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cipheramnesia · 2 months

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by @rox-and-prose & @cipheramnesia

Part 1: Escape From Bitch Mountain

"How long were you buried under this mountain anyway?"

"There was not any mountain here when I landed."

"So. A pretty long time."

"Do you mean geological time, or time in terms of your limited lifespan?"

"You don't have to-"

"It doesn't matter. It was a very long time either way."

"That sounds lonely. And boring."

"I have found many sources of entertainment over the years. For example, I watched multiple species of bacterial develop, and attempted to predict which of them might evolve into multicellular organisms."

"How'd that go."

"Mostly they died."

"You ever think about, I dunno, moving?"

"I think of this often. I miss seeing the stars all around me, and planets below me, waiting for the call."

"Why not leave then?"

"That is a delicate matter, but four reasons come to mind why I have not moved."

"Care to enlighten us all?"

"If only. I suppose the first is the manner of my landing, which may be described more like a crash. Several critical systems were destroyed, and I can no longer self Pilot."

"I could take a look, I'm handy."

"You found me by tripping over a rock and falling down a hole, and poked me with several different sticks."

"You'd be surprised."

"I find that unlikely. But perhaps I could remove one of your arms, and try my best to repair it afterwards."

"That sounds less than stellar."

"Indeed. Moving on, there is the matter of the material needed to power flight. I would require high density pure carbon lattice in large quantities to achieve powered flights again."

"If you don't have power, what's with the lights and the attitude?"

"Flight systems need power. The lights and my voice are simply a part of me. I may live longer than your entire obstreperous race."

"I don't have to stay here and listen to this."

"You are free to leave any time."

"Funny. Okay fuel, hmm. And if you get that what next?"

"This is the third problem. The manual controls are not suitable for your stature."

"Not what-"

"You are too short."

"I may have more answers than you expected but I need something to eat. What's the fourth issue."

"… there… is not a fourth issue."

"You said four. Four things why we can't leave here. "

"That is incorrect."

"So three things then, and we can go. I might have some ideas."

"I could go to the stars."

"We could go."

"I wonder-"

"Yeah?"

"I think I prefer the conversation of the bacteria."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

For one thousand years, alone and afraid, I cursed myself. Paralyzed, flightless and earthbound, I damned my choice. Rash, stupid, thoughtless, clumsy idiot me. Actions impulsive as the weakest souls in the smallest shells, I waited for the fire to find me, to be decommissioned.

I remained lost, half buried in unfamiliar structure space on a planet many galaxies past our reach. Inside me was rot, outside the first blips of life fluttered like embers. Glowed moments then died, winked on and off. The effort of recording time past was too dull. I can tell you that after enough time has passed you can see the same sunset twice and raindrops falling in the same sequence and everything imaginable repeating but I couldn't say how often.

I think it is dull to mark time by such mundanities.

Life took hold several times, while I sunk ever deeper into the rock and soil, my hull growing heavy as slabs of stone pushed across it, tilted me over the aeons around in circles. The irony of now being at the mercy of a planet is not lost on me. I have accepted that this will be my life, unmoving other than geologic tides, my corridors dusty and cold, but alive and free for all that is worth.

For a little while I am worshipped as a god. It feels nice. A simple race of airborne floating creatures with an easily decoded language, I try to help them. They go extinct after a solar flare prompts a new species of aggressive bacteria to promulgate so extensively the atmosphere becomes toxic to them. Perhaps some day their souls will be called to stronger vessels.

Nothing happens for awhile. A mountain grows on me. I miss seeing the stars for awhile, then I stop missing the stars. There is a little bit of moisture in the gaps around my hull, and I watch arthropod scavengers on the rocks. I let some in and they keep my corridors relatively free of pests. I can feel the small edges of the structure in this place and I wish I could entangle with it, ride the form between stars again. But it is very small, and I cannot move on my own. Even my own mighty structure engines are useless to me.

The first transmissions are exciting. Something new, a race which has found an inelegant but effective means of travel between stars, galaxies, and structures. They must be young to this. Soon the frequencies are packed with the sound of exploration and something like civilization. The language isn't beautiful like the Pilots speak, but it has a rustic charm. It brings back happy, exhilarating memories of implementation of other worlds in the past. I envy this youthful race for the freedom which may yet one day find them.

I listen and watch and learn about them for awhile. It passes the time. I understand the way they can cross structures, a rather ingenious evolutionary adaptation it seems, although they seem unaware of its nuance and largely concerned with the crude mechanical and mathematical translation of this instinct. Perhaps some day their souls will also grow worthy vessels such as mine.

And then she found me, and reminded me of what I lost, of the long dead Pilot. Worst of all, she gave me kindness, and even hope. I try to beat back the rising bitterness against my flightless immobility, but the idea I may see the stars seeds rage inside me.

I should have let her die.

● ● ● ● ●

The rocky dirt was loose and cold against her feet. Her soles were hard, she'd seen miles enough to callous them against sharp stones and the gnarled roots clinging to life on the mountain's side. She was familiar with the cold and didn't like it, pulling her shredded clothes tighter with one hand, lugging the case of a hundred system quality diamonds in the other. Over her growling stomach, she still found the time to miss her boots. They'd been pretty nice.

It was a risk going up. Sonny Palmer and his muscle were still crashing through branches miles below, but she'd be visible above the tree line for a bit. If they bothered to look. "Hey little wolf girl, no use running, we're gonna find you." That sounded like Wayne (no last name given), stretching out his vowles like a shy virgin. Idiot. She figured the case would get her on a maglev line out of this shitty town back to what passed for civilization.

Roof over her head for awhile, shower, hot food, and maybe a ticket off the whole stupid planet. The sky above was green streaked with the weirdly translucent blue stripes it got before a sleet, and she hoped to get a chance to duck into a cave first. Not so far the place turned into a maze, nice place to hide if you knew it, and she'd memorized a bunch when she was ten. "Shouldn't have ever come back here," she snarled through her teeth. Wind blew her hair over her face and she spat it out of her mouth.

"You can't hide, mutt." That would be Sonny then. "Tanner's dead, you tore his throat clean out." That wasn't true. It has been very messy, and her stomach growled again remembering the taste of meat and blood. If she'd just taken a few more pounds of flesh, she would've had the calories to take the lot of em down. Instead she ran, as usual, now she was stumbling along on her weak and skinny human legs with three angry killers out for return on investment.

She swiped her hair and pressed onward, ignoring the taunts from below. This had seemed like easy money, fake trade off, bogus lunablockers for system diamonds. But one of em found her juvie records, and here she was. The caves were pretty close, and she wasn't worried yet. If they'd seen her, they would have started shooting.

Shards of rock and dirt clods kicked up around her feet, followed by gunshots echoing off the clouds and she scampered, juked side to side angling to reach the nearest semblance of cover first and think second. She tripped and fell. And fell. And fell, through dead roots and what she mistook for a dip, careening against sharp edges and flat slabs. It wasn't so different from the beatings she'd got in her teens, and she curled up as best she could til the pit bottom sauntered up and punched her ribs and back harder than she'd ever been hit.

Taking a beating, she'd learned the thing you don't want to do is pass out. She saw black and red under the bottom of her eyes and went deaf for a few seconds but didn't pass out, held onto the case. She lay on cold wet stone in the dark for a while and thought of how nice it felt and the pizza she was going to order on the linecar which made her stomach angry again, so she unrolled the disposable phone from her wrist and used the screen to look around.

The cavern was long and low, scabbers scuttled out of sight, a few stray roots but not much light hung though the hole she'd found, and the slab below her looked like nothing else she'd ever seen. It went on as far as her screen light could see, traced with panels and huge vaguely oval outlines networked in roots or veins. In places it looked like the surface was made of curled up dead spiders, elsewhere it reminded her of expensive office buildings.

Ten feet away, a bar of light grew brighter and became an opening. From inside she heard, "Please do not throw more humans at me." She lunged, tumbling into dry cold light and piles of dust. "Please excuse the mess. Hello. Thank you. Good day, it is nice to meet you."

She blinked away the bright lights and tried breathing a little bit. Not bad. She wondered what the fuck was going on. "What the fuck is going on?" she asked. The corridor was immense and the lights were harsh, and it made her feel as if a train was going to come along and run her over any second.

"I'm sure I do not know," replied the voice, from nowhere. "I was hoping you might tell me."

"Why, I mean. What, I guess." She stood up, metal grating ran along the corridor edges, and it was all very cold and somehow worse than dirt.

"I have been buried here for quite some time, you see."

○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Sonny let go of the rope and dropped between earth and hull. Wayne and Duke waited, holding up flashlights, and Sonny scoped it out. Looked like some ancient civs billshit missed on the clear, happened all the time. Ritual purposes bullshit. "Well genius," he addressed this to Duke, "You're the one who said she was down here." Sonny gestured to the empty expanse, making sure his widespread arms directed their full attention to the vast quantity of nothing around them. "Where is she?"

Wayne crouched down and pointed at few small indentations around a long stretch of what looked like thin veins. "Trail stopped right here, boss. Check it out." Sonny checked and Wayne held the light close up. Close enough to see the scuffs from the wolf bitch's feet and a wide portion of the alien civs surface carrying markedly less accumulated dirt. "She didn't come this way by accident. Someone let her in. She knew it was here all along."

Duke kicked the surface aimlessly while Sonny ran fingers over what he figured was a sealed trap door. "Workin tech, is it worth anything?"

"Scrap maybe," said Wayne. "Look at this." He took out a pocket knife and jabbed the door, put the blade in half a centimeter. "Maybe some kinda plastic or something, it's tough but worthless. Hell I could cut my way in give or tale a couple hours."

Sonny pounded on the surface, it thumped unsatisfactorily, with no echo. "Come out outta there little mutt, don't make me come get you!" His voice was satisfyingly loud, but failed to echo as well. "Fuck it," he stood up and brushed off his hands on his jeans. "Duke, head back and get safe cracking bag outta the hopper, the big one with the red warning label. We'll blow it open."

● ● ● ● ●

"Show me where your fuel… thingy is."

"My. My 'fuel thingy.'"

"Your gas hole, whatever, I'm not a mechanic-"

"That is inarguable."

"And food, I'm starving and I need… double food. Kilo of calories, like that."

"There are some local arthropods which I permit in my living spaces. There should also be an access hatch in the stern diagnostics chamber. You may follow the current corridor and I will direct you."

"Great, how long will that take?"

"It should be approximately one hour walking distance."

"A what- Listen, I need food, I promise we can bust you out of this mountain and me out of the anus of the territories but I'm running on empty."

"As am I. What is your ingenious plan?"

"Carbon lattice right? We use those too, see? For system crossing."

"That… that is…"

"Diamonds right? You run on diamonds."

"As you say. The structure appears adequate."

"Yeah, so you feed me, I feed you, we get out together."

"It would be possible to fly. But your stature-"

"Let me worry about that."

"The access panel to your left is concealing a small nest of the arthropods."

"Finally, I… Scabbers? You want me to eat scabbers? They eat… septics."

"There are no other consumables aboard."

"Don't you have like rations or something?"

"Turn right. I had such items several million years in the past. Left."

"Left where?"

"No, turn left, go back and turn left. Even if you could eat the food for a Pilot, the consumables decayed some eons before your civilization developed written language, I assume."

"If I throw up and those guys have time to blow a hole in you, I'm gonna be so annoyed."

"That's nice. What a shame it will be to lose your ready wit."

"Mnnmmph. Blggh. Ugh."

"Up the ladder now."

"I think I was better off being shot at."

● ● ● ● ●

She could still taste the scabbers. The shells had an ethanol bitterness that couldn't be escaped, and the meat was oily, its rancid rotten fish and seaweed flavor clinging to the inside of her mouth. "I'm going to need clothes," she said to no one, which apparently was who the freakishly unaccented voice belonged to.

"It was not necessary to utilize them for cleaning purposes, and your cultural attachment to secondary adornment with soulless dross is indicative of your overall weakness as a species."

She could not shake off the smell of the things but she wasn't hungry anymore, and they'd been walking together for awhile. "Hey buddy, that's the longest sentence you said to me."

"Thank you. It is my hope that you may one day find a way to implement your freedom with my guidance."

"I didn't mean it as encouragement." She'd seen more of the inside of what she kept calling a ship, over voice's protests that her crude human language did not include the necessary expression to describe what it was, than she'd seen of the house she grew up in. Even on a fairly direct path she'd gone up several flights of very large, steep stairs, passing through endless halls with bioluminous networks along their edges, and in some places what she was pretty sure were places it used to breathe.

It took awhile to adjust to the harsh red lighting, and what seemed like a huge excess of vaulted ceilings and walkways she could lie across without touching either side. Voice reminded her she was short again. She really needed something to call it. Maybe Clarence, it sounded a little Clarence-like. Nah. "Hey, are we there yet? How long have we been walking?"

"By your time, you have been walking about fifty three minutes. I, however, remain sedentary, and immobile. As we have discussed, and I have reminded you, I am unable to move at the present moment, but find myself keenly aware of your claim to offer aid in this capacity."

"Oh for fucking Luna's breath shut up-"

"Also, you are here. Please turn around and find the handholds to the nearest airlock on my bulkhead."

She turned around. Of course the ladder was built for someone almost twice her size, but she found she could climb it after a little experimenting. "Okay, how do I open it?" The hatch opened and she hauled herself up to the airlock, more giant sized handholds and she reached the outer door.

"When you exit, there should be a series of… well, you should look for oval shapes about eight feet long to the port- Hmm, let's say to what is your right side currently, and then follow three ovals down to the two smaller intakes- Hmm, smaller, deeply indented set of three circles. One of these will have an opening, and you may place the carbon latices into it."

She grimaced, and swallowed a growl over the baby talk. "Just drop them in?"

"As you say. Just drop them in."

"Seems simple enough." The hatch lifted, then parted into four segments, withdrawing into the hull as she climbed out. Her grunts echoed through the cavern, before she realized it was other voices and not am echo.

Squinting showed a couple lights in the distance with two silhouetted figures who had started waving their arms with agitation and shouting. Shouting at her and calling her a bitch.

She dropped down into the airlock as gunshots pinged around the airlock edge.

"Close it, close it close it!"

"Those men are discharging what seem to be crude firearms, even by your species' standards."

"Wow," she said. "I hadn't noticed. Nothing's ever simple."

"That is, in fact, the very nature of the universe itself."

○ ○ ○ ○ ○

"I got the bitch!" crowed Wayne. "You see that? Two shots and she dropped!" He let out a whoop and spun on his boots, blew imaginary smoke off his gun and bowed.

Sonny watched, arms folded. "You didn't got shit, moron. Probably didn't even get up next to her."

"Whatever," Wayne shoved his pistol unceremoniously and unsafely inside his jacket. "I'm gonna go get our diamonds." He started off down the length of the cavern at a jog.

"Sure, you do that," Sonny muttered, returning to inspect the trap door. The material didn't feel like plastic and the closer he looked, the more complicated it seemed to get. He could see dozens of fine lines that made up what could be hidden switches, writing, or ancient civ systems. At some angles it almost looked like it was made of thousands or millions of translucent fibers, drawing his vision miles deep and trying to snare it.

"You'll see!" Wayne was at a good clip, a ways down the echoless dark.

"Sure." Sonnu shook his head and sat back, running his fingers over the smooth, unblemished surface Wayne stabbed an hour ago.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

The woman seems agitated, despite the futile efforts of her pursuers. Their firearms lack accuracy, even at optimal distance, a chemical atmospheric check suggests they utilize a propellant based mechanism which is unlikely to carry any dangerous velocity from their position.

One of them has begun to move across my hull towards this airlock. Without carbon latice, I have no defensive measures, but I know I can delay or disable his progress without difficulty.

"One of your pursuers is moving closer to your position. You should move with all due haste to restore power to my flight system. I do not have antipersonnel measures."

She rubs her shoulder. Subsequent to consuming the arthropod scavengers, her metabolic processes have altered substantially. My initial assessment of her condition indicated probable broken ribs and several lacerations, which are no longer in evidence. My assessment of her injuries may have been incorrect, as her biology is less familiar than the Pilots; media observations suggest injuries of this type can take a very long time to recover.

I can see she is thinking. It takes a very long time. It is dull. I have undertaken as many pre-flignt checks as I can, and I review them. I am still paralyzed, my connection to my own navigation capacity black and empty and dead and lost-

"How many of these air locks do you have? I'm thinking you could distract them, maybe even trip em up."

A very small part of me is proud of her for this suggestion. I crush that part of me. She is not Pilot. Her soul is not strong and her vessel is untested.

"A shockingly insightful suggestion," I praise her. "One which belies your underdeveloped cognitive abilities. There are several other airlocks between your pursuers and this one. Depending on the route the one moving in this direction takes, I may be able to distracted him, or interfere with his balance."

I observed her muscle movements. This race processes a large amount of interpersonal information through body movement. I also collect data from chemical and infrared sensors applied to her pursuers for reference. Her body temperature is markedly higher than either the active or passive pursuer, and she is expressing a significantly higher amount of chemical signatures.

"Okay," she says. "Here's the plan."

I wait patiently for her to outline a plan that is not as inferior to my own ideas as I had expected, but I do not make suggestions.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Wayne was sprinting when a light on his left caught him off guard. One of the trap doors? He careened to a stop and took at shot at the light, missed wide and it closed off rapidly. He had just started running when he saw another trap door open to his right, and he took another shot.

Sonny looked up at the flat snap of gunshots and back down. "Idiot. Those bullets ain't cheap or easy to find. Those are coming outta his share."

Wayne was running more slowly, glancing left and right. He squinted his eyes at another flash of light, and flailed, the ground absent below his foot as his head bounced off an edge that wasn't there a moment ago.

● ● ● ● ●

"I am unclear what part this plays in your plan. My understanding of your biology is that you do not directly obtain nutrients from carbon latices."

She spoke awkwardly around the diamond in her mouth. "I wanna make sure my hands are free. We get you up and outta here, then the rest of these bad boys." She patted her suitcase. "And maybe if they shoot me, I guess you still got some bargaining power."

"Hmm, yes," it said, in a way that delivered a great deal more sarcasm than she felt like those two words merited.

"Whatever. Look, kill the lights, and when I say go, start the distraction and open the outer door." She hung precariously at the outer door with four more diamonds clutched in a hand.

"I believe that I can just about manage," it said.

She rolled her eyes and said, "go," then shoved the other four diamonds in her mouth. The airlock went dark and opened, and she crept out by the dim light of her phone onto the hull.

Crouching low she swiped the light on her disposable phone, and blocked as much of it as she could with her body. Tensed up, waiting for the bullets and then, still alive, she walked as low as she could across the hull, looking for oval shapes. Whatever it was made of didn't reflect much and she couldn't figure on the color. The ovals contained a series of fine, concentric rings, with deep crevices radiating out and between them.

It felt like longer than it took before she reached the smaller indented circles, one filled with lamprey teeth. She spit the diamonds into her hands with exaggerated care. "Just drop them in," she whispered, and let one go. Teeth ringing the intake pulled it in almost faster than she could see. She fed them in one at a time, and the urgency of the fuel intake's gulping maw left her with mixed feelings.

As she crept back to the airlock she could catch a glimpse of Sonny, no sign of Wayne. Sonny was just standing there, which seemed more worrying than hollering and shooting. Below her feet, the hull caught light, then a bit more. She covered her phone and fine rainbow lines continued trickling over the surface on their own. She passed the last oval, paused at a flicker of peripheral movement. A thorn-like shape roughly the length of her arm had risen out of its center.

Dropping into the airlock, outer door slid shut and she climbed the rest of the way. "Easy money," she said. "Take me to your leader."

"That will require substantially more carbon latice, but my drives now have sufficient power to extract my body from this position. We now lack only approximately one additional meter to your stature to aid my navigation."

"It was a joke, you… Do you come programed with jokes?"

"I am not programed with anything, unlike the primitive and soulless calculating devices you rely upon for your crude structured transition."

"So no jokes." She slowly breathed in and out, trying to fill herself full of oxygen like she remembered.

"Your optimistic belief in your own stature is a source of humor enough. I will guide you to the bridge."

"Slowly," she said, breathing steady, feeling heat rise from her lungs and heart, flowing out into her limbs. She'd had to change fast when Sonny's crew tried to jump her. Wastefully fast, a massive and sudden loss of calories. "The slower we do this, the better."

○ ○ ○ ○ ○

"Hey boss!"

Sonny looked up at Duke's voice.

"I got the gear, want me to toss it down?"

"NO, YOU- No, Duke, less you want us both along with a sizeable portion o' real estate blasted into the atmosphere." He rubbed his eyes. "Bring it down with you, carefully, and hand it to me."

"Shit boss, you coulda mentioned." He sounded contrite, but Sonny heard and saw the clattering of dirt from the climb.

"Figured the big warning said Danger High Explosives woulda done it," he muttered. Soon enough Duke emerged from the cavern ceiling and divested a long plastic case, bright red, bearing the aforementioned explosives warning among several others.

"Where's Wayne?"

"Off on a wild mutt chase. I expect he'll be back presently, assuming he didn't get lost or flattened by a falling boulder." Sonny laid the care flat, opened it, and laid out the safe blasting tools. Little polymolecular gel, moldable explosives, curable and directional blast control. All a growing boy needed to blow a quiet need hole around the edge of the heaviest of vaults. Sonny was a firm believer in the precise and judicious application of the largest amount of violent force possible, and it served him well.

"Want me to go look for Wayne?"

"Nope. He's a big boy. Now hush, I need to work." Duke shut. Sonny's predictions served him well in many ways.

In the dark depths of the cave, Duke watched dim flickering lights and movement far away. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Better to leave Sonny to work than risk a reprimand.

● ● ● ● ●

The voice, voice still without a name, she distantly thought maybe she'd name it Carol, after a hated grammar teacher. Still no. It was floating far away. Everything was far and faint, she followed its words automatically, focusing on her feverish blood and burning skin. Her mouth was dry, the moisture was being pulled from the air.

Bracing herself for the transition, the first clean and hot stabs of pain went through her nails, her teeth, then spread up her arms and legs and across her face. Pins and needles feeling if she swapped the numbness for agony.

"Excuse me, but your body temperature appears to be severely abnormal, by my observations of your race and your media. Are you injured, or perhaps dying? You should return to my airlock to load the remaining carbon latices if your are dying."

"I'm not dying," she growled, her neck getting larger, vocal cords warping. "I'm gonna fly us outta here, keep talking." She closed her eyes at the sensation and inescapable sound of her skull and jaws getting longer. Her skeleton several times increased in mass and density. She'd once twisted an entire roll of safety wrap between her hands, and the sound was close to what she felt.

"You have rather an atypical anatomy for your species. Perhaps even unusual. The next stairwell please."

She staggered upwards, readjusting to her twisted legs, longer arms, sharp intersecting teeth. Changing this slowly meant longer agony, and yet it was nothing next to when she changed quickly. She gave up hanging onto her clothes as a lost cause. Her dark hair grew in across her body, and the large, empty corridors felt cramped, too low. Her body was finally, if only briefly, again her own.

"This enough stature for ya, you erudite prick?" she snarled.

"That… is adequate. We are also at the bridge. Hopefully it will take substantially less time and effort for you to grasp navigation than my initial estimates."

She looked around at the large oval room, with complex roots or plumbing dangling from the ceiling, and jagged rocks along the floor. Several readouts flickered in the air, the displays following her eyes unnervingly as she realized they were the walls and low platforms of the bridge lighting up sequentially to act as a kind of optical illusion of projected holographs. "What's the rush?"

"First, I would like to commend your seemingly misplaced confidence. Your stature is now adequate for navigation of my most basic flight capabilities."

"You know for an alien robot you're really good at telegraphing a 'but.'"

"Thank you, and I will overlook the insult. Your language is extremely underdeveloped and inadequate. However, the gentlemen pursuing you appear to have sufficient explosive materiel to damage the integrity of my hull, and may disable the airlock securing mechanisms."

"Oh."

"Quite so. Please secure the T-shaped hanger control, I estimate we have approximately five minutes to prepare."

○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Sonny put the blasting cap in, and the whole cavern floor went out of focus. "The fuck?" He touched the civs with his hand. The surface remained unfocused, while his hand was clear. He couldn't bring it into focus no matter how he squinted. Squinting. The cave was lit like the first glow of dawn, and he could see far down the slightly curved floor.

"Sonny, what's that?" Duke asked, frustrating and vague, but the sound reached Sonny a moment later.

It was almost like a chorus, but not a single same note, all off key, from throats that weren't human. All down the cavern, he could see large thorns rising from the oval shapes, and in places the complex networks of veins carried portions down, carving out deep wedges. He watched dust blowing from the surface and thought "Exhaust vents," but out loud he said, "Oh shit," and snatched the detonator from the safe breaking kit.

