Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

                Jin wasn’t answering his phone. He wasn’t texting back either. Normally, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but they were supposed to be rehearsing for a performance later that week, and they had all talked about being there bright and early that morning.

“Did he answer?” Tae asked from across the room. He was bouncing up and down on his heels, clearly eager to get started.

Yoongi hung up without leaving a voicemail. Jin had been acting weird lately, so his inability to answer his phone was just an addition to a growing list of off behavior. “No.”

“He said he would be here,” Tae said with a shrug and leaned against the wall outside the rehearsal room.

“I’m sure he’s just too busy staring at himself in the mirror,” Yoongi deadpanned. Except he had a feeling Jin was only busy trying to stare at himself in the mirror while nothing stared back.

~~~

Two weeks ago

“What do you call a fake noodle??” Jin suddenly asked enthusiastically, interrupting the rest of the conversation at the dinner table. Everyone was staring at him now, waiting for the inevitable punch line. The rest of the restaurant might as well have been empty because it got that quiet. “An IMPASTA!” Jin exclaimed excitedly and started laughing hysterically.

“You should have to put money in a jar every time you tell a bad joke,” Yoongi said, although the corner of his mouth curved up in a half-smile. No one heard him over Jin’s-and now Jimin’s too-laughter. Other customers that had overheard were even chuckling.

“Can I get anything else for you all?” The waitress approached their table and asked politely. She was slight and pale, with dark hair and a kind, yet, tired face.

“Oh! Do you have any juice?” Jin asked.

Yoongi looked at him from the side of his eyes. “Is this another joke? You’ve already told, what, eight tonight?” Jimin commented through his laughter.

“No, do you have any juice, like something red? Really red and, you know,” Jin gestured with his hands like what he wanted would magically appear there. Like he expected the poor waitress to be able to read his mind.

“I don’t think we have any…juice…” The waitress looked worried.

“Can you check?” Jin insisted, but politely.

The other guys had lost interest, but Yoongi watched intensely. This was not only weird, but slightly entertaining. Not that Jin wasn’t always slightly entertaining, in some way or another. Although, Yoongi would never admit this to his friend.

“I really don’t—” The waitress started to say, but Jin cut her off.

He leaned closer to her and repeated, “Can you please check?” A blank look passed over the waitresses face before she nodded and wandered back into the kitchen with a glazed look in her eyes.

Jin stood then and looked at Yoongi. “Tell me if my stuff comes, I’ll be in the restroom.”

“Right I’ll use my telepathy to tell you. Or would you rather me shout at you, considering the restroom is on the other side of the building?” Jin just winked sarcastically before sauntering away.

The waitress didn’t come back with his juice, in fact, she seemed to be taking a while to be “just checking”. Yoongi glanced at Jin’s plate. He’d cleaned the meat off it, and it looked barely even cooked. Jin had weird eating habits, but this was a new low.

Suddenly, there was a loud shout-screaming sound that echoed through the dining room. It sounded like Jin.

~~~

They’d  already started rehearsals without Jin when he finally called back. “So, I think I’m sick. I can’t come in today,” he said before he proceeded to cough dramatically.

“I’ll wait,” Yoongi said in reply to Jin’s clearly fake coughing fit. It lasted several seconds too long.

Jin cleared his throat. “Right, so yeah, sorry about not calling earlier. I woke up and my window was open and I think I got a sunburn through the window!” He said this like it was the craziest thing ever. Which, in a way, it was.

There was an obscure slurping sound, like Jin was drinking something thick through a straw. “Wow,” Yoongi replied.

“I know!”

“What’s going on?” Jimin asked.

“Oh is that Jimin? Tell him I have a new joke!”

“Sick people don’t tell jokes,” Yoongi said. “And maybe stay out of the sun.” With that, he hung up. “Amateur,” he muttered under his breath.

~~~

“I don’t want to catch whatever he has, so if I do, I’ll make sure you get it too,” Namjoon declared.

“I don’t really get sick,” Yoongi replied with a shrug.

“What does he have? He’s probably faking,” Jungkook interjected as they knocked on the door to Jin’s hotel room. The three of them were surprising Jin with food and checking up on him. It had been Namjoon’s idea, and a bad one if you asked Yoongi.

“If he’s faking, then we can catch him and he will have to come to rehearsal’s tomorrow,” Yoongi pointed out with a shrug.

“If he’s faking, Hoseok owes me, we bet on it,” Jungkook said just before the door swung open.

“You bet on my illness??” Jin exclaimed. Jungkook’s eyes got big. “My hearing is impeccable; I know you bet on it, I’m offended. But you can come in.” Jin stepped aside to let them in. It was dark in the room, all the curtains were drawn and the only light came from the small bedside lamp.

“Yoongi said you had a sunburn, you look kind of pale to me,” Namjoon leaned forward to see Jin better in the dark, but Jin leaned back to avoid him getting too close. Namjoon was right, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of a sunburn on Jin’s skin. Rather, his skin looked even more flawless than usual.

“I might sneeze on you.”

“I thought you had a cough?” Yoongi set the bag of food on the bedside table and asked.

“That too.”

“So…you aren’t faking?”

“No!”

Jungkook sighed and started texting on his phone furiously. “Well, we got you some food.” Namjoon opened the take out bag and reached his hand inside. Not two seconds later, he abruptly pulled his hand back out of the bag with a wince. Even in the dim light, it was obvious he had accidentally cut himself on something, maybe a plastic utensil, in the bag. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if it weren’t so dark in the room and impossible to see if there were any tissues or to find any bandages.

Yoongi quickly reached into the bag himself to get a napkin and thrust it in Namjoon’s direction. “Here, I’ll find something to put on it.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Why is it so dark in here? I’m opening the curtains,” Jungkook declared, oblivious to the other happenings in the room. Yoongi was busy looking in the bathroom for bandages, Namjooon was holding the napkin to his hand and Jin was watching Namjoon so no one really heard Jungkook or was paying him any attention.

“There aren’t any bandages in here!” Yoongi called.

“It’s fine, really. It’s pretty much stopped bleeding anyway,” Namjoon said and went to throw away the napkin.

“I got it!” Jin snatched it from him just as Jungkook yanked the curtains back and sunlight streamed into the room. “Hey!” Jin jumped back away from the line the sun cut across the room and into a shadowed corner, still clutching the napkin in his fist. “I’m sensitive! Close it!”

Namjoon laughed-actually laughed, like this was all so funny-and jokingly said, “Are you having a mid-life crisis Jin?”

“I’m not old enough for that. You know, I think I’m going to barf, you guys should go. Thanks for the food though.”

“Now you’re going to barf, honestly Jin, if you aren’t faking then something seriously weird is up with you,” Jungkook said just as his phone beeped and he muttered something about telling Hoseok that Jin was, in fact, faking, and that he won the bet.

“Maybe I’ll be better by tomorrow,” Jin said as he gestured for them to leave. Yoongi helped them along, grabbing the bag of food on his way. He didn’t think Jin was going to eat it and the fact that he didn’t protest only confirmed that Jin was not himself.

When Namjoon and Jungkook were halfway down the hall, Yoongi poked his head back in Jin’s room. “You know, I saw a sign about there being a blood drive around here,” Yoongi mentioned. Jin blanched and said nothing. “I thought we could go,” Yoongi shrugged casually. “It’s a good thing to do right? Anyway, but since you’re sick, we better not. Feel better.” At that, he left and closed the door behind him. None of them noticed, as they were leaving, a girl with her hair falling in her face, making her way up the stairs at the entrance of the hotel. She was holding a cup in her hand and a shirt with a nametag stuck out of her bag. If they had noticed her, they would have realized it was their waitress from the restaurant they were at several weeks earlier.

“He didn’t even tell any jokes while we were there…” Jungkook remarked thoughtfully when he looked up at the building looming over them. The curtains to Jin’s room were closed again.

Chapter Text

                She felt like she’d been in the dark for eons. Maybe she had been. Her eyes refused to adjust, and there was a pounding in her ears which was the only indicator that she was actually alive. Numb fingers, her own, brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and then pushed her up to a sitting position. Now, instead of pounding, she heard ringing. It took her a moment to realize it was a phone and not coming from her own head.

A phone! She could call someone, that was allowed, she thought. If only she could find the phone. It took a moment of groping around in the dark, but finally her hands curled around the device and it lit up the room with a blinding light.

The light, mixed with everything else she was feeling, intensified the nausea and lightheaded feeling she was experiencing. As far as she knew, she hadn’t been hit on the head, but maybe she just forgot about it.

“Hello?” she croaked into the phone.

“Ah…Hello?” A male voice replied hesitantly. “Who’s this?”

“I don’t…” She blinked. Who was she? Where was she? Why did she feel as if she should be anywhere but here? Or more specifically, a hospital. Her movements were sluggish and she feared if she looked at her hand moving, it would be a blur. Like a dream. If she were dreaming, it would be a relief.

She’d like to wake up as soon as possible.

“Uh, is Seokjin there?” The other person was still on the line. Their voice sounded clearly, too clear for her to be dreaming. Any fogginess was her own fault, not the fault of a dream-world. She didn’t know the answer to the question the person was asking either, but then the door creaked open and someone came in. She lowered the phone and vaguely registered that it disconnected.

“You’re still here?” he asked, closing the door behind him. Now that he was back, this person, she felt better, but also the feeling of dread pooled in her stomach. It was nauseating mix of emotions.

“You told me not to leave.”

He smiled. He had a nice smile. A charming smile. She’d liked it the first time she saw him, but now, in the dark, she could see his teeth winking back at her. Sharp teeth. Charming still, but also dangerous. “I didn’t think you’d actually stay though. You know, I’m actually feeling better. Maybe I should call the guys back…”

She watched him cross the room and look out the window into the night. The city lights made color dance across his face. Blues, greens, yellows, and a deep, rich red.

~~~

“Thanks for finally gracing us with your presence. I know Jimin has missed your jokes,” Yoongi said when Jin walked into rehearsal that morning.

“OH Jimin!” Jin called. Jimin turned around and the rest of the guys turned around too. They looked Jin up and down like he was someone they’d never seen before. “Why did the coffee file a police report?” Jin asked. “It got mugged!”

“I cannot role my eyes far back enough in my head,” Yoongi remarked as he went over to the speakers, eager to get started on rehearsals. They could relax and joke after. He kept waiting for Jimin’s laughter to accompany Jin’s hoots and hollers, but it didn’t.

“Are you wearing contacts, Jin?” Tae asked.

Jin looked in the big mirror that reflected them all back. Yoongi watched Jin’s reflection. Tae had a good eye, or maybe they all did. Maybe that was why they were all watching Jin so intently. Because for the briefest second, Jin’s eyes glinted a bright blue. It was a shocking color, reminiscent of winter ice. But before the color could linger, he blinked and anyone looking in would pass it as a trick of the light because his eyes were a rich brown again.

Jin ran his hands through his hair and winked at his own reflection. “No, you must be mistaken, my eyes are just naturally very sparkly,” Jin said.

“Your hair’s darker though,” Tae observed.

Jin nodded. His hair was darker, a midnight black, but Yoongi pressed play on the speakers before anyone could ask any more questions. If he hadn’t Jin would have probably continued to stare at himself the rest of the day.

“He was not sick, look at him,” Jungkook said to Hoseok in a low voice. “He’s practically glowing.”

“It was never confirmed he was faking, either.”

“Oh, he was.”

“Maybe he had some other thing going on,” Hoseok suggested. His eyes were trained on Jin as the gears in his brain turned.

“Like what?” Jungkook got into position with the rest of them so they could begin.

Hoseok shrugged, but his eyes were narrowed and he seemed to be considering whether it was a good idea to say what he was thinking or not. “I called him last night…or I thought I did. I must have dialed a wrong number, never mind.”

And then the music track started over and the conversation was brought to an end.

Chapter Text

                “So how’s Jin?” Hoseok asked casually. He was being extra careful not to sound too interested. Although, he was very interested and while he wasn't one to gossip or feed off drama, he felt like Jin's weird behavior as of late was more than just something to whisper about between friends. 

“I don’t know. The usual. What is that, can I have some?” Yoongi reached across the table and snagged something off Hoseok’s plate. It was just the two of them, Hoseok had invited him out and Yoongi had been slightly surprised when no one else showed up. Hoseok seemed equally surprised that Jin wasn’t there with Yoongi. Clearly there was a miscommunication.

“Don’t you live with him, I mean, aren’t you back in your apartment?” Hoseok asked, despite Yoongi’s attempt to change the subject.

“Yeah. Jin’s Jin. Lots of eating. Jokes. Sometimes he stays up late watching dramas on TV when he thinks I’m asleep.”

“He seems scarce lately. I know we’re taking a few weeks off from preforming and all that, but still.” Hoseok shrugged and shoved food into his mouth. Then he mumbled something with his mouth full, “A ghirph ans s phone.”

“What? Swallow.”

“A girl answered his phone.” Hoseok repeated, clearly this time. “I thought it was a wrong number but I pressed call from his contact, not by dialing, so it was his phone.” Hoseok had been debating whether or not to even tell Yoongi this information, but he couldn’t keep it in any longer. Besides, if he was going to tell someone, Yoongi was the best person to tell. He trusted Yoongi completely, and Yoongi might have some actual insight to the situation. If there was even a situation.

Yoongi sighed. “Housekeeping, I bet. She probably didn’t even realize she picked up his phone and not hers.”

Hoseok raised an eyebrow. “That late at night?”

“I don’t know. Could have been the only time he wasn’t there. I doubt Jin is seeing someone, it would be a whole ordeal. Plus, he’s not that good at keeping secrets.” Hoseok laughed and nodded in agreement.

~~~

“Jin! Are you here?” Yoongi shouted as he entered their apartment. He was met with silence, and also a wrecked kitchen. There were bags of opened snacks everywhere. Stuff was half eaten, half opened, half everything. It looked like a starving person had run through and stuffed as much of what they could into their mouth and then bolted.

Yoongi ground his teeth together and kicked snack pieces and boxes out of his way to get to the fridge. He swung it open violently only to find it as ruined as the rest of the kitchen. Instead of getting angry he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, dropping his hand from the fridge handle so the door closed again. Then he relaxed his shoulders and backed out of the kitchen until it was out of his view.

He knew what had happened. He knew why Jin had gone ballistic and wanted to eat everything in sight. He had no right to get angry, he’d been there, once upon a time.

So, he went to his bedroom and closed the door just in case Jin came home. Everything was as he had left it. It didn’t take long for him to open the closet and move aside several item of clothing on a high shelf to get to a big cardboard box.

He brought the box down onto the floor and opened the flaps. Inside were several candles, air fresheners, and other various scented objects. Soap, flowers, tea leaves. He’d only recently had to cover the contents of the box with the scents, because the real prize in the box had a very distinct smell that Jin would now, surely, be able to identify.

Yoongi tossed aside all the miscellaneous things in the box revealing a small cooler underneath. With a sigh, he opened the cooler and pulled out what he’d been looking for. Also, what Jin was probably out looking for right that moment. It was the second to last bag Yoongi had though, he would have to figure out some way to get more. Regardless though, he was starving. He fell back against the wall and ripped open the bag with his teeth so the red contents spilled out into his mouth.

He drank until the bag was dry and then he made sure there was none left on his fingers. His eyes locked on the last bag and before he could stop himself or think better of it, he’d drained that too. The room seemed to get brighter. It wouldn’t last. It never did.

Yoongi tossed the empty blood bags back into the cooler with a grunt. He thought he had it under control. Now though, he wasn’t so sure. He craved more.

Chapter Text

                “Please, I think that’s enough!” Light tapping on his shoulder was what brought him back to the present, not the girl’s voice. Her voice was too light and she was hardly pleading. She was asking too nicely, like she was asking him to stop chewing so loud or something.

He did pull away though and she smiled slightly, but it was weary. “Thanks. Do you feel better now?”

“Much, although I’ll probably start feeling weird again in a few hours.” Jin sighed and leaned back on the couch. The girl sat next to him, her back rigid, one hand in her lap, and the other held to her neck. Jin studied her carefully as he used his thumb to wipe the blood off the corner of his mouth.

“I have work in a few hours,” the girl said. “Well, I used to. They probably replaced me by now.” She looked around the hotel room, settling on the window with longing.

“Are you comfortable here though? I mean, the food comes and you have plenty of channels on the TV?” Jin sat up straighter. Talking to this girl was not easy and he knew he was saying the wrong things. Nevertheless, he needed her here. They didn't have to talk, but if they were going to have this arrangement, they might as well. 

The girl finally looked him in the eyes. “Comfortable? Are you joking?”

“Oh! I tell great jokes! Have I told you any?” She stared and said nothing. “Right. No, I wasn’t joking then. Um.”

“I know who you are, you know,” the girl said softly. Her dark hair fell in front of her eyes. “I should pretend that I don’t, but I do and I never was a good liar.”

Jin put his head on top of one fist and leaned even closer to her. “Who am I?”

“Won’t the press and whoever find out about you…or at least about me. It will look bad if you’re seen trysting about with some waitress. If you let me go I won’t say anything about anything. You could make me forget even! Do whatever you did that makes me unable to leave here!” The girl rambled on and on. Jin suddenly, in the midst of her speech, realized he didn’t even know her name.

“It’s unfair for you to know who I am, but for me to not know your name. It’s rude of me not to have asked before,” he said.

She scoffed. “Please. You don’t care what my name is.”

Jin pursed his lips. He didn’t notice the way her eyes flicked to them before she looked away again. He did notice the feeling of guilt that was building up inside him. It had been there but his emotions had been haywire. He was not himself. He’d been totally ignoring his friends, for one. That wasn’t like him. He missed them. He missed preforming too. He knew they’d be back at it too, but he thought that maybe if he got out and back to work that maybe the adrenaline would make the blood lust less intense. Maybe. Hopefully.

“My name is Nari,” the girl whispered suddenly, tearing him from his thoughts. He met her eyes and realized that she looked sad. Sad for him. His thoughts must have been written all over his face. His fear. “But my friends call me Lily. Nari means Lily anyway.”

“I’m sorry, Lily,” Jin muttered.

“No.” Her voice was firm now. It was the first time she’d used that tone. She stood up abruptly and strode over to the window. “You call me Nari. We are not friends.”

~~~

“I need a tiebreaker,” Hoseok announced.

“No, you shouldn’t ever wear those shorts again,” Tae said and shot him a smile that said he was only joking. Mostly.

“Funny. No. Should I talk to Jin?” Hoseok asked.

“You’ll have to eventually. Wait, why, are you not talking to him? Did you guys fight about something?” Tae seemed actually mildly interested now. The two of them were standing backstage, waiting to go on a talk show. Jimin and Namjoon were there too, but they were still in wardrobe or hair or makeup or something. The other guys couldn’t make it, but Hoseok was secretly glad that Jin and Yoongi weren’t there, at least, so he could ask the others about them.

“No, but…never mind I’m probably being paranoid. I’m worried about him.”

“Oh, Hobi. We are all worried about Jin. All the time. He provokes worry.” Tae laughed slightly at his own joke. He was in a good mood, clearly.

“If one of us had a secret that was potentially…damaging if it got out, would you say something to that person?” Hoseok asked Tae. Jimin and Namjoon joined them then so Hoseok didn’t notice how Tae’s face lost all humor and he paled considerably.

“What’re we talking about?” Namjoon asked.

“His terrible shorts,” Tae said a bit too loudly.

“Yeah, they’re pretty bad. Did they give you those to wear?” Jimin asked.

“Not all of us get to look as cool as you,” Hoseok replied and Tae found himself glad that the subject was changed.

“And now,” a host called from the stage. “Introducing V, Rap Monster, Jimin, and J-Hope of BTS!”

~~~

Yoongi felt his heart pounding in his chest. Thud, thud, thud. It reminded him that he was-sort of, at least-alive. He knew no one was coming, but he still felt like any second someone would barge into the room and catch him stuffing blood bags into his heavy jacket and want to know what the heck he was doing. Then they might recognize him. Then when the cops got there, the press would be too. There were ways of getting out of that kind of trouble, but with so many people, Yoongi doubted he could get it all under control. It was not like he used the abilities that becoming a vampire had given him all the time, so he wasn't very good at controlling a lot of people at once. He could hardly control himself when it came to needing blood. 

“You’ve done this before. Just get the blood. Just get it done,” he said firmly to himself as he grabbed one last bag, then slid out the door. The nurse was waiting where he left her.

“Is that all, sir?” she asked politely.

“Yes. Forget I was here. Go back to work,” Yoongi instructed and the woman nodded before turning away and heading down the hospital hallway. One woman was easy enough to manipulate. 

He started off in the opposite direction, his pulse returning to normal, albeit slowly. When he got outside he pulled his hoodie over his head and put on a pair of sunglasses. The rest of the world was going on around him as usual. Not one passing citizen had any idea what he was. They had no idea he was carrying blood bags which he would drink later. They were prey, even if they didn't realize it and even if he didn't intend to use them as such. He was nearing his apartment when his phone chimed. He was careful to make sure not to let any blood bags fall out when he got his phone. That would be awkward. There was a text. It was from Jungkook. Yoongi felt a sense of vertigo the ground under him seemed to fall away when he read the text.

It said: I know what you’ve been doing.

Chapter Text

                “Pick up, pick up…” Tae was pacing outside the studio where they’d been recording the talk show. He kept glancing nervously at the door in case anyone else came outside. He’d mumbled something about going to find food before sliding out one of the back doors. They alley he was in was the definition of shady. Cigarette butts littered the ground under his feet.

“Hello?” The groggy voice on the other end of the line made Tae feel instantly relaxed.

“Hey it’s me.”

“I don’t know anyone called ‘me’. Try again.”

“Ha, ha,” Tae said dryly. “It’s Tae. It’s important, I think someone might know something.”

He was met with a few moments of silence. “I’m confused,” the person on the other end of the line said. Tae could picture them sitting up, becoming more alert.

“Like about us,” Tae clarified.

“Someone who? What do they know, exactly?”

“I don’t know. Maybe nothing. Maybe I’m just being totally paranoid. I probably am. Just…I don’t know.” He ran his hands through his hair and leaned against the wall.

“No one has seen us. No one knows anything Tae. Don’t worry. Where are you right now?”

“Recording a show with some of the guys.”

“Come over after. We can figure it out, if there’s anything to even figure out.”

Voices on the other side pf the door meant that he had to get off the phone. “I’ll see you later then. If I can get away.”

“Okay Tae.”

“Okay,” he said softly. “I lo—”

“I know.” The line went dead.

~~~

Jin was heading to he and Yoongi’s apartment when he noticed Yoongi standing in the middle of the sidewalk with his phone out. His fingers were poised over the screen, but he wasn’t typing, just staring at it. Clearly something had shaken him.

“Yoongi!” Jin called. “You okay?” His head snapped up. When Jin stepped toward him, he stepped back. Then his face hardened.

“Clean up the kitchen,” Yoongi snapped and spun on his heels, leaving the way he’d come.

~~~

Jungkook jumped when there was suddenly loud pounding at the door. He turned off the TV and looked down at his phone. Was he expecting someone and forgot about it? He got up and peered through the peephole to see Yoongi standing on the other side of the door with his arms crossed and his face twisted up into a scowl.

Jungkook opened the door a crack. “Hey,” he said. “Are you going to punch me if I let you in?”

“Why would I punch you? That might mess up your face and we can’t have that.” Yoongi pushed at the door, forcing it open and strode in. His words were laced with malice. He was agitated.

“Okay, I think you misread my text. It wasn’t an accusation. Not exactly.” Jungkook watched Yoongi’s shoulders relax slightly. He was dressed casually, dark jeans and a T-shirt, but his jacket was big on him and bulky like he might have something stuffed in hidden inside pockets.

“Then what did you mean?” Yoongi asked without turning around.

“I know you’re covering for Jin. About something. I don’t know what yet, and I don’t mean that to sound creepy or like, ‘if you don’t tell me, I will find out one way or another’. I just…can I help? Is everything okay?”

On any other day, Yoongi might have been touched by Jungkook’s consideration, but today he was annoyed, and hungry. Really hungry. “No, there’s nothing going on. Everyone needs to stop being so concerned about Jin. Jin this, Jin that. Honestly, the man is just weird. Let him be weird. I mean sure, the hair dye job could have been better but—” Yoongi stopped short and closed his eyes.

“Alright, sorry. Bad day? Never mind, you probably don’t want to talk.” Jungkook shifted back and forth.

“Look, maybe don’t try confronting Jin about anything. Just act normal. Everything is normal so just act normal. We have a concert in a few weeks and…everything is normal.”

Jungkook wondered if Yoongi was trying to convince him, or himself. Either way he seemed to be doing a bad job. “Cool. Sure.”

“Sorry about…” Yoongi held out his hands. “You know. I’ll go.”

Jungkook didn’t have a chance to say anything else before Yoongi hurried out of the apartment and was gone. “I’ll figure it out,” he muttered to himself and shut the door. He was about to sit back down on the couch when he noticed a slip of paper on the floor.

Blood drive, two days. 12-4:00

“Blood drive, two days, twelve to four o’clock,” Jungkook read out loud. The messy scrawl was Yoongi’s handwriting. He must have dropped it.

Chapter Text

Two weeks later

                “We are about to be on. Where is everyone?” Jimin paced back and forth. He could hear the crowd above them, waiting for them to be on. He had a sinking feeling they would be disappointed tonight.

“I don’t know, it’s like they all dropped off the face of the earth,” Namjoon muttered. It was just the two of them. The crew and their managers were having a fit about the rest of the guys not showing. No one could get ahold of anyone.

“I swear sometimes we are the only professionals in this group,” Jimin sighed and shook his head. He didn’t mean that really. He loved the others, just not so much in that moment. “We can’t go out there with it just being the two of us.”

“Obviously,” Namjoon said.

“Have either of you heard anything?” one of the managers came up and asked them.

“No. Have you?” Jimin realized his question was obsolete. Obviously, they hadn’t heard anything or they wouldn’t be asking if he and Namjoon had.

