Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A loud thunk echoed throughout the forest as the butt of a knife came in contact with the tree, crashing to the ground as colorful leaves hid the knife below. An exasperated sigh could be heard. Kaitlyn had been training for years but knife throwing was a struggle. Close combat? She can do that easily. But this? This knife throwing thing was just ridiculous. 

Kaitlyn threw the last knife she had and let out a frustrated wail as the knife soared past the tree. She only managed to stick one knife in the tree while the rest were scattered like the leaves on the ground. She walked forward and retrieved the lone knife from the tree and started searching for the others. 

"1.. 2… 3… 4.. Where the hell is the 5th one?" Kaitlyn spoke softly to no one in particular, trying to gather each knife she threw. She searched through the leaves, thinking it was hidden beneath them. Another frustrated sigh left her as she stood and turned to go back to the area where she was throwing from. A sharp wind swept past her left ear, her blonde hair flying into her face as something was thrown her way, too close for comfort, in her opinion. Staring at the tree in front of her, she observed the missing knife lodged in the tree, perfectly centered. 

"You're gonna kill someone and not who you intended," a quiet, yet bold voice stated. Kaitlyn quickly turned, her knives ready to attack whatever being was near her. She saw a girl; if she were to guess about age fifteen which would put her two or three years younger than herself.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kaitlyn seethed. The girl just laughed.

"Well, I was just minding my business when I saw a knife on the ground and spotted you trying to learn to throw them. Whoever taught you did a horrible job," the girl said, resting against one of the many trees in the autumnal forest. 

A scoff escaped Kaitlyn’s lips, “That was just a lucky shot! You missed your target anyways.” Kaitlyn glared, believing the mystery girl was aiming for her.

“Actually, I hit exactly where I was aiming for. I let it stick in the tree and made sure it was close enough to get your attention without puncturing you,” she said. Kaitlyn glared as she grabbed the knife from the tree. 

“Well  good for you, now leave me be.” Kaitlyn stated as she went back to her throwing spot to practice for the millionth time that day.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you. I’ve seen you do some pretty remarkable things. What do you say if I help you out with some skills you obviously lack. Then, in return, will you help me improve?” The girl smirked, watching as Kaitlyn fumed. 

“I should end your life right now for saying that.” Kaitlyn growled, her defense mode activated. She gripped the knife, ready to take her head off.

“Go ahead and try. If you’re lucky maybe you’ll throw within 5 feet of me” The girl teased, overconfident. Without hesitation, Kaitlyn threw the knife with as much force as she could muster. It soared through the air drawing closer and closer, until...

Thwack

The sound of the knife hitting a rock echoed throughout the forest. A defeated Kaitlyn slumped down on top of a stump.

“If you help me,” Kaitlyn sighed, looking down at her feet as she tried to come to terms with the reality of the situation. “What do you want in return?” Kaitlyn forced out, looking back up at the girl, the feeling of defeat laced her tone. She stared as the mysterious girl racked her brain for answers. Knowing this could be bad, Kaitlyn let out a string of curses.

“It's not like I’m gonna have you kill someone. I am just racking through my thoughts. I’ve seen you in the woods before, you know?” She proclaimed, not phased one bit. Before Kaitlyn could even say a word, the mystery girl continued, “Anyways, I have seen how agile you are, much better than the other two you’re always with. So, I’ll teach you how to throw like a girl and you teach me to be more quick and agile. Do we have a deal?” The girl said proudly, waiting for an answer. Kaitlyn chewed her bottom lip, her thoughts cluttered with nonstop questions. What if this girl could really help me improve? But, why does she need to be more agile? Could she be using this to try and hurt us? Kaitlyn looked back up to study this mystery girl, trying to figure out just exactly what her goal was. She did say she had seen us before. If I do this, I could catch up in practice with the other two. I hate that I am so far behind. Why couldn’t I have started sooner?

“Oh my god will you just answer the damn question already!” The girl spat out, growing impatient. “When you live in the forest you need agility to escape the things that reside in it. If I wanted to hurt you or any of your friends I would have done so already.” Kaitlyn sighed, knowing the girl was right. She jumped from the tree stump, a newfound excitement flowed through her veins.

“When do we start, stranger?” Kaitlyn eagerly asked as she wanted to hurry up and master her knife throwing. A smirk appeared on Kaitlyn’s lips, she desperately wanted to see the reaction on the boys’ faces when she showed them her throwing. The girl laughed.

“First of all I have a name. It is Lexi and I would prefer it if you would use it.” Lexi stated, her arms crossed against her chest. “And we can start now, but it is only going to consist of fixing your fucked up form. Whoever showed you must be awful at knife throwing or may just not care if someone else dies.” Lexi bluntly stated, as she pushed herself off the tree and moved closer, before showing her how she should stand and angle herself.

Days turned into weeks that turned into months, the cool autumnal air changed to the blistering cold as sheets of white blanketed the ground and the surrounding trees. Yet, through the cold of winter, the two practiced and practiced until…

“I told you! You’re a natural, you just had to fix some minor things.” Lexi said as Kaitlyn successfully hit the bullseye with all five of the knives. Kaitlyn glowed as a smile formed on her face from sheer joy.

“And you are more agile than you thought.” Kaitlyn beamed as she retrieved the knives from her target. “We both improved.” They rested for a minute on one of the fallen trees as the sun began to sink below the horizon, illuminating the white forest with an orange glow. 

“Well, it took four months but we made it. We may have almost killed each other a couple of times but we did it.” Lexi said, her gaze focused on the beautiful fire lit sky. A sigh escaped Kaitlyn’s lips. “Well I guess that's it then.” Lexi gloomy stated. It had been so long since she had this kind of interaction. Kaitlyn tore her eyes away from the sky to look at the girl sitting next to her. She noticed the sadness that washed through Lexi's light blue eyes, almost making them look gray. 

“It doesn’t have to be.” Kaitlyn said as soon as an idea popped into her mind. Lexi finally broke her gaze from the sky and looked to Kaitlyn.

“How so?” Lexi questioned. 

Without thinking, Kaitlyn spoke, “I know you don’t have a home, but I do. You could come stay with me.” She said, hope in her voice.

“If I do, I would become a hunter like you and the others, wouldn’t I?” Lexi asked. Over the past few months, the two became close and shared a few secrets, yet some things were better left unsaid.

“Yeah, you could if you’re good enough.” Kaitlyn said, wondering why she even asked that. The side of Lexi’s mouth rose in satisfaction. 

“When do I start?” Lexi smirked, a smile formed on Kaitlyn’s face. The two stood from the broken tree as they grabbed the knives and made their journey through the woods towards the home of the hunters.

Chapter Text

It was dark and musty. The warehouse had been abandoned for some time now, judging by the cobwebs scattered around the corners of the building and dust that piled high, at least an inch thick. The only noise within the whole building was the staggered breathing of the four humans who had just ran into it.

Each looked around the building, hoping to see anything that would give them a sense of where the thing they had been chasing had fled to. Their eyes met nothing but walls of crates that had long been forgotten, along with the walls that surrounded them, encasing them in the building.

“They came in here, I know it!” One of the four voiced, his tone hushed but stern. He was the shorter of the two men amongst the group but the way he commanded the other three and held his ground gave no mistake that he was in fact the oldest and the most experienced, His platinum blonde hair was short but still long enough to get in the way of his sight. His dark brown eyes scanned the room, the remnants of a painful experience resided on the right side of his face, stretching from just above his eyebrow, though his eye, and down his cheek.

“Yoongi, we lost sight of them. They could be anywhere right now.” The other male responded, adjusting the sleeves of his jacket further up his arms, his eyes still roaming the area not trusting where they were. He flicked his head to the side, trying to move his black hair from his face. His hair reached the bottom of his ears, his brown doe eyes would make others think of him like a child, but those doe eyes held too much for a child to bear.

“I mean, they couldn’t have gotten far,” The brunette next to Yoongi chimed in, a smirk settled on her lips, “Don’t tell me you are ready to throw in the towel already, Jungkook.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Jungkook warned, his eyes darting to the woman.

“Enough,” Yoongi glared between the two, “We need to cover ground and fast before they find an exit out of here.”

“He has a point,” The last of them whispered, pushing her short blonde hair out of her face, “You two can bicker when we are home and when we’re not in immediate danger.”

“Jungkook, take the far end and see if there are any rooms located along the wall. I’ll take the left section of crates and see if they are hidden within them. Lexi, you and your goddamn mouth can take the right half of the crates. Kate, take the other wall and follow the same instructions as Jungkook,” He sighed, then looked between them all, “If you run into trouble, yell.”

They followed as instructed, splitting from one another.

Jungkook walked the wall until he found a door. He straightened his posture and rolled his head to the side out of habit, emitting a small crack from the movement. He prepared himself for what might be inside, placing one hand on the weapon in his pocket. Reaching for the handle, he opened the door with the twist of his wrist.

The room was small, and he came to the conclusion that it must have been the office of an official, since the only thing that graced the room was a desk and a few filing cabinets. After he surveyed the room, he backed out and closed the door. If they had hid there, he would have noticed.

He continued along the wall before finding yet another door but this one was obvious what it was with the little human figures posted on the door. He pushed the door open and walked in, being cautious of not being blindsided by an attack as he rounded the corner of the dark restroom.

The room, much like the rest of the building, hadn’t seen much human interaction in years. The mirrors above the sinks were foggy with dirt and smudges. Staring at the mirror for a quick second, he couldn’t even make himself out within. He inched forward, eyeing the stalls as he did. He looked beneath them, checking to see if any held a pair of feet. To his dismay, there were none. They may be monsters, but they were very much human at one point.

He proceeded to reach out and push the stalls open, a soft squeak emitted from the rust on the hinges of the door. Yet,  one by one, each of them revealed to be empty.

With the bathrooms being cleared of any sign of life, he relaxed only a slight bit and made his way back out of them to finish the sweep of his section before joining the others.

Lexi, on the other hand, seemed to be empty handed just as Jungkook was, not finding what they were after. She wandered through her area and hid behind shelves and boxes, hoping to see some type of movement when she rounded the corner. Despite her attempts, she didn’t find a single one.

A sigh escaped her lips as she brushed the loose strand of hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear, back into its place. That’s when she heard a bang come from nearby. Her body straightened and she ran as fast as she could, following the noise she heard a few aisles down.

When she found the source of the noise she realized that it was Yoongi in the midst of a battle with another man, or well, what looked like a man. In every way, shape, and form, this thing could pass as any average human, from the way it speaks to how it can feel. Yet, it wasn’t. The way it moved too fast for any mortal being or their craving for people’s life essence made it anything but human.

Lexi was just about to hop in and help him when she watched Yoongi grab the humanoid creature by the collar of its shirt and shove it against the shelves. He swiftly pulled a stake out from his belt and shoved it  deep into its chest, through the heart. The creature had let out an ear piercing screech, so human-like it made her shiver. As the screeching died off, it went limp in his hands.

Heads up!

Lexi heard as, out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement and quickly looked up. Her eyes narrowed slightly, seeing another taking refuge on top of the shelves and boxes, eyeing Yoongi. Its fangs were showing, and she knew it was going to pounce right on her friend.

Stealthy and quickly, she reached on her belt and grabbed her weapon of choice. Grabbing the knife by its tang, she pulled it out and quickly aimed. Just like usual, her target was hit. Being surprised by the sudden impalement, it fell forward and toppled off the top and crashed onto the ground.

Yoongi, surprised by the sound, looked over his shoulder to see what seemed to be a female vamp grasping at a knife stuck deep in her chest as she backed up into the other side of the aisle. A small smirk crept onto his face, and not looking away from her he dropped the limp body he held in his hands.

“You have something of mine, hun. I don’t take kindly to thieves,” Lexi said. The vampire glared up at the brunette who didn’t break eye contact with her. Lexi then stepped on its chest, pushing the throwing knife in deeper and keeping her pinned to the floor. She then pulled her own stake from her belt and tossed it in her hand, offering it to Yoongi, “Want to do the honors since she was going to kill you?”

“If you insist.” He shrugged, seeming to not have a single care in the world. He took the stake from her hand, and quickly plunged it into the vampire’s chest. As soon as her body went limp, Lexi lifted her weight off of her and bent down to grab the knife that was deeply lodged in the chest of the beast. A sickening sound echoed as the knife was pulled out with great force. Once the knife was removed she wiped the blood off on the dead vampire’s pants and  put it back in its place.

Lexi noticed the blood dripping from Yoongi’s split lip and she cocked her head to the side, “You okay?”

“The fucker came out of nowhere but despite the advantage,” He paused, his eyes flicked to the first of the two still limp on the ground where he dropped him, “Look where it got him.”

The action of the battle went unnoticed by Kate who was still patrolling the side of the building she was told to search. Yet, it was nothing but walls and the outside of the aisles. Despite being on high alert, she didn’t see a sign of life anywhere, other than herself.

She stopped mid-walk when she realized she was passing a door. She switched her attention to it instead and attempted to open it. It didn’t budge. She tried again with more force, but still… nothing. Annoyed, she put even more strength into it, and it pushed forward an inch. It was enough to see that it had to be the breakroom and that the door was indeed barricaded.

With a little more effort, she had pushed the door completely open. The room itself was pretty huge and at one point probably accommodated many workers taking their lunches after hours of moving boxes and driving the now dusty machinery around. Tables lined the room, along with a few vending machines and microwaves.

Suddenly, she heard a clatter and her eyes shot in it’s direction. Her eyes met with the view of another woman but one she did not know. She was outstandingly beautiful, which all of them are after they become turned. It was a way to lure in the unsuspecting. Too bad she knew their tricks.

“Look,” The vampire spoke, her dark eyes finding Kate’s own, “I wasn’t even the one to murder those kids. It was the others. Children are innocent, I prey on the ones who deserve death.”

Kate chucked, “Oh, how noble of you.”

The vampire, sensing her lack of sympathy, hissed; her eyes turned a shade of red to mimic her anger. Within seconds, Kate’s hands had found her knives and she readied herself for whatever the vampire was going to throw at her.

The vampire attacked, throwing herself at the other, but Kaitlyn dodged as if she anticipated it. The vampire then proceeded to fall into the ground. Kate met its glare and a smirk fell across her face at the sight.

The monster quickly got back on her feet and charged at her again, only to be shoved against one of the tables with a knife held to her throat. Kate watched as the fear filled expression of the vampire slowly morphed into a smirk.

“Why are you so smug when you’re about to die?” Kate demanded to know, pressing the knife a little further into her neck.

The vampire chuckled, “You’re one to talk. Did you really think I would have come in here alone?”

Kate froze, suddenly aware that she hadn’t been paying attention to the rest of the room or the doorway since the encounter began. That’s when she felt a hand grasp hard onto her shoulder and for the first time since the fight began, she felt the slightest rush of fear.

Just as the pressure began, a whoosh passed by her head and a thud echoed within the quiet room. The hand that had been grasping her shoulder with inhuman strength had become dead weight on her before it dropped along with the rest of the body. Pressing the knife even harder into the now fear filled vampire, she followed it’s line of sight to see just who had saved her life.

There, standing over the decapitated head of a vampire, stood Jungkook and all his messy haired glory.

Kate’s attention returned to the last remaining monster in the room, “Did you think I would have come in here alone?”

With those words, Kate found the stake on her belt and impaled it into the last vampire’s chest. After she was sure she was dead, she holstered her knife and turned around to see Jungkook just in time to see him shove his hands in his pants pockets and half heartedly kicked the severed head further away from him.

“You did come in here alone,” He said, a slight sense of humor etched his voice.

Kate smirked, feeling relieved he wasn’t going to tear into her, “She didn’t need to know that.”

“You’re an idiot,” Jungkook responded, shaking his head.

“Thank you,” She mumbled, truly feeling like one at that moment in time. She did come into the room alone and she did forget to make sure there were no other bodies in the room.

“Let’s find the others,” He responded, just as she mumbled her thanks to him.

After a short time, all four met back up and determined that the warehouse was now cleared of any life, besides themselves. Collectively they dragged the bodies of the dead out of the building and piled them together on the far side of the building away from any prying eyes. Jungkook tossed the bag he had slung over his back onto the ground and pulled out a handy container of lighter fluid. He opened the container and walked to the bodies, dousing them, making sure there were no missing spots.

Burning the bodies wasn't necessary, but a contingency plan. Not only did it guarantee that they were in fact dead, but it got rid of the bodies and any evidence that they were ever there to begin with.

Yoongi pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit a scrap piece of paper he found somewhere on the ground, “Fuck you.”

With those words, he tossed the paper onto the bodies and they engulfed into a sea of flames. The four stood around watching the bodies burn for a few minutes in silence, all feeling grateful the fight was over. They waited, not only to relax from the fight, but also to make sure nothing would crawl out of the flames. Nothing had before, yet they did not want to take the chance. They stood in silence as the flame lit up the night and ashes rained down around them. 

Once the fire died down enough not to be a danger to the trees or the nearby building and the dead were morphed into a pile of ash, the group deemed it suitable to leave back where they had come from. Soon after they exited the perimeter of the warehouse grounds the fours guards fell only slightly. Each of their shoulders slumped as the last of the adrenaline rush emptied their bodies.

Lexi stretched letting out a loud yawn, “Let’s move a little quicker. We have to walk back to the car and then drive a ways back to town. I’m all for nightly strolls through the dark of night in the middle of the woods, but I have my first day of class tomorrow and I don’t want to sleep through it.”

“Lex, it’s only one in the morning,” Kate said, humor residing in her voice.

“And I’m pooped.” She responded, stretching her arms above her head. Kate shook her head at the other, a smile on her face. One thing was for sure, tomorrow was a new day.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure it’s them, Sir?”

The man smirked, staring at the event that just unfolded before his eyes.

“Oh yes… it's them.”

_________________________________________________________

The shrieking of an alarm clock stirred Kaitlyn from her slumber; she groaned as she stirred, wanting the irritating noise to shut the hell up. With another groan she reached for her phone only to realize it wasn’t even her alarm. A loud growl escaped her lips as she got up, storming out of her room to the one next door, fuming. She grabbed the doorknob of the room next door, trying to pry it open. She growled deeper and rattled the door as loudly as she could.

“Either unlock the door or get up and shut your damn alarm off!” Kaitlyn's yell echoed throughout the house, anger laced her every word. The night before, the four hunters got home around three in the morning from their mission and the current time was 8 am. It was early, TOO EARLY. 

Damn it, why the hell did Lexi always have to have her door locked? Ever since she moved in with us, a night hasn’t gone by that she hasn’t unlocked her door. I swear she is more paranoid than anyone I’ve ever met! Kaitlyn thought as she tried to pry open the door with her bare hands, hoping the wood frame would break and she could end the noise that had woke her.

The irritating shrieking of the alarm finally stopped and the door swung open causing Kate to stumble forward a bit as she looked up at an exhausted Lexi. Her blue eyes were masked with tiredness and her hair was a mess from slumber. She directed a glare Kaitlyn’s way as if it was her alarm that disturbed her sleep instead of the other way around.

“You think I want to be up this early?” Lexi grumbled as she stalked back into her room and to her closet to find something to wear for the day. Kaitlyn followed in behind her, observing the room. A messy bed laid in the corner against the connecting wall between their rooms. Some white dressers stood by the door and her desks were cluttered with books and weapons while the floor was spotless. 

“Why can’t you move your bed to the other wall?” Kaitlyn whined and sat down on the unmade bed, resting her back against the wall, letting her tired eyes close. Lexi rolled her eyes in response as she dug through her closet. 

“You know damn well Yoongi nearly shot me when my alarm went off and woke him up.” Lex scoffed, “We got in that big argument before class and when I got home, my bed was on this side of the room.” Lexi grumbled as she pulled out the clothes she planned on wearing. Nothing too fancy, just a pair of jean shorts and a baggy t-shirt that covered any weapons she brought to defend herself with. 

“You know you don’t have to take weapons with you everywhere.” Kaitlyn said, sitting up as she slowly became more aware. Lexi’s only response was a shake of her head ‘no’ before she stalked off to the bathroom to get changed. With another yawn, Kaitlyn pushed off the bed and walked sluggishly back to her room, aching for a little bit more sleep.

Lexi quickly changed, storing her pocket knife into the waistband of her shorts as she brushed out her hair. She didn’t bother to do much with it since it was neither curly or straight, but had small natural waves throughout it. She let her hair do its own thing, but made sure it still looked good. Once Lexi finished doing her daily routine she made her way back into her room, making sure that she had everything she needed before heading to the kitchen to get breakfast before school. 

A soft smile formed on Lexi’s face as a heavenly scent filled the air as she moved closer to the kitchen. A mixture of sweet cinnamon, brown sugar, pancakes, and bacon filled the air. Her smile grew as she became excited and rushed to the kitchen to hug the man cooking.

“You made my favorite for my first day?” Lexi asked, letting him go after the hug and taking a seat at her usual spot at the table. She eyed the back of the blonde man as he continued to cook, mostly ignoring her question, humming in response. 

Lexi sighed, shaking her head at him. It was only moments later before he turned around, skillet in one hand and spatula in the other. What stared back at her, besides the blonde man, was most definitely her favorite cinnamon pancakes. He then turned back around, reaching for a plate and put a few on it before turning around and dropping the plate in front of her. A smile crept on her face before she licked her lips as her stomach let out a loud growl.

"Damn, I knew you cared about me Yoongi." Lexi joked, as she peeked at his unamused face. He had made her breakfast the first day of school ever since she moved in and became one of them.  Even now, as she entered her second year of college, it was no different. 

He locked eyes with her and shook his head, turning away from her to finish cooking the remnants of the pancake batter. She didn't miss the smirk on his face as he turned, which gave away his every thought he refused to share. 

“I make breakfast for you every year and you act like this?” He paused, giving her the side eyes. “Maybe I should stop.” Yoongi threatened. Lexi giggled softly, giving him her best sad, puppy dog eyes. 

“If you do that I'll tell the others you have a heart.” Lexi joked with him, taking another bite. Yoongi let a small laugh escape before he tried to cover it with a scowl as he slid a plate of bacon across the table to her. Luckily, Lexi’s fast reflexes caught it before it flew off the table to the ground. Yoongi clicked his tongue as he crossed his arms and glanced at her, leaning against the table.

“Too bad I don’t have one.” Yoongi said as he turned his back to the girl to clean the dishes. Lexi couldn’t help but let a smile form on her lips. Yoongi was never one to say he cared, but he always showed it, though he would try to mask it.

Lexi dug into her food and just like all the times before, it melted in her mouth. She couldn’t help but let out a satisfied groan as she took her first bite. Yoongi was an amazing cook, but he only did it when he wanted to. He was beyond talented, though no one would know because he only cooked when he wanted to. 

Yoongi rolled his eyes, “I literally cooked last week; you could at least act used to it.” Yoongi scowled as he scrubbed all the remnants from the dishes. A plate of extra pancakes sat on the table in case Lexi wanted more or if the others decided they wanted some, whenever they woke up. 

Lexi quickly finished eating all except for the bacon, which she took to go. With a quick thank you and goodbye to Yoongi, she ran out of the house and made her way to school. She decided to cut through the woods to get to her college, which allowed her to be there within fifteen minutes. 

Lexi weaved through countless trees as she ventured deeper into the forest; she wasn’t worried about getting lost. She knew these woods like the back of her hand, having been in them most of her life. She knew what every inch of these woods contained. Her favorite places to visit within them was a large clearing with surrounding trees, an underground cave, and many more things left untouched by humans. She continued to make her way through the woods until she finally reached the end of the trees and the start of buildings.

As she stepped out of the woods she brushed off any dust that may have collected on her as she spun around and took one last look at the mountain of trees she had just emerged from. Once deeming herself presentable enough she made her way onto the school campus, ready to find her first class in the maze of buildings and classrooms. Even though this was her second year, she still got lost in the buildings, which is why she wanted to head over early to find her classes.

Looking at her schedule on her phone she took note of the building and what class number it was. 

Geology room 203 building C…   Great… She thought with a roll of her eyes. I get to learn about rocks, yay. She looked up, finally tearing her eyes away from her phone.

 With an idea of what direction to head she made her way to class. Of course she still got lost on the way because of the amount of classrooms the building had, but, eventually, she made it.

She peaked inside and was surprised to see a decent amount of people already seated even though it was ten minutes prior to class. She swallowed softly as she clenched her fist, eyes surveying the room. She was bold but her shyness and untrusting personality kept her from talking to many people. She did not want to sit by anyone too suspicious, that could be a dangerous game she did not want to play. These people could be any form of creature, hidden as a human in disguise. They could be good or they could be evil. If she were to get close, she could put her family in grave danger.

“What should I do?” She mumbled softly. Her first year she managed to sit alone, but now, there were only a few open seats and each seat had an occupied neighbor. If only I had left a little earlier, then I wouldn’t be in this situation. She thought with a sigh.

Sit by her

Lexi heard in her head, the voice broke her out of her thoughts. It took her a moment to process what the voice had said before she looked around, surveying everyone.

‘A bit more specific please,’ she thought back sarcastically. There were a few open seats but there were many hers around sitting next to the open seats.

The girl with the blond hair and green eyes.

She heard again. Once more, her eyes scanned the room, searching for the girl that was described when finally, her eyes landed on a girl sitting in the back of the room, two seats from the window. She took note of her appearance, her hair was platinum blonde down to mid-back and wavy, accompanied with bangs. She was petite with average, if not slightly below average muscles. To many she would seem harmless, not much of a threat. Yet, Lexi had her doubts as she raised an eyebrow, hesitant. The voice spoke before she could ask another question.

I scanned her. She is a good soul. Now go.

Lexi let out a soft sigh as she made her way into the classroom. She passed many people and sat down in the seat between the girl and the window.

The blonde girl peaked to the side when she felt movement next to her. She didn't bother to even lift her head as she stared through her blonde hair and watched the new girl. She was trying to muster up the strength to say a word but the girl who sat next to her spoke first. 

“It's creepy to stare like that.” Lexi said nonchalantly without turning her head to look at the other. The girl slowly turned her face back into her arms looking down at the desk as she mumbled out a quiet sorry, barely audible. Lexi shook her head, still not turning to the girl, “You aren’t gonna last long without a backbone.” Lexi stated, as she was able to read her like a book. “You need to either fight back or befriend someone that can.”  The girl nodded and remained quiet, still keeping her face hidden in her arms. A sigh escaped Lexi’s lips, feeling a bit bad for being too blunt. She was used to being this way with her family; since, from day one, they were the same way back… well.. Yoongi was. Because of the way she always talked, she almost forgot how to talk to others in a kinder, more sympathetic tone. 

“What's your name?” Lexi said, as she finally faced the girl, observing her movements. She was hunched over her desk, tense, as if she was trying to shield herself from the world and its surroundings. Lexi softened a bit, seeing a younger version of herself in the girl.

“Yuri.” The girl mumbled, barely audible. She did not move from her position, keeping her head down and body hunched over her desk. It seemed as if Yuri thought if she were to move, she would shatter into a million pieces. 

“Well I’m Lexi.” Lexi responded as she reclined back in her seat, waiting for the professor to show. “I have a free period after this, we can grab lunch,” she said, deciding to take Yuri under her arm and befriend her, cautiously that is.

“Okay.” Yuri did not let her see, but a small smile formed on her lips. In her eighteen years, she never had someone that even looked her way, let alone talk to her, besides one person. But that person left; otherwise, she was always invisible. But, what scared her most was, was she really ready to let that change again?

Chapter Text

Attention students. As you all know, there have been an increased number of attacks throughout the country against people of all ages. We urge you to take precautions and do not leave the school alone. For your safety, please return home and stay there before nightfall. If you are out after it gets dark, get home immediately. These attacks have been happening at night and have not stopped. Last night, three more people were attacked and killed a few towns over. We urge you to please stay safe and take all precautions possible. Thank you.

The speakers of the school rumbled as the announcement played. The school officials played this many times throughout the day to make sure that all the students had a chance to hear it. Since, in college, not all students may be present at the same time, they overplayed it to make sure all heard it.

Lexi’s first class had ended and she was standing in the hall as the announcement filled her ears. Her jaw locked shut as her hands clenched into fists, frustration clearly evident on her face. She hated this feeling. Her and her family worked hard to try and bring down these killings by getting rid of the ones causing them. Yet, it felt like they were just cutting the head off a hydra over and over again. When one group was stopped, two more took its place and the hunters ended up being two steps behind.

As Lexi’s frustration showed, a pair of eyes observed her from the other side of the hall curiously. He eyed her stance and noticed the stiffness that followed after the final parts of the announcement played. It was as if she knew what was happening, every last detail of the killings. Worry should’ve consumed her face like the others scattered around the hall. Yet, her face showed anger rather than worry. 

The man watching had a special skill of reading people, he always used it to his advantage. A dark smirk appeared on his lips as his thoughts ran wild. 

We must have a hunter in these halls. He thought, a newfound adrenaline rushed him as he couldn’t wait to play with her. He felt her eyes lock with his as she observed him, letting a scowl replace her frustrated look from before. 

Lexi looked the man up and down, from his silver hair slicked to the side showing his forehead, to his stature. He was lean and just slightly taller than herself. He seemed muscular but not overly so. His brown eyes held a mischievous glint behind them as his smirk never left his lips. 

Lexi noticed how uneasy she got just looking at him and broke eye contact as someone coughed beside her. She looked to her left and saw Yuri standing beside her, wringing her hands together nervously. Lexi didn’t count on anything to be said as she sighed.

“Let’s go, we have about an hour and a half.” Lexi said. Not waiting for a response, she started to make her way towards the main building where the cafeteria was. As they walked, Lexi felt her phone vibrate in her hand as it alerted her of a new message.

Kaitlyn: Hey girl, the guys and I are at the coffee shop across the street from your campus, come see us!

Lexi let a laugh escape her lips as she put her phone away. “Change of plans,” She said, spinning on her heels as she finished her statement, “to the coffee shop.” Yuri stumbled with Lexi’s sudden stop and turn, before turning herself and scurrying after her.

They made their way off of the campus grounds in the opposite direction of the woods towards the town. Lexi continued to confidently lead the way towards the coffee shop she had visited so many times before. During her first year in college, the others would always meet her at this coffee shop, which, in turn, prevented her from trying to find something to occupy her free time. The days they couldn’t meet her, she spent her time doing homework and heading home earlier than normal. She tended to spend most days after school in the library, wanting to finish while she was there.

Before she knew it, they arrived at the coffee shop. She pulled open the door and walked in with Yuri. Not bothering to glance around, she walked to the table they always occupied in the shop and smiled as the others caught her gaze. Yuri, on the other hand, was hesitant, remaining several feet behind Lexi as they approached the table.

“Lexi, who is this?” Kaitlyn asked, as she noticed the girl idling behind her. Lexi looked back and frowned seeing how far Yuri was. “This is Yuri.” Yuri couldn’t help her anxiety as her heart raced with the sudden attention. Yuri kept her head down, trying to focus on her hands. “Yuri, why are you standing? Sit down.” Lexi said to her, turning back to face the others.

Yuri could feel her body begin to tremble as three pairs of eyes watched her every move as she scooted over to the free seat, sitting down. She never bothered to lift her head, keeping her attention locked on the table as if she was a child that just got scolded. She wished to speak up and ask them to stop observing her, but her body just wouldn’t let her. Unbeknownst to her, it was a habit of all the hunters to observe a newcomer for any signs that they could be dangerous or pose as a threat. 

Lexi cleared her throat, drawing the attention back to her. Yuri let out a sigh in relief as she felt the piercing gazes leave her and refocus on someone else. 

“Ahh right, this is Kaitlyn, Jungkook, and Yoongi.” Lexi said, “Guys this is Yuri.” Yuri lifted her head just enough to look at everyone that Lexi had just named. She quickly nodded to them before looking down again.

Voices filled the table as the four of them spoke, Yuri, not exactly wanting to join the conversation, remained quiet until she was pulled out of her thoughts by someone saying her name.

“Yuri, are you hungry? Why don’t you get something to eat?” Lexi asked, a smoothie now in her hand. Lexi wasn’t all that hungry since Yoongi had made her a pretty big breakfast earlier. 

Yuri, not being able to find her voice, quickly shook her head no. She didn’t have a dime to spend on food and didn’t want to ask the others for money. Unfortunately, her stomach chose this time to betray her as it let out a loud growl. Yuri nervously flicked her gaze to Lexi to watch her reaction before looking at her hands again.

Yoongi raised an eyebrow looking at the girl who had yet to speak. “What is she mute or something?” He asked, a bored tone lacing his words.

“Yoongi! You can’t just say that!” Kaitlyn scolded smacking his arm, which earned her a glare from him. Yuri swallowed softly before she spoke up for the first time.

“I’m not mute…” Yuri whispered quietly, barely audible for any of the hunters to hear. Yoongi raised an eyebrow after finally hearing her speak. Lexi rolled her eyes and spoke before anyone else could. 

“Here my treat, go get some food before I order for you.” Lexi said, handing some money her way. “If you don’t, I will just get you something.” Yuri eyed the money in Lexi’s hand nervously, not knowing why this girl, who she had just met, would be offering her money for food. Lexi took Yuri’s hand and gently placed the money in it. “Go.” She nodded her head in the direction of the counter.

Yuri, not wanting to be in debt to her, tried to give it back, but Lexi refused, causing Yuri to give up. She sighed as she stood up to go order something to eat. She kept her head down, almost as if to make sure she didn’t trip over her feet as she walked towards the counter.

At the same time, a guy, around twenty two, walked out from the bathroom. He was staring at his phone as he walked when, suddenly, he bumped into something. It seemed almost too small to be a human but he couldn’t think of anything else it could be. He tore his gaze from his phone and looked down.

Yuri stared up at the man that knocked her down, her eyes locking with his brown ones for a second. His hair was long and shaggy, almost like a mullet, but not quite as it was nearly the same length all the way around, with soft black curls splayed throughout it. The carmel tone of his skin matched his lean body, with just the right amount of muscles, accenting his sharp jawline.

Yuri broke out of her trance as the man spoke, “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice gruff yet soothingly low. Yuri nodded and quickly rose to her feet, looking at the man again.

A jolt shot through the man’s body as he looked into her eyes, his whole body felt engulfed by flames, but just as suddenly, a warm comforting feeling replaced the burn. He felt as if the whole zoo, not just butterflies, erupted in his stomach as his pupils dilated. He coughed and scratched the back of his neck. He broke eye contact when she finally nodded her head.

“Glad you’re okay.” He said quickly before he brushed past her, tense, leaving her behind, unmoving. Yuri sighed, she found the man attractive and somewhat comforting, something she didn’t think was possible. She fought the urge to look back and instead, tried to calm her racing mind instead. The exchange was too short, which left her longing for another one, something she wasn’t used to.

Shaking out of her thoughts, Yuri proceeded to the counter where she ordered the food she wanted, and made her way to the table, sitting down without a word. She ate quietly as the others continued their chatter. 

Lexi tried to get Yuri to engage in the conversation, but to no avail. Yuri was so stuck that she would just answer yes or no before going back to blankly staring out the window. The five sat at the table for about an hour before they all went their separate ways, Yuri and Lexi returning to school while Jungkook, Kaitlyn, and Yoongi went back home to resume some training.

Lexi and Yuri walked together until they entered the building. Lexi said bye to Yuri as they went their separate ways to class, not having the next one together. Yuri made her way to her classroom and sat at the back, where she could sit alone. It wasn’t long after that the teacher entered.

For the first time in a long time, Yuri lifted her head from looking at her desk to look around as the teacher was taking role. This was the first teacher she had so far that bothered to take role. She guessed that attendance must have been a big thing for the class then. The teacher read down the list, many names Yuri did not know. In fact, she didn’t know any names but there was one she would remember.

“Kim Taehyung.” The teacher called out as a familiar scruffy hair man raised his hand. Yuri’s eyes widened with recognition; it was the same man from the coffee shop. She watched as Taehyung slowly lowered his hand, as he waited for the teacher to finish. Slowly, Yuri saw Taehyung turn and look directly at her. 

“Moon Yuri.” The teacher called out, the sound of her name making her jump, causing her to break eye contact with Taehyung as she quickly raised her hand. She saw the teacher write on the clipboard before continuing as Yuri put her hand down. After a few more names, the class had begun and Taehyung had already redirected his attention to the front of the class. Throughout the lesson, Yuri found herself glancing in his direction more than she was comfortable with and before she knew it class had ended. She watched as Taehyung stiffly stood and stalked out of the classroom not bothering to look her way again. Yuri felt her heart drop slightly as she gathered her things and left.

Meanwhile, Lexi’s class was uneventful. Nothing exciting happened as she packed her things and left the classroom. She was done for the day and ready to go home. She walked out the front of the building only to see the same man from before, already staring at her as if he was waiting for her. Lexi scowled as the corner of his mouth curved upwards, his eyes locked on only her. Lexi, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of her attention, ignored him as she made her way past him towards the woods, disappearing beyond the trees.

The man shook his head, watching as she walked into the dense forest. What kind of person would do that at a time like this? Intriguing. The man shook his head and clicked his tongue. I think it’s time I break into the books again. He thought, stalking off back to his own home. 

Lexi made her way through the woods towards her home, the buildings of the school long gone and the lone house came into view. 

"I don't trust that guy" Lexi mumbled softly, picturing his face perfectly. "What should I do?" 

If you do not trust him, then learn more. Lexi heard. She nodded, unfazed by the sound. I can help you. 

A smirk formed on her face. "Yes. Please do."

She finally arrived at the front door and walked in to see the living room empty. She went to her room to drop off her things before a shout was directed her way from the study. So now, she found herself seated at one of the tables with the other hunters. A sigh escaped her lips, “He is gonna be pissed!” She rested her elbow on the table and placed her cheek in the palm of her hand, “There were more killings last night.” Lexi groaned.

“He shouldn’t be though,” Kaitlyn sighed, resting her head on her hand. “It’s not like we haven’t been hunting them. It’s just that they just keep killing, even when we do.” 

“But the amount of attacks keeps increasing. It’s almost tripled since we first started; I ran the numbers. We need to do more.” Jungkook said, sharpening a stake. Lexi shook her head.

“Jungkook, how could we possibly do more? We only have so much time during the night to find and kill them.” Lexi frowned. “Don’t get me wrong I would love to do more, but with it only being us four, we can’t do much more.” 

“What if we split up? Two and two?” Jungkook suggested. “That way we cover more ground.” He suggested, sure his plan was foolproof.

“Rule number three, always travel with more people than vampires.” Yoongi mumbled. “If we do that, we would only be able to kill off one each, two in total. But, when we are together, we can finish off three at a time.” Yoongi finished. Jungkook grumbled in response.

“But what if there are thousands?” Kaitlyn whispered, a hint of fear evident in her voice. 

“We need more hunters…” Lexi sighed, peering over at Kaitlyn.

“Great idea, let's just walk up to people and recruit them.” Yoongi said sarcastically, “We work with what we have and do our best. There are plenty of hunters scattered throughout the area. Hell, they’re probably all over the damn world. He has recruited enough hunters for the area, any more and it will be too suspicious.” Yoongi grumbled, picking at his nails, disinterested with the thought of more hunters.

“And what should we do if they keep spiking like this? They’re not even killing for food, it is all for sport,” Jungkook argued back. A dead silence filled the table now that the truth was finally spoken aloud. All of their hard work felt wasted as the number of deaths continued to rise.

“Damn, the old man is gonna have a heyday..” Yoongi sarcastically stated, finally looking away from his nails. “Well speak of the devil.”

A familiar, older man stepped into the room, his face blank, something they were all used to; to see any emotion freely on his face was a rarity. It was this man that brought them all into this world of hunting, the one who trained them to be who they are now. He was like a grandfather to each of them, more so enforced by the four of them referring to him as grandfather, grandpa, or gramps. He took them all in when they needed it and cared for them.

“Yoongi, when will you stop being such a sarcastic smartass?” Kaitlyn grumbled, glaring at him. “You shouldn’t be talking to grandfather like that.”

“I’ll stop when I die.” Yoongi said, throwing a glare back.

“You kids, stop bickering, we have important matters to discuss.” their grandfather interrupted, wanting to get this meeting going. “Anyways, as you guys were saying before, there has been a substantial increase in senseless killings, not just here, but in the world. I talked with the heads in other areas and countries, these numbers are terribly incredible.” He sighed, showing them a graph with the amount of killings and the number of possible vampires in the area. 

“This is something we have never seen before.” He continued with a pointed look at all four of them. “There should not be this many vampires in one area. If this rate keeps increasing, humans will go extinct in just a few years. It makes no sense at all. If they continue this, their food supply will run out and they will also die.” Their grandfather continued. The group looked worriedly at each of the papers, slowly losing their mind trying to think of ways to stop these attacks from happening.

“For now,” Their grandfather interrupted their train of thought.” You will be going out every night to find them.” His gaze flicked to each of them, watching the clear annoyance on each of their faces as the reality of the situation kept hitting them. “I am going to find out as much as I can to help out. Now, go get ready for your next hunt. You will leave at sunset.” The grandfather stated, as he stalked off, leaving behind the four hunters.

The four of them sat, their minds filled with different questions. Yet, one single question stuck out in each of their minds. “How the fuck are we gonna stop this?”

Chapter Text

A couple weeks passed by and more killing occurred, causing the hunters to grow exhausted and frustrated. For the past four weeks, the hunters would leave at dusk and return as the sun was making its peak over the horizon. The number of bodies piled up and despite their efforts, the amount of killings soared. The four of them were exhausted yet relieved to find out they had a break. Some other hunters had trickled into the area in attempts to help bring down the amount of missing people and killings. 

The man with the slicked back hair sat in his room, typing on his computer. Ever since the encounter a few weeks ago, he had been on edge, the urge to find out more had overtaken him. He read and searched every corner of the internet, talked to all of his connections, and searched many libraries scattered across the country. He found what he needed, yet lacked one thing, evidence. He absentmindedly strolled the halls but came to a halt as he heard a conversation from around the corner. A smirk appeared on his plump lips as he froze in place and listened in.

It was a wednesday afternoon, school had just ended for Lexi and Yuri. They made small talk as they strode the halls, ready for the day of classes to end. As the days passed, Yuri slowly found her voice and spoke more to Lexi. She even began to befriend Kaitlyn and the other hunters as well. They came to a halt near the exit where they rested against one of the walls and talked. As their conversation was flowing, a girl suddenly interrupted them.

“Yuri! Please tell me you’ve thought about the party friday!” The girl squealed. Lexi turned towards Yuri, confusion evident on her face. Yuri softly smiled at the girl.

“Listen Nari, I told you.. I’m not big on parties.. I don’t know…” Yuri shyly stated, hesitant to say no to her . Nari, Yuri’s roommate, was the complete opposite of Yuri. Nari was very outgoing and wanted to talk to everyone. Her confidence screamed 'look at me' which was something Yuri could only dream of having a fraction of. 

Lexi eyed Nari suspiciously, like she always did with new people. She couldn’t sense anything that could be of significant danger but still, she refused to let her guard down. Nari rolled her eyes at Yuri's response..

“Come on, just do it. I’m going to drag you along one way or another.” Nari said, a bored tone laced her voice as she picked at the dirt under her freshly manicured nails. Lexi glared at the girl, not enjoying her tone. Before she could smart off, Yuri spoke up.

“If I say yes, never ask me to go to another party. Deal?” Yuri said, knowing that if she were to give in, Nari would attempt to do the same thing for every party. Yuri bit her lip as Nari’s resting bitch face disappeared and a small smile appeared. 

“Deal!” She said excitedly, quickly skipping off before Yuri could change her mind. They watched as she bounced down the hallway to go join some other group that was huddled up talking together. Lexi rolled her eyes and looked back at Yuri.

“You shouldn’t agree to things you don’t want to do.” Lexi stared at Yuri, “That is how you get in serious trouble.” She mumbled, as she observed the area around her. 

“It’s just one party, how bad could it be? I just..” She paused looking down to her shuffling feet due to her anxiety, she peaked back up at Lexi before speaking up, her voice wavering. “I don’t want to be alone, especially with everything going on.” Yuri sighed, referencing the killings that had been happening, not just in the area, but the world. Lexi visibly lost her composure for a second, annoyance laced her features.

“I’ll go with you.” Lexi stated, not meeting Yuri’s gaze. Yuri picked her head back up in surprise, studying Lexi for a moment, before she wrapped her arms around herself for comfort. She couldn’t help feeling a little bad. Her thoughts left her to believe that Lexi would only be going for her. But, before Yuri could speak up, Lexi seemed to read her mind.

“This isn’t up for debate, I am going.” Lexi firmly stated. She watched as Yuri’s arms loosened from around herself slightly and her eyes softened in gratitude. Lexi sighed, before letting a smile grace her features. She wasn’t sure what this girl had gone through, but to leave her so timid it couldn’t have been simple. “Let’s go shopping for some clothes.” Lexi stated, getting out her phone to send a message.

“I just texted Kate and she is gonna come pick us up and take us to the mall, sound good?” Lexi finally redirected her attention from her phone back to Yuri. Yuri smiled and nodded as the two of them went outside to wait for Kaitlyn.

The two went out to the courtyard and found a bench to sit and wait. Both were in full conversation about what to wear. Yuri was informing Lexi that she didn’t have a lot of money so something simple and inexpensive would have to do. Lexi, just like at the coffee shop on the day they first met, was trying to calm her worries by offering to help her pay for it, but Yuri was adamantly declining the offer. They were so deep in conversation that they both startled at the sudden blare of a horn. They both turned in the direction of the horn to see Kaitlyn leaning her head out of the passenger window. .

“Get in losers, we’re going shopping.” Kaitlyn yelled out the window, unlocking the door for them. Yuri giggled as Lexi rolled her eyes. The two of them got in the car; Lexi sitting in the front passenger seat while Yuri sat in the back, behind Kaitlyn.

“This is why I never ask you to pick me up. You do this every time.” Lexi exasperated, buckling up as Kaitlyn drove off. 

“Whatever," Kaityn retorted, rolling her eyes, "So we’re heading to the mall to go shopping?"

“That is what I sent you in my text. I thought you knew how to read.” Lexi sarcastically remarked as she stared out the window, her gaze finding the trees that passed by as the car sped down the busy streets.

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes as the drive came to a halt. The three arrived at the mall quickly, as it was only a three minute drive from the campus.

The three exited the car once parked and strode up to the giant mall that stood before them. Upon entering, the number of people increased as the mall buzzed with many college kids looking for a place to waste their extra time and spend the little money they could afford to.  

The group made their way around the mall and the hours passed by like seconds. They picked out the outfits they wanted to wear. Yuri was the first to finish her shopping. She bought a light gray sweater that kept her covered, but was thin enough not to overheat her during the summer months. Originally she wanted to wear sweatpants, but Kaitlyn and Lexi insisted on jeans. They originally wanted Yuri to wear something completely out of her comfort zone but they came to a compromise. Yuri would wear a nice pair of jeans if she got the nice sweater she wanted. 

While Yuri was obsessed with long sleeves Lexi was obsessed with pockets. She found cute dresses but ultimately said no to those because of the lack of the small holes that allowed her to carry things. She also said no to a dress in case she had to fight. Ultimately, she found a pair of jeans and a loose-fitting cream tank top. In the front, it stopped just below the button of her jeans while the back flowed down, stopping at her mid calf. 

Although Kaitlyn wasn't planning on attending the party, that didn't stop her from buying a cute new hunting outfit. Her attention gravitated towards all the different black clothing options. If one was to take a look into her closet they would think that she owned enough black and needed an assortment of colors, but being a hunter, especially one who hunted at night, black was more practical. It didn’t take her long to zero in on what she wanted, a pair of black workout leggings that had pockets down the side and a black form fitting top. 

The shopping trip seemed to be coming to a close as Kaitlyn, Yuri, and Lexi finished shopping and found themselves resting at a table talking amongst one another. Unbenounced to them, a pair of eyes landed on them. Well, one of them.

Taehyung had come to the mall to buy a new pair of shoes he had been saving up for. As he made his way out of the shoe store, shoes in hand, he decided to go and sit down before making his way back home. There was a small hangout spot for anyone who pleased near one of the entrances of the mall. As he walked in, he let his mind and eyes wander. Yet, everything came to a sudden halt when he saw a familiar blonde girl sitting nearby. 

Yuri. he thought to himself. Why was he seeing her so much? He understood seeing her at school, sharing classes and all that, but he felt like he was seeing her all the time. His eyes were locked on her face, it seemed sad but a smile was plastered on her face anyways, he couldn’t seem to read her.  Not looking away from her, he sat on a chair a couple feet away. 

It felt like only seconds passed by for Taehyung before the group stood up. Taehyung blinked and absentmindedly stood up as well, feeling a strong pull as he followed behind them. 

It took him a minute before he suddenly stopped and questioned himself. 

What the fuck am I doing? He thought to himself. 

His thoughts quickly changed as he felt someone run into him. Taehyung glared and turned around coming face to face with someone he despised seeing, his mood instantly souring. 

"Watch where the hell you're going Park," Taehyung growled at him. The other man chuckled darkly, a familiar smirk appearing on his face. 

"Maybe you shouldn't stop in the middle of the walkway, Kim" The other man growled back. Taehyung's eyes flickered to the other man's. 

"Listen Jimin, why can't you leave me be. I swear you follow me like a lost dog. It's getting tiring." Taehyung reached out, pushing Jimin back, not being able to stand having him so close to him. Jimin stood his ground as his eyes narrowed. 

"You're more of a bitch than me. You even smell and sound like one." Jimin mockingly laughed and pinched his nose, trying to deviate the smell. "And it sure as hell looked like you were following someone like a lost dog. Not me." 

Jimin smirked, watching as Taehyung faltered. 

"You don't know anything." Taehyung responded, anger still evident in his voice "It looks like I'm not the only one looking for something." 

Taehyung stepped closer to him. He had noticed recently that Jimin had been watching someone, although he wasn’t sure who she was. Jimin let out a growl. 

"Mind your own damn business." He said, bumping shoulders with him and moving past. 

Taehyung turned and watched as the other stormed. His eyes narrowed as his figure became smaller the further away he got before he turned to look back in front of him. . He needed to calm down, now! Otherwise who knew what would happen. With a clench of his fists, he took a few deep breaths, focusing on the things he knew were solid to ground him.  Once calmed, he shook his head and walked out of the mall, longing to go back home and talk to the others.

_______________________________

"Sir! We have five of them in one place! We can end them now and have the advantage"  a shrill voice said, staring into the crystal ball that showed the group at the mall as if it was an old TV screen. 

"No, not yet. I need to get to her first." A voice replied, a smirk evident by the tone of his voice.

The other disappeared out of the dimly lit room as a shadowy figure tapped his fingers against the arm of the throne he sat upon. 

 "I'll meet you soon." He whispered, staring at one person in particular. "And you will join me."

Chapter Text

The moon was high in the night sky, yet the two traveling through the dense trees of the forest couldn’t tell. They had been wandering for hours now, still with no leads as to what they were looking for. All either of them knew was that people were disappearing within the area and that it wasn’t stopping. Even though they knew that mostly vampires seemed to be behind this, something else seemed to be afoot.

“You should have run this by Yoongi and Gramps,” Kaitlyn said, pushing aside some thick brush and stepping through it.

Jungkook sighed, “I don’t need to disclose everything I do in my spare time to those two.” He continued to lead the way through the mass of trees and brush, not looking back at the small blonde, who was now beginning to struggle to keep up with his strides. 

Kaitlyn paused for a moment, hands on her knees as she took a few breaths. She was exhausted, but when she heard about Jungkook’s plan, she refused to let him be an idiot and go alone. So while all she really wanted was sleep, which always evaded her, she pushed that need aside to make sure he had back-up if he needed it. She looked up to see Jungkook several feet ahead and with a forced burst of energy she pushed herself to catch up to him.

He stopped at a low hanging branch and pushed it forward before holding it out to the side for her to pass without her having to do the same. Even though he was annoyed at her nagging, it wasn’t enough where he wouldn’t help her through the brush of the forest. Once she passed through the opening, Jungkook let go of the branch, watching as it swung back in place to block off the path behind them.  

 “It’s different when you decide to go hunting in your spare time, Jungkook.” Kaitlyn said, staring up at the man next to her. He pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, tearing his gaze away from her.

“Kate, If you were just going to nag me the whole trip you shouldn’t have come. I could have done this by myself.” He said, pushing past her to take the lead again. Irritation irradiated his aura as his strides became even longer than before. It was the first night off in a long time. Yet, there they were. 

Kaitlyn let out a fake laugh and followed him, “Oh, so you can wander off by yourself and get yourself killed? Oh no, sorry you’re stuck with me.” She sarcastically answered with a roll of her eyes.

He shot her a glare over his shoulder but continued forward. She cursed under her breath but followed him anyways, much like she always did. Sometimes he could get too carried away and too confident in his abilities. There have been times where she felt like she had to babysit him just in case his confidence decided to get the better of him, which seemed to be happening a lot in recent years. Yet, she knew underneath all that bullheadedness, he truly appreciated her tagging along.

The two walked for what seemed like a half hour and still couldn’t find anything. Jungkook sighed to himself and leaned against a tree. He ran his hand through his hair, closing his eyes to try to wean the growing headache away. He kept racking his memory about what thing could be the one to cause all these people to go missing with no traces left behind. There was no possible way the vampires alone could be creating all this chaos. But the more he pushed through his supernatural knowledge, the more the answer evaded him. He found himself lost in his theories, one of which was wondering if it was just the humans, running off and getting lost to avoid their problems.

Suddenly, he was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of his companion calling to him, “Jungkook, this isn’t good.”

He pushed off the tree and followed Kaitlyn’s voice. Once through the few trees separating the two, his eyes found exactly what she had seen. The trees were laced with the white strings of cobwebs, but the webs seemed too massive for just an average spider to make itself. He walked forward, following the webs further into the forest, careful to avoid getting caught in any.

The two stopped when the ground they walked on became as white as the webs they were following, almost as if a heavy snowstorm had just passed through. The space between the trees had also become threaded with the webbing, becoming too thick to walk through without getting it caught on their clothing and hair. If they were not careful, they could become trapped in the white webbing, unable to escape.

“I found one of the missing bodies,” Jungkook said, eyes focusing on the lump of web connected to one of the trees. 

Kaitlyn’s eyes found the cocooned body and she felt a shiver run down her spine, “This can’t be what I think this is, could it?”

“Arachne,” He breathed out, grabbing some of the web from in front of him and examining it between his fingers, “I’ve only heard about them from Gramps.  I don’t even think he has seen one because they haven’t reemerged in hundreds of years.”

“So, why now?” Kaitlyn asked the question both of them had on their minds.

“I don’t know, but we shouldn’t be here. If there is a body here it’ll be back for it.” He said, his eyes finally finding Kaitlyn’s. The hardness from earlier faded, eyes wide with concern.

Kaitlyn nodded before they backtracked from where they came, making sure to remember different landmarks so they were able to find the den once again. Jungkook brought the piece of web he had in his grasp earlier with him, as proof to show Gramps.

As the two traversed their way back through the forest, the party at the campus was underway. Yuri found herself alone against the wall watching the party commence. Her roommate had dragged her here, obviously with her consent this time, but it still wasn’t what she wanted to be doing with her night. Too many people and too much noise for her to feel comfortable, she couldn’t even think clearly.

Within the first few minutes of entering the door, her roommate had disappeared within the mass of people leaving her to her own devices. Somehow she managed to find herself a safe place against the wall with no one seeming to want to approach her, which made Yuri calm down and feel a little more at peace.

Lexi herself had been there not too long before the other decided to show up. She moved her way through the crowd and leaned against the wall beside Yuri, “You should have just told her no.”

Yuri jumped at the new voice. She had been so deep in her own thoughts she hadn’t noticed the brunette make an appearance. After catching her breath, she glanced at Lexi, and sent her a small smile in response before looking off to the side again biting her lip to steal her nerves.

Lexi sighed, “You know what, I’m going to get you something to drink.” Yuri looked back to her, opening her mouth to stop her, before Lexi shut her down. “Don’t tell me no because I’m doing it.”

She then left Yuri to herself, knowing that she would return momentarily. Yuri, not wanting to move away from the wall, decided to watch the party goers, all of them getting increasingly more drunk the longer she stood against the wall. The music was bumping and the people along with it.

Her eyes wandered to the far table where she assumed people were playing beer pong by the red plastic cups scattered across the table and the ping pong balls that sometimes flew too far to even hit a cup. Her eyes found a familiar face standing at the side of the beer pong table. It was the same man from the coffee shop and her class, Taehyung. He readjusted the red snapback on his head before dipping the ball within a discarded cup. Concentration laced his features as he stared at the cup from across the table. He then took the shot, sinking it into one of the opposing team’s cup. Both him and his partner broke into excited yells as they boasted about the newfound cup that now had to be placed out of play. A small smile formed on Yuri’s face as she watched the interaction.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” She felt someone lean in and whisper in her ear, causing her heart rate to spike from the sudden surprise. She tore her vision from the man across the room and her smile fell at the sight of the new man next to her, “I mean, good thing I have my library card because I am definitely checking you out.”

Yuri cringed at the horrible pick up line and the strong smell of alcohol mixed with his cheap cologne. She looked away from him and took a step back. His advances visibly made Yuri uncomfortable, if anyone were to look her way, they would know. Her eyes searched the room, hoping to find a trace of Lexi to ask for her help. But, when her eyes found the brunette, she was across the room making drinks, too focused to see the unwelcome company.

Her attention snapped back to the guy in front of her, when she felt his hand run up her arm to rest on her shoulder with a soft squeeze as he stepped even closer into her space. She could feel her body begin to tremble as her mind flashed back to memories she wished she could forget. She opened her mouth to try and get him to back off, but the only thing that escaped was a squeak. She looked down to her feet as she tried to work up the courage to say anything to make this man back away but her mind drew a blank. She didn’t have the slightest idea on what to say to him. She took her cheek between her teeth instead and hoped Lexi would turn around and wake her from this nightmare.

“Good thing she isn’t a library,” A new, deeper voice responded. Yuri looked up from her fixated spot on the floor when she felt the man's hand move off her shoulder. Taehyung was now standing in front of her, glaring daggers at the other man, his wrist ensnared in Taehyung's hand. His head was cocked to the side, eyes not straying as he bore holes into the other, “I figured you might have noticed since, you know, she’s a person.”

“Dude, I’m just shooting my shot,” The other responded, ripping his wrist out of Taehyung's grip and tearing his gaze from Yuri to have a staring contest with Taehyung.

“She’s uncomfortable. Go shoot it somewhere else.” Taehyung demanded, a scowl replacing his already hard deminor, “Or if you aren’t capable, leave.”

The man in question scoffed at Taehyung before he pushed off the wall and left Yuri where she stood. Taehyung's eyes never moved off the man as he watched the other sulk off. 

Yuri watched Taehyung who was now breathing heavily as if trying to control himself and his anger. She was visibly shaking and her heart racing not knowing what to do, but everything in her wanted to run. Taehyung never glanced back to look at her, too focused on the man stalking off, which she was extremely thankful for. Yuri looked past Taehyung after a few moments and noticed the familiar face of Lexi returning, two drinks in hand. She walked by Taehyung and handed Yuri the drink she was promised. Taehyung’s eyes tore from the other and landed on the new arrival, “Where the hell were you? Aren’t you supposed to be her friend or something?”

Once Lexi was sure that Yuri had the drink in hand, she turned to face the man before her, eyes narrowing, “I left her for a few minutes. It’s not my fault guys don’t know how to control their hormones.”

“You could have taken her with you,” He said, his breathing still heavy.

“She doesn’t even want to be here, let alone move from her spot. You think she wants to move and push through all the people here?” Lexi responded to him, taking a step closer to him and blocking him from the view of her friend, “Who the hell are you anyways and why do you care?”

He shook his head in disbelief, “She was getting harassed by some asshole. What does this have to do with me?”

“My point,” Lexi said, “What does this have to do with you?”

“It doesn’t,” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lexi looked over her shoulder to check on Yuri after knowing she had defeated him, but Yuri had disappeared. Lexi sighed loudly and turned back to him, “Look what you did!"

“What? Are you seriously blaming me for her leaving?” Taehyung scoffed in disbelief.

Lexi shook her head and looked past Taehyung, hoping to see which way Yuri went. Her eyes narrowed seeing the man who had been watching her for the past couple weeks. His eyes caught hers for a moment too long as he maneuvered through the crowd of people before a small smirk formed on his lips. Lexi felt an uneasy feeling settling within her.

Lexi pulled out her phone, ignoring Taehyung all together as she pushed past him and called Kaitlyn, quickly talking in a rush as she maneuvered through the crowd after the man. 

Taehyung watched the way her body stiffened and shifted within seconds. With a bad feeling taking over, he decided he too was going to follow after her. 

“Kaitlyn, I sent you my location. Something is seriously wrong. I can feel it. Yuri just disappeared and something just feels off. Get over here asap.” Lexi spit out all at once and hung up before Kaitlyn could even reply. She stuffed her phone back in her pocket as she finally pushed through the last of the people blocking the door and made it outside.

Lexi proceeded to wander down the campus streets, eyes scanning for any sign of Yuri. Despite her abilities, she just couldn’t seem to find the small blonde anywhere. Even worse, she couldn’t find him . It didn’t help that it was dark out and clouds filled the sky, blocking the moon and stars. Dim street lamps scattered around were the only illumination she had.

Her eyes landed on the nearby park and her feet moved towards it without thought. The park was dimly lit, giving a silent warning not to be within them past dusk. Despite that, she still entered, she had to find her friend. Her hand stayed close to her hidden knife, just in case she needed to throw it.

She stopped when she heard the creaking of a broken stick. She listened closely and waited for it to sound again. It was likely it was just some kind of animal making its way through the park in the midst of night, but she couldn’t help but to be on edge since she knew what truly lurked within the unknown shadows.

That’s when she heard it, the cry. She ran toward the sound of her friend, ignoring the nearby growl that erupted within the trees when Yuri's cry echoed through the park. Her heart raced much faster than she would have liked to admit. That’s when her eyes landed on a man hovering above a small body trapped against a tree. She knew the figure of that man well enough without seeing his face. She had been studying him for a while now.

Lexi sucked in a breath ready to pounce, “I knew you had to be scummy, but damn, didn’t expect you to be this scummy.”

The man pulled away, leaving Yuri’s limp body to crash to the ground. He turned toward Lexi, a smirk residing on his bloodstained lips. The same smirk he held when he met her eyes as he left the party. He cocked his head, like he was taking in the sight of her for the first time.

“Yikes,” He said, “Took you longer than I expected. Thought I might have had to kill her.”

Lexi growled, hand touching the hilt of her knife. Unsure whether his words were true, she glanced down to see if her friend was still breathing.

She’s alive, she heard , but he’s gone.

She glanced back up to see that he had vanished before her eyes. Instead of dwelling on the fact she had lost the monster, she ran up to Yuri, desperate to confirm that she was alive. She laid crumpled on the ground, neck messy with her own blood and skin paler than usual. Lexi carefully rolled Yuri over to get a better look at her injuries. She looked to the neck to see the severity of the wound. She let loose a deep breath when she noticed it wasn’t as bad as it could have been;  there was no blood leaking from the punctures despite them still being visible.

Footsteps were heard running towards them, and Lexi jumped into action, pulling her knife out to defend but surrendered when she saw who it was. Jungkook was the first to reach the two, falling to his knees to assess the situation. Kaitlyn was next to them moments later doing the exact same.

“She’s still breathing,” Jungkook panted, still in the process of catching his breath from the running, “That’s a good thing.”

Lexi nodded, knowing that she was alive and wondering why exactly Jungkook had been telling her the obvious. She then felt Kaitlyn place her hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

“Lex, she’s going to be fine.” Kaitlyn spoke, though she didn’t know herself. She retracted her hand and continued to help Jungkook tend to the unconscious girl in front of them.

Lexi couldn’t understand why they felt the need to reassure her, but she watched as they took control of the situation. Lexi couldn’t seem to make herself move as she felt her heart race more as she felt her emotions consume her. Oh. That’s why. She thought, as it suddenly hit her on why they felt the need to comfort her. Guilt. It must clearly be showing on her face. If she had only been just a few minutes earlier Yuri wouldn’t be on the brink of death right in front of her. The guilt grew but rage shortly overtook its place, as she clenched her fists, making sure to keep her rage from physically showing on her face.

“Can you two take her home?” Lexi asked, as the other two peered up at her.

“Yeah. She’s just unconscious from the blood loss.” Kaitlyn responded, eyes watching Lexi carefully, “Whatever bloodsucker did this, it was meticulous. It didn’t drain her of all her blood, but it’s still too difficult to say if she will survive or not.” She paused, studying Lexi’s expression. Lexi, knowing what she was doing, steeled her features to remain blank. Kaitlyn sighed before continuing, “But she should, there is no external bleeding, just smeared blood.”

Jungkook nodded in agreement with Kaitlyn, “Kate is right, the thing even clotted the bite marks so she wouldn’t bleed out.”

Lexi knew she was getting warned not to go after it, after him , alone but despite that she still responded, “Thank you, I just need to clear my head.”

She watched as Jungkook lifted Yuri’s limp body from the ground without much effort before she turned and walked the other direction. She wanted to find him and make him pay. No, she needed to find him.

She found herself amongst the buildings of the campus ground again, the streetlights guiding her. She wandered for what seemed like an eternity, but, in reality, had only been fifteen minutes before her eyes focused on a man leaning up against the stairway of the building. The slicked back hair and devilish smirk gave away who it was. It frustrated her that he wasn’t even trying to hide.

“Cocky bastard,” She mumbled to herself as she walked toward him, pulling her knife out of its home in her pocket.

He chuckled, meeting her eyes, “All these hurtful words when I have a name.”

Lexi raised an eyebrow as she slowly brought the knife into view. His eyes flicked to it but found their way back to hers, his confidence unfaltering.

“Oh, I know your name,” Lexi gripped her knife harder, ready to use it, “But do you deserve to have me use it?” She didn’t bother to wait for him to answer. “Not really.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Been doing research on me?”

“I usually don’t but there’s just something about you that really pisses me off… Jimin.” She responded, gripping the knife tighter. “But it looks like I’m not the only one that did research.”

“Well, there was just one thing I couldn’t know for sure about you unless I did something, well,” He paused, rotating one of his rings on his hand, “A little messy.” He said, finally using his thumb to wipe off the blood from his lips before sucking on it gently. “Delicious.”

Lexi growled and lunged forward at him, but he dodged with a crooked smile gracing his lips. It irked her that he could find this so entertaining, like he was playing some kind of game with her patience. She swung around and threw a punch in his direction, only for it to be dodged as well.

“I think I pinpointed why you piss me off,” Lexi said, eyeing him down, “Your constant staring and smug looks always irritated me, but you biting into my friend for dinner sort of crossed the line.”

“I mean I’m full so I’d have to pass on another dinner,” Jimin said, dodging another swing of the knife with ease, “But if you still wanted me to bite you, I’d be more than willing to leave a few less life threatening marks.” He teased.

Lexi paused at his words, feeling her cheeks warm in a mixture of embarrassment and anger. A smirk grew on his face at the newfound opportunity his ability to flirt had given him to take control of the situation. He grabbed her quickly and pushed her against the wall, pinning her to it.

Lexi gasped for air, having it been knocked out of her. Yet, she smirked at his dangerously beautiful face, “In your dreams.”

With her words, she jabbed her knife into the only thing she could, his leg. His eyes shifted red as the pain flowed through his body, groaning from the wound. It was enough of a shock for Lexi to take control. Knowing full well he would heal in mere moments from the slash, she flipped them around, so he was now pinned to the building. Just as quickly, she removed the knife from his leg and pressed it to his neck.

“Thanks for confirming what I needed to know,” He said, eyes finding hers. The lack of fear in his eyes caused her skin to raise with goosebumps.

She pressed the knife deeper into his neck, “And that is?”

A smirk played on his face as he stared at her. "You can’t kill me.” He smirked even more, his brown eyes turning completely red now.

Lexi kept the knife to his neck but felt something uncontrollable. The knife slowly worked agaisnt her before it broke away. She dropped her hands and took a step back as it floated in the air. Her eyes widened as it started to move towards her causing her to move back just as fast. 

“What’s the matter? Did you lose control?” Jimin said in a teasing tone as he took a step forward. Lexi’s eyes widened as the blade of the knife turned to her own neck. She tried to move back from the knife, but it was following her. Each step she took back, Jimin got closer until she hit the wall.

“Telekinesis…” Lexi whispered, looking at Jimin as her own knife was pressed into her neck. She had never met a vampire with telekinesis before. Some had minor powers and she could handle that. But this? She didn’t even know what she could do to fight this.

Jimin laughed as he moved closer, stopping in front of her, their noses almost touching. “That is why you won’t kill me.”

Before anything else could happen a growl interrupted their conversation, startling Jimin, but not enough to remove the knife. Jimin chuckled and shook his head, slowly backing away.

“And I won’t kill you either, princess.” Jimin said, using his speed to leave as quickly as it took her to blink. 

Lexi gasped for air as the knife crashed to the ground, no longer under Jimin’s control. She rested against the wall, and tried to regain the air she lost from the knife pressed against her. Once she composed herself, more rage burned through her.

“Fuck!” She exclaimed, kicking the now empty wall, throwing her knife and lodging it perfectly between the creases of the building.

Not once did he escape her tonight, but twice. He could have killed her if he wanted. 

His powers needed to be taken seriously . She thought to herself. Lexi knew she would need to find a way to combat it. Even more concerning was the fact it was now confirmed that he was indeed a rare breed. Most vampires dwell within the shadows of the night to hide them from the sun’s rays which could be life threatening to them. But only few get the rare mutation when they’re changed. They get the ability to truly blend in with their prey as they gain the chance to walk amongst the sun. A Daywalker .

Jimin smirked as he made it home unseen. His plan worked and his questions were answered. Yet, with one question answered, more took its place. 

Chapter Text

“We have a problem…” Jimin said, looking at the man who stood before him in his own home. Jimin took his shoes off and sat down on the couch deep in thought. 

“What’s on your mind?” The older one asked, moving to sit next to him. Jimin let a sigh escape his lips, as he ran his fingers through his hair out of habit. 

“She’s a hunter but she doesn’t smell like one. There are two different scents that I just can’t pinpoint.” Jimin spoke lowly, letting a random book fly into his hands as he thought back on the confrontation. He remained calm during that time, but now his frustration flowed through his body, “I finally got close enough and figured out one secret, but now there’s more? It just doesn’t make sense.” Jimin paced in front of the older man. “Namjoon, something really doesn’t feel right.”

Namjoon shook his head, “I told you not to go digging, Jimin. That just puts a bigger target on our backs. Like I always say, blending in is the best thing to do to stay alive.” Namjoon scolded the younger one.

Jimin clicked his tongue in annoyance and shook his head, “I can’t let this go now. I need to get to the bottom of this.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Lexi finally decided it was time for her to leave. She left the campus buildings, making her way into the sea of dense trees. Her mind was scattered with thoughts as she made her way to a familiar clearing in the woods, surrounded by trees.

“I need your advice.” Lexi said aloud, even though no one seemed to be present in the forest on this dark night. “Plus, I thought you could use this time to change to your normal size. It has been awhile.” She said.

Finally she heard the voice say in her head. Lexi stared down at her jean shorts, watching as something crawled out of her pocket to the ground and stood before her, waiting to be changed. Lexi smiled and gently petted his head before stepping back as the creature before her slowly grew, elongating and thickening up. 

The scales on the creature shined as the moon peeked through the clouds. Light blue scales covered the creature, had it been morning, it would have almost blended into the sky. The underside of it showed a much darker blue that could easily make the creature blend in at night, if seen from below. A matching colored tail slowly elongated as the creature grew to its normal size. Pointed red scales stretched from the base of its head down to its tail resembling fiery embers from a freshly extinguished fire. Its sharp claws became more prominent which were a golden color that matched its eyes. Horns rested atop the creature's head as sharp teeth became visible. When the creature finally came to full size, a dragon then stood before her..

Not many people knew of the dragon’s existence. Lexi, herself, even doubted it before she met one so many years ago. She kept many secrets, secrets even her hunter family had no idea about. This was just one secret she had to keep to make sure her friend stayed safe.

“I can’t believe how big you’ve grown Zuko, I think you’re going to be even bigger than your mother when you get older!” Lexi exclaimed. Each time she had seen Zuko grow to full size, he seemed to get bigger and bigger. He stood around 18 feet, very tall for a teen dragon. Zuko looked at her and stretched his body, starting with his neck and ending at the tip of his tail. At this moment, she couldn’t help but reminisce on past memories of her mother. Her mother was always fascinated by paintings of eastern dragons and it seems that she herself took that love in too as she looked at Zuko again, he looked just like the dragons from those paintings, a gentle smile graced her features. . 

Lexi’s favorite creature had always been dragons, even before she knew of their existence. She named him after Zuko from her favorite show she would watch as a child. And now, many years later, here they stood.

You’re lucky he didn’t kill you. I almost came out and ate him, but I sensed he wouldn’t do anything. Lexi heard in her head. 

One thing she learned when she found Zuko was how dragons spoke to one another; through the minds of those they wished to converse with. It was a shock when she first heard his little voice in her head, but she found herself welcoming it; it was comforting in some sort of way. This was also how she found that they could read minds. It was a moment of temporary weakness, something she rarely ever opened up about, but Zuko knew right away what she tried to keep buried away. In addition to this, dragons have the ability to scan people and see if they’re a good soul. 

“What should I do, Zuko? I know if I tell the others, they could get hurt. But I feel like I can’t just sit around, doing nothing.” Lexi sighed, taking a seat in front of him. No matter the age, dragons were wise creatures.

I can’t make decisions for you Lexi, but sometimes, doing nothing is the right thing. Once you learn more about his power, that is when you try to do something about it. Zuko stared at her. Though he would always try and say the right thing from an unbiased standpoint, Lexi knew he wanted her to be safe.

“But what do you think he meant when he said he couldn’t kill me either?” Lexi asked him, racking through the prior conversation in her memory. She watched as Zuko’s eyes glazed over in focused determination as he recalled the conversation he heard from her pocket.

I don’t know what the meaning behind it was, but he was telling the truth. Zuko told her. Only time will tell . He said, relaxing his body to the ground, watching her, the two as close as ever.

“I still need time to practice. It seemed like he couldn’t control me physically, just the items around me” Lexi said, knowing fully well that when he controlled the knife, he had tried to control her as well. She felt that pull, but was able to ultimately push it away. “If I can get out and practice a bit more, I can take him down or protect myself if he tries anything.” Lexi stated with confidence and determination.

“I think I can help with that.” Someone voiced behind her. Lexi quickly stood and grabbed her knife, ready to attack. Zuko also stood, teeth on display and claws ready to tear the person to shreds. 

Before them stood a man, seeming to be in his late fifties. A short beard graced his face, not long but enough to show the salt and pepper speckle within it. He was tall and slender but the look in his eyes could convince anyone that he wasn't weak. 

  Lexi glared at the man, “Who the hell are you?” 

The man clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth,“That is no way to talk to your grandfather, now is it?” 

The man took a step closer causing Lexi's demeanor to falter. She was unsure whether to trust his words or not. He did only just appear within the shelter of the woods out of nowhere. 

“ Is he speaking the truth Zuko?” She asked him in her head. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Zuko scan him and nod his head.

He is telling the truth. Zuko had told her. Lexi narrowed her eyes at the man.

“How the hell are you my grandfather? ” Lexi growled, wanting answers. Her mother had died when she was thirty. The man in front of her was far too young to be her grandfather. 

“You still have so much to learn. Magic, my dear granddaughter, can do many things once you know how to use it. Even the act of slowing down age is nothing compared to everything else I can do,” The man said, “My name is Won Himchan, the warlock who can teach you how to finally grasp your full potential and it is nice to finally meet you Lexi.”

Lexi swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, “Just because you’re family doesn’t mean I’ll welcome you into my life.” She said, crossing her arms. “Even though you don’t know me, you want to teach me? Why?”

Don’t trust him easily Lex. He seems like he is up to something. Zuko said to her. Lexi’s face didn’t falter by his words as she took note of what he said.

“Well to continue the family tradition of course. I did teach your mother after all.” Himchan said. Lexi’s expression faltered yet again as a look of sadness crossed her face. 

“You taught my mother?” Lexi asked the man, a softness in her voice from the newfound knowledge she just gained. Her mother meant the world to her. Lexi knew a few witches scattered throughout the area, but her mother was still the most powerful witch she knew. 

“Yes, I taught her everything she knew. But, I sense how strong you can be. You already have the ability to keep your familiar at a small size for long periods of time, a feat that even the most experienced with the art of magic have trouble doing. You are naturally gifted, imagine what would happen if you put some effort into it.” Himchan paused, extending his arms out in a grand gesture of the world, before continuing, “You could have the world bowing at its knees.. “ He smiled, one of his brows raised in interest, “We can have sessions after your schooling and I can teach you new powers and spells you can’t find in silly books.” 

Lexi gnawed at her bottom lip. She desperately wanted to learn more magic spells, but didn’t know where to look on her own. Spell books and magic artifacts were hard to find. Most hidden away by others in an attempt to keep them amongst the magically inclined and not those trying to destroy history and themselves. She dreamed of someday telling the others about her being a witch but the idea frightened her. She didn't want to be outcasted from her own kin. She hoped they would accept it and she could use magic on their hunt but she knew they all had their reasons for being wary. 

“Honestly, I would love to learn more." She responded to the man in front of her. The warlock let a smirk appear on his face. 

“Perfect, we will meet here on Monday.” Himchan said. With a nod, he disappeared into thin air as if he was never there to begin with. Lexi looked at Zuko a little nervously.

“I’ll still keep my guard up, don’t worry,” she said to him, “but I need to learn more, especially if I am gonna defeat Jimin.”

The question is, is Jimin the one you need to worry about right now, Lexi? Zuko stared into her eyes, wondering the same thing.

______________________________________________________________________________

Jungkook carried Yuri in his arms while Kaitlyn watched as Lexi ran off. Kaitlyn struggled with not chasing after her, did she have a death wish? She had mentioned she just wanted to clear her head, but how stupid did she think they were? Kaitlyn knew what Lexi was doing and how stupidly reckless it was. How could she just run after a vampire without back-up? Especially with one who seemed to know what he was doing. 

“Kaitlyn!” Jungkook shouted, shaking Kaitlyn out of her thoughts. “We need to get her to the house, now!” Jungkook finished, before turning to rush back to the car.  Kaitlyn looked between the direction Lexi went, back to Jungkook before she made her decision and rushed after him. Lexi left her trust in them to get Yuri to safety, she wasn’t going to let her down. She watched as Jungkook stuffed Yuri in the backseat of the car, with care, before climbing into the driver’s seat. Kaitlyn made the split decision to sit with Yuri in the backseat and rested her head on her lap carding her fingers through her hair. She watched as everything became a blur as Jungkook hurried as fast as he could through the campus and streetlights to get home, knowing Yuri may need a blood transfusion to survive. How they would do that, if that was the case, he didn’t know.

Jungkook’s mind was cluttered with the findings of the Arachne and what malicious intent the vampire had with Yuri. He couldn’t help as he tried to figure out solutions to all the problems. Why did it seem like nothing they did was enough? He chewed at his lower lip, disgruntled as they finally arrived back at the house. 

Jungkook got out of the driver's seat and slammed the door behind him while Kaitlyn opened the backdoor. Jungkook stood off to the side, hand resting on the top of the door waiting for Kaitlyn to get out.

“I’m gonna get Yoongi, maybe he will know what to do.” Kaitlyn said as she carefully placed Yuri’s head on the seat, before climbing out of the car. Without looking back, she ran in and went straight to Yoongi who was, of course, in his room looking over all the news articles about the recent attacks. Yoongi, startled by Kaitlyn’s ragged appearance, put down the news articles and turned to give her his full attention. Kaitlyn relayed the whole situation to him, even Lexi running off to chase after the vampire herself. Yoongi sighed before pushing off the chair and making his way out to the living room. 

Once out in the living room, Yoongi looked at Yuri lying limp on the couch. She was pale and clammy, and breathing shallowly. He sighed, pulling her sleeve up to check the pulse on her wrist since he obviously was not able to do so correctly on her bloodstained and wounded neck. His eyes narrowed in on the light scars that scattered along her wrist as he felt her pulse on his fingers. He heard footsteps behind him and he hurriedly pulled her sleeve back down to keep whatever privacy she needed that he felt he accidentally invaded.

The others appeared behind him and he turned, face calm despite his frazzled brain, "Her pulse is weak, but she's still breathing. Unfortunately, we won't know if she will wake or fall into a coma. Only time will tell and let's just hope it's on our side. If she does wake up, don’t expect it to be for a few days."

Kaitlyn sighed as she played with her nails out of worry. She couldn’t stop staring at Yuri as she laid limp on their couch. The idea of Yuri alone and being attacked kept playing through her head. She could feel the thud of her heartbeat as it increased slightly with her annoyance that the world was so dangerous and they couldn’t stop the attack before it happened. Yuri already seemed terrified of the world as it was, who knows what effect this could have on her.

“Well, can we do anything to make sure she wakes up?” Kaitlyn questioned the two men standing beside her. She watched as both of them shook their heads. Kaitlyn nodded and sighed, “I’m going after Lexi, I am not losing another person tonight.” She said.

Each of their heads snapped towards the door as it swung open. Lexi entered the household, expression dazed as if she had a lot on her mind. They waited for an explanation but instead received a question.

“How is she?” Lexi worriedly asked, walking over to the couch to check on her friend.

“Well you should have been here five minutes ago and you would’ve heard the conversation.” Yoongi rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “We won’t know if she will live until she wakes up.”

“What kind of answer is that?” Lexi frustratedly shouted. “There has to be something we can do?”

“There isn’t.” Yoongi stated firmly. “It’s up to Yuri on what she does.” Yoongi's eyes shifted from Lexi to Yuri on the couch. “For now your best bet is to keep an eye on her in case she goes into shock. She doesn’t seem to be in that much danger, but it was extremely close. She was very lucky.” Yoongi looked back to Lexi, he could see his words unnerved her, but this was the dangers of this world and shielding it would only put them in more danger. “Now, I think it’s time that we all get some rest. Yuri isn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon.” Yoongi said, looking between them all before turning to go back to his room.

Lexi didn’t move an inch as she waited for everyone to disperse. Only when she heard the sound of three doors closing did she finally release the breath she was holding before directing her attention to Yuri’s face before trailing to the bloody mess that was her neck. The guilt from earlier slowly crept it’s way back into her, slowly gnawing at her

“Don’t worry, you will be okay.” Lexi whispered, trying to relieve some of that guilt as she grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch to drape over Yuri. She made sure to avoid the bloody mess of her neck. Even though the wound had clotted, it was still messy from the feast he had. 

Lexi got up and went to the kitchen to grab a hand towel and wet it. She grabbed the first aid kit from the cabinet before making her way back to Yuri on the couch. She got down on her knees before leaning over Yuri and using the towel to gently wipe at the dried up blood on her neck. Luckily it didn’t take much to get it off. Once satisfied that it was clean, she put the towel down on the table before rummaging through the first aid kit for a bandage. She eyed the two puncture holes, swearing that she will get back at Jimin for nearly killing her friend, before placing the bandage over them. Even though he had clotted them, the puncture holes were still visible.

“You need to wake up, Yuri.” Lexi whispered while brushing the hair hanging in front of Yuri’s face back. “I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. I swear!” Lexi promised, the guilt slowly eating her alive. She wished that Yuri could hear her or wake up and say it was okay, but all she got in response was the same shallow breathing that was happening before. Lexi deeply sighed before getting up, she stared down at her friend before looking towards her bedroom door right down the hall.

An idea popped into Lexi’s mind as she quickly, yet quietly, went to her room to grab one of the millions of books on her dresser. To any other human, these books would look like ordinary novels, exactly how Lexi wanted them to be perceived. Yet, they were the opposite. The dozens of hidden spell books she found laid scattered across the room, sadly many had the same things written within. She skimmed through a few more books before stopping at the page she had been looking for. A healing spell, nothing too difficult either, though it was only a minor healing spell. It would speed up Yuri’s recovery without any negative side effects. Other spells could be more powerful and effective, but Lexi didn’t want to test it on her friend. So, she stuck to what she was comfortable with. 

Once she had read through the page and what she needed to do, she quickly shut the book and made her way back to the living room where Yuri laid lifelessly. She kneeled down in front of her friend once again and closed her eyes, gently moving her hand over the bandage that now blocked the two deep holes in her neck from sight. 

Lexi remembered each word the book said and recited it perfectly. A bright light formed in the space between her hand and Yuri’s neck. The light was so bright, it allowed Lexi to see it even with her eyes closed. She felt a warmth pass through her with the light as it flowed into Yuri and disappeared.

Lexi opened her eyes and stood up, gnawing at her lip out of nervousness, wondering if it worked. A smile formed on Lexi’s face as a faint pigmentation formed on Yuri’s cheeks. Though she wasn’t sure when, she knew her friend would wake up. She looked back at the door of her room before looking back at Yuri, wondering if she should sleep in her own room or stay out here with Yuri.

‘For now your best bet is to keep an eye on her incase she goes into shock’ Yoongi’s words from earlier reentered her mind and she looked to the couch behind her, making her decision. Even if she did use a spell to help Yuri, she didn’t know if she could still go into shock or not. Either way she did not want to take the chance. She made herself comfortable on the couch and shut her eyes to get some much needed rest after an overwhelming night. 

some much needed rest after an overwhelming night.

Chapter Text

Yuri stirred, her head pounding from an almost unbearable headache. She groaned as she slowly propped herself up on her forearms. She delayed opening her eyes as she wanted to avoid the burning sun she assumed she would meet. Yet, when she finally opened her eyes, she was surprised to find herself in a dark room.

Her heartbeat skyrocketed as she scanned her surroundings realizing that she was in unknown territory. She laid on a couch within the darkened room and searched for some idea as to where she was at or whose home she had crashed in. She seemed to be in a living room, though it lacked what some people would call personal touches. The room had a couch and some reclining chairs faced towards a television. Everything that was needed to make a living room, yet it lacked the sense of living. Usually, pictures of family and life littered the walls, but her eyes were met with nothing but unnecessary décor.

Once she was sure that there was nobody around she threw her legs over the edge of the couch and sat up properly causing the room around her to spin and her stomach to churn. She quickly leaned over herself with her arms wrapped around her stomach as she swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat. She wondered if she had too much to drink the night before, but she couldn’t recall most of the night. She remembered bits of the party, like seeing Lexi and being saved from cheesy pickup lines but the rest was a blur.

Yuri held her head with one hand and the side of the couch she had risen from with the other, feeling the world around her spin. She quickly sat back down and closed her eyes, willing the spinning world to come to an end. After minutes that felt like hours, her senses started to return, yet not enough to actually aid the poor girl. She zoned in on the old watch on her wrist as her eyes widened at the time.

“No no, this old thing must be broken…” Yuri mumbled to herself, trying to convince herself that it was only the next morning. Desperate to not believe what her watch showed, she observed her surroundings again and zeroed in on a clock, sitting on a small coffee table next to the TV. Her eyes widened once again as she actually took in what the clock said. It was near midnight… the next night.

She stood up; another rush of dizziness fogged her vision, but with a deep breath, she pushed through it. She collected her things she had found sitting on one of the armchairs next to the couch and quickly maneuvered her way through the darkness. She found the front door, wrenched it open and quickly left.

She needed to head home and figure out what the hell had happened last night.

________________________________________________________________________

It was dark within the woods, the inability for the moon to cast light through the dense trees. Yoongi kicked a rock out of his way, his eyes now well adjusted to the darkness that surrounded him. His eyes were focused on anything but the man walking quietly in front of him. Yoongi was still angry that he was dragged out of the house for something other than murdering the monsters that littered the world.

“So, are we just wandering the woods for fun, old man? Or are you actually going to show me something worthwhile?”

The man in front of him stopped his movements and peered over his shoulder at the younger of them. Yoongi could see the smirk resting within his eyes, mouth not needing to be visible, “Always a joy to be around. Glad age hasn’t changed you yet.”

Yoongi scoffed and mumbled under his breath. It wasn’t weird for Kwon Jeonsa, the group's grandfather and hunting mentor, to request alone time with one of the four of them. Training was of the utmost importance and he had to make sure that they weren’t getting rusty. Yet, this trip seemed different than the usual ones and it was making Yoongi increasingly impatient because of it..

“That didn’t answer my question,” Yoongi responded, voice slightly raised in irritation.

“And what if I only dragged you out of the house to roam?” The old man prompted not giving Yoongi a single glance as he continued onward, “You spend too much time inside anyways.”

Yoongi felt his annoyance continue to rise, “How would you know? You only show up at the house when it’s convenient to you.”

“I have more important responsibilities than to be at the beck and call of four grown adults,” He hummed, “But this brings me to the main reason I dragged you out here.”

Yoongi watched as the other stopped and turned to face him. Jeonsa, despite Yoongi’s well known name for him, was in his late forties and looked even younger than an ‘old man’. Yet, the look the man held in his eyes when he glanced over to his younger comrade showed how worn and experienced he was. Even when he seemed relaxed, his aura demanded respect and people gave it to him. Yoongi was the only one to challenge him, but the old man seemed to enjoy it when he did.

“Well spill it,” Yoongi encouraged, raising a brow in wait.

“With the spike in attacks across the country, the council has been calling me more and more. That’s why I have been gone so much.” Jeonsa responded, eyes finding Yoongi’s, “I know you are aware of said attacks.”

“Yeah, no kidding. We have been swamped with attacks popping up all over the area,” Yoongi informed his elder, “Jungkook just filled me in last night that he and Kate ran into an Arachne nest when they were scouting an area a few towns over.”

“Arachne?” Jeonsa questioned, a scowl now present on his face, “This is far more worrisome than I thought.” The rest of the hunters will need to be on high alert if the Arachne have resurfaced. Are you sure that’s what he said he saw?”

“As far as I know, he didn’t actually run into it. He only said he found the nest. He has a piece of its web in his room if you need actual proof. He shut himself in his room all day today trying to learn more about them since they are so rare to run into.” Yoongi continued to inform him.

Jeonsa nodded as he took in the newfound knowledge, a soft sigh escaping his lips, “This is information the council needs to know.” Yoongi nodded in understanding, before realizing that Jeonsa's look shifted to one that seemed more serious, if that was even possible; Yoongi raised his brow in expectation. “While I’m gone, you need to step up and be the leader they need; keep them in line.”

Yoongi raised his hands up and took a step back, shaking his head at the man, “No thanks, I do not want to be in charge of those three. Have you met them?” Yoongi chuckled dryly, “Ask Jungkook, he wants this.”

“You know just as well as I do, that he has the drive to lead, but he is too confident in his own abilities. That tends to make people impulsive and that can be dangerous not only for himself but the group as a whole.” The man stepped closer to Yoongi, taking back the distance he had put between them, “If the Arachne had been in its nest, do you think Jungkook would have left it and returned with more people, or attacked it without a second thought?”

Yoongi took a deep breath and closed his eyes at the idea. If it had been in its nest, he knew Jungkook would have jumped into a fight without any knowledge on how to defeat it. He would have not only put himself in danger but Kaitlyn as well. Yoongi knew all too well that Kaitlyn wouldn’t have let him fight alone.

Yet the burden of holding all their lives on his shoulders was too much to bear.

“I’m not doing it.” He responded, “And if that’s all you wanted to talk about, I’m going to leave.”

“Watch them Yoongi,” Jeonsa called as Yoongi turned his back to him and walked away, back in the direction they came from, “You know better than the rest of them about what is really within the covers of the night, therefore, you are the wisest of the group.”

