A world ajar away

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A/N Here it is. If you're enjoying it, do comment and don't be a silent reader.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

MATTHEW

Matthew watched the other him step into his apartment. Both were dressed very differently—One in full black clothes, another in a white. He watched as the male walk over to his desk in curiosity, his hand reaching out to push the metronome to the side.

Ticking began filling the room, the man in front of him walking through the apartment as if it was his.

“Impressive,” the one from Umbra drawled. “You have crafted a fulfilling life for yourself, Minho. Adopted my name, got loved by my parents, befriended my friends. I’m thoroughly impressed.”

“Thank you,” Matthew replied, placing teacups on the living room table and pouring both of them tea. “I would say I’m very impressed with you, too. Leading the rest of Umbra.”

There was a thud outside his study, both looking up to hear hissing by the door. Someone had pushed it open, an Umbrian sticking his head in to look for victims when Matthew watched his other self bare his teeth as if to show that it was his territory.

The Umbrian bowed, taking two steps back and closing the door behind him.

“I learned how to attain power in Umbra. Was the only thing I could do to survive. You understand, don’t you? You left me there,” he stated as a matter of fact. “Jeno tells me you treat people’s minds?”

“Counsellor,” Matthew corrected him, sitting across from him.

“Mhm…” His other leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “I have anticipated for this day, Minho. I have dedicated every waking moment to my revenge on you.”

Matthew remained silent, watching the evil smile on the person in front of him before he nodded.

“I understand.”

“Understand?” The male threw his head back and laughed. “Understand? Aether has made you soft. I don’t think you understand, Minho.”

He leaned forward, his eyes not leaving Matthew’s.

“You better be prepared to protect everyone you love, because I won’t stop until you’re on the ground begging me to stop. I will kill everyone you love, but before I do that, I will torture them. I will bleed them dry, and I will make you watch.” His eyes hardened. “Do you think I will let you go easy? Twenty-two years, I have waited for this.”

Matthew diverted his eyes for a moment. “When will this end?”

“Between you and me? When there is only one of us left. Only one of us will survive,” the other replied. “There can’t be you if there is me.”

Matthew knew it had finally come. With every sin he had made, he would have to repent.

He accepted it.

He took a deep breath, the man in front of him leering.

“I will take it easy on you, Minho,” he said. “I will give you a five-minute head start before I come after you. Run. Hide.”

A moment of silence.

“My people know not to touch you since you’re mine to kill.” His Umbrian self winked. “Your five minutes start now.”

That was when Matthew bolted out the door.

Matthew sprinted out of the apartments. He knew one thing—He might as well be protected as he saw a few people from Umbra look at him but not go after him. The other Matthew wasn’t lying when he said his people wouldn’t touch him.

There was a bang, people screaming down the streets as Matthew saw them being chased down by their doppelgangers holdings knives. He put on the flashlight on his phone.

“To the highschool gym!” He managed to yell out, someone crashing against him. The female was trembling, blood staining her nightdress. He grabbed her, shining the light into her eyes when he flinched. “Yuna!”

She was the town’s librarian. She was safe. She was from Aether.

“Help me, they—” But before she could respond, a blade had drove through her heart, Matthew looking behind her in shock to see that Yuna’s fake had killed her. Just like that, Yuna had dropped onto the ground dead with her eyes empty, her other cackling out in victory as she sprinted away.

Another one dead.

Matthew knew he had very limited time, the man hearing a sound in the bushes. There was a crack, and he approached it when he noticed a pair of shoes sticking out from behind the leaves.

It was a student, the boy hiding in fear.

“You,” he said, the teenage boy noticing that it was him. It in a matter of seconds, he recognized him as Mark’s friend. “Sungchan… Where are your parents?”

“Matthew hyung…. Th-they…. They killed my parents.”

“Come here.” Matthew hastily grabbed him by the neck, knowing he had to bring Sungchan to safety when there were heavy footsteps. He turned around to see a random fake about to attack them, snarling as he bared his teeth when there was a bang from his left.

The fake dropped onto the ground, a bullet hole to his head.

“You two are out in the open like ing idiots!” Kyungsoo seethed, a gun cocked up in his hand. “You’re going to be attacked! Sally’s down the street gathering people to bring to the highschool gym. Tae-il is protecting them. Bring the child.”

