddy struggles hard to walk properly, let alone find the correct direction home. He suddenly grows conscious of the couple of seagulls chilling by the water. But he was too preoccupied with the aim to find you to bother about the weak creature. As he was just about to dismissively stroll away, something tells him to make a turn and save that baby animal. He should make a difference when he can. He definitely should. He could actually salvage a situation. A life that is. He jogs back faster than the predator birds could, quickly finding the turtle again and gently picked it up. The shell looked too big for its body and its two big ebony eyes popping out of its sockets gazing at Taehyung—are filled with gratitude. Or so he assumes. The creature makes some kind of fuzzy noise—of happiness—when it is put down onto the sea line to join its siblings. The rambunctious clique waddles their way into the ocean, gliding across and surging into the water, one by one, delightfully. The seagulls trots away, lunch stolen. He continues his trail. Slowly, a pier approaches. And similar to Yoongi's brother, a girl sits at the end of the wooden platform all by herself.

She radiates frozen, cold heat and as he gets closer, the temperature dives. He carefully crafts his steps towards the lone spirit, begging the planks to not creak too loudly in fears of scaring her away. With every inch he gets closer to the girl, the clouds present in the sky turns darker, accompanied with the flush of even more greyness which eventually overlays the initial coat of cyan. The familiarity of the uniform boosts the confidence in him to call out your name. "Y/N?" She stands up—indeed the girl reported missing—and Taehyung was glad it was you. The troubles fogging his mind seem to have cleared at the plain sight of you. He was relieved that he had at least found your soul. It was another thing to find your body though, and that is the main objective here. Connecting your body with your soul would be the final resort in sending you off in peace. He had a day left. Twenty four hours before you wouldn't be able to leave in peace. Before your pure soul would dissipate into a fiery pit of wrath, abandoned in the darkest abyss until you transform into a vengeful spirit. All the hatred, pain and misery would be instilled in your afterlife that is deadly inescapable. These overwhelming amount of negative emotions trapped in your soul would then leave you in this state, forever. The sight was inexplicably depressing. Just a few days ago, you were real to the touch. He could feel your fingers smoothing over the plaster on his arm. He could see the satisfaction radiating off the smile you flashed at him before, leaving. He could smell the light cherry blossom from your shampoo flowing in the air. He could hear the base of your sneakers hitting the floor as you paced your way to class. Yet now, the wood underneath wouldn't make a sound as you got up.

Your lips were chapped and your crusting skin was faded. Compare to a few days ago at the house, you looked much worse and haggard.

The corners of your mouth quivered, itching to bring forth expression but unable to do so. You couldn’t even smile. You couldn’t even cry if you wanted to.

Now you were toeing the line that crossed the real world and heaven apart.

Somehow he feels like it is partly his fault. Maybe if he had tugged onto your wrist and asked you to stay back a little longer. Maybe if he was quick enough to catch you after school. Maybe then, you wouldn't have had the chance to end your life. Caged by your fingers, was a head of pink.

"I heard that pink carnations stand for the remembrance of the dead," 

His brows furrows at your words. How is it that you were able to comfort him so easily, while he is here having a difficult time to even form words to express his grief. But he was sure that like him, you didn't crave for sympathy at all. 

Maybe if he had clung onto the empty look in your eyes, thinking more than he should, stepping out of his comfort zone to care for you. Then perhaps, this situation would never take place. Then with a heaving chest, he clenches his teeth to embrace the fact that you are no longer existent in this real world. It was pointless to think about all the possibilities that could have dodged this situation.

"I hope someone remembers me." 

Uncontrollably, a bead of tear seeps out and rolls down his cheek. His nostrils flare up as the sadness and realisation overtakes every cell in him that was fighting against the tide of sorrow. His heart feels like someone plunged their fist into his bare chest and ripped it out. Thrown onto the ground and stomped into pieces.

Lips quivering, Taehyung fights back the devastation and gathers the last scrapes of sensibility in his mind, using all the energy his rationality could afford—brings the camera looped around his neck up to his eyes, and snaps.

Through the lens, a pink carnation levitates above the pier, the ocean a transverse blue spread across the rectangular panel, accentuating the vibrant colour of the dainty flower.

The camera lowers, along with his head.

He was sobbing by now, all the while you gently hold the flower and stare at him with the same hollow eyes. “Why?!” He grits out between cries. 

"Why..." The later one comes out in broken, incoherent snippets.