~~~

Jungkook knew he was supposed at be at the venue. He felt terrible for not being there, but he rationalized it by remembering that he wasn’t the only one ditching. And his reason for ditching was finding out why Tae was ditching. In his investigation of what was going on with Jin and Yoongi, he had accidentally snooped on Tae’s phone instead of Jin’s a few days earlier. He hated that he had invaded Tae’s privacy because he trusted him so much. He thought they trusted each other, but evidentally Tae was hiding more than Jungkook had been aware. Maybe Jin knew about Tae and Yoongi knew Jin knew and Tae was where the conspiracy ended.

That, of course was a stretch, not to mention unlikely, but it was the easiest way to look at things.

“Stop here!” Jungkook called out to the taxi driver. The car pulled to a stop outside a restaurant. It looked to be moderately busy, but most of the clientele was older. Jungkook paid the driver and slipped out of the car and into the night. He made sure his hoodie and hat hid his face well as he took a seat at a table from a café that was closed across the street from the restaurant.

His phone chimed. It was a text from Hoseok: I’m sorry I’m not at the venue. Something has come up. I’ll explain later.

“Crap,” Jungkook muttered. So, Tae, himself, and Hoseok weren’t there. This wasn’t good. He was about to reply when he noticed a girl walking across the street towards the restaurant he was casing. She was pretty, but from a distance it was hard to make out distinct features. Her hair was so blonde it was almost white and she had long, thin legs that poked out from a pair of shorts. She didn’t fit in with her surroundings for some reason.

Jungkook couldn’t resist the urge to snap a picture of her. He was snapped another with Tae appeared in the camera’s view. He walked right up to the girl and embraced her. Jungkook felt his gut twist.

~~~

“Hoseok isn’t coming,” Jimin said.

“Like, officially? Confirmed?”

“He said something came up.”

Namjoon rubbed his eyes. “Do we go out there and cancel? We haven’t ever done that. I’d feel horrible.”

“Unless we can someone find them all in under an hour, it seems like we have to,” Jimin said and shrugged off his leather jacket. He fell onto the couch. He felt exceptionally tired.

“So that’s what we do,” Namjoon stood.

“What?”

“We find them.”

~~~

“Oh god. Oh god. What do we do?” Jin paced back and forth, back and forth.

“We? What is this ‘we’? I didn’t do anything.” Nari was very calm, Jin thought, considering. But in the time that he’d had her as…well a human blood bag, essentially, she’s seen enough to be pretty jaded by now.

“You’re a witness!” Jin shrieked.

“I haven’t seen anything. Not anything anyone would believe. Anyway, I’ve been kidnapped. I’m a victim too.”

Jin groaned. The TV was on in the background. Nari was now flipping channels. She stopped momentarily on a nature documentary. A lion was tearing up some animal on the screen. “Please change that,” Jin said.

Nari blinked. “Don’t tell me you’re squeamish to blood.” She laughed. “Ha, get it? Because you obviously aren’t.”

“I tell the jokes around here!” Jin said, but his voice shook.

Nari changed the station and looked down at Jin’s feet. “That’s not a joke, Jin,” she said and pointed. Her voice was calm, measured and soft. And a little bit scared. She wasn’t paying attention to the entertainment show that was on the TV now. Jin barely registered as Tae’s face flashed the screen and the news lady began talking in a voice full of interest. Obviously something scandalous was being talked about. Whatever Tae was doing couldn’t be as bad as what Jin had done, though.

“Jin,” Nari said. “That woman,” she nodded to the ground, stained red, at Jin’s feet. In the dark, they could still make out the shape lying there. “She’s dead.”

Chapter Text

                “Whoa whoa whoa! Where do you two think you’re going?” One of their managers stepped into Jimin and Namjoon’s path. She had on a headset and was holding a clipboard, so she looked like basically every other crew member around them.

“We’re going to find the others,” Jimin said.

“Oh hell no you aren’t. You two are not leaving. Two is better than none and if we have to cancel this thing, sorry boys, but you two are going to have to go out there and tell all those people. They won’t take it well, but they’ll take it better from you than me,” the manger woman said. Her face was flushed. She was clearly beyond stressed.

“What are we supposed to say?” Namjoon asked.

“I don’t know, say everyone else got food poisoning. Do NOT leave!” She pointed her finger at each of them meaningfully before scurrying off to deal with something else.

“She’s right, I mean what good will it be if we go too. We aren’t going to find everyone in time,” Namjoon said in defeat.

Jimin was about to argue when he heard his phone chime. There was a text from a number he didn’t recognize, and several alerts from social media and the web.

“What?” Namjooon looked at Jimin’s phone over his shoulder.

Jimin scrolled around for a moment then looked at Namjoon. “I think we found Tae,” he said.

~~~

Tae cursed under his breath. He was always so careful, and now, it was all for nothing. Someone had seen them, and taken their picture. It happened only moments earlier. How had it even happened? He hadn’t noticed anyone!

“Tae.” He was seething. “Tae, it’s okay.” She was so calm. Always so calm, like she had everything under control, all the time.

“It’s not okay! Things weren’t supposed to happen this way!” Tae whisper-yelled. They were standing in the back of the kitchen in the restaurant. As soon as his phone started blowing up, he’d dragged her back there, away from the windows.

“You can’t even see my face. All they can see is that you’re with a girl. We aren’t making out or something,” she pointed out with a small smile. Tae had to admit, she was right. He could fix this. Probably. “I’m no one, for all they know. They just want drama.”

“You’re right. I mean…I can’t exactly say we’re related or something like that but I’ll figure it out. I just wonder who took our picture and got it out so fast. I mean…did you see anyone?” Tae looked toward the kitchen door as if he expected the culprit to saunter through.

She took his face in her hands. They were cold so Tae covered them with his own. “We will be fine,” she said firmly, looking right into his eyes. With her being so sure, he couldn’t help but believe her.

“What would I do without you, Amara?” he asked. Her green eyes sparkled and she shrugged one shoulder before kissing him.

“Completely fall apart, I imagine,” she replied against his lips.

~~~

Jin never imagined in a million years that he would be trying to get blood out of a hotel room carpet. This was next level messed up. “You missed a spot,” Nari pointed to his left.

“You could help,” Jin muttered.

“I am helping. I pointed out that there was a convenience store down the block that probably had cleaning supplies. I pointed out that your friend V is in the middle of a relationship scandal, so I doubt anyone will notice you out and about. And I’m currently devising a plan to get rid of the body.” Nari counted off the ways she was helping on her fingers.

“What do you call a man with no arms or legs in a pool?” Jin said, halfheartedly.

“Dead?” Nari asked. “Not really appropriate.”

“Bob.”

“Still not appropriate.”

“When did you become so talkative and cynical?”

“When a pop star kidnapped me, and started drinking my blood, I think.” Nari was quiet for a long time after that and Jin was too. He scrubbed at the floor until it was pretty blood free. Of course, that still left the Bigger Problem of the body. “You know what’s the worst part of all this?” Nari said in her soft, sad voice. Jin looked at his hands. They were stained red. Despite the fact that his stomach was all twisted up, he had to fight the urge to try and lick the blood from his hands. “No one misses me,” Nari answered her own question. Jin hadn’t thought about that at all. No one had reported this girl missing. Lucky for him, not so much for her. “I have no one…”

~~~

“I’m here! I’m here!” Jungkook barreled through the crew and almost ran right into Jimin, but he managed to skid to a stop just before ramming into him.

“Great, really great,” Jimin said, but there was no emotion behind his words. He and Namjoon both looked beat.

“Where’s everyone? Where’s Yoongi and Jin?” Jungkook asked. He knew where Tae was and he knew Hoseok wasn’t there but they could still go on, just the five of them. It was doable.

“We have no idea,” Namjoon said.

“Unfortunately, we are about to go out there and cancel so you’re just in time to let down a stadium full of people. You can work those skills of yours, Golden Maknae,” Namjoon teased, but it fell flat.

“Did you know about Tae?” Jimin asked.

“What about him?” Jungkook played dumb. Obviously he knew. He knew very well.

“That he was being that girl. A girl he ditched us for. Why was he keeping it a secret anyway? We wouldn’t have cared…but this…this is going to look bad.” Jimin started to ramble and ran his hands through his bright pink hair. His whole demeanor screamed ‘defeat’.

“It’s just a girl, it isn’t that big of a deal. It’ll pass. He’ll have a good explanation, I’m sure,” Namjoon tried to reassure Jimin.

“Do, uh, do we know who she is?” Jungkook asked as nonchalantly as he could. He didn’t want to seem too interested.

“She’s not from here I don’t think. It’s hard to see her very well in the pictures,” Jimin said.

Jungkook nodded. He wished you could see her better. He wished he’d taken better pictures. He wished he had just gotten up and confronted them right then and there, but he’d be a hypocrite if he got onto Tae for ditching the show. Besides, that wasn’t what he was really mad about. Not to mention he still had questions regarding his other band mates.

“Alright guys. We’re out of time. They’re not coming. You’re on,” a voice said from the doorway. “Oh, Jungkook. Nice of you to join us.” There was malice in the woman’s voice. Jimin and Namjoon stood up slowly and headed out of the room, towards the stage entrance.

“Come or don’t. It doesn’t really matter,” Jimin said.

“Yes it does,” Jungkook asserted. “I’m coming, I’m here.”

Chapter Text

Hoseok had been walking up and down the street for close to half an hour. He repeatedly looked at his phone, at the address that stared back at him and at the time. He was in the right place, he just didn’t know where exactly the right place was. He did know that it was in an obviously bad part of town, and that it was late, and that it was chilly outside. A group of teenagers stood a few shops down watching him. He swore one of them was holding a knife. No, he sighed, it was only a lighter.

He was starting to regret ditching the concert. Where he was wasn’t too far from the venue. They’d preformed there before over a year earlier. The memories were fuzzy though and he didn’t have a chance to try and think on them further because a man stepped in front of him.

“Hey there,” Hoseok said cautiously.

“You really shouldn’t be out here by yourself, kid,” the guy said. He was a good foot taller than Hoseok and his arms were bulging with muscles. Hoseok might be able to take down Jimin (although not if you asked Jimin) but this guy was not to be messed with.

“Yeah, no, I’m looking for my friend, actually. I’m not alone,” Hoseok said.

“You look pretty alone to me.” The man took a step closer.

He looked ready to reach out and grab him when someone stepped between them. “He said he’s not alone. Find someone else.” It was Yoongi.

Hoseok breathed out in relief. Yoongi looked back at him and Hoseok’s relief was replaced with shock. Yoongi looked especially wrecked. But that wasn’t the most surprising thing. His eyes, although rimmed in dark circles, glimmered a bright blue color. They almost glowed.

“Well? Get out of here!” Yoongi shouted at the man. He actually listened this time, which made no sense as Yoongi was smaller than Hoseok was, and shot them one last nasty glare before disappearing down an alley.

“I’ve been here for half an hour! What is going on?” Hoseok asked. He was flustered and a little bit annoyed at this point.

“No one followed you here right?” Yoongi asked. Hoseok shook his head. Yoongi spun in a circle anyway, but the only other people on the street were the teenagers and they seemed to have lost interest since Yoongi showed up.

Yoongi rubbed his eyes and dragged his hands down his face. “Are you drunk or something?” Hoseok asked, not mentioning Yoongi’s eyes or the fact that they had changed and weren’t blue anymore. But he knew what he saw.

“No. I wish I was. I’ve been here before, though. I’m looking for something. Last time I was here I forgot everything that happened. I needed someone else here in case that happens again. Someone I trust. That’s you,” Yoongi explained and pointed at Hoseok.

“I’m flattered, but…you are making zero sense.”

Yoongi gulped and his eyes darted to the teenagers down the street. “Honestly, I shouldn’t have involved you at all. But…I have this feeling something bad is happening. The less you know is better probably.” Hoseok hesitated and followed Yoongi’s gaze to those darn teenagers. One of them pointed at him and sneered. It made a chill run down his spine.

“So…we’re solving a mystery?” Hoseok wondered if this had anything to do with Jin. There was only one way to find out.

“Sure, yeah, a mystery.”

“Alright. Lead the way, detective.”

~~~

That night, Jimin felt like he was watching himself from outside his body. He could see the apologetic look on his face as they left the stage. He could see himself standing under the steady stream of hot water in the shower back at the hotel, but he couldn’t feel it. He could see himself trying to fall asleep in the hotel bed, the sheets looked itchy, but he couldn’t actually sleep. He could just toss and turn and watch it happen on a loop all night long.

Meanwhile, Namjoon had stuck headphones into his ears and turned the volume up as loud as he could handle and tried to put that night behind him.

Jungkook started pacing when he got to his room. Then he punched the wall once, which was less cool than it was in the movies. It hurt his hand more than the wall. So he iced his hand and then paced some more.

All the while, Tae wasn’t too far away, but he was pretty worry free. Lights danced across her skin as she moved and she smiled when he smiled and he couldn’t have been happier, right then. Of course, he knew that tomorrow he would not be so happy, but he was letting himself have tonight.

Then, in a dark alley, two young people, one small and delicate, with sad eyes, the other tall and broad shouldered with a handsome face, were getting rid of a body.

Chapter Text

                “I’m running on fumes, Yoongi. I think I might fall asleep standing up. Colors have taste right now, that’s how tired I am,” Hoseok complained. He was dragging his feet and Yoongi had to admit, he looked pretty tired.

“I’ll call you a cab or something,” Yoongi said.

“Nah ah.” Hoseok shook his finger in Yoongi’s face. “You aren’t staying out here by yourself. I think those teens have been following us.”

“They’ve been following you, not me,” Yoongi said as he dialed for a cab.

“Whatever, you’re still coming with me. We discovered exactly nothing on your crazy mission here last night.”

Hoseok was right. They’d walked the area up and down and stopped inside any building that was open and not filled with people who looked like they might rip their heads off. No one wanted to answer questions or tell them anything. At least Yoongi wasn’t waking up without remembering anything though. He shouldn’t have even involved Hoseok. Now he’d be asking questions.

Or maybe Yoongi could do something about that.

“Hey, do me a favor,” Yoongi said.

“I’m not doing anymore favors that involve all night detective work. I’m an artist, not a mystery solver extraordinaire.” Yeah, Hoseok really needed sleep. He was swaying where he stood.

“Look at me,” Yoongi said and Hoseok opened one eye. “Don’t mention this to anyone. Just...put it in the back of your mind.”

Hoseok nodded sleepily. Yoongi didn’t want to make him forget completely. That seemed hypocritical and Hoseok was his friend. He didn’t want to use whatever it was that made him able to bend people to his will on his friend, of all people. Although, he wasn’t sure what he said even stuck because Hoseok was so out of it. He’d just have to keep his fingers crossed.

The cab pulled up then and Hoseok practically collapsed inside. Yoongi was about to get in behind him when someone grabbed the back of his jacket. He spun around.

One of the teenagers that had been trailing behind them all night was in his face. She had blunt purple bangs that hung over her eyes. Her teeth were pointed, revealing what she was to him. What they both were.

“I’ve seen you before. Here,” she said.

“What? You have?” he asked excitedly.

The girl looked behind her. Then she yanked him close by his jacket and whispered in his ear, “She’s not going to like you looking ‘round here. In fact, she’ll kill me if she finds out I talked to you. Whatever your deal is, figure it out on your own.” The girl backed off and headed on down the street. She paused and pursed her lips. “And don’t bring your humans here again. I don’t know how he even made it through the night. Mine didn’t.”

~~~

The awkwardness in the room was practically its own being. Their managers had thrown them all in a room together at the hotel they were staying at from the venue the night before, the one they had to bail on, and told them to work out whatever it was they had going on. So now, the seven of them sat in a circle like they were at an AA meeting. Most of them looked tired and were on their third cup of coffee. Only Jin and Yoongi looked somewhat awake.

“Hi, my name is Seokjin and I’m addicted to food and jokes,” Jin spoke first. He hoped his hands weren’t shaking anymore. No one responded to him. They all just stared at each other.

Hoseok leaned forward in his chair until he was pretty much folded in half. Yoongi thought he was probably falling asleep sitting there. They’d been dragged to this sharing circle only two hours after they got back to the hotel. Hoseok probably still hadn’t slept.

Tae groaned and pressed his fingers to his eyes. “It’s too early for this,” he muttered.

Jungkook looked up at him and glared. Tae didn’t even notice. Jungkook heard a small ripping sound and realized the piece of paper he’d been holding had torn in half. It was the paper Yoongi had dropped at his apartment. Jungkook wasn’t even sure why he’d kept it.

“You wanna explain the photos of you with that girl maybe?” Jimin said to Tae.

“She’s just a friend, almost no one. They’re blowing it way out of proportion,” Tae said calmly, then took out his phone to check the time.

“Right, sure. ‘Just a friend.’ That’s the oldest line in the relationship denial book,” Jungkook snapped.

“We aren’t mad you’re seeing someone, just hurt that you didn’t say anything!” Jimin said. He did sound hurt and Jungkook directed his gaze at Jimin then. Jimin may not be mad, but Jungkook was.

“What do you want me to say? Don’t you want to ask he rest of them where they were last night? I mean, okay fine,” Tae stood up. “I’m seeing someone. In fact, I love her. She’s great. We don’t get to see each other that often and excuse me for wanting to spend what time I can with her!” He was shouting now. He jabbed a finger at Jin. “Where were you?” Then to Yoongi. “Or you?” Hoseok. “What about you, huh? Why is this all my fault?”

“Tae…” Jimin stood up too and reached out to him, but Tae jerked back.

“I’m out of here,” he growled, which was a deep and pretty intimidating sound, and stomped towards the door, which was surprisingly left unlocked. The others heard some of the managers shout after Tae, but the yelling died down and Jimin collapsed back into his chair and it was quiet again.

~~~

The room had been split into two groups. Two fronts. Hoseok, Jin and Yoongi had gathered into one mini circle and Namjoon, Jimin, and Jungkook were in another. Hoseok didn’t really know why he’d joined Team Super Secretive, maybe he was just too tired to think about anything properly.

“We’re sorry, you know,” Hoseok called over to the other three. “For last night.”

Jimin shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not mad.” That sounded like a lie and Jungkook’s expression confirmed it.

“I’m hungry,” Jin announced. He looked towards the door. They all wanted to leave, but at the same time, it was obvious that if they left without resolving this, it would get worse.

“Namjoon and I are going to track down Tae,” Jimin responded and they stood up. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to sleep, no offense. I’m beat,” Hoseok said.

“Coming?” Jimin asked Jungkook. After a moment of hesitation he said, “No, I think I’ll go with Jin and Yoongi and grab a bite to eat.”

~~~

“Hey, wait up.” Hoseok grabbed Yoongi’s arm before they went their separate ways. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“Last night. It’s fuzzy. I probably need sleep, but…it was weird.”

Yoongi swallowed. Jin was standing down the hall. He could see Jin’s hands shaking and his foot tapping incessantly on the floor. Yoongi felt a similar sense of anxiety. It was like they were a couple of addicts who needed a hit. Which wasn’t too far from the truth. And Yoongi could see the veins in Hoseok’s neck and wrists and had to resist the urge to drain them.

“It’s better for you not to know, okay? Please. Don’t ask questions.”

“You dragged me out there and now you’re telling me not to…” he trailed off like he lost his train of thought. He looked slightly more awake for the briefest second. “Never mind, see you later,” he said bluntly and pushed past his friend.

Yoongi didn’t watch him go. One obstacle down, now he just had to get rid of Jungkook and Jin and he could get what he really needed.

Chapter Text

                “Tae calm down,” she reached out to him, but he was fuming and he jerked away.

“I don’t even know how this happened! Who could have taken our picture? It doesn’t make any sense!” he yelled and pressed his thumbs against his eyes until white spots formed under his eyelids.

“They were mad, then?” Amara asked. She was sitting at the table in her small kitchen. Her blonde hair hung down around her face and her hands lay flat on the tabletop. Her voice conveyed worry and concern, but her green eyes were conveying a sense of disinterest and nonchalance.

“More that I didn’t trust them enough to tell them, I think,” Tae admitted. “I yelled at them all and bolted…I mean it’s not like they all didn’t bail on the concert too.”

“Who else bailed?”

“All but Jimin and Namjoon and maybe Jungkook, I don’t know.”

Amara looked away from Tae for a moment. She pursed her lips, which were coated in a dark red lipstick, the only makeup she was wearing. It gave her skin the illusion of being even paler. It suited her. “Where were they all?” she asked.

Tae shrugged. Amara was staring at her phone, which was sitting on the table near her. She was clearly debating picking it up or not, but after closing her eyes for a brief moment, she decided against it and stood up.

“No one even knows it was me who was with you. I’m sure the guys will forgive you,” she said. She cupped his face with her hands after she stood up and smiled. “Just don’t tell them you’ve been seeing me for almost a year. Then they might get mad again.”

Tae laughed, he couldn’t help it. “Yeah, of course. Maybe you can meet them sometime. They would like you if they got to know you. And you’d like them.”

“Maybe,” she nodded, but Tae could tell the idea didn’t appeal to her all that much. “I might not be able to see you for a few days. There are some things I need to take care of. Family, you know,” she explained.

“Of course. This will hopefully blow over by then anyway.” Amara nodded and Tae brought her close. “I was thinking…” he began.

“Yeah?”

“Maybe…maybe we could get a place together, or you could move in with me...” Amara pulled back and looked at him with those wide green eyes. He could get lost in them. “That way…we can see each other more. You can live here permanently without worrying when you’ll have to leave or whatever. I know you said your family doesn’t like it that you’re away from them, but I’ll make sure you have a stable place to stay. I love you and…and I want you with me…”

~~~

Jin shoveled food into his mouth. He was hungry, but not for what he was currently eating. However, the faster he ate, the faster they could get out of here and Jungkook would leave. Then he could go back to Nari. He stopped momentarily when her name entered his mind. He didn’t want to drink her blood. He also didn’t want to drink someone else’s. Somehow, he knew that if it were Nari, he could refrain from going too far. From killing her. He wasn’t sure about anyone else.

Jin noticed Yoongi was eating pretty fast too, but Jungkook was eating at the pace of a snail. It was infuriating. He pushed food around with his chopsticks and inspected each piece carefully before putting it in his mouth, where he proceeded to chew way more than necessary. “Is the food that bad?” Jin asked him. “Because in my opinion all food is good food so I’ll eat it if you won’t.”

“It’s fine,” Jungkook replied.

“Who do you think leaked the pictures of Tae and the girl?” Yoongi asked suddenly.

Jin wanted to tell him to shut up so they could leave, but Yoongi had a look on his face. And the way he had asked the question suggested he already knew the answer.

“Who knows, probably a fan or something,” Jungkook suggested.

“The press had it before it was circling social media. Someone sent it to the press. A fan couldn’t do that,” Yoongi said. “At least not just any fan.”

Jungkook clenched his jaw. “Just say it,” he said quietly.

Jin froze, his food halfway to his mouth. What was happening here? “It was you, wasn’t it? I don’t know how or why you’d do that to him, but it was you,” Yoongi stared at Jungkook, waiting.

Jungkook put down his chopsticks and sat up straight. “Yes.”

“What? That’s low!” Jin exclaimed.

Yoongi took a deep breath. “I’m going.” He slapped some money onto the table and Jin watched him go. Now Jin was even more stuck, great.

Or maybe not, because Jungkook put money down too and stood. “I’m not sorry,” he said and Jin quickly got up and rushed after him.

“How’d you even know where he was?” Jin called.

Jungkook stopped. They were standing off in a small corner between two shops. Jungkook’s hands were curled into fists. “I snooped on his phone thinking it was yours because I was trying to figure out what’s up with you!” he burst out.

“Me?”

“Yes!”

They were silent. Jungkook could feel his nails digging into his palms. He didn’t flinch when he felt the sticky sensation that meant he had drawn blood. Jin, however, did finch.

Jin pressed his lips together, but it didn’t matter because he could feel the points of his teeth as they sharpened. He could feel himself losing control. “I’m sorry,” he managed to say before he lunged at his friend.

Chapter Text

                Hoseok slept restlessly. He had dreams of a strange place filled with dark corners and questions. He recognized it all, but he couldn’t place it. It was an itch he couldn’t scratch. The anxiety built up inside him as he tossed and turned.

Sleep felt so close yet every time he drifted off, that place entered the back of his mind, wiggling around in his subconscious, not letting him fully relax. It was like he would never sleep again. Once or twice, he looked at the clock to see that minutes had passed when it had felt like hours.

He would kill to be able to sleep peacefully.

~~~

When Yoongi got back to his apartment, he called Jimin and Namjoon and apologized for the night before. They seemed glad that he apologized and neither of them sounded all that angry anymore. Mostly they just seemed tired. He didn’t tell them about what Jungkook had done, he felt like that wasn’t is secret to tell. He’d done a crappy thing, leaking those pictures of Tae, and Yoongi wasn’t going to make things crappier by ratting him out. At least not right then.

He even tried calling Tae, but no one picked up. “Hey, I know things must be intense right now, but…you should be happy. If you’re happy with this girl, that’s important so…I don’t know, call me back,” Yoongi left a message.

After he’d done that, he locked himself in his room and brought down his cooler full of blood bags. Although, full was not really the best word to describe it. He was running low again.

His mind drifted as he drank. He kept thinking about the girl from he and Hoseok’s little adventure. “She won’t like you looking ‘round here,” the girl had said.

“Who is ‘she’?” Yoongi whispered to himself. He looked up at the ceiling. He had gone looking for answers, but really, he had more questions now than he had before.

~~~

Over a year earlier

Yoongi squinted as he opened his eyes. The light overhead was way too bright and his head was killing him. He rolled onto his side and managed to get himself into a sitting position. He groaned and looked around. He was in his hotel room. The TV was on, but all that was showing was static. The sound was louder than it seemed like it should be and it made his headache worse. The curtains were drawn, and they were thick enough that the sunlight couldn’t creep in. Yoongi was grateful for that.

He sighed and stood up and walked to the bathroom. With shaking hands, he flipped on the florescent light and instantly regretted it. Quickly, he turned it back off.

What happened last night? Nothing was coming back to him. He didn’t remember drinking or anything. In fact, he couldn’t remember much at all.

Turning on the faucet, he splashed some water on his face and looked up at the mirror. For several moments he just stood there, waiting. Like his reflection would magically appear there any second like it was supposed to. It didn’t. He looked down again. For the first time, he noticed his hands. They were crusted with something red. The water he had run them under was a light pink color.

