Speak of the Devil (And He Shall Appear) - Oneshot (2/2)
Title: Speak of the Devil (and He Shall Appear) (2/2)
Chapters: Oneshot
Pairings: Kai/Luhan
Rating: R
Genre: AU, angst, romance, horror
Warnings (SPOILER WARNINGS! highlight to see): religion, indoctrination, drug-use, violence, homophobia, major or minor character death
Summary: Luhan has a slight problem and his parents hire an exorcist to fix it.
The next few days were rather meaningless. He went to church and visited his mother, buying her flowers and watering her old plants. He'd bumped into an classmate on his way home and had stopped to grab some lunch with her. She was nice and asked if he wanted to meet up with her again, but he lied and told her he was busy.
Tuesday night he was sitting on his bed eating roast lamb and watching a soap on TV. That was how he usually spent his night. All alone. But he rather enjoyed it, and found it relaxing. The outside world was always a hassle. He still had some lines to prepare for a sermon on Sunday, but he decided to get to those tomorrow because he was absolutely exhausted.
Just when he was about to turn off the TV and head to bed, his phone started ringing. Jongin wondered who could be calling him at this time. It was well after midnight and not too many people knew his phone number, but he sighed and checked the screen, seeing an unknown number flash over it.
He picked it up hesitantly. "Hello?"
"Kim Jongin?" He recognized that voice.
"Yes. Who am I speaking to?"
"This is Luhan's mother. I'm sorry to call you at this time, but we're having problems with Luhan again. I don't think the demon has left his body."
Jongin stared into space, taking in her words. It hadn't left? Luhan was still possessed? But Jongin was sure he had performed the exorcism correctly. He had practiced for days and had been blessed countless times. And as far as he knew Luhan had been willing too.
"What makes you think so?" He asked, wanting to make sure they weren't just imagining things or dealing with after effects.
Silence followed for a few seconds until the woman said, "There's blood on the basement floor next to where Luhan sleeps. It wasn't there before. And now Luhan won't wake up. No matter how hard we try to wake him, he won't stir."
Jongin pinched his nose bridge with his thumb and index. He'd been afraid if this. Whatever was inside Luhan seemed to be reluctant to leave.
"Perhaps I performed the exorcism incorrectly. But I'll stay true to my word; I will help your son out no matter what it takes." He glanced at the clock quickly, sighing to himself. "Would it be alright if I came over now? I know it's late, but if I stay the night maybe I'll be able to find more answers."
"Please do. We'll be waiting for you."
Jongin pulled on his jacket as soon as he had hung up, hurrying out the door. This kid was his responsibility.
*
"We've chained him to the bed in the hopes that he won't do anything bad. We can bring a mattress down for you, unless you want to sleep on the couch."
Jongin shook his head. "A mattress should be fine. I ought to stay near him and watch over him while he sleeps. Perhaps he will even be benefit from my presence in the room as God is with me wherever I go."
Luhan's parents were quick to agree. Jongin wasn't scared about spending a night next to Luhan, but he was feeling apprehensive. He wondered what would happen. He wondered what he would hear, what he would see. What Luhan was like at night.
When he came down to him, Luhan was sleeping soundly on the bed, his face looking peaceful. What a lovely face he had when it was just like that; undisturbed and dormant. Jongin hadn't changed from his nightwear as he'd driven to their house, and so he lay straight down on the mattress and bedding Luhan's parents had provided for him, facing the boy in question. The blood on the floor his parents had talked of had completely slipped his mind.
After staring at Luhan for some time his mind started running and he felt more awake than ever. He sat up, glancing around the room. There was a small oven there and a few boxes, along with a washing machine and empty picture frames. He turned to Luhan's desk instead, which was right behind him. It was empty now, and Jongin wondered where all his papers and coloured pencils had gone. Them he saw there were drawers under the desk.
His curiosity led him forward and he pulled one open slightly, careful to not let it creak for anyone, especially Luhan, to hear. He found them. The coloured pencils were strewn down at the bottom of the drawer, and over them a whole bunch of papers coloured in black. Jongin frowned, pulling them out. Surely Luhan must have drawn something else other than endless, dark abyss. He flipped through the pages. Black, black, black, black...
He stopped. There was one there with colour. He examined it closely, unable to believe his eyes. It was a picture of him. He recognized his bronzed skin and the bible in his hands, his backcombed hairdo and his bag by his side. Luhan had drawn him smiling. The drawing wasn't perfect, but Luhan had captured his distinguishing features nonetheless. He grinned to himself. Under it there was another drawing in colour, and this one too didn't have any demons or dark black on it, it was a picture of Luhan, and he was sad. Luhan had a frown and big fat tears down his face, like he'd seen Luhan when he'd left him after performing the exorcism. Luhan's head was facing two stick characters that were drawn on the side, tiny and rather misshaped. Jongin assumed they were his parents. Luhan had drawn his parents everywhere, on other papers, and they were only stick figures, which was odd, because Luhan had drawn himself and Jongin just fine. Perhaps he'd given up after drawing two detailed portraits, Jongin thought. Luhan must be exhausted just existing at this point, a demon inside him telling him to do bad things and controlling his body as easily as a puppeteer.
He heard a rustling of blankets, and he shoved the drawings back into the drawer, slamming it shut. He looked over at Luhan. Luhan was still sleeping, thankfully. Jongin went and checked the temperature of his forehead, but he felt fine. No fever. No abnormalities.
He went back to Luhan's desk, wondering if there was anything in the drawer to the right. Once again his curiosity got the best of him and he pulled it open, this one a lot easier to pull out than the first one, like it was used more frequently. When he looked inside he felt perplexed. There were just small boxes in there. Small boxes and a few pill containers. He reached for one, the small one in the middle that was completely white.
"What are you doing?"
Jongin jumped back, almost having a heart-attack at the sound of Luhan's voice ringing through the room. He turned to face the boy, who was sitting up in bed now, eyeing him curiously.
Jongin leaned away from the desk and tried to compose himself. "Nothing. I'm just here to watch over you while you sleep. I heard the exorcism didn't work after all."
Luhan shrugged, trying to sit up further but being pulled down by the restraints. Jongin watched him struggle, shifting on the bed so as not to be uncomfortable and flicking the hair out of his eyes.
"Are you feeling okay?" He asked him.
Luhan nodded slowly, glancing down at his restraints. "I suppose. These chains hurt, but I know they're for my own good."
Jongin eyed Luhan more closely and wondered if he was cold. The flimsy blue pajamas he always wore weren't much to aid against the chilly air of the basement. Jongin himself had opted to wear a sweater.
He turned to the drawer that he'd left hanging open and then faced Luhan, who was still staring at him. "Can I ask why you have those pills in your drawer?" He inquired curiously, watching Luhan's head turn in the direction he was pointing.
"Oh. Well, I don't know about the other ones, but the yellow container has pills for my headaches. I take them in the afternoon or late evening every day, usually. I get really bad headaches, you see. My parents try to keep my suffering minimal."
"I see."
"They make me swallow it down with that water all the time," Luhan said, pointing to a flask that stood next to his bed. "It tastes really bad and I don't like it."
The flask had a rosary in it, Jongin noticed. "Holy water..."
"Yeah, holy water. Isn't that supposed to burn my insides?"
"Well, not burn, that's a myth really. But since you said it tastes bad there you have your answer."
"Oh."
Jongin shut the drawer carefully, glancing around the room once again while feeling Luhan’s gaze bore into him. When Luhan had stared at him for about a full minute, Jongin turned to face him.
“What?”
“Sorry,” Luhan said, looking over to the stairs instead. “I’m just surprised you haven’t thrown rocks at me yet.”