You are really not here anymore. With him.

"I'm weaker than you think," You breathed out with a faint smile following the confession. His heart clenches and twists into a tight knot, pulling at his conscience.

"And don't you worry, I will return to my body." 

The fact that you were still trying your best to maintain cheery for him despite being dead twists his heart viciously. The world is too cruel to you, and to him. An angel like you deserves to seek your happiness in a better place like the skies above. The visage of you is becoming transparent, signalling your departure. Taehyung musters all that is left in him to take a step forward and press his palm softly to your face. He could not feel anything but his hand was just there, for support and consolation.

"I will remember you." 

His words of affirmation sets your heart at ease. You finally understand how they would all say, that the true pain does not lie within the process of dying, but in truth lies within the witnessing of those who love and care for you, break down. After climbing out of your state of denial at your own death, you have come to terms with that fact and wish for nothing more than to end the whole suffering. It lurches at your heart seeing a guy like Taehyung who you were not even that close to, crying like he had just lost a precious belonging. Like the world had just lost a precious belonging. You hoped that people remember you. For all your hard work in this world, for all the full marks you attained, for all the certifications you achieved, for all the smiles you have bring and the band aids you have placed on others. You hope that when people think of you, it is nothing but filled with goodness. There were, no regrets to say the least.

 Your body may not be in its best condition, but the accident pulled your death off pretty well. It left you with no second thoughts, no last words, just a brutal blow to your side and head. It killed you with perfection, leaving no hesitation and last words—just met with the end in a solid second. You're suddenly worried Taehyung gets into trouble again.

"If anything, I'll protect you alright?"

Taehyung chuckles unbelievably through sniffs. 

"We'll meet again.”

Your final words splinters apart, the bottom half of your body already beginning to dissipate. You gradually dissolve into the thin air—the cold mist and you becoming one— and the skies clear up in no rush. The carnation drops to the wooden floor with a thud. 

I will remember you.

It was a chilly night, an expected downpour to attack in about an hour. His curtains danced to the rhythm of the wind, flowing about violently. "The body of the missing school girl has been recovered after a hiker going for his morning exercise smells rotten flesh in the woods. The police suspect that the girl may have jumped off a cliff from above as an attempt of suicide." Taehyung shifts his attention back to the mac and cheese turning cold on his lap. At one point, the winds were so rough that the vase sitting on the top of his dresser wobbles in jeopardy before another ferocious blow arrives through his window and topples the glass over, onto the ground. Shattered into fragments. Water spills out and the pink carnation flows along on the liquid like a dead body in a river. He internally groans at the mess he has to clean up afterwards, but it is only for a short moment before his attention is snatched by the voice of news anchor on television once again. "However, the forensics department has confirmed with the backing of further detailed analysis of the crime scene, that there were skid marks indicated on the road at the edge of the cliff accompanied by scraps of car paint evident on the victim's clothes." The carnation on the ground blackens, curls up into a crushed stalk of wither.

[storiesundercandlelight]

Loving Loki - Four

Two weeks. Two uneventful weeks had passed since David and I had our day out. The day where we had also said that we would start dating each other, yet here I am sat on may couch on a Saturday morning wondering why fate and timing had been so cruel to me. 

I was being selfish, I knew this yet I couldn’t help myself. So many thoughts were running through my head right now. The case was over. Detective Loki was on the news. Missing girls both found and alive. Even the father of the last girl to be found had been located after his mysterious disappearance. I wanted to be happy, I was, almost. David had been gone so much recently, the last two weeks were manic for him, not just because he solved the case but also because people seemed to blow up about this story, about the detective who had single handedly solved this brutally horrible case of the abduction of two girls.

My phone vibrated against the wood of the coffee table beside me, my eyes pulling away from the dull noise of the TV. It was David.

I know you’re mad, I’m sorry I haven’t had any time to see you. Can I come over later?

It was hard to be mad, I just couldn’t justify it. How could I be mad at someone who so patiently and passionately wanted to do his best to find the missing girl, who had risked his well being to bring her home? You just cant be mad at someone like that. But I cant deny this strange feeling inside. It had been almost three months since I moved here and the lonely feeling never fully went away. I almost cried when my friend Kate told me she was coming to visit me, I swear I couldn’t wait the three days it was going to take before she’s due to visit. 

I’m not mad David, how could I be? Of course you can come over x 

These little texts back and forth had been a constant part of my daily routine for the last two weeks. It was the only thing that fully reminded me that I was even in this relationship. This very new, very non-existent relationship. 

