Of Blood and Brooms - Chapter Twelve
Of Blood and Brooms
Chapter Twelve
“Don’t even think about it!” Key declared, but it was the large chopping knife that accompanied the gesture that made him think twice about the wisdom of his decision.
“I was only going to look,” Onew tried in defense of himself.
“No,” Key snapped. “The last time you looked, I had to throw the whole thing out. We are not going there again. And you,” Key turned towards the far corner of the room where Minho was leaning and growling menacingly, “knock that off or leave!” It probably wasn’t the brightest idea to try and order an angry vampire around but he was tired of the overbearing protectiveness that he seemed to have where Onew was concerned.
“Key,” Jessica hissed.
“Don’t start,” he told her, returning to the herbs he was currently mincing.
Hankyung, who was leaning against the wall, frowned at them. “She’s right Key. It is probably not a good idea to try to order around a vampire. He won’t instinctually resist like a werewolf, but he probably won’t take kindly to the idea either.”
Onew was silent for a moment as he took in the witches gathered in the room. “Could we please stop talking about Minho like he isn’t here? It’s not like he suddenly forgot how to understand Korean.” He was irritated, more so than he knew he should really be, but it simply wasn’t acceptable to him that they would treat Minho as less human than they were. He knew the young man was no longer a human but that didn’t make him a monster.
Suddenly he moved across the room and grabbed the vampire by the wrist. A simple tug had Minho stumbling nearly comically behind him as if he was helpless in the hands of Onew. The young man stormed back to where the witches had been working on readying ingredients for a spell they would be working later that evening. With his free hand Onew snatched the thick root that Henry had been attempting to break in half from the startled young man.
“Here break this in half please,” he requested as he simultaneously released the vampire and presented the root to him. Bewildered, Minho took it from Onew and effortlessly did as he was asked before handing both halves back.
“See,” Onew declared, confident that his point had been proven. “Not only is Minho harmless, he is helpful as well.”
There was a tense silence where no one seemed to want to be the first to speak. Then Jessica destroyed it by laughing out right. “Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to remind us of how easily Minho could snap a man in half,” she said, still laughing.
A sheepish look fell across Onew’s face as her words sunk in. “I was just trying to make a point,” he said helplessly. The strong arm that slipped around his waist and the rumble that bubbled in the firm chest pressed against his back made him certain that at least the vampire appreciated the efforts.
“So,” Jessica said moving closer. “This is the cutie that you were pining over for so long.”
“I - uh,” Onew stuttered, at a loss for what to say. He swore he felt a chuckle from the vampire against his back, amusement at his own expense no doubt.
“Good choice,” Jessica continued with a smirk. “I bet he looks just delicious with his shirt off.”
Onew laughed nervously, Key rolled his eyes, Henry smiled, and just like that the tension in the room dissolved. It was almost like old times, with the exception that those old times had never including an impending army of savage vampires that could arrive at any time. Still he found himself more content then he had been in a long time.
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He wasn’t surprised to find his Pet spread over his bed without clothing. It was a favorite way of Ryeowook’s to greet him, and in a typical day he would have taken full advantage of it, but not today. “Pack your suitcase,” he ordered moving to the closet and grabbing the items for him.
“Yesung,” Ryeowook said softly, the rustle of sheets indicating he was shifting on the bed. With his back to his Pet he could hardly read what it was that the man was thinking, and even then he could never be certain of being correct in his interpretation anymore, not where Ryeowook was concerned. All the more reason that the man needed to leave.
“You need to go out of the country for a while,” he declared, flipping open the suitcase and beginning to stuff clothing into it unmindful of which of theirs it was.
“Yesung,” Ryeowook repeated again and he could hear the soft footsteps carrying the man across the room.
“It doesn’t matter where. You tell me and I’ll get you tickets there. Maybe you and Donghae can take that tropical vacation you talked about,” Yesung knew he was speaking quickly, but he didn’t want to give the man any chance to argue.
He felt hands on his shoulders, their warmth soaking into his body through his clothing. “I’m not going anywhere,” Ryeowook whispered, wrapping his arms around his shoulders from behind. “This is my home. Where you are is my home.”
“No,” Yesung snapped, knowing that it was fear, not aggression that was driving him. “No,” he said again, gentling his voice. “You are my biggest weakness. You can’t be here.”
“I’ll fight with you,” the conviction in Ryeowook’s voice almost brought tears to his eyes, not that he thought he was capable of crying any longer.
“You can’t,” he murmured softly, turning and pulling the man easily around his body so they could face each other.
“I can,” Ryeowook’s eyes were filled with fire. “I know how to kill a vampire.”
“No!” Yesung growled, needing desperately to make him understand. Shaking off his appearance of being human, he moved faster then he knew Ryeowook would be able to counter. In a flash the young man was pinned to the hard wood floor, in such a way that he could hardly move. Yesung knew the frail wrists that he had caged in one hand might bruise from the strength of his grip but he needed to make his point. “You are human, no match for our strength.”
Ryeowook was clearly unbothered by the motion, the red eyes, the flash of fangs, or the display of strength. “Then make me a match,” he countered. “Turn me.”
“Even if I did you would be nothing but a baby,” Yesung growled, “and more of a weakness to me. You need to leave.”
“I’m not leaving,” Ryeowook told him firmly.
Yesung knew that even after the clear display of everything that he was, Ryeowook wanted him still, wanted to be here still. “You can’t stay,” he murmured, leaning down and pressing his nose to the silky skin that Ryeowook instinctively offered him now.
“You can’t make me leave,” the man replied with determination in his voice as he tilted his head to the side in clear invitation. As his fangs slid smoothly into the man’s skin, he knew the human was right, he could never force Ryeowook to leave his side, not even for his own protection, but he knew someone who could.
