Yixing glanced at the antique grandfather clock that rested in the corner of the small living room. Although the handsome, dark wood clashed terribly with the contemporary, bright atmosphere of the room, Yixing couldn’t bear to part with the family heirloom that had been given to him from his mother, and Luhan didn’t mind.

Luhan , Yixing thought with a slight twinge of worry. It was nearly 10:30. Luhan had been gone for over 40 minutes and Yixing hadn’t gotten so much as a text saying where he was. The nearby corner store wasn’t that far away. Hell, Yixing had figured the trip would only take Luhan twenty minutes tops.

Suddenly, he felt incredibly guilty. He shouldn’t have made Luhan go out into the freezing night just for his random night cravings. Yixing checked his phone for the nth time that night, scrolling through his recent string of texts asking Luhan where he was and to respond back as soon as he could. He pressed the call button again, sighing when all he heard was silence.

The movie that was playing on the TV in front of him might as well have not been there. Yixing gripped the fleece blanket that was draped over his legs and chewed his lower lip. Should he call the police? Or go out after Luhan himself? As hypocritical as it was, Yixing wasn’t terribly thrilled at the idea of going out into the cold at night. But then what if something awful had happened to the other man? Luhan wasn’t incredibly small and was more or less capable of taking care of himself, but his sweet, gentle looks gave off the impression that he was harmless. If something were to happen to him…

Yixing could feel the burn of tears springing to his eyes.

“Oh God, Luhan… where are you?” He murmured to himself, clutching his head with one hand. If the brunette still hadn’t come back in ten minutes, he was going after the other man himself. And calling the cops. And Xiumin, because he was sure to know what to do.

Right?

An intense, throbbing pain on his neck shook him awake. His eyes opened blearily at first, to see his hand in front of him, stretched out on nothing but pure white. It took Luhan a minute to get a grip on his surroundings and he realized the soft material his head was cushioned on was a pillow. He was on a bed.

As soon as this fact registered in his brain, his hand flexed and gripped the thin, clean sheet that was draped over him. The mere task of sitting up made his head spin nauseatingly, and he had to lean back and rest his head on the headboard. He winced in pain when his head made contact with the board, gingerly touching the back of his head and finding a lump of considerable size. Great.

Luhan’ eyes flitted over the room. It was spacious, nearly the size of half of his and Yixing’s entire apartment. There was an entire wall’s span of what Luhan figured were windows, covered up with dark red, ornate curtains. The walls were painted a deep maroon, and there was a gold side sofa pushed off to the right of the bed and a matching gold armoire and a dark, wooden table that was set in front of the couch. He noted the pair of elegant double doors across the room, and another, smaller door that was next to the armoire.

If only he knew where the hell he was.

Luhan rubbed his eyes wearily, trying to recollect some memories leading up to this moment. He… had gone to buy Yixing some food and… then…
He was here? What? Something didn’t line up.

Maybe Yixing had brought him here. Luhan sighed tiredly and rubbed his neck, only to find a rough patch on the left side. His fingers carefully pressed down on the bandage, and he was met with a streak of pain flashing by. This was when he started panicking.

His breathing started becoming erratic, his eyes wild and searching and doing nothing to help the overwhelming nausea he felt.

He’d been walking… and then there was that sketchy alley… and then. Then something grabbed him. He hit his head. It was cold. And the thing had two… fangs.

Luhan stifled a shudder when he recalled the events from the night. Was it even still night? How long had he been out? He figured the psycho had been some crazy, Halloween- obsessed creep, and now here Luhan was. Alone. In God knows where. Completely at the mercy of his captor.

He was going to die if he didn’t move.

Hurriedly, he pulled off the thin sheet covering him and noted his coat and shoes were gone. He was dressed in only the thin, navy long sleeve and dark wash jeans he had left the house in. The grand room seemed at an absurdly low temperature, and Luhan swore he could see his breath in front of him.

He scrambled to check his pockets for his phone, but swore loudly when he realized it had been in his jacket. Which the thing (Luhan refused to acknowledge the thing was human) had probably taken.

Legs shaking like two flimsy noodles, Luhan carefully put weight on one leg, then the other when he could manage to stand up without lurching to one side. He mentally thanked whatever carpet god that the flooring was a plush, dark carpet that muffled the sound of his footfalls. Luhan quickly made his way to the set of double doors, heart racing faster than a hummingbird’s.

His shaky fingers touched the cold, brassy doorknobs as he was torn between staying in the room or taking a risk and going out. Maybe he should just stay here and wait by the door for someone to come, then knock them out with a lamp the minute they entered. The idea didn’t seem half bad.

But then Luhan thought of Yixing, who was probably beside himself, wracked with worry and concern for Luhan. His heart lurched painfully and made his decision for him. He was getting the hell out of whatever hellhole this was.

Luhan pressed an ear against the doors to check for any sounds on the opposite side. Hearing nothing, he carefully twisted the doorknob and cracked the door open just enough for him to slide his slim body through.

This room had been at the end of a hall, Luhan noticed with a flash of fear. If someone were to come down the corridor, he’d have nowhere to hide. The walls were colored the same maroon as his room had been, and there was only a candle stand placed in a concave part of the wall.

Luhan hugged himself and tried not to conjure up any frightening thoughts. He wished he had his phone so he could at least let Yixing know what happened to him. Or, at least, do his best to describe what was happening.