Ok, I’ll be there around 5:30pm? We could order some food and watch a movie?

I had to admit he knew how to do it. Somehow he knew after so little time that I preferred to stay home and snuggle up rather than dressing up and going out. Well…except from when Kate gets here then going out is a must, the girl seems to function best under florescent lights and above crowded dance floors. 

My eyes drifted to my laptop, still sat on the coffee table “Draft One” the only thing written on the screen. I tried, so so many times to get words out. God I wanted to write something. To pour my emotions out and create something that others would be still glued to at 1:00am in the morning because they simply can’t put it down without knowing the ending. I don’t know what it was but the sudden urge to leave the house was so heavy on my shoulders that I didn’t hesitate with my next text.

Skip takeout, I need milk, I’ll grab something to make for dinner x

I was pretty comfortable cooking for myself, it had been a while since I’d cooked for anyone else but the idea of trying something new with David was so exciting.

Sure sounds great x

I allowed myself a few seconds to smile at the fact that he put an x at the end of the text, its such a petty thing to notice but I did anyway. Then I jumped up, grabbed my coat, keys and bag and headed out. 

The little car I’d got myself was useful enough, it wasn’t fancy or particularly expensive but it worked for me and didn’t look like a crumpled up tin can so I think I did okay. The parking lot to the local supermarket was pretty full, I didn’t expect anything less for a Saturday. But I did take notice more than once of the kids cheerfully throwing their parents groceries to each other other the carts. One wrong move and that melon is going everywhere. 

I settled for teriyaki chicken, some rice and a few greens. I’d cooked it more than once and didn’t feel like a complete fool when it came to cooking it for someone else. As I walked down the isles grabbing what I need plus extra groceries for the week my phone started ringing. David?

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah I got a five minute break so I figured I’d call, whats that noise?”

“That would be two kids trying to decide which one of them can throw the vegetables in they mothers cart the furthest, I think they’re going for a world record”

“You’re joking right?”

“Nope, you cant make this stuff up, the floor attendant looks like he’s about to blow a fuse” I pushed myself up onto my tip toes to reach a bag of chips from the top shelf. 

“If it’s the Harris kid they’ll be strung up from the ceiling by the time you leave”

“You know too many people”

“It’s a small town, so what are you cooking tonight?”

“I cant tell you”

“Why not?”

“Because if I do then you’ll have too much time between now and when you’re due over to realise you hate what I’m cooking and make an excuse not to come” I finally reached the till where a teenager was chewing gum and scanning my items at a snails pace. 

“I promise I wont hate whatever you make”

“I’m gonna hold you to that when you taste it and realise that I’m an awful cook”

“Well you said awful first so maybe-“ I heard David reply to someone in the background, the till beeping and the struggle of holding the phone between my head and shoulder while packing preventing me from hearing fully what was said. “I gotta go, I’ll see you later?”

“Oh yeah, sure. See you later” The line went dead just as I’d finished paying. I grabbed my bags and said thanks to the girl who’s eyes were directly chained on the guy working the other till, she popped her gum and nodded at me without even taking her eyes off him. 

The rest of the day went by pretty uneventfully, I showered, cleaned the house quickly and ended up in the kitchen. Okay, if I start the dinner prep now I can leave the chicken to marinade in the fridge and then just pull it out to cook when Davids here. I was feeling a lot more optimistic about David coming over. Maybe this would finally be the start of our relationship, no more texting and “Im sorry I couldn’t make it” calls. 

I started to cut the chicken on a matt into small pieces, the rice boiling happily on the cooker beside me before hearing a knock at the door. David looked tired, but not as tired as he had been during the case, this tired was a normal kind of tired, not the kind that made him look like he was about to drop any second. As David took off his jacket I returned back to cooking, I could hear his footsteps approaching me and within a few seconds he was behind me, leaning close to me to look over my shoulder at the food. The chicken was now cooking in a pan, mixed with the veggies and sauce. 

“I wont lie I could probably eat both of our portions right now” I felt a shiver run down my spine when David spoke, he was close enough that I felt his breath against the back of my ear. His hands were resting gently on my hips. I loved how easy it was to be around David despite the not so normal start we’d had. The over the phone, mostly at work and occasionally in between all of the above schedule we had seemed at first like it would never have worked but I could honestly say I was glad we’d stuck it out. The warmth of him behind me as I cooked our meal felt so right I couldn’t find anything to complain about. 

