• SEVEN •

March 11th

Tao could feel it, his words dying in his throat as he collapsed onto the wooden flooring of Kyungsoo's living room, startling the home owner into motion who then rushed to his side. Yifan was in agony and there was so much sadness laced throughout all the physical pain he could sense. Their connection was thrumming with it; sadness was a bitter lady with poisoned fingers plucking at the strings of the very stitches that held the two lost halves of this destined whole together. He was desperately calling out for Tao, the need for his mate reverberating in his bones until that same need infected Tao's body as well. Kyungsoo meanwhile had instantly contorted the very ground beneath their feet to completely encase the three of them. Most likely fearing some sort of attack was the cause.

"Tao! Tao! Zitao you will answer me, what is it?!" Kyungsoo screeched in panic, his inner mind connecting to the grounds of his estate, scanning along it to see if anything was out of place or if anyone unknown had snuck in but he found nothing. He sent out a pulse of his cræft again in waves that spread in all directions, they formed a complete ring around the three of them and then shot off into the distance, traveling up and over walls and objects to locate Tao's attacker or anything that seemed foreign. 

Yet there was still nothing, not a single vibration out of place. The attacker must be airborne then. But who would be insane enough to pull a stunt like this? He was a descendant of Eorpe and his mate, Jongin, was of Læcan descent too? Everyone was aware that due to their supposed importance as heirs they were very sheltered children, meaning they were only allowed to be with other descendants and the six of them had grown up together. They had spent their entire lives together, centuries of love and trust turning them into a family, even more so than each individual was with their own bloodline. He would kill for Tao, even one of his own people.

"Not physical, it's Yifan," Tao choked out.

"How so?" Jongin asked, sensing Kyungsoo relax slightly and the wall surrounding them lowered but the broken furniture and snapped floorboards that had occurred in the process remained.

"It- like, it's been going on for a while, something has seriously been bothering him but he just won't tell me, but just then it started out as well, um, as this grief, and maybe guilt- there was so much sorrow, but now it's just- it's just pain, god if it's hurting me this much- Jongin please! He's with Jongdae, take me to him!" Tao begged as he struggled to stand.

"Fine fine, hold on tight everyone, I haven't done more than one person in a while," Jongin warned as he took deep breaths in and out, one arm pulling Kyungsoo in to press him against his chest, the other reaching behind to tug Zitao against his back. Nearly choking from how tightly Tao had wound his arms around his shoulders. "Maybe not that tight Tao," he choked, "brace yourselves, try to think happy thoughts and, maybe not vomit again please," Jongin ground out, his mind flashing back to the one and only time that he had teleported Tao.

Jongin then moved to focusing his mind and his body, the very air around them began buzzing, seemingly vibrating with the energy he was exerting, and the shaking only got stronger and stronger before it felt like Jongin was being ripped in two. But it wasn't painful, it was in the beginning but not anymore. Now it just felt like his body was shifting, his very atoms drifting and dancing in the air, his body no longer an actual physical being just a blur instead. He then shifted his concentration to the two bodies latched onto him, and as per usual Kyungsoo began squirming as soon as he felt himself parting. Unfortunately Tao began to writhe and dry heave so Jongin focused on getting the job done as quickly as possible. And in a brief pulse of light and a crackling sound it was. The three of them transported to Jongdae's home in central Mistide, opening their eyes to something akin to a nightmare.

*

An ear splitting sound echoed about the mansion and Yifan could only dazedly stare at Jongdae in shock, his mind whirling a mile a minute as he desperately tried to fight against the voice within his racing mind insisting that this all started because of him. And then both he and that awful voice was quite literally deafened, nothing but a high pitched ringing could be heard as a paralysing wave of energy was released from Jongdae's body all at once. Yifan cried out, he knew he was screaming and convulsing but all his could hear was that all consuming ringing that muffled all other noises, his heart beat pounding against his ribs and body spasming as electricity coursed through his veins. 

The luminia placed on the walls were becoming so bright that it was unbearable, the once gentle light that comforted them as children now turned harsh and unwelcoming as Jongdae's unchallenged power coursed through them. Before it finally exploded, sending shards in every direction and a few now stood upright in Yifan's flesh.

That was when the thunder outside really started. The wind now whipping into the house and swirling around the room. Curling around Jongdae while still gaining speed, slicing up furniture, and painfully scraping across Yifan's skin every time it circled round. Picking up random things from throughout the room and sending them spinning around wildly before they would eventually smash into walls. He could only watch as pure and utter devastation unfurled in front of his very eyes, a deep-set instinctual fear coursing through his veins as he watched his best friend's sanity crumble from underneath him. Jongdae was practically howling alongside the bitterly cold wind, eyes glowing like stars against the blacks of his eyes. 

