The front porch, entryway, kitchen, and hallway were all brightly lit with overhead lights, small portable lights, and candles. As the pair moved closer to living room, the light grew dimmer. It was almost as if incredibly thin, black, gauzy veils, so thin as to be indistinguishable from another and without beginning or end, were hanging from the ceiling and absorbing all the light. As the house grew darker, Ravi and Ken also felt cold leeching in from the floor, ceiling, and walls. The front of the house was chilly, but the hallway that led to the living room was downright freezing. “Dang,” Ken forced out between chattering teeth, rubbing his hands together, “Why is it so cold in here?”

“I think the creature is pulling energy from as many sources as possible, including the heat from the air. Don’t ask me how that works; I don’t know,” Ravi whispered, motioning Ken forward.

Ravi and Ken finally stood at the threshold into the living room and stared in wonder. The room was dark, lit by a struggling lantern and the light of the moon. The shadows in the room were sharp and black with an uncanny depth that suggested they were more than mere shadows. Thin tendrils connected each shadow, be it cast by furniture or a person, to a pulsing black mass in the center of the room. While the other shadows were straight-edged and looked sharp enough to cut, the form in the center had visible texture, like dark, pulpy tar constantly spilling over and being reabsorbed after it splattered on the floor.

Taekwoon and Hakyeon were on the couch, faces not quite visible in the dim light. Hakyeon was sobbing loudly despite his previous efforts to somehow hide his pain, and looked to be cradling his cut and obviously broken arm with his entire body. His one somewhat healthy hand was stretched out to grasp at Taekwoon, who also had silent tears slipping down his face as he dealt with an eerily similar unnaturally bent arm. Their breath was visible, puffing out in small white clouds.

Ken froze in place, not knowing what to do. All of the blood and the tears in front of him, not to mention the horrifying creature that had caused it all, rendered him speechless. He had no idea what he could do to help when faced with such bloody mayhem.

“Hakyeon, Taekwoon!” Ravi barked, “I’m here to help you.”

Both men looked up at Ravi through twisted expressions.

“What the hell are you waiting for?” Hakyeon yelled in response, coughing through his tears.

The shadow was not shy, stretching and whipping around the two men. Ravi felt the blood drain from his face, nausea overtaking him now that he was near the shadow creature once again.

The creature pulled away from Hakyeon and Taekwoon, swelling and shooting toward Ravi. He was swatted away as if he were nothing but a pesky fly and landed hard on his shoulder with a solid thud that knocked the air from him lungs. Not satisfied, the shadow stretched into thin tendrils once again, soundless but lethal. It aimed to cut Ravi down for good, but despite being winded and on his back, he wasn’t done yet.

Ravi struggled to sit up. “Hey!” he hollered to make sure that the creature focused on him. Though the creature had no face, they could tell that it leaned toward Ravi. The café owner wasn’t just waiting for the shadow to kill him; his arm began to glow, appearing to burn from the inside out. Eventually his arm was sheathed in bright light that was strong enough to fill the room.

Taekwoon and Hakyeon watched, drowsy with pain and blinking rapidly to prevent blood from getting into their eyes as Ravi deflected the shadow’s attacks. Each deflected strike sent a sharpened shadow flying into the floor, walls, and ceiling, where they gouged out large chunks of plaster and wood and left streaks of black tar-like ichor dripping from the walls. Ravi’s other arm burned with light as he fought the furious creature. The monster attempted to slice Ravi in half or remove his head from his body, splitting into more and more tendrils every time it failed. Even as it made stabs at Ravi’s back, Ravi’s torso began to glow a dark, fleshy red underneath his shirt that quickly brightened to white.

Hakyeon  held on to Taekwoon for dear life as he watched as what seemed to be the essences of dark and light tried to destroy each other in his once-lovely living room. His life had quickly spun out of his control and this was the ; the fate of him and his husband rested in the hands of a café owner and his part time barista.

I’m not going to die, Hakyeon promised himself. I will live through this. Hakyeon repeated this mantra in his head, adding Taekwoon is going to live after the first few repetitions. On the fifth Taekwoon is going to live, Hakyeon’s head fell back onto the couch cushions; unconsciousness had finally spirited him away from his pain.

During this fight, Ken was not idle. When Ravi’s arm became the equivalent of a lightsaber, he made a bee-line toward the crumpled, blood-spattered book that had fallen to the carpet.

He sifted through the pages quickly but thoroughly, lips pressed into a thin line, jaw tense, and brows furrowed. Ken’s hands were shaking as he passed by some of the more ridiculous spells and things that clearly didn’t pertain to the freaky anime fight going on in the other side of the room.