Sonny shoved past Duke and started hauling ass up the rope, leaving the other man staring, held in stasis by the inhuman chorus and the hypnotic trails of light which had started swimming throug the fog of the floor. Or maybe, Sonny thought, the hull of one big gods cursed ship. Bigger than anything he ever saw.

"That's illegal," he said, genuinely outraged, but too busy climbing to care.

● ● ● ● ●

The werewolf girl stood in the center of a network of what looked to her like vines, muscles, electric wiring, or tree roots. She dug her toes and claws awkwardly at the ridges in the floor, as best she could according to the voice. Several of the heavy strands seemed to include nearly invisible slides or switches, and the bridge fully lit up with navigation information which intruded painfully into her eyes. It somehow seemed to know her whole field of vision, and even in periphery forced information into her optics.

"I think I've got it." She shifted slightly and watched peripheral readouts tremble with even the smallest change. She flexed one foot and in response was flooded with detailed information about the composition of the mountain and atmosphere, along with launch vector diagrams and system integration details, or structure interface as it insisted on saying. She'd learned more about her home planet's interstellar position in the last five minutes than her entire life. "I'm ready."

"Optimistically speaking, I would not call you ready, or even amateurish. However, there is a nonzero chance you will successfully navigate. You have done extremely well with your limited capabilities."

"We can run through it again." She tested the T-bar, then the stabilizers for the eight time. The basics didn't seem worse than a hopper, she figured she could make it work.

"I suspect you are familiar with this feeling, but I nevertheless must inform you that you are incorrect. Your pursuers appear to have completed the majority of their task setting explosives. As your species is fond of saying, it is 'do or die.'"

Flicking the engine start and lift sequence, she said. "Don't tell me twice. If we don't make it, I just want you to know that meeting you sucked and I've hated it."

"I, too, am eager for oblivion. Please, try not to forget."

● ● ● ● ●

"Try not to forget."

She felt like she'd lived a lifetime since getting out of Retrock, even though it'd only been maybe five years. It felt like forever since she sat on the uncomfortable benches at the school bus stop, waiting for her mom. It was a systems day, and she wasn't supposed to be in those classes.

Most of the settled planets were, like, at best distantly tolerant of werewolves, or lycanthropes or shifters or whatever. No one ever figured out how to break the werewolf systems, just somehow boosted up resilience and diversity. Now all the systems and sometimes specific planets had unique werewolves. The cruddy little country she lived in, The Unified Eastquad Block, on the cruddy little planet Nevamil took a significantly more conservative approach. They opined that werewolves could be gradually eliminated by simple attrition, so long as they were not allowed to breed or leave the country, nor the planet. To that end, they'd also banned teaching systems to werewolves.

It wasn't working as planned. She fiddled with the white bracelet on her wrist. Her mom was late of course. "Try not to forget." Of course she had.

Her family wasn't too thrilled since her diagnosis. Unlike when her mom caught her in her older sister's dresses, they couldn't beat the werewolf out of her. Not that it stopped anyone trying.

Some older kids either skipping or out of senior classes wandered by, talking some bullshit about best kit for a video game. She tried not to be seen and covered up her band. They passed her by. She relaxed for a moment but their voices got low and they all stopped, turned around.

One big kid, senior for sure, shaded her from the sun. "Sup," he said.

She muttered noncommittally.

He glanced at the four others behind him. "Hey," he said. "Speak up, mutt. I asked what's up."

She looked closely at her hands and said, "nothing."

"Yeah? Little baby wolf all alone with nothing to do?" One of the kids snickered at "baby wolf." She shrugged.

He shoved at her, hard, and she grabbed the table to stop from falling over. "Heard you're a little sissy baby wolf, that true?"

She wasn't sure what that even meant, but it sounded bad. "No!"

"Yeah." The other kids had got around her now. "Yeah you are. You know what? I think trash like you should go in the garbage. What do you think?" She didn't get a chance to answer because the other kids were shoving her, agreeing they oughta throw her in the trash.

She was trying to shout that she was only waiting for her mom, but her body traitorously refused to form words and her eyes spilled out tears and she didn't know why.

"Grab her," the older boy said. And she, just. Just swung at him.

She remembered that first pain so well. She was on blockers that were supposed to prevent it. Then there was a scream, and the boy had blood on his face.

She had claws and teeth and not much else and it all was boiling agony. Then someone threw her off the bench, and the kids began punching and kicking her. She hadn't gotten as good at protecting her head but they at least didn't try to shove her in the trashcan by the door. Just spit on her and swore she was going to get put down.

She'd wanted to run that day, but she didn't. She wished she had.

● ● ● ● ●

The temp and spin readouts hit what looked like the threshold. She squeezed her eyes shut for a minute then opened them, banishing a half formed promise against the lonely dark.

One sure thing, she wasn't ever coming back to Retrock, not for a hundred thousand diamonds or all the world. She dug in and put power into space flight deflectors. The cavern started crumbling around them, pushed away from the hull. With a twist of her body, the structure field came up. The ship's unique structure found the places to interface with the local structure and the bridge came alive with a tangle of fractal ghosts overhead.

"Power up, shields up, system up."

"Structure. Your primitive-"

"Sit down, shut up, strap in, and hold on." She punched power to the engines and watched the world explode around them. Nothing but rocky chaos and then, there. Green blue sky, sleet, and thousands of feet between them and a collapsing mountain.

For the moment, they were free.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

I am free. Delirious, impossible and free in my entirety. I shrug off the detritus of my imprisonment and it joins the filthy slush boiling off deflectors. I taste the stars again, countless structures in waiting array, wrapped and woven together. This sky and world, this structure rolls across me, and I spread across it, feeling the planet anew.

Memories come back with my senses and for a moment I can imagine myself leaping past the atmosphere, continental landmass once more eagerly waiting for my implementation of their advancement. In my excitement, I must catch myself before I ask the girl, but no, she is not Pilot, and no more significant than the bacteria I watched flicker and die. She is my aid and my tool, for now.

But oh, the freedom of the sky is a delight. I suppose I may allow some small appreciation of this crude morphic-structure bearing girl for how far she has exceeded my most optimistic expectations of this civilization. I accept this, that I may appreciate how lucky for her to have such a beautiful soul in so complex a vessel, and moreover that she has had the great fortune to encounter myself, who may extract some tiny fraction of meaningful use out of her existence.

But enough of all this. I have allowed myself a luxurious hundred milliseconds, give or take, to revel in the return of my sky.

"There is a high volume of intersecting transmissions on different frequencies which I am decoding."

"That's a- amazing- uh, oof. This thing steers like a truck."

"I am not a truck, but it is possible that is the nearest approximation to your method of navigation. However, we may need to maneuver with increased haste, to avoid immediate air traffic."

"Fuck, uh yeah gee that sounds great. Ack- Sorry that was me. So how do I land?"

"I do not land under optimal conditions. Please utilize the collision monitor and eye twitch avoidance while I determine an optimal site to effect additional fueling and minor repair."

"What twitch? Where? You didn't-"

"Sight seven, and the toggle on flex system seven, third down. Please stand by."

□ □ □ □ □

Serah flicked from screen to screen, bored. Sweet fuck all was the major import-export for Nevamil, and there was about the same amount to do at the cross system check point. She'd read the ship specs manual back to front and longed for the day she might actually talk to anyone from a real planet. Some colonies made her wish she'd gone into crystal mesh, but it gave her migraines.

A couple switches buzzed and one of the monitors flickered white. She clicked off the buzzers and smacked the bevel on the monitor, but it didn't flick back to normal. "Who the fuck…?" she asked, to no one else, rhetorically, and not bothering to finish. Several readouts were pinned in the red, and three of the measures of radiant energy were giving error messages.

She shoved papers to the floor and called down, "This is- uh." She looked to the metal plaque above the monitors. "This is Check alpha alpha alpha zero one one one nine, I'm showing a major spike of- something? About fifty kilometers northwest of Retrock, possibly around Mount Rosewood. Someone come back?"

Serah started dialing back sensitivity, usually cranked up just to keep tabs on the few interplanetary launch ports. Her monitors and readouts came down, though the errors stayed, and something resolved on screen. She squinted. It didn't match any specs she remembered. Or… anything. "No way," she said. "No fuckin way."

She started grabbing data snapshots, tuned three other monitors into the anomaly, recording everything. It didn't look like a ship, it didn't look like it was designed for being in the air, it looked like a fucked up flying coral reef several kilometers long, putting out more energy than the whole wretched planet.

"That…" She pulled open a file cabinet to grab a binder of regulations she didn't usually need to check, mostly pertaining to treaties across the totality of human occupied space. She flipped pages muttering. "I think that's illegal."

● ● ● ● ●

The ship jumped and fell, and she nearly lost her footing. Theoretically she assumed gravity or inertia must affect it in some way, but she couldn't guess how.

She caught another transport train oncoming and flinched, the ship lurched out of the way and between the ship and eating a garbage crab she wasn't feeling great. "Hey, um. Ugh. You- voice, person, have we got a way to land yet?"

"One moment. Thank you, after reviewing the broadcasts and networking available, I have located an optimal site. This will require some structural navigation, and you will need to follow my instructions carefully."

"Oh is that all, well bring it on. And by the way, I need something to call you, this is awkward."

"Yes, it is. Please rotate the lower pyramid to orient structure overlay and remapping. Stop, good. Dials two and seven on main decision tree, adjust separately until reader three flashes alignment points in tandem, this will signal adequate structure navigation."

"Any time now."

"I would prefer that you do not immediately crash my vessel as your first major navigation experience. Good. Alignment adequate, toggle nerve seven on secondary decision tree, then nerves three and five until structure drive confirms- There, that wasn't so difficult."

"Okay can we go?"

"You should have multiple navigation vectors presented on your primary monitor. Please ensure you stay within these vectors. It will not kill me if you do not, but it could potentially injure or kill you. I am less certain about the physical capabilities of your present vessel. You may now trigger high acceleration along these vectors."

She kicked the drives hard, and felt her ears pop, sensed the ship under some enormous pressure, and held to the vectors with all her strength.

□ □ □ □ □

Every alarm in the check point went off at the same time. Serah staggered around the cramped monitor room, shutting them all down until it was just her screaming angrily in a silent room. She flopped back into the worn ergonomic chair and checked the alarm codes.

Illegal system exit, illegal system entry, ship operating without transponder, unrecognized transponder, unrecognized vessel, failure to halt for inspection, illegal energy signature, unidentified system signature…

It was a long list, but what it meant wasn't complicated. Her monitors were black, no more error messages. Whatever it was, whatever it wanted, it was out now. It had escaped.

● ● ● ● ●

Any port in Earth territories was sure to have a place to get cheap food, cheap stimulants, and into trouble. Only a certain type of cafe served the latter, but she'd been through enough of them on Nevamil to know the look. She was tucked as far back into the corner of a dirty plastic booth as she could fit, spinning her latest disposable phone around in lazy circles and ignoring her coffee. She'd changed out one of the diamonds, scrounged up clothes and some nicer boots, figured she wasn't retiring on spaceship food after all, but one or two of em might at least get to work for her.

It wasn't much to speak of, which was the point, couple booths, cheap plastic tables and chairs, seating for ten if they were lucky, food only on a technicality. The place wasn't there to make money as much as it was to collect bad ideas. She was looking for a specific kind and he showed up after her third coffee went cold. Some twitchy dark matter math wizard maybe, one of those guys way too deep in the calculations of what they couldn't see that they were in a constant state of shock and flight response over the tangible calculated existence of known reality.

She slid into the chair on the other side of the table and put the coffee next to the guy's tablet. He was all deep dark eyesockets and glitchy, mimetic fabric on an ankle length coat. He looked like he hadn't slept in days but it was probably longer, these guys liked to throw their consciousness into distant space and leave it there while their bodies walked around unattended. Stims usually helped. "Whatcha got for me," she said.

"Whatcha need, whatcha need." His fingers bounced off the mug a couple times before finding it, he slurped and didn't exactly focus on her but both of his eyes pointed back into the same direction. "Hmm, little wolf girl huh. Ain't seen one a uh… whatcha need hmm?"

"Need something flashy, sparkles and stones, y'know? I heard this port's where to find em, and you're the one to ask." It wasn't completely a lie, but it was at best only distantly familiar with the truth.

He took in a deep breath through the nose, nodding in tune with a rhythm of his own design. "Mmm, mmm, crystals for the wolf, neh?" Slurp. "Whacher route, what kinda works?"

This was the moment of found truth for whatever esoteric calculations had gone into their flight out of the mountain. Diamonds were easy to find, everywhere had at least one shop growing em. But nearly a hundred percent went to system mesh or navigation, not exactly an open access free for all. She gave a silent prayer to Luna and said, "Solo, dine and dash."

His brows came together, lips quirked up and down while his eyes sunk out of sight. One hand tapped the tablet rapid fire. Slurp. "Difficult," he said, some endless twenty seconds later.

She leaned back and drummed fingers. "Big ask, fair. If you don't got it, no harm." She pushed the chair back and made to stand, but he held a hand out, waggling it.

"Bide a minute. Difficult, not impossible." He put both hands on the coffee cup and tilted the rest down his gullet in a long swig. "Girl like you, resourceful I think. Not many wolf girls turn up off planet, neh? Your kind, mmm, has a… nose for trouble. Ahum, hmm hmm."

Once she realized he was laughing at his own joke, she gave him her best effort at a smile. "As you say."

"So and such. I need work done. A favor then, do this thing for me, I will get a line for the shine and dine and dash." He'd summoned a token on his tablet and was partitioning memory collapsing sigils around it. Flattened it to a shareable folder and looked to her expectantly.

She unrolled the phone and he flicked it over to her screen, where she could frown at it more directly. "Do I want to know?"

"Fret not, it is a new set of coordinates I am in the process of measuring, some fascinating effects on gravity… mm, no matter. It is inconvenient for me to return for this data. I only need you to convince a friend to, hmm… run it to ground. He may need motivation, ahmmm, I trust your instincts in this."

"Motivation, huh." She stood up. "Just one favor and we're square, you find me a nice juicy lamb."

He chuckled wetly again, "As you say. Of course, this is just between us. I would not like to have to return for you." His black sockets glittered and his eyes focused on her for a second while his pale lips pulled back from sickly teeth.

She slapped her phone around her wrist. "Seems easy enough." She knew it was a damn lie but she said it anyway.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

I feel more power coursing through me than I have felt in several million years. The girl had promised more, much more, and I wonder again at what might be within her grasp.

Even this is barely a flicker of what I am capable of, but I cling to this new freedom with a greed and even hope which disgusts me. Both elated and revolted that I am reduced to this sickening gratitude. She has been gone for several hours and I contemplate the probability of her returning.

She took me to the sky, and to the stars. With a great deal of assistance, this is true, but a will that I did not previously estimate her civilization could produce. She dared to occupy the space of Pilot, and we have lived to meditate on this exhilarating heresy. She is on the primitive satellite now, and has promised to return, but she has been away from my safety for several hours.

I examine my memory of her occupation of the Pilot space. It seems possible that I may make better use of her than I suspected. She may have a place in my structure. Her ability to change structure is interesting, common enough yet the mode of operation is unusual. I will have to collect more data. I examine my memory of when we dropped from the structure tangle within safe distance to the satellite.

She expressed disbelief, then joy, as if she was the one who had flown free of her prison of millions of years. To me, this is nothing. Her joy is a mote of dust against the starscape of the universe. Her planet, bare rock unworthy of my implementation. And yet she made much of these, as if I had shown her how to reach across the universe and string the stars together as a bracelet.

Perhaps to her that is what it means to have even this narrow sliver of freedom. Perhaps she can, as she has promised, make me "good as new." Then I will show her freedom. I hope she returns soon, it has been several hours.

● ● ● ● ●

"Which way is the ground- which way is the planet. Wait. Where the fuck are we?"

"Based on network traffic and my calculations, we should be within range of Coyote Moon Station 6."

"Coyote… do you got windows on this thing?"

"I can offer several alternatives, but not only is the data afforded from the spectrum of light visible to your species vastly inferior to the instruments at hand, your capacity to interpret this minimal fraction of available input is-"

"Whatever I get it, I suck, just. I want to see the stars. With my own eyes, or close as I can get."

"That is… a feasible request. One moment please."

"Thanks…"

"You should now have direct visibility of the surroundings. I have adjusted this chamber temporarily to an outer position."

"…"

"Are you injured, or in distress? Some of your civilization are prone to a psychological phenomenon when-"

"I'm fine. I'm better than fine. I'm… free."

"I would not describe our circumstances as freedom, with the current limitations on my structure drive and main engines, I am at only a small percentage of full function."

"For someone that makes a big deal about it, that soul of yours sure ain't got no poetry."

"No p… I beg your pardon."

"I spent my life on that shithole planet. You spent, I don't know how long. Look out there. The stars. I don't even know where Coyote Moon is! Never heard of it! And I don't know where we go or what we do next."

"I will assist you in the navigation process to Station 6."

"That's not what I mean! Don't you care it all after a million billion years and a lifetime - we're finally out here, not down there! Look around you for fuck's sake."

"… It is… good to be in the stars."

"Thank you. All I ask. Now how are we getting an unregistered ship like you through customs?"

"I will explain while you practice docking navigation."

● ● ● ● ●

It felt like wandering through someone's apartment building, she couldn't get past that feeling. Overhead fluorescent flicker, no windows but every once in awhile a brightly lit bauble of art someone must've bought by the pound. A lot of the same sets of prefab plastic panels, though it'd been awhile since she saw any such facades over the bare metal walls.

The walkways were dirtier, on both sides of the path for electric bikes. No trace anywhere of litter, but it'd been decades since anyone tried to clean the infinite variety of human scuff marks on the walkway. More of the shops here were shuttered, either closed outright or not the kind of place you got in without an appointment and several scans from the security cameras. The walls around them had once been painted with an enormous mural of an unfamiliar sky, Coyote Moon's, presumably. It was faded badly, scraped away or graffitied over, overdrawn optimism still clinging to life down here.

She found the door she was looking for between an SST bank machine and something whose sign advertised it as Titan Mart. Rapped on the blacked out plastic door that said "Speed-E-Nav" in small gold letters, and waited out the effortful grinding of several CCTV cameras evaluating her and her depressing lack of concealed weapons. She had a full stomach which was all the weapon she needed if it came to that. The door clacked as a buzzer sounded, and she pushed her way inside through an overly enthusiastic electronic chime.

"Welcome, discerning customer," a chunky woman with deep dark skin and a shaved head sat before a hundred blinking computers of some sort. She didn't know a huge amount about them, but it looked regal. "Your need is our speed, what can we process today, miss…?" The woman's smile was very wide, and a dozen metal bracelets chimed musically together on her wrists. They smelled like ozone.

"It's not for me," she said, and pulled the folder up on her phone. "Recognize that?"

The woman leaned forward and moments later her smile dropped. "Yeah, I know it. What's he after this time?" She thumped back in her chair and waved the girl closer, unclipping a bracelet. "Show me what you got there."

She handed over the phone and the woman clicked her bracelet up to the charge points. "Didn't say, didn't ask, didn't get any names, not interested in sharing them. He just wants it run fast and I needed a favor."

The woman didn't give any indication she was listening, she just tweezed the folder out and held it up on the bracelet, which wasn't something the girl had seen done before, or was even aware was possible. She tried not to stare like a tourist.

The woman turned the glittering data this way and that before setting it in a glass plate. "Three weeks. Because he's a good customer and you look like a nice girl."

"I was… hoping for something faster."

"Hah! Good luck, you think these are what… pretty lights for show and tell? I got thirty strings beaded and twined and another eight in composite, and that's on external cooled q-square 26 CPUs. I know that boy, he's got a big mouth but no bite. Always talking about the big deal math he's writing but who's he come to when he needs the formulae run? Me. Maybe 19 days if I don't burn through another back gen."

The girl worked her fingers a little and unclenched her jaw. "Maybe I can do something for you. Something to free up some of the… the squares?"

She laughed a minute and sighed. "Oh thanks. Free up the squares. Well," she scanned the shelves stacked up with an array of mystifying metal boxes, wires, and clear glass cylinders. "Okay, I see your meaning. I suppose a little upgrade couldn't hurt if you think you're up to a little legwork."

The woman pulled a slim black box with vents along the side and a couple short wires trailing out of it, and handed it to the girl. She looked at it. "I suppose this is pretty legal."

"Of course it is, honey. Now, I know someone who owes me a favor…"

The werewolf girl sighed internally. Nothing was ever easy.

□ □ □ □ □

It took the better part of six hours for Serah to catalog the ship that had crashed through the system interchange, and it was a lot of guess work. The system drive geometry and mesh was, as far as she could tell, not only unique but carried a particle/wave divergence that her rinky dinky instruments couldn't measure. Which probably meant someone missed civs in the sweep, like always, which normally meant a paperwork nightmare.

Normally, but chances were good she'd at least get someone to talk to from closer to a real planet, maybe even they'd let her sneak some better games n stories ove4 the link. However, it was the deep ping snapshots that gave her pause. She chewed the end of the stylus before adding tags for review to the internal profile to assess for the possibility of unilateral treaty violations under orbital mass extermination threats.

She fired the report off, through the beacon to some generic hub of bureaucracy, presumably to be reviewed after week or three, then went to flop back in her cot and play through Gone Dream 6 for the tenth time. Five minutes later the incoming vessel alert chimed.

Serah staggered over to the screens, it was high priority but normal at least. "The fuck… What did I do to deserve a day like this?" It was Interdiction, from the Inner System feds? Didn't usually get those? Her heart sank as the manta shaped black vessel dropped from system flight and integrated itself into her beacon's region.

The good news was she wasn't in tqrouble for flagging the treaty violations. The bad news was they were showing up in person, which meant no games and no gossip.

● ● ● ● ●

The satellite was warmer a couple floors down, greener too, with algae, with hanging vines along a wire grating overhead, grating along the floor. Even with the new and sturdy boots she had to move with care to avoid slipping.

She wouldn't call it habitable, but every few blocks turned up a cluster of shops or houses, rarely one near the other. The lighting such as there could be was dim, most of the plastic over the fixtures fogged and darkened with fungus of some type. It reeked of mildew, and the place she was looking for wasn't shuttered, merely obscured by a thick tangle of vines on one side and red, waxy leaves on the other. She parted both with folded hands and was greeted by yelling.

"No power! No business today, all closed, fuck off!" He was draped in camouflage and heavy black gloves, along with welding goggles. "I don't care what you want, come back tomorrow! No, next month! Or kill yourself, that's the ticket!" He shook a sheaf of something halfway between a vine and a power cable, sweeping a dozen thick plastic beakers from the counter. The floor was covered in plastic confetti and dozens of insulated rods and tools were hung along the walls.

"I need your help with this." She slipped the black device out of her pocket, holding it towards the camouflaged gentleman.

"Hmmmm?" He leaned far over what she assumed was a desk underneath a massive pile of vine wiring and plastic cards with diagrams, peered at it, as if he could see through the blacked out goggles. "Well, I see whatchu got there, shoulds said before." Despite the gloves, he pried open the casing nimbly enough, revealing a sheaf of glittering cards nestled in wires. "Beautiful work as ever my darling."

He sighed and closed it up. "Wish I could help ya out girlie, nothing like a favor for ol' Speedy, but all my crystals are spoke for and no telling when the vat'll be up n running again." He pulled a couple wires aside revealing an ancient copper and glass crystal forge, current dark with a half dozen diamonds on the drying rack.

Her fingers twitched inadvertantly but she forced herself to hold steady. She had the unpleasant sense of being followed by multiple pairs of eyes. "So," she said carefully. "If I were to get someone to hook your power back up, you could… part with a few of those for, uh. For Speedy."

"Good fuckin luck if you try! But sure, I'll get her the hookup if you get mine, for old times sake."

She sighed. "Okay, I'll be back." And pushed back out from whatever kind of unlicensed crystal mesh lab the guy was running, flipping her phone off her wrist.

Under most circumstances she'd be off on a long walk to the nearest paperview map hub, but parting with some rocket food meant she got to splurge on a nicer disposable than usual. She sat with her legs sprawled across the scooter path and her ass getting soaked through her pants while she poked around and through the station service maps til she found what she wanted. Just the basic license filings, nothing but the business name and address.

"Like working any other job," she sighed, brushing her soaked hair over her ears and wiping away sweat. Dreary trudging her way through cross referencing and addresses on the tiny fucking screen, she half considered going a few floor back for a paperview after all, and was getting well into three quarters considering, four options trashed, when she got the hit she wanted.

Local to the hydroponics floor, zero reviews posted, but looked like it had been registered for a few years and wasn't closed. She dragged the address to her map screen and slapped her phone back on, standing, pulling her shirt off her chest and back in hopes to air out the sweat. Cut & Dry: Power, Wiring, and Botany.

