Of Blood and Brooms - Chapter Three
Of Blood and Brooms
Chapter Three
“Are you okay?” Minho asked, concern written on his face.
“Yeah,” Jinki murmured rubbing at his temple. “I just have a bit of a headache.”
“You don’t have to play,” Minho told him and Jinki could tell that he was trying his hardest not to look disappointed.
“Naw I’ll be fine,” Jinki told him.
“Alright,” Minho agreed, holding out a soccer ball. “You and me against Key and Jonghyun?”
“Sounds good,” Jinki agreed, “at least this way I can just stand there and you can do all the work.”
Minho bumped him with his shoulder. “Cheater.”
“No, you are working, I’m supervising,” Jinki declared.
Minho laughed. “Supervise away then,” he dropped the ball and kicked it towards Key who had been looking at him questioningly.
Jinki let Minho take the lead as normal, the other boy’s competiveness made him play like five people instead of just one and he never complained if Jinki stood in the back because he wasn’t feeling well or fell over his own feet. Most times Jinki simply guarded the goal, a task which didn’t leave him much to do since people rarely got beyond Minho.
He was watching them play when he felt a tickle coming on and he sneezed roughly. The jerking of the sneeze made his head flare painfully and he groaned drawing Minho’s attention. “Jinki?” Minho asked sounding both worried and confused.
Jinki straightened, trying to look better then he felt. “I’m fine.”
Minho looked startled at his words and shifted a bit, his eyes darting as if trying to find him. “Jinki where are you?”
“Right in front of the goal,” Jinki said with a laugh. “It’s not like I am invisible or anything geez.”
Minho was looking right at him, or actually, when Jinki really focused, right through him. “No I think you are invisible,” he murmured.
“I - what?” Jinki lifted a hand and was startled when he couldn’t see it. He knew it was there yet he couldn’t see anything of himself. “What do I do?!”
“Don’t panic,” Minho said instantly. “Your mom will know what to do.”
Jinki nodded frantically and then remembered that no one could see him. “Okay.”
“What is going on?” Key asked as he and Jonghyun jogged over.
“Jinki is invisible,” Minho said casually, as if it happened all the time. “He finally got his ability.”
“Awesome!” Key said with a grin.
“For you,” Jinki muttered. “You’re not the one stuck as invisible.”
“I knew it!” a voice declared from the bushes near him and Jinki screeched in terror before flickering back into visibility. “You are witches,” a boy said as he leapt out from the foliage.
“Hey Jinki,” Minho said with a smirk. “I can see you again.” Jinki looked slightly panicked and he wasn’t certain what was scaring him more, the fact that he could go invisible at any moment or the fact that this boy had seen it.
“Hey, you’re that elementary kid that lives down the road from me. The one that is always checking out books on supernatural things,” Key said.
“The name is Taemin, resident expert on all things supernatural,” he declared boldly. “There has been a lack of things supernatural in this town until now. What else is here?” he asked excitedly.
“Well since he knows your secret what should we do with him?” Jonghyun asked.
“I think I needed a human sacrifice for a spell I was going to perform this evening,” Key mused. “He is a little scrawny but he will work.”
Taemin didn’t bat an eye at the threat. “I know you are good witches and not only do you not sacrifice things because that would destroy your magic, you also don’t do magic for self gain.”
“There goes your plan,” Minho pointed out.
“We will just have to do this the old fashion way then,” Jinki said determined, “and swear him to secrecy.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“You know Key, one of these days I’m not going to answer my phone when you call me after nine,” Jonghyun declared. They all knew it wasn’t the truth and that he would answer a phone call from Key no matter what time it was, but no one said anything about it. “And I’m certainly going to stop coming outside in my pajamas in the middle of the night for you. At some point.”
“Who are you trying to convince?” Minho asked amused. Jonghyun glared.
“Don’t,” Jinki said tiredly. “It’s too early or late or whatever for a fight.”
“It had to be tonight. It’s the last full moon before Jinki graduates from middle school. Next year who knows how much we will see each other and then we will move on and do our own things. I wanted to do this before we all separated,” Key announced.
“Do what?” Jinki asked, worried. “Mom said you weren’t allowed to do magic without permission.”
“Magic?” Taemin asked, suddenly stirring from the half asleep daze he had been in. “Are we going to do a spell.”
“No,” Minho said immediately. “Every time Key does a spell bad things happen.”
“Nothing bad happens,” Key argued.
“Oh so the kitchen just caught fire all on its own?” Minho asked.
“You know he could have just been cooking,” Jonghyun offered with a smirk.
“Shut up I cook fine,” Key argued, elbowing him. “Come on it is a simple spell and it will connect us all together.”
“What do we do?” Taemin asked.
Key pulled out a thermos and unscrewed the cap. “When did you brew that?” Jinki asked, eyeing it.
“While your mom was working,” Key answered pulling out a knife. “All I need is a drop of blood from everyone.”
