With dull eyes, Zelo watched the hypnotic motions of his six bladed fan as it fwip, fwip, fwipped through the air, slicing it in two and throwing it into his eyes, long since glazed over with exhaustion. The chopped chunks of wind slapped his face relentlessly, causing his listless eyes to water slightly, and he periodically blinked the moisture away. His thoughts were rather stubbornly clamped onto the fact that his first night home in just under two months, and he'd screwed every. Freaking. Thing. Up. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Foolish, sad, broken little doll. Who will love you now?

Of course, his medicine had worn off at this critical time. He ignored them, searching for Yongguk, face blank as the broken breeze slapped his face, drying the sticky trail of tears under his eyes. Yongguk did not appear, he remained silent and hidden. With a groan of discomfort, he turned over, smashing his face into his pillow until his breath scraped through his nose. He hadn't meant to upset them, honeslty he hadn't! Did it really matter, though?

Even if he hadn't meant to upset them with the question, he had still managed to do it. (Will I have to take this medicine for the rest of my life? Nervous glances and dismissive answers...)

Even if he hadn't meant to lose his temper, he had. (No, you don't understand! You never will. Don't tell me what to do! Shut up! Sad eyes, uncertain reactions...)

Even if though he'd tried to go apologize, it was impossible because Daehyun was asleep.

Even though he'd tried to be normal it... hadn't...

It didn't work, did it, psycho?

A strangled cry slipped dully through the cushion crushed up against his mouth and disappeared into a strange, unnatural silence. It was almost as if the cry could somehow resurface any moment and tear the turbulent air in his small room apart. Feeling spent and hollow, Zelo's eyes slid shut and locked together as he plummeted into an unwilling sleep with darkened thoughts swirling angrilly through his imperfect mind...

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He saw himself in a long dark hallway that stretched on and on and on... fading into eerie shadows that wavered across the barren walls. Voices drifted through the air, whispering a garbled language that slithered through the dark atmosphere. He shivered slightly as a light appeared, thickly massed into a rectangular window, against one of the long narrow walls. Feet tapping against the marbled floors, he rushed into the warmth of the glowing window to find a huge glass case with a too-real wax work figure inside. With glassy hazel eyes that stared dazedly into the distance, a scrawny, thin girl with her torso cut away was suspended inside, blood trickling from the corner of her pale lips. Just under the furthest window pane, a small white label read, "Bullimarexia, ie Bulimia Nervosa" The girl looked awfully familiar...

Another flash lit up the room drawing his probing eyes from the macabre image of the skeletal creature and dashed to the next exhibit. Inside sat a pale, gaunt boy. His arms were drawn above his head, peppered with shards of glass and razors with babred wire twining wickedly down the abused flesh of his wrists as his hands dangled uselessly from his skewered arms. "Bipolar Disorder, examplerary of the Depressive state" Zelo couldn't remember his name...

Again, a bright square of light cut through the darkness, and the cycle continued. The third window showcased a small dollfaced girl with blood red eyes hunched inside a circle of mannequins, all pointing and towering above her, and the next a girl with violet eyes standing erect in a similar ring of shattered figures, dripping paint of different colours. After that came a  blond boy, hunched over a table covered in technicoloured pills. His eyes were tired and sad, as though the daunting task of consuming the medications set before him drained the life from his face. The label read, "Schizophrenia, Psychosis non-organic disorder" Zelo stared hard at the boy, frustrated by how familiar these people seemed but how he couldn't remember a single one of them.

The whispering grew louder, more coherant.

-derer, mur- you ki- Monster...

A burning feeling of fear clenched in his gut as one dim streak of light slowly f-l-i-c-k-e-r-e-d to life... causing his head to turn a fraction of an inch. The hall had come to an abrupt end, with the last exhibit glowing dully against the darkened reaches of this corridor. Slowly, painfully, fretfully, terrified, he trudged forward to find that this final exhibit was... empty. There was nothing in it, not even a sheet of glass to seperate it from the outside world. Leaning forward, he stared hard at the empty chamber, searching for... something. He didn't know what exactly.

The voices rose to a scream, causing him to jolt forward, the ledge forcing the air from his lungs.

