Title: Tempo
Pairing: all implied pairings
Genre: semi-action
Length: 2,658k
Warning: none?
Note: uhhh....?

tempo.

Joonmyeon has his smile all over his face and Jongdae raises a brow to that. He lowers the limp body of an old woman he snagged on the street to his lap and gave his older brother an inquisitive look. Joonmyeon looks so pleased, it was a look he last saw decades ago. “You look so happy,” he mumbled, wiping the red streak in his mouth delicately with the black cloth of his sleeve.

The candle light flicks, it illuminates Joonmyeon as the older Ancient takes a seat on the obnoxious maroon velvet couch. “Jognin has locked himself inside his room for two weeks now.” He stated, pulling his oddly shaped hand that Jongin broke earlier as if it was like a twig. The sound of bones grinding and flesh made Jongdae flinch.

“I know. He’s giving the dark aura again—“ he snapped a look at Joonmyeon who grew his smile even wider. Jongdae frowns, losing his appetite. “You did something that pissed him, didn’t you?”

The older Ancient burst into peel of laughter, he remembers the look on Jongin’s face when he touched the newborn, so angry that his eyes speaks of tearing Joonmyeon’s neck from his body. “He turned someone. It’s quite funny actually,”

Jongdae leans back, it piqued his interest. Jongin has never liked humans. He hates them. He kills them with a snap so why would he turn one? “—and guess what, it was a hunter.” Now this is interesting. Of all people, a hunter—those fragile human beings that exterminate vampires, no wonder Joonmyeon’s smile reaches his ears.

“Heard a beat?” Jongdae suddenly asks, Joonmyeon drops his smile and studied Jongdae ‘s face for a while. A beat? Did he hear a heartbeat or something akin to that sound from Jongin’s chest earlier? He brought a hand to his chin and dug his memories of his encounter.

Joonmyeon was in deep concentration, they are both pulseless, then he perches up with a frown. “Nope,” he shook his head and Jongdae sighs in relief. “They don’t beat, but—“ Jongdae rouses in curiosity for the second time. “Jongin lets the newborn feed on him.” It made him gasp.

“Are you sure? Our Jonginnie?” Joonmyeon has the tendency to play around and the serious look he’s giving Jongdae tells him that he is rather bluffing. Why would Jongin give blood—an Ancient—no, a royal’s blood at that to a newborn? Turning one is quite disbelieving, turning a human—a vampire hunter sounds like a big joke because Jongin disgusts humans and turning one is unconvincing. Maybe this boy aroused Jongin’s interest but this—this feeding thing. It is too much for Jongdae to process.

“Yup, yup.”

“And what is this newborn’s name?” Jongdae calms down a bit, standing up and letting the body fall from his lap like a ball of useless trash. He hisses when the blood spills on the marbled floor, almost missing the thick maroon carpet. He kicks the body softly and Joonmyeon chuckles at him.

“I heard him calling it Luhan, he is a babe. So pretty.” Joonmyeon bites his upper lip, thinking about the way the newborn blushes as Jongin ruts against him. He really picked the right time to get curious and snagged a good view of them. “Luhan,” the roll of the newborn’s name sounds so nice in his tongue.

“Luhan, eh?” Jongdae utters softly, eyes following the curve of Joonmyeon’s lips. “I think I should welcome him to the family,” he copied Joonmyeon’s smile, looking so cunning. His irises turns from a shade of brown to red, footsteps thunders across the empty hallway.

Joonmyeon and Jongdae laughs manically.

-

Ashes.

The strong smell of burning flesh, the loud cries, Luhan bearing his silver arrow towards a newborn, No, get out of the way! Sehun remembers calling him again and again but Luhan hears nothing. He was in perfect stance, hand stretching the arrow until he releases it. A vampire was hit in the head, dropping down on the ground, trembling violently until it fades into ashes. Luhan turns back to Sehun, he was smiling, face dirtied with splatters of blood.

“Sehun,” the hunter saw his lips move, telling him to leave, to hide, to go save himself but Sehun couldn’t hear anything, then Luhan was being taken away in a flash, he hauls his body up, every bone cracking that made him recoil, bruises aching so much that he falls on his knees.

Luhan! he shouted. No one can hear him, dead bodies are scattered around, the headquarters half burned, blood is everywhere.

Luhan!

Luhan!

A flash of dark irises glances back at him, the smirk coming from those lips, mocking, judging, calling him weak, a vampire.

Luhan!—

Suddenly, he’s trembling. His muscles are tensing from fear because it’s a vampire but he’s never afraid of them—he kills them.

