Chapter Text
Jimin and Yoongi hurried to the gym where Jimin dug out a baseball bat from the collection of sports equipment. He slapped it against his open palm, the smack ringing out through the empty gym. "In case my crossbow runs out of bolts, I wanna make sure I can still keep the monsters at a distance."
"Good call." Yoongi nodded. "Nothing quite as satisfying as clubbing a monster over the head." He suddenly tensed.
A second later, Jimin could hear why as the sounds of panic had become audible. "Are there people in the school?" Jimin asked.
The two of them emerged from the gym to see a terrified crowd of humans gathering in the school quad. "This way, I have a key! We'll be safe inside!"
"What? No!" Jimin tried to block them. "Didn't you hear the alert? We're all supposed to be evacuating to the hospital!"
"Yeah, but the school's closer! We don’t have time to run all the way across town!"
"Trust me, the school isn't safe!" Jimin insisted. "It's too close to the fire! If the fire spreads, I don’t know if this school would be able to hold out!"
"It's made of brick! Why the hell wouldn't it?"
"And besides, the Jinneo fire department is really quite capable. If the fire starts to spread, they'll put it out."
Jimin realized they had a point. "But there might be too much smoke! You could-"
Yoongi suddenly snapped. "Do you all wanna get cooked to a crisp and die here?"
"Okay, okay, we're going!"
As the crowd ran off, Jimin glanced over at Yoongi, the vampire's body coiled tensely and his expression uneasy. "Let's keep moving. We have more idiots to save against their will."
The sparsely placed streetlamps lighting their way, Jimin and Yoongi raced downtown. But soon they were slowed to a s top by a massive crowd of people flooding the street. "Let me through!"
"I-I don't know where to go!"
Jimin's eyes widened as he looked around the area. "There's so many of them."
Yoongi ran a hand through his hair. "What the hell am I doing here, Jimin?" His voice was tight with frustration as he watched people run in every direction, shoving and screaming at each other in their attempts to reach safety.
"What do you mean?" Jimin asked. "You're helping me get everyone to the hospital."
"No, what the hell am I doing here?" Yoongi clarified. "It should be Golden Boy! He's the big hero!" He turned to Jimin, who finally saw the panic in the vampire's eyes. "I don't know the first thing about protecting humans! What the hell was I thinking? I'm not cut out for saving the town! I should be fighting, where I belong."
Jimin frowned. "Yoongi, what are you-"
Yoongi cut him off. "I'm saying I can't do this! I fucked up!"
Through the anger on Yoongi's face, Jimin saw what he was trying to mask. His crippling doubt and his fear of letting Jimin down. Stepping in front of Yoongi, Jimin carefully cupped his face. "Hey, just focus on me for a second." Yoongi met Jimin's gaze and stayed there. "Good. Now I’m not letting you go until you realize that everything you just said is a load of shit."
"What are you-"
"I'm living proof that you've spent this whole year protecting a human." Jimin said. "So if you can do it for one, you can do it for more."
"But you're different." Yoongi argued. "And besides, protecting you always involved fighting. I can do fighting."
"But that's not all you can do, and you know it." Jimin said. "What about the time you got me home safe after the festival debacle? Pretty sure there was no fighting involved there. And before you say it, no, fighting over ice cream toppings doesn't count."
Yoongi sighed. "We didn't know there'd be no fighting involved. I went with you in case there was more danger."
"But instead you just kept me safe from my own bad feelings." Jimin said. "It's not just me. All the Heubs at school look up to you."
Yoongi scoffed. "Yeah right. Seokjin-"
Jimin cut him off. "Even Seokjin. I've seen the way he looks at you. Your approval matters to him. And Jungkook! He has so much respect for you and you go out of your way to look out for him no matter what." He smiled. "You are a protector, Yoongi. You always have been." When Yoongi averted his gaze, Jimin took Yoongi's hands in his, holding them tight. "Min Yoongi, I know you care about this town, and I swear to you, I'm going to help you protect it however I can."
"Jinneo's great defenders, huh?" Yoongi muttered.
"That's us." Jimin grinned. "The two of us together, we can do anything."
Yoongi met his gaze again. "You think so?"
Jimin raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Look at me and tell me I'm wrong."
As Yoongi looked at the determination in Jimin's eyes, a determined fire ignited in his own. "Okay, you've got me on board."
Jimin's smile quickly dropped when he heard the sound of a child crying. "Eomma! Eomma where are you?"