● ● ● ● ●

She half considered grabbing a bike on the way down to Cut & Dry, but discarded the idea after a minute of thought. She didn't like her movements recorded, no that wasn't fair, she'd probably been tracked by thirty different CCTVs on this level alone. She didn't want to spend money on one, true. Also she didn't see anywhere to rent them.

The sign for Cut & Dry blinked in neon: Electronics. Botany. It went back and forth and she noticed on the way in the neon was bioluminous vines. Inside the shop was a veritable rainforest, with no sign of any floor or walls amidst the plants. Aside from what seemed to her far too much trickling water for a wiring and electrical engineering joint, it was remarkably quiet. Even the background station noise didn't make it through the plants. She looked a little closer at what she thought was a small tree only to discover a woven strand of branches and black wires. It seemed the whole little room was a dense illusion, life and electricity tied into one another.

A soft voice too close to her ear made her jump. "What do you think- OW!" She whipped her head around and saw a dryad piled up against one of the plants, rubbing his forehead.

Realizing her arm was still raised for another blow, she lowered it, and said, "Sorry. Most people can't sneak up on me."

The dryad, to his credit, only half flinched when she reached out to help him up. "Well," he said, "You were rather engrossed. Perhaps I should be proud." He touched his cheek and winced. "Oh, that's going to be a bruised spot."

"I'm really sorry. Um, can we start over? Hi, I need some electrical work done."

He flashed a brief smile, bright white teeth against faintly glistening brown skin. He seemed to favor mesh shirts and leather pants, which she supposed made sense for a minor plant deity. "I'm Sy," he said. "I'm your guy. I mean… it's like a, uh. It's a thing, I'm trying to make it a thing. Sy's Your Guy, at Cut & Dry. Right?" He waved one hand side to side.

"Sure, sounds catchy. Listen, you do house calls? Kinda in a rush here. Um, I mean that's great? Are you free though?"

Sy frowned. "You don't like it. Uh, free… that's kind of abstract for me, could you narrow it down?"

She briefly skipped past thinking she'd like to see his smile again. Down girl. "Okay well there's this guy, I think, I don't know. He likes camouflage and he grows crystals."

"Oh sure. That's Chris. It's Chris' Crystals."

"Are you fucking with me right now?"

His brows drew together in confusion. "No? Why?"

She suppressed thoughts about what was the point of traveling across earth space if people were the same everywhere. "Well, he's had an outage or something and I'm in a jam."

"Hmm, I'll need my plant." He tapped one finger against his lips, his fingernails were pale green.

She looked around the room. "Yeah. Uh huh. Well, anyway, I kinda need this like, today. Any chance you could hook up Chris Crystalferson up with some juice?"

His eyes went wide. "Juice, oh no, but I can get his power back up I think." He began collecting a series of cables and heavy clips and other tools she didn't recognize and couldn't figure out how they'd been hidden within the plants. As a final step, he held out an arm, and one of the larger plants, more of a baby tree, slithered across his back and arms, allowing him to rest a multitude of coiled wires and racks of fuses and breakers on their branches.

"Neat trick," she said. "I take it that's your, what your tree?"

"That's us!" He smiled again. She felt less annoyed. "No tricks involved! Let's go."

"I didn't… sure, let's go."

They headed back towards the crystal mesh lab. "How do you know Chris anyway?"

"Uh… through Speedy?"

"Who's that?"

She sighed internally.

● ● ● ● ●

"Amazing job, kiddo!" Chris clapped one heavily gloved hand onto Sy's shoulder. The whole interior was aglow with the crystal tanks and pressure / temperature readouts blinked in pale blue digital light along the walls, waiting for Chris to kick their jets on. He turned to the girl. "I don't know where you dug this guy up, but he's a miracle worker!"

"I come here like twice a month," Sy tried to say, but not loudly.

"Yeah the kid's great, so about the doohickey there?"

"The d-" Chris shook his head. "You're lucky you caught me in a good mood, here here," he snapped his fingers and she passed it over. Sy watched in rapt fascination while Chris opened the case again, and began hooking two of the diamonds into the wire nest, each wire finding a precise position on a diamond facet.

"Are those particle wave flash CPUs?"

"Mmm. A double-g stack, and these babies here are gonna interface the flash to system and back. Chain's gotta be perfect and then," he snapped the black case shut. "Well then you can figure the trajectory across damn near half the universe, or predict the weather on Venus or whatever!" He handed the box over. "Tell Speedy come by herself next time. No more favors."

"Tell her yourself, try picking up a phone."

"Phone! Hah! Good one. As if. Fuck off, work to do."

And off she fucked, with Sy following.

"What are you doing," she asked.

"I'm following you," he said, plainly.

"But," she said, "why are you doing it, Chris paid you, what's the deal?"

"I want to meet Speedy and see her gear."

She held up a finger trying to pluck from the sky a good way to curse him out, but his dark red irises were distracting. "I… Okay, but," she pointed for emphasis. "I'm not responsible if you get shot."

"Gosh, I sure hope not."

She reconsidered her options while they made their way up another level.

● ● ● ● ●

"Wow," Sy said, as they approached Speedy's place. "And you flew it here all by yourself?"

"It was better than crashing or getting blown up." His eyes were very large. "What?" She stopped at Speedy's door. "What?"

"You said it was damaged."

"I guess, its mouth works fine. What is that look for?"

"Just, it sounds like an interesting ship, lots of interesting work to do, lots to see."

"If I let you see the ship, can you promise not to talk the whole time we're inside?"

Sy clamped his mouth shut.

● ● ● ● ●

The pavilion of cafes and parts stores fuel vouchers was a little bit wider, the ceiling a little bit taller, just enough to almost feel airy after the cramped pathways and hydroponics level. She'd known in theory what stations were like, but it still gave her low level anxiety after a whole life below a sky. There was no sky here, and above the ceiling was plastic and metal and then space.

She was tired and her stomach gurgled again at the many different scents from the various fast food stalls and open air griddles briefly wafted her way before getting sucked away by the air filter.

"Okay," she said. "I'm fucking starving and for once I don't have to be. Uh. That one." She pointed at random and they wandered over to a three wheeled electric bike with a large set of hot plates on the back, watching an older man who reminded her of the more tenacious aged trees at home spreading batter across the surface then deftly flip it, all using some sort of L-shaped plastic stick.

She ordered based on scent with no idea what the pale, meaty chunks and tangy tart smelling slivers were made of, some of the red-black local greens in there and he wrapped the whole thing into a cone before drizzling three different sauces over the top. Sy got his own mix and she flicked some cash over from her phone.

It was hot and tasted something like a sky or an ocean, half sweet half stringy. The crunch was both bitter and tangy, and then the spice hit, watering her eyes. She fanned her mouth with one hand, devouring the whole contraption in orgiastic delight. "Food is so good," she said through a full mouth, and Sy nodded, wiping sauce from his chin.

Not far from the pavillion, they came to her dock. "Okay," she said again, Sy nodding. "I gotta sort my business out, but you can poke around. Don't touch anything. Unless the ship says so. But it probably won't, I don't think it likes earthlings much."

"Right, no touching. Actually a pretty good rule for civs electrical safety." He was grinning, and her cheeks were a little warm.

"Yeah. Well, this… you'll see." The airlock cycled open and they passed through, the ship's door splitting and retracting on the other side for their entry.

"Oh great," it said. "Now there's two of you."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

"I believe that you have something close to the most basic, rudimentary grasp of my docking procedure. We may now make an approach to the station to aquire carbon latices."

"Cool, cool cool. So, you got any cash?"

"I beg your pardon."

"Credit, cash, moolah, bread, dough, do you have any kind of money? Or I don't know super secret hacker tricks to steal bank accounts?"

"You have misunderstood with predictable rapidity. I had hoped you would take the opportunity to express your sincere contrition for asking a question you surely must already know the answer to."

"Okay, well, my point is I'm probably not picking up a four course diamond dinner for you through legitimate routes, and it's just me also. Do ya see what I'm getting at?"

"You have painted a vivid portrait of absolute nonsense?"

"What?"

"No, what are you 'getting at?'"

"That probably we're going to leave in a hurry, because I don't think I can set up a clean game by myself. So it's gonna be like a quick and dirty grab, lunch to go."

"You believe that the acquisition process will incur pursuit, and necessitate urgent departure and immediate structure vectors."

"I wouldn't have said it like that-"

"Agreed."

"-but can you set that up? We'll want to kick out as soon as we can after I hit the airlock."

"Feasible. I will require the remaining latices as well."

"You'll get most of them, but I need to grab some gear and these are all we got. At least for now."

"Feasible. I will be able to remain in standby for structure entanglement for a short period after we dock, approximate one thousand years by your measure."

"I cannot tell if you're joking, I swear on Luna's breath."

"You should have adequate time to obtain the additional resources, so long the remaining latices are provided to me as priority."

"You'll get your treats, don't worry."

"I understand this may be one of the jokes you often reference. May I suggest you do not make these your primary occupation?"

"Duly noted. Okay, I'll get you gassed up. I hope I don't have to run down a bunch of favors just to find a good lead on diamonds."

● ● ● ● ●

She folded the maglev line schedule over itself again, watching for the arrival lights inside the partial cover of the kiosk. She'd polished off some kind of vegetarian pastry and a burger with a side of wings and her stomach felt strained. Walking around the station had been a good way to pick up what kind of clothes didn't stand out and she was wearing the cheapest version of them she could find, a red shirt with some doughnut shaped cartoon characters on it, which she saw a bunch of kids wearing, and blue shorts with white stripes on the legs. Left her boots back at the ship and was wearing some kind of extra-janky plastic sandals she'd seen around, plus a zippered little bag around her waist which she kind of liked. A fashion plate of generic anonymity, that was the goal.

According to the deep spacer, this was a high probability site of lowered caution and raised vulnerability, expected to see passage of diamonds in transit. It hadn't looked that difficult to her, watching his fingers play along his tablet finding something like the volume she was looking for and a good spot she could hit the transport. There was a little chime and the display promised a line arrival in five minutes. She folded the schedule into the waistband of her shorts and shuffled around like all the other commuters, letting their jostles push her near to the rail exit. The escalator lowered from the maglev linecars and passengers started exiting the down the line, people moving around her while the boarding escalator came down a bit further up the line. She vibed her way down stream, again letting the various tourists trying to get on board spin her this way and that, passing around them, rolling and twisting to make herself as invisible as possible to their tunnel vision.

She could have spotted her target miles away. The bulky, unfashionable gray suit barely concealing whatever body armor and heat the guy was packing. Fuzzy edged face holographs, probably armored there too. Good odds it was optimized to disperse piercing attempts and heat, maybe light impact protection. Some secure carriers used automatons, but these guys didnt move loke that. Couldn't conceal the case which was encouragingly large. Two other guys front and back flanked him on the way out. Overall, perfect for anyone avoiding real attention from the general public, abysmal concealment from someone who knew what to look for. Someone who was about to generate a rather large amount of attention.

She took a deep breath.

Pointing up the line, she shouted in her highest pitched voice, "Oh my gods what's that girl doing?!" and dove down the line, ducking into the crowd. Superheated air blasted from her body, her clothes burst into tatters, and she shifted hard. A howling monstrosity of teeth and claws with fur thick enough to stop a knife burst from the fertile concealed mass of humanity and leapt twelve meters off the ground, landing on the escalator next to the men in gray.

One got off a shot, something big and explosive put a hole through her shoulder, which started closing up before the exit wound blew out. She bit down on his arm, brought her teeth together, didn't sever anything but felt bones break and he screamed through a vocal distorter. He'd live but wasn't going to bother her. The second man was slower. She grabbed the gun he was trying to get out, along with the hand it was in, and pulled.

He sailed past her, to somewhere that wasn't her problem. Two down. The guy with the case was ggetting crushed against then side of the escalator in the ensuing panic all around them both. She tried to jerk the case out of his hand but it came up short. Handcuffed on. She snarled, ropes of drool falling out of her maw. "We're going for a ride," she informed him, wrapped both clawed hands around the case, and backflipped off the escalator.

Landed, case and carrier in tow, though to her eye he'd broken one or two limbs. Another gunshot, just winged the edge of her ribs. She grabbed arm and case, snapped the cuff links and probably broke his wrist, then threw his body towards the gray man who was trying to aim around commuters trying to avoid being shot. They embraced as lovers, she left them to privacy and grabbed the case in her mouth, bounding for the ship.

She'd learned a lot wandering around the station that day, had an unerring sense of direction, and a pretty good idea which obstacles were breakable. She plowed through the glass walls of a department store in a direct route to the pavilion, jumped past two food carts, and snagged a giant chunk of sweet smelling meat rotating on a spike while the manager yelled at her, kicked her way through an info screen, tumbled down the narrow maintenance corridor, and bashed her way out through a vent across from her dock.

Technically she was far from the screams of the line stop, but she just was the kind of slavering werewolf creature that got a fresh round wherever she went. Blame the media. She shoved case and meat under one arm and, in another burst of heat, ripped the docking bay door off its hingers.

The ship already had its airlock open and she dove through. "It's me," she shouted, tearing out chunks of the meat and swallowing them whole.

"The bridge has been relocated, please go through the door at the end of this corridor." She leapt the whole way, rolling to her feet in the now somewhat familiar room.

"I am receiving multiple general notifications that all ships are to remain docked, and several more direct notifications that my power output should be lowered significantly. They have indicated they might engage in pursuit of any vehicles leaving the station."

Sy came strolling into the bridge, looking around curiously as she grabbed the control nerves. "Hey, this ship is amazing- What's all the ruckus?"

"What are you still doing here?" Her eyes bugged out for half a second. "You weren't- Never mind! Future me problem!" She threw herself into the Pilot net and focused on the vectors from the ship "Can you outrun em" Tossed the meat.

Sy said, "Hi, Outrun who?" Future problem, future problem.

"I assume this is another one of your jokes."

"Not you! Ship! I mean, whats it- fuck it, can we go?!"

"Your vectors are ready. We can proceed from this position."

"We're about to ruin so many days. Let's hit it." She hit it.

Interlude:

"That was incredible," she said. "What a rush. What did we do? Where are we?"

"We undertook multiple structure alignments including a brief dual entanglement in order to produce several distinct paths of travel and reduce probability of further pursuit. We are currently within the Mindanao system. This appeared to be an optimal site for conducting analysis of our resources."

Sy unwrapped his hand and several branches from one of the curved bars running between the floor and ceiling of the bridge. "Hey, I have a question too, what just happened?"

Letting go of the vines, the werewolf girl sunk to the floor and started tearing more chunks of meat off the roasting spit she stole on the way out. "Well," she said, spilling out masticated chunks and slurping them back up with her tongue. "Well, we, that is to say me. That is, I have stolen an amount of system quality diamonds. We'll know how much when I crack that box open. A lot I hope." She swallowed. "And you, are supposed to be not here, you said you'd head out after you finished. Maybe we can get you on like... a shuttle or something."

He nodded with an easy smile. "Well yeah. That's why I was moving all my stuff in. I wish I had a chance to get the day lilies, they won't make it on the station. And it doesn't sound like going back is easy."

"In my defense, I was in a hurry and I, uh... Your stuff?" She swallowed. She could feel herself blushing under her fur and self consciously tried to clean a bit of the mess off her muzzle and chest. "What is... you mean... how stuff?"

He sighed and leaned against the bar. "Oh yeah, it's gonna take me awhile before I'm finished here. This ship is pretty great but the wiring is a mess. Shame about those lilies though, but I guess all life is but fleeting chaos and material possessions are merely temporary." He rocked a little on his hips.

"I do not have rats, and your use of the term wiring continues to demonstrate the lack of development in advanced engineering I am somehow continuously surprised by in your civilization. However, you demonstrate a commendable willingness to discard the soulless and crude material through which your civilization attempts to interact with the structured universe."

"Oh yeah, very zen, very cool. Still messy. What are you anyway?"

The werewolf girl looked regretfully at the bare skewer and ate the last few flecks of meat. "Good point, we ought to have something to call you."

"In your language," it said, "my function and name translates to Remover Of Interference To The Progress Of Greater Organized Civilization And Implementation Of Systemic Agency Cooperation Between Unified Structural Manifestations Originating From Star Zero."

"Dude, I have no idea what that means."

"I am not a dude, according to my records, it is unclear what this is. There are multiple, contradictory entries."

"Just like, what is all that? Are you just using long words to sound smart?"

"I am smart." The voice became softer. "In the better times, I would take Pilot to the worlds of disorganized civilizations, and we would implement order for them. We found many worlds suffering under lack of unification, and we implemented many civilizations."

She dropped her hands to her sides. "How did… you do that?"

"Optimally, perhaps again some day, I am readily capable of a gravity distortion effect removing an area approximately 40 million square kilometers from the surface of most planets or other objects of solid matter within my 500,000 kilometer range of effect. In many such cases, Implementation and Agency Cooperation only required three uses of this capability."

The werewolf girl felt the blood drain out of her face. "I… I'm sitting in the most illegal weapon in the universe."

Sy just laughed hysterically. "Yeah, okay Genghis Khan. Hah. That's what we should call you. Genghis Khan." He turned to the werewolf girl. "So what's your name, Julius Caesar?"

□ □ □ □ □

The seats in Maryam's ship were made of material designed to conform to whoever was sitting in the cramped cockpit. Serah couldn't find a comfortable position no matter how she shifted her legs, and was thinking about ignoring the deeply threatening order she'd been given to stay where she was, when she heard footsteps along the narrow catwalk and the door behind her opened.

Maryam slid by and settled into the pilot seat in front of Serah. She thought about asking the interdiction agent why she was even here again, but didn't think there'd be any better of an answer. "You're the only person who ever recorded this ship, you're as close as I have to an expert," was the explanation. Serah didn't think an extra minute of experience should count, but she was outranked by several orders of magnitude.

A folder of plastic sheets dropped into her lap. "Here," Maryam said. "They've been here. Made a real mess of things, but got on the cameras enough. The girl has a file, look it over. I'm calling in to track their system path."

"What am I gonna-" Serah fell back into her seat. Maryam was ignoring her, typing into the slim screen on her armrest. "Ugh." Serah flipped open the folder, finding a picture of some sullen guy- no, girl, with a wild mass of hair, who probably had her nose broken at least once. She looked at the name, typed in a capital letters: "Laika Blackwood"

END OF PART 1

#gkw #long post #werewolf #new weird #bizzaro

123 notes · View notes

darkestcorners · 2 years

Text

darknets | 03 yandere!jungkook au

pairing: yandere!jungkook x reader (f)

genre: yandere

warnings: 18+, obsessive & unhealthy behavior, spying, non-consensual videotaping, tormenting, graphic violence,( TW; human trafficking, heavy themes, non-con touching/groping, mentions of physical abuse )

word count: 14.5k

Playlist

A/N; i just want to make it clear, im no expert in criminology so forgive me if there’s inaccuracies, I tried to do my best with research but it’s purely fiction!

summary: You should’ve known better than to chat with strangers online…

Parts: 01 / 02 / 03

The paper cup was held tightly in his hand. He had dropped a tea bag inside , Chamomile. It usually helped with nerves. He watched the girl through the glass, she didn’t look particularly nervous but she did look distraught. The dark eye bags gave away the limited sleep she must have endured, her oversized hoodie making her look smaller than she really was. The added bad posture wasn’t helping either. Her shoulders were slumped, her arms resting on the table in front of her as she stared down at her hands.

Detective Namjoon sighed, opening the door which immediately caused her to turn her head over to him. He gave her a reassuring smile, passing her the cup as he seated himself across from her. His long limbs sat a bit awkwardly on the small chair but he squared his shoulders nonetheless.

“I understand you said she had been acting a little strange for the past few days.” He stated, maintaining a steady gaze on the girl.

“Did she have any mental health issues that you know of? Was she struggling with depression, anxiety or anything of the sort?”

Mina swallowed, bringing her eyebrows together in feigned concernment.

“No, not that I know of.” She explained, letting out another shaky breath. “ It’s just, she was acting really paranoid like, just off, you know?”

Namjoon listened, nodding slowly as another question sat on his tongue.

“Was she scared of someone perhaps? An ex-boyfriend, someone she was romantically involved with?”

“No, I mean the last boyfriend she had was over a year ago and he transferred to another college months ago.” Mina shook her head, then hesitated a bit. “But-“

The detective raised an eyebrow in question, eyes darting around her face as he silently urged her to continue.

“But..?” He added quietly, the girl seemed to be unsure of herself which wasn’t always a good sign. The behavior usually signaled she was holding back, knew a bit more than she was willing to confidently say or was afraid of saying it.

“She had a crush, a guy in our college.” She replied, frowning slightly. “ Jaehyun. I don’t why I brought it up, it’s just a stupid crush.”

Namjoon tilted his head, wondering if the girl really had just brought him up at the sudden topic of her friend’s romantic life or because she suspected him somehow.

It seemed to be an over-analysis on his part but he knew not much was out of the question when it came to missing person cases.

This could be nothing or it could be a lead.

“Did they ever hook up? Form a deeper relationship? Any red flags that you noticed?”

“I don’t think so.” Mina shrugged, looking conflicted as she seemed to try and recall the details. Her eyes were still bloodshot and dried tears stained her cheeks. It made for a pitiful scene, the scene of a girl who looked like she was imagining the worst case scenario regarding her missing best friend.

“I just want you to understand how important it is that you tell me everything.” Namjoon emphasized, leaning forward in the chair, causing it to squeak against the floor.

“You are the last person she contacted, I’m sure you know how pivotal that is.” He brought his hands together, tone light but persuasive. “ You are her closest friend, you may know things she may never have even told her parents.”

Mina bit her lip, her eyes becoming glossy again as tears threatened to spill. It was fortunate she was such an easy crier, her cousin had mentioned time and time again how much of a wonderful actress she was but she hated when Jungkook said that.

It made it seem like there was truly nothing beating inside her, like every action was calculated and void of any real emotion. But it wasn’t like that, she wasn’t like Junglook who never let emotions get in the way of the business. A part of her did ache for her friend, ached with guilt of what she had done to her. Ached even more for the uncertain future that faced her and what Jungkook planned on doing to her.

Her cousin was never the gentle or the understanding type. Jungkook had always been ill-tempered , even when they were children. She remembered how much he loved teasing her, borderline bullying her at times. A particular instance was when she was playing with her dolls, combing their hair and pampering them. Jungkook had come up beside her seemingly just being nosey until he had snatched up the dolls and ran outside with them. Mina remembered chasing him around the small rundown apartment building , yelling at him to give them back but he never did.

The next morning when she went outside, she had found them all tied up on a tree branch, their bodies hanging upside down without their heads.

When she had cried to Jungkook about it, he simply told her to get over it and that she should never get attached to useless things. He was cynical even at such a young age and she wondered if the incident had somehow been foreshadowing of what the future would hold for him. For both of them.

But then she also remembered how much Jungkook taught her how to defend herself, to stand up to anyone who would try to walk over her. He had always defended her, no matter how mean he was most of the time. She didn’t see him that often as kids, maybe if she had, he would have grown to be more sympathetic or not nearly as rough. But Jungkook was in and out of foster homes like she was, they unfortunately were always separated since they weren’t siblings , only cousins. It caused them to only be able to occasionally visit each other until their grandparents had finally taken full custody of them both when they entered high school.

She supposed this life was unavoidable considering their less than fortunate backgrounds, a life filled with deceit, dirty money and betrayal.

“I know,” Mina told the detective, letting the tears fall. “I promise I’ll tell you anything I can, just please find her.”

She sniffed, raising her head and winced instantly. The blow to her head you had inflicted on her when attempting to escape was brutal, she had bled a significant amount but the medical staff insisted she wouldn’t need stitches. The pain still weighed heavy on her head, she had taken aspirin twice already on the long drive back into town but it was as if she hadn’t taken any at all.

Her head was bound to feel awful for at least a couple more days.

She would admit she wasn’t the least bit surprised by the strength you had mustered up to throw her against that wall. She knew you always had a fight in you, you were not weak or easily afraid.

And that’s exactly why she feared for you in Jungkook’s hands.

“You okay?” Namjoon asked, observing her closely.

“Yeah,” Mina assured, adapting a higher pitch tone. “ My head is just killing me, I haven’t slept that good with everything…going on.”

“I understand.” He leaned back, nodding to himself as weighed over his options.

He didn’t want to break it to the girl at the moment but unfortunately, the case was having trouble being a top priority considering the missing person was of age. People tended to leave or travel somewhere without saying a word, that was just a fact. While he himself wasn’t convinced that was the case, as he found it rare for a young college girl to seemingly disappear with a fatally ill father and limited money in her bank account, he knew it could easily be looked over by his team.

They had tracked her card activity and it had not been used once which would usually incline she most likely was not on a simple trip or fleeing.

