Chapter 1
Ambrogio
A never- ending darkness.
It's the only phrase that can describe the situation Taeyong is in. It was a world he did not belong in, that Taeyong was sure. It seems like there's no end to this darkness. No way he could get away from it. But he kept running, ignoring the thirst and the dying hunger in his stomach. He knew that if he stopped, it will engulf him.
Swallow his whole body to become nothing.
Like a prey running from its predator, Taeyong continued to run as fast as his feet could carry him as it chases after him with the same type of speed. It's mocking him. Taeyong can tell. He knew that it knows that it doesn't matter how fast Taeyong ran, it knows that Taeyong cannot escape. They both know it. But Taeyong won't give up, he tried to outrun it, to elude from it but it's nearly impossible to escape from it.
After all, you cannot run from something that's slowly becoming a part of you.
---
September 8, 2001
Dear Diary,
Periculum.
Something menacing is bound to happen. Soon. I know it sounds foolish but deep down in my mind, I cannot seem to erase the image of this place.
Nothingness.
A place with the absence of life and existence. Just total darkness.
It terrifies me. I don't know why I have that image in my mind and I do not think I ever want to find out. But it feels like the place is familiar.
Too familiar.
Like I've been there. But I didn't.
I know, I know, it sounds totally complicated, because even I, myself doesn't understand. But if there's one thing I leaned about this...dream, is it's to stay out of the dark.
Because that's where strange things lurks around.
Lee Taeyong stared at the last sentence he had written, his hand lingering on the silky page of his journal. The dream he had was something that settled an unknown fear in the bottom of his mind and as much as he tried to forget, to ignore this inkling sense of anxiety, for some reason, he just couldn't. It's like there's a force inside his mind that tells him that these dreams he's having will be a part of him.
Including the darkness.
It's something that disturbs Taeyong. He doesn't understand why he sees that place in his dreams. Why he's even dreaming about it in the first place. But he was sure that it was something dangerous. Threatening.
"Taeyong!"
The sudden voice shook Taeyong out of his thoughts, his hand immediately closing his journal and placing it underneath his mattress. He peeked at the clock hanging on the white-painted wall as it shows 7:32 A.M.
Realizing how late he is for school, Taeyong quickly rushed downstairs and onto the kitchen, the smell of bacon and eggs welcoming him as his stomach grumbled in hunger. Taeyong sighs sadly knowing that he won't have the time to eat the breakfast his mother cooked for him. Glaring at the time, Taeyong walked towards his mother with fast pace as he embraced her in quick move, startling his mother in the process.
"Good morning, Ma!" Taeyong cheerfully called to his mother. "I gotta go, I don't have time for breakfast I'm late as it is."
Taeyong's mother is lean, with a thin, gentle face and brown long hair neatly combed to her side. Everyone seems to say how Taeyong resembles his mother a lot and it made him feel good with himself considering how beautiful his mother is.
"Nope can do Taeyong. You're eating." Taeyong's mother called, her hand firmly placed on her hip. "Quickly eat breakfast and go to school. Your brother already left before you, saying he doesn't want to be late like you."
Taeyong rolled his eyes as he took an apple from the kitchen counter. "Good, I don't want to drop Mark off in his classroom like a kindergartener, anyway." He took a bite of the red apple, his brows furrowed. "Wait, how did Mark get to school? Didn't he always say that someone might kidnap him if he ever walks alone by himself?"
Mark Lee, Taeyong's younger brother is someone who you'd call as easily frightened. If Taeyong is someone who enjoys adventures, excitement and thrill, Mark is the very opposite. He is timid and gets terrified easily but among all those, Mark always likes to crack jokes when it comes to the people who he feels comfortable with.
"Hansol came by earlier asking for you but you were still sleeping," Taeyong's mother answered as she continued to flip the eggs in the pan, not realizing how tense Taeyong became at the mention of the name. "And you know how your brother likes Hansol's company very much so Mark just got a ride from him."
Taeyong felt himself gulping in nervousness. "Did Hansol say anything else?"
His mother eyed him with a skeptical look. "No? But he did say he needed to talk to you."
.
Taeyong is not dense to not comprehend what Hansol meant by the words. He knows that the other will talk about their break up. Why Taeyong even dumped him in the first place. He wants answers that Taeyong failed to give him. The longer Taeyong thinks about talking to Hansol after the dramatic break up makes him feel more guilty at the way he acted.