Taemin reached for the knife and Minho snatched it before he could grab it. “What is this going to do?” Minho asked.
“Nothing. It will just make us like brothers. Come on it’s just like becoming blood brothers. Kids do it all the time,” Key persuaded.
Minho considered it. “If anything bad happens then you are dead,” he declared using the tip of the knife to prick his finger deep enough to draw blood.
“Just one drop,” Key cautioned and held out the thermos. Minho nodded and held out the knife to Jinki, then held his finger over the thermos and squeezed it until a drop came out. There was a hissing sound as it fell into the container. When he was finished he reached for the knife and Onew passed it back.
“Come here Taemin,” Minho ordered and Taemin held out his hand immediately so that Minho could poke his finger. He worked his way through them, not allowing anyone else to use the knife and keeping it when everyone had finished and Key had mixed the potion with a spoon.
“Now everyone needs to touch this,” Key said holding out the thermos so they could all get a hand on it. When they had, he then spoke the words of the spell that were needed:
“It’s blood that flows,
It’s blood that is true.
Through blood we are bound,
Eternally our fates anew.”
“Now we drink from oldest to youngest,” Key said offering it to Jinki. He studied it for a moment before closing his eyes and taking the needed swallow. In his mouth the potion was sweet and warmed him as it slid down his throat, the warmth spiraling outward into his body. As he passed it off to Jonghyun he didn’t feel any different than he had a few minutes before and even after Taemin had finished the last of the potion and the spell was complete he still felt the same.
“Now can I go to bed?” Jonghyun asked irritable.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Hey,” a welcome voice called from the doorway and Jinki’s head turned towards it, a grin filling his face.
“Minho!” he exclaimed as he jumped off his bed, tripped over the rug and still somehow made it to the doorway to wrap his friend in a hug. Warmth filled him at Minho’s chuckle and embrace and he hadn’t realized how much he had missed him in the last three months. “Mom knows you’re here?” he said suddenly, worried.
“Yeah. I still don’t think she is over us using a Blood Binding spell and changing our destinies or something like that, no matter how much Key argues that you can’t change destiny, but she apparently has decided it is more her fault then ours. Apparently magic is like a loaded gun,” Minho said with a laugh.
“Only around Key,” Jinki agreed releasing him and dragging him to his bed where he shoved some of his books over to make room for Minho. “So what did you come over for.”
“Homework,” Minho said with a grin. “Then maybe I’ll kick your butt at video games when we are done,” he added.
“Deal!”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Hey Minho?” Jinki said watching the way the teen was nibbling on his pencil as he stared intently at his homework.
“Yeah?” he replied not looking up from where he was scribbling things down.
“We have been friends for a long time right? Best friends? And it has been a long time since we did the stupid Binding thing, like a whole year,” Jinki muttered, knowing he was rambling.
“Jinki,” Minho said at last lowering his pencil and looking at him. “Where are you going with this?”
“Well I don’t want this to sound weird or ruin our friendship or hurt anything we have or anything.”
“Jinki, clearly you’ve been debating with yourself for months about something. Just say it,” Minho said with a smile.
“I like you,” Jinki blurted and then looked shocked as if he hadn’t meant to say anything.
“Okay,” Minho said simply.
“No, I don’t think you understand,” Jinki said shakily.
Minho sighed and put his pencil down, then he shifted, rising from where he was stretched out on his stomach and moved to Jinki. He cupped the wide eyed teen’s face with one hand and leaned in until their lips brushed lightly. “Okay, Jinki. It’s okay,” he murmured, releasing him and shifting back to his work.
Jinki blink, his brain trying to process what had happened. “Okay.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“We should tell your mom,” Minho murmured just before his lips attached themselves to Jinki’s neck.
“Tell her what? That we are dating?” Jinki asked, his fingers fluttering as they tried to find their way under Minho’s shirt.
Minho pulled away from his neck for a moment. “That would probably be a better conversation starter then ‘Hey I thought you might want to know that Minho and I end every homework session by making out.’ She might only have a minor heart attack then,” he said with a grin.
“Not funny,” Jinki glared. “You know why I don’t want to tell her. I don’t want to hear the lectures.”
“No,” Minho disagreed suddenly serious. “You don’t want to hear that this is because of some stupid spell we did a year and a half ago. You are afraid that will make it less real.”
Jinki’s jaw clenched. “Won’t it?” he asked. “Wouldn’t that make all of this a lie?”
“What I feel has nothing to do with your magic,” Minho disagreed fiercely, leaning down to capture Jinki’s lips in a passionate kiss.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Mom there is something I want to tell you,” Jinki murmured.
“What is it baby?” she asked, placing a mark in her book and putting it on the bedside table before patting the bed beside her.
Clearly invited, Jinki moved from the door to her bed and crawled under the covers with her. “Mom, you like Minho right?”
“Of course I do sweetie,” she told him as her hand carded through his hair slowly drawing him closer to her.