Matthew’s heart was racing, and he struggled to catch his breath. The air smelled of death.

“Go,” Kyungsoo ordered. “I’ll cover you.”

With that, Matthew had pushed Sungchan forward as they stumbled onto the streets towards where Sally was. He saw Tae-il with his flashlight, another gun in hand, preparing to shoot. There was a clack from a gun’s safety, Matthew yelling out.

“It’s me! It’s me, it’s me! Don’t shoot, I have a kid!”

Tae-il lowered down his gun, Sally shining the flashlight into Matthew’s eyes when he looked straight at it.

“Holy , Matthew!” The town lesbian exclaimed, reaching for Sungchan and pushing him to the rest of the people. She hugged him. “I can’t believe you’re right! People are dying!”

“We need to bring them to the high school. Now.The others?”

A ping onto their phones.

Baekhyun: im safe im with a family. house next to na mart.
Baekhyun: we closed off the entrances
Baekhyun: dw
Baekhyun: see u at the gym tmr

Sally saw the text the same time as Matthew, the female remembering whose house it was since it was one of her students.

“He’s with Giselle’s family. Let’s bring our people to the gym first,” Sally said, Matthew nodding. “I’d like to see them try to kill us.”

BAEKHYUN

Baekhyun didn’t expect that the pathway would open that soon. He was in the middle of bringing all the groceries back to the clinic. Na Mart was empty and there was a sign on the door saying “Put whatever you want to buy on a tab and pay later! 😊”

Baekhyun guessed this was what happens when people in small towns trusted each other. No one would ever do that in a mart in Shaire. He grabbed a bunch of band aids and towels, wanting to bring it to his sister at the clinic along with the rest of the food when he saw Kyungsoo barreling down the street, yelling that they were here.

He caught on the second he saw a crowd heading to center Ashgate, the journalist rushing out of the Na Mart when he saw a young girl exit her doorstep. She had earphones and was soon one of the first targets of a random fake.

Baekhyun moved on instinct, the groceries toppling onto the ground when she was attacked suddenly, the male lunging to protect her as he rammed his foot against the chest of the attacker.

“Get inside the house!” Baekhyun yelled at her, watching as the streets of Ashgate were filled with terror.

This was it, Baekhyun thought, rushing into the house, and closing the door behind him.

“Giselle, what is going on here? How dare you bring a random man into our home?”

“Dad, there are people on the streets that are attacking us,” the female told her father shakily.

Baekhyun locked the door, a thud on the window sounding. The mother of the family screamed, and when they looked at the source, they saw a dead body pressed against the window, blooding streaking the glass.

“This is what you’ve been warning us about….” The father looked at him in disbelief.

“No ,” Baekhyun snapped before rushing to close the curtains. “Put the off the lights. Barricade the doors.”

None of them moved out of shock until Baekhyun rounded up to them.

“Now!”

Baekhyun watched as they pushed the couches against the doors. The tables were being placed sideways to protect the windows. He sent a quick text into the group chat of the town so people knew he was safe.

Baekhyun: im safe im with a family. house next to na mart.
Baekhyun: we closed off the entrances
Baekhyun: dw
Baekhyun: see u at the gym tmr

He pocketed his phone when someone tried the door, the door knob in front of him shaking as if someone was trying to get in. He peeked out, and it looked like there were two people who were discussing something. 

"Is there something wrong?" Giselle asked, Baekhyun shaking his head and not wanting to scare her over something that he wasn't sure about.

He looked through the peephole and no one was there. 

"We should be safe here," he told them when there was a rustle upstairs.

He froze.

“Is there another entrance?” He asked the family, all of them looking at him with big eyes.

They nodded slowly, Baekhyun gulping.

“The rooftop,” the father said. “We always leave it unlocked….”

There was a click, the sound of a door opening when Baekhyun grabbed the first thing that he found—a slim glass vase.

He held it behind him, ready to pounce when footsteps began to descend the stairs.

BORA & L.J

 Thirty minutes before the attack, Bora was duplicating the tranquilizers in the clinic. L.J stood beside her, absorbing the information that she was trying to teach him.

“And you people collect blood by these needles?” L.J asked, lifting the syringe up.

