Without My Drug / Chapter Sixteen
Title: Without My Drug / Chapter Sixteen
Author: Nicole Fang
Rating: Pg-13 ~ NC-17
Pairings: 2Min, side!JongKey
Genre(s): AU, supernatural, a slice of horror (maybe), romance, violence, angst, slight-humor
Summary: There were lines that weren’t meant to be crossed. There was a line for falling for your enemy, and a line for a vampire hunter being in love with a vampire (and vice versa). Too bad Minho and Taemin seemed to cross both. Now they’ll both have to deal with the consequences of their actions.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Key couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t believe what had happened. A few moments ago, he had been accepting the fact that he was about to die for helping the Hunters escape, fighting alongside his best friend Taemin. He had been ready to face the consequences of his actions and accept the punishment that would be dealt out to them had they survived the fight. And now...now, he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to believe, even.
Because he knew that he wasn’t there fighting with Taemin. Suddenly, he had been swept off his feet into the portal, watching the remains of a smile - that smile that he had missed seeing on the other vampire so damn much - on Taemin’s lips before the darkness closed around him. And then he was in the human world, blinded by the sun and sitting on the hot cement of the top of a building, feeling more miserable than he had in centuries.
There wasn’t only misery that he was feeling though. There was the sting of bitter betrayal and red hot anger that also affected his psyche. He wanted to shout at something, tear something to part until he didn’t have to feel such negative emotions. He wanted to destroy something until his heart finally calmed.
He was aware of the shouts coming from Jonghyun and Minho, the two Hunters looking about ready to start using their fists instead of their harsh words. He didn’t pay attention to what was being said though; just because he was angry at his best friend didn’t mean he could stop trying to look after the younger vampire.
The pupils in his eyes dilated as he activated his third eye which allowed him to see into the minds of others no matter how far. It was challenging at first, since he hadn’t used his powers to such an extent since...who knew when. Now, though - now was definitely the time to use it.
He snapped into the minds of the vampires, mind now worlds away from where his body was sitting. He watched from their eyes how Taemin froze the portal to make sure no one could get through and muffled a curse. The idiot really wanted to get himself killed, huh?
And he watched as the ice shield cracked, watched as vampire after vampire poured in after his precious friend. He watched as they tried to reach him.
With increasing dread (for he knew something bad was going to happen), he watched as Taemin landed lightly on a branch and looked up. That’s when he knew it was all lost. They were never going to get the old Taemin back, even if they somehow managed to save Key’s best friend.
Those black eyes... It showed a transformation.
There were two types of vampires in the general scheme of things. One type was natural vampires (who were actually birthed). These vampires were full-blooded vampires, and had an easier time controlling any and all urges compared to the other type of vampire. The other type? Made vampires. These were transformed into vampires, and technically have two personalities, one their human side and the other vampire. These two “souls” practically warred with each other until one gives in. This was why made vampires were always treated a little rudely by the full-bloods.
Key had never seen anyone really give up on one side. He’s heard about such a thing happening, but he’s never actually seen anyone do such a thing. During the civil war, Taemin and a few other newborns got close to giving up hope, bitter about their new lifestyle. Taemin pulled through it, learning to rely on others when he needed to. The others were able to come to terms also, or were either killed in the civil war.
This was his first time seeing Taemin make such a scary, cunning face.
“He’s gone,” Key whispered to himself out loud. He didn’t know this Taemin that was currently slaughtering every vampire in sight quickly and efficiently, a smirk on his face as he sliced them open, blood spilling onto the flood and making the earth seem wet. He didn’t know the Taemin who was quick to kill his old friends, and who showed no mercy, not even to the little amount of females that were there. He didn’t know this new Taemin.
His whisper caught the attention of the two arguing Hunters. Key looked up, dull eyes taking in how Minho tried to rush at him, fury radiating from him as Jonghyun jumped behind his partner, struggling to hold back the enraged man. Key knew that the anger was only directed at him because it drove home the situation to Minho and felt bad for a split second. But just a split second, and nothing else.
Looking straight into Minho’s eyes, Key repeated, “He’s gone.” And in that one moment, the fight seemed to drain out of the Hunter, and the vampire watched as the two Hunters sank down to the floor.
He directed his eyes to the concrete beneath him until a faint choking sound caught his attention. Lifting his gaze, he was sad to see Minho’s head cradled between his palms, shoulders heaving as the Hunter tried to keep in his sobs.
“Taemin, you stupid idiot,” Minho managed to get out. Key found himself for once completely agreeing with him.
--
Taemin directed his unimpressed gaze from the dead bodies lying before him with a roll of his eyes. It’d been a while since he’d been out, and he’d gone a little crazy, but the results he found in enemies were disappointing at best. He had wanted a bit more of a challenge, but all of these no-goods had been way too easy to kill. It wasn’t enough to satisfy him.
