It’ll get you so high, you’ll die

That’s how Johnny had described LIMITLESS to everyone jammed around his signature lunch table in the middle of the school’s cafeteria. Shoulder to shoulder, jocks, nerds, loners and stoners all eating out the palm of Johnny’s smooth, alien-like hands.

Was he an alien? Taeyong had toyed with that thought a couple times. Just the way Johnny towered over people and seemed to probe everyone’s brains, discovering exactly what made them tick or . It was impressive. It was sort of...scary. Especially for someone like Taeyong, who liked to stay as far out of anyone’s mental reach as he could.

He and Johnny weren’t friends. There was a thick slab of energy between the two of them that conveyed how little they wanted to do with each other. Taeyong didn’t trust Johnny all that much and Johnny just knew Taeyong was too tough of a cookie. And a man like Johnny had gotten way too used to easy targets, all boosting his ego to astronimical levels.

But Taeyong had had a hell month. A week. He knew of the new street drug, Limitless. He knew how powerful it was and where he could get it from if he really desired to pay about three hundred dollars that he damn sure didn’t have. But he’d never imagined himself needing it that bad. Yeah, his life . But was it really anything weed, pills, and beer couldn’t fix? So far, no. Now, however, it was a different story.

Things at home had gotten bad. His mother was already known as the town , but now she was spending a ton of time with one of the town’s worst, most infamous gang leaders, who hated Taeyong with a passion for whatever reason. Not only that, Taemin, Taeyong’s older brother had packed up and moved to live in Tokyo with his new wife and new job and new car and new priorities that didn’t fall anywhere near Taeyong apparently.

His skin was . His grades were tier. His social life was dead in a ditch ever since Hayi had dropped him for someone hotter, taking all the new, exciting, but otherwise fake friends he’d made along with her. He was somewhat grateful for that. On the flip side, it left him alone with his thoughts and dark desires way too often. Bad company.

So yeah, now was absolutely a time he could see himself trying out this amazingly hyped up drug that was supposed to make the user feel like they were “melting from the inside out” or “getting ed by a twenty guys at once”. That second one was how Kibum had put it. And he was gay, so, there’s that. Taeyong was curious anyway.

It was a humid, damp night that made Taeyong’s skin feel sticky and stale. The sweat that began to lethargicaly drift down his forehead was refreshing for a moment, then annoying, then just nasty. His neighborhood was mostly vacant. One row of simple, non-appealing houses on one side and slightly better looking ones right in front of them. There was something shady about it. As if whoever designed the homes wanted there to be some kind of class system or bitterness that would develop over time.

So why aren’t you dead?

Sehun, a young, flirty boy had asked Johnny within the first minute of Johnny’s explanation about Limitless.

“Because I know my limits.” Johnny winked.

“But it’s called Limitless, what kinda bull are you trying to pull? Are their limits or not?” Kyungsoo yelled, an amused grimace on his pouty lips. At first glance, Kyungsoo seemed really studious. His clothes were always ironed and from some upperclass namebrand store, plus his dad was a judge. But those who knew him saw the shifty, rebel he really was.

“It’s different for everyone. That’s the point, smartass. The results are Limitless.” Johnny shrugged.

“Sounds too good to be true.” Sehun lied. Inside, he was more intrigued than anyone else.

“Sounds too dangerous to be ed with.” It was Jisoo who said it, packing up her things with Choa falling into pace. “But I’ll be sure to attend all your funerals in a cute black dress that shows off my figure.” The duo slinked away.

“It aint for the weak, that’s for sure. You’ve gotta be strong in every way.” Baekho was the only other person at the table who’d tried it. And even he looked wary, like he really didn’t wanna share this information with any of them. It was either because he was stingy or because he was just that worried for some of the younger students.

“Drug of champions.” Johnny laughed.

Haechan chuckled. “Dead champions.” His best friend, Mark widened his eyes, slapping a hand over Haechan’s goofy grin.

“Uhh, okay, too soon.” Baekho cringed.

“Rest in pieces, Mingyu.” Johnny said. He pretended to pour some of the chocolate milk beside Baekho out onto the glossy floor of PLEDIS HIGH. The audence around him was at odds, some laughing and others visibly uncomfortable with the joke.

Mingyu had died less than three weeks ago. His parents and older siblings insisted it was just alcohol consumption combined with Mingyu getting behind the wheel of a car, but nearly everyone at the school knew Mingyu had taken Limitless that night. Johnny had said multiple times he saw Mingyu the moment the boy died. Then watched him walk away.