“Yes,” Bora replied, getting a text from Baekhyun telling her that he was on the way to the Na Mart to get groceries. “You puncture it into the skin and pull it out. To push the chemical in, you push it. How do you collect blood in Umbra?”

“We only collect blood to drink it,” L.J replied, Bora’s jaw dropping when he stared at her. “I was attempting… humor. Kyungsoo said jokes are known to be shared in Aether. We are, in fact, not vampires.”

“Oh.”

L.J stared at the needle. “And if I inject this into someone, what happens? Would they promptly fall asleep?”

“Ten minutes for these,” Bora told him, waving her hand over the tranquilizers made from Jeno’s benzo’s. “It would take some time for it to have its effect. Immediately, for these.”

She waved her hand over another batch that was filled with another set. “Any of these injected to a human and they’ll drop dead asleep.”

“Drop dead asleep,” L.J repeated, a small smile on his lips. “Was that a joke?”

Bora blinked. “Uh, no. But if you find it funny, you may laugh.”

L.J nodded, chuckling under his breath. L.J’s dark humor was something Bora still did not understand. While she was staring at the syringes, L.J disappeared for a moment before he stuck his head back into the room.

“Pardon me, Nurse Bora.” He pointed to the big freezer that had an automatic lock that was down the hall. “But I am curious as to the purpose of that chilly chamber within this clinic?”

“That?” Bora asked back, not looking back to him as she busily filled up the syringes. “That’s a freezer, L.J. Sometimes, blood or medicine must be chilled at a particular temperature. Most of the time, colder than room temperature so it doesn’t degrade…Um, in quality….”

“Ah…” L.J nodded, thinking about something. “That frigid enclosure is quite vast in size.”

“It is meant to for storage…”

Bora heard a sound, looking out of the clinic as L.J frowned. He told her he’d check it out, the male going to the front of the clinic when he rushed back.

“They’re here,” he told her, Bora taking a moment to process his words. “The people from Umbra…. They are here…”

Bora’s breath caught in , the female about to rush out. She was worried about Baekhyun, she knew he was outside buying groceries, but as she turned she came face to face with an L.J holding a syringe.

“L.J, I need to go see my brother.”

“My apologies, Nurse Bora,” he said, and before Bora knew it, he had plunged the needle into her arm, the substance filling her body. She gasped, struggling to move but her mind was not working as L.J pulled it out of her body. “I do believe this is what’s best.”

Bora toppled onto the ground unconscious, L.J then dragging her by the feet to the freezer. He pushed her in, getting another blanket and putting it over her body to give her some warmth.

L.J had a reason for it…. He knew people from Aether, and he knew people from Umbra. Anyone from Umbra would be able to overtake anyone from Aether, and he didn’t want Bora to go out unprepared.

“One less individual to concern ourselves with, I suppose,” L.J muttered under his breath, pushing the freezer shut to protect Bora, and shutting it close. “Now, let’s see where—”

A crash could be heard from the front of the clinic, and L.J curiously moved forward to investigate the sound only to come face to face to his other self.

Well, his other self’s plus the girlfriend.

“Oh my god, kkkkk….. Yo, that was insane!” Jeno breathed, closing the door behind him when he screeched, noticing L.J just as Bunny exclaimed.

“Holy guacamole!” She jumped. “Wait, it’s L.J! Hiiiiii, L.J!”

“Step away from the windows,” L.J said stilly, Jeno pulling Bunny after him. “We’re not safe if they see us.”

“Lights are off,” Jeno pointed out, L.J rolling his eyes. “Fine, fine. What are you doing here, bro?”

Jeno grabbed Bunny’s hand, tugging her after him as L.J retreated into the room with the syringes. He began to clear everything into a plastic bag so he could bring it to the rest if he ran into them.

“Was with the nurse,” L.J replied as he could hear Jeno move through the clinic not so stealthily. “Mind you try to keep quiet?”

“Oh my god, L.J!” Bunny whisper yelled at him, tugging on her long hair. It was disheveled and she hopped towards him, her big eyes frantic. “There were a looooooot of fakes coming through the pathway. It was like an Astro Concert!”

L.J frowned, Jeno’s voice speaking loudly to tell him that Astro were a bunch of idols (celebrities that Bunny was crazy about).