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Too long, it had been too long since he had feed this deeply from one of his own, even one who was not yet fully turned. Strength raced through his system with every pull from the young creature in his lap. Taemin was a thing of beauty, a promising Child that could very well become even more than his siblings when he was finished. He was already willing to do whatever asked of him and that compelled his Maker to care for him even more, as was his duty.
“Shh, Taemin,” he murmured, closing the bite marks with a swipe of his tongue. “You need to learn patience in this.”
Against him Taemin whimpered again and shifted his hips forward again, pressing the evidence of his arousal firmly into Heechul’s stomach. The young man would certain frighten away his friends now, given over to his new instincts as he was, but he would learn with time how to curb even his strongest desires. “Patience my Child,” Heechul cooed. One hand rose to hold the fledgling’s head firmly to his shoulder, while the other arm wound its way around his hips and forced them to cease their restless shifting. “We have guests.”
True enough his vampires and their Pets had slowly crept into the room, saying a healthy distance away as he had finished his feeding. Even they knew it was foolish to tempt his anger, even for something as important as what they desired. He knew, as he did many things, without asking, what they were here for. He could read the request directly from the minds of his vampires. Along with it he could feel the resistance from the humans and the desire to stay, to protect that which they had no hope of doing so.
“So you wish to fight,” he mused, settling back into his chair still holding his fledgling against his body.
“Yes,” Ryeowook, one of his favorite out of the Pets, said with determination. Every other human echoed it, even Donghae who he thought would be too frightened to come out of the room without Kibum there.
“Yet they wish you to go,” he said airily.
“It isn’t their choice to make,” Ryeowook replied, seeming to be the voice of the humans.
“You’re right. It is mine,” Heechul smiled and for the first time focused his attention directly on the Pets standing in his court. ‘You will leave,’ he said implanting the order directly into their minds as easily as breathing. ‘You will pack your things and head to the nearest airport. There you will purchase tickets for a month long vacation to a location of your choice.’
It was almost comical as the humans one by one noticed what he was doing. Their eyes widened comically as the fight-or-flight response activated within their bodies. It didn’t matter though, he had every one of them, their minds as easily swayed by him as a child’s. Even Ryeowook, who the moment he realized what was being done, turned and tried to flee. Yesung’s arms caught him fast and held him still.
“You bastard!” Ryeowook snarled, in anger and betrayal.
‘You will stay there until the month is up and you may return to Korea. Afterwards you must wait for a call from the vampire you serve before returning. You will not resist,’ he directed both verbally and directly into their minds. Even Ryeowook, as close as he was to the beginnings of the Change, was powerless to resist the suggestion and his eyes glazed over just like the other humans. ‘You will do as you are commanded. Go now and do as you have been told.’
One by one the humans walked stiffly from the room, still deeply pulled into the trance he had placed them in. In time they would return to an almost normal exterior but without knowing it they would be compelled to do just as he had ordered them to do. As their Pets left, one by one the vampires connected to them vanished from his presence as well, leaving at last his Child and Pet.
Slowly Yesung released Ryeowook and watched as the young man walked stiffly from the room. Heechul didn’t need to dip into his Child’s mind to know what was running through it. He didn’t particularly care for what he had just done anymore than his Child did, but they both knew it needed to be done. “Thank you,” Yesung whispered when Ryeowook was gone and then vanished in the human’s wake.
“Come my Child,” he murmured to the fledgling in his lap when they had all gone. “Let me care for you.”
Taemin pressed back against his hand and he allowed the young vampire to move. Glowing red eyes stared at him and he saw an understanding there that was rare in one so young. It seemed that Taemin was more with it then he had previously believed. This newest Child of his could indeed prove to be interesting, given that they survived the coming days.
“Eat my young one,” he purred, tilting his head and allowing his fledgling to strike his neck and drink his fill.
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“Why exactly does he have to come with us again?” Key asked sending a glare towards the large brown werewolf. Jessica heaved a sigh at his behavior. She had learned long ago not to read too much into his dislike of anything not strictly human. He had his reasons, as unwilling to elaborate on them as he was, and she didn’t really expect him to change that anytime soon.
“The wolves have every right to know the edges of the barrier as we do,” Hankyung stated plainly, pressing on through the dense underbrush.
Key glared at the man leading them clearly not liking that answer. “He doesn’t have to do it in that form,” his wild gesture was meant to incorporate the whole of the werewolf from the tip of his brown tail all the way to the white splash of fur on his muzzle. She supposed the size alone could be intimidating since he was big no matter how she looked at it. His head could easily touch her shoulder and that said nothing about the broad build of the creature. He didn’t look anything like a dog, not really when viewed up close, but she found him beautiful anyway.
Lightly and with what she imagined to be affection, the werewolf nudged her in the shoulder. “He has to come this way because his senses are better like this,” she spoke for him. She was almost certain that part of the reason he had accompanied them like this was because he was afraid of some threat surprising them and in this form he could protect them better. Siwon had basically told her that himself before they had set out on their hike.
“I don’t see why he can’t just sniff it out as a human,” Key muttered, picking up the pace so he was walking beside Onew, just behind Hankyung.
Siwon growled at him, not in any real threatening way, clearly just trying to make a point and Jessica patted the massive wolf on the shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she whispered certain that he could hear her, “I think you are magnificent like this.”
She didn’t expect the warm wet tongue that swiped against her cheek, a motion that probably looked frightening when accompanied by the powerful jaws that it retreated back into. Jessica found the gesture mostly gross and just a fraction sweet. “If not a little bit disgusting,” she grumbled, wiping at her cheek with her sleeve. Siwon released a sound that resembled laughter and she contemplated punching him for it.