It was a lot of he said, she said, and none of got outside the high school walls for the most part. Especially since Mingyu’s Uncle was on the police force and did not one, but two press confrences to insist it was drunken driving and nothing else.

Taeyong didn’t know if he was a champion or if he was as strong as Baekho claimed you had to be in order to handle Limitless, but a huge part of him didn’t care. His life was losing it’s value more and more each day. If he could handle the drug...great? He’d maybe do it again. If he couldn’t, he was excited to see what the domino effect would be.

Taeyong really hated the idea of being along with Johnny like this, but he was the fastest connection to the drug since Kibum was out of town...again. Taeyong was really starting to think that boy was a male with the amount of vacations he took out of the bright blue. Cousins or not, Taeyong didn’t consider his business or place to ask about it.

“I told you I could have sent a car to pick you up.” Johnny smiled a slimy looking smile when he and Taeyong met up at the rundown skatepark that seperated the two different parts of town they lived on.

“Where’s the plug?” Taeyong said with bite to his voice.

“Like I said, he never comes to you, you come to him. You don’t listen well, huh?”

“No.” Taeyong answered.

“C’mon. He’s already in a bad mood, I don’t wanan keep him waiting.” Johnny motioned for Taeyong to follow him. They walked down another block or so, not speaking or even looking at each other once. Johnny kept humming some upbeat song that Taeyong recognized but wouldn’t comment on.

“He’s in here.” Johnny pointed up ahead at the gross looking cabin in the middle of the woods.

“Here of all places?” Taeyong felt tricked. It just felt like something out of a movie. A cabin in the middle of the woods. How ing cliché.

“Swear to God.” Johnny kept moving, stomping down hard on big patches of sticks, bricks and dead things.

“You’re an atheist.” Taeyong pointed out.

“Coming or not?” Johnny asked, only looking back for a moment. “If not, more for me and the others.”

“There’s others?” Taeyong moved much slower, feeling like he’d start to sink if he stayed in one spot for twoo long. “Who?”

“Nobody from school.” Johnny pulled a key from his back pocket, thrown off a bit when he realized the cabin door was already open. “Hm.” He pushed the door open with one finger, reluctant all of a sudden.

Taeyong caught up, eyes narrowed at Johnny’s stiff back. “What is it?”

Johnny only doubled over in response, his long fingers tight around his mouth to hold back whatever vomit or screech was trying to explode out. On one knee, he shook. Taeyong took a big step inside the cabin, not afraid what some reason. If there was something inside that made an obnoxious ego-maniac like Johnny react this way, then he wanted to at least lay half an eye on it.

It turned out to be a room full of dead bodies. Go figure.

Taeyong couldn’t count them because of the way their bodies were pulled apart and scattered about. Was it a leg or two arms? Did these belong to one person or three different ones? There was no telling without any real light. Not to mention Taeyong was now just like Johnny, on his , quaking.

“Dude...” Johnny puked out what sounded like a few days worth of food. He got to his feet sloppily, looking all around himself again. When he spotted the blood and thick insides dripping from the ceiling, he was vomiting again.

“What the literal did you get me into!” Taeyong socked Johnny in the chin anyway.

“Dude, dude...” Johnny’s eyes were crazed, his fingers shaking so hard they were practically optical illusions.

“Pull it together!” Taeyong shook the boy by the collar of his shirt. A nice name brand shirt with a crisp collar and zipper right below the neck for added visual.

“You think it was like this when I left? The ? No, you ing idiot!” Johnny fired back, ripping himself away from Taeyong. He dug around for his phone, checking all the pockets on his skinny jeans countless times. Taeyong never actually saw the boy’s hands go inside the pockets, they were shaking far too much. “, , I can’t find my cell! Use yours!” Johnny screamed.

“And call who?” Taeyong asked seriously. “The ambulance? Everyone’s already been shredded. I don’t think they can do CPR on a detached head!”

“The cops, !” Johnny kicked what he thought was just debris at Taeyong.

“DUDE WHAT THE !” Taeyong sidestepped the head, nearly toppling over to avoid the leakage of insides leaking from it.

“Ohmygod, I’m gonna puke again.” Johnny made good on that promise, throwing up right where he stood, his patent sneakers were ruined. Shame. Taeyong had noticed how nice they were when they first met up.

Taeyong snatched the phone from Johnny’s back pocket.

