Chapter Text
There were witches in Salem. Three of them, in fact. Brothers Kim lived in a cabin on a hill on the outskirts of town. Orphaned at an early age and left with a small farm to work by themselves the town left them to their own devices. That was fine enough by them. It was the safest way to continue the practice their parents passed down to them.
Twenty seven years passed quietly, and a stranger came to town. Hoseok, the oldest brother and the closest to the veil of the Other, shuddered that morning. "There is something heavy in the air," he said, and kept a tight grip on the burning sage bundle in his hand. For once, even the familiar depth of the smoke did not placate his nerves. "I think we had best prepare for a storm."
There were four witches in Salem. A few cows, a dog, and four horses disappeared. Soon after, so did a girl named Sally. "I have been tryin' to scry for her. I like not to think it, but she may be gone too far for us to help," Jungkook, the youngest of the brothers, said with a sigh and a heavy hand run down his face. His eyes watered from staring into the inky liquid of the bowl in front of him. It was what he was best at, and yet... "It was just - just darkness."
There were four witches in town, and one of them thought that four was three too many. Two other girls disappeared, and then a man. "It has not been what I thought it would be." Namjoon's voice was shaking almost as terribly as his hands. The black cat at his feet was gnawing at his pants leg, obviously quite upset with the entire ordeal. "I'm sorry. This is the best that I could do."
"Namjoon," Hoseok said; voice hollow. Eyes wide and hazy, Hoseok swayed on his feet. Jungkook gripped his shoulders tightly. "Namjoon, they'll be coming soon. We have to finish the spell. Now." Hoseok could feel Jungkook shivering against him. "Do you have everything we need?"
"Yes," Namjoon said. The middle child, the strongest, would lead the spell at the forefront. It was their only chance. He nearly dropped the thick book twice before settling it on the kitchen counter. The other two crowded around him. The cat, petulant, bumped its head against Namjoon's leg. "I know. I'm trying to be careful."
"It's okay, hyung," Jungkook told him quietly. "We'll be okay."
Hoseok took a shuddering breath, and swayed again. Eyes on a far away place, miles from their home. "Hurry," he whispered; knuckles white as he gripped the counter. "They'll be bringin' fire."
There was one witch in Salem, and an empty cabin in the woods. A purple book rests on the kitchen counter, alone and waiting.
There are witches in Salem. Entirely too many for Taehyung's liking. His sexy Han Solo costume may not have been the most original, but at least it wasn't a witch. He'd seen the same three colored cloaks at least eleven times that night, and he'd only been at the party for an hour. "Twelve," Taehyung sighs as a girl in a purple cloak rushes past him with two red cups in her hands. Taehyung glances down at his phone again. Still no messages. The living room Taehyung is weaving his way through is cramped and hot. His shirt sticks to his skin uncomfortably as he slides his way through the group of drunk college kids attempting to dance. Taehyung finally makes it through the throng of people, and out the back door. The backyard of the frat house is large and, thankfully, filled with less people. A bonfire is crackling in the middle of the yard. There's a big crowd there, too. If Taehyung squints enough, he can see a group hovered around a keg.
Taehyung's phone vibrates with a new text. We're here!
With a confused frown, Taehyung texts back, We? but gets no reply. Jimin hadn't told him he was bringing anyone else. Then again, Jimin had gathered a large number of friends throughout his two semesters at Salem University. He had a knack for making friends even though he had transferred in the middle of their Sophomore year. He had been at the school for all of three days before they met, and decided on the spot that they would be best friends. We could mean anyone. It could be half the school. Jimin just had that air about him. Most anyone would follow him blindly. Taehyung was absolutely one of those people.
Taehyung doesn't get to ponder further before there's a loud, familiar voice calling to him. "There you are!" Taehyung turns just in time to catch Jimin. A reflex, by now, as Jimin was liable to fling himself onto any person or surface any time he felt even remotely happy. Taehyung loved that. Loved how openly Jimin could show his joy, and how easy it was for him to try and share it. Taehyung squeezes Jimin hard once before they both untangle. "Ooh, you look good. You weren't kidding about the crop top."
Taehyung grins. "Of course I wasn't. Let me get a look at you!" Jimin copies his grin, delighted, and takes a large step back to twirl. He was, as he had excitedly told Taehyung three months ago, sexy Ursula. It should have looked ridiculous, but this was Park Jimin. It, instead, looked upsettingly good. With hair spray-painted white and swept to the side, blue eye shadow blended to precision, red lips bright enough to glow in the dim light - Park Jimin looks like he belonged in a magazine instead of a Disney movie. His black leather dress looks more like a second skin rather than actual clothing. Jimin seems particularly proud of his red bottomed high heels, as he makes a sweeping wave over them with his hands. "I hate how hot you look."
