Footsteps raced past the apartment, sleepy and hyper voices sounding through the thin walls, echoing into the open room where the owner of the small housing slept sprawled out over the edges of his king-single. Sheets were strewn haphazardly around the base, hanging onto the floor, the results of his unconscious form overheating in the midsummer night warmth. Even with the layers barely covering his legs and the fan chugging tiredly away by his head, a thin sheen of sweat covered his torso. He would never admit it during the day, but the heat he claimed to rejoice in outside his apartment wore him down to the smallest amount of energy, leaving him a wreck inside his rooms and incapable of concentrating on even the smallest of tasks.

A groan escaped the male as a particularly high-pitched squeal pierced his dreams, drawing him out of slumber. He was on break, curse them! Of all times, why did it have to be now that they were loud? With a muttered curse, he slowly raised himself to a seated position, legs hanging off his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he let the rest of his body wake up. Mornings were not his thing, especially when people tried to wake him up, or when he was forced awake as he had been this morning. Sitting there, he decided that what he needed most now, more than anything else, was a strong coffee to settle his nerves.

Smiling at the thought of coffee inside his tired body, the male stood up and proceeded out of his dark room into the main living quarters filled with late morning sunlight. Recoiling from the sudden heat and light, he slipped back into his room, slamming the door behind him and leaning heavily on it. Now thoroughly awakened and completely annoyed, the male could only slam his fist against the door, cringing when pain radiated up his arm, wondering why on earth a coffee on a day like this was such a smart idea.

Deciding to instead find the coldest edible thing he had available in his apartment, the male prepared himself for the cruel summer rays he would have to face again, twisting the knob of his door slowly. With no rush, he drew the door away from its frame, watching as light began to fill his room. Mentally, he was scolding himself for not going out quicker than he was, but he did not want to go into that heat just yet.  He had just woken up.  Summer heat first thing in the morning for him meant severe headaches throughout the rest of that day, even if he was in cool atmospheres. Mustering up the last of his resolve, he stepped away from the door as he flung it wide, feeling the waves of heat flood his bedroom. He stumbled out of his room, covering his eyes with one arm to block the most of the sun, fumbling around for furniture to guide him towards his destination; the kitchen.

The tall male knew he had reached his goal when the flooring beneath his feet changed from wooden slats to tiling, the cool change relieving his body of some of the pent up heat from the sunlight in his home. Dropping his arm to his side, he sighed, casting his gaze about the room until it landed on his freezer-refrigerator combo. His lips twitched up into a smirk as he eyed the container with a predator-like gaze, edging his way eagerly towards it, lunging forward and snapping its doors open as soon as he was within arm’s reach. Scanning the interior of the fridge first, he found that nothing in there, not the milk, the yoghurt, the fruit, or the sweet rice, appealed to what he was desiring right now.

Disheartened slightly, he turned his attention to the freezer above, flipping the cover open to peer into the meat-filled box above. Now thoroughly disheartened, he began to turn away from the freezer when he saw something that wasn’t meaty poking out from behind the packets. Curious, he pulled the packs away, dull eyes brightening as more and more of the mysterious object was revealed. When he had successfully rested the last of the packages on the cupboard top next to him, he gently wrapped his hands around the square container at the back, sliding it forwards until it was out of the freezer and in the heat of day. With a smirk, he placed the item onto the cupboard, carelessly tossing the meat back into the shelf, slamming the fridge-freezer shut when all packages were away, and turned back to the food product which had so drawn his attention.

“Just what I was wanting,” he murmured, rushing about to grab the cutlery and utensil he needed, making a short stop via the pantry to grab appropriate toppings. “Sweet, cool, delicious, ice cream.”

Pulling the lid off, he quickly dipped his spoon into the cold delicacy, trying so hard not to jump about as it smoothly came out of the container, and placed three rather generous amounts into his bowl. Once finished with the ice cream, he returned it to the freezer before it could melt more in the heat that was increasing in the tiniest of increments as the day grew, before turning back and covering the sweetness in his choice of coatings; maple syrup, bananas, and peanuts.

Not wasting any time, he cleared up his mess and set into chowing down the glorious treat, smiling as his body cooled down as soon as the creamy material touched his tongue. This was most certainly not the sort of meal his teachers would condone, but it did not matter to him what they thought. He had this last week of break to survive, and if this unnatural heat persisted, then he was going to be spending more money on ice cream than he would have originally let on.

