Ren heaved a sigh as he sat there watching the city before him. His cheek rested against the frigid steel grid of the fencing that surrounded his balcony, his fingers entwined with the metal. He had been sitting there for a while now. There wasn't anyone else home, so he had resorted to the study of strangers in the streets, to give him the illusion of company. However, despite the near-daylight conditions, there wasn't anyone to be seen outside.

This was normal.
All civilians retiring to the indoors as soon as the sun set was normal.
Every window barred and every garden and balcony surrounded by a cage of metal on all sides was normal.

CCTV cameras monitoring every move anyone made outside of their own homes was normal.

The regular civilian location checkpoints, in the form of electrically operated gates that require pedestrians to scan the wristband issued to them at birth in order to pass, were also normal.

While people disappearing without a trace was so normal everyone pretended it didn't even happen.

Darkness, on the other hand was not normal.

And it seemed to despise that condemnation. Ren felt it did. As he looked unseeingly through the roster he could feel the resentment emanating from the little patches of darkness tucked away in recesses out of sight. He could sense the desire of something, or someone, trapped in that darkness, wanting to spread its wings and be allowed liberty. He could practically hear the whispered wishes if he leaned more closely against the cage that kept him trapped like a nightingale.

BANG.

He practically flew back from shock when the noise landed overhead. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he tried to calm his now racing heart that was pounding against his ribcage as if wanting to escape. While his eyes were still getting used to the relative darkness of the balcony now that he had stopped staring directly into the lights he couldn't see a thing. He felt a slight patter on his shoulder and reached for it curiously.

A few droplets of blood slid down the side of his jacket and he looked above him, his interest piqued.

It was only a pigeon. Pigeons died bloody deaths due to unexplained causes here all the time. That, too, was normal. Another bang, much softer this time, was heard. Its volume diminished by the presence of fur. This sound was caused merely by Mouse, his cat, jumping up against the fencing of their cage to get to the fresh avian carcass.

Predators will be predators.
Mind you, Mouse wasn't very good at it. He was unusually lacking in feline grace as he hung awkwardly against the framework, angrily batting the prey above him. A rain of bloodied plumage descended, which Ren looked at solemnly. He shuddered. Being a caged nightingale may sound a forlorn fate, but, when considering what lived out there in the smallest unconquered snippets of shadows, it was much preferred over being a free and unprotected pigeon.

Author's Note: The plot of this series, it was a dream I had a few weeks ago. A nightmare, I might say. And for some reason I can't explain, NU'EST and a few Rainbow members were in it. So I simply couldn't NOT write a fanfic about it.

For the record: This is not a shipping fic. If you came here looking for any form of literary romance whatsoever, you should probably stop reading. This will be horror and mystery, primarily, with some drama in the form of a few angsty contemplations of the inevitabliliy of death and alround futile nature of human life. Because nihilism is what all the cool kids preach these days. At the most, I will drop a few hints or make brief mentions as to intra-group couples I ship and consider reality in this alternate universe, but don't expect them to be a major part in the plot. (Edit: So I totally lied and ended up weaseling some pretty significant Jron in there later on. I couldn't help myself.)

Second: no vampires. I realised only now that it very much seems like it would be vampire related, and as much as I love those precious little photophobic leech-people, there are none of them in this fic. I'm trying something entirely different for a change.

A few final announcents: I own nothing but my ideas and the poster, and Mouse. I definitely own Mouse. I appreciate critcism and input greatly, so dont be shy if you have anything you want to say.

And finally (truly finally) a great thanks to CCGteehee of Mental Breakdown Reviews for the great insight provided in her review (image will lead straight to the review):