Whistles in the dark

Jongdae woke up to a terrible cold embracing him. He shivered, covering his body with a thin layer of sheets, and frowned, when he realized he was the only one laying in bed. Memories of Xiumin laying down with him, throwing his arm around his waist and pulling him closer filled his mind. Jongdae could still feel the other's chest pressed to his back. He could still feel the slight warmth of the older's body, a light tingling in places where his breath touched his skin, and his hand playing with his hair. There was still a little bit of Xiumin's voice, singing him an unknown lullaby, lingering in his ear. He looked around, and was about to fall back to sleep when he heard it. A soft whistling coming somewhere from behind the door. He instantly sat straight and looked outside the window. The world was covered by darkness, and nothing else. Then it came again, and again. Someone was whistling outside the hat, louder and louder. Jongdae looked around and froze, when a realization hit him. "Xiumin," a voice in his head started screaming, and the boy shot up and ran towards the door. A silent scream left his mouth, when his eyes fell on the figure outside. The older boy was sitting on a ground, in nothing but a thin shirt and trousers. His hair was being constantly messed by the wind, that was howling like a wolf to the moon. But what scared Jongdae the most, was the fact that Xiumin was whistling.

"Xiumin! What are you doing? Stop it!," he cried out, trying to catch the boy's attention.

"Go back to sleep, Your Highness!," the older scremed back, and kept on whistling.

Jongdae could not believe what he was seeing and hearing. He gathered all his courage and stepped outside. He ran over to Xiumin and grabbed him by the arm, trying to pull him back inside. However, the moment he touched him and pulled him up, the boy stopped whistling and everything fell silent. Jongdae went pale, plaer than his already was, and looked around nervously.

"What have you done, Min?" the prince whispered, nervously looking around. His heart was beating unnaturaly fast against his chest, and adrenaline was rushing through his vains. Then they heard it. Slow footsteps, getting louder and louder, coming closer and closer. Jongdae swallowed, and stood in front of the older boy, shielding him from the newcomer.

"It is okay, Jongdae," Xiumin whispered softly, and it made Jongdae's heart skip a beat. "We are safe, as long as we stay inside this circle," he explained, looking down at the surrounding them circle, that was made of dead leaves, stones and brushwood. The younger did not understand, but there was no time to ask questions, as suddenly a third voice joined them.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Jongdae slowly looked up, and his heart stopped. "So the stories are true," he thought, taking a step back. He felt a tight grip on his arm, and looked to the left.

"I said, do not leave the circle," Xiumin growled quietly, which made Jongdae swallow in fear. He was terrified. 

"Oh, do not worry, my friend," the stranger said, and his voice was surprisingly soft and warm, "I would not dare to do any harm to this Prince of the West. After all, there is not much left of him, anyway," he whispered the last part, and Jongdae shivered.

"Jongdae, this is Kyungsoo," Xiumin introduced the man to the younger, "Soo, I believe you do know the Prince."

"Too well, I would say," he murmured, leaning against the tree. Jongdae tried to take a good look at the boy in front of him, but most of his figure was hidden in the shadows.

"Xiumin?," Jongdae asked, wanting to voice one of his biggest concerns, "why are you talking with the dead?" The question hung in the air.

Before answering, Xiumin sat back down on the ground, making himself comfortable, and seeing that the stranger, Kyungsoo, did the same, Jongdae followed suit.

"Bacause," the oldest started, "it is wise to make friends," he whispered, not looking at Jongdae, but straight at the ghost. Jongdae swallowed.

"Xiumin, my friend, you have never mentioned you had an affaird with Prince," Kyungsoo smirked, looking between the two.

"I do not," Xiumin growled, and his eyes started becoming icy.

"Then what exactly do you call a man running outside your house in the middle of the night, half , obviously just woken up?," the boy chuckled, looking Jongdae up and down. It was not until then that Jongdae realized he, indeed, was not wearing a shirt. A soft blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Leave it, Kyungsoo," Xiumin warned, but the other was having none of it.

"Or what? You will freeze me to death? I am already dead! And so will be you in a blink of an eye!," he screamed, and the sound was unbearable for Jongdae's ears. "And I am reminding you," Kyungsoo continued, "that it is his fault, his peoples', that I am like this today," he finished, pointing at the prince.

"Mine?! What have I ever done to you?!" Jongdae asked, offended, forgetting about the cold and fear for a moment.

"Your people did this to me! The Westerners! The Ravens!" Kyungsoo yelled, his voice full of sorrow, pain and haterade.