“Fine, I’ll call the cops so they can at least send someone out here.”

“No, it!” Johnny took it back. “I don’t even know these junkies, just let someone else come find them.”

“Huh?”

“Listen! I don’t want my parents finding out I was in this ing deep! Yeah, they know I party and pop pills, but this is another level. They’ll send me away just like my sister.”

“Good, !” Taeyong reached for the phone again, but Johnny swatted his hands away, grabbing a bit of Taeyong’s shirt to keep him in place. “Let me go, Johnny, I swear I’ll whoop your .”

“Just....just listen to me...okay?”

“We established that’s outta my range already.”

“Jesus, you’re a pain!”

“Shut up...”

“No, you shut the up!”

“Johnny......shut...up...please.” Taeyong’s skin felt frigid as if he’d already been dead for days, his heart seemed to freefall somewhere past his while his pulse went into turbo drive.

The set of wide, almost cartoon like red eyes that stared back at him from the upper corner of the cabin moved ever so slightly to the left, then back again, looking pissed.

It had been caught just before it was ready to strike. “Don’t speak...don’t even move.”

Johnny only did half of that. He froze in place, but that damn mouth kept moving. “Listen to what the I’m trying to say to you..”

“No, you ing listen....it’s still here.” Taeyong said through clenched teeth, never taking his own set of eyes off the demonic ones that stayed tucked into the shadows above them. “It’s behind you and I don’t know what the hell it is, but on the count of three, I think we should just run...”

“Move!” Johnny charged forward without warning, sprinting out the cabin. Taeyong was on his heels right away, quickly passing him when he heard a heavy takeoff sound behind them both. Whatever it was had decided to amuse them with a chase. No, no way, not a chase. More of a Hunt.

Taeyong had ran track for two years, but even without that, he was sure to pass up Johnny who did beer and weed for two years. Johnny was like a some kind of lopsided beanstalk trying to get away from the fiend. Taeyong had never seen someone run as if they had 4 left feet. Still, he tried not to totally leave Johnny behind as they crossed the expansive field that had lead them to the cabin in the first place. Just a timid, almost mute voice in his head told him not to leave the lanky alien in his dust completely.

“What....what the hell is it?!” Johnny managed to shout in a cracked, panicked voice that cut into Taeyong’s ears like nails on a chalkboard.

“Just keep running!” Taeyong yelled back after a minute. It was chilling the way whatever hunted them made no impactful sounds as it rushed, yet it’s overwhlming aura of menace and bloodlust was just as loud as the beating of both boy’s hearts in that moment. It was there. Without a doubt it was there. Yet unless they were to turn around and lay eyes on it, they may have never really known.

“What the is it!?” Johnny sped up, screaming.

“You think I’m gonna turn around and make an snapchat post!? I don’t know and I don’t wanna know!”

“This is all your ing fault, I swear I should have never came back here after I left!”

“Okay, so it’s your fault, idiot!” Taeyong checked over his shoulder, wondering how Johnny had caught up so fast. The corner of his shaky eye caught a glimpse of the beast. Large, cloudy-body, eyes wide like car doors and legs(?) sprouting out from random parts of it’s lumpy, uneven form.

“This way.” Taeyong jerked his chin to the right as he and Johnny approached the mouth of the woods.

“K.” Johnny had missed the queue and went to the left instead. Both of them realized the mistake but couldn’t spare even a second to correct it. They both cussed and continued in their chosen directions, more scared than before. Although they weren’t counting the other as any kind of protection, being alone was still much worse.

Taeyong wasn’t even the least bit at ease when he felt the monster follow Johnny’s path instead of his own. In fact, it made him rush through the woods even faster. Every heavy step was as calculated as Taeyong could manage. He didn’t wanna be like the dumb girls in those horror movies that ALWAYS had to trip and fall over some random root or rock. Still, he was getting cut and scraped every step of the way. Branches, roots and wild weeds seemed to be thirsty for flesh, reaching out at Taeyong in sinister ways. Were his eyes playing tricks on him or was...he was growing? No. The ground underneath him was rising, swelling up like it had inhaled, deep, hot breath.

Taeyong was rising, above the thick, dense treetops. Before he knew it, he was looking down at the maze of shadows he’d just been running through. On the slope of elevated earth, he flinched at the booming, gunshot of a scream that came from way behind him. There wasn’t one single, solid word that was formed but without a doubt, it was Johnny. Abrupt and terrified, the scream didn’t even linger. It just came and went. Leaving a frosty silence right after that Taeyong almost wanted to unhear.