It was a haunting sound, sending shivers down his spine and the fear, the need to get away trickled down his very bones much like the tears streaming down the other's face. That noise, something so primal and feral- it reminded him of the wolves.

Jongdae was in the middle of the room on his knees with his head thrown back. Blue light beaming out of his mouth and eyes as the same light mapped out every single vein in his body. Rings of the same light surrounded him, varying in size and brightness as they spun in perfect time with the vortex of wind still disseminating the room. White fangs gleaming through the flashes of light as lightening graced the ground frequently around the house, his entire body tensed in response, every muscle and tendon straining to the point of pain. 

Yifan felt vomit rising in his throat, with what little power he had left he forced his body to float. A breath of relief wheezed out of him as he was no longer directly connected to the ground and therefore no longer connected to the direct current stemming from Jongdae. But he couldn't bring himself to resent his friend for the pain he was feeling, it was after all completely understandable. Jongdae had just lost the one fated for him.

*

Jongdae couldn't think. Only one word was currently running through his head. Xiumin. It sliced through any other possible thoughts and engulfed his entire mind. Spreading into the depths of his consciousness, awakening parts of him that he had long forgotten. Thousands of emotions coursed through his veins, setting fire to his heart and loosening what little control he had over his powers.

Fear had hit him first, grazing her fingertips over every inch of his body. Whispering promises of a life of pure solitude, that he'd never find another- never love another. That he'd never kiss Xiumin again, never hold him again, never get to tell him just how much love him like Xiumin said. Fear used the last words Xiumin ever spoke to him to haunt him, she floated around his body and told him that it was all his fault. That he had failed, that he wasn't good enough, that he'd failed because his fated never felt the love Jongdae was created to give him.

Sadness came next. His huge form clamping down and suffocating Jongdae with his smothering embrace. His throat tightening until he couldn't breathe with it clogging up his lungs yet his hoarse screaming still managed to squeeze through. Sadness, the selfish bastard, was tearing his heart apart bit by bit. Not ripping, not shattering, just tearing. Making tiny little rips and then leaving them open for his love to gush out from between the cracks like an over flowing river. The tears running down his face like an ocean. And Jongdae was currently bobbing on the surface, fighting for breath, but with every flashing memory of Xiumin's beautiful smile, or the way his thighs would clamp down when Chen kissed the skin on the underside of his jaw, even the faintest hint of a warmth nearby combined with the other's signature scent would have a wave crashing down and engulf him once more.

Pure and paralysing pain crippled him afterwards. Utter agony after realising that he would spend the remainder of his life alone, that he'd never ever get to love Xiumin like he'd craved to, never get to fulfill as the wonders a bond was supposed to offer. Theoretically he had never actually marked Xiumin because the other had never truly understood the depth of their connection and it needed to be a mutual choice. So they weren't even close to being fully connected in the eyes of the court, but god dammit it felt like they had. 

He was desperate for more of Xiumin, more time, more dates, more smiles, more time, more tears, more late nights and early starts, just more time. The fact that the other was gone hadn't really sunk in yet. Even thinking of it now caused fresh waves of jarring electricity to roll off of his body and yet another round of screaming to sound. His skin burned, his very soul just ached at the thought of losing Xiumin, no, that he had lost Xiumin. He couldn't even breath, he was choking up on his failure to protect his fated.

Then, with that thought fresh in his mind, an unbelievable feeling of guilt clawed at him like a wild beast next. Splitting open his flesh and tearing through his bones from the inside. It ate him up, devoured him whole. It lapped up his excuses and munched on his lies that he told himself. "It's all my fault it's all my fault, this is all my fault, I did this to him!" his thoughts screamed. And the worst part was that they were true, it was all his fault.

*

"Y-Yifan what the- Jongdae?! Jongdae, what's wrong!" Kyungsoo screamed when he opened the door, taking note of the destruction throughout the house and how it seemed to focus into one point. And sitting right at the center of it all was his baby brother, Jongdae, body glowing as he sent out burst after burst of pure electricity into the air around him. To prevent further injury he instructed Jongin and Tao to stay out if they didn't want to be electrocuted. His own nature making him almost immune to the spidery webs of electricity flew out from the screaming man's body, latching onto anything that it could reach without mercy. But thankfully they didn't seem interested in Yifan who was glued to the ceiling.

"It's his- god I don't even want to admit it- it- it's his, -his fated is dead Kyungsoo, there's nothing we can do!" Yifan yelled, tears streaming down his face after witnessing the pure anguish that one went through after losing their fated, quite frankly he was incredibly anxious to see Tao and make sure that the other never left his sight again. "Get back! Don't get near him!"

"I'll be fine, I'll keep myself grounded at all times, it might tingle but he can't hurt me that badly," Kyungsoo said shakily, successfully darting out of Jongin's reach when the other male lunged for him as he had obviously figured out Kyungsoo's intentions.