Yoongi’s steps faltered slightly at his words bringing him to a stop. His hand raised up to his face and ran his fingers over the slightly raised skin of the scar that passed over his eye before allowing his hand to fall back to his side. He shook his head, refusing to lose himself in his memories,and pushed his way back through the forest grounds.

________________________________________________________________________________

Jungkook closed the book he had been reading just before the sun had fallen behind the horizon. Once he was sure he would be alone, he snuck out from the enclosure of the house, making sure he had the tools he needed. He had been reading up on the creature that they had run into the night before. He wanted to do what he could to find out more about the creature, like a weakness it may have or its behavior, but had little luck. He read silver had been known to be a weakness, but it wasn’t certain if it could kill the monster or just injure it a bit. A creature big enough to make a den as large as the one they had run into had to have been doing it for some time now. Jungkook couldn’t help but wonder if other hunters had stumbled upon the nest at the wrong time and paid the price for it.

He decided that he needed to see it again and, if he ran into the Arachne, well... he would figure it out. He wasn’t intending on starting a fight, but if the thing initiated it he wouldn’t let himself die, he would fight back.

So, again, he found himself within the forest they were at the previous night, trying to rack his memories for any landmarks that seemed familiar that would lead him back to the creature's den.

He cursed under his breath, “Everything looks the same around here.”

“Yeah, it’s because you have a puny man brain.” A new voice announced, startling Jungkook causing him to turn around fast, machete in hand, “Calm down, it’s just me. Do you seriously think I wouldn’t know you would try to go after this thing by yourself?”

His eyes found the small figure of Kaitlyn emerging from around a trunk of a tree. Her eyes held an amused look within them as she watched his shaken figure in front of her. He dropped his guard, a sigh escaping his lips in the process.

“Am I that predictable?” He asked, running a hand through his hair embarrassed about being caught off guard.

“Yes,” Kaitlyn hummed as she walked toward him, “And apparently easy to sneak up on tonight. Good thing it was just me and not the Arachne.”

Jungkook prodded the inside of his cheek with his tongue avoiding eye contact with the shorter blonde knowing full well that she was right. His guard was not up properly and he could have easily been overtaken if something wanted to attack him. When he finally calmed himself, he managed to look in her direction. She was leaned up against a tree, a yawn escaping her mouth.

“You look tired,” He said, concern etched within his voice.

“Well, you keep cutting into my valuable sleep time with your late-night escapades,” Kaitlyn responded to him brushing off his comment. With one last yawn, she pushed off the tree and walked past him, going deeper within the forest, “I remember where it’s at, you coming?”

Jungkook shook his head and chucked before following after her. The two weaved through the tree trunks and foliage and before long, the area started to look more familiar. Even when it did, Jungkook continued to let her take the lead and strayed behind believing she knew what she was doing.

When they reached the area where the trees and forest floor were painted white with webbing he reached out and grabbed her shoulder, slowing her movements before taking the lead. If it was nearby, he didn’t want her to be the first to be attacked. It was his idea to come here and he knew she was only here because he was. She wanted to wait and come out with gramps and the others.

Kaitlyn fell behind as they continued to walk through the wonderland of webs, white became more prominent than the green and brown of natural forest. That’s when they found the epicenter of the nest again. Jungkook scanned the area finding that the cocooned figure from before was nowhere to be seen. His stomach dropped at the idea that a whole person was gone within twenty-four hours.

His eyes zeroed in on a body laid out against one of the trees, a woman from what he could make out. He noticed she wasn’t completely swallowed within a cocoon. Her appendages bound against the tree with webbing kept her in place. He studied her for any movement hoping to see something, but it was still too dark for him to be able to make out much.

“Jungkook,” Kaitlyn said, her eyes finding the same thing he had found, “Do you think…”

“Hello?” An unknown voice called out weakly. Both of their eyes landed on the body across the way. The lady stirred, “Please help if you’re there. I-I don’t know what’s going on.” She called out again, desperation evident in her voice.

“Fuck,” Jungkook mumbled, before running out to the main part of the den, leaving Kaitlyn behind who was hiding on the opposite side of the tree calling for him not to go. He rushed to the woman and fell to his knees, desperate to help her. She lolled her head to the side and peered at him through almost closed lids. He began tugging on the webs, but they were wrapped much thicker than he thought. He looked at the lady, “It’ll be fine. I’ll have you free in no time.”

“Where am I?” She asked, her voice quiet and dazed.

Jungkook stayed silent as he ripped through the bonding holding her hostage not knowing how to respond to her. He just hoped that he could get her out of this before the monster came back to finish what it started. After he had gotten three of her limbs free, he moved to the last one. This one being too hard for him to use his hands to break through. Instead, he grabbed the machete that laid next to him and used it to cut through her bindings.

He had been putting pressure against the webbing to break through it and when it finally gave away, the blade grazed against her skin. A screech erupted next to him causing him to cover his ears. He peered next to him to see the women now looking back at him with black eyes and dried skin.

“Silver,” It hissed, flashing its fangs. Jungkook jumped onto his feet and moved back from her quickly. His eyes widened at the realization that this was no human, but the monster that they had been on the prowl for.

The monster growled and jumped at Jungkook, throwing him back against the ground. His machete flew out of his hands and clattered against the ground. He kept his hands out in front of him, keeping the Arachne’s face from getting near his body.

The one thing he learned, that he knew was true, was that these things had venom so toxic it killed within a minute of being bitten. He risked looking away from the arachne in hopes to see his weapon, but his heart dropped when he couldn’t spot it.

Kaitlyn heard the hiss and the next thing she saw was Jungkook pinned against the ground, weaponless. She cursed under her breath wishing she knew what this thing’s weakness was. She only heard stories from other hunters who she ran into growing up and even those were just old folklores shared amongst the groups. None of that would come in handy right now, when Jungkook was inches from death.

Kaitlyn’s eyes narrowed onto Jungkook’s machete which landed by the tree she had been rooted at. She sighed, making her decision and bent down, grabbing it. She marched her way over to the two of them and instinctively tightened her grip on the handle. Using all the strength she had, she took her boot and kicked the Arachne off of Jungkook, sending the creature sliding across the ground, away from the man laying by her feet.

Kaitlyn walked towards the monster, it was hissing in response to her approach, looking between the girl and the machete in her hand. The creature lunged for her; Kaitlyn threw out both her hands in protection from its bite, juggling the machete in one hand.. She struggled for a moment doing her best to stay on her feet to have the upper hand before finally finding the chance to shove the monster back. She watched as it lost its footing with the shove and crashed to the ground.. Without any hesitation, she raised the weapon and swung, the hissing stopped as she felt the blade make contact, followed by a small resounding ‘thump’. With a deep breath, she took in the slumped body of the beheaded arachne and the head which laid a few inches from the body. The eyes of the beheaded monster grew lifeless as it stared off into the distance. A dark red color stained the white bedding below.

A sigh of relief passed out of Kaitlyn’s mouth at the realization that she did indeed kill the Arachne with the machete. She hunched over, hands resting on her knees as a wave of exhaustion hit her like a train, much like the nightmares plaguing her dreams and dirtying any free sleep time she managed to find outside of her long nights hunting with the group.

“Silver coated machete?” Kaitlyn managed to say, her eyes closed as she tried to fight off the lightheadedness she was feeling.

“The books did say that silver might kill it,” Jungkook responded, his voice much closer indicating to her that he had gotten up and moved closer to her, “Kate, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” She said, finally standing up and meeting Jungkook’s eyes, “I just wasn’t expecting to have to actually save your ass.”

As she went to move away from Jungkook to leave the gruesome scene behind, she felt a wave of dizziness hit her, causing her to stumble forward. The adrenaline that aided her was now gone from her body which left her even more exhausted than she already had been. Jungkook, seeing her stumble, rushed to her side to help.

“Yeah, sure, you’re just fine.” He said, rolling his eyes. When he was certain that she wasn’t going to topple forward, he bent down to the ground and turned so his back was facing her, “Get on.”

“Kookie, I don’t need to be carried.” Kaitlyn responded, even though the idea of not tracking all the way back on her own two feet sounded like heaven. He was the one who almost died, whereas she just didn’t know how to get proper sleep.

Jungkook rolled his eyes, even though he knew she couldn’t see it, “Just get on.” He said, not budging from his place waiting for her to hop onto his back so he could carry her back to the car.

A groan escaped her lips as she grudgingly hopped onto his back. His arms hooking around her legs to keep her up and hers lacing around his neck to assist. Once he stood up, he readjusted her on his back making sure she wouldn’t slip down on the ride back through the forest.

Her head found solace on one of his shoulders as the pace of the walk lolled her closer to sleep. His jacket made a surprisingly good pillow to rest her head upon. He smelled like his mix of nature and vanilla that she was used to, which aided to her comfort.

“Don’t be falling asleep on me. I still might get lost on the way back.” He voiced; humor etched in his voice as he made his comment.

Kaitlyn hummed, a small smile forming on her face, “Wouldn’t dream of it. You might almost get us killed again if I do.” She mumbled though she knew she was close to passing out in her exhausted state.

________________________________________________________________________________

Lexi sighed as she peered at the pages in front of her, the dim glow of the orb floating next to her casted enough light to read the pages of the book on her lap as she sat on a chair outside the house. Everyone had things to do which left her alone to watch Yuri. Even more so, it left her alone to read up on the spells and incantations that she had not gotten the chance to study or practice yet.

With the stress of being a college student by day and a hunter by night, it invaded her time to learn more of her magic. She practiced what she knew how to do everyday, like keeping Zuko in his tiny size to hide him and casting an illusion charm to hide her mass of spell books she had collected over the years. Yet, those wouldn’t be able to help her in a fight if she truly needed it. And, for that reason alone, she wanted more knowledge and practice so she could protect her family.

It was part of the reason why she agreed to train with the warlock, against her better judgment. She didn’t care that he could possibly be her grandfather, though that in itself was a shock that she was still trying to wrap her head around. She was entranced by the idea of learning something her books couldn’t teach her. She wanted to unlock her true potential, just like her mother.

She flicked her finger to the left lazily, the page in front of her flipping with the motion at the same time. Her eyes read through the new spell that laid before her. She nodded to herself before standing up. The book levitated off her lap and closed itself, neatly landing on the seat she left behind.

She walked down the back porch as the orb followed closely in front of her, lighting the way, “Aright, lets see what I can do.” Lexi mumbled to herself, coming to a halt in the middle of the backyard.

“Ardere Flamma,” Lexi said and peered at her hand hoping that the flames would appear on her hand as if she was holding fire, but all that happened instead was her hand glowing a faint red.

She groaned, letting her hand go back to normal before she tried again, with a more intense focus, but unfortunately the same thing happened as before. Determined to not give up, she tried many more times before she frustratedly groaned and collapsed onto the grass, giving herself a break. She glared down at her hand, as if it was her hand’s fault that it wasn’t holding a nice flaming ball right now. She let out a deep sigh before dropping her hand into her lap, “This is just not working.”

You’re impatient. Everything takes practice. You know this, it took you a few weeks before you could keep me at a small size like this. A voice echoed in her brain as she watched a long figure fly through the air and wrap itself around her shoulders.

“Zuko, I thought you were enjoying your free time.” Lexi said, her hand finding its way up to touch the end of his tail as a welcome as he sat perched on her shoulder.

I was but I figured you would want to know that I have been keeping an eye on the people in this house. Yet, I do not sense life within the house, besides you. You might want to check.

His words hit her like a train and her eyes widened. Zuko flew off her shoulders as she ran to the house, hoping that Yuri was still alive. She skipped the few stairs the porch had and flung the door open. She found herself in the living room heart racing in her chest, feeling as if it was about to explode. Her eyes landed on the couch and instead of the lifeless body she thought she would find it was empty. Her eyes were still wide as she took in the sight. After taking a moment to catch her breath, hand to her heart, she felt a smile begin to creep onto her face as a tiny ball of excitement bubbled inside of her.

“It worked! My spell worked! She’s alive!” Lexi shouted. She couldn’t seem to hold back the happiness she felt knowing that she was able to actually help her friend heal. But, her excitement turned into worry as she searched the house for Yuri. The happiness she felt from doing something right quickly turned darker as more guilt consumed her over this newfound problem.

Yuri was missing.

________________________________________________________________________________

Yuri continued her trek home, the night air cool against her slightly fevered skin keeping her more alert instead of falling into the grasps of her churning stomach and foggy head. The whole walk she tried to rack her brain for information of the previous night she had completely lost. But, no matter how much she tried, nothing came to mind, but the sickening feeling of paranoia and fear tugged at the corners of her mind. With every turn she took, she couldn’t help but second guess herself, in fear that someone was watching in wait to attack.

When her dorm building came into view, she felt a wave of relief overtake her body. Not only because she was going to be out of the night, but also, the comfort of her own bed called her name despite already sleeping the whole day away.

But, apparently fate had other plans because just as she stepped in front of the entrance to the building, she heard rustling in the bushes nearby. Her eyes shot to the foliage in the search for the reason why they were moving, heart rate skyrocketing for reasons unbeknownst to herself. That’s when she saw a pair of eyes reflecting in the glow of the nearby streetlights, eyes directed at her.

It rustled again, this time from the creature stepping out from the shadows. A large dog-like head emerged, and normally if it were just a dog she would have felt relieved, but this was far too big to be a normal dog. It was a wolf, it had to be. Even amongst the dimmed lighting she could tell that it was beautiful, fur russted and a dark smokey gray. Its paws were huge along with the rest of it. Two toned eyes, one blue and one green, stared back at her.

As it moved forward, she took a step back keeping the distance between them. She wondered why and how a full-grown wolf had made its way onto the school campus. Even more concerning as to why it found her so interesting. The wolf cocked its head to the side, much like a curious puppy. As far as she could tell, it didn’t seem to want to attack but she wasn’t going to risk her life for the slight chance this wild animal wouldn’t hurt her.

It took another step forward and again she took one back, this time her foot stepped on uneven ground, causing her to stumble backwards off the edge of the entrance steps. A yelp escaped her lips as she did, trying to catch herself but failing and landing awkwardly on her back. She worried this would give the wolf the chance it needed to attack, yet it never came.

“Woah, woah, woah, are you okay?” A familiar voice asked.

When she opened her eyes, a dark mop of hair stared down at her with his deep brown eyes. Worry etched into his perfect face. He gently grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet. Once standing up, the nausea reared its ugly head again from the quick movement. She closed her eyes tightly and willed everything to go away, the nausea and spinning world. The world really couldn’t give her a break. With a final deep breath she opened her eyes, realizing this man was still held onto her arm, she quickly pulled it away and cradled it to her chest before looking up to meet his eyes. She realized that the man in front of her had no shirt on and she didn’t look any lower, but she knew he also was missing the presence of a waist band and therefore pants as well.

“Oh my god,” Yuri closed her eyes quickly to avoid seeing anything she wasn’t supposed to, “Taehyung, what are you doing here and why are you naked?”

“Oh, uh, yeah sorry about this.” He said awkwardly, “It was either this or you continuing to think I was going to attack you.”

She ran through his words trying to figure out what exactly he meant by that. There had been a wolf in front of her moments ago, not a handsome, naked man. With the time she had missed still on her mind, mixed with a giant wolf she now could see as a classmate, she started to think that she might be going nuts.

“Is there anyone around here? Because if anyone sees you like this they are going to call the cops!And I don’t need that added stress because I don’t even know what happened to me last night let alone what is going on right now.” Yuri said, her words toppling out of her mouth.

“Alright, if I change can I at least come in and get a towel to cover up?” His words echoed in the dead of night.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Yuri waved her hands in response, squeezing her eyes shut tighter.

A moment later, she heard a dog whine. She furrowed her eyebrows at the sound before hesitantly opening them. In front of her sat the same wolf as before, head cocked to the side as it stared at her. It stood up and walked towards the front door of her building when it noticed she wasn’t going to make the first move. Frozen, in complete loss and further confusion she couldn’t seem to get her body to do anything besides watch, trying to wrap her brain around what was happening.

“I’m going crazy,” She mumbled, finally working up the strength to follow the animal towards her door.

She opened it and walked in; the wolf close behind her. She kept looking over her shoulder and around corners as they made their way to her dorm room. Afraid that she might run into someone causing them to freak out because a giant wolf was walking behind her as if it was a domesticated animal.

Once they arrived at her dorm room, she opened the door and peered inside to make sure no one was around. It was empty and she couldn’t help but wonder where her roommate was, though this wasn’t out of character for her to be gone until the morning hours, usually drunk and a mess from the night before.

She let the wolf into her room and quickly closed the door behind them. Taehyung took the chance to trot in and jump up onto her bed. The wolf burrowed under the blankets seeming as if he was a lapdog, getting ready for bed. Yuri sighed, dipping into the bathroom, grabbing a towel. With one hand on the door knob, about to leave the bathroom, she willed whatever crazy fever dream she was in, to end.

When she returned to the main room, human Taehyung sat under her blankets. His chest fully visible, caramel skin gracing every inch of his body visible to her eyes. A scar graced one of his shoulders, the only disruption to what seemed like a perfectly built man. His lower half was covered in all her blankets, feet hanging off the edge of the bed.

Normally, Yuri would find herself intimidated by having such a beautiful man so close and so naked, whether she blames her lack of confidence or her childhood trauma, the cause of said feelings, she wasn’t sure, but somehow, she felt relatively calm. Well as calm as one would be in such circumstances. At the moment she seemed to think she had finally broke. She was going truly crazy and her mind was now playing tricks with her. Who knew if the man on her bed even was real? Maybe, he is just an image her fractured mind conjured up because she ran into him a few times and had a class with him.

He shifted on the bed as his eyes fell on the towel in her hand, “Is that for me?”

She nodded her head opting to stay quiet instead. She walked closer, but kept her head facing to the side, away from him, and held out the towel for the man to grab before walking off to let him throw it on, so he wasn’t taking refuge within her sheets.

“I’m decent, you can turn around.” He voiced, and she did just that. He sat on her bed; towel wrapped around his waist. She found herself staring at him, but she couldn’t help herself, she was trying to figure out if he was real or just an illusion, “Staring at me isn’t going to make me disappear if that’s what you are thinking.”

“No,” She said quietly, “I’m just trying to figure out if I’ve finally lost it and need to be admitted.”

He laughed awkwardly, “I normally would have come in person and not a uhm, dog, but you sort of disappeared after I stood up for you. And your friend said something about me possibly being the reason for it and I just don’t want you getting the wrong idea about me.”

“I left that party because I didn’t want to be there to begin with and you gave me the excuse,” she sighed, hugging herself with her arms for comfort as she felt that she was reaching too far out of her comfort zone being this open with someone. She could see as her words were registering in Taehyung’s mind, but before he could ask her to clarify, she quickly changed the topic, not wanting to dive deeper into her traumas. She just wanted to forget them and leave them in the past. “I’m just trying to wrap my brain around you being a wolf or a human wolf hybrid thing. Or maybe like I mentioned before, I finally lost it.”

“You didn’t lose it. I-I am not uh- exactly human but it’s cool. I promise that I won’t eat you or anything,” He responded, eyes finding her fidgeting body. Her unease filling the air and all of his senses, “I just wanted to come check-in on you.” His eyes zeroed in on the bandage resting on her neck, “Have you even changed your bandages yet?”

He stood up and moved closer to her. She, in automatic response, took another step back like earlier, though she was moving back for an entirely different reason than a wild animal coming closer to her. He stopped and stared at her reaction, fear metastasizing itself in the air. His face hardened for a second before letting the expression drop as to not give her any other reasons to be scared. A soft smile crossed his face instead.

“You can trust me,” He said, stepping a bit closer to her. She didn’t move back but her eyes watched his every movement.

She flinched as his hands slowly raised upward, he paused and shifted his eyes to meet hers. She felt her body let loose some of her tension as she saw nothing but worry and comfort. She closed her eyes and felt as he pulled something back off of her neck. For the first time since he had stood up, his words finally made sense to her. She had a bandage on her neck, and he was checking it. She quickly opened her eyes and was met with a view of his bare chest; he was bent down slightly, his height having him tower over her.

It was almost healed as far as he could tell and from the smell radiating off of her, he knew exactly which bloodsucker had done the act. He made sure his face was hidden from her view as anger coursed through his body, causing his eyes to flash the colors of his wolf form. He waited a second before they changed back, not wanting to worry her more than she already was.

If only he had gotten to the area before the others did, he would have ripped the asshole apart on the spot.

He placed the bandage back on, unsure if she had her own replacements. It didn’t matter in the long run, a vampire’s saliva is able to clot the blood in seconds and advances the healing process. She barely needed it anymore, but it may be easier for her to handle if she didn’t see it.

Just as Taehyung was about to pull away and reassure her, the door opened and he looked behind her to see a woman standing in the doorway. He thought it must have been her roommate. Yuri jumped before tilting her head to the side, around Taehyung, to see who it was, her eyes grew wide as Nari smirked from the entrance.

“Oh Yuri, I didn’t know you had it in you,” Nari said, raising her eyebrow, “Well, I’ll give you two some space. Don’t have too much fun.” she called out.

The door shut as Taehyung pulled away from Yuri and put a good amount of space between the two. He didn’t want to upset her any more than she already was. Yuri’s once pale face was now tinted pink by a faint blush that had grown on her face.

She did have an almost naked man in her room in close proximity to herself, anyone in their right mind would just assume what her roommate had. Yuri knew she would later have to deal with the questions and pestering comments her roommate would make to get the juicy details of a night that didn’t even happen.

“I’m just going to go and let you think about uhm, well everything.” Taehyung said, moving carefully to the door, “I’m not going to need the towel once I’m back outside. I’ll leave it next to the bush from earlier if you want it back,”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Yuri responded as he opened the door to leave. She took a breath in mustering some bravery, “Thank you for checking in on me.”

Taehyung smiled a bit before closing the door behind him. Yuri sighed once it closed leaving her alone. She walked to the bathroom and flipped on the light, striving closer to the mirror. She hesitantly moved the bandage down like he had done moments ago to assess what he did. There, on her neck were two small red dots, like a freshly healed wound. She furrowed her eyes at the sight and raised her hand up to her neck to run her fingers over the two holes. If she had gotten it the night before, it shouldn’t have been healed this fast.

What had happened to her that her brain refused to let her remember, but her body couldn’t seem to forget?

Chapter Text

After quickly inspecting her wound on her neck that she had no idea about, Yuri found herself standing at the window watching as Taehyung changed back into a wolf and scampered off into the woods. A breath she had been holding was released as she saw him disappear beyond the brush of trees. 

Yuri stalked over to her bed, sitting down on the duvet. Even though she slept for who knows how long, sleep was beckoning her even more now. Her headache and nausea had come back as her adrenaline started to fade away and the call of her bed became too strong to ignore. She escaped into the warmth of her covers, pulling them high over her shoulders as the warmth encompassed her every being. Her tiredness took her siege as she welcomed it with open arms, letting her eyes drift shut. She lulled herself off to sleep with the image of Taehyung stuck in her brain. 

 Taehyung ran through the forest, relieved that Yuri was safe. He enjoyed the breeze from the wind kissing his fur as his house came into view. He came to a halt before the edge of the woods. He wandered over to the same tree that housed his clothes each time he went out in wolf form. He shifted back into his human form, staring at the house in the distance as he got dressed. The windows were lit casting a soft glow amongst the grass surrounding the house. The others had to be up though it didn't necessarily surprise him, wolves were creatures of the night after all. He sighed, wishing he could just walk in the house like all of the others could, but being the 'runt' of the litter had its downfalls.

 Once properly clothed, Taehyung strutted his way towards the house while making sure he wasn't being followed. Entering the warmness of the walls, the sense of home encompassed him as voices were heard chattering from within the other room breaking the silence of the otherwise quiet home.

 “Welcome back Tae, any updates?” A tall man said from the living room. He was broad and masculine, his black hair swept up to reveal his forehead as his brown eyes peered at the younger who had just entered the house. His flawless skin radiated the caramel tone as the moonlight seeped into the room.

Tae let a small smile form on his face as he made his way into the living room to join the two men residing on the couch. They lounged on the three seat couch acting as if it was only meant for two people. 

“Come on, don't keep us waiting. Where did you go? You were gone so early!” The other man stated a smile never leaving his expression. Somehow happiness seemed to radiate off his golden skin. His brown hair was casually done as if he was ready for bed. His blonde highlights poking out from beneath the darker color. His chocolate eyes held the same smile that was prominent on his face. “Come on, Jin and I want to hear what you were doing,” the same man encouraged

Tae chuckled with a shake of his head. The two men went silent “Jin, Hobi, I just went out for a run. I promise it was nightfall when I shifted.” Tae mumbled avoiding eye contact with his elders not wanting to seem suspicious.

Jin studied the younger and noticed the avoidance he was giving off even though he was trying his hardest to hide it, “Liar!” Jin yelled. Despite him not raising his voice to punish, it still made Taehyung feel the need to back down and spill every last secret he had left, even if there weren't many to tell. Jin, being the Alpha, made Taehyung look up to him with much respect. Jin was there for him when he was alone, he took him in and healed him. Jin’s eyes met Taehyung’s “Did you finally do it?” He asked.

Hoseok’s eyes widened as he registered what Jin asked and the silence of Taehyung. The more cheerful of the three smiled, ”Did you finally imprint on someone!?”

Taehyung stood up and shook his head, “What? No, of course not!” Jin raised his eyebrows in question, Hobi studying the younger, but before either of them could say something, Taehyung spoke up. “I’m going to sleep!”  he grumbled, stalking off before the other two could pull him back. He climbed the stairs that led to his room, plopping down on his bed. 

He threw one of his arms over his eyes to shield them from the light he hadn’t been bothered to turn off before he laid down. He closed his eyes, wanting to regain his sleep that he lost from worrying about Yuri. He hated this, ever since she walked into his life, he couldn’t stop thinking about her, worrying about her. With a groan he flipped onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow, trying to shut off his brain. Slowly his mind drifted off, exhaustion setting in.

As Taehyung found comfort within his bed, the hunters stood together in the living room of their shared house. Yoongi paced before Jungkook, Lexi, and Kaitlyn, his mind raced with many questions. Jeonsa had left as soon as he got home, rushing to the council to alert them of the presence of the Arachne and to figure out what that meant for the hunters. Yoongi shook his head fuming as he found out about the events that unfolded that very night.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with you guys?!” Yoongi fumed angrily pacing back and forth. “You three are idiots!” Yoongi was never one to show much emotion, but damn, save whoever was at the other end of his wrath. Rage radiated off him, his face turned a darker red as the other three hunters stood around him, each one too scared to speak.

“First of all, you ,” Yoongi growled looking at Jungkook. “I told you to wait to look for the Arachne until we were all together, not only did you not listen, you went alone! This is the most idiotic thing you’ve done and you’ve done a lot of them! Plus, you never even told the old man about finding the Arachne. You're lucky I told him! You can’t do everything on your own and you need to get through your thick ass skull!” Yoongi scolded the younger man without pause.

Jungkook kept his head down, prodding his tongue against his cheek to keep quiet. Jungkook knew that no matter what he said, Yoongi would redirect and attack him over it. Jungkook knew he shouldn’t have gone after it alone, but he didn’t die. Why should he worry?

“And you,” Yoongi says moving onto Kaitlyn, “If you would quit following him everywhere, maybe he would stop trying to hunt alone! He knows you are going to follow him, so he doesn’t care! You keep indulging and influencing his cockiness. Enough is enough!” Yoongi grumbled at her.

Kait bit the bottom of her lip, hating being scolded by the eldest. She peeked at Jungkook from the corner of her eye. Was it really my fault? She thought to herself, her mind distracted by that one question. But, what could she do to make sure he is safe without feeding into his behavior?

“Don’t blame Kate, I didn’t even tell her I was going.” Jungkook said, looking at Yoongi. He flexed and unflexed his hand as if to calm himself. Yoongi didn't have the right to blame her when he was the one in the wrong, or what Yoongi felt was wrong. He sighed, “It is my fault.”

“You’re lucky she went or you’d be dead, but enough Jungkook. You don’t want to make me do something we would both regret.” Yoongi growled. “You better get your act together before you lose your life.”

 Jungkook slowly nodded and looked at Kaitlyn, locking eyes with her as a silent thanks for coming with him. Even with her exhausted state, she still risked her own to make sure he was still breathing. Even now, she hid her exhaustion from everyone. It was as if she didn't want anyone to know how tired she truly was, even Jungkook. But even with her attempts, Jungkook knew her well enough to pick up on the small things.

“And worst of all,” Yoongi said, interrupting their thoughts as he turned to Lexi, “You lost a fucking person! How in the fuck do you lose a whole person?” Yoongi yelled at the girl.

Lexi didn’t back down as she looked at the blond man, “You said she wouldn’t wake up for a few days, how was I supposed to know she’d wake up this soon!”

Yoongi glared at her, “You were still supposed to be watching her! ” Yoongi yelled again, stepping closer to the girl. “A girl her size who just suffered massive blood loss shouldn't be missing. She could be anywhere! What if someone came in and took her?!”

The realization of Yoongi’s words hit all of them at once. Lexi bit nervously at her nails. This whole time she thought maybe her magic helped Yuri recover, but what if something came for her? It couldn’t have been Jimin because she knew that vampires couldn’t enter one’s house without permission, so that put Jimin out of the list of suspects.

Yoongi sighed, seeing her face fall, “I’d say we could check where she lives but none of us know where that is. And we can’t give her a call, because she doesn’t have a cell phone either.” He sighed again and ran his hand through his hair. “I guess we will find out Monday when you go to school. If she shows up, great, we found our missing person. If she doesn't show up, that is completely on you.” Yoongi said looking at Lexi, his anger finally cooling down as he got everything off his chest. Even calmed, his words left a stinging impact on Lexi. He was right, it would be her fault.

“The old man put me in charge while he is gone,” Yoongi stated. He would be in charge but there was no way in hell he would take this stupid leadership role, “and I expect you guys to stick with me.” He said, looking back at Jungkook, “That means no hunting on your own or else you won’t be going hunting period.”

Jungkook looked at Yoongi, meeting his eyes as he nodded slowly before dropping his head back down, finding the floor to be more interesting.

“Get to bed then, tomorrow we are going to train our asses off.” Yoongi said. He turned on his heel and went to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. The infuriated rant took away the last of his energy for the night. Between the old man asking him if he would be the leader, to the others not thinking before they did anything, it had all built up and his anger landed on the three as if someone threw a grenade in the room.

Yoongi stared in the mirror at his reflection as if it was another person in the room. His eyes flickered to the scar on his face as he gently traced the old wound with his index finger. He remembered a time when his face didn't churn up buried memories, but now, that's all his reflection seemed to do. Images from that dark night flooded back to him in flashes causing him to shake his head as if it would make the images stop. His eyes darkened as he broke his stare from the mirror and turned back to his bed.

He made his decision right on the spot, he would not become leader, but that didn't mean he wouldn’t do what he could to protect his only family.

Chapter Text

Monday morning rolled around and Lexi found herself awake earlier than usual, her mind screaming at her to get to school. She had to find out if Yuri was okay. She hoped that her spell had worked and Yuri had actually gone home rather than potentially being kidnapped; although, she did have a list of suspects that could have somehow gotten to her. She quickly grabbed some breakfast and walked out the front door, making her way through the dense forest to college.

Once through the brush she went straight to her first lesson, the same one where her and Yuri had met for the first time. A frustrated groan escaped her lips when she opened the door to the classroom to see it entirely void of any student or the teacher. With a roll of her eyes, she settled with the fact that it was still early and decided to make her way to her usual seat in the back corner to wait.

Minutes felt like hours as she watched students slowly file in before the beginning of class. Her eyes worriedly flickered around the room searching for Yuri, hoping she may have just missed her walking in, since class was going to start any minute. Lexi shook her head when her search came up empty, burying herself in her books instead as a form of distraction from her thoughts.

Look alive. She heard Zuko say to her. She quickly looked up as the door opened and platinum blonde hair caught her vision.

Yuri walked into the classroom and quickly made her way to the empty seat next to Lexi.

Lexi smiled seeing that her friend was alive and definitely not kidnapped. She took a moment to study the girl now sitting next to her. A bandage still remained on her neck and it left Lexi wondering if she knew what had happened. She seemed tired and ragged as if she hadn’t gotten any proper sleep during the weekend, which didn’t make sense, since she slept the entire time she was at Lexi’s house. Lexi looked down to see that Yuri was in an oversized tunic sweater and leggings, as if she couldn’t bother to really put herself together. A frown soon replaced her features as she whispered to the girl, “Are you okay?”

Yuri grimaced, before putting on a forced smile and turned her head slightly to face Lexi, “Yeah, I’m fine,” that was a lie; she still had a minor headache and she was exhausted. After the situation with Taehyung, she couldn’t get her mind to quiet down much to be able to actually sleep. Her mind was full of questions and anxiety about what happened the night of the party, as well as, what exactly had happened with Taehyung.

Lexi furrowed her eyebrows at the answer, not truly believing it but, she wasn’t going to pry further. Instead she decided to ask the question that had been on her mind since she saw her missing from the couch Saturday night, “Why did you leave Saturday?” 

Yuri looked at Lexi, confusion laced her features. “What do you mean?” She questioned.

Lexi played with the pencil in her hands. “You left my house. I thought you got kidnapped or something, especially with what happened Friday night.”

Yuri’s confusion deepened at the statement the blue-eyed girl shared. Her mind was blank when it came to the party, well most of it at least, and the only thing she had as a clue to what happened were two healed holes found on her neck which only further confused her. “What happened Friday?” Yuri finally asked, hoping to finally get some answers to the question she couldn’t get out of Taehyung before he left.

“Yong Lexi and Moon Yuri, quit talking during my class. If you want to converse, then get out and do it.” The teacher yelled at the two girls. Lexi sighed softly before looking at Yuri, silently telling her they would talk after class.

Yuri nodded and the two quickly got to work.

As the two worked, the house of hunters was lively and working as well. Outside in the backyard, the three hunters were practicing like no tomorrow.

“Kate, you need to work on multiple enemies. Your weakest point is being able to tackle the field when there is more than one enemy against you. And you will be severely fucked if you can’t manage to protect yourself in this situation. So your challenge today is this: Jungkook and I will attack, and you must defend.” Yoongi stated, spinning the sharp dagger between his fingers. “And you,” He said, suddenly stopping his spinning to have the dagger now pointed at Jungkook, “do not hold back you hear me. Holding back will only deprive Kate of her training.”

Jungkook nodded to Yoongi before redirecting his eyes back to Kaitlyn. He watched Kaitlyn look from Yoongi, directly to him, he could see a slight tremor run through her, whether it was from the exhaustion he knew she still faced, or a potential fear of facing this weakness, he wasn’t sure. But, Yoongi was right, he couldn’t hold back, this was to make her stronger and ensure her survival. Jungkook forfeited the weapons as he cracked the bones in his body, from his hands, to his back, ending with his neck.

Kaitlyn swallowed softly as she watched Jungkook's expression turn from worry to determination as he discarded his weapons; stealing her nerves, she held her knives, ready to fight back. As hunters, they were used to minor cuts and bruises from training. Afterall, that aspect was essential for their survival as a family.

Yet, as their skill level increased, the number of wounds they received decreased. Each cut and bruise was essential for survival. It made them stronger and more alert. Even now, all the hunters would agree, at the time it may have hurt, but they are alive because of it.

Kaitlyn took a deep breath as she tightened her grip on her knives. Her gaze flickered from Yoongi to Jungkook as she nodded, signaling that she was ready. Immediately, the two much bigger men ran at her, Yoongi with his weapons and Jungkook with, well, himself. Kaitlyn strengthened her resolve as she brought her arms up and held the knives in front of her, ready to defend herself.

Jungkook, being much faster than Yoongi, arrived first. Kaitlyn quickly dodged to the right, turned towards him and used his speed against him, kicking him away from where she was standing. Just as Jungkook was getting up, Kaitlyn felt something cold and hard being pressed into her throat, she shifted her gaze to look over her shoulder to see Yoongi with a knife held against her neck.

“You have to keep your eyes on both opponents, making sure to switch back and forth between them.” Yoongi stated, removing the knife, and backing up to his previous position, Jungkook followed suit.

“Again!” Yoongi said, running at her, barely giving her the chance to work out a plan.

Kaitlyn quickly prepared herself just as the sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the area. Yoongi’s dagger connected with Kaitlyn’s knives. He pushed his dagger further towards her, using his own weight and strength to his own advantage. Kaitlyn quickly side-stepped, metal screeching through the woods as she did so from his dagger running along the blade of her knives, making him lose his support and tumble forward.

She turned, remembering that Jungkook was meant to attack as well, only to now find him inches in front of her; her eyes widened in surprise with his sudden closeness and he took advantage of her moment of surprise and quickly tackled her to the ground, his hand wrapped around her neck without any pressure. Although he did not actually choke her, he easily could have. Had he been a monster, she would be dead. 

Kaitlyn could feel her heartbeat increasing in speed as the warmth from Jungkook’s hand around her neck sent shivers through her. She looked up only to see him intently watching her, her face began to burn, as she was sure he could feel her heartbeat racing. It’s just from training, nothing out of the normal Kate. It’s normal for your heartbeat to increase when you’re physically exerting yourself. Just focus on taking them down! She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head, to rid the thoughts out of her mind and focus herself on the training session. When she finally opened her eyes again, Jungkook’s head cocked to the side, eyes furrowed in confusion. Kaitlyn innocently smiled in return but before she could say anything, Yoongi’s voice echoed through the air. 

“Again.” Yoongi repeated, going back to his spot. Jungkook removed his hand from her throat and Kaitlyn felt like she could finally breathe again, even though it wasn’t like he was really choking her to begin with. Jungkook pushed himself up from the ground and offered his hand to help her up. Kaitlyn took the offered hand and groaned as she felt the bruises that were surely going to form from where she slammed into the ground. She knew neither of the boys were holding back, and realized, neither should she.

Once Kaitlyn was up and ready, she looked into the two boys’ eyes as they both ran after her. Remember what you were taught. They may be bigger and stronger but use that to your advantage. Sometimes, the simple things are most effective. She remembered gramps telling her long ago when she had first joined the hunters.

She took a deep breath before focusing her attention on each step the two boys made. She watched as Jungkook ran full speed at her, trying to work out how to use his speed against him. At the last minute she ducked down, making sure to face him. She watched as Jungkook's expression shifted, as he realized he had little time to adjust his speed and found himself tumbling over top of her. As he was falling, Kaitlyn used all her strength and threw her hands up and pushed his legs over her head, making him roll a few feet away from her. Just enough to disable him for a few seconds.

Kaitlyn, not bothering to look at Jungkook now that she had him out of commision, at least temporarily, quickly spun to face Yoongi, catching his daggers with her knives in midair. Yoongi took a step closer, towering over the girl. She used her small, flexible form to slide under Yoongi’s legs, and kick him forward, jumping back up in the process.

As Yoongi lost his balance, Jungkook quickly regained his, reaching the girl again. Kaitlyn held up her knife, quickly bringing it down to impale his shoulder. Jungkook, being faster and stronger, blocked her, grabbing her wrist in one hand and used his strength in his arm to press hard against her wrist.

Kaitlyn, without pause, brought her other arm down, knife in hand, to get his arm off, but he blocked that as well. In one swift motion, Kaitlyn was on the ground, both her wrists encompassed in one of Jungkook’s hands as the knives she once held, now laid abandoned on the ground. Jungkook picked one up and pressed it to her neck. Once again, she could feel her already racing heart, pick up in speed and she groaned in another defeat.

“You want me to put you out of your misery?” Jungkook gestured to the knife held against Kaitlyn’s throat. She couldn’t help but laugh as she wiggled her wrists out of his grip and brought her legs up and kicked him off her. Jungkook let out an ‘oomph’ as he landed on his back, not expecting the sudden action. 

“What, afraid I’m gonna kick your ass next time?” Kaitlyn teased, as she took deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Jungkook stood up and raised his right eyebrow in surprise.

“No, I’m just afraid you won’t be able to handle all this defeat. Don’t need you to have a wounded ego.” He retorted back.

Kaitlyn scoffed, and bent to pick up her knife before throwing it at him, narrowly missing him as it lodged into the tree a foot behind him. “It’s not my ego you need to worry about.” 

Yoongi watched them go back and forth knowingly, letting out a chuckle at Jungkook’s shocked expression from a knife rushing at his face. “She’s got ya there!” He shrugged, chuckling again. Jungkook’s eyes shot to Yoongi in mock betrayal, but before he could comment, Yoongi spoke up again, “You’re getting better, but you need to win at least once before we move on.” he said to Kaitlyn, “I know Jungkook and I are trained more, but once you can beat us, you should be able to take down two monsters. “But, this weekend, you are going to have to face us as well as Lexi. If you can win in that, this won’t be a weakness anymore.” Yoongi mentioned taking a drink of his water bottle before getting back in position.

“Again.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

Lexi and Yuri grabbed their books as class ended and stood up. Yuri was eager to learn what had happened Friday night, her body slightly trembling in anxiety. Lexi looked around at the students and sighed. “Let’s go talk in private.” She said to Yuri, guiding her outside towards the football field. Lexi stopped and looked around, making sure they were alone before focusing her attention on Yuri. “What do you remember?”

“I remember being at the party, seeing you, and being hit on but that’s it. What else happened?” Yuri asked, confused.

Lexi swallowed softly before she decided on what to say, “Well, I gave you a drink and you drank it and got more. You didn’t have that much but you passed out. I took you back to my house but got worried when you left without saying anything.” Lexi told her. The best way to keep Yuri safe was to keep her out of the supernatural world for as long as possible.

Yuri scrunched her eyebrows at the story given to her. She remembered leaving, but of her own accord and what Taehyung said the other night backed up her own thought process. Maybe she did black out from drinking too much, but why was Lexi lying about how she left? Unless, she found her wandering and then dragged her back to her house, which would make sense.

What didn't make sense, was everything else that happened within the past few days. Like, how a man could turn into a wolf and back again. And, how she ended up with two puncture holes in the shape of two perfect circles on her neck. She found herself reaching up to trace the bandage that still resided over the two holes as a dull ache settled in, but just as quickly faded. 

“But how did I-?” Yuri started but got interrupted by a familiar voice, hand falling to her side at the sound.

“Well well well, what do we have here?” A voice said, coming close to the girls. Yuri’s body tensed up for a reason unbeknown to her and her eyes met the man in question. Lexi took notice and turned to the voice, taking in Jimin’s appearance. His hair was still the same silver color and slicked to the side. “Calm down sweetheart,” he said, turning to Yuri, a smirk never leaving his face, “you know I don’t bite, well not too hard.” Jimin chuckled, Yuri flinched back and crossed her arms across her chest in hope of safety. 

“Shut up Park.” Lexi glared at him. Jimin turned his attention away from the scared girl onto Lexi.

“Should I do it again? She seemed to have recovered fast. I’m sure she will bounce right back.” He said, eyes never leaving Lexi’s, “Or, should I taste you?”

“Like hell you will.” Another voice yelled coming closer. The three of them turned and saw a seething Taehyung making his way over to the newly formed group.

“I knew I smelled a little bitch coming.” Jimin chuckled at the other man’s anger.

“I know what you did, you oversized mosquito.” Taehyung growled, stepping closer to Jimin, hands clenched at his side as he tried to control himself. The last thing he needed was for Jin and Hobi to ream him a new one for starting something in public.

“Nice work, right flea bag?” Jimin glared, refusing to back down. Taehyungs eyes narrowed and he decided at that moment he didn’t care what Jin or Hobi did to him, if this turned into a fight, so be it! And, with how close they now stood to each other, either could throw the first punch.

Lexi quickly pulled a frozen and whimpering Yuri a few feet away from the fighting men and kneeled down to try and gain her attention, but it was ineffective as her terrified gaze was locked on the two men several feet away. Hearing Taehyung speak up, Lexi quickly turned around to focus her attention back on the boys, hoping that they could avoid causing a scene but making sure to keep Yuri close to her and far away from the two hormonal creatures.

Taehyung growled, “If you ever touch her again, I will end you!” he fumed, letting his anger get the best of him, his eyes flashing the same blue and green color from his wolf form.

“Hell, I’d love to see you try to end me!” Jimin growled, baring his teeth to the man, fangs beginning to elongate and eyes flashing red.

The two men's eyes were locked on one another, both refusing to be the one to back down, Taehyung let out a wolf-like growl to show his dominance, only the two of them seeing the physical changes happening to each other.

Stop it before it’s too late! Lexi heard Zuko shout in her head. She took a few steps closer. “Guys, stop it!” She yelled at them, taking a step towards them, before shouting it again when neither acknowledged her but, no matter how many times she shouted it, neither of the men backed down.

“ENOUGH!” Lexi yelled, energy flowing through her as the two men were thrown in opposite directions. Her jaw dropped in surprise at the sudden show of her powers, but remembering she was not alone, she quickly shut it, so she wouldn’t draw any suspicion her way. She looked at Jimin, his face crimson in anger, eyes narrowed at Taehyung, ready to fight.

Yuri’s eyes widened as her senses finally came to her when she saw the two men thrown apart by seemingly nothing. The violence happening around her finally caused her body to tremble and she took a step back, wanting nothing more than to hide away in her dorm.  Taehyung growled as he glared down at Jimin, daring him to come at him. 

Yuri saw the rage burning in Taehyung’s eyes, his body poised to attack Jimin any moment. Her vision began to blur as tears began to flood her eyes, she bit her bottom lip, worrying it as memories began to flash through her mind. Memories she never wanted to relive in her life, she clenched her eyes shut as a single tear, slowly rolled down her cheek as she could no longer hold them back. 

Taehyung felt a pang in his heart, overshadowing the anger that encompassed him. He turned to Yuri and saw her restricken face. Without a second thought, he took a step closer to her.

Yuri froze in her position, tears continuing to fall down her cheek and watched as the lean man approached her before slowly enveloping her in a hug. “I’m sorry, please don’t be scared.” Taehyung whispered to her, leaning his cheek on top of her head, trying to offer any and all the comfort that he could. He could deal with Jimin another time. Right now, Yuri needed him more.

Yuri couldn’t help as her body tensed up, arms limp at her side as she felt Taehyung’s sudden warmth surrounding her, not used to the contact from someone else, at least not something like this. Normally, she would have flinched away from the embrace she found herself in but, it seemed to somewhat sooth the anxiety attack she had almost fallen into. Her whole body shook from the raised voices and aggressive body language that had unfolded in front of her, slowly beginning to calm down. 

"Um, excuse you." Lexi voiced, eyes focused on the man holding the much smaller girl within his arms, "What do you think you're doing to her?"

Taehyung shifted his position, bringing Yuri tighter to his chest and looked over his shoulder to meet Lexi's fierce eyes. They asked to be challenged. Instead of feeding into his already angered wolf, he focused on Yuri's heartbeat and how it slowed under his touch.

"N-no it's fine," Yuri squeaked out, still trying to come to terms with the sudden contact. She was so confused on what she felt, it all went against what she thought she would be comfortable with. She couldn’t understand what it was about Taehyung that seemed to calm her always racing heart, but she was determined to find out. She attempted to move in Taehyung’s embrace, trying to get him to loosen his hold before looking up into his deep brown eyes, words coming out as a whisper, "C-can we leave?"

Taehyung gently let her go and nodded his head, “Let's get some lunch, okay?” He said, giving her a little space. Yuri nodded in response as she followed him back towards the main campus, still frustrated with her lack of answers, but one thing was for sure, Jimin had to be a part of it, especially with Taehyung's reaction.

“Coward. He pushes me that far back and then runs.” Jimin grumbled, earning him a slap to the back of his head from Lexi.

“You’re an idiot.” Lexi said, glaring at him, “Now, what do you want?” She asked.

“To finish our conversation from before.” Jimin smirked, stuffing his hands into his pockets and peering into the forest. “I am here to make a deal with you.”

“And why the fuck do you think I’d agree to anything you’d say?” Lexi retorted, glaring at the man. She earned a chuckle in response, averting his gaze from the forest to lock on her. She met his brown eyes, a playful, sadistic glint behind them.

“Well the first part of the deal is us not killing each other.” Lexi raised an eyebrow, choking back a scoff. “You could be an asset to me and vice versa.” Jimin smirked, walking closer to her. Lexi stood her ground and remained silent, wanting him to continue. “So, you can provide protection for me and my friend. I am powerful, but I can only do so much, sweetheart. That and I have no idea how many other hunters you know. You could easily overpower one vampire if you have enough people.”

Lexi rolled her eyes, “And what exactly would I get out of this deal?” she asked, picking at her nails uninterested.

“I give you intel. I have been around at least a century, sweetie. I know many vampires and could easily help you find the ones responsible for all the killings. You could get more out of the way in one night.” Jimin smirked, coming to a stop in front of her. “Also, it isn’t just vampires I know about. Creatures of all shapes and sizes, even ones you could only dream of seeing. I have, and know how to end them.” He said, staring into her eyes, “You could save the humans. Even though they are scum and should be wiped out, I do need a food source to live.”

Lexi glared at him, “You were human too once.” She retorted, but still, she found herself chewing on the inside of her cheek, considering his deal. If he could help her find the evil creatures, the number of killings and people going missing would drastically decrease.

“Long ago, yes, but humans are nothing but dinner to me. Now, do we have a deal?” Jimin asked her.

Lexi sighed softly, knowing full well this information could help her in the long run. She nodded, holding out her hand to shake on the deal.

“No no no sweetheart, this is a big deal, we won’t shake hands for this.” Jimin smirked.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Lexi questioned him, confusion evident in her face and her voice.

“We will make a blood bond.”

Chapter Text

The ringing of the bell above the door echoed as Yuri and Taehyung entered the diner. Taehyung had first thought of taking her to the cafeteria within campus but, with one glance back, he figured that it would be too crowded for the shy, nervous girl. His mind had gone back to the party and how she stood off against the wall, away from everyone. Her aversion of people that night made him believe that crowds were not her thing so he opted for the diner right outside campus.

He knew he made the right decision when a look of relief crossed her face upon entering and seeing that only a few people were within the establishment. The diner was ‘seat yourself’, so Taehyung led the way to a booth near the back of the building so they were away from most of the attending people.

A waitress, noticing them sit down, made her way to their booth and offered them menus before leaving them to decide what they wanted.

Silence filled the table as the two buried themselves in their menus, both unsure of what to say to break the tension. Taehyung, taking peaks at Yuri from behind his menu, took notice of how uncomfortable she was. This was the first time in Taehyung’s life where he wasn’t sure what to say. He could always crack jokes making even the saddest people smile, but she was different. She always seemed so rigid and stiff the moment anyone approached her. He found himself not being able to tear his eyes from her, wondering how much of a difference it would make if she could ever relax.

Yuri leafed through the pages herself trying to distract her mind from what had almost happened prior. The image of the other man flashed through her mind, sending a shiver down her spine. She still didn’t understand why her body was reacting so negatively to the silver haired man. As far as she could remember, she had no interaction with him up until both him and Taehyung almost went at each other’s throats.

“Are you okay?” The deep voice of Taehyung pulled her out of her thoughts. His eyes held hers as he waited for a response, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“Yeah,” She lied, sending a small smile in his direction before quickly averting her gaze back to the menu. He raised an eyebrow at her reaction, sensing that she wasn’t telling the truth. He cocked his head to the side and studied her, wondering if she would actually speak up. Feeling his unwavering gaze on her, she shuffled in her seat, praying that he would go back to his menu and not press further but, something told her that wouldn’t be the case. She sighed, and closed the menu in front of her, letting it rest on the table “No.”

Taehyung’s mind flew with questions. There could be a variety of reasons she was not okay. For starters it could have been the events of the party. Maybe it was him, changing into a giant dog right in front of the poor girls eyes after she had been attacked. Hell, it could’ve been the fight that happened mere minutes ago. Taehyung nodded and took a deep breath. 

“I didn’t think so,” he responded, closing his own menu, and giving the girl his full attention.  “What’s on your mind?”

Yuri picked at her fingers trying to find the right words. Everything in her life felt like a downward spiral and she just couldn’t seem to make sense of it. She sorted her thoughts before sighing, “I just- I don’t remember much from the other night. It’s all a blur for the most part. The things I do remember though, they don’t line up with what Lexi said happened. I want to believe her, but something in my gut is telling me otherwise.” She paused and put her hands in her lap, looking down at them.  “But then, I just don’t get it.” She sighed, before working her courage up to look back at Taehyung. “Why would she lie to me? Why can’t I remember what happened? Why do I feel like I’m missing something important? My mind is whirling in confusion, and no matter how much I push I just can’t seem to clear it.” She looked back down at her hands, as she pushed back her tears. She had made herself a promise that she would never let anyone see her weakness, she had failed earlier, but she wasn’t ready to let it happen again.

Taehyung’s soft smile dropped as the realization of how lost she was truly hit him. His eyebrows scrunched up as he worried for her state of mind. He grew up with the knowledge that the world was more than just humans, but she didn’t. If Lexi was really a hunter, like he thought, he couldn’t understand how she could drag an innocent human into her world and not explain a damn thing to her. It infuriated him.

“She might have just said what she did to protect you,” He said, breaking his eyes away from her anxious figure. She peeked up at him, curious.

“What do you mean?” She questioned, the way he looked away hinted that he knew more. He had to. He knew about the punctures on her neck before she did. Was it possible that maybe he was the one to attack me? She thought. Her mind went back to when he emerged from the bushes and she saw two prominent canines. No, he wouldn’t… right? The mere thought made her tense up even more than she already was.

Taehyung took notice of the change in her posture, and couldn’t help but wonder what had changed. It seemed like she was starting to open up, what had suddenly happened to cause her to tense up? But before he could ask, the waitress appeared back at the table causing both of them to jump from the intrusion.

Yuri did her best to calm her beating heart as Taehyung ordered his food. When the waitress turned her attention to the small blonde, Yuri looked at the waitress and softly shook her head.

“I uh,” She paused trying to come up with a story to avoid saying that she was too broke to afford anything on the menu, “I forgot my wallet.”

“Just put her on my bill,” Taehyung told the waitress without hesitation as he stared back at Yuri.

She shook her head aggressively and locked eyes with the man sitting across from her, “No, you don’t have to do that Taehyung.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” He said, flashing a boxy smile at her, “I want to.”

Yuri’s face felt hot as she stared at him. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was embarrassed that he had to pay for her or because this was the first time a man even offered to pay for her without any other intentions behind the nice gesture. Her eyes floated from his, down to the boxy smile. At this moment, his canines were normal… just like any other human. But, she knew better though, he wasn’t human.

“Um,” She opened the menu, her eyes scanning through the pages looking for the lowest number printed within the pages, “I guess I’ll take the side salad and a glass of water.” she quietly handed the menu to the waitress before staring down at her hands.

 Yuri peaked up from her hands and looked at Taehyung again, who now sat with a smirk on his face knowing he had won whatever argument he thought they had been having silently. Normally, Yuri would be angry and uncomfortable with being forced to let someone help her; she was used to always taking care of herself, but with how happy he looked it was hard for her to be mad.

After the waitress returned with their drinks, Yuri took a sip from her straw before continuing her thoughts from before, “So, by protecting me do you mean from things like, uhm, you?”

Taehyung choked on his drink at the abrupt question. He caught his breath as he set his drink down. His smirk vanished from his face, a more serious expression taking its place, “There are things that roam this earth that are much worse than what I am. At least I’m partially human. Some of them don’t have an ounce of humanity left within their being. Even worse than that, some do have humanity but refuse to acknowledge it.”

Yuri leaned back against her side of the booth, scrunching her eyes shut as she took in the information. A few days ago, she would have told him he was crazy for telling her there were other monsters. But now, she knew better. Her mind flashed back to when she saw him change from human to wolf and then back again. Even if she had gone crazy, which was highly likely, she couldn’t bring herself to not believe him. Especially with the proof on her neck… which she knew was caused by another being. Whether it was him or not, was another mystery.

“The guy you almost fought,” She began as she fiddled with her drink straw, “I need to watch out for him?”

Taehyung calmed himself at the mention of Jimin, his anger still evident within his wolf. He fought for his human side to keep control. It was a thing he didn’t like to admit he had to do often. He was pretty good at keeping it in check, if he did say so himself, but sometimes he lost his ability to rationally think when both his human and wolf side shared the same anger.

“Just stay by Lexi or me and you’ll be fine.” He reassured, a smile crossing his face in an attempt to calm her nerves.

Yuri nodded slowly. The conversation ended as their food appeared in front of them. Yuri thanked the waitress with little to no effort as she sorted through her own thoughts and the new information. The silver haired man had to be dangerous then. She also believed that Lexi knew about these creatures and never said a thing, even if Taehyung never verbally confirmed that she did. Yet, Lexi seemed so normal. Could she change into an animal too? Even with the new information that Taehyung provided, she couldn’t help but believe that he was hiding more from her. She peeked up at him through her lashes, not being able to rid the thoughts from her mind that he could still be dangerous. Could she really be close to him? Right now, she was unsure.

 “Are you going to eat?” Taehyung asked, interrupting her from her thoughts. She shook her head from her thoughts and fully looked at him, only to see him attempting to fit the gigantic burger he ordered into his mouth. It was one of the most boyish things she had seen.

She let out a small laugh as she stabbed at the lettuce on her plate with a fork, “Yeah, I am.”

After the questionable talk with the school bloodsucker, Lexi found herself wandering within the confines of the woods looking for the markers she was told to follow. Her eyes scanned the trees for any sort of evidence for where she needed to go.

Her eyes locked on a larger tree a few feet ahead of her; she felt a pull in her gut as if telling her that that was the correct way to go. She made her way forward, choosing to trust her intuition, it rarely led her astray.  She stopped a couple inches away and couldn’t help but study the tree, searching for any reason why this strong feeling was pulling her towards it, but she found nothing but moss. She lifted her hand and grazed the moss that had formed on the harder bark of the tree and closed her eyes, willing whatever was calling her to appear. When she opened them back up she felt a gust of wind brush against her, blowing her hair in one direction. Without a second thought, she took it as a sign and wandered in the direction it blew her towards.

“Interesting,” She hummed to herself as she pushed through the brush, using the wind as her guide.

Be careful, it could be a trap, she heard Zuko echo within her own mind.

She was aware it very well could be a trap, but the temptation to become stronger weighed on her mind. Her own mother was the strongest witch she had heard of, but it didn’t seem to be enough to save her. She didn’t ever want to find herself in a situation where she couldn’t fight her way out of and, as of right now, she knew that wasn’t possible. She was nowhere near strong enough and it seemed the only way that could change was by meeting this man who claimed to be her grandfather. She still wasn’t sure of how she felt about him randomly showing up, but she couldn’t deny his offer to help.

“I’m aware,” Lexi responded aloud to the voice of Zuko. Although to an unsuspecting person, it would sound like she was talking to herself.

She continued through the woods, pushing her way through the obstacles as they had come. Pushing one last branch out of the way, Lexi found herself within a clearing. She squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the brightness of the sun shining from overhead. It was dark within the forest as it always was, the sun always obscured by the leaves and branches of the trees, only poking through every once in a blue moon where foliage may be less. Once her eyes finally adjusted, she surveyed the clearing around her and noticed it was almost a perfect circle. The grass was littered with wildflowers bringing an array of colors to the otherwise very green meadow.

“Impressive,” A deeper, more mature sounding voice echoed into the silence of the clearing. Lexi’s eyes darted around, searching for the source of the voice but found no one, “I’m surprised you found the area so fast.”

Another gust of wind rushed past her from behind, throwing her off balance momentarily. But, being a hunter, she quickly regained it and spun around, searching within the open area. An older man stood in front of her as if he manifested out of thin air, looking the same as from their last meeting.

“Why the hell did you have to make it so cryptic to get here?” She asked, eyeing the older man in front of her.

“Well,” He hummed locking eyes with her, “You wouldn’t want your dear friends to realize you’re a witch now would you, my granddaughter?”

Kaitlyn flinched at the contact of the wet towel hitting the gash on her lip. She clenched her eyes shut and powered through the stinging of the wound as Yoongi continued to dab at it. He had already bandaged the majority of her wounds that needed attending to. She knew that eventually the aches and pains of the blossoming bruises would make themselves known, but as of right now, her adrenaline was still present.

Each of them had pushed one another to their limits, knowing that if they failed to do so, it could be detrimental to them in a future hunt. Yoongi, being the most experienced, usually left training with less injuries than his comrades, this time was no different. The most he ever left with was forming bruises and sore muscles, but it was nothing compared to what they were used to or what they endured when they were new hunters. Memories flooded Kaitlyn’s mind as it reminded her of the time Jungkook got his arm broken, or when she had to be on bed rest from a knife lodging too far into her abdomen.

Yoongi dabbed at her lip again, bringing her back from her memories, causing her to flinch away from his touch with a hiss of pain,“Damn, just give me the rag and let me do it myself.”

His hands flew up in defense as she snagged the rag from his hands just to bring it back to her lip carefully; eventually the cool water began to feel nice instead of painful. Kaitlyn leaned back into the couch relaxing within it’s comfort.

Yoongi silently moved to Jungkook who sat with a rag on his forehead, keeping it from seeping even more blood than it had been. Somewhere along the training, Kaitlyn had gotten in a sneaky hit and broke open the skin right at his eyebrow. One of the first things they had all learned was that head wounds tended to bleed more than they should, so Yoongi waited for it to slow down before checking to see if Jungkook needed any additional medical attention besides a bandage slapped on.

“Move it,” Yoongi demanded the brunette man. The man dropped his hand revealing the cut along his brow. Yoongi let out a chuckle as he examined it, “You’re fine, but damn did she get your ass.”

“Obviously,” Jungkook rolled his eyes, but hissed at the pain it caused to flare up in his wounded eye, “she wasn’t gunning for you,” he groaned with a flinch as Yoongi took no hesitation and gave no warning before applying the disinfectant to his wound; he sent a glare in Yoongi’s direction as he turned to grab a bandage.

“I didn’t bust her lip open,” Yoongi shrugged, applying the bandage on his brow, “That’s on you.”

Jungkook scrunched his nose at the pressure before standing, pointing his finger at Yoongi, “ You told me not to hold back.” he glared at the older man.

Kaitlyn peered over at the two of them bickering, shaking her head at their childish antics. Despite both of them being adults, in the end, they still seemed to be nothing but boys; they always found reasons to fight and pick on one another. It was as if they were family since birth, and at this point they may as well have been.

After another minute of the two of them fighting about whose fault it was, things quieted down. Yoongi plopped down on one of the armchairs located next to the couch, his face scrunching up as he pushed through the forming soreness. Jungkook followed suit, but on the opposite end of the couch.

“It’s sort of late,” Jungkook said, breaking the silence, glancing at the time on his phone before sticking it back in his pocket, “Where do you think Lexi is at?”

Kaitlyn pulled her phone out as well checking to see if she had any messages from the girl in question. Without any new notifications, she shoved her phone back in her pocket, “She did say she was going out after classes with some friends. Maybe they’re still out?”

“When did she get friends?” Yoongi asked, surprised; the others raised their eyebrows at him thinking he may have forgotten about someone, he rolled his eyes. “I mean Yuri was one but how the hell did she get more?” Yoongi mumbled resting back. “Isn’t Yuri still missing anyways? She never told us if she found her.”

“Yoongi shut up! It's good she's making friends!” Kaitlyn said defensively, making Yoongi raise his hands in mock surrender. “And she hasn’t given me an update on Yuri yet, so we'll just have to wait until she gets home.” 

“Either way, I just figured she would have been back for some part of training,” Yoongi responded, “It’s going to bite her in the ass one of these days. She’s going to be rusty and we are going to have to hop in and save her ass.”

Kaitlyn pushed herself off the couch, stretching her sore muscles as she did so. She looked between the two boys before speaking, “Well, if it happens, it happens. We don’t leave our own to die. Until then, I’m going to shower. You two should do the same. You both smell like garbage.”

The sun had set, which seemed fitting for a meeting with a creature of the night. The streets of the campus were once again empty, with only the dim glow of the streetlamps overhead and crickets echoing in the silence. To anyone else, this would seem peaceful, but for Lexi it was anything but as the growing anxiety prickled the edges of her mind.

Her eyes met the park she had found herself in a few days prior and she grudgingly walked towards it. The closer she got to the area, the more the images of Yuri lying unconscious on the ground flashed into her mind, the image of Jimin over her with blood dripping from his mouth. She began chewing on her lip as the guilt began to gnaw at her stomach again.

Within the middle of the park, the same place she saw him hovering over the small blonde, stood Jimin. He looked the same as he always did, which Lexi chalked up to being undead. Despite that, she had to admit he must have been a looker before he was turned because he was impossibly handsome. The sort of handsome most could only read about. Everything seemed effortless, from the silver hair he kept swept off to the side to the outfit he had on. The slick black jeans and the tight fit, button down black shirt matched the night sky, making him blend in even more than usual.

His plump lips held a smirk as he watched Lexi finally walk into view, he had seen her coming well before she entered the dimly lit area and wondered just how long it would take her to find him. He raised an eyebrow as he cocked his head to the side, “Hm, took you long enough.”

His words seemed to echo his own from before, Lexi’s blood began to boil, but she steeled her features and kept her resolve strong. Instead of reacting, which she knew was what he wanted, she walked forward until she was standing a few feet from him and cocked her head to the side, “I was training. Did you have to pick here to meet? Isn’t that a little, oh I don’t know, a dick move? Oh I forgot, that’s what you’re known for. You know being a major dick won’t make yours bigger.” She couldn’t help the slight upward tug at the corner of her lip with her final comment.

A chuckle left his lips, “Oh honey do you want me to prove it to you?” He smirked, taking a step closer to her, leaving only about a foot between them.

Lexi growled, refusing to back up, “Why did we meet here?”

“Well, we are both acquainted with this particular area.” He gestured around him the same cocky smirk plastered on his face, “I suppose it could be seen like that, but I like to think of it as me being considerate. The woods were my second option, but we both know what crawls within those. We wouldn’t want them to find out about our little agreement, would we?”

Lexi shook her head no and wondered why the hell she had agreed to meet him. She didn’t want to be near him nor did she want to listen to him speak. Both of those things were exhausting enough and after the amount of training she had endured earlier in the day, this meeting seemed less and less intriguing. Yet the same question fogged her mind and she was determined to get the answers she needed.

“Enough formalities.” She glared up at him. “Are you going to tell me what a blood bond is, and what it entails?” Lexi demanded, deciding to skip past the next five minutes of bickering that they both knew they could do. “I need to know all the terms before I agree to this damn thing.”  

He hummed at the question as if he had to mull over what he was about to say in his own mind, “A Blood Bond is well, similar to a contract. It binds both parties together. Obviously, it’s not as simple as a piece of paper stating the rules,” His eyes locked with hers and he raised an eyebrow, “But you already knew that, right sweetheart?”

Lexi scoffed under her breath at how he continued to undermine her with his cute pet name he had for her. The pure enjoyment she could see within his eyes every time she would show an ounce of annoyance made her, undeniably, more annoyed. She itched to just end him, but she reminded herself of that night where she lost control and the force that pushed her own knife away from him.

“The process?” Lexi urged, ignoring the glimmer in his eye.

“You have to drink my blood,” He responded nonchalant, like it was the most normal response there was.

I do not trust this, Lexi, Zuko voiced within her mind much louder than she had heard him before. She felt him move within her pocket. She calmly placed her hand upon the fabric hiding him from the world to calm him.

Jimin saw her reach for her pocket and chuckled, “A bit eager are we? I already have something to pierce skin. I don’t need your knife.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lexi asked, a laugh of disbelief escaping her lips. Anything involving the consumption of something supernatural has never turned out decent, “You must think I’m crazy if you think I’m going to do that. Blood consumption is more your style.”

“You are.” He simply replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Lexi growled and turned on her heels and started to walk away, “You’re a waste of time.” She dismissed with a wave of her hand behind her.

“Don’t you want to know why the amount of attacks keeps increasing?” He asked, stopping her in her tracks, piquing her interest. It was like he was dangling a carrot in front of a hungry horse. The ability to have inside information so easily was almost too good to resist. Yet, she stayed with her back turned to him, knowing he wouldn’t attack, “Don’t you want to know why more and more vampires are going feral? Why the Arachne are beginning to surface again? What to really look out for? I can give you all the information you could ever dream of.”

Lexi took in a deep breath before turning herself back around, arms crossed against her chest, to meet his knowing stare paired with his winning smirk. Everything about him pissed her off, but if he had the information he said he did, that would not only help her and her family, but all those innocent people being attacked as well.

“All I have to do is drink your blood?” She asked, searching him for any sign he might be misleading her.

“That would be the binding requirement,” He responded, watching the varying emotions play across her face. Each one amusing him even more than the ones before.

“Okay,” Lexi nodded, as if she were trying to talk herself into the decision, “And all it does is contract us right? Nothing else?”

Jimin chuckles, “Yes but it is stronger, as I said before, we will be able to tell if one of us breaks the contract. So, don’t go telling your little hunter friends about it.” 

Lexi swallowed softly as her thoughts conflicted with what she was sure would be a stupid decision. She squeezed her eyes shut and blocked out her reasoning, and decided to walk into the fire, knowing that the danger of burning was worth the risk. The thought of it hurting her, was nothing in comparison to knowing that she could protect the others and innocents. “Alright, let’s get it over with.”

“Let’s get out of the lights,” He said, rushing toward her and grabbing both her arms. It took a mere few seconds for him to traverse both of them deeper within the shadows of the trees “This is a little more private.”

Lexi shifted uncomfortably, not happy that she was so easily grabbed and maneuvered off guard. She peered towards the road seeing no one in sight, “If anyone sees us they’re going to think we are hooking up.”

“Better for them to assume and leave us alone,” He responded walking closer to her.

Lexi’s breath hitched at the decreasing distance between them.With every step he took forward, she took one back, but unfortunately she ran out of space as her back brushed up against a tree, her jacket snagging against a piece of rough bark. He smirked, noticing her predicament and continued to close the space between them. Inches from her face, she could feel his own breath tickle her nose.

Lexi watched as his fangs slowly elongated. Normally, she would have fought him off seeing a vampire expose his canines the way he did, but it was the first time she had seen it without it being paired with the glowing red of the eyes. She had also made a deal, which he seemed inclined to keep for some unknown reason. The mere thought of this only caused her heart to pound harder.

He raised his right hand, bringing his thumb against one of his fangs. It tore skin, causing blood to ooze from his new wound. He smirked at the sight of the blood dripping down his hand and farther down his arm. He slowly reached up to Lexi’s face, caressing her chin within his hand, pulling it down gently so he could gain access before letting the blood seep into her mouth.

Lexi gagged at the cold metallic taste of his blood. Even from the undead, blood still tasted exactly like blood, but instead of being warm, it was ice cold. Somehow she managed to swallow a good amount from the continuously leaking gash in his thumb. It seemed inhuman for the amount that came out of such a small gash. Once satisfied, he allowed her mouth to close but left his hand resting along her jawline, gently caressing it. The content and prideful expression he held, only made her begin to doubt her decision, but there was no going back now.

He leaned forward, his breath now against her ear, “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it sweetheart?”

Lexi scrunched her face and pushed him away from her, it being surprisingly easier than she thought it would be. His amused laugh echoing within the empty night only told her that he allowed for her to do so. Feeling as if she had blood coating her chin, she raised her arm to wipe it away with her sleeve as a shiver ran up her spine as the seriousness of what she just did hit her.

“God, the idea of having any part of you inside me makes me want to puke.” Lexi mock retched, feeling her stomach churn at the taste of blood lingering within her mouth.

He chuckled amused, “Oh, you talk a lot for someone who hasn’t had the part of me that could make you change your mind.”

Lexi glared at him as she felt Zuko rummaging, wanting out of her pocket to attack. She quickly covered the pocket to keep him in again. Stay in, I don’t want him to hurt you. Lexi directly thought to him, before looking at Jimin again. “I’d watch your mouth around me Park. Wouldn’t want to make our no killing each other part of the deal break so easily.”

Jimin chuckled softly, “Oh no, we wouldn’t. So, I’ll hold up my end of the deal right this second. What would you like me to find out first?”

______________________________________________________________________________

Lexi made her way through the woods as the crickets chirped behind her along with a few owls here and there. Although monsters roamed these woods, the animals resided there first. The nights slowly started to get colder as the autumn season began to set in. In just a few short months, snow would litter the ground and leave the trees bare of any color besides the browns and greys of the bark and the white of the snow. A few leaves littered the path Lexi walked on, the crunch of them beneath her feet calming for whatever unknown reason.

She emerged through the dense forest outside her home without any trouble. It felt as if she was strolling through in the daytime. She noticed most, if not all the lights were off in their little home, but what did she expect? It was relatively late and after tonight, the four would be going on their nightly hunts again and sleep would be a blissful memory.

She strolled in as quietly as she could, cursing under her breath at the creaking door shutting a little too loudly behind her, the sound echoing throughout the silence of the house. She sighed, standing still and quiet as she listened for any hint that someone had heard her, but she was welcomed with the continued silence and darkness of the night before she judged it was clear to make her way to the safety of her own room.

Once inside, she let the light illuminate the dark space and jumped. “What the fuck, you scared me!” she yelled at the figure sitting on her bed.

“Keep your voice down! And be happy it's me and not Yoongi.” Kaitlyn hissed quietly, “If you keep talking that loudly he will come.” 

Lexi sighed knowing Kaitlyn was right. She let out a sigh and sat down on the bed, next to the other hunter. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Well first, you’ve been gone all day and night. I was worried about you, sue me.” Kaitlyn grumbled a bit annoyed with the younger one. “What were you even doing out so late?”

Lexi groaned, “Well after school I did some training by myself until I went to meet up with my friends.” she said, scratching the back of her head. It wasn’t a complete lie but it also wasn’t the complete truth. 

Kaitlyn only nodded in response and yawned. “You’re lucky I’m the one nagging you and not Yoongi. He was livid an hour ago.”

“And he still is.” A voice echoed from the doorway, causing both of the girls to spring their attention onto the man leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed against his chest; a scowl on his face.

If looks could kill, Lexi would be dead by the intense gaze Yoongi held. Lexi bit at her cheek nervously as the man entered her room. “Get to your room if you don’t want me to yell at you too.” he directed towards Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn looked at Lexi wishing her a silent ‘Good Luck’ before quickly getting up and leaving to the safety of her own room. On her way, she ran into a messy haired, sleepy Jungkook. 

“Sorry I-” They said at the same time before stopping and staring. A small laugh escaped both their lips.

“Sorry for running into you.” Kaitlyn said, looking up at the sleepy man.

Jungkook shook his head, “I’m sorry about your lip. When Yoongi told me not to hold back, I took it a bit too far. I just- I didn’t want to hurt you. If I went easy, the training would have gone to waste and in battle, that could cost you your life.” Jungkook said, scratching the back of his head. “Like I said, we are family, I want to protect my family, not hurt them.”

Kaitlyn let a small smile form on her face as she looked at him. Whenever Jungkook apologized, he tended to ramble... a lot. “It’s okay Jungkook. You shouldn’t be sorry.” Kaitlyn said, “In the heat of the moment I was mad and wanted revenge, which I got, but I never want anything bad to happen to you either. Like you said, we’re family.” 

Jungkook chuckled as relief flooded his veins and his features relaxed, “Good, I just wanted to make sure we were okay. I didn’t want you to be angry nor think I was.”

“Don’t worry. We’re good Kookie.” Jungkook smiled his innocent bunny-like smile before they bid each other a goodnight and made their ways to their rooms.

Meanwhile, a relieved but pissed Yoongi paced in Lexi’s room. “You better not make a habit of this. The more you miss training, the more we have to save your ass.” Yoongi grumbled, staring at the girl as he came to a stop in front of her.

“Then don’t. I’m more capable than you give me credit for Yoongi. Plus, like I told Kate, I was practicing in between classes.” Lexi said, crossing her arms. Of all the hunters she was the one to talk back to Yoongi the most. At the same time, this could be the reason the two were closer.

“You need to train with us too Lex. That’s the thing. We agreed if you went to college you have to balance your studies with your hunting. As nice as it is to have a social life you know we can’t.” Yoongi said, his tone finally lowering. 

Lexi played with her hands as she thought of her first non-hunter friend and the fact that she nearly died. “I know… I’m sorry. I promise, I will help out more Yoongi.” she said, feeling guilty.

Yoongi sighed and sat on the bed. “I’m only looking out for you. I’m in charge and I need to make sure all of you stay safe while we keep other humans safe.”

“You know, you could just say you care about me right?” Lexi teased, the mood becoming  lighter as she gently pushed his shoulder. 

Yoongi rolled his eyes and stood up. “I’m going to bed.” he grumbled, stalking out of the bedroom.

“Love you too Yoongles!” Lexi shouted after him and chuckled softly hearing him curse at her. A smile formed on her face as she knew she was in good hands. A determined look danced in her eyes as she decided she was going to train harder to keep them safe. She stood up as she let Zuko crawl out of her pocket and onto her bed. With a flick of her wrist, the door shut and locked, just like always.

______________________________________________________________________________

A man strode home, ecstatic, as if he had just won the lottery. He walked into his home and was greeted by his roommate and dearest friend, “Someone looks happy.”

“Someone is happy. Remember how I was complaining about the girl I couldn’t control?” Jimin asked the elder.

A groan and look of disappointment appeared on Namjoon’s face as he set his book down and turned his full attention to Jimin, watching him sit on the couch. “Please tell me you left it alone just like I said you should?”

“Nope.” Jimin smirked, much to Namjoon’s dismay, “I figured out how I can control her. Well, eventually.” Jimin gloated.

Namjoon’s eyes grew wide. “Jimin you didn’t…”

“I did,” Jimin laughed, “It's the only option I had left to gain control of the situation, Joon. I figured you’d understand.” 

“No, I never understand the way you think. Blood bonding isn’t something that should be played with, Jimin! It is serious!” Namjoon jumped up out of anger as he paced. “I told you everything that could happen!”

“Exactly so I can control her because she’ll be crazy for me.” Jimin chuckled, not seeing a single thing wrong with his plan. That was, until suddenly he felt his stomach drop as a feeling of guilt and sorrow rushed through him, not understanding exactly what was causing it. “What the…” He furrowed his brows and met Namjoons eyes, not understanding exactly what had happened.

“See I told you!” Namjoon glared, reading every move he made.

“What do you mean?” Jimin asked, confused.

“You feel what she is feeling. All of her thoughts and emotions are in your head and heart.” Namjoon stated.

Jimin let out a string of curses in his head, hiding his true feelings behind his facade, “I can handle that. She is just a human.” Jimin said, reassuring Namjoon.

Namjoon studied him, trying to judge exactly how intense the feelings were that Jimin was feeling, “I still don’t like this.”

“You don’t have to. I’m the one dealing with this mess.”

Chapter Text

A loud groan escaped Jimin’s lips as he felt a surge of pain shoot through his body. The pain was prominent on the left side of his waist, but not a single mark could be found. It had only been five days since the blood bond and it was unbearable. Sure, he got her emotions, which he could handle, but he could also feel physical aspects of her life as well. He knew he should have never done the stupid blood bond with someone who had such clear vivid emotions and a tendency to have pain inflicted onto her. This whole week he felt nothing but sharp pains and bruises that would form, if they could on his undead, regenerating body.

“Dammit!” He growled under his breath, grabbing at his hair in frustration. Some students gave him questioning looks, but the majority seemed to assume he was just another college student having a daily mental breakdown. A sigh escaped his lips as his hands dragged down his face to rub at his eyes, “When the hell will you stop getting hurt? I thought you were supposed to be a fucking hunter."

He stayed crouched in that position for a few minutes before he straightened up as the pain subsided; hopefully signaling the end of her damn training. He couldn’t be sure, but usually the diminishing of pain meant that she was done for the day. 

 “I need to do something about this.” He vowed to himself, annoyance prominent within the statement. He stood up, swiping his hair back out of his face before making his way off of campus. He knew exactly where to find her or at least he felt like he did. It wasn't that he spent every moment of the day stalking her whereabouts but, ever since the bond, it felt like he just knew where to go. He let his instincts take control as it guided him to the girl. Yet, he could not help but wonder why the effects seemed heightened.

______________________________________________________________________________

Lexi finished training with the warlock and made her way to the café the group of hunters always met at. As she approached she could see the three of them sitting at a larger table by the window. A small smile graced her features as she ventured inside, the ring of the bell echoing through the restaurant, signaled her entry. She watched as everyone in the group turned their heads in the direction of the door watching as she made her way to the table to join them. Chatter surrounded their ears as the café held other groups of people within, all enjoying coffee and one another's company.

 “Tonight’s the night.” Yoongi reminded the group leaning back against his chair taking a sip of his iced americano.

“We finally get to go out again, ” Jungkook said, relief clear in his posture before he shot his eyes in the direction of the eldest, "Or am I still banned from having fun?"

To anyone else, this conversation sounded like a normal one amongst teens and young adults. But with them, it was different, here the hunters were ready to get out and rid the world of the most foul of beings. As grim as it may seem, the thought of hunting filled each one of them in a variety of ways. While yes, they all made up one group, each of them had their own reasons for living this type of life but, the one they shared was to protect others and assure them that they wouldn’t go through what these four had.

Yoongi glanced over at Jungkook before quickly returning his gaze to the others. He wasn't in the mood for Jungkook's childish antics. Instead, he chose to ignore him. Jungkook made a ‘hmphed’  sound which made him sound like the grown child that he was.

“Do we have any idea where we are going tonight?” Kaitlyn asked, her eyes shifting from one person to the next, wanting to know where to start. Although they’ve kept this up for many years, whenever they had a break, it always felt like they were at square one again.

A smirk formed on Lexi’s lips as she got out a folder and passed it to Yoongi. “I’ve been doing a bit of research. Just an idea of places we could start.”

A chuckle escaped Yoongi’s lips as his eyes met hers, his scar as prominent as the day he got it. “When did you do this?” he asked, shocked by this outcome. It wasn’t that Lexi wasn’t dedicated to this life, just that she seemed so busy recently, that he would have expected her to be the last one to do research on this. 

 A small tsk escaped Lexi’s lips, a glint of mischief in her light blue eyes, “A lady never shares her secrets.”

As the group moved on from hunter talk to small talk, a pair of green eyes peered into the window of the coffee shop. Yuri had caught the group sitting at a table by the window as she was walking past.

She was doing her best to keep her distance from both Lexi and Taehyung. She knew they were hiding things from her, but what? She sighed softly; she was hoping that even though she was outside, she would be able to hear at least some of what they were saying, but unfortunately the glass of the window and the other groups chattering drowned them out.

Lost in her thoughts, she wasn’t even aware that someone had caught her through the window. She jumped out of her skin, as the bell went off from the door opening. If anyone were to see, they’d think the poor girl had just left a haunted house.

Instead, Kaitlyn looked at the girl with a soft smile, “Yuri! It’s been so long! I’m glad you are doing okay since the party. Come on, come sit with us.” She said, gently taking Yuri’s hand and guiding her inside. Yuri, still caught by surprise, did nothing to stop Kaitlyn from pulling her inside to the rest of the group. Her heart raced as she tried to figure out anyway to get out of the situation, but she did not want to seem rude, seeing as that did nothing but get her into more trouble in the past.

Yuri, in a blur, sat down in the empty seat beside Lexi and watched as Kaitlyn reclaimed her seat next to Jungkook. The group started the conversation back up as if Yuri had always been there, but she could not work up the courage to utter a single word. The conversation flowed like a river, but she felt like an anchor, stuck in one spot. She wished she could talk freely like the others, but her whole life she was taught that speaking out of turn would result in trouble. Not only could she not work up her courage to speak but, it also didn’t help that more questions flooded her mind since the door opened. Such as, did Kaitlyn know about what happened the night of the party? Did everyone know but her? It would make sense as Lexi said she had taken her back to her place, but then, if that was the case, why couldn’t they share what had happened with her?

Yuri’s thoughts ran wild as her eyes scanned the table. Why did it seem like everyone, but the one it truly involved, knew about what had happened the night of the party? Her eyes locked with Yoongi for a split second before he quickly looked away, finding his coffee more interesting than before.  He had to know something. Yuri may not be good at socializing, but she could read the signs, they all knew something. She watched as he pulled a file off the table and set it aside, out of view as he continued to converse with the others.

“You know, Kookie your birthday passed by a few weeks ago and we never did anything.” Kaitlyn said, the realization just occurring to her. “We should!”

Jungkook simply shook his head, “We are far too busy to focus on celebrating.” 

“We could still do something. It may be a little late, but we should.” Lexi suggested. “What if we go to a bowling alley then an arcade?” She said, knowing exactly what his weak spots were. Although Jungkook was mostly focused on work, he was a young man who enjoyed the simple things in life. He did need at least a fraction of a life outside of hunting.

A small smile formed on his lips, “Really? Could we?” excitement laced his voice as it reached a higher pitch. The group of hunters laughed at his obvious show of excitement. It was common knowledge among them that Jungkook did not have much of a childhood, no one except Yoongi knowing his actual past, but his enthusiasm showed that he still could hold the excitement of a child; a muscular child.

The conversation was interrupted by the screeching of a chair being slid across the ground coming to a halt at the table. The chair faced the opposite way, the back towards the table as a figure sat down, legs on either side of the back of the chair. His arms rested lazily against the top of the back of the chair as he looked between the people amongst the table.

“Why hello there.” The man said, cockiness radiating his aura, and a signature smirk plastered on his face.

Yuri’s body tensed up at the sound of the familiar voice as she tried to avoid looking towards the man that always caused her blood to run cold for reasons unknown to her. She jumped slightly at Lexi’s sharp voice from beside her that snapped her from the freezing blood racing through her veins.

“God dammit why are you here?” Lexi growled, feeling a sense of pride that did not belong to her, rushing through her veins. The blood bond did not only have a strong effect on Jimin, but her as well. The amount of times she felt a surge of uncontrollable anger made her wonder how much therapy he truly needed.

“I just wanted to meet your friends, sweetheart.” Jimin said softly, a playful glint sparkling in his eyes.

“Who is this, Lex?” Kaitlyn said, eying the stranger for the first time. He didn't seem like the kind of person Lexi would willingly associate with but she waited to see what her answer would be before jumping to conclusions.

“I’m one of her friends, The name is Jimin, a pleasure to meet you.” Jimin said, reaching out his hand to shake Kaitlyn’s. She eyed the man as she slowly reached her hand out to meet his. The mischievous gleam in his eye as he glanced over at Lexi had Kaitlyn having doubts on whether his words were even the slightest bit true.

Lexi growled as she got up, grabbing the chair and dragging it with Jimin still on it as far away from the table as she could, “Shut up Park, I don’t have friends!” 

“I knew it! I told you she didn’t have friends.” Yoongi exclaimed, referencing the night when Lexi stayed out too late, blaming her lack of training to her so called ‘friends.’

Lexi ignored him as she continued to drag Jimin and the chair even further from the group, enough so that they would not hear the conversation. She finally stopped in a darker corner of the diner where no one would be able to bother them. She took a deep breath to calm herself before saying under her breath, “What the hell are you doing Jimin!?” 

Jimin plastered on the most innocent expression he could muster onto his face as he stood from the chair he had stayed on the whole journey over, “I just want to meet your friends sweetheart. Don’t worry I won’t bite this time.” He laughed before his signature smirk appeared again.

“Don’t you have better things to be doing like getting your hair redyed?” Lexi glared at him. The silver in his hair was starting to fade leaving a dirty blonde to be seen with darker roots emerging, revealing his real hair color. Despite all that, what really got underneath Lexi's skin was that the discoloring of his hair didn't take away from his inhuman beauty.

Red flashed in his eyes but Lexi didn't need the physical sign to know he was angry because she herself also felt that anger flow through her.  It felt much like her own but it was slightly disconnected from herself. When his feelings tapered off to nothing, her own annoyance remained. She wanted nothing more than to confront him for avoiding her whenever she wanted to say something to him in order to figure out why she felt every strong emotion he had. Yet, she knew she couldn’t, not now, not with the others sitting in the same vicinity.

Lexi released a breath, releasing the negative thoughts and feelings that clouded her judgement as she looked at him, “Why are you really here?”

"Well, I was going to complain about the amount of pain we've both been feeling today," He paused, his eyes looking past Lexi's shoulders to meet her group which sat across the room now, a cocky smirk plastering on his plump lips, "But introducing myself to your friends seemed like a much lovelier idea."

“Do you have any fucking clue how bad of an idea that is or are you just naturally that stupid?” Lexi whispered to him, making sure no prying eyes nor ears were on them.

“What’s the big deal? Unless… Tell me, princess, are those your little hunting buddies?” He smirked, taking a step closer.

Lexi growled and pushed him back. Jimin allowed her to do so as he waited for a response to his taunt “Maybe I’m tired of you eating my friends.”

Jimin laughed and took a step closer, closing the distance that he had allowed her before, “Why don’t I eat you then? You seemed to enjoy taking a bite of me.”

Lexi glared at him as her cheeks turned a shade of pink and she pushed him back yet again, “Get out of here, Park, or I swear I will hurt you.” 

Her threat now out on the table she pushed past him bumping her shoulder with his as she walked to go join the others.

With her return, all eyes rested on her. Lexi knew that the whole situation seemed slightly suspicious. If it were any of the others, she'd be thinking the same. But, what she had gotten herself into was on a need-to-know basis and they did not need to know.

“So… what was that?” Kaitlyn inquired as soon as she sat back down.

“A pest I need to get rid of.” Lexi grumbled and looked at Yuri, seeing her still tense. But, before she could ask if she was okay, Jungkook spoke.

“What is he? Your boyfriend?” He chuckled, the teasing tone evident in his voice.

“She wishes.” The same annoying voice responded. The sound of another chair being pulled up to the table being heard once again before he sat. Lexi, with frustration building, clenched her fists before sending a glare in his direction and it only pissed her off more to see his ever permanent smirk still gracing his lips, but she grit her teeth and kept her cool.

“I told you to leave Jimin!” Lexi announced with exacerbation laced in her voice, glaring at him.

Jimin chuckled, “And I said I wanted to meet your friends.”

Lexi rolled her eyes and stomped on his foot underneath the table as he let out an audible groan, still painful even if he was immortal.

“And this is why you won’t find a boyfriend,” Jungkook laughed softly, nose scrunching as he searched to see if anyone else found his comment amusing. 

“If you keep talking like that you won’t find your dick in the morning.” Lexi glared at him.

“Alright children settle down, settle down.” Kaitlyn said, knowing she needed to step in and diffuse the bickering between the two.

“Children!? We are the same age! I swear-“ Jungkook started but got cut off by Yoongi covering his mouth with one of his hands.

“Sometimes it is best to just shut up Kook.” Yoongi said, looking at him.

Jungkook struggled under Yoongi’s grip for a few seconds but gave up shortly. Once Yoongi let him go, he reverted to a calm and collective guy for about three seconds before directing his next words at the new person,  “Anyways, who are you?” 

"As I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted," Jimin said, sending a quick look in the direction of Lexi, “I'm Park Jimin, nice to meet you all.”

The smirk that seemed fixated on his lips finally left his face and a soft smile replaced it. Though he would never admit it, he enjoyed watching the group bicker like a family.

Yuri felt the uneasiness raise as she sat within proximity of Jimin. If she were to be honest, she felt like she was going to lose her lunch from how nervous she had been getting hearing the way his words trickled out of his mouth like red wine, smooth and sweet.

“I uhm... gotta go.” She said quickly standing up. “I uhm… have to go to the store.” She mumbled quietly, quickly leaving the café.