He shifted until his head was on her lap, “I like him too mom. I mean really like him. And I don’t want you to be upset with me or hate me, so I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“Jinki, you are happy with him aren’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
“Then what do I have to be upset about? You two have been best friends since you found him on the playground and he has been looking out for you ever since. Speaking of which,” she turned her head towards the door and projected her voice. “Minho, you might as well come in here, I know you are there.”
The door opened and Minho shuffled inside, looking thoroughly guilty. She smiled and patted the bed on her other side. He moved to the bed and sat beside her and she pulled him close. “Now I am a bit saddened that you thought you couldn’t tell me, but did the two of you really think that you could hide this from me?”
“I - uh - we,” Jinki tried lamely.
“Jinki dear, you two spend so much time making gooey eyes at each other that I’m surprised you do anything else. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Minho has a fascination with marking your neck and you haven’t quite figured out how to cover that up properly,” she said lightly.
Jinki blushed, his hand flying to his neck to hide the poorly covered mark there. Minho grinned, “If you heard the noises he makes you would understand.”
“Minho!” Jinki hissed mortified and his mother simply laughed.
“Now why did you think you couldn’t tell me?” she pressed.
“He was afraid that you would tell him that it was all because of the binding spell,” Minho told her. Jinki glared.
“Jinki it takes powerful magic to effect the heart in that way, much more powerful than a bunch of teenagers have. The binding spell did affect you but it couldn’t have affected that,” she reassured him. “Now to bed both of you.”
“Night mom,” Jinki said, rising and kissing her on the cheek.
“Night,” Minho told her.
She watched them climb off the bed and waited until they were to the door to speak. “Oh Minho dear,” she called, catching his attention. “Once you tell Jinki goodnight, do make sure you end up on the couch.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“How did she take it?” Key asked eagerly.
“Great, really great actually,” Jinki told him as they walked towards their houses together after a late in the evening session of studying at the library. “How do you think your parents would take it if you told them you were crushing on a guy?”
“For starters I’m not crushing on him, and secondly they don’t seem to care what I do,” Key snapped back.
“Funny how you knew exactly who I was talking about,” Jinki said with a grin.
“Shut up!” Key snapped.
When they entered Jinki’s house, they noticed that it was quiet and mostly dark, strange for this time of day. “Mom?” Jinki called as he toed off his shoes, worried at what could have happened.
His mother shuffled into the room her eyes red and puffy, “Jinki, baby,” she murmured and moved to him.
“Mom what’s wrong?” he asked dropping his bag and embracing her.
“It’s Minho, baby,” he heard her murmur. “He’s dead,” and he didn’t hear a single word after that.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
He didn’t want to dream anymore, not those dreams. They had turned from dreams of a pleasant time to ones of pain, fear, and feelings that he couldn’t begin to name. He never wanted to go back to those again and he struggled into wakefulness.
His neck still ached, as if it had been abused for a longer period of time then he could have known, but at least it wasn’t sharp anymore. In fact almost everything was feeling slightly dull around the edges, as if it would just be easier to let everything slip away. Something warm and wet was pressed against his lips and he tried to turn his head away but it wouldn’t respond. He wasn’t thirsty. Still the wet press continued until he could taste something coppery, tangy with sweetness and power in it, all at the same time.
He forced his eyes to open and although it took them a moment to focus, when they did, it was Minho’s face that he saw. ‘Drink,’ the voice in his mind ordered and he couldn’t have said no if he wanted to. Willingly he parted his lips and let the blood flow into his mouth as his eyes sagged closed again.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“No!” Hankyung snarled, lunging forward with his silver stake bared. Minho hissed a warning and Heechul caught his wrist firmly.
“Leave them be,” Heechul hissed.
“I won’t let him become a slave,” the hunter expertly flicked the stake from the captured hand to the free hand.
Heechul snarled and swung out, knocking the silver be-spelled stake from Hankyung’s hand before he could take action with it, ignore the flare of pain that it produced. With a snarl he shifted his weight, pulling Hankyung back out of the doorway and flinging him backwards to the far wall away from the room where his vampire was.
Hankyung managed to twist in midair so he hit the wall with his back instead of his face, but before he could move forward from it, Heechul had pinned him with his body. “Without its strength, Onew will die.”
“Better to die then become an addicted slave!” Hankyung snarled struggling like a frightened animal to get free.
“Hangeng!” Heechul called sharply, using a hand to catch the man’s chin and force eye contact. “Don’t let him win against you now. He didn’t break you then, he can’t now. It took him months to addict you and even longer before he was certain you were his. Even then you killed him and took your freedom, but if you don’t think rationally about this then he wins!”
Slowly Hankyung stopped struggling and relaxed, panting, in Heechul’s hold. “Centuries,” he murmured, “he held me for centuries.”
“Then you know that a few drinks in a few days won’t hurt Onew. It is what he needs,” Heechul said. Then he took a step back releasing Hankyung from the wall.
“Where did you hear that name?” Hankyung murmured not moving from beside the wall.