The swollen earth shattered and Taeyong fell forward, havinga long moment to himself in the air where he wondered which was going to kill him. The fall or the monster finding him shortly after? When he fell into the still river instead of the sharp rocks right beside it, Taeyong was only half grateful. His mouth filled with the sour, chunky water, sending him into a choking fit. He had just barely pulled a portion of his body out of the river when he smelled....aftershave? Taeyong’s body gave out and he slipped back into the river.

Confused, he allowed himself to be liften again. Not in the air this time, just out of the water. Whoever was yanking him up was relaxed, he could tell by how they took their time and didn’t use much force to hold onto him. Like they really didn’t care if he fell right back in or not.

On land, still choking, Taeyong squinted to make out the person above him. The aftershave smell was there again. An almost wooden, country like scent. “Johnny..” Taeyong said finally, trying to recognize this person. He should have recognized them, he just felt like no random person could be in such a perfect place at a prfect time.

“No, he’d dead.” The person replied. “The name’s Minho. Choi Minho.”

“We have to go, we’re gonna...”

“Die?” Minho lowered the dark circular shades he already had pretty low on his face. Taeyong finally noticed a few things about the man. His tailord, old school looking suit with sleek white pinstripes that stood out in the dark of the night. Ashy silver hair that moved whistfully on it’s own.

Oh, and then there was the bloody sword in Minho right hand. “No, death isn’t an option for either of us, Taeyong. We’ve got a big job ahead of us.” Minho pushed the shades up with a free finger.

“Get away from me.” Taeyong scurried to his feet, realizing one of his shoes was gone. Well, damn. Now he was down to one good pair. Taeyong ran past Minho, off to a good start. Within seconds, he couldn’t even see Minho behind him. “Lost em.” Taeyong muttered just before his body slammed into something hard and comfortable. A body. Back on his , Taeyong looked up at Minho.

“How..”

“You’ve got bad manners, kid.” Minho said. “I’ve known you for like 2 minutes and already don’t like you.”

“MOVE!” Taeyong barked up at him. “If you don’t mind, I’m kinda tryning not to die!”

“Isn’t it the opposite though?” Minho asked before Taeyong was even finished with his own sentence.

“What...”

“You say you’re trying not to die, but I don’t believe you.”

“Who are you?” Taeyong asked, feeling offended all of a sudden. Like Minho had spit in his face and followed it with a backhand.

“Minho. We’ve been over this. You don’t listen well, huh?”

Taeyong narrowed his eyes, wishing he could stare a hole into the shades on Minho’s firm, masterfully crafted face.

“And like I told you, death isn’t an option for you.” Minho lunged at Taeyong, finally hitting the off switch on Taeyong’s adrenaline.

It felt like months later when Taeyong woke up. He knew exactly where he was. VELVET MOTEL. A seedy little place that he’d only been inside once, but he knew for a fact all the rooms were identical.

Rolling right off the Queen bed, he caught himself before hitting the floor chin fist. Surprised at his own sleepy reflexes, he got to his feet. In his socks and a pair of baggy white basketball shorts, he sidestepped just in time. A knife zipped past his cheek, nailing into the wall beside the door of the motel room. A bagel hung from the blade. Blueberry from the scent it left behind.

“What the...” Taeyong the ball of his foot. He couldn’t describe what he felt when he saw Minho sitting on the wooden sink area behind him. A strange mixture of irritation, fear and peace. At least he was somewhat of a now familiar face.

“You’re faster. Faster than I expected.” Minho reached over slowly, grabbing a couple individually wrapped danishes. “Hungry?”

Even when the memories of the night before started to flicker and form again, Taeyong still knew what he wanted. No. He knew what he needed more than anything. “Gimme the raspberry one.” He sighed.

I have a bit more free time lately since moving, getting a new work schedule and a new boy.

I’m a bit happier, but it’s odd because not even being happier is making writing any easier for me.

If anything, all it’s done is made me want to vent more and waste less time.

With that being said, I’m going to be posting a lot of CHAPTER ONES until I find a few that stick and resonate with us.

I don’t expect a lot of reception from them or much attention at all, but I also just want to try new tones and sharpen some of my rusty skills.

I may even make a brand new account on this site.

In the meantime, I’m going to be trying out some other sites as well and continue my manuscript that I’ve been doing since 1873.