“There’s gotta be something useful in this damn book!” he muttered to himself. Ken was dangerously close to hyperventilating and he was shaking so hard from the intense cold that he could barely turn the pages. The book had to have an answer. There was no way whatever power in charge would screw them over so completely. Taking a calming breath and consciously ignoring the shouting and crashes from the struggle with the dark creature, Ken flipped back to the book’s introduction and read it as slowly and carefully as he dared. Three-quarters of the way down the page, a sentence caught his eye.

 “Please, please, please, let this be helpful,” Ken whispered desperately.

If you find yourself being troubled or assaulted by a spirit, first find the object on which the spirit is fixated. This could technically be a house, an object, or a person. Once this is determined, you’ll be ready to exorcise the spirit. In most cases, destroying the object of attachment is enough to make the spirit leave. If this does not work, please try a ritual from Chapter 6: Exorcisms and Removing Troublesome Spirits…

“Ravi!” Ken shouted unthinkingly. Immediately, three heads and one creature of darkness turned toward him. “Um, in order to get rid of it we need to destroy what it’s anchored to,” he rushed out in a single breath. There was a short pause before everything erupted into chaos again.

Tentacles slipped around Ravi, ignored Hakyeon and Taekwoon, and flew toward Ken. The young barista had enough time to yell, “Oh, crap!” before the thing was on him.

Ravi’s heart dropped into his stomach the second he realized that Ken was the monster’s new target. While he was very grateful for the man’s help, he’d never intended for him to be put in danger. Ken was helping from the goodness of his heart, and was just being dragged along into Ravi’s crazy world. Ravi would do everything in his power to make sure that he didn’t get hurt. “Ken!” Ravi shouted, leaping over a fallen lamp toward the far side of the room.

Ken stumbled backward, one arm held in front of him in a futile attempt to protect himself from the advancing creature. He could suddenly see his breath fog as soon as it left his mouth and nose; the creature was fully focused on him. The cold stole the strength from his limbs and made him clumsier than usual. The black mass was shifting between shapes and textures, all of them icy cold, pitch black, and wet, and flicking out thin, whip-like tendrils that left ruler-straight cuts littered across his chest, hands, arms, and face. The only remaining source of light, the lantern, was flickering madly.

A shout redirected the thing’s attention once again. In one more fit of pique toward Ken, the creature easily lifted a sturdy wooden end table and threw it at the cowering, bleeding Ken with much force. He couldn’t dodge it completely, but managed to deflect part of the table with his shoulder, which pushed him into the doorframe. To Ken’s pained surprise, the table actually shattered, sending large, ice-covererd splinters of wood flying. Ken dropped to the floor, dazed, and lifted a hand to cradle his aching head. Is something wet? he though dizzily. Trembling fingers rubbed together, something warm and wet easing the slide. That was when the sharp pain began radiating from his cheek and forehead. Oh, . A crash made him slowly refocus his eyes on his friends. Ravi!

Ravi saw Ken go down in a shower of jagged wooden splinters and blood. Hands sheathed in glowing white light, he reached toward the creature, grasped the back of it, and pulled. It thrashed in his grip, hissing as Ravi’s light sizzled in every place they touched. The nausea and freezing temperatures returned full force, leaving Ravi feeling his entire front was burning, but he refused to let go.

“Hakyeon! Taekwoon! What’s this thing’s anchor?” Ravi practically howled.

“I don’t know!” Taekwoon gritted out from a few feet away on the couch. He was tending to a bruised, bettered, and unconscious Hakyeon, despite having a matching broken arm.

“Find out quick or we’re all dead!” Ravi snapped. “Do you remember anything weird happening before all the injuries started?” The creature had reabsorbed all of its tentacles and was working on extracting itself from Ravi’s burning grip. Ravi could feel heat being from his body. Even the light of his arms was dimming slightly, stolen by the gurgling mass in his arms. Splashes of mushy blackness, the texture of things soft and rotting, splashed on his arms and coated his front, fighting to cover his light where they touched.

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” Taekwoon cried. His thoughts were racing, but the more he thought, the more his mind went blank until he was left with nothing but think of something, think, think, think of something. He gently shook Hakyeon. Surely he would be able to think of it. “Hakyeon, wake up. Please wake up.”

The thing lurched and writhed against Ravi’s chest, trying to rip itself from the solid grip. It quivered and pulled, forcing Ravi to step forward to remain standing. Leaning backward, he retaliated with a vicious yank, stretching the shadowy mass away from the two men on the couch.

Hakyeon let out a yelp of pain as he was brutally jerked from the realm of unconsciousness. Taekwoon narrowly dodged Hakyeon’s head as the man sat up quickly. His hands were clenched tightly, knuckles white on the fabric that covered his heart.