Lexi watched as the small blonde's figure disappeared out the front of the business. She wanted to follow and see if she was okay, because she sure as hell didn’t seem like it, but there was no way she could leave Jimin with everyone with a good conscience. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the table, figuring she would check in with Yuri later to make sure she was okay.

Jimin shrugged his shoulders without a care that the table was now one person shorter and settled himself in with the group even more. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity,  “So, what were you guys talking about?” .

Jungkook smiled slightly, one more wicked than his usual smile, excited since there was finally another guy he could talk to that didn't just answer with shrugs and under breath mumbles, “Well my birthday passed and we were planning on celebrating.”

Kaitlyn smiled softly, “Alright, so did we decide that we are going to go to the bowling alley, then the arcade next door? And before this, we can even go to whatever restaurant you choose.”

“You want to come Jimin? I could always use someone that will pick on Lexi with me, since these two don’t,” Jungkook chuckled, pointing in the direction of Kaitlyn and Yoongi.

“That’s because they love me more than you!” Lexi said sticking her tongue out at him.

“God dammit, here they go again.” Yoongi groaned, banging his head on the table and keeping it there, checking out of the conversation

Jimin chuckled softly, “That would be fun. I’d love to join.”

A smirk formed on Jungkook’s face as he high-fived Jimin, “Suck it Lex.”

“Fuck you, Kook.” Lexi glared at him.

Meanwhile, Yuri quickly left the café. The overwhelming amount of relief she felt to be away from that situation caused her head to sway as the anxiety slowly dissipated. Unfortunately, it shot right back up as she was pulled off her feet, an arm snaking around her waist, pulling her into the alley and pushing her back against the wall; a hand resided over her mouth while the other rested along her waist. “Don’t scream.” She heard a smooth, deep voice whisper to her. She finally opened her eyes, to brave looking at who stood in front of her only to see a pair of familiar chocolate eyes staring deeply back at her. She nodded her head, causing Taehyung to drop his hands to his side. Yuri, wanting to avoid whatever was about to happen, felt her heart racing as she took this opportunity to try to run. But, Taehyung took notice and quickly pinned his hands on the wall, on either side of her head, trapping her there, “I need to talk to you.” .

“Then why don’t you do it like a normal person instead of making me think you were about to kill me!?” Yuri scolded, voice shaky and uncontrolled from the terror that overcame her. He let out a breath, remembering how easily the girl was frightened.

Taehyung gently entrapped her in a hug and held her close. “I’m sorry. You’ve been avoiding me and I just wanted to talk to you and I saw this as my chance.”

Yuri, felt his arms wrap around her and struggled to push him off, before she felt his calming effects take over her as her previous racing heart calmed. Now all that was left was her clear annoyance at his actions. What man, in his right mind, would even think to pull this act? 

“Fine. What did you need?” Yuri asked him, eyes shooting up to meet his as she stepped back as soon as he let her go.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Taehyung asked her, respecting her distance.

“I’m not.” Yuri mumbled, but the way her eyes found the ground and how she fiddled with her fingers told him different.

“You are.” Tae retorted, locking eyes with the blonde when she looked up, “And why are you hanging out with Jimin?” 

Yuri could hear the way his deep voice grew an edge at the mention of the other man. She didn't need him to show her he was annoyed. She spent years learning how the tones in peoples’ voices gave them away before the body did.

Yuri took another step back putting distance between her and the angering man, “I wasn't, I got dragged in and he was there. Why does it matter who I hang out with?”

“You know I hate him.” Taehyung said, he knew that Yuri had no idea what had actually happened the night of the party, but he still couldn’t help the building anger whenever Jimin was around her.

“Your point? You’re not my boyfriend.” Yuri snapped, as she shifted her posture to stand strong, even though everything in her wanted to run from fear of what her retort would bring.

Tae grabbed his lips between his teeth, “You know what you’re right, I’m not.” He said, storming away from her, knowing full well he could explode any minute. She was not his girlfriend; she wasn’t his responsibility. But why did it make him upset and piss him off when she said that? He shook his thoughts from his brain, oh how he longed to go back to the days when he’d keep to himself, when it was him and he only had to worry about a select few people. Now, a human was joined into the mix.

Yuri watched as Taehyung stormed off as she finally let her body sink into the anxiety that wanted to take over her. She leaned back against the alleyway wall before sinking down it as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. She pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned her forehead down on her knees as she took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself. I can’t do this. Why can’t I just live normally?! I hate this! She thought as more tears raced down her cheeks. 

“Yuri!!!” She heard someone shout. It sounded faint, but it definitely was her name. Shit! Nari! She suddenly remembered why she was even out in the first place. She had made plans to go shopping with Nari, but when Nari ran into a few friends, she had all but ignored her. So Yuri had excused herself, saying she would be back, she just wanted to check out a store a little bit down the street. 

Quickly, Yuri wiped the tears from her face, not wanting her roommate to see her like this and stood up, just as Nari’s voice sounded at the edge of the alleyway.

“Yuri! What are you doing in this alleyway?” Nari asked, eyeing the alleyway that didn’t see any sunlight, bathing it only in shadows. Nari slowly and cautiously walked up to Yuri, “Are you okay? You kind of seem a mess!” She bluntly stated offhandedly. Yuri, still feeling like something was stuck in her throat, swallowed her anxiety down and nodded her head.

“Yeah. I’m fin-fine.” She stuttered out. 

Nari smiled and grabbed Yuri’s hand. “Good. Sooo...Shopping! I say we go to the mall.” Yuri, bit her lip and followed behind Nari as they made their way to the bus stop to head to the mall. Truth be told, she really wasn’t feeling up to shopping anymore, not like she was in the first place, but she wanted to be on good terms with her since they shared a room. “Soooo, I saw Taehyung in passing…” Nari egged on.

Yuri felt her body stiffen at his name. Taehyung confused her but what confused her more was why was it that she always felt calmed in his embrace? It made no sense. Let’s just add that to the list of shit that makes no fucking sense in my life. She bitterly thought. Life just couldn’t seem to give her a break. “Nari. Can we just not talk about him...please?” She muttered just loud enough for Nari to hear.

Nari stopped and turned to look at her aghast. “But why not? He’s Hot!” Yuri sighed and gave her the pleading eyes. Nari rolled her eyes and turned back around. “Then don’t blame me when I decide to go for him! He’s totally my type!” Yuri bit back her response of, Everyone’s your type Nari , and just followed behind her.

“Be my guest.” She finally replied. “Maybe it will finally get him off my back.” She muttered to herself, but once the words were spoken, she wasn’t sure she really wanted it to happen after all.

 ______________________________________________________________________________

A mysterious person laughed watching the group. Tension was on the rise, much to the person’s delight. With Yuri separating herself from Taehyung and Lexi, the hardest part would be to separate the close-knit group of hunters. Their eyes zeroed in on one of the hunters sitting at the table in the cafe.

“You’ll be perfect to mess with.” The voice laughed, “Soon, you won’t be able to do anything. By night you will be destroying monsters, but how will you destroy them when they plague your dreams and you can’t fight back?”

Chapter Text

Yuri pushed past the masses of people scattered around the building's hallways trying her best to remain invisible. Between her picking up extra hours at her job and her lack of sleep, the exhaustion started to get the best of her, the proof evident on her face. She was used to not getting proper rest, but she couldn’t stop her mind from running into the late night hours.

Everything that happened to her didn’t add up in her mind, it was all too crazy and impossible to understand. Everyone seemed to be hiding something from her from the night of the party. She could accept it from Taehyung, even though the idea of him hiding something bothered her more than she would have liked to admit, but the two of them really had just met. She appreciated him, but she didn’t expect him to spill every detail of his life. With the details he did spill though, she could not shake the feeling that that night endangered her own life.

But the story Lexi gave her was the oddest and hurt the most because Yuri was aware she wasn’t telling the whole truth, especially when she was starting to consider her a friend.

So, Yuri had put some distance between herself and the two main culprits. It was easy with Taehyung, since the last she had seen him he was storming away from her outside of the coffee shop. Lexi on the other hand was harder to avoid and distance herself from. The main reason being the class Yuri was going to was the one they shared together.

Entering the lecture hall, her eyes narrowed on the brunette sitting in her usual spot, nose buried inside a book. Usually Yuri would have joined her, but she decided that it might be better to sit away from her so her head wouldn’t be spinning the whole time trying to put together a puzzle that had too many pieces missing

Yuri slid into a spot but all her efforts to be inconspicuous were thrown away when Lexi saw her across the room. The brunette’s brows furrowed at seeing her so far away. She wanted to move by her and question her distance and see if she was okay, but, just as the thought flooded her mind the professor entered.

The class seemed to drag as Lexi kept stealing glances at the blonde hoping to catch her eye, but not once did the other look in her direction. All her attention was given to the lesson, which was really what Lexi should have been doing.

Once dismissed from the ever long class, Lexi hurried to grab her things and rush to her friend, but, when she turned, all she saw was the back of her, her blonde hair squeezing out the door amongst her classmates leaving.

Lexi couldn’t understand why she didn’t even wait for her.

Something is definitely wrong, Lexi thought aloud to herself

She is scared. Best case is to find out why, she heard.

Lexi sighed and rushed out the door after her; pushing through people without much regard and half assed apologies, she made sure to keep Yuri in her sights. She followed her out the front of the building and onto the campus grounds. Now that she was not surrounded by people she gained speed.

“Yuri,” Lexi called, reaching out and barely grazing her shoulder with her fingers as she finally caught up to her. Yuri swung around, wide eyed at the sudden touch, “Are you okay?”

Yuri stared at Lexi, trying to figure out exactly what to say to her. It wasn’t like it was the easiest thing to bring up, accusing someone of not telling the truth. To her, it felt like her life had been turned upside down once she met Lexi. Her memories didn’t line up with what others claimed to have happened and the harder she pushed for the full story to reemerge in her brain the farther back it seemed to go. All she truly knew was that none of them could be trusted, and her body couldn’t stand to be near the intimidating silver haired man who she believed was named Jimin.

“Lexi, I uhm- “ She paused, readjusting her bag, “No, not exactly.”

Lexi’s brows furrowed yet again, her head cocking slightly to the side “What’s going on? Do I have to beat someone up for you? Is it that one guy who can’t seem to keep to himself becau-“

“Stop it!” Yuri frantically stated, waving her hand to motion for the other to quit speaking. She glanced around, noticing that the two of them seemed to be practically alone even on the campus grounds. The closest people being the guys on the football field practicing, “All you have done the past few weeks is dodge questions and lie to me.”

“That’s not true,” Lexi responded, shocked.

“I don’t really remember what happened the night of the party but nothing in my life has been right since then.” Yuri claimed, avoiding eye contact with the other, “Not like it’s ever been…” she mumbled afterwards.

“What?” Lexi asked. “What do you mean it’s ne-?” 

 “Nothing.” Yuri interrupted with a sigh, “Just, what you said happened doesn’t line up with the parts of the night I do remember. And that doesn’t sit well with me,” Yuri said, finally looking at the girl and taking a step away, “You all know more than you are letting on. I can see it in your eyes and the tone of your voices. You can deny it all you want, but I don’t think I can be around someone who can’t be honest with me.”

Lexi stood still, shock permanently shown on her face as she watched Yuri whip around and hurry off. Lexi wanted to be mad and demand to be heard, but she couldn’t do it because everything that fell out of Yuri’s mouth was indeed the truth. She was hiding things from her.

I wish I could tell you the truth Yuri, but the world is a terrifying place and I can’t do that to you. Lexi thought sadly as she watched Yuri fade off in the distance.

The hunters had spent most of their morning doing research to prepare for their trip later that night. Their heads had been buried deep within old hunter books and newspaper articles for hours on end. After the clock struck noon, the boy’s stomachs began to growl. Despite having a large kitchen within the walls of the house, food was scarce. It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford food, it was that two twenty-something year-old males that lived within the walls, scarfed down food like they had been starved for who knows how many years.

So, they sent Kaitlyn out to the store to get some snacks in response to the empty cupboards.

Usually, she would have made the two of them go get their own food because she wasn’t a maid. Yet, as she was sitting there staring at all the words laid out in front of her, her mind kept checking out of the situation. Everything she forced herself to read seemed to go in but not stick. This made her have to reread the same page at least three times and she still believed she only took in about half the information. She blamed the lack of concentration on the missing sleep she had been ‘gifted’.

Instead of putting herself through that torture of rereading the page yet again, she figured she would leave and get some fresh air. She hoped the change in scenery and stimulus would awaken her tired brain and allow her to finally get some much needed work done.

The automatic doors opened for her as she walked towards them. She welcomed the warmth the store brought with it; it was a mass contrast from the crisp autumn breeze outside that tickled her skin. Unclasping her arms from around her, she wandered to the shopping carts picking one from the bunch. The squeaking of the cart yelled at her as she pulled it out of its corral and down the first aisle.

She maneuvered through the aisles lost in her own thoughts of the impending mission and what the two men back home would like to eat. Granted, the two of them ate just about anything. She really only needed to think about what she wanted, and what Lexi might want when she returned home from her classes.

Kaitlyn stopped, her eyes narrowing in on the pack of banana milk sitting in front of her. It wasn’t a debate on whether to get it, but on how many packages of it she should get. Not only did Jungkook consume them like they were water, but both her and Lexi loved them as well.

Just as she was about to reach for them, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, caught off guard from the foreign limb touching her without warning. She willed herself to react like a normal person as she bought her hand away from the banana milk to rest on her chest and sooth her beating heart before she turned around to find the source of the jump scare.

The man was older, probably within his fifties. He showed some sign of ageing by the white speckles within his beard. He smiled, causing an uneasy feeling to overwhelm her senses even though nothing he did warranted that reaction..

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” The older man said, raising his hands in defense, “I thought you were someone else. You look like my granddaughter from behind.”

Kaitlyn smiled back at him in spite of the off feeling in her gut, “Oh, it’s okay sir. Stuff like that happens.”

“She must be somewhere around here. Again, my apologies.” He said before turning and walking down the aisle and away from her.

She starred in the direction he walked in until he turned the corner and out of sight. Even with him gone, she could not shake the discomfort that still flowed through her, or the questions that clouded her mind. Most of her confusion stemming from her lingering uneasiness. She just couldn’t pinpoint why she felt that way but decided it was probably originating from the pre-hunt adrenaline and her lack of sleep.

She shook her head, pulling her thoughts away from the interference and back to the task at hand. Her eyes landed on the drinks yet again before reaching forward and tossing three packages into the cart. That should be enough . She thought proudly as she walked away to continue browsing.

The night seemed to grow increasingly darker as the hunters scoured the edge of the woods. They had a lead on some kind of creature wreaking havoc a few towns over. People had been going missing at an alarming rate. Even next to a big city like this one, it was still worrisome.

The group as a whole, after studying up on how frequently people had disappeared, decided that it seemed likely it would be a small brood of vampires. The bodies of the deceased hadn’t been found by the authorities of the area which made them wander towards the shelter of the woods versus areas within the town itself.

At this point, they had all been wandering without any luck. No signs of any life, or well, undead.

“I still cannot believe that you let Jungkook drink MY banana milk,” Lexi scoffed, kicking a rock from the edge of the road towards the trees, the sound of it colliding with the trunk of one of the trees caused it to echo into the empty night.

“Lexi, for the last time," Kaitlyn groaned, looking at her friend who was walking next to her, “No one just ‘lets’ Jungkook do anything,” she rolled her eyes as she continued, “He just does it. I bought three packs of them. I don’t know what to tell you.”

A new body pushed its way between the two of them, separating the two girls from one another as it rested an arm on their shoulders as he leaned his weight onto them, “So, basically, what I’m gathering from this whole conversation is that Kate likes me more than you.”

“Jungkook!” Kate scolded, eyes widening from his claim.

“No she likes me more because I actually listen and share!” Lexi retorted back, pushing his arm off her and him to the ground. 

Jungkook groaned, grabbing her ankle, making her fall as well.

Yoongi ignored the bickering as it wasn’t what they were there for and continued wandering by the edge of the road. The two children realized that he continued walking and finally got up to act like civilized people for five minutes; unfortunately, it didn’t last long before their voices echoed through the forest as they started arguing again. Yoongi rolled his eyes and ventured ahead again, enough to where their idiotic bickering couldn’t reach him but still close enough to where he wouldn’t be screwed if he got attacked. All the noise the others were making could ruin the hunt, but he couldn’t blame them, they had been walking around for a while with no breakthroughs.

His eyes trailed his surroundings, hoping to see or hear something that would give them a lead. The majority of the bodies that had disappeared went missing around this area along this stretch of road. Noticing the ground was a much darker tint than the surrounding area, he stopped in his tracks, his stomach beginning to twist up as images played through his mind.

Yoongi strayed from the edge of the road, entering the taller grass and brush of the ditch. He pushed the grass aside and closed his eyes at the sight, nose scrunching from the smell it was emitting. After the initial shock, he bent down to examine the body.

He couldn’t tell much from what was left, but he could only assume it was one of the recent disappearances. It barely resembled anything now, let alone a human being. The body itself was so mutilated that it looked more like roadkill than a human being. The face was crushed, and the chest cavity ripped open, and if that wasn’t enough, one of its legs was gone. He wasn’t sure if the missing limb was from whatever did this, or from the scavenging animals of the forest picking at the body that had obviously been there for a little while. If he had to take a guess, and it was a true guess, he would say it was a female from how small the stature of what was left. Even taking a guess on gender was a stretch.

“Guys shut the fuck up, I found something.” Yoongi called to the group, waiting for them to join him within the tall blades of the grass. It took a mere few seconds before he heard the crunching of the foliage behind him.

“Yoongi what did you- oh fuck what is that smell?” Lexi said, covering her nose with her forearm hoping that that would just stop the smell from taking over her senses, but quickly forgetting that goal as her eyes met the fate of whoever laid on the ground, “Oh god.”

“That’s fucked up,” Kaitlyn stated, unable to tear her eyes away from the gore. They have seen many dead bodies, but this had to be one of the most disfigured.

 Jungkook was the last to join, but he stayed silent as he bent down next to Yoongi to examine the body much like the older did before. He stayed almost emotionless, which was a stark contrast to the smiling and joking man he was minutes ago. He reached out and grabbed what he assumed to be the sleeve of it’s shirt and lifted it, the arm detaching from the body at the movement. It had barely been hanging onto the torso as it was but with his aid, it came off completely. He sighed letting it drop next to the body.

“This isn’t a vampire,” Jungkook said out loud, even though everyone already knew that to be certain, “Even the most unhinged vampire would never leave the body looking like this.”

Yoongi nodded, standing up, “The body couldn’t have been here too long. It’s not dried by the sun or infested by insects. It’s safe to assume it could have been here for a few hours before we found it.”

“What could do that?” Lexi asked, staring at the body.

Jungkook stood as well, his face still calm as he wiped his hands on his black jeans, “There seems to be no reason for the body being so damaged. The organs look to still all be there despite the abdomen being completely ripped open. It’s like whatever did this, did it just because it could .”

Silence fell between the four. Most creatures had reasons for ending the life of a human. Mostly all of them were to sustain the creature's life. Some drank blood, some needed specific organs, and some just ate the whole person. All gruesome in their own way, but still a reason behind it.

“You’re thinking what I am, aren’t you Jungkook?” Yoongi asked, shooting a look in his direction.

Jungkook nodded, “Vargulf.”

Lexi swallowed quietly as she prepared herself to be scolded by the question she was about to let slip out of her mouth and slowly glanced up to meet Yoongi’s eyes.

“So uhm.” Lexi looked away from Yoongi’s pointed look and put her attention on a tree in the distance, “What is a Vargulf again?” Lexi said a bit shyly, with a nervous chuckle.

A small laugh mixed with hers as Jungkook couldn’t help but to join along, “Well, looks like someone didn’t study.” He managed to get out before earning a glare from Yoongi.

“You don’t remember?” Yoongi sighed, looking at her. She could feel his disappointment radiating towards her and she shuffled her feet before braving to look at him again with a shy smile and shrug of her shoulders. 

Kaitlyn sighed, her tired state altering her brain chemistry, "In her defence, I don’t remember either.”

Lexi took a glance at the other before continuing, “There are thousands of creatures out there and it is extremely difficult to memorize them all,” She stated firmly as she shifted her weight and looked between her family members. “Now before you decide to completely beat my ass,” she shot a pointed look at Yoongi, “I do fucking remember that it’s a wolf!” 

Yoongi raised his eyebrows, challenging her, she raised hers back in response as if daring him to do something. 

Yoongi sighed and dragged his hand down his face as he worked with the only compassion that he had left and said, “Well, as you said already, a vargulf is a werewolf. But unlike werewolves as we know them, vargulfs are quite unpredictable. They are mentally and physically unstable, which is why most decide to live as a wolf, because they have no control of it. Their human side is all but nearly extinct.” Yoongi looked between Kaitlyn and Lexi to see if anything seemed to come back to them, but when they both showed no recognition, he sighed again and continued, “You’ve heard of Delta wolves right?”

“Oh!” Finally something seemed to flash across Kaitlyn’s mind as her face lit up, “I remember now!” She looked to Lexi, as she picked up from where Yoongi left off. “Vargulfs are created when Deltas lose themselves to their wolf side. It’s why we always drop everything to hunt them down when we hear of one.”

“Exactly! And since their human side is pretty much extinct, it’s why they mutilate their prey without any intent to consume because they don’t have the human emotions to feel remorse. ” Jungkook finished. “Glad to see your brains caught up with you!” He joked, Kaitlyn quickly turned on her heels and slapped Jungkook across the back of his head. “OW!” 

“Keep it up and there will be more where that comes from!” Kaitlyn snapped laughing before turning back to Lexi. “So any of this ringing your bells?” She asked and Lexi gave a slow nod.

“Yeah, kinda.” She said, slightly unsure, but at least she knew what they were now dealing with. “Guess I should study a little harder.” She rubbed the back of her neck, before looking back at Yoongi, who seemed slightly put out with the sudden supernatural lesson that just happened.   

Kaitlyn nodded, vaguely remembering the written notes she read on the Vargulf so long ago, “It also sticks more in yours and Jungkook’s memory because you two are the only ones here to encounter one in real life.” 

A small smile was on Jungkook’s face as he remembered the day clearly, “Ahh good times.” Were the only words he uttered.

“Well, since we are no longer hunting a vampire, do you guys have silver?” Kaitlyn asked, her eyes bouncing from person to person. A small smirk settled onto her face as she unsheathed one of her knives and flipped it in her hands, “Because I do.”

Seeing the light in Kaitlyn’s eyes caused Jungkook to crack a smirk as well, “Would you expect anything different from me?”

“I don’t know what to ever expect from you Jungkook. You are an enigma.” She responded, shaking her head at him, “All jokes aside, this is going to be a rough one guys.”

Yoongi shrugged even though he knew it was going to be a tough fight, and began walking into the trees, “Yeah, let's just get this over with. We’ve all been through hell, let's add another thing to the list.”

“Way to be painfully morbid as usual Yoongi,” Lexi mumbled, but pulled one of her throwing knives from its home in her boot clip and followed the leader anyways.

The group traversed into the foliage until the road was out of sight and the trees engulfed them. The only sound being the autumn leaves crunching beneath their feet and their breathing. The image of the poor victim continued to play over in each of their minds as a reminder of just what could happen if they were to slip up on this hunt. No one wanted that to be how they’d go.

Yoongi stopped walking when his eyes narrowed on an odd color amongst the dark of the tree. He reached out for the yellow piece of fabric and snagged it off the branch of a leafless bush. It was the same color the victim wore, it also being blood stained. The wolf must have accidently brought it with it when it fled from the scene. As unsettling as it was, it meant that they were going in the right direction.

“Stay vigilant,” Yoongi announced to the rest, holding the piece of fabric up for the rest to see. When he got a response from all, he let the piece of fabric fall to the forest floor and pushed onward.

The group seemed to wander for another half hour with not much to show for it. The majority of it was filled with silence because no one wanted to be the one to have the team ambushed by the monster. Each of them scouring for another clue that they were in fact still on the right track to finding this dangerous thing.

“Guys,” Kaitlyn said, eyes narrowing as she peered through the few trees lining a small clearing next to them, “There’s a cabin.”

“What do you mean there’s a cabin?” Lexi asked, appearing next to her. Her eyes narrowed to see what the other had.

“There is a building in the clearing. It’s small, but it’s big enough for someone to live in.” Kaitlyn repeated, reaching her hand up to point in the direction of the small log cabin.

“I guess we should check it out.” Yoongi added, his hand landing on Kaitlyn’s shoulder in praise “Good eye.”

Jungkook eyed the other, “Are you okay there, Yoongi? You don’t compliment people very often.”

“You sound jealous there Kook,” Yoongi said, a smirk finding it’s way onto his face, “Maybe if you didn’t annoy the fuck out of me I’d compliment you more.”

“You both sound like an old married couple. As much as I love picking on Jungkook too lets, you know, focus on the actual task at hand. Like, the murder wolf and keeping all of us alive and shit like that.” Lexi stated, cutting off the response Jungkook would have given. Instead, he closed his mouth and pouted knowing she had a point.

The group approached the cabin. It seemed practically abandoned which was no surprise to any of them with it being deep within the woods and off the beaten path. No wires were hung above which made it safe to assume that there was no electricity going to the building. As they got even closer, it was obvious that it was man made and rickety.

The group split apart out of habit, no need to speak to one another. Yoongi and Lexi walked towards the open door as the other two walked the perimeter of the cabin and the nearby trees for anything out of the ordinary.

Yoongi entered first, not wanting Lexi to take the brunt of an attack if they had been ambushed on the way in. Unsure whether it was a good or bad thing, they were met with nothing but the musty interior of the building. It was a singular room, so it wasn’t hard to take a sweeping glance around and see that it was indeed empty.

Looking around at first glance, it seemed like it couldn’t have been lived in with the lack of personal items and the layer of dust coating the majority of the surfaces. On closer inspection, it was anything but. The fireplace, though cold and unlit, had recently been used if the fresh soot was anything to go by. The bed seemed like it hadn’t seen a human in a long while, but the light blanket over the top of the main comforter had been balled into a mess at the end of the bed. The wooden floorboards, though very dusty, had freshly stained blood soaked into them by the entrance.

“It’s barely been touched,” Lexi mentioned, lifting a newspaper that laid on the tiny dining table set up by the only window, and examining the print, “This is from five years ago.”

“Barely touched by a human, yes,” Yoongi responded, getting on his hands and knees to peer under the bed frame, “but if you’re a wolf you don’t need human necessities.”

The two within the cabin examined everything for clues, even in this small cabin, there could be many secrets hidden within. They searched and searched without much to show. 

Get outside now! Lexi heard in her head and quickly snapped to face Yoongi, fear evident on her face as a shrill scream echoed throughout the forest.

Meanwhile, the other pair explored outside the hut. Besides the main building, there was a tiny shed to put wood for a fire. Since everything seemed so calm, Kaitlyn walked towards the shed to examine it closer while Jungkook circled the main building to look for any clue that there was an inhabitant to this place.

On closer inspection, it was definitely used to store logs of firewood. The evidence being the lonely few still scattered at the bottom of it. It hadn’t been stocked in a long time it seemed judging by the rusting axe hung up lazily against the shed wall and the layer of dust resting upon the logs.

A sad smile fell upon her lips as the faint memory of her parents laughing together around the fire crossed her mind. Everything the hunters did was so normal now; it was hard to remember what real normalcy was. Laughing along with people you loved and enjoying nature without the fear of what lies within it seemed like another lifetime. She envied those that were ignorant to the real world. But those who lost that ignorance ended up one of two ways, like herself or like the poor woman they found by the roadside.

She kicked one of the logs and turned around making her way back towards Jungkook. Once closer to the cabin she called out to him in a hushed tone, “Jungkook, where are you?”

“Over here,” He responded. She followed where his voice seemed to come from and found him kneeled down on one knee examining something within the yellowed overgrown grass near the back of the cabin. She bent down near him as well, “It’s definitely around here.”

There were shreds of fabric within the grass, though these were much larger as if they were ripped from a human's body rather than torn from an attack. If what he assumed was correct, these were torn from the vargulf’s body when it changed into its wolf form. The clothes itself seemed to be laying within the grass for a while, indicating that the vargulf had been a wolf since then.

“Jungkook,” Kaitlyn said, her eyes looking up from the clothes and past Jungkook.

“What?” He asked, bringing his attention to her now.

“Don’t make any sudden moves because it’s looking right at us from the tree line.”

With that, Jungkook moved his gaze away from her and over his shoulder. As he did so, it walked more into the clearing. Even though he has seen a lot of things in his time as a hunter, the unease he felt from encountering a vargulf for the second time didn’t seem to differ from the first time.

Memories from years ago passed through his mind as the moonlight shined upon the vargulf, it was far from the average shifted werewolf that most would picture. Since it had given into the wolf side of its being, it was far more muscular and larger than the average werewolf. It’s fur seemed to be thinned in some spots as if it had gotten into a few fights with things far bigger than itself. The most unnerving part of it was that it’s eyes were pitch black indicating that it had lost contact with the human side of it.

“We need to stand up slowly and signal the others for help. We are in its territory and it is obviously not happy we are here.” Jungkook explained calmly despite the uneasiness he couldn’t seem to fight off. He didn’t want to have to handle this on his own. He had seen what this thing could do when it wasn’t angry.

Kaitlyn nodded in response. They both slowly rose from their crouched positions, their eyes not leaving the dark eyes of the dog-like monster in front of them. It slowly closed in the space between them, lips pulled up showing its teeth as it weaved trying to figure out what to do with the intruders.  

Jungkook slowly started to move towards the wall of the cabin so he could bang on it and let the others know that they needed their assistance. It didn’t go unnoticed by him that the wolf’s attention shifted to be completely on him as it registered his movements.

He was near the wall when he raised his arm to bang against it. But, as he did, the vargulf decided that it wasn’t okay with what he was about to do and attacked. It moved ungodly fast, but Jungkook saw it coming and raised his arm to block the attack instead of knocking against the wall.

He let out a scream as its teeth sunk into his arm instead of his neck. The force of the monster's jump sent him flying back against the wall, his head collided against the side of the building before he fell to the floor, his body slumped over because of the impact. He didn’t get up, he couldn’t open his eyes.

Kaitlyn panicked, unknowing if Jungkook was dead or just unconscious. One of the top rules of being a hunter was to never let yourself fall into a panic because decisions made under that pretense were always impulsive and unthought through. Yet the whole thing happened so fast. One second the monster was feet away and the next it was on top of an unconscious Jungkook. So, she panicked.

Instead of thinking things through, her only thought was to get the giant roided-out werewolf off of him. In her panic, she withdrew her knife and proceeded to jab it into it’s back right between the shoulder blades.

The vargulf yelped, putting distance between them and itself once again. It paced, eyes staring at Kaitlyn as she placed herself between it and Jungkook’s unconscious body. Her knife didn’t do much damage other than give it a slight limp. If it had been a normal knife, the wolf would probably be devouring Jungkook’s face, but the only reason it did anything at all was because it was silver coated. The machete that was attached to Jungkook’s back might have been a better bet, but she didn’t want to remove her eyes from the predator in front of her. Honestly, she was scared to look at him and make sure he was still breathing, afraid he might not be.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” A gruff voice sounded from beside the two of them. Kaitlyn risked a glance, finding that both Yoongi and Lexi had joined them in the yard with both their weapons drawn at the enemy, “What did the idiot do now?”

“N-nothing,” Kaitlyn responded, voice coming out shaky, “H-he went to bang on the wall to warn you guys and he got attacked. I couldn’t do anything. I-It happened so fast. I had to get the wolf off him but all I could do was stab it.”

“Well, he certainly got our attention.” Yoongi said, eyes following the wolves every move.

Lexi looked at Jungkook and back to the wolf shaking her head. Her throwing knives moved between her fingers as she thought out how to exactly attack this beast. She looked over at Yoongi, who held his Kukri out ready to swing when he needed to. He met her eyes and nodded. With that, she gripped the throwing knife tighter in her hand and threw it.

The blade pierced through the air at a speed so fast it was hard to follow even with their trained eyes. It hit its mark, lodging itself within the hide of the beast causing an angry cry to leave it’s mouth. The knives, not doing much damage to it, just seemed to anger it instead. It growled before charging at them.

With its attention elsewhere, Kaitlyn fell to her knees to examine Jungkook. The first thing she noticed was the rise and fall of his chest, sending a wave of relief through her body. With him being alive, her attention changed to his wounds; claw marks were visible through the torn fabric of his shirt located on his shoulder where it used its paws to keep latched onto him. The bleeding was minimal compared to where the dog bit. His forearm had deep puncture wounds where the teeth had lodged itself in from when he tried to protect himself. The blood seeped out of the punctures leaving the grass around his arm a bloody mess. She ripped part of her shirt and wrapped it around his arm tight to attempt to keep him from having too much blood loss. Then she went to look where his head made contact with the wall. It was bloody, as most head wounds were, but it didn’t seem to be life threatening.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips before worry set back in as the fighting next to her got louder. Now was not a time to be relieved.

Lexi had dodged it’s charge, barely. The wolf landed on its feet a ways away. Its own pounce sending it farther from the two because of the power behind it. Despite it being physically hurt from whatever Kaitlyn had done to it before it still refused to falter.

“Again,” Yoongi instructed, and with a nod, Lexi let another knife fly through the air and insert itself within the beast.

It growled again, before taking another lunge at her. This time, she was prepared for its speed and easily dodged it. Yoongi swung the knife down at the vargulf making contact, leaving a gash on the muscle of its shoulder. It yelped again, the blade doing more damage since it was coated in silver.

With one of the heavy hitters of the group down and out, they had to figure out another way to fight the massive creature. Chipping away at it seemed to be the easiest solution though it was far easier said than done. It’s hard to believe the thing trying to tear them apart was once more human than wolf.

“Yoongi, how do we kill this thing?” Lexi seethed between her teeth, eyes watching the now limping vargulf.

“It’s a werewolf. We either force it to become human and deal with it that way or find a way to decapitate it without getting us killed.” Yoongi responded, a smirk forming on his face, “I’ve fought worse.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Lexi questioned, only gaining a chuckle from him.

“There are worse things out there than a rabid werewolf on steroids.” He said, as he turned his head to look at her, the scar crossing his eye catching the moonlight. Just as he did so, a soft thud was heard behind Lexi. He motioned his head for her to check it out.

On the ground behind her now laid Jungkook’s machete. Lexi then took a glance over at Kaitlyn, who had Jungkook’s head cradled on her lap, motioning to Lexi letting her know it was okay to take it. She bent down to grab it, noting how heavy it was in her hands. She was so used to light weapons that it slightly threw her off, but she wasn’t about to let that deter her from taking this monster down.

“How many more knives do you have left?” He asked, pulling Lexi back out of her thoughts.

“Two more. I was expecting vampires tonight, not a giant dog.” She responded. The wolf snarled at her, as if offended by the term she used to describe it. The deeply buried human side seeming to make a small appearance again.

“Well, we have two more chances to provoke this thing close enough to attack on our terms.” He replied. She gave a short nod of understanding. They would much rather draw the creature in themselves than to be in a situation that had it attacking unpredictably.

The creature bore it’s dark eyes at Lexi as it lowered itself closer to the ground readying to attack. It still didn’t seem very happy about how she referred to it. She then did the same thing as before, throwing the knife directly at it. Once the knife left her hand, it sprang into action charging at her, just barely dodging the knife, learning from the last time as it continued sprinting at her.

Quickly sliding off to the side she managed to avoid its attack, but luck seemed to not be totally on her side as her foot caught on a tree root causing her to crash onto her side; pain radiated up her arm, but she ignored it as she quickly turned her back to the ground and face the wolf. 

The wolf stopped, its hind legs skidding out slightly as it tried to whip around to where she landed. Yoongi attempted to swing at the wolf itself but missed as it darted towards Lexi.

Her eyes widened as it approached. It looked so much larger from her position on the ground. She scooted back until she was pressed up against a tree trunk, Jungkook’s machete laying too far out of reach from when she lost her grip on it on her way to the ground. Instinctively, she drove her last throwing knife into its neck as leverage to keep the wolf back from her body.

“You’re pathetic,” She voiced out loud for the wolf to hear. It snarled at her, snapping its canines in her direction as it fought to reach her, “Now get the fuck off me.” She growled loudly.

With that, she placed her foot on its chest and kicked as hard as she could, putting all of her energy and might behind it. What she didn’t expect was the damage she had caused with the single kick. It flew away from her and landed on it’s side. She felt her heartbeat in her head as she realized that she channeled her magic without meaning to and sent the wolf flying.

Frozen, she watched the wolf attempt to stand again, whining as it did so. Yoongi sighed, walking over to it. It peered up at him, black eyes pleading him not to do what he was about to do. Honestly, it was a sad sight to see. The wolf understood what was happening and it did everything it could to live. Any human or animal would. This just happened to be both.

Yoongi lifted the Kukri and swung it down at its neck. The blade slashed through both skin and bone, sending the head plopping off to the side and it’s body to fall limp where it once stood. Nothing but silence filled the night, not even crickets chirped.

He then made his way over to Lexi, offering his hand to her. She took it, thanking him for the aid he gave her in getting up off the forest floor. Lexi felt relieved that her cover hadn’t been blown by her mistake. The two walked towards the others, who both still sat on the ground. Kaitlyn seemed to be worried, her hands shaking as she continued to look over the much bigger man still unconscious on the ground. The makeshift bandage on his forearm pretty much soaked with blood from the bite he had endured.

“Kate,” Yoongi said, she peered up at him, eyes still wide from the panic she had been in since the attack, “He’s still breathing. You need to breathe too.”

“I’m trying,” She responded, “I just- He almost died.”

“But he didn’t. Let Yoongi and I help get him up and to the car.” Lexi reassured, trying to shift his weight off Kaitlyn’s lap and into one of his arms. Her eyes landed on the blood stain on Kaitlyn’s jeans, “Are you hurt?”

“No, it’s Jungkook’s. It's from where he hit his head.” She responded to Lexi who then in turn nodded back. Though Lexi and Yoongi didn’t show it, they were both worried. 

Once both of them propped Jungkook up, his arms slung over both their shoulders so they could hold his weight, all of them prepared for the trek back to the road. Each one shaken but each one also still alive. It was all they could ask for.

Yuri sighed, reaching up to stock one of the taller shelves. It seemed that no one ever did what they were supposed to do when they were here and left everything for the graveyard shift to do. Understandably, since the store during the day was extremely busy. The crowd from the campus being the main income since it was located right outside of it. Though because it was not actually part of the campus, it wasn’t limited to closing early, meaning it stayed open into the late hours of the night. That led to mostly drunk college students and late-night studiers being the main customers past midnight.

The shelf she was currently stocking was the last one to be stocked for the night. It had been an unusually slow night and she had busied herself with side work to make the time pass. It had done the job because when she took a peak at the clock on the wall, it was ten minutes until three in the morning. Also known as, closing time.

The shift itself was going to kick her in her own ass. She had started picking up the last shift because no one wanted them, and she needed the extra money, but the lack of sleep she had been getting was definitely starting to get to her. A yawn escaped her mouth as she placed the last package of chips into its designated spot.

Grabbing the empty box, she lazily walked towards the front of the store. She tossed the box behind the counter to break down before she left and then wandered to the door and locked it so no one could come in while she counted everything down.

After doing the few things she had to and making sure that the money added up to what it needed to, Yuri went to the back room and gathered her things to leave. She was relieved that she didn’t have to see the inside of this place the next night. She figured she could possibly catch up on the much needed sleep she had been missing.

The bell on the door rang as she exited the store, turning around quickly to lock it behind her. She pulled the door a few times to check to make sure it was indeed closed and locked behind her. It was. Just as she was about to turn around she felt a bout of anxiety build up in her gut, she fought the urge to quickly unlock the door and dart back inside for safety. Her hand clenched around the door handle as she worried the side of her cheek between her teeth.

“Already closed? I was hoping to get a bit of a snack.” Voiced the oddly familiar, smooth voice. Yuri swallowed hard and turned around.

There in front of her was none other than Jimin. He was adorned in all back, much like the night around him and his silver hair was slicked back out of his face per usual. Honestly, she would have been intimidated by him no matter what without the help of this gut feeling she couldn’t seem to shake. A smirk was held on his lips as if what he was saying was a joke only he truly understood.

“Yeah, you just missed it. We close at three.” Yuri said, adjusting her jacket in her arms so it covered more of her body from his eyes. She didn’t like the way he stared at her.

“What a shame. I was in the mood for something more, well, metallic.” He announced, his eyes holding a mysterious shine as the streetlamps caught them.

Yuri watched as he took a step nearer to her, and she in return took a step back to keep the distance. Her back found the wall behind her. She uncomfortably shifted on her feet, “Well the closest thing we have to that is the change in our drawer and I really can’t give you that to chew on.”

Within a split second, he was inches in front of her. It was like she blinked, but she didn’t once close her eyes. Her heartbeat was pounding so hard she could hear it within her own ears. His smirk was still plastered on his face as he stared at her shrinking figure

“This situation feels all too familiar doesn’t it?” Yuri’s eyes widened at his statement. It did, and it was all starting to make sense within her clouded head. He raised an eyebrow as his eyes flashed an unnatural red as if to gloat, his canines all too long for the average human, “Cornered? Nowhere to go? Just this time, you’re in your work uniform and not buzzed up from a party.”

“Oh my god, you gave me the puncture wounds.” She breathed out, not really meaning for it to be heard by anyone but herself. She felt her hands shaking as they grasped her jacket harder. She had assumed that it could have been Taehyung for the longest time. She even distanced herself just in case it was. She felt a pang of guilt mixed in with her undeniable fear of what was going on.

“If it makes you feel any better, it was nothing against you. I needed your help to weed out a little problem I was having.”

“It doesn’t.” She responded, unable to look at him in the eyes.

She felt his breath draw nearer to her, very close to where the two wounds from before had healed over. She closed her eyes, hoping to will all of it away. It had to be a nightmare of some kind. Deep down, she knew differently, “What? Do you want me to finish the job? It wouldn’t take much effort.”

“Didn’t I tell you to back the fuck up?” A new, darker voice said. She opened her eyes to find a large hand grasping onto Jimin’s shoulder in what looked to be a painful grip. Suddenly, Jimin was ripped away from her with such a force that his body landed across the small parking lot.

Yuri didn’t need to see who it was to know who had come to her rescue. His voice was all too familiar even when it was laced with nothing but pure rage. Taehyung stood in front of her, dressed in a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. Standard wear for a college student out and about at three in the morning. What wasn’t standard was the change in his eyes. One green and one blue.

“Damn Kim, you always love to show up when no one wants you to.” Jimin said, straightening himself up after catching his own fall.

Taehyung let out an inhuman growl, the response hitting too close to home. He craned his neck to the side, trying to subdue his inner wolf. He could feel himself losing control and he didn’t want to do that in front of Yuri. She’s had enough to deal with the past few weeks, she didn’t need him adding to it.

“I could say the same about you, Park,” Taehyung responded with a voice that was unusually gruff, “I told you I would end you if you tried again. I see you actually had the balls.”

Unknown to Yuri, Jimin’s eyes flashed red once again. It didn’t go unnoticed by Taehyung, “What are you going to do about it furball? You have had your tail between your legs for the past week. You don’t have it in you to end me right now.”

Taehyung snapped, another growl forming from within. He ran towards the vampire, using all his control he had left to stay in his humanized form, but he could feel the way his body burned as it attempted to continue to shift.

“Too easy,” Jimin said under his breath, taking Taehyung by the arm and flipping him down onto his chest. He pulled his arm back and stepped onto his back to keep the wolf down.

That’s when, everything around him went black.

This wasn’t the first time this very thing has happened to him, and honestly, he shouldn’t have been surprised that this was what was happening. He dropped Taehyung’s arm as he realized he really couldn’t do much without any sight.

Unknown to Jimin, Taehyung also lost his sight. It was as if he had suddenly gone blind. No light, just darkness all around him. He figured he should be worried, but for some reason, he felt a rush of calmness surround him as well. He felt his wolf form starting to settle, the burning fading with it.

Yuri, who stood by the store wall still, didn’t understand what exactly was going on. They were both about to kill each other and then suddenly, nothing.

“Confused?”

Yuri jumped, frightened by the sudden unknown voice and whipped her head to the side. There, leaned up against the wall next to her was a man she’s never seen before. He was tall, well taller than either of the other two. His clothes were casual if you didn’t include the trench coat he wore on top of them. He smirked, dimples popping out as he did so.

“Namjoon, you know I hate when you do this!” Jimin called out from the parking lot, eyes not seeming to focus on anything in particular. He seemed particularly done with whatever the new guy supposedly did.

The new man, Namjoon it seemed to be, chuckled a little as if seeing his own friend in peril was entertaining to him, “I hate having to babysit you.”

Within a second, Namjoon was in front of Jimin instead of next to Yuri on the wall. He reached out and touched the silver haired man on the temple and suddenly his body went limp in his arms. He looked down momentarily at Taehyung who was attempting to stand up despite not being able to see. He then looked back at Yuri, waving with the free hand that wasn’t holding Jimin up on his shoulder, and then, he was gone.

After a few seconds, Taehyung’s vision began to return. Everything blurred until he was able to blink it away. His eyes finding Yuri up against the wall still, staring in his direction. He hurried to her to make sure that she was okay.

“Stop. Just stop.” Yuri said, bringing Taehyung to a halt in front of her, “What are you even doing here? The last I saw you, you got mad at me and stormed off.”

“That’s what I was here for, to apologize,” He said, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head awkwardly, “I shouldn’t have snapped the way I did. But that leech was here.”

She sighed, anger evident in her voice, “Yeah, you’re absolutely right. You shouldn’t have. I have been nothing but stressed out since the party which led to having part of my memory missing, and then I find out that you can turn into a wolf which honestly didn’t help. I felt like I was going crazy and I needed space .”

Taehyung’s eyes found a crack within the pavement below, unable to look at Yuri who was losing her cool. He knew she wasn’t the kind of person to voice her opinions, which aided the undeniable pull to always stand up for her, even when he knew he shouldn’t.

He didn’t know what to say exactly because he would never know the feeling of finding out something so life changing as a whole other world right beneath his nose. He has always known about the supernatural, hell, he was one. This was all new to her.

“But you just keep showing up.” She rolled her eyes in frustration before looking back up at him. “Not only that, but you knew he was the reason behind what happened at the party! You knew he attacked me! You knew what he was, and you didn’t think to tell me! How the hell am I supposed to feel? I appreciate you showing up but I just… I don’t know right now.” She said, her voice losing the force behind it at the end as she felt worn from everything that had happened.

“I understand,” Taehyung sighed, at least he tried to understand, “I’ll just go. Uh, if you need anything just know you can come ask me or talk to me.”

Yuri watched as Taehyung started to walk off, and she felt her eyes burn as she held back tears. As much as she felt that she needed him to give her space, seeing him walk off the way he had hurt her to see. It frustrated her that she felt the way she did because she really didn’t even know him.

She shuffled her belongings around in her hands trying to find a more comfortable way to carry them. She had a good trek back to her dorm from the corner store. So, she began walking and ignored the one tear that slid down her cheek. 

Chapter Text

Moon light illuminated the house as the hunters approached it in a hurry. Lexi being the first to barge in, light forgotten, and door left wide open for the others to follow behind. Before the others could catch up with her she was already down the hall and out of sight.

Yoongi and Kaitlyn ignoring where Lexi rushed off to, quickly and carefully maneuvered Jungkook’s unconscious body through the door; Yoongi kicked it shut as they hurried their way up the stairs. The only thing that could be heard was the labored breaths between the two and the worrying drops of blood splashing on the hallway floor. Once at Jungkook’s bedroom door, Kaitlyn shuffled Jungkooks body to balance on one side as she then used her free hand to turn the knob and open it. 

As the door creaked open, Yoongi took the remaining weight from Kaitlyn and hurried him onto his bed. Once Jungkook was lying on the bed, Yoongi sighed and finally took the time to really assess what Jungkook looked like. His hair was matted from the blood due to the head wound that continued to slowly leak onto the pillow. Yoongi had to remind himself that head wounds always bled more and that it didn’t mean anything; thankfully it also seemed to have started slowing down. His eyes then shifted downwards to the bite wound on his arm, which by now had completely soaked through the cloth that Kaitlyn had wrapped around it and was still heavily bleeding.

“Yoongi...” Kaitlyn said, her voice barely rising above a whisper. He tore his gaze away from his friend’s unconscious body and looked at her, “Do you think he’s going to be okay?”

“Yuri lost more blood than he has. He should come back just fine from this,” He reassured, though deep down he too was worried about his condition. From the outside, his wounds did not seem harsh enough to kill him, but it didn’t escape Yoongi’s thought that internal bleeding could be a big problem.

“No, I mean, he hit his head really hard on that wall. He hasn’t moved at all since it happened. Do you think that maybe…” Kaitlyn began, but couldn’t bring herself to finish as she felt her eyes swell with tears. She was fighting so hard to keep them back, not wanting to show weakness even though she knew Yoongi wouldn’t judge her for it.

“He’s going to be okay,” Yoongi comforted, as he gave a half-hearted laugh, “I mean, it’s Jungkook we are talking about, you really think he’d give up that easy?”

Kaitlyn didn’t look too convinced, and to be honest, Yoongi wasn’t even sure if he convinced himself. The head was unpredictable, which was the scariest part of it all. He could wake up, or he very well couldn’t.

“I have the med kit.” Lexi announced, entering the room with the first aid kit clutched tightly in her hand. Unlike most households, their first aid kit was larger than the normally expected household kit, but I mean, they also didn’t suffer normal injuries like most people either. 

Yoongi shot the brunette a smile as he grabbed the kit from her hands and set it next to Jungkook on the bed. He flipped the lid open and rummaged around the contents of the box. It didn’t take long for him to find what he needed as he pulled out a needle and some thread.

“Kate,” Yoongi said, watching her eyes tear away from Jungkook’s unconscious body to his own. She still looked visibly shaken from the unexpected outcome of a hunt that wasn’t supposed to go down like it did. She held her arms close to her chest, as if to shield herself from any other potential dangers and shuffled back and forth on her feet. Her shirt was stained red and torn in an unorganized way, due to using it to stop Jungkook’s bleeding. “You should go take a shower and clean up. I think Lex and I have this covered.”

She blinked a couple times before slowly nodding, “Yeah, okay, you’re right.” She said, feeling the internal struggle of not wanting to leave Jungkook alone, she knew he wouldn’t be alone, but she couldn’t help but be scared of what could happen once she left the room.

Yoongi nodded back and watched her nervously shuffle out of the room. He then shifted his gaze to the brunette who now stood next to him. She looked just as worried as they all felt, but she seemed to have kept herself together.

“I’ve never seen her like that,” Lexi said, breaking the new silence of the room.

“Well, Jungkook was the first person she trusted when we found her. Me and the Old Man... we wanted to kill her. Jungkook didn’t see that it was necessary. Annoyingly, he was right,” Yoongi said, snapping the thread with his hands and knotting the end of it, “Anyway, the head wound seems to have finally quit bleeding. His arm, on the other hand, probably needs stitches. You can help me with that.”

A trench coat flung down onto the back of the kitchen chair while a grown man was thrown onto the other with a grunt. The silver haired man hit the chair with a groan and scrambled to keep his footing and balance as he blindly reached out his hands towards where he assumed the table was; thankfully instinct served him well and he stopped himself from falling as he gripped the table using it as support to properly sit up.  .

“Can you give me my sight back now?” Jimin asked, annoyance laced with every word, “We are obviously home.”

“Oh,” Namjoon said, staring at the other, “I’m thinking of just leaving you blinded since you can’t do the one simple thing that I asked of you.”

Jimin rolled his eyes, “Joon, just give me my damn sight back!”

Namjoon shook his head but did as he was requested. He watched as his friend's eyes went from staring at nothing, glazed over, to blinking several times as the room slowly came into focus. Namjoon was sure Jimin’s sight was back, when he sent a scowl in his direction. Namjoon rolled his eyes, not finding a sightful Jimin anymore threatening than a blind one. 

“I asked you to keep a low profile. It was one, simple fucking task,“ Namjoon lectured, leaning his weight against the island counter, “Not only did you actually go through with a blood bond with someone you assumed to be a hunter, but you also attacked a werewolf in front of a mortal. A fucking mortal. What is wrong with you?”

“I have a plan,” Jimin shrugged, a smirk resting subtly on his lips. He pushed himself off the chair he had been thrown onto previously and began walking inward toward the kitchen to rummage through the cupboards.

Namjoon opened his mouth in disbelief before shutting it again, trying to find the right words, “What is the plan exactly because I had to get involved and you know that is something I don’t like doing.”

“You’re overreacting Joon. I have everything sorted out,” He said opening the fridge scrunching his nose at the lack of anything within it, “The girl won’t say a damn thing. No one would believe her if she did. Unless she somehow told a hunter, but I’m sure she doesn’t know a thing about them either. The mutt would have been handled but you interrupted that one.”

“You are oblivious to any negative consequences as long as you get what you want out of it.” Namjoon stated, “If I hadn’t stepped in tonight, you very well could have been dead. That wolf you were playing with seemed to be doing everything he could to keep himself in check, but he wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”

“Then the real fun would have begun,” Jimin chuckled, slamming the fridge shut, “You are too cautious-“

Jimin stopped mid-sentence, feeling a wave of panic wash over him. His eyes widened as he reached out in front of him to steady himself, the emotion literally almost knocking him off his feet. This wasn’t his own feelings because he hadn’t felt this intense fear since he was human himself. He felt his throat dry as he tried to push his way through it but it seemed to suffocate him instead.

What the fuck was this woman doing?

Then suddenly, the feeling faded out.

“Jimin, are you alright?” Namjoon asked, his tone softening just slightly as he showed worry for his closest friend.

Jimin straightened up, “Yeah, I’m fine. Like I said, I have everything under control.”

Lexi opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by trees. It wasn’t an uncommon setting for the girl, but that didn’t stop an empty feeling from settling in the pit of her stomach. While it was more common than anyone truly knew she couldn’t understand what brought her here and why it seemed so different from normal. The forest she found herself sitting on the floor of seemed to be in vivid colors, abnormally bright for that of nature.

She pushed herself off the ground, dusting off the dirt once she was on her feet. She peered around the area looking to see if there was any sign of something more sinister hiding within. She saw nothing, which set her at ease.

It wasn’t as if she was expecting much, as it was daylight. Most creatures used the safety of the shadows to traverse. Most wouldn’t be caught in the sun's rays long enough to set up an elaborate trap such as this.

So how did she get here and why did everything look so intense?

Lexi ventured off as she tried to make sense of what was going on. Only moments before, she was at the house with her family worrying about whether Jungkook was going to pull through his injuries or not. Even more confusing was the pull Lexi had been feeling within the forest. It was as if she was being guided in a certain direction.

She stopped, her eyes focusing on a tree. It was a peculiar one for sure. It’s roots had grown in a way that twisted and turned around the other trees as if it had been touched by a magical being. The familiarity of the tree itself set an uneasy feeling within her chest.

She reached out and let her fingers trail along one of the large roots, feeling the magical energy radiate off of it. Her eyes widened at the realization that not only was the tree familiar but the magic seeping out of its being also was. She felt her throat dry up and a tear slide down her face.

“No way,” Lexi breathed out, breaking the deafening silence of the forest.

She backed away from it, turning her attention to the direction she now knew she needed to go in. Her pace was steady as she now moved with a purpose, her heart beating faster with every step. Within a few minutes, her walking ceased as her eyes landed on what she never thought she would see again.

There in front of her stood a cottage, it was small, but cozy, like a real home. It seemed almost makeshift in a way since it was secluded from everything and everyone. The cottage itself had walls made from stones and its roof from bits of trees that could do the job.

Next to it was a small garden, though what grew within it wasn’t normal gardening plants. Lexi remembered them being those of healing properties. Wind chimes hung variously through the yard and off the cottage, a calming melody radiated the area every time the wind blew.

She didn’t even need to look to know that beyond the cottage and a few minutes down the hill lived a freshwater stream which housed small fish and drinkable water. She remembered the stepping stones that allowed her to cross the stream and dive deeper into the mystical forest.

Lexi walked closer to the small cottage in awe. Her fingertips touched the moss-covered rocks that made up the home, sending a feeling of comfort through her body. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt true comfort like this specifically.

“This is a peculiar place to dream about.” A voice said, causing her to jump and turn quick on her heels. She would have drawn her knives, but they were nowhere to be found. Her eyes landed on the silver haired man that seemed to be invading her whole life. For once, the emotion on his face seemed to be a mix of many rather than the usual permanent smirk. His eyes landed on one of the many chimes and poked it. The chime rang ever so slightly before fading back into the silence, “Interesting.”

The words he spoke seemed to stick to her brain though. This being a dream made more sense to her. All the vivid colors and lack of any danger was a tell. Also, the real cottage would have had to be more destroyed and retaken by the earth around it. It was what her mother would have wanted to happen if something had happened to her. After all, as she always said, everything comes from the earth and everything must return to it eventually.

“What are you doing here, Jimin?” Lexi asked, letting her guard down noticing he had no ill intentions. His attention everywhere but on her as he took in his environment.

“I’m wondering the same thing,” He said, his eyes finally finding her own. He noticed the slight glimmer in her eyes and the stray tear that had fallen down her face, “This place means something to you, doesn’t it?”

“Obviously, this is my dream,” Lexi retorted, annoyance laced within her voice warning him to quit prying. She looked away for a second wiping away any reminisce of her emotions she had shown.

Jimin raised his hands up in defense as his signature smirk made a small appearance on the corner of his pink lips, “Touchy subject I see? Nonetheless, we are both here. May as well share with the class.” Jimin walked over to her, closing in the gap between them trapping Lexi against the wall. His eyes traveled to her lips and back to her own, “If not, we can always do something a little less PG.”

“God, you are such a fucking-“

A new voice stopped Lexi mid-sentence followed by obnoxious knocking. Lexi peered around them, looking for the source of the voice but it seemed as if it was disembodied. She heard her name called once again and she realized that it was Kaitlyn.

“What are you doing?” He asked, confusion etched within his voice as he watched her look around. If there had been a noise, he would have heard it. Afterall, he had hearing well more advanced than an average human.

“Lexi, open up!”

Lexi shot up in her bed, heart racing, sweat dripping from her forehead as she felt her cheek wet from a tear that had fallen. She tried to get her bearings together as she continued to hear her name being called from the other side of the door, paired with the loud banging of her fist against the door. She groaned, fixed herself, and threw her legs over the edge of her bed before making her way to the door still half asleep.

Opening the door, she met the eyes of Kaitlyn who was about to hit her door again. Lexi’s face dropped a little at her appearance, “What time is it? Did you even sleep?”

“It’s about seven in the morning,” Kaitlyn answered, before cringing a little after hearing a door behind her open.

Out walked Yoongi, his body adorned in an oversized hoodie and a pair of pajama pants. His hair disheveled from lying in bed for the few hours of shuteye he did end up getting. He didn’t look happy as his face held a permanent glare that he so-happened to direct into the back of Kaitlyn’s head for the mere fact she was the one who woke him from his slumber.

“Why the fuck do you have to be so loud?” He asked, voice dangerously low from the anger he was trying so hard to keep in check.

Kaitlyn turned around slowly and met his eyes, “Jungkook’s moving.”

Yoongi’s glare softened up at the statement. Although it wasn’t talked about, all of them were worried that he wouldn’t wake up from the head injury. The fact he hadn’t moved at all the night before, even when they stitched his arm, was worrisome.

 Movement meant brain activity.

“Well, are you going to show us? You woke us up for a reason didn’t you?” Yoongi asked, eyebrow raising as Kaitlyn nodded and walked back to Jungkook’s room.

Once inside, they thought they were going to be met with the still unconscious body of one of their friends. Instead, their eyes met with a hardly awake pair of brown doe ones.

“Holy shit,” Lexi said, seeing Jungkook attempting to prop himself up with his arms. He realized very quickly that his one arm was out of commission as he winced and let all his weight fall onto the other.

After the discomfort left his face he looked at the other three and his lips formed into a small smirk, “I totally killed it right?”

Yoongi chuckled as he shook his head at him, “You are one resilient mother fucker.”

Jungkook gave a huge smile to him before Yoongi walked over to him. Lexi shook her head while chuckling before she followed Yoongi further into the room and took a seat at the end of Jungkook’s bed. Kaitlyn sniffled a little, her tears brimming over the edge as her happiness took over. She also joined the others surrounding the injured man.

Jungkook looked at Kaitlyn who was wiping her tears away. A soft smile fell on his lips as he watched her do so. He could only imagine what all of them had been feeling, especially her. She was the one to witness the attack.

“Hey, you,” He said, gaining Kaitlyn’s attention. He cracked a reassuring smile,  “You know I’m not going anywhere, right? You guys wouldn’t get anywhere without me around.”

Kaitlyn laughed a little, there were no guarantees in this line of work. People die daily from the lifestyle they live. Even with that knowledge prevalent in her mind, the way Jungkook said it made it hard not to believe him.

Yuri’s day seemed to just drag on and on.

It started with her first class; the one she normally shared with Lexi. Yuri thought whole heartedly that she was going to have to strongly avoid her since she hadn’t seen her since the huge blow up she had on her the other day. Yet for some reason, Lexi was a no show in the class. Whether she had emailed the professor in advance was up in the air, but she wasn’t present in the lecture hall. The thought of her not being there made Yuri worry slightly, but she knew the girl could take care of herself.

To further the day, she had gone to her final class and was surprised to find that Taehyung was also absent from the lecture. She wasn’t quite sure why he was, but she couldn’t quite blame him for not wanting to show up after what happened the night before.

At that point, she started to wonder if she was the real reason neither of them had shown their faces, but then again, she didn’t think that highly of herself in that regard. The more clear reasoning being that something had come up for the both of them. It was just odd it was on the same day.

Just when her final class let up and she thought she was free, fate decided that the day was indeed not ending there. She had magically accidentally run into Nari on her way out of the building. Nari had been on her way to the café for a coffee and basically forced Yuri along with her.

That is how Yuri found herself sitting at one of those small circular tables within the café, a coffee staring back at her, her hands wrapped loosely around the bottom of the cup taking in the warmth it gave. And to add onto it, her only other company was her roommate who at the moment she wished she never had. It wasn’t that she hated the girl, it was just that she was too much for Yuri to handle at most times. And while Yuri craved for normalcy, at this moment, she wanted nothing more than to try and sort through her thoughts. Even though, at the same time, she was happy to have a distraction from her thoughts. Ultimately she wasn’t sure what she wanted at the moment and that just made everything so much more confusing to her. 

Yuri watched from the table as Nari waited in line for her own coffee. She had ordered it in some special way that made hers take way more time than the simple cup in Yuri’s hand.

Her eyes drifted off to the side and they landed on the back of some guy’s head. Her eyes widened as she took in the dark locks and tall muscular stature, her heart beginning to race as she tried to figure out what he was doing here. It couldn’t be a coincidence that they were both there at the same time, but would he do that after she had told him she wanted her space? He would have listened to her right? But it made no sense that he would be at the coffee shop close to campus when he wasn’t even in class to begin with, right? So what else could it be, unless he was checking in on her again. Her fingers began to tap on her coffee cup as her nerves began to overwhelm her, but the moment the guy turned around Yuri felt herself relax in her seat.

It wasn’t Taehyung.

“Yeah, I thought he was cute too until I saw his face,” Nari said, plopping down in the empty chair across from her. That’s when Yuri noticed that she must have been wearing her surprising disappointment on her face. Wait, disappointment? She thought, confused. Why would she be disappointed, she wanted him to back off, right?

Yuri couldn’t understand why she was feeling disappointed, when she knew she should be feeling nothing but relief that it wasn’t him. Yet, she felt a little let down. It just angered her the more she thought about it because it went against all logic. He by all means was what she programmed herself to stay away from, danger. Yet, she felt so comfortable with him.

“That’s a little harsh Nari,” Yuri responded, taking a sip from her coffee. She watched the happiness drain from her face ever so slightly as she seemed to get lost in her own thoughts for a second.

Nari shrugged a little before turning her attention to Yuri once again, “Life is harsh.”

Yuri wasn’t expecting such a real response from her. She would have thought she would come up with some excuse as to why what she said made sense without it being rude. Instead, she said that, It almost threw her in for a loop.

“Anyways,” Nari continued, breaking the awkward silence that followed, “What you need to do is  find yourself a good man. All you do is work and school. You have to let go sometimes and live a little. Like that Taehyung guy seems to be a decent human.”

Human… Yuri stifled a laugh, if only she knew.

“ I think I’m okay,” Yuri reassured, “Things get, uh, complicated when you add more people into your life.”

Nari rolled her eyes, “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say Yuri.”

Taehyung followed closely behind the other two wolves as they ran out of the woods and into their yard. He watched as the others shifted back into their human forms and he followed suit. His body covered in sweat from the workout they endured. The eldest disappeared quickly into the house leaving them to their own accord.

Taehyung shook the stray blades of grass out his clothes that he had discarded earlier that day and began throwing them on, “Seokjin better hurry with the shower because I feel gross. What was the point of us doing all that?”

Hoseok chuckled as he pulled his head through the shirt hole, “You already decided to ditch classes today. I guess he just decided it was a good time to do some control training.”

“I know how to control myself,” Taehyung said defensively, his eyes flashing back to his wolves but with another blink they returned to his warm brown ones.

“If you say so,” Hoseok said, rolling his eyes, “Besides both of us are tired of feeling you sulk.”

“I haven’t been sulking,” Taehyung said, yet again feeling attacked by his friend.

“Tae, I would like to say that I am a happy person. Yet, since last week, when god knows what happened, you have been bringing down my vibes with your sulking . It’s been even worse since last night.” Hoseok replied, his annoyance prevalent.

“Well, I mean…” Taehyung sighed, knowing that he had been off for a while now. He just wasn’t too sure what to do with anything that has been happening. It seemed no matter what he did, it always just backfired. If it didn’t backfire on him, it backfired on her.

“I don’t know what to tell you man,” Hoseok cut Taehyung off before he could continue, “I don’t know the situation between you and your imprintee, but I do know you need to figure it out. Not only is it affecting you but it's starting to affect us.”

Hoseok gave a side smile before nodding and walking inside the house. Taehyung stood there in awe for a minute at the harshness that he had thrown at him. It was quite unexpected and usually it would have been Seokjin’s job.

Taehyung scoffed, pulling his shirt over his head, “I’d like to see him deal with what I have been.”

A short time later, he was able to get himself in one of the showers and get cleaned up from their workout. With clean clothes and a better state of mind than before, he trotted down the stairs to be greeted with the smell of food. The heavenly scent almost caused him to drool.

Peaking around the corner, Taehyung was met with the eldest’s eyes already staring at him. He slipped into the kitchen and awkwardly waved at him. The other shook his head and went back to his cooking, “Are you feeling better?”

Taehyung stopped walking, “No not exactly,” he paused as he felt like that was a lie, but he wasn’t really sure how he was feeling. It all still seemed so messy. “Maybe a little bit.” he said unsurely.

“Figured,” Jin stated, “Help me get this done so we can eat faster.” Taehyung nodded and joined his superior. The silence seemed to stick for a moment until Jin broke it again, “I don’t know what you are feeling because I still haven’t imprinted myself, but I heard it's almost an uncontrollable pull to want to be near the person and protect them.”

“It’s like an annoying itch you can’t scratch,” Taehyung offered into the conversation, “And it only goes away when you are near them.”

Seokjin nodded, “I take it as though not only does she not know about the imprinting, but also, she doesn’t want you around her?” Taehyung stayed silent because of how accurate he was to the situation at hand. Jin continued, “Well, the imprint goes both ways whether she knows it or not. She won't be able to stay away from you for too long either. Just do your best to do what she’s asking of you and then things will work itself out.”

Taehyung stared in awe at Seokjin. The man always knew exactly what to say to make a burden seem so much lighter than it was, “Thank you Jin.”

“No problem,” He responded, eyes now landing on the onion that Taehyung had been chopping up during the conversation, “What the hell is that? Who taught you to cut like that? Were you raised by animals? Get away from it and let me do it!”

Taehyung raised his hands up in defense and moved away from the cutting board. He couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched him fix the mess of onions, still muttering insults under his breath as he did so. While Seokjin was a fearless leader who always seemed to know what to say, he could make the mood bright just by cracking a joke or talking.

Chapter Text

“What the fuck!?” A bewildered Jungkook shouted, making all heads turn to him. The words ‘YOU LOSE’ spread across the screen, seemingly mocking the poor man on such a special day.

         “Listen Kookie, just because you have a shitty arm doesn’t mean I will go easy on you.” A chuckling Lexi stated beside him. After weeks of not being able to hunt or do much of anything he loved, Jungkook finally had the chance to go out and do something. His head wound healed without any complications and now his arm was almost completely healed, but still out of commission. With his mood down recently, it felt like the perfect time to not only celebrate his birthday, but his slow recovery as well.

         “If my arm wasn’t messed up, I would have won and you know it.” Jungkook grumbled, “And you could’ve at least let me win one game for my birthday party.” He stated, getting up from the frustrating game.

 “Oh please,” Lexi said, getting up and walking with him to their table, “You would kill me if I go easy on the Jeon Jungkook.” She chuckled, slinging an arm around his shoulder, and straining on her tiptoes just to reach him. A small smile formed on Jungkook’s once pouting lips as he nodded and sat down at the table next to a spaced-out Kaitlyn and a smug looking Yoongi drinking his usual coffee. 

They had a private room to themselves, a big brown table sat in the middle with red chairs around it. The walls of the room were dark as night. Neon blue, pink, and purple lights danced on the ceiling bathing the room in a colorful brightness. A small banner hung above the table that said ‘Happy Birthday.’ It was nice and simple, because they all knew Jungkook would spend more time out playing games than in the room.

Jungkook gently nudged Kaitlyn to get her attention, “Kate we haven’t played anything yet.” 

Jungkook whined to her like a child; Kaitlyn jumped slightly at the sudden attention, she hadn’t been the most present at the party mentally. She turned to the birthday boy and smiled softly at the glint of happiness in his eyes.

“Alright I’ll let you pick a game, and we can play.” Kaitlyn stated happily, gaining some energy from Jungkook, “But after this next game we are going to figure out what we all want to eat.”

Another pout found its way onto Jungkook’s lips, “But Jimin isn’t here yet, we have to wait for him.” 

Jungkook had his puppy dog eyes out, wanting his only friend outside of the hunters to come. Over the past few weeks, as he recovered, Jungkook and Jimin had been becoming close, mainly through texting and getting to know each other.

A groan escaped Lexi’s lips, “I can’t believe you invited him.” She mumbled quietly, having enough of seeing Jimin not only at school, but also in her dreams. She felt someone kick her from under the table. She groaned and looked up, meeting the cold glare only Yoongi could give. Another sigh escaped her as she shut her mouth.

“It’s Jungkook’s birthday party, he can invite whoever he wants.” Yoongi said sternly and reclined in the chair. The click of the door closing made everyone turn their heads to the entrance only to see a small girl with a nervous, almost embarrassed face.

Yuri stood, staring at the group as she walked over and whispered out a small ‘hello.’ 

Kaitlyn smiled, stood up, and hugged the girl, “I’m so glad you made it!” she said to her. Lexi looked at the two uncomfortably. It had been weeks since her and Yuri even spoke to each other, class had been filled with awkward glances and uncomfortable silences. Lexi wasn’t excited that this was going to continue into her personal time as well. It's not like she hated the girl, she truly did want her friend back, but that would just put her back in harm's way.

‘But that was for the best right? It would keep her out of this world that would put her at risk.’ Lexi had thought to herself.

Once you see a glimpse there is no going back, you of all people should know that. Lexi heard a voice tell her.

She let out a sigh and softly replied in her head, ‘She can’t fall into this, not like I did…’

“Lexi! Look who finally came to see us!” Kaitlyn announced interrupting her conversation with Zuko. Lexi shifted her attention and put on a small smile,

“Hey Yuri, thanks for coming.” Lexi said to her. Yuri smiled softly and nodded, taking a seat across the table by Yoongi. Yoongi looked at the girl softly and sent a small smile back in her direction.

“Are you hungry or want anything to drink?” Yoongi asked her. Yuri’s eyes widened, not expecting him to talk to her. Before, he would just watch and chirp in every now and then, she didn’t have many conversations with him.

“Oh, uhm... no. I didn’t bring any money with me.” Yuri said quickly, averting her gaze from his. The lighting of the room made his scar flicker as he turned to face her.

“I didn’t ask you if you had money, I asked if you wanted a drink.” Yoongi rephrased, looking right at her. 

Yuri slowly looked up at him as she felt her mouth go dry, unable to form a complete sentence. He did not wait for her to answer as he got up and left the room to get her a drink. Yuri sat back quietly and stared at the other three who were making small talk and figuring out what they wanted to eat. Yuri jumped when the door suddenly slammed open, causing everyone to turn to see the source of the noise.

“Now the party can really begin.” A smug, chilling voice echoed throughout the room. Yuri could not see who it was because they had not come far into the room before Jungkook was blocking her view, talking to him, but the sinister voice made her skin crawl, revealing the identity of the man.

Jungkook pulled Jimin to the table like an excited toddler, melting the smug grin off of Jimin’s lips, revealing a sweet smile that was rarely seen. He almost seemed nice and caring with that smile, but Lexi knew more than anyone else there, that so many dark secrets hid beneath it.

Jungkook chuckled, “Great! Now you three can figure out what you want to eat while I beat Kate in a game.”  

Jimin’s smirk reappeared as he sat by Lexi. She avoided his gaze and refused to acknowledge his presence beside her as she switched her attention to the birthday boy and the small blonde who wandered off to go play the game.

“Alright Kookie, what game are you going to ‘beat me’ at?” Kaitlyn asked the taller man, giggling slightly. Jungkook scanned the room that was filled with games as he pointed to Dance, Dance Revolution.

“That one, let’s go!” He shouted, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the game. A small smile formed on Kaitlyn’s face despite her being dragged around like a rag doll. It had been so long since she had seen a genuine smile on his face. He quickly swiped his game card as the two picked a song and the competition began.

Meanwhile, the tension in the party room grew as Jimin, Lexi, and Yuri remained seated at the table, Yuri sitting across from Jimin and Lexi. The silence was almost sickening, even to Jimin, so he decided to break it.

“So, nice weather today, huh?” Jimin said, reclining back in his seat. Lexi looked at him confusedly.

“God you are an idiot.” She mumbled under her breath, shooting daggers at him.

“Tch. Sorry for trying to lighten the mood.” Jimin grumbled softly, “I didn’t realize I got under your skin so much sweetie.” He chuckled, turning to Lexi.

She growled, “Oh you know exactly how I feel.” 

Lexi glared at him, knowing that both of them could feel each other’s emotions. Jimin laughed softly and turned to Yuri and smirked.

“Well, we are here to figure out what we want to eat, right?” Yuri’s eyes widened as she quickly grabbed a menu and hid behind it. 

He wouldn’t do anything with Lexi and the others here. She thought to herself, trying to ease her nerves.

As luck would have it, the door opened and Yoongi walked in with a few different drinks and set them on the table, “Take whatever one you want,” he said, as he sat down and then started to explain to everyone what each drink was with little to no effort. As everyone grabbed what they wanted, the last two people entered the room.

“Yes! I won! I told you I would!” Jungkook bounced up and down happily to his seat and sat down. Kaitlyn shook her head and sat by him, 

“Yeah, whatever.” She said smiling softly, enjoying the happiness that he was emitting. 

“Well let’s order some food and get back to playing some games.” Yoongi said, letting a soft smile form on his lips. Everyone began to chat about what they were planning on eating until a chair screeching interrupted them.

         Yuri stood up, all eyes on her, “I-I’m sorry but I only stopped by to say hi…” She said quickly and bowed to them apologetically. “I-I’ll see you later. Happy Birthday Jungkook.”

 She quickly left the room before anything could be said. A small frown formed on Jungkook’s face as she left quickly.

Lexi bit her lip, noticing Jungkook's fallen expression, “She has work Jungkook, she couldn’t stay long but she just wanted to wish you a happy birthday.” Lexi had to say something to cover it up. She didn’t know the real reason as to why Yuri left, but she didn’t want Jungkook to be upset on his birthday. Jungkook smiled and nodded as Kaitlyn and Lexi decided to go order food for the group of them. As soon as they exited the room Lexi smiled at the older girl, "You sly girl, you let him win didn't you?" Kaitlyn laughed softly, "Shhhh don't tell him! I wanted him to be happy for his party." The two girls laughed as it was their turn in line to get the food for everyone. 

Yuri left as fast as she could. She originally wasn’t going to show up, but on her afternoon walk, she found her feet guiding her to the arcade where Kaitlyn told her the party was held at. The bright neon sign faded as she made distance between herself and the people who caused her the most stress and anxiety. Yet… something felt… off? 

What is wrong with me? She questioned herself. It seemed to be a normal occurrence to run into the mysterious group but she couldn’t stop herself from feeling vulnerable. Confliction filled her mind as she felt even more anxious than being in a room with liars and bloodsuckers.

Her thoughts drifted to the only person not present and one she wished to get out of her mind. Everytime she ever felt uneasy, he showed up. Though it felt like they were merely strangers, she couldn’t deny the calm she received when he was around. He has stayed away just like she asked, but did she really want that anymore?

Still, with all the confusion one question prevailed amongst the others, “Taehyung… where are you now?” She muttered, looking out into the dense forest that seems to fill the entire town.

______________________________________________________________________________

         The others had spent the rest of the day into the early evening at the arcade, but, unfortunately, they had to leave. The moon was out casting a soft glow onto everything it touched as the small group of five walked out the door of the arcade. Jimin bid farewell to the group as he split off from them. The four ventured home not too long after the other’s departure.

          Jungkook sighed softly as the day he had was finally coming to a close. He held the small prize he had won with the few tickets he had gained from the arcade in his hand. He had begun to feel rather sleepy after the long day he had. It had been a while since he had fun doing something besides hunting, but ‘the fun was just getting started’ Jungkook recalled Yoongi’s words as they all walked inside their shared home.

         “Now, with your arm still hurt, we shouldn’t do anything too rough, so today we will go scouting.” Yoongi said, tearing his eyes away from Jungkook, to look at the other two. The tiredness from their eyes disappeared at the idea of an adventure. Jungkook loved hunting, but the hunting could not be done without patrolling. He was just as excited as he would be for a normal hunt though since these past few weeks he has not even been able to train, let alone go out and hunt with the others. With all the injuries and mental fatigue the group seemed to be having, there had to be a change to the groups. The usual pairing of Jungkook and Kaitlyn would not only be dangerous but stupid.

         “Why am I stuck with you of all people?” Jungkook complained as he walked through the woods, weapons and walkie talkies on him just in case they ran into something and required backup. “I should have at least gotten to go with Yoongi for my birthday.”

“Will you shut it, it is this way because Yoongi will do a better job of protecting Kate and I would be better suited to protect you.” Lexi grumbled as she pushed through the trees, following behind the older man. His hair had gotten even longer than usual and rested in a small bun atop his head.

“I don’t need protection, let alone from you.” Jungkook grumbled. His words may sound rude, but he did not want to rely on anyone but himself even with a useless arm.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean Kook? You know damn well I am just as strong as you and the others!” Lexi growled, sensing the challenge Jungkook accidently issued.

“I am tired of being babied. I am fine!” Jungkook gowled, turning to face the girl, not necessarily angry at her but over the situation. He had done nothing but sit and recover while the others risked their lives looking into whatever was going on. As he was sitting on his ass, the attacks had gotten even more consistent. His family looked exhausted, “Just watch, I’ll show you.” 

Jungkook whipped around and began to walk in the other direction. Lexi was about to say something but his walk turned into a run, leaving her in the dust.

Lexi’s blue eyes went wide as she ran after him. Unfortunately, he was way too fast for her to even try to catch up, the sound of his footsteps slowly fading to nothing. She yelled out to him as frustration took over her. She yelled once more before taking a few breaths and trying to figure out what to do. She sat on a lone rock and let her mind wander for a few seconds before her face lit up.

“A tracking spell will help me find him, right?” Lexi whispered to Zuko. The spell was simple yet effective. Since she had been working on her powers with her grandfather, it had helped her learn control along with more power then she ever thought she would have.

You are becoming very smart. Zuko spoke to her in her mind. Lexi could not help but let a small chuckle escape her lips as she pet his head from outside of her pockets.

“You know I am technically older than you.” Lexi giggled softly and closed her eyes to prepare to cast the spells. As she was about to chant the spell a voice interrupted her plans.

“You know it is a bit weird to be talking to yourself.” An all too familiar voice said as she heard his footsteps grow closer. Lexi growled and looked at him.

“Why in the hell do you always show up at times like this?” She questioned, annoyance lacing every word. First, he shows up at school, then in her fucking dreams, hell, he even showed up to Jungkook’s party, but here? Why the fuck?!

“Well, I got a bit hungry. We do not have much in the fridge, you know. And I can’t have human food like you.” Jimin chuckled, “Hmm and you look rather tasty tonight.” He took a step closer to the already flustered girl. She had already lost the one person she was supposed to keep track of, she didn’t need him annoying her on top of it. Lexi growled softly and pushed him back.

“I’m not in the fucking mood, Park.” Lexi said, her eyes growing darker. “Jungkook stormed off because he was salty that he is still injured. If something corners him he is fucked.” 

Jimin felt worry mixed with anger engulf him. He sighed softly, dropping the sly act. “Alright, let me help you find him at least.” 

Lexi frowned, softly and looked at him, “First of all, why would you of all people want to help me?” She questioned him, “And two, when we find him, you don’t think Jungkook would be suspicious that you’re out in the woods in the middle of the night? He may be a dumbass but he isn’t completely stupid.”

Jimin sighed softly and thought, “Well, even though you’re annoying, I get really tired of your emotions. The sooner we find him the less anxious I feel.” He stated, “Two, I am a vampire I can easily bolt away before he even sees me.”

Lexi rolled her eyes at him and started walking in Jungkook’s last known direction. “Fine, let's hurry up.”

Jimin chuckled and quickly caught up to her, “I mean, I could carry you and run to find him.” He smirked, putting an arm around her shoulder. Lexi rolled her eyes and ignored his suggestion.

“I did want to ask you about something though. Our dreams…” Lexi sighed softly, remembering the dream she had where he appeared. She looked at him in the eyes, “Why is that happening? I know that you didn’t know about this happening.” 

Jimin sighed softly and tried to think, “Well, to be honest I don’t know. It shouldn’t be happening. I guess that means you are not just a hunter, are you?”

Lexi frowned, “What are you talking about?” 

“Well, if you were a human, then the side effects would be minor. You'd just be obsessed with me.” Jimin chuckled, catching the glare sent his way, “So, because of that,” He shrugged in unison with his next line, “I suspect you aren’t just a human. It would explain why our effects are different.”

“And let me guess, you have no idea about how to stop it or even control it.” Lexi growled at him, ignoring the non-human part.

Jimin chucked, “These effects aren’t in any of the books I read. If you were a wolf, I could make you turn. Another vampire?  That’s more complicated…” He trailed off, “But what kind of monster are you to be able to disguise yourself as a hunter?” 

 A smirk fell on his face as he left the question just sitting in the now tense air. He watched her face intently, hoping to catch some kind of slip up. 

Lexi stopped and stared at him, “One you don’t want to mess with,” she pushed past him and walked deeper into the forest.

A smirk stayed firm on Jimin’s lips as he followed, “I love a good challenge, but I know you won’t do anything, especially with the chances of the others finding out about you.” 

Lexi growled as she ignored him and kept searching. She moved a branch out of the way diving deeper into the forest.

“Can you do something useful please?” She looked at him and crossed her arms. Jimin let a soft chuckle escape his lips.

“I thought you’d never ask.” He said, letting his eyes turn red, “You see, since Jungkook is still injured, I can smell the wound and dried blood.” He took a deep breath and looked around. “It was a bit of a bother at the party.”

“If you try anything to hurt him, I will end you and I won’t care about them finding out about my secret.” Lexi growled as she followed him.

Jimin shook his head, “You know not everything is about you. He actually reminds me of someone I hold dear to my heart,” Jimin turned to look at her as she saw a flicker of sadness in his red eyes. She felt an immense wave of sorrow and heartbreak wash through her. Just as quickly as it appeared it vanished, “I won’t hurt him I can guarantee that.” He went in a different direction.

“Wow, I am surprised you have a heart.” She mumbled softly and shook her head.

“Well baby, it beats for you.” Jimin smirked, glancing back at her.

Lexi shook her head, “Vampires hearts don’t beat, Jimin.” She rolled her eyes as she kept following him.

“Exactly.” Jimin chuckled, earning a slap in the back of his head from the girl.

Some time had passed before the older stopped. The signature smirk never left his lips as he turned to face the girl. “He’s straight ahead. Goodbye sweetheart, see you in your dreams.” He said, quickly vanishing into the night with his super speed.

Lexi rolled her eyes as she quickly ran straight ahead, “Jungkook!”

“Lexi!” She heard in response as she ran faster towards the voice. She groaned softly as she hit another body and almost fell backwards but he caught her with his good arm. She stood up straight and looked at Jungkook, relief washing over her features as she felt tears form in her eyes. Jungkook held his own tears as he hugged her.

 “I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have done that. I regretted it the moment I lost you.” He rambled on hugging her tightly. It may not be seen as a big deal to lose someone to someone else, but, for them, they were both lucky they weren’t cornered.

Lexi smiled softly, “It's okay Kookie, we are both safe, okay? I understand why you were upset. I’m sure it’s been hard, especially for you to sit on the sidelines these past few weeks, and you were also probably annoyed and felt like Yoongi thinks you cannot protect Kate, but that isn’t true, okay? He only did this because he felt it would be best.” She said, gently rubbing his back to sooth him.

“I know but I still shouldn’t have said what I did. You’re a skilled hunter and it was rude of me to act like you weren’t.” Jungkook trailed off.

“Jungkook, I said it is okay. I get it, I haven’t been doing this nearly as long as you three, but I’d kick your ass if you’d let me.” Lexi giggled softly and gently pulled away to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, in your dreams,” He chuckled, resting his arm on her shoulder.

 “Come on, let's go back home. It's been a long, fun day and the birthday boy needs his sleep.” She said, a giggle escaping her lips as the two made their way back to their home

“You know I am technically older than you.” Lexi giggled softly and closed her eyes to prepare to cast the spells. As she was about to chant the spell a voice interrupted her plans.

“You know it is a bit weird to be talking to yourself.” An all too familiar voice said as she heard his footsteps grow closer. Lexi growled and looked at him.

“Why in the hell do you always show up at times like this?” She questioned, annoyance lacing every word. First, he shows up at school, then in her fucking dreams, hell, he even showed up to Jungkook’s party, but here? Why the fuck?!

“Well, I got a bit hungry. We do not have much in the fridge, you know. And I can’t have human food like you.” Jimin chuckled, “Hmm and you look rather tasty tonight.” He took a step closer to the already flustered girl. She had already lost the one person she was supposed to keep track of, she didn’t need him annoying her on top of it. Lexi growled softly and pushed him back.

“I’m not in the fucking mood, Park.” Lexi said, her eyes growing darker. “Jungkook stormed off because he was salty that he is still injured. If something corners him he is fucked.”
 
Jimin’es eyes went wide for a moment before returning to normal again. He sighed softly, dropping the sly act. “Alright, let me help you find him at least.” 

Lexi frowned, softly and looked at him, “First of all, why would you of all people want to help me?” She questioned him, “And two, when we find him, you don’t think Jungkook would be suspicious that you’re out in the woods in the middle of the night? He may be a dumbass but he isn’t completely stupid.”

Jimin sighed softly and thought, “Well, even though you’re annoying, I get really tired of your emotions. The sooner we find him the less anxious I feel.” He stated, “Two, I am a vampire I can easily bolt away before he even sees me.”

Lexi rolled her eyes at him and started walking in Jungkook’s last known direction. “Fine, let's hurry up.”

Jimin chuckled and quickly caught up to her, “I mean, I could carry you and run to find him.” He smirked, putting an arm around her shoulder. Lexi rolled her eyes and ignored his suggestion, pushing him away.

“I did want to ask you about something though. Our dreams…” Lexi sighed softly, remembering the dream she had where he appeared. She looked at him in the eyes, “Why is that happening? I know that you didn’t know that this would happen.” 

Jimin sighed softly and tried to think, “Well, to be honest I don’t know. It shouldn’t be happening. I guess that means you are not just a hunter, are you?”

Lexi frowned, “What are you talking about?” 

“Well, if you were a human, then the side effects would be minor. You'd just be obsessed with me.” Jimin chuckled, catching the glare sent his way, “So, because of that,” He shrugged in unison with his next line, “I suspect you aren’t just a human. It would explain why our effects are different. Also your smell.”

“My smell?” Lexi raised an eyebrow at him and shook her head, “And let me guess, you have no idea about how to stop it or even control it.”

Jimin chucked, “These effects aren’t in any of the books I read. If you were a wolf, I could make you turn. Another vampire?  That’s more complicated…” He trailed off, “But what kind of monster are you to be able to disguise yourself as a hunter?” 

 A smirk fell on his face as he left the question just sitting in the now tense air. He watched her face intently, hoping to catch some kind of slip up. 

Lexi stopped and stared at him, “One you don’t want to mess with,” she pushed past him and walked deeper into the forest.
A smirk stayed firm on Jimin’s lips as he followed, “I love a good challenge, but I know you won’t do anything, especially with the chances of the others finding out about you.” 

Lexi growled as she ignored him and kept searching. She moved a branch out of the way diving deeper into the forest.

“Can you do something useful please?” She looked at him and crossed her arms. Jimin let a soft chuckle escape his lips.

“I thought you’d never ask.” He said, letting his eyes turn red, “You see, since Jungkook is still injured, I can smell the wound and dried blood.” He took a deep breath and looked around. “It was a bit of a bother at the party.”

“If you try anything to hurt him, I will end you and I won’t care about them finding out about my secret.” Lexi growled as she followed him.

Jimin shook his head, “You know not everything is about you. He actually reminds me of someone I hold dear to my heart,” Jimin turned to look at her as she saw a flicker of sadness in his red eyes. She felt an immense wave of sorrow and heartbreak wash through her. Just as quickly as it appeared it vanished, “I won’t hurt him I can guarantee that.” He went in a different direction.

“Wow, I am surprised you have a heart.” She mumbled softly and shook her head.

“Well baby, it beats for you.” Jimin smirked, glancing back at her.
Lexi shook her head, “Vampires hearts don’t beat, Jimin.” She rolled her eyes as she kept following him.

“Exactly.” Jimin chuckled, earning a slap in the back of his head from the girl.

Some time had passed before the older stopped. The signature smirk never left his lips as he turned to face the girl. “He’s straight ahead. Goodbye sweetheart, see you in your dreams.” He said, quickly vanishing into the night with his super speed.

Lexi rolled her eyes as she quickly moved in the direction Jimin pointed her in. She saw messy black hair in the distance, “Jungkook!”

“Lexi!” She heard in response as she ran faster towards the voice. She groaned softly as she hit another body and almost fell backwards but he caught her with his good arm. She stood up straight and looked at Jungkook, relief washing over her features as the worry she had once felt faded.

 “I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have done that. I regretted it the moment I lost you.” He rambled on. It may not be seen as a big deal to lose someone to someone else, but, for them, they were both lucky they weren’t cornered and killed.

