"It's two-thoo... Can't even speak because of this shaking."

The window was mostly shut, yet the night was so windy that it caused the curtains to constantly flail. Every time they flailed, a ray of moonlight would hit Kyungsoo's tired eyes. However, that minor annoyance was the least of his frustrations. 

The poor boy was a mess. He was on his sofa huddling his knees together and covering himself with as many blankets as he could, doing his best to hide from the monsters that stalk the night. The only thing was that he couldn't escape from the monsters, because all those demons, all those goblins, ghouls and ghosts were inside him. Or rather, he was the monster, and he knew that very well.

His lips were chapped, but he them only to startle himself at the salty taste of blood. He sat up from his fetal position, "I'm bleeding!"

 He clenched his fist and began to take these quick and sharp breaths that were indicative of a troubled mind. Then he dropped to his knees and began pounding on his sofa, "Why me, God? Can I even pray to you? Knowing who I am?"

 He wailed aloud, but the sound of loud knocks coming from beneath his floor suddenly halted him. It was followed by a gruff voice, "Can I sleep? always at this freaking hour! Stupid artists!"

 The voice was that of his neighbor that lived down the floor  Kyungsoo lived on.

 He tried to calm himself by taking some anxiety pills his friend Kai had given him, but they were of no use. They couldn't stop his eyes from looking at the piercing red digits of the clock, "2:43 am"

He felt his chest pound harder and harder, it's sound had started to haunt him. He kept shaking and shaking. In an effort to control himself he would strike his knees hard with his fists, thinking that might relieve some stress.

 "It's just a nightmare, a very bloody nightmare," he told himself. "No it's not!"

 He closed his eyes and fell asleep for 15 minutes.

The clock hit 3 am and he awoke, the alarm rang inside his head. "Blood." The resounding, one syllable word, rang like a church's bell inside his head and suppressed all other thoughts.

He swallowed his spit and opened up his window. A gust of wind clashed against his face and caused strands of hair to batter against his eyes.

He felt his front hot, but that was mere fantasy, because he was colder than a corpse.

Kyungsoo jumped out without hesitation and landed safely on his feet. He had jumped out of 4 story building.

He dug his hands into his pockets and began walking wherever his feet led him.

He paused for a brief second when he noticed something odd across the street. It was a large man shoving a woman into an alley. He was wearing a beanie and dark colored clothing, while the woman was wearing, as far as he could tell, a rather short skirt.

Kyungsoo his lips, and ran without hesitation.

Between two large buildings, he saw the man pressing upon the woman. The shadows obscured the two from sight, but it did not deafen the ears from the small moans and whimpers of the woman, who cried "Stop!"

 "How- how's everything going?"

 The man, startled by the voice, shoved the woman down, "Mind your own business."

 "You are my business." Kyungsoo said in an almost quiet tone.

 The woman cried out, "Help! Please!"

 "I think I will."

The man at this point played around with his switchblade. The manner in which the blade glimmered under the pale moonlight was hypnotic. He the blade, but foolishly slit his tongue a little. It didn't bother him, however, it only caused him to shudder from a very erted sense of satisfaction.

 "How about I have some fun with you first, eh? Pretty boy?"

 Kyungsoo sniffed in a deep breath of air, "I knew I smelled...blood."

The assailant pointed the blade at the woman, prompting her to crawl backwards, "Some women play tough to get, you know!" He laughed and gave Kyungsoo a wide grin. "Some of it is my own though! cut my tongue just now..." He took a small step toward Kyungsoo, "how about I cut you?"

 Kyungsoo smiled in return and charged toward him. The man rose his arm upward and did his best to slash Kyungsoo, but he was too slow.

Kyungsoo had managed to grip both of the man's wrists. His neck was opened! Not even one second passed, and Kyungsoo opened his eyes to see himself on the man's blood. Both of his fangs had dug deep into his victim's neck.

The woman was startled. She fainted soon after.

Kyungsoo shoved his victim aside and wiped the blood off his mouth. He stared at his hand that was smeared in the crimson color.

 "I'm disgusting!"

 "No, you're not! It's just who you are!"

 Kyungsoo swiftly turned around to face who was speaking. 