“Well-known people,” Bunny whispered to L.J trying to explain what Astro was when Jeno yelled out.

L.J gritted his teeth in irritation. “Goodness! Would you please refrain from being loud!”

A thud sounded, and Jeno entered the room, pale. He pointed to the direction of the freezer.

“What…. Is Nurse Bora doing in the freezer?” He asked, L.J letting out a huff.

“I’ve put her in that location to ensure her safety and avoid further complications. She was inclined to take hasty actions without contemplating their repercussions. She, as any good family member, wanted to rescue her sibling, I suppose…” L.J shrugged. “I couldn’t afford her being an additional burden to me, so I made her.”

He paused, thinking of the funny joke Bora said a moment ago.

“I made her drop dead to sleep.”

He waited, expecting Jeno and Bunny to laugh since it was the funniest joke he had ever heard, but all they did was stare at him.

“He speaks weird,” Bunny whispered to her boyfriend who was processing the words. “I think he meant he made Nurse Bora sleep so she wouldn’t die outside.”

“Cool…” Jeno replied. “That is an amazing idea.”

Jeno’s eyes bounced back between L.J and Bunny, L.J suddenly realizing what Jeno wanted him to do.

“The chilly chamber can fit a least three people,” L.J began, Jeno nodding slowly. “It is the ones on the left that immediately put them to sleep.”

Jeno was inching towards the syringe, trying to not look suspicious.

“When we go out into the streets, we can use it, right?” Bunny asked, conversationally. “Just gotta… Boom pow! And they sleep!”

Jeno now had a syringe in his hand, the male standing beside his girlfriend. Bunny froze, her eyes going to him when she noticed the way he was holding the syringe.

“Jeno…”

“Baby, I swear to god I will come for you tomorrow, but I can’t have you out on the streets…” Jeno told her, Bunny’s jaw dropping.

“Jeno!”

L.J placed a hand on her shoulder, Bunny’s eyes b with tears.

“I need to find Nana too. Remember what L.J told us before? I don’t think Nana knows what’s going on—”

Before this, L.J had told everyone that Na Jaemin, aka Nana, was back in town and made him climb a tree. That Nana had no idea what was going on, and that he was incredibly sad about some “entrance exam” to which Jeno had gasped and drilled him on whether his best friend had passed.

That was old news, however, and if Jeno were to find Nana… He had to do it without his girlfriend with him.

“JENO!” Bunny exclaimed, Jeno trying to inject her with it as she began to thrash. L.J tightened his grip, holding her still as Jeno plunged the syringe into arm. “We’re going to break up when I wake up—”

And then she was out.

L.J let go of her, Jeno catching his girlfriend in his arms before carrying her into the freezer and plopping her beside Bora. Another blanket for both of them, L.J and Jeno staring at the two woman.

“Yeah…” Jeno nodded, before locking the freezer and adding a passcode so no one could open it up. “I need to find Nana.”

“Where is Jaemin, did he leave Umbra?” L.J asked, Jeno nodding.

“He was with us, but we all lost each other because there were too many people. I know you told us to go to Ashgate highschool, but there seemed to be a lot of fakes right in front trying to get in so we came here instead.”

L.J began to worry. If anything, Jaemin would be attacked by his own people, being the one person, everyone was trying to find since before all this started.

The Umbrians wouldn’t be nice to him.

People from Aether wouldn’t definitely be nice to him, knowing that Nana had bright pink hair.

“I must find Na Jaemin,” L.J snipped, grabbing the plastic bag. “Any idea of his whereabouts?”

“I need to find Nana and I’d like to ask you the same question,” Jeno said. “Let me charge my phone. Your people didn’t seem to care to even take my phone away from me when they took me.”

“Those devices don’t work in Umbra,” L.J reminded him, Jeno closing the door and finding a charger. “Matthew used to take all of those devices away, but there seemed to be no purpose. One of them had their music box with them when they arrived to Na Jaemin under the Na Orphanage.”

“An iPod… Right.” Jeno said, hearing the satisfying clink of the device starting up. “Mark has his phone, too.”

“Where did he go?”

“Not sure, like I said… I lost them. Bunny was the only one I was holding,” Jeno told L.J. “I think he would have tried to go and find his brother.”