Lexi smiled softly, “It's okay Kookie, we are both safe, okay? I understand why you were upset. I’m sure it’s been hard, especially for you to sit on the sidelines these past few weeks, and you were also probably annoyed and felt like Yoongi thinks you cannot protect Kate, but that isn’t true, okay? He only did this because he felt it would be best.” She said, gently rubbing his back.

“I know but I still shouldn’t have said what I did. You’re a skilled hunter and it was rude of me to act like you weren’t.” Jungkook trailed off.

“Jungkook, I said it is okay. I get it, I haven’t been doing this nearly as long as you three, but I’d kick your ass if you’d let me.” Lexi giggled softly and gently pushed him away to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, in your dreams. I know you were scared when I left, but I could’ve handled myself,” He chuckled, resting his arm on her shoulder.

 “Yeah, right,” Lexi mumbled sarcastically. Come on, let's go back home. It's been a long, fun day and the birthday boy needs his sleep.” She said, a giggle escaping her lips as the two made their way back to their home.

Meanwhile, Yoongi and Kaitlyn had been walking around without much luck. Yoongi made sure to keep Kaitlyn in front of him, her exhausted state looking far worse than usual. Sure, being in front could be a danger, but being behind was worse, because then he wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her, so he settled with this being the smarter decision. As they continued their trekking he began to notice her pace slowing and he couldn’t help but wonder exactly how much sleep she truly had been missing. 

“Maybe we should head home.” Yoongi said, hearing Kaitlyn yawn for what felt like the hundredth time.

“No, I’m okay I just didn’t sleep too well last night, I’ll just get more sleep tonight.” She said as she kept walking. At least, she hoped she would get more sleep that night instead of being awake because of her dreams.  The images flashed back into her mind, though she was starting to think they never truly left. They sent shivers down her spine. She snapped out of her thoughts and kept walking.

 “It is just patrol,” Yoongi stated, “I would rather leave patrol early than have you be exhausted on a hunt.” He said, gently grabbing her arm.

Kaitlyn stopped and sighed, “Yoongi I know I’m not in top shape, but I’m okay. I have you here too so it’ll be okay.” 

Yoongi chuckled at the reassuring smile she sent his way, “I was here before all of you. I’ve seen you grow so I can’t help but get a little worried when you’re not at one hundred percent.” 

He looked up through the trees. Before Kaitlyn could say anything, the walkie talkie went off breaking the silence of the night.

“Hey guys, we are heading back to the house.” Jungkook spoke through the small device.

“Now are you ready to head back? We can all finish off the night by watching a movie, sound good?” Yoongi asked, his question directed at the small woman in front of him.

“We haven’t had one of those in a while.” She said, turning back with a small smile on her face.

Yoongi smiled and started walking back with Kaitlyn, side by side. 

“Jungkook, get the popcorn ready for movie night.” He said into the walkie talkie.

All they heard was a “WAHOO!” from Jungkook and their own laughter echo throughout the forest as this would be the last bit of fun they would have for a while. Little did they know, worse things were yet to come.

Chapter Text

Time couldn’t have ticked more slowly as Lexi waited for her last class of the day to be dismissed. The professor had displayed the notes up on the screen for everyone to copy down, though he had not given permission yet for the students to leave. Lexi had finished taking the notes several minutes ago despite there being quite a few of them.

Once the professor approved the dismissal, everyone grabbed their things and made their way out of the classroom. Lexi was no exception.

The hunters had decided that they were going to meet at the coffee shop right outside the campus, their usual meet-up place,  and she didn’t want to be the one to keep them waiting. Yoongi seemed like he had something important that he wanted to talk to them about. Lexi could only really assume that it was about the attacks that had been happening more frequently than usual. Even with their late nights spent catching many of these creatures, the attacks weren’t slowing down.

She pushed the doors open to exit the building and was greeted with the surprisingly warm autumn air. Fresh air always seemed to put her in a good mood. It reminded her of being in the woods and her childhood before it became all dark and twisted.

“Just the girl I was looking for!”

And he always put her in a bad mood.

Her face dropped at the sound of the other’s voice and the presence that now took strides next to her, matching her pace, “Go away Jimin.”

“Now, now, you don’t mean that,” He said in response. Lexi didn’t even need to look at him to know that he held a smirk on those plump lips of his, “You’re always so mean to me. It’s like you think I’m out to get you or something.”

Lexi scoffed at his words, “I don’t have time to deal with this. The others are probably already waiting for me at the café.”

“How ironic. I’m also heading there. Jungkook invited me to join you guys,” He said, a chuckle leaving his lips when he saw the slight twitch of her eye as she realized what that meant.

Lexi cursed Jungkook out in her head. She could not understand what exactly he found so interesting about the thing that was walking next to her. Granted, Jungkook didn’t know what Jimin was. If he did, it would change everything.

Jimin knew he was playing with fire becoming friends with Jungkook. Perhaps when Jungkook did find out about him, he would love to see who the strongest of the two was. But alas, Jimin knew better than that.

“What’s your deal with Jungkook anyways? Are you just using him to irritate me or something?” Lexi questioned, arching one eyebrow, and looking in his direction for the first time since he had started following her.

“I don’t normally find humans very interesting but,” Jimin paused with a shrug, “he’s not too bad.”

“Then why do you keep bothering me ?” Lexi shot back at him.

He chuckled, “I needed to know if you were a hunter, which I mean, I figured out quite quickly. There’s also that whole blood bond thing we did. I need to know why our bond is far more…” He seemed like he was struggling to find his words, “...amplified than it should be. So, I’m going to find out.”

“Why though?” Lexi asked, stopping in front of the café door, eyeing the silver haired man.

He cocked his head to the side innocently which contrasted the knowing smirk on his face, “I’m bored.” He stated simply with a shrug.

“You are truly infuriating.” Lexi growled, swinging the door open and storming into the building leaving him several steps behind. Her eyes landed on Jungkook taking a bite of a muffin he must have bought from the counter. She pointed at him, “You!” She growled out accusatory.

“Me?” Jungkook said, mouth full of food as he pointed at himself.

“You invited him .” Lexi accused, and shifted her finger in the direction of Jimin, almost hitting him in the face.

Jimin stared at her finger for a second before replacing the annoyed look with a smile as he moved her arm out of the way for him to walk through, “Excuse me,” He said moving to sit down, “Long time no see Kook.”

Kaitlyn looked over at Lexi and smirked, “Are you sure you two aren’t dating?”

“She wishes,” Jimin responded with no second to spare.

Jungkook high fived him, “Nice.”

“Yoongi, help me.” Lexi begged, hoping the oldest of them would put the others into place. He shifted his weight around in his chair, sitting up straighter. She hoped that he was going to lay an earful into the others so she could sit there and enjoy the show. She was so wrong.

He looked her dead in the eyes, “I can’t help you make Jimin like you,” He gave a momentary pause and kept a smile from forming on his lips, “I barely do.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened at the roast Yoongi had just inflicted and raised his hand for a high five. Surprisingly, Yoongi raised his own hand half-assed and accepted it. A smug look sitting on his face as he did.

“I hate you all.” Lexi said, huffing and settling into the seat next to Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn threw her an apologetic smile as she did not expect everyone to join her in on the teasing.

The diner door dinged as two new presences entered the establishment. Yuri had run into her insufferable roommate as she was leaving the building that held her final class of the day and like always, she decided to dictate what Yuri was going to do in her free time. What Yuri wanted to do was head back to the dorm and relax before her late shift at the corner store, but instead, she was dragged by her arm all the way to the café.

Yuri’s eyes landed on the large group of people sitting at one of the tables and her anxiety took a steady increase at who sat there. Lexi and her housemates and that thing was with them. She stopped dead in front of the door, “Look, Nari, I’m not really feeling like getting something. I don’t have the money to just-“

“Nonsense, I’m paying,” Nari said, her eyes also finding the large group sitting at the table. She remembered seeing Yuri with one of those people a few times, enough for her to assume she was her friend in some way or another, “Oh, those are your friends right?”

“Uh-“

“Who’s the one in the far corner? I’ve never seen him with you before.” He asked, keeping her eyes on the man as he slouched back into the chair crossing his arms against his chest as if he was barely paying attention to what the other two men were talking about.

“Yoongi,” Yuri said, “But um, he’s not the most-“

Yuri struggled as Nari pulled her closer to the table. She didn’t want to be in the building let alone get closer to the causes of some of her anxiety. Lexi, she was hiding something from her and knowing that alone was a huge cause. She knew more than she was letting on about the party because her story never matched up with what she remembered of that night. Then there was the silver haired monster Jimin. He was the reason she passed out the night of the party and the main reason for her wanting to run away. It seemed no matter what she did, he was just there, taunting her.

“Hi,” Nari said, gaining the attention of everyone at the table from her almost unignorable voice, “It came to my attention that you guys are Yuri’s friends here and well I have a proposition for you.”

The bathroom door swung open as Taehyung was rubbing his neck with his own hands. He had begun to feel extremely uneasy since the beginning of his five-minute trip to the bathroom. He knew it had something to do with Yuri and what she was feeling but he was trying to do good by her and not run to her whenever she had some sign of distress.

He opened his eyes as he turned the corner into the main area of the café, and he froze. There stood Yuri and her roommate seemingly talking to Lexi and the others he didn’t know the name of, and the king leech himself.

No wonder she was distressed.

Taehyung’s eyes flashed multicolored for a moment as he debated going over there despite what Yuri had requested of him. Against his better judgement, he started to head over in that direction.

“Oh shit,” Hoseok mumbled, seeing the scene in front of him set into motion. He jumped up from his seat and hurried after Taehyung, grabbing his arm, and snapping him out of whatever protective trance he found himself in, “Dude, not the place to be going all alpha male. Jin doesn’t even do that, and he is an alpha.”

Taehyung paused, trying his best to shove his instincts into a box. He knew better but sometimes the being inside him was just stronger than his human side.

Nari looked over her shoulder, her eyes locking with Taehyung as he tried his best to listen to what Hoseok was saying, “Oh, perfect! Taehyung right? Come over here!”

Yuri choked on her own spit at the mention of his name. She looked in the direction of where her roommate was looking only to find a wide-eyed Taehyung looking between Nari, herself, and the man he was with. Taehyung awkwardly walked over hating more than anything that he was being dragged into whatever was going on.

Hoseok rolled his eyes but without a second thought followed his fellow pack member into the mess of awkward tension that seemed to be radiating from off that table. His eyes landed on the small blonde Taehyung seemed to keep looking at. It had to be who he had imprinted on. She seemed so fragile, and he could understand his constant impulse to want to protect her.

“Oh good, you made it over here,” Nari said, causing Hoseok to finally look at the owner of the voice for the first time. His eyes widened slightly, and his mouth parted. His whole body began to heat up as if he had been thrown in fire. Suddenly the jacket he had worn to protect himself from the wind seemed to be suffocating him. She then looked at him, making him lose whatever breath he had left in him, “You brought a friend? Ah, I guess that’s fine.”

Oh, He thought.

“Nari, seriously, we should really-“ Yuri began, trying to not only save everyone from whatever scheme she had planned but also herself.

“Yuri, I’ll be quick. I promise,” The other said, tearing her attention away from the blonde again, disregarding her protest.

Lexi sighed, annoyed with how Yuri was being treated, “Just spit out what you wanted to say, Nari.”

“So, I wanted to invite you all this weekend to my family’s cabin. It’ll just be us, the lake, and the woods.”

Yuri’s eyes went wide as this was also news for her, “I-I’m sure everyone already has plans for this weekend Nari.”

“I snuck a peek at your work schedule the other day and I know you’re free,” Nari said, smiling at the poor blonde who just couldn't seem to catch a break, “If it’s just the two of us that would be fine too.”

Lexi watched as Yuri’s mouth opened as if she were about to say something but then it closed just the same. Lexi knew Yuri’s roommate liked to just decide things for her despite her being uncomfortable or her protests, which truly irked Lexi. She couldn’t just leave her there to suffer alone.

“Sounds fun,” Lexi responded, sneaking a peak at Yuri who let out a silent sigh of relief, “I haven’t had a good camping trip since I was little.”

Jimin looked between Lexi and Yuri, his hand hiding the small smirk that had formed on his lips. His eyes landed on Taehyung who hadn’t seemed to quit glaring at him, “Sure, I’ve got more than enough time to spare.”

Taehyung’s lips twitched as if he were suppressing a growl and he very well could have been because his instincts were trying to fly out of his control. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to respond without tearing the vampire in front of him apart limb from limb.

“I’ll go,” He grumbled, glaring at the silver haired man as he agreed.

Hoseok was well aware that there were inhuman scents amongst the group, and he figured that was why Taehyung agreed so quickly. Frankly, he had just suppressed the urge to agree before anyone else despite him not knowing a single person there. The universe was pulling him in the only direction his wolf knew at the moment and that was to Nari.

“Why the hell not,” Hoseok agreed, his eyes landing on his fellow pack member, “Though, we might have to extend the invite to one of our friends that isn’t here today. He’d be pissed if he knew we were going camping without him.”

“That’s okay!” Nari exclaimed, excited that more people were agreeing to attend. She wasn’t expecting much since it was last minute, but it turned out better than she hoped, “Honestly, the more the merrier. We have plenty of bedrooms.”

Yoongi peered between the few that had agreed to go. He wasn’t quite sure what it was, but something off seemed to be lingering in the air. He groaned, upset by the words that were about to leave his own lips.

“It looks like we are going on a camping trip,” Yoongi said, looking at the rest of his roommates.

Kaitlyn’s brows furrowed, “But Yoongi, you don’t like camp-“

“I said what I said,” He cut her off, though it was common knowledge between them that Yoongi hated camping. Granted, each of them knew what the shadows held. Yoongi though, he truly despised it. He never explained why, and no one wanted to ask. He sighed, “Besides, it wouldn’t help to have a few more people who know what they're doing. You never truly know what lurks within the woods.”

“You have a point there, grumpy pants.” Jimin said flashing a huge smile at Yuri causing her to flinch away from his glance, “Something could just try and eat you.”

Jungkook stifled a laugh, “I’d love to see that ‘something’ try.”

“Jungkook, if a bear tried to attack you, you’d die.” Lexi explained, trying to lessen the tension that seemed to grow stronger by the second.

“We’d be eating bear for dinner, and we all know that,” He responded, one of his eyebrows raised as if to challenge her to continue.

“No, you’d be dead,” Lexi retorted, though he was right. They probably would be eating bear for dinner if he by chance found himself fighting against one. He probably wouldn’t have even broken a sweat.

“You two are too much sometimes,” Kaitlyn said, sipping her smoothie. Her attention not really on anything in particular.

“Perfect!” Nari voiced, “It looks like everyone is in! We’ll see you all this weekend!”

With that, Nari grabbed Yuri’s arm and dragged her to the counter of the café. Yuri felt sick to her stomach. Nari had no idea what she had just stirred up.

Yuri emerged from the car, taking a deep breath of the fresh air that seemed to be missing in the city. Trees surrounded the car shading the area, but some of the rays seeped through the branches and leaves. Down the drive sat a little cabin, but not an ordinary one. It was multiple stories high, with balconies coming off from most rooms and it looked over the lake that was located down the path, it reminded Yuri of a lake house you would find in a horror movie.

Nari truly had more money than probably everyone else coming combined, and that thought alone made Yuri feel uncomfortable.

Nari sighed as she looked into the back of her jeep, “I should have parked closer.”

The luggage was piled high. It was like playing Tetris trying to get all the bags and suitcases to fit without blocking any vision from behind as they drove. Granted, the problem wasn’t caused by Yuri. She owned one singular duffle bag amongst the many that were there.

“I can help carry some in,” Yuri voiced quietly as she started to grab the bags out of the car. She knew that this was going to happen the moment she saw how packed the car was, so she had prepared to offer help.

“Oh,” Nari said, stopping her movements for a second to look at her roommate. A small smile formed on her lips as she didn’t expect the offer, “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” Yuri responded as she pulled one of the bags over her shoulder, “I’ve carried more working at the corner store. Though, we still might need to take a second trip.”

“Better than five trips,” Nari said, grabbing some of the bags as well and following Yuri towards the cabin door.

The inside of the cabin was made to feel much like some of the others Yuri had come to know. Rustic, with the inside also being mostly wooden, it should have felt homey. The size of the building though seemed to take that feeling away, leaving it feeling more so empty than anything else. The warmth that usually emitted from these types of places seemed void from existence.

Nari sighed, admiring the living area the front door emptied into, “It’s just as it was the last time I was here,” She let the multiple bags she had been carrying in her arms drop to the ground. Yuri followed suit but set hers down nicely. She didn’t know what she had stored in those bags, but they had to be worth more than her own life.

 “We used to come here when I was a kid back when my parents had more time to spare. I’m lucky to see them a few times a year now,” Nari paused, replacing her saddened look with one of her usual cheery smiles, “But I’m excited that all of you are coming to share this experience with me! How about we grab the rest of the luggage?”

Nari didn’t give Yuri any time to process what she said before she had left through the door and back out to the car.

Once Yuri followed, her eyes found themselves landing on a new car that had pulled up right next to the one they had arrived in. She skipped down the stairs as she attempted to make out who the vehicle belonged to. It didn’t take long to find out.

“I cannot believe you spilled your drink on me!” A familiar voice said as one of the doors of the other car slammed shut, “I had to figure out how to change my pants all while making sure neither of you peaked.”

“What was I supposed to do Lexi? Spill the drink on me? I don’t think so.” Another voice said as he slammed the opposite door. Even from this distance Yuri was able to tell Jungkook held a shit eating grin on his face. Suiting.

“Yes! Spill it on yourself!” Lexi exclaimed; voice distressed from her words not reaching the older man across the car from her.

“Do you two ever fucking shut up?” Yoongi asked, slamming the driver’s side door, and shaking his head.

Kaitlyn shook her head and walked past the bickering and towards Yuri who was focused on the ongoing argument, “This has been going on for the whole ride. I’m surprised Yoongi didn’t pull over and have them both walk here.”

“They wouldn’t have learned their lesson,” Yuri responded quietly, cracking a small smile.

Kaitlyn raised an eyebrow, “Oh, so you do have a sense of humor.” Yuri’s face heated up from the newfound attention she had gotten from her slip of the lips, “I knew I liked you for a reason. You can crack jokes with us, don’t worry.”

Yuri gave an awkward smile before averting her attention back to Nari who abandoned the bags in the back of the car to go and flirt with the not so thrilled Yoongi. Rolling her eyes, Yuri began to grab all her bags instead realizing that she’ll probably have to make a third trip, now that it was only her.

Her movements stalled seeing someone else grabbing bags next to her. She looked out of the corner of her eyes to see that Kaitlyn had followed her over, “Why on earth did she think she needed to pack this many things?”

“Oh,” Yuri said, “You don’t have to-“

“And let you carry the rest of this in yourself?” Kaitlyn said, raising an eyebrow, “Someone come help us carry this shit in!”

Jungkook tore his gaze away from Lexi who he was still in mid argument with, “Got it!”

Along with Jungkook, Yoongi also appeared to grab bags, “Anything to get away from her, holy fuck.”

Yuri always seemed to keep to herself. It was easier considering all she had gone through and her lack of social skills. She was used to doing everything on her own and frankly she hated letting people into the walls she built to protect herself.

It was hard for her to wrap her brain around that these people who barely knew her treated her with more respect and humanity than her own family had. It was as if her presence around them seemed to not be a hindrance to their own happiness, but instead added to it. It was a wild concept and seemed almost impossible.

With the help from the others, the back of the car was completely void of bags and suitcases. Yuri only ended up grabbing a few bags herself, and even Nari ended up grabbing one.

Lexi cracked a smile seeing the small one on Yuri’s. She hurried with her bags to catch up with her and matched her pace, “I told you they aren’t too bad. They’re just a little much when you first meet them.”

“Nari has them beat I think,” Yuri responded softly as she watched her roommate continue to pester the shorter of the guys as they walked towards the shelter.

Lexi nodded her head, “I think you may be right about that.”

Jungkook searched the perimeter of the cabin along with Yoongi. Normally, when the two of them did this sort of thing they were looking for creatures that probably killed innocent people. Yet, this time, they were tasked with finding firewood. It was looking to be a lot harder than it sounded like it would be.

The sun hadn’t set yet, but it was getting close to doing so. Jungkook would have guessed they might have had about an hours’ worth of sunlight left. It had him begin to wonder if the others invited would even show.

Just as the thought passed his mind, another car pulled into the drive. His attention shifted from the twigs on the ground to see who it was. The car shut off, the headlights following suit. Three men began piling out of the car which peaked his attention even more.

So, Jungkook walked over.

Once closer, he realized it was those guys from the other day at the café. He remembered the two of them, but the third one was new. He seemed to be older than the other two, but not by too much. All three of their attentions changed to look at Jungkook.

“Oh hey,” The one he remembered as Taehyung said, “Jungkook right?”

“That would be my name,” Jungkook said as he continued to walk toward them.

“I’m not sure if I introduced myself. I’m Taehyung,” He pointed to the other two, “And that’s Hoseok and Seokjin.”

“Nice to meet you guys,” Jungkook said, waving his hand with the sticks still held within them, “Sorry, the girls sent us out on firewood duty.”

“It’s cool,” Hoseok chimed in, “We could help.”

“You guys just got here. Get settled, I think we can handle it.” Jungkook declined.

Seokjin shrugged, “May as well help while we are already out here. We can just bring our things in later.”

Jungkook cracked a small smile at the group in front of him before nodding, “Alright, I’m not going to stop you. If you find anything, the fire pit is further down the path towards the lake,” He started retreating backwards, still looking at the newcomers, “Oh, and if you see a small angry man that’s just Yoongi.”

Taehyung chuckled at his words and watched as Jungkook turned completely back around and reentered the perimeter of the forest surrounding the campsite. With the outsider now far enough away, he turned to the pack, “This might not be too bad.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Seokjin said, locking eyes with the youngest, “I have to babysit two wolves who have imprinted on women who have no knowledge of what that even entails. This is going to be the longest night of my life.”

“Ah, you two always see the worst in situations,” Hoseok injected, a smile crossing his face at the thought of the upcoming night, “Let’s actually try to have some fun.”

The sunlight slowly sunk beneath the horizon leaving a soft glow cascading across the lake. Everyone seemed to trickle their way down to the firepit after settling into whatever rooms they decided to claim.

Lexi and Kaitlyn seemed to be the last to find their way down to the fire, not because they had a ton of luggage to figure out but because the two of them had gotten into a deep conversation about how the night seemed to be going much smoother than they thought it would go. So far, no one was hurt or on the verge of dying.

The risk of Jungkook actually fighting a bear seemed to be fresh in their minds though.

“You doing okay there Yoongi?” Lexi asked, finding a seat on one of the benches surrounding the fire. Kaitlyn joined the bench as well taking a seat next to her.

Yoongi sighed, turning his attention away from the firepit and to the newcomers, “Yeah, believe it or not, I was actually sort of good at this camping thing at one point in time,” Yoongi then turned back to the fire and flicked the lighter, igniting something within the pit causing it to burst into flames, “I just don’t care for it much anymore.”

“That’s pretty much the perfect fire,” Kaitlyn said, leaning back into the bench taking in the warmth of the flames, “Impressive.”

Nari smiled, warming her hands on the fire. The fire set a soft glow on her face replacing the setting sunset’s. It highlighted the obvious way she was looking at the man, “Thank you so much Yoongi. We couldn’t have done this without you.”

“I literally could have built the fire,” Jungkook interjected, saving Yoongi from Nari’s flirtatious advances for the hundredth time that night. Yoongi shot him a thankful glance and slid into the empty seat next to Seokjin who seemed to not mind the new company.

Hoseok grinned looking over at Nari, “I totally could have made one as well.”

“Since when?” Taehyung asked, a chuckle escaping his lips, “I’ve known you for years Hobi and I’ve never seen you once start a fire. Do you even know how to set the logs up?”

Hoseok scrunched his face at what the other said, “Why did you have to call me out like that man?”

A few fell into laughter at the scene, but Taehyung’s eyes fell onto Yuri who held a small smile on her face as if she were trying not to laugh. He knew she wasn’t the one to be around people or social interactions, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. That was enough to make his smile grow.

“Sounds like you need a drink,” Nari interjected, handing Hoseok an opened bottle of beer. He cocked his head to the side with a small smile before grabbing the drink.

“I like your way of thinking,” Hoseok responded, clinking his bottle with her now opened one. They both proceeded to take a drink as he took the seat next to her.

Yuri had never really been on a camping trip before, though this was never how she pictured it going. The way her life had played out, she figured something drastic would happen to her. Granted, the sun had only just gone under the horizon. There was so much that could still go wrong.

And just as she predicted, the somewhat good time she was having shattered with the sound of a voice she had become accustomed to hearing.

“I can’t believe you started the party without the most important people,” Jimin voiced, walking into the soft glow of the fire. All conversation ceased with his arrival since most had assumed he had ditched the gathering all together.

Jungkook waved at him, “What took you so long? We thought you weren’t showing.”

“My roommate works nights and wouldn’t wake up and he refused to let me come alone,” Jimin answered. That’s when Yuri’s eyes fell on the man who stood behind the other. Her eyes widened when she realized she had seen this man before at the parking lot of the corner store, “This is Namjoon.”

“I could have introduced myself,” He said rolling his eyes at Jimin, “I’m sorry if he has ever offended anyone here. I wish I could make an excuse for him but it’s just his personality.”

Lexi couldn’t help it, but she bursted into laughter. The last thing she thought would exit that man’s mouth was an insult and it was so tastefully done. Lexi covered her mouth with her hand trying her best to stifle the giggles that didn’t seem to want to stop.

Jimin growled, shooting a glare at the other, “And this is why I don’t bring you places.”

“I don’t see why you don’t,” Lexi chimed in, amusement still in her voice, “He’s already proved he is better company than you and I’ve only known him for about thirty seconds now.”

Namjoon raised an eyebrow at Jimin and pointed at her, “I like her.”

Everyone settled into their seats, falling into conversations with one another. Lexi eyed Jimin and his friend as they found themselves in conversation with Jungkook and Yoongi. This whole situation was ideal for giving Lexi an aneurysm at the ripe young age of twenty. Not only were two deadly vampires having a conversation with two deadly hunters, but the way Taehyung was glaring at Jimin, and Lexi’s past experiences with him made her believe that his group wasn’t too human either.

Lexi looked over at Yuri who had been keeping to herself. Normally, the idea of someone being mad at her wouldn’t have really bothered her because that was nothing new. Yet, Yuri being mad at her was gnawing at her. She should have known Yuri was far smarter than the average human.

Lexi closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she wondered if she was really going to do what she had been thinking about doing for a few weeks now. She then looked at the girl again, “Yuri, I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk with me? I have some stuff I have to tell you.”

Yuri jumped at the sound of her name since she had zoned out once the two vampires had joined the party. She met Lexi’s eyes. They seemed to have a mission behind them. Yuri nodded, “Yeah, sure.”

Both girls stood up out of their seats and began walking towards the trees which didn’t go unnoticed by Taehyung. He felt his heart begin to race as he lost sight of Yuri, all from his own emotion and none of hers. He didn’t trust ninety percent of the people there. Despite Lexi being part of the trusted ten percent, he still was having issues.

Seokjin leaned down to grab a drink out of the cooler, elbowing him in the arm after standing up. He then spoke softly so no one else would hear, “Breathe. You’re going to look crazy if you go run after them.”

“I know,” Taehyung responded as he tried to calm his inner wolf. He hated that there was a constant fight between him and his wolf. Most werewolves have more control over their own but his was more tricky. A risk.

“If you are going to follow them, at least make a solid excuse,” Seokjin added, knowing that telling him not to was useless. He could tell from the look in his eyes.

Taehyung nodded, thanking Seokjin silently for his support, “I’ve got to use the bathroom. Anyone need anything while I’m gone?”

Everyone shook their heads seemingly having everything they needed with them by the fire already which was a relief for Taehyung anyways. He didn’t need more things to remember before coming back to the group. He then walked towards the house before disappearing into the foliage to make sure both Yuri and Lexi were safe.

Lexi and Yuri seemed to be walking in silence for over ten minutes as Lexi played over what exactly she was going to say to the other. It wasn’t like she had planned to tell her about everything tonight, even more so, she hadn’t even talked this over with Yoongi. She knew she was going to be in deep shit if she didn’t do this right.

The seclusion of the forest seemed right to tell her though. No one else was there to pry their eyes or judge. She could react the way she wanted to with no worries.

“Lexi,” Yuri voiced, surprising her, not expecting Yuri to break the silence. She turned her head toward the other to encourage her to go on, “Is this about all the weird things that have been going on? Because at this point, I think I deserve to know.”

Lexi exhaled loudly as she built the courage to tell her, “You were right about me hiding things from you. It’s just, well, once you know there’s no going back.”

“I think we are well past that point; don’t you think?” Yuri said, voice quiet per usual but her words seemed more sure than Lexi had ever heard before.

“Yeah,” Lexi agreed. Silence took over the conversation as she looked for the best way to word it. Not coming up with a better solution, the direct way seemed to be the best, “I’m what we call a hunter. What I hunt though, isn’t what normal everyday people do. I, well, we hunt the supernatural.”

“Like vampires,” Yuri more said than asked, nodding her head as what she was saying finally seemed to click, “Like Jimin.”

“Well yeah,” Lexi said, shocked, “How did you-“

“He showed up outside my work one night and attempted to uh-“ Yuri began, feeling her anxiety grow as she remembered how terrified she was that night, “I probably owe Namjoon for saving me and-“ Yuri paused again realizing she probably shouldn’t out Taehyung like that since Lexi literally hunts the supernatural down and kills them.

“I’m going to murder him,” Lexi muttered under her breath, fury burning within. She hoped he felt how angry she was at him.

Yuri cocked her head to the side, “Why haven’t you, well, you know...”

“That’s complicated,” Lexi sighed, “We normally only kill the things that are a threat to humanity. Vampires and Werewolves are more of a case-to-case basis. They are more than capable of blending in with humans and not killing them. We only put the ones who are out of line to rest. Besides, the others have no clue he is a vampire and as of now I sort of want to keep it that way.”

“He attacked me twice though,” Yuri chimed in at the end.

“Yeah,” Lexi said, rubbing her neck, “The first time was to test if I was a hunter. The second, he had to have had his reasons. Jimin, despite his knack for wanting to cause everyone the most misery he can, isn’t stupid. If I had to take a guess, he just wanted to fuck with you. I am so sorry I dragged you into this. One of the reasons I wanted to keep this from you was specifically so you wouldn’t be in danger. But as you said… It is probably too late for that.”

Yuri let the silence take over yet again as she processed what was said. She had her suspicions, but never truly expected Lexi to come clean about her and the others. It made sense as to why they seemed so hard to get to know because if they allowed people in, they’d be that much closer to what the world truly was.

“Honestly, I am glad you finally told me.” Yuri said, looking at her as the two came to a halt.

“Does that mean we can go back to normal or at least as normal as possible?” Lexi laughed softly, Yuri just smiled and nodded in return.

The two were about to turn back to join the others, but a snap of a twig stopped them. Lexi instinctively shot her head into the direction of the sound. Another snap, her eyes shot up toward the cliff seeing vague movement from the top of it. She placed herself in front of Yuri, grabbing one of her knives from their holster.

“We aren’t alone,” Lexi said quietly, her eyes finding movement closer to them on their level of the forest. The height of the cliff not being a barrier from whatever was on ground level with them.

With her words, multiple wolves began to walk out of the brush into the small clearing they were in, slowly enclosing the two girls to where they stood. Others showed themselves but stayed up on the cliff edge watching. Lexi counted; there were about six wolves in sight. Two on ground level with them and four up top. Not a single one of them was Alpha, which meant he hadn’t made an appearance yet. This attack was too organized not to be ran by one. Which meant they weren’t going to kill them, yet.

Lexi heard the creaking of twigs behind them. She quickly turned, swinging the knife. Her actions only stopped by a large hand. Her eyes met with a mess of dark hair and the hard glare of Taehyung. For once, she was glad he seemed to be up Yuri’s ass.

“You need to take Yuri and get the hell out of here,” She demanded, shoving the small girl into his arms. He caught her with ease, but his eyes were latched on the danger around them. It was quick, but she noticed his eyes flash multicolored before he blinked them back to his normal dark brown.

He growled, “And leave you here alone?”

“This is not the time to fight with me on this. You are the only one here that has a fighting chance of getting her to safety,” Lexi said, her eyes falling on one of the werewolves that slowly was edging closer to the group, “Fucking hell, go, now!”

Taehyung growled under his breath but did as he was told. He grabbed Yuri’s hand and bolted in the only open direction. Lexi sighed in relief knowing that she was the only one in the line of fire now.

She smirked, “You dumb mutts.”

The one closest to her pounced at her words and she dodged just a hair too slowly. The wolf’s claw grazed her shoulder before it flew backwards from an unknown force just as she waved her arm up. It whined as it slammed into the ground. Her shoulder throbbed and she knew it was bleeding from the growing wet feeling by it. She still couldn’t help but hold her smirk though.

Now that she was alone, there was no need for her to not use her magic.

Kaitlyn sighed looking up at the night sky. It was a nice change seeing it lit up with millions of tiny stars. It wasn’t very often as hunters that they had the chance to appreciate the beauty of nature that they spent so much time being in.

She felt the empty spot Lexi had left be filled with a presence. She sat up straight and turned her attention to Jungkook who was already looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She cocked her head at him, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I have a proposition for you,” He began, which never meant anything good for that matter.

They had known each other for over ten years now and whenever he decided to start a conversation like that, it only meant trouble. Like when he talked her into sneaking out of the house at thirteen to get late night snacks only to come home and get yelled at by Gramps. Or like within the past couple months where he talked her into sneaking out to go hunting only to come home and get scolded by Yoongi. It usually ended up with them being in trouble and scolded.

“What is the proposition?” Kaitlyn asked, “I have to see if it’s worth the trouble or not.”

“Hear me out,” He began, which honestly didn’t help his case much, “There are only two pokers to make smores with and right now they’re occupied by other people. If you help me find suitable sticks to make smores with, I’ll make you one.”

Kaitlyn smiled and stood up, looking over her shoulder at Jungkook, “You had me at smores.”

The two wandered off leaving the others to tend to the fire. Hoseok and Nari were deep in some kind of conversation. Seokjin and Yoongi seemed to also be able to find something to talk about amongst themselves.

As for Jimin and Namjoon, those two just sat quietly around the fire. Jimin poked the kindle with a stick to keep the flames going. He needed something to do that didn’t involve interacting with the others more than he needed to. Hunters and Werewolves weren’t the highest priority on his list.

Then out of nowhere, intense pain radiated from his shoulder. He dropped the poking stick he had in his hand and moved his shirt to see what had happened to his arm. Nothing physically was wrong with him, but the pain was all too real. He had shrugged off the intense anger he felt earlier as Lexi just being her emotional self, but this meant something way more than emotion. For him to feel this much pain, it meant she had to be feeling it that much worse.

That meant something was going majorly wrong.

“Jimin,” Namjoon said, bringing the other from his thoughts, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He said standing up, “I’ve got to go do something though.”

With that, Jimin just began walking away from the fire and towards the woods. Namjoon sighed knowing damn well that he couldn’t just let Jimin wander on his own, especially with that girl he was terrorizing before being here.

“Damn it,” Namjoon muttered and stood up himself, following the silver haired man into the trees.

The movement didn’t go unnoticed by Seokjin who had been paying a close eye on the two vampires. He didn’t have much time to think about them though since he himself began to feel emotion that wasn’t his own. The shared bond between his pack made it so they were connected mentally, but the effect it had while they were in human form was miniscule compared to when in wolf form. Yet, Taehyung’s emotions were coming through as though they were turned.

“I’m sorry to cut this short Yoongi,” Seokjin said, eyeing Hoseok who also seemed taken aback from what they were experiencing, “But Hobi and I need to go see where Taehyung has headed off to.”

Hoseok was already on his feet and ready to act, though his exterior kept it calm, “It’s probably nothing and he’s probably just taking a shit, but we should still probably check on him.”

“Oh well, understandable I guess,” Nari said, slight disappointment entering her face as she realized that meant Hoseok was leaving as well, “Hurry back then.”

“Will do!” Hoseok called as they were already heading toward the cabin and out of sight.

The silence was deafening as that meant the only two left around the fire were Yoongi and Nari. For once, Yoongi actually hated that there were less people because that meant there was no buffer between him and her advances.

The silent night was broken by a squeal, causing both of them to look out towards the water. Jungkook had somehow managed to not only submerge himself within the lake, but also pull Kaitlyn into the water with him. The two seemed to splash around and laugh with each other.

“That looks fun don’t you think? We could go-“ Nari began but was quickly interrupted by Yoongi.

“No.”

“Well do you want a smore the-“

“No.”

“Are you sure you-“

“Yes.”

Lexi growled, things not going the way she had planned them to go. Shortly after she first got attacked, she noticed three of the four wolves that were watching over the ledge had run after Taehyung and Yuri, and there was nothing she could do about it because she was preoccupied with the two on the floor with her. Another thing not going her way was that her shoulder seemed to continue to throb with pain, though the bleeding seemed to have stopped after drenching part of her shirt.

Another attack came from the side and she blocked it, throwing the mutt backwards once again. It also seemed that despite her training with her grandfather, she still wasn’t strong enough to do much damage with her powers. For once, she felt like she might have taken on more than she could actually handle.

Do you need assistance? She heard echo within her own mind.

No, I can’t risk you getting hurt , she responded back.

She swung her knife, cringing as the force of doing so irritated her wound, the pain radiating down her arm. The wolf dodged back quickly avoiding the attack that clearly would have severely injured him. Her breathing was heavy from the physical labor of this fight and the excess magic she was using to keep the wolves a safe distance away from her.

I can’t risk you getting hurt either or worse killed , she heard once again within her head.

She felt her pocket squirm and she covered the opening with her hand, trapping Zuko within the confines of the fabric.

“No,” She seethed, feeling his struggle subside on her demand. She knew he wasn’t happy with her decision, but she wasn’t going to risk his life or her cover tonight for a few measly dogs.

The brief distraction from Zuko was enough to catch her off guard as she heard one of the wolves yowl in pain. Shocked, she snapped her head to where the sound originated. Her eyes landed on a silver haired man with glowing red eyes. The wolf was under his foot and just within a blink of an eye it was kicked across the open area, its back colliding with a tree trunk.

Jimin within seconds was next to her, eyes still red, “You reek.”

Lexi eyed the wolf that flew into the tree, watching as he slowly stood up and limped back towards the two of them, she shot a glance back at Jimin, “Wow thanks, that’s what every woman wants to hear while in the midst of a battle for her life.”

“No, dumbass,” He growled, his eyes finding her own, “You reek of blood.”

Her mouth fell open as what he said settled within her mind. She quickly closed her mouth though because the wolf closest to her lunged. She dodged, and Jimin grabbed it by one of it’s legs, launching it away from the two of them.

“Why are you helping me?” Lexi asked, secretly wanting to thank him for the backup.

Jimin chuckled, “It could be out of the goodness of my dead unbeating heart, or, maybe, it’s because that flesh wound of yours there put me into excruciating pain and I want to avoid any other further discomfort.”

“I take it as option two was your incentive,” Lexi said, a slight chuckle escaping her lips, “Thank you either way.”

“Don’t be mushy. Let’s just murder these things and get the hell out of here. Being this close to you and your blood is just irritating me more.” He complained, his eyes not once fading from their intense red.

Two wolves were all that were left in sight. One for each of them, perfect. They both jumped at the same time; Lexi fought off one with her knives and Jimin fought off the other with a combination of his speed and strength. In no time, the two wolves were out of commission.

“You know it wasn’t bad working with you when you’re not a pain in the ass.” Lexi couldn’t help but chuckle as she looked over at Jimin.

Jimin only laughed in response, his eyes still a glowing red with the smell of fresh blood so close to him and his insatiable hunger.

Movement in the air caught Lexi’s attention from the corner of her eyes. It struck her instantly that she must have miscounted earlier. Without hesitation, she grabbed Jimin and pushed him behind her. Her eyes turned bright blue as she channeled in the remainder of her magic and flew up, grabbing the wolf in mid-air, and throwing it with full force against the tree. She landed roughly, as she still hadn’t caught on how to land gracefully, her bright blue eyes changing to a more softer tone. 

Jimin raised an eyebrow at what had just happened. Realization hit him as to why their blood bond was so powerful. “A witch…” He whispered, watching her next moves. He hadn’t encountered many witches but she seemed like a good one with the amount of force she used to send the wolf flying.

“Stop.” A voice echoed into the chaos and both wolves stood down, backing away from the two.

Lexi stared up the cliffside, her eyes landing on what seemed to be a mere human but the glowing red eyes that seemed to match Jimin’s said differently. This was their Alpha and damn if they go against his orders.

“What the hell do you want?” Lexi demanded, not caring for status. He was the true monster behind this attack since he was in control of all the others.

The man chuckled, “I’m just intrigued to be honest with you. We have a witch who is a hunter, friends with a human girl, a werewolf, and not one but two vampires.”

“Wha-“

Just as she was about to ask what he meant by two, she felt another presence beside her. She peaked over to see that Namjoon now stood on her other side eyeing the wolf next to him. She had made the assumption that he had to be a vampire for Jimin to even consider him a friend.

“You made a blood bond with a witch, Jimin? A witch?” Namjoon said between clenched teeth.

Jimin shrugged, “I only just found that out too, Joonie boy. Explains a lot though.”

Namjoon sighed, his eyes landing on Lexi, “You reek.”

“Thanks,” She sighed, rolling her eyes, “I’ve been told.”

Despite her obvious blood, Namjoon’s eyes seemed not to take on the red that Jimin’s had. She wondered how much control Namjoon had over himself or if Jimin just hadn’t fed in a while. None of that truly mattered though since they were still under attack.

“This was more information than we expected to get from this. I’m sure that he is going to be delighted knowing about this little development.” The Alpha said, his eyes landing on the only wolf left on the cliff with him.

“ He? Who the fuck is he ?” Lexi asked, her attention peaked at the information.

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” The Alpha responded, his attention falling back onto her, “That’s all we needed. Let’s go.”

With his words, the remaining werewolves retreated. That left only Jimin, Namjoon and Lexi left next to the waterfall. Jimin’s eyes slowly faded back to a more brown color, fangs retracting back into his mouth. He turned to the others.

“We should have killed them while we had the chance.” He muttered, his eyes landing on Lexi’s wound. “We have to get that situated or every creature at least a mile out will be drawn here for the same reason I was able to find you so quickly.”

“He has a point,” Namjoon said, turning to Lexi, “We can’t assume it’s just us here after this incident.”

Taehyung, despite him wanting to turn around and tear into those werewolves, ran with Yuri in tow. He did his best to avoid any uneven ground or branches that would trip her up because unlike him, she was a fragile human.

“Tae, what about Lexi?” Yuri managed to ask between labored breaths.

Taehyung managed to take a glance back at her before responding, “She can handle herself. You and I both know that.”

He ducked under a branch that Yuri was short enough to avoid all together. Silence filling what their breathing and footsteps didn’t break. He thought for a moment that he should have just changed into a wolf and carried her, but he didn’t want to freak her out more than she already was.

Suddenly, he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes. His wolf was on high alert as was he. He switched directions quickly, avoiding the area he saw movement. Yuri tripped slightly from the unannounced change in direction but somehow stayed on her feet.

He saw more movement but this time, from both sides of them. He knew there was no way to outrun werewolves as a human. They were too fast.

Taehyung noticed a gap shortly ahead of them that seemed to lead into a small clearing. Quickening his pace, Taehyung gripped Yuri’s hand tighter and rushed forward. He knew a clearing wasn’t the safest place, but at least he would be able to see clearly without the tree’s being a hindrance. Both Yuri and Taehyung ran through the gap and Taehyung made sure to keep Yuri close to him, not wanting to risk her safety. t Within seconds, the three wolves pounced out of the trees and two of the three surrounded the both of them, pacing around them as if they were prey. The third stayed by the trees, watching.

“What the fuck is this about?” Taehyung asked, though he expected no answer since all three were wolves and none could truly respond back.

One of them growled back at him. Taehyung hid Yuri behind him, doing his best to shield her from the beasts. He felt her fists in his shirt as she hugged the back of him, terrified.

“I know you’d be able to fight back if you were able to change,” He heard her say quietly, “Why don’t you just-“

“No,” He interrupted, hearing Seokjin’s words echo in his head, “That’s too dangerous. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Yuri was taken aback by his words. It wouldn’t be the first time she would have seen him as a wolf. In fact looking back on that time he didn’t even seem that dangerous besides the obvious giant wolf thing. So, why now was he afraid to change? Was it because he was angry? Was he afraid to scare her? None of that would really matter if they both died now.

“I don’t think you could hurt me, at least not on purpose,” She said softly, “I don’t want to die Tae.”

He was torn. His inner wolf wanted to appease her and frankly, it wanted out before she requested his help because she was in danger. His human half didn’t want to let it out. He was dangerous when angry.

“Looks like you need help,” A new voice said, causing not only Taehyung but the wolves to divert their attention to the newcomer.

Out stepped Seokjin, his normally cheery disposition changed for a more hardened one. He eyed the two wolves pacing and they took a few steps back, giving the two being hunted more room to breathe. Even in human form, Seokjin’s Alpha aura leaked out of him.

Followed closely behind was Hoseok who had a smirk on his face, “No wonder we could feel you distressed. Hasn’t anyone told you guys that three against one isn’t fair? How about we even the playing field?” He chuckled before turning his attention to Yuri, “Don’t look sweetheart unless you want an eyeful.”

Yuri didn’t plan to look. Before either of them knew what was going on, two new wolves joined, though this time, they were on their side versus the other. One was almost completely back besides the gold eyes shining into the night. The other was a dark grey and slightly bigger than the black one. His eyes were red adding to the intimidation the size gave him.

The grey wolf growled, causing the two other wolves to whine and fall back even more, now the same distance away as the third wolf who never came into the fight to begin with. Another step forward from the grey wolf and all three ran off, cowering away from the alpha.

“They must have been the weaklings since they ran off so easily, don’t you think Jin?” Taehyung said, looking at the grey wolf. It glared it’s eyes at Taehyung before walking behind both him and Yuri.

The black wolf also followed the other and retreated behind the two. Moments later, both Taehyung and Yuri heard people pulling up their pants. Yuri took this as a sign she could finally look behind her and at her two saviors.

“You act like I can’t just be intimidating. Why would they have to be weaklings?” Seokjin asked Taehyung, pulling his shirt over his head.

Hoseok interjected, “They didn’t even try to put up a fight against you though. Isn’t that a tad bit strange? You’re an Alpha and yes, intimidating, but you weren’t their alpha. They shouldn’t have shrunk the way they did.”

“Unless it wasn’t their goal to attack us.” Seokjin said, “What if they were here for something else. Like information.”

“We can talk about this later. Can we get her back to the cabin? She’s been through hell and back tonight.” Taehyung said, wrapping his arm around Yuri and pulling her into his side comfortingly. She didn’t realize that she was shaking until that moment. She knew that she was scared, but she didn’t realize just how terrified she truly was in the moment, but with the adrenaline fading she was picking up on her racing heart and trembling limbs.

“Yeah, let's go,” Seokjin said, cocking his head to the direction of the camp, “It’s this way.”

Back at the fire Jungkook and Kaitlyn finally were making their smores, well, after both had gotten themselves a change of clothes. It soothed over the awkward tension between both Nari and Yoongi which the latter was thankful for.

“Hasn’t everyone been gone for a while?” Nari asked, letting her worry out more than she intended to.

“Yeah,” Yoongi agreed, suspicion had already settled in but the fact that even Nari had become worried really fueled it.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Lexi began jogging down the pathway from the cabin. She was now sporting a hoodie instead of what she was wearing beforehand. She waved as she got closer to the fire, “I’m sorry guys, I had gotten cold and ran back to the cabin.”

“No problem,” Kaitlyn responded, eyeing the other girl, “Where did Yuri go?”

“Oh, she ran into Taehyung at the cabin, and he said something about wanting to talk with her, so I let them be.” Lexi fibbed, though her being with Taehyung was the only truth in that statement, “The others should be behind me soon.”

“Oh good,” Nari said, “We were starting to worry.”

Lexi shifted wincing slightly from her now tended to wound, “No need, we are all fine.”

Yoongi stared at her trying to find any flaw in what she was doing or saying. There was just something off about everything that had been going on tonight but all three of the hunters that had been there the whole time noticed nothing of the sort.

“Want a ‘smore?” Jungkook offered, handing the sandwich over to Lexi.

“Thanks,” She smiled, taking a seat in one of the benches and taking a bite of her snack.

Chapter Text

Yuri found herself wandering down the familiar hallway of the building that held her morning classroom. Her mind was still covered in a fog as her anxiety made itself at home in her mind. Within the past few days, she had many of her questions answered, but it never brought her the comfort or cleared her confusion the way she thought it would have. Before meeting Lexi, she only had a few creatures she had deemed to be fantasy stories confirmed to be real, but if what Lexi said was anything to go by, those were only just scratching the surface.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she realized that she now stood directly outside her classroom. How she got there to be exact was a complete blur to her, but she felt her anxiety spike higher when she spotted Lexi sitting at the same desk as usual intensely writing something down in her notes. Yuri couldn’t help but wonder how Lexi was able to sit there, so calm as if nothing happened. It had only been a few days since the attack, yet Yuri couldn’t help but feel useless, unable to do anything to stop it. If Lexi and Taehyung hadn't gone on the trip, Yuri knew that not only her, but Nari would be dead as well.

Yuri allowed her feet to drift past the desk right by the door, as she made her way to the one by the window. She quietly set her stuff down, unsure of what to say as Lexi eyed her, watching as she anxiously sat beside her. It had been ages since not only her, but anyone sat in that seat.

“Welcome back.” Lexi smiled at her; glad that things seemed a little bit more normal again, or as normal as Lexi’s life seemed to get.

“Thank you for being honest with me.” Yuri tiredly smiled back to her, unpacking her bag and setting up for the class to come.

“I’m sorry,” Lexi mumbled, staring out the window, watching as soft snow fell from the atmosphere, “This still wasn’t what I wanted for you, you know? I wanted to keep you out of my messy life...”

Yuri wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that but tried to find a response anyways. It was the least she could do to try and comfort her friend, “I know, but as you said before, once you know, there isn’t any going back. I’m sure none of you wanted this for yourselves either.”

Lexi didn’t say anything but gave her a small nod of appreciation. She realized that Yuri was far more intuitive than she believed and she should have given her more credit.

They sat in silence mulling over their thoughts and the events that had taken place since the beginning of the semester when the teacher finally walked in, apologizing for being late. Something about an accident outside of campus; Yuri prayed it had nothing to do with the weird supernatural world she was quickly learning about. Little did she know, Lexi was hoping the same thing.

The class passed in a blur for Yuri and she watched as her classmates packed up their stuff to leave, the teacher reminding everyone that the final was coming up and not to forget to study. It was basically her way to remind everyone that the semester was coming to an end. Which meant that many of the coffee shops on or around campus were filled with exhausted students cramming for their tests, or just to get a bit of warmth from the bite of winter.

A sigh escaped Yuri’s lips as she walked out of the class with Lexi, her eyes immediately locking with a pair of dark brown ones. He was leaning against the wall directly across from the lecture room exit, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited.

“Go on.” She heard Lexi say, nudging her forward. Yuri, not expecting the nudge, stumbled forward a bit, towards Taehyung who quickly sprang into action to help steady the small blondes stumble. Once she seemed to be stable on her own two feet again, he pulled his hands away quickly to respect her previous wish for space..

“Uhm... Hi,” Yuri awkwardly mumbled, restlessly shifting on her feet, “I wanted to say thank you for uhm…” she paused, the words for some reason having trouble passing her lips, probably for the fact that she wasn’t used to having others doing the saving. A baritone chuckle broke her out of her struggle as she looked at Taehyung smiling softly at her.

“Well I wasn’t going to leave you to die.” He chuckled softly, shrugging his shoulders, already knowing exactly what she was trying to say. He could tell that she still seemed uncomfortable around him with the way she would hold herself stiffly and cautiously. But on the other side, she was no longer trying to push him away either. He decided to take a shot, “How about we go grab a bite to eat? We can talk and work out whatever is going on in that brain of yours. I’d be more than happy to answer anything you might have questions about.”

“How did you know I had questions?” Yuri asked, voice quiet.

Taehyung chuckled, “I could see the wheels turning in your head, plus, who wouldn’t have questions after all that?”

“I’m not too sure what questions I have though. It’s all still sort of fresh…” Yuri looked at him. It wasn’t a lie, she had many questions, but she wanted to wait. It seemed easier to let her mind figure things out first before she voiced her thoughts.

“Understandable, but even if you don’t want to talk about it right now, I still want to treat you to some lunch. It is the least I could do since you almost got hurt under my watch.” Taehyung assured, gently taking her arm and walking with her to the cafeteria before she could protest.

Lexi chuckled watching the interaction from a distance. While she didn’t fully trust Taehyung, she knew he would keep her safe, especially after what happened. She figured that there was no way that he could be human, not with the way his eyes would shift when he became angry or threatened, but, at this point, it was in no way a surprise to her anymore with how her life seemed to be going at the moment. The only thing that had surprised her was how long it took her to realise he wasn’t human. One thing was for sure, he could not control himself at 100%, at least, not yet.

“So, you trust that bitch with her but not me?” Someone voiced behind her, the usual playfulness of his voice was there but the undertone seemed to indicate that he was, in fact, annoyed with the situation.

“Not like that’s a hard decision. You were alone with her for a whole 2 minutes and almost killed her.” Lexi spun to face Jimin, the usual smirk gracing his face. Her eyes shifted up to his hair, as she noted it was up and no longer silver, but a bright blond, until it reached his dark roots. “Not once but twice.” she glared, remembering what Yuri told her back at the campfire

“Ah but that my dear was an experiment and the second time was to piss someone else off,” Jimin chuckled softly, “But enough of that. That isn’t why I’m here, we need to talk away from prying ears.”

Lexi couldn’t help but press her tongue to her cheek in annoyance. She only realised how serious this talk was going to be when the man in front of her dropped the smirk and sent a hard glare her way. She hadn’t seen this side of him in awhile; he was always so confident, calm, and collected, but now? Nothing but betrayal and anger radiated off him, especially behind those brown eyes that threatened to turn red at any moment. Lexi nodded and walked past him out of the building door not wanting to risk bringing his wrath out on campus.

Lexi could hear as Jimin’s footsteps crushed the snow on the ground behind her as he followed along. When a small gust of wind blew, Lexi found herself shivering and pulled her coat tighter around her as she continued her trek into the woods, away from prying ears and eyes.With winter present, it brought chilling winds along with a bitter taste to Lexi’s mouth. She despised how much colder it became at night and how much longer it seemed to stay. Coming to an abrupt halt, Lexi turned towards Jimin, knowing they were far enough away from the main part of campus.

“You know, I don’t feel cold as a vampire. It’s nice.” Jimin chuckled, looking at the back of his pale, gloveless hand before he shifted his eyes to the coated girl.

“Good for you, now what do you want, Park?” Lexi glared at him, “As you can see, I don’t want to be here, even more so in this weather.”

“Well, I know what you are now, I wanted to talk about that.” Jimin stated, taking a seat on a fallen tree. He didn’t bother to wipe away any of the snow that had settled into the bark, not like it would have bothered him either way. A groan escaped Lexi’s lips as she grabbed some fallen branches and put them near the log. Interest instantly filled Jimin’s eyes, as he watched her.

“We will probably be here for a bit, unfortunately.” Lexi mumbled, answering his unasked questions before closing her eyes and lighting a small fire in the palm of her hand. Jimin cocked his head to the side as he watched the flames dance in her hand, intrigued by her abilities. For the first time since he died, Jimin felt as a small warmth enveloped his right hand, the same one that Lexi held the flame in. He watched as she leaned down and gently lit the pile of branches, making sure they were engulfed before extinguishing the flame in her hand. She then shuffled around for a spot not completely covered in snow before sitting down.

Jimin stared at the small fire crackling softly, the warmth consuming both of them. Once a few moments had passed and he had his thoughts together, he cleared his throat, turning to face her; all remnants of any jokes or playfulness were gone. Silence swallowed them as small pieces of snow coated their clothes and hair before melting from the heat of the fire.

Jimin stared into her eyes as he let his own eyes change from brown to red. In return, Lexi changed her blue/grey eyes to a bright icy blue. The blue resembled a clear lake covered in a sheet of ice. For the first time in her life, she was letting someone else see the magic she kept a secret from the world.

While Jimin and Lexi had a civil conversation for once, the three hunters were gathered at home, preparing for some much-needed training. With Jungkook fully recovered, he wouldn’t need to hold himself back. Not like he ever did in the first place, regardless of how injured he was, but this time Yoongi and Kaitlyn had made sure to keep steady watch of him, to make sure he didn’t pull one of his stupid moves he liked to make.

“Finally! I missed the action!” Jungkook cracked his knuckles, striding out to be first to the training area.

“Well, don’t be a dumbass and get hurt next time. Then you won’t have anything to miss.” Yoongi retorted, hitting Jungkook in his good arm with the hilt of the katana he was wielding. Jungkook rubbed the sore spot before he sent a glare into the older man’s back.

“What’s with the new flashy sword? I thought you preferred things small like you.” Jungkook smarted off. Immediately, Yoongi unsheathed the sharp blade, pointing the Kissaki at Jungkook adams' apple. Jungkook swallowed, refraining from any movement. He knew Yoongi wouldn’t actually do anything; but still, he had a damn sword pointed at his throat!

“This is a Katana made of pure silver. The fabric of the hilt was soaked with holy water before being attached to it. If anything close to being undead were to even touch the hilt, their hands would burn. The silver is usually the downfall to most other monsters. Something you could’ve used to prevent your substantial injury.” Yoongi said, moving the point of the katana away from Jungkook’s neck. The younger one only nodded and took the hint to keep his mouth shut.

“Please can we stop bickering and get to training.” A soft voice interrupted the two as Kaitlyn emerged from the house, rubbing her eyes.

Yoongi nodded, putting the Katana back in its sheath and at his side, “Let’s get to work.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

Almost as soon as the training started, nightfall had come. It was the first day off the hunters were able to have in quite a while; yet, they still found themselves spending it training. And although Lexi wasn’t there for a good portion of the day, she did make it in at the end to join in with a little sparring.

With late evening now falling across the hunters household, the house was quiet as Jungkook emerged from the shower. It had been a long day for them all since training lingered further into the night than any of them planned for. His housemates trickled off little by little until he was the only one left, and that’s when he decided he would clean up and retire to his room as well.

After he dressed himself and opened the bathroom door quietly. Since said door was known to creak and echo down the hallway, he made an attempt to not wake any of the others with the sound. His room was located the farthest from the bathroom which led him to lazily walk back to his room. The stillness of the house was oddly comforting, which caused him to debate whether he should use this time wisely for research and to study rather than sleep.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard distraught sounds coming from the other side of Kaitlyn’s door, all his movements came to a sudden halt. His eyebrows scrunched together as he took a few steps forward, hand reaching out for the door handle. He paused though, unsure if he should even attempt to turn the knob.

It was her space, and he wasn’t too sure if checking to see if she was okay was an invasion of the little privacy any of them had. He doubted that some kind of creature found its way in undetected, but it also wasn’t impossible. Weighing his options, he reached his hand back out to the door, deciding he would feel more comfortable checking and making sure she was okay, as opposed to potentially regretting it later..

He cracked her door open, popping his head in through the small gap to search the room. His eyes found themselves on Kaitlyn’s small figure tossing and turning under tangled blankets, her face scrunched in distress as she mumbled in her sleep.

The old door creaked open more after his hand dropped from the knob. His head was cocked to the side as he studied her, understanding settling into his own brain. He had wondered for months why she never seemed fully rested despite being the first in bed. He knew something was up with her, but nightmares never would have been the first thing on his mind.

The answer seemed too normal for the life they lived. They fought things that people usually had nightmares about and lost sleep over. Things none of them seemed to bat an eye at anymore. They faced death head on every time they left the house to hunt, knowing fully that there was a chance one of them wouldn’t come back from it.

But the mind? That seemed to be a different monster, one that could rarely be defeated.

He walked forward, unsure how to wake her from whatever terror she was experiencing at the moment. She tossed again, mumbling something unrecognizable under her breath.

A sigh escaped his lips as he very carefully reached out and wrapped his hand around her shoulder, shaking her gently, trying to wake her.

“Kate,” Jungkook whispered, “Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

Her eyes opened wide as she startled awake, tearing her arm away from his grasp and pushing herself away from him, stopping when she found herself at the edge of her bed. Her breathing was heavy and uneven, she seemed visibly shaken. Her eyes glossy as tears pooled in her eyes. He hadn’t seen her this terrified in years and it broke him.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, raising a hand up to reassure her that he meant no harm, “I didn’t mean to. I was only trying to help.”

She was still curled up into herself, eyes never tearing from Jungkook. She was coming down from the adrenaline rush of fear from the mix of the terror she had been dreaming about and being startled awake.

With her mind still playing tricks on herself, she tried to even her breathing as her surroundings slowly came back into focus. Her hands grasped at the soft fabric underneath her as she slowly pulled her focus from Jungkook and took in her surroundings. With a deep shuddered breath, she picked up that she was in her room, not the dark place her mind had locked her into mere moments ago.

Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows, “I’m just going to go. Please, calm down and try to get some better rest.” He turned slowly making his way back to the hallway, unsure if he was making the right choice to leave her alone.

Kaitlyn, realizing now what had just happened, was having trouble accepting that she was safe as she was still unsteady from the nightmare she had been enduring. One thing she was sure of, was that being alone was something she didn’t want at the moment, she had enough of that in her mind.

Pushing away her embarrassment of Jungkook seeing her so fragile, Kaitlyn shakily reached out, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt before he got too far. “Wait,” Kaitlyn said, her voice coming out slightly hoarse from sleep.

Jungkook’s movements halted, when he felt her hand tug on his sleeve . He turned around and cocked his head acknowledging that he heard her. She dropped her hand as she took in the freshly showered wet hair and the baggy oversized tee shirt he wore. He tucked his hands within the pockets of his sweatpants as he waited for her to continue. Kaitlyn wasn’t sure if she wanted to be the cause of him not getting sleep. It was bad enough that she was sleep deprived, two sleep deprived hunters could be life-threatening. She closed her eyes before sighing, “I- I don’t really want to be alone right now.”

The unasked question lingered in the air as he stood there. She waited for him to respond but instead, he just nodded. He closed the door he left open before walking towards the bed. Kaitlyn moved out of her corner, giving him room to sit on the bed and join her. He crawled onto the bed, his weight denting the mattress with his movements until he plopped down on the opposite side of her.

“I don’t want to be the cause of you not getting proper rest,” Kaitlyn explained, looking over at him.

He shrugged and met her eyes, “You and I both know I wasn’t going to be getting any sleep tonight. I was just going to crack open the books and do research.” He watched as Kaitlyn fought a small smile at the truth of his statement. “But, if you need me though, that’s more important.”

Silence fell between the two as they laid there, his presence and his words comforting her more than he might have even known. From this distance, she could smell his body wash. The familiar smell of vanilla and a forest mist. If this woodsy smell was simply from the fact they live in the woods or that is just his soap is unknown, but it added to the increasing comfort despite no words being shared.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jungkook offered, his voice calm and soothing.

Kaitlyn bit her lip wondering if she truly wanted to share the nightmare she felt trapped in. She couldn’t help that it was on her mind in the waking life, always would be; but, when it came to her dreams she relived it. She let out a shaky breath, afraid she might start crying again, “I know we all don’t talk about what happened to us. What brought us all into this house doing what we do, and, I mean, who would want to?”

She paused. fiddling with her fingers and took a deep breath to recompose herself. She could feel new tears brimming in her eyes, threatening to spill. She wasn’t sure if Jungkook wanted to jump in and stop her from continuing. The experiences that made any of them hunters weren’t ever talked about, and if so, it wasn’t in depth. It was an unspoken rule they all seemed to follow and none of them even knew why. Maybe it was to save them the pity of others, or maybe it was so the view of the other wouldn’t be changed. No matter what the true reason, it didn’t matter in the end.

She let out a shaky breath, “I kill monsters, some that are so human-like it should scare me and I can do it without feeling the slightest bit of remorse. Yet, when I close my eyes, all I see is that night. I see my parents, the countless tortures that they endured because these monsters decided that it would be fun to see them squirm. I uh, I see the life drain from their eyes every time I try to sleep.”

Jungkook just looked at her, understanding in his eyes. He didn’t know what happened to her that night. She didn’t want to talk about it, and he never wanted to ask. He just remembered tracking these vampires to a house on his first real hunt since he had been taken in just to find a little girl his age huddled in the corner covered in blood that didn’t belong to her, and her two parents lying lifeless on the floor.

“When I first saw you,” He began, trying to find the right words to comfort her, “I didn’t once see a weak person. The scene I walked in on, a weak person wouldn’t have been able to walk away from that. To then become such a strong, independent person ontop of everything you’ve been through. I never once regretted vouching for you to the other two. You deserve to be here with us.”

Kaitlyn looked at Jungkook who seemed to be so genuine in the words he spoke to her. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he meant every word. The tears she was once fighting back, now fell, “I just don’t know what to do Jungkook.”

He sighed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to bring her as much ease as he could, racking his brain for some kind of words of comfort, “Did I ever tell you what happened to me?”

“No,” She responded, voice quiet as she tried to compose herself. It was embarrassing that she had let her guard down and allowed him to see her tears, though she was glad it was him over anyone else.

“My parents left for a hunt, unknown to me at the time. I just thought they were going on a work trip. When they came home a few days later, they didn’t seem like themselves. I ended up finding my dad’s old camera and snapped a picture of him, not thinking anything of it. Uh,” He paused, finding the subject harder to talk about than he thought it would be. He had suppressed the memory as much as he could. But now, knowing Kaitlyn's story, he needed her to know that she was not alone,“They weren’t my parents.”

“Kook…” Kaitlyn said, suddenly realizing where his story was going.

“It’s fine,” He shrugged off, cracking his neck in the process, “I almost died when they realized I found out. I did what I had to do to survive. I was just thankful that the old man found me when he did. The police wouldn’t have believed me that those things, dead on the floor, weren’t my parents and that the blood that was all over me wasn’t theirs.”

He didn’t have to say anything more for her to understand. It was just as traumatizing, but you don’t just fall into the life of a hunter without a story to go with it. Not a single person who spends all their free time killing monsters does it because their life has been sunshine and rainbows. They all had their own darkness. And knowing that he also went through messed up shit, somehow, brought some comfort to her. She wasn’t alone.

“I’m sorry Kook,” She voiced, breaking the silence that had fallen between them, “I’m glad the Old Man found you too. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He chuckled at her comment, “Well, without me you’d probably die from how terrible you are at checking your surroundings.”

“That was one-time Jungkook!” Kaitlyn responded, nudging him with her shoulder using what little force she could muster. He didn’t seem to budge, “The vampire came out of nowhere while I was fighting another one.”

“You will never live it down,” He responded, a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

Both continued to talk to one another as the topic had changed from depressing to a more cheerful and playful banter. Neither of them expected to have sleep sink it’s tiny little claws into them and pull them under.

And for the first time in a long time, both Jungkook and Kaitlyn got a good night’s rest.

________________________________________________________________________________

All too soon morning had come. As Lexi finished getting ready for school, a knock on the door interrupted her morning routine. A frown formed on her face as she made sure her knife was at her side when she went to the door and opened it. She was surprised to see the person on the other side, but before she could say anything, they spoke.

“Please… I need your help…”

Chapter Text

TW: Themes mentioning self harm are in this chapter

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“No!”

“Dammit Yoongi, come on!” Lexi pleaded, throwing her hands up in desperation.

He was leaning against his bedroom door frame, arms crossed in front of his chest as he studied her, his eyes tired and unamused by the girl’s antics. He wore a dark hoodie which was up over his messy hair, and a pair of sweatpants that had seen better days. If Lexi had a choice in the matter, she would have waited until Yoongi had truly awoken to ask him her favor, but desperate times called for desperate measures, which is exactly what this was. So with some hectic and chaotic banging at Yoongi’s bedroom door, she now found herself here, risking her life from a drowsy and annoyed Yoongi, begging him to help out. The monsters they fought had nothing on a sleepy Yoongi.

“Lexi, I said no and that is final.” Yoongi reiterated, as he readjusted the hood that sat on his head to cover more of his face in the process. It helped him block out the sun’s rays that were seeping in through the hallway window. Yoongi reminded her of a vampire with how he would try and avoid the daylight.

“She asked for our help, Yoongi! You and I both know that we can’t just turn our backs on her!” Lexi shouted as she watched Yoongi roll his eyes and push off his door frame to walk back into his room. Without much thought, Lexi rushed around him and blocked his way back into his room, as she extended her arms out in front of him. Realistically she knew Yoongi could just move her arms out of the way, but that wasn’t going to stop her, she was determined to get him to agree, or, at the very least, hear her out.

“We definitely can turn our backs. She’s not one of us, Lexi,” Yoongi sighed, his exhaustion evident within his voice, “Besides, there is a good chance she could die on the first night. Are you sure you want to risk that?”

Lexi’s voice took on a hardened tone as she said her next choice words, “You of all people know how close to death she was the first night you met her. She will die if we don’t take her in!” Her eyes met his, for once showing a side of herself that she tended to keep hidden at most times, “At least if we train her, she will have a fighting chance,” her voice lost the hardened edge as she could see her words begin to break through his grumpy exterior. Though backstories are not commonly shared among the small group, it is known that none of them chose this. They were one of many victims in the game of life, ones who were lucky enough to learn how to survive.

“Yoongi please, you should have heard her when she came here to ask for help. She knows about the monsters. I tried my hardest to keep her out of this life, but what I did wasn’t good enough.” Lexi sighed, as her voice softened considerably, guilt eating at her for being the reason Yuri now knew about this world. “And now, she knows and we can’t change that, but we can, at the very least, help her.”

Lexi could see Yoongi’s eyes soften as he soaked in the words she spoke. She wondered what exactly was going through his brain as his eyes glazed over in what she was sure were memories he wanted to forget.

With a start, his eyes focused back on her as he uncrossed his arms. “She trains for a week, then we scout with her. If she can handle that, then she is more than welcome to stay.” He grumbled, pushing past Lexi and storming into his room. The slam of the door being the only audible noise to echo throughout the house.

“Thank you Yoongi!” Lexi yelled through the door. The response she gained from her appreciation was the sound of something being thrown and colliding with the other side of his door.

“Shut the fuck up and go to school.” Yoongi growled. Lexi chuckled as she could imagine exactly what Yoongi was doing; climbing back into bed to sleep away the next several hours.

“Lazy ass,” She mumbled before walking away from Yoongi’s door, a smile plastered on her face.

________________________________________________________________________________

And this is the conversation that led them to this very spot. A week had flown by like the snap of a finger. While Yuri was nowhere near the experience level of the other hunters, she knew the fundamentals.

The moon was shining through the trees highlighting the blankets of white coating every branch and exposed root. The moon was full, allowing some creatures of the night to appear stronger. Yet, the group of five were on a simple scouting mission with a new prospective hunter.

Yuri cautiously walked behind Yoongi. She was surrounded by the other four to ensure her protection, since this night was just the beginning of her journey in the supernatural world. Kaitlyn walked slowly on her right, Lexi on her left, and Jungkook behind her. Even with all of the protection that surrounded her, she couldn’t help but jump at the sound of the twigs cracking under their feet as they ventured into the dead of night.

Even Kaitlyn couldn’t help but let her own surprise take over at the sudden sounds. She knew it was just the others walking next to her and interacting with the environment but she still couldn’t seem to feel anything but on edge. Despite the one night of peaceful sleep she had gotten, thanks to Jungkook, the fatigue she was feeling was slowly feasting on her entire being. It was as if her life was out of her control.

Over the last few days, as her sleep seemed to be evading her, she couldn’t seem to stop her mind from seeing things in the distance, or hearing things that weren’t actually there. It took everything in her to not act on her mind's tricks, as it seemed to want to bring her nightmares into reality- not like they weren’t already real. With constantly being on her toes and holding back her reactions, in order to not worry her family, she could feel her strength dissipating and her concentration begin to falter after long periods of time.What concerned her the most was the pain that seemed to radiate all over her body. A pain that, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t ignore it. It was as if tiny needles were stabbing into areas of her body, almost as if someone had taken a hot iron and scraped it over every inch of her body. She wasn’t too sure she could blame that on her lack of sleep, but she wasn’t about to raise concern to the others when there were more important things to worry about.

Yoongi came to an abrupt halt; Yuri, distracted by her nerves and anxiousness, didn’t notice and bumped into the back of him. Startled, she bounced back and felt someone steady her. She looked up to see Jungkook, hands on her shoulders, but not paying any attention to her, but instead staring at Yoongi, waiting for the reason behind his sudden stop. Before anyone could ask anything, a voice echoed throughout the forest.

“Help me! Please! Help!” Followed by a scream that piercingly echoed through the tree’s. The voice sounded like a woman, but they still couldn’t be sure. What was certain was the amount of desperation and pain the voice seemed to be in.

The color drained from Yoongi’s face. No one was certain what direction the scream had come from as the fading echoes of the scream seemed to be coming from all around them. It was disorienting and it would have sent any normal person into a panic. For the first time in a long time, the one everyone looked up to froze. Bits and pieces of that night flashed through Yoongi’s mind. This was all too similar to when he heard his own parents call for help, in the same desperate tone.

“We have to help them!” Yuri said, finally pushing back her sudden fear and rushing past the frozen man in front of her, a dazed look still clouding his vision.

“Yuri!” Lexi shouted as she tried to reach out to grab her, to stop her, but it was too late. Yuri’s body faded from sight as she delved deeper into the forest. Lexi knew that chasing after her alone wouldn’t do anyone any good, she could feel as Kaitlyn laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her as her feet started to carry her forward anyways.

“We need to snap Yoongi back from whatever is going on in his mind first! Don’t be hasty.” Kaitlyn calmly said, as she looked towards Jungkook who was already trying to bring Yoongi back to his senses.

“If something happens…” Lexi faded.

“Nothing will, now come on.” Kaitlyn promised as she stumbled towards both Jungkook and Yoongi; Lexi quickly reached out to steady her as she saw Kaitlyn lose her balance.

“What about you? Are you okay?” Lexi questioned.

“I’ll be fine. I’m not the one we need to worry about” She shrugged.

Yoongi senses slowly came back, as he tried to focus on the hand now firmly gripping his shoulder. “Yoongi-” He could hear Jungkook repeating his name, as he gently but forcefully shook Yoongi back to his senses. “We have to go find her.” A concerned Jungkook directed to him, staring into his brown eyes, silently affirming him of any doubts. He removed his hand quickly and started moving in the direction of their missing recruit, not waiting for the oldest to follow. Yoongi swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as he took a shaky step forward. With a deep breath, he followed Jungkook to bring Yuri back safely.

Lexi went to follow the two men when a groan of pain sounded behind her. She turned to see Kaitlyn crumble to the ground, discomfort the only thing written on her face as she attempted to raise herself off the ground but failed, her body collapsing back in the dirt below.

Lexi quickly rushed to help Kaitlyn up and attempted to guide her towards where the others had run off to. But, Kaitlyn’s inability to stand on her own made traversing the terrain much slower and more dangerous than before.

They only made it a couple yards to a small clearing of trees before a shriek echoed into the night, and two beasts emerged from the foliage, making themselves known.

Yuri could see nothing but the rays of moonlight breaking through the openings in the foliage as she rushed further into the woods. Her mind was thinking of nothing else but to help the one who had screamed earlier. She could hear her heartbeat thumping in her ears as her body went high in adrenaline. She jumped, her nerves on high alert, spinning around as she felt something grab her arm, she went to swing at it, but was stopped when Jungkook reached up holding her other arm in the air to stop the motion. He was glaring down at her, unable to stop the anger from forming at her stupidity. He knew it was just because she was new and they all had to get over the immediate urge to rush after someone in danger at first, but that didn’t matter now.

“What are you doing?” Yuri hissed, pulling her arms out of his grasp. Her eyes desperately tried to convey how important it was to reach whomever was in trouble, “Isn’t this what you guys do? Help people?”

“Yes, but the dumbest thing a hunter could possibly do is run head first into a situation you know nothing about.” Jungkook stated, his attention no longer on her, but on the environment around them. He wanted to make sure nothing was watching them from the safety of the shadows, “The creatures out here can sound so sickly human, it isn’t safe to run directly towards the sound of a scream.”

Yuri only nodded in response, the new perspective slowly coming into view. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was a way to tell the difference between the fake scream and a real one. Breaking out of her thoughts, Yoongi finally caught up with the other two, his eyes still clouded but, unlike earlier, focused on the happenings around them.

“Wait, where are the other-” Kaitlyn’s piercing scream sounded through the forest before Jungkook could even finish his question and without a moment's hesitation, his feet were racing back to where he came from. Yoongi and Yuri completely forgotten about in his haste to get back to Kaitlyn, praying that she was alright.

The creatures stood over six feet tall with long, lanky arms and legs. The monster reminded her of Jack Skelington in build, but instead of just being bones, it was covered in a thin almost translucent skin, no muscles to be seen. Lexi knew, at full strength, they could both take one each. But luck seemed to be against them today as there were two solitary creatures standing before them preparing to attack.

Kaitlyn, fortunately, was finally on her feet, her senses aiding her for the time being as she stood back-to-back with Lexi, eyeing the creatures in front of them.

”Wendigos...” Lexi whispered to Kaitlyn, staring at the misshapen creatures. “This is odd… they don’t usually hunt like this.”

Kaitlyn swallowed softly and nodded, “They were the ones screaming.” Her voice was hoarse and quiet, almost like she had been the one doing nothing but screaming the past few nights.

“They will be screaming for real soon when we are done with them.” Lexi smirked, pulling out her favorite knives from their makeshift home on her ankles. “We injure then burn.”

Kaitlyn nodded before the two ran at the monsters, weapons out prepared to injure and kill the monstrosities circling them. One of the creatures let out a sickening screech before lunging at the girls. Lexi dodged the closest one to her, it’s claws barely missing her as she stumbled to catch her footing.

She peered over at Kaitlyn once she was able to find her balance. Her eyes went wide in shock as she saw Kaitlyn being lifted into the air by her neck. Kaitlyn’s knife dropped from her hand as her attention was now solely on gripping at the monster's claws, fighting to get air into her lungs. Succeeding for just a moment, she let out a blood curdling scream of pain as it’s hand found itself right back at her throat tighter than before, cutting off all air flow, her scream now silent.

Lexi froze, her eyes widening as she watched the monster strangle her first friend and family member, watching as Kaitlyn slowly began to go limp in the monster's hold.

‘Lexi snap out of it! He’s going to kill her!’ She heard Zuko’s voice echoing in her mind. Lexi’s hands formed into fists, gripping at the knives in her hands tighter, as she zeroed in on the monster holding Kaitlyn captive. In a sudden rush of desperation, Lexi did the only thing she could think of, cutting off the Wendigo’s hand. A loud screech escaped the creature's throat as it dropped Kaitlyn to the dirt, limp, and backed up from the hunter in pain as it registered what had just happened. Lexi took this as her last chance and quickly grabbed the girl and moved her behind her after seeing her struggle to stand.

“Come on Kate! Please get up! I can’t handle two at once and protect you.” Lexi pleaded, trying her hardest to fend off the creatures and keep them both alive.

Kaitlyn groaned, shifting to get her legs under her before pushing up with her hands, but before she made it even half way, her shaky legs lost all strength and gave up on her, her body once again colliding with the dirt. Kaitlyn weakly slammed her fist into the ground, a frustrated shout coming from her, at her failure to be of any help at such a dangerous time.

Time was running out as the beasts started to stalk towards them. For the first time in a long time, fear consumed Lexi’s body, and she knew she didn’t have a choice. Summoning all the power she could, she glared at the monsters.

“Ignis.” Lexi shouted, searching as deep within herself as she could to pull forth any magic that she could muster in her tired state, but what she thought wouldn’t be enough magic, maybe turned into too much magic.

She watched as what she planned to be just a small fire to ward off the wendigo’s, turned into something much bigger. Two rings of fire now stood where only one small one was supposed to be. One ring circling her and Kaitlyn, protecting them from the creatures and another, separating the Wendigos from their freedom.

With the last bit of magic she could control, she slowly started to bring the rings together until they combined into one, the flames engulfing the creatures. Their shrieking filled the silent night as they slowly began to crumble and fall from the immense heat the flames had been extruding. Lexi wouldn't be satisfied until they were nothing more than soot.

Lexi swallowed softly, before finding the courage to look at Kaitlyn, afraid of what she might see. Kaitlyn’s eyes were fixed on her, her gaze a mixture of confusion and betrayal, but also deep down, hidden inside, Lexi could also see thankfulness. Lexi wasn’t sure how she should feel, one of her many secrets, which she planned to keep hidden, now out in the open to the first person she ever trusted.

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Jungkook knew that he must have seemed like a hypocrite to Yuri, telling her not to run off at the first sign of someone in danger but then going and doing the same thing. But this was different, this was someone he knew that screamed, someone that he cared about dearly, not some stranger. He knew that really shouldn’t have made a difference, but as he rushed past the trees, scrapes appearing on his arms by the passing branches, he couldn’t really careless. He skidded to a halt when a large creature thundered through the forest in front of him, barely coming to a stop until it caught sight of him.

“God dammit.” Jungkook groaned, recognizing the creature instantly. He cursed himself for being stupid and leaving his lighter at home. His training should have taught him better, whether it was just a scouting mission or a hunt, he knew he should always be prepared for the worst. The reality was that he had no real way to kill the beast that now stalked towards him, he prepared himself for a fight. His eyes locked on the creature, waiting for the first move.

The wendigo lunged towards Jungkook, he quickly dodged to the right and grabbed for his machete in the process. He raised it in the air making sure it sliced through flesh and bone. Jungkook came to a stop on his knees as he looked at the creature wailing in pain, it’s hand lying on the ground before them. Jungkook prided himself in at least being quick enough to grab his silver machete at the last minute before leaving the house. While he knew silver could not completely kill a wendigo, it could injure it more than a simple blade.

With the regeneration process slowed, Jungkook couldn’t help but turn as a flash of light entered his vision. Fire erupted from the corner of his eye, a smirk forming on his lips as he pushed himself up from his knees, ready for the Wendigo’s next attack. Even with the insatiable speed of the wendigo, Jungkook managed to evade the creature’s claws and stab it right in the heart. It shrieked in pain, clawing at the blade embedded in its chest with its one remaining hand before it fell to the ground. Using the utility knife he had stored in his pocket, he stepped towards the beast and carved a perfect circle around the machete, pulling it out of the monster’s chest, a frozen heart sitting at the tip of his blade.

He ran towards the fire, pulling the heart off his machete in the process before tossing it within the circle of flames. He knew his aim was true when he saw the claws and toes of the creature crumble on the ground and the body begin to disintegrate to dust.

“Die motherfucker.” Jungkook growled, using his machete to chop off the head of the wendigo, watching as the white ground turned to a grey color of ash. The wendigo slowly turned to dust, even the head Jungkook cut off slowly crumbled, leaving behind just a few teeth that resembled that of a human. Jungkook couldn’t help but gaze as the snow began to absorb any remnants that were left behind.

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“Not so fast!” Yoongi said, grabbing Yuri’s wrist, stopping her from running after Jungkook. Yoongi noticed Yuri tense up and quickly released her wrist, memories of the night he met her, flooding back to him; of the scars he was never meant to see. He softened his tone, “Jungkook will be fine, but he is not a leader no matter how badly he wants it. He doesn’t know how to keep track of others, especially newbies.”

Yuri searched him for any sign of why his demeanor suddenly changed with her tenseness, but couldn’t find anything. She watched as his eyes shifted momentarily to her wrists, before coming back to eye their surroundings. She couldn’t help but wonder if he knew about what she hid so deeply.

She opened her mouth to ask, but before she could question if he saw the glimpse of her scarring past, a human-like scream erupted from in front of them. Yuri could feel her heart start to beat faster, fear of whatever this creature was taking over. She looked to Yoongi for guidance, unaware that Yoongi was just as terrified as she felt right now.

“I know it's easier said than done, but you need to try and calm your heartbeat. If it is what I think it is, they have incredible hearing and can track you with the simple sound of your fear.” Yoongi mumbled, shielding Yuri behind him, knowing she was not ready to fight, not yet.

Yuri didn’t get the chance to think let alone ask as the snap of a twig was heard behind them Yuri began to tremble, her hands gripping the back of Yoongi’s shirt tighter.

“Don’t fucking move.” Yoongi whispered, staying as still as possible. Yuri tried her hardest to stay still but couldn’t shake the fear as her body took over her senses, forcing out movements she tried to suppress. Trembling in her shoes she slowly lifted her head from the ground to look at the man standing in front of her. Before she knew it, she heard something running towards them. Yoongi quickly faced her, grabbed her by the shoulders and spun them both around so he was the physical shield between her and the beast, putting him in immediate danger instead of her.

The creature sprinted at them as he pushed her forward into a run, Yuri stumbled forward, trying to keep her balance with her trembling legs, breaths coming out fast and hard. Yoongi, at the last minute, swerved to the left, managing to move away partially from the creature’s attack but not completely evading it either. Yoongi hissed as the creature's claw caught his shoulder, tearing his shirt as rivulets of blood poured down his back and chest. He ignored the pain and kept pushing himself forward, trying to not lose sight of Yuri.

He watched as Yuri’s legs finally gave out on her and he stumbled to a stop.

“Are you okay? Can you keep running?” Yuri’s fear filled eyes stared up at him, her hands were massaging her left ankle, she couldn’t do anything but nod as she slowly pulled herself up, resting most of her weight on the right foot. Yoongi raised his left eyebrow, but decided not to push as he turned to face the direction they just came from. He knew that she would not be able to run fast or far with the way she was balancing on her right leg. He hoped that they had managed to put enough distance between them so he could face what they were dealing with. This wasn’t like the last time Yoongi faced these creatures. He wasn’t a young, helpless kid anymore. He was able to protect his friends and family now.

Yuri let out a gasp when Yoongi turned his back to her. “Yoongi!! Your-”

“Yeah, now’s not the time. You need to get ready to run again just in case.” Yoongi gruffed out as he made sure that Yuri remained behind him.He shuffled through his jacket, searching for his flask pulling it out when he found it in his left pocket. It was unlike most flasks, as it was made of glass instead of metal. A nice little item he had grown fond of over the years.

“Yoongi! Now is not the time to be drinking!” Yuri yelled, for the first time truly taking in how close Yoongi had come to being demolished by the beast's attacks. Her eyes landed back on the wound that bled down his back, inspecting it from her place against the tree. Maybe the flask was to disinfect instead. She tried to figure out what he was planning, but then her eyes fell on the large jagged scars that were offsettingly similar to the fresh claw marks on his shoulder. She couldn’t help but let out another gasp, but her attention was pulled away when Yoongi spoke to her again.

“This isn’t the type of liquid you would want to consume.” Yoongi grumbled, taking off the small amount of material left of his shirt and shoving it into the glass flask.

Yuri’s eyes widened at the realization as Yoongi pulled out his trusty lighter he always kept on him, just in case he ever ran into these monstrosities again. Being quick on his feet, he threw the makeshift Molotov cocktail into the darkness. Yuri watched as the creature erupted into flame, the heat from the fire was all she could feel as her ears ached from the piercing screams that escaped it.

The wendigo tried to escape the flames to no avail. All its struggling did was further spread the gasoline which, in turn, spread the flames further. It broke her to hear how human-like it sounded and how slowly the screaming stopped until there was nothing but the silence in the dead of night. The creature was now just a pile of ashes in the snow, the wind slowly blowing out what little remained of the diminishing fire.

Before the fire could completely die, she caught a low glow that showed on the man still standing in front of her. It was enough light to truly examine what she thought she saw earlier. Claw marks stretched from his shoulders down his back, but those were healed. Fresh marks managed to find their way onto his other shoulder, but not nearly as far as the other. She watched as he turned towards her, catching all of the other small scars and puncture wounds that covered his arm. She couldn’t help but look at his chest seeing the claw marks there as well. They looked the same as the ones that littered his back. She slowly looked up at his face, the fire gone, and the moonlight casted a glow on the one scar he didn’t hide, the one that went down his face.

“You’re not the only one with scars to hide.” Yoongi said, offering the girl a hand. Yuri stared between Yoongi’s face and his hand.

“So you do know?” She quietly said, taking his hand as he pulled her into him for support. “Wh-” she stuttered, unsure of what was going on.

“Don’t get used to it.” Yoongi grumbled, Yuri raised an eyebrow. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you favoring your right leg.”

Yuri pushed away from him, almost falling on her ass, until Yoongi grabbed her wrist. “That’s nothing, you’re obviously hurt worse than I am. I’m fine, nothing I haven’t dealt with before!” Yuri stated, pulling her arm out of his grip, crossing her arms. “Besides, that wasn’t what I was asking about!”

“Later. We can talk later.” Yuri wasn’t happy with his response, but she knew when to back off. “For now, how about we just help each other. We need to get back to the others!” Yoongi once again offered his hand, Yuri begrudgingly accepted it, knowing that she actually did need the help. She knew her ankle was only twisted and would be fine, if not just slightly sore, in the morning.

Yoongi helped balance Yuri’s weight on his good shoulder as they headed in what hoped to be the direction back to the others.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Lexi watched as the diminishing flames laid an orange glow on her surroundings, she wasn’t sure when the others would get here, but she knew it had to be soon if the nearby screeching of a wendigo was anything to go by. That and the fact that she saw a frozen heart come into view a short time ago. Knowing that there was no danger at the moment, she shifted her attention back to Kaitlyn, who had nothing but betrayal and exhaustion in her eyes. The thankfulness had long faded when the realization hit her.

“Who even are you?” Kaitlyn whispered, but, before Lexi could say anything to explain herself, Kaitlyn’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped to the ground in a heap, unconscious. Lexi’s eyes widened as she rushed to her fallen family member, falling to her knees to help Kaitlyn, hands scrambling all over her, checking her for further injuries. She was scared that something worse could have happened that she wasn’t aware of.

Tired and drained from the overuse of her magic, she could do nothing to help her, she shifted Kaitlyn’s head into her lap to use as a cushion. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out a flare gun she kept on her during any hunt or scouting mission and shot it into the air. Normally, she wouldn’t use one, especially so close to the trees, but if any other creatures found her, she may not be able to defend both of them again.

“What the hell happened?!” Jungkook shouted being the first to arrive. Lexi was relieved to see that he didn’t look injured. She could only imagine the turmoil Kaitlyn would go into if he had gotten himself hurt again. Especially now, with her trust in herself gone. She slowly stood up, helping Kaitlyn up with her. She knew they would have to move her this way.

Jungkook quickly rushed over to help carry Kaitlyn, seeing Lexi stumble. He grabbed Kaitlyn’s other arm and distributed half her weight to him, making it easier to carry her dead weight. Not even a moment later, Yoongi and Yuri showed up as well, Yuri still using Yoongi to help balance herself.

“She should be okay. The Wendigo grabbed her neck but I cut the hand off before any serious damage could be done. The real problem is that her exhaustion is getting extremely out of hand. She isn’t going to be able to keep up like this.” Lexi explained, her face softening as she saw the worried expression still laced on his face, “She’s just tired Kook, not dead.”

“She’s an idiot,” He sighed, though the way he looked at her made Lexi believe he didn’t necessarily mean it.

