Yongguk sat on his couch, watching through half closed eyes the images that blared on the TV. He couldn’t believe how stupid the guy on the show was; giving up all the money he had thus far accumulated to see if he could answer the next question. Granted, Yongguk commended him for his efforts in challenging himself, but come on.

Just as he was about to throw the empty chip bag at the TV in frustration, he heard a knocking on the door. He got up with a grunt and made his way towards the door. He looked in the peephole and was surprised to find a kid, maybe sixteen or seventeen, standing at the front looking slightly agitated.

Yongguk furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and worked furiously to unlock his door. Of course his doorknob would be stuck. He violently kicked it and the door swung open, revealing the tall boy. The mysterious kid was around six feet tall, handsome, and soaking wet. Tendrils of long navy blue hair clung to his perfect white skin. His symmetrical pink lips were slightly open as he breathed nervously through them. But there was something off-putting about his image. His eyes seemed vacant, and the dark pupils were huge, almost as if he was high on LSD. But a small smile melted away any of Yongguk’s doubts.

“Hey kid, are you alright?”

“Please help me.” His voice was spiked with fear. He held his snow white hands together in prayer, his face contorting with stress.

“Okay, okay, come in and relax, you’re safe here.” Yongguk gestured into his tiny apartment. Before closing the door, he scanned the area for any suspicious people. But the darkness laced with thick raindrops made it impossible for Yongguk to see anything. Shrugging, he closed the door and turned his attention to the boy.

“Make yourself comfortable.” He waved to the beaten down couches in the living room.

“Thank you.” The boy sat down, his back straight as a board and his eyes never leaving Yongguk. Yongguk had to admit he was pretty cute, but those eyes sent shivers down his spine. So empty and just plain freaky.

“So…should I call the police? Your parents?”

“No.” The boy said without emotion. “The police can’t stop them.”

Yongguk’s heart skipped a beat. “You mean there are several people after you?”

“Not people.”

The blonde ran his hand through his hair. He wasn’t quite sure what to believe. “Then what? Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“I’m Zelo. And the Others are chasing me, sir. You must believe me.”

“Okay…Zelo. Do you have parents?” Yongguk’s heartbeat had slowed down considerably. A creeping dread filled his body. What kind of kid was this?

“No.”

Yongguk passed his hand around the back of his neck. “Is there anything I can do to keep these…others away?” 

“I think I’m safe here.” Zelo replied quickly.

Yongguk stared at Zelo for a second longer than was necessary. The shivering boy on his couch was giving him mixed signals. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“Water, please.”

Yongguk made his way over to the fridge, listening to the howling wind outside. When the cold air of the fridge hit him, he shivered a bit, but continued to pour water in a cup. He felt coldness seep down the collar of his shirt and tickle his spine; he got a feeling that it wasn’t from the fridge this time. He glanced over his shoulder, slightly paranoid, but seeing nothing he continued to fill the glass. A sudden clacking sound jolted him upward and he nearly spilled the water all over the floor.

“Zelo?” Yongguk called into the silent apartment.

He padded cautiously towards the living, fearing that something would jump out at him. The living room was dark, although he was certain he had turned the lights on earlier. His heart beat faster and heat rose to face as he tried to breathe normally. Yongguk held his hand over his heart, wiping off sweat from his forehead with his other hand.

“It’s them!” Zelo shrieked.

Yongguk dropped the glass and ran towards Zelo who was curled up on the sofa, knees to his chest, pointing at the door. Another banging sound came from that direction, followed by the unmistakable clatter of broken glass.

Yongguk’s head snapped in the direction of the sound. His eyes landed on a pile of crystal shards that lay at the base of the window by the door. Blood roared in his ears as he tried to make sense of what had happened.

“It’s just the wind, Zelo.” He turned to face the boy and thought he saw a small smile playing on his perfect pink lips. But as soon as he saw it, it was gone. He must have been imagining things, besides, it was dark in the living room.

The wind bounced off the walls, filling the room with eerie noises. Yongguk stepped over the broken shards and daintily closed the wooden flaps. Sighing he turned to face Zelo. His breath caught itself in his throat when he saw the boy. Zelo was back to his original position, back straight, completely still. Just his giant, pitch black, eyes were following Yongguk’s every move.

“I-I’ll get you another glass of water.” Yongguk stammered, not taking his eyes off the boy. He didn’t want his back turned to him.

“Thank you.” Zelo hummed from where he was sitting, still immobile.