Something was terribly wrong.

~~~

Jimin called Tae seven times. He didn’t pick up once. At least he’d spoken to Yoongi, though. The weight of everything was lifted a little knowing that at least he and Yoongi were alright. Chances were, Jin was already assuming everything was fine. Tae was the real obstacle. They needed to fix things with him, they all did.

Taking a deep breathing, Jimin dialed Tae’s number one last time. If he didn’t pick up this time, Jimin would give him some space and maybe go see him in a day or two.

On the third ring, someone picked up. He could hear breathing on the other end.

“Hello? Tae, listen, I’m sorry about everything and I’m not mad. You—”

“Stop,” the voice was authoritative. Firm. And very much not Tae’s. Clearly, with that one word, they conveyed that they didn’t take any crap from anyone. “Stop calling.”

Beeeeep.

They hung up.

Chapter Text

                When you die, you’re supposed to have your life flash before your eyes. Or no. Wait. That’s when you’re about to die. When you actually die, they say you see a white light.

This was what Jungkook was thinking when his eyes flickered open. His surroundings were blurry and the only thing he was sure of was that he was lying in a bed. That, and the room smelled like bleach.

“Honestly, I can’t believe you’re asking ME what WE should do! I told you, there is no WE!” Someone was yelling.

Jungkook managed to sit up and he could see that he was in a hotel room, probably. There was a door a few feet away with a light on, which shined through the crack between the door and the carpet. It was probably the bathroom and that was where the yelling was coming from.

“At least he isn’t dead. That would be bad. Really bad,” someone said. It sounded like Jin.

Suddenly, the door flew open and a girl stomped out, looking disheveled and annoyed. She halted to a stop when she saw Jungkook sitting up. Her eyes got very big.

“Thank god, you’re awake,” Jin said and stepped out from behind the girl.

“What is going on…?” Jungkook asked groggily. “I remember…I remember you…” Jungkook rubbed his forehead, but noticed that there was a bandage wrapped around his neck. He touched it, and the girl twitched slightly.

“Y-you probably w-want to leave that on,” she said nervously.

Jin looked between Jungkook and the girl. “You’re kidding, right?” Jin asked the girl.

“What?” she snapped. “You don’t wasn’t him to bleed out, do you?”

“No, not that. You’re freaking out,” Jin laughed. “You totally have a crush on him!” Jin seemed to find this hilarious and Jungkook watched as the girl’s face got red.

“I do not! And anyway, what, did you think I might like you? Ha! I certainly don’t have a crush on YOU! Considering.” With that, she spun and went back into the bathroom, slamming the door.

“Jin,” Jungkook said as calmly as he could. “What. Is. Going. On.”

~~~

When Tae went into the living room that morning, he realized that Amara was gone. He walked over and turned on the TV, flipping through some of the news channels and entertainment shows. No one was talking about him, but maybe it was too early in the morning.

In the kitchen, he found a note. “Had to take care of some things. Tried to make you breakfast, but you know I’m hopeless in the kitchen, so there’s frozen waffles in the freezer,” Tae read the note softly and smiled at the scribbly little heart Amara had drawn before her name.

~~~

“Hobi, you don’t look so good,” Namjoon commented. He, Jimin, and Hoseok had met for breakfast.

“I didn’t sleep,” Hoseok said by way of explanation. He was on his third cup of coffee. “My mind just kept racing all night, I couldn’t relax.”

“Because of everything that happened?” Jimin asked.

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Tae will come around. We should invite him out somewhere maybe. After everyone has had a chance to cool off, we’ll all be good.”

“Always the optimist,” Namjoon said to Jimin, but he said it with a genuine smile, not sarcastically. Hoseok was having a hard time following the conversation. He felt like he had to concentrate extra hard.

“Don’t uh, don’t we have a fan sign in a few days? We’ll see each other there, all of us. Together,” Hoseok said.

Jimin frowned. “I forgot, yeah. We do. Man, if we can’t all meet up before then, I hope it goes alright.” He picked at the food on his plate, but didn’t eat any of it.

“I’ll be right back,” Hoseok blurted out, and pushed back his chair. It screeched loudly against the floor. “I need some fresh air.”

When he got outside, he took a deep breath. His eyes were tired and droopy, but he forced himself to keep them open.

“You idiot! I told you to watch things!” Hoseok turned to see someone speaking angrily into their phone. “I will deal with this when I see you next. That will be soon, so I hope you spend the moments between now and then wisely because afterwards you won’t be getting to do much,” she hissed. Then her eyes darted up and met his. She hung up the phone with a huff.

“Children,” she said, holding the phone out.

“Yours?” she didn’t look nearly old enough.

“In a sense,” she looked behind her. “Anyway, sorry you had to witness that. You look like you’ve already had quite the rough day yourself. And it isn’t even noon yet.”

“Rough night,” Hoseok shrugged.

“Ah,” she nodded. “Well, I hope the next one is better.” She winked at him and then before he knew it she was gone.

He hoped the next one was better, too.

Chapter Text

Five days later

Jin and Jungkook locked eyes when they were all alone after the fan sign event. Jin shook his head from side to side once. He hadn’t talked to Jungkook since the morning at the hotel. When he told him the truth.

~~~

Five days earlier

“You’re a what?!” Jungkook yelled.

“Shhhhh! Calm down!” Jin hisses. Nari was leaning against the window.

“It’s true. He’s a blood sucker. Has your entire world view been shattered?” she asked. Her eyes were glazed over in irritation.

“Uh, duh! Vampires aren’t real! What does this even mean, are you like…immortal now? What happens now, I mean, does anyone else know?!”

“No. It’s just me. And you can’t tell anyone! And…I mean I haven’t really thought about the immortal thing…” Jin trailed off, suddenly having a glint of excitement in his eyes.

“Don’t you think you should? You’re not going to age!” Junhkook protested. Although, he thought to himself, that didn’t sound so bad. Actually, now that he knew, he could feel a sort of power radiating from Jin that hadn’t been there before.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll just be this handsome forever.”

Nari scoffed. Jungkook stayed silent.

~~~

“Why are you staring at Jin? Are you drooling?” Tae teased Jungkook.

“I’m not staring at him,” Jungkook looked at Tae. He still looked like Tae. Goofy smile, and eyes with a hint of seriousness. Except now, he looked older somehow.

“I’m messing with you,” Tae said. “Hey, are we good?” he asked after a moment. Jungkook realized Yoongi and Jin must not have said anything about him being the one who took the pictures.

“Yeah….I mean I wish you had told us, but…I don’t want to fight with you,” Jungkook said. He only half meant it.

“Good. Me neither.” Tae put his hand on Jungkook’s shoulder briefly. When he did, Jungkook thought of something. A plan began to form in the back of his mind. He glanced back at Jin.

“So…when do we get to meet her?” Jungkook asked Tae.

Tae opened his mouth, but his phone started ringing before he could answer and he held up a finger, shutting Jungkook down. Jungkook watched as his eyes lit up when he answered the phone.

“So, not gonna admit to what you did?” Yoongi’s voice startled Jungkook.

“It would make everything worse.”

“Some girl isn’t going to tear us all apart, Kook,” Yoongi said. He was looking off into the distance thoughtfully.

“No.” Jungkook clenched his jaw. “She won’t.”

~~~

They were all staying at a hotel that night, because of the fan sign. When Yoongi got to his room, he got one of the blood bags he’d smuggled along and poured it into a metallic thermos just in case someone stopped by. This proved to be the right decision because there was a knock at his door moments later.

“Hey Hobi,” Yoongi opened the door for his friend. His knuckles grew paler as he gripped the thermos tighter.

“How long can someone go without sleep?” Hoseok asked as he collapsed into one of the chairs in the room. “Because I swear I haven’t slept in, like, over a week.”

“You probably have you just feel like you haven’t,” Yoongi said from across from him, placing the thermos between them.

“I mean that’s the most reasonable explanation, but…last night…I watched the clock. I laid there in bed and just watched the clock. All night.” Hoseok leaned forward. For someone who claimed not to be sleeping, he was wired. Probably from caffeine. Yoongi had noticed him drinking an absurd amount of coffee and tea. After a moment of thought, Yoongi began to wonder if this had something to do with him telling Hoseok to put the night they were looking for answers in the back of his mind. He sure hoped not. He couldn’t live with knowing he’d done this to his friend.

“Have you tried…counting sheep?” Yoongi laughed slightly.

Hoseok put his hands flat on the table. “I tried counting every farm animal, Yoongi.” Then, all too quick for Yoongi to react, let alone stop him, Hoseok grabbed the thermos. “Is this coffee?”

Time seemed to slow down. Yoongi watched, eyes wide in horror, as Hoseok brought the thermos to his mouth. His eyes closed and the thermos started tilting back, tilting back, tilting back. Any second, Hoseok would have a mouth full of blood.

“Hos—”

Bam bam bam!

A loud knock at the door caused Hoseok to lower the thermos, and then finally put it on the table again. Yoongi let out the air from his lungs that he didn’t notice he’d been holding in.

“I’ll get it,” Yoongi said, snatching up the thermos as he stood. Before he could reach the door, it flew open, taking Yoongi aback.

“No need to get the door, I can let myself in.” The intruder, if they would be called that, locked their eyes on Hoseok. “You. Get out,” they said. Hoseok stood robotically and without a word, left the room.

“What the hell?” Yoongi asked. “Get out of my room!”

The intruder smiled eerily. “I believe you want me to stay, actually. I heard you’ve been snooping around, looking for answers.” They spread their arms wide. “I have those answers. Of course,” they paused and walked past Yoongi, taking the seat Hoseok had vacated. “I have some things to say to you first.” The intruder got comfortable, crossing her legs and leaning back in the chair. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.” Yoongi watched as the intruder reached out and took the thermos from him and took a long sip from it. Her face scrunched up and she sat the thermos down on the table. “That’s certainly not fresh.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting guests,” Yoongi snapped sarcastically and sat across from the girl.

She ran her tongue across her top teeth, and then across her bottom lip, which was stained red.

“I wish I had known,” she said, crossing her arms. “They think I’m all knowing, but that’s not the case, unfortunately. I wouldn’t have turned you had I known who you were.”

Yoongi sucked in a breath. The girl sitting across from him made his skin crawl. She radiated something he couldn’t quite place. Not evil, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good either. She was familiar too, although he couldn’t place her exactly. It was like meeting an old friend, only, they weren’t friends. “You turned me?” he asked. Then, before he could stop himself he asked, “Did you turn Jin?”

At this, the girl threw her head back, exposing her pale neck, and she laughed. “No! Why on earth would I have done that? I don’t know who turned him, although, don’t worry your pretty little head, Yoongi. Can I call you Yoongi? Or do you prefer Suga? Anyway, I’ve been keeping an eye on the lot of you and I will have figured out who turned your friend soon enough. I’ll kill them for it too, as if you being one of us wasn’t enough of a problem.” She rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked back and forth across the room. “I need to rope the others in better, they need to learn to listen.” Her eyes gleamed mean.

Yoongi’s mind was racing. The whole situation was like a dream. He was afraid that he would blink and she would be gone. As she stood there, he tried to really take her in. Remember her. She was wearing a loose fitting black dress, that fell across her thin frame. Her collar bones protruded from her skin in a way that might have been unflattering on anyone else. However, something about her was undeniably beautiful.

“Why are you here now?” he asked quietly. “Who are you?”

“I’m here because your friend is an idiot!” she hisses and leaned down close to him. Deep down, he knew he should have leaned back away from her, but when she got close, he didn’t budge. “A stupid vampire is a dead vampire. We cannot have anyone finding out about us, get it? You, nor your friend, will put us in jeopardy. Consider this a warning.”

Yoongi flinched when she said ‘vampire’. He still wasn’t comfortable referring to himself that way.

“A warning? I’m careful,” Yoongi said, standing, which forced the girl back.

“Not careful enough, you should have stayed away from our territory. Unless you join us, you stay away. I will be watching now. Watching better. You should watch Jin, he is not careful, at all. He’s already killed. Sloppily. I bet you didn’t know that.” She smiled at him. It was a smile that said, “Ha, I know more than you do.” “Sorry for the spoiler alert. And, some incentive to be more careful,” she paused and backed up to the door. “I am a lot closer to your world than you are to mine. I’m much older than I appear to be. You do anything stupid, you’ll find yourself short a friend. Don’t make be bring out my fangs.”

Yoongi felt his eyes burning. He hadn’t blinked, not once. The girl winked at him, waved her fingers and reached for the door, but before she could open it, he rushed her and put his hand over hers. “What are you doing?” she said in a low voice. They were close enough to smell the blood on each other’s breath.

“Why did you do this me?”

Her face fell for a moment and for a second, her confidence seemed to waver. “I was lonely,” she said and then he blinked and she was gone.

~~~

It was past midnight when there was a light knock at Jin’s door. With a sigh, he dragged himself from bed and opened the door. Jungkook stood on the other side. “What are you doing here? Can’t you bother Jimin or something if you can’t sleep. I’m tired,” Jin muttered, but nonetheless, he stepped aside to let Jungkook in.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Jungkook confirmed.

“How unfortunate.”

“I was thinking.”

“How unfortunate,” Jin repeated as Jungkook sat on the edge of the bed. His leg bounced up and down.

“I want you to turn me. Make me like you,” Jungkook said.

Jin froze. He was fully awake now.

~~~

Across the hall, Hoseok was wide awake. He had the TV on and in the room next to him, Jimin could hear it. Because he was distracted by the TV, he didn’t hear the noise coming from the room on the other side of his, Tae’s room. He didn’t hear the girl’s laugher or Tae’s hushed whispers.

The only person sound asleep was Namjoon. At least one of them could get a good night’s sleep. If only that was enough.

Chapter Text

                Nari wouldn’t say she was okay with being trapped in the hotel room, but she wasn’t resentful about it either. She had decided to look on the bright side of things. She didn’t have to work, and she had actually hated her waitress job quite a bit. She had everything provided for her, Jin made sure she was comfortable there. There was plenty of time to catch up on all the TV she had been missing. Watching all the mindless television kept her mind busy. And hey, she could say she had met not one, but two, famous people! Although, she didn’t really have anyone to tell. Still, things could be a lot worse.

“Wow, you really are pathetic,” she whispered to herself as she looked out the window.

When the phone rang seconds later, she forced herself not to jump and answer it on the first ring. There was only one person it would be and she didn’t want him to think she was too eager to talk to him. She let it ring four times before she picked up.

“Hello?”

“Nari? Hey, it’s Jin,” he said. Worry laced his words.

“What’s up?” she asked casually. At this point, she didn’t bother acting put out. She needed to talk to someone other than herself.

“You won’t believe it. Jungkook wants me to turn him! He asked me to last night!” Jin said.

Nari felt her hands start to shake. Why did he have to tell her things like this? She didn’t want to get dragged further into his life. They were not friends. However, she found herself responding. “Well you can’t do that! You can’t do that to him, even if he wants it. He will regret it and you’ll regret it too. You don’t want this for him, do you?”

“Of course not, but what if he persists? What if he threatens to tell if I don’t do it?”

“Has he done that?”

“No, not yet, but I don’t know he’s...changed. I wouldn’t put it past him, Nari,” Jin said.

“Don’t do it. Please, Jin. Please don’t do it,” she said.

He was quiet. She could hear him breathing. “I’m not even sure I know how to do it. Even if I did, I wouldn’t. I won’t. You’re right. Of course you’re right.” Sadness crept through the phone into her ears. She closed her eyes and felt a tear fall down her cheek. She didn’t even know why she was crying. “I should go, I just…sorry,” Jin said.

“Jin, wait,” Nari said before she could think better of it. “If you want, you can call me Lily.” The words came out easier than she thought they would. Once they were out there, a weight lifted off her. She didn’t care if it made her stupid, or brainwashed. She didn’t want to be alone.

“Okay,” Jin said after a moment. “I will, Lily.”

~~~

“Are we all meeting down here for breakfast?” Namjoon asked Jimin. Hoseok was getting coffee and Jin was already digging into his food, which consisted of the hotel-provided breakfast.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Jimin responded as he grabbed himself a banana.

“Can you get me some more syrup for my waffle?” Jin requested and Jimin tossed him another syrup packet.

“Does this look like enough to you? Come on, you know me better than that,” Jin said and Jimin smiled slightly before tossing a couple more syrup packets Jin’s way.

They all sat down and Hoseok picked up the orange he’d gotten for himself. Namjoon was about to ask where Yoongi and Tae and Jungkook were when Hoseok bit into his orange. Unpeeled. “Whoa. Hardcore,” Jin said.

Hoseok groaned and spit out the peel. “I’m so out of it…” he muttered.

Yoongi stepped up to their table after that. “Morning,” he greeted them. “This might sound like a weird question, but uh, was everyone’s night relatively uneventful?”

“Why do you ask?” Jungkook sauntered into their circle and asked. He didn’t look at Yoongi when he asked though, instead he looked at Jin.

“Waffle?” Jin forked one of the waffles on his syrup soaked plate and held it out over the table to Jungkook. “You should like them, waffles are basically like pancakes with abs,” Jin said.

Jimin laughed and Jungkook shook his head. “I think I’ll pass. Waffles aren’t what I want,” Jungkook said. He said it in that way that suggested he was implying something else, but considering they were discussing breakfast, no one could really make any conclusions as to what he meant. Except Jin, of course.

The waffle on Jin’s fork slid off and landed on the table with a splat. “Nice,” Namjoon said sarcastically. “Good form.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes and sat down. Yoongi was about to join them too, when a figure standing by the elevators in the lobby made him freeze. However, he was so taken aback that his legs practically gave out and he fell into his chair anyway.

“Are you alright?” Jimin asked.

Yoongi opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Several dozen feet away, Tae was speaking to someone. He looked up and saw them all sitting there and waved. Some of the guys waved back, with questioning looks on their faces. With her back to them, stood a girl. Her hair was white as snow and her pale hand was clasped in Tae’s.

“Is he serious?” Jungkook said harshly, but Yoongi barely heard him.

“Whoa, is that her?” Jin asked with a mouth full of waffle.

“It must be…” Jimin said.

Hoseok was oblivious and he laid his head on the table, eyes closed.

And then, the girl flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned to look at the rest of therm. She lifted her free hand and waved at them, in the way where her hand stayed still and her fingers wiggled back and forth. Her red lips curled into a smile.

Yoongi felt his heart skip a beat.

“I’m Amara, it’s nice to meet you guys.” Tae beamed at his girlfriend. There were hearts in his eyes.

“Wow, this is…unexpected,” Namjoon admitted. Abruptly, he got up and nodded to her. “Tae is pretty smitten, we can tell.”

“Yeah, for the short amount of time we’ve known…” Jungkook muttered, not meeting Amara’s eyes.

“I’m sorry if I’ve been the cause of any…misunderstandings. Tae talks about you lot all the time. He loves you all more than me probably!” Amara laughed at her own joke and the guys laughed halfheartedly.

“Sit down, it’s okay,” Tae said in Amara’s ear, placing his hand on her back as they lowered themselves each into a chair.

Yoongi gripped the edge of the table and looked Tae up and down. He looked fine, but after a moment something dawned on him. Tae was wearing a turtleneck. Yoongi cursed under his breath. His problems were seriously stacking up.

“H-how…when did you two meet?” Yoongi asked. Amara turned to him and smiled.

“It’s a funny story, you should tell it, Tae,” Amara said. Tae nodded and scratched under the neck of his shirt before he started talking. Yoongi blocked him out and scooted closer to Amara, who was next to him, as carefully as he could.

“What are you doing?” he hissed out of the corner of his mouth.

“Consider this a warning,” Amara said, turning to face him straight on. She looked the same as she had last night in his room. The way she looked at Tae made Yoongi’s blood run cold. Partly because he knew the danger Tae was in and partly because he could swear that there was something sincere in the way her eyes lit up when she looked at Tae. And that, the sincerity, perhaps put him in even more danger.

“Don’t hurt him, or I swear—”

“You’ll what? If I were going to kill him, he would have been dead long ago, Yoongi. Turns out he’s more fun than I thought he would be. Not to mention, he’s an amazing kisser.” Amara smirked and turned back to Tae. He was oblivious to their side conversation.

“I should go,” Amara said softly in Tae’s ear. She kisses him on the cheek, then waved again at them all before walking away. Her shoes clacked against the tile and the sound seemed to linger even after she was gone.

~~~

Before Jin could leave the hotel for the day, Yoongi intercepted him. “What’re your plans for today?” Yoongi asked. Jin noticed that he seemed on edge and his eyes were darting in every direction.

“Um. You know, probably just…I don’t know…why do you ask?” Jin fumbled.

Yoongi finally stopped looking around so frantically to meet Jin’s gaze. “Just wondering,” Yoongi said. He seemed ready to say something more when Jungkook stepped up to them.

“Jin,” Jungkook said cordially. “Yoongi.”

Yoongi rolled his eyes. “I don’t have the patience to deal with your angst right now, sorry,” Yoongi admitted coldly before giving Jin one last pointed look. Then he rushed off, out of the hotel, off to who-knows-where.

“Yeah, I’m not really in the mood for angst either,” Jin said in attempt to get away, but Jungkook gripped his arm tightly.

“I won’t let this go, you know,” Jungkook said. “I want you to make me into a…”

“Vampire? You’ll have to get used to saying the word if you are one.” When he said this, his face hardened. “You won’t want it once you are one either, I bet. It’s not pretty. You want to drink blood? It doesn’t taste like sugar, spice and everything nice.”

Jungkook chuckled darkly. “I’m not stupid. I know what I’m asking for.”

“Do you?”

“Did you?”

They both stopped talking and glared at each other. It was a battle to see who would break first.

~~~

“I like her,” Namjoon told Tae.

“Really?”

“Sure, she was nice. Pretty too, I see why you like her,” Namjoon clapped a hand on Tae’s shoulder.

“Mhmm, she was super…cool?” Hoseok offered his own commentary.

“You have no idea what she even looked like do you?” Tae asked, but he was smiling and in a good mood.

“I may have been half asleep and not fully present,” Hoseok admitted.

“What is up with you? When was the last time you got a good night’s sleep?” Jimin asked with concern.

Hoseok shrugged. He wanted to know the answer to that question too. But more importantly, he wanted to know why he couldn’t sleep. He wanted to know why he had a creeping feeling Yoongi knew the answers.

Chapter Text

                Yoongi had walked up and down the streets around the hotel looking for Amara after she’d left, but she had disappeared. Several days passed after that and they were all back to their day-to-day lives. However, Yoongi’s day-to-day was now full of worry and anxiety and nerves.

Jin was hardly around the apartment which only made things worse now that he knew Jin had killed someone. What if it happened again? Jin couldn’t handle the guilt of that. And if he was handling it, then that was a whole different issue all together.

It was late, around midnight, and Yoongi couldn’t sleep so he was up watching cooking shows on TV and stuffing his face with salty chips trying to get rid of the urge to rip into someone’s neck. Except it wasn’t really helping because the woman on the show was looking a lot more appetizing than the food she was making.

“Uhhhhhg snap out of it!” Yoongi yelled at himself. Jin wasn’t home, naturally. Yoongi ran his hands through his hair and picked up his phone.

In addition to being worried about Jin, he was even more worried about Tae. Before he could think better of it, he dialed Tae’s number. He was surprised when someone picked up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Tae.

“Tae’s phone, not Tae speaking.” Yoongi recognized her voice instantly. He didn’t think he would ever forget it.

“Where’s Tae?” Yoongi growled.

“Calm down, he’s taking a shower or something,” Amara said. There was a smile behind her words and Yoongi found himself wondering if she was still wearing that red lipstick.

“Why are you at his house? Do you always answer his phone for him?”

“Uh, I’m his girlfriend,” Amara responded.

“Right, sure. Does he know you’re only his girlfriend to spy on me?” Yoongi asked.

“That’s awfully conceited of you. Not everything is about you, sweetie,” she said sarcastically. “But speaking of you, how are you? Feeling a bit hungry right now? I am. Hopefully Tae will be done with what he’s doing soon…” Amara trailed off thoughtfully.

“Don’t hurt him!” Yoongi jumped up from the couch. “I will come over there!”

“That would be kind of weird,” Amara said. “I mean not that you aren’t good looking but I’m not into sharing.”

“I swear—”

“Yeah, yeah. Cool it. And don’t tell me what to do. I do what I want, when I want, with who I want. Goodbye.” At that, she hung up on him.

Yoongi felt his grip on the cell phone tighten and then he heard a small cracking sound. When he looked at the screen, it was shattered.

~~~

Hoseok dragged his feet as he approached Jin and Yoongi’s apartment. There was no guarantee they would be there, or be awake, but Hoseok didn’t really care if he woke them up. The lack of sleep was making him bitter. If he couldn’t sleep, why should they?

He was near the building when he saw Yoongi storm outside and start off in the opposite direction. Hoseok stood in place for a moment. Then he made a spilt second decision to follow Yoongi. Things couldn’t get any worse than they were, right?

~~~

“I really think you should think about what you’re asking for,” Nari whispered to Jungkook shyly. He didn’t look at her, but he handed her a tissue, which she pressed to her wrist, over the two bite marks there.

“I have thought about it,” Jungkook said firmly. “He knows how to do it, he’s just saying he doesn’t, but he does. I know it.”

“Do you really want it? You’ll be different. You might lose yourself.”

Jungkook glanced at the girl Jin had taken captive. He wouldn’t do that to someone, he decided. What he wanted to do was bigger. More important.

“You want to leave here, right?” An idea popped into Jungkook’s head.

“Well, yes, o-of course.”

Jungkook smiled his most charming smile. “Help me, and I think I can help you,” he whispered conspiratorially. Jin was out, getting Nari something to eat, so it was just the two of them. Jungkook sensed that Nari had formed a bond with Jin, but no bond she had with him would trump her desire to see the outside world again.

“How can I help you? How can you help me? I don’t understand.”

“He trusts you. You have sway over what he does. If you help me, I will make sure you get out of here and that once you are out, you never have to work another waitressing job again. And all you really have to do is say a few words. Convince him,” Jungkook leaned in closer to her. “Come on, let’s help each other,” he held out his hand for her to shake. She looked at it and blushed. She reached out to take his hand when the door open and Jin came in.

“What’d I miss?” he asked, eyeing Jungkook suspiciously.

Jungkook was about to come up with something that would satisfy Jin, but before he could speak, Nari stood, took the takeout from Jin and said, “You didn’t miss a thing.”