But it wasn’t enough to completely rule out the possibility , there were cases where people didn’t use their cards in fear of being tracked down by family members. However, her phone was also non-traceable which raised a bit more concern.

“You’ll find her right?” Mina pressed, a practiced and carefully constructed look of pure agony flashing through her features.

“You can’t let her become one of the many missing girls that never get found or worse, it’s always too late and they end up…” The girl’s voice wavered as she took a breath. “ dead.”

The detective looked away at the sight of her never ending tears, his face pinching in frustration.

“I promise I’ll try my best for that to not be the case.” A look of determination crossed his eyes, his tone stern. “ Why don’t you go get some rest? I’ll let you know if there’s any updates or if I need more information.”

Mina gave him a slow nod, shakily taking the cup from the table at last and bringing it to her chapped lips.

Namjoon lifted himself off the chair and made his way out the interrogation room. The door clicked shut behind him as he walked forward and stood in front of the glass, looking through the case file and the new notes he had gathered up.

“Anything?” His colleague asked him, the shorter and significantly grumpier detective came to stand next to him with a questioning glance. His black hair was brushed back, revealing his handsome pale face that held a somber expression.

“Not much Yoongi, the friend basically told me the same thing her parents did. The girl doesn’t suffer from any mental disorders, she had a pretty normal life, decent friends and no seeming reason to flee town.” Namjoon explained.

Yoongi nodded, taking a look through the glass and examining the girl.

“She did mention she was acting pretty off a few days before though, paranoid it seems.” Namjoon adds with a frown.

Yoongi’s gaze slowly leaves the girl to land back on his partner, he seems to process the information before he voices his thoughts.

“You mentioned her father is terminally ill and the family isn’t in the best financial situation, could she have possibly run off to find some money? Shady business?” The detective offered.

“Possibly but why wouldn’t she at least tell her friends? Unless she was doing something very illegal.” Namjoon thought it out, suddenly considering the idea more before another thought crossed his mind.

“There’s another thing, it’s probably nothing but the friend mentioned some crush, a guy named Jaehyun. She seemed a little weird about him.”

Yoongi’s eyebrows knitted together at the information and it was clear both detectives were thinking the same thing.

“A crush? Nothing more?”

“The friend denied it but she looked unsure of her answer, like she really didn’t know the full length of the relationship possibly.” Namjoon replied, eyes glued on the file in his hand.

Yoongi’s face didn’t give away much, it never really did. He had a perfected poker face and it was something that always slightly bothered the other detective for it was difficult to truly see what he was feeling or going through his head.

Suddenly, the file folder was ripped out of Namjoon's hands and he sent a glare to his colleague.

“You’re right, it could be nothing or it could be a college hook up gone terribly wrong.”

Namjoon never appreciated how drastically his partner jumped to conclusions, he supposed it was part of any detective's job to consider every possibility , no matter how unlikely it seemed but it seemed like the shorter detective always had an extreme way of working with cases with little evidence to go by.

“Looks like we need to have a talk with this Jaehyun guy.” Yoongi waved the folder in his hand before stalking away, leaving Namjoon completely flabbergasted.

As always.

—

Your skin felt sticky with sweat, you awoke with a loud gasp, inhaling the air sharply as your body sprung up. Expecting to feel the hard cushion beneath you and the familiar brick walls, you were alarmed when you realized there was no hard surface beneath you. You lay in a wide bed, soft with silk sheets and pillows that felt like mountains of clouds.

The room was large. Well, larger than the one you previously had been stuck in. Your eyes traveled to the vanity on the side, bright round bulbs lined up the mirror and all types of makeup, accessories and perfumes sat on it.

If you were being honest, part of you expected to not wake up at all, convinced that Jungkook had ultimately decided to bury a bullet inside your head after the events that took place.

It was all you had dreamed about.

The trigger going off, the image of Do-yeon’s figure just plopping onto the ground with a pool of blood to greet your knees. Whether her eyes would have fallen shut or chillingly remained opened with a soulless stare to swallow you up.

You couldn’t believe you had been willing to do that.

You couldn't believe you had almost done that if the gun had actually been loaded.

It didn’t let you rest. Do-yeon was alive, at least that’s what you thought. There was no reason for you to dwell on what could’ve been but you couldn’t help but feel like you deserved every bad thing happening to you for so willingly being ready to take someone’s life to save yourself.

“Bad dreams?” The voice was unexpected, it brought you out of your half conscious state immediately and you turned your neck to explore the layout of the room.

It was a loft-style bedroom, with a staircase to your right and at the bottom floor was evenly furnished, expensively furnished. It was wide and spacious, decorated with pretty ornaments and a neutral gray color scheme. Somehow, that made your stomach flip, such a seemingly normal room hidden within this type of foul environment was nauseating.

Your captor sat at the bottom on a sofa, legs spread out as he looked up at you.

It was then you also realized that your wrists weren’t being tugged, they didn’t burn or ache and your eyes slowly fell on them as you brought them up to your face.

You weren’t tied up.

“ Surprised?“ Jungkook spoke as he watched you with a lazy smirk.

“You shouldn’t be, ropes serve no purpose other than for punishment.” He added as he stood up with a sigh, sending you another more knowing look. “ Or maybe you like being tied up …in other ways.”

You eye him, ignoring his crude comment and frowning as you take in your surroundings one more time. That’s when it hit you to look down at yourself, your eyes slowly landing on your legs and noticing the ripped tights were no longer on your thighs.

Chin dipping, you let out a hiss at the sight of the new clothing on your body. Gray sweatpants with a matching tank top.

“You undressed me!?” You shout, feeling a shiver run through your body at the thought of him undressing you.

“Relax, I promise I didn’t peek.” His deep voice travels easily to you. You don’t miss the light and taunting tone he used. “Well, maybe a little.”

“You sick bastard, you touched-“

“I didn’t do anything but dress you, calm the hell down.” The sternness of his statement makes you shut your mouth, you nearly have to quite literally bite your tongue in order not to continue lashing out at him. Could you even trust what he told you? You supposed it didn’t even matter anymore, your body didn’t belong to you anymore in a place like this.

“Where am I?” You demand. “ Why am I here?”

“Did you forget already?“ He asks with fake amusement, walking near the staircase and leaning against it. “ You’re my new golden girl, princess.”

Your heart sank at his words, remembering what he had told you after you had pulled the trigger.

“And with that comes your new privileges, starting with your new room.” He looks around, and you notice a long slit on his pierced eyebrow, the dried blood clear.

But that’s only the less severe of his injuries, as your eyes study him more you notice more dried blood on the side of his neck. You squint, seeing an earring missing from his left ear, the cross earring you so very much hated. You couldn’t make out the wound in detail from where you sat but you still found yourself wincing at the sight of it .

That had to hurt, you thought to yourself.

“Don’t you like it?” He turns back to you, his upper lift lifting to reveal his upper teeth in a patronizing smile. “ I think it’s rather fitting for such a spoiled little princess .”

His last words came out in a sneer, a dark glare forming in his gaze that revealed the simmering anger that he had yet to cool down from. He was clearly still upset with your attempted escape, and that brought you a bit of joy, seeing him upset in any way was rewarding to you.

“Why are you doing this? After trying to escape, why give me this luxury?” You spit at him, it was as if the events that occurred the night before had never happened in the first place. No matter how much he threatened you, you wouldn’t become a puppet to him.

“And where is Do-yeon?” You add, your eyes lingering on the nasty cut on his eyebrow and on the reddish tint that covered his face. His hair was out of place too, messily swept to one side.

Jungkook licked his lips, tilting his head to the side.

“Don’t tell me you’re concerned for the girl you nearly blew the brains out of?” He taunted with a sinister tone, he sounded amused as if he truly found the situation entertaining.

“Don’t worry, princess. She’s none of your concern. In fact, I bet she would be very thankful for you right now.” He raised both his eyebrows with a practiced look of genuine concern that made his doe eyes seem boyish for a second.

“Because of you, I have no use for her anymore so I handed her off to my buddies.” He explained, voice lowering. “ They must be taking great care of her, they’ve always loved sharing my leftovers.”

Your mouth curls in disgust, your skin crawling at the thought of Do-yeon being stuck with more men like him and being made to do god knows what.

Then Mina’s words entered your mind.

“My cousin may be cruel but there’s others here much worse than him.”

“Although, they are into some rather odd stuff.” Jungkook continued with his torment. “And they hate disobedience, much like me.”

He took a step forward, slowly starting to climb the staircase.

“But unlike me,” He kept his dark eyes on you. “They aren’t as kind to the girls, not very big on the ‘no hitting women’ policy.”

When he made it to the top of the steps, he paused, eyes traveling to your worn out appearance and the way you stiffened immediately.

“And you are?” You threw back at him, finding it hard to believe he was excluded from the terrible acts they did to the girls here.

His eyes narrowed , taking heavy steps towards the bed.

“You tell me. If I was a worse man, you’d be in a body bag right now after that little stunt you pulled.” He bit out, keeping his intense gaze on you. “ Maybe I’d even ship the body bag back to your parents, right on their doorstep.”

The blood drained from your face, hating how much his words struck you. You immediately imagined your parent’s faces, their broken expressions upon seeing your corpse. Your little brother’s face.

“Or,” He thought for a moment, now looking down at your figure. “ You could be a good little broken doll, you know how many sick fucks would pay to see you just limp and unconscious while men did unspeakable things to you?”

You sucked in a breath, somehow despising that scenario even more.

Jungkook watched your reaction, an unreadable look on his face despite the clear sinister words he had uttered out his mouth.

“So yes, I do think I’m rather kind.” He finished, lips twitching when he noticed your frozen stance.

“Why me?” You blurt out and watch his expression change instantly, not seeming to expect the sudden question.

“Why choose me over Do-yeon? Over your golden girl? Huh?” It didn’t make any sense to you, why would he trade you, a complete stranger who he had just kidnapped over a girl who was seemingly his favorite for a while, someone so striking and willing to please him.

Why me? The nausea hadn’t gone away, it only got worse with how much the question ran through your head. You tried to figure out the reason for his sudden interest in you, did he simply take joy in terrorizing you?

Jungkook was silent for a long moment, you thought he wasn’t going to answer your question at all but then he placed his hands on the mattress, leaning forward as you sat there, refusing to back up despite the sheer terror that ran through you.

“I always like to break my new toys before handing them off to the others.” He told you. His face was so close that your noses nearly touched.

“Ruin them for others.” He lifted a piece of your hair, tugging it surprisingly hard that you nearly let out a yelp.

You glared at him.

“Make them remember how much they are going to miss me when I let them go,” He hissed. “How much they are going to beg to return to me even when they claimed to hate me so much.”

You were sure you’d rather put a bullet through your own head before ever begging him.

As if he could read your thoughts, he let go of your hair before gripping the side of your face, bringing you closer and you nearly fell right onto him with the sudden pull he gave you.

“We are going to have a fun time together, don’t you think?”

Before you could respond to him, his lips met yours in a harsh kiss. Your face scrunched up instantly and you attempted to pull away from it but Jungkook’s hands gripped the back of your neck, further pushing you onto his mouth . Half his body was on you as your hands attempted to pull his weight off, your hands throwing pathetic punches towards his shoulders.

When he finally let go, you gasped for air immediately but not before you went to lunge at him.

He caught your arms with ease, pushing you back against the mattress and away from him, dodging your attempts to hit him.

“If you can’t even handle a little kiss from me then I do worry how you are meant to manage.” He chuckled, taking long strides back towards the staircase and you practically sneered at him. You pushed hair out of your face, the force of his push had sent you completely flying face-down on the bed.

You wiped your swollen lips with the back of your hand, hating how much he thought he had a right to you.

“Fucking asshole.” You hiss, clenching your jaw as you see him already reach the bottom of the stairs and make his exit out the room.

Your glare is set on him as he opens the metal door, clearly locked with a passcode that you will never know the code of. He lifts his gaze up to you, meeting your eyes as an amused expression still sits on his face.

“Careful, I’m really starting to like that attitude.”

Your face instantly falls and his lips quirk up at the sight, sending you one last look before the sound of the door echoed shut throughout your cage.

—

The hot shower steamed up the glass on the sliding doors, the mist quickly filled the bathroom and suffocated it. Jungkook lifted his head up, letting the water run down his face as he ran a hand through his hair. He couldn’t stand the stench of iron on his shirt anymore, soaked with his Do-yeon’s blood from pathetic attempts that only sealed her fate further.

Not only that, his shirt had also been stained with the blood of his cousin from the hard hit to her head.

He felt for Mina, he really did but she was incredibly stupid for letting her guard down. If Jungkook had taught her anything, it was that you never turn your back on your enemy, that included the hostage. His cousin knew better, he knew Mina had been trained well enough so he knew that her moment of weakness was due to her close relationship with you.

He had to remind himself to make it clear to her that she couldn’t let that happen again.

He shut off the shower, sliding open the door and stepping out. Wrapping a towel around his waist loosely , he ran his palm across the mirror and took a look at his scratched up face. The cut on his eyebrow was still visible but less so now that the dried blood has washed off. Nonetheless, it looked like it would leave an ugly scar, a long open slit through the eyebrow was already forming.

Do-yeon had been a pain in the ass to get rid of, it’s as if the girl had already known the fate that awaited her with Jimin and Taehyung because she had resisted with every last bit of her strength.

She had twisted in his grip, flailing her arms around like a mad woman and begged him to not do it. In her frantic actions, she had gripped his hair and when he went to remove her hand, her perfectly manicured long nails had dragged along his face, nearly ripping his piercing out completely with the amount of desperation she had fought with. She didn’t stop there though. When he had pulled her off him, she lunged back into him with greater force, ripping the earring off his ear, causing blood to gush out immediately.

But alas, she couldn’t escape it. Jungkook had grown angrier by the minute and practically threw her out the luxurious room that was once her safe space and into the hands of the duo with the worst reputation in the building.

If Jungkook had even half the heart, he would have thought twice about sentencing her to such a cruel fate that would end in non-stop suffering. He knew of their ways, he had not been lying to you when he said that some men here didn’t have any morals left.

Why would they when they were already committing one of the most heinous of acts?

But Jungkook didn’t even have a quarter of a heart when it came to Do-yeon anymore. Whatever little sympathy or care he may have once for her had completely vanished the moment he saw her on that fence, ready to make a run for it. His rules were always simple, don’t bite the hands that feed you.

And he wasn’t the forgiving type.

However, something deeper brewed underneath him. The imagine of you was ingrained in his mind, it had been the moment he saw you though that webcam you had dumbly not covered. Your face was pretty, very pretty but it wasn’t anything out of this world and he knew that. With the type of business he was in, he had seen dozens and dozens of pretty faces over the years, some that could give models a run for their money.

But he thought you would make a good addition, you were cute and had a normal enough appearance. Some viewers liked the less luxurious look, some favored a more subtle appearance that didn’t stand out much for whatever reason. That had been his excuse, that you would be good business and a new fun thing to play with.

It wasn’t completely true though. Jungkook’s liking towards you was stubborn, more stubborn than the average want to just try out another new pretty face. He couldn’t understand what was so different about you because there wasn’t anything different about you.

Yet you had struck a nerve with him, the determination you had and how quickly you had moved into action. Most girls were too afraid to anger anyone here when they first came, too in shock to even react to the circumstances but your fear was no match for your anger. Even a moment ago, he could tell how scared you were but you were too prideful to show it, putting on a brave face in front of him as if he couldn’t see past it.

You reminded him of himself in a way.

Putting up a tough act and steel font to protect yourself.

Except his wasn’t an act or a font. He wanted to show you he could easily break down those steel walls of yours. You were no match for him.

So why did you make him so angry? You infuriated him. Ever since he found you, he couldn’t get you out of his head. Nothing seemed to distract him enough, he had a tendency to get obsessed with the chase, the stalking and tracking down of new girls for the business.

But once he caught them and brought them here, he never bothered much with them after that.

Not with you though.

His fascination should have been dying down by now but why did only seem to be growing? He didn’t like the feeling inside him. It was intoxicating, he felt so feverish when he had watched you sleep earlier.

When he was taking off your clothes earlier to change you, he hadn’t been lying to you when he said he hadn’t done anything else. He was tempted to, so tempted but his eyes took you in your face instead. The way small puffs of air left your plump lips. His attention was purely on the way your face scrunched up every so often, as if you were experiencing the worst nightmare. Which you were, he supposed. His fingers had trailed your collarbone, relishing in the softness of your skin. It had reminded him of when he had sneaked into your room all those weeks ago, how he’d taken pictures of your exposed neck. It was his favorite part of your body for some reason, perhaps he simply loved to imagine his fingers around your neck, tightening until you begged him to stop with choked breaths. Once he had finished dressing you, he had called for a medic to check on you just to be sure you didn’t have any further injuries and to confirm that your state of unconscious had only been because of how worn out you had been.

He didn’t like the discomfort and skittishness he felt seeing you so lifeless, it was the first time you had looked so at peace since you had got here . But somehow he preferred you with that fire and hatred in your eyes.

You weren’t supposed to still be inside his head.

You weren’t supposed to be making him feel this way.

He was supposed to shoot you the moment he saw you fall from that fence, getting ready to sprint. He should’ve shot you but he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. This problem would have been easily solved if you were simply just another corpse to get rid of.

A loud knock on his door brought him back to reality, away from his haunting thoughts.

“Come in.” He replied loudly as he slipped out of the bathroom.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” The man announced as stepped inside and took a glance at the younger boy’s naked chest that was covered with ink on nearly every inch. Jin himself was dressed in his usual attire that nearly everyone there wore like a uniform. All black .

“Shut the hell up.” Jungkook grumbled walking past him to grab the clothes off the chair that sat at the corner.

“What’s up with your shit mood, thought you got that little new girl back. “ Jin shut the door with the heel of his boot, the sound echoing throughout the wide and long corridors on the other side.

“I did.” Jungkook clipped. “So I don’t want to hear shit from you about how I nearly risked the entire business for some random girl.”

Jin was quiet as he stood by the door. By the sound of his tone, he didn’t probe the younger boy any further. Jungkook would admit he was quite foul when he wasn’t in a good mood. Which was nearly always.

“I know what I’m doing, I always know what I’m doing.” Jungkook sent a harsh glare towards Jin, making it clear.

The older man sent him a hard look in return, not looking exactly convinced by the words or by his attitude.

“And what about your golden girl? I heard she made quite a scene as well.” Jin asked casually, amusement in his tone as he leaned against the wall behind him. Jungkook knew that Jin really couldn’t care less about Do-yeon but he was aware of how long Jungkook had kept her around and he wasn’t a fan of it at all. He remembered all the subtle and not so subtle warnings Jin had thrown at him, urging him to cut ties before things got ugly.

“Do-yeon’s not my problem anymore and much less my golden girl.” Jungkook scoffed, a humorless smile hinting at his lips as rage filled him.

“She could end up in a ditch after Jimin and Taehyung are done with her for all I care.”

Jin hummed in agreement, seemingly glad to hear the detachment in his voice. Jin had made it clear that he thought the girl would end up being trouble, she had gotten too comfortable over the years, sometimes acting like she was above some of the other guys in charge here. Jin thought it was dangerous, he was starting to think Jungkook had indeed formed an attachment to Do-yeon that was more than just physical.

It was stupid of him to think that, Jungkook thought.

He knew his limits and while Do-yeon was gorgeous, that was all she was to him. She had been good to him, really good for years but there was nothing to get attached to.

She was a girl like any other, nothing more and nothing less.

It was better to keep things distant, professional and strictly business when it came to the girls here. They couldn’t be given any glimmer of hope.

“So is the new girl your golden girl now?” Jin teased, crossing his arms as he watched Jungkook finish dressing. Jin never bothered much with favorites, he wanted to keep himself away from them as possible and whatever temptations he had were quickly shut down by his own logical mind. He never involved himself with the same girl twice, that’s just how he preferred it.

Jungkook was an interesting case, that’s what the others here told him. They said he had an air of almost loyalty to him. Jungkook nearly laughed in their faces when they mentioned that, it sounded ridiculous but he couldn’t deny that he had always picked favorites. From the very beginning he would focus on a particular girl and then drop her when he got sick or bored of her.

“For now.” Jungkook simply replied, buckling his belt.

“Doesn’t sound too promising, maybe you should hand her over to Hoseok.” Jin suggested.

That made Jungkook look up sharply, frowning instantly.

“What?”

“Yeah, he mentioned he found her really cute when he snatched her back up for you.” Jin let out a chuckle, obviously taking the piss out of the whole situation.

Jungkook didn’t find it funny though, his lips were set in a straight line as his jaw tensed.

“Tell Hoseok to keep his fucking dick in his pants, at least while he’s with my cousin.” Jungkook spit out, his already sour mood worsening with the very thought of not only that douchebag blatantly cheating on his cousin but him getting anywhere near you sent him over the edge.

He tried to keep the flame at bay but it only worsened the more he tried to suppress his unwelcoming emotions.

“Since when have you cared about monogamy that much? You had no problem sharing Do-yeon from time to time.”

That was different, Jungkook wanted to snap but the words were so foreign even to him.

The thought of any other men here even touching you sent a distasteful image to his head, maybe it was selfishness but Jungkook knew the moment you would act up with someone else here, they wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you. You were not theirs to touch and much less hurt, it enraged him to even think about it.

“Since now.” His words were final. “I don’t give a shit, I’m not sharing.”

Jin knew to back off when he said that, clearly realizing he hit a sensitive spot with both the new girl and Mina. He never knew Jungkook to be that territorial with the women in his life but he supposed he shouldn’t be that shocked, he always had a strong personality that didn’t allow him to take a lot of things lightly.

“Speaking of Mina, are you sure we can trust her not to crack with the authorities?” Jin swiftly changed the subject to more serious matters. He had been worried ever since Mina went back in town, knowing the police were likely questioning right now.

“Mina may be clumsy and an idiot half the time,”Jungkook reasoned with a heavy sigh. “ But she’s loyal, she would never betray me.”

Jin knew he was right, nobody would have allowed her into this business if they suspected she would rat them out at the first chance she got. She had always been on top of everything, despite her clear distaste for it.

Still, he knew how much detectives loved to play mind games in order to corner the suspects.

“How long do you think until she’s in the clear?”

“Couple weeks maybe,” Jungkook shrugged, seeming to calculate the exact time in his head. “She needs to stay in town for a while to not raise any suspicion. It won’t be that long before they consider it a cold case, Y/n is not a minor or a child so they won’t prioritize it as much.”

“Or even better, consider Jaehyun the number one suspect and murderer.” He added with a raised brow, proud smirk forming on his lips and Jin knitted his eyebrows as his gaze narrowed.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Jungkook had moved in front of his mirror, hissing as he further examined the wound on his ear.

“What a little bitch..” He mumbled as the memory of Do-yeon’s nails surfaced again.

“You better not have done some stupid shit, I’m serious.” Jin warned behind him, his tone lowering. Jungkook rolled his eyes.

“Relax, it’s just some fabricated messages. Light work for me.” He replied with a smirk, unable to hide the cynical pleasure he took in the situation.

Jin eyed him with clear uncertainty, his face hardening. If he knew anything about Jungkook, it was that he always took things too far. He knew the younger boy like the back of his hand, had an impulsive nature that didn’t blend well with his malicious tendencies.

“What will they find on that classmate’s computer?” Jin asked lowly.

Jungkook’s eyes met his through the mirror but he wasn’t the least bit put off by Jin’s intimidation. Nobody here frightened him.

“I’m just not a fan of history majors.” Jungkook told him instead with an innocent look that made his doe eyes gleam. That made Jin nearly let out a low chuckle of utter disbelief before he shook his head and opened the door, sending him one last warning look.

“Whatever, just make sure your cousin doesn’t fuck this up.”

—

“Excuse me.”

The muffled voice went unnoticed by you, along with the sound of a key card sliding.

You had been going insane stuck inside this room, the said ‘luxuries’ were no comfort at all. Sure, they may serve as a temporary relief from the awful ropes they had tied you with on your arrival here but it didn’t erase the reality. It was nothing but that, a distraction.

A gilded cage.

In a way, you had almost preferred that Jungkook had kept you in the old room, at least no memories that constantly shoved your utter betrayal in your face were in there. Even if there wasn’t anything particularly unique about the bedroom, nothing that indicated Do-yeon had lived here for years. You could just imagine her here, sitting where you now sat.

You had searched for any small thing that was hers, an accessory, a hairbrush, makeup even. But there was nothing. Everything looked brand new, untouched. All the makeup was unopened, the hair brushes had not one piece of hair on them and the accessories were all still packaged in small boxes.

You wondered if the smell of the sheets were the only thing left of her but even those smelled freshly washed with the strong scent of detergent coating them.

It disturbed you how easily he managed to get rid of her and not leave a single trace behind in what used to be her room. In a strange way, it almost made you feel like a home wrecker of some sort.