"Are you two okay?" Taeyong's mother asked, her voice laced with concern. "Since the break up, you two don't talk anymore."
Taeyong can only smile bitterly. "We're okay, Ma. Don't worry about it, okay?" His eyes then landed on the clock hanging nearby, his mind slowly realizing why he's in the kitchen in the first place. With widened eyes, Taeyong dashed to the front door, shouting a quick goodbye to his mother who just shook her head with her son's behaviour.
"Bye mom! I'll see you later!"
Outside, Taeyong notices how the street looks almost deserted. The houses that stood beside each other looked silent as if they're unoccupied; abandoned.
And that's what strucked him.
Someone or something was watching him.
Taeyong looked around the quiet street as his eyes caught the sight of something dark in the branches of an old tree. It was a crow, sitting very still at a branch, its eyes filled with caution. Taeyong studied the crow and saw its details; starting from its sharp claws and beak and the twinkling black eyes staring back at him.
It was so still that it might be mistaken for a plastic model of a bird. But as Taeyong stared at it, he felt himself moving backwards, trying to get away because it looked like it's undressing him with its piercing eyes. Then, the crow suddenly flew, its wings swaying with the wind and before Taeyong realizes what was happening, the crow flew over his head, slightly ruffling his light brown hair.
Taeyong stood there for a second, not understanding what just happened and as he looked up at the sky, expecting to see the crow again, but to his surprise, it was gone.
No sign of it was found.
---
For almost a hundred years, he has lived in a secret. Hiding in the shadows, alone in the world.
Until now.
He hadn't meant to kill. He had promised himself to live without killing, without the need, no matter how strong the urge, the hunger would be. But as his eyes slowly drops to the body that lays lifelessly on the ground, he can feel his face twist in regret.
He had come to feed.
After years of living his life without drinking human blood, without killing, his hunger becomes stronger and stronger and he doesn't know until when it will be uncontrollable. Up to the point where he has no control over his need.
No control over himself and what he really is.
He stood beside the lifeless body as sunlight filtered down onto his black hair. He felt something drip down his mouth and as he went to wipe it with his hand, he spotted a red liquid stained on his hand...and clothes.
He needed to change to different clothes now. He can't be seen like this.
In just a jeans and a T-shirt paired with a leather jacket, Ten Ezekiel Jung looked like a normal high school student.
Except for the fact he has blood all over himself.
Ten at his lips carefully to make sure there was no blood on them. He wondered if he should just give up. Possibly go back to his hiding place back in the darkness.
But he was exhausted of living in the shadows. He was tired of being alone.
He wasn't sure why out of all the places he could have gone, he chose this small town in Seoul. Maybe because he might actually feel like he finally belongs. Who knows.
Ten smiled bitterly at the thought. He would never feel like he belongs anymore. Especially with what he is.
What he's capable to do.
Maybe he should just go back to where he actually belongs. At least there, maybe he'd feel complete again.
Ten shook the thought away. No, he wouldn't go back to that place again. Too many memories, bad ones, will hunt him if he ever goes back.
It's better this way. He thought. He had already decided to put the shadows and the things that lived in it behind him.
With one long, last look at the body that satisfied his hunger, Ten turned around to walk back to his place until he notices a black crow sitting silently at a branch of an old tree and it seemed to be watching his every move.
Ten felt a sudden shiver ran through his spine as he felt something odd about it. There's something ominous about the way the crow is staring at him.
As he tried to move towards the crow to examine it more clearly, the crow seemed to feel it as it flew away, its black wings fluttering as it hovered, flapping its wings quickly and lightly, leaving Ten to wonder about its being.
There's something oddly weird about that crow that makes Ten feel like it's not something he should just forget in the back of his mind.
hello! i hope u enjoyed the first chapter! this is my first time trying to write a story with a plot like this so pls keep ur expectations low. lolol.
Periculum = Danger (for ppl who's confused about the word on the journal.)
btw I know it's a rare ship, but am I the only one who'd like to see interactions between Taeyong and Hansol in the future I feel like I'm going to rlly like Hansol tbh. I'm going to sail the #TAESOL ship in the future, I just feel it. (lol wtf u can just ship Taeyong w everyone haha)
But ofc this fic is all about Jaeyong, Taeten and Yusol.
MY BABIES :))
btw, im sure yall have heard about the new NCT unit? NCT DREAM?!?! they're all so cute!!
Comments