“Are you awake? Hello?”

 

“Shouldn't you know?”

 

“It’s not as if your heartbeat speeds up any longer.”

 

“I guess it wouldn't.”

 

“No, that’s the joy of being dead.”

 

“Dead. Is that what I am?”

 

“Well, you’re not alive anymore, that’s for sure.”

 

“I’m a monster…”

 

“You haven't done anything yet, but you will be.”

 

“I’ll be a monster…”

 

“Yes.”

 

“The same as my mother.”

 

“Similar.”

 

“But not the same?”

 

“No.”

 

“That’s good to know…”

 

“Are you going to open your eyes?”

 

“I’m scared.”

 

“To see a monster?”

 

“To see. Where are we?”

 

“In your room.”

 

“Is that my blood I smell?”

 

“Yes. You’re covered in it.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Would you like to clean up before you see your mother?”

 

“No, she’s been trying to kill me all these years, maybe it will give her some peace to see me dead.”

 

“Are you ready to see her?”

 

“Where is she?”

 

“She’s searching the gardens for you now.”

 

“I’ll be able to see the flowers.”

 

“You’ll be able to see, yes.”

 

“She said I would get better someday and be able to see them, but I lost the ability to walk that far years ago. And my eyes… Everything just turned to swirls of color.”

 

“Now you will be able to see everything clearly.”

 

“Was there ever anything wrong with me…?”

 

“What you have is Albinism, it’s like you’ve been bleached. Poor eyesight is typical,” the boy’s voice was close, his fingers touching carefully over Yoongi’s eyelids, “But as for most of your symptoms, a lot can go wrong with a body when you poison it.”

 

“So… There are other people like me?”

 

“Yes. It’s not common, but… Yes. Your father was.”

 

“Oh, that’s why I’m the spitting image of him?”

 

“Yes, but more than just your white hair and blue eyes… You just look like him.”

 

“Is that why she hates me?”

 

“I suspect that may be the root of it. The fact that you never fought her seems to give her frustrations as well.”

 

“Well now I will fight back.”

 

“How do you feel?”

 

“Hungry.”

 

“That’s all?”

 

“I don't know how to explain the rest… Just that… There is no pain.”

 

“Oh good.”

 

“I’ve never felt this way.”

 

“I imagine not.”

 

“I want to see the flowers first. Can you… lead me to them?”

 

“You don't remember the way?”

 

“I’m not sure… I’ll try. Get me to my bed so I know where I’m starting.”

 

“You’re on your bed already.”

 

“It’s wet.”

 

“You bled more than I thought you would.”
 

“Oh, is it ruined?”

 

“Yes, I think so. Should I have moved you?”

 

“No.  Well… Do monsters need to sleep?”

 

“Yes, but differently.”

 

“Will we stay here?”

 

“It’s quite large for two people.”

 

“It’s been shrinking for me my whole life.”

 

“You’re stalling.”

 

Yoongi shifted in the bed and sat up.  He moved so quickly that he gave himself vertigo and he had to steady himself for a minute, breathing hard.

 

“That’s it.”

 

Yoongi slid his feet off the bed and reached out his hands, they met only air so he stood slowly and let out a gasp.

 

“What is it?”

 

Yoongi had been so distracted that the voice beside his ear once more made him flinch, “I can stand by myself…”

 

“It has been a few years, hasn't it?”

 

Yoongi turned, curled his fingers into the dark hair he had only seen a shadow of before, “Can I kiss you?”

 

“What for?” The voice had asked, amused.

 

“Because… I want someone to have my first and last kiss before I become a monster.”

 

“That’s a good reason… No one ever took mine, I guess it’s lost forever,” the boy leaned in.

 

Yoongi connected their lips after one hand moved to the boy’s cheek, not wanting to overthink it and back out. When he pulled back the boy followed him, a cool slither of something over his jawline letting him guess that he had been .

 

“It’s still sweet…” The boy sighed out, pleased.

 

He turned back to the hallway and let his hands spread in front of himself again, searching the air to avoid colliding with anything. He remembered the way better than he had remembered anything these past few years. When he got to the hallway he paused, reaching back to make sure that the silent boy was still with him.

 

“I’m here, are you lost already?”

 

“No but this is where your… This is where that boy’s mother died… I wasn't sure if you would want to know…”

 

“I don't have any family, it doesn't concern me.”

 

“Did you know already?”

 

“I know where everyone died in this house.”

