“I’m a figment of your imagination. I tell you what you want to hear.”

Kris’ voice echoed in my thoughts as I leaned against the counter, running my finger up and down their granite tops. I traced an imaginary line as I thought back to the last time I saw Kris – the real Kris.

I’d initially thought that it was when we returned to our shared apartment that night; now, I wasn’t so sure.

I glanced at the knife holder, eyeing the knife that I’d seen covered in blood earlier. I pulled it out, inspecting the blade carefully. Was it really just something my mind made up? Or something worse?

The sound of the front door opening and closing behind me filled the silent house. Here goes nothing.

“Chanyeollie, I brought some take out,” I heard Baekhyun call as he entered the kitchen. He jumped in shock when he saw me standing right in front of him. “You’re up,” He chuckled nervously.

“You’re late,” I responded, glancing at the clock. It was 8 p.m.; even if he had gone to get takeout it shouldn’t have taken this long.

“Yeah, it was raining out so I was a bit slower than usual.” It was then that I noticed the water dripping from his jacket onto the kitchen floor. I glanced down to see a puddle of blood forming where the drops fell. I looked back up, hiding the lurching sickness in my stomach.

“Anyways,” He began awkwardly when I didn’t respond, “You hungry?”

I nodded mutely, turning to watch him prepare the meal.

Baekhyun was growing increasingly nervous; I could see it in the way his hands shook as he grabbed a plate from a cupboard. Finally, he spun to face me. “Is something wrong, Yeollie?”

“What really happened the night Kris disappeared?” I asked, unable to contain it anymore.

“What are you talking about? I thought you said you went home with him,” Baekhyun’s eyes were wide; he looked like a wild animal that had been backed into a corner.

“That’s what I said happened; what really happened?” I said my tone sharp.

Baekhyun’s eyes ran over me before settling on my hand and I realized that I was still clutching the knife. I dropped the knife in shock and Baekhyun was at my feet in seconds, picking up the fallen blade.

“Are you okay, Yeollie?” He asked warily as if he wanted to gauge my reaction.

“I don’t know,” I responded truthfully.

Baekhyun gripped the knife tightly and moved away from me. “You should go get ready for dinner. I’ll set the table.”

I turned my back on him, unsure of how to continue this conversation, when a thought struck me.

“Do you think I’m crazy, Baekhyunnie?” I asked, still facing the hallway. I could hear Baekhyun walking around the kitchen quickly, trying to get dinner set up as fast as he could..

“I think you’re upset, Chanyeol, not insane.” Baekhyun’s voice rang out from behind me. “I would never think that of you.”

“Like Kris did?”

The sound of Baekhyun’s footsteps came to a halt. “He was wrong to think that,” His voice was tense.

“Was he?” I could hear my voice shaking and I felt tears coming to my eyes. All the frustration and pain that I’d felt since Kris disappeared were coming back tenfold and in that moment I would have given anything to have him beside me again, even if we were fighting.

“Baby,” Baekhyun’s arms wrapped around my waist and I felt his cheek press into my back. “Please don’t think like that. What happened to Kris wasn’t your fault.”

I turned quickly, eyeing Baekhyun. “What did happen to Kris?”

“Please stop with that, I don’t know any more than you do.”

I stared into my best friend’s eyes, feeling lost and afraid. I needed the truth; I needed to be able to sleep at night without fear of nightmares that I couldn’t understand.

“Yeollie, it’s going to be okay,” Baekhyun whispered, reaching up and my hair lovingly.

A shudder ran through me.

“Don’t cry, Yeollie, it’s going to be okay.” Baekhyun stared into my watery eyes and took my shaky hands, smearing the blood across our fingers.

I jumped and grabbed at his hands, pulling them up so I could see the clean palms.

“Blood- you had blood-“ I stammered, feeling panic rush through me in waves so strong that I could puke.

“Blood? Where?” Baekhyun glanced around quickly, his eyes widening.

I shook my head mutely, trying to calm my body. I was ready to just chalk it up to another hallucination but this was different. I wasn't just seeing things, I was remembering them. Baekhyun gnawed at his bottom lip, eyeing me carefully. His glance then moved past me, to the knife that he had placed on the counter; the knife that I had been clutching for dear life earlier. He picked it up and my heart began to pound harder. I watched him in fear as he moved past me, the weapong tightly gripped in his hand, and tried to hide my sigh of relief when he slipped it into the dishwasher. I felt guilty for being so afraid, but then again something in the back of my mind told me that it was for good reason. 

"Chanyeol, why are you looking at me like that?" His voice shook me out of my stupor.

"Like what?" I tried to keep the shakiness out of my words .

He eyed me suspiciously but shook his head, waving off my question. "Nevermind, let's just eat."

***

Dinner was awkward to say the least, and every move he made caused me to nearly jump out of my skin. He must have noticed my nervousness - I wasn't exactly the most discreet person - but he didn't comment on it.