 "It's you again, Lu-"

Standing only a meter away from him was a man Kyungsoo had met once before. He was slender with his long hair neatly tied into a ponytail that hung down his shoulder. His complexion was soft, like that of a woman's. His eyes were deep and hypnotic in nature.

 "Shhhht! Don't call me by that name. I told you already, call me Rx. I'm the prescription needed to cleanse this world, after all" Rx kicked Kyungsoo's victim on the side, "of people like him!"

Kyungsoo threw himself at him and began to cry.

 "Whoah there, what's wrong, dear?"

 Kyungsoo began to weep, "I don't want this. I just want to go back," he said between whimpers.

 Rx pulled himself a bit apart. He placed his dainty finger on Kyungsoo's lips and said with a passive-aggressive tone, "I already told you," he pulled on Kyungsoo's collar to bring his ear close, "there's no going back," he whispered.

 Kyungsoo struck him with a jab, "That's not true!"

 Rx rubbed his jaw, "You should just get over it and enjoy the hunt...stupid crybaby."

 Rx slapped him and Kyungsoo passed out.

When the sun rose around 6 am, Kyungsoo awoke and found himself lying in bed, covered with many blankets. He found a note on his counter, "Wouldn't want you to catch a cold."  He ripped the note to shreds and went to take a quick shower.

After eating some oatmeal, he went back to add the finishing touches to the painting he had been working on for a whole month. It was that of an angel slaying a demon.

 "Why am I even painting such scene? It's too much, even for me!"

 His phone began to ring.

A voice, jovial in nature spoke, "Is the painting done?"

 "Yeah, Kai. Just adding some last minute details I wanted." Kyungsoo sprinkled some red paint on the canvas.

 "Well, can I come and look at it? I want to get my mind off of things..."

 "What happened?"

 "Got laid off..."

 "Sorry to hear that. I'll wait for you here, I guess. Where else will I go?"

An hour later, the boisterous knocks on his door shook up Kyungsoo from the brief sleep he had fallen into.

He sighed, "Why do you knock so loud, Kai?"

Kai greeted Kyungsoo with his typical smile, the smile lines so clearly demarcated that Kyungsoo thought anyone could spot his silly smile from a mile away.

 "'Sup?!"

 "The painting's this way, just follow me and don't touch any paint...can't have another accident."

 Kyungsoo led Kai to the painting, but Kai instead made his way to the fridge. The fridge door was widely open and Kai was bending his knees slightly to get a better a view of things. He kept rummaging past the bags of carrots and boxes of Yoplait. Kai let out a disappointed groan. "No meat? Not even an egg? I thought I could get some hearty food here..."

 Kyungsoo chuckled just slightly. "This isn't a food pantry, you know."

 Kai grumbled and settled for a Granny Smith apple that was on the fridge door. After taking a large bite he remarked, "did you become a vegan or something? You used to love eating a nice egg and ham sandwich."

 "Yeah...I can't stand the sight of blood on my fingers; want to stay away from meat..." Kyungsoo cringed a little and sat by his painting.

 As Kai leisurely walked over to Kyungsoo, he said the following between big bites of his apple, "You...are...a...hypocrite."

Kyungsoo smirked, "You saw the blood on my painting? I'm not even sure, myself, why I splattered it on..."

 Kai nodded, "Nah man, I just remembered how you love playing Mortal Kombat."

 He scoffed and rubbed his eyes, "yeah, I remember..."
 

Kai dropped the apple core into Kyungsoo's hands and started to gaze at the painting. Kyungsoo sighed, left Kai to look at his work, and proceeded to throw Kai's trash away.

 Kai had his palms on his knees as he was inclined to better admire the painting. "What made you want to paint something so- like this? Not your usual style. It looks kind of cool, though. That thing the angel's fighting has some pretty gnarly wounds."

 Kyungsoo turned around, "maybe...it's just my emotions? What do you think I'm trying to convey?"

 Kai took a small breath and let out his thoughts, "I think it means you can't wait to play the new MK game, right? I'll play with you when you buy it!"

 Kyungsoo nodded his head and returned to stand by Kai's side. He pointed at the angel and then at the demon. "Which one stands out to you more?"