“I’m going to call the old man on the way home. He has got to have something that could help.” Yoongi said, reassuring the others. He signaled for Lexi to head over to Yuri, before making his way to lead the group back.

No one batted an eye at Yoongi or his very visible scars, which intrigued Yuri. If they already knew about them, then why was he so keen to hide them? Yuri grabbed her own wrist through her shirt in deep thought. Maybe he just hated seeing them. A reminder of trauma he would rather forget… just like her.

Lexi slid over to Yuri’s side, eyeing her. “Hey, are you okay?” Yuri startled out of her thoughts as she looked up to Lexi.

“Oh, what? Yeah, I’m fine.” She stuttered out.

“You know, you don’t have to be strong right now, right?” Yuri scrunched her eyebrows up in curiosity. “You were just attacked and I can tell that you are favoring your right leg, I noticed when you and Yoongi arrived and you were using him as support.”

“You know as well as I do, that this wasn’t my first attack. This is nothing compared to the past.” Yuri faded off, Lexi wasn’t sure what to take from that, feeling like Yuri was referencing more than what she knew about. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine with rest. I’m more worried about Kaitlyn and Yoongi,” she said, trying to shift the attention off of her.

Lexi looked towards the others in the group, Jungkook balancing Kaitlyn’s weight on one shoulder and Yoongi leading the way, completely ignoring the fact that his shoulder was bleeding out. Just another day as a hunter. “Yoongi will be fine. This isn’t anything new to him.” Lexi paused, her eyes resting on Kaitlyn a little too long, “But Kaitlyn, I’m worried about, she’s getting worse.”

Yuri looked at Kaitlyn and couldn’t help but agree. She remembered when she first met Kaitlyn how lively she was, but recently she looked nothing short of dead on her feet. Yuri sighed and followed behind Lexi with a slight limp.

Everyone was ready to go home and get some rest. With a newbie, one mildly injured, one unconscious, and the other two exhausted, this was the easiest decision they ever made.

_______________________________________________________________________________

A laugh echoed in the dark dungeon, the image of the five walking through the woods on a small crystal ball. “Everything is going according to plan.”

Chapter Text

“Listen, I know you can stand this guy for some reason, but I still don’t trust him.” Lexi confessed to Yuri. Her eyes found the snow ridden ground as they maneuvered through the forest.

“Lex come on.” Yuri sighed, peaking at the other girl through her hair, “We are just going to thank his family for saving me.”

Her words came out mumbled as she was more focused on stepping over the rock obstructing her path. Lexi shook her head, stepping over the stone with ease. It was in Lexi’s training to not allow the elements to hinder her movements, but Yuri, she didn’t have the same amount of experience.

Lexi had trusted Taehyung in the heat of the moment while they were being attacked, whether or not that was a good decision was still up in the air. Yet, the man had literally done nothing but try to keep Yuri’s best interests at heart. He stood up for her at that party all those months ago and he always seemed to try and be the buffer whenever Jimin was around, even if he sometimes lost his temper. He even offered to take her out to eat after the whole camping incident just to make sure she was doing okay both mentally and physically.

The only thing that made her not want to trust him was the uncertainty of what kind of supernatural beings he and his family were and whether or not Yuri was truly safe within his presence.

“Can you two not talk about me when I’m four feet away from you?” Taehyung complained as he turned his head towards the girls following behind him. “And be happy I’m letting you tag along.” Both girls looked at one another, Lexi rolling her eyes and Yuri mumbling something too quiet for anyone to hear.

He turned his attention back around and continued down the path, not giving either girl much of a chance to keep up with his large strides. He walked this path like it was the back of his hand, familiar. Both girls watched as he ducked under a low hanging branch.

Lexi couldn’t help but snicker, “As if you had a say in the matter. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

Taehyung couldn’t help but laugh in annoyance, “I could say the same goes for you as well.”

Yuri couldn’t help but sigh at the two’s bickering session. She decided to put an end to it quickly by pulling out the oldest card in the book, “Are we there yet?”

Taehyung’s soft chuckle seemed to travel as he pointed through the opening of the trees, “Basically, it’s right over there.”

It only took a few more steps for the house to come into view. It was a rustic, two story home, a style not very common for a school on the outskirts of the city, but one that fit the scenery perfectly. Yuri couldn’t help but love the quaint little home and found herself staring through the glass back doors to what looked like a huge kitchen.

Yuri let a small smile form as she let her legs rush her towards the warm and inviting home, desperate to feel like a human being again rather than the snowman she was becoming. The coats and hats that confined them were not enough to keep them warm, especially the frail, blonde girl.

Taehyung held the door open, letting the girls in. A rush of warm bliss mixed with the sweet smell of coffee filled their senses.

“Yah! It’s about time yo-'' A man walked out from what Yuri assumed was the living room. Seokjin, she recalled from the night they spent in the woods, didn't finish his sentence, observing the newcomers. His shock turned into an awkward smile and he peered at his younger ‘brother’.

“Taehyung, I don’t mind guests, but a warning would be appreciated.” The seemingly eldest scolded the man.

“Well it wasn’t really planned.” Taehyung avoided the sharp gaze shot his way. He scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck before slowly looking at Jin, “One is persuasive, the other is just stubborn.”

“I am not stubborn,” Lexi huffed quietly to herself, picking up a pepper shaker that sat on the counter and examining it.

“Maybe a little bit,” Yuri said, pinching her fingers together so there was nothing more than a centimeter keeping them apart. Lexi set the shaker down, raising an eyebrow at the normally quiet girl next to her.

A childish smile cracked on Seokjin’s face, turning his attention to the girls, “Are you guys hungry? I am making dinner soon! I also have snacks,” Seokjin pointed to the plates sitting a few feet away from them on the counter, “Please have some.”

Seokjin seemed like a gentle giant. With his big stature and broad shoulders, most would find him intimidating. Yet, the way his smile showed on his lips and within his eyes had a comforting feel.

“That looks so good.” Lexi whispered, it had been a while since she ate.

“Oh, thank you,” Seokjin responded, watching the way the brunette eyed the food. He couldn’t help but send a glare Taehyung’s way, “At least someone appreciates the effort I put into my food. I live with heathens.”

“Hey!” Taehyung shouted, offended.

“Oh shut it! You know I’m right!” Seokjin stated before focusing his attention back on the girls.

Lexi laughed at his comment, only for a ridiculous thought to enter her brain, “You and Yoongi should have a cooking competition.”

Yuri nodded in agreement. Her thoughts drifted back to after the scouting mission turned hunt. The group had become hungry as the time ticked by, becoming so late. Seeing as nowhere seemed to be open, When they got home, Yoongi surprised everyone by making a small snack to hold everyone over until breakfast.

“Well please try some.” Jin smiled, bringing the tray of savory treats that were shown to them.

They looked like mini pizzas. Cheese dripped down the sides while some had pieces of sausage on it. They looked like they just made their way out of the oven, which made Lexi’s stomach growl with anticipation.

Lexi smiled and nodded thanks to him. She grabbed two pieces, giving one to Yuri. She knew the shy girl wouldn’t take one on her own. Yuri hesitantly accepted the food from Lexi, before nervously taking a peek at Taehyung who seemed to be preoccupied grabbing his own pieces from the plate. Feeling better that he too was digging into the food, she took a nibble from her piece.

“Wow! This is amazing SeokJin!” Lexi complimented, taking another, “I call being a judge for the cookoff.”

“I made it from scratch. The sauce is a secret recipe. Also please, just call me Jin.” Seokjin laughed to himself, “Want to know what makes food even better?”

“What is it?” Yuri whispered, peeking at Taehyung when she heard him let out a quiet groan. He pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was in pain? Or was he cringing about something? She was unsure.

“My insatiable jokes! What’s a pizza maker’s favorite song?” No one got the chance to ask what or give their answer before he spoke up again, “Slice, Slice Baby.”

Seokjin’s laugh radiated through the house, loudest of all. Yuri and Lexi put in a small giggle, whether it was to comfort the man or because they thought it was funny, no one knew.

“Oh God, please don’t encourage him.” Taehyung groaned, smacking his head against his hand. He hoped that if he hit himself hard enough, it would end the unstoppable jokes. The one thing about Seokjin was he made at least two dad jokes every day. But when someone actually found them funny, he would never stop.

“Aish I won’t! I’ll leave you and your girlfriend alone.” Seokjin teased. Taehyung’s face turned a shade of red, similar to that of a tomato. The room was unsure if it was anger or embarrassment, or even a mix of both emotions. Yuri herself couldn't help as she felt her cheeks turn a light shade of pink at the insinuation. Trying to stay undetected, she quietly took an inch of a step away from Taehyung.

“Alright as much as I would love to stay, I don’t need another lecture from Yoongi.” Lexi laughed softly, wanting out of the inevitable awkward situation that already seemed to be forming.

“You mean a ‘lex’ture” Seokjin responded, laughing as loud as possible, this time adding in a little seal clap. In response the other three just shook their heads; the two girls finally understood why Taehyung seemed so distraught about encouraging the man and his jokes.

“Thank you again for the food, Jin. Please, make sure Taehyung gets her home safely! If he doesn’t do that simple task, get a hold of me. I’ll shove my foot up his ass!” Lexi called out, quickly leaving the three to their own devices.

“You two can relax for a bit. I am making kimchi fried rice with pork belly.” Seokjin smiled, going over to the kitchen to start cooking. The clanging of pots and pans began to replace the awkward tension that had begun to fill the room.

“Actually, where is Hobi?” Taehyung asked, wanting to make sure the main reason Yuri came over was fulfilled. She hadn’t even really had the chance to talk since she had entered the house. He assumed it was a mix between her quiet nature and not knowing what to say.

Before Jin could answer, the echo of the door shutting filled the room. “Sorry I went for a run but saw some girl here so I waited until she left to come in. Plus My clothes got torn and I-“

Hoseok didn’t finish as his eyes went wide.

Taehyung, noticing what was happening, quickly spun Yuri into his chest to block her view. All she wanted to do was show her gratitude to them for saving her. The last thing she needed was to get an eyeful of Hoseok before she could even mutter a word of thanks to either of them. It would just send her running.

“Go put some clothes on!” Seokjin scolded, moving from his spot near the oven to attempt to help shield Hoseok from the poor girl.

“I’m so sorry.” Taehyung whispered in her ear, slowly pushing her to arms length to get a good look at her. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he couldn’t stop the frown from gracing his features, seeing her head pointed downwards and eyes closed tightly in fear. “Hey, it’s okay, I promise. You’re okay.” She released a breath before she braved looking up at him. She knew she was safe with him, but his sudden movements and her concealed eyesight sent her body into fight or flight. Luckily, she managed to fight off the flight she so desperately wanted to follow and remained in her place. Yet, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from shaking uncontrollably.

The gentle touch of arms enveloping her into a hug seemed to calm her nerves. Hugs were never a thing that calmed her, but usually a thing that caused even more distress. There was just something about the way his arms held her that made her want to stay, it made her calm.

“It’s just me, you're okay. You don’t have to be scared with me.” Taehyung whispered, keeping her close. Now her heart was beating quickly again, but nerves weren’t the cause this time.

Taehyung quickly let her go, hearing Hoseok come down the stairs. He now adorned a full ensemble. No chance of accidently seeing something not meant to be seen.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize…” Hoseok started, looking right at Yuri.

“It’s okay! Let's just not talk about it…” she mumbled quickly and quietly, not wanting to spend more time on this conversation, “Uhm actually the reason I came down here is because I wanted to thank you guys.” Yuri said, finally looking up at Hoseok and Seokjin. “Thank you guys for saving me that night.” Yuri bowed to show her appreciation.

Seokjin gently patted her head, earning a small jump from the girl, “Honestly you don’t need to thank us.”

He smiled caringly. It was as if he had been taking care of her all his life.

“Yeah, you’re basically part of the pack now.” Hoseok chuckled, earning an elbow to the ribs from Taehyung and a confused look from Yuri.

Before she even got the chance to ask, the sound of the door closed and a soft voice followed, “Boys, I’m home.”

Yuri turned towards the voice she had never heard before. It belonged to a stunning girl, she only seemed to be eighteen. She had long, light brown hair with eyes to match it. Soft curls could be seen even with her hair in a ponytail. The sweet look on her face seemed to fade when her eyes met Yuri, almost as if a protective mode activated.

“Taehyung, who is this?” She asked, glaring at the man next to Yuri.

______________________________________________________________________________

Instead of going home, Lexi decided to do a little practice on her own. Having practiced with her grandfather for a few months now, she couldn’t help but wonder what else she could do. The most recent lesson was environment manipulation used to confuse the enemy, but Lexi couldn’t help but wonder about other advantages as well.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, seeing the remnants float away from the warmth mixing with the cold. Today, on her own, was the day for magic agility training. As much as she hated running, she couldn’t stop thinking of helpful moves she could do with the environment.

The trees were her friends and allies in this specific combat training. She finally opened her eyes, determined to succeed. She began to run, using her powers to twist the branches to her advantage. She leaped from one to the other, using some as vines. This allowed her to get closer without falling or losing momentum. Not only did she have to trust her powers to aid her, but also her footing.

Sadly, the ice did not aid her in traction. She managed to move a great distance from where she started before she lost her balance. Her foot managed to slip on one of the branches covered in ice.. She was going to use her powers to let one of the trees catch her but something, or someone caught her instead.

“Wow, falling for me already?” A sly voice said. She looked up slowly, eyes meeting a pair of familiar brown ones. A cocky smirk held upon his plump lips. His hair, in classic Jimin fashion, was swept off to the side but slightly ruffled like he wanted to hide that he actually styled it. To her surprise, it was now a light shade of pink instead of silver. He quirked an eyebrow up at her silence and the fact she still hadn’t removed his arm.

“Ugh, why do you always show up like this!?” Lexi grumbled, standing up quickly from his arms. She dusted off her jacket as if his touch dirtied the fabric.

“Well, I wasn’t planning on it, but hunger calls.” Jimin responded, irritation evident within his voice, “The bad part about these attacks is that it causes the meddling humans to stay inside. Even in the daytime. It’s hard to snack when there isn't anyone to bite into.”

His nose scrunched up at the mere thought of not having the ability to feed. He was losing his patience. Even Lexi could tell, by the way his eyes flashed red.

“You are not biting me if that’s what you’re asking.” Lexi growled, picking up one of her knives that fell and putting it back in its place. Jimin chuckled softly in response.

“As tempting as that sounds, I honestly don’t know what would happen if I drank the blood of a witch. And frankly I don’t care to find out at the moment.” He smirked, gliding his tongue over his bottom lip, “But I did have another question in mind.”

Lexi rolled her eyes and crossed her arm, the cold slowly getting to her after working up a sweat. “And what is that?”

“Well, I was doing some reading as usual and I came across something interesting.” Jimin chuckled, circling the girl. She followed him with her eyes, not allowing herself to lose sight of him. As much as he said he wasn’t planning to sink his teeth into her, a hungry vampire wasn’t the most trustworthy.

“Get to the point. I’m freezing my ass off!” Lexi growled.

“Just say the word and I’ll warm it up for you.” He whispered, earning a shove from Lexi, putting the distance they had before back into place. He chuckled at her reaction but continued his thought, “ I saw something where witches can make blood substitutes to help vampires. It is said to be as effective as human blood but keeps the vampire satisfied for longer. I know that’s hard to do princess, but I believe you could keep me very satisfied.” Jimin winked, earning another push from the girl.

“Say one more dirty thing and I fling you across the field.” She growled, snapping her fingers making a spell book appear in her hands. One of the many she owned, but she remembered reading about vampires in this one. It felt weird using magic openly in front of another being, let alone Jimin.

“I haven’t gotten laid in years, sue me.” Jimin chuckled, “They tend to scream a little extra when I sink my teeth into them.”

Lexi glared at him, her last warning telling him to shut his mouth. He finally took the hint, zipping his mouth shut and locking it with a key. With a small amount of peace and quiet, Lexi flipped through the book quickly until she found the section on potions for vampires. Scanning through, she nodded before looking up at Jimin.

“Let’s go collect some items and we can make it.” Lexi said, snapping the book away and making a paper appear with a pen. She wrote down what they would need and gave the list to Jimin. Then, the two were off, searching for anything on the list they could find.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Kaitlyn took it easy for the day only because Yoongi told her to do so. As the two men trained, she simply watched from the house, hot chocolate in hand. A sigh escaped her lips as she made her way to the couch to lay down and try to catch the sleep she had been chasing. She let out a content breath as she closed her eyes, letting sleep take hold.

It seemed like a second had passed before she woke up screaming at the top of her lungs. Both men heard the cries from the yard and quickly ran into the house. Jungkook reacted first realizing what was going on. He hurried to her side, grabbing her shoulders and making her look at him. If it was anything like the last time, she had no idea where she was. Her face was stained with tears but he could see she was beginning to realize she wasn’t in her nightmare anymore. He pulled her into a hug, trying to comfort her more.

Yoongi couldn’t help but curse under his breath, the old man had yet to get back to him and things seemed to be getting worse. He stalked off to the main study to make a call yet again, leaving Jungkook to comfort Kaitlyn, knowing he was the best person for this.

“It’s okay I’m right here.” Jungkook slowly took her into his arms and rocked her crying figure. Kaitlyn started to feel her beating heart start to slow, resting her head on his shoulder. The tears that once streamed down her face slowly began to dry up.

There was just something about Jungkook and his ability to lessen her fear. Even in her nightmare, he was the only source of light within it. After the hours of torture she had to endure watch be inflicted onto her parents, he was the first person to show her kindness; even when there were all the reasons not to sitting in front of him.

“You are not weak; you are human. You survived and you are fighting.” Jungkook whispered gently in her ear, letting his hand gently rub her back. Jungkook, at first glance, comes across as a strong and stubborn man. For all extensive purposes, he was exactly that. Yet, he was a caring person underneath all of it and Kaitlyn felt lucky to know that side of him. He carefully picked up the girl with ease and sat on the couch, still holding her on top of him.

“It’s okay, sleep, I’ll be here.” He mumbled softly, remembering the amount of sleep they both managed to receive that night. She nodded slowly, her breathing still unsteady as she nestled her head into the crook of his neck. He subconsciously let his hand play with her blonde hair, trying to comfort her back to sleep. He didn’t expect that he would also find slumber in the process.

After a few hours, Jungkook woke up to Yoongi shaking him, “Hey, I made dinner. You two need to eat.”

Jungkook nodded and looked at Kaitlyn, or at least looked at her the best he could. She was curled up into a ball on his lap, her body curled into him with her head buried deep into his neck. She was so close he could feel how her breath gently tickled his neck as she slowly breathed in and out

Very gently, he rubbed her arm and shook her lightly, “Kate, it’s time to wake up. Yoongi made dinner.”

Even though he had been asleep a few hours, his gruff morning voice was evident as he spoke. He cleared his throat a little, attempting to rid it the best he could. It wasn’t his fault that it had been the best nap he was able to have in a while.

Kaitlyn slowly opened her eyes, only seeing tan skin and dark hair that screamed Jungkook. She slowly lifted her head from his neck, still fully on top of him as she rubbed her eyes. “Morning?” Kaitlyn grumbled softly.

“Afternoon.” Jungkook chuckled gruffly, stretching.

Hearing the crack of some of his bones sounded alluring in a way. Kaitlyn couldn’t help but stretch her own back and arms in response. She only stopped when she heard a groan from Jungkook.

“Please don’t move so much.” He said, voice a little higher than usual and his eyes squeezed shut. Kaitlyn’s eyes went wide as she quickly stood up.

“I uhm… I’m sorry I-“ Kaitlyn couldn’t find the words, “Coming Yoongi!”

She quickly ran to the kitchen, even though the eldest man never called her. Jungkook sighed softly, his eyes closing as if not being able to see was enough to will what had just happened away. He took a minute to compose himself before joining the others to eat.

Small chatter erupted around the table. Yoongi had texted Lexi about an hour ago, wondering where she was. His questions were answered as the door flung open, two people stumbling in.

“Jimin you’re too fucking heavy, walk yourself!” Lexi complained, throwing him on the couch, breathing heavy from having to drag him here. After testing the potion, something went a bit… wrong. What was supposed to satisfy his hunger for a month seemed to be effective, but it also made him… drunk.

As much as she wanted to make him Namjoon’s problem, she had no clue where he lived, and Jimin’s phone was locked and; eventually, after about twenty minutes of trying to get him to unlock his phone it had finally died. So, having no other choice, she gave in and took him to her house.

“What is going on?” Yoongi asked, Kaitlyn and Jungkook joining him in the living room.

“I ran into him like this.” Lexi grumbled scratching her neck. She locked eyes with Kaitlyn, knowing the lack of trust was evident in her gaze. It was obvious she didn’t believe her. Granted, knowing what she knew, Lexi wouldn’t believe herself either.

“Jungkookie!” Jimin shouted standing up and slumping over the man, hugging him. “How are youuuuuu?” He slurred.

“Jimin what happened?” Jungkook chuckled softly, helping Jimin stay on his feet. He stumbled a bit as he attempted to hold his own weight, but then ended up leaning the majority of his weight onto Jungkook once again.

“Wah Jungkook, she is amazing!” Jimin slurred, pointing back at Lexi. Her eyes went wide, hoping he wouldn’t spill to the rest of the hunters.

“What do you mean?” Jungkook asked, confusion evident on his face, “Who would call her amazing?”

That earned a glare from the girl in question.

“I was telling her how thirsty I was and how no one could satisfy me. But she did it. So tasty.” Jimin chuckled, causing everyone’s eyes to go wide. Jungkook turned to the brunette, eyebrow quirked up.

“JIMIN WHAT THE FUCK!?” Lexi yelled at him.

“Well it’s true. I can’t lie to my Jungkookie.” Jimin laughed softly, Jungkook quickly catching Jimin as he almost fell backwards.

“Wow Lex, I didn’t know you were that type of girl.” Yoongi egged on, adding to the growing irritation Lexi held. Yoongi knew full well what he was doing.

“I hate you guys, he is a liar!” She went to Jimin and grabbed his ear, “Before you say anything else you don’t mean.” She growled, pulling him to her room before he could say another word.

“Don’t be too loud in there!” Jungkook laughed.

“I will murder you!” Lexi yelled back, slamming the door behind her. She could hear the laughter from the others as she glared at Jimin.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t been drunk since, uh, a long time. Alcohol doesn’t work on vampires sadly,” He said, losing his balance and falling to the ground. He flipped himself around so he sat on his butt, his weight leaned back onto his hands. He lolled his head to the side as a small smile crept into his face, “You look pretty when you’re mad.”

“Shut up and sleep on the floor.” She said, climbing into her own bed, back facing where he laid on the floor. She smiled softly, feeling Zuko sleep next to her.

______________________________________________________________________________

Jimin’s eyes flashed open as he sat up from the bed he was laying on. He looked around the cramped room that shared four small beds and one dresser. The beds were bunked on top of each other to make it easier to fit more soldiers before they went off to war.

Jimin felt fear creep up his spine as his eyes met with the blood stain on the floor, the memories he had buried so deep in his subconscious resurfaced and hit him like a train.

“Does this place mean something to you?” He heard a voice say. He turned and stared at the owner of the voice as she surveyed the room. She picked up a necklace with dog tags attached to it.

“Park Jimin.” Lexi whispered, reading the engraving on the necklace. She turned and looked at Jimin as his hands immediately went for his chest. He gripped onto something she could not see, but she assumed it to be the same dog tags she was holding. She slowly let them go, the only sound in the room being the clanking of metal hitting the bed post.

“No no no no! Why are you fucking here!?” Jimin growled, taking a step closer to her, his eyes a fiery red. Lexi had never seen this side of him. He may have been annoying, but he was always composed. The fire in his eyes was enough to show just how infuriated he really was.

“You aren’t supposed to see this!” Jimin growled, pinning her against the wall and glaring at her. This was his memory; this was not something he wanted Lexi of all people to see. Yet there she was.

Lexi broke eye contact and looked at the dogs tags swinging against the bedpost. She glanced at the silver chain that hung loosely around his neck. She gently took the chain and pulled what it was hiding out of his shirt as she let her thumb glide across his name.

“What happened to you?” She whispered, gazing into his eyes, searching for any answers they may hold.

“I’m not ready for this.” Jimin slowly breathed out, his eyes changing back to his brown ones, a look of pain swept across his face. His once rage filled eyes glazed over as tears threatened to spill out from their hiding place.

“I wasn’t either.” Lexi whispered, gently pulling him in for a hug, “But with this whole bond, I’m afraid we don’t have much of a choice.” She said, feeling the strong man finally break. He slowly faded away as her arms fell and she opened her eyes, staring up at the same white ceiling she always did.

She turned to her right and saw Jimin staring at her. Somehow, while the two of them slept and his secrets slipped from the dark depths of his mind, his physical body made its way into her own bed. This was the first time she ever saw Jimin with his hair down and not slicked to the side. He had tears streaming down his face. He looked so broken in that state. If he had been a normal human she could almost see herself falling for him.

Without thinking, she gently wiped a tear that fell from his face and for the first time, she felt sorry for him. The beast finally showed a piece of his humanity that he so desperately tried to hide from the world.

Chapter Text

He could see it, the look he hated with a passion. Pity was shown on her features as she swept the tears away, gliding her thumb against his cheek. Jimin stood up in a rush, nearly falling from the bed and onto the floor. His hands shook, as he took a few more steps back, creating much needed space between the two.

“Jimin…” Lexi whispered, moving closer to him. She reached out to him in an attempt to calm him from whatever meltdown he was beginning to have. She may not have been very fond of him, but knowing he suffered some tragic fate to get here made them more alike than what she would have ever anticipated.

“NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!” He growled, his eyes flashing red out of anger. He took a few more steps back to avoid her reach. He felt his back collide with the wall, ‘Not enough!’ His mind supplied as he felt his body begin to panic, unable to create enough space between himself and the girl who was beginning to learn too much. The room felt like it was suffocating as the memories from that dreadful night flooded his mind. He felt even more weak when he locked eyes with the girl slowly approaching him, the one he wished was still in the dark.

“Jimin it’s okay, I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about.” Lexi spoke softly in an attempt to sooth him since he wouldn’t allow her to get close. She knew she needed to suppress her impulsive urge to help and take care of him as she did others, but she also knew he would deny any type of comfort that he desperately needed.

Jimin shook his head aggressively, as if the added force would make the tears that were forming disappear, yearning to leave behind no trace of their existence. With a final growl he whipped towards the door, making it fly open with his powers, and ran out just as quickly as it opened.

“Jimin!” Lexi shouted, rushing after him, her tears starting to fall as the overwhelming sadness and anger from Jimin overtook her own emotional control.

“Lex? What’s going on?” A soft, gruffled voice sounded from the kitchen. Lexi paused, hand on the wall as she tried to catch her breath from the rush of emotions still piling in. Each second seemed to make her body feel heavier. With a deep breath she looked up at Jungkook. He was rubbing his eyes gently before finally getting a good look at her, “Hey, what happened?”

“Nothing Kook!” Lexi growled rather harshly, she didn’t mean to be rude, but she was so overwhelmed by the turn of events and emotions, that she couldn’t handle his concern as well. She pushed off the wall before Jungkook could even bother to stop her and continued after Jimin into the woods, not bothering to look back as Jungkook shouted her name again.

“Jimin!” Lexi screamed, running deeper into the forest until the trees engulfed her. While a small part of her wanted to make sure he was alright, she couldn’t help but think of the possibility that he would accidently lose control of his powers in this state. She paused, back against a tree, to take a deep breath as she tried to take in her surroundings and attempt to find clues of which way Jimin had even gone. Hell, she wasn’t even sure that she was actually going in the right direction.

“Looking for someone?” Someone chuckled softly, causing Lexi to whip around; the ice crunched beneath her feet. Before her stood her grandfather, a soft smile on his face.

“I lost my friend.” Lexi spoke softly, bringing her arm up to her face to wipe the tears away. The pained feeling slowly subsided, leaving behind a subtle tinge of pain in its place. She cocked her head to the side scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion,“What are you doing out here?”

“Well, I was hoping I would run into you, actually. I wanted to teach you a new spell.” The older man chuckled softly. He then locked eyes with his granddaughter, amusement fell from his face “But first I wanted a small chat.”

Lexi nodded, ready to listen to what he had to say. Because of him, her powers had grown stronger, as did she. Although she wasn’t planning on telling the others of her powers, she picked up some good hunting tricks she could use with the others just in case something, like what happened with Kaitlyn, happened again. She wouldn’t allow anyone to fall into harm's way if she truly had a way to save them.

“Well, I’ve noticed how your friend has been treating you. She doesn’t trust you, does she? You saved her life but because you used magic you are the enemy.” The warlock leaned against a tree free of snow, “So, I have a proposition.”

“Wait,” Lexi raised her hand to stop him, her eyebrows furrowing as she took in what he just said, a sickening feeling in her gut, “How do you know that? I never told you that.” That night had only just happened a few days ago and he hadn’t seen her since. Her eyes narrowed and she focused her attention on him, trying to take in anything she may have not noticed the last several times she had seen him.

Be careful please. I sense something evil. She heard Zuko voice out through her thoughts. She could feel him squirm slightly in her pocket, as if he was becoming restless.

The warlock smiled sheepishly, trying to hide his surprised features from his granddaughter, “I have my ways, but I thought you would like to join me.” Lexi looked at him, a puzzled look remained on her face as each word he spoke brought even more questions. “What I mean is, join me in exhuming this world and starting anew.”

His laugh echoed through the forest making Lexi’s skin crawl as she realized just what kind of person her grandfather truly was. Her eyes turned a shade darker from the conclusion she managed to piece together.

“You!? You’re the one behind all of this?!” Lexi felt a pang of anger mixed with betrayal shoot through her body as her mind raced. Her blood turned icy as she began to realize what kind of man her grandfather was and the fact that she thought that maybe, she could have a relationship with an actual family member again, dissipated. Her hands clenched into fists as she tried to keep control of her sudden anger.

It was him.

He had something to do with everything that had been going wrong. The rise in attacks, the monsters reawakening, every hunter who had died trying to combat these things. He was the cause. He hadn’t outright said it, but the glimmer in his eyes as he talked about wiping the world clean spoke wonders.

“Come on, think about it. You and I are ruling side by side. Every creature in the universe will worship us.” A stream of cackles erupted from the man in front of her. No guilt showed on his face. He truly didn’t care about any of the lives lost as long as he came out on top.

She knew she had lost her control as she felt her body begin to tremble in her anger, her once icy blood now burning a fierce fire in her veins, a contradiction to her now icy blue eyes. She let her feet slowly fly off the ground, allowing her to float in the air and face the real monster.

A ‘tsk’ escaped the man’s mouth, “Last chance and you can live.”

The warlock crossed his arms, glaring at the girl. He only earned a growl in response as multiple branches shot his way.

“Stupid girl!” He spat, able to easily dodge everything thrown at him. If she were facing a normal person, hell, even another monster, at least one of these branches would impale its target. But he wasn’t an ordinary human or monster and Lexi was very aware of that. He seemed to somehow transcend that.

A screech sounded from the distance. Lexi turned to see what had made the sound but could only see an extremely blinding flash of red and yellow blended perfectly together. She quickly shut her eyes hoping for a reprieve from the blinding light, but found none. When the light slowly faded, she could barely just make out the form of a bird within the flames.

“Zuko!” She yelled, allowing the serpentine creature to fly out of her pocket. She released a fraction of the amount of hold she had on his size, letting Zuko grow half his full grown length. If he were to grow his full potential, he wouldn’t have room to fight nor dodge effectively. Just as fast as the ball of light formed, it whimpered under the ferocity of a dragon, but waged its war, nonetheless.

With the playing field now even, Lexi turned her attention back to the asshole of a warlock. The pieces finally aligned as to why she never met him and why her mother never talked about him. “It's you and me now bastard!”

“You wish it was just us! But for now, your wish shall be granted.” The warlock growled, flying into the air himself. His eyes turned a sharp yellow, snake-like in appearance. Lexi couldn’t help but to think how it suited him for the snake he truly was.

He quickly flew at the girl, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her into a tree. A mixture of a groan and growl came from her. Using as much power as she could, she pushed him back and returned the favor, slamming him into the slab of rocks that formed a nearby cliff. Her anger overtook her and made her feel so much stronger than before. She pushed him deeper into the breaking cliff, using her powers to allow the rocks to swallow him into the large stone. A smirk formed on her lips, seeing him stuck there for the time being. But she knew better than to stand and wait, she knew he could break out at any second. She quickly took a jagged rock out of the cliff, allowing the top to be fashioned into a point. She raised the sharp object up to kill the monster before her.

So close… she was so close to ending this all, but the roar of pain that filled her ears stopped her. Without a second thought, she gripped the makeshift dagger and moved as fast as possible to the source of the sound. Eyes wide as a finishing blow was about to ensue, she threw herself in front of an injured Zuko, guarding him from any harm coming his way.

A new creature now stood where the phoenix once was. Lexi knew she had managed to make it in time when the blindingly sharp pain of claws digging through her back left her panting heavily. A wail of pain escaped her mouth as each of the claw marks burned the afflicted area. Fighting to get away, she kicked back feeling her heel connect with something. She took that momentary reprieve and quickly rolled away as it came for the attack again. She didn’t bother to watch and managed to stumble up to her feet in pain, her feet fumbling in the process, as she lost her balance and tumbled down the nearby hill, earning scrapes and bruises on her troubled exit.

“What the fuck was that!?” Lexi groaned out to Zuko, holding him close as she once again pushed up onto her trembling legs, her feet now carrying them away from danger. She struggled to stay on her feet as she ran. Not only did she expend way too much energy attempting to fight the warlock, but the way her clothes clung to her back indicated she was losing more blood than she thought from the impact.

An Ichneumon. She could hear the weakness in his voice but she could also hear the supposed Ichneumon nearing them again. Doing the most idiotic thing she could, she turned her head to see the same beast in the distance quickly catching up to them. It was about the size of a lion and not only that, looked to be some kind of blend between a lion and weasel. And as unscary as a weasel was, the sharp fangs and long claws made up for it.

“Why have I never seen nor heard of one before?!” She groaned, running faster, using some more of her magic to speed up her movements, leaping through and over obstacles. She could feel her magic wither and legs begin to wobble as her energy drained faster than what she was use to, but even that was not enough to weaken her resolve to push on, as she knew if she was to give into her growing weakness, she would find herself dead within minutes, maybe even seconds. The only other thought besides survival was saving enough energy to at least heal Zuko, and make sure he was safe.

They are fierce creatures. One of the only ones that can kill a dragon. We didn’t just become a rarity because of the humans’ lust for the power behind one of our deaths, these things helped them. It’s what killed my mother… These things are rare now since their prey is nearly extinct.” Zuko shuttered in her arms at the distant memory. It is weaker than a normal one, considering it isn’t a true Ichneumon. If I had been full size this wouldn’t have affected me as much, but that would have put other strains on the battle as well.

“What do you mean?” Lexi groaned before creating a cocoon within a tree, off to the side, to shield them from danger; she couldn’t put off healing Zuko any longer. If she waited just a few more minutes, he was sure to not recover. After inspecting their little hideout, to make sure there were no weaknesses to it and she was content with her job, she quickly turned her focus to her familiar. Her hands shook as she held them above the dragon she held close to her heart while she wracked her exhausted mind for the best spell she knew to help him. Her hands glowed as she whispered the enchantment.

It isn’t real. That thing is a Skinwalker. It can take the form of any animal it chooses. The first form was a phoenix, then the Ichneumon. Slowly regaining his strength, Zuko sat up. Lexi’s fear over Zuko’s condition lessened as she watched him move without pain. Zuko met her eyes with thanks behind them and a little nod, letting Lexi know he was ready. Lexi tapped back into her magic and watched as he shrunk to his previous size, just small enough to fit back into her pocket. He was safe, now she could worry about the damned Skinwalker.

Carefully, she made an opening to get out, only to narrowly avoid claws to the neck. Even though the monster missed it’s initial target it’s claw still managed to snag her cheek, causing a small gash to appear and more blood to slowly leak out.

“Shit!” She pulled back, ignoring the sting on her cheek as her adrenaline took over, reaching to one of the silver coated daggers that she always kept on hand and stabbed at the beast. She aimed for the easiest thing she could, the throat. The Skinwalker screeched and squirmed, only causing the dagger to dig deeper into its neck. Lexi removed the blade only once the creature fell to the ground, limp.

She didn’t bother to check if it was really dead, she just knew she was getting weaker and knew it was best to head back to the safest place she knew, the hunters. She took in her surroundings with narrowed eyes, trying to get an idea of how far she was from home, while also not letting down her guard, now that she knew who was behind this, she knew safety was highly unlikely. She held her arm close to her chest as her adrenaline slowly faded and the pain from the battles and the fall slowly registered. She trudged back through the snow, drops of blood covering the white path behind her.

Finally making it home, Lexi stumbled into the doorway. A loud thud echoed throughout the room from the door colliding with the wall. Three heads turned her way, seeing the girl stumble in and to the kitchen table. Silence plagued all of them, the blood still dripping from her wounds onto the dark, wooden floor. Her body collapsed before she could take another step and she was on the ground, holding herself in pain.

“What the fuck happened?!” Yoongi was the first to break the silence once the shock wore off. Knocking his chair back to the floor in his rush to get to Lexi, he moved to help her sit in the empty kitchen chair as he took in the bloody sight. His hands hovered over the gashes that covered most of her body, trying to be gentle as he checked them over, making sure she was going to be okay, “Don’t tell me it was him.”

Yoongi’s eyes darkened at the thought. Though this makeshift family wasn’t bound by blood, God help anyone who messed with Yoongi and the ones he quietly cared for. Though he would never say it, the one thing he strived to do was keep this family safe, especially since he didn’t get to do it with the last one.

“No Yoongi, he didn’t do this.” Lexi groaned slightly, feeling pressure on her back. Without speaking, Jungkook rose from his seat, disappearing down the hallway. He had been uncharacteristically quiet before leaving the room. Though his features did soften ever so slightly at the mention that it wasn’t Jimin who had tried to kill her. He couldn’t imagine the first friend he made being a monster.

“It was a Skinwalker, but the creatures it turned into were the most powerful and strangest things I have seen.” Lexi whispered, wincing a little as Yoongi examined one of her wounds.

“Oh really?” Kaitlyn whispered, malice dripping behind her words. “The strangest?”

Lexi swallowed softly at that, understanding exactly what she meant. The strangest thing Kaitlyn had seen was most likely the showcasing of magic that saved her own life that day. Without responding to her, she looked back at Yoongi. Words coming out as a whisper, “It didn’t turn into some household dog or even some cougar like usual. It turned from a phoenix to a Ichneumon.”

She watched the cogs in Yoongi’s head turn as he ran through what a skinwalker’s abilities were. He shook his head slightly as a puzzled expression made its way to his face, “Skinwalkers shouldn’t be able to do that…”

“What if it had the creatures’ pelt?” Jungkook offered up as he walked back into the kitchen, first aid kit in hand, “It was a while ago, but I do recall reading something like that. If given a pelt of a strong creature, the Skinwalker has no trouble transforming into it. As cool as it is though, it does come with restrictions in the power and strength department.”

“But some other powerful being had to be behind it. A Skinwalker shouldn’t be able to kill either of those creatures on its own.” Yoongi held his chin with his hand as he rattled his brain for any possible solutions, “Even though it can change into creatures, its base form is a human.”

“Yoongi… I think there are greater forces at work here. Not just with the Skinwalker but all the attacks.” Lexi responded softly. She had to find a way to tell them she knew who the being was, without flat out saying it.

“Well, no shit.” Jungkook retorted back, earning a glare from both Lexi and Yoongi.

“Jungkook now is not the fucking time,” Yoongi growled out at the younger man, sifting through the heavy-duty kit and pulling out some gauze and bandages, “Kate, you’ll need to help her with this.”

Kaitlyn looked up and stood at the mention of her name. Without a single glance at Lexi, she made her way to the bathroom, bandages in hand. Lexi couldn’t help but swallow the lump that formed in her throat as she stood and followed the elder girl.

Shutting the door behind her, Lexi glanced at Kaitlyn. She couldn’t even speak as Kaitlyn just stared at her, eyes holding no emotion.

“The only reason I’m in here with you right now is because Yoongi asked me to be. Take off your shirt so I can bandage you like he wanted.” Kaitlyn spoke with a cold undertone. Lexi didn’t want to make matters worse, so she complied with the other. A hiss of pain erupted from her throat as she felt liquid dripping down her back. The smell of alcohol soon filled the bathroom.

“You could have given me a warning,” Lexi hissed through clenched teeth as the burning of the alcohol began to subside.

“Oh, we give warnings now?” Kaitlyn responded, unwrapping the bandage. She handed Lexi the end of the wrap, making her hold it as she began to wind it around her. Another wince came from Lexi as Kaitlyn tied the gauze up tightly, almost too much. It was like she funneled her anger into it.

“Kate, seriously, lay off me. That fucking hurts.” Lexi warned, watching her eyes flicker icy blue in the mirror.

She rolled her eyes, “Oh, I’m sure it does. It’ll heal though, unlike other things.”

“If I stood and did nothing you would have died!” Lexi glared at her, “Boo hoo I kept a secret like we all have!” Lexi swallowed softly, regaining her composure. “Thank you and I’m sorry.” Lexi spoke softly. She turned to Kaitlyn and sighed, seeing a frown on the other girl’s features.

“So, we're even now!” Kaitlyn stated as she crossed her arms. Seeing as Lexi had nothing else to say to her, she turned to leave.

“Wait!” Lexi reached out, locking the door with her powers. “Please, can we talk?”

She ached for everything to go back to normal, back to spending time with the big sister she never had. It was hard having what she was drive a theoretical knife right through their friendship.

“I don’t have much of a choice, you may kill me.” The stone-cold façade Kaitlyn held was strong, eying the taller of the two.

“You really think I would do that to you?” Lexi whispered softly. She knew she lied but those words truly hurt, and she couldn’t help but feel the pain Kaitlyn meant to inflict behind them. Kaitlyn’s own hard features faltered, seeing how her words impacted Lexi.

“No, I don’t… but why didn’t you tell me?” Kaitlyn genuinely asked, wondering why these secrets had ensued for so long. Her eyes glistened as if she had been masking her true feelings of being hurt by a cold exterior.

A sigh left Lexi’s lips. She leaned against the wall and looked at the other. With the snap of her finger, a bracelet formed on her wrist. “Before I talk, I know it may be difficult to trust me, so I found this spell while I was studying. It has the ability to turn an inanimate object into what essentially is a lie detector. The consequence of lying is being electrocuted.” She used up the rest of her magic on this one spell. She ached for the rest she really needed from the day’s events.

“Prove it.” Kaitlyn crossed her arms. She assumed it would take some time and made herself comfortable. She hopped onto the marble countertop that connected to the sink.

Lexi swallowed softly, “I hate you guys.” Within a split second, Lexi was on the ground trembling slightly as electricity took flight through her veins.

Kaitlyn’s eyes widened as she saw blue shock waves surround Lexi’s trembling body on the ground. Her heart raced seeing someone she once wholeheartedly trusted in pain, but that trust was broken and now this is where they stood; on different sides of a line that once had been completely blurred in secrets. Kaitlyn figured that it must have been because of Lexi’s magic that she was able to see the effect of the bracelet and lie being told so clearly.

Kaitlyn nodded and looked at the girl as she pulled herself off the ground and onto the toilet, her hands almost turning white from the grip she had on the sink, too weak to even hold herself up, “I’m listening.” Though she was plagued with doubt, she was ready to listen and believe what she could, because deep down she wanted this broken bond to be mended.

“Kate… remember when we first met?” Lexi questioned, only earning a small nod in return. “Well, first off, I could have easily killed you if I wanted to.” Lexi took a deep breath, wringing her hands anxiously as she refused to meet Kaitlyn’s eyes. “Second, you didn’t even introduce me to the other two until a few months into our meetings. I’m guessing this was because you didn’t trust me.” Lexi, tears welling up in her eyes, finally looked up at Kaitlyn, her voice wavering with her next words. “You would have killed me the minute I said I was a witch.”

“You aren’t wrong,” Kaitlyn replied softly, both of the things she stated being true.

“In all honesty Kate, you aren’t the only one that lost a lot. I know that you all have, but I did too.” Tears were threatening to spill from Lexi’s eyes at the distant memory. She shook her head trying to rid herself of the incoming memory, trying to get back to the actual point. She wasn’t looking for pity, they all had their sob stories. All she truly wanted was the same thing Kaitlyn secretly wanted, to mend this broken friendship,

“Sorry, that isn’t what we’re talking about. You and I both know I haven’t been here long, but if I truly wanted to do something to hurt you guys, I would’ve done it by now. I didn’t tell you because I knew the moment you all found out I’m a monster would have been the moment that I’m not only exiled from this broken family, but I would most likely die too.”

Kaitlyn couldn’t help but recall her own memories when Yoongi and their grandfather were ready to kill her on the spot without investigation. The only reason they needed was probable cause. If Jungkook wasn’t there, she would have died. While they have improved on not killing things on impulse, she knew the stronger the creatures were, the harder it was to take their time to assess the situation. Usually the more time it takes to figure things out how to deal with said creature, the more likely they or a random bystander would get hurt.

Kaitlyn finally softened hearing Lexi’s side of the story. This entire time she couldn’t help but think of all the negative ideas associated with Lexi hiding this secret, but in reality, it was just a way to live and have real human interaction. She couldn’t completely trust Lexi again, not yet, but she could understand where she was coming from and that was a start.

“I know you have been exhausted and I know you may not be fully supportive of my powers, but, I can try to find some sort of spell to rid you of the nightmares you’re having.” Lexi stared at the ground, rubbing her arm to distract her, “Yoongi let it slip that you’ve been struggling with them more lately. It’s the least I could do.

A small smile formed on Kaitlyn’s face, “I’d appreciate that.”

______________________________________________________________________________

“Come on, at least let me come next time!” Yuri groaned as her roommate pestered her with questions. She hasn’t stopped since Taehyung walked her home last night. At least before they became closer friends she could pretend she was asleep, but now, she couldn’t escape.

“I wouldn’t mind going! I want to talk to Hoseok again! Or you can take me to your other friends, and I can talk to Yoongi!” Nari squealed loudly with excitement, getting lost in a dream world where both men fell for her.

Yuri couldn’t help but dissociate as her roommate rambled on about how different the two boys were but also her favorite parts about each. She let her mind wander to how Lexi said they would be going on a hunt tonight. Yuri, unfortunately, had to turn them down due to her night shift at the convenience store. Part of her wanted to run because of the fight a few days ago, but another part wanted to learn more, so, for once in her life, she wouldn’t have to rely on others.

Yuri snapped out of her thoughts and stood up quickly, “I- uhm… have to go. I have to do homework before my work shift.” Yuri peaked at Nari and frowned, seeing the usual light in her eyes dim as one that seemed to be sad and longing took over.

“Oh.. that’s okay! But please take me next time when you see your friends!” Nari said, quickly hiding the sadness in her eyes.

“Nari… why? You said it yourself, they are my friends, why do you want to hang out with my friends so much?” Yuri questioned, genuinely confused. “Where are your friends?” It was no secret Nari seemed to know so many people. She should have her own friends to hang out with. The two couldn’t be anymore different so it genuinely made her curious.

Nari smiled sheepishly, “As nice as it is having money and not having a single worry, it is extremely difficult to find some friends who actually care about you. I just deal with people asking me for money.” Nari stared at her hands that had gathered together in her lap. “During the camping trip, it was the first time it felt like I actually had friends, as lame as that sounds.” Yuri couldn’t help but stare at the girl, wondering if there truly was more to her than what meets the eye.

“Next time I meet them, you can come.” Yuri smiled shyly. Nari shot her head up after she processed Yuri’s words.

“Really?” Nari’s pitch spiked in her excitement as her eyes widened, her focus on the words Yuri just said, hope filling her heart with warmth. Yuri smiled in response and nodded.

“But, right now, I really need to go to the library and do my homework.” Yuri giggled softly. Nari nodded and waved her off, making sure to remind her to be safe. Yuri couldn’t help but think, maybe her roommate wasn’t so bad after all.

Time seemed to pass by agonizingly slow. It was around midnight and the convenience store was dead. Most students either have taken their final exams or are planning to in the next few days before break ensues. Boredom plagued Yuri as she did her usual routine of cleaning, stocking shelves, and trying her best not to fall asleep. A nice warm coffee managed to help her do the trick, especially with three hours remaining in her shift.

Yuri perked up even more by the sound of the bell ringing throughout the store. She plastered the stereotypical customer service smile on her face as she was going to greet the customer. Her fake smile turned to shock when she locked eyes with the man in front of her. He placed down a single can of coke and smiled at her.

“Surprise.” Taehyung smiled, resting his head in his hands, leaning over the counter.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Yuri scanned the item he grabbed, fidgeting slightly as her eyes moved back and forth between him, the drink, and the register.

“I was thirsty. Plus, it gave me an excuse to come say hi and get away from the others.” Taehyung chuckled, handing her the money, and pulling up a chair to take a sip of his newly purchased beverage.

“I’m still annoyed at you.” Yuri said, referring to the previous day when she had an unexpected meeting with someone so important. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a sister?” Yuri questioned him. She thought it would be something relatively important to bring up.

“We have been a bit preoccupied lately, haven’t we? Honestly, anytime I’ve talked to you it has only been about what is going on and the different creatures that reside out there.” Taehyung honestly spoke, reclining back as much as he could in the hard plastic chair.

“I’d also like to learn more about you if that’s what you mean.” Yuri spoke before thinking. Her eyes widened at the boldness of her words. Her cheeks turned red hearing Taehyung chuckle in response.

“Well, it’s a good thing we have time.” Taehyung showed off his boxy smile.

And just like that, a night that started off dragging made time fly by with another person to talk to. Before they knew it, it was 3:30 am and they were standing outside of Yuri’s dorm. The two were giggling about some story Taehyung was telling, about when he was younger, as light snow littered their hair and clothes.

As the laughter slowly died down, the two glanced at each other, “Thank you for walking me home.” Yuri spoke quietly, looking anywhere but at him. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she always felt flustered and anxious around him, but also, she felt safe and that was something she had never felt once in her life and she didn’t know how to deal with that bit of information.

“Now get inside, it’s cold out here.” Taehyung chuckled, holding the door open for her and ushering her inside. Mustering up the courage, Yuri turned back and gave the most normal looking wave she could before running inside. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be normal turned into the most awkward wave possible.

Taehyung didn’t seem to mind. He thought it was a cute part of her, being awkward. He smiled to himself; the fire that burnt inside him slowly extinguished. He felt calm compared to the usual stress and worry that seemed to control his life. The minute he stepped foot into the forest he decided to change against most of the discrepancies from the alpha. He was sleepy and the quickest way to get home would be by changing and running. What was a simple, careless thought turned out to be more trouble than what it was worth.

Fear encompassed Taehyung as a gunshot could be heard in the distance and the rogue bullet whirled past his head, lodging itself into the nearby tree. Deeming the bullet far too close for comfort, he broke into a dead sprint to try and make it back to the house, or, at least, lose whatever was hunting him.

As quickly as he started, he came to a halt, seeing a man standing before his chosen path, knives in his hand.

“You were right Yoongi, it is a Delta.” He heard the man say. Taehyung cautiously backed up, trying to remember where he saw the man before. A whine escaped him as he heard a branch crunch behind him, his body reacting before his thoughts could come together. He quickly spun around and faced the direction where the crunch was, baring his sharp teeth in an attempt to scare them off. Familiar eyes locked with each other as soft howls were heard in the distance.

Taehyung knew any minute that Seokjin and Hoseok would be there to back him up, yet he couldn’t bring himself to lunge at the one in front of him.

“Motherfucker.” Taehyung heard the individual whisper. If he was a mere human, he would’ve missed it, but his senses were amplified in this form.

Taehyung tried to back up but jumped upon seeing another figure, his eyes moving between a total of four people, looking for any opening to make his escape. He saw an opening and ran as fast as he could. Taehyung felt as if his wolf side was sleeping and while that boded well for his self-control, it also put him in danger as his wolf instincts fell below that of normal, but that wouldn’t be the case very soon. He knew he had to get out while he still could. Anger slowly started to fill his body and he knew that his wolf side could wake up at any moment. He shook as he whipped his head from side to side, trying to shake the feeling.

Tae.

The voice was strong as it echoed into Taehyung's mind, breaking him from the internal conflict he was having just moments before. Seokjin ran towards him along with Hoseok. A bullet flew past them, the bang from the pistol following shortly behind.

We need to run! Taehyung replied, shaking slightly as he felt himself slowly getting taken over.

Seokjin growled softly, If there are hunters it is best to stay off their trail. Taehyung, run ahead! They’re after you!

A whine echoed throughout the forest before any of them could take a step, another gunshot was heard. Blood trickled and turned the snow red as a whimper echoed through the trees. The silver from the bullet burned like fire on metal, the pain too excruciating to keep quiet. Taehyung looked behind him and locked eyes with the same person as before.

Go! Hurry! She will cover for you! Taehyung heard a foreign voice say in his head, snapping him out of the fit of rage that almost consumed him. He didn’t have time to question who was speaking to him telepathically. His new objective was to get Hoseok to safety. The wound was luckily on his leg, but it would take some time to heal. Without a thought, the three of them ran.

Lexi was shaking as she channeled some of her energy. She managed to use her powers to move the bloodstained snow towards a different direction, making it seem as if they ran down a different path.

“This way!” She yelled back, leading the others down the untouched path.

The moment she locked eyes with the wolf, she knew who it truly was. His eyes flickered too much in his human form to miss the familiar colors of the wolf’s. The minute she put the pieces together was the moment she knew she needed to save Taehyung; her instincts were telling her to. Not just for Yuri’s sake but for the gut feeling she had deep within that he was important.

____________________________________________________________________________

Yuri struggled to put the key into her apartment lock, hands shaking so much that she kept missing the hole. She wasn’t sure what brought it on, one moment she was happy and feeling safe with Taehyung and then by the end of her short walk to her dorm room everything had changed. After successfully entering her own home and locking the door behind her, she leaned back against it. She placed a hand on her heart feeling her own heartbeat pound rapidly.

She knew she was full of anxiety, but this had come out of nowhere. Just as she had made it into the building after returning from work, she had felt this overwhelming sense of fear encase her body. She almost chalked it up to a panic attack caused by everything new happening so quickly around her, but this was different. She wasn’t disoriented or struggling to breathe, she just was scared.

After repeating to herself in her head that she was home and physically alright, she pushed off the door. She still felt anxious, though this stemmed from the unknown fear still lingering within her mind. Shaking her head, she began to walk down the hall towards her room.

She stopped when she heard mumbling coming from her roommate’s own bedroom,it sounded as if Nari was having a nightmare. Curious, Yuri pushed her cracked door open slightly. It allowed enough light to filter into her room to see that she was tossing and turning, though it seemed normal enough. Yuri slowly closed the door as she left.

Then she heard a scream.

She quickly rushed into Nari’s room, forgoing any privacy she might have wanted. Nari looked at Yuri as she entered, eyes wide and watery as she began to cry profusely. Yuri wasn’t too sure what to do having not seen her roommate in this amount of turmoil.

“What’s wrong?” Yuri struggled, watching her roommate shake from crying, “Did something happen?”

Nari shook her head, breathing becoming a little more controlled than before, “I feel like I’m going to die!”

Nari gripped her own shoulder, hoping the pressure she put on it would alleviate the pain that radiated throughout it. Yet the pain in her shoulder couldn’t amount to the heavy feeling in her heart. Her hands shook uncontrollably until she felt hands on top of her own. She stared up at Yuri, tears slowly falling down her face.

Nodding with more understanding than before, Yuri placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort, “Sometimes, when I feel like I’ve lost control or feel like I’m going to die I try to focus on something to ground myself. Like counting your breathing. Want me to breathe with you?”

Nari nodded, taking in an unsteady breath, trying to shake off the tears and the pain she felt. Yuri looked at the girl, wanting to make sure she was ready before she spoke.

“In, one, two, three, four. Hold, two three four-”

________________________________________________________________________________

After the four hunters wandered and searched for what seemed like ages, they decided it was a lost cause for the night and it was time to head back. Lexi was lost in her thoughts the entire way home. So much had happened today, and everything was beginning to fall into place. She wondered how come she was the one to know everything.

“Are you okay?” Kaitlyn whispered to Lexi, breaking her from her thoughts.

Lexi smiled softly in response to the girl, “Yeah… it honestly has just been a long day.”

She rubbed her arm sheepishly; a new habit that had formed. From the amount of magic she used to fight the warlock and help Taehyung, she knew at any minute she could crash. The nap she managed to take prior helped, but it wasn’t enough.

Just as the house came into view, the group stopped as they focused on a figure sitting lazily across their front steps. Leaning forward, he ran a hand through his black, disheveled hair. He cocked his head to the side as he scanned through the four hunters. He rose to his feet as they got closer, a smirk playing on his lips. His hands were stuffed in his pant pockets, licking the wound on his busted lip. Cuts and bruises littered his body, complimenting the cut on his lip. He seemed to have just faught something himself.

“Who the hell are you?” Yoongi growled, holding his katana up and ready to attack. A click of a gun echoed into the silence that followed Yoongi’s question. Jungkook held up the gun he had been using earlier, pointing it at the suspicious man,

“The name’s Yeonjun. The old man sends his regards.” A mischievous spark erupted through his eyes as a smirk formed on his face. “He said he wasn’t going to be back for a while, so he sent me.”

The four hunters looked at each other, questions littering their mind, but none of them managed to utter a single word.

Chapter Text

“Listen old man,” Yoongi growled through the phone, “I know you have shit to do, but to leave us for this long, not respond to any of my messages concerning our fellow hunters, and the icing on the fucking cake, dumping some random, inexperienced kid with us... the least you could have done was give us a fucking warning.”

His voice grew louder the further he went into his rant, his usually soft-spoken voice was long gone. The old man didn’t even get the chance to say hello before being berated by the younger man. Yoongi heard a sigh on the other end of the phone before the old man spoke up.

“Listen kid, there is a lot going on and things are not going well at the moment,” His voice was monotone, lacking any emotion. No worry, no fear, not even exhaustion could be detected behind his words, “I sent someone because I thought you could use the help. You seemed to need it with all the late nights you all have been pulling. Not to mention the lack of free time between hunting, scouting, and training.”

Yoongi’s anger was still on the rise, but the deep breath he took leveled his head slightly, “Do you even give a shit about us anymore!?” He paused for a moment, but nothing came from the other end. “It’s obvious you don’t! If you did, you would have called sooner to help Kate! Not only that, Jungkook nearly died! Lexi got hurt! I can’t do this by myself!”

“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to figure it out. I don’t have time to babysit you three anymore with the increasing numbers of attacks. If they need a leader, then step up.” Yoongi rolled his eyes as he let out a berated sigh, but before he could even respond, the old man spoke again. “I’m sorry I have to go before they catch me. Take care of Yeonjun.” Yoongi could barely hear Jeonsa speak. He heard the click of the line going dead before he could even ask who ‘they’ were.

___________________________________________________________________________

 “Ah fuck guys,” Hoseok groaned, as Taehyung and Seokjin threw him down onto the kitchen table. The rush back to the house seemed to drag on, Seokjin and Taehyung were too preoccupied being worried about their packmate. Once they had made it through the wall of trees, they had all shifted back into their human forms; Taehyung and Seokjin shouldering Hoseok as the bullet lodged in his shoulder weakened him considerably.

“Taehyung, grab me the tweezers so I can pry the thing out of him.” Seokjin spoke softly but the furious tone in his voice revealed his true feelings.

“Already on it,” Taehyung dashed quickly to the bathroom, returning with the pair of tweezers in question. They were much longer than the measly pair you’d find in the beauty section at a convenience store. It was a good thing because the bullet seemed to be lodged deeply in the man’s shoulder.

The wound itself was starting to look gruesome, the blood had refused to stop its flow since the bullet had come into contact with his shoulder. Normally, their quick healing factor would push out a normal bullet and close within minutes, but this bullet seemed different.

Seokjin sighed, “This is going to hurt.”

“I’m not an idiot you kn- FUCK!” Hoseok cursed as the tweezers entered the wound. His eyes flashed golden as the pain in his shoulder amplified. He sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes, “I swear to god, I’m going to murder those guys the next time I see them. Sharing beers around a fire means nothing to people anymo- DAMN IT.”

With that, Seokjin managed to pull the bullet out of his open wound. As soon as it left his body, the bleeding stopped within seconds. He held the tweezers up under the kitchen light, the bullet still in its grasps.  As the light hit the bullet a look of realization appeared on his face. He spoke with a sigh, “Silver.”

“Of course it was,” Hoseok mumbled, using his uninjured arm to push himself off the table, “It hurt like a bitch.”

“It doesn’t help that you act like one too,” A new voice entered the conversation. All three men’s head’s shot up to view the girl standing in the opening of the entryway. She held out some clothes in their direction, “I figured the injured one wouldn’t have time to throw on some pants and I was correct.”

Taehyung gave a small smile in her direction as he walked over and snatched the clothes out of her hands, “Don’t you think you could give him some slack since you know, he was literally shot fifteen minutes ago?”

“Don’t you think you could learn to shut the fuck up and accept my help?” She shot back at him, raising an eyebrow in retaliation.

“Quit bickering,” Seokjin barked, causing the two to slowly look over in his direction.

“Sorry,” They both mumbled quickly. Silence took over the room as Taehyung passed the clothes over to Hoseok.

Hoseok carefully pulled up the pants he had been given, trying his best to be careful while moving his injured arm. Even moments after the bullet had been removed, he could feel the healing that was taking place. Though it seemed fast, he knew it was going to take quite a while before he was going to be back to his normal self. He scrunched his nose as the muscles in his injured arm flexed while buttoning his pants, “So, what’s the plan?”

“That’s a good question,” Seokjin mumbled to himself, “It’s not like this is an easy situation.”

“When is anything we do easy,” Hoseok threw his arms up in frustration before wincing from the pain radiating from his arm, “of course we have issue number one, Taehyung here imprinted on a girl who just so happens to have made friends with some pretty hefty hunters.”

“Yeah, and your imprint is any better?” Taehyung glared at the man.

Hoseok shrugged, “I’m not claiming that. I’m just pointing out how messy this situation is and there isn’t going to be an easy solution.”

“Yeah, there is,” Youngmi introjected, eyes traveling between all three men in front of her, “Leave them alone. Put distance between you and them. Especially now that you know those guys are hunters.”

Hoseok and Taehyung turned their heads to the younger girl when the words left her mouth. That, by all means, was the best option for all of them; they all knew that. Yet convincing their inner wolves of that was going to be damn near impossible. Especially Taehyung’s, who was far less obedient compared to his fellow packmates.

“Youngmi, you know that’s pretty much impossible for them,” Seokjin responded, a sigh escaping his lips, “And those two suddenly disappearing would trigger more red flags than continuing as if it never happened.”

“I agree,” Taehyung voiced his eyes shifting between them all, “And this has nothing to do with my imprint with Yuri. I’ve spent the most time with them and they are sharp people. If I quit showing up, they are going to get suspicious. Yoongi already seems to be keeping a close eye on me.”

“Then we go about like they didn’t attack us in the forest,” Seokjin announced before he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter behind him, “Besides, we have two things going for us despite what has happened. First, we know who they are, but they don’t know who we are. Second, it seems we finally know what kind of creature Lexi is. I’m sure the others are unaware considering she used it to help us escape.”

“Are you going to use that information against her?” Taehyung asked, his concern for her slightly making its way into his voice.

“I hope it doesn’t come down to that. For now, we will go about business as usual.” Seokjin responded, answering the younger man’s question. He pushed off the counter to head to bed, but paused, “Avoid shifting for a while.”

“Of course,” Hoseok nodded, voicing the quiet agreement amongst the pack.

All of them could agree on one thing, they didn’t want to be at the receiving end of another attack this soon after the last one.

_____________________________________________________________________________

While Yoongi spoke to the old man inside the house, the three hunters stood outside with their eyes locked on the stranger in front of them. His own eyes flickering back and forth between the group, as if he was trying to see who would make a move first. Kaitlyn let a sigh escape her lips, as she fought her heavy eyelids from shutting out the world. She was beginning to feel unsteady on her feet, but now was not the time to pass out on everyone. She took a deep breath and mustard up any bit of strength left in her to try and stay awake.

“You seem a little tired. Having problems sleeping?” Yeonjun chuckled, taking a step forward. He stopped the moment a steel blade came into view. He put his hands up in surrender, “Calm down big guy, I’m not doing anything. I’m guessing you’re Jungkook. Jeonsa told me you were impulsive, but I didn’t think you’d be this impulsive.”

Jungkook watched the way the man in front of him looked between his blade and his face, no fear etched in his features. It irked Jungkook the way Yeonjun seemed so unfazed by him. His glare darkened. “You talk a lot of shit for someone who is outnumbered.”

“You don’t know what I can do.” Yeonjun raised an eyebrow at Jungkook, as if he was wishing to be challenged. When Jungkook sat there without any movement, Yeonjun smirked and changed his attention to one last person, “And lastly you must be Lexi.”

“Yeah, and what about it?” Lexi twisted the small dagger between her fingers, eyes never leaving the strange man in front of her. He met her eyes with the same sort of confidence he did with Jungkook, unfazed and entertained.

“I just heard some interesting things about you. Well, Jeonsa didn’t say much, it was as if he didn’t know a whole lot about you, especially compared to the others,” Yeonjun simply crossed his arms and took another step towards the girl, “Let’s see, you’re the youngest here. Well, not anymore, but the latest to join which means you are the most inexperienced.” She felt anger rise through her body as she gripped her knife with more force, ready to lodge it in his head. She watched him prod the inside of his cheek with his tongue before his mouth fell into another smirk. It was as if it was his default expression, much like another person she knew.

“Okay, okay calm down. I know honesty is hard to come by in this line of work. I could be a little rough to hear, eh? I’ll try to keep my thoughts to myself more, though I can’t promise anything.” Yeonjun chuckled as if he was trying to ease the tension in the air.

Before anyone could speak another word Yoongi appeared on the porch, front door slamming behind him. His eyebrows creased in frustration as he looked between the four, “Lets get some sleep, the old man said he stays.”

The other three hunters were stunned to silence. Yeonjun’s permanent smirk never left his face as he walked towards the door, being the first to make it inside the house. Yoongi looked at the other three, only a frustrated sigh escaped his lips from the overwhelming exhaustion and a newfound irritation from the sudden, permanent guest. He whispered a string of curse words under his breath before spinning on his heel and following Yeonjun inside.

One by one the hunters followed each other inside and retired to their rooms, Yeonjun took his place on the couch as Yoongi instructed. He knew that things would be a bit more difficult from then on, but that was something he could worry about in the morning.

______________________________________________________________________________

Morning came all too soon. Lexi trudged her way to school, fighting with herself the whole way because all she really wanted to do was crawl back into her bed and crash; it should be a crime to only get four hours of sleep. The blistering cold air caused her cheeks to turn red and a shiver to run down her spine. She maneuvered her way through the trees and snow and opened the doors to her university. Warmth enveloped her as she let out a sigh of relief.

The halls of college were slightly empty due to it being finals week. Some students were done for the semester, others didn’t have exams until later in the day. The empty halls felt strange yet also made her feel a sense of relief and calmness. The first time she’s felt that in ages.

The soft sound of music played from her earbuds as she walked towards the class where her exam would take place. A few students sat on the ground, cramming for their finals that would take place in about ten minutes.

Lexi saw a familiar face in the distance, flashbacks of the night prior flooded through her mind. A sigh escaped her lips before she made her way to the man, turning her music off and taking her earbuds out, putting them away. “Taehyung...?”

The tall man turned and swallowed softly at the sound of the mumbling girl. He didn’t know what to think or say. He had known something wasn’t normal with her, though he didn’t expect her to be a witch. Now that she knew what he was too, it was worrisome.

“Is your friend okay?” Lexi questioned, remembering one got hurt. She was unsure of who though since the only one she recognized was Taehyung. She knew it had to be either Seokjin or Hoseok, which made her stomach churn.

Taehyung’s eyes went wide, how did she know it was him last night? It’s not like he shifted back in front of her. He swallowed softly, “He’ll be okay… thanks for covering for us.” He spoke, feeling a bit paranoid, “How did you know it was me?”

“Well, we locked eyes in the woods… and I’ve seen your eyes flash the same color before. Like that night in the woods when we got attacked by those wolves. Everything made sense after that.” Lexi avoided eye contact with the man, looking anywhere else but at him.

“Oh… uhm right.” Taehyung managed to spit out as he mentally berated himself for being so careless with his emotions. An awkward silence enveloped the two, neither one knowing what to say next.

“Oh,” Lexi spoke up, causing Taehyung to jump slightly, “I uhm.. made this antidote for your friend. It’ll sting a little but it’s my mom’s secret recipe. It’ll help him heal faster. Just pour it on the wound and wait.” Lexi handed him a small vial. The blue liquid inside the container bubbled, making Taehyung slightly question whether or not it was safe to consume. Since she had saved them from injury before, he didn’t believe she would attempt to hurt them now.

“Oh yeah. Thanks.” Taehyung spoke softly and put the vial in his bag. Silence fell between the two of them again.

This was the part where normal people would have separated so the increasing awkwardness would disperse. Yet, there stood Lexi shifting back and forth on her feet as if she was debating whether to say something or not. She sighed, planting her feet firmly on the ground.

“Look, I’m just going to get to the point,” Lexi started, looking up at Taehyung, “I’m going to do my best to keep them off your trail but please take some time away from that area. The guys will keep searching for you for at least a few weeks. I can try to keep them away from the house, but I can only do so much.” Her fingers began to glide through her own hair as a nervous habit, “You saved Yuri and have been taking care of her. I know I shouldn’t trust you, but something is telling me to do just that. I guess it’s a gut feeling or whatever.”

“I wasn’t planning on trying to draw attention to myself,” Taehyung let a low chuckle escape him, “But your flimsy trust in me means a lot. Thank you, I appreciate it. I’ll be sure to update the others as well.”

“Gross never say that again.” Disgust graced Lexi’s features at the gratitude, causing Taehyung to laugh more. Lexi watched as Taehyung’s eyes drifted past her to somewhere, or someone in the distance. A soft smile rested on his face before he quickly redirected his attention.

Yuri smiled softly, as she caught sight of Taehyung and Lexi laughing, she was happy to see them actually getting along. As she closed the distance between them, she couldn’t help but notice a few scratches were evident on Lexi’s cheek. What happened to her? Is she okay? Yuri couldn’t help but wonder how she got hurt one day, but can laugh and be carefree the next, as if nothing happened. She couldn’t help but wonder if there were ever times where Lexi was scared, especially if there were worse things than Vampires and Werewolves out there. The proof being the strange creatures they encountered on a seemingly harmless mission. If she ever was, she sure did a great job at hiding it.

“Hey Yuri, are you ready for the exam?” Lexi asked, breaking her from her thoughts. Yuri smiled softly and nodded in response, locking eyes with Taehyung. Lexi’s face dropped as she looked at the time, “Oh, it starts in two minutes!” Lexi grabbed Yuri’s arm and dragged her to class, “You can talk to her after!”

“Good luck!” Taehyung yelled to Yuri and went back to what he was doing. Yuri just smiled as they went into class to begin their last test of the semester.

______________________________________________________________________________

The air was thick with tension back at the house. Yeonjun sat at the kitchen table, helping himself to some lunch as he watched the others maneuver around. Kaitlyn sat slumped in a chair as if she would pass out any minute. It didn’t seem possible, but the nightmares were getting worse, evident by the bags that formed under her eyes.

“Hey,” Yeonjun whispered to her. Kaitlyn barely heard him as she twisted her head that was atop her arm to look at him. She raised an eyebrow in question, not finding the energy to speak up instead. “Why don’t you go sleep some more? You look exhausted.”.

Kaitlyn could tell, even in her exhausted state that his words came off more genuine than anything else he had said since he arrived. Her head shook in disagreement. “I can't,”

She sighed, gripping the coffee cup a little tighter. The heat from the drink warmed her hands and brought a little comfort to her weak body. The lack of sleep she could handle, but the aching that had begun to wreck her body was beginning to get harder to hide. 

“Wow, you really do have problems sleeping, don’t you? You should try taking some melatonin gummies before bed.” Yeonjun spoke with a faltering smile, “My mom used to... uhm… give me some to keep me asleep when I was younger.”

It seemed as if he was trying to swallow something bitter, and maybe he truly was. It was more uncommon to find someone who didn’t have a horrible story to go along with them with this line of work. As per the unspoken rule of the household, she left it be. If he wanted to share it, he would.

“Alright that’s enough.” Jungkook grumbled, pushing another kitchen chair in between the two, his protective instincts telling him to separate them. His eyes immediately locked onto Yeonjun.

“I’m just trying to give her advice on what used to help me sleep,” Yeonjun responded, eyeing the man right back, “Unless you like seeing her in this state?”

“That’s not- I just-” Jungkook’s words fumbled a little as he broke eye contact to take a glance at the girl clutching her drink as if it was the only thing anchoring her to the waking realm, “Why are you even here?”  Jungkook turned his attention back to Yeonjun.

Jungkook did his best to control his growing anger as he waited for Yeonjun’s answer. Some would say he was being excessive, but both Jungkook and Kaitlyn had always had each other's back and when one faltered the other made up for the slack. Whatever was happening with her, he needed to be there. Especially with a suspicious newcomer weaseling his nose where it didn’t belong.

“I have nowhere else to go and no one I know is alive.” He responded, moving to walk past the man, “You more than anyone should know that feeling.” He whispered so only they could hear.

Jungkook watched as he walked away, not sure exactly where he was going. He stared at the man as he stopped in front of the back door. It was a simple door, brown in color and had a large pane made of glass. Yet, he seemed very intrigued by whatever he could see in it. It only became clear as he touched it lightly, he was looking at his reflection in the glass.

“Narcissistic asshole.” Jungkook’s fists clenched at his sides, ready to introduce his fist to Yeonjun’s face. Before he could hype himself up to make the introduction, he felt small hands on his wrist. His eyes broke from the back of Yeonjun’s head and met with a pair of brown eyes.

“Jungkook, gramps wants him here. I’m not sure if I want to trust him either, but I’m trying. Just try, okay?” Kaitlyn whispered softly. It seemed to take way too much energy for her to speak, even with all the caffeine she had downed.

Jungkook let out a sigh and nodded. He trusted the old man, but something within him refused to allow that kind of thing for Yeonjun. It was the way he held himself. It just felt… wrong.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The day came to an end quickly. A soft glow cascaded down onto the freshly fallen snow as the crescent moon poked through the sparse clouds. Each passing moment, falling snow aimed to obscure the footprints left by the previously busy day. Lights were hung around the town and campus in an attempt to install the Christmas spirit within its inhabitants. Even the Christmas trees and jolly spirits couldn’t shake the undertone of fear within the town. Nightfall seemed to have less traction than past years though. But inside the cafe, it seemed to be busier than normal as people attempted to keep warm and safe. 

Yuri couldn’t help but smile as she entered the establishment, her eyes falling onto the group of hunters sitting at the table. Instead of the usual four of them, there sat five. She studied the new one, trying to figure out if she knew him, but she was unable to recognize him. She was pleasantly surprised that the fifth wasn’t the resident bloodsucker. She was pulled out of her thoughts seeing Lexi and Kaitlyn wave her over to join them.

She took the silent invitation and sat down in the empty seat beside Lexi, a mug sat in front of her. She could tell it was still warm by the amount of steam the beverage was emitting.

“Listen, all I’m saying is I would win.” Jungkook continued with his original conversation.

“Jungkook, you have never shot an arrow in your life. At least I have practice aiming with my knife throwing. You would lose!” Lexi argued back.

“Oh my god, are they always like this?” Yeonjun let a soft chuckle escape him, watching the two bicker.

“Unfortunately.” Yoongi grumbled, taking a sip of his iced americano. Even with the cold, he couldn’t put down his favorite drink.

Kaitlyn couldn’t help but laugh in agreement, gaining the slightest bit of energy from the caffeine she had been drinking all day. It was the most alive she had felt in a while, but she knew it would ultimately lead to a crash. She wanted to make whatever energy she had, worth it.

“But I’m good at everything.” Jungkook chuckled, ignoring the others. Most normal people would think that he was bluffing, but those seated around the table knew the truth behind his words.

“Except at not spilling your drink on other people!” Lexi glared at him again, the wet stain on her shirt revealing what he had done prior to Yuri’s arrival. From her memory, this was not the first time he had done the act, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

“As I said, I’m not going to spill it on me.” Jungkook laughed, rising to his feet to get a new drink to replace the one he lost. Lexi flicked her eyes to Jungkook’s stature walking towards the counter. With a flick of her finger under the table, his feet faltered on the ground causing him to trip into the counter.

The table laughed quietly to themselves, minus Yoongi who just held his hand to his head in disappointment.

“Looks like you’re not the best at walking.” Lexi managed to say through the small fit of laughter.

Another giggle joined her own. She looked over at Kaitlyn who met her eyes. A small nod was given before she turned away. Did she pick up that Lexi had used a bit of magic for revenge and find it funny? A smile formed on her face at the idea.

Yeonjun couldn’t help but shake his head at the scene that unfolded. Maybe he went a little overboard on his intimidation tactics, but you could never be too safe. Like him, they were all just young adults. Yet, he couldn’t help but wonder what else was hidden within the small group. But one thing was for certain, this was the most carefree he had ever felt. It was a welcomed change.

“Hi, we haven’t met, I’m Yeonjun by the way.” Yeonjun spoke from across the table.

“I’m Yuri.” She spoke softly, nerves slowly taking over her. Meeting new people wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but she’s met more people this year than in her entire life and the thought of it scared her, but there she was. Jungkook returned rather quickly with his drink in hand, reclaiming his seat.

“Alright guys, tomorrow we can all train together for the first time.” Yoongi interjected, before retreating back in his chair, slowly typing away on his phone. Everyone stared at him, expecting him to continue. He peered up from his phone, “What? Did you think I had more to say? Just be at the practice or I’ll kick your ass. Better?”

The others just shook their heads at his interjection, returning to small talk and catching up.

A loud groan escaped Yoongi as a squeal echoed through the coffee shop and before he could ready himself, he heard a chair being pulled up beside him. Yuri had kept her promise and told Nari she could come. She felt somewhat guilty not giving the group a fair warning, especially Yoongi, but she was afraid they would say no if she attempted to ask. She would have felt even guiltier if she had to return to Nari saying her friends didn’t want anything to do with her.

“What a surprise,” Lexi said, fake excitement laced within her voice. She still wasn’t a huge fan of Yuri’s roommate, but she attempted to stay cordial. She turned her attention to Nari, “I didn’t realize you were coming!”

“Oh, yeah, sorry about barging my way in. Yuri said I could come hang out the next time you guys did. I don’t want to be a bother. I’m just excited.”

“That makes one of-” Yoongi began, though his words were cut off. He scrunched his nose and cursed under his breath when he felt a swift kick to his shin. It wasn’t hard, but enough to get the point across. His eyes landed on Yuri, who was undoubtedly the source of the blow, begging for him to keep his mouth shut with the look she shot at him. He raised his brow at her, surprised at such an act coming from such a timid girl. He couldn’t help but smile as he knew that she wouldn’t have even tried to do this before. This alone was an indication of progress. Noticing that he had been quiet for a moment too long, he coughed, “It’s nice that you, uh, were able to swing through.”

“I agree,” Nari smiled and for once it was truly genuine.

The night went on surprisingly well despite the unexpected guest. They found themselves just enjoying the rare normalcy of conversations and spending genuine time together. Before they knew it, it was almost time for the cafe to close. The group split in two, Nari and Yuri heading towards their dorm and the hunters back to the house.

Once back in the house, each of them slowly trickled back into their rooms. It left Yeonjun to settle himself within the cushions on the couch since he hadn’t proven himself enough for a room.

Lexi couldn’t help but let her mind wander to Jimin as she closed her bedroom door behind her. Their last moment together played through her mind, a moment that even now she could feel the drowning depths of pain in. She couldn’t believe how vulnerable he was at the moment, a side she never expected to see. She wondered how he was doing, she hadn’t seen or heard from him since.

“Wait, why the fuck am I worried about that asshole?” She mumbled to herself quietly. A sigh escaped her lips as she sort of felt bad, “I don’t want to be surprised anymore.” She whispered aloud to no one in particular.

She didn’t want to go to bed and wonder whether another part of her was going to be left out in the open for him to gawk at. She understood just why he had been so shaken to have her so close to the thing he held deep within.

Then take control.

Zuko flew around the room until he rested on her pillow. His form was slightly bigger than normal since he was safely hidden within the confines of her room. She smiled softly and pulled out some food from the small fridge located near her desk. She rested a small plate in front of Zuko urging him to have dinner. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched him eat with joy.

“How do I do that?” Lexi sighed, laying down on the bed.

Life doesn’t have an instruction manual. Sometimes you just need to try it out and see what happens.

Zuko spoke as he quickly emptied his plate. Lexi chuckled and threw the void plate in the trash nearby. She quickly settled herself under the covers of her bed before closing her eyes in an attempt to get to sleep.

“I’m in control. I’m ready to reveal myself.” Lexi whispered to herself.

She felt a pull as her mind was thrown into the darkness. It was as if she was floating through the air, aware of her unconscious mind. She was quickly grounded back into reality as she collided with a solid force. She opened her eyes.

Instead of her warm bed with Zuko by her side, she found herself laying in a field she recognized all too well. Flowers and herbs danced around the area as the spring crops flourished. The garden was sealed off from human contact by magic, allowing nature to grow wild as it should. A few feet away a small girl, no older than eight years old stood.

“She looks just like you.” A person voiced from behind her.

She turned her head at the voice. Jimin stood there looking as though he belonged with the otherworldly landscape. He seemed put together, but the way he spoke seemed almost guarded; like if he said the wrong thing his composure would crumble away.

Lexi stood, brushing the dried grass that stuck to her pants back to the ground, “I just thought, if you’re going to find out about my past it’s going to be on my own terms.”

She didn’t wait for a response as she moved her attention back to the young blonde girl. She slowly moved towards her until she was a mere foot away. Lexi felt a presence behind her, but she refused to tear her eyes away from the poor, unexpecting girl.

“That’s you.” It didn’t come off as a question because Jimin knew. He didn’t need to see anything other than the girl's deep blue eyes. He couldn’t mistake them for anything. He had become accustomed to the way hers always seemed to be coursing with fire, but the way the little one’s eyes were filled with wonder intrigued him. Jimin smirked, taking a step closer to the young girl picking at the different plants. He bent down to her level as he examined the small smile resting on her face as she placed the ingredients in the basket.

“You seemed so… happy? No… content. What happened to you?” Jimin asked, aloud, as he watched the young girl stand up and skip down the path.

Jimin chuckled at the sight, trying to imagine present day Lexi skipping off somewhere. He slowly stood up and turned his attention to her.

“You’ll see,” Lexi shook her head before following the young girl down the path. Jimin quickly followed behind, interested in just why they were here and what was ultimately going to happen.

Trees soon surrounded her as she stepped on the small rock bridge to cross the stream. The same small cottage from before appeared, though this one was less run down and more lived in. She didn’t take much time to examine the surroundings as she followed her younger self to the window. Tears threatened to spill as she knew what was about to happen.

Inside the walls, the scene seemed a stark contrast to the happiness the younger girl emitted earlier. Her mother and father sat at the table, neither attempting to move as four other men paced what seemed to be the living room of the house. The younger version of her stood on her toes to peer into the window herself. If only Lexi could shield her from the horror she was about to witness.

Her father seemed almost relaxed as he was oblivious to the monsters before him. He wasn’t stupid as he knew what her mother was and the completely different world she came from, but that was the extent of his knowledge.

Jimin appeared, looking on with both versions of Lexi. “Are those your parents?” Jimin asked, though he already knew the answer yet again. The man had the same blonde hair, and the woman held the same fire in her eyes that Lexi did.

Lexi nodded, it was all she could muster without allowing herself to break down. Every piece of her wanted to run in and stop the mess that was about to happen; to warn them of what was to come. She wanted to hug them and feel their presence one more time. But alas, it was nothing but a distant memory come to life.

“Why don’t we just wait for the little brat to get back so we can kill them all at once?” One man whispered to the other.

“And lose the chance of seeing her lose control? She is supposed to be powerful, at least that’s what the boss said.” The other laughed, “Maybe seeing her parents dead would squeeze a reaction out of her.”

Without another word to any of the others, one of the men grabbed a hold of her father’s head, forcibly bringing his head painfully backwards. The stranger's eyes grew red as he exposed his fangs. He then sunk his teeth into the soft tissue of her father’s neck. He struggled and struggled, but he was far too human for something so inhuman.

“Oh,” Jimin said quietly, wincing slightly at the scene. Every single thing she’s done and said made so much more sense to him now. He understood why she despised him so much. He was too similar to the men that ruined her life.

Both versions of Lexi had tears running down their faces, one living this for the first time and the other finally letting out the emotions she had buried for so long.

“No!” Her mother yelled standing up as her eyes began to glow a familiar, ominous blue.

With the raise of her hand, the vampire that attacked her father was thrown against the wall, a stake finding itself buried perfectly into the vampire's chest a moment later. The vampire fell limp, though his body didn’t fall, the stake kept him pinned to the wall.

Jimin didn’t need to be in the room to check her father’s pulse to know he was gone. He knew how quickly someone like him could drain a body to the point of no return. Though she seemed fast, her mother reacted far too late.

There were still three alive and that encouraged her mother’s rage. Each one of them ran after her attempting to over power her by numbers. She grabbed the one closest to her by the neck. Fire danced around her and flowed up her arm, engulfing the man in flames. She then threw the charred remains at the other two, dodging towards the counter.

She grabbed the kitchen knife off the ledge and turned on her heel to meet the red eyes of the monster. He wasn’t prepared to have the knife plunged into his heart with enough force to almost exit the other side, knocking the vampire off his feet and grasping to free himself.

There was still one left, she spun around and searched, but to no avail. A small shimmer of hope crossed her mind at the idea the last one left out of fear but the light in her eyes was extinguished when she felt a sharp, tearing pain emanate from her back and through her breast. One of her mother’s own blades tore its way through her body.

She looked up from the blade and locked eyes with her daughter who was still watching through the window. 

“I’m going to enjoy hearing your little brat cry while I cut her head off.” The last vampire taunted, pulling her mother’s hair back to make her look up.

Suddenly the young version of Lexi ran, it startled Jimin to the point he backed away even though the young one was an apparition and would have easily moved through him.

“What you didn’t hear was my mom telling me to run through telepathy,” She said, answering Jimin’s lingering unasked question.

“You won’t get the chance!” Her mother growled, even on her deathbed her power shined through, as there were few witches of this magnitude.

The real Lexi gently grabbed Jimin’s wrist, moving them both away from the house. Her face had become soaked with tears but she wouldn’t allow herself to crumble like she desperately wanted.

Once away from the window, Lexi turned around. It was an unnerving silence that took over the garden as the two of them looked at the cottage. Then the silence was broken by a large explosion. It was the full extent of her mother’s powers, taking the house down and everything within along with it.

The garden was no more, the rock bridge had crumbled, and any remnants of the small cottage she grew up in vanished.

Lexi could not stop her feet from moving closer yet again, no trace of any living thing in sight. The garden she grew up playing in was nothing but dried leaves and soot. The walls were almost non-existent, a few stones held onto some integrity. Within the rubble of the house, something caught her eye. She bent down, gently picking up the blue amulet and dusting off the dirt. All the times she had seen the necklace prior to this moment had been around her mother’s neck.

“She was so powerful even in her last moments. I wish I could be like her.” Lexi chuckled softly, sitting on the ground, wrapping her arms around her legs as she cradled herself. She watched as the memory of herself picked up the necklace she had just examined. The young girl screamed and screamed. She hoped that if she were to yell loud enough her parents would return and tell her everything was okay. Yet, that sense of relief or comfort never came.

A branch broke in the distance. The younger Lexi heard as well. She gripped the necklace in her hand and ran as far as she could, out of sight.

“Your mom would be proud of you.” Jimin spoke softly, sitting next to her in the rubble. He gently placed a hand on her knee in an attempt to comfort her. “You’re already very strong, and you’ll get stronger. Not stronger than me of course.”

Jimin smiled, earning a chuckle from Lexi. It was an odd sight seeing the stone-cold vampire she had come to know try and comfort her, and, surprisingly, it was working. She wiped the tears off her face that had yet to dry.

“Thanks, Jimin.” She said, looking at him. It was nice to see he had an actual smile on his face instead of the cocky smirk he usually held.

“Tch. Don’t get all soft on me now.” Jimin responded, turning his head away from her in disgust, though he still held the genuine smile on his face indicating that he truly wasn’t offended by her words.

“I’m not, don’t worry.” She laughed.

All too soon, the scene before her slowly started to fade, leaving her alone in the dark void she seemed to float through prior. It seemed far less inviting after what she reexperienced. Her eyes slowly opened as the light flooded in between the openings in her blinds. She couldn’t help but have a small smile on her face as she wiped away the stray tears that had fallen during her slumber.

“I promise I’ll make you proud, mom.” She whispered, gripping the familiar blue pendant that hung around her neck.

“Breakfast!!!” She heard someone yell, followed by a few loud bangs against her door. She jumped out of bed, hiding her necklace behind her shirt, and making sure Zuko was safe in her pocket before rushing out and joining the others for breakfast.

Chapter Text

It was oddly warm for December, especially considering it was only a few days shy of Christmas. The snow had melted, and the sun was shined brightly without a speck of cloud coverage. The dirty soil mixed perfectly with the melted snow, leaving behind nothing but murky puddles scattered across the training area as if they were explosives in a minefield.

Kaitlyn’s eyes expanded in shock at the sudden splash that coated her leg. Under normal circumstances, she would have easily avoided the puddle. Though the wet feeling shocked her, she couldn’t muster up the energy to care. Her mind was preoccupied with more important thoughts, like the pain that radiated within her body. It was becoming increasingly difficult to conceal from the others. They knew about her exhausted state and the toll it took on her ability to stay awake and focused, but the constant physical pain that accompanied her was almost too unbearable, which caused it to become more challenging to hide.

Yet, here she was, standing in a small circle with Yoongi, Jungkook, Lexi, Yuri, and Yeonjun for another small training session. Silent stretching ensued as the oldest spoke softly.

“We all know that we try and keep together the best we can but that’s not always possible. What we are attempting today is some one-on-one combat. It’s a great way for us, as a group, to learn each other's fighting styles as well as point out our weak points and work on them. The safest place to find those is amongst ourselves and not against an enemy. At least here, your weaknesses won’t result in death,” Yoongi bore a look of exhaustion. He kept speaking knowing the sole reason was that if he were to stop, the others would interject to voice their complaints or ideas, “Jungkook, just because I know you’ll keep an eye on her condition, you’re with Kaitlyn. But, regardless, do not go easy on each other. If I see you slacking it won’t be me that kills you.”

“Damn that was harsh,” Jungkook mumbled, earning a hard glare from Yoongi. His lips instantly sealed shut in a flat but guilty line. He would rather die at the hands of a monster than to Yoongi.

Yoongi shifted his attention from Jungkook to Lexi, “Lexi, I think you’re best suited to be paired with Yeonjun,” She shifted uncomfortably on her feet as she glanced from the oldest to the newest recruit. He was offputting since the moment they met. The first words he spoke only riled the group up. Training with him did mildly pique her interest as to what the man with the big mouth could do, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder if he would try to inflict more damage than words could cause.