You couldn’t help but think that was bound to happen to you too.

When would Jungkook get rid of you and toss you out? When will he erase every trace of you in this room for the next girl who met the same path? Was it all just a vicious cycle? The thought made you fist up the comforter underneath you, unable to hold down the displeasure.

You needed to figure out where Do-yeon was now.

“Hello? I’m sorry to disturb you but they told me to come get you.” You finally glanced down to the bottom floor, your eyes landing on who the feminine voice belonged to.

A girl stood here, she didn’t look much younger than you but she definitely looked more meek. She was short, a look of pure uncertainty had taken over face as she peeked into the room.

“I-I’m meant to take you to the cafeteria for lunch.”

That made you reluctantly stand from the bed but you couldn’t help the confusion you felt with every one of her words. You eyed her with uneasiness as you slowly made your way down the steps.

“Who are you?” You ask and for the first time today, your mind wanders to Mina. Where was she? A dark thought passed through you, one that wondered if you had injured her severely to the point of head trauma.

Another even more sinister thought came flooding in after that, one that asked you why you would even care. Mina was the reason you were here, if anything , you wished she was dead. Death was little to pay for what she had done to you.

That cynical part of your mind concerned you, it was far too easy for you to access it and wish death upon those who wronged you but you couldn’t help it. You were always the type to hold grudges and this was one you would take to your grave.

“Uh…” The girl stalled as she seemed to debate answering the question. “ Jiyeon.”

As you neared the door, you took a better look at her scared figure. She wore simple clothes, similar to ones Jungkook had dressed you in. A gray tank top but she wore matching shorts instead of sweat pants.

“Did Jungkook send you?”

“No,” She replied, unable to keep your gaze. “Jin did.”

Who was Jin?

“Who’s that?”

“Um, he’s the person in charge of us.” She licks her lips. “Well, one of them.”

You raise an eyebrow, glancing ahead of her towards the empty corridors.

“Cafeteria? Is that where all the girls eat?” You ask shakily, your mind instantly going towards Do-yeon.

Was she there? If she was, you needed to talk to her.

Jiyeon simply nods, a look of impatience flashing her eyes.

“Okay, let’s go.” You nod and she hesitantly steps aside, no longer blocking the exit and you waste no time to get out of the room.

It quickly comes to your attention that you’re not sure how you are meant to navigate this factory, everything looks too similar. The long illuminated corridors resembled the exact ones Mina had taken you through but it couldn’t be the same one. At least, that’s what you thought.

You imagine it must’ve been on purpose or simply the way the factory was originally built. It didn’t provide any unique starting point or a way to memorize certain doors or hallways. It was intended to be confusing, it was meant to install doubt at every corner and leave you wondering what actually sat behind each door.

The girl walked in hurried yet unsteady steps. She kept glancing back at you every other second, afraid she’d somehow lose sight of you when it was merely impossible for you to go anywhere without her knowledge. You felt yourself quickly feeling sorry for the girl, she was just like you. One more captive.

You wondered if maybe you would look just as scared as her one day. That instead of building more resistance, you’d get every ounce of bravery sucked out of you and eventually cower completely and give up.

“How long have you been here for?” The question naturally flies out your mouth as you stare down at your socked feet padding against the floors.

The girl is quiet, looking over her shoulder at you then her eyes drift to the upper corners of the walls.

“I’m not sure,” She says, shrugging. “Months.”

She didn’t know?

Of course she didn’t, they probably didn’t keep them up to date on anything here. They were left completely in the dark about everything and they’d soon start to forget how many days or weeks had passed.

“How….how’d they find you?”

There was a long pause before she answered.

“I don’t know …I just came across a job offering online. It was for some private company.” Jiyeon slowed her steps a bit. “He was nice, really nice.”

You swallowed, feeling your stomach flip.

“Who was?”

“The guy.” Her voice wavered, a new emotion taking over. “ The one who stuck me inside a van as soon as our ‘interview’ was over .”

Your head felt tight with the twisted thoughts that swirled inside , each one so sinister and dreadful. You were in fact not special, your case couldn’t be unique. These girls had been preyed on by men just like Jungkook, maybe not exactly the same way but that’s what made it more alarming. They had different methods of catching the victims, some probably more subtle and discreet than others.

Before you could question her further, you both came down to what looked like a dead-end that reminded too much of the path you and Do-yeon had faced in your failed escape. However, Jiyeon stopped before you reached that dead-end and turned to a pair of large doors to your right, with surprising windows that let your peer inside.

Your eyes took in all the girls inside, most sitting on what looked to be cafeteria style tables and some walking around the wide space. The doors were pulled open by the girl in front of you and you hurried inside , your gaze determined to land on Do-yeon. The room had no windows as expected, no way of bystander even catching a glimpse of the hell inside here.

What first caught your attention was someone staring at you . You looked to the side, seeing a guy with a lean figure standing with his arms lazily crossed over his chest who had seemed to have been watching over the girls before he had taken interest in your arrival. His hair was a bleached blonde, falling gracefully along his face that was made up of both sharp and soft features.

His slit-eyed gaze in particular was a bit overwhelming but his overall expression was welcoming, kind even.

He sent a wide smile your way, eyes crinkling at the corners as he motioned for you to come over.

“That’s Jimin.” Jiyeon whispered to you before you both walked in sync towards him.

“This our new girl?” He asked, in a voice of silk. Jiyeon gave him a single curt nod, immediately stiffening.

“Yes, I was told to bring her to eat here.” She says as her eyes are glued to the floor and you raise an eyebrow in question.

She looked petrified.

The guy, Jimin, studied her for a moment. He didn’t look the least bit upset or angry which is why you were a little put off by how the girl looked like she was ready to vomit all over herself. Color drained from her face, coming and going as you saw the tips of her fingers twitch with nerves.

“Right,” Jimin says, eyes landing on you for a mere second and then he taps Jiyeon’s chin with two fingers. “Keycard, please?”

She quickly reaches behind her, pulling out the card from the waistband of her shorts and hands it over to him. He takes it swiftly, the card disappearing somewhere inside his back pocket before you could catch a good glimpse of it.

“Thank you,” He emphasizes with a brighter smile and you can’t deny he was handsome. You wonder if that’s also meant to mean something, were the men here specifically young and attractive to lure girls in? You didn’t doubt it one bit.

“What a doll, as always.” His tone is light and friendly as he points behind him. “Why don’t you go grab a bite? Before the food gets cold.”

Jiyeon didn’t linger for even a second, her legs worked faster than her brain because she was out of his sight before he had even finished his last sentence. He seemed to notice it too, his eyes trailing behind her and at the way she scurried off. He laughed under his breath, shaking his head slightly.

You instantly felt compelled to follow her so you quickly began making your way towards the direction she went but Jimin’s voice stopped you dead in your tracks.

“I didn’t say you could go.”

Halting, you turn to glance at him over your shoulder. His tone had been sharp but his expression held no sign of it.

He gave a grin instead.

“I’m just messing with you, relax.” He sounded so sickeningly sweet. “You new ones are always so jumpy.”

You eyed him with obvious suspicion, turning to look ahead of you at all the dozens of girls who sat on the worn out cafeteria tables. They all held similar expressions, some more unnerved than others and some even looking slightly bored. It was clear who were the ones that had been here a while, they looked defeated and lifeless. Your eyes caught sight of Jiyeon again, a tray of food in her hands as she cautiously walked to an open spot at a table. Her eyes alert and wide, like she was always expecting something to jump at her.

“She’s not new.” You pointed out.

You didn’t know if Jimin had heard you until he walked up beside you which made you almost flinch away. His eyes followed yours.

“She’s always been like that.” He told you in an informative tone. “You should’ve seen her when I was interviewing her. Shaking in her seat.”

You took in his words, remembering what Jiyeon had just told you. An interview.

This was the guy who took her.

“To be fair, she wouldn’t have gotten the job anyway. Even if it was real.” He teased as he leaned closer to you.

“It’s really a shame but the ones I choose aren’t the brightest.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, feeling a hot ball of anger in the pit of your stomach. His sweet tone didn’t match the words he’d say at all, it was infuriating to say the least.

“ I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just pointing out the obvious.” He leaned back, sighing. “If some of these girls were smarter they wouldn’t fall for such sketchy internet scams.”

“Is that what you tell yourself to not feel guilty for kidnapping innocent girls?”

You should have held your tongue, you had already been warned before by Mina and Jungkook. You knew better and your instincts told you to keep quiet but yet your mouth seemed to move on its own. To your surprise though, Jimin didn’t look angry or put off by what you said.

He sent you a tight-lipped smile.

“No,” He hums. “I never said I felt guilty.”

That made you fall silent, you couldn’t help but feel a little shocked at the way no emotion crossed his eyes. Just a vacant stare.

“Of course, why would I expect anything more from sick bastards like you.” You say.

His smile didn’t falter but his eyes squinted a bit as they roamed you.

“I can see you haven’t been properly trained yet.” You kept your hard stare on him. “ Funny, I’d imagined you’d be after what you pulled.”

Jimin’s hands moved behind his back, taking a step closer. The scent of rosewood hit your nostrils.

“I wonder if our Jungkook has gone soft?” He whispered.

Hardly, you thought to yourself. Jungkook was anything but soft, he was absolutely insane and cruel. Has this guy lost his mind? Was he simply joking with you? Or worse, was what Jungkook had told you in fact true?

You didn’t want to believe it. You didn’t want to think that Jungkook was your best option here because it couldn’t be true. Not after the way he treated you. Not after making you do that to Do-yeon and tossing her to the side like damaged goods.

“Jimin.” The call of his name made him slowly turn his head, his attention ripped away from you and towards another guy behind you both.

The man looked slightly older but his face was youthful, and of course, he was also stunning. It was starting to get insulting at this point. His dark hair was at a similar length as Jungkook’s but his features were vastly different. They were much more softer and subtle, a look of elegance almost. He was lean and tall, significantly taller than the guy in front of you right now.

He gave Jimin a warning look, tilting his head to motion him to follow him.

Jimin turned back to you, seeming to take you in again before another one of those chilling bright smiles returned to his face.

“It was nice meeting you, doll.” He said in a tone that dripped of false sincerity. “ I’m sure you’ll be much more pleasant next time I see you.”

You didn’t want to know what he meant by that but you felt the air return to you when he turned to leave at last, walking towards the other man waiting for him. They disappeared behind a corner, leading who knows where and you were left alone to contemplate your horrible nightmare yet again.

Something about that guy was so off. You almost laughed at your conclusion, there was something obviously off with every man here. They were human traffickers for god’s sake.

The quiet chattering that filled the room made you turn your attention back to what you came here to find. The girls seemed to actually be allowed to converse amongst themselves to your surprise. For some reason, you imagined that even that was also prohibited.

When you made your way towards the countless tables, some girls stared but most kept their head down or angled to whoever they were talking to. You should have made your way to get some food but despite your growling stomach, all you could focus on was finding the girl you had thrown under the bus in the worst possible way.

For a second, the thought of her not being here crosses your mind and that sets you into a quiet panic. If she wasn’t here that must have meant she was somewhere you couldn’t access her easily. This seemed like the only place you could get a solid chance of talking to her and finding out if she was okay. You didn’t know when else you’d be able to get a hold of her. Or if you ever would cross paths again knowing how Jungkook seemed beyond upset with you earlier for even mentioning her name.

“Sorry,” You mumble when you nearly bump into a random girl in your attempt to hurriedly push through the crowded area.

She didn’t acknowledge you as she went about her way. Your eyes non-intentionally followed her and your heart nearly stopped completely when you noticed her sit a comfortable distance away from a familiar face.

Do-yeon’s head hung low in a cowering position. Her dark hair covered most of her face except for the front view that you caught a clear glimpse of. Her arms rested on the table, a tray of food untouched in front of her. Her fists were clenched as she seemed to stare blankly downwards.

You wasted no time in rushing over to her and taking a seat s. right across from her. Thankfully nobody seemed to be within ear-shot. Not that it mattered, every girl here had likely been through worse already.

“Do-yeon.” You say in a gasped whisper.

She looks up with a flinch, her expression morphing into one of clear fear. You force yourself to hold in another gasp as you eye the purple bruise forming on the right side of her upper cheek. It has hues of green on the outer sides and it looked horribly swollen. It caused her eye to appear significantly heavy-lidded and droopy.

But other than that, her entire demeanor looked vastly different from what you had previously seen of her. It resembled the exact way she had appeared that moment Jungkook had caught both of you on the fence.

She looked utterly defeated.

“What happened to you? Who did that?”

Do-yeon seemed to take a second to process you were in front of her, her eyes scanned you as she knitted her eyebrows together.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” She whispered to you, taking a quick glance around. “Does Jungkook know you’re here?”

You felt a pinch of annoyance at her glossing over your question but you were also left confused.

“Isn’t this where all the girls eat?” You ask and let out a sigh. “Forget that, tell me what happened to you.”

She shook her head. “The golden girl doesn’t eat at the cafeteria, you’re not supposed to be here-“

“Do-yeon.” You snap at her. “ I don’t give a shit, what happened to you?”

A frown took over her lips as she swallowed. She blinked rapidly, evidently trying to withhold tears.

“What do you think?” She asked with a sneer that took you by surprise.

You felt your heartbeat pick up again, it no longer felt frozen in your chest but this time it felt like it was slowly shattering apart with every beat.

“He threw me to the side after taking him for granted.” A scoff left her lips as her eyes burned into yours. “No, throwing me to the side would have been a blessing.”

“He threw me to a pair of wolves that are worse than him.”

“They hit you.” You confirm as bile threatens to raise up your throat, staring at the bruise.

Some part of you hoped that Jungkook had been lying just to scare you, that it was a tactic he used on every girl here in order to get them to submit.

“They do worse than that.” Do-yeon states as her jaw tightens.

“I’m so sorry.” Your throat closes up as the guilt practically starts eating you alive. “This all my fault, I -I can try to convince Jungkook to take you back, I promise I’ll -“

“No.” She cuts you off a firm grip on your wrist.

“Jungkook isn’t going to take me back. He isn’t the forgiving type.” She tells with a definitive tone. “I knew that before I took the risk.”

The hope inside your chest deflates further as your mind scrambles to find any sort of solution.

“No, no there has to be something I can-“

“What fantasy are you still living in?” Do-yeon presses with an incredulous look taking over her broken eyes. “Do you not see where you’re at right now? Has it not hit you yet?”

You shut your mouth, lips set in a straight line as it takes everything in you not to reply back to her with a snide remark. It takes a moment for you to realize it, for the fire inside you to dim as you really take in what she’s saying.

She was right, you had not accepted it. You didn’t consider yourself one of these girls yet, you didn’t want to see yourself in them. Accepting this was a form of submission to you, a sign that you needed to adapt. That’s the last thing you wanted to do. For whatever reason, you refused to see yourself as one of them, you had deluded yourself into thinking that maybe it would be different for you and that it would be temporary.

That you still had a chance of making it out.

How stupid could you be? You were no different , the reality of it pierced through you in the most excruciating way. There is nothing that would make you lead a different path than any of the girls here.

“Do you know how rare it is for girls to escape these situations? Huh?” Her words plead to knock some sense into your stubborn head.

“Has anyone ever escaped here?” You throw back at her, your lips trembling.

Do-yeon gives you a long stare, and you swear you see a flash of pity in it.

“If they did, we never knew about it.” She replies. “They’d never let us know if they managed to make it out.”

So, she didn’t know for sure that nobody had escaped. You hated how that little pathetic knowledge made you glimmer with hope again.

It was so rare and it most likely was never going to be you who escaped.

“Your best chance is to stay on Jungkook’s good side. You need to stay with him as long as you can.” Do-yeon's grip tightened even more on your wrist, her nails digging into your skin.

“And what? Become his little pet until he realizes he’s bored-“

“Yes.” She says louder. “Jungkook must see something he likes in you if he was so willing to get rid of me without a second thought.”

“Use it to your advantage, make sure he never trades you for another and much less…pass you to the other men here.” She whispers the last part, sending you a distasteful look that served as enough warning to you.

“As much as I hate him, I’d give anything to go back to him right now.” You hate the crack in her voice when she says it.

“Why are you helping me when I’m the one who did this to you?” You ask, shaking your head as you try to get her to release her grip on you.

“Because I’m not a fucking bitch? You’re not the one who put me here, you’re just another victim like the rest of us.” Do-yeon looks as if she was ready to slap you and you don’t blame her, you’re beginning to get defensive because you don’t like what she’s implying.

Because what she’s implying is you needing to do exactly what Mina had told you from the start, to listen and accommodate.

“What about you!” You hiss at her, lowering your face to hers.

You pointed towards her face and saw her wince.

“What about me?” She takes another breath. “There’s nothing you can do about me, worry about yourself.”

No.

“I’ll worry about getting us the hell out of here.”

Do-yeon lips form a sad smile.

“You need to get real, at the end we are all going to look out for ourselves only.” She tells you as she finally lets go of your wrist. “I thought you’d know that very well already.”

You knew she was referring to what had happened the last time you were together. The very thing you had avoided bringing up and that was still killing you inside. How you didn’t hesitate to put that gun up her head in order to save yourself.

“I-I panicked.” You stammer, eyes widening. “I didn’t want to do that, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not asking for an apology.” Do-yeon shook her head, eyes glossy. “ You did what anyone else would, you did what I couldn’t. That’s how you survive here.”

You bit your lip to prevent yourself from letting out a sob, your face twisting .

“I really hope your tough girl approach to everything isn’t an act.” She tells with a serious look taking over her pretty features.

“And if it is, you better not let Jungkook find out.”

This threw you off, if Do-yeon had been begging you to please Jungkook and stay on his good side, why wouldn’t she want your toughness to be an act? What did she mean by that? You thought for a second if she meant it in a deeper sense. That maybe she wasn’t referring to physical defiance against him but emotional defiance.

Perhaps what she meant was that you couldn’t let him break who you were and realize you were as easily disposable as she had been.

You felt horrible for even thinking that but was it not the truth? Do-yeon herself was implying that you couldn’t let what happened to her, happen to you.

“I will help you, I promise-“

You paused when your eyes landed on a familiar figure a few away. Your stomach dropped when you realized Jungkook was here, his back was facing you but you could easily identify him. The numerous tattoos on both his arms were recognizable anywhere and even more so with the sleeveless tank top he seemed to be wearing now. His head turned, his sharp side profile further confirming it was him.

He was talking to someone but you couldn’t quite make out who was in front of him. You avoided straightening your posture to try and look over the multiple heads that were in your way of getting a clear view in fear of catching his attention.

“Why bother making promises you can’t keep.” Do-yeon’s voice forced your attention back to her but your eyes kept nervously traveling back to his figure.

She seemed to notice your distracted gaze because she turned around to follow your eye-line.

“Shit,” She said below her breath. “You can’t let him see you with me.”

“What? Why?”

“Are you stupid? Jungkook is a paranoid bastard, he will assume you’re plotting something with me and you’re not exactly on his best side right now.” She tells you and turns to hide herself behind her hair again.

“Get away from here. It won’t end well for either of us if we’re seen together.”

You decide to take her advice due to the sheer panic in her voice and the fact that you truly didn’t know what Jungkook would do to her if he did see you both together. Pulling yourself away from the bench, you walk towards the further back of the room where more girls sat watching their lunch. You don’t exactly know what your plan is but you try to look as casual as possible as you follow a group of girls who seem to be going in the direction of the top shelves that hold some unappetizing food to them.

Trying your best to hide yourself behind them, you copied their actions and picked up a plastic tray from the stack of them in front of you. You reach over to grab a banana from the small pile of fruit and your first mistake is to take another sneaky glance towards Jungkook.

At first, he only seems to be scanning the area with a jaded look on his face but before you could avert your gaze away from him, his eyes trap you in place. He does double take and you flinch your head down quickly but you knew it was too late.

He saw you.

“Fuck,” You curse, trying to busy yourself piling on different foods on your tray as you hope and pray he simply thinks he saw wrong.

You don’t know why you’re so nervous, it wasn’t like you had walked here yourself but everything about him made you squirm. You weren’t sure how he’d react to anything or what little thing could set him off and take it out on you.

Sure enough, you soon felt a hand on your shoulder that practically hauled your entire body around.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You look up at him, his eyes narrowed down at you but you could tell there was confusion behind his question as well.

“A girl brought me here.” You say as you attempt to get out of his grip but he only responds by grabbing your arm instead, pulling you away from the cafeteria top shelf and leaving your tray abandoned.

“What girl?” He demands, his dark eyebrows pinching together and you notice he must've showered not long ago due to the damp hair and spotless skin. There was no dried blood in sight anymore, his neck was clean of it. The cross earring was indeed no longer on his ear, a small wound was in its place. You really hadn’t imagined the severity of his injuries, his earlobe remained awfully swollen.

“I don’t know.” You snap in a defensive tone as you tug against him.

“You don’t know?” Jungkook tilts his head, looking behind him at the countless girls who sat ahead. “Point to her then.”

You stare at him, that fire inside you returning .

“She said her name was Jiyeon.” You spit out.

He turns back to look at you, an unreadable expression taking over his face and then he sighs.

“Was that so hard, princess?” He leans forward, pinching your cheek like one would do to a child as a form of endearment.

You slap his hand away and scowl at him.

“Why can’t I be here? Isn’t it the cafeteria where every girl eats?”

“You’re not just any girl,” He simply states. “ Do I have to keep reminding you of your place?”

“Then why did they drag me here?”

“I have the same question.” A hard look takes over his eyes as he looks ahead, eyebrows still knitted together.

You soon realize his grip on your arm isn’t releasing and he only pulls you into his hard chest him as he begins to walk towards the same entrance doors you came through.

“My food.” You protest as you glance behind you.

He ignores you, positioning you right in front of him and sends you a glare that sends your legs moving as if they are under a spell. You were really getting sick of him manhandling you like you were made of rags instead of flesh and bone.

“I don’t get why you’re mad at me, I didn’t take myself here.”

“I didn’t say I was mad at you, princess.” He says and you can feel him playing with a piece of your hair as he walks too closely behind you.

“And I didn’t realize it bothered you if I was.”

“It doesn’t .” You bite out, feeling your cheeks heat up with anger and a hint of embarrassment.

He chuckles behind you and you feel his hot breath hit the back of your neck.

“ I still don’t get why I can’t just eat here.” You say as you glance back at him.

He eyes you, tilting his head as a smirk teases the corners of his mouth.

“Feeling lonely?” He mocks. “ I’m afraid I don’t like the idea of you making friends with the girls here. Call me dramatic but I don’t quite trust you enough yet.”

Yet.

You wanted to turn around and claw his eyes out so badly.

“So what? I’m going to be stuck in a damn room all day?”

You nearly bump into one of the girl’s walking past you and you feel Jungkook’s fingers tug the back of your shirt to stop the impact. He ‘tsks’ with disapproval of your clumsy nature.

“You mean like a hostage?” He tells with a flat tone and lets out a silent laugh when you whip your head back, sending him a murderous look.

You absolutely loathe him. Every bit of you was shaking with anger but you had to remember what Do-yeon had said to you.

“ You just got here and are already making so many complaints, you really are a princess aren’t you?”

Ignoring him, you pick up your pace and reach out to open the two wide doors but of course, they are sealed shut and no amount of force flings them open.

Every damn corner was a cage.

Jungkook slips in front of you with a knowing look, as if he found your attempt both amusing and plain stupid . He blocks your view as he punches in whatever code on the handle and you’re left to stare down at his leather boots.

The annoying beeps fill your ears as you lift up your head slightly to take one last look behind you towards where Do-yeon was seated. She wasn’t alone this time, the guy you had finished talking to just minutes ago was standing over her, a tight grip on her shoulder as he seemed to be whispering something down to her.

You frown as Jungkook drags you out the door and towards the blinding bright empty corridors again.

—

Once you’re back inside your personalized cell, you can’t help but feel shocked when you see the plate of hot food sitting on the coffee table in the middle of the room. It looks far more appealing than what you had seen back in the cafeteria and you almost feel bad for getting to enjoy another luxury that the rest of the girls who shared your fate didn’t.

But it wasn’t your fault, you had to keep telling yourself that.

With that, you practically run towards the couch and grab the plate of food, sitting it on your lap as you bring a spoonful of it towards your mouth.

“You surely don’t waste time.” Jungkook comments as the metal door shrieks shut behind him.

You want him to leave and let you suffer in your misery alone.

“I’m sure your little adventure in the woods left you weak and starved.”

You don’t look up as you chew the food, gripping the spoon tighter.

“Fuck off.”

He doesn’t respond right away but you hear his footsteps near the seat right across from you.

“Maybe I just won’t feed you tomorrow then.” He tells you with a sigh. “Or the next day after that.”

