“It’s now or never, Kyuhyun.”

Kyuhyun shivered as Henry smirked, chin gesturing to the lifeless body behind them. Ryeowook was sprawled on the floor, lifeless. Just the thought of Ryeowook’s chest not rising and falling the way it should be frightened Kyuhyun, sending shivers down his spine. He couldn’t stall any longer. Seeing Ryeowook lifeless like that… pained Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun dragged his feet to Henry and with every step he took, he inhaled in deep long breaths. Dying, Kyuhyun thought, would be easy. Knowing that you would be dying was the hardest part. At least for Kyuhyun, it was. It frightened him, not knowing what was going to happen once everything was done. Would it be peaceful? Would it be painful?

When Kyuhyun stopped across Henry, he swallowed and said with a shaky voice, “What… What is going to happen once I’m gone?”

Henry chuckled darkly, “What do you want to happen?”

“I… I want Sungmin and the others to take Ryeowook… Far away from here.” Kyuhyun whispered, “To London… Or maybe Greece… I want a new beginning for Ryeowook… And the others. For Sungmin, Heechul and even Changmin who had hurt for me. For Kangin who had died for me.”

“And what about me?” Henry asked mischievously. “Aren’t you going to want the best for me too?”

“I hope you remember what you’ve done, the pain you’ve caused, the people you killed every time you look at your lover in my body.” Kyuhyun shook his head, chuckling bitterly. “I hope to hell that every time you look into my eyes, it won’t be Zhou Mi looking back at you. It’ll be me haunting you… For the rest of your life.”

Henry’s face hardened, the cheeky expression wiped off his face. He pulled out a sharp piece of broken glass from his back pocket and ran it across the front of his hands, across his palms. He started tracing some words on it in a language Kyuhyun did not understand. But of course, Kyuhyun knew what he was doing. This was how they sealed the Demon’s deal, by mixing their bloods together and getting Kyuhyun to… Drink it. Henry winced as he forced the sharp object into his skin, the feeling of pain much stronger now that he was human. Once Henry was done, the drawings on his palms glowed red and started dripping with blood.

“What does it mean?” Kyuhyun asked, quietly.

“Death.” Henry simply replied and then demanded for Kyuhyun’s hands.

Kyuhyun reluctantly held out his hands. With the other hand that was not bleeding, Henry held Kyuhyun’s hand by the wrist and then ran the piece of glass across his palms, repeating what he had just done to himself, writing the word death in demon’s language. There was no pain even if Kyuhyun could his skin being slowly ripped apart. All Kyuhyun could feel was nervousness and fear. But he kept his eyes glued on Ryeowook’s body behind him and his heart calmed down. He had to do it. If he backed out, then that would mean that… Ryeowook would end up dead forever. And Kyuhyun didn’t want that. When Henry was done with the last word, he then fisted his bloodied hand over Kyuhyun’s palms that had turned red from the blood oozing out of the drawings. Henry’s maroon coloured blood dripped onto Kyuhyuns palms, one drop at a time and then…

“AHHH”

Kyuhyun roughly dropped onto the floor, head throbbing and aching and his body so warm as if it was being set on fire. The pain was unbearable as Kyuhyun ran his hands through his hair, pulling every strand in hopes that the throbbing and aching in his head stopped. He crouched onto the floor, nails digging into his own skin as the pain ate him, burnt his body. Kyuhyun wanted to scream, he wanted to beg Henry to stop it but he couldn’t find his voice, he couldn’t open his eyes. Kyuhyun wanted to scream but nothing came out from his mouth, his throat was constricting against themselves and he could not move a single muscle.

Kyuhyun had his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to stop the pain or ignore it but he could not. He felt hands, hands gripping onto his jaws forcefully and then his mouth being forced open. Kyuhyun wanted to stop it, wanted to fight against those hands but nothing… His body would not listen to his brain and all he could do was feel, feel the pain tearing his body and mind apart, feel the taste of a liquid-like substance dripping onto his tongue and then down his throat… The taste… So sweet… So exquisite….

So… Ryeowook.