Yoongi took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." Before Jimin knew it, Yoongi wa crouching down in front of the little boy. "Hey, kid, what's your name?"
The little boy sniffled. "Doyun."
"Okay, Doyun, you need help finding your mom?" Yoongi asked and Doyun nodded. "Well today's your lucky day. You know why?" Doyun shook his head, wiping away his tears. "Because I'm here and that means we're gonna find your mom in no time."
Doyun's eyes widened. "Really? Thank you!" He threw his arms around Yoongi, giving him a tight hug. After a moment of initial shock, Yoongi awkwardly patted Doyun on the back a few times. As Jimin walked up to them, Doyun blinked up at him. "Who are you?"
Jimin smiled gently at the child. "I'm a very good finder. I can always find the exact Lego I'm looking for out of the Lego pile so I know I can help you two find your mom."
"Wow, you really are good!" Doyun exclaimed.
Biting back an amused smile, Yoongi looked into Doyun's eyes. "Now think hard. Do you remember where you were when you last saw your mom?"
Doyun nodded, his smile falling. "We were in front of the store with the pretty dresses in the window. Eomma was wearing a yellow sweater and brown pants."
"See, you're great at this." Yoongi encouraged him. "Come on, let's head to the boutique." Doyun gave Yoongi a weak smile and grabbed his hand, clutching tightly to him as they made their way over to the boutique.
In the crowd, Jimin spotted a woman in a yellow sweater looking around frantically. "Doyun? Doyun where are you?"
Jimin pointed her out. "That must be her!"
"Eomma!"
"Oh my god, Doyun!" Doyun dragged Yoongi along, only dropping his hand when he leaped into his mother's arms, tears of relief streaming down both of their faces. "You brought my baby back to me! You may have saved his life!"
Yoongi shrugged. "It's nothing."
"He's a superhero, Eomma!" Doyun exclaimed.
His mother smiled. "That he is. I don't know how I could possibly thank you enough."
"You could do it by getting yourselves safely to the hospital." Yoongi said. "And make sure not to lose each other again."
"We will." The woman nodded. "We'll go right away."
Before they went, Doyun threw his arms around Yoongi again. "Thank you! You're my hero!"
Yoongi stood there, stunned, as Doyun and his mother disappeared into the crowd. With a small grin, Jimin nudged Yoongi with his shoulder. "See that? That's because of you."
"I really did that, didn't I?" Yoongi asked in disbelief. "I helped a kid. And he wasn’t scared of me or anything."
"Far from it." Jimin said. "You've got yourself a new fan. Two of them, actually."
Yoongi shook his head and glanced at Jimin. "I never could have pulled off that kind of scout badge earning move if it weren't for you."
"I don't know." Jimin shrugged. "I think you're capable of a lot more than you give yourself credit for."
Yoongi let out a soft laugh. "This day just keeps getting weirder." Jimin's breath caught at the warmth in Yoongi's gaze as he smiled, and he found himself instinctively leaning in toward Yoongi. Taking hold of Yoongi's chin, Jimin tilted his head to the side and captured Yoongi's lips in a deep passionate kiss. Yoongi shifted closer, bringing his body right up against Jimin's. The chaos around them faded and all the confidence Yoongi was lacking before was regained in the way he moved his lips against Jimin's. He ran his nose across Jimin's cheek and down his jawline to the crook of his neck. Yoongi trailed kisses from that spot all the way back up until their lips met again. "Way to make me feel like I really am in some drama on TV."
"You're the one who won't stop kissing me." Jimin pointed out.
"And I don't plan to." Yoongi smirked. Neither did Jimin. He couldn't help but bring his lips to Yoongi's over and over and over again, not ever feeling satisfied.
Finally they pulled apart from one another and Yoongi laughed wryly. "What is it?" Jimin asked.
"This was supposed to be my big hero moment." Yoongi said. "But here you are once again coming to my rescue."
"You saved the kid." Jimin reminded him.
"And you helped me believe I could." Yoongi said. "You know what's crazy? How much you coming into my life has changed the way I look at the world."
Jimin smiled, his heart fluttering. "In what ways?"
Yoongi shrugged, looking at Jimin with a special sort of pride. "I know that humans aren't weak, for one."
Jimin flexed his bicep and kissed it, shooting Yoongi a wink. "Hell no we aren't."
"Just embarrassing and uncool." Yoongi said without missing a beat and Jimin punched his shoulder. Then the grin on Yoongi's face turned to something much more serious. "The craziest thing of all is this is the first time I've ever worried about dying." Jimin frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but Yoongi stopped him. "Let me finish. I'm not worried about death itself. I'm worried because for the first time in my very long life, I actually have something to live for. I have you."
