Whispers back and forth.

That was what woke Kyuhyun up as the vampire’s ears perked. His head hurt, his arms hurt, his shoulder hurt, his body hurt, every part of him was hurting, feeling as if it had been whacked by a baseball bat and then crushed by a bulldozer and then slit with a knife. Kyuhyun willed himself to slit his eyes open, blinking at the bright lights that surrounded him. He blinked a couple more times and finally, his vision regained and he took in the familiar looking furniture and wallpaper around, realizing that he was…. In his own room.

Back at home?

Startled, Kyuhyun shot up only to be pushed down back onto the soft mattress by soft hands. Kyuhyun glanced up to his friends looking down at him worriedly.

“Kyuhyun…”

Kyuhyun’s eyes flashed in confusion at Sungmin and Heechul. “Wh… What’s going on?

Sungmin and Heechul exchanged glances and then Heechul simply pointed out, “You almost died and we saved you.”

Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “I know but… What happened? How… How did you find me? Why are we here?”

“Kyu,” Sungmin begun, biting his lips. “Henry was working with Donghae. I… I heard him talking to Donghae before the both of you left. I wanted to tell you but… I couldn’t bring myself to. It was already too late when I had the courage to tell you. You already left.”

 “I didn’t know that you were going to go and find the other dark prince’s ashes with him.” Sungmin explained. “I thought you were going to go home, I… I just wanted you to leave so that you’d walk away from Donghae. I… I’m sorry Kyuhyun but I just wanted to protect you.”

Kyuhyun winced, trying to move as he sat up on the bed. The pain wasn’t as bad as before now. “How did you find me?”

“Sungmin saw the news of the South Korean air base being attacked and put two and two together. Henry was missing and so were you.” Heechul told Kyuhyun sounding half-excited, half-annoyed. “We went to every damn country to look for you and dude, Sungmin knows how to fly a jet!”

Sungmin gave Heechul a dirty look and then turned to Kyuhyun with a soft expression, “We guessed that you might start with the nearest countries but… We were wrong. It took us a long time to figure out where you were.”

“If we hadn’t gotten there on time…. I don’t know what would have happened to you.” Sungmin whispered, worriedly. “When we found you, we didn’t know where to go and we brought you home. Your parents are worried. They’re downstairs now. You’ve passed out for nearly a week now, Kyu. I’m … I’m sorry this is happening. I’m sorry we couldn’t find you sooner.”

Kyuhyun stared at his ex-boyfriend, heart clenching at how guilty Sungmin looked. Reaching out a hand, Kyuhyun squeezed Sungmin’s hand and smiled palely at him. “Thank you.”

A moment of silence passed before Kyuhyun’s head started hurting. He winced, touching his temples as he squeezed his eyes shut. Images of Ryeowook, eyes glowing red and lips stained with blood, etched itself in Kyuhyun’s head and Kyuhyun’s eyes widened.

“Ryeowook… Ryeowook…. He turned didn’t he?”

Sungmin’s forehead furrowed as he nodded solemnly. Kyuhyun shook his head, burying his head into his hands as he thought about all those…. Dreams he had been having ever since he passed out. They weren’t dreams. He knew they weren’t. It felt too damn raw, the emotions he felt in the dream felt too real to be true.

And most of the time, it was of Ryeowook.

Ryeowook called him names, Ryeowook threw him against walls, Ryeowook hissed his hatred towards him and Ryeowook demanding that Kyuhyun died. Every time Kyuhyun admitted his love for the other, Ryeowook’s red eyes glowed disapprovingly, woefully and requested that if Kyuhyun really loved him then he should die for him.

Kyuhyun didn’t know what it meant, what those dreams were trying to tell him. They weren’t dreams if he knew that Ryeowook was now a vampire. So did that meant… The exchange between Henry and Donghae…. He saw the both of them and how Henry was betrayed by Donghae and how Donghae walked away without feeling the least bit sorry. So did that happened too? Or was his dreams just playing tricks with him?

“He’s a monster, Kyu.” Sungmin told Kyuhyun carefully. “Donghae turned Ryeowook into a monster.”

“He killed everyone.” Heechul’s expression was now serious as he spoke, “We were the only two that escaped from the school.”

Kyuhyun took a sharp breath, “Ryeowook killed them all?”

“He was out of control, thirsty for blood. And that sadistic Dark Prince just watched from a distance while Ryeowook killed them all. How could someone be so evil like that?”

“Wh… What about Henry?”

Sungmin hugged himself, shaking his head as he shivered at the memories of what happened to the kid. “Donghae locked him in a room with Ryeowook.”

“The betrayer got what he deserved.” Heechul muttered under his breath.

Kyuhyun shook his head in disbelief as he fought back the tears in his eyes. Everything was messed up right now and the only thing he ever wanted, he had promised himself all this time was forced away from him. Ryeowook, the person who he had planned to keep safe and sound until the rest of his life, was gone.

“Kyu,” Sungmin begun quietly, “There is something else.”

Sungmin and Heechul exchanged glances and Heechul nodded, encouraging him to go on. “Before we managed to escape, we heard Donghae talking to Ryeowook…. Ryeowook’s hurting. Donghae’s controlling his mind and body and he… He was begging Donghae to stop. But… Don