You sat on the couch, only half-watching the movie that was on, glancing at the staircase every five minutes, waiting for Onew to walk down them and sit with you. You pulled a blanket over Key as he slept, being careful not to wake him, then paced around until you heard footfalls on the stairs. 

Onew came down slowly, his hair still somewhat wet, dampening his t-shirt. You smiled a little and got up, enclosing him in a hug. 

"Oppa," you said, looking up at him, "Taemin needs to feed..." 

He sighed and nodded, "I know, I saw the veins... What are we gonna do with him..? He's gonna die if he doesn't..."

"I won't let that happen, oppa, I promise. If only Minho oppa was here." You said jokingly, trying to lift the mood. 

He smiled and kissed your forehead then looked at the stairs. 

"Oppa..." You said, hesitating a little. 

"You want to know, don't you?" He asked, looking back at you. 

You nodded, "Did you hear me thinking about it?"

"I heard you talking." He corrected, smiling. 

"I'm that loud? How did Key oppa not wake up?" You asked, amazed. 

Onew laughed and shrugged, and then swallowed and continued, "If Taemin's willing to, I'd like him to tell you; it was his experience and no one knows it better than him. And who knows, maybe if he talks about it, he'll feel less guilty and feed..."

You nodded and looked at the stairs, "I'll try to get him down here." 

You earned a 'good luck' and a kiss on the cheek as you walked up the stairs, passing all of the rooms and arriving at the end of the hallway, in front of Taemin's door. 

You gulped and knocked lightly, calling his name out softly. You could hear things from inside the room, but none of them footsteps. You knocked again, almost pleading for him to let you in. The doorknob finally clicked and the door opened, revealing Taemin lying on his bed, lifting things and setting them down to distract him from what was to come. 

"Taemin-ah~. Can you come downstairs? Onew and I wanna talk to you about something." You said softly, sitting down on the bed as Taemin palmed a dead flower. 

"Something?" He asked, closing his hands over the flower carefully. 

Before you could speak, Taemin opened his hands, revealing a half wilted, rust-coloured flower. He threw it against the wall and looked down, angry at himself. 

"Is that happening because you aren't feeding?" You asked, inching closer. He crossed his arms and looked away, nodding slightly. "That's what we want to talk to you about." You said. "Onew's really worried about you, and he wouldn't be able to live if you weren't living with him. Can we talk about what's gotten you shaken up? Please?" You asked finally. 

He slowly turned his head to face you, the veins on his neck becoming more prominent after the use of his powers. He gulped and nodded, slowly getting up and taking the hand you offered, walking down the hall with you. 

His grip was weak as he walked, the veins stretching to his ears now. 'We have to get this done soon.' You thought, walking with him down the stairs and sitting him down in the arm chair. 

The moment Onew saw the veins, several emotions flashed though his eyes; first anger, then sadness and pity, then anger again, and finally fear. He bent down in front of Taemin, taking his hands, "We have to talk about this, okay? Just tell us what happened, and if you can't do it anymore, you tell me. But regardless, you are going to feed after, okay?" He asked, looking up at him. 

Taemin reluctantly nodded, "You want to know everything that happened?" He asked, looking from his hyung to you.  

Key woke up then, seeing the veins and automatically knowing what was happening. 

When Onew nodded, Taemin took a deep breath, closing his eyes and calling up all of the memories that he had tried so hard to forget. 

~ Flashback ~

"Bye, hyungs! Don't stay out too late!" Taemin called, waving as they walked down the street. He went back inside and sat down on the couch beside Kim Jaesun and his wife, Eunmi, Taemin's "mother and father". 

These parents were not their real parents, as they had been killed in the fire that wiped our their whole town more than a century ago. These were just another human couple, only differing from the other seven billion people because of the fact they knew and accepted vampires. The couple offered the five brothers a home, food (blood bags and their own life-force/souls), and education if they needed or wanted it. 

Taemin and the couple sat on the couch, watching a movie on TV. During the commercial, Eunmi got up, preparing a snack for her and her husband.  

"Taemin-ah," she called, cutting up some fruits, "Are you hungry?"

He hesitated. "You can eat, we have enough. If your hungry, eat, boy." Jaesun said encouragingly. Taemin nodded shyly, asking for food. "What'll it be?" Jaesun asked. 