“Why don’t you set the table? It’ll be ready soon” I turned my head to meet Davids gaze a soft smile tugging at the sides of my lips.

“Sure” Just as David turned to go about the job I’d set I quickly grabbed his arm. He stopped to look at me a questioning look falling over his features. I didn’t leave him waiting long before I reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek, teasingly close to his lips. As I pulled away I swore I could see the surprise on Davids face before he smiled and went to set the table. Yes I could get used to this feeling.

The food smelt and looked thankfully as good as it tasted, I poured two glasses of water while David was already happily digging into his food. 

“Do they forget to feed you?” 

“You have no idea” He spoke quickly before going back to his food.  I smiled looking at David, ti had been so long since I’d had the opportunity to just look at him. At the department he was so rushed recently and working out regularly left very little time to fully appreciate the seemingly perfect angles of his jaw or his blue eyes that turned a stormy grey when the lighting was right.

“You’re staring”

“Huh?” I quickly meet Davids gaze, realising that he’d stopped eating and was looking at me with a small smirk. “Sorry, it’s just…I kinda missed looking at you, I haven’t really had the opportunity” I felt heat rise to my cheeks and quickly looked down at my plate.

“I know, I feel the same. I was surprised you didn’t notice me staring the other day”

“You were?”

“Yeah, you were at your desk and had this pencil hanging out of your mouth and you looked like your computer had just asked you to single handedly solve its coding, you were just so in your own world, you didn’t even notice anyone else around you, you looked pretty” David held my gaze but I could see the slight embarrassment at his confession etching over his features, he put his fork down and sighed. “I know this hasn’t been great, this whole relationship thing between us. I wanted it to be better than this but I just couldn’t think of anything but the case, I don’t normally get so involved but those girls…they need someone like me to spend too much time looking for leads and not enough time on his new girlfriend, who was well within her rights to leave me, I wouldn’t have blamed you”

“I wouldn’t have left you David. I know how hard this had been, I saw the paperwork. I don’t blame you for not paying attention to me, I couldn’t, I like you for who you are and if that includes your dedication to your work then so be it” a smile spread across Davids face and I let one spread across mine too and for a moment we did just look like two fools in love.  

[caspinn]

Repeating Apologies - Chapter 7

Summary: The Winchesters and Castiel are looking for Deans soulmate to save him from the Mark of Cain. The only thing they know is that he or she happens to be one of an extremely rare species: The Indigo Children.

In this Chapter, Sam, Dean, Cas and Valo (one of the Indigos) go looking for the next Indigo, in Greece.

Warnings: Mentions of suicide.

Dean still felt a bit off after the encounter with the Indigo. His strange eyes did something to Dean; they made him feel empty. He had no more energy to be angry or aggressive and he didn’t care about anything anymore. It was a different kind of empty than he had with the Mark, but it wore off every minute of course, although he wasn’t able to shake that feeling off for a few hours.

Returned to the motel, Sam still didn’t know if they had to be even more careful and less trusting or not, and Dean simply didn’t care for a while so Sam started asking Valo some questions.

“What did you do to Dean?” Sam asked. Valo sat down on a chair, just like Sam. Dean sat in a sofa and Cas was testing the buttons of the fauteuil. Valo shrugged.

“Nothing really, I mean, you can see he isn’thurt, right?” Sam quickly glanced at Dean.

“Yeah, but you did….something to him. He acts like a bag of potatoes.” Cas looked up after that comparison, frowning and staring at Sam like the Winchester spoke in riddles.

Yup, Castiel didn’t get why Sam called Dean a bag of potatoes. Dean could’ve explained the comparison to the Angel, but he simply didn’t care and Sam didn’t notice Cas’s confusion. Dean saw that Cas decided to let it go when Valo answered.

“He looked me in the eyes, I didn’t have to use any more power than that. My-eh-other eyes have that effect on people, you know.” Valo shrugged once more. “Eh, at least he calmed down, I don’t like to use my powers either.”

“Why did you make a shield then, if you meant no harm?” Cas asked. Dean looked at Cas questioning. There was a shield? Dean only had noticed Valo’s weird eyes.

“Well, that…just happened,” Valo answered while his hand went through his hair. “The shield is kind of a habit, I’m not used to using my powers without the need to protect myself and I can’t really control them so they just do what they do.”