Jongin furrowed his eyebrows, scooting over to the edge of his bed so that he was closer to Luhan. “Why would I?”
“Fear or self-defense? The last pastor who came here tried to help me out, but he ended up holding that pillow over my face in the hopes that I would suffocate,” Luhan pointed to the pillow he slept on right behind him. It was rather flat and didn’t look too comfortable.
“Oh...”
Luhan’s mood seemed to shift from there. He had been straight-faced for a while, but suddenly a sort of gloom seemed to come over him and he began to get a little restless. Jongin wondered if maybe it was the demon coming out in him again, but as he waited for the symptoms to develop they didn’t flesh out into a seizure or anything demonic. The only thing they turned into were small tremors through Luhan’s body and a few tears that slipped out of his eyes. Luhan was crying.
"I don't know why everyone is scared of me," Luhan sniffled almost inaudibly, bringing his hands up to cover his face. Jongin could only sit and watch as Luhan cried, wanting to approach him, but not knowing how safe that would be.
"Look, Luhan..." he trailed off slowly. The picture of Luhan crying wasn't pleasant. Jongin caught glimpses of his bloodshot eyes and his tired face. All he could do was feel blind anger towards the demon inside him. That demon had ruined Luhan and his family. Luhan had been outcast, forced to hurt himself, had his parents and siblings shy away from him, and worse, he'd been made to live as a caged animal. "They're not scared of you. They're only scared of the demon. It's not your fault. All you can possibly do is try to battle it, but even then you will be overpowered."
Luhan looked up at him through wet eyes. "Are you scared of me, doctor?"
Jongin wondered why Luhan was still calling him doctor, but he couldn't find it in himself to correct him. Then he thought about what Luhan had just said and shook his head slowly. He leaned forward so that he was a mere inch from the boy, before he enveloped him in a tight hug. He stroked Luhan's back, wishing this wasn't the only kindness Luhan had received since he'd been possessed.
He pulled back, smiling gently at him. "When I look at you I just see a boy. I see a boy who wants out. Who wants to go back to doing the things he likes and live his life normally."
He stopped mid-speech as he heard a creaking sound, and looked around to find the source. He paled. Luhan's cross. It was turning. It was turning around all by itself, slowly but surely. He felt himself begin to shiver. The demon was there. It was coming.
Luhan saw it too and looked, if possible, even more terrified than himself. "D-doctor..."
"There’s nothing to be afraid of, Luhan," Jongin lied, staring at the thing as it finally made the full half-circle, settling as a demonic symbol on Luhan's wall. "The devil is only trying to scare you. He's trying to scare me too. He knows you and I are fighting him, and he doesn't want to be driven out."
Luhan nodded hastily, closing his eyes and clasping his hands together in prayer. "Heavenly Father, forgive me for being weak. Protect us from this evil and shield us from harm. You are my armor, my protection, and my sword. Preserve us in our hour of need, in Jesus’ name. Amen."
Luhan looked behind him, but the cross just hung still in its inverted position. Jongin looked with him, before he averted his eyes to Luhan. Luhan's little prayer had been so beautiful. Jongin could tell he paid attention in church. That he loved God and tried his best to be good. Why Luhan would be possessed, he did not know. How a demon had found a way past his pure heart was the biggest mystery he'd been faced with to date. The other people he'd exorcised before had been sinners. Troubled children. Drunken fathers. People who demons could easily find a loophole into as they had wavered from God. But Luhan was faithful and kind. He was different. Why was it him who had to fight such evil? Had God neglected him? Forgotten about him?
Jongin was about to ask Luhan if he had ever sinned before, which he didn't think he had, but just as he was to open his mouth a strong smell hit him. He swore he had smelled it before. It was oddly familiar. Strong a burning. Disgusting. Toxic. Rat poison again?
"Do you smell that, Luhan?"
Luhan looked at him with worried eyes. "Smell what?"
Jongin lifted his nose and sniffed into the air. "That horrible stench."
Luhan shook his head. "I can't smell anything, sir."
Jongin frowned. This couldn't be good for the boy at all. Who put rat poison down in a cellar where a child was living? It couldn't be safe for him. Perhaps Luhan had gotten used to the smell over time.
He leaned over his bed to grab his bag, rummaging inside it for his phone. Maybe he ought to call Luhan's parents. They had locked the door for safety and told him to call in the event that something went wrong, and Jongin was sure this stench wasn't good for the boy at all. Maybe he ought to ask his parents if they could consider moving him to an isolated room upstairs. But as he searched through his bag and pulled out things for better access, he couldn't find it. He couldn't find his phone. Damnit. Had he left it upstairs? At home?
He cursed in his head, looking over to Luhan who was just watching him quietly, hands still clasped in prayer. He decided he needed to alert his parents for Luhan's own safety. One step at a time he walked over to the stairs, still throwing cautious looks back to Luhan and the inverted cross. He walked up the stairs slowly, not wanting to risk slipping down or getting surprised by something demonic from behind. When he reached the top door he knocked on it three times.
"Mr. And Mrs. Lu?" He inquired, listening to any sign of movement from the outside. There wasn't any. "Can you hear me?" Perhaps they had gone to bed. Perhaps they were in the kitchen and couldn't pick up on his weak knocking. He knocked again, harder this time. "Ma'am? Sir?"
The door was pulled open, and in the opening stood both Luhan's mother and father, both in their sleepwear.
"Is everything alright?" Luhan's mother asked, worry-lines creasing her small face.
"Yes," Jongin assured her, and she sighed in relief. "It's only...do you have rat poison down in the cellar?"
Luhan's father looked at him like he didn't understand what he was saying. "Rat poison?" He questioned disbelievingly.
Jongin looked down to the bottom of the stairs. Luhan was still sitting quietly on his bed, thank God. "There is this strange smell here, you see-"
"No," Luhan's mother said quickly, taking Jongin by surprise. "We would never keep something toxic near our child."
"Oh," he replied, wondering if he was really just imagining it seeing as Luhan couldn't smell it either. While he had his parents there decided he wanted to ask them about something else too, just for safety's sake. "Have you ever seen you child suffering from supernatural things? Being levitated, having his body parts twisted beyond human capability? Because I haven't seen this with him so far. I am wondering if I've been overlooking it, or if he just doesn't have those symptoms." Luhan's mother and father just stared at him. He continued on with another concern. "Also, there is this drawer full of pills-"
"There is nothing wrong with Luhan," his mother said. Jongin's eyes shot up to her, widening as he saw her calm face. Her lips were drawn into a tight line.
"What do you mean?"
"There is literally nothing wrong with him. The pills we give him cause dementia, paranoia, and hallucinations, same with the gas we release into his room every night, you know, the weird smell?"
Jongin's feet froze to the surface he was standing on, his throat closing up. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What..."
"The seizures are cause by Luhan's epilepsy. Thank God for those, they make everything so much more believable. It was heaven sent, really." The woman had a grin on her face now. A grin. Her lips were quirked up. Jongin glanced to Luhan's father. He was just the same.
"What the fuck are you talking about?”
He heard a little click and suddenly he saw there was a gun on him. Luhan's father was holding a handheld gun, pointing it straight at his chest. Jongin's eyes widened. He backed down a few stairs in horror, only eyeing the muzzle of the black gun. He didn't have time to question anything before Luhan's mother spoke again, both her and her husband walking forwards, forcing Jongin down the stairs.
“Even that cross that scares you so much on Luhan’s wall that turns upside down. We control it on the other side of the wall. In the storeroom. Just a twist and it becomes an inverted cross.”
Jongin gulped, feeling his feet meet the floor of the basement. He didn't date look over at Luhan when the gun was on him, even though he really wanted to.
“So you've been lying to me?" He asked, frowning. "Luhan isn't possessed at all?"