“This will be where Jessica’s bag will go,” Hankyung was saying ahead of them and they both focused back onto what they were supposed to be doing. “When it is time this is the place you will come to.” He was crouched in front of a small natural pool of water and she moved to it and knelt beside him.
“I just drop it in?” she asked, looking towards the pool and wondering if there were some tiny fish within or possibly a frog or two. If there were dropping in a bag full of herbs and a piece of her hair that had been dipped in the potion Key had brewed could hardly be good for them.
“Yes,” Hankyung said simply. “Do you need me to mark the spot so you can return here?”
She looked back to Siwon, knowing that the werewolf would insist on coming with her when she needed to make the trip back. The large wolf offered her a declining shake of his head, the motion appearing oddly human on his otherwise animalistic form. “No I think we can find it again.”
“Very well,” Hankyung agreed, all business. He rose from where he had been standing and began to pace off in a straight line, cutting through whatever stood in his way.
The four remaining witches exchanged puzzled helpless looks as the head of their coven headed off on a path that perhaps only he could see. A large furred head gently nudged her in the direction Hankyung had gone and she rose, dusting off her pants. It was cute that the large vicious beast seemed to be herding them after the witch, but Siwon seemed to be insisting that he stay in the back of their little group.
Key grumbled something about pushy supernatural creatures and adults who thought they knew everything before heading off in the direction Hankyung had headed. She watched Onew and Henry exchange smiles before they followed leaving her with the wolf.
“You’re sure you can find this place?” she asked him. He huffed, as if it was a ridiculous idea to even question that, and nudged at her again. “Fine,” she grumbled, heading around the large log instead of over it as the boys had done. A moment later the large wolf cleared the obstacle in an easy bound and she rolled her eyes at him. He was chuckling at her again, in that strange form of wolf laughter and this time she really did punch him in the shoulder. The satisfaction of hitting him was well worth the sting to her fist, even if it did only cause him to laugh harder.
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By the time Onew had placed his bag at the fifth location, she had finally figured out the pattern they were making and she could have kicked herself for not noticing earlier. “We are forming a pentagram aren’t we?” she stated more than asked.
Hankyung nodded and peered at the small mound of earth that Onew had just buried his bag in. She recalled the previous locations that the other bags had been hidden, the tree Henry had tucked his into, the dagger that Key had pierced his with and then wedged between two stones, and the magically called fire that Hankyung had thrown his into. Added to the pool of water that she would be tossing hers into and she came up with, “the elements.”
“Correct again,” Hankyung told her straightening and nodding to her. “There is power to be found with the elements in the proper formation and when used correctly, they can do almost anything we ask, such as produce a barrier to keep what is in, in and what is out, out.”
“Could they do other things too?” Henry asked hesitantly, as if he didn’t really want to know the answer.
Hankyung nodded. “The ingredients inside them as well as the potion they were dipped in, dictate what they do. The arrangement is to connect them and activate the spell, channeling power between them. A piece of your hair in each bag will tell the spell where to draw its power.”
“Wow,” Onew muttered, as surprised as the rest of them had been by his revelation. All of them had just been following him blindly and it unnerved her to think that they could have been casting powerful spell to do anything and not have even known it.
A growl rumbled from Siwon and she realized he must have just figured the same thing. “He wouldn’t lead us to do anything bad,” she told him and realized as she said it that she also believed it. Even if she had doubted Hankyung in the beginning she now fully believed that he would protect them first and do everything else second. Part of protecting them was to keep them from doing anything that would harm them physically, emotionally, or otherwise and she knew he always tried to do that.
Hankyung offered her a small smile before continuing with his instruction. “Tomorrow when you drop the last bag into the pool the spell will activate without anything further being done. Make certain you are in the inside or you will be locked out until one of the bags is removed.”
She nodded her understanding of his directions. It was easy, now that she saw the shape they had formed, to realize that the mansion was at the center of the pentagram and she would need to be closer rather than farther from it in order to stay inside.
“Good,” he said with a nod. “Let’s go, we still have a lot to do.”
With quick strides he turned and led the way back towards Heechul’s mansion. The boys sighed as Henry and Onew turned and trudged after him. Key turned and looked towards the large wolf with a pondering expression on his face. “You know,” he said finally, “If you are going to be out here like this, the least you could do is offer me a ride back to the house.”
The werewolf gave him a look as though he was crazy and then snapped his powerful jaws playfully in Key’s direction. “Yeah, I didn’t think you would go for that,” the young man grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and dragging himself after the other males in the coven.
Siwon offered her a look full of mirth and she had to honestly say that for a moment she considered asking him to carry her back. He would, she knew, but the moment she thought it she knew she could never ask it. A werewolf was never something that should be ridden like a simple pony, not because he was too dangerous to do so, but because she couldn’t imagine a human perched atop something so exquisitely beautiful.
The werewolf bumped her hand lightly with his muzzle, guiding it up along his soft fur until it rested against his muscled shoulder. The angle was a little awkward since his shoulder was nearly level with hers, but she left it there, wiggling her fingers in his soft fur as they walked back towards the house.
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“Can I help who’s next?” the young woman behind the counter asked tiredly.
“I would like two tickets out of the country,” he replied, his voice toneless.
“Where to?” she prompted.
“Anywhere,” he answered, his voice sounding strange even to him.
“I need a destination sir,” she prompted again, looking wary as if his request wasn’t something that she heard every day.
“Anywhere that isn’t in Korea,” he said again. “I have to leave,” he told her, but it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. The last thing he wanted to do was leave. He needed to stay. There was something to stay for. Something that he could remember.