“I know a lot about you. Who you were, and who you are,” Heechul said as he settled into his chair. He gingerly placed the marred hand in his lap and frowned down at it. It should be healed already and he didn’t like that it wasn’t. That didn’t bode well.
“Why?”
“We have had this conversation before,” Heechul said airily.
“And you have never answered me. Why Heechul?”
“I like fascinating things,” Heechul said with a shrug.
“That is line of bullshit and we both know it.”
“It hardly matters. You’re too strong willed,” Heechul said darkly.
Hankyung said nothing, studying him for a minute before moving forward. He reached into his pocket and drew out a small knife, quickly dragging it across his palm and slicing it open. Heechul, despite his lack of need to breathe, felt his breathing quickening as Hankyung neared, pulling in deep lungfuls of the scent of his blood. Hankyung dropped to his knees in front of his chair and carefully picked up his marred hand.
Normally Heechul would have reacted violently to a touch so near to a venerable area but he found that he was too distracted by the scent of Hankyung’s blood to care. Carefully the witch turned his hand over and pressed his palm against the top of the wound. Heechul hissed in pleasure as pure power soaked through into his blood stream. It was nothing like tasting Hankyung’s blood but he could feel the power nevertheless. “What are you doing?” he asked knowing his eyes had darkened and his fangs were extended.
“I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. This won’t heal on its own,” Hankyung said simply. When he had finished he lifted his hand. Heechul’s hand was blood smeared but he could feel that it was healed. “Seal this,” Hankyung ordered lifting his palm.
Heechul’s eyes flashed brightly and he closed them, as he stopped breathing all together, “You don’t know what you are asking,” he murmured using the last of the breath in his lungs.
Hankyung shifted, moving Heechul’s hands off his lap to the arms of the chair only to replace them with his body. “Close this before I get blood everywhere,” Hankyung muttered.
Heechul’s hands settled on Hankyung’s hips automatically and he felt the tip of something press into his chest. He opened his eyes to see a wooden stake pressed to his chest where his heart would be. It would hardly do more than paralyze him for the few moments it would take for his body to fight back, but it was the threat of its use that mattered. He looked up at Hankyung through hooded eyes and the witch held his hand up.
A look passed between them and Heechul understood the offering for what it was, a reward, for not doing what most powerful vampires would have already. “Hangeng,” he murmured.
“Don’t use that name in front of anyone else,” Hankyung said to him softly.
Heechul didn’t answer as he leaned forward. His tongue flicked out and tasted Hankyung’s blood from his palm at the same time that he pulled the witch’s hips forward and into his own. It was better than anything he had ever tasted in his centuries of existence and he had the palm cleaned with the wound sealed much quicker then he would have liked. Hankyung pulled his hand away and Heechul rocked his hips forward, and shifted his lips to the man’s neck.
He could hardly help the small scrape of his fangs against Hankyung’s neck. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to threaten it. “Heechul,” Hankyung growled darkly, pressing on the stake marginally harder. Despite the warning he rolled his body back into Heechul’s insistent press.
When Heechul pulled his eyes back and looked up at him, the dark orbs weren’t telling him no, they were simply telling him not right now. Heechul grinned at what he had been told whether Hankyung had meant to or not, and chose to simply kiss him before he got himself into trouble.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
The last time Key had woken up warm and wrapped around someone, had been at least a few years ago. In fact the last time he had woken up with anyone, it had been the same teen that was currently entangled with him. For a moment all he was able to do was look upon the slumbering face of the teen in the bed with him. Then the memories began to trickle back in a slow steady stream.
Memories from before he had fallen asleep, what he had seen, discovered, but also memories farther back then that, memories that he wasn’t certain he wanted to remember. His lips felt like they were burning and Key didn’t know what to feel. He couldn’t decide which was worse, the fact that Jonghyun had kissed him just like old times when his defenses had been shattered, or the fact that he, Kim Kibum who had sworn never to breathe the same air as Jonghyun if he didn’t have to, had let him.
Regardless of which it was, Key knew he couldn’t stay here. It was hard enough to be in this house full of creatures he hated and emotions he wanted to forgot, but he refused to walk away and just leave Onew like Jonghyun had left him. Nothing in the world short of death could force him to do so, he had sworn that to himself when they had relocated together.
Carefully he untangled himself from Jonghyun’s arms, taking care not to disturb him and incredibly thankful that Jonghyun had always been such a deep sleeper. It was hard enough to pull away and it would be even harder if he had to watch Jonghyun’s reaction as he did so. The moment he was free, he shuffled quickly to the door and slipped from the room. Key had no idea where he was going to go in the large and unfamiliar mansion, but he did know that anywhere was better then here.
Chapter Four
Masterlist
AN: Well here is the next chapter. We will see where this thing decides to go with me. I'm working on a few other things at the moment so it might be a bit slow in updating. Let me know what you think of this.... Sorry I didn't respond to previous comments! I got pretty busy. I'm going to go work on those now. *laughs sheepishly*
Chapter Three
“Are you okay?” Minho asked, concern written on his face.
