Chapter 36.

The group followed Jaehyun’s gaze and looked at Mark and Taeyong that stood together. They looked like two outcasts, both not really daring to look back at the group. Mark glanced to the side to see that Taeyong went on his knees. Mark copied him, begging the others for forgiveness. The ground wasn’t completely dry from all the rain that fell yesterday. Mark’s knees sunk into the mud and his knees were cold. His whole body was trembling, mind trying to imagine he was everywhere else. He was consumed by the feeling of guilt and panic after doing something wrong and the consequences were coming for you. He wanted to run, but he was too stubborn. He faced his fear and he waited for the punishment; whether it was that Haechan never spoke to him again or the group giving him the cold shoulder. He knew he deserved it.

Jaehyun came closer to both of them. Haechan walked faster than everyone and Mark yelped when his right arm was grabbed. Haechan heaved the other up; leaving the other to flail and try to find ground beneath his feet. Mark looked at the other, trying to catch his breath, waiting for the other to punch him or yell at him. Haechan’s eyes were boring into his. Mark used the arm Haechan still had the tightest grip on to hold onto Haechan’s arm, his fingers curling around the fabric. Haechan looked like he wanted to pull away, but Mark felt a certain determination to not let the other go.

  “I want to talk to you.” Mark said in a low voice, eyes searching Haechan’s. “Alone.” He pleaded and Haechan inhaled deeply before he scoffed. Mark pulled the other a little closer, Haechan closed his eyes and shook his head. “Please.” Mark pleaded and the other opened his eyes, before breathing in.

  “You better have a good explanation.” He said and Mark nodded, releasing Haechan that did the same to Mark’s arm. Both of them rubbed their arms, where the other had gripped onto them. Mark noticed Johnny glaring at him and he wished he could hide.

Jaehyun noticed how awkward Mark had become. “I asked Mark to do it.” He said and everyone turned to face the other. Mark’s eyes snapped up to look at Jaehyun, the other wore a small smile. Mark wanted to speak up, tell the other not to lie, but Jaehyun was saving his . “I knew I was dying. I knew I couldn’t fight it anymore and I needed Kun to believe I was dead and not just by the decease… because if he thought the decease killed me it would mean that I had a chance to wake up. He would’ve lingered around if I died like that. We decided to make it look like betrayal if Kun stayed close. I hoped I would wake up, Mark seemed to believe in it so firmly that I ended up believing him as well.”

Yuta looked at both Jaehyun and Mark. “But what if you hadn’t? We would’ve Mark? We all did!”

Haechan and Johnny looked guilty in that moment. Jaehyun shook his head. “There was no time.”

Ten smiled and reached out to squeeze Jaehyun’s arm. “But now we have time. Lots of it. So let’s use it.”

Everyone looked back at Mark as if he had a plan. It now seemed like he had executed another plan perfectly. Mark knew he would have to thank Jaehyun later. “Taeyong got rid of Jiwon, who would’ve ruined our plans, if he hadn’t. We need him on our team. All of us are too valuable for this mission. Now numbers will be important as we go into the 1^st Clan.”

Jeno looked at the tent. “What about Lord Win?”

Chenle eyed the tent. “Nobody’s there.” He said and suddenly panic began to rise amongst them. Mark raised a hand.

  “Kun ran off with Lord Win, who was caught in purgatory. Probably the reason as to why they were camping here. If Kun ran with Lord Win…”

  “It means that he has given up going for the throne.” Taeyong finished Mark’s sentence. “They have no followers anymore. As long as we can succeed in uniting the Damned with their clans, then there will be no reason to follow Lord Win.”

Mark nodded. “Now we need to rely on Jaehyun, Taeyong, Johnny and Haechan, because they know more about the 1^st Clan than we do. You guys know who the enemy is, you know the streets, the halls and the society. We will trust you now.”

Johnny nodded and Haechan was looking at Renjun and Jeno. The two of them had followed him, even before they knew about his real identity, and now they were smiling at him; trusting and supporting him. Haechan and Johnny looked as if they had suddenly come alive again, not just by the happiness of not losing their commander, but they had purpose and dignity. Mark noticed Johnny look at Taeyong and Johnny’s hatred seemed to dim down. The day had just begun but there were much to solve before their next journey could begin.

Mark started out by going into Lord Win’s tent, and see what was left behind. The tent was divided into two sections, in the front they had set up a table. A map over the 1^st Clan was lying on it, with different plans on how to get inside of the Last Sky Scraper. Mark passed by it, more interested in the room behind the curtain in front of him. Haechan, Johnny and Jaehyun stood by the table all of them looking at the strategy with a slight horror in their chests. This could’ve happened if they really had lost the True Commander.

Taeyong followed Mark. They pushed the curtain aside and walked inside what looked like a master bedroom. They must’ve been there for a while. Mark walked over sliding his hand beneath the blanket that had been cast aside and feeling beneath it. Lord Win had been lying there not long ago. Taeyong seemed to be holding his breath as he walked around. Mark sat down on the bed, noticing one flap of the tent blowing their way. It had been cut open. Kun had gone that way.

The light was very dim in there, resulting in their eyes glowing as the two of them eyed their surroundings.

  “I could’ve gotten him.” Taeyong snarled, and Mark turned his body to look at the other. Taeyong was standing by another table that looked like a desk. There were writings in a small journal that Taeyong seemed to be reading. “He should’ve died.”