"Oh, he's possessed alright," his mother said, laughing to herself. "But not with a demon. You see, we're worried about the real problem here, Kim Jongin." Jongin just stared at her, trying to make sense of the lukacy spewing from her mouth. "The problem with both of you. We had hoped you would cancel each other out, but it looks like the problem is still prevailing. So we needed an excuse to keep you here."
"What problem?!" Jongin shouted, finally looking over at Luhan, who looked just as terrified as him, standing on the bed in fear, even if the shackles tried to pull him down.
"Homosexuality," Luhan's mother said simply, as if the word was acid on her tongue. Jongin froze, not knowing what to do. "You two are the only ones around. We caught Luhan kissing a boy behind our church last summer. The parents of that boy had him killed to put him out of his misery and to prevent spreading the disease." She said casually, like she was talking about the change in weather patterns. Kai gaped at them, glancing back to Luhan again, who had fallen to his knees on the mattress and had started crying. "We were too nice for our own good, of course. We wanted to cure Luhan. But we have realized there is no curing him. He is damned for eternity. And so are you."
"Mama," Luhan cried from beside him, tears streaming down his face. Jongin couldn't will his body to move. "I didn't mean it! It just happened, Mama! I'm sorry! I like girls, I promise!"
"Shut up, boy," Jongin heard Luhan's father say, aiming the gun in his son's direction instead.
Luhan's mother spoke up again, and Jongin forced himself to face her. "We heard from your pastor that you’ve been refusing every girl's hand in marriage that you’ve been presented with, also that you stay away from them like they’re the plague. I was thrilled when I found out you may have the disease too. And then I got my evidence when you embraced him tonight, you filthy dogs. I have camera's watching down there, you know. Ever since I found out about Luhan. Your pastor agreed it was for the best that you came here so we could end this. We can't risk this disease reaching the whole population. You two must be contained."
Jongin forgot how to breathe. His pastor had sent him there on purpose? To these crazy couple? They were aiming a gun at him and their own son solely because they were born unable to like girls? And his pastor had agreed with that? He had known that man since he was little. He had taken under Jongin wing and taught him everything he knew. The thought was bitter in Jongin's stomach, and made him angry. And he understood now; everything about Luhan. The bruises and marks on his body, the blood on the floor; his parents must have beat him. Everything Luhan had done and said was because he’d been fed drugs. He had seen things on his skin, in his room. The seizures from his epilepsy.
Jongin came back to life at the sound of chains clinking, and saw Luhan's parents had taken his restraints off and were pulling him up from the mattress. Luhan was fighting back weakly, trying to make himself as heavy as possible so they couldn't lift him.
"No! Please! Mama, I'll change! God will heal me!" He screamed, thrashing and twisting away before his mother slapped him hard across the face and yanked him only by pulling on one of his arms. Luhan's father kept the gun going back between Jongin and Luhan, his face less calm than Luhan's mother.
"There is no salvation for sinners!" Luhan's mother barked in his face, and soon Luhan had been pulled from his bed. It seemed as though the couple wanted to take him upstairs. Were they going to kill him?
"God loves all his children!" Jongin yelled at them, feeling tears prick at his eyes. He didn't want them to hurt Luhan. He was their own son, for God's sake. After all the pain and torment Luhan had had to endure, having Luhan killed was the last thing Jongin wanted for him. He deserved better. He had been falsely accused of being possessed. He'd just been a normal boy all along. A normal, frightened boy, who had been abused tirelessly by his parents and the people around him. It was a miracle how he was still alive even after being force-fed all those drugs. After being beaten. How did Luhan even still have his faith in God? Jongin was starting to wonder the same about himself. How could God let any of this happen?
If God wasn't going to stop an innocent child from being unjustly killed, then Jongin would. He sprang forward while Luhan's father turned his back, knocking the air out of him from behind as he pushed him and saw him fall forwards, his head hitting the stairs. The gun fell from his hands. Luhan's mother, who was still holding her boy, stopped hauling him towards the stairs as she saw her husband fall. Jongin didn't waste any time, and turned to her, hitting her in the neck so she dropped Luhan and fell backwards, clutching a hand to her throat.
Karma and sin be damned, those people were evil. Evil and heartless. And crazy.
He grabbed Luhan's arm, pulling him up the stairs. That was all he could think of. To get away. They had to run. Before Luhan's parents or anyone Jongin knew got to them. The thought of his pastor betraying him still sent surges of heavy pain through him, but he hurried on.
At the top of the stairs, Kai shut the door before bending down to Luhan and holding his shoulders tight, looking him in the eyes. "We're going to run, okay? Away from here. Away from the people who want to harm us."
"But God-"
"Fuck God. Listen to me," he breathed, clutching Luhan's shoulders now. "I don't know what your parents have told you, and I don't care. You aren't possessed, you got that?" Luhan just stood still, his eyes wide. "You aren't possessed, you aren't the devil, and you aren't a sinner. You're Luhan. You're sixteen years old and you like to draw and sing in the choir. You're innocent. Do you understand me?"
Luhan hesitate before nodding, his body stiff and his tears falling harder. Jongin breathed out heavily, running a hand down his face before he straightened up and reached a hand out to the boy.
"Come. We have to hurry."
As soon as Luhan gripped his hand, Jongin took off. He dragged Luhan out of the door and over their front yard, not knowing where they were headed. He took a quick decision and decided on the forest. They had to hide. His parents would undoubtedly get out and then alert the villagers; alert his own pastor in town. They needed to disappear to somewhere, but Jongin didn't know where.
So they just ran forward. It was morning now, he noticed. Probably even time for the bells in the church to chime for the morning prayer. Jongin made sure they stayed far away from the church, sprinting with Luhan deep into the forest instead. After running for a while, he felt Luhan slow behind him, and he turned to see he was pale as ghost, paler than normal anyways, and Jongin stopped his flying feet.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Luhan didn't respond, he only sank to the floor slowly, as if he was going to be sick. But Luhan wasn't sick. Instead, he started shaking. "Oh no..." Luhan was locking up again, every limb trembling. He looked up to Jongin with petrified eyes, red and beaded with tears. "It's okay, I've got you."
Jongin kneeled down and embraced Luhan, holding him tight as his convulsions began. He wasn't sure how to deal with them, but this was the only was he could think of. Luhan's hand that had been gripping his sweater released its hold, and soon he was having a full seizure. Jongin knew now that it wasn't a demon. It wasn't the devil taking over his body. It wasn't any evil, anything to be scared or embarrassed of.
He held Luhan tighter, feeling the moisture of the forest floor saturate his pants and the cold air send chills through him. He was worried about Luhan. The boy was still only in flimsy pajamas, thin, blue cotton and nothing on his feet.
He sighed, letting go of Luhan's shaking body momentarily to take off his sweater. He had a t-shirt underneath, and Luhan needed it more than him, his lips had even turned blue. As Jongin forced the sweater over Luhan's head, the boy's convulsions lessened gradually, until they finally stopped and Luhan was laying still in his arms with his sweater on.
"Luhan?"
"Thank you," Luhan whispered, clutching the new piece of clothing to his body. "Thank you."
They lay there like that for a little while, and Jongin just felt more and more worried. Where were they headed? Where could they find shelter? Food? At least the morning was upon them and the skies were lightened and visible to them from between the trees above. He looked up, smiling because maybe fate was being kind to them. Then he looked back down at Luhan, who was in his arms.
"Do you like boys, Luhan?" He asked quietly, pulling Luhan up a little. The boy glanced at him with wide eyes, swallowing thickly. "Don't be afraid to answer honestly," Jongin said with a smile. "Liking boys isn't wrong. I'm an exorcist, remember? You can believe me."
