Sorry if this chapter is y, but I tried my best. Enjoy.

-------------------------------

CHAPTER 12

MISSING

Taemin finally came to. His body felt weak, drugged. Like he was fed a whole bottle of morphine to keep the pain at the back of his head at bay.

He reached behind him and winced at the slightest touch. Taemin didn't need to look to know that his hand was coming back covered in blood. He could smell it.

Taemin looked around, trying to find something, anything that could tell him where he was. But all he was getting was blackness.

"He's so cute." The shadow above him ruffled his hair. "Can I play with him?"

"No!" Even Taemin jumped at the loud voice. This was the leader. Taemin concluded.

The shadow in front of him jumped behind another. Avoiding the approach of the other.

"Must you be so mean to him." A soft spoken shadow said as he turned around to the one behind him. He brought his hand up and cupped his chin. "He just wants to have a little fun."

Sweetly, he placed his lips on top of the other.

"You're right Mickey." The leader walked closer. "I'm sorry Max. But we are not here to play."

"He's going to be bait." There was another voice coming from every direction in the room. "You three should know that by know. This is not fun and games. We will get him here, or the boy dies."

No, this was the leader. Taemin was certain of it. Who else would give such a harsh order?

"We know." They all said in unison. Taemin could hear their sighs behind their voices.

He felt a breeze above him. It was as fresh as a new day and Taemin wanted to take it in. Who knew when it would be the next time that he would be able to take in such good air.

Minho. If this was going to be his last day. He wanted to only spend it thinking about Minho. That way when they were killing him, he'd leave with only happy memories.

#

Minho shot up from his bed. His entire body had been shaking all night. He brushed it off as an anxiety attack from being away from Taemin. But he knew that wasn't true. Especially now.

He reached over to his nightstand and picked up his phone. He opened the contact list and scrolled to Taemin's name. When he reached it he stopped for a minute.

Was it a good idea to call him? He did tell him to never look for him again, so that would only make it seem like he wanted to make amends? Even though he was dieing to, he shut his phone and dropped it at his feet.

"Nightmares can take a toll on a person's soul." Jonghyun sat on a chair against the wall. His arms crossed over his chest and he stared at Minho, a look he had never seen before on his brothers face. A look of disappointment. Disappointment in Minho.

Minho looked away to avoid that stare. He didn't like it. "I have no soul."

"You're a real fool if you actually believe that, little brother." Jonghyun crossed his legs. "That boy is nothing without you, just like you are nothing without him."

Even if his words echoed in Minho's head he tried to ignore them. He didn't need his brother persuading him.

Jonghyun stood up from the chair and headed for the door. "There's plenty of Nightlings looking for the Darklings. I think this is the right opportunity for you to sneak away and look for Taemin. You need to make things right. Nobody comes across that kind of love twice."

"Mom and dad would never allow it."

" mom and dad!" Minho was surprised. Usually Jonghyun would never speak ill of their parents. "If you don't find Taemin, you may never see him again. Trust me. There's something bad coming and it's not for us, but for him."

Minho didn't know how to take in the final words his brother spoke before leaving the room. Weren't the Darklings out for revenge? Wouldn't they be after his parents?

Maybe that wasn't even the darkness his brother was talking about.

#

Minho barged into Onew's room. He walked over to the bed and sat at the end not aware of the two ready to get undressed behind him.

"Have you seen Taemin?" Minho asked looking over his shoulder.

Key buckled up his shirt and leaned against the wall while Onew zipped up his pants.

"Not since yesterday, why?" Onew hopped off the bed and sat at his desk, annoyance taking over him from the sudden interruption.

"His mother said he didn't come home last night."

"And you expect him to." Key chimed, anger in his voice. "You tossed him aside and didn't even tell him why. Taemin knows you better than anyone, he knew that you were hiding something."

"He wasn't hurt by the fact that you broke it off with him, he was mad because you weren't honest with him." Onew stood up and walked over to Minho, laying his hand on his shoulder. "I didn't give up Taemin just so you could treat him like !"

Minho smacked his hand away and stood up. "Just help look for him. I've already got Donghae and Eunhyuk searching his other favorite spots."

"Will do." Onew said jumping beside Key.

"Call me if you find anything." Minho dragged his feet out the door.

He was beginning to really worry. The only time he ever felt Taemin was when he was sad or in pain, that's how strong their bond was. And now Minho was second guessing himself.

Was it smart to listen to his parents? Or stupid, because now he couldn't find Taemin? It didn't matter how much he tried to feel him.

#

Taemin's eyes fluttered open. He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep until he saw the sunlight seeping in from the windows behind him.

"Finally awake?" The guy in front of him said. He was pretty yet had a cold appearance. He had jet black hair that fell a little below his ears. "Are you sure he'll come?"

"He will. He loves the boy." By the sound of the voice Taemin could tell that this was the leader. His voice was lower, but he recognized it. He walked over to the guy and grabbed him. "It's the same as I love you. I would do anything to get you back, Hero."