“Yeah,” Jinki murmured rubbing at his temple. “I just have a bit of a headache.”
“You don’t have to play,” Minho told him and Jinki could tell that he was trying his hardest not to look disappointed.
“Naw I’ll be fine,” Jinki told him.
“Alright,” Minho agreed, holding out a soccer ball. “You and me against Key and Jonghyun?”
“Sounds good,” Jinki agreed, “at least this way I can just stand there and you can do all the work.”
Minho bumped him with his shoulder. “Cheater.”
“No, you are working, I’m supervising,” Jinki declared.
Minho laughed. “Supervise away then,” he dropped the ball and kicked it towards Key who had been looking at him questioningly.
Jinki let Minho take the lead as normal, the other boy’s competiveness made him play like five people instead of just one and he never complained if Jinki stood in the back because he wasn’t feeling well or fell over his own feet. Most times Jinki simply guarded the goal, a task which didn’t leave him much to do since people rarely got beyond Minho.
He was watching them play when he felt a tickle coming on and he sneezed roughly. The jerking of the sneeze made his head flare painfully and he groaned drawing Minho’s attention. “Jinki?” Minho asked sounding both worried and confused.
Jinki straightened, trying to look better then he felt. “I’m fine.”
Minho looked startled at his words and shifted a bit, his eyes darting as if trying to find him. “Jinki where are you?”
“Right in front of the goal,” Jinki said with a laugh. “It’s not like I am invisible or anything geez.”
Minho was looking right at him, or actually, when Jinki really focused, right through him. “No I think you are invisible,” he murmured.
“I - what?” Jinki lifted a hand and was startled when he couldn’t see it. He knew it was there yet he couldn’t see anything of himself. “What do I do?!”
“Don’t panic,” Minho said instantly. “Your mom will know what to do.”
Jinki nodded frantically and then remembered that no one could see him. “Okay.”
“What is going on?” Key asked as he and Jonghyun jogged over.
“Jinki is invisible,” Minho said casually, as if it happened all the time. “He finally got his ability.”
“Awesome!” Key said with a grin.
“For you,” Jinki muttered. “You’re not the one stuck as invisible.”
“I knew it!” a voice declared from the bushes near him and Jinki screeched in terror before flickering back into visibility. “You are witches,” a boy said as he leapt out from the foliage.
“Hey Jinki,” Minho said with a smirk. “I can see you again.” Jinki looked slightly panicked and he wasn’t certain what was scaring him more, the fact that he could go invisible at any moment or the fact that this boy had seen it.
“Hey, you’re that elementary kid that lives down the road from me. The one that is always checking out books on supernatural things,” Key said.
“The name is Taemin, resident expert on all things supernatural,” he declared boldly. “There has been a lack of things supernatural in this town until now. What else is here?” he asked excitedly.
“Well since he knows your secret what should we do with him?” Jonghyun asked.
“I think I needed a human sacrifice for a spell I was going to perform this evening,” Key mused. “He is a little scrawny but he will work.”
Taemin didn’t bat an eye at the threat. “I know you are good witches and not only do you not sacrifice things because that would destroy your magic, you also don’t do magic for self gain.”
“There goes your plan,” Minho pointed out.
“We will just have to do this the old fashion way then,” Jinki said determined, “and swear him to secrecy.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“You know Key, one of these days I’m not going to answer my phone when you call me after nine,” Jonghyun declared. They all knew it wasn’t the truth and that he would answer a phone call from Key no matter what time it was, but no one said anything about it. “And I’m certainly going to stop coming outside in my pajamas in the middle of the night for you. At some point.”
“Who are you trying to convince?” Minho asked amused. Jonghyun glared.
“Don’t,” Jinki said tiredly. “It’s too early or late or whatever for a fight.”
“It had to be tonight. It’s the last full moon before Jinki graduates from middle school. Next year who knows how much we will see each other and then we will move on and do our own things. I wanted to do this before we all separated,” Key announced.
“Do what?” Jinki asked, worried. “Mom said you weren’t allowed to do magic without permission.”
“Magic?” Taemin asked, suddenly stirring from the half asleep daze he had been in. “Are we going to do a spell.”
“No,” Minho said immediately. “Every time Key does a spell bad things happen.”
“Nothing bad happens,” Key argued.
“Oh so the kitchen just caught fire all on its own?” Minho asked.
“You know he could have just been cooking,” Jonghyun offered with a smirk.
“Shut up I cook fine,” Key argued, elbowing him. “Come on it is a simple spell and it will connect us all together.”
“What do we do?” Taemin asked.
Key pulled out a thermos and unscrewed the cap. “When did you brew that?” Jinki asked, eyeing it.
“While your mom was working,” Key answered pulling out a knife. “All I need is a drop of blood from everyone.”
Taemin reached for the knife and Minho snatched it before he could grab it. “What is this going to do?” Minho asked.
