CHAPTER TWO

Explaining to his pack that there was the possibility of war hanging over their heads was easier said than done. Not to mention he would to scold his youngest members for setting a car on fire. Joonmyeon dragged his feet across the grass, not exactly eager to get home after such a downing meeting, and Yifan seemed to be in the same mood, walking alongside him in silence.

Joonmyeon noticed Qia and Taeyeon talking a few feet ahead of them, their hair blowing behind them in the harsh winter air. To his right, Jungsoo was leading the two agents towards the guesthouse, Jinki close behind them, while Kangta and BoA stayed behind to clean up the meeting room.

After a few short minutes, they got home, the sun high in the sky but hidden behind grey clouds and Joonmyeon could distinctly hear the sounds of yelling and crashing coming from the basement. Of ing course. Lu Han greeted them by the staircase, smiling sheepishly and playing with his hands.

"What's going on?" Yifan asked warily, "did you manage to burn something else while we were gone?"

"Burn something- what? What are you talking about?" Lu Han looked confused but shrugged it off, "no, um, actually... considering how it is so early in winter break and we were bored, the guys suggested we played some games and, well..."

"What happened?" Joonmyeon questioned, surprisingly calm.

"We played Monopoly," Lu Han answered, ducking his head in case the alpha lost it. After the Christmas Eve of 1988, Joonmyeon forbid that hellish game under his roof.

Instead, Joonmyeon took a deep, calming breath and walked past Lu Han towards the basement door (not even brushing past or looking at him, and that was even worse than a yelling, angry Joonmyeon). Lu Han was visibly upset at that, his eyes casted towards the floor, and Yifan found it hard not to comfort him, so he rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry, ge," he said to him, "you know he can't stay mad at you for long."

Downstairs, Joonmyeon was glaring at his pack. Honestly, he was usually reprimanding them for one thing or another, but he thought he had made himself clear all those years ago, that he did not want them playing that thing again. It took him two weeks just to get Baekhyun and Minseok to talk to each other, and even longer to convince Kyungsoo to come back home. It was the worst Christmas of their lives and he didn't want to relive that.

"Put it away," he started, and Jongdae immediately began packing the game, Jongin hastily throwing the cards in a little bag and putting it in the box, which Sehun threw in the furthest corner of the closet.

There was silence in the room as they waited for Joonmyeon to lose his , but all he did was turn to Kyungsoo and ask, "You're not leaving the house again, are you?"

Kyungsoo shook his head mutely, his wide eyes searching Joonmyeon's face for any sign of anger.

"Good," Joonmyeon nodded and left the room. He stopped at the top of the stairs and, without turning around, warned them, "I will not mediate whatever fights broke out during the game, understand?"

He waited until he heard a chorus of 'yes' before walking out the door, slamming it shut behind him. Outside, Lu Han hunched his shoulders up at the sound, and tried to apologize to his alpha, but Joonmyeon walked past him without a word. Yifan followed him upstairs, ducking inside his room right before the younger could close it.

"I told them not to play that game again," was the first thing Joonmyeon said, not bothering to turn around to face his friend.

"That's not why you're angry at them and you know it," Yifan countered back, shoving his hands in his back pockets.

For some reason, Joonmyeon's window was open; despite the fact that he clearly remembered shutting it close the night before. Kyungsoo probably opened it while we were gone; Joonmyeon thought and made to close it again when he caught a whiff of a stranger's scent lingering around his and Yixing's bed. Yifan noticed it at the same time Joonmyeon did, and he immediately tensed, moving to stand next to his alpha.

"Do you recognize it?" Joonmyeon asked.

Yifan sniffed, "No," he said with finality, "but it seems fresh, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Joonmyeon was out the door before the word left his mouth, his short legs carrying him as fast as they could to Baekhyun's room, who just happened to be the best tracker in the pack, "I need your nose."

Baekhyun looked up from his Very Intense Solitaire Match at the anxious note in his alpha's voice, "Sure, just give me a second," and then proceeded to manoeuvre carefully around the cards in his bed so they wouldn't topple over. Unfortunately, his foot was stuck on the comforter and everything on top flew to the ground, he included.

"Oh, balls," he groaned from the tangled mess of limbs he had become on the ground.

Part of Joonmyeon wanted to laugh, but then he remembered why he was there to begin with and the sound died in his throat. It took Baekhyun a few seconds to detach himself from the pile of blankets, pillows and cards around him, but he finally stood up with a triumphant smile. One look at Joonmyeon's face, though, and he stopped smiling. His alpha seemed nervous and, if Baekhyun hadn't known him as well as he did, he could have sworn there was fear in his eyes. That was ridiculous, though, because Joonmyeon never got scared at anything, so he brushed it off and followed his hyung to his room where Yifan was still standing by his window, looking preoccupied.

"I think," Joonmyeon stopped to his dry lips, "I think someone broke into my room."

Baekhyun nodded, walking further inside the room and trying to pick up any kind of sign of intruders. It came to him almost in a second, the clear smell of centaur filling his nostrils. He stopped in his tracks in front of the closet, his shoulders hiking as the scent of blood assaulted his senses. Slowly, he turned to his alpha and motioned for him to get closer, but not Yifan. Instead, he silently asked him to stand by the door. It was a clear sign; Baekhyun was sure there was someone inside the room.

Joonmyeon swallowed back the lump in his throat and stood in front of his pack mate, making sure to block his body in case whatever was in there attacked them. He took a deep breath and extended his hand towards the wooden doors. Yifan crouched a bit from his position, and Baekhyun got ready to lunge in front of his alpha if necessary. Joonmyeon noticed and bit back the smile tugging at his lips.