It was Ryeowook’s blood. Kyuhyun knew that. But it was mixed. There was another person’s blood mixed with Ryeowook’s blood. It tasted tangy, bitter and sweet at the same time. Kyuhyun wanted to force his mouth shut but the liquid continued entering his mouth, dripping down his tongue and past his throat. He knew this was Henry’s blood, it was the demon’s poison. Once Kyuhyun drank all of this… He’d be dead. The demon’s blood would kill him once and for all. When Henry’s blood flowed down his throat, Kyuhyun wanted to release a scream. It was warm, it burnt his throat. The pain was excruciating and raw, Kyuhyun had never … Felt like this. Was this… Was this how dying felt like?

Kyuhyun couldn’t tell how but the pain all but just… Stopped all of a sudden. Kyuhyun couldn’t feel his body, he could not even lift a single finger. Henry had stopped forcing him to swallow all the liquid and Kyuhyun… Could no longer feel his own body.

And suddenly, he was floating across memories, different memories throughout his lifetime. The first time he learned how to speak, the first time he tasted blood, the first time he started school, the first time he kissed a girl and then a guy, the first time he… He saw Ryeowook crying.

The rest of the memories were all about Ryeowook – how peaceful he looked when he slept, how lonely he always was back at their old high school, how shaken he was after almost being attacked by Kyuhyun’s uncle and how surprised Ryeowook was knowing that Kyuhyun and his family were vampires, how amazed Ryeowook looked when he first stepped into SM Institute, how scared he was when he had to force himself to take the lavender shot, how beautiful Ryeowook looked when they were on that rooftop that one night, how hurt Ryeowook looked when Kyuhyun told him that he was leaving with Sungmin, how, when Kyuhyun came back, Ryeowook looked so different that it pained Kyuhyun, how Ryeowook used to look at Donghae with those confused eyes, how Ryeowook then became a vampire….

Everything, Kyuhyun remembered everything about Ryeowook, every moment with Ryeowook.

And then, his friends. Those people he had briefly met in High School and then Kangin and Heechul in SM institute. He remembered those times he had bullied the students in the school with Kangin and Heechul, those funny and witty remarks he always had whenever he was with the mischievous duo and then how he felt when he first laid eyes on Sungmin. Kyuhyun remembered those feelings he had for Sungmin, half of them were sincere, raw, and real but another part of him felt… Forced whenever he was with Sungmin, like as if he knew that Sungmin and he were not meant not be, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that they were perfect together. And then Kyuhyun remembered Changmin and how he had terrified the latter, pretending that he would kill his family if the pilot dared betray him, how Changmin looked at him worriedly whenever he was hurt after returning back to the plane, how Changmin scrambled away whenever Kyuhyun gave him a cold glare, how the person came back as a vampire and how… He tried to convince Kyuhyun that it was the wrong thing to do, agreeing to Henry’s deal.

Last, Kyuhyun remembered Henry. The devil, the demon in disguise. Kyuhyun knew that there was something weird about him, from when the first time his eyes laid on the kid. He was so persistent on making friends with Ryeowook, finding more about Ryeowook, Kyuhyun became suspicious. Kyuhyun remembered how stupid he was to trust Henry and falling for that evil brat’s trap, travelling across the world with him, fighting off warewolves with him and then being shot by him and then.. Agreeing to the Demon’s deal with Henry, a demon in disguise.

For a moment, Kyuhyun remembered everything.

And then… He didn’t. 

***

“STOP! You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Henry warned, gritting his teeth as he struggled in Kangin’s hold. Kangin simply held onto the weakling while Heechul dropped onto the ground next to Kyuhyun, trying to shake him awake. He was still alive, breathing in and out loudly, desperately, but his eyes were squeezed shut and his expression… He looked like he was in pain and that the pain was trapped inside, that Kyuhyun could not express it out. Kyuhyun’s lips were blood-smeared which meant that Henry must have made him drink his blood. And if Sungmin and the others didn’t end things soon, then the blood would kill Kyuhyun. Sungmin’s hands trembled as he held up the piece of broken window glass he had picked up on the way to the rooftop.

“He’s going to go crazy!” Henry screamed, once more, thrashing his body against Kangin’s iron grip. “If you kill me now, Kyuhyun’s going to go crazy! You don’t know what you’re doing, messing with a demon’s deal!”

“Better crazy than dead!” Heechul argued from behind, holding onto Kyuhyun’s body that was starting to tremble.

Sungmin turned around to Changmin who was kneeling next to Ryeowook. Cha