“Nothing. It will just make us like brothers. Come on it’s just like becoming blood brothers. Kids do it all the time,” Key persuaded.
Minho considered it. “If anything bad happens then you are dead,” he declared using the tip of the knife to prick his finger deep enough to draw blood.
“Just one drop,” Key cautioned and held out the thermos. Minho nodded and held out the knife to Jinki, then held his finger over the thermos and squeezed it until a drop came out. There was a hissing sound as it fell into the container. When he was finished he reached for the knife and Onew passed it back.
“Come here Taemin,” Minho ordered and Taemin held out his hand immediately so that Minho could poke his finger. He worked his way through them, not allowing anyone else to use the knife and keeping it when everyone had finished and Key had mixed the potion with a spoon.
“Now everyone needs to touch this,” Key said holding out the thermos so they could all get a hand on it. When they had, he then spoke the words of the spell that were needed:
“It’s blood that flows,
It’s blood that is true.
Through blood we are bound,
Eternally our fates anew.”
“Now we drink from oldest to youngest,” Key said offering it to Jinki. He studied it for a moment before closing his eyes and taking the needed swallow. In his mouth the potion was sweet and warmed him as it slid down his throat, the warmth spiraling outward into his body. As he passed it off to Jonghyun he didn’t feel any different than he had a few minutes before and even after Taemin had finished the last of the potion and the spell was complete he still felt the same.
“Now can I go to bed?” Jonghyun asked irritable.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Hey,” a welcome voice called from the doorway and Jinki’s head turned towards it, a grin filling his face.
“Minho!” he exclaimed as he jumped off his bed, tripped over the rug and still somehow made it to the doorway to wrap his friend in a hug. Warmth filled him at Minho’s chuckle and embrace and he hadn’t realized how much he had missed him in the last three months. “Mom knows you’re here?” he said suddenly, worried.
“Yeah. I still don’t think she is over us using a Blood Binding spell and changing our destinies or something like that, no matter how much Key argues that you can’t change destiny, but she apparently has decided it is more her fault then ours. Apparently magic is like a loaded gun,” Minho said with a laugh.
“Only around Key,” Jinki agreed releasing him and dragging him to his bed where he shoved some of his books over to make room for Minho. “So what did you come over for.”
“Homework,” Minho said with a grin. “Then maybe I’ll kick your butt at video games when we are done,” he added.
“Deal!”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Hey Minho?” Jinki said watching the way the teen was nibbling on his pencil as he stared intently at his homework.
“Yeah?” he replied not looking up from where he was scribbling things down.
“We have been friends for a long time right? Best friends? And it has been a long time since we did the stupid Binding thing, like a whole year,” Jinki muttered, knowing he was rambling.
“Jinki,” Minho said at last lowering his pencil and looking at him. “Where are you going with this?”
“Well I don’t want this to sound weird or ruin our friendship or hurt anything we have or anything.”
“Jinki, clearly you’ve been debating with yourself for months about something. Just say it,” Minho said with a smile.
“I like you,” Jinki blurted and then looked shocked as if he hadn’t meant to say anything.
“Okay,” Minho said simply.
“No, I don’t think you understand,” Jinki said shakily.
Minho sighed and put his pencil down, then he shifted, rising from where he was stretched out on his stomach and moved to Jinki. He cupped the wide eyed teen’s face with one hand and leaned in until their lips brushed lightly. “Okay, Jinki. It’s okay,” he murmured, releasing him and shifting back to his work.
Jinki blink, his brain trying to process what had happened. “Okay.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“We should tell your mom,” Minho murmured just before his lips attached themselves to Jinki’s neck.
“Tell her what? That we are dating?” Jinki asked, his fingers fluttering as they tried to find their way under Minho’s shirt.
Minho pulled away from his neck for a moment. “That would probably be a better conversation starter then ‘Hey I thought you might want to know that Minho and I end every homework session by making out.’ She might only have a minor heart attack then,” he said with a grin.
“Not funny,” Jinki glared. “You know why I don’t want to tell her. I don’t want to hear the lectures.”
“No,” Minho disagreed suddenly serious. “You don’t want to hear that this is because of some stupid spell we did a year and a half ago. You are afraid that will make it less real.”
Jinki’s jaw clenched. “Won’t it?” he asked. “Wouldn’t that make all of this a lie?”
“What I feel has nothing to do with your magic,” Minho disagreed fiercely, leaning down to capture Jinki’s lips in a passionate kiss.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“Mom there is something I want to tell you,” Jinki murmured.
“What is it baby?” she asked, placing a mark in her book and putting it on the bedside table before patting the bed beside her.
Clearly invited, Jinki moved from the door to her bed and crawled under the covers with her. “Mom, you like Minho right?”
“Of course I do sweetie,” she told him as her hand carded through his hair slowly drawing him closer to her.