Castiel nodded. When Sam wanted to ask Valo his next question, the man held his hand up to silent the Winchester. Dean saw Sam cocking his eyebrow.

“But, Castiel, I didn’t expect you to be able to break those pieces down so easily. I mean, you must be a very skilled angel.”

Sam was the only one who looked surprised by the fact that Valo knew that Cas was an Angel. Dean simply wasn’t really feeling anything and Cas was being Cas. He probably saw it coming one way or another.

“How did you notice?” Sam asked Valo in a mumble, who was smiling a bit smugly. Not out of arrogance, but more like a teacher who was talking to an involved and curious student. “Well, I can see his wings, you know. And they are so huge, it’s almost impossible for me to not notice them,” Valo said, pointing at the empty space behind Cas where Sam sees absolutely nothing but air. This time Cas looked a bit surprised, turning his head to the side as if to check if his wings are actually there.

“They don’t really look so well, though,” Valo went on, scratching his stubbled chin while he was thinking.

“So, you saw my wings the first time we met and you weren’t surprised or confused or anything?” Castiel asked suspiciously.

“But how, I mean, when…you met an angel-?“ Sam started, but he was quickly interrupted by Dean suddenly jumping up from his place at the couch. He could’ve sworn that he saw something moving outside through the window behind Sam. Sam stared at his brother in wide eyes and then followed his brother’s gaze.

 Dean was already opening the door, as quick as he was. As soon as he lowered the handle, he saw something quickly moving in the bushes. If Dean wasn’t so focused, the effect of Valo had worn off, he would’ve never have noticed the slight movements in there. Thanks to the Mark he lost all kinds of strategy as soon as he felt threatened and so he immediately ran to the plants like a wild animal in search for his prey. But the prey saw him coming and was quick too, probably even quicker.

Dean saw someone sprinting out of the bushes and he ran after the person. He’d rather die than let the man get away, he thought while he felt his heartbeat quicken. He got closer and closer to the man and when Dean caught the man’s black hood and pulled him back, his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his body.

He immediately knocked the man against the ground, and his fist was already raised to start landing a punch when he noticed the man wasn’t in fact a man, but rather… a woman? After he blinked out of confusion, he saw it wasn’t even a woman, but a girl. A teenager with long, black, wavy hair and bright blue eyes. Dean stared at her in disbelief. Did he just turn into such a cruel creature that his brain didn’t even notice that he was chasing a young girl?

She had been wearing headphones, but Dean knocked them off when he slammed the girl against the ground. He heard a melancholic sounding song and could unravel just one sentence that immediately was planted in his brains. ’…Don’t try to fight the storm, you'll tumble overboard….’ It sounded like even the song tried to tell him to die, or give in, surrender.

When Sam arrived, he pulled his older brother away from the girl and checked her wounds. She kindly smiled at him.

“Don’t worry, sir. I’m a Vampire anyways, I don’t hurt that quickly,” she said calmly.

“What?!” Dean barked at her, he suddenly felt sick. These mood swings didn’t really feel good. Right after feeling bitter for chasing a young girl, his mind immediately went back to the ‘kill it kill it kill it’ mode.

“Would you please allow us to check that, miss?” Castiel asked. He was standing next to Sam, who was kneeling next to the girl. Sam pushed her upper lip upwards after she consented.

“Yup, those teeth can’t be mistaken, alright,” Sam muttered in confirmation. After wiping his hands on his pants he stood up and helped the girl to get back on her feet.

In the meantime, Dean’s head was going crazy. Why was she there? Why didn’t she attack them? Why was she acting normal? Why did she run away? Was she sent to get their attention? Or was she sent to take away their attention? Who’d need them to stop concentrating? Dean inhaled sharply before he snapped.

“WHERE IS VALO?!” he shouted out, not being able to believe these two idiots would just leave the Indigo alone in the motel room.

“Right behind you,” Valo said calmly. Dean jumped and turned around. The Indigo raised his eyebrows and walked passed Dean to take a look at the Vampire.

“Well, they told me that these creatures existed, but I’ve never had the chance to really see one,” Valo said in fascination, circling around the Vampire girl as if she was some artwork in a museum. Dean wanted to ask who Valo meant when he spoke about them, and how the hell he knew how angel wings look like, or how he wasn’t baffled about that?