Taemin paused to think, then, after a moment, spoke up, "Not blood." 

Jaesun nodded and rolled up his sleeve in response, holding his arm out for the boy and encouraging him to take it. 

Taemin bowed his head gratefully, latching his lips onto the man's arm as Eunmi walked in with a tray of fresh cut vegetables. Taemin watched as she ate carrots, wishing that he could eat them again and actually have a taste them. All he had a taste for now was blood. 

He began the life-force slowly and gently, trying not to take too much. Knowing that her husband would probably fall asleep after allowing Taemin to feed, Eunmi leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, looking into his eyes for a second. 

Taemin had stopped moving then, his body motionless as he stared down at Jaesun's arm. After a couple seconds, Taemin's jaw clamped down, his teeth sinking into the man's arm, both of their vision going blurry. 

"Taemin." Eunmi said after a few seconds, swallowing hard. "That's enough... Taemin! I said you've had enough!" She yelled, looking from the boy to her husband worriedly. 

Taemin felt his jaw clamp harder, heard bones crack and the man scream. The window beside them shattered, piercing the couple's skin, making them scream even louder. 

Then, Taemin's vision went black. 

-

Taemin woke up slowly, his head spinning and his vision blurry as he sat up. He tried to clear both and look around, but it was now dark outside and there weren't any lights on in the house. 

He just sat there, blinking repeatedly, then closing his eyes for a couple seconds, then repeating it until both his head and vision were clear. 

When he finally opened his eyes with clear vision, he gasped. The walls were covered in splotches of something dark, the rug stained all the way through and had started pooling at its edge. For the first time since he had woken up, Taemin closed his eyes and smelled the air, but could only smell one thing; blood. 

He began to tear up then, backing into a wall and looking around again, sniffing the air, trying to convince himself it was all a dream. 

"Oh my God..." He said painfully. He got up now, carefully avoiding the puddles of blood as he searched. "Eunmi... Jaesun..." He said, the tears beginning to fall. 

He called their names, receiving no answer. Taemin found out why as soon as he walked past the couch. 

There, lying face down on the ground, was the couple, hands joined, bodies and clothes bloody, battered, and bruised. 

Taemin stopped breathing and stumbled back, eyes wide and filled with tears. 

-

The four brothers who had gone out were returning now, walking down the street to their home. 

"Hyung, what's that smell?" Key said, sniffing the air. 

Jonghyun looked at Onew, and then said, "Blood. And lots of it." 

The four of them looked at each other, then ran to the house, the reek of blood getting stronger and stronger as they got closer and closer. 

When they ran inside, Taemin was sitting beside the bodies, crying his eyes out and repeating that he was sorry. 

The four brothers gasped and just stood there, taking everything in. Onew was the first to move, running up behind Taemin and pulling him away. 

"I-I didn't m-mean to, h-hyung!" He cried, "I-I d-don't know what happened... I-I didn't mean to h-hurt them..."

Onew pulled the weeping boy into his arms, the smell of the blood that was all over his shirt overwhelming him. The other brothers joined, all looking back at the bodies that lay just a few meters away. 

-

A couple days later, Onew had packed everything they owned and a cooler full of blood bags, putting everything into the only two cars they owned at that point. 

For the first time since they had left the house on the fateful night, Taemin spoke. "Hyung... I want them to be with us... I want to keep them with me, even though I..." He trailed off, looking down and feeling a stray tear fall.

Onew nodded and went into the kitchen, grabbing the nicest, airtight container he could find, then coming back out. 

In the next ten minutes, Taemin had cremated them, their ashes floating at his command into the container. He sealed the container and held it tightly, whispering another apology. 

They left then, Taemin setting fire to the house from a distance; it was the only way to destroy the evidence without spending endless hours cleaning and putting it up for sale and the quickest way for them to leave town. 

~ End of Flashback ~

Taemin closed his eyes, a tear falling down his cheek as he finished retelling what had happened. Jonghyun and Minho had come in during the early parts of the story and listened intently, even the two manly vamps becoming a bit emotional. 

Key though, was not: he sat there, blinking and tilting his head. 

"Key oppa, is something wrong?" You asked, Taemin's hair. 

Key nodded, "Taemin, I don't think you killed them."