Once we finished, I quickly excused myself while he made to clean up. The need to get away from my best friend as quickly as possible was suffocating me and I couldn't leave the room quickly enough. 

"Kris, what is going on?" I whispered once I had reached my bedroom, shutting my eyes and leaning against the wall. It was silent of course, although I couldn't help but me amused and disappointed that he was leaving me alone for once.

Thunder suddenly cut through the silence, causing my eyes to fly open and when they did, my heart stopped.

I couldn't hold back the startled scream as my eyes fell upon the bloody and damaged body of my lover. 

"Kris!" I shouted, temporarily forgetting that Baekhyun wasn't too far away.

He looked horrible, even more horrible than in my worst nightmares. "God, baby, what happened to you?" I breathed, feeling a wave of nausea. 

His face was caked with dried blood, his complexion a ghastly grey. His shirt was covered in horrific red stains and mud had dried on his once beautifully clean skin.

Mud?! I reached out for him but the door flew open before I could make a sound. 

"Chanyeol!" Baekhyun ran in, grabbing my outstretched arms. "What happened? I heard you scream."

I turned to look at him and screamed again. He, too, was covered in blood, handprints staining his cheeks and splotches of the stuff all over his shirt. His hands were dirty, caked in mud, and water dripped off him onto the floor.

I blinked but the sight wasn't vanishing.

"Chanyeol, Chanyeol calm down," He gripped my forearms but now all I could see was red. I turned to the side, emptying out the contents of my stomach onto the floor as my body went into panic mode.

Baekhyun looked horrified and unsure of what to do as he pulled me against him, my hair and back lovingly, muttering to me to calm me down.

"Baby please stop, everything's going to be okay, Chanyeol, look at me," He coaxed me, placing kisses to my temple.

I gripped the fabric of his shirt, noticing in the back of my mind that it was clean and dry, but was unable to calm myself.

"I want to go home," I sobbed, trembling in his hold. I was terrified, unable to look Baekhyun in the eyes.

He looked reluctant to let me go, but seemed to realize that keeping me here wouldn't help anything. 

"Okay, let's get cleaned up and I'll drive you home."

I didn't answer, instead staring straight ahead as my mind began to swim. Dizziness was overcoming me and I felt suffocated. It didn't take long before the lights around me faded and I was submerged in black.

I opened my eyes, shooting up in fear. 

Beside me, Baekhyun didn't move; his arm wrapped protectively against my waist. It took me a second to realize that we were both in bed and I must have passed out after my panic attack. A quick glance at the clock told me that it was three in the morning.

I ran my fingers through my hair, not feeling any less afraid. I did, however, feel much lighter, as if a weight had been removed from my shoulders. It was then that I realized, I was getting closer to the truth. 

I stood, my body seemingly moving for me, and slid out from under the covers and my best friend's comforting arm. 

I quietly padded down the hallway, stopping briefly in the kitchen to grab something, then headed towards the back door, ignoring the fact that I was in bare feet and pajamas, and it was still raining. I wasn't exactly sure why I was out here, but I knew I would find out soon enough. 

It was chilly, the winter air blowing against my soaked body as I made my way across to the far end of the backyard before falling to my knees in the dirt.

"..." Baekhyun looked down at the body in front of him, his face pale as he took in the fact that the other was no longer breathing. "." 

We were silent for seconds that seemed to draw on for an eternity as the heat of the moment died down and the reality set in for both of us. I fell to my knees, my stomach heaving as the puddle of warm blood soaked through the knees of my pants.

"What did you just do?" The choked whisper broke the suffocating silence.

My hands were digging through the dirt before I even knew what was happening, my memories assaulting me with each fistful of muddied soil I threw to the side.

I don't know how long I kneeled there, burrowing through the ground with heavy breathing and choking sobs, but my hand eventually hit something solid and my heart leapt into my throat.

My fingers moved of their own accord, closing around the cloth beneath my hand. I couldn't bring myself to look, but knew all too well what I had just stumbled upon. The cloth that I was gripping couldn't conceal the identity of the heartbreakingly cold body beneath it, the body I'd been missing for so long.

The reality of what I was doing hadn't set in until then and I paused, unsure of whether or not I wanted to continue. The air around me was heavy and metallic, as if permeated with blood. 

It seemed, however, that the choice was made for me. 

"Chanyeol...?" I was surprised; I hadn't heard him come up behind me.

I reached down towards my side, feeling the cold metal of what I had grabbed from the kitchen.

Dun dun dunn... Sorry for the long wait, I'd originally planned to make this and the next chapter all one chapter but decided to split it as I'm having a lot of difficulty writing this part for some reason. Anyways, the last chapter will be chapter 18 and I have it all planned out to the very end so hopefully I can get those chapters done within the next few days. Comments are loved and welcomed and thank you for everyone who's stuck with this story this far, we're almost there!!

Also, based on the theme of the the chapter titles for the last half, can anyone guess what the next two chapters will be called?