Jongdae was conscious enough to hear the voices, yet he couldn't bring himself to the surface, Xiumin was dead, Xiumin was dead. How on earth is he supposed to live without his fated? How can he live when he was the reason the other had died? He knew that there was a time before Xiumin, countless flings and unnamed faces in his bed but they never meant anything. They weren't like Xiumin, they didn't even come close, and now he didn't even have Xiumin anymore. He didn't have anything anymore, and with that he crumbled to the floor, palms stinging as they slapped the marble flooring.

"Jongdae?" Kyungsoo asked timidly, as he neared the shaking, pathetic form of one of the highest ranking vampires. The boy was now curled up on the floor, laying on his side with his face buried in his arms and was still emitting, though admittedly now feeble, bright sparks. The storm still raged on outside though, half of the flooring in the room was covered in puddles of water due to the raining pouring in from the shattered windows.

Jongdae only sobbed in response, tears streamed down his face, his nose ran and his mouth was stretched wide with drool hanging off of his chin as he wailed. Too far gone to care anymore, nothing else mattered apart from Xiumin. "Guys it's safe to touch the floor now, it might hurt a little but we're okay now."

"But he isn't, he never will be again."

"Yifan! You-" Tao scolded as he appeared in the door way, gasping in surprise at the sheer speed that his fated had shot over to him with, clinging onto him with a vice like grip.

-"Don't ever leave me, ever," Yifan ground out, not even looking at him as he spoke but instead at the shell of their former best friend in his bedroom.

"Enough!" Kyungsoo bellowed, "can we focus on the issue at hand?! Tao portal yourself, Yifan and me back to mine, and Jongin you take Jongdae there. We need to get him somewhere where he cant harm anyone," he then barked out.

"Jongdae? Jongdae, I'm going to have to pick you up now buddy, I'm not going to hurt you, we're just going back to Kyungsoo's, he can ground you there so you don't hurt anyone- does that sound okay?" Jongin asked warily, crouching down next to Jongdae who was still crying.

"All I want- all- all I want is Xiu-Xiumin, no- no- thing, nothing else matters," Jongdae hiccuped out, his words strained as they wheezed out of his throat.

"Just hold on to me buddy," Jongin whispered as he struggled to fight off the tears threatening to fall. I never even thought about what it would be like to lose Kyungsoo, I can't even imagine what he's going through right now.

*

Kyungsoo's true home laid on the outskirts of Middan, buried in the mountain side and seemingly carved from the very Earth itself. Completely contrasting to his family home that resided in the city center. It was simply tall and imposing, looking like an ugly blemish on the city skyline in its grotesque decadence and overall garish feel. But this one was his peaceful paradise that he liked to keep completely separate, as it was created with nothing but his own cræft and will power alone. The spirits dwelling in the forest even accepted it as Kyungsoo's safe haven, recognising him as the child of a once loved King.

Although the concept of royalty had dissolved a long time ago families such as Kyungsoo's were still highly respected, less as a title and more for the powers they possessed. There were six families such as his in total, each residing in the different regions of Nihternnes, all descendants of long since deceased royal families that once ruled the domains. It wasn't a fear thing though, more admiration. The closest human thing he could relate it to was being famous, which is exactly why he liked to keep this place unknown to every bar himself and his fated, as it was only ever for himself and Jongin to escape to when things go too crazy. It wasn't much, truly nothing compared to the mansion but it was more than enough for the two of them.

Due to the nature of Kyungsoo's cræft it also unexpectedly doubled as the perfect little insulator for Jongdae, the endless Earth surrounding him and the dirt filling the walls and floor simply combined together to ground his cræft entirely. There was no where for it to escape to where it didn't eventually meet some form of Earth, rendering the electricity harmless. It was potentially why the two of them argued so much, because Kyungsoo had often acted on impulse and trapped Jongdae within the ground when they were children, leaving him there for hours with very little chance of escaping. 

Though the two were older now, and definitely friends, it was always a little bit of a sore spot between them. And if they ever had to unite to take care of those god awful mutts across the water they had to be kept completely isolated or his cræft would nullify Jongdae's. Leaving him completely helpless in the field of battle. But now none of that mattered, not in the slightest.

"Jongdae, do you maybe, want to tell us about what happened?" Tao asked gently. Jongdae was curled up in the middle of a bed in the guestroom after being force fed and showered, Kyungsoo pressed against his left side and Tao against his right. Normally they wouldn't be allowed within a meter of the male, especially not to do something like this, but the other wasn't putting up any real fuss. Unless they moved away from him that is, as when they did he would latch onto them like a child and start crying again. It was horrific to watch, to watch someone so powerful and strong crumble to pieces all while knowing that there was nothing they could do.