His sock- covered feet quickly padded down the corridor and he turned right at random. He found himself in a circular room, a library of sorts, with books surrounding him everywhere he looked. In another scenario, Luhan would’ve stopped in awe and taken the time to explore and run his fingers over the aged- looking spines of the books, but for now, he plowed ahead, heading straight for the spiral staircase leading downstairs in the middle of the room.

Halfway down the steps, a wave of dizziness surged through him and Luhan pitched to one side, clinging onto the side of the staircase for dear life. His eyes fluttered and his breathing was clearly audible as he struggled to regain his balance. His stomach was doing gymnastics inside of him and the pain on his neck was stronger than ever. Luhan felt like he’d been drugged.

He swallowed hard, briefly closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before heaving himself off the edge of the staircase and facing front again. He opened his eyes.

There was a man. He stared at Luhan with a straight face, then cocked his head to the right.

Luhan felt his heart jump into his throat. He couldn’t move. His shaking arms grabbed onto the handrails on either side of him. He felt like his legs would give out at any moment.

The man just stared passively at Luhan’s fear- filled face. His hands were behind his back, as if he was waiting for Luhan to say something.

Luhan took in the stranger’s blond hair with dark roots, the sharp cut of his jawline, the straight nose and emotionless eyes.

Black. His eyes were black. Not red.

Luhan swallowed hard and took a shaky step back up the stairs, silently hoping the other wouldn’t notice. Of course, as luck would have it, he wasn’t so fortunate.

“Trying to run away, are we?” The man drawled out, smirking ever so slightly. Luhan raised a hand to his mouth, trying not to cry out when he saw the faint point of a sharpened canine inside his mouth. What the hell was going on? This man wasn’t actually a… was he?

“No,” Luhan whispered, his voice wavering, “No, they don’t exist. You can’t be- this can’t be happening.” The red eyes. The teeth. The wound on Luhan’s neck. None of this was real. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.

The thing sighed and took a steady step closer to Luhan, grabbing the hands that were on the handrails and interlocking them with his. Luhan felt his back painfully hit the steps, the monster looming over him like a wolf who had just captured its prey.

There was a feeling of deja vu when it leaned into Luhan’s neck, taking a deep breath and sighing blissfully. Luhan could almost hear his heart thumping painfully in his chest.

“Are you scared?” It whispered. Oh God. Luhan didn’t want to answer- couldn’t answer as his scream for help died in his throat.

“St- stop,” he cried pitifully. He felt so vulnerable in his position. So weak and helpless and scared.

There was a loud, ringing laugh that hurt Luhan’s ears. He could feel a cold breath against his cheek and he shut his eyes, not wanting to look into the creature’s eyes. This was it. He was going to die.

“Sehun. Stop.”

Luhan felt the breath vanish, and then the hold on his hands tighten once before releasing them. He was left disoriented, his hair messy and breathing erratic as anything. He curled up into a small ball, hands shaking and covering his face and just wishing he could go home. Luhan peered over the tips of his fingers to see the thing ( Sehun, he supposed ) with its back to him. There was someone else there.

“This is none of your business, Joonmyeon ,” Sehun said with an emphasis on the other’s name that Luhan didn’t understand.

Sehun was tall, and obstructed Luhan’s view of the other person, but he caught glimpses of a man dressed elaborately, with lots of layers and a plaid scarf wrapped around his neck. He didn’t appear to be very happy from what Luhan could see.

“It’s my business if I make it mine. Just let the kid go,” Joonmyeon snapped, pointing his chin behind Sehun at Luhan.

Luhan’s pulse rose again. This guy wasn’t as coldhearted as Sehun; he was going to let Luhan go. Sehun would relent, and Luhan would be able to go home.

“Mm, I don’t think so,” Sehun said with a slight grin. “I like this one.”

Joonmyeon clicked his tongue impatiently and shifted his weight on his feet.

“Sehun, you always do this, you . Play with them until they die and then get a new one. We’re the ones who always have to clean up your goddamn messes.”

Luhan shut his eyes when he felt a small gust of wind and when he opened them again, Sehun was gone and at the bottom of the staircase, nose to nose with Joonmyeon.

This was it. He could run. Joonmyeon was understanding, he would stop Sehun. It was almost laughable how easily Luhan was willing to bet everything on the two minutes he had met this Joonmyeon fellow.

Luhan picked himself up and flew down the stairs, skipping two at a time and rounding the corner past Sehun and Joonmyeon. Neither seemed to pursue him as he bolted down a hall, skidding on the hardwood floor like a newborn calf. He pushed through a door at random, almost crying out in relief when he saw a large entrance way, an ornate door with two winding staircases on either side of it.

Luhan wasted no time dashing across the marble floor when suddenly, his legs gave out and he took a nosedive to the floor. His head was swimming, and there was a strong urge that he was going to be violently sick. It felt like he’d just gotten done with a gymnastics floor routine with the way everything around him seemed to pitch to one side. Luhan coughed and edged his way to the door. He forced his legs to push himself up, one outstretched hand scrabbling to latch onto the doorknob.

A larger, colder, one covered it and removed Luhan’s hand. He tried yelling, no! Stop! But the only thing that came out was a whimper of lost hope.

He felt a pair of ice cold lips brush against the knuckles of his hand before he completely lost the strength to keep himself upright and collapsed on the floor.

“Little deer… you’re not going anywhere.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: not sure if i'm supposed to be putting A/Ns here but...i'm still getting used to writing on this site so you'll have to forgive me! just letting you all know the rating may go up to M depending on what direction i take this story. thanks for reading !