Luhan fumbled with his fingers for a little while, turning his face away, before he whispered so lowly Jongin almost missed it. "I like boys."
Jongin felt himself grin, and he drew a few soothing circles onto Luhan's back. "I saw the picture you drew of me, you know. It was nice; you're really good at drawing." If Jongin wasn't mistaken, Luhan blushed at his words. "Look at me."
Luhan did. He turned his head up slowly, like a dog afraid of being hit by its owner, and before he could turn away again, Jongin swooped down and kissed him, pressing his chapped lips again Luhan's own soft and cold ones. Luhan didn't move or say a thing, but he did close his eyes. He closed them and stayed limp, relaxed almost.
Jongin pulled back, missing the feeling instantly. Luhan had his eyes closed and Jongin was just watching his long eyelashes flutter against his cheeks prettily. He looked like an angel and Jongin wondered how nobody else saw that too.
"Did you like that?"
He considered Luhan's expression carefully, and it seemed almost neutral. But after a few seconds of staring at each other, Luhan nodded.
Jongin smiled, wider than before. His heart was racing.
"You'll get better once those drugs get out of your system, you know. I don't know what those lunatics gave you, but you'll stop having all those symptoms now."
Luhan smiled up at him and Jongin felt so elated, like everything had worked itself out just fine, but then he remembered that they weren't safe yet, that they shouldn't be getting distracted before they'd found somewhere to hide; shouldn't be celebrating.
"Can you get up?" He asked, shifting a little on the ground.
Luhan got off of him, pushing himself up to his knees and looking back where they had come from.
"Let's try to find safety at the other end of the forest. It's not a big forest, right?" He looked as far as he could see and saw only trees, but they were bound to end somewhere. There had to be a farm or perhaps another village or town neighbouring this one. "Are you listening to me?" He asked the other boy, who was still busy staring in the other direction. "What's wrong, Luhan?" The boy turned towards him, his face wearing clear frown. Jongin felt a lump for in his stomach.
"Doctor...I want to visit the church again. I've missed it so much..."
Jongin stayed in place, eyeing him carefully. "You can't mean that. After everything they've done to you..."
Luhan shook his head, looking back to the other end of the woods. "Church was my happiness. My joy. It was peaceful and I got to sing there. I felt safe."
"But you're not safe there anymore. They'd hurt you if they saw you there, Luhan. Those people are prejudiced and are misguided. They don't understand you."
Luhan kept shaking his head, his frown deepening. "Please...I grew up there."
Jongin frowned too. He felt bad because Luhan still had hopes in such a place, and even worse because all the good feelings the boy had for his church wasn't returned. For him to head back there would be like throwing himself to the vultures, and soon people might even start hunting the two of them down. He sighed.
"Luhan," he said, eyeing the boy sadly. But before he got to say anything else, Luhan had turned from him and started sprinting away, down the forest trail they had come from.
Jongin felt panic shake him. He set his frozen feet in gear too and forced himself to run after Luhan, whose body was now only a silhouette in front of him against the morning light.
"Luhan!" He shouted, desperate to get the boy to stop. Luhan couldn't be running for the church, could he? Jongin picked up his pace. He wasn't a good runner, but there was no way he could let Luhan slip from him. They had to run the other way, or they could risk getting caught. "Luhan, come back!"
He felt dread when he noticed the church hadn't been as far away as he'd thought. He could already see Luhan at a clearing, right were the light was pinkish and lighter than in the greens that embraced Jongin now. It had to be the church ground clearing.
He cursed, tripping slightly over roots as he hurried along. Luhan was a fast runner. He was sprinting. Jongin was petrified that he wouldn't be able to catch up to him in time.
"Luhan!"
Jongin made it to the clearing too, but he could already see Luhan running over the grounds, right over to the cluster of people that were once again filing into the church. He screamed at Luhan in a last attempt to get him to turn, to beg him to turn back and save himself. His heart was stabbed brutally and ripped from his chest when he heard a small child scream, “Devil’s Child!” and all the people’s heads turning in straight in Luhan’s direction. He picked up his speed so much and overstrained himself so that he couldn’t feel his legs anymore, but that didn’t matter because Luhan was in danger.
Luhan was almost at the church walls now. He was smiling at everyone, looking over the crowd of people, probably trying to pick out his best friend, Chanyeol. A few women screamed and grabbed their children, backing away from Luhan. But then came the part Jongin had feared. The men who were nearest to Luhan looked around themselves and picked up things from the ground. What was so horrible and disgusting was that the ground they stood on was full of gravel and rocks; the ones they’d thrown at Luhan before, and they picked them up, they picked up the rocks, and Luhan Just stood there as two of them hit him, one in the chest and one smack in the middle of his face, sending blood gushing out of his nose.
Jongin yelled for them to stop, but they didn’t listen. They didn’t even acknowledge his existence. He was almost by Luhan’s side now, just a little further. Everyone was picking up rocks. Everyone. Even kids. Women. The pastor, who happened to be standing outside too, yelled some sort of prayer out loud and told the people around him they had to get rid of the Devil Child once and for all or he would come and eat all the innocent and taint the church. More rocks rained.
When Jongin got to Luhan he shoved him down on the ground without another thought, getting on top of him covering him with his body.
“Are you okay?” He asked desperately, now staring down at a bleeding face with a broken nose.
“He’s bringing an army!”
“The devil is calling all the demons to attack us and go against our Father! We have to fight back!”
“Lord, heed out prayer! The Demons are here to taint your holy name! Save us all!”
Jongin felt something hard hit his shoulder and he groaned, sinking forward to his forearms. Luhan was breathing rapidly under him, as if he had difficulties with drawing in his breaths.
“Stop!” Jongin yelled, turning around face the outraged townspeople, all of them armed and looking spiteful, hate in their eyes like it had never been gone. “Don’t hurt him!”
“Don’t listen to what the heathen says! Smother them both before they get to you!” The pastor cried, his face red like he had strained himself beyond repair.
Rocks and hard objects rained down again and all Jongin could do was cry out and groan as they hit him, making sure his eyes never left Luhan’s, who was looking up at him in horror. Luhan tried to speak, but only blood came out, running down his chin and down to the muddy grass below.
In Jongin’s opinion, they were the devil. All of them. Those people. They were trying to kill an innocent boy. Their belief in God had driven them mad, and there was just no reasoning with them. He shed a tear that fell on Luhan’s face and whispered “I’m sorry,” to him, truly meaning it more than anything else.
He had failed. Jongin had said he would fix him and that Luhan would be accepted by everyone again, but he had failed.
He was winded when something bone-crushing hit his lower back, and felt his knees give under him as he tumbled off of Luhan’s body. Damnit. If only he could have fallen on top of him. Now who would shield Luhan from the slaughter?
Luhan’s eyes that were filled with horror never left him. They were glued to him now that they were lying side by side. Tearful, grief-stricken, everything he didn’t want to see. Jongin was only able to count three more seconds before he himself couldn’t see any longer, like someone had put a bag over his head. His face was stinging. He screamed. He’d been blinded.
A weak hand was reaching for him. It was trembling and tugging at his clothes feebly, he could feel it. Luhan’s little hand. It was reaching for him. Jongin would have held it, but his arms didn’t work. He cursed himself. All he felt was pain and Luhan’s little, futile nudges at his sides, and then he heard someone trampling a foot down right beside him, and he heard a horrible, blood-curling shriek in his ear from someone stepping on Luhan’s arm and crushing his bones.