"He- he died Tao, he's dead, I don't know why- I don't know who sent something after him or why they did it, but there was a Asecanth in his apartment, he uh, had like this family ring- he was adopted- or maybe not thinking about it, but he still wore it, and he said it turned the Asecanth to dust when he touched it. It must have immediately summoned the Mægenra so I never would have made it to him in time anyway, Yifan thinks he must have been a hunter- because of the ring, but I don't care- I just loved him so much, I know he was my fated now, I, I just- I never thought he'd get taken away from me before I could even think about telling him the truth. But I can't stop thinking about it, what if he was a hunter? What if my fated was a hunter, what if every second of it was a lie, but I'll never be able to stop myself from loving him?" Jongdae took his time in speaking, the truth behind his words passed over his tongue like knives. He's dead, this is it, it's over for me.

The two men tightened their hold on the distressed male, sensing that that was what he need at that moment in time.

"He called me after it happened, said he'd locked himself in his bedroom, he was really freaked out, and then- and then I was just yelling at him because I was scared and then he was all like, like 'Chen, what's outside my door?' and I knew that the Mægenra was there. But then, then he asked me if bullets could kill it, if knives could kill it and I'm sat there racking my brain because not once had I seen either of those things in his apartment. Whether he was a hunter or not I didn't- I don't even care, he's my fated- was my fated. Oh god, the worst part, the worst thing- I mean god I don't even know if was real anymore, but, do you want to know the last words that he ever said to me?"

"Mmhmm, sure, you get everything out that you want to," Kyungsoo replied with nervously, eyes flickering around the room as he watched the luminia's shatter one by one, the only light source in the room other than the dwindling moonlight being Jongdae's now faintly glowing body.

"Xiumin he- Xiumin told me that the worst thing, and the bit that was hurting him the most, is that he loved me, just a little bit, but he loved me Soo, and I never ever got to show him that love back. I only got to have him for mere months, I've been waiting centuries and I got a few months with him! That's all I'll ever have, how is that fair!?" Jongdae screamed, fresh tears streaming down his face.

"ing hell Dae, I'm so sorry," Kyungsoo whispered in shock, stunned by the tears running down his own face as well. Though it was no surprise that Tao was sobbing nearly as much as Dae was.

"I never got- I'll never- never get to show him y'know? Like what- what it was like to be loved, to be truly loved, I don't really know if its what I believe, but they say its what were made for, y'know, to love our fated," he whimpered as he rolled over and buried his face in Tao's chest, entire body heaving as he viciously sobbed.

"Come here, it's okay, it'll be okay," Tao soothed, staring in awe as the electricity flowed over his skin instead of shocking him. The same look of confusion adorning barely visible Kyungsoo's face.

"No it won't be Tao. He's not coming back, I'll never get Xiumin back," Jongdae stated evenly as he stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, just motionless, before he finally let exhaustion claim him and pull him under.

The three of them stayed like that for the rest of the night, Yifan and Jongin were busy attempting to fix and clean up anything they could back at the Wu residence per Kyungsoo's order that it was unfair to leave the few staff to do it all. However upon returning back to the little hide away, feeling oh so ready to crash into the nearest available soft surface the vampires were stunned by what they saw. Kyungsoo and Tao were tangled up together in bed, instantly reminding them both of a childhood spent together. Jongdae however was sat on the floor, his back pressed up against the floor to ceiling windows that lined the outside facing side of the bedroom.

"You done already? I wouldn't wake them though, I, well, I accidentally made them cry, like a lot, so they might be needing the rest," Jongdae whispered, just running the pads of his fingers over the solid wood beneath him, feeling all the ridges and rough almost splintered parts beneath his palm. The glass against his no longer felt cold, he no longer felt anything really, the fresh scars on his fingertips from forcing them over the splintered edges of the wood had not been able to bring him back to reality. It was a futile attempt to escape the numbness, but they didn't need to know about that.

"What about you?"Jongin asked after a pause.

"I don't matter anymore- not now that Xiumin is gone, I don't have anything else left, y'know?"

"Jongdae you can't think like that," Yifan scolded.

"Why can't I? You hadn't seen him Yifan, he was so perfect, he was everything I'd ever needed and more, and god the way it felt when I kissed him- when I held him too, we never- never, like, but it was enough, just to have him next to me and see him smile, and I'll never get to feel that again. Nothing could ever compare, and that's the truth of it, you can't tell me otherwise- you know you can't tell me otherwise," Jongdae spoke with a wistful look on his face, reminiscing over the single most precious moments in all his centuries on this Earth. Yet it soon turned sour and bitter as the looks on the other's faces only reaffirmed the truth he desperately wanted to ignore.

"Dae, I can't even begin to imagine losing Kyungsoo and what losing him would do to me, I can't even begin to understand your pain right now, but all I can say- all we can say I mean, is that we'll be there for you, all of us," Jongin said slowly as he made his way over to Jongdae and dragged him until he was perched back on his spacious bed.

