(Word count: 1997)

As the last ray of light vanished, Kris's eyes slowly blinked open. Pushing aside the silky black sheets of his four poster bed, he glided gracefully out of his bedroom door, to where Chanyeol and Xiumin were.

The very first thing Kris saw upon entering the lounge was: red. The colour red. Red were the walls; black was the furniture. There were no lights on, but that didn't prevent him from noticing Xiumin's hungry crimson eyes.

Chanyeol was slumped lazily in an armchair while watching 'The Emperor's New Groove' on TV. "Hey, Xiumin hyung? I don't really look like a llama, do I?"  But Xiumin only growled in response. He was pacing back and forth in front of the dining table. "Yah! Kyungsoo! I'm hungry!" he yelled. D.O.'s head popped up from behind the kitchen door. "Don't worry hyung! It's almost ready."

"Good." Xiumin hissed.

Just as Kris took a seat next to his hyung at the table, Kyungsoo emerged for a second time. This time, his body followed his head through the door and over to where Xiumin and Kris were sat watching him eagerly. D.O. gently placed the tray of wine glasses he had been carrying on the table. Minseok immediately took his wine glass and gulped down the crimson contents without hesitation. Wu Fan, on the other hand, sipped his drink slowly and elegantly. D.O. drank from his glass while Chanyeol sauntered over to the three of them, before also taking a glass and drinking from it.

Consuming the liquid seemed to take an immediate effect on the eldest - Xiumin - for he jumped up and proceeded to make his way to Luhan's room.

Luhan stirred in his sleep as he heard his bedroom door open, and Xiumin bounded in. "Luhannie~ wake up."  he squeaked softly.

Luhan groaned, muttering a muffled "No" into his pillow.

"Luhan, you have to - Kris said so. Besides, it's dark already." He drew the curtains back. "And you need to drink - you're weak."

Xiumin ran back to the others to fetch a glass of the mysterious liqiud for Luhan, who managed to properly wake up after drinking it. Afterwards, the two friends conversed about nonsensical things (such as: if a zombie bit a werewolf, and that werewolf bit a human, what would the human become? A werewolf? A zombie? Or a mixture of the two?). At that point, Suho entered, interrupting the conversation with "Of course, it would a bie-were - beware the bie-were. Get it?" The other two responded by shaking their heads at his lame 'dad joke'.

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

Later on,  after they had all drank - 1:30 am to be exact -  everyone had gathered together in the lounge. Chanyeol had finished watching the film and was messing around with his ability (fire) while Suho was using his own ability (water) to extinguish the flames he kept creating. Xiumin and Luhan were flicking through cookbooks, drooling longingly over images of delicous looking steamed buns and bubble tea. Kyungsoo sniffed the air as an enticing aroma seeped into the lounge, from the kitchen. "Kyungsoo... What's that smell?" Kris eyed D.O. suspicously.

"Ermm... well..." D.O. gulped, knowing he'd be in trouble with EXO-M's leader. "I was making cupcakes..."

"Go on." Kris urged him, without moving his piercing stare away from D.O.'s terrified face.

Gulping again, Kyungsoo continued. "For the... the... for the charity bakesale. You know... at the church."

Suho and Kris exchanged glances. "You know we can't go there, Kyungsoo. None of our kind can." Somehow, D.O. found comfort in Suho's calm voice and peaceful expression.

"But-" he started.

"It's just not possible."

D.O. sighed, disappointed. He walked to the kitchen, took the cupcakes out of the oven and set them down to cool. Then, upset and missing the days when he was human, he made his way to his room - wanting to be alone.

Kris shot Suho a look. "You're too soft on him. He needs to learn to forget his old life - you know that as much as I do."

"True. But I also know how hard it is to do that - and so should you."

"Touché."

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

The next night was essentially the same - after everyone had drank, they all gathered together in the lounge. However, this time, Kris and Suho had called every together. The reason? The two leaders - Suho and Kris - both wore a silver pocketwatch around their necks. Each of these was decorated with 6 different symbols. Suho's was decorated with: a sun, a circular pattern inside a triangle, an image reprsenting fire, an ant, a water droplet, and a ball of wind. The watch Kris wore round his neck was decorated with: a dragon, a circular pattern (which represented Luhan's power of telekinesis) an hourglass, a snowflake, a unicorn, and a scorpion. Each symbol depicted a person with a special ability - D.O.'s power of Earth was symbolised by the ant. When a particular human was in desperate need of their help, the symbols depicting those who could help would glow. That night, Kris', Suho's, Xiumin's Luhan's, Chanyeol's, and D.O's symbols all glimmered. Someone was in great danger.

The lights of the TV flickered ominously; a face appeared on the screen. Kris recognised this face at once: the nameless man. He was their manager, their boss. "A young man has been kidnapped." The nameless man spoke flatly, without emotion. "Name: Huang Zitao. 19 years of age. Your mission is to bring him back here alive."

"Location?" Kris enquired.