Looking up, Taemin saw the flames from the mansion getting put out and scoffed out loud this time. If he’d been the one doing that... Well, let’s just say that no one would be alive to even pick up the mess he’d made.
Walking up the path, he kicked a dismembered arm in his path, sending it flying to a tree with a wet slap. He surveyed the destruction around him, not particularly caring where he was stepping or who he was stepping on. The ice under his feet cracked pleasantly, his mouth curling into a satisfied grin as he walked around the cold spikes that had bloomed from the ground, the blood running down them to darken the ground.
He heard something whizz at him and moved his head slightly, watching as a knife passed by his head, taking some of his red hair with it before embedding into the tree next to him.
Looking at it, clearly unsurprised, Taemin moved his head to the side again to see two vampires, a man and a woman, come out from the heavy vegetation. He tilted his head, and two names came up from the other Taemin’s memory.
Heechul and Jessica, was it? Watching the memories that weren't his made him muffle a chuckle. The old Taemin obviously had a bad judge in character.
“Oh,” he said out loud, eyes wide and innocent. “Heechul-hyung and Jessica-noona? You two are the bad guys, right?” He took their appearances into account, looking at an ugly staff that Jessica was holding quickly without letting them know.
“Taemin, Taemin, Taemin,” Heechul clucked his tongue, walking closer to the redhead. The younger vampire watched the other male cautiously, making sure to keep the curious spark on his face. “It’s a shame that Key gained your trust before we knew you. You would’ve been such a good person to have on our side.”
An arrogant smile appeared on Taemin’s face, ruining the innocent image in a flash.
“What makes you think I even want to take a side?” he asked, his black eyes glinting maliciously. “I’m quite content not having anyone boss me around. It’s nice to be out without anyone holding me back. I can kill anyone I want to now.” His eyes caught a nervous movement from Jessica and his smirk widened. Heechul looked confused for a second before seeming to realize what had happened.
“You aren’t Taemin, are you?” the older vampire asked, shrewed eyes boring into Taemin’s. “Well, not the one we know, at least.”
“I’m surprised it took you so long to figure it out,” the redhead said, infuriating smirk still sharp on his face.
“It’s my first time seeing an ex-human’s real vampire side,” Heechul said, moving closer as if to inspect him like a bug under the microscope. The smile dropped off Taemin’s face, the area around him getting chilly as if in warning for Heechul not to get any closer. The older vampire noticed this quickly, an intrigued eyebrow raising at how quickly Taemin’s personality changed. Heechul held up his two hands in surrender, but that didn’t stop Taemin from looking at them coldly, not a hint of the smirk that had been on his face present.
“I didn’t give you permission to come close to me,” Taemin hissed out, looking at them like they were bugs under his feet.
He watched as Jessica ground her teeth together, clearly outraged at how he was treating them. Her grip on the ugly staff tightened and he felt a flash of satisfaction; he hadn’t lost his touch, clearly. It felt good to be someone that others feared and hated again.
“I’m sorry,” Heechul apologized. Taemin didn’t believe it for a second, gazing in suspicion at how the vampire’s eyes glinted secretively. They flashed a bright purple, and Taemin knew the older was up to something. There had to be a reason why Heechul was feeling anticipation, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to like it or not.
“We’re going to have to bring you with us, Taemin,” Heechul continued, face blanking. Taemin felt irritation flash through him.
“Let me guess,” he said out loud, not bothering to remove the sneer from his face. “You’re the people who set up the rebellion at the main house, right?” He jerked his chin toward the now flame-less mansion up the path. “Not satisfied with the government?”
“It really is a shame,” Heechul said again, not confirming anything though the glance he shot to Taemin was enough for him to figure it out. “You’ve been hiding this brilliance, haven’t you? It really would’ve been great if we had gotten to you first. Too bad we’ll have to get rid of you now.”
“Get rid of me?” Taemin scoffed, letting out a bark of laughter. “As if you’ll be able to.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Heechul said, sending warning signals through his brain again at how calm and peaceful the vampire seemed to be. “We can quite easily stop you with this.” The male vampire gestured to the ugly staff that Jessica was holding, giving Taemin the much wanted chance to study it further.
There wasn’t anything really special about it. Like Taemin had said earlier, it was ugly, and he wasn’t about to retract that statement. It was a silver metal stick with a gold heading at the top. The top ended with a clear, crystal ball with disgusting gargoyle creatures surrounding it. Taemin eyed it for a second, wondering why a foreboding feeling came to him as he considered the staff. Why did it seem like the thing was more than it seemed?
He turned back to Heechul, narrowing his eyes. The other male smiled, the smile more smirk than anything else.
“You’d be surprised how deceiving it looks,” Heechul said, like he had read Taemin’s mind. The redhead was careful not to show any of his surprise or wariness on his face.