The unexpected words, the vulnerability in them, made Jimin's heart leap in his chest. He took Yoongi's hand and squeezed it tight. "The feeling's mutual. And now that I have you, I'm never letting go."
A smirk spread over Yoongi's face as he squeezed Jimin's hand back. "You better not." With a newfound sense of confidence, the two of them hurried the rest of the way to the hospital, herding the scared crowds of humans as they went.
When they made it to the hospital, they found hordes of people trying to fight their way through the doors and creating a bottleneck. "No pushing please!" A nurse was trying to control the crowd.
Jimin's mom hurried up to them. "You made it!" She pulled him into a massive hug. "Come on, we need to get inside now."
"Wait." Jimin pulled out of her hold before she could drag him along. "I want to stay out here and help calm people down. You go get everyone inside settled in."
His mom frowned. "If you're staying out here then so am I."
Jimin shook his head. "You can't. You're the only other person who knows the truth. Everyone else thinks the fire is the threat but you know better. We need you on the inside directing things in case something goes wrong."
She took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. You and your good points."
"Everything will be fine." Jimin assured her. "Yoongi and I have got this."
Yoongi slung an arm around Jimin's shoulders. "We're going to have these humans feeling so safe, they'll forget they were ever in danger to begin with."
Jimin's mom let out a surprised laugh in spite of herself. "Come and find me as soon as you can. I'm so proud of you, Jimin." With one last hug, she disappeared inside the hospital.
Glancing to the idea, Jimin spotted Jiwon ushering people inside. "Come through, right this way! Plenty of space for everyone!" He turned to Jimin and Yoongi. "It's good to see you both. Thank you for your help corralling the humans. I think there are nearly enough for the plan to succeed."
Jimin froze. "What do you mean? I thought the plan was just to shelter the humans here."
Before Jiwon could respond, Yoongi sniffed the air and his eyes suddenly flashed silver, his fangs coming out. "I smell Creations!"
Jiwon grinned. "Right on time."
The unease that had been trickling through Jimin turned to ice in his veins. "You and Minseo aren't protecting the humans." He said in realization. "You're luring them here as bait for the Creations." Horror churned in his gut. "And I helped you. How could you pretend to care about humans?"
"To be quite frank, my compassion for my fellow vampires wins out this time." Jiwon said. "My goal is simple. Keep the Creations away from the red beech tree. The method doesn't matter."
Jimin shook his head. "You're just as bad as Siwoo, you disgusting-"
"Wait a minute." Yoongi frowned. "There's something off about these Creations. They smell wrong."
Screams rang out as the crowd surged forward. At the end of the long hospital drive, Jimin spotted a faceless creature with needle-like teeth running for them. More leaped out of the shadows, darting after the humans that had fallen behind. "Someone help us!"
"Help!"
In the chaos, Jimin spotted Hoseok trying to reach safety, but he was too far from the hospital doors. Jimin started running without thinking, intent only on stopping the Creation from bearing down on Hoseok. He slung his crossbow up over his shoulder, aiming it at the gnarly Creation and waiting for a clean shot. Finally he saw the opening he needed and pulled the trigger. The silver bolt struck the monster clean through the heart. He sprinted to Hoseok's side and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back the other way. "You've gotta get inside!"
"Jimin, what the hell is going on?" Hoseok asked. "What are those-"
"No time to explain!" Looking back over his shoulder, Jimin saw a group of his teachers surrounded by three oddly formed Creations. He gave Hoseok an extra shove toward the hospital doors. "Keep running! Get yourself to safety and don't look back!" Hoseok took off while Jimin doubled back, rushing to defend his teachers before it was too late.
One Creation laughed. "Can't you scream any louder than that, stupid mortals?"
Closing around the teachers, the Creations didn't even notice Jimin circling them, trying to figure out the best mode of attack. Fumbling with his bracelet, he activated his Sensory Deprivation Talisman, aiming it at the three malformed Creations. Immediately the hulking creatures started to stagger, shaking their massive heads. As the monsters stumbled and tripped blindly into one another, Jimin spotted Taehyung and Yoongi teaming up nearby. "Guys, give me some help over here!" Jimin called out.
The two vampires rushed over, quickly dispatching the staggering Creations. The teachers took one look at their fangs and silver eyes and sprinted toward the hospital. "Jimin, look out!"