"The Ravens?! It has been years, decades, since they were last walking on this earth! There is no chance you could have ever met them! My grandfather disbanded them just before he died!," Jongdae yelled back, feeling deeply insulted by the accusations.

"I know who hunted me down, Princeling," Kyungsoo murmured, and the earth trumbled. Jongdae got up, and clenched his fists. The sky became darker, heavy with black clouds, and his eyes turned purple.

"Jongdae!," Xiumin yelled, standing in front of the prince, "calm down, and listen to his story. Your anger will not help you with anything," he said softly, and upon putting a hand on the other's bare shoulder, the younger calmed down and sank down.

"In the old times," the boy started, and his voice became calmer, softer, almost nostalgic, "magic had a different character than it has now. When I was growing up, people like us were considered to be damned. At least here. Because where I come from, a land far to the east where the sun raises, we were safe there. Four of my friends also were gifted with special talents. However, one day the Ravens came and took us. They killed our families, and brought us here. The first of us, the time lord, was killed on the ship. Before he died, he bedeviled us. He put a spell on us, in case any of us dies. We were... stopped in time," he whispered, and sighed. Both Jongdae and Xiumin were sitting silently, listening carefully to the story. "He was the last of the time lords, so there was no one left to break the spell. I know he wanted to help us, but I think for those who survived, it turned out to be a curse, instead of a miricle." Kyungsoo stopped for a moment and looked up at the sky. Then he continued, focusing his attention on the prince. "The next one that was supposed to be killed was Kai, my... my lover. But you can never trully kill a teleporter," Kyungsoo took a pause, and Jongdae loudly inhaled, "So they failed. Magic is a strong force that should not be played with, and that is what the Ravens forgot about. Right before killing Kai, his spirit left the body. After all, a teleporter is nothing but chaos. How can you capture chaos, can you tell me, prince? You cannot," the boy answered himself. Jongdae felt sweat streaming down his face. His muscles tensed, and he felt unnaturally nervous. "They made me watch, as they massacure Kai's body and feed him to the sharks in the water," Kyungsoo's voice was trembling, and an image of a devastated and bloody body of his brother crossed Jongdae's mind.

"Jongin!," a small wimper escaped Jongdae's mouth, and he could not stop it. "Why did I think of him?," he asked himself, looking up at the boy covered by shadows. 

"Exactly," the ghost murmured, almost inaudible, and the prince's heart stopped. "The spirit of my Kai was reborn in your brother, my prince."

Silence fell between them. Jongdae could not believe what he had just been told. Madness.

"Jongdae... are you...," he heard Xiumin's soft whisper, and felt a light touch on his hand, but was not able to hear the whole sentence, as his mind was going crazy.

"I told you, Jongdae," Kyungsoo started again, "one does not simply kill a teleporter, a special knowledge is required to do so. Additionally, your brother, and my lover, was cursed by the time lord. He is bound never to grow old."

"What... what happened to the rest of you?" Jongdae whispered, not being able to bare the thoughts about his brother.

"When we docked, we tried to escape. It ended bloody. First they caught Chanyeol. I still wonder how did that happen, but I guess he just wanted to buy Baek and I more time. I remember running through those woods, with my only living friend by my side, and screaming Chanyeol behind me. I can still hear his voice roaming through those woods. They killed him pretty quickly, which only means they were prepared for this one. They had to know how to fight a Pheonix. The whole area in the valley, the place where now stands the village, it was once a forest. One of the most beautiful and wildest forests west from our borders. That night, when we were running away, Chanyeol tried to fight the Ravens. He burnt down everything. Everything down there stood in flames. Beautiful, and terrifying flames. The same ones that were created by my friend, a few moments later were consuming his bones, turning him into ash. Baek and I were standing here, at this hilll, watching the whole scene. My arms still hurt from trying to prevent Baek from throwing himself into the flames as well. I still remember silver tears running down his face, his horryfing scream still fills my ears. We started running again, we knew we had to make it to the north. Apart from the Far East, North was the only place where we knew we would be safe. Or at least, that was what we hopped for. However, it was never written in my stars to make it there We were nearing the border, when the Ravens caught us. I knew I was the one slowling Baek down, so I made him run without me. I was sure he would make it on his own. I just needed to give him enough time so he could get to the Crystal Bay. Of course, he did not want to leave me. However, I could not let them get him. We all knew from the beginning, that our death was not the only thing they wanted. They sought power, that according to the legends, came with our body parts. You see, prince, when it comes to the Guardian of the Light, they needed his heart,"  Kyungsoo stopped again, and it seemed like he was drowning in the sea of memories again. Meanwhile, Jongdae was losing his senses over all the information. "Baek, Baek, Baek," the name of running in circles in his head, and he could not stop thinking of it, "it must be a coincidence, it must be, it cannot be him." That was what he had been thinking until Kyungsoo mentioned Guardian of the Light. "And I was not ready to sacrifice yet another heart.... too many were already broken that night," he whispered after a moment, as if more to himself than to the two boys. "Since I was the one who controlled the earth, it was not hard to take him away from here, even if he did not want it. When I am walking up the path up to the north, the on on which I saw him the last time, I can still hear his voice calling my name as he was disappearing between the trees. I tried my best to hold them as long as possible, but I was by myself, and I was nowhere near as strong as Chanyeol, whom they had already eliminated, so I had no chance. The finally caught me and... and they took what they needed." Kyungsoo finished, and there was an uncomfortable silence surrounding them.