~~~

The street light above him flickered ominously. A plastic bag floated across the street, despite the stillness of the air. Everything about this place made Yoongi uncomfortable, but it was the best link he had to Amara. And if she was with Tae, it meant she wasn’t here. Maybe he could find something on her and use it against her.

Yoongi sighed. Last time he’d been here with Hoseok it hadn’t seemed this intense, but tonight it was heavy and dark. And he still didn’t really know what he was looking for. He didn’t know anything about Amara other than that she’d turned him and that she was obviously keeping an eye on him. She was a mystery. Tae probably knew more about her than he did but he couldn’t exactly go to him asking about her. And what about Jin? What did Amara really know or not know about how Jin had become a vampire? 

“You’re back,” a voice said from behind Yoongi. He turned around to see one of the teens from that night with Hoseok. It wasn’t the one who had given him the warning though. This one looked tired and defeated.

“I need you to—”

The teen laughed darkly, cutting Yoongi off. “I’m not doing anything for you. She killed that girl who spoke to you. And you’re an idiot if you think she isn’t ten steps ahead of you. She’s already here and she’s pissed.”

She was here? Yoongi looked around. How had she beaten him here if she was with Tae? There was no telling, but really, it didn’t matter. She was here and he was here and he was going to make sure she left his friend alone.

“Where is she?” Yoongi demanded to know.

The kid pointed up to the building behind Yoongi. He followed the direction of his finger to see a window with a dim light shining out. Without another word to the teen, Yoongi stormed into the building. It looked abandoned and there were cobwebs in the corners. It smelled like mold and blood. “Hey!” he yelled and threw open doors until he found a staircase which he ascended noisily.

The second floor was dimly lit with candles and various pieces of furniture were strewn around. It was no place for someone to live. “Vampires are supposed to be much stealthier, you know.” Yoongi spotted Amara sitting at a rusty old fold-out table in one corner of the room. She had a bottle of some type of alcohol in front of her and her long legs were crossed elegantly. Her lips were red.

“I thought you were with Tae,” Yoongi said, crossing his arms.

“I was. And then I wasn’t,” she said and shrugged.

“I want you to leave him alone,” Yoongi said.

“I don’t want to. He’s fun,” she responded. Her voice lacked the cockiness that it had in their previous conversations somehow.

“I don’t care! I didn’t want this! You did this to me and I don’t want you messing with my friend! I don’t care who you think you are! You’re a…you’re a monster, so stay away!” Yoongi shouted. He really should have planned this better because it occurred to him that he sounded like an upset child. It wasn’t like he had anything on Amara. It was all empty threats.

Before he could shout anything else, Amara stood abruptly and in the blink of an eye she was in front of him, her teeth bared and eyes aglow. “Do you think I wanted to be burdened with making sure you didn’t screw up? Do you think I wanted to go get rid of your IDIOT FRIEND’S MISTAKE?” Amara screamed. “That’s right! If it weren’t for me, Jin’s victim would have been found! I took care of it! I take care of everything!” She shoved his shoulders and he staggered backwards. “I am hundreds of years old! I don’t want to deal with your juvenile mistakes! But I have to.”

~~~

“Do you know how to turn him?” Nari whispered to Jin.

Jungkook was gone, and it was just the two of them. Jin glanced at Nari.

“I said I don’t,” he answered.

“I think you’re lying, honestly. I think you do know how to do it.”

Jin shrugged. “What do you care?”

“I’m just curious. I mean obviously a bite alone doesn’t do the trick because I’m not like you and you’ve bitten me a bunch of times now.”

Jin sighed and clicked off the TV, which neither of them had been watching anyway. He looked at Nari, remembering the first time he saw her at the restaurant. She was just some girl. She still was, he didn’t know anything about her. Part of him wanted to know about her, but he knew if he did know about her then he wouldn’t be able to keep her. Keep her. Gosh. As if she were just an object. She wasn’t that. Not at all.

Jin stood up and held out his hand. “Let’s go,” he said. She looked at him quizzically and took his hand hesitantly.

“Go?”

“Outside, just for a bit. Come on.”

~~~

“Then why don’t you just stop?” Yoongi asked between gritted teeth. “I can handle myself and Jin if I have to.”

“No, you can’t! I’ve seen you, I’ve seen the bloodlust. I know the bloodlust.” Amara leaned close to him. Her teeth, her fangs, glinted in the candle light. “It’s euphoria, isn’t it, when you finally get a taste? But it’s nothing if it isn’t the fresh stuff. That’s what you really crave, but you don’t give in. One day, Yoongi, you’re going to kill again,” Amara said harshly.

He froze and felt his hands start to sweat. “Again?” he asked, his voice wavering.

Amara sucked in a breath and stepped back from him. “Yes. Again. Of course, you don’t remember the first time. I guess you blocked it all out.” She looked away from him and at the wall instead. Her eyes glazed over and for a moment she looked much more innocent. Then her red lips curled up on one side. “I remember my first kill,” she said. “It was bloody and violent and everything a kill should be.” She noticeably gulped. “I also remember wanting to die afterwards, but I couldn’t die. I can’t die. That’s our curse, I suppose. I remember all of it, I remember every time I’ve taken someone’s life, or their blood. Every time is different. Your friend, Tae, he doesn’t remember what I do after I’ve done it and, don’t worry, I won’t kill him.”

Yoongi’s hand formed into fists. “You should consider yourself lucky you don’t remember. But if you want to know, I’ll tell you everything.” Amara walked back up to Yoongi so that she was in his personal space and her green eyes were impossible to look away from. “Well? Do you want to know what happened that night?”

Without hesitation, Yoongi said, “Yes.”

~~~

The air was cool and Nari wrapped her arms around herself. Despite the chill in the air, she felt invigorated. Alive. She would gladly accept the cold.

“Your nose is turning pink,” Jin commented as they walked. He put his arm around her. He didn’t seem cold at all, and she wondered if he even got cold. She also wondered why he let her go outside. She still couldn’t leave his side, but still.

“I’m fine. This is great,” she said.

“I do know how to do it,” Jin admitted suddenly.

For several paces, they walked in silence. Nari adjusted herself so her had her arm linked with Jin’s. To any passing pedestrians, they looked like a couple on a late-night stroll. Her with her small frame, dark hair and pink nose and him with his broad shoulders and sparkly eyes and charming smile. Only he wasn’t smiling then.

“How?” she whispered finally.

“I would have to let him drink my blood, and then I would have to kill him. He would wake up a bit later and once he drank human blood, he would be like me,” Jin said carefully. “I would have to kill him…” Nari pursed her lips. She looked up at him and was surprised to see that he looked close to tears. “I can’t kill him, Lily.”

“You won’t,” she said quickly, squeezing his arm. “You don’t have to.”

Because if it meant her freedom, she would kill Jungkook. She would get some of Jin’s blood and then she would kill his friend. She would do it. She would.

Chapter Text

                Hoseok’s heart was pounding so loudly he feared someone other than him could hear it. Taking deep breaths, he willed himself to calm down, but it wasn’t working very well. Furthermore, he had to keep himself from coughing or sneezing because the building was so dirty and dusty. Also, he had to make sure he didn’t trip over a discarded piece of furniture or cut himself on broken glass. The whole place was a safety hazard.

He told himself to get it together and pressed his back against the wall, trying not to think about the stains on it. From the room a few feet away, he could hear Yoongi’s voice, along with someone else’s. The other person sounded vaguely familiar and it suddenly came to him. It was the voice of the girl who had been angrily shouting into her phone that day. Hoseok stood on his tip toes on the stair case and got a flash of blonde hair from inside the room. He ducked before he was seen.

Wait.

He had been so tired and half asleep when she’d come by, but wasn’t that…wasn’t that Tae’s girlfriend? Amara? Hoseok ran his hands through his hair. He shouldn’t be here. But he also couldn’t leave. So he crouched down and listened carefully.

~~~

“We met by chance I guess,” Amara said. Her voice lost its edge and it allowed Yoongi to relax slightly. “You came around here, and we met in one of the bars down the road. One of the less shady ones.” Yoongi watched as she told the story. It was hard to read her emotions. Something in her face conveyed anger and resentment and he wondered if it was towards him. “You came in and I didn’t know who you were and you obviously didn’t know what I was. We talked. You seemed…sad. But then, when you smiled it was in a way that made me think everything was going to be okay. I was sad too. I think that’s why I chose Tae, his smile is the way yours is. His smile reminded me of…” she nodded to herself and trailed off. The admission seemed to pain her.

“We drank and we were both a little drunk I guess. You more than me since you were still human. We left the bar late and everything outside was quiet and then you walked to the middle of the street and put your arms up in the air and screamed, ‘I matter!’ or something like that.” Amara smiled without looking at him as she imitated the action of him throwing up his arms. “I laughed and told you to be quiet and then, out of nowhere, a car came barreling down the street and it hit you, straight on. It sped off.”

Yoongi felt his chest tightening. No. This wasn’t right. She was lying.

“You didn’t die right away, and I ran out to you. Your legs were bent the wrong way and you were bleeding somewhere you shouldn’t have been bleeding from. You wouldn’t have made it to a hospital, I knew that, so…so I gave you my blood. I didn’t want to...I didn’t want to…” she clenched her jaw and her voice gained its edge again. Her vulnerability was gone. “With my blood in your system, when you died, you came back. You killed someone and drank their blood and became a vampire and that was that and I had to deal with the consequences of saving you. There are others, others with more power than me and let’s just say they weren’t happy about what I did,” Amara finished quickly. “So you’re welcome for saving you.”

“I died. You didn’t save me,” Yoongi whispered. “You let me kill…” He wasn’t sure why he felt angry. He almost wished Amara had actually killed him herself, that’s what he had thought happened and knowing that wasn’t the case…it changed things.

Amara pushed him back again so his back hit the wall. She may have been thin but she was strong. “Don’t you dare! I saved you and I didn’t let you or not let you do anything. You killed on your own accord. That blood is on your hands, not mine. I could have left you to die in the street. I should have. It would have saved me a lot of trouble, after all.”

“So what? You blame me for your problems? So now you’re screwing around with my friend and threatening me? I didn’t ask for this!” Yoongi protested.

Amara let out a frustrated cry. Her finger jabbed into his chest. “I didn’t ask for it either,” she snarled. He didn’t know what she meant exactly. Did she mean she hadn’t asked for the problems that came after he became a vampire? Or did she mean she didn’t ask to be a vampire herself? And she was right…she had saved him. He could be really dead right now. Would that have been better, or worse?

He realized that neither of them were speaking and Amara still had her sharp nail pressed into his chest. He grabbed her hand to push it away, but instead his fingers curled around hers and stayed there.

There was something between them. Something he didn’t remember about that night, but that she did. And even if he didn’t remember, he could feel it. He could feel that that night she hadn’t been the girl who was threatening him and making him crazy with worry. He could feel it in the way her hand squeezed his.

~~~

They had stopped yelling at each other and it was quiet in the room. His heart was still beating rapidly, maybe even more so now. His head was spinning. The things they were saying didn’t make sense. Although, some of it did make things clear. However, Hoseok was wishing right then that he had just stayed home. This was way too much.

He stood up and started to turn around. He needed to get out of this building and this part of town and go home. He needed…he needed to talk to Yoongi. But he couldn’t, not really. Because Yoongi was the current problem.

He glanced behind him, back in the room. Yoongi and Amara were out of his line of vision. He crept back up a stair and then another and another unit he could see them again. Amara’s white blonde hair was unmistakable. She was standing very close to Yoongi, who was staring at her with wide eyes. He was holding her hand.

“Okay, leave now,” Hoseok said under his breath. “Just go. You won’t benefit from seeing anything else.”

But he didn’t leave. His feet stayed rooted in place and his eyes remained fixed on the scene in front of him. They were oblivious to his presence. They seemed to be oblivious to everything except each other.

Hoseok knew he needed to look away. He knew what was about to happen and he seriously did not need it weighing on his conscious, but he couldn’t stop himself. He watched as Amara leaned in, or maybe Yoongi did or maybe they both did. He didn’t even know.

Either way, their lips met and they were kissing and Hoseok saw all of it and he wished on everything he had that he hadn’t. He wished he hadn’t heard what they’d said to each other and he wished Tae hadn’t seemed so happy when he talked about Amara and he wished it wasn’t Yoongi because now who was he supposed to get advice about this from. He wished he could have just gone to sleep.

~~~

A soft click alerted Tae to the door opening and closing. He came out of the bedroom to see Amara shrugging her jacket off her shoulders and laying it across the back of the couch. She wasn’t aware of him standing there yet.

Her eyes looked tired. The way she moved was like she was walking through quicksand. She’d left late last night, and he hadn’t expected her to be back today. He figured it was some family issue or that she just needed some time alone to think. Her comings and goings were often erratic, not to mention unpredictable. Her unpredictability was one of her positive qualities to Tae, but that didn’t mean he didn’t worry about her as well.

“Hey,” he finally spoke and her head jerked up.

“Oh, I hope I didn’t wake you up,” she murmured and dragged her feet into the kitchen. There was a raspy edge to her words. It suggested she had been yelling.

Tae looked her up and down as she rummaged through the fridge. She was wearing raggedy torn up black jeans that were too big on her and a grey sweater with a hole in one elbow. After some contemplation, Amara grabbed a pint of ice cream and a spoon from a drawer. She opened the lid and jabbed the spoon forcefully into the dessert.

“I was already awake,” Tae said as he watched her. She dug out a huge spoon of chocolate and vanilla swirl and just stared at it. To eat it or not to eat it? That was the question. “Is everything alright? No one gave you any trouble, did they?” Tae asked. Constantly, he was worrying someone would recognize Amara. Of course, it was unlikely, but people could be dedicated. Anything could happen. He stepped up to her and put his hand on her arm, where the hole in her sweater was. His skin touched hers.

The spoon fell out of her grasp and clattered on the floor. When she cried out and chucked the ice cream pint across the room, Tae jumped back. He’d never seen Amara upset, not like this.

Her body shook as she leaned against the counter. She wasn’t crying exactly. It looked more like she was about to explode. Visible tremors racked her body while she gasped in air. So, Tae did the only thing he could think to do and came back to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. She was rigid in his arms for only a moment before she relaxed and became limp and almost lifeless. If it weren’t for the slow beat or her heart against his chest, he’d think she was dead.

~~~

When Yoongi got back to his apartment, Jin was still not there. He’d stayed out all the remainder of the night and when he got in he was surprised to find that the TV was still on and the chips he’d been snacking on were still open on the table. It was so mundane. It made his head hurt.

He was such an idiot.

There was not one bone in his body…okay maybe just one, a really small one, like one in his fingers…that trusted Amara. For all he knew she was a master manipulator and she had him right where she wanted him. In fact, that was precisely what he knew about her. She was a schemer. Bu the look on her face had seemed so…human. She wasn’t human though, and neither was he.

And then there was Tae.

“I’m so sorry…” Yoongi muttered to no one in particular as he slumped onto the couch.

Closing his eyes, he willed himself now to think about Amara. He would just avoid her and all of this and be careful and watch Jin and it would all be fine. He would still be a vampire, but it would all be fine. Only, when he closed his eyes, he saw hers. Green and wild and mischievous and mean and dark and seductive. A blip of a memory popped into his mind. He saw Amara sitting beside him, with those green eyes. She was smiling so hard there were tiny lines around her eyes. “You’re crazy, you know,” she was saying. The words were directed ay him in a playful manner, but he didn’t know what had prompted them. “Absolutely and completely,” she continued.

He opened his eyes. He didn’t want to remember anymore. “I am the worst,” he said aloud.

“Yeah. You are. But I don’t know if it’s because you kissed your friends girlfriend or because…of the other thing.”

Yoongi practically had a heart attack when he heard Hoseok’s voice from behind him. He jumped up and turned to see his friend in the entry way to the hall, arms crossed, eyes tired. “What are you doing here?” Yoongi asked frantically.

“I let myself in, it was unlocked. I’ve been waiting for you to get back,” Hoseok said. Everything about his voice meant business. There was very little emotion. It was so unlike Hobi that Yoongi wanted to laugh. Instead, he actually felt a bit afraid.

“I don’t…”

“Yoongi,” Hoseok said bleakly. “Don’t bother denying anything. I know.”

~~~

Red and viscous, Jin’s blood sloshed back and forth in the paper cup. It made Nari’s stomach hurt just looking at it.

Jin had passed out in her (their? his?) hotel room and apparently he was a deep sleeper because he didn’t budge at all when she used a razor from the bathroom to cut a tiny scratch on his arm. When he didn’t show any signs of waking, she cut deeper until the cut bled. She let the blood drop into the cup and then, when it seemed like enough, she went to get a bandage for Jin. By the time she got back though, the cut had healed itself as if it never happened.

Good for her.

She’d hidden the cup under the bed and Jin left after he woke up, oblivious to everything. Now, Nari sat cross-legged on the bed, the cup in one hand and the hotel phone in the other. She played with the stretchy cord for a moment, wondering why such a charming hotel still had such outdated phones. Finally, she dialed a number. Her mouth felt dry.

“Hello?”

“I-I got it,” she rasped into the phone.

“Seriously? You have it now?” Jungkook sounded excited, while Nari only felt dread. The juxtaposition between their emotions was astounding.

“Yes, all you need to do is come get i-it,” she said. She had lied to him. Once she knew how Jungkook could be turned, she told him all he needed was Jin’s blood and that would be that. He’d drink it and, boom, he would a vampire. She didn’t tell him he literally had to die, she figured he wouldn’t go for that and then she’d still be stuck. The phone call that time, when she’d explained almost everything to Jungkook, had been brief, of course, with Jin still lurking, but it was enough to make Jungkook sure, completely sure, of what he wanted.

There was no going back for him now.

“Is Jin gone?” Nari told him he was. “I will be there in ten.” He hung up then, leaving Nari in the quiet hotel room with a cup of Jin’s blood.

Robotically, she placed the blood on the nightstand and stood up, looking round the room. Slowly, she walked into row bathroom and turned to the mirror, not turning on the overhead light, so she was cast in shadow. Most of the time, she tried to avoid the mirror. Looking at herself was torture. She didn’t want to see her sad eyes or frail limbs any more than she wanted to do what she was about to do, but she did want out.  She wanted to go somewhere far away from here.

And so, she balled her hand into a fist and threw all her weight into the punch aimed at the mirror. It didn’t break, but it cracked. She cursed and looked at her red knuckles. Then she took a deep breath and threw another punch, even harder this time. The mirror shattered and shards of glass covered the countertop and fell into the sink.

A big, sharp, pointy shard caught her eye and she carefully picked it up with her already injured hand. It would do just fine, she decided as she exited the bathroom. The door clicked shut behind her. Carefully, she tucked the shard of glass under the sleeve of her shirt.

He would be here soon. She just had to wait.

Chapter Text

                “Hey! I can’t believe you got it! Not that I didn’t have faith in you, but still. Impressive,” Jungkook said as he came into the hotel room. Nari pursed her lips and watched him go over to the window. His reflection shown back at her. A big smile was plastered on his face. He was handsome and sure, maybe she had a little crush on him. She found herself wondering if she would still think he was handsome after. Jin was still handsome, but she hadn’t really known Jin before.

“Well, here it is,” Nari picked up the little cup and held it out to him with shaky hands.

He took it from her without any hesitation whatsoever. “So I just drink it? That’s it?”

“Yep. That’s what he said. M-maybe just down it like a shot?” Nari suggested lamely as she mimed the action. She wasn’t even thinking about the fact that he might not even be old enough to drink an actual shot.

Jungkook shrugged one shoulder and then unceremoniously tipped the cup back and did as she had said. He coughed slightly, but when he tilted the cup back down, all the blood had been consumed and all that was left was a red residue. “I don’t feel any different,” he said. He looked at his hands and touched his face.

“Wait,” Nari said and stepped up so she was right in his face. Close enough to kiss him if she wanted to. Which she didn’t. Not now. “I think I see something…”

“Really?”

The piece of glass up her sleeve slowly slid down until she felt it in her palm. It was warm from being pressed against her skin for so long. She gulped. “I’m so sorry,” she said quietly and Jungkook only had time to look at her questioningly.

Before he could speak, she drove the piece of glass forward, into his stomach. He doubled over and looked at her with wide eyes. Blood trickled out of his mouth as he fell to his knees. Still bright eyes, eyes that were much too innocent, stared up at Nari and she had to look away. Look away to the glass still in her hand, both covered in Jungkook’s blood.

“P-please…” Jungkook sputtered.

No part of her wanted to do it again, but this was taking too long. The only thing she could do to make this better was end it faster. So her hand wound through Jungkook’s hair and she tilted his head back so his neck pushed out. The glass slid through the skin there like butter. A hot spray of blood hit Nari’s face as he died.

~~~

“Why didn’t you tell me? Or anyone? I mean…you were all alone in this…” Hoseok asked Yoongi with so much genuine concern that Yoongi wanted to scream. He didn’t deserve Hoseok’s friendship.

“Tell you what? That I’m a vampire? Yeah, that sounds like something a sane person would say,” Yoongi rolled his eyes. Telling Hoseok the whole story, as much of it as he could while still making sense, had made Yoongi exhausted. However, he also felt like a weight had been lifted off him.

“Right, yeah…” Hoseok nodded and looked at his hands. “And what about Amara and Tae? Is it not…it’s not real?”

“For Tae it is,” Yoongi said sadly.

“But is it for her? Or is it just a way to keep an eye on us? An eye on us…that’s freaky. I’m going to be so paranoid now. Even more so, I already can’t sleep.”

“That’s probably my fault, I’m sorry. Maybe all this confession will help? As for Amara, I don’t know if it’s real for her or not. I don’t know her,” Yoongi said. Hoseok narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“You kissed her,” Hoseok pointed out.

“I know.”

“Is that all you did?”

Yoongi glared at his friend. He was tired of talking about Amara. He was tired of talking about being a vampire. Tired of blood, tired of fear, tired of lying. Tired of it all but he couldn’t escape it. This was his life now. Amara was right, they were cursed.

When Yoongi didn’t answer Hoseok’s question, Hoseok said, “Okay, I’ll pretend you said, ‘Yes, Hobi, all we did was kiss, nothing else happened at all’.”

“You know no one else can know about any of this?” Yoongi suddenly pressed.

“Duh, I would sound crazier than you. But I think you should talk to Jin. Tell him you know about him and that you’re…one too. You guys seriously need each other. I’m not…nor do I plan to be, a vampire, ever. I’m still wrapping my head around this and honestly I’m debating what to do about Tae. It’s not fair to him.”

“None of this is fair,” Yoongi breathed. He looked around the room. His jacket was tossed over a chair. There was a low humming sound from the heater. A crack in the wall that had been there since he’d moved in looked bigger, but it probably really wasn’t. On the couch, there was a small stain from when Jin had dropped takeout once. They’d laughed about it at the time and Jin had said they needed a new couch anyway. They never did get around to getting a new one. What was the point? That one would just get ruined too. It seemed like everything good got ruined.

“If you need to talk, you know where to find me,” Hoseok said. He sensed that Yoongi wanted to be alone.

“Yeah…” Yoongi murmured and Hoseok wordlessly got up and left, leaving only silence in his wake.

Once he was alone, Yoongi went to his room and turned on the shower and waited until the water was scalding, He stayed under it until his skin was raw. The mirror in the bathroom had steamed up, but he could make out the blur of his reflection. It reminded him of the fear he’d felt when he first turned and his reflection didn’t show up.

He’d have to ask Amara what that was about. Why did his reflection go away then come back?

No. On second thought, he wouldn’t ask Amara.

Outside, in the living room, he heard Jin rummaging around. He must he home.

“Where have you been?” Yoongi shouted as he wrestled into a pair of sweats and pulled a shirt over his head.

As he made his way out of his room, he glanced at his phone to see he had a text.

“Out and about,” Jin responded. “We have no food, Yoongi!”

“Buy some!” Yoongi snapped and opened the text on his phone. The number wasn’t one he recognized, but it didn’t take long for him to guess who it was.

The text read: “I don’t apologize often, but I am sorry. Sorry you died. Sorry I turned you without your consent.”

Yoongi sighed. He wasn’t going to respond.

He came out into the living room where Jin was compiling a pile of things on the counter in the kitchen. “I’m considering either making a smoothie, a salad, or some kind of sandwich,” Jin explained while surveying what he managed to find in their kitchen.

There were some various fruits, some of which looked close to being bad, soda, stale bread, takeout rice from several days prior, a can of green beans, eggs, and frozen noodles.

“Make a smoothie, I would love to see your face when you drink all that crap blended together,” Yoongi deadpanned. “I’m going to take a nap, wake me up when you’ve made it.” He flopped down onto the couch and covered his eyes with his arm when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Reluctantly, he took it out and read the text. It was from the same number and this one said: “I should be, and I want to be, but I’m not sorry we kissed.”

A moment passed and another text came through.

This time it said: “Even though we hate each other and I know I don’t hate him.”

~~~

“I’m sorry, the person you are trying to reach is unavailable at this time, please leave a message or try again later,” the prerecorded messaged played in Jimin’s ear before the tone.

“Jungkook, answer your phone! I thought we were going to lunch tomorrow, but if you don’t answer me I’ll assume we aren’t. You’re probably at the gym or something, honestly keep your phone on you,” Jimin said into the phone. “Next time I call you better answer,” he added hastily. “Or I’ll kill you.”

~~~

Hours seemed to pass with him just lying there across the carpet. Every tiny sound, from a voice in the hall, to the faucet dripping, to the air conditioner turning on set Nari on edge. It kept crossing her mind that maybe Jin had lied and she had just killed someone permanently. What was she supposed to do then? Just live with having that kind of blood on her hands?

She knelt down next to his body. Since sliding the glass through his neck, she hadn’t been able to touch him, but at this point, she had to do something. So, using all her strength, she moved him into a sitting position so his back was leaning against the bed. The body wasn’t stiff when it seemed like it should be by now. Rigor mortis and all that. Then again, Nari was no expert on any of that. She was also unsure whether to take the lack of a normal decomposition process as a good sign or a bad one.

Jungkook’s blank eyes stared back at her and she scrunched her own eyes shut. “Please wake up, not even for my sake at this point. I don’t care if I have to stay here forever. Just wake up, you idiot!” Her voice progressively rose as she spoke and she beat a fist into his chest.

Standing up, she glanced at the phone. Maybe she should just call Jin. What was done was done, at least he would have some insight. Sure, he would be pissed, but he would also be able to speak and move and not be dead, like her current company was. Pretty much.

Just as she reached out and wrapped her hands around the cordless landline, she thought she saw Jungkook’s hand twitch. Nari gasped and held the phone to her chest and waited.

Amd then, as Nari was inching backwards towards the bathroom, Jungkook’s dead eyed opened wide and looked alive again and he sucked in a huge breath of air as the slash across his neck slowly healed back together. As he looked around frantically, Nari’s hand found the knob to the bathroom door. She turned it just as Jungkook spotted her, his eyes full of hunger.

