005

Chapter 5.

Mark gritted his teeth, he was angry and he knew that this time he couldn’t hold it in. He wanted to find someone to beat up but he quickly left the tent. Ten called out for him and he heard people following him. The Damned had their own village, and some lived in caves in the mountain. Smoke rose from several tents and Mark headed for the lake, he needed to wash his face.

Someone grabbed his shoulder and Mark reached back and gripped the wrist of the person, swinging him forward. The person landed on his feet and Mark jumped away when the person kicked out. It was Kun.

“Now?!” Mark exclaimed with a look of disbelief. Kun just smirked. “No, off.” Mark said and turned to leave, but he kept an eye on Kun who reached forward. Mark avoided his touch. “Please Kun go beat someone else up.”

Kun glared at him before finally getting a hold of Mark and he pulled him into a headlock. Mark kicked at his ankles and reached up to grab Kun’s hair. The other groaned and let go only to turn and grip onto Mark’s wrist. He turned it so that Mark was forced to let go of his hair because of the agony. Mark used Kun’s pull to close the distance between them and knee Kun in the stomach. Kun bent forward and barely avoided a knee to the face. Mark kicked Kun again, but the other didn’t fall. The latter stood and then he cracked his knuckles. Mark avoided a blow from Kun, but the other turned around and Mark was round kicked in the side of his head. He fell with the blow and Kun grabbed his hair and pulled him up before kicking him continuously in the stomach. Mark cried out and reached forward to stop it, but Kun grabbed one of his arms and pulled him in some weird way that made him turn his back to Kun and the other kicked him into the dirt. First now Mark realized that Ten was calling out for him. Mark looked up to see Taeyong hold Ten in a tight grip. Hansol was holding Johnny, and Jaehyun was locked being held back by a Damned that Mark didn’t recognize.
Mark felt Kun step on his head and press his face into the dirt. Mark reached up and clawed and Kun’s leg, the other hissed kicked Mark on the side. Mark rolled over and got up even though his body ached for him not to. He spat dirt out of his mouth and raised his hand protectively in front of him. Kun stepped forward and Mark suddenly realized that Kun would never stop, and Mark looked at Taeyong, wondering how he got to the point of not constantly battling Kun. Taeyong gave him a look and Mark wondered what it meant. Fight back? Give up?

If he gave up what would he be? The Weak Blue Eyed Damned?

Mark sighed and closed his eyes. He let it come. He waited for Kun to hit him. “Enough.”

Mark opened his eyes and noticed Lord Win standing in front of his tent. Kun had turned away from him.

Lord Win waved Kun off. “He doesn’t want to fight.” He said and Kun groaned.

“He’s boring.” He said before taking long strides over to Lord Win. Placing himself beside the other and letting Lord Win push a strand of hair behind his ear. It seemed a little private and Mark noticed Taeyong and the other Damned look away from it.

Lord Win smiled. “Oh no he’s actually very interesting.” He then said. “You’re not quite sure of how he’ll react to things.”

Lord Win looked at the Damned that held Jaehyun. “Yuta, find a home for the newcomers, maybe near the mountain and the Tree.”

Mark watched Lord Win walk back into his tent, he was tall. He noticed. Kun followed him after throwing a cocky smile in Mark’s direction. Ten ran forward with Johnny in his heels and the two of them grabbed onto Mark before he fell. Mark hurt all over. He walked with them and looked up just to see Taeyong nod approvingly. Had he done the right thing?

Was he being acknowledged by both Lord Win and Taeyong? Mark closed his eyes as he walked, not needing to see where he was going. Johnny ended up carrying him.

Doyoung had spoken of three stacked stones and it still nagged Mark a lot. That meant three deaths. Mark was afraid that it meant Johnny, Jaehyun and Ten. He really wished for it not to be them. Still he didn’t know if Doyoung’s fortunes also spoke of the Damned that had gathered around them. Because if he did; Taeyong and Hansol could just as well end up buried beneath those stones or represented in them.

The stones were stacked by family and friends, so some stacked stones were taller than others.

Mark felt Ten’s hand on his back and he closed his eyes tightly. He was afraid of what would happen to them.

They were chosen to have a cave, because they couldn’t be attacked from anywhere but the front and Taeyong had chosen his two loyal friends to be guards, sometimes even himself he had told. Mark was put down on his makeshift bed and he winced only slightly. He wanted to seem strong and gritted his teeth, he was a Damned now, and they had seemed like they couldn’t feel pain, but Mark had heard one scream, so maybe they were just too swallowed up by the feeling they felt, that they forgot the pain?

Mark wanted to focus on a different feeling and instead focused his rage on Lord Win, Taeyong and Kun. He could feel the fire bloom and he closed his eyes, the blanket that Ten had covered him with.

Taeyong stayed in their cave and Doyoung came with a present which consisted of different fruits and vegetables. “Every new resident receives this.” He said. “As a gift that wishes them great fortune.” He said with his wide eyes on Mark and Mark turned his head the other way.

But Mark was surprised, because through the day various gifts appeared and Mark received a dagger which said: “Get Taeyong to teach you how to fight. - Kun” Mark didn’t know what to feel, but somehow his anger left him and he went through the stage of amusement and then he just felt confused. The people around him… you couldn’t trust them and you couldn’t read them or judge them by how you met them the first time. Kun probably wasn’t all bad, Lord Win was intimidating because of his knowledge, Hansol was very patient compared to other Damned and Taeyong was actually very caring and considerate, even if he seemed like a selfish prick. How did they see Mark?