Yongguk returned with a glass and reached out to ruffle Zelo’s hair, hoping to ease the tension. His eyes widened in shock as he felt an ice cold sensation sting his fingers. Zelo, however, didn’t react to Yongguk’s touch. He simply grabbed the glass and held it in his lap, hands folded neatly.

“Are you cold?” Yongguk bent down to Zelo’s level. He immediately regretted it. Zelo’s eyes were inches away from his; dark pools of emptiness that seemed to lure Yongguk closer to them. The black seemed to engulf the whites of Zelo’s eyes slowly. Yongguk got up and shook his head, feeling his heart beat furiously against his ribcage. He must have been seeing things.

“No.” Zelo replied stoically.

“Are you fine with staying here? I have to phone my friend…” Yongguk was growing more anxious by the minute.

Zelo nodded slowly. Yongguk wished the kid would be a little more vivacious; he looked almost dead. Shaking that thought out of his head, Yongguk ran to his room and closed the door. With shaking hands he pulled out his phone, dialing Himchan’s number clumsily.

“Hello?”

“Himchan!”

“Woah, Yongguk, what’s up?”

“Do you know anything about spirits?” Yongguk whispered in the phone, out of fear Zelo might hear him panicking.

“What? Are you popping mollies again? Dammit Yongguk I told you to lay of-“

“No! Himchan I’m serious. There’s a kid in my house and he’s creeping me out.” Yongguk hissed urgently.

“What does he look like?”

“Well…he looks creepy. But apparently there are these…these things after him called Others. That’s what I’m afraid of.” Yongguk frowned as the light beside his bed began to flicker. Oh please no.

“What?” Himchan breathed for a moment, Yongguk could hear him typing furiously. “Not much…like the Others from Lost?”

“Himchan, I’m not ing around!” Panic rose in Yongguk’s throat. He felt like the four walls of his room were slowly closing in on him and suffocating him.

“Well what’s so special about the kid?” Himchan asked sassily.

“Chan, I don’t have time for your sass right now, I’m legit freaking out.” The light flickered off momentarily before turning back on.

“Describe the kid, maybe his type attracts certain monsters.”

“Uh…he’s really pale. Ghost white. Big black eyes. Blue hair. He’s really tall too. Good luck finding anything.” Yongguk sneered. Himchan wasn’t going to get any hits.

Yongguk focused on Himchan’s breathing and the soft pat of him typing to keep his mind off of the cold presence he was feeling in the room.

“Yongguk. This isn’t good. This really isn’t good.” Himchan’s voice trembled slightly.

“What is it?”

“Get out of there. Now.”

“Him-“ The lights finally gave out. Yongguk stopped midsentence feeling his heart beat a million beats per second. His lungs were empty and he was struggling to get air as he sat wide-eyed in the darkness.

The sudden creaking of his room door nearly made him jump out of his skin. In walked a silent, thin silhouette. Yongguk shined his cell phone light in direction of the door, ignoring Himchan’s buzzed warnings. He recognized the boy.

“Oh Zelo it’s you. You scared me.” Yongguk regained his composure.

Zelo walked a few more steps before stopping altogether. He cocked his head slowly to the left and arched an eyebrow. “Good.”

“W-w-what do you mean?” Yongguk scrambled back on his bed, effectively dropping his phone beside him.

Zelo didn’t answer. He returned his head back to its original straight position. A smirk formed on his lips as he approached Yongguk casually. Yongguk fumbled for his phone, he needed the light. His hands grabbed on messily to empty cloth until they hit the cool plastic. He tapped the screen frantically and held up the light against Zelo.

What he saw was enough to completely stop his heart. Zelo was so pasty white that he was almost transparent. Small blue veins could be seen in his temples and neck. His skin was now cracking, like wet sand. With every slow step, more fissures formed, and it seemed like his skin would flake off of him completely. Yongguk made the horrible mistake of looking up into Zelo’s eyes. His giant eyes were rimmed with red, and looked slightly inflamed. There was no trace of white in those large, unblinking orbs. They eerily reflected the white light of screen.

“What do you want?” Yongguk’s voice quivered. He threw his phone, but Zelo dodged it easily.

“You.” Zelo’s voice seemed to be two rough voices superimposed on one another.

“Are you an Other?” Yongguk was glued to his bed, his body refused to move. Fear was filling his voice as he etched out the words.

Zelo chuckled somberly before forcefully pinning Yongguk down. Yongguk felt a pump of adrenaline run through him and he thrashed against the boy, struggling to be set free. He felt Zelo’s ice-cold hands clamp around his wrists and pin him down. Zelo straddled Yongguk so that his lower half was useless in fighting him off.