~~~

“I guess I’ll go to the store because watching you drink that smoothie was disgusting,” Yoongi called to Jin.  Jin was in his bedroom and the door was closed, so Yoongi knocked to make sure Jin heard him. From the other side of the door, Yoongi could hear Jin’s muffled voice.

Just before he was about to push the door open, it swung open out and Yoongi stumbled backwards. “I gotta go,” Jin blurted out and staggered past Yoongi frantically.

“Go where?”

“No time, tell you later,” Jin said and headed for the door.

Hoseok’s words echoed in Yoongi’s head. His friend was right, as he usually was. A lot of trouble could be avoided if Yoongi just confessed to Jin. Jin would probably share whatever was worrying him too, and they could help each other. Something was holding him back though. Maybe it was the fact that he would rather be alone in this. He didn’t want to be brought into the world of vampires. And he didn’t want to involve Jin with Amara.

So, all Yoongi did was watch Jin head out. That, and he said, “You know you can tell me anything, right?” Except how could Jin know that? How could he know he could trust Yoongi with his secrets? Yoongi didn’t trust anyone with his.

“Yeah, sure,” Jin muttered as the door shut behind him.

The apartment fell into an uneasy silence and Yoongi looked around. He was going to go to the store but he suddenly didn’t feel like going anywhere, after all. However, he felt a pang of hunger which reminded him that he couldn’t just stay in his apartment forever. The bloodlust wouldn’t allow that.

~~~

Amara laid on her side, curled up into a tight ball. Her eyes were wide open and she stared at the blank wall in front of her, without blinking until it became a swirling blur. She could hear her phone vibrating on the nightstand, but she was vigilantly ignoring it. The blankets covering her were much too thin and she shivered.

Buzz. Buzzzz. Buzzzzz.

“Is that your phone?” Tae moved next to her and she finally squeezed her eyes shut, a stay tear streaking down her cheek from holding them open so long.

“Yeah. I’m not answering it. Pretend it’s not there,” she responded.

Even though her body felt weighed down, she pushed herself into a sitting position so she could look at Tae. He was everything she wasn’t. Everything and more.

“Consider it ignored then,” Tae said and she quickly leaned forward to kiss him.

Amara wasn’t picky when it came to companionship. She’d had plenty of people in her bed throughout the years. Some of the time they left alive, some of the time they left changed, and a lot of the time they left in a body bag.

When she had been instructed to keep an eye on Yoongi and his friends, Tae was simply the first she was able to get close enough to, but she would be lying if she said she felt nothing towards him. He was real and thoughtful and caring. Not to mention trusting. The trusting types were the easiest to fool. The easiest to make fall for you. And Tae had fallen for her.

As her mouth moved to his neck, she let her teeth sink into his vein. He gasped, but he didn’t scream or struggle. He knew the routine, even if he’d been told to forget it as soon as it was over.

And soon it was over and Amara fell back against the mattress and watching the ceiling fan rotate above her. Tae’s hand found hers and he interwove their fingers. She glanced over at him and watched the blood leak from the two holes in his neck. “I love you,” Tae said in that deep voice of his.

Normally, Amara would smirk and lean forward and tell him to say it again. But she didn’t do that. Instead, she looked away.

Again, her phone buzzed. “I have to answer it,” she announced and yanked her hand from Tae’s.

She got out of the bed and threw Tae’s T-shirt on before answering the phone.

“What the hell do you want?” she snapped.

“You texted me first,” Yoongi replied in monotone.

Amara swallowed and walked a few paces away from the bed, as if that would give her more privacy. She was bare except for a flimsy T-shirt, her ‘boyfriend’ was watching her intensely, and she was on the phone with his friend who she hadn’t stopped thinking about since…since she’s met him, probably.

“Me? Text you? Huh, that’s funny I don’t quite recall. What was it you think I texted you about?”

“You obviously know things I don’t. So, if you want me to keep things in check, why don’t you teach me?” Yoongi said. “I want you to teach me what you know.” His voice revealed nothing. He sounded all business, completely emotionless.

Amara looked at Tae from the side of her eyes. He looked tired and didn’t seem too interested in her phone call. He had no reason to suspect anything really and if he did she could just compel him to stop suspecting. So, she ran her tongue across her lips and said into the phone, “Say it again.”

“What?” Yoongi asked, a hint of surprise creeping into his tone.

“What do you want?” she asked with a smile he couldn’t see.

“I want you to teach me.”

“You want…” Amara trailed off in mock thoughtfulness.

Yoongi sighed audibly and she imagined he was rolling his eyes. “You. I want you,” he said, finally understanding what she wanted him to say, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

Amara chuckled. “Yoongi! I’m flattered, but I’m afraid I’m taken,” she said. “However, I will oblige anyway."

Chapter Text

               "You know, usually when you ask where someone is, that implies that you are going to meet them, not have them meet you," Yoongi remarked as he slid into the booth opposite Amara. She had texted him where to meet her. It was a small family restaurant that served things like meat and some soups or something, judging by the pictures on the walls. However, Amara had a plate of pancakes, of all things, in front of her. 

She cut a piece and grabbed the bottle of syrup, doused the plate in it, dragged the piece through it and stuck it in her mouth. "I was hungry," she shrugged after she swallowed. 

"Where did you get...you know what, never mind," Yoongi said. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat for a moment before grabbing the other fork on the table and taking some of Amara's sugar soaked pancakes.  "Those are good," Yoongi said through the food.

"I know, stop eating them," she said and pulled the plate closer to her. "Why did you summon me?" 

"I told you, I want you to...show me the ropes, so to speak," Yoongi said as he leaned back in the booth. Amara studied him quizzically with those green eyes of hers. 

"First, I require full disclosure," Amara said. She held her fork out towards him, waiting. 

He wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to hear, but he did know that she could tell he wasn't telling her everything. And the truth was that he did want to learn, and if she was with him, she wasn't with Tae. And if she wasn't with Tae she couldn't use him or hurt him and so Yoongi was protecting his friend the only way he knew how. So what if Amara thought he actually trusted her? He didn't. And he was fairly certain she would never trust him either. However, he needed to give her something. "Hoseok knows, about me. And you, too," Yoongi confessed and prayed that Amara wouldn't go after Hobi.

He was surprised when she didn't get angry, but instead rolled her eyes and stuffed another piece of pancake into her mouth. "God, can't you just make him forget. That is a plus we have you know? Wait, no, I know, you don't want to. He's your best friend and all that crap. Whatever, suit yourself just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Amara said. "Also, it's your fault he can't sleep you know. Maybe fix that, somehow. Unless you don't know how. Your compulsion abilities aren't working well because you aren't taking enough blood. Fresh is best but maybe you aren't having enough of any kind."

"I don't exactly have it on tap," Yoongi snapped. 

"Clearly, you're super pale. You look like hell."

"So do you."

"That's what I'm going for."

"Maybe that's what I was going for too."

"Maybe. Doubt it though. You act like you don't care but you do," Amara said. "I can tell."

"Why, because we are so alike?" Yoongi was already getting tired of this banter. And as his eyes scanned the rest of the establishment he noticed a young couple looking at him quizzically. If the recognized him he was so screwed. 

The sound of Amara dropping her fork into her plate brought Yoongi's gaze back to her. "No. Because, you wouldn't be here if you didn't care," Amara said and stood up. Surprisingly, she dropped money onto the table and grabbed Yoongi's arm, pulling him up and dragging him along behind her as they left. "Plus," she said once they were outside, "you kiss with a lot of passion. Passion means you care." She winked. 

Yoongi exhaled in exasperation. It was going to be a long day. 

~~~

Jin was very aware of the fact that he could not keep Nari at this hotel for very much longer. If she were even still alive, that is. She sounded frantic on the phone and Jin was not even totally sure what was going on. Something to do with Jungkook and blood and Nari trapped in the bathroom. Either way, all this commotion had to be attracting attention, and the hotel bill was getting a bit extreme. Renting some place more permanent for Nari might be more realistic. 

When Jin got to Nari's floor, he could already hear the racket. A couple of people were standing in the hallway looking down in the direction of Jin's room. He pulled his cap over his face and went to the room. 

"What is going on? Do you know who's in there?" A woman asked Jin in annoyance. 

"Uh, maybe you should go back into your room," he muttered and then realized he didn't have to make it a suggestion. So he looked at the woman intensely and repeated that she should go into her room. She did. 

At that, Jin knocked on the door to Nari's room. "Hey!" he called as there was a crash on the other side. The door swung open violently and Jungkook stood there, wild eyed, mouth agape. Sharp teeth winked back at Jin. Jungkook's face was pale and his eyes were bloodshot and he was covered in red. It was dripping from his neck and soaked into his shirt. 

"What did you DO?!" Jin yelled and pushed Jungkook aside. "Nari?! Are you okay?" Jin asked. 

"Yes," her small voice replied from inside the bathroom. "Jin, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?! You used me and you turned him! And for what?"

"He said he would let me go," Nari said softly. 

Jin turned back around to ask Jungkook if that were true, but no one was there. The door was wide open and Jungkook was gone. He was gone and needed human blood. There was a hotel full of potential victims just waiting for him. A whole world, in fact.

~~~

"Personally, I find it useful to have someone specific to use for blood consumption," Amara said as they strolled down the street. Yoongi walked slightly behind her. A gust of wind blew her white hair in his direction and she walked with a slight bounce, despite the fact she was wearing heeled boots which Yoongi thought could cause someone to fall and break something. Amara made it look easy though. She kept her hands in the pockets of the romper thing she was wearing and her eyes glazed over people that passed them.

"Like what you're doing with Tae?"

"Yes. If you have a connection with the person it actually makes it easier to control yourself. If you have that problem, that is. And you must have that problem. I've been around long enough to not have it anymore, but you know. It still is nice to have someone there when you need them," Amara shrugged nonchalantly. 

They stopped at an intersection and Yoongi folded his arms across his chest. "So what? I just find someone and ask them if they'd like to be my human blood bag?"

"Totally. Yes do exactly that, I can't imagine why you called me for help you clearly have everything all figured out." As they crossed the street, Amara pulled her phone out of her pocket. In the middle of the road, she stopped in her tracks and her face hardened, her green eyes narrowed and her hands turned white as she clenched her phone tighter. 

"What is it?" Yoongi asked nervously as people pushed past the two of them in annoyance and cars started honking. 

"A vampire killed someone in broad daylight. None of my vampires would be that stupid." Amara's words were laced with accusation. The honking cars persisted and she turned to them and shot them her middle finger before storming off towards the other side walk. Yoongi had no choice but to rush after her.

~~~

"No, Jin, I haven't heard from Jungkook. I tried calling him earlier but he didn't answer," Jimin said. 

Jin groaned audibly and before Jimin could ask what was wrong, Jin disconnected the call. Instead of calling him back, Jimin dialed Namjoon and asked him if he had heard from their youngest band-mate and friend. 

He hadn't either. "Is he in some kind of trouble?" Namjoon asked. 

"I have no idea, I'll call you back in a bit," Jimin said. 

He paced back and forth. He didn't know who to call next. The feeling that almost all his friends were hiding something was overwhelming.

Chapter Text

                 Amara was fast. Maybe it was her long legs or something, but whatever it was, Yoongi was having trouble keeping up. There was also the issue of him not having the slightest clue as to where she was headed. 

That was until they arrived at a cross walk which was swarming with police cars, uniforms, and pedestrians trying to get a good look at what was going on. Yoongi didn't need to push past the crowds. He could smell the blood in the air. 

"They won't be far," Amara said and Yoongi turned to her.

"No one is stupid enough to stay this close to a crime scene."

"A new vampire is, now shut up for a second," Amara demanded as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked strangely ethereal and peaceful standing in the crowd. Yoongi didn't know what she was doing, but whatever it was, she needed to do it faster. Yoongi turned around in circles scanning the crowd. He had no idea who he was looking for. It wasn't that he actually suspected that Jin was responsible for this, but something was making him uncomfortable. He felt like he was a part of this. 

As he turned around and around, he got a glimpse of the scene in the middle of the road.

"Shit," he murmured to himself. Someone was dead. Really and actually dead. The body was right there, they hadn't even covered it up yet. 

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Amara spoke again and then focused her gaze towards the sidewalk. When Yoongi followed her gaze, he could see that someone was standing in the shadow cast between two small shops. It was a spot the sun didn't reach, perfect for someone recently turned. Perfect to watch the chaos they'd caused. "They don't get to do some crap like this and not have consequences," Amara was saying as she strode in the figure's direction and Yoongi scrambled after her. 

"Maybe we shouldn't do this, you know, right here?" Yoongi suggested. Amara just laughed darkly and Yoongi realized that no one would be paying a couple of people arguing much attention. Unless one of them was covered in blood. That wasn't clear yet. And jeez, who even was this person? Yoongi should just leave, he didn't need to get involved. 

He was considering turning around and just going home, calling Hobi maybe or just taking a really long nap, when he got close enough to make out the new vampire’s features. And then he froze in his tracks. He couldn't go anywhere. Not now. 

This changed everything.

~~~

"If we can't find him..." Jin was frantic. His hands were shaking, but he didn't know if it was from fear or anger or both. 

"What? You'll kill me?" Nari snapped as she followed him through the streets. She wanted to just run. Leave. Go somewhere far away, but she couldn't. She felt a physical pull to Jin and it wouldn't let her go. It was like she was tied to him with an invisible rope and if he got too far from her, she was jerked forward towards him. 

"I might! I mean, you killed him! You said it didn't have to be this way! You said I shouldn't do it! How could you?"

"You're keeping me prisoner! I wanted to go!" Nari screamed. People turned and looked at them, but no one stopped. She was glad they were looking though. Maybe someone would recognize Jin. Maybe someone would take pictures. Anything to get her face out there. Anything to get her out of all of this. 

Jin grabbed Nari by the shoulders. "Keep your voice down!" he hissed then released her before pulling his hoodie over his head.  

Nari opened her mouth to shout again, "I won't keep my voice down!" But her voice came out as just above a whisper. No one other than Jin would have heard her. He'd done it again. She was his puppet. 

Jin turned around and started walking again, searching. Nari stood in place, her feet heavy like bricks. The world spun around her and tears started to trickle down her cheeks. Before she could even process though, she was jerked forward again by the invisible rope. 

"Do you even know w-where w-we're going?" Nari asked.

"Not exactly," Jin responded shortly. "But I can...feel him. He's close by." They took a sharp turn around the side of a building. Nari noticed that Jin was slowing down and that his pupils were dilated. The sound of sirens permeated her ear drums and there was a thickness to the air that made her uncomfortable. It seemed to have a similar effect on Jin. 

"What's going on?" Nari said softly. "Jin? Jin. I'm scared," she said this with gumption. It was more than the vibe. It was more than the dark alley. It was more than her being trapped. 

When they rounded another corner and Jin stopped she nearly ran into his back. 

But when she peered around him, she locked eyes with someone she'd never seen before. Someone who made her skin crawl and the blood in her veins run cold.  Even as a mere human, she could sense the darkness emanating from the girl with the blonde hair. 

Behind her was another figure, dark hair and pale skin, and in front of both of them was Jungkook. 

His eyes were full of fear and panic. And it was all Nari's fault. 

~~~

"Wait." Jin spoke slowly, carefully. "Yoongi?" 

Yoongi looked at the group in front of him. The scene in front of him. Everyone looked completely at a loss for words. Except for Amara that is, she looked smug. 

"What's going on? What are you...what are you doing here?" Jin asked and crossed his arms like he was scolding a child. 

There were a million things Yoongi could have said. Maybe shot Jin a sarcastic comment or asked him what he was doing there. Instead Yoongi didn't say anything at all. He just took a shaky breath and averted his gaze back to Jungkook. 

In the next half a second, several things happened. Jin started to take a stop forward, the girl behind him reached for him and Yoongi felt his teeth sharpen. The most important thing that occurred however, was Jungkook narrowing his eyes and lunging at Amara. 

"You!" he growled at her as he threw himself at her. She was quick though, and when he made contact, she picked him up off the ground like he weighed nothing and slammed him to the ground. Then her head twisted around and she pointed a long finger at Jin. 

"You just made yourself a target," she said. And then, to Yoongi, "You can come with me now, or you can stay here." 

"What?" Yoongi was surprised by the sound of his voice. Jungkook seemed to be unconscious for the time being, but that may have been for the best.

"I cannot help you if you stay." Amara's face was stone, but her eyes were pleading.

"I can't..." Yoongi looked at Jin. "I can't leave them." 

Amara purses her lips and nodded. "I understand. Loyalties and all that. I had those once," she said before giving Jin one last pointed look. And then, in the blink of an eye she was gone. Just like that.

Yoongi looked at Jin. 

"What the hell did you do?" he asked grimly. 

Jin stepped up to Jungkook and then knelt at the boy's side. Of course, he would wake up. When he did though, everyone standing in that alley knew he wouldn't be the same. He couldn't be. 

Jin might have been crying, but his face was in shadow. They knew each other's secret and they both knew they knew and that terrified Yoongi. Jin broke the silence. "I need help," he said softly. It was perhaps the most honest thing Yoongi had heard in a long time. 

Chapter Text

                "We need to get him out of here," Yoongi said with an edge to his voice. "Either back to his place or...actually maybe our place."

"Yeah, good idea," Jin propped Jungkook into a sitting position and then the two of them pulled him up so he was supported by them and somewhat standing. Not that it was exactly convincing. He was bloody and his mouth hung open slightly, which revealed his sharp teeth. 

"H-how are we supposed to g-get past everyone unnoticed?" The dark haired girl who had been cowering behind Jin finally spoke up. Yoongi gave her a once over. She was the opposite of everything Amara was. Small and fragile with dark hair that framed a pretty face, but not in a severe way like Amara. 

"We will have to take a longer route, use alleyways. Be stealthy and whatever," Yoongi said. He smiled slightly at the girl, trying to put her at ease, but it didn't really seem to work. She was grinding her teeth and wringing her hands nervously. 

"Okay let's just go. The faster we get home the better," Yoongi muttered. "And when we get there, we will discuss what you're doing with her." 

~~~

Tae was engrossed in a computer game when Amara returned to the apartment. At first, he wasn't even aware she had come home. It wasn't until her reflection appeared on the computer screen that Tae realized. He swiveled to the side in his chair and smiled. "Hey, welcome home," he said sweetly. "Wanna play something? We can turn on the console in the living room."

Amara looked ruffled up and not well put together. Her eyes were rimmed with dark circles. Tae could tell she was upset about something, but this was a different kind of upset than last time. This was upset and angry. 

"No, how fast can you pack a bag?" Amara asked bluntly. She was tapping one finger against her leg impatiently. 

Tae stood up slowly. "Um, pretty fast I guess...why?" 

Amara nodded shortly and strode past him and yanked open the closet. "Because we are going somewhere."

"Where? I can't go somewhere for an extended period of time right now..." Tae said, but he pulled out one of his travel bags and started to pack it up. He watched Amara from the corner or his eye, though. She was making him nervous.

"Yes, you can," she said.

"I really can't Amara, we-"

This time, Amara looked him in the eye when she spoke. "Yes. You can." 

Tae sighed. "I guess I can. Yeah...I guess it's okay."

Amara deflated for a moment and then came out of the closet and walked over to him. Her brushed her hand across his cheek. Her hands were always so cold. Tae always felt the overwhelming desire to make her happy, because there was a lifelessness behind her green eyes. She always told him his smile could light up a room. He wanted it to light her up. "Everything is going to be okay. You'll be okay," Amara said. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Just...you trust me right?" 

"Of course..."

"Good." Amara dropped her hand to her side. Her eyes drifted to his tan neck. "You shouldn't trust me. But I'm glad you do."

Tae laughed nervously. "Why shouldn't I trust you?" 

Amara bit her bottom lip and leaned closer to him. "Because I’m a bad person," she whispered in his ear, but it really didn't matter what she said to him. It didn't matter that her mouth closed down on his neck and pierced the skin. He wouldn't remember it when it mattered. Around anyone else, these moments didn't exist. He wasn't afraid anyway. He was confused sometimes, but he loved Amara and this...it didn't matter what she did. 

Tae let her take his blood, and when he started to feel lightheaded, he stepped backwards until he was leaning against the wall. In front of him he had a clear line of sight to the mirror on the wall and so he could see Amara curled into him, and the blood that dripped down his neck. 

"Where are we going?" Tae asked as he averted his eyes from their reflections.

He felt her teeth leave his neck. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Away. Somewhere far, but it'll be okay. I promise you." 

Amara nodded to herself and then gestured at the bags before ducking out of the room for a moment to get some things from the living room. 

Weakly, Tae pressed his hand to his neck and gazed around the room. He could remember the first night Amara stayed there with him, but the details were blurry. Did she take his blood then? Then, his eyes found the picture of him and the rest of his band-mates. They all looked so happy. It was so different then. Suddenly, Tae had an overwhelming feeling that he wasn't going to see any of them ever again. He staggered over to the picture and took it out of the frame and shoved it into his bag. He wouldn't forget them. He trusted Amara. He really did. But he wouldn't risk it. Maybe it was himself that he didn't trust. He didn't trust himself to be able to hold onto the right memories. 

It was important that he remembered the moments when he was smiling not to light someone else up, but because he was undeniably happy. When he was smiling for himself and himself alone.

~~~

Jungkook could hear voices as he was coming to. More than that though, he could smell the blood on him. It was so overpowering. He couldn't focus on anything else. Opening his eyes seemed pointless because he knew all he'd see was red. 

And all he wanted to see was red. As he regained consciousness he began to remember why he had lost it to begin with. It had been because of her. He'd had her right where he wanted her and she'd tossed him aside like he was a rag doll. That wouldn’t happen next time. Now he knew what she was, or at least how strong she was and he would be ready. The playing field was even after all. At least that's what he thought. 

"Wait wait, you told Hobi about all this?" Someone was whisper shouting. Jungkook rubbed his eyes, but he didn't open them. 

"Yeah, he found out, I had to tell him!" Yoongi's voice was clearer. 

"How did you even find out about me?" That was Jin.

"You're the worst secret keeper I have ever met. I've known the whole time. What I don't know is how you turned. How did you?" 

"It's a long story," Jin said. 

At this, Jungkook finally opened his eyes and sat up. He was in Jin and Yoongi's living room, on the couch. Jin and Yoongi were standing a few feet away. Jin may have been taller and older, but Yoongi had an air of authority standing there. 

Behind them, Nari was sitting at the kitchen table with her knees brought up to her chest. She looked extremely tired. Jungkook wasn't sure how he felt about her. Part of him was mad that she had deceived him, but he had gotten exactly what he wanted, so ultimately it didn't matter. She held up her end of their bargain, and in a way so had he. She was out of that hotel room, wasn't she? 

Jungkook spoke, in response to what Jin had last said. "Well if it's a long story, tell it. We have all of eternity, don't we?" 

Yoongi and Jin turned to him. "Is this a joke to you?" Yoongi asked. "Because it's not to me. I'm tired. I want to take a nap. But I can't because I'm dealing with all of you left and right!" 

"I raised you on my back since you were fifteen!" Jin exclaimed and everyone else in the room rolled their eyes. "I didn't want to see you become this." 

Jungkook looked back and forth between Jin and Yoongi. He was analyzing his situation. Trying to figure out who he could more easily get on his side. He landed on Yoongi.

"How do you know that girl? The one Tae is with? Does Tae know about all this?"

Yoongi shifted uncomfortably. "Not exactly. I'm not sure. Amara turned me. She's like us...but older," Yoongi explained. "I don't want her messing with Tae either, Jungkook. But what you did, it wasn't the way to fix anything."

"Well I did it, it's done," Jungkook said. "So let me help you bring her down." 

Chapter Text

                "You cannot seriously be considering taking him up on his offer!" Jin protested as Yoongi paced. 

"It's a pretty good offer, Amara is a problem, Jin. Maybe you're too wrapped up in your own stuff to realize this, but it's the truth!" Yoongi snapped.

"We can't condone Kookie's destructive revenge fantasy," Jin retorted as he crossed his arms.

Not able to help it, Yoongi snorted loudly. "Seriously? This is your fault. It's your fault he's like this now! He might as well be focused on something. If that something is helping our friend and getting rid of someone who had evidentially been stalking us then I’m all for it," Yoongi said. Jin held his breath and looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. "And as far as that girl, you can keep her captive either. It's wrong."

"I know."

"The do something about it. I'm tired of all this," Yoongi muttered and pushed past Jin so he could rejoin Jungkook and Nari in the living room. He was surprised to find Jungkook holding a cell phone out, and Nari leaned over it, listening. 

"I'm telling you, he's not here. I mean. I looked all over he's not here," someone on the phone was saying. The voice sounded like Jimin. "That's why I was calling you, I thought he might be with you."

"Well he's not," Jungkook snapped. "Look again."

"Dude," Jimin said shortly. He was clearly annoyed which was a hard thing to imagine on Jimin if you hadn't seen it before. "He's not hiding under the bed, Kook. He's. Not. Here."

Jungkook groaned and gave Nari a look, like they had some weird bond, where he could convey what he thought by just raising an eyebrow. Nari shrugged. 

"What's going on?" Yoongi asked as Jin emerged from the bedroom beside him. 

"Tae isn't at his place and he isn't answering his phone, according to Jimin." Nari spoke before thinking better of it.

"Who's that?" Jimin asked.

Jin swore and snatched the phone from the younger boy and took it off speaker. 