“Running from something?” she asked looking edgy, possibly nervous.
“No,” he answered and that felt honest to him. “I just need to leave, we need to leave,” he gestured to the man standing beside him silently.
“Well sir I have a flight to Hong Kong leaving in an hour?” she offered.
“That will work,” he agreed placing a plastic card on the counter top. It was a card he had been given by someone, but he couldn’t quite remember who. His name must have been on it because she didn’t protest when he handed her his id, simply handing both back to him along with two tickets.
“Have a safe trip,” she told him with a smile.
“Thank you,” he replied feeling sick over the words. Safe. He was going to be safe and that was wrong. He couldn’t be safe, which was a ridiculous notion he knew. One of his hands clutched the tickets and his other rolled a large suitcase, a suitcase that he had only packed half of. Someone had packed the other half for him. He couldn’t remember who. He needed to know who.
The other man, silent and calm, followed him. They needed to stay together. They couldn’t think of separating. It was safer for the other man that way, so he wouldn’t get scared, scared of something that he couldn’t remember. That seemed to be happening a lot lately and it should have bothered him, but it didn’t. No couldn’t. It couldn’t bother him. Someone had made it so it couldn’t bother him, but he didn’t know who. Couldn’t remember who.
They sat, waiting until the boarding call for their plane came, the one that matched the number on the tickets that he hadn’t wanted to buy. The tickets with his name on them. Kim Ryeowook. That was him, he knew that, but Kim wasn’t his surname, not really. He hated his surname. He had abandoned it just like his parents had abandon him. He had taken on the surname of another, accepted his name and his love. Accepted what he was. Accepted the home he had been offered.
But he was being sent away.
He didn’t want to go away. Something was making him. Something he couldn’t fight. Something had forced him. Told him to leave. Told him to go far away. To be safe.
“Welcome to the flight Kim Ryeowook,” the attendant said. He must have handed them the ticket he didn’t want in order for him to be able to board the plane away from the place he wanted to stay. “Have a safe flight,” the attendant said, handing the ticket back. He took it, not because he wanted to but because he had - was being forced - to.
“Welcome to the flight Lee Donghae,” the attendant said to the man he was with. He knew that name. They were friends, had been friends for a long time. Donghae wasn’t who he wanted to be with.
“Yesung,” he murmured, his lips forming the name. That was wrong. He couldn’t be saying that.
His mind yelled no.
His heart screamed yes.
“Yesung, Yesung, Yesung, Yesung, Yesung!” he yelled, growing louder with every utterance of the name. His hands fisted in his hair, pulling on it. Trying to defeat his brain. His brain that had been turned against him. Turned against him by someone. Someone who wanted him to leave.
“Yesung, Yesung, Yesung, Yesung!”
“Sir?” the attendant asked hesitantly. They probably thought he was crazy. Maybe he was crazy. Maybe that was it. Maybe he should just get on the plane and leave. Maybe he should just listen to what he was being told.
No!
He couldn’t leave. Yesung would die. Yesung would die without him there. He couldn’t leave. He had to fight. He had to be there. Damn them for doing this to him. Damn them for taking away his right to choose.
“Yesung!” he screamed both as a curse and as an utterance to ground himself.
Then suddenly everything was clear.
He had no idea how he had gotten to the airport, or even where the rest of the Pets had gone, but he knew with an ever sharpening clarity where he was now. “Sir?” the attendant was asking hesitantly, probably thinking he had lost his mind. Maybe he had.
“I’m fine,” he said shakily straightening. “I just got over a bad break up, that is why I am leaving,” he said with a hesitant laugh. “You know how it is, being so in love with someone and then finding out that they were cheating on you with your best friend. I just needed to get that out while I was still in this country.” The attendant didn’t look like he believed him and Ryeowook couldn’t honestly care. “Can I take a minute to collect myself?” he asked. He didn’t wait for an answer as he stuffed his ticket in his pocket and grabbed Donghae with his now free hand.
“You only have ten minutes,” the attendant told him hesitantly as he ducked under the guiding rail and pulled Donghae after him.
“I know, thanks,” he replied, tugging on the other man harder.
“No. We have to go,” Donghae protested in a voice that seemed devoid of life.
“We will,” Ryeowook told him, and he fully intended to go, but not anywhere near the plane. The words seemed to pacify the other man and he followed obediently. Ryeowook thanked the foresight of suggesting that Donghae follow him where ever they went, it would only make things easier.
Ryeowook pulled him back to the sitting area, noting absently that the attendants were still watching him and talking into small radios, probably getting ready to call security if he so much as sneezed loudly, not that he really blamed them. He released Donghae’s wrist and turned to face the man.
Donghae stared back at him with eyes that just didn’t seem to focus on him. He must have looked like this only moments before, he realized. How could no one have said anything about it? Donghae looked dead, devoid of life, like someone whose personality had been sucked away, or simply pushed aside by a vampire with ideas and abilities that no one deserved. Ryeowook had so many words he was going to offer Heechul when they got back, and even more for Yesung, but first they would have to get back. For that, Donghae would have to be awake.
“We need to go. We have to leave Korea,” Donghae told him, his voice monotone. It made him angry to hear it and that fueled him to do what he needed to, what he hoped would work.
“I’m sorry Donghae,” he murmured and then swung his fist directly into the other man’s jaw.
Chapter Thirteen
Masterlist
AN: Man this week has been totally crazy! I haven't had a lot of time to do much of anything. Hopefully that will change this weekend and I can get back to writing and generally relaxing. Hope you all are still enjoy this even though I feel like I am hearing from less and less of you.... *pouts*
Chapter Twelve
“Don’t even think about it!” Key declared, but it was the large chopping knife that accompanied the gesture that made him think twice about the wisdom of his decision.
