Bare Feet
Silent and Deadly"Wooh, he smells." Tao scrunched his nose as he opened a window, trying to air out the scent of Luhan's blood inside the car.
Kris shouted an annoyed "hey!" At Tao, who flinched at his older brother's voice.
"You can't open the windows, Tao. Do you want to attract vampires?" Kris scolded Tao for the thousandth time now as he rolled up the windows.
"But Hyung-"
"No." Kris said firmly. Tao groaned, and looked out his window, trying to get his mind off the smell.
Just then, Tao's sensitive ears picked up the sound of a vibration, coming from the car compartment. He opened it, and saw Kris' phone ringing. Tao cleared his throat as he grabbed Kris' phone and closed the compartment with his knee.
"Speak." Tao answered the phone, looking at Kris, who rolled his eyes at his younger brother's childishness.
"You guys better get your asses here quick and see what Kai brought back home." A coarse, yet soothing voice on the other end told Tao before he hung up.
And before Tao could even put the phone back into the compartment, Kris floored the gas pedal.
-
"Where'd you find him?" A tall, chiseled young man with broad shoulders asked Kai as he watched his tanned friend close the door behind him, muffling the screams of pain.
"Oh, you know. Just here and there. I’m on quite a roll, aren’t I?” Kai replied in a cocky tone as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his sweat pants. The other young man rolled his eyes.
"Hey! Keep it quiet in there, Chanyeol. We're having a heart-to-heart discussion.
"I found him around where we found Luhan Hyung. It wasn't that hard, really. He smelled like… well, I don’t know how to describe it, really… but it was mixed with Hyung’s. That helped quite a bit.” Kai explained as he looked down at his feet. He then looked up, and from in between the hair in his eyes he could see the murderous look on the taller lad's face.
Kai smirked.
But when he sensed what Sehun was about to do, he quickly put a strong hand against his shoulder and blocked his way from the door.
"He's not yours to play with yet, Sehun. You know what we need out of him, and you're not the person for that."
Sehun's let out a small growl as he eyed the doorknob, and his jaw stiffed at the sound of his screams.
Words could not express how much he wanted to be the one inflicting pain on their captive right now.
Which is one of the reasons why Kai didn't let Sehun be the one to do the interrogations.
Sehun was too emotionally unstable to even let into the room. With his strength, and his killing intent, there's no way their prisoner would be alive if Kai did let Sehun in.
It was either Sehun would kill their prisoner by accident, or on purpose.
Most likely the latter.
And as of now, their prisoner knew too much of what they needed to know for him to just die so quickly.
Kai sighed as he pushed Sehun up the stairs. "Let Chanyeol Hyung handle it, Sehun. We can't afford him to be dead yet."
All of a sudden, a blurry figure bumped into Sehun.
"Ouch." A female, with a tall figure, and long, deep blue wavy hair looked up at Sehun. She gulped as she stepped back and saw who she collided with.
Sehun sighed, his lips in a firm, thin line. Before, he always had a smile upon his lips for Yeonri, now it was all bitterness.
"You can't be down here, Yeonri." Sehun looked back up as he turned her around and started to push her upstairs.
"I can help Chanyeol. Lay told me to go downstairs to help him!" Yeonri tried to reason as she tried to stop Sehun from pushing her up any further. Kai, being the impatient person he was, rolled his eyes and disappeared.
"You've done enough." Sehun's voice was cold and distant, as if he was talking about something else, and Yeonri knew exactly what he was implying.
"That wasn't my fault, and you know it!" Yeonri yelled as she turned around and shoved Sehun down the stairs. Sehun stumbled down, startled at her strength, but he was still on his feet.
Yeonri gulped once again. Her breaths shortened as she saw Sehun come back up the stairs, and she quickly moved to the side. Sehun gave Yeonri a hard shove into the wall, and when he passed her she quickly ran down and into the room of the prisoner before Sehun could do anything else.
