Chapter XXV "House of Conditioning"

"In the end, we can't make it. Even so, I keep hoping." ~ Bangtan Boys "House of Cards"

They had exhausted her, she could no longer feel her voice come to her. Wicked and evil voices would ask her questions, but she has screamed out in pain so much she couldn’t even say anything. Hanbin has been the one who was torturing her, but it didn’t mean other dark beings didn’t try.

She wondered what would happen if they get caught tormenting her, touching the bare parts of her body after Hanbin had explicitly said not to. She had no strength to resists, to think, to even feel angry. She felt completely empty and she hate herself even more because that is exactly what Hanbin wanted, and he has proven to still have the talent of a confessor.

“Why do you think Lord Han is so protective of this one?” She could barely hear the faint whisper inside the room.

ached, her body throbbed in pure agony as she felt a deep desire to just lay down and close her eyes. She felt a deep desire to empty out her chakra herself because Hanbin and the Dark Klan have proven their point, death was way more peaceful and desirable than life at the moment.

She was struck by darts covered in ice. She was still blindfolded, but having seen Hanbin interrogate for decades, she knew they were darts covered and sharpen with ice. It hurt ten times worse than a simple dart. She had a substance poured into her wounds, a substance she knew was a highly-developed acid meant to burn faster than her body can regenerate. She was d by other dark beings who went into the room when Hanbin vanished, a finger or two were jabbed into her cuts and made her cry out.

Nocturn children had come in once a day to torture her further. They were trying to condition her, but she proved to be stronger than they expected because as the most powerful nocturn child in the Dark Klan’s territory walked out of the room, they haven’t achieved what they wanted.

She wasn’t so sure why they were trying to condition her to. Every time a nocturn child would come, and for a brief second that the blindfold was taken away, so that eye contact could be made, she kept seeing memories of Yugyeom and Junhoe.

She was struck by lightning, dunked in an ice water bath, had all air away from her lungs. The leaders use their elements to torture her and all she kept seeing was Yugyeom and Junhoe laughing and walking away from her. They never turned to help her, they enjoyed watching her suffer and they would do the torture at times.

The only one who would come to her rescue was Hanbin.

She fell for the trick at times, but was able to snap out of it.

There were certain times that the image worked briefly. She would feel safest with Hanbin and trust only him because he was the savor and would relieve her of her pain. All the pain that Yugyeom and Junhoe would cause, and all she wanted to do was hear Hanbin’s voice calming her down.

But as soon as the effect wore off, after minutes or maybe hours, she was back to hating Hanbin and wanting nothing more than to rip his throat out.

“Maybe he found himself a good mattress,” a wicked voice echoed louder in the room.

They had come to try their luck, many have come and gone. But no one has been able to get farther than biting her neck or creasing her bare chest. But there was a first for everything.

“Hello lovely Reaper,” the voice spoke as a cold and bare hand landed right on her neck.

Her voice didn’t come to her. She has screamed and cried out enough already. She has pleaded for death and even tried to take her life away to end it all once and for all. But it only made the torture worse. She was set on fire, a special fire that she could not control, a fire that actually burned her and that was even more torturous.

A fire being who had every flame at the will of their fingertips, was being hurt by the sole thing that gives them life.

“I wouldn’t do that, Lord Han made it very clear that no one touches her,” a second voice spoke, a voice full of worry and concern for what the powerful Hanbin would do if he found out about this.

There was a laugh, an ugly and wicked laughter that was lost in a pool of insanity. And before she could even take in a shaky breath, she felt the rough hand on her neck land right on her hips in a sloppy manner. She felt those cold and malicious hands wrap around her pants and she could already feel tears pooling down.

“If you know what’s good for you, you will keep quiet.” She felt hot tears run down her face as her voice was long gone.

Her strength was buried in the ground and all she could do was feel the tightness of her jeans loosen as cold finger wrapped around her undergarments. She knew the speaker was not only talking to the other boy in the room, he was talking to her specifically. He didn’t want her to make a sound, to scream nor to tell Hanbin of what happened.

But as she felt cold and chap lips push against her neck, biting down, she found her voice. As soon as she felt danger and absolute fear consuming her, she wanted her savior to come. The only savior she knew, the only savior she has seen in days. The only person who she has felt relieve her pain and keep danger away from her.