Hero smiled and leaned forward kissing the leader.

As Taemin watched them he tried to recall his memories. What happened to him that got him in this situation?

Slowly, picture by picture, they came back to him.

His entire face had been covered in tears. Tears that wouldn't stop no matter how much he prayed for them to.

Taemin didn't know how long his heart could take it. Being loved then being dropped. Why did it have to hurt so much? What hurt him most was that he still wanted to be with him.

He reached into his pocket, searching for his keys. He was only a few feet away from his house when they surrounded him.

At first he thought them to be a gang of teenagers looking for money, but they didn't ask for it. They just closed in on him, backing him against a wall. One of their hands reached up to Taemin's head and slammed it against the wall.

The last thing he remembered was being carried. His body laying on an ice cold shoulder.

"He's coming." Taemin heard the leader say when he snapped out of his thoughts. "And he's mad as hell."

The doors opened. The light from the hallway revealing the metal stacks of the library. Taemin knew that figure standing in the doorway. Yes, he knew that figure very well.

"Minho." He let out a whisper of relief.

#

Minho felt his anger build up when he saw his Taemin laying on the floor. His body seemed lifeless, but Minho knew there was still hope when Taemin whispered his name.

"Coming alone is a really stupid thing." Minho recognized this Darkling. It was the newspaper club president that was pretty than most women. Even so, Minho knew that this guys fate would be death by his hands.

Minho charged at him bringing his fist up, but the Darkling was too fast and dodged the punch.

"It takes more than one Nightling to stop us." Hero appeared behind him and grabbed onto his neck. "We're stronger than you."

He threw him at his lover and watched while his lover kicked Minho, slamming him against one of the metal stacks. It took a big toll on Minho's body.

"You'll watch while we kill the one you love." The leader said, as the others followed along with him. "You can thank your parents for this."

They inched closer to Taemin. Minho tried to get up, but his body was so banged up that he would just fall back onto the floor.

"Leave him alone. If you want to get back at my parents for imprisoning you, you have me. Let Taemin go!" It was the first time Minho ever begged for anything in his life, still trying to get to his feet.

"You care for this boy more than anything in your life." Mickey said looking back at Minho. "And that is exactly why this is a bonus for us."

They were only a foot away from reaching Taemin, when a shield threw them back. They were in the air for a good minute before crashing down to the floor.

"You will not harm this boy." It had finally happened, Minho had matured enough to see the Watchers. And they were exactly as his brother had described them. Three spirits surrounding Taemin. Their bodies transparent.

"We guard him." One of the men spirits said.

"And your power is no match for ours." The woman concluded.

There was a cackle filling the air, coming from the Darklings.

"Do you think we weren't prepared for this?" Max laughed. A laughed that made Minho want to tear his head right off. "Do it U-know. I want to see it happen."

U-know ruffled Max's hair and smiled. "As you wish."

He reached under his shirt and tore an amulet from his neck. He held it out, so that they could all get a good look at it.

And with that one look Minho saw these powerful creatures on end. They feared it. Something so powerful can have fears?

"That should have been destroyed." One Watcher said, his voice shaking.

U-know gave the Watcher a chilling smile and slammed the amulet onto the ground, shattering it.

A cloud of red smoke filled the air, floating toward the Watchers. It seeped into them, their bodies coming in and out of focus as they fell to the ground, convulsing in pain.

#

It took the rest of them a while to figure out where Minho had gone in his search. School would have been anyone's last place to look.

They raced down the hall, hoping that they weren't too late.

"Ahhh!" The agonizing scream caused all of them to stop dead in their tracks. Key fell to the ground, scream after scream coming out of his mouth.

"Key!" Onew screamed. His own body felt the pain. It felt as if someone pierced a thousand daggers into his heart and started ripping them out one by one.

"Go!" Donghae told him, kneeling down beside Key. "I'll stay with him. Minho's going to need the four of you."

Jessica and Eunhyuk ran ahead, while Jonghyun had to tear Onew away. "Let's go."

"Take care of him." Onew said, taking one final look at Key before following after Jonghyun.

Donghae picked up Key's head and laid it on his lap. He pushed back Key's hair to comfort him. "Shh. The pain will die down."

#

Minho heard the banging that shook the entire library. It echoed within the stacks as the doors slowly began to fall to pieces.

Finally. Minho thought.

He knew his family would know he was in trouble if he held out long enough.

The doors rattled, until they broke into the room. Clouding over each and every one of them. The wood seemed like dust when they were done with it.

"It can't be!" Minho heard Hero exclaim when the dust cleared.

The four stood in the room. All of their fangs retracted.

"Darklings working with Nightlings. Impossible. It shouldn't be done." The leader backed up, the others following his move.

Did Minho hear right? They already had two Darklings living among them.

Eunhyuk and Onew. It couldn't be? They had mean actions and foul personalities that Minho had grown used to, but evil? Not them. They were anything but evil.