“Foolish little sun-dweller.” Zelo’s tongue flickered out of his mouth. It was thin and black, forked at the end like a serpent’s. “I feed off of your fear, all I needed was for you to believe in my story. The Others don’t exist.” Yongguk watched in horror as Zelo’s skin began peeling more, but each time only to reveal flawless white skin.  Zelo’s pitch black eyes glowed dangerously as he lowered his mouth to Yongguk’s ear. He ran his rough snake-like tongue over the shell of Yongguk’s ear. Yongguk heaved in panic, words failing him.

“Yongguk!” Himchan’s distressed voice was muffled under the sheets. “What’s going on? Yong-“

“Shut up.” Zelo grabbed the phone in his palm and crushed it mercilessly in a single contraction of his hand. Yongguk froze in terror as he realized just how much strength Zelo had. His eyes traced Zelo’s thin white hands until they reached his dark nails that seemed to be caked in blood around the nailbeds.

Zelo turned to Yongguk and his lips. Yongguk flailed under the boy, even though he knew it was useless. But he had to get out. With his free hand, he reached out and scratched Zelo across the face.

The demon hissed in pain and lay his hand back on Yongguk’s wrist, snapping it backwards. Pain shot through Yongguk’s arm, causing him to cry out. His wrist throbbed and he bit back sobs, letting hot tears sting his cheeks.

Zelo’s lips curled into a gruesome smile as he used his free hand and brought it to Yongguk’s neck, slowly wrapping his digits around the thick flesh. His thumb ran over Yongguk’s Adam’s apple, it soothingly as if seeing it for the first time.  His tongue flickered over it and he hummed in enjoyment.

Yongguk’s breathing became shallower and faster, his eyes were trained on Zelo. He followed all of Zelo’s movements, his stomach lurching in fear every time Zelo got a bit too close to choking him, or digging his sharp nails into his neck. Sweat beaded his forehead, and he had an urge to wipe it off, but his broken wrist just wouldn’t move.

Without warning, Zelo pressed his ice-cold thumb down on Yongguk’s Adam’s apple, causing him to scream out in pain.

“Does this hurt?” Zelo his lips mischievously. He pressed again, harder this time. Yongguk couldn’t scream. He felt like his vocal chords had been tangled in his throat. Fresh tears spilled incessantly. “Looks like it does.”

Still straddling Yongguk, the demon raised a dainty hand to his face, taking a look at the black blood that Yongguk had managed to draw. “I’m impressed.” Zelo smeared a bit more on his fingers before pressing them in Yongguk’s mouth. Yongguk winced at the intense bittersweet taste of Zelo’s blood. It was nothing like the metallic tang he was accustomed to.

Yongguk whimpered as Zelo shoved his fingers further down his throat, making him gag. A twisted flame was burning in Zelo’s eyes as he watched the mortal under him writhe in pain and discomfort. His forked tongue flickered excitedly as he slowly pulled his fingers out, dragging spit and remnants of blood out.

“It’s such a shame I haven’t fed properly in years.” Zelo sighed and traced Yongguk’s jaw with his fingers. He slowly slid them down, leaving a chilly trail down Yongguk’s neck and onto his collarbones. Zelo dug his nails into the tough flesh of Yongguk’s pecks, carving out an X. The scratch left a burning sensation that made Yongguk’s eyes sting. “Such a shame.” The demon whispered, bringing his index finger to his mouth as if to taste Yongguk’s blood.

Yongguk felt his eyes roll back in his head as the pain from his wrist and throat was beginning to knock him out. But Zelo’s ice-cold hand cupped around his jugular jolted him back to awareness. Zelo chuckled darkly as he watched Yongguk’s pained expression. “Else I would have let you live.”

Yongguk opened his eyes wide, staring directly into Zelo’s depthless black pits. He was terrified by the lack of emotion, the inability to read Zelo’s thoughts. He was completely at the demon’s mercy. Yongguk’s mouth hung open, gasping for air as Zelo began to squeeze his throat more tightly. “But tonight…” Yongguk felt the rough texture of Zelo’s devilish tongue as he him on the cheek.

“I’m going to devour you.” With those words, Zelo sank his nails into Yongguk’s throat, and Yongguk stopped struggling. He stopped feeling the pain in his wrist, the wetness of the tears on his face, and even Zelo’s cold fingers. He stood in momentary bliss when all feeling was gone but he was still very much alive. It lasted for a second before that feeling of nothingness became truly zero, his eyes finally closing, capturing the endless black pits that were Zelo’s eyes as the last image of his life.