Voices from the living area drew his attention away from his meal, and he turned to peer out through the door. Seeing no one, he frowned, spoon in mouth and bowl in hand, and stepped into the room, glancing around to see if they were hiding somewhere. Upon once again finding no persons present, he turned, catching in the corner of his eye a flash of colour, and stopped when he saw his TV on. Channel set to the news, he never had a chance to think about how it when he saw what was being discussed there.

“… increased numbers of similar attacks have been boggling the minds of doctors and police men alike with no connections between victims appearing obvious…”

“… bodies shredded beyond recognition…”

“… temperature reaches levels unheard of in the city centre…”

“… unusual sightings of creatures which were once thought of only as nightmares or Halloween ideas causing terror in population…”

Face blank even as the channels continued to scroll through the news reports of their own accord, the tall male wandered over to the open window, shut it, and covered it. With a sigh, he moved over to his small couch, seating himself on the soft furniture, then placed his bowl and spoon onto the coffee table.

“How long has this been going on for?”

His voice rang around the empty apartment, hitting the walls and falling silent once again. He waited, listening for, anticipating, a change in the atmosphere of the room. It came, quieter than the male’s calm breathing, in light steps behind him. A hand rested on his shoulder when the steps came to a halt, right behind where he sat on the couch, fingers chilling his bare skin where they gripped him.

“What? No greeting for me?”

The predatory voice was merely a whisper, breath ghosting over the seated male’s ear. Getting no reaction, the visitor harrumphed, releasing his grip on his target and stomping around to stand in front of the apartment’s owner. When he looked up at the intruder, still blank-faced, he was met with a glare and crossed arms. He was handsome, tall, thin, dressed in clothes that boasted the little amount of muscle he had built up, though his pale features did lend more towards a cute appeal, with large drowsy eyes, thin chipmunk shaped cheeks, and the smile that, through the frown, was still managing to make its presence known.

“What is it Hyungjun? You’re standing in the way of my breakfast.” With a smirk, he added, “I don’t think that warrants you that glare does it now?”

Annoyed at the audacity of the seated male, but lacking a retort, Hyungjun merely huffed before moving to sit at the other end of the couch. When the other chuckled, picking his bowl of ice cream up from the small table, the latter growled quietly, turning away from the apartment’s owner.

“But seriously Hyungjun, how long have these attacks been happening?”

“It hasn’t been long Jungmin,” Hyungjun murmured, turning back to look at the TV which had stopped on a channel showing a burning building, face grim. “I cannot tell you much because my kind still holds a great aversion to the sunlight, so I have not been able to see what has been occurring, but Kyujong could. He tells me that the things he has seen through scrying have been most horrifying, and definitely not natural as far as the balance of nature and mankind goes.”

Jungmin nodded, offering his bowl to Hyungjun, withdrawing it when the other shook his head. With a sigh, he lifted the bowl until it was at shoulder level, releasing his hold when it began to move away from him. Stopping mid-air, another male appeared then, seeming to materialize as smoke would, curling out of the shadows, hands gripping the bowl firmly. As at the sudden appearance of Hyungjun earlier, Jungmin showed no reaction when he turned his head to smile at the newcomer, watching as they warily tasted his breakfast.

Tasting nothing unusual, the newcomer smiled back at Jungmin, before finishing off the meal with haste, causing the ash-blonde to chuckle light-heartedly, though inwardly, he cried at the loss of his chilling wake-up. When the newcomer had scraped the last of the meal from the bowl, he flicked his dark brown fringe out of his face, revealing a friendly, open face, handsome in a darker, more mature way than Hyungjun was, the thin male ghostly in the presence of the newcomer and Jungmin. Resting the empty bowl on the study desk behind him, the newcomer stepped closer to the couch, proceeding to lean on the back and glance between the two seated males, the smile from earlier flipping into a frown.

“He’s right Jungmin,” the male whispered, voice low. “What is to come is worse than what is now, but what is out there now is still terrible.”

“How bad, Kyujong?” Jungmin leant against the back of the couch, head on one of Kyujong’s arms.

Kyujong scowled at the male leaning on him at the question. “If you ask that one more time, I’m going to believe you are a broken record, always playing the same part of the record over and over.”