“Wait what? I thought you’d pair me with Yuri.” Lexi furrowed her eyebrows, wondering why Yoongi thought this was the most ideal match. If anyone could put a new recruit in their place, it would be Yoongi.

“You’ll go easy on her. We can’t have that, now more than ever. I know for certain you won’t take it easy on him and vice versa. Don’t forget you need to get stronger too,” Yoongi sighed, his eyes narrowing in slight annoyance at the sheer fact that two newcomers did nothing but make things more complicated, “Yuri you’re with me.”

Valuing her own life more, Yuri simply nodded in response. It was absolutely terrifying the way his eyes narrowed and his demeanor changed when he was about to kill something. If there was something she was sure about, she knew she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that fury.

With the pairings made, each of the three groups separated, moving to different areas of the training compound.

Lexi opted to take Yeonjun to the training dummies that stood in a far-off field with tall brush that blocked it from everyone else's view. The dummies stood at various heights. Some were shaped like various magical creatures while some looked more humane. All were made of wood, the best substance since it allowed for more accurate readings and lasted longer than their predecessor. Cloth dummies were one used and then quickly trashed since they ripped every time the blade even grazed it. With wood, and with just one throw, it was easy to gauge their strength by how far the blade sunk into the dummies along with their accuracy.

“Dummies?” Yeonjun raised an eyebrow in question.

“Well, considering I know nothing about you, I opted for what I’m good at.” Lexi eyed the man up and down, checking to see if any physical part of him would tell her what he could do. Just from her brief look over, she concluded he wasn’t necessarily the muscle pig Jungkook seemed to be but was still strong. He seemed to be a quick thinker. His many jabs and sarcastic comebacks only backed up her theories.

“Take a picture, it'll last longer.” Yeonjun snickered quietly, watching the way her eyes zoned back into the real world instead of within her own mind.

“God, you remind me of someone else I know.” Lexi pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “Anyways, what is your specialty?”

Even when she wasn’t with the bloodsucker, it felt as if she couldn’t escape him no matter what. She shook her head, wanting to distract herself with the training dummies in front of her instead of thinking about that man that consistently invaded her life and thoughts.

“Specialty? Like what I’m good at?” Yeonjun gazed at the manikins in the distance.

“Yeah. So, mine for example is knife throwing. Not saying that the others aren’t able to hit a target, but when it comes between us all, I seem to have the better knack to hit the mark I’m aiming for.” Lexi maneuvered one of her knives through her fingers, eying down the dummy. She let out a soft breath and let her hands do the familiar motion and watched as the dagger cut through the air, lodging itself into the bullseye painted on the dummy’s chest.

“Why are you telling me all of this? Thought you didn’t trust me.” Yeonjun observed the way the dagger fit perfectly into the wood. His instincts screamed at him, that rather than showing him an example, she was really giving him a warning. He felt a shiver go down his spine at the image of him replacing the mannequin further down the forest. He knew if for some reason he had to run from them, he wouldn’t be getting very far.

Lexi shrugged in response, “Well, first of all, I don’t really trust anyone so don’t take it too personally. Second, if the old man sent you, that means you must be in a relatively similar situation as the rest of us. I mean, why else would you be here? In the end, we all generally have the same goal in mind.”

“And what goal is that?” Yeonjun questioned, finally drawing his eyes from the blade back to the shorter girl next to him. She seemed lost in thought as she twisted another dagger through her fingertips like it was an extension of herself. He wondered how someone who seemed so in her head could hit something with dead accuracy.

“We’ve all been wronged by some kind of evil, regardless if it is human or not. The only sad part is that we can’t touch evil humans, right? So, we do what we can. We do our best to save innocents.” Lexi stared at the dagger she had been fidgeting with, finally extending it out to him, “Wanna try?”

Yeonjun nodded in agreement at her prior statement before his eyes flickered to the sharp band of silver that rested in her hand. A smirk formed on his lips as he met her eyes and pulled out his own dagger. “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to use this one. It’s more familiar to my hand. I hope you understand.”

Yeonjun’s eyes flickered down to the dagger resting in his own hand. Lexi glanced at it as well, taking in the way the light reflected off the dark metal of the blade. “A bronze dagger?”

Lexi couldn’t help but question his choice of metal. It wasn’t common to see a weapon made out of that sort of material, but it wasn’t as if it never happened. Bronze just didn’t seem to have the same effect on monsters as silver did, which made it uncommon for hunters to use.

“Not everything can be killed with silver,” Yeonjun stated, taking his place, facing the dummies. He did his best to replicate the moves she had done prior and let the base of the knife fly from his fingers. He stared as the hilt of his knife came into contact with the dummies head and ricocheted further back into the woods.

“First-time knife throwing?” Lexi couldn’t stop the smirk from forming on her face as she watched the man who was once full of confidence, drop down in embarrassment as his knife missed his mark.

Yeonjun looked back towards her, her eyes didn’t even follow the dagger but remained on him, “Is it that obvious?”

Lexi couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped her lips, “Well I have seen worse, but your form is pretty off. You’re a bit too rigid, especially for the possibility that you’d be moving while throwing it. Also, your knife isn’t made specifically to be thrown. But I think you’ll get it down with some time.”

“I hope so,” Yeonjun let a small laugh escape his lips, “My specialty is hand-to-hand combat.” The question from earlier came to mind. When he saw that her focus didn’t leave him, he elaborated further. “I am also good at disguise and being able to get hidden intel. I used to go on a lot of stealth missions in the past.”

Now that he had undoubtedly failed the throw, he needed to let her know he was at least good at something. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t trained in some way to defend himself. That would be a death wish in this line of work.

“Mind if we do a test run on that hand-to-hand combat?” Lexi turned her body towards him. She couldn’t help but crack her knuckles, excitement filling her body. She missed hand-to-hand combat, to be frank, but it was also an area she needed to improve on. “I’m not going to hold back.”

“Don’t worry, neither will I.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Jungkook and Kaitlyn came to a halt when they finally reached their destination. The field was open and clear of any brush or debris, the ground was tanned from the sand and dirt mixture that helped to form this area of training. The house and hunters became blurred specks in the distance after the long trudge to these grounds. Further to the left stood a steep cliff while trees coated the rest of the land. This area not only blessed them with space but a variety of terraria.

“We are working on dodging. Since you aren't at your best at the moment, fighting something head-on could lead to you getting hurt or worse.” Jungkook folded his arms over each other as he faced Kaitlyn.

“Wow, thanks.” While Kaitlyn knew he only had the best intentions for her and she couldn’t argue with his reasoning. She didn’t even try to hide the familiar motion of her eyes rolling upwards in annoyance, “You act as though I’m this fragile thing that could break at any moment.”

“You know I don’t think of you like that,” Jungkook sighed. He had known this was going to be an issue with how stubborn the girl was. He knew she wanted to come across as perfectly fine, but anyone who truly knew her would be able to tell that she wasn’t herself, “Dodging takes less energy to achieve. The only thing you need for that is instincts and to stay on your feet. I know you can do that.”

“It just feels as though everyone already sees me as broken,” Kaitlyn mumbled though she knew he could hear it clear as day.

Jungkook tore his eyes away from her as he spoke. It pained him to see her so down on herself but he couldn’t be soft with her, now more than ever. If he were to go soft, what she was saying would become true, “Enough. Throw your knife down and let’s work on dodging.”

Kaitlyn’s arms flew up in surrender. She pulled out her knife and threw it nearby. The blade sunk down into the newly dampened ground.

Time seemed to fly as Kaitlyn managed to dodge many of Jungkook’s attacks. She didn’t have the chance to avoid the final blow he ensued though. She dug her feet into the ground, her desperation to stay and not join the muddy puddles that surrounded them. Though she manages to stay on her feet, Jungkook’s strength worked against her. She ended up getting pushed back a few feet, the mud leaving a line from her feet in their wake.

“I need a break,” Kaitlyn spoke between harbored breaths. Jungkook only nodded in response, sweat dripping down both of their foreheads. He grabbed the bottle of water he had brought with him and chugged some of it to cool him off. He held it out towards Kaitlyn, offering her some of the cold water. She only shook her head in denial and waved him off.

Kaitlyn stalked over to the knife she previously lodged into the ground. Her hand gripped the hilt of the knife as she used her remaining strength to pull, only for the knife to remain frozen in place. Determined, she moved her other hand on top of her current hand and pulled again. Unfortunately, the sweat she had accumulated while training with Jungkook seemed to make her grip less sturdy; the hilt slipped right out of her hands, affecting her balance. She tumbled backwards into one of the many puddles that littered the ground.

Kaitlyn let out a frustrated cry as she swung her hands down into the water below her; the water splashed back, leaving her soaked. The pain that consumed her body from this relay of nightmares and sleepless nights was so horrible and weakened her so much so, that she couldn’t even pull her own weapon from the damp ground it so easily lodged itself into.

She felt the familiar sting of tears as she debated if she would even be able to pry herself off the ground and out of the puddle. She knew they didn’t see her as this weak person who couldn’t do anything for herself, yet she couldn’t help but feel that way. It felt as though Jungkook training with her was a waste of his time and talent. She felt almost as useless as that night when she watched her parents…

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve as droplets of tears slid down her cheeks and her breathing became ragged and uneven. She wailed as her feelings began to bubble to the surface. If she wasn’t breaking apart, she might have felt embarrassed as she felt her meltdown take over. It pushed back every instinct that screamed at her to stop. Though her eyes were blinded by her tears, she couldn’t ignore the figure that bent down enough to pull her arms away from her face and help her into a standing position.

She sobbed, unable to stop her body from shaking. She couldn’t determine if it was because of her breakdown or from being submerged in the icy puddles. She noticed him bend down before turning his attention to her.

Jungkook slinked her dagger back into the holster on her hip before gently putting a hand on her shoulder, “Go inside and shower. If you stay out here like this, you’re going to get sick.”

Kaitlyn nodded, unable to meet his eyes out of the fear she would see the pity resting behind them. The cold from getting soaked was increasing by the second. She attempted to wipe her tears with her puddle-ridden sleeves once again as she turned away from Jungkook. His arm fell off her shoulder as she stalked off towards the house.

She only made it a few steps before her legs gave out from under her. She expected to meet the ground and water below her much like before, but she didn’t end up meeting the fate she predicted. Instead, a strong arm laced its way around her waist securing her to the warmth of his body.

Jungkook used his free hand to snake her arm around his neck to help support her weight, “I let you out of my grip for two seconds and you already miss wallowing in the mud?”

Kaitlyn let out a forced laugh, trying her best to appease his joke amidst fighting off her waterfall of tears. Normally she would have tried to make a joke back or provide him with some sarcastic comment, but her mind was too numb to do so.

Jungkook kept his eyes forward as he helped her through the terrain back towards the house. The silence between the two of them, despite how odd, was comforting. For once Kaitlyn’s mind was empty.

______________________________________________________________________________

Blood coated Yuri’s knuckles, the determination to get stronger, and the intensity in her spirit forced the skin to crack and finally break as they collided with the sandbag that stood before her. The next punch she threw caused her to wince at the pain her adrenaline failed to hide.

“Okay take a break. You can’t fight if you’re injured.” Yoongi said, seeing how her fists left behind splotches of red on the bag, “It probably doesn’t feel good when grains of sand get stuck in your skin.” He mumbled observing her hands and the newly formed cuts and bruises that littered them.

Yoongi twisted off the cap of the water bottle that he had been carrying with him and gently poured it over her cuts, washing the sand away along with the droplets. Yuri didn’t move until alcohol was removed from his jacket and positioned near her cuts. A hiss of pain escaped her as she watched the clear liquid run down her hands and to the ground. Yoongi proceeded to give her some bandages she could use to cover the cuts and prevent them from becoming infected.

“Can we talk now? It’s the two of us.” Yuri took a seat on a stump. One by one she opened the bandages and covered each wound she saw. She couldn’t help but stare at her bandaged knuckles. There must have been a million different bandages the hunters had for different injuries, yet these somehow laid neatly against the scrapes on her knuckles.

“What do you want to know?” Yoongi chewed at the inside of his cheek as he followed her lead, taking a seat across from her on a fallen tree. The silence that had fallen between the two slowly grew thicker as he knew where the conversation was going to head.

“Your scars,” She mumbled, placing another bandage onto her hands. She found that placing them was enough of a distraction that she was able to confront him without being too nervous. She looked up and noticed he was focused on anything but her, “What happened?”

“I’m sure you figured out what happened already,” He responded, eyes focused on the dirt below. He looked up and met her eyes, “Do you really need me to say it out loud?”

Yuri shook her head and broke away from his intense stare, “ The old ones were Wendigo as well, right? They looked too similar to the new ones.”

“See, I knew you weren’t an idiot,” He responded, nodding his head a little.

“I guess what I really want to know… The old attack…” Yuri paused as she tried to find a way to word her next sentence without coming off as insensitive or brash. The last thing she wanted to do was trigger him. She wouldn’t want that done to her, “I know it’s a tough subject for you, but, how did you survive all of it? You had to have lost a lot of blood. I mean… you lost quite a lot with the new one you acquired and that was only one slash… “ Her eyes met his for a quick second, noticing the ice that formed within them. She gnawed at her lip, understanding this was a touchy subject, “I’m sorry I’ll shut up…”

Yoongi chuckled at her rambling as he knew that this was a hard thing for her to be doing. Honestly, it might have been the most he had seen her talk since he had met her. He shuffled uncomfortably on the log as he debated whether he wanted to disclose one of the most traumatizing moments of his life.

“I almost didn’t,” His raspy voice gave away the pain he felt from the memory of the night, “The damned beast tricked me into leaving our campsite with the distressed sounds of my parents pleading for help. Before I knew it, I was lost within the woods with no idea where our tent was or where my parents were. You can guess what happened next.”

Yuri nodded, remembering the amount of scarred claw marks that littered his chest and back. She let her gaze fall on the only unhidden one that ran down the right side of his face, almost injuring his eye. She had met her fair share of creatures since the supernatural had made themselves known to her, but that creature seemed to be the most volatile she had met yet. She fidgeted with her hands before she asked, “How old were you?”

“Fourteen,” Yoongi responded, voice almost barred from emotion.

“You were just a kid,” Yuri said astonished, eyes stinging with tears at the idea of it.

“Most of us here were just kids when we found ourselves fighting for our lives. I was older than the others. Jungkook was just eleven when we found him and we found Kate just a year later at age twelve. Lexi found us when she was sixteen, but from what she’s told us, she’s been alone for much longer than that. We are in this life because we didn’t have a choice, the choice was made for us. The only reason I agreed to train you is because you were dragged into this life like the rest of us. Every one of us almost died, including you,” Yoongi explained to the girl sitting across from him. He knew she was on the verge of tears but this life wasn’t for the faint of heart. She needed to hear the harsh truth that came with knowledge most of the world was oblivious to, “I owe my life to the old man, literally. I just try to do my best by him.”

Yuri nodded in understanding as one of her held back tears fell. The droplet cascaded down her cheek and landed on the back of her hand. A small smile formed on her face as she registered the fondness Yoongi held for the man that saved his life, “I hope one day I get to meet this ‘Old Man’ all of you talk about. He sounds like an amazing person considering he saved all your lives.”

“Don’t let his heroics fool you,” He mumbled, “The man's an idiot. He can’t even pick his phone up when we are on high alert.”

Yuri laughed a little, hearing the same tone he would always use with Jungkook within his voice at that moment. As always, his words seem to contradict what he truly meant. She wondered how men have gotten this far in life with their lack of communication skills, but that conversation didn’t need to be brought up today.

She didn’t expect him to grab the water bottle he had set next to him on the ground and take a swig from it. He seemed to have shoved whatever emotion he had been feeling back down into the pits from which it came. He then pushed off the fallen tree into the standing position. He cocked his head to the side, indicating she should follow him.

“Don’t you want to know what happened to me?” Yuri quickly rose to her feet, following him past the sandbags that hung nearby to some trees with knife marks through them. A machete stuck out from the bark. He grabbed the duller weapon and pulled it out of the splintered tree.

“You’ll tell your story when you’re ready, but now, I want you to head home before it gets dark. You know far too well what can lurk under its cover.” Yoongi eyed the position of the sun, watching as it was ready to sink beyond the horizon.

Yuri couldn’t help but take a glance at her watch. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets as she registered the time it showed. Normally she would argue to stay, but not today.

“Okay Yoongi, thank you!” Yuri quickly spoke and ran off. She had completely lost track of time and therefore, she was almost late for the only plan she had ever made.

After about ten minutes she came to a halt in front of the familiar-looking café. Nari stood waiting for the girl outside, coat tucked around her to keep the warmth inside and the cool breeze out. Her face lit up as she saw the small blonde running come into view.

“You ready?” There was a spike in Nari’s voice from excitement.

“Yes, it’s this way.” Yuri jumped at the sudden contact from Nari interlocking their arms together. An awkward smile made its way to Yuri’s face at the skin-ship.

Yuri mimicked that path she remembered from before. The sky illuminated a deep orange glow as the two descended into the woods. Yuri stared at the trees that surrounded them trying to find familiar indicators on the way.

In the distance, she noticed two figures standing in the path they were taking. Normally, she wouldn’t have registered something so far away but her training had improved her sight. They looked too familiar. It made her stomach flip.

“Hey Nari,” She spoke quietly but the shakiness in her voice was still evident. Worry filled her entire being as she turned towards Nari to get her attention, “Do you see that?”

She turned back in the direction where the two figures stood only to be met with nothing. It was as if she had just imagined what she had seen. It was impossible, wasn’t it? They had been clear as day to her.

“See what?” Nari asked, searching the area where Yuri was looking. A confused look fell onto her face as she looked back towards the blonde girl she was latched onto still. Seeing the fear in her eyes made Nari worry for someone she actually considered a friend.

“Ah, my eyes must have been playing tricks on me.” Yuri changed her perspective, not wanting to make Nari worry. She turned her attention back to their destination ahead, but she couldn’t help herself as she turned to look one last time, but saw nothing.

She felt Nari jostle her arm slightly with a concerned look. Yuri shakily smiled back and focused her sights ahead, “I’m fine, don’t worry.” She said, trying to ease Nari. All the while, she tried to forget whatever she had seen, that was if she saw anything.

A small house became visible in the distance and a smile formed on Nari’s face, pulling the girl to move faster. Yuri had been to this house quite a few times now but Nari had never been. She had been mumbling about seeing the talkative one again. Yuri knew exactly who she was talking about, even though it could have been any of them.

Before she knew it, they were inside and situated in the small living room. A couch and armchairs filled the void with a fireplace cracking against the wall. Yuri sat at the end of the couch with Taehyung to her left and his sister on the other side of him. Yuri couldn’t help but watch the way Nari couldn’t keep her mouth closed with Hoseok. Even with the constant rambling, Yuri couldn’t miss the way Hoseok’s eyes shined as he watched her ramble on about who knows what.

“How are you feeling?” She jumped at the deep voice intruding her thoughts. She turned to Taehyung and threw on a quick smile, trying her best to hide the exhaustion that was beginning to set in from her long day of practice.

“I’m okay.” Yuri’s voice came out quieter than she intended.

Taehyung couldn’t help but scan her with his eyes, seeing any physical signs of pain. He stopped when he saw the bandages that wrapped around her hands. He felt the wolf in him make itself known, as it wasn’t happy that she seemed to have gotten hurt and he had no idea.

“Don’t worry, I was just practicing some things. I’m apparently not very good at it yet.” Yuri hid her hands inside the long sleeves of her shirt attempting to hide her injuries from the visibly upset man. She knew he was only worried about her well-being, but he didn’t need to know the details quite yet.

“She said she’s fine.” Taehyung’s sister spoke before he could press on. She, much like the rest of the pack, could feel how his distress began to grow, “You don’t need to baby her so much.”

“Youngmi stop it.” Taehyung barely turned his head, glaring at his sister out of the corner of his eye. Though she was younger, she still felt as though she could boss him around.

Youngmi rolled her eyes at his reaction and mumbled incoherent words under her breath. The only thing Taehyung had managed to hear was dumbass and annoying. She stood a few minutes later and left to the kitchen to talk with Seokjin.

“Why does she hate me?” Yuri stared at her fingers, letting them fiddle with each other out of nervousness.

“She doesn’t hate you.” Taehyung turned his attention back to her. The glare Yuri sent made him sigh, “Okay she hates you right now, but that is only because she has problems trusting new people. I mean you can’t blame her, you didn’t trust me for a while either.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t hate you.” Yuri crossed her arms, tearing her gaze away from him.

“I know it’s easier said than done, but just give her time and talk to her, okay? She’ll come around.” Taehyung gently placed a hand on her shoulder, “You’re the kind of person no one can truly hate.”

Yuri couldn’t help the blush that formed on her cheeks from his comment. She let out a sigh and nodded, facing him again, choosing to ignore the last part of his statement.

“Dinner time!” Seokjin yelled from the kitchen. It was similar to a race watching Taehyung and Hoseok run to the kitchen, leaving Yuri and Nari to giggle and walk by themselves.

______________________________________________________________________________

After Yuri left, Jungkook, Yoongi, Yeonjun, and Lexi all decided to finish off their training together.

“Nice job today guys, let’s go clean up and get dinner.” Yoongi scratched the back of his head, exhaustion gracing his features. He had enough on his plate without the added addition of Kaitlyn being out of commission.

“Wait, so we are done for the day then?” Yeonjun questioned the man, raising an eyebrow, awaiting the man’s answer

“That is what I just said.” Yoongi shook his head, an annoyed look replaced the exhausted one.

“Okay, well I’m going to the gym then,” Yeonjun announced, grabbing the few things he had brought with him to the practice.

“Why the hell are you going to the gym? We just trained for hours.” Lexi folded her arms over her chest, confused. She understood extra practice and putting in the time, but it had been a tough day on everyone. How did he have the energy to continue?

“You can never train too much," Yeonjun responded, a small chuckle falling from his lips.

“Okay, but we have gym items here you could use.’ Junkook raised a single eyebrow. It wasn't the first time he had disappeared to the gym and Jungkook couldn't quite trust him fully yet.

“It’s a class. Every little thing I learn can help.” Yeonjun smirked at Jungkook, unlocking his phone to peer down at it just to quickly relocate it into his pocket.

“Just let the kid go,” Yoongi mumbled, uninterested, "You know the drill. Call if you run into anything and don't fight it alone."

Yoongi quickly shot a narrow glare at Jungkook as if this had suddenly turned into a lecture for him. Jungkook looked away from the older man's stare with a guilty conscience.

“Got it, boss!” Yeonjun couldn’t help but smile.

“Don’t call me that.” Yoongi grumbled, making his way inside.

As the night continued, Kaitlyn tossed and turned, trying to sleep and stop the pain that filled her body. A soft knock at the door distracted her from her troubles for a split second.

“Come in.” She sighed, sitting up.

She was surprised to find Lexi walking into her room, “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

Kaitlyn rubbed her eyes as if the feeling would wake her from her dazed state. No matter how much she rubbed, she felt as if she would never shake the exhaustion she felt. She sighed, allowing her hands to fall from her face.

“You have enough on your mind, you should know by now you don’t need to worry about me. Especially considering you know my little secret.” Lexi laughed softly and sat on the end of the bed.

“Little? That was a ‘little’ secret?” Kaitlyn couldn’t help but join her as soft laughter spilled out.

“Okay, you got me but still, you don’t need to worry about me,” Lexi assured the girl in front of her.

“Old habits die hard.” Kaitlyn stretched slightly before she noticed a book that sat in Lexi’s hand, “Why do you have the hunter encyclopedia in your hand?” Kaitlyn asked in genuine confusion since she hadn’t seen Lexi hold an encyclopedia ever. She had always seemed to be the kind of girl that learned information on the spot and by experience.

“Oh right, forgot.” Lexi ran a hand over the cover. At this point, Kaitlyn couldn’t tell if it was her mind playing tricks on her or if it was really happening. The book seemed to change as her hand moved down the cover. The mundane words that had been written across the cover morphed into some sort of script that Kaitlyn wasn’t familiar with.

“The hunting books you see scattered in my room aren’t actual hunting books. They are spell books I’ve collected over the years. I put an enchantment on them so only I can see what they truly are. I had to stay cautious living under the same roof as three very skilled hunters. Even if all of you were to attack me, I don’t think I could bring myself to fight back.”

“Listen, you don’t need to explain yourself again. I see where you’re coming from. In the past we could’ve killed you,” Kaitlyn sighed, “The more I think of it the more I wonder if we have killed other innocent creatures.”

“Don’t say that, Kate. I know it's hard to keep that out of mind, but everything we have killed so far has been out of control and feral. I, unfortunately, can’t speak about the creatures that died before I came. A lot more people would be dead right now if we didn’t kill some of these creatures.”

Lexi did her best to comfort the girl in front of her. She always seemed to hold the world's problems on her shoulders. Granted, they all truly did. Yet, Lexi wished she didn’t feel as though she had to shoulder that burden alone. She had a family she could rely on to take some of it.

Kaitlyn nodded in response, “Do you know when you’re going to tell the others?”

“No… there is a lot on their plates at the moment and I don’t know if they can deal with this right now.” Lexi sighed, “Trust me I’ve been thinking about how to do it without being exiled or worse.”

“You won’t be exiled,” Kaitlyn couldn’t help but laugh, “I’ll back you up.”

“Thanks, Kate,” Lexi joined in on the laughter, “But I came here to try to help you. I’ve been rereading trying to find a good spell. Long story short I found one that induces sleep and one for consistent pain.”

The witch flipped through her spellbook with a flick of her wrist. The pages moved on their own as she scanned them; the movement only stopping when she found the information she needed.

“How did you know about the pain?” Kaitlyn asked, curious as to how she had seen past her facade she worked so hard to form.

“Jungkook told us what happened today.” Lexi tore her eyes away from the book and to her. She watched as Kaitlyn went through several emotions, some of which being shame and annoyance. Lexi understood since Jungkook had shared a vulnerable moment, but it was important for the group to know just how far she was falling and how fast.

“Alright, you got me.” Kaitlyn threw her arms up in surrender, “Let's give this a shot.”

“First you need to lay down.” Lexi rose to her feet and kneeled next to her bed. Kaitlyn followed Lexi’s instructions and laid down under the covers as if she was ready for bed. She couldn’t help but watch as the book began to float next to Lexi. It was the first time she had seen Lexi use magic in a less destructive sense. She couldn’t tear her eyes away, hearing the strange words Lexi spoke under her breath.

She tore her eyes away and looked at Lexi’s hands that resided above her resting figure. A soft but bright light emitted from the palms of her hands. It was a warm feeling rather than a burning feeling like the fire from that night in the woods.

The unknown feeling traveled its way through her body, easing the pain slightly. It was as if the aching had been coated with a thin layer. Sadly the pain didn’t vanish, but it subsided greatly. She watched as the cuts and bruises she had gained throughout the practice began to disappear as if they were never there in the first place.

“How did you…?” Kaitlyn whispered, running her fingers over her arm which was now injury-free.

“I had some practice.” Lexi smiled softly.

“On who?” Kaitlyn asked, not moving from her reclined position.

“When we found Yuri that night she almost died. I tried it out when everyone went to bed. I did another time with Jungkook.” Lexi flipped a few pages in her book.

“You used it on Jungkook?” Kaitlyn looked away from her arms and over at Lexi.

“When he got hurt in the encounter with the Vargulf, I remember how shaken up you were. It made me realize how serious his injuries were. With the risk of him not waking up or dying, I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try, you know?” Lexi said, trying to make the girl understand that nothing she did was to intentionally harm anyone, “When Yoongi went to shower and you were asleep, I ended up casting the spell onto him. I did my best, though I wasn’t as strong as I am now. It didn’t do much, but it helped him at least a little bit.”

Lexi looked down. She couldn’t help but feel bad she couldn’t have helped him more. Her family getting hurt was one of the driving reasons she strived to become stronger. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if they got hurt or killed under her watch when she could have done something to stop it. She jumped as she felt Kaitlyn reach for her hand and give it a light squeeze.

“What matters now is that he is alive and well, some may say too well. He healed far too fast for your spell to have not helped him.” Kaitlyn smiled softly, “Thank you for helping me. I’m not sure if this sleeping thing will work but the pain is better.”

“Don’t you dare try to keep your pain concealed ever again.” Lexi spoke in the most serious tone she had all night, “Not when I could try and help. You don’t need to carry the weight by yourself with any of us, but especially me.”

“I know I know I’m sorry.” Kaitlyn smiled softly.

“Good.” Lexi smiled, “I hope this helps.”

 She started to whisper the incantation and make different shapes above Kaitlyn’s resting form. Kaitlyn couldn’t help but notice the way a substance fell from Lexi’s hand, seeming to come out of nowhere. It resembled sand but disappeared as it hit the bed. She felt something slowly take over her as her eyes closed and she finally managed to sleep for the first time in a while.

Chapter Text

A shiver rolled down Lexi’s spine. The temperature dropped significantly which caused piles of snow to fill every crevasse of the woods. The time seemed to pass in a blink of an eye with the constant work that needed to be done. The amount of people that went out for the holidays increased, as did the number of disappearances. Specifically, New Year’s Eve seemed to have record-breaking numbers of people going missing. Despite everyone being on high alert, schools reluctantly resumed their sessions which included the local college that Lexi attended.

Instead of resting or catching up on work she was already behind in, she was in the woods with the rest of the hunters attempting to find a source of at least one of the disappearances. As they traversed through the dense forest, the only sound that could be heard was the crunching of fresh snow beneath their feet.

“The snow is making it extremely difficult to not be noticed,” Lexi muttered under her breath, the precipitation that escaped as she let out a breath that froze as it hit the frigid air. Her movements halted as she felt a solid force collide with her back, almost knocking her off balance.

“Damn it, you didn’t fall.” Jungkook laughed softly, trying to stay on the quiet side. Lexi grumbled, debating whether or not she should get her revenge now or later.

“Shut it,” Yoongi voiced, shooting a glare towards the two, “If we get attacked, I’m blaming it on the two of you not being able to control yourselves.”

Yoongi halted, raising his arm to motion for the group to follow his head. He scanned his surroundings, listening in the newfound silence for what he had thought he heard before. The crack of a tree branch echoed throughout the forest before a figure landed in front of them, seeming to have jumped from one of the trees above. The woman cocked her head to the side as she examined the group before a sinister smile formed upon her face matching the evil glint in her eyes.

“Hello there.” The woman spoke, her voice taking on an almost teasing tone. Yoongi was quick to grab his weapon, but the woman was gone before he could even remove it from its place.

That was enough for each of them to channel their professionalism, eyes narrowing at the encounter. Yoongi’s hand gripped the stake that sat on his belt, ready to pull it if needed. The group continued forward in search of the mysterious woman, each of them watching in a different direction as if it came second nature to them. The countless years of hunting with one another made it easy to communicate silently, even with the newcomers in the group.

The forest seemed to be just as silent as before the woman made herself known with the only thing breaking the silence was their feet in the snow. Everyone’s movements ceased when a loud smack was heard over the crunching of snow.

None of them would have guessed the scene they laid witness to. Jungkook stood, hand outstretched over Kaitlyn. Her head was turned off to the side as if she had just taken a blow to the face, eyes watering from the impact.

“What the fuck Jungkook?” Kaitlyn turned towards him, fire burning in her eyes. It was nice to see her semi-normal again but the dark circles under her eyes revealed that her problems were far from being solved.

“Oh fuck! Are you okay?” Jungkook asked, face quickly changing from shock to concern as he realized his hand really did make contact with her face. He turned her face to see if it had left a mark, scared to see if there was any sign he had struck her.

“That fucking hurt!” Kaitlyn growled, prying his hand off her face and throwing it back at him.

“I-it wasn’t me!” Jungkook stammered over his words, “Kate, you know I would never.”

Kaitlyn scoffed, rolling her eyes in response. It was the only thing she could do to keep herself from tearing up from the betrayal she felt from him. All the years they had been hunting and living together and not once had he ever laid a hand on her that didn’t involve training.

“No really it wasn’t-“ His words were cut off as he pulled his knife from its holster, his hand physically shaking as he attempted to put the blade back in, “Get back! I can’t control myself!”

Suddenly, the fight he had given seemed to have failed and his hand pulled the knife completely out. He pointed it at the others, widened eyes as he watched his own hand betray him. Jungkook then lunged forward at the nearest person, his feet attempting to keep him in place but just like his hand, failed.

“What the fuck!?” Yeonjun growled at the close call the blade almost had with his face. Jungkook tripped and caught himself as if the movements were foreign to him.

As Jungkook’s body steadied himself to lunge again, a demented laugh echoed through the trees. The group looked away from their friend momentarily to see the woman from before walking into view from within the dark of the trees. The moonlight casted a glow on her enough for them to see the sunken features she wore and the shine of red that passed through her eyes.

“Be careful, it looks like your friend is out of control.” She taunted, a small smirk finding its way across her face as she looked at Jungkook. Her eyes flashed red again and in response, Jungkook’s arm raised yet again, knife in hand.

Jungkook lunged forward again, going towards someone else this time. Kaitlyn pulled Lexi back with her, avoiding the graze of the knife. The two girls locked eyes before their attention fell upon their friend tripping over his feet once again at the missed attack. Kaitlyn’s face fell as she watched the fear-filled face of Jungkook. She knew he was doing everything he could do to fight this and she felt like shit for thinking that he would ever intentionally hurt her or any of them.

Yoongi acted quickly and pulled the wooden stake he had his grasp on and lunged at the vampire. She was fast, fast enough to avoid the impalement and find solace within the shadows once more.

“We are going to need to split up. Some of us fight the vampire while the rest handle Jungkook.” Yeonjun’s eyes darted every which way searching for the creature. He noticed the chaos that arose within the group once one of their own had lost control and he needed them to focus once more. His words ended up reaching each member.

“No! All of you go stop her. I can fight this!” Jungkook growled.

Yet he still stumbled forward in an attempt to stab Yuri, but she managed to dodge. His attacks were sloppy and uncharacteristic of him making it easier for the girl to avoid. Her eyes were wide as she was unsure of where to even start.

“If none of us are here she could kill you!” Lexi grabbed his arm, trying to twist the knife out of his hand.

She hoped that if she at least got the blade away, they would have a better chance of keeping him in control. Her hopes were ruined as she was thrown back and into the solid ground a few feet away. Pain shot through her back but she didn’t have time to waste as she got back up swiftly.

“Kate, Lex, and Yeonjun you get the vampire. Yuri and I should be fine keeping an eye on Jungkook.” Yoongi yelled to them before pushing Jungkook into the ground. Snow blanketed the back of his shirt and pants as he rose to his feet ready to strike again.

Kaitlyn saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She quickly took count of everyone to make sure the figure couldn’t be one of their own before taking off towards the figure. Yeonjun and Lexi didn’t think twice before following her trail.

Kaitlyn’s steps faltered slightly, grabbing for her knife. Her tired form was still getting the better of her. Yeonjun was the first to make it, lunging at the creature with his bronze dagger in hand. The woman only laughed as she dodged the incoming boy, but he managed to get a slash on her arm.

Lexi took a deep breath before using as much force and precision as she could to throw her blade at the feral creature.

A screech emitted from the vampire as the silver from the blade impaled her leg. She quickly fell to the ground, gripping her calf where the hilt of the blade was visible. Smoke was flowing from her exposed skin as the blade burned her skin.

“Kate, now!” Lexi yelled to the girl. The vampire tried to get up and run, but her plan failed. Another screech erupted from the creature as more smoke oozed from her leg. Yeonjun had pushed her back down into the snow and stomped on the knife lodged in her leg, making it go even deeper. The woman wailed in pain as she reached for the silver dagger, unable to grasp it and pull it out without inflicting more pain upon herself.

With a stake in hand, Kaitlyn walked over to the creature and lifted her arm to stab her right in the heart. Her arm flew down, suddenly coming to a halt as a new pair of hands grasped the weapon in her hands. Kaitlyn looked up to see another woman, eyes wide and watery.

“Wait please!” The new woman pleaded, a tear slipping from her eye and down her cheek.

Kaitlyn’s glare hardened at the new face. She, unlike the woman under her, looked almost unrealistically beautiful. Kaitlyn attempted to push the stake downward yet again, but it was no use as the woman had far more strength than any of them.

“Get your friend to stop controlling ours and maybe we will listen.” Lexi gripped her dagger in her hand, ready to throw it.

The vampire gently released the stake before she turned to the other one. The feral vampire below Yeonjun’s foot attempted to move away but each time she attempted the man applied more pressure and in turn inflicted more pain.

“Stop playing around,” The older-looking one muttered, her eyes turning red as she locked eyes with the wounded one. The other suddenly quit scratching at her leg, body falling limp onto the ground. She looked up at the other vampire, eyes wide.

“You, okay?” Yoongi questioned the younger man when his movements halted and the knife he braced fell from his grasp.

Jungkook proceeded to clench and unclench his fists, testing the waters to make sure he regained his control. He nodded; his mind was still visibly foggy from the events that just occurred. After a short while of making sure everyone was okay, Jungkook, Yuri, and Yoongi joined the other three who stood still, making sure to keep an eye on the new vampire.

“What the fuck was that?” Kaitlyn still gripped her knife in her hands, prepared to attack if necessary, “And why did you stop us?”

“I’m sorry about her but please spare her.” The girl fell to her knees and bowed her head, taking the hunters by surprise, “She is my little sister and the only thing I have left. Please, I promise I will control her!”

The woman begged, tears falling down her face. Yuri’s face scrunched up as she watched the events unfold. The woman, despite visibly being a vampire, seemed to act so human. It seemed to be the thing her younger sister was lacking.

“You didn’t answer my other question,” Kaitlyn said, raising an eyebrow at the woman begging at her feet, “What did you do?”

The woman sniffled a little, looking down at her sister, “My sister, as you guessed, can control the body of someone she is targeting and make them do whatever she pleases. I have the ability to make a targeted person do what I say. It’s the only way I’ve been able to keep her contained since she, well, started losing who she was.”

Eyes flickered between one another in the hunter group, unsure of what to do. It was clear the woman was able to control her sister with just a few words but was that enough reassurance that she wouldn’t get loose and unleash havoc?

“Can we really let them go just like that?” Jungkook was the first to speak up, looking directly at Yoongi. The eldest didn’t say anything because he himself was attempting to figure out the best plan of action for these two. Was that a risk they were willing to allow?

“We can’t just kill them without thinking about it, Kook.” Lexi retorted back, “We each lost people we care about. Are we willing to do that to someone else?”

“But what if they kill more people?” Jungkook couldn’t help but press on as he knew leaving a loose end could spell trouble for them later on.

“What if we kill someone who could be helped?” Yeonjun couldn’t help but butt in. A harsh glare was sent his way by Jungkook, who still wasn’t very fond of the boy.

“Not all creatures are monsters, Jungkook.” Lexi tore his attention away from Yeonjun.

Jungkook let out a sigh, his eyes flickering to Kaitlyn, seeing her nod in agreement, though he saw a moment of hesitance hidden behind her eyes. He knew she was right as his eyes flickered back to Yoongi who had been silent since the vampire first spoke.

“What are your thoughts?” Jungkook questioned the man, intrigued to know his thought process.

“Everyone deserves a chance. That’s something I knew but only grasped recently.” Yoongi’s eyes flickered from Yuri to Yeonjun. He couldn’t help but reminisce about the times when it was just the four of them. Yet, at the same time, he was grateful the other two were there. Things could have gone south fast if they weren’t.

“You’re going to have to keep a close eye on her. If I hear about anything that could indicate that she had killed another innocent again I will personally come here and deal with the problem.” Yoongi spoke sharply and sternly. He quickly turned his back on everyone and began walking away.

Sharp cries of thanks were thrown their way as they left the two to their own devices and went back to their home to rest. Luckily, the house wasn’t too far from the encounter.

“Yuri, you can sleep on the couch,” Yoongi said, opening the door and heading inside first. Yeonjun couldn’t help the sigh that escaped him, He usually slept on the couch, but he wasn’t too surprised at the sudden downgrade though, as he did overstep his boundaries with the vampires earlier in the night. He hated the familiar feeling of sleeping on the floor.

“Yeonjun,” Yoongi spoke again, causing the younger man to jump slightly, “Follow me.”

Nerves filled Yeonjun as he looked anywhere he could for help. Kaitlyn and Lexi only held soft smiles on their faces as they followed Yoongi as well. He jumped again as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to his right and down slightly at the older but shorter man.

“Come on.” Jungkook pushed the man forward slightly, a smirk forming on his face as he watched him stumble. He may have gotten a little too much enjoyment from him tripping.

Yeonjun swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt his hands shaking lightly. He climbed to the top of the stairs as millions of thoughts raced through his mind as to why Yoongi wanted him to follow. He stopped in confusion, seeing the others standing in front of a door.

"Open the door," Jungkook said from behind the unsure man, his voice not giving any indication as to what could be behind it.

Yeonjun shook his head, "For all I know, you could have set a trap on it or something."

"Do you think we would really do that?" Kaitlyn asked, raising an eyebrow at his accusation. It was almost humorous.

"To be quite frank," Yeonjun began, turning his attention to the smaller girl, "I know quite well what you guys are capable of."

"Reasonable," Lexi shrugged, catching the man's eye, "But you have no reason to be on the receiving end of things, yeah?"

Yeonjun looked between all four or them as he felt their eyes on him. He was a newcomer to the group. If they didn't like him, it would be easy to make it look like he never existed.

“It’s been a long night. I'm not dragging this on.” Yoongi groaned, uninterested, and opened the door, “This will be your room.”

Yeonjun’s eyes widened as he graced past the other, he wanted to be the first to step in. It was a simple room, a nice king-sized bed with comforters and pillows sat against the wall. He had a nice-sized closet along with dressers, a nightstand, and a few lone hunting books. He couldn’t help but stare at his reflection in the mirror that stood upon one of the many dressers. His eyes were hazy as he gently touched it. He finally tore his gaze away and looked back at the real thing that captured his attention at this moment.

“I know it’s empty right now, but we weren’t really sure what you liked.” Kaitlyn couldn’t help but let out a slight giggle at the wonder in his eyes as he observed the room.

“Kate and I already agreed, when you’re free we can take you to shop for decorations, clothes, or just anything you want in general to fill the space.” Lexi couldn’t help but smile as well, seeing his eyes glisten slightly.

“You guys are fucking with me right?” Yeonjun asked, trying his best to blink away the tears so they wouldn’t fall.

“No,” Kaitlyn responded, seeing the disbelief on his face as he continued to stare at the bed, “We aren’t that fucked up, you know? Here and there we do nice things.”

Yeonjun chucked at the girl’s response, shaking his head as he attempted to take in everything that was happening. He never expected them to accept him so wholeheartedly. It was something he truly never experienced his whole life.

“Thank you, guys. Really. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.” Yeonjun turned towards them. He tried hard to conceal the tears that filled his eyes and slowly streamed down his cheeks.

“Hey why are you crying?” Kaitlyn took a step closer to make sure everything was okay, “I was just kidding with the comment about you thinking we are fucked up. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No, it’s not that.” Yeonjun couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he wiped a tear that fell down his face. “I’ve just never had people care about me like this.”

Jungkook couldn’t stop himself from rubbing the younger man’s back. Even if he didn’t trust the man completely, this reaction in itself deserved some form of comforting words, “You have a place here with us.”

Lexi couldn’t help but move over and hug the taller man, “I know this isn’t a typical family. Hell, I doubt it’s the family you dreamed of having. But we all have each other and that’s enough for us. I hope it’s enough for you as well.”

“It’s more than enough.” Yeonjun couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face as he hugged the girl back. Kaitlyn laughed softly and one by one they all joined in, except one.

“Yoongi come on!” Kaitlyn yelled at the man.

“I’m good, I don’t do-“ Before Yoongi could finish, a much stronger Jungkook pulled him in.

“Come on Yoongi, we’ve never had a group hug before.” Jungkook teased the older man.

“For good reason too. Okay, that’s enough.” Yoongi grimaced, pulling away a second later, “Go try out the bed or something.” He spoke with quiet annoyance.

Yeonjun’s attention quickly shifted to the large bed that sat in the middle of the room. He ran and jumped upward and landed on the soft comfort of the mattress. His body bounced a few times before it laid comfortably among the pillows and duvet, “I never expected a real bed to feel like this, you know? This is amazing!”

Yeonjun was in awe of the comfort that had been absent his entire life. The closest thing he remembered to having one was the two pillows his mother allowed him to sleep on instead of the cold floor, and even those didn’t compare to this.

“Get some rest in your new bed. We will be training tomorrow.” Yoongi only chuckled at his reaction. They bid him and each other good night before everyone retired to their rooms.

Lexi had tried to help Kaitlyn sleep again, but her powers only worked so much. She felt slightly drained from the magic she used on Kaitlyn plus the secret training she did with her powers. The moment her head hit the pillow; she was out like a light.

But all too soon, her alarm screamed at her to get up again. Since the break was over that meant school started again. In these moments, she debated as to why she even went to college as a hunter. Her hands gripped the pendant her mother left behind, hidden beneath her shirt.

School was something that made her feel a little normal. That all the bad things that happened didn’t. Even though she was constantly surrounded by inhuman creatures, she felt like a normal human even though she was far from it.

Breaking away from the thoughts that kept her occupied in bed for a while, she finally got up to get ready.

What seems to be on your mind? You seem more distracted than usual.

Zuko sat on her dresser, staring up at her.

“Everything seems to be going well right now but, at the same time, I can’t shake this off feeling I have.” She ran a hand through her hair, trying to distract herself from her own mind, “I need to find the damn warlock and kill him before more people die.”

He had plagued her mind and dreams for so long. He hadn’t made another appearance yet, but she knew he was still out there. The number of killings and monsters running rampid was proof enough.

You’re not alone anymore, Lexi. It isn’t just you and I like before. Why not ask your friends for help?

Zuko moved closer to her and up her arm to sit on her shoulder. Lexi smiled at the motion and took some food out of the fridge in her room and gave some to him for breakfast. She watched as he flew back to the dresser and dug into his food.

“I’m still trying to figure out how to tell them. What if they hate me?” Lexi gnawed at her lip at the thought.

After all you guys have been through? Do you really think they’d hate you?

Lexi couldn’t help but nod, mind flashing back to the moments when Kaitlyn knew and hated her for hiding it.

You’ll need to do it sooner or later. You can’t do this on your own. But wait until you’re ready.

Lexi couldn’t help but gently pet his head, “Thank you. Ready to go?”

Instead of answering her, he simply flew to her side and maneuvered into her pocket. She smiled and left the room. After bouncing her way down the stairs, her eyes fell on the blonde girl stretching on the sofa. “I don’t know how you do this every day.” Yuri yawned. She couldn’t help but rub her eyes, hoping the tiredness would retreat if she rubbed them hard enough. She knew she couldn’t be that lucky.

“You get used to it.” Lexi laughed softly, “Come on, let’s get going. Maybe we can get coffee.”

The two walked and had casual conversations, trenching their way through the forest. It seemed so much calmer in the day compared to the creepy things that lurked in the night. The birds that didn’t fly towards a warmer climate chirped loudly, seemingly like they had been awake and going hours before they were.

“Do the woods ever scare you?” Yuri couldn’t help but ask. With all the monsters that hid in here, it caused her to worry as well, wondering if something hid behind every tree.

“Not really. I grew up in these woods, during dark and light.” Lexi couldn’t help but let her hand skim along the branch of a tree, “They’re like a second home to me.”

Yuri only nodded in response as a comfortable silence enveloped them. Unfortunately, time seemed to move far too fast and they didn’t make it in time for coffee. Both of their minds didn’t seem to latch onto most of the day's lectures as they were tired and looking forward to the events after class.

Time seemed to tick by slowly, the complete opposite compared to their walk to campus, but their class eventually ended. Their feet carried them to the same, familiar café where the rest of the hunters resided. Once they got their dose of caffeine, they joined them.

“Are there any new updates?” Jungkook played with the straw that sat in his drink. He seemed more tired than normal. The events the night before had taken a toll on his body and even with the decent amount of sleep he had gotten, he was still sleepy.

“Nope looks like we may actually have a night off for once.” Yoongi sat tiredly. While Lexi and Yuri were at school, the other four had spent the day training.

“I think we could all use some rest. We’ve been doing this nonstop for who knows how long.” Lexi sighed softly, “Oh fuck, I almost forgot. Yuri and I won’t be able to train next Saturday.”

“Oh? And why is that?” Yoongi sat up in his chair, folding his hands on the table in front of him.

“We have the same art class and have to go to a museum for some project,” Lexi grumbled slightly. She wouldn’t mind having a free day at a museum, but at the same time, she felt like she didn’t have the time to partake in this many normal people's activities.

“Meh doesn’t sound very fun, but I’m in,” Jungkook smirked, reclining in his chair. Somehow he managed to balance the poor cafe chair on two of its four legs without falling.

“Well, you weren’t invited anyways.” Lexi shot back, sending a glare his way.

“Well… we could use a fun ‘normal’ day off. Feel like normal people for once, right?” Yoongi thought about it for a minute before looking toward Kaitlyn.

“Normal human things? I can’t turn that down.” She couldn’t contain the giggle that escaped her lips.

“Sounds like a plan then.” Yeonjun couldn’t help but join in, chuckling softly, “I don’t think I’ve ever been to an art museum before.”

“Fine but if you misbehave,” Lexi glared straight at Jungkook, “I’m kicking your ass.”

Before the two could continue bickering, Lexi’s head quickly perked up at the chair being slid back next to her. Her eyes widened seeing the familiar man. His chocolate eyes fell onto her shocked expression.

“Long time no see.” His signature smirk formed on his lips, his eyes drifting around the table. “Sorry about the last time I saw you guys. Something happened at home.”

Jimin lied straight through his teeth but held a soft smile on his face. The last time he had seen the group was when he left the morning after he asked for Lexi’s help. He had made such a scene that even he sort of felt ashamed, an emotion he didn’t feel too often.

“You should’ve come by!” Jungkook smacked the man’s arm, earning a laugh from Jimin.

“Sorry dude, I will more often.” Jimin chuckled before he locked eyes with the one person at the table he had yet to meet.

“Great, now I have to deal with you at home too.” Lexi glared at the side of Jimin’s head. He invaded her school life, her headspace, and now he would be seen within her own home. It was like she could never get away.

“I’m Jimin, I haven’t seen you before.” Jimin ignored Lexi’s comments, now focused on the new face in the group. Yeonjun tore his eyes away from his phone, even though it seemed to be off from the blank screen. Jimin eyed him... Something seemed off.

“I’m Yeonjun.’ He nodded back to him, “I haven’t seen you before either.”

“This is the pain in my ass that goes to the same college as me.” Lexi rubbed her temples, trying to soothe the oncoming headache.

“Wow, I thought we were friends.” Jimin’s hand rested over his chest, a fake look of pain etched his features.

“As I said, pain in the ass.” Lexi groaned softly, “Your voice gives me a headache.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you.” Yeonjun wasn’t sure if this man knew about them being hunters, but he knew for a fact he wasn’t about to ruin that secret.

Yuri kept her eyes down at Jimin’s appearance. She still wasn’t over the fact the beast tried to kill her not once but twice. She was just silently glad he wasn’t paying her any attention for once.

“I’m starving, does anyone want anything?” Jungkook suddenly rose to his feet. He extended his arms, a groan emitted from him.

“Just get something for everyone. I’m sure we’re all hungry.” Kaitlyn spoke up, a yawn escaping her lips, “I could also use another coffee.”

Lexi’s eyes widened in realization as she quickly stood up, “Great you get that and you,” She looked at Jimin, “I need to talk to you.”

The signature smirk formed on Jimin’s lips as he slowly rose to his feet, “Of course.”

Lexi rolled her eyes as she moved before him and led him outside the cafe. The temperature was a drastic drop from the warmth of the establishment but Jimin was unfazed. Lexi on the other hand, adjusted her jacket to seal in the warmth.

“What can I help you with today, witch?” Jimin chuckled as they made their way into an alley right next to the café.

“Watch your mouth. I don’t want the others to hear you.” Lexi shot a glare his way, eyes darkening slightly.

“Still haven’t told them? Come on, you'd probably make things easier in the long run.” Jimin casually rested against the wall, foot propped up against it as well.

“Yeah yeah I know. Believe it or not, this isn’t something you can just bring up over coffee.” A shiver went down her spine. She couldn’t tell whether it was from the minute fear that encompassed her about telling the others or if it was just the cold.

“Alright, fine.” Jimin sighed, feeling the uncomfortableness consume him though it wasn’t his own, “God I hate the lack of control you have on your feelings.”

“You suck at hiding yours too, don’t place the blame solely on me. We wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you.” Lexi closed her eyes and took a deep breath and spoke again before he could retort back and the bickering would continue, “Can a feral vampire become, well, not feral?”

She finally asked the question that had been burning in her mind since the previous night. A wave of confusion was evident on Jimin’s face as he took in the question at hand. She had come to him for information before, but it was always for what they should be looking to kill. This seemed to just be curiosity.

“Why are you asking me this?” Jimin found her eyes, genuinely confused. Why would she want to help them?

“Because I want to know for shits and giggles Jimin,” Lexi responded sarcastically, shifting uncomfortably in the cold, “Obviously there is a feral vampire. I’ve read books upon books about them and not once does it say there is a cure, not even in my spellbooks. One thing is for certain if anyone is going to know this information, it is going to be you.”

Jimin couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride from the unintended compliment. No one ever seemed to appreciate his knowledge but somehow, she did. He clicked his tongue, “I guess you’re in luck then.”

“I’ll take that as there is a way and you know how.” Lexi sighed in relief that she at least knew where to start. She had a feeling he would know.

“Yes, but don’t be too thrilled yet.” Jimin pushed himself off the wall.

“I’ll be the judge of that. Just tell me… please.” Lexi sighed, her nerves getting to her and her mind racing. Would she need to make a potion? Would she have to fight some mythical beast? What could it be?

“A feral vampire needs to drink the blood of the vampire that changed them.” He voiced, his tone becoming almost too serious for who he was as a person, “The odds of finding that vampire is slim as is, let alone convince it to allow another to drink from them.”

“How did you find any of this out?” Lexi couldn’t help but ask. He had so much knowledge about supernatural creatures in general besides vampires.

“When you’re alive as long as I have, you tend to find things out.” He answered before shrugging, “Besides, you can only learn the same history that you lived through so many times before it gets annoying.”

Lexi nodded in response but couldn’t help but wonder what else he knew. He had seen so much with his own eyes, it intrigued her. She hummed to herself before deciding to let the words on her mind be voiced, “Thanks for the information Jimin, really. If you by chance remember the location of a spellbook somewhere within that encyclopedia of a brain, please feel free to share that information with me.”

A small smile formed at the corner of Jimin’s lips as he felt the foreign feeling of excitement coursing through his veins. For once, he didn’t mind her feelings being his own since his own knowledge and information had caused the emotion. He shrugged, “I’m glad someone could get some use for it.”

The two of them turned back down the dingy alleyway and headed back towards the warm enclosure of the cafe. Yuri’s attention just didn’t seem to be within the conversation that the others were having. It was nothing against them because the topics that were flowing from person to person were quite entertaining. She just couldn’t shake seeing the image of those two figures on her walk with Nari. She could have sworn that they were actually there, but maybe the lack of sleep was finally getting to her.

She jumped at the sound of a chair being pulled up next to her, pulling her out of her own thoughts. She looked over at the source of the noise to see Kaitlyn looking at her with concern, “Are you okay, Yuri?”

“Yeah. It’s just… the other day I thought I might have seen something,” Yuri paused slightly, debating if she should elaborate any more. She shook her head a little before continuing, “It’s just…”

“Not the same?” Kaitlyn smiled softly, seeing as the small girl looked back at her with wide eyes, “I wish I could say things go back to normal, but they don’t.”

Yuri stared into Kaitlyn’s tired eyes, trying to search for more behind that answer. She knew things would never go back to normal with her newfound knowledge of the world. She was learning to fight the monsters that hid amongst the shadows. What she didn’t know how to fight were the demons that lived in her own mind. She knew the only one that could help her defeat those is herself, and she didn’t even know where to start.

Yuri’s attention once again was drawn back towards reality with the sound of the cafe door dinging, indicating that both Lexi and Jimin had reentered the establishment. She let her mind wonder what the two of them had to discuss alone. She figured it had something to do with him being a vampire, as that was the one subject no one else knew about.

The smell of food wafted in her direction, making her attention shift to Jungkook who had just made it back to the table. She hadn’t realized how hungry she had been until he arrived. She probably shouldn’t have skipped breakfast based on the loudness of her stomach growling.

“Did you buy out the whole menu?” Yoongi couldn’t help the groan that escaped his lips at the sight of the table being filled to the brim.

“You know I shouldn’t be in charge of the food selection when I’m hungry,” Jungkook chuckled, reclaiming his seat, “Besides, a variety means everyone will find something they’d want and the whole reason I went up in the first place was to get everyone food.”

“He does have a point. What did you expect from sending him up alone?” Kaitlyn couldn’t help but laugh at Jungkook’s antics.

“Whatever. It better not go to waste.” Yoongi clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, grabbing whatever dish was closest to him.

Once he took the first bite, the others took that as their cue to eat as well. For once silence filled the table as the food was more important than anything. The only one not partaking was Jimin, but no one seemed to question him.

____________________________________________________________________________

Lexi had waited until the house had grown silent before she exited her room and quietly descended the stairs. Anytime they seemed to get a night off, everyone disappeared early to grab some much-deprived shut-eye. Though tonight, Lexi had other plans.

She went down her mental checklist by the front door making sure she had everything she needed to protect herself from any possible danger. After going over the list for the third time, she patted herself down to reassure herself that she had her knives on her.

As she began to stand back up from checking her weapons, a loud thud echoed into the house as one of her books fell from the bag she had on her back. She closed her eyes, hoping that no one had heard her. She swore she had zipped it completely.

She grudgingly took the bag off her back and put the book back within, sighing to herself, “It seems like we are in the clear, Zuko.” She felt her friend move slightly in her pocket in response, not feeling as though he needed to truly speak with her. She zipped the bag back up, making sure that there was no way she would lose an item out of it again.

“What are you doing?” A feminine voice spoke, her eyes locking with Lexi as she made it to the bottom of the stairs. Lexi jumped, placing a hand on her chest to soothe her beating heart.

“I uhm… I…” Lexi stuttered over her words, not expecting anyone to be up to catch her.

“I could go back up those stairs and knock on Yoongi’s door. Don’t tempt me.” Kaitlyn said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the eldest’s location. Lexi shook her head, not wanting to hear the lecture she would receive if she did.

“I found a way to help the feral vampire we ran into last night.” Lexi kept her voice down, hoping it wouldn’t travel upstairs and wake the others.

Even in the darkness, she could see the way Kaitlyn’s eyes widened in surprise, “And you were going to go there alone? Oh hell no. I’m coming with you.”

“It might be dangerous,” Lexi responded, stopping the girl as she went to grab her jacket that was hanging by the door.

“Lex, every day of our lives is dangerous, which is why I’m coming with you,” Kaitlyn responded, continuing to grab her jacket off the wall, “If you don’t let me come, I’ll just follow you like I do when Jungkook tries to go off on his own. Besides, I wouldn’t be sleeping anyways.”

“Okay fine, but we need to stay quiet.” Lexi put a sole finger up to her lips to signify her words. Kaitlyn.

Suddenly, the two looked up hearing the sound of someone quickly descending the stairs. They locked eyes with Yeonjun, who stopped going down as he realized the other two were there. He cocked his head to the side in confusion, “Uh, what are you two doing?”

“Uhm… a hunting thing?” Kaitlyn mumbled out a reply, scratching at her arm softly. She then looked up at him cocking an eyebrow up at him, “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I was gonna go to the gym.” Yeonjun shrugged, stepping closer, “But whatever the two of you seem to be doing sounds way more interesting. I take it that the others don’t know you’re doing this huh?”

“What gave you that idea?” Lexi asked, with slight sarcasm in her voice, “Was it the sneaking around or the whispering?”

“Then what are you doing?” Yeonjun questioned again, “It’s got to be something questionable if you are hiding it from the other two.”

“I think I found a way to help the feral vampire go back to normal.” Lexi looked into his eyes, assuring him she wasn’t kidding.

“Are you serious?” Yeonjun asked, with disbelief in his voice, “I didn’t think that existed.”

“Join the club,” Lexi responded, sighing at the amount of questioning she hadn’t been prepared for tonight.

“Alright,” Yeonjun said, descending the rest of the stairs to grab his own jacket from one of the hooks, “Let’s get going if we are going to save that woman.”

“Wait, what?” Lexi looked at the newcomer, “You want to join us?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re the one who said that we are all in this together, right?” Yeonjun inserted his bronze dagger into the loose holster attached to his belt.

“Right.” Lexi nodded in agreement, “Let’s go.”

She didn’t wait for them before she opened the door and left quietly. The other two quickly followed. Both of them moved just as quietly. The three didn’t say a word until they were far enough away from the house to not wake the other two.

“How did you find this cure?” Kaitlyn couldn’t help but ask, the questions burning in her mind.

“I managed to get some reading in at school. I took some of my books with me and found it.” Lexi internally apologized for lying to the girl, but she knew she couldn’t just say, Oh, I’m friends with a vampire and they told me.

Kaitlyn nodded as silence encompassed them again.

“I- I didn’t think you would go this far out of your way for a creature like her,” Yeonjun suddenly spoke, genuine surprise evident in his voice. He stared at the familiar path they had taken the previous night. The trees all looked the same along with the damage from the prior night.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Lexi asked him wondering why he had such a bad perception of them as a group, “Just because something isn’t human doesn’t mean it deserves to die, especially if they want to be changed back and helped..”

Yeonjun only nodded in response and pulled out his phone. His eyes went wide at the glowing screen as he quickly tried to adjust to the new brightness. His fingers moved at an alarming rate before tucking the device back into his pocket.

“Everything alright?” Lexi questioned him.

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Yeonjun spoke softly before they all came to a halt in the space they fought in before.

“Now where do we go?” Kaitlyn asked, searching for any sign to indicate where they had gone after they left them there. Sadly, the footprints from the before had long vanished from additional snowfall and from the woodland animals that moved through the area.

‘Hello?!” Lexi yelled into the distance. This may not have been the best idea, but it was the only one she had, “We have some information that may help!”

Yeonjun and Kaitlyn both pulled out their knives. The chance of having a completely different visitor was highly likely. They were screaming into the best cover most monsters had.

A snap of a stick was heard somewhere off to the group's right. Lexi closed her eyes and recited a spell in her mind, hoping it would work. Before she even left her room, she had searched and found this spell. She made sure to memorize it just in case.

The feral vampire showed her face, stepping further into the light the moon emitted. “Come back to play?”

A sickening laugh erupted out of the woman as her eyes turned red. She stepped closer, soon a frown covered the evil smile that was on her face.

Soon fear filled her gaze, eyes flickering between all three of them. “WHY CAN’T I CONTROL YOU?”

The woman let out an inhuman screech as she kept attempting to take control of someone within the group. Though each time her eyes turned the intimidating shade of red she never once gained control.

Kaitlyn and Lexi locked eyes, silent confirmation as to what just happened.

“Where’s your sister?” Yeonjun took a step forward towards where the feral emerged from. The woman screeched again, lowering herself as if to pounce on him since she couldn’t use her powers.

Before another move was made, another stick snapped behind them. Yeonjun quickly spun around as another creature appeared in the ring. Another sickening creature came into view. It looked like a man but lacked hair. The thing was grossly thin and had a foul stench that followed it. Its eyes were green and it looked almost dead. Blood stained the thing’s bottom lip, though this creature was far from a vampire. It seemed as if his entire being was decaying before their eyes.

A scream from the feral vampire drew their attention just to see her running at the group. With quick reflexes, they separated in an instant, all sides on guard as a new creature came into the ring.

“Great one drinks blood and the other eats flesh. Don’t let either get too close!” Kaitlyn shouted, dodging the oncoming attacks of the feral vampire targeting her.

With her uncontrollable anger over the fact she couldn’t control some humans caused her moves to be very staggered and unbalanced, making it easier for Kaitlyn to dodge, even in her tired state.

“You really shouldn’t have yelled like that, now we have a ghoul on us,” Yeonjun growled, kicking the creature away from them. Though it was on the brink of death already, when it came to getting their food, ghouls were insatiably fast.

“Did you have a better plan?” Lexi shouted back, doing her best to keep the monster at bay, using her knives to try and slow the ghoul down to no avail. Every time the knives pierced its skin it seemed to only get faster. “We need to cut off its head!”

“I’m way ahead of you!” Yeonjun growled, jumping on the things back as it started to run towards Kaitlyn. It seemed almost braindead, the only thing it could think of was food. It didn’t matter where it came from.

Kaitlyn felt her steps begin to falter as the vampire relentlessly attacked. With one final act, Kaitlyn grabbed the vampire's arm as she lunged forward and threw her into the tree nearby.

A loud thump and the peeling of skin broke through the silent forest. Yeonjun released heavy breaths as he threw his lighter on the creature and its decapitated body. A warm glow slowly melted the snow.

Another scream erupted as the vampire ran at the group again, malice in her eyes. Lexi quickly moved forward and grabbed one of her arms, throwing her to the ground, pinning her there.

“God dammit we are trying to help you! Now, where is your sister!?’ Lexi growled, twisting her arm

“Enough!,” A new but familiar voice announced, causing the hunters to look up. Lexi slowly stood up, letting the girl go. The elder sister’s eyes glowed red as she spoke to the feral “I told you to stop.”. The younger of the two’s faces relaxed as she removed her face from the snow and stood next to her sister. Once she had the youngest under control, she looked at the hunters, “I swear she hasn’t killed anyone. I’ve kept her near since you left. I know right now it seems bad but-.”

“That isn’t why we are here,” Kaitlyn spoke softly, cutting the girl off. The older of the two stared at Kaitlyn, a confused look graced her features.

“We found a way to turn her back to normal. Well, a normal vampire.” Yeonjun continued, lightly pushing Lexi forward since he didn’t know any of the details.

“I’m not sure if it will work, but I believe that a feral vampire, like your sister, can be changed back if they drink the blood of the one who turned them,” Lexi said, finally meeting the vampire's eyes, “I know that might be hard if you don’t know who turned her, but it’s the only information I have.”

The vampire’s eyes went wide and teary-eyed, “That’s all that needs to be done? Really?” a smile formed on her face as she processed the girl’s words.

“Yes, that’s all. If you need more help please, tell us. Believe it or not, we are kind of good at the whole finding-a-vampire thing,” Kaitlyn responded, the corner of her mouth turning up at the offer she put out.

“No, you guys don’t understand,” The woman responded as she wiped a few stray tears away, “I- I was actually the one to change her. If what you said is true, I could actually save her?”

“There is only one way to find out,” Lexi said, a small smile falling on her lips.

The woman turned to her sister and sighed, “I need you to bite my arm.”

The feral vampire scrunched her nose, “Why when there are perfectly good… bodies over there?”

“Damn it, Audrey,” The older one snapped, eyes turning red in the process, “I said, bite my arm!”

Much to the other’s dismay, she couldn’t fight the words her sister demanded. Audrey’s fangs lengthened as she proceeded to bite down on her sister’s limb. After about a minute of her drinking away, Audrey detached herself from her sister.

Everyone watched as the sunken look on her face seemed to have gone back to how she must have looked before her descent into becoming dehumanized. She seemed to struggle to stand and she fell backwards into the freshly-fallen snow. Her body twitched in the snow, neck outstretched.

The involuntary movements finally stopped as she laid in the snow, unmoving. Everyone jumped as she sat up straight, her eyes taking in her surroundings, “What happened?”

Her eyes grew wide as she took in the three hunters standing a few feet away from her and her sister. She pushed herself farther away from them, kicking snow up in the process as fear flashed through her eyes.

“Audrey, calm down. They’re the ones who saved you.” Her sister collapsed to her knees and hugged the girl, holding her tight.

“Save me? From what? I’m sorry I can’t remember?” The confusion was evident in her voice and her facial features as she looked between the three strangers.

“That part doesn’t matter right now. I’m sure your sister can talk to you about that later.” Kaitlyn reassured as she watched the familial exchange.

“Thank you guys, really. If you ever need anything you know where I am.” She rose to her feet, helping her sister up as well.

“Take care, okay?” Lexi said, locking eyes with the woman holding her sister, “I never did catch your name.”

“Elise,” She answered with a small nod, “Thank you so much. We are indebted to you.”

With those final words, they disappeared as if they were never there, to begin with. The hunters just stood in the clearing taking in what they had just done. Somehow, they literally did what they all thought had been impossible. This was probably the most rewarded any of them had felt after a so-called hunt.

“I could use some sleep.” Kaitlyn couldn’t help but joke at her pain, earning an eye roll from Lexi.

“As I’ve said before, melatonin gummies.” Yeonjun chuckled softly as they trudged through the snow, following their own footsteps back to where they came from.

It was a silent walk home, the only sound being from Yeonjun tapping on his phone one last time.

“Are you still going to the gym? Lexi asked, their home in view. She slowly stopped and turned towards him, causing Kaitlyn to stop as well.

Yeonjun finally tore his eyes away from his phone and to the two girls., “Oh yeah…” He couldn’t help but stare off into space, biting at his lip. It was as if he was having his own internal conflict with himself.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Kaitlyn looked at him as well, “You need sleep like the rest of us.”

“I know. I think I’ll go. If I stop now, I won’t have the motivation to go anymore.” He spoke so softly that the other two could barely hear it, still lost in his mind. A small smile finally took over his features, “You two get some rest. Well at least try to.”

He took a few steps backwards putting more space between the girls and himself. An awkward smile fell on his face as he scratched the back of his neck. He then used that hand to wave towards them. They both gave an exhausted wave back.

“Be safe!” Kaitlyn called out to him.

“Yeah! Call if you need our help!” Lexi chuckled back. The girls spun around and made small talk as they made their way back to the house.

Yeonjun let his smile falter as he made sure they got back. He turned around and began walking away, gnawing at his bottom lip again. Silent curses left his mouth as he fretted on, “I don’t know if I can do this anymore.”

Chapter Text

“Looks like we’re here.” Lexi mumbled, staring at the massive building in front of her.

It seemed to be old, judging by the architecture of the place. It looked like a castle from a storybook or possibly a church from the 14th century. The ashy cobblestone that served as the main structure of the building seemed almost dulled as if it could have been a richer color in its prime. The stained glass windows that littered the palace were still vibrant, even more so placed next to the bricks. Two towers sat on either side of the main entrance, resembling some sort of hideaway for royalty from a fairytale. The towers stood tall as if Rapunzel lived there herself, her hair being the only access to the tower’s entrance. But this wasn’t some fairytale.

The sun was hidden beyond the dark clouds as a light snow cascaded from the sky adding to the already breathtaking sight. The snowflakes swirled around, coating the building, ground, and landing upon the six people standing in front of the building.

“How did I not know we had an art museum?” Kaitlyn spoke, still in awe at the outside of the building.

“We don’t get out much, remember?” Yoongi spoke, observing the area surrounding the museum. Trees surrounded the building besides the lone path cars used to arrive and depart from this place. Though it seemed far off from the main road, people still managed to find their way. Amongst the crowd of mostly families, some college students seemed to be scattered about most likely doing the same project they were tasked to do.

“I’m surprised you even came, Yeonjun. Don’t you have a gym to be at?” Jungkook smirked at the youngest of the three men.

Yeonjun seemed startled for a moment at the sudden comment thrown his way. It took him a minute to regain his composure and respond, “Oh yeah… I forgot to tell you guys I decided I’m not going anymore. I haven’t gone for a few days now.”

“Really? How come? You seemed super into it.” Lexi questioned him. Just over a week ago, the night when they saved the vampire, he had gone, but something had changed. He was so unsure and seemed to be contemplating with himself, but he seemed sure of his decision now.

“Why go to a gym when our entire life is a workout.” Yeonjun couldn’t help the chuckle that fell from his lips.

“You got that right.” Kaitlyn couldn't help but join in, “I was wondering how long it would take before you stopped going.”

“Alright, let’s hurry so we can get this assignment done. ” Lexi smiled at Yuri, “We don’t get out much, and frankly, I don’t want to spend the whole time doing homework.”

The six walked in and came to a halt as soon as they entered. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. There were two sets of cast iron staircases where each of the towers seemed to be located. Both leading upwards within the building, most likely to each of the different floors. Painting, sculptures, and interactive exhibits were scattered about, having their own distinct sections.

“Is this what most art museums look like?” Yeonjun questioned as his eyes scanned the area, spinning slowly on his feet to take in the full view. Kaitlyn watched as his eyes lit up with such a childlike gleam which made the corners of her mouth twitch upward.

“I wish I could give you an answer to that.” Kaitlyn responded, a small chuckle falling from her lips.

“Well, I’ve been in many museums, but this one is really lavish compared to some. I’d say Paris holds the best though.” A new voice emerged from the entrance doors.

“Why are you here?” Lexi groaned as her eyes locked with the man.

Yuri peaked at the girl next to her as a small giggle escaped her mouth. The endless bickering between the two had become quite entertaining to the small girl, regardless of what the creature did before.

“Oh come on, I couldn’t let you guys have fun without me. Plus, Jungkook invited me.” The familiar smirk formed on Jimin’s lips as he walked in further, faking a shiver from the cool air outside. In all his years of living, he was able to master the art of acting.

Lexi couldn’t stop her eyes from narrowing at the show in front of her, “Let’s just go.”

Jimin smirked at the mild irritation he was able to invoke before he watched Lexi grab Yuri and drag her off. It was like a secret reward only he could truly appreciate and the fact he could feel it made it even more rewarding.

The project was relatively easy to complete since it was solely about finding pieces of artwork and describing their thoughts on them. There had been multiple exhibits in which they could have done their project upon. Lexi opted for one of the interactive exhibits whereas Yuri seemed to find one of the paintings quite fascinating.

The two had finally finished their assignments when Yeonjun urged everyone to head up the stairs off the main floor. The group obliged, and they found themselves ascending the spiral staircase and away from the main floor. A few floors passed before something caught their eye.

The group found a sectioned off area away from the other art exhibits. Just from looking within from the doorway, the mass amounts of marble that was scattered through this entire room could draw anyone’s attention.

“Are they real?” Kaitlyn mumbled, eyes finding the sign that laid above the entrance to the room. She looked over at Yoongi who also seemed to find the exhibit’s name concerning.

Without much thought, they entered the exhibit. As they approached, the unrecognizable figures made of stone became uncomfortably familiar. The room wasn’t just random old sculptures that anyone would see within a museum, but these took the forms of foes they’ve faced before. Nightmares come to life.

Lexi wandered inward, weaving in and out of the monsters. Her eyes landed on a man's figure face scrunched up as if she was caught hissing at a threat. Her eyes focused on the elongated canines that stuck out of her mouth.

“You know, it’s quite accurate,” Jimin said, poking his finger against the fang of the creature, interest evident within his eyes, “I wonder…”

“What do you mean by that?” Lexi asked, scrunching her face in concern, but instead of answering, he disappeared within the marble, seeming to be on his own quest for answers he, for once, didn’t have.

Yuri couldn’t help but wander to one statue. The fur that cascaded down its body, the ears that were on high alert, the teeth that could pierce through flesh and bone, and, finally, the size. It was as if the sculptor knew exactly what a werewolf looked like down to every small detail.

“Ugly things in my opinion.” Yuri jumped at the voice next to her and quickly stepped away from the man. Jimin stood sporting his signature smirk as he stared at the statue before them.

“I’d have to disagree with you there.” A new voice growled, causing Yuri to jump again.

“You can’t let her go anywhere can you, guard dog?” Jimin turned his full attention to the man that stood behind Yuri. She finally turned around and came face to face with Taehyung, though she knew it was him based on his voice alone.

“W-what are you doing here?” Yuri asked, her body still on high alert from how many people continued to sneak up on her.

“We are in the same art class, remember?” Taehyung chuckled, gently ruffling the blonde's hair up. Yuri froze in response, unsure of how to respond. Too much was going on at the same time.

“Gross, get a room.” Jimin’s smirk fell and was replaced with a look of disgust. There was just something about the way the mutt looked at her that made his stomach churn in disgust.

“Why don’t you get lost?” Taehyung glared at the man as he took a step closer. Jimin always tried to bring out the worst in him and, for the most part, he usually succeeded. Though Jimin was quick to get under Taehyung’s skin, Taehyung knew exactly what buttons to press to make him just as bad.

“Me? I was invited, you weren’t. Why don’t you get lost?” Jimin followed in Taehyung’s footsteps and got closer to him.

“That is enough!” Lexi growled, grabbing both of them by their ears, both the men bent down to her level in response, wanting the pain to stop, “If you two keep this up, I will personally beat you both to a pulp. Act normal for once, especially around the others.”

The two men peered out of the corner of their eyes at the brunette as her angered whisper came to an end. Her eyes were thinned into a glare and dark with a deeper threat she didn’t manage to voice. Jimin, attempted to detach her hand from his lobe only for her to yank his ear harder, causing him to bend down lower than before.

They didn’t have much of a chance to resolve the issue any more than they had before the silence of the museum was broken by a blood curdling shriek. Lexi felt the blood drain from her face at the sound before allowing her arms to drop from their ears. Before she could even turn around, she was shoved forward from the chaos that erupted around them. She didn’t meet the floor though because both men she had just been disciplining caught her mid fall.

It only took a matter of seconds for the rest of the group to find the other four. All of them locked eyes before running towards the origin of the scream in hopes to figure out what the hell was happening.

A body was on the ground, blood slowly pooling on the white tile around them. An older woman seemed to be the victim, her neck was the obvious the source of the gruesome scene. A man kneeled on the ground next to the poor woman’s body, his clothes becoming just as stained with blood as his wife’s white shirt. He cradled her on his lap protectively as he stared at the person standing above them. He shook his head quickly in disbelief, his crying becoming more frantic. In front of him stood a complete replica of the dead woman in his arms. Not only did she sport the same face, but the clothes were identical as well.

“Poor baby… Can’t handle seeing me like this?” The woman howled in laughter, “You’re going crazy aren’t you?”

“You aren’t my wife! Who are you!?” The man cried, he used his hands and feet to crawl backwards the best he could with the body of his wife still in his arms, wanting to get space from the woman before him.

Screams echoed as some watched the scene in front of them unfold, while many others chose to run before they were next. The marble sculptures began to topple over and shatter as the mass of visitors attempted to escape the bloody sight. Though, not everyone was lucky to avoid the falling pieces of stone and in turn succumbed to the same fate as the poor lady on the floor.

As the sea of frantic visitors started to thin out, the building began to shake. It was as if something was shaking the entire building or the biggest earthquake in history had just begun. As much as everyone wished it just some coincidence, the timing made them think otherwise.

“Look out!” Lexi screamed at the others in front of her. While the shaking building had distracted them, it caused the glass ceiling above them to shatter. The group split amidst the chaos in an attempt to avoid the falling glass fragments that began to rain from the sky.

As Jungkook dodged the falling glass he couldn’t take his eyes off the crazed woman tormenting the man. He watched as she moved out of the way to avoid the glass falling, but the man wasn’t so lucky. Not an inch of him seemed to escape without glass penetrating his skin. The only place he was safe was the area his dead wife was covering. His screams of pain echoed louder than the shattering glass hitting the floor. The woman laughed as the rain came to an end and she moved closer to the man. She reached down and touched the poor man’s face, caressing it softly as she skimmed over the shards of glass. Each one she touched inflicted more pain upon him. Without a second thought, the woman plunged a knife into his chest ending his life.

Jungkook ran forward but froze when the woman turned around. The blade she used to stab the man was over her tongue, cleaning off the blood that dripped from the blade. He watched as a black smoke surrounded her body and red tendrils slunk around the girl's exposed skin and garments. There was a sickening sound, almost like a peeling of skin from flesh. He could see the way her skin bubbled and shifted despite his view being obscured from the fog that surrounded her. Only when the smoke began to dissipate was when Jungkoook noticed the teeth that had fallen to the ground. When the whirlwind of black smoke dissipated, instead of a woman, he saw the man she just killed stood in its place. He looked between both versions of the man and they were identical, right down to the clothes they wore.

“Jungkook, we have to go!” Kaitlyn yelled, but Jungkook was stuck in a trance having never seen a shifter change in front of him before, but this one also managed to change its clothes as well, a power a shifter shouldn’t have. There were only a few ways that something that wasn't born with magical abilities could obtain the skill and this shifter made it painfully obvious which it had chosen. He felt his body being pushed to the side before a crash sounded and bits of marble flew in every direction. Jungkook quickly locked eyes with who pushed him out of the way, only to see Yeonjun.

“Focus!” Yeonjun yelled at him getting up. Blood trickled down his legs and hands from knocking Jungkook out of the way.

Jungkook quickly stood too and turned back to look for the shapeshifter, but they were gone. He looked at the others but only saw Yoongi and Kaitlyn.

“Where are the others?!” Kaitlyn shouted, frantically searching amongst the rubble that littered the ground. Amongst the chaos, a large hole had formed down the center of the floor splitting the room in two.

Yoongi scanned the area concerned as to where the other half of them had gone. Best case, they were alive. Worst case, well, they could be dead or amongst the rubble a floor down if they hadn’t been fast enough to evade the floor that just caved in. It didn’t take long for his eyes to zero in on a group huddled under a half fallen wall which shielded them from the falling debris.

Yeonjun caught Yoongi’s eyes and followed them, feeling relieved as well, “Hey! Are you guys okay?”

Lexi coughed slowly, rising her feet. The side of her face felt wet, and her head hurt slightly, she pulled out a sole piece of glass that found its way into her head. She was just thankful it wasn’t too big. She let the piece of glass clatter to the ground as she turned her attention to the others. Yuri seemed to have quite a few scrapes and cuts from the marble and glass, but nothing life threatening. Taehyung seemed to be sporting the same injuries but as she looked him over, she started to see the injuries mend themselves in front of her eyes. Taehyung shifted uncomfortably under her glance knowing that she could see his healing factor kick in. As for Jimin, she knew he had to be alright since she didn’t feel any phantom pains, but one quick glance proved that he was in pristine condition; his head was down but there were no wounds in sight. She gently touched her pocket, wanting to make sure Zuko was okay. She sighed in relief feeling the dragon shift slightly in her pocket.

I’m okay, but that fall took a number on me, especially at this size.

She knew it was him by the distinct voice that echoed in her mind, “Get some sleep.” She whispered softly before turning towards the others across the building.

“Yeah! Minor scrapes but we are all okay!” Lexi moved closer to the others, but the ground crumbling ahead of her stopped her advances, “Are you guys okay?”

The group looked amongst each other, surveying everyone else’s injuries before their own. Yeonjun’s hands were full of his own blood from catching himself on the glass ridden floor, along with some cuts and scrapes scattered along his body. Jungkook somehow managed to avoid any major damage despite him becoming distracted; his main injury being a large cut along his cheek that continued to bleed. Kaitlyn had a few cuts along her face which bled more than they should have, but would be fine. Yoongi escaped with just a cut arm where a larger piece of glass had found purchase, yet it didn’t manage to hit any major vein. He just pulled it out without much thought.

“Nothing we can’t manage!” Yoongi shouted back, turning his attention back to the group across the room.

Jungkook shuffled uncomfortably as he stared at the large hole separating them from the others. Yoongi noticed his behavior, finding it quiet suspicious. He walked towards Jungkook making it a point to move in front of his gaze, “What is it?”

Jungkook sighed before responding to the eldest, “There’s a shifter.”

Those three words made Yoongi realize exactly what was wrong with Jungkook and why he had become so distracted. He tore his eyes away from Jungkook and glanced at the others across the gap. They seemed to be trying to figure out a way to get down from the floor without having to jump a story down. He then looked back at Jungkook, “Are you sure?”

“I watched it shift Yoongi,” Jungkook shuddered, eyes landing back on him, “This one likes the taste of blood it seems. I think it's dabbling in blood magic.”

Yoongi shook his head knowing damn well Jungkook wouldn’t let this go, “Alright, we search the premises for any sign of the shifter but we have to move fast. This building doesn’t have much longer before it collapses.”

Jungkook only nodded before going over to the other two and telling them every detail of what he saw and what the plan was next.

“You guys need to find a way out! We have something to take care of but we will meet you outside!” Yoongi yelled back.

Lexi nodded in response and looked back at the others still on the ground. She knew what they meant by ‘having something to take care of’ and she only wished she could join them in their escapade. None of what happened while they were at the museum was natural, some sort of creature had to be behind it and they seemed to know what. Instead, she focused on the other three doing her best to keep a level head, especially since two of them didn’t have the ability to have an actual conversation with one another.

Taehyung was the first to stand up. He brushed off the dust that accumulated on his pants before helping Yuri to her feet as well. She frowned when her eyes went to Jimin. His head stayed down as his body trembled and his nails dug into his throat.

Lexi’s body moved before her, “Jimin, what’s wrong?”

Lexi felt panic set in and she wasn’t too sure if it was his emotions, hers, or a mixture of the two. Suddenly, she felt a burning sensation begin to ripple down her throat. Her eyes widened at the foreign feeling and she reached for her throat.

Jimin whipped his head up, red eyes meeting her blue ones. His neck was beginning to turn red from the irritation from how hard he was scratching at it. At that moment, Lexi realized what exactly was happening. There was so much blood amongst the rubble and dripping from the wounds they had received. He was losing his control.

“Oh shit.” Lexi whispered, her voice coming out more raspy and dry than moments before. Jimin frantically began to push himself away from the three of them, eyes darting in every direction as if he was looking for the easiest source.

Everywhere he looked he could only see blood. The scent was so strong he could feel himself losing grip with his logical side. His instinct to kill was becoming far more than he could handle. He stopped scratching when he finally looked at Lexi again. He couldn’t turn away from the blood that slowly seeped down her cheek and onto the floor.

“So… thirsty…” Jimin’s voice was hoarse like he hasn’t had a drink in months. He reached out slightly though he forced himself to put his arm back down; his hand shaking uncontrollably as he fought nature.

Lexi looked around frantically knowing how this might turn out if he didn’t sink his teeth into something. Her eyes landed on one of the poor souls who died to the falling marble statues. She hurriedly pushed the large rock off of the body. She locked eyes with Jimin, “She’s not going to be needing her blood anymore, don’t you think?”

Jimin timidly began to crawl over to the body which seemed almost unrecognizable as a person. The face had been crushed in by the heavy stone so much so, the police would need to use fingerprints to identify the poor woman. None of that seemed to matter to him at that moment though.

Jimin didn’t waste a second, sinking his teeth into the person’s wrist. His trembling seemed to slow as he began to regain his composure and clarity. Only a minute had passed before he pulled his lips away from the person, his work as clean as always with their only being the two small puncture wounds viable. Jimin rose to his feet slowly and looked at Lexi who couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the blood smeared on his face.

“You okay now?” Lexi asked him as he used the sleeve of his black shirt to wipe his mouth. He only nodded silently and went back towards Taehyung and Yuri.

Yuri shied away slightly as he returned though Jimin didn’t even bother to pay her a glance. He was too preoccupied with how humiliated he was with them seeing him so vulnerable. It wasn’t like him to lose his cool like he had but with all the recent attacks on the humans, much like the one they were currently in, he hadn’t been able to hunt very often.

“We need to figure a way out of here.” Taehyung sighed, being the first to break the awkward silence that had fallen amongst the group. He took a few steps forward and looked down at the opening in the floor. He let out a deep breath before backing away from the hole, seeing how easy it was breaking.

Lexi ran her fingers through her hair out of frustration as she scanned the room. The way downwards was blocked by falling debris, but the cast iron staircase seemed to still be mostly intact. The lower half of the stairs seemed to match everything else, broken and in pieces, but everything seemed to be in one piece going up the spire.

“Let’s try this way. It may be connected to another exit.” Lexi decided when she finished scanning the area. It was either they embark down the dark hole in the floor, hoping the exit would be unblocked or go up and hope there was another way down.

The group trudged up the never-ending staircase, the winding steps making them dizzy in the process. After what felt like ages, they reached the top of the tower. The stairs led to a grand room that seemed to be based on a fairy tale. The bed was big enough to fit three people and had many books scattered throughout the chamber. It was dark, the only light was provided by the setting sun through the stained-glass windows. It was as if no one had bothered to remove the old furniture from whatever the building was before it became an art museum; a room caught in time.

“Let’s look around.” Lexi broke the silence. The group had just been standing in place. Yuri had been too nervous to say anything while Taehyung and Jimin glared at each other, “Maybe we can find a secret exit.”

The group split up and searched every corner of the room hoping to find an exit, or at least another area they could try to escape from. The building shook beneath them which caused more books to fall from the shelves they had been placed on. More yelling echoed into the tower from the outside world. The search became more frantic as they were running out of time.

“Hey guys I think I-” another scream cut off whoever was talking and made the group go still. This scream was close, too close. It sounded like it came from the same room as them.

Jimin felt a sharp pain spread through the back of his neck. It was as if someone pressed a branding tool to his skin. The feeling alone made him realize who the scream had come from.

Lexi fell to the floor clutching the back of her neck as the burn radiated from her neck to the rest of her body. The amount of pain she endured everyday and this is the first time in a long time she had ever screamed so loud. She tried to hold them back, but this time she couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her face as the feeling grew stronger.

“What happened?!” Yuri rushed over to help her up. Once Lexi was on her feet, Yuri moved her to the window, their only source of light, wanting to make sure she was okay.

The commotion outside seemed to dissipate within the time they had been up there. The survivors must not have wanted to stick around and become unrecognizable, lifeless bodies. Lexi found some relief in that some people made it out alive, but she just hoped that her family would as well. She took a deep breath as she finally managed to remove her hands from her neck. She needed to know what the hell just happened.

“Yuri, tell me what you see,” She requested, moving her hair out of the way. A soft gasp escaped Yuri as she looked at the back of her friend's neck. There was an insignia of some sort, glaring at her as if it was a blazing fire.

“I’m not sure,” Yuri mumbled, feeling guilty for not knowing more. She was still too new to the hunting life, she didn’t have answers.

Lexi gripped the back of her neck feeling the heat become more intense. “Fuck! Make it stop!”

She didn’t know what had happened, but the next thing she knew she had been shoved into the wall. The pain she felt from colliding with the wall disappeared when the sound of the window shattered. Just as quickly as she was pushed, she turned around only to see Yuri was nowhere in sight.

Jimin and Taehyung, though a good distance from the window, reacted almost too fast. As he fought off the shared pain from Lexi colliding with the wall on top of the thing on her neck, Jimin managed to run to the window before the other two even stood a chance. He forced himself to use all his concentration to make Yuri freeze in the air mid-fall. He could count on his fingers how many times he had used his powers to manipulate a person, and he was just lucky enough this time that it had worked. His telekinesis didn’t like to manipulate living beings.

“What are you waiting for? Fucking grab her!” Jimin yelled back to Taehyung, knowing he couldn’t hold her for long, “It’s not like I make small blonde girls float on a daily basis.”

Taehyung looked out the window to see Yuri stilled within the air, too far down to just reach out and grab but too far up to allow to fall to the ground. He rolled his neck and closed his eyes as his wolf itched to come out.

“There’s a trap door by the bed! Hurry! I found it right when I got burned.” Lexi yelled to him. Taehyung snapped out of his internal conflict as the words fumbled from her mouth. He quickly sprang into action and slipped through the hatch.