"Jimin?" Jin asked. "What? No we aren't all hanging out without you. No, Tae isn't here either..." Jin paused. Everyone watched him. "Why are you freaking out he's probably just out right now?" There was another pause and Jin's expressed changed noticeably before he said a quick goodbye and hung up. 

"What is it?" Jungkook asked. 

"Jimin said a lot of Tae's stuff is gone, like he packed up and left. And...there's a letter there addressed to Yoongi, but Jimin is too nice and hasn't opened it." Jin said slowly. Jungkook glanced around, presumably looking for a place to sit, but apparently, he decided the chair was too far away and so he fell onto the floor, his eyes glistening. 

"Why you?" He said to Yoongi.

Yoongi sighed. "It's probably from her, the letter, not Tae," Yoongi decided. "Text Jimin, tell him to leave the apartment and tell Namjoon what's going on, at least that Tae is missing. I'm going to go get the letter and Hobi," Yoongi declared.

Then, before he turned to leave, he looked at Nari. "If you're here when I'm back, I will assume it's because you want to be here, not because you have to be," Yoongi said and shot Jin a pointed look. Then he strode out of the apartment and started towards Tae's.

~~~

Nari bit her nails nervously as Jin sank down into a chair across from her. "Are you hungry?" she asked him quietly. Jungkook looked up, but didn't say anything. He was still on the floor, on the verge of crying or maybe punching something. It was hard to tell. 

"No," Jin said. "I actually feel like I might throw up." 

"Shut up, everything is perfect for you. You have everything you want!" Jungkook suddenly shouted. 

Jin glared at the younger. "Tae is my friend too! Brat." 

"I'm such an idiot," Jungkook muttered.

"Yeah," both Jin and Nari said at the same time. Jin however, continued. "But I'll help you get through this. You can still...be happy. I will help. Yoongi too."

"Whatever," Jungkook whined and put his head between his knees and fell silent.

Jin turned back to Nari and looked her directly in the eye. "You can go, anytime. You're free," Jin said in monotone. A glazed look fell over Nari's eyes for a brief moment before it disappeared and something else shone in her eyes. Life. It was life. 

More than that, it was light. It made Jin's heart ache. 

After several moments, Nari slowly stood from her chair and looked to the door Yoongi had left from. Jin expected this to be their last moments together. It would be for the best, he told himself.

However, he was surprised when Nari put her hand, warm and comforting, over his cold hand and smiled. It was a such a human gesture. She said nothing, but he understood. 

He understood when she walked over to Jungkook, who she should have been afraid of, he could snap and suck her veins dry any second, he was still new, and sat right next to him and put her arm around his shoulders. Instantly, his body began to shake and she just held him. 

Jin didn't notice his own tears at all, he was just grateful she had stayed. At least for now. For now would do.

And, he decided, if Tae was really gone...he would join them in their efforts against Amara. There was no doubt in his mind about that.

~~~

"Jung Hoseok!" 

Hoseok opened one eye and pulled his headphones out of his ears. He was just about to fall asleep, he was sure of it, but that was ruined. Yoongi stood over him. He looked like a mess, his dark hair ruffled and puffy, his eyes dark and annoyed. He always looked somewhat...rumpled, but the blood on his clothes was the icing on the cake today. 

"Did you break into my home?" Hoseok asked with a sigh.

"You did it to me, but I mean...I have a key so," Yoongi said and shrugged. 

"I don't even want to know how you got that. What is it? I'm sleeping, or trying to."

"Did we switch bodies? What is happening here?" 

"...Uh I don't know that's what I'm asking you, Yoongi," Hoseok said and wound his headphones up before tossing them on the table and standing up. 

"Tae might be missing I am going to his place to get something and then we are going to go back to my place," Yoongi said.

"We?" Hoseok looked at his friend questioningly. He still couldn't believe the whole vampire thing. Ever since he'd known Yoongi, he'd admired him, and this weird fact didn't change that...but it did change things. 

"Yeah, we. Jin and I are going to come clean to everyone about everything. Well Jin and Jungkook and I."

Yoongi gestured for Hoseok to follow him. Hoseok scrambled after Yoongi in a panic. "Wait wait, Jungkook? What happened? What is going on? And Jin agreed to come clean to everyone? Yoongi slow down!" Hoseok protested. 

"I'll explain on the way, Hobi," Yoongi said, more calmly and friendly. "But no Jin didn't agree to anything but to be honest he isn't in a decision making position right now, so I decided. I don't care if he's older, this needs to happen."

"I agree, I think..." Hoseok said as he managed to catch up to Yoongi. 

"Also..." Yoongi hesitated and looked at Hoseok from the corner of his eyes. "There's something I need to ask you."

~~~

Tae's apartment was eerily quiet. The tick-tick-tick of the wall clock in the kitchen was an unsettling break in the silence. Some stuff looked out of place, and cabinets in the kitchen and drawers in the rooms were left open. Clearly, the place had been left in a hurry. 

"This whole place just feels wrong," Hoseok noted as he and Yoongi stood in the entryway, peering around. 

"Well something dead has been living here so..." Yoongi deadpanned and Hoseok stared at him.

"That makes no sense." Hoseok took a step into the living room. "Also...so like...are you dead?"

"I mean, I died so, yeah." Yoongi shrugged and went into the kitchen. He mumbled something about the letter they were looking for; he'd explain as much to Hoseok on the way.

"But technically you're alive. You're here walking and talking...but what? You identify as dead?" Hoseok asked.

Yoongi snorted. "'Identify as dead'? Seriously Hobi?"

Hoseok rolled his eyes and wandered into the bedroom. It was more disheveled than anywhere else. Clothes were strewn around and the closet looked like it had thrown up. However, sitting on the bed was a white envelope. Hoseok snatched it up and scurried out of the room; it made him even more uncomfortable. 

The envelope had Yoongi's name written in precise handwriting (so, not Tae's) on the back. "Found it," Hoseok said to Yoongi and waved the envelope in the air. Yoongi came over to him and tried to take it, but Hoseok jerked it out of the way before he could get his hands on it. "You said you wanted to ask me something, what is it?" Hoseok asked.

Yoongi got a weird look on his face then. "Um," he began hesitantly. "Well Amara is not exactly someone who I am proud to say I am taking advice from...but she made a good point about something..." Yoongi said without really meeting Hoseok's gaze.

"I'm not sure I really want to know, to be honest, but go on."

"She said...she said I should have someone that I can use for..." Yoongi stopped for a second. "Okay I don't like the word 'use', but someone to be there that I can drink blood from because that way-"

"No way," Hoseok interrupted. "Absolutely not."

"I didn't finish!" Yoongi said.

"You were about to ask if I would do it!"

"Okay yeah, but Jin is being a total ass about it. I wouldn't make you do anything, like he's doing with that girl, so if you don't want to then okay, fine. I just...if it's someone so trust then...I feel like that would be better. It would help with the control and...all that. I don't know, never-mind forget it, it was dumb of course you don't want to do that. I just made things super weird, forget this happened," Yoongi rambled.

"I've never heard you talk so much in continuation," Hoseok sighed. The two of them stood there in an awkward silence for way too long before Hoseok spoke again. "Does it hurt?" 

Yoongi's eyes met his. "Um. Maybe at first? I think it's different for different people. But seriously, Hobi, you don't have to do anything, I shouldn't have even asked." 

Hoseok took a deep breath. "I trust you," he decided. "I'm not opposed to...seeing how it goes." Yoongi nodded carefully. "But for now," Hoseok held out the letter. "I think you should read this."

~~~

"So you're telling us you have no idea what is going on?" 

Namjoon sighed in exasperation. 

"No, I am totally out of the loop. I don't know why everyone is acting crazy. Except Jimin, he hasn't totally lost it yet..." Namjoon said. One of their managers had pulled him aside and wanted to know what the weird vibe between everyone was. They had concerts coming up; they'd be traveling. They needed to set things straight and sort all this out. 

"You're the leader, please get this sorted out."

"I'll try...It's not easy with every-" Namjoon's phone started ringing then and he stopped mid-sentence. 

"Who is it?" The manager asked.

"Yoongi," he said and answered the phone. His manager watched him carefully as he made vague responses. 

"Well?" they asked when he hung up. 

"He wants me to meet him at his place, with everyone," Namjoon explained. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. He had a bad feeling. Primarily because Yoongi had said that Tae wasn't going to be there. He decided not to mention that to anyone else yet. 

He just hoped this meeting would shine some light on what was going on lately. If it didn't, he wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Chapter Text

Tae felt like he couldn't breathe, the darkness around him was so intense. He also didn't want to breathe, or make any kind of sound, out of fear. Fear of what, he wasn't sure, he just had a feeling he wasn't alone in the darkness. 

He couldn't remember how he got to this dark place either. His mind was a blank slate, at least concerning how he got to where he was. He could remember packing to go somewhere with Amara. He remembered that picture, which he now wondered where it was. He needed that picture. He should have put it in his pocket, not his suitcase. 

"Bringing humans here is not customary, Amalthyia. I'm displeased," a voice broke through the silence and made Tae jump. He didn't like the sound of the voice, either. It was too calm, but the anger behind the words was so clearly conveyed. There were unspoken threats there that made Tae's skin crawl. Or maybe there were bugs crawling on him; it was so dark he wouldn't know either way. He cringed at that thought and almost missed the response to the scary voice.

"I'm aware that it is not customary. However, I don't intend to keep him human." That was Amara. Tae was sure of it, even though the other creepy person had referred to her as something else. "I know how you feel about impure bloodlines, so I thought that there could be a ceremony and-"

"Stop," creepy dude said. Tae squinted in the darkness and tried to stand, but his head spun so he went back to his knees. "I know your history with humans, Amara. You are far too...close." 

"You forget that you killed my entire family and stole me from them when I was a child, raising me and proceeding to make me into what I am now, against my will. Forgive me if I have some resentment," Amara growled.

Creepy dude let out a low chuckle. "Yet you also hate humans, you have massacred many families. Do not be a hypocrite." Amara sighed, but said nothing more. "I will consider the ceremony, if it will make you happy, my child." The sound of footsteps came after that.

Tae felt that he was still not alone, but there was a weight lifted, implying that Creepy Dude was gone. 

"I'm not your fucking child," he heard Amara mutter in the dark before her footsteps were audible. They faded quickly though, and finally, Tae knew that he was alone.

It was a crushing realization.

~~~

Hoseok and Yoongi got back to Yoongi's apartment with good time. They were just about to the door, when Hoseok grabbed Yoongi's arm tightly, stopping him. "Are you good?" Hoseok asked.

"No!" Yoongi blurted out, then glanced nervously as his door. He knew everyone was in there, waiting for them. He lowered his voice. "No, she took Taehyung. This is my fault, all of it. I can't believe I trusted her for a second," Yoongi hissed. His throat burned and he couldn't think straight. 

"It's not your fault. We will find Tae," Hoseok said calmly.

"You don't know! Why the hell are you always so calm? So freaking positive, like, life sucks man!" Yoongi said.

Hoseok smirked. "Sucks, good one."

"What? Uhg, shut up!" Yoongi muttered, but he couldn't help but smile a little. 

"When was the last time you, uh...sucked?" Hoseok made a face at his word choice. 

"Gross, never repeat that," Yoongi said, but he was laughing, flashing his (in)famous gummy smile. He hated Hoseok for making him laugh at a time like this. 

"Deal."

"I don't remember, it's been too long probably, though," Yoongi admitted in reply to his friend’s question. 

Hoseok rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly then held out his other arm in Yoongi's direction. "Here," he said. "Make it quick, or whatever." 

Yoongi looked at Hoseok's wrist, then back to his face. The hallway suddenly felt cramped. He looked at the veins under Hoseok's tan skin and felt his teeth sharpen. "Hobi, you don't-"

"Shut up before I change my mind, okay?" he said and thrust his arm in Yoongi's face again. 

Yoongi grabbed Hoseok's arm lightly and then, slowly, sunk his teeth into his wrist before either of them could talk themselves out of it. Hoseok winced at the initial feeling, but after a moment, it really didn't hurt at all. 

It didn't quite feel like getting blood drawn at the doctors either, it was something all together new. His arm felt tingly and his mind buzzed. It was reminiscent of some type of high, but at the same time he felt grounded. However, before he could distinguish exactly how he felt, it was over and his arm fell to his side. 

Yoongi wiped blood off the corner of his mouth. "Are you okay?" 

Hoseok rubbed his wrist, which looked surprisingly unscathed except for two tiny marks that were hard to even see. "Yeah...I think so. I mean-" he was cut off by a sound from inside the apartment. 

"I'M TRYING TO BE HELPFUL!" someone shouted from inside.

"OH YEAH, YOU'VE BEEN SUUUUPER HELPFUL! I mean just look at me and how much you've helped! I'M DEAD! D-E-A-D! DEAD! DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD!" 

Hoseok and Yoongi exchanged a look. "We should probably get in there," Hoseok said.

Yoongi took a deep breath. "Yeah." 

~~~

The TV was the only distraction as everyone waited for Yoongi and Hoseok to return. Namjoon and Jimin had arrived and the tension was palpable, as well as the confusion. Nari was in Jin's bedroom, sleeping, because they figured they'd be better off not explaining Nari right off the bat. Plus, Jin was already freaking out about Jimin and Namjoon showing up. "We are so NOT telling them anything!" Jin hissed to the younger maknae. Jungkook just rolled his eyes and went to watch TV with Namjoon.

His leg shook. He was hungry. But he dug his fingers into his palm and tried to suppress the feeling. So he focused on the screen.

"That's pretty wild," Namjoon commented, gesturing at the TV. 

The news was on, talking about a violent attack and death in the middle of broad daylight earlier. Jungkook felt his stomach churn. He was going to be sick. He jolted up from the couch and ran to the bathroom, slammed the door behind him and fell to his knees at the toilet. He dry heaved several times, but nothing came up. 

"Oh my god, oh my god," he tried to breath, but he couldn't catch his breath. Did it even matter? He wasn't alive anyway. He sucked in a huge gulp of air and started coughing and shaking and crying all at once. He didn't even notice the door open until Nari was crouched next to him. Her dark hair fell over her eyes, but her mouth was pressed in a concerned line.

"I killed someone!" Jungkook rasped.

"So did I," she whispered. "It's going to be okay, I'm so sorry, so sorry. I'm sorry about your friend and about doing this to you..." 

"I asked for it," he said between sobs. He hated crying. He hated feeling so useless. 

"I'm not going anywhere, okay?" Nari put a hand on his shoulder and then he noticed her hold something out to him. "Jin's roommate is terrible at hiding things, I found his blood stash. Have some." 

Jungkook took the blood bag from her and even though it pained him, he drank it. There really were no other options he liked.

Nari helped him to his feet once he was done and he happened to glance in the mirror. He could see Nari reflected back, but not himself. He felt a new wave of panic wash over him. 

"W-where am I?" he stammered and steadied himself against the counter. His breath started coming out in short gasps again, his vision clouded, and his head spun wildly. 

"Hey! It's okay! You're right here. Breathe, count to ten." Nari tried to console him. "No, name three things you can see, three you can feel, and three you can hear," she directed. 

"You, a toothbrush, and the sink. I feel...your hand on my arm, the countertop, and...sad..." he trailed off before he could name anything else. He had regained his composure at least. 

Nari sighed. "Your reflection will come back, Jin mentioned something about it. It's just a newbie thing..." she paused. "And I know...I think everyone is a little bit sad, but you'll see him again, okay? And imagine how happy you will be then. Hold onto that." 

~~~

"What're you doing hyung?" Jimin asked Jin, who was rummaging around in the kitchen. 

"Looking for snacks, we need snacks," Jin muttered. He glanced towards the hall, where Jungkook had disappeared to, and where Nari was resting. He wasn't jealous, per se, of Nari and Jungkook. He knew nothing was actually going on, but he liked when it was just the two of them. Him and her. And also him and Jungkook. He liked the two separate relationships. Now it was all one big complicated thing. 

"I don't think anyone really is hungry..." Jimin said. "So, have you heard from Yoongi?"

"No, he will be back soon I guess..." Jin replied. 

Jungkook chose then to emerge from the bathroom. Before their friends and band mates had arrived, he'd changed into a clean white shirt, but his eyes were glazed over still. "They aren't back yet?" the maknae asked.

"No, I am making snacks in the meantime," Jin said enthusiastically. 

"No one wants snacks," Jungkook deadpanned.

"Well they're good so maybe you'll change your mind. You like my snacks, right Namjoon?" Jin said. 

"Huh?" Namjoon looked over at them. 

"No one wants snacks," Jungkook repeated, a little louder.

"Okay well I'm making them anyway," Jin said, irritation creeping into his voice. 

Jungkook's jaw clenched noticeably. His muscles flexed in his arms as his body tensed up. "No. One. Wants. Snacks!" He said the last bit in just under a shout. 

Jin snapped. "I'M TRYING TO BE HELPFUL!" Jin yelled. 

Jimin and Namjoon froze. 

"OH YEAH, YOU'VE BEEN SUUUUPER HELPFUL! I mean just look at me and how much you've helped! I'M DEAD! D-E-A-D! DEAD! DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD!" Jungkook screamed in response, his words echoing throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and making waves. 

Then before any more screams could be thrown around, the door to the apartment opened and Yoongi and Hoseok walked in. Yoongi looked oddly in good condition, almost glowing even, considering the crappy circumstances they were in and Hoseok seemed to be holding back laughter. 

"Ooookay," Yoongi drawled. "I think we ought to all take a seat." 

~~~

When Tae woke up, he could see. There was actual light! It took his eyes a second to adjust, and when they did he took in everything around him. He was in a room, which was furnished with things that looked centuries old. It was glamorous in a way, but also scary. It was like he had traveled back to medieval times. He was lying on a plush bed, with a canopy and everything. The room had concrete walls and a heavy door. Suddenly, it became very cell-like. The furniture seemed like a way to mask the rooms real purpose: a prison cell. A dungeon even. 

"Yes, you are trapped." Tae nearly had a heart attack when Amara spoke. He hadn't even noticed her sitting at his bedside. Her blonde hair was piled atop her hair elegantly and she wore a tight choker around her pale neck that had an emerald hanging from it, which matched her eyes. She wore a black velvet dress that went to the floor and looked a mix of modern and medieval. Her lips, as usual, were a blood red. 

"Where am I?" Tae asked. 

She sighed and looked around. "My home. If you can call it a home. The rest of my kind are angry. I brought you here because...well because I suppose I care about you and I always have been a terribly selfish person." 

"Your kind?" Tae asked in confusion. 

"You know what I am, Taehyung. Vampires." She said it bluntly, without emotion. He found himself unsure of who Amara really was at all. Everything he thought he felt for her was leaving him, being replaced by fear and longing. "I turned your friend, Min Yoongi." Amara sighed and stood from her chair and sat on the bed next to Tae. He inched away. "I thought perhaps...I don't know...it doesn't matter what I thought about him, because he made his choice. The same choice you would make if I let you." She looked at him. "So I won't let you." 

"I thought..." Tae stopped. He didn't know what he thought. 

"That you loved me? Do you not anymore?" 

"I don't know..."

Amara pulled something from out of her sleeve and held it out to him. It was a photograph. He took it quickly, he knew exactly what it was. "I saved this for you, before they could take it. They took everything from me, my family, my memories...I won't do that to you. You deserve to remember them."

Amara stood then and headed for the door. 

Tae held the picture like it was the most valuable thing in the universe. His friends smiled back at him and his heart beat sped up. "Wait! What are you going to do with me?" 

Amara bit her lip. "I'm going to make you one of us. You have some time though. Enjoy it, because when you cease to be human...everything changes." 

Chapter Text

"Have you three teamed up to pull some kind of prank on the rest of us? Is Tae hiding somewhere? He's going to jump out and scare us, isn't he?" Namjoon peered around. "Kim Taehyung, you better come out!" He called into oblivion. "This isn't funny, guys."

Yoongi and Jin exchanged a jaded look and Jungkook exhaled loudly. Jimin was staring at them with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. 

Jin had tried to discreetly protest when Yoongi had started telling their tale, but it was no use really. It was getting late, and Yoongi wasn't taking any crap from anyone. 

He was the center of attention, standing in front of everyone but Hoseok, who stood slightly behind him, sleepy eyed, but still entranced with what was happening. Jin and Jungkook sat at the kitchen bar, arms folded like two children who had just gotten into an argument and were giving one another the silent treatment. Namjoon and Jimin sat on the couch, confused as hell. 

"It's not a prank," Yoongi said and pulled the letter Amara had left for him out of his back pocket. 

"Vampires are not real," Namjoon stated firmly.

"Come on, how else did I get this devastatingly handsome?" Jin piped up. Yoongi rolled his eyes.

"You haven't been a vampire THAT long, Seokjin. Give it a rest." 

"Yeah, give it a rest," Jungkook parroted. He might as well have stuck out his tongue at his elder. 

"Just show them your teeth, jeez," Hoseok said from behind Yoongi. 

"You believe them?" Jimin finally spoke. 

"Yeah. I mean, I have sort of seen proof so..." Hoseok shrugged then poked Yoongi in the ribs discreetly. Yoongi shot him a look.

"Fine, wanna see teeth? I'll do it. Also, just for the record, it's Jin's fault I’m a vampire and also he has some shady secrets so for sure bring those up any time you need blackmail material," Jungkook said and stood up. His eyes shimmered an unnatural color and he opened his mouth wide, revealing his set of sharp teeth. 

"It's not even Halloween time, how long did it take you to find those?" Namjoon asked seriously. 

"I'll bite you, will that make you believe us?" Jin muttered. 

"Uhhh..." Namjoon looked flustered.

"I believe them," Jimin stated. He was watching Jungkook carefully. Maybe it was the look in the youngest's eyes that convinced him, either way, Yoongi could tell he was sincere. 

"You're kidding," Namjoon sighed. 

"Here," Yoongi held out the letter Amara had left. "Believe us or don't, but Tae needs us, he needs you," Yoongi said as Namjoon reluctantly took the letter. His eyes scanned over the words quickly, his lips moving as he read.

He looked up when he was done and met everyone's eyes once, including Nari's as she had just entered the room. She came over and stood next to Jin.

"I want in, whatever you're doing," she said in that soft voice of hers. 

"Fine. Okay. I believe you," Namjoon said. "So what are we supposed to do about this?"

~~~

Amara's letter was both a warning and a threat. It was cryptic and vague and a little bit sarcastic, like she was. Yoongi expected nothing less.

"We don't really need to start with formalities, do we? I think not. 

That being said, you made your choice, to stick with your friends. I don't blame you, really. That was always how it was going to be. However, this means that I have to remove myself from the situation. I'm not going to be around looking out for you anymore. And yeah, I was looking out for you. Now, you're fair game. The others like us don't like you, an idol of all people, being a vampire. Or Jin. And we all know that that young one is going to be a hell of a problem. (Better tell him not to mess with me.) 

In other words, as I said, you and your friends are fair game. 

Clearly, I have left. I took Tae with me. Don't bother trying to find him, please. Just let me have this one thing. I can't have you, but I can have him. I care about him, as hard as that may be to believe. I won't hurt him, not really. I will make sure he's safe. 

I just sighed while writing this. You aren't going to let me have this, I know it. You and your friends are going to do something stupid. Oh well, I warned you. Consider yourself thoroughly warned. 

-Amara"

~~~

Jimin and Namjoon stayed over at Yoongi and Jin's apartment that night, alone with Hoseok and Nari and Jungkook. It was fair to say that they were in a state of shock, and then going anywhere probably wasn't a good idea. They were the most out of the loop and therefore the most vulnerable.

As a group, they had also decided that it was best that they all got some rest before they tried to make any kind of solid plan. It had been an extremely long day and no one was thinking straight.

"Did you know Jimin snores?" Hoseok asked as he wandered into Yoongi's room. Yoongi was laying on his back, not yet asleep. His mind was buzzing, as he thought about the letter. He knew that every second they wasted, Tae was in danger. 

"I did not," Yoongi replied. 

"Well he does."

"I think there's an air mattress in the hall closet, if you want it," Yoongi said.

"That's what Jimin took. Namjoon got the couch. Jin's girl is in his room with him and Jungkook took the bean-bag in there. Besides, it's not like I’m actually going to sleep anyway," Hoseok said. 

"It's probably a terrible idea that Jungkook is in the same room as Jin right now but I am too lazy to do anything about it," Yoongi shrugged and watched Hoseok bounce around the room. His friend did weird little dance moves when he was irritable, bored, wired, or excited. So like, always. 

"Kook is a smart kid, I think he's going to figure this whole thing out. Although...I don't know what we will all do when we start the tour. I mean, Nari can't exactly travel with Jin, that would cause a circus," Hoseok said, making a good point. Yoongi didn't know what they would do either, but right now he wasn't worrying about that. He was worrying about Taehyung. 

Yoongi closed his eyes and breathed out and felt the bed sink down next to him a moment later as Hoseok lay there. "Do you know how Jin was turned yet?"

"No," Yoongi said. "I think he wanted it and now he's embarrassed to admit that. In the long run, it's not important."

They let the room fall quiet for a long time. Soon though, Yoongi felt Hoseok shuffle around next to him and his friend poked him lightly. Yoongi opened one eye to see Hoseok holding his arm out over Yoongi's face. 

"I have to eat more than once a day so I assume so do you," Hoseok said. His face was free of emotion, but boy did he look tired. 

"Hobi, when was the last time you actually slept properly?" Yoongi asked.

Hoseok replied without moving his arm. "Too long. Science says I should be losing it by now. Maybe I am. Maybe this is all a sleep deprivation hallucination. You being a vampire and all that." He laughed. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"I did this to you," Yoongi said as he wrapped his slender fingers around Hoseok's arm.

"Well at least it was unintentional. I'll be alright. Gotta be."

Yoongi hated that. He hated when Hoseok brushed things off. Then again, he did it too so he couldn't very well be a hypocrite about it. Sighing, he gave in and sunk his teeth into Hoseok's wrist again. 

He heard Hoseok's initial sharp intake of breath, but then he was silent. His skin tasted like soap and his blood was sweet. Yoongi didn't want to stop, but after a moment he had to, so he released Hoseok's arm. Instantly, it dropped like dead weight onto Yoongi's chest. 