"Tomorrow- tomorrow we'll go back to his apartment, you don't even have to come with us, the Mægenra don't tend to be messy- they're um, well, quick, and um, efficient as horrible as it sounds, so he didn't suffer! So, um, as much as you might not be ready I vote that we go back and get his bo- we get him, and, and give him a proper burial, somewhere just for us, we'll mark his place in history for all of us, as one of the rare fated humans, I think he's what? The fifth, maybe sixth in all of recorded time? Let's show the entire world how special he is Jongdae," Yifan suggested timidly, gradually watching different emotions play across the other's face until something akin to happiness appeared.

", shi- Yifan, I'd like that a lot Yifan, yeah, thank you," he really struggled to keep the catch out of his voice after that, willing the tears not to come. "That's so, thoughtful of you Yifan, but- I'm not sure yet, but, I think I want to come with you, I may not be able to have him anymore, but I can have parts of us- his hoodies, the photos we took together, all the books he had that I haven't read yet, and his coffee machine- it's a human thing, and I want all of his shirts too, the black one with this stupid graphic on it that was his favourite-"

"It's alright Jongdae, you can take whatever you want but you know you can't keep it forever, but we'll wake up and go together tomorrow," Jongin reasoned as he laid the other male down, noting how worryingly cold and pale he had become. By now Kyungsoo had woken up and had stuck himself to Jongin's side, his eyes still puffy and red; Tao meanwhile was still asleep, snoring slightly. "We're going to go and sleep in one of the spare rooms you have, we're not going far," Kyungsoo mumbled as he drew the covers back over the exhausted male's body.

Yifan stood awkwardly in the doorway, Tao had already rolled over to the other side of the bed and had smothered Jongdae's body with his long limbs.

"The bed is big enough for three, I'm sorry for keeping him here I just really don't want to be alone right now, you can fit on the other side if you let me roll over," Jongdae whispered as he laughed lightly as Yifan's face.

"It's alright, I understand." Toeing off his shoes before briefly disappearing into the adjoining bathroom to clean his hands and face before he returned into the room. Jongdae had been with him for hundreds of years, Yifan had even been with Jongdae when he was first transitioning, half the time he viewed him as a little brother and the other half Jongdae was his protector. He was always so strong, so incredibly powerful, but now he was lying broken in the middle of this stupidly empty bed. And it was all his fault, he didn't deserve to be there, he didn't deserve the love Jongdae was looking up at him expectingly with. So he wasted no time in gluing himself to the other side of his body, holding onto Tao's hand that was resting atop of Jongdae's stomach.

"Sleep Jongdae. Sleep, we'll still all be here when you wake up." 

*

Pale skin shone grotesquely in the sunlight, the light catching it on the high points of his prominent ribs, hips, and collarbones, still clammy with the sweat of a vivid dream. Though it was not truly a dream, but a reality instead. It didn't provide any semblance of an escape, and Jongdae doubted it ever would. Why would his subconscious ever be that kind? No, instead he was to relive it every night, this night alone he had relived the same reality in all these different shades; poisoned by his fierce guilt and sadness. 

The darkest most all consuming inky depression presented itself through foggy vision as he burst through the door to the apartment just that little bit too late, watching Xiumin's skewered body slide off the thin, bony claws of the Mægenra until it smacked wetly onto the floor. The image swallowing him whole and fading to black before it repeated over and over.

The most vivid and alarmingly yellow coloured bitter guilt tinted the edges as in this dream he made it and was fighting the creature, Xiumin's unresponsive form somewhere in the bedroom of the flat just waiting to be rescued but it was too bright for him to see and the flat felt like a maze of corridors that shouldn't be there. The light was too bright for him to fight against, and he couldn't stop it, he couldn't win this fight, nothing he did worked and everything was a futile waste of effort in the end. He was in an endless loop of fighting so desperately for nothing to work and to constantly have the knowledge that Xiumin was bleeding out over and over, laying there alone, on the cold, hard flooring, waiting patiently for a savior that would never come.

The worst was when he dreamt through a distorted rose tint, he'd blink and he'd bask in the image of the sleeping form of his boyfriend. Sunlight filtering through the window illuminating his peaceful form, and all he'd get before slowly blinking again was Xiumin beginning to roll over and reach for him with a soft, sleepy smile. The next time he opened his eyes he was staring down at Xiumin's dead corpse, his hands stained red and trembling as the still gripped the formless throat. After that one he decided sleep wasn't for him that night and spent the remainder of the night staring out at the sky until he drifted in and out of a vague state of rest.