“Binnie!” She screamed, cracking and pushing out a very raw scream as she felt the male punch her with all his might.

She wanted Hanbin there, she wanted the boy back. She wanted him to come rescue her, to hold her in his arms and whisper soft comforting words as he got her away from the danger. She wanted the boy to walk in the room and take her far away from her tormenters like he would always save her from Junhoe and Yugyeom.

“What did I say!” He yelled through gritted teeth as his hand had a tight grip around as his nails dug into her skin and begun to scratch open wounds.

“Stop, Lord Han will hear you and he is not going to like this. Just leave her alone,” the second voice pleaded and tried to get the other boy away.

“Binnie, save me please,” she found herself whispering as her eyes saw nothing but the image of Yugyeom and Junhoe pinning her against the ground and carving words into her skin and enjoying her pain.

Hanbin will come, he must come. He always came, he loves her and he will always be at her side.

“Shut up, who is this Binnie?” She felt blood pool out of her neck slowly as his nails continued to dig into her skin.

“I’m Binnie you son of a .” A roaring, stiff and angered voice echoed in the room.

Hanbin’s voice filled her with hope and oddly subdued her pain. She felt her heart fall at ease as the only savior she knew was there with her.

“Lord Han, aren’t you in a meeting?” Pure nervousness radiated so thickly she could feel it in the air.

“Yes, but I heard the breaking of the one rule I set to you all, and I made myself available,” Hanbin spoke with a calming anger that made the room feel icy cold and trembling.

“Chanwoo, leave before I lack the reason that will spare you,” Hanbin spoke and a rush of wind crashed against Minyoung’s skin.

“Now, I’m going to count to three, and if I find you in my land after that, I will slaughter you. One,” Hanbin spoke, counting down and the second rush of wind came, proving that the two boys in the room were long gone.

“Binnie,” she whispered, her shoulders aching against the metal pole as her knees gave in and her body crashed onto the floor.

“Mikey, it’s okay. Everything is fine now, I’m here,” Hanbin whispered, his voice soft and calming.

He rushed to her aid, his hand cupping her face and his voice cradling her emotion. He felt so warm and so calming, she found her strength to cry. He pulled her head into his shoulder as she took in the smell of a rich cologne before crying out.

“I knew you would come back, I knew it,” she cried out as her voice was so broken and lost, she was surprised that he understood what she meant.

“Mikey, I love you. I will always protect you from every danger,” Hanbin spoke, his voice sounding sincere and caring as he pressed his forehead against hers.

He creased her cheeks, running his warm hand against her cold skin and whipped off her sadden tears. He smiled softly feeling the love of his life in his arms and finding the need to see her warm fire eyes.

“Mikey, my beautiful Reaper, you love me too, right?” Hanbin asked, his voice as soft as caramel as he pulled the blindfold off her and revealed her lava-fire eyes.

tightened as she felt the word tickle . She stared at those alluring brown eyes as if they were a pool of good and warmth. But her mind flashed before her, the actual owner of those eyes, the actual person who stared at her so lovingly and warmly.

Yugyeom.

“Get out of my head!” Minyoung screamed, her eyes flying shut as she felt a blade penetrate her stomach and emit more pain than before.

It was another conditioning episode, another stimulation and fake situation produced by the compulsion of a nocturn child.

It was not real.

She was once again staring at the red-capillary filled eyes of a nocturn child trying to implant memories in her head. But she proved to be stronger than they had anticipated, she could never break down to be that weak.

“How the hell can you resist the compulsion of one of the most powerful nocturn children in the world?” Hanbin cried out, the real Hanbin who’s eyes were a pit of darkness.

The Hanbin who’s nature was darker than any other being in this Klan. The Hanbin who did love her but was far from her protector. The Hanbin who’s goal at the moment, is to torture her to the point of insanity.

The blindfold was pull back down as she was thrown to the ground. They had her chained to the floor now, a floor made of a new type of metal created by Hanbin that will not crumble under her strength.

She had proven that a rusty metal pole was not going to cut it.

“Lord Han, you are running out of time. The time for the soul extraction is nearly here, and you have not gotten any sort of answer from her, not even close,” a girl spoke, she’s the same one who has been there since day one of her kidnapping.