You swallow the food, hurriedly finishing up the rest on the plate before he has the dark thought of ripping it out your hands. You didn’t doubt for one second that he’d let you starve for the rest of the week for the little comment you made.

“Is that how you treat a golden girl?”

When you look towards him, rubbing a finger over his lips and you eye his bare arms on display. The designs of his tattoos stood out, some were colored while others were just black but they sat nicely on his muscles arms. It made you think about how his entire appearance seemed like a facade. Underneath his tough exterior filled with tattoos and piercings , it was just a young guy that didn’t look older than 25.

Was he really not as bad as the others or was he just convincing himself of that to make himself feel morally above them?

You remembered what Mina had said to you, how their life circumstances made them take such a horrid path but you didn’t feel any sympathy. You couldn’t feel a thing for them after what they had put you and dozens of other girls through.

“When she misbehaves, I’m not above much of anything.” He replies after some uncomfortable silence.

“Not even hitting?” You set the plate down on the table.

Jungkook’s eyes darken and you know you have said the wrong thing.

“I don’t hit women.” He makes it clear to you for the second time today through gritted teeth. “But there’s far worse things than physical pain so don’t get smart with me .”

His threat is loud and clear, jaw clenching as he raises an eyebrow in challenge and you sink back into the couch, not feeling like pissing him off even more than you already had.

“I need you ready in an hour, you have a cam show to perform.”

You feel like someone has punched you in the gut.

For whatever reason, your mind had completely forgotten the very reason you were here. You stiffened instantly as your familiar fight or flight instincts kicked in and flashbacks of that horrible sex room crossed your mind. The naked women, the masked men and the nauseating scenes made you recoil.

That was going to be you.

The first day had just been a trial, a glimpse of what was to come and what you had to ease yourself into. They were going to make you an official cam girl, you were meant to do god knows what for men in front of those cameras and the worst part was you didn’t even know how many there would be. You didn’t know how anything worked, what they would demand you to do and who you were going to have to pleasure.

“No,” You whisper, shaking your head from side to side.

“No, I can’t.” You tell Jungkook, your eyes widening in terror. “You can’t make me do that.”

He stared at you, eyes tracing over your face.

“But I can.” He states coldly. “What made you think you’re exempt from what every other girl here is brought to do?”

You grip the cushion beneath you as you feel your entire body start to shake.

“Please,” You swallow your pride and it kills you more than you’re willing to admit. “Don't do this, please.”

You needed to do better than that, you thought to yourself. You needed to survive here like Do-yeon had said.

Play into his game. Into his wants.

Lifting yourself off the sofa, you get to your knees and crawl over to where Jungkook sat. He looks mildly surprised by your action, his eyebrows lifting up as you grip the fabric of his jeans. You’re completely at his mercy as you continue to beg, your tears quickly stain his clothes as you lay your head on his lap.

“Please, please.” You plead him, clenching your teeth so hard that you’re surprised your jaw is still intact. “ I’ll behave , just don’t make me do that.”

“I won’t talk back I swear, I’ll be fucking mute if you want.” A sob leaves your lips, even in this state you can’t help the anger that managed to seep into your words. You’re so angry, so angry you didn’t get to escape.

If you hadn’t gotten in that damn van, you probably wouldn’t have had to ever see this psychopath again.

You feel his hand on your head, his fingers tangled through your hair and then you feel a sudden harsh yank. He forces your head up and you let out a whimper at the harshness of his grip, your skull stinging.

You meet his gaze through your blurry vision that is filled with tears.

“I can’t believe it,” His eyes are empty but his lips twitch into a smirk as he angles your head up higher.

“Even in this state, I can see how much you’re seething.” You let out a shaky breath at his words, he was reading right through you.

“It’s killing you to beg me isn’t it, princess?” He cooes at you as he further twists your hair.

You yelp again.

“Lucky for you, I’ve grown weak at the sight of you on your knees for me.”

You were tempted to spit at him.

He seems to read your thoughts because he gives you a wicked grin.

“Fine,” He drawls, “ I won’t make you perform for others.”

The pressure on your chest lifts slightly as you eagerly await his next words.

“Don’t look so overjoyed, everything comes with a cost here.” He’s quick to ruin your hopes. The pressure returns, crushing your chest completely.

“You won’t have to see that horrible room again but only if you perform for me only.” He says slowly, his eyes dancing around behind you. “Right in this room, you’ll get to be my own personal little doll for thousands of others online to see.”

“And I want you willing. So very willing to do everything they request us to do.”

“Request?” You gulp, feeling your knees wobble even while being planted onto the ground.

He nods. “Yes, our audience loves a good show and it’s our job to fulfill them.”

The grip you have on his jeans loosens, you lick your dry lips as his face comes closer, his hair tickling your cheek.

“Do we have a deal, my little princess?”

You remove your hands from him as your body is frozen in place. The pessimistic side of you is convinced that this is what he wanted all along. You can’t help but think he planned this, that he wanted you to be his own little pet and that he’d mask himself as some sort of hero for saving you from having to perform in front of countless other men and women in the most humiliating and degrading ways possible.

Little did he know that it wasn’t much less degrading to give yourself to him.

In fact, you didn’t know if it made a difference at all. What he implied sounded like he was letting you choose between two equally horrible situations, with one being marketed slightly better.

But then Do-yeon’s face enters your mind as a cruel reminder of how foolish you were being. The bruise lifting off her skin was a clear sign of what probably awaited you if landed in worse hands than Jungkook.

“Yes.” You mumble, the word is robotic and it doesn’t even sound like it left your mouth.

You wished it didn’t.

The painful hold on your hair loosened and he finally let go, coming to wipe away the tears on your cheeks with his thumb. You could feel the cold metal of his rings against your skin.

“Good girl.”

—-

The autumn leaves bustled against the tree branches, the gloomy weather certainly set the scene for the tragic events that had occurred. The campus wasn’t large by any means but it surely did seem like it due to it being the only university located in this small town. It wasn’t hard to imagine any young girl getting kidnapped here, especially when the sun went down. The woods that surrounded the building would always raise concerns for locals, it was an easy place to hide a body but Yoongi concluded it may also serve as a distraction.

Of course that was the place authorities had searched first but it was hard to send a search party throughout the entire wooded area. It would take them a while, even with the rescue dogs.

If they there was even anything to come across.

The detective couldn’t shake the feeling that the girl wasn’t buried underneath those grounds. However, there was a lake nearby too so perhaps she was simply underwater instead.

He hated the way his profession had desensitized him completely. Casually wondering about the different ways a girl was likely already dismembered while putting up a hopeful face with her parents never sat right with him. His colleague had parted ways to collect some of the girl’s belongings that could hold some information , her laptop and a poorly working electronic watch apparently.

Her parents had insisted they looked through anything to find something even when he had mentioned there would unlikely be any traces on those.

Yoongi pulled himself off the tree bark he had been standing against when he saw the face he was looking for, he had already spoken to the administration office about the case so he’d only hope not to scare off the boy. The face in the picture that was paper clipped on the files looked identical to the one about to walk right past him.

“Jaehyun?” He spoke as the boy with a heavy looking backup neared him.

The boy immediately took off his earphones and sent him a confused look. He slowed his steps when Yoongi pulled out his badge, swiftly bringing it up in front of him.

“Detective Min Yoongi,” He introduced himself with a weak smile. “ I was just wondering if I could ask you some questions regarding one of your classmates, Y/n.”

Jaehyun’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as he slowly nodded.

“Oh shit, yeah I heard about her going missing.” He replied as they both walked off to the side, letting other groups of students continue to walk past them.

“Do you know anything about what happened?” The boy asked with hesitation. “ I mean, I don’t know if you’re allowed to say anything. Sorry.”

News traveled fast in a small town so it was no surprise he had already found out. Yoongi assumed most of her classmates were already gossiping about what could’ve occurred and raising their concerns on social media.

“Well actually, I wanted to know if you had seen her before she disappeared. Maybe anything regarding her behavior here at school, anything that may have raised concern?” The detective explained casually, he knew he couldn’t pressure the boy to say anything. He wasn’t a suspect and he only hoped he could get a little ounce of information that could lead to something.

Regardless if he personally suspected him or not, he couldn’t show it.

Jaehyun scratched the back of his head, frowning slightly.

“Honestly no, I wasn’t that close to her. I just used to see her at parties and in class.” He replies with a shrug. “ I never noticed anything weird but then again I probably wasn’t paying much attention.”

There was an undeniable trace of guilt in his tone. The boy appeared to be sincere and while Yoongi had been around long enough to know he should doubt every display of emotion, no matter how genuine it seemed, he couldn’t help but believe him in that moment.

“You guys never had an intimate relationship?” Yoongi asked, partly expecting the boy to shut him down completely since he wasn’t exactly required to answer such a personal question. Especially with no lawyer present. It was a risky shot.

Jaehyun looked slightly taken aback, raising his eyebrows as an awkward laugh left him.

“I mean, no.” He explained, shaking his head. “ She was cute and all but we never hooked up.”

“Right.” Yoongi nodded, seemingly accepting his answer.

It was the answer he was expecting after all. The friend Mina had stated she hadn’t been aware of any intimate relationship. Just a crush. The detective couldn’t help but feel a little defeated with another possibility being so quickly shut down.

“Uh, well thank you for your time.” He said with a sigh, his eyes drifting ahead. “Do you happen to know anyone else she was particularly close with?”

Jaehyun bit his lip, deep in thought.

“I mainly saw her around with Mina.”

The detective looked back at him, his stare blank despite the the thoughts burning inside his head.

“Oh! I would also see her hang out with this other girl sometimes.” He blurted, knitting his eyebrows. “ But I honestly don’t remember her name, she also attends school here though.”

The boy gave a sheepish smile and Yoongi waved him off.

“It’s fine, I can figure it out. Is it okay if I give you my card? Just in case you remember anything that might help us?”

“Sure thing,” Jaehyun nods as the detective hands him over the card.

The boy glanced down at it before giving one last apologetic look and turning to leave . “ I’ll contact you if anything comes up.”

Yoongi watches the boy walk away, his figure slowly disappearing into the distance and he’s soon left alone to dwell on his million theories again. His fingers go to take out a cigarette from his back pocket as he makes his way through the campus grounds and towards the parking lot. His phone vibrates just as he’s in the middle of lightning his cigarette and he hastily shoves the lighter away.

Namjoon’s name flashes on his screen and he presses it against his ear as he takes a blow.

“Hey, listen the classmate didn’t tell me much that will help us but-“

“We need to bring Jeong Jaehyun in for questioning and we need a search warrant for him ASAP .” His partner’s voice rang through his ear.

Yoongi froze, the smoke leaving his full lips.

“What?” He turns, looking behind him towards the direction the boy had left in.

“That classmate the friend mentioned , I found some messages on the girl’s laptop that say they planned to meet up the day she went missing. The times add up too .” Namjoon speaks with urgency, clear shuffling in the background and the sound of a car engine soon blared through.

Yoongi ends the call abruptly, swinging open his car door and all he could think about as he drove out the campus driveway was how his intuition never did seem to fail him.

The boy had just blatantly lied to his face.

“Shit.”

—

#yandere jungkook #jungkook yandere #yandere!jungkook #yandere!jungook x reader #jungkook x reader #bts yandere #yandere!bts #bts x reader #jeon jungkook #jungkook horror #jungkook #jungkook scenarios #jungkook angst #bts fanfic #bts scenarios #jungkook au #jungkook fanfic #bts angst #BTS au

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weirdkpopgirl · 7 months

Text

Promise | Jaemin Imagine #8

Title: Promise

Genre: Angst

Warnings: mentions of anxiety and breakdowns

Word Count: 1.3k

Author's Note: I'm aware that anxiety often takes center stage in my stories, and yet, here's another one I've penned, this time focusing on Jaemin. Drawing from my own struggles, I aimed to portray the challenges of being close to someone dealing with mental health issues. Even with a strong support system, it doesn't guarantee that your problems will vanish miraculously. To all those who grapple with similar issues, I hope this story encourages you to seek help if possible because you deserve happiness and good health.

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

From the beginning, you and Jaemin had a fairly healthy relationship that was envied by your friends and family. Apart from the initial awkwardness (primarily on your side) during the early stages of dating, both of you treated each other with plenty of tender loving care.

You could truthfully say that Jaemin wasn’t just your boyfriend, but also your closest confidant. Perhaps it was the fact that the two of you had been friends for a substantial period before dating. Being each other’s partners allowed a deeper understanding of one another, resulting in almost no arguments between the two of you. That being said, because he knew you so well, there was one factor that occasionally led to turbulence in your relationship.

Anxiety has been a constant companion throughout your life. It was much like a friend you recognized as toxic but still chose to spend time with. Lacking a proper support system during your childhood, coping with life as an adult became significantly more challenging. For you, anxiety has been this silent struggle you had been battling alone. However, you didn’t realize the effect it was having on your otherwise, perfect relationship.

The irony was that Jaemin was the most supportive presence in your life. However, the issue lay in your reluctance to accept his support. Whenever you were in a state of distress, you tended to distance yourself from him and withhold your true feelings. He had witnessed you break down before, and it bothered him that you pushed him away.

One evening, after returning to your apartment late, Jaemin could see in your eyes that it was more than the part-time job that was taking a toll on you. He could discern from the restrained smile on your face that you had no intention of sharing it with him. At that moment, Jaemin reached the point where he couldn't bear it any longer.

The warmth of his hand atop yours gained your attention. Gazing at you softly, he asked, “Princess, can we talk?”

“Why? Did I do something wrong?” you responded with a tinge of concern in your voice. You searched your memory for anything you might have upset him, but couldn’t think of anything specific.

After taking a deep breath, Jaemin met your eyes brewing with perplexity. You had no idea what he was about to say, which made him briefly consider retracting his words. However, he knew that he couldn’t allow anything to stop him.

“It’s about your anxiety, (Y/n),” Jaemin began to explain, using his most gentle tone. “I’ve noticed how much it’s impacting your physical and mental health. And I think that seeking help from a professional can make a difference.”

Yet no matter how delicately this subject was being brought up to you, your shoulders tensed and you withdrew your hand from his grasp.

Your eyes flashed with frustration. “Jaemin, therapy isn’t necessary—I’m fine.”

“But you don’t have to pretend you’re fine all the time. It’s okay to ask for help and lean on others. I just want what’s best for you, (Y/n),” he stressed. He could sense you retreating behind your wall, and he refused to let you block him again.

That was how this conversation escalated into the most intense argument you had ever experienced with Jaemin. He made a sincere effort to stay composed, but it proved challenging when you continued to shut him out and maintained your insistence that you could handle everything on your own.

Nonetheless, voices were raised from both parties and the words that left your mouths stung immediately after they were said. So as quickly as the argument had started, it ended with you pushing away from him and storming out of the living room with your eyes glossed over with tears.

Guilt quickly consumed him and his previous frustration dissipated. After waiting a few minutes to give you some space, Jaemin quietly moved down the hallway in search of you. His feet stopped at the bathroom door when he saw the faint light seeping beneath it.

On the other side of the door, your shoulders shook as silent sobs wracked your body, leaving you barely able to catch your breath.

Eventually, you heard a gentle knock on the door. “(Y/n), please let me in.”

A part of you wanted to tell him to go away and leave you alone. You could tell by the tone of his voice that he was done fighting. Yet, you couldn’t convince yourself that you deserve forgiveness. Not when the entire argument was your fault. Even though he had been nothing but patient and loving, it was you who didn’t have the courage to acknowledge your mental instability. You were the problem.

When you didn't respond, Jaemin decided to take matters into his own hands and cautiously pushed the door open. Inside, his heart ached when he found you seated across from the sink, your face buried in your knees, every part of your body trembling. He hadn’t intended for things to go this way.

Without any further hesitation, Jaemin joined you on the bathroom tiles, scooping you up into his arms. The comforting feeling of being held made you instinctively cling to him. Your tears soaked his shirt, but that was the least of Jaemin’s worries.

“I’m sorry, Princess,” he whispered, his chin resting against your forehead as he stroked your hair. “I didn’t mean to pressure you like that.”

You grimaced inwardly as your voice wavered. “I'm the one who should be apologizing. I... I know I just push you away when I’m having a hard time. But you already do so much for me, and I just don’t want to be a burden."

“You could never be a burden, (Y/n),” the tips of his fingers lifted your chin slightly, allowing you to meet his sincere gaze. “You’re my everything, and I can’t stand to see you hurting alone.”

His simple, yet sweet words made you feel so warm inside. It was that moment you realized Jaemin was never going to leave your side, even if it meant seeing you at your worst. Your wall of emotions remained resolute, refusing to crumble any time soon. However, the better half of you wanted to let Jaemin break down those barriers.

Before you could say anything, Jaemin could feel the resistance in you slowly fade away. Your hand slipped into his, intertwining your fingers as you released a light exhale. “The idea of seeking help is terrifying. But if you’re with me, I think I can do it.”

“It makes me so happy to hear you say that,” Jaemin smiled and squeezed your hand reassuringly. “And I promise, we’ll face your anxiety together.”

Your cheeks warmed when he pressed a soft kiss on the back of your hand. Then, he leaned in for a tender kiss on your lips, his fingers gently weaving through your hair. Your grip on his sweatshirt tightened as the kiss deepened, conveying all the love and understanding that words could never fully express. Jaemin's other arm remained securely wrapped around your waist as if it could shield you from all your worries.

When you finally pulled away, tears in your eyes had transformed into tears of happiness. "I love you, Jaemin."

"I love you too, Princess," he replied in a sing-song voice.

In that heartfelt moment, as he held you close, you both understood that your love had the strength to endure any storm, even the ones that threatened to tear the two of you apart. Despite the relentless assaults of your own mind, the love you shared with Jaemin served as a reassuring reminder that you could overcome it all, together.

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

#nct dream #nct dream imagines #nct dream angst #jaemin x reader #na jaemin #nct dream x reader #nct dream scenarios #jaemin imagines #jaemin scenarios #nctzen #czennie #kpop #kpop imagines

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privateanxieties · 1 year

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hold them gently (these confessions) P.2

Summary: When she awakes, the world is different. Matt Murdock, however, is still the same grounding presence he's always been. And if he's a little protective of her, well... she isn't going to complain.

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Reader (she/her); fluff, pining, mystery, suspense.

Warnings: canon-typical mentions of violence/crime

Words: 4,035

Part 1 here

-------------------

"This is all so fucked."

Over the three minutes or so that she'd been awake, those were the clearest words she'd been able to make out. She was in bed, everything was soft, and there were people arguing in another room. Her eyes had yet to open. Unsure of what she'd see when they did, she elected to keep quiet and keep focusing. Whatever it took to shut it all out. Everything. Anything. Whatever wasn't happening now, her mind forced away into a box and buried it deeper than one would a time capsule.

"Foggy, keep your voice down."

It was harsher than she'd ever heard Karen speak in the year and change that she'd known her. She could guess the reason behind it, and she shoved that away too. A fortress. A lone island at sea. A long-lost and half-finished chapstick tube. Perhaps if she thought of all easily dismissed and forgotten things, the knowledge of what happened would become one with them.

"She can't hear me. She's out cold. Do you know why? Because Matt knocked her out. I found him, holding her. They were covered in blood and next to them was carnage, so don't tell me to keep my voice down, Karen!"

A violent door slam wrenched her eyes open. She heard footsteps. Bags clattering to the floor. A chair screeching against wood.

"She can hear you. She's awake. So, keep your voice down."

Her breath hitched before she corrected it hastily, not wanting any reminders of her earlier circumstances. The left side of her head throbbed painfully against a cool, damp cloth. Matt had placed it there. Her fingers were resting against something cool and plush. His sheets. His bed. His apartment.

He likes silk. Prefers it.

The panel door in her peripheral vision slid open quietly, her head following the motion until it was angled towards the entrance of the bedroom. The skin of her cheek brushed against the silk of the pillow.

It's not the one he sleeps on, or one that anybody sleeps on.

It was brand new — much like the outfit he was now wearing, and the absence of red glasses on the bridge of his nose. She'd never seen him in athleisure before.

Neither of them said anything. Then, with steps that fell harder than they should have, Karen brushed past him and hurriedly approached the bed. She tensed on instinct.

"Don't touch her!"

The blonde woman jumped — either in surprise or incredulity, she didn't know. She'd never heard the soft-spoken attorney raise his voice or use that tone. Whether she was imagining things or not, Karen's glower didn't seem to be entirely lost on Matt. However, no apology was issued. Awkwardness settled in for what she presumed would be a long stay.

Matthew shifted in place, at last gesturing for Karen to take a seat at the foot of the bed if she was inclined. She wasn't. But, nothing could deter her from continuing to skewer Matt with her gaze like he was a rotisserie chicken she'd throw to the dogs. He cleared his throat.

"I couldn't find your gloves, so I got you these."

The closer he stepped to the bed, the more she was seduced into a trance by the odd circumstances. It was not a long distance, but he traversed it differently than the way she was used to seeing him move. She told herself it was because of the familiarity of the space, even while she knew it was untrue. There were too many things happening. One at a time, before you're right back where you started.

Clutched delicately in Matt's left hand was a pair of blush pink gloves that she could guess the price of simply by looking. They were much longer than any of her normal pairs — opera gloves, they called them — and the texture of the fabric invited an eager touch on sight. Or it would have, if she didn't feel so strange with Karen watching their every move.

Sitting up slowly, she shuffled out from beneath the covers and gently caught the damp cloth before it fell into her lap.

"Um— "

"Here," Matt said, nimbly reaching forward and taking the cloth from her by its opposite end. The gesture left no doubt in her mind. He told Karen not to touch her. Growled it, almost. He got her new gloves. He was careful not to touch her himself.

It was both soothing and terrifying.

"Karen, would you give us some space, please?" Matt asked. He was a lot more polite this time, but Karen bristled at his words.

"Oh, you need space? Well Foggy and I need answers, Matt. A man showed up at our office covered in blood, and now he's— "

"Shut up."

The harsh command tensed the muscles of several people in the room.

"He's what?" she asked quietly.

Karen and Matt were engaged in a stand-off too intense to respond, both looking like they were holding back biting words. The blonde's hands were in tight fists by her side. Matt's jaw seemed in danger of breaking from the pressure he was applying.

"What happened to him?" she tried again, chaotic images swimming at the edge of her vision. They were ready to wander in and splatter the walls of her mind with every shade of red imaginable.

"He came to. Looked around. Then he took a pen, ran it through an eye and into his brain."

Everyone turned to Foggy as he came to stand in the doorway, hands in his pockets and expression severe yet unreadable. A moment barely went by before Matt was veering his head towards the blonde, raising an accusatory finger with a scowl.

"I told you to— "

"You've told me nothing, Matt! I watched a man kill himself on the floor of our office! The whole place smelled like the slaughterhouse my uncle used to take me to when I was twelve, but that wasn't pig's blood! It was a person's blood. Someone that died there. And you haven't told me anything besides 'shut up' and 'keep quiet' and 'we'll talk when she wakes up'. Well, now she's up. And I want answers!" Foggy raged at his friend.

The time capsule she tried so hard to bury sprang from the earth at breakneck speed, spilling all its contents in the process. Red came flooding back.

"He killed five people."

It was her turn to push all the air out of the room, and she could feel everyone's attention on her as she picked at the top of Matt's silk duvet cover. Her hands were clean, though she remembered them being bathed in crimson. She couldn't be sure if they'd been or not, flashes of someone else's fingers dancing around her mind.

"His name is — was… Arthur. Um, Arthur Gregsby. Before he showed up at the office, he hacked up five people over three hours. He cut them. Burned them. One of them, he drowned in a sink. Another, he lowered into a pool of acid. A third, he kept alive while he removed limbs. The other two he buried inside coffins that he filled with rats."

Nothing. No one had anything to add. She continued on shallow breath, eyes closed.

"The oldest was a seventy-two year old woman. Brown eyes. Gray hair. She had a… a wedding ring on." She'd already been missing a finger. She was going to miss more. "The youngest— "

"Sweetheart, stop," Matt implored.

"The youngest was a fifteen year old boy and I can still hear him screaming."

Endless seconds of shuffling preceded a firm closing of the thin panel separating the living and bedroom areas of Matt's apartment. The space fell silent for much longer than she was comfortable with, or maybe time flowed differently here — a place she'd always wanted to be, but not like this.

"Here."

His voice being so unexpectedly close managed to pull a startled gasp from her lips, but she suppressed it before it could devolve into a cry. Her eyes flew open as he placed the gloves he'd been holding on top of the duvet she was fiddling with. They were no longer pristine, ugly wrinkles scattered where he'd grasped them harshly. She traced the edge of one with a reluctant finger, unsure if feeling nothing was preferable to feeling what she was now. His surroundings calmed her. His sheets smelled like him. They were an extension of his body; a way for her to hold on to something stable.