"That was immature of you, Sehun." A calm voice said from the top of the stairs, and Sehun just rolled his eyes, knowing exactly who it was.
It was Lay, the pack member with a Ph.D in medicine.
"Stop blaming Yeonri. All she ever did was try to make you happy." Lay kept eyeing Sehun as he made his way into the living room.
Seeing that he wouldn't be getting a reply out of him any time soon, he just sighed and walked downstairs and into the room.
Immediately, screams filled his ears and the scent of sweat and death fell upon him.
Lay sighed as he stared at the man tightly wounded onto a metal chair under an intense light. The man was maybe around his thirties, and he was blindfolded, bleeding, and dying.
His long, black hair was matted with blood, and Lay raised his eyebrows at the headphones blasting rock music into his ears.
Lay stared at Yeonri for a little while; she had been standing quite a distance from their prisoner, observing how Chanyeol interrogated the bloody man. The smell of blood sent tingles through her veins, arteries capillaries- but as always, Yeonri remained quiet about herself.
"Cruel, cruel." Lay made a face as he watched Chanyeol give one last backhand to the man before wiping the sweat off his forehead.
Chanyeol was wearing a back tank top and a pair of skinny jeans. His black hair hung over his eyes dripping in sweat, his muscles flexed and his skin glistened under the hot light.
Kai was wearing a black sweater, a black hat, and some sweats; typical Kai. He had been sitting in a corner fiddling with his phone and leaving Chanyeol to deal with their prisoner.
If Lay was a woman, his heart would have fluttered when Chanyeol and Kai made eye contact with him.
"Is Luhan Hyung here?" Chanyeol asked Lay as he tried to catch his breath. Chanyeol had put all his focus and strength into preventing himself from shifting and biting the man's head off out of anger and impatience, that everything else besides that has been a blur. He didn't even notice Lay or Yeonri coming into the room until they spoke up.
Kai stood up at the sound of Luhan's name and put his phone in his pocket.
"No," Lay shook his head, but then paused when he felt three presences, two strong ones and one weak, pulling up to the house, "or, maybe they are."
Chanyeol looked up at the ceiling, following the sound of quick footsteps with his eyes. "It sounds like Sehun's got them."
Yeonri scoffed. "First time he's tried to be helpful in a while."
Lay looked at Yeonri and gave her a look of pity. "Luhan's very important to Sehun."
Yeonri rolled her eyes. And I'm not? She thought to herself.
Kai walked to the door. "I'll deal with Luhan Hyung and call Kris and Tao downstairs."
Before Kai left, he turned his head back around and looked at Yeonri. He called for her attention, and immediately, she stood up straight and looked straight back.
Lately, Yeonri has developed a sibling-like bond with Kai, so she looked up to him like a big brother.
"Don't be too cruel now," Kai told her, "I told Sehun he could have him."
And then Kai was gone.
Yeonri was quite sad she couldn’t end it herself. Why does Sehun always get all the fun?
But like the big girl she was, she it up, and cursed him inside her head.
Yeonri stepped up. "Can I take over now, Chanyeol?"
Chanyeol nodded and stepped back. "I'll go check on Luhan Hyung. Lay?"
Chanyeol looked to Lay, who nodded, signalling that he would be watching after Yeonri.
Chanyeol sped off up stairs.
What’s with everyone and this Luhan fellow? Yeonri thought quietly to herself before she turned around to face the blindfolded man.
Yeonri stared at the blood running down the man's throat, and she gave a smug look when he scooted back a little when she came closer. She let him feel her presence surrounding him, suffocating him, quietly, and slowly, murdering him.
He in a breath of air, not letting his fear out. Lay backed off a bit, not wanting Yeonri to hurt him unintentionally.
Their prisoner knew it was a woman who had started interrogating him now; he could smell notes of lavender and honey under the heavy scent of his blood and sweat.