He tasted blood and sick in his mouth and wailed for Luhan, but he knew it was too late. The heavy breathing next to him was already gone.
a/n: so i didn't label this as 'supernatural' because there isn't actually anything supernatural in it ye bet you weren't expecting that huh. just some extremist religious people! lol hope you liked it
Chapters: Oneshot
Pairings: Kai/Luhan
Rating: R
Genre: AU, angst, romance, horror
Warnings (SPOILER WARNINGS! highlight to see): religion, indoctrination, drug-use, violence, homophobia, major or minor character death
Summary: Luhan has a slight problem and his parents hire an exorcist to fix it.
The next few days were rather meaningless. He went to church and visited his mother, buying her flowers and watering her old plants. He'd bumped into an classmate on his way home and had stopped to grab some lunch with her. She was nice and asked if he wanted to meet up with her again, but he lied and told her he was busy.
Tuesday night he was sitting on his bed eating roast lamb and watching a soap on TV. That was how he usually spent his night. All alone. But he rather enjoyed it, and found it relaxing. The outside world was always a hassle. He still had some lines to prepare for a sermon on Sunday, but he decided to get to those tomorrow because he was absolutely exhausted.
Just when he was about to turn off the TV and head to bed, his phone started ringing. Jongin wondered who could be calling him at this time. It was well after midnight and not too many people knew his phone number, but he sighed and checked the screen, seeing an unknown number flash over it.
He picked it up hesitantly. "Hello?"
"Kim Jongin?" He recognized that voice.
"Yes. Who am I speaking to?"
"This is Luhan's mother. I'm sorry to call you at this time, but we're having problems with Luhan again. I don't think the demon has left his body."
Jongin stared into space, taking in her words. It hadn't left? Luhan was still possessed? But Jongin was sure he had performed the exorcism correctly. He had practiced for days and had been blessed countless times. And as far as he knew Luhan had been willing too.
"What makes you think so?" He asked, wanting to make sure they weren't just imagining things or dealing with after effects.
Silence followed for a few seconds until the woman said, "There's blood on the basement floor next to where Luhan sleeps. It wasn't there before. And now Luhan won't wake up. No matter how hard we try to wake him, he won't stir."
Jongin pinched his nose bridge with his thumb and index. He'd been afraid if this. Whatever was inside Luhan seemed to be reluctant to leave.
"Perhaps I performed the exorcism incorrectly. But I'll stay true to my word; I will help your son out no matter what it takes." He glanced at the clock quickly, sighing to himself. "Would it be alright if I came over now? I know it's late, but if I stay the night maybe I'll be able to find more answers."
"Please do. We'll be waiting for you."
Jongin pulled on his jacket as soon as he had hung up, hurrying out the door. This kid was his responsibility.
*
"We've chained him to the bed in the hopes that he won't do anything bad. We can bring a mattress down for you, unless you want to sleep on the couch."
Jongin shook his head. "A mattress should be fine. I ought to stay near him and watch over him while he sleeps. Perhaps he will even be benefit from my presence in the room as God is with me wherever I go."
Luhan's parents were quick to agree. Jongin wasn't scared about spending a night next to Luhan, but he was feeling apprehensive. He wondered what would happen. He wondered what he would hear, what he would see. What Luhan was like at night.
When he came down to him, Luhan was sleeping soundly on the bed, his face looking peaceful. What a lovely face he had when it was just like that; undisturbed and dormant. Jongin hadn't changed from his nightwear as he'd driven to their house, and so he lay straight down on the mattress and bedding Luhan's parents had provided for him, facing the boy in question. The blood on the floor his parents had talked of had completely slipped his mind.
After staring at Luhan for some time his mind started running and he felt more awake than ever. He sat up, glancing around the room. There was a small oven there and a few boxes, along with a washing machine and empty picture frames. He turned to Luhan's desk instead, which was right behind him. It was empty now, and Jongin wondered where all his papers and coloured pencils had gone. Them he saw there were drawers under the desk.
His curiosity led him forward and he pulled one open slightly, careful to not let it creak for anyone, especially Luhan, to hear. He found them. The coloured pencils were strewn down at the bottom of the drawer, and over them a whole bunch of papers coloured in black. Jongin frowned, pulling them out. Surely Luhan must have drawn something else other than endless, dark abyss. He flipped through the pages. Black, black, black, black...
He stopped. There was one there with colour. He examined it closely, unable to believe his eyes. It was a picture of him. He recognized his bronzed skin and the bible in his hands, his backcombed hairdo and his bag by his side. Luhan had drawn him smiling. The drawing wasn't perfect, but Luhan had captured his distinguishing features nonetheless. He grinned to himself. Under it there was another drawing in colour, and this one too didn't have any demons or dark black on it, it was a picture of Luhan, and he was sad. Luhan had a frown and big fat tears down his face, like he'd seen Luhan when he'd left him after performing the exorcism. Luhan's head was facing two stick characters that were drawn on the side, tiny and rather misshaped. Jongin assumed they were his parents. Luhan had drawn his parents everywhere, on other papers, and they were only stick figures, which was odd, because Luhan had drawn himself and Jongin just fine. Perhaps he'd given up after drawing two detailed portraits, Jongin thought. Luhan must be exhausted just existing at this point, a demon inside him telling him to do bad things and controlling his body as easily as a puppeteer.
He heard a rustling of blankets, and he shoved the drawings back into the drawer, slamming it shut. He looked over at Luhan. Luhan was still sleeping, thankfully. Jongin went and checked the temperature of his forehead, but he felt fine. No fever. No abnormalities.
He went back to Luhan's desk, wondering if there was anything in the drawer to the right. Once again his curiosity got the best of him and he pulled it open, this one a lot easier to pull out than the first one, like it was used more frequently. When he looked inside he felt perplexed. There were just small boxes in there. Small boxes and a few pill containers. He reached for one, the small one in the middle that was completely white.
"What are you doing?"
Jongin jumped back, almost having a heart-attack at the sound of Luhan's voice ringing through the room. He turned to face the boy, who was sitting up in bed now, eyeing him curiously.
Jongin leaned away from the desk and tried to compose himself. "Nothing. I'm just here to watch over you while you sleep. I heard the exorcism didn't work after all."
Luhan shrugged, trying to sit up further but being pulled down by the restraints. Jongin watched him struggle, shifting on the bed so as not to be uncomfortable and flicking the hair out of his eyes.
"Are you feeling okay?" He asked him.
Luhan nodded slowly, glancing down at his restraints. "I suppose. These chains hurt, but I know they're for my own good."
Jongin eyed Luhan more closely and wondered if he was cold. The flimsy blue pajamas he always wore weren't much to aid against the chilly air of the basement. Jongin himself had opted to wear a sweater.
He turned to the drawer that he'd left hanging open and then faced Luhan, who was still staring at him. "Can I ask why you have those pills in your drawer?" He inquired curiously, watching Luhan's head turn in the direction he was pointing.
"Oh. Well, I don't know about the other ones, but the yellow container has pills for my headaches. I take them in the afternoon or late evening every day, usually. I get really bad headaches, you see. My parents try to keep my suffering minimal."
"I see."
"They make me swallow it down with that water all the time," Luhan said, pointing to a flask that stood next to his bed. "It tastes really bad and I don't like it."
The flask had a rosary in it, Jongin noticed. "Holy water..."
"Yeah, holy water. Isn't that supposed to burn my insides?"
"Well, not burn, that's a myth really. But since you said it tastes bad there you have your answer."
"Oh."
Jongin shut the drawer carefully, glancing around the room once again while feeling Luhan’s gaze bore into him. When Luhan had stared at him for about a full minute, Jongin turned to face him.
“What?”
“Sorry,” Luhan said, looking over to the stairs instead. “I’m just surprised you haven’t thrown rocks at me yet.”
Jongin furrowed his eyebrows, scooting over to the edge of his bed so that he was closer to Luhan. “Why would I?”