He shifted until his head was on her lap, “I like him too mom. I mean really like him. And I don’t want you to be upset with me or hate me, so I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“Jinki, you are happy with him aren’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
“Then what do I have to be upset about? You two have been best friends since you found him on the playground and he has been looking out for you ever since. Speaking of which,” she turned her head towards the door and projected her voice. “Minho, you might as well come in here, I know you are there.”
The door opened and Minho shuffled inside, looking thoroughly guilty. She smiled and patted the bed on her other side. He moved to the bed and sat beside her and she pulled him close. “Now I am a bit saddened that you thought you couldn’t tell me, but did the two of you really think that you could hide this from me?”
“I - uh - we,” Jinki tried lamely.
“Jinki dear, you two spend so much time making gooey eyes at each other that I’m surprised you do anything else. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Minho has a fascination with marking your neck and you haven’t quite figured out how to cover that up properly,” she said lightly.
Jinki blushed, his hand flying to his neck to hide the poorly covered mark there. Minho grinned, “If you heard the noises he makes you would understand.”
“Minho!” Jinki hissed mortified and his mother simply laughed.
“Now why did you think you couldn’t tell me?” she pressed.
“He was afraid that you would tell him that it was all because of the binding spell,” Minho told her. Jinki glared.
“Jinki it takes powerful magic to effect the heart in that way, much more powerful than a bunch of teenagers have. The binding spell did affect you but it couldn’t have affected that,” she reassured him. “Now to bed both of you.”
“Night mom,” Jinki said, rising and kissing her on the cheek.
“Night,” Minho told her.
She watched them climb off the bed and waited until they were to the door to speak. “Oh Minho dear,” she called, catching his attention. “Once you tell Jinki goodnight, do make sure you end up on the couch.”
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“How did she take it?” Key asked eagerly.
“Great, really great actually,” Jinki told him as they walked towards their houses together after a late in the evening session of studying at the library. “How do you think your parents would take it if you told them you were crushing on a guy?”
“For starters I’m not crushing on him, and secondly they don’t seem to care what I do,” Key snapped back.
“Funny how you knew exactly who I was talking about,” Jinki said with a grin.
“Shut up!” Key snapped.
When they entered Jinki’s house, they noticed that it was quiet and mostly dark, strange for this time of day. “Mom?” Jinki called as he toed off his shoes, worried at what could have happened.
His mother shuffled into the room her eyes red and puffy, “Jinki, baby,” she murmured and moved to him.
“Mom what’s wrong?” he asked dropping his bag and embracing her.
“It’s Minho, baby,” he heard her murmur. “He’s dead,” and he didn’t hear a single word after that.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
He didn’t want to dream anymore, not those dreams. They had turned from dreams of a pleasant time to ones of pain, fear, and feelings that he couldn’t begin to name. He never wanted to go back to those again and he struggled into wakefulness.
His neck still ached, as if it had been abused for a longer period of time then he could have known, but at least it wasn’t sharp anymore. In fact almost everything was feeling slightly dull around the edges, as if it would just be easier to let everything slip away. Something warm and wet was pressed against his lips and he tried to turn his head away but it wouldn’t respond. He wasn’t thirsty. Still the wet press continued until he could taste something coppery, tangy with sweetness and power in it, all at the same time.
He forced his eyes to open and although it took them a moment to focus, when they did, it was Minho’s face that he saw. ‘Drink,’ the voice in his mind ordered and he couldn’t have said no if he wanted to. Willingly he parted his lips and let the blood flow into his mouth as his eyes sagged closed again.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
“No!” Hankyung snarled, lunging forward with his silver stake bared. Minho hissed a warning and Heechul caught his wrist firmly.
“Leave them be,” Heechul hissed.
“I won’t let him become a slave,” the hunter expertly flicked the stake from the captured hand to the free hand.
Heechul snarled and swung out, knocking the silver be-spelled stake from Hankyung’s hand before he could take action with it, ignore the flare of pain that it produced. With a snarl he shifted his weight, pulling Hankyung back out of the doorway and flinging him backwards to the far wall away from the room where his vampire was.
Hankyung managed to twist in midair so he hit the wall with his back instead of his face, but before he could move forward from it, Heechul had pinned him with his body. “Without its strength, Onew will die.”
“Better to die then become an addicted slave!” Hankyung snarled struggling like a frightened animal to get free.
“Hangeng!” Heechul called sharply, using a hand to catch the man’s chin and force eye contact. “Don’t let him win against you now. He didn’t break you then, he can’t now. It took him months to addict you and even longer before he was certain you were his. Even then you killed him and took your freedom, but if you don’t think rationally about this then he wins!”
Slowly Hankyung stopped struggling and relaxed, panting, in Heechul’s hold. “Centuries,” he murmured, “he held me for centuries.”
“Then you know that a few drinks in a few days won’t hurt Onew. It is what he needs,” Heechul said. Then he took a step back releasing Hankyung from the wall.
“Where did you hear that name?” Hankyung murmured not moving from beside the wall.