“That’s enough." Her voice was soft and comforting, and paranormal. Yeonri the blindfold and headphones off him and immediately he heard a strong shrill pounding against his eardrums.
He stared at Yeonri for awhile. She was wearing a navy blue, tight-fitting long sleeve shirt, and a crisp, white circle skirt. Random skinny braids of hair peeked through her midnight blue, wavy locks that contrasted with her pearly porcelain skin. Her fragile body looked like it's never gone through even a second of exercise, though with the deep look in her eyes, he doubted that.
"I don't appreciate long stares from men like you," Yeonri spat out when she saw the man's eyes roaming up and down her figure. She could see what he was thinking about her, and wasn't even close to flattering. "Stop... before I kill you."
The man scoffed at Yeonri's audacity, and his bitter laugh immediately turned into a sour glare.
“Then do it," he started talk, "you won't get anything out of me anyways."
Yeonri smirked. "Don't test me, scum. Out of everyone in this house, I'm the least patient."
The man spit out blood onto the cement floor and coughed out even more blood. His brain felt like someone had drilled a thousand holes into it, and worms had entered and started to dig deeper into his head.
He held his head in between his knees as he gritted his teeth, blood escaping through the crevices.
"Stop thinking and start talking," Yeonri told him, "and then maybe I'll stop."
Yeonri searched through his brain for all the information she could find; as always, the guys wouldn't tell her what exactly they were looking for so she would have to soak in all the knowledge their prisoner could offer.
The prisoner didn't know what was happening to him. There was a stinging in his ears, a throbbing thump behind his eyes, and blood running up his throat.
And it all lasted for five, painfully slow minutes.
With all the pain he felt, like someone was ripping his head in half with a chainsaw, he would do anything to make it stop.
Then, it did stop. Satisfied, Yeonri let out a long breath.
"Do you want to tell me your name or should I-"
"A-Alan." The man stuttered out. Lay stood up straight in interest as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Alan?" Yeonri questioned, and she sent a shot of pain up his spine and into his brain. She let out a bitter laugh. "I'm really not in the mood to be lied to, Neil."
Neil shut his eyes as he tried to suppress the explosions of excruciating pain he felt in his head. "M-My birth name is Alan! I'm telling the truth!"
Neil was shocked; how did this young girl know what his name was?
"No one calls you by Alan, but Neil." Neil looked up at stared at Yeonri in shock.
"How the do you know my name?!" Neil shouted. At this point, he had nothing to lose. He already felt dead; what worse could they do?
"I don't like being sworn at Neil, I would appreciate it if you would act dead, since you feel like you are." Yeonri shot a glare at Neil, who growled back.
"I can't believe there are still some of you alive." Neil spat out. "Looks like you guys weren't all that clueless."
"What day?" Yeonri eyed Neil, daring him to tell her what he was talking about. She already knew what he was going to say, but Lay, who had been standing guard by the door, didn't.
"You know what I'm talking about," Neil's eyes felt groggy, and his neck was losing strength. The only way he could survive now was if he would shift. "The day we found that vampire hiding out in your old territory. ing disgusting, might I add."
Yeonri moved closer to Neil at a scary pace, much faster than werewolves move. Neil held in a breath.
"What vampire?" Yeonri knew he was going to say it, but hearing it for herself, she couldn't hold back all anger.
Lay stood up straight in alarm. "Yeonri." He calmly called her name.
"What vampire?!" Neil laughed out loud, and Yeonri furrowed her eyebrows. "Don't play stupid with me, little lady. I clearly remember you and all the other children being carried out of the scene."
Lay called for Yeonri again, but she didn't hear him.
Now, Neil felt all-powerful and mighty, seeing Yeonri almost breaking down into tears. "I'm more than you think I am, little lady. You can't break me."
Yeonri looked at him straight in the eyes. They glistened, and they looked like they were going to let go any second, but all of a sudden, her eyes became clear, and she stepped away from Neil, smirking.