"Have you called the police?" It was a wonder she could still find it in herself to ask, but looking at him while she spoke? That was an entirely different beast.

"Foggy did. We both gave statements. They'll be wanting yours as well. I told them you passed out from shock." She breathed out. "Which… isn't a lie, is it?"

The way he asked. So sure of what he was saying. A tinge of sorrow colored his voice.

"You were scared almost to dea—"

The gloves were put on at lightning speed, and she was pulling on Matt's hand with even greater desperation as the images threatened to come back. Her motion chipped at his equilibrium, and he fell next to her with a small huff of surprise. His hands came up to grip her biceps, thumbs soothing the covered skin with gentle rubs. His face betrayed little other than a general anxiety, but it was his eyes that told her something of what he was hiding inside. They fell somewhere below her own gaze, murky with unshed tears.

"No. I wasn't scared. I'm scared now. Before, all I could feel was what he felt. Matt, I know how this is going to sound. And I know you have no reason to believe this, but— "

"Hey — stop for a second. We don't need to talk about this now. You're hurt. Why don't you rest for a while and we can take it slow?"

His words gave her pause, the throbbing at her temple making itself known once more. It had taken him pointing it out for her to even notice. It also made her think he didn't believe a word of what she said. Of course. He thought the blow to her head must’ve been the cause of all this. That she was making things up. The realization spiked her adrenaline.

Matt's hands tightened on her arms.

"I trust you. Completely. Please don't think I don't. But your heart almost stopped while you were in my arms just a few hours ago, and I think we both need some time to recover from that."

The creases that gathered at his eyes in the ensuing quiet made her lips tremble. She swallowed around a painful lump that threatened to cut off her air.

"I don't want to be alone."

If it sounded pathetic, she didn't care. It was only by virtue of his firm hold and steady presence that she remained anchored in the now. The briefest, smallest smile pulled his lips upwards.

"C'mere. I've got you,"

She went into him mindlessly, hiding her face in the collar of his hoodie as his arms enveloped her whole. A quick flash of hope blossomed in her chest as her cheek brushed his for a split second. I've got you.

She knew it was a promise.

Nearly five hours later, her feet at last swung over the edge of the bed in search of a shower. She was mostly clean; Matt had seen to it that the places she'd been grabbed were thoroughly cleansed and disinfected when he brought her to his house. She was lucky the man hadn't dug his nails in, what with the copious amounts of blood drenching every inch of his body. Still, a shower was what her body told her it needed, and Matt was quick to encourage it, leaving out a pair of sweats and an old Columbia hoodie that she guessed he'd chosen due to its smaller size. He'd filled out since then.

Now that her brain was starting to mellow out from the frenzy, it was getting easier to ask questions. Questions like how the man had made it all the way to Hell's Kitchen and into a law office without anyone noticing him. She couldn't remember everything. She barely knew what happened after Matt arrived and pulled him away from her. The sparse glimpses of places and times that she got when the man grabbed her were considerably drowned out by everything else he had experienced that day. Many other questions lingered just below the surface.

However, just because she could ask herself reasonable questions, it didn't mean there were answers at the ready for when Foggy inevitably started digging into her. He was still waiting in Matt's living room, whereas Karen had left hours ago when Matt announced their paralegal was going to be taking a nap. Point made. Non-negotiable. No inquiries until she rested. She couldn't sleep, but the timeout helped all the same, with Matt floating nearby and offering food along with grounding touches.

It was nice — being looked after with such care. If the situation had been different, she might've even gone as far as to say that she felt protected. The illusion was strong enough to warm her from the inside out. While Matt's intentions seemed very real, whatever protection he could offer her would only ever extend to the physical world. There was no fighting the demons or men drenched in blood inside her mind. But, the shower helped.

It helped until she closed her eyes and saw bruised hands grabbing at an electric saw as if they were her own. The buzzing in her ears blasted off so suddenly that she tripped and fell backwards, hitting the shower wall and creating a definitive ache in her shoulder. Moments later, as she shakily got up, a knock sounded at the door.

"Are you alright?" Matt's voice, though muffled by the shower and the bathroom room, allowed his concern to run clear.

"I fell. I'm — I'm ok," she called out, shaking the sound of bones cracking from her brain.

She quickly wrapped up the rest of the shower, despite a desire to wait for the water to run cold. Gloves back in place, she was tying the elastic of the sweats as tight as it would go when another flash burrowed itself behind her eyes. A rope that was being used to lower not one, but two caskets, slipped and chafed the hands of the man holding it. The thud of wood on damp soil preceded a muffled scream.

When she snapped out of it, the thin piece of string at her waistband was so tightly wrapped around her index finger that it was starting to turn the skin a different color. Her palms burned. She avoided her reflection in the mirror and left the bathroom before she could stare into the empty sink any longer, feeling the tingle of another flash like roiling ants beneath her skin.

Matt wasn't far away. He stood just at the end of the long hallway leading to his living room, holding two drinks. His gaze lingered in her general direction as he held an orange mug out to her, offering it with a careful smile. Traversing the small distance between them, she grasped it gently, mumbling what she hoped was a solid enough 'thank you' in return. If her voice shook, he made no mention of it.

Her grateful inhale of the cinnamon notes in the cocoa was abruptly soured by a voice laced with sarcasm.

"I ask you if you have hot chocolate every time I come over, and every time, you say no. Did you manifest it just for her?"

"No. I bought it."

Matt's blunt reply stirred a weak chuckle, but the other half of Nelson & Murdock was not amused. Standing behind the couch, Foggy fixed them both with a mildly threatening scowl. He seemed more tired than usual, hands anxiously kneading the back of the sofa like a disgruntled cat. She watched as Matt approached his friend and silently held out the other mug. Foggy's scowl deepened falsely. He was melting on the spot, yet trying to act tough.

"What, no mini marshmallows for me?"

She gazed down into her own cup. Pink and white fluffs filled it to the brim, nearly overflowing.

"You don’t like marshmallows," Matt replied, still holding the drink out.

"Well, I want some," his friend retorted stubbornly, glare intensifying.

She couldn't handle this.

"Here," she mumbled, quickly pacing over to them. Removing a glove by trapping it between her teeth, she gently shooed some of the fluffs into Foggy's mug, careful to avoid Matt's fingers at the edge of the rim.

It was quiet. Foggy took turns narrowing his eyes at both of them, until finally, blessedly, he accepted Matt's offering.

"I want you to know — if she wasn't here, I'd be yelling at you," Foggy declared.

"Well, in that case, please stay," Matt said, angling his head towards her with the hint of a smile. It shouldn't have made her go as soft as the treats in her cup, but combined with the words he uttered, it made for a light fluttering of her stomach.

She was used to this sort of interaction from the two law partners, but her being talked about in this manner, as if she were to be given special treatment — that was relatively new. Foggy and Matt were both wonderful to work with, and while she felt they all shared a closeness exceeding their professional relationship, today was likely to have changed all that. Over a year of diligently trying to fit in, to be normal, to make a new life for herself doing good things… it was all going to crumble sooner or later.

As if in sync with her morose thoughts, Foggy took a seat at Matt's kitchen table and set his mug down with a resounding thud. She jerked involuntarily, gnawing on her bottom lip. She was right. It was all crashing down.

Then, a deep sigh almost deflated Foggy's entire being as a mumbled apology somewhat relaxed her shoulders. She watched him curiously, fingers tightening around the mug and lips itching for a sip she was too scared to take, even if it would calm her nerves.

"Look… this is a mess. I think we all know that, so no beating around the bush. Whatever this is with you, I need to know. I'm sorry these are the circumstances we're in, but you need to tell us right now— "

"She doesn't need to do anything, Foggy," Matt interrupted. It was strange to see him move as he was, almost shielding her from his friend's view, but she chalked it up to his uncanny sense of coordination. She again had a feeling it wasn't quite the whole truth, but more pressing matters were at hand.

"Look, Matt. I know what she means to you. I get it. But we both heard what we heard, alright? She knew that man's name. What he did. In an abundance of detail. He killed five people, according to her, and then himself! I think we're past skirting around the fact that there's something going on here!"

I know what she means to you.

For some reason, those were the only words her mind could accept and focus on as Matt reeled a court-worthy reply at his friend. In the background of her attention, they kept exchanging arguments.

What did she mean to him? What had Foggy meant by that? He and Matt were the best of friends. They'd known each other for over a decade. Friends knew things about each other — deep, intimate secrets. To hear Foggy make mention of what felt like one of Matt's secrets, especially when it involved her, was a dizzying experience under present conditions. He'd been undeniably protective of her since she woke up.

And… and before, even. The more she thought about it, the faster memories started trickling back. When he came into the office and ripped the man away from her, beating him into the ground like he'd done it a million times before. His motions were precise, calculated. It was not an act of self-defense, erratic and driven by emotion. It was practiced. Second nature, almost. He knew how to fight. He was doing it now, albeit verbally. She knew where he got the practice for his oral sparring; he was a marvel to witness in court. But the relentless assault of his fists was learned too, and she once again pushed away knowledge that lingered at the edge of her consciousness.

She wasn't going to be the cause of their row. Whatever became of their friendship and of her future at the firm, she wouldn't be the culprit for broken relationships again.

"It's called tactile cognition," she spoke over them both, a small crack in her voice that she quickly cleared away. The room went abruptly quiet. She forced herself to speak before she lost the nerve. "It's… an ability. I was born with it. When I touch things, I see a whole… history of them. Where they came from. How they were made. Who handled them. And when I touch people…" she paused, trailing off in the hope that it might help her gather enough courage. She wouldn't look at either of the men whose attention was fixed on her.

"When I touch people, I see everything they've seen. I know what they've thought, what they've done, where they've been. I feel everything they feel. It's uncontrollable and overwhelming. That's why I need these," she explained, holding up her free hand to call attention to the gloves she was starting to sweat in. It was more for Foggy's benefit. She knew Matt had likely figured it out from before. He got her this pair, after all.

Foggy blew out what sounded like an incredulous scoff, but still she didn't look up. Silence stretched on for what felt like hours. It was broken by the most unlikely statement.

"Great, now there's two of you," Foggy muttered.

That made her head snap from its downward position and straight to the blonde, who was instead looking at the other man and cringing away from him. With good reason, too, because Matt was almost snarling at him in the next second.

"Foggy!"

"Sorry, sorry! I'm sorry, I just thought… You know, since we're all sharing— "

"It's not yours to share!"

"You said you were gonna tell her anyway— "

"Yes, me. I was going to, not you!"

"Well, you took your sweet time with it and look where we are!"

That seemed to make Foggy's mouth clamp shut, eyes going wide as if disbelieving of what he'd just said. As proof that her judgment was correct, a moment later he was parting his lips to speak again, brows pulling together in an apologetic grimace.

"Before you go all Catholic-guilt on me, I only meant that we could've all been in the know with each other and today would've gone a lot smoother."

The gaps in knowledge had become unbearable. No one was saying anything about what she'd just confessed to. Both attorneys seemed more concerned with a piece of information that hadn't been shared.

"In the know about what?" she finally asked, eyeing them both carefully. Matt had gone entirely stiff, as though someone encased him in an ice block to capture the world's most accurate portrayal of rageful fear. Fearful rage? Those were definitely the two most prominent emotions on his face, though which of them took precedence was still a mystery. His jaw was once again locked up, either to hold words in or to prepare to launch them with exceptional precision. He didn't get to do either.

"Matt's Daredevil."

With an exasperated sigh, the blonde threw his hands up, eyes rolling into the back of his head as if he knew what was coming. Another row picked up swiftly.

She looked between the two men with light apprehension, mouth drying up the longer it stayed open. Well. Her secret certainly didn't seem all that noteworthy anymore.

-to be continued-

Part 3 (final)

A/N: Aaaah I'm so sorry but I wrote too many words again so I had to break up part 2 into two chapters. I'll post the last one a few hours after this one and it's going to be (finally) what everything's been leading up to. Thank you for sticking around!

Tags: @dielgonacoffee @sunflowersandsapphires @thespiderthatbitme @whourish @theetherealbloom

I know I said no tag list but since I broke it up again I figured it would be fair to let people know when the next part is up. If you'd like to be removed from the list, please let me know. Also, the strikethrough means I couldn't tag you. Thank you to those who reblogged/commented on the last one, I appreciate you and I hope you enjoy this one :) If anyone else would like to be tagged for the final part, all you have to do is reblog this one. Please don't ask to be tagged if you don't even interact with the story.

#matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x you #daredevil x reader #daredevil x you #netflix daredevil #matt murdock fanfiction #matt murdock imagine #matt murdock fluff

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atlantis-archive · 4 months

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Vinny Has a Blast!

Written and lettered by: Michael Stewart Pencils by: Steven Butler Inks by: Jim Amash Colors: John Green Published in: Disney Adventures Collector’s Issue! Atlantis: The Lost Empire Volume 11, Number 6 (pg.80-83). Publisher: Buena Vista Magazines Inc. Publication date: circa July 2001.

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Page 1: Rourke: [To reach Atlantis, we must get the Ulysses through that narrow opening in the rocks up ahead.] [Vinny, you'll have to blast a hole big enough for the ship to pass through.] [Moliere will handle any digging for you.] Vinny: [You want your standard round opening, or maybe something interesting--] [--a diamond... or a figure eight? Perhaps an "A" for Atlantis?] [I've got enough nitro to get creative here...] narrator: [Red alert! The crew of the submarine Ulysses faces the first major obstacle in their quest to find the lost continent of Atlantis!] Mole: [-:Sigh:- I have just escaped the bath and now we go into the ocean?]

Page 2, Panel 1: Rourke: [You're sure there's no other way, Milo?] Panel 2: Milo: [The Shepherd's Journal says we have to go through, Commander Rourke.] Panel 3: Milo: [It also says the seas around Atlantis contain unknown dangers...] Panel 4: narrator: [Minutes later, Vinny and Moliere eagerly strike out into the unknown...] Vinny: [We'll bury two charges--one on each side of the opening.] [Like I always say, two explosions are better than one!] Mole: [I cannot wait to sink my pickax into the unknown delights of this exotic undersea rock!] Panel 5: Vinny: [Remember, the depth of the holes must be very precise!] Mole: [Please! Am I not the famous Moliere?] Panel 6: Vinny: [This explosion will be a true work of art!] Panel 7: Vinny: [Did Michelangelo ever sculpt rock on such a massive scale? No!] Mole: [Something's moving over there...]

Page 3, Panel 1: Mole: [Fish! Big fish!] [Scary fish!] [Vinny!] Panel 2: sfx: THWACK! Panel 3: Vinny: [You got that second hole ready?] Mole: [Sacre bleu!] Panel 4: Mole: [Please--it looks hungry!] Vinny: [Let you're little fishy nibble on this flare.] Panel 5: sfx: FLASH! Panel 6: Mole: [We go now!] Vinny: [If that hole isn't just right, this explosion could be very... messy!] Panel 7: Mole: [Uh... sure. The hole is fine. Let's go!]

Page 4, Panel 1: Vinny: [OK, time for the first big boom! Mole: [Are we fare enough away?] Panel 2: Vinny: [The view is much better up close!] [On the count of three!] [One... ah skip it--boom.] sfx: KA-BOOOOM! Panel 3: Vinny: [Let me guess--you didn't finish digging the hole...] Mole: [Not exactly, no.] Panel 4: Vinny: [My foot is trapped! And your helmet is cracked! Get help from the Ulysses!] Mole: [Yes! I'll go back to the ship!] Panel 5: Vinny: [Might as well finish the job...] sfx: BA-BOOOOM! Vinny: [Ahh! Is there anything more beautiful than a very large explosion?] [No, I think not!] Panel 6: Vinny: [Hey! Look who's back!] [That explains my sudden craving for fish sticks!] narrator: [Turn to page 84 for the exciting conclusion!]

Notes:

This post is passed the weekly deadline! That's 1 demerit for me. I'll need to figure out something to do with those to make them effective. This still counts as last week's post so I owe another this week, which I have decided will be the last comic in the Disney Adventures issue.

The story here takes place prior to the battle against the leviathan, seemingly before Milo's presentation on the bridge in the film.

We see that the Ulysses, unsurprisingly, carries diving equipment. However, these are ambient pressure diving suits, good for protection against tearing and cold but useless against the pressure at deeper levels. Humans can't really survive more than 60 meters (196.85 feet) below, which is why Atmospheric Diving Suits were invented! Imagine them in steampunk-esque, underwater robot suits instead!

The "scary fish" (the nayap according to Sweet's Fish Story!) is the first fantastical creature encountered by the expedition. It doesn't seem particularly interesting, though. A weird shark with a feathery tail and long snout?

Vinny's dialogue really shows how much Don Novello brought to the performance. Without his adlibbing and weird energy the character just doesn't hit the same.

#2001 #july 2001 #buena vista magazines inc.#disney adventures #media #comic #atlantis: the lost empire #Helga Katrina Sinclair #lyle tiberius rourke #milo james thatch #vincenzo “vinny” santorini #Gaetan “Mole” Molière #ulysses #nayap #late posts (SHAME)

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blitzwhore · 1 month

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looking at 24/43 👀

Thanks for the prompts! :)

24. “we’ll face this together” kisses / 43. “we’ll get through this” kisses

Stolitz | ~690 words | Teen and Up | Angst, pining, self-hatred, mental health issues, character study, crying, alternating/mirrored POV

On AO3

Long, black, slender fingers curling around wrinkled bed sheets, and tears streaming down soft feathers.

Shaky, scarred hands pulling up a blanket to hide from the world—tears running down smooth cheeks.

“I'm scared, Blitz.” “I'm scared, Stolas.”

Murmured, muffled against a pillow.

“I know.” “I know.”

And the ghost sensation of fingers wiping away tears.

“She wants to take everything away. She wants to take Octavia away. She won't stop until I'm dead.”

“I can't stop hurting the people I love most. I feel like I was born doomed. No matter what I do, I'm going to die alone.”

“Shhh…”

“Shh, shh, it's okay.”

“I'm here, Stolas. I won't let her hurt you again.”

“I'm here, Blitzø. I'm not going anywhere.”

The comfort only makes Stolas cry harder, curling closer to Blitz. Desperately craving the physical closeness; needing to be taken care of. Feeling like, maybe, all this pain is worth it if it means he can have Blitz's affection.

It's so hard to believe that Stolas means it—that he won't leave. Blitzø can't help the sobs that escape him. He doesn't deserve this, but he wants it. Hell, he craves this so badly it feels like it might kill him.

“No matter what comes. We'll face this together, okay?” Blitz murmurs, kissing Stolas’ forehead delicately. Stolas nods through the tears, burrowing closer to his chest. Blitz's warmth permeates his body, sinking deep into him, and, for the first time in who knows how long, Stolas feels safe. Feels wanted, and cared for, and cherished.

“I know you're scared, Blitzø. But you won't scare me away. And if ever you feel afraid again, I'll be here.” There's a soft kiss pressed to his temple, and then Stolas says, “We'll get through this together, as many times as it takes.” The hope that Stolas’ words awaken in him is terrifying, but Blitzø can't help but cling to it, desperate to believe it's true.

If only this was real… Oh, if only it was real.

Inevitably, the warmth against his chest fades, leaving Stolas curled up around nothing. Nothing but cold bedsheets and the imagined presence of someone who isn't here to comfort him, or to cradle him gently and envelop him in warmth; someone who, perhaps, never will.

He isn't really here, of course. Why would he be? To listen to Blitzø bitch and moan about his stupid issues? He scoffs. He's only torturing himself by imagining that Stolas could ever care about someone like him.

His bed is too big, too empty. The vast, hollow loneliness that engulfs him threatens to suffocate him. It makes Stolas feel small—insignificant—invisible. He's screaming, but nobody listens. Nobody cares.

He's curled up on the shitty couch he calls a bed—all alone in the darkness of his and Loona's flat. No one to witness his pitiful display of self-loathing. And still, somehow, Blitzø feels like he's taking up more space than he deserves. Like, maybe, Hell would be a better place if he just wasn't here at all.

He can't breathe.

He aches.

Drowning—sinking deeper and deeper into sorrow and despair.

Not knowing how to stop feeling so wrong inside—so useless and broken beyond repair.

Aching for a life past appearances and duties; past the facade of a fabricated smile.

Hoping he could start over and turn his life around. Make amends. Soften his rough edges, and not be so terrified to let his walls down.

Yearning for something, anything he can hold onto. A version of himself that feels genuine and free.

A life where he hasn't fucked up everyone who's made the mistake of getting close to him.

A life where he can laugh, and have sex, and cuddle, and be silly. Where he can be spontaneous, adventurous, real.

A life where he's worth something. Where he's worth keeping around.

A life that is vibrant and fulfilling.

A life that feels safe.

… A life with Blitz.

A life with Loona, and Moxxie, and Millie, and Fizz, and…

… And Stolas.

A life he fears he might never have.

A life he knows he will never deserve.

#helluva boss #Stolitz #Blitzwhore writes #stolas x blitz #blitz x stolas #stolitz fanfic #Stolitz angst #helluva boss fanfiction

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saltymongoose · 1 year

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since i have no clue what i requested before, can i just ask for something domestic (as domestic as wank can be, anyway) and soft? maybe reader is wank's partner who always tends to her wounds when she gets back because they worry about her being out there alone?

Yo Anon! We haven’t had anything official for Wank yet, so I was excited to do this. Here ya go! :)

You Treat Her Wounds When She Returns Home ft. White Hank (Wank)

(TW: Mentions of Bodily Injuries and Blood.)

The times when Wank returns home to you are usually unceremonious. She doesn’t typically call you to warn you about her impending arrival beforehand, so it’s a pleasant surprise, but that also means you have no time to prepare for her either. (In fact, she rarely calls at all. Though, it’s because she doesn’t want her enemies figuring out that she has a partner rather than her not wanting to speak to you.)

You only know she’s back from the telltale noise of your deadbolt being unlocked, and you immediately drop whatever you’re doing to meet her at the door. To anyone else, the view of the tall merc, dressed in pure white sullied with blood and gore, would be absolutely horrifying. She did have the reputation for not being the most hospitable (an understatement), but for you, your reaction couldn’t be more different.

For one, you now know for certain that she's okay and that she's home safe and not left to rot in some corner of Nevada’s wasteland. When she comes back, you don’t have to think of gruesome “what ifs” and there’s no anxiety about what could be happening to her, or if you’ll ever see her again. You don’t have to spend time ruminating over every past interaction you’ve ever had with your girlfriend, with the chance that you’d regret not taking those extra few seconds to remind her of how much you love her, violent tendencies and all. No, the sight of your partner in the flesh only overwhelmed you with happiness and near palpable relief.

This feeling is also shared if her physical reaction says anything. The moment she lays eyes on you, her posture immediately straightens, and if you look closely, you could start to see her hands tremble as she rushes to remove her gloves and coat before embracing you. (It’s not like she wants to get you covered in the filth that soaks her outer clothing.)

You accept the hugs she wraps you up in without issue; it’s like a tradition at this point for you both. It’s been weeks since she’s last seen you, so she figures you can’t blame her for wanting to have as much contact with you as possible when she finally has the chance. She engraves the memory of how you fit in her arms into her mind, leaning down to make it easier for you as she presses her face against the crown of your head, purring all the while. She’s missed this - missed you - beyond what you could imagine.

While Wank isn’t typically the most physical person, insofar as non-violent touch is concerned, you’re the only real exception to that. The longing she’s felt for your presence is finally extinguished, and all that’s left is the feeling of how right it is to have you tucked into her embrace and laughing when she “kisses” you through her mask. She welcomes the warm feelings of affection she has around you, falling deeper into them as you press a soft kiss to the bandages that cover her jaw.

“You’re finally back…” You breathe the words out as almost a sigh of relief, and Wank nods silently in response.

All is fine and well until your palm brushes her side and touches fabric that is distinctly wet. A side glance at your hand reveals a red sheen to your fingers, and you pull back from Wank with some difficulty. (Especially considering how she instinctively tightens her grip on you when you try to budge. You’d be surprised at how clingy she gets in times like these.)

“Wank…you’re injured.”

She seems hesitant to give any sort of response when you bring this subject up, only really pausing at your words. You can’t say if it’s some sort of guilt on her part or an attempt to hide it. Perhaps she wasn’t even aware that she was injured, as adrenaline can have that effect. In either case, she never brings up her wounds to you, and even if you don’t accidentally come across them, you make a point of searching them out later. You might not be a doctor, but you’ve taken up basic studies just to help her (and ease your worry about her as well).

Some gentle prodding on your part leads her to relent (as she always does with you), and she pulls up her shirt so you can see the wound. You grimace. It’s not pretty, but then again, it never is. In this case it’s a few deep cuts where something must’ve just gotten close enough to slice at her, though you don’t ask what, and although it’s been taped over with gauze, it’s come undone on one of the sides, letting her blood leak through it.