But Sam went on with asking question to the Vampire, what, indeed seemed to be more important at that moment. Dean felt lucky that Sam was still focused, because his head was complete shit and Cas had been permanently glancing, the way only Cas can do, at Valo. This seemed to make Valo feel a little uncomfortable, Dean noticed when he saw Valo scratch his head and arms a little bit more than his used to before the wings-conversation.

“What are you doing here? Were you trying to hunt us?” Sam asked her, watching her as she wiped away the dust from her clothes. Dean bet she wanted to eat the guys, but a little voice in his brains whispered to him that a teenage vampire wouldn’t try to hunt three guys on her own.

Dean started flashing around with his eyes, a bit paranoid. Maybe there was someone behind that bush or maybe behind that tree. It wouldn’t have been the first time Vampires would use a teenage girl to get what they want; Alex was the living proof of that.

“Dude, how dumb would I have be to try to hunt a bunch of hunters?” the girl asked, unimpressed.

“I don’t know, how do you know we are hunters?” Dean responded bitterly while staring at a, what seemed to him, suspective parked car.

“Well, my boss told me, so I was prepared. Besides, you knocked me down very quickly so…you know, every vampire with half a brain would notice that you’re hunters.”

When Dean finally realized that the car wasn’t going to explode in a thousand flaming metallic shards, he came to stand next to his brother and stared the vampire in the eyes. “That still doesn’t explain what you were doing. Who are you working for? Give us clear answers!” Dean growled. The skin of his fist saw yellow, ready to punch. Because teenage girl or not, monsters were just monsters in his dictionary.

The girl seemed to understand that she couldn’t keep on playing with the elder Winchester much longer. “Look man, I don’t eat human, that’s gross. The whole group only eats animals and we're constantly hunting on different places to make sure that the people won’t notice it too much.”

“So, you were spying on us… why?” Sam asked calmly.

“My boss asked me to keep an eye on you guys, you know…she wanted to get to know your intentions and motives to be in Greece so she’d know if she’d have to be worried.” So this Vampire has a female boss, something like the leader of a pack? Dean got even more paranoid.

“How long have you been watching us?”

The Vampire shook her head. “I don't think I should tell you guys anything.” The girl chewed her lip for a second while she was thinking. “She’ll probably explain everything to you guys… If you want to meet her?”

Sam turned around to look at Dean, who scratched his head. Meeting a queen of Vampires didn’t seem to be the best plan ever, but this girl made him curious. And after all, he’d have Sam and Cas by his side, so if they’d have to they’d be able to get rid of the Vamps. They might be American hunters, but Greek Vampires are still Vampires, and this girl’s story sounded way too interesting to ignore.

When Dean nodded, Sam asked “Where do we meet her?”

The teenage Vampire started explaining without hesitation. “So, you go to Olympia and when you get there, you just get your asses to the first Olympic arena. She always hangs around there, it’s kind of her business place, I guess. But you can only go by day. She goes home at six and nobody needs to know where she lives. Please let me go now!’ she didn't sound afraid, just more cranky. Dean then looked down to realize he had been clutching to her wrist to keep her from running off.

“Why would we do that, if we can just rid the world of one more vamp?” Dean said with a horrible looking smile. That didn’t scare her off either.

“Oh, come on! Jerks!” She cursed. Cas came standing next to Dean and stared at the Vampire, but was talking to the elder Winchester.

“Why would we kill her? She didn’t harm anyone… and she doesn’t consume human flesh. What kind of threat is she to us that we MUST get her blood on our hands?” Dean shook his head bitterly.

“Cas, she isn't human.”

“Neither am I,” Cas answered. “Nor Valo, yet we didn’t jam a knife through his neck.”

Valo jumped in on the conversation. “And I would strongly appreciate if you didn’t. And if I have to believe you guys, I must be a freak of nature.”

“You are!” Dean snapped loudly.

“Then why am I still alive?” Valo raised his eyebrow.

“Guys, that doesn’t matter! Stop wasting time with needless conversations. We are not going to kill Valo, unless he does something extremely wrong and we are not going to kill this girl under the same condition!” Sam settled this, he obviously felt a little bit annoyed. Then Dean heard him sigh. Sam was probably just worrying about Dean again, but what was there to worry? Dean really felt like shutting the Vampire down would be the most logical thing to do. Why didn’t anyone agree with him?

Fine, whatever… . Dean took a few steps back, releasing her wrist and watching how the girl rubbed her skin now that she was freed.