"What... what did they take, Kyungsoo,?" Jongdae asked shyly.

"I had beautiful, green eyes," the boy said, "they were shining like emeralds, like grass growing on the hills back home. Kai always said they were what he loved the most about me. And I loved them as well," he explained. "AND THEY TOOK THEM! THEY TOOK MY EYES AND LEFT ME TO BLEED MYSELF OUT! THERE IS NOTHING THERE NOW! I CANNOT SEE ANYTHING!" A terrible, high pitched scream filled the air, and Kyungsoo jumped out of the shadows, as if wanting to attack them, but was stopped by an invisible force when he reached the circle.

The moment Jongdae saw the other jump out from the shadows, he tried to quickly stand up, ready to fight the dead, but the moment his eyes fell on the ghost's face, he stumbled back and fell down to the ground, holding the scream back at the last minute. He could not believe his eyes. Kyungsoo's face was as white as a paper, with many black lines that once were probably veins, and dry mouths. There were traces of blood going up from his throat, to his cheecks and mouth, and up to two black wholes, surrounded my many scars. 

"Kyungsoo, enough! Step back!" Xiumin stood up and shouted, as he saw Jongdae's terrified expression.

"These were his people! These were the Westerners who did that to my friends and I! There were the Westerners who killed my lover, my friends, and my family! The blood is on his hands!," Kyungsoo was yelling. "You are lucky you are of the Northern blood, or they would kill you as well," Kyungsoo said and with that he disappeared.

"You should not have come out, Jongdae," Xiumin repeated as he was kneeling next to the bath, checking the temperature of the water. "Althought he is not always like that, it was not clever of you." Jongdae looked down, feeling a bit ashamed. "If your life is truly as dear to you as you claim it to be, listen to what I am saying. After all, these are not safe walls of your castle, but the wild realm of the east."

Jongdae shivered and sighned, "it is still safer than the walls of my castle," he whispered, looking outside the window, "at least for me."

A gasp left his lips when he felt a hot wave hit his neck. He looked straight in front of him and was met with Xiummin's stern gaze.

"What secrets are you hiding?" the older whispered, his eyes focus on the younger's. He moved his hands up, to the top of the shirt that he had given to the younger the moment they returned inside, to keep him warm until the bath would be ready. Never leaving his eyes off of the other, Xiumin started ing the piece of clothing, his fingers skillfully dealing with the fabric.

Before Jongdae got to do anything, his shirt was gone. Suddenly, feeling too exposed in front of the older, he stepped back, but hit the wall. Xiumin just stood in front of him, once again studying the younger's upper body. His expression was stern, almost blank. But his mind, was a raging storm. There were thousands of questions crowding in his mind, and more and more constantly appearing, as he was looking at the milky skin of the prince, that was covered in a few still purple bruises, and many scars, some more faded than the others, and some that seemed rather fresh. He looked up at the boy, and his heart sunk. This was not the prince he saved from frozing a few weeks ago. This was not, whom everyone reffered to as the storm bringer. This was a scared and vurnable boy, who had gone through too much in his short life then he had been supposed to. It seemed as if he had been starved, with a few bones sticking out of places, his softly looking skin pulled to harshly in places. There were slight shadows under his eyes, and Xiumin wondered if he would ever saw them if it had not been for the prince's current state; indicating probably countless amount of sleepless nights, filled with nightmares and horror. There were so many rumous about the Western Royal Family, and looking at the prince, Xiumin wondered how much truth those rumours held.

"The water should be hot enough," he finally said, "You should take a bath, or you might get sick."

"O...Okay," Jongdae whispered, bowing his head a little. Xiumin's eyes grew bigger, and he quickly turned around.

"I will go start the fire. If you need anything call me." And with that he left the room, leaving the prince alone.