Murderer, murderer, you killed them, Monster, Monster! Monster!

His eyes widened as a figure, that hadn't been there, slunk back from the far wall. It had been empty. Empty! Where...? It laughed, stooping over the edge of the window and tossing two wet, dripping objects with a flourish. Grinning it his cheek, capturing his chin with the other hand, watching as his eyes flipped wildly from the two glistening, squashy balls on the ground, to the jagged smile of his pursuer. With a cry of discomfort, Zelo thrashed, attempting to pull away. The creature tutted, dragging one sharp nail along his jawline with a hideous skrrriiiitch.

"Now, now, Zelo." it purred, reaching out and giving a sharp yank to his unkempt hair. "Why pull away? Haven't you missed me?" the voice was gentle and deep, but oh-so forboding... condescending, familiar... Another insistent tug brought his gaze up to meet the glowing eyes of...?

"Y-yongguk?" his voice died away, choked with fear. He never saw Yongguk unless he was asleep... and that meant...

"Ah, sad, broken little Zelo." Yongguk began, smiling wickedly at his terror. "How very desperately you relied on Loyal Daehyun and Lovely Himchan for... love?" it spat the word with disdain. "But... like the venomous, worthless little creature you are, you spit in their faces, disreguarded all that they did for you. Didn't you?" With a whimper, Zelo shook his head. No, no, no, no, no, never! The man, no, demon smiled again, scraping a jagged nail along the malevolent form of his scar. Scraping, scraping, scraping until it bled, bled, bled...

"No... I'd never... never..." he groaned, tears clouding his frightened eyes. A deep chuckle met his remarks, chilling him to the core.

"But... you quarreled with them? Didn't you?" Zelo gave no response, fighting himself to remain calm. "You hurt them... you hurt them and then you fled..." Tears leaked out over the corners of his eyes. "And then... you fell asleep. So now... they're..." he looked at Zelo meaningfully, waiting for a response.

"Dead? They're really dead?" A hand was into his chest, sending him toppling backwards as a sick manic laugh split his mind apart. Scrambling to get back up, his hands brushed against the two moist spheres. Hearts... they were human hearts.

"That," the voice was fading... drowned out by Zelo's screams. "Is the final gift from your lovely siblings..."

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"No! No! I'm sorry!" with a shriek, Zelo sat up, looking wildly around his room. 4:48, his clock read. All was still in the house, not a sound but the uneven breathing of the terrified adolescent all alone in his room. His face, his arms, his fingers were flecked with red, red, red... "Oh, no..." he wrapped his arms around his legs, burying his face into his knees. "No..." he moaned, shivering with fear and realization. He had really killed them, it had really happened... Bile rose in his throat, burning his mouth.

Die, die, die now. You're going to die... die...die. Go die... die, die... die... Die. You. Deserve. To. Die

Daehyun awoke abruptly from his space on the couch. He thought that maybe he'd heard someone... no, there was definitely someone crying. "Zelo...!" his voice was too quiet to carry, he didn't want to wake Himchan, he sprang up, maneuvering the messy living room in their small, worn-down apartment. Boxes, among other things for the entirety of their living room was littered with junk, were hastily knocked aside as he trekked up the stairs. Falling asleep had been a major mistake on his part. The young man had been sitting out because he knew that if ever an argument occured in this small little house, a certain pink headed boy would always come out of his room at some ungodly hour of the night to apologize. Every time, without fail he'd done so and established another ritual. It was cute, endearing even, since neither Daehyun or Himchan were inclined to stay mad at him... But if Daehyun or Himchan were to fall asleep, Zelo would hide from them in his room and wait until morning... which, really, had never worked since he always broke down in the middle of the night out of the sheer guilt and paranoia he felt for "hurting" his beloved siblings.

There was a cough, almost a retch as Daehyun reached the door. Fear exploded within him and he flung the door open, charging through and flipping on the lights. His little brother stared at him, trembling. The scar on his forehead was oozing a thin streak of blood down his face, similar to his arms and neck, scraped raw from some wretched nightmare. The contents of his stomach were resting in his lap, staining his ragged clothes.