*

"-Dae? Jongdae, buddy? It's time to get up, you should eat, yeah eat something, might make you feel better-"

"It will not, please don't be starting any of that, I expect it from your mate but not you Yifan." Jongdae heaved himself out of bed as he spoke, feet brushing over the cold floor as he braced himself against the oncoming head-rush. Crying yourself to sleep never yielded particularly pleasant results the next morning. "Just don't bother with it, I think I just want to go- and get it over with, I don't want to drag it out anymore than it has to be- and, and before I-, I know if I don't do it now I won't be able to bring myself to, and I need to Yifan, I need to go," Jongdae ground out, his eyes glued to the floor as he in great deep breaths, willing his mind and body to calm down.

There was a tangible pause before anybody spoke, the other's having quickly materialised in the doorway alongside Yifan. "Hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay Jongdae, we can go whenever you want to," Kyungsoo soothed as he pointedly glared at the taller vampire, trust him to be tactless and set Jongdae off.

"Right, thanks Soo, and, well, would you mind opening a portal for us Tao? And stay on this side to keep it open? I can't imagine Jongin wants to touch a dead body to bring it back," There was another pause, this time awkward and tense. It seemed they weren't expecting Jongdae to be so frank about it, evident in the flash of disgust and horror that over took Jongin's features. Oops, I'm so sorry you're uncomfortable over my fated's death, so sorry.

"Um yeah, of course. Whatever you want Jongdae honestly, we're here for you- we're all here for you, you know that right?" Tao urged as he pushed the low table in the centre of the room to the side. He stood with his legs shoulders width apart and raised his arms until the were straight out in front of him. With palms facing downwards he swooped his hands down and up to form halves of a large circle, his forearms crossing over by the end of it before it repeated a few times. The exact same sliver of light appeared as before. Only this time as he was on the other side of it Jongdae could literally see the very matter of the universe bunch up underneath a single fingertip of Tao's like ripples in a stiff fabric, until they finally gave way and split open. Instantly recognising the grey sofa that was slowly coming into view.

"Okay, okay, let's do this," Jongdae whispered to himself more than anybody else, gingerly passing through the portal, closely followed by Kyungsoo and Jongin.

*

Primal fear, that's what this was, that's all Xiumin could feel as he stared at the bone like claws that had pierced through the wood of his bedroom door with ease. Like butter, he thought, like a knife through butter, the image then lazily running through his mind. There was no urgency to the thought, body and mind fully surrendering to the panic, and all he could feel was something tugging feebly on his heart willing him to move. Like an ice cold hand with a vice grip squeezing it painfully, trying to tear it free from his chest and his ribs threatened to splinter and crack with the force of it. That and the dead weight of a gun in his hand, the metal smooth and lifeless under his flesh. 

The gun. Xiumin's mind screamed as pieces of the door clattered onto the ground and the feet of the cupboard scratched along the floor with movement. Use the gun. It screamed again, and this time his body numbly complied, ejecting the magazine to ensure it was fully loaded before loading the gun once again and flicking the safety off. But none of it felt real, it still felt like he was going to wake up at any moment. No, this wasn't fear, this was shock. And if Xiumin didn't snap out of it he'd die.

Instead of his chest, this time his heart felt like it was been pulled out of his mouth, he could feel the bulk of it in his throat and breathing was only getting harder as he looked at the creature dead on. It wasn't overly tall, shorter than him possibly and it was all sharp edges and bent limbs. It's body literally twisted in the middle making it look as if something had just plucked it from the ground and tried to wring it out like a damp cloth, and it just made it seem like entire upper half of its body was held up by a mere twig. 

Bony spindly legs reminded him of that of a spiders, but their was nothing symmetric about this creature, its limbs sprouted from different angles and heights, some barely even touching the ground and others had been forcibly snapped because they were too long. The now dead and rotting portion that had been partially severed to allow the leg to touch the ground was being dragged behind it.

Truthfully most of the creature seemed dead, infected skin peeled and hung off of now protruding bones and the skin that was still intact seemed to be in excess, the black almost translucent flesh bunched up like too big clothing around its joints. It's face was the definition of anguish and torment. A large mouth hung agape, jaw dislocated from the rest of it's face and it swung side to side as the beast maneuvered through the broken and jagged wooden door. A blood red mouth contained rings and rings of teeth, varying in size and then beginning to get smaller as they disappeared down the monster's throat. But it did not move as if it was it any pain, though it seemed a haphazard mistake in creation it moved with precision and purpose, muscles visibly rippling under the skin as it did so. And judging by the number of scars covering its body it was clear that this thing didn't go down easy.

For now, all it was doing was staring at him, its many eyes all blinking at different intervals to always keep at least one puss filled eye on him. Just doing that and teetering back and forth on its pin like legs, an image briefly being conjured in his mind of his body being skewered on those very legs. And that's when he felt it, the rush of adrenaline that banished the ringing from his ears and sharpened his sight, body coiled ready to attack. Because this was it, whatever this thing was, what the reason for its appearance Xiumin knew he could die today. 