"I'm more that you think I am, Neil." Yeonri said quietly, her left eyebrow raised, her face showed an expression of disbelief. "You think I don't know anything about you? About The Council? About what happened that day?"
Neil looked at Yeonri, and she let out a short sigh when she found out what he was thinking about. "Don't get your hopes up, Neil. Your powers are common among the members of The Council, and though it's rare to born werewolves, they would rather wait for another one to be born and replace you than to come here and fail at rescuing you."
Neil let out a quiet sigh and let his head down. He knew that the probability of The Council to send out a group to save him would be close to impossible, but he'd rather die hoping than accepting his true fate.
"You can either stop breathing now or you can wait for the alternative; a slow, and excruciatingly painful death."
Just then, someone angrily stormed into the room and threw a gun, coming right for Yeonri's face. Luckily, she saw it coming and dodged it, and instead of colliding with her face, it had hit and shattered a mirror behind them into slivers.
"Hey! What was that for!" She glared at the hot-headed blond who shot lasers into her head. “What the are you doing with Kris’ Gun?! Are you ing crazy?! You could have pulled the trigger! you could have killed me!”
"You think we couldn't feel you doing your creepy brain-washing from upstairs?!" Sehun wasted no time and started yelling into her face as he grabbed her shoulder and shook her harshly. Yeonri threw her forearm onto his, and he immediately let go of Yeonri.
"Sehun." Lay warned him. He just glared at the doctor.
"It's not brainwashing, You ignorant, childish moron,” Yeonri's voice was loud and assertive, "it's-"
"It's useless!” Sehun interrupted Yeonri.
"Sehun, that's enough." Lay tried to stop the two from fighting any longer.
"All it's done is get us into problems, Yeonri! How many times do I have to tell you it's useless?! That you're useless?!"
Yeonri furrowed her eyebrows and glared into Sehun's eyes.. Not only was he making her look like a fool in front of Lay, he was also doing it in front of their prisoner.
Hearing those words from Sehun over and over again, it hurt; it was as if she was a punching bag Sehun let all of his anger out on. As if he was practicing his combination punches on her, and only her.
Yeonri gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she tried to get rid of the annoying itch in . There were so many things she could say that could break Sehun, but she chose not to.
"Just go back to your room, Yeonri," Sehun breathed out as he looked at the man behind her, and then back to Yeonri, "and don't come out until I say you can."
And then, for the first time ever, Yeonri's fist came flying at a supernatural rate and came colliding with Sehun's face. Sehun went flying into the wall, and at the hard impact he slid right back down onto the floor.
Lay and Neil widened their eyes at Yeonri's strength, and then looked to Sehun, who had a hand to his jaw.
"Yeonri!" Lay scolded. Yeonri looked at Lay, bit her lip in frustration, and then glared back at Sehun. Usually she would listen to Lay, but not now. Not when she had Sehun on his , not when he couldn’t do or say anything to hinder her from showing how she really feels.
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE NICE TO ME AGAIN?!" Yeonri close her eyes and screamed as tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. She took shallow, uneven breaths and tried to stop herself from crying.
"You think I wanted her to die?! Was I the one who stuck the knife into her stomach?!" Yeonri shouted. "I tried to help her! I tried to save her! Why don't you just tell me you wish I died instead of her?! That's what you always thought, right?! That's what you would have wanted to happen! Right when you found out I was still alive and Unnie wasn't, you wanted me dead. Because I didn't step in between her and that knife."
Lay wanted to grab Sehun by the throat. He knew that Sehun blamed Yeonri for his mate's death, but he didn't know that his hatred was hat much. He didn't even know that it was possible, for Sehun and Yeonri to be fighting like this.
Sehun who was still on the floor, stared at Yeonri with wide eyes, trying to comprehend what was happening. He opened his mouth to talk.
"Yeo-"
"You would have been happier if she was the one alive," Yeonri swallowed her tears, "and not me."