After successfuly starting the fire and warming the room up, Xiumin started moving towards the bed, but never reached it as a sudden pain in his chest made him fall to the ground. Supporting himself on his knees and one hand, he put the other up, and clunched it on his heart, fighting for air. A few seconds later he started coughing, creating a small pool of blood in front of him. He felt cold sweat on his forhead and his eyes became glossy. A few golden tears ran down Xiumin's cheeks, and mixed with the blood. The boy clunched his fists tighter and opened his mouth in a silent scream. He did not want to die, not right now, when he still had so many things to do, when he still had to run away. If young death was his destiny, he did not want to meet with it in captivity. He wanted to die as a free person. He fell to the ground, pain still present in his whole body, and looking at the ceiling with an absent look in his eyes, he imagined counting stars. His light hair started mixing with blood, golden tears disappeared from his face, and his blue eyes stayed focus on one point.

It took longer than usual for the pain to go away, so when he finally managed to get up, he frown at the disturbing silence. He walked up to the bathroom door and knocked, but there was no reply. He repeated the action a few times, but the result was always the same.

"Jongdae! Jongdae, are you alright?," he shouted, banging on the wood. Finally, after not receiving any answer, he opened the door and walked in, ready to either find the prince trying to do something stupid, or not being there at all. But to his surprise, what he saw was a half asleep boy, covered with water and bubbles up to his neck; looking outside the window. The room seemed like a picture. There was no sound, no movement, even the burning candle's flame was still. Xiumin walked closed to the bathtub, and quietly sat next to it. "Jongdae?," he whispered, not wanting to scare the younger.

Upon hearing his name, Jongdae looked to the right, and smiled lightly when he saw Xiumin's big eyes looking directly into his. Then, his gaze shifted, and he saw Xiumin's blond hair being dirty, and a red substance streaming down his neck. "Blood," he thought, and looked back at the older. "You are broken," he whispered, and pulling his hand out of the water, he touched the other's neck, wanting to clean it from blood.

"And you are bruised," Xiumin replied softly, reaching for a sponge. He drown it in the warm water and started rubbing in lightly into Jongdae's exposed hand.

"We make a pefect duo," Jongdae chuckled, but it sounded more like a dead person's laugh.

"No, we do not."

"Why are you like this, Min?" Jongdae whined, and started shaking his head like a child that does not want to eat.

"Stop it, Jongdae, stop it! Stop calling me names, stop acting like that, stop being...," He suddenly stopped, feeling at loss for words.

"Why?," the prince whispered, his eyes fixed on the boy on the floor.

"Because you will get attached."

"Is it bad?"

"It is terrible"

Silence fell between the two of them, but Jongdae decided to break it.

"I think I might like you," he mumbled, not looking at the boy. Xiumin took a deep breath, and stopped what he was doing. He looked up at Jongdae, but the westerner was not looking at him. His gaze was fixed on the window.

"You are the prince, Jongdae, and I am nothing but a servant. We belong to two different words. We should have never met each other."

"But we have."

"Jongdae, all I can ever be to you and your world, is a dirty little secret. I will never be able to be anything more," Xiumin whispered and got up, wanting to go out, but he felt a tight grip on his wrist.

"Do not go. I... I do not want to be alone anymore, Xiumin," he whispered, and Xiumin's heart broke.

"Tell me, Jongdae," the boy ordered, not turning back. Jongdae signed, knowing exactly what the other meant. He looked outside the window again, and caught the sight of the moon.