“And how is one stupid staff going to stop me?” he asked instead, forcing an expression of boredom onto his visage.
“You’ll see,” Heechul replied, his tone once again sending off warning signals in Taemin’s head.
“Heechul, we have to hurry,” Jessica said, looking impatient and a little paranoid as she glanced between the two male vampires.
“Patience, Jessica,” Heechul soothed her, eyes not once leaving Taemin’s. “Taemin and I want to play for a bit. Isn’t that right, Taemin?”
A thrill shot through Taemin, anticipation starting to once again flow through his veins. The black need for blood and destruction that had been obedient so far was now roaring to go again, very much alive and pulsing inside of him. Maybe it would be good to have some fun with Heechul.
“Oh, yes,” he purred out, black orbs glinting. “We definitely want to play a little.”
He watched as Heechul took a step forward, bringing his hand up to bite into his thumb. The smell of blood, already strong from all the deaths that Taemin had caused earlier, got a little stronger, the sharp, fresh, copper tang in the air making him lick his gums. Though he didn’t drink other vampire blood, it reminded him of his longing to taste human blood again.
Before his very eyes, Taemin watched as Heechul’s blood slowly flowed out in a straight line, forming a weapon in the appearance of a whip. He understood the power immediately. Wouldn’t making weapons out of your own blood tire you out though?
He snickered inwardly. Why did he care, anyway? The quicker he could kill this guy, the quicker he could get away and start the real fun.
--
The room was dusty and there was only a little light source streaming in through the window. The furniture in the room had built up a fortress of dust, layers caked upon layers upon layers. The books’ spines each read ancient text, too illegible for those who didn’t know the language. This was a place that had been left untouched for years.
Onew leaned back in his wooden, uncomfortable chair, looking down at the blurry text in front of him, stunned and unable to form any coherent thoughts. Maybe he had been reading something wrong, but his eyes continued to run over the words that caused everything to make sense and, at the same time, confuse him even more. He thought this stuff was just a myth?
His eyes ran over the four words that caused everything to click together.
“The Soul Mate Theory,” he said out loud, voice full of incredulity. He let out a small laugh, somewhat relieved even if he didn’t necessarily believe it just yet. He found himself wanting to accept it though, because then it wouldn’t be anyone’s fault - all the prophecies in the book told him that people would start to suddenly fall for someone their total opposite.
That would explain Taemin and that human, thankfully. It also explained that weird vision he had of Yunho and that other male Hunter.
It was the Yin and Yang concept. In fact, there were just so many other names he could think of that would fit the same concept.
Hot and cold.
Light and dark.
Love and hate.
The sun and the moon.
The natural and the artificial.
The good and evil.
The soul and the body.
Biting the inside of his cheek, he hunched over again, cautiously beginning to read again. Would the wonders never end?
--
Taemin was slouching against a tree, gasping hard for air as he glared at the older vampire in front of him. Heechul looked remarkably fine still, breathing slightly quicker than normal and looking a little roughed up, but obviously not as beat up as the younger.
Blood dripped down from Taemin’s lips and he spit it out, irritated beyond belief. What had started out as an advantage for him quickly became a nightmare.
Heechul let out a chuckle, as if he knew what the other vampire was thinking.
“You’re still inexperienced,” Heechul said, smirk still ever present on his face. Taemin still wanted to wipe that ugly look from the older’s face.
Taemin pressed his lips together, eying the open wound from Heechul’s stomach that he had made. No blood was dripping from it - this was how it had all turned bad for him. Heechul knew how to control his blood flow, the bastard, and in turn regulate his internal system.
Heechul turned away from looking at Taemin, glancing up and giving a nod. The redhead knew Jessica had arrived behind him, but he couldn’t find the energy to jump to some other place. He couldn’t even find it in himself to turn around.
“Sorry, Taemin,” Heechul said, for the first time looking truly apologetic. “We’ll be taking you with us now.”
“Fuck y-” Taemin tried to wheeze out, but then a blinding pain exploded in his body. He felt himself fall, darkness coming up to take him into its embrace.
--
Author's Note: Ah, so, some of you might not have known, but my computer crashed a few weeks ago. I just recently had the time to start writing this out. :'( Sorry about that! This chapter was supposed to be longer, but I accidentally put the first part of chapter 16 with the last chapter. :P Anyway, please have patience with me! I'll try hard to keep on writing this story! ^^
Also, thanks to kiri125 and lovestrucksmile (who doesn't even read this fic fft) for pushing me on through the last few pages. I couldn't have done it without you guys! ;~;b
While I'm at it, I might as well ask if anyone else wants to be twitter buddies kkkk. If you do, let me know! ^^ I'm in need of having friends over there to keep me company when apparently no one else is on haha;;
Comment? :')