"Da-daehyun?" he croaked, looking absolutely stunned. The small creature flushed, looking down as he realized how repugnant this whole scene must look to him. Daehyun remained passive, scrutinizing Zelo closely. "D-daehyun... I'm so-sorry..." his fingers turned white as he gripped his sharply protruding kneecaps. "I... I didn't mean to wake you up... I fell asleep and I thought-" Daehyun walked slowly over to Zelo's bed, hardly listening to the flutter of words flying from his brother's mouth. "I'm..." Daehyun reached the bed and knelt beside him, looking him square in the eye.

"Zelo. It's fine. Quit apolgoizing for existing." his voice was firm, decisive, reassuring. Daehyun wrapped his arms tightly around Zelo's narrow shoulders. Eyes wide, the younger boy fell against his brother's chest, feeling his tension, apprehension, terror fade away and he returned the embrace. There was silence for a minute as the two remained twined together, elder brother comforting the younger. The way things should be.

The silence dragged on before Daehyun finally broke them apart, staring at him with concern. "Go change your clothes, okay?" he smiled slightly. "We're going on a little walk. I'll be at the door." Zelo nodded, his face flushing again as he thought of the vomit splashed on his legs. His brother left shortly after, leaving him rocking back and forth for a minute, almost indecisively, before he carefully removed his clothes, changed, and dashed out of his room to find his brother.

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Not too long afterwards, Zelo and Daehyun walked hand in hand down the street in the bitter, smog-filled air. Silence prevailed, settling peacebly over the two as they came upon the old playground where Zelo had played as a child. It was a sad desolate place, long since ruined by the inexorable hunger of time. The metal slides hung in rusted shards, the wood crumbled in on itself, several swings hung by one chain... such an eerie place that few ever dared to come and visit the dying thing. Especially at night.

However, Zelo and Daehyun were far from average, so without fear, they trod quickly over to one of the vandalized benches and sat together, Daehyun on the left, Zelo on the right. The moon hung ostentatiously, a full, white saucer on the horizon holding the duo's attention for a time. Finally, after the silence had long overstayed its welcome, Daehyun nudged Zelo gently with his elbow.

"Hey, Zelo?" the younger boy turned and stared up at Daehyun in strange mixture of anxiety and apology, clutching nervously at his hands. "You know, we weren't really mad at you, earlier." Zelo's head slumped foreward on his thin neck at this, as if the shame of the argument weighed heavily on him still. He scuffed his shoe against the moon-washed ground, listening to the scfff, scfff the worn rubber soles kicked up. "As a matter of fact, I was pretty proud of you." he scratched his head embarrassedly. "Being so brave and all."

"Really?" Zelo glanced up through his hair, not choosing to lift his head. His fearful eyes registered a nod, and he straightened up a bit. "I really didn't mean to lose my temper."

"I know." Daehyun leaned back a bit, his face relaxed as he hooked one arm lazily behind Zelo's shoulders and his hair. "Himchan did, too." The sensation of Daehyun's touch made Zelo drowzy, his brittle frame leaning rather heavily against the back of the bench. There was a brief period of silence, not a sound but the mournful moans of the wind. "You know, I do understand how you feel." said Daehyun after a while of gazing thoughtfully at the skeletal remains of the playground. "Being an artist," he smirked lightly at the word. "I always wanted to do everything by hand. Everything. Create the fabric, sew the clothes, mix the paints." Zelo listened to him listlessly, turning his misty gaze onto his brother. "But... I can't. It's just not possible." he smiled gently at Zelo. "But does that make the finished product any less mine? Any less creative or artistic or original?" Zelo shook his head sleepily, fully understanding what his brother meant, but too tired to give a reply.

"No, it doesn't." Daehyun finished for him. "My clothing are my own design because I do what only I can. You're just the same, Zelo. You live life your way, be you: Listen to those crazy hip-hop songs, read your horror novels, heck, read the dictionary if you want. Just... let someone help you. 'Kay?" Zelo nodded, turning back to the moon, eyes held fixedly by the luminous orb. "Geez, it's like four in the morning. We need to go home now."