"Hobi, move, what're you-" Yoongi stopped when he looked over at Hoseok. He was still and Yoongi had a brief moment of panic before he saw Hoseok's chest rising and falling as be breathed.

Hoseok had fallen asleep. 

His face was completely relaxed, his mouth open slightly and his lashes casting small shadows down his face. Carefully, Yoongi moved Hoseok's arm off himself reached under the bed where he kept extra blankets and spread one over Hoseok. 

Then he got up to turn out the lights and got back in the bed, under the covers and curled up, making sure to give Hoseok enough space. 

"Goodnight," Yoongi whispered in the dark. "...because it may not be a good morning." 

~~~

"So can I ask you something?" Jimin asked Nari as she made breakfast. Jimin and Namjoon were the only ones awake, and it was still pretty early. However, the smell of food would soon lure Jin from sleep and everyone else would follow. 

"Sure," Nari replied. She was a bit flustered, being around all the guys, especially when either Jin or Jungkook weren't around. To her, they were still very much the famous stars that so many fans screamed over. She couldn't believe she was in their presence. And other than the vampire thing, they were all pretty...normal.

"How come you stayed? I mean, Jin explained what happened with you two, last night...if I were you, I wouldn't stay," Jimin said. 

Nari pursed her lips. "Well, I don't have anywhere else to go to be honest. And maybe I am a total idiot but I do care about Jin. I want...I want to make him better through all this...vampire business. Plus, Jungkook needs me. At least until we find V. Or Taehyung, sorry," she explained carefully. 

"And then what after that?" Namjoon joined in the conversation.

"And then...I'm not sure. Of course, I won't stay if I'm not wanted. I just feel like right now...this is where I need to be," Nari said and brought down some bowls and plates for breakfast. 

Jimin and Namjoon took some food and brought it to the couch to eat. Not moments later, Jin emerged from his room eagerly. "You cook?" he asked Nari skeptically.

"Yes, I can cook, don't look so surprised," she said with a smile. 

"I just didn't know," Jin said.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, my friend," Nari handed Jin a bowl. "Is Jungkook awake?"

"Yeah," Jin said. "He's the type that brushes his teeth before breakfast. He's weird." Jimin chuckled and Jin joined his friends on the couch. Nari noticed they didn't move away or act afraid of him; it was nice. Instead they talked quietly like the old friends that they were and laughed at each other's jokes. 

After Jungkook finished brushing his teeth or whatever and came to join them, Yoongi and Hoseok also came out of Yoongi's room, deep in conversation. "No way would I have dyed my hair mint green, so props to you for that," Hoseok was saying.

"What about a different shade of green?" Yoongi asked, a smile on his face. 

"He never is in this good of a mood this early," Jin whispered to Jimin. 

"It depends I guess, but I have to admit the Mint Yoongi jokes were pretty priceless," Hoseok responded enthusiastically which earns an eye-roll from Yoongi. 

"Maybe the first time, but after hearing it every day from a certain Kim Seokjin, it gets old," Yoongi said and nudged Hoseok's shoulder. 

"Ow!" Hoseok exclaimed. "That hurts, you elbowed me there last night."

"Did not!"

"Uh, yes you did. After all I do for you and this is how I'm treated. I'm hurt Hyung." Hoseok feigned an offended expressed.

"Gag. Get a room," Jin said and Jimin choked on his food. Yoongi held up his middle finger in Jin's direction, but his roommate didn't notice. 

Yoongi and Hoseok proceeded to get themselves some breakfast and soon everyone was settled. Jungkook, however, was just picking at his food. His brows were knit together and his jaw was set. Nari started to count. She got to twenty-seven when Jungkook finally stood up. "So what are we going to do? I'm tired of sitting around here. I want to do something. Now." He spoke firmly. It was easy to forget then that he was the youngest of the group. He seemed so much older. 

"You're right. We don't really have the luxury of sitting around anymore..." Yoongi agreed. "We don't know where Amara took Tae, so that's the first step, figuring out where they are."

"How do you propose we do that, oh Genius Min Yoongi?" Jin asked. Nari couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Did she ever mention something to you?" Hoseok asked Yoongi.

"Wait. Like, what was your deal with her anyway?" Jungkook asked, his authoritative tone replaced by a quizzical one. 

Yoongi let out a long breath. "Long story, no time. I know of a place to go to get answers. People might be hesitant to talk, but hopefully someone will be willing to share. Jin, you can come with me," Yoongi said and stood up. 

"Are you going where we went that one time? I want to go," Hoseok stood too.

"No," Yoongi held his hand out. Nari watched the exchange with great interest. "It's dangerous there and you're lucky you got out unscathed last time. I'm not bringing you back there. If we all end up going to get Tae...that's dangerous enough. At least stay safe here for now, okay?"

Hoseok sighed and nodded reluctantly, plopping back down onto the sofa. 

"What about me?" Jungkook asked.

"Can you stay here for now? Can you handle yourself, and making sure everyone else is good?" Yoongi asked seriously.

"Yes."

Yoongi looked and Nari, a silent understanding passing between them as she nodded. She would make sure Jungkook remained under control. "Be safe," she said to Jin before he left.

"You too, Lily," he replied and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

~~~

Jin could tell that Yoongi was still annoyed with him. Yoongi had two moods: pretending to be annoyed and actually annoyed. As the two of them walked down the street, sunglasses on and hoods pulled over their heads so they wouldn't recognized, Yoongi continuously let out loud sighs, which meant he was Actually Annoyed. 

"Just say whatever you want to say," Jin muttered.

"I don't want to say anything," Yoongi replied. "I just want to help Tae."

"I'm sorry alright. I didn't turn Jungkook. It's..." Jin trailed off. He was not going to throw Nari under the bus. Besides, at the end of the day, it WAS his fault. "It's just that I feel like you resent me," Jin admitted. "Why didn't you say anything sooner, if you knew? I didn't know about you."

Yoongi stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the sidewalk. "I don't want to be like this. I wasn't given a choice, alright."

"And..."

"And I think you had a choice and you chose to be a fucking vampire!" Yoongi said loudly. He glanced around, but they were nearing their destination and the streets were fairly deserted.

"So you're mad because I chose this? Because I did. Choose it. But...I mean it was my choice right?" Jin countered.

"And look at the consequences of that choice, Seokjin. Look where we are." Yoongi threw his hands out, but he wasn't referring to their location so much as he was to their situation.

"I didn't have anything to do with Amara. That was you. What's that about anyway?" Jin asked. Yoongi said nothing and after a moment both of them relaxed their shoulders and took deep breaths. They couldn't afford to fight. "She turned you, yeah? I won't ask for the details but like...what? Why were you with her that day? Or...yesterday? Wow a lot has happened..." 

"We...had a thing, once, sorta," Yoongi muttered.

Jin laughed, loudly. It was so obnoxious that Yoongi smiled slightly too. "Wow I didn't know you were capable of 'having a thing'. Then again when you call it 'having a thing' that implies you have issues," Jin smirked down at his roommate. "Remember to be safe, use protection."

"God, Jin! What is wrong with you? I'm a grown adult! Besides, she was Tae's girlfriend, aren't you going to say something about that?"

"She's also our current enemy, so I mean, the bar is set pretty low. But yeah, that was crappy of you," Jin said. They walked in silence for a moment longer and watched as the surrounding buildings got more run down and the air got colder. "I can see why we don't really date," Jin murmured when Yoongi came to a stop.

"Huh?"

"Like, clearly it causes a lot of issues. Tae caused the media to have a field day. His girlfriend seduced you. We're vampires. You prefer sleep to other people. I could go on, but you get the point."

"Untrue, I just prefer people that aren't super annoying. I like all people, actually, but I like not-annoying people even more. Especially if it were a person I was going to date. Turns out Amara is pretty damn annoying, to put it loosely."

"Well then you must hate me," Jin winked.

"I do, sometimes, but your jokes won me over," Yoongi said and turned in a circle, trying to decide which building they should check out first. 

"Wait what? Are you serious? Can you repeat that?" 

"I will repeat nothing," Yoongi said. "Now come on, we have work to do." 

~~~

There was one window in Tae's cell. It was up high and he could only see out of it after stacking crates that decorated the room (they were all actually empty inside) on top of each other and climbing on top of them. It took him a while and once he was able to just barely peek out the small window, he was breathless and exhausted. 

And it wasn't even worth it.

Because the window gave him a view of about ten feet ahead, and then all he could see was a brick wall. Just some grass and a brick wall. 

Tae cursed under his breath and lowered himself off his tip toes and carefully climbed down from the crates. Once he was down he sunk to the cold concrete floor. He was too tired to go to the bed. 

Weakly, he managed to get the photo out of his back pocket. He began to whisper each of his friend’s names to himself. Some things were fuzzy in his memory and he genuinely didn't know if he had been in this place for hours, days, or months, so he made sure he still could put names to faces. "Kim Seokjin," he began with the eldest. "Kim Namjoon," he continued. "Jung Hoseok..." he paused on himself. "Me." Then he went to the person next to him. He was the youngest. His arm was slung around Tae and there was a big smile on his face. "Jeon..." Tae thought hard. He knew it. He knew his name. He could remember his face, he could even remember his voice, both speaking and singing. So why had his name escaped Tae? "Jeon...J..." He tried again, but still his mind was blank. He wasn't even thinking about the remaining people in the photo who had yet to be named. 

"I have to remember!" he shouted. "I know you, you're...you're..." 

Forgotten.

He was forgotten.

~~~

Three hours passed before Jin and Yoongi returned from their information gathering mission. During that time, Jungkook had passed out into a dead sleep again. Evidentially getting turned made him pretty tired, as did binging on all of Yoongi's blood bags. He thought Yoongi might be mad at first, but right before he went to take a nap, he noticed Hoseok studying his wrist, where there was just the faintest teeth marks. 

Jungkook had a feeling Yoongi didn't really need those blood bags. 

And so, he drank them all, told Nari he was taking a nap, and went to lay down in Jin's room. No time at all seemed to pass by the time someone was shaking him awake. He groaned but sat up anyway. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Yoongi snapped.

"I had to sleep. I figured I needed to be well rested when you guys got back!" Jungkook said in annoyance. "I put Nari in charge."

"Nari is gone!" Jin, who Jungkook just noticed, shouted from behind Yoongi. 

Jungkook looked between them frantically. They looked deadly serious. Jungkook sighed. "Oh...well crap." 

~~~

The last thing Nari remembered was stepping outside to get some air. She told Jimin what she was doing and jokingly said if she didn't come back in ten minutes, to not come after her because there was no use in something bad happening to him, too. 

Now, she was sitting in a dimly lit room with her arms bound to the chair. Literally why was her luck so bad? 

"Hello?" she called out. She knew she should be afraid, but honestly, she really wasn't. Not after everything with Jin and especially not after everything with Jungkook. She already had blood on her hands and she wasn't scared to get more on them if she had to. She was going to live. She was going to fight. There was no way in hell that she was going to be someone's puppet anymore.

It was then that the door, which she was facing, opened. In sauntered the girl Nari had seen briefly when they had found Jungkook. She looked the same, all elegance and blonde hair. 

"So, I had one of my friends pick you up. I want to know what Yoongi and Jin are doing," she said, without any introductions. 

"I'm not telling you anything," Nari said firmly. 

Amara pursed her lips and sighed. "Fine. We can do this the hard way then. I love doing things the hard way. Then again, it won't be very hard for me, you maybe, if you resist. But all I need to do is look in your mind and I'll have all the answers I need."

~~~

"This is all my fault. All of it. I can't even believe this is happening. I'm going to fucking explode. Actually combust. I want a big ass funeral, okay? Like invite fucking everyone," Yoongi ranted as he packed a bag quickly. 

"Does combustion kill a vampire?" Hoseok asked. "Does a wooden stake? What's the most efficient way to kill someone like you? I don't ask because I want to kill you, but if we are going into a war zone here it would be nice to know, right?"

"I don't know, Hobi. The wooden stake thing works. I've been told. Otherwise I don't know so, like, go sharpen some of Jin's wooden cooking utensils or some shit." Yoongi zipped up his bag angrily. "AHH!" he shouted loudly and Hoseok jumped. 

Hoseok came up and put his hand on Yoongi's shoulder. "Stop putting all this on yourself, okay? Everyone else is here, too. We're all in this. If it's anyone's fault it's Amara's. That's it, that's how it is," Hoseok said. 

Yoongi took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah. Okay," he nodded and gave Hoseok a weak smile. 

"Come on, let's get this party started." Hoseok nudged Yoongi out of his room, but not before taking Yoongi's hand and squeezing it, letting him know that he wasn't going to leave, not ever. 

~~~

Namjoon felt his anxiety building. His phone was blowing up and he itched to answer it, but he couldn't. He really felt like he couldn't do anything, even though they were moving, they had a plan.

An insanely loose plan.

"They're going to see us coming a mile away at this rate. If they really are watching," Namjoon said to Yoongi when they were in the car, on their way to the airport.

"Okay well I'm not a fucking bird, I can't fly on my own," Yoongi snapped. 

He and Jin were both on edge, probably for different reasons. They'd explained that they had found someone willing to talk, someone who Amara had apparently rubbed the wrong way, and they explained that Amara sometimes went away to some place out in the middle of nowhere on the other side of the country. It would be quickest to get there by plane. Their informant had told them that they were idiots to go there, but had given them fairly good directions anyway. 

"Wait, you're saying you don't have...wings?" Jin said. He sat across from Yoongi. They were all stuffed in one car, all six of them, and Namjoon really hoped they got to the airport soon, only because if someone punched someone else, he might be caught in the crossfire being cramped in the car. Jin started to hum loudly, to the tune of "Outro: Wings". 

"So what are the chances that everyone is going to see us boarding or whatever?" Jimin asked.

"One hundred percent, especially since we called the driver," Namjoon answered.

"Just act normal," Yoongi said. 

The car slowed to a stop then, indicating they had arrived. They all sat there for several moments, the only sound was Jin's fading hums. Jungkook made the first move to the door, pushed it open and stepped out of the car. He pulled his hoodie over his head and started off. Everyone else hurried after him. Namjoon was last, after Jin. 

Right before they were going to board, he broke down and checked his phone. There were a bunch of texts from their managers, and voicemails too. He listened to one. 

"What the hell is going on? Why are you boarding a plane? Call me back I need to know where you're going? And where is Taehyung?" 

"Might as well ditch that," Yoongi pointed at the phone. 

"I would feel better if I kept it with me," Namjoon replied.

"Suit yourself, but it's just going to make you more nervous. Articles are going to start about this. People will talk. Photos circulate. We have to ignore it there are more important things happening," Yoongi said calmly. 

Namjoon nodded; Yoongi was right. Still, he kept his phone on him, but he did turn it off. He needed to be focused on Tae. They hadn't dealt with Jin's dramatic screaming as they sharpened points into his wooden cooking spoons earlier for nothing. 

"Do you know how much those cost?!" Jin had cried.

"You never even use them!" Yoongi replied.

Namjoon smiled slightly, for what might be the last time, he thought, as they boarded the plane.

~~~

Yoongi had been right. People did talk about what they were doing. Photos of them at the airport quickly made their rounds on the internet and most of the chatter was about Taehyung not being with them.

"BTS goes on a mystery trip minus one member."

"Is there a fallout between BTS and V?"

"BTS makes surprise appearance at the airport during their small break"

The list went on and on. Of course, none of the theories about what they were doing were nearly as exciting or scandalous as what was actually going down. They had no idea. And that was for the best.

Chapter Text

Someone was fitting him for a suit, someone was trimming his hair, and someone else was adjusting a tray of snacks that Tae hadn't touched. He knew without asking that all these people were human, not like Amara or Creepy Dude. They were like him. Only worse.

Worse because they all acted like zombies. Preforming their actions without speaking or looking him in the eye. Like they had been told exactly what to do and how to act and they knew nothing else. They were all deathly pale and terribly thin and it made Tae's heart hurt. 

It hurt so much because he feared that he had been them not so long ago, but he really couldn't remember. He really couldn't remember himself. He knew his name, and some basic trivial things, but he found himself unable to remember mundane things like if he liked pizza or what his favorite color was. 

And of course, he had woken up that morning unable to remember the names of anyone in his photo. 

"Don't cry, it may stain the fabric," one of the humans said, as she held a red satin fabric up to Tae's chest. He abruptly wiped the tears from his cheeks just as Amara entered the room with another human trailing behind her, holding a tray with a glass cup on it. 

"That color will look good on you," Amara remarked and Tae scoffed.

"I thought you didn't keep humans here," he said.

"We don't, at least not ones that are aware. These," she gestures to the people. "are compelled to do our bidding."

"That's so wrong!" Tae exclaimed, but Amara simply shrugged and then pulled the girl behind her forward. The girl stood rigid like the others, but Tae saw something in her eyes. Some sign of life. It was fear. The girl had dark black hair that was in need of being cut and she was thin, but not as much so as the others. She looked slightly better taken care of. 

"Put the glass down on the table, Nari," Amara instructed the girl. She did as Amara said, but not before locking eyes with Tae. It was a very intentional action and Tae suddenly had the impression that this girl was not in Amara's grasp, but was only pretending to be. 

He was deep in thought about this, watching the girl, so he didn't notice Amara biting into her own wrist and draining her blood into the glass the girl had placed near Tae. 

"You should drink that," Amara pointed to the glass full of blood. "I want it drained by the time I come back. Nari will stay and ensure that you drink it. I have business to attend to, concerning your transformation ceremony and our union. I will be back soon." With that, she turned and left the room, and the three humans who had been fussing over him followed her and only the dark-haired girl remained, along with the glass of blood.

"Is Nari your name?" Tae asked after a moment. The girl stood there for a long time without answering. She seemed to be holding her breath. 

He was about to give up. He was about to give up hope that anyone could be on his side. He was even about to just drink the blood, not knowing what would happen if he did (but knowing if he didn't that there would be consequences). However, he froze when the girl relaxed her shoulders, falling into a more natural position. "Don't drink it," she said. "I know your friends. I know Jin. They're going to come for you."

"Jin?" 

"Until they come I won't let anything happen to you, so don't drink that. Amara thinks she has me, but she doesn't. And she won't, ever. She won't have you either." The girl paused and took a deep breath. "They really miss you. You're so lucky to have friends that love you so much."

~~~

"So are we just going to charge in there and demand they hand over Tae?" Hoseok asked on the plane. They sat in a group, Yoongi and Hoseok next to each other, Jimin and Jungkook next to them across the aisle and Namjoon and Jin in front of them. 

"I mean...no?" Yoongi said hesitantly. 

"He has no plan," Jin interjected. 

"Neither do you," Jungkook said. 

"I don't like not having a plan. I'm not immortal," Jimin said blankly. He did make a good point though. 

"Well, like, I figure we see what this place looks like. If it's a fortress or something then..." Yoongi trailed off. He honestly wasn't really sure what they would do once they located the vampire’s hideaway. Obviously, this was where some seriously old and powerful vampires held up and that was not something he wanted to think about. Even though he was going to have to think about it. He was also going to have to think about the possibility that Tae was already lost to them.

"I think we should be stealth about it," Hoseok suggested. "See if we can sneak in without making too much of a scene. I mean one of you blood suckers might be able to convince the other vampires you belong there, right?"

"My good looks alone can charm them into believing we belong there," Jin said. 

"You'd bet all our lives on your good looks?" Namjoon asked.

"Uh, yes."

"Great good to know," Namjoon sighed. 

"How long until we land?" Jungkook asked. 

"An hour or two, not long," Yoongi answered. "We should relax, just...gather our thoughts," he said, mainly because he didn't want to bicker with everyone right then. 

They all fell silent. Namjoon put on his headphones, Jimin started watching one of the little movies the plane had with Jungkook. Jin stared out the window and Hoseok and Yoongi just sat there. 

"We've got this," Hoseok suddenly whispered to Yoongi. Then he looked away, out the window. Yoongi felt his eye lids getting heavy. He was hungry too, but he wasn't about to feed on Hoseok in front of everyone. So instead he gave in to his sleepiness and let his eyes close for the short amount of time they had left. His head fell to the side and rested on Hoseok's shoulder. 

Yoongi was a realist. And that meant that every time he told himself, as he drifted off, that everything would be fine, he knew it wasn't true. He knew he was lying to himself.

~~~

"Did he drink it?" Amara asked Nari when she returned to Tae's room. 

Nari had readjusted her posture, straight-backed and robotic, hands folded primly in front of her. 

"Yes, every last drop," Nari answered in monotone. 

Amara nodded and studied Tae, who sat with his back to her on the bed. "Good. It may seem dire now, but soon everything will be better. You'll be young forever; doesn't that sound great?"

Tae laughed darkly. "Is that meant to be a joke?" he asked.

Nari understood what he meant, but she wasn't sure that Amara did. Amara didn't reply to Tae at all. Instead she nudged Nari forward and Nari gathered up the empty glass that had been filled with Amara's blood and followed Amara out of Tae's chambers. She felt bad leaving him there alone but she knew she had no choice if she wanted to make it out of this. 

Once they were down the hall, Amara stopped and Nari came to a halt behind her. Amara turned to face Nari and studied her face carefully. Nari tried her hardest not to give away anything. 

She also tried to breathe through her nose because she didn't want Amara to smell the blood on her breath. Because she had drank the blood Amara had given for Tae to drink. It wouldn't affect her, not unless she died anytime soon and she had no intentions of doing so. However, Tae deserved a choice and Nari had told him as quickly as she could about the blood and Tae firmly decided he didn't want it. And so, Nari drank it, to get rid of it. 

"You poor girl. So weak," Amara commented finally. "It must feel terrible to be captive to Seokjin and then to be our captive, I cannot imagine. Well, I suppose at this point you can't even think for yourself so it does not matter." 

She was wrong though, Nari had resisted her compulsion. She didn't know how she did it but she focused everything she had into not letting Amara get to her. She created fake images in her mind when Amara entered her subconscious. Nari was smart and while Amara might be able to rip her throat out, Nari would still know she had died outsmarting her. 

Amara led her down a long hallway that finally opened up into a large ballroom. At the front of the room was a small stage or platform, where there was a large stand, where a bowl and other assorted things sat. The stand came to hip-level and had a flat top. "I need you to set up candles over there," Amara instructed, so Nari obliged, but watched Amara as she went to the platform.

Once there, she bit into her wrist again and drained some of her blood into the bowl. Nari assumed Tae would have to drink that, too, and she felt herself deflate. Her efforts would be for nothing if Tae drank that. She didn't know how else to delay things. And if she couldn't delay things she would make sure Tae didn't take any vampire blood. He didn't want to be a vampire and he deserved to be able to stand by his choice. 

Nari was debating her options when someone entered the ballroom. It was a tall, strange, scary looking man with eyes as red as roses. He made her skin crawl, but she also couldn't tear her eyes away from him. 

"Things are looking well, my dear," the man said to Amara. She stepped down from the platform and walked over to the man. "I do wish you would reconsider, though."

"I won't."

"I know, you have always been stubborn," the man glanced at Nari, who quickly looked away and pretended to busy herself with the candles. "Ah well, your dress is almost ready and I wish to speak with you about something, so if you would come with me..." he trailed off.

"Yes, of course," Amara didn't even bother to say anything to Nari before she and the man left.

As soon as she was alone, Nari rushed over to the platform and put her hands on the bowl of Amara's blood. It was warm.

Nari took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She counted to ten before she picked up the bowl and brought the rim to her mouth. She let her mind go blank as she tipped it back and chugged the contents. Her stomach churned but she swallowed and made sure to keep it all down. Then she picked up a knife that sat next to the bowl and put it to her wrist. She didn't really think things through, but she sliced into her skin and let her blood trickle into the bowl, replacing Amara's. That way, if Tae drank it, it wouldn't have the affect Amara's blood did. 

Nari almost freaked out when she realized she had no means of treating her self-inflicted wound, however she found that after a few moments, the wound started to heal on its own. Just like how Jin was able to heal rapidly. It must be Amara's blood in her system. It must have healing properties for humans. Either way, Nari was grateful for it. 

At least Amara had been good for something. 

~~~

"We are in the middle of freaking nowhere!" Jungkook exclaimed. "Who even puts a hotel up out here? Who, as a vampire overlord, decides they are going to have their base out here? Because if I were an all powerful vampire overlord I would be ruling from the city. In a fucking skyscraper!"

"Watch your language," Jin scolded.

They had landed and took a car to a small hotel (that was being generous, it was hardly a motel, really) that was close to where they were supposed to be going, according to their less than reliable informant. And Jungkook was right, they were in the middle of nowhere. All there was to see was grass for miles and miles. It was going to be difficult to sneak up on anyone since there wasn't anything to hide behind. 

"Besides there isn't one vampire overlord. It's just...a bunch of vampire overlords, apparently," Yoongi commented, realizing that this wasn't comforting information. 

"I will get us a couple of rooms and then...what? We head out and look for this place? Or do we rest first?" Namjoon asked.

"No we aren't stalling anymore," Jungkook said and Namjoon shrugged and went inside. 

Yoongi noticed that Jungkook was keeping his hoodie on and was squinting hard. He was clearly uncomfortable with the sunlight, still being so new. He was weaker because of it too, but he was trying not to show it. Not to mention he probably needed to feed. 

As if reading his mind, Hoseok touched Yoongi's arm softly and nodded his head towards the back of the check-in building. 

"I'll be right back," Yoongi said to Jungkook. "Don't let anyone else go missing, alright?"

Jin watched Yoongi and Hoseok walk away from the group and called, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" 

~~~

"So what are the chances we all die?" Hoseok asked once he and Yoongi were alone. 

"Honestly?" Hoseok nodded. "Pretty high. But your optimism has rubbed off on me, so I think we have a shot."

Hoseok laughed slightly and looked at his wrist. "It seems like just yesterday we were all a bunch of kids, you know? Trying to make it big."

"I'm glad I wasn't turned into a vampire then, because I would hate to be stuck looking like I looked then forever," Yoongi scrunched up his nose.

"Well..." Hoseok pulled his sleeves down over his wrists which earned a confused look from Yoongi. "If we might die anyway, you can just go for the neck."

"What?"

"I don't know, that's the cliché isn't it?" Hoseok lifted his chin up, exposing the tan skin of his neck and the lines of the veins running under his skin. "Just do it. Don't make this awkward."