“But Kyu, it is just the right question to ask. You and Hyungjun just like to dance around the information and never give full details when I first ask.” Trying to win the guilt of Kyujong, Jungmin pulled his best imitation of a kicked puppy, even going to the extent of whining quietly to soften the standing male’s attitude.

Kyujong watched the male for a minute, the smirk he was trying to conceal pulling the edges of his mouth up. He lost control when Jungmin raised a hand to his cheek, not even getting a chance to murmur the childish phrase that was his hidden card when it came to winning arguments where he knew he was not going to win the verbal argument. “Alright Jungmin, I'm sorry. I'll try to tell you the information necessary from now on.”

“Thanks darling,” Jungmin said with a smile.

“So, in answer to your question,” Kyujong said, shuddering at the sickly sweet smile Jungmin was throwing at him. “The streets are filled with endless amounts of night creatures wreaking havoc on humans and y- heavenly beings alike. It's getting harder and harder to hide the presence of angels since the night creatures started showing their faces in the daylight. We haven't seen this sort of damage since before the last Satan came into power.”

“And you said it's just going to get worse?” Jungmin lifted his head from Kyujong's arm, leaning his elbows onto his knees as he thought about what the standing male was implying. Behind him, Kyujong sighed, glad that the other had missed his slip-up, shaking away the glare of Hyungjun with the smallest of hand movements.

“Much worse,” was Kyujong's reply. “Think early Apocalypse style of worse, but not for a while I hope.”

At the mention of the Apocalypse, a cold sweat broke out on the ash blonde’s skin, and Jungmin felt his heart clench slightly. The feelings were foreign, scary in fact, especially at such a situation. Why would he react as such with the mention of an often mocked topic? Was it because he could imagine what it would be like with all those night creatures loose? Or was it something else? His thoughts were distracted when his stomach decided that at that particularly quiet moment it would rumble loudly.

A guilty smile making its way onto his face as he turned to his companions, Hyungjun with an evil gleam in his eyes and Kyujong appearing shocked, he said, “Ah, well, I can explain...”

“How much of that ice cream did you eat before you gave it to me?” Kyujong asked.

“Umm...”

“Jungmin.”

The warning sirens went off in Jungmin's head when Kyujong spoke, knowing that Mama-jong was about to kick in. The last time he had neglected from eating while Kyujong was around had induced some rather torturous attack including two mice and a cat. From what Jungmin remembered, only one of the mice had started as a mouse. He had been the other, and either Kyujong... No, he had turned them into the creatures. So that meant the cat had to have been Hyungjun. No wonder the brat always seemed to be so much more like a predator in his eyes of recent.

Jungmin had been thankful that the reasonable side of Kyujong had kicked in when he had come scurrying out from under the couch as fast as his mice-legs had been able to carry him away from the intently pursuing cat. Fortunately, he had been returned to his human state just as Hyungjun had leapt for him, although that had meant being landed on by a not overly light, slightly shorter male. Looking up into Kyujong’s eyes now, he saw the same unusual swirl of colours from the last time in the male’s eyes, and he shrunk down into the couch until only his eyes peered over the back up at his friend.

“I promise to eat something now if you don’t turn me into a mouse again, I swear! I had cravings for cheese for a good two weeks afterwards!”

Hyungjun burst into laughter beside Jungmin, joined by Kyujong when the blonde began whining at how it was true and he still often craved the awful delicacy. With a shake of his head, the palest of the three males stood and made his way into the kitchen, the sounds of doors being opened and closed quickly as he searched for something edible for Jungmin. The two left in the lounge were curious as to what the younger would come up with, as it was well known his usual tastes did not include much of what was part of the blonde’s diet.

“What do you think he’ll come up with?” Jungmin asked Kyujong.

“I have no idea Jungmin,” came the soft reply as the other walked around the couch and took up the space where Hyungjun had been seated previously. “He’ll possibly just cut up some fruit and put it on a plate for you.”

“Or, he could be really mean, and fill my plate with a variety of cheeses.”

While Jungmin shuddered at the idea he had suggested, Kyujong chuckled heartily, glad that the morbid talk of early had momentarily subsided. He also knew that Jungmin would bring up the one question which was always on his mind, but the one question neither he, nor Hyungjun, were permitted to answer. When the youngest, in appearance at least, appeared back in the lounge carrying a plate piled at least three layers high of fruit, an incredulous sigh escaping both Kyujong and Jungmin, the blonde finally asked the question Kyujong had expected.