Lexi finally rose to her feet just to come face to face with a monster she’s never seen before. The thing was floating a few feet above her. It seemed to have no lower half as the bottom of the cloak floated a few feet above the ground. The hood covered every aspect of its face. The only body part she could see was the skeletal-like hand that was reaching towards her. It almost resembled a floating grim reaper.

The second she heard the trap door slam she let her eyes change icy blue and flung the scattered books at the creature from every direction she could manage, both fear and anger controlled her at this point.

It was enough to distract the creature momentarily as she took the chance to run to the window where Jimin stood. His arms were outstretched as he poured all his concentration into keeping her body afloat long enough for the dog to retrieve her. She was far more cut up than before as new glass wounds from the window scattered down her body. She also seemed to have a new, large cut on her forehead. Her eyes were closed but she was still breathing.

Lexi felt squirming in her pocket and shook her head covering it, “Not right now.” She thought before she quickly turned back to the creature, enraged.

“It’s not very nice to attack people like this.” She growled, pulling out her knife and stepping closer to it.

The thing let out a sickening screech and flew forward towards the girl. Lexi dodged the attack, letting her knives fly at the creature. She smirked seeing one land perfectly in its chest.

That smirk slowly faded as the creature simply pulled it out and continued its advances and flew at her. Lexi did her best to dodge the oncoming blows trying to figure out what she should do. She threw a few punches at the creature to buy her some time to come up with a plan. It worked the first time. The second time, the creature caught her wrist and threw her at the bookshelf in the corner.

Meanwhile, Jimin did his best to keep his concentration on Yuri, but he was beginning to lose his grip on her. She had fallen a little farther but he managed to stop her again. He had to stay there. He knew Lexi could handle it for just a little while longer.

“Fucking hell. Hurry up you dumb mutt!” Jimin couldn’t help but growl, lowly. The burning on his neck intensified making it hard for him to breathe. He gasped for air even though he truly didn’t need to. He hadn’t felt this starved for air since… well… since he died. He then noticed that Taehyung had stumbled into view. A sigh of relief managed to fall from his lips as he allowed Yuri to fall into the mutt’s arms.

He broke his focus and turned to see the monster holding Lexi up by her neck. He knew exactly what this thing was and its dangers, though he only heard stories. He never witnessed one in action himself. He felt his humanity dull as his eyes burned red and his canines elongated. He ran towards the human-like creature and grabbed it where its head should be under the hood of the cloak and twisted it with a loud crack. The creature crashed downward into the stone below causing Lexi to shuffle back in surprise as she struggled to breath now that her throat wasn’t being crushed.

Lexi gripped her throat, breathing heavily. Her near death experience answered her questions as she finally realized what this creature was. She had only heard stories about these creatures, and not from the hunters. Her mother used to mention these nightmares to her when she was a young child as a warning not to dabble in dark magic.

Wraiths, as her mother seemed to put it, were death bringers. They generally don’t spend time in this plane of existence, but come forth when a summoner asks for its assistance. Once given a target, they don’t stop until they pull its target's soul into a realm far worse than hell.

“How do we kill this thing!?” Lexi shouted to Jimin, letting more books fly from the shelves at the creature. She was only met with silence as Jimin let his own form of magic loose, making the glass shards rise from the ground and fly at the creature.

Lexi quickly dodged out of the way as the glass shards hit the wraith, though most seemed to miss as if the creature itself was in a place somewhere within this realm and the next.

“Jimin!” Lexi yelled again, “How do we kill it!?”

She stopped in her tracks seeing the fear in his eyes. It made her own heart race in fear and anticipation. The next words he said made her heart sink, “You can’t.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Jungkook was relentless with his search, making it his personal mission to murder the creature the next time he saw it. Not a single soul who knew his story would blame him, as shifters personally brought him so much misfortune.

Kaitlyn watched him frantically search, trying her best to keep up with him as she and the others trailed behind. She was nervous sincee he never seemed to be this attached to a kill before and she was afraid his own biases would cloud his judgment. If the building shook anymore than it had been, they’d have to exit and give up. She was afraid Jungkook wouldn’t follow.

Her body felt heavy as she followed the determined man. Her state of mind and body got worse with every passing day. Though she moved slowly, she helped Jungkook and searched the new disheveled room full of fallen paintings and ruptured marble.

“Jungkook, we need to leave. We can’t chase this thing down if we die ourselves.” Yeonjun let a sigh escape his lips as he aided Jungkook in his determined search. He had never seen Jungkook so uncontrollable and it made him nervous.

“I don’t take orders from you.” Jungkook growled back, throwing paintings aside as if the shapeshifter would be hiding under them.

Yoongi only sighed at the bickering, “We search a few more rooms. If we find nothing, we leave. Got it?”

Yoongi looked between the two boys before pushing past both and heading to another exhibit. This one looked strikingly similar to the last. Then again, each one was thoroughly destroyed.

They stopped searching as the building began to shake again. Unable to keep her balance, Kaitlyn fell to the floor, wincing in pain at the feeling of more glass becoming buried in her hand. As the shaking slowly came to an end, she stood back on her feet with unsteady legs.

“Is everyone okay?” She heard Yoongi shout from a distance. She heard a chorus of yes’s before adding her own weak ‘yes’ to the others.

“No more. We need to get out of here before this building collapses.” Yoongi spoke to the others. Whenever it came to a hunt, though it didn’t seem like it, safety was top priority.

“Come on! We are so close!” Jungkook bit back, his eyes darkening. This was what Kaitlyn had been worried about; him not wanting to leave.

“No Jungkook! We need to get out of here!” Yoongi stalked over to Jungkook, sending an angry look back to the younger man. Jungkook whipped around at the shorter man, a discarded painting in his hand. It tumbled off into the dark, clattering loudly from the force he used to throw it. Yoongi didn’t flinch as he stared right back into his eyes.

Kaitlyn sighed and turned around wondering how they would get out from here. Instead of an empty hall, she had come face to face with a knife. She was lucky her reflexes acted for her, the knife missed her by centimeters. If she wasn’t a hunter, that blade would be lodged in her forehead. The man who held the knife was much larger than her and made it easier to dodge.

After many desperate attempts from the man, she managed to grab his arm and twist the knife out of it. She smirked up at him but that faded as he slung her over his shoulder and ran.

She heard the others running after her by the glass crunching under their feet and words coming from their mouths that were more of the vulgar variety. She felt something wet against her hand before a vortex engulfed them. She tried to scream but the winds that whipped around them made it impossible to even breathe. The man who held her seemed to become shorter as they ran, the dark whirlwind continuing to follow them. They turned a sharp corner, and she was thrown down. She jumped to her feet only to be face to face with herself. It felt like she was looking in a mirror. The clothes, hair, even down to the cuts on her body were mimicked with the thing before her.

Jungkook was the first to burst through the door, eyes going wide. He looked between the two Kaitlyn’s unsure of who was who.

“What are you waiting for? Kill her!’ One shouted, stepping back from the other.

A different one’s eyes widened, “Kook, listen to me. That is the fake one. I’m the real me.”

“Oh shit.” Yeonjun whispered under his breath as he stumbled in, followed by Yoongi.

Jungkook visibly started shaking as he muttered incoherent words under his breath. It was clear he was in the midst of a mental breakdown.

“Ask questions! Shifters can only know short term memories and general knowledge of the person.” Yoongi stepped closer to them, glaring and seeing if one would break. Both girls looked at Yoongi with the same pleading eyes.

“Uhm.. What’s my favorite color?” Jungkook quickly asked, looking between the two.

“Black!” Both girls said in unison before shooting a glare at one another. It was almost sickening how the shifter was able to just become Kaitlyn with a single touch and no one could tell the difference.

“Make it harder, you idiot!” Yeonjun glared at Jungkook, “Have you never encountered a shifter before?”

“You fucking try then!” Jungkook retorted back, pushing him forward. Yeonjun let out a sigh and racked his brain for a question that might work. He’s dealt with these things many times before, but nothing like this had ever happened, “What did me, you, and Lexi go to do that night.”

The one on the left shifted uncomfortably, “You’re really putting me in a situation, Yeonjun.”

“Yeah, come on Yeonjun.” The right one said, shifting just as uncomfortable.

“Just answer the damn question.” He demanded of the two of them.

“We saved that vampire,” Both Kaitlyns muttered, both seemingly just as uncomfortable as before.

“You did what?!” Jungkook looked at Yeonjun and both Kaitlyns.

“Focus Jungkook!” One of them called, making him look at her.

“This should be easy since you know me.” The other called, making him shoot his head over in the other direction.

“Figure out something from long ago! Only you two can do that!” Yeonjun pressed as he looked at Jungkook and Yoongi.

Jungkook swallowed hard and looked at them. He wondered if this question was a far enough back memory that the shifter wouldn’t be able to recollect it. If the shifter did know, it wouldn’t be relying so heavily on mimicking Kaitlyn and more so in tormenting him with it.

“What killed my parents?"

His words came out broken and rough, as the uncomfortable question left his mouth. Both girls' mouths fell open at the question as it echoed into the silent room.

The one on the left walked forward a few steps, coming close enough for them to hear as she responded, “Shapeshifters.”

That was all the confirmation he needed. He didn’t waste a second to run at the shapeshifter and tackle it to the ground. It struggled beneath him as he hovered the knife above its chest. It quit struggling and looked at Jungkook.

“Are you really going to kill me Jungkook?” It pleaded, eyes beginning to pool with tears. All he could see was Kaitlyn beneath him and the knife. He closed his eyes as tears stung them, “I swear I’m not the shifter Jungkook. Please, please, don’t do this.”

“Kook,” He heard Kaitlyn’s voice behind him as he tried to tune out the pleas from the one below him, “It’s trying to distract you. That’s not me. I’m right here.”

He knew that he had the right one under him because it didn’t know the answer it should have, but it sounded so real. He let his eyes wander back and lock with the Kaitlyn standing further away from him. He could see the exhaustion in her face, the one aspect he didn’t notice because he was so freaked out. When he turned back, he looked at the one under him, she looked like Kaitlyn, but before all the nightmares. He tightened his grip on his knife, his knuckles turning white at the sensation before he finally plunged the knife into the being below him.

Its screams replaced the pleading as the imposter clawed at the knife in its chest. He took the knife out and stabbed downward again. The shifter, now realizing that its tactic wasn’t working, attempted to shift while under the large man. Jungkook watched as its skin began to bubble and hair began to fall out. It was beginning to look like a mix between both Kaitlyn and himself. He couldn't allow the shifter to morph into him and gain an advantage. He let out a low scream as if he was releasing all his pent up rage, as he drove the knife into the thing's chest over and over again.

The creature could only scream in pain until Jungkook finally stabbed its heart, letting it fall limp against the tile. Jungkook growled, “Fuck you.”

The group only watched as he pulled the knife from the shifter's chest. Yeonjun couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his spine at the thought of being on the receiving end of Jungkook's rage. The man was intimidating enough as is, but the way he stabbed this one over and over was terrifying to witness.

Jungkook stood, shaken up from the encounter. He wiped the blood off the knife onto the shifter's clothes before returning it back into his pocket. He stared at his hands, taking in how badly the shook. He squeezed his hands a few times, hoping the shaking would stop, but when they wouldn’t he opted to just shove them back into his jacket pockets.

“Let’s go.” He was emotionless when he spoke, joining the others. He was acting as if nothing had happened. The three just nodded as they tried to find the exit.

Kaitlyn lingered back slightly, falling in pace with Jungkook who seemed to still be distracted. It was rough seeing Jungkook stab her body double, so she could only imagine how it felt for him. She heard him sniffle softly and she sighed.

"Are you okay?" She asked, though she knew the answer already.

He flicked his messy hair out of his face as he shook his head, "I never thought I’d have to do that… again. Especially with you. Please never beg me like that again."

"I know, Kook. I’m sorry, but you know that wasn’t me," She reassured him, laying one of her hands on his arm as they walked. It was hard to tell, but his body was trembling slightly and his eyes were glistening every time they passed by a light source, "I know I'd never have to beg you, at the very least, for my life. Ever since you met me, you've kept me alive."

"I know," He mumbled, eyes scanning the surroundings for an exit and a distraction from the conversation.

Kaitlyn nodded before curiosity peaked her interest, "What changed back there? You just decided to stab it out of nowhere."

"Shifters gain knowledge and information from touching their targets and transforming into them," He began, and Kaitlyn nodded knowing that information as well, "But what shifters can't do is know how fragile the body they imitate is. It didn't yawn or stumble once because the shifter itself wasn't tired… Even the look in its eyes weren’t the same as yours."

"Oh," she mumbled, unsure how to truly react to this knowledge. She hadn't been aware of how much she had been showing her exhaustion and how much he had been paying attention to her for him to notice such a small detail.

They soon stumbled upon a wall that had a concave big enough to squeeze through. Yoongi and Yeonjun moved some more of the brick away for them to exit without much issues.

They searched around the collapsing building until they managed to find Taehyung holding an unconscious Yuri near the road. It was far enough away to keep her safe from the possible collapse.

“What happened!?” Yoongi ran over to Taehyung, looking around to see if he could find Lexi or Jimin in the process. Neither of them were anywhere to be seen.

Taehyung looked up reluctantly, like if he took his eyes off her for too long she’d disappear. His wolf was unable to even fathom the thought of her being hurt or worse.

“Something went to attack Lexi, but Yuri pushed her out of the way and got hurt.” Taehyung’s voice cracked as he fought back the tears that threatened to spill. The thought and feeling of possibly losing her was too much for him.

Kaitlyn crouched down to check on Yuri, “She is still breathing. That’s good. You got her out in time.”

Taehyung could only nod and hold Yuri closer to him, not allowing her out of his reach. She’d never be, if he truly had the choice. But he’d have to accept it wouldn’t be possible when she woke up.

“If you two are here, where are the other two?” Yeonjun stepped forward.

Taehyung spoke with his eyes as he looked up at the castle-like structure. There was glass laying on the outside from the shattered window at the top.

Before another word could be said, the four hunters ran as fast as they could into the building.

______________________________________________________________________________

“There's really no way to kill it!?” Lexi shouted, diving out of the way as the creature neared them, its soul focus seeming to be on her.

“It only leaves when its target is killed! Someone had to summon it here specifically to kill you.” Jimin shouted, jumping on the wraith’s back, trying to do what he could to keep it away, “It won’t stop until it completes its mission.”

Jimin hissed as he grabbed the wraith by its arm and flinging it against the wall. There was something about this thing that truly pissed him off, and he couldn’t quite figure out if it was the radiating pain he was feeling because of the brand on Lexi’s neck, or just the sheer fact that it was targeting her, of all people.

“There has to be another way!” Lexi shouted, hurling one of the chairs at the monster.

“Maybe if you kill the summoner! If we manage to damage it enough, it will disappear but it will continue to return until its mission is complete. It's like a deranged bounty hunter, Lex. It won’t just leave if you ask nicely!”

Jimin once again hopped on the creature and tried to twist the monster’s neck again but instead was met with a wall the creature threw him at.

Lexi groaned in pain not only from Jimin colliding with the wall but from the scorching heat in the back of her neck from the insignia.

“You wanna play with fire? Fine, let's play!” She growled, letting her hands engulf in flames.

Jimin quickly took the hint and managed to pull himself off the ground. He once again, flung himself at the creature, but this time grabbing both its arms and snapping them backwards. Lexi hurried and wrapped her arms around the skeletal neck. Jimin quickly let go of the creature as the fire swelled outward from her hands and engulfed the creature. Jimin covered his eyes from the flash of light as the creature wailed in pain.

Letting go of the wraith, she focused on the flames themselves. They slowly began to grow in intensity. The heat had become hotter and harder to be next to. She took a deep breath and focused even more. The flames slowly started to turn a slight bluish color; something she had never been able to achieve until then.

The creature finally couldn’t take it anymore as it flew out of the broken window and straight to the ground.

Lexi finally collapsed, the adrenaline rush leaving her body along with the throbbing in her neck. The further away the creature traveled, the more normal her neck felt. Even though that pain had dissipated, the rest of her body began to ache from everything else that had happened.

Are you okay? She heard Zuko ask her.

“I’m okay. Are you?” Lexi whispered softly as she watched Jimin slowly stand up and make his way over to her.

Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.

Lexi couldn’t say anything else as Jimin finally made it over to her, “At least the wraith won’t be back for awhile now.”

Jimin crouched down to her eye level, looking at the damage that she had taken amidst the fight. He reached out and wiped some blood that was dripping from a cut on her head away before it could fall into her eye. He wiped it off on his dark shirt, without a second thought about it.

“But it will come back.” Lexi let a cruel laugh escape her lips as her eyes met his, “I guess our best bet is killing the summoner.”

“Yeah if we can find out whoever that is.” Jimin sighed, letting his fingers tangle in his hair. It was gross and full of dirt and debris, but he somehow managed to make it look good.

“Don’t worry, I think I have a good idea of who that is.” Lexi felt her teeth clench at the thought of her grandfather, “Can we get out of here though? My body hurts and I really don’t want to die to some building collapsing when I just fought that thing..”

“Yeah, I know.” Jimin chuckled, rising to his feet and helping the girl up. She felt a stinging pain in her leg.

Without a word, Jimin helped her walk to the trap door and opened it, letting her go down first.

“Wow, since when could you be so nice?” Lexi joked with him, walking slowly down the stairs that followed.

“Oh, please don’t fall for me now.” Jimin couldn’t help but chuckle as he followed and watched her walk down the stairs.

“Quit staring at me.” Lexi shot him a look back as she gripped onto the railing, trying to get some support.

“I’m just taking in what you’ll look like when I’m done with you.” He shot a wink. In turn he received a smack to the back of the head.

“Shut up.” She growled, moving a little quicker. They didn’t get very far before they ran into the others.

“Thank god you guys are okay.” Kaitlyn was the first to speak. Yoongi looked between the both of them. Lexi was covered in bruises, cuts, dirt and blood. Whatever happened it looked intense, but when he looked at Jimin, he looked dirty, but unscathed. It was as if nothing, not even the falling glass had touched him.

He took a mental note of his physique and the fact the man looked so unbothered by what just happened. Any normal human would be petrified with fear. Yoongi turned his attention back to Lexi, “What happened?”

“Let’s get out of here first. This building is going to collapse any minute.” Lexi said, taking another wobbly step down.

Yeonjun quickly came over and helped her walk down, “How about we don’t split up like that again.” he spoke as Yoongi appeared on her other side to help her.

“Agreed next time we meet up first.” Lexi couldn’t help but let a small laugh escape her as they descended down the stairs.

They finally made it out of the crumbling building, quickly moving to where Taehyung was perched with Yuri in his arms. The difference being this time, she was sitting up herself though it truly looked like she was struggling to do so.

"Are you okay?" Yoongi asked, eyeing the girl, "You've got a couple good gashes going on. We should probably get you stitched up."

"Yeah I'm fine," Yuri mumbled, wincing in pain as she adjusted herself, "I've been through worse. The stitches would be appreciated though. This head wound won't stop bleeding."

Yoongi shook his head at her as she was far more stubborn than he gave her credit for, "We have a kit at the house. We can mend wounds there."

"Sounds good," Yuri mumbled, wiping one of her wounds with her hand.

Yoongi's eyes fell on Taehyung and Jimin who seemed to come out completely unscaved. Their shirts were torn and ripped from the glass and marble pieces that had been flying, but no wounds in sight. He raised an eyebrow, "I'd offer it to the two of you but both of you seem to have avoided damage."

Yuris eyes widened as she noticed Taehyung had healed within the time she had been knocked out. Taehyung smiled sheepishly, "Must have been lucky."

"We found cover pretty quickly," Jimin added, though he had a feeling that nothing was going to change the newfound suspicion.

Lexi took matters into her own hands and decided to change the subject. She bent down to Yuri and pulled her in her arms.

“Thank you for saving me. But don’t ever do it again.” Lexi smiled softly, holding the girl close.

“I make no promises.” Yuri giggled and hugged the girl back.

Yoongi nodded, “As nice as this is, I think we should all head our separate ways. We need to patch up everyone who needs it,” His eyes specifically stayed on Taehyung and Jimin.

Taehyung nodded nervously and stood up, helping Yuri in the process. He knew for a fact Yoongi was on to them and he had to make sure his wolf didn’t take over and attack in response.

“You’re right. We’ll be off then.” Jimin started walking off without wasting a second, disappearing into the woods. He knew better than to argue at this moment.

Taehyung simply glared at Jimin’s retreating figure and turned to the others, “Be careful going back.” He spoke, eyes lingering on Yuri before he made his way down the empty road.

The group was silent, staring at the tattered museum. A few hours ago, it stood beautifully, but in less than an hour, it became destroyed.

"Is this a good time to let you guys know I was attacked by a Wraith?" Lexi asked, looking at the wrecked building in front of them.

"What?" Yoongi asked, voice raising as he whipped his head towards her, "You got attacked by what?"

Yuri raised her hand quietly, drawing his attention away from Lexi, "It was terrifying, though I only saw it for a second before it knocked me out."

"Let me be clearer," Yoongi said, voice drawing out slower as he pronounced his words with more clarity, "You got attacked by a fucking Wraith? Who the fuck did you piss off?"

Lexi kicked at a rock beneath her feet as she avoided his intense eye contact, rubbing the branded mark on her neck, "I would like to know the same thing. The fucking beast even branded me."

Yoongi let out a string of vulgar words, as he pulled out his phone. The longer the old man was gone, the more problems would pile on top of Yoongi’s plate. The number of calls and messages he sent to their so-called caregiver with no response was making him more and more agitated. He sent another text about the wraith even though doubt was plaguing his mind.

“What are the odds that we encounter not only a wraith, but a shapeshifter who dabbled in blood magic?” Jungkook muttered quietly, wracking his brain for any answer as he stared at the disheveled building.

“Not very likely,” Yeonjun muttered in response, feeling a wave of nausea cross him, “Not a lot of people can handle the toll blood magic takes on the caster.”

“Are you sure it was blood magic?” Lexi asked, biting her nail as she racked her brain for any information she could. Though she studied magic all her life,, any mention of blood magic she steered clear from.

Jungkook scoffed, “If the black tendrils that emerged out of thin air and encased the shifter after they licked blood is a sign, I’d say yeah I’m pretty sure.”

Lexi shot a glare his way, “In case you forgot I wasn’t there.”

“You two enough. As much as I agree that the shifter being able to use such dark magic is worrisome, it’s dead,” Yoongi voiced, breaking the argument before it could become one, “What we should be more worried about is the wraith going after Lexi.”

"Yoongi is right," Kaitlyn agreed, eyeing Lexi she has yet to remove her hand from the mark that had formed on the back of her neck, "We've been hunting for years and never ran into one of those things. As long as it's alive, you're in danger."

“And Wraiths don't just die like normal creatures,” Yoongi continued, his voice quiet as if he was deep in thought, “It will be back. The best thing we can do is find the son of a bitch who sent it. I’ll try to look into it more.”

The group silently agreed, taking one last look at the building before walking away, back towards the house. The last thing they heard was the crashing of bricks and what was left of the glass as the unstable structure finally collapsed, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction.

Chapter Text

The table was unusually talkative for a Saturday morning. Normally, the group would still be asleep or silently eating. It was usually too early to exude that much energy. Especially considering the late nights they spent hunting.

It had been two weeks since the incident at the art museum, and the aftermath truly rattled the town into a panic. Though, from what the countless articles reported, no one knew exactly what happened that day; each story seemed to vary in some way, shape, or form. Whether or not that was a good thing was up for debate, but in response a new curfew was enforced. It didn’t seem to have much need though since most of the people were too scared from the unknown event to venture out of their homes. Luckily, that meant the number of killings and disappearances drastically decreased within a week. All the fear and panic for once seemed to be in their favor. For the first time in a long time, they were able to take a night off and talk things through with one another.

But the fear the people had would eventually fade and they had no idea what to do when it did.

“My question is, why did they wait so long to enforce a fucking curfew?” Jungkook stabbed at his food, shoving it into his mouth as if it had personally attacked him. He hadn’t been getting much sleep since the whole museum incident. Every time he seemed to finally close his eyes, the image of Kaitlyn’s face crying and begging him to spare her would wake him right back up. He wondered if this was how she felt every night when she closed her eyes.

“Ignorance truly is bliss.” Yoongi spun a spoon around in his coffee cup, letting his eyes fixate on the swirling liquid.

“We could never be that lucky,” Lexi mumbled softly, picking at the few scraps of food that remained on her plate. She felt uneasy, ever since the museum and wraith attack. Though the previous night was a break, she couldn’t refrain from using her magic to try and find her bastard-of-a-grandfather. The group continued to converse as her mind was in a haze of questions.

With every question that came to mind it felt like the room was getting smaller. She was rattled with these questions often, and each time panic would set in. She didn’t know how to fix the mess that seemed to follow her. That foul man killed countless people for fun and summoned a creature to hunt down and kill her; a creature that wouldn’t stop until it succeeded. He successfully separated them and had them chase after two separate creatures without even being there. She could only imagine the chaos that would ensue if he were there.

Lexi let her eyes wander around the room, looking at the group that sat in front of her. She couldn’t imagine what he would do to the few people she really did care about, especially during the times when she couldn’t be around.

Could he see them now? What was his next move? The more she thought about it, the harder it was to breathe properly.

“Lexi?” She jumped to her feet feeling a hand on her shoulder and quickly moved back, the chair she was once sitting on now laid on the floor. Her eyes frantically searched in panic but she only met with Kaitlyn’s eyes, “What’s going on, Lex?”

Lexi swallowed the lump in her throat and felt her hands shake slightly, “I need to go do something.”

Her eyes flickered around the room, locking with every face in the room before quickly storming out. She couldn’t sit around that table any longer knowing what she knew. She knew more about what was going on than they could even fathom.

She needed answers and the only place she could think to go was her first home, or what remained of it. She trudged through the forest, taking sharp twists and turns. The snow had finally melted and the beginning of spring took its place. The trees were still barren, but the sun was shining and the grass had turned a beautiful green.

It felt like she had been walking for a while, but she finally came across the familiar little stream from long ago. It was almost identical to the one she saw in her dreams.

The sound of the water flowing freely alleviated some of the stress she was carrying. She took a few steps back before sprinting and jumping across the thin stream. She landed in the soft grass and fell to her knees, unable to stop her fingertips from feeling the smoothness of the ground beneath her. Her mind flashed to the memories of when the area was burnt to a crisp. She let out a deep breath as she stood up and ventured forward, allowing her feet to take her down the path that was etched into her memory.

She only stopped moving when she saw what was left of the familiar place she once lived. A few stones still held together what made up the walls of her old home. Nature truly took its course as vines entangled around the stones and grass grew from what used to be her floor. Beautiful flowers bloomed inside her home as if her mother had wished for them to grow herself.

She moved closer and took a seat, letting one of her hands gently caress the violet flowers that littered the ground before her. She couldn’t help but sigh and let everything she was thinking tumble out of her mouth.

“I really wish you were here right now, mom. I really don’t know what to do.” She let her hand that was touching the flower find a new residing place on her arm, letting it rub at the skin, “What if they get hurt? What if I can’t protect them? What if I can’t be as strong as you?”

Lexi let all of her feelings she kept in for so long come crashing out like waves on the beach. She couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her face at the thoughts that ravaged her mind. All the misfortune they had been receiving the past few months stemmed from her and she didn’t even know she was the cause of it. It was just beginning to be too much for her to bare all on her own. It felt like everything was her fault and the guilt was slowly eating her alive.

“I really wish you were here to help me.” Lexi whispered, looking up as if her mother was really there to comfort her and make all her troubles disappear.

“Well, I may not be your mom, but I'm sure she wouldn’t want you to carry this on your own.” Lexi jumped from the new voice breaking the silence. She peered behind her, eyes landing on Kaitlyn who was stepping into view from behind the surrounding trees. Lexi’s eyes welled up even more as three more figures emerged behind. Kaitlyn wandered over the decomposing remains of Lexi’s childhood before crouching down to her level. She placed a hand upon her back to comfort the upset girl.

Yeonjun peered around the place, his eyes finding bits and pieces of what could have been a great life before it had been destroyed. Jungkook observed his surroundings noticing the charred pieces of wood and stone scattered about. Though nature had taken hold of the place, it was evidently the site of some sort of hazard. Yoongi found purchase on a somewhat sturdy piece of wall that hadn’t crumbled completely to the ground, but his eyes only fell on the girls in front of him as one tried to comfort the other.

“I grew up here, you know?” Lexi smiled sadly, grabbing one of the stones that broke off from the wall, tossing it lightly into the air, “You guys should’ve seen it before, it was beautiful.”

She tossed the rock back towards the house where it belonged. It clattered against the other stone, somehow adding to the sorrow she felt.

“It’s still nice, just a little damaged.” Jungkook reassured, his hand skimming some of the moss that grew amongst the rubble before shooting her a soft look, “It sort of reminds me of us. We’re retaking our lives back despite the terrors we've been through."

Lexi smiled a little at his words, “My mother used to tell me I didn’t know the kind of beauty that stems from the earth taking back what’s rightfully hers. I see it now.”

Lexi looked at all the faces that surrounded her. These people were her family and these were the people she was putting in the most danger keeping in the dark. She looked over at Kaitlyn who was still squatting next to her. She didn’t have to say anything to her before she just nodded.

“I don’t want them to hate me,” Lexi mumbled, the fear of losing the only thing she has prevalent in her own mind. She wasn't even sure if she was talking to Kaitlyn or to herself. Either way, the statement still stood. This was the only family she had.

Kaitlyn shook her head, “Just tell them.”

“Tell us what?” Jungkook asked, curiosity piqued his interest.

“Well, I-“ Before Lexi could continue, another voice broke in.

“Well, well, well… Look how sweet.” A sinister voice came from behind them. The group immediately jumped up and spun around, their weapons at the ready. A man stood before them, a menacing look sparked in his eyes as he looked across the group of unlikely allies.

“Why the fuck are you here!?” Lexi growled, feeling herself get angrier and angrier as she stepped closer to him. He always seemed to appear when it was the most inconvenient. Just as she was about to alleviate the weight she had been carrying on her shoulders, he appeared just to add more.

“Wait, you know him?” Yeonjun spoke up, taking a peek at her before turning his attention back to the man before them.

Lexi was confused from the way he asked. It was like he knew who he was and he shouldn’t have had any idea. She took a quick glance at Yeonjun who was armed and ready to fight like the rest of them, “You know him?"

“To answer your question as to why I’m here,” The older man’s lips turned up slowly into a smirk as he spoke, “I’m here to watch the tower crumble, so to speak. Especially since the foundation here is so very weak.”

His eyes scanned the hunters until it landed upon the small blonde girl, daggers in hand as she glared at him. Despite her fierce stance, her breathing was labored and her balance unstable. He snickered, “You feeling a little tired there?”

“If you even try to lay a finger on any of them, I will fucking kill you!” Lexi yelled at the man, gripping her knife.

“Your threats are practically empty because you are weak. Besides, I’m not here to fight. I’m here to shake the empire you all are so fond of. It wouldn’t take much to crack the foundation and send it all crashing to the ground.” He responded, his voice losing the humor behind it in place of a more intimidating one.

“Who the hell even are you?” Jungkook shouted at him.

“I’m the man who is going to watch this world burn.” He smirked, turning his attention back to Kaitlyn, “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, you look like you haven’t been sleeping. Maybe even developing some aches and pains? You’re lasting a lot longer than I thought you would. Most would have killed themselves by now.”

“Motherfucker,” Kaitlyn mumbled, finally placing the voice of the man in front of her where she had heard it before. She felt sick to her stomach as she replayed that moment in her mind, “You were the old man in the grocery store!”

The man in front of her wiggled his fingers at her as if to taunt her, “Amazing what a little tap on the shoulder can accomplish, yeah?”

Kaitlyn closed her eyes in an attempt to compose herself. Everything started to fall into place as she realized what the man had done. Each night, she relived some of her worst memories. The screams and the blood of her family kept her awake despite how desperate her body was for sleep. The pain that wreaked havoc over her body that she couldn’t even describe, making her spend more and more time in the shower in an attempt to take some of it away. Hell, she couldn’t even hold her knife properly anymore without running the risk of it falling right out of her grasp. He was to blame. No wonder why Lexi couldn’t cure her. It was beyond what either of them thought it could be… it was a curse.

Kaitlyn snapped, running at the man who stood so cockily in front of them. She swung her dagger only for him to easily avoid it. She tried again and again, but each attempt was met with the same cruel fate of him dodging each of her swings. She tripped on her own feet and tried to catch herself, though her body was too weak. Her feeble attempt was met with failure, causing her to crash onto the ground. She punched the grass covered soil with her hand, upset that her body continued to betray her.

Jungkook reacted quickly, his body responding before he could even think. He hurried over to her fallen form and slowly snaked his arm under her torso and pulled her up off the ground and into a standing position, though he still held most of her weight up as she attempted to find her own footing.

The man then turned his gaze from the useless girl clinging to the last of her sanity, to the dark haired man who kept the most distance from him. Despite that, he still held the bronze dagger pointed at him with what seemed to be full intent to use it if necessary. Some may say that he was being weary, but the warlock knew it was just cowardness in disguise.

“Why don’t you go ahead and tell them how you know me, huh?”

Yeonjun felt the eyes of everyone shift from the warlock to himself, “I… I uhm….”

He was at a loss for words because he didn’t know what he could say or do that would end up with him not dying as a result. He felt like the air around him had turned into smoke and its only purpose was to slowly suffocate him.

“Yeonjunie, you didn’t tell them about us yet?” The warlock questioned, using the nickname to taunt him, an evil cackle of laughs escaped his mouth, “I feel so betrayed by this little shit. Especially since he quit showing up to our meetings. I thought he would be able to do his job and relay the information I needed back to me. Yet he seemed to do nothing but live up to his mothers expectations of him being a worthless disappointment.”

“You told me they were killers!” Yeonjun screamed at the man, “You told me they were killing monsters left and right for sport! You said they were bad people!” His voice shook slightly out of fear and anger. Anger towards the warlock that lied to him and fear that he would be abandoned yet again, especially by the one place he felt he belonged.

“I should’ve killed you the night you stopped showing up, but I thought it would be more fun to have someone else do it.” The man snickered, eyes littered with mischief.

Yeonjun’s eyes immediately went to Jungkook, taking a step back from the older man, shaking slightly. The man in front of him seemed confused by his sudden fear, but he didn’t see the amount of murder in his own eyes that day.

“And why would I kill him?” Jungkook questioned, his arm unwrapping itself from Kaitlyn as he took another step forward towards the man, “I seem to have full control over myself, so why would I do that? Just because you want me to?”

“Oh, yeah… right, I forgot to mention one tiny detail about Yeonjun didn’t I?” The man asked, eyes following Jungkook’s gaze shifted from him to the terrified man, “My little informant has a little secret. He’s not a human, no.” The warlock smirked, seeing the tension form in Jungkook’s entire body as he paused, “He’s a Shapeshifter.”

A deadly silence covered the group, a stare down match ensued between Jungkook and Yeonjun. Just those simple words caused Jungkook to shift his attention away from the main issue in front of them.

“Jungkook-” Yoongi started, but it was too late.

It didn’t take long for him to march his way up to Yeonjun. Jungkook moved at unimaginable speeds while Yeonjun stood still, too terrified to move. All he could see was the image of Jungkook stabbing the shifter they had seen at the museum over and over again. So much anger had been put into each jab of his knife, it made him sick to his stomach to have even watched it. Now, it seemed to be his fate.

Yeonjun took a step back away from the approaching man only to fall backwards to the ground. His dagger laid somewhere within the overgrown grass.

“Jungkook no!” Kaitlyn yelled but he was already swinging his knife down. Yeonjun squeezed his eyes shut in fear. Right as the knife was about to pierce Yeonjun’s skin, it stopped. Jungkook looked at the knife angrily and raised it to try again, but the knife stopped again.

“What the fuck!?” Jungkook screamed, using both hands to try and lodge it into his chest, but to no avail. The knife seemed to take on a life of its own as it sprang from Jungkook’s grasp and flew right into Lexi’s.

“Not all supernatural beings are evil, Jungkook. Remember that?” Lexi spoke softly only to be met with silence. She could feel all eyes piercing into her.

“Ahh finally, my granddaughter shows her powers.” The warlock smirked, moving closer.

“Granddaughter?” Kaitlyn looked at her in shock.

“Trust me not by choice.” Lexi glared at the man, letting her eyes flash the bright blue she had grown used to. The warlock laughed in response; a look of hatred flooded his eyes.

“I don’t want a bastard grandchild like you either. Generations of pure warlocks and witches and your mother runs off to marry a fucking human.” Venom laced with his words before a smirk formed on his face, “She hated my plan from the start. She ran for so long, but I finally found her. I guess you know what happened once she was found, yeah? It’s just too bad her seven year old child didn’t join her.”

Lexi's eyes turned dark as she took a step closer, grabbing knife after knife and throwing them at the man before her, only for him to dodge. With a yell of anger, she moved the vines from the tree to impale him from every angle she could manage, only for him to disappear into a cloud of dust as they met his form.

“Goddamn apparition!” Lexi shouted in frustration, letting her foot kick a random rock sitting on the ground. She fell to her knees as tears streamed down her face. Everything that just happened, happened so fast. She slowly felt her hands start to shake as she rose to her feet and faced the others. The silence was almost painful as they took turns looking at each other.

The only thing the warlock was right about was that they were so easy to break. It took only a couple sentences out of his mouth for them to turn against one another. It was shameful really.

Jungkook finally tore his eyes off of Lexi and redirected his attention to Yeonjun. The anger he felt had been still rising by the second. He didn’t waste a moment and threw a punch right at Yeonjun’s face. Yeonjun groaned loudly, feeling blood rush from his nose. Jungkook pulled his fist back to throw another punch, but Yoongi grabbed him by the hood of his sweatshirt and pulled him back with such force. Jungkook fell backwards, landing hard on his back.

Yeonjun quickly scampered backwards on the ground, putting distance between the two of them before he reached up and pinched his nose in an attempt to slow down the bleeding. He winced a little from the pain, though he didn’t think it was broken. He figured that if he had the honor of being able to wake in the morning, he would consider himself lucky.

“Enough!” Yoongi yelled. This was the first time he sounded so loud and angry. Usually, he was soft spoken all the time, even when he was pissed, but this was something new they were experiencing, “We go back to the house now! We need to have a talk.”

“I swear to go-” Jungkook began to mutter.

Yoongi growled, pulling Jungkook up by his sweatshirt again and pushing him forward. “Walk! Now!”

The journey back to the house was by far the most quiet the group had ever been. There were no conversations or arguments between them, just tension and silence. Yeonjun did his best to keep as much distance between himself and Jungkook. He could feel the unwavering glare being sent back at him; the anger radiating off Jungkook was immense. Kaitlyn followed next to him, worried he was going to finally hit his breaking point. It wasn’t everyday two of the five hunters drop that they weren’t exactly human as expected. The fact that it was so soon after the museum incident was concerning as well. Lexi lingered from the group, unsure if this was the end of her world as she knew it. It worried her deeply that Yoongi refused to say anything as he marched his way back, face hard.

Yoongi swung the door open; it clanged against the wall from the pure force he put behind it. The countless bookshelves and pictures on the wall shook at the collision, a few books falling from their rested perch. He wandered into the main living area and awaited the rest of them to file in. Each one of them slowly made their way into the room to join him.

“Sit now.” Yoongi growled as he crossed his arms over his chest. The stern look on his face hadn’t budged since the forest.

Kaitlyn was the first to sit down, she dragged Jungkook into the spot next to her to avoid any unnecessary interactions. Yeonjun sat the farthest he could get from him still feeling the fiery glare from the man. Lexi sat next to Yeonjun hoping to relieve a bit of the fear she knew he had been feeling.

Yoongi’s eyes shifted over the group, watching them all shift uncomfortably under his stare. He didn’t know where to start and who to scold. This wasn’t the thing he was meant to do…lead. He didn’t have all the answers or the years of wisdom put behind him like the old man did. How does someone address this kind of thing?

“Don’t just sit there,” Jungkook voiced, eyes never straying from Yeonjun, “Fucking speak.”

“Look, I swear that once I realized I had been lied to,” Yeonjun said, eyes looking at each and every one of them in the room as if to assure each of them that his words were true, “I wanted to back out. At first, I was sent to disrupt and relay information to the warlock. Once I found out you guys weren’t merciless killers I quit showing up to the meetings. I- I liked being here and helping you guys save people.”

“That's rich,” Jungkook laughed sarcastically, “How are we supposed to believe anything you say? Your kind are bred liars. It’s your whole schtick. Who we are looking at right now might not even be you.”

Yeonjun swallowed a lump in his throat at the mention of his ability. It wasn’t something he was proud of. He only used it to get by and survive the harsh world all those years living on the street. He felt his eyes burn as he sniffled, “Yeah, I can get where you think I could be impersonating someone. From the best of my knowledge, I don’t think that I’m shifted into another person.”

Jungkook laughed again, “You don’t think so? You’re really talking out of your ass now aren’t you?”

“Jungkook,” Yoongi said sternly, pulling his gaze away from Yeonjun, “Let the man talk.”

Jungkook huffed as he flung himself back into his seat, frustration lacing his features. Kaitlyn closed her eyes slightly at how tense the whole room felt before opening them and turning her gaze to the person in question. She sighed, “Yeonjun, what do you mean you don’t think you’ve shifted?”

“I’m not entirely sure if this is my face or not,” He mumbled, shifting his gaze to his hands to shed some of the uncomfortableness he was feeling, “I was pretty young when I realized I could shift, maybe like ten or eleven when I was living on the streets? I was a product of a one-night-stand, so my mom didn’t know that her sperm donor had been inhuman. I mean, if she had known I’m sure I would have been treated worse than I already had been treated. After I ran away, I realized I had this uncanny ability to change into anyone I touched. I was so young, I had to shift to survive. I did it so often… I kind of…”

“You don’t know what form is your true form,” Yoongi mumbled, pulling Yeonjun’s sight from his hands to look at him, “You mentioned you don’t think that you’re shifted?”

“This is the only form I don’t gain knowledge when changing into it,” He answered the older man, “That doesn’t mean this isn’t a form I gained through shifting though, but it’s my only indication.”

“Don’t shifters have to physically touch the person to change into them?” Kaitlyn asked, his admission peeking her curiosity.

“I mean, yeah,” Yeonjun shrugged, “I can pull from just about anyone I’ve already shifted into though, therefore, I’ve struggled finding my original identity.”

Yoongi’s eyebrow raised, “That’s not a common trait of a shifter, being able to cycle through identities like that. The one from the museum was only able to shift into the last person they touched, or else it would have escaped inconspicuously after the murder. Instead, it shifted into Kate and then attempted to shift into Jungkook.”

“No wonder why he lied to you,” Lexi mumbled, running through her thoughts, “If he was building an army to take down the world, a shifter who had an ability to cycle through faces without having to retouch any of the identities could turn any tide.”

“You’re right,” Yoongi agreed, eyes landing on Lexi before shifting back to Yeonjun, “I do need to know the answer Jungkook was asking earlier, how can we trust you and your word?”

“If I wanted to turn on you guys or hurt you, I would have done it when the warlock exposed me,” Yeonjun responded, eyes locked with the oldest, “I wouldn’t have told you anything I just did if I didn’t want you guys to believe me. I-I wasn’t lying when I said I haven’t had people care for me the way you guys have.”

“Okay.” Yoongi said, shifting his attention away from Yeonjun to look at Lexi, “As for you-”

“What do you mean ‘okay’?” Jungkook cut him off. He had listened to the whole thing just for Yoongi to shift his attention elsewhere, “What are we going to do with him?”

“What should we have done with you each time you went off on your own to fight creatures? Or any of the times you had been just too stubborn to listen?” He asked, raising his voice over Jungkook’s, his eyes burning with rage, “What should we do with Kaitlyn? She went behind our backs with the other two and saved that vampire girl who almost had us six feet under. Or Lexi for that matter? Should we just kill every one of us that lie or do things we probably shouldn’t?”

Jungkook’s eyes widened by his sudden outburst, lowering himself back into the couch out of shock, “No-”

“All he ever did was trade what little information we trusted him with, which wasn’t much. He listened to everything we told him to do and not once did he ever try killing us. You want punishment, not for what he did, but because of what he is.” Yoongi sighed to himself as he shook his head, “We’ve all done wrong at some point. Give the guy a break.”

“Thank you,” Yeonjun mumbled.

“Don’t thank me. You’ve got a lot of things you have to prove to us. Don’t get comfortable.” Yoongi directed, “Now Lexi, explain yourself and make it fucking good.”

Lexi swallowed softly and nodded, “Ask what you need to…”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Yoongi asked softly, the harshness he had towards Jungkook fading slightly from his voice.

“I joined the group so late, I was just scared. I didn’t know how to bring it up either.” Lexi scratched at her arm, taking glances at Kaitlyn since she was the only one who knew her secret, “I’ve seen us kill things less dangerous than me without a second thought. I didn’t want to risk losing what I’d gained…”

“And what about your grandfather?” Jungkook questioned her, leaning forward trying to shake the berating he had just received from the eldest. He avoided glancing right next to her so he wouldn’t be triggered.

“He came to me months ago and told me he was my grandfather. I met with him over the past few months because he said he could help me get stronger. I only found out his true intentions recently. He said he wanted to destroy all humanity and I didn’t agree with his dumbass plan. That was the day I came back with all those injuries, I had gotten into a fight with him.”

“I knew you running into such a rare creature was suspicious,” Yoongi grumbled.

“If I had known he was evil or that he had cursed Kaitlyn, I never would have trusted him. I’m so sorry.”

“Lex, it’s okay, I know you didn’t know. Thank you for still trying to help me.” Kaitlyn smiled softly.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Jungkook sat up more, curious how Lexi helped her.

“Well, she’s helped a lot of us actually,” Kaitlyn answered watching everyone’s attention shift to her, “She used some of her magic to take some of the overwhelming pain away. She tried her best to help me, but I’m sure being cursed had something to do with that, huh? She helped Yuri recover when she was found in the park, and Jungkook when he was attacked by the Vargulf. I’m going to guess she helped Yeonjun back there when he was about to get stabbed.”

Yeonjun thought back to how Jungkook almost stabbed him, but the knife didn’t go through. He quickly looked at Lexi and whispered, “Thank you.”

“She saved my life when we were fighting the wendigos. We would’ve died if she didn’t use her magic.” Kaitlyn finished, looking at Jungkook.

Jungkook immediately turned his attention to Lexi, “You did?”

Lexi felt nervous from everyone finding out what she did, “I couldn’t just let us die. I couldn’t let any of you die.”

Jungkook’s features softened as he let his anger dissipate, “Thank you.”

Lexi shook her head, “You guys don’t need to thank me.”

“Wait a second, Kate, you knew?” Yoongi stared at the other girl, causing the attention to shift to her.

Kaitlyn swallowed softly and nodded, “Yeah, I was angry when I found out. I just couldn't say anything. I would be scared too if I had been in her shoes.” a silence enveloped the room, more awkward than tense. Everyone stared at Yoongi, waiting for the man to speak again.

“I’m glad we were able to go through that and, since we are being honest, if you have any more surprises, now’s the time to spill them. The best way we can get back to normal is to just let all our secrets out. Yoongi sighed, eyes scanning the group once again. He internally groaned when he watched Lexi once again shift in her seat. He stared at her as he waited for the bomb to drop.

“Well…” Lexi mumbled softly, “I have a few more…”

Before she could continue what she had been saying, there was a knock on the door. Everyone in the room shifted their attention towards the door as they racked their brains for who it could possibly be. Nearly everyone they interacted with was within the room.

“It’s me! Can I come in?” A familiar voice echoed from outside the door.

“Perfect timing” Yoongi mumbled, having a few questions of his own for the visitor, “Come in!”

The door rattled a little before it was pushed open. Jimin entered the house immediately feeling the denseness of what he had walked into. He had known something intense had been happening earlier via his blood bond with Lexi; her emotions were always so wild. He had gone from feeling intense sadness to anger to fear within minutes making him wonder what the hell had been up with her. Now, feeling the atmosphere within the house, he wished he didn’t come to find out.

“Just the man I wanted to see.” Yoongi stated, watching as Jimin entered the living room. He didn’t stray too far in, not enjoying the way the blonde man was staring at him. He glanced at Lexi, who was glancing between the two of them. That couldn’t have been a good sign.

“Oh yeah?” Jimin responded, as he somehow found some courage within himself to pull one of his smirks, “What can I do for you, besides allow you all to bask in my handsome good looks?”

Yoongi shook his head in disbelief at the man, “You can start by telling us what the hell you are. I’ve made my own guess, but why don’t you share with the group just to be sure.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jimin shrugged, trying to play off the situation. He was well aware that it wasn’t ideal to be in a room full of hunters and be found out for what he truly was, “Have you been watching too much TV or something?”

“Don’t play dumb. You and I both know that you are a vampire,” Yoongi said, eyeing the man in front of him.

“Lexi’s a witch!” Jimin blurted out, trying to pull attention away from him.

“You slimy piece of shit,” Lexi growled, standing up from her seat next to Yeonjun, “You really would just go ahead and throw me under the bus like that to save your ass?”

“They’d kill me, not you!” Jimin retorted, throwing his hands out amidst his panic.

“You don’t know that.” She said, eyes narrowing at the man, “Especially when you should be more scared about me killing you.”

“You never ate around us, which I found odd but to each their own. The thing that solidified the notion was at the museum. You didn’t leave with any wounds despite your clothes being shredded from the stone shards. You were also too calm, especially considering what you encountered.” Yoongi shrugged. Jimin cursed himself for not being more careful as he watched a smirk form on the man’s face, “But you’re also a rare breed, yeah? A Daywalker.”

Realizing there was no way out for him, Jimin nodded, “Not as stupid as I took you all to be.”

“Thank you,” Yoongi responded, taking the insult as a complement, “I’ve never seen one of you before. I’ve only read about Daywalkers in all our journals and books.”

“You don’t have to talk about me like I’m some science experiment, you know?” Jimin scrunched his nose in disgust.

“My only other question is, why didn’t you kill him?” Yoongi looked at Lexi.

“I would have, but when I attempted to, he used his power.”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow, “A Daywalker and a power, intriguing.”

“Telekinesis,” Lexi nodded, “Also, we made a deal.”

“Lexi, tell me you didn’t.” Yoongi sighed to himself, raising a hand to the bridge of his nose to alleviate the growing headache.

“Yoongi, first of all, I didn’t know any better. Second, he promised to give information about the creatures causing the disappearances.” Lexi stammered under Yoongi’s dark gaze.

“What do you mean a ‘deal’?” Jungkook asked, a sick feeling growing in his stomach. He had a feeling, but he didn’t want to say it out loud.

“Lexi blood bonded with a vampire, you know, Jimin.” Yoongi buried his face into his palms in frustration.

Jungkook looked between the two not knowing what to say or how to react. Within the hour, he had learned that three people he had let into his life were in fact, not who they said they were. He could feel himself beginning to panic, which he never did.

Kaitlyn glanced over, noticing the way his leg hadn’t stopped bouncing and how he had begun to fidget with his hands. She reached over and grabbed his forearm, making him stop fidgeting. He sighed and leaned backwards into his seat, not pulling away from her calming touch.

“It’s just one thing after another today,” Jungkook stated, glaring at Jimin, “Next thing I know, I’ll be the only human in this group.”

“Jungkook,” Kaitlyn sighed, “They’re literally the same people you’ve known. They just have some extra quirks.”

“Jungkook, I know I wasn’t… honest. I’m not very good at that. Haven’t been in years,” Jimin began, eyes finding the ground, “You remind me of someone I knew when I was human, and well, I consider you a friend, so to speak.”

Lexi could feel the sadness overwhelm her as Jungkook buried his head into his hands to match Yoongi.

Jimin took a deep breath before speaking, “I didn’t come here to have my secret found out by all of you, surprisingly enough. I found some vital information out and I had come to relay it to Lexi, but now that you all know, I guess I can tell you too.”

Yoongi tore his hands away from his face and silently nodded his head, motioning for the man to continue.

“I had been digging up some information for Lexi about the attacks when I came across this old text. It mentioned something that seemed eerily similar to what has been happening recently. You know, human disappearances and the increase of old supernatural creatures resurfacing. I looked into it more, and it seems to mention an oracle with a prophecy.”

“What?” Lexi asked, eyes widening, “I haven’t heard of an oracle being made in centuries. It's an old magic that needs a magically inclined human. Those are hard to find now that technology has taken a hold of society.”

“How do you know this?” Yoongi asked.

Lexi waved her fingers, “It’s something as witches, wizards, and warlocks are intrigued about. My mom would tell me stories when I was young. She was just as excited about them.”

“Speaking of, the only thing that made me unsure if it was speaking about what was happening now was because it mentioned a powerful warlock, which would be something we are missing.” Jimin added, eyes looking between the group. He noticed that the tension in the room seemed to slowly disappear the more he talked about their common problem.

A laugh echoed next to them as Jimin’s eyes landed on Yeonjun, “No, we definitely got one of those.”

“Well, good thing I grabbed the map then,” Jimin mumbled before pulling out a piece of parchment from his jacket. He unfolded it and placed it somewhere where everyone could see it. The map looked battered and worn as if it was made in the seventeenth century, “From what I gather, this shows what route to take to get to the oracle and therefore the prophecy.”

Yoongi sighed softly at the rollercoaster of information he had just received. This was a lot to take in. “And why should we do this? How do we know this isn’t some wild goose chase?”

“I did my research. I’ve been alive long enough to gain enough knowledge and resources to know that this is as legit as it gets. That means this is the best bet you have to stop the disappearances and the warlock at large.” Jimin looked at Yoongi.

“Why are you helping humans?” Yoongi questioned him.

“As much as I despise humans, I need them to survive… to make a long answer much shorter,” Jimin said, pointing to his canines, “You know, vampire and all.”

“Even so, how would we get to the Bermuda triangle? It’s not like we have a plane or ship we could just jump on. Even if we were to find a ship, it would take too long.” Kaitlyn stared at the map sitting in front of her, tracing her finger over the best possible route. Either way, it led to the place where all things go missing.

“Well….” Lexi started swallowing softly.

“Oh my fucking god, now what!?” Yoongi looked at the girl.

“We kind of got interrupted with our secret sharing. It’s only one more, I promise,” She jumped at how loud he was again, “But we can’t do it here.”

Lexi stood up before making her way towards the door that led to the backyard and training grounds. The others sheepishly followed, unsure of what she could possibly be showing them..

Once outside Yoongi let his eyes flick between Jimin and Kaitlyn, “Do you two know about this one?” Both shook their heads immediately, scared of what Yoongi would do if they didn’t answer right away.

“First you must swear you won’t hurt him.” Lexi said sternly.

“Hurt who?” Yeonjun questioned.

“Just promise me.” Lexi spoke softly, looking at everyone. Once they all agreed she smiled softly, “You can come out. They won’t hurt you.”

The group was confused as to who or what she was talking to. Their questions were soon answered as a small serpentine creature flew out of her pocket and flew in the air right beside her.

“Are you kidding me?” Jungkook asked, taking a step forward to examine the creature in front of him, “I thought dragons were all but extinct. I mean, I was sure there were some left, but not living under the same roof as us.”

“He’s so tiny,” Kaitlyn mumbled, eyes watching him curl his way around Lexi.

I’m not actually this size. Lexi keeps me this size so I can travel with her easily. Many people still wish to hunt dragons. They all heard, but Jungkook jumped hearing the sudden intrusion in his head.

Lexi laughed softly at his reaction, also hearing what Zuko said, “Dragons speak through telepathy. They speak to whoever they chose and it doesn’t have to be just one person. I’m sure he just spoke to everyone, judging by all your reactions.” Lexi smiled softly. She nodded to Zuko, letting him fly away from them. She released her magic as she let Zuko grow to full size.

She smiled as he stretched his legs and back, letting the scales shimmer under the light before he flew closer again. Jungkook’s jaw was on the floor as millions of questions ran through his mind, though he didn’t know what to even start with. It seemed so silly that he was angry about being lied to when there were creatures like that who littered the world as well. Some guilt from his actions flashed through his mind momentarily.

“Whoa back up, when did you get a dragon!?” Yoongi asked, astounded.

“I actually met him before I met you guys. His mother had passed and she asked me to protect him. Years later, here we are.” She smiled softly as she petted Zuko’s head gently.

“I’ve had a dragon living in the house and didn’t even know it.” Yoongi mumbled to himself, trying to make sense of the situation.

Kaitlyn smiled and moved closer, “It’s nice to meet you.” She was also very intrigued at the beautiful creature standing in front of her. It was a rare sight, and she was going to appreciate it.

It is nice to meet you and everyone as well. Thank you for accepting me and Lexi. Zuko slightly bowed his head to the ones in front of him.

Jimin, I do owe you an apology. Your intentions were ill mannered at the beginning, but you changed. I told Lexi to watch out for you, but I’m quite glad she didn’t listen.

Jimin swallowed softly and shook his head, “Uhm no need to apologize, really.” Jimin stuttered. He now knew what the third scent he smelled on her was. Of all things, it was a fucking dragon.

“What’s your name?” Yeonjun asked, eyes never leaving the large, majestic creature.

Call me Zuko. I’m glad you decided to go down the right path, Yeonjun. I could sense the good in you from the beginning.

Yeonjun’s eyes widened, goosebumps littered his arms with his jaw agape, “T-thank you.” He spoke quickly. This was the first time anyone has ever said that to him. He felt a warmth flood through his heart. Good… yes.. I want to be good, He thought to himself.

Jungkook jumped excitedly, “Can I ask some questions?”

Of course, you must be curious.

As Jungkook began to muddle through his questions, Yoongi couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose. So much had happened so fast, it made his head hurt just thinking about it.

“I swear nothing is ever going to surprise me again.” Yoongi rose to his feet. As he stood, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He frowned seeing the caller ID, wondering why they, of all people, would be calling him.

“What?” He answered nonchalantly before his face turned cold, “What do you mean? Now? Leave now? You really have the worst fucking timing.”

The others looked at the man on the phone, wondering what exactly was being said on the other end to cause him so much distress. It was a quick call, though it wasn’t a surprise as they never gave him much of a chance to respond or ask questions.

“What was that Yoongi?” Kaitlyn asked, deciding to say what was on everyone’s minds.

Yoongi pocketed his phone before meeting the group's stares, “I’ve been summoned. It seems like you guys are going to be on your own for a few days.”

Chapter Text

Yuri sighed, taking a seat behind the counter of the quiet convenience store. She had a few more hours left of her shift before she could retreat home and get some much needed rest. These were the boring moments she wished she could have a phone to call someone or do something to preoccupy her time.

The clock ticked, making time flow slowly as she just stared out the clear front door, staring at nothing in particular. She tore her eyes away from the buildings that stood across from the store and pulled out the one thing she had in her pocket.

A small, silver knife sat in her hands. She smiled at the memory of when she first received this small present from the group of hunters she had grown close to. It was shortly after the wendigo attack during training. Yoongi was firm when he gave her her first weapon. She initially tried to deny but quickly changed her mind remembering how helpless she felt during the previous encounter. She let the knife spin and rotate through her fingertips. It was truly a beautiful knife. It was small with a sharp pointed top, almost resembling a small sword. A beautiful red gem sat at its center, catching the light just right.

Yuri jumped and put the weapon away, hearing the bell jingle, signaling someone’s entrance. A smile graced her features when she locked eyes with the customers.

“I had a feeling you were a bit tired, so I brought some coffee.” The man smiled, setting down a cup in front of her.

“You know there is coffee here, right?” Yuri giggled softly at the coffee that was set in front of her.

“Yeah, but this coffee is so much better.” Taehyung pushed the cup closer to the small girl. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Yuri let a smile grace her features, taking the warm drink into her hands. Even with the start of spring, the convenience store decided to blast the air conditioning making it too cold to handle.

Taehyung leaned against the counter, taking a sip of his own drink, eyes never leaving hers, “I know, but I really wanted to.”

Yuri couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she took a seat behind the counter once again, “Yeah, if you say so.”

“I also came because I was wondering if you would come by tomorrow?” Taehyung asked, eyes sparkling as he awaited her answer.

Yuri chuckled softly, “Sure. That sounds great.” 

_________________________________________________________________________

Yoongi thrusted on his backpack full of essentials, packed and ready for the trip he had to make to the council. He assumed that the travel time to go there and back would be around two to three days. 

He emerged through the doorway, his eyes landing on the others still scattered around the yard. He took note of Jungkook who seemed preoccupied with the draconic creature, though he seemed to never turn away for too long. He wasn’t the one to trust people too easily and a whole lot of them just broke what little he gave them. 

It seemed like Yeonjun was catching Jimin up on the events that had unfolded the past few weeks, though Jimin didn’t seem surprised to say the least. He had been alive longer than all their ages combined. It probably took a lot more than a crazy warlock and the end of the world to shake him up. 

The girls were sitting on one of the fallen trees, talking normally. It was a nice change from the tension the two of them had cycling between them the past month or so. It was like nothing had happened.

 Though things seemed calm, Yoongi knew they were anything but. He closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. This was the most inconvenient time to be taken away from the others, especially with the old man AWOL. 

Yoongi moved down the steps, gaining attention from the others. He scanned through them all knowing that setting the ground rules before leaving was going to leave more stress on top of the already present tension. But, at the same time, it was something that needed to be done.

“I’m going to say this once and I do not want to have to repeat myself,” Yoongi spoke, as he walked off the final step into the yard, “You will not hunt while I am away. With all the new information we gained, this is not the time to throw yourselves into a dangerous situation, especially when you don’t trust one another. The closest any of you should get to hunting is training with one another and rebuilding that trust. That means not killing anyone or anything.” 

Yoongi spoke to all of them, but his eyes seemed to land on Jungkook more often than not. Jungkook cocked his head to the side, “Why is everything directed towards me?”

“Because you don’t listen to me, and I need you to actually listen to what I’m saying for once in your life.”

“That’s not tru-” 

Jungkook was cut off by a quick smack to the back of his head. He inhaled sharply as he reached for the place where Yoongi’s hand made impact. The action did take effect though, as he shut his mouth instead of continuing to protest. 

“Anyways,” Yoongi sighed, returning his attention to the others, “Lexi, Yeonjun, and Jimin, since we know you three have powers, work on them. I’m actually quite pissed you guys have kept this information from me when in fact it could have made our hunts easier.”

“Granted, I’m pretty sure we all thought you would kill us,” Lexi mumbled, though she figured he already knew that.

“Well, you aren’t dead now, so work on it.” Yoongi shifted his attention from Lexi to the resident vampire, “Since you are involved now, work on honing your telekinetic powers. You say you’re strong, so get stronger. While you’re at it, make them stronger.”

“You want me to help?” Jimin was slightly taken aback but left out a small cackle of laughs. He was ready to give some information and be on his merry way, but it seemed like Yoongi had other plans. He couldn’t stop the smirk that appeared on his face, “Why are you trusting me?”

“Who said anything about trust? You’re here because you became involved the second you made a deal with a hunter. But if you do decide to step out of line, I know quite a few ways to get rid of you. In fact, I know quite a few hunters that would love to get their hands on a vampire with your abilities. What they will do to you is nothing compared to what I would do if you hurt anyone here or put anyone at risk.” Yoongi’s eyes didn’t break from Jimin’s.

“Understood.” Jimin spoke, feeling a chill run down his spine.

“If any of you break these rules, there will be consequences,” Yoongi sent a stern look to the group, “Behave, I’ll be back soon.”

The group watched as Yoongi stalked to his car and drove off. There was an uncomfortable silence left behind, as they were unsure of what to do next. Seconds felt like minutes as the silence engulfed them, no one wanting to make the first move.

Kaitlyn finally broke through the silence, “It doesn’t seem he gave us much of an option besides training. I guess we should start there?”

 A few of them pushed off the places they were perched and joined the others as they ventured deeper into the yard towards the training grounds. The trip seemed tense, as the trust anyone had for one another had been altered so shortly before. The idea that any of them could turn on the other was evident to each of them. 

“Kate and I will head off and do our thing. You guys can work on your whole… magic thing.” Jungkook mumbled, grabbing the sleeve of the girl next to him as he attempted to pull her away from the others. 

“Kook, we can’t pretend like we have much of an option anymore,” Kaitlyn said, halting her movements which in turn caused him to stop in his tracks, “There's something much bigger than the lies that were told between us all. There is a legitimate danger going on. We can’t afford to not work with them.” 

Jungkook let out a shaky breath. This wasn’t something that he wanted to do willingly. He had watched too many creatures just like them tear peoples families apart, including his own. What upset him the most was that he genuinely liked them and trusted them. That was why it hurt even more to find out the truth.  

“She’s got a point, Jungkook. We can’t even enjoy a trip to the museum without getting attacked.” Lexi rubbed the back of her neck as she spoke, still slightly fearful for when the creature may come back to attack again. Her fingers gently traced the faint outline of the branded mark that seemed to be stuck there for who knows how long.

“This life doesn’t give us luxuries to enjoy museums or have off days. To think that, it’s just naive.” Jungkook responded, finally turning to face the other three. He noticed the way their eyes swam with guilt, “We cannot walk the streets and not look over our shoulders just in case something is lurking just out of our sight.”

“Jungkook, we aren’t the ones lurking in the dark. We are trying to save people too.” Lexi responded, voice slightly trembling from the pain of having someone so close to her feel so estranged. 

“Yeah, sure, tell that to your leach-of-a-boyfriend. He literally waited in the shadows and attacked Yuri. She nearly died.” Jungkook quickly responded back, frustration growing in his voice as he spoke.

“Yes, nearly,” Jimin finally spoke up, taking a step forward, “My intention wasn’t to kill her, or I would have done so. I left her in a visible location so she would be found and I didn’t take enough blood from her to die, just to keep her out of commision for a while. What I needed to know was how many hunters were connected to Lexi if she was one and it drew every single one of you out. I couldn’t afford to be found out.”

“And how is that supposed to help your case? It’s not like you had great intentions did you?” Jungkook asked, taking a step towards Jimin. Kaitlyn grabbed the fabric of his jacket in an attempt to keep him in reign but if he decided to charge at him she wouldn’t be able to stop him, “No wait, you blood bonded to her to try and take advantage of her.”

“Are you looking over the fact that she lied to you too? Or that buddy boy over there was a literal spy for the man we are all currently trying to destroy? Every single one of us isn't innocent. Dial it back Jungkook.”

Jungkook huffed as he tore his arm away from Kaitlyn and walked a few feet away to pace. Jimin’s eyes flashed red before he closed them and attempted to calm himself down before he did something he knew he’d regret. 

Yeonjun sighed as he looked over at Jungkook pacing, “I can’t really blame him for being so angry. I’d be angry if I were in his position.”

“Me too,” Lexi sighed, feeling her heart break as she watched someone she considered family almost have a mental break.

“I’m going to check on him. I’ll be right back,” Kaitlyn mumbled, turning her attention to Jungkook. Once in proximity of him, she reached out and grabbed his sleeve again to get his attention. He stopped his pacing and looked at her with glossy eyes, “Kook, can you try and train with us?”

He stared at her, wondering if she knew her question might not have the answer she wanted it to have. He shook his head, “I don’t know Kate. You’re the only one here I trust.”

“Please, we need you.” Kaitlyn continued, his eyes reaching her own, “Plus, who else will keep me on my feet?”

She cracked a small smile as she poked at her own misfortune. She shoulder bumped Jungkook who, despite having a stone cold face, cracked a smile as well. He bumped her back with his elbow, “I’m only doing this to keep you on your feet, okay? You fall too much for me to leave you to your own devices.”

Much to the others’ surprise, Kaitlyn returned to the group with Jungkook in tow.

“So, we train?” Kaitlyn suggested, looking between the group. 

“And how exactly should we start then? I don’t think it’s a good idea to pair me up with those two.” Jungkook grumbled, averting his gaze from the others.

“Well, we won’t be improving our trust or skills if we don’t all train together.” Lexi responded, catching Jungkook’s eye in the process, “It’s team training we have to do. You have to work with all of us. You think you can do that?”

Jungkook let out a sigh in response and pulled out his knife, ready for training.

“I know I shouldn’t have much say considering everything that has happened recently, but I can’t train if we are using silver,” Yeonjun said, taking a step back from the shiny knife held in the man’s hand, “If I come in contact with it, my skin bubbles like a third degree burn. I don’t want to know what it would feel like to hold it for an extended period of time.”

“I got to agree with the shifter-boy over there. Silver rubs me the wrong way as well, though its effects are a little different for me.” Jimin agreed, his words coming out less timid than the other.

“And what do you expect us to use?” Jungkook asked, his irritation bubbling back to the surface with all the nitpicking they were doing. 

“Bronze,” Lexi mumbled, thoughts somewhere else. She looked up and met Yeonjun’s gaze, “That’s why you carry that knife with you, right? Bronze doesn’t burn you. I’m assuming it won’t hurt Jimin as well. At least, I never read anything on it hurting vampires.`` She made a mental note, knowing how badly silver can impact the two men standing next to her.

“Do we have any bronze weapons? Most things go down with silver.” Kaitlyn chimed in.

With the roll of his eyes, Jungkook threw his knife somewhere off into the distance, “If you would’ve said a week ago, I’d be working with a witch, vampire, and shapeshifter, I would’ve laughed.” Jungkook mumbled under his breath. He shrugged his shoulders before he spoke out loud, “Fine, I’ll use my fists then.” 

“Maybe we should do something a little less… hand-to-hand combat to start off with. I guess we can send things towards you and you guys can work on dodging?” Lexi looked at the other two.

“I don’t have any abilities besides shifting my appearance. I guess I should probably join the others,” Yeonjun suggested, pointing towards both Jungkook and Kaitlyn. 

“Work on shifting in motion then,” Lexi acknowledged before motioning with her head for him to join the other two. He nodded and walked off towards them.

Yeonjun’s mind went dark as he found himself readying to dodge whatever the other two were going to throw at him. He let his mind wander, almost in a daze as he thought through what he was about to do. Shifting was something he didn’t need to concentrate on too hard as it was like breathing or blinking. It was something natural his body did, as unnatural as it was. It wasn’t the shifting he was worried about, it was whether or not he would find this body again. He was quite fond of it, even if it wasn’t his. 

“How many things can you move at once?” Jimin asked aloud, eyes finding Lexi’s. He knew she had to be powerful but he only saw her use it only a few times and well, he was more busy keeping himself alive than analyzing her skill. 

“I’ve been working on my abilities, but I’ve only really been able to move a lot when I’m in danger. Now, I’m not really sure. Probably a few things.” Lexi responded softly, uncomfortable with discussing her abilities aloud when she kept them in the dark for so long.

“So, you have no control basically.” Jimin sighed, letting his hands run through his parted hair.

“I have some control, but it really does vary. It’s easier to be powerful when I don’t have to worry about killing someone else.” Lexi sighed softly, all the times she truly felt powerful, her emotions were out of hand. The wendigos, fighting her grandfather, the wraith attack, “I guess the only thing I can control is my healing abilities and fire, to a certain extent. How much can you handle?”

“The smaller the pieces, the more I can handle. For reference if we are talking about something like pebbles, millions, knives, maybe a hundred, a boulder, one or two, but it takes up most of my concentration.” Jimin faced the group, standing further away, “But my abilities only really apply to inanimate objects.”

“But you caught Yuri, didn’t you?” Lexi asked, shocked by his words.

Jimin nodded, brows furrowed in concentration, “Yeah, I’m not sure how I did that. Usually I can make my target freeze by using telekinesis on their shoes and keep them stuck to the ground. I tried to do it to you when we first met,” He chuckled at the memory, ”But, humans aren’t like objects. They have a consciousness. My ability doesn’t like to manipulate them.”

“Really, manipulate?” Lexi scoffed at his choice of wording. 

Jimin rolled his eyes, “What else do I use to describe what my ability does? It manipulates objects.” 

Everyone had already taken their place. They decided to let the dodgers close the distance between the two groups, allowing them to work on moving in a dangerous field. 

“Are you two done so we can start?” Jungkook yelled from a distance.

“Well, it’s a good thing we are using small items.” Lexi mumbled, facing the group as well. Jimin couldn’t help but smirk as he effortlessly let thousands of small rocks float into the air and let them fly towards the others. Just enough rocks being thrown to make it possible to dodge, but still hard to do so.

“Don’t look so surprised. After years with this ability, I should make it look easy.” Jimin voiced, watching the others begin to dodge the projectiles, “Are you going to just stand there or?”

 Kaitlyn tripped as she dodged a rather big stone amongst the smaller ones being thrown. She growled as she caught herself in the dirt; her body popping up almost as fast as she fell despite her body’s protests. Moving forwards was proving to be harder than she thought, especially since everytime Jimin said something to dig under Lexi’s skin, the rocks just got flung with more force. The few places that they collided with on her body were going to welt and bruise. 

Jungkook moved both swiftly and quickly, but the rain of stones did prove to be a bit hard to maneuver through. He was athletic, no one denied that. He seemed to have made the most progress between the three.

Yeonjun sighed, dodging back and forth. He was last, behind both the others. Him being behind had nothing to do with his athletic abilities or swiftness, those abilities were honed as a child when he lived off the streets. No, he was behind because he knew he should shift but he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to do so. He let a shaky breath out, the familiar feeling of his skin tearing and his bones morphing within. The transformation was almost as painful as his first ever shift. He chalked it up to how long he had gone staying in his prior form.

When the pain subsided, he knew instantly which identity he was bearing. It was a baker he once begged for food, and the identity he used to gain access for more afterwards. He knew that he had a wife and kid. He knew his schedule and how to make a fluffy loaf of bread. He peered down at his hands and they were much thicker than the ones he was used to.   

He took a few steps forward before doing his best to change back to himself. He was uncomfortable being in another form other than the one he had trained in. The tearing and burning feeling was much faster this time, but more information flooded into his brain. He looked down to see a dainty pair of hands and breasts to match. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Yeonjun muttered, his attention torn away from the training exercise and, instead, focused on his current issue. He attempted to shift again, but he didn’t feel his body morph. He shook his head as he fell backwards onto the ground. He began scratching at his wrist, blood pooling quickly from this identity’s nails.

The objects ceased to be thrown at the commotion. Kaitlyn turned around at the unfamiliar female voice muttering to themselves, “Yeonjun?”           

Yeonjun didn’t respond as he began to scratch on his neck and face. His body was shaking from the primal fear he was experiencing. He felt tears pool down his face unsure if it was from how terrified he was or him maiming himself.

Kaitlyn’s eyes widened at the site, abandoning her spot without a second thought and running toward Yeonjun. She quickly fell to her knees and began to try and pull his hands away from his face. He cried harder, “No, no, no, get it off me. Get it off!”

“Yeonjun, please, quit hurting yourself.” Kaitlyn begged but she alone wasn’t able to apprehend him as the identity he was in was quite strong for being so small.

“Get it off me!” He wailed, tears falling from his face as he kept thrashing.

Another person appeared next to Kaitlyn, taking a few more seconds to run over from the distance. Lexi grabbed the hand that kept escaping the other’s grasp and held it away from his face. He thrashed again, this time, the body he was in being his downfall as the tiny girl couldn’t take on two trained hunters. 

“Yeonjun, I need you to calm down.” Lexi demanded, voice loud, but concern was still evident in her tone, “Yeonjun! Please, you need to breathe! We can’t get you back like this.”

She had no other way to break through his screams. Hearing her words, he tried to slow his breathing down. The panic that raced through his veins was still heavy and not leaving anytime soon.

“I can’t change back,” He mumbled, “I can’t change back. I need to change back.” 

His words came out as almost a plea rather than a statement. It was like he was begging the two of them to help him when neither knew how to. Sure, Lexi was a witch, but she knew nothing on how to force a shifter back to their former self. She wasn’t even sure if that would be possible. She was just as helpless as Kaitlyn or him. 

“I know what it's like to have your body betray you.” Kaitlyn voiced, no hint of panic within her words. It almost felt heavy leaving her mouth, “You know you can do things because you’ve done them so many times before but now you feel like it’s impossible. You have to know that even though it feels that way, it’s not. If I’m still standing despite the curse that fucker placed on me, you can shift back.”

His breathing steadied as he looked into Kaitlyn’s eyes. He knew she struggled day in and day out to hold herself together. He nodded slowly, “Okay.”

“Okay,” Kaitlyn repeated, loosening her grip on him now that he wasn’t actively trying to hurt himself, though she didn’t release him, “Try again.”

“What if I just change into someone else?” He asked.

“Then you try again. We will keep trying until we get you back, okay? We aren’t going to leave you.” Lexi answered, flickering her eyes at Kaitlyn to see her agree with a nod. 

Yeonjun closed his eyes, feeling the way his body morphed again. He knew they had released him, though he didn’t blame them. The shifting was gross to witness if it was done slowly, and he still wasn’t the quickest with it. More memories intruded into his brain and he growled in frustration. He was a man again, though far from his usual build. 

He felt his face become wet with tears again, though the previous ones had just dried, “Mom was right. I’m good for nothing. I’m a mistake. Everyone would be better off if I was dead, I’m useless. I can’t even get my body back.” 

He was ready to dig his nails into his skin again, but feeling two hands overtop of his made him look up. This time they weren’t using force, it was more of a means of comfort than emergency. 

“You aren’t useless nor better off dead. You are part of our family and we stick together. Try again. We know you can do it.” Lexi smiled towards Yeonjun.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and attempted again, this time feeling his body becoming smaller, though not as small as a woman’s figure. He waited for the instant download but nothing came, which made him relieved though he knew he shouldn’t be before he saw himself. No instant download of memories didn’t mean much. It could just mean that form didn’t have much significance in their life and their memories will come like passing thoughts instead of facts. 

“Welcome back,” Lexi said, making Yeonjun’s eyes snap open.

He quickly pulled himself off  the ground and ran towards the backdoor of the house, nearly tripping multiple times on the way there. He slammed against the glass window and looked into it, seeing his reflection barely looking back at him. He was back, or well, what he viewed as himself was back. The only difference was the deep scratch marks across the skin of his face, though the bleeding had stopped it was far from healed.. Tears streamed down his face as he gently ran his hand through his hair, making sure what he was seeing was real.

“That was quite the show you put on.” A voice chuckled nearby. He turned and saw Jimin with a smirk on his face, looking amused, “It was very entertaining. I love seeing humans break like that. Though you aren’t all human, this will do.”

Suddenly a branch wrapped around Jimin’s leg and pulled it out from under him, making him fall to the floor with a grunt.

“That’s awfully funny coming from you and the last time you were here.” Lexi glared at him, “I thought you’d have some compassion especially when you ran out of here crying. At least he was brave and strong enough to stay.” 

Jimin only glared at the girl for bringing up that shameful memory as he rose to his feet.

“Wow so I’m surrounded by crybabies is what I’m hearing.” Jungkook snickered at the two.

“Oh don’t you even start.” Kaitlyn pointed at him, “We’ve all cried over something traumatic Jungkook. Don’t act like you’re invincible.”

Jungkook’s tongue prodded his cheek as he avoided the other’s eyes. He roughly kicked a rock at the annoyance of his past being brought up again.

“I think that’s enough training for today.” Lexi scratched at her arm from the cloud of tension that surrounded them.

“I could go for a coffee.” Kaitlyn smiled softly, in an attempt to ease the stiffness filling all of them.

“I have something else on my mind to drink.” It was impulsive for Jimin to say at this point, the man was still a vampire who loved to tease humans whenever he could. He was not thinking when he spoke, hastily covering his mouth as the words left his mouth. The first person he peered at was Jungkook. If looks could kill, Jimin would be dead by the glare Jungkook was feasting upon him.

“Jimin, I’m begging you to listen to me for once and shut the fuck up.” Lexi pushed the man to start walking away from the house towards the familiar cafe. 

With a quick flick of her wrist, Zuko became a miniature sized dragon and joined the group on their escapade. 

The coffee shop was somewhat busy as Nari made her way inside. She had just spent the past few hours studying for her business course. She decided, as a reward for when she finished studying, to stop and get a coffee and muffin on her way back to the dorm. 

She pulled her phone out at the feeling of it buzzing in her pocket. She saw the caller ID flash across the screen reading ‘Mother.’ She simply rolled her eyes before she muted the call and threw it back into her pocket. She was not in the mood to hear how much of a disappointment she was. The whole reason she was studying business anyways was to pacify her mother.

She joined the line ahead of her. Despite being distracted by her own thoughts about a future she didn’t want, she couldn’t stop her eyes from falling to the back of the head in front of her. Suddenly, the weight of her thoughts seemed to have dissipated as she realized who was in front of her.

“Hobi?” She voiced.

The man in front of her lazily glanced over his shoulder before realizing who was behind him. His eyes seemed to light up once he knew who had spoken to him. He turned around and smiled, “Nari, what are you doing here?”

She laughed a little at his question, “It’s on the way back to the dorm. What are you doing here? You don’t go to the college.”

“You have a point,” He nodded before motioning with his head towards the counter, “Taehyung brought me here a few times and I really liked it. Going out of my way for some decent coffee was a sacrifice I was willing to make. Especially since it isn’t crazy expensive as well.”

“Fair,” Nari laughed. There was something about the way Hoseok smiled that seemed to take all the stress she carried and push it far from her mind. 

Hoseok walked forward to the counter and ordered his drink before taking a glance back towards Nari, “What do you want?”

“What?” Nari asked, surprise evident in her voice. 

“I”m buying. What do you want?” Hoseok repeated, raising an eyebrow at the girl. 

A small smile formed on her face as she took a step forward and relayed her order to the barista. Everyone knew she came from money and usually relied on her to pay the bill or swipe her card. They didn’t even ask if she could. It just seemed to be her job as the resident rich girl. Yet, this man didn’t expect her to pay. He knew she had money and he still wanted to front the bill. 

The barista quickly retrieved their items and placed them in front of the two of them. Nari quickly grabbed hers and waited for Hoseok to do the same. He grabbed his drink and attempted to put his wallet back into his pocket with the other, though his face scrunched up in pain as he did so.

“Are you okay?” She asked, following him to a table.

He nodded slightly as they sat across from one another, a small smile forming on his face at her concern, “I just hurt my arm pretty bad a bit ago. I should have remembered before trying that. I’m okay though, I promise.”

“Good,” She responded, breaking off a part of her muffin and handing it to him as a thank you for being so nice and genuine to her. 

The group was awkwardly quiet as they traversed through the forest, quickly making it through and to the other side of a college campus. The sun was blinding as they emerged through the trees and a cool breeze kissed their skin. No one knew what to talk about as they walked closer to the cafe.

Yeonjun had been subconsciously touching his facial features, finding comfort in the identity he was most familiar with. His fingers grazed over the injuries he had inflicted into his skin. Though fresh, they ceased bleeding and already began to scab over like day old wounds. He may not have the healing factor as some creatures, but it was still more advanced than a mere ordinary human. 

He was terrified of trying to change into the other faces that became embedded in his DNA. The meltdown he had was enough proof of his fear, but he knew if he was going to prove himself and be of any help to the people he considered close friends or family, he had to try. He had to believe he would be able to find this identity again if he shifted. He let out a deep breath, realizing the fact he would probably have countless breakdowns until he could control this mystical gift he was born with.

The group came to a halt, which made the spaced-out Yeonjun run into the back of the muscular frame of Jungkook. He shook his head and moved his attention to where the others were looking, the same confused expression the others held falling onto his own face. 

“This is obscure,” Jimin muttered, taking a step closer to the statue in front of them, taking note of the others' scattered similarity down the pathway, “And exceedingly accurate.” 

This statue showed a woman with long hair and enticingly beautiful features. She had an angry expression on her face with fangs exposed and barred for everyone to see. A similar look to Jimin when he bares his own. 

A look of worry grazed over the group as they moved onto the next statue. This one stood taller than the last with broad shoulders and long limbs. The most prominent feature wasn’t the creature’s height, but the singular eyeball in the middle of his face. 

Lines of these statues filled the town square. By the looks of it, not a single one was human. Some of the statues resembled them with many major modifications to make them more mystical. 

“I haven’t seen some of these creatures before. I’ve only read about them in the journals. Most of these are thought to be extinct.” Jungkook spoke. He stood in front of a statue. Its humane body laid on the ground, but the neck was elongated like a snake, it coiled and stretched many feet long. A human woman’s head was attached to the end of the snake-like neck.

“What the fuck is that?” Yeonjun looked at the strange creature. Though he was a shapeshifter, he was more human than monster and his knowledge of the more supernatural creatures were a hit or miss.

“You really need to learn to pick up a book and read. At least do some research on supernatural creatures. Not just because you are one, but if you’re going to be a hunter, learn.” Jungkook spoke lowly to the man, “It’s called a Rokurokubi. By day they’re women, but at night, while the body rests, the neck elongates allowing them to feed. Usually they just drink blood but the really evil ones will eat humans. It’s fascinating how life-like this is. How would someone be able to accurately create something like this? I’ve only seen sketches of these things and those are, well, not the most accurate.” 

“Are you dense?” Jimin scoffed, earning everyone’s attention. 

“What are you on about?” Kaitlyn questioned, crossing her arms at the targeted insult to their group.

“These are just as accurate as the ones we saw at the museum. There is only one thing I know capable of making these statues.” Jimin responded, shaking his head in disappointment, “Aren't you supposed to be hunters?”

Jungkook let out a small cackle as the realization dawned on him, “Looks like we have a gorgon on the loose.

“We have to kill the thing,” Jungkook said, standing up from his seated position in the kitchen.

The group had intended to enjoy their time off but instead had gotten their coffees to-go once their eyes landed upon those statues. It was an uneasy feeling, looking into the petrified faces of those creatures, forever stuck in the moment they were frozen in. The trip home was tense, to say the least. 

“Well no shit Jungkook, but Yoongi said not to hunt while he was away,” Kaitlyn responded, eyes following the pacing man.

“We are already on thin ice as is,” Yeonjun voiced from the wall in the corner of the room, flinching when Jungkook’s eyes met his own for a moment. When Jungkook returned to his pacing, Yeonjun sighed in relief before continuing, “A gorgon this close to civilization is concerning though. It’s gotta be pissed.”

“There are already so many creatures... What if it doesn’t stop and goes after more?” Lexi added, cracking her knuckles at the thoughts that ran through her head and out of her mouth, “What if it goes after humans next?.

“Mass hysteria. That’s what would happen.” Jungkook sighed running a hand through his messy hair, the stress of the situation weighing heavy on him and it showed on his face, “People going missing and then suddenly appearing as stone on the streets would send the world into chaos. I mean, we already have tons of disappearances and the world can barely handle that.” 

Kaitlyn took in a deep breath and closed her eyes as she focused on the conversation, “We need to wait until Yoongi gets home, or at least call him and let him know what is going on.”

“Gotta agree with her,” Jimin said from his position against the wall, opposite of Yeonjun.

Jungkook scoffed, turning to look at him, “Oh, now you speak up? You were quiet for a little too long; thought you might have dropped dead.”

“One can only hope,” Jimin responded, a tight smile making it upon his lips and he tried to bring his temper down. He noticed Lexi roll her neck, assuming his anger had been strong enough to reach her. He let out a held breath, “I know you like to risk your own well-being, you know, disobeying a direct order, but I prefer my head attached to my shoulders.”

“How about you shut the fuck up,” Jungkook said, cocking his head to the side, “How’s that for a direct order?”

Jimin’s eyes flashed red, his glare being more evident the more Jungkook pushed his buttons. He then pushed himself off the wall, walking towards the man, “I would quit ta-”

A loud slam echoed into the quiet room causing every single one of them to jump and switch their attention to Kaitlyn, who was the source of the noise. Her fists clenched against the table she had slammed them into  as she glared at the two men about to fight, “Stop fighting. You two are children. We aren’t going.”

“Come on Kate,” Jungkook begged, turning his attention to her instead of the vampire he had been instigating, “We can’t just let this thing go, you know that-”

“We aren’t going!” Kaitlyn said, glaring at him as she shoved the kitchen chair back as she stood up. The chair pushed back with such force it fell and clattered into the floor as she began to leave the room, “Go to bed.”

Chapter Text

“This sounds like a bad idea without having Yoongi here with us,” Kaitlyn mumbled. The sun was out and illuminated the deserted parking lot. The lines meant to separate the spaces for cars were almost nonexistent and weeds managed to force their way through the cracks of the asphalt, which only added to the abandoned feeling of the establishment. It had been a day, a full 30 hours of constant annoyance from Jungkook to check out the gorgon. Now, here they were.

“Yoongi is only one person,” Jungkook said, eyeing the structure in front of them and taking in how little love the outside had received. The brick building before him had been overtaken by cracks and a variety of fauna. There were some windows that had been shattered by local delinquents throwing rocks, “He isn’t the whole group. We each bring something to the table.”

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes at his response, though he was partially right. She felt a hand fall on her shoulder, and she shifted her attention to the taller brunette next to her. Lexi smirked, “Besides, we have a vampire, shapeshifter, and yours truly.”

A tsk interrupted their conversation, making both girls break eye contact and turn to look at the source. Jimin shook his head in disapproval, “And you tell me I’m full of myself?”

“You are,” Yeonjun smirked, walking by the developing argument

Jimin turned around; his nicely swept back hair falling casually over his eyes, “You’re lucky you’re a valid asset to this group or I would rip your throat open.”

Yeonjun glanced down at him through his messy hair, “Oh, wow, how terrifying.”

His words were laced with sarcasm, which irritated Jimin more than he realized. Lexi rolled her neck, feeling his emotions trickle their way into her own body. No matter how often he would lose his cool, the foreign feeling of someone else’s emotions was something she couldn’t get used to.

“And you say I can’t control my emotions,” Lexi mumbled, rubbing her temples.

Kaitlyn sighed, as her eyes landed on the faded lettering etched on the side of the building before them. It was barely visible, but ‘Reverie Gardens’ was plastered above a set of double doors that seemed to be the main entrance. It had taken the whole night to figure out at least one lead as to where the gorgon could have been hiding. Who knew all it took was for them to stumble upon an obscure business advertisement in the phone book for some garden center that specialized in fantasy statues. It fit almost too perfectly.

Her jumbled thoughts came crashing down seeing Jungkook just a few feet away from the door. They didn't know what they were walking into, much like the night he got himself attacked by the wolf. An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach as she looked back at the others arguing.

“Jungkook is going to get himself killed if you don’t shut up and do your jobs,” Kaitlyn snapped before sprinting forward towards Jungkook, who was more than ready to do this without them.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Yoongi by all means was not a nervous person. Growing up, he had the balls most kids wouldn’t, and, after the whole Wendigo incident that led him into his current life, he became practically fearless. Being so close to death and losing everything you have ever known does that to a person.

Yet, this had the bile churning uncomfortably within his stomach. Each step he took closer to the building made his stomach turn more and his feet become heavier. He parked his car a ways away and walked. This place had to be hidden from the general public, so of course it was a nuisance to get to. Yet, almost too fast, the building stood right before him.

A huge pair of heavy wooden doors blocked him from whatever brought him there in the first place. He couldn’t help but have a terrible feeling in his gut as he stood outside. He stared at the doors for who knows how long, doing what he could to procrastinate his entrance. He observed how the wood was warn and slightly cracked, seeming to have been around for ages. Hell, they probably had been. The Hunter organization itself has been around about just as long as the monsters they hunt have been.

Shrugging off his nerves, Yoongi pushed the doors open. The first thing he saw was the wide open hall filled with pillars and thousands of doors. He walked, his footsteps echoing as he dove deeper into the palace-like building. He only walked these halls a few times before, but it was usually with the old man. Yet. he came to a halt in front of a door at the end of the hallway, releasing a heavy breath.