"You made it awkward by saying not to make it awkward," Yoongi said, his voice low. He glanced around the side of the building but the others weren't paying them any attention. It looked like Jungkook and Jin were bickering again and Jimin was trying to play referee. Namjoon was still inside. 

"I am not awkward. I'm smooth as hell, Min Yoongi," Hoseok was still talking when Yoongi gripped his shoulders and leaned forward to his neck.

Hoseok held his breath when Yoongi's lips hit his skin and didn't release it until he felt that familiar pinch. When Yoongi drank from his wrist it was intense. It was indescribable, but this, this was a thousand times more intense. It didn't hurt, it felt like flying. His senses felt heightened and the whole world seemed brighter. 

And it was over much too quick. 

"I'm sorry, I think I took too much," Yoongi said. Blood coated his lips, making them a striking red. 

"I'm okay," Hoseok assured him, eyes locked on Yoongi. "Actually I'm more than-"

"Come on!!" Jungkook suddenly yelled. "Let’s go, I'm tired of this, I want to stab some vampires! Especially a certain blonde! So. Come. On!"

~~~

Nari placed the suit on Tae's bed carefully. She lightly scratched her leg, where, under the dress Amara had put her in, she had a small wooden stake which she had found in the pile of things in the ballroom. Someone might miss it, sure, but it was a risk Nari was willing to take. Amara was speaking softly to Tae, who, in the short time that had passed since Nari saw him last, seemed to have deflated. His eyes lacked brightness and his mouth was in a permanent frown. 

"I didn't like it at first either, but eventually you will find that this life, it has so much more to offer!" Amara was saying.

"Is that what you tell yourself?" Tae asked in monotone. "I can remember some things about our time together, and when it was happening i didn't realize but now i see. I see how unhappy you are. You hate what you are and you hate the life you have because of it. You despise the person who turned you. And if you turn me I promise I will hate you for it. Forever."

Nari ran her hands over the fabric of the suit. The vibe in the room was tense. She felt awkward and out of place, but she had to suppress that because she shouldn't be able to feel anything at all.

"Say what you want, it won't change anything," Amara said harshly before heading towards the door.

"I will never love you!" Tae shouted at her back. "I hate you!"

Amara stopped and looked at Nari. "Make sure he gets dressed," she said, but her voice cracked and Nari couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. Nari was a caring person, nothing would change that. 

Amara left then, leaving the two of them alone. "When you get out there, just stall. Stall as much as you possibly can," Nari said to Tae.

"No one is coming for me," he said miserably.

"I promise you they are coming. You're going to get out of here."

Tae sighed and stood up, coming over to look at his suit. Without warning, he yanked his shirt off over his head and picked up the dress shirt he was meant to wear. It was black like the night sky without stars and matched his eyes. 

Nari kept her eyes averted forward, but Tae didn't seem to care that she was there. "I'm scared," Tae said after a moment.

"Me too."

"I had a nightmare, the night before Amara took me here. I was wearing a suit and she was wearing a dress and I think we were getting married..." Tae picked up the tie, also black, and looked at it quizzically. Nari quickly stepped up to help him put it on. "It was backwards though, I was walking down the aisle to her. I thought she looked like an angel, and then when I finally got to her I had to look away for a second because I was so overwhelmed. And then when I looked back up...it was me. And everything else faded away and it was just me and...me." Tae finished just as Nari finished tying his tie. 

"That's, uh, weird," Nari offered.

"No, you don't understand," Tae said quietly. He turned away from her, looking in the mirror that had been brought for him. "There's a superstition that if you see yourself, or see the person who looks just like you...it's an omen of your death and soon...you die."

~~~

To say the structure in front of them was a fortress would be pretty accurate. It was a castle, a fortress, and completely intimidating. It rendered all of them speechless.

"Well fuck," Yoongi spoke first. 

"How are we supposed to find one Taehyung in there?!" Jimin exclaimed. 

"Be quiet and listen, maybe? He's loud," Hoseok pointed out. 

"Ten out of ten, wow. I can't believe you thought of that! So genius!" Jungkook rolled his eyes. 

They all got quiet again.

"Well, what are we standing around for? I didn't let you heathens ruin my kitchen supplies for nothing!" Jin said and started walking confidentially towards the looming structure like a brave knight. Really though there wasn't any other option. Jungkook was first to follow after Jin. 

The remaining four exchanged weary looks before trudging through the grass after them, pathetically wielding wooden spoons with handles that were carved to a point. 

~~~

When everyone caught up to Jin, they found him at a window, which he had smashed in. It was low to the ground outside, but when they looked in, they saw that the drop to the floor inside was pretty far. "You're welcome," Jin said, referencing that he had found them a way in.

"Okay so how do we get down there without breaking our legs?" Jungkook asked.

"Yeah, my legs are my best asset I can't go around breaking them," Hoseok said. 

"I agree," Yoongi said. 

"That my legs are my best asset?" 

"No, I mean yeah sure, but like, I mean about getting down there. Your legs are great, but like, not really what I was-"

"Blah blah blah. I'm dying here listening to this and I'm already dead," Jin grumbled. "While you guys were busy vandalizing my cooking stuff-"

"Get over it," Jungkook interrupted. The maknae was really pushing his limits with the backtalk. 

"I was busy gathering actual supplies one might need when on a rescue mission," Jin finished and shrugged off the backpack he had brought with him. No one had even asked about it. "Exhibit A, flashlight. Vampires like the dark, it might be dark in there. Exhibit B, matches. Vampires plus fire equals bad. Exhibit C and my personal favorite, as if right now, rope." Jin held up a coil of strong looking rope and everyone let out a collective sigh. "I will hold it as you all lower yourselves down and then I’ll tie it to the broken window frame here and come down myself and hopefully we can use it later to climb back out. Sound good?"

"Sounds great considering it's really our only option," Namjoon replied. 

Jin nodded and Jungkook, obviously, stepped up to be first. Everyone went down smoothly until it was Jin's turn. They all watched him nervously from the ground inside. They were in a big empty room that could have been for anything and that they all hoped would stay empty until they left it. 

"Be careful," Namjoon called up to Jin, who mumbled something incoherent. 

Eventually he tossed the rope down and started lowering himself down. He made it about halfway when they all clearly heard the window frame creaking and moaning. Jin cursed under his breath just before it snapped and he feel back first towards the floor. The others, lucky jumped into action and broke his fall, but they all ended up in a big heap on the floor.

"Ow get off me!" Jimin said too loudly for Yoongi's comfort. 

"Yeah you might squish him, he's small," Hoseok said and scooted away from everyone before helping Yoongi up. 

Jin, who had landed most on Jimin sat up with a groan while Jimin and Namjoon struggled to get their bearings. Jungkook wasn't among them at all, he was at the door to the room, peaking out. 

"What's what?" Yoongi asked him.

"There's just a long hallway. I don't know how we are supposed to navigate this huge place. By the time we figure it out Tae could be..." Jungkook was unable to finish his sentence. 

"Let's just start walking and when we run into someone else we will make them take us to Tae," Jin said firmly. 

No one objected, primarily because no one had a better idea. So, Jungkook opened the door all the way and the six of them stepped into the hallway, never mind the fact that they now had no escape plan. Never mind the fact that half of them were humans and vulnerable. Never mind the fact that the odds were against them. Never mind all of that because finding their seventh was the most important thing there was.

~~~

Amara stood in the ballroom, hands clasped in front of her, waiting. She was clad in a black lacy dress with long sleeves and a deep v in the front and back. Her skin was littered with goosebumps and her feet felt tired from standing on them, even though it was really all in her head. 

And she was uncomfortable because her elder, the only other person in the large room, stood only a few feet away, his eyes trained on her. It was a predatory gaze and she wanted nothing more than to die when it was pointed at her, and yet she was already dead. 

"There is still time to change your mind, dear," he spoke and she was forced to look at him.

She adjusted her hair so it fell over her chest, covering the skin her dress left bare. "I'm not changing my mind. You're still going to do the ceremony, right?"

"Of course. Anything for you, Amalthyia." he stepped closer to her and she ground her teeth together. "I would do anything for you, you're my favorite child, you know?" he brushed her cheek with his hand. It took everything in her not to flinch.

"You say that to all your children," Amara said. This was true, but to him 'favorite' had a different meaning when it came to her. "Please don't touch me, he will be here any moment and we can begin."

Her elder dropped his hand to his side, but smiled at her, all teeth. Memories of that smile being flashed at her made her want to cry. It was that smile that had taken everything from her. Her family, her happiness, her innocence. Her life. 

"This union won't change anything, dear," he said, but now he wasn't looking at her, instead watching the door. 

Amara didn't speak, but she thought to herself that this union would change everything. She would leave here after it and she would never ever come back. She and Tae would escape somewhere far away from all the horrors this place held. She would never let anyone use her again.

At last, the door to the ballroom opened and Tae stood there, Nari behind him, head down and ready to obey. It was customary that after a union ceremony was complete and the other, being Tae, was turned, they would feed together. Nari would be their first meal. 

Tae was dressed in his suit, and when he reached Amara, they made quite the pair. 

Nari positioned herself behind the elder, head still down, and hands together behind her back. Everything was ready. They could begin.

~~~

It didn't take long for them to run into a line of humans, all dressed alike, and for Jin to intercept one of them. They didn't struggle or try to pull away, not until Jin looked them dead in the eye and told them to 'snap out of it'. Then they started freaking out.

It took a minute for the six of them to calm to woman down. She was slight, and older than some of the other people they'd seen. "Listen, if you help us I swear on everything you'll get to leave here," Jin said. Yoongi wondered if he actually believed they could rescue this woman too. 

"H-help you what?" she stammered. 

"Do you know if anyone is being kept here named Tae? He's about this tall," Jungkook held up his hand, "and he's got this really goofy smile and he's pretty handsome, okay? And also-"

"Oh my god," Jin deadpanned. "He looks like this," Jin took out his phone and brought up a photo of Tae. 

"Oh, yeah, right," Jungkook blushed. 

The woman glanced at the photo for only a second before nodding. "The mean blonde one has him being kept here. But I think they moved him to the main ballroom a moment ago. A girl with black hair took him there."

"Nari?" Jin asked excitedly.

"I-I don't know her name..."

"Okay well can you bring us to the ballroom where he is?" Yoongi asked. 

"Y-yes I think I k-know the way."

"Is it full of vampires?"

"Not that I know of. I heard...I remember hearing that it would be a private ceremony. Most of the vampires are way on the other side of this place in their private chambers. That's where they usually are," the woman explained. 

"Okay then, lead the way, please, we haven't got all day," Jin said and the woman nodded and scurried off down the hall, six boys trailing after her.

~~~

Nari could feel it in her gut. She could feel them coming. Deep inside her, she knew any moment that door would bust open and they would be saved, somehow. 

She also felt, deep down, ever since she was young, that her life was meant to be greater than what it was. She didn't have this in mind though. But she hoped. She hoped that once it was all over that she could make something new of her life. She wanted to stay with Jin. Whatever that meant. She wanted to see what became of Jungkook and Taehyung. 

More than anything, she wanted to see what became of herself. 

They say only the good die young, but Nari was not going to die today. She squeezed her eyes shut. She was not going to die. 

Taehyung was picking up the glass bowl that Nari had replaced with her own blood. She watched him as be brought it to his lips. He hadn't even tried to stall, like she'd told him too. 

As the blood entered his mouth, Nari realized something that made her heart leap, and not in a good way. As he drank it, her stomach dropped. When he swallowed, his face twisted up in disgust, she dug her finger nails into her palms. 

But then, when the door to the ballroom flew open, banging against the wall, she smiled. And then she jumped into action, reaching for the wooden stake she had under her dress and lunging at the elder vampire in front of her. 

Chapter Text

Everything happened very fast, but also somehow very slow. The doors flew open and Yoongi, Hoseok, Jin, Namjoon, Jimin, and Jungkook stood there, wilding their homemade weapons. They were all momentarily relieved when they found Taehyung alive. He was holding an empty glass bowl. 

The next thing that happened was that he dropped the glass bowl in surprise and it fell to the ground, shattering and sending shards of glass in all directions. 

It provided a good distraction for Nari, who Jin had locked eyes with moments before he saw the wooden stake in her hands. She came up quick behind the vampire none of them recognized and without any warning drove the stake into his back.

This warranted a scream from Amara as well as the Nari's vampire victim. He cried out in anguish before falling to his knees. His skin started to turn an ashy grey and his red eyes burnt out. He fell face first onto the floor and was soon motionless. Dead. For real this time. Nari stood over him, breathing hard and wearing a wild grin on her face. 

Taehyung paid no mind to any of this. He was focused on the group who had just barged in. Most importantly, he was focused on the youngest of the group. 

"Jungkook," he said softly, a smile breaking out on his face. "Jeon Jungkook." 

"Taehyung!" Jungkook breathed out in relief. "Are you okay? I'm so glad you're-"

They had all forgotten one very important factor. In the excitement and the relief, they had forgotten Amara. She had been transfixed momentarily by her dead elder, and if anyone had been watching her, they would have seen the grin that appeared on her face when he died. They would have seen the way it transformed her face into something twisted and ugly and dark. They would have seen her snatch the knife off the pedestal. But they weren't watching and they didn't see. 

Taehyung was able to take one step forward, off the small stage, towards Jungkook, but that was all. That was all because everything changed in one moment for all of them. Amara came up behind Tae and used one arm to encircle him. 

"Amara don't!" Yoongi cried out.

"No!" Jungkook shouted. 

"Stop!" Jin said, in a low voice.

"Oh my god," Nari squeaked.

"Taehyung!" Jimin cried.

"Don't do this!" Namjoon reached forward.

"Please..." Hoseok tried.

Nothing worked. Nothing stopped Amara from taking her knife and using it to slice through Tae's neck. It all happened in one second. One second Tae was alive, smiling and ready to run into the arms of his friends. The next second, the life was leaving his eyes and blood was coating the floor. The last second, he collapsed and was completely and utterly gone. 

And Amara stepped back, dropped the knife and admired her work.

"I'm going to kill you!" Jungkook was the first to react. He ran at Amara, but when he got close, he reached Tae first and seemed to lose all control over himself. He fell to his knees in defeat and cradled his friends head in his lap. 

"Tae...Tae I'm so sorry." he cried. Tears streaked down his face at an alarming rate.

"Oh relax. He drank my blood, he's going to come back, he'll wake up any second," Amara said cockily. 

Nari threw up then, turning away from the group and continuing to dry heave until she felt weak and shaky. A hand touched her back, and she knew Jin was there. "He won't come back," Nari said. " He drank my blood," and then she was sobbing into Jin's chest, hard and violently.

The room became silent except for the sound of crying. Not even Amara had anything further to say. Her grin had turned into nothing. Her face was free of emotion when she turned away from Tae's body. 

"Taehyung...Taehyung, oh my god...oh my god..." Jungkook mumbled incoherently as he rocked back and forth. Jimin joined him on the floor, putting his arms around Jungkook and the two of them cried together. Namjoon stood off to the side, his head in his hands. He felt like a failure.

Jin held Nari and wiped tears that fell down both their faces. Yoongi and Hoseok stood together, at some point Hoseok had grabbed Yoongi's hand and Yoongi hoped he would never let go.

Suddenly, Amara let out an ear-piercing scream. The sound bounced off the walls and made everyone flinch. Yoongi forced himself to tear his eyes away from Tae to look at the woman who killed him. 

Amara had her back to the room, and she was hunched over so her spine stuck out from under her skin. Her hands were in her hair and it seemed like she was pulling at it. Then she screamed again, just as loudly and proceeded to ball her hands into fists and beat her own legs and stomach. It was something out of a nightmare. She truly looked like a monster.

"Hey!" Yoongi snapped out of his trance and let go of Hoseok's hand, stepping towards Amara.

Jungkook noticed her as well, and beat Yoongi to her.

"Screw you! You have no right to be upset! You did this! You killed him!" Jungkook spun her around, forcing her to look at him and to stop her violent fit. 

"I DIDN'T MEAN FOR IT TO BE LIKE THIS!" Amara shrieked, and pushed Jungkook back, but it was weak and he was on her again in a second. And this time, he had his wooden stake/spoon ready. Amara was backed up against the wall and Jungkook was ready to end it.

"This won't bring him back," Amara snarled.

"I know," Jungkook answered, but then Yoongi appeared at his side, shaking his head. 

"Kook, don't, you don't have to do this..." Yoongi said.

"Yes, I do. I have to for him," Jungkook replied through tears. He glanced back at Tae and a new wave of sobs overtook him. He relaxed his grip on his weapon and Amara and Yoongi stepped in and took his place. 

"Aw, thanks Yoongi, I knew you cared," Amara said sarcastically, but her eyes were bloodshot. She looked tired.

"I don't care, not about you. Not after this. You can't come back from this," Yoongi said quietly to her.

"I've killed before."

"Not someone you loved. And you did love him, didn't you?" Amara didn't answer. "So did we. So did Jungkook. And we loved him more than you ever did. We knew what a great person he was and what a great man he was going to be. We knew what made him laugh and what made him cry and we knew how much talent and potential he had inside him. He made people happy. He made people want to be better, but you can't be better. He couldn't even make you better because you...you can't be saved, Amara. And now neither can Tae. You took a force of nature from us. You took something beautiful from the world." Yoongi didn't know when he started crying, but he had and he wasn't embarrassed. Tae being gone warranted every tear. 

"Min Yoongi," Amara whispered. Her voice shook. "Kill me," she said. 

Yoongi looked at the stake that was pointed at her heart. All it would take was a small push.

"Please, I've lived a thousand lives. I've had so much pain, and...and he was the only good thing I had. I don't want to do this anymore. Please, please kill me."

"Do it," Yoongi heard Jin say behind  him. "Do it or I will."

Yoongi stared into Amara's green eyes and for a moment he saw a flash of a memory. The two of them, sitting together and laughing. Amara looked carefree and alive. Not the broken girl who stood before him now.

"I want to be with my family again," Amara whispered. "I want to be somewhere where I

 won't remember everything that's happened to me." She gripped his upper arm. "I had my childhood ripped away from me. I was at his mercy for eons," Amara nodded at her dead elder. "It has to end."

"Death would be too kind for everything that you've done," Yoongi said decidedly. 

Amara let out a strangled cry. 

"You guys...we should...we should get out of here, before someone comes..." Jimin said, shame in his voice. 

"Y-yes, I agree," the woman who had led them there spoke for the first time since everything had gone down. She stood outside the ballroom, shaking.

"Yeah, let's-" Yoongi began, but just as he was stepping away from Amara, she grabbed his arm. A wave of strength seemed to wash over her and she caught Yoongi off guard. She pulled his arm towards her and thus pushed the stake he held into her chest. "No!" Yoongi cried out, jerking back, but it was too late. Amara slowly slumped to the ground. 

She looked eerily peaceful and her greens eyes faded until they were a pale brown, which made her look more human. A small smile played across her face until she hit the floor, and that was it. It was over and Yoongi suddenly felt so empty inside that he felt he would never be the same again.

"Yoongi," Hoseok put his arms around Yoongi. "Yoongi, we gotta go," Hoseok said softly and Yoongi barely managed to nod.

Hoseok led him out of the room and he watched as Jin picked up Taehyung. He was limp in Jin's arms and everything about it was so wrong. The way Jungkook held onto Tae's lifeless hand was wrong. Nari's panicked breathing was wrong. Amara left there, smiling and dead, was wrong. Hoseok holding Yoongi's hand and making him feel just a tiny bit better was wrong. 

Their group being led out of a fortress was wrong. The sun shining down on them once they got outside was the worst of all. It mocked them. 

No one knew what to say or do. No one wanted to look at anyone else and everyone was crying. Nothing felt real. 

Namjoon's voice when he began to speak sounded far away. He was speaking into his phone. "H-hello?" he said. "No. No. Please stop. Stop." He must have been on with someone on their team. 

Namjoon rarely cracked. He was always put together and calm. But this was a special situation and the next thing he said shocked everyone a bit: "Shut the fuck up and listen to me!" He practically yelled. "We need...we need someone to come get us. There's been...there's been an accident." 

~~~

The media was in a frenzy after Taehyung passed away. Jin, Jungkook, and Yoongi had to suck it up and handle things, so that everyone would believe that it was all, in fact, a tragic accident. A car accident to be specific. It was the easiest and most believable lie they could think of. 

Their tour was cancelled and brief meaningless statements were released that requested their privacy. That didn't stop the articles from being published or the photos from being taken.

"V of BTS passes away suddenly in a violent car crash."

"Top Ten Moments Taehyung Gave Us."

"Jeon Jungkook seen looking ragged and depressed while out in Seoul."

"Funeral for Kim Taehyung a Private Ceremony."

"BTS fans share their love for V and the rest of the group."

"What will become of BTS now that V is gone?"

Photos leaked of Jin and Nari, leaving a hotel one night, both of them looking sad and yet somehow prefect together. The media ate that up. 

Yoongi and Hoseok were photographed at the airport on their way to Hoseok's hometown. They were standing too close for friends and the media came up with plenty of stories from those photos.

Jimin wasn't seen at all, and the media somehow managed to make stories about that. Jungkook was seen and photographed in the weeks following Tae's death. None of the photos were good. He even was captured on video ranting at someone about Taehyung and how nothing was fair. 

Namjoon was holed up at home, and occasionally updated their twitter, but there weren’t really any meaningful updates. 

And so, the days passed without Tae, long and slow, filled with pain and for three of the remaining six, full of satiating their need for blood. As the days passed, the future became more uncertain. Until it wasn't so uncertain anymore and it was just unfortunate.

"Min Yoongi, aka Suga, of BTS announces he is leaving the group."

"During a solo interview, Park Jimin reveals the future of BTS is bleak and he will be pursuing a dance career on his own."

"Jung Hoseok, or J-Hope as he is known to BTS fans, tweets his thanks for the fans support over the years, making fans wonder if he too will be leaving the group."

"BTS officially disbands, as announced by the group's leader, Kim Namjoon."

And eventually the articles became less frequently. Fewer and fewer and farther in between. It went on like this until no more articles were being written at all and no more photos were being taken and their faces became just like anyone else's in a crowd.

~~~

"You look so familiar!" A very old woman approached Yoongi in the supermarket. He looked down at her and shrugged one shoulder.

"I don't know why," he said. "I get that a lot."

"Hmm, must be that handsome face of yours!" she laughed sweetly, and patted his arm. 

He forced a smile.

"You remind me of the young fellow that used to be in that boy group...it started with a B... I was pretty into them when I was young...but of course you can't be him, you're much too young! He'd be older than me now!" The woman smiled and Yoongi just nodded as she walked away. 

He caught his reflection in the glass of the freezer section, and sighed. He needed a haircut and his dark roots are showing while the rest of his hair is an ashy blonde. He will probably just grow it out again, let it be his natural color. The upside to the blonde was that it made him look less pale, if only a little. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered slightly before pushing his cart down the aisle. There's no food in it, he doesn't need food, only toiletries and things like that.  That, and a bundle of bright plastic flowers tied together with a silky ribbon. Not real flowers because real flowers die and Yoongi doesn't like things that die. 

~~~

It's late autumn and the sun is shining, but there's a bite in the air meaning winter will arrive soon. The forecasts say it will be a harsh winter with snow that covers the ground and makes everything grey. But autumn is holding on with all its might. The leaves on the trees hold on too, despite the fact that half their brethren are littered red and gold on the ground. 

Yoongi bends down and brushes aside those red and gold leaves and embraces both the warmth of the sun and the chill of the wind. Anything to make him feel something. 

He fixes the little vase above the headstone that had toppled over and places his plastic flowers inside of it. They stand out against the leaves, being such a bright artificial blue, but they're fitting, he thinks. 

Yoongi stands up and brushes off the knees of his pants. "I miss you," he says softly into the wind, which carries his words into oblivion. "I miss you so much Jung Hoseok." 

"I know you loved him," Yoongi jumps and turns, surprised, to see Jungkook standing behind him, shrouded in the shadows cast by the trees. The boy, although he hasn't really aged, looks older, but Yoongi would recognize him anywhere. "I heard he passed away. I'm sorry." Jungkook stays a respectful distance from Yoongi. They haven't seen each other in years, but that doesn't change the bond they once had, and the secret that they'll always share. 

"He died in his sleep. He was happy...peaceful..." Yoongi murmurs. And after a moment, "I know you loved Tae. And I'm still sorry."

"It's okay, I'm okay," Jungkook nods and looks off into the distance. "It's never going to get easier, watching people we know die. I heard Park Jimin isn't doing well. I want to go see him...I just don't know if I should." 

Yoongi looks down at Hoseok's grave and sighs. "People die, that's the way it's meant to be. Hoseok didn't want to be turned, not ever. I knew one day I would lose him, but it didn't matter," Yoongi said. "Because every day that I did have with him was worth every day that I will be without him. We had a good life together."

The two old friends stood in silence for a long time, until Yoongi took a deep breath and turned away from the headstone to face Jungkook.

"How is Seokjin?"

"I don't know," Jungkook says. "It's been so long since I saw him, but I heard he's good. Apparently, he turned Nari. They're together still. Happy, I presume," Jungkook ran his hands through his hair. "It was always easier for him, this life. I will never get used to it."

"Me neither," Yoongi agreed. 

Jungkook nods. "Taehyung told me something once, when we were about to debut. He said, 'Some people wake up every day and never live. But I'm waking up everyday living my dream. Everyday might not be easy, but nothing is easy. So I'm just going to make sure I wake up every day and really live. That's what you should do, Jungkook. Just live'. He was pretty deep when he wanted to be." Jungkook chuckles and then pauses. Then he sobered and said, "Take care, Yoongi."

"You too," Yoongi says, holding out his hand.

Jungkook took it and shook firmly. "I'll be seeing you." 

"I hope so."

And then Jungkook was gone, as if he'd never been there at all. The wind blew through Yoongi's hair and he braced himself for another harsh winter. He knew he would get through it, he always did. He had to. He had to because it wasn't his first and it wouldn't be his last. There would be many more harsh winters to come, but he would make it through to spring. He would make it through to see the flowers bloom again, the sun shine again, and life thrive again. No season, no darkness, can last forever.