“Fear or self-defense? The last pastor who came here tried to help me out, but he ended up holding that pillow over my face in the hopes that I would suffocate,” Luhan pointed to the pillow he slept on right behind him. It was rather flat and didn’t look too comfortable.
“Oh...”
Luhan’s mood seemed to shift from there. He had been straight-faced for a while, but suddenly a sort of gloom seemed to come over him and he began to get a little restless. Jongin wondered if maybe it was the demon coming out in him again, but as he waited for the symptoms to develop they didn’t flesh out into a seizure or anything demonic. The only thing they turned into were small tremors through Luhan’s body and a few tears that slipped out of his eyes. Luhan was crying.
"I don't know why everyone is scared of me," Luhan sniffled almost inaudibly, bringing his hands up to cover his face. Jongin could only sit and watch as Luhan cried, wanting to approach him, but not knowing how safe that would be.
"Look, Luhan..." he trailed off slowly. The picture of Luhan crying wasn't pleasant. Jongin caught glimpses of his bloodshot eyes and his tired face. All he could do was feel blind anger towards the demon inside him. That demon had ruined Luhan and his family. Luhan had been outcast, forced to hurt himself, had his parents and siblings shy away from him, and worse, he'd been made to live as a caged animal. "They're not scared of you. They're only scared of the demon. It's not your fault. All you can possibly do is try to battle it, but even then you will be overpowered."
Luhan looked up at him through wet eyes. "Are you scared of me, doctor?"
Jongin wondered why Luhan was still calling him doctor, but he couldn't find it in himself to correct him. Then he thought about what Luhan had just said and shook his head slowly. He leaned forward so that he was a mere inch from the boy, before he enveloped him in a tight hug. He stroked Luhan's back, wishing this wasn't the only kindness Luhan had received since he'd been possessed.
He pulled back, smiling gently at him. "When I look at you I just see a boy. I see a boy who wants out. Who wants to go back to doing the things he likes and live his life normally."
He stopped mid-speech as he heard a creaking sound, and looked around to find the source. He paled. Luhan's cross. It was turning. It was turning around all by itself, slowly but surely. He felt himself begin to shiver. The demon was there. It was coming.
Luhan saw it too and looked, if possible, even more terrified than himself. "D-doctor..."
"There’s nothing to be afraid of, Luhan," Jongin lied, staring at the thing as it finally made the full half-circle, settling as a demonic symbol on Luhan's wall. "The devil is only trying to scare you. He's trying to scare me too. He knows you and I are fighting him, and he doesn't want to be driven out."
Luhan nodded hastily, closing his eyes and clasping his hands together in prayer. "Heavenly Father, forgive me for being weak. Protect us from this evil and shield us from harm. You are my armor, my protection, and my sword. Preserve us in our hour of need, in Jesus’ name. Amen."
Luhan looked behind him, but the cross just hung still in its inverted position. Jongin looked with him, before he averted his eyes to Luhan. Luhan's little prayer had been so beautiful. Jongin could tell he paid attention in church. That he loved God and tried his best to be good. Why Luhan would be possessed, he did not know. How a demon had found a way past his pure heart was the biggest mystery he'd been faced with to date. The other people he'd exorcised before had been sinners. Troubled children. Drunken fathers. People who demons could easily find a loophole into as they had wavered from God. But Luhan was faithful and kind. He was different. Why was it him who had to fight such evil? Had God neglected him? Forgotten about him?
Jongin was about to ask Luhan if he had ever sinned before, which he didn't think he had, but just as he was to open his mouth a strong smell hit him. He swore he had smelled it before. It was oddly familiar. Strong a burning. Disgusting. Toxic. Rat poison again?
"Do you smell that, Luhan?"
Luhan looked at him with worried eyes. "Smell what?"
Jongin lifted his nose and sniffed into the air. "That horrible stench."
Luhan shook his head. "I can't smell anything, sir."
Jongin frowned. This couldn't be good for the boy at all. Who put rat poison down in a cellar where a child was living? It couldn't be safe for him. Perhaps Luhan had gotten used to the smell over time.
He leaned over his bed to grab his bag, rummaging inside it for his phone. Maybe he ought to call Luhan's parents. They had locked the door for safety and told him to call in the event that something went wrong, and Jongin was sure this stench wasn't good for the boy at all. Maybe he ought to ask his parents if they could consider moving him to an isolated room upstairs. But as he searched through his bag and pulled out things for better access, he couldn't find it. He couldn't find his phone. Damnit. Had he left it upstairs? At home?
He cursed in his head, looking over to Luhan who was just watching him quietly, hands still clasped in prayer. He decided he needed to alert his parents for Luhan's own safety. One step at a time he walked over to the stairs, still throwing cautious looks back to Luhan and the inverted cross. He walked up the stairs slowly, not wanting to risk slipping down or getting surprised by something demonic from behind. When he reached the top door he knocked on it three times.
"Mr. And Mrs. Lu?" He inquired, listening to any sign of movement from the outside. There wasn't any. "Can you hear me?" Perhaps they had gone to bed. Perhaps they were in the kitchen and couldn't pick up on his weak knocking. He knocked again, harder this time. "Ma'am? Sir?"
The door was pulled open, and in the opening stood both Luhan's mother and father, both in their sleepwear.
"Is everything alright?" Luhan's mother asked, worry-lines creasing her small face.
"Yes," Jongin assured her, and she sighed in relief. "It's only...do you have rat poison down in the cellar?"
Luhan's father looked at him like he didn't understand what he was saying. "Rat poison?" He questioned disbelievingly.
Jongin looked down to the bottom of the stairs. Luhan was still sitting quietly on his bed, thank God. "There is this strange smell here, you see-"
"No," Luhan's mother said quickly, taking Jongin by surprise. "We would never keep something toxic near our child."
"Oh," he replied, wondering if he was really just imagining it seeing as Luhan couldn't smell it either. While he had his parents there decided he wanted to ask them about something else too, just for safety's sake. "Have you ever seen you child suffering from supernatural things? Being levitated, having his body parts twisted beyond human capability? Because I haven't seen this with him so far. I am wondering if I've been overlooking it, or if he just doesn't have those symptoms." Luhan's mother and father just stared at him. He continued on with another concern. "Also, there is this drawer full of pills-"
"There is nothing wrong with Luhan," his mother said. Jongin's eyes shot up to her, widening as he saw her calm face. Her lips were drawn into a tight line.
"What do you mean?"
"There is literally nothing wrong with him. The pills we give him cause dementia, paranoia, and hallucinations, same with the gas we release into his room every night, you know, the weird smell?"
Jongin's feet froze to the surface he was standing on, his throat closing up. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What..."
"The seizures are cause by Luhan's epilepsy. Thank God for those, they make everything so much more believable. It was heaven sent, really." The woman had a grin on her face now. A grin. Her lips were quirked up. Jongin glanced to Luhan's father. He was just the same.
"What the fuck are you talking about?”
He heard a little click and suddenly he saw there was a gun on him. Luhan's father was holding a handheld gun, pointing it straight at his chest. Jongin's eyes widened. He backed down a few stairs in horror, only eyeing the muzzle of the black gun. He didn't have time to question anything before Luhan's mother spoke again, both her and her husband walking forwards, forcing Jongin down the stairs.
“Even that cross that scares you so much on Luhan’s wall that turns upside down. We control it on the other side of the wall. In the storeroom. Just a twist and it becomes an inverted cross.”
Jongin gulped, feeling his feet meet the floor of the basement. He didn't date look over at Luhan when the gun was on him, even though he really wanted to.
“So you've been lying to me?" He asked, frowning. "Luhan isn't possessed at all?"