“I still don’t understand one thing, Kyujong.”

Picking a cluster of grapes off the plate, he asked, purely out of habit now, “And what might that be, Jungmin?”

“You are both, what was the term you used… Night creatures, that’s the one!” Jungmin paused in his speech to eat a slice of an orange. “Why me?”

Hyungjun cast a tired, cautious, glance at Kyujong. He had been around for a few of the conversations, but not enough to be as mentally exhausted from the continual questioning as the elder of the two was. “Why you, what?”

“I’m a human, for goodness sake!”

“Yes, and?”

“Well, for a starters, you are a warlock,” Jungmin pointed at Kyujong, who merely started spinning the leftover branch of the grape cluster, mid-air, as if to emphasize what the human had said. “And he’s a vampire, who apparently does not have a fondness for my blood, which,” the blonde held up a hand to stop Hyungjun’s response. “I honestly don’t mind by the way. I don’t really want to share my blood with you. But still, why do you choose to hang out with me?”

The warlock rolled his eyes, glancing at Hyungjun and inwardly smiling at the same exasperated look on the vampire’s face. “Look, Jungmin,” he began, continuing his twirling of the grape branches.

“I don’t want to hear… Ouch!”

“Yah,” Kyujong snapped, flicking his wrist to send the grapes into Jungmin’s forehead, causing the blonde to curl into a ball as he massaged the abused patch of skin. “Don’t interrupt me!”

“But you were going to say…”

“You never learn, do you?” Kyujong scowled, slapping his friend’s leg. “Yes, I was just going to say that we are not allowed to tell you why we cling to you like shadows, which, in essence, I guess we are, but still, no interrupting when I tell you that!”

“Yes, Kyujong,” the blonde mumbled, rubbing both forehead and leg, a pout on his lips. His eyes travelled up to where his wall-clock hung, plain amongst the otherwise ornately decorated room, and widened greatly. “Oh, curses, I’m late!”

Hyungjun and Kyujong watched in surprise as Jungmin leapt off the couch and away into his room. After hearing the doors slam open and closed repeatedly, they glanced at each other in worry before removing themselves from the couches to stand by the bedroom door. They saw the tallest of the three dash around his room, clothes in arms, towel over his shoulder, and Hyungjun bravely, and bluntly, asked, “What the hell for?”

“We have pre-semester practices that I’m supposed to be helping out with.” Jungmin shouted as he ran into the bathroom, leaving the door open slightly so he could still call out to them. “A lot of the physical aspect subjects have classes held to prepare us before going back into the full routine, and since a lot of the dancers don’t utilise the open practice rooms during end of year break, the pre-semester classes are very hectic and they need the few students, me included unfortunately, to come and help get the dancers back up to scratch so it appears they haven’t fallen behind.”

Hearing the water start running, the night creatures knew that Jungmin would not be able to hear their conversation now. Backing away from the door and returning to the couches where they gently perched on the edge, silence filled the dorm apart from the sound of the shower running and the occasional tune the dancer whistled. Both stared at objects as they essentially became as statues, their faces revealing the darker side of their nature in the darkened light as their mind travelled back

“When can we tell him, warlock?” Hyungjun queried, not looking away from the vases his gaze had fallen on when they had sat down. “His questions are coming more frequently, especially since…”

Kyujong shook his head, waving his hand at the television, newsreels playing across the screen again. “He questioned who he was and why we were when we first met him. You must remember that? It was not who, as most who have lost their memory would ask, but why? Why were we there? Why was it us? Why were we even in his presence?” At the vampire’s nod, the darker male continued. “He will not need us to answer his questions, because he will remember. His rank is high, and for someone like him to become as he has, there is little time left before he remembers just who and what he is.”

“Any ideas as to how long?”

Raising a hand to halt Hyungjun’s questions, the warlock turned to look over towards the room where the sounds of the shower had stopped. Calling out to Jungmin, he asked, “How long are you going to listen into our conversation for, human?”

At the loud bang that reverberated throughout the dorm, Hyungjun and Kyujong chuckled, imagining the lanky male having tripped into the wall upon being discovered eavesdropping. Peeking out of his room, glasses on and pout once again pushing his bottom lip out, Jungmin apologized for his rudeness. “I only heard Hyungjun’s last question though, I swear.”