“I was only going to look,” Onew tried in defense of himself.
“No,” Key snapped. “The last time you looked, I had to throw the whole thing out. We are not going there again. And you,” Key turned towards the far corner of the room where Minho was leaning and growling menacingly, “knock that off or leave!” It probably wasn’t the brightest idea to try and order an angry vampire around but he was tired of the overbearing protectiveness that he seemed to have where Onew was concerned.
“Key,” Jessica hissed.
“Don’t start,” he told her, returning to the herbs he was currently mincing.
Hankyung, who was leaning against the wall, frowned at them. “She’s right Key. It is probably not a good idea to try to order around a vampire. He won’t instinctually resist like a werewolf, but he probably won’t take kindly to the idea either.”
Onew was silent for a moment as he took in the witches gathered in the room. “Could we please stop talking about Minho like he isn’t here? It’s not like he suddenly forgot how to understand Korean.” He was irritated, more so than he knew he should really be, but it simply wasn’t acceptable to him that they would treat Minho as less human than they were. He knew the young man was no longer a human but that didn’t make him a monster.
Suddenly he moved across the room and grabbed the vampire by the wrist. A simple tug had Minho stumbling nearly comically behind him as if he was helpless in the hands of Onew. The young man stormed back to where the witches had been working on readying ingredients for a spell they would be working later that evening. With his free hand Onew snatched the thick root that Henry had been attempting to break in half from the startled young man.
“Here break this in half please,” he requested as he simultaneously released the vampire and presented the root to him. Bewildered, Minho took it from Onew and effortlessly did as he was asked before handing both halves back.
“See,” Onew declared, confident that his point had been proven. “Not only is Minho harmless, he is helpful as well.”
There was a tense silence where no one seemed to want to be the first to speak. Then Jessica destroyed it by laughing out right. “Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to remind us of how easily Minho could snap a man in half,” she said, still laughing.
A sheepish look fell across Onew’s face as her words sunk in. “I was just trying to make a point,” he said helplessly. The strong arm that slipped around his waist and the rumble that bubbled in the firm chest pressed against his back made him certain that at least the vampire appreciated the efforts.
“So,” Jessica said moving closer. “This is the cutie that you were pining over for so long.”
“I - uh,” Onew stuttered, at a loss for what to say. He swore he felt a chuckle from the vampire against his back, amusement at his own expense no doubt.
“Good choice,” Jessica continued with a smirk. “I bet he looks just delicious with his shirt off.”
Onew laughed nervously, Key rolled his eyes, Henry smiled, and just like that the tension in the room dissolved. It was almost like old times, with the exception that those old times had never including an impending army of savage vampires that could arrive at any time. Still he found himself more content then he had been in a long time.
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He wasn’t surprised to find his Pet spread over his bed without clothing. It was a favorite way of Ryeowook’s to greet him, and in a typical day he would have taken full advantage of it, but not today. “Pack your suitcase,” he ordered moving to the closet and grabbing the items for him.
“Yesung,” Ryeowook said softly, the rustle of sheets indicating he was shifting on the bed. With his back to his Pet he could hardly read what it was that the man was thinking, and even then he could never be certain of being correct in his interpretation anymore, not where Ryeowook was concerned. All the more reason that the man needed to leave.
“You need to go out of the country for a while,” he declared, flipping open the suitcase and beginning to stuff clothing into it unmindful of which of theirs it was.
“Yesung,” Ryeowook repeated again and he could hear the soft footsteps carrying the man across the room.
“It doesn’t matter where. You tell me and I’ll get you tickets there. Maybe you and Donghae can take that tropical vacation you talked about,” Yesung knew he was speaking quickly, but he didn’t want to give the man any chance to argue.
He felt hands on his shoulders, their warmth soaking into his body through his clothing. “I’m not going anywhere,” Ryeowook whispered, wrapping his arms around his shoulders from behind. “This is my home. Where you are is my home.”
“No,” Yesung snapped, knowing that it was fear, not aggression that was driving him. “No,” he said again, gentling his voice. “You are my biggest weakness. You can’t be here.”
“I’ll fight with you,” the conviction in Ryeowook’s voice almost brought tears to his eyes, not that he thought he was capable of crying any longer.
“You can’t,” he murmured softly, turning and pulling the man easily around his body so they could face each other.
“I can,” Ryeowook’s eyes were filled with fire. “I know how to kill a vampire.”
“No!” Yesung growled, needing desperately to make him understand. Shaking off his appearance of being human, he moved faster then he knew Ryeowook would be able to counter. In a flash the young man was pinned to the hard wood floor, in such a way that he could hardly move. Yesung knew the frail wrists that he had caged in one hand might bruise from the strength of his grip but he needed to make his point. “You are human, no match for our strength.”
Ryeowook was clearly unbothered by the motion, the red eyes, the flash of fangs, or the display of strength. “Then make me a match,” he countered. “Turn me.”
“Even if I did you would be nothing but a baby,” Yesung growled, “and more of a weakness to me. You need to leave.”
“I’m not leaving,” Ryeowook told him firmly.
Yesung knew that even after the clear display of everything that he was, Ryeowook wanted him still, wanted to be here still. “You can’t stay,” he murmured, leaning down and pressing his nose to the silky skin that Ryeowook instinctively offered him now.