Jimin's giggle is loud and pleased. "I know. Everyone does. Anyway, I totally have a surprise for you. It's amazing, it took me forever to drag him out of the dorm today. It was so worth it though. He went to go get drinks, he should be around here somewhere."
"Surprise?" That was not a good word when escaping Jimin's mouth. It didn't matter how cute he looked, Jimin with a plan was a devious; mischievous brat. Just as he feared, Jimin's smile turns cheshire immediately. "What surprise?"
"You'll love it," Jimin sings, and loops his arm through Taehyung's. It feels more like a shackle than a friendly gesture.
"This does not give me any sort of comfort, I hope you know," Taehyung says. Jimin ignores him; eyes searching the yard in excitement. "The last surprise had me finding glitter in the shower for two months."
"Yes, and it was hilarious. Honestly, one of my best surprises to date. The look on your face when - Oh! There he is! Hyung, over here!" It is with horror dawning on him that Taehyung realizes exactly what the surprise is. There's only one person in all of Salem that Jimin calls hyung.
Min Yoongi, the newest transfer student at Salem University by a handful of months, was walking towards them. Min Yoongi, who is wearing a floor length blue skirt and a black corset. Min Yoongi, who is wearing lipstick the same striking shade of red that his hair is. Min Yoongi, who makes smooth talking Taehyung stumble over his words like he's knocked back six shots in a row. Min Yoongi, who is getting closer and openly scowling at them. "Oh, my god," Taehyung hears himself mumble.
Jimin's cackle is loud in his ear but Taehyung can't quite tear his eyes away from the elegant fury that seems to be Min fucking Yoongi walking towards them. His long white shirt hangs low on his shoulders and Taehyung had never really paid attention to collarbones but he's certainly paying attention to these collarbones and wow what did breathing feel like again? It certainly wasn't whatever Taehyung was doing. "Close your mouth or you're gonna eat flies," Jimin snickers. Taehyung quickly snaps his mouth shut.
"Park Jimin," Yoongi hisses the second he gets near. The full force of his glare is turned on Jimin even as he holds out the beer bottle toward him. "I thought you said there'd be no one we knew here."
Taehyung could count on one hand how many times he'd actually spoken to Yoongi. Mostly because Yoongi barely ever left his dorm room outside of going to class. Also mostly, because Yoongi was pretty and intimidating and Taehyung was a fucking mess. "Um?" Taehyung isn't sure if he should be offended at the level of heat in Yoongi's words. "Should I? Not be here?"
Yoongi's head snaps towards him, and his eyes go wide. "What - no, I didn't mean - "
Jimin slaps Taehyung's back hard enough to make him grunt at the sting. "Don't worry about it! Hyung's just mad I lied to him. He lost a bet and had to do a couple costume with me." Jimin pauses to take a sip of his drink. He's unaffected by the fiery look Yoongi is still leveling at him. Taehyung can't help but be impressed. "He wanted to be the grim reaper again for the third year in a row. He's embarrassed he's not in his lame ass excuse of a costume."
"Of course I'm fucking embarrassed. I look fucking ridiculous," Yoongi grumbles.
"No, you look good. Tell him, Tae."
"Oh! Uh." Taehyung doesn't know if he wants to die or if he wants to kill Jimin more in that moment. "Um, he's right. You look really good."
Even from the low light of the bonfire feet away, Taehyung can see the red bloom across Yoongi's cheeks. It's crazy because Taehyung put that there. Taehyung was the reason Yoongi's angry facade was finally broken, and now he was stuttering quietly. "Oh - oh, uh. Thanks... I guess."
"God you two are hopeless," Jimin breathes under his breath so quietly that Taehyung almost misses it. Louder, he says, "Is that a sexy waldo doing a kegstand?"
The three looked over to the far right of the lawn, and sure enough there was someone in what just barely passed as a Waldo inspired outfit being held up over the keg. "God, I hate frat parties. Why am I here?" Yoongi asks to no one in particular. Someone in a red cloak whoops loudly, and begins to shotgun a beer. It is, all in all, a gross display. "And what the fuck is with all of these robes?"
"Oh, yeah. I've been wondering the same thing. They're all the same color. Are we missing out on some inside joke? Pop culture reference?" Jimin asks.
Taehyung gawks at them both. "You haven't heard about the Kim brothers?" At the blank expressions staring back at him, he safely assumes that is a no. "Oh my god, how have you been in Salem for this long and you haven't heard? Okay, it's like, our big urban legend here. Way back in like 1693 right before the witch trials started there were these brothers. They lived in this cabin on a hill just outside of town. There'd always been like, rumors about them and everything since they kept to themselves and could act a little weird but nothing major. So at the beginning of that year animals started disappearing, and then some people did, too. The brothers were accused of doing it all. Of being witches and stealing peoples' youth to become immortal and shit. You know, the usual."
"Sure, the usual," Yoongi remarked dryly.
