The clinking of silverware against plates and the hum of soft conversations filled the dining room as everyone sat around the grand dining table. You looked around the table as you absentmindedly chewed on a head of broccoli.

Xiumin and Luhan were still bickering over who had the right to sit at the head of the table (Xiumin had won with the argument that he was oldest). Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Sehun were flinging peas at Tao and giggling behind their hands every time he would glare at Chen who only stared back at him in utter confusion.  D.O, Suho, and Lay were discussing boring Guardian business, as per usual.

But a small smile ghosted your lips when your eyes landed on the couple across the table from you. Sungmi had a small pout on her face as she eyed the empty breadbasket and Kai quickly took his roll and placed it on her plate. She beamed, thanking him quietly as he bashfully smiled down at his plate.

“Something’s going on there,” Suho whispered into your ear.

“Oh, most definitely,” you murmured, your eyes never leaving the couple.

“They’re cute though,” he commented before taking a sip of water.

You nodded, “They remind me of that couple one that everyone wants to be together but they’re both too shy and scared to actually get together.”

“So kinda like us?”

You turned and stared at Suho with wide eyes and he stared back unwaveringly. Your lips parted slightly as you tried to figure out how to respond. But thankfully, Sehun spoke up suddenly and drew everyone’s attention to him.

“So Sungmi, I know no one has really asked and this might be mildly inappropriate, but how did you get taken by Kang anyways?”

Sungmi froze, staring down at her plate with glossed over eyes.

Kai reached around her and smacked Sehun on the back of the head, giving him a pointed look.

“What? We were all wondering,” he muttered as he rubbed the back of his head and scooted his chair closer to Baekhyun’s.

You bit on the inside of your cheek as you watched her grip onto the handle of her fork as if her life depended on it. You understood, being held captive my Kang was scary, completely terrifying even. Constantly wondering if someone is going to save you or if you’re going to a prisoner there forever. At least when you were captured, you knew that Suho would be there to save you. But for Sungmi, she didn’t have anyone and that must have been even more horrifying.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Kai patted her gently on her back.

“No,” she shook her head and cleared , “It’s okay. It would be good if you all knew. And it would be good for me to tell you all.”

Sungmi took a deep breath and gently placed her fork down on her plate.

“I just became an Angel a few days before it happened. I was on my way to take a woman who had passed of old age to the Afterlife above, but I never made it. They ambushed me, two Demons. I didn’t know what was going on, only that their voices were the most horrible thing I have ever heard and their claws were digging into my arms. I tried to escape and scream, but it was no use. They were too strong and they knew I was a new Angel.

“They took me to their lair and locked in room with no windows, tied to a chair. They took blood from me every day, fed me only enough to keep me alive so I could keep making blood for them.”

You balled your fists in your lap as nightmares rushed through your mind of your time in the same lair, in same position as the poor girl across the table from you. You screwed your eyes shut and tried to push the thoughts away, but memories continued the flash through your mind.

A warm hand covered yours and you opened your eyes to see Suho gently the back of your hand with his thumb. He kept his eyes on Sungmi as she continued.

“Kang would only come in every few days to make sure I was healthy enough to be somewhat functional and could make healthy amounts of blood for him. But others would come more often.”

“Others?” Lay asked.

Sungmi nodded, “Other Demons. They would come in the middle of night and say things to me, mock me. They would tell me how no one would ever come to save me, how I would be there for the rest of eternity, how I would be the reason that Demons took over Heaven and Earth, how I was the reason that that innocent woman never made it the Afterlife, how her soul was stuck on Earth, roaming around until someone found her. They tortured me. I wanted to die, begged for it even.”

She bit on her bottom lip as tears welled in her eyes. Kai placed an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder soothingly, whispering to her that it was okay if she wanted to stop. But she shook her head and forced her tears back.

“But they wouldn’t dare kill me, Kang would have their heads if they did. ‘She’s them most important Angel alive right now,’ I heard him say, ‘Protect her with your lives or I’ll take your lives myself’.”  

“Why would he say something like that?” D.O furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, “I mean, he could always find himself another Angel to supply him with Angel’s blood.”

“Something about a ritual,” Sungmi bit on the inside of her cheek as she narrowed her eyes, trying to recall something, “I’m not too sure what it was about, but I overhead him saying something about a ritual, one that he read about in the … Archives a long time ago? He’s planning to do a ritual and he needs me, but I forget the name it.”

“The Aeternus Ritual.”

All eyes in the room turned toward the source of the voice to see Hyukjin leaning against the doorway to the dining room, arms crossed over his chest and staring down at his feet.

“If performed correctly,” he look up, red eyes grave, “it grants anyone, or anything, permanent immortality.” 

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I actually had planned to have this up yesterday but Liana (aka Admin Li) literally showed up on my doorstep and decided that she was going to sleepover at my house. And well we haven't seen each other in about five months so yeah, no writing got done LOL But I finally feel like I got my momentum back with this story. I actually have a burst of motivation to actually finish it so yay! Hope you guys liked this chapter and until next time!!

~Admin Kelc