“You can’t make me leave,” the man replied with determination in his voice as he tilted his head to the side in clear invitation. As his fangs slid smoothly into the man’s skin, he knew the human was right, he could never force Ryeowook to leave his side, not even for his own protection, but he knew someone who could.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
Too long, it had been too long since he had feed this deeply from one of his own, even one who was not yet fully turned. Strength raced through his system with every pull from the young creature in his lap. Taemin was a thing of beauty, a promising Child that could very well become even more than his siblings when he was finished. He was already willing to do whatever asked of him and that compelled his Maker to care for him even more, as was his duty.
“Shh, Taemin,” he murmured, closing the bite marks with a swipe of his tongue. “You need to learn patience in this.”
Against him Taemin whimpered again and shifted his hips forward again, pressing the evidence of his arousal firmly into Heechul’s stomach. The young man would certain frighten away his friends now, given over to his new instincts as he was, but he would learn with time how to curb even his strongest desires. “Patience my Child,” Heechul cooed. One hand rose to hold the fledgling’s head firmly to his shoulder, while the other arm wound its way around his hips and forced them to cease their restless shifting. “We have guests.”
True enough his vampires and their Pets had slowly crept into the room, saying a healthy distance away as he had finished his feeding. Even they knew it was foolish to tempt his anger, even for something as important as what they desired. He knew, as he did many things, without asking, what they were here for. He could read the request directly from the minds of his vampires. Along with it he could feel the resistance from the humans and the desire to stay, to protect that which they had no hope of doing so.
“So you wish to fight,” he mused, settling back into his chair still holding his fledgling against his body.
“Yes,” Ryeowook, one of his favorite out of the Pets, said with determination. Every other human echoed it, even Donghae who he thought would be too frightened to come out of the room without Kibum there.
“Yet they wish you to go,” he said airily.
“It isn’t their choice to make,” Ryeowook replied, seeming to be the voice of the humans.
“You’re right. It is mine,” Heechul smiled and for the first time focused his attention directly on the Pets standing in his court. ‘You will leave,’ he said implanting the order directly into their minds as easily as breathing. ‘You will pack your things and head to the nearest airport. There you will purchase tickets for a month long vacation to a location of your choice.’
It was almost comical as the humans one by one noticed what he was doing. Their eyes widened comically as the fight-or-flight response activated within their bodies. It didn’t matter though, he had every one of them, their minds as easily swayed by him as a child’s. Even Ryeowook, who the moment he realized what was being done, turned and tried to flee. Yesung’s arms caught him fast and held him still.
“You bastard!” Ryeowook snarled, in anger and betrayal.
‘You will stay there until the month is up and you may return to Korea. Afterwards you must wait for a call from the vampire you serve before returning. You will not resist,’ he directed both verbally and directly into their minds. Even Ryeowook, as close as he was to the beginnings of the Change, was powerless to resist the suggestion and his eyes glazed over just like the other humans. ‘You will do as you are commanded. Go now and do as you have been told.’
One by one the humans walked stiffly from the room, still deeply pulled into the trance he had placed them in. In time they would return to an almost normal exterior but without knowing it they would be compelled to do just as he had ordered them to do. As their Pets left, one by one the vampires connected to them vanished from his presence as well, leaving at last his Child and Pet.
Slowly Yesung released Ryeowook and watched as the young man walked stiffly from the room. Heechul didn’t need to dip into his Child’s mind to know what was running through it. He didn’t particularly care for what he had just done anymore than his Child did, but they both knew it needed to be done. “Thank you,” Yesung whispered when Ryeowook was gone and then vanished in the human’s wake.
“Come my Child,” he murmured to the fledgling in his lap when they had all gone. “Let me care for you.”
Taemin pressed back against his hand and he allowed the young vampire to move. Glowing red eyes stared at him and he saw an understanding there that was rare in one so young. It seemed that Taemin was more with it then he had previously believed. This newest Child of his could indeed prove to be interesting, given that they survived the coming days.
“Eat my young one,” he purred, tilting his head and allowing his fledgling to strike his neck and drink his fill.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Why exactly does he have to come with us again?” Key asked sending a glare towards the large brown werewolf. Jessica heaved a sigh at his behavior. She had learned long ago not to read too much into his dislike of anything not strictly human. He had his reasons, as unwilling to elaborate on them as he was, and she didn’t really expect him to change that anytime soon.
“The wolves have every right to know the edges of the barrier as we do,” Hankyung stated plainly, pressing on through the dense underbrush.
Key glared at the man leading them clearly not liking that answer. “He doesn’t have to do it in that form,” his wild gesture was meant to incorporate the whole of the werewolf from the tip of his brown tail all the way to the white splash of fur on his muzzle. She supposed the size alone could be intimidating since he was big no matter how she looked at it. His head could easily touch her shoulder and that said nothing about the broad build of the creature. He didn’t look anything like a dog, not really when viewed up close, but she found him beautiful anyway.
Lightly and with what she imagined to be affection, the werewolf nudged her in the shoulder. “He has to come this way because his senses are better like this,” she spoke for him. She was almost certain that part of the reason he had accompanied them like this was because he was afraid of some threat surprising them and in this form he could protect them better. Siwon had basically told her that himself before they had set out on their hike.
“I don’t see why he can’t just sniff it out as a human,” Key muttered, picking up the pace so he was walking beside Onew, just behind Hankyung.
Siwon growled at him, not in any real threatening way, clearly just trying to make a point and Jessica patted the massive wolf on the shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she whispered certain that he could hear her, “I think you are magnificent like this.”
She didn’t expect the warm wet tongue that swiped against her cheek, a motion that probably looked frightening when accompanied by the powerful jaws that it retreated back into. Jessica found the gesture mostly gross and just a fraction sweet. “If not a little bit disgusting,” she grumbled, wiping at her cheek with her sleeve. Siwon released a sound that resembled laughter and she contemplated punching him for it.