"Yeonri, that's not true." Sehun's heart dropped at the sight of Yeonri shaking her head.
"Yes it is." Yeonri whispered. "All this time, I was just a problem solver for you. All this time, I was just a shoulder to rest on. I was just a back up plan.”
It was quiet for a while after that; Yeonri had stopped crying, and she had steadied her breathing. Sehun's cheek had healed.
"Unnie... She ruined you. You pushed me away because of her." She stared at the floor, before she looked up at Sehun, who stared back "Because of her, you forgot about me. I hate her."
And then, Yeonri was gone. Out of the room, and out of the house.
They couldn't feel her anymore; it was as if she wasn't even alive.
Lay sighed, and the man tied up to the chair looked down at his feet in confusion and awkwardness. Even he though Sehun was a bit too much.
"You're such a , Oh Sehun. I can't believe you right now." Lay said as he slowly walked up the stairs. "That's what Luhan would say, if he were awake."
And then Sehun was left alone with the prisoner.
-
"I think you guys should go downstairs," Chanyeol made a face at Tao and Kris, who immediately left. They had felt the heavy atmosphere downstairs and heard the strong slam of the door.
"Should I go after her?" Kai was about to go out to look for Yeonri, but Chanyeol shook his head.
"This isn't the first," he sighed, "she'll come back on her own."
Kai nodded his head, feeling bad for how Sehun was mistreating Yeonri. She didn't deserve all of the negativity Sehun was dumping on her.
"Anyways," Chanyeol added, just when Lay came into the room. "Oh, Lay Hyung. I was just about to call you."
"Did you clean him up?" Lay asked as he came closer to examine Luhan's body; they had carefully wiped his body clean with a damp cloth to make examining his body easier, and now he had nothing except his boxers on. They had thrown his dirty, ragged clothes in the trash, and a pair of pyjamas was neatly folded and placed on the nightstand by the bed.
Chanyeol nodded his head and stared at the raw gashes across Luhan's chest.
"As clean as I can get him," he said, watching Lay slightly open one wound to check how deep it was.
"Pretty deep," Lay said as he pressed two fingers into the nook of Luhan's jaw, and immediately tilted his head in frustration. "His heartbeat is unsteady and slow."
Luhan was shivering, as if he had been lying on top of snow, but his body was hot, and his skin was dripping with sweat.
"He has a fever." Lay stood up, diagnosing Luhan. "I bet you his body is going into shock. Remember? Luhan Hyung's never been able to shift before."
Chanyeol nodded, finally catching up with what Lay was saying. "So, you're saying he'll be back to normal after his fever?"
Lay just shrugged his shoulders. "I think it's similar to what humans go through when they get bitten by a vampire; their whole entire body system is rewired, and they go through a human vegetable phase."
Chanyeol looked in at Luhan in pity, and Lay just laid a hand on his shoulder.
"He'll be fine," Lay tried to comfort Chanyeol, "We just have to wait for him to regain his strength."
Chanyeol closed his eyes and nodded.
All these years, they had still felt their bond with Luhan, so they knew he was still alive.
He can't die now, Chanyeol thought to himself. He has too much to live for.
-
Yeonri let her eyes follow the silhouette of the city against the quiet ocean. It would have been pitch black if it weren't for the nightlife of the city, and usually Yeonri would not stay out this long, but their fight from a couple of hours ago piled on top of what happened the day before
She had run away the night before, from another fight with Sehun, and as usual, they sent Kai to look for her. Today, she figured that the guys decided to give her some time for herself, to think.
Plus, Yeonri running away wasn't anything to fuss about; it happens too often to be memorable.
The first time was a shocker; it was a big fight between two people who had cared for each other so much. But all the rest that followed had just started to become pitiful and unfair for Yeonri.