Sehun kills vampire but tonight—

Pair of eyes cracks open with tears welling up from the sides. Sehun stares at the white ceiling for a long time, he can feel his hands trembling, his whole body shaking, he can feel the tight knot in his chest. He grits his teeth, choking on his own sob, he fisted the sheet covering him. He feels hurt, in pain, both physically and mentally, Sehun feels so broken but he doesn’t have any idea why. “Luhan,” he couldn’t remember the face, it was all blurry, but he does know the name so well. “Luhan,” it rolls so familiar against his tongue, sounds so nice to his ears but he couldn’t remember who he is.

He continues to call out for Luhan until the door opens and Baekhyun rushes to his side. Sehun still stares at the ceiling as Baekhyun cries for him, happy that at last, Sehun’s awake. Baekhyun cradles the younger’s head to his chest, a hand Sehun’s hair. Baekhyun weeps but Sehun is too lost to actually understand what is happening, he stays limp, the name Luhan rings on his mind countless of times.

Yixing sees him the next day, deduces that Sehun is suffering from trauma. He couldn’t identify them, even Baekhyun. Sehun can’t remember his family, his own name but Luhan comes out of his mouth everytime the healer asks him of anything he could recall. The fire, the ashes, the history of vampire hunters follows next, Sehun can still smell the burnt flesh of those people crying, begging for his help. Sehun had myriad of nightmares—dreams of that figure with blond hair being taken away.

No—stop! Don’t bite him, don’t kill him, don’t take him away!

Dark irises glances back and those lips smiled even more—

“Yow, Sehun,” the latter winces at the booming sound, Chanyeol strolls inside the apartment with his uncoordinated long limbs. Sehun looks up from V Weekly magazine perched on his lap, he made a sound similar to a grunt when Chanyeol literally jumps on his side—knocking Sehun’s shoulder— with his lips stretching into a wide smile. “I heard you can now go back to your work!”

Work, yes. Sehun was informed by Baekhyun’s other half, Kris, that he can now go back to his work though it has not much than answering telephone calls or stirring coffees. He could perfectly recall Kris’ words telling him to go back because apparently the organization is in dire need of an errand boy. Sehun is temporarily banned from going out with the hunting parties especially that he has just woken up from his comatose state. Baekhyun defended his firm resolution of giving Sehun office works rather than sending him out to fish and trigger back his trauma.

Yixing told them to not take risk, even conjuring events that could help Sehun regain his lost memories are highly frowned upon. It is not helpful to make Sehun force-remember. Bits of his past will flow day by day and it is just a matter of waiting patiently. Yixing doubled about the fact that Sehun is still under observation and is not yet fully recovered—it will greatly affect his well-being if they send him out when he’s not yet ready.

“If you call doing paper works and making coffee a proper hunter’s job then I am very hyped about going back to the organization.” Sehun says dryly, flipping the glossy page of the magazine. Oh, Kyungsoo has his own spread here, Sehun raises a brow as he reads the column with curiousity.

Chanyeol chuckled, shifting a bit on his seat only to nudge Sehun’s arm. The younger growls at Chanyeol, even with his limited idea of who he is, Sehun’s attitude remains intact. Rude, smart-mouthed, rude, rude, rude and basically, the long line of Sehun’s conduct has tall piles of conceding rudeness. “It is not that bad, at least all you have to do is sit around and practically do nothing other than breathe.”

“You forgot about the part about Kris’ face. As much as I appreciate doing nothing than to stay alive, I am not happy to see Kris’ face every second of my waking life. The guy’s a serious narcissist.”

Chanyeol side eyes him, raising a brow. “And you consider yourself a saint?”

“I don’t want to brag but my face shout’s attraction.” Sehun slides the magazine on the table and crosses his arms over his chest. “Kris doesn’t like an existing rival—not that he could rival mine.”

Baekhyun overhears them from the kitchen, “Oh shut up, Sehun. Your deluded mind corrupts your better judgment.”

Chanyeol cackles so loud, face so childlike he looks far from being a vampire hunter. Sehun chuckles with him, remembering bits of the past where he and Chanyeol tag teams in high school. “Well, this deluded mind won Luhan’s heart.” Sehun began laughing again, missing the clank in the kitchen and Chanyeol’s sharp intake of oxygen.

“Sehun…”

Sehun himself stops, recalling the words that slipped out of his mouth. Luhan. He talked about Luhan as if he knew him so well. “Do you—do you remember now, Sehun?” Chanyeol carefully asked, watching Sehun’s face distorting into confusion.

“No. I don’t—I don’t know him” but he knows him. He doesn’t know.