“This will be where Jessica’s bag will go,” Hankyung was saying ahead of them and they both focused back onto what they were supposed to be doing. “When it is time this is the place you will come to.” He was crouched in front of a small natural pool of water and she moved to it and knelt beside him.
“I just drop it in?” she asked, looking towards the pool and wondering if there were some tiny fish within or possibly a frog or two. If there were dropping in a bag full of herbs and a piece of her hair that had been dipped in the potion Key had brewed could hardly be good for them.
“Yes,” Hankyung said simply. “Do you need me to mark the spot so you can return here?”
She looked back to Siwon, knowing that the werewolf would insist on coming with her when she needed to make the trip back. The large wolf offered her a declining shake of his head, the motion appearing oddly human on his otherwise animalistic form. “No I think we can find it again.”
“Very well,” Hankyung agreed, all business. He rose from where he had been standing and began to pace off in a straight line, cutting through whatever stood in his way.
The four remaining witches exchanged puzzled helpless looks as the head of their coven headed off on a path that perhaps only he could see. A large furred head gently nudged her in the direction Hankyung had gone and she rose, dusting off her pants. It was cute that the large vicious beast seemed to be herding them after the witch, but Siwon seemed to be insisting that he stay in the back of their little group.
Key grumbled something about pushy supernatural creatures and adults who thought they knew everything before heading off in the direction Hankyung had headed. She watched Onew and Henry exchange smiles before they followed leaving her with the wolf.
“You’re sure you can find this place?” she asked him. He huffed, as if it was a ridiculous idea to even question that, and nudged at her again. “Fine,” she grumbled, heading around the large log instead of over it as the boys had done. A moment later the large wolf cleared the obstacle in an easy bound and she rolled her eyes at him. He was chuckling at her again, in that strange form of wolf laughter and this time she really did punch him in the shoulder. The satisfaction of hitting him was well worth the sting to her fist, even if it did only cause him to laugh harder.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
By the time Onew had placed his bag at the fifth location, she had finally figured out the pattern they were making and she could have kicked herself for not noticing earlier. “We are forming a pentagram aren’t we?” she stated more than asked.
Hankyung nodded and peered at the small mound of earth that Onew had just buried his bag in. She recalled the previous locations that the other bags had been hidden, the tree Henry had tucked his into, the dagger that Key had pierced his with and then wedged between two stones, and the magically called fire that Hankyung had thrown his into. Added to the pool of water that she would be tossing hers into and she came up with, “the elements.”
“Correct again,” Hankyung told her straightening and nodding to her. “There is power to be found with the elements in the proper formation and when used correctly, they can do almost anything we ask, such as produce a barrier to keep what is in, in and what is out, out.”
“Could they do other things too?” Henry asked hesitantly, as if he didn’t really want to know the answer.
Hankyung nodded. “The ingredients inside them as well as the potion they were dipped in, dictate what they do. The arrangement is to connect them and activate the spell, channeling power between them. A piece of your hair in each bag will tell the spell where to draw its power.”
“Wow,” Onew muttered, as surprised as the rest of them had been by his revelation. All of them had just been following him blindly and it unnerved her to think that they could have been casting powerful spell to do anything and not have even known it.
A growl rumbled from Siwon and she realized he must have just figured the same thing. “He wouldn’t lead us to do anything bad,” she told him and realized as she said it that she also believed it. Even if she had doubted Hankyung in the beginning she now fully believed that he would protect them first and do everything else second. Part of protecting them was to keep them from doing anything that would harm them physically, emotionally, or otherwise and she knew he always tried to do that.
Hankyung offered her a small smile before continuing with his instruction. “Tomorrow when you drop the last bag into the pool the spell will activate without anything further being done. Make certain you are in the inside or you will be locked out until one of the bags is removed.”
She nodded her understanding of his directions. It was easy, now that she saw the shape they had formed, to realize that the mansion was at the center of the pentagram and she would need to be closer rather than farther from it in order to stay inside.
“Good,” he said with a nod. “Let’s go, we still have a lot to do.”
With quick strides he turned and led the way back towards Heechul’s mansion. The boys sighed as Henry and Onew turned and trudged after him. Key turned and looked towards the large wolf with a pondering expression on his face. “You know,” he said finally, “If you are going to be out here like this, the least you could do is offer me a ride back to the house.”
The werewolf gave him a look as though he was crazy and then snapped his powerful jaws playfully in Key’s direction. “Yeah, I didn’t think you would go for that,” the young man grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and dragging himself after the other males in the coven.
Siwon offered her a look full of mirth and she had to honestly say that for a moment she considered asking him to carry her back. He would, she knew, but the moment she thought it she knew she could never ask it. A werewolf was never something that should be ridden like a simple pony, not because he was too dangerous to do so, but because she couldn’t imagine a human perched atop something so exquisitely beautiful.
The werewolf bumped her hand lightly with his muzzle, guiding it up along his soft fur until it rested against his muscled shoulder. The angle was a little awkward since his shoulder was nearly level with hers, but she left it there, wiggling her fingers in his soft fur as they walked back towards the house.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Can I help who’s next?” the young woman behind the counter asked tiredly.
“I would like two tickets out of the country,” he replied, his voice toneless.
“Where to?” she prompted.
“Anywhere,” he answered, his voice sounding strange even to him.
“I need a destination sir,” she prompted again, looking wary as if his request wasn’t something that she heard every day.
“Anywhere that isn’t in Korea,” he said again. “I have to leave,” he told her, but it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. The last thing he wanted to do was leave. He needed to stay. There was something to stay for. Something that he could remember.