 "Ok, well! First, that ain't no demon."

 "Huh? But it has horns and stuffs..."

 Kai clicked his tongue, "That right there is a man. Demons don't bleed. They're not human."

 Kyungsoo was pleasantly surprised by Kai's clever remark. "I never thought of that."

 "Really though, nice job!"

 The painting depicted a distinct separation between a blue sky and a fiery hell. A grotesque, demon-like being was shielding its ugly face with its left arm as its right arm was desperately clutching onto the surface of the ground (it was coming out of a hole in the ground from which you could see an ocean of fire). An angel with handsome features, a squared jaw and muscular physique, was extending the tip of his blade to touch the demon that was cowering. It had one foot atop a rock and the other solidly planted onto the ground. 

Kai, having grown up with Kyungsoo, treated himself to Kyungsoo's home as his own. He was lazily seating on the sofa with his feet on the small table in front, surfing through the channels on cable.

Kyungsoo sat on a chair to the side of Kai. "Why did you come here for?"

It had been around 3 years that Kyungsoo had essentially become a hermit. One day, while he and Kai were on the way to buy something to eat, he was assaulted by a thug that must have been high on something. All Kyungsoo did was stare at the thug, and after the thug had walked a few steps ahead, he turned around and attempted to strike Kyungsoo with a lead pipe that he had hid in his jacket. He missed, miraculously, but that was enough to traumatize Kyungsoo. Kai violently lashed at the assailant in an act of anger and vengeance, but that never absolved him of the stigma that he was unable to save Kyungsoo. 

 Kai yawned, "I thought you could use some company. I know you get lonely here. But, you should really get out and get a tan or something. You're too pale now."

 Kyungsoo felt a chill run through his body, "li-like a vampire?" he stuttered.

 "Yeah... or a hermit. I know a couple of girls that would love to go out with you, if you're interested though... "

 Kyungsoo rubbed his face and ran his hand through his hair. "You have problems?" he replied in an attempt to change the subject.

Kai put down the remote and exhaled a long breath through his nose. "I! Got laid off again...I mean, I'm not suprised! How many janitors does an ASDA market need?"

 "I'm sorry to hear that."

 "Yeah, but How 'bout you? I noticed the dark circles you have, have gotten darker. You should really know when to stop painting."

 Kyungsoo swallowed his spit and twitched a little.

 Kai saw Kyungsoo lower his head; he squinted to notice the constant shaking of the abdomen Kyungsoo was having. "What's wrong? You only get spasms when you're nervous or something. You hiding something?"

Kyungsoo took a deep breath, "Nah," he waved his hand, "I'm fine. God's watching over me."

 Kai tensed his brows a smidge and awkwardly raised the corner of his mouth. "Why God? I mean, you have something serious going on, don't you?"

 "Nah," Kyungsoo replied with a shaky voice, doing his best to stay composed, "I'm fine."

 Kai got up and crossed his arms, "I'm your bro! You can share your secrets! The jerk down below giving you some trouble? He's an ex-boxer, but I can take him. I'll pile-drive him through a table!"

 Kyungsoo rubbed his brow, "nah, just..."

 A sense of concern overtook Kai. He went and stood in front of Kyungsoo. Placing his hand on Kyungsoo's shoulder, he said, "if you're sick, I can take you to a doctor."

 "I'm fine." Kyungsoo noticed a dried scab on Kai's knuckle. Kyungsoo felt the taste of blood in his mouth. The tingling sensation that salt produces at first taste caused Kyungsoo to pucker his cheeks. He looked up at Kai.

 "We're closer than blood. I'm here for you man."

 Kyungsoo briskly shoved Kai's hand aside and shouted, "Just leave me alone!"

 Kai was taken aback by the sudden burst of anger, so much so that he began to laugh.

 "What's so funny?!"

 Kai smiled "You! who else?"

 Kyungsoo didn't get it, but Kai's laugh was contagious, so he joined him in laughing. It took the two another minute before they settled down. Kyungsoo considered to share his secret. He opened his lips, but his words wouldn't come out.