With that, his phone buzzed and he had gotten a text message from Mark.

Mark: im safe with my brother
Mark: saw him in his apartment

MARK

Mark had lost the others. He knew he was holding onto Jungwoo for a moment until he was pushed away and fell onto the ground. People were fighting just to be able to go through the pathway. No one cared about him, and he guessed that it was because they thought he was from Umbra.

When he went through the pathway, he witnessed a few people dying on the streets. He did what he usually did—go find his brother.

Matthew was the one person he had always trusted to protect him, and Mark sped down the streets to the apartment he knew his brother lived in. As he entered the apartment, he could hear people screaming as if there was a massacre in place.

His brother’s room was at the end of the hall, Mark rushing towards it and pushing open the door, calling out for his brother.

“HYUNG!” Mark cried out, the man in the room inspecting himself in the mirror.

Matthew of Umbra was now wearing a plaid shirt he had picked out of the closet that was in the apartment. He was honest when he said he would give the other Matthew a five minute head start. He gave him more than that, taking his time to look at the clothes that were available.

It really was a pleasant surprise to turn around to see that his other self’s brother was in front of him, eyes b with tears. It was like… gold served to him a silver platter. Everything he could use against the other Matthew was Mark.

“Brother,” he greeted, having to remind himself to speak as normal as he could.

“Hyung, hyung, hyung!” Mark rambled, stepping closer to hug Matthew as he continued to speak. “I;ve missed you so much! It was hella dark in there and people were, like, rawrrrr and stab stab… stab stab-ing each other. It was HORRIBLE!”

Mark hugged Matthew, the male a little bit uncomfortable at the fact that his “fake brother” was initiating contact and hugging him this tightly. Minhyung had never hugged him before.

Then again, acts of affection was not something that was normal in Umbra.

Even when he lived in Aether until he was eight, Matthew never really got love from his parents. His life in Aether in their limited years were filled with simply criticism and devaluing him as a child. He somewhat envied the other Matthew…

He had noticed photos of the other Matthew, the one that took his place, with him on t

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mandalee
Beeen so busy! Had this in drafts for far too long! Don't be a silent reader -- Upvote, Subscribe, and Comment! (Hopefully), see you soon :)

Comments

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Nicole121314 #1
Chapter 11: Baekhyun missing or just went to some adventure of his own haha...
suholeadernim #2
Chapter 11: I wish you continue this ;(
Sharo001
686 streak #3
Chapter 10: I loved the end! Mathew and Bora made a lovely little family with the boys. Now, I am invested in what exactly that marble will turn out to be and how it involves Sehun. I’m hoping you will decide to write it at some point. In the meantime, I am getting ready to start your new story. I am also enjoying ‘I’m Here for You, Always,’ your plots are always so interesting.
Myzurah
#4
Chapter 11: Would this really the last, or there will be another bonus chapter about what happened to Baek?
Lucasfatboy
#5
Chapter 11: Last chapter 🥹🥹
findingalaska #6
Chapter 11: T__T So its discontinued! Really! Thank you for giviing us such a good story but istg, whyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Elderwise sounds like sth i would read! Sending love. xoxox
leetakashi
#7
Chapter 11: I’m mad this is discontinued because LJ is so funny. I like how his issues are about fitting in Aether and battling “complex” emotions regarding Bora. It’s so cute how he calls her “mum”! Matthew being salty is so funny, he now reminds me of The Bracelet Club the more dorky he is. Thank you for such a wonderful story, I hope Baekhyun is safe in Elderwise even if it’s something that we may not get to read.
Myzurah
#8
Chapter 10: For sure, you won't ever disappoint with your fantasy themed stories. I would make all your stories into a movie/series if I'm a producer hahahhha.
silverfixofweed
#9
Chapter 10: I'm so happy that L.J finally got a home! Ashgate was prolly the most traumatic for everyone D:D. Oh Sehun is a new character now? I dint expect anything more, but if there is, count me in! The twins are hilarious NanaxJaemin JenoxL.J. Why is Nana calling L.J babes? XD that is funny. This story was more serious than the rest bt you did the fantasy tag justice <3 feels so unfinished in a way :(
somnambulis #10
Chapter 10: oooooohhhhh oh sehun's name came out