Mark didn’t reply immediately. He himself had made the plan to end Lord Win’s life, but when Jaehyun woke up, he settled on getting the other to talk. “We don’t know his past.”

Taeyong put down the journal. “It’s in here.” He said and then picked it up to throw it across the room. Mark caught it with one hand and he looked at Taeyong first, before he started reading. Taeyong looked disgusted. Mark wondered what stood in there.

Mark remembered what Lord Win had said about how he became Damned. That he died in his sleep. When he woke up, he grabbed the nearest weapon and killed his brother and neighbor… Also something about his family stopping him, but in this journal Lord Win wrote that he was out on duty with his group of soldiers when he died. They had killed the first one that woke up with red eyes. Murdered their own comrade. Mark shuddered grabbing onto the leather a little tighter as he read through the pages. Taeyong came closer, taking a seat on the fur covered bed and watching Mark’s expression.

“The weather has been terrible lately. A rumor of the dead rising has spread. We’re out controlling the borders to a clan called Utahn; they’ve been murdering villagers in our clan, stealing and . We got a group of three and have settled here in a village, but the thing is… Their eyes glowed?
I am sure. I am not crazy yet. Their eyes glowed red in the darkness and they were strong and fast. Reminded me of a story that red-headed lady from downtown told me, of blood- creatures from lore called… Vampires. Yet their bodies when they are dead are just bodies. They aren’t glowing in sunlight, their skin look a little pale, but all dead people become pale. Dead people all look the same. Depending on how they died.

We’re all feeling ill lately, coughing and feeling faint. It’s not good, but we’ve tried this before. As the leader I am sure, I can lead these men safely through our mission and back home.

I’m too ill to even move. I am so cold and I am just lying in my tent shivering. I don’t think I will last for long. Cory died… Then he rose up again, we had buried his body and he climbed his way out screaming, it was terrible. He grabbed the nearest weapon out of Hans’ hands and he stabbed and sliced. We did what we had to do. I buried my dagger in his chest. His red glowing eyes looking into mine and I saw… recognition. He knew me. Maybe it wasn’t just a monster. Maybe we had just murdered Cory for the second time.

I am writing this now because… Because I am alone and I have run off on my own. I died while I was sleeping and I woke up in the morning. Thing is I woke up with this violent fear and all I saw was dark figures coming for me, so I defended myself. They held me down, they bound me to a tree, they tortured me and tested on me. They weren’t my friends anymore, all I had done was come back alive.

I had been captured by the Utahn clan. Soon I started seeing more clear and I realized where I was. They were cruel… their bodies were decorated with scars and men had horns pressed into their foreheads and skulls, it was vile. They told me I had green eyes and I then… they decorated me.

When I finally escaped I burned their village down. All of them. They were monsters. They had to die. They had to suffer.

When I returned to my camp, I realized that the cuts in my friends’ bodies weren’t from a stranger’s sword. It was my own. They had been the shadows.

I am damned.”

The next pages were about how he came to the Land of Damned. He had been captured and taken there by other soldiers. He always signed Win at the end of every input to the journal. Later as Mark flipped through the pages it changed to Lord Win.

Mark closed it and stared at the spot where Kun had run off with the leader. Taeyong leaned back to lie down, closing his eyes. “Ah, I’ve stayed awake for two days. I could really need some sleep.” He sighed and Mark frowned. He barely slept last night, lying across the staircase and with his head in Jaehyun’s lap. Maybe he had dosed off for about an hour. Still now he was sitting with an example of something, that made him feel both betrayed and sad. Lord Win had not had an easy time. He was a soldier and had friends amongst his comrades and then the decease spread. Though he spoke of the clan Utahn also being affected by the decease… How many were? Was it widely spread? How did it affect others? Through the air?

  “Should we kill him?” Mark asked, his shoulders were slumped and he sounded rather nonchalant. Taeyong sighed again; he was covering his eyes with a pale arm.

  “Probably, he became a monster. He has lied and deceived us all. The 1^st Clan isn’t our real enemy, why would they spread the decease beyond our borders to kill just Jaehyun? There must be another reason.”

Mark rubbed his eyes. “What reason? What if it is just something created by the ty world Humanity left behind for us? They ruined everything, there has been many deceases and what is it called…”

  “Pla…” Taeyong tried and the two of them tested the word on their tongues, but eventually gave up. Taeyong sat up again. “Still. No matter how it began, it needs an end.” He said and Mark tried to push his hair out of his eyes. “What we need to do is bring Jaehyun back, prove to the council or the masters of the Clans, that the Damned are all human. Stop the fear and terror and unite once again. Go home.”

Mark nodded, eyes flickering to Taeyong, who was looking at him with his white glowing eyes. He had missed the other. Now he felt like he could finally rest. Let go for a moment. Taeyong grinned when Mark lied down, grabbing the blanket and throwing it over himself. His muddy boots stood by the bed and Taeyong took up the foot of the bed, curling up onto a ball and falling asleep as well. Ten peeked inside and saw the two sleep. He chuckled and left them. They were not disturbed by any of the group for a few hours.

A/N:

Aaaaaaay, we got some background story of Lord Win. The REAL one. He's a secretive guy. 
Lol the poll was so much fun to look at, Markhyuck is definitely the pair everyone is rooting for, but Taeten and Jaeyong were a tie the last time I checked.

The next chapter will be sweet, these next ones are a little down to earth, the group needs to unite again <3

Love,
Emma <3