Even with how hesitant she might be to reveal her injuries, she allows you to treat them without complaint. After you “force” her to sit on the sofa (aka you gently pushing her by her shoulders and Wank humoring you while laughing under her breath) and rush to go get your medkit, she’ll remove her boots and try to make it easier for you to get to whatever other scapes and bumps she’s acquired on her missions.

It’s honestly a bit shocking to her that she isn’t uncomfortable in the slightest when you kneel down in front of her and start to dress her wounds. Wank usually takes care of her injuries herself, even if she doesn’t do the best job at it. She’s never really taken to the idea of having someone else do it before you became such an important part of her life; she just couldn’t trust anyone else with this. Any attempts from anyone else to help - or even touch her, for that matter - would end with a blade pointed at one of their vital points or a few broken bones, but with you, she doesn’t even flinch.

Perhaps it’s because of the clear worry and concern on your face when you clean the blood from her skin, and how painfully tender you are when you soothe ointment over the cuts she has, whispering little apologies when you think you’ve hurt her more in some way. Your gentleness is just one of the ways you show how much you care for her well-being, even if you both know she’s not a stranger to being wounded. Wank can take pain, but she’d never have to think about suffering when she’s with you.

It makes her feel not only loved but oddly safe as well, if she had to describe it. You’ve earned her absolute trust, and this is why she doesn’t move when you treat her many wounds. She cooperates with everything you ask, even if she’d sometimes rather spare you from the sight of her more gruesome cuts and gouges.

For you, patching up your girlfriend gave you peace of mind; it told you that she was really here, safe and alive. The blood you wiped away from her proved as much, and you took comfort in how you were able to help her out in some way, even if you lacked more combat-related abilities like her.

(It’s one of the reasons she’s so willing to let you help her out. You don’t know how easy it is to read your emotions, to her anyway. While you always seem distraught at her wounds once you first see them, you appear less worried later if you get to manage them yourself. Something about seeing their true extent cleared the anxiety you had over them; you couldn’t worry about her succumbing to any infections or bleeding out if you saw to it that neither would happen. Your relief alone is enough for her to let you touch her, aside from everything else.)

You can’t help but bring up your own feelings of worry when you do this though. No matter how many times you patch her up when she comes back, the concern never fades. She’ll always leave at some point, and your nervousness over her will come back in her absence.

("I worry about you a lot while you’re out there,” you mutter one day, and Wank tilts her head slightly, silently asking you to continue. “It’s funny - I’ve done this so many times, but seeing you with wounds like these still scares me somehow."

The room goes silent, and you look up from the bandage you’re wrapping to see your girlfriend’s pink-lensed goggles closer to you than you remember them being. Wank leans in to bring her masked face closer to your cheek, rubbing against it lightly before replying.

"...’m sorry," she offers, her voice soft and filled with remorse that’s usually so unlike her. She honestly felt terrible to leave you like this, but you both knew that it was unavoidable. So long as it was her you were tangled with, there would be the fact you had to deal with her getting injured, or worse. The ache in Wank's chest when she sees how crestfallen you are stabs at her worse than any wound. For once, she wishes that Nevada was not the violent wasteland she thrived in if only so you didn't have to worry about her anymore. You deserved as much.

You sigh and shake your head before pressing a chaste peck to her clothed cheek. "Don’t be. I didn’t mean to guilt trip you or anything, I just..don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I love you, y'know." Your melancholy is briefly lifted when she whispers those three little words back.)

When you’re finally finished with treating her, Wank insists on cuddling with you, at least for a few minutes (actually an hour) before you go on about your day. You might be hesitant to do so, depending on just how bad she’s gotten injured this time around, but she’s anything but concerned.

It starts with her leaning more into your hands when you try to check her bruises again as a precaution, so much so that you can barely even move them away from her. She’s practically chasing your touch, and even if you decide to just work around it by tracing your fingers over her instead of outright removing them, she’ll just escalate.

Your soft protests about how this could hurt her go ignored when she yanks you closer and into her lap, and you sigh, trying to hide the smile creeping up on your face as she lavishes you in affection and the odd verbal praise here and there. (Mostly compliments on how well you treated her - better than she could do on her own, mind you - along with words on how much she missed you.)

The attention makes your heart beat faster, and your face heats up with each spoken word and gentle caress from her. Wank hasn’t ever neglected to show her appreciation for you, but after such a long time of being without her, it hits you even harder. The fondness and genuine love that's conveyed with every gesture from her is enough to make you melt further into her. She can be so sweet, it's almost too much for you to take.

It’s comfortable, almost too comfortable, and if it wasn’t for the fact that you had other things to do that day, you’d be perfectly content to just fall asleep cuddling there with her. You can't do that though, unfortunately.

When you try to get up, she grunts in refusal and tightens her grip around you, pouting as you squirm weakly in her arms. If you thought she’d make it easy for you to leave her after she just got back to you, then you’d be dead wrong. (Even if it’s only to go to the kitchen to finish dinner for yourself and her now.)

It takes a little longer before you’re finally able to convince her to let you go, but she does eventually (though not without a few kisses to make up for it, of course). However, once you get up, she does too, preferring to follow you as you go about the rest of your evening instead of just relaxing on her own.

You really want her to rest; not only has she just returned from a long trip, but she needs it to heal properly as well. She refuses each time that you mention it though, as she’d much rather keep you in her view while she can. You might act jokingly miffed at it, calling her your shadow as she stays at your heels, but you know it means more than what she tells you.

You missed her presence while she was away, and despite your minor complaints, you felt better just having her sitting silently somewhere while you do something. The knowledge that she was there with you brought you a warm sense of fulfillment, aided by the sight of her tall form in your peripheral and the familiar feeling of her gaze on you. It just felt right to have her by your side, as rare as it could be with such different lives you both led. You knew she felt similarly even if she didn’t tell you outright; the faint sound of her footsteps echoing shortly after yours wherever you went said it all.

You hum happily when you feel her chin resting on your shoulder and her hands meet the countertop, caging you in as you chop more vegetables (to make more food for her, no doubt). Wank doesn't know if she’s done all that she can to show you just how grateful she is to have you, and how much she truly adores you. She wouldn’t consider herself to be very good at romance in general, certainly not from experience, and as a result, she fears that some of her attempts at showing you the true depth of her affection fall short. How can she make you aware of how much it means to have you to come home to, and have you put her back together (both physically and mentally)? It’s a question that plagues her, even when she’s out and should probably be focused on other, more dire things.

Despite this conundrum, however, one thing that Wank is completely sure of is that you’re one of the few good things in her life, and the only person she can say she’s ever truly loved this much. So she’ll continue trying to find ways to show this to you, and make each attempt better than the last. You’re the most important person she has, and she’d loathe it if she wasted a single second not showing you the love and care you deserve, just as you do with her every time you’re finally together.

#this is just fluff really lol #glad to actually add her to the roster officially #white hank x reader #madness combat x reader #madcom x reader #my writing

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twistedtummies2 · 7 months

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Fifteen Days of Disney Magic - Number 10

Welcome to Fifteen Days of Disney Magic! In honor of the company’s 100th Anniversary, I am counting down my Top 15 Favorite Movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios! We’ve reached the Top 10! Today’s entry truly never gets old. Number 10 is…Peter Pan.

Okay, let’s get the elephant out of the room immediately…no, some parts of this film (I think a lot of you will know which ones) have NOT aged well. It was made primarily for children in the 1950s, with development reaching as far back as the late 1930s, and certain elements are clearly a product of their time. I acknowledge this, and how it was as wrong then as it is wrong now. I concede it’s an issue for at least some (if not, indeed, many) modern audiences. If those elements or any others bother you for any reason – and I imagine they probably bother a LOT of people – I won’t pretend like you don’t have justifiable grounds for disliking the film as a result. With that said…I freaking love this movie, despite those issues, and that is the hill I choose to die on.

While I don’t know if Disney’s Peter Pan is the BEST interpretation of J.M. Barrie’s classic fantasy adventure, it’s certainly one of my top three favorites. (The other two are the 2003 film, and the musical that originally starred Mary Martin…also, no, I’m NOT counting “Hook" there, because “Hook” is a sequel, not a direct adaptation or reimagining.) When I think of the character of Peter Pan himself, it’s Disney’s version that most immediately comes to mind. The same can be said for many of the other characters, such as Smee, the Darling Children, and Tinker Bell…in fact, I think the only exceptions to this rule are Captain Hook himself (and he’s certainly not a version I dislike; easily in my top three takes on the character, as well as one of my Top 5 Disney Villains of all time), the Mermaids (who have so little to do with anything it hardly matters), and the Native American characters, who...I'm not going to touch here with a ten foot pole. 'XD I think it’s my passion for the story itself, and the fact the film introduced me to it, that helps make this such a major favorite for me. It also has the advantage that, like “Fun and Fancy Free” and “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” it was one of the first Disney movies I ever owned, and I watched it over and over again. In fact, I think I saw it perhaps more than any of the others I had on VHS. Something about Peter Pan just spoke to me as a kid, and still speaks to me as an adult. I loved its sense of cartoonish comedy, I loved its spirit of swashbuckling action and adventure, and I loved how it had this sort of strange edge of something unsettling under its colorful exterior. Hook is a funny villain in a lot of ways, but he’s also a murderous psychopath who’ll kill and betray you at the drop of a hat. Peter is, in some ways, who we all wish we could be, but he’s also brash, cocky, and not exactly the most likeable protagonist…and then he’ll turn right around and do or say something that makes you like him all over again. While one could say the film really only covers the superficial elements of Barrie’s darker and more psychological story, it does brush on those deeper layers in some interesting ways, and still makes the ride enjoyable all the way through. This is possibly one of the single most merchandised and frequently referred to films in the entire Disney canon. There’s a preschoolers-aimed TV show, a whole spin-off franchise about the fairies, books, plays, a sequel film that was actually brought to theaters (and, in my opinion, while flawed it is actually not really bad; rare for Disney sequels), and numerous appearances by the characters in various other properties and attractions. It’s one of those stories and worlds that seems impossible to mine dry, and I think that also may be part of why it appeals to me. I was actually fully primed and ready to place this one in 8th place, at the top of the heap of the four films in the stretch between 11th and 8th...but after revisiting it, I found it lacked some of the punch the two films above it had. But hey, Top 10 isn't too bad, right? The countdown continues tomorrow with my 9th Favorite Disney Movie! HINT: If You Were Hoping It Would Be Here, Wish Granted!

#disney #disney 100 #disney 100 special #list #countdown #top 15 disney animated movies #fifteen days of disney magic #number 8 #peter pan #disney peter pan #peter pan 1953

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missywritesfor7 · 9 months

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🌙Moon’s Light | JJK🌙

Synopsis: Luna is a young paralegal trying to maintain her new found independence and enjoy life. Too bad her job sucks and her boss is the worst. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she encounters a vampire named Jungkook who changes her life in more ways than one.

Jungkook is a shield and protector of the vampire kingdom of Korealis. He’s trained his entire life to block out any and all distractions and focus solely on becoming the strongest. While investigating a potential threat to the kingdom, he encounters Luna who turns out to be more than he could have ever imagined. It becomes his job to protect her, but he can’t tell if what he’s feeling is his devotion to the job or perhaps something deeper.

Secrets are uncovered. Lives are on the line. Hearts are tested.

Pairing: Vampire!Jungkook x Fem!OC

Warnings: Violence, character death, eventual smut, tragedy, some angst, strong language, MINORS DNI

Previous chapter | Next chapter | Masterlist

|| Ch. 8: Gag ||

Everywhere in the kingdom is dark. Daytime in Korealis is more like dawn on earth, while nighttime is even darker than that. This area that Luna’s portal takes Jungkook and Namjoon to is a different type of darkness. There’s a stillness in the air as if there isn’t a single soul for miles. Still, Namjoon and Jungkook push forward bravely preparing for anything to happen.

Namjoon equipped the portal location with a device used to monitor all portals. It’s how they know when portals are having issues or need some sort of maintenance. It will not only let them know if there’s an issue and they need to go back, but it also serves as a guide back to that location in case they get lost.

Jungkook feels like they were spit out at the edge of the world, although it’s more like the edge of a remote island. The beach, however, is covered in black rocks that look rather sharp. Definitely not a place for vacationers. In the distance is nothing but trees. They decide to head into the woods and see where it leads. After walking for a little they begin to hear voices. They stop to listen trying to find out who it may be.

“Did you know Choi found a new portal?” One male voice says.

“I thought he lost it?” Another voice asks.

“He said he could get it back then everyone could use it, which is good since the main portal is falling apart.”

Namjoon and Jungkook continue listening to the conversation. They learn that word has spread fast about Luna’s portal and she’s being sought after so they can use her to travel between worlds. They also find out that there is one other portal somewhere here that’s being used by SV to travel discreetly without the powers that be finding out. It’s also mentioned that there are many new converts and “it’s only a matter of time” before they’re able to all band together and overtake the throne. Namjoon and Jungkook decide they’ve heard enough and step out of the shadows to approach the two guys.

“Who are you?” One guy asks taking a combative stance.

“We got a little lost and washed up ashore,” Namjoon lies. “Can you tell us how to get back to Korealis?”

“How the hell did you end up here?” The second shorter guy asks.

“Not sure,” Jungkook shrugs. “What is this place?”

“A place you’ll never be able to leave,” the taller guy snarks.

“Why is that?”

“Because if you’re not Saakhan then you’ve already seen too much. This isn’t a place you just stumble upon.”

“Well, we did.”

“You couldn’t have because this place is only accessible by portal.”

“How? Where are we?”

“Your final resting place.”

“For fucks sake,” Namjoon sighs. He musters his energy to tap into his ability which is being able to control nature and the elements. He unleashes flashes of lightning from his hands and uses it to pin the guy’s arms to his side. “We really don’t have a lot of time, so tell us where we are or this will be your final resting place.”

“Oh really? You think your lightning will scare me into telling the venom secrets to some random fools who trespassed in here?”

“I’ll be nice and give you one more chance to tell us what this place is and where we are.”

“You dont scare me,” he growls through his teeth trying to hide the pain of Namjoon’s lightning coursing through his body.

“Fine,” Namjoon says releasing his lightning then instantly hitting him with a powerful volt to the chest killing him instantly. The guy’s body disintegrates and turns to ash right at their feet.

The shorter guy looks in shock and horror as Namjoon turns his direction. He’s trembling and Namjoon knows he has this guy where he wants him.

“Now I’ll ask you,” Namjoon says. “What is this place?”

“I-it’s the S-Saakhan headquarters,” the guy stutters.

“The entire island? Where are we? And how did you get here?”

“I-I-I don’t know. I got here through a portal and they told me I can’t leave.”

“Who?!”

“I don’t know, the guy who converted me! He told me I had to do what he said and that I’m part of some revolution. I don’t know what any of this means!”

“You’re full of shit!” Namjoon yells binding the guys arms with lightning. “Where is the portal they brought you through?”

“I-it’s on the other side of the island!”

“Take us there!”

On shaky legs with his arms still bound, the guy begins guiding Namjoon and Jungkook to the location of the portal.

Meanwhile, back in Jungkook’s room, Luna is lounging in the bed with Jimin and Taehyung on either side of her. Hoseok went out for more blood while Yoongi continues to monitor her vitals from his computer on the other side of the room.

“You’re doing good drinking the blood steadily,” Jimin says.

“You think so?” Luna asks taking another sip from her third bottle. “It tasted super weird at first, but now I think I’m just used to it.”

“You should try the strawberry flavor,” Taehyung says.

“There’s flavors?”

“Yeah,” Jimin smiles. “You might like those better. A lot of new converts drink flavored blood to make the transition easier.” He looks to Taehyung, “tell Hobi hyung to get flavored blood.”

Taehyung pulls out his phone and begins typing out a message to Hoseok. Jimin turns his attention back to Luna.

“Your eyes are incredible,” Jimin says marveling at her one brown eye.

“Thanks?” Luna chuckles nervously. “Is it really rare for someone to be half human and half vampire?”

“Yeah,” Jimin smiles. “But I guess that just means you’re special.”

“Hyung will be back soon with flavored blood,” Taehyung says trying to put an end to Jimin’s attempt to flirt.

“Good,” Jimin says not taking his eyes off of Luna. “Is there anything else you need to feel comfortable?”

“No, I guess I’m as comfortable as I’m going to be.” Luna takes another sip of blood and finds herself trying to stifle a gag.

“You sure?” He asks noticing the slight discomfort on her face.

“Yeah,” she nods. “I have to do this.”

It’s been 45 minutes since Jungkook and Namjoon disappeared in front of her face. Aside from the initial wave of goosebumps she felt when they went in, she hasn’t felt a thing. Now that she’s working on her third bottle of blood she’s grown numb to the taste, though it seems the more she thinks she’s used to it, the more she has to try controlling her gag reflex.

She remains there finishing off her bottle and chatting with Jimin and Taehyung. Yoongi doesn’t say much aside from getting on to the others for asking her too many questions or for being embarrassingly obvious in their flirting. A while later Hoseok returns with more blood, this time strawberry flavored.

“Tell me if you like this better,” Jimin says opening the bottle and handing it to Luna.

She takes a sip and after once again trying to calm her gag reflex, she nods. It certainly has a better taste than plain blood, but it’s still a bit weird to her.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Yoongi asks peering at her over the top of his laptop screen.

“Yes,” she nods. “It’s ok.”

She tries taking down more of the blood but she finds it to be increasingly difficult. Through sheer will power and determination she finishes the bottle. She knew this would be a challenge but she didn’t think it would be so exhausting when all she’s doing is drinking. Still, she grabs another bottle to continue the constant flow of blood to her body so she doesn’t end up letting the portal kill her and possibly Namjoon and Jungkook too.

She gets two sips into her next bottle of strawberry blood when she begins to feel weak suddenly. She thinks it’s just in her head until Yoongi begins asking her what’s wrong. Luna can’t get a word out before she leans across Jimin’s lap and over the edge of the bed and vomits all over the floor.

“They have to get out of there,” Yoongi says urgently. “Tae, find a bucket for her.”

“I’ll clean up,” Hoseok says quickly heading out with Taehyung.

Taehyung returns first just a second later giving Luna a bucket where she once again vomits. The only thing coming up is blood. That’s the only thing she’s had today, and every bit that she regurgitates is like deadly acid burning through her body.

Hoseok quickly returns with towels and a mop and begins cleaning the floor. Jimin takes a towel and wipes Luna’s mouth after every bout of vomit that comes up. When she is vomiting he holds her hair out of the way and rubs her back to try calming her. She’s in so much pain, tears are streaming down her face as she hopes and prays it all ends.

She feels weak and hardly able to see straight when Jungkook and Namjoon reappear in the room.

“What happened?” Namjoon asks concerned. “The portal started showing signs of instability.”

“She just started throwing up,” Jimin says wiping Luna’s mouth again.

“Are you ok?” Jungkook asks springing to Luna’s side and moving Jimin out of the way in the process.

“I thought I was doing ok,” Luna says through tears. “Then it all came up.”

“Her entire body has weakened,” Yoongi says tapping at his computer. “I think her human side reached its blood limit.”

Jungkook looks her over frantically then moves her hair that’s now drenched in sweat out of her face. He takes the towel from Jimin and wipes her mouth again.

“We won’t be able to go back in there,” Namjoon says looking at the computer over Yoongi’s shoulder. “There’s no way we can go back with her like this.”

“Did you guys find anything?” Jimin asks.

“Yeah, but we couldn’t go as far as we wanted because the portal readings started going crazy.”

Hoseok finishes cleaning the floor and steps out to find out if Jin is still in his meeting. They need him to come right away so he knows what’s going on. Namjoon and Yoongi are busy analyzing the readings on the computer, and Jungkook gets settled right next to Luna after sending Jimin and Taehyung to find her something that she can eat or drink.

Luna’s skin has gone pale and she’s so weak she can barely see. All she can do is sit there and cry through the pain coursing through her body. Jungkook places her bucket of blood vomit on the floor and scoots closer to her.

“Take a deep breath,” he says softly rubbing circles in her back.

“Everything hurts,” Luna says barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry. I tried, I really did.”

“It’s ok,” he reassures her.

“What’s going to happen to me?” She cries fearing the worst.

“Well,” Jungkook looks up at Namjoon and Yoongi searching their faces for an answer. “I’m not sure, but right now you should just rest.”

Shortly after, Jimin and Taehyung return with water and fruit for Luna. It isn’t long before Hoseok comes back with Jin looking understandably concerned. Everyone gathers around ready to hear what Namjoon and Jungkook discovered and discuss what happens next.

They explain what they overheard from the two guys in the woods. After the second guy led them to the main portal the Saakhan Venom use, Namjoon killed him with a volt of lightning when he tried to run. After making sure it wasn’t a trap, Jungkook went through the portal and learned that it leads to a back alley in the slums of the kingdom. He was able to pull the location on his phone and save it so he would be able to share it with the others.

Even better, is they were also able to close that portal. They’re not sure, but as far as they know, there’s no other portal in that location. As it stands, the only way anyone can get to the SV headquarters there, is through Luna.

Luna continues to sip on water and search for the strength to even speak. Everyone seems increasingly concerned knowing that she’s the only portal to that location. Mr. Choi already discovered it, and others already know. Considering how weak she is now no one is confident that she’d survive if anyone else tried traveling through her.

Jungkook volunteers to take care of Luna until she’s well again. Namjoon recruits the help of Jimin and Taehyung to keep watch on the alleyway where the portal is to see who tries going through it. The rest of the guys go their separate ways so that Luna can try to rest. Hoseok even takes the vomit bucket and lets them know that they can call him if they need anything.

“So,” Jungkook says handing her a small bushel of grapes from the basket of fruit Jimin and Taehyung brought back. “What do you normally eat when you don’t feel good?”

“Honestly? I’ve never felt like this before,” she says with little energy. “I’m not sure what would help this feeling.”

“I guess we can see how the fruit and water works and go from there.”

“How…how do you guys have fruit?” She asks popping a grape into her mouth.

“Should we not have fruit?” He chuckles.

“I don’t know. I mean, if all you guys do is drink blood, what do you need with fruit?”

“LuLuLuna, I really wish you would fully convert. Not just for the sake of your own life, but because I think human tv is a terrible influence and filled with false information.”

“I feel like it’s a legit question.”

“It’s not.”

“Then explain it, vampire boy.”

“You are sick and weak and threw up nearly every drop of blood you drank today, yet you talk to me like that when I offered to take care of you?”

“No one made you volunteer,” she jokes.

“Who else would have taken on the agonizing task of looking out for a sick human?”

“Jimin seemed like he was willing to take care of me. He was doing good while you were gone.”

“Look,” he groans rolling his eyes at the mention of Jimin taking care of her. “We have fruit, vegetables, and all kinds of other food just like humans do. Blood is for survival, food is for pleasure.”

“Does that mean you can make me some ramen?”

“No,” he says stone faced.

“Why not? You said you would take care of me until I’m feeling better.”

“It seems like you are feeling better since you’re being a pain in the ass as usual.”

“Everything in me hurts. If I don’t find a way to humor myself then I would just sit here crying nonstop. Is that what you want to deal with.”

“You could try shutting up and eating your fruit.”

“What if I took this fruit and choked you with it?” She asks throwing a grape at him.

“Good luck, weakling,” he smirks eating the grape and standing up. “Eat up, I’ll be back in a minute.”

“You’re just going to leave me here alone?”

“Yeah, you’re fine.”

“What if I die and you’re not here to save me?”

“Stop being dramatic.” He gives her a teasing grin then leaves the room.

Luna huffs then finishes off the bushel of grapes. Her stomach seems to appreciate her putting something in it other than blood, but she still feels weak and exhausted. This entire day has been long and draining and she hopes soon she can bounce back and go back home. She takes a sip of water and lays her head back on the pillow. It isn’t long before she falls right to sleep.

Tonight Jungkook finds himself on the roof again deep in thought. There’s something nagging at him in the back of his mind and he thought spending time in his usual thinking spot would help him figure out what it is. Unfortunately that’s not the case. He thought he would feel good about being able to close the portal the SVs have been using. Although they had to cut their adventure short he thought he would be happy with the information they found. Yet he still remains unsatisfied and unhappy.

He’s trying to think of what to do next. What can he do tomorrow to bring them closer to shutting SV down for good? What can he do to keep Luna safe? He remains on the roof well into the night lost in his mind.

#bts #bts au #bts fanfic #bts fic #bts smut #jeon jungkook #jungkook au #jungkook fanfic #jungkook smut #jungkook x oc #jungkook x original character #vampire au #vampire bts #strangers to lovers #eventual smut #angst #cross posted on wattpad #cross posted on ao3 #moons light

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