It’s now or never. He thought to himself and entered the meeting hall. His eyes scanned the table that sat within the middle of the spacious room. He noted that the majority of the people sitting there were heads of different groups of hunters. He felt himself grow more nervous, though he didn’t show it. Not because of the people sitting there, but for the sheer fact their leader… his head hunter wasn’t joined with the rest. He scanned the room again, hoping it was some type of mistake, but stopped trying when he locked eyes with the organization’s leader; The man who calls all the shots. Kang Joowon, the man he had been summoned by.

The room quieted down abruptly at the realization that Yoongi had entered. It seemed as though he had interrupted an important meeting amongst the council. It felt like he was a child who just interrupted during ‘grownup talk’ and he couldn’t stop scrunching in annoyance.

“Ah, Mr. Min. Nice to see you made it,” Joowon said, breaking the deafening silence of the room.

“It’s Yoongi.” He responded sharply, making it known he wasn’t there for formalities. If the man had something to say, he needed to spit it out and fast. He didn’t travel all the way there to have a casual conversation like the world wasn’t slowly burning from the inside out.

“Well, Yoongi, you seem just as charismatic as when I first met you,” The older man responded, though his voice dripped with sarcasm. Yoongi resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead focused his energy into waiting for the man to continue, “Have you been made aware of the rising number of attacks that have been happening?”

Yoongi couldn’t keep in his laughter as a dry chuckle erupted from his chest, “Now you guys notice the attacks have increased? We’ve been trying to tell you guys for months. Do you know how many monsters we’ve murdered only for newer and deadlier ones to take their place? If you are only noticing all this now, then you are truly a bunch of idiots.”

Murmurs began to fill the silence left after Yoongi spoke, as if them speaking softly amongst themselves hid the fact they were talking about him and his inability to speak to the Head with any ounce of respect. He didn’t care, because these were the same people that had left all the lesser hunters to deal with the creatures as they sat in their places at the very table they were at now letting the others die in their place.

“Now, now,” Kang Joowon replied, though it was uncertain if it was directed at the gossiping table or Yoongi himself, “I wasn’t belittling your knowledge of what is going on, because you and I both know what is going on out there. That just means you know how dangerous it is as well.”

Yoongi opened his mouth only to shut it a moment later. There was something behind his voice that seemed to stump the blonde man.

Joowon nodded as if to recognize that Yoongi withheld himself and continued, “Kwon Jeonsa had gone missing during a scouting mission. We hoped he would get a hold of us, but yesterday his body was found.”

Yoongi stared at the man in front of him trying to figure out if he was playing some sick joke on him or if the words he spoke were true. The pounding of his heart growing louder within his ears as his eyes just held his, no glimmer of mischief behind them. There was no way the Old Man was dead. No way.

“You’re fucking with me.” Yoongi stated, eyes darting around and seeing the other leaders avoid his stare. All of them genuinely looked upset by the news they had shed to light.

“I have no reason to do that,” The Head spoke out loud, “But if you don’t believe me I can show you his body, or well, what’s left of it. I know he was important to you. I get how this could be hard to hear.”

Yoongi shook his head, “You made me travel all the way here just to tell me this?”

He came off cold, and he knew he did. It was the only way he could hide the shaking of his hands and the unevenness of his voice. He never would admit out loud how important the Old Man was to him. He was the man that saved his life when he was pretty much dead meat. He was the one who brought the others to him and gave him some sort of makeshift family. It was hard to admit he was a big part in that. But it was even harder to admit that he was gone… forever.

“No, I didn’t call you here just for that, though I figured it was the polite way to break the news to you,” The other responded and motioned his hand, sending some of his men out of the room, “I also need your assistance.”

Just as he spoke those words, the heavy doors behind him opened again. Yoongi turned his head to see what the commotion was. In walked three men, two of them struggling to keep the third in line as he thrashed between them trying to rid their grasps. He didn’t seem to want to be there, and frankly Yoongi couldn’t blame him because he didn’t want to be there either.

“What fuck is wrong with you? Get your hands off of me!” The man in the middle growled, trying to tear his arms away from the other two once again. If he wasn’t tied up, he would have had the height and strength to shake off one, if not both of those men. “Let me go!”

At those words, the two men threw him forward towards Yoongi. He side-stepped out of the way and watched as the dark-haired man toppled to the ground with force. He continued to struggle as he attempted to rid the rope around his wrists that kept his hands behind his back.

“Who the fuck is that?” Yoongi asked, pointing towards the kid on the floor, directing his question toward the man who summoned him.

“Who the fuck are you?” The kid responded, words sharp as knives, “Maybe direct your questions at the person you're asking about instead of the cowards over there.”

“Listen here kid, you need to calm the fuck down,” Yoongi glared, though his voice stayed calm. He finally looked at the man on the floor. He was obviously younger than him, his hair was short and black, reminding him of Jungkook’s hairstyle back when he graduated highschool and before he grew it out. His eyes were brown and he had some bruising, cuts, and scrapes littered around his face. He seemed to be in the same clothes they found him in. The clothes he wore were covered in blood and torn in some areas. His long sleeve shirt had a large gash missing on one of the arms. It looked like, underneath, the arm had been bandaged up, but the red slowly seeping through was a dead giveaway this injury was too recent.

“Who are you calling a kid, old man?” He retorted, thrashing his arms yet again, trying to break the rope to free himself. The blow hitting a little too close to home at the moment.

Yoongi shook his head and turned towards the Head who just sat there staring at the young man on the floor growling and struggling to escape, “Min Yoongi, meet Choi Soobin, the newest member of your household.”

“Oh, hell no,” Yoongi shook his head, “Not happening. I already deal with one idiot; I don’t need another one.”

“You are,” He corrected the blonde, “Choi Soobin here is the only hunter that survived the Vetala attack Jeonsa was trying to prevent.”

“Vetala? You mean the human-like serpent creatures? The ones that hunt in pairs? There aren’t many sightings of those in Korea. Are you sure?” Yoongi responded, genuine concern within his voice. Not only are creatures that haven’t been seen in years reemerging from wherever they hid, but monsters that aren’t native are migrating there as well. If what he said was true, then they were in bigger trouble than what he thought.

How do you counter monsters you have no practice in fighting?

His attention shifted from the head of hunters to the man on the ground, but only because his struggling had ceased at the mention of the said creatures. His face contorted into disgust as his eyes found the tile beneath him, “Yeah. We didn’t expect to be attacked within our own household, let alone double teamed. The only reason I’m here is because I found one of my teammate’s bodies and was able to grab a weapon before being ambushed. I would have died if it weren’t for that guy.”

“He saved you?” Yoongi asked, voice less harsh at the realization that the old man was doing what he had always done, rescuing people.

Soobin nodded, a soft sigh leaving his mouth, “He beheaded the one that was attacking me but the other Vetala, well, it got him before I could do anything.”

Yoongi winced at the thought that ran through his head. He had never run into one of those monsters himself, but he read stories and articles on their razor-sharp teeth that extend when they feed and how they leave their victims. No wonder there wasn’t much left of his body.

“Okay,” Yoongi nodded, before cocking his head in the direction of Soobin, “He doesn’t sound completely useless. I guess I can take him.”

Soobin began thrashing again and growled, “Untie my fucking hands, god damn it.”

“You keep it up and I’m going to leave you tied up all the way back to the house,” Yoongi retorted before flicking open the pocketknife he had dug out of his jacket pocket, “Or I can cut the rope and you can shut your damn mouth.”

Soobin glared at the older man but kept his mouth shut, ready to be freed from the rope knotted around his wrists. Yoongi took that as compliance to his request and bent down to cut Soobin free. As soon as it was possible, Soobin rose to his feet, rubbing his own wrists where the rope burned marks into.

Once on his feet, Soobin looked at Yoongi, “Can we get out of here before I say something I’ll regret?”

“You and me both.” Yoongi responded, before cocking his head to the side. Soobin walked out the double doors with Yoongi in tail watching the kid’s every move, just in case.

________________________________________________________________________________

“It looks abandoned,” Jungkook mumbled, after taking a walk around the building for any signs of life, “Or it just gets no business.”

Yeonjun wiped the dirt off of the front store window and peered into the establishment, “I can’t see a ton of people wanting life sized supernatural creatures scattered around with their petunias and lilies.”

“Why have statues when you can have the real thing haunting your gardens,” Jimin commented, a half-hearted chuckle leaving his lips. Jungkook glared at him, nose scrunching as he attempted to disregard his comment. The look he received from Lexi wasn’t very nice either. He shrugged, “Too soon?”

“Shut up Jimin,” Lexi mumbled, pushing past him and towards the front door of the business, “So, are we going in or what?”

Without waiting for an answer, Lexi pushed the door open, a small bell rang throughout the store, indicating their arrival. The sound echoed within the establishment, bouncing off the walls and statues making it seem much louder than it should have been. The wind from outside taking the chance to flow in with them disturbing the layers of dust collected at the register counter.

Jungkook was the first to walk further inside the establishment, taking in a few of the statues left out on display as if to entrance the buyers to wander further into the next room where they assumed the majority of them were stored. Not a single person was there to greet them, which didn’t surprise him from how rundown it looked. His eyes scanned many statues before locking with one that piqued his interest. He slowly stalked over to said statue, observing every characteristic.

It was a werewolf, or well, he thought it was. The creature stood there in an offensive stance, lips pulled up and nose scrunched in a snarl. Yet, this wolf seemed more primitive. Its body was much larger than any wolves he had run into and its canines were protruding much farther out of its mouth than normal. An uneasy feeling set into his stomach at the sight.

Jimin had been on high alert since walking in and even more so after his eyes landed on the stone vampire in the corner dressed in Victorian era clothing. Her eyes were wide in fear, arms stretched out as if to cover her eyes. It seemed as though her attempts were futile considering where she found herself now.

Jimin glanced over at Jungkook, meeting his eyes as he turned around from the creature in front of him. For once, his eyes didn’t hold malice towards him, but concern for what he had seen. Jimin was sure his eyes held the same sort of look.

There was no way these were just imagined, but creatures who had fallen into a fate much worse than being decapitated or staked. Their lives were just stopped in that moment, forever stuck in the image of the fear they felt when they were trapped. Judging by the creatures in front of the group, this had been going on for a long time.

“This isn’t good, right?” Kaitlyn whispered, waiting for someone to tell her she was wrong and that they had everything under control. Instead of reassurance, she received silence which was quite the opposite of what she wanted.

Instead Jimin’s head whipped towards the open archway leading to the other room, “We aren’t alone.”

The group didn’t question him but instead reached for their weapons. He was half expecting some resistance since none of them had picked up on the sound of something falling across the establishment, but he realized they must have made the connection that his enhanced hearing played a part in his words.

The group filed into the open room, each of them uncomfortable with how many stone figures laid upon their eyes. Each one of them was a victim of this creature. Jungkook cleared his throat, “Hello? Is anyone there? We were looking for something to put in our garden.”

Jimin listened, narrowing in on noises that didn’t come from his immediate vicinity. He noticed tapping coming from further within the mass of petrified creatures. He pointed faintly in the direction he heard the tapping, letting himself fall behind the group. If he was going to be forced to join the group of hunters, he was going to at least do it right. He wanted to make sure he had full vision of the group just in case the shit went sideways.

It didn’t take long to find the source of the noise Jimin had picked up on. There was a slightly empty spot of the sea of stone and there stood a woman caressing the faces of one of the statues, her back turned away from the group.

“If you were looking for a masterpiece for your garden, this one is one of my favorites.” The lady responded, her voice holding some sort of elegance to it as if she had lived for quite some time, “I’m quite proud of this one.”

“What kind of creature is he?” Jungkook asked, hand tightening on his machete. He knew already from the horns protruding from its head and the hoofs it stood on, but he was just trying to buy himself time to get closer to her.

The woman hummed to herself, looking at the creature more intensely, “Have you ever heard stories of Satyrs? They’re quite eccentric with their whole love of music, dancing, and women. It’s said Dionysus himself took them as his companions with them being so keen to his favorite things.”

“A nature spirit,” Lexi added, watching the women's movements, “Too bad gods aren’t real.”

The woman laughed aloud, “How do you know they just didn’t abandon us, young witch?”

Lexi’s eyes grew wide as the realization that the gorgon in front of her pinpointed that she wasn’t human. She instinctively gripped her knife tighter, weary of the fact she could become one of the stone statues scattered around if she just turned around and met her eyes.

“I wouldn’t blame them if they did,” Jungkook spoke, moving forward slowly. He held his machete up ready to strike.

The woman slowly turned her head to the side, heading his movements. A smirk fell on her lips, “The only thing that keeps me going is my little collection here. I’ve worked so hard on it. It truly is my prized collection. Yet, there are so many creatures I lack, but would love. But I guess now is the perfect time to add a Daywalker.”

That’s when the woman turned around, eyes landing on Jimin. He had been ready though and closed his own before she could fully face him. He heard movement coming from next to him as the hunters jumped into action. If it were up to him, he would have ripped her head off. Yet, he couldn’t risk meeting the creature's eyes.

“Hey, what about me huh? You don’t want a shifter?” Yeonjun called, knowing damn well gaining her attention could be fatal. He didn’t care though if anyone should be turned to stone it should be him. He was the newest and the least trusted. The impact of him being gone would hurt the team much less.

The gorgon scrunched her nose at his question, her steel eyes not breaking away from Jimin, “Shifters are far too human. Who would want to look at something like that?”

Yeonjun raised his eyebrow, surprised that the gorgon hadn’t shifted her attention. She was far too invested in trying to add Jimin to her mass of petrified supernatural creatures.

A crash finally broke the gorgon’s eye contact from Jimin. One of her many sculptures had fallen over and busted open, ending the creature’s eternal suffering as only a mass of marble lying on the ground was left behind.

“No!” The gorgon yelled, her eyes breaking from Jimin to look at one of her destroyed babies.

“Oops.” Jungkook had his eyes closed. Yeonjun took the slim chance he had and ran up to the creature from the side, pulling the short sword the group had given him before the quest out of its sheath. He then swung at the gorgons neck, cutting through flesh and bone.

Yeonjun watched the body flop lifelessly to the ground, “I’m kind of offended that I’m not monster enough for you.”

He felt a strong pain and dropped the weapon he once held. He felt an intense burning as his hands began to shake. He gripped his wrist with his free hand and stared at it in horror. While he was able to wield the sword because of the cloth covered grip; it was the group's idea, hoping to save his hand if he ended up having to use it. What they didn’t account for was when he swung his hand grazed against the silver hand guard. He looked down to see a giant welt beginning to form against the side of his finger and thumb. It hadn’t been the first time he had been burned by silver, but that didn’t make the pain any easier to deal with.

“Are you okay?” Kaitlyn asked, eyes fixated in on the near third-degree burn on his hand. All the times they used silver on creatures, she not once had thought about how it would be like to know someone with that kind of infliction.

Yeonjun reached down, grabbing the weapon, and shoving it back into its cover on his waist. He made sure to only touch the fabric to avoid any further damage to himself. He walked back towards the group, “Yeah, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Jimin had been staring at the dead gorgon, not necessarily interested in the shifter’s injury. He had this nagging feeling like the situation had gone too easily. There were so many petrified creatures around them, it had to have taken decades or even centuries for just her to have frozen all of them.

“Shit,” Jimin muttered as a creaking noise sounded ahead of him, eyes widening as he instinctively reached up to cover Lexi’s eyes as she too began to look up at the noise.

Just as soon as he muttered the word, Jungkook sprang into action. He also had a feeling that something wasn’t right about the situation. He noticed the movement within the statues, and rushed towards it swinging his sword. A few stone statues toppled over and a scream could be heard. The gorgon before him was pinned down by its own stone prisoners. Before the gorgon could turn their head to stop him, he quickly beheaded the second creature. Its body falling lifelessly to the floor much like its predecessor.

Lexi stumbled forward, her feet refusing to move like she wanted them to. Her muscles seemed to have tightened but she was still able to reach out next to her to feel the way Jimin’s shirt hardened under her touch. She growled, “Fuck!”

The rest walked over to where Lexi stood next to the petrified Jimin. Kaitlyn reached out to Lexi and grasped onto her shoulder. It felt like a rock under her hand as if her body was mimicking the man frozen in front of her.

“This is not good,” Yeonjun voiced, leaning forward, and looking at Jimin, “What are we going to do?”

Jungkook groaned, “Fix him before Yoongi gets back. He’ll kill us.”

“No shit,” Lexi mumbled, unable to tear her eyes away from Jimin. The guilt of him being frozen in place of her was beginning to eat away at her. His face didn’t hold his signature smirk, instead he looked worried. She couldn’t tell if it was for himself or for her, but either way that didn’t matter, “But there isn’t a known way to turn back someone who had been petrified by a gorgon.”

Kaitlyn sighed, allowing her arm to drop from Lexi before looking at the others, “This wouldn’t have happened if you guys just listened to me and not come.”

________________________________________________________________________________

It had been a few hours, the only sound within the car was the slight murmur of the low volumed radio. Much to Yoongi’s surprise, the new recruit had taken his words to heart and had kept his mouth shut since they left the council. He had done nothing but watch the surroundings as they passed by in a blur. By his demeanor, Yoongi had a feeling that this wasn’t the first time he had been relocated.

Yoongi sighed looking at the younger man next to him, “I understand being angry. If I lost everyone, I’d feel the same way.”

Soobin shifted his weight, turning his attention away from the window and towards the source of the words. He shrugged his shoulders, looking back out the window, “It’s not the first time.”

Yoongi nodded, allowing the silence to overtake the car once again. He let his mind wander as to what exactly that meant, but he wasn’t going to push the kid to share. They were nothing more than strangers to one another, and as far as Yoongi was concerned, the only thing linking the two of them together was the prison they both found themselves bound into; the life of hunting.

What Yoongi didn’t expect was Soobin to break the newfound silence, “The man who found me, he was the leader of your group, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Yoongi cleared his throat as he found the mention of him hard to listen to, “He saved me, and just about everyone else in our group. He was a good man.”

“So was the leader of mine,” Soobin added, nodding his head in understanding, “She took me in without any thought and taught me how to be a hunter. I’m not going to put her training to waste, you know.”

Yoongi chuckled, though it was dry and emotionless as if he attempted to pull a pleasant emotion forward only to be left empty handed, “Isn’t that everyone’s goal? Not to waste the knowledge they’ve gained.”

“You have a point,” Soobin sighed, eyes watching the passing streetlights as they drove, “I’m just letting you know that you don’t have to babysit me. I already know what I’m doing.”

The raw arrogant nature the kid spoke with made him ‘tsk’ in response. It sounded so much like someone else he knew, except with more gumption and idiocy. In Yoongi’s opinion, being able to surpass that already high standard was almost embarrassing.

A small chuckle left Yoongi’s lips as he watched the other turn his head in irritation. Yoongi peered over at him, “I believe you think you don’t need babysitting, but so does everyone else in our group. You have no idea what kind of shit storm you are about to walk into, kid.”

Soobin glared at him but huffed instead of insulting the man who was taking him in, “You know I’m like, over twenty right?”

________________________________________________________________________________

“You know, this thing is heavy. You could help.” Jungkook groaned, heaving the stoned vampire in through the front door of the hunters house. Yeonjun tailed him, carrying Jimin's feet so he wouldn’t be dragging against the floor.

“No,” Lexi responded, “I like watching you suffer.”

Jungkook growled, finally being able to set Jimin on his feet and out of his own grasp. The group stared at the petrified man, no one breaking the silence as they all took in the reality of the situation. They were fucked, and each of them knew it.

“Lex, what do we do?” Jungkook asked, turning his attention to the girl in question.

She snapped her head away from Jimin and looked at Jungkook, “What do you mean? I have no idea, Jungkook. None. We established this before we dragged him home.”

“Can’t you just twiddle your magic fingers and make him better?” Jungkook did a weird motion with his fingers, earning a look of disgust from Lexi.

“Jungkook, gorgons are creatures of the gods. My magic can’t free him.” Lexi frowned. She desperately wished to free him as quickly as possible, but she knew it wasn’t feasible.

“Yeah but aren’t you supposed to be powerful or something? We have some stupid prophecy quest we have to go on for your grandfather. You should be able to do it.” Jungkook rested his body against one of the walls, looking at her blankly.

“For fucks sake Jungkook, clean out your ears. I can’t just heal him or I would’ve back at the shop.” Lexi felt the stiffness of her body only increase the longer Jimin was frozen.

“Okay, well you’re still a witch, doesn’t that mean you can figure something out?” He asked, waving his hands as he tried to explain himself.

“What is that supposed to mean Jungkook?” Lexi asked, eyes narrowing, “Just because I’m a witch doesn’t mean I have the solution to everything. I’m not even that good yet.”

“Okay then why don’t we just break him?” Jungkook pushed himself off the wall and moved closer.

“Jungkook what the hell, no!” Lexi glared, stepping in between the statue of Jimin and the fast approaching Jungkook.

“Come on man, not cool.” Yeonjun pitched in, putting his hand up and stopping Jungkook’s approaches.

“Right. Your lot needs to stick together.” Jungkook glared at Yeonjun, slapping his hand away.

“You know what Jungkook, I have had enough.” Kaitlyn jumped out of her seat. She was tired of the arguing, especially at this moment, the last place it was needed, ”You keep trying to seperate them from us, well news flash, we are outcasts too! We all are. It isn’t ‘your lot’ or ‘their lot’ everyone in this group is our lot. They are the same people. We all need each other.” Kaitlyn rambled out in frustration. It was ridiculous to continue to seperate the group when there were scarier things going on in the world than what was going on under this roof.

A silence filled the room as the three others just stared at her in shock. Kaitlyn usually didn't speak up like that, but something had to be said.

Jungkook opened his mouth to say something but instead closed it again. He didn't know what to say to her considering he was the majority cause of this outburst.

Kaitlyn covered her eyes with her hand as she fell backwards onto the couch sighing, “We are fucked.”

Jungkook sighed, looking from Kaitlyn, to the other two. The anger he had just felt seemed to dissipate and was replaced by the shame of being yelled at and the dread of having another night of no sleep.

“Well, there is one thing we haven’t done yet,” Jungkook responded, voice sounding defeated and tired, “We haven’t tried hitting the books. There are hundreds of years’ worth of journals with information in the library upstairs.”

“Hundreds of years’ of information and hundreds of books to go through. If there is something, it's going to be hell to find.” Kaitlyn responded, uncovering her eyes to view the rest of the group.

“Well, we have four of us and approximately twelve hours until Yoongi gets back, that's only if he stops to sleep throughout the night. We can get through them all I’m sure.” Yeonjun said, as he glanced at the clock on the wall.

“Actually,” Lexi voiced, zipping her jacket up. No one even noticed her sneak off to grab it, “You’re going to have three sets of eyes for a little bit. There is somewhere I have to run, and I have to do it now.”

Jungkook scoffed, “Of course, now that our lives are in peril you have errands to run. It’s like midnight. What do you possibly have to do?”

“Jungkook, for once in your life just trust me. I’ll be back soon.” Lexi said, grabbing the car keys out of Jungkook’s hand and walking towards the door.

Kaitlyn pulled herself off the couch with a tired groan, “Alright, Jungkook, you head upstairs and start on the journals. If you know certain ones that won’t be helpful, set them off to the side to make this easier. I’m going to clean Yeonjun’s burn and wrap his hand and then we will join you.”

“Oh no, I’m fine. It’s just a small-“ Yeonjun was cut off by wincing in pain as Kaitlyn grabbed his injured hand. He had suppressed the pain when he was carrying Jimin into the house, but the stone wore his burn and busted a few of the blisters that had formed open.

“What were you saying?” Kaitlyn asked, eyeing the man.

Yeonjun yanked his hand back from her and held it to his chest, “Okay, we can clean and wrap it.”

Jungkook snickered a little at the others misfortune before nodding his head to Kaitlyn, “I’ll see you two up there. We have a lot of work to do.”

Chapter Text

“206, 208… ah 210.” Lexi mumbled under her breath, pulling her car into the designated spot. She looked at the house that stood before her. It was rather small, but big enough for someone to live comfortably. Not too lavish yet not rundown either. To anyone on the outside, it was a normal house with normal people living inside.

Her thoughts came to a halt as she stood in front of the door. She felt her heart beating as she released the breath she had been holding and knocked on the door.

Lexi chewed the inside of her cheek, waiting impatiently. Each second she had to wait felt like an eternity, especially with the time crunch they were on. She found herself looking every which way to pass the time.

After a few minutes, the door slowly creaked open. A tall figure stood in the doorway, silent as they just peered out at her.

“Listen, we don’t have much time to waste and we really need your help,” Lexi pleaded with the man before her, breaking the uneasy silence the night brought with it.

The figure sighed and stepped out into the moonlight, “Weird that you come to me, but consider me intrigued. I’m listening.”

___________________________________________________________________________

“We’re stopping?” Soobin questioned as they pulled into some rundown motel parking lot. They were on a rather long strip of road, this place being the first place they had seen in a few hours.

Yoongi shrugged, turning off the car, “I'm used to staying awake throughout the night, but a lot happened before I got called in. As much as I want to keep driving, I’d hate for our end to be met by me falling asleep while behind the wheel.” He spoke as he opened the door and slung his bag over his shoulder, “Plus it’ll be good to know at least some of what you’re getting into before we get back.”

Soobin watched as Yoongi climbed out of the driver's seat and slammed the door behind him. The last of his words left him undoubtably concerned and intrigued. There wasn’t much that could surprise him after the life he found himself in.

It took Soobin a moment to register what had happened, but when he did, he also noticed the older man didn’t wait for him. Instead, he entered through the front of the building. He assumed it was to negotiate a room for the night. Soobin scrambled out of the car, trying to catch up to the man. By the time he made it close to the front door, Yoongi had walked back out of the building to find their motel room.

“Thought you got lost.” Yoongi raised an eyebrow at the other as he almost ran into him on the way out of the reception area.

“What do you mean? I already know what I’m in for, what more could you add to this fucked up job?” Soobin ignored the man’s comment, curiosity consuming him as to what the man meant from before. Yoongi looked around at the dozens of rooms and possible people that surrounded them before he continued walking down the dimly lit sidewalk of the motel as he searched for their room number.

“Don’t you think this conversation is more suited to be had in the confines of a room, where no one else can hear us? Maybe it’s just me and my years of experience or something.” Yoongi whispered, eyes still scanning the numbers as he walked by.

The two came to a stop in front of a motel room. Yoongi opened the door quickly and strode in without a glance, kicking off his shoes in the process. When Soobin entered, he looked around, unimpressed. There were two twin beds, a small coffee table, and an old box set TV.

Yoongi threw his bag next to one of the beds before sitting down. He sighed and rested his back against the headrest and let himself stretch.

Soobin sat down on the other bed, letting his head hit the pillow, “Can you tell me now what I need to be prepared for?”

Yoongi sighed, letting his head hit the rough, unsturdy wood behind him, “Can you give me a damn minute so I can figure out how to even word this to you? I’m still trying to process what the hell is going on myself.”

“It can’t be too fucked up considering what we have all been through.” Soobin mumbled, staring at the cracks that littered the ceiling above him.

“What is your opinion on the council?” Yoongi peaked at the younger man out of the corner of his eye. Depending on how Soobin would respond dictated what Yoongi would tell him.

Soobin lulled his head to the side to look at Yoongi with a raised eyebrow, “Is that a serious question? Okay then, The council is just a bunch of old guys that make us risk our lives so they can sit comfortably in theirs.” Soobin seethed. He found himself rubbing at his wrists, still having the phantom feeling of the ropes constraining him. He had been like that for ages, which only made him loathe the higher ups even more than he already did, “The only good those fuckers ever did for anyone else is provide the groups enough money to just get us by, and even then that isn’t enough.”

“As much as they try to protect people, they sure are shit at treating us like human beings.” Yoongi chuckled darkly, shaking his head.

“They don’t protect people, we do. I don’t see them risking their lives on the field,” Soobin scoffed, shaking his head at the idea, “I almost died fighting a fight they refuse to acknowledge and in return I get tied up like an animal and pawned off on the next person who walked in the room, no offense.”

“None taken,” Yoongi chuckled softly before the room fell into silence again. He sighed, “But the world is in far more chaos than they think. I don’t know what you know, but if you want to stand a fighting chance, this is the group to be with.”

“Why did you want to know my thoughts on the council?” Soobin sat up from his reclined position, letting his legs hang off the side of the bed. He leaned forward, resting his head on his hands and his elbows on his legs.

“The council is selfish and they only care about themselves and the humans they claim to be protecting. The problem is that the world isn’t black and white.” Yoongi replied, eyes finding the younger man.

“Where are you going with this?” Soobin inquired, cocking his head to the side as he held the others' stare.

“The group you’re about to walk into isn’t a regular hunting group. We lie in a gray area,” Yoongi replied, “Not all of them are human, but they hunt all the same.”

Soobin let a tsk escape his lips as he let himself flop back onto the bed, “That’s it? I was expecting something a bit cooler”

“I didn’t ask what you were expecting, did I?” Yoongi replied as he rolled his eyes and opened his bag. He wadded up a shirt and threw it at Soobin. It landed perfectly on his head, causing the man to jump up and glare at him.

“You need to change before people think we killed someone.” Yoongi turned his attention back to his bag, pulling out the bandages he carried. Life as a hunter, bandages were something simple yet necessary to pack, even on a simple trip, “You should change your bandages while you're at it,” Yoongi tossed the bandage wrap to him as well.

“Are you gonna wrap it for me, old man?” Soobin raised an eyebrow, holding the shirt and bandages in his hand. Yoongi just looked at him which caused Soobin’s smirk to fall in response. Soobin looked at the other man again, “So, I take it that the council doesn’t know about these creatures you have in your group.”

“No, and it’s going to stay like that,” Yoongi said, raising an eyebrow as if to ask Soobin if he was going to challenge his authority.

Soobin raised his hands up in defense, “I’m not a snitch. Besides, this sounds like it will be interesting to say the least.”

He then stood, pulling his blood stained shirt over his head to reveal the bandages that stretched from his shoulder down to his wrist. Though he made it out alive, he did manage to take quite a bit of damage. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t endured before, just from a different creature.

“I like you better when you’re quiet,” Yoongi mumbled, allowing himself to become more comfortable in the cheap motel bed. The springs dug into his ribs, but it was better than the car by a long shot.

“I could say the same for you,” Soobin snorted as he pulled a new shirt over his newly bandaged arm. He then turned and looked at Yoongi, “So, what am I walking into tomorrow? What creatures?”

“Go to sleep,” Yoongi grumbled, switching over to his other side to face away from his current roommate, “We still have a drive tomorrow. I can fill you in then, if I’m feeling up for it.”

Soobin grumbled as he pulled the blankets down and climbed into bed himself, annoyed at the lack of answers he had received.

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Thank you again for coming to help.” Lexi spoke to the person perched beside her. The moon peeked through the clouds as the two drove down the deserted road. The forest was blossoming with flowers and leaves, making the brush look even thicker than before.

“Unfortunately, I’m used to Jimin being an impeccable idiot.” The person spoke, staring out the window. The car became awkwardly silent as Lexi drove to the hunters’ house.

The two arrived at the house fairly quickly. Lexi was glad she decided to take the car. If they would have walked it could’ve taken hours, but the luxury of the car allowed them to only be gone around 45 minutes.

The old, rundown car came to a screeching halt outside the front door. Lexi didn’t waste a moment to stroll right in. Her anxiety had been getting the best of her, wanting the dilemma to be solved as soon as possible. She stopped in her tracks hearing a cough from outside the door.

“As much as it sucks, I do need an invitation to come in.” The man sighed, refusing to take a step past the front door.

“Right… sorry. Come in please.” Lexi quickly said.

The man nodded with a small smile on his face, entering the home. He quickly shut the door behind him. His face dropped the second he entered the living room with Lexi. There stood a perfectly petrified Jimin.

“I can’t let this kid do anything on his own.” He mumbled under his breath, observing the way all of his characteristics and qualities were displayed through the stone figure before him.

“I wouldn’t have come to you if I didn’t need your help, Namjoon. You’ve been alive a lot longer than me, and well, even Jimin if I'm guessing correctly. You’re the only one I think would have any idea where to start or look. ” Lexi pleaded, hoping the man knew something that could help.

Namjoon let out a sigh and broke his gaze from the statue before him, “I’ve never encountered a gorgon before. Even if I had, I’m not sure I’d be able to tell the tale.”

Lexi let out the breath she had been holding in. She was holding on to hope that he would know where to go and what to do, but he seemed just as lost as any of them were.

“I don’t know enough to help him. If my mother was here, there would be a chance she would know what to do, but she isn’t. The magic I have is underdeveloped for where I am in life,” Lexi stared at her hand, wishing she could do more to help. Her mom was the most powerful witch she knew. The others that she did know were more of the twenty-first century type and didn’t care to search up on other creatures, “Even so, you’re here now. I think it’ll be good to have an extra pair of eyes. We have so many books in our library, it would help us out a lot.”

“Of course. I’m used to cleaning up after him, so scouring some books seems like the easiest thing I could do.” Namjoon chuckled softly.

“Thank you so much.” Lexi smiled, leading him up the stairs and to the library on the top floor.

Their house may not have been huge, but the library would make Belle from Beauty and the Beast jealous. Though it didn’t have much luxury, the walls were filled to the brim with thousands of handwritten books. Some were true relics being passed down from one hunter to the next, each of them writing their own tales and battles against different creatures. Hell, some may not even exist anymore.

Yet, the once organized library looked like a tornado had hit. Books were littered all over the floor, multiple piles of who knows what were scattered around the room. In the middle of the piles sat the three hunters flipping page by page. They were moving quickly, only skimming the text because of the time restraint they were on.

Jungkook heard the door swing open and shot his head up in response, “It’s about fucking time.”

“Wow, thanks, it’s great to see you too, Jungkook,” Lexi gripped, staring at the man.

He groaned, letting his back crack as he stretched, “You took 45 minutes just to go get this guy?”

Jungkook snapped his fingers, trying to remember his name. The last time he had met or seen him was during that camping trip. He had been quiet the whole time, from what he could remember.

“My name is Namjoon.” The man rolled his eyes, stepping closer and grabbing one of the piles of books.

“Who?” Yeonjun looked around confused, “What secret is he part of?”

“Jimin’s, right? I remember you two showed up together at the camping trip. I assume that he is a vampire too,” Kaitlyn looked up from one of the books she held, nodding her head to the newcomer, “Nice to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Namjoon smiled, “Lexi was hoping I knew a way to help Jimin, but sadly I don’t. So, I can help you guys scour through the books instead.” His eyes turned to Yeonjun, “We haven't met.”

“Couldn’t you have saved us some time by just calling him instead?” Jungkook replied, looking back at his book again, “Not that we need a second vampire in this house.”

“Hmm I don’t know Jungkook, maybe because I don’t know his number? I’m just lucky the stupid blood bond shit let me figure out where he lived.” Lexi mumbled. The two had entered each other's dreams on various occasions, including some unimportant ones where one just appeared to be in the other’s house.

“Ahh so they do know everything then,” Namjoon started scanning through his books, “If Jimin wasn’t petrified, I’m surprised you let him live.”

“It wasn’t my choice,” Jungkook replied blankly, flipping to the next page of the book.

“I figured that much,” Namjoon replied, “I mean, I’m not against leaving him frozen but I’m sure you don’t want your fellow hunter to be uncomfortable for the rest of her life.”

“Well someone suggested breaking him earlier.” Kaitlyn kept closed the book she was reading, letting it sit in a pile of finished books.

Yeonjun let out an exasperated sigh and closed his book rather loudly, “At this rate, Yoongi will be back before any of us can even figure out how to free him.”

A silence washed over them as they all continued to skim through the books. Hours that felt like an eternity and the large pile of books slowly became smaller.

The silence was soon broken as an irritated Jungkook slammed one of the books onto the ground. He prided himself on the fact he had read through the majority of those journals, but none of the books he had been through had any information on how to reverse the effects of petrification. Even worse, after hours of reading, words didn’t even look real anymore. He felt a pounding pain in his head as a result.

“That’s it, I’m breaking him.” Jungkook stomped past some of the books, heading to the open door. The door suddenly closed in front of him, preventing him from leaving.

“Don’t you dare Jungkook.” Lexi glared at him, still holding a large book in her hands.

“I’m going fucking crazy.” Jungkook stared at the door before him, letting his head hit it a bit roughly.

“Maybe we just need to talk things over. We might be trying to overcomplicate it.” Kaitlyn gently set the book down. Her tired eyes looked even more worn than usual. A long yawn escaped her lips as she rested her back against the wall behind her.

“How do you logically come up with a solution for something that is illogical?” Yeonjun stretched in response, a loud crack sounding from his back.

Jungkook sighed dramatically and spun on his heel, rejoining the book circle and reclaiming his original seat, “I still vote on breaking him”

“What corrodes rock?” Yeonjun asked as he rested himself against one of the many bookcases, ignoring Jungkook’s words. He leaned his head back against the wooden structure, staring at the ceiling.

“Acid or water,” Kaitlyn yawned, “At least that's the bare minimum I remember from geology class in high school.”

“Say that again,” Jungkook said, standing up and rushing to the desk where multiple journals were laid about.

He quickly started scanning the covers of the old leather bound books as if he was searching for a specific one, tossing the rejects off to the side. He quickly found the one he was in search of and flipped it open.

“Jungkook, you know what I said,” Kaitlyn sighed, watching as he frantically flipped through some pages.

“No, you don’t get it.” Jungkook responded, now feeling the presence of Yeonjun and Lexi hovering over his shoulder, “There is a creature I read about once. I can’t think of the name but it is extremely rare to run into and information on them is slim and scattered across these books.”

“You mean Nymphs?” Lexi voiced, leaning down and reading the mess of handwriting in the book, “Oh my god, Jungkook, you’re a genius.”

“Finally, you acknowledge it.” He said, cracking a smile.

Lexi elbowed him in the ribs, “Shut up.”

Lexi quickly left the room and went down the stairs, grabbing one of the many books that sat on her shelf before racing right back up. Her eyes were glued to the book as she flipped through the pages.

“I read that book already, there’s nothing in there about nymphs.” Jungkook voiced. He knew the book in her hands front to back and was positive there was nothing useful.

“Oh right, I forgot,” Lexi mumbled, waving her hands down the front of the book, letting the illusion disappear. She had forgotten to take her enchantments off her things since the others have accepted her.

Yeonjun raised an eyebrow, “You used a spell to hide your magic books?”

“Well, yeah. I didn’t want to freak anyone out.” Lexi mumbled, “Plus it was a secret for a long time, so I forgot to take it off.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes, “So all the hunting books in your room aren’t actually hunting books?”

“Well, maybe like two or three are hunting books. The rest are all magic books I managed to collect. Believe it or not they’re harder to find than hunting books.” Lexi stopped at one of the pages, finally finding what she had been searching for. She nodded and set the book on the ground, turning it to face the others so they could see.

“Water nymphs?” Kaitlyn looked at her, “It doesn’t say it’ll free a gorgon’s prisoner though.”

“True, but nymphs, specifically naiads, have extraordinary healing properties. If anything is going to save him it’ll be this,” Lexi tapped her finger on the book.

“I’ve never seen any type nymph before, so I imagine they are pretty hard to find.” Namjoon stared at the book, seeing a rough sketch of the nymph before him.

“That and there can be many different types. This one depicts dryad and they’re commonly found in forest areas.” The woman in the drawing was indescribably beautiful as she blended in with the trees that surrounded her, “They can be in the trees, streams, mountains. If we are going to find a Naiad, we would need to search near bodies of water like streams and rivers, things that carve through the earth itself.”

“Can I see?” Kaitlyn asked, moving closer to look at the book. Lexi simply nodded and handed the book over to the girl.

“Is there anything we could use to lure one out?” Jungkook read as many lines as he could over Kaitlyn’s shoulder. It was more information about the creatures than he had ever had the pleasure of seeing, though it didn’t seem to hold any information on how to make one visible to the human eye.

“It doesn’t say anything about luring one out. Hell, it says most are invisible to the human eye. They can only be seen when they want to be.” Kaitlyn mumbled as she continued to read.

“Not only that but we need to convince one to help us. They are said to be creatures of the gods and if that is true, they wouldn’t want to help just anyone.” Lexi sighed sadly.

“While we’re chasing fairytales, why don’t we just fly to Neverland while we are at it?” Yeonjun voiced sarcastically, tossing the book he had in his hands off to the side.

“Anything is possible Yeonjun,” Kaitlyn said, looking throughout the room, “I didn’t think anything I fought and killed was real before I was brought into this world.”.

“Sounds like we are hunting down a creature of stealth,” Namjoon sighed, “Maybe I can help track one down.”

“Really? How?” Jungkook tore his eyes from the book and stared at Namjoon.

“Well, we vampires do have a keen nose. I may not be able to differentiate one human from another, but magical creatures have different scents. Maybe a naiad will as well.” Namjoon rose to his feet,

“Jimin complained over and over how I didn’t smell human,” Lexi mumbled, memories flashing through her mind of when they first met and the constant berating done by Jimin, “But how would you know what one smells like? You haven’t seen one.”

“It has to have some different type of scent,” Namjoon shrugged, “We can only try.”

“It may be harder than you think,” Kaitlyn interrupted, “It says here that some nymphs are born from gods, but others are born from nature. If we find one from nature, I can’t imagine their scent would be much different from what we smell everyday.”

“I guess we just have to be super careful then. As impossible as it sounds, this might be our best bet.” Lexi rose to her feet, taking the book back into her hands.

“We better hurry then. The night is wasting away and that is the only time I can be out.” Namjoon rose to his feet, stretching out his back in the process.

“Grab your gear. With the night, more creatures are bound to find us.” Jungkook picked up his weapon belt he had discarded earlier and safely fastened it around his waist.

“Let’s do this.” Yeonjun smirked as everyone gathered their gear. It was quiet as they tumbled down the stairs hastily. With one glance at Jimin, the group was out in the dead of night, searching for a cure.

Chapter Text

Soobin moved around in a haze. He was in a house that was all too familiar. It was eerily quiet as he walked through the dimly lit living room. Out of nowhere, blood started to seep from the walls and floor, countless bodies laying on the ground. He felt his heart race seeing the faces of people he had grown to care for and trust. He carefully maneuvered through the gruesome mess that surrounded him. He did his best not to look down at the destroyed mangled corpses they had become.

He moved onwards hoping to find someone, anyone that still had a pulse, but he was sadly mistaken. His heart sank seeing the woman who had led him for so long, lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. He recognized the tattoo that was on her arm, since her head, legs, and most of her torso were gone. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, tearing his eyes away from the gruesome sight. A splash made him jump and spin around only to see the Vetala strike towards him.

Soobin jumped up and was sitting in his bed, sweat dripping down his body. His eyes darted around the room, taking in his surroundings as he trained to control his harbored and shallow breath. The sun shone through the slits in the curtains, signifying it was morning. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, trying to calm his racing heart. He may have been used to close calls with death, but this time was a breaking point.

Yoongi walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. He gazed at the kid before him, noting how bad he was sweating. "Bad dream?" He mumbled as he made his way to the opposite bed, stuffing his old clothes into his bag.

"What gave it away?" Soobin mumbled sarcastically, running his hands down his face to not only wake himself up, but get rid of some of the sweat that accumulated.

Yoongi rolled his eyes at him. He was the first of the rest of them to become a hunter. He was there when an eleven year old Jungkook first joined the group and the nightmares he would go through, waking up in a cold sweat. Then another year later he could picture perfectly a 12 year old Kaitlyn that was covered in blood and crying the first time they found her, "Go shower, I don't need you stinking up the car on the way home."

Soobin rolled his eyes as he rose to his feet, already feeling disgusting from the drying sweat. He snuck off to the bathroom, mumbling nonsense under his breath.

When he heard the water running, Yoongi took out his phone. He hadn't heard a word from the others and knew it could be either good or bad. He sighed as he flipped through his contacts. He shrugged and called the first person he saw, which was Jungkook. He lazily put his phone on speaker as he laid down on his bed, not having the energy to sit.

The phone rang a few times before a groggy Jungkook answered. He only said hello, but sounded like he didn't get much sleep, "Put me on speaker."

"Well good morning to you too." Jungkook mumbled, putting the phone on speaker like the man asked, "There everyone can hear you now."

"Just wanted to make sure everyone is alive." Yoongi sighed, "I have a lot to say, but it's better if we wait until I'm back there."

"Well that's just going to make us anxious." Kaitlyn mumbled. She also sounded tired but that was usual.

"I don't care. Now, answer my other question." Yoongi cracked one of his knuckles.

"Yes, everyone is alive." Lexi tried her best to sound awake.

"What did you do?" Yoongi sat up in his bed.

"What? Nothing..." Yeonjun responded quickly.

Yoongi glared at his phone, knowing they were lying to him, "I will be home soon. That isn't a threat, it's a warning." Yoongi hung up the phone immediately and stood up.

Ten minutes later, Soobin finally emerged from the bathroom, dressed and steam following him out. "Hurry up, we need to get back."

Soobin rolled his eyes at the older man, following him out of the hotel room and to the car. Yoongi didn't waste a second before he sped off down the road.

______________________________________________________________________________

"He's gonna kill us." Kaitlyn mumbled, running her hands through her hair. She was resting on the couch as the curtains blocked the rays of sunlight that would otherwise shine through. Jungkook sat on one side of her, Namjoon on the other side, and Lexi and Yeonjun sitting across from them.

"Maybe he won't?" Yeonjun chewed at his nails, a bit nervous. They had been out searching for hours on end for any sight of a naiad. They followed countless streams and pools of water, hoping to find anything, but came up short. Jimin was still a stone statue sitting in their living room.

"You don't know Yoongi like we do, he most definitely will." Jungkook rolled his eyes, reclining back in his seat, eyes growing heavy.

Lexi squeezed her own shoulder, the stiffness becoming unbearable. With her and Jimin connected like this, she feels exactly what he does. Though he may not be physically she could still feel what he did. Her body felt so stiff from his frozen exterior and inability to move a muscle, "Can't you just hold an umbrella and we keep looking?" Lexi looked at Namjoon.

"As much as I'd love to say yes, those woods are too dense to maneuver around with an umbrella." Namjoon sighed, scratching the back of his head.

The room was silent as Kaitlyn let out a yawn, causing a chain reaction with the rest of the group, minus Namjoon, "Maybe we can just rest for an hour then think again. My brain hurts from this much reading and searching." Yeonjun mumbled his eyes slowly closing.

"One hour wouldn't hurt, right?" Kaitlyn looked at Jungkook, knowing that the only time she could actually sleep well was next to him or with Lexi's magic. Though both were effective, it wasn't working well enough.

Jungkook was silent and nodded, gently pulling her arm so she could rest on him, "Wake us up in an hour, yeah?" Jungkook looked at Namjoon, knowing vampires can sleep but don't need to.

Namjoon nodded, "Sure, mind if I look through that book one more time though while you rest?"

Lexi sluggishly sat up, pulling the book from a small bag she brought with her and handed it to Namjoon, "Good luck." She said, letting the bag sit against the side of the couch as she reclined back. After a moment the group was out like a light as Namjoon began his search for an answer within the pages.

It felt like only a few seconds had passed before the door slammed open, making them all jump awake from their slumber. "What the actual fuck!?"

The group jumped to their feet ready to explain themselves, but before anyone could say anything Yoongi was in the room with another man behind him, staring at the petrified Jimin in the corner of the room.

No one could get a word out before Yoongi continued, "What the fuck did you guys do? I told you to only train and work on yourselves while I'm gone and you do this!? I can't leave you guys alone for two days without you guys breaking rules and doing dumb shit." Yoongi threw his bag aside, leaving the new guy in the entrance as he moved closer to the group.

"W-we can explain Yoongi." Yeonjun took a step back from the man, feeling the heat and anger radiating off his body.

"Well? Explain then." Yoongi crossed his arms, voice becoming dangerously low.

"Well, there was uhm... these statues popping up all over town..." Lexi began, her eyes finding the ground more interesting than Yoongi's eyes.

"Yeah and there were many different creatures, even some we thought wouldn't be around here." Kaitlyn continued on, her eyes flickering from Yoongi to the strange newcomer.

"And we found out it was a gorgon because the statues looked the same as the ones from the museum." Jungkook felt nervous as he spoke, but kept his eyes on Yoongi, refusing to back down.

"So you thought it was a great idea to go after it!?" Yoongi sent a harsh glare to each person in the room, his eyes finally landing on someone he wasn't expecting to see, "And what exactly are you doing here."

Namjoon sighed and put his hands up as a way to surrender, "They asked for my help to free Jimin."

"Well, looks like it didn't work or else we wouldn't be having this conversation." Yoongi grumbled, eyes flickering to the stone statue that sat in the room, "You guys are fucking lucky or else one of you would be dead right now."

"We may have found a way to free him, but it's one of the hardest quests we've been on." Kaitlyn scratched at her arm.

"Explain it to me while we look and hurry up, let's go." Yoongi mumbled.

"Wait we need to wait-" Lexi stopped, seeing the sun that was outside was now replaced by the moon and darkness flooded the land, "Namjoon we said an hour!"

"I know but I was in an important search reading and reading. I couldn't stop, I thought I found something." Namjoon mumbled quietly before quickly following Yoongi out the door.

The new man in the room just shrugged, disinterested with a hint of confusion as he followed the others out without a word. One by one the rest filtered out of the house, stepping deeper into the woods.

As they walked the group took turns telling Yoongi the information that they had found and what they had been searching for. They made sure to include the details of their encounter with the gorgons as well.

"We seriously have to find an invisible nymph?" Yoongi groaned as Namjoon became the new leader as the rest followed. They found one of the many streams that littered the forest and began to follow it.

"Specifically a naiad, they are water nymphs. We searched all night and got nothing." Jungkook sighed, "I said we should just break him." He shrugged, earning a smack on his arm from Kaitlyn.

The group was silent as they walked. Minutes soon turned to hours in silence as they scoured the forest. "Not to interrupt, but Yoongi, who is this?" Yeonjun interjected, pointing at the new man that had joined them on their journey.

"What is with you people? I am a person if you want to know something about me then ask me." Soobin grumbled, kicking one of the many sticks that littered the path they were on.

"His name is Soobin, the council gave him to us." Yoongi completely ignored Soobin as they pressed forward slowly.

"The fuck? I'm not an object you know." Soobin glared at the man walking in front of him, annoyed.

"Soobin, this is Kaitlyn," Yoongi began, pointing at each person, "Jungkook, the pain in my ass," Jungkook shot an offended but also annoyed look at Yoongi, "Namjoon up here is a vampire just like Jimin, the frozen dude you saw."

"Then over there is Yeonjun, he's a shapeshifter," Yoongi said, much to Yeonjun's surprise.

"Oh I wasn't ready for that," Yeonjun mumbled, not used to having a whole title and being labeled as a shapeshifter publicly.

"And then there's Lexi and she's a witch," Yoongi kept walking, seeing Soobin look at everyone.

"I know you said not all of them were humans, but this was something I wasn't expecting." Soobin mumbled, facing forward again.

"Well gee, nice to meet you too." Yeonjun rolled his eyes, glaring daggers into the back of his head.

"I never said it was a bad thing, just not what I expected." Soobin shrugged, his voice was quiet and soft spoken. He moved his head slightly to avoid a tree branch at eye level. He was by far the tallest one there. He had a strong but lean build as he walked behind Namjoon and Yoongi.

"Why is he with us?" Jungkook looked back towards Yoongi again, curious as to why the council would stick some random dude with us.

"If you have a question fucking ask me. Do you understand me?" Soobin shot a look back towards Jungkook.

"Watch how you talk, kid," Jungkook growled, feeling his anger rise.

"Why do you all call me a kid, I'm 21 for fucks sake." Soobin also was getting more frustrated the more he talked with this new group.

"We will talk about this later, play nice for now." Yoongi interrupted before more arguing could instill, "Your bickering gives me a headache."

"Maybe that's what we need to lure out the naiad." Yeonjun chuckled softly.

"What, arguing and insulting each other?" Jungkook scoffed, "That's stupid."

"Not with each other dumbass, with her, the naiad. I was joking anyway." Yeonjun rolled his eyes, softly rubbing his bandaged hands. The pain was still there, but it was slight.

"Naiads are literally the worst type of nymph." Lexi spoke aloud towards the water.

"Lexi what the fuck are you doing?" Kaitlyn turned her head towards the girl.

Lexi shrugged, "At this point we will waste another day searching for a creature that doesn't want to be seen, might as well try to provoke it out." Lexi whispered to the girl, "They are truly the most useless creatures."

"Lexi please be careful, what if she gets mad?" Yeonjun put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

“That's kind of the point, shush,” Lexi mumbled, reassuring him, “You know, I get why Dionysus chose satyrs instead of the nymphs, satyrs listen and are much more helpful.”

Suddenly a yelp and loud splash made the group freeze in their tracks. Lexi was covered head to toe in water, “Fucking hell.”

“Silly witch, I wouldn’t talk so lowly of us if you know what's good for you.” A creature from the water spoke. She was indescribably beautiful. Her hair was long and a light blonde, ears forming a sharp point like that of an elf or fairy. Her skin almost blended into the stream, but there was a faint outline of her body within the water. Only her head was sticking out from the stream she seemed to be a part of, but distinct gills showed just how she could live within the waves. Her light green eyes matching sea plants pierced into the group.

“I’ll be damned.” Yoongi mumbled, keeping a close eye on the creature before him.

“I can’t believe that worked,” Jungkook grumbled under her breath.

“You didn’t have to splash me.” Lexi grumbled, squeezing the excess water out of her hair and her clothes, feeling a slight chill.

“And you didn’t have to be such a bitch. I don’t need to hear insults from a dirty witch such as yourself.” The naiad threw another wave of water at the girl before her.

Lexi glared at the creature before her, squeezing her fists, trying to control her anger.

“We need your help, please. That’s the only reason she said those things.” Kaitlyn quickly jumped back, feeling the water hitting her as well with how close her and Lexi were.

“Yes, one of our friends got frozen by a gorgon. We aren’t sure but we were hoping to get some of your magic to help free him.” Yeonjun stayed still in his place, not wanting to approach the naiad before him.

“I missed the part where that’s my problem.” The naiad giggled softly as the stream she resided in slowly started to rise.

“Come on, we have been searching for ages and I want to go back.” Soobin groaned, throwing his head back, "Just give them what they need so we can get the hell out of here."

“Hmm you’re pretty cute.” The naiad swam closer to the man, “What’s in it for me if I help you?”

Soobin’s eyes widened as he took a step back, not expecting the creature to move towards him like that, “I- what… uhm.” Soobin let out a cough, his ears turning red.

“I’ll help you, but I want something in return.” The naiad smirked, resting her arms against the grass beside the stream, her bare arms and shoulders above the water now.

Soobin’s eyes flickered around the people beside him, asking for help or to try and figure out what to say.

A tsk left the naiad's mouth as she rested her head against her hand, “What a bummer, looks like I can’t help.”

“Maybe we should find some other naiad,” Lexi spoke again, earning the attention of the magical creature in the water.

“Lexi what the fuck are you talking about.” Yoongi growled at the girl.

“It just seems that this one won’t be of any help. Even if she wanted to, I’m sure she doesn’t have the power to save our friend.” Lexi shrugged, “Maybe another one will actually have the power to help us.”

“You witch.” She growled, “Of course I have the power, I just don’t want to help you.”

The naiad moved closer to the girl. There was a new fire behind her blue eyes, which dared another person to question her abilities. Lexi's eyes sparkled with mischief as she saw her plan playing out exactly how she wanted it to.

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.” Sarcasm laced her words as she didn’t move her eyes from the naiad.

It was silent for a few moments, the two just staring at each other, both seemingly challenging the other.

“Fine,” The naiad glared at the girl before her, "But I'm not doing this for you. I have more respect for the frozen man than someone of your poor quality."

Lexi felt a smirk form on her lips, “Thank you.” She said before another giant wave of water hit her again. The smirk was immediately wiped off her face as she spit the water from her mouth. Stream water was by far not the cleanest tasting.

The naiad laughed as Lexi pulled out a vial from the bag she was carrying and kneels down by the water handing it to the nature spirit.

The naiad held it in her hand, filling it with water from the stream. She stared at the vial as it began to glow, a bright blue lighting up the forest around them.

“Three drops should do the trick.” The naiad mumbled, handing the bottle back.

“Thank you. We are in your debt.” Kaitlyn bowed her head slightly to the woman before her.

“You guys take this back and use it on Jimin,” Lexi handed the bottle to Yeonjun who was still standing next to her.

“Lexi, what are you doing?” Yoongi raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’ll see. Please trust me. I’ll be back at the house soon.” Lexi nodded to them, peaking at the naiad in the water who also looked at her confused.

Yoongi huffed out a sigh, “Fine, but don't tell me what to do. That's my job.” He mumbled, pushing past the others as he walked on.

“Unbelievable,” Jungkook mumbled under his breath as he walked on, the others still following in tow.

Once they were alone, Lexi turned back to the naiad, sitting cross legged on the ground in front of her, “I wanted to apologize for the things I said.” Lexi scratched the side of her arm, “I didn’t mean any of those things, I just thought it would make our search easier.”

The naiad rolled her eyes, sending another wave of water at the girl.

Lexi coughed some of the water that had found its way down her throat. She took a deep breath and opened her bag, pulling out two more vials, “I also wanted to ask if you could give me more.

The naiad took the vials skeptically, looking at them before looking back at Lexi, “Two? Why do you need two?”

I need more than two to be honest, but that is all the vials I have. That gorgon did so much damage. There are far too many creatures that are frozen in time, some that you and I both know don’t deserve it.” Lexi mumbled, “I appreciate you filling one, but I’m sure those other creatures would be grateful as well.”

The naiad’s face finally softened and she silently nodded, filling the other vials, illuminating the forest with the blue light once again before handing them back.

Lexi put the corks that came with the vials in, keeping the water safe inside, “Thank you.”

Lexi rose to her feet, securing the bottles back in her bag. Those two vials were going to save many lives and she knew she had to keep them safe. Not just for Jimin but for all of them.

“For hunters, you guys sure do enjoy saving creatures.” The naiad giggled softly.

Lexi let a small laugh escape her as she nodded, “Yeah, We’ve come a long way. Thank you for your help.”

The naiad sent a small splash this time at the girl, seemingly as an endearing farewell rather than malice.

“Until next time.” Lexi moved down the faded path they had once come from.

“I hope there is no next time.” The naiad yelled towards the girl, slowly disappearing into the stream.

“We could’ve just waited, you know.” A voice broke from beyond the trees, causing Lexi to jump.

“You scared me,” she chuckled, slightly pushing Kaitlyn’s shoulder, “Why aren’t you with the others?”

“We wanted to make sure you didn’t drown.” Yeonjun broke in between the girls, putting his arms around their shoulders, “So is the secret team going to that shop to save some creatures again like before?”

Lexi laughed and nodded, “We have two vials, so we can save a few of them.”

“We need to be careful though. It’ll be bad if we save the wrong creature. Not to mention if some wake up in this time, they may not know how to act or behave.” Kaitlyn spoke as the three of them began to walk towards the house.

“We can talk about it more tomorrow. We can give ideas for the creatures we save, then, when everyone goes to bed, we put our plan in motion.” Yeonjun smiled, excitedly.

____________________________________________________________________________

Yoongi, Soobin, Jungkook and Namjoon arrived back at the house as soon as the sun began to rise. Yoongi stared at the vial he held in his hand. Yeonjun had handed him the vial as he walked by, before him and Kaitlyn insisted on waiting for Lexi. Though Jungkook also wanted to stay, Yoongi made him come back to avoid any fighting between Jungkook and Yeonjun.

The vial was skinny, but should have enough to use twice, “Here goes nothing,” Yoongi mumbled, swirling the clear liquid in the vial a few times. He lifted up the vial and carefully poured it one drop at a time.

“One… Two… Three.” He quickly held the vial upright, moving it away from the statue before him. A few moments passed without anything happening. Yoongi let out a sigh and set the vial aside, “Guess that didn’t work.” Yoongi mumbled, sitting back on the couch.

“What do we do then?” Jungkook sighed, sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, since the living room and kitchen were connected.

“I don’t think there is much we can do to save him at this point,” Yoongi sighed, “Though I haven’t done much research, I’m sure we could look again.”

“I was really hoping this would work…” Namjoon sighed, staring at the frozen man before him.

“All that searching and work to get nothing. So bittersweet.” Jungkook rested his head on his hands, annoyed that they wasted two days searching for something that didn’t even help.

The sound of a small rock hitting the floor made them all turn their heads to the statue. It was quiet for a minute before another rock hit the ground. One by one pebbles broke off, falling off of the man. Large chunks of stone started to break off, following the pebbles, starting from his head, going down to his feet.

Jimin coughed roughly, dust coming out from his mouth “Holy shit that was terrible.” His face twisted in disgust from the grated taste in his mouth.

“I swear you always get in trouble. One of these days I’m not going to help bail you out.” Namjoon shook his head, looking at the mass of stone that littered the floor.

“I’ll worry when that day comes,” Jimin let a smirk form on his lips, turning to see Jungkook, Yoongi, and a random man, “When’d you get back?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Yoongi shrugged his shoulders, “I still can’t believe you guys went behind my back to chase some monster.”

“Well, in my defense, I just followed to make sure no one got hurt.” Jimin shrugged his shoulders, stretching his limbs out from how stiff he felt.

“Yet, you’re the one who got frozen,” Yoongi pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Yet, here I am.” Jimin mimicked, flashing a smile at the man before him, "Better me than any of them."

“Yeah after we worked our asses off to save you.” Jungkook rose to his feet, his anger getting the best of him.

“And I appreciate it, but if it weren’t for me, those gorgons wouldn’t have shown themselves or someone else could’ve gotten turned.” Jimin met Jungkook’s eyes, not backing down from the younger man.

The door opened, halting Jungkook from whatever he was about to say next. The final three hunters walked in, their conversation faded away as they saw Jimin.

“It worked.” Lexi smiled softly, seeing him back to normal.

“Someone seems happy to see me.” Jimin felt his smirk grow, feeling exactly how she felt.

Lexi let out a tsk and rolled her eyes, “Yeah yeah whatever.”

“Welcome back Jimin.” Kaitlyn laughed softly reaching up and ruffling the dust out of his hair before taking a seat on the couch.

Yoongi let out a sigh and rose to his feet, gaining everyone’s attention, “Alright now that formalities are done, I want you guys to get some rest. We have some things to talk about later on.”

“What do you mean?” Jungkook asked the older man, the look on his face was anything but exciting.

“We won’t be hunting tomorrow nor training, just get some rest. You’ll need your energy.” Yoongi said, “Soobin, for now, sleep on the couch. We don’t exactly have another room ready at the moment.”

Soobin only nodded, letting his body fall onto the biggest couch. Though it was a rather long couch, Soobin’s legs still hung off the ends.

The group was quiet, watching Yoongi disappear up the stairs. All of their thoughts aligned, wondering what exactly was going to happen tomorrow. Yet, only time would tell.

Chapter Text

The hunters spent the day sleeping after saving Jimin, trying to regain some of the energy they spent so much of. Kaitlyn stared at the ceiling before her, trying to keep her eyes open. She knew what would happen if they closed. Yet, her exhaustion began to chip away at her, forcing her eyes to close. Only a short time had passed before she woke up, sitting up straight as fast as she could. She held a hand over her mouth to keep her screams at bay, something she had become used to. When her heart beat began to slow and her breathing became less heavy, she stood up. There was no point in trying to sleep.

Kaitlyn stalked out of her room quietly, walking past the other rooms and down the stairs. She stayed quiet as she walked into the kitchen, turning on the water boiler to have some coffee.

“Why are you up?” A voice whispered, causing her to jump and spin around. Jimin and Namjoon sat quietly at the table while Soobin slept on the couch nearby.

“I think I should ask why you’re still here.” Kaitlyn mumbled, grabbing a mug from the cabinets.

“Simple,I don’t want to die.” Namjoon kept his eyes on the book in his hand. Kaitlyn recognized the book as one of the many hunting ones they kept in their library.

“And I’d leave but this one won’t let me.” Jimin grumbled, also holding a book in his grasp.

“You better give those back before you leave.” Kaitlyn turned her back to the men, grabbing one of the many coffee mixes and pouring it into her cup, followed by the boiling water.

“We’re vampires, not thieves.” Namjoon turned one of the pages, reclining in his seat, “Though, while you’re here,” Namjoon set the book he was reading down carefully, “I haven’t been able to talk to a hunter very often. May I pick your brain a little bit?”

Kaitlyn sighed and took a seat in one of the many chairs in the kitchen, slowly sipping her coffee, “You can ask me questions, but don’t make me sound like a science experiment.”

___________________________________________________________________________

Jungkook awoke groggily, the sun long gone and an illuminated moon was in its place. He rubbed the side of his head, messing up his long curly hair more than it already was. He stretched, rising to his feet, finally leaving his bed. He was wearing a simple oversized black shirt and black sweatpants. He let a yawn escape his lips as he walked out of the room and downstairs. He saw Kaitlyn, Namjoon, Jimin, and Soobin all sitting at the kitchen table talking quietly. He mumbled under his breath, walking past the group to get a banana for his breakfast. “What are you lot up to?” He raised an eyebrow, curious as to why and how they were able to talk so freely.

“Namjoon was telling us some pretty cool stories actually.” Kaitlyn smiled, “You should come listen, I’m sure you’d love to hear some of these.”

Namjoon let a chuckle escape his lips, “It's just some life experience stories. When you’ve been alive as long as I have, you see a lot.”

“I’m good actually,” Jungkook rolled his eyes and walked past them, plopping down on the couch.

“What’s his problem?” Soobin looked at Kaitlyn, but wasn’t quiet enough from the look Jungkook shot him.

“Supernatural creatures are a touchy subject for him right now.” Kaitlyn whispered to Soobin before looking at Namjoon, “I’m sorry about him.”

“Don’t apologize please, it's alright.” Namjoon held up his hands, shaking them along with his hands, “Finding out people you know and care about aren’t what you thought they were could be a rollercoaster of emotions.”

“That’s so stupid.” Soobin rolled his eyes, reclining in his chair and crossing his arms.

“The fuck do you mean?” Jungkook turned his full attention to the man at the table.

“They’re still the same people, who cares if they are creatures.” Soobin shrugged nonchalantly, not seeing the big deal.

“They lied to me,” Jungkook glared at the side of his head.

“And what would you have done if they had told the truth right away?” Soobin finally turned his head to lock eyes with Jungkook, “Kill them?”

Jungkook opened his mouth to respond but quickly closed it, at a loss for words. He knew the answer to that question and that was yes. He would have killed them without a second thought. He tore his eyes away from Soobin, not wanting to audibly admit the kid before him was right. He stayed silent, but couldn’t help but wonder where he would be right now if they did admit their ‘quirks’ to him earlier.

Soobin scoffed and turned back around to face the others, “You should have learned that not all creatures are evil ages ago.”

“It’s harder than it sounds. Our leader was gone a lot with council duties. He only sent us after evil creatures.” Kaitlyn mumbled softly, “We knew better but we also didn’t think as many things through back then.”

Kaitlyn rarely thought about it, but seeing them slowly evolve from killing anything they came across to saving or even getting help from other creatures, learning some of them resided in their own mixed up family. All of the events that unfolded seemed to open their minds more than before.

“Can we not bicker as soon as we wake up?” Lexi grumbled softly, rubbing her eyes, stumbling into the kitchen.

“Where’s Zuko at?” Kaitlyn asked the girl, wondering where she left her dragon.

“Oh fuck I forgot I don’t have to hide him.” Lexi laughed softly, letting the dragon fly out of her pocket and onto the table, “Yoongi’s still asleep and I’m hungry. Anyone want breakfast?”

“I could go for some food.” Kaitlyn rubbed her empty stomach, “Whatcha making?”

“Probably something simple. Eggs, toast, and bacon.” Lexi sifted through some of the cupboards, pulling out a pan to use for the eggs.

“Count me in.” Kaitlyn chuckled, standing up to grab some plates and silverware.

“I’d like some too please.” Soobin spoke quietly but was drooling at the thought of a decent meal he hadn’t had in ages.

“Me too.” Jungkook yelled from the couch.

“I’ll just make enough for everyone then.” Lexi laughed, grabbing a bunch of stuff from the fridge, setting it on the counter by the stove.

“I will say I am good without it.” Jimin chuckled, “Even if I could eat human food I’m not sure I’d want to put anything you make into my mouth.”

“If you could eat human food, I would make the most vile thing just for you.” Lexi glared at him, holding the frying pan in one hand, “Or I could use this.”

“Now children play nice.” Kaitlyn shook her head, sitting back down once all the plates and silverware was out.

“I’m older than you.” Jimin narrowed his eyes at Kaitlyn.

“How old even are you?” Lexi set the pan down on the stove, turning on the flame below.

“Old enough.” Jimin mumbled, crossing his arms. He truly loathed talking about his age.

“Yet you still act like an idiot.” Namjoon gently patted Jimin on his back.

The group laughed as Lexi continued to cook, Kaitlyn joining her to help. It was silent for a moment before another set of footsteps came down the stairs.

“Something smells good.” Yeonjun stretched one of his arms. His hair was damp, signifying he must have just showered, “Oh hey I didn’t know you guys were still here.” He nodded to Jimin and Namjoon.

“You’re making me not want to leave my house again.” Jimin grumbled, resting his head on his hand.

“Oh, promise?” Lexi chuckled softly, putting some of the food she had finished making on one of the plates.

Jimin rolled his eyes but felt lighthearted and in a good mood. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was free from his stone prison or if Lexi’s feelings had something to do with it. Either way, it overpowered whatever negativity he wanted to feel.

Namjoon chuckled softly, shaking his head at the show before him. It had been awhile since he last interacted with more people. Though he enjoyed the company, he couldn’t help but feel like he should stay away from normality.

The entire house seemed to be in a good mood. Maybe it was the thought that they had a break for a moment or maybe that everything seemed to be back to how it was, or the sheer fact Yoongi didn’t kill any of them for the escapade they went on. For the first time in a long time, the house was filled with laughter and nonsensical conversation.

Yoongi strode his way into the kitchen, the commotion going on made him want to hurry and check what was going on. As he stood from a distance, he couldn’t help the small smile form on his face seeing them in a happy element for once. Even Jungkook had found his way into the kitchen and was laughing.

Yoongi quickly hid his smile as he strode into the kitchen, “You’re lucky we don’t have neighbors or they would have called the cops by now.”

“Well good evening to you too.” Jungkook spoke sarcastically.

“Yeah come on old man, have some fun.” Soobin chuckled, the nickname rolling off his tongue before he could control it.

Yoongi felt his eyes darken for a moment, reminding him of the news he’d have to share with the others. He walked through the kitchen and to the kettle of water, wanting some coffee.

He flipped the switch, watching and waiting for the water to boil as he tuned out the conversations going on around him. He was trying to figure out how to tell the others the man they had all once looked up to was now gone forever. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared at the steam coming from the spout of the kettle.

He quickly grabbed the handle and poured the boiling water into a mug, followed by the powdered coffee. He opened one of the many drawers in the kitchen, pulling out a spoon to stir his drink. He spun around, leaning back against the counter as he watched everyone eat. Though they continued to talk, they were quieter than before, the food taking up most of their attention.

“Don’t you want some Yoongi?” Kaitlyn piped up, seeing him just stand there.

“I’m not hungry right now. It’s all yours.” Yoongi lifted his coffee mug, signaling them to take it all and enjoy. The group didn’t take much time to eat as the dishes began to pile up in the sink. He set his own mug in the pile, planning on doing the dishes later.

“I hate to burst your bubbles, but we have something important to talk about, then we have to prepare.” Yoongi moved closer, leaning his body over top of the kitchen table.

“What do you mean Yoongi?” Jungkook rose to his feet.

Yoongi looked at the two vampires that rested in the kitchen, “I’m sorry but you two need to go home. It’s a bit of a sensitive topic…” Yoongi scratched the back of his neck, “But meet back here two nights from now. And be prepared for a long journey.”

“Of course, don’t worry, we understand.” Namjoon quickly stood up, not wanting to intrude more than they had.

Jimin simply nodded, standing up. He seemed to know exactly why they were to return that night.

“Right. See you later, then.” Yoongi nodded, watching them leave the house. Once he heard the front door close, he made his way to the living room, sitting in one of the sofa chairs, “Sit.”

The once happy and lighthearted atmosphere had long faded and was replaced with a tense and worried feeling.

Yoongi sighed once everyone sat down. He was seated at the head of everything, couches on either side of the coffee table in front of him. He chewed on his lip, eyes flickering around the room, concern laced their features. It was silent for a moment, but that moment felt like hours.

“Yoongi, what’s going on?” Kaitlyn sat forward in her seat. She was seated on the couch right beside him, a worried look on her face. She had never seen Yoongi look so nervous. Though he was hiding it well, it still shone through.

“The reason I got summoned to the council wasn’t only to pick this kid up.” Yoongi found it easier to stare at the table before him rather than meeting the eyes that pierced his face.

“I don’t like where this is going Yoongi,” Jungkook mumbled, “Just spit it out already.” his voice rose slightly, the short fuse he had made him more tense than usual.

“You want me to spit it out? Fine. The old man is dead.” Yoongi finally broke from the daze he was in. His eyes bore into Jungkook’s, seeing a million different emotions flash through them.

The group was silent, the only sound filling the room was the owls talking and burrowing in the trees outside.

There was a mixed haze, no one knew how to react. They had been lucky all of them stayed alive this long, yet, they couldn’t fathom losing one of their own.

Jungkook was the first to do something. Though he stayed silent, he rose to his feet, his long har falling over his face, hiding whatever emotions he was harboring. Without a word he left the table and stomped up the stairs. The group knew when he arrived at his room by the sound of a door slamming echoing throughout the house.

Kaitlyn buried her head into her hands, feeling the tears start to flow down her face. After all these years, he was gone. The man who took her in and became her unofficial grandfather was gone.

“He can’t be gone. He was the best of all of us, please say it's a joke.” Lexi felt her own tears streaming down her face. Though she was the latest to join, he still took her in, made sure to take care of her, and gave her anything she needed.

“I wish I was.” Yoongi’s head fell again, he felt his eyes welling up but suppressed the emotion, wanting to stay strong for the others.

“W-where is he?” Kaitlyn mumbled her voice broken just as she was.

“His body was… not fit to bring home.” Yoongi scratched the back of his head, peaking at the others through his blonde bangs that covered his face.

Kaitlyn covered her mouth suppressing sobs from escaping her. Lexi quickly moved and sat by her hugging the girl tightly as her own tears fell down her face.

Soobin scratched the back of his head awkwardly, looking around the group and only seeing himself and Yeonjun as the composed ones. He jumped hearing a bang from upstairs followed by glass shattering and items being thrown at full force. Yoongi rose to his feet, walking past the couch and upstairs, probably to try and calm a raging Jungkook.

Soobin quickly looked back at Yeonjun, who was already looking at him, “What do we do?” he mouthed to the man sitting near him, but not close enough to whisper.

Yeonjun swallowed softly and looked from the two girls back at Soobin. Yeonjun held his hands up in surrender, unsure of how to comfort them. The one thing all the hunters lacked was how to comfort another person.

Yeonjun swallowed a nervous lump that formed in his throat, slowly rising to his feet, moving over to the couch and sitting down. He played with his hands nervously, looking back and forth between Lexi and his hands.

Soobin watched and suddenly stood up, moving to the other side, sitting next to Kaitlyn. He locked eyes with Yeonjun again, neither of the men knowing what to do next.

“I know nothing I say can make it better but… it’s okay to cry and feel pain.” Yeonjun put a hand on Lexi’s shoulder, trying his best.

Lexi finally looked at him, her teary eyes meeting his, “You suck but I appreciate you trying to comfort me.” She let a small giggle escape her lips as more tears fell. She shook her head and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head into his shoulder as more tears fell.

Yeonjun froze for a moment, not used to physical contact like hugs. He shook off his reaction and hugged the girl back. He let one of his hands rub small circles around her back while the other caressed her head.

Soobin watched what Yeonjun did and turned back to Kaitlyn. He carefully lifted up his hand, patting her on the back gently, “There there.”

Kaitlyn let a mixture of laughter and sobs slip from her mouth as she looked at him, “Guess you really are one of us.”

“What do you mean?” Soobin’s eyes widened, wondering if he did something wrong.

“It seems all hunters suck when it comes to sadness and how to help.” Kaitlyn let a sad smile appear on her lips.

“I can be good at comforting.” Soobin spoke up defensively.

“Really now? Prove it.” Kaitlyn challenged, letting more tears fall.

“I mean I made you smile already, but okay.” Soobin pulled her towards him, letting her rest her head against his chest as he wrapped his long arms around her.

Kaitlyn let more tears fall as a wet spot formed on his shirt, the sound of his rapid heartbeat signified how nervous he truly was.

The sounds from upstairs grew quiet as Yoongi moved closer to the door they were emitting from. With a sigh escaping his lips, he opened the door. The room looked like a tornado went through it; a bookshelf filled to the brine with hunting books was now lying broken on the floor, various hunting tools strewn about, some even broken from impact, frames of pictures and maps Jungkook had collected now sat on the floor, the fram destroyed and glass littering the hardwood floor.

Finally Yoongi’s eyes landed on the man, sitting on the edge of his bed with his head buried into his hands. His long hair was disheveled more than usual, seeming like he grabbed and pulled at it before his breakdown.

Yoongi pushed the man over to make room and sat down beside him, resting on his hands propped behind his back.

Jungkook shot a glare back at the man as he sat back up. The mean look wasn’t there for long before he repositioned his sights onto the ground in front of him.

“I don’t think he would’ve been appreciative of you destroying his things.” Yoongi played with one of the many glass pieces that was strewn across the floor. He gently let it twist inbetween his fingers, focusing his eyes anywhere but on Jungkook.

“He should be here then.” Jungkook growled coldly. He bawled his hand into a fist, squeezing it so tight his knuckles turned white.

Yoongi let a sigh escape his lips, pacing his hand on the younger man’s back, “Just come back downstairs.” Yoongi stood, pressing on Jungkook’s back, making him rise to his feet.

Jungkook pulled away harshly from the man, not wanting any physical contact. He let a string of curses under his breath as he walked out in front of Yoongi. He moved slowly to avoid the glass ridden floor and the collapsed shelves.

The loud thud of footsteps making their way towards the stairs seemed to echo throughout the house. Jungkook was sure to make an entrance wherever he went, announcing his mood solely by the way he carried himself.

As he entered the foyer he felt his gaze darken, sending a glare towards the back of Soobin’s head.

Kaitlyn’s eyes met Jungkooks, making her quickly rise to her feet. She moved faster than she could think, her brain unable to function as normal, given the circumstances.

Jungkook’s eyes turned from anger to surprise seeing her fast approach him. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sounds came out. He felt her arms wrap around him, holding onto him tightly. He let his gaze fall onto the smaller girl. Only the top of her head being visible to him.

He gently wrapped his arms around her as well pulling her closer to him, letting his head rest against hers.

Yoongi cleared his throat, causing all eyes to turn to him, but no one letting go of each other. “Though we don’t have a body, we will hold a memorial for him tonight.”

“A funeral?” Kaitlyn felt her heart break more at the thought of saying goodbye to one of her family members that she had grown to love.

“Yes. Mourn how you like, I’ll prepare some things and collect you all at sundown.” Yoongi stalked off to his room, not waiting for a response. He couldn’t handle the strong facade much longer. While the group saw a strong person and future leader walking away, he let his own tears shed, thankful they could only see his back.

Chapter Text

The sun had long set. The night sky was clear, the stars as bright as ever. It was a perfect night to say goodbye. The sound of the flowing stream and wolves howling in the distance was all that could be heard. A fresh pile of rocks sat near said stream. The group stared at the makeshift grave from a distance, freshly picked flowers sat atop the pile.

They were quiet, honoring the old man with silence rather than eulogy. The group knew the good things the old man had not only done for them, but for others. It was something that didn’t need to be spoken out loud.

The wind kissed their skin as they stared at their grandfather’s resting place. Though the body wasn’t physically there, his memory was.

“Is someone going to say a few words or just stay silent?” Yeonjun was the first to break the silence, earning a disgusted look from Jungkook.

“Who the hell would do that? We already know how great he was.” Jungkook rolled his eyes, the once solemn moment now faded.

“I don’t know I saw it in some movies when I was younger.” Yeonjun scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. He exaggerated his movements, the two men growing more annoyed at one another.

“Have you ever been to a funeral? One with hunters?” Soobin raised his own eyebrow at the man.

“Hmm, let me think. It's always been just me until this point, so no. I haven’t.” Yeonjun looked away from them, tongue prodding his cheek.

“Seriously? Not even your parents?” Soobin looked at the man skeptically.

“Soobin… I wouldn’t…” Lexi mumbled, attempting to stop him from asking.

“My mother… I don’t know where she is or what she is doing. Don’t know if she is even alive. Don’t really care at this stage in my life.” Malice dripped from Yeonjun’s voice as he spoke, “My dad, simple. Never met him.”

An awkward silence surrounded them for a moment. Soobin nervously chewed on his lip, feeling the tension in the air.

“I need a drink.” Yoongi mumbled, being the first person to leave the area. Only his retreating footsteps could be heard as he made his way back towards the house.

A sigh escaped Yeonjun’s lips, “Me too.” He nearly whispered, following the older man back to the house.

“What the hell.” Jungkook shrugged, disappearing from the area.

Soobin opened his mouth and looked at the two girls standing next to him, though not a sound left him. He promptly closed his mouth and walked away with the others.

“Men.” Kaitlyn shook her head.

“I really don’t know how we’re going to handle those guys.” Lexi shook her head. The two girls looked at each other before smiles broke out on their faces.

“Will you go with me somewhere tomorrow?” Lexi turned her head away from the girl and to the grave site once again.

“Depends. Where are we going?” Kaitlyn raised an eyebrow, curiosity filling her. It wasn’t only evident by her tone but her facial features as well.

“I just have a feeling we may be gone for some time.” Lexi let a lopsided smile form on her face, “I need to take care of a few things before that happens.”

Kaitlyn’s eyes widened in response, “Lexi, you’re not.”

“Kait, I’m afraid I don’t have much of a choice.”

______________________________________________________________________________

“And where do you think you two are going?” Yoongi groaned as he stretched his back. By the time the girls got back to the house, the boys had a bottle of whiskey opened and in their cups.

Lexi shook her head, grabbing one of her bags. She kneeled down to tie the laces of her shoes, making sure they were nice and tight, “We leave tonight, right?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with my question?” Yoongi crossed his arms.

“She’s going to drop out of college.” Kaitlyn shook her head, a sigh escaping her lips. She leaned against the door, waiting for the younger girl to be ready to leave.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. I’ll be missing enough school to be dropped from my classes either way.” Lexi shrugged, rising to her feet.

“Still. It took you ages to get enough scholarships to even go.” Yoongi chewed at his cheek.

“There’s no point if the world is going to end.” Lexi opened the door, “Go to sleep you look terrible.”

“Don’t make me.” Yoongi’s voice dropped an octave but was only met with Kaitlyn running after her and shutting the door.

Yoongi shook his head, messing up his already disheveled hair. Despite wanting to stay awake to prove them wrong, the sweet thought of his bed waiting for him led him to his room.

“He’s going to be mad when we get back.” Though it sounded like a warning, Kaitlyn couldn’t stop the smile from forming on her face as she walked next to Lexi. The two walked towards the dense forest, the fastest way to the college besides driving.

“How much you wanna bet Jungkook is going to make him mad first and he’ll forget all about it?” Lexi laughed softly at the thought.

“Seems like you're speaking from experience.” Kaitlyn gently nudged the girl walking next to her.

Lexi shrugged her shoulders, feigning innocence, “What? Me? It’s not like I rile Yoongi up then Jungkook gets the bad end of it because he doesn’t know how to act.”

“Lexi!” Kaitlyn’s eyes widened.

“Kait!” Lexi imitated her as they escaped the dense forest, making their way to the doors of the college campus.

“I’m going to tell Jungkook.” Kaitlyn threatened her, a smirk forming on her face.

“You just want to fuel the flames. Plus it won’t be a problem anymore.” Lexi shrugged. Her eyes scanned the hallway, seeing some students just getting out of class. She smiled and waved, seeing Yuri walking out of one of the classrooms.

The once shy and timid girl let a smile form on her face as she walked over to the two, “Hey guys.” Yuri clutched her books to her chest, “Where have you guys been? I haven’t seen you in awhile.

“Sorry about that. A lot happened recently.” Lexi chewed at her lip, looking away from Yuri.

Yuri’s smile slowly faded as she looked back and forth between Kaitlyn and Lexi.

“Go do what you need to. I can catch her up.” Kaitlyn gently pushed Lexi towards the door with ‘Admissions’ written on the front.

Lexi only nodded as she let her feet carry her through the door. She walked to the front desk, leaning against it as she waited for someone to show up.

Lexi jumped, feeling an arm snake around her shoulder. She let her eyes follow up the arm before they narrowed, pushing him off, “What do you want?”

“Oh come on, you were more excited to see me last time.” A smirk formed on Jimin’s face as he copied her motions, leaning against the counter as well.

“Last time you were a statue and I was relieved Yoongi didn’t murder us.” Lexi shook her head.

“Oh please, you pissed off a naiad to make sure I’d get cured.” Jimin leaned in closer, forcing Lexi to lean back in response.

“There were more creatures frozen than just you.” Lexi whispered, finally seeing someone walk out of the back office.

Jimin’s eyes flickered from the newcomer before back to her, “What are you doing here anyways?”

Lexi ignored him as she smiled at the approaching worker. She looked like another student, much like herself. Most likely working to help pay for some of her tuition.

“How can I help you?” The woman asked, sitting at her desk.

“Hi, my name is Lexi. I'm here to withdraw.” Lexi didn’t look at Jimin as she spoke, sliding her ID to the worker.

“Alright, which class would you like to withdraw from?” The lady took the ID before typing away on her computer.

“All of them.” Lexi twiddled her thumbs as she spoke.

“You what?” Jimin spoke from beside her. She could feel his eyes boring into her. Yet, she remained unfazed by his looks.

“Are you sure? That will mean you’re done for the semester?” The lady’s once nice words grew rather harsh.

“Something came up. I’m afraid it’s either I withdraw or I will be removed because of the days I miss.” Lexi turned her head away, shrugging her shoulders.

A tsk left the worker as her typing became louder and more rushed, “You won’t get far if you drop out.” The lady printed out a piece of paper, handing it to her.

“Unfortunately I don’t have much of a choice. I have more important matters to attend to.” Lexi’s voice remained calm as she took the paper from the lady.

The worker shook her head, “I doubt that.” She mumbled under her breath.

“Excuse me.” Jimin leaned forward, his signature smirk on his face.

Lexi watched as the girl immediately changed her demeanor, batting her eyelashes and an innocent smile formed on her face. Lexi couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the display.

“Perhaps you should be a bit nicer. Your scent reeks of envy, bitterness, and desperation.” Jimin’s smirk fell from his and was replaced with a neutral look as he tilted his head to the side.

Lexi raised her eyebrow in surprise, watching as the girl stood up abruptly and stormed off, stomping her feet loudly.

“Aww, how sweet. You do care about me.” Lexi began walking towards the door.

Jimin scoffed as he followed her, “No, I simply felt your annoyance and wanted to do what I could to get rid of it.” Jimin let the door close behind him, “Now, why did you drop out.”

“Because the man who claims to be my grandfather is trying to destroy the world. I’m afraid I can’t squeeze calculus into my schedule. We leave tonight anyway for that little adventure, remember? Who knows when we’ll be back.”

“Meh, I would’ve just left and let them remove me.” Jimin shrugged his shoulders.

“You have to let me go with you.” Lexi and Jimin broke from their conversation, hearing the rather loud protest taking place a few feet from them.

Yuri quickly turned and marched up to Lexi, “I’m going with you tonight.” Yuri crossed her arms.

Lexi immediately shook her head, “We can’t risk that. Yes, you’ve improved but you still have a long way to go.” Lexi looked down at the girl, “The heart is good, but you need to improve more.”

“So what? You guys get to go off on this quest while I’m stuck wondering if you’re dead or alive? No. I’m going with you.” Yuri fought back.

“She’s been at it the entire time you’ve been in there.” Kaitlyn’s tongue found its perch in her cheek.

Lexi let a sigh escape her lips, digging into her bag and pulling out a rectangular box, handing it to Yuri. “I had a feeling you’d say that.”

“I can’t accept this.” Yuri shook her head, looking at the new phone on the cover of the box.

“Did I miss a meeting or something?” Taehyung suddenly appeared.

“Thought it smelled like a dog in here.” Jimin rolled his eyes.

“No one asked you over glorified mosquito.” Taehyung glared at him.

“Perfect timing. Taehyung, we are going to be gone for a bit. Keep an eye on Yuri.” Lexi looked away from Yuri and at the curly haired man that approached.

“I don’t need a babysitter.” Yuri rolled her eyes.

“Ah, where’s the girl who refused to talk for weeks on end?” Kaitlyn laughed softly.

“She’s gone and this girl is upset.” Yuri mumbled.

“It’s for your safety. Train while we’re gone. This won’t be the last mission we have.” Kaitlyn whispered to the girl, placing a comforting arm on the girl’s shoulder.

Yuri quickly hugged Kaitlyn, holding her tight, “Just be careful.”

“We will. Trust me, you don’t need to worry.” Kaitlyn reassured her.

Yuri let go, turning to Lexi and wrapping her in a tight hug, “You better come back in one piece.”

Lexi smiled softly, hugging her back, “I will. I’m sure Taehyung will help you train if you ask.” She whispered in the girl's ear.

Yuri nodded and pulled away. She attempted to hand back the phone, but to no avail.

“See you.” Kaitlyn sent a final wave as the three of them left Taehyung and Yuri at the school.

“Do you need to do anything else?” Kaitlyn looked at Lexi as they walked out of the school.

“We basically just killed two birds with one stone, so not really.” Lexi shrugged.

“We could head to that place and free some monsters?” Kaitlyn suggested.

“No, Yeonjun will be upset if we go without him.” Lexi shook her head immediately.

“The crybaby shifter? Really?” Jimin rolled his eyes.

Lexi shot a glare his way, “Stop it, he’s been through a lot.” Lexi crossed her arms.

“Haven’t we all?” Jimin challenged her, taking a step closer.

“I don’t know. You seem to know all about me, yet I know nothing about you.” Lexi stared into his eyes, her jaw clenching.

“How about we just run to the store to get supplies.” Kaitlyn gently pushed the two away from each other.

“What things would you need?” Jimin scrunched his eyebrows, tearing his eyes away from Lexi to look at Kaitlyn. He thought they had everything at home.

“Well, we can’t all just live off of blood. We actually need food.” Kaitlyn shook her head.

“You sure? I heard some rumors that witches can survive off the souls of children.” Jimin ran a hand through his slicked hair.

Lexi narrowed his eyes at him once again, “It’d be nice if you’d think before letting words come out of your mouth.”

“You know you love me.” Jimin chuckled softly.

“Why are you following us again?” Lexi groaned as she walked faster, attempting to escape him.

“Because annoying you is my favorite pastime.” Jimin put his arm around her once again.

Lexi narrowed her eyes, using her powers to extend one of the tree roots, causing Jimin to trip.

“Enough children, please.” Kaitlyn shook her head. The walk to the store was filled with bickering and an annoyed Kaitlyn dealing with them. Despite the lighthearted atmosphere, many troubles soon awaited them.