The way Luhan slips out of his mouth sounds like he knows him. He does but Sehun couldn’t remember who he is. It’s scary to suddenly pipe about someone who doesn’t exist—who doesn’t exist in Sehun’s present life. The name has been plaguing him ever since, in his dreams even. Sehun wants to know but the hurt he feels in his chest whenever he urges himself to dig his past stops him before he could act. Baekhyun keeps his mouth shut—everyone is tight-lipped in the issue.

Sehun gently clutch his hand over his temple, his head starting to ache. No, he can’t remember anything.

Chanyeol sneaks a glance to where Baekhyun is, catching the smaller’s eyes, silently telling him to spill out the beans but Baekhyun firmly shakes his head—no, it’s better if they leave it that way.

-

The alleyway is fairly lighted by the lampposts extending along the stretch of the brick road. It’s two in the morning, Tao leans casually against the mossy wall. He takes a long drag of his cigarette suspended between his lips, inhaling the menthol smoke until it burns his throat. Humans would normally choke on the smoke after a long drag but Tao doesn’t breathe, he’s different from them.

Tao reaches for his leather jacket, wearing it to cover the smear of blood and dirt against his shirt. “Geez, I need to ask hyung to buy me another shirt,” Tao grimaces at the thought of that man scolding him about dressing etiquette and money wastage. It repulses him to no end that Tao has to cover his ears from his non-stop naggings—oh.

Heartbeat.

A hundred yards away.

Eighty.

Heart thumping so fast.

Forty yards.

Tao drops the cigarette on the moist ground, stepping on the white stick until the remaining flicker of red orange dies. The smell attracts him, yes, but being an ancient, Tao learns to harness his monster, put a leash around its neck, learning to control the blood thirst.

Clack.

Another pungent smell invades his nostril. It reeks magic, death, killing instincts, a bit of fear. Tao concentrated a bit, pinning the position of the hunter stalking another lost. Too bad, this poor hunter stepped in the wrong territory. “Hmm,” Tao hums softly, extending his arm to the side, catching a human by the neck, tugging it to the darkness where Tao rests.

It wouldn’t hurt if he plays for a bit, right?

Hmm, fresh blood tastes the best.

-

“,” Kyungsoo grumbles as he slides his lithe form through the narrow passage. The moss-clogged wall will definitely sully his immaculate white dress shirt—damn Lost for even appearing in the middle of Kyungsoo’s luxurious alone time. It was supposed to be a night where Kyungsoo would enjoy a fine meal inside a high class restaurant but the hot prickles slightly burning his skin wouldn’t stop until he makes proper action towards the vampire lurking near the vicinity.

The Lost—a mutated vampire with razor teeth and grayish skin that eats flesh and drinks blood—jumps past the mesh wire, reaching his bony arms to the window sill. It crawls up the roof and Kyungsoo could be grateful if it would fall from above and stab itself with the steel pole. Kyungsoo clucked his tongue, bringing his sword up before performing a mantra, then he suddenly felt so light that it was no problem if he jumps to the roof in one try, he did.

He landed with less grace and continued running after the Lost. When it stopped, Kyungsoo halts, crouching in a defensive position with his sword raised in a level where it would be easy to repel attacks and make his strike. The Lost growls, thick pool of green saliva spills out of its mouth. Kyungsoo flinches when the Lost sprung to his side, claws growing longer, ready to cut the hunter’s throat.

Kyungsoo swiftly dodge the attack, swaying his sword to the side, aiming to slice the Lost into half but the vampire swings his boney arm again for a hit. “ing animal, you ruined my night. You will pay,” Kyungsoo grits his teeth, gripping his sword harder as he blocks the vampire’s long claws.

Kyungsoo graduated in the academy with flying colors, achieving the highest grade a protégé could ever reach, mastered swordsmanship in an early age that has raised him to the ranks of hunters. He was acknowledged not only by his superior combat skills and impromptu assassination strategies, but also his perfect link with the Earth stone.

The blue gem decorating the handle starts to glisten, changing color to a deep green. It flares a blinding light as ancient transcripts appears from the silver handle up to the pointing edge, then sharp woods surfaced from the sword, piercing mercilessly through the skin of the Lost. It gave a loud agonizing cry, body shuddering, it ripped the limbs as the wood deforms to crawl inside.

Kyungsoo laughs manically, like an alter ego whenever he sees blood. The Lost immediately dies out and turns into ashes but Kyungsoo remains laughing.

“Serves you right for ruining my night,” when he snaps back from his sudden joy, Kyungsoo dusts his clothes from dirt and coldly left the roof as if nothing happens.

Tao’s smiling lips stretches even more at the sight of the hunter as he jumps down from the rusty steel railing. The blood, the coldness, the lack of mercy, the cold heart—Tao wants him to be his servant.