"Oh, he's possessed alright," his mother said, laughing to herself. "But not with a demon. You see, we're worried about the real problem here, Kim Jongin." Jongin just stared at her, trying to make sense of the lukacy spewing from her mouth. "The problem with both of you. We had hoped you would cancel each other out, but it looks like the problem is still prevailing. So we needed an excuse to keep you here."
"What problem?!" Jongin shouted, finally looking over at Luhan, who looked just as terrified as him, standing on the bed in fear, even if the shackles tried to pull him down.
"Homosexuality," Luhan's mother said simply, as if the word was acid on her tongue. Jongin froze, not knowing what to do. "You two are the only ones around. We caught Luhan kissing a boy behind our church last summer. The parents of that boy had him killed to put him out of his misery and to prevent spreading the disease." She said casually, like she was talking about the change in weather patterns. Kai gaped at them, glancing back to Luhan again, who had fallen to his knees on the mattress and had started crying. "We were too nice for our own good, of course. We wanted to cure Luhan. But we have realized there is no curing him. He is damned for eternity. And so are you."
"Mama," Luhan cried from beside him, tears streaming down his face. Jongin couldn't will his body to move. "I didn't mean it! It just happened, Mama! I'm sorry! I like girls, I promise!"
"Shut up, boy," Jongin heard Luhan's father say, aiming the gun in his son's direction instead.
Luhan's mother spoke up again, and Jongin forced himself to face her. "We heard from your pastor that you’ve been refusing every girl's hand in marriage that you’ve been presented with, also that you stay away from them like they’re the plague. I was thrilled when I found out you may have the disease too. And then I got my evidence when you embraced him tonight, you filthy dogs. I have camera's watching down there, you know. Ever since I found out about Luhan. Your pastor agreed it was for the best that you came here so we could end this. We can't risk this disease reaching the whole population. You two must be contained."
Jongin forgot how to breathe. His pastor had sent him there on purpose? To these crazy couple? They were aiming a gun at him and their own son solely because they were born unable to like girls? And his pastor had agreed with that? He had known that man since he was little. He had taken under Jongin wing and taught him everything he knew. The thought was bitter in Jongin's stomach, and made him angry. And he understood now; everything about Luhan. The bruises and marks on his body, the blood on the floor; his parents must have beat him. Everything Luhan had done and said was because he’d been fed drugs. He had seen things on his skin, in his room. The seizures from his epilepsy.
Jongin came back to life at the sound of chains clinking, and saw Luhan's parents had taken his restraints off and were pulling him up from the mattress. Luhan was fighting back weakly, trying to make himself as heavy as possible so they couldn't lift him.
"No! Please! Mama, I'll change! God will heal me!" He screamed, thrashing and twisting away before his mother slapped him hard across the face and yanked him only by pulling on one of his arms. Luhan's father kept the gun going back between Jongin and Luhan, his face less calm than Luhan's mother.
"There is no salvation for sinners!" Luhan's mother barked in his face, and soon Luhan had been pulled from his bed. It seemed as though the couple wanted to take him upstairs. Were they going to kill him?
"God loves all his children!" Jongin yelled at them, feeling tears prick at his eyes. He didn't want them to hurt Luhan. He was their own son, for God's sake. After all the pain and torment Luhan had had to endure, having Luhan killed was the last thing Jongin wanted for him. He deserved better. He had been falsely accused of being possessed. He'd just been a normal boy all along. A normal, frightened boy, who had been abused tirelessly by his parents and the people around him. It was a miracle how he was still alive even after being force-fed all those drugs. After being beaten. How did Luhan even still have his faith in God? Jongin was starting to wonder the same about himself. How could God let any of this happen?
If God wasn't going to stop an innocent child from being unjustly killed, then Jongin would. He sprang forward while Luhan's father turned his back, knocking the air out of him from behind as he pushed him and saw him fall forwards, his head hitting the stairs. The gun fell from his hands. Luhan's mother, who was still holding her boy, stopped hauling him towards the stairs as she saw her husband fall. Jongin didn't waste any time, and turned to her, hitting her in the neck so she dropped Luhan and fell backwards, clutching a hand to her throat.
Karma and sin be damned, those people were evil. Evil and heartless. And crazy.
He grabbed Luhan's arm, pulling him up the stairs. That was all he could think of. To get away. They had to run. Before Luhan's parents or anyone Jongin knew got to them. The thought of his pastor betraying him still sent surges of heavy pain through him, but he hurried on.
At the top of the stairs, Kai shut the door before bending down to Luhan and holding his shoulders tight, looking him in the eyes. "We're going to run, okay? Away from here. Away from the people who want to harm us."
"But God-"
"Fuck God. Listen to me," he breathed, clutching Luhan's shoulders now. "I don't know what your parents have told you, and I don't care. You aren't possessed, you got that?" Luhan just stood still, his eyes wide. "You aren't possessed, you aren't the devil, and you aren't a sinner. You're Luhan. You're sixteen years old and you like to draw and sing in the choir. You're innocent. Do you understand me?"
Luhan hesitate before nodding, his body stiff and his tears falling harder. Jongin breathed out heavily, running a hand down his face before he straightened up and reached a hand out to the boy.
"Come. We have to hurry."
As soon as Luhan gripped his hand, Jongin took off. He dragged Luhan out of the door and over their front yard, not knowing where they were headed. He took a quick decision and decided on the forest. They had to hide. His parents would undoubtedly get out and then alert the villagers; alert his own pastor in town. They needed to disappear to somewhere, but Jongin didn't know where.
So they just ran forward. It was morning now, he noticed. Probably even time for the bells in the church to chime for the morning prayer. Jongin made sure they stayed far away from the church, sprinting with Luhan deep into the forest instead. After running for a while, he felt Luhan slow behind him, and he turned to see he was pale as ghost, paler than normal anyways, and Jongin stopped his flying feet.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Luhan didn't respond, he only sank to the floor slowly, as if he was going to be sick. But Luhan wasn't sick. Instead, he started shaking. "Oh no..." Luhan was locking up again, every limb trembling. He looked up to Jongin with petrified eyes, red and beaded with tears. "It's okay, I've got you."
Jongin kneeled down and embraced Luhan, holding him tight as his convulsions began. He wasn't sure how to deal with them, but this was the only was he could think of. Luhan's hand that had been gripping his sweater released its hold, and soon he was having a full seizure. Jongin knew now that it wasn't a demon. It wasn't the devil taking over his body. It wasn't any evil, anything to be scared or embarrassed of.
He held Luhan tighter, feeling the moisture of the forest floor saturate his pants and the cold air send chills through him. He was worried about Luhan. The boy was still only in flimsy pajamas, thin, blue cotton and nothing on his feet.
He sighed, letting go of Luhan's shaking body momentarily to take off his sweater. He had a t-shirt underneath, and Luhan needed it more than him, his lips had even turned blue. As Jongin forced the sweater over Luhan's head, the boy's convulsions lessened gradually, until they finally stopped and Luhan was laying still in his arms with his sweater on.
"Luhan?"
"Thank you," Luhan whispered, clutching the new piece of clothing to his body. "Thank you."
They lay there like that for a little while, and Jongin just felt more and more worried. Where were they headed? Where could they find shelter? Food? At least the morning was upon them and the skies were lightened and visible to them from between the trees above. He looked up, smiling because maybe fate was being kind to them. Then he looked back down at Luhan, who was in his arms.
"Do you like boys, Luhan?" He asked quietly, pulling Luhan up a little. The boy glanced at him with wide eyes, swallowing thickly. "Don't be afraid to answer honestly," Jongin said with a smile. "Liking boys isn't wrong. I'm an exorcist, remember? You can believe me."