“I know a lot about you. Who you were, and who you are,” Heechul said as he settled into his chair. He gingerly placed the marred hand in his lap and frowned down at it. It should be healed already and he didn’t like that it wasn’t. That didn’t bode well.
“Why?”
“We have had this conversation before,” Heechul said airily.
“And you have never answered me. Why Heechul?”
“I like fascinating things,” Heechul said with a shrug.
“That is line of bullshit and we both know it.”
“It hardly matters. You’re too strong willed,” Heechul said darkly.
Hankyung said nothing, studying him for a minute before moving forward. He reached into his pocket and drew out a small knife, quickly dragging it across his palm and slicing it open. Heechul, despite his lack of need to breathe, felt his breathing quickening as Hankyung neared, pulling in deep lungfuls of the scent of his blood. Hankyung dropped to his knees in front of his chair and carefully picked up his marred hand.
Normally Heechul would have reacted violently to a touch so near to a venerable area but he found that he was too distracted by the scent of Hankyung’s blood to care. Carefully the witch turned his hand over and pressed his palm against the top of the wound. Heechul hissed in pleasure as pure power soaked through into his blood stream. It was nothing like tasting Hankyung’s blood but he could feel the power nevertheless. “What are you doing?” he asked knowing his eyes had darkened and his fangs were extended.
“I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. This won’t heal on its own,” Hankyung said simply. When he had finished he lifted his hand. Heechul’s hand was blood smeared but he could feel that it was healed. “Seal this,” Hankyung ordered lifting his palm.
Heechul’s eyes flashed brightly and he closed them, as he stopped breathing all together, “You don’t know what you are asking,” he murmured using the last of the breath in his lungs.
Hankyung shifted, moving Heechul’s hands off his lap to the arms of the chair only to replace them with his body. “Close this before I get blood everywhere,” Hankyung muttered.
Heechul’s hands settled on Hankyung’s hips automatically and he felt the tip of something press into his chest. He opened his eyes to see a wooden stake pressed to his chest where his heart would be. It would hardly do more than paralyze him for the few moments it would take for his body to fight back, but it was the threat of its use that mattered. He looked up at Hankyung through hooded eyes and the witch held his hand up.
A look passed between them and Heechul understood the offering for what it was, a reward, for not doing what most powerful vampires would have already. “Hangeng,” he murmured.
“Don’t use that name in front of anyone else,” Hankyung said to him softly.
Heechul didn’t answer as he leaned forward. His tongue flicked out and tasted Hankyung’s blood from his palm at the same time that he pulled the witch’s hips forward and into his own. It was better than anything he had ever tasted in his centuries of existence and he had the palm cleaned with the wound sealed much quicker then he would have liked. Hankyung pulled his hand away and Heechul rocked his hips forward, and shifted his lips to the man’s neck.
He could hardly help the small scrape of his fangs against Hankyung’s neck. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to threaten it. “Heechul,” Hankyung growled darkly, pressing on the stake marginally harder. Despite the warning he rolled his body back into Heechul’s insistent press.
When Heechul pulled his eyes back and looked up at him, the dark orbs weren’t telling him no, they were simply telling him not right now. Heechul grinned at what he had been told whether Hankyung had meant to or not, and chose to simply kiss him before he got himself into trouble.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
The last time Key had woken up warm and wrapped around someone, had been at least a few years ago. In fact the last time he had woken up with anyone, it had been the same teen that was currently entangled with him. For a moment all he was able to do was look upon the slumbering face of the teen in the bed with him. Then the memories began to trickle back in a slow steady stream.
Memories from before he had fallen asleep, what he had seen, discovered, but also memories farther back then that, memories that he wasn’t certain he wanted to remember. His lips felt like they were burning and Key didn’t know what to feel. He couldn’t decide which was worse, the fact that Jonghyun had kissed him just like old times when his defenses had been shattered, or the fact that he, Kim Kibum who had sworn never to breathe the same air as Jonghyun if he didn’t have to, had let him.
Regardless of which it was, Key knew he couldn’t stay here. It was hard enough to be in this house full of creatures he hated and emotions he wanted to forgot, but he refused to walk away and just leave Onew like Jonghyun had left him. Nothing in the world short of death could force him to do so, he had sworn that to himself when they had relocated together.
Carefully he untangled himself from Jonghyun’s arms, taking care not to disturb him and incredibly thankful that Jonghyun had always been such a deep sleeper. It was hard enough to pull away and it would be even harder if he had to watch Jonghyun’s reaction as he did so. The moment he was free, he shuffled quickly to the door and slipped from the room. Key had no idea where he was going to go in the large and unfamiliar mansion, but he did know that anywhere was better then here.
Chapter Four
Masterlist
AN: Well here is the next chapter. We will see where this thing decides to go with me. I'm working on a few other things at the moment so it might be a bit slow in updating. Let me know what you think of this.... Sorry I didn't respond to previous comments! I got pretty busy. I'm going to go work on those now. *laughs sheepishly*