Key watched with a mixture of confusion, frustration and sudden shock. Bea was missing, probably kidnapped by Jonghyun--that bastard--and he heard the faintest sound of electricity cracking before Taemin collapsed right in front of him.

"Taemin!” Key chorused with Abigail.

A blur of white dashed across his vision, she was spoiling her pale kneecaps on the soil below, but she doesn’t care, her friend is in pain, she knows it and she’s worried about what might happen if Bea wakes up. How long is Taemin’s life span now? There’s no way to tell. Abigail felt her cheerful nature drain when he groaned; she grabbed his shoulder, forcing the blonde to lay his back on her legs.

“Open your eyes!” she demanded, left hand cupping his cheek and bringing her face close to his despite the currents she felt pass through her thighs.

“I’m fine!” Taemin practically screeched.

Key stood over them, hands reaching out awkwardly with no idea what to do. His former guardian is on the ground, clutching his head and eyes screwed shut. Kibum winced when Taemin huffed and opened them, red veins stretching like disoriented fingers over the whites of his eyes.

“Oh, God.” Key’s pretty sure the worry in his tone has alerted Taemin of his appearance because the superior guardian flailed an arm up, trying to whack Abigail away from probing his thoughts.

“Stay still!” the albino struggled to slide Taemin’s upper torso down her legs to the ground and hold down his shoulders, which Key thinks looks ridiculous but she’s a hell of a lot stronger than her frail body appears--being of supernatural creature and all.

“I said I’m fuuu-MMPH!!!” Key cried out when Taemin’s sharp fangs bit into the hand over his mouth. The half-blood kept his hand there, already feeling the pricks coming to his nose and using his all to keep back the tears. The whites of Taemin’s eyes were already yellow turning ginger from the vessels.

“Hold him there, Kibum!” Abigail flipped herself to straddle the golden haired boy before Key could realize that his blood was the only thing keeping Taemin dormant (sure he’s well aware that his blood is being out but that’s the least of his worries). His eyes met with bloodshot ones for a moment before the small hands on Taemin’s shoulders were on either side of his head and white hair obscured his view of Taemin’s face.

Abigail gripped his head with tender strength, he’s weak right now and using too much force might hurt him more than help. She blocked out all noises from her mind--Kibum’s whimpers of pain and the quiet sound of liquid being drained.

Taemin.

She trained her eyes to lock on his, forcing Taemin’s eyelids open with her thumbs and forefingers. The eyeball has transcended to a fleshy peach and is gaining ruby color that will surely match her own red irises if left untreated.

Look at me.

The black of his pupils are on her but the look is far, distant, Taemin’s mind is lifting away to protect itself.

Don’t you dare lose yourself.

Abby?

There you go. Yes, it’s me. Show me.

Abigail feels the trust transfer through Taemin’s thoughts. She sees his face on the outside, in her mind she’s flying, floating, following the trail down the cell strands into a visual set of fused colours. They battled each other in clashes of waves, depicting random images of recent memories. Looking at himself in the mirror, the estate where he lives during the summer, Jonghyun, the Game, victims, blood, the High Council, Kibum’s arrival, a baby-faced man turned hybrid, Jonghyun, delicious drinks, more victims, the Elders, wandering in a deathly hallway--

Stop.

Let me see.

Miss Bea, Miss Bea sleeping, Fruity Pebbles, a palm, singing to a grand tree, herself, the sky, Pazly forest, Bea--

Stop, no more.

Let me see.

Jonghyun, the river, Jonghyun’s cut wrist, Jonghyun’s smirk and the glint in his large eyes, Teacher Kim, Yoseob--

STOP.

Yoseob.

A body floating down the river.

Get out of my head.

Yoseob. From her physical vision she sees Taemin’s eyes starting to tear, a fat dribble of a burst blood vessel starts sliding down his ducts and she begins to panic. Something like a gesticulate burst surged through the connection, like sticking metal into a power outlet and Abigail snapped her eyes shut, improperly pulling herself out of Taemin’s intricate thoughts.

“Ouch.” She rubbed her temples, legs folded in a cross and turned into herself.

“Is he…?”

Her answer came out as muffled. “Please remove your hand.”

Kibum’s limb was already numb and probably cold. His gently used his other arm to open Taemin’s jaw, stiffly sliding his palm away from the canines attached. It stung, the points looking ever so intimidating with their dangerous shine and poisonous addiction gleaming red from his blood.

Key’s lips curled in a disgusted face. “I’m going to have snakebites because of you.” he turned his attention to his guardian. “Abby? Are you alright?”

“No.”

“No?” he shimmied backwards, using one hand to crawl over. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I think. I’m. I’ve lost…”

“Lost what?”

“My sight.

I’m blind.”

===

“She’s a hybrid.”

“No, I don’t think so. It’s not common for a hybrid to react that way.”

Jonghyun knows Minho’s assumptions are usually right, but he wasn’t going to throw out the idea just yet. It’s an opportunity to annoy him--one of Jonghyun’s hobbies. He doesn’t like losing logical situations;one day, Minho will be wrong and Jonghyun would be greatly amused. He was ready to lecture about how Bea’s hybrid habits could have been lying dormant and the transfer of fresh blood awoke her inner beast. It’s a possibility, isn’t it?

Actually,no,it isn’t, Jonghyun is trying to make excuses. But before he could initiate a losing argument Minho offered his logicalopinion.

“She’s a half-blood.”

“Impossible.” Jonghyun snorted. No way could the Elder’s allow a half-blood to attend the prestigious Bast Academy. No way in hell.

“I suspect she is.”

“You suspect wrong.” Though if he were smarter and shut his mouth, he wouldn’t have received the glare from Minho.

“If she is and I’m correct, you owe me…Again.” he