Luhan fumbled with his fingers for a little while, turning his face away, before he whispered so lowly Jongin almost missed it. "I like boys."
Jongin felt himself grin, and he drew a few soothing circles onto Luhan's back. "I saw the picture you drew of me, you know. It was nice; you're really good at drawing." If Jongin wasn't mistaken, Luhan blushed at his words. "Look at me."
Luhan did. He turned his head up slowly, like a dog afraid of being hit by its owner, and before he could turn away again, Jongin swooped down and kissed him, pressing his chapped lips again Luhan's own soft and cold ones. Luhan didn't move or say a thing, but he did close his eyes. He closed them and stayed limp, relaxed almost.
Jongin pulled back, missing the feeling instantly. Luhan had his eyes closed and Jongin was just watching his long eyelashes flutter against his cheeks prettily. He looked like an angel and Jongin wondered how nobody else saw that too.
"Did you like that?"
He considered Luhan's expression carefully, and it seemed almost neutral. But after a few seconds of staring at each other, Luhan nodded.
Jongin smiled, wider than before. His heart was racing.
"You'll get better once those drugs get out of your system, you know. I don't know what those lunatics gave you, but you'll stop having all those symptoms now."
Luhan smiled up at him and Jongin felt so elated, like everything had worked itself out just fine, but then he remembered that they weren't safe yet, that they shouldn't be getting distracted before they'd found somewhere to hide; shouldn't be celebrating.
"Can you get up?" He asked, shifting a little on the ground.
Luhan got off of him, pushing himself up to his knees and looking back where they had come from.
"Let's try to find safety at the other end of the forest. It's not a big forest, right?" He looked as far as he could see and saw only trees, but they were bound to end somewhere. There had to be a farm or perhaps another village or town neighbouring this one. "Are you listening to me?" He asked the other boy, who was still busy staring in the other direction. "What's wrong, Luhan?" The boy turned towards him, his face wearing clear frown. Jongin felt a lump for in his stomach.
"Doctor...I want to visit the church again. I've missed it so much..."
Jongin stayed in place, eyeing him carefully. "You can't mean that. After everything they've done to you..."
Luhan shook his head, looking back to the other end of the woods. "Church was my happiness. My joy. It was peaceful and I got to sing there. I felt safe."
"But you're not safe there anymore. They'd hurt you if they saw you there, Luhan. Those people are prejudiced and are misguided. They don't understand you."
Luhan kept shaking his head, his frown deepening. "Please...I grew up there."
Jongin frowned too. He felt bad because Luhan still had hopes in such a place, and even worse because all the good feelings the boy had for his church wasn't returned. For him to head back there would be like throwing himself to the vultures, and soon people might even start hunting the two of them down. He sighed.
"Luhan," he said, eyeing the boy sadly. But before he got to say anything else, Luhan had turned from him and started sprinting away, down the forest trail they had come from.
Jongin felt panic shake him. He set his frozen feet in gear too and forced himself to run after Luhan, whose body was now only a silhouette in front of him against the morning light.
"Luhan!" He shouted, desperate to get the boy to stop. Luhan couldn't be running for the church, could he? Jongin picked up his pace. He wasn't a good runner, but there was no way he could let Luhan slip from him. They had to run the other way, or they could risk getting caught. "Luhan, come back!"
He felt dread when he noticed the church hadn't been as far away as he'd thought. He could already see Luhan at a clearing, right were the light was pinkish and lighter than in the greens that embraced Jongin now. It had to be the church ground clearing.
He cursed, tripping slightly over roots as he hurried along. Luhan was a fast runner. He was sprinting. Jongin was petrified that he wouldn't be able to catch up to him in time.
"Luhan!"
Jongin made it to the clearing too, but he could already see Luhan running over the grounds, right over to the cluster of people that were once again filing into the church. He screamed at Luhan in a last attempt to get him to turn, to beg him to turn back and save himself. His heart was stabbed brutally and ripped from his chest when he heard a small child scream, “Devil’s Child!” and all the people’s heads turning in straight in Luhan’s direction. He picked up his speed so much and overstrained himself so that he couldn’t feel his legs anymore, but that didn’t matter because Luhan was in danger.
Luhan was almost at the church walls now. He was smiling at everyone, looking over the crowd of people, probably trying to pick out his best friend, Chanyeol. A few women screamed and grabbed their children, backing away from Luhan. But then came the part Jongin had feared. The men who were nearest to Luhan looked around themselves and picked up things from the ground. What was so horrible and disgusting was that the ground they stood on was full of gravel and rocks; the ones they’d thrown at Luhan before, and they picked them up, they picked up the rocks, and Luhan Just stood there as two of them hit him, one in the chest and one smack in the middle of his face, sending blood gushing out of his nose.
Jongin yelled for them to stop, but they didn’t listen. They didn’t even acknowledge his existence. He was almost by Luhan’s side now, just a little further. Everyone was picking up rocks. Everyone. Even kids. Women. The pastor, who happened to be standing outside too, yelled some sort of prayer out loud and told the people around him they had to get rid of the Devil Child once and for all or he would come and eat all the innocent and taint the church. More rocks rained.
When Jongin got to Luhan he shoved him down on the ground without another thought, getting on top of him covering him with his body.
“Are you okay?” He asked desperately, now staring down at a bleeding face with a broken nose.
“He’s bringing an army!”
“The devil is calling all the demons to attack us and go against our Father! We have to fight back!”
“Lord, heed out prayer! The Demons are here to taint your holy name! Save us all!”
Jongin felt something hard hit his shoulder and he groaned, sinking forward to his forearms. Luhan was breathing rapidly under him, as if he had difficulties with drawing in his breaths.
“Stop!” Jongin yelled, turning around face the outraged townspeople, all of them armed and looking spiteful, hate in their eyes like it had never been gone. “Don’t hurt him!”
“Don’t listen to what the heathen says! Smother them both before they get to you!” The pastor cried, his face red like he had strained himself beyond repair.
Rocks and hard objects rained down again and all Jongin could do was cry out and groan as they hit him, making sure his eyes never left Luhan’s, who was looking up at him in horror. Luhan tried to speak, but only blood came out, running down his chin and down to the muddy grass below.
In Jongin’s opinion, they were the devil. All of them. Those people. They were trying to kill an innocent boy. Their belief in God had driven them mad, and there was just no reasoning with them. He shed a tear that fell on Luhan’s face and whispered “I’m sorry,” to him, truly meaning it more than anything else.
He had failed. Jongin had said he would fix him and that Luhan would be accepted by everyone again, but he had failed.
He was winded when something bone-crushing hit his lower back, and felt his knees give under him as he tumbled off of Luhan’s body. Damnit. If only he could have fallen on top of him. Now who would shield Luhan from the slaughter?
Luhan’s eyes that were filled with horror never left him. They were glued to him now that they were lying side by side. Tearful, grief-stricken, everything he didn’t want to see. Jongin was only able to count three more seconds before he himself couldn’t see any longer, like someone had put a bag over his head. His face was stinging. He screamed. He’d been blinded.
A weak hand was reaching for him. It was trembling and tugging at his clothes feebly, he could feel it. Luhan’s little hand. It was reaching for him. Jongin would have held it, but his arms didn’t work. He cursed himself. All he felt was pain and Luhan’s little, futile nudges at his sides, and then he heard someone trampling a foot down right beside him, and he heard a horrible, blood-curling shriek in his ear from someone stepping on Luhan’s arm and crushing his bones.
He tasted blood and sick in his mouth and wailed for Luhan, but he knew it was too late. The heavy breathing next to him was already gone.
a/n: so i didn't label this as 'supernatural' because there isn't actually anything supernatural in it ye bet you weren't expecting that huh. just some extremist religious people! lol hope you liked it