She looked around the city and saw people that seemed to be close to her age. With her eyes Yeonri could see the excited look on some people's face. Some people were miserable and crying; Yeonri could relate to those people the most. She had watched hundreds of times how humans dealt with their problems. Unlike werewolves who would just kill and hurt the people who were causing them pain and stress, most humans would abuse themselves with alcohol, cigarettes, or other drugs.
The first time she had walked out after a fight with Sehun, Yeonri had seen a young woman wearing a black pleated skirt and a formal white blouse take off her shoes, look up at the sky, and fall off a high bridge. Yeonri had seen the tears in her eyes, and smelled the fear from the young girl, so she had originally wanted to dive in and save her, but she realized that the young girl had intended for that to happen, and it was no accident.
Yeonri was shocked at first, that a mortal would give their limited time on Earth just like that. But now she understood why some people could have suicidal thoughts.
It's too hard to explain with words, even with visuals; that's probably why Yeonri didn't get it at first.
Now she knows.
Sehun made her feel like a helpless little girl who can't do anything properly.
A clumsy child who gives him flowers, and in turn he gets stung by a nest of bees. A thoughtless person who hurts his feelings while trying to cheer him up. A stupid idiot who tries to find him happiness, but instead causes all his wounds.
Maybe if she left for good, Sehun would be happier. Maybe if she wasn't alive anymore, Sehun would be ecstatic. Yeonri always had those kinds of thoughts.
She had always come to the rooftop whenever she ran away from home, and would always lean against the edge and think about things she couldn't tell anyone else.
Never did she think she would be standing on the ledge of that tall, grey building, barefoot, her mind and body ready to jump. To end everything.
Too many things going on in her mind, and too many emotions running through her heart… walking and breathing became tiring, smiling became seldom, let alone having happiness.
She looked down and stared at the small cars and tiny people going about with their lives.
This is goodbye.
-
"Kai-"
"You know what, Sehun? You go find her! You go out and look for her if you're so concerned." Kai shouted for the fifth time as Sehun pestered him to go out and search for Yeonri.
It was almost two in the morning, and Yeonri hadn't come back yet, but Sehun wasn't even a little bit concerned for her safety. He knew Yeonri was capable of taking care of herself, and that fact stood true whether he actually cared or not, and he didn’t.
That's what he told himself. Everyday. I don’t care.
Sehun sighed as he tried to keep himself from shouting back. "I'm not concerned. She should just come back and finish her work so I can kill him already."
"His name is Neil," Kai pointed out as-a-matter-of-factly, "No thanks to you, we found out his name."
"Are you going to look for her or should I just kill him already?" Sehun tapped his foot impatiently, and it annoyed Kai to the very core.
Kai let out an exasperated groan as he put his hands on his hips and stared at the ceiling. He thought for a while.
"Fine," Kai spoke up after five minutes of thinking, "You want to kill him so bad? Go ahead. Make it harder for everyone else. Waste my hard work. But yesterday was the last time I go running for the hills to look for Yeonri."
Before Kai turned around and left Sehun alone with the prisoner who had been rendered unconscious by Sehun minutes after Yeonri left, he said, "You're family, Sehun, but lately you've changed for the worse, and it's all because of Nia's death." Sehun flinched at the name; only Kai would have the nerve to say that name to Sehun's face. He was about to throw a punch at Kai, but Kai continued to talk.
"It hurts for all of us, that she passed away, but don't you think you're taking it a little- no, way too far!? Yeonri, whom you've known all your life; you're abusing her kindness and selflessness. Sehun, she'd die for you, we all know it.
I don't think anyone needs to remind you, Sehun, but you sure need to hear it; Yeonri knows everything, and you don't. So stop being such a little and get over Nia. She’s not worth wrecking your life for, because as your soulmate, she should have loved you more than Yeonri always has."
--
A/N
Though this was super long ( 4 700 words), I hope ths chapter was enjoyable :) Any thoughts? Feels? Comment please :) I love reading comments
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