At Yoongi's warning, Jimin spun around just in time to see a mutated Creation lunging at him, claws extended. Thinking fast, Jimin activated his Poison Talisman, plunging the pointed end straight into the center of the monster's outstretched palm. The Creation jerked its hand back and with a confused expression still on its face, it fell over dead. "Yoongi, come on, we need to help the other humans!"
They spotted Jia and Taehyung nearby and ran over. Jia and Taehyung watched horrified as the frantic humans tried to fight their way through the bottleneck at the hospital doors. "This isn't how it was supposed to go." Taehyung said. "The humans were supposed to be safe here."
"Are you kidding me?" Jimin asked. "Jiwon planned this all along! He said so! An all you can eat human buffet to draw out the enemy!"
Jia's eyes widened. "Jiwon said we were here to help the humans!"
"Then he fooled you too." Yoongi said.
"That's not what's important right now!" Jimin pointed back toward the doors where a fresh wave of screams rose.
"Let us inside! Please! The monsters are coming!"
A sea of misshapen Creations converged on the hospital, bloodthirsty shrieks ringing out as they closed in on the humans stuck outside the doors. Jimin reached for his Sensory Deprivation Talisman once more, activating it as his pulse hammered in his ears. Immediately the Creations narrowing in on the humans slowed and staggered their senses temporarily eliminated. Taehyung and Jia leaped into action, taking out the confused Creations with ease. Jimin jammed his thumb into his Poison Talisman, extending the deadly poison tipped needle. Fueled by rage, he sprinted up to the Creations that had gotten closest to the doors, jamming his Poison Talisman into them indiscriminately. They fell to the ground in scores, bodies rigid in death, but more rushed in. Jimin whipped his crossbow up in front of him, teeth gritted in fury as he took aim. He let loose bolt after bolt, listening to them thud into the Creations, sending them toppling to the ground like stones.
Breathless with exhaustion, Jimin watched as Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jia worked together to eliminate the failed Creations nearing the doors. "What are these things supposed to be anyway?" Yoongi asked. "They look like a kid's doodles gone wrong."
"We know the Haneunim is picky with who he decides to turn." Jimin said. "I think they're what happens when he chooses wrong."
"Whatever they are, this ends now!" Jia exclaimed.
The Hyeols moved like bolts of lightning, fighting hard against the failed Creations as they inched their way closer and closer to the hospital doors. Then there was a loud boom as portions of the hospital's driveway exploded, sending dirt and asphalt sky high. Something whizzed by Jimin's head, too fast for his eyes to see. "It's silver!" Yoongi called out. "Take cover!" He wrangled Jimin to the ground and Jimin threw his arms over his head.
But the warning came too late for everyone else. All over the battlefield, mutated Creations and Hyeols alike screamed as they were pierced with the flying shrapnel. Jimin peeked out from under his arms to find Jiwon standing just outside the hospital doors, watching the chaos unfold, a small detonator in his hand. "Hyeols, rejoice! You've been given the ultimate gift! The opportunity to die for the good of your coven!"
For a moment, all Jimin could hear were the agonizing screams of an impaled vampire and the slamming of the hospital doors behind Jiwon's retreating figure. Then everything went quiet. "What the hell just happened?" Yoongi asked.
Jimin took a look around the battlefield, his heart leaping as he saw far more humans alive than dead, all desperately running into the hospital. "We did it! Most of the humans survived!" As the adrenaline faded from his body, a wave of white-hot rage surged through him. Jimin's hands shook as he let out a frustrated shout. "I'm so angry with Jiwon! I finally thought we were on the same side, and he tricks me into betraying the humans of this town!"
Yoongi shook his head. "You don’t get to blame yourself. He fooled members of his own coven, and they paid for it with their lives. This is on him." He pointed to the battlefield and Jimin surveyed it again.
Beneath the anger, something nagged at the back of Jimin's mind. Something about the monstrous corpses that dotted the landscape. "Wait…this can't be it. Why would Haneunim send these creatures when he has an army of super strong Creations?"
Yoongi froze. "Damn, you're right. These guys weren't anything like what I saw in the woods. Those things cut us down in minutes."
"Haneunim must not have taken the bait…" Jimin's eyes widened in realization. "The rest of them are in town!"
"Jiwon's plan failed." Yoongi said. "We need to get back to the red beech tree." He picked Jimin up and raced toward the woods. The trees blurred past as Jimin repeated the same words over and over in his mind.
Hang on, Namjoon, we're coming.