Taekwoon wiped away some of the blood that ran down Hakyeon’s face.

“My heart,” Hakyeon whispered, eyes blank and unseeing. “There’s something wrong with my heart.”

Taekwoon quickly remembered a similar phrase slipping from Hakyeon’s lips month ago. Before any of this had started, before any shared wounds or clumsiness, Hakyeon and Taekwoon experienced flickering lights and a pain in Hakyeon’s chest at his sister’s wedding reception. Taekwoon’s eyes widened and he whispered quietly, “His heart.”

“It’s rooted in Hakyeon’s heart!” Ken yelled to Ravi from his fallen position on the floor.

The shadow froze for a brief moment, completely stopping all motion just as the last words were spoken aloud. The sudden stillness alarmed Ravi. The creature was sure to make its move now that they had figured out where it was rooted. Readjusting his arms, Ravi did all he could to retain his grip around the bulk of the writhing creature. His internal glow was still trying to warm him, but the creature was as cold as death.

Ravi thought fast as it doubled in its efforts to escape from him. It tried its best to hack and slash through Ravi’s arms and chest. Ken had valiantly given the information that they had to destroy the thing’s roots. Do we have to destroy Hakyeon’s heart?

“Ken!” he yelled across the room, “We have to destroy Hakyeon’s heart!”

Taekwoon was no idiot. He had come to the same conclusion at the same time as Ravi. He looked at his husband and his mind replayed over and over that they would have to destroy the root.

“No,” Taekwoon whispered, “Please, no.” His face was twisted in agony as he gazed at his drowsy partner. “I can’t lose him.”

“You’re both dead if this doesn’t happen.” Ken had recovered from the battering he received and tiptoed closer to the injured couple. “Hell, we all are.”

In a daze, Taekwoon adjusted the best he could while sitting beneath Hakyeon with his injured knee and useless arms. He faced Ken and fixed a vicious glare on the barista. “You will not touch him,” he said forcefully. Blood was still oozing from the spiral wound on his arm and the cuts on his face, but he gripped Hakyeon’s good hand protectively as if he expected Ken to make a mad leap for Hakyeon and rip out his heart with his bare hands.

Ken frowned. He was on edge, pumped full of adrenaline and not quite sure what to do. “If what Hakyeon says is right, we really don’t have much of a choice.” He glanced over at Ravi and the struggling creature. Ravi’s face was drenched with sweat and spattered with ugly black spots, and it looked like he was quickly losing his grip. “We need to do something now! Ravi can’t hold it, and ultimately, it’s up to Hakyeon to decide.”

Taekwoon immediately turned to Hakyeon, leaving Ken to stumble into the kitchen without being noticed.

“Hakyeon,” he breathed, the usually stoic Taekwoon looking crushed with emotion. “You can’t do this. I won’t let you die.” His husband was sitting against Taekwoon’s chest. Hakyeon could feel Taekwoon’s racing heartbeat on his back. Though his thoughts were hazy, the pain of his injuries had become distant, only sharpening when he accidentally jostled his arm.

I’m in shock, Hakyeon thought, but I can’t let Taekwoon, or Ken and Ravi die like this, not if I’m the reason this creature is attacking them. “I love you, Taekwoon,” Hakyeon said, loud enough for all the occupants of the room to hear him.

That’s when the whispers started. The temperature, which had already plummeted, fell further. The men had already been able to see their breath, but now frost crackled across the windows. Ravi hissed as the renewed chill seeped into his hands and forearms, numbing them despite their bright glow. He could feel ice creep up his chest and over his neck. His bright core was cooling.

Soft but urgent whispers, like an old radio crooning from another room, floated from the corners of the living room, carried by deep shadows. The words couldn’t quite be understood, but the voices, high and childlike, grew closer as the darkness slid toward the center of the room and the struggling creature. The room was already dark, the lights having given up long ago, but these shadows were impenetrable, making it appear as if the living room was fading from existence a little at a time.

“Ken!” Hakyeon called weakly, attempting to inject at least a modicum of strength into his voice. Taekwoon’s attention was redirected to the barista, who was anxiously clutching a long, rather thin kitchen knife with both hands. Anger immediately washed through Taekwoon and he tensed, which sent a wave of sharp pain through his lacerated and shattered arm. Ken would kill Hakyeon. This man would help take away the most important person in Taekwoon’s life, the person who made him whole.

It was almost impossible to believe that only a month ago, their biggest concern had been getting up in time to have breakfast before work and making sure his lesson plans were on schedule. Now, Hakyeon was facing a painful death via kitchen knife, and the owner of a local coffee shop was wrestling with a force of darkness in their living room.