“Wait!” Dean yelled when the girl was about to turn around to run away. “What's your name? So we can come after you when we discover that everything you told us is a lie!” She turned her eyes and Dean could read her thoughts from her over-sarcastic face: Oh. My. God.

“Beyoncé, you paranoid freak!” she snapped. Dean heard Castiel mumble in the background.

“That’s doesn’t sound true,” he muttered, frowning once more and looking as if he wasn’t really sure how to feel about it. Dean ignored the naïve Angel.

“Please, tell us your name?” Sam asked and showed her that he was serious about this too.

“Fine, fine! My name is Echo,” she admitted after a long staring match. When the guys stared some more at her, not sure if they should believe her, she sighed. “Look, I must’ve been a very loud baby. Can I go now?”

Sam decided to believe her, so he nodded. Echo waved shortly at them before turning around. On the road, she went right and disappeared in the darkness.

 “Are we really taking him with us!?” Dean asked, not able to believe it. When he got up the next morning, he had found Valo, packing his bags too.

“What do you want us to do, leave him here on his own?” Sam tried to talk some sense into his older brother, but Dean was hardheaded, as usual.

“Someone should stay here with him!”

“Sure, be my guest Dean!” Sam countered in a sudden wave of anger, clenching his teeth and startling Dean. “One more time: we are NOT hunting the Indigo Children! We are asking them for help, and it’s been a wonder that Valo kept putting up with your shit. You’ve been acting like a little child, unthankful for the sacrifice this man has made for you. If you keep behaving like this, we will never find the other two and we will never find your soulmate. And if we find them, they would never even want to help an arrogant ass like you!”

Valo kept packing his stuff, obviously feeling a bit uncomfortable next to the two arguing brothers.

“Now, you’re going to stop being such a spoiled brat and start showing respect to the people who are here to help you,” Sam finished his rant, and slammed the door behind him. He probably went for a walk and left Dean with a heavy head. He felt Valo staring at him and went to get a beer without looking at the Indigo. Sam was right, Sam was so damn right, but Dean had a hard time being softer. His body felt permanently tense.

 “This place is beautiful,” Cas mumbled when they arrived at the ancient Olympic stadium. It was a ruin with grass growing everywhere and remaining stones of what must have been walls, still laying in low rows, marking the path like they used to do when they were great walls. Dean was following his brother when he noticed Valo going somewhere else.

The hunter decided to stay with the Indigo to show Valo that he wasn’t totally repulsive to him. Valo didn’t say anything and that totally didn’t bother Dean. It gave Dean the chance to get used to the Indigo, to calm his nerves so he wouldn’t say anything stupid. Valo found a still-remaining tunnel to walk through and felt the need to touch it before actually looking or walking through it. Dean, however, noticed someone walking around on the other side of it.

He poked Valo, who jumped slightly. “Go get Sam and Cas,” he whispered.

“You’re going to that woman alone, aren’t you? Who knows what she is-?” But Dean was already walking inside the tunnel. Then he turned around while walking backwards for a few seconds. “Yeah, well, I’ll see, won’t I?” On the other side of the tunnel, Dean saw a long stroke of gravel, surrounded by grass. The woman was walking around on the gravel, talking to her phone. She noticed Dean and finished her conversation. The woman had brown eyes and black curled hair, knotted together in a forties hairstyle. She was wearing a vintage sleeve, tube dress and was wearing red lipstick. She looked his age. When she had put her phone away, she started walking towards Dean.

She smiled widely at him.

“Well, well, the famous Dean Winchester, standing in front of me,” she said, sounding like she had the time of her life. Dean didn’t let her beauty distract him.

“Yeah, sure. Who are you and why are you following us?” he asked, and right after that Cas, Sam an Valo joined him at last. They had been running, Dean could hear them breathe heavily. The woman looked to the other guys and Dean could clearly see joy in her eyes by the look of his company.

“An Angel – well, what’s left of him anyway – two hunters and an Indigo. What a special clan do we have here?”

Valo stared at her strangely and took a few steps back.

“But who are you?” Sam asked this time, taking the word from Dean with his eternal calm. She already knew the kind of company the guys were, their race, their names. She must be powerful and have a lot of spies.

“You… are you an Indigo?” Valo whispered in the background. The other guys turned to him. Dean read confusion on Valo’s face, which was turning white.

“Yeah, I didn’t suspect that meeting another one would make me feel heavy and sick too, but they said that that feeling goes away the longer we stay in each other’s company.” The woman gave him a big smile, though nobody knew if it was sincere or not.