"Someone claimed they saw the brothers kidnapping this wealthy man's son. So a mob goes to their cabin to hunt them down but the entire place is empty. Not a soul in sight. They searched the whole house but found nothing. Then not long after the woman who had accused them of the whole thing, Widow Sanderson, was arrested for being a witch and hung. Not long after the whole trials happened. But anyway, the main reason they're such a huge legend here is because of some prophecy someone supposedly found in their Book of Shadows. If a virgin lights the black flame candle on a full moon, they'll return." Taehyung rocks idly back on his heels. "We used to have their cabin open for tourists and stuff, back when it was popular. Hasn't been open for years, though, after tourism dropped. It's just a creepy abandoned house, now."
Jimin lights up at this. Which was, as always, not a good sign. "Ooh, we should go!" Yoongi makes his disagreement known with a loud groan. "I'm serious! I want to see! Anything is better than this party. I'm bored already and it hasn't even been twenty minutes."
Which was, actually, a good point. Anything was better than the party. Taehyung didn't even really like drinking. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. No cameras or nothing. No one really goes there, either. I used to go there all the time. It's safe enough."
Yoongi still seemed hesitant. "C'mon, hyung! Please?" Now Jimin had his full puppy eyed arsenal out, complete with pouting lips. Yoongi looked away hurriedly.
"Don't use that face on me, Park Jimin. That's fucking cheating and you know it."
"It could be fun," Taehyung says, and grins when Yoongi meets his eyes. "Please, hyung?"
Yoongi looks away from him sharply, and instead glares toward the bonfire again. Behind them, a vampire throws up in the bushes. Yoongi's disgruntlement turns quickly to disgust. "Fucking fine. Just get me the hell out of here."
Thirty minutes later, Yoongi lets them know just how much he's regretting it after his skirt is caught in the fence they slipped through to get onto the property. "I should've fucking stayed home," Yoongi growls as he watches the other two try to free his hem from the metal. Yoongi is wearing old Converse under his skirt, and for some reason Taehyung is endeared by it.
Skirt now free, the three began the short trek up the soft hill. The cabin is situated in a very small patch of forest. Trees loom over the old, sad looking fence that surrounds the hill. On the hill itself is only the cabin and a single, drooping tree bare of its leaves. The cabin is compact and wooden. Vines cover the house so thickly that there is almost more green than there is brown. The porch light is on but dim, as it always is. It's the only light that the town kept on at the cabin. There's a rocking chair to the right with an arm missing. "How are we gonna get in, anyway? Isn't it locked?" Jimin asked; shuffling a bit closer to Yoongi as a strong gust of wind hit them.
"Yeah, but the lock is shit. If you just wiggle the handle a bit it'll give." Taehyung, true to his word, manhandles the doorknob; wiggling it and lifting it just enough that the door finally clicks open. It falls open with an ominous, long creeeak. He turns to give them both a bow. "Gentleman, after you."
"Why are all pretty boys such show offs," Yoongi mutters, but he doesn't exactly sound that annoyed.
Taehyung tries not to preen under the slight compliment. He probably fails. "I dunno how true that is, hyung. You don't seem like that much of a show off to me."
Yoongi, to his credit, only looks surprised for a moment this time before snorting loudly. "That's cuz you haven't seen me rapping yet." Which was interesting information, because Taehyung hadn't known Yoongi could rap but now that the idea was in his head he was very, very certain that he found that painfully attractive.
"Disgusting," Jimin says loudly, but there's amusement in his voice as he disappears inside. "Is there a switch? I'm assuming they work since the porch light is on. I - oh! Here we go." Just as Yoongi closes the door behind them light floods the house. It's dim and orange with age, but it's enough to see without bumping into things.
It hadn't changed much since Taehyung had last been there, save for some more cobwebs. The cabin is essentially just one large, open room with a kitchen and an open upstairs loft. The air inside is stagnant and humid from the October air. Bookshelves cover every available wall space, and are filled with old books and hazy glass jars filled with weird liquids. Old, used candelabras litter every available surface; the old wax frozen on the stems. In the middle of the room is a large table with old rickety chairs. There is a large cauldron hanging in the fireplace. If Taehyung hadn't known better, he would say it swayed ever so slightly.
Yoongi is at the table, peering down curiously at the only item on the table. It is a white candle etched with red designs. It had never been lit, and would stay that way. Despite the general consensus that no one in Salem had been actual, magical witches something about the candle kept everyone away. Even teens with too much time and too little self restraint didn't mess with it. Maybe it was the prophecy, or maybe it was just the way it seemed untouched by time. Either way, it was left alone.