“Running from something?” she asked looking edgy, possibly nervous.
“No,” he answered and that felt honest to him. “I just need to leave, we need to leave,” he gestured to the man standing beside him silently.
“Well sir I have a flight to Hong Kong leaving in an hour?” she offered.
“That will work,” he agreed placing a plastic card on the counter top. It was a card he had been given by someone, but he couldn’t quite remember who. His name must have been on it because she didn’t protest when he handed her his id, simply handing both back to him along with two tickets.
“Have a safe trip,” she told him with a smile.
“Thank you,” he replied feeling sick over the words. Safe. He was going to be safe and that was wrong. He couldn’t be safe, which was a ridiculous notion he knew. One of his hands clutched the tickets and his other rolled a large suitcase, a suitcase that he had only packed half of. Someone had packed the other half for him. He couldn’t remember who. He needed to know who.
The other man, silent and calm, followed him. They needed to stay together. They couldn’t think of separating. It was safer for the other man that way, so he wouldn’t get scared, scared of something that he couldn’t remember. That seemed to be happening a lot lately and it should have bothered him, but it didn’t. No couldn’t. It couldn’t bother him. Someone had made it so it couldn’t bother him, but he didn’t know who. Couldn’t remember who.
They sat, waiting until the boarding call for their plane came, the one that matched the number on the tickets that he hadn’t wanted to buy. The tickets with his name on them. Kim Ryeowook. That was him, he knew that, but Kim wasn’t his surname, not really. He hated his surname. He had abandoned it just like his parents had abandon him. He had taken on the surname of another, accepted his name and his love. Accepted what he was. Accepted the home he had been offered.
But he was being sent away.
He didn’t want to go away. Something was making him. Something he couldn’t fight. Something had forced him. Told him to leave. Told him to go far away. To be safe.
“Welcome to the flight Kim Ryeowook,” the attendant said. He must have handed them the ticket he didn’t want in order for him to be able to board the plane away from the place he wanted to stay. “Have a safe flight,” the attendant said, handing the ticket back. He took it, not because he wanted to but because he had - was being forced - to.
“Welcome to the flight Lee Donghae,” the attendant said to the man he was with. He knew that name. They were friends, had been friends for a long time. Donghae wasn’t who he wanted to be with.
“Yesung,” he murmured, his lips forming the name. That was wrong. He couldn’t be saying that.
His mind yelled no.
His heart screamed yes.
“Yesung, Yesung, Yesung, Yesung, Yesung!” he yelled, growing louder with every utterance of the name. His hands fisted in his hair, pulling on it. Trying to defeat his brain. His brain that had been turned against him. Turned against him by someone. Someone who wanted him to leave.
“Yesung, Yesung, Yesung, Yesung!”
“Sir?” the attendant asked hesitantly. They probably thought he was crazy. Maybe he was crazy. Maybe that was it. Maybe he should just get on the plane and leave. Maybe he should just listen to what he was being told.
No!
He couldn’t leave. Yesung would die. Yesung would die without him there. He couldn’t leave. He had to fight. He had to be there. Damn them for doing this to him. Damn them for taking away his right to choose.
“Yesung!” he screamed both as a curse and as an utterance to ground himself.
Then suddenly everything was clear.
He had no idea how he had gotten to the airport, or even where the rest of the Pets had gone, but he knew with an ever sharpening clarity where he was now. “Sir?” the attendant was asking hesitantly, probably thinking he had lost his mind. Maybe he had.
“I’m fine,” he said shakily straightening. “I just got over a bad break up, that is why I am leaving,” he said with a hesitant laugh. “You know how it is, being so in love with someone and then finding out that they were cheating on you with your best friend. I just needed to get that out while I was still in this country.” The attendant didn’t look like he believed him and Ryeowook couldn’t honestly care. “Can I take a minute to collect myself?” he asked. He didn’t wait for an answer as he stuffed his ticket in his pocket and grabbed Donghae with his now free hand.
“You only have ten minutes,” the attendant told him hesitantly as he ducked under the guiding rail and pulled Donghae after him.
“I know, thanks,” he replied, tugging on the other man harder.
“No. We have to go,” Donghae protested in a voice that seemed devoid of life.
“We will,” Ryeowook told him, and he fully intended to go, but not anywhere near the plane. The words seemed to pacify the other man and he followed obediently. Ryeowook thanked the foresight of suggesting that Donghae follow him where ever they went, it would only make things easier.
Ryeowook pulled him back to the sitting area, noting absently that the attendants were still watching him and talking into small radios, probably getting ready to call security if he so much as sneezed loudly, not that he really blamed them. He released Donghae’s wrist and turned to face the man.
Donghae stared back at him with eyes that just didn’t seem to focus on him. He must have looked like this only moments before, he realized. How could no one have said anything about it? Donghae looked dead, devoid of life, like someone whose personality had been sucked away, or simply pushed aside by a vampire with ideas and abilities that no one deserved. Ryeowook had so many words he was going to offer Heechul when they got back, and even more for Yesung, but first they would have to get back. For that, Donghae would have to be awake.
“We need to go. We have to leave Korea,” Donghae told him, his voice monotone. It made him angry to hear it and that fueled him to do what he needed to, what he hoped would work.
“I’m sorry Donghae,” he murmured and then swung his fist directly into the other man’s jaw.
Chapter Thirteen
Masterlist
AN: Man this week has been totally crazy! I haven't had a lot of time to do much of anything. Hopefully that will change this weekend and I can get back to writing and generally relaxing. Hope you all are still enjoy this even though I feel like I am hearing from less and less of you.... *pouts*