The sound of rain slowly began, droplet after droplet hit the window pane. It was a very peaceful sound, one that was brief because soon after, it really started to pour. The once slow, almost melodic and flute-like in nature, sound of the rain changed to a chaotic noise resembling the staccato blows of a loud trumpet.

 "Hey," Kai said with a sad look. His voice was low, sounding more like a grumble than anything, "I don't actually have a place..."

 Kyungsoo didn't hear him. He was concentrating on the rain. He gently rose and headed for the window. His fingers instinctively pulled the curtains apart, leaving a gap in between. His window was all fogged up and he could feel the coldness emanating from it kiss his nose. Like a child, his index finger drew a smily face on the glass and then a heart next to it, anything random actually. He smiled subtly, but then blew a breath of air when he saw the "eye" of his smily face lenghten- the small droplet of condensation trickled down like a tear.

Kai was staring the whole time and vented a breath of relief, "I don't think I should bother him by freeloading." He gnawed on the inner side of his lip and bemoaned the state of his life, "Why can't I be more like him and actually be someone? Earn enough money and..."

 Kyungsoo suddenly remembered, "I'm sorry I was distracted, did you say something?"

 "Nah!" Kai waved his hands, a gesture telling Kyungsoo not to worry. "Just a joke. But I think I'll leave now..."

 "You sure?"

 "Yeah, uhmm...see you when I see you." Kai dug his hands into his rear pockets and argued in his mind, "just tell him you need a place to stay, idiot. Just tell him you got kicked out for not paying the bills!"

 Kyungsoo, on the other hand, debated telling his secret.

As though by destiny, they spoke out at the same time, "Hey!" then, "Sorry, you first!" and lastly "Jinx!"

The two laughed by the coincidence.

Kyungsoo rubbed his chin and asked, "Uhmm, do you like..." He exhaled almost nervously.

 "Come out with it! You sound like a girl, Dio" Kai joshed. 

Dio is the nickname Kai calls Kyungsoo by. As a fan of "Jojo's Bizzare Adventure", he liked the idea of calling Kyungsoo that. Kai is a very, very random person sometimes. For example, he once adopted a stray dog but forced Kyungsoo to take care of it after he realized it had fleas. The same thing happened with a cat, but he kept that because he said the fleas weren't as jumpy as the ones on the dog.

 Kyungsoo swallowed his spit again, cleared his throat and asked, "Wanna' stay the night?"

 Kai grinned like an idiot. He said the following, "I'm sorry, Dio, you know I don't swing that way. I mean, that's one of the reasons I lost my job at that one Chinese restaurant- for going out with the boss's daughters." while inwardly shouting, "Yes! I got it made! Imma' live like a millionaire here!"

 Kyungsoo wasn't too shocked by his joke, "yeah...I ain't either I was just," frustrated by the way in which his resolve crashed and burned caused him to continue, "never mind..."

 Kai didn't have a place to call home, so after noticing a sincere look in Kyungsoo's eyes, he dropped to his knees and begged, "No, no! Just a joke, c'mon. I know you like girls after painting all those nu-"

 He awkwardly laughed, "how'd you find out?"

 Kai got up and replied with a cunning look, "I have my ways..."

 Kyungsoo coughed. "Alright, but why'd you beg? "

 Kai opened his mouth to speak, but instead puffed out his cheeks before letting out a deep breath. "Okay, so I'm technically homeless now. I used my money to buy a new bike, and kind of forgot to pay my bills, including the rent."

 Kyungsoo smiled, "did you tell your parents back home?"

 Kai clicked his tongue and paced back and forth. "I was thinking about it, but," he paused and smiled, "I don't want to prove them right! They don't even know I quit on my dream, 'sides I think they hate me." A muddled look flushed his face, "I wish I could make them proud, but oh well!"

 "I'm sorry for you man."

 "Nah, I mean you don't have to be. Just giving me a place to stay while I get back on my feet is enough help."

 "Maybe you should sell that new bike you were talking about."

 "No way," Kai expressed a puzzled look as the middle of his brows bunched up together, "Why do you want me to stay, though?"

 "I have this secret...and"

 "I can keep a secret! Never told your parents about the first set of paintings you did."

 "Ahhh, shut up!"