"Tae, what is this?" Jimin's voice calls from deeper inside. Taehyung walks into the kitchen to find Jimin leaning over the counter that rests under the kitchen window. The kitchen is relatively barren; pots and pans are piled high in open cupboards and there's old dried herbs in glass jars on a small table in the corner. The moonlight drifts in through the window. Taehyung peers over Jimin's shoulder, but he already knows what he's looking at. The Kim brothers' Books of Shadows lays there on the counter; alone as it always was. That, too, was something no one ever messed with despite it being out in the open. Three hundred years had done nothing to the deep purple leather of the tome. It was large, heavy, and dense. Jimin traces a finger over the golden eye painted on the front.
"Their Book of Shadows. They practiced some sort of Paganism. Dunno which. I've found some pretty cool stuff in there, actually." Taehyung opens the book to a random page. It's filled with scrawling notes about the uses of dandelions. A single, wilted dandelion is pressed into the creases; its petals somehow still intact. "And there's something in a language I don't understand, too."
"Like what?" Yoongi's voice is suddenly in his ear, and Taehyung jumps sharply. Yoongi chuckles. It's deep and slow and it rushes through Taehyung like a bolt of lightning. "Sorry."
Taehyung shakes his head; heart pounding too much to respond. He, instead, flips the book to the back pages. It's easy enough to find the strange language he had before - the pages are marked with red ribbons. The strange words are scrawled all over the page with no rhyme or reason. Up until that point most of the notes were precise and organized but the entire back section is covered in so many words that the pages looked like someone had just colored the entire thing black. There's odd symbols and shapes dotted around the pages and in the margins and annotated with arrows and other odd markings. "I thought it could be Latin, but nothing on Google translate turns up at all."
"Yeah, cuz Google translate of all things is so reliable," Jimin snorts. He tries, and fails, to dodge the elbow Taehyung jabs him with. "Ow," he laughs. "Okay, if it's not like, Latin then what is it?"
"I had a friend convinced it was Gaelic, but I think he just wanted to sound smart." Taehyung shook his head. "I spent forever trying to figure out what language it is. I even tried Old Norse, but - "
"Hey, um," Yoongi's voice is soft and unsure. His hand curls around Taehyung's elbow. Yoongi isn't looking at either of them, though, and is instead staring at a dark corner in the kitchen with a deep frown. "did you guys hear that?"
Jimin and Taehyung exchanged glances. "Hear what?" Taehyung asks.
"A - I thought... I thought I heard someone talking." Yoongi finally tears his eyes away from the corner to blink at them both owlishly. He seems shaken. His grip on Taehyung hasn't lessened. "Guess I was hearing things."
"What time did you go to bed?" Jimin asks; leaning past Taehyung to watch Yoongi with a critical eye. Yoongi looks away. "Min Yoongi! I told you to stop staying up so late! I tried to get you to sleep but no you just had to finish that song. Did you even sleep at all?"
Yoongi is now grimacing at the floor. "I slept enough," he says, but Jimin is not convinced.
His hands now on his hips, Jimin huffs. "An hour is not enough. You can't keep doing this to yourself. You're going to wind yourself in the hospital again and who's going to take care of you? Me. So if you're not going to take care of yourself for you do it for me, asshole."
"Drop it, Jimin." Yoongi's voice is firm. Jimin quiets, but his frown is unrelenting. Yoongi doesn't look back up as he walks out of the kitchen.
Taehyung feels unbearably awkward. "Um... Are you okay?" Taehyung asks.
"I'm fine," Jimin sighs, and relaxes. "We have this argument a lot. I just get so worried about him." Jimin shakes his head sharply, as if ridding himself of the thoughts. "Anyway, I'm hungry. Do you think anything is open this late?"
"Ooh, we could go to Waffle House. Get some waffles."
Jimin scrunches his nose at him. "Waffle House? C'mon, I have standards, at least."
Taehyung makes a show of gasping loudly, and slapping his hand over his heart. "Jimin! To think I would be betrayed by the very man I love!"
Jimin laughs brightly, and smacks his arm. "Shut up, god. You're insufferable."
The lights above them flicker. "...Well, that can't be good."
"Hyung!" Jimin calls, and heads back into the main room. Taehyung follows behind him closely; eyeing the lights suspiciously. "I dunno what that was, but I think it's time we leave. I'm seriously starving, anyway." Yoongi has his back to them as he stands in front of the table. He doesn't answer, so Jimin continues closer. "Hyung? Come on, don't give me the silent treatment just because of that. We argue about it all the time. It can't be that serious all of a sudden - "
Jimin is a few feet away from Yoongi when something dark darts past them and lunges through the air. Jimin yelps and stumbles backwards; Taehyung barely manages to catch Jimin before he falls. "What the fuck is that - "
A loud, low hiss cuts through the thick air. There is a black cat perching on Yoongi's shoulder; tail swishing erratically. It turns its head to stare at them with large, glowing eyes. The ground shakes beneath their feet. The cat's mouth opens, and a new voice fills the room, "Do not interrupt."