“You guys can feel each other?” Cas asked curiously. Valo nodded and let himself fall on his knees, the woman had to sit down for a moment too. ”Wait, there are only three Indigo’s in the world and only one of them lives in Greece. So you must be-“

“Eryn Mundis, it’s a pleasure to meet you all! I brought you guys here because I just couldn’t figure out why you were hunting the Indigo Children. My family has been signaling you guys to me since you landed in England, but they never found out any reasons. So you know, I thought that I probably should figure it out myself.”

So she had been stalking them during their whole journey. This made Dean feel very paranoid again, he started walking in circles. This was a whole other way of finding the Indigo, because this time, she tracked them down.

“Please don’t pass out,” she said worryingly to Valo. The other Indigo laid himself on his back.

“How long will we feel this way?” he asked.

“Just a few hours, normally. We need to adjust to each other’s energy. But please-“ she coughed heavily, after that her voice sounded worn “-Tell me why you are here.”

Sam looked at Dean, who nodded, and started talking. He told her everything, about the Mark and its consequences if they don’t remove it, the psychics and the soul mate part.

“We hope finding the Indigos will help the psychics to define Dean’s soulmate, or maybe he will define it himself, we don’t really know how this works.”

Eryn nodded. “I see, but it’s hard to leave my business, my family unguarded.” She bit her lip “Unless…he, but wait a minute. Why would I bother about this?” she asked with a sarcastic smile

“Because finding Dean’s soul mate gives us the chance to prevent more murders,” Sam explained it like he had explained it to Valo. “So-“

“No, they don’t know how the soul mate will be able to help them, so they even might need to kill one of us,” Valo interrupted Sam. She nodded and let her head rest on her knees. She was quiet and sat there for a moment.

“We deserve to be dead,” she suddenly stated. Dean wanted to ask what she was talking about, but Castiel was quicker with another question.

 “Who are the they you both talk about? Who taught you what you are?” Valo got back up and stared at Eryn, they didn’t say a thing for a moment. Then Valo started talking.

“A few years ago, I got really depressed because I couldn’t figure out what I was. I didn’t understand my actions. Why did I kill people without being able to control it? It felt like something whispered to me in such a way I could not resist or fight.”

Dean looked shocked. Did he just say that he is a heartless killer? Valo went on.

“So at a certain point, I collected all the drugs, meds and alcohol that I could find and took it all in at the same time.”

“You tried to kill yourself?” Sam asked in clarification. Valo nodded.

“You would’ve done it too, you know, if you suddenly have the blood of some kind of criminal in your hands and you weren’t able to stop yourself. Being an Indigo is ironic, because you become a criminal, a psycho, from cleansing the world from all what’s bad, from the faults in the behavior of humanity itself. But I didn’t understand it back then, I just thought I was a heartless killer… But yes, I was finally dead, I felt like I finally did something good, until I met the reaper that should come and get me.

“I was so interested in her powers, her cleanness of working, no blood involved, that I started asking her questions. She taught me a lot, about what I was and how I could make killing less gruesome. By the time she had to go, she admitted it wasn’t my time to go yet so she revived me. But my depression wasn’t over so quickly, so I saw her a total of four times. And every time she told me that it wasn’t time yet, but every time she taught me so much about applying this angelic magic to my power, made of three kinds of magic as you guys know. The last time I saw her, she explained to me that I had more angelic powers in me than the other two Indigo’s. Knowing that I could fulfill my task without spilling blood or making my victims feel pain, gave me such a boost that I never saw her again.”

“So you are telling me that once you see a victim, you can’t help yourself?” Dean asked. That must've been freaking weird, to get out of some kind of trance, suddenly seeing what you have done. Oh wait, it did feel strange, he’s been through it before, after all.

“I don't expect you to understand, Dean. And this probably won’t make you respect me more.”

Dean cleared his throat and mumbled, “Well, actually I do know what that feels like.” Dean looked at his hands, once covered in so much blood, feeling the need to hold the familiarity of the First Blade in his palm. He tried to ignore the staring faces of the others. They knew what he meant. And suddenly he got a flashback to his adventure with the twin-psychics. He had seen someone pull a soul out of someone else, out of a rapist…the soul-taker must have been Valo. His actions had been painless, worn and calm, coordinated. Exactly as Dean would imagine how Valo would take care of someone.

Sam cleared his throat. “But if he is more angel, then what are you?” he asked Eryn.