Then came the anger, raging through him, fueling him. What the anger was he did not know but Xiumin could not shake the feeling that someone he loved had suffered at the hands of this beast, somewhere far off in a distant memory he felt as if he recognised the being, but it wasn't possible, yet still it felt so real. Knuckles turning white as he gripped the gun and the phone even tighter, suddenly aware of Chen's voice screaming down the line, begging, pleading. And Xiumin was never going to see him again, so for once, he just let go. Let the words he had been dying to say run free from his lips before the beast finally lunged.

A pained cry of Chen's name rang out as the beast did so, completely unaffected by the array of bullets Xiumin fired at it, and it sunk it's needle like fingers into the fleshy part of Xiumin's upper arm. Screams tore themselves free of his throat as searing hot pain resonated within his very bones. His uninjured right arm reached behind his back and grasped the solid handle of the blade tucked into the waistband of his trousers, before he flicked his wrist forwards again and cringed at the sound of the metal tearing into skin and muscle. The blade sunk into what Xiumin could only assume was the beast's lower abdomen, and despite the sharp pain that blinded him he gripped the knife with both hands and ripped it up diagonally across the monster's gaping chest with a hideous squelching sound that made him retch. But it only got worse when Xiumin noticed that the black skin sizzling as the pale grey metal burned it's flesh.

His breathing was laboured, blood dripping onto the floor as he panted and his heartbeat was now a thundering bass line in his ears. A twisted symphony of life, there to remind Xiumin to keep fighting, keep breathing. And when it was paired with the sound of flesh burning and that god awful wailing that was coming from the beast it combined to create something that made his stomach churn. But now he was focused, he was ready, his mind and body worryingly calm as he waited for the next attack as he slipped towards the door only for it to spring back up in his way.

This time when it lunged he held his ground, legs no longer quivering beneath him but instead driving him forwards to plunge the knife in deeper over and over again. His body moving faster than ever before, reactions quicker now too as he predicted where the beast would lunge and strike next and then dodged almost all with ease. No longer screaming when the odd claw managed to rake across his skin, instead it just pushed him to dig deeper and fight harder. Dark and thick blood wept out of the creature now, its body desperately fighting to knit itself back together again but it was to no avail and it finally crumpled. But the fight wasn't over yet, and Xiumin pointedly ignored the rabbit hole of where these 'family' knives and his 'family' ring truly came from, he was just grateful he wasn't dead.

Though that wasn't for certainty yet and now two more beings circled around his living room, one slightly smaller than the first and the other about the same size- but still very much as grotesque and neither one of them looked as if they were going to be making the first move. There was no time to wait, if he didn't stop the bleeding from the various cuts covering his body it was a surety that he would pass out, so with that he lunged and swung wildly towards the one closest to him. 

The knife vibrating with the force that it connected with, bending the creatures spine with a series of pops and crunches, sounding a disgusting almost hollow chime that reverberated around the room before he plunged it into an already seeping hole in the thing's head. The sight made bile rise to his throat and spill through clenched teeth, every breath he took as he rounded back towards the one over by the kitchen was burning his lungs but he didn't have any time to waste, let alone check if the other was truly down for the count.

He had to focus on dispatching the third and hopefully final creature before he could even think about addressing the dozens of aches and pains littering his body and clouding his mind. This smaller one was proving more difficult as he ducked and dodged, luring it out into the more open space of the lounge. It was so much faster than the other, it ducked low as it charged to protect its vulnerable areas and only allow him to strike the exposed and hard bone of its dome of a head.

A useless and frustrated cry escaped him as he panicked over what to do because he was seriously running out of time with how sluggishly he felt himself moving. But he couldn't die like this, not now, not here for his body to be discovered slashed to pieces by his parents, not where it would spill and contaminate all the happiness him and Chen had shared over the last six or so months. The thought of Chen and his apparent connection or knowledge of what was happening filled him with such a fierce mix of feelings that he couldn't feel the needle like limbs piercing his calf and lower thigh as the solid mass collided with his stomach. 

The rage and heartbreak numbed him as he slashed and slashed against the broader back of this creature until it was open enough for Xiumin to abandon the knife to tear pieces of what once could have been organs out of the leathery skin with his shaking hands. They hit the floor with a wet slap, it sounded awful on his ears and made him gag, but Xiumin kept pulling and scraping his fingers against the inside of shattered ribs despite how the creature wasn't moving anymore. The sight of his own gore covered hands startling a low, wailing cry out of him as he tried to scramble backwards and remove the weight from his lap but his hands wouldn't stop sliding over the floor and he just couldn't get away. And then before his very eyes, it seeped into and then through the floor, snapped bones and chunks of flesh fading to dust as skin melted into nothing but a dark stain on his wooden flooring.