Ken shuffled toward them, gingerly stepped around the corner of the coffee table and crushing the remains of the burned herbs beneath his shoed feet. Taekwoon leaned back and pulled Hakyeon away as Ken drew closer, but seeing as the pair was nestled into the couch, there was nowhere for them to go. Hakyeon carefully pulled his good wrist from Taekwoon’s restraining grip. Ken couldn’t tear his eyes away from Hakyeon’s reaching hand. His hands were caked with blood, the red substance dried under his nails and across the back of his hand.

The whispers grew louder. “…me…”

“leave…me…”

“….you…never!...” they cried, louder and louder, small snatches finally becoming coherent words.

Ken’s hands were numb. Hakyeon pulled the knife from his trembling grip and haltingly flipped it around in his one good hand so the blade was aimed at himself. Taekwoon, who had been frozen in denial and shock, finally regained his senses at the sight of a sharp blade resting against the thin fabric of his husband’s t-shirt, right over his heart.

“No!” Ravi cried as the thing finally extracted itself from his grip. It exploded toward the group of three men by the couch. Ravi fell to his knees, light fading. Shadows crept toward his feet, dragging the childlike whispers along with them.

“…never again…”

With sharp, frenzied motions, the dark creature twisted itself into a smaller shape that came only to Ken’s waist.

“Hakyeon,” Ken whimpered. He was crying again. “We need to finish it.” He barely bothered to glance at the thing reforming beside them.

All Taekwoon could hear was roaring in his ears. “No, Hakyeon. Don’t to it. Don’t leave me like this.” He wasn’t sure if his inability to breathe was due to his compounded injuries or the magnitude of what Hakyeon intended to do. Hakyeon’s stupid smiling face was the only thing that could make Taekwoon truly happy, and he felt like he would be trapped in darkness without it.

“I’m sorry, Taekwoon, but I have to. I’ll always love you,” Hakyeon replied, voice trembling. He truly did not want to die, in fact, the thought of death scared him out of his wits. He’d be leaving Taekwoon behind to mope around the house, work on his lesson plans all night without stopping, and generally be miserable. In fact, without Hakyeon there to bother Taekwoon, the man might never speak again.

Would he die instantly when the knife entered his heart? Or would he suffer through the pain for a while, watching Taekwoon’s heart break? Well, I guess I’ll find out, Hakyeon thought. He took comfort in Taekwoon’s forehead resting against the back of his head and the gentle thump of his heartbeat against his back. “I’m so sorry, Taekwoon,” Hakyeon said one final time as he prepared to the knife into his heart.

“NO!” the creature roared. The windows, which had been completely iced over, shattered, sending shards of ice and glass tumbling to the carpet. Cool night air entered the empty window frames, pushed along by a slight breeze. It diluted the think tang of blood in the room.

When the creature cried its rage, the whispered voices shrieked with it. Hakyeon froze in place, unable to move the hand with the knife.

On the other side of the room, Ravi was almost completely overtaken by shadows. His eyes were lifted to the ceiling. The shadows reached his neck, black creeping through his veins and spiderwebbing on his jaw and cheeks. The rest of his body was merging with the creeping darkness that grew toward the center of the room, and the eyes that had once burned with a pure white light were now bottomless black pools that spilled down his cheeks. With Ravi’s body nearly indistinguishable from the shadows, it seemed like his light was permanently out.

“You cannot stop me,” the creature growled gutturally. It was mere inches from Hakyeon and had calmed into a more definitive shape.

“Taekwoon?” Hakyeon choked. His nightmare had returned.

The creature was in the form of a small boy. Every hair was defined, as well as its facial features and its small, clenched fists. It looked enraged, barely able to keep small tendrils from whipping around agitatedly.

Taekwoon’s mouth dropped open; he was at a complete loss for words. Ken was shocked to see such a cruel creature in the form of a small boy, but he didn’t understand why Hakyeon and Taekwoon looked so shaken.

That’s when he noticed Ravi’s predicament. It looked like he wasn’t breathing. “Dammit, Ravi!” the man exclaimed, breaking away from the creature. He had to get to Ravi, and the creature was much too occupied with Hakyeon and Taekwoon to bother with a small fry like him. His head was still pounding, and the gouge across his cheek and forehead were still merrily stinging.

As soon as Ken reached Ravi, he dropped to his knees so they were at eye level. “Can you hear me?” the barista asked desperately. He gripped Ravi’s shoulders in some sort of attempt to snap his boss out of it. Ravi’s eyes still looked sightless and his lips were turning black.