“Shut up before I kill you and make you the vessel Jay,” Hanbin spat, his voice compressed from anger and pure frustration.

“You wouldn’t,” the girl spoke, amused, and nearly laughing that he would say such a ridiculous thing.

“You want to bet? I have lovely nights with you but I’d rather have my precious Reaper over you any day,” Hanbin spoke, his voice taunting and purely annoyed at the voice of the girl.

“You’re lying!” The girl spat, not wanting to believe the words that were coming out of Hanbin’s mouth.

“Actually, I would prefer you but on one condition,” Hanbin spoke softly and almost seductively.

His words made Minyoung’s skin crawl as she tried not say a word while her wound healed. She wondered how many genuinely believed that Hanbin loved them, when it was very clear he still loved her. It wasn’t an ego speaking, but the laws of nature that will never allow Hanbin to stop loving her. Jiwoo believed Hanbin loved her, and for that she turned to the darkness and this girl, she probably thinks the same.

But by laws of nature, Hanbin will forever only have one love as long as he is immortal, and that is Minyoung.

“What condition?” The girl spoke, her words shaking in fury and curiosity.

“If your body has Mikey’s soul,” Hanbin spoke, chuckling wickedly and taunting the girl.

There was a moment of silence that Minyoung could not even decided what had happened. She simply felt this giant pressure on her wound. She was stabbed by what felt like a knife coated in sharp ice when she didn’t fall for the nocturne child’s trick. But it felt bigger and wider now, as if something ripped it apart.

She suddenly felt her body ache excessively as she felt the little chakra she held rush to her wound and leave the rest of her body alone. The pain was excruciating, she felt like she had a thousand cuts and was thrown in that special acid Hanbin had made. She couldn’t even scream, she simply felt her eyes get drowsy and her lungs became less filled with air.

Was this the end?

She didn’t even know what happen or who did it. But she could just sense her chakra being extracted out of this wound.

It was leaving her dry.

Breath, she repeated to herself but the more she told herself, the less her body listened. And she just knew, her battle had ended. She would die here, her chakra leaving her body entirely meant her soul will die out.

Once that happens, her soul will appear in the river of amnesia, where it will swim for years until it appears inside a human being, in the mortal world. Finally, at peace and with no recollection of the immortal life she had.

No energy, no immortality.

No more fighting.

No more pain.

No more life.

“Mikey!” A scream echoed in the room, the scream was raw and nearly destroyed the speaker’s voice out of pure desperation and agony.

The speaker held an arm, an arm detached from a body, against her lips. He desperately was trying to get her to drink, to drink the chakra of the fire being who he ripped apart. She had to drink, they had no supply of drinkable chakra like in the academy, and this was the old ways in which beings drank chakra at death situations.

“Don’t leave Mikey. This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he pleaded, his heart that many believed was no longer there, ached uncontrollably.

“Lord Han,” a boy spoke, his voice full of worry as he saw Hanbin covered in black blood and Jay laying lifeless in the room.

“Chanwoo! Help me, she’s not responding,” Hanbin cried out, desperation making his hands shake as he tried to figure out what to do.

Chanwoo simply saw Jay’s arm, her veins being bitten by the prisoner. And he knew imminently what happened. He simply huffed and skid on his knees to slide into the prisoner’s lifeless body.

The boy took the arm, that was suddenly growing cold and losing its chakra, and with his hand, willed the air to extract the little chakra that was left. The air rushed to his command and simply hugged the blue chakra and drew it out.

Chanwoo felt his heart in his mouth as Hanbin removed the arm away from the prisoner’s lips. Chanwoo took a deep breath before forcing the air to push the chakra into the limp body.

“It might not be enough,” Chanwoo whispered as he closed his eyes and felt the air that was drawing the chakra into the body and it all seemed to want to rush to one place, the wound.

The prisoner had a gaping hole the size of a baseball on her stomach, black blood stained her skin and the metal under her. If he wanted to bring her back to life, he needed to fix that wound.

“I need more, the wound is too big,” he whispered and without hesitating, Hanbin grabbed Jay’s body and brought it closer.

Seconds felt like eternities as Hanbin was gnawing into his hand, he didn’t want to believe it. It felt like his heart was ripped out and tossed into a pit of fire and stabbed a thousand times. He felt empty, something he doesn’t recall ever feeling.