Kyujong let the frown that had risen onto his face fall away when he heard the honest answer. The night creature had found out pretty early into his relationship with Jungmin that the dancer was not a liar, and any attempts at doing so were blindingly obvious. “Alright, I’m sorry.”

“No, no, I shouldn’t have been listening. I am the one that should be sorry!” Jungmin dropped into a bow, straightening almost immediately as he caught his glasses before they fell off his nose. “But I should probably be going anyways. I’ll lock the door on my way out, so you’ll have to use your ‘ways’ of getting out of here.” And with that, the dancer was gone.

The two were left stunned at the abruptness of which Jungmin had left, unsure if the male had even been wearing a shirt when he had left. The question was answered when a, unsurprisingly shirtless, male came charging back in, racing into the bedroom, and dashing back out again as he pulled a black tank-top over his head, rolling the bottom of his grey sweat-pants up as he escaped the room once again. Stopping at the door, he waved at Hyungjun and Kyujong, pointing at the doorknob as he locked it, and closed the door behind him.

“I think he forgot his keys.”

Kyujong could not stop the laughter escaping him when he turned and saw Hyungjun’s wide-eyed appearance. In the four years they had known Jungmin, it seemed it had only been Kyujong that had been fortunate enough to witness the rushed mornings that often occurred in the dancer’s room. What really cracked his shell though was the way the vampire was hanging onto the silver objects Jungmin needed most to be able to get back into his dorm.

“Did you-?”

Hyungjun’s eyes only widened into an offended look as he turned to Kyujong as he cut off his sentence. “Are you accusing me of stealing Jungmin’s keys?”

Holding up his hands in mock defeat, Kyujong replied with a smirk, “I wasn’t going to accuse you of anything. You put the words in my mouth.”

With a snarl, the vampire threw the keys at the warlock, huffing in annoyance when they were easily caught. Standing quickly, he walked away from Kyujong to stand by the covered windows, opening them slightly so he could look out into the streets below. When the light began to hurt his eyes, he let the blinds slide close, turning to blink the tears that had formed away.

“It won’t be long now.”

Hyungjun easily guessed what Kyujong was talking about when the screams and sirens captured by news reporters sounded from the television again. “Is it because of this?”

“No, these events have nothing to do with it.” Standing, Kyujong walked over until he was nearly looking down the length of his body at the boxy object. “He is drawing attention to himself as though he wants to be found. It won’t be long before the vessel and Jungmin meet, and that will be when the nightmares will start. You saw him earlier.”

“When?”

“When I mentioned the coming Apocalypse, just before his stomach gave away his hunger.”

“Ah, yes.” Hyungjun did remember the way Jungmin’s heart had skipped a beat, and the sweet scent of fear that evaporated in the air with the salty sweat on the human’s skin. “Is that what the nightmares will revolve around?”

“I fear there will be more to those than just the Apocalypse, if what the Oracle said is true.” Kyujong waved a hand over the television, the flashing colours and sound stopping immediately when his hand dropped to his side. “The Oracle never lies, but not everything that is seen is meant to be told, so I might have only heard part of what was to happen.”

Hyungjun scowled, walking away from Kyujong towards one of the darker corners in the living area. “Say that in simpler terms.”

The warlock merely smirked at the vampire when he turned to look at him. “Oh, but even I don’t know what is going to happen, Hyungjun. We are just observers, or pawns in a game of chess. We are there for the start, but what will happen to us later, that is up to whoever it is that is guiding this game.”

“So what hint am I supposed to be getting from that?” Hyungjun said, backing into the shadows as Kyujong raised a hand to eye-level.

“Guess we will just have to wait until the vessel and our colleague meet, won’t we?” With a flick of his fingers, he disappeared in a black mist before the vampire could respond. Barely concealing his annoyance, the almost white male stepped back into the shadows, disappearing without so much as a whisper of air, leaving the dorm empty.

“Oh, and you’d better return those keys to him, Hyungjun,” were the final words that echoed through the room followed by a string of curses.

 

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Well, first real chapter up for any readers who stumble across this story :)

Comments (not flames) are highly appreciated, especially if you want to see this continue!

I know that some part of me wants to still write this or it would not still be around from my "I will not write fanfiction" phase...

Anyways, comments and subbies are love and love turns into chapters ;) Would like to hear from you all <3