"The moon shines brightly today," he started, looking into distance, "but I have seen it in its more beautiful state. Do you believe in spirits, Xiumin? I do. Why? Because they hate me," he confessed, and Xiumin frowned. He sat down again and started listening to the younger. He shifted his hand, and took the prince's one into his, holding it tightly. "When I was a child, I believed that spirits where supposed to help all people. When I was growing up, I believed they were nothing but stories.But when I came to realize things, I understood something important - spirits truly exist, and they help those who deserve it. And for some reason, I was never good enough. For anyone. When I was a child, my father fell sick. On my sixth birthday my mother forbade me seeing him ever again. On my sixth birthday, she told me I was no good. On my sixth brithday, she locked me out, and kept under a key for the next almost ten years. Each night before going to sleep, I used to be beaten, for all the mistakes I had made throughout the day. It lasted until I was sixteen. I was not allowed to make mistakes, and for each I was being severly punished. When I was fifteen, my father was dying. People were saying he was possessed, that since the Great War only bad things were happening to the royal family. First my brother, then my father's sudden sickness. And they were saying it was my fault. That I was cursed. That I brought it on my family. My mother takes great interest in magic, so one night, when she was out, I went to her room and ripped a page from one of many books. I used it to make a potion that would save my father. It worked. No one ever knew that it was me, though. I would be most probably dead if they knew," Jongdae stopped for a moment, and sighed. "All I ever had was myself. The only person I was allowed to see was my brother, but only at times strictly approved by mother. She seems so ashamed of Jongin. Of his disability. She built a special garden for him, far away from anything, to keep him from people's sight. I do not think he realizes it, yet. Before I was sent to the North, for years whenever we were meeting, we would most likey spend our time in that garden. It had a beautiful view on the long forgotten by everyone bay. People were avoiding that place, believing it was haunted," he chuckled, but his voice was full of sadness, sorrow and regret. "Each night, when we were sitting there, a moon would come up, and would stay directly in front of us, watching us. As if it was a guardian. And you know what?," he looked at Xiumin for the first time, and the older swallowed loudly. Jongdae's eyes were big and dark, shadows underneath them seemed more vivid. "The moon is a guardian. It was protecting my brother."

"From whom?," Xiumin whispered, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"From me." 

Xiumin sighed, and looked at the ground. He placed a hand onhis heart, trying to get rid of the weird feeling inside his chest. Sympathy. He did not want to feel it. He did not understand why would he. Maybe the prince deserved that, maybe he was not a victim in all this. "Or maybe he is," Xiumin thought, and straightened his back. Suddenly, he felt a wet touch on his collar, so he looked up. Jongdae was lying on the edge of the bathtub, his head resting on one of his hands, the other making its way to Xiumin's skin. The older did not move, watching the prince's movement, curious of what was to come.

Jongdae slowly, and carefully unfolded Xiumin's shirt, and moved the fabric a little to the side. Then, he placed his hand on the other boy's chest, just above his heart, and started tracing shapes over the white scar. A snowflake and a halfmoon. "You are lucky you are of the Northern blood." Kyungsoo's words were repeating themselves in the prince's head, not giving him any rest. Northern blood.

"Where did you get it, Xiumin?" Jongdae asked, his attention fully on the scar.

"I was born with it," the boy replied, confused as to why would the prince be suddenly interested in his terribly, croissant looking scar. "It is just a croissant, Jongdae, there is nothing interesting about it," he said, and moved to cover it with the fabric again.

"It is not, Xiumin," Jongdae whispered and his eyes shone, "It is a snowflake, and a half moon," he declared, and looked the boy straight into his blue eyes.

Not being able to take the prince's stern gaze anymore, feeling under pressure to read all the secrets these eyes were hiding, Xiumin got up and started walking towards the door, "the water is cold, you should probably leave before it turns into ice," he warned, and when the prince chuckled quietly, he stopped and looked back, "believe me, it will trun into ice."

Standing in front of the mirrow, waiting for the prince to come out of the bathroom, Xiumin started examining his scar. "Could it really be something else?," he murmured to himself, softly touching the scar with his fingertips. After a moment, he pulled his shirt down and shook his head, "that should not even matter, it is just an ugly scar!" Then, he heard footsteps, and turned around. Jongdae was standing on the other side of the room, with wet hair and water streaming down his shoulders, and Xiumin's heart banged against his chest. The boy frowned, and put his hand over his heart, afraid it might be just another attack. But it was not.

Jongdae, on the other hand, looked out the window, and sighed, as he realised the night was fading away. He did not want to leave, but he had yet something to do. He needed to catch Kyungsoo. 

"Thank you, Xiumin," he broke the silence, which made Xiumin jump, and him giggle. Deciding he still had a few moments, Jongdae crossed the room and neared the older. When he looked into his blue eyes thought about Queen Elsa, and when he buried his hand in the other's light, almost white hair, he thought of Jack. "Impossible," he whispered, placing his forhead against the other's.

"What is impossible?," Xiumin whispered back, not understanding what was going on.

But instead of answering, Jongdae wrapped his hand against Xiumin's neck, and slowly leaning foreward, he pressed his lips againts the winter boy's. 

A/N

Hello there, dear readers!

How is everyone doing? Halloween is coming (it's this Saturday yayy) so here is a mixture of fluff, mystery and spookyness!

I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I wanted to be longer, but I think it is a nice ending, what do you think? Your comments are more then welcome!

Ahhh, I am really terrible at maintaining the hellatus status, I'm sorry ;/ hahaha 

Take care, bubbas!

P.S this is not proof read, I am sorry, I will do it later :)

badblood