Without giving himself time to back out, he swung the closet's door open. The sight that met him was horrendous, and he heard Baekhyun stifle a sob behind him. Yifan stood behind them now, and his eyes were so wide, it was almost comical and it matched with Joonmyeon's look of horror. It was a small centaur, probably fifteen years old, his dead eyes staring straight to the ceiling, his mouth frozen in a scream that would never come out. He was covered in plastic wrap, which was probably why it took them so long to smell the blood.

"Hyung, what...?" Baekhyun trailed off, looking ready to collapse and if Joonmyeon were to be honest, he felt the same way.

"Go find Kangta," Joonmyeon said, "and then go to guest house and ask the girls there to come here... please," he added as an afterthought.

Baekhyun scrambled out of the room, bumping into Minseok on the way out. He didn't even glance at him, just continued to run outside, probably trying to hold his breakfast down. Minseok looked at him strangely before marching inside Joonmyeon's room, only to stop dead on his tracks when he caught sight of the dead centaur in his friend's room.

"What the ?" he exclaimed, backing into the wall. Joonmyeon looked at him, frozen in place, his eyes wide and scared.

"Tell everyone to gather in the living room," He told him, "but don't mention what you saw, understood?"

Minseok nodded and left the room in haste. Yifan stepped forward and made to grab the corpse but Joonmyeon stopped him and shook his head, "Wait until Phoenix and Isabella see him first."

After that, Joonmyeon dragged his feet across the floor and out the door. He wanted to wait for Kangta himself, but he couldn't. Not there, with the corpse of a kid in his closet. Yifan followed him, knowing that if he stayed there one more second he would throw up. Downstairs, the rest of the pack looked worriedly at their alpha as Joonmyeon paced around with wobbly legs. More than once, Yixing tried to get him to sit down, maybe take a sip of water, but Joonmyeon always refused. After a while, Yixing gave up and sat down, looking put out.  Joonmyeon felt bad, and made a mental note to make it up to him later.

Ten minutes later, Baekhyun returned with Kangta and the girls. Joonmyeon didn't have to say anything for Kangta to know that it was serious, so without bothering to introduce his pack to the two agents, he motioned for them to follow him to his room while Yifan stayed with the boys in the living room. Kangta in a sharp breath when his eyes landed on the small body, his eyes widening. Isabella seemed the most composed, considering how she didn't even blink, just stepped forward to take a closer look. Phoenix was behind her, though she didn't seem too willing to be so close to the corpse. They both crouched down by the closet, Isabella already extending her arm to touch and probe at the centaur.

"How long ago did you find him?" asked Phoenix, her eyebrows furrowed in a frown.

"About fifteen minutes ago, I think," Joonmyeon looked away when Isabella began to unwind the paper around the body.

Phoenix hummed before standing up from her position, giving Isabella room to move the corpse. She shifted her attention towards the window; her tail coiled tightly around her own waist, and began sniffing the air. Joonmyeon supposed she had been trained to notice things that most creatures would not pick up.

Meanwhile, Kangta had busied himself with watching the centaur closely, paying close attention to whatever Isabella did, who seemed to have found the cause of death. Joonmyeon decided he didn't want to count how many stab wounds there were on his chest alone. However, Isabella did, and what was worse, she did it aloud.

"21... 34... 46 stabs in total," she announced and Phoenix's head whipped around.

"You're joking," Phoenix, breathed out. Isabella shook her head, and Phoenix whistled, "Damn, someone has a lot of free time."

"So, what do you think?" Kangta asked, looking back and forth between the two girls.

"I'm not sure," Phoenix admitted, "I'm thinking probably a witch, because I recognize those markings, and-"

"What do you mean ‘marks’’?" Joonmyeon interrupted, his eyes darting down to the body.

"The ones on his neck, see?" Phoenix pointed out and sure enough, there were drawings of stars on his nape. Exactly five small, thin stars. They were drawn in a circle.

"Hey, I know those!" Isabella exclaimed, "Remember that time in Moscow? Dimitri told me they're usually used when you're trying to contact the other side."

Phoenix, whom had scowled at the name, tilted her head to the side, "Yeah, I guess you're right, but why would anyone mess with that? Underworld calls are, like, super expensive but easier and the connection is so much better, don't you think?"

"Underworld calls?" Yifan asked what Joonmyeon was too afraid to; he knew there were many things in this world, strange things, but he never cared to find out.

"Yeah, you know how there are a lot of Greek stuff out there? Well, the Underworld is real - and awesome - and you can make calls there, when you need guidance," Phoenix explained, "although, you should make sure to contact a ghost, not a spirit."

"What's the difference?" Joonmyeon asked.

"Well," Isabella mused, "Ghosts are usually more aware of their surroundings, while spirits can be too... bitter and swallowing in their self-pity to help."

Kangta then seemed to snap out of his thoughts, because his shoulders squared out to make him seem taller than he really was. It also made the two girls look smaller. They didn't seem too happy about it.

"Let's take the corpse out and get the entire Council together," he spoke.

Joonmyeon nodded, and bent down to help carry the body. However, the moment he made contact with the centaur's skin, his entire body went rigid.

It felt as though he were looking through a fish bowl, it all seemed distorted and so-not-real, and that was scary. He knew he was saying something, could hear his own voice but could not, for the life of him, figure out what it was.

Joonmyeon could see everyone else in the room paying attention to him, and some sort of green mist curling around their feet, but before he could focus on it, he snapped back to reality. It only lasted for a moment, though, before his vision went black and he passed out.