[untitled]

by rayofshinee

rating: pg-13

word count: ~670

warnings: [spoiler alert] not edited (very much), mentions of death, character death, mention of blood

Minho runs with the empty hope that he might one day be able to run away from himself. That’s all running is to him: an escape. He never asked for this life, wonders if anyone did or would. But who would want to be stuck in a life of never seeing the sun, being able to go out only at night, having to hide from people, even your family. Or else kill them. Drink their blood, drain their bodies of their souls. Minho is dead, he died a year ago, but he’s still walking on this earth. He’s alive, but not alive. He has no heartbeat, no blood of his own, even though his diet consists solely of the blood of others. He doesn’t even feel emotions the same anymore, he hasn’t felt anything but hatred for the world, a dark, burning hatred.

He hates it.

After this kill, Minho runs away, away from the blood, the thirst, the craving, and the disgust. He runs from the people who are chasing him - his latest kill was bait, a bloody but necessary sacrifice to catch him - because he knows them, longs for one of them, one he would have once done anything to protect. Now the only thing he needs protection from is Minho himself.

When Minho sees the shadow under the streetlight, he knows that he could make his escape, if he wanted to, but he stops, because that person - a hunter - steps into the light and lifts one hand. A wave, a tiny, hesitant wave that brings Minho to a jolting halt. “Taemin.”

“Hey, hyung.” It’s Taemin. Minho hadn’t seen him in a year, ever since he was killed (he hates the term “turned”), or at least hadn’t seen in a year until earlier that night when the younger had helped corner him in the alley where the humans had left their sacrifice.

Minho doesn’t know what to feel. He shouldn’t feel anything towards Taemin anymore, but when the latter goes “How are you?” with that small, flitting, even a bit hopeful smile, Minho can feel something start to break within him. It hasn’t really been that long since he died, and Minho wonders if he still has a bit of his humanity left.

“I missed you,” Taemin continues, eyes locked on Minho’s. “I didn’t know what had happened, at first, I thought that you were dead. Now I wonder if it would have been better if you had really died a year ago.”

If Minho still had the capacity to cry, he supposes he’d be crying by now. A year ago, only a year, Taemin wouldn’t have said anything like that. Taemin had never been this cold, this heartless, this bloodthirsty, Minho adds in his mind as Taemin unsheathes a silver stake. Minho knows that he should be running away, but Taemin has this dead look in his eyes, with the smallest sliver of this will be over soon and Minho knows that it would be hopeless to run.Taemin wasn’t alone before, they sent a human to his death for this, the others will not be far away.

They should have just sent Taemin out in the first place, Minho thinks bitterly. Even as he is, he would never hurt Taemin. He takes a step back and immediately two humans are pulling his arm and one bracing his head, making him an easy target for Taemin. Minho recognizes them, and he’s not as much surprised and betrayed as he is resigned to his fate. It’s befitting, in a cruel way, for the four people he cared about the most to be the ones to put him out of this misery. He wonders briefly how it is for them, how they learned to hunt, how long they’ve been looking for him.

Minho doesn’t fight back, clinging on to that last little bit of him - of his humanity from a year ago, and smiles. Peace, finally.

foreword

rayofshinee