He had imagined them to see him as weak and untactful, but Kun gave him a dagger which was a symbol of him aspiring to become a fighter, a warrior. It was a gift a father would give his son and say, “this is your first step towards becoming a great warrior.” Lord Win showed him compassion by giving him and his companions a home and Taeyong wanted to provide them safety by sacrificing his own guards in order to keep them safe. Doyoung gave them food and spoke with Jaehyun who also had interests in the meaning of dreams and Johnny spoke with Hansol. Ten later told him that Johnny wanted to learn how to fight so that he could guard the entrance too. Ten kicked Taeyong’s when Taeyong had touched him, Mark didn’t see how but he turned his head just to see Ten throw Taeyong over his shoulder and stomp down on his chest; hissing that his hands would be cut off the next time, Damned or not.

Did Mark forget to tell that Ten was the best warrior in his clan? Not the strongest but the fastest.

Mark was confused by how the body of a Damned worked and sacrificed his pride by asking Taeyong what was happening to him. How fast would he heal and were there things he should be thinking of. Taeyong sat down, his knees pulled up and his arms resting on them as he scanned the room.

“Your heart beats slower, meaning you’ll not be heard clearly in the dark. Your eyes give you away though, but our senses are better than before. We see better in the dark too, but remember, if you don’t want to be seen, then don’t see.” Taeyong his lips and pressed them together, holding his breath as he thought hard. Mark suddenly realized that Taeyong had been holding his breath and then he had sounded like he sighed all those times when he just suddenly exhaled. This was a habit Mark was sure he would now always focus on. “Even though our blood is pumped around in our bodies much slower than others, our cells work fast and we heal quickly. You’ll be able to walk and talk like normal tomorrow. The decease is still taking its sweet time with the effects and will change you over the next week. You’re not at your full strength yet.”

Mark nodded and looked away from Taeyong when the other’s gaze landed on him. “You’ll see behind our beasts, Mark, you’re already able to. We are a strong force, but we were all human and still is.”

“We’re called monsters.” Mark said and visibly twitched when he said ‘we’.

Taeyong nodded. “Men are monsters. Who killed off the society and world we knew?” He asked and Mark nodded. He had heard of the New Age. When the world got in such a conflict; that they destroyed everything and left ashes and ruins behind. Mark though, still wasn’t too sure about the Damned, he still thought Taeyong was too unpredictable and that he still didn’t like the gazes he sent his companions. Ten and even Jaehyun. Mark suddenly looked at Jaehyun and noticed Jaehyun look up and his gaze connected with Taeyong’s. Mark then saw Taeyong’s eyes shift towards the other side of the room where Ten was talking with Johnny. Mark sighed.

For now he wasn’t too worried, Ten could say no and Taeyong seemed like he actually had feelings, he just had his ways to get things.

Mark would do his best to get to know all the Damned around him, so that he could predict how they would react in situations. Even himself. He needed to get to know his new self.

Mark woke in the middle of the night, he looked around but found no reason for him to wake up. He sat up and noticed that he felt much better. He glanced around and noticed a pair of red eyes glance around. Mark decided to take a walk and passed by the feet of Ten and Johnny, he had the blanket draped loosely around his shoulders and his feet were bare. There was a cover of leather, but where it couldn’t reach stood Hansol. Mark went up beside him, eyeing the view they had from their cave. Hansol sniffled and Mark thought Hansol had piercing eyes, they were wide all the time and but still he could look kind. Like the way he did right now when he looked at Mark.

“Already experiencing the insomnia?” He asked and Mark blinked. Was that a thing? Hansol read his face and chuckled. “Yes, we are night creatures after all. Look at all the glowing eyes.” He said and pointed to the ground. “Most of us are awake until now. We first go to bed at dawn because we usually only sleep for 4-2 hours.”

Mark gasped. “What?” He asked. Ten and Mark always slept 8 on a good day.

Hansol nodded with a smile. “Our bodies are not as weak as they were before.” He said with a grin that Mark read as bittersweet. He wondered what past life Hansol had had.

“How long have you been Damned?”

“7 years.” He said and then he frowned. “I was from clan 5. We do not often tell about the breaches of the borders but the Damned do sometimes go out and we fight back and keep them under control. Lord Win never let the groups leave, it’s mostly solo outbreaks.” Hansol and Mark both noticed a pair of white eyes near them. “I was bit by one of them and they infected me.” He said and rubbed his right shoulder. “The sickness was spreading through our clan at that time, so being weak and dying by infection made me an easy victim.” Hansol grinned once again. “I didn’t die though.”

Mark huffed. “Me neither.”

Taeyong was trudging his way up the stairs and Mark and Hansol could hear him clearly. Hansol looked up at the stars. “I like when it’s night.”

Mark nodded, but he had always been more of a dawn and midday kind of person. He liked the blue skies, mornings that grew warmer and warmer, the sounds of the world awakening and the light dew covering everything.

Mark and Hansol both noticed something different about Taeyong’s face when he walked into the light of a torch. Mark gasped and Hansol stepped forward. “Your face?” He asked startled and reached out to cup the other’s cheek. Taeyong closed his eyes but didn’t flee from the touch.

Then his eyes opened and he looked straight at Mark.

“Training begins tomorrow.”