Alone Now
The Howling - Part IV: InevitableA/N: Due to the length of the introductory posts for Part IV (800-some for Saphyra; 1500 for helloimej) -- and probably for the next few chapters -- there will only be a few posts for each chapter. But I'm sure you guys won't mind. <3
He didn't know how long he'd actually stood there, in those trees, waiting as the sound of Joonmyun's feet crunching over dead leaves and branches finally died away, until the only trace of the elder's scent was in the wind and just barely on the ground. He waited long enough that the sun was descending in the sky by the time he could see the manor in the distance, and with every step he took, every step that led him further away from Joonmyun, his heart grew heavier, his chest tighter and his body ached with something darker, something deeper than mere pain.
It was like ice was creeping through his veins, threatening to drag him down, threatening to prick needles of pain and self doubt into every fibre of his being. And it only got stronger as he drew closer to the manor.
By now he could smell the pack as they returned, but even his sense of smell was fading, fading just as his eyesight began to blur and shudder. No longer could he concentrate on just /one/ thing, instead he saw double... triple, before he even realized he was lying face up on the grass, head packed with cotton wool and light, chest so tight that it was amazing he could even breathe.
He couldn't breathe.
A weight pressed down on his chest, threatening to suffocate him as his fingers clawed at his sternum, voice coming out in a strangled gasp as his eyes rolled back into his head, body stiffening for a moment before he went slack, as if he were dead.
Darkness.
Blood.
Shattered fragments of light, sound, color... shapes.
A scream.
A scuffle.
Rage, red and cutting.
Animalistic fury, hot and slashing.
The relish of the kill.
The disgust of the aftermath.
Scaring him.
Breaking his heart.
Letting him go.
Dying...
When Yunho found him, he thought he was dead, lying there with just the whites of his eyes showing, blood covering him and chest barely moving. He was still in the same condition when they - Yunho and Jaejoong - carried Jongin back to the manor, and it was probably a good thing too.
Changmin had scouted ahead, wondering why Sunny or Yoochun hadn't come to meet them. He found his answer when he followed the scent - and rather obvious trail - of blood through the halls to Jongin's room. Yoochun's body was still warm enough to hold some color, and it hadn't taken Changmin long to figure out what had happened, if the scents in the room had any part to play. His suspicions were confirmed when he found Taemin curled up under his blankets, bruised and bleeding. But before he'd been able to comfort the small boy, the Alpha had dragged an unconscious Jongin in by his hair, thrown him at the foot of his bed next to Yoochun's mangled body.
When Jongin woke a few hours after moonrise, he could breathe easier, but he felt sick to his stomach, dizzy, and knew that standing was a bad idea. Not that he could. As the initial wariness wore off, he realized he'd been tied to the foot of his bed, forced to sit so close to Yoochun's body that he almost suffocated on the smell of blood alone. His eyes fell on the shape of flesh beside him, and he bit down on his tongue before looking away, but not before he heard the sardonic chuckle from his father.
"What... ashamed of your own handiwork?" he growled, stepping out of the shadows where he'd been watching Jongin, arms folded and lips curled into a sadistic grin. "Quite a number you did on him, Kai. Did it feel good, exerting your power, showing him who the next alpha is... protecting your brother? Did it feel good to have your teeth and claws rip into his flesh, to feel his blood on your hands and taste it on your tongue?"
The Alpha's words were enough that Jongin almost gagged, his stomach heaving as he drew his legs up to his chest in an attempt to move further away from Yoochun and the Alpha. The man only laughed, one hand digging into Jongin's locks and for one fleeting moment the boy felt a good bunch of hair rip from his scalp as his head was yanked up.
"Think it'll make you more of a man? Knowing you killed him? So how does it feel, Jongin-ah? Especially since he was your uncle..."
The last words were a whisper that had Jongin's eyes widening, and he slumped back against the leg of the bed as the hand in his hair let go. No... No way. Yoochun wasn't his uncle... was he? He must've been shaking his head, because the Alpha chuckled again, and shrugged.
"He was Yunho and Changmin's brother... your mother's brother. I'd say that makes him your uncle, Jongin-ah. Guess that means you're ready to be Alpha after all. One day... maybe."
He didn't say anything after that, leaving Jongin alone, still tied up, with Yoochun's body still rotting away on his floor. The boy shuddered, overcome once more by a nausea that wouldn't go away. And when Changmin came to find him later, to bring him to Taemin's room where both boys could be cared for together, he found Jongin passed out, a small puddle of vomit beside him on the floor.
Jongin slept for the next three days, in a fever that only seemed to get worse...
Every step, every foot fall, every crunch of leaves under his bare feet or heave of his aching chest, Joonmyun found it harder and harder to move and breathe. His lungs were constricting his air flow, heart pounding deafeningly against his ribs, and the world around him spun so fast that he vomited twice before he reached the edge of town.
Sweat now soaked his shirt, blood covered the bottom of his blistered, torn feet, but he felt no pain, only a weight as it settled on his shoulders, threatening to pull him down. Not now; he was too close to give up. Just a few more minutes and he'd be completely safe, but first, he needed to figure out where to go.
Without thinking first, he moved forward, legs carrying him, of their own accord, in the direction of Baekhyun's home. It seemed like the only logical place to go, where he knew he wouldn't be hounded with questions, where he knew loving arms would be there to accept him and care for him until he got better. Besides, Jongin had said he'd get him back to Baekhyun, so it made sense that that's where he should go.