Xiumin didn't register the feeling of his back hitting the floor knocking the air out of him, or the broken glass on the floor from god knows what piercing the side of his face as he curled up onto the floor and tried to control his sobbing for a moment. His heart wasn't going to stay in his chest if he didn't calm down, his breath wheezing in and out around the lump in his throat as a quiet and broken scream of panic tore itself free and suddenly Xiumin was a blur of movement. He wasn't even sure how he barricaded the front door and locked all the windows, or how he dragged himself back to the bedroom when he was leaving trails of blood in his wake the whole time. But one thing was for sure as he dragged out the large chest from under his bed, opening it once more to reload his hand gun and run his fingers over the other blades buried there, was that his apartment was the safest place to be.

If he chose to pack everything up and run, firstly he'd have nowhere to go and no real direction to run in because what if he endangered somebody else? And secondly what if he got stopped by the police with all these weapons? Or badly injured while running, he'd have no chance and just bleed out. The safest place was here, where Xiumin knew all the sounds and creaks of the night, where he had water, food, shelter, and admittedly now sparse medical supplies. But he could protect himself better if anything else appeared, because realistically who on Earth would believe him about all this?

 There was no physical evidence of the creature, just a trashed apartment and him, a supposed lunatic with a stash of knives and bullets beneath his bed; a known loner that was shunned by the rest of the building. He'd have to sit tight and wait until morning as he eyed his smashed phone, daylight would be his ally and would allow him to run down to the cafe and use their phone to call Chen. If that was even still an option anymore, Chen definitely knew much more than he was telling Xiumin and that thought alone terrified him more than anything he'd seen that night. And he had all night to agonise himself over the reality of what had happened.

*

Everything felt off the moment they portalled into the room. The whole place was absolutely trashed, Kyungsoo couldn't help but allow a small, bitter, and broken smile to slip through at the thought of the fight that had gone down here. This human fought so hard to stay alive- Jongdae you really had found someone so strong, so perfect for you. The floor was littered with various debris, from broken glass to wisps of the sofa stuffing, there were shards of wood from splintered chairs and various items the human owned strewn about the place. What little furniture that hadn't been smashed or torn to pieces was vaguely piled by the front door to the apartment for whatever reason. Not only was there human blood in the air but most likely Mægenra too from the stench of sulfur and death in the air.

It was putting Kyungsoo on edge, given it was hard enough to focus with the stench of human blood in the air anyways. It had been a very, very long time since their kind had 'plagued' the human world, now instead back home they had created a synthesised version blended with animal blood. Containing everything human blood would given them, minus the death and suffering, but the smell of real blood still ignited something long forgotten in them all. 

But he was soon snapped out of his train of thought as he watched Jongdae instantly sink to his knees, a high pitched keening sound emanating from him before it broke off into a deeper slurred version of his fated's name. It must have been one hundred times harder for Jongdae to fight against the call of human blood, because it was far more than that to him. Jongin was already pressing against his side with his fangs flat against the skin of Kyungsoo's neck before he could take a second inhale, a silent reminder of their bond, not threatening, just there to bring him back down. But Jongdae didn't have anyone like that, he'd have to drag himself out of it.

"kkk-" Jongdae whined before panting, the smell, god the scent of his blood, its so good but the blood it's- he's-, "Can't you guys smell that?" he hissed through his fangs.

"We all can Dae, and it's disgusting, I much prefer Jongin thank you very much." Said male hummed in approval next to him.

"Not to me it isn't."

"Jongdae, come on, snap out of it, please, don't do this now- don't go into a, frenzy- like, like some idiot newborne or rabid, you know Jongin hates being drank from and people drinking from me, it's a no win situation," Kyungsoo scolded as he lightly smacked the other upside the head. But he knew the dark crimson flush staining his cheeks wasn't due to the embarrassment or his forceful strike. His pupils were blown wide, nearly eclipsing the now red iris completely, thin white fangs graced a full lower lip and harsh panting sounded. "Jongdae, come on please."

"Just, just give me a minute, , it's the bond, it's screaming for me to drink and complete the bond, but- but I just can't Soo- I can't get near him right now, I can't bond with his dead body and my mind just won't accept that he's- he'll be in the bedroom, I think, he said he'd locked himself in there," Jongdae rasped out, chills sweeping over his body as he felt himself straining uncomfortably against the fabric of his underwear. This wasn't just hunger anymore, but pure blood lust, to smell his fated's blood like this was absolute torture despite the horror of the situation, his emotions were so overwhelming that the instincts from the bond were rearing up too.

"Of course, you just stay here and calm down yeah? We'll go find him, and- and cover him up, yeah, we'll uh, put something over him before you see him, if needs be, we don't want to make you suffer anymore than you already have Jongdae-"

The sound of a door creaking interrupted all of them, quickly followed by the metallic click of a handguns safety being flicked off, "Who- wait...Chen?"