 

Yoongi nodded, “She looked like a mother…”

 

“She was.”

 

Yoongi left it at that, slowly making his way out to the gardens. When he was on the small hill the scent of the earth all around him he opened his eyes.  Brown and black met him, “Is it night?”

 

“No.”

 

He blinked upwards at the sky, what he remembered as a blue smear across his vision was still not much more than a smear of grey and he looked out at the field once more. “Where are the flowers?”

 

“She dug them up.”

 

Yoongi sat down, “They’re all gone…?”

 

“There’s a small plot left around the other side of the ho-”

 

“Sweetling…?”

 

Yoongi stood faster than he had ever moved in his life, “Momma.”

 

“I must be going mad…” She let out a laugh and Yoongi turned to look at her.

 

What he found wasn't horrifying at all. Some part of him had still felt her monster might show on the outside, but she was an older woman, grey streaking her brown hair, lines on her face and dirt and dust covering her dress.

 

“You’re covered in blood Sweetling…” She let out another nervous laugh, “What happened to you?”

 

“The boy… He killed me.”

 

“You must be so tired, are you okay?” She asked, worry seeping into her voice as she stepped closer to him.

 

“The one from before. The cook’s son. Well it’s not quite him…”

 

“How did you get out here? Didn't you hear me calling for you? I searched the whole house for you, all your old hidey holes…” she stepped closer still, her hands shaking as she reached out towards him.

 

“I tried to reach for you, but he pulled me back, I was dying I think.”

 

“Who’s blood is this…?” She asked, touching over his cheeks.

 

“Mine, as far as I know…” Her touch felt so foreign, and her face was unfamiliar. Only her voice was the same but he was so used to it coming from the shape of her and not… this, that it didn't feel right either, “Are you my real mother…?”

 

“You’re no son of mine, Sweetling,” she looked at his eyes, her fingers slipping around his neck.

 

“Are you finally going to finish the job?” He whispered, looking into her unfocused eyes.

 

“The world should have been purged of us long ago,” she hissed, fingers tightening.

 

“The boy beat you to it, Momma, I’m dead already. Feel my heart.”

 

She didn't acknowledge him this time, her face contorting as she squeezed.

 

He reached up and twisted one of her hands off of his throat, twisted until there was a muffled snapping noise, “How did you kill them all?”

 

opened in shock, a second passing before she pulled at her hand desperately, trying to free herself from his gentle grasp, “Let me go!”

 

He tugged her closer, snagging her other arm right below the elbow, “If you don't want another broken arm, tell me why you killed them?”

 

“I wanted to get rid of my bad blood,” she hissed, snapping at him like a wounded animal, “So I stole theirs.”

 

“You didn't do that to him though. What did you do to him?”

 

“They said there was a monster in the woods- so I cut his hand and I sent him away.”

 

“Why didn't you just kill me?”

 

She shook her head slowly, “I… I’m not sure… I didn't want to be alone.”

 

“You wanted to die together,” he breathed, leaning in close, “I’m already dead, so… I’ll do you the favor of ending your life as well.” Yoongi lowered his hands to her head.

 

“No, Sweetling, I-”

 

When he twisted there was another cracking noise and then her body jerked, and went limp in his hands.

 

Without their talking he could hear her heart- or the lack thereof.

 

“I wasn't sure if you would do it,” the boy’s voice returned.

 

“I broke her arm so easily…” He mumbled, letting her fall to the ground to look at his hand curiously.

 

“You are a monster now.”

 

“She didn't even cry out.”

 

“She was a monster too. She was taking something to numb herself. She’s been doing it for a long time.”

 

Yoongi turned and faced the boy, seeing his face for the first time and reveled in the oddly familiar feel of it. “I think I’ve been seeing you in my dreams…”

 

“I’ve been coming to see you since I died.”

 

Yoongi smiled and reached out once more to cup the boy’s cheeks, “Thank you…”

 

The boy smiled slowly, his cheeks pushing up to obscure his eyes, “I’ll show you the flowers that are left.”

 

“I… I’ve waited my whole life for someone to be familiar…”

 

“And you chose me.”

 

Yoongi shrugged just a little, “It’s always been you that chose me, I think.”

 

“You looked hauntingly beautiful, dying so slowly every day.”

 

Yoongi’s fingers brushed over his cheeks and he leaned in to give the boy another soft kiss, “How do I look now?”

 

“Still beautiful.”