A map appeared on the television screen, while the nameless man continued to speak. "Location: white van headed towards an abandoned wharehouse in Qingdao. Exact location: currently unknown."

Xiumin reached for his laptop. A few moments later, he said "Huang Zitao is a martial artist. Apparently he's quite well known in his hometown."

Suho checked to make sure that Chanyeol and D.O. were well rested. "We don't have time for that, Suho. If it wasn't important we wouldn't all have been called." Kris told him.

"But Duizhang," Luhan said. "We don't even have a precise location. How are we ever going to find him."

"I'll fly. I'm sure I'll be able to find him." Kris smiled slightly.'

The nameless man appeared once again. "We have new information on the vehicle. The number plate is 'P34CH T40'.

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

Kris knew that what he was doing was dangerous. The beating of his large scaly red wings disturbed the air around him, but this was not the time for him to get distracted. Wu Fan's blood red eyes focused entirely on searching for the vehicle in which Tao was contained. A dark grey cloud momentarily disrupted his concentration, but not for long. As soon as he saw it, he telepathically sent a message to Suho. I've located the van. Chengyang district. Get everyone here immediately.

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

Time: Midnight. Location: abandoned wharehouse. Kris, Luhan, Xiumin, Suho, Chanyeol, and D.O. were hiding behind a pair of closed doors, completely out of sight. There were 8 men, all in black, guarding the entrance to the room Zitao was in. Kris could see another 2 in the room next to Tao's. "Luhan," he whispered. "Distract them." Luhan nodded, and (using his ability to move things with his mind) caused a marker pen - that was being held by one of the men - to write a message on one of the four walls - 'Follow me'. Frightened, 5 of the men cautiously followed the pen to the wall next to the pair of doors. 'Now, unlock the door' it wrote. "Don't do it. It's obviously a trick." One of the 3 men still guarding Tao's room told the others.

Without warning, the concrete floor beneath the 5 men began to tremble. A deafening 'crack' could be heard as the ground divided into two, swallowing the 5 adult male humans that dared to disobey Luhan.

Luhan disarmed the 3 men who watched in horror, their mouths gaping open, using telekinesis to take their guns away and throw them  against a wall (consequently shattering them into pieces.) He then found a key resting on an almost broken table and managed to unlock the door. Entering the square room, Chanyeol took aim, and threw lethal balls of fire straight at the men that Luhan had disarmed, taking all 3 of them out at once.

Kris flew over the gap Kyungsoo had made in the ground, and headed directly for the room Tao was in.

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

Although the small room was poorly lit, Wu Fan's superior eyesight allowed him to view a slim man, delicate and weak, with ebony hair and dark patches encircling around his eyes. He looks just like a panda, he thought to him self. He gently shook the younger man, "Tao?" Zitao rubbed his eyes; he gasped in pain when he carelessly rubbed a large gash on his face. "I'm going to get you out of here. Trust me and you'll be alright." Kris told him in a soothing voice.  Tao groaned as Kris lifted him up and carried him out of the dim room, over the gap in the ground, passed his friends and out of the wharehouse, setting him down carefully in an alleyway.

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

Meanwhile, Suho and Xiumin had been 'taking care' of the remaining 2 opponents. Xiumin had used his ability to freeze things to freeze their feet and legs, preventing them from escaping the room. At the same time, Suho had sent a gargantuan wave of water into the room. Luhan locked the door to stop the water from leaving the room. As a result, the water rose quickly (causing their opponents to drown). Despite the fact that they knew they were doing the right thing, at that moment, they all felt evil.

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

Kris bent down and tended to Tao's wounds, the bleeding gash on his face tentatively. He breathed in Tao's delicous scent, craving more of his blood. He felt Zitao's body stiffen as his mouth moved towards the cut on his jawline, once again allowing his tongue to glide of his wound, taking in every drop of his blood.

Wu Fan was aware that what he was about to do was a bad idea - dangerous, life threatening. But he also knew that trying to fight his instincts was pointless, futile. For once - just once - Kris wanted to be selfish.

He Tao's jet-black hair gently as he caressed his face, carefully avoiding the large laceration, in attempt to sooth him. Kris let his lips lightly brush against his neck, before biting him, his knife-like fangs making an incision in the fragile skin of his neck. Zitao breathed in sharply, trying not to let the older man know he was afraid. Kris growled, and then began to on the incision, making sure to take as much blood as he could without harming Tao. Zitao had stopped feeling pain and began to moan in pleasure, which made Kris long for more blood. Unfortunately for Wu Fan, he knew that if he took any more blood, it could result in Tao's death. He lifted his head, and Tao whined from the lack of touch. "Go to sleep." Kris' voice was low and kind.

"Don't leave." Tao whimpered.

"Ssh." He pressed his finger against Tao's lips. "Don't worry. I won't leave you." He pressed their lips together, buried his head in Tao's chest, and held him in his arms, caressing him until he fell asleep.