“Ah!” Ken yelped, yanking his hands back. The deep shadows that had reached Ravi’s mouth slid over Ken’s fingers. Ken held his hands in front of his face, turning them in the dim light. It looked like his fingers were dipped in matte black paint and it was dripping down to streak across his palms and the backs of his hands.

“.”

“You left me! You threw me away!”

Taekwoon had no idea what the damn thing was talking about, but it seemed to be directed at him. There was, however, something oddly familiar about its appearance…

“Taekwoon,” Hakyeon hissed, “It looks just like you did when you were a kid! I’m positive…your mom showed me her photo albums again when we visited for the wedding.”

“That’s right,” the creature chuckled darkly. Shadows like thick, black sludge dripped from its mouth as it spoke, splattering across the carpet and quivering before crawling back toward the creature’s dark feet to be reabsorbed. Ice crept up the legs of the coffee table and couch, and only spread more quickly as the thing’s anger grew.

Taekwoon took a deep breath. “What do you mean I left you? What are you?” he asked urgently, glancing at Hakyeon’s good hand, which still held the knife. If Hakyeon was distracted by the creature, Taekwoon might be able to pull the knife from his grip before the red-headed man could hurt himself.

Unfortunately, Taekwoon’s words only served to further anger their aggressor. With a short flick, it sent a whip of shadow at Hakyeon, cutting his neck. The wound instantly appeared on Taekwoon’s neck, but the man refused to flinch. In fact, his overtaxed body couldn’t process more pain; it was on the verge of giving up. It was a miracle that Hakyeon and Taekwoon were still conscious.

“You left me behind. You grew up without me, Taekwoon. You didn’t need me anymore!” it spat.

“What are you?” Taekwoon desperately demanded, almost out of his mind with grief and misery.

“I AM YOU!” it shrieked, finally unable to hold a stable form. It erupted into a thrashing black column that slammed into the ceiling, ripping through the plaster and sending a shower of dust into the air.

Ken tried to wipe the dark streaks from his hands, mind scrambled. The blackness only spread further and Ravi wasn’t coming to. At this rate, Ravi would be dead in minutes and Ken would die of hypothermia or end up an empty husk, completely drained of life. The creature must be trying to energy from us. But Ravi’s not human; he’s kind of like pure energy. What will happen to him? Ken couldn’t help but to wonder. Maybe he can hold on longer. C’mon Ravi, stay with me!

The monster’s angered roar drew Ken’s attention to the frightening conversation happening on the far side of the room. Something in his mind clicked. “I am you…” What could that mean? Wait.  This thing is a part of Taekwoon that got left behind during childhood? It sounds exactly like what Ravi was just telling me about. If we weaken it, I wonder if Ravi can absorb it. He twisted around and managed to catch Hakyeon’s eye right before the creature exploded into a raging column. He knew what his next move had to be.

“I’ll be right back,” Ken promised Ravi. His heart was thudding uncontrollably in his chest and he felt queasy, but Ken knew he was the only one who could end this. Shivering from the bone aching cold that was spreading up his arms, he stumbled back toward the couch, wiping his freezing hands on his pants.

Before he could reach Hakyeon and Taekwoon, the thing lashed out, batting him away. Ken crashed into the wall and fell to the floor, body crunching into the shattered glass from the windows. He laid there for a second, dazed. He saw the creature grab Hakyeon’s hands and throat. The man screamed as he was pulled to his feet. His injured knee gave out, but that just put more pressure on his broken arm. Taekwoon feebly reached for his husband, but didn’t have the strength.

A small face emerged from the writhing column, inches from Hakyeon’s own. “You will be left behind,” it snarled, speckling Hakyeon’s face with black flecks, “destined for death just as I was so long ago.” The face of the little boy twisted and broke apart, jagged laughter echoing from its dissolving mouth. Hakyeon lifted the knife an inch, trying to slip from the shadow’s hold.

“Not. So. Fast.”

The snap of bone pierced through the noise in the room, accompanied by Hakyeon and Taekwoon’s pained shouts. The knife fell to the carpet.

With a cry, Ken leapt forward and slammed a sharp piece of glass through Hakyeon’s back and straight into his heart. The red-headed man’s back arched in agony before he went limp.

Ken fell back, panting. Both his and Hakyeon’s blood was smeared across the glass. His fingers were sliced to the bone and twitching involuntarily. I’ll probably never use these hands again, he thought hysterically.

The creature howled. It threw Hakyeon’s body to the floor and surged toward a shocked and anguished Taekwoon.

Hello, dear readers. This is not the end: there is one chapter left! Hang in there and thank you for reading :)