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Six days later, Zelo was once again wandering the halls of his old high school. It hadn't changed much in his absence, it was full of the same useless people and ugly green lockers that filed monotonously down the halls, but... it was a challenge, right? Right, and currently his mission was to find his stupid locker. He'd been searching for fifteen minutes already and he knew he was going to be late to his first class. Great way to start off the day. And another thing? Walking around with people pointing and staring at you because they all remember the incident that took you out of public school in the first place isn't exactly pleasant either. Zelo had forgotten why exactly it was that he hated people so much.

"Hey, psycho!" Oh, yeah. That's why. He looked over his shoulder to see who'd decided to fling the insult at him, finding a rather smug looking boy with his weird short hair with long dreadlocks hanging at the back colored platnium blonde and a shade of pink. He gives a cool,  smooth smirk, his eyes making him look unreal, one white eye and one black. While another boy, who looks fairly thin with shaggy brown hair and bangs that fell over one of his eyeliner colored eyes, stands passively beside him, while a cute little girl with large sad eyes twiddling her fingers rather nervously.

"Z-zico-oppa," she stammers, her voice disgustingly sugary and weak. "Leave him alone, it's his first day back..." the boy shrugs, giving a rather mischeivous smirk.

"Come on, Tiff. It's just a joke." Zelo felt a white wall of anger singe the back of his eyes. He'd taken his medicine, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of feeling indignation at such... childish, needless, infuriatingly stereo-typical taunts. He leaned back on his heels, eyes cool and collected despite the growing heat in his chest.

"Yes, I suppose your brand of comedy makes sense." his voice came cold, deadpan almost. "Mocking the sad little freak who dares to breathe the same air you do is such a noble cause." the boy's smile vanished abruptly leaving Zelo silently staring back at him. The thinner boy shifted slightly, burying his hands into his pockets. "I suppose you'll want to make a comment on my malformities next? The scars? The insomnia? Go ahead, it's all just a joke, to you right?" Zico's mouth twitched, obviously Zelo'd struck a nerve. But, the boy made no other comment, so with a sense of satisfaction at his victory, Zelo left, leaving them all watching his gaunt figure disappear into the crowded hallways.

The bell was going to ring in less than five minutes and Zelo still had no clue where to find his freaking locker. He was just about to give up when he heard a loud, obnoxious voice screaming in the distance. He looked wildly about for the source of the noise, seeing a mass of blond flying down the hall.

"Zeeeellllllloooooooooo!" Ren flung himself at Zelo, sending them both crashing into the nearest row of lockers. Zelo dazedly shook his head, hardly registering Ren's excited cry of "I didn't know you went to this school! Oh, my gosh Sulyeon and Kai and Rayne and Serenity are gonna be thrilled. And oh maybe our lockers are next to each others..." etc etc.

"Ren... could you get off me... please?" the boy grinned sheepishly, scrambling off of Zelo's crumpled form. He hesitated a minute before brushing himself off and standing back up. He glanced at Ren, then his schedule. "Ummm, could you help me-"

"Find your locker? Sure!" Ren snatched the paper from Zelo's hands, eyes roving the nauseatingly yellow sheet in earnest. "Oh. It's right there." he smiled, pointing at the locker Zelo was standing in front of. Zelo smirked slightly. Oh, the irony.

"Oh, look who finally came back." sneered a familiar voice. Zelo felt the cords in his neck tightening as the cold drawl continued. "And, gee. His locker's right next to mine. Guess it's our lucky day, huh, Psycho?" Jongup's hand slammed into the locker beside him, causing him to turn slightly. The boy smirked, leaning in an afflicted super model-esque pose against his locker. Zelo ignored him, though, preferring to marvel at the number of the bully's locker: 666.

Well, that's all! And to anyone who os wondering who Zico and his friends are Zico and his male buddy are from a group Block-B, LOVE. THEM. I find Zico to be fairly very attractive. Hahahaha.  The girl is no one in particular. An OC I suppose just like the rest of the people from the asylum and such. LOL, anyway! That's all I have written so far. I hope that these three chapters make up for my time being gone! :( I have another story I wrote though while I wasn't "in service" called... "Leader Maknae"... Pleeaaaassseee go read it? and... maybe my other stories? Am I asking too much? Byeeeee<3

-Serenity