Joonmyun stuck to the trees that lined the town, skirting through alleys and down side streets until he came to his friends house. Walking up the front path, he paused, glancing off to the side to Baekhyun's neighbor who gave him a smile and waved; Joonmyun merely nodded. He shouldn't have expected the man to be alarmed, because he'd shown up in worse conditions in the past -- one of the worst would have been after he'd fallen in a flooded creek and he found himself on Baekhyun's door step, drenched and with a gash on the the side of his head. He might have looked worse then, but he felt more like death now than he ever had.
Slowly, he reached up, hand falling against the door three times and he hesitated before giving a fourth knock. As he waited, his heart clenched and a nauseating pain gripped his stomach; he had to reach out and use the door frame for support, lest he fall and make a bigger mess of himself. Not that he didn't look like hell already.
It seemed like hours later when Joonmyun finally heard noise from within the home, just before the door was pulled open to reveal a smiling Baekhyun. The grin was gone in an instant, fading as he lurched forward to catch Joonmyun just as his legs gave out beneath him. Words were shouted, fuzzy, disconnected, and he was faintly aware of another set of hands on him just before he out.
Darkness surrounded him, pulling him down, and he was falling.... falling... falling.... When it stopped, he felt disjointed, apart from himself, as if he weren't fully there. But perhaps he wasn't. All that was there with him was dark emptiness, washing his blood cold.
When he finally woke again, the first thing Joonmyun was aware of was that he wasn't in Jongin's room, wasn't even in the mansion that he'd become familiar with over the past month. No, he was in the bedroom that he'd practically grown up in, where he'd slept over countless times, where he'd spent hours upon hours on homework and study sessions, where he and Baekhyun....
His thoughts dropped; just remembering what had happened in the past reminding him of what had happened the day before, making his stomach churn. A soft groan left his lips and he shifted under the weighted blankets, his body protesting the movement. Everything hurt: his head, his eyes, legs, and there was a distinct pain on the bottom of his feet.
"Afternoon, Sleeping Beauty." The familiarity of the soft voice struck Joonmyun hard and his whipped his head in the direction it had come from, instantly finding Baekhyun as he sat in his chair at his desk, laptop open; god, that was something he hadn't see for weeks, a familiar sight that made his heart quicken. His first thought, though, was how long he'd been asleep.
Baekhyun had greeted with 'afternoon', which meant that Joonmyun had to have slept away at least a full day. Though, if the way his body ached said anything, he had a feeling that it'd been more than just one day. He wouldn't complain, because he knew he needed it, and he was grateful for the time where he hadn't been able to think or let his mind wander.
After a few long moment, Joonmyun finally spoke, voice broken and scratchy. "Baekhyun.... God, it's good to see you." After nearly four weeks of being confined, he was thankful for just being here, being alive.
"How do you feel?" Baekhyun asked right away, rising from his chair and crossing his small room to sit on the edge of his twin-sized bed, next to Joonmyun. "You've been asleep for a day an a half, and yesterday you had such a high fever that we had to put you in a cold bath just to keep it from going up." The elder gave him a look, wondering who this 'we' was before he realized that the younger boy's mother must have been helping.
Joonmyun gave another soft groan and threw the blankets off his upper torso. "I feel like I've been run over by a freight train." Then thrown under a bus before being mauled by a pack of- He didn't finish his thought; it was too much too soon.
Baekhyun gave him a small smile, patting his leg before he stood again. “Just rest okay. And mum said you’re not allowed to get up and walk on your own until your feet scab over properly.” It was then that he realized just how torn up they had been, but the only thing he was worried about was that he might have left a trail for one of the pack to follow. God, he hoped no one came looking for him; he couldn’t put his family, couldn’t put Baekhyun in that kind of danger.
"What if I have to pee?" Joonmyun said, not caring for the new restrictions after just regaining his freedom. He wanted to get up, move around, go for a walk without worrying about being eaten alive; he wanted to do something, anything that would take his mind off Jongin.
"Do you?" Baekhyun turned to him, giving him a long, hard look; Joonmyun held a straight expression before shook his head quietly and sank back down against the mattress.
Joonmyun was quiet for a long time, watching Baekhyun as he sat back down at his computer and began typing away. The clicks of the buttons as the boy’s fingers flew across the keyboard were comforting, and he found himself dozing, listening to and feeling everything he knew come back to him. But it wasn’t as consoling as it should have been; there was still a void in the not-so deep parts of his conscious, a void that itched as him and made him uncomfortable. Something was missing.
Eventually, Joonmyun pulled himself into a sitting position, propping himself up with pillows as he directed his voice at Baekhyun. “Do my parents know I’m here?”
Baekhyun nodded, not looking away from the screen of his laptop. “Mum called them as soon as we got you cleaned and in bed. They came and visited for a while yesterday, but you were still unconscious; though, I think they were just happy you’re alive.” The boy turned around and gave him a soft, fond look, one that Joonmyun wasn’t sure he’d seen before. “I’m happy you’re alive.”
Their eye contact only lasted a moment before Joonmyun ducked away. Baekhyun hadn’t said it, but he knew the boy was angry at him for not having contacted him again. He didn’t understand the dangers; the less he knew the better, the safer he and everyone else would be. Just by being here now, Joonmyun knew they were all in some form of danger or another, and the thought made him sick.
Wanting an excuse to remain silent, Joonmyun slid back down under the covers, and pulled them up to his chin. “I’m going to sleep,” he murmured before rolling over onto his side, back to Baekhyun so that he could hide the tears that rolled down his cheeks.
Nothing was okay anymore; everything hurt; when would it be okay again?
Okay guise! There is a new feature and I'm going to abuse the hell out of it! WOOOO!
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